Amongst Roaring Ghostsby locke_jawChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 1All Nighter woke up from his nap, the events from last night and the day before that had taken a toll on him. He got up from his chair trotted out of his cubicle, slowly heading to the office’s coffee machine. He grabbed his mug with his telekinesis, wrapping the small blue container with a sparkling orange aura as it floated beside him. He levitated the coffee pot with his magic and poured a healthy amount of the black liquid in his cup. A whiff of steam came out from the mug as the coffee started filling it. With his magic, he carried the pot back to the table and placed the mug on his left hoof. He looked down to see the contents of his cup. He waited for the rippling to stop so that he can use its surface as mirror to gaze at his reflection. Small dark rings can be seen around his orange eyes, several cowlicks were popping out from his uncombed dark green mane, and his lime green coat seemed to look fluffier than usual. His red tie was resting on his shoulders, not fastened around his neck. The sleeves around his white shirt were rolled up on his forelegs, he does this before he takes a nap in his cubicle to avoid soaking the fabric with spit should in case he would unconsciously drool while dozing off. He brought the cup to his mouth to take a swig of the dark brew, hoping that the bitter liquid could prepare him for the day. A purplish-red hoof tapped All Nighter’s shoulder. He slowly turned around to see who it was, trying not to spill the contents of his cup. It was his co-worker, Puce, complete with her usual tomboy getup. Her short fiery mane, grey jacket with rolled up sleeves, and bright smile was a welcome sight for his hazy day. Standing next to her was Sharp Eye. All Nighter would sometimes refer him as the ideal office worker, with his neatly combed black mane, smoothly ironed shirt, and a tie that’s always in season. He also wears a thickly framed pair of glasses, which All Nighter thought as ironic considering his name and all. “Good morning Al-” Puce stopped, and winced when she saw All Nighter’s look. “Rough night, huh?” “Night? More like a weekend.” All Nighter replied. “Did someone beat you up? Where is he!? I should congratulate him.” Sharp Eye jeered. Seeing All Nighter looking more stressed than before always cheers him up. “Haha, very funny.” All Nighter said as he rolled his eyes, he is so not in the mood for one of Sharp Eye’s mockeries right now, it’s still too early, he haven’t even finished his first cup of coffee yet. “So what happened to you anyway?” Puce asked. All Nighter was about to explain what happened but he suddenly stopped before saying a single word. He’s not sure if it’s worth telling the story to them. “Nah, I won’t tell ya. It’s too ridiculous.” Puce’s ears flattened hers ears and scrunched her nose at All Nighter’s answer. “You’re no fun.” Sharp Eye walked behind All Nighter. He grabbed the coffee pot and poured himself a cup. While the black liquid is filling up, his right wing reached for the box containing the packets of sugar and took two of them. He placed his now full cup of coffee on the table to focus on the sugar packets, he tore one up and emptied it all in the cup and did the same with the other one. He opened one of the closets to get a teaspoon, using it to stir the hot beverage, properly mixing the sugar and coffee. “I’ve read articles about Ponyville’s mishaps, you don’t scare me.” He boasted. When he was done stirring, he pulled out the teaspoon from the cup and tapped its tip on the cup’s edge three times before settling it down on the table. “Come on.” He started, taking a whiff of his hot beverage, enjoying the pleasing aroma it gives off. “It’s better than standing here while drinking coffee in silence.” Sharp Eye said before taking a sip from his cup. All Nighter took a long sip of his coffee. The hot liquid flowed down his throat and landed on his stomach. He can feel the warmth surging from his belly, it felt good. He continued to guzzle his drink until there’s no more left. Once the cup is empty, he wiped his lips with his hoof. He then lifted the pot of coffee with his magic and poured himself another one. All Nighter took another sip and stared at Sharp Eye. “Fine.” He sighed, finally giving up. “I’ll humor you, but I gotta start from the beginning in order for it to make sense. You’re fine with that, aren’t you?” Puce was now the one who walked behind All Nighter, she held the cup of coffee with her wing and poured herself a cup as well. “I don’t mind.” She said, taking a sip. “We’ve got nine minutes and thirty seconds left before our break is over.” Sharp Eye added as he took another sip. “It all started on a Saturday morning, around three I think. I was on my bed, wrapped around my covers, peacefully sleeping. When suddenly, I hit something on the foot of my bed, it was soft, soft and furry. I thought that it was just my pillow, must have kicked it when I was sleeping.” “I was half-asleep back then, and I felt pretty groggy. So I just ignored it and continued to sleep. I was about to be embraced by the comforts of slumber when that soft thing moved all of a sudden. It was like a dog crawling underneath the covers, trying to cuddle its owner. I can feel its head poking outside the blanket. Unfortunately, I was facing the other way when it did, so I can’t see who or what it was. I really wanted to sleep until noon during that time so I just decided to ignore it and continued back to sleep. I’ll just deal with it later when I wake up, fully energized. Yes, that’s how stupid my mind is when it’s half-asleep.” “But this thing is persistent. When it realized that I was ignoring it, it tapped me in the back. If felt like a hoof. I tried to ignoring the first few taps, hoping that it would get tired and eventually stop. But it didn’t. It just kept on coming and coming and coming. I started to get annoyed at this unceasing demand for attention. So buck it, I thought. And turned to face whatever or whoever this thing is.” Sharp Eye and Puce inched close to All Nighter, eager to hear what’s going to happen next. “It was a mare.” “But she was all covered in blood. Not fresh blood. No. It was all dried up. Some of it was crusting on her fur. Some parts of her coat were already balding, exposing the rotten, putrid flesh underneath. The look on her face is ghastly. Her eyes, those grey empty orbs stared right through me. It feels like they’re staring directly at my soul. Her mouth is moving like she’s muttering something. But no words came out of her. Everything was just eerily silent.” “The chilly temperature, heavy tension in the air, this ghastly apparition beside me, I tried to put all those things together in my mind with my foggy mind and realized something.” “I was haunted.” “Hah!” Sharp Eye snorted. You? Haunted? Ridiculous. He then emptied his cup and went towards the coffee machine to pour himself another cup. “See!? That’s why I don’t like telling this story.” All Nighter retorted. “Sharp Eye!” Puce reprimanded him. “So what happened next?” She asked. “Ah, yes!” “So I was haunted, right? And this ghost beside me doing was doing her best to scare the becelestia out of me right? Well if you’re an average pony or a protagonist in a horror movie, you probably would. But not me, so what I did next can be considered stupid, if not insane, or insanely stupid.” “Uhuh, so what did you do?”Puce asked, even more curious than before. “I cuddled her.” Sharp Eye was currently taking another sip of his coffee when he heard All Nighter’s answer. He was so surprised by it that he accidentally breathed through his mouth while drinking his beverage, sending the liquid down the wrong hole. Puce and All Nighter looked at Sharp Eye in amusement as he goes through a hilarious display of coughing and wheezing. “You did what?” Sharp Eye asked, still hacking out the few droplets of coffee that went inside his lungs. All Nighter tried to hide his smile by the taking another sip of his coffee. “Yes, I cuddled her. I quickly pulled her right towards me, hugged her tightly and cuddled the heck outta her. Sure she’s covered in dried blood and rotting flesh. But if you detract those factors that would make you hurl, she’s just any other mare underneath.” “Boy, was she surprised at what I did. I could’ve sworn that I heard her yelp when I began hugging her. And when I was finally satisfied with our current position, I nuzzled her neck and said these words: It’s clichés like this that ruins the horror genre.” All Nighter giggled as he took another sip from his cup, thinking himself to be smooth as buck. “That was when she popped out off my grasp and began to float in the air. The ghost lying on the bed and the one floating in front of me right now look quite different from each other. Before, she just looked like a rotting corpse. But now, she looks a heck tidier, and she’s glowing too. Her fur’s a vibrant shade of caramel and her blue mane reaches all the way down her hind legs, she was wearing a white dress that completely covered cutie mark, her eyes that previously looked like they belong to a dead fish were now replaced with a pair of furious spheres of sapphire. That must be her true form.” “And judging from her looks, I can tell that she’s mad at me. And I also recall that she’s blushing as well. But before I could say something, she quickly vanished, leaving nothing but a few fading sparkles and colourful wisps of magic. And that was it.” All Nighter took a long sip of his coffee as a sign that the story is over. The two followed suit and a brief moment of silence filled the air around the group. Sharp Eye was the first one to finish his emptying his cup. He then trotted back to the coffee machine to get another refill and decided to break the silence while doing it. “Well, that is quite the story. It’d be great if it’s real.” He mocked. “But it is real!” “You’re half-asleep, you’re probably daydreaming.” Before the two stallions could continue to bicker, Puce decided to intervene. “That cliché line has gotta be the best part of the story! I forgot that you’re a big horror fan.” “If you think that’s good, just wait when I tell you about her second haunting.” All Nighter said while ignoring Sharp Eye. “Wait, there’s more?” Puce asked, enthused. “Well, I did tell you that it’s a rough weekend, didn’t I?” “Ah great, more daydreaming.” Sharp Eye said, now opening the second packet of sugar for his cup. “It’s not daydreaming.” All Nighter countered. “But I was drunk on this one.” “Oh this going to be interesting.” Sharp Eye remarked, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Chapter 2“Oh this going to be interesting.” Sharp Eye remarked, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. “But before I tell you this,” All Nighter began. “I was totally hammered when her second haunting happened. And by hammered I mean that half the liquids coursing through my body at that time were made up of hard cider. I went bar hopping with Red Tie after all, and boy that stallion could drink!” Upon hearing his name being mentioned, Red Tie popped his head out of his cubicle, trying to find the source of the voice. When All Nighter saw Red Tie looking around, he waved a hoof at him. “Hey Red!” He called out. “We were just talking about how amazing you were during bar hop last Saturday.” Red Tie replied with an ‘oh’ and grinned as he shrunk back to his cubicle. All Nighter looked back at the two and took a sip from his cup before continuing his story. “So where was I? Oh yes, I was so drunk during that time that I was amazed that I still made my way home unscathed. As I entered my apartment, I was welcomed with complete and utter blackness. So, I trotted directly towards the light switch. But combining darkness and a drunken stallion would only create disastrous results. So what happened next is what you’ve expected. I stumbled and fell on my rump. And when this ghost realized that I was home, she then took the opportunity and decided to scare me under the cover of the dark.” “As I sat on the ground, everywhere I looked seemed to spin, like I was inside a washing machine. Then I heard something move, and another, and another one! I don’t know what those were but those were a lot of somethings.” “At first, I thought that it was a burglar who broke inside my apartment. So what I did next was to act intimidating. I quickly got up on my hind legs and raised my forelegs. I was standing wobbly at that time so I had to lean on the wall for support.” “Whoosh deyr! I cried at the intruder. What I meant was ‘who’s there’ but I-stop giggling! I can’t control my slurs when I’m drunk okay? When you think about it, who doesn’t slur when they’re drunk?” “I don’t.” Sharp Eye replied firmly. “Well that’s because you never go beyond the point of being tipsy!” Puce countered. “Hah!” All Nighter exclaimed while a pointing a hoof at Sharp Eye. “So I was intimidating this burglar right?” ALL Nighter continued, putting up air quotes at the burglar part. “But all those that came out from my mouth could be easily taken straight out of an infant’s vocabulary!” “Seriously, you should hear what I said: Whoosh deyr! Kamawnaut! Nafrayed few! Umma boxuh! Umma tidal holduh! Yes, I pretended that I’m a boxer to intimidate a burglar, if that’s what you’re asking. But during that time, my mind was filling blanks on its own. And what I saw as darkness before was now replaced with a ring, complete with a roving referee. And as I looked around, large crowds of ponies clad in fancy clothing. All of them were cheering my name, or my opponent’s. I don’t know. I mean, when everyone shouts at the same time, all you can hear is nonsense. Then, something appeared right in front of me, it was a pony twice my size and is completely swollen. Short puffs of smoke of air came out from his nostrils, he’s ready to fight. I raised both of my forelegs in front of my face and moved my hind legs in a hopping manner, similar that to a boxer’s.” “This is it! I thought to myself. I started to advance towards my enemy. But when I took my first step, BLAM!” Puce flinched at All Nighter’s sudden outburst. “I was on the floor, face flat. It was so painful that I just stayed down for awhile. Then suddenly, I feel my someone poking at my sides. Probably my opponent. Definitely my opponent. Still hitting me despite being knocked out. He wanted me broken so I couldn’t challenge him in a rematch. A dirty move is what I call it.If he’s playing dirty, then so am I!” “I quickly rose up, grabbed him by the neck with both of my forelegs and bit his ear! Before my teeth could sink in to his tender flesh, I heard him scream. Or heard her scream. It was a girl. I bit a girl’s ear. I stopped, wait. So the burglar that I imagined as my opponent was a mare? I rushed towards the light switch, my legs still wobbling and turned it on.” “Brightness filled the room, and what caught my attention were several objects floating in the air such as books, pillows, glasses, and several other stuff. Along with those was the mare that I saw several hours ago, holding her right ear.” “So the burglar that I imagined as my opponent was a mare? A ghost mare? And she can levitate things? So she’s a poltergeist, how about that. Or is it ponetergeist? I dunno, you decide.” “Ponetergeist sounds nice.” Puce stated. “Just call it a poltergeist.” Sharp Eye groaned. “Why do we have to attach pony related names to words? It’s stupid.” “You’re stupid.” Puce retorted. “Moving on. She’s also in her true form. No, not the one where she’s all rotten and spooky. The other one, the glowing mare in a dress version. Apparently, she didn’t think that I would turn the lights on, considering my current condition. Realizing that I did her great a offence, I stood up on my legs and begged her for forgiveness. Unfortunately, the effects of the cider still lingered in my body. This is the part where it gets really, really embarrassing. As soon as I started walking, I began wobbling down and stumbled once more. Luckily, my rump landed on my couch, cushioning my fall. But somehow, my body got laid out spread eagle, facing the poor mare, or is it lucky mare? My goods were openly displayed in front of her. She placed both of her hooves on her snout, covering her mouth and blushed furiously.” “So my body was splayed out in front of her right? And she was blushing profusely right?” All Nighter praised himself mentally for using such a fancy word in a sentence. “And what I did next was so incredibly stupid that it was as stupid as during that time when I cuddled her, or even stupider.” “I gently caressed my barrel with my with my forelegs, only stopping when they’re getting closer to my nether regions, and raised them back upwards again slowly as if cherishing every second of it. I stared at her with sultry eyes while softly biting my lower lip for additional effect. After that I slowly reached for the back of my head and caressed my mane while other hoof gently dove downwards to my thighs and caressed them as well, still keeping my sultry gaze at her.” All Nighter ceased his story for a moment as he looked at Puce who was now drooling. “Puce, are you alright? You’re drooling.” Puce snapped back from her daydreaming and immediately wiped the drool off her face. “Yes, I’m fine. Continue.” Sharp Eye looked at Puce for a second then shifted his focus on All Nighter, staring at him angrily. “This is getting indecent, skip this part.” He scolded. “No way!” Puce intervened. “This story just got juicier! Continue.” All Nighter shrugged and resumed his tale. “And then I said this stupid line that got her even redder than before. I didn’t even know that you could turn that red!” All Nighter said, exclaiming the last part. Red Tie popped his head out of his cubicle and looked at All Nighter, thinking that he mentioned his name again. “What?” He called out. All Nighter turned to look at Red Tie and realized what he did. “Oh not you, Red. I was talking about red the color. Sorry.” He clarified. “Oh, okay then.” Red replied and shrunk back at his cubicle for the second time. “See what you like?” All Nighter resumed.That’s the line I used at her while groping myself sensually.” “And more importantly, I didn’t even know that a ghost could blush! I forgot to say it before so I’m saying it right here. And let me get it straight with you guys, this is the cider talking, not me. Normally, I would never be this sultry.” All Nighter could hear Puce softly moan in disappointment, and Sharp Eyes’ slightly disturbing growls. “And then I suddenly stopped caressing my body, I can totally see her eyes changing from confused curiosity to sadly let down when I did that, thinking that the show’s over. But she ‘s dead wrong!” All Nighter giggled at his pun. He looked at his two co-workers to see if they shared his sentiments. But they just stared at him flatly, looking displeased. “Get it?” He asked. “Dead? Wrong? Dead Wrong? Because she’s dead, and also wrong?” All Nighter explained lamely. All Nighter’s line only a got out a frustrated groan from the two, so he just decided to continue his story. “Anyway, her eyes flickered back to lif-” All Nighter abruptly stopped when he realized that he’s about to make another pun. “-their previous state when I slowly unbuttoned my shirt. I intentionally slowed down my movements in order to tease her. And boy, did it work. She stared at my hooves intently, soaking every push and pull. I swear I could hear her gasp every time a button slips out of its hole, creating a small gap as it separates the two ends of fabric that it was holding earlier, exposing the hidden part that was concealed before.” “Once the final button has been unclasped, I proceeded to remove my shirt. Just like with what I did to the buttons, I lowered the clothing down gently, savouring the moment as each strand of my fur was tenderly grazed by the sliding cloth. Once removed, I chose the most flamboyant way that I can think of to get rid of it.” “So I tossed it in front of her.” “The way she shifted her eyes from me to the shirt repeatedly was adorably hilarious. And the way she reached her hooves out in an attempt to grab my shirt and pulling it back immediately when she realized what she’s doing? Golden. I stood up from my couch and marched towards her, slowly. I still left my tie on though, I saw it in a movie once where the male stripper wore nothing on his upper body but that tie. It looks hot to be honest. I may be a stallion, but I can still appreciate that nice little touch.” “As I trotted towards her, she also backs away so I can’t really close the distance between us. I called out to her, trying my best not to wobble and slur. Wait! I called. Don’t be afraid, I don’t bite. Oh wait, I do. I’m sorry. I then gestured my hooves towards myself. See this? This is for you, it’s a peace offering. Then I winked at her. She was so flustered that she panicked and backed away further from me. All of her attention was directed at me that she hadn’t noticed that she was headed straight to my stereo. I stopped to warn her where she was going but I was too late. Her back had hit my stereo. And here I was thinking that ghosts can go through walls. But maybe she was just in her corporeal form, I bit her in the ear after all. She let out a small ‘oomph’ as her back hit the machine. She turned around to look at the stereo while massaging her back, the black machine began to whir.” “For some reason her back had accidentally pressed the play button. And my stereo started replaying the song that I listened to earlier. The tune was retro, a title song from a popular movie back in the days, a music from my childhood. Once my ears had picked up on that ever so familiar piece of music, my dancing instincts immediately kicked in.” “At first, it was just my head that started moving, bobbing along to its lively beat. And then my hind legs came after, tapping on the floor while following my head’s pace. Then along came the shoulders and other parts of my body. This is the part that I like the most about drunk me. He’s always overflowing with confidence. I could never do something like that when I’m sober.” “That’s what liquor does to you, it’s not called liquid courage for nothing after all.” Sharp Eye pointed out, his voice condescending, as if he’s talking to All Nighter like he’s a first time drinker. All Nighter paid no heed to Sharp Eye’s recent remark and proceeded to continue his story. “When the song reached its chorus, my antics have gotten a lot crazier! I stood up on my hind legs while flashing her a toothy grin, and slowly licked my lips for seductive purposes. I then bucked my hips in sync with the music, while singing the song’s lyrics.” “Na-na,na-na,na-na,naah-na,nana,nanana!” “Na-na,na-na,na-na,naah-na,nana,nanana!” “I ain’t afraid of no ghost!” “As I continued bucking my hips, I felt something wet and squishy flapping up and down my crotch. I didn’t bother to look because I was busy seducing this mare right?” “If that’s what you’re going to call it, high hoof!” Sharp Eye quipped, raising a foreleg in the air. Puce and All Nighter blatantly ignored Sharp Eye’s mockeries, and they left him hanging as well. When no one decided to reciprocate his attempt of a high hoof, Sharp Eye had no choice but to bring down his leg in annoyance, and scowled deeply at All Nighter. “But the mare saw it though. That might be the reason why she rushed through the door. All those dancing and bucking has got me all stirred up, and uh...my package,” All Nighter paused to take a sip of his coffee. “-scared her. Can you believe it? My package scared her! Hah! Who’s the one doing the scaring now!” “Humph. She’s just scared getting pricked by that tiny thorn of yours.” Sharp Eye grinned, taking a long sip from his cup. Now it was All Nighter’s turn to scowl at Sharp Eye. “Way to boost a stallion’s ego there, Sharp.” Sharp Eye didn’t say anything. He just a raised his cup of coffee in front of All Nighter, as if he was making a toast in his honor. “So what happened next?” Puce asked. “I don’t really know.” All Nighter replied, scratching his head. “After she left my apartment, I passed out on the floor. And then I woke up with a terrible headache, along with those embarrassing memories from last night.” “Hold on.” Sharp Eye began, he had an inquisitive look on his face. “How in Equestria can you remember all those things when you said that you said prior to the beginning of the story that you were heavily intoxicated?” “Yeah, about that.” All Nighter said, still scratching his head. “I have this dumb ability to retain all of my memories despite being drunk. It automatically plays last night’s memories when I wake up, along with my hang over. So not only will I groan in pain, I’ll also moan in humiliation.” “That sounds horrible!” Puce replied, her voice sympathetic. “And pretty convenient too. It sounds almost like it’s made up.” Sharp Eye retorted. “I didn’t make it up!” All Nighter cried. “Yeah, yeah. Just finish your story.” Sharp Eye said, waving a hoof dismissively. ��S�]a Chapter 3“Yeah, yeah. Just finish your story.” Sharp Eye said, waving a hoof dismissively. “Fine.” All Nighter conceded. He took a small sip first before proceeding. “Her third haunting occurred last night. After what happened last time I thought that she would’ve given up. But no she did not! This mare’s persistent as heck! I gotta give her points for that. I was working had all night because our Saddle Arabia Branch had a hard time receiving their dragon fire letters. And the boss wants me to send them three confirmation letters a day stating that we are underway in fixing the issue. He also wants me to get in touch with the Department of Secure Messaging Transmissions as they’re the ones responsible in for generating the currents that the letters go thro-I can judge from your bored faces that you don’t want to hear this part, so I’m just gonna say that the things I’m working on are really important so there’s no way that I will get myself drunk or let alone be half-asleep.” “I was on my computer writing the letters when the lights suddenly flickered.” “Oh boy.” “That’s gotta be on the top of the list of things you shouldn’t do when writing a horror film. Not a moment after, I heard a series of hooves pitter-patter on the floor, that’s another one on the list.I followed the rapid tapping as it trotted around the room. The sound of tapping hoof steps ceased as they reached the front of my bathroom door, I always closed the windows at night because I can’t stand the chill of the evening breeze. The door in the bathroom was open because I recently went there to wash my face in the sink, rinsing my sleepiness away. Even though there’s no wind pushing it from behind, the bathroom door slammed itself close.” “Oh my Goddesses.” “She’s crossing all those things from the list! Certified fresh that mare’s work is. I took a break from my writing and leaned at the back of my chair, enjoying this bizarre spectacle. It was entertaining at first, because it’s like a watching a horror movie in 3-d. But it got old a couple minutes later. I really liked the light bulb part though, where I grabbed an apple from the fruit basket and as I took a bite from it, in turned into a light bulb.” Puce cringed upon hearing those words, imagining his co-worker’s mouth gushing with blood as he continued to chew on the shattered glass. “But after that, she’s just hitting me with nothing but duds. She turned back to her rotten corpse form again and stood with her hind legs on the ceiling, and slowly approached me every time I blinked. How she managed to make her dress upright and not look like an umbrella being blown by the wind, I’ll never know.” “And when I took a sip from my coffee, the contents inside the cup magically turned into cockroaches. The little critters then scurried around my body, tickling me with their tiny hairy legs. And after that she disappeared.” “Then I felt an itchy sensation on my hoof. I turned it around in front of me to see if a roach from earlier was stuck there, only to see her face. Her eyes were all white and opened wide. She screamed at me soundlessly. Bundles of blood soaked innards crept out of her rotten orifice.” “The carpet below me took the form of a pair of claws. Their sharp yet furry digits grasped on my hind legs tightly, dragging me downwards to oblivion, I can hear a sharp cackle as the darkness sucked me in.” “Then I woke up.” While listening to the story, Sharp unknowingly hugged Puce out of fear, Puce, who was so fixated to All Nighter’s story as well didn’t notice the usually stern stallion cowering beside her. They only realized the situation they were in when All Nighter stopped talking and sipped his coffee while admiring the view in front of him. The two separated in the blink of an eye with Puce rubbing the side of her foreleg awkwardly afterwards while Sharp Eye adjusted his glasses and looked away in an attempt to hide his blush. “I-I-uh...” Sharp Eye started, stuttering. “I, um, believe. That my actions were justifiable.” “Yeah.” Puce agreed. “I know that you’re a horror fan and all, but aren’t you a bit traumatized after what she did to you?” “How can I be scared when all she did was throw duds at me? Next thing I’ll know is that she’ll come out of a well or rip me to shreds in my dreams.” “At least she’ll look good in a sweater.” Sharp Eye added. “Heh.” All Nighter said with a grin. “So anyway, I was back sitting on my chair, slightly dizzy from the horror coaster ride she put me through. I spun my chair to face the clock that was hanging on my wall to see if she had done the thing that I expected she would do. It’s now one o’clock. It was only twelve a couple minutes ago. I was right, it was a time skip. What a waste of a good hour, I thought to myself.” “I was still staring at the clock when I heard something behind me. They sound like short labored breaths, or just panting for short. I turned around to see who it was. I already had an idea regarding on who this is going to be, and I think you do too.” “It was the ghost mare of course, and she was back in her true form. She looked spent. It’s like she participated in the Running of the Leaves five times on the same day. A small smile was carved on her face despite panting heavily. Maybe she thought that her latest feat could’ve been the one that broke me.” “But her smile faded when she saw the look on my face. I was grinning like an idiot at her. I never thought that ghosts would get exhausted too. I mean, her fur looks damp and wet, her mane looked messy and unkempt, and the dress she’s wearing was so wet it started to stick on her body. Since the color of the fabric is white, I don’t have to tell you that the clothing she was wearing became see through as it got wet. Because of that, I could see a pair of folded wings resting on her side. It’s odd because I thought that she was an Earth Pony before.” “Seeing me unfazed despite everything she’s done was probably the lasr straw for her patience. All those rage and frustration flowing out of her ethereal...bodice made her blurt her first words ever during our encounters.” “Why are you not scared!? Her frustrated cry can be compared to that of a banshee’s.” “Now we’re having a conversation! Though I had to cover my ears to prevent my eardrums from popping but still, we’re having a conversation! Can you believe it?” Sharp Eye was quick to reply. “No.” “It’s a rhetorical question, Sharp. Just a part of my narration.” “But it’s true, I still don’t beli-” “Just let me finish my story. As we talked, I can’t help but admire her voice. It sounds so meek and cute, just like her. Even though she’s lashing out at me with everything she’s got, I still can’t get mad at her. She even looked cute when angry. And now I have a cute, angry ghost in my apartment. The downside to her adorable lashing out is that while she’s spitting hot stuff at me, she’s also flailing my belongings around the room. I had to call her out when she’s about to hurl my favourite mug at the wall.” “I tried to calm her down in order to minimize the amount of damage my apartment has already obtained. So I explained to her that I’m really busy at the moment to humor her. But I did gave her some kind proposition that if she helps me with my work, she can scare me to her heart’s content later. It was quite a hard bargain. It took a lot a convincing on my part but she agreed eventually, although somewhat reluctantly. I even had to throw in a couple of tips in doing a proper jump scare just to spice up the deal. After that she became my assistant, temporarily of course.” “So you hired a ghost, to become your assistant.” Sharp Eyes stated, narrowing his eyes. “Uhuh.” All Nighter clarified then took a sip from his cup. “Let me rephrase my sentence if it didn’t sound ridiculous the first time.” Sharp Eye retorted. “So you hired a ghost, to become your assistant.” “Dang it Sharp, stop interrupting and let him finish!” Puce scolded Sharp Eye. “My coffee’s getting cold.” “Fine! Be that way.” Sharp Eye snorted. All Nighter gave a little cough to clear his throat before continuing his story. “I then asked for her name. It was Midnight Memory. And as for her motives on scaring me, she doesn’t have one. Or rather, she doesn’t remember what it is. I decided upon myself to help her figure out the reason in my spare time.” “And as my assistant for the night, she’s not exactly half bad. In fact, she was perfect for the job. I had her tidy up my workplace, sort out all my records, and I also let her brew me a cup of coffee. Oh Goddesses, you should taste her coffee. It’s a perfect blend of cream and sugar. I don’t know how she did it, but it tastes perfect! Am I saying ‘perfect’ a lot? Anyway, I let her use the computer too. And let me tell ya, she’s quite good at it! I love it when she suddenly turns invisible but the keyboard still kept on typing itself. Totally awesome. It was almost seven in the morning when we were done. Heck, it could’ve gotten longer if I hadn’t asked her for help.” “So did you manage to hold your end of the bargain? Puce asked.” “I wish, I just fell asleep afterwards. And when my alarm rang a few minutes later, I hastily prepared myself for the day and hurried straight to work. I had completely forgotten about the promise, until now. Also, I’m having a strange feeling that she might pop out anytime soon.” “Nighter!” All three ponies stood in attention upon hearing that voice. It was their boss’s, the pudgy stallion trotted angrily towards them. “Hey boss.” He greeted, trying to hide the fear in his voice. He doesn’t know why he always got scared when he’s in the presence of his boss. Even when he did nothing wrong, the fear is always there. “Just what in Celestia are you lot doing?” He asked, looking annoyed. “Telling ghost stories.” Sharp Eye replied. “You did what now?” “Don’t mind him boss.” All Nighter said. “We’re just having a ten minute coffee break.” “Well, break’s over.” Their boss ordered. “Nighter, did you print out those correspondences you sent to the S.A Branch? If so, bring it to me.” “Yes boss!” All Nighter snappily complied. He laid down his mug on the table before running towards his cubicle. He searched for the file on the stacks of folders he properly arranged at the corner of his cubicle. But it wasn’t there. He was about open the folders one by one just to make sure when he realized something. He left it at home! He was in a hurry earlier that he forgot to bring the file when he went to work! He trotted back towards the coffee machine, hoping that the boss would forgive him for his incompetence. As he got closer to the table, he could hear Puce and Sharp Eye arguing about the validity of his story. “Ghosts in Equestria? Sure we have living goddesses, a literal demon, and the manifestation of chaos itself, but ghosts? I don’t think so.” Sharp Eye argued. All Nighter was about to call his boss when out of nowhere a familiar display of magic emerged in front of him. Then came a popping sound that echoed around the entire workplace. A small mare in a white dress, holding a red folder can be seen floating in the air amidst the burst of magic. Silence filled the room, and Midnight sensed that everyone’s attention was focused on her, including All Nighter’s. “Umm...” Midnight began, slightly embarrassed. Before Midnight could finish what she was saying, everypony panicked and stampeded out of the room, using all means of exit such as the stairs, elevators, and fire exits. Some pegasi dove right out the window to avoid struggling with the rest of the panicking crowd. While the horde of panicking ponies were busy running for their lives, Puce just stood there and smiled widely, knowing that she won an argument against Sharp Eye. She would have just stood there a little longer if it wasn’t for Sharp Eye dragging her hoof as they flew through the window. It didn’t take long for the ponies to empty the workplace. The only ones that remained were All Nighter and Midnight. “You forgot to bring this folder when you left the apartment earlier.” Midnight said while giving the red folder to All Nighter. “Uh, thanks.” He replied. You know, you really scared me just now. “Really?” “No.” “Oh come on!” e rea̘�_a Author's Note Well I just wasted a great chunk of your time, thanks for reading.
Chapter 1All Nighter woke up from his nap, the events from last night and the day before that had taken a toll on him. He got up from his chair trotted out of his cubicle, slowly heading to the office’s coffee machine. He grabbed his mug with his telekinesis, wrapping the small blue container with a sparkling orange aura as it floated beside him. He levitated the coffee pot with his magic and poured a healthy amount of the black liquid in his cup. A whiff of steam came out from the mug as the coffee started filling it. With his magic, he carried the pot back to the table and placed the mug on his left hoof. He looked down to see the contents of his cup. He waited for the rippling to stop so that he can use its surface as mirror to gaze at his reflection. Small dark rings can be seen around his orange eyes, several cowlicks were popping out from his uncombed dark green mane, and his lime green coat seemed to look fluffier than usual. His red tie was resting on his shoulders, not fastened around his neck. The sleeves around his white shirt were rolled up on his forelegs, he does this before he takes a nap in his cubicle to avoid soaking the fabric with spit should in case he would unconsciously drool while dozing off. He brought the cup to his mouth to take a swig of the dark brew, hoping that the bitter liquid could prepare him for the day. A purplish-red hoof tapped All Nighter’s shoulder. He slowly turned around to see who it was, trying not to spill the contents of his cup. It was his co-worker, Puce, complete with her usual tomboy getup. Her short fiery mane, grey jacket with rolled up sleeves, and bright smile was a welcome sight for his hazy day. Standing next to her was Sharp Eye. All Nighter would sometimes refer him as the ideal office worker, with his neatly combed black mane, smoothly ironed shirt, and a tie that’s always in season. He also wears a thickly framed pair of glasses, which All Nighter thought as ironic considering his name and all. “Good morning Al-” Puce stopped, and winced when she saw All Nighter’s look. “Rough night, huh?” “Night? More like a weekend.” All Nighter replied. “Did someone beat you up? Where is he!? I should congratulate him.” Sharp Eye jeered. Seeing All Nighter looking more stressed than before always cheers him up. “Haha, very funny.” All Nighter said as he rolled his eyes, he is so not in the mood for one of Sharp Eye’s mockeries right now, it’s still too early, he haven’t even finished his first cup of coffee yet. “So what happened to you anyway?” Puce asked. All Nighter was about to explain what happened but he suddenly stopped before saying a single word. He’s not sure if it’s worth telling the story to them. “Nah, I won’t tell ya. It’s too ridiculous.” Puce’s ears flattened hers ears and scrunched her nose at All Nighter’s answer. “You’re no fun.” Sharp Eye walked behind All Nighter. He grabbed the coffee pot and poured himself a cup. While the black liquid is filling up, his right wing reached for the box containing the packets of sugar and took two of them. He placed his now full cup of coffee on the table to focus on the sugar packets, he tore one up and emptied it all in the cup and did the same with the other one. He opened one of the closets to get a teaspoon, using it to stir the hot beverage, properly mixing the sugar and coffee. “I’ve read articles about Ponyville’s mishaps, you don’t scare me.” He boasted. When he was done stirring, he pulled out the teaspoon from the cup and tapped its tip on the cup’s edge three times before settling it down on the table. “Come on.” He started, taking a whiff of his hot beverage, enjoying the pleasing aroma it gives off. “It’s better than standing here while drinking coffee in silence.” Sharp Eye said before taking a sip from his cup. All Nighter took a long sip of his coffee. The hot liquid flowed down his throat and landed on his stomach. He can feel the warmth surging from his belly, it felt good. He continued to guzzle his drink until there’s no more left. Once the cup is empty, he wiped his lips with his hoof. He then lifted the pot of coffee with his magic and poured himself another one. All Nighter took another sip and stared at Sharp Eye. “Fine.” He sighed, finally giving up. “I’ll humor you, but I gotta start from the beginning in order for it to make sense. You’re fine with that, aren’t you?” Puce was now the one who walked behind All Nighter, she held the cup of coffee with her wing and poured herself a cup as well. “I don’t mind.” She said, taking a sip. “We’ve got nine minutes and thirty seconds left before our break is over.” Sharp Eye added as he took another sip. “It all started on a Saturday morning, around three I think. I was on my bed, wrapped around my covers, peacefully sleeping. When suddenly, I hit something on the foot of my bed, it was soft, soft and furry. I thought that it was just my pillow, must have kicked it when I was sleeping.” “I was half-asleep back then, and I felt pretty groggy. So I just ignored it and continued to sleep. I was about to be embraced by the comforts of slumber when that soft thing moved all of a sudden. It was like a dog crawling underneath the covers, trying to cuddle its owner. I can feel its head poking outside the blanket. Unfortunately, I was facing the other way when it did, so I can’t see who or what it was. I really wanted to sleep until noon during that time so I just decided to ignore it and continued back to sleep. I’ll just deal with it later when I wake up, fully energized. Yes, that’s how stupid my mind is when it’s half-asleep.” “But this thing is persistent. When it realized that I was ignoring it, it tapped me in the back. If felt like a hoof. I tried to ignoring the first few taps, hoping that it would get tired and eventually stop. But it didn’t. It just kept on coming and coming and coming. I started to get annoyed at this unceasing demand for attention. So buck it, I thought. And turned to face whatever or whoever this thing is.” Sharp Eye and Puce inched close to All Nighter, eager to hear what’s going to happen next. “It was a mare.” “But she was all covered in blood. Not fresh blood. No. It was all dried up. Some of it was crusting on her fur. Some parts of her coat were already balding, exposing the rotten, putrid flesh underneath. The look on her face is ghastly. Her eyes, those grey empty orbs stared right through me. It feels like they’re staring directly at my soul. Her mouth is moving like she’s muttering something. But no words came out of her. Everything was just eerily silent.” “The chilly temperature, heavy tension in the air, this ghastly apparition beside me, I tried to put all those things together in my mind with my foggy mind and realized something.” “I was haunted.” “Hah!” Sharp Eye snorted. You? Haunted? Ridiculous. He then emptied his cup and went towards the coffee machine to pour himself another cup. “See!? That’s why I don’t like telling this story.” All Nighter retorted. “Sharp Eye!” Puce reprimanded him. “So what happened next?” She asked. “Ah, yes!” “So I was haunted, right? And this ghost beside me doing was doing her best to scare the becelestia out of me right? Well if you’re an average pony or a protagonist in a horror movie, you probably would. But not me, so what I did next can be considered stupid, if not insane, or insanely stupid.” “Uhuh, so what did you do?”Puce asked, even more curious than before. “I cuddled her.” Sharp Eye was currently taking another sip of his coffee when he heard All Nighter’s answer. He was so surprised by it that he accidentally breathed through his mouth while drinking his beverage, sending the liquid down the wrong hole. Puce and All Nighter looked at Sharp Eye in amusement as he goes through a hilarious display of coughing and wheezing. “You did what?” Sharp Eye asked, still hacking out the few droplets of coffee that went inside his lungs. All Nighter tried to hide his smile by the taking another sip of his coffee. “Yes, I cuddled her. I quickly pulled her right towards me, hugged her tightly and cuddled the heck outta her. Sure she’s covered in dried blood and rotting flesh. But if you detract those factors that would make you hurl, she’s just any other mare underneath.” “Boy, was she surprised at what I did. I could’ve sworn that I heard her yelp when I began hugging her. And when I was finally satisfied with our current position, I nuzzled her neck and said these words: It’s clichés like this that ruins the horror genre.” All Nighter giggled as he took another sip from his cup, thinking himself to be smooth as buck. “That was when she popped out off my grasp and began to float in the air. The ghost lying on the bed and the one floating in front of me right now look quite different from each other. Before, she just looked like a rotting corpse. But now, she looks a heck tidier, and she’s glowing too. Her fur’s a vibrant shade of caramel and her blue mane reaches all the way down her hind legs, she was wearing a white dress that completely covered cutie mark, her eyes that previously looked like they belong to a dead fish were now replaced with a pair of furious spheres of sapphire. That must be her true form.” “And judging from her looks, I can tell that she’s mad at me. And I also recall that she’s blushing as well. But before I could say something, she quickly vanished, leaving nothing but a few fading sparkles and colourful wisps of magic. And that was it.” All Nighter took a long sip of his coffee as a sign that the story is over. The two followed suit and a brief moment of silence filled the air around the group. Sharp Eye was the first one to finish his emptying his cup. He then trotted back to the coffee machine to get another refill and decided to break the silence while doing it. “Well, that is quite the story. It’d be great if it’s real.” He mocked. “But it is real!” “You’re half-asleep, you’re probably daydreaming.” Before the two stallions could continue to bicker, Puce decided to intervene. “That cliché line has gotta be the best part of the story! I forgot that you’re a big horror fan.” “If you think that’s good, just wait when I tell you about her second haunting.” All Nighter said while ignoring Sharp Eye. “Wait, there’s more?” Puce asked, enthused. “Well, I did tell you that it’s a rough weekend, didn’t I?” “Ah great, more daydreaming.” Sharp Eye said, now opening the second packet of sugar for his cup. “It’s not daydreaming.” All Nighter countered. “But I was drunk on this one.” “Oh this going to be interesting.” Sharp Eye remarked, a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
Chapter 2“Oh this going to be interesting.” Sharp Eye remarked, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. “But before I tell you this,” All Nighter began. “I was totally hammered when her second haunting happened. And by hammered I mean that half the liquids coursing through my body at that time were made up of hard cider. I went bar hopping with Red Tie after all, and boy that stallion could drink!” Upon hearing his name being mentioned, Red Tie popped his head out of his cubicle, trying to find the source of the voice. When All Nighter saw Red Tie looking around, he waved a hoof at him. “Hey Red!” He called out. “We were just talking about how amazing you were during bar hop last Saturday.” Red Tie replied with an ‘oh’ and grinned as he shrunk back to his cubicle. All Nighter looked back at the two and took a sip from his cup before continuing his story. “So where was I? Oh yes, I was so drunk during that time that I was amazed that I still made my way home unscathed. As I entered my apartment, I was welcomed with complete and utter blackness. So, I trotted directly towards the light switch. But combining darkness and a drunken stallion would only create disastrous results. So what happened next is what you’ve expected. I stumbled and fell on my rump. And when this ghost realized that I was home, she then took the opportunity and decided to scare me under the cover of the dark.” “As I sat on the ground, everywhere I looked seemed to spin, like I was inside a washing machine. Then I heard something move, and another, and another one! I don’t know what those were but those were a lot of somethings.” “At first, I thought that it was a burglar who broke inside my apartment. So what I did next was to act intimidating. I quickly got up on my hind legs and raised my forelegs. I was standing wobbly at that time so I had to lean on the wall for support.” “Whoosh deyr! I cried at the intruder. What I meant was ‘who’s there’ but I-stop giggling! I can’t control my slurs when I’m drunk okay? When you think about it, who doesn’t slur when they’re drunk?” “I don’t.” Sharp Eye replied firmly. “Well that’s because you never go beyond the point of being tipsy!” Puce countered. “Hah!” All Nighter exclaimed while a pointing a hoof at Sharp Eye. “So I was intimidating this burglar right?” ALL Nighter continued, putting up air quotes at the burglar part. “But all those that came out from my mouth could be easily taken straight out of an infant’s vocabulary!” “Seriously, you should hear what I said: Whoosh deyr! Kamawnaut! Nafrayed few! Umma boxuh! Umma tidal holduh! Yes, I pretended that I’m a boxer to intimidate a burglar, if that’s what you’re asking. But during that time, my mind was filling blanks on its own. And what I saw as darkness before was now replaced with a ring, complete with a roving referee. And as I looked around, large crowds of ponies clad in fancy clothing. All of them were cheering my name, or my opponent’s. I don’t know. I mean, when everyone shouts at the same time, all you can hear is nonsense. Then, something appeared right in front of me, it was a pony twice my size and is completely swollen. Short puffs of smoke of air came out from his nostrils, he’s ready to fight. I raised both of my forelegs in front of my face and moved my hind legs in a hopping manner, similar that to a boxer’s.” “This is it! I thought to myself. I started to advance towards my enemy. But when I took my first step, BLAM!” Puce flinched at All Nighter’s sudden outburst. “I was on the floor, face flat. It was so painful that I just stayed down for awhile. Then suddenly, I feel my someone poking at my sides. Probably my opponent. Definitely my opponent. Still hitting me despite being knocked out. He wanted me broken so I couldn’t challenge him in a rematch. A dirty move is what I call it.If he’s playing dirty, then so am I!” “I quickly rose up, grabbed him by the neck with both of my forelegs and bit his ear! Before my teeth could sink in to his tender flesh, I heard him scream. Or heard her scream. It was a girl. I bit a girl’s ear. I stopped, wait. So the burglar that I imagined as my opponent was a mare? I rushed towards the light switch, my legs still wobbling and turned it on.” “Brightness filled the room, and what caught my attention were several objects floating in the air such as books, pillows, glasses, and several other stuff. Along with those was the mare that I saw several hours ago, holding her right ear.” “So the burglar that I imagined as my opponent was a mare? A ghost mare? And she can levitate things? So she’s a poltergeist, how about that. Or is it ponetergeist? I dunno, you decide.” “Ponetergeist sounds nice.” Puce stated. “Just call it a poltergeist.” Sharp Eye groaned. “Why do we have to attach pony related names to words? It’s stupid.” “You’re stupid.” Puce retorted. “Moving on. She’s also in her true form. No, not the one where she’s all rotten and spooky. The other one, the glowing mare in a dress version. Apparently, she didn’t think that I would turn the lights on, considering my current condition. Realizing that I did her great a offence, I stood up on my legs and begged her for forgiveness. Unfortunately, the effects of the cider still lingered in my body. This is the part where it gets really, really embarrassing. As soon as I started walking, I began wobbling down and stumbled once more. Luckily, my rump landed on my couch, cushioning my fall. But somehow, my body got laid out spread eagle, facing the poor mare, or is it lucky mare? My goods were openly displayed in front of her. She placed both of her hooves on her snout, covering her mouth and blushed furiously.” “So my body was splayed out in front of her right? And she was blushing profusely right?” All Nighter praised himself mentally for using such a fancy word in a sentence. “And what I did next was so incredibly stupid that it was as stupid as during that time when I cuddled her, or even stupider.” “I gently caressed my barrel with my with my forelegs, only stopping when they’re getting closer to my nether regions, and raised them back upwards again slowly as if cherishing every second of it. I stared at her with sultry eyes while softly biting my lower lip for additional effect. After that I slowly reached for the back of my head and caressed my mane while other hoof gently dove downwards to my thighs and caressed them as well, still keeping my sultry gaze at her.” All Nighter ceased his story for a moment as he looked at Puce who was now drooling. “Puce, are you alright? You’re drooling.” Puce snapped back from her daydreaming and immediately wiped the drool off her face. “Yes, I’m fine. Continue.” Sharp Eye looked at Puce for a second then shifted his focus on All Nighter, staring at him angrily. “This is getting indecent, skip this part.” He scolded. “No way!” Puce intervened. “This story just got juicier! Continue.” All Nighter shrugged and resumed his tale. “And then I said this stupid line that got her even redder than before. I didn’t even know that you could turn that red!” All Nighter said, exclaiming the last part. Red Tie popped his head out of his cubicle and looked at All Nighter, thinking that he mentioned his name again. “What?” He called out. All Nighter turned to look at Red Tie and realized what he did. “Oh not you, Red. I was talking about red the color. Sorry.” He clarified. “Oh, okay then.” Red replied and shrunk back at his cubicle for the second time. “See what you like?” All Nighter resumed.That’s the line I used at her while groping myself sensually.” “And more importantly, I didn’t even know that a ghost could blush! I forgot to say it before so I’m saying it right here. And let me get it straight with you guys, this is the cider talking, not me. Normally, I would never be this sultry.” All Nighter could hear Puce softly moan in disappointment, and Sharp Eyes’ slightly disturbing growls. “And then I suddenly stopped caressing my body, I can totally see her eyes changing from confused curiosity to sadly let down when I did that, thinking that the show’s over. But she ‘s dead wrong!” All Nighter giggled at his pun. He looked at his two co-workers to see if they shared his sentiments. But they just stared at him flatly, looking displeased. “Get it?” He asked. “Dead? Wrong? Dead Wrong? Because she’s dead, and also wrong?” All Nighter explained lamely. All Nighter’s line only a got out a frustrated groan from the two, so he just decided to continue his story. “Anyway, her eyes flickered back to lif-” All Nighter abruptly stopped when he realized that he’s about to make another pun. “-their previous state when I slowly unbuttoned my shirt. I intentionally slowed down my movements in order to tease her. And boy, did it work. She stared at my hooves intently, soaking every push and pull. I swear I could hear her gasp every time a button slips out of its hole, creating a small gap as it separates the two ends of fabric that it was holding earlier, exposing the hidden part that was concealed before.” “Once the final button has been unclasped, I proceeded to remove my shirt. Just like with what I did to the buttons, I lowered the clothing down gently, savouring the moment as each strand of my fur was tenderly grazed by the sliding cloth. Once removed, I chose the most flamboyant way that I can think of to get rid of it.” “So I tossed it in front of her.” “The way she shifted her eyes from me to the shirt repeatedly was adorably hilarious. And the way she reached her hooves out in an attempt to grab my shirt and pulling it back immediately when she realized what she’s doing? Golden. I stood up from my couch and marched towards her, slowly. I still left my tie on though, I saw it in a movie once where the male stripper wore nothing on his upper body but that tie. It looks hot to be honest. I may be a stallion, but I can still appreciate that nice little touch.” “As I trotted towards her, she also backs away so I can’t really close the distance between us. I called out to her, trying my best not to wobble and slur. Wait! I called. Don’t be afraid, I don’t bite. Oh wait, I do. I’m sorry. I then gestured my hooves towards myself. See this? This is for you, it’s a peace offering. Then I winked at her. She was so flustered that she panicked and backed away further from me. All of her attention was directed at me that she hadn’t noticed that she was headed straight to my stereo. I stopped to warn her where she was going but I was too late. Her back had hit my stereo. And here I was thinking that ghosts can go through walls. But maybe she was just in her corporeal form, I bit her in the ear after all. She let out a small ‘oomph’ as her back hit the machine. She turned around to look at the stereo while massaging her back, the black machine began to whir.” “For some reason her back had accidentally pressed the play button. And my stereo started replaying the song that I listened to earlier. The tune was retro, a title song from a popular movie back in the days, a music from my childhood. Once my ears had picked up on that ever so familiar piece of music, my dancing instincts immediately kicked in.” “At first, it was just my head that started moving, bobbing along to its lively beat. And then my hind legs came after, tapping on the floor while following my head’s pace. Then along came the shoulders and other parts of my body. This is the part that I like the most about drunk me. He’s always overflowing with confidence. I could never do something like that when I’m sober.” “That’s what liquor does to you, it’s not called liquid courage for nothing after all.” Sharp Eye pointed out, his voice condescending, as if he’s talking to All Nighter like he’s a first time drinker. All Nighter paid no heed to Sharp Eye’s recent remark and proceeded to continue his story. “When the song reached its chorus, my antics have gotten a lot crazier! I stood up on my hind legs while flashing her a toothy grin, and slowly licked my lips for seductive purposes. I then bucked my hips in sync with the music, while singing the song’s lyrics.” “Na-na,na-na,na-na,naah-na,nana,nanana!” “Na-na,na-na,na-na,naah-na,nana,nanana!” “I ain’t afraid of no ghost!” “As I continued bucking my hips, I felt something wet and squishy flapping up and down my crotch. I didn’t bother to look because I was busy seducing this mare right?” “If that’s what you’re going to call it, high hoof!” Sharp Eye quipped, raising a foreleg in the air. Puce and All Nighter blatantly ignored Sharp Eye’s mockeries, and they left him hanging as well. When no one decided to reciprocate his attempt of a high hoof, Sharp Eye had no choice but to bring down his leg in annoyance, and scowled deeply at All Nighter. “But the mare saw it though. That might be the reason why she rushed through the door. All those dancing and bucking has got me all stirred up, and uh...my package,” All Nighter paused to take a sip of his coffee. “-scared her. Can you believe it? My package scared her! Hah! Who’s the one doing the scaring now!” “Humph. She’s just scared getting pricked by that tiny thorn of yours.” Sharp Eye grinned, taking a long sip from his cup. Now it was All Nighter’s turn to scowl at Sharp Eye. “Way to boost a stallion’s ego there, Sharp.” Sharp Eye didn’t say anything. He just a raised his cup of coffee in front of All Nighter, as if he was making a toast in his honor. “So what happened next?” Puce asked. “I don’t really know.” All Nighter replied, scratching his head. “After she left my apartment, I passed out on the floor. And then I woke up with a terrible headache, along with those embarrassing memories from last night.” “Hold on.” Sharp Eye began, he had an inquisitive look on his face. “How in Equestria can you remember all those things when you said that you said prior to the beginning of the story that you were heavily intoxicated?” “Yeah, about that.” All Nighter said, still scratching his head. “I have this dumb ability to retain all of my memories despite being drunk. It automatically plays last night’s memories when I wake up, along with my hang over. So not only will I groan in pain, I’ll also moan in humiliation.” “That sounds horrible!” Puce replied, her voice sympathetic. “And pretty convenient too. It sounds almost like it’s made up.” Sharp Eye retorted. “I didn’t make it up!” All Nighter cried. “Yeah, yeah. Just finish your story.” Sharp Eye said, waving a hoof dismissively. ��S�]a
Chapter 3“Yeah, yeah. Just finish your story.” Sharp Eye said, waving a hoof dismissively. “Fine.” All Nighter conceded. He took a small sip first before proceeding. “Her third haunting occurred last night. After what happened last time I thought that she would’ve given up. But no she did not! This mare’s persistent as heck! I gotta give her points for that. I was working had all night because our Saddle Arabia Branch had a hard time receiving their dragon fire letters. And the boss wants me to send them three confirmation letters a day stating that we are underway in fixing the issue. He also wants me to get in touch with the Department of Secure Messaging Transmissions as they’re the ones responsible in for generating the currents that the letters go thro-I can judge from your bored faces that you don’t want to hear this part, so I’m just gonna say that the things I’m working on are really important so there’s no way that I will get myself drunk or let alone be half-asleep.” “I was on my computer writing the letters when the lights suddenly flickered.” “Oh boy.” “That’s gotta be on the top of the list of things you shouldn’t do when writing a horror film. Not a moment after, I heard a series of hooves pitter-patter on the floor, that’s another one on the list.I followed the rapid tapping as it trotted around the room. The sound of tapping hoof steps ceased as they reached the front of my bathroom door, I always closed the windows at night because I can’t stand the chill of the evening breeze. The door in the bathroom was open because I recently went there to wash my face in the sink, rinsing my sleepiness away. Even though there’s no wind pushing it from behind, the bathroom door slammed itself close.” “Oh my Goddesses.” “She’s crossing all those things from the list! Certified fresh that mare’s work is. I took a break from my writing and leaned at the back of my chair, enjoying this bizarre spectacle. It was entertaining at first, because it’s like a watching a horror movie in 3-d. But it got old a couple minutes later. I really liked the light bulb part though, where I grabbed an apple from the fruit basket and as I took a bite from it, in turned into a light bulb.” Puce cringed upon hearing those words, imagining his co-worker’s mouth gushing with blood as he continued to chew on the shattered glass. “But after that, she’s just hitting me with nothing but duds. She turned back to her rotten corpse form again and stood with her hind legs on the ceiling, and slowly approached me every time I blinked. How she managed to make her dress upright and not look like an umbrella being blown by the wind, I’ll never know.” “And when I took a sip from my coffee, the contents inside the cup magically turned into cockroaches. The little critters then scurried around my body, tickling me with their tiny hairy legs. And after that she disappeared.” “Then I felt an itchy sensation on my hoof. I turned it around in front of me to see if a roach from earlier was stuck there, only to see her face. Her eyes were all white and opened wide. She screamed at me soundlessly. Bundles of blood soaked innards crept out of her rotten orifice.” “The carpet below me took the form of a pair of claws. Their sharp yet furry digits grasped on my hind legs tightly, dragging me downwards to oblivion, I can hear a sharp cackle as the darkness sucked me in.” “Then I woke up.” While listening to the story, Sharp unknowingly hugged Puce out of fear, Puce, who was so fixated to All Nighter’s story as well didn’t notice the usually stern stallion cowering beside her. They only realized the situation they were in when All Nighter stopped talking and sipped his coffee while admiring the view in front of him. The two separated in the blink of an eye with Puce rubbing the side of her foreleg awkwardly afterwards while Sharp Eye adjusted his glasses and looked away in an attempt to hide his blush. “I-I-uh...” Sharp Eye started, stuttering. “I, um, believe. That my actions were justifiable.” “Yeah.” Puce agreed. “I know that you’re a horror fan and all, but aren’t you a bit traumatized after what she did to you?” “How can I be scared when all she did was throw duds at me? Next thing I’ll know is that she’ll come out of a well or rip me to shreds in my dreams.” “At least she’ll look good in a sweater.” Sharp Eye added. “Heh.” All Nighter said with a grin. “So anyway, I was back sitting on my chair, slightly dizzy from the horror coaster ride she put me through. I spun my chair to face the clock that was hanging on my wall to see if she had done the thing that I expected she would do. It’s now one o’clock. It was only twelve a couple minutes ago. I was right, it was a time skip. What a waste of a good hour, I thought to myself.” “I was still staring at the clock when I heard something behind me. They sound like short labored breaths, or just panting for short. I turned around to see who it was. I already had an idea regarding on who this is going to be, and I think you do too.” “It was the ghost mare of course, and she was back in her true form. She looked spent. It’s like she participated in the Running of the Leaves five times on the same day. A small smile was carved on her face despite panting heavily. Maybe she thought that her latest feat could’ve been the one that broke me.” “But her smile faded when she saw the look on my face. I was grinning like an idiot at her. I never thought that ghosts would get exhausted too. I mean, her fur looks damp and wet, her mane looked messy and unkempt, and the dress she’s wearing was so wet it started to stick on her body. Since the color of the fabric is white, I don’t have to tell you that the clothing she was wearing became see through as it got wet. Because of that, I could see a pair of folded wings resting on her side. It’s odd because I thought that she was an Earth Pony before.” “Seeing me unfazed despite everything she’s done was probably the lasr straw for her patience. All those rage and frustration flowing out of her ethereal...bodice made her blurt her first words ever during our encounters.” “Why are you not scared!? Her frustrated cry can be compared to that of a banshee’s.” “Now we’re having a conversation! Though I had to cover my ears to prevent my eardrums from popping but still, we’re having a conversation! Can you believe it?” Sharp Eye was quick to reply. “No.” “It’s a rhetorical question, Sharp. Just a part of my narration.” “But it’s true, I still don’t beli-” “Just let me finish my story. As we talked, I can’t help but admire her voice. It sounds so meek and cute, just like her. Even though she’s lashing out at me with everything she’s got, I still can’t get mad at her. She even looked cute when angry. And now I have a cute, angry ghost in my apartment. The downside to her adorable lashing out is that while she’s spitting hot stuff at me, she’s also flailing my belongings around the room. I had to call her out when she’s about to hurl my favourite mug at the wall.” “I tried to calm her down in order to minimize the amount of damage my apartment has already obtained. So I explained to her that I’m really busy at the moment to humor her. But I did gave her some kind proposition that if she helps me with my work, she can scare me to her heart’s content later. It was quite a hard bargain. It took a lot a convincing on my part but she agreed eventually, although somewhat reluctantly. I even had to throw in a couple of tips in doing a proper jump scare just to spice up the deal. After that she became my assistant, temporarily of course.” “So you hired a ghost, to become your assistant.” Sharp Eyes stated, narrowing his eyes. “Uhuh.” All Nighter clarified then took a sip from his cup. “Let me rephrase my sentence if it didn’t sound ridiculous the first time.” Sharp Eye retorted. “So you hired a ghost, to become your assistant.” “Dang it Sharp, stop interrupting and let him finish!” Puce scolded Sharp Eye. “My coffee’s getting cold.” “Fine! Be that way.” Sharp Eye snorted. All Nighter gave a little cough to clear his throat before continuing his story. “I then asked for her name. It was Midnight Memory. And as for her motives on scaring me, she doesn’t have one. Or rather, she doesn’t remember what it is. I decided upon myself to help her figure out the reason in my spare time.” “And as my assistant for the night, she’s not exactly half bad. In fact, she was perfect for the job. I had her tidy up my workplace, sort out all my records, and I also let her brew me a cup of coffee. Oh Goddesses, you should taste her coffee. It’s a perfect blend of cream and sugar. I don’t know how she did it, but it tastes perfect! Am I saying ‘perfect’ a lot? Anyway, I let her use the computer too. And let me tell ya, she’s quite good at it! I love it when she suddenly turns invisible but the keyboard still kept on typing itself. Totally awesome. It was almost seven in the morning when we were done. Heck, it could’ve gotten longer if I hadn’t asked her for help.” “So did you manage to hold your end of the bargain? Puce asked.” “I wish, I just fell asleep afterwards. And when my alarm rang a few minutes later, I hastily prepared myself for the day and hurried straight to work. I had completely forgotten about the promise, until now. Also, I’m having a strange feeling that she might pop out anytime soon.” “Nighter!” All three ponies stood in attention upon hearing that voice. It was their boss’s, the pudgy stallion trotted angrily towards them. “Hey boss.” He greeted, trying to hide the fear in his voice. He doesn’t know why he always got scared when he’s in the presence of his boss. Even when he did nothing wrong, the fear is always there. “Just what in Celestia are you lot doing?” He asked, looking annoyed. “Telling ghost stories.” Sharp Eye replied. “You did what now?” “Don’t mind him boss.” All Nighter said. “We’re just having a ten minute coffee break.” “Well, break’s over.” Their boss ordered. “Nighter, did you print out those correspondences you sent to the S.A Branch? If so, bring it to me.” “Yes boss!” All Nighter snappily complied. He laid down his mug on the table before running towards his cubicle. He searched for the file on the stacks of folders he properly arranged at the corner of his cubicle. But it wasn’t there. He was about open the folders one by one just to make sure when he realized something. He left it at home! He was in a hurry earlier that he forgot to bring the file when he went to work! He trotted back towards the coffee machine, hoping that the boss would forgive him for his incompetence. As he got closer to the table, he could hear Puce and Sharp Eye arguing about the validity of his story. “Ghosts in Equestria? Sure we have living goddesses, a literal demon, and the manifestation of chaos itself, but ghosts? I don’t think so.” Sharp Eye argued. All Nighter was about to call his boss when out of nowhere a familiar display of magic emerged in front of him. Then came a popping sound that echoed around the entire workplace. A small mare in a white dress, holding a red folder can be seen floating in the air amidst the burst of magic. Silence filled the room, and Midnight sensed that everyone’s attention was focused on her, including All Nighter’s. “Umm...” Midnight began, slightly embarrassed. Before Midnight could finish what she was saying, everypony panicked and stampeded out of the room, using all means of exit such as the stairs, elevators, and fire exits. Some pegasi dove right out the window to avoid struggling with the rest of the panicking crowd. While the horde of panicking ponies were busy running for their lives, Puce just stood there and smiled widely, knowing that she won an argument against Sharp Eye. She would have just stood there a little longer if it wasn’t for Sharp Eye dragging her hoof as they flew through the window. It didn’t take long for the ponies to empty the workplace. The only ones that remained were All Nighter and Midnight. “You forgot to bring this folder when you left the apartment earlier.” Midnight said while giving the red folder to All Nighter. “Uh, thanks.” He replied. You know, you really scared me just now. “Really?” “No.” “Oh come on!” e rea̘�_a Author's Note Well I just wasted a great chunk of your time, thanks for reading.
