Boomer's Crisis

by WEKM

Chapter 5 Rambling Exposition, And, A Ghost?

Chapter 5 Rambling Exposition, And, A Ghost?

Boomer opened his eyes to a broad featureless expanse of grey. The only thing to be seen anywhere around was another middle aged unicorn that was trotting up to him. She looked a little like his mother had when he’d been younger, but her color was all wrong. This pony was electric blue at her head, mane and shoulders, fading back to her white hind quarters and tail, like a streaking comet, like Giggles had been. She even had the same comet cutie mark that Giggles had earned.

“Hey there brother mine.” The unicorn called out to him.

Boomer stared in horror. Even the voice sounded right, although much older. He stammered, “But you’re…” shook himself, and tried again, “So, I guess I’m dead?”

Giggles laughed at him. A warm rich laugh full of love. “Not hardly.” The she swatted him in the side of the head that he had been hit by the shadow weapon. Pain shot through him from even the light impact, and his head started throbbing again. “If you were dead, do you think you would still hurt that much?”

Boomer tried not to throw up from the pounding pain. “Noooo?” He croaked out, “Death couldn’t possibly feel this bad. But if I’m not dead, than what are you?”

Giggles laughed again. “Oh, I’m most definitely dead. You could say that I’m a ghost. Or you could say that I’m a psychotic episode brought on by your concussion, massive emotional trauma, and exhaustion. It all depends on who you talk to and what they believe. Personally, I am going with ghost, because I would hate to think what it says about your mental state if you are making me up.”

“But, you were just a teenager when you were killed. You look nearly as old as I do.” He stated, thoroughly confused.

She shook her head, “Yeah, that was twenty years ago. What, do you want me to still look like this?” And abruptly, she was again the spitting image of her young teen self, just before she died. Then she was again the mature unicorn that had met him in all this grey. “No thanks. I was way too awkward back then, and besides, you wouldn’t take advice or listen to a punk kid. So, I’m going to stick with this.”

Boomer’s brain ground to a halt. “Wait, WHAT? You’re like my conscience or something?” he sputtered.

Again with the rich laugh. “No silly. I’m your kid sister. I’m taking the opportunity to torment you mercilessly to make up for all the grief I got from you growing up. And of course to help you back into your life. I mean, seriously, when was the last time you had any intentional interaction with someone that wasn’t work related? Yeah, since before the first Nightmare invasion. You need help brother mine, and all the souls you helped free, elected and empowered me to be that help.”

The blank look she was getting back from him stopped her for a second. She studied his lost look, then laughed again. “Oh my gosh. You mean you don’t even know what it was that you did? You really were just that ignorantly lucky? Oh this is too much!” and she proceeded to roll back and forth on the ground laughing hysterically.

Shaking his head, trying to reboot his brain, “Okaaaay. Just what is it that I supposedly did, and how did that get me my own personal ghost?”

Getting up and dusting herself off, Giggles continued, “Oh, sorry, it’s just that, you totally deserve this, but the fact that you didn’t go in seeking it, makes it even better that you got it. Uh, let me back up and try to explain. First off, how much do you actually know about the Nightmare Realm?”

Boomer's brain stuttered for a second at the change of topic, "Uh, well, we know that they were coming here into our world and killing the ponies they encountered. Beyond that, not much. "

Giggles nodded, “You guys really didn’t know what you were going up against. That explains some things. In a way, the Nightmare Realm didn’t know all that much about us either. Okay, first off, the Nightmare Realm exists separate from, but overlapping many other dimensions. They gather energy from fear, collected from these other dimensions. One way they do that is by influencing dreams. It is their primary means of gathering the energy they need to survive. In fact their entire realm is made of nothing but energy.

“They have learned that bringing beings from the other realms they harvest from into the Nightmare Realm has allowed them a much higher harvest rate. However, being an entirely energy existence, they have to create something on which the captured otherworlders can exist. The only way they know how to make anything solid is out of the substance of souls. That is what they were doing when they broke into our dimension the first time, gathering enough soul matter to create an area they could then hold living beings from our world and extract the fear energy from them. They literally scared us to death, snatched up our souls, and took us back to be their building blocks. When you boomed, nice timing by the way, they were about a half second from harvesting your soul when you blew. You not only stopped them from taking any more of us, but you also wiped out half of their harvest, as well as shattering the gate they had formed.

“It has taken them this long to gather enough energy to reopen even that tiny crack you just now destroyed. You really are hard on them. The area you were held in was made up of soul matter from raids of dozens of other dimensions. However, soul matter made into solid substances is rather unstable, and you set off four escalating blasts, that shattered the bonds holding that soul matter as they had shaped it. In essence, you breaking out broke all of us out as well.

“Not only that, you again wiped out a large amount of their harvested energy. You probably set them back hundreds of years, and I doubt that they will even try coming into our dimension again, seeing as the two times they have were monumentally disastrous for them. And they have no idea that it was one pony that was responsible for it both times. They think that any of us could have done that to them. I have to wonder if they will even risk harvesting fear energy from our nightmares, for worry of provoking us further. You really did a number on them, especially this second time, being right in the rift, and directing your full blast through it as you did. That rattled the entire realm enough that most all of us that were harvested souls were able to return to our dimensions of origin. But, as I said, in gratitude, many of them gave energy and power to help me repay you for freeing all of us. Not only did most of them like me, but being your sister, they felt that I would be the best choice.”

Boomer shook his head again, “How do you know all this, and when did these others have time to form any such plan to have you come back with me? And what do you mean by four escalating blasts?”

“First off, I’ve been trapped there for nearly twenty years, and I got to see how they work, as well, I could communicate with the other converted souls, though I doubt that the denizens of the Nightmare Realm even knew. There were souls that had been there for hundreds of years. They’d learned a lot, and taught the rest of us what they could. You would be amazed at the wealth of knowledge you can pool from hundreds of souls from dozens of dimensions.

“Second, we communicated at the speed of thought. We argued, agreed on a plan, organized, arranged and they sent me here in half the time it took for your blast to shatter the rift. Most all the rest of the souls are moving on to whatever their dimension’s version of an afterlife is, but they sent me to help you. Well, I do have to admit to bullying a few of them, and calling in every favor point I had racked up with any of them, but you’re my brother, and you’re worth it. But really, most of them were more than happy to help the one who freed them.

“And third, your blasts. First, you blew something up down in the cells, something small, but that got the harmonics going. Then that one that took out the door, freeing several souls right there. Then that long blast across the courtyard, that really got things humming. You almost broke us free with that one. But the blast you hit the gates with, man, you just shattered all the bonds that were holding the rest of us. Fortunately, you two made for the rift as fast as you did. Everything solid was coming apart right behind you. I don’t know what would have happened if you had been dumped into the pure energy of the Nightmare Realm.” Giggles explained.

“And they knew all about my life for the last twenty years and decided to send you to help me somehow straighten it all out?” he asked sarcastically.

Giggles laughed at him again, “Pfft! They sent me to help you in any way I could. I didn’t know about what a guilt ridden mess you were until they bonded me to you, and I got a peek in this messed up head of yours. I get to be the one to decide how to help you, and I figured that first thing we needed to do was get you back involved with your fellow ponies.

“Oh that, and remind you to breath. Apparently the bright pink one is really starting to freak out that you haven’t taken a single breath since you passed out and fell down.” And with that she hoofed him in the chest.

Boomer’s eyes shot open and he sucked in a great gasping breath. Pinkie Pie was hovering over him and wiped her brow in relief. “Whew, I thought that you were dead for a minute. That would have been really bad. How can we have a party for you for winning, if you died?” And with that, she blew a noise maker, threw confetti and streamers in the air and shouted, “Hooray!”

It was odd, but as he lay there on his side, Boomer realized that Pinkie Pie’s normal antics weren’t upsetting him anywhere near what they normally did. From beside him came Giggles voice, “Well, that’s a start.”

He looked up and saw a semi transparent image of his now all grown up sister standing there. “Oh, great, either you’re real, or I am a basket case.”

Pinkie Pie, having heard him trotted over, and walked right through Giggles. “What did you say?” she asked while looking down at him, while overlapping Giggles’ ghost.

In the spirit of fun, and to tease her brother, she leaned out to the side and said, “Look, I’m a pony with two heads.”

Pinkie Pie cocked her head a bit, having almost heard something. But Boomer just groaned, “Don’t make me laugh. It hurts.”

Not knowing that he was speaking to his sister’s ghost, she just looked at him, “Uh, okay. Um, you want me to try and find somepony else from the platoon to come help you? You do look pretty bad.”

Boomer just smiled, “Thank you. That would be great. I should be fine. My sister can watch out for me until you get back.”

Pinkie Pie looked around, not seeing anyone else, even though Giggles stood right in front of her now. “Um, okay. Just stay right here.” And she raced off, amazingly, in the direction that the platoon had run off when they had been attacked at the camp site.

After watching her go, Boomer turned his good eye on his sister, “She couldn’t see or hear you. That doesn’t help me decide if you really are here as a ghost, or as you suggested at first, I’m having a major breakdown.”

Giggles just waved a hoof, “Ah, you’re a bright guy. You’ll figure it out soon enough. However, when you do, I want you to promise to do a favor for me.”

Boomer looked at her again, “Uh, I think your negotiation stance is a little flawed, but what favor?”

Giggles just grinned at him, “If you agree, then it doesn’t matter how weak my position is. But I can’t tell you till you decide if I’m real or not for yourself. But I promise, it isn’t anything you wouldn’t do otherwise.”

Boomer laid his head back down. “I guess it can’t hurt to agree to do what I can. You would already know one way or another what I wouldn’t do. Either you are my sister, and know how I was raised, or you’re a manifestation of my broken brain, and my mind wouldn’t betray my most firm beliefs. So, sure, when I know for certain if you are real or not, I promise I will do you a favor to be named at that time.”

Laughing as Boomer slipped back into blissful unconsciousness, Giggles said, “I would call you a sucker for agreeing, seeing as I DO in fact know how far you will go, and I know it’s a lot farther than you would admit to anyone. But really, I wouldn’t let you say no anyway. It’s just too important.”

He wasn’t sure how to take that. But then it was too late to worry about right then, and he passed out again, this time to deep restful ghostles unconsciousness.