Master Suite
Here they were. The final floor. They encountered, and fought, a lot of ghosts in the way, including some very powerful.
A bellhop.
A maid.
A night guard.
A cook.
A famous pianist.
An emperor.
A mad gardener.
A filmmaker (even if this one didn't really count).
A cavepony.
A mechanic.
A queen of an ancient civilization.
Three magicians.
A captain pirate and his crew.
An athlete.
A DJ.
Without forgetting a three-tailed cat.
And now, they were about to fight the headmistress of the hotel. Probably one of the most powerful ghosts in the world behind Thanatos himself.
But the fillies felt a lot of trepidation as they heard the Ding! and the doors of the elevator opened. And it wasn't without reason, far from it. They knew that Eternal Rest was VERY powerful, more than any other ghosts encountered until now. Eternal Rest was also now VERY angry after they captured her cat. In her anger, Eternal Rest weakened the hotel, and the fillies didn't know how much damage the hotel took, so there was a very possibility that the hotel could collapse any second. Finally, it was the last floor, Eternal Rest's floor. Who knew what kind of obstacles and traps they will encounter? Also, they feared what Eternal Rest did to the ponies who were still her prisoners, living or dead, especially now that she was angry. In other word, they feared to see in what state those ponies, Scootaloo, Fluttershy, and Starlight Glimmer, were now.
Still, almost as soon as the doors opened, the fillies exited the elevator, ready for anything. When they saw the floor however, they looked around in awe at how classy it was. For starting, the floor, walls and ceiling were in sculpted and polished marble. The windows were large, giving nice views of the lands around the hotel. The elevator shaft was inside glass walls. There were two vases made of crystals, and between them, a couch that seemed very soft.
Right now, they were in the corner of the room, most of it hidden by the elevator behind, so they had to go to the left to see more of it. Against the wall behind the elevator was a huge projection screen. In front of it, in the middle of the room, was a squared lowered space with couches in the four corners and round tables between the couches at the left and the right. At the right of the room was an elevated part full of sand with a withered tree.
Surprisingly, there were almost no damage caused by Eternal Rest. There were just some cracks in the marble, some of the stuff that were on the round tables fell, and the vases were on their side. Either Eternal Rest avoided causing too much damage to her floor, the floor was more solid than the rest of the hotel, or Eternal Rest did some repair before the arrival of the fillies.
However, there were two clear problems with this room. First, there were pony statues in the corners, macabre reminder that it was Eternal Rest's floor and of what happened to her victims. Second, she seemed to have a fixation about Thanatos because there were many things reminding of him. The rims of the windows formed his skull seen from the front. The same thing was drawn on the floor in front of the squared place with the couches, and another was present on a wall beside the withered tree. Finally, the vases had crystal leads shaped like the top of Thanatos' skull.
"She's a fanfilly of Thanatos, it seems," said Apple Bloom.
"I wouldn't qualify myself with such a foalish term," they suddenly heard the familiar voice of Eternal Rest as she appeared in the projection screen, revealing that she was in a room with a lot of screens that actually showed the fillies from various angles. The mare herself was as Apple bloom remembered, and she looked at the fillies with a smile that looked so genuine that it was obviously fake. "I would rather say that I respect Lord Thanatos a lot." She gave a small chuckle at this. "So the three of you managed to reach my floor. To be frank, I am not surprised. I expected this the moment you were joined by your friends. However, I have no doubt that if you were alone, I would have won the game by now. Lucky you. Friendship is magic, I think this is what is said today. Well, let's see how far this magic will lead you now that you reached my floor."
"Obviously, it'll lead us to ya," said Apple Bloom.
Eternal Rest laughed. "Maybe, but I have a small doubt because, you see..." She then waved a hoof, and from offscreen floated toward Eternal Rest a small doll looking like a familiar yellow pegasus. The doll looked very frightened.
Everypony gasped, Sweetie Belle placing her hooves in front of her mouth, and they all shouted "Fluttershy?!"
Eternal Rest gave them a knowing smirk before she sent purple lightning at the doll who began to scream in pain.
"STOP THAT!" yelled Apple Bloom. She could hear Rainbow Dash roaring in rage before she had to be restrained by the others despite them being as horrified and enraged.
"You made me very angry, Apple Bloom!" shouted Eternal Rest as she stopped attacking Fluttershy. "You captured my sweet little baby Polterkitty! I swear to you, for this, I will make you and your friends suffer one thousand and one torments that will make you beg for the mercy of death, excepted that you will already be dead, so no mercy! Never!" She took a big breath to calm herself and put some makeup powder on her face. "And. As a result of my really bad current mood, I upped the difficulty of my floor... a lot. Tartarus will be child's play compared to what is awaiting you! So, go on, try to reach me. Let's see who will have the last laugh!" At this, the screen turned off.
Suddenly, purple lightning hit the vases and even the statues, giving them life. The vases, being made of crystals, had to be bucked through the windows to be rid of. For the statues, the fillies had to slam them with their Poltergusts. Then, many holes opened in the ceiling, and more statues, about a dozen dropped from them, including the statue of Fluttershy herself that they recognized because the ghosts had painted it yellow with the three butterflies on the flanks.
Fluttershy's statue was more problematic than the others. She died just recently, so her body trapped in the statue hadn't decomposed yet. Since it was the body itself that was possessed, then slamming the statue wouldn't really work where, for the others, it was enough to destroy both the cement and the skeleton under it. But also, Fluttershy's statue had some armor probably taken from floor 6, and it was holding a sword in its mouth. And of course, despite the cement and the armor, it could fly, probably helped by Eternal Rest's power, so simply throwing it through a window won't work.
Still, after avoiding the swings of her sword, the fillies did, together, the basic slamming to at least get Fluttershy's body rid of the armor and the cement while destroying some of the other statues by the same occasion. However, because of the armor protecting it at first, it took more time to destroy the cement, forcing the fillies to be more careful of the other statues while this happened. When Fluttershy's body was rid of the cement, revealing that the cement had made it entirely hairless with a burned skin, the fillies continued to slam it on the statues until they were all destroyed, severely injuring it but not enough to free it from Eternal Rest's control.
Since it wasn't this way that they would be able to stop Fluttershy's body, the fillies decided to drop it as they tried to find a solution. Apple bloom eyed the sword that the body dropped when they slammed it, and she took it as the body got up. It then charged at Apple Bloom, mouth open in an attempt to bit, but the filly managed to place the sword so it impaled the body in the mouth and through the head. It wasn't enough to stop the body who was able to bit Apple Bloom's front hooves as they were holding the sword. Sweetie Belle and Little Ghost both came to her help by forcing the body's mouth to open, Little Ghost using her shield as a lever. Once Apple Bloom could move her hooves again, and since she was still holding the sword, she used all her strength to swing it to her left while it was still piercing the mouth, half beheading the body. Little Ghost then violently bashed the head from its right with her shield, causing the upper part of the head to hang upside down at the left of the lower part. It was only a question of seconds before the weight of the upper part eventually caused the skin still attaching it to the lower part to tear apart, and the upper part fell.
And yet, it still wasn't enough to stop the body as it continued to walk. However, without its eyes, it was disoriented as it couldn't see anything anymore, so it simply advanced toward the last known position of Apple Bloom. Of course, Apple Bloom, despite wanting to throw up at the sight of Fluttershy's body beheaded at the mouth (with the tongue and teeth visible), had moved since then so the body walked beside her. She then nodded to Little Ghost who grabbed the body's right wing and fully extended it. Then, as the body began to react, Apple Bloom used the sword to cut the wing before she quickly moved to avoid an awkward punch.
When the body began to search Apple Bloom again, the filly tapped one of its legs to gain its attention. Avoiding another awkward punch, Apple Bloom then moved to the side and watched as the body began to walk toward one of the large windows now destroyed. Step by step, the body approached it.
And it fell.
With one of its wings cut, there was no way for it to avoid its gory fate.
Seconds passed in silence as the fillies stared at the window. Then, as the adrenaline's effect started to disappear, Apple Bloom began to shake as she sat, Sweetie Belle and Little Ghost joining her.
Apple Bloom had fought skeletons and mummies, but skeletons were just bones and mummies were withered corpses with almost nothing left. There, it was a real zombie, or as close as it could be since it was a corpse given life thanks to the power of a ghost. And it was absolutely disgusting. And not only it was a zombie, but it was also above all the zombified corpse of a dear friend, the kindest mare in Equestria. She didn't deserve this fate. To be violently and repeatedly slammed. To be beheaded. And to finish as a bloody smudge on the roof of one of the lower, larger parts of the hotel.
She didn't deserve whatever torture Eternal Rest was putting her ghost through now.
Apple Bloom didn't even dare to look at the upper part of Fluttershy's head remaining, or she could really throw up. Instead, she began to think of how they will be able to leave this room. There was no exit door. There is bound to be a secret passage.
"Girls, let's start to look around for the exit," she said.
Her friends nodded, and they separated. They quickly found the solution when Sweetie Belle looked through a small hole in a wall beside the withered tree, under Thanatos' skull symbol. Through it, the skeleton filly saw a chain that seemed to be linked to the projection screen.
"Little Ghost! There's a chain behind this wall! Try to pull it!"
"Okay!"
Little Ghost passed through the wall, entering a secret area in the right corner of the room beside the screen. There, she quickly spotted the chain and pulled it, lifting the screen until it almost fully entered the ceiling. This revealed a large double door behind it.
When the fillies passed it, they entered what they could only describe as a museum of horror. It was a hallway going at three directions, to the left where it turned to the right, to the right where it turned to the left, and forward where it separated to the left and the right, and it was filled with statues of ponies, with some furniture here and there like vases and small closets.
Then, they heard something rolling, and out of the corner from the left part of the hallway appeared Scootaloo's scooter.
It was rolling alone.
Just as the fillies began to wonder what her scooter was doing here, it suddenly charged at them, and they remarked that it now had a small spear attached to it to impale Apple Bloom. The filly quickly jumped to the side and the scooter passed beside her before it quickly turned around to charge again. Sweetie Belle, however, managed to grab it in the middle of its course, and she slammed it on the floor, breaking it.
Only for it to repair itself.
Oh... It's that kind of possessed object... thought Apple Bloom.
As she learned from Smart Spirit, there are different kinds of possessed objects.
First, there are the ones that are possessed by the power of a ghost like Eternal Rest did with the furniture of the hotel, but also like Bogmire did to the skeletons of the Gem Manor's graveyard.
Then there are the ones that are directly possessed by a ghost. Some good examples are the Gem Manor when it was possessed by Little Ghost, the staircase, treehouse, the various things that the Shadow Ghosts took possession of (including Applejack), the piano with Piano Virtuoso, the T-Rex with Ooga, and the ship with Blackbeard. There were too the piano in the Gem Manor, the dolls back in that room of the Haunted Towers, and the various mummies encountered both in the valley and the hotel.
And then, there are the ones possessed by a ghost bound to it. The difference there is that the object becomes pretty much a part of the ghost, turning it more or less indestructible depending of how powerful the ghost is as the ghost passively uses their power to repair the damage the object takes. If the ghost is too powerful, then the only way to defeat them is to find a way to break the bind, which requires a lot of power. Or it is possible to trap the object somewhere where it couldn't escape, like the Gem Family did with all the objects back in the attic of the Gem Manor. Sweetie Belle is another good example of a ghost bound to an object, here her own body. There was also Applejack and her robotic body. However, the main problem for the ghost with this method is that unless they are really powerful, they can't leave the possessed object anymore and are stuck in it for maybe forever. This explains why there aren't much ghosts using this method of possession.
And Scootaloo's scooter was now such an object. And Apple Bloom had an idea of who was the ghost bound to it.
Thankfully for the fillies, there was some key words. The object becomes pretty much a part of the ghost. So Apple Bloom took the dehypnotist and used it on the scooter after avoiding another of its charges. They hadn't tested it on ghosts, but there was no reason for it to not work on them.
Beside the fact that ghosts were immaterial and didn't really have a brain to unbrainwash, but it doesn't stop them from being able to be brainwashed, so...
But it seemed to work because the scooter stopped attacking.
Eternal Rest growled. One of her three trump cards so easily defeated? At least, the first one gave them some difficulty! That damned machine! She didn't think about it!
She slammed her hooves on her desk in rage, badly damaging it.
Some seconds passed with the fillies staring at the scooter, none of them moving.
Then...
"Uh?" The handlebar of the scooter then moved to face the fillies one by one. "Girls? Uuh... Why do I feel so...? I can't feel my mouth moving when I speak!"
"Scootaloo? Oh my gosh, Scootaloo! It's you!" shouted Sweetie Belle before she hugged, rather awkwardly, the handlebar. As she hugged the scooter, she took the occasion to get it rid of the small spear.
"Of course it's me! But can somepony explain what's going on? I can't even seem to be able to look down at myself to see why my body feels like it's made of a wooden plank!"
"Erh.... That's because yer body IS a wooden plank," said Apple Bloom who rubbed her back head awkwardly. She then pointed at the double door from which they came. "There're mirrors in the previous room if-"
She was suddenly interrupted by purple lightning striking all the statues and other furniture in the hallway, giving all of them life. At the same time, countless of red lasers activated a little everywhere in the hallway, and some of them began to sweep it in various ways. Among them, there were lasers seemingly made of the same energy as the one used in the anti-ghost cannons.
"What?!" yelled all the fillies before Apple Bloom had to duck to avoid a sweeping laser passing above her head.
"Lasers?!" she shouted. "How come she has lasers?!"
«I'm as surprised as you!» said Twilight. «This is a very recent technology developed in a secret laboratory and that has yet to be made public! It's planned to be used to defend safes in banks and precious objects in museum! How did she get her hooves on this?!»
Little Ghost avoided one of the 'anti-ghost lasers' and shouted "Let's return to the previous..." The double door suddenly slammed closed. "...room..."
"Alright..." said Apple Bloom. "Scoot, to put it simply, ya're now a ghost stuck in yer scooter. In other word, ya're a scooter, Scootaloo."
"Seriously?!"
"The longer explanation'll come once we're safe!" finished Apple Bloom before she caught one of the statues with her Poltergust helped by Sweetie Belle. The both of them then slammed it against a wall, destroying it.
"Ookaaay... I will panic about being stuck in my scooter later, I can see this is not the moment," said Scootaloo. "But I think I was starting to understand that I was in my scooter when I felt that my legs were now bucking WHEELS."
As her friends began to fight the statues and other living objects while avoiding the lasers, Scootaloo then began to test her new body to better understand how to move with it. She moved as any vehicles moved. At least, she could do a skid with it to rapidly turn if needed. She could even do a small jump.
Nothing she wasn't used to do since she passed a lot of time on her scooter. Her Cutie Mark was about her scooter. It was second nature to her.
So, if she understood correctly, she was now bound to her scooter. Remembering what Apple Bloom said about ghosts bound to objects, this meant that she was pretty much indestructible, like Sweetie Belle who had no problems fighting the statues while being hit by the lasers contrary to Apple Bloom who had to avoid the burning red lasers and Little Ghost who had to avoid the other ones who apparently hurt ghosts.
Well, let's put that indestructibility to good use! With a skid, she faced a line of statues and charged at it at full speed. One by one, she struck the statues, destroying all of them thanks to her speed. And any damage the scooter took was almost immediately repaired!
Eternal Rest will SO regret putting me in that scooter! thought Scootaloo.
With Scootaloo's help, the battle was much easier for the others. And yet, the more statues were destroyed, the more continued to come from beyond the turns of the hallway. The fillies decided to approach one of the windows, choosing one at the left turn of the hallway, to be able to throw the possessed objects through it, especially the hard ones like the vases or even a golden statue of Polterkitty. All the while, Apple Bloom had to move like a professional thief to avoid the many lasers threatening to burn her, regularly warned by her friends when one came from behind.
Thankfully, possessed objects eventually stopped coming, ending the battle. However, the lasers were still there. luckily, there was a door just in front of the windows, beside the fillies, so they passed it and entered what revealed to be the library, which was a room in two levels. The upper level, where they were, was a path circling around the center of the room by the left before ending in a staircase at the other side, the stairs leading to the lower level.
The shelf at their left and the one visible in the opposite wall were shaped like upside down stairs while the two ones against the left wall were also like stairs but divided into two parts, first looking like normal stairs, then turning into upside down ones midway through the ceiling. As a result, they formed some kind of cross in the middle, with at the center an image of Thanatos' skull. Under it was an alcove with a big key that had an orange gem shaped like Thanatos' skull as its head.
However, the alcove was blocked by lasers, both normal ones and anti-ghost ones, and more lasers were sweeping the path. But the fillies spotted what looked like a generator with a lever under the alcove in the lower level, and Little Ghost went to pull down the lever. It wasn't easy, the generator was well protected by both kinds of lasers, but she managed to make her way between them and to pull down the lever, causing all the lasers in the room to turn off. This left the path free for the fillies to go take the key without risks, but before, they had to deal with some statues also present in the room. After that, now that they were safe, they decided to talk with Scootaloo to ensure that she was alright.
"I'm okay," she said. "Yeah, it sucks that I'm now dead and that I'm now stuck in my scooter, but I'm already used to it. Also, I don't regret any of this because it helped you escape. But now, could you give the longer version of everything that happened?"
And her friends did, recounting all the events since Scootaloo's death. Finding Sweetie Belle and Applejack safe in the caravan. Rescuing Twilight and Spike in the ballroom after fighting the bellhop. The revelations about Eternal Rest (which disgusted Scootaloo a lot. She could count herself lucky that she didn't end up in a doll to be tortured). The rescue of Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash (Scootaloo mimicked a sigh of relief at this last one). The many fights against the ghosts through the floors (especially the one against Blackbeard. She regretted not being there). And finally, what happened with Fluttershy.
"So that witch is maybe torturing Fluttershy as we're talking? Then what are we waiting?!" shouted Scootaloo.
"We just wanted to be sure that you fully understood what's going on and what we're up against," said Apple Bloom. "Ah already know ya'll want to join us."
"You bet I'm joining! I may not have a Poltergust, but I'm sure I can be useful, like I was against those statues! Beside, I'm indestructible, so what do I risk?"
"Eternal Rest can hurt ya even in yer state," warned Apple Bloom. "Those purple lightning're no joke. She uses them to torture dolls."
"Noted. I will try to avoid them," said Scootaloo.
Sweetie Belle then said "Finally, the CMC are together again."
"Yay!" they all shouted.
They then took the key which Scootaloo proposed to transport. Apple Bloom used the ribbon of her bow to attach it. After that, they returned in the hallway, back among the lasers. Ninja-style, Apple Bloom and Little Ghost moved between them while the others simply followed, not affected by them. For the first time since they arrived in this floor, ghosts appeared to attack them, but the poor guys were also forced to avoid the anti-ghost lasers, limiting their movements and making the fights against them easier.
It turned out that the hallway was actually forming two ∞ linked between them at the left and right, forming a total of five squares that could be as much rooms. But before entering them, the fillies fully explored the hallway to search the exit, which they found at the opposite side of the entrance. It was actually a giant skull of Thanatos with four keyholes in four of his upper teeth. The key they got from the library entered the first key hole to the left.
And so, they began to explore the hallway in search of the doors to enter the rooms, not paying attention to the many paintings on the wall showing Thanatos, sometimes with Eternal Rest at his sides. The first one they found was in the hallway just in front of the exit, at the left. The door was invisible, but a mark on the floor showed its presence, so they used the DLD to turn it visible. And thus, they entered the first room at the left of the exit.
The room was the bathroom. And what a bathroom! There was a sauna, a shower in a corner, and a round bathtub in the center! The key, possessing a blue gem, was in the bathtub. The bathtub was surrounded by glasswalls, and another glasswall with a glassdoor blocked the path leading to the only opening, at the left. They could open the door, but a big pile of towels was blocking it. So they had to go around, pass through the sauna, the shower, and beside the sink and toilet to reach it. Little Ghost could pass the glasswall to go directly take the key, but there were anti-ghost lasers covering all of them as well as the entrance to the bathtub, making it impossible for her to reach it. Normal lasers were also present along the path for Apple Bloom.
And Sweetie Belle passed all of this and reached the key without problems, the lasers not affecting her.
Definitively a good point for the skeleton side.
They left the room, fought some ghosts, and placed the key in the first keyhole from the right in the Thanatos skull before they explored again in search of the next door, which they found in front of the left hallway linking the first ∞ to the second. This one too was invisible at first, so they had to use the DLD again to be able to enter the room that was the one at the right of the exit.
It was the bedroom, which had a huge round bed against the wall in front of the entrance. It was noted that some of the pillows were shaped like Thanatos' skull. At the left, there was a desk with a mirror a box full of makeup, and a box with sewing materials. In front of the desk was a rocking chair.
And to the fillies' horror, there were many, many dolls present absolutely everywhere in the room. On the bed, on shelves, hanging from the ceiling, against the walls... It was hard to count, but their number probably exceeded the hundred.
All those dolls were alive, poor victims of Eternal Rest forcefully bound in them. When the fillies entered the room, they all turned to look at them, surprised and curious.
It was Eternal Rest's Collection.
"There are so many of them..." said Sweetie Belle.
"Uh... Hello, every..." began Apple Bloom before she spotted some griffons and a couple of minotaurs among the dolls. "everyone! Ah'm Apple Bloom and those're mah friends Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Little Ghost! We're ghost hunters here to defeat Eternal Rest and save y'all!"
"Ah. The joke," said one of the dolls. "You're just fillies. Erh... Not sure for the scooter one."
"I'm a filly too!" shouted Scootaloo.
"And technically, I'm over one thousand years old, said Little Ghost. "Beside, yes, we're just fillies, but we managed to climb one by one the floors of this hotel, defeating all the ghosts we encountered. Eternal Rest is the last one remaining beside some minions."
"Listen," said Apple Bloom. "Ah know that Eternal Rest's very powerful and that y'all probably don't believe that we can win against her, but at least, we've a chance. And this means there's a chance for y'all to finally get out of here. For the torture and everything to end."
The dolls exchanged insure looks before a small one, a colt, talked.
"You really defeated all the ghosts?" he asked in a small, hopeful voice.
Apple Bloom smiled and nodded. "Emperor Gorros. Queen Leyla. The cavepony Ooga. Even captain Blackbeard. All of them."
"There was that pianist, Piano Virtuoso, who took possession of his piano to attack us, but we destroyed the piano and captured him!" said Little Ghost.
"Gorros was using that giant, scary black armor, but we smashed it to pieces! Oh, if you are curious, Gorros was a small griffon no taller than us," said Sweetie Belle with a giggle.
"No way!" shouted one of the few griffons in the room.
"See, everyone? We can do it. We can defeat Eternal Rest," said Apple Bloom. "We're collecting the keys to unlock the door to the room where she's waiting us. We already got two ones, and we're sure there's one in this room. Do ya know where it's?" she asked.
Some of the dolls hesitantly pointed at a painting of Thanatos further up, one of them saying "Behind this painting, but it's protected by some of those new red lights that burn."
Some of the dolls then pointed at one of the two mannequins in alcoves beside the bed, and one said "This mannequin is a lever, you must pull it to reveal the way to reach this key."
"There's another lever that turn off the red lights behind the other painting," said another doll pointing at a second painting, this one of Eternal Rest.
"Thank ya," said Apple bloom Before she went to pull the mannequin while the dolls on the bed moved from it, causing half of the floor, the one with the bed in front of the mannequins, to turn to reveal that it was actually some kind of platform with a cog linking it to some mechanism in the wall. The two paintings also lifted to reveal the key and the generator to turn off the lasers, the first one protected by the normal lasers while the second was protected by the anti-ghost ones. When Apple Bloom stepped on the platform, her weight caused it to tilt to her side more and more, threatening to make her slide into the hole under the platform. So she quickly ran to the middle of the platform to balance it. However, she remarked that the more and more the platform tilted, the more it was lifted.
She had to make the platform tilt to one side or the other to make it lift toward the generator and the key, all the while avoiding some lasers that appeared on the way.
But then, three Tricksters and two Buffys appeared to stop her, the Tricksters armed with various objects and the Buffys equipped with those green gloves. All the dolls panicked, and the ones who weren't hanging from the ceiling moved as far away of the ghosts as they could.
Apple Bloom jumped from the platform that slowly lowered itself back in place, and with Sweetie Belle and Little Ghost, quickly captured the three Tricksters, slamming them on the Buffys to stop them from attacking. Sweetie Belle and Little Ghost then went after one of the Buffys while Apple Bloom went after the second one by herself. A third Buffy appeared on the platform and forced it to tilt while five Creepers appeared to try to grab Apple Bloom to throw her in the hole under the platform.
As Apple bloom was busy with two of them and Sweetie Belle and Little Ghost were busy with two others, the fifth one came behind Apple Bloom to grab her. But Scootaloo charged at it and did a bounce to her front wheels were up in the air. The Creeper got the wheels on his face, stopping his tentative to grab Apple Bloom. Apple Bloom then slammed one of the Creepers on him. One by one, the Creepers were captured, forcing the third Buffy to stop tilting the platform to attack them. He didn't last long however, like all the others.
The dolls looked in awe. The fillies captured those ghosts like they were nothing! Maybe they were right, after all, maybe they had a chance.
Apple Bloom then returned on the platform and made it tilt to lift it. When the platform tilted too much to one side, she rapidly ran to the other side. Little by little, the platform was lifted until it reached the alcove with the generator. Apple Bloom passed through the anti-ghost lasers (which only gave her a small tingling) and pulled down the lever, turning off all the lasers. Little Ghost then flew to the key and took it while Apple Bloom jumped back on the platform, then jumped back on the floor.
"Thank ya for yer help, everyone. Now, time for us to rescue y'all," she said.
"Are you sure we can do it?" asked Little Ghost. "It's full of dangers outside, and they're over one hundred. We won't be able to keep an eye on all of them."
"We can't leave them here," replied Apple Bloom before she turned to look at all the dolls. "We've friends and family back in the basement. Y'all should join them, they'll protect ya. We'll lead y'all to the elevator. Twilight? Be ready to teleport in the elevator to lead them to the basement."
«Ok.»
"Hum... This may be a little cramped in the elevator with over one hundred dolls," said Sweetie Belle.
"At worst, the elevator'll do two trips," said Apple Bloom. "Little Ghost, could ya..." she said as she pointed at the dolls hanging from the ceiling.
"Give me a minute."
A little later, Apple Bloom opened the door to exit the room, careful of the lasers outside. Some of the dolls were riding her while more simply walked out, not minding the lasers. Scootaloo came out among the dolls, more dolls riding her, and Sweetie Belle followed, also transporting some dolls. Little Ghost came last once all the dolls were out, keeping watch of the back of the group while being careful of the anti-ghost lasers.
As they expected, ghosts attacked, but following the fillies' instructions, the dolls did their best to not panic as the fillies captured them. Slowly, the group advanced, and after a few minutes, they reached the double door that Apple Bloom bucked open, returning in the room with the elevator. As soon as they entered, Twilight teleported beside the elevator and waved at them.
The majority of the dolls looked at her in shock.
"An alicorn?!" many of them shouted.
"Ah yes. Many of you were probably captured since before Twilight became a princess," said Sweetie Belle.
"There's a lot of history to catch up for all of you," said Little Ghost.
Hearing that Twilight was a princess, the majority of the dolls bowed, but Twilight made them stop.
"Let's go to the basement before something wrong happens.
"Eeek! Is that the head of somepony over there?!" shouted one of the dolls in horror.
"There's a wing too!" shouted another.
"A mare was recently killed and bound into a doll. Is it her?" asked another doll.
"Yeah..." answered Apple Bloom as she avoided looking at the head and the wing. "We'd to fight her possessed corpse..."
"Eternal Rest made us fight all your corpses..." said Little Ghost. "You probably remarked all the scattered bones in the hallway and in the room..."
This got various reactions from the dolls, from sadness to anger.
"I hope you will really be able to defeat her," said one of them.
"We'll make her pay for everything she did," assured Apple Bloom.
The dolls entered the elevator with Twilight, some of them climbing on her with her authorisation. As they thought, there wasn't enough space in the elevator for all of them, but the dolls fixed this by climbing on each others, forming small piles. They didn't mind. Once all the dolls had entered, Twilight pressed the button to the basement, and the doors closed.
Only two ponies left to save from Eternal Rest: Fluttershy and Starlight Glimmer.
The last room to explore was at the right of the entrance of the hallway, but the door was invisible too. After using the DLD to make it appear, the fillies entered it. The room was a drawing room with an upper part. It possessed three sofas that looked very comfortable, two of which were in the upper part, at the corners beside shelves full of books and other objects while the third one was in the middle of the room, back to the upper part. Behind this sofa, on the upper part, was a phonograph and a fireplace with, above it, another image of Thanatos' skull.
There was no trace of the key however, so they began to look around to find something. Maybe another object to pull like in the bedroom to reveal a secret. They found such an object in one of the shelves, a bust of Thanatos. They pulled it, and it caused a part of the floor, the one under the sofa in the middle, to spin 90° to the right, revealing a small space with the key as well as a secret passage with a treasure chest under the upper part of the room. However, the key was protected by lasers, both the normal ones and the anti-ghost ones, and anti-ghost lasers protected the secret passage. But there was no way for Apple Bloom to reach the secret passage because it was separated by a hole left by the spinning floor. At least, Sweetie Belle was able to take the key.
So they pulled the bust of Thanatos again, and the floor spun again 90° to the right, revealing nothing but a model of the hotel. They pulled again, and the floor spun again, this time revealing the generator to turn off the lasers. They didn't really need it however because a staircase to the secret passage also placed itself at the right, letting Apple Bloom reach it to open the chest. Once the chest was empty, the fillies left the room.
With the last two keys in their possession, they returned to the giant Thanatos skull and placed them in the two remaining keyholes. The skull itself revealed to be a door that began to open, but a force immediately closed it as many, many ghosts suddenly appeared around the fillies.
All the kinds of ghosts encountered in the hotel including Slappys. The Tricksters were all armed with something. Some of the Buffys had the green gloves while others possessed heavier weapons. Throwers had daggers that they could throw.
They were all the remaining ghosts of the hotel, ready to fight the fillies to the last.
Red mode on! Time for some fast, powerful cleaning!
The red mode didn't last long however, they had to let the Poltergusts cool down. But many ghosts remained, so they had to return to the good old style fighting made of trapping and slamming. Lot of slamming. And like always, the Buffys were the main targets, their big bodies perfect to hammer the other ghosts. Apple Bloom had to constantly move to avoid the many weapons and lasers, and always made sure to avoid being surrounded. Her friends always made sure to be close enough to intervene if something happened, especially with the many Creepers creeping invisible around.
As more and more ghosts were captured, more bumps, cuts, scratches, and burns appeared in Apple Bloom's skin, but the filly didn't stop. Eventually, she and the others put their Poltergusts back to red mode and caught more ghosts, their number seemingly endless. Again, they were forced to return to yellow mode. And finally, after countless more slamming, the last ghost was captured.
Apple Bloom had to sit after that, taking back her breath. She was bleeding, she was hurting...
But she wasn't giving up. They were so close to the end!
At this moment, the Thanatos skull door opened, inviting the fillies to enter. Already, they could see Eternal Rest awaiting them behind her desk, Fluttershy on it. So Apple Bloom got up, and the fillies all entered the last room.
The door closed behind them.
Beside the desk (slightly damaged) and a lot of screens behind it, the only other remarkable thing in the room was the presence of a cage with Starlight Glimmer, unconscious, in it.
Eternal Rest gave the fillies a strained smile.
"So... you made it here... despite everything I threw at you. You captured all my minions and my pet, passed all my traps, solved all my puzzles, and saved everypony excepted those two. Good job. I'm sure that Lord Thanatos has been very entertained by this. It was all a game, after all. Just a game... And yes, it was fun, at first... Yes, you ransacking my hotel was a little irritating, but nothing too bad. I didn't really mind losing money, and I didn't mind sacrificing my minions. Even Blackbeard was a mean to an end. I could probably find another ghost as powerful as him somewhere." She levitated Fluttershy who began to panic. "Here's your reward." She then threw the doll at Apple Bloom who caught it in the air.
"Are ya alright?" she asked the doll.
Fluttershy answered by hugging Apple Bloom as best as she could with her small size. If she could, she would clearly cry. Apple Bloom patted her on the back to soothe her.
"Now..." continued Eternal Rest. "Let's talk about the part where you captured by darling Kitty and almost destroyed my hotel!" she shouted in rage, her eyes turning red.
"Uh... For that last part, it was you," said Little Ghost.
Eternal Rest growled, then violently slammed her hooves on her desk, destroying it. This caused the makeup covering her face to go off, and to everypony's shock, she now looked totally different.
Gone was the beautiful mare in her mid-thirty, now she looked like an old hag, bony body, face full of wrinkles, mane now a mess, larger and sharper shin, and dress messier.
She really looked like a witch now. This was the real Eternal Rest.
"Don't play smart with me, filly! You may be one thousand years old, but I am much, much, much older than you! I witnessed Queen Rose starting the feud between the three tribes! I saw the Heart Warming! I was there when Gusty the Great defeated Grogar! When Discord took the throne and when he was turned to stone! When Celestia and Luna became princesses! When Sombra came to power and sent the Crystal Empire to a dimension out of time and space! When I was alive, the three tribes feared me and called me the Witch of Death! The Lord of Death himself considers me as his most powerful henchpony! YOU ARE NOTHING COMPARED TO ME!" In her monologue, purple lightning began to crackle around her. "In this world, there are only three things that I hold dear! Lord Thanatos! My Polterkitty! And my hotel that I worked hard to make the best one in the world to trap my victims! And now, my Kitty is captured, and my hotel is almost destroyed! NO TORTURES WILL BE GOOD ENOUGH TO MAKE YOU PAY FOR ALL THIS!"
Eternal Rest then stopped talking for a couple of seconds before she began to cackle.
"I know at least this: you. Will. Regret. And first thing first..." She suddenly turned to the cage with Starlight Glimmer, then flew toward it. To the fillies' horror, she passed through the bars and entered the unconscious mare's body. Starlight's eyes suddenly opened, glowing red, and the ring around her horn melted before the cage exploded.
When Starlight began to talk, Eternal Rest's voice could be heard over her own voice.
"I bound myself to this mare. There is NO WAY for you to defeat me. You can't suck me with your vacuums, you won't be able to destroy this body, and I'm far too powerful to be trapped."
Starlight's body then began to float as purple lightning came out of her front hooves and her horn, striking the floor, walls, and ceiling of the room randomly. At the same time, a pillar came out of the center of the room and began to emit lasers while spinning.
"This is bad, Apple Bloom! What do we do?" asked Sweetie Belle.
Apple Bloom was panicking. "Ah... Ah don't know... Ah really don't... Wait..."
"Is it possible for a ghost to possess somepony?" asked Apple Bloom after Smart Spirit told her about the various kinds of possessions.
"Yes," answered Smart Spirit. "But thankfully, it's a really risky move for the ghost. If the possessed pony has a strong enough mind, then they can resist the ghost and even force them out of their body. It's like trying to resist mind control. Of course, sometimes, they need a little help, like an exorcist, or simply a friendship speech. Reminding the possessed that they have loved ones can help a lot. Encouragements work too. If you have to, attacking the body can also help, it can make it easier for the possessed to resist. You will have to use a lot of strength however, gotta make sure that the ghost focus less on controlling the pony."
"There's something we can do," said Apple Bloom before she put Fluttershy in her mane. Then, she yelled "Starlight! If ya hear me, resist that witch! Ah'm sure ya can do it! Ya're Twilight's protégé, so ya must have the strength to do it!"
Eternal Rest looked irritated at what Apple Bloom was trying to do. "Do you really think this will work? Must I remind you who I am?"
"Ah know who ya're, but it won't change that Starlight'll be able to get ya out!"
"Watch out!" suddenly yelled Sweetie Belle before she pushed Apple Bloom as Eternal Rest fired purple lightning. The lightning struck the skeleton filly who yelled in pain. She wasn't Eternal Rest's target, however, so her lightning didn't attack her long.
Meanwhile, Scootaloo rolled beside Apple Bloom and shouted "Climb on me!"
Apple Bloom quickly did so, and Scootaloo rolled away just as Eternal Rest fired her purple lightning again, the lightning striking the floor.
Being limited because she had to avoid the lasers for Apple Bloom, Scootaloo rolled toward the wall, having an idea that she hoped would work. As she approached the wall while moving left and right to avoid the purple lightning, she then jumped so her wheels would land on it.
"Hold on tightly to the handlebar!" shouted Scootaloo.
And then, she rolled on the wall.
"What?" shouted Apple Bloom in shock.
"Heck yeah!" shouted Scootaloo.
Growling, Eternal Rest continued to fire lightning after the scooter that continued to dodge them, moving up and down on the walls. So focused on Apple Bloom than she was, she didn't pay attention to Little Ghost and Sweetie Belle anymore. As a result, she was hit by Sweetie Belle's skull on the head, which was followed by a shield bash from Little Ghost. This made Eternal Rest focus back on them, but before she could attack, Scootaloo's scooter suddenly fell on her.
Scootaloo had actually rolled on the ceiling until she was just above the mare, then let herself drop on her! Apple Bloom, who was still riding Scootaloo, then jumped on Starlight's head and clung to it as she gave a violent hit to her horn.
THIS was terribly effective as it made the mare scream in pain.
"Come on, Starlight! Resist! Don't become a tool for Eternal Rest to kill everypony!" shouted Apple Bloom.
"Starlight!" shouted both Sweetie Belle and Little Ghost.
Then, Fluttershy also talked from Apple Bloom's mane. "Starlight..."
But Eternal Rest suddenly managed to grab Apple Bloom in Starlight's hooves, but again, before she could attack, Scootaloo dropped on her head for the second time. Having enough, Eternal Rest used Starlight's magic to levitate Scootaloo. She then sent lightning both at Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, only to be bashed on the horn by Little Ghost, causing her to drop Scootaloo. Sweetie Belle then climbed on Scootaloo who quickly rolled toward a wall, then toward the ceiling before dropping on Eternal Rest for the third time. As Eternal Rest used Starlight's magic again to levitate Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle jumped from the scooter and landed on the central pillar emitting the lasers. On it, she then grabbed one of Starlight's back hooves, and Little Ghost grabbed the other. Both of them then violently pulled down, slamming Eternal Rest right on lasers.
Since she was possessing a living pony, they had effects on her.
She sent a shockwave that destroyed the pillar, then another to get rid of the fillies who were constantly attacking her as she was on the floor. The fillies were sent crashing against the walls, but they all quickly recovered and began yelling encouragements for Starlight.
Eternal Rest could start to feel it. Starlight was fighting more and more for the control of her body.
She frowned. "This body reveals to be more of a hindrance than I expected. I suppose I will have to do it the hard way." she said as she got up. "So, you want this mare back?" she asked before she began to growl. As her growl turned to a roar, red cracks spread all over Starlight's body.
The fillies realised what Eternal Rest intended to do, and they all began to move toward her, Sweetie Belle yelling "STOP!"
But then, Starlight's body exploded, and Apple Bloom quickly had to cover her eyes as blood and... other stuff spread everywhere. When this was over, the majority of the front of her body was now red. She looked back toward where Starlight's body was, and she saw Eternal Rest floating there, holding Starlight's ghost and sending bolts of purple lightning at her, making her yell in pain for a few seconds before she stopped.
"Mpf. Very well. You can have her back," said then Eternal Rest before she threw Starlight at Apple Bloom.
Apple Bloom stared at Starlight's ghost, then at all the blood and other stuff now covering the floor, walls, and ceiling, as well as herself and her friends.
First Scootaloo, then Fluttershy, now Starlight...
She looked back at Eternal Rest, her expression turning into one of pure hate.
Eternal Rest chuckled. "I can see in your expression that you are done with me. Well, now you know how I feel toward you," she said before she moved to the wall with the screens. Then, with a flick of a hoof, she made a part of the wall spin, revealing a secret passage. As she moved to enter it, she looked back at Apple Bloom. "Nothing forces you to go after me now. Everypony is 'saved'. But something tells me that you will still chase me. Then come, little filly. Come to end me, and I will take the pleasure to end you." Then, she entered the secret passage.
Silence fell in the room.
Then, Twilight teleported in with the other mares before she went to check Starlight who slowly recovered from what happened. Apple Bloom was hugged by Applejack who tried to calm her while cleaning her of the blood. Rarity did the same with Sweetie Belle, and Rainbow Dash walked toward Scootaloo, insure of what to do. As for Pinkie, mane having lost all its poofiness, she took Fluttershy from Apple Bloom's mane and hugged her.
"Ah'm going after Eternal Rest," then said Apple Bloom who had not stopped staring at the secret passage.
Applejack looked at her with worry, but nodded. "She must be stopped... But... Ya're reaching yer limit..."
"Ah don't care. Ah'll go beyond mah limit if Ah've to. Ah will capture her."
"Then Ah'm coming too. There aren't any ghosts remaining in the hotel, so everypony will be safe without me."
"Count me in too," said Sweetie Belle.
"Are you sure, Sweetie?" asked Rarity.
Sweetie Belle nodded. "I can't leave my friend. We are a team."
"Me too," said Scootaloo. "I missed everything, and I may not have a Poltergust, but it doesn't mean that they can go have the final fight without me. I'm a CMC too! CMC together!"
"And of course, I'm in too," said Little Ghost.
One by one, the five ponies moved toward the secret passage.
"Return in the caravan," said Applejack to her friends. "Ya'd move away of the hotel for a bit. Ah feel that it'll get real messy there."
Twilight nodded while Rainbow Dash took Fluttershy against her chest.
"Good luck."
The secret passage closed behind the five ponies.
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(Speechless)
10285404
Just you wait for the final fight.
10285429
Hope the Equestria Girl version won't be this intense.
10285436
Well, if the Equestria Girl version is meant to be closer to the game, then I don't think it will be that intense. Maybe the final fights, at the limit.
10285444
Okay. But maybe are your cool boss ghost. From 1 through 3. Those were cool.
10285454
Of course. They're part of the charm. However, I really don't know how I will be able to write a second storyline without making it a duplicate of the first one. I mean, I could come up with a new story, with new characters and all, but I fear that reading for the second time about the exploration of the exact same rooms will really bore the readers.
10285467
If you need any help, I'll be happy to offer my services.
10285472
I will see once I finish Apple Bloom's Mansion 4.
10285476
All I ask.
You don't fit my definition of a monster. In my eyes, you're just a guy who knows just how to disgust and anger me.
And that means you're doing great with this story (the Violence and Death tags aren't there for nothing!). Keep up the good work.
Looking forward to seeing Eternal Rest being eternally trapped.
So Scootaloo's going to be their Night Rider now, huh?
10522381
More or less.
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