Every Picture Tells A Story
The phone was ringing. Rarity stared at it. Three rings, four rings, she huffed and looked at her hooves – they weren’t going to file themselves. She finally picked it up on the fifth ring. “Ghostbreakers.”
Rarity hit a buzzer on her desk and the firehouse lit up with flashing red lights and a ringing alarm. The other four mares stopped their assorted tasks and headed for the carriage room and quickly tossed their gear into the back of an old ambulance. Rainbow Dash harnessed herself to it and they took off as fast as her wings could carry her.
“Where are we going, Twi?”
“The Manehattan Museum Of Art.”
“Ugh. Why do all the ghosts always have to pick boring locations?”
“You said it, Dashie!”
“I mean, seriously. One haunted amusement park. Is that too much to ask? Instead it’s always libraries, or art museums, or the Museum of Natural History.”
“Or cemeteries,” added Applejack.
“Eh, those are pretty cool.”
Rainbow Dash pumped her wings faster and faster. Boring location or not, actually breaking ghosts was fun, no matter what the circumstances. She made sure their flight was a short one, and they landed in front of the museum, the ambulance’s siren wailing.
“Who ya gonna call?” Applejack said, rearing up to strike a dramatic pose.
“Oh, thank Celestia you’re here. My associate, Toola Roola, has been working on restoring this painting. But lately she just stares at it, talking to it. Today though, I saw the portrait blink.”
Twilight Sparkle held an electronic device up to the painting. “PKEs are off the chart. We’ve got a Class IV entity stuck in the painting.”
Rainbow Dash powered up her proton pack. “Time to bust the ghosties.”
“Wait! You can’t shoot that thing in here. The portrait of Hydia the Carponyian is a very valuable painting. And there are dozens of other priceless works of art all around us.”
“You have got to be kidding me.” Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “Let me get this straight: there’s a ghost in the painting, you called us here to eliminate the ghost problem, but we can’t hurt the painting.”
“Yes. That’s correct. I’m failing to see how that’s a problem?”
“Ma’am, these are non-licensed nuclear particle accelerators. They do the job but there’s usually a bit of collateral damage.”
“A bit? Last time we used ‘em we took the roof clean off of 55 Central Park West.”
“That’s only because we crossed the streams, Applejack. For a Class IV entity we won’t need to go to that extreme to get the desired results,” Twilight added.
“Awww, but that was the fun part,” Pinkie Pie said, frowning.
“Fluttershy would remind you that she’s still trying to settle all the lawsuits that were filed against us for that incident. It’s a miracle we were even allowed to continue with our research.”
“Heh, it’s amazing how releasing a few ghosts from the containment unit into the mayor’s office got him to shut up.”
Twilight Sparkle put a hoof to Rainbow Dash’s mouth. “Forgive my associate, she tends to run her mouth a lot about things that have non-disclosure agreements attached to them. So, uh, where is this Toola Roola anyway?”
“Well, I haven’t seen her since I called you. I’m not sure where she’s gotten to.”
“Potential possession. Rainbow Dash, you and Pinkie Pie track down Miss Roola. Applejack, help me remove this painting from the wall.”
“Wait!” The museum’s director started pacing back and forth furiously.
Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie took this as their cue to leave. They got a description of the missing artist and her address from one of the security guards and set off to locate her.
“You can’t just take the painting off the wall.”
“Oh yeah, there are probably alarms on it,” Twilight replied sheepishly. “Always forget about those…”
“Yes, there are, but I meant you can’t remove this portrait from the museum. Or from my sight. I refuse to allow you to destroy a priceless painting just because of a silly little ghost problem. There has to be a more reasonable solution.”
“Yup, I reckon there is.”
“Ah, so you must be the sensible one of the bunch.”
“Yup. And I’m saying the only sensible thing to do is leave the painting right here. With the specter still inside it.”
“That’s unacceptable.”
“Look lady, you don’t get t’ have your cake and eat it too. You either get a ghost-free painting that’s a little singed, or possibly a lot singed and probably on fire, or you have an intact painting that’s haunted. Your choice, and since you’re payin’ us by th’ hour please feel free to take your time decidin’.”
A few moments later the two remaining Ghostbreakers were escorted to the door, sans painting. “I’m thankful for your fast response to this call, but I’m afraid we just aren’t in need of your services after all. I hope you understand.”
“Fascinating.”
“And just what’s so fascinating about getting stiffed on a job, Twi?”
“The PKEs are still off the chart even out here.” She waved the PKE meter around in a circle, but the reading stayed the same. She pointed it towards the sky and it dipped ever so slightly. She turned it toward the ground and the meter spiked. “Paydirt. We need to get down there.”
Applejack looked around. “There’s a wagon from the telephone company over there. I’ll pull it on over here if you can scrounge us up some uniforms and a jackhammer.”
“On it.” Twilight walked back to the ambulance and picked up the CB radio. “Rarity, how fast can you get us a change of clothes?”
“What are you thinking?”
“Equestrian Telephone & Telegraph.”
“ET&T? Hmn, we do have similar uniforms. Alterations should only take me a few minutes. Delivery to the museum?”
“Yes please. And pull any book you can find on Hydia the Carponyian.” Twilight turned her attention to finding a jackhammer. She cast an object location spell and was pleased to discover there was a construction site containing multiple jackhammers only three blocks away. She walked to the site and levitated two of them back to the museum.
“Nice work, Twi.” Applejack was already slipping into one of the newly delivered ET&T uniforms. Fluttershy was standing by, scraping a hoof along the street.
Twilight quickly pulled on the other uniform and grabbed a jackhammer. She started boring into the street and Applejack did the same.
“So…very…loud…” Fluttershy whimpered. She decided to fly back to the firehouse to get some peace and quiet.
At Toola Roola’s apartment complex, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were having no luck locating the missing artist. Her roommate hadn’t seen her in days. Nor had anyone else in the complex. The only positive was that they had been able to borrow a few photographs of the missing mare to show other ponies.
Rainbow Dash cantered back to the ambulance and Pinkie Pie hopped along behind her. “I’m going to take us on a flight around the city. She’s got a multi-colored mane and tail like I do. Rainbow-colored manes are a rare recessive gene, so if she’s out walking around she’ll be fairly easy to spot.”
“I see a rainbow-maned pony! Oh, and another! And there’s another! Just how rare a trait is this?”
“Only 1% of the population.”
“Uh, Dashie, Manehattan has millions of ponies. Even 1% of the population is a lot.”
“Then I’m all out of ideas.”
“Help!”
Rainbow Dash turned her attention to the streets below them. “First things first. Let’s go do a good deed. Maybe it’ll build us up some good karma.”
“My colt! She’s taking my colt!”
“Oh! That good karma thing works instantaneously!” Pinkie Pie bounced up and down inside the ambulance. “That’s Toola Roola right there. Uh, and she’s running with a colt on her back. Um…”
“Yeah, this is getting deep. Hold on, Pinkie. I’m going in!” Rainbow Dash swooped down from the sky, the ambulance still in tow behind her. As she closed in on Toola Roola, Pinkie Pie launched herself from the Ecto-1. Rainbow Dash circled around and then followed from above. Pinkie Pie tapped the artist on the shoulder and grabbed the colt away from her.
“I want my mum!”
“Don’t worry, your Auntie Pinkie Pie will keep you safe!”
“Pinkie?”
“Pip! Like, totally long time no see! How are you? What are you doing here?”
“My parents just moved here from Ponyville after moving there from Trottingham.”
“Oh wow, they don’t like to stay in one place very long do they?”
“Dad’s job forces him to move around a lot. Also, thank you!”
“Don’t mention it! Here you are, back with your mum! This calls for a party!”
Rainbow Dash hovered above the other rainbow-maned pony. She was glancing around, trying to find which way Pinkie Pie had disappeared. She never thought to look up, so she never saw Rainbow Dash coming until after Dash collided with her. The two ponies tumbled along the sidewalk and ended up in a heap.
Rainbow Dash recovered first. “All right, Toola. Wanna explain to me why you’re foalnapping colts?”
“I must find a suitable vessel! I do not have time to waste on you!” She glowed with ectoplasmic energy and Rainbow Dash found herself flung through a storefront window.
The burglar alarm sounded as Rainbow Dash woozily dragged herself to her hooves.
“You best not move another inch, shoplifter. The cops are already on their way!”
Rainbow turned to look at the shopkeeper – he was an elderly unicorn stallion, and his horn was glowing with magic. Her tail was likewise glowing in that same magical aura. “Heh, I hope you’ve got a good grasp on my tail. You’re gonna need it.” Dash hopped into the air, dragging the stallion with her. “Comfy back there?”
She flew a few blocks and landed next to Pinkie Pie. “I lost her.”
“Who’s your friend?”
“The guy who caused me to lose her. Toola flung me through his window and he thought I was a shoplifter.”
“Sir, this mare isn’t a shoplifter. She’s a hero. She went chasing after the pony who tried to foalnap my precious little Pip!”
“Of course by being here, three blocks away from your store, a store that now has a large gaping hole in it I might add, you’ve just extended a great big invitation to every thief in the city to rob you blind. Of course I left our ambulance back by your store so I’ll happily fly you back.”
The stallion took one look at Rainbow Dash, turned towards the curb and yelled, “Taxi!”
“Suit yourself. Pinkie, you coming?”
“You bet!”
Underneath the Manehattan Museum of Art, Twilight Sparkle whistled. There was a river of purple goo gurgling through an abandoned subway tunnel. She could see eyes in the slime, and all of them turned to look at her. “Fascinating.” She levitated a beaker towards the river of goop and collected a sample.
What she wasn’t expecting was for the slime to take it personally. The river of goop hissed and lashed out at her. Even the sample in the beaker strained to get to her. She quickly corked it to prevent that from happening and she backtracked towards the rope she had climbed down on. She yanked on it and screamed, “Applejack! Get me out of here!” She grabbed the rope in her teeth and much to her relief felt herself rising into the air. And right into the forelegs of two waiting police officers.
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Twilight Sparkle. Moonlighting with ET&T these days?”
“You’re never going to believe what I found in the tunnel.”
“You’re right, we aren’t. So why don’t you come along with us down to the station and see if anypony there does.”
“Uh, sorry, Twi. They kinda sneaked up on me.”
“You had one job, AJ. One job. Watch for the police.”
“This here hat tends to get in the way of my peripheral vision.”
Toola Roola balanced precariously on a ledge outside a fifty-second story window. Had she still been in possession of her own mind, she would have been terrified. As it was, she was focused on only one thing – watching the apartment’s inhabitants.
“…and then these two mares came out of the sky and rescued Pip!”
“The best part is one of them was Pinkie Pie, from Ponyville!” Pip added.
The window exploded into thousands of shards of glass as Toola Roola burst into the apartment.
“It’s her!”
“Stay away from Pip!”
“You have been chosen. Come.” Toola Roola snatched Pip from the protective grasp of his mother.
“Chosen for what? Help me!”
Pip’s father smashed a chair into Toola’s back but it didn’t even faze her. His mom threw a vase but it shattered against Toola with no detrimental effect to the possessed mare.
Toola leapt out of the apartment clutching Pip to her chest and Pip’s parents ran to the window, powerless to stop her.
“Pip!”
“Mum!”
“Ghostbreakers.”
“Rarity! Send Fluttershy down to the police department right away with bail money.”
“She’ll be right there.”
Fluttershy turned to look at Rarity. “Jail?”
“Again.”
Fluttershy sighed. “You know, I’m glad I got this law degree, but I never thought I’d have to use it quite so frequently in our line of work.”
“Eh, you know how the other girls get carried away. I’ll get Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie on the CB radio and have them meet you down at the station.”
“Ready?”
“But Rainbow Dash, this is going to get all of us into even worse trouble than we’re already in.”
“You said it yourself, Fluttershy – they’re being held without bail. Since there’s no legal way to get them out of jail it’s time to try an illegal way of busting them out.” She armed her proton pack and aimed it at the wall of the jail. “Their cell is on the other side of this wall, right?”
“Um, if I say ‘no’ will that stop you from blasting a hole in the police department?”
“Nope.”
“Then yes. Yes it is.”
“Thank you!” Rainbow Dash unleashed the stream on the building and was rewarded by bricks exploding in all directions. “Did somepony call for a jailbreak?”
A dozen ponies raced past Rainbow Dash to freedom.
“Did I mention that it was the only holding cell and they had more prisoners than just Applejack and Twilight?”
“No Fluttershy, you didn’t. Not that it would have mattered. We need them out of here regardless. This’ll just keep the cops busy.”
“Rainbow Dash! This is not the proper way to bail us out of jail!” Twilight Sparkle emerged from the wreckage that had been the holding cell, Applejack behind her.
“Yeah, about that. Pinkie Pie had a doozie about twenty minutes ago.”
“A doozie. Uh-oh.”
“That’s what the rest of us said.”
“But we can’t leave without our equipment and the sample I collected.”
“We have spare equipment. Can you get another sample?”
“Well, yeah, but…”
“Then we’re leaving. Into the ambulance, now!”
Several spotlights suddenly lit up the courtyard.
Rainbow Dash facehoofed. “And this is why we don’t argue about breaking out of jail before escaping.”
“Stop right there, criminal scum!”
“Halt, in the name of the law!”
“Twilight, shield around the Ecto-1, now.”
“Oh, yeah that would help,” Twilight replied sheepishly, complying with Rainbow’s command.
“Eggheads. Gotta tell them everything.” The prismatic mare took to the skies as several unicorn police officers shot bolts of magic at them. A daring pegasus officer pursued them into the night sky, but Dash lost her pretty quickly.
Twilight Sparkle was leaning into the hole she had created earlier, supported by Applejack. Rainbow Dash, meanwhile, hovered in the air watching out for trouble. Pinkie Pie had the unicorn’s tail in her mouth and Fluttershy was holding a flashlight in her mouth so that she could see what she was doing. She had determined it was too risky to go back into the subway tunnel, so collecting a sample from the safety of the street would be easier and faster. Considering they still had the attention of the police, speed was of the essence.
“Got it!” she finally exclaimed.
Back at police headquarters, the chief was pacing in front of his officers irately. “What do you mean the Ghostbreakers escaped? You idiots! You morons! You….you…you…”
“Nincompoops?”
“You nincompoops! I want the Ghostbreakers back in a cell before this night is over. Including that sniveling lawyer of theirs!”
“Fascinating.” Twilight poked at the purple ooze with her magical aura.
“Now what?” asked Pinkie Pie. “Can I play with the slime now? Please?”
“Actually, Pinkie Pie, that’s just what I was going to ask you to do.”
“Yay!” Pinkie excitedly hopped over to the test tubes where Twilight had been experimenting.
“So what’s your analysis?” Rarity asked.
“The slime seems to react to the emotions around it and then amplify them. Right now it’s negatively charged but I think it can be positively charged…”
“I’ve never thrown a party for slime before! This is going to be a super-special happy slime party!”
“And to test that, Pinkie Pie will do… whatever it is that Pinkie Pie does. How’s the research into our portrait going?”
Rarity pointed to the couch where Rainbow Dash was sprawled out, snoring. “She got two paragraphs in.”
“All things considered, that’s really not bad for her. Not counting Daring Do books, I think that may actually be a record. So did anypony else find anything?”
Rarity pointed to Pinkie Pie, who was now dancing with the goo, and then pointed to Applejack who was face down in a book, snoring.
“So nothing then?”
“Oh, I may have found something. If that’s okay with the rest of you?”
“What is it, Fluttershy?”
“It says here that Hydia was an elven witch who lived inside a volcano with her two daughters, Reeka and Draggle.”
“Elves?” asked Rarity.
“Sentient primate, bipedal, hairless; common in ancient myths and legends. But there’s no trace of them in the fossil record,” Twilight listed off their stats like most stallions rattled off hoofball scores.
“It says they came to power using the power of the Smooze, a slimy substance known to suck the happiness out of anypony it touched. They ruled over Carponyia with iron fists for almost a decade until Princess Celestia and Princess Luna overthrew them using the Elements of Harmony on behalf of their citizens. Hydia was sealed in a portrait and her daughters were imprisoned in the dungeon for the remainder of their lives. Oh… that’s horrible.”
“What?”
“It says here that the daughters’ lives were tragically cut short by a famine. With barely any food to feed the citizens, convicted criminals weren't a high priority. Reeka apparently cannibalized Draggle before eventually succumbing to starvation herself.”
“I wouldn’t worry about it, Fluttershy. A lot of ancient folklore is just that – legends. Stories get exaggerated to make them more interesting or to drive home a moral point. I really doubt the daughters died so tragically. Now, what else does it say about the Smooze?”
“Nothing much – there’s just an illustration showing it. It’s a purple goo with eyeballs.”
“Well, at least we know what it’s called now. I mean otherwise we’d have to call it mood slime. Do you know how tacky that sounds?” Rarity fluttered a hoof to her heart and pretended to faint.
“Is there anything in there about how we stop her?”
“Nope. It just says that once every one hundred years the alignment of the stars is right for bringing about her return with explicit instructions on exactly how to do so.”
“Why do they always put clauses like that in sealing wards?” Twilight banged her head onto the coffee table. “I know the princesses are big on redemption, but come on. It’s almost like they want to punish the next generation instead of just finishing it once and for all.”
“In that case, I guess it’s up t’ all o’ us t’ finish what they started. Lock and load, girls!”
“Draggle!”
“What now, Reeka?”
“It’s my turn to control the body!”
“Nuh-uh! Your turn only just ended a few minutes ago! The host is all mine!”
The battle for control of Toola Roola’s body, mind, and soul dragged on between the poor pony and the two deceased witches.
“It’s my turn,” Toola said, halfheartedly. Her essence was slowly draining away the longer she wasn’t in charge of her own body. It had left her weak and barely able to stay conscious. Not that she wanted to – the witches were doing horrible things both to her body and with her body. Reeka kept eating everything in sight whenever she was in charge, while Draggle had captured an innocent young colt. Neither of the witches had divulged exactly what they needed him for. They knew, but they didn’t talk about it.
“No way! You had this body forever! You don’t get another turn with it until we get our bodies back!”
“Yeah!”
Toola Roola found herself merely a passenger as her body constructed a sacrificial altar in front of the portrait she had spent so much time restoring.
“But where could the Smooze have possibly picked up so much negativity in a happy, generous city such as Manehattan?”
“Well Rarity, it appears that the Smooze in the subway is flowing in from Staten Island.”
“Oh, well, that would explain that all right, Twilight.”
“So what’s the plan? I want to kick some ghost flank, already!” Rainbow Dash proclaimed.
“We need to positively charge this slime before we do anything. Which is what Pinkie Pie is working on.”
“This slime is now the happiest slime to ever slime!”
“Okay…” Twilight responded. “In that case, we can set the next phase of my plan into action.”
“Finally. And that is?”
“We sneak into the museum and prevent Toola Roola from reanimating Hydia.”
“Sneak?”
“Yes, Rainbow Dash, it’s a new vocabulary word for you. It means we take a stealthy route into the building and don’t draw attention to ourselves.”
Rainbow Dash blinked. “Where’s the fun in that?” she asked as she harnessed herself to the ambulance.
“It’s not meant to be fun, it’s meant to increase our odds of being successful and hence our odds of survival.”
“Boring.”
They continued to debate the benefits of using the siren for it’s cool factor versus not using it to maintain the stealth aspect of their mission during the short flight to the art museum.
As Rainbow Dash landed the Ecto-1, the other five ponies stared at the building – it had been completely covered in Smooze.
“How are we supposed t’ get in there, Twi?”
“We’ll teleport. Gather around me.” Her horn glowed purple and there was a flash of light. Seconds later the magical aura faded and there was a ring of fire surrounding Twilight and scorch marks on her horn.
“What happened, sugarcube?”
“The Smooze is blocking anything positive from getting through.”
“But Dashie got through. See! She’s inside.”
“And yet my point still stands. Amazing!”
Rainbow Dash shook her head. She had been separated from the rest of the team somehow – she could see Pinkie Pie waving at her from outside.
“Who’s there?” asked Toola Roola.
Rainbow Dash quickly thought back to a previous adventure the Ghostbreakers had had. “Are you the Gatekeeper?”
“No, you have the wrong portal. Try the third portal on the left. Oh, and say ‘hi’ to Stay Puft for me.”
“Oh, many thanks and you got it.”
Toola Roola turned and walked back towards the altar and Rainbow Dash headed towards the front door to let her friends in. She opened the door and passed through the slime towards the others. “What are you waiting for?”
“We can’t pass through the Smooze.”
“But I did?”
“I’ll explain later. I’ve come up with a new plan. We need to get to Friendship Island.”
As the other five ponies raced past her towards the Ecto-1, Rainbow Dash stopped Rarity. “Toola Roola sends her regards.”
Pip struggled against his bonds. He was tightly secured to the altar. “Let me go!”
“In a few short hours you shall have your wish. At the stroke of midnight, your soul shall be forcibly removed from your body to make room for Hydia. At that point you’re free to do whatever you want. As a ghost!”
“Yeah! Being a ghost is pretty cool,” said Reeka, as she passed outside of Toola Roola’s body and took on a transparent shape similar to what her body had looked like in life.
“If it’s so cool, why are you in such a rush to get new bodies?”
“There are certain drawbacks to a ghostly form. You’ll understand what I mean soon enough, little pony.”
For the first time in weeks Toola Roola felt hope. One of the idiot witches had left her body. She could feel some semblance of control of her motor functions returning to her. If she could just evict the other one maybe she could save the little colt. As her mind gradually unclouded she came up with an idea.
“Here we are, the Statue of Friendship. One of Manehattan’s most well known monuments. It was sent here as a gift from Prance in the spirit of friendship between our two nations…”
“Twilight.”
“Yes Rainbow?”
“Can you skip the tour guide routine? We all know what we’re looking at.”
“Fine,” grumbled the unicorn. “Just grab the containers of positively charged Smooze and let’s soak this statue in it.”
“That’s your big plan? We soak the Statue of Friendship in mood slime? What in tarnation is that supposed t’ accomplish?”
“Shhh! Don’t get upset in front of the happy Smooze! We’re going to use the statue to gain entrance to the museum. The positive Smooze will counteract the negative Smooze and then the sheer mass of the statue’s right hook will break through the building itself. We’ll never get past the Smooze barrier surrounding the museum otherwise.”
“So we ride the statue into the city?”
“That’s right.”
“I love this plan. It’s epically awesome, just like me!” She grabbed the nearest container of Smooze and flew up to the top of the statue, dumping the contents over the torch. The torch lit up in an explosion of flame. “Awesome!”
The other Ghostbreakers emptied their containers of Smooze on the statue, soaking every square inch inside and out. They entered the statue as it started creaking on its foundation.
“Now comes the hard part.”
“And that is?”
“We need to make everypony in Manehattan care.”
“Wow, you are one ugly…whatever you are,” Toola Roola said.
“Thank you!”
“Why, I bet you’re even uglier than your sister.”
“You know it!”
“Hey! I’m just as ugly as Reeka! Maybe even uglier.”
“Oh yeah? Prove it.”
Draggle slipped outside of Toola Roola’s body and took on a transparent shape similar to what her body had looked like in life.
“Nah, Reeka’s got you beat in the ugly department for sure.”
“You take that back!”
“Hahahaha! I’m the ugliest!” Reeka started parading around the room waving her arms around. “I’m the champ!”
Draggle tackled her sister and the two spirits rolled around on the floor in a heap. Toola walked over to the altar and quietly untied the ropes binding Pip. “C’mon kid, let’s get out of here.”
In between the artificial canyons created by the skyscrapers, thundering hoofbeats echoed. Cheering Manehattanites stood behind police barriers as the Statue of Friendship stomped past them. Speakers set up on the outside of the statue alternated between blaring uplifting music and sarcastic comments from the Ghostbreakers inside.
“Come on folks, we can’t hear you! Who cares?” Rainbow Dash stood on the statue’s crown, whipping her forelegs into the air.
“We care! We care! We care!” chanted the crowd.
“I dunno, that was pretty weak. I think they’ve got you beat over in Neigh Jersey.”
The statue crunched a parked police wagon.
“We care! We care! We care!”
“Much better! Remember, this is Manehattan, where the spirit of generosity thrives! Not the Manehattan where it’s everypony for themselves!” Rarity implored the crowd.
“We care! We care! We care!”
“That’s right everypony! Pinkie Pie here and I’m blasting out some of your favorite uplifting tunes! Here’s a little ditty by Hay Parker, Jr! Who ya gonna call?”
“Ghostbreakers!”
“That’s right!” answered all six of the Ghostbreakers from inside the statue.
“You idiot! How could you let them escape? Hydia is gonna be so mad at you.”
“Hey, you left the body too. This is just as much your fault as it is mine.”
“You know what? It’s almost midnight. With no body for the transfer to go through, Hydia will just stay imprisoned for another hundred years. We can try again then.”
“Just like we did one hundred years ago, and a hundred years before that, and a hundred years before that…”
“We actually got pretty close this time. I mean, that just screams that our next attempt will be successful, right?”
They floated right past Toola Roola’s hiding place and she exhaled in relief.
“Boo.” Reeka pushed her nose against the pony’s and wiggled her ghostly eyebrows.
“Oops, looks like you’ve been repossessed!” Draggle giggled at her pun as she re-entered Toola Roola’s body. She was quickly joined by Reeka. “Now to find the brat.”
It was five minutes before midnight when the Statue of Friendship finally approached the art museum. A heavy layer of Smooze protected the entire building from intruders.
“It looks like a giant Jell-O mold.” Pinkie Pie started drooling at the prospect of a gelatin dessert of that size.
“There’s never room for this much Jell-O.”
“Speak for yourself, Dashie!”
The statue hovered over the museum’s skylight and the six ponies observed the scene inside: Toola Roola was looking back and forth between the painting of Hydia and an altar where Pipsqueak was restrained. Hydia’s spirit was already partially out of the painting and Pip’s aura was half out of his body.
“This doesn’t look good. Oh I can’t look.” Fluttershy hid her eyes. “That poor, poor colt.”
The Statue of Friendship shattered the skylight with her torch and the six ponies tumbled inside. Stumbling to their hooves, they readied their proton packs.
“Rarity, you and Fluttershy liberate Toola Roola from the spirit possessing her. The rest of us will take on Hydia.”
“This is awkward,” Hydia said, looking at the Ghostbreakers. The spirit was still halfway out of the portrait, and halfway into her new host body.
“Eat Smooze.”
“Actually, Smooze can be quite tasty when prepared correctly…”
Four rainbow colored streams hit her at once, interrupting her thoughts on cooking, and forcing her back into the painting.
Across the room, Rarity and Fluttershy had cornered Toola Roola.
“Um, before we send you back to the afterlife, I was just wondering, but um, did one of you eat the other one in prison?”
“Ha! Reeka, your reputation precedes you! No, the fatso didn’t eat me.”
“Yeah, not enough meat on her bones.”
“Hey!”
“Well, that answers that.” Fluttershy’s proton pack hummed and the two spirits found themselves separated from Toola Roola’s body and unable to move. Rarity threw a ghost trap and they disappeared into it along with all of the Smooze.
“Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!” Toola said. “Is Pip okay?”
“I’m fine, Miss Roola!”
“The Ghostbreakers save the day again. Awww yeah! That was awesome!”
“So any thoughts on how we’re going to get Miss Friendship back to her island without the mood slime?” Fluttershy asked Twilight.
“None at all.”
“I’ll prepare for the lawsuits.”
“Good idea.”
Several blocks away a policemare salvaged what was left of her gear from her wrecked wagon. She paused as she noticed a giant indentation in the shape of a hoofprint in what had been the cart’s roof. “I’ve heard of Manehattan leaving its hoofprint on everypony who ventures into it but this is ridiculous…”
