Sunnie's Spooktacular Spookoween Story

Chapters

Prologue
Chapter I: The Library
Chapter II: The Firehall
Chapter III: Midnight
Epilogue

Prologue

Pepper Panclaire hummed happily as she pushed her cart along, her study books piled on top. The chubby kirin brushed her auburn mane out of her eyes and yawned. She’d been up almost all night studying, and was looking forward to her morning coffee, with one cream. She deserved a treat after this week’s madness. Pepper carefully scanned the shelf, before finding the last book she needed. With a smile, she plopped the book on her pile, then turned on a hoof and trotted happily out of the Classical section. Others found the basement of the library creepy, but Pepper found it a nice, quiet place, full of the smell of historical volumes and the low humming of the lights, always warm and cozy no matter what season it was. Despite the persisting rumors of ghosts that haunted the halls of the library (rumors that Pepper had always laughed at), in all her time she’d spent studying and researching in the basement, she’d never experienced anything paranormal. Sometimes, odd things would happen, but they could easily be explained away as forgetfulness, or a somepony just being careless. Definitely not a ghost. Pepper giggled a little bit at the memory of a librarian running out of the basement, screaming that there was ‘something’ down there that tried to get her.

The kirin yawned again, and then looked around, a little confused. Preoccupied with her thoughts, she’d somehow wandered deeper into the basement and into the Occult section. This area of the basement was in dire need of a renovation, something she thought that the Central Library could certainly afford. Lights flickered and buzzed, and the bookshelves were chewed and battered. Pepper shrugged, and started walking back towards the small study room by the stairs, her cart rattling quietly, a little annoyed. She wasn’t that tired, was she? A strange feeling crept up her back, like someone was right behind her. She whirled around, but only saw an empty aisle. The feeling persisted, and she quickened her pace, a little frightened. The study room wasn’t far, she just needed her coffee, and this… strangeness would all go away. A row of books toppled off the shelf in front of her. She froze, and another row flew off and thumped to the floor. She heard hoofsteps in the next aisle over.

“Hello? Who’s there?” She called out. The hoofsteps stopped. “You could be damaging these books. If you’re trying to scare me, it’s not working, and it’s not funny.” The lights at the end of the aisle exploded. Glass patted onto the carpet. Pepper let out a shrill scream. The bulbs in the aisle started popping, one by one, getting close and closer to her. Panic rose up in her throat, and she ran, screaming, away from whatever was stalking her, leaving her cart behind. She sprinted through the shelves, books scattering everywhere in front of and behind her. A bookshelf collapsed, and she careened into another aisle to avoid being crushed.

She had to make it to the study room!

Her wide eyes finally saw the sign, and she smashed the door open, slamming it closed behind her and locking it. She leaned against the counter and wiped her sweaty brow. Pepper originally despised the newly renovated study room, the modern look of it felt out of place in such an old and historic library, but now it was a refuge for her. She was safe. With trembling hooves she started the percolator. “Just need some coffee… that’s all…” she murmured to herself. “Coffee with cream… two creams… yes.” She opened the locked staff fridge, one of her librarian friends lent her a key, to grab both the cream, and something to eat to settle her nerves.

An eerie blue-white light exploded out, and Pepper fell back, unable to make a sound as the light approached. It drew nearer, and she was able to make out a face, and forelegs, but whatever it was had no lower body. She found her voice then, and screamed, long and loud, as the blue light enveloped her, and a voice echoed over her cries.

“Hungry?”

~~~***~~~

Chapter I: The Library

A small ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign hung from the university office door. ‘Department of Parapsychology and Paranormal Studies’ was spelled in neat lettering on the glass, with three name plates below it: Dr. Cinderheart, Dr. Soulful Radiance, and Dr. Sunnie Bun. Scrawled in red paint, not so neatly over Sunnie’s name plate was one word: ‘Fatass’. The fatass in question was currently playing cards with one of the university’s guards, a donkey with a horrible poker face. Sunnie took a bite of an egg salad sandwich, and let her cards down on the table, her chubby yellow face flushed red with excitement.

“Royal Flush!” She said triumphantly. “Pay up, Vozzii!” The donkey snorted, then passed over his half of the brownie. Sunnie took a happy bite before gesturing over to the rest of the open lunch kit on the table next to him. “Another round? I think I spy some chocolates in there…” Vozzii’s answer was drowned out by the door slamming open, and a pegasus burst in, his brown mane dripping wet from the rain.

“This is it!” He exclaimed, hustled over to the shelves behind the table, leaving watery hoofprints behind him. “Sunnie, did you clear that tape yesterday? And the UV lenses, where did you put them?” He said over his shoulder as he dug through the accumulated junk. Sunnie cleared her throat.

“Hello to you too, Soul. We’re about to play another round, would you like to join in?” Sunnie started to shuffle the deck, but Soul rushed over and knocked it from her hooves as he grabbed a camera from the table.

“Just past ten o’clock, at the Central Library, six ponies actually witnessed a free-floating, full torso apparition!” Soul said over his shoulder, ears twitching with excitement. “It blew books off shelves from almost twelve hooves away, and you won’t believe what happened to one of the witnesses!” Sunnie rolled her eyes.

“I’m very excited, I’m very happy for you.” She deadpanned. “I want you to get right down there, check it out, and get right back to me.”

“No no no, no way, you’re not skipping out on us again. We need three pairs of hooves, and Cinder’s got hers full.” Soul tossed Sunnie’s jacket to her. “She took readings, and just the outside of the library is white hot! Buried the needle! We’re close on this one, I can feel it! What we’ll see today will revolutionize our field! Maybe even the world!” He paused for a moment, seeing the food debris on the table. “Is… is that the dean’s lunch? I thought you got banned from the break room after the last time you stole it.”

“I never stole it. It went missing, and just because my breath smelled like his fancy mustard, doesn’t mean I ate it.” Soul’s expression went blank, and Sunnie sighed again. “Well, okay, fine. But I didn’t take it this time!” She pointed at Vozzii. “He did!” Vozzii gave a little wave before going back to eating the dean’s carrots sticks.

“Nevermind.” Soul shrugged, and gave Sunnie a push towards the door. “Now, c’mon, the taxi’s waiting!” Sunnie yawned, but she started walking to the door, her jacket remaining undone.

“See you later, Voz.”

“Yo.” The donkey replied.

~~~***~~~
The taxi screeched off behind them as they looked up at the Central Library. It was a monolithic building, made of marble and stone, with two massive, imposing stone gargoyles keeping watch out front. The autumn wind swirled leaves around their hooves as Sunnie and Soul climbed the steps, the latter buzzing with excitement.

“The readings we’ve got so far are incredible! This is a big opportunity, Sunnie. The PKE meter went off the charts! And wait until you see the kirin who saw it first, she’s huge!” Sunnie’s eyebrow rose slightly, her curiosity piqued.

“Are you sure the equipment isn’t faulty?” She asked.

“No way! The data lines up perfectly. The last event gave us only a fraction of this reading!” Soul said, wiping moisture off the camera and popping the lens off.

“The last event? ‘The Great Spoon Shift’?” Sunnie scoffed. “It barely moved an inch.” She spotted Cinder crouched under one of the long reading tables, fiddling with some new equipment. Sunnie trotted over and started thumping her hooves on the table directly above the unicorn. “Ooooooooohhhhh.” Sunnie gave her best ghost impression. Cinder poked her head up.

“Sunnie! Glad you were able to get your fat ass up and out here.” Cinder grinned and gave her a hug before turning back to the equipment. “Hopefully you’re just as excited as us! Got the tape, Soul?”

“Yep!” Soul held up the camera, red light blinking to show he already had it recording. “How’s Pepper?”

“She’s in and out. Very queasy too.” Cinder finished calibrating the device she was working on. “Here, Sunnie, put this on. New and improved PKE meter, version two.” Sunnie slipped the device onto her foreleg. It looked like an exercise band with a big black box sewn into it. Cinder pressed a button on the side, and the box lit up, two thin antennas sliding out of the top of the device. Twin rows of pulsating white lights travelled up and down the sides and green bars jumped in the middle of the screen. “Easier to read, and more quiet too.”

“Hopefully less likely to catch fire as well.” Sunnie said dryly. “I’m assuming when all the green bars hit the top of the screen, there’s ghosts?”

“You got it!” Cinder smiled, and was about to say something else when a harried stallion rushed up to them.

“Pardon me, Ms. Panclair is awake and alert, but we don’t know for how long. Come quickly!”

~~~***~~~
Pepper Panclair was stretched out on a couch, moaning and groaning quietly as the trio stepped into the small room. Sunnie’s jaw dropped at the sight of the mare. Soulful’s description of ‘huge’ didn’t prepare her for just how big the kirin truly was. Her belly rose high off the couch, slightly red and taut with the amount of food contained within. Pepper’s face was pale, tinged a sickly green, and she stifled a belch with a hoof, gulping rather loudly afterwards.

“Ms. Panclair? Hello, I’m Professor Soulful. These are my associates, Professor Cinder and Sunnie. We’re with the University, we specialize in Parapsychology. We’d like to ask you some questions, if you don’t mind.” Soulful pulled a tape recorder out of his bag and placed it on the coffee table next to Pepper. She nodded, shifting on the couch gingerly. “Can you tell me what you saw?”

“I… I saw a brilliant light. It came towards me, slowly, and I… I… urrrrp! Oog… e-excuse me. I, I don’t remember seeing legs, but it had arms, because it reached out to me, and then I…I just started eating…” Pepper whimpered, and lightly rubbed the small portion of her belly she could reach. “I couldn’t stop… it was a-as if I had no control… huuuurp! O-oh… l-like someone was… feeding me…” Her head lolled back, and she seemed to be struggling to stay focused. Soulful turned to the stallion who’d fetched them.

“Did you see the apparition?”

“I… I don’t know. I, I heard screaming and came downstairs. It was a mess down there. Books all over the place. Then I heard gulping and slurping coming from the break room. The lights were flickering, and it was freezing. She was in there, eating everything in sight. N-not just lunches and snacks. She drained the ketchup packets, the mustard bottles, even… even coffee grounds. Everything edible was gone.” He looked over at the bloated kirin. “She wasn’t even grabbing them. They floated over to her. I thought for a moment she was using magic of some sort but… there was no aura around the food, and they were moving in this odd, jerky motion.” He trailed off. Sunnie moved in closer to Pepper.

“I’m afraid I have to ask you a couple standard questions.” She said in a low voice. “Have you had anything to drink today? Any medication that could cause hallucinations?” Pepper shook her head slowly, cheeks puffing out as she let out another belch.

“N-no. I was just going to get my morning c-coff-aaaarph… oooooooh…” Sunnie patted the kirin gently on the shoulder.

“It’s okay Ms. Panclair. Just relax now. We’ve got all the information we need.” She nodded to Cinder and Soulful before bounding over to the door. “Let’s go see this ghost.” She grinned, waving the PKE metre strapped to her foreleg.

~~~***~~~
The basement was freezing cold. Sunnie shivered and pulled her jacket closer around her pudgy frame. Cinder and Soul followed behind her, their eyes shining with excitement. Sunnie’s breath puffed out into a fog that pooled under her chin.

“Where to?” She asked.

“Follow that.” Cinder simply pointed at the PKE meter on her foreleg. Sunnie poked the device, and it came to life with a quiet whirling noise. The green bars jumped and leaped as she turned and pointed it in a semi circle. She started forwards into the clutter, keeping her eyes peeled, periodically changing her course to keep following the bright green bars. She stopped suddenly after turning a corner, sending Cinder and Soulful bumping into her. In the next aisle, books were stacked into a long column stretching up to the ceiling. Thick gobs of fluid dripped off the stack.

“Wow!” Soul hissed. “Just like the Happy Hooves Elementary incident! Cinder, get a sample of that slime!” Cinderheart fumbled for a moment before pulling out a plastic dish, and scooped some of the slime into it. Sunnie slid her way past the stacks the best she could, her wide hips bumping the books, smearing some of the fluid on her jacket, and she grimaced.

“These books are hot.” Sunnie said, fighting the urge to retch as she wiped her jacket’s sleeve on a bookshelf. “But I think there’s something behind it, this thing’s going crazy.” The PKE V.2. flashed and buzzed on her wrist, green lights pulsing wildly, and Sunnie swore it was starting to heat up. She continued shuffling carefully around the stacks of books, her breath puffing out of her mouth like a steam train. Cinder and Soul followed, the temperature in the basement seemingly getting colder and colder. The three huddled together as they followed the green bars, noticing an eerie white light coming through the bookcases. They let out a collective gasp as they finally rounded the last bookcase and saw the source of light.

It was a pony. At least, most of a pony. It had a head, and forelegs, but it’s body trailed off into a thin wisp past it’s muscular chest. Ghostly armour, reminiscent of the antique Royal Guards, adorned the spectre's transparent body. The ghost stallion brushed a blond lock of his ethereal mane out of his eyes and continued looking down at the book fluttering on the table in front of him. Cinder immediately brought the camera up and started filming the ghost, her hooves trembling slightly.

“A full torso apparition!” Soulful hissed. “Pepper wasn’t kidding!” He scribbled something in his notepad, gnawing at the end of his pencil in excitement.

“So, uh, now what?” Sunnie asked, staring wide eyed at the ghost. “Do we leave? Say hello? Read it it’s rights?”

“One of us should make contact.” Soul said. “Actually try to speak to it!” He looked right to see Sunnie and Cinder backing slowly behind the bookcase, Cinder levitating the camera so it could still record the ghost.

“Good idea!” Sunnie smiled nervously. “You first.” The pegasus gulped audibly, then steadied himself. He took a few steps forward, and cleared his throat.

“G-good afternoon! I am Profes- Doctor Soulful Radiance. I am one of the heads of the Department of Parapsychology and P-paranormal Studies at the Central Manehatten University. I’d like to ask you a few questions, i-if you don’t mind.” The ghost looked up from his book, and shook his head, a condescending smirk on his face, then went back to reading. Soul went back around the corner, his face pale and nervous.

“Well that didn’t work.” Sunnie said flatly. “What now?” Soul and Cinder glanced at each other. Sunnie rolled her eyes. “Really? You’re leaving this up to me?” She stepped out around the bookshelf, her temper getting the best of her. “Hey, ghostface! You think it’s funny to force-feed defenseless mares, huh? How about you feed somepony who’s ready for i-.” Sunnie’s tirade died as suddenly as it began as the pony-sized ghost in front of her turned, and suddenly transformed into a hideous beast. It stretched up and out, the armour twisting into a terrifying ghostly mass of shattered metal. Its horn elongated, jutting out further, twisting like the gnarled branches of an old tree. Its eyes disappeared, leaving empty, black sockets behind, and it reached its forelegs towards Sunnie, its voice rumbling unearthly through its dripping jaws.

“Then let me feed you!” Sunnie screamed and ran back around the corner. The ghost followed, books exploding off the shelves as it passed. The trio bolted up and out of the basement, bowling over various other ponies in the library in their mad dash. The stallion from before ran behind them.

“Did you see it? What was it?”

“We’ll get back to you!” Soulful yelled over his shoulder as they burst through the doors out into the crisp fall air. The stallion stopped at the top step and watched as the three professors scrambled across the street, all glancing back at the library in abject terror.

~~~***~~~
“How about you feed somepony who’s ready for it?” Soulful squeaked. Cinder snorted and almost stumbled into a puddle. Sunnie glared at both of them as they walked back to the university, the adrenaline finally starting to fade.

“At least I did something other than hide behind a bookshelf!” She replied indignantly. Soul nodded in agreement,

“True. Speaking of which…” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a chocolate bar. He tapped Sunnie on the nose with it. “I think someone earned this for being so brave!” Sunnie blinked.

“I can’t take that. It’s your favorite!” Soulful responded by tearing the wrapper off and shoving it into her mouth before she could do anything.

“You run when a ghost offers to feed you, but you let Soul stuff you whenever he wants? Tsk tsk!” Cinder chuckled. Sunnie glanced away, a little red in the face as she quickly swallowed the chocolate. Soul cleared his throat, trying to hide his blush.

“Speaking of stuffing, we got enough data today that I think we’re close to being able to actually catch a ghost! I like the portable boxes you came up with, Cinder. ” The brown pegasus said.

“We can start thinking about stuffing ghosts into boxes after we get the funding.” Cinder muttered dryly. The three walked into the university, the other two hustling ahead of Sunnie to view the video. Sunnie hung back a little, darting into the break room to see what was in Vozzii’s lunch. She walked into their office a couple minutes later, munching on an egg salad sandwich, to find her friends crowded around a mini TV connected to the camcorder.

“Pause it! Pause it!” Soulful hopped up, his hoof tapping the screen lightly at the image frozen on the screen, the image distorting slightly with each tap. “Look at that!” He pointed at the ghost, which was beginning to change form after Sunnie confronted it. Through the lens, it looked a lot different. Energy crackled around the spirit, and Sunnie looked tiny by comparison. “Roll it forwards slowly!” The video went forwards frame by frame, Cinder and Soulful pressed up close to the screen, watching in amazement. The eerie energy spiralled outwards, until it obscured the wall opposite. Tendrils reached out towards Sunnie, as if to wrap her up, before the picture blurred as Cinder took off running. “Amazing.” Soulful breathed, rewinding the tape over again. Cinderheart clapped her hooves and stepped back.

“Evidence. We got it! Actual, physical evidence!” She whooped. “They’ll have to give us funding now! Soul, don’t wear out the tape!” Soulful pulled himself back from the screen and punched the eject button on the tape.

“Don’t worry! I’m making a copy right now.”

“You’ll do no such thing!” A nasally voice interrupted them. The trio looked at the door to see the dean, two janitors, and Vozzii, not able to meet Sunnie’s eyes, standing in the doorway. “I believe you have property that doesn’t belong to you.” The two stallions stepped forwards and snatched the tape and camera out of Soulful’s hooves.

“You can’t do that!” Soulful said. The dean simply sneered.

“Yes I can, Doctor. I have long been lobbying the board to cease funding your fantasies, and they’ve finally agreed with me. You will waste this university’s money, time, and resources no longer!” The dean sniffed the air, before turning to Sunnie, who stifled a burp. “What is that smell?”

“Egg salad sandwich.” She said quietly. “Vozzii owed me a lunch.” Vozzii’s eyes went wide and he shook his head as the dean rounded on him.

“I saw you eating lunch earlier! It was you who stole my food today, wasn’t it?” Sunnie stepped forward.

“For the record-.” She was cut off by the dean’s shriek, his body trembling with rage.

“I want you off this university’s campus. ALL OF YOU! NOW!”

~~~***~~~

Chapter II: The Firehall

Cinder leaned against the brick wall of the pizzeria, an unlit cigarette dangling between her lips. It had been a few hours since they cleaned out their offices, and the dean had already been repainting their door. She was upset, her cigarette bouncing as she muttered to herself. Sunnie sat on one of the outside stools, just next to her, chomping away at the last few pieces of pizza, generally making a pig of herself. Soulful sat across from her, his single slice left abandoned as he stared down at the table.

“Now what?” Cinder said. Soulful looked up at her and shrugged.

“Well, no other university will take us in. The dean’ll take care of that.” The pegasus sighed. “Guess I could always work for my cousin again. Carpentry. Yuck.”

“I don’t know where else I could go.” Cinder said. “Maybe try and get a high school teaching job.” Sunnie gulped loudly and let out a satisfied belch that made both her companions look at her. She slid Soul's abandoned slice over to herself.

“Wanna know what I think?” She said, lifting her stolen slice inches away from her lips. “Call it… fate. Call it karma, call it luck, good luck. But I think we were destined to get thrown out of that dump. We finally saw a ghost, we finally have evidence they’re real!” She chomped down, a string of cheese dangling down to her chin. “It’s a sign.”

“Sign of what? ‘Hooray, you’re unemployed?’” Cinder scoffed.

“A sign we have to go into business on our own.” Sunnie grinned. Soul couldn’t help but snort.

“As much as I’d like to share your enthusiasm, Sunnie, us being able to even attempt to build a containment chamber would take more money than the university would have granted us in three years, and we’re not even sure it’d work if we did build it!” He sighed. “Our plans are all theoretical, and without our research and data, there’s no point in even trying.” Sunnie’s grin widened. She reached into her saddlebag and pulled out a thick binder, letting it thud down onto the table. The other two gasped as she pulled out a few cassette tapes and other notebooks.

“How’d you get all this?” Soul flipped through the pages, eyes flashing with excitement.

“Vozzii passed it to me when the dean wasn’t looking. He said he’d try and swipe the rest of our research too.” She leaned back with a satisfied smile. “Plus, money isn’t an issue. Soul, you can get a mortgage on your house. Or two.”

“Two mortgages?” The pegasus spluttered. “In this economy?”

“Relax! Everypony has at least two. Plus, I know exactly where we could set up shop.” Cinderheart leaned forward off the wall.

“Where?” Cinder asked.

“Remember the old firehall, down Fifth? I know the pony selling it. I can get him to give us a real good deal.”

“Didn’t that place burn down?” Cinder sat down at the table, watching Soul flick through the binder.

“Only a little bit! Shouldn’t take too much work to really get it fixed up.” Sunnie stood, her belly a little bloated from all the pizza, and gave both Soul and Cinder a greasy smile. “Think about it! When we get it right, we’ll be the foremost - and only! - experts in paranormal investigations and eliminations! If anyone sees a ghost, who are they going to call?”

“The cops?” Soul said, shrugging. Sunnie rolled her eyes.

“No! Us! And we can charge them however much we want!” Sunnie puffed a strand of her black mane out of her face. “Well? What do you think?”

“Well… it’s not like we have anything better to do.” Cinder said, Soulful nodding in agreement, and Sunnie’s smile brightened.

“Then it’s settled. When we meet here again tomorrow, we’ll be more than just friends, we’ll be business partners!” Sunnie waddled away, her wide flanks wobbling to and fro. Both Soul and Cinder watched her make her way around the corner.

“Wonder where she’s going to sleep tonight.” Cinder mused.

“Probably with one of her coltfriends.” Soul said, already burying his nose in their research. “Or marefriends. She’s not very picky, is she?”

“No.” Cinder stood, her hoof beginning to smolder. She touched it to the tip of the cigarette still dangling from her lips, and inhaled deep. Her golden eyes glittered as she let her breath out slowly, smoke curling out of her nostrils. “No she’s not.”

~~***~~
Cinder couldn’t hide her grimace as she inspected the scorching along the bay wall of the firehall. Her expression was reflected by Soulful, who gave a quick shake of his head when she glanced over at him.

“The first floor is where most of the fire ended up, but the upper floors are perfectly preserved.” The salespony said, fiddling with his tie. He’d just come back down the stairs after Sunnie whisked him away, chattering in his ear nonstop, allowing the other two scientists to investigate the downstairs area of the firehall, or what remained of it. The flames had licked the entire right side of the bay, and some of the old open-air offices in the back had been mildly scorched. Cinder’s nose wrinkled as she thought about the mold that had accumulated under the water damaged rug. “There’s a kitchen, bedrooms, and nearly three fully-working toilets! What do you think?”

“I think they should’ve let it burn down.” Cinder muttered ruefully to Soul, walking away from the salespony. “There’s not a single good thing I can say about it. The ceiling has so much smoke damage that I can’t even tell what the original colour is. The heat of the fire may have warped the load bearing steel in the wall, and there’s no real way for us to know unless we knock the walls down, or the whole building falls down on top of us out of the blue.”

“Yeah, it’s a real bargain.” Soulful said. He’d ended up having to take three mortgages, not just two, on his house, and the interest rates alone were going to ensure that the banks would be knocking at his door for the rest of his life. “Speaking of damage, the fire cut off access to the power grid, the wiring is melted to Tartarus and back, and even if it was still in good shape, our theoretical power draw would blow fuses from Fifth down to Twentieth!” He sighed. “Hopefully Sunnie sees it our way.” One of the firepoles rattled, and they looked up to see Sunnie grinning down at them from the hole surrounding the pole.

“Look out below!” The chubby yellow mare called out, before leaping onto the dusty pole and sliding down… a couple of metres before her plump hips stuck fast in the hole. Cinderheart couldn’t help but giggle as Sunnie struggled to get herself free, finally sliding down the pole and landing with a not-so-graceful plop on the floor. “Wow! That was amazing, you two have to try it!” She pulled the pair into a hug. “Didn’t I tell you this place was great? Hey, do you want to sleep here tonight? Try it out? I’ll go get my stuff!” Sunnie hustled her way towards the big bay doors, stopping to give the salespony a smooch on the cheek. He turned bright red, and beamed a smile at the other two. Soul sighed and pressed a hoof against his forehead.

“I guess we’re taking it.” He said, exasperated.

~~***~~
The next few days flew by in a blur. Soulful found himself splitting time between helping Sunnie and his cousin with the renovations and helping Cinderheart start work on the ghost containment devices. The upstairs of the firehall was alive most days with electrical sparks and strange, ominous red beams of light. This particular morning, a week and three days after they were fired from the university, Soulful hovered by the main door of the firehall, trying to get their new sign centered. Sunnie shouted unhelpful instructions from the street level as he struggled to get the last nails put into place.

“The left is sagging a little!” Sunnie called out, popping a piece of candy into her mouth. “No, wait, the right is too high.” Soulful let out an exasperated sigh, and with a final bang, flew back down to check out his work. The sign, white with black letters spelling ‘GhostStuffers’, did look a little crooked, and the pegasus let his breath out with a whuff.

“Good enough.” He said, and took a piece of candy from Sunnie’s bag. They both looked up at the sign.

“You know, I don’t think we made it flashy enough.” Sunnie said, cocking her head. “Ponies are going to drive right on by it without a second thought.”

“We don’t exactly have the budget for neon lights, Sun.” Soul unwrapped his candy and tossed it into his mouth. His expression changed to revulsion. “Ugh, what flavour are these supposed to be?” Sunnie shrugged.

“No clue. I found them in one of the lockers upstairs.” Soulful retched, and spat the candy into a nearby sewer drain. Sunnie laughed, letting the wrapped candy she’d put in her mouth fall to the sidewalk. “Gotcha!” Soul was torn for a moment between getting a drink to rinse his mouth out, or getting something to soak the laughing mare. A loud bang made both their heads snap around to see a large vehicle rumble up the street towards them. Black smoke belched from behind the pockmarked, mismatched body panels, the suspension soft as it seemed to crabwalk towards them. Old-school bubble lights caught the sunlight and flashed red in their eyes. It rattled to a stop in front of them, half turned towards the firehall, flat front tires against the curb. Soul waved a hoof in the air.

“Hey, buddy! You can’t park that there!” The door opened with a squeal, and a familiar form leaned over it, a wide grin on his face, eyes hidden behind a pair of big, black sunglasses.

“Vozzii!” Sunnie cried, tossing the rancid candies aside and bumping Soul out of the way with her wide hips as she rushed to give the donkey a hug. Vozzii have her a tight squeeze in return, before slamming the car door, and holding it closed so it didn’t bounce back at him. “What are you doing here?”

“Told you I’d bring as much of your stuff as I could.” He replied, looking at her sternly. “You also got me fired, don’t forget.” Sunnie blinked and looked away. The donkey’s face split into an easy grin and ruffled her mane. “Don’t sweat it, Sun. You just owe me a job. then we’re square.”

“We are looking for a fourth member… want to stuff some ghosts into traps?” She asked. Vozzii shrugged.

“As long as there’s a steady paycheck involved.” Soulful was inspecting his car, and his head popped up over the roof, eyes sparkling with questions.

“This is the old ambulance that the university had buried in the storage lot, how’d you get your hooves on it? And how did you get it running?”

“Well, the dean didn’t take my badge right away so I took it for ‘security reasons’. Then I bet the shop class they couldn’t get it running. I lost.” Vozzii shrugged again. “Cost me two hundred and fifty dollars.” Soul’s face dropped. He had enough cash to buy food for the week, and Vozzii’s bet would eat a majority of it.

“Call it two Bits and it’s ours?” Sunnie asked. The donkey nodded, and Sunnie produced the two gold coins from her shoulderbag. Vozzii jokingly took a bite of each to make sure they were real before slipping them into his frizzy mane.

“They may have got it running, but she sounds like a wreck.” Soulful fiddled with the hood latch, and peered inside. “Did they say how much work still needs to be done?”

“New shocks, new rear suspension, new radiator, rewiring, the battery drains too fast for there not to be a problem somewhere, and the fuel pump is on its last legs.” Soul nodded slowly. A tinkerer by habit and trade, he was already formulating a plan on how he’d start fixing her up.

“I know a pony who runs a junkyard, I’ll give him a call, see how many parts I can get for her.” Soul was already poking around in the bay, grease smudging his cheeks. Sunnie left the pair to get the new GhostStuffers car into the firehall, and wandered back inside, still a little amazed at how fast the firehall had gotten repaired. It still looked like a dump, but now it looked like a functional dump. The offices had been repaired, the fresh glass put in, and the rotten rugs torched by Cinder out back and replaced. Four brand-new oak lockers stood by one of the firepoles, three of which were filled with Sunnie, Cinder, and Soul’s uniforms, a beige-gray overall with black rubber booties to go over their hooves. Name tags were stitched into the breast of each, as well as the GhostStuffers logo, a white ghost mare taking a bite out of a red ‘no’ symbol. Cinderheart had painted the logo with some suggestions from Sunnie and Soul, and was looking to get a proper light-up sign made. The fourth was empty, save for a blank uniform that Sunnie wasn’t quite sure was going to fit around Vozzii’s chubby frame, seeing as her own was rather snug. Sunnie reached into her locker for some actually good candy, intending on snacking before having a nap. Calling out orders was hard work, after all. But when she turned to go to her office, she spotted Cinder working on what looked to be a massive fish tank, twice as tall as Sunnie, and about twice as wide, too, right in front of the stairs. Sunnie meandered up to the unicorn and offered her a piece of butterscotch.

“Whatcha doin’, doc?” She asked. Cinder pushed her goggles up off her eyes and tossed the butterscotch into her mouth with a nod of thanks.

“Our containment system still needs a couple parts, so I’m making a backup system, in case we get a call before it’s ready.” She patted the fish tank’s glass.

“So we can just shove them into a fish tank?” Sunnie asked, crunching away while inspecting the yellow and black caution stripes that were painted on each corner of the tank. Cinder rolled her eyes.

“It’s not just a fish tank anymore, it’s a reinforced containment cell. A strong ionic current is constantly flowing through the glass, preventing any ghost from being able to exit through it.” Cinder pointed to a slot near the bottom of the tank. “Trap goes in there, releases the ghost. Then, when we’re ready, we just trigger the trap. The ghost has nowhere to go, and it’s an easy recapture.” A cheeky smile crept across Sunnie’s face.

“So… it’s a really fancy fish tank?” Cinder sighed, sparks flying from her nostrils. “Relax, it’s pretty cool. We should charge ponies to view the ghosts.”

“We should catch one first, make sure it works properly.” Cinder was about to say something else when the firehall’s door opened with a creak, and the new GhostStuffer’s ambulance rattled and rolled its way inside. “What in Equestria is that?”

“Our new ride.” Sunnie popped more candy into her mouth, and hustled over to her office, her hips brushing the empty door frame before she plopped down in her chair, letting out a sigh as she wiggled her butt to get comfortable, leaning back far enough to cause her chair to creak. Her eyelids drooped, and within a few minutes she was snoring gently, dead to the world.

~~***~~
Sunnie was sitting on a throne, wide and comfy, very appropriate for the plump Milkshake Queen. An endless procession of handsome, ghostly stallions brought her cakes, and shakes, and other goodies, and she wolfed them down without hesitation. She began to grow, her belly ballooning out in front of her, her ass filling the entire throne, yet still more food came, and yet still she ate, and ate, until the throne began to crumble beneath her…

CRRACK!

“Yaah!” Sunnie toppled to the ground as her chair, bent nearly in half, broke. She landed with a thud, the sharp pain of her nose hitting the floor chasing away her dream, leaving only a dull ache of hunger growling away in the pit of her stomach. She looked up to see an unfamiliar face looking worriedly down at her through a pair of red horn-rimmed glasses.

“Are you alright, Dr. Bun?” The stranger’s voice was thick with a Manehatten accent. Sunnie let the cobwebs clear for a moment before answering.

“I think so.” She blinked, getting up slowly. “You’re our receptionist, aren’t you?” The mare opposite nodded, and held out a polished hoof.

“Velvet Melody, at your service.” Sunnie shook the proffered hoof, getting a good look at her. Velvet looked back, a clear look of interest in her face. Her grey and pink mane was brushed and blow dried, styled nicely in the front, and pulled into a severe bun in the back. She wore a blue and red striped sweater, and blue skirt that plumed around her tail. From the way the fabric clung to her, there was quite a bit of mare underneath. Sunnie snapped her eyes back up to Velvet’s, and coughed.

“Where is everypony?” She asked. Velvet shrugged with one shoulder, and sat back down at her desk, which contained nothing but a computer and a phone. Her horn glowed, and she pulled a novel out of her bag.

“They went out to get food, asked not to disturb you.” Sunnie rubbed her tender snout, and walked around the desk to sit in one of the waiting chairs. There was an awkward silence for a moment, until Sunnie coughed again.

“So… any calls?” Velvet shook her head gently.

“No.”

“Any… messages?” Velvet turned the page in her book and shook her head again. “Any customers?”

“No, Dr. Bun.” Velvet looked up from her book, and Sunnie noticed that it was a trashy romance novel, the very same one she’d just finished reading the night before. Velvet had good taste.

“Easy job, isn’t it?” Velvet’s face lifted into a smile.

“I suppose I should type something every now and again. You are paying for all this stuff.” Sunnie’s smile hurt her nose. Her stomach let out a grumble.

“Pizza?” Velvet’s smile beamed, and she pointed at the phone.

“Two large supremes from Sal’s, should be here any minute. Cinder said to tell Sal to put it on your tab.” Sunnie grimaced a little. Her tab at Sal’s was already astronomical.

“Thanks.” Velvet tucked her book back away in her purse, and leaned forwards onto her desk, one hoof waving away Sunnie’s gratitude.

“I couldn’t let a pony like you just starve!” She giggled. “Smart and pretty is a hard combo to come across, these days.” Sunnie flushed red, but before she could reply, there was a booming knock at the door. “Pizza time!” Velvet shot to her hooves, giving Sunnie a flirty flick of her tail as she walked to the front door, her horn glowing as she undid her bun, letting her mane topple onto her shoulders. Sunnie smiled wide.

She was going to enjoy this job more than she thought.

~~***~~

Chapter III: Midnight

The old television buzzed loudly, and Sunnie gave it a whack with her hoof to try and clear the snow. It finally cleared, a little, and the buzz lessened just long enough to make Sunnie jump hearing her own voice coming out of the set. Sure enough, there was their commercial on the screen, and on a fairly popular channel for once. All four GhostStuffers were wearing white lab coats, and standing in front of the firehall.

“Are you troubled by strange noises in the middle of the night?” Sunnie cringed a little at her stilted delivery. They hadn’t had the cash to film another take.

“Do you experience feelings of dread in your kitchen or pantry?” Cinder’s head popped up from where she was tinkering with one of the ghost traps, made from a reused toaster, when she heard her voice. She took a puff off a cigarette, blew it in Sunnie’s direction, then went back to work when she saw it was just the commercial. “Have you or your family ever seen, been possessed, or been fattened by a ghost?”

“If the answer is yes, then don’t wait another minute, pick up the phone and call the professionals.” Sunnie let out a little giggle at how eager Soulful looked during his part.

“GhostStuffers!” All four called out in unison.

“Our courteous and corpulent staff is on call twenty-four hours a day for all your supernatural stuffing needs.” Sunnie giggled again, Vozzii had put on a much deeper voice for the commercial.

“We’re ready to believe you!” The GhostStuffer’s phone number flashed on screen, then the TV showed a brief flicker of the Manehatten Gardens before promptly falling back into snow. Sunnie let out a snort of disgust and snapped the TV off. It had been almost two full weeks after the official opening of the GhostStuffers, and they’d had zero customers, despite the commercial. Plenty of curious ponies wanting to know who had moved into the firehall, none willing to throw money down on getting rid of a spirit. Sunnie flumped down, disappointed she wouldn’t be able to catch the last period of the hockey game, and decided to catch some sleep instead. The firehall was fairly quiet, save for Cinder’s tools, and the clacking of the pinball machine Vozzii and Soul had somehow dragged up the stairs. The speakers were broken, but the machine still worked, and the pair of them had set about making the high score unobtainable for Sunnie or Cinder to ever hope of reaching. Soulful was at the controls, his wingtips resting lightly against the paddle controls. Vozzii leaned against the side of the machine, a lollypop stick shifting side to side in his mouth as he watched Soul wrack up the points.

Downstairs, Velvet was munching on some cold pizza, bored and tired of sitting on her plush rump all day, something she never thought could happen. She was just about to pack up and head home - it was quite late in the day - when the phone rang. She sighed, expecting another curious caller thinking that they’re just crackpots.

“Hello, GhostStuffers.” She listened to the hushed, urgent voice on the other end. “Yes, they’re serious.” She sighed internally, getting ready to hang up, already eyeing the takeout menu that had become a permanent fixture on her desk. The voice on the other end continued, however, and Velvet’s eyes widened. “You do? You have? That’s… well not great but good! No kidding!” She scrambled for a pen, scrawling details on a pad of paper with her mouth, too excited to trust her magic. “Well, um, just give me the address, they’ll be there as soon as possible. Oh, yes, of course, they’ll be very discreet. Thank you, bye.” She set the phone back down, feeling the excitement buzz up her spine before she leapt to her hooves. “WE GOT ONE!” Her hoof slammed into the old firehall’s alarm. The loud brrrrrrrrrrring echoed through the firehall. The four GhostStuffers jumped and looked at each other, eyes wide.

“It’s a call!” Soulful yelled out, his high score suddenly forgotten. The four of them scrambled for a moment before heading towards the firepole, the holes in the floor widened, much to Sunnie’s relief. The lockers banged open, Velvet’s excitement growing as she watched them struggle into their jumpsuits, and she passed Soulful the address. She squeezed past the car, covered in a tarp, and opened the bay doors. She turned to watch Vozzii rip the cover off the ambulance, revealing a dazzling white and red paint scheme. Equipment of all sorts completely covered the roof, things flashing or spinning or whizzing, purposes unknown to the receptionist. The license plate gleamed, vanity lettering saying ‘Ecto-Tonne’ glittering under the harsh streetlights. The GhostStuffers, now dressed in the drab beige-gray overalls, squeezed themselves into the Ecto-Tonne. The engine roared, and Velvet pressed herself against the wall as the Ecto-Tonne rocketed out of the firehall, blue lights flashing, the loud, off-kilter siren screaming.

“Where are we going?” Sunnie called out from the backseat, clinging to the racking in the back of the Ecto to avoid being flung out the window. Soulful screeched the converted ambulance through an intersection, his hooves a blur on the wheel as he fought to keep control.

“The Pudgewick Hotel.” The pegasus said through gritted teeth, dodging a haydog truck and missing it by a feather. Vozzii glanced wide-eyed at Sunnie.

“Uh… do we need to be in this much of a rush?” The donkey asked nervously, but his question was left unanswered. After a thankfully short, harrowing ride, Soulful brought the Ecto to a screeching halt in front of the Pudgewick, hopping up onto the curb, tire smoke billowing as shocked onlookers scattered. The GhostStuffers suited up, packs strapped to their backs, Cinder and Soulful having placed strange goggles to their heads, and burst through the front doors of the Pudgewick.

“Anypony seen a ghost?” Sunnie called out, in high spirits despite the heavy pack on her back. She stopped almost dead in her tracks, oblivious to the concerned and surprised looks of the hotel’s guests, as she gave a waiter an appreciative glance up and down, almost following him and the delicious food he carried on a silver platter, but Vozzii blocked her and kept her moving forwards. They hadn’t reached the front counter before a harried, thin pony came fluttering over, his horn alight as he nervously adjusted his suit’s sleeves. Sunnie, looking the other way, jumped almost a foot in the air with an exclaimed “buck!”

“Oh thank Celestia you’re here! I couldn’t think of anything else I could do, the guests are restless and I’ve almost run out of excuses.” The pony practically whimpered.

“Are you the manager, sir?” Soulful asked. The pony nodded. “Have you had… disturbances like this before?” The manager jerked like he’d scalded his hoof, magically wrenching his bow tie tight enough to turn his neck red through his turquoise coat.

“Oh, Celestia, never like this! The staff knows stories about the twelfth floor and Midnight Blossom’s… visits, but this… for the past two weeks she’s been spotted on every floor, food has been disappearing throughout the hotel, and the cleaning staff have found… stains on the rug.” Sunnie rolled her eyes to Vozzii, chomping on some gum.

“Not the stains.” She said sardonically. Soulful gave her a kick with a black booted hoof, still looking at the manager.

“Can you tell me about this Midnight?” The manager’s eyes flicked back and forth, as if afraid he would be overheard, or that the ghost would pop out from behind the plastic plants that lined the carpeted foyer.

“The stories say she was a Lunar Guard. Staff have been seeing her since the hotel first opened, nearly a hundred years ago. A gray batpony, wearing rusted, destroyed armor.” He whispered as he shuddered. “It’s said that one night, she… she ate herself to death on a banquet meant for a hundred ponies!” All four GhostStuffer’s eyebrows rose at that.

“Has this ever been reported to anyone?” Cinder cut through the sudden silence. The manager let out a shocked, strangled squawk.

“Never! Never, never! The owner prefers us to not even talk about it.” As they neared the elevators, the manager seemed to compose himself a little bit. “I hope we can take care of this quickly, and quietly, tonight.”

“Don’t worry, buddy.” Sunnie patted the manager on the shoulder. “We do this kinda thing all the time.” The manager fluttered away, and the four GhostStuffers lined up to wait for one of the elevators. Vozzii pointed at a sign that displayed the elevator’s weight limit.

“Shoot, Sunnie, looks like you’re going to have to catch the next one.” Sunnie glowered at him.

“Ha ha. Bite me.” As they waited, a member of staff, dressed like a pirate, complete with a little red parrot on his shoulder that matched his coat, walked up to them. He flipped his eyepatch up and adjusted the scarf tied around his blue mane. His name, embroidered on his shirt’s pocket, read ‘Bold Flavour, Chef’. He greeted them with a half bow.

“Arrr, me mateys! The costume parrty is down the hall, to yer left, in the cannon-ballroom!” He chucked a little at his pun. The four looked at each other a moment before Cinder spoke.

“Oh, we’re not in costumes. We’re exterminators.” Bold eyed the menacing equipment strapped to their backs, and blinked.

“Don’t go up to the 12th.” Sunnie said gravely. “Those rats’ll eat you alive.” Bold gulped, and made a brief ‘carry on’ gesture before scurrying away back towards the party. Vozzii nudged Sunnie.

“Didn’t have to scare him like that.” He said quietly. Sunnie stuck her tongue out in response.

“And you didn’t have to make fun of my weight.” She replied, smacking her gum in his face. The elevator dinged, and a pair of ponies stepped out, staring at the GhostStuffers as they filed into the small space. A small light winked on above another weight limit sign, and Sunnie kicked Vozzii the best she could in the cramped elevator before he could say anything. He let out a quiet gasp of pain before speaking to Cinder.

“Uh, I haven’t really fired this thing. Ever.” He shook his right foreleg, which rattled whatever was strapped to it. Cinder glanced over her shoulder.

“It’s easy. There’s a button that’ll deploy the ion wand around your elbow. When the wand is out, to keep it safed, hold your hoof like this.” Cinder’s hoof dangled while the rest of her foreleg remained straight. “When you want to fire, straighten it. Just point to shoot, basically. Try not to step on the wand, it’ll deploy past your hoof by a bit. It’s rather expensive too.”

"Why aren't you wearing one?" Vozzii asked, inspecting his wand. Cinder simply rolled her head around, stretching her neck, and smiled as her horn began to glow. "Oh. Right."

“Showtime, ladies and gentlecolts. Soul, switch me on.” Cinderheart’s pack activated with a low, ominous hum, and the four red, circular vents began to pulse with a red glow. Vozzii, having not been this close to an activated pack before, leaned as far away from Cinder as possible… which meant squashing Sunnie against the side of the elevator. She flailed a hoof that the big donkey didn’t notice and struggled to breathe until the doors opened on the 12th floor, and she was able to stagger free and drop to her knees, drinking in the air-conditioned air. Soulful deftly activated the remaining three packs as Cinder checked her PKE meter, and glanced down the hallway.

“Alright, let’s split up. Soul, you and Vozzii will check the 11th and work your way down. Sunnie, you’re with me, we’ll sweep this one, and work our way up.” Cinder said, her PKE meter flashing on her wrist. Sunnie hit the button on her elbow, and her ion wand swung forwards and clicked into position.

“Let’s rock and roll.” She grinned broadly.

“We need to be careful. We know what these will do to ghosts, we don’t know what they’ll do to living ponies.” Cinder looked pointedly at the other mare. “The ion beam itself shouldn’t harm them, but the spells infused within the beams might.”

“Harm how?” Vozzii asked, looking a little nervously at Sunnie’s wand.

“Swelling, maybe some increased hunger. We should’ve done some more tests, but I didn’t think about it.” Cinder shrugged. “Okay, let’s get going.” Cinder and Sunnie walked around the corner into the hallway while Vozzii and Soulful piled into another elevator. They hadn’t made it more than a few hooflengths before a bouncing, purple orb came charging down the hallway towards the pair.

“There she is!” Sunnie bellowed, and let loose with her ion wand. A brilliant crimson beam exploded out of the tip, the recoil nearly knocking Sunnie onto her fat flanks. The beam touched the orb, and it exploded with a loud pop!, revealing a very surprised blue mare. She didn’t have a chance to even scream before the ion beam encircled her body, the very tip of her green-striped blue mane getting slightly singed as the capture stream locked into place, a smaller swarm of blue beams splitting from the red and forming a cage around her. There was a loud groan from the mare’s belly as it began to glow purple, and she suddenly began to swell, her body rapidly plumping up. The buttons on her uniform popped off as one, and her nametag, which read ‘Felicity - Yoga Instructor’, was sent flying as her blouse burst open. The nametag struck Sunnie in the forehead, knocking her over and shutting her beam off. Felicity sat on the floor for a moment, eyes wide as she took in her new, expanded form, nearly twice the size she was when she left her room, her new gut resting heavily against the floor, nearly lifting her off her hooves.

“What the hay?” She shrieked in surprise. “What are you doing?” Sunnie gave Cinder a sheepish grin from the floor.

“Well, at least we know what it does to non ghosts.” She said quietly. Cinder responded by rolling her eyes. She turned to the spluttering Felicity, who was seemingly utterly fascinated by her new gut.

“The swelling should go down within a few days.” The GhostStuffer said, sweeping the bloated blue mare with her PKE meter, finding her clean of any supernatural trace. “You may also have some increased hung-.”

“A few days?!? But this is perfect!” Felicity shouted happily. “Yoga but you are the ball! I’ve had this thought for months! Wait, wait, what if… a milkshake could do this! We could be rich!”

“Riiiight.” Sunnie gave a polite smile. “We need to get going.” The pair scooted away while Felicity kept talking loudly to herself.

“Go on up. I’ll finish this floor and leapfrog you to fifteen.” Cinder pointed over to a door marked ‘stairs’.

“Mama always told me to never play leapfrog with a unicorn.” Sunnie said with a thick southern accent, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth. Cinder smirked, and lowered her head, pointing her horn at the other mare, who scooted off towards the stairs, a hoof reaching around to try and cover her plump rear. Cinder snickered at the sight, and magicked a fresh cigarette out of one of her pouches. She lit it with her horn, and took a drag before bringing the PKE up, starting her sweep, excitement tingling in her bones. The floor was pretty cold, the PKE only spiking a few times as she walked past empty room service carts, but nothing substantial. Cinder’s cigarette was nearly down to the filter before she was halfway through, and she was just about to light a fresh one when she turned a corner and saw what could only be the ghost of Midnight Blossom. The ghostly form floated a few hooves off the floor, glowing a dull gray as she shoved food off a room service cart into her ghostly maw. Even if she hadn’t been a ghost, her sheer size would’ve caused Cinder to pause just as readily. Her see-through body had been clearly used to this sort of gluttony while she was alive, and the shattered vestiges of antique armour clung to the ghostly gut that had seemingly burst through it. Phantom fat rolls spilled out and through the other segments of the armour, and her purple mane flowed as if underwater as she crammed a pie into her face, the scattered remains of her feast smeared across her etheral body. Cinder’s mouth stood agape, unlit cigarette falling to the floor, as she watched the ghost gulp down an entire roast, chasing it with a bottle of red wine that puddled on the ground beneath her. Cinderheart noted that solid food was all that was able to be eaten, as a bowl of soup suffered the same fate, broth splashing the carpet. Amazed, and more than a little frightened, Cinder backed up around the corner, hissing over her shoulder.

“Sunnie? Sunnie!” There was no response, and in her shell shocked state, she’d forgotten about the walkie-talkie clipped to the strap of her pack. She took a breath to calm herself, and crept back around the corner, her horn glowing gold as she unholstered her wand and primed it, the pack’s low hum changing disconcertingly. “Guess I’ll have to hold her myself.” She murmured, setting her hooves and counting down in her head down from three. She aimed as best she could and let fly with her ion beam, misjudging the recoil and missing Midnight entirely, the crimson beam slamming the wall and erupting into a shower of sparks, setting the trim of the wall on fire. The ghost let out an unearthly shriek, and flew down the hall, the cart following it, seemingly propelled by nothing, and Cinder tried to follow it with her beam, but got nothing more than a long scorched line in the wall. Midnight reached the end of the hallway and simply passed through the wall as if it wasn’t there, leaving only a gray-green ooze behind. The cart wasn’t so lucky, and it slammed into the wall hard enough to crack it. The remains of Midnight’s ghostly feast splattered the wall, covering up the ooze. Cinder let out a muffled curse, and hustled down the hallway, trying to find a door or something that would let her chase Midnight, but all the doors along the wall were locked, and she didn’t want to just bust in. As she searched, her walkie-talkie crackled, and she let out another curse as she remembered she had one.

“Cinder. Come in, Cinder.” Sunnie’s voice was monotone and flat.

“Sunnie!” Cinder cried. “I saw her! I saw her!”

“She’s right here, Cinder.” Through the crackle of the walkie-talkie, Cinder thought she could hear the grumblings of Midnight. “She’s staring at me.”

“Big old blob, isn’t she?” Cinder said, heading for the staircase.

“She’s kinda cute.” The grumbling grew louder. “I think she heard you, Cinder.”

“Alright, stay right there, I’m on my way. No sudden movements.” Sunnie’s walkie-talkie clicked open, and Cinder heard a muffled burp, before a rising howl erupted out of the device. Sunnie started screaming, and Cinder bellowed “sudden movements! Sudden movements!” as she labored up the stairs. Cinder charged through the halls, calling Sunnie’s name, hearing no response. She finally came across her friend, her booted hooves skidding on the carpet as she tried not to run her over.

Sunnie lay on her back in the center of the hallway, absolutely coated in some kind of green-gray slime. She was pinned to the ground by her pack, and she was rolling back and forth as if to try and get up. Cinder’s eyes were drawn to the other mare’s midsection, which was a lot more bloated than she remembered, Sunnie’s belt pulled even tighter than before around her gut, and one of the buttons on her uniform had popped off.

“Sunnie! Are you okay? What happened?” Sunnie looked up at Cinder and let out a groan.

“Urgh… she slimed me.” Sunnie smacked her lips and grimaced. “I think I swallowed some.”

“That’s great!” Cinder’s excitement overrode her concern. “Actual, physical contact!” With Cinder’s help, Sunnie managed to get back to her hooves, her belly sloshing loud enough for the other mare to hear it. While Sunnie blushed, Cinder noticed that her mane was sparkling. At first, she thought it was just more of the slime, but then she noticed a strange, magenta hue surrounding the edges of Sunnie’s black mane. Before she could say anything, her walkie-talkie crackled again.

“Cinder, come in! Come in, Cinder!” Soulful’s excited voice burst through.

“Soul! I’m with Sunnie! She got slimed!”

“That’s great! Save some for me!” Sunnie glowered at the radio. “Get down here, Vozzii and I saw her go into the ballroom!”

“That’s for the concern, Soul.” Sunnie said over her own, slimey radio, but there was no reply. Cider hustled back to the stairs, with Sunnie in tow, waddling as fast as she could. “Ugh… my stomach feels so funky.” By the time they’d made their way back down to the ballroom, a small crowd had formed around the doors, with Soul and Vozzii at the center with the manager. Sunnie drew looks from her wet appearance, but she ignored them, following the past Cinder made as she bulled through the crowd. Soulful smiled as they finally made it to the center, and turned to the manager.

“If you and your staff would keep the peace out here, we’ll take care of everything.” All four GhostStuffers quickly sidled through the door, locking it behind him. There was a short hallway through the doors to get to the ballroom, with curtains drawn near the entrance. Sunnie’s eyebrow rose at the sign near the curtains.

“The Midnight Buffet? Maybe we should leave her alone, to eat her fill.” Vozzii snorted, but the other two shushed them. Soul and Cinder both pulled their goggles down over their eyes, peeking through the curtains into the surprisingly vast ballroom.

“There!” Soulful hissed. “Near the chandelier.” They both looked up to see Midnight circling up by the ceiling, licking her ghostly chops while looking down at the buffet, which lined the entire back wall, and halfway down the two sides. Sunnie poked her head out, and nodded, her face grimly set.

“That’s the one that got me.” The four GhostStuffers filed out from behind the curtain, packs humming. Soulful glanced to the right, and nodded at the rest.

“Throw it!” He shouted, and four red beams converged on the chandelier the ghost was circling. Midnight let out a scream as sparks exploded out of the chandelier, and it dropped from the ceiling, hitting the tables in a thunderous crash of broken glass.

“Nice shootin’, Tex.” Sunnie drawled. Soulful cringed.

“That was me, I did that!”

“It’s okay, the table broke it’s fall.” Vozzii tried to comfort him, but Soul’s reply was lost in a rising shriek. Midnight, looking furious, came swooping down right at them. Soul, Vozzii, and Sunnie managed to leap clear, but Cinder wasn’t able to scramble over a table fast enough, and she was picked up and thrown back into the curtains, disappearing with a loud thud. Soul and Vozzii quickly started scanning the room, wands at the ready.

“Cinder!” Sunnie shouted, and hustled to her friend’s aid, but stopped dead when she saw Cinder walk out from behind the curtains. A strange, blue-white glow emanated from her eye sockets, tendrils of light spilling out across her cheeks. “C-Cinder?” Sunnie asked, nervously. Cinder opened her mouth, and a belch erupted from deep within her, rattling silverware throughout the room.

“Hungry!” A voice boomed out, utterly unlike Cinder’s, and the golden mare strode forwards. Sunnie felt a tingle across her body, before she was thrown out of Cinder’s way, tumbling into the curtains that thankfully kept her from getting hurt. Tables in front of Cinder were upended, glass and plates shattering on the carpeted ground. Soul slipped his goggles back over his eyes, dodging a chair that splintered against the wall at his back. His eyes widened at the image presented to him. Cinder was entirely surrounded by the ghostly Midnight, her movements jerky but confident as she walked towards the buffet. Sunnie came up beside him, her face dark with worry.

“What’s wrong with her?” She asked, using her beam to cut a table in half that was about to cream Vozzii. Soul gaped a moment longer, struggling to find his voice.

“She’s… possessed?” All three watched as Cinder reached the buffet, and she began to eat, her jaw seemingly unhinging as her forelegs, and whatever ghostly magic Midnight used, shoveled food into her. The trio watched in awe as Cinder methodically demolished the dessert table, not a single movement wasted as she inhaled dessert after dessert. Her uniform grew tighter and tighter against her growing potbelly, wobbling as she climbed onto the table to cram more into her face. Sunnie flushed a little red when they all heard a loud pop and a seam on Cinder’s uniform split open.

“What do we do now?” Vozzii asked quietly, unable to tear his gaze away from the possessed mare. Soul rubbed his forehead, the goggles still over his eyes.

“I don’t know! We never put much research into possessions!” There was an even louder snap and Cinder’s belt fell away, her pack sliding off her back to land on the table with a thud. Soulful winced at the impact.

“Maybe we just let Midnight have her fill? When she’s done, we’ll pounce on her.” Vozzii suggested. Sunnie shook her head.

“If the stories are true, Midnight didn’t even know her limits when she was alive, and now? I don’t think she could ever get full as a ghost.” She looked nervously over at the still gorging Cinder. “I’ve got an idea. It’s a stupid one, but it’s the only one we’ve got.” Sunnie hustled over through the wreckage of tables to get a clear shot at Cinder, who was still mindlessly cramming food into her face, and Sunnie could hear the other mare’s complaining stomach from almost halfway across the room. She readied her wand, and aimed carefully. “Sorry Cinder.” She murmured before the scarlet beam arced out of the wand. Cinder saw it, and opened her mouth to let out an unearthly howl, but the beam struck first, forming a cage around Cinder, and the effects started showing immediately. Cinder’s packed belly glowing bright purple and began swelling immediately, the few buttons left on her uniform rattling against the table as her belly burst through. Seams split down all the way down her body as her flanks ballooned, hind legs thickening as golden blubber spilled out of the tortured fabric. Cinder twitched and snarled as she suddenly began to float upwards, her bloating body rotating, teeth gnashing whenever she faced Sunnie. She was about halfway to the ceiling when she went limp, and Sunnie spotted Midnight squirting out between the ‘bars’ and rocketing back up to where the chandelier used to be. She shut her beam off, and Cinder dropped like a stone. “Buck!” Sunnie shouted, and scrambled up onto the table just in time to break the now-blubbery Cinder’s fall with her face. The pair went through the table with a thunderous crrrrash, sending licked-clean plates and bowls scattering into the air. Soul and Vozzii shouted in alarm, but Sunnie popped her head up a moment later. “I’m okay!” Cinder sat up next, a hoof against her head, the other probing her globular gut. She groaned.

“What happened?” She slurred, getting unsteadily to her hooves, knees buckling under her heavy new weight. Sunnie had been the curvier mare going in, but Cinder now took that cake, quite literally. Her uniform was in shambles, split almost everywhere it could be without simply falling to pieces. Her belly hung low, and wobbled with every breath, uncontainable. Her face had plumped up as well, a double chin forming below her chubby cheeks. “What are you staring a-urrrrrrrp!-t?” Cinder asked Sunnie, whose face was growing redder by the second as her eyes flicked all over the other mare’s new form, her mouth opening and closing like a fish, trying to say something but nothing coming out. The spell was broken when Vozzii and Soulful vaulted some debris to get beside them, Midnight still howling near the ceiling.

“You two okay?” Soul asked, eyes widening as he looked at Cinder.

“Fine, fine.” She huffed, embarrassed by all the stares. “We have a ghost to catch, you know.” The other three nodded distractedly. “We need to clear space for me to get the trap down. Soul, you and Vozzii make some. Sunnie, keep an eye on Midnight, make sure she doesn’t try to make a run for it.” The pair turned, and started throwing tables aside, plates and glasses shattering on the floor. Cinder turned to look for her pack and belt, which had their only trap clipped to it. She bent down, and another seam popped open right in front of Sunnie, who still hadn’t moved, and was as crimson as the ion beams as she watched Cinder’s plump rump wobble. “And quit staring at my ass!” Sunnie straightened, and turned her attention back to the ghost that was hovering near the ceiling, who seemed to be staring more at the remaining food, and less on the GhostStuffers. Cinder let out a triumphant cry, and floated the trap out of the debris. With a flick of her hoof she rolled it into the center of the large, cleared area. “Okay! Sunnie! I want a containment stream! Go!” Sunnie’s beam lanced out, scorching the wall as Midnight dodged to the left, swooping down towards the tables, mouth open wide. “Vozzii! Hit her!” Vozzii fired, his beam playing across the food on the tables, sending up geysers of atomized bread and soup, and sending Midnight tumbling upwards. “Soul!” Soul’s beam struck Midnight dead on, the cage forming around her. She jerked to the side, nearly pulling Soul off his hooves. “All three!” Cinder yelled. Vozzie and Sunnie added their beams, and started dragging Midnight towards the trap.

“Sunnie! Shorten your beam, you’re going to burn my eyebrows off!” Soulful yelled over the roaring of Midnight and the unnatural buzzing of the packs. Sunnie slapped at her wand until Soul nodded his thanks. The trio got Midnight centered over the trap, and Sunnie noticed something. Through the sparks and glowing red and blue beams, it seemed like Midnight was more solid than she was before, more opaque.

“It’s working!” She whooped. Midnight was starting to grow sluggish, trapped by the beams. Cinder slipped her goggles back over her eyes, and readied her hoof on the pedal.

“I’m going to open the trap!” She shouted. “Don’t look directly at it!”

“Toast her!” Vozzii yelled as Cinder hit the pedal, and the trap opened with a loud shrump. A cone of pink-white light burst out of it, and Midnight began to get pulled down, forcing the other GhostStuffers to shut off their beams. They gaped in awe at Midnight, who was now as opaque as a live pony. She twisted, roaring, and as they watched, she began to swell too. Her ghostly belly grew, pieces of broken armor plating falling away, disappearing like smoke as soon as they broke contact. Her forelegs plumped too, and all three GhostStuffer swore the vapor trail where her hind legs should have been was getting thicker and thicker by the second. Midnight’s hooves squeezed her belly, and her face broke into a satisfied smile as the bloating ghost landed on the trap, her spectral body too large, too wide, too fat to fit into it. She patted her belly, and a supernatural belch exploded from within, rattling the few dishes and cutlery that were left.

“Full.” She said, her ethereal voice echoing over the increasing whine of the trap, which had begun to shake and rattle, sparks shooting out as it labored to pull her in, and keep itself together. Then, after a long moment where everypony was sure the trap was just going to explode, she was sucked in, and the trap slammed shut. It beeped twice, and as it stopped shaking and sparking, a red light began to blink. Vozzii approached the trap carefully, and tapped it with his hoof, wand at the ready.

“Hey.” He grunted. The trap responded with a sudden gush of smoke, and they all leapt back in surprise. A smile slowly crept across Cinder’s face.

“She’s in there.” She said simply, picking up the smoking trap with her horn. She glanced over at Sunnie, who hadn’t moved or said a word since the trap opened, and saw some white vapor get sucked into her mouth. Cinder then noticed that Sunnie’s belt had snapped, and she sported a far heftier gut than before. “What happened to you?” Sunnie’s eyes focused on Cinder, and she looked dazed.

“I, hic, looked at the trap, Cinder.” She said distantly, then shook her head as if to clear it. Soulful grinned as he walked over.

“Well, that wasn’t such a chore, now was it?” He said. Sunnie and Cinder both glanced around the room, then both gave Soul a look. The Midnight Buffet was completely demolished. Scorch marks ran up and down the walls and the ceiling, and almost every single table had been upturned and smashed. Cinderheart started towards the door, the trap floating in front of her, when she stopped dead, having forgotten that she’d shredded her uniform. A flush darkened her cheeks as she thought about going out there, facing the crowd that must have grown due to the noise. Sunnie came up behind her, and flung an embroidered tablecloth over her. As large as she’d become, it nearly didn’t cover her, but it was better than the nothing her uniform had become. She nodded her thanks to the other mare. The four paused at the door, and opened it with flourish. The manager was standing directly in front of them, his face tight, livid. The crowd murmured in shock as Vozzii pushed his way through, the trap dangling from its cable coiled around his hoof.

“We came, we saw, we kicked her flanks!” Sunnie couldn’t help but shout. The manager’s face slackened some.

“Did you see her? Where is she?” Vozzii waved the trap, grinning widely.

“We got her!” Cinder said, her exuberance muted due to the stares she was getting for wearing a tablecloth. “You won’t be bothered by any more class-five anchored phantasms anymore.”

“And now.” Sunnie cleared her throat. “About payment...” She glanced over at Soul, who winked twice. “For entrapment, it’s going to come to two thousand dollars, and storage…” A single wink. “Storage will be one thousand dollars. However, we are having a special promotion right now, so the ionic recharge will be free.” The manager gaped.

“Three thousand dollars? After you destroyed my midnight buffet, and your only proof you captured… anything is a smoking toaster!?”

“Technically it was Midni-.” Soulful was cut off by the manager’s indignant shriek.

“I don’t care who ruined it, I will not pay you a single red cent!” Sunnie smiled cooly, and she turned to Vozzii.

“That’s alright, we can just let her back out to finish the rest of the buffet, right Vozzii?” The donkey smirked, and turned to walk back into the ballroom. The manager let out a strangled cry and wrapped his forelegs around Vozzii’s substantial waist.

“No no no no! Fine, I’ll pay!” Vozzii’s smile turned sweet.

“Alright. Now, move it, ponies! One class five anchored… whatever it is, coming through!” Vozzii bellowed, waving the trap menacingly and cutting a path through the crowd, Cinder hurriedly following his hoofsteps. Soul finished writing the bill up, and passed it to the manager with a smile, but before they could move on, a short, plump mare barged her way in front of them, her fancy dress fit snugly around her shapely frame. She had a pencil between her teeth, and a tape recorder hastily strapped to her foreleg with tape, her mane starting to slip out of the tight bun she’d wrapped it in.

“Hi, Pencil Test, Manehatten Times. Call me Penny. Who are you? Did you catch the infamous Midnight? Are ghosts real?” Soulful smiled politely at her.

“Yes, ghosts are real, and yes we did capture the famous Pudgewick ghost, Midnight Blossom. As for who we are? We are the GhostStuffers. You may have seen our commercial.” A camera flashed with a loud pop-foom and he blinked the spots out of his eyes. Penny was writing furiously in her notebook, and paused for just a moment to wave an errant strand of hair off her forehead and push her glasses back up her muzzle, her eyes flashing as she looked at Soul..

“Did you have to demolish the Appaloosa Ballroom to catch this so-called ghost? Who will pay for the damages? Who will reimburse us for the Midnight Buffet?” Soulful froze like a deer in headlights. Sunnie gave him a not-so-gentle nudge with her hips and smiled broadly at the reporter.

“All you need to know ma’am, is that there is no job too big, no fee too big, and no feast too big for the GhostStuffers.” With that, Sunnie gave Soul a push, and they fought their way through the crowd back to the Ecto-Tonne, with Penny and several other reporters in hot pursuit. As Vozzii pulled the Ecto-Tonne back into traffic, siren wailing, all four GhostStuffers had grins on their faces, a single thought shared by all.

Manehatten wasn’t ready for what was coming.
~~***~~

Epilogue

The phone had been ringing for some time before the Ecto-Tonne pulled back into the empty firehall, Velvet having headed home for the night just after they left. All four GhostStuffers were exhausted, the adrenaline of their first capture had waned on the drive home, and while Sunnie dragged herself up to the shower to wash the drying ectoplasmic remains off of her, Soulful unplugged the phone, and got settled in his chair to finish up with the Pudgewick’s receipt, yawning all the while. Cinder, still wearing her tablecloth, plugged the trap into the ‘reinforced containment cell’ and fiddled with some of the settings while Vozzii munched on a sandwich next to her.

“I got my hooves crossed that this works.” He said, swallowing. “If she gets out of the Fishtank, I’m going to bed.” Cinder tried not to grimace. Sunnie’s nickname for the device had unfortunately been picked up by everyone except her.

“It will work.” Cinder said, tapping the glass with her hoof before pressing a button on the panel. The trap opened with a bright flash, and she was suddenly muzzle to muzzle with Midnight, who seemed to be asleep, and was still as opaque as she had been back at the hotel. Cinder checked the control panel while Vozzii finished his sandwich, and went back to get another. The sound of a refrigerator opening made Midnight’s eyes snap open, and she charged towards the fridge… before slamming into the glass and bouncing backwards. The Fishtank rattled loudly, sparks flying, but it held, and Cinder let out a whoop. “I told you!” Vozzii meandered back, eyes taking in Midnight’s hurt expression as she rubbed her nose, gazing longingly at the sandwich in his hoof.

“You know, GhostToasters have a nice ring to it.” Vozzii said casually. Cinder sighed, but before she could respond to the latest crack at her equipment, the donkey glanced at the top of the Fishtank and saw that there was a gap in the top. “Uhh, is that supposed to be there?” He asked. Cinder gasped.

“Oh no. I gotta close that, give me a second and keep an eye on her.” Cinder hustled as fast as her bloated body could take her over to the spare construction materials left over by the back wall. Vozzii weighed the sandwich, and with a deft flick of his hoof, sent it sailing through the gap. Midnight was on it like cheese on macaroni, and nary a crumb hit the bottom of the enclosure. “Hay!” Cinder exclaimed, waddling back with a large pane of glass. “She could get out if she knows there’s a gap!” Vozzii shrugged.

“I doubt she could fit through there. I know I couldn’t. Neither could y…” He trailed off, seeing Cinder’s glowering expression, and wisely held his tongue. Cinder finished the last few repairs, while Vozzii entertained himself by having Midnight copy some of his dance moves. Cinder was cinching down the last couple of zipties when there was a knock at the door, and the sound of someone trying the knob. Soulful looked up from his computer screen and with a loud yawn, meandered over to the locked door, expecting to see Velvet back to pick up something she’d missed. Instead, he came nose to nose with a green batpony, eyes brimming with fear, and a bloated belly that nearly dragged on the ground. Soul’s sleepiness evaporated instantly as he recognized her.

“River? Are you okay? What happened to you?” He asked, worry etched into his face. River took a hitching breath, a tear rolling down her cheek.

“You have to he-URRRRRRRP-lp me Soul.” She said, her voice quiet in between belches as Soul opened the full firehouse doors to get her inside. Cinder relinquished her tablecloth to cover the shivering batpony, whose gut rivalled Cinder’s despite the rest of her body being quite thin.

“Help how? What happened?” Soulful guided her to the waiting couch, which sagged heavily as River sat down, the old wood creaking in protest.

“I got some groceries, and I was going to put them away, and… my fridge, it, it was glowing. Not the light, but something els-BURRRRRRRP. I opened it and there was… something there. It looked like a dog, but…” She shivered. “I screamed, and slammed the door but… I started eating. I…URRRRRP… I ate everything in the apartment. Everything. Even the salt. I couldn’t stop.” She practically sobbed. Soul sat next to her, rubbing her shoulder. “And, and the whole time… there was a name that kept repeating in my head.” Her head drooped.

“What name was it?” Soul asked. She looked up at him, staring deep into his soul.

“Druul. It was like somepony kept saying Druul.”
~~***~~