Ponyville Paranormal Societyby Shysoldier94ChaptersAn Opportunity Of A LifetimeIt BeginsTerrors Unknown More Than We Bargained ForA Sense Of RealityAn Opportunity Of A LifetimeThe Ponyville Paranormal Society One year ago on a crisp Autumn night, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Twilight decided to have a girl’s night out at Twilight’s library. After midnight, they agreed to watch a movie before turning down for the night. What happened next took them all by surprise. A crash was heard in the other room and whispers were heard. They thought it was only Spike but he was away in Canterlot with the Princess on royal business. So all three got up to investigate the mysterious crash and whispering. Once in the room, they noticed one of the bookshelves were off the wall flat on the ground. Books scattered everywhere. Twilight turned her head and near the window she saw a dark shadow walk and disappear. Twilight screamed. “Did you girls see that?!” She turned around to see both AJ and Rainbow Dash completely pale as they too saw the same thing. From that day on, the three young mares founded the ‘Ponyville Paranormal Society’ in hopes to gather evidence that they once experienced and help other ponies who too experience the paranormal. **************************************************************************** “Hey Twilight I got a good one for us. You’re gonna love this.” Rainbow Dash said excitedly. “I was going through our fan investigation letters and it seems we’re gathering a lot of attention. The Princesses themselves have called to ask us to investigate the main castle building!” Twilight and Applejack looked over their desks at each other with wide eyes and smiles. “Woah are serious?” Twilight asked. “Hay yeah I’m serious! She said she could have the whole area blocked off for us so there’s no audio or video contamination. But we would have to do it tonight due to the Grand Galloping Gala coming up. “Why I say lets get’er done!” Applejack said. The team then began to gather all their equipment for tonight’s investigation. This one was going to be the biggest place they’ve ever investigated so the need pack extra static night vision cameras and video tapes was essential. They loaded up the equipment in a cab and headed for the train station. Once there, and after signing a few autographs from a few fans, they boarded the train to Canterlot. Twilight turned on the camera she was carrying to document the ride for their fans. “We just got done talking to a few fans near the station and they said they enjoy our showings at the Ponyville Theater.” Rainbow Dash said to the camera. “In case anypony doesn’t know, after every big investigation we do, we show the investigation to the fans. And apparently it’s been a big hit. “Exactly.” Applejack added. “But that doesn’t mean we’re gonna get carried away with all th’ popularity an all. Riiight RD?” “Yeah, yeah I got it.” Rainbow rolled her eyes. Twilight giggled. “Alright I’m gonna turn this off to save the battery.” A few seconds later and the camera turned off. “Can you believe the Princess herself asked us to investigate the main castle building? This is gonna be crazy!” Rainbow exclaimed. “I know!” Twilight replied. “And we’ll be able to see parts of the castle even I haven’t seen yet.” “Ah sure can’t wait. This’ll be the toughest, yet best investigation we’ll do yet.” “Agreed.” Rainbow and Twilight replied in unison. ****************************************************************************************** In a few hours, the train arrived in Canterlot. Outside the station awaited a cab to bring the team to the main castle building. They gathered their equipment bags and met outside with the cab. After a few minutes, they arrived at the main castle building. They again gathered the equipment and waited. “Rainbow what does the paper say?” Twilight asked. “It says we should wait out here until one of the guards comes out and escorts us inside to the Princess.” She replied. “Sounds easy ‘nough.” Added Applejack. Just then a guard appeared. “You the P.P.S.? “Yes sir.” Twilight replied. “Follow me.” They picked up the equipment bags and followed the guard up the path to the main door. Once inside, they were greeted by the Princess. “Thank you three for coming on such short notice.” Princess Celestia said. “Not to worry Princess, we’re always happy to help.” Twilight beamed. “Shall I show you where the activity happens?” She continued. They all nodded. “Okay, right this way.” Celestia lead them through the long hallway and brought them into a room what looked like a large eating area. “In here a lot of activity has been reported. Silverware has been told to float without any aura around it. And none of the ponies that work in this area are Unicorns. Other reports have been shadows and voices. One day one of the workers unlocked the doors and found a few table turned over and the chairs scattered about. Mind you the doors were locked so there was no way anypony was able to get in.” “Applejack put an ‘X’ in that corner so later on during the investigation we can set up one of the static night vision cameras. As she was told, she marked the corner with a black ‘X’. “The next room is the most active. Follow me please.” Celestia said. She led them to the next room to which confused the team. It looked as if this was the Princess’s private quarters. “Now this room, as you may have guessed, is my private quarters and has the most activity. There are the usual voices and shadows, but during the night sometimes I awake to a strange sound and when I look up, there’s this ball of light that goes across the room and disappears into the wall. Doors also open and shut on their own. “Do you ever find out what the voices are saying?” Twilight asked taking notes. “I never have. I’ve come close to try to understand what they say but can’t make out the words.” “Hmm.” Twilight wrote down more notes. “Has anything happened very recently?” “Ohhh yes there has. Last night I woke up to my bed shaking erratically and what sounded like a dark laugh. I also smelled what I thought was something that smelt like sulfur. I almost never feel scared but this scared me so much I ran to Luna’s quarters and stayed there the rest of the night. I’m sorry but I’m desperate. I need answers to what this is and what it wants.” “Don’t worry Princess. We’ll find out what it is. You have our word.” Rainbow said proudly. “Thank you girls, I knew I could count on you.” Celestia gave a weak smile. “Is that all that goes on ‘round here?” Applejack finally spoke up. “Well between here and the dining hall is where most of the activity happens. Everywhere else gets a fair amount of activity. The whole place is yours to investigate.” “Alright, sounds good Princess. Thanks again for letting us investigate.” “It’s my pleasure Twilight. I’ll be in Luna’s quarters for tonight on the other end of the castle so you three should be good.” “Sounds good! Let’s go girls.” Rainbow said. We got a little bit of daylight left so let’s get everything set up. They turned around and walked to get their equipment bags. They took out a long extension cord and ran it through the main hallway. Rainbow took the static night vision camera and went into Celestia’s quarters. She took the stand and set it up. Then she placed the camera on its hook and turned it on. “This shit’s gonna be awesome! We’ll definitely catch something for sure!” When she went to plug in the camera, she was zapped by the outlet. “Ow shit! Dammit! Applejack and Twilight ran into the room. “Is everything okay? What happened?” Twilight asked frantically. Rainbow sucked on her sore hoof. “The bucking outlet zapped me!” Applejack chuckled. “And what’s so funny?” Rainbow demanded. “That happened the last investigation, you zappin yourself on an outlet.” She continued. “For buck’s sake, how many times do I have to say it? That one was an accident. This time I tried to be careful. “Girls let’s not fight again.” Twilight pleaded. “Everything’s all set up out there. What about in here?” “Yeah just need a voice recorder in here to see if we catch any voices.” Rainbow replied. “Here I have an extra.” Applejack replied, putting the recorder on the night shelf across the room. “From what the Princess was describing, Ah think we should be careful this time around. We don’t wanna be messin with anything that can cause any harm. “I agree. I don't know about anypony else, but the Princess seemed a little shaken up and didn't want to be around here. So let's keep our eyes open and be careful okay?" Applejack and Rainbow nodded. "Well okay then I guess we’re ready. Lights out.” Twilight said. They went through the entire main building and turned off all lights. They met with each other near the entrance. “Now let’s get this investigation going!” Rainbow Dash boasted. It BeginsTwilight, Rainbow, and Applejack put on vests that will carry the extra cameras, video tapes, and recorders that they’ll need during the investigation. They gathered around their ‘base camp’ Twilight and Applejack set up earlier with lights and monitors. “Alright AJ what do we have?” Rainbow asked. “We got eight cameras set up with four cameras’ feedback on each monitor. We have one camera coverin’ this hallway. Two others are in the dinin room area; one in the corner gettin coverage of the whole room and another set up facing a few tables since the Princess told us that reports of silver ware an chairs being lifted on their own. Only one camera’s upstairs and that’s just viewing the hallway since not much activity has been reported there. Last but not least, the Princess’s room is loaded with four cameras. One’s facin her bed because of her report that her bed was shakin like crazy from last night. Two are pointed at each door, one at the entrance door and the other at the closet since she’s heard doors close on their own as well. And the last one’s on top of the bookshelf giving a full view of the whole room.” Applejack pointed at each camera angle on the monitor as she explained.” “Okay it looks like we’re good to start.” Twilight began. “Applejack you stay here and keep watch on the monitors and report to us if you see anything on them. After about an hour we’ll switch shifts and Applejack will be with me. After that if nothing’s seen on the cameras, we can all join together. And let’s be careful. We don’t know if we’re dealing with just spirits or something evil. Sound like a plan?” “You betcha’” Applejack replied. As Rainbow’s camera has been running the whole time, Twilight finally turned hers on. They grabbed walkee talkees and made their way down the hallway. “Alright Rainbow, let’s start in the dining room.” Twilight said. “Got it.” She replied. “See ya in an hour AJ!” “You two be careful.” Applejack cautioned them. “We got it covered.” Rainbow boasted. It’s been over a year since their first encounter with the paranormal. She didn’t know why, but Applejack had an uneasy feeling in her like something bad was going to happen tonight; almost like a sixth sense. She shook her head and stuck to the thought she was just nervous being all alone in the huge castle that was supposedly haunted. Never the less, the feeling never seemed to have an end as time drew on. ***************** Before Twilight and Rainbow entered the dining room, Twilight turned to face Rainbow’s camera. “Now to anypony who’s new at watching our investigations, you’re probably thinking we can see fine. The thing is, well we can’t. It’s completely pitch black in here. The only way we’re able to see is through the small screens on these night vision cameras. Go ahead and show them Rainbow.” Twilight said as they would soon be showing this investigation to friends at their local theater. Rainbow reached to turn off the night vision. “You see anything? Well you should only see black because that’s what we’re seeing without the night vision.” She quickly turned it back on. They both turned the corner and entered the dining room. They took a moment to look around. Even with Princess Luna’s moon out bright, it seemed to be rather dark in the room. Especially in the corner near the kitchen. “Wow Rainbow you feel that?” Twilight whispered. “Feel what?” she replied, slowly scanning around the room. “I don’t know it just feels like something’s watching us.” Twilight answered, staring at the dark corner where she believed it’s originated. “Let’s do an EVP session then.” Rainbow suggested. “Alright.” Twilight began. “Let’s use yours first. I’ll use mine in the Princess’s quarters.” Rainbow nodded and reached into a pocket in her vest and pulled out her recorder. She clicked the record button. “Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle EVP session, dining room.” “Is there anypony in this room that would like to speak with us?” Twilight said louder. She waited a few seconds before speaking again, “We hear that somepony’s lifting chairs and silver ware scaring some of the workers here, is that you doing so?” About 10 seconds after asking her last question, Rainbow heard what sounded like a faint exhale. “Did you hear that?” She asked. “Yeah I heard. What was that?” “I don’t know but let’s find out.” Rainbow rewound the recorder and played the last question Twilight asked. “We hear that somepony’s lifting chairs and silver ware scaring some of the workers here, is that you doing so?.......Yesss.” Twilight’s eyes widened after hearing it. “That sounded like a stallion!” “That’s an intelligent response!” Rainbow added. “C’mon, let’s see if we can get it to answer again.” “Was that you who just answered us?” Rainbow asked. “If it was you can you give us a sign that it was?” After her question there was a loud crash in the kitchen that made both mares jump. *********************** Applejack has been sitting at the monitors for the past half hour. Only 30 more minutes and Ah can soon get in on this investigation. She thought. She turned to look at camera one and saw what appeared to be something thrown in the kitchen near the back. “What they hay…” She said aloud as she reached for her walkee talkee. ************************ “What the buck was that?!” Rainbow half shouted. “I don’t know.” Twilight replied, breathing heavily. “It sounded like pots and pans being thrown.” The silence broke as Applejack’s voice entered through the radio, “Uh you gals doin’ alright?” She asked. “Yeah we’re fine. We just got the shit scared out of us but we’re good.” Rainbow replied sarcastically. “Ah’m not foolin ‘round ladies but just a few moments ago, Ah saw an object near the kitchen on camera #1 just fly across the countertop. Ah heard the crash from back here.” “We definitely heard it but didn’t see what it was.” Twilight added. “It sounded like a pan or something but we’re not exactly sure that’s what it was.” Rainbow questioned. “Go check it out and see if it could be somthin’ else. AJ out.” “Copy that.” Twilight said. Rainbow and Twilight slowly made their way to the rear of the room near the kitchen. As they entered the kitchen, Rainbow turned her flashlight on and scanned the small area, noticing many pans were laying on the floor. “Well it definitely was pots and pans being flown around. But how did it happen?” “I have an idea.” Twilight said as she left the kitchen. Rainbow followed. She walked to the center of the room and moved a few tables out of the way. “Hand me your flashlight.” Rainbow did as she was told and watched as Twilight worked. She began to unscrew the back a little and tapped the back. “What exactly is it that you’re doing Twi?” Rainbow asked a little confused. “I’ve been experimenting on different methods and discovered this one while interacting with the events going on at my home. I unscrew the back of this flashlight a tad and all that it needs to be turned on is to tap the back.” She replied while setting the light on the floor. “Hmm. It sounds like a good idea but wouldn’t vibrations be able to turn it on as well?” “Nope.” Twilight replied as she tapped the area around the flashlight. To prove her point further she jump and slammed her hooves near it, which didn’t turn it on. “Well that’s pretty effective.” Rainbow said surprised. “Now all we gotta do now is see if it’ll interact.” Rainbow looked at her recorder and set it down in front of the flashlight. “You’ve been showing us well that you’re here but can you do one more thing for us? Can you tap the back of that flashlight and make it turn on?” A few seconds later, the light turned on. “Works every time.” Twilight said. “Thank you. Now can you turn it off for us?” As expected, it turned off. Rainbow couldn’t help but smile. “This is awesome! Already 50 minutes into the investigation and we’re already getting plenty of evidence.” “Rainbow look.” Twilight quickly said as she pointed toward the flashlight which was now being rolled in circles. The two couldn’t help but watch as it stood up straight as if a magnet was underneath the floor boards. After about a good 5-10 seconds, it plopped flat and rolled to a stop. “Are you still here?” Rainbow asked. After 5 minutes with no answer, the two picked up the flashlight and recorder. Twilight looked at her watch on her vest. “Hey it’s been an hour. We should go back and switch you and Applejack out.” “Sounds good to me.” Rainbow replied. They made their way back to base camp to find Applejack’s eyes glued to the monitors. “Hey AJ!” Rainbow said. “It’s been an hour. Time for us to switch out.” When Applejack turned to face them, her face looked to be filled with amazement. “You gals are not gonna believe this! When you two left the dinin room, camera #2 pointed at the one table near the back caught one of the silver ware items float in the air and tossed against the wall. And a few seconds later one of the chairs slid back a few hoofs.” “Wow we didn’t even hear it. Are you sure?” Twilight asked. “Oh yes Ah’m sure.” She stated. “Lemme show y’all.” She rewound camera #2’s footage and showed them. Twilight gasped while Rainbow said, “That’s beeeasst!” “Ah don’t know ‘bout you Twilight but Ah wanna go to that dining room and investigate a little bit. Especially in that kitchen.” “I agree. I want to see if whatever it was is still back in there.” Twilight replied. “And once we’re done, all three of us are going to the Princess’s quarters. I know you wouldn’t want to miss that one Rainbow. “You bet your sexy flank I wanna investigate that room!” Rainbow said. Applejack laughed. “C’mon Twi let’s get goin’. And if you keep blushin’ like that, you’ll be able to lighten up a whole room.” She teased. While they made their way to the dining room, Twilight got lost in her thoughts. Rainbow always teased about things like that but this time it didn’t sound like she was teasing, it sounded like… She interrupted her thoughts and shook her head. Come on Twilight, keep your head in the game. Applejack turned her head slightly and noticed Twilight shaking her head. “You alright sugarcube?” “Hmm? Oh yeah I’m fine. I just got lost in thought.” She replied. “Oh okay. Well we’re here.” They turned into the dining area and consciously made their way to the back to the kitchen. Before entering the kitchen, they walked to the table where the chair slid back and silver ware thrown against the wall. Applejack picked up the spoon as Twilight moved the chair back to its original position. They then walked to the kitchen. As they entered, Applejack set the spoon in the sink and took a look around. She was surprised. “Mighty small for such a big dinin’ area.” “I agree.” Twilight said. “Do y’all have the thermal camera with you?” Applejack asked. “Thermal cam-…. Oh yeah I have it right here.” Twilight replied reaching in her back pack and handed it to Applejack “Thank ya Twi.” She said. “ Ah just wanna do a quick sweep of this area.” For a few minutes, Applejack walked throughout the whole dining area looking for any unusual activity. Before long, she gave up. “Ah got nothing on here. Anyways let’s get things started in here.” They walked into the middle of the kitchen and sat down on their haunches. Applejack took her recorder out and turned it on. “AJ and Twilight EVP session dinin’ room kitchen.” She waited a few seconds before continuing. “Now is there anypony in this room right now with us? Can you give us a sign that y’all here?” About 30 seconds passed before she felt a tug on her ponytail. “Uh AJ?” It sounded like Rainbow. “Darn it Rainbow you’re s’pposed to be watchin’ the moni-…” She turned around and saw that nopony was there. “Um Applejack, Rainbow is at base camp.” Twilight said. “But Ah just heard her right behind me and tug on my ponytail!” She reached for her walkee talkee. “AJ to Rainbow.” “RD responding. You alright in there?” “Yeah we’re doin’ might fine. Listen Rainbow; were you in here a few seconds ago?” “Uh no I’ve been here the whole time why you ask?” “Don’t y’all lie to me now, Ah’m serious.” Applejack replied. “No I swear I’ve been here the whole time. Why what happened?” “Nothin’ Ah’ll explain later. AJ out.” Applejack turned to Twilight. “Didn’t y’all here anypony say anything?” “No not at all. I saw your ponytail move but I figured that was you doing it.” Twilight answered. Applejack grunted, disappointed that she didn’t hear it too. “Well let’s continue.” “Was that you who tugged on Applejack’s ponytail? Can you tell us your name?” Twilight asked aloud. A few seconds later they heard a faint voice. “Did y’all here that?” AJ asked. “Play the recorder back and see if it was caught on there.” Applejack pressed the rewind button and played back the previous question. “Was that you who tugged on Applejack’s ponytail? Can you tell us your name?....... Help me!” Applejack and Twilight’s eyes widened. “You gotta be shittin’ me! Did this thing just scream ‘help me’??” Applejack said surprised. “I don’t know but the hairs all over my body are standing straight up. Look at this.” Twilight said while Applejack to her flashlight and shined it around Twilight’s body. “Wow you weren’t kiddin’.” She replied. “Woah, woah! It just got all cold all a’ sudden. You feel that?” “Oh yeah I feel that! What the hay’s going on?” Just then, they heard Rainbow over the radio, “Uh AJ, Twi come in.” “Twilight here.” “Uh yeah um can you two come back here ASAP?” Twilight turned to Applejack. “She sounds kind of shaky.” Then she talked into the radio, “Rainbow you sound kind of scared, and is everything okay over there?” “Can you two just run over here? Please?” She sounded desperate. “Yeah sure we’re on our way.” She replied. She stood up then turned to Applejack, “Something’s got to be wrong. Rainbow’s never acted like that on an investigation before. Grab the recorder and flashlight.” “On it.” Applejack answered. After they picked up all their gear, they quickly trotted back to base camp to find a shaking Rainbow Dash sitting in the corner under the tables. Twilight ran towards her and placed her hooves on her shoulders, snapping her back to reality. “Rainbow it’s me, Twilight. It’s alright we’re here now.” She held her close. Throughout the whole time she’s known Rainbow Dash, she’s never seen her so shaken up. She looked to be more scared than that time at the young flier’s competition. Rainbow looked straight into Twilight’s purple eyes. Twilight noticed tears were welding up inside her friends’ eyes. “Rainbow, what happened?” Twilight asked. She wiped her eyes and took a deep breath. “I was just sitting here watching the monitors and after Applejack asked if I tugged on her ponytail, I felt somepony breathing heavily on the back of my neck. I turned around and saw nothing. At first I thought it was my imagination but it just kept doing it. Then after that I heard this laugh. But this wasn’t a ‘haha’ type of laugh, no this was like a deep evilish laugh. I swear to Celestia I’ve never been that creeped out ever.” Twilight and Applejack just looked at each other. They didn’t know what to do to help their friend. So they just stood there while Rainbow tried to calm down. Applejack was the first to break the silence. “Ah think it’s time we took a break.” They all nodded in agreement. ******************************** After about a 15 minute break, Rainbow seemed to be back to her normal self. Within that time, they each ate a small snack they packed along and drank some water. Feeling satisfied with the short rest they had, Twilight felt it was time to start in Celestia’s quarters. “You girls ready for this?” Twilight asked. “You got it!” Rainbow replied, feeling much better. Applejack just nodded and gave a weak smile. That bad feeling was coming back on her again. She shook it off as they made their way down the hall. The three opened the door to Celestia’s quarters and while Twilight and Applejack stepped inside to the middle, Rainbow took the thermal camera and done a quick sweep around the room. It wasn’t before long she caught something. “Uh Twi, AJ? Come here real quick I think I caught something on here.” The two quickly made their way to her side. “What did you catch?” Twilight questioned. She pointed to the bed. “You see that? It looks like there is a pit as if somepony’s sitting on it. And the temperature on that spot is low. Go touch it AJ.” She swallowed and nervously made her way to the bed. She placed a hoof in the pit. “Your right. It’s mighty cold.” Twilight too walked over to see for herself and was surprised as well. “Oh wow you’re right!” Suddenly the bed started to shake erratically. Taking a few steps back, the two positioned their cameras on it. After a few seconds it stopped. They took a deep breath and never thought they were happy to hear silence. But that was short lived as a low evil sounding disembodied voice was clearly heard within the room. “You’re not supposed to be here!” The three looked at each other wide eyes. They couldn’t believe what they just heard. Thinking that it would speak again, Rainbow reached for her voice recorder. Turning it on, she asked: “Are we not supposed to be here? Is that it, are we intruding here?” Silence. Seconds turned to minutes as Rainbow began to get frustrated. She couldn’t wait any longer. “Are you a coward? Is that why you don’t wanna say something is because you’re weak? Show yourself you bucking loser!” She shouted. “Rainbow!” Twilight called. “We said no confrontations like this. We don’t know what we’re dealing with.” Rainbow just sat there staring at Twilight about to speak when all of a sudden a loud bang that was heard throughout the building. All three screamed. “What the buck was that?!” Rainbow shouted. “Ah don’t know.” Applejack answered. “Twi, hand me that camera. Ah’m gonna see what it was.” “No Applejack don’t!” Twilight pleaded. “Stay here.” “Dontcha fillies worry.” Applejack replied. “Ah can handle this.” Without further questions, Applejack left the room. Rainbow and Twilight sat in the middle of the room, trying to make sense of what just happened. It’s been about 15 minutes since Applejack left. Twilight was the first to speak. “What the heck was that?” Twilight asked. “I don’t-… wait!” She began. “What?” “The recorders! Are they still recording?” “Umm… Uhh…” Twilight began as she reached for her recorder. “Uh yeah! Yeah mine’s still running.” “Well rewind it to the part where the crash happened. I swear it sounded like an explosion.” It took a while to rewind back the 15 minutes of audio. Once there, Twilight clicked play. Silence followed after Twilight stopped talking. All of a sudden, they heard a deep loud growl over the recorder. Following that was the bang they heard earlier. Twilight dropped the recorder. “We… we didn’t even hear that!” Rainbow couldn’t speak she was stunned. Twilight rubbed her temples and paced around the room. “Ohhh Applejack should be here by now!” Where could she be?” “I don’t know but let’s just calm down and-…” She was interrupted by a bloodcurdling scream from outside the room. “Ahh!! Twilight! Rainbow! Heeelp!!!” “Applejack!” They both shouted and ran toward the door. They were stopped by a growl and the door slamming closed. Rainbow tried to open, but it was firmly held shut and wasn’t budging. “Let us out!” Twilight screamed. As Rainbow continued to try and pry the door open, an evil laugh sounded within the room behind them. Twilight had enough. She began to hyperventilate and was shaking uncontrollably. Rainbow turned to her and placed her hooves on her cheeks and looked in her eyes. “Twilight look at me, no look at me. I know you’re scared. I’m scared too. But you need to calm down and take control. I need you to do that; can you do that for me? Her breathing slowed as she nodded. The laughing again was heard. Rainbow turned with her rump facing the door. With all the strength she could muster, she kicked the door off its hinges. “Come on let’s go!” She shouted to Twilight who followed her outside the doorway. “Applejack! Applejack!!” They called. No answer. They ran down the hall to their base camp. They noticed that it was trashed. The monitors’ screens were shattered with the tables scattered upside down. The lights the set up were shattered and laying on their sides. Twilight’s heart rate began to quicken as she glanced near the corner. “R-Rainbow, look at this. Is that- is that blood?” Rainbow turned on her flashlight and shined it at the corner. In that corner was a pool of blood.Turning slightly to the left, it looked as if somepony was dragged through it as a trail was left behind. A few hoofs in the trail, was a camera. Applejack's camera Twilight started to breathe heavily again. “What the buck is going on?!” She screamed. Terrors Unknown Terrors Unknown (I apologize for the really long wait for this chapter. I had some ideas for other fics hovering around in my head that I needed to get out of the way. I had a bit of writer’s block also on how to continue on. Before, I was thinking of just deleting the story and start over but I had a good idea to start out and with some more writing experience, you guys are in for a ride!) Rainbow stood in horror at the sight before her. The base camp was trashed, the monitor screens shattered and now a pool of blood was right before her. Could it really be… Applejack’s blood? As Twilight crouched in the corner sobbing, Rainbow took a few hoofsteps forward, reaching for the blood-soaked camera by using the wall as leverage. Twilight looked up, “What…what are you… doing?” she asked between sobs. “I’m trying to reach for the camera. There might be something on it that can give us a clue about what happened to AJ.” Rainbow grunted as she finally took hold of the strap, careful not to touch any of the blood. With haste, she opened the small LCD screen and attempted and to turn it on and to her dismay, it was dead. “Buck! It’s dead.” She grunted with frustration. “Don’t you have any spare battery packs on you?” Twilight suggested. “No…” A thought flashed through her mind, “We left some backpacks here when all three of us went to investigate the Princess’s Quarters. Those had some extra battery packs in ‘em! See if they’re here!” The two shaken ponies began rummaging through their wrecked base camp, using their flashlights looking for any sign of said backpacks. After minutes of searching in almost near darkness, there were no signs of the packs. “Did you find any?” Rainbow asked. “No I can’t… wait a second. Rainbow help me with this!” Twilight half shouted as she thought she caught glimpse of the familiar fabric of one the backpacks. As she was asked, Rainbow helped Twilight turn over one of the broken tables. Sure enough, there was the pack. Twilight quickly snatched it and rapidly dumped its contents onto the stone floor. Pushing away some of the unwanted items away, in the middle, was one battery pack. “Oh thank Celestia!” Rainbow breathed as she quickly replaced the battery packs. Rainbow bit her bottom lip as she clicked the power button. She was relieved when she saw the little screen light up. When it was fully turned on, Rainbow pushed the rewind button to see what, and if, it captured anything. She rewound to the point where Applejack left the Princess’s Quarters. So far nothing was seen until the point where AJ was closing in on their base camp. “What in the hay? This must be where that crash came from. But what caused it?” As AJ was speaking, a loud growl was heard behind her. She quickly spun around and what was seen on the screen made Twilight and Rainbow Dash gasp. To the right were two eyes glaring deep red. It quickly darted to staircase in front of AJ where the blood now rests. Applejack must have not seen it for she slowly moved forward. “Is anypony there? Ah’m not gonna hurt y’all. Ah just wanna know why ya destroyed our base camp.” Applejack nearly jumped out of her hide as a door opening behind her caused her to spin around, revealing the face of a Royal Guard. She exhaled slowly when she found noticed it was one of the guards. “Y’all scared me half ta death!” “Sorry Miss. Princess Celestia sent me to check on you fillies to see if everything’s alright.” The guard replied. “Listen,” Applejack pleaded, “We have ta get out of here. There’s something here that we can’t explain. It ain’t safe!” The guard laughed and walked past her. “I don’t see anything wrong with this building. Besides I don’t believe in this mumbo jumbo stuff.” “Ah’m serious! This is somethin’ we never put into thought when…” Applejack was interrupted when she noticed the guard stop suddenly. A choking sound was heard as the guard slightly turned and brought his front hooves to his throat to signal he was choking. Or something was choking him. Suddenly, he was lifted of his haunches by a few hooves and slammed against the wall near them by an unseen force. With his back to the wall, the guard seemed to do everything, if anything, he could to free himself. As Applejack was just a few hooves away, a cut was seen slowly making its way across his neck, blood flowing freely down his neck and onto the stone floor. Whatever was holding him released its grip and the guard fell to the floor. On his back, blood began pouring from his mouth and his neck wound, making a gurgling sound as he struggled. Applejack’s breathing quickened and she ran as quickly as she could to his side. The guard struggled to breathe as the pool of blood became bigger with every passing second. She shoved her hooves on the guards neck and applied as much pressure to the wound as she could muster. This was a wound she couldn’t heal on her own. “AHH! TWILIGHT! RAINBOW!! HEEELP!!!" She yelled at the top of her lungs. “Come on sugar cube! Breathe! Breathe!!” Just then, the guard’s body began to slide slowly on the floor. Before Applejack could react, he was rapidly being dragged from the floor and into the stairway on the right about ten hooves in front of her. She quickly got up and began trotting and following the blood trail. She dropped the camera as it faced down the hallway. A few minutes later on the screen, Rainbow Dash and Twilight are seen running down the hallway and the tape ends right there. They let out a sigh of relief as they now know that the blood does not belong to Applejack. But one question dawned on them: where the hay is Applejack? Rainbow stood on all fours. “We need to find her.” “Are you crazy Rainbow? Did you just see whatever it was do to that guard?” She replied whimpering. Rainbow looked Twilight in the eyes, “Applejack is one of my closest friends. There is no way in hell that I’m gonna leave her out there! I’m the Element of Loyalty for Celestia’s sake! With or without you, I’m gonna find her.” She turned to follow the blood trail as Twilight shouted behind, “Urggh… wait! I’m coming.” She quickly trotted to Rainbow’s side before continuing on. They followed the trail of blood as it moved to the right into the stairwell. “Twilight, flashlight.” Rainbow said plainly. Fidgeting, Twilight handed her the flashlight from her friends’ belt with shaking hooves. Rainbow wrapped a wing around her. “Don’t worry Twi, we’re gonna find her.” Rainbow then turned on the flashlight and with Twilight by her side, entered the stairwell. To their surprise, there was no blood trail. Upon walking up the first flight of stairs however, blood trickles were seen again. They walked through to the second floor stairway door and were met by an odor that made them both gag. By further inspection with the flashlight, blood splatters decorated the floor and the walls. In the middle of the hall, was the body of the Royal Guard, resting in a bigger pool of blood than the one downstairs. Twilight turned her head and instantly threw up at the horrifying sight. After finishing, she fell down and began sobbing again. Rainbow fell to the ground and began hitting her hooves on her head. Where could Applejack be? Why the buck is this happening? This whole main castle building is huge. She could be anywhere by now. The terrors never seemed to end as an evil growl emanated throughout the second floor. Both fillies screamed. The same being a few seconds later began to laugh. It wasn’t just an ordinary laugh. It was a deep throated evil laugh that would forever be seared into anypony’s head. When Twilight and Rainbow looked up, they saw shadows moving all around across the hallway in front of them. Except for one stray one that seemed to stay locked in the middle. The body of the guard rose to its hind legs. Its right eye flicked open showing a deep red. Ever so slowly it began to creep towards them. Twilight, through watery eyes, looked around frantically around behind her. Above one of the doors it read Utility Closet. “Rainbow!” Twilight grabbed her friends’ shoulder and pointed toward the door. “The closet!” Without a second thought, they ran into the closet and locked the door behind them. Now in complete darkness, they breathed heavily, praying for the unknown creature outside to soon leave. “Buck, I can’t see a thing.” Rainbow whispered. “Twi do you have a flashlight? I dropped mine.” Twilight felt around her waist buckle and grabbed what felt to be a flashlight. Her senses were correct when she clicked the button near the top and light shown above them. She heard a noise rustling but thought it was Rainbow. “Rainbow was that you moving around?” “No I haven’t moved. Why?” Twilight didn’t answer. She moved the flashlight and flashed it behind Rainbow. What she saw she didn’t expect. Her face instantly flushed its natural lavender color and was replaced with a pale purple. Rainbow took this as a sign that something was behind her. Her eyes grew wide as she felt a heavy breathing behind her. Slowly she turned her head saw what looked like Applejack. Only this wasn’t AJ. This creature looked like a demon taking form of their friend. It quickly turned into a disfigured being and screamed in a deafening tone. Twilight and Rainbow screamed and used all their strength to kick the door down. They ran from the door and down the hall to the stair way. They didn’t care if anything was following them. But as long as they got away from it, they were satisfied. As they hit the last step, they turned at full gallop to the exit, running into a softer yet firm being and landed with an ‘oof’. More Than We Bargained ForRainbow Dash and Twilight’s heads began to spin as the two landed on the marble floor. They ran at full swing out of the stairway door into something firm about their size. Rainbow opened her eyes and the world seemed to be spinning at a rapid pace. It took a few seconds before her vision regained back to normal. ‘What was it we ran into?’ Rainbow thought. ‘It felt as if it was another pony…?’ Her vision came back when she looked up to see a familiar orange mare with a Stetson hat and three apples on her flank. Rainbow was about to jump over to her friend but after she remembered what she saw in the upstairs closet, she wasn’t sure if this was Applejack at all. She quickly swooped up still disoriented Twilight and took a few paces back standing in front of her. The orange being shook her head, stood up slowly and looked straight at them. Her eyes grew wide and a smile came across her face as she recognized who they were. “Twilight! Rainbow! Boy ‘m Ah glad ta see…” “Stay back!” Rainbow shouted. “Rainbow it’s me, yer buddy Applejack.” “How would I know? And why is there blood all over you?” Applejack stared at her hooves and followed the traces of blood splatters up to her chest. “Ah tried to save this guard… He was bleedin’ awful bad…” “How can I believe that? After what I’ve seen upstairs, I’m not sure I can believe anything anymore!” “Rainbow Dash it’s me!” Applejack shouted. Worry flooded her eyes; afraid of what her friend might do. “Rainbow, that’s really Applejack!” Twilight shouted from behind her. “How do I know you’re not just another one of them things pretending to be you like earlier?” “’Cause Ah know you Rainbow. You’re the greatest flyer in all of Equestria. You won the Greatest Young Flyer’s competition last year. You love the Wonderbolts and train everyday to hopefully become one of them one day. Ah’m yer best friend Rainbow…” A tear fell down her cheek. She felt nothing but heartbroken that her own friend doesn’t even believe that she’s Applejack. Rainbow’s muscles loosened up as she realized. She noticed a tear falling down her friend’s cheek. “Applejack I’m… I’m so sorry… I don’t know why I did that…” Applejack didn’t seem to care, for she ran straight to her friends and wrapped her forehooves around them in a tight embrace. “I’m sorry Applejack, I didn’t know it was you.” She sniffed. “It’s alright. You were just tryin’ to protect Twilight and you. Ah would’ve done the same thing.” Applejack reassured her. They held each other for a few more minutes before Applejack let go. She turned more serious as she began looking around them. “All’s too quiet ‘round here.” She said. Twilight noticed too. “Maybe it’s over?” She suggested. Applejack shook her head. “Naw. It’s way too quiet ‘specially if this place is this active. I think it’s far from over.” “Then we need to get out of here before anything else happens.” Rainbow said. AJ and Twilight nodded as they turned and ran for the front main doors. Applejack reached them first and turned the large handles with no luck. She took a breath before continuing. No matter how much force she exerted onto the handles, they wouldn’t open. “Ah can’t get ‘em open!” She grunted. “It feels like somethin’s holding ‘em steady!” All three turned around as they heard another evil demonic laughter emanate throughout the main hallway. “I’ve had enough of this crap!” Rainbow said as she pulled out her remaining voice recorder. She turned it on and began recording. “Whoever just laughed, we heard you. Are you a demon or a spirit?” She waited a few moments with no response heard with their own ears. “Time to play it back.” She rewound the recorder as Applejack and Twilight placed their ears near it as it played. “Whoever just laughed, we heard you. Are you a demon or a spirit?” A few second passed before heavy breathing was heard on the recorder and a low deep throat laugh. “Demon.” “Demon! It’s said demon!” Rainbow half shouted. “Rainbow…” Twilight was cut off. “I knew we were dealing with a demon! We need to get out of here before it comes after us!” “Rainbow?!” Twilight shouted. “What?” “Listen… do you hear that?” She asked as distant chanting was heard as they guessed near the Princess’s Quarters. Many more voices gathered as they became louder and more distinct. “That’s demonic chantin’. It definitely ain’t speakin’ our language. We’re definitely dealing with more than one demon here ladies.” Applejack stated. “Look over there.” Twilight said as she pointed to several dozen shadows moving through the hallway into other rooms. “Those are Shadow Ponies. I hope they don’t see us. Who knows what they'll do.” She added as she began to shake uncontrollably. “Girls, get in a circle.” Applejack ordered as she pulled a medium sized can from her vest pouch. She began pouring it around them. “AJ, what is that?” Rainbow asked nervously. “This is salt blessed by Reverend Cross. Since Granny Smith discovered th’ Zap apples, all sorts a’ creatures began showin up ‘round our farm. So they had salt blessed by th’ local Reverend ever since and poured it ‘round the farm’s perimeter to keep out unwanted and evil entities. It works, but it depends on how powerful they are.” Applejack explained as she finished her circle. “So a little salt circle’s gonna keep us safe?” Rainbow asked in disbelief. “Now it’s not. Which is why we need to recite Celestia’s Prayer to help protect us. Rainbow and Twilight nodded. They sat on their haunches and held each others’ hooves in a circle and began to recite the prayer: “By the power of Celestia Harmony will keep us safe Nothing evil will make us break For peace and harmony is what we seek Evil and chaos it will not peak With our hooves and thoughts joined together The evil within will surly weather" As they began to recite again, the castle walls started to shake. The louder they shouted the prayer, the more violent the shaking was. The chanting heard within the hallway started to become louder and more aggressive. Soon after, a wind was blowing through the hallway, tossing the salt within and circulating throughout the hallway. All three ponies were completely terrified but did not break. A loud bang was heard behind them. As they turned, they saw the main castle doors wide open. “This is our chance!” Twilight shouted over the noises. They nodded as they all stood to their hooves and darted for the doors. They expected the doors to shut once they were a few hooves away from them but they were proven wrong as a force seemed to shove them out. They were flung through the air and landed on the path at the bottom of the hill. They stood back on their hooves and turned to see a creature similar in shape of a pony but malformed and disfigured. Its red eyes glared into their eyes as if it was staring straight into their souls. It began to move rather quickly down the path toward them. “Run!” Applejack shouted, “Don’t look back!” Without second thoughts, the three turned around and darted down the rest of the hill. A loud ear-piercing scream echoed through the late moon filled night. As soon as they entered the downtown area, Applejack spoke again: “Don’t… stop runnin’. Keep goin’ ‘till… the train station.” She said through breaths. As they ran through the streets of Canterlot, Twilight noticed that the usual crowded streets were empty. Not a pony in sight. Even at this hour, the citizens of the royal town usually frolic through these streets, but not tonight. Something wasn’t right. She shook off the thoughts and kept focus on getting to the station. After a few minutes, they make it to the train station. Twilight runs to the ticket booth and is greeted by a rather bored looking stallion. “Good early morning. What can I help you with?” He says flatly. “Three tickets to Ponyville, quickly!” Twilight almost shouted, making the stallion jump back a little. “Uh okay…?” He says as he reaches for the newly printed train tickets. “Three tickets to Ponyville. That’ll be thirty bits.” Twilight reaches into her vest and throws all she had onto the counter. “Woah Miss, uh, it’s only thirty bits. You just handed me fifty.” “Keep the change.” She replied and grabbed the tickets. “Uh thank you Miss! The train should be arriving any second.” As the stallion said, the train arrived a few seconds later. Applejack turned and tipped her hat at him. She noticed he wore a questioning expression on his face as he exited the booth and trotted to them. “Little filly with the hat. What is that all over your face and hooves? It looks all red.” “It’s uh…” Applejack stammered. She was stuck. As the Element of Honesty, she knew she couldn’t tell a lie. “We ran into some punk little colts who decided to prank us with paint filled water balloons.” Rainbow interrupted, hoping it worked. “Huh. Well this town has been plagued by pranksters lately. I’m sorry I invaded your privacy Ma’am.” He apologized. “It’s alright. Y’all have a good night.” Applejack replied. “Thank you, you too ladies. Have a safe trip!” They waved goodbye as they boarded the train. Once inside, they walked to the last car and noticed it was secluded. “Ah’m gonna wash up. It’s gonna be a long trip so you girls make yourselves comfortable. Ah’ll be right back.” Applejack said as she left and walked into the washroom. Twilight and Rainbow slumped down into the seats and sighed heavily. “I can’t believe what just happened tonight.” Rainbow said through closed eyes. “Me neither. Rainbow you know we left all the equipment there right?” Twilight asked Rainbow nodded. “I don’t care. As long as we got out of there, I don’t care what happens to all that equipment. I don’t know about you Twilight but I’m never going to do this ghost hunting shit ever again for as long as I live. I’ve never been so scared in my life and I rarely ever get scared.” “Agreed.” Twilight said, resting her hooves on her eyes. About ten minutes later, the door to the restroom opened and Applejack sat next on the empty seat in front of Rainbow and Twilight. “It took forever, but Ah got cleaned up.” She stated. She turned her head and watched Canterlot disappear through the mountain pass. A few minutes passed before she spoke again. “Ah’m never doin’ this stuff again. Ah’m done.” Twilight and Rainbow just nod their heads in agreement. “So what y’all do when Ah left the Princess’s Quarters?” She asked. Twilight sat straight and looked out the window. “Well we just waited for you to come back. But until we heard somepony screaming our names, we ran out. Applejack sighed and closed her eyes. “That was me.” “What all happened?” Rainbow asked. She swallowed. “After that loud bang, Ah left the room to see what could’ve caused it. Ah ended up at base camp and saw that everythin’ was all destroyed. The monitors, the lights, everythin. Then Ah started an EVP recordin’ to see if Ah could ask whatever it was to tell me why it destroyed our equipment. Ah heard a growl behind me so Ah tried to see what it was but couldn’t find anythin’ abnormal. A few seconds later, the door behind me opened and one of the royal guards said he was ordered by the Princess to check up on us. Ah tried to tell him ‘bout all the stuff we were experiencing but he wouldn’t listen.” Tears began to roll down her cheeks. “Then all of a sudden he starts chokin’. He turns and it looked as if somethin’ or somepony was chokin’ him. Somethin’ lifts him up in th’ air and slams him against the wall. Ah take a few steps forward and then a cut appears slowly across his neck. He drops down an’ Ah tried all Ah could to make the bleedin’ stop but it just kept comin’. That’s when Ah shouted for y’all to come help. And Ah think that he whispered ‘help me’. After that, he just gets dragged into the stairway. I dropped everythin’ Ah had and went on after him.” “We saw all that on the video tape. It cuts out after it shows us running down the hallway.” Twilight said. Applejack nods as she wipes her eyes. “Ah climb the stairs onto the second floor and when Ah got through the door way, all Ah saw was… blood. Blood was everywhere. And in the middle was the body of the guard. Ah ran up to him and Ah knew by lookin’ at him he was long gone. But Ah looked into his eyes but there weren’t any eyes there. It was just black. Then Ah saw them flash red. Ah’ve never been as scared in all my days as Ah was right then. So Ah ran down the hall and tried to search for you two. Ah ended up on the first floor again near the base camp. Ah don’t know how Ah ended up there but when Ah turned to go back up the stairs, we ran into each other. And the rest is history.” As she finished, she began to sob uncontrollably. Twilight and Rainbow sat on each side of her to comfort their friend. Whatever happened tonight would forever be seared into their memory. *************** After twenty minutes, the crew fell asleep. They stayed up a long grueling night and rest was much needed. The first bump woke all three ponies. As Rainbow yawned, she looked at the clock. It read 3:25. The second bump about a minute later began to spread concern throughout the gang. “Uh this is the conductor speaking. We apologize for the bumps we’re experiencing a little turbulence but should be gone momentarily.” “At least it’s only temporary.” Twilight rolled her eyes, putting emphasis on the word ‘temporary’. The third bump was far more powerful than the other ones. This time it felt like the train leaned slightly off the tracks toward the cliff. This was concerning them due to the fact that a long 30 hoof drop was to their right. "This is the conductor again. We are experiencing some high winds and we recommend you buckle yourselves up. It’s going to be a-“ He was cut off as a gust of wind hit the side of the train and the front began tearing over the edge of the cliff. “Turn it around! No stop the engine! Stop the engine!!” But it was too late as the front of the train leaned too far and slipped off the edge, making its way down the 30 hoof drop dragging the rest of the train cars with it. “Rainbow! Twilight! Hold on!!” Applejack yelled as the train hit the bottom in a fiery explosion. ********************* In a state of shell shock, Rainbow slowly crawled out of the wreckage. As she began to come back to her senses, she started to feel a burning sensation of everything below her belly. She turned her head around and her eyes grew wide in horror as her lower body was engulfed in flames. Every patch of her coat was now gone, her tail nonexistent and the only thing burning now was her very flesh. The pain was almost too much for her to handle. But when she turned to her right, she noticed the burning corpse of her former friend: Applejack. She screamed in agony and pounded the ground with her only useful hooves. Tears flooded her face as she cursed the world, cursed Celestia for letting this terrible thing happen to her and her friends. Through her sobs, she heard lazy but heavy hoofsteps. She looked up and through the burning wreckage, she saw Twilight, standing on her rear legs looking straight at her. Her eyes glowed a dark crimson red. She opened her mouth and a loud high pitched screaming emanated from her. This wasn’t Twilight. Rainbow thought. She’s long gone. With her last final breath, Rainbow’s head dropped to the ground as she faded to darkness… A Sense Of RealityRainbow gasped heavily when she awakened. She was on the train. She looked to her left out the window and saw that the train was just on the outskirts of Canterlot. The sun was still in the sky, about an hour and a half before the sun begins to set. As her breathing slowed, she felt her heart beating rapidly in her chest. After remembering the last part of her dream, she began to look at her lower body, touching it to make sure she could feel the sense of her hooves. No flames. She sighed with relief. Was this all just a dream? No not a dream, a bucking nightmare. Rainbow thought. She stood up from the bed and opened the door. Outside sitting at a table was Twilight and Applejack laughing. Applejack turned her head and noticed Rainbow standing in the doorway. “Well look who’s finally awake!” She said. Twilight turned her head, “Hey there Miss sleepyhead! We’re almost to Canterlot. This investigation tonight at the Main Castle building is going to be so awesome! Oh yeah, you fell asleep on the seat about an hour after we left Ponyville Train Station and we didn’t want to wake you so we moved you to the bed.” “Uh yeah. Thanks Twi.” Rainbow said nervously as she walked slowly to the table. Twilight noticed Rainbow’s odd behavior. “Rainbow Dash are you okay? You look rather pale.” Rainbow shook her head to wake herself up. “Uh yeah. Sorry I just had a bad dream. Well more like a nightmare.” Twilight watched Rainbow as her eyes shifted all over the train car. “You wanna talk about it?” Rainbow shook her head and fidgeted with her mane. “No, I’d rather not.” “Oh okay.” She replied. “Well are you ready for tonight?” Rainbow chuckled nervously. “Heh, yeah. Yeah I guess so. END
An Opportunity Of A LifetimeThe Ponyville Paranormal Society One year ago on a crisp Autumn night, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Twilight decided to have a girl’s night out at Twilight’s library. After midnight, they agreed to watch a movie before turning down for the night. What happened next took them all by surprise. A crash was heard in the other room and whispers were heard. They thought it was only Spike but he was away in Canterlot with the Princess on royal business. So all three got up to investigate the mysterious crash and whispering. Once in the room, they noticed one of the bookshelves were off the wall flat on the ground. Books scattered everywhere. Twilight turned her head and near the window she saw a dark shadow walk and disappear. Twilight screamed. “Did you girls see that?!” She turned around to see both AJ and Rainbow Dash completely pale as they too saw the same thing. From that day on, the three young mares founded the ‘Ponyville Paranormal Society’ in hopes to gather evidence that they once experienced and help other ponies who too experience the paranormal. **************************************************************************** “Hey Twilight I got a good one for us. You’re gonna love this.” Rainbow Dash said excitedly. “I was going through our fan investigation letters and it seems we’re gathering a lot of attention. The Princesses themselves have called to ask us to investigate the main castle building!” Twilight and Applejack looked over their desks at each other with wide eyes and smiles. “Woah are serious?” Twilight asked. “Hay yeah I’m serious! She said she could have the whole area blocked off for us so there’s no audio or video contamination. But we would have to do it tonight due to the Grand Galloping Gala coming up. “Why I say lets get’er done!” Applejack said. The team then began to gather all their equipment for tonight’s investigation. This one was going to be the biggest place they’ve ever investigated so the need pack extra static night vision cameras and video tapes was essential. They loaded up the equipment in a cab and headed for the train station. Once there, and after signing a few autographs from a few fans, they boarded the train to Canterlot. Twilight turned on the camera she was carrying to document the ride for their fans. “We just got done talking to a few fans near the station and they said they enjoy our showings at the Ponyville Theater.” Rainbow Dash said to the camera. “In case anypony doesn’t know, after every big investigation we do, we show the investigation to the fans. And apparently it’s been a big hit. “Exactly.” Applejack added. “But that doesn’t mean we’re gonna get carried away with all th’ popularity an all. Riiight RD?” “Yeah, yeah I got it.” Rainbow rolled her eyes. Twilight giggled. “Alright I’m gonna turn this off to save the battery.” A few seconds later and the camera turned off. “Can you believe the Princess herself asked us to investigate the main castle building? This is gonna be crazy!” Rainbow exclaimed. “I know!” Twilight replied. “And we’ll be able to see parts of the castle even I haven’t seen yet.” “Ah sure can’t wait. This’ll be the toughest, yet best investigation we’ll do yet.” “Agreed.” Rainbow and Twilight replied in unison. ****************************************************************************************** In a few hours, the train arrived in Canterlot. Outside the station awaited a cab to bring the team to the main castle building. They gathered their equipment bags and met outside with the cab. After a few minutes, they arrived at the main castle building. They again gathered the equipment and waited. “Rainbow what does the paper say?” Twilight asked. “It says we should wait out here until one of the guards comes out and escorts us inside to the Princess.” She replied. “Sounds easy ‘nough.” Added Applejack. Just then a guard appeared. “You the P.P.S.? “Yes sir.” Twilight replied. “Follow me.” They picked up the equipment bags and followed the guard up the path to the main door. Once inside, they were greeted by the Princess. “Thank you three for coming on such short notice.” Princess Celestia said. “Not to worry Princess, we’re always happy to help.” Twilight beamed. “Shall I show you where the activity happens?” She continued. They all nodded. “Okay, right this way.” Celestia lead them through the long hallway and brought them into a room what looked like a large eating area. “In here a lot of activity has been reported. Silverware has been told to float without any aura around it. And none of the ponies that work in this area are Unicorns. Other reports have been shadows and voices. One day one of the workers unlocked the doors and found a few table turned over and the chairs scattered about. Mind you the doors were locked so there was no way anypony was able to get in.” “Applejack put an ‘X’ in that corner so later on during the investigation we can set up one of the static night vision cameras. As she was told, she marked the corner with a black ‘X’. “The next room is the most active. Follow me please.” Celestia said. She led them to the next room to which confused the team. It looked as if this was the Princess’s private quarters. “Now this room, as you may have guessed, is my private quarters and has the most activity. There are the usual voices and shadows, but during the night sometimes I awake to a strange sound and when I look up, there’s this ball of light that goes across the room and disappears into the wall. Doors also open and shut on their own. “Do you ever find out what the voices are saying?” Twilight asked taking notes. “I never have. I’ve come close to try to understand what they say but can’t make out the words.” “Hmm.” Twilight wrote down more notes. “Has anything happened very recently?” “Ohhh yes there has. Last night I woke up to my bed shaking erratically and what sounded like a dark laugh. I also smelled what I thought was something that smelt like sulfur. I almost never feel scared but this scared me so much I ran to Luna’s quarters and stayed there the rest of the night. I’m sorry but I’m desperate. I need answers to what this is and what it wants.” “Don’t worry Princess. We’ll find out what it is. You have our word.” Rainbow said proudly. “Thank you girls, I knew I could count on you.” Celestia gave a weak smile. “Is that all that goes on ‘round here?” Applejack finally spoke up. “Well between here and the dining hall is where most of the activity happens. Everywhere else gets a fair amount of activity. The whole place is yours to investigate.” “Alright, sounds good Princess. Thanks again for letting us investigate.” “It’s my pleasure Twilight. I’ll be in Luna’s quarters for tonight on the other end of the castle so you three should be good.” “Sounds good! Let’s go girls.” Rainbow said. We got a little bit of daylight left so let’s get everything set up. They turned around and walked to get their equipment bags. They took out a long extension cord and ran it through the main hallway. Rainbow took the static night vision camera and went into Celestia’s quarters. She took the stand and set it up. Then she placed the camera on its hook and turned it on. “This shit’s gonna be awesome! We’ll definitely catch something for sure!” When she went to plug in the camera, she was zapped by the outlet. “Ow shit! Dammit! Applejack and Twilight ran into the room. “Is everything okay? What happened?” Twilight asked frantically. Rainbow sucked on her sore hoof. “The bucking outlet zapped me!” Applejack chuckled. “And what’s so funny?” Rainbow demanded. “That happened the last investigation, you zappin yourself on an outlet.” She continued. “For buck’s sake, how many times do I have to say it? That one was an accident. This time I tried to be careful. “Girls let’s not fight again.” Twilight pleaded. “Everything’s all set up out there. What about in here?” “Yeah just need a voice recorder in here to see if we catch any voices.” Rainbow replied. “Here I have an extra.” Applejack replied, putting the recorder on the night shelf across the room. “From what the Princess was describing, Ah think we should be careful this time around. We don’t wanna be messin with anything that can cause any harm. “I agree. I don't know about anypony else, but the Princess seemed a little shaken up and didn't want to be around here. So let's keep our eyes open and be careful okay?" Applejack and Rainbow nodded. "Well okay then I guess we’re ready. Lights out.” Twilight said. They went through the entire main building and turned off all lights. They met with each other near the entrance. “Now let’s get this investigation going!” Rainbow Dash boasted.
It BeginsTwilight, Rainbow, and Applejack put on vests that will carry the extra cameras, video tapes, and recorders that they’ll need during the investigation. They gathered around their ‘base camp’ Twilight and Applejack set up earlier with lights and monitors. “Alright AJ what do we have?” Rainbow asked. “We got eight cameras set up with four cameras’ feedback on each monitor. We have one camera coverin’ this hallway. Two others are in the dinin room area; one in the corner gettin coverage of the whole room and another set up facing a few tables since the Princess told us that reports of silver ware an chairs being lifted on their own. Only one camera’s upstairs and that’s just viewing the hallway since not much activity has been reported there. Last but not least, the Princess’s room is loaded with four cameras. One’s facin her bed because of her report that her bed was shakin like crazy from last night. Two are pointed at each door, one at the entrance door and the other at the closet since she’s heard doors close on their own as well. And the last one’s on top of the bookshelf giving a full view of the whole room.” Applejack pointed at each camera angle on the monitor as she explained.” “Okay it looks like we’re good to start.” Twilight began. “Applejack you stay here and keep watch on the monitors and report to us if you see anything on them. After about an hour we’ll switch shifts and Applejack will be with me. After that if nothing’s seen on the cameras, we can all join together. And let’s be careful. We don’t know if we’re dealing with just spirits or something evil. Sound like a plan?” “You betcha’” Applejack replied. As Rainbow’s camera has been running the whole time, Twilight finally turned hers on. They grabbed walkee talkees and made their way down the hallway. “Alright Rainbow, let’s start in the dining room.” Twilight said. “Got it.” She replied. “See ya in an hour AJ!” “You two be careful.” Applejack cautioned them. “We got it covered.” Rainbow boasted. It’s been over a year since their first encounter with the paranormal. She didn’t know why, but Applejack had an uneasy feeling in her like something bad was going to happen tonight; almost like a sixth sense. She shook her head and stuck to the thought she was just nervous being all alone in the huge castle that was supposedly haunted. Never the less, the feeling never seemed to have an end as time drew on. ***************** Before Twilight and Rainbow entered the dining room, Twilight turned to face Rainbow’s camera. “Now to anypony who’s new at watching our investigations, you’re probably thinking we can see fine. The thing is, well we can’t. It’s completely pitch black in here. The only way we’re able to see is through the small screens on these night vision cameras. Go ahead and show them Rainbow.” Twilight said as they would soon be showing this investigation to friends at their local theater. Rainbow reached to turn off the night vision. “You see anything? Well you should only see black because that’s what we’re seeing without the night vision.” She quickly turned it back on. They both turned the corner and entered the dining room. They took a moment to look around. Even with Princess Luna’s moon out bright, it seemed to be rather dark in the room. Especially in the corner near the kitchen. “Wow Rainbow you feel that?” Twilight whispered. “Feel what?” she replied, slowly scanning around the room. “I don’t know it just feels like something’s watching us.” Twilight answered, staring at the dark corner where she believed it’s originated. “Let’s do an EVP session then.” Rainbow suggested. “Alright.” Twilight began. “Let’s use yours first. I’ll use mine in the Princess’s quarters.” Rainbow nodded and reached into a pocket in her vest and pulled out her recorder. She clicked the record button. “Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle EVP session, dining room.” “Is there anypony in this room that would like to speak with us?” Twilight said louder. She waited a few seconds before speaking again, “We hear that somepony’s lifting chairs and silver ware scaring some of the workers here, is that you doing so?” About 10 seconds after asking her last question, Rainbow heard what sounded like a faint exhale. “Did you hear that?” She asked. “Yeah I heard. What was that?” “I don’t know but let’s find out.” Rainbow rewound the recorder and played the last question Twilight asked. “We hear that somepony’s lifting chairs and silver ware scaring some of the workers here, is that you doing so?.......Yesss.” Twilight’s eyes widened after hearing it. “That sounded like a stallion!” “That’s an intelligent response!” Rainbow added. “C’mon, let’s see if we can get it to answer again.” “Was that you who just answered us?” Rainbow asked. “If it was you can you give us a sign that it was?” After her question there was a loud crash in the kitchen that made both mares jump. *********************** Applejack has been sitting at the monitors for the past half hour. Only 30 more minutes and Ah can soon get in on this investigation. She thought. She turned to look at camera one and saw what appeared to be something thrown in the kitchen near the back. “What they hay…” She said aloud as she reached for her walkee talkee. ************************ “What the buck was that?!” Rainbow half shouted. “I don’t know.” Twilight replied, breathing heavily. “It sounded like pots and pans being thrown.” The silence broke as Applejack’s voice entered through the radio, “Uh you gals doin’ alright?” She asked. “Yeah we’re fine. We just got the shit scared out of us but we’re good.” Rainbow replied sarcastically. “Ah’m not foolin ‘round ladies but just a few moments ago, Ah saw an object near the kitchen on camera #1 just fly across the countertop. Ah heard the crash from back here.” “We definitely heard it but didn’t see what it was.” Twilight added. “It sounded like a pan or something but we’re not exactly sure that’s what it was.” Rainbow questioned. “Go check it out and see if it could be somthin’ else. AJ out.” “Copy that.” Twilight said. Rainbow and Twilight slowly made their way to the rear of the room near the kitchen. As they entered the kitchen, Rainbow turned her flashlight on and scanned the small area, noticing many pans were laying on the floor. “Well it definitely was pots and pans being flown around. But how did it happen?” “I have an idea.” Twilight said as she left the kitchen. Rainbow followed. She walked to the center of the room and moved a few tables out of the way. “Hand me your flashlight.” Rainbow did as she was told and watched as Twilight worked. She began to unscrew the back a little and tapped the back. “What exactly is it that you’re doing Twi?” Rainbow asked a little confused. “I’ve been experimenting on different methods and discovered this one while interacting with the events going on at my home. I unscrew the back of this flashlight a tad and all that it needs to be turned on is to tap the back.” She replied while setting the light on the floor. “Hmm. It sounds like a good idea but wouldn’t vibrations be able to turn it on as well?” “Nope.” Twilight replied as she tapped the area around the flashlight. To prove her point further she jump and slammed her hooves near it, which didn’t turn it on. “Well that’s pretty effective.” Rainbow said surprised. “Now all we gotta do now is see if it’ll interact.” Rainbow looked at her recorder and set it down in front of the flashlight. “You’ve been showing us well that you’re here but can you do one more thing for us? Can you tap the back of that flashlight and make it turn on?” A few seconds later, the light turned on. “Works every time.” Twilight said. “Thank you. Now can you turn it off for us?” As expected, it turned off. Rainbow couldn’t help but smile. “This is awesome! Already 50 minutes into the investigation and we’re already getting plenty of evidence.” “Rainbow look.” Twilight quickly said as she pointed toward the flashlight which was now being rolled in circles. The two couldn’t help but watch as it stood up straight as if a magnet was underneath the floor boards. After about a good 5-10 seconds, it plopped flat and rolled to a stop. “Are you still here?” Rainbow asked. After 5 minutes with no answer, the two picked up the flashlight and recorder. Twilight looked at her watch on her vest. “Hey it’s been an hour. We should go back and switch you and Applejack out.” “Sounds good to me.” Rainbow replied. They made their way back to base camp to find Applejack’s eyes glued to the monitors. “Hey AJ!” Rainbow said. “It’s been an hour. Time for us to switch out.” When Applejack turned to face them, her face looked to be filled with amazement. “You gals are not gonna believe this! When you two left the dinin room, camera #2 pointed at the one table near the back caught one of the silver ware items float in the air and tossed against the wall. And a few seconds later one of the chairs slid back a few hoofs.” “Wow we didn’t even hear it. Are you sure?” Twilight asked. “Oh yes Ah’m sure.” She stated. “Lemme show y’all.” She rewound camera #2’s footage and showed them. Twilight gasped while Rainbow said, “That’s beeeasst!” “Ah don’t know ‘bout you Twilight but Ah wanna go to that dining room and investigate a little bit. Especially in that kitchen.” “I agree. I want to see if whatever it was is still back in there.” Twilight replied. “And once we’re done, all three of us are going to the Princess’s quarters. I know you wouldn’t want to miss that one Rainbow. “You bet your sexy flank I wanna investigate that room!” Rainbow said. Applejack laughed. “C’mon Twi let’s get goin’. And if you keep blushin’ like that, you’ll be able to lighten up a whole room.” She teased. While they made their way to the dining room, Twilight got lost in her thoughts. Rainbow always teased about things like that but this time it didn’t sound like she was teasing, it sounded like… She interrupted her thoughts and shook her head. Come on Twilight, keep your head in the game. Applejack turned her head slightly and noticed Twilight shaking her head. “You alright sugarcube?” “Hmm? Oh yeah I’m fine. I just got lost in thought.” She replied. “Oh okay. Well we’re here.” They turned into the dining area and consciously made their way to the back to the kitchen. Before entering the kitchen, they walked to the table where the chair slid back and silver ware thrown against the wall. Applejack picked up the spoon as Twilight moved the chair back to its original position. They then walked to the kitchen. As they entered, Applejack set the spoon in the sink and took a look around. She was surprised. “Mighty small for such a big dinin’ area.” “I agree.” Twilight said. “Do y’all have the thermal camera with you?” Applejack asked. “Thermal cam-…. Oh yeah I have it right here.” Twilight replied reaching in her back pack and handed it to Applejack “Thank ya Twi.” She said. “ Ah just wanna do a quick sweep of this area.” For a few minutes, Applejack walked throughout the whole dining area looking for any unusual activity. Before long, she gave up. “Ah got nothing on here. Anyways let’s get things started in here.” They walked into the middle of the kitchen and sat down on their haunches. Applejack took her recorder out and turned it on. “AJ and Twilight EVP session dinin’ room kitchen.” She waited a few seconds before continuing. “Now is there anypony in this room right now with us? Can you give us a sign that y’all here?” About 30 seconds passed before she felt a tug on her ponytail. “Uh AJ?” It sounded like Rainbow. “Darn it Rainbow you’re s’pposed to be watchin’ the moni-…” She turned around and saw that nopony was there. “Um Applejack, Rainbow is at base camp.” Twilight said. “But Ah just heard her right behind me and tug on my ponytail!” She reached for her walkee talkee. “AJ to Rainbow.” “RD responding. You alright in there?” “Yeah we’re doin’ might fine. Listen Rainbow; were you in here a few seconds ago?” “Uh no I’ve been here the whole time why you ask?” “Don’t y’all lie to me now, Ah’m serious.” Applejack replied. “No I swear I’ve been here the whole time. Why what happened?” “Nothin’ Ah’ll explain later. AJ out.” Applejack turned to Twilight. “Didn’t y’all here anypony say anything?” “No not at all. I saw your ponytail move but I figured that was you doing it.” Twilight answered. Applejack grunted, disappointed that she didn’t hear it too. “Well let’s continue.” “Was that you who tugged on Applejack’s ponytail? Can you tell us your name?” Twilight asked aloud. A few seconds later they heard a faint voice. “Did y’all here that?” AJ asked. “Play the recorder back and see if it was caught on there.” Applejack pressed the rewind button and played back the previous question. “Was that you who tugged on Applejack’s ponytail? Can you tell us your name?....... Help me!” Applejack and Twilight’s eyes widened. “You gotta be shittin’ me! Did this thing just scream ‘help me’??” Applejack said surprised. “I don’t know but the hairs all over my body are standing straight up. Look at this.” Twilight said while Applejack to her flashlight and shined it around Twilight’s body. “Wow you weren’t kiddin’.” She replied. “Woah, woah! It just got all cold all a’ sudden. You feel that?” “Oh yeah I feel that! What the hay’s going on?” Just then, they heard Rainbow over the radio, “Uh AJ, Twi come in.” “Twilight here.” “Uh yeah um can you two come back here ASAP?” Twilight turned to Applejack. “She sounds kind of shaky.” Then she talked into the radio, “Rainbow you sound kind of scared, and is everything okay over there?” “Can you two just run over here? Please?” She sounded desperate. “Yeah sure we’re on our way.” She replied. She stood up then turned to Applejack, “Something’s got to be wrong. Rainbow’s never acted like that on an investigation before. Grab the recorder and flashlight.” “On it.” Applejack answered. After they picked up all their gear, they quickly trotted back to base camp to find a shaking Rainbow Dash sitting in the corner under the tables. Twilight ran towards her and placed her hooves on her shoulders, snapping her back to reality. “Rainbow it’s me, Twilight. It’s alright we’re here now.” She held her close. Throughout the whole time she’s known Rainbow Dash, she’s never seen her so shaken up. She looked to be more scared than that time at the young flier’s competition. Rainbow looked straight into Twilight’s purple eyes. Twilight noticed tears were welding up inside her friends’ eyes. “Rainbow, what happened?” Twilight asked. She wiped her eyes and took a deep breath. “I was just sitting here watching the monitors and after Applejack asked if I tugged on her ponytail, I felt somepony breathing heavily on the back of my neck. I turned around and saw nothing. At first I thought it was my imagination but it just kept doing it. Then after that I heard this laugh. But this wasn’t a ‘haha’ type of laugh, no this was like a deep evilish laugh. I swear to Celestia I’ve never been that creeped out ever.” Twilight and Applejack just looked at each other. They didn’t know what to do to help their friend. So they just stood there while Rainbow tried to calm down. Applejack was the first to break the silence. “Ah think it’s time we took a break.” They all nodded in agreement. ******************************** After about a 15 minute break, Rainbow seemed to be back to her normal self. Within that time, they each ate a small snack they packed along and drank some water. Feeling satisfied with the short rest they had, Twilight felt it was time to start in Celestia’s quarters. “You girls ready for this?” Twilight asked. “You got it!” Rainbow replied, feeling much better. Applejack just nodded and gave a weak smile. That bad feeling was coming back on her again. She shook it off as they made their way down the hall. The three opened the door to Celestia’s quarters and while Twilight and Applejack stepped inside to the middle, Rainbow took the thermal camera and done a quick sweep around the room. It wasn’t before long she caught something. “Uh Twi, AJ? Come here real quick I think I caught something on here.” The two quickly made their way to her side. “What did you catch?” Twilight questioned. She pointed to the bed. “You see that? It looks like there is a pit as if somepony’s sitting on it. And the temperature on that spot is low. Go touch it AJ.” She swallowed and nervously made her way to the bed. She placed a hoof in the pit. “Your right. It’s mighty cold.” Twilight too walked over to see for herself and was surprised as well. “Oh wow you’re right!” Suddenly the bed started to shake erratically. Taking a few steps back, the two positioned their cameras on it. After a few seconds it stopped. They took a deep breath and never thought they were happy to hear silence. But that was short lived as a low evil sounding disembodied voice was clearly heard within the room. “You’re not supposed to be here!” The three looked at each other wide eyes. They couldn’t believe what they just heard. Thinking that it would speak again, Rainbow reached for her voice recorder. Turning it on, she asked: “Are we not supposed to be here? Is that it, are we intruding here?” Silence. Seconds turned to minutes as Rainbow began to get frustrated. She couldn’t wait any longer. “Are you a coward? Is that why you don’t wanna say something is because you’re weak? Show yourself you bucking loser!” She shouted. “Rainbow!” Twilight called. “We said no confrontations like this. We don’t know what we’re dealing with.” Rainbow just sat there staring at Twilight about to speak when all of a sudden a loud bang that was heard throughout the building. All three screamed. “What the buck was that?!” Rainbow shouted. “Ah don’t know.” Applejack answered. “Twi, hand me that camera. Ah’m gonna see what it was.” “No Applejack don’t!” Twilight pleaded. “Stay here.” “Dontcha fillies worry.” Applejack replied. “Ah can handle this.” Without further questions, Applejack left the room. Rainbow and Twilight sat in the middle of the room, trying to make sense of what just happened. It’s been about 15 minutes since Applejack left. Twilight was the first to speak. “What the heck was that?” Twilight asked. “I don’t-… wait!” She began. “What?” “The recorders! Are they still recording?” “Umm… Uhh…” Twilight began as she reached for her recorder. “Uh yeah! Yeah mine’s still running.” “Well rewind it to the part where the crash happened. I swear it sounded like an explosion.” It took a while to rewind back the 15 minutes of audio. Once there, Twilight clicked play. Silence followed after Twilight stopped talking. All of a sudden, they heard a deep loud growl over the recorder. Following that was the bang they heard earlier. Twilight dropped the recorder. “We… we didn’t even hear that!” Rainbow couldn’t speak she was stunned. Twilight rubbed her temples and paced around the room. “Ohhh Applejack should be here by now!” Where could she be?” “I don’t know but let’s just calm down and-…” She was interrupted by a bloodcurdling scream from outside the room. “Ahh!! Twilight! Rainbow! Heeelp!!!” “Applejack!” They both shouted and ran toward the door. They were stopped by a growl and the door slamming closed. Rainbow tried to open, but it was firmly held shut and wasn’t budging. “Let us out!” Twilight screamed. As Rainbow continued to try and pry the door open, an evil laugh sounded within the room behind them. Twilight had enough. She began to hyperventilate and was shaking uncontrollably. Rainbow turned to her and placed her hooves on her cheeks and looked in her eyes. “Twilight look at me, no look at me. I know you’re scared. I’m scared too. But you need to calm down and take control. I need you to do that; can you do that for me? Her breathing slowed as she nodded. The laughing again was heard. Rainbow turned with her rump facing the door. With all the strength she could muster, she kicked the door off its hinges. “Come on let’s go!” She shouted to Twilight who followed her outside the doorway. “Applejack! Applejack!!” They called. No answer. They ran down the hall to their base camp. They noticed that it was trashed. The monitors’ screens were shattered with the tables scattered upside down. The lights the set up were shattered and laying on their sides. Twilight’s heart rate began to quicken as she glanced near the corner. “R-Rainbow, look at this. Is that- is that blood?” Rainbow turned on her flashlight and shined it at the corner. In that corner was a pool of blood.Turning slightly to the left, it looked as if somepony was dragged through it as a trail was left behind. A few hoofs in the trail, was a camera. Applejack's camera Twilight started to breathe heavily again. “What the buck is going on?!” She screamed.
Terrors Unknown Terrors Unknown (I apologize for the really long wait for this chapter. I had some ideas for other fics hovering around in my head that I needed to get out of the way. I had a bit of writer’s block also on how to continue on. Before, I was thinking of just deleting the story and start over but I had a good idea to start out and with some more writing experience, you guys are in for a ride!) Rainbow stood in horror at the sight before her. The base camp was trashed, the monitor screens shattered and now a pool of blood was right before her. Could it really be… Applejack’s blood? As Twilight crouched in the corner sobbing, Rainbow took a few hoofsteps forward, reaching for the blood-soaked camera by using the wall as leverage. Twilight looked up, “What…what are you… doing?” she asked between sobs. “I’m trying to reach for the camera. There might be something on it that can give us a clue about what happened to AJ.” Rainbow grunted as she finally took hold of the strap, careful not to touch any of the blood. With haste, she opened the small LCD screen and attempted and to turn it on and to her dismay, it was dead. “Buck! It’s dead.” She grunted with frustration. “Don’t you have any spare battery packs on you?” Twilight suggested. “No…” A thought flashed through her mind, “We left some backpacks here when all three of us went to investigate the Princess’s Quarters. Those had some extra battery packs in ‘em! See if they’re here!” The two shaken ponies began rummaging through their wrecked base camp, using their flashlights looking for any sign of said backpacks. After minutes of searching in almost near darkness, there were no signs of the packs. “Did you find any?” Rainbow asked. “No I can’t… wait a second. Rainbow help me with this!” Twilight half shouted as she thought she caught glimpse of the familiar fabric of one the backpacks. As she was asked, Rainbow helped Twilight turn over one of the broken tables. Sure enough, there was the pack. Twilight quickly snatched it and rapidly dumped its contents onto the stone floor. Pushing away some of the unwanted items away, in the middle, was one battery pack. “Oh thank Celestia!” Rainbow breathed as she quickly replaced the battery packs. Rainbow bit her bottom lip as she clicked the power button. She was relieved when she saw the little screen light up. When it was fully turned on, Rainbow pushed the rewind button to see what, and if, it captured anything. She rewound to the point where Applejack left the Princess’s Quarters. So far nothing was seen until the point where AJ was closing in on their base camp. “What in the hay? This must be where that crash came from. But what caused it?” As AJ was speaking, a loud growl was heard behind her. She quickly spun around and what was seen on the screen made Twilight and Rainbow Dash gasp. To the right were two eyes glaring deep red. It quickly darted to staircase in front of AJ where the blood now rests. Applejack must have not seen it for she slowly moved forward. “Is anypony there? Ah’m not gonna hurt y’all. Ah just wanna know why ya destroyed our base camp.” Applejack nearly jumped out of her hide as a door opening behind her caused her to spin around, revealing the face of a Royal Guard. She exhaled slowly when she found noticed it was one of the guards. “Y’all scared me half ta death!” “Sorry Miss. Princess Celestia sent me to check on you fillies to see if everything’s alright.” The guard replied. “Listen,” Applejack pleaded, “We have ta get out of here. There’s something here that we can’t explain. It ain’t safe!” The guard laughed and walked past her. “I don’t see anything wrong with this building. Besides I don’t believe in this mumbo jumbo stuff.” “Ah’m serious! This is somethin’ we never put into thought when…” Applejack was interrupted when she noticed the guard stop suddenly. A choking sound was heard as the guard slightly turned and brought his front hooves to his throat to signal he was choking. Or something was choking him. Suddenly, he was lifted of his haunches by a few hooves and slammed against the wall near them by an unseen force. With his back to the wall, the guard seemed to do everything, if anything, he could to free himself. As Applejack was just a few hooves away, a cut was seen slowly making its way across his neck, blood flowing freely down his neck and onto the stone floor. Whatever was holding him released its grip and the guard fell to the floor. On his back, blood began pouring from his mouth and his neck wound, making a gurgling sound as he struggled. Applejack’s breathing quickened and she ran as quickly as she could to his side. The guard struggled to breathe as the pool of blood became bigger with every passing second. She shoved her hooves on the guards neck and applied as much pressure to the wound as she could muster. This was a wound she couldn’t heal on her own. “AHH! TWILIGHT! RAINBOW!! HEEELP!!!" She yelled at the top of her lungs. “Come on sugar cube! Breathe! Breathe!!” Just then, the guard’s body began to slide slowly on the floor. Before Applejack could react, he was rapidly being dragged from the floor and into the stairway on the right about ten hooves in front of her. She quickly got up and began trotting and following the blood trail. She dropped the camera as it faced down the hallway. A few minutes later on the screen, Rainbow Dash and Twilight are seen running down the hallway and the tape ends right there. They let out a sigh of relief as they now know that the blood does not belong to Applejack. But one question dawned on them: where the hay is Applejack? Rainbow stood on all fours. “We need to find her.” “Are you crazy Rainbow? Did you just see whatever it was do to that guard?” She replied whimpering. Rainbow looked Twilight in the eyes, “Applejack is one of my closest friends. There is no way in hell that I’m gonna leave her out there! I’m the Element of Loyalty for Celestia’s sake! With or without you, I’m gonna find her.” She turned to follow the blood trail as Twilight shouted behind, “Urggh… wait! I’m coming.” She quickly trotted to Rainbow’s side before continuing on. They followed the trail of blood as it moved to the right into the stairwell. “Twilight, flashlight.” Rainbow said plainly. Fidgeting, Twilight handed her the flashlight from her friends’ belt with shaking hooves. Rainbow wrapped a wing around her. “Don’t worry Twi, we’re gonna find her.” Rainbow then turned on the flashlight and with Twilight by her side, entered the stairwell. To their surprise, there was no blood trail. Upon walking up the first flight of stairs however, blood trickles were seen again. They walked through to the second floor stairway door and were met by an odor that made them both gag. By further inspection with the flashlight, blood splatters decorated the floor and the walls. In the middle of the hall, was the body of the Royal Guard, resting in a bigger pool of blood than the one downstairs. Twilight turned her head and instantly threw up at the horrifying sight. After finishing, she fell down and began sobbing again. Rainbow fell to the ground and began hitting her hooves on her head. Where could Applejack be? Why the buck is this happening? This whole main castle building is huge. She could be anywhere by now. The terrors never seemed to end as an evil growl emanated throughout the second floor. Both fillies screamed. The same being a few seconds later began to laugh. It wasn’t just an ordinary laugh. It was a deep throated evil laugh that would forever be seared into anypony’s head. When Twilight and Rainbow looked up, they saw shadows moving all around across the hallway in front of them. Except for one stray one that seemed to stay locked in the middle. The body of the guard rose to its hind legs. Its right eye flicked open showing a deep red. Ever so slowly it began to creep towards them. Twilight, through watery eyes, looked around frantically around behind her. Above one of the doors it read Utility Closet. “Rainbow!” Twilight grabbed her friends’ shoulder and pointed toward the door. “The closet!” Without a second thought, they ran into the closet and locked the door behind them. Now in complete darkness, they breathed heavily, praying for the unknown creature outside to soon leave. “Buck, I can’t see a thing.” Rainbow whispered. “Twi do you have a flashlight? I dropped mine.” Twilight felt around her waist buckle and grabbed what felt to be a flashlight. Her senses were correct when she clicked the button near the top and light shown above them. She heard a noise rustling but thought it was Rainbow. “Rainbow was that you moving around?” “No I haven’t moved. Why?” Twilight didn’t answer. She moved the flashlight and flashed it behind Rainbow. What she saw she didn’t expect. Her face instantly flushed its natural lavender color and was replaced with a pale purple. Rainbow took this as a sign that something was behind her. Her eyes grew wide as she felt a heavy breathing behind her. Slowly she turned her head saw what looked like Applejack. Only this wasn’t AJ. This creature looked like a demon taking form of their friend. It quickly turned into a disfigured being and screamed in a deafening tone. Twilight and Rainbow screamed and used all their strength to kick the door down. They ran from the door and down the hall to the stair way. They didn’t care if anything was following them. But as long as they got away from it, they were satisfied. As they hit the last step, they turned at full gallop to the exit, running into a softer yet firm being and landed with an ‘oof’.
More Than We Bargained ForRainbow Dash and Twilight’s heads began to spin as the two landed on the marble floor. They ran at full swing out of the stairway door into something firm about their size. Rainbow opened her eyes and the world seemed to be spinning at a rapid pace. It took a few seconds before her vision regained back to normal. ‘What was it we ran into?’ Rainbow thought. ‘It felt as if it was another pony…?’ Her vision came back when she looked up to see a familiar orange mare with a Stetson hat and three apples on her flank. Rainbow was about to jump over to her friend but after she remembered what she saw in the upstairs closet, she wasn’t sure if this was Applejack at all. She quickly swooped up still disoriented Twilight and took a few paces back standing in front of her. The orange being shook her head, stood up slowly and looked straight at them. Her eyes grew wide and a smile came across her face as she recognized who they were. “Twilight! Rainbow! Boy ‘m Ah glad ta see…” “Stay back!” Rainbow shouted. “Rainbow it’s me, yer buddy Applejack.” “How would I know? And why is there blood all over you?” Applejack stared at her hooves and followed the traces of blood splatters up to her chest. “Ah tried to save this guard… He was bleedin’ awful bad…” “How can I believe that? After what I’ve seen upstairs, I’m not sure I can believe anything anymore!” “Rainbow Dash it’s me!” Applejack shouted. Worry flooded her eyes; afraid of what her friend might do. “Rainbow, that’s really Applejack!” Twilight shouted from behind her. “How do I know you’re not just another one of them things pretending to be you like earlier?” “’Cause Ah know you Rainbow. You’re the greatest flyer in all of Equestria. You won the Greatest Young Flyer’s competition last year. You love the Wonderbolts and train everyday to hopefully become one of them one day. Ah’m yer best friend Rainbow…” A tear fell down her cheek. She felt nothing but heartbroken that her own friend doesn’t even believe that she’s Applejack. Rainbow’s muscles loosened up as she realized. She noticed a tear falling down her friend’s cheek. “Applejack I’m… I’m so sorry… I don’t know why I did that…” Applejack didn’t seem to care, for she ran straight to her friends and wrapped her forehooves around them in a tight embrace. “I’m sorry Applejack, I didn’t know it was you.” She sniffed. “It’s alright. You were just tryin’ to protect Twilight and you. Ah would’ve done the same thing.” Applejack reassured her. They held each other for a few more minutes before Applejack let go. She turned more serious as she began looking around them. “All’s too quiet ‘round here.” She said. Twilight noticed too. “Maybe it’s over?” She suggested. Applejack shook her head. “Naw. It’s way too quiet ‘specially if this place is this active. I think it’s far from over.” “Then we need to get out of here before anything else happens.” Rainbow said. AJ and Twilight nodded as they turned and ran for the front main doors. Applejack reached them first and turned the large handles with no luck. She took a breath before continuing. No matter how much force she exerted onto the handles, they wouldn’t open. “Ah can’t get ‘em open!” She grunted. “It feels like somethin’s holding ‘em steady!” All three turned around as they heard another evil demonic laughter emanate throughout the main hallway. “I’ve had enough of this crap!” Rainbow said as she pulled out her remaining voice recorder. She turned it on and began recording. “Whoever just laughed, we heard you. Are you a demon or a spirit?” She waited a few moments with no response heard with their own ears. “Time to play it back.” She rewound the recorder as Applejack and Twilight placed their ears near it as it played. “Whoever just laughed, we heard you. Are you a demon or a spirit?” A few second passed before heavy breathing was heard on the recorder and a low deep throat laugh. “Demon.” “Demon! It’s said demon!” Rainbow half shouted. “Rainbow…” Twilight was cut off. “I knew we were dealing with a demon! We need to get out of here before it comes after us!” “Rainbow?!” Twilight shouted. “What?” “Listen… do you hear that?” She asked as distant chanting was heard as they guessed near the Princess’s Quarters. Many more voices gathered as they became louder and more distinct. “That’s demonic chantin’. It definitely ain’t speakin’ our language. We’re definitely dealing with more than one demon here ladies.” Applejack stated. “Look over there.” Twilight said as she pointed to several dozen shadows moving through the hallway into other rooms. “Those are Shadow Ponies. I hope they don’t see us. Who knows what they'll do.” She added as she began to shake uncontrollably. “Girls, get in a circle.” Applejack ordered as she pulled a medium sized can from her vest pouch. She began pouring it around them. “AJ, what is that?” Rainbow asked nervously. “This is salt blessed by Reverend Cross. Since Granny Smith discovered th’ Zap apples, all sorts a’ creatures began showin up ‘round our farm. So they had salt blessed by th’ local Reverend ever since and poured it ‘round the farm’s perimeter to keep out unwanted and evil entities. It works, but it depends on how powerful they are.” Applejack explained as she finished her circle. “So a little salt circle’s gonna keep us safe?” Rainbow asked in disbelief. “Now it’s not. Which is why we need to recite Celestia’s Prayer to help protect us. Rainbow and Twilight nodded. They sat on their haunches and held each others’ hooves in a circle and began to recite the prayer: “By the power of Celestia Harmony will keep us safe Nothing evil will make us break For peace and harmony is what we seek Evil and chaos it will not peak With our hooves and thoughts joined together The evil within will surly weather" As they began to recite again, the castle walls started to shake. The louder they shouted the prayer, the more violent the shaking was. The chanting heard within the hallway started to become louder and more aggressive. Soon after, a wind was blowing through the hallway, tossing the salt within and circulating throughout the hallway. All three ponies were completely terrified but did not break. A loud bang was heard behind them. As they turned, they saw the main castle doors wide open. “This is our chance!” Twilight shouted over the noises. They nodded as they all stood to their hooves and darted for the doors. They expected the doors to shut once they were a few hooves away from them but they were proven wrong as a force seemed to shove them out. They were flung through the air and landed on the path at the bottom of the hill. They stood back on their hooves and turned to see a creature similar in shape of a pony but malformed and disfigured. Its red eyes glared into their eyes as if it was staring straight into their souls. It began to move rather quickly down the path toward them. “Run!” Applejack shouted, “Don’t look back!” Without second thoughts, the three turned around and darted down the rest of the hill. A loud ear-piercing scream echoed through the late moon filled night. As soon as they entered the downtown area, Applejack spoke again: “Don’t… stop runnin’. Keep goin’ ‘till… the train station.” She said through breaths. As they ran through the streets of Canterlot, Twilight noticed that the usual crowded streets were empty. Not a pony in sight. Even at this hour, the citizens of the royal town usually frolic through these streets, but not tonight. Something wasn’t right. She shook off the thoughts and kept focus on getting to the station. After a few minutes, they make it to the train station. Twilight runs to the ticket booth and is greeted by a rather bored looking stallion. “Good early morning. What can I help you with?” He says flatly. “Three tickets to Ponyville, quickly!” Twilight almost shouted, making the stallion jump back a little. “Uh okay…?” He says as he reaches for the newly printed train tickets. “Three tickets to Ponyville. That’ll be thirty bits.” Twilight reaches into her vest and throws all she had onto the counter. “Woah Miss, uh, it’s only thirty bits. You just handed me fifty.” “Keep the change.” She replied and grabbed the tickets. “Uh thank you Miss! The train should be arriving any second.” As the stallion said, the train arrived a few seconds later. Applejack turned and tipped her hat at him. She noticed he wore a questioning expression on his face as he exited the booth and trotted to them. “Little filly with the hat. What is that all over your face and hooves? It looks all red.” “It’s uh…” Applejack stammered. She was stuck. As the Element of Honesty, she knew she couldn’t tell a lie. “We ran into some punk little colts who decided to prank us with paint filled water balloons.” Rainbow interrupted, hoping it worked. “Huh. Well this town has been plagued by pranksters lately. I’m sorry I invaded your privacy Ma’am.” He apologized. “It’s alright. Y’all have a good night.” Applejack replied. “Thank you, you too ladies. Have a safe trip!” They waved goodbye as they boarded the train. Once inside, they walked to the last car and noticed it was secluded. “Ah’m gonna wash up. It’s gonna be a long trip so you girls make yourselves comfortable. Ah’ll be right back.” Applejack said as she left and walked into the washroom. Twilight and Rainbow slumped down into the seats and sighed heavily. “I can’t believe what just happened tonight.” Rainbow said through closed eyes. “Me neither. Rainbow you know we left all the equipment there right?” Twilight asked Rainbow nodded. “I don’t care. As long as we got out of there, I don’t care what happens to all that equipment. I don’t know about you Twilight but I’m never going to do this ghost hunting shit ever again for as long as I live. I’ve never been so scared in my life and I rarely ever get scared.” “Agreed.” Twilight said, resting her hooves on her eyes. About ten minutes later, the door to the restroom opened and Applejack sat next on the empty seat in front of Rainbow and Twilight. “It took forever, but Ah got cleaned up.” She stated. She turned her head and watched Canterlot disappear through the mountain pass. A few minutes passed before she spoke again. “Ah’m never doin’ this stuff again. Ah’m done.” Twilight and Rainbow just nod their heads in agreement. “So what y’all do when Ah left the Princess’s Quarters?” She asked. Twilight sat straight and looked out the window. “Well we just waited for you to come back. But until we heard somepony screaming our names, we ran out. Applejack sighed and closed her eyes. “That was me.” “What all happened?” Rainbow asked. She swallowed. “After that loud bang, Ah left the room to see what could’ve caused it. Ah ended up at base camp and saw that everythin’ was all destroyed. The monitors, the lights, everythin. Then Ah started an EVP recordin’ to see if Ah could ask whatever it was to tell me why it destroyed our equipment. Ah heard a growl behind me so Ah tried to see what it was but couldn’t find anythin’ abnormal. A few seconds later, the door behind me opened and one of the royal guards said he was ordered by the Princess to check up on us. Ah tried to tell him ‘bout all the stuff we were experiencing but he wouldn’t listen.” Tears began to roll down her cheeks. “Then all of a sudden he starts chokin’. He turns and it looked as if somethin’ or somepony was chokin’ him. Somethin’ lifts him up in th’ air and slams him against the wall. Ah take a few steps forward and then a cut appears slowly across his neck. He drops down an’ Ah tried all Ah could to make the bleedin’ stop but it just kept comin’. That’s when Ah shouted for y’all to come help. And Ah think that he whispered ‘help me’. After that, he just gets dragged into the stairway. I dropped everythin’ Ah had and went on after him.” “We saw all that on the video tape. It cuts out after it shows us running down the hallway.” Twilight said. Applejack nods as she wipes her eyes. “Ah climb the stairs onto the second floor and when Ah got through the door way, all Ah saw was… blood. Blood was everywhere. And in the middle was the body of the guard. Ah ran up to him and Ah knew by lookin’ at him he was long gone. But Ah looked into his eyes but there weren’t any eyes there. It was just black. Then Ah saw them flash red. Ah’ve never been as scared in all my days as Ah was right then. So Ah ran down the hall and tried to search for you two. Ah ended up on the first floor again near the base camp. Ah don’t know how Ah ended up there but when Ah turned to go back up the stairs, we ran into each other. And the rest is history.” As she finished, she began to sob uncontrollably. Twilight and Rainbow sat on each side of her to comfort their friend. Whatever happened tonight would forever be seared into their memory. *************** After twenty minutes, the crew fell asleep. They stayed up a long grueling night and rest was much needed. The first bump woke all three ponies. As Rainbow yawned, she looked at the clock. It read 3:25. The second bump about a minute later began to spread concern throughout the gang. “Uh this is the conductor speaking. We apologize for the bumps we’re experiencing a little turbulence but should be gone momentarily.” “At least it’s only temporary.” Twilight rolled her eyes, putting emphasis on the word ‘temporary’. The third bump was far more powerful than the other ones. This time it felt like the train leaned slightly off the tracks toward the cliff. This was concerning them due to the fact that a long 30 hoof drop was to their right. "This is the conductor again. We are experiencing some high winds and we recommend you buckle yourselves up. It’s going to be a-“ He was cut off as a gust of wind hit the side of the train and the front began tearing over the edge of the cliff. “Turn it around! No stop the engine! Stop the engine!!” But it was too late as the front of the train leaned too far and slipped off the edge, making its way down the 30 hoof drop dragging the rest of the train cars with it. “Rainbow! Twilight! Hold on!!” Applejack yelled as the train hit the bottom in a fiery explosion. ********************* In a state of shell shock, Rainbow slowly crawled out of the wreckage. As she began to come back to her senses, she started to feel a burning sensation of everything below her belly. She turned her head around and her eyes grew wide in horror as her lower body was engulfed in flames. Every patch of her coat was now gone, her tail nonexistent and the only thing burning now was her very flesh. The pain was almost too much for her to handle. But when she turned to her right, she noticed the burning corpse of her former friend: Applejack. She screamed in agony and pounded the ground with her only useful hooves. Tears flooded her face as she cursed the world, cursed Celestia for letting this terrible thing happen to her and her friends. Through her sobs, she heard lazy but heavy hoofsteps. She looked up and through the burning wreckage, she saw Twilight, standing on her rear legs looking straight at her. Her eyes glowed a dark crimson red. She opened her mouth and a loud high pitched screaming emanated from her. This wasn’t Twilight. Rainbow thought. She’s long gone. With her last final breath, Rainbow’s head dropped to the ground as she faded to darkness…
A Sense Of RealityRainbow gasped heavily when she awakened. She was on the train. She looked to her left out the window and saw that the train was just on the outskirts of Canterlot. The sun was still in the sky, about an hour and a half before the sun begins to set. As her breathing slowed, she felt her heart beating rapidly in her chest. After remembering the last part of her dream, she began to look at her lower body, touching it to make sure she could feel the sense of her hooves. No flames. She sighed with relief. Was this all just a dream? No not a dream, a bucking nightmare. Rainbow thought. She stood up from the bed and opened the door. Outside sitting at a table was Twilight and Applejack laughing. Applejack turned her head and noticed Rainbow standing in the doorway. “Well look who’s finally awake!” She said. Twilight turned her head, “Hey there Miss sleepyhead! We’re almost to Canterlot. This investigation tonight at the Main Castle building is going to be so awesome! Oh yeah, you fell asleep on the seat about an hour after we left Ponyville Train Station and we didn’t want to wake you so we moved you to the bed.” “Uh yeah. Thanks Twi.” Rainbow said nervously as she walked slowly to the table. Twilight noticed Rainbow’s odd behavior. “Rainbow Dash are you okay? You look rather pale.” Rainbow shook her head to wake herself up. “Uh yeah. Sorry I just had a bad dream. Well more like a nightmare.” Twilight watched Rainbow as her eyes shifted all over the train car. “You wanna talk about it?” Rainbow shook her head and fidgeted with her mane. “No, I’d rather not.” “Oh okay.” She replied. “Well are you ready for tonight?” Rainbow chuckled nervously. “Heh, yeah. Yeah I guess so. END
