1:00 AM, Castle of Friendship, Ponyville
Pinkie Pie sighed and flipped a few more pages in her book, still hopefully search for some pictures. It seemed her luck was all lucked out. She sighed and tossed the book onto the pile behind her, “That’s thirty, and this is boring.” She slammed her face into the desk, “When are we going to go out and do something?”
“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash nodded. She was sitting next to Pinkie with a large atlas propped up in front of her with what looked like the edges of a Daring Do book peeking out from the bottom.
She used her wingtips to adjust the positioning of the novel whilst she took a sip from her hot chocolate. She set the empty mug aside and scooted around to face Twilight, “We should be out there kicking some ghostly flanks, not in here reading,” she groaned.
“I know”, Twilight cupped a hoof in front of her mouth as she yawned, “Rainbow Dash.” She had her back to the other two whilst she kept Spike’s ladder steady. She also had her own drink floating beside her in a brand new ‘Best Princess’ mug. Apparently every princess was meant to have one, though it frustrated her that she had to specifically ask for one after seeing Cadance’s set.
“But we can’t go swinging blindly like we—” the princess yawned again, this time not bothering to hide it with a hoof, “—did last time,” She eyed the contents of the mug and slugged the last of it, and instantly felt the effects as the caffeine kicked in. She continued her thought with new vigour, “We need to know what we’re up against.”—and called up the ladder to check on her assistant, “Spike, have you found it yet?”
Spike wobbled on top of the ladder, “Not yet.”
“But we already do, Twilight!” Pinkie chirped, and unstuck her face from the desk, “Don’t you remember the song?” She pulled out a metronome and set it ticking on the desk, then took a moment to count the ticks. Once she had her rhythm, and jumped to her hooves, took a deep breath, and pulled Rainbow and Twilight together into a sideways hug to begin the first chorus, “When— you’re a filly and the sun is going do—ho—ho—own— Oomf”
Unfortunately, Pinkie Pie wasn’t able to complete her song, for she was silenced by a sudden, terrible, and rather dreadful case of the purple-smart hoof-in-mouth disease.
“I’m not in the mood, Pinkie,” Twilight took her hoof back and wiped the spittle off on her chest, “Besides, it’s not a ghost. I keep telling you that.”
“But if it’s not a ghost, then what is it?”
“It’s—” Twilight had her hoof raised and mouth opened ready to speak, but she was stopped by a sudden loud clatter suspiciously similar to the type a ladder would make if it were to the fall over, followed by a short scream from above ending in a thud behind Twilight.
Everypony turned to find Spike lying on his back with a large old tome clutched to his chest, “... found it.” He held the book up for Twilight to see.
She glanced over the cover and nodded, “That’s it,” And levitated the book up to her side, “Thanks, Spike,” then took the book over to the desk. She set her mug down, turned a lamp on, and opened the book to the third chapter—all at once thanks to her magic—and began to read.
Rainbow Dash and Pinkie crowded around the desk behind her, with Spike the last to join after shaking off his daze, and waited whilst Twilight frowned at the book. At length, Twilight spoke, “Aha!” She prodded a hoof at the page, “Here it is!”
Everypony leaned in close to read the part Twilight had pointed out.
... and, by corroboration with the data gleaned from Dr. Neigh Weather’s own research, one can conclude that that there may exist further existential plains beyond the first three already known to Equestrian science. Furthermore, it is postulated that these existential realities may be capable of harbouring intelligent life completely independent of our own, and that it is not beyond reason that some of these life-forms may be capable of manifesting themselves in our own plain, though no evidence of this being the case has yet to be observed, and the sociopolitic...
Pinkie Pie’s eyes glazed over. Rainbow Dash’s mouth opened and closed like a gold fish whilst Twilight watched with a wide grin, “Um... what?”
Twilight’s face dropped. She rolled her eyes, “He calls these creatures ‘Polymorphs,’” and explained, “They’re extra dimensional beings that can breach into our own realm under special circumstances.” She snapped the book shut, “Not ghosts.”
Rainbow Dash scratched her head, “Um... okay, so how do we get rid of them then?”
“It doesn’t say,” Twilight got up and stepped around Pinkie, “But lucky for us I am a scholar”—
There was a faint cough from Spike’s direction that sounded almost like, “with government funding.”
Twilight trotted over to a blank section of wall near the back and waved for the others to follow her –“and I believe I may have something that might just work.” She stepped to the side and wrapped her magic around one of the wall-mounted torches, and gave it a hard tug. The torch jittered and inverted with a loud clunk.
Tick, tick, tick, tick
A series of clicks sounded in quick succession, and the wall shuddered to life. Both Rainbow and Pinkie watched, with Twilight joining them at their side radiating smugness. The wall parted in two and slid aside.
~ ~ ~
“Wait, you have an armoury!?” Rainbow Dash stood gawking at the entrance.
The room was comparable one of those cathedrals you’d see in Ram, if Ram had an affinity for scientific equipment and books. The room hummed as several machines—lined up in rows along the room’s length— rumbled away, some spitting out reams of paper into growing piles at their sides.
“I wouldn’t say it’s an armoury per-se.” Twilight waved a hoof as she stepped through the entrance and trotted towards a desk overflowing with papers. She started gathering them up in her magic, “Spike and I found this during our booksortcation,”
“You did?”Rainbow Dash hovered over next to Twilight and began helping her clear, “Why didn’t you say anything?”
Twilight shrugged, “It didn’t seem all that important.”
The papers levitated off the desk, and dropped to the side in a big heap, revealing a set of six strangely shaped saddlebags, one for each of the mane six. The saddlebags were roughly three times the size of a normal one, and had large metal components connected together with hoses and wires. It also had a long black cable connecting to a silver, three pronged nozzle clipped to its side, and what looked like a diode half visible on the other side.
Twilight grabbed the first one and levitated it onto her back, and stared doing up the straps, “Spike!” She looked around, “Spike, where are you?”
Spike, still outside standing outside, snorted awake. “Oh, I’m here!” He ran into the entrance and waddled up to Twilight’s side, cupping a claw to his mouth to muffle a yawn, “Sorry, I must have fallen asleep.
“Okay,” She patted Spike on the head, “Go set us up some targets will you?”
“Sure!” He saluted and ran off to the far side of the room, where one of the walls lay vacant with large black scorch marks.
Rainbow Dash was now flying over the table, with her hooves wrapped around her own bag, and had pulled it out from between the others, but she was still struggling to lift it off the table, “Twi, this thing—“ She grunted as she pulled it a few inches toward her, “—weighs a ton.”
“It does?” Twilight glanced over to the one on her back, “... I guess I hadn’t noticed. But weight wasn’t really a factor when I designed these. They’re only prototypes after all.”
“So what are they then?” Pinkie bounced over to the table and eyed the pack between Rainbow’s hooves.
“I call it the Harmony Pack. They’re meant as a proof of concept that we could harness magic from the elements using technology, as an alternative to the Elements of Harmony that doesn’t endanger the tree.”
Twilight checked her straps one last time, then turned to the other side of the pack and flipped a large red switch. It instantly started vibrating and humming, and several lights blinked on at the top. Twilight continued, “They charge by channelling harmonic energy directly from the tree and storing it internally.” She tapped a gauge on the side. It wobbled and levelled at twenty-five percent.
She then unclipped the nozzle from its holster and held it up for Rainbow and Pinkie to see. There was a strap and lever at the base of the nozzle that allowed her to fit it snugly to her hoof, and engage the lever with the other.
“Now, once they’re fully charged,” Twilight flipped a switch on the nozzle, causing the pack’s humming to grow louder and the diode to start glowing in multiple colours, “They can be used to generate a beam of pure harmonic energy towards any target.”
Twilight pointed the nozzle to the far side of the room and, to demonstrate, pulled the lever on her nozzle.
Several feet away Spike was still mumbling to himself about his lack of sleep as he fiddled with something at the base of a Discord-shaped cut-out when, suddenly, there was a loud crack and the sound of thunder.
He bolted upright and swung around only having a moment to grab his head and throw himself to the ground, “Holy—” as a twisting beam of rainbow energy shot past overhead, obliterating the target.
Twilight turned back around with the nozzle still smoking and the gauge on the side now reading fifteen percent – “is instantly vaporised,” Twilight cradled the nozzle in her hooves, “Of course, it’s perfectly safe for you and me.”
“I know,” Twilight nodded, “These packs are designed to tap into the latent magic produced by the tree of Harmony in much the same way as the Elements of Harmony.” She twisted a knob on her own pack and it sprung to life with a low hum. Several lights turned on at the top and a gauge on the side bobbed around before levelling at twenty percent. “They charge and store the energy in onboard cells, and”— She grabbed a nozzle hanging from the pack’s side and twisted the lever making the pack hum even louder. The end of the nozzle glowed brightly – “can be used to direct a beam of pure, and unfiltered, Harmonic Energy towards your target.”
To demonstrate, Twilight flipped the safety on her pack’s nozzle and pointed it to the far end of the room, “Any chaotic, evil, or relatively unfriendly force that comes into contact with said beam”— She pulled the lever and a there was a bright flash, and a rainbow beam arced and wobbled at the speed of light, almost scorching several pieces of equipment on its way as it sped towards its target.
“... yeah ... right,” Spike commented as he trudged past with a puff of smoke trailing from his singed tail, “I’m going back to bed.”
“Now,” Twilight reared up on her hind legs, pumped the trigger lever on her back pack starting its humming anew and shot a glare to Rainbow Dash, “Shades me.”
Rainbow rolled her eyes, “Come on Twi, I don’t carry those things everywhere with me.”
Twilight said nothing. Both she and Pinkie gave Rainbow Dash knowing glances, and the Pegasus caved under the pressure, “... fine.” She whipped out a pair of dark glasses from her Hammerspace and tossed them over to Twilight.
The princess caught the glasses mid arc in her magic and set them squarely on her face. They slid down an inch and she pushed them back up and held them there with a hoof, “Let’s go get some ghosties.”
~ ~ ~
1:15 AM, Berry Punch residence, Ponyville (again)
The house was exactly as they’d left it. The couch still slide back against the staircase, the hat rack lying on its side next to the front entrance—though now pushed against the wall and broken after they kicked the door in – and the gh--- No, no, the ghost was gone. So it was almost exactly as they’d left it.
Twilight stopped at the mantel piece as she trotted across the room. The picture frames from before had been knocked over by the explosion and lay haphazardly, some even on the floor. The picture she’d picked up last time was on its back in the middle of a black scorch mark in the shape of a pear about the size of her hoof. Strangely, the picture inside was completely blank.
She flipped the page over with the end of her nozzle and ducked back expecting something to happen.
Nothing.
She frowned, “Pinkie Pie, any readings?”
Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash were near the orange and red—now slightly scorched — sofa, Pinkie standing and Rainbow sitting. Both had their packs on, with Pinkie donning a pair of night vision goggles around her forehead. Pinkie pulled out her ghost detector and gave it a quick shake next to her ear. She eyed the banana and blew bubbles into the straw, inflating the juice box slight, “Nope,” then left it to hang at her side.
“Strange,” Twilight levitated her nozzle back to its holster and rubbed a hoof across her chin, “It was just here,”— She flicked a hoof towards Rainbow – “Okay, Rainbow, you take the upstairs. Check all the rooms.”
“Right, Twilight” Rainbow saluted and stood up. She adjusted the pack to keep it from digging into her sides, and started up the stairs.
Twilight continued, “Pinkie Pie, you’re with me. Keep your eyes peeled and tell me on the slightest signs of any ghosts.”
“Okie-dokie,” She pulled the goggles over her eyes and turned them on.
~ ~ ~
Rainbow Dash came to the first room, the bedroom, and opened the door cautiously. The first thing inside was the nozzle of her Harmony Pack. Pegasus hovered inches off the ground holding it in front of her as she slinked slowly into the room.
Rainbow flicked the light switch with the edge of a wing. Nothing happened, Just my luck, light’s out, and she settled for squinting into the darkness.
From what she could see, this must have been Berry Pinch’s room. The place was a complete pig-sty. The bed was an unmade mess, with cushions scattered all across the floor and the sheets crumpled and dishevelled. She also faintly felt small objects on the floor as she passed them by under her hooves—presumably lego or some other night-time hazard.
Rainbow Dash stopped in the middle of the room and did one more look around. It really did remind her of herself when she was that age.
RAINBOW DASH, QUICK!
A sudden cry from downstairs broke her out of her reverie, “Oh, shi—” and she almost dropped the nozzle of her Harmony Pack, “Coming Twilight!”
~ ~ ~
Rainbow dashed into the kitchen to the sound of a large commotion. She skidded to a halt at the door and ducked, dodging a barrage of kitchen knives lodging them securely into the doorframe.
The kitchen was in utter chaos, “Rainbow Dash, quick!” Twilight shouted from her spot, “Your Harmony Pack!” and ducked behind an upturned dining-room table next to Pinkie whilst they both tried to aim their Harmony Packs and protect themselves from flying projectiles at the same time.
The ghost floated in the middle of the room, with several kitchen implements floating around and poking out of it, shaking and roaring in rage as two as two beams skirted across its chest. The kitchen cabinets added to the din with their frantic slamming and clattering.
Rainbow blinked and glanced to the pack on her back, suddenly remembering, “Oh, right!” She grabbed the nozzle, turned the dial, and slammed the trigger, adding her own beam to the others.
The ghost shook more violently and the smell of ozone filled the room. It was slammed back against the cabinets shattering several doors in a shower of splinters and hot slime.
RAAAARGGHHH
The ghost snarled one more time pushed away from the cabinets. Everypony turned after it, keeping their beams focused, and Twilight and Pinkie stepped forward closer to Rainbow Dash.
They now had the creature cornered. It was stuck in the right corner between the fridge and the stove. There was no way out and they could see the hints of a victory. Patches of the ghost’s body were staring to form bubbles around where the beams connected.
“We almost have him,” Twilight whispered. She stuck out her tongue as she focused on keeping her beam dead centre.
The ghost seemed to know this. It looked around frantically then grabbed the edge of the fridge and began to pull. The large appliance tipped and felt down with a loud crash, forcing Rainbow and Twilight to jump backwards to safety.
Their beams wavered and lost their mark, and the ghost sped over the toppled fridge, knocking Rainbow Dash out of the way, and heading out into the living room.
“Don’t let it get away!” All three ponies rushed out after it and re-engaged their Harmony Packs. They took up even stances around the ghost and focused their beams on its chest.
The smell of ozone was getting stronger, and Rainbow noticed the ghost swelling up, “Um, Twilight,” Rainbow shouted over the noise, “It’s getting bigger!”
“I see that,” Twilight shouted through gritted teeth, “Just give me a—” she shifted the nozzle in her grip, “—a minute, I’ll think of something.”
“You’d better hurry Twilight!” Pinkie was standing in front of the mantel piece, watching as the ghost grew to nearly double its original size.
The smell of ozone was now burning their noses and the ghost was reaching triple its size. Its entire body was bubbling violently as it struggled to dislodge itself from the ceiling. It gave one last roar before suddenly.
BOOM
It exploded. All three ponies, and much of the whole house, were covered in a thick layer of green slime.
Twilight stared in gaping astonishment whilst a look of pure filly glee came over Rainbow Dash. Both of their wings flared up in unison, “It ...worked?”
“That... Was...” Rainbow Dash dropped her nozzle and clapped her hooves together, then leaped into the air pumping her hoof into the sky, “Awesome!”
Pinkie licked the layer of slime off her face, “Mmmm... Goosberry.”
Rainbow cringed, “Pinkie Pie, don’t eat it.”
Pinkie shrugged, “What? It’s good,” and began licking the slime off her hooves as well, much to Rainbow’s disgust.
Twilight still sat wide-eyed. Silently, under her breath she spoke, “... that worked?” She shook her head, “No wait,” Now slightly more confidently, “That worked!” She then cupped her head in her hoof, “I mean” and again under her breath, “... wow.”
Something else sparked in the Alicorn’s head as she remembered something from earlier, “Mayor Mare!” Twilight used a spell to shock the goo off and bolted for the front door.
“Twilight, wait!” Rainbow called after, “What about the—”
“Let Berry take care of it!” Twilight cut her off as she ran outside and took flight, “We’ve something more important to worry about!”