Chapters It could've been an ordinary Saturday. Just a regular old Saturday with a few ghosts to catch and otherwise not much. It would've been. But of course, that wouldn't be the case.
A small portal opened behind a building in Amity Park. A glowing green hoof first came out, then the rest of a unicorn. She had a long, sharp horn and a mark on her flank of a skull. A cape covered her back and had a hood to conceal her face. But through the darkness of the hood, you could see she had yellow eyes that seemed creepily calculating. For a moment, she paused and closed her eyes. After a moment, she smiled cruelly, though no one could see it. A necklace with a bright red and yellow gem situated around her neck glowed momentarily as the portal behind her closed.
With a smirk, she took off for the sky. Sure beats the point of being a pegasus when you're a ghost , the unicorn mused to herself. Now to cause some trouble...
She knew all she had to do was find that ghost...something called a human and his other...human friends. Those three where the only thing she had to deal with for the moment- then the next phase could go through...
The pony noticed various humans as she flew over- invisible with her...newly acquired ghost abilities. She almost scowled at the memory of how she became a full ghost pony, but shook it off. Her eyes were peeled for her targets. Then she stopped. What luck she had today! For her eyes caught onto a group of teenagers- the boy with the black hair in the group the half ghost she had heard about from research in the Ghost Zone- the other two were his friends and helped him hunt. All I have to do is get them out of the picture and I'll be free to take over three worlds- first here and the Ghost Zone. Then Equestria will be so easy to overrun. These hapless brats won't know what hit them.
She was about to descend upon them to do what she was planning, but she paused. A blue puff came out of the black haired boy's mouth. Immediately he and his friends began to ready themselves for a ghost attack. Danny looked to his friends.
"I don't see anything yet, but c'mon. Cover me." he mumbled to Sam and Tucker. They nodded and ran into a nearby alleyway. Right before Danny could transform, the one after them decided to make herself present before them. The three jumped as they saw the unicorn pony appear before them silently. The two groups stared at each other for a minute.
"Who are you?" Sam asked. "What are you? Some sort of unicorn ghost?"
She still said nothing. "...My name is...none of your business. Farewell." she said quietly. Her gem on her necklace glowed again as well as her horn, and the next thing the trio knew, they had fallen through some sort of portal that came out from under their feet. They were only conscious for a second to barely register what happened when everything disappeared and turned black.
Danny felt something hard poke at his arm. He moaned lightly, not wanting to wake. "F-five more minutes, Mom..."
"I'm not your mom, silly!"
Danny moaned. "Who are you, then?" he asked tiredly. "Also, where am I? My head hurts so badly..." He opened his eyes...only to recoil in shock, knocking back his friends as well. Being pushed woke up Sam and Tucker, who looked up as well. For a minute they stared, jaws agape. Before them was a group of interesting looking ponies and unicorns and pegasi. A blue pegasus with rainbow hair and a bizarre rainbow mark with a cloud on her deck had been the one prodding him. She raised an eyebrow.
"You're in Ponyville." She paused, then smiled. "And I'm Rainbow Dash."
"Pony...what?" Tucker asked, baffled. A pony with blond hair stepped forward. They noted she had a strange mark on her behind just like the pegasus- only hers were apples and she lacked wings or a horn.
"Ponyville. A town in Equestria."
"Equest-what?" Sam inquired, beyond puzzled. At that, a pink pony with balloons on her rear and curly magenta hair with a smile jumped forth.
"Hi there! In order, you're in Equestria, and you're in a town called Ponyville that's in Equestria, and you're in the chicken yard for my friend Fluttershy's chickens, and my name is Pinkie Pie, and that's Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy! And-"
"Pinkie Pie, I think we're confusing them a bit. How'd you ponies get in here?" Applejack asked. The trio stopped to take a look at who was before them again. A purple haired pony with a horn and diamonds on its butt that Pinkie Pie said was Rarity. They had already met Rainbow Dash. The other unicorn with dark blue and purple and pink striped hair and stars- Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie had said. A timid yellow pony with pink hair and butterflies as her mark was hiding behind the group and looking at them shyly. That was Fluttershy. The one whose chicken coop they landed in.
Despite everything that was yet to be questioned, Danny took a step. "Uh- we're honestly not sure. All we remember is some weird...unicorn-pony-ghost-thing coming and throwing some sort of portal under us and now we're here and we don't have a clue where we are and-" Danny was cut off by a cry from Tucker.
"My-my hands! I've-" Danny and Sam turned to see Tucker- who was a golden unicorn pony with a PDA mark. Shocked, they looked at themselves. Danny was a pure snow white pony. Raising a hoof up, he felt that he still had his hair. Turning to try to see all of him, he saw wings and a bunch of stars on his butt. Sam was a light purple pony without special features like horns or wings, and hand violet roses as her mark. All three were silent for a minute, then looked back up at the group of ponies, who were staring at them, puzzled by their shock.
"Why are y'all so shocked? It's like you've never seen yourselves before, much less ponies." Applejack said with a frown. Sam scowled.
"Well...not like this. Um...we're not supposed to be ponies." she muttered, trying to figure everything out.
"We're not ponies." Tucker said. The next thing they knew, all the others started laughing, with the exception of Fluttershy, who was still hiding. After a minute, they calmed down.
"Hah, that's funny! You're totally ponies, sillies!" Pinkie Pie giggled. Danny scowled.
"We're- we're not kidding. We weren't originally like this. We don't even know what happened. We've never heard of Equestria, Ponyville, or anything like it! We just want to figure out how to get home." he said.
"Do tell, where are you from, then?" Rarity asked. All three shared a look.
"I doubt you'll believe us, but here's the story..." Danny and his friends began to unravel a story for the new strangers they had barely met. The only thing they didn't reveal was that Danny was half ghost. After they had finished, all the ponies had their jaws on the ground. Danny, Sam, and Tucker uncomfortably shifted under their stares.
"Well," Twilight Sparkle said after awhile, "There's a way to test this to see if you're really whatever a human is again. Try standing up." she said. They all raised an eyebrow, then tried to stand up. They all barely managed awkwardly, Danny even more awkward with the new wings. They weren't used to four legs. More than once they fell to the ground upon trying to get up. Eventually they managed awkwardly to keep up. Applejack giggled.
"You're just like little newborn ponies trying to stand."
Twilight walked up to Tucker to examine his cutie mark. "Wh- what are you doing?" Tucker asked. Twilight smiled.
"I'm just examining your cutie mark."
"Is that what those things are called?"
"Yes. Every pony eventually gets a cutie mark- it's a mark that shows their special talent. Though I can't make out yours. What exactly is it? I've never seen anything like it." she said, fascinated. Tucker grinned.
"It's called a PDA. They're practically the most useful thing ever. Oh, sweet, sweet technology! Wait...speaking of which, where's Karen?" Tucker jolted and searched the ground wildly for it.
"...Karen?" Rarity asked, almost afraid to ask. Sam sighed.
"It's his PDA, like he mentioned. He names his PDAs."
"Oh! I found it!" Tucker crawled under Danny to try to grab the PDA. He nudged it out with his hoof and sighed in relief. It wasn't broken. He carefully tapped it with his hoof and turned it on, then off. "I gotta save energy on it. I don't know the next time I get to charge it." Twilight frowned.
"Well, I'm not sure what to think. If anything, your cutie mark and that...PDA is enough proof something's off. Plus you guys are way too awkward for ponies your age." she said. "And you're trying to find a way home, right?" The trio nodded. "I'll contact Princess Celestia and ask her for help. Maybe we can find a way back."
"Princess Celestia? Don't know who that is, but she might be able to help us?"
"Of course. She and her sister Luna rule Equestria. She was my mentor in magic. Anyhow, what's all your names? I don't think you mentioned them."
"I'm Danny."
"I'm Sam."
"I'm Tucker."
"I must throw you guys a party! To welcome you to Equestria!" Pinkie Pie burst out, finally unable to not announce it. Without another word, she ran off to go start party planning. Twilight Sparkle smiled.
"Get ready for a party later. When Pinkie plans a party, she makes it. Anyhow, I imagine you guys are new to all this stuff, but you should learn about what type of ponies you are. I have to go mail a letter to Celestia. Applejack, mind teaching Sam about being an Earth pony?"
"No problem."
"Rainbow Dash, you mind helping Danny learn to fly with those wings?"
"Of course not! This is gonna be fun!"
"And Rarity, teach Tucker about using magic?"
"But of course."
"Wait- magic?" Tucker asked, surprised.
"Flying?" Danny raised an eyebrow. "But...I can already do that- oh right. I'm a pegasus. I also have wings now. Wonderful, it's the power of flying times two." he thought to himself. Twilight merely smiled.
"You'll see in time. You guys can meet in my library in an hour or so. Fluttershy, you can come with me." she said. Fluttershy nodded. She was still extremely timid around the new ponies, especially after their story, but she managed to crack a small smile at them before she and Twilight left. The three left to give basic training to the three smiled.
"Get ready for Pony 101!" Applejack announced.
The Most Awkward Conversation Ever
That same mysterious unicorn that had sent the Phantom trio to Equestria found herself searching the Ghost Zone with a scowl. She had a feeling for some peculiar reason that just leaving those three in that world wouldn't be enough to hold them back- no, she needed to add another ripple to make sure they stayed where they were.
As such, she would trick some foolish ghost into going to Equestria. It had to be someone stupid and repetitive- someone who would keep coming back to bother them. After five minutes of searching, she had found the perfect ghost for the job...
"I am the Box Ghost! Fear me and my cubical containers of evil and torture!"
Flipping around, she saw some idiotic looking fat blue ghost attempting to scare her. A few boxes floated by him. She gave a blank look at him. "Aren't you scared?" he asked, puzzled by her stoic look. The pony rolled her eyes.
"Of course not, you dolt. However...I may be able to use you to help me...scare some people. Possibly a lot of people."
The Box Ghost didn't even need a second to think about it. "I'm in. For I am the Box Ghost! And I will infuse terror into hapless people!" he proclaimed.
"I got well enough that you want to scare people. However, there's a catch. Danny Phantom and his friends are in this...place that I put them in to distract them and keep them out of the way. They may be still equipped with some ghost catching device. I can't have you captured, so I need you to show up from time to time to scare masses and distract them, then flee when the time is right. Do a good job and I may be able to reward you very well..." she trailed off. She had no actual intention on giving the Box Ghost a thing for his trouble.
Box Ghost was immediately enraptured by the plan. "Easy enough. Where are they?"
"You'll see." That was the only thing she said before she had a portal pop up behind the ghost she had just recruited, then bucked him into it before he had a chance to react.
Right before the trio and their new pony friends were about to take off, Rarity spotted something odd behind Sam. "Sam, what's that thing behind you on the ground?" she asked, confounded by yet another strange device. Everyone looked back and saw the Fenton thermos and a chicken from Fluttershy's coop standing on it innocently. Sam gasped and picked it up with her mouth carefully, placing it before her.
"It's a...soup thermos."
"Strange looking for one..." Applejack murmured. Sam shook her head.
"Oh- of course not. Hehe. Hey Danny, do you mind taking it?"
"Sure-"
"There's two other strange things that two of Fluttershy's chickens are carrying- I'm assuming they're yours." Applejack said. Again all three had to look around them to see some chickens with cell phones in their mouths. Sam slowly approached one of the chickens and tried to coax it to drop the cell phone, which it did eventually. The other chicken got bored of the object and dropped it.
"Danny, looks like our cell phones. Man, we're really lucky to have all this stuff with us. I don't know if it'll take calls here, though, but still."
"You guys sure have a lot of strange gadgets from that world you're from." Rainbow Dash said, curiously looking at them. Danny shrugged.
"I'll just leave this stuff by Fluttershy's house and pick it up before we leave. It'll be kind of awkward to try to fly and have all this stuff jammed in your mouth. Anyhow, um, let's get started!" he said, trying to avoid further questions. The other ponies shrugged.
"Alright," Rainbow Dash said, "we're gonna have fun teaching you guys!"
After an hour had passed, the trio made a little progress. Danny managed to learn to flap his wings correctly and fast enough to float off the ground a little and was beginning to gain a little height. He still needed some practice maintaining his form in the air. Tucker made a few rocks move around with his magic. Sam did fine like the other two- earth ponies didn't have magic or could fly, but she was good at trying to get apples down from Applejack's trees. Applejack had also taught her that earth ponies had a special connection to nature in spite of not having the ability to fly or use magic, and since Sam enjoyed gardening, she could hardly object.
Danny made a mental note to pick up the thermos and cell phones right before they headed back and followed Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash to Twilight Sparkle's library. They stopped at Rarity's on the way, because said unicorn offered to stop to get them a bag to carry all their strange things. Upon getting to the library, Tucker paused a moment. His horn glowed. "For...for some reason, I feel like I need to check my PDA..." he said, surprised. Rarity shrugged.
"Go ahead, darling. Sometimes unicorn magic works by itself and in different ways. Try looking. We'll be inside." she said, the three other ponies going inside. Tucker pulled out his PDA and turned it on. Immediately it began to buzz- on the screen it said 'Foley Household'. With some nervousness and wonder how the phone was managing to get calls from Amity Park, they answered it.
"Hello?" Tucker asked.
"Oh, sweetheart! Thank goodness you're okay! Where are you and your friends?"
All three paled and shared a look. This was going to be awkward to explain...
Back in Amity Park, when it reached dinner time and none of the teens had returned home and Tucker didn't answer his PDA nor was Sam or Danny picking up their phones, all the parents began to worry. Eventually they got to Tucker's house to try to figure out where to look- and were about to try calling the police when Tucker finally answered the PDA. Tucker's mom eagerly answered to Tucker's 'hello' and all the adults crowded around the phone to hear their children.
"Where are you guys?" Maddie cut in.
"Oh- are all of you guys there?" Danny asked, paranoid. He was answered in a second.
"Yep! Where are you all? We're worried sick!" Jack bellowed.
"My parents, too?" Sam asked, almost cringing with the expected answer.
"Of course, darling!" her mom's voice rang. The trio all simultaneously grimaced. This was going to be the most awkward conversation ever.
"I-I don't think you guys would quite believe us...um, trust us, we're fine. It's a ghost's doing...let us explain about it so you can try to get her first! You'd believe us better if you found her." Tucker said.
All the parents were baffled and scared. Where on earth could they be? A ghost?
"Tell us what happened, start to finish, no matter how hard it is to believe." Maddie said. She and her husband were ghost hunters; there really wasn't anything that could really shock them much, right?
There was a pause. "Tucker, I know you're trying to save energy on the PDA, but maybe this would work better if we took one picture to help back up our story..."
"Are you sure? This is going to be so, so weird..."
"Tuck, it doesn't matter if we show them a picture or not, it's going to be awkward, period. Plus we need Danny's parents to help find the ghost; and it'll calm our parents kind of if they know where they are..."
Two groans escaped the boys.
"Fine...um, guys..." Danny took over. "Listen. We're gonna take a picture with Tucker's PDA of...where we are and send it to you. We need you to just stay silent and just listen to us before you ask questions. We'll explain everything."
After a moment, the parents agreed. "Hold on..." Tucker said. There was the squeaking of a door. "Hey, can one of you ponies take a picture of us? Our parents want to know where we are, and we need photographic proof..."
The parents listening became puzzled by the mention of ponies.
"Um, okay..." An unknown voice that was really Twilight Sparkle came. "How do I use this thing?"
"Here, I'll go to the menu for it...alright, I set it up. All you have to do is press this button on it."
"This one?"
"Yeah. We'll say when."
"Can we be in the picture, too? Please?"
A cheerful voice that belonged to Pinkie Pie came through.
"Um, sure, Pinkie."
"Yay!"
"Alright, are you guys ready?"
"Yeah, Twilight.
"Alright. One...two...three!"
"Thanks...oh! We left the phone on!" Tucker cried, surprised the parents heard everything that went on.
"I didn't know your PDA could do both!" Sam said, surprised. There was some hoofs stepping- making everyone on the other line raise an eyebrow. Were there really ponies in the background? In reality, Danny, Sam, and Tucker were just moving to a more private spot. A moment later, they received a photo that was astounding.
A bunch of unusually colored ponies, pegasi, and unicorns in a photo with strange markings on each of their backs- what struck them most was that the three center ponies looked liked pony versions of their children. They already had so many questions buzzing through them, but remembered the promise they had made to keep quiet through it.
"You're probably shocked by what we sent you, but let us explain..." For the next ten minutes, the trio explained the whole story to their astounded folks on the other side- the ghost unicorn that had sent them there, how they were ponies in this new world- pegasus, unicorn, and earth- and the new friends who had offered to help them and about Princess Celestia, who they knew little about at the moment but said that their pony friends said that she might be able to help. After it all, there was a long silence. Danny murmured to his friends briefly.
"How do you think they're taking it?" Danny mumbled, beginning to feel uneasy.
"You guys..." Maddie's voice came in. "We're shocked, that's for sure. But we'll do anything to make sure you all get back here safely. Mr. Fenton and I will search high and low for the ghost you described."
"And we'll offer a reward for anyone who might have any information about this ghost." Sam's father said. "No one does this to our daughter and gets away with it."
"Or our kids at all. Tucker, sweetie, you said you were trying to save the battery on your PDA. If it's okay with the other parents, we're gonna ask you guys to shut it off for now. Keep in contact every so often, though. Danny, Sam, do you guys still have your cell phones?"
"Yes- we just found them right before we started 'Pony 101'."
"If Tucker's PDA goes out, use those."
"Okay."
"Danny..." Jack's voice came, "You and your friends be careful. We're just glad you're all safe."
"And make sure to say thank you to the ponies who offered to help you."
"We will...bye, guys!" Sam said. Danny and Tucker both offered their 'byes' and then turned off the PDA. Danny sighed in relief.
"Glad that's over. C'mon." he said, and they all walked out from their private spot. The rest were waiting.
"How'd it go?" Twilight Sparkled asked. Sam exhaled.
"It was...awkward, but our parents said they're gonna look for the ghost unicorn that did this. Danny's parents are ghost hunters, so that should help."
"That's good...and wait, I remember you said 'ghost' earlier, not to mention Danny's parents are ghost hunters. A ghost unicorn?" Rarity asked. Danny nodded.
"Yeah. Ghosts are common in our world. Hard to believe, but true. You actually probably don't believe us, and we can't force you to and can see why you wouldn't."
Fluttershy couldn't help but give an 'eep' at the mention of ghosts. Pinkie Pie joyfully disregarded the semi-serious moment and grinned broadly.
"Anyhow, the party I set up is ready! Come with me, everypony!" she proclaimed, dashing out the door. Everypony laughed, thankful for the moment's ease, and followed her out. Danny remembered something.
"Oh yeah, guys, thanks helping us." he said. Applejack grinned.
"You're welcome. Always glad to help."
Right after they all left, Spike came out from a room he was napping in. He raised an eyebrow. "Somehow I felt like I missed a lot..." He paused and spied a letter on the table. He walked up and read it.
"Dear Spike-
Pinkie Pie decided to throw a party at Sugarcube Corner. I didn't know when you'd wake up, but if you find this, you're free to come and have fun.
-Twilight Sparkle."
Spike grinned. "Party? Hope it's not girly. But why the heck not!" he said, rushing out the door.
Eventually all the ponies reached Sugarcube Corner. Tucker whistled at the bakery. "Man, that place looks like a gingerbread house. Sweet!" he said. Pinkie Pie nodded, excited.
"Yep! And the party's inside! I-"
"I finally caught up with you guys!" Spike cut off Pinkie Pie, running in and almost crashing into the three new ponies. He stopped and looked up at them. "Who're you three?" he asked, surprised. Twilight stepped forward.
"Oh, Spike, these are, um, our new friends. They're here under unusual circumstances which I'll explain later." she said. Spike shrugged.
"Good enough for me. What are your names?" he asked.
"Danny."
"Sam."
"Tucker." After all three said their names, Spike's eyes caught Tucker's cutie mark.
"Hey...you have a strange cutie mark there. What is it?" he asked, peering at it, interested. Twilight Sparkle coughed.
"Again, they're here under unusual circumstances, Spike. They're not exactly from here. I'll explain everything. Also, did you send that letter I wrote to Celestia?"
"What letter?" he asked, frowning. Twilight frowned as well.
"You know...the letter I left on the table next to the other note...that was supposed to be mailed to Celestia?"
Spike tried to think back. He had saw the note and another paper by it, but he had grasped onto the first note and forgotten about the other one on his way out. "...Oops." he said, chuckling a little.
"It's kind of important; do you mind going and sending it and coming back? No rush. The party's still going to be here when you get back." Twilight said. Spike sighed.
"Okay. Be back soon. Nice to meet you new ponies!" he said, running off. Sam smiled.
"Aww, he was so cute!" she said. Twilight giggled.
"That's my assistant, Spike. He's a baby dragon. He'll be happy to tell you all about himself later. C'mon." she said. They went inside and Pinkie guided them to a room- they looked inside, surprised by all the party decor and snacks that Pinkie set up. Balloons hung around the room. Pinkie Pie bounded in the room.
"Let's have some fun, guys!"
All the ponies including the trio couldn't help but smile. Danny found a place to put down the bag full of stuff they carried and began to have a fun time. Spike showed up soon and had fun as well. Tucker was snacking a lot- not unusual for him at all- and Fluttershy began to open up a little bit around them. Rarity decided to ask a question. "So, I know you're not from here...but, um, what exactly are your cutie marks inspired by?" she asked. They shared a look. Danny shrugged.
"Well, I've always wanted to be an astronaut, and I enjoy stargazing, so I suppose my cutie mark would be from that." After him, Tucker was happy to answer.
"I'm guessing that since I love technology so much- don't know where I'd be without it- and I love my PDA so much, that's what it would be."
Sam was next. "Well...I like to garden and I'm interested in the environment, so that might explain the roses. But I'm also goth, so that's why I'm assuming they're dark purple."
"Interesting!" Rarity said politely.
"Thanks!" Sam replied.
They chatted and had fun for awhile longer. Danny stopped short for a moment when a puff of blue air came from his mouth. Everypony saw it. "Hey...what was that? Are you cold?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"But it's decently warm in here." Applejack put in. Danny and his friends shared a nervous glance.
"Um- if you'll excuse me, I'll be right ba-"
"Going somewhere, Danny Phantom?" a familiar voice of a pestilent ghost came from behind. All the other ponies and Spike- with the exception of Pinkie Pie- screamed and ran for a hiding spot. Danny, Sam, and Tucker turned around to see a blue earth pony ghost with a glow about him and a box cutie mark floating in the air, waving his hooves up and down, trying to be scary. "I am the Box Ghost Pony! And I will not allow you to defeat me once again!"
"Okay, you know what? I don't even know how you got here, why you're here, or how you manage to annoy us everywhere we go ." Danny said, irritated.
"It is my job to inflict terror into hapless people or ponies! For I am the Box Ghost Pony!"
"We know!" all three said at the same time. Pinkie Pie grinned and stuck her tongue out at the ghost.
"I won't fear you! Because I giggle at ghosties!" she declared. The Box Ghost grinned.
"Is that so? Well, you will not be saying that after I unleash pure terror!" he announced. With that, boxes surrounded by a ghostly aura flew through the walls, earning more screaming from the ponies. The Box Ghost threw them around Pinkie Pie, pushing her against the wall and then down to the ground to hold her down. She let out a cry of surprise from it. Danny grimaced. While he doubted that the boxes could do any bad things to Pinkie, he was worried that if he didn't go ghost to at least throw a few punches and get the Box Ghost down, that he could actually cause a little damage.
He wouldn't let that happen. He let out a sigh of defeat. "I really, really hate you right now, Box Ghost...but I guess the others were gonna find out my secret eventually..." The pegasus nodded to his friends. The rest of the ponies were wondering what in Equestria he was talking about, but found the answer in seconds. "Going ghost!" Danny allowed a glowing ring to surround his waist. It split apart and traveled up and down his body. His white body became a pitch black, and his hooves became white. His hair became white and his eyes green. His cutie mark changed into the DP symbol. With a flash, the transformation was complete. Shocked gasps came from about the room..
Danny floated up and launched himself at the Box Ghost, knocking said ghost to the ground. He hit him with an ectoblast for spite and then froze him. He looked to his friends- Sam already had the thermos in her mouth. She popped the cap open and dropped it, and Danny jumped back. The Box Ghost was captured in a blue light from the thermos with ease. Tucker pushed the cap back on the thermos with a sigh. Danny floated down and his friends walked up beside him. Pinkie Pie had pulled herself out of the pile of boxes and was slowly approaching Danny. The rest of the ponies began to carefully come out of their hiding spots, with the exception of Fluttershy, who was still cowering under a table. They walked up to the three, watching them with cautiousness. Pinkie was the one who came up closest and was the first to ask a question.
"What was that?" she asked, eyes wide. Danny groaned.
"I knew you guys would figure out eventually..." With the ring forming again, he changed back to normal. "It's a long story. Basically, well...I'll be honest. I'm...half ghost."
"What?" Rainbow Dash asked, confused. "How's that possible?"
"It was an accident in my parents' lab. They had built a portal to the ghost world...it didn't work. So, with my friends here watching, I decided to try to go in, maybe see if I could fix it. But...I accidentally pressed the on button when I was there. I ended up being electrocuted and blasted with ectoplasm, the basis of ghosts. As a result, I became half ghost. I decided to fight crime as a superhero known as Danny Phantom. I have ghost powers. That's probably why that ghost unicorn tried to get rid of me and my friends- we'd try to put a halt to whatever she's planning. My parents don't even know I'm like this- only my friends here and my sister, and you guys now. Oh, and my arch enemy, but I'd rather not talk about him."
There was a long silence. Spike finally whistled. "Twilight was right; you guys aren't from here at all."
"No kiddin'." Applejack mumbled, eyes wide. Danny saw Fluttershy somewhat interested in the story, but still too afraid to come out. He frowned.
"Fluttershy, I...I don't blame you for being scared, but I'm not dangerous. Cross my heart. I'm sorry if I scared you." he said. Fluttershy carefully came out of her hiding spot, timidly getting a little closer- but not too close. Rainbow Dash managed to smile.
"Well, Danny Phantom , thanks for saving our behinds there."
Danny grinned. "Don't forget Sam and Tuck, too. They captured him. Really, that was the Box Ghost. He's pretty much the lamest ghost ever. I've faced guys way worse than him."
"I wanna see your powers!" Pinkie said excitedly. She looked at Danny pleadingly. "Please?"
Danny blushed and shrugged. "Well...they're a bit dangerous to try in here. Maybe tomorrow if any of you guys know a good spot where no one can see us? I have a secret identity for a reason." he said. Applejack grinned.
"I think I know the perfect spot. Tomorrow is fine."
"I-I can come, too..." Fluttershy murmured timidly. The trio couldn't help but grin. Fluttershy, even the most timid, had some level trust in them. Twilight frowned.
"Wait- you said your parents don't know about this?" she asked, surprised. Danny cringed.
"Um...no. Well, I used to be afraid they'd reject me- they are ghost hunters- but now that's not it. I know they'd love me, but I'm just not ready yet. I'll tell them when I'm ready." he said. Twilight frowned, but nodded. Sam gave a soft smile to Danny.
"In all truth, Danny, it was probably better that they found out now. They see how unique you are- and in a good way." Sam pointed out. The pegasus grinned back at her. Tucker looked at the two ponies sharing a gaze, then deviously grinned.
"He didn't mention that it was Sam who convinced him to go in. He'd do anything for Sam , the two lovebirds." he said. Danny and Sam blushed violently and turned to glare at Tucker.
"We are not lovebirds!" they both snapped. All others gave an 'aww'.
"You're sure you're not together?" Rarity asked. Both Danny and Sam shook their heads.
"Of course not!"
"Oh, really?" Rarity giggled. "What a shame."
Here Come the Cutie Mark Crusaders!
That night, Twilight Sparkle let the trio stay at her library. Spike incessantly asked the trio to tell him stories of ghost hunting until all their eyes were drooping. When it was time to go to bed, Danny couldn't get a wink of sleep. He was worrying nonstop about Amity Park- how would it fare without him? He kept rolling over, worrying and wondering. I need to get sleep, Danny told himself. I don't want to wake up Sam or Tucker...they need sleep. I just wish I had someone to talk to. What time is it?
Danny looked towards a clock and saw it was midnight. With a sigh, he sat up. His mom or dad probably wouldn't mind hearing him. At least, he hoped not. But he had to talk to somepony. He tiptoed out of the room and went for the bag and got out his cellphone. He turned it on and went to contacts and picked his house.
It rang for a minute, then someone picked up. "Hello?" his mother's voice asked. Danny sighed.
"It's me, Mom...um, were you sleeping? If so, I'm sorry and I'll...uh..."
"Oh, no, sweetheart; I was up, too. I couldn't sleep either."
"Um, okay...Mom? Is Amity Park okay? Um, is everyone still fine there?"
Maddie almost chuckled. "Yes, Honey, we're all still intact. Are you and your friends doing okay?"
"Yeah...Mom, I wish I could go home already. I mean, the people- or rather ponies- are all beyond kind, but I'm just not supposed to be a...a...you know..."
"Pegasus?
"...Um, yeah, that's the awkward word." Danny said, frowning. He heard his mom laugh.
"Oh, Sweetie...I wish you were home too. Your father and I and your sister miss you a lot."
"I miss you guys too. Ugh...I'm homesick, that's for sure."
"We'll get you all home one way or another. Your father and I wasted no time when we got home researching this ghost you mentioned. It's nothing like we've ever heard of; but after a few hours of nonstop research, we may have a lead- it appears to have been spotted multiple times in the Ghost Zone."
"That's good. Thanks so much...well, I feel better that I talked to someone. I couldn't sleep."
"Good. Well, it's late. You should try to go back to sleep. I love you so much, Danny. I'm giving you a big hug and kiss through the phone."
Her son laughed. "Okay."
"Did you get them?"
"I'm sure I did. Night, Mom. Love you."
"Love you too. Night."
After that one phone conversation, Danny found it easy to sleep. Same for Maddie; she happened to be up worrying about her son. She managed to sleep as well.
The next day, all the ponies met Sweet Apple Acres, and once everyone got there, Applejack grinned. "Alright, e'ery pony, let's go." she said. Everyone began to follow her, wherever she was going, and became stopped by the Cutie Mark Crusader's clubhouse. The fillies looked out at the group. Apple Bloom smiled.
"Hi, Applejack! What're you guys up to? Who are those new ponies with you?"
"Can we help?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Maybe we can discover our cutie marks if we come!" Scootaloo cried. Applejack shook her head.
"Sorry, girls; not today. We're busy with something we have to do alone, y' hear? I'll introduce you to our new friends later, okay?" At that, all the crusaders simultaneously groaned. Sam smiled softly.
"In any case, it's nice to meet you girls. I'm Sam, this is Danny, and this is Tucker. We'll really introduce ourselves later. See ya!" she said, as everypony began to continue walking. All the fillies shared a look.
"Are we really gonna sit here and only wonder about what they're doing?" Apple Bloom asked. Both of the others shook their heads.
"We'll have to be careful for them to not notice us, though. Maybe we'll get our cutie marks from managing to sneak past them like spies!" Scootaloo cried. All three shared a high-hoof and ran out to follow the group of ponies.
Secrets, Celestia, and Lady Pravus
After walking a bit longer, Applejack finally led them to a small clearing among all the trees. She smiled and everyone was still unaware that, behind some of the trees, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were hiding and watching everything with interest. "This little place I've been meaning to plant more trees in- good thing I didn't do it yet. No one can see us out here, too. Everything is good t' go." With a smile, she turned to Danny. "You're free t' transform."
"Alright...going ghost!" Danny said. The rings formed again and changed him.
All the watching fillies had their jaws drop.
He floated innocently enough in the air. Rainbow Dash frowned. "Hey! You can fly without even flapping your wings! Not fair!" Danny laughed a little.
"If it makes it seem more natural, I can flap 'em a little." he said, doing as such. "Now...what's first..."
"Intangibility." Sam said. Danny nodded and went transparent. He dashed through some of the trees and back.
"Invisibility." Tucker said, smirking. His best friend, currently floating in the air, disappeared before everyone's eyes. Pinkie Pie giggled.
"Where did he go?"
"I'm right here, Pinkie." Danny became visible right next to her. She merely giggled further.
"Ectoblasts!" Sam announced. Her friend's hoof glowed green and shot at the ground.
"Ice powers!"
Danny froze part of the ground. Pinkie Pie quickly jumped on it and slid across it. "It's an ice skating rink in spring! Yaaay!" she squealed. Danny and his friends grinned. Danny finally decided to try out a certain power.
"Duplication?" he asked. Sam and Tucker frowned.
"Sure that's a good idea? You haven't completely mastered it." Sam asked, worried. Rarity scoffed.
"I'm sure it shall be fine. Now might be a good time for him to practice. Besides, we won't laugh."
"Promise that?" Danny inquired, raising an eyebrow. Everyone nodded.
"Cross my heart and hope to fly! Stick a cupcake in my eye!" Pinkie Pie shouted, still playing on the ice. Danny grinned.
"Alright. Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn't. So..." He closed his eyes tight and concentrated. A glow surrounded his body and then split into two- two half ghost ponies, both with two heads. Both Dannys blushed immensely, and then went back into one with haste in humiliation. All the ponies except for Pinkie Pie- even Sam and Tucker- burst out loud into laughter. Danny scowled. "You guys promised you weren't going to laugh!"
"Yeah!" Pinkie Pie said, rushing up next to Danny. "Lying to a friend can make you lose them for-everrr !" she declared. Twilight Sparkled continued chuckling.
"I'm- I'm sorry, Danny, but that was a pretty funny failure."
Pinkie Pie moved up to Twilight Sparkle in a flash. "For-ever ...!" she said, putting extra emphasis on her words. Twilight sighed, but couldn't stop smiling.
"Fair enough. We're sorry, Danny."
"I'm not." Rainbow Dash said, snickering. Danny rolled his eyes, but was able to laugh in spite of himself. He smiled lightly.
"Also, guys, there's one power I can't show you because it could completely destroy Applejack's orchard. So let me explain it." He cleared his throat. "This power I got from a very dark, scary adventure I had to go through, but managed to save the day. It's called a Ghostly Wail. I basically scream out and it breaks the sound barrier and can visibly decimate a landscape. I rarely use it- it also drains so much energy that it can make me faint." he said. All the ponies gave out a 'woah'- the watching Cutie Mark Crusaders were in awe. It was then Sam smirked.
"Oh, Danny? You forgot one power." she said. Danny turned to her.
"Really? Which one?" he asked. Sam looked towards Tucker, who began to uncomfortably shift. He didn't like where this was going.
"Overshadowing." she said. Danny quickly darted into his friend before the unicorn had a chance to react. His eyes turned green and his voice was replaced by Danny's.
"Hi, I'm Tucker! I'm the biggest stallion you ever met! Don't let anything fool you." Danny didn't even finish before the rest began to laugh. He smiled and came out of Tucker, not seeing any need to continue. Tucker shook his head to clear it, and then pouted at Danny. But everypony stopped short when they heard three little fillies laughing. Everypony turned to where the sound was coming, Danny nearly paralyzed in fear. He looked for somewhere to hide and finally transformed back to normal behind his friends.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders stopped. They had been caught. They walked out from behind the trees they were. Apple Bloom weakly waved. "I'm sorry we came along, guys, but..."
"That."
"Was."
" Awesome!" The three squealed. Danny almost began to panic, but Applejack and Rarity took charge.
"What did we tell you to do?" Applejack asked. The girls frowned and nervously looked up at them. "We told you to stay put!"
"Poor Danny's going to worry nonstop about his secret now! What do you have to say for yourselves?" Rarity demanded. All three wilted under their glares.
"We're sorry." they all said. Rarity shook her head. "No, don't say it to us. Say it to Danny." she said, turning her head to the timid boy and his friends. They muttered a 'sorry' again, embarrassed. Fluttershy spoke up.
"Girls, you can't say anything. This is a...a big...secret for Danny...no one can know about it." she said. All the fillies looked up again when Danny and his friends approached. Danny sighed.
"Look, just- just keep it a secret. No one, not anypony, can ever hear about this."
"For-ever! " Pinkie Pie said, staring intensely.
"Just please, keep what you saw here to yourselves." Sam put in. The girls all grinned.
"Cross my heart and hope to fly! Stick a cupcake in my eye!" they all chorused. Scootaloo nodded her head.
"This is a secret, and secrets should be upheld. Cutie Mark Crusader's oath!" she promised. There was still an air of unease. But Danny and his friends would just have to trust the crusaders. Twilight Sparkle gasped.
"Oh! We should be heading back soon! Celestia might come at any minute!" she cried. With that, all the ponies ran off, leaving the CMC to themselves. They proudly grinned.
"We can't let them down. We must uphold the secret, just as asked!" Apple Bloom declared. The others nodded.
"Of course. Just as Scootaloo said, Cutie Mark Crusader's oath!" Sweetie Belle said.
"Not just oath, honor!" Scootaloo put in. All of them shared a high hoof once more.
Back with the others, they had finally arrived at Twilight Sparkle's library again. Celestia was there.Twilight Sparkle gasped and spoke. "Did we keep you waiting, Princess Celestia? I'm sorry."
"Not at all, my faithful student; I just got here. Are these three here the ponies you described and need help?" she asked. Twilight smiled.
"Yes, your majesty."
"Pleasure to meet you all. Which one of you is which?" The trio quickly answered her. "I see. Wonderful to meet you, Danny, Sam, and Tucker. Come inside and we shall discuss this matter." Celestia said, everypony going inside the library.
Maddie and Jack were scouring the Ghost Zone- they had been searching for a few hours, wondering where all the ghosts were- it seemed dead, no pun intended. Finally they came to who they were looking for. A mysterious unicorn ghost with her horn glowing was talking to a large group of ghosts who appeared to be there with no will. They listened for a moment to hear her plans.
"...And you will all be in my army and stop at nothing, even if it means your afterlives. I am almost complete taking over the minds of most of the ghosts from this place, thus making it mine to rule. Then with you all I will attack Earth, and when that is complete, we will storm Equestria and topple Celestia and Luna from power. I will be the supreme ruler of all, and none of you will ever have any objections."
"Yes, Lady Pravus." they all said, blank in tone. Maddie and Jack shared a look of horror. Jack went for a Fenton Thermos, then dropped something in it. He shook it up, then aimed it out the window and pulled in the villain with gusto. All the ghosts seemed to snap out of a trance and then fled without a word. The thermos didn't shake- whatever Jack put in had knocked her out cold for the moment. Maddie turned the speeder around and headed back for the lab.
One long story and an explanation about a half ghost pony and his friends, Danny sat (in ghost form) with his friends before Celestia. She was shocked and silent for awhile. Finally she smiled. "While I can't say I've ever heard of anything like this is my lifetime, it's all the more interesting- and you, Danny, are one of the most unusual ponies I've ever met. Can you describe the ghost who you said sent you here?"
"Yeah," Sam said, "She was glowing green and had a weird black cape with a hood. She also had a necklace with a red and yellow gem in it."
Celestia's eyes widened. "A...a red and yellow gem, you say?"
"Yes..." Tucker said, wondering where this was going. Celestia sighed mournfully and shook her head. Danny changed back to normal, waiting for the story.
"There's a regrettable tale behind it. There was a few years ago a unicorn named Pravus. She was a lady of nobility and had good magic skills and was pretty, but that wasn't enough for her. She wanted to find a gem only heard of in legends that could teleport between worlds- she suggested that Equestria could use it to open trade routes between worlds, but everypony thought her a sandwich short of a picnic for even thinking she could find such a thing. Her heart was in the right place, but she began to become insane from all the denial she would receive from ponies who said there was no such thing. Her mane even began to gray from the intensity and stress she put on herself to prove it to everypony."
Everyone was waiting for the rest of the story. Celestia took a breath. "And eventually she left to find it to prove it to everypony- not getting any help from anypony on her adventure. She was never heard from again. That may have been her downfall- maybe something happened and she had no one to help her. Anyhow, the gem was red and yellow? Did it have a swirled texture in color?"
"Yeah. And it glowed when she used it." Danny answered. He shrugged. "We're not completely sure why she got rid of us and threw us here, but it can't be good. Especially since we're the heroes who prevent those bad things from happening. Specifically, it's probable she wanted us out of the picture since we could put a dent in her plans."
Everypony was dead silent- Twilight Sparkle spoke up. "This means it could be trouble for all of us- not just your world or the Ghost Zone you mentioned, but Equestria. I doubt she's just not gonna do anything to our world as well."
"Of course, Twilight Sparkle. I just never imagined Lady Pravus would be evil...or get so insane to be as such. If we're going to stop her, we're going to need to find a way into that world. With enough unicorn magic, it may be possible. But-"
There was a flash of light that blinded everyone for a split second, some shouts, and then everypony turned to see what happened. A gigantic orange unicorn and a smaller, teal pegasus pony lay sprawled on the floor- both were groaning and trying to shake their heads free of confusion and a thumping headache that was starting to form. Pinkie Pie squealed.
"Yay! New ponies!" she said, trotting up to the couple. The orange one fully came to consciousness first, and nearly jumped back at seeing a pink pony right in front of him. Danny finally got a glimpse at the cutie mark- a ghost- and realized who the ponies were, his eyes getting wider seeing the gem he had just described under the teal pony's hoof.
"Mom? Dad?"
Both ponies snapped their heads up when they heard that familiar voice. They gasped. "Danny !"
At Fentonworks, Jack had tied down the unconscious unicorn pony to a table for questioning. Maddie stopped at gazed at the necklace and remembered that that was the thing that the kids described. She carefully took it off and examined it. It was beautiful, but it seemed harmless.
They waited for a bit, and eventually the ghost woke up, dazed and baffled. Her eyes caught onto the two ghost hunters and then scowled. "Who are you? What is this nonsense?" she asked. Jack was the first to speak up.
"We're ghost hunters. You picked the wrong kids to send to a different world." he said, fury growing in him. She rolled her eyes.
"I don't know how you managed to hear from them, but your attempt to stop me is hopeless." Her horn glowed and off came the ropes that previously held her down. Maddie shoved the necklace in her pocket and she and her husband held out their ectoguns and decided to not hesitate to make a shot at her. The shots managed to hit her and knocked her back. She darted her head up and her horn glowed again. She pulled the ectoguns out of the hunters' hands and tossed them aside.
She was about to use her necklace on them when the unicorn realized something- it was missing. Pravus looked up, enraged. "Where is my necklace? It has my precious gem on it. Return it now!" she demanded, approaching the humans. Maddie defiantly shook her head.
"Never." She gripped onto her husband's hand, expecting the worst. Inside, she was wishing she and Jack could be teleported somewhere else, somewhere safer so they could still stop the ghost before them.
The gem in her pocket began to glow, and before either could react, a portal formed under their feet and they fell through. Pravus gasped in horror as the portal disappeared. "No- no!They have it! They have that gem with them! How am I going to..." She paused. "They'll return eventually, Pravus. They have to. And their daughter is still here...and this could give me time to build up my army again without any sort of interruption. Yes, indeed. This could be useful..."
Upstairs, the door opened. Jazz looked around, wondering why there was silence. "Hello? Anyone-" She was cut off when the ghost her parents had been hunting appeared before her with a twisted smile. Jazz fainted from shock and fear. Pravus laughed.
"That was easy. Now I have a hostage. Seems like everything is going my way today!"
Maddie and Jack struggled to get to their hooves in their strange new pony bodies, but managed to do so to rush up to Danny- awkwardly tripping every so often- and shower him with excitement and love. "You have no idea how glad we are to see you!" Maddie cried, kissing Danny all over. Jack had wrapped Danny in a bear hug of sorts. Danny blushed and was happy to see them as well.
Everypony waited for a minute, and when they pulled away, Celestia spoke, smiling. "I take it you are Danny's parents?" she asked. Maddie and Jack looked up with smiles as well- and a bit of awe for the tall pegasus-unicorn before them.
"Oh, yes! And what is your name?" Jack asked.
"I'm Princess Celestia. Pleasure to meet you two." she said, offering her hoof to be shook. The parents gasped and took turns quickly shaking hooves.
"You are Princess Celestia!" Maddie said, shocked. Celestia chuckled and nodded. The parents quickly greeted Sam and Tucker and turned to the wide-eyed group of ponies that the kids had said were helping them. "Are you all the ponies that Danny, Sam, and Tucker said that were helping?"
"Yes. Pleasure to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton." Twilight Sparkle said. Jack beamed.
"Oh, so you're Twilight Sparkle! Pleasure is ours."
"And I'm Pinkie Pie!" Pinkie Pie shouted out, getting their attention. She gleefully hopped up and down. "And these are my friends, Applejack-"
"Hello, y'all." Applejack said casually.
"Rainbow Dash-"
"Hi there!" The pegasus said it with a grin.
"Rarity-"
"It's a pleasure." Rarity said.
"And Fluttershy!"
"H- hi..." Fluttershy murmured shyly, smiling softly. Maddie and Jack giggled.
"Oh, nice to meet you all, and Princess Celestia...thank you so much for...for coming here to help my son and his friends. I regret to say that we're not here on the most easy of terms. We took the ghost's necklace and found out her name and plans."
Celestia paused. She went past them to see the gem laying on the ground. Her eyes widened. "Not even I would've thought it was real. Even I thought it was a mere fairy tale. But here it is."
Jack frowned, confused. "What? What's so special about it? Well, other than the fact that it sent us to this pony-world-thing." he said, raising an eyebrow. Celestia turned to them.
"'Tis a long story, but I will repeat it for you..." she trailed off and began to tell the story again. By the end of it, Maddie and Jack had their jaws drop.
"That's her we're dealing with?" Maddie asked, surprised. Celestia nodded.
"Yes."
"Well...we hate to confirm the worst, but she's gone bad." Jack said, sighing. "We heard her plans when we caught her to interrogate her. She also almost killed us before we got teleported here."
Twilight Sparkle grimaced. "She's gone from 'her heart was in the right place' to 'cold-blooded killer for whatever she wants to get'?" she asked. "I'm sorry, it doesn't seem possible...how in Equestria could a good-hearted pony turn into a murderer? Is it possible she's under a spell of some sort?" she asked. Celestia shook her head.
"I'm not sure, my faithful student. It may be possible. But for now, we have to figure on stopping her first, then seeing if something's really happened to her. Maddie, Jack, please, can you tell us what you heard or saw?"
"Of course..." Maddie took a breath, then repeated everything to the group. With each word, they became increasingly horrified- at one point, Fluttershy hid under the table. Finally, Twilight Sparkle scowled.
"Just as I suspected- she wouldn't leave our world alone, either. But here's another problem. You have the necklace- she doesn't. She's still going to build up an army and take over the Earth and Ghost Zone while we're away- and she'll be expecting us to come back in attempt to stop her."
"We'll have to build up a strong defense when we try to return. Rushing in without preparation is too dangerous. I'll have to have all my best magicians- including you, Twilight Sparkle- come with us, as well as the strongest ponies possible."
"Hah! You got me, we got no worries." Rainbow Dash said proudly. All of a sudden, Maddie gasped out in terror.
"Jazz! She's still there! What if-" Both of the parents began to panic. Danny and his friends looked pale and worried as well at the mention of it. Celestia frowned.
"Who is Jazz?"
"Our daughter; oh my gosh, can we go back for a minute to make sure she's okay? Please?" Jack asked. Celestia nodded.
"Very well. But I will come along to keep you two safe."
"Fair enough. C'mon, let's go." Jack said, running without any hesitation. Danny almost came along, but Maddie held him back.
"Danny, no. It's too dangerous for you. I won't risk losing another child. Stay here." she said sternly. Danny almost opened his mouth to protest, but then remembered: secret identity. He shut his mouth closed and sighed and nodded, depressed. Celestia cast Danny a look that said the following: they don't know? Danny shook his head, frowning. He got a disapproving frown from her, and she picked up the necklace. With another portal, the three ponies were gone for the moment. Silence filled the room for the longest time.
Applejack murmured something to her friends, who all nodded in agreement. Fluttershy pulled herself out from under the table. "We need to talk, Danny." Twilight Sparkle said seriously. Danny and his friends shared a look, then looked towards the mane six. Applejack was first to speak.
"Danny, if we're gonna find a way to save all three worlds, we need your help. And since your parents are here, they're gonna help, too."
"So...you can't just try hiding you-know-what. It'll just make the whole thing way too hard for all of us." Rainbow Dash said. "They need to know. Not just because they're your parents. But because you trying to hide it the whole time will just slow down the process and make it difficult."
Danny was looking down at the ground, trying not to make eye contact. Sam and Tucker were silent. Danny felt his stomach lurch and his blood run cold. "I...oh- do I have to?"
"Yes, darling." Rarity said, "Did you see Celestia's face at finding out your parents were unaware? When she thinks it's wrong they don't know, it is. Not to mention we all do."
"I..."
"Danny..." Fluttershy managed to speak up, walking up to Danny. "Danny, I know you said you're not afraid of your parents rejecting you...but even if you were, um...I saw how happy they were when they saw you. I take care of animals on a daily basis; I know love when I see it. Please..." her voice was soft and timid, yet strong at the same time. Danny's face contorted into a mixed expression. He seriously didn't like the idea.
"Danny, they're right." Twilight Sparkle said. "Look- we'll give you alone time in my library, and we'll let you do your thing. Complete and utter privacy."
"Oh, gosh, I...I...Sam, Tuck, what do you guys think?" Danny asked, looking to them for some sort of reason to not do it. Both of them were quiet. Tucker cleared his throat.
"Well...dude, they're kinda...right. But...you know, what Fluttershy said."
"Just do it, Danny. It'll all be okay." Sam said. Danny looked hesitant, but then Sam lightly kissed his cheek, making them go bright red. He slowly nodded.
"I...okay..." he said. He sucked in a breath. "Thanks, guys..."
Rarity smiled. "You know, you two are absolutely adorable together. Now, I swear, if one time you two would like to go on a date, I can get you two the most darling outfits-"
"We are not a couple!" both shouted, mortified. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.
"You guys, seriously, it's kind of obvious. Like, it's all over the place. And I never point this sort of stuff out-"
"We are not!"
Rarity and Rainbow Dash began to giggle and shared a high-hoof. "Danny and Sam, sittin' in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Pinkie Pie cheered. Tucker was beginning to laugh at the non-couple's dismay. But everypony stopped when they heard sobbing. Behind them, the ponies who left had come back, and in Jack's hoof was a note that Lady Pravus had left, concerning the kidnapping of their daughter. It read:
To Whom it May Concern-
I have your daughter. Is she a hostage? Yes. Now, I won't hurt the pretty at all...if you agree to join me for an eternity and tell no one about my plans. Say no to either and your girl goes bye-bye.
Love, Lady Pravus.
Maddie was sobbing and Jack was holding her and attempting to calm her, all the while looking furious at the letter. Danny walked up and took it, read it for a moment, he becoming more and more enraged with each word. He then paused. He put the note on the table and determination ran through him. "Mom, Dad." he said. Both parents looked towards him. "I have something to tell you. Everypony, can you please-"
"On it." Twilight Sparkle said, leading everyone out with her. She whispered the plan to Princess Celestia, who nodded and left with them. Sam and Tucker cast him a supportive smile and left, closing the door behind them. Jack watched them leave, confused.
"Danny? What on earth's going on?"
Danny sighed. "It's time you two learned something..."
Danny took a breath. He didn't know what was more awkward- this revelation for his parents or telling all the parents that their children had become ponies. He was leaning towards the latter. Fighting back his twisting and turning gut, his rapidly beating heart, and his blood that seemed ice cold, he tried to smile and horribly failed at it. "Mom...Dad..." Sweat dripped down his face. He put his wings back against his body.
"Danny-boy...are you alright?" Jack asked, seeing fear written all over his son. Danny nodded.
"Oh- of course. Just...I may be able to help you guys save Jazz, but I would have to tell you this first..." The boy gulped. Maddie and Jack gasped.
"Danny, if it can help Jazz, tell us. We can see you're nervous, but just know: no matter what, we are your parents, and we love you." Maddie said. What Fluttershy had said momentarily flashed in Danny's head. He nodded.
"Alright. Well...I'll start with the beginning. The Fenton Portal- you remember how it didn't work at first?"
Both parents shared a look. How would that help Jazz? Danny continued.
"And...well, I was sad that you both were sad...I had never seen you both so down. So, um...I took the jumpsuit that Dad had made for me and took off the chest sticker. I decided to try to go into the portal and see if I could fix it. Um, I did kind of...but it backfired...literally. On me." He chuckled awkwardly. Maddie and Jack widened their eyes in horror.
"Oh my gosh, Danny! You were electrocuted by the portal? Why didn't you tell us?" Maddie asked.
"And are you alright?" Jack inquired, looking at his son carefully, observing for any sort of oddity. Danny sighed.
"I'll get to that in a minute. And Dad, I'm fine. But, um, it didn't come without side effects. Very...unusual side effects. Like, side effects that neither of you would even dream of."
No words for a few seconds. "...And what would...would that be?" Jack asked. Danny took another deep breath. This was it.
"Well...how's ghost powers for unusual?" he asked, raising a hoof up and willing it to glow green. Maddie and Jack dropped their jaws and their eyes were as wide as dinner plates. Danny continued on. "Moreover, half ghost. That is why all your inventions target me. That is why I am always nervous about your new inventions. As well as the reason why I've been running off from time to time to do something out of the blue."
Not a single word came from his parents. He looked away. "...And I was expecting that. Ugh...sometimes I don't know whether these powers are a gift or a curse. Maybe both."
Still neither adult said anything. Danny didn't want to meet their eyes. "This isn't an unusual reaction," Danny reminded himself. "You'd be freaked out, too, if you found out something you made turned your kid into a half ghost."
But then arose another painful point to the boy...this was only the first baby step in telling them. The second was going full out and telling them that their son was Danny Phantom. And he had to do both in one day. One very uncomfortable day. He let the glow over his hoof go out and was mulling over how to go about it for he didn't know how long until a hoof was placed on Danny's shoulder. Looking up, he saw that his dad was smiling a tiny smile, but nonetheless a smile, at his son. "Danny...why is this something to hide from us? Why didn't you tell us before?" Jack asked, looking very mixed in emotion. Danny shrugged.
"Well...you guys are both ghost hunters. I'm a half ghost. Little bit of an awkward spot, right?" he pointed out. Maddie came up. Her and her son's eyes met for a second, then she gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"Oh, Danny! You really thought that we'd hunt our own son? Of course not. Not ever. Oh, honey...we're disappointed you didn't tell us earlier- especially about something as big as...this, but better now than never. We'll have to deal with that later. You said you could help Ja-"
"Mom...I'm afraid that's not all of it. No, there's one other...big...thing that came along with it." Danny stuttered. Both parents blinked. What could be more shocking than what they just learned and were barely beginning to grasp at all?
"Well, then, shoot." Jack said. "We can't possibly be more shocked in a single day, plus you're not getting off with telling us a half truth if there's more."
A half truth. "So...so ironic..." Danny thought to himself. He nodded. "Alright. But here's the deal. You guys won't accuse me. Just let me explain." he said. His parents quickly agreed to it, and he himself was barely realizing the enormity of what he was telling his parents. "Alright. Well, the thing about being half ghost is...we have two forms. One human, one ghost. As such, I can transform into ghost form freely. So, I gave myself a secret identity so I could hunt ghosts. See how that could make it easier? The only sad part is...well...when you're accused of something you didn't do- like kidnapping a mayor who is, in truth, being overshadowed by a ghost who hates you, and another time where you're mind controlled or something for a criminal to steal- when you have trouble telling your own parents the whole secret because they think the ghost is evil, too. But...I'm not evil..."
Danny's parents were processing his words. Soon enough, both began to pale, realizing what Danny was saying and who he truly was. Danny was only prolonging the inevitable by this point. "...And as such...well...that's why I...kept it a secret so long. For...um...you know what? To heck with this. I'm going ghost!" The pegasus threw himself into the air. Rings formed around him and changed him into a phantom pegasus- green eyes, white hair, DP cutie mark and all. This had taken Danny no longer than a few seconds to change, but to his parents, it seemed to be a dramatic, slow change.
Danny Phantom as a pegasus stood before them. Their son.
The two before him were speechless- that was an understatement. Try as they may whilst their brains struggled to register what just happened and what they learned, they couldn't form any words. Their son was the ghost they hunted the most often, the one they spoke the most poorly of, and the one they distrusted the most. And here he was, disproving all the things they said and all the things they thought they knew about the ghost boy. Everything was changing so fast, so instantly. It seemed like a dream.
Everything was so unreal. And it was reality.
Danny knew that his parents were having trouble absorbing everything. But he cleared his throat and spoke up. "Guys, if we're gonna save Jazz, I want us to act fast. I want you to trust me. I have an idea." he said. There was a moment- another quiet moment- and his parents both slowly nodded. Jack managed to crack a smile again.
"Hey, Maddie...our son is a ghost hunter...it's...it's my dream come true that one of my kids would do it." Jack sniffled. A tear managed to find its way out of his eye. Danny grinned broadly and walked up. He hugged his father, who in turn returned the bear hug. Soon enough, Maddie was in on it as well.
"C'mon. We gotta save Jazz...let's go get everyone else. Danny, we're all ears when everyone's together." Maddie said. Danny changed back. They all left the library and decided to walk to Sugarcube Corner- they had a feeling that everyone was waiting there. And indeed they were. As soon as they reached it, everypony looked up, wondering how it went. Pinkie Pie ran up.
"Hey Danny! How did it go? Did we tell you so?"
"Pinkie, not now. We'll discuss this if they want to when we're not in public earshot." Twilight Sparkle said. They all headed back and once they got back, Pinkie bounced up and down.
"Okay, so how did it go?"
"We told you so, right?" Rainbow Dash asked. Danny was about to answer when his parents did for him.
"It went fine," Maddie said. "We're still shocked, but we need to collect ourselves if we need to act fast. Danny, your suggestion?"
Danny nodded. "Alright, here's the idea. Humans are the ghosts in the Ghost Zone. So...it would be perfect condition for me to run in and be unnoticed and take Jazz ASAP. But there's a problem. If I get caught, I want to be able to disappear back here with the necklace, that would be useful. But in the case of I can't go invisible, the necklace would be obvious. I want Pravus to think- in the rare or uncommon chance that she might catch me that I might not have it. Twilight Sparkle, Celestia, do either of you know any sort of spell that could turn it invisible for the moment? I couldn't do it without making my neck invisible in the process, which would look way too suspicious. Anyhow, I'll grab her and the second I do, I'll come back here. We'll explain everything later. What matters is that she's out of Pravus's hoofs."
"Danny? I'm sorry, but...don't you think she'd have a trap up or something for you?" Tucker asked. Danny shook his head.
"I could use the necklace and come back in any moment of danger." he said. Danny looked to his parents, who looked hesitant about letting their son do such a thing.
"Danny-boy...why can't your mother or I go or something?" Jack asked. Danny frowned.
"I have ghost powers, I am half a ghost." he said. Twilight spoke up.
"Perhaps I might know a spell that could do what Danny asked. Still, isn't this a little too...obvious? C'mon, she really wouldn't just..."
"I'll have the necklace. I can go back when in desperate need." he reminded them. "And does anypony else have a better idea?"
Nopony said anything. "That's what I thought..." Danny paused. "Where's the necklace again?"
"Here it is." Celestia put it around Danny's neck. "I have faith in you, Danny Phantom. Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student, can you do the honors?"
"I'm on it, your majesty." Twilight concentrated and closed her eyes. Her horn glowed. After a second, the magic had the intended effect. The gem had disappeared before everyone's eyes, and Danny could still feel it around his neck. He smiled and went ghost again.
"I think we're ready to roll, guys."
Danny floated out into the Ghost Zone from a portal. He momentarily paused and looked himself over- he didn't have a pony body. He sighed, relieved. "Man, it feels good to be back to normal, if only for a little bit..." he muttered to himself. He smiled softly and turned invisible. He, like his parents, soon realized that the zone seemed empty. Not a single ghost present- and not a sound was present either. He frowned. "I...don't like the looks of this." he muttered. "Something's wrong."
Someone tapped his shoulder. Turning around, he saw a ghost floating behind him with a frown. "What are you doing out in the open, ghost child? Come hide! She cannot know that there are ghosts afoot without her knowledge. Come!" It grabbed him and flew off. The ghost took him behind one of the many floating rock islands of the Zone. Both turned visible again. Danny frowned.
"Who are we hiding from?" he asked. The ghost shuddered.
"You don't know? The...the unicorn ghost. It's been taking ghosts and using its horn to hypnotize them. She's building some sort of army. I'm not sure how many ghosts she's taken so far, but she does groups one by one. We live in fear in this zone right now. One false movement could get us captured. We don't want to fight. We want to just be left alone in our zone." it explained. Danny groaned.
"Oh, her. Figures. I just came to rescue my sister."
"Fat chance. If your ghost sister is under her control, you can't do a thing unless you overthrow the unicorn herself."
Danny shook his head. "No, no...my sister's a human. She's taken her hostage. I'm going to sneak her away."
"That human is your sister, ghost child? Danny Phantom, I don't know if this job is even a job you could handle." the ghost said mournfully. Danny chuckled.
"Wow. You're the first ghost to not point out who I am the minute you met me."
"It doesn't matter who is who right now in this time of despair. You're going to need more than just yourself to take her down."
"I have more than just myself. This is just a quick solo mission." he said. The ghost gasped.
"There are people working to save us all?"
"Yes." Danny couldn't help but love the look of joy that came on the ghost's face.
"Oh! Please save us, Danny Phantom! You and whomever your group is, please!" it pleaded. Danny nodded.
"You can count on us. Just keep hiding and you'll be fine. I promise." With that, Danny turned invisible and flew off, leaving a hopeful ghost behind him.
Flying around for a bit longer, he spied a large group of ghosts- some he knew and some he didn't- all bunched together. Danny flew forward, still invisible, and saw that they were all staring off at something. Danny poked one, and it didn't even budge. It seemed like its mind was gone. He frowned. "Okay...this is definitely not natural. At all." Continuing on, he observed them. Not a word or even a 'boo' came from them, not a single one moved an inch. He flew up to another one. "Hello? Anyone home there?" he asked it. It didn't seem to hear him. The boy frowned. "You guys are all..." A bad feeling rose in his gut.
He continued onwards and found the suspected source- Lady Pravus. She was speaking. "All of you will do what I tell you, come when I tell you, and never think of anything else but doing my will. Understand?" she said. The ghosts all simultaneously nodded. She went on, but Danny began to ignore her- for he saw Jazz floating unconscious right behind her, tied up and gagged. Slowly looking back and forth between her and Pravus, carefully he went behind her. He almost didn't breath. He touched his sister's ropes and the minute he did, a cage sprung up around him and Jazz. Pravus turned around, grinning cockily. "Did you really think it would be that easy to grab your sister and waltz out of here?" She turned to the group. "Begone, slaves!" she snapped. All the ghosts flew away, still in the group. Danny turned visible, scowling and glaring at her. Pravus gasped and then chuckled.
"Even better- you don't have the necklace. Now I have two hostages. How about that?"
Danny did his best to continue acting. "Oh, shoot! I'm doomed!" He feigned fear. She didn't notice a thing.
"Of course you are. Now..." Her horn began to glow again. Before she did what she was going to intend to do, Danny lifted his hand and froze her. That bought enough time to form a portal and skedaddle out of danger. Quickly Pravus thawed herself out, but when she did, she saw that both hostages were gone. Her jaw became loose for a second before she let out an infuriated scream.
Back in Ponyville, everypony was uneasily waiting, worrying about all sorts of possibilities as to what happened. But all stopped when a portal formed. Danny came out, pegasus once more, and Jazz with him, one of her ropes in his mouth to carry her. He placed her down and smiled.
"Yay." Fluttershy was first to squeak. Everypony let out a cheer, and Danny was quickly attacked with hugs from his parents.
"Thank you so much! We're so..." Jack began to sniffle and then sobbed. Twilight Sparkle wasted no time using her magic to take off the ropes and gag, dropping it all on the floor. Everyone looked at Jazz- she was a light pink unicorn pony with a thought bubble cutie mark. She moaned, but didn't wake up. Rarity smiled.
"I say the darling deserves to rest a bit. She's been through enough in one day."
"No kidding." Twilight Sparkle gestured to Jazz, and Jack picked her up. She led him to a bed to place Jazz in. Maddie came up and pulled the blanket over her daughter. Sam and Tucker came up to Danny, grinning. They shared a three-way hoof-bump. Pinkie Pie was jumping up and down.
"Oh! Oh! I can't wait to really meet Jazz! Oh! I should throw a party for all the new ponies when she wakes up!"
"Pinkie, not yet. Let's wait until this is all over and everyone is safe. Then you can throw a huge, enormous party for all." Twilight said as she came back. Pinkie at first looked disappointed, but then grinned.
"Hey, you're right! Imagine the huge party and cake and balloons and...eee !" she squealed. Danny changed back to normal. A few minutes later, the necklace became visible. Danny looked around.
"Where did Celestia go?"
"She went back to go start forming the royal army of the strongest and best magicians. Did you hear anything from Pravus?" Sam asked. Danny shrugged.
"Not much other than what my mom and dad said. But...I encountered a ghost who pulled me over, thinking I was in danger- I guess I kind of was. But anyhow, the ghost asked for us to save them. I said of course."
"That's what I'm talkin' about!" Rainbow Dash said cheerfully. Fluttershy looked out the window.
"Oh, it's getting late. I should get going." she said. Twilight nodded.
"Good idea. We're gonna need sleep if we're going to brave tomorrow." she said. The ponies left, leaving Twilight Sparkle, Spike- who was busy writing a letter to Celestia- the Fenton family, and Sam and Tucker. By this point, there were so many ponies that some slept on the floor in sleeping bags. Soon everypony went to sleep after Spike sent the letter. A few hours before the sun came up, everyone woke up to a shriek that was Jazz's.
"What the heck happened to me? I'm a unicorn!"
There was a second of silence before Rarity and Applejack scowled, furious. "You..." Applejack started.
"Are..." Rarity continued.
"So..."
"Grounded!" they both shouted. The fillies cowered back. Maddie, Jack, and Jazz stared at the kids, confused.
"Who are you three?" Jack asked. Rarity sighed.
"That's Apple Bloom, Applejack's little sister, Sweetie Belle, my little sister, and Scootaloo." she said.
"They followed us before when Danny showed us his powers. They found out his secret by accident, and what are you girls doing again ?" Applejack said, giving a strict look to them. Apple Bloom looked down.
"I'm sorry, sis. But we just wanted to try different things and earn our cutie marks. Maybe ghost hunting is ours." she said hopefully. Sweetie Belle shyly shrugged.
"You see, we're some of the only fillies at school without cutie marks. We're the Cutie Mark Crusaders. We're trying to find our special talent so we get our cutie marks. It's hard enough to be in school without a cutie mark when everpony else has one." she explained. Maddie, Jack, and Jazz all understood and gave an "oh" each. Maddie grinned and walked up.
"Girls, ghost hunting is an extremely dangerous profession. My husband and I- and I'm sure my son over there- have been in life-or-death situations more than once." she said. Scootaloo groaned.
"It sounds like the perfect way to get a super-cool, awesome cutie mark! I don't care how dangerous it is!" she stubbornly said. Jazz rolled her eyes.
"Trust me, girls, you don't want this freakish career. I had to grow up with parents who were obsessed with ghosts and my brother got into an accident and turned himself into a half ghost- which wasn't painless, from what I heard."
"Are you kidding me? It was beyond painful. I can't even tell you how awful it was. It was indescribable- I couldn't put the pain in words. It's like having the worst, most throbbing pain you can think about a thousand fold." Danny said and snorted. Everypony grimaced at that. Even the crusaders backed up a bit. Rarity looked to Celestia.
"Stories aside, we don't really have much time to run back and forth from Ponyville to get them home. Is there anypony who can take them back and make sure they stay?" she asked. Celestia smiled.
"Of course. Derpy Hooves!" she called. A cross-eyed soldier came out from the group. "Derpy, would you mind taking these three fillies over here home?"
"Sure thing, your majesty! I'll take them home with me and make some muffins for them." she said, trotting over to them. Celestia turned to whisper to Applejack and Rarity.
"She has a daughter of her own named Dinky. She also lives in Ponyville, so she'll probably just take them home with her until you come back." she explained. The two ponies nodded as Derpy took the groaning fillies back out with her towards Ponyville. After they left, Danny bowed his head down. Celestia took the necklace from him. "Are you all ready?" Everypony nodded. "Then let's be on our way."
Celestia's horn glowed, and so did the necklace. A large portal appeared behind them. "Let's go!" Rainbow Dash eagerly shouted, as everypony ran through the portal. Seconds after going through, the Fenton family and Sam and Tucker found themselves to be human again- and floating in some random part of the Ghost Zone. Everyone sighed, enjoying seeing thumbs again.
Behind them, the ponies were in awe of the Ghost Zone. They gazed about, taking in everything. Twilight Sparkle gasped. "It's...it's so beautiful. It's fascinating! I swear..."
"And I'm the one who still thinks it's just plain creepy." Danny muttered. Rainbow Dash was looking about and hadn't seen the human forms yet, along with the rest.
"Can it, ghost pon..." she stopped as she saw everyone, human again. Everypony looked, then gasped. Twilight Sparkle came up to them.
"Wow...this is what humans look like?" she asked. They nodded. Rarity ran right up to them.
"These...outfits! How different they are for a bipedal creature!" she said. Applejack poked at Tucker's fingers for a second.
"And these...what happened to your hooves?"
"They look just like fingers that I see on monkey hands." Fluttershy murmured.
"Skin, hair only on their head, no cutie marks, no wings, no horns, fingers, you're bipedal...quite different." Twilight Sparkle summarized. Danny chuckled lightly. His parents came up. Maddie cleared her throat, getting everyone's attention.
"We're going to be going along with Princess Luna now. Is there a cellphone we can take so we can stay in touch?" she asked. Tucker nodded, taking the bag that Danny was carrying and took out a phone and handed it to them.
"We'll have my PDA on at all times." Tucker said. Celestia whistled.
"You all, we better get going." she called. Danny and his parents shared a quick hug, then everyone went off. Fluttershy was about to follow them out of instinct, when Zecora paused her. Fluttershy looked up at the zebra, then looked back at the group who was leaving. She looked back up to Zecora.
"Um...Zecora-"
"Go." she said simply and with a smile. Fluttershy smiled softly and ran up to catch up. Rarity turned to look at Fluttershy.
"Fluttershy, I thought you were staying with Zecora? Are you coming along now?"
"Yes. I can't leave my friends...even if I'm a little afraid..." she said. Danny paused for a second.
"Guys, those ghosts are going to be here any minute. Everyone put a hoof or hand on me. Just trust me." he said. They did as told, including Celestia, and Danny allowed invisibility to cover his body and spread to the others. Most of the ponies yelped in surprise. Danny frowned. "Are you guys gonna be alright with this?" he asked. Applejack nodded.
"It-it feels cold...and tingly...but we'll live." she said, still getting used to the odd sensation. Sam giggled.
"You get used to it." she said.
Pravus watched the army's movement with her magic. She scowled, then turned to the army of ghosts behind her. "Go!" she snapped. All the ghosts flew off. Pravus shook her head. "They really think they can stop me? Fat chance." she sneered. She used her magic again and watched as the ghosts came in to meet the incoming army of ponies. "I may not be able to see those brats and their friends, but I know they're here..."
Fluttershy squeaked in shock whilst the rest tried to remain quiet when they saw ghosts incoming towards the pony army not far away from them. Twilight Sparkle stared, mystified. "Ghosts. There's...so many of them." she said. Rarity nearly gave a disgusted cry.
"My goodness, they can't even wear any fashion?" she asked. Applejack snickered.
"Uh, Rarity, I doubt that's the first thing on a ghost's mind."
"Well, at least Danny wears something somewhat fashionable!" Rarity pointed out. Sam shrugged.
"Some do wear clothes...some don't. Tucker, hand me the thermos." she said. Tucker pulled it out of the bag and handed it over. Sam pointed it away and opened the thermos. The Box Ghost, no longer pony, came out.
"I am the Box- oh wait, I'm not a pony anymore. But still! I am the Box Ghost! And I know Danny Phantom and his friends are hiding somewhere!" he snapped. Rarity gave a disgusted cry, accidentally blowing their cover. The Box Ghost turned in the direction of the voice. "I know someone is there! Show yourself!"
"Uh, I will not!" Rarity snapped. "I'm sorry, but that outfit is just...hideous! It doesn't put any sort of fear in me, nor is it fashionable in the least! Seriously, overalls? I can't say I'm struck with fear at all, nor in awe of a wonderful fashion sense." she snapped. The Box Ghost frowned. Danny was trying to get Rarity to move along, but Rarity wasn't done yet.
"You- you don't like my outfit?" The Box Ghost sounded hurt. Rarity sighed.
"I'm sorry, darling, but it's a cold, hard truth. But it's possible to re-do that wardrobe you know. There's always time to make a good fashion choice." she said. The Box Ghost agreed.
"You're right. I will be back eventually, with a new fashion choice that looks good and invokes fear! Beware!" he shouted, then flew off. Applejack rolled her eyes, while the rest stared, open-mouthed. Applejack threw a hoof at her face.
"Well, that was a perfect time waster." Applejack muttered. Rarity frowned.
"Applejack, dear, I did him a favor. Even ghosts need to look fashionable." she said. They kept going. Danny frowned.
"How're we gonna find Pravus?" he asked. Twilight Sparkle thought for a minute.
"Well, we know where the ghosts came from. She's probably in the direction of which they came." she suggested. Sam grinned.
"Ooh, smart."
"I can't wait until we get to her! I'm gonna show her a think or two, and then-"
"Whoa, slow down, Rainbow Dash." Applejack snapped. "We gotta be careful. If we aren't cautious, this might end badly." she said. Rainbow Dash sighed.
"Well," she said, "at least when the time's right, I'll show her a thing or two!" she said stubbornly. Fluttershy's eyes went wide.
"Um...guys?" she said. "I think our talking caught a ghost's attention."
Everypony saw a ghost approaching them- it had heard them. Danny allowed a hand to glow green. Right as the ghost got a step too close, he blasted it. It snarled, then came back. Applejack let go of Danny for a second to quickly buck the ghost in the head, then ran back. To their surprise, the ghost stopped all of a sudden. It dizzily wavered back and forth, then shook itself. It looked back to the battle of ghosts and ponies in alarm and then fled.
Celestia thought for a moment. "It looked as if it had no idea what was going on, like it had woken up from a trance." she pointed out. Applejack smiled.
"Maybe my buck to the head was hard enough to snap it out of it." she said. Danny's eyes all of a sudden went wide. He smiled.
"I have an idea. Tucker, call my parents. Tell them to call back the army towards where we came out of the portal. Try to lead the ghosts over there." he said. Tucker raised an eyebrow.
"Why would we do that?"
"Because, if they're all hit with something strong enough to snap them all out of it, then they'll flee like that one did. I can use my ghostly wail on them." he suggested. Rarity frowned.
"Forgive me if I'm wrong, but didn't you say that it knocked you out when you used that power?"
"Yes; but what power will Pravus have with no army to defend her and an entire army against her?" he asked. Tucker quickly called up Danny's parents. After a minute of talking, he hung up.
"They're doing what you asked. We better get back, and fast."
Everypony and person had run or flown at top speed to get back to where they originally started. Danny's parents and Luna were waiting, and the army was coming back behind them. Jack looked at his son. "Danny, are you sure about this?" he asked. Danny nodded.
"I'm sure." he said. Luna looked as the last soldier came back, and the entire ghost army was following.
"You need to act now, Danny Phantom." she said. Danny nodded, determined.
"Alright, everyone- and pony- stay behind me and cover your ears." he said. Celestia shouted out to the army to follow orders to cover ears and stay put. When the ghosts came close enough, Danny took in a deep breath and released in a ghostly wail.
Everyone shut their ears tight and was shocked by the sheer power that came from Danny. Rainbow Dash gasped.
"It's just like a ghostly sonic rainboom!" she yelled, barely audible. Pinkie Pie began to scream, too, smiling while doing it- trying to help Danny.
The ghosts were pushed back by the wail and tossed by it. The force felt like a hurricane at full force. Eventually Danny changed back to human form during the wail, but didn't stop it. He kept going on for longer than he had in the past with the wail. He began to ignore his friends' and parents' orders to stop, and after a few more minutes, stopped the wail. Pinkie stopped when he did. She coughed.
"Ouch, sore throat!" she squeaked. "But we sure showed 'em!"
Indeed, the wail had its intended effect; the ghosts were all groggy and confused, but after a second, looked to the pony army and fled.
Danny was only awake long enough to see Pravus appear before passing out. His friends and family let out alarmed cries at his fainting. Zecora and Jazz ran up to him and took him back with them. Pravus sneered. "You may have defeated my army, but there isn't a chance you can stop me!" she snapped. Her horn began to glow before it was stopped by Celestia.
"Not on my watch, Lady Pravus." she said. Celestia used her magic to stop Pravus's. She walked up to her. "Pravus, what happened to you? You used to be one of the nicest ladies of Canterlot. You even used to have a different name, until you changed it for...this reason, I suppose. Your real name should be Strawberry Blossom, like it was before.
"Strawberry Blossom?" Everyone blurted, surprised. Celestia continued.
"Lady Blossom, you had special talents. You were good at growing strawberries. You were always so kind, so cheerful, so eager to help...what happened to you? All of a sudden, this happened. Why?" she asked. Pravus merely scowled and said nothing. Rainbow Dash smirked and flew forward behind Pravus, then bucked her in the back of the head, knocking her out for the moment. Everypony recoiled in surprise.
"Rainbow Dash, why did you do that?" Twilight Sparkle asked. Rainbow smiled.
"Because, maybe if it worked on those ghosts, it would work on her if something's wrong with her." she said. Sam came up, popped open the thermos, and sucked in Pravus.
"Well, we'll find out soon, then, I guess." Tucker said as the thermos was capped closed.
The smell of apples and tea met Danny's nose as he woke up. When he finally managed to blink his eyes open, he found he was lying on his living room couch. The windows had been covered so no one saw the ponies in the Fenton household. Princess Celestia (who was still wearing the necklace) was chatting with Twilight Sparkle. Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Sam were talking amongst themselves, and Rainbow Dash and Tucker were playing some game on his PDA- every so often Rainbow would suggest a move to Tucker, who would stubbornly pause the game and debate with her on the next move. Both were smiling and laughing during it. Applejack and Jazz weren't in sight, so Danny assumed that since the smell of apples and tea had been around when he woke, that they were in the kitchen making something.
His parents were sitting at the foot of his couch, beaming in relief at him. Danny opened his mouth to talk, but realized how raw it was and closed it with a low groan. The sound signaled he had awoken to everypony, grabbing their attention. As everyone approached, he was about to ask about Pravus before spying the thermos on the table. Applejack walked in. "Tea's ready, everypony!...and human. Or half ghost. Speaking of half ghosts, I see Danny's awake!"
Jazz ran in with a cup of tea for her brother. Danny took it, a little surprised, before taking a sip. Instantly, his throat felt better- he pulled back and stared at the tea in awe and curiosity. Then, without realizing it, he ended up drinking half of it in one sitting. He grinned. "This is great! How did it-"
"Zecora gave us some medicine to soothe sore throats before heading back to Ponyville. Applejack mixed in into your tea and it worked like a charm." Jazz said cheerfully. Applejack began to pass out cups of tea to everyone. Pinkie looked up at Applejack.
"Is the pie ready yet?" she asked excitedly. Applejack shook her head.
"No, it'll be a bit longer, Pinkie."
"Aww!"
Tucker looked to the thermos after sipping the fragrant, delicious tea. "We were going to interrogate Pravus, but then we decided to wait until you woke up."
"Right, and before we do that," Rainbow Dash interjected, "I have to ask, is that portal we came through to get to your house the same one you got your powers in?"
Danny nodded. "Yep."
"You told us about how you got into an accident in the portal...but if you don't mind, would you tell us the whole story, please?" Fluttershy asked. "But, um, if you don't want to, that's fine, too..." she quickly muttered. Danny looked at all of the ponies and his parents. They were all staring curiously. Sam, Tucker, and Jazz looked at each other nervously.
Danny put his tea down and took a deep breath. He then began to tell the tale- the whole tale- of the accident. He included how it felt, his shock, and every so often Sam and Tucker would interject their point of view of what was going on when Danny was having the accident. Everyone- even Pinkie Pie- sat in silence and listened closely. At the end, not a sound ruled the house. Twilight finally spoke. "Wow." she murmured. Danny blushed and nodded. Rarity gave him a very sympathetic, tiny smile. Danny's parents could only have inscrutable expressions, and the rest merely had wide eyes.
In attempt to clear the awkward air, Danny picked up the thermos. "Well, let's get on with Pravus...Celestia, can you use your magic in case she tries to escape?"
"Of course."
"Then let's start." He stood up and opened the thermos. Out tumbled a dazed and confused looking unicorn ghost. She blinked multiple times before gasping and backing away from the group.
"What happened?" she asked. Her voice was miles away from before. Unlike the cold, cruel, emotionless voice Pravus had, this new one was full of fear and timidness. "Where am I?"
"Pravus?" Twilight asked. Pravus looked up.
"Don't call me that. 'Tis a cursed name...my name is Strawberry Blossom. You can call me Blossom of Berry for short." she answered promptly. She moaned. "All I remember are bits and pieces and blurs...and...I can't feel my magic. Why can't I feel my magic?"
"Lady Strawberry Blossom, tell us what happened exactly, start to finish." Celestia said calmly. Berry turned her head to Celestia, gasped, and immediately struggled to her hooves to bow.
"Princess Celestia! I am so sorry for all the trouble. I must thank whomever removed the cloud from my mind..."
"That'd be me! Name's Rainbow Dash!" Rainbow said proudly. Berry jumped up and hugged her, much to everypony's surprise. Rainbow Dash stared for a moment before awkwardly patting her back. "H- hey, no prob..." she trailed off. Berry let go of her and turned to the others.
"I faintly remember you, Danny Phantom, and your sister...don't worry, your secret's safe with me." she said before Danny could say anything. "Oh, and what is everypony's names? I feel so rude to not ask..." After a quick introduction, Berry continued. "And may I recall my memories of how I...er, became a...ghost?" she asked painfully at the mention of being a ghost.
"Please do." Celestia answered. Strawberry Blossom began.
"Well, it all started when Prince Blueblood-"
Rarity gagged at the mention of his name. The Fentons, Sam, and Tucker were confused.
"Who?" Jack asked. Rarity scowled.
"A prince who only has one royal thing about him; he's a royal pain!" Rarity huffed. Tucker raised an eyebrow.
"Why, what did he do?"
"Well, I once dreamed of meeting him and falling swiftly in love...but when I actually got the chance to at the Grand Galloping Gala, it turned out he only cared about himself. Eventually he went as far as to use me as a pony cake shield when Applejack brought a cake into the party and it got thrown off the platter and towards us!" she snapped. Sam whistled.
"As I always say, looks are deceiving."
"In this case, tell me about it! Anywho, excuse me for interrupting. Please continue."
"Of course. Anyhow, he entered my strawberry shop and asked for me to deliver a dozen strawberries to him the next day. I said sure, and the next day when I came with his order, my mind went fuzzy...I suppose he used some sort of magic to get me to get the gem without him hurting himself." she finished. Rarity went red with rage.
"I knew it, I knew it! I knew he wasn't just some royal pain! He's worse, much-"
"Rarity, I will have him received for questioning when we get back." Celestia said, much to Rarity's satisfaction. Twilight frowned.
"Mind control is a very advanced magic, but it's even harder to ensure it doesn't go wrong. If he used it correctly, then she and the ghosts would've not been taken out of the spell by being hit."
"Why, do you know how to do it, Twilight?" Maddie asked. Twilight shook her head.
"No. I study magic, but I find mind control to be wrong and cruel- not to mention it's illegal!" she answered. "However, I know enough from reading about magic to know it's a spell that can go wrong very easily."
Strawberry Blossom sighed mournfully. "I...I wish I could go back to normal and back to my shop...I hardly care anymore if I get my magic back, I just want to return to normal..." Tears began to well in her eyes. Danny paused.
"...Wish...that's it!" In a flash, he transformed, grabbed the thermos, and flew towards the entrance of the lab. "I'll be right back, guys!" he said, flying into the lab to the portal before anypony could react.
"What in the world is he doin'?" Applejack asked aloud, baffled.
Danny came back twenty minutes later. Before anyone could question what he was doing, he popped open the thermos and out came a familiar green genie ghost named Desiree. Everypony screamed except for Pinkie Pie and Princess Celestia, and Fluttershy and Strawberry Blossom jumped under the table and clung onto each other. Danny's parents immediately pulled out ectoguns, Jazz grabbed the thermos, and Sam and Tucker held up tubes of lipstick weapons. Desiree was about to attack Danny when she spied Strawberry Blossom cowering under the table, terrified. Desiree turned to Danny.
"Child, if you wanted help in punishing this witch for controlling ghosts against their will, you could've just asked." she said, irritated. Danny shook his head.
"No. I wanted your help..." He told the whole story about Strawberry Blossom and the adventure. At the end of it, Desiree crossed her arms.
"Alright, so she is powerless now...why did you bring me here?"
"To ask for a wish. I know you were able to turn Tucker half ghost once, so I want to know if you can revive her." Gasps arose, and Strawberry gave Desiree a pleading look. Desiree ignored her and frowned.
"I suppose I could...however, it would take a lot of energy and effort. Why should I-" She paused and sniffed the air, and a smile graced her face. "What's that delightful smell? Pastries?"
"Oh, that'd be the Apple Family's famous apple pie!" Applejack said, walking forth proudly. "You won't find no better pie elsewhere."
Desiree thought for a minute, then spoke. "I'll do it for a free apple pie once a week on Saturdays, starting next week. You can deliver them in the lab at five p.m. You also give me the one right now. In exchange, I'll grant Strawberry Blossom her life back...but I won't restore her magic. I refuse to- so she's never a threat any longer."
Danny was about to protest the 'no magic', but Strawberry Blossom immediately nodded eagerly along with Applejack, who smiled as well. "That ain't a problem at all! Jus' tell yer ghost friends about my pie- I could sell pies to ghosts. That could be big business!" she exclaimed. Desiree grinned.
"Ah, the only time where a wish was a win-win. Every ghost will be envious of me- almost never do we get to have such sweets. No one will sell them to us, for obvious reasons, nor can we get the ingredients- this will be big in the Ghost Zone. Anyhow, let's get this over with. Someone make the wish." she said.
"I wish I was alive again!" Strawberry Blossom shouted.
"So you have wished it, and so it shall be!" Desiree said, raising her hands, which were glowing a soft white. There were a flash that lasted a few seconds, a shout from Strawberry Blossom, and when it faded, Desiree was gone along with the pie in the oven. Blossom was on the floor, unconscious. Her hair was green and her coat was red. Her cutie mark was now a basket of strawberries. Her horn had a long, gaping crack, where multiple smaller cracks branched out. There was a silence before Twilight used her magic and gently placed the unconscious unicorn on her back. Celestia looked to the necklace, then turned to Danny's parents.
"Do you have anywhere I could put something where the general public cannot get in and it is well protected from ghosts?"
Danny's parents were a bit surprised by the question, but Jack nodded. "Yes; the weapons vault. Only members of the Fenton clan can get in- it has a ghost proof seal around it, and has a password you have to type in to get in or out."
"Perfect. What about you ponies?" Celestia asked. Applejack nodded.
"Yep. I got space down in the cellar, where only Big Mac and I can get in- we're the only ones with the keys."
"Good. I would like to ask you two groups if you can spare part of the wall for a portal between the two worlds. I want to use the necklace and create a portal between our worlds." she said. Everypony absorbed it for a minute, then Danny's parents nodded.
"Yes; we can teach them the password to get out and into the vault." Maddie said.
"You can put the portal on the southwest corner of the cellar- it's empty there." Applejack said. Celestia nodded.
"Right. After we get the portal open, I need to take Lady Blossom to the Canterlot hospital, where she'll be watched overnight for any complications. Mr. and Mrs. Fenton, would you lead us to the vault please?" she asked. They did, with everypony following. As they entered, they marveled at the powerful weaponry that the Fentons had invented. Rarity cringed slightly.
"Are these all for ghost hunting?" she asked. Jack nodded proudly.
"Yep! And each one has the word 'Fenton' on it!" he responded. He failed to notice the unicorn move away from the guns and weapons and shudder. Danny swore he heard Rainbow Dash mutter something under her breath, the only words he caught were 'would've been nice to have these when' and 'parasprites'. Maddie pointed to the empty wall for Celestia to put the portal in, and Celestia began. She lifted the necklace into the air and separated the stone from it. It glowed- Celestia then grit her teeth in concentration as it became brighter until it flew into the wall and dissolved into a blue, swirling portal. Pinkie Pie bounded through it without a second to spare, making everyone follow. When they came out, they found Pinkie Pie smiling at a beyond baffled Big Macintosh staring, a bucket of apples at his hooves that he had long forgotten. He stared as everypony came out, along with six- seven including Strawberry Blossom, who was still on Twilight's back- unknown ponies.
Applejack turned to Danny. "Ah...Danny, er, since Big Mac's gonna be down here all the time-"
"Fine." The pegasus muttered bitterly at losing his secret to someone he just met. Applejack turned to her confused brother.
"Ah...I'm assumin' we're in fer a long explanation, ain't we?" she said weakly. Big Mac nodded.
"Eeyup..."
Big Mac had been told the whole story. He was shocked indeed, but when asked to keep Danny's secret and everything else secret, after a moment, he muttered "eeyup" and nodded. Celestia took Strawberry Blossom to the Canterlot hospital to keep an eye on her for any abnormalities for a day or two. Gossip was wild in Canterlot- apparently poor Lady Blossom had been kidnapped by Prince Blueblood, of all ponies, and mind controlled. There was no mention of ghosts. The story was thanks to Rarity, who covered up what needed to be covered up. It was quite the scandal to hear that Prince Blueblood was a wicked criminal.
Celestia sent out guards with a warrant for his arrest. Pinkie Pie had promptly made the big party she had wanted to make, and everypony came- Danny, Sam, Tucker, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton, the mane six, Spike, the cutie mark crusaders, Derpy Hooves, and even Zecora came to spend a bit of time. Celestia mentioned she wished she could come, as well as Luna, but the two princesses were far too busy with sorting out things after this had all ended. In the middle of the party, Twilight Sparkle and Spike had pulled into the corner. Spike had a piece of parchment and a quill in his claws, ready to take a letter. Twilight began.
"Dear Princess Celestia,
It's been a very wild few days, to say the least. We met new friends- especially one with quite a unique secret- and we ended up saving not one, but three worlds through teamwork. We never knew when Fluttershy first ran to us, telling us that three young teenage ponies were unconscious in her chicken yard, that it would lead to all of this. Not that that's a bad thing. Other than saving our fair country, the Ghost Zone, and Earth, we saved Lady Strawberry Blossom- albeit she'll have to live the rest of her life with those awful memories and without her magic, something I imagine would take a unicorn a lot to adjust to, and we revealed Prince Blueblood for who he truly is. I'll admit it's been scary at times, but we all made it. I learned that you never quite know who you'll meet or what will happen- the unexpected can and will occur. But even if so, every cloud has a silver lining. We persevered even in moments of fear, and we succeeded. Anyhow, I'm going to go continue hanging out with my friends.
Your faithful student, Twlight Sparkle."
Spike finished up her dictation, rolled up the letter, and sent it off with a puff of magic fire before the two ran off to go get cake and play.
Celestia was reading Twilight Sparkle's letter calmly with a proud smile on her face when two panting pegasus soldiers rushed in, quickly bowed before her, and stood. "Please forgive the abruptness, your majesty!" one of them panted. The other finished for him.
"We've searched high and low in Canterlot for Prince Blueblood. He's nowhere to be found, and none of the citizens have any idea where he is. He's gone !"
Jazz felt odd when she began to wake. Her whole body felt weird.- so unusual. "What on earth's going on?" she asked herself. She stopped short at the memory of what happened. Seeing that dreadful ghost that kidnapped her brother and his friends appear before her and then everything went black. "What happened?"
Cautiously she began to open her eyes. The first thing she noticed was that she was in a library in a bed. The next was her brother and his friends in pony form on the floor. She gasped at that, and then as she turned to the other side, she saw what appeared to be her parents. Everyone was asleep. She began to worry. "Oh my gosh, am I..." She looked down at herself and saw what she was dreading. Hooves. Beginning to panic, she looked around for some sort of mirror. She paused at the window behind her. She could see her reflection in the window vaguely. For a moment, she stared in shock, then raised a hoof to confirm it. When her hoof touched her horn, she finally shrieked.
"What the heck happened to me? I'm a unicorn!" she screamed. At that, everypony's heads darted up, confused and half asleep. Maddie was first to truly wake up enough to figure out what was wrong and stood up.
"Jazz, calm down. It's me, your mother. You were kidnapped by the ghost we were hunting and Danny came and rescued you. We managed to get the stone that teleported us between worlds. He brought you here. Everyone who comes here is instantly a pony. Just relax, Jazz...it's all okay." she said. Jazz was beyond confused still.
"But...if Danny came and rescued me and then you guys know he went into the Ghost Zone but were so calm about it, then-" She turned to Danny. "Danny, you..."
"They know, Jazz." Danny confirmed. Jack groaned, stretching a few muscles.
"Jazzerincess, Danny cared more about you than his secret. It's good that we know now anyhow." he said. Jazz turned to Danny, beyond grateful.
"Oh, Danny! Thank you so much!" She hopped out of bed and tackled Danny with a hug. Danny coughed for air for a few minutes while she squeezed him tight. Sam and Tucker snickered at their struggling friend. Soon Twilight Sparkle, mane frizzy from bed and Spike came in to see the display. Spike began to snicker at Danny as well, when Jazz turned and noticed them. "Oh!" She let go of her brother, who could finally breathe.
"You're welcome, Jazz..." he croaked. Twilight Sparkle approached Jazz.
"Hi, you're Jazz, Danny's sister, right?" she asked. Jazz nodded.
"Yes. And you are?"
"Twilight Sparkle. Pleasure to meet you." They shook hooves. Jazz looked at Spike.
"Oh, you're so cute! I don't believe we've met, either." she said. Spike grinned proudly.
"I am Spike! I am Twilight Sparkle's baby dragon assistant." he said. Jazz smiled.
"I'm Jazz. Pleasure to meet you, Spike!" she said. She turned back to the group. "So what did I miss exactly while I was out?"
"A lot." Sam said, yawning.
"It's a long story..." Tucker said. Danny shrugged.
"We'll tell you everything head-to-toe."
One Long Story Later...
Jazz was enraptured by the whole story. She was stunned by it all. After a moment, she shook her head. "Wow. You'd think I'd be used to huge things like this with a half ghost brother, but not this time."
"Hey, anyone would be freaked out to be a pony all of a sudden." Twilight Sparkle pointed out. Jazz laughed softly.
"Um, sorry I woke you guys all up..." she said. Twilight laughed.
"It's fine. We had to wake up soon, anyhow. Our friends will be here any min-" She was cut off by a banging at the door.
"Twilight! You home?" Rainbow Dash's voice rang.
"Speak of the devil." Sam said. Everyone walked down- well, Jazz tried, but had trouble walking in the new form. Danny paused and with Tucker went over and helped support her. As soon as Twilight opened the door, she saw her friends all there. Pinkie wasted no time bursting in and hopping up to Jazz.
"Hi, Jazz! We've heard about you and now you're conscious and now I get to finally meet you! I'm Pinkie Pie!" she said, bouncing up and down. Jazz stared at her, slightly amused.
"Hi, Pinkie. I'm Jazz. It's a pleasure." she said, holding out a hoof, which Pinkie happily shook. Everypony else walked up. Rarity frowned.
"Oh, my dear, are you having trouble walking?" she asked. Jazz shrugged.
"Well...a little, but I'm sure I'll learn just fine how to walk. And...you're..."
"Rarity, my dear. This is Rainbow Dash, you've already met Pinkie and Twilight, Fluttershy, and Applejack." she introduced. Pinkie was still bouncing up and down.
"Walking's easy, Jazz! It's just a hop and a skip and a jump, one foot in front of the other, then the next one after it and you repeat the process once, twice, forever whenever you walk!" she sang. Jazz giggled and gently tried stepping a hoof forward, then another one after it. She repeated a few times, then smiled.
"I think I'll manage, I'll be a little awkward, but you guys were, too." she said. Danny rolled his eyes. Spike coughed, getting everypony's attention. He coughed a few more times, and a letter popped out of his mouth. He opened it and read aloud.
"Dear Everypony, I need you all to come out to Everfree Forest as soon as possible. We will depart to the Ghost Zone as soon as possible. In case anypony is wondering, I have picked the Everfree Forest to meet in, as it's secluded and will keep suspicion away from the rest of the ponyfolk for the time being. Don't be alarmed about going in; we're using magic to keep any sort of big threat away. The magic will not keep good ponies out, so you can all come right in. We'll be waiting. Take your time getting ready, however. This will be a big battle, and you must be prepared.
Yours Truly, Princess Celestia." Spike spoke. Twilight Sparkle nodded.
"Alright, everypony, go ahead and run home to get whatever you need. You will be doing whatever Celestia asks you to do, and we need all of you. Meet back here in an hour." she said. Most ponies ran off, with the exception of Fluttershy. Fluttershy walked up, looking nervous. "Twi- Twilight?" she asked meekly.
"Yes, Fluttershy?"
"Um, uh...if...if I come, um...does that...does that mean I'll have to fight and face scary ghosts?" she squeaked. Twilight Sparkle smiled.
"We'll need you, Fluttershy. Remember your bravery with the dragon? Besides, I wasn't planning on having you fight. I was going to ask Celestia if you could help whatever medical aides she has." she said. Fluttershy sighed.
"Oh, um...medical help...I can do that. Plus...I...I have to be there for my friends!" she declared. Without another word, she ran out the door. Twilight looked to the Fentons and Sam and Tucker.
"You guys will be there, right?"
"Duh!" Sam and Tucker said in unison. Maddie and Jack smirked.
"Please! Miss out on fighting off ghosts? That's our job!" Jack said proudly, looking to his ghost cutie mark. Maddie looked at her cutie mark- a black belt; fighting-inspired. Twilight grinned.
"Great! Is there anything anyone needs to do?" she asked. Everypony thought for a minute. Tucker paused.
"Hey, wait, the Box Ghost's been in the thermos for a few days now. Should we just wait to release him after the battle?" he asked. Sam snickered.
"He can wait. Who has the necklace now again?" she asked.
"Oh, um, I put it down next to the bed. Be right back, I'll get it." Danny said. He flapped his wings and flew up through the tree. Maddie, Jack, and Jazz watched him in surprise. Maddie looked to her wings.
"He's a pegasus like I am. Maybe I can fly, too..." She attempted to flap her wings and slowly made the wings go faster until she could finally hover over the ground for a second. The pegasus gasped, then squealed in excitement. Danny passed her on his way down, necklace around his neck, and he began to clap as he came back to the ground. Maddie came back down as well. Jazz raised an eyebrow.
"Okay, pegasi can fly; what can unicorns do, poke ponies' eyes out?" she asked. Twilight snorted.
"Nope, they can do stuff like this!" she said, her horn glowing and used her magic to pull multiple books off the bookshelf, placing a book before Jazz and placing the rest back. Jazz was momentarily shocked by the magic, then looked at the book, titled Magic Spells for Beginner Unicorns . "Unicorn ponies have the ability to use magic. I'm a personal student of Princess Celestia- magic is my special talent. Usually unicorn ponies possess some magic for whatever their special talent may be."
Jazz did not waste any time bursting open the book, excited by this potential to use magic.
As Applejack filled up her backpack, Apple Bloom was pacing by her older sister's hooves. "So, you're going to this Ghost-place-thing with your new friends- especially Danny, and you're gonna help fight off ghosts and stuff?" she was asking, overly excited. Applejack grunted.
"I may be fighting, I may be doing something else. Depends what orders I'm given. I'll be back home soon." she said. Right as she strapped on the pack, Apple Bloom hopefully blocked her path.
"Can I come? Maybe my special talent is ghost hunting!" she asked. Applejack groaned.
"Not this! No way, no how! It's far too dangerous for little fillies like yourself. You and your friends stay here."
"But Applejack-"
"Don't you 'but Applejack' me. It's too dangerous, yer not comin', and that's final!" Applejack said firmly, staring down her sister. "You stay here. I don't want you coming anywhere near where we're going, and I'm doing this because I care about you. I'll see y'all later." she said, closing the door behind her before Apple Bloom could protest further. Apple Bloom let out an annoyed cry, then paused. She watched her sister out the window for awhile, then, making sure nopony was looking, snuck out of the house.
"Rarity-"
"Sweetie Belle, for the last time, darling, you shall not come." Rarity said seriously, packing her own bag. Sweetie Belle looked distraught.
"But-!"
"No buts. You will stay here. I will be back in a few hours. You're free to go and play with your friends, but you cannot come to the Ghost Zone. Who knows what could happen to you?" Rarity said. Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes.
"Like what ? You're going, too. Who knows what could happen to you ?" she asked. Rarity sighed, exasperated.
"Trust me, sweetheart, I'm making you stay for a reason. I care about you and I can't have you in danger. I'm sure Apple Bloom is disappointed right now, too. Why don't you go get Scootaloo and go hang out in your clubhouse?" she suggested. Sweetie Belle groaned, but nodded. Rarity smiled, finishing packing. "That's a good girl. I'll be sure to take you to get you some sort of treat from Sugarcube Corner later, alright?"
"Fine...but Rarity?"
"Hmm?"
"Don't you think the blue sunhat and necklace is a bit off for ghost hunting?" Sweetie Belle asked. Rarity paused. She laughed.
"Oh, darling, just because one is going to a place such as the Ghost Zone doesn't mean they can't go in style. Ta-ta!" she said, shutting the door behind her. Sweetie Belle groaned, but then heard a knocking at the back window. She trotted over and saw Scootaloo and Apple Bloom waiting outside the window. She opened it, and both of her friends came in.
"Sweetie Belle, c'mon! Let's follow the adults! Are we really gonna sit around and not take this possibility to crusade for cutie marks?" Scootaloo asked. Sweetie Belle shook her head.
"Nope!"
"We'll have to be quiet, though. If Princess Celestia herself has an army, how're we gonna sneak past 'em?" Apple Bloom asked. Scootaloo smiled.
"Same way as last time- sneak behind objects like spies. Though, we'll have to see where they're going..." she said. Sweetie Belle looked out the window and saw all the ponies walking past the building- well, them and three other strange ponies they hadn't met yet, the pink unicorn out of the three of them using magic to hold a book she was reading in front of her.
"C'mon! Let's follow 'em!" Apple Bloom said. The three snuck out of the house, then walked behind buildings in the direction they were all going. Eventually they paused when they saw the true direction where they were going. The Everfree Forest. Not that that fact stopped them. They were determined to keep going. They tip-toed behind trees on the side of the path the ones they were following were going. They struggled to not gasp in awe when they spied a large group of pegasus, unicorn, and earth ponies in armor. Even more shocking, in front of them was Princess Celestia and Princess Luna together, Zecora also by their side.
Everypony stopped to bow before the princesses, who bowed back. "Danny, Sam, Tucker, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton, Jazz, I would like to introduce to you my sister and co-ruler, Luna, who will be helping us today with the battle, and Zecora, who will be the head of medical aid due to her knowledge of plants and cures. She's brought along multiple herbs."
"It's a pleasure." Danny said, shaking hooves with Luna and Zecora, as well as his friends and family. Zecora looked at Danny, fascinated.
"Your majesty, is this-"
"Yes, Zecora, this is Daniel Fenton, the half ghost colt I told you about."
Danny cautiously looked to the army behind them, and Luna spoke up.
"You don't need to worry, Daniel Fenton. They're under oath in this army. My sister and I carefully picked out who would be coming. You have our word."
Danny, although still reluctant, transformed. Zecora was beyond fascinated. She said something to him that Danny failed to pick up as he gave a paranoid stare to the army. He quickly apologized to her when he found out she had been talking to him, and she took it calmly and simply laughed. This calmed him slightly. Twilight Sparkle looked to her teacher.
"Princess Celestia, I was going to ask if Fluttershy could help with medical aid, maybe help Zecora." she said. Celestia smiled.
"But of course." she said. Zecora nodded. Fluttershy sighed in relief.
"Um, excuse me, your majesty," Maddie cut in, "I remember when we went back to our world to find that note for Jazz. My husband and I went back to human for the moment, but you didn't. Why was that?"
"A simple spell. Very easy to perform- very simple for any unicorn to learn. I'm going to use it again on the army, myself, my sister, Zecora, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash."
"Wait a second...would it be possible to do that to turn us back into humans in this world?" Tucker asked. Celestia nodded.
"Yes, but I kept you like this for a reason. You couldn't go out into Equestria without attracting attention. It won't matter as much in the Ghost Zone, where all sorts of ghosts and oddities reside."
"Oh..." Everypony said. Danny gave the necklace to Celestia.
"Well, are we gonna go?" Rainbow Dash asked impatiently.
"Of course. My army already knows which sects will go where, but for you all...Danny, Sam, Tucker, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack, you shall come with me. We will scout for Lady Pravus. Maddie, Jack, you will stay with my sister and help her tell the army what to do, since you are ghost experts." Celestia said. Everyone muttered agreement. Celestia looked to Jazz. "Oh, and Jasmine- pleasure to meet you, by the way- I want you to work with Zecora and Fluttershy, if that's alright with you."
Jazz smiled. "Of course!" she said.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders watching were still silent. It was then that Sweetie Belle's nose began to twitch. Her eyes went wide with horror and covered it with her hooves, desperately hoping to not do what she thought was going to happen. The other crusaders looked at her with alarm. Finally Sweetie Belle could not hold it in any longer and sneezed loudly. Everypony looked over to see three little fillies, faces red, hiding in the bush. They peeked their heads out sheepishly.
"Uh...hi?" Apple Bloom squeaked.