//------------------------------// // More Than Just A Ghost // Story: Nothing But The Paranormal // by Unidentified //------------------------------// It was a quiet and foggy night in Ponyville. Some shops in the town were still open. Excluding the night-dwellers, everypony was fast asleep. Then, in an instant, a bloodcurdling scream was heard in the distance. A blaze of lights lit up Ponyville as ponies looked outside their windows for the source of the sound. Everypony was terrified and confused with what had happened just now. They all debated with one another what had made the sound. A few moments later, a rumbling thunder was heard. All the eyes in the town glanced towards the sky, though there were no clouds in sight. They listened closely and realized it was starting to get louder. All the ponies that were in the street quickly moved out of the way as a stampede of animals rushed past them. They looked ahead and saw a certain pegasus was leading the group. Everypony shook their heads and went back inside their homes to sleep. Twilight had also awoken due to the scream. She looked over to Spike to see if he had gotten up as well. Nope, still sleeping. Terrified, she slowly got out of her bed to look outside her window. In the distance she saw a silhouette of a creature. From the looks of it, it seemed like the creature was moving faster with each step it took. Instinctively, Twilight had summoned a force field around her home and watched as the creature crashed into it. A nearby light shone on the so-called creature and revealed its true identity: Fluttershy and her animals. Twilight breathed a sigh of relief as she lifted the force field to let Fluttershy inside. Walking down the stairs, Twilight saw the trembling pegasus attempting to calm her animals down. Twilight shook her head and asked, "What's the matter Fluttershy?" Fluttershy turned to Twilight and said quietly, "I saw a ghost." Twilight rolled her eyes and laughed. She assumed that Fluttershy was trying to play a joke on her. She was about to walk back upstairs when Fluttershy quickly moved in front of her. "I'm not lying! I really did see a ghost!" Fluttershy picked up Angel and showed Twilight the terrified look the poor bunny had. Twilight realized the situation was serious. "Alright then. I'll go check your cottage for this ghost," said Twilight. She quickly walked up the stairs to gather some materials for the investigation. A few minutes later Twilight had arrived downstairs with a flashlight and a special device of sorts. She looked at Fluttershy straight in the eye and said, "Stay here until I get back." Fluttershy nodded her head and watched as Twilight left. Twilight could see the cottage in the distance. The door was wide open, claw marks streaked across it. Probably just the animals panicking while trying to get out. It seemed weird to walk up to the quiet cottage at this time of night--especially when you're here to hunt down a ghost. As Twilight got closer, she could see a shadow walking around inside. She hesitated to move any closer to the cottage. "No. I need to get rid of this ghost now," Twilight thought to herself. She took a deep breath before walking inside of the cottage. It wasn't as dark as it seemed from the outside. The moonlight shone through the windows, illuminating some of the objects inside. Even then, Twilight used her flashlight to look around. After a while, she walked upstairs into the bedroom and sat on the bed. Turning on the special device Twilight had brought with her, she placed it next to her and began asking questions. "What is your name?" Twilight asked. She waited for a few seconds before asking the next, "Do you know what happened to you?" She waited a few more seconds before taking her device and rewinding it. She placed it up to her ears and pressed play. "What is your name?" "Charcoal..." a voice whispered. Twilight was shocked at the intelligent response she received. Normally she would get some sort of grunt or cough as an answer. She listened closely to see if her second question was answered. "Do you know what happened to you?" "I was killed." Twilight was completely baffled by this. Eager to receive more answers, she immediately continued to record and ask questions. "Who killed you? Was it an animal?" Again, Twilight waited for a few seconds before asking the next, "Is there anyone else here?" Twilight repeated the previous process and listened closely. "Who killed you? Was it an animal?" [No response] "Is there anyone else here?" "He's coming." As soon as Twilight heard this, there was a loud slam downstairs. She froze up, terrified of what was coming for her. She didn't realize it, but her device was still recording. Twilight quickly rewinded it and listened closely. [Loud slam is heard] "...He's here." The cottage was completely silent. Then, heavy hoofsteps were heard coming up the stairs. Slow, but heavy. Twilight panicked and hid under the bed. She tried her best to stay as quiet as possible. The hoofsteps got louder and louder with each passing second. Twilight held her breath as the hoofsteps stopped outside the room. It was raspy, but she could hear a voice say, "I know you're in here." A slight breeze brushed Twilight's mane. Whatever was outside the room was now inside. Twilight noticed a faint, white mist moving around. She watched as the mist got closer to the bed. Twilight wanted to run for the door downstairs but she was afraid of the consequences. Suddenly, the mist completely vanished. She waited for a couple of seconds before slowly creeping out from under the bed. Twilight looked around and sighed in relief as she retrieved her device and flashlight. "That was a close one," Twilight said to herself. Anxious to leave, she quickly walked downstairs and went to the door. However, when she attempted to open the door it wouldn't budge. She tried pulling the door and pushing the door, none of which worked. The sound of glass breaking was heard nearby. The hoofsteps returned, this time quicker. Twilight thought fast and tried to break the door down. Success! Twilight tumbled down the pathway and landed on her side. She groaned in pain as she got up. Looking towards the cottage, she could see a distinct pair of eyes in the window. Red, glowing eyes. Twilight ran as fast as she could back to Ponyville. Fluttershy stood outside, waiting for Twilight to return. She was starting to worry that Twilight might have gotten hurt. Fluttershy was about to go find Twilight herself when she spotted somepony in the distance. Next thing she knew, Twilight had crashed into her. "Twilight! What happened? Are you alright?" Fluttershy asked. Twilight didn't answer. Fluttershy helped her get up and asked again, "Twilight, what happened?" "I-I don't want to talk about it..." Twilight said. "No, you're going to tell me what happened," Fluttershy said. She held out a hoof to Twilight, "Let's go inside and talk about it." "...Okay then," Twilight followed Fluttershy inside. They sat down on the floor next to a couple of animals. "Okay, what happened over there?" Fluttershy asked. A minute passed by before Twilight finally said, "I-I saw it..." Fluttershy gasped in shock. "You saw it? What did it look like?" Fluttershy asked. "Red eyes. It had red eyes," Twilight said quietly. She looked up and noticed Fluttershy wasn't looking at her, "Is something the matter?" "Your hoof..." Fluttershy said in an emotionless tone. Twilight quickly looked down and saw as clear as day, 3 long scratch marks. She shrieked in terror.