The Mishaps of the Equestrian Portal

The next morning when Danny was dragged out of bed for school, he didn't look fantastic; his eyes had gray bags underneath and he was very groggy. Every so often he was sneeze or cough, so he attributed it to allergies and went downstairs for breakfast. Jack had come in from the weapons vault, a newspaper stuck under his arm. Danny grabbed a bowl of cereal and ate, hardly paying attention to what was going on around him. Jack was reading the paper he had, looking concerned. Danny finally came back into touch with reality and looked to his dad. "Bad?"

"Well...good and bad, I guess." Jack said nothing more and slid the paper across the table to him. Danny and Jazz both looked over it. It was a copy of The Equestrian Times, with a picture of Danny as a pony in ghost form floating above a bunch of boxes that had been destroyed. He was holding the Fenton thermos and had a petrified expression on his face.

The Phantom Pegasus Saves the Day

"Yesterday evening at six twenty four p.m. in Ponyville, a strange enemy attacked the storage units of town. Some are calling it a ghost, though skeptics think it could just be a new type of beast. It took control of boxes and attacked the public. It appeared to be an earth pony with a box cutie mark. A strange teenage pegasus pony swooped in to save the day. The surprise hero was odd; he had a pitch black coat and a white mane and tail and notable glowing green eyes. He had a cutie mark that was also unusual, a 'D' interlocking with a 'P.' He possessed strange powers and managed to freeze the attacker and capture him in what appeared to be an enchanted soup thermos, possibly the work of a unicorn's spell.

"The Equestrian National Guard has declared that the mysterious ghost colt is not a threat and Prince Shining Armor, recently married to Princess Cadence, has said that the mysterious pegasus colt is not enemy, but friend. As for the enemy 'ghost' attacking, the guard has not disclosed what it is yet or if they even know.

"The hero is being compared to Ponyville's Mysterious Mare Do-Well. He has been dubbed by citizens as 'The Ghost Colt,' 'The Phantom Pegasus,' and, the most popular, 'Dusky Phantasm,' as a reference to the DP logo."

Danny made a face. "Dusky Phantasm? Really? Ugh..."

Jazz smiled. "Well, at least it's good press, right? As opposed to what happened when Invisobil made his first appearance in Amity Park."

Her brother shuddered. "Please don't call me Invisobil. That name was bad as it is. Still, I was hoping not another soul in the other world would find out about me. This sucks...I better get going. I'm going to try to not get another tardy with Lancer; he threatened to give me an hour long detention." He shoved the newspaper in his backpack. "I have to show this to Sam and Tuck."

Maddie stopped her son before he was about to take off. "Hold on, are you alright? You look pale..."

"I'm fine, Mom," Danny assured her, "Just the Box Ghost being an nuisance at two in the morning again. Had trouble going back to sleep." He cracked a weak smile at her. Both Maddie and Jack gave him an unconvinced look, and Danny looked away. "Alright, well, gotta fly!" He transformed. Jazz quickly requested to be flown to school with Danny (claiming that she needed to get there early) and he grabbed onto her and they both took off.

Danny flew invisible with his sister in the air. Soon Jazz spoke up. "Danny, you were lying about last night."

"Um...not exactly. Half-lie? I mean, the Box Ghost DID wake me up at two in the morning..."

Jazz raised an eyebrow, not that either could see it. "And?"

"...I may have taken a quick, um, detour to Equestria to see if there were any ghosts before going back to bed..."

"For how long?"

Danny flinched. "An hour. I wanted to check Ponyville and Canterlot..."

"Danny, you don't get enough sleep as it is. It sounds like you're coming down with something, too; you sound all congested."

"It's just allergies, Jazz. I'm fine."

A pause. "You do realize that the guards can take care of Equestria?"

"Yeah, but I figured I was already up, right?"

Jazz gave an exasperated sigh. "What's done is done, though you'll be paying for it today at school when you have trouble staying awake. I'll keep it a secret this time, but next time I'm telling Mom and Dad."

"Whatever." Danny flew into the school and dropped Jazz off in the girl's locker room. He headed for the boy's bathroom. He transformed and entered the hallway.

He quickly retrieved his books he needed for first and second period and headed to class. Danny caught up with Sam and Tucker on the way. Sam was going to give him a quick "good morning, happy to see you," kiss before taking his state. He coughed, making her back up. "Ugh, someone's looking healthy this morning." she muttered sarcastically. "Are you feeling alright?"

"No worse than usual. I'm fine." he replied calmly.

"Long night again?" Tucker asked. Danny rolled his eyes.

"Yeah. And oh man, you guys need to hear something...and read a newspaper I've got."

"What, more "Invisobil" stuff?" Tucker teased. His friend shrugged.

"No; how's about 'Dusky Phantasm' stuff to you?"