Sunnie's Spooktacular Spookoween Story

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.
~~***~~