Chapter One
“Alright, settle down class,” said Miss Cheerilee. The crisp fall air had made her students more restless than usual. As the afternoon sun streamed in the school house windows, she continued. “Nightmare Night is in a week as you all know, and I want each of you to come up with really good costumes this year. For this time, the festivities will be hosted by none other than Princess Luna herself!” The class erupted in cheers. Scootaloo raised a hoof.
“Yes, Scootaloo?”
She bounced in excitement as she asked, “Will Rainbow Dash be there too?”
Cheerilee smiled. “I don’t see why not. In fact, I think Princess Twilight will be there as well, so this Nightmare Night will be extra special!” There was another collective cheer. Then she dismissed the class.
All the fillies and colts broke up into groups as they made their way outside. The Crusaders had almost made it to the outer fence when they heard a sneering voice behind them say, “And just what are you three losers going as?” They didn’t have to turn around to see who it was.
“Never you mind, Diamond Tiara,” said Apple Bloom. “You’ll just have to see when we get there.” Diamond Tiara snickered with her friend Silver Spoon and said, “Just make sure the costumes are big enough to cover those,” —and here she paused — “BLANK FLANKS!” She and her friend laughed loudly as they turned towards their homes, while the Crusaders grit their teeth.
Kicking some leaves out of her way, Apple Bloom said, “Now we really have to show them up!” The other two nodded in agreement.
“But what can we go as?” asked Sweetie Belle. “I’m sure my sister can make us great costumes, but what should they be?” Scootaloo’s brow furrowed in thought.
“It’s not just costumes. We gotta come up with something really scary!” she said.
“How we gonna do that?” asked Apple Bloom. Scootaloo suddenly stopped in her tracks as the others looked back at her in surprise.
“That’s it! We don’t try to be scary, we bring something scary!”
“Like what?”
“How about…a GHOST!” cried Scootaloo. Sweetie Belle laughed in spite of herself. Scootaloo turned on her. “What’s so funny about that?” she demanded.
“It’s silly!” Sweetie Belle replied. “First of all, there’s no such thing as ghosts. Second, how in the wide world of Equestria would we catch one?” As Scootlaoo fumed, Sweetie Belle turned to Apple Bloom and said, “Help me out here. Don’t you think that’s a silly idea?” Apple Bloom said nothing, but just stared at the ground. “Apple Bloom? What’s wrong?” asked Sweetie Belle.
After another few moments she slowly raised her eyes and said, “I don’t know how we’d catch one, but…but I do know where there’s one to catch.”
“Apple Bloom!” cried Sweetie Belle. “Don’t tell me you believe in ghosts!”
She slowly shook her head. “I didn’t. Not afore I saw one.”
Both Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo’s eyes grew wide as they both said, “Where?”
She shook her head again. “Not here. Let’s wait until we get to the clubhouse. Then I’ll tell you what happened.”
The bright afternoon seemed to cloud over with their dark mood as they walked to their clubhouse, with all three remaining silent as they went.
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“There’s a part o’ Sweet Apple Acres, right next to the Everfree, that we Apples don’t go. I asked mah sister one day about it, an’ she told me not to worry about it, that I’d find out when I was older. Well, I didn’t want to wait ‘til then, I had to go find out mahself. So that very night, I waited until everypony was asleep an’ snuck out.”
“Even though it ain’t in the Everfree, I think sometimes them critters in there don’t respect the border, and come a trampin’ over whenever they feels like it. I saw weird tracks like somethin’ big had come through nosin’ about. Anyway, once I gets to the spot, I knows somethin’ ain’t right. The trees are all twisted like, and the ground feels funny, all soft and moldy, not like clean dirt.”
“Just as I’m about to turn back, I sees an old shack, that looked like nopony lived in it fer years. The moon went behind a cloud, and it got real dark, like there ain’t never been no light there. That’s when I sees it, somethin’ white starin’ out the shack at me! I shoulda run, but I couldn’t move! I was stuck there with mah eyes poppin’ outta mah head, when the thing shrieked at me! That did it, I turned and ran, I ran faster than I’ve ever run before! I snuck back up in mah room and hid under the covers ‘til daylight. I don’t think I slept a wink.”
“That morning I told mah sister what happened, and even though she was mad at me fer sneakin’ out, she said I’d been punished enough. Then she told me the story of an old pony that died there years and years ago. He wusn’t an Apple, just an old squatter that wanted to be left alone. He ain’t never left, so now we leave him alone. I ain’t goin’ back there.”
Scootaloo’s wings buzzed so hard she actually hovered for a moment. “This is GREAT! We can scare those bullies, AND get our cutie marks in Ghost Hunting!”
“Huh? Didn’t you hear whut I just said? I ain’t goin’ back there!”
“I’m with Apple Bloom! Whether it’s a “ghost” or not, it sounds scary and dangerous!” said Sweetie Belle.
“C’mon you guys! When have we ever let “danger” stop us? And besides, something this difficult is sure to get us our cutie marks!”
Sweetie Belle exchanged glances with Apple Bloom. “Well…I DO want my cutie mark…” Apple Bloom sat thinking.
“Maybe if’n we go during the day, it won’t be so bad,” she finally said.
“That’s the spirit! Now all we have to do is figure out how to catch him!”
Sweetie Belle perked up. “Alright, if we’re doing this, let’s do it right. We need some research. To the Library!”
They all leapt up and high-hoofed.
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“I’m sorry…you three need a book on what?” asked Twilight.
“Ghost catching!” said Scootaloo. “We need a ghost for Nightmare Night, and we think we can also get our cutie marks!”
Twilight shook her head and smiled. “I’m sorry girls, but this is the craziest idea you’ve come up with yet.” Taking on a scholarly tone, she added, “First of all, there’s no such thing as ghosts. They’re just legends and myths made up to scare little ponies.”
“But...” began Apple Bloom. Twilight held up a hoof.
“Second, even if they do exist, they’re insubstantial, if the stories are true. There’d be no way to catch one. And finally, where would you find one?” She smiled down at them, only to have her smile falter as she looked at their faces. “Girls?”
“We know where to find one, Twilight,” said Apple Bloom. “Just ask mah sister.”
Twilight stared at her. “You’re serious.” They all three nodded their heads. “Tell me about it,” she said. Then Apple Bloom told her the story of the Squatter’s Shack. Afterwards, she asked Twilight, “Do you believe me?” Twilight looked thoughtful.
“I’m convinced that you believe it, and I’ll admit I’ve had my foundations shaken since I came to Ponyville,” she replied. Almost to herself she added, “If a ‘Pinkie Sense’ is real, who knows what else is real?”
“Of course it’s real, silly!” said Pinkie. They all jumped three feet in the air and screamed.
“How did you DO that?” cried Twilight.
“Do what?” asked Pinkie.
“How did you get…I didn’t see…WHERE did you come from?!”
“From Sugarcube Corner, of course! You asked me to bring over some of our new recipe muffins. Don’t you remember?” She held out a bag. Twilight took them with a still shaky hoof.
“Thank you…”
“You four look terrible! Almost as if you’d seen a ghost!” With that she turned and skipped out the door.
“Pinkie, wait!” cried Twilight. “What do you know about ghosts?”
Pinkie giggled. “Ghosts aren’t real, silly. They’re just something made up to scare little ponies! I thought you knew that.” Seeing the deflated look on Twilight’s face, Pinkie added, “Why do you ask?”
Twilight sighed. “Never mind. It’s just a project I’m helping the girls with.”
Pinkie nodded. “If you really REALLY want to know about ghosts, talk to Applejack. She’s been telling the story about that old shack on her property for ages. I LOVE that story!” With that she bounded off. Twilight turned back to the girls.
“Well, that was less than helpful.” The three nodded. Twilight sat herself down and took out the muffins, then passed them around to the girls. Mumbling to herself as she chewed, she said, “If we’re going to do this —wow, these ARE good!—we’ll have to do this scientifically.”
“How is science gonna help us, Twilight?” asked Apple Bloom.
“I’m not sure, but using the scientific method should get us answers one way or another.”
“What’s ‘the scientific method’?” asked Scootaloo.
“The overall process involves making conjectures, deriving predictions from them as logical consequences, and then carrying out experiments based on those predictions to determine whether the original conjecture was correct.”
“What’s a ‘conjecture’?” asked Sweetie Belle.
“It’s a hypothesis, or an idea. In this case, the existence of ghosts.”
“But I already know THAT, Twilight! I saw it with mah own eyes!” said Apple Bloom.
“We can’t base our hypothesis on one observation, Apple Bloom,” said Twilight.
Apple Bloom bristled. “Are you callin’ me a LIAR?!”
“No, of course not! But science involves more than a single observation, sweetheart.”
“Well, okay,” said Apple Bloom. “But if’n you want more than one obsive…obser…more than one look, I say we go talk to mah sister.” Twilight stood.
“Let’s go do that.”