Chapter 1: 7:00 PM - 7:10 PM
Chapter 1
7:00 PM
Ponyville Square
It was quite dark out. And quiet. Not a cricket chirped, even.
At least, it was quiet other than the pegasus and strange unicorn around me. The unicorn, tall, sickly green, had a crooked horn, seemed to be threatening the pegasus' life, for some reason.
I don't know why. And right now, I don't care. After all, there's nothing I can do about it. Because... well...
I'm dead. Simple as that.
I don't know who I am, but I think that griffon corpse was me. It makes sense; I don't see any other dead creatures around me, so I guess I really am that griffon. Or was, such as the case is.
A name sticks out to me when I see that corpse, though... "Gilda"... Was that my name...? Was I this "Gilda"?
It probably doesn't matter anyway. I'm dead, so there's really nothing I can do.
"Actually, there is."
Suddenly, the world around me froze, and turned all kinds of orange...
A voice? Who was that? And how did they hear my thoughts?
"There are no secrets in the Ghost World. By the way, that's where you're at right now."
There, the voice again. Where was it coming from? That dandelion, over there?
"Yes, I'm the dandelion!" The voice peeped again. "Now listen. I want you to reach out to me with your spirit."
Reach out? But I can't leave this corpse...
"How do I do that? It's not exactly easy to leave a body," I replied.
"Of course it is, when you're dead," the dandelion was speaking again, "Just imagine yourself hopping from object to object. In this case, hop from your body to that little rock next to me. Go ahead, give it a shot!"
Hopping from one object to another, huh? Well, if I still had my wings, this would be a piece of cake... Let's see...
From here to the pebble... I see. Alright... I'm at the pebble... That wasn't much of a jump. But now I'm a rock...
"Good. You're just getting the hang of it," the dandelion congratulated. It felt nice, but in the back of my mind, I feel... annoyed by this dandelion somehow... like I met it before... Did we meet when I was alive? I'm not sure...
"Alright. Now I believe an introduction is in order," the dandelion said, "My name is Flora Meadows!"
"I'm... Gilda. I think so, anyway..."
"Oh, so you remember your name! That's great!" Flora responded with glee. I'm still not sure how I feel about this whole thing. I guess I'll have to deal with it for the time being...
"So, Flora, what happened to me? Why can't I remember anything?" I asked.
"I don't know." Flora replied.
"You don't know?!"
"Of course not, silly filly!" Flora said, seeming somewhat amused, "I wasn't here when you died. I didn't see anything. However, I'm sure that poor pegasus could help you out... If you got her out of the jam she was in, of course!"
"How would I do that? I'm dead, in case you didn't notice!"
"That's nothing. After all, with death, you've been given a gift!" Flora sounded excited. I could almost see the smile on the flower she was possessing, "They're called the 'Powers of the Dead'. I call them 'Ghost Tricks'!"
"Why 'Ghost Tricks'?" I asked.
"Because 'Powers of the Dead' is too long, dull, and depressing to say in conversation!" Flora sounded irritated, though the hint of humor in the voice I heard up to this point was still there, "Oh, by the way, only a special few get them."
"A special few? Why?"
"You're asking the wrong pony!" Flora responded bluntly. I didn't have the time to argue with a talking flower of all things anyway... "Hey, you're a talking pebble right now, thank you!"
Whatever. I gotta save that pegasus. Now. But how do I use my "Ghost Tricks", anyway?
"Just possess whatever object or small creature you want to Trick, then enter the world of the living and do it!" Flora explained, "You have the ability to throw small things a short distance. In this case, you're a pebble. Start there. Throw yourself at the unicorn's horn!"
The unicorn's horn? Well, alright... Not sure why I have to do this, though.
Entering the living world, I threw myself at the unicorn's horn, just as Flora told me to.
"Ouch! What was that?!" The strange unicorn uttered in surprise.
The pegasus darted past the unicorn, who quickly recovered and set his sights on the pegasus again.
I then stopped time again by entering the Ghost World.
"What do I do now?!" I asked Flora.
"Well, you could throw yourself again..." Flora replied, "But now you've landed near something a little bigger! Try throwing that!"
Apparently, there was a core in the cat next to me. That cat was minding it's own business...
... Meh. Since when did I care about that? I literally can't remember, so...
I then left the pebble and possessed the cat, and entered the living world again. I then tossed the cat at the unicorn, surprising both, and allowing the pegasus to escape as the unicorn dealt with the cat. As he was doing this, I entered the Ghost World again and left the cat, possessing the fountain behind my body, of which the core was just barely within reach. Since this thing is so large, and planted into the ground, I couldn't possibly throw this thing anywhere, so... I suppose I'm a fountain for now.
"You saved the pegasus pony!" Flora cheered, "I knew you could!"
"Thanks, I think," I replied, "But now what?"
"Now, you go find out about yourself!"
"Myself?" I asked.
Suddenly I remembered... that I remember nothing. I don't know who I am. All I know is that my name is Gilda, and I'm a dead griffon. Even that's a question mark, at the moment.
"Yeah, yourself!" Flora repeated excitedly, "There's going to be so many weird things going down tonight! No time for parties, even though I love parties, they're so much fun, but the point is that you gotta go get yourself together, because it's kinda important, and it will solve all the mysteries tonight!"
My head was spinning. She spoke so fast, I almost wanted to tell her to shut the heck up. Imagining myself running in place was all I could do to keep up.
"Well, if you say so..." I responded, "But now my only lead has run off."
"Oh, that's okay, just use that fountain to get to her place! I'm pretty sure she's going there."
I can follow the water? In the plumbing? This is news to me... Okay, I guess I learned a new Ghost Trick... Time to put it to use...
7:05 PM
???'s House
I arrived at the sink... Interesting entry point. Well, beggars can't be choosers. That said, I immediately entered the Ghost World and started making my way around the house.
I saw a young unicorn filly sitting in a sofa. The pegasus had not made it home yet. So I waited in a blender.
I didn't have to wait long, though. The pegasus burst in through the front door, and immediately went about as if nothing ever happened. I noticed her eyes were a bit... odd. Maybe she just forgot her life was in danger...?
"Hey, you!" I shouted as she passed by me in the blender. At least, that's what I thought I did. Apparently, the dead don't have real voices...
The pegasus ignored me, of course.
"I need to talk to you!"
No response.
Why won't she respond...?!
I decided to try turning on the blender, but I found I couldn't do that. So I possessed an egg nearby and threw it at her, quickly hopping out right before the launch using the Ghost World. Now I was a box of muffin mix. Great.
The egg landed on her cheek, and she turned my way, looking confused. I called out to her again, but she didn't hear, again. She cleaned the egg off with a towel and went on her merry way, apparently putting things together for making muffins. Realizing I was the box, I hopped out and possessed the blender again.
Suddenly, what appeared to be a concentrated green magic blast shot through the window, and struck the pegasus in the head. Panicking, I went into the Ghost World, and sure enough, she died instantly.
What do I do?! Flora never told me what to do when this happens! And this pegasus is my only lead to finding out who I am!
But wait... a core? This one's glowing a different color from the usual core... I suppose I should try possessing it, and see what happens.
And so I did...
What I found was a blue flame. A blue, silent flame. Was this what I looked like immediately after dying...?
"Hello?" I asked the flame.
No response.
So the dead remain unresponsive at first... Sounds about right. It did seem like it took me a while to wake up to the scene surrounding my corpse, after all...
So... Now where do I go from here? Is there something I can do?
"... Rewind time..."
What was that voice? Did Flora follow me somehow...?
"... Change fate..."
... Well... Rewinding time and changing fate... Sounds like something out of a storybook... And I can do such a thing, apparently... Alright, I'll give it a shot. See what happened to her.
7:03 PM
4 Minutes Before Death
???'s House
I watched the scene once over. The pony was in a mad rush, heading for her home. When she made it inside, she apparently forgot her life had been in danger. She started making muffins. Then the egg I threw at her landed on her, she looked confused, and then went back about her business. Then disaster struck. This was all in four minutes...
I had to rewind time again, and start messing around. Upon rewinding, I had to wait about 2 minutes for her to arrive. One more minute, and the egg hit her. I left the soul that I was possessing, which was where her corpse was in the present, and possessed the blender. At the last second, I threw the blender at the pony, hard. It knocked her out of the way of the shot. Her fate was changed, but not averted.
"What's going on?"
A voice? Right now?
"Oh, hello! My name's Derpy Hooves!" The ghost of the pony I was in the middle of saving had introduced herself.
She's awake...? And she remembers who she was...?
"Uh, hello. I'm Gilda."
"Gilda? Nice to meet you!" Derpy replied, "Say, what happened to me?"
"Well, apparently, you died," I told her, "I'm here to save your life. It seems you're the target of the day; everypony seems to be coming after you for some reason."
"Somepony's after me? Are we playing tag?"
"Um... No, not exactly," I answered, "Look, I gotta save your life right now, so if you don't mind, I'm going to do it. I have questions for you after this... if I get to ask them."
"Okay!"
I possessed some objects and made my way out the window. There was another unicorn, of the same kind as the one earlier, outside. Were they working together...?
I saw an active sprinkler near the unicorn, though it didn't appear to be spraying him. Remembering the trick, I went back into the house and tried to use the sink.
It barely worked. The drip from the sink let me through. I guess this means inactive water devices don't let me pass in the past. Or something like that.
Reaching the sprinkler, I then threw it at the unicorn, who got all wet and panicked, running away, seemingly confused as to what just happened. Can't say I blame him. It's not every day a ghost plays a trick on you, Let alone throws active sprinklers on you.
Well, that takes care of him... I suppose I just saved Derpy's life.
"Aww, he's all wet!" Derpy piped in, "Just like when Dinky used to accidentally spray my muffins with sink water."
Um... what...? Nevermind...
"... Anyway, I think you're safe for the time being... Can you answer my questions yet?"
"I'm not sure... I can't remember everything..."
That's surprisingly easy to believe, out of context...
"Alright... Let's just get back to the new present, then..."
7:08 PM
Derpy's House (Exterior)
I was left in that sprinkler I threw earlier. It's no longer active. I guess the ponies who were running it had turned it off.
I traveled back to the house. There was Derpy, alive and well. But when I entered the Ghost World, I saw a core on the living body where there wasn't one before. This was quite strange... I guess I'd better give that core a try. So I hopped in.
"Oh, it's you again! Hello!" Derpy greeted me, "Would you like a muffin?"
"Uh... No thanks," I declined the muffin. Those things are no good to me anyway... "So, are you okay, now?"
"Oh, yes yes yes!" Derpy replied cheerfully, "That horrible death is gone, and I can continue making muffins!"
Then it occurred to me; she remembered that we met earlier. She even remembered her death!
"Wait, how did you remember you died??"
"Um... I don't know..." Derpy said, "I've never died and been revived before. But seeing you work was fun!"
I'd... hardly call that "fun"...
"Okay, okay..." I started, "So... I had this question on my mind this entire time... I want to know if you know who I am, and what happened to me."
"But I don't..."
She doesn't...? This is news to me...
"What do you mean?" I asked, "You were there when I died, weren't you? I helped you get away from the first one of those unicorns, in fact."
"That was you?"
"Yes..." I hesitated, "I... also threw that egg at you."
"... Oh, so you were the one responsible for that..." Derpy suddenly had a glitter in her crossed eyes, "I was wondering who threw it at me! After seeing you work, it makes sense now! Hahaha!"
Well, it's good that she can reason things out... I guess. I gotta say, she's a bit odd. But that can't be helped.
"Do you really not know what happened? Anything you can tell me would be helpful."
"Well, I remember seeing you a few years ago... But other than that, I know nothing," Derpy began, "When I saw you tonight, you seemed to be sleeping so peacefully... And then that mean unicorn showed up. But you showed him!"
I wasn't sleeping... Well, technically I was, but... Argh! Why am I thinking about this?!
So, she's not as significant as I thought... Or maybe she is, just not in the way I'm thinking. Whatever the case is, now that I know this trick with the time travel, I've got a visit to pay to the town square...
I have to have a chat with "Flora Meadows". And I gotta see about saving my own life, too. I get the feeling things are only going to get stranger from here on, however. I still don't have any answers. I don't know who or what my leads are.
Who am I, and why did I die?