Pear and Velvet: Voltergeist

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6

Chapter 1

Twilight meandered back and forth between the walk in closet and her suitcase on the bed as she fussed over what to take on her impending trip. After folding and placing in a second pair of jeans she felt arms slide around her waist and lips against her neck.

“You know, you’re holding up that stereotype about females taking forever to get ready very well.” Night Light mused as he kissed her neck.

“That eager to get rid of me?” She chuckled, laying her hands atop his.

“Just making a point.” He laughed, pulling her tight against him. “I’m never excited to see you go.”

“Really?” She reached back, grabbing the bulge in his slacks. “This feels pretty excited to me.”

“That’s because you’re being indecisive in your underwear.” He noted, hands drifting up to her breasts.

“And you’re not helping.” She twisted in his arms, lacing her fingers behind his his neck. “Pear said she didn’t know how long this would take, I don’t want to under pack.”

“If you wind up needing something you can just buy it when you’re there,” He countered. “Don’t spend so much time sweating the small stuff; that’s your daughter's hobby.”

“I know,” With a light laugh she pushed herself back from him and looked down at her luggage, closing the shell and locking it. “There, it’s closed,” She smirked. “Pear will be here in around two hours.”

“Just enough time to say goodbye.” Night Light smiled as he closed in on her.

“Honey.” Twilight giggled as she took him into her arms, the pair knocking her luggage to the carpet as they fell back onto the bed.

After a fast shower, Twilight got dressed and grabbed a snack just in time to catch the sound of Pear’s truck pulling into her driveway. Kissing Night Light and taking up her luggage, she hurried out and met her friend at the driver’s side window.

“Hey Vel,” Pear greeted brightly. “Just toss it in the back and we’ll be on the road.”

“Okay,” Twilight hefted her suitcase into the truck bed and jumped into the passenger seat; before she could even get her seat belt on, Pear was backing out and heading down the road.

“Heh, hair looks a mess hon; I take it ol’ Night Light gave you same fond farewell my Bright did.”

“Oh…” Twilight realized she forgot to brush and patted her hair down with an embarrassed laugh. “Guilty.” She grinned. “So, did the lawyer give you any more information on this property?”

“Not at whole heck of a lot,” Pear shook her head. “Honestly, we don’t really know what to do with it; Granny Smith was surprised that it was left to her considering she and Maple aren’t family. I mean, they were close back in the day, but they haven’t even seen each other in nigh on twenty years.”

“Well, at the most you could always re-sell it.” Twilight suggested. “Put something away for Apple Bloom’s college.”

“Maybe,” Pear nodded. “But I’m not one to go making plans before I know what we’re dealing with.” She glanced across the cab. “I do sure appreciate you coming with on this.”

“Of course.” Twilight waved it off. “Like you said, we don’t know what we’re walking into so two heads are better than one.”

Leaving the city limits, Pear drove them southwest; their destination was a relatively small town know as Bridle Hill which was only famous for the power plant that served as its economic base. It took several hours but eventually they came across a lone, green highway sign that read Bridle Hill.

“Five more miles,” Pear said with a relieved sigh. “One heck of a drive.”

“That’s for sure,” Twilight fidgeted in her seat. “My butt is numb.”

“Hold out a little more, sugar; we’ll…” Pear paused in confusion as she heard the engine suddenly cut out. “What in the world?” She watched her front console go dark and she quickly veered off the road as her power brakes failed as well. Twilight squealed as they hit the rocky landscape and they inevitably rolled to a stop. “You okay, hon?” Pear quickly asked.

“Yeah… I’m fine,” Twilight nodded. “What happened?”

“No idea,” Pear opened her door and stepped out into the hot afternoon sun. “Let me take a look see.” Reaching under the front console, she pulled the hood latch and went to the front of the truck to investigate. Twilight’s view of her was blocked by the hood, she sat quietly until hearing a rare curse come from Pear as she slammed the hood down.

“What is it?” Twilight asked, leaning out the window.

“The battery is fried.” Pear leaned on the sill of her driver-side window. “Now how in the heck do you suppose that happened?”

“You’re asking me about cars?” Twilight laughed.

“Never seen anything like that before,” Pear sighed. “Nothing to do about it either, going to have to walk to town and get some help.”

“Oh my.” Twilight glanced in the back at her heavy suitcase.

With their luggage rolling behind them, the pair began the long walk the remainder of the way; their confusion about their own breakdown soon left them though as they passed other broken down vehicles. Keeping a brisk pace, they managed to make it to the outskirts of Bridle Hill in just under two hours. Making their way into town, Pear was quick to notice the run down state of the area.

“Boy, place could sure use some TLC.” Pear remarked.

“Among other things,” Twilight look about nervously. “Why is it so quiet?”

“Not sure, but I plan on finding out.” Pear pointed up the road. “Look, that looks like a motel; let’s see if we can get some help there.”

Mildly exhausted from the impromptu hike, the duo entered the motel and found the lobby devoid of life. Twilight located the bell at the front desk and rang it; no response came and she rang it several more times until noise could be heard from the back office. A stallion emerged and eyed the pair in shock; he was dressed in casual clothing but it appeared quite filthy.

“Who are you?” He asked.

“Uh… hey there,” Pear began. “Names Pear Butter, this is my friend Twilight Velvet; we broke down about five miles out of town and hoofed it here.” She explained. “We were heading into town anyway on business, but we could sure use a mechanic or something.”

“Business?” He repeated. “Were you in contact with someone here?” He asked hurriedly, bypassing Pear's request entirely.

“Um, do you work here?” Twilight asked.

“The motel is closed down… everything… everything is closed down…” He muttered.

“What do you mean closed down?” Pear asked in return. “What is going on around here?”

“It’s okay, Pear.” Twilight reached in her pocket and took out her phone. “I’ll call Night Light and have him come…”

“TURN THAT OFF!” The stallion suddenly shouted. “

“What!?” Twilight jumped at the startling outburst.

“You can’t use that… turn it off, now!” He rushed around the counter and reached for the phone.

“Hey!” Pear got between them, grabbing the stallion and easily lifting him from the ground. “What’s gotten into you!?”

“Please,” He looked down at her with panicked eyes. “You… you don’t understand… you…”

“Ahh!” Twilight screamed and tossed her phone to the ground.

“Vel?” Pear glanced back to see her gripping her right hand in pain.

“It shocked me!” She shouted.

“Oh no…” The stallion wriggled free of Pear’s grip and hurried back behind the counter. “It knows you’re here now.”

“What does!?” Pear asked angrily. “Start making some darn sense!”

“Pear!” Twilight called her attention, pointing to her phone. The device lit up and began flashing images on the screen rapidly before bursting into flame. The two mares stood over it as the fire died out and gave each other deeply concerned looks. “What in the world was that?”

“Tanner!?” A new voice called out, followed by the sound of harried steps; another stallion and a Kirin came rushing into the lobby and surveyed the scene. “What was that sound?” The stallion asked.

“They had a phone.” Tanner pointed to Pear and Twilight. “It already destroyed it.”

“Who are they?” The stallion continued.

“Pear and Twilight,” Pear said stoutly. “Now, some creature tell me what the heck is going on.” She demanded, pounding the front desk so hard the laminate veneer cracked.

“Please,” The stallion approached. “I’m sorry if Tanner frightened you; my name is Applewood, Tanner is my nephew.” He gestured back to the Kirin. “This is Hibiscus; she was our front desk clerk before everything shut down.”

“So, you own this place?” Pear asked.

“Yes, but as Tanner said… this entire town is effectively shut down.” Applewood confirmed.

“Why?” Twilight inquired. “What happened here?”

“That’s… a bit of a story, a spectacular one at that.” He sighed. “Your car broke down outside of town, right?”

“Yes,” Twilight nodded. “We passed a bunch of others too.”

“I know,” He leaned against the counter. “Like you, they’re stuck here too now.”

“How?” Pear continued. “What has got everybody so shook?”

“It’s a spirit!” Hibiscus blurted out.

“A spirit?” Pear repeated with great suspect.

“It’s not…,” Applewood laid his hand to his temple. “We’re not entirely sure what it is; but most have been calling it a ghost.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Pear looked across the trio.

“Does any of this look like we’re joking!” Tanner angrily shouted. “You have no idea what it's been like!”

“Tanner! That’s enough.” Applewood scolded. “Everyone starts out a skeptic at first.”

“So… this spirit,” Twilight began. “What is it?”

“It’s a poltergeist to be precise,” Hibiscus took over, adjusting her glasses. “An entity that stays manifested in the corporeal world… very angry and very violent.” She stepped closer. “Normally, they stick to one place, usually the place of their death. But this poltergeist first manifested in the power plant and somehow it gained the ability to harness electricity and travel through hard-lined and wireless systems. It spread itself over the entire town and has it under its control.”

“That… that sounds like something out of a movie.” Twilight glanced over at Pear.

“Yeah, it does.” Applewood nodded. “But believe me, I wish this was just something on a screen. Whatever the hell this thing is, it forced us to abandon all things electrical. The town has been cut off from the outside world and any vehicle that gets within five miles dies out.”

“From what I can figure,” Hibiscus stepped in. “The poltergeist can emit a wide range EMP using all the power generated at the plant; we can’t use vehicles, we can’t use telecommunications… we’re trapped here.”

Pear, begrudgingly trying to accept all this, pointed out towards the road. “Well, it may not be pleasant, but why not load up and walk out?”

“It won’t let you.” Tanner came in, finally calmed down. “A few tried, it fried them from the power lines as soon as they left the town boundary.”

“Fried?” Twilight repeated.

“Imagine getting hit by lighting… about fifty times in a row.” Applewood said grimly. “The poor bastards were cooked alive.” He stood up straight with an exhausted sigh. “It will let creatures in but it won't let them leave once they're here, we’ve been like this for about eight months now.”

“What do we do now?” Twilight looked to Pear worriedly.

“I’ll be hung and dried before I spend the rest of my life stuck here.” She said with determination. “There must be someway out of this.”

“Ha… that’s what all the others said too.” Tanner noted almost mockingly.

“Look, for now, I think I should take you over to the Sheriff.” Applewood suggested. “He’s basically taken control since this all started, been keeping everything running as smoothly as possible.”

“Alright.” Pear accepted with a frustrated sigh.

“We can’t do anything without more information.” Twilight set her hand to Pear’s shoulder.

“Right,” Pear nodded. “Lead the way, Applewood.”

Applewood led them from the motel and started down the block towards the police station. Pear and Twilight looked about as they proceeded, seeing little more than empty commercial buildings and trash blowing down the street. The police station sat on the corner of Paradise and N. Marketview; there was finally signs of activity as they saw residents going in and out with equipment or bags of canned goods. Applewood was greeted as they entered and he asked to see the Sheriff; one of the still uniformed deputies left the front desk and headed into the rear offices, soon a stout Griffon emerged and looked over the strange faces.

“Two more, eh?” He grunted.

“This is Pear and Twilight, broke down same as the others.” Applewood explained.

“Didn’t know this damned town was so popular.” He approached the mares. “Well, welcome to hell; names Wyndham.”

“Nice to meet you,” Twilight shook his talon. “Applewood says you’ve been running things here?”

“Yeah,” He nodded. “Had to enact martial law to keep the peace; our mayor was of the ones killed by that thing.”

“Hibiscus called it a poltergeist.” Twilight recalled.

“Hmph,” Wyndham scoffed. “I don’t care what anyone calls it, all I care about is stopping it while we’re all still breathing.”

“Doesn’t seem to be much progress on that end.” Pear noted.

“Had to focus on the essentials first,” He explained. “After we realized electricity was out the window, we had to go off the grid overnight.” He walked over to the window and looked out. “Everything had to be reorganized. We salvaged all the dried and canned food, food stuffs and bottled water we could from the grocery stores. We had to switch to candles, torches and even old oil lamps for light and any oil, gas or other fossil fuels were gathered and stored to keep them up. We also used some vacant residential lots to set up crops using seeds from the home store garden centers and local nurseries.” He turned back to them. “Once we managed to cobble together a working system to ensure we could survive, I started focusing on finding out just what that thing was and how it was attacking.”

“We were told it started at the power plant.” Pear informed.

“Yeah… but our attempts to get into that place haven’t exactly been successful, whenever we get near it attacks us.” Wyndham stroked the underside of his beak. “Conventional weapons are useless and we don’t have access to any machinery or vehicles. Damned thing has us locked in a standstill and won’t let us just leave. It’s like it wants us to suffer.”

“Is there anything we can do?” Twilight asked.

“For now, just sit tight and stay safe.” He looked to Applewood. “Applewood has been using the motel to lodge all the others like you, I suggest you get settled with him. If you have any particular skills, we’d appreciate whatever you could offer.”

“I run a family farm with my husband,” Pear detailed. “I should take a look at your setup.”

“That’d be great.” Wyndham nodded in acceptance. “In the meantime, stick with Applewood; we make sure everyone gets enough food and basic necessities so he’ll take care of you.”

“Sure thing.” Applewood tipped his head. “Come on ladies, I’ll get you set up in a room and give a little rundown of how things operate now.”

“Thank you.” Twilight said graciously.

As they walked back to the motel, the gravity of their situation finally began to settle in; no matter how incredible it seemed to them, there was no doubt that this was very real. After stopping at the front desk for a key and their luggage, Applewood led them towards the rear of the building to room two-hundred and twelve.

“Here we are,” He took the key from his pocket. “Fortunately, this town is old enough to still have physical keys for the doors; if we had key-cards we really have a problem.” He unlocked the door and allowed them in; he continued as they looked about the room. “We’ve been making sure everyone gets two meals a day, first is at nine in the morning and the second is at six in the evening. The city’s electrical grid is still active so the taps and plumbing work, unfortunately we can’t access hot water as the heaters were electric instead of gas so we disconnected them. We keep some fire-pits at the ready to heat water though, if you want some coffee or tea."

“We won’t take more than necessary.” Twilight promised.

“Oh, and it would be best if you get rid of any metal on you, piercings or jewelry and the like.” He added. "We've done everything we can think of to make sure it can't attack us while we're outside, but no sense taking any chances."

“Will do.” Pear nodded.

“Alright, if you need anything, Hibiscus and I are always around.” With that, he left them to get settled.

“I can’t believe this…” Twilight sat on the bed. “What a nightmare.”

“Maybe, but I’m not just going to sit around and wait for a miracle.” Pear said boldly. “That ain’t how life works.”

“What can we do though?” Twilight asked. “If we stay safe long enough, I’m sure our husbands will come looking for us.”

“And then what?” Pear eyed her. “They’ll just wind up stuck in the same mess. If we’re going to get out of here, we’re going to have to make it happen ourselves.”

Twilight smiled at her resolve, feeling a tad relieved by it. “Well… if that’s how you feel about it, we’re going to have to learn what we can about whatever is keeping everyone here.”

“Right,” Pear agreed. “That Hibiscus girl seemed to have her head more wrapped around this than most, we should talk to her and see what all she knows.”

“Okay,” Twilight stood and hefted her luggage onto the bed. “Better get rid of my earrings and my piercing.”

Pear looked her over with a slightly opened mouth. “Piercing?” She repeated.

“Oh…” Twilight smiled shyly. “I… got my navel pierced for my thirty eighth birthday.”

“Vel.” Pear laughed at the idea.

“What?” Twilight chuckled. “It was something wild and spur of the moment; besides, Night Light said it was sexy.”

After a light rest, Pear and Twilight joined the others for dinner out on the side parking lot. Aside from themselves, there were a total of sixteen others who had become stranded in the town ranging from newlyweds to elderly couples who were trying to enjoy cross country retirement trips. Four long, folding tables were set up with plastic chairs and plastic flatware; Applewood and Tanner began serving the night’s cuisine which consisted of soup, cheese, bread and and a fresh vegetable medley from one of the town gardens. One of the older couples offered to give thanks; while not everyone was spiritual, no one could argue that it certainly didn’t hurt given the current situation. As everyone started in, Applewood looked over at his newest guests with a light smile.

“So, what was it that brought you to our happy little town?” He asked.

“Business actually,” Pear began after swallowing. “My mother in law was left an estate from an old friend who passed away; we came here to have a look see at the property.”

Applewood nodded. “Everyone here has a similar story and similar homes to get back to, all the more reason why we need to make it through this alive.”

The tables opened up to less somber topics as they ate; once everyone was done, Tanner and Hibiscus began collecting the flatware to be disposed.

“Hey…” Tanner paused as he took up Pear and Twilight’s plates. “I’m… sorry about before; we’re all just tired and scared and…”

“It’s alright.” Twilight assured with a smile. “I certainly don’t blame you having seen all this.”

“Thanks.” He nodded as he moved on down the line.

“Poor boy,” Twilight watched him off. “Everyone must be traumatized from this.”

“Have to admit though,” Pear began. “I do respect the sense of community; probably because this was a small town to begin with. If this were a big city, everyone would probably be at each other’s throats; and darn sure not willing to treat outsiders like us so kindly.” Pear rose from the table. “Come on, let’s go chat up Hibiscus and get to business; we may have a roof, food and water but that doesn’t mean we have a whole heck of a lot of time.”

“Right.” Twilight concurred as she stood. “We have to help these creatures if we can.”

As dinner wrapped up and everyone returned to their rooms, Pear and Twilight sought out Hibiscus who had planted herself at the front desk with a book. The Kirin’s eyes slowly rolled upward as a pair of shadows cast themselves over the text.

“Oh, hi.” She folded the book closed. “Need something?”

“Actually, we want to hear what you have to say about this poltergeist.” Twilight informed.

“You do?” She asked with some surprise. “You believe me?”

“I don’t know what to believe.” Pear stated plainly. “But we want to learn everything we can so we can start working on a way out of here.”

“Huh?” Hibiscus gave them a queer look. “You’re going to try to escape?”

“Never been one to sit around when there’s a problem to be solved.” Pear said proudly. “We sure appreciate being taken in, but I’ve got no intention of staying here forever; everyone here has family to get home to and sitting around waiting to be saved sure ain’t getting anyone anywhere.”

Hibiscus glanced around. “Okay, we should talk about this in my room.” She stood and waved for them to follow. “Everyone has their own ideas on what’s going on, even Applewood still won’t straight up admit that this entity is a spirit; but based on what I’ve seen it can’t be anything else.” She detailed as they walked the halls; once at her door, she quickly let them in and joined them around the coffee table. “So, what do you want to know?”

“How about you tell us how and when this all started?” Twilight suggested.

“Sure,” Hibiscus settled in her chair. “So, the first reported incident was about ten or eleven months ago. I have a friend who worked there and she told me everything that was going on, despite being told by her superiors to not say a word outside of work. It started out small; bulbs blowing out, computers and other machinery turning on and off by themselves… but about a month into it there was the first death.”

“What happened?” Twilight asked.

“A worker was performing maintenance on one of the main turbines; they deactivate them for service but it came back on and he was electrocuted. At first, it was labeled an accident but then it spread around the plant that there was no way that generator could have come back online in the state it was in.” She shrugged. “One thing led to another and creatures started to link all the strange events together and talk of something supernatural began.”

“Bet that didn’t fly over too well.” Pear noted.

“No, management went to great lengths to quell any talk of the sort; my friend said they even threatened termination.”

“The situation must have been confusing, but that seems harsh.” Twilight pointed out.

“That’s the thing, all the decisions on the matter were coming straight from Mr. Pollock, he was the plant manager.” Hibiscus explained.

“So, what happened next?” Pear asked.

“One of the workers finally saw it.” Hibiscus continued. “He quit the same day and he was the one who started spreading the information of what was going on around town. He said he saw a warped and twisted stallion formed completely out of electricity. According to his account, it blew out all the lights in the room he was working in and tried to hit him with pure discharge; he refused to return to the plant and begged Wyndham to investigate the matter.”

“What came of that?” Pear asked further.

“Well, Wyndham tried to send some of his deputies over, but Mr. Pollack refused to let them in. He said they had no warrant and that he disavowed anything the employee was saying. But not long after that the entire workforce walked out of the plant after seven employees were killed at once.”

“Seven?” Twilight repeated.

“They were all workers in the transmission maintenance department.” She detailed. “They were inspecting the outgoing feed into the main grid and were all electrocuted. The workers couldn’t agree on what was happening, but they all agreed that something was very wrong with the plant and it was abandoned.” She sighed in retrospective thought. “But that might have been what made the situation worse; with the plant abandoned there was nothing to stop it from infecting the systems completely, it discovered how to travel through the grid and that’s when the town found itself under attack.” She threw her arms out in sudden fashion. “It happened so fast, creatures were being electrocuted all over town; in their homes, at work… even just walking down the street. Everything devolved into panic and what made it worse is when the mayor was killed in the attacks. That’s when Wyndham took control and ordered the deactivation and disconnection of all electronic machinery and devices. He even went so far as to bring down the majority of the power lines around town to keep us safe from strikes while we were out.”

"How come no one has come to help?" Twilight asked.

"Well, it's a small town... no one really knows about us." Hibiscus explained. "On top of that, the power plant is still operating and producing electricity, so none of the larger neighboring cities know anything is wrong."

"Be they will if it decides to ride the electrical rails into their neck of the woods." Pear considered.

"That's the last thing that makes me believe this is poltergeist activity." Hibiscus retorted. "Why hasn't it left? I think that it wants to punish this town for whatever happened to it; poltergeists are vengeful spirits and it seems to me like its holding us hostage as an act of revenge."

Twilight and Pear absorbed the idea with hard eyes. "An electrical spirit with a grudge... sounds more like a voltergeist." Twilight surmised.

"Voltergeist huh?" Hibiscus made an impressed hum. "That sounds like a good name for it." She placed her hands on her knees with a long breath. “But anyway, I assume Wyndham told you the rest.”

“For the most part, yeah.” Pear nodded. “Thanks for filling us in.”

“No problem,” She looked between the two mares. “So… what exactly do you plan on doing?”

“Don’t know just yet,” Pear admitted. “But like Vel says, we can’t do anything until we have some facts. For now though…” She stood from her seat. “I think we need to get some rest, been one heck of a day.”

“Good idea.” Twilight let a yawn slip. “I think dinner is finally hitting me.”

“Well, I know it might not be easy, but I hope you sleep well.” Hibiscus offered as she walked them to the door. “If you need anything, you know where to find me.”

“Thank you, Hibiscus.” Twilight said sincerely. “Have a good night.”

The duo walked back to their own room, the halls growing dark as the sun fully set. Once inside, Pear lit a set of thick candles in dishes and brought the room to a soft glow.

“In the morning, I’m going to make good on my word and check their crop setup.” Pear informed as she stripped to her underwear.

“Anything you want me to handle?” Twilight asked as she did the same, retrieving her night gown from her luggage.

“Talk to Wyndham again if you can,” Pear advised. “See if he can add anything to what Hibiscus told us.”

“Will do.” Twilight promised as they each took a bed.

Pear heard her let out a long sigh. “Don’t worry, sugar; we’ll get through this.”

Twilight smiled to herself. “Yeah, I know we will.” She agreed. “Good night, Pear.” She blew out her candle.

“Night, Vel.” Pear did the same and settled down in the far from blissful quiet of the powerless motel.

Author's Note

This story is taking a diversion from the style of the previous in this series. If you want a more detailed explanation of why, I talk about it in a post on my page. But, even though this may feel different, I hope everyone enjoys it just as much.

Chapter 2

Ever the farm girl, Pear was up early even after a muddled sleep. After an all too brisk wash up with ice cold water, she got dressed and sat on the corner of Twilight’s bed.

“Vel?” She called.

The sheets shifted and Twilight slowly sat up with a tired sigh. “Morning already?”

“Yeah,” Pear chuckled. “C’mon city girl, how about I boil some water and make us some coffee.”

“You’re way too comfortable with all this.” Twilight laughed as she swung her legs over the edge of the mattress.

“Just like camping.” Pear noted as she stood and headed for the door.

Twilight took the time to get ready for the day herself, Pear returning soon with two cups of coffee. “Thanks.” She took a quick sip, the dark and strong brew hitting her tongue like a hammer.

“Still got close to two hours before breakfast,” Pear sat on her bed and took a drink. “Applewood says he hoped you slept alright.”

“That’s sweet,” Twilight smiled. “I didn’t… but that’s still sweet.”

“Yeah, can’t say I did much better.” Pear admitted.

“This jet fuel sure helps.” Twilight laughed as she looked into her cup.

“Every creature is so used to latte, frappa-whatevers now, they can’t handle real coffee.” Pear emptied the rest of her cup down her throat.

“Pear… be careful outside today.” Twilight reminded.

“Heh, don’t worry about me, sugar.” Pear said confidently. “Don’t need electricity to grow vegetables; just soil, seeds, water and elbow grease.”

Twilight giggled as Pear gripped her bicep. “Okay,” She quickly finished the rest of her coffee, eyes opening wide as it ran down her throat. “Hoo! Well, how about we see if we can help get things ready for breakfast?”

“Sounds good.” Pear agreed as she took Twilight's cup and hung it from her fingers along with her own.

The two caught up with Tanner and Hibiscus, offering to lend a hand with prepping the tables and flatware; the other residents slowly assembled as they worked and once Applewood arrived they sat down to eat. After the fact, Pear and Twilight parted ways with the former being guided towards the town gardens while the latter headed for the station. Twilight entered the already busy front lobby where the daily regimen for the remaining deputies was already in progress.

“Excuse me,” Twilight made herself known to the stallion at the front desk. “I’d like to speak with Sheriff Wyndham if I can.”

“Oh… uh, hold on a second ma’am.” He pushed his chair back and disappeared into the rear offices. He soon reappeared and motioned for her to come back with him; Twilight was escorted to the largest of the rear offices and stepped inside to find the Griffon at his desk.

“Good morning, Sheriff.” Twilight greeted.

“Wyndham is fine,” He gestured to the chair opposite him. “Titles really don’t mean much around here anymore.” He folded his talons on the desktop. “Twilight, right?”

“Yes,” Twilight nodded. “Pear is down at the gardens like she promised, but I wanted to talk to you more about this being we’re dealing with.”

“Rare for one of the out-of-towners to take up an interest in anything besides making it through the day.” He noted.

“Well, Pear and I have decided to do what we can to help with this situation.” She explained. “She isn’t too fond of the idea of just sitting and waiting and I agree with her. We spoke at length with Hibiscus last night and she gave us the basics of what happened at the power plant.”

“Hmm?” Wyndham’s brow raised.

“Which…I didn’t consider is something she might not want certain creatures to know.” Twilight said in retrospect.

“What exactly did she tell you?” He asked.

“She gave us a second hand account of a friend’s experience in the plant.” Twilight began. “The mysterious accidents and ultimately the deaths of close to a dozen workers, the plant manager’s insistence that it not be spoken of and his decision to not let your force inside the plant, and the abandonment of the plant which preceded the attack on the town.”

Wyndham slowly nodded. “A lot of the former employees were killed when the town was attacked, the majority of the ones that are left gave me some form of ‘I don’t know’ when questioned about what was going on in the plant.” He made a considering hum. “They were traumatized and too scared to say much I imagine. The biggest account I received was from a former employee who left before the big walk out.”

“Yes, she mentioned him to us.” Twilight corroborated.

“As you said, I tried to look into it but Alabaster wouldn’t hear of it.”

“Is that… Mr. Pollock?” She inquired about the unfamiliar name.

“Yeah,” He nodded. “Told me that whatever was said to me was the rantings of a superstitious fool; since the deaths were labeled as accidental and no evidence of foul play could be uncovered by the coroner, there wasn’t anything I could legally do.”

“That’s understandable, but Hibiscus also told us that he was really adamant about quieting any talk of anything supernatural.” Twilight continued. “He threatened the employees over the matter.”

“It doesn’t do anyone any good for that kind of talk to run rampant without any proof.” Wyndham countered. “I mean, we know more now after the attacks, but before?”

Twilight made a quiet sigh. “In my experience, for what it's worth, creatures who work so diligently to keep others from not talking about something… aren't doing it because they don’t believe it.”

Wyndham absorbed her words quietly before continuing. “Two of the former employees did say something about Alabaster’s behavior.” He finally spoke. “They said he seemed nervous and paranoid every time it was brought up; which, if you knew him, are two words that would never be used to describe him.” He leaned back into his chair. “So, you think he actually believed it was a ghost?”

“Only because of what Hibiscus told us.” Twilight carried on. “She believes that it isn’t just a ghost but a poltergeist, which according to her, is a spirit driven by vengeance. She questioned why it kept everyone in the town here and why it hadn’t used the outgoing lines to travel to other larger areas; she thinks it wants revenge for something.”

Wyndham let out a long breath. “If that’s so, then Alabaster would have something to do with that thing; which would mean conducting a criminal investigation in the middle of all this.”

“Let Pear and I look into it,” Twilight asked. “We want to help, and this may be our way of doing it; if we can find out more about this entity then it may lead to learning what we can do to stop it.”

“That’s extremely dangerous.” He gravely toned.

“Yes, but just getting by day by day isn’t going to get us out of this.” She retorted. “Hibiscus said that as long as that thing keeps the plant running then no one is going to come to help. We have to do this ourselves.”

A smiled formed on his rugged beak. “Alright, I’ll give you free run of the town and access to wherever you need to go. But be aware, the farther out into the town you go from this central spot we’ve carved out, the more at risk you are to be attacked. We weren’t able to shut every single thing down and knock out every place it could show up.”

“We’ll be careful.” She promised. “And whatever we find out, we’ll make sure you’re the first to hear about it.”

“Appreciated.” He nodded. “With all the focus of day to day we…” He stopped as the office door opened, a mare’s head peering inside.

“Boss, the team is ready to make another push.” She relayed.

“Alright, I’ll be right there.” He replied as the door shut. “Sorry, that’s all the time I have for now.”

“What’s going on?” She asked as he stood.

“Well, I don’t advertise this too much as not to get hopes up, but we’ve been working to clear a power free path to the plant.” He explained. “With protective suits I’ve been having a team of workers move very slowly through a planned route, as they go they take out and remove anything that monster can use to conduct itself. We’re hoping to make a safe road to the plant so we can gain access.”

“You go with them?” She asked further. “Shouldn't you stay safe, you are in charge after all.”

“Never ask someone to do something you aren’t willing to do yourself.” He chuckled. “Especially when it comes to fighting electric spirits.”

“Than can I join you?” Twilight stood.

“Look, I appreciate your courage and willingness but…” He paused as he saw the look of determination in her eye. “Heh… alright, I certainly can’t stop you. But let us handle the work, stay back and stay safe.”

“Thank you, Wyndham. I need to see this for myself and an extra pair of eyes won’t hurt.”

“Can’t argue with that,” He opened his office door and gestured for her to proceed. “Come on, we’ll get you set up with some insulated gear.”

Pear had given the gardens a once over, being provided a tour by the lead of the agricultural team tasked with ensuring that the town would have fresh food. Cataloging everything in her mind as they walked, she was ready to give her opinion once they reconvened with the other workers.

“So,” The stallion introduced as Picket began. “What do you think?”

“Well, it ain’t pretty,” Pear noted. “But given the circumstances, it’s impressive what you pulled off in such a short time. That being said, there are a few things I’d tune up.”

“What have you got?” He asked.

“Well, you’ve got some redundancies in the irrigation system; that’s leading to over-watering in some areas and under-watering in others. Also, if you’ve got some EZ-ups or something, you need to cover your peas, beans, leaf greens and broccoli for half the daylight hours.” She pointed out towards the edge of the parcel. “Your compost looked pretty dry on the top; make sure you get some water on it and churn it more often. And your berries are honestly too close together; not much to do about it now, but you can use some twine to pull them apart a little to get more air flow to the fruit.” She looked over the team. “If you do all that, it should help improve your yield, although here’s hoping we won’t be here that long.”

“Wow,” Picket said as he finished writing everything down. “Nice to have a real farmer here to help with this.”

“Well, you all did a pretty fine job.” Pear commended. “Most farmers don’t have to plan in the middle of a crisis.”

“Thanks,” He gave her a coy smile. “I suppose it’s too much ask that you be single too?”

Pear laughed and shook her head. “Sorry, got a whole mountain of stallion waiting for me back home.”

“Worth a shot.” He shrugged innocently. “Alright, you heard the lady, let’s get to work.”

As they dispersed, Pear headed back to the motel to clean up and wait for Twilight.

On the opposite side of town, Twilight was a few yards behind the work team with her eyes scanning everything around her. She noted how slow and meticulous the work was; with the team moving only about ten yards at a time, combing the street for anything that could give their opponent an access point to attack them. Dressed in protective wear with face shields, rubber covering for their hooves and claws, insulated gloves and insulated electrician’s tools, they entered each building one at a time. Shutting down fuse boxes, knocking down lighting fixtures, blocking outlets with boards or furniture and turning off the water and gas; each structure was rendered electrically impotent. The quiet was so intense that the slightest rustle of a stray plastic bag was enough to catch Twilight’s attention. Being in back, seeing how her nerves were, she could only imagine the stress of those putting themselves directly in harm’s way. As Wyndham guided the operation, she swore she caught sight of a bizarre flicker down the street. Straining her eyes at a single spot, her suspicion was confirmed with a bluish flash.

“Wyndham!” Twilight hurried up to his back.

“Twilight, what is it?”

“Can you see that?” She pointed. “Down the road, just past that white sedan.”

Wyndham’s superior, avian eyes narrowed in on the spot and he let out a sharp gasp. “Shit…” He muttered. “Everyone back out! We might have a situation!” He yelled into the adjacent building.

“What is it, sir?” One of the team asked as they hurried out and to his side.

“Downed power line,.” He pointed to the spot showed to him by Twilight. “And it’s in a pot hole full of water from the last rain.”

“Is it live?” Another asked.

“Saw a spark.” He answered. “What about you?” He glanced back at Twilight.

“Yes, I saw one too.”

“Damn it,” The worker peered down the way. “We’ll need to move that line, if it’s just setting off some sparks then that probably means it’s just stray electrical discharge. I’ll take care of it.”

“Chaplin,” Wyndham toned. “Anything looks off, clear out.”

“Will do, sir.” He nodded before stooping down and making a move for the line. His eyes were affixed to the area above him as he came upon the arrant power line, he signed that there was no sign of activity and stepped around the small pool; reaching down to take hold of the cable, his heart skipped as he saw a pair of eyes in the water. “Oh fuck…” He felt a sharp impact in his chest as a massive surge of electrical discharge blew into him and launched him several feet in the air.

“Chaplin!” Wyndham called as he and the others began moving over to aid the stallion.

The electric swell within the pool of water began to increase and a horrid cry unlike anything a mortal creature could produce shook everyone to their core. Twilight’s body froze and she watched the energy contort into a misshapen but clearly pony form; while no solid attributes could be realized, an unmistakable pair of eyes stared at them with absolute contempt.

“Oh my god…” Twilight raised her hand to her shielded face.

Wyndham had Chaplin up in his talons and screamed for them to fall back; but before they could move, the entity raised its arm and fired a bolt over their heads and into a nearby fire hydrant; the metal cracked open from the blast and water began to spew across the street.

“It set a trap for us.” Wyndham concluded, the hardened Sheriff’s voice laced with a shock that seemed rare from him. “Run, now!” He commanded as he, Twilight and the rest of the team began sprinting to escape the pooling water.

Twilight could swear she heard a distorted laugh from behind them as a massive arc of electricity flew over their head and landed in a fresh pool of water; the being instantly manifested before them and spread its arms wide.

“No… no!” One of the workers panicked and ran to the side into a building.

“Amber!” Wyndham called after the mare. “That building isn’t clear!”

Ignoring the warning, she hurried inside and skidded to a stop as she found herself in an electronics store. “Oh no.” She barely managed to whisper as the display televisions came to life, each screen displaying a single, scowling eye. “Please… don’t…” The others watched as the front window of the store blew apart, Amber’s body rag-dolling through the glass and onto the asphalt.

“Take Chaplin!” Wyndham passed the unconscious stallion to another worker who proceeded to run with the others as the Sheriff rushed to save Amber. Twilight, driven by instinct, followed Wyndham to help. As they came upon Amber, the mare struggled to rise; her protective suit was shredded from the glass and her body was covered in water. As Wyndham reached out to grab her extended hand, the entity materialized behind her and halted them.

“Leave her alone!” Twilight yelled out, her body running only on adrenaline.

The thing looked at them and they were convinced they saw a smile form within the swirling electricity of its face. “Kill… you…” It uttered in a voice of crackling static.

“What?” Wyndham’s beak fell open.

“Kill… you… ALL!” It lowered its arm and poured a stream of raw, high amp voltage into Amber’s compromised gear. The two watched helplessly as the mare screamed for her life; her eyes bulged and exploded, the inside of her face shield coating in blood while her frantically jerking body began to smoke.

Twilight screamed out all the breath in her lungs as Wyndham took her up in his arms and started to run after the remainder of the team. Bolts rained down around him but he opened his wings and leapt, gliding out of the water and onto the dry asphalt before keeping on without looking back.

Pear sprinted up the road at full bore after having been sent word that Twilight was at the station following the attack. The front door nearly came off its hinges as she rushed in, the deputy at the desk pointing her to the Sheriff’s office.

“Vel!” Pear scanned the room, finding Twilight in a chair with her head lowered.

“Pear.” Twilight looked up at the sound of her voice.

“Vel, are you alright!” Pear skidded onto her knees in front of Twilight and took her shoulders.

“I’m okay, Pear,” Twilight laid her hands on Pear’s forearms. “Please, calm down.”

“What happened!?” Pear looked back at the Sheriff.

“She was with us on a job in town,” Wyndham began. “We’ve been making daily trips to push closer to the plant but… this was the first time we’ve ever been attacked like that.”

“Why the hell would you bring Vel out on something like that!?” Pear asked angrily.

“I asked to go.” Twilight called her attention. “Don’t blame Wyndham.”

“You…” Pear eyed her worriedly. “Why in the world would you do a fool thing like that?”

“Because I wanted to see the town for myself and learn what I could, like we said we would.” She answered. “I… I saw it, Pear. It’s real.”

“You did?” Pear looked back to Wyndham.

“Yes,” He nodded. “Apparently it’s been aware of what we’ve been trying to do… damn thing laid a trap for us; honestly, Twilight saw it before I did, if she hadn’t warned me before hand none of us might have made it back. She was very brave and we owe her our lives.” He stepped around his desk. “Still, we did lose Amber. I’m… sorry you had to see that, Twilight.”

“See what?” Pear returned her attention to Twilight.

“It was so horrible…” Twilight muttered and shook her head. “It killed her right in front of us.”

“I was on the fence about this ghost business,” Wyndham continued. “But when I heard that thing speak…" He trailed off. "Hibiscus was right, that monster was a stallion at one point and clearly has it in for everyone in this town.”

“It talked?” Pear repeated.

“It said it wanted to kill us,” Twilight explained. “All of us.”

“So what now?” Pear glanced back at Wyndham.

“For now, I need to speak to the rest of the station about Amber. Chaplin is being treated, he has some interior injuries but he’ll live.” He went to the door and looked down at them. “Please take her back to the motel so she can rest.”

“Thank you.” Twilight managed to give him a smile.

“Thank you.” Wyndham said in return as he headed out.

Pear got Twilight up from the chair and quickly hugged her. “I should have been there with you, I’m sorry, Vel.”

“What you were doing was just as important.” Twilight assured, squeezing her back. “I’m alright, really; just shaken is all. I’ve… never seen anyone die before, at least not like that.” She took a breath to compose herself. “But at least we know we’re on the right track now; I’ve got some more information too, let’s get back and we can share what I learned with the others.”

“Okay.” Pear rubbed her shoulders with a reassuring smile. “But from now on, we tackle this kind of stuff together.”

“You got it.” Twilight nodded.

Once Pear got Twilight back to the motel, they met up with Applewood who was waiting to inquire about what had happened. Relived that Twilight was okay, he offered to bring her some fresh tea; Twilight accepted and asked that he also bring Hibiscus and Tanner with him so she could discuss what she had learned and seen. Applewood and the others assembled in the room with them and Twilight detailed the attack on the work team, the death of Amber and the chilling words with which the manifestation had left she and Wyndham.

“My god.” Applewood held his chin.

Hibiscus glanced over at him shakily. “So, do you believe me now?” She asked.

Applewood sighed and slowly nodded. “I suppose I do; so, it really is after the townsfolk in particular.” He shook his head longingly. “And poor Amber, knew her since she was little.”

Tanner looked at Twilight with regret. “I know how it feels to see that,” He quietly began. “When the major attack on the town happened, I was out with my two best friends; the local alarm siren began going off, it was supposed to be a warning for the town in case of major trouble at the plant so we didn’t know what was happening.” His face soured as the memory returned to him. “Things started blowing right and left, creatures were panicking and running all over the place as anything electrical began to go haywire. We were running to my family’s house and all we did was pass a transformer box on the corner… it looked like lighting jumped out and struck them but it wasn’t a quick hit, it just… wouldn’t stop…” He gritted his teeth, fighting tears. “Hearing your friends scream in a way you didn’t even think they were capable of… watching them just… catch fire like dry timber…” He stopped.

“Tanner,” Hibiscus stopped him. “I know that was horrible for you but I’m sure she’s scared enough.”

“I’m not trying to scare her.” He looked at her sharply but soon just sighed as he calmed himself. “I just… want her to know that whatever she’s feeling right now, she isn’t alone in it.”

“Thank you, Tanner.” Twilight smiled up at him from her chair. “I’m sorry you’ve all been through so much, all the more reason we need to keep pushing and put an end to this.”

“You still want to keep going?” Tanner asked in surprise.

Twilight nodded. “Losing that girl Amber is a tragedy, but between that and talking with Wyndham, I’ve learned some things that may help.”

“What have you got, Vel?” Pear asked.

“Well, and I’m sorry if you didn’t want this getting around Hibiscus, but I told him what you told us last night.” Twilight started apologetically.

“It’s okay,” Hibiscus assured. “I mean, my friend and I could have gotten in trouble before, but now… what can happen that’s worse than what we’re already dealing with?” She asked rhetorically.

“Well, he added some things to what you said that were interesting.” Twilight continued. “For one, about the plant manager Mr. Pollock, Wyndham said that few were willing to say anything about what went on in the plant but two of them pointed out his behavior in particular. They said he was acting very out of character for his typical demeanor and I thought it was odd how a creature so lacking in belief of the supernatural was going to such extreme lengths to shut conversation about it down.” She looked over the group. “Where is he now?”

“Holed up in his mansion with his daughter.” Applewood answered. “After the city was attacked he locked the two of them inside and cut off his home from the power grid. He was so well off from being the plant manager he had plenty of stored food and water to survive for some time without any aid.”

“He didn’t help you at all?” Pear inquired.

“No,” Applewood shook his head. “We tried to go to him but he refused to let anyone inside his home and demanded to be left alone so that we wouldn’t attract that monster’s attention.”

“Some manager, huh?” Hibiscus scoffed. “Selfish old bastard.”

“Well, there’s a chance he may know more about this than he wants any creature to know.” Twilight carried on. “I’d like the chance to talk to him if we can.”

“Good luck with that,” Tanner chuckled. “He won’t let his own neighbors get close to him, much less outsiders like you two.”

“Well, we’ll keep it in mind.” Pear noted. “Anything else, Vel?”

Twilight nodded lightly. “Wyndham was shocked when we found out it set a trap for us, even more so that it was able to speak. Even when it manifested in front of us… it was clear that it was a stallion at one point in time.”

“Since this started at the plant, that would likely make it an employee.” Hibiscus surmised. “Some kind of accidental death that got covered up to protect the plant? That would make sense as to why Pollock won’t talk and fits the profile of a poltergeist.”

“It’s a good place to start.” Pear looked to Twilight.

“Yeah,” She agreed. “Are there any former employees we can speak with?”

“Maybe,” Applewood hummed in thought. “Though, a lot of them clammed up like Wyndham said.”

“We can start working on that in the morning.” Pear came in. “Today has been enough, and you need to rest.”

“She’s right.” Applewood concurred. “Listen, you two seem determined in this so… I’ll help as much as I can.”

“Really?” Twilight offered him a hopeful smile.

“Count me in too,” Hibiscus added. “My hobby has been studying the supernatural, I’ll help however I can.”

“Same here.” Tanner added, the uncharacteristic offer drawing the room's attention. “You’re right, this needs to stop and just sitting on our damn hands isn’t cutting it.”

“Thank you all.” Twilight said genuinely.

“We should get started on dinner.” Applewood reminded his two remaining employees.

“Right,” Tanner headed for the door. “Sounds like a good night for comfort food.”

“Definitely.” Hibiscus agreed as she and Applewood followed. “See you at six.” She waved as they left them to rest.

Twilight sighed and moved from the chair to the bed, Pear joined her and put her arm over her shoulder. “I’m glad you’re okay, Vel; but don’t just try and play what happened off for the sake of being tough. What you saw is something that no creature should have to see.” She rested her head against Twilight's.

Twilight let out a staggered breath as, finally alone and free from the adrenaline rush of the day, her tears were free to fall. “Thank you.” She muttered as she gently wept. Pear wrapped her other arm around her and pulled her close; setting her chin on the top of her head and staying silent as Twilight let the fear and grief of the day out onto her shoulder.

Chapter 3

Pear stuck close to Twilight for the remainder of the evening; following dinner they returned to their room and spoke of anything other than the events of the traumatizing day. Twilight eventually nodded off and Pear kept an eye on her for a while before finally going to sleep herself. Come morning, Pear awoke to find Twilight missing from her bed. She quickly got dressed but before she could head out, the door opened and Twilight scooted in backwards with a pair of mugs in her hands.

“Vel?” Pear went to the door and held it so she could enter.

“I figured I should get the coffee this time.” She said with a smile.

“Oh,” Pear took one of the mugs, surprised to see her friend in such high spirits after the day prior. “I got a bit shook when I saw you had gone,” She noted. “Are… you okay?”

Twilight nodded lightly. “I don’t know about okay, but I feel determined.” She answered. “We can’t let that monster keep ruining the lives of the creatures here.” She recalled Pear’s words the night prior. “Don’t worry, this isn’t just me trying to put on a brave face. I may be rattled, but that isn’t going to slow me down.”

Pear smiled and clinked her mug against Twilight’s. “Right, let’s get to it then.”

With an hour before breakfast, they headed out onto the motel grounds; they came across Tanner during his morning routine and he was quick to stop as they approached.

“Hey, how you doing?” He asked.

“I’m alright.” Twilight answered.

“Good to hear,” He offered a light smile. “Listen, Applewood spoke to Wyndham about the plant employees; he said Wyndham has some names for you.”

“That’s great.” Pear took Twilight’s shoulder. “We’ll head over as soon as we eat.”

“Perfect.” Twilight nodded. “Thank you, Tanner.”

“Sure, see you at breakfast.” He waved as he kept on.

Pear and Twilight were quick to eat, Hibiscus asking to join them for the day during their meal; always grateful for one more, they accepted and the three of them headed over to the station to collect whatever information Wyndham had for them. The station seemed somber, no doubt due to the loss of Amber; Wyndham had remained in his office all morning and in spite of expecting company was startled by their entrance.

“Wyndham?” Twilight saw the heavy look on his face.

“Sorry,” He waved them in and bid them to sit. “Last night was a long one,” He looked to Twilight. “I’m sure you can sense it out there.”

“Yes,” Twilight nodded. “Are you doing alright?”

He laughed and nodded. “Only because I have to,” He braced his forearms on the desk. “So, I hear you’re looking to investigate the incidents at the plant.”

“That’s right,” Pear confirmed. “We got to talking last night and decided that this was the best way to get started on sorting this ghost business out.”

“I’m almost certain that the ghost was a former employee,” Hibiscus came in. “I spent last night thinking about everything and it’s the only possibility that makes sense. Knowing who this thing used to be is the key to stopping this.”

“Even if you identify it,” Wyndham began. “What good will that do other than letting us know who is trying to kill us.”

“Poltergeists are vengeful,” Hibiscus continued. “If we can find out who it is and what happened to him, we might be able to use it to our advantage when it comes time to face it.”

Wyndham slowly nodded. “Well, I have three names for you; the first is one of the two workers that opened up to me. The second is the worker that came to me before the walkout. The third is a former assistant to Alabaster; she wouldn’t talk to me before but she may open up to you.” He extended a scrap of paper across the table. “We converted a lot of the homes and business in the safe zone to support multiple residents, all those addresses are safe for you to travel to.”

“Thank you,” Twilight graciously accepted the paper. “Applewood told us about Alabaster as well, do you think we could speak to him?”

“I don’t know if that’s a great idea.” Wyndham countered. “His mansion is actually fairly close to the power plant, the only reason he’s safe is because his home had its own private power generators separate from the city grid. Once he shut those down, that thing couldn’t get to him and he considered himself protected. We offered him safety with the rest of us but he refused and swore he and his daughter would only leave when help had arrived from the outside.” He sat back in his chair. “Getting to his place from here would mean traveling through unsecured parts of the town, you saw how much prep work and care goes into our operation and even so we still fell under fatal attack.”

“Well, this is plenty to work with at the moment.” Pear noted.

“Good luck,” He offered as they stood. “And even though you’ll still be in the safe zone, don’t ever let your guard down.”

“We won’t.” Twilight promised.

With Hibiscus at their side, finding the addresses was an easy task. The first was a two-story home about two blocks from the station; this was Pear and Twilight’s first chance to really see day to day life for the townsfolk that remained after the attack. A few children were playing together in the front yard on a mini jungle gym, chasing one another and laughing in a way that seemed to stand in defiance of the situation they were in. A large Yak watched over the kids and waved as they approached.

“Morning, Ashford,” Hibiscus waved back. “Been awhile.”

“Sure has,” He nodded his heavy head. “How are things at the motel?”

“Busy as ever,” She stepped across the porch and gestured behind her. “Speaking of which, this is Pear and Twilight, we came here to speak with a…” She double checked the paper. “Sander, is he here now?”

Ashford thumbed back into the home. “Yeah, his room is upstairs on the left.”

“Thanks.” Hibiscus patted his shoulder as they went inside.

Pear saw a trio of residents playing cards at the dining room table and snacking on pretzels. “You know, ain’t too different from when we visit Granny’s friends back south.”

“This is a real tight-knit community.” Twilight watched them as well. “It’s good to see, in spite of the circumstances.”

As they headed upstairs and to the left, they saw a door slightly ajar and Hibiscus offered a light knock as she peeked inside. “Sander?” She called.

“Huh?” The Stallion was startled at the unfamiliar voice. “Who are you?”

“I’m Hibiscus, I work at the motel.” She introduced. “These are my friends, Pear and Twilight; we actually came to speak with you if you don’t mind?”

“With me?” He eyed the strangers. “Are you from out of town?”

“Yes, we are.” Twilight nodded. “We’re trying to do what we can to help and we’re interested in speaking with you about the power plant.”

His face belied a distinct resistance to the idea. “I already told the Sheriff everything I know about the accidents.”

“We know,” Pear stepped in. “We were more interested in before those accidents happened?”

“Before?” He grew confused.

“Yes,” Twilight slowly sat in the chair across from him, her motherly voice coming out. “We know a lot has happened to you and we want to make sure nothing else does. Anything you can tell us will be helpful."

Sander was calmed by her smooth voice and kind eyes. “A… alright, but I still don’t know what you mean by ‘before’.”

“We have a theory,” Hibiscus explained. “We believe that thing is the manifested spirit of a former employee. Do you know of any accidents or missing personnel from before the attacks?”

“Wait, you really believe it’s a ghost?” He asked.

“We do,” Twilight nodded. “I… saw it for myself and heard it speak; it was clearly once a Stallion.”

Sander’s eyes grew wide for a moment and he let out a disturbed grumble. “Shit… I guess Lavender and Quill were right after all.”

“Who?” Pear asked.

“Oh… they were the ones who were really spreading the talk of something supernatural at the plant; they got a lot of the workers stirred up but it looks like they weren’t the crazy ones in the end.” He paused. “They… they’re dead now.”

“I’m sorry,” Pear offered in consolation. “Do you remember anything they might have said as to what made them believe in the first place?”

“They said it was a Stallion too, said they saw it themselves… like you.” He looked to Twilight. “I don’t recall anything weird happening before it all started. I can say there were three employees that had quit in the year prior… but word was that they moved away.”

“Any of them Stallions?” Hibiscus asked.

“Two of them… I can’t remember their names.” Sander struggled with the question. “One of them wasn’t from around here though, came to town looking for work and wound up at the plant. The other was local, but we we’re told he left for family reasons.”

“We need to find out more about them.” Hibiscus eagerly noted.

“Hopefully the others will know something.” Twilight looked to Sander with a warm smile. “Thank you.”

“Yeah,” He actually smiled back. “I hope you really can help… I just want this to end, we all do.”

“We’ll do everything we can.” Pear vowed.

As they left the house, Hibiscus waved back to Ashford with a heavy sigh. “Even if we find some way to end this, I don’t think anyone in this town will ever be the same again.” She noted sorrowfully. “I’ll probably be too afraid to even use a toaster.”

“Well, my dad told me once that you can either use pain to grow stronger or let pain use you to grow stronger.” Pear stated. “May not mean much from someone who hasn’t been living this for as long as y’all have, but if you start thinking like that then this thing has already won.”

Hibiscus smiled at the country wisdom. “No… you’re right, I’ve still got a lot in life I want to do and most of it revolves around electricity.” She laughed. “Can’t let myself develop a phobia.”

The second destination was actually the bank, which like other properties had been converted to house the displaced townsfolk. It was an odd sight to see a bank lobby filled with mismatched furnishings with even the vault made into a sleeping quarters. Hibiscus began asking around for the name they were given until finally finding a response from an old Mare.

“Winchester?” The mare repeated the name. "I'm afraid he’s not here anymore.”

“He isn’t?” Hibiscus glanced back at her companions. “Where in the world did he go?”

“Said he didn’t like how crowded it was getting, said it made him nervous.” She shrugged. “Wanted to move into a quieter building but not exactly sure where he settled himself.”

“Well, he must be in town somewhere.” Twilight surmised. “We’ll have to track him down later; if you or anyone else here sees him, would you mind letting him know we’re at the motel and looking to speak with him?”

“Alright.” The old Mare nodded.

“Thank you.” Twilight offered as they headed back outside.

“Well, one to go.” Pear put her hands in her pockets. “Hope the third time is the charm.”

“It’ll be interesting to hear what Mr. Pollack’s assistant has to say.” Hibiscus considered. “Wyndham said she didn’t say much to him, but maybe she’ll feel more comfortable if it’s girl talk.”

“Heh, never been one for hen sessions.” Pear chortled.

“You don’t miss all the gossip we shared with Windy, Evershy, Stellar and Cloudy?” Twilight asked with a smirk.

“Well that’s different, we’re all close… and mostly we just spilled on each other.” Pear recalled with a laugh. “Jeez, been a while since we’ve had a chance to talk.”

“I know, I was thinking about that last night.” Twilight confessed. “Situations like this really make you realize how much time we take for granted; I’d really love to see them right now.”

“They sure as heck won’t believe this.” Pear shook her head at the idea of explaining any of this to anyone else.”

Their third and final destination was a older ranch house, looking to be run down even before the town went to hell. Giving the front door a knock, a Griffon answered and smiled when he saw Hibiscus.

“Hey Biscuit.” He grinned. “Long time no see.”

“Galen, hey.” She smiled back. “Yeah, sorry… taking care of all the newcomers at the motel is a full time thing now.”

“Come on in.” He waved for them to enter.

“Biscuit?” Twilight repeated with a giggle.

“It’s a childhood nickname,” She embarrassingly admitted. “When we were young he couldn’t pronounce my name so he kept calling me Biscuit.”

“Aw, that’s sweet.” Pear chuckled.

“So, who are these charming ladies.” Galen asked as they stepped into the living room.

“Twilight and Pear,” Hibiscus introduced. “They’re the newest additions to the town.”

“Sorry to hear.” He said, half jokingly. “What brings you by?”

“We’re looking for a Ms. Poplar.” Twilight explained.

“Oh, yeah… she’s probably in the den.” He glanced back to the rear hallway entrance. “She’s been a godsend around here, so organized and straightforward; kind of strict but… more in a sexy librarian kind of way.” He said with an honest smile.

“For a Griffon you sure act like a dog sometimes.” Hibiscus poked his chest as they headed down the hall.

“Hey, it’s been a while since I’ve gotten my feathers ruffled.” He admitted.

“Thank you, Galen.” Hibiscus waved with a roll of her eyes.

“Sure thing, Biscuit.” He laughed as he made his way into the kitchen.

Poplar sat in the quiet den, the square lenses of her glasses aimed down at a book. She glanced up at the sound of multiple steps and observed her guests. “Hello,” She plainly greeted. “May I help you?”

“We hope,” Twilight answered as they entered fully. “My name is Twilight, this is Pear and Hibiscus. Pear and I were recently stranded here.”

“My condolences.” She folded the book closed. “We’re gathering quite the collection of lost souls.”

“Well, we don’t intend to stay lost.” Pear took over. “We came to ask you about the plant, more specifically about the possibility of some kind of accident or missing creature that came before the attacks on the staff.”

Poplar eyed them curiously. “Is this some kind of investigation?”

“We’re only looking to learn what we can.” Twilight assured. “This isn’t about placing blame; we think the town's monster might have been an employee of the plant. We spoke with a former worker earlier and he said that there were two Stallions that were said to have left before the attacks started. Since you were Mr. Pollack’s assistant, we were hoping that you’d be able to tell us more.”

“And who told you I was his assistant?” She asked in return.

“Wyndham.” Hibiscus answered.

“That stands to reason.” Poplar hummed.

“Can you help us?” Twilight asked.

“The two stallions you’re referring to are Lockhart and Meadow,” She said after a long pause. “One worked in generator maintenance and the other in janitorial.”

“Sander said one was an out-of-towner.” Pear recalled.

“Meadow,” Poplar responded. “He was young and didn’t have any experience in the required fields; but we gave him a job as a janitor.” She cocked her head in consideration. “To my knowledge, both left of their own volition.”

“To your knowledge,” Hibiscus repeated. “That means you don’t know all the details.”

Poplar seemed to take umbrage at the idea. “You think one of them to be this… thing that keeps us here?”

“It’s a possibility.” Twilight nodded. “From what we’ve gathered, Mr. Pollack began acting much differently than usual when all the talk of supernatural goings on started. Can you verify that at all?”

Poplar reflected on past events. “Yes, everyone could see that plainly.”

“How close to him were you?” Hibiscus asked. “I mean, did he share any of his personal thoughts on the matter?”

“No,” She shook her head. “He only ordered that I do whatever was necessary to keep the employee base in line.”

“Are you the one that threatened the firings and disciplinary action for talking about it?” Pear inquired.

“I was only doing as he asked.” She explained. “This is a small town, things like superstition and urban legend spread like wildfire.”

“And what do you believe?” Twilight asked.

Poplar paused again. “I…didn’t know what was going on; I knew something was off and the workers weren’t all imagining things. I like to think I don’t believe in such nonsense as the supernatural but when the town was struck… well, dozens of dead bodies don’t just pile up due to something that doesn’t exist.” She sighed. “You think Mr. Pollack had a hand in creating that monster?”

“Maybe,” Pear said honestly. “That’s what we’re trying to find out.”

She sighed. “Fine, then I admit I don’t know the full circumstances of why those two employees left. He fired them personally and without my knowledge which was his right as plant manager… but it wasn’t standard procedure.”

“Were they poor workers at all?” Pear asked.

“No, Lockhart was competent and Meadow, despite being given such a low position, was happy for the work. Both were on good terms with the others, particularly Meadow since his work took him to all areas of the plant.” She looked them over. “I don’t know much more than that I’m afraid. If something untoward did happen, I have no knowledge of it and many of those who might have known are already dead… save Mr. Pollack himself.”

“Looks like we really will have to find some way to talk to him.” Hibiscus grumbled.

“We’ll do what we have to.” Twilight offered Poplar a thankful smile. “We appreciate this, Poplar.”

Poplar nodded lightly. “I hope you’re wrong though; I don’t relish the idea of having been complicit in lighting the match that burned this town to the ground.”

Poplar seemed to drift into troubled thought and they left her be, saying goodbye to Galen on the way out. With no more they could do at the moment, they headed back to the motel for some water and a snack. Applewood was at the front desk to greet them as they entered and quickly stopped what he was doing.

“How’d it go?” He asked.

“We learned a bit more,” Twilight rested on the counter. “But not everything we need.”

“While you were out I got to thinking,” He began. “You said you came here to see a property that was left to you?”

“That’s right,” Pear nodded. “Something left to my mother in law.”

“This has been going on for almost a year, when did you get notification?” He questioned.

“Well.. we planned this trip about two months in advance,” Pear thought back. “Granny Smith got a letter from the lawyer about a month before that.”

“That’s strange, don’t you think?” He looked across them.

“Now that you mention it…” Twilight looked to Pear. “The town was well into shut down, how in the world did you even get word?”

“I… don’t know.” Pear confessed.

“Do you know the address?” He inquired further.

“Yeah, I’ve got the letter in my luggage.” Pear started for the hall. “Let me get it.”

“That is weird.” Hibiscus agreed as Pear left. “Whoever contacted the law office must have had to use email or something. And if the person died, who would have sent the notice in the first place.”

“Like we need more mystery.” Twilight said as Pear came hurrying back out.

“Four, three, five, Cliffview.” Pear recited.

“Cliffview,” Applewood sighed. “That’s outside the safe zone, not far outside but anything beyond what we’ve secured is dangerous.”

“What do y’all think?” Pear asked the group. “I don’t know what is has to do with anything, but we could find something useful.”

“We should get protective gear from Wyndham.” Twilight suggested. “He said we could have free run of the town if we needed; it won’t hurt to investigate.” She looked to Hibiscus. “You should stay here.”

“No way,” She retorted. “You don’t know the town at all, I can get you in and out fast.”

“She’s got a point.” Applewood concurred. “Just be careful; and as soon as you get to the house make sure you find the fuse box and shut the power off.”

“Will do,” Pear promised. “Let’s get a move on.”

Traveling back to the station and receiving a similar warning of caution from Wyndham, they were supplied with protective equipment and Hibiscus started leading them to the house. Their nerves tensed as they officially passed beyond the safe zone boundary and all eyes and ears were tuned in on their surroundings. There was no more life to be found on their route and abandoned homes and businesses stood like looming tombstones. Twilight and Pear were unnerved to see random corpses just lying about or sitting in vehicles, left to rot wherever they met their tragic end. The only animal life around was the rats and birds who sated themselves on the tattered flesh of the dead townsfolk and the lingering smell of decay filled the still air.

“This is terrible.” Twilight whispered.

“I guess I’m used to it by now.” Hibiscus whispered back. “Not something I’m happy about.” She motioned for them to follow her off the main road. “This way, we can skip the rest of the block if we go through this service easement.” Going through a chain link fence they trekked through an overgrown easement that ran across an entire row of homes; on the other end of the path they crossed the next street and rounded the corner onto Cliffview. Counting the addresses, they found their destination; Pear was quick to seek out the fuse box and shut down the electricity to the property. Feeling a tad more safe, they assembled on the porch before the front door. “Don’t suppose you have the key?” Hibiscus asked.

“I’ve got it.” Pear braced her shoulder against the door and thrust her body forward, the door protested for only a second before forcing open.

Hibiscus looked up and down Pear’s body. “How the hell are you so strong?”

“A daily dose of honest farm work every day since I was seven.” She said proudly.

“You should meet our friend Cloudy.” Twilight noted as they headed inside.

Their improved mood was brought to an abrupt halt as the overwhelming smell of rot assaulted their noses. Hibiscus and Twilight gagged as they pulled their shirts up over their noses.

“Oh my god.” Hibiscus choked. “Smells like something died in here.”

“Pretty sure that’s exactly what happened.” Pear pointed over to a desk against the living room wall, seated before a desktop computer was the half decomposed remains of a pony.

“I’ll open the windows.” Twilight said as she began hurrying around the home, sliding open as many as she could.

Pear approached the corpse and looked it over, noticing the clothing and lengths of hair that remained. “I’d hate to say it, but I think this is Maple… damn.” She felt a somber chill run through her.

“It looks like it got to her through the computer.” Hibiscus noticed the charred and blown out monitor.

Twilight returned and joined them. “Her body isn’t as far along as the ones we passed, she died after the attack.”

“Well, not all the residents joined us in the safe zone.” Hibiscus noted. “But why would she try and use the computer? That’s basically suicide.”

“Smith?” Twilight toned.

“Huh?” Pear glanced over at her.

“Look,” Twilight took up an envelope that was sitting on the edge of the desk. “It says, Smith.” She opened it and pulled out a hand written letter.

“Like Granny?” Pear asked.

“What does it say?” Hibiscus moved to her opposite side.

“Smith, you old apple core,” Twilight began. “If you’re reading this, then the first thing I need to say is I’m sorry; I didn’t want to drag you into this but you were the only one I could think of with a good enough head on her shoulder’s to sort this mess out. It must have been a shock to get a notice that I left this place to you, now more than ever I wish we stayed in touch; I went ahead and contacted the lawyer under my granddaughter's name to notify him of my death, but it won’t be a lie for much longer. By now you know what’s going on in this town but not so much as to why; well, I’m all but certain that thing is the boy that was staying with me. Came in from out of town and got himself a job at the power plant, didn’t have a place to stay though and since I was here all alone I offered my home to him. He helped this old mare out a lot and was a sweet stallion, honest and hard working like your Bright Mac; but I think he got himself in some kind of trouble. One day he didn’t come home and after I called the power plant I was told he quit and left town. I knew that was a lie, all his worldly possessions were here with me and I know he wouldn’t just abandon them. Not long after is when all the mess at the plant started and when the town was in a panic I saw the thing that everyone was running from. I don’t know how I knew, it barely looked like a Stallion at all, but I recognized something in that thing’s eyes. His name is Meadow, his things are in the bag on the floor; please tell the town and get in their behinds the way only you can and help them put an end to this. I hope you can forgive me for getting you involved, but I know you can handle this you tough old bag. Love Maple.”

“Meadow…” Hibiscus repeated the name. “So we were right.”

“Something happened to him at that plant,” Pear took the letter and looked it over. “Now we just need to find out what.”

“We need to tell Wyndham all of this.” Twilight added.

Hibiscus looked around the nearby floor and found the bag noted in the letter. “Here’s his stuff.” She took the bag up. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Right.” Twilight agreed.

They headed back to the door and Pear stopped at the threshold, shoving her arm back and stopping the procession. “Hold it.”

“What’s wrong?” Twilight asked.

Without word, Pear pointed across the street; Twilight and Hibiscus letting slip a collective gasp of horror as they saw the electric Stallion standing atop a power line looking down at them with fierce eyes.

Chapter 4

With the newfound knowledge of the lost soul that was housed in the mass of writhing current, the three of them looked back at the creature with mixed emotion.

“Damn it…” Hibiscus muttered. “What do we do?”

“Move back inside, slowly.” Pear ordered as she carefully stepped backwards.

“Well, the power to the house is off so we’re safe here.” Twilight noted.

“We need to make sure we stay grounded.” Pear looked back at them. “As long as our protected hooves are on the ground, he can’t run current through us.”

“He can still impact us though.” Twilight reminded. “When I watched it attack Wyndham’s team, it went out of its way to get creatures in the air and compromise their gear.”

Hibiscus dropped to the floor and opened up the bag, rifling through it as Pear and Twilight watched. “What are you doing?” Pear asked.

“Looking for something totemic,” Hibiscus answered. “These are his things, he’s a drifter so this is all he had on his back. Maybe there is something in here, something personal that… I don’t know… we can use to reach the part of it that’s still Meadow.”

“You think we can reason with it?” Twilight knelt beside her.

“Not reason with, but maybe… distract.” Hibiscus pulled out an old Polaroid. “Look at this, these must be his parents.”

“Well… ain’t nothing more meaningful than family.” Pear conceded.

“Let me have it.” Twilight opened her hand. “If you think we can reach it, I’ll take a shot.”

“But…” Hibiscus protested as she handed over the photo.

“Don’t worry, Sugar.” Pear laid her hand on Hibiscus’ shoulder. “We won’t rely just on that.”

“What have you got planned?” Twilight watched her creep towards the window.

“Well, if we can move along making sure there are high points of conductivity around us; we should be able to make a run for it.” She explained.

“What, like lightning rods?” Hibiscus inquired.

“Any old thing can attract lightning,” Pear glanced back at her. “We just have to make sure we’re the least attractive things around.”

“Don’t hear girls say that too often.” Hibiscus jested with a nervous laugh.

“We just have to plan a very particular route.” Pear continued.

“Well, the chain link fencing along the easement should draw some fire.” Twilight noted.

“We can also use the stop signs and phone poles.” Pear added. “When we move, just make sure you always have one hoof on the ground.”

“Right.” Hibiscus nodded.

“Is it still watching?” Twilight joined her by the window.

“Like a hawk in a field of rats.” Pear confirmed.

Twilight headed for the door again and bravely stepped outside, she looked up at their opponent and took a deep breath. “You recognize this place, don’t you!?” She called up. “You used to live here, right!?” Pear and Hibiscus stepped out to her back. “Meadow! That’s your name, isn’t it!?” The thing’s head tilted sharply at the name and focused its eyes solely on Twilight. “It’s you, isn’t it Meadow!? Maple helped you, gave you a place to stay… but you killed her!”

“Not the time to be accusatory.” Hibiscus worriedly suggested.

The creature held its arm out to the side and fired into the connector for the line it stood on, the wire came loose and fell to the street; he shrunk and vanished from view only to reform at street level by the end of the wire.

“He needs to maintain a place to manifest.” Hibiscus observed. “He can’t just move about as he wants.”

“Good to know.” Pear whispered back.

“Meadow.” Twilight braved a few steps closer. “Something terrible happened to you, didn’t it? That’s why you attacked the plant and the town, that’s why you keep killing creatures.” The thing still refused to act as she spoke. “I’m sorry about whatever happened to you, but this has to stop.” She pleaded. “My friends and I have been trying to find out what happened to you. We want to help, if you need justice or closure then let us help you.”

Its erratic mouth slowly dropped open. “JUST…ICE…”

“Holy shit…” Hibiscus clamped her hand over her mouth in shock.

“Justice?” Twilight repeated. “Were you… killed?”

“KI…KIL…KILL!” It suddenly raised its arm again.

“Meadow!” Twilight held up the photo. “This is yours, right?” She pushed the photo closer. “Are these your parents?”

It suddenly moved its arm upward and fired again, another wire running on the opposite side of the road fell not five feet from Twilight.

“Vel, get back.” Pear calmly instructed, reaching out for her.

Twilight held her arm back to stop her. “No.” She watched as through a planned arc, the form deconstructed and reconstructed closer to her.

“MO…THER…FATH..ER…” It reached out towards the photo.

“I’m a mother too, Meadow.” Twilight continued. “I know that if something happened to my child, I’d want to know the truth. Help us learn the truth.” She looked to him with eyes that only a mother could offer. “I’m so sorry this happened to you, but punishing the creatures of this town isn’t the answer. Maple said that you were a good Stallion, and now more than ever, I know that Stallion is still in there.” The others watched in amazement as the swell of its body seemed to calm.

“She’s really doing it.” Hibiscus muttered in awe.

“Meadow.” Twilight continued. “Can you tell me what happened?”

“I….I…” It seemed to struggled with coherent thought.

“We know it happened at the plant.” Twilight relayed. “We know that Mr. Pollack…”

The creature’s eyes suddenly flared and the swell of its body returned. “AL…AL…ALABASTER!” It roared, causing Twilight to fall back.

“Time to go, sugar!” Pear grabbed her arm and started to run. “Come on, girl!”

“Right behind you!” Hibiscus followed.

“Stay close and stay low!” Pear commanded and random bolts of electricity began striking around them. Twilight could hear Meadow’s pain in the horrid cries that echoed behind them; the emotional response causing the creature to lose focus in its aim.

“Look!” Hibiscus pointed up to the lines above; it had returned to its vantage and was giving chase.

“Stick to the plan, stay close to something that can draw his shots!” Pear noted as they retraced their steps back through the streets. As they weaved and zig-zagged around available metal, the hypothesis held true as the arrant strikes were attracted to the more conductive pieces of the urban landscape. Hearts pounding and legs burning, they made their way back through the easement and used the fence as a shield as they rushed through the weeds. Once back out on the street, they were forced to the side as it managed to get in front of them. It fired again and struck Hibiscus in the chest, as she flew backwards, Pear jumped on her and pressed her against the ground as another shot struck her in the back. Managing to maintain grounded status, the protective clothing was enough to keep them safe but the blunt force of the impact still managed to send blood spilling from her mouth.

“Meadow!” Twilight called and waved, drawing its attention away from Pear. “Over here!” She ran behind a car and crouched as a bolt struck the vehicle. She moved forward, using other cars parked along the sidewalk to keep moving up the street.

Back behind her, Pear got Hibiscus to her knees. “You okay?”

“Your mouth.” Hibiscus saw the blood.

“Not now, we need to keep moving. We're almost to the safe zone.” Pear pulled her to her hooves. “Let’s go.” The pair began sprinting up the road, ahead of them they could see it firing down at Twilight as it rode the power lines.

“Hey, look.” Hibiscus saw one of the cars with a dead stallion in the driver’s seat. “If the engine isn’t dead, we can use that to take out the poles.”

They went to the vehicle and Pear pulled the body from the driver’s seat, finding the key still in its hand. “Looks like he didn’t get a chance to start it up, should be usable.” Pear got in. “Let me handle this, you keep moving up the road.

“Be careful.” Hibiscus begged as she hurried away.

Pear started the engine and quickly put the car into gear; putting her hoof down on the accelerator, she quickly blew past Hibiscus and up the street. The power of the vehicle quickly drew the creature’s attention and it ceased attacking Twilight. As it aimed its arm at the car, Pear opened the door and rolled out onto the street as the car slammed into the pole. The base split and it began to topple, forcing the electrically bound spirit to fall back to a previous pole.

“Pear!” Hibiscus ran across the street and helped the cut and scraped Pear up. “We’re almost there!” The two of them hurried up to Twilight who took Pear’s opposite arm and with the enraged screams of the stalled creature behind them, they made their way back into the safe zone.

Once safe, the three of them all but collapsed; Twilight held Pear’s cheek and checked her scraped hands and face.

“Are you okay?” She asked worriedly.

“Heh… yeah,” Pear nodded through a series of short breaths. “Been more banged up roughhousing with Applejack.”

“You saved me,” Hibiscus hugged her opposite side. “Thank you.”

The sound of the crash and toppling pole caught the attention of some of the nearby townsfolk; they saw the exhausted trio and hurried to aid them. Knowing there was no time to relax, they made their way back to the station to see Wyndham. Seeing their condition, he was quick to summon the EMT’s on his team to tend to them; after being treated and cleared, Wyndham joined them in the makeshift triage area.

“Thank heavens you made it out with just the injuries you did.” He pulled up a stool and sat across from them. “I hope it was worth it.”

“It was,” Twilight began. “I talked to it, Wyndham. We know who it used to be.”

Her words brought all those within ear shot to a standstill, with heavy murmurs they were quickly crowded. “Quiet.” Wyndham ordered. “You really know?”

“Yeah,” Pear nodded. “It’s a Stallion named Meadow. It turns out the Mare that left her home to my mother did it with the intent of getting her here and getting the truth in her hands so she could help you.” She laid her hand to her chest. “Which means that technically, we were brought here to specifically to help y’all end this nightmare.”

“Meadow…” Wyndham repeated the name. “Not familiar to me.”

“He was a drifter who got a job at the plant.” Hibiscus carried on, holding up the bag. “These are his things.”

“Maple let him stay with her and got worried when he disappeared.” Twilight continued. “She left a letter explaining everything.” She took the letter from her pocket to show him.

“And you… spoke to it?” Wyndham asked further.

“Yes,” Twilight confirmed. “Hibiscus found a photo of his parents, I showed it to him and he calmed down. I told him we wanted to help and find out what happened to him so he could find peace. But he repeated the word justice after I said it… something happened to him at that plant and he wants revenge for it.”

“It was Alabaster.” Pear said soundly, bringing more murmurs to the gathered creatures.

“What?” Wyndham eyed her.

“Twilight had him calm until she mentioned him; as soon as he heard the name he flew into a rage and started attacking us, that’s when we had to run.” Pear detailed. “He did something to that boy which must be why he wants to keep his mouth shut and hole up in his home until this is over.”

Wyndham absorbed the heavy tale. “Well, I doubt you’d make any of this up at this point.” He looked at the letter. “Given the evidence, it seems I’m going to have to have a talk with him.” He sighed. “Getting to him is going to be a problem though; like I said, he’s close to the plant and the closer we get the stronger that thing becomes.” He stood and looked around him. “Listen up, reaching and questioning Alabaster Pollack is our priority operation. I want the work teams to halt for the time being and focus on finding a route we can take to his home.”

“Yes sir!” Several of the creatures sounded.

“Get to work.” He dismissed them, looking back to Twilight. “It seems you really were brought here to help. Thank you.”

“Glad we’re able to.” Twilight smiled.

“Yeah,” Pear took her shoulder. “And we’ll help see it through to the end.”

Wyndham nodded. “Get back to the motel and rest, I’ll have word sent to you when we have a plan.”

“Rest sounds good.” Hibiscus let out a long breath. “My legs are killing me from that run.”

“Girl, you’re half our age.” Pear laughed. “If that little jog got you wore out you then you won’t make it to our age.”

“Little jog!?” Hibiscus said in exasperation. “Sorry I’m not some farm-raised super hero.”

“It’s okay,” Twilight put her arm around her with a laugh. “You’re a book smart girl just like my daughter.”

Applewood was at the font desk when they returned; the obvious worry on his face melted away upon seeing them and he gave Hibiscus a welcoming hug. “Oh, I was starting to get worried.” He sighed, noticing their bandages and wraps. “What happened?”

“That’s… a bit of a story.” Hibiscus noted.

“Well I want to hear it,” He noted as he looked to Twilight. “You’ve got a visitor too, said he heard you were looking for him earlier.”

“That must be Winchester.” Twilight glanced over at Pear. “Maybe he knows something about Meadow.”

“Okay, well…” Pear looked to Hibiscus. “Why don’t you get Applewood filled in and we’ll talk to Winchester.”

“Sure,” Hibiscus nodded. “Come on, Tanner will want to hear this too.”

“Right,” Applewood pointed back towards the former breakfast area. “He’s waiting for you in there.”

Pear and Twilight headed back into the quiet space to find the Stallion sitting with a cup of coffee and a small package of pretzels. He looked between the Mares and lightly raised the cup to them. “I guess you’re the ones looking for me?” He asked.

“Yes,” Twilight said as she and Pear joined him at the table. “Thank you for coming here.”

He slowly nodded. “Sorry I wasn’t at the bank I just… needed some space.” His face belied a deep weariness at life. “I don’t like crowds… crowds draw too much attention from that thing.”

“Meadow.” Twilight stated. “His name is Meadow.”

“What?” His eyes widened.

“We learned who it used to be,” Pear began. “It’s a long story, but the point is that he used to work…”

“At the plant… yeah…” Winchester finished. “I remember him.”

“What happened to him?” Twilight asked. “We’re so close to figuring this all out and once we do… we’re sure we can find some way to stop all this.”

“As far as I knew, he left.” Winchester answered. “He was a good kid; worked hard, kept his mouth shut when it needed to be and ran it when we needed to blow off some steam.” He let out a distant chuckle. “Most of the crews liked him.”

“Him leaving is just a story.” Twilight informed. “We can all but verify that; Pollack did something to him, even his assistant said he handled his ‘firing’ in an unorthodox manner.”

Winchester laid his hand over his mouth and stared off at the wall. “Naw…”

“What?” Pear recaptured his attention.

“He said he had gotten into it with the old man,” Winchester started slowly. “Didn’t say what about but…” He turned his eyes to Pear. “Did anyone tell you about Mayweather?”

“Who?” Pear asked.

“His girl,” Winchester continued. “She practically lived at the plant, everyone knew her and treated her like one of the family. She was cool with everyone but… she was pretty flirty with Meadow; everyone noticed it and ribbed him about it all the time. He said nothing was going on but that doesn’t stop rumors; it was just a running joke, but if you think Mr. Pollack really did something to him… then maybe it wasn’t a joke.”

“Meadow and his daughter were dating.” Twilight surmised.

“I… don’t know,” Winchester shook his head. “Like I said, there were rumors but it was just something to get the kid red cheeked over. Nobody really thought he was banging her.” His face grew grim. “Is that thing really Meadow?” He asked.

“Yeah, it is.” Pear nodded.

“God damn…” Winchester put his cup down and slumped in the chair. “I saw it before… I was so scared that I nearly pissed myself. All the creatures it’s killed, that isn’t like Meadow at all.”

“It isn’t fully Meadow, only the anger and pain that remained after his death.” Twilight summarized Hibiscus’ explanation. “But… believe it or not, I did speak to some part of him that’s left.”

“No shit?” He looked to her in surprise. “Poor kid… whatever happened to him, he didn’t deserve it.” He looked back to his cup and raised it, downing the remainder of the coffee. “If you can really stop this, then maybe the kid can finally rest.” He stood and offered a light wave. “That’s all the help I can be though.”

“Thank you, Winchester.” Twilight could see how much the news impacted his already disillusioned state of mind. He left and they could hear the front door part and close again; Twilight shook her head at the new pieces of the puzzle they had just been handed. “This just gets messier and messier.”

“Maybe,” Pear agreed. “But at least everything keeps pointing in the same direction.”

Twilight let out a tired breath. “I’m beat.”

“Well, we did darn near get ourselves killed.” Pear chortled.

“Yeah, I’m not looking forward to when all that really sinks in.” Twilight said with a half smile “Feels like everything is pure adrenaline; that was fine back when I was twenty something.”

“Aw, you’re in fine shape.” Pear patted her back. “Especially for a city gal.”

Twilight laughed at her common nickname. “I’m looking forward to getting back to my ‘city gal’ life. Where the most intense thing is my spin class.”

“Riding a bike that don’t go nowhere…” Pear muttered as she stood. “Doesn’t make a lick of sense.” She offered her hand to help her up. “Come on, I think we’ve earned dinner tonight.”

Pear and Twilight were the talk of the table that night; word had already begun to spread of what they had done and what they had uncovered. However, for the first time in a long time, there was an air of hopefulness. Finally, as faint as it may have been, there was a light at the end of the tunnel. While it felt good to see an upturn in everyone’s mood, it was not lost on them that they were nowhere near the hard part; but in the meantime they resolved themselves to do a little celebrating.

Chapter 5

Exhausted from the intense day, it was far less difficult for Pear and Twilight to find sleep. Following the next morning’s breakfast, the pair returned to their room as at the moment all they could do was wait. Pear sat in the chair, head rolled back and eyes affixed to the ceiling; the pain of the previous day’s cuts and bruises rearing their head. Twilight laid on the bed, her mind mixed with thoughts now that their monster had a name and life behind its actions; and more so than ever did her thoughts shift to home.

“The boys will start to be worried soon…” She sighed. “We haven’t been able to check in with them at all.”

“Yep,” Pear agreed. “If we don’t find a way to end this soon, they really will come looking for us.” She thought back to what Hibiscus had told them. “Hunting down a body, desecrating it… I’d like to think my upbringing prepared me for anything but that just don’t sit right.”

“I don’t think anything could have prepared us for this.” Twilight let out a long breath. “I’ve never really considered myself a believer in the spiritual; I mean, I’ve had some weird things happen but I never once thought a spirit could really exist… much less one like this.”

“Well, think of it this way.” Pear began. “If there’s a spirit like this, good or bad, it means that there really is something beyond what we know as life after all. May not be exactly what some might believe, but it’s clearly there.”

Twilight absorbed the idea. “Kind of scary to think that a nice boy like Meadow could become something so horrific.”

“Weren’t his choice, Vel.” Pear shook her head. “Someone else made this monster.” Feeling the weight of their topic, she laughed as she changed the subject. “So, what are you planning to do first when we get home?”

Twilight smiled at the defiant positivity. “I’m going to use all the hot water in the house and take a long bath.”

“Heh,” Pear chuckled. “Now that’s a fine plan.”

Twilight laughed. “Seriously, I’m going to call my kids and tell them I love them.”

Pear nodded understandingly. “That’s an even better one.”

“I want to call our friends too,” Twilight added. “It’s been too long since we’ve even just talked on the phone; being here has really made it clear just how precious time is, tomorrow isn’t something that’s guaranteed.”

“Hate to admit it, but I’m just as guilty there.” Pear confessed.

“I think it just comes with a stable life.” Twilight noted. “We don’t mean to, we just fall into routine.”

“Well, I think one life threatening ordeal will be enough to keep that lesson with me.” Pear sat up straight, cracking her neck. “I can live without going through this again.”

“Spiritual or not, AMEN to that.” Twilight said, sending them both into laughter.

A light knock came at the door and Pear answered to find Hibiscus and Tanner on the other side, she invited them in and they settled around the room.

“Sorry if you were resting,” Hibiscus began as she sat. “Just wanted to check on you.”

“We’re alright,” Pear informed. “How about you, you’re the one that took a sledgehammer to the chest.”

Hibiscus rubbed her breast. “Yeah… surprised my sternum didn’t break; but I’m just really sore.”

“Can’t believe you got into a fight with that thing and survived.” Tanner noted. “She told me how it went down, keeping your cool like that is really something.”

“That didn’t make it any less terrifying.” Twilight assured.

“Well, the whole town is stirred up.” Tanner continued. “You two are becoming local heroes, there’s actual hope budding.”

“No pressure.” Twilight laughed.

“Any updates from Wyndham?” Pear asked.

“Nothing yet,” Tanner shook his head. “But Applewood checked on the situation earlier this morning and he really does have all hands on deck for this.”

“I hate just sitting on my hands.” Pear folded her arms. “Did y’all learn anything else from Meadow’s bag?”

“Nothing really,” Hibiscus shook her head. “Just clothes, a multi tool, a class ring from a school I don’t recognize and a state map.” She shrugged. “He really lived day to day.”

“Well, w e still have the photo of his parents.” Twilight reminded. “He reacted to it, even calmed down for a moment, maybe we can do it again.”

“As soon as he finds out what we’re up to, he’ll come at us full force.” Tanner said, slamming his fist into his opposite hand. “You’ll become a threat.”

“Well, at the least…” Twilight stopped as another knock came at the door.

“I got it.” Tanner headed over and opened to door to be greeted by one of Wyndham’s deputies.

“Excuse me,” He tipped his head as he entered. “Miss Pear, Miss Twilight, the Sheriff would like to see you right away.”

“Of course.” Twilight quickly stood with Pear following after. “We’ll be back.”

“Okay.” Hibiscus nodded and she and Tanner followed them from the room, watching as the deputy escorted them away.

At the station, Pear and Twilight returned to the familiar office; Wyndham awaited them along with a recovered Chaplin.

“Chaplin, you’re all healed up?” Twilight looked him over.

“Yes ma’am,” He nodded. “And I’ll never forget how lucky I am for that; but I’m ready to get back to work.”

“Does that mean y’all have a plan?” Pear asked.

“We do,” Wyndham confirmed. “Spent the better part of the night debating and sorting it out, but we have a way to get us to Alabaster.” He laid his hand on a map of the town before him. “Basically, we’re going to have to create a diversion to draw that thing to one side of town. Once its attention is grabbed; we are going to make a move for Alabaster’s home.”

Twilight’s face soured. “That means putting creatures at risk for us.”

“We know,” Chaplin reached out and took her shoulder. “But you two have been risking yourselves for us and thanks to it we may be close to ending this; everyone here is ready to do what needs to be done, so don’t worry about us.”

“How are we going to know when to move?” Pear asked.

“Flare guns,” Wyndham answered. “Once Chaplin’s team has the operation fully under way, he’ll signal us with a flare. After that, we move and fire again when we reach our goal; that will let them know to retreat to the safe zone.”

“Okay,” Twilight followed. “But how are you going to lure Meadow away?”

“We’re going to use a transformer station to create a power surge; it always comes after areas that are using power, must assume it’s another victim to attack. Once it sees us, it won’t be a problem to hold it there.”

“Well, I don’t have any better ideas.” Pear noted. “When do we move?”

“Chaplin will be ready within the hour.” Wyndham informed. “I’ll meet you at the motel; get whatever you think you’ll need, but know that we’ll be moving quick.”

“Alright,” Twilight nodded. “We’ll see you soon.”

As they left the station and started back for the motel, Pear looked out at the looming power plant in the distance. “After all the stories, it'll be something to finally see this Alabaster for myself."

“I certainly haven’t heard many good things.” Twilight considered all the tales she had heard of his actions. "This could be more dangerous than we know, which is why I'm glad Wyndham is going to be there too."

"Well, we are going to be walking up to him with some pretty heavy accusations." Pear hummed in thought. "Probably won't be too happy about that."

"True." Twilight agreed with a light sigh.

As they made their way through the motel parking lot, they noticed Hibiscus and Tanner sitting on the worn sign that bore the motel’s name across it. Once within earshot, they were quick to be questioned.

“So, what has Wyndham got in mind?” Hibiscus asked.

“Well, he's going to have a team set up a distraction to lure Meadow to the other side of town,” Twilight began. “After a signal, we hurry across town to Alabaster.”

“Dangerous, but not a bad idea.” Tanner admitted. “It’d be almost impossible to make it all that way unharmed.”

“He’ll be here in an hour, so we need to get ready.” Pear noted as they attempted to continue on.

“Hold on, we’re coming too.” Hibiscus informed.

“Yeah, who knows what’s going to happen out there.” Tanner added with a laugh. “Never thought I’d be volunteering to be a hero or anything, but I feel like shit just sitting here while you three take this thing on.”

“Well, we certainly cant stop you.” Twilight smiled. “We appreciate the help.”

“Let’s get ready then,” Pear ushered them along. “We need to be ready when he gets here.”

Pear, Twilight and Hibiscus donned their protective clothing once again with Tanner cobbling together a similar set from what was available at the motel. As promptly as one would expect from a Sheriff, Wyndham arrived in his own set of protective gear. He found the additional members of their party and chuckled to himself.

“You two sure you want in on this?” He asked, practically rhetorically.

“I’m seeing the end of this.” Hibiscus said with a sure nod.

“Yeah, and I can’t be a benchwarmer forever.” Tanner noted. “I want to do what I can.”

Wyndham glanced over at Twilight who gave him a sure smile, he merely nodded and looked back to the horizon. “Alright, as soon as we see Chaplin’s signal we move.”

They stood in silence for a deal of time until, over the dead air of the town, a massive crack and a bright flash came from the distance. Their bodies tensed as they stared at the spot for another several minutes before a red flare rose from behind the buildings. Wyndham immediately motioned for them to move out and they began jogging out of the safe zone. It was near three miles to edge of town where the road to the estate was located and they maintained their pace the whole way; shots could be heard in the distance, while having no direct effect it sounded like the second team was doing everything in their power to keep the electrical Stallion focused solely on them. Following the almost forty minutes of running, they left the town boundary and headed into the surrounding forested area. Wyndham quickly removed his own flare gun and fired, signaling that they were free from the danger zone and the second team could fall back. As he holstered the gun, the five of them caught their breath, a particularly hard task for the bookworm Hibiscus.

“You okay, sugar?” Pear rubbed her shoulder, the girl doubled over in search of air for her burning lungs.

“Ye…yeah… sure…” She muttered through gasps.

“Damn…” Tanner crouched on the ground. “Haven’t had to do that since high school.”

“We need to keep moving,” Wyndham noted as he looked up the unpaved trail. “Still a ways to his property.”

Lowering gear to a hike, they proceed through the natural landscape until coming to an iron gate attached to lengthy walls that encircled the property.

“Still unlocked,” Tanner pushed it open. “I guess he really never did leave the house.”

Twilight looked up the way at the three story, colonial home. “Come on, time to get some answers.”

Heading up the long drive, they soon passed by an overgrown rose garden; long left to the weeds since the town shut down. The gate to the front courtyard was also unlocked, a dry fountain greeting them as they passed through. Stepping up the stone stoop to the front door, Wyndham balled his talon and gave the door a strong knock. After a silent two minutes, he knocked again; soon a small metal panel on the door opened and a single eye became visible.

“Wyndham?” A feminine voice asked.

“Mayweather.” He answered with a nod.

“If you’re here, does that mean it’s safe?” She asked, voiced laced with a desperate hope.

“Unfortunately, no.” Wyndham shook his head. “But I need to speak with your father.”

The eye vanished and quickly reappeared. “You know… you know he won’t let you in, he…”

“Tell him I want to talk about Meadow.” He cut her off.

A gasp at the name followed his words and the eye again disappeared; after a long moment, the door slowly pulled open and the young mare looked up at the Sheriff wearily. “Meadow… what about Meadow?” She noticed the unfamiliar faces. “Who are all of you?”

“Mayweather, please.” Wyndham raised his talon to calm her. “I have a lot to discuss with Alabaster and not much time.”

A light panic filled the girl’s eyes, clearly struggling with what to do. “Let me tell him you’re here and…”

“Mayweather!” A older voice bellowed down from the stairwell leading to the second floor. “Who are you talking to!?” As the Stallion began hurrying down he stopped as he saw the Sheriff. “Wyndham,” His eyes narrowed, particularly at the strangers behind him. “Why did you open the door?” He asked further as he headed down.

“I’m sorry,” Mayweather apologized. “He… he said he wanted to talk about Meadow.” She noted with a concerned emphasis.

“What?” Alabaster held his pace as he headed over. “Meadow?” He stepped up the Wyndham. “What about the town? I told you not to come back until you had news that we were being rescued.”

“I know you did,” Wyndham held his ground against the cantankerous Stallion. “And we’re making some progress on that.”

“We,” He repeated, looking over the group. “Who the hell are these strangers you’ve brought to my home?”

“Well, Hibiscus and Tanner work down at the motel.” Wyndham answered, gesturing back to the two. “And these two here are Pear and Twilight, and they’ve done a lot over the past few days to help bring us some answers on what’s been happening.”

“We know what’s happening.” Alabaster snorted. “If we aren’t safe yet, then what do you want?”

“Like Mayweather said, I want to ask you about Meadow.” Wyndham explained. “He worked for you, correct?”

“I recall the name.” He responded flippantly. “What does a former employee possibly have to do with our current situation.”

“Because he’s the one out there killing everyone!” Hibiscus blurted out in anger at his attitude.

Twilight watched the old Stallion's face at the news, it didn’t change in the slightest which caught her attention greatly. “But you already know that, don’t you?” She asked, stepping up beside Wyndham.

“What?” He glared at her. "What kind of ludicrous idea are you talking about."

“Where is he, Alabaster?” Wyndham calmly asked.

“First of all, who is she to make such an accusation?” Alabaster defended. “You’re listening to the nonsense of strangers instead of working to save us.”

“She’s someone who’s been busting her tail, running all over this dang town trying to make heads or tails of this craziness.” Pear boldly informed, coming to Twilight’s back. “And I’ve been right there with her to see it.”

“We know Meadow worked for you at the plant,” Hibiscus took over. “The Mare he was staying with is the one that sent for help which is why Pear and Twilight are even here in the first place. She herself said in a letter that Meadow disappeared one day without a trace, leaving his only possessions in her home which we have with us.”

“We also know that there was a lot of gossip about him and your daughter.” Tanner carried on, looking to the girl who bore a stricken look on her face at all that was being said.

"And another former employee said that Meadow had admitting to getting into a fight with you." Twilight added.

Alabaster’s hard face slowly began to show signs of cracking under all the accusation. “Are you here to charge me with something, Sheriff? If not, then leave.”

“I’m not here to make charges,” Wyndham noted. “Everything they’ve said, as far as I’ve seen, is true; we believe we can stop this but I need to know the truth about what happened to Meadow.”

“All those ghost stories have gotten to you, Wyndham." He said in return.

“I spoke to him, Alabaster.” Twilight came in.

“What?” Mayweather raised her hands to her mouth.

“Spoke to it?” Alabaster looked to Twilight.

“Yes,” Twilight nodded. “He responded to his name, as well as to a picture of his parents we found in his bag.” Her words brought silence to the father and daughter. “And when I said your name, he flew into a rage and attacked.” She looked up into his eyes. “Look, this isn’t about law anymore; creatures are dying and others like us are trapped here, Hibiscus believes that if we destroy what remains of his body we can stop him for good.”

“Alabaster,” Wyndham spoke up. “Just tell me the truth.”

Alabaster slowly looked over to his daughter, matching eyes with her before looking back to Wyndham with a heavy sigh of resignation. “It’s really him, is it?” He asked.

“Yes.” Wyndham nodded.

“Fine… he’s in the plant.” He quietly confessed.

“So you did kill him!?” Tanner asked fiercely.

Alabaster slowly nodded. “Yes, I did.”

“And you knew that thing was really him from the get go?” Pear asked further.

“I…. had my suspicions,” He admitted. “But I didn’t want to believe that; ghost and demons aren’t real… I thought.”

“Why?” Wyndham inquired. “He was just some drifter kid?”

“I did it for Mayweather.” He said stoutly. “I heard that ‘gossip’ and didn’t like that fact that his presence was giving her an unwarranted reputation. I spoke to him personally, instructed him to stay away from her; typical stubborn and stupid youth, he refused.”

“You bastard,” Hibiscus scowled. “You sentenced half this town to death because some guy was flirting with your daughter!?”

Alabaster looked to her. “You think I had any idea this would happen?”

“Doesn’t change the fact that you killed that poor boy for something so petty.” Twilight said in disgust.

“If we live to see the end of this,” Wyndham began. “Once life can go back to normal, you’re going to have to turn yourself in for this.”

The old Stallion merely nodded. “Fine.”

“No!” Mayweather suddenly shouted.

“I know this is hard, Mayweather.” Wyndham looked at her, seeing tears steaming down her cheeks. “But…”

“No!” She shouted again. “He didn’t…”

“Mayweather!” Alabaster commanded. “You’re hysterical, just keep quie….”

“No!” She cut him off, sobbing as she looked to Wyndham. “Please, Wyndham; he didn’t...” She balled her fists. “It was my fault!” Her body shook as she spoke. “It… it was an accident, I didn't mean to…”

“Mayweather!” Alabaster sounded again.

“What is she talking about?” Pear asked.

“You stay out of this.” He quickly stared daggers at Pear before looking back to his daughter. “She’s just trying to protect me.”

“I’m not.” Mayweather wiped her eyes. “I… I killed him...”

Wyndham and the others stared at the girl in shock. “What?” He asked.

“My dad did talk to him, but he didn’t do anything to Meadow.” Mayweather went to the Sheriff, taking his sleeves in her hands and staring up at him. “I liked Meadow, I really did; and we… we did sleep together.” She confessed. “But dad told me what he said to Meadow so I kept him at a distance, I didn’t want him to get in trouble or fired because of me." Her face hardened as memories returned. "Meadow met me on the walks after that, he said he wanted me to leave with him; that what I was saying was my father talking and that he shouldn’t keep us apart.” She started crying again. “I told him no, that it was over; but he got really angry and he grabbed me.” She shook her head vehemently. “I know he wasn’t trying to hurt me, but he scared me and I… I pushed him away and he fell down the stairs to the walk.” She fully broke down in Wyndham’s arms. “I'm sorry! This is all my fault!”

Wyndham stood stunned, laying his arms over her and looking to Alabaster. “What happened to his body?”

Alabaster’s eyes watered as he watched his daughter pour out repressed emotion from the tragic event. “She came to me before anyone found him and told me what happened.” He shook his head longingly. “I knew if it got out it would ruin her life so I panicked and hid his body inside the backup turbine. It never gets used so I knew no one would find him.” A genuine frown washed over him. “She was so distraught and traumatized, I had to protect her first and foremost.” He confessed.

“My god.” Twilight looked at the crying girl, not knowing what to say.

Hibiscus held the side of her head in thought. “Well, that explains how his spirit bound to the electrical system of the plant.” She looked to Alabaster with regret. “I’m… sorry, all the evidence…”

“It’s fine.” Alabaster nodded. “I’m old, I don’t care who thinks I’m a monster.” He looked to Mayweather. “But not her; it was an accident… and she didn’t deserve to pay the rest of her life for an accident.” He glanced up at Wyndham. “But I guess the cost wound up being even higher, and that’s something I am guilty of I suppose.” He gently took his daughter from Wyndham, holding her as she wept. “I can get you into the plant, if that's the only way to end all of this.”

“How?” Tanner asked. “Unless you have a secret passage or something, we’re nowhere near having a route to the plant.”

“I do,” Alabaster said plainly. “My office here leads to an underground path that meets up with my office at the plant. I had it put in as an emergency exit for my daughter and I if there was ever a severe compromise at the plant.”

“Oh,” Tanner looked to the others. “Well, what do we do then?”

“We know what we need to do,” Pear stated. “I say we go do it.”

“I’ll come with you.” Alabaster sighed.

“That thing blames you most of all,” Wyndham reminded. “It’ll go wild if it sees you.”

“Perhaps, but you don’t know the plant.” Alabaster countered.

With a deep sniffle, Mayweather backed away from her father and looked back at Wyndham. “I… I’ll come too.”

“Absolutely not.” Alabaster took her cheek and looked into her eyes sternly. “That monster will kill you without hesitation, just as it did everyone else.”

“Maybe not,” Hibiscus considered. “It seems to be capable of very base reactions to emotional stimuli; Meadow recognized his parents, there’s no reason he won’t recognize Mayweather. He clearly loved her, that strong emotion that was linked to his death may have some kind of sway over him.”

“She’s right, dad.” Mayweather reached up and took his hand. “It’s my fault he’s become this thing; if I can help put him to rest, I will… I owe him that.”

“That’s not…” Alabaster lowered his head as he saw the look in her eyes. “Alright.” He turned his attention back to Wyndham. “Once we get to my work office, there is a station nearby with plant grade protective equipment.”

“Sounds good,” Tanner nodded. “We need all the help we can get, we’ll be surrounded by metal and other conductive material.”

“He’s definitely got home field advantage.” Pear concurred. “But as long as we stay smart, we can keep ourselves safe.”

“How far is the turbine from your office?” Twilight asked.

“My office is three floors above the main generator hall,” Alabaster informed. “The backup turbine is the final one in the line.”

“As soon as we step into in that place, he’ll know.” Wyndham let out a hard breath. “We won’t have much time before he’s on us.”

“And the elevator is out of the question.” Tanner added. “Going to have to use the stairs.”

“We’ll make it happen,” Twilight rallied. “We have to, this is the only shot we’re going to have.”

“Then let’s make it count.” Pear grabbed her shoulder with a brave grin. “I’ve got chores piling up on the farm.”

Alabaster nodded and motioned for them to follow. “My office is this way, let’s go.” With his daughter under his arm he started towards the rear hall. Pear, Twilight and the others quietly followed as they attempted to mentally prepare for what would be, one way or the other, their last stand against Meadow.

Chapter 6

As if out of a movie, Alabaster went behind his desk and pulled open a lower drawer; reaching in and hitting a button, the 'thunk' of a large mechanism unlocking sounded. Rolling his chair aside, he reached down and pulled up a hatch to expose a wall mounted ladder that led down.

“Wow,” Tanner squatted down beside the hatch. “That must have a cost an arm and a leg.”

“Practically,” Alabaster peered downward. “I’ve only been down there once to test everything after completion.”

“I’ll go first.” Wyndham volunteered, climbing down onto the ladder and descending.

“Make sure you stay behind us, Mayweather.” Alabaster reminded as he followed after.

Once everyone had made it into the dark tunnel, Alabaster accessed a utility box against the smooth wall; he removed a pair of flashlights and handed one to Wyndham as the group proceeded. Their steps bounced off the walls and echoed down the path while they traveled; despite being a straight shot to the plant, the claustrophobic walk still took nearly an hour. They came upon a dead end with another ladder leading up to a second hatch; Alabaster climbed up and undid the locking mechanism. As quietly as possible, he hefted the hatch and gently set it against the tile floor of the office. As soon as they were free of the tunnel, everyone could feel the vastly different atmosphere of the abandoned plant. It was quite the shock at this point for the townsfolk to see lights on and hear the hum of equipment in the background.

“It’s almost blinding.” Mayweather whispered.

“I thought I’d be excited to see electricity on again,” Tanner began. “But it’s kind of terrifying right now.”

“Where’s the equipment station?” Pear asked.

“Out the door and about a hundred feet down the hall in a utility closet." Alabaster detailed.

“Let’s get rid of the flashlights,” Wyndham took Alabaster’s light and laid them on the desk. “Everyone keep your eyes and ears peeled.”

“Right,” Twilight nodded. “Hopefully he won’t notice us right away.”

Moving cautiously, they stepped out of the office and made their way to the utility closet. Alabaster quickly pulled it open and accessed the large locker against the back wall. “Here, quickly.” He began passing his daughter an insulated jumpsuit, gloves and goggles; donning a set of his own as soon as she was set up. As he zipped up, he looked to Wyndham. “Alright, we’re ready.”

“Okay, you take the lead from here.” Wyndham gestured down the hall.

Alabaster led on, heading back past the office in the opposite direction and towards the eastern stairwell. They headed down to the next floor, a slew of offices and workrooms sprawled out before them. “This is the main office,” He whispered. “Phone center, management… all that.”

“Looks like everyone literally dropped what they were doing.” Twilight noted, observing the paperwork and office supplies littered about the carpet.

“I would have to…” Tanner began, cutting off as the halogen lights above them began to flicker. “Oh shit.” He harshly muttered.

“M… maybe the bulbs are just going bad.” Hibiscus said, mostly trying to convince herself.

“YOU.” A menacing voice trailed over the area.

“That doesn’t sound like a bulb to me, sugar.” Pear said grimly.

“YOU!” The voice again rang out, the lights flashing wildly. A light fixture down the hall they were in blew and a massive surge of electricity funneled from the exposed sockets. It slowly formed into its Stallion form; eyes affixed to the elderly Stallion at the group's head.

“My god…” Alabaster matched eyes with the thing. “It is you.”

“ALABASTER!” Meadow roared in distorted tone, more light fixtures bursting as if responding to his emotional state.

“What do we do!?” Tanner hurriedly asked.

“Move!” Pear saw that Meadow was raising his arm and pushed him into one of the offices, grabbing Twilight and yanking her along as she dived into a separate office. Wyndham took Hibiscus and dove into another room with Alabaster and Mayweather following suit. A powerful blast of electricity shot down the path, the force of it kicking up papers and rocking the office walls; ending with a great crash as it collided with the far end of the floor.

“KILL… YOU!” Meadow’s voice boomed around them as he vanished back up into the light fixture.

“Where do we need to go!” Wyndham called out to Alabaster.

“Straight ahead and right at the second to last hall!” Alabaster yelled back. “The second stairwell is against the south wall!”

“Okay!” Wyndham acknowledged. “Everyone get ready to move! I’m going to try to get him to show up behind us!”

“Okay!” Pear called out.

Wyndham drew his sidearm and stepped from the office, he aimed back down the way they came and started shooting out more lights in an attempt to coax him back down. Soon enough, Meadow emerged from one of the new access ports and stared down the Sheriff. “He’s out! Move!” Alabaster, Mayweather, Tanner and Hibiscus all ran from their cover and broke for the stairs.

“NO!” Meadow quickly shifted his focus once Alabaster became visible again.

“Hey!” Wyndham fired a bullet at the shape, it passed clean through and lodged in the wall.

As Meadow looked back to the Sheriff, Twilight and Pear left their spot and Twilight ran to Wyndham’s side.

“Meadow stop!” Twilight said firmly.

“What are you doing?” Wyndham glanced over at her.

Meadow looked at her a moment and then returned to the ceiling, using a damaged light that was closer to reform himself. “YOU…”

“Yes,” Twilight nodded. “You remember me, right? From Maple’s house.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out the family photo. “You remember this too?” She displayed the photo. “Please Meadow, we know what happened now and we want to help. We can free you, we can let you rest.”

“REST...” Meadow calmed a bit.

“Yes, Meadow.” Twilight nodded.

“Wyndham,” Pear took the Sheriff’s shoulder. “Go after the others.”

“And leave you with it?” He asked.

“We’ll be fine, none of this means anything if they don’t reach the generators.” She insisted.

With a short growl, Wyndham nodded and began backing away to move towards the stairs. Pear joined Twilight and faced Meadow bravely. “Listen to Vel, Meadow.” She said calmly. “We really do want to help, but you have to let us.”

“We know where…” Twilight struggled. “Where you are, Meadow. We’re going there to set you free from this… existence of anger and torment. You don’t want this anymore, do you?”

Meadow looked at the picture, a longing apparent in the manifestation of his eyes; it didn’t last long though as anger returned. “NOT… YET…” He raised his arm to them. “HE… DIES… FIRST!”

“Meadow no…” Twilight started as Pear took her shoulders, she rolled around her body and planted her protected hooves firmly on the floor; the two of them left the ground as Pear took the shot to her back and landed hard on the carpet. Meadow vanished again, no doubt heading below to continue his pursuit. “Pear!” Twilight rolled her on to her back and straddled her. “Pear! Are you okay?!”

“Ugh…” Pear groaned. “Getting mighty sick of that.” She reached up and took Twilight’s arm. “You okay, sugar?”

“Yes.” She nodded; eyes welled with relieved tears. “He’s so aware, Pear; but he won’t stop until Alabaster is dead.”

“Well, it was worth a shot.” Pear got to her hooves and dusted herself off. “We’d best get after them. That trick won’t work again.”

“Right.” Twilight nodded as they ran for the stairs.

A floor below; Alabaster, Mayweather, Tanner and Hibiscus continued on towards the final stairwell leading down to the generator hall.

“I hope your friends are okay.” Mayweather huffed as they jogged along.

“They’re pretty tough.” Hibiscus said in return. “More than you’d think.”

“STOP!” Another light blew and Meadow reformed before them.

“Damn it!” Tanner skidded to a halt behind the others.

“Meadow!” Mayweather jumped before her father with arms spread.

Meadow immediately zeroed in on the girl, the contorted features of his face showing recognition. MAY…WEATHER…”

“Yes, it’s me, Meadow.” She nodded.

“Mayweather.” Alabaster tried to grab her, but Hibiscus stopped him.

“Wait, let her talk to him.” She pulled him back.

“Meadow… please…” Mayweather looked into the warped eyes of her lost lover and felt an overwhelming slew of emotion. “I’m sorry, this is all my fault.”

Meadow reached his arm out. “NO…, ALABASTER.”

“No, Meadow.” She shook her head. “You fell because of me, you…”

“KEPT… US… APART!” Meadow roared. “HIS… FAULT!” He cast his arm aside, a line of electricity sending everything nearby flying. “KILL!” His arm raised and bolts began to arc around the area.

“Get down!” Tanner pulled Mayweather back and crouched beside the others.

“Meadow!” Alabaster called from a ways back.

“ALABASTER!” Meadow leapt to a nearby copy machine and leered down at him.

“That’s right.” Alabaster motioned for him to come closer. “I’m the one you want… the one you’ve always wanted.”

“YES!” Meadow raised his arm to him.

“Daddy!” Mayweather tried to break free of Tanner’s arms, but he held her fast.

Before he could fire, a heavy stream of water blasted into his side; Meadow’s form began to go haywire, and he seemed to scream in some form of pain. He quickly shrank and disappeared into the outlet in which the copier was plugged into.

“Got him.” Hibiscus said proudly, hefting a wall mounted fire hose from an emergency fire station.

“Good job.” Alabaster breathed a heavy sigh.

Wyndham suddenly appeared down the way, running at them full bore. “Are you okay!?” He asked.

“We’re fine, I cooled him off.” Hibiscus informed. “Where’s Pear and Twilight?”

“They were stalling him, but if he came down here then they must have lost him.” He glanced back.

“We need to move.” Alabaster noted. “We’re almost there.”

“Go,” Tanner went back to Wyndham. “I’ll find them and catch up.”

“Okay,” Wyndham patted his shoulder. “Let’s go.” He, Alabaster, Mayweather and Hibiscus continued on while Tanner doubled back.

Traveling down another floor, Alabaster took over and headed towards the eastern end of the plant. Mayweather was clearly shaken by her encounter with Meadow, she had gone silent as they hurried, and her eyes were hard but damp with tears. After passing through a long corridor, they exited into the massive generator hall. The sound of the still running turbines was like a low roar and the concrete slab flooring was dotted with scattered and abandoned equipment from the mass exodus.

“We’re almost there, just…” Alabaster pointed down the way but stopped as he saw the familiar form manifest atop one of the turbines.

“ALABASTER!” The recovered Meadow glared down at them.

“Uh oh… this is bad.” Hibiscus noted. “Not only is his body here, but he’s got full access to the generators. He’s at his most powerful in this room.”

“Let me try…” Mayweather began but was halted by her father.

“Watch out!” He sheltered her as a shower of electrical bursts began raining down on them. They scattered as all of them were struck, their protective gear their only saving grace. Meadow let out a scream that managed to drown out the turbines as he fired randomly down at them.

“I think you pissed him off!” Wyndham called over to Hibiscus.

“You want to me go say sorry!” She yelled back.

Back at the entrance to the hall, Pear, Twilight and Tanner came to a stop as they beheld the electric specter atop the generator raining bolts across the room.

“Holy shit.” Tanner said with gaped jaw.

“Looks like he’s through going easy on us,” Pear shook her head as she prepared herself. “You ready, Vel?”

“Yeah,” Twilight nodded. “Tanner?” She glanced over at him.

“Not like I’ve got anything else going on.” He shrugged with a forced smile. “What’s the plan?”

“I’ll get his attention.” Pear informed. “You two find the others.” With that, she ran in and waved her arms. “Hey!” She called up. “You’ve hit me twice now, want to try for three!”

Meadow ceased his mindless attack and looked down at her. “HELP… ALABASTER… YOU… DIE!” He sent a huge surge at Pear who ran beneath the scaffolding used to service the generators, the metal framework catching the electricity.

As Pear maneuvered through the scaffolding, Twilight and Tanner headed around the opposite side of the room and found the others.

“There you are.” Hibiscus said in relief.

“Pear’s keeping him busy,” Twilight informed. “We need to get to the body now.”

“This way.” Alabaster motioned for them to follow.

They ran down the hall, the sound of Pear’s taunts and Meadow’s attacks in the background. They came upon the final generator which remained silent. Out of breath, Alabaster pointed to a large hatch on the side.

“There… he’s in there.” He panted.

Wyndham and Tanner bolted over and popped the panel off; they were startled as their eyes were met with the half-rotted remains of a Stallion. The body was folded in an unnatural position and as he decayed the flesh, bone and clothing had seemed to mold themselves against the stator of the turbine.

“Fuck!” Tanner dropped his side of the panel as he immediately threw up from the smell.

The hardened Wyndham stared at the dead boy before looking back to Hibiscus. “What now?”

“Destroy it, however you can.” Hibiscus ordered.

Wyndham reached inside and attempted to grab the body but struggled to dislodge the corpse. “Shit, he’s stuck in there.”

“NOOOO!” Meadow’s voice sounded above them; sensing his body was being disturbed, he abandoned Pear and formed himself on the adjacent generator.

“Wyndham, watch out!” Twilight shouted.

Wyndham dropped to the ground just as a massive bolt struck the generator; he and Tanner scrambled around to the other side of the machine as Meadow turned his attention to the others.

“Run!” Twilight motioned for them to spread out; sparks flew as they were attacked, Meadow now in survival mode to defend his tie to the mortal world.

“Shit, we can’t get near him.” Hibiscus looked over to Twilight. “And he won’t be drawn away again, not with his body at risk.”

“I know…” Twilight tried to think under the roar of the generators, the bolt strikes and Meadow’s angered screams. She suddenly took Hibiscus’ hand and held it tightly. “Stay here.”

“Wait, what...” Hibiscus started but Twilight left their cover and began moving across the way. She saw where Alabaster and Mayweather were hiding, and baseball slid into their sheltered spot.

“How do you start the generator?” She quickly asked.

“There’s a separate fuse box with its own main switch.” Alabaster relayed. “It’s on the wall over there.” He pointed to the wall closet to the generator.

“Pear!” Twilight called out.

“Vel!” Pear’s voice responded.

“On the wall to your right!” She continued. “Power on the generator!” A moment passed before Pear called back.

“I can’t get close!” She answered.

“He’ll stop for me.” Alabaster said solemnly.

“Daddy, no!” Mayweather took his shoulders.

“Stay here,” He looked at her with hard but loving eyes. “I love you.” He kissed her forehead and slid from the protected area. “Meadow!” He shouted, the attacks immediately stopping.

“ALABASTER!” Meadow’s rage overrode his survival instinct and he focused on his primary target.

“I won't run anymore.” Alabaster held his arms out. “Too many have died because of your hatred of me, no more. Leave them be.”

“YOU!” Meadow fired upward and knocked a piece of the metal roofing loose; it fell to the ground and he conducted his form over to it. “ALL… YOUR… FAULT!”

“If that’s what you need to think, then fine.” He conceded. “This has gone on long enough. If this is what will stop you, then take your revenge.”

“YOU… DIE!” Meadow raised his arm.

“No!” Mayweather jumped between them. “Meadow, stop it! Please!”

“Mayweather.” Alabaster tried to move her, but she did not budge.

“MAY… WEATHER…” Meadow lowered his arm.

“Please, don’t kill my father.” She begged. “I know you’re angry, I am too… at all of this.” She looked into his eyes. “All this time, what happened has been eating me alive inside; it’s been more than I can take. I lost you, I don’t want to lose my father too.”

“LOSE…” Meadow returned her gaze. “LOSE… YOU.”

“I know,” She nodded as she began to cry. “I know you did, and I’m so sorry. I was really falling in love with you, Meadow; and if you feel the same way… then you’ll stop this.”

Their attention was grabbed by the sound of a turbine beginning to spin. Meadow looked back at his mechanical casket for a moment before slowly turning back again. He looked past her at the Stallion he associated with his death and then back to the Mare that served as the catalyst for that death; even in that form, his eyes registered a degree of acceptance at her request. “LOVE… YOU…” He slowly reached out toward her, but the arm began to shake violently and lost shape. Wyndham and Tanner returned to the generator and watched as the spinning stator began to pull down and grind away what was left of Meadow’s body.

“Meadow…” Mayweather reached out to him in return. “Goodbye.”

The once fearsome and deadly spirit almost seemed to smile as his form stuttered and slowly dissipated. The only sound left was the hum of the generators as Mayweather fell to her knees and began to sob uncontrollably. Alabaster knelt down and hugged her tightly, his old eyes just a wet as his daughters as the nightmare finally came to an end.

Pear, Twilight, Wyndham, Hibiscus and Tanner assembled before the generator and looked to one another with exhausted eyes.

“We did it.” Twilight managed a small smile.

“I… I can’t believe it’s over.” Tanner held the side of his head.

“Good thing you were right about how to put him to rest for good.” Pear patted Hibiscus’ back.

“I’m just glad all my years of being into the paranormal paid off.” She made a small laugh. “But… I think I’m going to find a new hobby.”

“Thank you,” Wyndham came in. “All of you, this never would have happened without you.”

“Don’t leave yourself out of the equation.” Twilight smiled up at him. “We couldn't have done this without you either.”

Wyndham looked over at Alabaster and Mayweather. “I think it would be best if this all died here with Meadow.” He considered his words before about Alabaster handing himself over. “This town has been through enough, and so have they.”

“Can’t say I disagree.” Tanner noted.

“Yeah,” Hibiscus nodded. “I know we showed up at their door angry but… knowing they have to live with all this, I just feel sorry for them now. We’re all walking away from this with scars we’ll carry for the rest of our lives.”

“Well, that’s what scars are for.” Pear began. “To remind us of what happened and not to do it again.”

Wyndham helped Alabaster and Mayweather up, making sure they were okay before having him lead them to the main entrance so they could get back and let the town know that it was over.

It was a long walk filled with mixed emotion, but everyone’s spirits lifted as the familiar safe zone became visible. The normal activity all stopped as the townsfolk observed the bizarre sight of their Sheriff and the others casually walking in from a long unused road. They were immediately rushed by confused passersby and Wyndham managed to get across the short message that the danger was finally over. Even as those in the immediate area began to spread word, it seemed to take the town a while to truly believe that they were finally free. In the meantime, Wyndham took Alabaster and Mayweather to the station while Pear, Twilight, Tanner and Hibiscus returned to the motel to let Applewood and the other residents in on the news. The motel manager was overwhelmed by the news and took Tanner and Hibiscus to let their guests know that their involuntary stay was over at last. Pear and Twilight returned to their room; while Twilight’s phone had been fried, Pear's was still off in the luggage. Pear knew how deeply Twilight needed to hear Night Light’s voice, so she turned it on and tossed it to her.

“Here you go, sugar.” Pear said with a smile.

“Thank you,” Twilight quickly pulled up the call menu and dialed up her house from the contacts. After a few rings, the other end picked up and Twilight’s face washed over with joy as she heard Night Light’s hello.

“Pear?” He asked, as that was the name that came up.

“It’s me, honey.” Twilight said, holding back a teary laugh.

“Twilight, I was getting worried.” He responded. “Are you okay?”

“I… it’s a long story, I’m just glad to hear your voice.” She said with a sniffle.

“What happened?” He quickly asked.

“I can’t go into it all now,” She answered. “I just wanted you to know that we’re okay and we’ll be heading home as soon as we can. I know you have questions, but I promise I’ll tell you everything when I get back.”

A paused followed her promise. “Okay, honey. As long as you’re okay.”

“I am,” She assured. “I need to let Pear call Bright now, I’ll call you again when we’re on the road.”

“Alright,” He acknowledged. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” Twilight blew a kiss into the phone before hanging up. She immediately started to cry as she set the phone on the bed, the relief overtaking her.

Pear sat beside her and took up the phone, putting her arm around Twilight as she made a similar call to her Bright Mac. By the time the pair made it back outside the motel, they could see lights as those in the area began to return power to the buildings in the safe zone. Just seeing lights in windows was enough to bring a smile to their faces but the resonating sound of exciting talking and cheering was welcome to their ears.

“Hey!” Hibiscus’ voice came from behind them.

“Hey, girl.” Pear took her shoulder. “Quite a sight, huh?”

“For sure.” She looked out over the buildings. “Everyone is going nuts.”

“It looks like we’ll be spending one more night here,” Twilight noted. “Guess we should get in on the celebration.”

“I could go for a drink.” Pear chuckled. “How about we huddle around a light bulb and relax for a while.” She put her arms around the both of them.

Twilight laughed and slowly nodded. “That sounds good actually.”

The wave of ease and relief that engulfed the town was unlike anything Pear and Twilight had ever seen; all sentiment of rationing was tossed to the wind as everyone indulged in the stored food and alcohol. After some time, they went to the station to check in on Wyndham who had begrudgingly been persuaded to relieve his deputies and staff of duty so they could get in on the party. He remained though; sitting with Alabaster and Mayweather who, while relieved, were in no spirit to celebrate anything.

“Figured you’d be out in the streets with everyone else.” Wyndham said as the trio appeared at his office door.

“We were,” Twilight took the last remaining chair. “But we wanted to see how you all were doing.”

Wyndham let out a short laugh. “Well, even though the danger is over, I know there’s still a lot of work to do.”

“Yes,” Alabaster concurred. “I’m still the manager of the plant, I need to report all this to my superiors and they are not going to be happy; I’m not even sure I can explain this in a way that won’t make me seem mad.” He made a long sigh. “There are going to be investigations, fines, lawsuits… it’s going to be rough.” He rubbed his daughters back.

“Not to mention the fact that once everyone leaves and starts spreading the story of what happened here, the town is going to be swarmed with newshounds, ghost hunters and social media vultures looking to ape off this incident.” Wyndham added.

“Unfortunately, he’s right.” Hibiscus said shallowly. “This place is going to become a madhouse.”

“I’d like to send Mayweather away to family,” Alabaster noted. “But she refuses to go.”

“I have to stay.” Mayweather spoke up. “No matter what gets uncovered or what happens to the town, I have a responsibility to face it for Meadow.”

“That’s mighty brave of you,” Pear commended. “But don’t feel have to make yourself some kind of sacrifice.”

“Yeah, in a way you really were a hero back there.” Hibiscus offered. “Encounters with the paranormal are so rare and what Meadow had become… well, there may well never be another case like that again. His spirit was driven by rage and vengeance, but you managed to find him underneath all of that and give him some peace before he finally left this world. I don’t think you get just how amazing that was.” She smiled. “May sound a bit corny, but It really proved that love was stronger in the end.”

Mayweather’s eyes spilled over with tears at the thought of it all; she wiped her eyes and smiled. "Thank you.”

“I’m sorry we can’t help you with all that.” Twilight said earnestly.

Wyndham shook his head. “You two have done more than enough.” He assured. “In fact, I’m going to do what I can to make sure you don’t wind up dragged into the media circus. You deserve to get home to you families; we’ll handle the rest from here.” He looked to Pear. “Tomorrow morning, I’m having some teams go out and bring in all the vehicles that got stuck outside of town. If you tell me which one is yours, I’ll make sure it gets priority so you can leave.”

“Appreciated.” Pear said graciously. “It’s a tan, extended cab Bronco. License plate says APLEFAM.”

Wyndham laughed as he wrote the information down. “Got it.” He smiled up at them.

“Don’t burn too much of the midnight oil.” Twilight said as she stood. “We’ll see you in the morning.”

That night was the first good sleep the town had in longer than most of them could remember; so good in fact that even Pear slept in. The morning moved quickly with breakfast and plans by the townsfolk to begin returning to their actual homes in the area and begin the process of repair and revitalization. As Wyndam had promised, Pear’s truck was retrieved and looked at first; the vehicle pulling up the motel about an hour after breakfast had concluded. Tanner retrieved them from their room and let them know their ride was ready; the pair packed up their things and headed to the lobby more than ready to start their trip home. Applewood was at the front desk and gave them as a smile as they prepared to head out.

“Never thought I would be so happy to see someone able to leave.” He laughed.

“Thank you for everything, Applewood.” Twilight reached out and took his hand. “We know things are going to get hairy for you here, I hope it works out.”

“Thank you,” He gently squeezed her hand. “But nothing will ever compare to what we’ve already been through. We’ll be fine, so you both take care.”

They gave him a final farewell before heading out into the parking lot; Tanner and Hibiscus were observing Pear’s truck as they came upon them. “Nice wheels.” Tanner praised. “Guy said the damage was minimal, probably because it's a diesel. They slapped a new battery in and it started right up.”

“Sometimes basic is best.” Pear quoted as she stared loading up their luggage.

“You two take care of yourselves.” Twilight looked them over.

“We will.” Tanner promised.

“You know,” Hibiscus began. “I was thinking last night that I should write a book about what happened here.” She eyed Twilight keenly.

“As long as you change our names.” Pear came in as she walked by them, making Twilight laugh.

“Aw,” Hibiscus soured. “But you two helped save the town, don’t you want recognition for that?”

“That’s sweet, Hibiscus.” Twilight smiled. “But we just want to go back to our normal lives as wives and mothers… and farmers in Pear’s case.” She chuckled. “We know what happened, and that’s enough for us.”

“That’s right.” Pear started as she came around the truck again, having finished preparations. “I don’t need a fancy title; we all just did what we needed to do; everyone in this town is a hero for staying together and staying strong. I think that’s a better message to get across.”

Hibiscus took to the idea and nodded. “That’s good too. Thank you.”

They gave the pair a last goodbye and Pear had them back on the road out of town; Twilight sank in the seat as she reveled in the feeling of knowing they would be home soon. She took Pear’s phone again and called her house as she had promised; Night Light was quick to answer and greeted her warmly.

“Yep, we’re on our way.” Twilight answered the immediate query. “This may not make sense, but I want to take a hot bath when I get home.” She laughed as he assured her one would be ready. She remained quiet for a moment as Night Light informed her of something; Pear glanced over and saw her eyes brighten suddenly. “Really, we were just talking about that ourselves the other day. I will.” She paused again. “Okay, love you.” She hung up and set the phone to the center console.

“What was that about?” Pear asked.

“Night Light said he got a call from Evershy while we were gone.” She answered.

“Really?”

“Yeah, she called Bright too apparently, but he wasn’t home.” She continued. “She’s trying to contact us about getting together with her, Windy, Stellar and Cloudy.” She looked to Pear. “Night Light said she mentioned that she had a big life change, didn’t say what though.”

“Wow,” Pear considered what that could mean. “Well, seeing them sounds pretty dang good right now.”

“I know.” Twilight concurred. “I’ll call her when I get home and let her know that we’d love to get together.”

“Heh, bet they won’t believe what we just went through.” Pear laughed.

“Between Windy and Stellar, it’ll be interesting for me to have the craziest story for a change.” She laughed along. “They used to tease me so much about having such a cookie cutter life.”

“Maybe that hero story might come in handy after all.” Pear reached across the cab and punched her shoulder.

“Maybe.” Twilight sighed as she laid her head back; she thought about not just what had happened but to what had spurred Evershy to seek a reunion all the sudden. As her mind wandered, her eyes drifted to the window as she watched the landscape speed by.