Project Ghost: The Mystery Of The Dead Stallion

Chapters

Chapter 1 - Awakening, trial and error
Chapter 2 - An empty feeling
Chapter 3 - Peek-a-boo!
Chapter 4 - Yesterday's Ghost
Chapter 5 - Transparency
Chapter 6 - Digging for the truth
Chapter 7 - The Super Secret Project
Chapter 8 - The Archives
Chapter 9 - In The Shadows

Chapter 1 - Awakening, trial and error

Ponyville was probably one of the best places to live in Equestria, at least that’s what the residents would most likely tell you. It had everything anypony could hope for. Good food, almost every service one would need, lots of jobs, friendly ponies and one of the lowest crime rates in the whole nation.

However, if and when somepony really wanted to commit a crime without getting caught, there was time and place for everything.

One of such places had recently been investigated by the Royal Guard. There had been a body, but nopony seemed to know the victim and he was stated to be an outsider. The investigation soon came to stop and the pony was buried as unknown.

But not all things could be buried...

A faint sound echoed from somewhere. Like it was coming from nowhere, but at close distant at the same time. Quietly, like a whisper, it spoke to me.

“Get up…”

The mysterious voice received no response. I didn’t know who or what it was or where it came from. Everything was pitch black around me. Like I was floating in a void of some kind.

“It’s almost time…” the voice spoke softly to me. Softly, like a mother embracing her foal.

The sound echoed once more and my eyes were suddenly forced open as if I wasn’t in control of my own body. The voice vanished as quickly as it came. I looked around me, utterly confused.

The first thing I saw was a small puddle in front of my muzzle. Then I saw a brick wall. It was dim, but I could make out where I was. Apparently, I was in some town. There were multiple buildings to suggest as much anyway.

Slowly standing up, I realized I didn’t recognize the place. I didn’t know where I was or what I was doing here. The dizzy feeling made me sway on my spot as I felt like I had forgotten something important.

I looked ahead and saw a bunch of ponies walking up and down the main street as I was apparently on some back alley myself. I had no idea how I had got here. Without stressing it any longer, I decided to go and ask where I was.

I trotted to the street and looked around surprised. It certainly looked busy, to say the least. So many ponies going through their daily routines, buying, selling and carrying various things. Everything seemed to be normal.

I noticed a mare coming toward me and I raised my hoof to state my business to her.

“Excuse me, ma’am, could you tell me where…” I tried to ask, but the mare just walked past me, completely ignoring me.

“What’s with the attitude?” I muttered to myself and gave a sour look after the said mare. Soon enough, I saw a stallion closing in and I had barely time to step away from his way.

“Oh, sorry,” I apologized after him, but the stallion didn’t even bother to look back, let alone reply. I swear these ponies were either blind or deaf.

As soon as another pony trotted towards me I decided I had to do more to get some attention around here. I extended my forehoof to block the way of this mint green unicorn. I wanted some answers and she was going to give them to me whether she liked it or not.

As if it wasn’t strange enough that my hoof looked kind of hollow, this mare walked right through it! I watched in horror as my translucent white hoof disappeared into her chest before coming out of her back.

I was horrified. I looked at the mare first, then my hoof and then at the mare once again as she trotted away as if nothing ever happened.

“S-she… She walked right through me…” I mumbled and spun around as a group of ponies walked toward me. “Hey, did you see that? She walked right through me!” I shouted and jumped in front of them, but they didn’t pay any attention to me.

Rather, they just continued their chat and went right through me, just like the mare before them. I was officially scared. What kind of ghost town was this place?

I twisted and turned as I inspected my body in a panic. All I could see was this faint white outline of a pony that was completely see-through. There was no cutie mark or anything, even my tail was transparent with even fewer outlines.

One, and one question only came to my mind--who in the name of somepony-probably-all-high-and-mighty I was? And why couldn't I remember anything!?

After three hours--and countless more tries to interact with other ponies later--I decided to give up. I had wandered to the outskirts of the town, now sitting by a small pond, trying to find a reflection that simply wasn’t there. It seemed like I didn’t even exist. The only logical explanation that came to my mind was that somepony must have cast a spell on me that made me invisible--and inaudible. Oh, and also untouchable for that matter.

Had such an event ever took place, I had no memory of that either. I didn’t even know my own name. The only thing that I was at least a little bit of sure was that I probably was a stallion. I didn’t seem to have wings, nor horn, but I couldn’t check that for myself as I couldn’t see my own reflection and my hoof went through my head, just like the ponies I tried to stop.

I reached out my hoof and dipped it into the water. Nothing. The feeling of a disappointment washed over me like a wave that I wasn’t able to create. I tried blowing to the water, but even if I made a sound in my own head, there was no air coming out as the surface of the small pond stayed silky smooth.

Another realization came a moment later. The water didn’t affect me, neither did I feel a cold feeling when trying to create a wave. To be quite exact, I didn’t feel anything. It was not cold nor hot like such things didn’t even exist.

With that realization, I stood up and headed back to the town. I wanted to try at least a few more things. This simply couldn’t be true and I didn’t want to stay like this forever.

Back in the town, I tried to find some unicorns. I was hoping that if I were to place myself right, maybe something could happen. Maybe they would notice me one way or another when using magic.

The task was quite easy as the marketplace was full of ponies carrying stuff around. Some of them were unicorns. I saw one buying apples and ran straight in the middle of the said transaction.

The purple unicorn lifted the basket, revealing my head hiding inside. Unfortunately, neither of them saw me, nor did the magic do anything at all. My best bet to be seen ended up being no use.

It was still weird how I was able to go through objects, though I was able to steadily walk on the ground.

“Thank you, Applejack, these apples look delicious!” the purple mare said to the one behind the counter.

“Anytime, Twi,” the orange mare replied, correcting her stetson behind her blond mane.

So that didn’t work either. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t get at least some hopes up, but the end result was also more than likely at the same time.

If the water and magic didn’t do anything, what else was there left to try? I could try to roll on mud, I guess. As I was able to walk on the ground, maybe some mud would stick to me.

I looked around and saw a small mud puddle next to a full water barrel. Heading toward the puddle, I ran toward the barrel and jumped into the air to make a major splash.

By now, I should have probably figured that things weren’t going to work the way I wanted. Despite my dramatic efforts, I landed gracefully on top of the puddle like a feather. How much did I even weigh?

I simply groaned from frustration and pressed my head down in defeat.

“Just… Who am I?”

Chapter 2 - An empty feeling

The sun was shining brightly above me as I “rested” in the middle of the street, watching ponies come and go past and through me. For some reason, I couldn’t sleep. I simply wasn’t tired and considering my current condition, I wasn’t so sure if I’d ever sleep again.

Some of my senses were completely gone, such as smell and taste. I wasn’t able to touch other ponies either. At least I could still see and hear things. Otherwise, I would have become crazy. My mind seemed to be another semi-working concept. I had no memories of my past, but I was able to create new ones. I couldn’t tell if I was actually able to recall anything from my past in the long run. If I even had a past.

It was almost scary how quickly I started to adapt to… whatever I was. Eavesdropping wasn’t polite, but some ponies actually cracked me up sometimes. What were they going to do about it anyway? I had to get my fun from somewhere, let it be the ponies gossipping about each other. Their secrets were safe with me unless I discovered a way to express myself in a sensible manner. And then again if that ever happened, I wouldn’t tell anypony.

I had even learned someponies’ names already. There was Lyra for one to walk right through my hoof the other day. Roseluck was the source of some juicy gossips and Applejack was sometimes selling apples at the marketplace. Then there was Mayor Mare who apparently was the one in charge in here. I had even learned the name of this little town by now. Ponyville.

For some reason, the name felt extremely familiar, but I didn’t think I was from here myself. Nothing or nopony else here felt familiar to me, just the name.

I thought back to the very first thing I remembered. The weird voice in my head as I had woke up. It had been a couple days now and I hadn’t heard the voice since then.

Suddenly, I noticed something dropping in front of me. I turned my head slightly and inspected the item that revealed itself to be a muffin. I would have enjoyed the little treat a while longer, had it not been snatched right in front of me.

A gray pegasus with pale yellow mane and tail snagged it and hummed something as she continued her way. I would have deflated had such thing been possible.

I have to say, it hurt. I was surrounded by ponies, but they couldn’t see or hear me. On top of that, I wasn’t able to eat. I wasn’t hungry to begin with, but the muffin had looked amazing. I wasn’t even able to smell it.

I decided to change the scenery and spend time elsewhere in the town. I didn’t really see any reasons for leaving anyway.

Walking through the streets I suddenly found myself in front of a huge round building. It piqued my interest, but I didn’t want to go in. Eavesdropping was one thing, but walking right through the wall into somepony’s house just felt like a wrong thing to do. I might eventually get bored enough to do that but now wasn’t the time.

However just as I was standing outside the building, I saw somepony coming out.

“Yes, it’s quite unfortunate. We haven’t had an incident like that here for a long time,” said the pony I recognized to be the mayor, much thanks to Roseluck.

“I know, it’s just so weird. And nopony saw a thing,” the other pony said to the mayor.

The other pony seemed to be a gray stallion, but I couldn’t get a good look at his face due to his press hat blocking my view.

“Well, I hope you got enough material for your article,” the mayor said as the gray stallion was making his leave.

“Yes, thank you, Mayor Mare. This will be plenty.” And with that, the reporter was on his way.

For a moment, I wondered if I should go inside and hear if Mayor Mare would tell anybody what they were talking about. It’s not like I had anything better to do and this sure sounded like a juicy story to miss out.

As the curiosity got the better of me, I decided to follow her close behind. I momentarily jumped as the mayor suddenly closed the door after her. She couldn’t have known she had an invisible guest in her wake. I smirked at the thought and simply stepped through the door.

The lobby opened before me and I could see Mayor Mare heading down one of the halls, and I lazily trotted after her as she entered one of the rooms. The room looked like an office combined with a bedroom. The left side of the room had a desk and a couple filing cabinets, while the other half sported a bed and a nightstand.

She went to her desk, opened the top drawer and took out a small bottle and poured herself a drink it seemed. I joined her, sitting on the floor next to her, looking at her as she enjoyed herself. Right, Roseluck had said earlier that Mayor Mare had a secret drinking habit--according to her breath at least. Apparently, Roseluck had been correct. However, the reason for her secret habit wasn’t all that clear to me. The town was peaceful and I doubt she was stressed or anything. Or maybe it was the opposite? Maybe she was bored and spent her time with a bottle.

However, I wasn’t going to wait for her to do something interesting as this was clearly not going to reveal me the secret of the scoop the reporter had. Maybe I should have followed him instead. There weren’t even any papers open on the desk that I could read. Of course, I could always put my head inside of the filing cabinet, but it would be way too dark to read anything.

And it didn’t help that whenever I actually went through an object with my head, my vision blurred. So I decided to take my leave and go to Roseluck for more juicy stories…

Chapter 3 - Peek-a-boo!

The day had turned into an evening and ponies started making their ways back to their homes as the shadows were growing longer and longer by the minute. It truly had been a beautiful day.

My hopes to hear more funny gossips had somewhat dried out as Roseluck was actually concentrating more on her work than talking.

They closed the flower shop and I decided to go on a small walk around the town to see if there was anything interesting happening. Who knows, maybe somepony was reading goodnight stories. Creepy or not, I wouldn’t mind listening to some.

I walked around the houses and stopped every now and then to listen if anypony was home. The muffled sounds of ponies talking and laughing made me smile, but the smile turned sour soon after. I wished I could have talked to somepony, but I was all alone in this bustling community.

A couple more houses later and I still heard nothing interesting. However, I got one more idea in my mind. One that I wanted to test.

There was this one house with a smoking chimney. I wanted to see if fire or smoke would actually do anything to me. This time, though, I didn’t get my hopes up. Technically, I wasn’t even breathing so I doubted I was going to do anything to the smoke. But fire? Maybe.

I peeked through the front door to see if anypony was actually home, not that it would have mattered either way. To my great joy, there was somepony home. I gazed around the cozy looking home in awe. Such a nice place, peaceful, even.

There were soft rugs on the floor as well as fancy furniture all around the house. Walls had candle holders and paintings and some bookshelves with various knick-knacks. I hadn’t been in that many houses yet, but this was my favorite so far.

Suddenly, a sound of a rustling paper snapped me out of my thoughts.

A white mare with pink mane and tail was sitting in a chair in front of the fireplace, reading a newspaper. I sneaked closer to read the headlines, but there was nothing interesting there. Just some boring announcement and articles.

The white mare herself seemed to enjoy reading the paper, however, and I decided to leave her alone--after all, she didn’t know she had company in the first place.

I sat in front of the fireplace as close as I dared. I suddenly found myself worrying if it would actually hurt. Slowly, I extended my transparent hoof and hovered it over the flames. Sadly, nothing happened. The flames went through me like there was nothing there. I waved my hoof faster but still wasn’t able to cause any reaction.

The mare behind me just flipped another page and continued reading. I also heard a small sigh this time and decided to see what she was reading now.

I got up and walked practically inside of her and the sofa. There still wasn’t anything interesting. Just some adds about holiday spots and restaurant reviews. Maybe she wanted to go to one of those places but couldn’t afford it. Though, having such a beautiful house and furniture, I doubt money was the issue.

Suddenly, the mare closed the newspaper and put it aside, jumping off of the sofa and walking to some room. The curiosity got the better of me again and I decided to follow her, just to see her going to bed.

“Bah…” I grunted, disappointed. “Isn’t anypony doing anything interesting tonight?”

The mare wasn’t able to hear me of course, but I still wanted to give it a try. Without further ado, I made my way out of the house, taking a shortcut through the wall this time. As if what I did mattered.

I stepped outside and looked around to see where I was exactly. I lost my sense of direction so easily.

There was a big house in front of me that I had not yet investigated inside. It looked like some kind of bakery if I had to guess. I only managed to take a couple steps toward the place before I noticed somepony coming out.

A pink mare with a fluffy pink mane and tail bounced outside, before stopping for whatever reason. Her lips formed a perfect circle as she looked at the direction I was in. She tilted her head as if confused about something.

I quickly spun around to see what was behind me, but couldn’t see anything. I turned back to the pink mare, taking a couple steps to the left. To my ultimate horror, the mare actually followed me with her eyes. As if she could see me.

Before I even realized it, I tilted my head as well, looking at the mare in disbelief.

“Hi!” the pink mare suddenly greeted.

I didn’t see anypony else around and she was constantly staring at me. Her big happy grin indicated that whatever she was seeing, she wasn’t afraid of at least. I wasn’t sure how to approach the situation.

Carefully, I inched my way closer to her, until our muzzles were mere inches apart.

“My name is Pinkie Pie, who are you?” the mare asked, gleefully.

She smiled and waited for my reply, which actually came out more like a whisper.

“I… I don’t know,” I mumbled to myself while trying to bring back some memories.

“You don’t know who you are?” Pinkie Pie inquired, confused.

The question got me off guard as I certainly wasn’t waiting for an answer.

“Wait, you can actually hear me!?” I asked, baffled.

“Of course, why wouldn’t I be able to hear you, silly?” she said, giggling.

Whatever was happening, I was glad it did. If I had just found a person who could hear and see me on a daily basis, I’d be the happiest pony in Equestria.

“Well, you are the only one so far…” I admitted with a little bit of sadness in my voice, but I was also relieved.

“Oh, I guess that makes sense, usually ponies are not able to see ghosts, but if they ever see one, they are usually scared,” she giggled nonchalantly.

What was that right now? She just called me a ghost? I wasn’t a ghost, I wasn’t even dead… at least I hope I wasn’t.

“Hey, I’m not a ghost,” I defended myself, but the pink one just giggled.

“Sure you are. Oh! Can you go through walls and all that stuff?” she suddenly asked, even more excited.

“I can, but--” I tried to reply but she interrupted me faster than I ever thought possible.

“Ha! See? A classic ghost stuff right there,” Pinkie Pie stated, beaming.

Before I even knew it, she was waving her hoof inside of me and giggling like a little filly. She jumped around me and tried to grab me numerous times, but failed every single time, causing her to laugh even more...

Chapter 4 - Yesterday's Ghost

“Are you done?” I asked, giving the mare a deadpan stare. “I’d like to ask you something,”

Pinkie Pie finally stopped bouncing around me and now looked at me, still amused.

“Sure, fire away, ghostie,” she giggled.

Calling me a ghost sounded weird so I just rolled my eyes annoyed before opening my mouth.

“Listen, I woke up like this a couple days ago and I can’t remember anything, not even my own name. Do you know who I am? How can you see me?”

Pinkie Pie looked at me for a moment before tilting her head.

“I don’t know, I have never seen a ghost before. At least I don’t think I have. I mean, I had a cranberry juice this morning, maybe that gave me some kind of superpowers, or maybe...” Pinkie rambled on while tapping her chin.

This conversation was getting nowhere fast, so I tried a different approach.

“Well that’s all fine and dandy, but I could really use your help here,” I interrupted the mare. “I want to recover my memory. I want to… No, I need to know who I am.”

The latter sentence made Pinkie Pie grin in a way I wasn’t sure if I should be happy or scared about.

“You came to the right pony, mister. Don’t tell anypony, but I’m quite good at solving mysteries,” she announced and pumped her hoof confidently. “So, what do you know about yourself?”

After giving the question a moment of thought, I gave her a blank stare.

“Nothing,” I stated shortly.

“Nothing at all?” she inquired further.

"Nope, only what has happened so far, which is not much,” I admitted.

“Ooh, so what did happen after you woke up? Tell me!” Pinkie demanded excitedly, jumping up and down on her spot.

“Well, the very first thing I can remember is like somepony was talking to me, but when I woke up, there was nopony there. So I went to ask around where I was and noticed that nopony could see or hear me,” I recalled.

“That’s because you are a ghost, silly. So, where did you wake up?” she asked.

I still denied the possibility of being a ghost, but I let it go this time.

“In some back alley, I guess. Not much of a lead there, huh,”

“Not necessarily. I’d like to see that place if you could take me there,” Pinkie suggested.

To be honest, I had no objections. I was simply glad that at least somepony was able to see and hear me. Maybe she could figure things for me. I just hope I didn’t make her look crazy when talking to me as others couldn’t see or hear me.

“Alright, let’s go then.” I nodded happily.

“Oh, now? Like, right now-now?” Pinkie shot back questioningly.

My spirit dropped slightly along the realization that it was almost night and that she probably had something else to do.

“Uh, I guess it’s quite late and you probably had your own plans,” I pondered.

The pink mare looked at me for a moment before shaking her head

“No no, it’s okay, I was just going to get some fresh air anyway, so it’s all fine,” Pinkie stated. “It has been a busy couple days, so I haven’t got out that much. Mr. and Mrs. Cake have been sick so I had to cover for them,” she revealed further.

That probably explained why I hadn’t bumped into her earlier. Regardless, I was happy she was willing to help me despite her workload.

“Alright, I will show you the place,” I said and lead the way.

After a short walk, we had arrived at the alley. It looked even creepier at night, but my companion seemed to be a carefree type, to put it mildly.

“So, this is where I woke up,” I mumbled, trying to remember at least something.

Pinkie Pie looked around, eyes narrowed as if trying to remember something herself. She then received a questioning look from me in return.

“Does this place mean anything to you?” I asked.

“Hmm, I’m not sure, but it feels quite familiar for some reason. I think I have seen this place before somewhere,” she whispered and tapped her chin.

“You have … seen this place before? You mean like a picture or something?” I inquired.

Why would anypony take a picture of a place like this, I wondered. It didn’t seem like there was anything important here anyway, but it was also quite dark to look for anything at night.

“Yeah, I think I have seen this place in some newspapers earlier. I didn’t have the time to read the article, but it might have been this place,” Pinkie said and turned to me. “I think we should find that article and come here again tomorrow.”

“Sounds like a plan to--” I tried to say, but was scared to death by the sudden voice inside my head.

“Be… careful… You are… close…”

I spun around in a panic, but couldn’t see anypony else around but Pinkie Pie. The voice echoed a while longer before disappearing.

“Did you hear that?” I screamed and shifted in my place.

“Nope,” she stated happily.

Unfortunately, her carefree attitude wasn’t sticking with me as I spun around a couple more times. Regardless of me being unable to feel physical pain or even be seen by almost anypony, I started to lose my nerves.

“I, I think we should better be going now. Let’s see if we can learn anything tomorrow,” I suggested and backed away from the alley

Pinkie came after me, being seemingly calm if not little confused by my behavior.

“Is everything okay? Did you hear something bad?” she inquired in a whispery voice.

“Uh… Yeah, I think so,” I whispered back.

I haven’t visited the alley since I woke up there. But apparently, it was the source of the creepy voice inside my head. Why didn’t I think of that earlier? This place clearly had some level of importance to me and it was almost like somepony was trying to help me.

“I think it was the same voice I heard when I woke up,” I pondered aloud to my new pink friend.

Pinkie just looked at me for a moment before nodding. “ Alright, what did the voice tell you?”

“It… It told me to be careful and that I was close to something,” I revealed, still baffled.

“Alright, so we have some leads now,” Pinkie smiled.

“So, what do you suggest we do next?” I asked, confused.

“Well, first we need to find that article about this place and see what we can learn.”

I gave the alley one last glance and then looked at Pinkie Pie. The friendly mare who was the first and probably only pony able to see and hear me. It was almost scary in a way, but I was glad I was able to interact with somepony. However, she seemed to have one more idea to help me.

“And second?” I inquired.

Pinkie Pie just looked at me for a moment and grinned happily. “We need to come up with a name for you, silly ghostie.”

I gave her an annoyed look and wanted to make it stick that I wasn’t a ghost.

“Listen, Pinkie, I want to be crystal clear--”

However, Pinkie interrupted me before I managed to continue any further.

“Okay, Crystal Clear it is! But I’m just going to call you CC for short.” Pinkie laughed and bounced around me.

“T-that’s not what I meant.” I sighed and pressed my head down in defeat.

Chapter 5 - Transparency

It had been about an hour since I met Pinkie Pie. This carefree pink mare who was for whatever reason able to see and hear me. The mare who constantly told me I was a ghost.

My mind seemed to be unable to comprehend the whole idea, no matter how much I wanted to believe her. I didn’t exactly believe in ghosts myself. There was no scientific proof they existed. Yet, I might have been one.

I stared at Pinkie Pie emotionlessly, wondering if she could still see me. Apparently, she did as she stared straight back next to her bed.

“So, what do I look like?” I asked.

Pinkie leaned closer and inspected me for a moment before tapping her chin.

“I dunno, you look like a preeeetty normal ghost to me, Crystal,” Pinkie pondered.

I let out a heavy sigh and looked straight into her eyes. “No, Pinkie. I mean, what color my eyes are? I don’t even know if I’m an earth pony or a unicorn,” I mumbled quietly.

She looked at me for a moment and drove her hoof through my forehead as if trying to be sure of something. She then leaned forward, so much in fact, that her muzzle went through mine.

Instinctively, I backed away as I thought she was trying to kiss me or something.

“W-what are you doing!?” I asked surprised.

Pinkie simply pulled her head away, revealing her amused expression. “I thought you wanted me to tell what color your eyes are, but to be honest, I can’t even see your eyes. I’m afraid you don’t have a horn either.”

Albeit this was all new information to me, I can’t say I was relieved. Couldn’t she see my eyes? Was I really a ghost? I only had more questions than answers.

I pressed my head down and stared at my transparent hooves. A wave of sadness washed over me. I didn’t like what I saw one bit. I wanted to be a normal pony. Not just some white outline of a stallion.

“Aww, come on, Crystal, don’t be so sad. We will figure out who you are,” Pinkie cheered. “We just need to find that article and see what we can learn.”

Pinkie’s words made me smile, but I doubt she was able to see it. I still raised my head and looked at her, tilting my head in order to show at least some kind of a reaction.

“Thanks,” I said a moment later.

The pink mare in front of me simply nodded and climbed onto her bed.

“Tomorrow will be a new day. I have to take care of the shop first, but after that, I’ll help you in any way I can.” Pinkie smiled.

I didn’t reply. I didn’t know why she wanted to help me and I didn’t know how she could even see me in the first place. She wasn't even afraid of me. Not that I was acting spooky or anything, though.

It was going to be yet another night alone with my brain…

Pinkie’s alarm clock went off with a loud ring, causing me to jump up in surprise. Pinkie reached out her hoof and punched the clock down from the nightstand before rolling over and continuing her dreams. The clock had dropped in a trash bin, but continued ringing.

I watched first the trash bin and then Pinkie Pie, who wasn't doing anything to stop the racket. She merely pulled the blanket over her head. A small smile crept across my face as she started snoring in competition with the alarm clock.

Something told me today wasn’t supposed to be her work day, but as she told me before, the owners had been sick so she had to cover for them.

Suddenly, I heard hoofsteps coming from downstairs. I merely turned my gaze to the door, trusting that whoever came, wasn’t able to see me. That also made me realize that I was able to use stairs as well as walk on floors. I wondered if it was because of my own will or just a coincidence. I had no idea how I even functioned.

To my disappointment, the visitor just decided to shout through the door.

“Pinkie Pie! It’s time to wake up! We need your help to open the shop,” a female voice cheered my soundly sleeping friend.

Pinkie mumbled something, but I wasn’t sure if she could actually hear her due to the alarm clock still ringing loudly. Thus, I decided to try to help the whoever was behind the door. I walked to Pinkie Pie and inside her bed, finding myself right in front of her face.

“Boo!” I shouted to her ear. Pretty loudly even.

Pinkie Pie suddenly opened her eyes and smiled at me. What part of being scared didn’t she understand exactly?

“Good morning, Crystal!” Pinkie cheered.

“You are supposed to be scared,” I mumbled with a deadpan stare. “Now, be scared, will ya?”

To be honest, I was massively disappointed. I couldn’t even scare the only pony who was able to see and hear me. Such a ghost I was.

“Aww, come on. That was more like cute rather than scary.” Pinkie giggled to herself.

Me, cute? She must have been still dreaming. I simply couldn’t wrap my head around her. Nevertheless, it was time for her to get up and stop that alarm clock.

“Would you please stop that racket?” I demanded, still holding on to my less than amused face. Although, most of that effort went probably to waste as she wasn’t able to see my eyes. It hurt, again.

Pinkie crawled her way through me and across the bed before falling into the trash bin. At this point, I wasn’t surprised by anything anymore.

The trash bin shook for a moment before the ringing stopped. At that very moment, I realized something strange. While I wasn’t able to feel anything, the ringing had almost hurt my ears. I couldn’t quite put my hoof on why, though.

It also appeared to me that the person behind the door had left, being satisfied that Pinkie Pie would be up and about.

Before too long, Pinkie’s head popped up from the bin. She appeared to be holding something in her mouth.

“I think I found it!” Pinkie cheered happily, waving some piece of paper.

“Do you mean the article you mentioned yesterday?” I asked, getting my hopes up already.

“Nope, this is the new recipe they want me to try. How in the name of Celestia did it end up in here?” Pinkie pondered before releasing a series of laughs.

My sigh was not only long and disappointed but annoyed and frustrated as well. How could anypony be that random? As Pinkie Pie got out of the trash bin and started to get ready to start her day, I decided to have some alone time. Something I never thought I’d seek while being like this. But this mare was draining me out faster by the minute.

“Alright, I will leave you to your work and take a little walk outside myself. I will be back in a few hours,” I said while gazing at Pinkie, who was actually listening to me.

“Okie-dokie-lokie!” Pinkie hummed before opening the door and going downstairs.

I wasn’t particularly interested in spending more time with her, so I simply walked through the wall. Despite doing so while on the second floor, I floated gently back on the ground like a feather.

That done, I released a sigh and head out to Roseluck for some gossips…

Chapter 6 - Digging for the truth

The morning went by pretty quickly, considering what I was anticipating to happen later on. Apparently, I had a pretty good patience. I had been walking around the town, looking for some gossips, but today everypony seemed to be fresh out of any juicy ones. Even Roseluck didn’t have much to offer. I had to say, I was a bit disappointed. My little trip also confirmed that no other ponies besides Pinkie Pie could see me.

Soon after that, I had ventured to the outskirts of town, seeing some kind of forest that I wasn’t going to inspect for now. It looked kind of creepy anyway. Not that I was scared of course. I was practically invincible. However, should things not improve here, I would eventually take a stroll in the forest. It seemed like the ponies here were avoiding the place too, so I was a little bit interested at least. But I managed my curiosity.

It was now afternoon as I stood outside of Sugarcube Corner, pondering if I should go inside or not. I didn’t want to disturb Pinkie Pie, or rather, have her talking to me when others were around. That said, it would cause a problem outside as well. How should we deal with that, I had no idea.

Suddenly, I saw a yellow mare going in. Now that I thought about it, I think I had seen her somewhere before. Closing my eyes, I tried to remember. Ah, of course. I think I saw her outside the forest. There was also a small cottage there and I guess she lived there. A bit remote location if you ask me. What was she doing there? She didn’t look like a kind of pony to venture in the dark forest anyway. Finally, my curiosity got the better of me and I decided to follow her inside. However, I didn’t take the front door, in case Pinkie Pie was at the counter.

Making my way to the right side of the building, I looked inside through the window. Pinkie Pie was at the counter and that yellow mare was waiting in line. I couldn’t hear what they said, though. If I wanted to know who she was, I needed to go inside. I saw a couple barrels at the corner and calculated my way through the building so I would walk right inside them to hide.

The plan worked and I gazed around the shop from the barrel. Pinkie Pie was to my right. It wouldn’t take more than a peek at her left to see me. Hopefully, she had no business with my hideout. I couldn’t tell what was in the barrel, though. It had a lid on so I couldn’t see from outside either. If I had to throw a hazarded guess, it would have been flour.

I looked at the counter and saw a customer before the yellow mare to make her leave. Feeling like a super secret agent, I narrowed my eyes and inspected the situation from the barrel. This was my only way of having fun anyway.

“Hey, Fluttershy, what brings you here today?” Pinkie Pie asked the customer, gleefully as ever. I guess she was always like that then.

“Oh, I was just passing by and thought I’d come to say hello,” Fluttershy replied quietly.

“Aww, isn’t that nice of you. Hey, would you like a cupcake as well while you are here? It’s in the house too!” Pinkie suggested.

Apparently, these two were close friends. It kind of made me feel bad that I was actually spying on them. Not that it differed much from eavesdropping for gossips on a public place, but I considered Pinkie Pie as my friend and you don’t spy your friends.

“Oh, I’d love to!” Fluttershy said but paused for a moment. “Um, are you sure I don’t have to pay anything?”

Pinkie Pie looked at Fluttershy with a raised eyebrow. “Absolutely not. Besides, I have made plenty of money already. Yeah, it has been a busy couple days and all, but I wouldn’t dream of charging you of all ponies.” Pinkie smiled and offered a cupcake to her friend who was clearly surprised.

“W-well, when you put it like that…” she mumbled and accepted the cupcake, taking a small bite out of it.

Pinkie Pie on the other hoof didn’t waste her time to continue. “Of course, silly. You are always giving so much to others and your animal friends that it’s time for you to get something in return.”

“Oh, thank you. B-but the same goes for you too, really,” Fluttershy whispered, earning a surprised look from Pinkie Pie. “You have been working hard these past few days and I have never heard you complain. Even if you look so tired.”

Pinkie didn’t reply, though. She looked like she was honestly surprised by her friend’s words. Now I was really sorry for spying on them. This probably wasn’t something I should have been hearing. But I also wanted to know where this was going. I was already too deep in to quit now.

“Hehe, I guess we are the same in that regard. I actually met somebody new yesterday and I’m helping him with his super secret project,” Pinkie revealed.

I gasped. Was she honestly going to tell somepony about me? Too bad I forgot the fact that Pinkie Pie could actually hear me. And within that realization, I pulled my head inside the barrel and hoped she didn’t hear me. However, the silence that befell the bakery told me that my wishes were not answered.

Suddenly, Pinkie’s voice made its way through the barrel. “Excuse me for a moment, Fluttershy”

I heard hoofsteps coming closer. I wanted to run, but I knew it would have been to no use. I knew that she knew it was me. The lid was lifted away, allowing some light to come in. To my ultimate horror, I realized that the barrel was completely empty.

Soon, Pinkie Pie’s head appeared above me. All I could do was smile awkwardly, an act that she may not have been able to see, though. She stared at me for a moment, forcing me to say something.

“I-I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have eavesdropped on you two…” I sighed.

I expected Pinkie Pie to say something, but instead, she just smiled heartily at me and closed the lid.

“Yup, I knew it. We are out of apples.” Pinkie Pie giggled sheepishly.

"Oh, goodness," Fluttershy replied.

At this point, I decided to take my leave. Whatever they were about to discuss wasn't for my ears.

Afterward, I had seen Fluttershy leaving Sugarcube Corner with a basket that was probably full of all kind of delicious pastries. It also appeared that Pinkie Pie had not told her about me, though. In a way, I was relieved. I didn't want to worry anypony. But I wanted to find out who I was.

I lamented a moment in my thoughts before the front door opened and Pinkie Pie came out. She didn't seem like she was upset with me, but I decided to apologize regardless.

"Pinkie Pie, I'm really sorry..."

The happy grin on her face soon turned into a smile as she shook her head.

"No need to apologize. I kind of knew you were around, but I never thought you'd be in that barrel." She then restored the happy grin back to her face and looked at me excitedly. "Next time it will be my turn to hide!"

Chapter 7 - The Super Secret Project

We now sat under a small tree at a remote location of the town, a spot somewhere between Ponyville and the creepy forest. I couldn’t see anypony else around. The place was perfect to have a private talk without somepony thinking that Pinkie Pie was talking to a ghost. However, Pinkie wasn’t completely alone. I didn’t mean she was with me, no. She had this green… thing, sitting on her back. The green lizard-like thing that stared at his master, licking his eye every now and then. I wasn’t even sure if he could see me or not. At this point, I wouldn’t even be surprised if he did.

“CC, this is Gummy, my toothless baby alligator pet. Gummy, this is Crystal Clear, a ghost I found wandering the streets one night,” Pinkie introduced us to each others.

It was clear that Pinkie assumed his pet to see me, but I still wasn’t convinced. Gummy’s hollow stare went right through me. I tried to move, but I couldn’t tell if he followed me or not. But that wasn’t important. What interested me the most was the reason Pinkie Pie had brought this creature with her.

Pinkie waited for my response. After a moment of hesitation, I greeted the green reptile, “Nice to meet you.”

Pinkie smiled. “From now on, you have a new codename. Your name will be Gummy. That way, I can talk to you without raising any eyebrows. If anypony asks, I’m just playing with Gummy. Which, after you receiving your new codename, is actually true. Plus I’m also taking the real Gummy out so it’s double true!” Pinkie explained excitedly.

I first looked at Pinkie, then the pet alligator. I still couldn’t tell if he knew about my presence. Gummy aside, Pinkie’s plan seemed solid enough, although I didn’t exactly get everything that was going on. Maybe I didn’t need to know.

“Okay, that sounds good,” I replied nonchalantly, still looking at Gummy, who licked his eye again. There was something almost hypnotic in his demeanor.

“Oh, what was that, Gummy, you like my new friend? Aww, that’s so sweet,” Pinkie Pie cooed.

My baffled expression went unnoticed by Pinkie Pie. I wasn’t even trying to understand how they understood each other. I could swear the alligator didn’t say a thing. For now, I decided to let it be and concentrate on the task at hoof.

“So, are we ready to get started?” I asked, feeling a bit uneasy about the situation.

“Yeah. First, let’s go find that article,” Pinkie said, pumping her hoof.

But just as I thought I had seen everything, Pinkie Pie pulled something out of her mane. She pulled out a magnifying glass, a pipe and a big detective hat, which she put on her head.

“Now we are ready!” Pinkie Pie announced, determined.

Sometimes I wondered if I was simply having the weirdest dream and if I suddenly woke up from where ever I dozed off...

We walked back to the town and headed straight to the big tree I had yet to investigate. But judging by the look of things, Pinkie had some business there. I merely followed in her wake. She had instructed me to stay behind her so whenever she talked to me, she wouldn’t look suspicious when she actually faced Gummy to talk. Not me, Gummy, but the alligator. Not sure if that was brilliant or just crazy. Either way, I started to get excited as well. Pinkie Pie’s enthusiasm was really contagious.

We walked to the door and Pinkie Pie knocked with her head. I simply rolled my eyes. There was nothing I could have said in that situation anyway.

A moment later the door opened and a familiar looking purple unicorn greeted her visitors. Well, except me of course. Now that I think about it, I had seen her on the marketplace the other day.

“Hello, Pinkie Pie, what brings you here?” the purple mare asked.

“Hey, Twilight. I was just playing detectives with Gummy here, would you mind if I took a look at your library for anything suspicious?” Pinkie giggled happily.

Twilight peeked at the baby alligator on Pinkie’s back and smiled.

“Well, okay, as long as you don’t make a big mess like last time, I just cleaned up here,” she said.

Last time? Was she playing detectives with Gummy on regular basis then? I shouldn’t have been surprised by this point, but Twilight didn’t question Pinkie’s activities in the slightest. Or her appearance. I guess her randomness knew no bounds and everypony was used to that.

“Oh, no problem, I just want to take a look at all your latest newspapers.”

Pinkie’s plan started opening to me. A sly smile rose to my face as I walked inside after her, heading straight to the living room table that had some papers lying around.

“Is this all?” Pinkie asked, holding her magnifying glass over the papers.

“Yeah, I have already thrown out the old ones. I think there’s a week worth of news there,” Twilight replied with a smile, almost like playing along with her.

“Alright, let us have a look.”

And with that, Twilight left us alone for a moment and Pinkie Pie started to go through the papers.

“Do you see anything, Gummy?” she asked.

Despite being unable to actually touch the newspapers, I could still read whatever was open on the table. There didn’t seem to be anything interesting.

“Nope, I think we just have to keep looking,” I replied.

Pinkie Pie went through the newspapers for a while and I tried to help her as much as I could. She even laid them out for me to read. Soon enough, one article got my attention. Probably because I recognized Roseluck from the picture. 'A local pony as a nominee for the merchant of the year.' The article made me smile. Was it really the flowers or the gossips that made her sales, I wondered.

"A-ha! Look at this, Gummy," Pinkie suddenly shouted. "A mysterious case of an unknown pony found dead in Ponyville."

It took me a while to process her words as I turned to read the article as well.

"The Royal Guard has inspected a mysterious case of unusual death in Ponyville. A brown earth pony was found dead in a side alley near the Mane street. Cause of death unknown. Pony, unknown. Assumed to pass away by natural causes. Buried a few days later as unknown," I read out the story.

The text didn't really affect me at first. I couldn't tell if it was about me or not. Although, the article said it was an earth pony. I was an earth pony. But that could have been just a coincidence. But in an alley? I looked at Pinkie Pie. She first looked around her and then at me.

"This sure looks suspicious, Gummy. I think we might be onto something," Pinkie said and pulled her magnifying glass over the article.

"So, what we do now?" I asked.

"That's a good question, Gummy. I think we should visit our next target. There's nothing more we can do here."

Suddenly, Twilight came from the other room and greeted Pinkie Pie with a warm smile. I swear, she had no clue what was going on.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" she asked playfully.

“Yup," Pinkie replied. "Can we keep the paper, though? It might prove useful later on."

"Sure, I was going to throw them away anyway," the unicorn answered.

And so, Pinkie Pie thanked Twilight and trotted outside, me following closely behind her. It was now that I started thinking more about the article. What if it was me? What if I really was dead? Passed away by natural causes? Did everypony who died naturally end up like me, wandering through the land as a ghost? No, I couldn't have been dead, could I?

Once outside, Pinkie Pie stopped and put Gummy on the ground. I walked next to her as she now faced both of us. I momentarily waved my hoof inside the baby alligator, with no result.

"Okay, our next target will be the town hall. I think we will find more clues there. I'll talk to the mayor and ask if she knows anything about this case," Pinkie explained.

I just nodded absently. I was too deep in thought about the article and myself. I wanted to find out who I was, but... Was I actually ready to hear the answers?

Chapter 8 - The Archives

The walk from the library to the town hall wasn’t as long as I would have hoped. My thoughts were still kind of a mess. I bet Pinkie Pie also noticed this but didn’t say anything, which I thought was weird. Then again, I don’t think she has been in this kind of situation before. She must have had her own thoughts to sort out too. A glance at her face didn’t reveal much though. She looked happy, if not little absent. Gummy was riding on her back, looking somewhere in the distance. We then stopped outside the town hall as Pinkie finalized her plan.

“Okay, here we are, Gummy. Our mission is to find out more about that pony in the article and confirm if he’s our target,” Pinkie Pie announced her plan to Gummy and me. Or just me, I couldn’t tell anymore.

“Can I help you in some way?” I inquired. I wanted to help, but I wasn’t sure what I could actually do.

“Don’t you worry, I have got a job for you as well, should the need arise.”

That said, Pinkie Pie simply walked to the door and knocked on it--with her hoof this time. After a few moments, Mayor Mare came to open the door. It could have been just my imagination, but she looked a little bit tired.

“Why, hello Pinkie Pie. Can I help you with something?” the mayor asked, holding the door open with her hoof.

Pinkie’s get up was probably telling the mayor enough about her plans. At least her expression was mildly amused.

“Yes, I’d actually like to ask you a couple questions if you don’t mind,” Pinkie started. “Shall we go inside to talk in private?”

I was surprised by the level of seriousness with which she took her role as a detective. Was she actually serious, though, or just playing? I had no idea, but it was fun to watch.

“Uh, of course. Please follow me,” the mayor said and guided Pinkie Pie inside. This time, I slipped in before she managed to slam the door shut in front of my muzzle.

The mayor guided us to her office, where she sat behind her desk. I noticed how she closed one of the drawers, as if trying to hide something. My assumption told me it was the bottle, but I couldn’t be sure. She then collected some papers from her desk and neatly organized them into a stack.

“My apologies for the mess,” the mayor mumbled. She even looked a bit baffled for a second. “So, what’s on your mind, Pinkie?” she asked.

“This,” Pinkie stated shortly and flapped the newspaper on the table, causing the neat stack of papers to fly on the floor.

The newspaper stole the mayor’s attention from the fallen papers and I started to read them while she was distracted. I was interested to find out what was going on with her.

“Oh my, that’s the article about that dead stallion, isn’t it?” Mayor Mare inquired. “Do you have some information about the vict--I mean about the body?”

I quickly raised my head, just to notice that Pinkie Pie had caught the same word that I did. The article said the stallion had died by natural causes, yet the mayor thought he was actually murdered? Things started to get more interesting by the minute.

“Not exactly, I’m just interested to hear all about it. I mean, I thought you might know something about it as a mayor. What did he look like, does anypony know what happened to him?” Pinkie bombarded the mayor, who now peeked at her papers on the floor.

I managed to get a glance at the papers, but couldn’t quite tell what they were about. One seemed to be some kind of a letter, others were just full of some numbers and calculations. That said, she gathered them up quickly and put them in the drawer.

“Uh, I’m afraid I don’t know anything more than what’s said in the article,” Mayor Mare mumbled. “Did you have anything else, I’m quite busy.”

“Do you know who wrote the article then? It doesn’t have any name,” Pinkie asked.

“N-no, I don’t,” she murmured.

The mayor was clearly under some serious stress, but the reason was still in the shadows. Or in her drawers with the bottle. I looked at Pinkie Pie and found out she had came to the same conclusion.

“Ookay, we won’t bother you any further, thanks for the help,” Pinkie cheered, changing her mood from suspicious to her carefree self in no time.

“No problem, I think,” Mayor Mare replied, seemingly relieved, but also confused.

We walked outside from the office, and Pinkie Pie winked to follow her. She didn’t go outside, though. Instead, she trotted across the hall and in front of the room that had a label “Archives” above it.

“Psst, could you check if anypony’s inside?” Pinkie whispered to me.

After a moment of hesitation, I walked through the door, just to find a really dark room filled with large filing cabinets. There was just enough light coming from under the door to see that there was nopony here. I went back to Pinkie Pie.

“The way is clear,” I confirmed.

Pinkie Pie carefully opened the door and closed it even more carefully behind her.

“There’s definitely something suspicious going on here,” Pinkie Pie whispered. “The mayor clearly knows more than she says. Let’s find out what it is.”

“Alright, what’s your plan?” I asked.

“You’ll guard the outside and come tell me if anypony is coming. Meanwhile, I’ll go through these and try to find more clues about this whole thing.” Pinkie Pie beamed quietly.

Pinkie Pie then took out a flashlight from her mane and started digging through the cabinets. I went to my post outside the door and made sure Pinkie got to work in peace.

Working as a guard was more boring than I would have thought. The town hall was quiet and the mayor was still in her office. I almost wanted to go see what she was up to, but I couldn’t abandon my post in case somepony tried to enter the archives. Not that I had seen any other ponies beside Mayor Mare, but you never know. Plus, I didn’t want any troubles for Pinkie Pie.

My thoughts wandered back to that article. What if it really was me? How did I end up there? And if I wasn’t local, where did I come from? And if there was anything criminal behind my assumed death, who could have been responsible? I glanced at the Mayor Mare’s office. Could she have something to do with it? For all I knew, it could have as well been my new pink friend. I laughed at the thought. Some imagination I had.

As I was deeply buried in complicated theories of my own existence, Mayor’s door suddenly opened. She appeared to walk toward the archives. I quickly ran through the door to inform Pinkie Pie.

“Pinkie! Mayor Mare is coming! You need to hide,” I shouted.

Pinkie was in the middle of reading and she quickly reacted to my warning.

“Alright,” she whispered and turned off her flashlight. After that, I wasn’t sure where she went. She simply disappeared with the light.

Not having time to ponder it any longer, the mayor opened the door behind me. The light from the hallway revealed seemingly empty archive. The mayor then walked in and headed straight to one of the filing cabinets.

Opening one of the drawers, she flipped through the papers and sighed. “I should destroy these before anything bad happens.”

I quickly trotted next to her, trying to read what she had just taken out, but before I managed to get a look, she crumbled the pieces into a small ball that she then stomped on the ground. She twisted her hoof to shred the paper for good. She didn’t appear to be angry, though, mostly frustrated if anything.

After making sure that the papers were completely destroyed, she took the pieces and threw them into a trash can. I followed the mayor with my gaze as she exited the room, closing the door behind her.

I waited a minute if she came back before starting to look for Pinkie Pie. Where was she anyway? I walked through every aisle, but couldn’t find her anywhere.

“Pinkie Pie? Where are you?” I asked baffled. It was absolutely quiet. If I didn’t know better, I could have sworn Pinkie had left the building. “Pinkie! Gummy!” I shouted hoping for either one of them to reply. Nothing.

I walked around the room, going through the filing cabinets as well. “Come out, come out wherever you are,” I hollered, continuing my search.

As I went through one of the cabinets, I heard a faint giggle. Thanks to the basically silent surroundings, I could roughly figure out where it came from. I sneaked close to the cabinet number 246 and was about to ask Pinkie Pie to come out.

But just as I opened my mouth, a drawer behind me flew open with a loud noise.

I jumped to the air in panic, letting out a loud yelp.

“Surprise!” Pinkie shouted and smacked face-first on the floor, laughing hysterically at my reaction.

“Yeah, real mature to scare a poor ghost like that,” I grunted.

Pinkie stopped laughing and now stared at me upside down from the floor, having a way too large grin on her face.

“I told you it was my turn to hide next!” she giggled.

Chapter 9 - In The Shadows

“So, did you find anything interesting?” I inquired.

Pinkie Pie eased her grin and shook her head. “Nope, but I bet the mayor just left us a valuable lead here,” Pinkie said and navigated to the trash can that Mayor Mare had thrown some papers in.

Pinkie took the trash can and flipped it upside down on the floor. I rolled my eyes, annoyed. I wasn’t going to clean that up. Heck, I couldn’t have done that even if I wanted. However, after Pinkie lifted the trash can, there were only a few pieces on the floor.

“Those are the papers Mayor Mare wanted to get rid of,” I informed her. “Do you think you can still read them?”

Pinkie looked at the pieces for a moment and tapped her chin. “It’s going to take a while, but I can try.”

I nodded and looked at the door. “So, do you want to take them with you or try to fix them here? I can go guard the door again,” I suggested.

“Done!” Pinkie shouted cheerfully.

I looked at Pinkie, confused. I wasn’t really sure what she meant, but there was now a sheet of paper in front of Pinkie. It was torn in multiple places, but she had somehow managed to put everything together in no time.

“W-what? H-how did you…?” I mumbled, completely baffled.

Pinkie simply giggled before looking at her pet sitting on her back. “It wasn’t that bad, besides, Gummy also helped.”

I first looked at Gummy, then at Pinkie Pie. I couldn’t tell if she was kidding or not. But I bet the alligator didn’t do a thing to help her. I simply shook my head and looked at the paper she had put together.

“If you value the peace and harmony of your little town, I suggest you forget everything you saw.”

That's all there was on the paper. No signature or initials.

“What is this?” I asked.

“Not really sure, but it looks like somepony is trying to blackmail the mayor. This could explain her weird behavior earlier,” Pinkie pondered.

It sure could have explained a thing or two. Her drinking, for example. My curiosity about her activities increased by the minute. I wasn’t sure if this had anything to do with me directly, but I wanted to find out what was going on with her. It simply felt like the right thing to do.

“You are probably right. So, what do you suggest we do next?”

Pinkie looked at me for a moment, considering her options.

She probably wanted to ask the mayor about all of this, but we both knew that it could only make things worse. The letter had been quite straightforward with the threat. The mayor was simply doing her best, trying to forget whatever she saw, but it wasn’t working. Especially with Pinkie Pie now snooping around the subject.

“Well, maybe we should go back to the alley,” Pinkie suggested.

“To the alley? Why?” I asked, confused.

“To find more clues, silly ghostie. Besides, we still don’t know anything about that voice you heard,” Pinkie explained and put the paper back to the trash can and arranged it just like it was before.

I wasn’t exactly thrilled to go back to the alley, but I guess we had little choice. “Okay. Though, I don’t think the voice is going to help us,” I replied quietly. I was still kind of afraid of it.

“It’ll be fine. Now, let’s get out of here before anypony else comes,” Pinkie said and headed to the door.

Once I had guided Pinkie Pie safely out of the town hall, we headed straight to the alley. The day was busy as usual, but I had an uneasy feeling that we were being watched. I looked around every now and then, but couldn’t see anything suspicious. Pinkie Pie on the other hoof bounced forward without a care in the world. Gummy held on at her mane so he wouldn’t fall off. That was probably the first time I saw Gummy doing something else than licking his eye.

We stopped a few hoofsteps away from the alley and Pinkie Pie took her pet and set him on her back. “Now, Gummy, I want you to be brave. There’s nothing scary in this alley, just follow me and you’ll be safe,” she instructed.

For a moment, I really thought she was talking to her pet, but then I remembered my new codename. She really thought that I was a total scaredy cat. I might have been just some silly ghost to her, but in my own mind, I was a perfectly normal pony--a perfectly normal pony who just happened to suffer from some kind of a spell that made me invisible and so on. I quickly ditched my current train of thoughts and concentrated on our mission.

Pinkie walked to the alley and I followed close behind. We couldn’t see any other ponies around, but I still got the feeling we weren’t alone. The main streets were busy as always, but nopony seemed to use these alleys all that much.

Looking around, I realized that this really was the place from the newspaper. So, somepony had actually died here? The Royal Guard had probably already taken everything from the alley as evidence so there wasn’t really much to look at.

My fearless pink friend didn’t seem to find anything interesting either. She still had her detective gear up as she examined the walls with her magnifying glass. It actually looked pretty adorable.

“Anything, Gummy?” Pinkie asked me.

“Nope, not even the voice. I think the Royal Guard has already taken everything there is to take,” I replied.

That said, I took a peek at the end of the alley, catching a glimpse of a shadow disappearing behind the corner. Without pondering it any longer, I shot after it.

“Wait here, Pinkie!” I shouted over my shoulder.

Pinkie simply watched after me as I pursued what I thought was the weird stalker shadowing us ever since we left the town hall.

I ran to the end of the alley, taking a left turn, but there was nopony there. I could have sworn I saw somepony, but there was nowhere else to run. The alley simply continued to one of the main streets. I decided to go check it out, but couldn’t see anypony suspicious running away. So I went back to Pinkie Pie.

Pinkie awaited me with Gummy, a baffled look on her face.

“Did you see something?” she asked.

“Well, I thought I saw a shadow at the end of the alley, but couldn’t find anypony. I have this strange feeling of a stalker being after us ever since we left the town hall,” I explained.

Pinkie looked at me for a moment before simply giggling. “You were probably imagining it, I could have sensed if somepony was following us.”

“You could have… sensed it?” I repeated after her.

“Yeah, my Pinkie sense will never fail,” she announced proudly. “Twilight once tried to study me and…”

I decided to neglect her nonsense and focused on the alley again. But before I could do so much as turn around, the mysterious voice suddenly spoke to me.

“Be careful… He knows… You are not safe...”

Despite scaring the crap out of me again, I quickly collected myself and replied to the voice, “Just who are you? What do you want? Who knows and what?”

I waited and waited, but the voice didn’t answer. Pinkie stopped her rambling and just stared at me, knowing that I had just heard the voice again.

“What did the voice tell you?” Pinkie whispered quietly.

“The same thing as last time, to be careful and that somebody knows and that I’m not safe,” I recalled, frustrated.

I wasn’t frustrated because I was scared, but because the voice never answered me and that I couldn’t understand what it meant.

“Well, was the voice male or female?” Pinkie inquired.

I wasn’t actually sure about that. The very first time I heard it, it sounded almost like a female.

“Probably a female, can’t say for certain.”

“Okay, we should probably get going now. I still have some chores left at Sugarcube Corner,” Pinkie said.

“You go ahead, I’ll catch you up later,” I replied.

I wanted to have some alone time thinking about everything that had happened today. I wanted to sort my own thoughts and see if that voice was going to come back...

An hour passed rather quickly, but the mysterious voice had yet to return. To be honest, I was kind of disappointed. The voice was the only thing beside Pinkie Pie who could actually talk to me. I had been scared of it at first, but I still wanted to hear it one more time. However, it was starting to get late and I didn’t want Pinkie Pie to worry about me, so I decided to get up and go back to Sugarcube Corner.

My thoughts were still a mess, but I wasn’t that frustrated anymore. I thought about the article and the fact that there had been a body. Could it really have been me? Why did I woke up there and not the place I was buried? Where was I buried in the first place? I almost wanted to go look for a cemetery, but before I could process the thought any further, I stopped.

I stopped because I noticed a hooded pony standing in front of the Sugarcube Corner. It looked like the pony was peering at the menu at the stand outside, but there was certainly something suspicious about him. I decided to go take a closer look at the pony, but just then, one of the bakery’s windows opened and the pony took off like a startled bird.

I sprinted after the mysterious pony who had quite a distance advantage, but I wasn’t going to let him go. He disappeared behind the corner, and by the time I got there, he was nowhere to be found. Was this actually the same pony I saw in the alley? I let out a frustrated yell and marched back to Sugarcube Corner, where a delicious looking cake had appeared on the window board.

Walking to the window, I also took a peek inside and saw Pinkie Pie cooking in the kitchen. She quickly spotted me eyeing her delicious creation and then came to the window as well.

“Hey, Pinkie. Are you free to talk? I have something to tell you…”