No... no dream this time? Sweetie thought. She was in darkness now, with the same falling feeling she'd felt every other time she'd fallen asleep that night. However this time, there was no voice to sooth her... no memory to remind her... just darkness. Though Sweetie wasn't fully conscious to grasp any fear in her situation, it was still somewhat uncomforting. She couldn't do anything in that state. Her mental capacity felt extremely constricted in the dark environment. She couldn't remember anything, no matter how hard she tried. She couldn't think beyond simple thoughts. She wished she would just wake up to face whatever hell she had to go through next.
The filly's wishes were answered as she saw the light rushing toward her. Knowing no escape from that light she walked towards it, feeling more and more pain as she did. No doubt about it, she was going to wake up in a few seconds...
Sweetie Belle...
It was Rarity's voice again, causing the filly to stop in the middle of the light.
"Rarity?!" She called.
Don't come after me Sweetie Belle... Please...
The voice of her sister sounded sincere. It was a nice change from her yelling at the filly, wishing for her death for the mistakes she'd made with the mare. She almost wanted to honor her wishes... but Sweetie shook her head.
"I... I told you... I can't do that sis, I'm sorry." Sweetie said to the voice. "I'm going to save-"
Don't you get it?! I don't want to be saved you stupid clumsy filly. Rarity said. Her voice seemed to quiver with fear. She breathed for a moment before beginning to talk again. I can't leave him Sweetie. I... I love him.
"No you don't!" Sweetie yelled.
Who do you think you are yelling at your only sister in the world?! Rarity asked angrily. I'm the closest thing you have to love. Mother and Father don't leave you here every month to be with me. Deep down, you know they wanted to get rid of you. Give you up, but no... they decided to give you to me... to ruin my last chance at love!
"I'm going to find you Rarity..." Sweetie said.
Don't you dare! Not now! Rarity yelled.
"I'm going to find you... and I'm going to catch you... and... and..." Sweetie said through gritted teeth. "I'm gonna HURT Specter for what he made you do!"
You wouldn't. Rarity laughed.
Sweetie wasn't sure where this new found anger was coming from. Did she really hate Specter that much? The kiss that she'd heard after escaping the carnival, though it gave her initial disgust, also plagued on her mind. Was it the kiss? The thought of Specter taking Rarity away from her again? Sweetie was almost afraid of what she might do when she saw Specter... yet another part of her wanted to find out.
"I..." Sweetie started. "Rarity... you've got to understand! Specter's controlling you! Why won't you admit it?!"
Hmph... you'd like that wouldn't you? You'd like to believe that I'm the victim here... no Sweetie Belle... Specter may have me... but he's not controlling me. Rarity said softly. Horrifyingly, it almost sounded like the real Rarity, as if Sweetie had taken a picture of her with the camera.
"I... I don't believe you." Sweetie said silently.
...I'll warn you one more time Sweetie... Don't-Look-For-Me. Rarity said.
Sweetie remained silent. It was no use if Rarity was under Specter's control right? The words stung the filly... but the only way the stings would stop was if she caught her and brought her back to her senses. It was the only way... right?
Sweetie walked further into the light. She heard Rarity say something else, but she didn't listen. All she had to focus on was waking up, figuring out what next, and eventually saving her sister from Specter...
***
Sweetie woke up painfully, though she'd done it so many times, it didn't come to her as a surprise. The filly knew she had to get up eventually, but she decided to make a point to rest for the moments she could. The weakness in her body noted that she must have caught another portrait... but that couldn't be right. The filly vaguely remembered catching Pinkie... but then who could be left? The only one it could have been was Rarity, right? The filly's mind was still extremely cloudy from waking up.
Sweetie attempted to get up... as usual, she had a hard time getting up the first time. The second time, her body didn't even respond. The third time, was the same. Sweetie was starting to get scared. What had she done to make her body so unresponsive? She couldn't have been dead yet, for the pain in her body constantly reminded her of the life still miraculously her body...
The hay did I do to myself? Sweetie wondered. She tried once more, finally getting her left hoof up. Then her right hoof, putting her into a push up position. When she tried to put weight on her hind legs, the broken leg pain wasn't as intense as the one that rang through her body. At least that was something that was getting better. At that point, she was on all four hooves.
Sweetie blinked a few times to fix her vision, and shook her head, trying to get out the cloudiness that still lingered in her head. She looked up from the ground to see what was in front of her. The filly gasped when she saw her friends in the room. Applebloom was by Spike who constantly yanked at the door, trying to open it. Scootaloo was a little more active, looking around the room for something.
Applebloom turned to Sweetie and smiled warmly. Sweetie however didn't process the smile as warm or friendly in any manner. All she saw was the grin of a possessed filly.
"'Ey look! Sweetie's up!" Applebloom said happily.
Oh no. Sweetie panicked.
Scootaloo and Spike turned from what they were doing and also turned to look at the filly.
"Hey Sweets!" Scootaloo said, climbing over the plane, followed by Applebloom and Spike. They walked together to confront the filly.
Sweetie took a step back, but misplaced a hoof, causing her to fall onto her flank. Sweetie had to think fast. She was surrounded, for when she looked back, all she saw was the edge of the balcony. Sweetie had to do something.
Sweetie, not completely sure of what she was doing, grabbed a hold of her GCD nozzle and shakily aimed it at the three of them. "S-stay back." the filly said softly. Though none of the children saw Sweetie as a threat, puzzled at her behavior they respected her request and stopped.
"What? What's wrong Sweetie?" Spike asked.
"Yeah, and what's that thing you’re holding?" Scootaloo asked.
"S-stay back." Sweetie muttered again.
The three of them took a step back.
"Wer' goin' back Sweetie. No need ta be pointn' that there... whatchamacallit at yer good ol' friends ri'?" Applebloom said.
"You’re not my friends." Sweetie muttered under her breath.
The three looked at each other and back at Sweetie. They knew something was wrong with their friend, though they couldn't quite figure out what. She seemed to have a look in her eye... something between the feelings of paranoia, fear, anger, and distrust. They weren't sure what to say... so they waited.
Sweetie kept her GCD shakily aimed at her friends for about a minute. The silence between the four of them for that minute was deafening. Finally, Sweetie decided to break it.
"W-what are you doing?"
"Waiting for you to stop acting so crazy." Scootaloo said.
"I-I'm not c-crazy. You’re crazy. Y-you’re trying to kill me, remember?" Sweetie said.
"Sweetie, were not the ones aiming a vacuum cleaner at you." Spike said.
"'n wha's all 'is stuff 'bout killin'? No pony's tryin ta 'urt no pony." Applebloom said.
Sweetie blinked 3 times, clearing her vision, and swallowed, moistening her dry throat. Her mind was coming back. Memories resurfacing of the capture of Marbles & Candy and Spiffy's escape... which meant...
"Y-y... you’re not... possessed?"
The three children looked at each other and laughed, causing Sweetie to take a step back. Once they were finished, they spoke again normally, rather than trying to speak in between laughs.
"You sure are funny Sweetie. Possessed." Spike said, wiping a tear from his eye.
"Where the heck'd you get an idea lik' that?" Applebloom asked.
Sweetie couldn't believe it. It was them... it was really them. Her friends were back. No longer possessed by some evil spirit that wanted her dead... but good friends that only wanted the best for her. They were her real friends. Tears of pure joy began to uncontrollably stream down Sweetie's face. Applebloom and Scootaloo immediately knew that their friend needed them. They walked over to Sweetie to give her a great big group hug. Spike hesitated before joining in the hug himself. They weren't sure what Sweetie was crying about, nor did they know how uplifted Sweetie felt from the simple embrace of her friends.
The hug was warm, not only physically from their combined body heat, but spiritually, Sweetie felt 50 degrees warmer. The feeling of her friend's arms around her was numbing, and for the moment, Sweetie couldn't feel an ounce of pain in her body. The hug over all... was healing the filly. Sure, the scratches and bruises were still there, but the filly was healed spiritually more than any heart candy could have.
Sweetie wasn't entirely sure how long the hug lasted, but whatever it was, she thought it was way too short. Still though, she knew very well that she didn't have time to indulge in such simple things. She still had a job to do... it was still comforting however to know that she wouldn't have to do it alone anymore. Sweetie let the two fillies and dragon step back. She gave them a smile, in which they responded back in the same way.
Awkward silence filled the room. What was a pony to say to the characters that'd minutes before, tried to kill her? Sweetie wasn't sure what to say... sure, they were her friends, but that didn't change the fact for the last few hours the fillies and dragon had made several attempts on her life. Just like the mares, she was for the most part, sure that she didn't hold any ill will against them... but the question became: how did they feel about all of this?
"Um... crazy night huh?" Sweetie said in an attempt to break the silence once more.
"I'll say." Scootaloo said. Her head was to the side as she stared at Sweetie, as though to get a different angle on the filly. "Sweets... you alright?"
Sweetie let out a small chuckle. "I'll live." she said.
"Ya sure? Ah reckon you done look li' ya saw a ghost when ya saw us." Applebloom said.
What pony wouldn't be afraid of a filly who has the image of her holding a bloody butcher's knife in her muzzle burned into her mind? Sweetie thought.
"Yeah! I thought you were gonna jump off of the balcony to get away from us." Spike added.
After all I've done tonight, I could honestly see myself trying to escape like that. Sweetie thought.
"Don't worry." Sweetie said. "I'm fine. I'm not mad either."
The three children looked at each other again, then back at Sweetie.
"...mad about what?" Scootaloo asked.
"Huh?" Sweetie asked.
"Yeah! What's there to be mad about? Should you be mad?" Spike asked.
Sweetie paused, thinking for a moment. Why weren't they guilt ridden just like the other mares... excluding Rainbow Dash, who was likely holding it in. She might expect some pony like Scootaloo to maybe sidestep the events of the night... but not Applebloom or Spike. They didn't even look guilty... rather they looked like the same friendly faces that she'd seen nearly every day of her life... it was then Sweetie came to a conclusion. They weren't guilty because they didn't remember. She had to find out.
"Um... guys?" Sweetie asked.
"What's up?" Scootaloo asked.
"I was just wondering... do you guys... remember anything? Anything at all?"
The three looked at each other once again with uncertainty.
"Well..." Scootaloo started.
"Well, remember th' paper airplane, an' 'ow Scoots here got us crashed in th' Everfree forest."
"We wouldn't have crashed if that thing didn't hit me." Scootaloo argued.
"Anyway, ah also remember goin' ta look for ya wit' Scoots... then everythin' goes in a blur, then it's dark." Applebloom said.
"Yeah... but i think I remember having some weird dream where this flying unicorn lady told me to look for something... can't remember what it was though. Same thing as Applebloom happens after that. A blur and darkness." Scootaloo said.
"Yeah, ah had a weird dream too... ah think ya were in it too, Sweetie." Applebloom added.
"What about you Spike? Spike?" Sweetie called. The dragon seemed to snap out of a trance like state.
"Sorry, I was just uh... trying to remember stuff myself. Sorry Sweetie, but I can't remember much past coming to the mansion on Twilight, along with the other mares... after that, it's just a big blur followed by darkness."
That must have been when Madame told Scootaloo to look for me, and when Candy tricked me into getting close to her... but it's true. They don't remember a thing...
"Why? Should we be rememberin' stuff?" Applebloom asked.
Sweetie wasn't sure if mentioning the events of the night in full was the smartest idea. She'd seen how her friends had broken down because of the guilt of knowing that at any point they could have killed the filly. Sweetie didn't want to put her friends over that same mental stress, or have to deal with their apologies. Besides, they were still out in the open of the mansion, and guilt over friendship wouldn't help keep the fillies and dragon as focused as possible.
Sweetie shook her head. "N-not really." she said. "It's not that important."
"It's not that important? Or did you forget too?" Scootaloo grinned, referring to the filly's history of forgetfulness.
"Something like that." Sweetie said sheepishly. She could only hope she could forget what had happened earlier that night.
Silence filled the room once again before Applebloom spoke again. "Uh Sweetie? Ya never told us what happened ta ya."
"Hm? Oh right..." Sweetie said. I've uh... I've just had a crazy night is all."
"Well? What was so crazy about it?" Spike asked.
Sweetie knew very well that she didn't have the time to just sit around and talk, but she couldn't resist the thought of speaking with her friends again. She began explaining about the ghost situation, the Portraits of Harmony, Specter... she was extremely general as she told her story, only mentioning Candy, Marbles and Spiffy in order to keep from dwelling on the subject of possession. She kept her story short and sweet, realizing how fast her clock to get back to Twilight was ticking down.
"Hold up a sec..." Spike said. "So, what you’re saying... is that for the last couple hours, you've been running around catching ghosts?
Sweetie nodded.
"... I don't believe you." Scootaloo said.
"Huh?" Sweetie asked.
"Well, it's kinda hard to see you running around... catching ghosts." Scootaloo said.
"Well, I did." Sweetie said. And I'm getting good at it too... she thought proudly.
"With... a vacuum cleaner?" Scootaloo said.
"It's called the Ghost Capture Device. GCD for short." Sweetie corrected.
"Whatever." Scootaloo said. "I'll believe that thing can catch ghosts when I see it."
You'd be lucky if we didn't. Sweetie thought.
"And... Pinkie's in that thing?" Spike asked.
"Yeah." Sweetie sighed.
"... uh Sweetie? Mahnd if ah ask a question?"
"What?" Sweetie asked.
"Where were we when all of this ghost tomfoolery stuff was happnin'?"
Of course you'd ask that. Sweetie thought. Though the three of them, she had to admit, were some of the most curious filly's she knew, Applebloom was the one who was most inquisitive... right alongside herself.
Sweetie simply shrugged. "I dunno." she said. Applebloom squinted at the filly. If there was one thing the sister of the Element of Honesty could see, it was a liar.
"Ya ain't tryin' ta play us for no fools are ya Sweetie?" Applebloom asked.
"Of course not!" Sweetie said, trying to sound offended. "I've got no reason to lie."
"...alright then." Applebloom said, letting the issue go... for the most part. "Just hope you ain't keepin anythin important from us."
Not important anymore... Sweetie thought.
"Well, all that matters is that we're all together again, right?" Spike said.
"Exactly!" Sweetie said.
Applebloom gave Sweetie one last suspicious look before fully letting go. "Fine. What now then?"
"That... that's the million bit question." Sweetie said. "Hold up..." Sweetie went to her saddlebags, and started to fish something out of her saddlebags. "Pinkie's ghost left me a note. I think it said something about a way out around here. Here." Sweetie took out the note and looked over it before giving it to them. "Now all we've got to do is find it."
"What's this 'bout a game?" Applebloom asked.
"Oh, uh... well, Pinkie's ghost really likes to play games with me. That's what it was talking about. I think you could figure out what it was..."
Spike shuddered while Scootaloo rubbed around her neck area. They knew alright.
"Ok... so this 'ere room was suppos' ta be th' way out? Where?" Applebloom asked.
"Yeah. The door's locked, and we can't find a key anywhere." Scootaloo said.
No key or exit? What kind of 'only way out' is this? Sweetie thought. Did Pinkie trick us and trap us in this room? Though the ghost was quite deceptive, something told Sweetie that Pinkie thought this through. There was a way out.
"Maybe... we're not supposed to leave through the door. I mean, all of the exits to the staircases and hallways are blocked off." Spike mentioned after reading over the note a few times.
"What do ya mean?" Applebloom asked.
"Well... when I think of Pinkie, I never think it's the most obvious, or sane solution to a problem. I just doubt the door is supposed to be our way out."
"Then where is it? The balcony?" Scootaloo asked. Though the filly didn't mean it at first, the four of them looked at each other. Considering it was Pinkie Pie they were dealing with, the possibility was there. Without a word, the four of them went back out to the balcony to investigate.
After a few minutes of looking around, they determined that it was nothing out of the ordinary. It was just a normal balcony...
"Hey guys look!" Scootaloo said, standing at its edge.
"What?" they all asked.
"Look down there! I think I see another balcony window." she said.
Sure enough, past the gap that was the courtyard, there it was... a balcony, much like the one they were standing on now, across from them, one floor down. "That'll probably take us out."
"Maybe..." Sweetie said. Applebloom however, disagreed.
"No Scoots. That ain't gonna work." she said.
"How come?" Scootaloo asked.
"First off, how ya suppose we gonna git over there?" Applebloom asked.
"The plane! Duh!" Scootaloo said, motioning over to the CMC plane that lay on its side.
"Ok. Now supposn' we can even git enough speed ta launch it, let alone steer it ri', look at the balcony over there. Th' window's closed." Applebloom said. Sure enough, the filly was right. The balcony window on that side was sealed shut. "Even if we got it over there, we'd prob'ly crash inta th' window and fall over th' side of th' balcony. We'd need it open."
"Well... I could always fly over there and open it." Scootaloo suggested.
"You can't fly, and you know it Scoots." Sweetie commented.
"Ok, maybe not fly, but I can hover." she said. "Just give me enough speed and I could probably clear that jump."
"Tha' ain't a smart idea Scoots." Applebloom warned.
"Come on. It'll be fine." Scootaloo said. The filly went to the door, opposite to the balcony door. She got into a pre-running stance.
"And I guess there's no convincing you otherwise?" Spike asked.
"Nope." Scootaloo said.
"You’re such a stubborn filly." Sweetie commented.
"Whatever. Just get out of the way alright?" Scootaloo said.
The three children, although hesitant to let their friend attempt to hover past the large gap between the two walls, got off of the balcony and stood to the side. Once the way was clear, Scootaloo ran as fast as she could, before jumping off the edge of the balcony. Once airborne, the filly flapped her wings as hard as she could. Scootaloo had never learned how to fly, much like a good number of fillies her age. Still, she managed to keep herself from falling straight down with the little air she pushed down with her wings. She managed to keep her speed up as she hovered over the courtyard, down to the balcony... though she was slowing down. As the three children watched, fear ran through them at the thought that she might not make it... however, just barely, she got a hoof onto the edge of the balcony, barely managing to grab onto it, and hang from it.
"Scootaloo!" the three of them called. Scootaloo attempted to flap her wings to push herself up, but they were too weak from the flight for any real help. Scootaloo was stuck, and losing her grip quickly.
"We gotta do somethin'!" Applebloom said.
Sweetie thought. There had to be something she could do to help... then she remembered. She was a unicorn. Sure she was weak, but she did know what was needed to perform a simple telekinesis spell... though there were two problems. First, Sweetie had never tried to lift anything over a pound or two, and even that was draining. Sweetie wasn't sure how she would manage to lift her friend who weighed at least 30 or 40 pounds... Secondly, there was the issue of distance. The farthest she could remember levitating something from was about 5 feet... oppose to the courtyard which had to have been at least 100 feet. Sweetie wasn't sure if she could manage such a feat... but seeing her friend dangle from the ledge, fear filling her eyes, she could only attempt.
Without a word, Sweetie got herself as close to the edge as she could, leaning her head out in order to shorten the distance between her and Scootaloo as much as possible. She went so far that Applebloom and Spike went over to the edge with her and held her by the tail to keep her from falling over. They didn't ask what she was doing, seeing how Sweetie was trying to focus on Scootaloo. After looking at the orange filly for a few moments enough to get a mental picture of her, Sweetie shut her eyes. She visualized her hanging from the edge, and her lifting her entire body up onto the ledge... but it wasn't working. Sweetie felt bits of magic coming out of her horn, but given no pony'd said anything, she doubted the magic was getting put to good use. She tried again, putting more magic through her horn, straining her brain to lift Scootaloo... still nothing.
As Sweetie increased the flow of magic, she felt herself getting rapidly weaker and weaker. She crossed her eyes, and gritted her teeth as the magic flow started to become painful. She went deep down into her body, taking every ounce of magic she could muster, hoping that somehow, someway, she'd be able to just this once, pull of a real telekinesis spell.
C'mon... come on! Sweetie thought as she felt herself ready to faint. Please... work...
Sweetie's legs began to wobble, as she was ready to collapse, a miracle. The sound of hoof against pavement, followed by a second, third and fourth. Sweetie opened her eyes to see that Scootaloo had climbed up onto the balcony, and was safe and sound.
"See?" She called. "Told you it was fine!"
"Aw save it Scoots! You'da gottn' killed if Sweetie didn't help ya!" Applebloom called back, mixed with emotions of anger and relief.
"She barely helped. I had it all along!" Scootaloo laughed. There was a bit of nervous laughter mixed in... she knew very well she would have been a goner if the filly didn't come to her rescue.
Sweetie collapsed onto all four of her knees, breathing heavily. Scootaloo stopped laughing from the other side, seeing her pain. Applebloom and Spike got on either side of her to comfort her.
"She alright?" Scootaloo asked.
"I'm... fine..." Sweetie breathed. "Just... a little... winded."
"Y'all come back in th' room alri'? Rest a sec." Applebloom said, guiding Sweetie into the room.
"She just needs to rest Scoots!" Spike called back.
"Alright! I'm just gonna get this window open then!" Scootaloo said, turning to attempt to open the door. The filly yanked at it in attempts to open it, to no avail.
"What's wrong?!" Spike asked.
"It's shut tight! It won't budge!" Scootaloo said.
"Are you serious?!" Spike asked. He looked back at Sweetie who'd nearly fainted to get her over there. "Well, is there any other way inside?"
"Uh..." Scootaloo looked around. She went to the left edge of the balcony and looked at the window sill. "I think I see one of the windows slightly open on my side. I'll see if I can't get in through there." Scootaloo called.
Spike didn't exactly like the idea of the filly jumping from window to window, but he didn't see her as having any other choice. "Fine! Be careful!" Spike said.
"Careful's for scardy cats like Sweetie over there." Scootaloo said before jumping over several window sills to get to the one of interest. She opened it and headed inside, the window shutting behind her.
Spike rolled his eyes. "I don't know how you deal with her on a regular basis."
"Heh... you get used to it." Sweetie said quietly, showing signs of recovery.
Silence filled the room as they waited for a response from Scootaloo. At moments, Applebloom seemed to still be combing pieces of the ectoplasm Sweetie had smothered all over her hair. Given that she didn't know what it was, and doubted Sweetie would, she kept her mouth shut about it... Minutes passed before someone spoke again.
"Hey Sweetie?" Spike asked.
"Hm?" Sweetie said, leaving some deep thought she was in.
"I was wondering... is Twilight okay?"
"Twilight?" Sweetie asked.
"Yea' and wha' bout mah sis?" Applebloom asked.
"Applejack?" Sweetie asked. She thought for a moment before responding. "They're... they're fine. I left them and the other mares in the safe zone when I had to go catch Pinkie Pie. Twilight was doing... some magic stuff, and Applejack let me borrow her hat."
"Safe wha'?" Applebloom asked. "'n even more, why did mah sis letcha have 'er special hat? Don't look like yer doin much good to it."
"It's this humming room that keeps ghosts out apparently." Sweetie said. The filly bit her lip on the issue of the dirty hat, knowing it would only lead to her talking about Applejack's ghost personality. The last thing she wanted to be on her mind was the issue that her psychopathic ghost sister had nearly killed her best friend. Thankfully, Spike spoke before the filly could ask again.
"And... they let you just... go?" Spike asked.
"What?" Sweetie asked. "Uh... yeah. Didn't really have a choice with Pinkie running around."
"Bu'... why didn' some pony else go ta catch them ghosts ya were talkin' bout?" Applebloom asked.
Sweetie looked at the yellow filly, unsure if it were smart to tell specifically of the course of events that occurred, leading to her being the only candidate to go on each ghost catching mission. She didn't want to worry her about Applejack, who was nearly crippled the last time she'd seen her.
"Uh... you know. I just... I'm the best at it I guess."
"Yeah, the best that has scratches and bruises on her." Spike commented. "I can't believe your even standing really. If I were you, I'd have stayed in that safe room and let some pony else go. You look like you've been through a lot."
You have no idea Spike. Sweetie thought And trust me... I really wish I could've.
"Well, I'll see about that when we get back."
"Hm... if I had a quill, I could... Ack!" Spike suddenly grunted, clutching his head and falling to the ground.
"Spik'!" Applebloom called. She rushed over to the dragon's side before Sweetie could even react. "Ya alri'?"
"Yeah..." He said strained. "Just a really bad headache is all..."
"Aw Spik'..." Applebloom said, stroking the back of his head.
"Oh boy..." Sweetie said to herself, rolling her eyes and smiling.
"Wha'?" Applebloom asked.
"Nothing." Sweetie chucked, how wobbly Applebloom could get over the dragon at points. A few more minutes passed and Sweetie herself was beginning to get worried. Spike's headache didn't subside... in fact, the filly was sure it was getting worse. Out of sheer concern, Sweetie went to the side of Spike with Applebloom.
"Spike, you sure you’re ok?" Sweetie asked, laying her own hoof on the dragon's body. As if by her touch, Spike released his grip on his head and looked up at her. He stared at Sweetie for a moment, before blinking and looking at both of the fillies equally.
"Y... yeah, I'm fine." Spike said, sitting up.
"Good. For a second, I was actually starting to worry." Sweetie smiled.
"Yeah... me too." Applebloom said. Rather than a relieved look, she carried a puzzled one. It was like when Sweetie touched him... he was all better. It didn't quite rub the filly the right way for a second...
"Hey guys! I got it!" Scootaloo called.
Applebloom abandoned her suspicions for the moment to join her friends back onto the balcony.
"Took you long enough!" Sweetie joked.
"Whatever. Just fly the paper airplane over here already." Scootaloo called.
"Alri'. Sweetie. Spik'. Mind helpin' me set up th' plane again?" Applebloom asked, heading back to the craft that still lie on its side.
They both nodded and went over to flip the paper airplane. Considering its size they had to do it slow and careful, in order to avoid bending it in any way. The slightest mishap could cause the plane to glide to its side into a wall.
"Hey..." Spike said. "You guys, sure this thing 'll fly?" Spike asked.
"Yuh huh." Applebloom responded. "It'll fly. It's how we got here ta begin wit'" she said.
"Huh... what about you Sweetie?" Spike asked. "What do you think?"
"What?" Sweetie asked, caught off guard of the dragon asking her opinion. "Uh, yeah. It flies great... too great sometimes." the filly added, remembering how far it had managed to glide from Ponyville.
"Oh, ok." Spike said, turning away shyly. No pony noticed his sudden timid nature.
Once the three of them finished flipping the plane, they began turning it so it faced the window. Once it was set, Applebloom raised her hooves to her eyes, attempting to eyeball the width of the balcony window relative to the wings of the plane. Once she was finished, she turned to Sweetie and Spike.
"Alri'." she said. "Ah think th' plane 'll fit in fine. Now we jus' gotta deal wit' a couple mo' things. First, since we're goin' down, ah think we're gonna need a little weight on th' nose."
"We could hang my saddle bags there." Sweetie suggested.
"Not a bad idea Sweets. It should be heavy enough ta bring the plane down a little, n' light enough ta keep us fr'm nose divin' ta th' ground." Applebloom said.
Sweetie nodded in agreement as she took off her GCD, which sat on top of her saddlebags. She then took off her saddlebags themselves and hung them on the nose. Sweetie then put her GCD back on her back, holding the GCD nozzle in her mouth while balancing the spectral containment pack on her back. Without her saddlebags, which held the device in place with its straps, it sat freely upon her person.
"Uh, Sweetie? Ya sure that there vacuum is worth all that trouble?" Applebloom asked.
"Yeah. It's the only thing I can fight ghosts with, remember?" Sweetie said. She didn't however mention it was the only machine capable of saving her friends. That would only lead to more questions, she assumed.
"Alri'. Just don't break yer leg over it. Or, some pony else's..."
"Will you guys hurry up?" Scootaloo called. "It's crazy cold over here."
Uh oh. That's not a good sign. Sweetie thought.
"C'mon guys. What else do we have to do?" Spike asked.
"Well, we jus' gotta pick our spots. Supposn' Sweetie and I can take our first spots. Ya can take Scoots' spot... If ya don't mind."
Spike shrugged. "Sure. Why not."
"Congratulations then Spike. You’re the new Scootaloo." Sweetie grinned. Spike simply looked away, rolling his eyes.
"Now all we gotta do is launch th' thing." Applebloom said.
"And how exactly do you fly an over-sized paper airplane?" Spike asked.
"Well, we each grab a part, drag it as fast as we can, 'n jump on at th' last minute." Applebloom explained. "'least that's how we did it."
"Just grab the edge of the paper next to that piece of fabric, and jump on when Applebloom says." Sweetie reiterated.
"Gotcha Sweetie." Spike said.
"..." Applebloom remained silent out of re-birthed suspicion as she went over to grab her edge around the center of the plane with her teeth. Spike followed Applebloom's example and grabbed his own edge around the front, behind Sweetie's saddlebags hanging on the nose. Rather than using his teeth, he used his claws, given he could actually run with his hind legs alone. Sweetie finally took her own spot at the tail of the plane, behind her own piece of fabric. Aside from Spike being at the front with the saddlebags the set up was similar to the one they'd done the previous day.
"On th' count of three." Applebloom said through the paper. "One... Two... Three!"
The three children ran for the window as fast as they could. Sweetie, much like earlier, lost her hoofing on the first step, however quickly regained it. The loosely sitting GCD on her back nearly fell off, though she managed to keep it balanced as she ran along with Spike and Applebloom. As they approached the window, Applebloom realized something... Spike was at the front, the smallest part of the plane, so he'd definitely make it through. Sweetie was at the back, behind the plane, so she wouldn't have to worry about hitting the sides of the balcony window either. Applebloom however, being at the center of the plane, and having the smallest window, realized she wouldn't make it. The plane would already only barely fit through the window, considering the width of the opening compared to the width of the wings. Applebloom however, was an extension of that length, therefore, if she kept going the way she was, she'd crash head first right into the side of the window.
Rather than forcing her friends to stop, moments before the plane reached the window, she jumped on. Out of sheer confusion, Spike jumped on as well, following Applebloom's example. For the next couple of seconds, Sweetie was the only one pushing the plane. This caused some slowdown as Sweetie approached the balcony... however she was going too fast to stop. She ran as fast as she could, causing her to nearly forget about the GCD as it slid slightly on her back, in attempts to keep their speed up. She pushed up to the point she felt the plane pointing down, indicating it was going over the edge of the balcony.
"Sweetie! Get on now!" Applebloom yelled. Sweetie hopped onto the back of the plane as she, Applebloom and Spike took a hold of each of the ropes attached to the pieces of fabric on the plane. They flew down, going into a slight slope before leveling out.
"Can't believe this thing is working!" Spike said, looking around as he realized that they hadn't crashed yet.
"Ah know! That's wha' ah said!" Applebloom said.
It only took a few moments though, to realize how slow they were flying. The plane was covering some fair distance, however it was going more down than it was forward. In other words, it wasn't long before they realized that they weren't going to make it.
"Uh... guys?" Spike said, unsurely.
"Ah know. Sweetie. Yer in the back. Try yankin' yer rope ta pull us up a little." she said.
"Uh, right." Sweetie said. When the filly went for the rope however, the GCD on her back slipped off and onto the side of the plane. The impact of the weight of the GCD on the back left of the plane, though it pulled them up a little, it also put the plane to its side. This new shift of weight also caused Spike and Applebloom to slip from their spots, and join Sweetie and the GCD on the left wing of the plane. Once their weight was added, the plane went more to its side, before spinning over so much, that it started to fly upside down, with Spike, Applebloom and Sweetie hanging onto the ropes. Sweetie could feel the nozzle slipping out of her mouth as gravity and momentum pulled the GCD spectral containment pack down. They all screamed as Scootaloo watched helplessly from the balcony, knowing all she could do was hope.
The plane continued on its course, thankfully still moving for the most part, directly toward the balcony, They were almost there... though they could also feel their grips slipping more and more... before Applebloom lost her own first.
"Applebloom!" Sweetie screamed as she put out a hoof for her friend. The filly was barely able to hook her own foreleg onto her catching her before she could fall to the courtyard below. The new weight on the filly, namely the GCD and the 35 pound filly, Sweetie could also feel her own grip slipping rapidly from the rope. Though her ability to grab things and hold onto them with her life had improved over the night, she knew she couldn't keep it up with only one hoof on the rope.
The loss of grip wasn't the only thing Applebloom's weight had altered. The high weight on the back of the plane caused it not only to pull upward even more, but slow down the plane to something short of a hover. They were so close however to the balcony. They just needed a few more feet that they were sure the plane wasn't going to give them. The plane was going to fall down before they'd make it to the balcony's edge.
"Spik'! Grab Sweetie's saddlebags and jump!" Applebloom ordered fearfully.
"Are you crazy! I can't make tha-" Spike argued.
"Do it!" Applebloom yelled again. No pony had ever heard her give the dragon such an intense order, and to every pony in earshot who knew Applebloom, it was a little jarring. Spike followed her order, swinging to the balcony by his own rope, grabbing onto Sweetie's saddlebags on the way. The dragon barely made it, landing feet first on the very edge of the balcony.
"You too Sweets! Now!" Applebloom yelled again as the plane started to dip downward. Sweetie'd learned not to hesitate in such a situation by now, especially when her friend's life, along with her own, was on the line. Sweetie jumped herself, clamping as hard on the GCD nozzle with her teeth, as Applebloom who clutched to Sweetie's leg as she swung. They both managed to, much like Scootaloo, grab onto the edge of the balcony, just as the plane went vertical, and dropped down out of the air.
"We gotcha." Scootaloo said.
Though Spike originally went for Sweetie, Scootaloo beat her to it, beginning to pull her up. The dragon then went for Applebloom who hung right next to Sweetie. Scootaloo had more control over her strength, so she was able to steadily pull Sweetie up onto the balcony. Spike however didn't have as much control, as he pulled Applebloom up, he over-estimated her weight, and pulled her up, onto her. Applebloom lay on top of Spike for a few moments, the orange filly blushing out of sheer embarrassment.
"Uh... ah...." Applebloom said.
"Come on you two." Scootaloo said, breaking up the love fest. Spike lightly pushed Applebloom off of him, over to the ground next to her. He seemed unaffected by her shyness over the contact. Sweetie sighed.
The guy could never get the signs. Sweetie thought. Applebloom had been crushing on Spike for quite some time now. She'd shown the obvious signs of the crush... but never had Spike even acknowledged it. Though this was by far, the closest contact the two had had in such a situation, the dragon still showed much ignorance to Applebloom's feelings...
"Uh, Sweetie?" Spike asked, bringing the filly out of thought.
"Huh?" Sweetie asked.
"These um... these are yours." Spike said, handing her the filly's saddlebags.
"Oh yeah! Thanks." Sweetie smiled, grabbing the bags by her teeth. Spike looked away again with the same shyness as earlier. Once again, Sweetie didn't notice... however, as Scootaloo helped her up, Applebloom noticed, and watched.
Sweetie looked at the top strap of her saddlebags. The tie in which the GCD would be placed was severed. "Hey Spike? Could you do me a favor and tie this strap onto my back with my GCD? It's kind of hard to tie stuff without magic, and I'm still filling up my own so..."
"S-sure." Spike stuttered, as Sweetie placed her saddlebags onto her back. Spike then helped the filly put her GCD on her back as well, with a particular gentleness that Applebloom couldn't help but notice. Why was he so careful with the filly, like she was some kind of delicate flower... was Applebloom getting jealous?
It didn't take more than a minute for Spike to finish tying the severed strap on her back, along with the GCD. "Thanks Spike!" Sweetie smiled.
"Uh huh." Spike looked down. Applebloom could have sworn he was blushing...
"So much for our plane." Scootaloo sighed. "Now what?" Scootaloo asked.
"Huh?" Sweetie asked.
"I'm guessing you know more about this mansion than anyone here, right? What's next Sweets?" Sweetie thought.
Sweetie thought for a moment. She felt the air around her, confirming Scootaloo's feelings. It was freezing, and no doubt about it, there would be a lot of ghosts on the floor. They couldn't stay there for long.
"Keep moving." Sweetie responded. She took out her flashlight from her saddlebags. "We've got to get down to the first floor... then we can figure out how to reach the safe zone from there."
"You mean you don't know?" Scootaloo asked.
"I know where one or two things are, but this place is big, and moves around sometimes. Without my map, we're gonna have to just wing it when we get to the bottom of what I think is the mansion courtyard. One of them anyway. Just hope it's the one I'm thinking of..." Sweetie explained.
"Fine then. Let's get out of here." Scootaloo said, heading for the door of what they all figured to be just another generic bed room. After she unlocked the door, Scootaloo went into the hallway, followed by Sweetie, followed by Spike, and finally, by Applebloom...
***
"It's official... you three are nuts." Spike said once the filly was finished telling their story.
"I wouldn't say that." Scootaloo said.
"Fine. Then why in all of Equestria, would you think flying a paper airplane off of a cliff would get you a cutie mark?" Spike asked.
"It could happen." Scootaloo said.
"There's absolutely no logic in that." Spike said. "You could've been killed!"
"But we weren't killed. And to be honest, isn't that all that matters at the end of the day?" Scootaloo asked.
"That and you own sanity." Spike said.
Spike and Scootaloo argued as they continued to walk the hallway, looking for a staircase of some kind. Sweetie didn't speak often, given for the last couple hours, she'd walked these hallways alone. Now that she was joined with her friends, and there was already a small bit of natural light filling the hallway, it was a whole new experience she'd need to get used to. Besides that, she had to stay focused on everything around her, doubting her friends understood how much danger they were in. The filly was determined to keep her friends safe from any ghosts trying to hurt her friends. Applebloom was also unnaturally quiet as they continued down the hallway. Over the half an hour from when she woke up from who knows what, she was almost sure that Sweetie had lied to them several times. Even more, Spike's behavior around Sweetie didn't make her feel very good... but she decided to let that go for now.
"C'mon. It was just a little dare-devil shenanigans." Scootaloo said, defending her paper airplane idea.
"And that's insane." Spike said.
"No it's not! Plenty of ponies do crazy, daring stuff every day. Just look at Rainbow Dash! She's always doing all kinds of crazy flying tricks."
"And those ponies are insane too. Either that or stupid." Spike said.
"You calling Rainbow stupid?!" Scootaloo said, jumping in front of Spike, halting the group altogether. Applebloom and Sweetie turned around to see what was going on.
"What? O-of course not." Spike said, seeing the bit of rage in Scootaloo's eyes.
That's a note. Never say anything bad about Scootaloo's Rainbow. Sweetie thought.
"C'mon ya two. We gotta keep movin'" Applebloom said.
"Yeah guys. The longer we're in this hallway, the more dangerous it gets." Sweetie added.
"Come on Sweets. It's just a little chilly here. Nothing dangerous about-" Scootaloo said before Spike collapsed to the ground again.
"Gah!" the dragon said, clutching his head.
"Spik'!" Applebloom said, rushing once again over to the dragon as he lie on the ground, stopping the entire group. Sweetie and Scootaloo turned to see what was happening. Sweetie didn't react as urgently as Applebloom, and didn't worry about him as much, given she'd already seen a similar headache episode earlier. Scootaloo however didn't react, as she was still somewhat fuming over the Rainbow Dash comment.
"What's wrong with him?" Scootaloo asked with a certain disinterest in her voice.
"Uh, nothing serious. Spike's just been getting weird headaches all of a sudden... You alright Spike?" Sweetie asked.
The dragon got up with a little help from Applebloom. "Yeah." he said with strain in his voice. He still appeared to be in pain. "Just... a little weak and headachy is all."
"Hm... hold on a sec." Sweetie said, getting an idea, reaching into her saddlebags. The filly had a theory: she remembered how some ponies at school would get sick from not eating regularly. Namely, she remembered some, such as Snips, or Dinky, always getting some type of headache before lunches... however once they ate, they were fine. Could Spike have just been hungry? Chances were, given the entire thing was a trap, Spike never got to eat at the house-warming. Sweetie also assumed it was something around 3 am... the thought of the time only made the filly the drowsier. Though, if that were true, then that meant no pony or dragon had eaten since lunch the previous day... about 14 or 15 hours. Now, thinking about her own stomach, it started to grumble, and Sweetie felt a little weak herself. It wouldn't be much longer before the pain and weakness her friend's love had numbed would be re-awakened by her own hunger...
Sweetie found what she was looking for in a separate pocket in her saddlebags. It was Pinkie's candy apple.
"Hey, where'd you get that, and where can I get one?" Scootaloo asked. "I'm starving!"
Applebloom looked over at Sweetie. Though she didn't say it, Sweetie could also see hunger in her eyes.
Guess I'm gonna have to split it four ways. Sweetie thought.
Sweetie took her hat off and put it on the ground before placing the apple inside. The last thing she wanted was the layer of dust on the rug to get attached to the sticky caramel of the apple. The filly then reached into her saddlebags to take out Applebloom's knife. Though the filly looked at it strangely, she didn't say a word, the reminders of the gripping hunger keeping her quiet.
Sweetie did her best to wipe off the edge of the knife with her hoof. Bits of dried blood were on its edge... though a very small trace. Sweetie figured it must have been one of the knives Applebloom... rather Candy, used earlier that night... likely the first one she managed to get at Sweetie with when she'd tricked her... the filly must have simply thrown it at her by chance.
How many knives did that crazy filly have anyway?
Thankfully, Applebloom didn't ask any questions as Sweetie finished her cleaning, whipped the droplets of her own crusty blood onto the carpet, and proceeded to cut the apple four ways. As she cut through the center, she hit something. Unlike the soft gooey centers that usually filled a desert as such, this one was hard. Sweetie had to cut around the apple core area, rather than through it to split it and see what was inside. Sitting snugly in the place where the apple core would be wasn't filling, but two heart candies.
"Great." Sweetie said to herself.
"What are you mumbling about Sweets?" Scootaloo asked.
"N-nothing. Just gotta save these is all." Sweetie said pulling out the heart candies and putting them into her saddlebags. No doubt they'd be useful later... though the filly could only hope they wouldn't be a part of another of Pinkie's "games"...
Sweetie finished cutting the apple up so that they were in four even slices. With that, she handed a piece to each of her friends.
"Here." Sweetie said, giving one to Scootaloo.
"That's all we get?" Scootaloo asked.
"Sorry. It's all I've got. Really." Sweetie said. "... do you want me to cut my piece smaller so you can have it?"
"Uh, no. This is cool." Scootaloo said, feeling a little guilty.
That's what I thought. Sweetie thought.
"Here's yours." Sweetie said, giving an apple slice to Applebloom.
"Thanks Sweetie. Should keep us fr'm starvin'." Applebloom said.
Sweetie smiled at her friend before moving to Spike for his own apple slice.
"And here's yours Spike." Sweetie said holding out his apple slice. The dragon looked up. Not at the apple slice, but at Sweetie herself. He stared for a moment, in a somewhat hypnotic state. "Uh... Spike?"
"Oh! Sorry." He said looking down, blushing again before taking the apple slice. This time, Applebloom wasn't the only one with suspicions... now Sweetie was beginning to notice Spike's behavior.
"Spike?" Sweetie asked, using her hoof to point his head up to look at her. "Are you sure you’re ok? You’re acting kind of funny."
"Yea', ever sinc' Sweetie woke up..." Applebloom commented.
"I'm fine, alright?" the dragon said, taking a couple steps back, away from Sweetie. "Just... need something in my stomach. That's all."
"Ok... Just making sure." Sweetie said. For a moment, she still had her suspicions that Spike was still possessed, causing his behavior... but she'd witnessed Spiffy fly out of Spike herself. There was no chance of that... besides, if he was, the dragon would have probably tried to make an attempt on her life by now. Once that suspicion was gone, Sweetie decided not to dwell on Spike's act being out of the ordinary. Applebloom however, only got more and more suspicious by the second...
They all ate their slices of candy apple.
"You feeling better?" Sweetie asked.
"Uh... y-yeah. I'm good. I'm better. Thanks Sweetie." Spike said.
"No problem." Sweetie said happily.
"No, really. Thank you." Spike said again, taking a few steps back toward Sweetie, coming nose to nose with her. He nearly knocked the flashlight out of her muzzle.
"Uh..." Sweetie said, feeling somewhat nervous around his advance.
"Come on y'all." Applebloom said, breaking them up. "We gotta keep moving. Ri' Sweetie?"
"Right..." Sweetie said, taking an awkward step back from Spike, who stared at the filly. Sweetie turned to face Applebloom and Scootaloo, who had already begin to keep moving forward. Sweetie followed Applebloom, and behind her followed Spike.
They walked barely a few feet before Scootaloo stopped.
"Luna, it's gotten cold." Scootaloo cursed, shivering. "Any pony else feel that temperature drop?"
"Oh no." Sweetie said, shivering herself.
Suddenly, Sweetie's light began to flicker, as though it were ready to go out.
"Sweetie. Wha' wrong wit' yer flashlight?" Applebloom asked.
"Oh no no no."
Followed by at least three flickers, the hallway filled with the laughter of ghosts.
"Uh... Sweetie?" Scootaloo asked, with a hint of fear in her voice. "What is-"
"Run."
"Beg yer-"
"RUN!" Sweetie ordered. The four of them broke into a run to Sweetie's command, just as a two butler ghosts phased through the walls, crossing Scootaloo and Applebloom.
"What the hay was that?!" Scootaloo asked.
"What do you think?!" Sweetie responded.
A butler phased through the ceiling, attempting to grab Applebloom.
"Get away from her!" Sweetie yelled angrily, swiping her dimming flashlight across the ghost.
Ding!
Sweetie didn't bother attempting to catch it, as it simply disappeared. Sweetie looked forward to see a little ways ahead of them was a foal ghost. Its head went back, as though it were about to spit at them.
"Duck!" Sweetie yelled. The three Cutie Mark Crusaders ducked as instructed. Spike however, hesitated, causing the shot of ectoplasm to go right for him. The force of the goo put his head to the ground and caused him to stick to the floor. Applebloom stopped, causing Scootaloo to as well.
"Spik'" Applebloom called.
Sweetie saw that behind the group, a skeleton butler ghosts had materialized and were coming after them. They were all pretty trapped.
"Go!" Sweetie yelled. "I'll help Spike, just go!"
"Applebloom, c'mon." Scootaloo said, pulling at the filly. "I think Sweetie knows what she's doing."
"No Scoots! Ah ain't leavin' neither of them! Neither should ya." Applebloom said.
She's not gonna leave until Spike and I are safe. I've got to think fast. Sweetie thought.
Sweetie's first move was to suck off the ectoplasm off of his head. He still lay there in a daze, his eyes rolling around in his head. Sweetie looked back, behind Scootaloo and Applebloom where the foal was. It was ready to spit again.
"Get down!" Sweetie barked.
The two did as they were told, barely dodging the flying bit of ectoplasm. Sweetie quickly sucked the substance out of the air, causing the 5th light on the GCD to go on. Sweetie turned back onto the skele-ghost, who was still charging at them. She switched to her Spectral Throwback and fired a shot at the ghost. Its skeletal armor flew right out of it. Once Sweetie had regained her aim from the nozzle recoil, she fired a second shot, defeating the grinning skeleton ghost.
"Sweetie! Look out!" Scootaloo yelled.
Sweetie turned back around to see that not only had her friends ducked again, but there was another bit of ectoplasm flying at her face. Sweetie was hit with it, and flew to the ground in much the same way as Spike.
"Sweetie!" Applebloom called.
The filly switched back to the suck function and proceeded to suck off the ectoplasm on her face. She quickly switched back to her GCD throwback and shot the foal ghost out of the air.
"Nice shooting Sweetie." Scootaloo commented.
Sweetie didn't respond, knowing that they were all far from safe now. The laughter had only gotten louder by this point, and her flashlight was out too.
"Sweetie, you alright?" Spike asked getting up. Sweetie wasn't listening, more interested in what was behind the dragon... Two more skele-ghosts, and three lickers were charging at them from down the hallway.
"I'm fine, but for Celestia's sake RUN!" Sweetie ordered, running from the group of ghosts that was coming their way. Seeing that her crush and friend were ok, Applebloom listened to Sweetie and continued to run. Sweetie could barely see the stairwell opening at the end of the hallway...
Sweetie looked back every few seconds, noticing how the ghosts were going faster than them... at least faster than Spike and Sweetie. It wouldn't be much longer before they caught up with the two of them. Things looked grim for Sweetie and Spike at that point. They weren't going to make it...
Just when neither child could think the situation could possibly get worse, Sweetie and Spike heard the crackling of wood under their feet.
"You've got to be-" Sweetie said before the floor gave under their feet. "Kiiiding meee!" Sweetie screamed as they fell.
"Sweetie!" Scootaloo called.
"Spik'!" Applebloom called.
The two fillies turned back around to see the hole that they'd fallen through. They could see the two of them lying on their backs. The fall must have been a good 15 or 20 feet... thankfully, they both fell onto a bed together, in the room below.
"We... we're fine..." Sweetie said painfully. "Run... go..." Sweetie strained, getting up, followed by Spike.
Before any other words could exchange, or actions could be done, the floorboards that had broken around the three of them disappeared as the hole in the ceiling they'd fallen through quickly closed itself... as if they'd never gone through to begin with.
"Sweetie. What in the hay was that?!" Spike asked, still getting a bit of panic out of his system.
"Those... those were terrible things." Sweetie said, still trying to get her own head together.
"No, I mean that" Spike said, pointing to the ceiling.
"Uh, yeah... that was another terrible thing. This entire house is a terrible thing."
"You mean that kind of stuff just... happens?!" Spike asked.
"Something like that." Sweetie said. "C'mon. We've got to get out of here." The filly jumped off of the bed, followed by Spike.
"Uh... right." Spike said, still startled from the closing of the ceiling.
Sweetie picked up her flashlight that had fallen to the side of the bed. It was working again. She used it to locate the wooden door that was likely the exit to the room.
"Sweetie?" Spike asked.
The filly put her hoof on the knob before turning to the dragon. "Hm?"
He went up alongside Sweetie, as though he was ready to say something important...
"Uh... never mind." Spike said, losing whatever nerve he had.
"Ok." Sweetie said smiling. "Just let me know if there's anything on your mind. 'Kay?"
"Well then uh... what now?" Spike asked, not making direct eye contact with the filly.
"Hm... I guess the best way to go is to keep heading down our hallway in the same direction as Scoots and Applebloom. Hopefully, if we didn't get teleported to an entirely different part of the mansion altogether, we should meet up with them soon."
"If they got away." Spike blurted.
"DON'T... don't say that Spike." Sweetie said, looking down.
"I-I'm sorry Sweets. I didn't mean to..." Spike said.
"It's fine." Sweetie said, looking back up to the dragon. Sweetie had already gone through hell to bring her friends back. The thought of losing them again was a little unbearable. She took a deep breath and sighed. "We've got to get out of here."
Spike nodded as Sweetie opened the door to the hallway. Once they entered, they were relieved to find that it wasn't as cold as the one that was above them... was it? Both Spike and Sweetie looked down each end of the hall. It was moonlit thankfully, but the filly wasn't where they were exactly. From either side of the hallway, they couldn't see anything that looked like a stairway...
"Ha. Perfect." Sweetie said bitterly.
"Where are we Sweetie? Weren't we just... shouldn't we be-"
"I know..." Sweetie sighed. "Well, I guess all we can do is pick a direction and walk. Hope we meet up with them soon."
"Ok. You lead the way then." Spike said.
Sweetie decided to go right on a whim, only hoping that they might somehow come across their friends again...
***
Spike and Sweetie remained silent for a while. Sweetie wasn't entirely sure why Spike was so quiet, but she was apprehensive to conversing with the dragon again after earlier. Still though, every time she looked back at him, she saw something in his eyes... it was the eye of someone with something on their mind. Sweetie wanted to ask what, but always ended up just continuing to look back, forward into the stretching hallway. The only times that Sweetie even made any real contact with Spike was when he got another headache, in which Sweetie stopped to comfort him. He'd blush, say thanks, and they'd keep moving. Sweetie did her best not to give the behavior a second thought...
By now, Sweetie was used to silence, but with someone there, especially a friend like Spike, it seemed unnerving to her. She had to say something... so she chose a subject they could both relate on.
"I uh... still have to catch my sister you know."
"Huh?" Spike asked, looking up at Spike.
"Rarity." Sweetie said.
"Catch her... you mean, she's turned into one of those ghosts?"
Sweetie nodded.
"Oh... well, you seem to be pretty good at it. I'm sure you'll catch her in no time." Spike said optimistically.
There were a few moments of silence.
"I was um... hoping for a little more of a reaction Spike." Sweetie said.
"What? Why's that?" Spike asked.
"Oh come on, Spike. Every pony knows that you have a crush on Rarity." Sweetie grinned, briefly looking back at Spike.
"Oh... I'm not into her anymore." Spike said.
Sweetie stopped in her tracks.
"What's wrong Sweetie? Why'd you stop?" he asked.
"Say that... one more time." Sweetie said, not looking back at Spike. She couldn't have heard him right.
"...What's wrong Sweet-"
"No, the other thing." Sweetie said.
"... I'm not into your sister?" Spike said.
Sweetie turned around. Her eyes were crossed. "Who in the hay are you?"
"What?"
"Don't you what me." Sweetie said, taking a step toward Spike. "How can you be Spike if you’re not hopelessly in love with my big sis?"
"Sweetie, hold up-"
"No!" Sweetie said, aiming her GCD at Spike. The dragon put his claws up in the air as looked down the nozzle hole. "Now I'm gonna ask you again. Who-the-hay-are-YOU?!"
"Sweetie just listen ok?" Spike said. Once a little of the rage left Sweetie's eyes, he saw it safe enough to put his arms down. "Ok, I'll admit it, I had a little tiny teeny little crush on your sister... a bit."
A little? Sweetie thought in disbelief. Sweetie had already spoken to Rarity every now and again regarding his little crush. She always talked about how cute it was that he thought she was "most beautiful creature to ever exist" or "the nicest pony to ever live in Equestria"... She even talked about how he tried to "confess love to her" when they were falling from Spike's grown spurt. Sweetie wasn't sure if it counted as "little" if the mare knew it already, and enjoyed playing with his head over her actually being his "mare friend".
"But... not anymore." Spike finished. "But I do have a new one."
By now, Sweetie had calmed down, letting go of the GCD nozzle. Her brain had processed that if this wasn't Spike, then whoever it was would have killed her by now before trying to pass themselves off as the dragon.
"Who?"
"It's... some pony around my age."
"Applebloom?" Sweetie asked hopefully.
"No." Spike said.
"Scootaloo?" Sweetie asked curiously.
"No!" Spike said.
"Dinky?" Sweetie asked.
"No." Spike said.
"... Twist?" Sweetie guessed.
"Hay no!" Spike said.
That'd be too good to be true I guess. Poor Twist... Sweetie thought.
"Then wh-" Sweetie was interrupted by the sound of some door slamming further down the hallway. Sweetie could only assume it was a ghost... or worse, Gilda and Luna. "Spike. We gotta hide." she whispered.
"Uh..." he hesitated.
"Come on!" Sweetie said, pulling the dragon into a random room. Once inside, Sweetie closed the door as silently as she could. She put her ear to the door, as she heard hoof steps walking by. It wasn't long before they started to fade away. They weren't gone, but they were far away enough for Sweetie to assume that they were safe for now. "We can lay low here." Sweetie said turning to Spike.
The dragon had gone over to a desk in what Sweetie had identified to be another study. Not as grand as the first one she found Specter in, but a study all the same. The biggest items Sweetie saw first were two love seats, a few paintings, and a desk. The only item in the room however that didn't have a white sheet over it... was the desk. In fact, a small candle was lit, illuminating its surface. Spike took off the desk what he identified as a quill.
"Hey, Sweetie. Look what I found." he said raising it.
"Nice. You mentioned something about that earlier, right?" Sweetie asked.
"Yeah. Hey, Sweetie. Let me check out that note Pinkie gave you." Spike said.
"Sure." Sweetie said, reaching into her saddlebags. She took out the note and gave it to him. He examined the note and nodded.
"I was right. This is enchanted parchment." Spike confirmed.
"Oh?" Sweetie asked.
"Yeah. Twilight keeps some around her so she can always send a letter to the princess when she needs me to."
"So?" Sweetie asked.
"So I could use this piece to write a letter to the princess telling her about all of this." Spike explained.
Spike started to write something on the blank side of Pinkie's note. Once he was halfway finished, something hit the filly.
"Spike, I don't think that's a good idea." Sweetie said.
"What? Why?" Spike asked, jumping down off of the table.
"Well... Celestia came to the party, and so far, every pony I've known... besides Scootaloo, Applebloom and you of course... has been turned into ghosts. All that note will probably do is tell Specter where we are." Sweetie explained.
"Wow. I never thought about it that way Sweets." Spike said, taking a couple steps toward her. "You were always a smart filly."
"Uh... thanks?" Sweetie said sheepishly, taking a couple steps back. Spike only got closer as she continued to move backwards.
"Sweetie... you were wondering who was the pony who stole my heart?" Spike asked, getting closer to Sweetie.
Sweetie wasn't really listening to the dragon anymore. The way that he looked at her was creeping her out. She was even getting a little scared... no, that wasn't the word. It was fear... but it was also nervousness. Sweetie's eye darted at the door, which Spike blocked her path too as he drove her further and further into the corner of the room.
"Spike, what-"
"I'll give you a hint. It's a little filly I know very well." Spike said.
Sweetie's flank was up against the corner by now. Her heart began beating faster as she started to panic. Within just a few moments, she was trapped by the dragon.
"S-spike, stop-p it." Sweetie stuttered. A bead of sweat dropped down the back of her neck.
"And that filly had a gorgeous sister." Spike said.
"Spike, I mean it. S-"
Spike's nose touched Sweetie's.
"And that filly... she had a beautiful mulberry mane."
"W-" Sweetie tried to say... before her lips came in contact with Spike's.
The filly's eyes contracted. She wasn't sure what she was feeling anymore. Surprise? Fear? Confusion? Embarrassment? The filly wasn't quite sure what to feel at that point. Any focus the filly had prior to entering the room was shattered into tiny little pieces. What in the hay was-
"SWEETIE BELLE!" Applebloom yelled angrily from the entrance to the door.
And by that point, the little pieces of focus that were shattered were broken into even smaller pieces as Spike separated his face from Sweetie's, staggering back to clutch his head painfully. Sweetie's eyes went to the door, where she saw Applebloom, with a look of horror, shock, disgust... and possible hatred. Scootaloo on the other hand, couldn't help but hold in a grin, which burst into her laughing and rolling around on the floor.
Sweetie felt dizzy as she got her flank off of the wall Spike had driven her to. Applebloom clenched her teeth, obviously furious with Sweetie. She looked like she was going to say something... but ended up just leaving the doorway altogether to wait in the hallway. Once Scootaloo got up, she walked over to Sweetie, who was still somewhat in a daze.
"Come on you two. We've gotta go." She said, with a silly grin on her face.
Spike groaned before looking at Sweetie, and blushing again, with a face of disbelief. He quickly exited the room.
"Uh... yeah..." Sweetie said heading for the door.
"Sweetie, what's this?" Scootaloo asked, heading over to the table, and taking the piece of parchment and quill.
"Oh... bring that stuff too, I guess." Sweetie said, stumbling out of the room. As she was joined by Scootaloo, the group began silently walking in a direction led by Applebloom and Scootaloo. No matter what though, Sweetie couldn't get the same thought off of her mind that was on everyone's...
Sweetie's first kiss had come from a dragon.
Spike had just kissed her...
***
It wasn't very long that the four children had to walk down the hallway before they'd finally come across the stairwell Applebloom and Scootaloo had taken. Thankfully, the mansion had only transported then further back from the two fillies, rather than taking them to some random part of the mansion.
"See guys? Told ya it wasn't far. Can't really figure out how you two didn't see it from your floor." Scootaloo said. No pony nor dragon answered the filly. The filly's smile faded. The humor from the kiss had worn off. She herself was beginning to feel down from the other three's attitude. Scootaloo blankly looked to the side, her head unable to get out of the room, or that corner Spike got her into for that matter. Spike looked to the opposite side of Sweetie, unable to believe what he'd just done. Applebloom looked forward, cross eyed, and unable to look anywhere but forward. She wasn't sure if she should have been angry for what Sweetie did, or upset that she'd likely lost her chance at being with Spike.
"Guys, aren't you gonna say anything?" Scootaloo asked, as the three of them began to descend down the stairs.
"Ah ain't got nothin' ta say ta any a ya." Applebloom said, not looking at Scootaloo.
"Oh come on. I bet it was all just a big misunderstanding, right guys?" Scootaloo asked, looking back at Sweetie and Spike. Spike kept quiet while Sweetie mumbled something neither filly could understand. "...well, I'm sure there's something behind it. It's not like Spike just-"
"Scoots, if ya ain't gonna keep yer mouth shut, can we talk 'bout somethin' else?" Applebloom snapped.
Scootaloo went silent as they continued to descend down the stairs. They passed several floors... no one bothered counting how many... up to the point they had to stop.
"Whoa." Scootaloo said looking in front of them. The group couldn't move forward, given the stairs heading down had been ripped out. Planks were scattered at different parts of the stair well, but not enough to call the area anything more than a pit down to the first floor. "Who the hay did this?" Scootaloo asked.
Sweetie lifted her and opened head to answer, but then she saw Applebloom, and ended up looking back down at the ground. It depressed the filly that she may have just lost one of her best friends again.
"Uh... ok, now what. Any ideas?" Scootaloo asked, looking back at the group. Again, no one answered. "You guys are no help at all. Fine. Let's just head back to the next floor up." she decided. She went past Applebloom, Sweetie and Spike to lead them back up to the last floor they could access. Once out of the stairwell in the new hallway. Scootaloo turned and looked at them. She thought for a moment before saying something. "Look. All of you." she started. She had a bit more of a serious tone now. "I don't know what happened in that room, how it happened, or why it happened, but let me tell you, I don't care, and neither should any of you. Especially you Sweetie."
The filly looked up at Scootaloo at the sound of her name.
"You guys saw those ghosts chasing us. They barely caught us too." Scootaloo continued. "We can't let a little smooch break us all up when any second those ghosts could attack us."
".... you’re right Scootaloo." Sweetie said. She could put aside her emotions and deal with Spike later. The only one the filly was still worried about was Applebloom and what she'd probably done to her...
"At least some pony understands." Scootaloo smiled.
"Ok... well, i don't think there's really any point in trying to look for another staircase." Sweetie figured.
"What? Why not?" Scootaloo asked.
"Well, this is the second stairwell I've found like this... and Pinkie was the one who did it probably. Remember Pinkie's ghost?" Sweetie explained. "Anyway, more than likely, she probably messed with all or most of the staircases in one way or another. So it's probably best to work with the one we've got here."
"Ok, then what?" Scootaloo asked.
"Well... I think we need to find something to get past the floors that are missing steps. Right now I think it's a floor-"
"Two floors actually, I think." Scootaloo corrected.
"Right. That means we can't jump it without breaking a leg... or getting hurt by whatever debris lying at the bottom. Heck, even if you hovered down there, you'd be falling too fast to get cut by all of the jagged planks..." Sweetie said. "But... if we could find something... maybe a rope or something-"
"We could get as close as possible to the ground to avoid breaking something, or getting cut."
"Or at least minimize the possibility." Sweetie said.
"That's a great plan Sweetie. Where'd you learn to come up with stuff like that? I never saw you as the planner type."
"It's nothing really. I had to keep thinking like this all night to stay alive." Sweetie said, attempting to give a small smile.
"Any other ideas then?" Scootaloo asked.
"We should also... split up."
"What?" Scootaloo asked. This didn't sound like a smart plan and Sweetie knew it. The filly proceeded to elaborate.
"We need to cover ground as fast as possible. You saw how many ghosts showed up when we were in a group like this earlier. And that wasn't all of them either. Not only will we find what we're looking for faster, but we'll hopefully keep them from finding us if we travel in smaller numbers."
"Ok... then how are we gonna do it then?"
"I'll go with Applebloom and you go with Spike."
"Uh, Sweetie?" Scootaloo asked, looking at the filly peculiarly. "Why specifically the-"
"Because I have my flashlight that ghosts don't seem to like, and Spike has his fire breath. Ghosts don't like fire."
"But Spike's flame is so small. How would they-" Scootaloo stopped, looking into Sweetie's eyes. That particular set up wasn't just for strategy reasons... "... alright fine. I'll look around with Spike, and you can look around with Applebloom. We'll met up in the hallway in say... 20 minutes. If not, we can find each other if something goes bad, or we find something."
"We'll take the right side of the hallway doors, and you guys take the left side doors." Sweetie said.
"Fine. Stay safe." Scootaloo said pulling on Spike. "Come on Romeo. Let's get searching."
"Okay..." he mouthed before following Scootaloo into one of the rooms, leaving Applebloom and Sweetie alone in the hallway.
"...Apple-" Sweetie started.
"Don't say nothin'." She said. "Let's just git ta lookin'." She said heading into some random door.
"Fine..." Sweetie said, following Applebloom.
Rather than Sweetie leading the way, Applebloom was the one who led them from room to room. Most of the rooms was the same generic bedroom, holding nothing of interest inside. Sweetie however, wasn't exactly looking thoroughly. She was trying to figure out what she could say to her friend... the friend she'd basically betrayed.
Did I really betray her? Spike was the one who kissed me. Sweetie thought. No... no, I could have stopped him. Why the hay didn't I stop him? I could have, right? And Applebloom... who knows what's going through her head. Spike's the only one I knew of that she had any real feelings toward beyond the average friendship...
Sweetie racked her brain from room to room, trying to figure out. What did she say? What could she say to keep Applebloom from hatting her... she did hate her right?
Finally, the two of them came across a door... this door was different however. Its lock... it was broken. Bits and pieces of the contents originally inside of the keyhole were lazily hanging out... was this door locked before Sweetie came to it? Sweetie gave an unsure look to Applebloom, who simply looked in her opposite direction. Sweetie then turned back to the door, and pushed it open. With the lock utterly destroyed, it opened easily with a creak.
Inside, much like the other rooms she'd come across so far in the hallway, there were no windows... but it was definitely not a bedroom. Instead, the room was bare, beside a table that sat at the center of the room with a red lamp next to it. It was the first real sign of modern day technology Sweetie had come across in the mansion. Up to this point, Sweetie had yet to come across any magically electrified equipment like her flashlight. The red lamp creepily lit the entire room up, revealing what was along the walls. Rather than paintings, there were photos, taken by a camera. While some seemed to be in mid development, others were finished... it seemed to be some kind of dark room used to process photos. All of the equipment needed for such a project was there... except for an actual camera.
Guess that'd be too much to hope for... Sweetie thought.
Sweetie looked along the walls and was somewhat shocked. Along those walls were photos of ghosts. There were the ghosts that she'd seen before, such as the butlers, the foals, the lickers, the K-9s... but there were also ones that Sweetie didn't even recognize. There was one light blue one with enormous hands, one that was striped like a zebra, one that had spikes sticking out of its body... she even noticed a brown buffalo ghost, and a griffon ghost. Sweetie was just awed by the variety of ghosts that existed... each of them having a date beside them that had the words "discovery" behind them. Chances were, they were all the years that they'd shown up. They dated back as far and beyond the journal entries Sweetie had found so far. The farthest back was 100 B.C. It was a white ghost, round as a ball with a toothy grin, and its tongue sticking out... it didn't even look like a pony, or any creature Sweetie could name. Maybe it was some kind of prehistoric creature. On an entirely separate wall... there were just pictures of the sun and moon. They were all in the same pattern: Sunrise, Noon, Sunset, Moonrise, Midnight, Moonset, Sunrise... the pattern kept up until one picture came that Sweetie had only saw in her history books. It was a Solar Eclipse. Sweetie wasn't sure what it meant, so she picked it up. On the back of the photo, it simply said: End.
Sweetie pocketed the photo and went to the table at the center of the room. Among the various pieces of equipment she saw, she noticed two photos facing down. There was something written there. On one it said: The mare knows the combinations... and the other simply said: Be careful. One more. You'll find the villain. - Madame. Though Sweetie figured out the second one was likely referring to her capture of Marbles and Candy... however she couldn't figure out what mare Madame was referring to. Sweetie overturned the photos to find that they weren't pictures of ghost ponies or sun patterns... but they were items she'd already seen. One was a journal page, and the other was the first music box Sweetie found. The funny thing was that the journal page was still in the book, and that the music box looked much less dusty...
"Sweetie?" Applebloom said before she could examine the photos anymore. Sweetie's eyes snapped toward Applebloom. This was the first time since the kiss that the filly had said anything.
"What's up Applebloom?" Sweetie asked, sticking the pictures in her saddlebags for later.
"Ah... ah was just wonderin'... whe Spik'... when ya... when ya'll kissed... did ya like it? Did 'e like it?" She asked shyly.
"No!" Sweetie exclaimed. "I mean, I didn't not like it, but I didn't like it either."
"Righ'..." Applebloom said looking away.
"Applebloom, look. Sweetie said, going up alongside the filly. "What happened in that room, was a stupid mistake of me. I like Spike, but not like... well, you do."
"Then why'd ya kiss him?"
"I didn't! He did."
"So... he really like's ya then." Applebloom said lowering her head.
Ouch, bad move. Sweetie thought. "N-no... I don't think so."
"Then how do ya explain that 'e kissed ya w'thout ya needin' ta do nothin'?"
I will admit, she's got a point. I don't remember doing anything memorable that would get the dragon to even think about me more than Applebloom...
"I... I don't know." Sweetie said. "... but I bet he really likes you."
"You tryin' ta lie ta me again Sweetie?"
What, you didn't believe my first ones?
"No no! I just think... well, this mansion can mess with you when you’re scared. Make you see things that you shouldn't be... make you think you like some pony when you really don't... I bet you, that once we're out of this mansion, Spike will be all over you again."
"Implying tha' 'e even knew ah existed ta begin wit'." Applebloom sighed.
"I promise." Sweetie said.
"Fine..." Applebloom sighed.
"So... we talking again?" Sweetie asked.
"Fer now... less ya try somethin' lik' that again." Applebloom said. There was still a good amount of bitterness in her voice, indicating the filly hadn't entirely won her friend back. "Yer gonna regret it if ya do."
Not sure why Applebloom, but I get the distinct feeling that you’re threatening me... Sweetie thought.
Applebloom then gave her friend a forced smile, causing Sweetie to smile as well. At least her friend was trying to forgive her for taking her only crush... still, she could also see a hint of sadness in her eyes. Something told the filly that she'd have to figure out a way to make good on her promise to get Applebloom and Spike together.
"Hey guys! Come out where ever you are!" Scootaloo called from the hallway.
Sweetie and Applebloom went back outside to see Spike and Scootaloo with several bed sheets. Spike had one over his head.
"Uh, guys? I don't think the ghosts will buy that as a disguise." Sweetie said.
"It's not a disguise, it's our ticket down to the first floor.
"How?" Sweetie asked.
"Easy. All we got to do is tie the sheets up to each other and we've got ourselves a rope." Scootaloo explained. "I read it in a book."
"Uh, correction Scootaloo. It was my idea, and I read it in a book." Spike said.
"That's a little more believable." Sweetie said. "Every pony knows Scootaloo doesn't read."
"Whatever. In any case, you guys want to help us out?"
"Ah reckon we can do that." Applebloom said stepping forward. Scootaloo smiled, thankful that Sweetie had actually managed to lighten Applebloom's mood. Sweetie smiled likewise, noticing a little more happiness in Spike's attitude. As they tied each bed sheet to each other, for the moment, things seemed to be normal. Just being together doing the simple activity felt like another activity they did to attempt to get their cutie mark. Just another day in the life of a Cutie Mark Crusader... and it was refreshing to the filly. No doubt about it, from an emotional standpoint, no matter what, the simple presence of the CMC and even Spike in this mansion was the healthiest pony interaction she'd had all night.
It didn't take very long for the four of them to finish tying each bed sheet to each other. The result was a string of three bed sheets, at about 25 feet length total. They all figured this was more than enough to get down to the bottom without risk of injury. With that, they headed back to the stairwell to attempt to figure out how to climb down. Along the way, Sweetie stumbled to the side, and fell against a wall.
Her three friends turned around to see what was wrong with their friend.
"You okay Sweets?" Scootaloo asked.
"Yeah... just got dizzy for a sec." Sweetie said, getting off of the wall. She shook her head as the dizziness quickly left. "You guys feel dizzy?"
"I'm good." Scootaloo said.
"Ahm fine." Applebloom said.
"I was earlier, but I'm good." Spike said.
"Why?" Scootaloo asked.
"Just... curious." Sweetie said. Given that her friends weren't experiencing Sweetie's symptoms, it couldn't have been another mental manipulation... maybe Sweetie was sick or something? "Let's just get going before we're stampeded by some more ghosts."
Once the group reached the stairwell, they walked down to where the planks were pulled out, previously halting their progress. Sweetie checked the banister that was attached to the stair case. She jiggled it a little bit.
"Hm... I don't trust this thing to hold any of our weight." Sweetie figured. "We can't tie the sheets here."
"Then what?" Scootaloo asked.
"... I guess some pony will have to hold it while everyone else will climb down." Sweetie said. "I'll do it."
"Why not Spike?" Scootaloo asked. "He's got those... what were they?"
"Opposable claws." Spike said.
"Right. That makes him the better candidate to go down first." Sweetie explained. "He can spot you and Applebloom as you shimmy down. With those claws, he'll be able to catch you better if you fall."
"Lik' a spotter?" Applebloom asked.
Sweetie nodded. "Plus, with those thick scales, he'll keep from getting splintered on the wood if it's really bad down there."
Scootaloo looked at Sweetie, amazed, and somewhat jarred by the filly's ability to think things through. She knew that Sweetie said it had become an adapted ability, but the question became, from what... Scootaloo was beginning to wonder seriously what in the hay had Sweetie been through so far... to cause her mind to evolve in such a way...
Sweetie put her flashlight down to her side. While holding one end of the bed sheet rope in her teeth, she threw the other end down the pit like staircase.
"Alright Spike. Down you go." Sweetie said through the sheet, motioning for Spike to begin his decent.
"Right... Sweetie?" Spike asked.
Sweetie merely looked at Spike, rather than giving him any worded response. The dragon didn't blush this time, instead rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "Uh... never mind. I'll tell you later."
"Then let's get going. The longer we're here, the more dangerous it gets." Sweetie said. Spike nodded in agreement before climbing onto the rope and sliding down. There was a small crunch after a few seconds.
"You alright Spik'?" Applebloom called out of concern. Even still, her heart for the dragon was still strong... even if it had been fractured a little.
"Yeah! There's a bunch of wood down here, just like Sweetie said." Spike called back. "I can feel it scratching my scales."
"Good call Sweets." Scootaloo said.
"Let me just move this stuff around so you guys don't get nicked by a piece of wood." Spike said. They heard the sound of wood being shifted around. "Ok, you guys are good to go!"
"After you Applebloom." Scootaloo said. Applebloom carefully gripped the bed sheet rope and began to shimmy down. Given she hadn't had much practice at it, the climb was slow, and Sweetie, more than once thought the rope would slip out of her teeth... but she made it.
"Ahm down! C'mon, yer turn Scoots." Applebloom called.
"Hey Sweets, why don't you go instead." Scootaloo suggested.
"What? Why?" Sweetie asked. Scootaloo didn't say anything, but simply showed Sweetie by extending her wings. "Can you control your flying enough to hover down lightly?"
"Of course I can." Scootaloo said. "Besides, who's gonna let you down when I go?"
Sweetie thought for a moment. That made sense... but why did is seem wrong at the same time?
Because I'm wrong... I'm always wrong a thought popped into Sweetie's head.
"Huh?" Sweetie asked.
"What?" Scootaloo asked.
Sweetie shook her head. She wasn't sure where it had come from, but something had just spoken to her... didn't it? Sweetie couldn't have been losing her mind again, like with Twilight right? From what she understood, any pony caught in the mental manipulation field would experience something...
"Nothing. I'll start climbing." Sweetie said, handing the rope to Scootaloo. She then went to pick up her flashlight and stick it into her saddlebags. Making sure she wasn't leaving anything behind, the filly began to climb.
Second only to Spike, Sweetie seemed to have climbed the fastest so far. Between the theater and the circus, the filly deemed herself to be one of the best ponies she knew that could do such a difficult climb with hooves. She was good at it... and probably wouldn't have messed up if it wasn't for her second dizziness. For a moment, Sweetie felt faint... and it only took a moment for her for her to lose her grip on the rope. Sweetie fell back off of the rope and began to free fall. Her hat fell off of her head as she fell. The filly screamed in terror, believing she would die once she hit the bottom... however, she was caught by Spike just in time.
"What happened?! Sweetie! You alright?!" Scootaloo called. It took a moment for the white filly to get herself together, get out of Spike's arms and pick up Applejack's hat. "I'm fine."
"What happen'd ta ya Sweetie? Ya lost yer grip?" Applebloom asked.
"S-something like that." Sweetie said. She looked at Spike... he was staring at her again with the same googly eyes as before. Before Applebloom could get a chance to notice Spike's romantic behavior again, Sweetie turned back up to Scootaloo. "Hey Scoots! You want to hurry it up already?"
"We ain't got all day!" Applebloom joined, looking up into the darkness.
"Alright, alright. Don't get your bow in a knot." Scootaloo called back. Scootaloo dropped the rope down before hovering down. The hover wasn't slow, so the orange filly ended up coming down hard... right on top of Applebloom.
"Oof!" Applebloom said as Scootaloo lie on top of her.
"Hey, thanks for cushioning my fall Applebloom." Scootaloo grinned.
"Git off a me." Applebloom said. Scootaloo did.
"Ok Sweetie, what's the next plan?" Scootaloo asked.
Sweetie thought for a minute before shrugging. "I dunno."
"C'mon Sweetie. Y'all know more-" Applebloom started.
"I know, I know..." Sweetie sighed. "Well... as long as the mansion doesn't change up on us like it did with Spike and I, our best bet is to find the courtyard... then maybe find our way to the theater... all we can do after that is wing it from there."
"Ain't too keen on th' thought a wanderin' this 'ere mansion aimlessly." Applebloom said.
"Best plan we've got for now." Sweetie said.
"Okay then, let’s go." Scootaloo said. "You lead the way Sweets."
Sweetie nodded before heading forward.
"Sweetie wait." Spike said.
Sweetie turned her head back around to look at the dragon. He still looked nervous, but at the same time, he seemed to build up enough nerve to say something to her.
"I... was just wondering..." he started. "Do... were you around Twilight lately?"
"... yes. Why?" Sweetie asked.
"Well... remember in that study when I suggested writing to Celestia, and you said no, and I..." he paused for a moment, reluctant to get into the details of what happened next. "A-anyway, I got to thinking. If I couldn't write to Celestia... maybe I could write to Twilight. I mean... Celestia enchanted me and my fire breathing to be able to teleport any enchanted parchment to her at any time... but I also learned I could send my fire messages to other ponies as well, if I had some kind of item that came from them. Do you have anything like that?"
Sweetie thought for a moment before shaking her head. "No, I don't..." she thought again. "Wait... you said anything that came from them?"
Spike nodded.
"...like... like magic? Does that count?" Sweetie asked.
"As long as it hasn't been enchanted by some other unicorn stronger than Twilight... yeah. Stuff she used her magic on should work." Spike confirmed.
Sweetie reached into her saddlebags and pulled out one of the heart candies. "Twilight made these with her magic. It heals injuries... but she was the one who enchanted it with a healing spell. Will this work?"
"Worth a shot. Let me see the note and the quill." Spike said, taking the heart candy. Sweetie went into her saddlebags to give Spike the two items he requested.
Spike got down to the ground and began to finish his note. The CMC gathered around Spike to see what he was writing. Sweetie took out her flashlight to assist him.
"Wait, can't Twilight teleport or something? Can't unicorns do that?" Scootaloo asked.
"Exactly." Spike said. "I'm gonna tell her we're going to that courtyard Sweetie talked about, so she could just come and take us someplace safer... as long as she's seen this part of the mansion to teleport to."
She must have been in some other part of the mansion when I got there... so one could only hope... Sweetie thought.
"Also, tell her that Pinkie's caught. It's the only reason she'll even think about coming out." Sweetie said.
"Why's tha'?" Applebloom asked.
"Er... I'll tell you once we're there." Sweetie said. "Trust me, you'll understand when we get there."
"Ok... Courtyard... Pinkie's captured... anything else?" Spike asked.
"Tell her we're gonna wait there for about 10 minutes... and that if she doesn't find us, that means something went wrong, we ran into something on the way or we went to find our own way." Sweetie said.
Spike nodded as he wrote. "Ok, now just to send it off." Spike said. He wrapped the candy heart with the note, creating a little ball. Once finished, he put the paper ball on the ground and blew his green flame on it. The paper glowed green as it started to burn.
They waited around it for a couple minutes. "Uh... why is it taking so long?" Scootaloo asked.
"It's the candy heart. Once it and the note are all burned up, it'll get sent to her." Spike explained. "That might take a couple minutes."
"In th' meantime, lets git a move on ta th' courtyard." Applebloom said. Sweetie nodded, moving out of the staircase, past any other wood that Spike hadn't moved yet into the new hallway. Sweetie guided her friends through the hallways with one thought on her mind, she kept to herself: Twilight, if she were to teleport, would need magic... magic running out...
Limited magic that was needed to save her friends, and could very well be gone by now...
***
It didn't take the four of them long to reach the courtyard. They ended up blindly following Sweetie through hallway that eventually led to the theater.
"Ok... this is the theater."
Spike sniffed the air. "Hey... anyone else smell smoke?"
Sweetie stared at Spike before remembering that he couldn't remember he was the cause of the scent he smelled. She quickly looked away from him when she noticed Applebloom watching her stare.
"It's nothing. Let's just keep moving." Sweetie said, continuing forward.
"How much farther?" Scootaloo asked.
"Not much. Just down this hallway, and we'll be there." Sweetie said, pointing to the hallway in front of them.
The three of them continued to follow Sweetie. Finally, they made it to the glass door, which was still as open as the filly had left it. The water had dried up a bit as well, though the hallway was still pretty wet from the rain.
"Hey... I've seen this before..." Scootaloo said.
I could imagine. Sweetie said. She did remember Madame saying that Scootaloo might have run through here... The filly wouldn't be surprised if this was the route she took. Sweetie didn't respond however. If she somehow led to any conclusions, she'd rather her figure it out herself.
"Yeah... I mean, there were some torches out there, but I swear I saw this in my dream." Scootaloo said.
"The torches are gone?" Sweetie asked, looking out into the moonlit courtyard. Sure enough, the torches that had guided the filly to the hole into the crypt was gone. The crypt hole itself was also boarded up, with the CMC paper airplane lying on top of it with a bent nose.
"You mean there actually were torches there?" Scootaloo asked.
Sweetie hesitated before seeing no harm in answering honestly. "Yeah."
"Was... there also some kind of... I dunno, cave?"
"Crypt." Sweetie corrected.
"You would know what it was called." Scootaloo commented.
"Well, that's what it is. Caves don't go down. Mines and crypts do, but-"
"Ok, ok, ok. I didn't ask for a whole history lesson." Scootaloo said, rolling her eyes. "But... that's where they put dead bodies, right?"
The three of them went out of the dressing room hallway and into the courtyard. Sweetie nodded to Scootaloo.
"Yeah... cause I remember seeing some dead ponies in my dream."
"Kind of morbid, don't you think Scootaloo?" Spike said.
"Well, it's what I saw... then, something started chasing me."
A bead of sweat dropped down Sweetie's neck. It sounded like she was starting to remember something.
"What chased ya?" Scootaloo asked.
"...ghosts." Scootaloo said, looking at all of her friends. Spike and Applebloom turned around to look at Scootaloo. Sweetie didn't bother looking at them as she went to go examine the paper airplane. It was a little banged up, but not as bad as the first crash. This damage was fixable.
"Ghosts?" Applebloom said. "Bit of a coincidence if ya ask me."
"Then..." Scootaloo closed her eyes, trying as hard as she could to remember. "Then, they cornered me... in this room with other dead ponies. I hid... but one of them found me. A colt, I think."
"A colt?" Spike asked.
"Yeah, a ghost colt." Scootaloo said. "And he... he..."
"Stuck his hoof in your mouth?" Sweetie finished.
The three of them looked at Sweetie. "Yeah. How'd you know?"
"One almost got me once." Sweetie said. "Tried to rip my soul out of my body. It would have too, if Twilight didn't save me."
"Well... I don't think any pony got to me... and I don't think it took anything out of me. It just kept sticking its hoof further down my throat until... its leg was there... then the second leg... then everything goes dark after that."
"Sweetie." Applebloom said, going to the white filly, still looking at the plane. "Sweetie!"
Sweetie didn't turn to look at Applebloom, as though ignoring her would make her go away. Applebloom forced Sweetie to turn around and look at her, the fillies' faces barely two inches from each other.
"Ah know ya know what happened ta Scoots. Ah reckon ya know what happened to all of us." Applebloom said. "Why don'tcha stop lyin' n tell us th' truth already? We're yer friends remember?"
"I... didn't know you still considered me your friend Applebloom." Sweetie said.
"Ya ain't answered mah question. What in the hay happened?" Applebloom asked.
"Let her go Appleb-" Spike started.
"Hold up!" Applebloom said, stopping the dragon from proceeding. Applebloom took a hold of both of Sweetie's fore legs. "Sweetie. Ah don't know what y'all been through, but ya gotta stop lyin. Ya gotta trust us. Tell th' truth already."
Sweetie knew she'd only be able to sidestep the issue for so long. She was going to have to tell them now...
"I... I didn't want you guys to know until we were safe." Sweetie said softly.
"What?" Scootaloo asked, getting closer to Applebloom.
"Just let me go and I'll tell you." Sweetie said. Applebloom did, gently. Every pony stared at Sweetie.
"What's wrong Sweetie? You've been lying to us?" Scootaloo asked. "Why? Don't you trust us?"
Sweetie took a deep breath. "I... did lie, yes." Sweetie said.
"Why Sweetie?" Spike said, joining Scootaloo.
"Because... I didn't want to hurt you with the truth yet. You guys were... you... do you guys hear bells?"
"Sweetie, now ain't the ti-"
"Hold up, I hear it too." Spike said.
"Huh? Ah don't hear nothin'!" Applebloom said.
"Me neither." Scootaloo said. "What are you... guys?"
Neither of them answered. Spike went over to stand over next to Sweetie, and stared into space in some kind of trance.
"The time has come..." Spike said
"It's coming from the church..." Sweetie said.
"What 're you two talkin 'bout?" Applebloom asked.
Neither of them answered, but rather Spike put his arm around Sweetie's and they both began walking back toward the dressing room hallway.
"Hey! Where y'all goin?" Applebloom asked.
"C'mon! Let's follow them." Scootaloo said.
Applebloom nodded. It didn't take a genius to figure out that something was wrong with her two friends, but it still bothered her to see Sweetie break her promise so quickly. Applebloom shook off the feeling, and focused on keeping up with the two of them as they walked.
Sweetie and Spike moved together in unison, leaning on each other as they went through the hallways. Every so often, Spike might nuzzle Sweetie's mane, and the filly would giggle in response. Applebloom flinched every time, while Scootaloo simply watched in dis-satisfaction. The walk didn't last much longer than a couple minutes, as they eventually came across a large metal door. It had an etching of a sun on one side, and a moon on the other... this was the church Sweetie had exited the crypt from. The only difference from then, was that there was a giant splotch of ectoplasm blocking it, and ultimately sealing it.
Once they were in front of the large door, Spike kissed Sweetie on the cheek. Sweetie responded with a kiss of her own on Spike's lips. Applebloom turned away from it, as Scootaloo's jaw dropped.
"What is wrong with you two?!" Scootaloo exclaimed.
Sweetie and Spike separated before collapsing to the ground, holding their heads in pain to another headache. Scootaloo went over to help Sweetie back up on her feet. Applebloom only turned back around to do the same for Spike. Once the two of them were on their feet again, their headaches subsided and was replaced with a bright red blush on each of their faces.
why... Why did I do that?! Sweetie exclaimed in her head. She wasn't sure what had just happened. She didn't feel like she was out of control in any way... no, she definitely still had her own will... yet something in her head just told her to kiss Spike. Something she couldn't explain... Whatever it was though, it didn't change the guilt Sweetie immediately felt upon looking at her friend who she'd just about immediately betrayed... again. I'm guessing a word or two won't really help in this case... better keep my mouth shut.
"Sweetie?" Scootaloo asked. The filly looked at her friend. "I've got a whole bunch of questions for you but... first, where the hay are we?"
Sweetie looked at the door, examining it. "Uh... the church I think." Sweetie confirmed. "Don't remember this wall of ectoplasm blocking the way from before."
"Do you still hear bells?" Scootaloo asked.
Sweetie shook her head. "No... but it do hear... music?" Sweetie's ears perked up to get a better sound. "Yeah, I hear music... wedding music, do you hear it?"
Scootaloo perked her ears as well. "Actually, yeah. From the other side of the door."
"No doubt some pony's in there." Sweetie commented.
"Yeah, but it would take forever to clean this thick gooey stuff off to get in." Scootaloo said.
"Actually..." Sweetie said, raising her GCD nozzle. Making sure it was set to suck, Sweetie cleaned the door of the ectoplasm blockage. The fourth light on Sweetie's back lit up.
"Huh. Now we can get in?" Scootaloo asked.
Sweetie shrugged. "I guess."
"Then let’s-" Scootaloo said, heading for the door.
"Wait!" Sweetie whispered.
"What?" Scootaloo asked.
Sweetie went to the front of the group and by the door. She stuck her ear onto the door. Sure enough, she heard ghost ponies inside, silently giggling.
"What? You hear something?" Scootaloo asked.
"Yeah, a hay load of ghosts." Sweetie said. "I don't think we should-"
"...Sweets?" Scootaloo asked.
"Shhh." Sweetie said, pushing her ear as hard as she could into the door without physically opening it.
Sweetie heard something above all of the other pony voices. They were all voices Sweetie recognized very well.
"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here in the sight of Celestia..." it was Spiffy. He was speaking as the loudest pony in the room. He was saying some kind of speech... which Sweetie almost immediately recognized as a speech done by a priest pony at weddings. Why Spiffy was doing this was beyond the filly... though she continued to listen.
"Master Specter," Spiffy said, "Will you have this lovely mare to be your lawfully wedded wife, to live together in Celestia's ordinance in the estate of matrimony? To love her, comfort her, honor and keep her in sickness and health until death... or whatever comes first, do you part?"
"Specter?" Sweetie said to herself. By now Applebloom had gotten up with Spike, and gathered around Sweetie to see what she was doing.
"Specter? You mean that stallion you mentioned earlier?" Scootaloo asked. "Is he in there?"
"I do." Specter said.
"Yeah." Sweetie whispered. "Apparently, he's getting married. I think it's to a... a..."
"...Sweetie?" Spike whispered. He seemed to, much like Sweetie, get over the kiss. "Get married to a what? Who?"
"No..." Sweetie mumbled. "He couldn't be."
Sweetie closed her eyes, hoping and wishing it wasn't who she thought it was.
"And you. Will you have this stallion to be your handsome wedded husband, to live together in Celestia's ordinance in the estate of matrimony? To love him, comfort him, honor him, and keep him in sickness and health, until whatever comes before death?"
"I do." Rarity said.
Sweetie completely lost all control over her body. All thought of subtlety left her body as she burst through the door and into the nave of the church.
"Sweetie! Wait!" Scootaloo said running after her friend. Only Applebloom and Spike hung in the back of the church, barely entering.
The church had remained the same besides the ghosts that were now sitting inside, except for the windows. They had been boarded up and covered with a curtain to keep the moonlight out. Sweetie and Scootaloo ran down the center aisle, past all of the ghosts who stared at her, grinning. Thankfully, their level of laughter didn't increase upon their rude entrance... yet anyway.
Both of the fillies skidded to a stop once they reached the front of the nave at the crossing.
"Specter!" Sweetie yelled angrily.
"Sweetie!?" Rarity said surprised.
"Rarity!" Sweetie said.
"Sweetie?" Specter asked.
"Specter!" Sweetie yelled angrilly.
"Specter?" Scootaloo asked.
"Scootaloo?" Rarity asked.
"Rarity?" Scootaloo asked.
"Scootaloo." Specter asked.
"Specter!" Sweetie said.
"Get on with it!" Spike yelled from the back of the church.
The door to the church slammed shut on its own, causing every pony to go silent for a moment. Even the ghosts momentarily stopped their laughter.
"... Ms. Belle." Specter said breaking the silence. "How nice of you to join us."
"Cut it Specter." Sweetie said angrily. "What in the hay do you think you’re doing?"
Specter chuckled. "You know, I always thought little fillies like you looked cute when you were having your little tamptrums."
"That's kind of creepy dude!" Spike called from the back. Specter briefly looked at the dragon with a slight hint of annoyance. "For the love of Celestia, some ghost get him."
Two ghosts, a licker and a butler from the benches in the nave flew up into the air and back to Applebloom and Spike. The two tried to evade, however the ghosts were two fast, grabbing them by the stomachs and swooping them into the air. The ghosts hugged the two children to their stomachs, trapping them in their grasp.
"Uh, Sweetie?" Scootaloo said, looking back at their captive friends.
"I know." Sweetie said through gritted teeth.
"Now that that minor annoyance is out of the way... what were you asking dear filly?" Specter asked.
"What are you doing with her?" Sweetie asked angrily.
Specter chuckled. "You mean you can't figure it out yourself? My wife must have been right. You are a stupid filly."
"Master Specter. Do you want us to postpone the ceremony until Ms. Belle and her friends are taken care of?" Spiffy asked.
Specter waved a hoof. "No need. This won't take long. And besides, there's no need to be rude to these fillies. I plan to honor Ms. Belle and Ms..."
"... Scootaloo." Scootaloo said.
"Ah, I do remember my loyal pony-servant mentioning the capture of a pony by that name earlier tonight." Specter said.
"Sweetie? What is he talking about?" Scootaloo asked.
"Not now Scoots." Sweetie said, not taking her eyes off of Specter, or ghost Rarity.
"Tell me!" Scootaloo insisted.
"Later." Sweetie said flatly.
"And now, you stand before me... neither ghostified, nor possessed. I must say Ms. Belle, I'm impressed with your feat of exorcism. Just make sure to keep my children safe in that little box your carrying on your back."
"If you wanted to keep your kids safe, you shouldn't have sent them after me in the first place!" Sweetie shot back.
Specter flinched, as though he'd actually felt a shot of guilt through his body. Then, he laughed. "You surely are a riot Ms. Belle."
"You didn't answer my question. What in the hay do you think you’re doing."
"You mean the church bells, the organ, or this hoof ring," Specter said, holding up a large diamond ring, just about Rarity's hoof size, "Didn't tip you off? This is a wedding Ms. Belle."
"You’re not serious." Sweetie said.
"Oh, I am quite."
"B-but you already have a wife! What about Madame?" Sweetie asked.
"Thanks to you, dear filly, I've been forced to... quit my wife." he said.
"Thanks to me?! Everything's your fault! No pony would be in here if it weren't for you! No pony would have died if it weren't for you! You’re the one who-"
"Shut up Sweetie." Rarity said.
Sweetie did as she was told.
Specter chuckled again. "You can think of me, anyway you'd like Ms. Belle. The facts remain... you are surrounded. Your friends are in danger, you are stupid and my little gem will soon be named Rarity Yield."
"Get away from her." Sweetie said through gritted teeth.
The ghosts began to get up from their seats and float toward Sweetie. Scootaloo's flank went against Sweetie's body as they closed in.
"Sweetie? We've got a problem here." Scootaloo said fearfully.
"Good bye Ms. Belle. And I hope to see you in the-"
"GET AWAY FROM MY SISTER!" Sweetie yelled, pointing her GCD at Specter, before switching to its spectral throwback and firing it at him. The shot was too fast for Specter to even make an attempt to dodge. Sweetie made a direct shot to his neck area, sticking him to the wall closest to him.
"Specter!" Rarity called, flying over to the stallion.
Upon getting hit by the ectoplasm, the ghosts controlled by Specter screamed in pain before falling down around Scootaloo and Sweetie. Even Applebloom and Spike were freed from their captors.
"Nice shot Sweetie!" Spike said, running with Applebloom to reunite with Sweetie and Scootaloo.
"Yeah Sweets." Scootaloo said. "How did you know hitting Specter would stop the ghosts?"
"Uh... I didn't." Sweetie said, sheepishly rubbing the back of her head. "Just lucky guess I suppose."
"I'll take that." Scootaloo said smiling.
So, if Specter's hurt, so are the other ghosts? That's something to keep in mind.
"You..." Rarity said.
Uh oh. Sweetie thought.
"You stupid, idiotic, selfish filly!" Rarity said turning to Sweetie, her blue eyes filled with rage.
"R-rarity?" Sweetie said. "Rarity! It's me! Sweetie!"
"I know exactly who you are, do you think I'm dumb?" Rarity asked, looking at her. "You’re the filly who ruins everything in my life. Every pony I try to love, everything I try to create. Going down in flames because of you, and your carelessness. Sweetie Belle, the sister I wish I never had."
The words stung Sweetie... but she had to remember. She was being controlled by Specter. He was the one talking to the filly... not her.
"Ms. Rarity. He's unconscious." Spiffy said.
"Will my dear be alright?" Rarity asked concerned.
Spiffy nodded. He did something to the goop around Specter's neck sticking him to the wall, before easily pealing it off like a sticker. He lay him down on the floor. "I'll try and wake him up."
"Look what you did Sweetie." Rarity asked. "Now the wedding is ruined..." The ghost mare began to tear up.
"Rarity..." Sweetie said, trying to console.
"Why can't you let me be happy?!" Rarity asked.
Sweetie felt weak, her bones making her sit onto her flank.
"I... I'm sorry Rare-" she said quietly, on the verge of tears.
"Shut up. Both a ya." Applebloom interrupted. Sweetie looked up to see her friend standing at her side. "Y'all both know it's a lie. Ri' Sweetie?"
Sweetie didn't answer. She wasn't entirely sure.
"Stay out of this Applebloom." Rarity commanded.
"Ah ain't gonna let ya make mah friend feel bad from yer lies."
"Yeah!" Scootaloo joined. "That's just a bunch of hay and you know it! Sweetie loves you more than anything in the world! Right Sweets?"
Sweetie looked up, wiping a tear out of her eye. She nodded.
"Hmph. How would you know? How do you know that little filly won't try to keep me to herself?" Rarity asked. "You have no place here." Rarity's frown turned into a smile. Not a grin, but a sadistic smile. "But if you’re so enthusiastic, then you can join my sister then."
"What are ya-" Applebloom started.
The filly wasn't given a chance to finish her sentence as the curtains from the boarded windows were ripped off by Rarity's magic. They quickly swooped down and wrapped each filly individually in the pieces of fabric. Only their heads were visible in the upside down cocoon Rarity had fashioned for them. They all struggled to get free, however, it was no use. They were trapped.
"Uh Sweetie?" Scootaloo asked. "She's got us a little tied up here."
"I know. Shut up." Sweetie said panicked.
"Err, Sweetie?" Applebloom said. "Ah think these 'ere wrappin's are gitt'n tighter."
"I know! Shut up." Sweetie said, even more panicked as the fabric got tighter and tighter around her entire body.
"Sweetie, the blood is rushing to my head!" Spike said.
"I KNOW! Shut up!" Sweetie said, at the peak of her panic. "Rarity! You have to fight it! This isn't you! If not I'm going to-"
"Die?" Rarity said, smiling. "That's the idea. You see Sweetie, there's something you don't quite get. I'm not under Specter's control."
"The hay you aren't!" Sweetie yelled. The filly struggled in her bindings... not to escape however. She had a plan. "You’re not my sister!"
"Oh? Then why is it that other ghosts disappeared when you assaulted my lover.... and I remain here?" Rarity grinned.
"B-because you’re a Portrait ghost?" Sweetie figured.
Rarity shook her head. "Such a sad sad thing to see a child trying to deny the truth."
Sweetie managed to get her hoof into her saddlebags. Now all she had to do was get her item of interest.
"And what's that 'truth' you’re talking about?" Sweetie asked.
Rarity got as close as she could to Sweetie's face, to the point she could feel the mare's icy cold breath. "I... hate... you." She whispered.
Sweetie managed to grab Applebloom's knife and used it to cut through the curtain fabric, causing her to fall to the ground. The contents of Sweetie's saddlebags poured out upon impact as she hit her head. Though she was immediately in pain, Sweetie managed to keep her focus high enough to go for her flashlight and point her GCD nozzle at Rarity.
The mare laughed. "So... you going to fight me then? You’re going to hurt your one and only sister?"
"I'm not going to fight you. I'm going to catch your flank." Sweetie said. "Besides, no matter what you say, I won't believe you’re my sister."
Rarity sighed. "I suppose children like you have to learn the hard way."
Sweetie then heard the sound of nails being ripped out of wood. She saw the boards fall as whatever held them in place was ripped off by her magic. Moonlight flooded the church. Sweetie saw something glimmer in the moonlight... something shiny and sharp.
Dodge! the voice in her head said.
Sweetie jumped back, narrowly dodging a nail that was coming straight for her... no, it wasn't a nail, it was a needle. One a dress maker like Rarity might use to sew. Sweetie heard more wizz through the air. Quickly, Sweetie made the decision to hide under one of the benches she saw in the moonlight. She covered her head as the bench sheet shielded the filly from the barrage of needles coming at her.
"Mr. Butler. Would you be a dear and help me eradicate this little worm?" Rarity asked.
First I'm stupid, now I'm a worm. That's cool. Sweetie thought, figuring out when she should abandon her cover... Sweetie would have used her safe time to attempt to use her ghost book, however it was far away from her, lying among her other items that fell out of her bag. Sweetie'd just have to wing it until she got another chance.
"You know that's not my role Ms. Rarity. I can however give you some ghosts to fight by your side."
"Fine. Do it now."
There was a large knock on the door to the church.
"Sweetie! You in there?!" It was Twilight! Even with her lack of magic, she'd managed to make it.
"Twi!" Spike called. "Twi, is that you?!"
"We're in here!" Scootaloo said.
"Rainbow. Help me break down the door!"
"On it." Rainbow said from the other side. There was a large impact against the door. It shook, showing immediate signs of weakening.
"Oh no you don't!" Rarity said, raising a needle with a metallic looking thread. She shot it at the door faster than a speeding bullet, making a large clank noise.
"What the heck was that?!" Rainbow said surprised from the other side of the door.
The needle shot back through the door, wrapping around the line in which the door would open from. The metallic thread spiraled down, continuously making the clanking noise until the double door was held together by the thread. There was a second impact.
"Twi! The door won't budge!" Rainbow said.
"I think it's sewn it shut!" Twilight said.
"What?! Well unsew it!"
"I have to cut it Rainbow that'll take a bit. We'll be there in a few minutes ok?!" Twilight assured.
If we're not all dead by then. Sweetie thought. She had to get out before Rarity tried something new.
The filly scrambled out of her cover and ran to her friends. She had a good feeling that the flashlight in her mouth wouldn't work against Rarity... but she had an idea she could try.
"Spike!" She said as she got closer to her friends, glancing back at Rarity every few seconds. "I need you to blow as hard of a flame as you can!"
"What? Why?" Spike asked.
"Now's really not the time to argue Spike. Do it NOW!" Sweetie commanded.
Spike took a deep breath and blew a flame at Sweetie. Sweetie switched to her Elemental Capture and sucked up Spike's flame. It wasn't nearly as strong as when Spike was possessed, however, it was just enough to fill the GCD cylinder a quarter of the way. Now Sweetie had something she could possibly fight Rarity with.
As Sweetie turned around to face Rarity, she saw the glimmer of some needles coming her way. Quickly, Sweetie dodged to the right into the benches. Sweetie barely dodged them in time, getting nicked by a needle on the way. A droplet of blood slid down the filly's face. It stung, and Sweetie did her best to ignore the pain... though she was used to pain being inflicted on her, this one in particular needle stung even more than the cuts from Applebloom's knife. Did it just create a deeper cut, or was it that Sweetie watched her sister as they flew at her face...
She circled around the benches, dodging more needles, back over to Rarity, coming up on her side. Sweetie stopped and aimed her GCD at the mare.
"Rarity. Don't make me have to hurt you." Sweetie said.
"What are y'all doin'?!" Applebloom yelled at Sweetie.
"Yeah! She's a ghost! She won't listen to you."
They're right. She's not gonna listen to reason anymore... but then why in the hay am I not pushing the button?! Sweetie thought. She noticed her hooves shook as she pointed the GCD at Rarity in its current setting. The filly remembered how horrified she was when she froze Rarity's head. Freezing the actual Rarity was unthinkable. But she's not Rarity! She's not! Sweetie thought, trying to convince herself to hit the button.
"Stupid, clumsy, and now gutless. What can't you do that isn't disappointing?" Rarity said.
"Sweetie! Look out!" Scootaloo warned.
Sweetie's eye darted to the right as she saw a yellow foal ghost clumsily flying at her. Sweetie jumped back, narrowly dodging it. Sweetie noticed how, unlike before, it didn't seem like it had control over its body. Instead, it seemed like it was being swung around, rather than really flying. Sweetie looked up to see the yellow glow of Spiffy, with a puppeteer’s cross, it's strings attached to the foal as it flew...
Sweetie directed her attention back to Rarity, dodging another group of needles she threw at her.
"Stay still Sweetie! At least do that right!" Rarity said, throwing individual needles at the filly as she dodged each one. The closest calls Sweetie had was twice, where two needles pierced and went through Applejack's hat... Sweetie was almost sure one stayed inside, creating three holes around the hat. The close calls, along with the running from Rarity was tiring the filly out. Her friends noticed as she was getting clumsier and clumsier as she dodged both the flying foal and the needles.
"Twilight?!" Spike called. "How's that door coming?!"
"We're working as fast as we can!" Twilight said. "Just give us a minute!"
Scootaloo looked at Sweetie as she dodged another needle. She was sure that a second one had grazed the side of her coat, creating a long red line of blood. "We don't have a minute! Hurry up!"
Sweetie jumped under one of the benches again to take cover from another barrage of needles. She covered her head fearfully, knowing she'd have to leave soon before the foal came for her.
"We're trying! Just a little longer!" Rainbow said.
Just then, Rarity stopped firing needles at Sweetie's cover. She grinned, as though she'd just gotten an idea.
"Fine... since you’re incapable of staying still... fine." She said calmly. Sweetie stopped covering her head. Something was very wrong, and she knew it. "You may be able to move... but your friends can't."
"Uh, Sweetie?" Applebloom said, panicked as she looked at Rarity. The white ghost mare used her magic to lift several needles before aiming them at her friends.
"Sweetie? Sweetie!" they all called, desperately struggling to get free of their wrappings.
"Say goodbye to your friends Sweetie. I hope you'll understand the loss you've made me endure... through the death of your dear friends."
"No!" Sweetie said, running out from under her cover. The ghost foal was waiting for her, as she dodged it. She ran for Rarity, and pointed her GCD at her. Completely on instinct and without hesitation, Sweetie hit the button, causing a great red flame to be thrown from the nozzle of the GCD.
There was no ding, however Rarity did scream in pain as the fire engulfed her. She fell to the ground, not too far from Sweetie. With her, the needles fell down around her friends' bindings.
Sweetie blinked, coming back to her senses. "Rarity!" Sweetie said, dropping the nozzle and running over to her sister. "Rarity, are you alright? Are you-"
The filly didn't get a chance to finish speaking, or realize her mistake of checking on the mare, before she flew up at Sweetie and grabbed her by the neck.
Sweetie desperately tried to free herself from the mare's grasp, but it was useless. All she could do was look helplessly at the ghost mare's face. She couldn't release herself, or attempt to grab onto the GCD nozzle as her oxygen slipped away. Sweetie heard her friends calling for her, but she wasn't sure as the world around her became blurry. The filly felt her life slowly slipping away...
Sweetie then heard a crash, followed by a thunderbolt. She felt herself fall down to the ground... and she wasn't sure what happened after that, as she fainted.
***
"What... do we do now?" Rarity asked in the darkness, her voice muffled and distant.
"Now, Ms. Rarity... we wait." Spiffy said in a particularly sinister tone. "In just a little bit... Ms. Belle won't be a problem anymore... and I will have for filled my duty...
***
"Sweetie..." said a ghostly voice. "Is she gonna be alright?" the filly felt herself placed down onto the ground.
"She'll be fine. It's just the shock of catching portraits. Did she catch any recently?"
"Not that I remember... hey, I think she's waking up now."
Sweetie moaned painfully. The feel of catching two portrait ghosts was finally beginning to come down on the filly. She felt pain rushing through her body.
"I'm going to try and heal her a bit more." the voice said... it was definitely Twilight. "Sweetie, if you can hear me, stay still. This might hurt at first."
Sweetie felt magic starting to flow though her body, as pain followed. She opened her mouth to scream, but a pained groan only came. The magic flow only lasted for a few minutes.
"That's all I can do for now." Twilight said.
"You've got to do more than that! Look at her!"
"I'm sorry, I just need to save magic for emergencies. She'll survive for now." Twilight said.
Sweetie's eyes fluttered open. Her eyes hurt for a moment before adjusting to the light around her. She was relieved to find herself back in the safe zone... her and her friends still alive. Every pony stood around her, looking at the beaten up filly. Applejack stood, still looking pretty beaten up, though much better than before. Applebloom stood by her. Rainbow and Scootaloo stood together as well. So did Spike and Twilight. Each of them looked at their loved one, before looking back at Sweetie and smiled. The filly herself smiled with pride that she'd managed to reunite them with each other.
"Hey guys." Sweetie said weakly. "What's up?" Sweetie groaned as she tried to get up. Fluttershy advanced, lying a hoof on her abdomen to keep her down.
"Please Sweetie. Rest." she said, smiling sweetly.
"Yeah kid." Rainbow added. "You’re safe now."
About time. Sweetie thought, rubbing her neck.
She looked at her friends, remembering the danger they'd been in. Thankfully, there wasn't a visible scratch on them... but she could see some pain in their eyes, from watching their friend fight Rarity.
"You alri' there Sweetie?" Applebloom asked.
Sweetie nodded. "I've been better, but I'll live." she said. "What... what happened?"
"Well," Scootaloo started, "When Rarity got you by the neck, we all thought you were gonna... you know, die. Anyway, when all hope was lost, Rainbow busted into the room and Twilight shot a bolt of lightning from her horn."
"Almost hit ya too. Good thing Twi ain't a bad shot." Applebloom commented.
"Anyway, Rare screamed and flew up to that butler ghost for protection. Then, Rainbow heroically flew up to the both of them." Scootaloo continued enthusiastically. "Then, she punched Spiffy in the muzzle."
"She flew through him and hit the ceiling." Spike corrected. "Then they both flew away."
"Whatever. Rainbow scared them off!"
"She didn' punch 'em though." Applebloom said.
"Bah. Details, details." Scootaloo said.
The mares smiled at the sound of the children's senseless bickering. After a few more minutes of rest, Sweetie got up again. Without a groan, Fluttershy didn't stop her.
"Now wha'?" Applebloom asked.
"Now? Um..." Sweetie looked around the room. "You guys didn't print out Pinkie yet?"
Applejack shook her head. "Ya'll just got back."
"Then that's what's next." Sweetie said, walking over to the spirit printer. "That's the most important thing right now."
"...any particular reason why?" Twilight asked. "I mean, besides bringing her back."
"Yeah. I had this dream earlier... Rarity was saying something about Pinkie knowing things." Sweetie explained.
"Like what?" Rainbow asked.
"Hopefully, we're gonna find out." Sweetie said, sticking the GCD into the ghost printer.
"Processing..." the spirit printer said as it began to shake and whirl. Sweetie held the nozzle firmly in the hole, as Pinkie went through.
"Hey, is that machine laughing?" Spike asked, hearing giggles come through it.
"No... no, it's not the machine." Sweetie said, hoping Pinkie's ghost wouldn't try anything at the last minute.
After way too much suspense on every pony in the room, the painting of Pinkie popped out of the machine. She wore her pink gala outfit, much like the other mares. Unlike the other mares however, she looked as though she were ready to stuff her face with a white cupcake.
"Error. Error." The machine said. "Unable to create portrait. Other ghosts needed. Containing ghosts until captured."
"Other ghosts?" Fluttershy asked.
"It must be talking about Candy and Marbles." Sweetie figured. "I caught them earlier, after exorcised Scootaloo and Applebloom."
"Exorcised?" both of the fillies said.
"You mean ya'll don't know? Sweetie, ya didn't tell 'em?" Applejack asked.
"Of course not." Sweetie said. "How do you think they'd feel? Besides, we had ghosts flying after us, so it didn't really seem like the most important subject."
"Wait, wait, wait." Scootaloo said. "Back up. What are you talking about exorcism?"
Sweetie rubbed her neck nervously. There was no use in keeping it back now, and here was a better place than any.
"Well, you guys were-" Sweetie started, before she was interrupted by a tapping sound behind her. It was Pinkie's painting, vibrating on the floor.
"Uh... is tha' supposed ta happen?" Applebloom asked.
Everyone stared at the painting, standing back from it as it began to vibrate more and more violently. It almost sounded like a drum-roll against the floor... before finally, streamers exploded from the painting as Pinkie jumped out. "Surprise!"
Twilight's jaw dropped at the sight of Pinkie, escaping the confines of the painting without even the slightest hint of magic.
"H-how?!" the mare asked.
"Because she's Pinkie." Sweetie said flatly.
"But that doesn't-"
"Because she's Pinkie." Sweetie repeated. "You’re not going to get a better explanation than that."
Twilight twitched for a moment, struggling to accept the reality without any kind of explanation... then again, it wouldn't have been the first time Pinkie had done un-explainable things. She sighed. "Well... more magic for me to use I guess."
All attention turned back to Pinkie, who stared at the group with a great big grin on her face. This wasn't the same sadistic grin of the mansion, but rather a friendly one... the one of the Pinkie they all knew and loved.
Rainbow was the first to confront the mare. "Hey Pinkie... you alright?" she asked.
"I'm pinkie keen Dashie!" She said, as bubbly as ever. "Cupcake?" she asked, pulling the white cupcake from the painting out of thin air.
"N-no, I'm good." Rainbow said smiling, putting a hoof on her shoulder.
"...what are you guys staring at?" Pinkie asked.
"You just popped out of a painting for no reason, and you’re asking us what we're staring at?" Twilight asked.
"Well, of course I came out silly." Pinkie said. "It was really cramped in there. That little box too." she added, pointing toward the GCD on the filly's back.
Sweetie examined Pinkie. No longer was she transparent, but she was solid and breathing, just like a normal pony. Her flank was bare, just like the other mares as well... did that mean she'd obtained her talent too? Finally, there was her eyes. It was filled with life and excitement just like before her ghostification... yet, they also had a tiredness, and hint of guilt after further examination. Pinkie may have appeared to be the same happy mare, as though nothing had happened, the guilt was vaguely evident in her eyes.
"Hey Sweetie!" Pinkie called, louder than necessary.
"Hm?" Sweetie asked, bringing her out of thought.
"How ya doin?" she asked.
"Uh... great."
"Hungry?"
"I don't want the cupcake. I don't know where it's been." Sweetie said.
"Oh, ok. Just checkin." She said. For a moment, she paused, allowing the room to fill with silence... before Sweetie finally spoke.
"Are... you ok?" Sweetie asked the mare who'd been forced to hunt her all night.
Pinkie enthusiastically nodded.
"And... you’re ok with remembering the stuff?"
"You mean like the cage thing? or the carnival thing?" Pinkie asked. "Yeah." Pinkie blinked... Sweetie was almost sure she saw a tear get sucked back into her eye. The mare was trying her hardest not to break down in tears in front of the filly. Though Sweetie didn't want to prey on her mind of the events that had transpired that night, there was one thing she still had to ask.
"Do you... remember being told anything in particularly important when you were with Specter?" Sweetie asked.
Pinkie looked up into the air, putting her hoof on her muzzle, deep in thought.
"...anything?" Sweetie asked again.
"Mmmmmm.... nope." Pinkie said, looking back at the filly. "Nothing super important. He told me to... do stuff, aaaand I did it. Not much that I can remember besides that."
"Oh..." Sweetie said looking down. She looked back up at the mare. "That's ok. If you don't remember it, then I'm sure it isn't that important."
Sweetie looked in her saddlebags. "Hey guys? Some of my stuff-"
"Oh yea'!" Applebloom exclaimed. "We picked that up for ya. Ah got yer glowin heart thing." she said, showing the filly the rock candy.
"I got your flashlight right here." Rainbow said, showing Sweetie.
"And I got your two books." Twilight said, showing the filly the ghost book and journal.
"And I got those pictures that you found."
"Pictures?" Twilight said. "You found them in the mansion?"
Sweetie nodded. "I didn't really get a chance to look at all of them, so I brought along three of the interesting ones I found."
"Mind if I take a look?" Twilight asked.
"Here you go Twi." Scootaloo said, handing the pictures to Twilight.
"An eclipse?" Twilight asked.
"Eclipse?" Pinkie said, closing her eyes. "Yeeeaahh... Specter did mention something about that. He said he was... going to make one."
"Make an eclipse? How and why?" Twilight asked.
"Why? I dunno. How? With the princesses I think he said." Pinkie said.
"Well, alicorns naturally have pretty strong wills, so I don't think we'll have to worry about that any-"
"He got Luna." Sweetie blurted out.
Twilight looked at Sweetie. "Y-you’re not serious."
"She chased me down a hall. I could see her resisting... she even managed to save me, but she was still under Specter's control... either her's or Gilda's.."
"Gilda..." Rainbow said to herself.
"That... it can't be. It's impossible... if it is true... then who knows how much longer until he has Celestia too."
"Not long." Sweetie said. "At least, that's what I remember from my dream."
"Perfect." Applejack sighed. "Not only do we gotta deal with tha' rat, Specter, we gotta worry 'bout the princesses too?"
"We'll figure this out." Twilight said. "Only wish we could figure out why he wants an eclipse so badly."
Twilight switched to the second picture of the journal page. She squinted. "Hm..."
"What's wrong Twi?" Rainbow asked.
"Huh... I always did have a hard time reading small text without my glasses." she said.
Rainbow laughed. "I guess you’re getting old huh?"
"You have no idea how ironic that is." Sweetie said.
"And the third one is... a music box?"
"Yeah. Apparently they're important around the mansion. Helped me out... more than once." Sweetie said, glancing at Pinkie.
"Hm... something's written on it."
"What does it say?" Fluttershy asked.
"To the lovely couple of Yields..." Twilight read. "Remember to go back to a time of happier days. Those memories will last you a lifetime. Sincerely... sincerely..." Twilight froze as she read the last word on the music box.
"...Sincerely who?" Spike asked.
Twilight didn't answer, as her eyes contracted and the photo fell out of her hoof. She didn't move.
"Twilight?" Fluttershy asked.
Every pony closed in on the note that lay in front of her.
To the lovely couple of Yields,
Remember to go back to a time of happier days. Those memories will last you a lifetime...
Sincerely,
Discord
...
...
.....