> The Ghost of General Smog
>  by Spades_of_Ace
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

		*Authors note: This story is inspired by the Hey Arnold episode Four-Eyed Jack*
*Proofread and edited by: Tsubaki Rehooved*


It was a dark night at Sweet Apple Acres. Apple Bloom and her closest friends were having a slumber party at the Cutie Mark Crusaders tree house. The wind was already blowing fairly strong even before storm was to hit the Apple family’s farm land. The smell of rain was already noticeable in the air, and anypony could hear the sound of rolling thunder approaching. For most folks in Ponyville, weather such as this could really put a damper on a day; but for a hardy few, such as the Cutie Mark Crusaders, it was the perfect night for ghost stories.

Now, usually ghost stories are made up for fun and pranks on one another; while others are just for scaring other ponies with superstitious nonsense. Some stories, however, aren’t mere’s tales at all. Buried in them are frightening truths.

~~~~ 

“…And just when the last pony thought she was safe; there standing right behind her…mere inches away was… THE HEADLESS HORSE,” Sweetie Belle screamed out as she turned off the lantern and draped a blanket over her head to give the appearance she was the headless horse.
The low lighting from the moon outside barely showed enough of a headless figure in the tree house. Apple Bloom and Esbin screamed in fear as the held each other closely from the costumed unicorn in front of them, whilst Scootaloo chuckled to herself about the two earth ponies cowering.

As Sweetie Bell reignited the lantern so the whole room was brightly lit; the two earth ponies opened their eyes to see Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo giggling at them for being scared.

“Hey, that’s not funny,” Apple Bloom shouted through her fear. 

“Yeah, I almost wet myself,” Esbin cried, wiping his nose with his hoof. 

“Well…we weren’t scared; were we Sweetie Belle?” Scootaloo asked the white unicorn.

“That’s because y’all already heard that one,” Apple Bloom argued at Scootaloo. 

“Well…Maybe I was a little spooked. I mean it was pretty scary,” Sweetie Belle admitted after taking the blanket off from over her head.

“Oh come on. It wasn’t that scary. Now, let’s see what else is in that box you found in Big Mac’s room,” Scootaloo said as she pulled the cardboard box over to her to examine the contents within.

Earlier today Apple Bloom asked her older brother Big Macintosh if he had any scary books he had in his room. Big Mac brought out a box full of old ghost stories he had collected back when he was interested in those sorts of things.

She took the box and brought it over to the club house for the slumber party that they were going to have later tonight. Scootaloo took out a pile of the books out and set them aside as she looked for another good story.

“Wait, I thought I was my turn to read the next ghost story,” Esbin asked, “Since everypony else got a turn.”
“No offense, Esbin,” Scootaloo said as she looked at the young colt, “but you kind of stink when it comes to ghost stories.”
Esbin hung his head, but then Apple Bloom stood up and said, “Come on Scootaloo, give him a chance. Ah’m sure there’s something he could read that won’t scare him too much.”
Esbin smiled at Apple Bloom for giving him some support. 
Scootaloo sighed, “Fine, why not.” 

Esbin stood up, walked over to the cardboard box, and started rummaging around to see what he could find.

“Let’s see, The Complete Collection of Edgar Allen Hoof,” Esbin recounted the list of names as he looked through several books, “Tales from the Ponyville Crypt… Untold Secrets of the Everfree Forest…Nightmare on Mane Street. Or maybe… whoa…what’s this?”

Esbin then pulled a fog colored bone-like stick that had a swirl from the tip to the cracked base.
“What is that thing,” Sweetie Belle asked, squinting her eye at the strange object.
“It kind of looks like a… unicorn’s horn,” Esbin said as he raised it up to compare it to Sweetie Belle’s horn. At the sudden realization, the four ponies immediately screamed, “EEEEWWW!” as Esbin dropped the horn of the floor.

“That’s disgusting Esbin,” Sweetie Belle screamed, “What’s that even doing in Big Mac’s box in the first place?!”

“Ah have no idea,” Apple Bloom said, as she backed away from the morbid horn rolling towards her.
Just then Granny Smith opened the door; which spooked the four ponies in the club house.

“Howdy, my little ponies,” Granny Smith greeted as she placed a covered tray of various desserts and drinks, “Ah was just maken some snacks before it starts pourin’ outside; ah’d hate for any of ya little fillies tah be wanderin’ back to the barn in a storm like this one…”

Granny Smith casually noticed the dark colored horn on the floor and quickly leaped off the floor for a moment in shock.
“Great horny hooves,” Granny Smith exclaimed, “That looks like tha horn of General Smog!”

“G-g-general Smog,” Esbin stammered. 

“Who’s that Granny,” Apple Bloom asked after Smith calmed down. 

“You youngins’ never heard the tale of General Smog?” Granny Smith asked rising an eyebrow.

“No,” the four little ponies said in unison. 

“Well if ya let me have one of your cookies ah’ll tell y'all the story,” Granny Smith offered.
“Here you go Granny Smith,” Esbin said as he gingerly handed her one of the apple cinnamon cookies from the tray she brought in.

“Much obliged, Esbin,” Granny Smith said, taking a bite out of the cookie. 

“So tell us, who’s this General Smog guy you were talking about,” Scootaloo said after drinking a glass of milk.

“What now?” Granny Smith asked. 

“General Smog. You mentioned when you saw his… horn,” Sweetie Belle said before taking a quick glance at the dark colored horn on the floor.

“OH yes! Gather around kiddies,” Granny Smith said as the four ponies walked up to the elderly pony.

~~~~ 

“It was many years ago, long before me and mah family settled down at on this land and started Sweet Apple Acres. A battle between Princess Celestia’s troops and a powerful unicorn by the name of General Smog had engulfed the land.
General Smog was the meanest, nastiest, most vile unicorn of all of Equestria; and he had his greedy sights on conquering Canterlot for his territory.

Even his troops were terrified by their general and his mighty power to conjure storms bigger than any storm ever thought possible in Equestria.
Celestia sent her best soldiers out to defeat the general; but after many of them had never returned, the citizens of Canterlot believed that the general was actually going to be successful in his vile plot to conquer the city.
Even Princess Celestia was feeling anxious of General Smog’s power. 

One day General Smog and his troops set camp on the very land which we all know as Sweet Apple Acres, while all of the Pegasus guards stayed in Canterlot to evacuate the princess and the citizens, a group of the earth and unicorn soldiers traveled to battlefield to hold off the general long enough.

Before the battle began; General Smog shouted, “This will be the end of Princess Celestia’s rule over Equestria. Behold a new age for its new ruler!”
The battle lasted less than an hour, all hope seemed lost as the leader of the rag tag group of soldiers was about to be executed by General Smog himself. He charged up all the energy he had in him to bring about a storm to end all storms and directed it to strike down the young leader.

The clouds were the darkest black, and thunder rolled to the sound of a thousand earthquakes as they swirled around the two ponies. Just when all hope seemed lost for the young stallion, a stray storm cloud floated above General Smog. It was then that a bolt of lightning struck the general’s horn. After the storm cleared, there was no trace of the General Smog. All that was left was his horn.”

“Wait, so this really is his horn,” Esbin asked as he picked up the horn to re-examine it.

“It sure is, very strange that horn would turn up on a stormy night like this,” Granny Smith replied taking another cookie and munched on it.
“But…what happened after that Granny,” Apple Bloom asked. 

“Well, ah’m glad y’all asked,” Granny Smith said, taking a seat on the floor. 
“After General Smog’s death, some of the troops believe that is spirit was forever cursed tah be embedded into the land.

They said no plant or living thing will ever thrive on this area. But that was just a rumor, on account of all the apple trees we have. But the strangest thing happened when the Smog’s troops surrendered and made their way to Canterlot; everypony suddenly heard a dreadful moaning echoing in the wind; as if the General was still alive, and was in deep pain.”
“And ah suppose that his spirit has been tryin’ ta say somethin' tah us for a while now.”

“Like what?” Apple Bloom asked; her mouth full of cookies. 

“Yeah, what do you mean by that?” Scootaloo asked as well. 

“Well, recently, we’ve been seein’ the lights go on and off in the kitchen at night for some odd reason. Ah’d have gone down to check, but ah been gettin’ pretty tired these days.
“And every once and a while, ah hear this eerie scrapping sound, and they say that General Smog always sharpened it to ah fine sharp point.

But most importantly, that dreaded moan from ago has returned. Ah still find it mighty strange that horn ya found would turn up on a night like this.”

“W-wait a minute, are you saying that this farm is h-h-haunted,” Esbin asked with trepidation in his voice, as Granny Smith took the smooth horn from his hooves.

“Well no, ah’m not sayin’ that. That would be irresponsible,” Granny Smith paused.

“What ah am sayin’ is YES…it is haunted, by the vengeful, unholy, crypt racking ghost of GENERAL SMOG!” She pulled the severed horn up to her forehead to impersonate the dark powerful unicorn that once walked the lands of Equestria.
Granny Smith then handed the horn back to Esbin and said, “Here ya go sunny, ah reckon y’all will be hearing from him tonight. Since ya moved his horn, ya might have disturbed his spirit once more.” She then exited the clubhouse, leaving the three ponies to their thoughts.

“Y-you mean, he’s gonna come for us,” Esbin asked, feeling nervous as he spoke. 
“Ahh, just put that stupid horn back in box and forget about it,” Scootaloo argued at the brown earth pony.

“Well; maybe Esbin was meant to find that horn. You know, to give it back to General Smog so he could move on,” Sweetie Belle suggested.

“Yeah, like maybe his spirit would stop hauntin’ farm and leave mah family alone,” Apple Bloom added in while Sweetie Belle and Esbin nodded to her suggestion. Scootaloo merely frowned at the three ponies as she went back to looking around the box for any interesting books to read.
The sound of rain had already started to pour outside and the thunder began to roll by. “Pfft, what a joke, a unicorn more powerful than Princess Celestia,” Scootaloo pouted as she made a raspberry with her lips.

Esbin stared down at the unicorn horn as she tapped it gently with his hoof; he then turned to face Scootaloo as she said, “Well, now that’s out of the way, let’s get back to those ghost stories!” Esbin, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle looked at each other with nervous expressions.
“Uh, maybe should hit the hay instead of reading more ghost stories,” Apple Bloom said,

“I agree,” Sweetie Belle said trying not to sound desperate. 

“Mmhmm,” Esbin mouthed as he walked over to his sleeping bag. 

“Sigh, fine, let’s get some sleep, ya babies.” Scootaloo groaned as she agreed to go to bed.

The Esbin was getting into his sleeping bag, but Sweetie Belle walked up to him and asked, “Esbin, if it’s okay with you…can I… can I sleep with you?”

Esbin jumped on this opportunity for safety from his thoughts, “Yes! I-I mean sure.”

Sweetie Belle pulled her blanket and pillow over to where Esbin was sleeping. As she settled up her things; Scootaloo giggled and teased, “Don’t forget to kiss each other goodnight, you two.”
Sweetie Belle blushed for a second before she huffed and wiggled herself under the blanket and snuggled up next to Esbin. Scootaloo got under her blanket while Apple Bloom flicked the lights off and carefully made her way back to her pillow and blanket.
The club house was pitch black as the sound of thunder rolled loudly outside. After a few tense moments, Esbin turned the lantern on so the room was now dimly lit.
“Esbin, what are ya doing?” Apple Bloom asked. 

Esbin looked over to Apple Bloom and said, “It’s just a little dark that’s all.”

Apple Bloom paused, "That’s okay then, ya can leave it on.” Apple Bloom smiled warmly at him.

“Let’s just get some sleep already,” Scootaloo said in a slightly frustrated tone.
Esbin returned to his sleeping bag with Sweetie Belle, and they each said good night to each other. But even though there was a low lit lantern in the middle if the room; each of them still felt slightly afraid of the ghost story Granny Smith told them. With the sound of the rain and thunder outside, it was a little difficult for the four ponies to get to sleep But eventually they all drifted off into slumber.

-A short time later- 

The rain and thunder continued to pour as the four ponies slept, until Esbin’s head shot up. He thought heard a terrifying moan.
“What was that,” Esbin quietly squeaked. 

He then looked down to Sweetie Bell, who was still asleep, and he gently tapped her on the shoulder.

“Sweetie Bell…Sweetie Bell wake up.”  Sweetie Belle’s eyes lazily opened. 

She yawned and said, “W-ha, what is it?” 

Esbin glanced to the side and said, “I-I thought I heard something. It sound like moaning and…”

“You mean the ghost?!” Sweetie Belle gasped in a nervous tone, just then they heard the moaning again, which woke the rest fillies in the room.
“THE GHOST!!” all four of the ponies screamed in unison, and they quickly jumped into one pile clutching to one another in fear.
Apple Bloom, Esbin, and Sweetie Belle all looked at Scootaloo, who looked back at them in surprise, and then jumped away from her friends.
“Haha, scaredy cat,” Apple Bloom chuckled, as she pointed to the orange Pegasus.

“I-I wasn’t scared,” Scootaloo snorted, after wiping off her blush of embarrassment.

“You were so scared,” Sweetie Belle said as she let go of Esbin. 

“You guys were scared too, besides there no such thing as ghost. And even if there was that’s not what they sound like,” Scootaloo argued.

Esbin turned the lights on and then picked up the severed horn, “What are you doing Esbin?”

Esbin stopped and turned to look at his friends as he made his way to the club house door.

“I-I think it was General Smog, I’m gonna go look for him.” He stated quickly.

“WHAT?!” the three fillies asked in unison.

“Look…I know it’s crazy, but if we give the horn back, m-maybe he will stop the moaning and leave the farm alone.” Esbin explained.
Even though he still had second thoughts about going through with his idea; he opened the door to see that it was pouring out. Esbin looked outside for a moment before he went to his saddlebags and pulled out a poncho. The girls watched as Esbin tossed the horn into the saddlebag before he swung it on his back and then put on the poncho. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle went to take out of a pair of rain slickers and put them on to join Esbin.

“Wait, you girls are going, too?” Scootaloo ask a little hysterically. 

“We can’t just let Esbin go all by himself,” Apple Bloom explained. 

“Yah, what if he gets lost and… what’s that over there?” Sweetie Belle asked as she pointed a hoof over to a dim light over the apple orchard trees.

“Well, aren’t you coming as well, Scootaloo?” Esbin asked before stepping toward the door.

“Nope, you three can spend all you time in the middle of a storm, but I’m staying right here where it’s nice and dry,” Scootaloo said as she returned to her spot on the floor.

As much as Esbin just wanted to call Scootaloo a chicken and leave it at that, he came up with another idea that wasn’t as mean as that; an idea that might also encourage the rest of his friends as well.

“You know, if we do put this spirit to rest,” Esbin said rising an eyebrow with a sly smile, “all four of us might actually get out cutie mark in ghost hunting.”

Scootaloo stopped dead in her tracks, spun around to pick up a slicker of her own, and ran past Esbin with a wide grin.
“Ready, let’s go!” She yelled as she ran. 

“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS GHOST HUNTERS, YAY!” The four ponies cheered in unison. 
Esbin smiled at Scootaloo’s change of heart and stepped aside for the rest of his filly friends to walk out the door.
He closed the door behind him and trotted to catch up with the others. The four ponies could feel the strength of the winds pushing against them and the rain splashing them like ice. But regardless of the chilly winds, they bared through it as they traveled around the apple orchard trees.
After a few moments, they could now see the strange light as they approached Sweet Apple Acres house.

“This way,” Esbin shouted as pointed into the direction of the light, and the three fillies stayed close to Esbin as they all pushed through the winds. They walked up to back door of the house which lead into the kitchen. Esbin peeped in through the screen section of the back door, but he was too short to get a good look of there was any pony inside. Apple Bloom opened the door and all four of them jumped inside the kitchen.

“Stop right where you are General Smo…” She stopped in midsentence to see Applejack pulling something out from the freezer. The blonde haired earth pony banged her head on the top of the door before she looked to see the four ponies looking confused at her.

“Applejack, what are ya doing in here,” Apple Bloom asked, taking a step toward her sister.

“OH uh…no reason,” Applejack hesitated trying to hide something. 

“What’s that behind your back,” Esbin asked pointing behind her back. 

“Nothin',” Applejack said quickly moving back a little bit. 

Sweetie Belle was still getting used to using magic, but she did her best to levitate whatever what was behind Applejacks back. When it was finally came out in the open, the young ponies could see that it was a quart size bucket of ice cream. Apple Bloom frowned at her older sister.

“Ah thought ya said there was no more ice cream left,” Apple Bloom pouted. 

Applejack chuckled nervously before she responded 

“Hold on there partner, just why are ya and your friends do ‘in up this late, and in the middle of the storm?!”

Esbin looked nervously at his friends to come up with an answer. 

“W-well uh…you see…we were…” Esbin hesitated to said as Applejack looked down at him, but then Apple Bloom walked up to him and pulled out the horn from his saddlebag and held it up to her sister.

“We’re searching for the ghost of General Smog, we heard him moaning earlier and we saw the light on, so we thought that…” Sweetie Belle quietly said.

Applejacks face lost all of it’s color. 

“G-GENERAL SMOG?!” Her entire body started shaking as if she was dipped in freezing water.

Scootaloo muttered, “Oh great, not another believer…” 

“Where in Equestria did you ya get that,” Applejack asked in a panicky voice. 

“We found it in a box of Big Mac’s things while reading some ghost stories,” Esbin explained. He still felt scared, but not as scared as Applejack was.

“Ya should ‘a never touched that horn Esbin. Tha horn is cursed ah tell ya.” Applejack said in a more serious tone, taking a step closer toward Esbin.

“Now hold on there, Applejack,” Apple Bloom said as she came between the two earth ponies, “It wasn’t his fault that he stumbled across that horn, we were just trying ta return it to the ghost is all.”

Esbin and Sweetie Belle nodded as they both agreed. 

Scootaloo face hoofed and said, “I keep telling you feather brains, there’s no such thing as ghost.”

Without warning the lights in the kitchen started to flicker on and off before they turned off completely. They all screamed in panic for a moment as the lights started to flicker again, only some of the lights were red and a few of them blow out with a pop.

“It’s just the lights, it’s just the lights, it’s just the lights,” Scootaloo muttered nervously to herself.

Esbin suddenly noticed a strange figure under a cloak walk out the front door of the house as a bolt of lightning crack giving a small amount of light for him to see.

“I SAW IT! I SAW THE GHOST,” Esbin gasped out, pointing a hoof toward the front door. He snatched the horn with his mouth and started running toward the dark figure.

“Don’t go Esbin,” Apple Bloom exclaimed as she dashed after the young colt. 

“Apple Bloom, get back here,” Applejack exclaimed in a nervous tone. When her little sister ignored her, she stomped her hooves on the floor and went after the two ponies.

“Don’t forget about us,” Scootaloo said, as she and Sweetie Belle galloped after the three earth ponies that were outside the front door.

Esbin stuffed the horn back into his saddlebags before he looked around the area to see where the ghost went, but it was nowhere to be found. He could barely see through the rain that was crashing down. Applejack scanned the area under the front porch roof. Esbin looked as hard as he could through the blanket of rain.

Apple Bloom noticed that Applejack was holding onto her while she was shaking like crazy, but she pushed away from her older sister with a scowl and continued looking for the ghost. Just then Esbin heard something. It sounded like a very distinctive scraping sound, like somepony was filing something down.

“Did any of you hear that?” Esbin asked, to be certain that he wasn’t the only one who heard it.

“Hear what,” Applejack asked shakily. 

“That scraping noise,” Esbin explained. 

“I don’t hear anythi…” Scootaloo stopped at midsentence as she suddenly heard the same scraping sound.

“There it is again,” Esbin chimed. 

“I hear it now. What is that anyway?” Sweetie Belle exclaimed in both fear and excitement.

“Didn’t Granny Smith say General Smog used to sharpen his horn to a fine point when he was still alive,” Esbin asked the three fillies. None of them said a single word as they tried to listen for the noise.  

“I-I still don’t hear anything, just the rain and thunder,” Scootaloo lied. 

Esbin looked to see where the noise was coming from, but the darkness of the night and the loud thunderous roll made it a little difficult to pinpoint where the noise was being made. All he could see was complete darkness; the only a thing outlined was the main barn right next to the house

Just then Esbin saw the light in the barn flick on, and he could see the shadow of a cloaked figure with something around the opening. He nudged Apple Bloom as he pointed over to the shadow in the barn. Esbin then lowered to his knees as he crept quietly over to the front side of the barn with his friends, and Applejack following behind him.

“He’s right inside…I’ll go first,” Apple Bloom said to her friends. 

She jumped to the side and leaped in, before she could say anything as she saw the figure, she screamed at the top of her lungs at the sight of the large cloaked horse. Esbin nearly jumped right out of his skin when he heard Apple Bloom scream. He instantly sprang into action and called out.

“Hold on Apple Bloom! I’ll save you!” He dashed right into the barn to see that Apple Bloom being held up by the tail from the figures mouth.
Even though he felt terrified, Esbin glared at the mysterious figure as he let out a loud yell while he ran up to it and started punching one of its legs with all his might.

“LET GO OF APPLE BLOOM!” Esbin shouted out. He shut his eyes and started punched the stallion’s leg, “YOU BIG STUPID GHOST!!”

“Esbin, ESBIN STOP!” Applejack called out to the brown colt. 

“Esbin stop it that’s not the ghost!” Sweetie Belle said after she managed to get a good look at what was going on.

Esbin opened his eyes to see the stallion put down Apple Bloom onto the ground. He then took off his poncho.
Esbin saw that it was Big Macintosh looking down at. He then looked to the side to see a sun dial sitting in just such a way over a light to gave the appearance of a sharp horn. In an instant, Esbin’s bravery dissipated as he sighed. He looked into the draft horses deep green eyes.
Big Mac looked at the group, and then chuckled softly at the mistake. 

“Sorry about that Big Mac,” Esbin apologized nervously. 

“Aw it’s quite alright, but what this about calling me a ghost,” Big Mac asked rising an eyebrow.

“Um well…” Esbin muttered uncomfortably as he lightly kicked the dirt ground, trying not making eye contact.

“-Sigh- We were out looking for a ghost so we could get out cutie marks,” Scootaloo said in a flat tone.

Big Macintosh gave a unusual look at Scootaloo after hearing her explanation and then turned his attention toward Applejack.

“AJ, have you been fillin' these kids’ heads with crazy ghost stories,” Big Mac asked.

“Hey, it ain’t mah fault! These little ponies were the one goin' out lookin' for the ghost of General Smog,” Applejack explained raising her voice a little.

Big Mac’s eyes opened wide open as he hadn’t heard that name in a long time. 

“General Smog,” Big Mac said to himself. He paused and then slowly asked, “What makes you think ah was the ghost?”

Esbin looked at his friends and then back at the stallion again as he said, “Well…when we were in the kitchen the lights started to flicker, then when we were outside we heard this scraping sound coming from the barn. I thought that it was the sound of General Smog sharpening his horn, you know?”

Big Mac merely chuckled softly as he tussled Esbin mane his hoof. 

“Ha, the lights in this house have needin’ repairs for quite a while now. And that scraping noise ya heard, was me sharpening up the field plow. Darn thing has been get ‘in dull.”

He pulled out a grind stone that he used to sharpen the edges of the plow. 

“But ah got tah know first,” Big Macintosh asked, “What made ya go looking for a ghost in the middle of a storm in the first place?”

“I found General Smog’s horn while I was looking through your book box for a ghost story to read and I wanted to return it to him so he could leave the farm,” Esbin explained as he pulled out the severed horn again from his saddlebag to present it to the broad stallion.

Big Mac took the horn from Esbin as he examined it before saying, “I haven’t seen this thing in a long time. Well, ah think it’s mighty neighborly of ya ta go out of the way ta return it ta him.”

Esbin weakly smiled at the red draft horse as he placed the horn back into his saddlebag.

“So…the ghost isn’t real,” Applejack asked. 

“Well, ah never said that, but y’all should just head back tah bed right now,” Big Mac said taking a step forward.

“What do ya mean Big Mac?” Apple Bloom asked. 

“Well… ah didn’t want to say anythin', especially ta AJ,” Big Macintosh said as he walked to the door way of the barn, “For the past few nights, ah’ve been hearin’ some pretty strange moaning comin’ from the cellar over there.”

“Sounds like somepony broke all their legs and been diein' from somethin' nasty,” he continued, “Ah assumed it was just the wind or somethin'.”

“See Scootaloo, it’s has to be the generals ghost,” Esbin said feeling more certain about this ghost hunt.

“Oh perfect, now everything sounds like General Smog,” Scootaloo said out loud. 

Just then everypony in the barn suddenly heard the same moaning. 

“That’s the moanin' ah’ve talking about,” Big Mac said, feeling a shudder down his spine, “See what ah mean; it just sounds unnatural to be from a pony.”

“That’s the same moaning we heard. Come on, lets go get that ghost,” Esbin said, as he started to exit.

“Yeah, let’s do this,” Apple Bloom cheered as she chased after Esbin. 
“Don’t forget me,” Sweetie Belle said trotting out of the barn. 

“Hold on youngins, ah can’t let y’all go by yourselves,” Big Macintosh said as he casually walked after the three ponies that were galloping into the rain.

Applejack trotted in place without moving with a nervous expression, until finally she jumped into the air and screamed out while charging after her older brother.

“Wait for me!” she exclaimed 

“Sigh…Great, just great,” Scootaloo said to herself as she started to walk out. 

“I thought I would just sleep over, maybe talk about the Wonderbolts, and eat a few S’mores. But NOOO, Scootaloo can’t have any fun..”

~~~~~ 


The group of ponies galloped over to back of the house to see that the cellar doors were wide open. The rain water flowed from the top of the cellar entrance. Another horrid moan shot out from the cellar again, which left all of the ponies having second thoughts; except for Esbin who took the first few step down the cellar stairs.

“Come on guys lets go,” Esbin said after turned his head around to look at the group of ponies who were staring down at him.

Big Mac put on a bold face and started to follow Esbin and get in front of him. Eventually the rest of the ponies made their way down the stairs and they all soon smell a very strange scent in the air.

“UGH, do y’all smell that,” Apple Bloom asked holding her nose with a hoof. 

“What in Equestria is that?” Esbin retched slightly after spiting on the floor to get the taste out of his mouth.

“It’s a basement you guys, they always smell weird,” Scootaloo said. 

They could see several lanterns that hung from the ceiling around the cellar and the hallway that lead to another room on the other side. Esbin thought the smell was coming from a jar of preserves that might have gone bad on the shelves around them, but there didn’t seem be any broken jars on the floor and none of them had disgusting appearance.
They then heard the moaning again at the end of the hallway on the other side of the hallway. Most of them froze in place as they stared into the dimly lit corridor.

“Y’all get behind me,” Big Mac said, as he stepped in front of Esbin, “This might get ugly.”

They all walked down the hallway as quietly as they took each step closer to the wooden door at the end of hall. Just as they were few steps away from the door, Esbin spoke.

“Wait Big Mac, I should be the one to do this. I dragged everypony into this mess, and if something were to happen…I just want you all to know I’m sorry.”

“Wait a second Esbin, maybe we shouldn’t open that door,” Scootaloo suggest behind the brown colt.

“W-why not,” Esbin asked as he turned to face the batch of ponies that were looking at him.

“That’s probably a good idea,” Applejack said to Scootaloo while she was behind Big Macintosh.

“Thank you Applejack, at least some sense in their heads,” Scootaloo thanked the earth pony beside her.

“Just ignore those two. Open the door, Esbin,” Apple Bloom said. 

Esbin reached for the doorknob, but before he could even touch it, Scootaloo called out

“WAIT!” 

Esbin, along with everypony else, groaned in frustration as they turned to face the orange Pegasus.

He dropped his hoof as he let out a sigh, “What now?!” 

“Look Esbin if open that door and we all find out what’s behind it one of us is gonna be right.” Scootaloo said taking a step toward Esbin.

“Yeah, so?” Esbin asked while shrugging. 
“So…that means one of us will be wrong, and what if it’s me?” Scootaloo explained with question.

Esbin merely stared flatly at her as Big Macintosh placed a hoof on his shoulder.

“Just open the dang door Esbin,” Big Mac whispered. 

Esbin nodded lightly and reached for the door knob to open the door in front of him.

“Don’t worry Esbin we’re right behind ya,” Apple Bloom said behind him. 

But before Esbin could even touch the door knob, it suddenly started to turn, and the door slowly swung open. For some reason, the lanterns that were being supported to the ceiling fell to the floor and the fireflies started flying away, leaving the group of ponies alone in the dark. Only a silhouette with a glowing pair of bright white eyes that was in front of them could be seen. The figure opened its jaw to let out another horrifying moan as the group of ponies screamed at the top of their lungs.

It wasn’t until their eyes adjusted that they saw Granny Smith in front of them.

“Nothin’ like good old yodel before bed,” Granny Smith said to the scared group of ponies.

“Granny Smith?” Esbin said with a questionable tone. 

“Oh, why howdy my little ponies,” Granny Smith said with her elderly smile. 

“Granny, what are ya doing down here? We thought you were the ghost,” Apple Bloom asked, walking up beside Esbin.

“Oh, ah was just practicin’ for the Ponyville yodel competition comin’ up this week,” Granny Smith explained.

“That was yodeling?” Scootaloo whispered over to Sweetie Belle. 

“It must have been distorted from the wind,” Sweetie Belle whispered back. 

“Consarn it, did ah leave the dang doors open again, ah thought I closed them up this time,” Granny Smith complained at the sound of running water in the main cellar room.

“There. Are you all satisfied, there is no ghost on this farm,” Scootaloo stated.

“Scootaloo’s right Esbin, no ghost. Now come on y’all let all get some shut eye,” Big Macintosh said a yawn.

Everyone agreed that it was time for bed. Esbin moved to the side as he let Granny Smith walk past him.

Scootaloo stayed next to Esbin. “I still can’t believe we all practically spent half the night looking for something that doesn’t even exist,” she whispered.

Esbin paused as went up with the rest of the ponies out of the cellar, and he trotted back inside the room that Granny Smith was in to turn off the light.
Before he did, he took the broken horn one more time to look at it. Satisfied, he stuffed it back into his bags and turned off the lights. He could have sworn he heard another moan around him, but it was much lower than the previous ones he heard throughout the night.
Once the lights were off, he ran to meet up with other to see that the storm outside had stopped and the moon was shining brightly through the night sky. After a few minutes of drying off and cleaning the mud off their hooves, the four little ponies returned to their blanket and pillows.  Esbin snuggled into his sleeping bag, and the three fillies said their goodnights before drifting off to sleep.

Esbin on the other hoof took the horn out one last time and set it to the side of him. He closed his eye like his friends and very shortly was asleep like the others.
As the four ponies slept through the chilly night, the air around them felt colder than it usually would. A strange presence seemed to have made its way into the clubhouse without waking any of them up. It turned its attention to Scootaloo, who was shivering quietly. Her blanket had moved off of her while she tossed and turned her sleep.

A very faint force pulled the blanket over onto her to keep her from getting cold. Scootaloo sighed with comfort as she unconsciously felt her body getting warm again, the eerie presence turned to face Esbin who was sleeping soundly in his sleeping bag with Sweetie Belle next to him.  A severed unicorn horn caught the apparition’s attention. The presence used the same faint force to levitate the broken horn over it its head and started to mend the broken horn to its forehead. When it bonded together, it made a slight crackling sound as the horn completely contacted to the presence forehead.
The horn began to fade into a translucent appearance just like the rest of the form.

“Ugh, Esbin,” Scootaloo groaned as she felt the sensation of a colt’s tail on her nose. “Knock it off, I’m not in the mood for pran…”

As Scootaloo rubbed her eyes, she could see somepony’s tail was flicking at her nose.  What she wasn’t expecting was it wasn’t Esbin’s tail tickling her.
Her eyes went wide open as she saw that the tail wasn’t the brown tail of Esbin, but was a cloudy-like formation in the shape of a tail. From what Scootaloo could see, the pony in front of her that turned around to face her was a tall, fully grown stallion. His coat was just a jet black color with a grayish tone to it, and his eyes were red as hot coals as he stared back at the young pegasus. Its hooves were very much like Big Macintosh’s, but they seemed to be more muscular.
His overall appearance was translucent, and she could see Esbin and Sweetie Belle sleeping soundly on the other side of him. All she could do was stare into the stallions red eyes and the familiar broken horn, which was now reattached to its owner.  She knew exactly who she was looking at…the ghost of General Smog. Her mouth hung open as she tried to say something, but she just couldn’t find the words. After a few moments, the ghost simply said, “Um…boo.”

General Smog faded away through the clubhouse walls and into the night as Scootaloo screamed at the top of her lungs, waking the other occupants. Needless to say, the CMC was no longer to enthusiastic about being ghost hunters after that.

THE END