Phantom Syndicate

by BluePhoenyx

Chapter 3: The Winds of Change

Spirit Glider, Mirage, and Quill were in Mrs. Jennet’s attic going through boxes in a desperate, frantic search. They had figured out the donkey’s ghost problem hours ago and been looking for the Tether ever since with no luck.

“Guys its getting dark,” Mirage said, her voice wavering as she glanced out of the attic window.

The gentle sunlight of the setting sun was drifting through the attic window, causing the room to have a golden glow and warm up just enough to make Mirage’s cloak somewhere between necessary and warm.

“I know, I know!” Spirit snapped, buck kicking a box over as he did and sending the pile crashing onto the floor.

Mirage and Quill both flinched at Spirit’s sudden burst of rage. Mirage hadn’t seen Spirit so upset before, he was always so calm and confident.

They had turned the entire house upside down looking for the locket. Mrs. Jennet had said she remembered clearly putting it back into one of the boxes upstairs, but when they looked it was gone. Spirit looked out the attic window, watching the sun lower on the horizon. The time of ghosts had begun and they were out of time.

“I can’t believe a pony like Lucky Risk had multiple personalities,” Spirit said, smiling despite their imminent danger. He was clearly trying to make light of the situation. “It’ll make for a heck of a story when it gets published, I just wish we had more clues as to how and why he was killed for it.”

Mirage nodded her agreement. “Maybe finding the locket will help us.” She sighed in frustration, tossing an empty box aside.
“Wisps!” Quill yipped suddenly, pointing a hoof across the room. Mirage looked over and watched as the little balls of gaseous energy began appearing. They were floating just above the ground and rising. Most were a soft blue color with a white center, but they ranged in colors and size as well.

The will-o-wisps themselves weren’t frightening—a pony could walk through them unharmed—but if they were here, then so were ghosts. Nopony knew why, but the more of them there were, the more powerful the ghosts.

There were dozens in this room. They floated around aimlessly, waiting for the energy they sensed. Mirage held her breath as she watched them.

Spirit seemed almost terrified of them as he backed away from the growing crowd, but he did his best to keep his cool. Quill watched them as well for a moment then turned back to the boxes, quickly trying to find the locket. Mirage started looking again as well but paused. She glanced back at the floating balls of flame-like light. They seemed to be, converging almost, onto one area of the room.

“Hey Spirit, look,” Mirage whispered so as not to cause any alarm. She pointed her hoof to the steadily growing crowd forming around one spot of the room in particular.

Spirit looked up and tilted his head. He walked over to the group of wisps then found where they were concentrating. He looked down at the floorboards and felt one of them. It shifted slightly under his hoof.

“Mirage,” He said quickly. “Come here and lift the board up for me.”

“On it,” Mirage said. She trotted over, her hooves tapping lightly on the attic floor. She used her lavender colored magic to lift the loose board up.

Spirit had to wave the sudden onslaught of wisps away from the hole so he could see into it. His heart sank, but his mind buzzed with new questions. The locket was laying on a bed of old, discolored lace scraps along with some makeup and a hoof-mirror. Mirage came up behind him.

“Okay, so there’s the locket but why?” Mirage asked.

“I’m not sure,” Spirit said. He reached into the hole to pick up the locket, but suddenly searing, crippling pain shot through his shoulder, trailing into his spine and sitting like a massive stone in his gut. He stumbled backward onto his hind legs, grasping his shoulder with his free hoof.

“Spirit!? Are you okay?” Mirage gasped.

She rushed to his side as he dropped back down to all four legs. Mirage unwrapped his bandages with her magic. His wound was bleeding again and dripping down down his leg.

“I must have.. Have reopened it when I.. leaned down.” Spirit choked.

Quill trotted over quickly, taking some fresh bandages and gauze out of his saddlebags once he was close to Spirit.
“I’ll take care of it,” Quill told Mirage. “You Bind the locket.”

Mirage nodded and turned back to the locket. She had to push the wisps away again so she could see it. She enveloped the locket in her magic and started to levitate up, but it sparked suddenly. Her lavender colored magic turned black as ink then a burst of electric magic sent her flying back into the opposite wall. She screamed as she flew, and slammed into the into the wall with a harsh thud. A box fell over from the force of the hit and fell on top of her when she hit the floor. Spirit was by her side in an instant, letting the bandages trail behind him as he ran over.

“Are you alright?” He asked breathlessly. He helped her to her hooves then gasped. “Mirage your horn!”
Mirage groaned and rubbed her head with a hoof. “What? What about it?” She asked. She glanced up and saw just the faint tip of her horn beyond her mane.

It was scorched black. She squeaked and rushed back over to the hole, looking at herself in the mirror that was sitting inside. Half of it looked like someone had set it on fire. She groaned and began trotting in place. Her panic was cut off mid-trot though when she noticed something in the mirror. She leaned in and started to look closer. There was something like smoke going across the glass. No, not across, inside. Smoke was swirling inside the mirror. Suddenly her reflection’s eyes glowed bright red. Mirage gasped and began to walk backward, but as she took steps back a sudden burst of foggy mist shot out of the mirror in a pillar. The fog formed the shape of the ghost stallion from the night before was floating above them, but something was different about it. His eyes were bright glowing red, and his jaw was filled with sharp fangs.

“That’s... not the ghost of a pony with multiple personality disorder,” Quill said, backing away from the ghost.

The ghost hissed as it stared down at them. Spirit’s shoulder began aching again, but he tried to ignore it as he too backed away.

“What do we do Spirit?” Mirage asked quietly. Her heart felt close to exploding from her chest as it pumped rapidly with adrenaline.

“I.. I don’t know,” Spirit said. He slowly used his wing to open a pocket in his vest. He watched as the ghost slowly began approaching them. He felt his feathers wrap around the cold silver net in his pouch.

The ghost seemed to sense the silver. It turned its gaze over to Spirit and hissed at him. Spirit froze when it began to advance. Mirage held her breath as she waited for an order from Spirit. She couldn’t think of anything as if her mind had been wiped clean of any good ideas.

It was little Quill that brought her out of her fog. He yelled suddenly, following a helter-skelter throw of a magnesium bomb. It exploded mid-air, sending a rain of burning magnesium and salt over the ponies below. Mirage cried out as a small ember burned through her cloak and onto her back. Her cry was overpowered by the undead screech of the ghost as it writhed under the powerful repellent. Spirit’s wings spread out, covering Mirage to protect her from the fiery rain.

“Quill!” Spirit yelled. He tossed the silver link net over to Quill as he yelled.

Quill caught it and bolted under the ghost, dodging wisps of smoky ghost plasm as his short legs propelled him forward. The shower of fire stopped and the ghost regained itself. It noticed Quill rushing by and began to descend on him. A magical blast of lavender burst against the ghost’s back, making it scream again. It whipped around to see Mirage standing defiantly before it.

“You. Burnt. My. CLOAK!” Mirage snapped and sent another blast of magic at the ghost.

It screeched and started for her, but before it could reach her, she used her magic to make a circle of iron chains appear around her. The ghost bounced directly into the barrier the chains provided. It crumbled against the barrier and pulled back, screeching again. Mirage cringed at the ghost’s face, which looked like someone had taken a bite out of it.

“Hey, this way!” Spirit yelled down at the ghost.

Spirit was flying above it and let a rain of salt pour down over the ghost. The ghost’s horrific wail broke the glass in the attic window, sending shards of it raining down into the garden. Just as the salt hit the ghost, Quill finally managed to get through the wisps and dropped the silver net over the locket. It hissed and fizzled, making the ghost writhe against the ethereal pull binding a Tether caused. It began to move backward as if something was physically dragging it. It struggled and clawed at the floor, leaving deep grooves in the wood floor until it seemed to be sucked into the locket itself. Spirit flew down, passing Quill an iron box lined with silver from his vest. Quill tossed the locket and silver net, into the box then quickly snapped it shut. Mirage rushed over, magically locking the box.

Mirage panted, sitting down to catch her breath. Spirit landed beside her and Quill collapsed, keeping a hoof over the box. The three of them were quiet for a moment then began laughing with the desperate joy that comes from coming so close to death and surviving.

“I thought we were goners for sure that time!” Mirage laughed.

Quill stood up, putting the box in his saddle bag. “Were you yelling at me or the ghost about your cloak?” He asked.

“Both!” Mirage laughed.

Spirit laughed with the pair but suddenly his laugh faded. He wobbled slightly before falling over. Quill caught him quickly and Mirage put her hooves on him to try and steady him.

“Spirit?” Quill asked, helping the pegasus lay down on the ground.

Spirit groaned weakly, He came around slowly and looked up at his friends. “Ugh, yeah,” he mumbled. He looked down at his shoulder, which was bleeding still. “I guess I didn’t realize how bad it was hurting.”

“Come on, let’s get you back home,” Mirage said gently and helped him stand on his hooves again.

“I’ll take the Tether to the post office, you two go home.” Quill agreed.

As Spirit stood up, he looked around the room. “We’ll have to pay for all these damages.” he groaned. The room was covered in scorch marks and the grooves from the ghost scratching at the floor. Nothing had caught fire thankfully, but there was still extensive damage, including the glass window.

“Don’t worry about that right now,” Mirage said. “Come on, put your wing on my back.”

Spirit nodded and did as she asked, leaning against her as they walked back to the house. They passed by Mrs. Jennet, who was asking a million questions a minute, but Mirage ignored her. She knew it was unprofessional, but Spirit came first. Quill could handle her just fine without them.

****

As they walked, Spirit seemed to be getting worse and worse. Mirage looked at his shoulder, and the deep, red stain his blood had caused on his normally brilliant, white coat. There was a bit sized area of red around the actual wound, surrounded by a deep purplish bruise that spidered like a broken mirror around that. It didn’t look any worse than when he’d originally got Marked, but it was clearly still bothering him. They walked in silence for the most part, except for when Spirit had to stop and take a breather. They made it back home, and Mirage helped Spirit up to his actual room instead of his recliner. She helped him take his vest off then took a damp cloth she’d snagged from the kitchen, placing it gently on his wound to clean it. Spirit winced but didn’t complain.

“You’re getting really good with your magic.” He commented after a few moments of painfully awkward silence.

“What do you mean?” Mirage asked. She floated over a roll of bandages and some gauze that were, conveniently placed, inside Spirit’s closet. She found some Mark Ointment as well and started applying it to his wound.

“That last blast of magic you gave it before it hit the barrier,” Spirit replied behind a hiss of pain. “It hurt it pretty bad.”

“Yeah well... I think it was just a one-time thing.” Mirage said. “I was just so worried something was going to happen... It was weird Spirit. I’ve never seen a ghost go from a level two to a three like that in just one night.”

“Yeah, it was weird..” Spirit mumbled. “But I don’t think it's unheard of... I mean, it obviously happened.”

Mirage sighed as she wrapped his shoulder up in new fresh bandages then covered him in a blanket. “It was still weird.” She mumbled. “At least we got the Tether..”

Spirit nodded tiredly. He found a comfortable spot for his leg to rest then sighed softly into his blankets. “We’ll have to catch the early train if we want to get to Canterlot before noon... I was hoping to catch the last train out today and stay with my folks but that left hours ago.”

“Canterlot? In your condition? Spirit you need a doctor right away.” Mirage argued firmly. “I let you ignore it because I knew we still had a job to do, but you need a professional to take care of that”

“I’ll be fine,” Spirit answered. “I just need to sleep it off.” He looked up as Mirage glared at him with a sour look on her face. He sighed. “I’ll see one in Canterlot after the meeting.” He bargained.

Mirage rolled her eyes. It was the best she could hope for she supposed. At least the doctors in Canterlot were some of the best in all of Equestria. “Alright, but I want you to go see one the second it's over got it?” She said firmly.

“Yes, mom.” Spirit chuckled.

It made Mirage laugh too and she turned for the door. “I’ll come back with some water then I want you asleep.” Spirit nodded his agreement.

****

Mirage walked downstairs and into the kitchen. She used her magic to levitate a glass over to the sink and watched the water flow into it. She hardly felt the burn on her horn anymore, but she knew it was still there and would probably leave a mark. She liked that idea. Even little Quill had a small scar on his left ear from a ghost attack. Granted he had gotten it by running away from the ghost through some thorn bushes, but no one needed to know the details. Mirage finally got her scar, though she wished it hadn’t been under such strange circumstances. It was odd for Tethers to reject being touched before a ghost appeared. Sure, sometimes a powerful ghost could use its own energy to protect the Tether, but never before it began its haunting. She wondered if maybe, just maybe, the ghost had pretended to be a lower level to lower their guard? Could ghosts even think and plan like that?

Mirage pushed the thought from her mind. It was too much to think of on such a late night, and Mirage made it her policy to never think too hard too late at night, especially after a particularly tiresome ghost. She brought the water back up to Spirit’s room but found he was already sound asleep. She smiled at him. Despite being such a fearless leader, he was very foal-like when his guard was down. She set the glass of water on the nightstand beside his bed and sat there for a moment to watch over him. She looked around his room, a place she’d only gone into a few other times before. The walls were lined with different weaponry for ghost catching, most of it ancient. Spirit had a fascination with how ghosts used to be captured. Other than the artifacts on the wall, his room was fairly bare. He had lavender plants growing in window planter outside his window, a bookshelf with mostly crime novels, and some awards he’d obtained at The Canterlot Academy for Paranormal Defense. He’d been top of his class all four years next to his brother. Mirage watched Spirit sleep for a little while longer before leaving.

****

Quill returned later that evening. He stepped into the living room to see Mirage laying down on her spot on the couch, her cape hanging on the coat rack with the brooch Spirit had gotten for her still pinned to it.

“How is he?” Quill asked. Mirage lifted her head from her book.

“Hm? Oh, sleeping.” She answered tiredly.

Quill nodded. “Is he going to go to Canterlot in the morning?”

“Do you really need to ask that?” Mirage chuckled. “He said he’ll go to a doctor after the meeting. I figured that was good enough.”

“I guess so.” Quill chuckled. “Guess we better get some sleep then.” He said as he walked across the room and climbed into his chaise lounge. He picked up a comic book to read as he laid down. Mirage nodded in agreement but didn’t go to sleep right away either.

****

Mirage yawned tiredly at the train station as she stood at the edge of the platform, looking for their ride. Quill was buying their tickets while Spirit was resting on a bench next to the bags. Mirage gave up looking for the train and walked back over to Spirit.

“How is the shoulder?” She asked, noticing he was trying to rotate it.

“Stiff, but better,” Spirit answered. Mirage nodded.

Quill returned and they made triple sure they had all of their luggage. The train arrived shortly after and they found their seats. Mirage put Spirit on a bench by himself so he could lay down, which he didn’t seem to enjoy, but she wasn’t budging on the matter. The train lurched forward once all of its passengers were settled, and was quickly on its way towards the rising sun.

It was a good hour into the trip when Mirage finally spoke. “We never did find out how Lucky Risk died..” She mumbled.

“It would have been nice to know.” Quill agreed. “But it really isn’t our job to solve murders, we just have to deal with what comes later.”

Spirit nodded, though he seemed upset at not being able to know either. Mirage turned towards the window to watch Equestria passing by. They had a good long trip ahead of them and Mirage was excited to see new parts of the land she lived in.

“I’m more worried about how the ghost jumped levels in just one night,” Spirit said. “It wasn’t like it killed anyone.”

Mirage thought for a long moment as to why. It was a troubling question since ghosts jumping levels usually only happened when they got stronger, and they usually only got stronger when they killed somepony. She used her magic to lift the letter from Princess Luna out of her luggage to read it again.

“Maybe it has something to do with why Princess Luna is calling a meeting.” She suggested.

Spirit nodded his agreement. “We’ll know soon enough. Canterlot isn’t too much farther.”

****

They arrived at Canterlot a little ahead of schedule, which was just fine for Mirage. She trotted out of the train and marveled at the beautiful, elegant city. She looked at all the ponies walking around, already seeing far more of them than their town ever had. She noticed as well, how elegantly dressed they all were. She had her cloak with her but had kept it off on the warm train. It wasn’t snowing quite yet in Equestria, but Canterlot was close to it, considering it’s height on the mountains. Still, Mirage didn’t bother with her cloak. Spirit was wearing his vest of course but otherwise, he and Quill had nothing on, and Mirage didn’t exactly want to stand out in her drab black cloak. Her cutie mark would do it for her anyway. She hardly noticed at first, but quickly found that ponies were looking at her and whispering. Usually, she didn’t care, but the concerned look the ponies of Canterlot were giving her was scaring her. She hung back next to Spirit, who was taking his time.

“Is it just me or are they all staring at us?” She asked.

“Ponies always stare at us,” Spirit answered.

Quill had to gallop after them, dragging his luggage behind him. Once he caught up, Mirage took his luggage into her magic. “Yeah well, this is a little different.” He agreed.

An earth pony with a light gray coat and a gray and red mane walked up to them. She was tall, almost as tall as Spirit, and had a nice thin frame. Her mane was in a bun and held together with two long silver mane pins that had jeweled lavender charms hanging off them. She had a smug grin on her face as she walked up to them, in particularly Quill.

“Well, you’re a weird-lookin' bunch that’s why.” She said laughing. Her voice was a little high pitched like a squeaky toy and had a “better than you” twang to it.

Quill groaned as the mare reached them. “Hi, Crimson.” He muttered, trying to sound thrilled to see her.

“Hello, big brother.” The mare said cheerfully, ruffling Quill’s mane with her hoof. She knocked his glasses down in the process so he had to adjust them again.

Mirage and Spirit looked back and forth between the pair of them. Quill was a good two heads shorter than her and had to look up to meet her gaze. “Big brother?” They both asked in unison

Crimson Iron laughed at them. “Yeah, he doesn't like it but Quilly is the older brother.”

Quill rolled his eyes as he fixed his mane with a hoof. “I told you not to call me Quilly.” He pouted quietly.

Mirage giggled quietly then held her hoof out to shake. “Hi, I’m Mirage, I work with Quill.”

“Crimson Iron.” Quill’s sister replied as she shook Mirage’s hoof. “I absolutely love your cutie mark, by the way, such a beautiful representation of magic.”

Mirage looked back at her cutie mark for a moment then smiled. “Why thank you, and yours is fascinating as well.” She said.

Crimson turned to show her cutie mark. It was a will-o-wisp wrapped in an iron chain.

“Thank you, I make iron chains now in my own forge. I use to go hunting with my brother but when he left I joined a different company. I use to special in iron protection rings but then I discovered I had a knack for making iron.” She rambled proudly. She stopped when she finally noticed Spirit and her demeanor changed quickly. She suddenly seemed to become star struck as she shook his hoof.

“And you must be Spirit Glider. I heard you were top of your class at CAPD. I was top of mine too but I didn’t get anywhere near the grades you did.” she complimented. She leaned to the side to see his cutie mark. She paused and tilted her head. “Three will-o-wisps? That’s your cutie mark?”

“Is there a problem with it?” Spirit asked.

Crimson backpedaled quickly. “Er, no no there ain’t, I was just, expecting something else,” she answered. “Usually it's a will-o-wisp with some sort of indication of how you capture ghosts, but yours is just will-o-wisps.”

Spirit chuckled at her. “I guess I've just always been good at catching ghosts and improvising.” He answered.

“That is fascinating. You know cutie mark history is a second hobby of mine. Did you know that the creator of the first ghost hunting company had a cutie mark of a will-o-wisp over some magnesium because she was the first pony to discover that magnesium could harm ghosts?” She rambled again.

“Your sister really likes to talk,” Mirage whispered to Quill.

“You have no idea,” Quill whispered back.

Spirit was nodding and smiling as she spoke, being as polite as possible. Mirage both loved and hated that about Spirit. He was so good at pretending to be invested, that it was sometimes hard to tell if he really was.

“Well, we better get going to the conference hall.” Quill finally interrupted, fixing his glasses again.

“Yeah, guess you’re right big bro.” Crimson beamed as she ruffled his mane again. He groaned and re-fixed his glasses yet again.

They began walking down the road again, and Crimson went into a long story about how Quill had gotten his cutie mark, which was an open book with a will-o-wisp hovering above it, by leading some professionals to a ghost’s Tether simply by researching what the ghost liked to do while alive. Quill stated it was a simple process of elimination but Crimson, despite her know-it-all attitude, seemed very proud of the story. Mirage smiled as she listened but quickly found herself getting bored of it. She let her vision wander around her to the various stores and buildings of Canterlot. It was a beautiful city, with tall glistening buildings and smooth paved roads; nothing like her hometown.

They reached the castle and were lead by guards through the extravagant halls and corridors to the conference hall. They passed by stain glass windows depicting the great deeds of six ponies. Mirage stopped to admire one of the windows, showing the birth of a new princess. She admired Princess Twilight Sparkle for her studies in magic; a subject she too enjoyed to study though she could never be as talented as her. She caught back up with the others just in time to reach the conference hall. Inside were hundreds of other ponies gathered in the massive room. They were all talking amongst each other in a loud rumble, but the room was so large that the sound wasn’t too deafening.

Spirit looked around the hall and at all the different ponies. Many were dressed in uniforms to show which company they belonged to or some type of accessory. Spirit never liked uniforms, he felt they just got in the way and were too expensive keep clean or replace. Crimson was already chatting up another pony before they could realize it. A pegasus suddenly landed hard in front of them, making Quill jump almost two feet. The pegasus was a soft silver color with a short, spiky, yellow mane and tail. The pegasus smirked as he folded his silvery wings in.

“Hello, Spirit.” He said calmly and cooly. He and Spirit were the same height and looked pretty similar aside from their color difference and the new pony was more muscular.

“Hello, Moon,” Spirit answered with a slight hint of disdain in his voice.

Bright Moon walked around him and finally looked at his shoulder. “Well well, looks like you got careless.” He said, smirking. He stopped mid-stride as he noticed Mirage glaring at the rude stallion. “Ah, how rude of me.” He said, bowing graciously to her. Mirage was taken aback by that, but let him kiss her hoof. “I am Bright Moon, Moon to my friends.”

“I...figured that part out.” Mirage strained as she pulled her hoof back.

“You must be one of Spirit’s little employees, I knew he’d made his own company but I never expected my brother would get such a beautiful mare under his employ,” Moon said.

Spirit snorted and started to try and push Moon aside but Quill held him back.

“Hold your horseshoes Spirit, she’s got this.” Quill grinned.

Mirage grinned coyly at Moon. “Well, you certainly know how to talk to a lady don’t you? Nothing at all like Spirit. He’s so brash and forward.” She purred. “I bet all the mares fall for you.”

“Well, I am very popular at my company, maybe you could come work for us instead and we can get to know each other a little better.” Moon grinned proudly.

Mirage smirked and turned around, smacking him across his snout with a sharp flick of her tail. “Maybe you should try asking a girl about her instead of talking about yourself.” She said firmly as she trotted back to Spirit’s side. Spirit tried hard to hide his snicker.

Moon glared at her a little. “Fine then.” He grumbled. “But my offer stands; I’ve read about you in the paper and your magic could be useful. Not every unicorn can just produce a cloud of lavender powerful enough to actually hurt a ghost. If you joined us, we’d be even more unstoppable. Just think about it.” He finished his speech with a firm nod and turned to meet with the rest of his companions.

Mirage rolled her eyes as he left. She turned to Spirit, whose smile had faded when his brother left. “Spirit?”

“He still doesn’t forgive me,” Spirit mumbled, looking downtrodden.

Mirage frowned and placed her hoof on Spirit’s good shoulder. She was about to say something but trumpets drowned out her voice. She and everyone else in the hall turned to the front of the room to look at the stage. Two guards set their trumpets down as Princess Luna stepped past the veil of curtains. She was wearing her usual chest armor that sat regally on her dark blue form, which seemed a little thin and slightly frazzled. It made Mirage nervous to see a royal alicorn looking disheveled. Luna cleared her throat and spoke in a firm, eloquent voice.

“Greetings Hunters. Thank you for coming today.” Luna announced. “As you all know, I watch over your dreams at night and protect Equestria. In your dreams, I have seen you all deal with the horrors that you have encountered. I know you are all strong in your own ways. However, I have seen a phantom unlike any other, not only in the waking world but in the dreams of the citizens of Equestria, as a very real apparition”

Her last line sent the room buzzing with concern. Ghosts appeared in dreams as just little nightmares, never actually appearing in their dreams. A pony raised a hoof in the back and Luna nodded to it.

“Has it...killed anypony?” He asked.

Luna closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. “It has killed seven..” She replied with a grim look on her face. She tried to be strong, but her voice wavered just enough for Mirage to catch her heartbreak.

“Only five?” Bright Moon asked, flapping above the crowd so he could be heard and seen. “Not to sound heartless, but we’ve battled ghosts that have killed far more ponies than this one. Why is this one so dangerous? Can’t the local company take care of it?”

Luna turned behind her and a young, frail unicorn came out behind her. She was thin, incredibly thin. Even from her spot far from the stage, Mirage could see the pony’s ribs and hip bones. Murmurs rumbled from the crowd as the pony appeared.

“Star Orchid was the company owner in the town the ghost appeared,” Luna announced. She put her hoof gently on the frail pony’s shoulder. “Please tell your story.”

Star Orchid took a deep breath as she stepped forward, looking like she would fall over at the slightest breeze.

“My company and I were called to deal with a ghost that suddenly appeared at a local’s home. We were confused because we’d found and eradicated a ghost from there before, and we made sure there were no other Tethers in the home that could activate if a stronger ghost was gone. We made sure..” The unicorn choked a little as she spoke and clenched her eyes shut. Luna offered another reassuring hoof, which seemed to give her the strength to continue. “We...We did everything by the book; We went in, searched for Death Spots and Tethers, but there was nothing. Then we waited to see what the ghost would do during a haunt, but when that..thing..appeared... It wasn’t like anything we’d ever fought before. It.. It killed the homeowner and his wife... Then.. it killed my companions..” She whimpered behind the tears.

Bright Moon flew up to her and tried to console her. “I still don’t understand... It’s tragic, but plenty of ghost hunters have died from-”

“No!” Star Orchid screamed. “No! You don’t understand! It-it possessed them!”

The room went dead silent at that. Even level 4 ghosts couldn’t take posses ponies. If they tried, they simply killed the pony in the process before a possession could take hold.

“But.. how?” Bright Moon asked, his voice cracking with obvious fear.

“I don’t know... but when it possess one, it would attack another pony and it could Ghost Mark them through another pony... It would take on their personality like a changeling so it could get close and Mark them... But that isn’t even the worse of it.” Star Orchid had to pause to take in a quivering breath and regain herself.

She wiped her face clean of tears and whimpered. “Wh...When it was done... It would kill the pony it was possessing... And then... Then the pony...The pony would... It would become a ghost, immediately, no Tether. I watched all my friends die and turn into ghosts. My friends turned on me... I had no choice but to run... I left their bodies there and I’ve been too afraid to go back for them.”

Mirage quickly understood why Star Orchid was so thin; She felt so guilty that she hadn’t even eaten since their deaths. Quill tried to look like the story didn’t bother him by cleaning his glasses, but Spirit had known Quill long enough to know he was deeply disturbed by how vigorously he was cleaning. Bright Moon took his place back in the crowd. As he left, Star Orchid wobbled on her legs and nearly collapsed if it hadn’t been for Luna catching her. Two guards helped Star Orchid off the stage, taking her somewhere safe and comfortable.

“As you can see,” Luna continued once Star Orchid was gone. “This ghost is far different from the ones you have all encountered before. It has been proven that this creature can make and control others. If you see anything out of the ordinary in any of your hunts, I ask that you report your findings me. I also want to impose new curfews in Equestria, that I will give all of you power to enforce. Should you ever need help, I will provide all of you with a means of contacting your nearest hunters. I need you all put aside notions of individual companies and become one force against this evil.”

“Princess Luna,” an older, gruff stallion said, stepping forward. “Do you believe this threat is truly so dangerous?”

“I am not taking any chances,” Luna answered firmly. “This may seem excessive, however, I believe threats of this magnitude should not be taken lightly.”

The crowd nodded and murmured in agreement with the princess.

“I request that you all stay for the rest of the day so that I may talk with your companies and provide you with methods of contacting me and the rest of your fellow hunters. There are food and drink and you may freely roam the castle until I can speak with you.”

****

The room dispersed slightly, most groups still staying to talk with each other about the news. Spirit, Mirage, and Quill stepped out of the room and into the castle gardens to get some space. They looked at each other without saying a word, but each of them knew what the others wanted to say. They had to tell Princess Luna about Lucky Risk...