Chapters The Cutie Mark Crusaders: Ghost Hunters 2
"What's this?" asked Scootaloo as she entered the Cutie Mark Crusaders' clubhouse. There was a book sitting in the middle of the room with several candles surrounding it.
"Ah dunno, Scoots; why don't you go check it out?" Applebloom nudged Scootaloo towards the book. "Look, it has yer name on it!"
Scootaloo got a little closer so she could read what was on the cover of the book. "Holy Celestia, it does! It looks like it's in blood... It says my name then has a trail of red after it. There's also a bloody hoofprint below it! I don't like this, Applebloom!" Scootaloo began to back away from the book, but Applebloom stopped her.
"That book was obviously meant fer ya, Scootaloo. You've gotta read what's inside! It could mean life or death fer all of pony kind!" Applebloom began to walk Scootaloo back to the book. "Now step over the candles; make sure none of them are damaged, because they probably cost somepony a few bits."
Scootaloo looked at the cover of the book again. "It says it's by Marzipan McMare..."
"Ah hate that author!" said Applebloom. "Now take a look inside of the book."
Scootaloo slowly began to open up the cover, but ended up closing it really fast before it was even halfway open. "I can't do this!"
"What wrong now!?!?" Applebloom demanded.
"There's more writing inside..."
Applebloom facehoofed. "It's a book! Of course it has writing inside! Just read what it says!"
"It says my name, and-"
"On the inside, Scootaloo!"
"Okay, okay!" Scootaloo began to open the book once again. When it was finally all the way open, she began to read it. " 'You're a big chicken.' " Scootaloo angrily slammed the book shut and threw it out the window.
"Hey! Ah payed fer that!" Applebloom ran towards the window, but was stopped short by Scootaloo, who had grabbed her tail.
"You're gonna have to pay for face surgery when I'm done with you!" yelled Scootaloo with a very threatening look on her face.
"Please no!" Applebloom desperately tried to get free from Scootaloo's clutches, but it was no use; Scootaloo had a firm grasp on her tail. "Somepony help me! Scootaloo's gonna kill me! Ah'm too young to die!"
Just then, the clubhouse door opened up and Sweetie Belle slowly walked through, holding her head.
"What happened to you?" asked Scootaloo, letting go of Applebloom's tail, which caused her to fall to the floor.
"I was about to walk up the ramp to the clubhouse when a book fell from the sky and hit me in the head."
"What did the book say?" asked Applebloom with a smile on her face.
"It said that Scootaloo was a chicken." Applebloom couldn't contain her laughter. She fell to the floor and started laughing really hard. Sweetie Belle looked over to Scootaloo. "Is there something wrong with her?"
"No, but there will be soon." Scootaloo began to walk over to Applebloom.
Applejack was making her way towards the Cutie Mark Crusaders' clubhouse when all of the sudden she heard Applebloom scream and come flying out of the window towards her. She let out a "What the!?" before the impact. "Applebloom, what'd ah tell ya 'bout jumpin' outta windows!?"
"Ah didn't jump, sis! Ah swear!" said Applebloom.
"Ah'll let ya of with a warnin' this time."
"Thank you! So, what're ya doin' around here anyway?"
"There's some pony in Ponyville askin' around fer ya and yer friends."
"Really? That's weird... Well, ah better get Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo and head off to Ponyville, then." Applebloom turned around and began to walk to the clubhouse.
"What'd ah tell ya about talkin' to strangers?"
Applebloom stopped and turned around. "Ya never told me anythin' about talkin' to strangers..."
"Oh, well then... Have fun with whatever y'all get into."
"Thanks! Wait a minute... Yer not gonna tell me anythin' about talkin' to strangers?"
"Nope."
"Well, in that case, ah'll see ya later!"
"See ya, Applebloom."
The Cutie Mark Crusaders made their way into Ponyville.
"What exactly did this pony want?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"All ah know is that they wanted to see us," replied Applebloom.
"Hey! Are you three the Cutie Mark Crusaders!?" a voice called out.
"Huh?" The three fillies looked around, but all they saw were ponies going about their business and not looking at them.
"Who said that?" asked Scootaloo.
"Over here!"
Sweetie Belle caught sight of a pony hiding behind a bush. "Look!" She pointed a hoof towards the bush. The three friends walked over to the hiding pony.
"Why are ya hidin' behind a bush?" asked Applebloom.
"I'm hiding from... From..." The pony paused.
"What!? What are you hiding from!?" demanded Scootaloo.
"I'm hiding from... Ghosts!"
"Okay girls, let's go," said Applebloom as she turned around and began to walk away. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle followed suit.
"What? Where are you going?! I need your help!" the pony pleaded.
"Look, Mr. Pony, we only did that ghost huntin' to try to get our cutie marks. We didn't get them, so we stopped ghost huntin'."
"You don't understand! I wasn't hiding behind that bush just to evade ghosts. You see, I'm cursed."
"Curses shmurses!" said Scootaloo. She looked at her friends. "Let's go to Sugarcube Corner."
"You might be cursed now as well, since you were the only ones who have gotten this close to me."
The trio stopped. Applebloom turned around. "What was that?" she asked.
"I said that you're all probably cursed now, like me."
"Exactly what kind of a curse is it?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"The kind of curse that you don't want."
"I don't want this curse, girls!" cried Scootaloo.
"Exactly."
"What are we going to have to do to break this curse?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"Well, there's this mansion deep in the Everfree Forest-"
"Let me guess; we're gonna have to get rid of the ghosts there?" asked Applebloom.
"Not exactly. You see, there's this crypt below the mansion that has something I need you to get for the ritual to break the curse."
"What is it?"
"It's a.. Um.. It's a mirror."
"You need us to get a mirror?" asked Scootaloo.
"Yep.
"That's in a crypt?"
"That's what I said, isn't it?"
"So all we have to do is get this mirror, bring it to you, and you'll be able to break the curse?"
"Exactly. What are you waiting for? You haven't got all day!"
"Oh, you want us to go now ?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"When else?"
"Tomorrow? I mean, it's starting to get dark. Our families would start to get worried if we're not all home soon."
"They won't miss you," the pony said under his breath.
"Excuse me?" asked Applebloom.
"I said they won't be worried. Trust me."
"Well then... I guess we'd better get goin', girls." Applebloom began to lead her friends down the road to the Everfree Forest.
The pony that was hiding behind the bush watched them walk towards the Everfree Forest for a bit, then made his way into a nearby alleyway. He began to smile. "They're going now," he said to a figure in the darkness.
To Be Continued
The Cutie Mark Crusaders: Ghost Hunters 2
"Remember the last time we were in the Everfree?" asked Scootaloo.
"Hmmm..." Sweetie Belle was deep in thought. "Yeah, we played hide 'n' seek."
"Oh... Well then, the time before that."
"More hide 'n' seek," said Applebloom.
"Way before that."
"We visited Zecora to try and find a cure for the love potion?"
"... After that."
"We were asked by some crazy cursed pony to go into the forest and get a mirror from a crypt to break a curse?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"Before that!"
"Can't you just tell us!?" Applebloom was growing impatient. "Wait, obviously you're gonna say somthin' like 'we tried to hunt for Slender Stallion, but it turned out to be my favorite pony ever in a costume!' "
"Well... I was going to say it was that time we played hide 'n' seek..."
"I already said that," said Sweetie Belle.
"So did ah," said Applebloom.
"I was thinking of the time that was before both of those." Scootaloo looked at her friends as they started going ಠ_ಠ. She turned around and began walking down the path.
"Chicken!"
"Okay, which one of you said that!?"
Sweetie Belle and Applebloom pointed at each other.
Scootaloo sighed, then turned around and began walking again.
"Chicken!" yelled both Applebloom and Sweetie Belle in unison.
Scootaloo turned around with wide angry eyes. "WHY!?!?"
"No! Look! A chicken!" Applebloom pointed her hoof behind Scootaloo, who turned around. Sure enough, there was a chicken poking its head out of a bush on the side of the path.
"Oh, huh; how did I not see that before?"
"Because you're blind?"
"Oh, shut up, Sweetie Be-" Scootaloo stopped talking when she turned around. "Uh... Applebloom?"
"Yes, Scootaloo?"
"Has Sweetie Belle been a statue this whole time?"
Applebloom looked to her left. Sweetie Belle was a statue. "Whoa! Ah don't think so... Wasn't she just talking a little while ago?"
"I think so... Have our lives been lies this entire time?"
"Wait; she hasn't been a statue our entire lives, Scootaloo!"
"How do you know that!?"
"She was just turned into one!"
Applebloom and Scootaloo turned to look at the chicken head coming out of the bushes.
"COCKATRICE!!! AAAHHHHH!!!"
It came out of the bushes, but it was actually just a normal chicken. It looked at them, as if to ask "why you screamin' at me, you crazy fillies?"
"Wait, that's just a chicken!" observed Applebloom.
"Then what's up with Sweetie Belle?" asked Scootaloo.
"Hey girls!" said Sweetie Belle as she came up behind Applebloom on the path.
"Aahhh!" screamed Applebloom. "Sweetie Belle!? Ah thought you were a statue!"
Sweetie Belle looked down at her body, than back at Applebloom. "I'm not..."
"Then what's with this statue of you?"
"That's just a tree stump..."
Scootaloo and Applebloom looked where the statue had just been. It was a tree stump. The stump of a tree. One that was not made of stone, nor did it resemble Sweetie Belle or any other pony for that matter. No statue was in sight.
"There was a statue right here!" said Scootaloo. "I swear!"
"Yeah right! You're trying to scare me," said Sweetie Belle.
"No, ah saw it too, Sweetie Belle!" said Applebloom.
"Well it's not here now, is it? Let's go find that crypt!"
As the three friends were leaving the stump, Scootaloo walked up to it. "You're not fooling me, you stump!" She turned around and caught up with her friends. "Does that stump take me for a fool!?"
"It's just a stump, Scootaloo," said Applebloom.
"That's what they all say."
"Who's 'they?' " asked Sweetie Belle.
"... I don't know... The ponies that get fooled by stumps?"
"How many ponies have you met that have been fooled by stumps?" asked Applebloom.
"I've met my fair share of stump-fools."
"Stump-fools?"
"Yeah, that's the scientific term for them."
"Who told you that?"
"Uh... Twilight... Who else would know sciency things?"
"So you're saying that Twilight told you the scientific term for ponies who have been fooled by stumps?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"Yep."
"And if I go to her and ask her about ponies being fooled by stumps, she'd know what I was talking about?"
"... Yes..."
"I don't believe you."
"Good!"
"Why is that good?" asked Applebloom.
"Because I was lying to you anyway!"
"So you were fooled by the stump after all?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"Dang it!!!!"
The Cutie Mark Crusaders saw a clearing up ahead.
"Interesting..." said Sweetie Belle.
"How is that interesting? It's just a clearing," said Applebloom.
"But I thought the only clearing in the Everfree Forest was that way," said Sweetie Belle as she pointed her hoof behind them and to the left.
"Oh yeah..."
"How long have we been walking for?" asked Scootaloo.
"Way too long; this is the edge of the Everfree Forest."
"Well then, shouldn't we have run into the crypt somewhere back there?"
"Yeah..."
"So either we passed it..." started Applebloom.
"Or it doesn't even exist." Sweetie Belle finished for her.
"Stupid crypt!" yelled Scootaloo.
"Is it just me, or is it really dark out right now?" asked Applebloom.
The three friends looked back to where they had come from. They could hardly see anything.
"No, it's really dark. Really, really, REALLY, REALLY dark!" said Scootaloo.
"Why didn't we bring any supplies?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"Because we're sometimes the biggest idiots."
Sweetie Belle raised a hoof, about to argue with Scootaloo, but then lowered her hoof and her head and said, "Yeah..."
"Oh hey, it's that chicken again!" said Applebloom.
Scootaloo looked into the darkness and saw the chicken walking around on the path. "Oh yeah!"
"You two saw a chicken earlier!?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"Yeah; it was right before you turned into a statue. And then the statue turned into a stump..." said Applebloom.
"Why didn't you tell me that you saw a chicken?"
"Ah thought the statue-stump was more important..."
"Wait a minute," said Scootaloo.
"What?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"That's not a chicken; it's a cockatrice."
"Oh yeah, it is a cockatrice, isn't it?"
"I guess the dragony body kinda gives it away," said Applebloom.
"Do you think it sees us?" asked Scootaloo.
The cockatrice looked right at them.
"Yep."
The Cutie Mark Crusaders: Ghost Hunters 2
"I don't think the cockatrice wants to leave," said Scootaloo.
"Are ya sure?" asked Applebloom. "Maybe you should ask it."
"Why should I be the one to ask it!?"
"Because it's half-chicken."
"Hey!"
"Two against one, Scootaloo," said Sweetie Belle.
"You're just saying that because you don't want to ask it!"
"What's your point?"
"Gah! Fine! I'll ask if it'll leave!"
"Thanks," said Applebloom.
"No, thank you ," Scootaloo replied sarcastically. She then turned to face the approaching cockatrice. "Hey, uh, you wouldn't happen to want to leave us alone, would you?"
The cockatrice cocked its head to the right, confused by the little filly who was trying to communicate with it. But since cockatrices don't know how to speak pony, it soon continued forward towards the Cutie Mark Crusaders.
Scootaloo turned around and looked at her companions. "I don't think it understood me."
"I guess it's less of a chicken than ah thought..." said Applebloom.
"I'll show you a chicken if you call me a chicken one more time!"
"What does that even mean?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"Who cares!? The cockatrice is getting closer!" Scootaloo pointed at the cockatrice, which was, in fact, closing the gap between itself and the three defenseless fillies. "I say we make a run for it!"
"Make a run for what, exactly?" asked Applebloom.
"How about that house over there?"
"You mean the one that just appeared out of nowhere?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"Houses can't just appear out of nowhere, Sweetie Belle. But yes, I was talking about that- hey!"
Applebloom was already running to the house.
"Wait up, Applebloom!" yelled Sweetie Belle.
"And risk getting turned to stone!? No way!"
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo began to run towards the house.
"Last one there is a statue!" said Scootaloo.
"That's horrible!" cried Sweetie Belle.
The three fillies finally made it to the house.
"Do ya think the cockatrice followed us?" asked Applebloom.
Sweetie Belle looked back where they had come from and saw the cockatrice slowly making its way to them.
"Yes," answered Sweetie Belle. "I think we should get inside of this house and lock the door!"
The Cutie Mark Crusaders ran around the house until they found the front door. They proceeded to enter the house and close the door.
"Hey Scootaloo, could you lock the door?" asked Sweetie Belle as she and Applebloom began to explore the house.
"Sure," replied Scootaloo. She turned around and watched as the door locked itself. Scootaloo stared at the lock for a while. "Well, that makes my job easier." She turned away from the door and caught up with Sweetie Belle and Applebloom.
"Ah think we should split up to cover more ground," suggested Applebloom. "Ah'll keep on exploring this floor. Scootaloo, you go upstairs and see what you can find. Sweetie Belle, you've got the basement."
"The basement!? How do you even know there's a basement?" asked Sweetie Belle, who wanted more than anything for there to not be a basement.
"That," said Applebloom, pointing at a doorway that led down into darkness.
"Oh..."
Scootaloo walked over to the door and looked down into the darkness. She then looked at Sweetie Belle. "Sucks for you!" Scootaloo ran up the stairs to the second level and escaped Sweetie Belle's wrath.
"Oh, come on, Sweetie Belle," started Applebloom, "it can't be that bad down there."
Sweetie Belle sighed. "I guess you're right."
Applebloom walked down the hall and into another room. Sweetie Belle walked over to the basement doorway and looked for a light switch. "Bingo," she said as she spotted one just through the doorway to the right. She flipped it, but nothing happened. "Huh?" She flipped it several more times just to make sure it really wasn't working. Still, no lights turned on in the basement. "Great. Just my luck."
Sweetie Belle took one step down the stairs and instantly slipped and began falling down the steps. "Oh crap! Aaahh! Ow! Oof! Aaagh! Gah! Ooooow! AAaaaaaaaahhhh!!!!" Sweetie Belle finally reached the bottom of the stairs. "Ooooooowww!"
Applebloom and Scootaloo ran to the basement door. "Sweetie Belle! Are you okay!?" asked Scootaloo.
"No! I just fell down stairs! Oooooooooowww!!!"
"Why didn't you turn on the lights?" asked Applebloom.
"The light switch didn't work!"
"Oh... Why not use your magic to light up the room?"
"I haven't learned the light spell, yet!"
"Oh..."
"Wait, hold on! I feel something..."
"What is it?" asked Applebloom.
"I think it's a wall. I'm following it."
"Why are you going deeper into the pitch black basement!?" asked Scootaloo.
"I don't know! I thought it would be productive!"
The light in the basement suddenly turned on.
"Wha- how!?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"Ah just flipped the switch right here," said Applebloom.
Sweetie Belle was silent.
"Sweetie B-"
"Are you kidding me!?!?!?!"
"Nope."
"Dang it!"
"What do you see down there?" asked Scootaloo.
"Uh... I see a lot of things covered in sheets... There's a lamp with no light bulb in it."
"Can you turn it on?"
"Let me see."
Click!
"Nope. Wait a minute... Girls, I think you better get down here."
"Why?" asked Applebloom.
"Just get down here!"
The two fillies made their way down the stairs into the basement and looked around until they saw Sweetie Belle staring at a wall. On the wall was a message written in red.
"I will have my revenge!" said Sweetie Belle, reading the message.
"You can read?" asked Scootaloo.
"Scootaloo, I'm pretty sure we can all read."
Scootaloo looked at the message. "Oh yeah."
"I think this message was meant for us, girls," said Applebloom.
"What makes you say that?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"The fact that it has our names right underneath it."
"Oh... Hey, what's that?" Sweetie Belle walked over to the right of the message and took a piece of paper off of the wall. "It's a drawing of us and- oh my!"
"What!? A drawing of us and what!?"
"A drawing of us, and Slender Stallion is behind us!"
"Does it say anything!?"
"The caption says 'Always Behind You.' "
"Does it say anything on the back?" asked Scootaloo.
Sweetie Belle flipped the paper over. "It says 'See Other Side.' "
The basement light suddenly turned off, leaving the Cutie Mark Crusaders in complete darkness.
"Ah!" screamed Sweetie Belle.
"What the!?" yelled Scootaloo.
"Shh, be quiet! Listen..." said Applebloom.
The thre fillies became silent and listened for what Applebloom heard. The sound of hoofsteps was heard just above the fillies, and then began sounding further away.
"Whatever it is, it's going upstairs," said Applebloom.
"Maybe we should get out of here," said Sweetie Belle.
"I don't think we'll be able to do that," said Scootaloo.
"Why not?"
"Because the door locked on its own."
"Why didn't ya tell us that sooner, Scootaloo!?" asked Applebloom.
"I didn't think it was too important since you wanted the door to be locked anyway."
"Whatever. I guess we'll just have to go upstairs and see what's in here with us."
"Wait! Hold on just one second! Our plan goes from getting away from this place to chasing after whatever is up there!?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"Do you have any better ideas?"
"Um..." Sweetie Belle thought for a little while. "We could just wait here longer until I think of a better idea."
The Cutie Mark Crusaders: Ghost Hunters 2
Night 1, Pt. 3: Familiar Faces
"Helloooo?" asked Sweetie Belle as she peeked through the basement door.
"Do you see anything?" asked Scootaloo.
"I think it's still upstairs."
"Then we've gotta go up there an' see what it is," said Applebloom.
Scootaloo walked over to the bottom of the stairs, with Sweetie Belle and Applebloom close behind her. Scootaloo looked back at her companions. "Why do I have to be in the front?"
"Because you're tryin' to redeem yourself from your chicken status," answered Applebloom.
"Fine." Scootaloo slowly began to make her way up the stairs.
"Who's in my house!?" yelled a voice that sounded close.
"AAAHH!!!" Scootaloo fell backwards, but was caught by Sweetie Belle and Applebloom. "No! I want to go down the stairs! Let me fall!"
"Hey! That screamin' sounds familiar..."
"Hey, that yelling sounds familiar," said Sweetie Belle.
"Yeah, it does," agreed Applebloom.
Just then, a pony wearing a bunny suit ran out of the first door on the right at the top of the stairs. "Who's there!?!?"
"Hank!" yelled Applebloom excitedly, running over to give him a hug. "I'm glad it was you up here!"
"Well, if it ain't my three favorite fillies!" said Hank.
Sweetie Belle was still on the stairs holding Scootaloo up. "A little help here?" she asked.
"Wait, who's that?"
"Who's who?" asked Applebloom.
"There's three of you?"
There's always been three of us..." said Sweetie Belle.
"Oh, did I say three? Silly me; I meant four." Hank looked down the stairs.
"Wait, what?" Applebloom followed Hank's gaze and gasped. "W-What's that!?"
"What? She's not with you?"
Sweetie Belle tried her best to turn her head and look behind her, but she ended up losing her grip on Scootaloo, causing both fillies to fall down the stairs. "NOT AGAIN!! OOOOWW!! AAAH!! OOF!"
"Are you two okay!?" Applebloom took a step down the stairs then froze. "It's still there..."
"What is?" Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo both turned themselves over to look up. Standing right above them was a filly made completely of shadow. "OH WHAT THE HAY!?!?"
"Watch your language, Sweetie!"
"No! You watch your language! You don't have a shadow-pony standing right above you!"
"It's touching me!" yelled Scootaloo.
"Shut up Scootaloo! Sweetie Belle, I'm going to tel Rarity that you used the word- wait... What did you just say, Scootaloo?" asked Applebloom.
"It's touching me!!!!"
Sweetie Belle looked over at Scootaloo and saw that the shadow pony was standing on Scootaloo.
"You can't just let her do that to you, Scootaloo! Don't you remember what Iron Will taught you?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"I wasn't at his seminar!"
"You weren't? Then who was I there with...?"
Applebloom watched as the door began to open slowly. "Girls... The door is opening on its own..."
"The shadow pony is still standing on me!"
"The door opened on its own!"
"Hank's gone!" yelled Sweetie Belle.
Before Applebloom could turn to see if Sweetie Belle was telling the truth or if she was lying to make it seem like she had something worthwhile to say at the moment, she spotted something familiar just through the doorway. She narrowed her eyes. "So we meet again... Stumpy!!!"
The stump from earlier that night slowly moved into the light. It stayed in the same spot for some time, occasionally turning itself towards Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle.
"Is it trying to talk to us?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"Psh, stumps can't talk; they're just stupid wood," said Applebloom. Just then, the stump flew up the stairs and smacked into Applebloom's face. "OW!!!"
"Applebloom! Are you okay!?" asked Sweetie Belle.
Applebloom had her face in her hooves. "I was just hit in the face by a wooden stump that was moving at abnormally fast speeds. WHAT DO YOU THINK!?!?"
"Well, it's a possibility that-"
"I AM IN SEVERE PAIN!!!!"
"The shadow pony is still standing on me!" screamed Scooatloo.
"At least it didn't stomp on your face!"
"... I don't think Applebloom is kidding around, Sweetie Belle."
"Oh, really!? Is it that obvious!? Ow... Where did the stump even go?"
"I didn't see it come back down here," said Sweetie Belle.
Applebloom looked around and spotted the stump hanging out in a corner. "Yeah, it's still up here being creepy." The stump flew at her again, but she was ready this time. She jumped out of the way, and it smashed into the wall.
"Ha! Stupid stump!" yelled Sweetie Belle. The stump flew from the wall at her, but she was also too quick for its scheme of instant-vengeance; Sweetie ducked and it flew over her. "Ah! It could have taken my head clean off!"
"The shadow pony. Is still. ON ME!!!!" screamed Scootaloo. The stump flew at her. "I didn't even insult you!"
The shadow pony jumped, and the stump flew in between it and Scootaloo, into the living room, and finally into the fireplace. All of the sudden, the stump caught on fire and just sat in the fireplace. Applebloom walked down the stairs and stared at the flaming stump.
"Wow," began Applebloom, "I didn't think it would end this way for him."
Sweetie Belle walked over to Applebloom. "He was a formidable adversary."
Applebloom looked at Sweetie Belle. "... What?"
"Huh?"
"What did you just say?"
"Never mind."
"... Okay..."
The stump started squealing in the fireplace.
"This is rather disturbing," said Sweetie Belle.
"Yeah," agreed Applebloom.
"The shadow pony is still on me," added Scootaloo.
"How many times have you said that?"
"At least three times too many."
"I don't even think it's going to hurt any of us," said Sweetie Belle.
"I won't," said the shadow pony.
"See? It even said that it won't."
"I'm not even scared that it's talking to us right now," said Scootaloo.
"What's your name?" asked Applebloom.
"Shadow," answered the pony.
"... I can live with that," said Sweetie Belle.
"GET OUTTA MAH HOUSE, YOU FREAKY SPIRITS!" Hank began yelling from upstairs.
"Uh... Hank?"
Hank appeared at the top of the stairs. "Don't worry, fillies; I'm going to rescue you!"
"Hank, we don't need-"
Hank ran down the stairs, past the fillies, out the door, and into the dark of the night.
"I don't think he's coming back," said Scootaloo.
"Well, I think we should get out of here before the door closes and locks again," said Applebloom.
"Hey, Shadow? Do you want to come with us?" asked Sweetie Belle.
"You'd let me?"
"Of course!" Sweetie Belle smiled widely.
"Who would she stay with?" asked Scootaloo.
"She could stay with me; Rarity's pretty generous."