A Ghost Story for Equestria - A Haunted Whistle

by Hereward

I whistle, and you shall come

It had been only a couple of minutes since Princess Celestia raised the sun when She found a scroll materialising in front of Her just short of the main entrance to Her private quarters. Celestia felt a mixture of surprise, curiosity, delight and concern for She knew immediately that only Spike could've sent it at this time. She promptly opted to postpone the convening of the Royal Court of the Day and instead chose to see what news there was from Ponyville. Having settled at the desk of Her private study She broke the seal and began to read:

Dear Princess Celestia, The scripture and sentence structure denoted that Twilight Sparkle wrote this herself, I am happy to inform you of a discovery I've made in the ruins of your old castle. Celestia paused at this, wondering which way this would go. It appears to be an ancient bronze whistle, upon which I have found an inscription in the characters of the ancient magical language. I've been struggling to translate it but all my efforts make no sense. It so happens that Pinkie Pie found a second inscription that is clearly a dialect of Unicornian, which I've finally figured is some kind of anti-theft ward, denoting that this must've been made in the first half of the First Age. I can only hope that I can complete my analysis of this artifact before the end of the week. Celestia felt empathically nervous about this as She recalled certain events from the first few millennia of Her reign; to add to the effect She found that a new paragraph started in the rather hurried and unsteady calligraphy of Spike.

Princess, I besiege you come to our ade as quickly as possible, for Twilight's had a dredful flight last night that almost led to her tumbling over the bookshelfs. I can't help but fell that its got summin todo with the spectre I saw in the window earlier that afternoon. From what Rainbow Dash tells me the sheets from are spare bed come to live and attacked her! Sined Spike. At this Celestia immediately made for the door, opening it just as a guard's hoof was raised for a knock, whereupon he went into the standard bow and prepared to explain his position.

"I cannot explain at this time." Celestia stated in anticipation of what he was about to say. "I'll be joining Luna for breakfast, despite my delay, and Court may be in recess for a time." With that She strolled off, remaining characteristically graceful but clearly possessing a sense of urgency.

---

"Why, Celestia." Luna declared when She saw Her sister enter Their private dining room. "It is most unbecoming of you to be late. For sure there must've been something serious to warrant your delay." Celestia nodded firmly at this and sat down to breakfast. She had barely begun before broaching the subject of Her concern.

"Twilight has unearthed an item from the First Age in the ruins of the old castle, and it appears she's returned to Ponyville's library with more than what she intended." With that She delivered the letter into Luna's hooves. Celestia spent the next few minutes in silence as She ate while Luna read and re-read the communication from Ponyville.

"Hath you sent a reply to Twilight as of yet?" Luna's tone spoke strongly of the need for action, but Celestia gently shook Her head.

"It seems Twilight has yet to realise the connection between what she's found and what she's just experienced." She answered. "Nevertheless I do intend to speak to her personally at some point today." They locked eyes and both understood the issues surrounding this, especially in light of Their duties to the ponies of Equestria. "Luna, would you mind holding the Court for me while I tackle this? I will need to administer a few things beforehand." Luna thought this over carefully, for carrying this out would surely mean less time in Her own private quarters and the opportunity for a desired quantity of sleep. Finally She consented as She recalled just what Celestia had been through for the past ten centuries.

---

Twilight Sparkle sat on the sofa, a hoof resting on her forehead, for she had strained herself in trying to decipher that primary inscription on the old whistle and last night's experience had left her in no fit state to study. After a couple of minutes Spike came in with a glass of water, which she promptly yanked out of his grasp and took a healthy swig before offering her thanks. Spike had barely acknowledged this when the door burst open and Applejack came in.

"Hey, Twi. Ah heard about yer li'l' incident last nigh'." She stated. "Ah do hate t'say Ah told ya so, but ya shouldn't 'ave gone an' blown that there whistle 'til ya'd managed to work ou' what them markings mean." Twilight was initially going to give her a look of annoyance with regards to her stubbornness over such superstitious ideas but something in her mind clicked; none of those nightmares or unusual events had happened before she tried that whistle. As she considered this her thoughts turned as to the whys and wherefores of enchanting a simple whistle with a form of chaos magic, for want of a better theory. She rubbed her head as these thought processes reignited her headache and took another drink.

"Well, I'm sure we both agree that you'll need more company at night to help keep away the less desirable kind." Rainbow Dash asserted as she came in over Applejack's head.

"No doubt about it." Applejack affirmed. "Ya more than welcome to kip up the farm'ouse for a few days, so's any sly spectre ain't gonna get at'chya." Twilight groaned a bit at this but figured that if the whistle's the source of these events, then where the whistle is must be where these things would continue.

"That's very considerate of you, Applejack." She finally relented. "If Spike and I carry on round here during the day and head up your way come the night, perhaps that would be satisfactory."

"Sounds fair enough." She answered. "Bu' we must'ill think abou' the possibility tha' this might be a long term case." Just then a bright flash filled the room, making all present shield their eyes. Rainbow Dash was about to cry out when the brilliance died down and they saw, standing in the middle of the room...

"PRINCESS CELESTIA!?!" They all cried as they went into a bow, whereupon She turned to Twilight and said in an uncharacteristically firm tone.

"Where. Is. It?" At this Twilight stuttered incomprehensibly, her eyes slowly following Celestia's legs from hoof to head. "The whistle you found. I must insist it be presented."

"Right here, Princess." Rainbow Dash declared as her hoof hovered rather close to it, whereupon Celestia stepped purposefully towards it and spoke in straight uncompromising tones.

"Don't touch it yourself." Her voice was measured as per usual but the way She delivered each syllable caused all present to look at Her with apprehension and foreboding. Nopony saw Her magical aura when She lifted the whistle into the air and swung back round to face Twilight, Her voice mellowing somewhat but still holding a tone of disapproving authority. "Where did you find it, exactly?" Twilight strained to answer, fear of reprimand overwhelming her rationality, so Applejack decided to provide added information.

"It were in the ol' castle, Princess. Ah were prob'ly the first she told." Celestia gave a glance of acknowledgement and gratitude towards Applejack before returning to Twilight, this time lifting the mare's chin with Her hoof and Her firm authoritative expression softening.

"I'm not angry, Twilight, just worried for your well-being. Now, could you please tell me exactly where in the grounds you found it? Maybe this plan will help." As She said this a scroll appeared out of thin air and unrolled at Her command, displaying the ground plan of the castle ruins as they were last surveyed. Twilight looked over them several times in an attempt to find her bearings before she set a hoof over a small relatively non-descript building in the South-East part.

"There were only a few small stone blocks between it and me." She finally squeaked out. Celestia nodded at this.

"The old gatehouse." She stated simply. "It must've been sequestered in a cavity in the outer wall, most likely near the entrance."

"So, you know what this is all about?" Spike asked after a few moments. Celestia refrained from giving a straight answer and instead began to pace between the four of them.

"In the third millennium of the First Age," She recited, "Equestria and the Griffanese Empire first made official contact. The culture clash between a race of expansionist predatory hybrids and a predominantly pacifist race of herbivores produced the conditions that ignited the First Griffon War. One unicorn mare was so terrified by the tales of the griffons' dietary habits that she actually came to the decision that, in order to save her own life, she'd sell off whatever knowledge of Equestria she could garner. The result was tragic but not irrecoverable. When peace was declared her acts of treachery led to a popular movement for her arrest and, I fear to say, execution. Ponies in those days were much more certain about their religious views and so many saw treachery in the same light as blasphemy or sacrilege, and she knew this. Indeed, fearing for the fate of her soul more than her life, she came to the conclusion that the only way around the issue was to tie her spirit to the land more firmly than anyone, pony or otherwise, felt possible. To that end she forged a soul jar, so that upon her demise she would not face what many ponies at the time called 'the hall of judgement'. However, since she dreaded the thought of spending thousands of years trapped in a solid object she made it into something a pony could make use of, which subsequently made her take on the role of a poltergeist in an effort to find something to occupy her afterlife." There was a long quiet before Twilight spoke up.

"Princess Celestia." She asked. "Are you trying to tell me that this whistle contains a ghost?!?" Celestia gave Twilight a side-on look and replied.

"How else would you explain your little mishap last night?" There were a couple of gasps before Twilight gave a response.

"How did you know?!?"

"Spike dropped a line about how you went and gave this little trinket a try-out before recognising the warning signs." Celestia then positioned the first inscription in front of Twilight's eyes. "Have you figured out this line yet?" Twilight looked over the inscription again.

吹口哨，我會來的。

"'We patrol on the basis of a breeze'?" Twilight tried again, at which Celestia shook Her head.

"Twilight, you're only versed in the positive alignment of orderly magical scripture. This is written in the more generic style. It actually reads 'Whistle, and I will come'." There was a long pause as Twilight remembered each peculiar event since she tried the whistle. "It seems that she's been a little rusty after all those centuries, so you've been relatively lucky, Twilight."

"So is there anything we can do t'remove this hauntin', Princess." Applejack asked, at which a familiar glint formed in Celestia's eye.

"You can't," She answered, "But I can." She suddenly lifted the whistle straight towards Herself. "Luna and I are the last ponies she wants to meet, so..." There was only a split second for anypony to cry out or act before Princess Celestia put Her lips to the mouthpiece and blew a very long breezy note. Almost immediately a persistent breeze started flowing through the library.

"Princess!" Rainbow Dash cried out as she flew to Her side. "Whatever were you thinking?!?" Celestia just gave her a wry smile and said.

"I'm going to exorcise this whistle once and for all." She then closed Her eyes and took a deep breath while all present looked at Her in awe but also in fear of what was to happen.

---

Ginger Parkin flew through the amorphous mists that encapsulated the material world from that of the spiritual plains as she heard the summons of her whistle, grinning maniacally as she thought of how foolish somepony must be to have blown it so soon after her last bit of fun. "Se wissel calleth me and ik schal tormente þem." She had no trouble locating the presence of life and made straight for it, only to be confronted by a blinding combination of phenomenal power, spiritual dominance and the physical presence. By the time it all fit together for her it was too late.

"I've been waiting a long time to deal with you." Celestia declared, Her transmission blowing forth in a manner that for Ginger was akin to a gale blowing into her face. For the first time in thousands of years she screamed and attempted to flee, but Celestia's possession of that whistle and the proximity of their mutual aurae prevented her from getting away. "Ginger Parkin, why do you resist? Why must you constantly seek to torture yourself and others in these limbo conditions?" Shivering in Her presence Ginger attempted to answer.

"Ýs þis it?" She cried like a mournful banshee. "My soule ÿs...?" Celestia sighed and said.

"In all these years have you even heard living ponies speak?" The spirit of the unicorn mare shrivelled at this and so Celestia switched her delivery. "Miss Parkin, your actions when you lived were serious but I do understand why you committed them, even though it seems that you were willing to sacrifice the lives of your own neighbours to preserve your own." She went on about the relationship between doing what's right and what's easy, when one act of evil can prevent a worse one and then came down to the issue of her soul jar. "By merging your own self into a trinket you have not only tried to distance yourself from the consequences you carried out in life but you've managed to present yourself with a living tartarus by allowing yourself to become stranded between the worlds." Ginger Parkin felt herself rising against her will, an intense light shifting from Celestia to the sky above her, she struggled to fight it, crying out in panic with rapid apologies. "Nopony who lives, has lived or will live can avoid the passing over. Since you wouldn't accept the chance to explain your actions in life now you must face the consequences in death. However everypony has the chance to make amends and even the deceased can find forgiveness if they try." The ghost of Ginger Parkin vanished in a flash with a cry of slightly misplaced despair.

"Princess? Princess?!?" Celestia's eyes opened slightly. "Princess, are you all right?" Twilight asked hesitantly.

"I am fine, Twilight." She answered. "You won't have to worry about her any longer. As to this..." She held up the whistle, "It has lost all its power. I appreciate your efforts to learn about the past, Twilight Sparkle, but if you ever come across another First Age artifact in places like the old castle I'd be quite happy... neigh, in light of these events I shall have to make a royal decree out of this. Twilight Sparkle, if you or any of your friends happen upon another ancient relic you must inform me as soon as you're able and never, I repeat, never try to use it until I am satisfied it holds no danger." At this all three mares returned to the characteristic bow position and made declarations of humble acceptance of these conditions.

"So, what about that thing, now?" Rainbow Dash asked. "You gonna have it melted down or something?" Celestia looked over the now defunct item and seemed struck by an idea.

"No," She answered, "This will be placed in a museum, where it will hopefully serve as a future warning to the curious." At this She began to power up Her horn and said. "I must get back now, but do feel free to drop me a line any time, especially after sunset." Before anypony could answer She vanished almost as spectacularly as She arrived.

"Wow." Twilight stated after a minute. "I've heard the expression 'curiosity killed the cat' but I didn't think the Princess would take it that seriously."

---

Ginger Parkin gazed upon the glowing thrones in the chamber that she could only determine was a judicial court for the departed; she knew that the decisions made by the two sat above her could lead to her damnation.

"MISS GINGER PARKIN," One declared in a voice that she associated with royalty while she was alive, "THOU HAST BEEN FOUND GUILTY OF ABUSING THE MAGICAL NATURE OF THE WORLD OF THE LIVING AND VIOLATING THE RULES OF THE DEAD."

"However," The other announced, "Since you have been under a series of shocking conditions for your mind-set, we have agreed that you will be able to pass over to Elysium as most ponies would." She look up in amazement and gratitude at this but the first one kept the stern look.

"NEVERTHELESS," There was a pause as They exchanged glances, "Thou must face the consequences of thy actions and so must traverse the Asphodel fields to reach it." An unseen doorway opened and revealed a rolling foggy plain beyond. "Keep thy mind on the destination and thou shalt find Elysium, but whenever thy mind strays thou will be lost in the mists until thou recalls the nature of thy journey." Ginger's eyes fell on the shimmying floor as she listened to this.

"I hath neigh choice. Ye judgment is finale, Princesses." With that she began to slowly approach the door.

"Remember," Celestia finished, "We'll be watching you, every step of the way."

Author's Note:

This addition was made to take the original ghost story and have it fit into Equestria's controlled environment setting. The original concept when Twilight's sceptical nature came to my mind while reading the ghost story in question.

Ginger Parkin's dialogue was particularly difficult to write due to a lack of information about Middle English.