Chapter 1: Cooking up a plan
"And every year on the date of the accident it takes to the sky as a warning to others. Soaring above the planes, Shrieking like a lost soul!"
With a flash of lightning and a boom of thunder Rainbow Dash vanished leaving Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo paralyzed with fear. After moments of deathly silence she emerged from the shadows screaming like a Banshee rising from the depths of hell, she continued her ghostly wail she scooped up Sweetie Bell and proceeded to fly around the room. Sweetie Belle froze up, she could not move her legs, she could not open her eyes, the only thing she truly had control over was her voice, which at the rate things were going she could very well have lost control of that at any moment, all she could do was scream in fear. After what seemed like an eternity rainbow dash placed her on her cushion near the other two crusaders, in a flash she darted under the blankets with her fellow scallywags. As she did she knocked her pirate hat off her head but this was her least concern since she was shaking more than an unbalanced washing machine.
As Rainbow concluded her enrapturing tale Twilight had entered the festively decorated club house containing three little fillies she presumed were the Cutie Mark Crusaders and one Pinkie Pie who all seemed to be absolutely traumatized. Her Pink mane had lost its resemblance to a certain fluffy confectionery treat and her bright blue eyes had shrunk to the size of the tip of a pin. The three little ponies hid underneath a blanket with expressions resembling that of the fore mentioned pony. Twilight turned to face her vibrantly colored friend who wore a robe that looked somewhat like depictions of the grim reaper that twilight had seen in dusty old tomes in her library.
"Rainbow Dash what ARE you talking about?" the door was enveloped with a light purple glow which closed it gently preventing any rain to enter the cozy little fort.
"The Nightmare!" Rainbow stated with excitement emanating from her voice "Sorin said he saw it last night!"
"Where?" Twilight stated doubtfully in a semi mocking tone.
"He didn’t say…Oh man it makes my fur stand on end just thinking about it!" her eyes closed tightly as she shuddered and briskly flapped her wings.
She rolled her eyes in the same way school teacher does when a question is answered in a most absurd fashion. "I don’t believe it for one second” "Besides look what you've done. You scared Pinkie silly I mean seriously she’s as white as a ghost! And I can only imagine how the girls feel" her statement came out in a somewhat cynical tone
There was a click of a door unlatching and a squeaking of the hinges as it opened revealing a light blue Pegasus in a wonder bolts outfit. He lifted the hockey mask up to reveal his face.
"Hey everyone what’s up?" Sorin’s fur was quite matted from the rain. He had been helping the weather team prepare the thunder storm all day. His shift had ended so he decided to drop by the fort to meet up with rainbow dash. He shook the moisture from himself before fully entering the little tree fort.
Rainbow quickly trotted over to him and stopped mere centimeters from his muzzle which caused a light blush to appear on his face, enough so that it wouldn't bee seen in the dimly lit clubhouse.
"Twilight doesn't believe in your ghost!" her watery eyes were the size of hubcaps, staring into the depths of Sorin’s soul pleading for him to make twilight believe.
A hearty laugh filled the little space that concealed them all "Of course she doesn't, it’s only a pretend ghost that I saw on TV last night after the 'Dusk zone' and 'Quanta jump' marathon that they always play before nightmare night"
Rainbow just looked at him aghast but mostly disheartened "you mea- uh I mean " she stumbled over her words as her face contorted only to reveal a false face of confidence as she looked away "I knew it wasn’t real I just wanted to share a uh... good story with you guys and see you all would react and BOY the looks on all of your faces…PRICELESS!" she let out a nervous chuckle as she tried to maintain her “too cool for school” composure.
Almost immediately after her attempt to save face, Pinkie Pie's smile as well as her bubblegum pink color returned to her in a flash as her mane inflated back to its sweet and sugary demeanor but this time a witch's hat sat atop her head. Confetti and streamers popped out of thin air but rather than the usual multicolored all season confetti it was her special orange and black pumpkin shaped nightmare night confetti "That was a great story Dashie! It really had me exscared!" she exclaimed.
Twilight furrowed her brow and glared quizzically but at the same time she did not really wanting to know. She decided it would be best just to let it slide.
Sorin was still puzzled. "Exscared?"
"Yeah!" the witchy pink pony exclaimed. "Its sorta like being scared and excited at the same time. Kinda like when my tail starts a twitchin’" She giggled as she grabbed a bowl of assorted candies which contained a generous helping of chocolate peanut butter cups, turned to the three little ponies and gestured for them to help themselves. The three of them sat neutrally and hesitated to reach into the bowl of delicious candy but after a moment of staring at the festive bowl they reached in simultaneously and pulled out two pieces each; however they did not consume the treats, instead there gaze shifted toward a certain smug looking cyan Pegasus.
"So there wernt no ghost pony ahfeter all?" apple bloom said with worry in her eyes. The little earth pony’s usual big red bow had been replaced by a black bow with a pattern of “Cinco de Mayo” skulls.
"Of course not, it’s highly improbable for a spirit to manifest itself on a scheduled basis for the sole purpose of warning other ponies of a danger that has no tangible evidence of its existence." Twilight sat down and finished off her declarative statement with her nose up high and fore hooves crossed.
"Psh… so says the pony that went from librarian to princess in Ten seconds flat!" casting a joking glance at twilight, this caused Sorin to let out a soft chuckle.
Twilight just smirked at rainbows retort "That pun has been beaten within an inch of its life… you should really get some new material or at least borrow one of the many installments of ‘Lame puns form A-Zebra’ that I have back at the library.”
Rainbow waved her hoof in the air
"Oh excuuuuse me princess what do you know about jokes anyway, I don’t need them I write my own material." Her chest puffed up with pride.
Twilight had stopped listening to her Rainbow maned companion a while ago. "I can see that" she scoffed "Anyway isn’t it about time for you three to be heading back to the Apple Jacks farm house?"
The three little fillies all groaned in unison. "AAWww fiiiineeee." They begrudgingly worked their way from their makeshift blanket shelter.
As Soarin stretched to prepare for a long flight back to Cloudsdale as his back cracked audibly “ Ahh" he sounded quite satisfied with the sound that caused the others to cringe slightly, " I suppose Rainbow and I should be heading out as well since we have flight practice tomorrow."
Rainbow made her way to the door with him. "Yeah that sounds like a good idea, it was fun while it lasted.” She smiled as she opened the door to the storm which had calmed to a light drizzle. “Just as scheduled, the ponies in this sector sure do have their act together, any way catch you girls on the flip side!" The two flew off leaving twilight to tend to the trio.
"All right girls let’s get you home before they decide to let another storm roll in." Twilight decided to cast a barrier spell to prevent them all from getting completely drenched, if anything it would protect their heads from the cold rain that came down in a light steady stream. The CMC proceeded to follow Twilight down to the steps of the tree fort to the muddy dirt path that led to Applejack and Apple Blooms home. In the distance they could see the warmly light farm house just at the crest of the hill as they neared; they decided to hasten their pace so as to reach it quicker.
Soon after their arrival Applejack met them with a friendly smile along with warm towels to dry off with since the rain had begun to pick up again and this time it was quite a bit stronger. "Howdy girls did yall have a good time?!" Scootaloo and Apple Bloom cheered in unison.
As twilight withdrew her spell she opened her eyes to greet Apple Jack. “Why yes we did. Although I arrived a bit late to the festivities, I did catch the tail end of quite a juicy ghost story even if it was rather far-fetched.”
“Heh I knew you weren't one for them there superstitious stories. Well at least yall had fun that’s what really counts “
“You’ve got a point there AJ; Well I suppose I’ll be on my way…I hope you all enjoy the rest of your night girls!”
Apple Jack simply smiled “Don’t you worry “bout us none, we’ll make the best of this nasty weather now get your royal tush back home before you get a cold”
Twilight laughed, she had almost forgotten that she had become royalty a few mere months ago.she gave her friend a farewell hug and bid them all goodnight and returned to her abode for a long evening of relaxing.
Scootaloo and Apple Bloom and began to ramble about all the fun they had as they switched out of there pirate costume, conversely Sweetie Belle was worse for ware, she was still shaken up about the events of the evening. Scootaloo chuckled nervously at the mention of the story Rainbow told them "Heh yeah I wasn't scared I ... I knew it wasn't real to begin with!" trying her hardest to act super cool like her idol she closed her eyes half way while looking at her hoof as if she didn't care.
Sweetie frowned "I know it was just a story but Rainbow went way overboard with it…now I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep for a week." A heavy sigh escaped the little mare as she removed the final piece of her pirate getup.
Applejack had been baking treats for the nightmare night festival all day and had not finished tidying the kitchen, A huge open sack of flower and a sack of sugar were close to the edge of the counter along with a quarter of a gallon of milk that had been left out. The apple family had recently been in the process if renovating the kitchen and the new counter-top for the island was not properly attached yet since Big Mac had run out of the hardware necessary to complete the assembly.
Sweetie slumped against the side if the center island then proceeded to relax her legs which caused her to slide down the side of the island. On her way down she bopped her head on the loose counter-top as she came to rest sitting on the floor. The bump from her head was enough to move the counter-top back an inch or so until it hit the wall, upsetting the already precariously perched flour and sugar causing both bags to topple forward.
"WATCH OUT" Scootaloo and Apple Bloom exclaimed as they foresaw what their friend was in for.
As soon as Sweetie heard there cries of warning she had looked up she had been greeted with a face full of flour and sugar. The bags had spilled there entire contents on the unsuspecting filly, Sweetie coughed and sputtered as she attempted to regain her vision.
"WHAT IN EQUESTRIA JUST HAPPENED!?!?!?" shouted the frantic pure white figure.
Apple Bloom sat on the chair nearest to her specter of a friend and interjected "Mah idiot brother jus gave me n' idea!" her friends tilted their heads then stared quizzically. "We can help you get back at Rainbow Dash for scaring you so badly by spookin’ the daylights outta her and we'll do it by making her think she’s being haunted by the night mare!" Apple Bloom bounced around the room excitedly while Sweetie stared in disbelief.
"That will never work! For one I’m too small to be the night mare and two, if you have not noticed, I don’t have wings. Besides… being covered in flower to pose as a ghost is the oldest trick in the book next to using a sheet with holes cut out for eyes."
Scootaloo returned her focus to her ghostly pal and licked Sweeties mane. "Yeah but at least the sugar gives a new meaning to SWEETIE belle.”
The now pure white pony with a moderate shade of crimson on her cheeks just groaned. "Uuuuuuughh your worse with puns than Twilight"
"Wow... Harsh Sweetie Belle" Scootaloo said flatly then snapped back to Apple Bloom who was halfway in the broom closet "So how’s your plan supposed to work?”
Not even 2 seconds after the cacophony from the kitchen Applejack rushed in frantically. "GURLS YALL ALRGHT N’ HERE?" she was panting heavily as she entered the walkway that leads to the kitchen.
"Yeah were all right" the three little ponies said almost in unison or rather like a well-orchestrated robots.
"Pshew I’m glad to hear that... Just make sure this mess gets cleaned up alright?"
“Sure fhhing shis” Apple Bloom returned with a dust pan clenched between her teeth and a dust brush on her head. " As fer yer question scoot, I’ll tell you in a bit just help me clean this up, and Sweetie Belle don’t you DARE clean that off of you its e...essen…Esenti, oh whatever its important to the plan.”
