Chapters Ghost vs. The Equestrian Educational System
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Chapter 3
Ghost POV
After lunch, we all went back into the classroom. When I sat down, I couldn't help but notice that when Rumble came into the class, he had a scowl on his face, directed right towards me. I couldn't help that he had a rotten attitude, but maybe I could help him see that I wasn't that bad.
"Hey, what's Rumble's deal?" I asked, turning around and asking Applebloom. "He seems like he has a bug that he can't shake off."
"Well, he used ta be really nice an' not have any problems. But when his brother Thunderlane started ta work for the Weather Pegasi, he jus' started ta act out like that." Applebloom explained.
I mulled that over in my head, wondering what that had to do with Rumble's attitude. That was when I remembered who I was sitting next to. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon sat on both sides of me, the same glint that Diamond had in her eyes before still there. I was sure she had some ulterior motive when she tried to get me to hang out with her during that lunch break, but for now I had to act as if I was oblivious.
"Alright class, who in here has done a dissection before?" Cheerilee asked us, as a few hooves went into the air. I wasn't sure if I should raise my hoof, because the closest thing I've done to a dissection was disemboweling a dragon, and I wasn't sure that exactly counted. "Well I see a few of you have. Ms. Fluttershy was kind enough to donate a few of her sickly frogs for an experiment today, so we will all be performing our own little dissections today!"
"Eww! We have to cut open dead frogs? I refuse to do something as disgusting as that!" Diamond pouted, crossing her legs in a huff. As soon as she said the word 'cut', my eyes widened. I looked at Ms. Cheerilee, who was starting to pull out small scalpels for the class. Time slowed, much like 64 described to me, allowing me to assess the situation.
Cheerilee was going to start passing out blades, which might trigger Applebloom. If seeing a knife wouldn't trigger her, then having to watch somepony else cut something open would definitely do it.
"Umm?! Ms. Cheerilee I have to talk to Applebloom outside really quick OK thanks!" I shot off, jumping out of my seat and pulling Applebloom out of her's by her hoof. I led her outside before she could see anything, but she was looking at me with this crazed look.
"Ghost? What in the hay are ya doin'?" She asked, looking at me as if i was crazy. I might have been overreacting, but right now I was better safe than sorry.
"Look, I'm not sure that doing that in class is the best idea. I mean, didn't you feel nervous?" I asked, starting wonder if I did the right thing.
"Well... not really. Ah mean-"
"Ghost! What was the meaning of interrupting the class like that?" Cheerilee questioned, stepping out of the classroom to confront Applebloom and I. I glanced back at Applebloom.
"Can I have a minute AB? I just need to tell Ms. Cheerilee something really quick." Applebloom nodded at my request, allowing me to take Cheerilee aside. I made sure that Applebloom didn't go back inside the class. "Ok, now I can explain."
"You better start."
I sighed, getting the hair out of my face with a hoof. "Look, I know you were informed about the occurrences at Smokey Mountain regarding Applebloom's mental state, correct?" I asked, surprising Cheerilee with the extensive vocabulary. Working with 64, you learn to hide your true potential until it's needed.
"Yes, I was. I still don't see why you needed to forcibly remove her from the class though." Cheerilee countered, but I put my hoof out at her.
"I'm getting to that. I'm saying that she's developed hemophobia, and her trauma sprouted from her... fatally wounding... a Gryphon. I just think using any sharp utensils can act as a trigger. But... it's your call in the end. Do you want her to do it?" I asked, leaving the final decision up to her.
I could see that she was surprised at how mature I could act in a situation as serious as this, but thought about the answer nonetheless. After a few moments, she answered. "Well... I think completely shielding her from the problem won't help her in the long run. How about we allow her to observe you doing the experiment in the side room?"
I nodded. "Alright, let's do it." I was about to walk back, but Cheerilee held me back. "What is it?"
"You're obviously... unique. You're not just visiting the Apple's, are you?"
I chuckled. "Am I that obvious? Well... I'm not actually here to visit the Apple's... I figure you need to know." I stepped back a bit. "Agent 65 of the Equestrian Knights, assigned to protect and assist Applebloom until she is deemed mentally fit." I gave a playful little salute, making her laugh.
"A colt as an undercover agent? I don't know whether to believe you or doubt you. But... you do seem to carry yourself as such. I hope this is the last of secrets kept from me?" Cheerilee asked in a playful tone, not really expecting anything else. Of course... there was that one big other secret I had, but I knew better than to give that away.
"For now. Let's get back inside, I'll lead Applebloom through the frog dissection." I instructed walking back towards Applebloom.
"Are ya all done over there? Ah'm gettin' tired of jus' standin' here." Applebloom complained, bringing her new ponytail over her shoulder and brushing it with her hoof.
"Yep, all done. If you start to feel a bit squeamish, just... give me a heads up. Okay?"
Applebloom looked down at the ground, taking in a deep breath. "Alright." She said confidently.
Hopefully something small like this could start to ease her mind a bit, but there was always a chance that it could come back and bite me in the flank.
Ghost vs. The Equestrian Educational System
Chapter 4
3rd Person POV
Cheerilee had Ghost and Applebloom go to the side room, which was pretty much a larger than average broom closet. It was big enough for a desk and 2 chairs, and to Ghost that was perfect. He took a seat, followed by Applebloom who sat across from him. "Alright... we have to carefully open the frogs abdomen and observe and record what we find." Ghost recited, reading the assignment instructions given to him by Cheerilee. "Sounds easy enough. Ready Applebloom?"
She nodded her head, looking down at the preserved frog on the desk. "So... where do we start?" She asked slowly, Ghost noticing the slight shaky tone of her voice.
"With a light horizontal incision on the neck. You... maybe wanna do the honors?" Ghost offered, holding out the small scalpel with his magic. Applebloom eyed the tool warily, not sure if she really wanted to use it. Ghost saw that she was debating whether or not to use it, so he just took it back. "It's alright. Baby steps."
Applebloom smiled and sighed, not excited to use something like that yet. Ghost took the scalpel and made the first small cut, letting Applebloom see what he did.
Ghost POV
"And... that should do it!" I exclaimed, placing the last of the small organs onto the table. "You write everything down Applebloom?" I looked over at her and saw that she looked a bit pale, but nodded her head.
"Y-Yup! Got it!" She stammered, still a bit uncomfortable at the sight of the frog we disemboweled in the name of science. "Umm... can we.. can we stop now?"
I looked over what we wrote, and saw that we had recorded all of our findings like Ms. Cheerilee asked, so I didn't see any harm in stopping. "I guess we can. Just give me a sec." I asked, picking up everything on the table and and placing all of it into small disposable bags. Once all of the frog parts were disposed off, Applebloom let out a heavy sigh. "You know, you could have asked me to stop at any time right? You didn't have to sit through all of that if you didn't feel comfortable."
"Ah know... ah just don't wanna act like a foal about this. Ah mean... when we were in the mountain, you were so... what's the word? Ah wanna say brave, but that doesn't even come close to the right word. Ah jus' feel like ah'm-"
I put a hoof up to Applebloom's mouth, causing her to blush at the sudden contact. It made me smile to know that she was trying to be strong for me, but I had to explain something. "Applebloom, ponies take different experiences in different ways. Do you wanna know the truth about 64 and I?" Applebloom nodded at me. "We both used to be really scared of blood too."
Her eyes widened, as if she didn't believe me. "But, ah thought that... But ya didn't..." She continued to stammer, until she just stared. "But ya didn't act scared in the cave. Even when that guard was beatin' ta near death!"
"Well... that's not entirely true. I was really scared for you..."
Applebloom blushed and looked away, an embarrassed smile on her face. "Shoot, yer jus' makin' me feel even worse. Now ah know you were worryin' about me."
"Are you two done in there? The dismissal bell is about to ring!" Ms. Cheerilee called out, peeking her head into the room. I levitated the contents of the bags to her.
"Right here Ms. Cheerilee! Got it all put together!" I answered, reverting into a 'childlike' tone of voice. She laughed at my demeanor, taking the bags in her hoof.
"Well get back to your seats so I can give the homework assignments, then you'll all be free to go."
Applebloom and I quickly exited the side room and got to our seats, everypony in the class giving us strange glances. Once I sat down, I could feel Diamond Tiara's eyes burning into the side of my head. "I wonder why this one gets special treatment..." She muttered, just loud enough for me to hear.
"I don't think you want to know..." I whispered back, making sure to return her stare with an even more aggressive glare. She recoiled at my look, not expecting me to respond. "Just listen to Cheerilee, if you have something to say, say it after class."
With that, I focused on what Ms Cheerilee was saying. I was barely able to pick up something about a 'Sisterhooves Social' so I would need to ask Applebloom about that later. A few seconds after that, a bell rang out, and many of the children began to pack up.
"Alright my little ponies! I'll see you tomorrow morning!" Cheerilee called out, as the class nearly completely emptied out. Applebloom was still in the room, along with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. "Excuse us girls, I need to have a word with Ghost."
"Is he in trouble?" Scootaloo asked. "I swear he wasn't the one who put the whoopie cushion on your seat when you were helping Snips and Snails!"
"Um... no, he's not in trouble. I just want to ask him how his first day went." Cheerilee specified. I gave Applebloom a sorry look as she walked out of the Schoolhouse, probably to wait outside for me. "Well? How did you like Public School?"
I tugged at the bowtie Applebloom gave me. "It was nice, a bit boring though. I wasn't expecting anything extravagant, but I guess I got overexcited about what might happen. Still pretty cool to cut open that frog though!"
"And, how did Applebloom react to that? Any problems?"
I sighed a bit. "She feels weak, like she can't take care of herself. I tried to explain that not everypony can be strong, but she didn't really seem to take it well." I looked up at Cheerilee. "The truth is, I was in Smokey Mountain with Applebloom."
Cheerilee's eyes widened, surprised at my admission. "No kidding?"
I shook my head. "I helped her escape. That's the reason I was assigned to watch over her in Ponyville. Whenever she has a 'breakdown', her mind defaults to whatever made her feel the safest in that situation. As fate would have it... that was apparently me." I explained. Cheerilee took a few moments to let that all sink in.
"Wow... that's really something Ghost... You really are years beyond your age. Wait... how old are you anyways?" She asked, as I felt myself freeze up. I honestly didn't know, but 64 always told me that it didn't matter.
"Your ability to shape-shift can make you any age you want. If you want to be 5, go for it. You wanna be 50? Go for it. Just remember that it's not about how old the fighter is, it's about how much experience he has."
"I'm... 13. Yeah, 13." I answered, just giving her Applebloom's age.
"That is really amazing Ghost. I can't imagine how fast you've had to grow up with a job like that... Well, don't let me keep you waiting. You have a job to do don't you?" She said cheekily, motioning towards the door. I grinned and rushed outside.
Ghost vs. The Equestrian Educational System
Chapter 5
Ghost POV
I ran outside to see if I could find Applebloom anywhere, but she wasn't anywhere in sight. The only ponies still hanging out around the school were Rumble and his clique, so I walked up to them. "Hey! Did any of you see where Applebloom went?" I asked, not really caring if Rumble was going to do anything.
"Oh! I think I heard her say something about getting ready for the-" As Snails was telling me where she went, Rumble flew up towards him and stuffed his hoof in his mouth, shutting him up. He turned towards me with a glare.
"Why should we tell you anything? Go find out yourself!" Rumble berated. On any other occasion, I would have let that slide. But right now Applebloom's mind could still be a bit vulnerable to anything that could set her off, so it would be way better if I could find her now rather than later.
"Listen, I just want to know which direction she went. You don't have to tell me exactly where she went." I asserted, trying to make a case. Rumble frowned and walked up to me.
"Oh/ You wanna know which direction she went? Ok, go look over here!" Rumbled yelled, sending his hoof flying toward my right cheek. I simply tilted my head to the left just a little bit to dodge his 'attack', my eyes nearly rolling. He wasn't really serious about this was he? After his first punch missed, he sent another one towards my left cheek, but all I had to do was lazily swat it away. I could tell that all of his strength, was in his wings.
"I'm really not in the mood for this, can you please stop?" I asked, but he spun around and tried to buck me in the face with his hindlegs. I leaned my head back, quickly reaching out to grab his extended legs. I threw them upwards, causing Rumble to tumble back towards his friends. "Alright, I can see this is going nowhere quickly. I'll just be going then."
As I went to turn away, I felt something hard come into contact with my horn, causing me to yelp in pain. I looked to see what happened and saw that there was a rock lying on the ground, and Rumble's hoof was outstretched showing that he was the one who threw it.
"See? You're running away like I knew you would! C'mon guys, let's leave the baby alone!" Rumble shouted, walking towards the Town Center. I groaned as I held my horn, before I felt a tingling sensation run down my spine. I charged magic back into my disguise as I felt it begin to flicker, and quickly looked around to see if anypony saw. Luckily everypony had left, leaving me alone in the small field.
"Whew... that was close..." I muttered, heading back towards Sweet Apple Acres. Applebloom would probably show up there later if she wasn't there yet.
3rd Person POV
What Ghost was unable to see, were the two fillies hiding in the same bush they used to hide from him during lunch. "Did you see what he did to Rumble? That was amazing!" Silver Spoon cried out, seeing the young colt pretty much decimate his 'opponent'. Diamond Tiara wasn't focusing on the confrontation though, she was focusing on how Ghost seemed to... shimmer, for a moment before going back to normal.
She rubbed her eyes to check if she was seeing things, but Ghost just kept walking down the road, heading for Sweet Apple Acres. "Did you see that?" Diamond Tiara asked, putting down her binoculars.
"You mean Rumble getting his flank served to him on a platter? Of course!"
"No! I mean... When he was... It looked like..." Diamond sputtered, not being able to put her thoughts into words. "Never mind. Forget I said anything..."
Oblivious to the two fillies spying on him, Ghost managed to make his way towards Sweet Apple Acres. He caught a glimpse of somepony he recognized from the newspaper, and she looked almost exactly the same. Twilight Sparkle was obviously walking around town with her muzzle stuffed in a book, and saddlebags on her back. She somehow was able to navigate through the crowd of ponies without even brushing tails with anyone, something that really surprised Ghost.
He had been meaning to talk to her about learning a bit more about a child's mind, because he would need to know a bit more if he was going to help Applebloom. "Twilight! Twilight!" Ghost called out, running towards the mare in question. She didn't seem to notice the colt calling after her, because she just kept on walking through the crowd, making Ghost weave through the large crowd of ponies. "Twilight!"
That one seemed to catch her attention, because she looked around to look for the voice in the crowd. "Huh? Somepony say my name?"
"I did!" Ghost said, raising his hoof up through the crowd. Twilight grabbed the hoof with her magic and pulled Ghost out, bringing him towards her. "Hi Twilight!"
She gave him a confused look. "I'm... i'm sorry but do I know you?" Twilight asked, tilting her head a bit in confusion. Ghost nearly smacked himself in the face at how stupid he was. 64 might have mentioned him to Twilight, but that didn't mean she knew him.
"Oh! Sorry about that. I'm Ghost, 64 might have mentioned me before?" Ghost introduced, holding a hoof out in greeting. Twilight was confused for a moment, trying to remember anything that the human said about a 'Ghost'. Once she remembered, her eyes widened, and out of instinct and fear she took a step backwards. A changeling in town, no matter how young, was a very serious matter.
Once she realized how insensitive that looked, she cleared her throat. "Right! 64 did mention you a few times during his visit in Ponyville. You're his apprentice right?" Twilight asked, seeing Ghost beam.
"That's right! Look I even have a badge and everything!" Ghost boasted, releasing the disguise on the badge around his neck. Twilight remembered 64 showing her a similar badge, but instead of the number 64 being on his, this on read 65. "The reason I wanted to talk to you was... well... you know about the thing that happened with Applebloom right?"
"Are you kidding me? Everypony despised 64 for even having the thought of putting her in a situation like that. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit mad at him as well." Twilight admitted, a small frown on her face.
"Well... I was assigned in making sure that whatever psychological damage she sustained in the event is dealt with. But before I can do that, I need to know how a mind like Applebloom's works. Can you help me?"
Twilight was floored that someone as young as Ghost could be speaking to her in such a professional tone. She guessed that one of his other tutors had to have taught him that, there was no way that 64 would be able to act that civilized.
"Alright, come by my library when you have the chance, and I'll help you find some literature about Child Psychology. Does that sound alright?"
"Yes ma'am! Thanks Ms. Sparkle!" Ghost thanked, before he was surrounded in a glowing green glow and poofed away from the scene. Twilight was left standing in the town center, blushing a bit at the fact she was called 'Ms. Twilight'. She grinned and giggled.
"Ms. Sparkle? I could get used to that."
Ghost vs. The Equestrian Educational System
Chapter 6
3rd Person POV
Ghost appeared with a large puff of light right on the outskirts of Sweet Apple Acres, a bit dizzy upon re-entry. After shaking his head to stop his eyeballs from spinning around, he looked up and Applejack and Big Mac both setting something up with hay bales, along with Sweetie Belle lying on a bale of hay looking a bit downtrodden.
"Hey guys! Where's Applebloom?" Ghost asked, walking up to them and leaning on a bucket of apples. "I haven't seen her since school got out."
"Here ah am!" Applebloom shouted, bursting out of the bucket of apples with a few balancing on her head. Tossing her head back, she managed to throw a few apples into the air and caught one in her mouth, chomping down the entire thing in one bite. "What were ya guys talkin' about again?" She asked, looking up at Applejack.
"Rarity said that the Sisterhooves Social is uncouth! And she doesn't want to compete with me!" Sweetie Belle complained. "And she doesn't it's just the Social, she thinks I'm uncouth!"
"Honey, she thinks everything's uncouth." Applejack deadpanned, rolling her eyes.
Applebloom tossed an apple into her mouth and began to munch noisily. "whas uncouth!" She asked once again, a mouth full of apple.
"It's means something that doesn't have an manners, or something uncivil. But what's the Sisterhooves Social?" Ghost questioned, laughing a bit at Applebloom's behavior.
"It's when a bunch of sisters in town make teams and compete in these neat events! Me and Applejack do it every year!"
Ghost put a hoof to his chin and thought about that. He'd never been to a festival like this before, so he wondered what it would be like to actually participate. But there was the problem of not being a girl, or even having a sister for that matter. "Sound really cool. But why wouldn't Rarity want to compete?"
"Are ya kiddin' me? Have ya met Rarity?" Applejack asked, but Ghost shook his head no. He had heard of her, what with her being the Element of Generosity and Sweetie Belle's sister, but he had never met her face to face. "Well, she's really inta bein' all prim an' proper. Ah tell ya, if she had jus' one spec of dirt on one of her pretty little hooves, she'd throw a fit."
"And let me guess, the Social has a lot of physical tasks?"
"Hittin' the nail on the head sugarcube. Sweetie Belle, just give Rarity some time. She'll come around. Sisters always do." Applejack consoled, wrapping her hoof around Applebloom and hugging her
"Not sisters like Rarity." Sweetie Belle, on the verge of tears.
"Come on, now. Apple Bloom and I got some chores to finish up on. Maybe you can help!" Applejack offered, but Sweetie Belle just rolled her eyes.
"You sure you want me to help? I just mess everything up!"
"Aww c'mon. How bad can you be?" Ghost asked.
"You want to know how I managed to make burnt toast soup?" She responded, Ghost realizing that he needed to shut up.
"Oh, come on, that's just stinkin' thinkin'. Watch!" Applejack called out, going over to a bruised apple on the ground and picking it up by the stem. As she tossed it towards a wooden bucket, Applebloom managed to put the bucket onto her head and balance it while she ran around, catching the apples that Applejack threw. Ghost and Sweetie Belle watched the spectacle, both of them with small smile and their faces.
"This is a chore? It looks way more fun than anything Rarity has me do." Sweetie Belle said, watching as Applejack kicked another apple towards Applebloom.
"Since we can't sell the bruised apples, we have ta collect them for the pigs ta eat." Applejack explained, tossing another apple at Applebloom before she set the bucket back down on the floor.
"It's a lot of work, so we make a game of it. Wanna try?" Applebloom suggested, motioning towards the empty bucket next to Sweetie Belle and Ghost.
"Try it Sweetie Belle. Who knows? If Rarity decides to compete this could be good practice!" Ghost encouraged, kicking the wooden bucket towards the small filly.
"Umm... ok?" She said, but before she knew it, an apple was already flying towards her, managing to collide with her horn. "Ow! You're right, it is hard work." Ghost winced as he helped Sweetie Belle take the apple off of her horn, knowing how painfully even a small hit to the horn could be.
"That's why we do it, TOGETHER! " The two sisters yelled, pulling each other into a hug.
"Huh, Rarity never wants to do chores together..." Sweetie Belle sighed, hanging her head a bit.
"Hey Sweetie. How about I go and try and convince Rarity to compete in the Social? I think I can work something out with her." Ghost offered, but Sweetie Belle shook her head.
"She can't be bothered with... but you can try if you want." Sweetie Belle sighed.
"Great! I'll be back soon guys. Stay safe Applebloom!" Ghost called over his shoulder, already running towards town. He already knew where Sweetie Belle lived, so there was no need to ask for directions.
As he ran away, Applebloom couldn't help but feel her cheeks heat up a bit at his concern. Applejack caught the small tint in her cheeks and smiled. "Aw, mah little sister smitten over a colt." She teased, seeing Applebloom blush even harder.
"Sh-Shut up sis!"
Ghost vs. The Equestrian Educational System
Chapter 7
Ghost POV
The Carousel Boutique was... an interesting building, to say the least. It resembled an actual carousel, but was decorated with tons of intricate designs and stuff. But, as of most of the businesses in Ponyville, there was love being put into the work that went on here. I wasn't even inside yet and I could sense the care and effort going on inside, even if it was a bit tainted with malice at the moment. I made sure that my disguise was up and checked the bowtie that Applebloom gave me, before stepping in with my head held up straight and correct posture. If what Applejack and Sweetie Belle told me was true, then manners could make me or break me.
"Excuse me? May I speak to Ms. Rarity?" I called out, wanting to make a good first impression to sway her in my favor.
"Oh! Umm... In a minute darling! I'm currently trying to fix the absolute disaster in my inspiration room!" Rarity cried out, and I could feel that with all of the love in the air, the source of malice was coming from her. My curiosity was piqued at the mention of an inspiration room, so I crept up and peered through the doorway her voice was call from to see what she meant.
I put on a confused expression as I looked around and saw the white coated and purple maned mare standing in the room, but instead of the disastrous mess I was originally expecting, it was as pristine as 64's room on inspection day. There was a single piece of fabric out of place, not a single pincushion misplaced, but for some reason Rarity was pacing around with an uneasy look on her face. "Umm... this... isn't exactly what I would call an absolute disaster..." I mumbled, trying to be inaudible. Her head whipped around towards me, and she gasped.
"Young stallion! Didn't your mother ever teach you it is improper to spy on a somepony like that!" Rarity scolded, giving me her narrowed eyes. I gave a small smile and walked into her 'Inspiration Room'. "Well, I suppose now is a good of time as ever for whatever it is you need. How can I be of assistance?"
"You're Rarity right? Sweetie Belle's older sister?" I asked, not wanting come off as a weird creep who already knew everything about her.
She nodded curtly. "Yes, well, not by her standards. From what she's told me, we are now 'un-sisters', whatever that may mean. And for good reason too! Look at all of this! It's an absolute disaster!" She said dramatically, collapsing onto a couch on the side of the room in the same manner.
"Not to be rude, but this doesn't exactly seem like what would define a disaster..." I said, motioning to everything. "Look, you have your design plans posted here, next to the measurement tools just incase you need to make a few alterations, next to your ponnequin stands where you can test said alterations. It all seems very well organized if you ask me."
"Hmph, you sound like my friend Twilight. Now, is there something you need besides pointing out the mess Sweetie Belle has made?" Rarity sighed, getting up from her collapsing couch and going over to a cabinet of different colored fabrics.
"Well, I don't know if she's mentioned me before, but I'm friends with Sweetie Belle at school. My name's Ghost." I introduced, holding out my hoof for a shake. Rarity kindly took it, before immediately turning back to her work. "And, she told me and Applebloom about the little spat you guys have had going on for awhile and-"
I was cut off by Rarity huffing and turning towards me. "For awhile?! Is that what she said? I'll have you know she was dropped off by my mother and father just this morning! In the short timespan of 2 hours she manages to nearly burn my kitchen down, makes a mess of said kitchen, shrunk my one of a kind crocheted wool sweater, and used up all of my very important extremely rare baby blue sapphires! And just look what she did to this room!"
"She... tidied up?" I deadpanned, not really like all of the drama she was creating around herself.
"Hmph, you can't expect a stallion to understand, a colt no less..."
"Hey! I take offense to that. Anyway, I'm not here to focus on the 'messy room' or anything. I came to talk to you about the Sisterhooves Social thing happening tomorrow. It would really mean a lot to Sweetie Belle if you were to compete with her." I pleaded, not really forcing her just yet.
"You mean compete in a competition where physical, and most importantly filthy labor is involved? Why'd you might as well as Mr. Project 64 to star in a fashion show!" She scoffed with flip of her hair, but the mention of my mentor caught my ears.
"Wait, you know 64?" I asked. "I'm his apprentice."
Her eyes widened and looked down at me, surprise written all over her face. "Apprentice? Why on earth would he need an apprentice? What could he possibly teach you?"
"Well, if you know him, then pretty much what you'd expect. How to fight, protect others, and just keep Equestria a safer place in general. Plus... I have a few specific set of skills which can come in handy at any given situation..." I hinted, turning around and secretly dispelling the disguise around my badge. I turned and held it up for her to see. "See? Agent 65 of the Equestria Knights."
She took the bade and gave it a look, before shaking her head. "A position such as this shouldn't go to a young colt. How did you manage to become affiliated with something such as this?" She asked, giving the badge back to me.
"Well... that doesn't matter right now! What does matter, is that your little sister as all broken up about you not wanting to do the Sisterhooves Social with her. Can't you just get dirty for just a few hours, then take a shower afterwards?"
"I'm sorry, but I refuse to participate in such an... uncouth activity such as that. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have my work cut out for me, re-organizing everything after Sweetie Belle ruined it." Rarity finished, walking to the other side of the room and opening a small drawer. "Oh my, it's usually a big mess in here..."
I was about to turn and leave, seeing how her mind was already made up, but stopped when I heard her gasp very loudly.
"Id-ee-a! This is genius!" Rarity exclaimed, taking various colors of fabric sheets out of the drawer she opened and different accessories out of the shelves. I could literally see the love for her work floating into the air around her, the malice being held towards Sweetie Belle immediately leaving the room as it was filled with the sweet taste of love. Of course I couldn't help myself and decided to take a bit of the stuff for my lunch, but I was sure she wouldn't mind.
Once her frenzy of magic and tools were done, there stood 5 ponnequins in the room, each of them wearing a different color of outfits. "I shall call it 'full spectrum fashions'! If Sweetie Belle hadn't–" She cut herself off, just where I was really hoping that she would admit that she was being silly about the whole thing. "Well, no matter. She still shouldn't have touched my things without permission."
"But without her, you wouldn't have had the idea of making this beautiful designs! Doesn't that make up for what she did?" I asked, watching as Rarity took the clothes off of the ponnequins started towards another room.
"But that doesn't mean she was still way out of line in ruining my inspiration room. One chance moment of inspiration doesn't make up for her negligence."
I gave a large sigh. This was going to be harder than I thought...
"Now, to get these fabrics washed for my fabulous new line." Rarity stated, all of her new clothing suspended in the air by her magic.
"But... you just made them, why would they need to be washed?" I asked, wondering what her line of thought was for that.
"Oh who knows where these fabrics might have been before I came along. I can't simply just present them as they are right now!" The dramatic mare walked into what I could imagine was her laundry room, and scowled at what I assumed was one of Sweetie Belle's first mishaps. First of all, the sweater was really, really ugly. It didn't even look that good, so I don't know why she was making a big deal about. Maybe it was a grown up pony thing or something.
"Ooh, my favorite sweater... I just can't believe that Sweetie Belle." Rarity grunted, before accidentally stepping on her pet cats tail. Instead of lashing out at her with the blind fury of tartarus like I expected, all it did was return to licking its paw lazily. Rarity looked down at her cat before the same look she got when she got an idea plastered onto her face once again. She took the shrunken mess of a sweater off of the clothesline she had before pulling it over the cat, making it seem even more miserable.
"Oh, Opal-wopal! It's as if Sweetie Belle knew the sweater was perfect for you." Rarity cut herself off, realizing that she was just complementing her sister once again. "And Sweetie Belle should consider herself perfectly lucky that this thoughtless mishap turned out all right."
"Oh why are you still hung up about all of this? Sweetie Belle might have made a few mistakes in your eyes, but to her all she was trying to do was help. Can't you just put your differences aside for one afternoon and have a bit of fun with her?" I asked, trying to make her see how pointless this all was. The malice was once again filling up the room, giving me a bad taste in my mouth.
"And make up for the mishaps that she performed? Absolutely not! Why if I were to go running off to her and beg for 'forgiveness', then she would think that she could just do anything she wants and not have to deal with the consequences!" Rarity argued, beginning to wash all of the clothing in a basin.
I didn't want to leave just yet, because Rarity had been beginning to see that Sweetie Belle was just trying to do what she thought was right, and it was actually working out in the end. She just needed that small push... The blue garment was the first one that she finished washing, and when she turned around and saw me still standing there, she just scoffed. "Please don't tell me that you are going to continue to pester me to join Sweetie Belle in the Social."
I shook my head and grinned. "Nope! I don't have to do anything. You'll come to your senses eventually." I stated, seeing her dry off the garment with her magic and put it back on a ponnequin. She began to adorn the azure clothing with very shiny sapphires, humming a tune as I just sat there quietly. Every now and then she gave a backwards glance at me, but no matter what I wasn't going to leave until she realized she was being ridiculous.
Eventually, the blue clothing neared completion, Rarity sighing in relief. "Perfect! Just one more, and this ensemble is fini!" She exclaimed, walking over to the chest where she had been pulling out the gems from. I heard her gasped and looked over to what was going on, and saw that the chest was now completely empty.
"Need to go get more of them? I can help you." I offered, knowing of a Diamond Dog settlement nearby.
"No... Rrgh, Sweetie Belle!" She growled in frustration. "She made silly little arts and crafts with these gems... where is her little project?"
I got up from the chair I was sitting in and went to help her search for it, looking around the dressing room and her 'Inspiration Room'. That's when my ears perked and I noticed something was up. Usually Rarity's annoyance towards Sweetie Belle was constantly filling the room, but for some reason, I was feeling more love than when Rarity was beginning to make her dresses. I followed the source and found Rarity beginning to tear up over a heart outline made of gems with her and Sweetie Belle in the center, and smirked as I could tell that she had finally had a realization.
"Oh, Sweetie Belle! My one and only sister! What have I done? All the time I could have spent with you was wasted complaining and wishing you were gone! Woe is me!" She cried collapsing to the floor in an overly dramatic manner. I deadpanned at her demeanor.
"Maybe instead of crying over all of this, you can come back with me to Sweet Apple Acres and explain to Sweetie Belle that you really do care about her." I consoled, laying down next to her on the floor.
"You're right! I must! As Celestia is my witness, I shall never be sisterless again!"
"Maybe a bit less dramatic though..."
Ghost vs. The Equestrian Educational System
Chapter 8
3rd Person POV
By the time Ghost had managed to get Rarity to go and try to make amends with Sweetie Belle, it was way past sunset. The changeling colt and fashion mare were walking side by side on their way towards Sweet Apple Acres, Ghost's last known location of Sweetie Belle.
"So, how are you going to try and apologize to Sweetie Belle? I saw that she was really mad that you weren't going to compete with her in the Social. Did you change your mind?" Ghost asked, looking up at Rarity.
"Well, I'm still not crazy with the thought of having to... ew, get down and dirty. So I'm going to try and avoid that option if at all possible. But! I do have a plethora of suitable activities that us sisters can perform! I'm sure she's going to love them." Rarity said confidently, continuing to walk forward. "Speaking of which, you mentioned earlier that you know Sweetie Belle, and that you are 64's apprentice. What are you doing in Ponyville?"
Ghost sighed and looked back at Rarity. "Well, I'm here to make sure after that Applebloom is feeling safe after what she went through. I'm staying with the Apples and going to school during my stay here in Ponyville." Ghost explained, getting a bit tired of explaining it over and over.
"And do you have any siblings? It feels as if you have experience in this."
Ghost thought about it. Technically, he had many brothers and sisters. Thousands even. Queen Clovercloud was the one who gave birth to him, but he just had the terrible chance of becoming the runt of the litter. "No, I don't have any siblings." Ghost lied, looking straight ahead as he did so. He was terrible at lying if someone was staring him in the eye.
"Well thank you for helping me come to my senses anyway. I'm sure I would have realized my mistakes anyway, but it's nice to see somepony care so much about my sister. Is there something you're not telling me about you two?" Rarity said smugly, expecting to get a rise out of Ghost.
He chuckled and shook his head, "No, nothing like that. I'm just trying to help out a friend." Ghost answered honestly, trying to dispel any notion that was in her head. Now Applebloom on the other hoof... that was a different story.
The two continued to walk and finally reached Sweet Apple Acres, but everypony that was at the field for the Social the next morning was gone. "Oh... where could they possibly be?" Rarity sighed, but Ghost was already scanning the orchard to see if he could see anything. There was a flicker of light that he was barely able to see, but he could recognize it as a campfire.
"Over there Rarity! There's a bonfire over there!" Ghost called out, pointing in the direction of the fire. Rarity was beginning to start the walk over there, but Ghost grabbed onto her tail and began to charge magic into his horn. With a bright green flash, Ghost managed to teleport both him and Rarity to the bonfire, startling everyone that was already there.
"Whoa nelly! Don't jus' startle us like that Ghost!" Applejack yelled, holding a stick with a half eaten marshmallow on it. "Why in the that world didja feel the need to teleport here?"
"Look who I brought!" Ghost said happily, motioning towards Rarity, who was having difficultly staying on her hooves. She shook her head to get rid of the stars in her eyes before glaring at the changeling colt.
"A warning would be appreciated before performing a stunt like that!" She said angrily, using a hoof to try and fix a few strands of hair which became a bit frayed during the transportation. Finally, she made eye contact with Sweetie Belle, "Sweetie Belle! Oh, I have been galloping all over looking for you. I–"
As Rarity began to explain herself, Sweetie Belle huffed, turning away from her pleading sister. Ghost moved and sat next to Applebloom and got a marshmallow for himself, he didn't want to miss this.
"Oh hello, un-sister. What are you doing here? Better be careful, you might get some dust on you." Sweetie said mockingly, taking a few steps away from Rarity.
"Oh, Sweetie Belle, I want to apologize. I am not better off without a sister."
Ghost was glad that she was finally admitting this to Sweetie Belle but he suddenly got a bad feeling in his stomach when he began to feel the same malice he felt when he was talking with Rarity earlier coming off of Sweetie Belle. "I'm not better off without a sister either. Spending the day with Applejack and Apple Bloom made me realize that."
"Oh, Sweetie, you don't know how happy I am to hear–"
As Rarity went to put a loving hoof on Sweetie Belle, the filly swatted it away with a small grin on her face. "And that's why I'm adopting Applejack as my big sister!"
"What?!" Rarity yelled, as Sweetie Belle zoomed over and wrapped her forelegs around one of Applejack's forelegs.
"What?!" Applejack and Applebloom yelled in unison, as Ghost continued to just sit there and let the firework show play out. It was just starting to get good too.
"A sister is someone who loves and takes care of another sister. Applejack's a real sister." Sweetie Belle exclaimed, still not letting go of Applejack.
"H-Hold on, Sweetie Belle. Don't get ahead of yourself here." Applejack tried to say, not wanting to be caught in the middle of this.
'Too late..." Ghost thought, taking a bite out of the gooey marshmallow on the stick he was holding. 'Delicious......"
"Besides! She's mah big sister!" Applebloom countered, going over and wrapping her own forelegs around Applejack's rearlegs. Soon, the orange cow mare was caught between a tug of war match between the two fillies, with no idea what to do. Ghost sighed and grabbed the two feuding fillies with his magic, lifting them into the air by their tails and hanging them upside down.
"Hey! Put us down!" Sweetie Belle demanded, but Ghost shook his head.
"You two are going to talk this out! Not bicker, okay?" Ghost said sternly, getting up and walking towards the two suspended fillies. "Now can you please at least try to reason with Rarity?"
Sweetie Belle huffed, crossing her forelegs. "Then can Applejack please give Rarity lessons what being a good sister is supposed to be like?"
Ghost sighed and dropped the two fillies, making sure to let down Applebloom a bit softer than Sweetie Belle. He wasn't sure that his interference was going to do anything.
"But I don't need lessons on being a good sister, I-I promise!" Rarity pleaded, throwing herself at Sweetie Belle's hooves. "Listen! I'll show you how to cook my favorite quiche! Or, or, I'll show you the proper way to beautify your mane. Won't that be fun? Hm?"
Rarity was trying to make good points, but Sweetie's scowl was just growing deeper and deeper. "Hm! You want me to go home with you, so we can do what you wanna do?" Sweetie retorted in anger, but all Rarity could do was blush and nod.
"Well... yes?"
"Just forget it!" Sweetie yelled in anger, galloping away towards Sweet Apple Acres.
Applebloom went after the distressed filly, and knowing he could have nothing else to offer Rarity or Applejack, Ghost trotted off after them as well. He had something he think he could say to Sweetie Belle to help comfort her but it was a long shot.
Ghost vs. The Equestrian Educational System
Chapter 10
3rd Person POV
It was the day of the Sisterhooves Social. When Sweetie Belle woke up in the morning, she felt as if there were 2 heavy sandbags tied to her eyelids. She did want to get up out of Applebloom's bed, but when she thought about what day it was, she didn't really see the point of getting up if Rarity wasn't going to compete with her.
Ghost and Applebloom were both sleeping in Ghost's room, Applebloom's night terrors once again getting to her when she tried to sleep in Ghost's bed alone while Ghost slept on the couch. Ghost began to wake up, a bit uncomfortable with the face full of hair he was receiving right now. Applejack had explained the plan to them last night when Rarity showed up.
Ghost thought it was a sound plan, but there was a look on Rarity's face telling him that she was still having a few last thoughts about it. He was sure she would go through with it, but... it was always good to have a contingency plan.
"Don't stop at a plan B. Go through plan A, B, C, and all the way to fucking Z if you have to. Always have a backup." 64's voice echoed in Ghost's head, another one of his lessons sticking with him.
Ghost managed to wiggle his way out of Applebloom's vice grip, allowing him to get out of bed and walk over to the small mirror in his room. He looked at himself without a disguise, seeing the two fangs protruding from his mouth, insect like wings, and a hardened shell around his entire body. The carapace on his back was a bit more hardy than the rest of his body, allowing him to take heavier hits.
The holes that were supposed to dot his legs were gone, a result of the surplus love he had been receiving ever since 64 rescued him from the badlands. His tail was also longer than an average changeling colt's, and his mane consisted on just a bit of hair in a straight line across the back of his neck.
He then changed into his disguise, the green flames illuminating the room for just a flash. Ghost stood in front of his colt form, a bit uncomfortable with it. If ponies were a bit more caring towards Changelings, then he would probably have no problems walking through town undisguised. But, life wasn't a fairy tale world for changelings. Ghost was hopeful things would get better, it just took time.
"Ghost...? What are ya doin'?" Applebloom asked groggily, watching as he observed himself in the mirror.
"It's nothing. C'mon, we gotta get ready to pull off the plan at the Social today." Ghost answered, brushing off the bad thoughts he was having moments ago. Applebloom yawned and pulled the blankets off of herself and got up, watching as Ghost began to levitate the blankets and sheets off of the bed and started to make the bed. "Are you feeling better after last night? Any nightmares?"
Applebloom rubbed her foreleg a bit nervously. "Not really. It was more like a weird dream. Ah was back in the mountain, but ah wasn't chained up or nothin'. It was... empty, no one was there but me." Applebloom explained. "Ah felt scared, but ah didn't see anythin' at all."
Ghost didn't know what to make of the dream, and was hoping that when he learned a bit more from Twilight he would be able to help Applebloom a bit more. "Well, at least you aren't having really bad dreams anymore." Ghost answered happily, giving Applebloom a smile. The little filly could feel her cheeks heat up at the sight of the smile, and hoped that Ghost wouldn't notice.
The door opened to show that Sweetie Belle was now up and about, but her usual cheery demeanor was nowhere to be found. Instead, a very unhappy frown was apparent. "Well, I'm ready to go the the Sisterhooves Social... sisterless..." Sweetie grumbled, obviously very disgruntled at Rarity's lack of understanding. Ghost had to hide a smirk when she said that, knowing of Applejack's and Rarity's plan.
"Well the competitions don't start until later in the afternoon, so lets get a good breakfast in and then I'm sure you'll enjoy watching Applejack and Applebloom with me." Ghost said, walking out the door with Applebloom and Sweetie Belle following him. When they went downstairs, they saw Applejack eating... a lot... way more than a lot... of spaghetti. She saw the foals come into the dining room and waved them over.
"'Ey der' yugns!" She yelped with a mouthful of spaghetti. After swallowing the mouthful of spaghetti, she motioned towards the massive bowl in front of here. "C'mon Applebloom! We gotta carbo load for today's events!"
A smile made it's way to Applebloom's face, and the filly immediately darted to the seat next to Applejack and started to dig in alongside her sister. Ghost found the sight amusing and began to laugh, but when he glanced over at Sweetie Belle, he saw that she was beginning to look even more downtrodden at the sisterly act of love. Ghost cleared his throat to catch the attention of the two sisters devouring their meal, before nodding his head towards Sweetie Belle.
"Oh! Umm, here Sweetie Belle. Ah set up you an' Ghost bowls too." Applejack said nervously, scooting the bowls a bit closer to the other side of the table. Ghost and Sweetie Belle took their seats and began to eat, Ghost stuffing his face into the delicious bowl of pasta and eating feverishly. He might've not needed to eat, but it definitely felt good to eat something delicious.
Sweetie Belle didn't make any motions indicating that she was going to start eating, but she watched as the other 3 members of the table ate. She couldn't help but watch Ghost as he ate, remembering what he had revealed to her last night. He had a lot more brothers and sisters than anyone she knew, but he knew none of them. That made her a bit grateful that she had at least one sister that at least tried to make amends.
She started to take small, lady-like bites that Rarity had once taught her, before she heard a large belch coming from the other side of the table. The massive bowl that Applejack and Applebloom were sharing was now empty, only a few spots of tomato sauce staining the bowl.
"Ahh... that hit the spot!" Applejack exclaimed satisfied, taking the bowl over to the sink and rinsing it off. "C'mon little doggies! Social ain't gonna whoop itself!"
Applebloom darted out of the door, ready to compete in the Social. Sweetie Belle moved sluggishly towards the door, causing Ghost to walk up to her and pat her on the back.
"Don't worry Sweetie, I'm sure everything's gonna turn out alright." Ghost consoled hopefully, as the saddened filly just sighed and kept walking. "This plan better work..." He muttered, following Sweetie Belle towards the Sisterhooves Social.
Ghost vs. The Equestrian Educational System
Chapter 11
Ghost POV
Applejack and Applebloom absolutely decimated pretty much every event that they competed in. Pie eating, hog tying, tug of war... no other sister team was able to stack up. It was a shame to see that through it all, Sweetie Belle's depression got worse and worse. The tag team race was going to happen in about 20 minutes, so Rarity had to get into position soon.
"C'mon Applebloom! Just a few more!" I yelled in encouragement, watching as Applebloom dunked her head into a large vat of water bobbing for apples. All she needed was 2 more and she and Applejack would take another blue ribbon. Apparently she could hear me underwater, because she started to trash even more under the water, stepping up her efforts tenfold. I looked over at Sweetie Belle who was standing next to me, but instead of cheering on her friend, her head was hung a bit low. "Sweetie? Cheer with me, we gotta make sure Applebloom wins!"
She scoffed. "Look at all of the 'uncouth' going on around here. Rarity would probably say something like, 'My word! Their manes are going to be absolutely disheveled!' Maybe it's better that she didn't come..." Sweetie mocked, even trying to match the slight accent Rarity had.
Uh-oh, more malice. With this being the Sisterhooves Social, there was a lot of sisterly love in the air. Unfortunately, malicious emotions managed to outweigh happier emotions, meaning that I was practically holding my breath as Sweetie Belle had these thoughts.
At last, Applebloom came up for air, holding two large golden delicious apples in her mouth. A whistle blew, declaring that the contest was over. I cheered and stomped my hooves in joy, seeing Applebloom being awarded yet another blue ribbon. Applejack went up to her and wrapped a led around Applebloom's shoulders, both of their manes soaked from dunking themselves in water. When they came back towards us, I felt myself freeze up when I noticed how Applebloom looked with her mane like that.
Her mane was dripping wet, making it look like she was literally shining under the sunlight. I could feel my cheeks heat up at her appearance, causing me to look away for a bit. "G-Good job Applebloom! I knew you could do it!" I congratulated, stuttering a bit nervously. She looked beautiful!
"Thank ya Ghost! Ah thought I almost was gonna get beaten by Dinky, but then ah managed to corner an apple at the bottom of the tub, so I kept on tryin' to grab it an'..."
Applebloom continued to retell the tale of her victory, but something caught my eye behind her. I could see the mud pit where Rarity was supposed to submerge herself into, and as I looked I could see the mare in question start to walk towards the pit. As she was about to step inside, a look of uncertainty came across her face, and she darted her eyes back and forth in nervousness. Our eyes met, and she waved her hoof as a signal to come over there. She darted off towards the Apple orchard to hide, making me look back at Applebloom.
"...An' then ah finally was able to grab the second apple! But mah lungs were burnin' so bad that ah thought that ah was gonna drown!" Applebloom finished, taking in a deep breath after she was done explaining.
"Wow! That sounded really intense! Umm, I have to go do something really quick, I'll be right back ok?" I lied, trying to make an excuse to get over to Rarity.
"Oh, um. Ok then! Jus'... make sure to get back in time for the race. We're gonna take Sweetie Belle and go look around some more, right Applejack?"
"O' course! C'mon sugarcube, let's go see who won for best hog in show!" Applejack answered enthusiastically, as the 3 mares walked away. I darted where Rarity was hiding, wondering just what the heck was going on. I reached the edge of the orchard, and looked around for the white mare.
"Rarity? Where are you?" I questioned, looking around and not seeing her anywhere.
"Over here!" A hushed tone replied, and out from behind a bush Rarity emerged. It looked as if she had been crying. "I'm... I'm so sorry but... but..."
"But what? Rarity your sister is counting on you to be in that pit so you two can race! What's going on?" I asked, getting a bit angry. Why was she having second thoughts?
"I...I simply cannot! I... I have..."
"Just what do you have?! Spit it out!"
"I have Borborosophobia! I'm... deathly afraid of mud puddles! I just can't willingly submerge myself in that mass of wet dirt!"
You could nearly hear my eyes roll in their sockets. "Do you go to the spa to get mud baths!? How do you explain that?" I interrogated, not buying her excuse.
"Those are different! They are tempered with things such as seeweed, clay, and volcanic ash! Plus I'm not completely submerged like I would be here, and I often have somepony else with me to keep me calm! I'm sorry Ghost, but I don't think I can do this!" She said, tears now streaming down her face.
I groaned, smacking my hoof into my forehead. She did seem honestly scared out of her wits, but it seriously felt as if she was making excuses to get out of this.
"I know I should have brought this up earlier when we formed the plan, but I thought by then I would be able to get over my fears for Sweetie Belle's sake! I... I took one look at the mud and got so scared! I just couldn't handle it!"
"Ok! Ok... now we need a plan B..." I sighed, as 64's words once again rang through my head. "Plan A, B,C, all the way to Z..."
I looked up at Rarity, who was now lying on the ground. I had a Plan B, but I wondered if it was the right thing to do for Sweetie Belle's sake. I sighed, know that it was the only thing that would work right now.
"Rarity, look at me." I commanded, as her tear stricken eyes looked at me.
I sighed and closed my eyes, letting green flames consume me.
Author's Note
I know she doesn't have a breakdown, but look at the tagged genres on this story. What does that last one say? Yeah, s'what I thought.
Ghost vs. The Equestrian Educational System
Chapter 12
3rd Person POV
"Is this thing on? I don't think this thing is on." Granny Smith muttered, trying to figure out how the megahorn standing in front of her worked. "Confangled modern doohickeys. Now, the event you've all been waiting fer! The Sister Soci- The Socialhooves- Oh, dabnabbit, you know, the big race!"
The crowd of sisters all began to cheer in excitement, Sweetie Belle cheering the loudest. Applebloom had given permission to Sweetie Belle for using Applejack as her sister for just this event, meaning the downtrodden filly would finally be able to participate in the Social. Now wearing the Apple family bandana around her neck, she listened intently to Granny Smith's explanation of the race.
"We have five teams this year fer the event! So y'all head on up to the finish line, y'hear?" Granny called, before Big Mac whispered in her ear. "The start line! That's what I said." She corrected frustratedly.
"That's us!" Sweetie Belle yelped gleefully, before Applebloom came up and poked her side.
"Just, one, day!" She reminded, a scowl on her face. "Good luck!" she added happily before walking away. She stood behind the barriers and watched, waiting to see Rarity and Applejack switch places. She looked around to see if Ghost was coming back from wherever he went, but he was nowhere to be seen.
"And may the best sisters win! On your marks..." Every sister there dug their hooves into the ground. "get set..." Sweetie Belle's eyes narrowed, ready to win this.
"Gooooo!"
And with that, every single racer sped off. Applejack purposefully shot off with a late start, letting all of the other sisters get ahead. Sweetie Belle was too caught up in hopping through the first mud puddle to realize that behind her, Applejack had splashed and sunk into the same mud puddle.
Underneath the mud, Applejack took off her hat and slapped it onto Rarity's head, giving the mare the signal to switch places. Sweetie Belle turned her head and saw 'Applejack' pulling herself out of the mud. "You okay Applejack!?" The muddy mare gave her a head nod.
The 'sister' team shot off towards the bucket steps, successfully navigating the small steps and avoiding falling over. When it came to the box hurdles, 'Applejack' managed to leap to the topmost box in one leap, but Sweetie Belle got stuck on the first leap. "Applejack, help!" the filly yelped, holding out her hoof. The mud covered mare grabbed Sweetie's hoof and pulled her up onto the box, before leaping down onto the ground and running towards the pie eating table.
Trial after trial, the 'sister' duo managed to act perfectly in sync to overcome them, leaving the spectators and other competitors absolutely floored. The pair came to the egg cradle portion of the race, carefully balancing an egg between their muzzles. They placed the egg into the basket and began to go towards the home stretch, bouncing along happily as they forgot that this was a race.
Berry Punch and Piña Colada both zoomed by the two, leaving them dizzy and in the dust. With a look of determination, Sweetie Belle and 'Applejack' sped forth after the competitors, the two pairs of sisters neck and neck.
"C'mon Sweetie Belle! You can do it!" Applebloom cheered from the finish line, as the final leap approached. With a grunt and jump, both pairs of sisters jumped over the final hurdle, creating a large cloud of dirt and dust. When the dust finally settled, the pair slowly opened their eyes, only to find that they had missed the finished line by just an inch. Berry Punch and Piña Colada had managed to completely clear the finish line, making them the winners of the Big Race.
A crowd full of cheers erupted, all of them congratulating the winners as they received the coveted blue ribbons. Applebloom let out an audible groan. "Ooh, so close! You almost won!" She exclaimed, a bit bummed but happy that Sweetie Belle was able to participate.
Sweetie Belle was expressing the same attitude that Applebloom was, but she was much happier. "Thank you, Applejack! You were amazing! I don't even care that we didn't win!" Sweetie admitted, nuzzling 'Applejack gratefully. "This was so much fun!" With that, Sweetie Belle threw herself at 'Applejack' for a hug around her neck, but in doing so, knocked her hat off.
Sweetie Belle didn't notice at first, but gasped when she saw a white horn protruding from 'Applejack's' head. "Huh?" Sweetie Belle whispered confused. She looked at the very muddy mare and wiped the mud from her flank, revealing 3 blue diamonds instead of red apples. "Rarity?!"
"Heh, well I guess the cat is out of the bag now!" Rarity sighed, wiping the mud from her face. "Applejack! I think you can come out now!" With a large gasp for air, Applejack emerged from the mud a bit blue in the face, but you couldn't tell because she was absolutely covered in mud like Rarity was.
"I don't get it..." Sweetie Belle mumbled, absolutely befuddled. She had started the race with Applejack, how'd she end it with Rarity?
"We switched places over at the very first mudhole." Applejack explained, motioning to the mud all over the two mares.
"So, we did the whole competition... together?" Sweetie Belle realized, looking up at Rarity with wide eyes.
"That we did, little sister. Well, except for the start line." Rarity admitted, looking a bit guilty about it.
"But ya finished together! Ah just wish Ghost was here ta see ya two..." Applejack muttered, still looking around for the colt.
"Y-Yes, well, I'm sure he must've had something important to do. Well, allow me to wash all of this unsightly mud off so we can go and have a proper celebration!" Rarity exclaimed, excusing herself from the group and walking towards the edge of the Apple orchard as fast as she could. Everypony in the group gave her a strange look, but they all chalked it up to her just acting weird from being so covered in dirt and grime. When she finally left their line of sight, she sighed and looked around.
'Rarity' burst into a ball of green flames, leaving Ghost completely undisguised and a bit irritated. "Alright Rarity! Get back down there, the race is over." Ghost called out, wiping the remainder of the mud off of himself. Rarity walked out of the treeline, a few tears in her eyes.
"She... she did so wonderful in that race... and look how happy she is now..." She whimpered happily, wiping the tears in her eyes. "and I wasn't the one to make her feel like that..."
"Rarity, this is going to be a time where the phrase 'What they don't know won't hurt them' really comes into play. There's no need to tell Sweetie Belle about this, because in the end it doesn't matter. To her, she was able to race in the Sisterhooves Social with her sister, so all is well. Ok?" Ghost explained, trying to make sure that Rarity didn't do anything that would ruin what they just pulled. He didn't need Sweetie Belle mad at him too.
"I..I know. Then let us go down there and I shall make some real memories with my little sister!" Rarity exclaimed, fire back in her heart.
Ghost knew that what he did wasn't very trustworthy, but in the end it was no different to Sweetie Belle. It might have been a bit more emotionally beneficial for Rarity if she had ran the actual race, but Ghost knew enough about fear to know that it was capable of make the strongest pony cower in terror.
Sometimes, a little white lie was the better than a harsh truth.
Ghost vs. The Equestrian Educational System
Chapter 13
Ghost POV
"Ghost, I know that you've only been here for 3 days, but that does not give you an excuse to go and pick fights!" Cheerilee scolded, as I sat at my desk and sighed. Apparently, after what had happened with Rumble 2 days ago, he went and blabbed to Ms. Cheerilee that I had attacked him. "You didn't have any right to go and try and do that to Rumble, especially when he simply couldn't help you find Applebloom!"
I sighed again and looked back up at Cheerilee. "He was the one who threw the first punch. All I did was try stop him before he could hurt himself. And he it wasn't that he didn't know how to find her, he just flat out refused to tell me!" I defended myself, not really liking being talked down to like this. I mean, I know in Canterlot I'm Agent 65 of the Equestrian Knights, but I'm not in Canterlot. Here in Ponyville, I'm Ghost, just a colt going to school with his friends.
"He has eyewitnesses saying that you were the one who instigated the fight. Do you have any proof saying otherwise?"
"I... hm... no I don't." I admitted. "But all of his witnesses are all of his friends! Of course they're going to side with him!"
"I have proof for Ghost!" Another voice chimed in, causing me to turn towards the door. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon stood there with smiles on their face, but like always, it looked as if she was hiding something behind those eyes. "Me and Sil' saw what happened!"
Cheerilee's face morphed into one of surprise. My guess was that she was shocked to see those two fillies actually eager to help somepony else. "Oh, then would you like to tell me what you saw happened that day?" Cheerilee asked, curious to see what they had to say. I actually wanted to hear this too, because I didn't see them anywhere when Rumble swung at me.
"Well, Ghost went up to Rumble's little group of friends, and all he did was ask if they knew where Applebloom went." She explained. "Rumble was being a big butt and wouldn't tell him, so he tried to punch Ghost in the face. Ghost just tossed him to the floor and walked away, and then Rumble threw a rock at him!"
I was surprised that she of all ponies was actually telling the truth, and it looked as if Cheerilee was actually buying the story. "Is that what happened Silver Spoon?" Cheerilee questioned, the grey filly nodding in response.
"Yup! I saw it with my own eyes!" Silver responded, adjusting her glasses a bit.
"Thats... exactly how it happened." I muttered, my head tilting a bit in confusion.
Cheerilee looked a bit conflicted, now having two sides of the story. She had more 'eyewitnesses' on Rumble's side, but some sources like Snips and Snails were probably not the most reputable. Diamond Tiara on the other hoof... From what I had heard from the CMC, they were jerks. But, they were trying to help me for some reason... I didn't know what to think, so I just watched Ms. Cheerilee deliberate in her head.
"Well, even if those colts were bothering you Ghost, you shouldn't have responded with violence. Instead just come and find me and I'll handle it." Cheerilee instructed, before looking towards the door. "You may leave now Ghost."
I got up and made for the door, tired of just sitting there. I saw Applebloom and her friends standing just outside, all ready with bowling bags to go and try to get their cutie marks in Bowling. Applebloom and I made eye contact, before a voice called to me.
"Oh Ghost! Can we talk for a sec?" Diamond Tiara called, a look in her eyes screaming 'You owe me'. I looked back towards Applebloom with a 'wait a moment' gesture, before begrudgingly walking back towards the two fillies.
"Yes Diamond Tiara?" I sighed, not wanting to deal with these two at the moment.
"Well, I thought since I just saved you from a load of trouble from Cheerilee, you'd might want to tag along with Sil and I back to my house."
I questioned just how much trouble Cheerilee could put me into, because it didn't sound like a lot. And when she said 'you'd might want' to me, I knew that she meant 'you have no choice'. There was literally no reason besides Diamond Tiara saving me from whatever miniscule trouble I could have gotten into to go with these two. But, the damn moral changeling in my head was telling me that since she did me a favor, I should just do this.
I groaned, "Just give me a second to explain things to the Cutie Mark Crusaders. I can't just leave."
"Fine, just make it quick." She huffed before turning tail and walking away. I made my way over to Applebloom with a nervous smile, unsure of what she'd think of all this.
"Um... Applebloom? I... can't go with you girls to the bowling alley..." I admitted, making Applebloom's eyes widen. She practically tackled me to the ground and onto my back, standing over me with wide eyes.
"Why not!? Yer gonna miss us gettin' our cutie marks in bowlin'!" She cried.
"For some reason, Diamond Tiara vouched for me when Ms. Cheerilee thought I started a fight with Rumble." I began to explain, before being cut off by Scootaloo.
"You got into a fight with Rumble?" She asked, stars in her eyes.
"Yes, but I'm not the one who started it. Anyways Diamond Tiara convinced Cheerilee that I didn't start it, and now she wants me to go back to her house to hang out."
"Ms. Cheerilee wants you to go back to her house to hang out?" Sweetie Belle questioned.
"No! Diamond Tiara does."
"Diamond Tiara wants you to go to Ms Cheerilee's house?"
"No, Diamond Tiara wants me to go to her house!" I shouted, trying to get rid of the confusion.
I could see that Applebloom was disappointed, but knew where I was coming from. "Well... alright then Ghost, we'll be a the Bowlin' Alley if ya decided to bail! C'mon girls!" The CMC followed Applebloom as she began to run towards town.
I sighed and turned back towards Diamond Tiara. I mean what's the worst that could happen?
Author's Note
In regards to the extreme tardiness of this post, I have but one excuse. It was my birthday on August 15th. Yeah... doesn't really make up for much does it?
Ghost vs. The Equestrian Educational System
Chapter 14
3rd Person POV
"My daddy has gotten the best cooks from Canterlot to cook for anything we want! We can simply say that we want a nice vegetable dinner for no reason, and they'll come out here in a flash! My daddy has done that for my birthdays, my cute-ceañera, and anything else I want!"
Ghost had been listening to Diamond Tiara rambling for awhile, and had found a common thread for everything she had said. Almost everything she boasted about had something to do with her father giving her something, usually something that a pony with normal means wouldn't have the resources to obtain.
"So, what if you wanted something like a servant or something, would he give that to you?" Ghost asked, trying to make a small joke. Little did he know, that as they arrived in front of Diamond Tiara's massive house, an elder stallion with a purple coat came running out towards them.
As soon as he got to the group of children, he went into what was pretty much a bow in front of Diamond Tiara. "Ms. Tiara, what is it that you will need?" He asked, making Ghost's eyes widen.
"Hello Randolph, my new friend Ghost here will be requiring a drink. He must be soo parched after the walk here from school." Diamond ordered, but Ghost interjected.
"Actually, I don't need anything. Thank you thought Diamond." He tried to politely decline, but Diamond just scowled.
"Fine, Randolph. Go and get me and Sil' a large pitcher of lemonade, and bring it out to the pool this instant."
"Of course Miss Tiara." Randolph answered, before trotting back through the large iron gates and into the house. Well... house was putting it lightly. It wasn't large enough to be called a mansion, but it was too big to be simply be called a house. It was 2 stories high, complete with large backyard pool.
"Follow me Ghost, I'll show you everything you're missing!" Diamond boasted, making Ghost roll his eyes. He followed Diamond up to the large front doors of her house, entering to see a large room with pretty much nothing in it except for some plants and furniture against the walls, and two large spiral staircases heading up towards the 2nd floor. There were open hallways on the sides of the rooms to get to other rooms on the 1st floor, but Diamond instead started up one of the staircases. "Sil', can you show Ghost to the swimming pool? I just need to get my swimsuit."
"You got it Diamond. Follow me Ghost." Silver Spoon instructed, taking one of the hallways towards the back of the house.
"So... Diamond has that stallion Randolph just waiting on her hoof and tail?" Ghost asked, a bit uncomfortable being waited on like that.
"Yep! She was even kind enough to let me borrow one of her other servants Consuela for my family! Isn't it wonderful?" Silver Spoon asked, looking back at Ghost. "Don't you have servants in Canterlot?"
Ghost rubbed the back of his head uncomfortably. "Well, not really. We have attendants, not servants. They volunteered to work and we don't exactly order them around. We just ask things from them and they can decline if they want to. It doesn't look like that's the case here though."
Silver Spoon's face changed into a look of confusion. "But, why can they say no? Doesn't that defeat the purpose of having an attendant?"
"Like I said, they're not servants. They can choose what they don't want to do."
"Do I hear a new voice in my home?" A masculine voice called out, making Ghost and Silver Spoon look back down the hallway. It was a brown stallion with an oily and slicked back black mane, who wore a collar and tie around his neck. Ghost looked at the paintings and pictures that were on the walls, and saw that this stallion was always pictured with Diamond Tiara. "Looks like my little girl decided to bring a little friend with her today. What's your name young'n?"
Ghost extended a hoof in greeting. "I'm Ghost, Diamond Tiara invited me over today." Ghost was trying to be as courteous as possible, knowing that getting on his bad side wouldn't be very good.
"Well that's good! My daughter doesn't bring many friends over nowadays. Usually it's just her and little Silver here. I'm Filthy Rich, pleasure to meet you Ghost." The stallion introduced himself, taking Ghost's hoof and shaking it politely. "Now then, run along to do whatever you were going to do. I won't keep you waiting."
Ghost actually wanted to have a word with Filthy Rich regarding what Diamond Tiara had told him earlier, but decided that now wasn't the time for that. He and Silver Spoon continued on towards the backyard, arriving at the large pool and back gate. "Wow... that's a really big pool." Ghost awed, before thinking about something strange. "Wait, why did Diamond Tiara say that she needed a swimsuit? Why doesn't she just get in?"
Silver Spoon chuckled nervously and waved her hoof. "Oh... it's nothing really... just... you'll see when she gets out here." Ghost decided that he would need to wait and see. "She should be out in just a moment, oh look! Here she is."
Ghost looked over towards the exit he had just came out of, and tilted his head in confusion. Diamond Tiara was wearing a diving suit the same color as her coat, minus the flippers and oxygen tanks. Her mane was stuffed into a swim cap, and her eyes were covered with goggles.
"Alright! I'm ready to swim!" She called out gleefully, before noticing the look she was getting from Ghost. "What? You've never seen a swimsuit before?"
"Well, no not really. Only for ponies who are deep sea diving. Why are you wearing one to swim in a pool?"
Diamond Tiara huffed and adjusted the swim cap on her head. "Well... I'm really scared of too much water touching my fur..." She explained. "This swimsuit helps keep a lot of it out."
Ghost could only think one thing. "Wow... a lot of ponies in this town are scared of really simple things... "
Author's Note
I don't know if you notice, but there's a recurring theme in this story.
Ghost vs. The Equestrian Educational System
Chapter 15
3rd Person POV
Ghost didn't really understand why Diamond Tiara needed that almost ridiculous wetsuit to swim, I mean she could have just not opted to get in the water. But, he decided that the quicker they 'hung out', the quicker he would be able to get to go and get back to the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
"Alright then, what did you want to do? Just swim around a bit?" Ghost asked, motioning towards the pool. Diamond Tiara shook her head.
"Of course not! I wanted to show you what I could do with that!" She exclaimed, pointing with her hoof towards an incredibly tall diving board. It seemed to be as high as the second floor of her house, and extended to about the middle of the large pool. "I've been jumping off of that every since I was a little filly! And I've mastered a ton of flips and dives, watch!"
With that, Diamond Tiara trotted over towards the ladder that led to the top of the diving board, and as she did Ghost went over to Silver Spoon. "Has she really dived off of this that much?"
"Oh yeah! It's strange, she loves diving off of this thing, but is still too scared to let too much water get on her fur. She's told me that she takes 5 minute showers tops." Silver elaborated, Ghost blushing a bit due to that last part. "I think her fear started when she was a little foal."
"How? She almost drown or something?" Ghost asked, but Silver Spoon shook her head.
"If she did, I doubt she would ever get near a pool again. No, it started with one of her old nannies." Silver explained. "She was really mean and nasty, but Diamond was too little to speak out about it. She used to spray Diamond with water and call her really bad names whenever she did something bad, then when her parents found out and had the nanny arrested, Diamond started to call others names to make her feel better about herself."
Ghost began to think about that story. If Diamond Tiara was projecting her past trauma onto others, that might explain why she called other names all the time.
"Yoohoo! Up here!" Diamond Tiara called, grabbing the attention of Ghost who was staring at the ground in thought. "Are you two ready?"
"Jump Diamond!" Silver called out encouragingly, as Ghost gave a smile and a nod. Right on the edge of the diving board, Diamond Tiara made sure to tighten one of the straps keeping her suit as tight as possible. Stuffing her ears into her swim cap, Diamond took in a deep breath and bent her knees a bit.
She jumped once, gaining the necessary bounce for a successful dive. With a second bounce, she closed her eyes in concentration. With a final bounce, Diamond Tiara jumped high into the air, causing Ghost's jaw to drop in amazement. Unlike her other talents which she just mostly boasted about, seeing her actually perform a jump was stunning.
Twisting in the air as if there was no gravity, Diamond began her descent towards the water, her body moving as graceful as a leaf blowing through the air riding on a gentle breeze.
That was until one of the straps on her midsection managed to snag on the diving board as she fell. With a yelp, Diamond was suspended on one of the corners of the diving board, barely hanging on with the elastic strap snagged. Ghost and Silver watched as she tried to pull herself back up onto the diving board, but gasped as they saw the elastic strap beginning to tear.
Before they could react, the strap tore and released Diamond Tiara, sending her plummeting towards the water. Without the elastic strap holding the suit together, it would be useless in keeping water out. Once Diamond fell into the water with a loud splash, she froze as she felt the liquid rushing into her suit.
"Little devil! Good for nothing! Blank flank! " The voices echoed, causing her to scream underwater, flailing and fighting to get to the surface.
"I gotta help her!" Ghost yelled, jumping into the water and seeing the terrified Diamond Tiara fighting and kicking to swim upwards, but her suit was creating to much drag for her. Ghost swam towards her and grabbed her by the shoulders, but all of her kicking and screaming made it hard for him to get a good grip.
She kicked outwards when she felt unfamiliar hooves grab her, thinking it was her nanny coming back to scold her. With a particularly hard kick, she managed to hit Ghost in his horn, causing him to garble in pain. With his magic disrupted, green flames entrapped Ghost, revealing his true Changeling form.
At the sight of this, Diamond Tiara froze completely, staring in shock at Ghost's form. Ghost looked down and saw that he was no longer disguised as a colt, causing his eyes to widen in fear. Not wanting to waste anymore time, Ghost once again conjured his disguise and grabbed Diamond Tiara, already swimming up to the surface.
Once the pair came up from above the water, they both took in a deep breath of air, Diamond Tiara coughing and wheezing as she did so. Ghost looked and saw that several maids and butlers had immediately surrounded the pool, each of them holding their hooves out to take Diamond.
"Here, grab her." Ghost said, holding her a bit higher as a few of the butlers took her and began to cover her with towels, each of them spouting off question after question if she was okay. She did nothing but stare at Ghost in shock, the changeling colt still in the water and holding on to the edge of the pool.
"Where is she? Where's my daughter!?" Filthy Rich yelled, pushing his way through the wall of his own attendants. He saw her seated onto a towel, with another red towel over her shoulders and small frame. With a gasp, he went to embrace his daughter, putting his hooves over her shoulders. He began to ask her the same questions that all of the attendants were asking her, but she said nothing, only staring at Ghost with wide eyes and partially separated lips.
He followed her line of sight and saw Ghost in the pool, tears on the edge of his eyes. "Thank you! Thank you so much for saving her!" He gasped. "If there's anythin' you need, just let me know and I'll make it happen. That's the least I can do to repay you!"
Ghost cracked a nervous grin and chuckled. "I... think I'll hold onto the favor for now if you don't mind."
"Of course, just let me know when ya need something, and I'll get it done." Filthy answered, picking up Diamond Tiara and taking her inside the house. Not once did her eyes leave Ghost's.
Ghost vs. The Equestrian Educational System
Chapter 16
3rd Person POV
"I mean, she's never messed up that badly! If you hadn't been there she might not have been able to get out of the pool!" Silver Spoon spouted off, pacing in front of the large plush couch which Ghost was sitting on. His horn still stung a bit from the blow he had taken from Diamond Tiara, but it wouldn't hamper his ability to hold a disguise.
Ghost looked out of the window and saw the setting sun, sighing a bit. Diamond Tiara knew his secret, and now she would probably go off and tell the entire town that he was a Changeling. Hopefully he could get out of Ponyville as soon as possible, but then he would be abandoning Applebloom, and he couldn't do that knowing that she could still be in trouble.
As Silver Spoon continued to worry and pace, Filthy Rich walked into the large Living Room the two were in, a serious look on his face. He walked up to Silver Spoon and put a hoof onto her shoulder. "She's going to be okay Silver honey. Why don't you go on home? It's going to be dark soon." Filthy advised, trying to calm the worried filly.
"But can I go and see if Diamond is okay? What if she needs me?" Silver asked, but Filthy just smiled and rubbed her mane a bit. The filly glowered at the stallion for babying her, but did nothing about it.
"I'm sure I can handle it from here. Go on now." The filly sighed and started walking towards the door, and Ghost started to follow her. "Actually Ghost, I think I would like to have a word with you."
"So it begins... " Ghost thought, thinking about high tailing out of the house. Instead he turned around and faced Filthy Rich, meeting the steely gaze of the father. Silver Spoon huffed a bit, thinking it was unfair that the new colt was able to stay but she wasn't. She walked out of the manor, the door slamming behind her.
"Forgive me if that sound a bit threatening, I'm simply on edge now. I don't think my little angel is going to step anywhere near that diving board now." Filthy sighed, looking down at Ghost. "My daughter would like to have a word with you upstairs. Mind you I've told her to keep the door open..."
Ghost's eyes widened in surprise, expecting a barrage of threats against his kind, but not being one to look a gift horse in the mouth he just nodded and walked out of the living room, heading up the stairs and towards Diamond Tiara's room. The first thing he noticed was that on the stairs, there was some of the softest carpeting he had ever felt. He remembered a story 64 once told him about his first ever escape from Canterlot, and how carpet was the softest thing he had ever walked on.
"Don't take the little things for granted Ghost, you never know when you'll never be able to have them again..."
The Changeling colt didn't need to ask which room was Diamond Tiara's, because if one couldn't tell by her insanely over decorated door, they would see that it was the only door in the hall that was left wide open. He carefully walked forward, and could feel that Filthy Rich was watching him from the bottom of the staircase.
Once he got to the door, he saw Diamond Tiara's room, heavily decorated with frilly pillows, fluffy throw carpets, and stuffed toys sitting on every single flat surface possible. The filly herself was sitting on her bed, staring out the window towards the setting sun.
"Diamond? Are you feeling alright?" Ghost asked carefully, not stepping into the room yet. Diamond Tiara turned her head towards the colt and nodded, motioning him to come inside. Taking one last look down the hall, and seeing Filthy Rich peering at him from the stairs, he sighed and took a few steps inside.
"Can you close the door...?" She asked, Ghost humming a bit conflicted.
"Your uh... dad said to leave the door opened..." Ghost said nervously, but that was when Diamond Tiara huffed, got up from her bed, and went over to the door and slammed it shut. "Never mind I guess..."
After the small show of aggression, Diamond Tiara shivered and turned around, her eyes stained red from the aftermath of tears. Neither of them said anything, but Diamond Tiara kept looking up at Ghost's horn then looking back at him. With a sigh, Ghost let the green flames engulf his body, revealing his true form once again. Diamond Tiara's breath hitched, taking a step back in reflex.
"Y-You... you are... not a pony..." She whispered, her voice wavering a bit. The changeling colt just shook his head no, not sure if he should say anything in return. "Why... why did you save me? Ms. Cheerilee taught us that a lot of changeling are... ya'know..."
"Evil? Terrorizing? Love sucking bugs?" Ghost asked, knowing that such harsh words wouldn't be used in a classroom, but were the most common descriptions.
"Well... yeah..."
"Then why did you ask me to come up here? And then close and lock the door?"
Diamond Tiara grew a bit frustrated. "Because I wanted to know why would you save me. I'm sure daddy could have saved me if you didn't."
"But when daddy got there it could have been too late. I saved you because I couldn't just stand there and do nothing." Ghost answered, before a flash of green ignited his horn, teleporting his badge into his hoof. Diamond recoiled when she saw the magic, fearing the worst, but gasped when she saw the badge in his possession. "I'm an Equestrian Knight. That's why I saved you."
Ghost vs. The Equestrian Educational System
Chapter 17
3rd Person POV
Diamond Tiara continued to look at the badge, trying to see if she could trying and tell if it was fake. Engraved in pure stainless steel, the large number 65 was printed on the 6 pointed star. "But... How?"
"That's not important right now. What is important, is that you don't tell anypony else about what you saw, ok? I'm going to start showing ponies, but for now I want to keep it under wraps, got it?" Ghost asked, a bit of edge to his voice. "There's no need to start something."
Diamond Tiara nodded dumbly, still a bit frightened at what Ghost actually was. His black chitinous shell looked unnatural, and his icy blue eyes made her knees lock up. She remembered a word that her daddy was called his kind, Pretenders. He hated when ponies weren't honest with him, and changeling abilities were the ultimate form of dishonesty. "I... I won't say anything. Just... don't hurt me."
Ghost tilted his head in confusion, before his eyes widened. "Oh no! I'm not trying to threaten you. I'm asking you to not tell anypony. They only one stopping you is who."
She relaxed a bit with those words, but still held an air of defensiveness. He might've said he wasn't trying to hurt her, but changelings weren't the most honest bunch. "Alright then. I guess... I'll see you at school tomorrow..."
"Thanks Diamond, you're not as bad as I thought you were." Ghost replied, going forward and wrapping his hooves around her shoulders. She tensed up at the contact, about to scream out for the help against the changeling attacking her, but she calmed down when she realized that the contact wasn't malicious, but in fact friendly.
She awkwardly reciprocated the hug, before Ghost let go and walked out of the room. She stood there a bit, before sighing and walking over to her vanity mirror. Using her brush, she began to ready her hair to go to bed, the strange changeling colt at the forefront of her mind. "Maybe he's not as bad as I thought either..."
Ghost POV
I walked in the moonlight back towards Sweet apple Acres, eager to see Applebloom again and asked her how it all went at the bowling alley. I could also tell her that Diamond Tiara wasn't as bad as everypony thought, just a bit misguided. She just needed a few friends to help her out with her self image.
As I walked through the Town Square, I looked at the clock tower in the distance and saw that it was already going to be 10PM. I began to quicken my pace to not be as late, knowing that Applebloom could have an episode while I'm not there.
I made it back and found that a few lights were on, the living room and my room, which was strange because I didn't remember turning it on when I left in the morning. I opened the door and saw Granny Smith in her rocking chair, scowling at me playfully.
"Well it's about time ya got home! Ya missed yer suppertime! Ah left some o' it on the kitchen table if yer feelin' a bit peckish." Granny Smith scolded, but I shook my head appreciatively.
"Thank you ma'am, but I'm not that hungry right now. Applebloom's upstairs right?" I asked.
"Why are ya so eager to go and see mah granddaughter?" Granny Smith accused, causing me to lock up in shock. I failed to create any form of coherent speech, only being able to utter babbling and nonsense.
"Uhm, well because um... you know I hafta... uhm..." I muttered, before Granny Smith started laughing up a storm.
"Oh, look at you gettin' all flustered! She's upstairs sonny."
I gave a weak thanks and ran upstairs, feeling heat beginning to build in my cheeks. I ran towards my room and shut the door behind me, trying to calm myself down before I went to go see if Applebloom was still awake.
"mhmm... ghost..."
The muttering I heard brought me back to my senses, immediately turning around ready for anything that might have been there. I charged my horn at what lay before me, before giving a small gasp. Applebloom was asleep in my bed, her hooves wrapped around my pillow as if it was all that was keeping her alive. The lantern was burning brightly, acting as a sort of nightlight, illuminating the room to a brightness that normally would hinder anyone from falling asleep.
"Um... Applebloom?" I whispered, slowly creeping towards my bed.
With that, her hooves immediately shot out and wrapped themselves around the nearest source of noise. Unfortunately, that source of noise was me. With the kind of strength that only Earth Ponies had, she pulled me onto the bed and began to bear hug me. "Grp! A-Applebloom!" I choked out, but all that came out were a few choking sounds.
She was beginning to shake, but it couldn't be from the cold, she was covered from the forelegs down by a thick blanket. She also began to sweat and mutter in her sleep, gripping me tighter as she did so.
"get it off... help me......" She muttered, making realize what was going on. She was having a nightmare about what happened at Smokey Mountain. Not knowing what else to do, I wrapped my hooves around her midsection and sighed, knowing that I was going to be stuck her until morning.
"Don't worry Applebloom, I won't let anything hurt you." I whispered, closing my eyes as I tried to go to sleep. All I could do was hope that Diamond Tiara held up her promise and didn't tell anyone about my true nature.
Ghost vs. The Equestrian Educational System
Chapter 18
Ghost POV
"Ghost Ghost get up get up!" Applebloom yelled in my ear, startling me awake.
"Huh wha!?" I gasped, looknig around. Applebloom's grin was as wide as Princess Celestia's wingspan, and she was hopping around as if she was crazy. "What's going on?"
"We gotta go to school early today! Ah gotta show somethin' to the class!" Applebloom explained. It wasn't until now that I noticed that Applebloom was wearing her crusader cape, as I fumbled out of bed.
"Does it involve your cape in any way?" I asked, grabbing the Red Bow on the nightstand and tying it around my neck. She nodded up and down excitedly, bouncing around just like Pinkie Pie would.
"Yep! Now c'mon! We gotta get going!" Applebloom exclaimed, grabbing my hoof and dragging me out of our room and downstairs. I managed to catch a glimpse of the wall clock and saw that it was 7:10, way to early in my opinion. As we rushed through the kitchen, catching the bewildered glances of Applejack and Granny Smith, I heard Applebloom holler a quick farewell before we were out the door.
"Applebloom! Hold on for a second!" I yelled, barely able to thrown on my disguise before we were in the public eye. "What are you in such a hurry for? We have all of lunch and recess to show off whatever you did with your cape!"
Applebloom didn't slow down or make indication that she heard me, so I just groaned and tried to keep up with the energetic filly.
"Here we are!" Applebloom yelled, coming to a screeching halt a bit of a ways away from the Schoolyard. "Let's find a good hiding spot!"
I blanched at those words. "Hiding spot? For what? Are we trying to scare somepony?"
"Course not! Ah jus' wanna make sure that everypony is here before I show them what ah have!"
"And what did you get? Why didn't we just show up a bit later!?"
Applebloom didn't respond that time, continuing to look around for a hiding spot. I sighed and teleported us both to the top of the closest house to the school, giving us a good view of the Schoolhouse and the surrounding area.
"So... how was bowling yesterday?" I asked, trying to prevent an awkward silence from setting in. Applebloom sighed and shook her head.
"No luck there. All we got were lousy gutter balls and sometimes we accidentally let them fly backwards." Applebloom groaned. "There was this group behind us with one big stallion yellin' 'bout who this wasn't war, there were rules, but I didn't listen to him."
I chuckled at that, seeing the ridiculousness of the entire situation. "What happened after?"
"Well... ah was in a bit of a bad mood after that, so a bunch of ponies tried to cheer me up. None of it helped, so ah was goin' to see Zecora if she could do anythin' about it."
She continued to tell me about how she chipped her tooth and how Zecora was able to fix it, but I felt she was omitting a few parts from me. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to question her about it because as we were talking, we failed to notice that almost all of the other colts and fillies had arrived, and were running around the schoolyard before the day began.
"Oh! They're here! Git us down there Ghost! Git us down there!" Applebloom yelled excitedly, tugging on my hoof. I nodded and my horn began to glow. With a large green flash, I teleported me and Applebloom down to the ground, and she immediately went dashing off to find Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.
I let her run off, a bit more concerned with finding Diamond Tiara. I looked around and found the filly in question underneath one of the trees, speaking with Silver Spoon in a hushed tone. I walked towards them, only to be cut off by Rumble. "Hey, I'm trying to walk here." I grunted, trying to move around him.
"What happened at Diamond Tiara's house? Ponies around town were saying that she almost drowned." He asked, a bit more forcefully than necessary.
"I don't think that's any of your business. Now if you'll excuse me..." I went to move around him, but he extending his wings and blocked me off.
"I know you were there with here, I saw you 3 walking away from school together. One of her servants said how the 'strange green colt' got her out of the pool." He continued to question.
"This matters why?"
"I don't know... But I think I've heard someponies talk about how close you're getting to Diamond Tiara..."
I was about to yell at Rumble to go fly through a thorn bush, but simultaneous yells caught my attention. "Aah! Apple Bloom! You got your cutie mark!"
I turned towards the yells to see that Applebloom was proudly displaying her flank, showing a cutie mark of a... circular object? I realized that was why she was wearing her crusader cape, to hide her cutie mark. Unfortunately... I saw right through it...
As a changeling, I knew how to spot anything that was out of place or false. I had to be careful that whenever I morphed, everything had to be spot on. Applebloom's cutie mark had a strange magic radiating from it, not harmonious or chaotic even. It felt malicious in general, as if it came from unnatural means.
Of course I wouldn't just expose her like that to everypony, she just had to learn her lesson over time. All of the foals were cheering for Applebloom as she spun a loop-de-hoop around her waist, eventually spinning it with her tail and hooves too, when Ms. Cheerilee came walking out of the schoolhouse and towards all of us.
"Apple Bloom?" Cheerilee said with a very stern tone of voice. Applebloom immediately stopped showcasing her talents when she heard the mare speak. "I want you to take your loop-de-hoop into the yard... and give us all a lesson in your amazing loop-de-hooping!"
Everypony cheered, but I was pretty sure that was just because they got to get a day out of class and play around with loop-de-hoops. Ms. Cheerilee brought out a wagon filled with plastic loop-de-hoops, and I took them out with my magic and began to give them to everyone.
As I went to go and give one to Rumble, he just grunted and swatted it out of the air, standing off to the side away from everyone. Not wanting to deal with his attitude, I just put his on the ground and walked away, going towards Applebloom who was continuously spinning her loop-de-hoop on her tail.
"Wow... that cutie mark just.. came out of nowhere didn't it?" I asked, a hint of teasing behind my voice. "Almost as if by... magic."
She scowled at me and poked me in the chest. "Are ya accusin' me of somethin'?" She questioned, and I just waved my hoof.
"Of course not! It's just that, when you were telling me about your day up there on the roof, you told me you went to Zecora, who you told me was one of the best potion makers in Equestria. And you never mentioned playing with a loop-de-hoop that day either. Just a bunch of strange coincidences that don't add up." I whispered.
"Well ah didn't tell ya about the loop-de-hoop because ah wanted it to be a surprise!" She covered, her eyes darting back and forth like her sisters did. I guess the Apple Family just had a tell.
"I guess that's believable. Have fun loop-de-hooping!" I laughed, walking away from Applebloom.
This was going to be funny to watch fall apart.
Ghost vs. The Equestrian Educational System
Chapter 19
Ghost POV
"Here, like this Diamond." I sighed, watching her trip up yet another time. I began to twirl a loop-de-hoop around my waist, not going as fast as Applebloom was, but fast enough to not let it drop. I was trying to help Diamond Tiara and Sliver Spoon not fall flat every time, but it seemed that they weren't too used to physical activities like this.
"I just can't get it right!" Silver complained, once again attempting to keep the hoop spinning around her waist. Diamond Tiara stayed silent most of the time, only giving small grunts of frustration every now and then. "What about you Diamond?"
"I'm... not doing so good either..." She sighed. "Some help Ghost?"
I grinned and began to show her how to move her hips to keep the hoop twirling, and was able to get her to keep it spinning for about 30 seconds before she slipped up and the hoop came to a stop. "See? Just takes some practice." I consoled, before a yelp broke my concentration.
"Hey! What is she doing with two cutie marks!?" Rumble yelped, causing all eyes to go directly to the filly in question. Applebloom stopped and looked to her flank, and there was indeed two cutie marks, one for her loop-de-hooping, and another one which looked like it was for plate spinning. "That's not fair!"
I stared confused at Applebloom, knowing that the first cutie mark was magically artificial, but never expecting a second to show up. Diamond Tiara scowled a bit, obviously a bit jealous as well. "Miss Cheerilee, have you ever heard of a pony with two cutie marks?" She asked, sneering a bit at Applebloom as well.
"I must say that I never have, but maybe Apple Bloom has two special talents!" She said optimistically, but Diamond wasn't very convinced. At this point I was just wondering what Applebloom used or took to get multiple artificial cutie marks.
"Oh yeah? Let's see her do that!" Silver Spoon called out, pointing towards her plate spinning cutie mark. I stepped forward and scowled.
"She doesn't have to prove anything!" I defended, knowing that if the cutie marks were fake, she would just embarrass herself in front of everypony.
"Spin the plates!" Snips yelled, somehow managing to get a pair of plates and two wooden sticks for them. I was about to catch them with my magic, but Applebloom shoved me out of the way. I closed my eyes to avoid seeing her getting hit with the plates, but instead I heard a collective gasp come from the crowd of foals.
Applebloom was indeed spinning the plates on her nose, and managing to keep her loop-de-hoop spinning around her tail.
"Two cutie marks?!" Sweetie Belle gasped.
"Two talents?!" Scootaloo added.
Now confident in her new skills, Applebloom grinned and began to walk around triumphantly, as Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle continued to gush over Applebloom's new found talents. I could only stare in awe, trying to find out why this was happening. I knew when something was too good to be true, and whenever it was, there was always a terrible catch.
Unfortunately, I couldn't just leave school to go and investigate. Applebloom seemed to be leading everypony towards town, akin to the Pied Piper led the foals off of a cliff, so I followed to watch her showcase her new skills. Throughout the entirety of Ponyville Square, Applebloom showed off her amazing talents, leaping into the air and tossing her hoop and plates around and about.
I saw Twilight Sparkle also come to the Square to watch Applebloom's talents, but I was sure that she was there to spectate for the exact same reason I was. "This sort of thing isn't natural is it?" I asked her, continuing to keep my eyes on Applebloom.
"Not even magically! I've tried to recreate the same magic that cutie marks contain, but it doesn't seem possible! They aren't harmonious magic or chaotic magic! They can't just be altered or added!"
I could see that this dilemma was boggling her mind just as badly as it was mine, if not worse. I began wonder if looking towards other forms of magic could be the solution, but for there to be a solution, there had to be a problem. in the first place. These cutie marks seemed to make Applebloom really happy, if not a bit of a showoff, so would it really be that bad to just let her enjoy if for a bit?
"Maybe we should just keep an eye on her for a bit... Let her enjoy this for awhile. We don't need to intervene unless things get really bad." I suggested, watching as Applebloom somehow managed to slice an apple pie into 8 slices and plated them perfectly.
"I'm not to sure Ghost. What would you do if 64 just suddenly managed to perform stunts he wasn't able to do before?" Twilight asked me, as I thought about it.
"I would think... he got a little help from somepony..." I thought, remembering what Applebloom told me when she recounted her actions yesterday. "Or some zebra..." I whispered to myself. I had the inkling that Zecora had helped Applebloom get her cutie mark in someway, but now I was sure of it.
"And would it worry you?"
"I... I'm not sure. But this seems pretty harmless. It's just plate spinning and loop-de-hooping."
Twilight went silent and hummed to herself, also mulling over the thought in her mind. I continued to watch Applebloom twirl and dance around, before a hoop came shooting towards me, causing me to duck to avoid it. It ricocheted off of the building behind me, and bounced back towards Applebloom, who picked it up and continued to toss it up and around.
"I'll keep an eye on her Twilight. I promise I'll contact you if things get a bit hairy." I consoled, watching as the Apple family cheered on the red headed filly.
"Alright then... I'm trusting you with this Ghost. Remember, your job is to protect Applebloom and keep her safe. You have to make sure to do that job."
I nodded and looked at Applebloom again. Slowly but surely her ordeal in Smokey Mountain was having less of an impact on her, but even one little incident could send her back spiraling into her fear riddled mind.
Of course loop-de-hooping couldn't be that dangerous... right?
Ghost vs. The Equestrian Educational System
Chapter 20
3rd Person POV
After an incredibly long day of loop-de-hooping and spinning plates, the Apple Family and Ghost finally made it back to Sweet Apple Acres. By now, Celestia had set the sun and Luna had risen her moon, creating a vast night sky for all to see. Ghost smiled as he saw the tired grin on Applebloom's face, along with the cheery expressions of the rest of the Apple family.
"Yee-haw, lil' sis! Congratulations on gettin' not just one, but two cutie marks! We're mighty proud of ya, right Big Macintosh?" Applejack cheered, with Big Mac giving his signature, 'Eyup' response. The tension between him and Ghost had settled a bit, especially after Applebloom's explanation of why she had been sleeping in his bed. The large stallion was still wary around Ghost, but as long as he was helping his little sister get better, he would at least try to get over it. "Ah've never seen anythin' like it. Have ya, Big Mac?"
"Eenope!"
"It's almost like... magic !" Ghost added, shooting a small grin towards Applebloom who just scowled at him a bit.
"Why, the way you were a-hoopin' and a-hoppin' and kickin' and spinnin' reminded me of when I was a spry young filly." Granny Smith said with a hint of longing in her voice. With that, she tried to perform so sort of dance move, before she locked up and began to yelp. "Charley horse, charley horse!" Big Mac gave the elderly mare a quick tap on the hip, clearing up her cramp.
"Why, Apple Bloom, I think you're ready to hit the rodeo circuit right now!" Applejack congratulated, but Applebloom laughed tiredly and shook her head no.
"Actually, ah'm ready to hit the hay right now. ah'm plum tuckered. I'll see y'all in the mornin'. Night!" Applebloom yawned, walking upstair away from everypony else in the room.
"Night! Oh my, little Apple Bloom has finally blossomed, hasn't she, Big Mac?" Applejack sighed, looking up the stairs where Applebloom went.
"Eyup!"
Not saying a word, Ghost followed Applebloom upstairs, going into Applebloom's room to find her admiring her own talents in her vanity mirror. "That was a very impressive afternoon. But you know what I've been wondering all day?" Ghost commented, watching as Applebloom continued to spin plates on her head and twirl a hoop around her tail. "How did you manage to get a second cutie mark in plate spinning, when you never spun plates before you got it?"
Applebloom grunted and turned towards Ghost, still managing to keep all of her props spinning. "Why have ya been sayin' stuff like that!? Aren't ya happy that ah managed to finally get mah cutie mark?"
"Not if they're fakes! I know you didn't get those legitimately Applebloom!"
"And how would you know if they're real or not!?"
"Because that's what I have to do for a living!" Ghost exclaimed. "My job involves pretending to be somepony else a lot, so I know how to spot phonies."
With that, the two just stared at each other, an angry look on both of their faces. Applebloom turned away from the Changeling, stopping her loop-de-hooping and her plate spinning. She set them into a large chest in her room, but still didn't look at Ghost. "Get out of mah room." She finally said, still not looking at him. "If ya ain't gonna be happy for me in a time like this, then ya obviously aren't mah friend."
"Fine then! I'll just get out!" Ghost retorted, turning around and walking towards the door. He opened it to find Big Mac about to knock, but just went around him to his guest room. Big Mac stood there confused for a moment, before walking into Applebloom's room. Her back was still to the door, and her head was hung just a little bit.
"Mind explainin' things?" He asked, walking up towards his baby sister. She just shook her head no, trying to stifle a sob that was threatening to rise out of her throat. "Are ya sure?"
"Yes, can... can ya leave me alone for a bit...?" She managed to say, a few shaky sobs nearly causing her to falter. Big Mac nodded and walked out of the room, making sure to quietly close the door behind him. Seeing if he could get an answer out of Ghost, he knocked on the guest room door a few times.
"Ghost? Open up." Big Mac said, more of a command than a request. There was no answer, making Big Mac knock a bit harder. "Ah know yer in there. Open up." No response came once again, causing the large stallion to try the door knob. It didn't budge, but Big Mac wasn't going to be satisfied until he had a word with the changeling colt.
Turning around and rearing his hind legs, he kicked the door near the lock as hard as he could, literally sending the door off of its hinges. "Ghost! Me an' ya are gonna have a word right..." Big Mac looked around the room, seeing that it was completely empty. The window was wide open, letting in a chilly breeze. "Now..."
Ghost POV
I fought back and wiped away tears as I made my way towards the Everfree Forest. I didn't know why I was angry, or why I was crying in the first place. Just... seeing that Applebloom was telling me to get away from her, it hurt me really bad. Negative emotions tasted way worse than any other emotion, and right now all I could taste was anger and sadness. And the worst part was, it was coming off of me, forcing me to bathe in it.
Changelings weren't supposed to give off emotion because they were all connected to a hive mind, but since I was cut off from one thanks to 64, I was able to do so like any other pony would be able to do. But now I really wish I couldn't. I couldn't stand to see Applebloom mad at me, or have her mad at anything. For some reason emotions I felt were increased ten fold around her, and I didn't know why.
Right now, my main priority was finding out why Applebloom had multiple cutie marks, and where she got them from. Walking through the Everfree Forest, I made sure to let out my emotion of anger as strong as I could, to ward off any creatures that would try to attack me. As I did so, I could hear the sound of multiple beings rustling through the bushes, eager to get away from bad feeling.
"Who goes there in the middle of the night, that which gives all the creatures a fright?" A voice called out, making me stop in my tracks.
"My name's Ghost. And I'm looking for a Zecora." I responded, not dropping my air of anger. Out of the thicket, a robed creature walked out, her entire form covered by her clothing. "I'm trying to find answers to why a filly in Ponyville sudden'y has two cutie marks."
The robed figure brought down her hood, revealing the zebra in question. "Then you and I have the same goal in mind. Follow my back to my home, and soon the answers we will find."
I nodded and followed the Zebra mare, eager to apologize to Applebloom for what I did.
Ghost vs. The Equestrian Educational System
Chapter 21
3rd Person POV
Ghost followed Zecora to her hut, brightly illuminating the surrounding area and keeping her safe from anything threatening to attack her. The Changeling colt followed the zebra into her hut, seeing an assortment of strange concoctions lining each and every shelf on the walls. If it wasn't some strange mixture, it was some sort of strange flower or ingredient. In the center, a large cauldron stood, the liquid forming a strange pink liquid.
Zecora looked over her shoulder towards Ghost, who was still admiring her work. "You do realize little one, that a disguise is not needed in these parts. There are stranger creatures waiting to tear us apart." Zecora commented, causing Ghost to gasp quietly. He turned towards Zecora with a shocked look, who nodded. "When you live around beings such as this, there is very little which you can afford to miss. Although you are hiding your true form, I know that for your kind it is the norm. There is no need to fear disclosing yourself around me."
Ghost let out an uncomfortable sigh, allowing the green flames to consume his form and revealing his true chitinous shell and leathery wings. "I'm losing my touch." He sighed, trying to ease the tension with a joke. "I would hope that it would take at least a few hours to tell what I was."
Zecora shook her head and made for the large cauldron in the center of the room. "I foolishly left my creations and ingredients unattended when young Applebloom came to visit me, thinking she could be trusted with these dangerous brews. Sadly when I returned, I was met with very bad news..."
"What news? Was something stolen?" Ghost asked, looking around and trying to find anything that looked missing. Zecora shook her head and pointed towards the cauldron in the middle of the room.
"I had been concocting a simple healing poultice for a chipped tooth Applebloom had received on her way here. But, while I left her alone, I found a strange mixture which I found was unknown. This liquid to be exact."
Ghost looked at the strange pink brew that Zecora had been describing, staring at his reflection in the pink liquid. "So she made something all by herself to give her 2 cutie marks? That's...... pretty impressive..." Ghost said, knowing for a fact that he wouldn't be able to pull that off. "But I need to find out if what she made is bad for her. What if they hurt her somehow?"
"Well, if we do not know the origin of this strange occurrence, then our chances of finding out if they are harmful are bubkis. I will need your assistance in searching for an answer through these tomes." Zecora stated, pulling out multiple books out of the bottom shelves of her walls and laying them on the ground in front of Ghost. "Hurry, through these books we must comb."
Ghost nodded and opened the first one he saw, flipping through the pages slowly to make sure he didn't miss anything. He found many poxes and illnesses regarding magic, but none involves cutie marks in the first one. He set the book aside and looked up at the rest of the books, seeing that Zecora had laid out a lot more books since he first saw the piles of books. He gave a tired sigh and began flipping through the pages, knowing that he had a long way to go.
Ghost POV
I rubbed my eyes tiredly but kept flipping through the pages, feeling them wanting to drop down and go to sleep. Zecora didn't look the least bit tired, still flipping through pages like a crazed mare. In the time it took me to get through one book, she managed to blast through 5.
"Are you sure you aren't missing anything in those books?" I asked, purposefully trying to take my time and making sure that I didn't miss anything.
"I assure young one, there is nothing in these books that I am straying from. I am scouring them just as thoroughly as you are." Zecora assured me, but that didn't make me any better. I looked out of the window and saw that the sun was now high in the morning sky, the time being around 10 or 11.
"Grr... what if she's having problems now...?" I grunted to myself, looking down at the book I was read in frustration. I felt the anger in my gut slowly bubbling to the surface, and in a fit of rage, I picked the book up with my magic and threw it against the wall, receiving a scowl from Zecora.
"Ghost! I would like it if you treated my belonging with respect. If we do not calm ourselves, then it will be Applebloom you fail to protect." She warned me, making me hang my head a bit.
"I know! It's just... ugh. I'm sorry." I apologized, moving over to the book to pick it up. It was open cover side down, opened on a page with a strange diagram. "Huh? What's this?" I asked, catching the attention of the zebra who was still reading her books crazily. I was about to read what was on the page, but a stinging pain all of a sudden went shooting through my head.
"ARGH!" I choked loudly, falling to the floor and grasping my head with both of my forehooves. I felt Zecora stand over me and rolling me onto my back, but I kept my eyes clenched shut and continued to cry out in pain. I was worrying that I was actually starving, but those pains started in the stomach, not the head. In the back of my head, I felt something else... or more specifically, heard something.
"Ghost! Help!" A voice cried out, making my eyes shoot open and forcing me to my hooves.
"APPLEBLOOM!" I yelled out, immediately crashing through the door and speeding towards Ponyville.I could faintly hear Zecora crying out my name behind me, but I just continued to charge through the forest as fast as I could to get to Applebloom quicker.
I never should have yelled at her before I left. I never should have accused her of getting fake cutie marks. I should've just let her be happy with what she wanted, her very own cutie marks.
I heard the growls of many creatures that were following me, trying to chase me down and attack me. I knew that I couldn't just let them hinder my progress towards Ponyville, so I gathered all of the negative emotions that I had in my gut and unleashed it in one big burst, sending a wave of green magic flying in all directions.
"Now back off!" I screamed, hearing the panicked cries of animals in the forest running off in all directions. I gave one last grunt before shooting off once again, seeing Sweet Apple Acres ahead of me as I continued towards it. I passed by it was if it were nothing but a red blur, feeling the painful feeling closer towards Ponyville Square.
I arrived in Ponyville Square, seeing a large crowd all looking at something in the center. A loud yell brought me back to my senses, hearing exactly what I had heard in my head back at Zecora's hut.
"Ghost!" Applebloom cried out, her yells strained and frightened. Not having the ability to break through this crowd of ponies, I immediately put on my disguise, this time changing myself to have Pegasus wings instead of a unicorn horn, and flew right over them. Once I reached my apex of flight, I disguised myself to have a unicorn horn again and landed on the ground, rolling as I did so.
I saw her, covered from head to hooves in cutie marks, tears streaking down her face as she was being forced to perform each and every talent being expressed on her body. "Applebloom! I'm here!" I cried out, seeing her hooves moving against her will as she tap danced and spun plates on her head while doing the same with a hoop around her tail.
Not knowing what else to do, I grabbed her with my magic and pulled her towards me, wrapping my hooves around her and trying to keep her from moving around. She struggled as she tried to move around to perform more talents, but I wouldn't let her. "Applebloom I'm here! Stay focused on me!" I cried, seeing her nod her head up and down with tears still streaming down her face.
"O-Ok!" She managed to stammer out, still pushing and pulling against my grasp. Since she was an Earth Pony, she had a lot more strength than one would believe, and it was getting difficult to keep her still. But I wasn't going to let her go, no matter how hard she fought.
"Ghost! Where in the name of Celestia have ya been! Applebloom has been cryin' our for ya since the middle of the night!" Applejack cried out, making the guilt of leaving Applebloom right after our fight a bit stronger.
"Zecora should have been following me! Is she coming?" I yelled, wincing as Applebloom began to actually throw blows at me.
I saw Twilight look in the same direction I had come from, seeing her gasp in excitement. "Zecora! Apple Bloom has cutie pox! do you know anything about it?" She asked frantically, to which Zecora nodded in response. I saw her holding up a book, flipped open to the same page I had seen the book opened to when I threw it.
"A cutie pox cure I have forsooth, for healing power is in the Seeds of Truth." Zecora announced, pulling the seeds out of a small pouch she had on her side. "It is lucky that Ghost came to me when he did, or else the pox would have spread so widely any cure it would forbid."
Applejack apparently didn't hear that last part, immediately making for the seeds. "Well, well then give 'em to her! Quick!" She yelled, but Zecora shook her head.
"These seeds must be planted in the ground. With the truth, they'll grow, and the cure is found."
Applejack nodded and took the seeds, quickly taking the seeds and planting them into the ground. "Alright, they're planted, now somepony tell the truth!"
I looked towards Applebloom, who was still had tears streaming down her face, but was now no longer uncontrollably sobbing. "Applebloom! Tell the truth about your cutie marks!" I told her, knowing it would be the quickest way to get the seeds to grow. She nodded quickly and cried out.
"It's me! I admit it! I didn't earn my cutie mark! They're all fake! I figured the Heart's Desire would help me get what I wanted most! So when Zecora left her hut, I mixed up a special potion and put the rest of the Heart's Desire in it!"
With that, the seeds sprouted into a large flower, making all of the ponies in the crowd sigh in amazement. Not wasting another second, I grabbed the flower with my magic and held it up to Applebloom's mouth. With a loud crunch, she ate the entire flower, leaving her gasping and sighing in relief.
Slowly but surely, her movements and struggling slowed, and all of the cutie marks dotting her body began to poof away. I sighed and relaxed a bit, but didn't let her go. I simply held her to myself lightly, as the last of her weak sobs began to descend into low gasps and hiccups.
"Applebloom!" I heard Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle cry out, rushing to our side. I sat upright as I cradled Applebloom in my forelegs, as she opened her eyes and looked at her friends.
"H-Hey you two..." She stammered, the results of her sobbing still apparent in her voice.
"Are you okay?" Scootaloo asked, receiving a nod from Applebloom.
"I'll... I'll be okay..." She responded, her eyelids beginning to droop down tiredly. I knew after this entire ordeal, she would definitely be tired.
"Guys, let her relax for a bit. I'm going to take her back to her house to let her sleep." I said, putting her onto my back and allowing her to settle in. I felt her nuzzle her head into the back of my neck, making me blush just a little bit at the feeling.
"Thank ya Ghost..." She muttered, before I felt the slow breaths of sleep puffing on the back of my neck.
"Your welcome..."
Ghost vs. The Equestrian Educational System
Chapter 22
Ghost POV
I sat next to Applebloom as she laid in bed, her eyes closed as she slept. The rest of the Apple Family was also in the room, Dr. Stable talking to them about any side effects that would manifest because of the Cutie Pox. Luckily, it seemed that the only thing that was wrong with her was an aggravated case of exhaustion, meaning she just needed plenty of R&R to get better.
"Well I guess that will be all, I will see you when the next household injury occurs. But with this family, it can't be too far can it?" Dr. Stable joked, knowing how many times Applejack and Big Mac had gotten hurt applebucking. "But if anything occurs, just send somepony to get me."
"Thank ya doctor, that'll be all." Applejack sighed, rubbing the side of her head in exhaustion. The doctor left, leaving a very worried Apple family. "Ghost, thank ya for goin' to get Zecora when ya did. We might've never got to her in time."
I gave a small smile, thankful that I was able to get Applebloom help. But, I also left Applebloom when she needed help the most, so I wasn't sure if I truly did the right thing.
"Your welcome, I guess... Are Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo still downstairs?" I said softly, knowing that Applebloom still needed a lot of rest.
"Ah think they are. Want me to call 'em up here?" Applejack asked, already heading downstairs. I nodded yes and looked back at Applebloom, seeing her disheveled hair and some sweat beading on her brow. I gave a sad sigh and stood up stretching out a bit, knowing that I couldn't just sit there all day worrying. I quickly changed into my colt disguise, knowing that Scootaloo knew nothing of my true origin.
"Alright girls, remember that she still needs plenty of rest, so don't make a lot of noise." Applejack instructed, ushering in the two fillies as quietly as possible. In walked Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, who both had incredibly worried faces and immediately made for Applebloom's bedside.
"Ghost, how's she been?" Sweetie Belle asked me, the whole ordeal ending only about 2 hours ago.
"Well... tired. She's been waking up and falling asleep over and over, and she can probably hear us right now, but she can't stay awake long enough to do anything." I explained. "Bedrest is the prescribed treatment, but she's probably won't be well enough to do anything strenuous for about 2 weeks. So no crusading until then."
"Aww... and Heart's and Hooves day is comin' up! We were gonna try and get our cutie marks in card making!" Scootaloo complained a bit too loudly, causing Applebloom to wince uncomfortably in bed. Scootaloo brought a hoof to her mouth and blushed bashfully. "Sorry."
"Sorry Scootaloo, but you'll have to do a few days of crusading without Applebloom." "I apologized.
"Alright now, ah think we oughta give Applebloom a few more hours of peaceful sleep. Let's head downstairs for now." Applejack told us, opening the door behind her to usher us out. We filed down the stairs at Applejack's request, settling into the living room with tired steps. I looked out of the window and saw a few other of Applebloom's classmates waiting outside, but were denied request to come inside.
"Are they still out there?" Sweetie Belle asked as I looked out the window. I gave her a nod and ducked my head before anyone outside could see me.
"It's going to be like that for awhile. Once they know that Applebloom is okay, some will disperse but others..." I stressed, talking about Rumble, "Will want to know more. He already doesn't trust me for some reason."
"Why doesn't Rumble trust you? Just because your the new kid?" Scootaloo asked.
"He has some sort of superiority complex. He needs to feel that he's the one in charge all of the time. I think he feels threatened by me."
"Then there's that whole you not really being a po-" As Sweetie Belle was beginning to finish that sentence, I jumped across the room at her, quickly covering her mouth with both of my hooves.
"Ix-Nay on the ony-pay!" I stammered, trying to keep my real identity hidden from Scootaloo until I knew she could keep it. She might've been a really good friend, but she also took after that one mare Rainbow Dash, and from what I heard she wasn't always willing to listen to reason.
"Not being a what?" Scootaloo asked, looking at both me and Sweetie Belle. "What are you guys talking about?"
I waved my hoof and grunted. "It's nothing. Just, forget it!"
"It's not nothing if you're trying to hide something from me! Tell me what's going-" Scootaloo was cut off Applejack, who gave shushed loudly downstairs.
"Keep it down down there. Ghost, Applebloom's awake an' wants ta see ya." Applejack called softly, walking downstairs with Big Mac and Granny Smith. I nodded and gave Scootaloo one last look, watching as she gave me a bit of a glare. I sighed and walked past her, knowing that it would only be a matter of time before I would have to tell her. She would pester Sweetie Belle, and if she asked Applejack, then I'm not sure she would be able to lie. Being the Element of Honesty doesn't exactly make you the best liar.
I walked upstairs and saw that the door to Applebloom's room was ajar, and heard a few groans of discomfort. Knowing I had no other choice, I took a deep breath and walked forward, opening the door and walking inside. I saw Applebloom on her bed, her eyes half open as they stared expectantly at the door. When her eyes landed on me, she gave a soft smile and tried to sit up a bit.
"Ghost, ah... c'mere." She muttered a bit tiredly, waving me over. I walked over and leaned against the bed. "Ah... ah jus' wanted to apologize to ya..."
"What do you mean apologize? I acted like such a lousy friend! You were so happy about getting cutie marks, and all I did was try and make you feel bad... I just... I was scared that they would hurt you somehow..." I admitted, looking down at the bed bashfully.
"Well... ya were right about it. It made me think that one of mah best friends was jealous of me, and I sent him away when all he wanted to do was help."
"But I ran off when you needed me most! I just left when I should've stayed and tried to sort things out!"
Applebloom and I stayed silent as they stared at each other, knowing that we were now just arguing in circles.
"I'm sorry." We both said at the same time, both of us meaning it. With that, I wrapped my hooves around her shoulders, as she did the same to me, as we just hugged each other for comfort.
"Please show yerself Ghost... Ah don't like it when yer wearing that thing..." Applebloom begged me, as I chuckled and took a step back. I closed my eyes and allowed my disguise to drop, as I fluttered and buzzed my leathery wings. "That's better."
My ears caught a faint gasping sound coming from the door, as I turned quickly to see what it was. I briefly saw an orange hoof darting from behind the door, as my eyes widened.
"Scootaloo!"
Ghost vs. The Equestrian Educational System
Chapter 23
3rd Person POV
"Scootaloo stop!" Ghost yelled out, running down the stairs and throwing on his disguise. He got downstairs and saw the Apple family and Sweetie Belle staring at the now wide open front door, not bothering to answer whatever their question they might've had. He bolted out the door and saw that Scootaloo was shooting towards her scooter, which was laid against a wooden fence near the farmhouse. "Scootaloo!"
"Get away from me!" The pegasus filly yelled out, slapping a helmet onto her head and zooming off away from the farmhouse. Ghost swore and ran after her, knowing that he wouldn't be able to keep up with her. Quickly swapping his disguise to have wings instead of a horn, Ghost took flight after Scootaloo, knowing that he would have to stop her before she did anything rash.
Seeing that Scootaloo still had to go through the entire apple orchard, Ghost zoomed down to her right and stayed neck and neck with her, trying to catch her attention. "Scootaloo! I can explain, just slow down!" Ghost pleaded, but Scootaloo just turned her head and scowled at him.
"Leave me alone!" She screamed in retaliation, steering into a hard right and knocking herself into Ghost. The impact caused Ghost to lose his sense of direction in mid air, causing him to crash into the trunk of an apple on the side of the trail. Rubbing his head in pain, he stumbled back onto his hooves and began to fly once again, before becoming dizzy and landing back onto the ground with a bit of a wobble. He brought his hoof down from his head and saw green blood smeared on his hoof, before sending a bit of his love reserves into the wound.
Feeling his head clear once again, he shot off in the direction Scootaloo went, following her scooter tracks. She was getting closer to Ponyville, but still had a bit of the way to go. She was expertly bobbing and weaving through Apple trees now, leaving the main trail to try and lose Ghost in the orchard. Her head was a mess of thoughts, trying to put together what she just saw a few moments ago, both in the Farmhouse, and right there in the Orchard.
"He... he was flying... He... he was a unicorn not a pegasus..." Scootaloo said to herself frantically, still shocked that she had seen Ghost like that. She was confused, wondering why he was there. Why something like that was in town.
"Scootaloo please listen to me!" Ghost cried out, trying to catch the ears of the angered filly. "It's not what you think!"
Scootaloo looked up and saw that Ghost was soaring just above the treeline, before scowling and diverting her attention back towards zooming through the trees. Ghost grunted and looked ahead, seeing that in a few minutes they would reach Ponyville. She had to stop her somehow before they did, but he didn't want to hurt her. He zoomed ahead of Scootaloo's path and landed next to a tree, before planting himself next to it and steadying himself.
Charging as much love energy as he could into his hind legs, he bucked the tree he stood next to, and with a loud crash the entire tree was pulled up by the roots. It crashed onto its side just as Scootaloo was about to zoom past it, causing her eyes to widen as she hit the brakes. She was going much too fast to come to a complete stop, instead colliding into the tree and sending herself flying over it, leaving her scooter behind.
"Whoa!" She yelped as she was sent over the tree trunk, landing in the dirt in the other side of the obstacle. She wobbled back onto her hooves and looked over her shoulder, seeing Ghost simply standing there looking at her.
Instead of realizing that she was caught, she just grunted and began to run through the orchard, not realizing that when she was sent flying to the ground she was completely turned around, and was now going the wrong way.
"Scootaloo..." Ghost called, no longer yelling. He sighed and flew over the treeline again, landing in front of the fleeing Scootaloo. "Please just listen to me."
"And why should I listen to something like you?!" She yelled out, launching herself towards Ghost. He sidestepped and allowed Scootaloo to fall into the dirt, causing her to growl in anger. She got up and dusted herself off, before scowling at Ghost. "And what does something like you have to say?" She asked angrily, knowing that she was caught.
"Look, I get it. I'm so sorry that I didn't tell you sooner, but I didn't think you would react well." Ghost started, but was cut off by Scootaloo.
"And how did you think I was going to react!?" She yelled out, stamping her hoof and flaring her wings.
"Like you are right now..." Scootaloo saw her less than passive stance and eased up a bit, still wearing a scowl on her face. "I know this looks really bad... but it's not what you think. I'm not here to do anything bad."
"And how can I believe you when you've been lying to me all this time?!" Scootaloo yelled, the anger rising in her voice. "Did everypony but me know about this?!"
Ghost looked down and sighed, knowing that she wouldn't like the answer. "The Apple family knows, Rarity and Sweetie Belle knows, and Twilight Sparkle knows. And..." Ghost trailed off, receiving a grunt and shove from Scootaloo.
"Who?!"
"Well... Diamond Tiara found out... by accident."
Ghost looked up at Scootaloo, but instead of seeing a face of rage, he saw one of confusion. "How did she find out?" She asked, noticing that Diamond Tiara was acting strangely the day after Ghost went to her house.
"She had a... small incident... where she accidently hit me in the horn. If my magic gets disrupted in anyway, I can't cast spells correctly, including my disguise." Ghost explained, tapping his horn a few times.
"Is that why she acted all quiet when we went back to school? She knew what you were?"
"I... I guess."
There was another silence in the air, but there wasn't as much anger this time. Ghost gave another sigh and dropped his disguise once again, showing Scootaloo his real self. "I was born in the Badlands from Queen Clovercloud. I was the runt of the entire spawn, so I was left to die. 64 saved me when the hive was being destroyed, and taught me to suppress the natural urges that changelings have."
Ghost pointed towards Ponyville, and stepped aside. "Now I can't stop you, because I don't want to hurt you. But you can go into Ponyville and tell everyone what I just told you. It all depends on what you think is the right thing to do."
Scootaloo stared at Ghost before slowly walking towards her scooter keeping an eye on him the entire time to make sure he wouldn't do anything. She picked up her helmet off of the ground and put it on her head, before standing her scooter up and speeding off.
Ghost smiled as he saw she was headed in the opposite direction towards Sweet Apple Acres.
Ghost vs. The Equestrian Educational System
Chapter 24
Ghost POV
I followed Scootaloo back to Sweet Apple Acres, making sure to stay a good ways behind. She probably had a lot of questions, and would probably start asking them the second she got back to the farmhouse. I didn't want to pressure her by being there to possibly confuse her or tamper with any answers that Applejack, Applebloom, or Big Mac might give. And hopefully Scootaloo would see that I wasn't here to do anything bad.
It had been about 10 minutes after Scootaloo went zooming off towards the farmhouse when I arrived, the sun already setting after the incredibly long ordeal that just happened. I hadn't slept since Applebloom woke me up to go to school 2 days ago, and I was beginning to feel the effects. A few lights were visible from the outside of the house, and Scootaloo's scooter was still parked outside, meaning she was obviously still here.
I walked up to the door and tried to open it, but I was surprised to find it locked. I knocked on the door and called out. "Hello? It's me Ghost!" I cried, stepping back a bit. I looked at the window that looked into the living room, but I saw that the curtains were drawn and the lights shut off. "Anypony awake? It's only about 8..." I said, muttering the last part. I saw a rustling by the curtains upstairs, by the window which led to Applebloom's room. "Applebloom! It's Ghost! Can you open the door?"
As I looked up at the window, I didn't notice that somepony was already opening the door, revealing Granny Smith with a bleary look in her eye. "Now what's goin' on out here? Why are ya makin' all that racket?" She groaned, rubbing her eyes.
"Me and Scootaloo were gone for about 25 minutes, why did you lock the doors and shut the blinds?" I asked, wondering what was gong on.
"It was Applebloom's little pegasus friend that did it. She comes in here yellin' to see my grandchildren upstairs, lockin' all of the doors and closin' all of the curtains. Ah thought she was goin' mad with all o' the hollerin' and screamin' she was doin'." Granny Smith explained, walking over to her rocking chair as she did. I blushed bashfully after I realized I woke her up, and turned my attention upstairs.
I made my way towards the stairs quietly, knowing that they knew I was in the house now. I snuck up the creaky stairs, using the trick 64 taught me about standing on walls to avoid making any noise, and stood in front of Applebloom's room. I could hear hushed talks on the other side, but nothing definitive. Deciding that I didn't need to be there, I began to walk away, but I heard the door creak open behind me.
I turned around and saw that Big Macintosh was looking at me with his same neutral stare, before his head nodded to come inside. I gulped silently and looked into the room, seeing Scootaloo and Applejack both looking at me through the opened door. I walked inside and saw that Applebloom was still in bed, a worried look on her face.
"Don't ya worry Ghost. We explained everythin' to Scootaloo. Ah had thought ya had already told her everythin' though." Applejack said, tilting her head a bit in confusion. I looked down a bit in embarrassment before answering.
"Well, I've been really careful about who I do and don't tell. I would've definitely told Scootaloo eventually, but I guess she found out on her own..." I muttered, "My job is to help Applebloom recover after what happened at Smokey Mountain, and it seems that she's recovered a lot faster than anypony in Canterlot anticipated. I was never really supposed to tell anyone what I was, but I decided it was for the best. I really am sorry that I didn't tell you sooner Scootaloo."
She still looked mad, but a bit understanding. "I get it. You were scared of what might happen when you told me. I guess my running away when I saw didn't exactly help with that either. But we're friends, and friends aren't supposed to hide things from each other." Scootaloo said, giving me a small smile. "Is there anything else you're hiding from me?"
"Besides the fact that I'm trained by Equestria's most unique assassin in the arts of deception and stealth... not much else!" I said jokingly, but the horrified look on Scootaloo's face told me she didn't know what I was talking about. "I mean 64, you know? The human?"
Her face lit up with realization, before smiling once again. "Oh I already knew that."
"Well now that everything's all settled and done with, how about ah whip you 3 up some dinner before light's out? Ah think ya still need some time ta talk about this." Applejack offered. Scootaloo grinned and nodded, as Applejack left the room along with Big Macintosh. The large stallion gave me a small grin before he left, reminding me of something I had wanted to ask.
"What did Big Mac say about me?"
"He said , 'Ah may not like him, but he wants to protect mah sis, an' that's good enough for me.' Applebloom imitated, gaining laughter from me and Scootaloo. "I'm glad everythin's alright, but do ya wanna tell other ponies about this now?"
"Probably not. Not everypony needs to know. I think I might tell Ms. Cheerilee, but that'll be it." I explained. I noticed that in her bed, Applebloom was beginning to sweat a little bit. I opened the window to let some air in, but as I did, I noticed something. There was a small ledge just outside of Applebloom's window, and on it, was a small grey feather. I picked the feather up with my magic and looked at it, before gasping in horror.
I knew whose feather this was. And he was watching the entire time.
Ghost vs. The Equestrian Educational System
Chapter 25
3rd Person POV
Ghost looked at the feather with scrutiny, turning around with it in plain view. "There was somepony out there." He said, as Applebloom and SCootaloo both saw the feather.
"How do you know that it wasn't just some pegasi flying overhead?" Scootaloo asked, her head tilted a bit.
"There was no wind when I was walking back to the farm, and none while I was chasing you down. If a pegasus was shedding feathers while flying, they would have shed a primary feather, which is much bigger than one of these feathers." Ghost indicated, once again holding up the feather. "This is a down feather, meaning that it wasn't used for flight, but to keep pegasi warm while they are at high altitude. They don't come up by just flying, they need to be preened.
Scootaloo extended her wings in observation, seeing that she did have down feathers behind her wings. "So then how did they fall off? I don't think somepony would stop and preen themselves while spying on us." Scootaloo retorted.
"Where would you try to be when trying to stay out of sight?" When Scootaloo didn't answer, Ghost answered for her. "My guess, you would stay near the ground, where you might rub a few feathers against the ground."
Applebloom grunted a bit. "Does this mean we can't have our picnic tomorrow? We already got everythin' ready."
Ghost hummed thoughtfully. He knew the first pony Rumble would tell tomorrow would be Ms. Cheerilee, but she knew that they had been feuding a bit. She would take his statements with a grain of salt, so there would be sometime that Ghost could explain what was going on. Plus from what he had gathered, Rumble had a history of acting out, meaning that whatever he said would have little weight behind them.
"We might be able to, only if you're feeling well enough. This is something I can deal with on my own." Ghost assured, as Applebloom gave me a sure nod.
"Ah'm not that tired... I just gotta relax while we're there." She assured. Scootaloo nodded with a large grin.
"I can go get Sweetie Belle from Rarity's and we can have a sleepover! Do you think Applejack will be okay with that?" Scootaloo asked, as Ghost looked at the clock on the wall.
"If you leave now you can catch up with her. She left just after I came upstairs to see Applebloom." He reminded, as Scootaloo bolted out of the door excitedly. Ghost chuckled and looked towards Applebloom again. "Sorry that our last talk was cut short. I still feel really bad about just leaving like that."
"Don't worry about it Ghost. It's all in the past now." Applebloom assured, before the door slammed open again. Scootaloo stood there with a happy grin plastered all over her face.
"She said yes!" Scootaloo yelped, grabbing her her helmet off of the chest in the room and slapping it on her head. "I'm gonna go get Sweetie Belle!"
With that, Applebloom gave a small yay as Ghost looked at the feather once again, putting it into one of the desk drawers. He would need it so Rumble could explain what he was doing at Sweet Apple Acres at about 9PM. "C'mon Ghost! Set up the sleepin' bags that are in that closet over there!" Applebloom asked, as Ghost was already doing so with his magic. He grinned happily, knowing that he had never been to a sleepover before. Applejack poked her head in the door.
"Ghost, get that grin off yer face. Yer sleeping in the opposite side of the house." She deadpanned, Ghost's cheeks flaring red.
"Don't worry... I hear you loud and clear." Ghost gulped, as Applejack just chuckled and kept walking down the hall towards her room.
Ghost POV
The sunlight coming through my open window was more than enough to wake me up, the light managing to shoot directly onto my open eyelids. I groaned and kicked the blanket I had off of myself, standing up and extending my wings to stretch. About halfway through the slumber party, the girls snuck into my room and tied me to my bed. I spent the better part of an hour undoing the knots that Applebloom was able to tie. I swear that rope was made of steel fibers or something...
I tied my red bow around my neck and straightened it, remembering what Applebloom wanted to do today. Apparently Applejack had been planning a picnic with her friends for awhile, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders had invited themselves to the occasion. I was hoping that Applebloom would feel well enough to go, but if she couldn't then I'd stay with her. The thought of Rumble wiggled it's way back into my head, as I growled in anger.
"Why can't he just leave well enough alone?" I muttered to myself, knowing that he would probably be telling his brother and friends what he saw. The only reason I didn't go after him was because he was the strongest flyer in the class, so tracking him through the dead of night would prove to be a bit too difficult with his shade of coat through a dark forest. Even with my enhanced vision I wouldn't have been able to keep up with him.
"Ghost? Ya awake?" Applejack asked, peeking her head through the door. "Twilight's at the front door askin' fer ya. She said it's serious." With that, I let out a heavy sigh, not knowing what this could mean.
"Alright I'll be down in a second." I answered, opening one of the drawers and pulling out the picture of 64 I had. His grin always made me feel better, especially where we were when we took the picture. Covered in ash and soot, barely able to stand, cuts and bruises all over us, but smiles on our faces. Whenever I needed that extra boost, this picture was usually there to give it.
I walked out of my room and glanced across the hallway, seeing that Applebloom's room door was ajar. I could see Applebloom still sleeping on her bed, with Sweetie Belle rolling away her sleeping bag. As she did, a pillow came flying fro behind the door and struck her in the face, before she growled and jumped at the orange filly who threw it. The door slammed shut after that, only sounds of a friendly struggle coming from the inside.
I walked down the stairs and saw Twilight waiting patiently in the living room. She saw me and gave me a smile. "Hello there Ghost! I remembered that you had asked me for a bit of advice on child psychology, so I looked through the library and found a few books on the subject!" She said with a cheery smile, pulling out a few books from the saddlebags she had on.
I gave a small sigh of relief as I realized that this wasn't a bad visit, knowing that if anypony had believed Rumble if he told anyone they would probably go to the smartest mare in town to see what to do. "Perfect. The situation should be getting much better as soon as I read these. Thanks Twilight!" I thanked, taking htem with my magic and setting them onto one of the lamp stands in the living room. "Are you ready to come to the picnic with us?"
"Of course I am, I've got everything in here!" She said, motioning to the other side of of saddlebags. She pulled out a rolled up blanket, and a large picnic basket. Strange, it was almost as if it was bigger on the inside... Apparently Twilight saw my perplexed look and grinned. "You thought 64 was the only one to mess around with spatial magic?"
"No matter how many times I see that, I still can't comprehend it..." I groaned, rubbing the side of my head. "Let's get going to the picnic then. Let me go and get the Crusaders." I turned and headed back up the stairs, walking through the hall towards Applebloom's room. When I opened the door, I found Applebloom now wide awake, tangled in a heap along with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo with feathers and pillow casings strewn across the room.
"Uh... we can explain?" Applebloom muttered.
3rd Person POV
"Wants some more cake Applebloom?" Ghost offered, seeing that Applebloom had finished her plate. With a tired shake of her head, she rolled over onto her back, sighing in contentment. "I'll take that as a no."
The two laid on the blanket along with the Elements of Harmony, as Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo ran around trying to catch a butterfly. Celestia's sun beamed down warm rays, causing the already exhausted filly's eyes to droop. "Ghost... Why did I get out of bed today...?"
"Because you got tangled up in the middle of a pillow fight. And you also wanted to come to the picnic."
"Now quit yer bellyachin' Applebloom. Ah didn't carry ya over here fer nothin'." Applejack chuckled, seeing how complacent Applebloom was acting.
"It is gorgeous out. Just gorgeous!" Rarity said with a happy sigh, noticing a large group of butterflies fly by. "And to think there are ponies that can't experience this themselves..." The other mares in the group just nodded and hummed in agreement, as Ghost's ears flicked upwards. They were picking up something moving towards them... but at a very sluggish pace. He stood and looked towards the direction of the sound, seeing Spike running towards them at what was probably his top speed.
"Is that Spike?" Ghost asked, remembering the dragon from Nightmare Night. Twilight perked up and looked in the direction Ghost was motioning, seeing her assistant in question running towards them.
He finally arrived, stopping in front of Twilight as he gasped and huffed for air. "Twi... light! ...I... have... Lemme just..." Spike panted, just before he took a deep breath and belched out a letter. Ghost stared wide eyed at the magic, never seeing a dragon being able to do that before. Twilight picked up the letter from the ground, unravelling it and clearing her throat to read it.
"Dear Twilight, I am sure you are as excited as I am about the upcoming wedding in Canterlot." She read, eyes widening at those words. "Wedding?"
"How did we hear nothing about this?" Ghost asked, but Twilight shrugged her shoulders.
"I will be presiding over the ceremony, but would very much like you and your friends to help with the preparations for this wonderful occasion. Fluttershy, I would like you and your songbird choir to provide the music."
Fluttershy gasped and blushed in amazement. "Oh my goodness! What an honor!" She said excitedly, in her own hushed way.
"Pinkie Pie, I can think of no one more qualified than you to host the reception." Twilight continued, causing the pink party pony to do a cartwheel in celebration. "Applejack, you will be in charge of the catering for the reception."
"Well, color me pleased as punch!" The cowmare hollered joyfully, putting a hoof to her chest.
"Rainbow Dash..." Twilight was about to read, but Rainbow let out an obnoxiously loud yawn to cut off Twilight. Undeterred, she kept reading. "I would very much appreciate it if you could perform a sonic rainboom as the bride and groom complete their 'I do's."
"Yes!" The technicolor mare yelped in glee, floating into the air.
"Rarity, you will be responsible for designing the dresses for the bride and her bridesmaids"
Apparently that sentence caused the white mare to blow a fuse in her brain, because the only sounds she was able to make after that were a few garbled noises and moans before falling onto her back in excitement.
"And to Ghost..." Twilight recited, causing the changeling's ears to perk up. "You will be assisting Project 64 with his job as Head of Security. With a Royal Wedding, there will always be ponies who wish to do nothing but ruin this momentous occasion."
"64's back!?" Ghost yelped in excitement, causing Applebloom to awaken from her near slumber.
"It looks like it. There's more." Twilight answered, clearing her throat once again. "To the young Cutie Mark Crusaders, the bride to be has no younger relatives to act as flower fillies. I know no one more suited than Ponyville's most adventurous group of fillies to fulfill this role."
"We get to be flower fillies in a Royal Wedding!?" Sweetie Belle yelped.
"I get to see Rainbow Dash do a Sonic Rainboom!?" Scootaloo gasped.
"There's gonna be food at the reception?!" The two other fillies looked in confusion at Applebloom, who blushed bashfully. "Uh... Ah think ah'm still a bit hungry."
"And as for you, Twilight, you will be playing the most important role of all: Making sure that everything goes as planned. See you all very soon. Yours, Princess Celestia." Twilight concluded, looking over the letter to see if there was more. "But... I don't understand. Who's getting married?"
Spike gasped in realization. " Oh, wait! Uh, I was probably supposed to give you this one first." He said with an embarrassed look, pulling out another letter from behind him. Twilight took the letter and unraveled it, clearing her throat once more.
"Princess Celestia cordially invites you to the wedding of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and... MY BROTHER!?" She yelled out in shock, as Ghost only had one thing to say.
"Aw shit..."
Ghost vs. The Equestrian Educational System
Author's Note
IF YOU HAVE NOT READ UP TO CHAPTER 51 OF 64 VS THE UNDERGROUND THEN THIS STORY WILL MAKE NO FUCKING SENSE
Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Ghost POV
I walked into the classroom with Applebloom in tow, looking around excitedly. Cheerilee was surprised that I had willingly come to the school house to enroll myself, thinking that the Apples wanted to me to go. Part of me just wanted to keep an eye on Applebloom while was was at school so she wouldn't have another episode, but the other part of me just wanted to know what school was like!
"Where do you usually sit Applebloom?" I asked, seeing that most of the seats were available.
"Ah sit right here in the center, but usually Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo sit at mah sides." She admitted, pointing to her seat. I sat one seat in front of her desk, waving her over to sit down. As she sat down, more and more of the other students came into the room, some of them giving strange glances towards 'the new kid'. I just ignored them, I was too excited to start my first day.
I looked around and saw that on both sides of me, two seats were empty. I wondered if the desks were empty due to nopony using them, but I saw that both of them were decorated with things such as little colorings and the drawing of a... tiara?
"Don't worry everypony! We're not late!" A girls voice called out, coming from the door way. I looked up and saw two fillies, each of them, smiling with their noses stuck up into the air. One of them was a pink filly with a light purple mane with white streaks going through it, and the other was a grey filly with an even lighter shade of grey for her mane, which was done in a braid.
"Thank you for arriving on time Diamond Tiara, now please take your seats, both of you." Cheerilee instructed, using a tone as if she had to deal with them on a day to day basis, which wasn't a good thing. "Now class, you may have notice that you have a new student sitting with you today. Can you please come to the front of the class and introduce yourself to us?"
I smiled and walked up to the front of the class room, standing in front of Cheerilee's desk and waving my hoof at the class. "Hello! My name's Ghost! I came to Ponyville a few days ago, right before Nightmare Night. I'm here because I'm visiting the Apple family from Canterlot." I explained, seeing that as I named the city, the same two fillies that had nearly walked into class late eyes widened, both of the casting a glance at each other with a smirk on their faces. 64 taught me a lot of things, and he taught me that that look was one that I shouldn't trust.
"Uh, can I ask a question?" An orange unicorn with turquoise mane said from the back of the class. He had an accent I couldn't quite place...
"Sure! What is it?"
"If you're from Canterlot, then why are you going to school in Ponyville?"
A light mumbling went throughout the classroom, but those two same fillies just kept staring at me, a conniving look in their eyes. "Oh, I... uh, am a distant, uh... family friend to the Apple Family! Yeah! I'm here to have a small reunion with the Apple's and my parents didn't want me to fall behind in school, so I enrolled here!" I lied, trying to give the best excuse that I could. I knew that everypony in here would buy it, maybe with the exception of Cheerilee, but it would have to do for now.
"I have a question!" The pink filly with diamond tiara on her head called out, holding her hoof up patiently. I was reluctant to do so, but I didn't want to seem rude.
"Yes?"
"What does your cutie mark mean?" She asked, as I looked down to the mark I had given myself. It was a compass rose with a heart in the middle. I didn't really have a meaning for it, but I was able to think of one on the fly.
"It means that I can tell when a pony is in love or not really easily. I first got it when I saw that a few of my friends up in Canterlot were trying to hide that they liked each other, but I was the first one to see it and was able to get them to confess to each other. Seems like a good cutie mark to get in my opinion." I said, conjuring up a story like 64 conjured weapons. The filly seemed to buy it, smiling at me with her legs on her table and hooves under her chin, as if she was completely mesmerized by the story.
Applebloom smiled and winked at me, knowing the reality behind the stories. Unfortunately Changelings never gained cutie marks, meaning that I would never have a true cutie mark story. It seemed like nopony else in the the room had any questions, so I sat back down into my seat.
"Thank you for that Ghost. Now, today we will be learning all about the Life Cycle of different kinds of bugs that are in Ponyville!" Cheerilee said excitedly, some of the students cheering in glee, and some others groaning in boredom. At the word 'bug', I recoiled a bit, remembering the derogatory phrase that some of the nastier ponies in Canterlot muttered under their breath from time to time.
We began with some of the more common insects around Ponyville, things like ants and butterflies and stuff. I honestly had no idea that female Praying Mantises did something like that! Now that's the kind of stuff I wouldn't have learned at Canterlot! Whenever I needed a spare sheet of paper, all I did was ask Ms. Cheerilee if she had any extra, and she was more than often happy to oblige.
"Applebloom, did you write that last one down about the Glowworm? I didn't catch it." I asked, but saw that Applebloom was staring off into space. "Applebloom?"
That roused her from her state of slumber, causing her to gasp and look over to me. "Wha? Oh, sorry Ghost. Ah wasn't payin' attention..." She admitted, grinning bashfully at her poor attention span.
"Oh, it's ok. Just make sure you keep writing this down, it seems really cool!" I whispered excitedly, writing down the average lifespan of a fly. 10 days... fascinating...
Apparently, time flies when you are having fun, because before I knew it, the lunch bell rang, causing everypony in the room to quickly pack up their stuff and rush outside. The Cutie Mark Crusaders and I took our time, allowing Ms. Cheerilee to come up to me with a smile.
"So how did you like your first day of class Ghost? Must be very different from the schooling you've received in Canterlot!" She commented, my nod being my response.
"Yep! In Canterlot I studied alone with a tutor, but I feel less pressured when I'm here with you all!" I admitted, nearly bouncing up and down in excitement.
"Well, I don't want to keep you waiting go ahead and enjoy your lunch."
"Thanks Ms. Cheerliee!" I said, rushing out the door to meet up with Applebloom.
Ghost vs. The Equestrian Educational System
Chapter 9
Ghost POV
Ugh... I might have had thousands of brothers and sisters, I still didn't understand sibling rivalries. All my siblings did was beat me up everyday every hour of the week! It might have been a lot more painful, but it was a lot less complicated. When I got to the Apple's house, there was only one light visible from the outside, and it was coming from Applebloom's room. I walked into the house and found Granny Smith asleep in her rocking chair, which didn't surprise me really, and continued up the stairs.
Now that I was a bit closer, I could her muffled voices coming from behind Applebloom's door, but I wasn't sure that walking in was the right thing to do. I put my ear to the door and started to listen, wondering if it was an appropriate time to walk in there.
"sister... right?"
"course... never... Applejack..."
"stealing... didn't... feel bad..."
I couldn't exactly make out what was going on, but apparently I was too focused on listening in to see the large red stallion sneaking up behind me. "An' jus' what do ya think yer doin' spyin' on mah sister?" Big Mac questioned, causing me to yelp loudly in fright and jump in shock.
"Oh! Big Mac! I was uh... I isn't what it-"
I was cut off by Applebloom's door swinging wide open and smacking me in the face, with Applebloom peering her head out of the door.
"Big Mac? Where's Ghost? Ah swore ah heard his voice out here." She looked behind the door. "Ghost! There ya are! Get in quick, we need to talk." With that, she grabbed me by my mane with her teeth and pulled me in. The last thing I saw before the door slammed shut was Bag Mac glaring at me.
Now that I was inside, I saw that Sweetie Belle was on Applebloom's bed, curled up into a little ball. I didn't know what to say at that moment, so I just walked over to the edge of the bed with Applebloom and sighed. "Sorry I couldn't help fix things with Rarity. But, that's how it works out sometimes... I guess." I muttered, doing an absolutely terrible job of trying to comfort my friend.
"It's ok Ghost... I know you were only trying to help. But... I just wish Rarity could be a big sister like Applejack is to Applebloom." Sweetie sighed, flopping backwards and landing in the mass of pillows Applebloom had on her bed. "I just don't know why she can't be like that!"
I thought about that for a bit... Why couldn't Rarity be like Applejack? The answer came to me, but it was a longshot if Sweetie Belle would accept it or not. "Well... think about this. How much time does Applejack spend with Applebloom?" I asked looking over at Applebloom.
"I dunno... how much does she spend with you AB?"
"Well, pretty much whenever we're not crusadin' or at school. We're attached at the hip most of the time otherwise!" Applebloom said with a grin, but I wasn't sure it was making the sad filly on her bed any happier.
"Well Sweetie, you're always with your parents unless they're off of vacation right? I mean, you were barely able to make it to Nightmare Night, and from what Scootaloo told me, you were only in town after that because ... you wanted to find out if Applebloom was alright or not. Right?"
Sweetie nodded. Now I had to make my point before I just made things worse. "Well, Rarity hasn't had as much time as Applejack has had to learn how to be a good sister! In fact, what you said back there about Applejack teaching Rarity how to be a good sister, it actually made some sense."
"But... then..."
I put my hoof to her mouth to keep her quiet. "Wait, I have one last thing to show you." I said, before backing up a bit. "Now, I don't want you to be scared ok? But I have to start letting some ponies know before someone finds out from somepony else."
I sighed and released the spell that was generating my disguise, letting the green flames engulf me. When they finally vanished, I was no longer the colt that Sweetie Belle thought I was, but a changeling. Humorously enough, I was still wearing the bowtie that Applebloom gave me.
I could see that her widened eyes and agape mouth were enough to tell me what she actually thought of my true form, and hopefully she didn't try and cover up her thought with some lies.
"Your a... your a... You're a changeling!" She yelped, standing up on the bed she was on and looking left and right, probably looking for something to defend herself with.
"Sweetie Belle! Stop that right now an' calm down! He ain't one of the bad ones." Applebloom chided, walking over to me. "Ah've told you... he's the one who helped keep me safe when ah got foalnapped. He's stayin' here until he knows ah'm ok in the head or somethin' like that. Right?"
"Yep. Don't worry Sweetie Belle. I'm not here to do anything bad. If I was, then would I have tried to fix things between you and Rarity?" I asked, seeing her calm down a bit.
"So... you're a changeling... right?" She asked slowly. I nodded my head.
"Yes I am. And do you know what that means?"
"That you like to suck the love out of things?"
"Heh, no."
"That you like to pretend to be other ponies and steal foals?"
"No! Look, it means that I have thousands of brothers and sisters." I exclaimed, not wanting to hear what else she had to say about changelings. "And you know what else? I have never gotten to spend any quality time with them. Every single one of them tried to beat me up just because I was smaller than them. And that was my life until Project 64 came and saved me."
"The human that helped Applebloom get out?" Sweetie Belle asked, recognizing the name.
"Right. So you should feel lucky to have a sister that is actually trying to make things up with you. Not matter how bad of a job she may be doing."
Once I was done, there was a knock at the door. Out of instinct, I cast my disguise once again, just before Applejack peered her hear through the door. "Oh, Ghost. Ah thought ah heard ya. Um, Sweetie Belle. Why don't ya stay here for tonight? Ya'know, let everythin' cool down with Rarity." Applejack suggested. Still in a state of surprise, Sweetie Belle managed to nod her head and sit back down onto the bed. "Alright. Ghost, Applebloom. Can ya both come downstairs? Ah need ta have a word with ya both."
I looked back at Sweetie Belle, whose features told me that she was still mulling over this new revelation in her head, and went downstairs with Applebloom behind me. "Do you think that was a good idea? Telling her?" I whispered, but Applebloom just shrugged her shoulders.
"Anything ta help her get out of this funk." She replied, as we arrived in the living room. To our surprise, Rarity was standing in the room, a small smile on her face.
"Alright ya two. Me an' Rarity have been talkin' and we have a little plan that could help Sweetie Belle get over all of this fuss." Applejack explained, me and Applebloom looking at each other in confusion.
This oughta be good.
