//------------------------------// // 7. Phantasmagorical // Story: A Ghost of a Chance // by Epsilon-Delta //------------------------------// Zest screamed and pulled her aura as close as she could. She wouldn’t be mind-controlled that easily! It seemed to work, as the new ghost’s influence didn’t push through at all! Zest created an ice blade and threw it at the ghost. That made them sink back down into their inky abyss! The pool of darkness quickly evaporated. Before she had the chance to think she won, Zest felt another tap of aura from her back. She tightened up even harder and swung around to throw her ice blade without even looking. The new ghost had already formed another pool and emerged from it entirely. Zest could tell now that she at least used to be a pegasus. She looked even creepier than before, too! Those dark voids around her eyes formed spots all along her beige fur. Streams of dark steam rose up from those holes. She was fast too, dodging out of the way, even going as far as to flip over Zest’s axe. “Help!” Zest closed her eyes and shouted. Not that there was anypony to come help her. Or was there?! Sparky rushed in at the new ghost roaring and bearing its fangs. “Yeah! Get ‘em, Sparky!” “Gak!” The new ghost had to retreat slightly as Sparky rushed at her. “What are you–?!” Then she crossed her forelegs and simply vanished from sight. Sparky pounced on the spot she had been a moment ago, even going through the ground. When he came back up, he looked around, unable to feel the attacker’s presence. Zest surrounded both her forelegs with ice blades and straightened up. She looked around, unable to find any sign of the other ghost. Did she leave? Zest’s only way to tell was to pulse again. But then she’d be open to an aura attack. “Can you calm down for like five seconds?!” An unfamiliar voice came from behind. Zest turned all around but still couldn’t find the source. “Where are you?!” Zest pointed one of her blades in the general direction of the voice. “I’m invisible.” She could turn invisible?! That wasn’t fair! “That doesn’t answer my question!” Zest waved her blade at the spot. “Not where you’re pointing.” Zest adjusted her blade. “Warmer.” Then after another adjustment. “Eh. Close enough.” “What do you want?!” “What do you think I want? You were yelling about how you were lost so I thought I’d help you. And then you go and attack me? No good deed goes unpunished, huh?” “You tried to attack me with your aura!” Zest pulled her blades back into a more defensive position. “I was saying hello! What? Were you abused or something?” She asked. “Such a weak aura shove ain’t gonna do anything but show you my intentions. Are you a total worm friend or what?” Zest honestly didn’t know. Mostly because she had no idea what that word meant. “I want to see if you have any chains.” Zest remembered one of the most important rules. “Alright. Just promise not to freak out this time,” she said. Zest nodded, then let her blades drop to the ground. The mysterious ghost appeared, shrugging with her hooves turned up. She spun around once, allowing Zest to see there wasn’t a single chain on her. Though Zest did notice this pony was grafted, too. She had a pair of flight goggles on, stuck raised over her forehead. Was grafting common? Or was Zest’s luck just being weird again. “There?” She completed her exhibition. “See? I’m not a filthy chain.” “Oh!” Zest finally started to relax a little. “Sorry for throwing ice at you.” She gave a feeble swipe of her hoof in Zest’s direction. “Eh, it’s fine. I know I come out of nowhere. Ponies throw stuff at me all the time. Sides, no way you coulda actually hit me.” She rubbed the back of her mane and smiled wearily. “My name is Indigo Zap, by the way.” “I’m, uh, Lemon Zest.” Zest let out a bit of nervous laughter. She was finally starting to calm down. Having another ghost around did wonders for her nerves. “I don’t normally panic that much. It’s just, you know, the mist and I felt a really big, hungry ghost coming at me. And all these rumors about chain-gangs. I guess I got spooked real good. Which is funny cause I am a spook.” Indigo’s smile faded and she deadpanned at Zest instead. “Seriously?” Zest glanced behind her, then back to Indigo. “Seriously what?” Zest tiled her head. “You don’t get to say that word, worm!” “What word?” Zest blinked. “Oh! You mean ‘spook’? But it’s okay for me to say that because I’m a ghost, right?” “No it’s not, because you’re a worm!” Indigo came far too close, those creepy eyes taking up most of Zest’s vision now. “Well if you’re so concerned about being polite, stop calling me a worm!” Zest threw her forelegs out. “Holy–! ‘Worm Friend’ isn’t an insult. It means you just died like ten seconds ago.” Indigo rubbed what was left of her eyelids. “You know? Like the worms are still eating your body. So it’s like you’re friends with them.” “That one’s a little morbid.” Though it did make sense. “Is it really that orbvious?” Zest smiled, hoping she could lighten the mood however slightly. At long last, Zest got a reaction from one of her puns. Instead of laughing, Indigo looked down at Zest with a deep frown and utter disgust in her eyes. For a second, Zest expected to get chewed out bad, but Indigo’s flash of anger broke. “You’re lucky I’m too tired to deal with this, you filthy worm.” Indigo looked away, burying a hoof in her face. “Look, didn’t anypony tell you about the two-year rule? You don’t get to float around making stupid ‘jokes’ or using slurs until you’ve been dead for at least two years. Got it?” Oh, crap! Sugarcoat had mentioned that! Zest didn’t even have an excuse now! “I wasn’t exactly making fun of you.” Zest put her hooves up in defense. “I don’t even get how that was offensive!” “Exactly! It’s not okay because you don’t get it!” Indigo jabbed her hoof on Zest’s chest. “And until you do, you can’t just fly around pretending like you do get it!” “Eh-heh.” Zest lowered her head, looking up at Indigo apologetically. “Sorry.” “And another thing!” Indigo pulled back slightly. “If you think a dangerous ghost is following you, you don’t pulse your aura to show it where you are!” “Sorry!” “Please tell me whoever you work for is smarter than you.” Indigo shook her head, turning away. “Uh. Whoever I work for is smarter than me.” Zest nodded. “Okay, good.” She sighed and turned back to Zest, beckoning with her hoof, eyes closed. “Now give me your map so I can get out of here.” Zest clutched the map, then looked up at this pushy pegasus. “I travel around a lot.” Indigo opened her eyes. “I know my way around the woods.” Indigo lowered her brow and gestured again, harder. Zest finally forked it over, Indigo snatching it a bit too hard. “Where are you trying to go?” “Maple Hill?” Zest doubted she’d know where Shadowbolt Academy was. Indigo sniffed and turned her head due east. “Do you smell that town?” Zest sniffed in the same direction. She could smell the heat above the town like lights off in the distance. At that, she nodded. “That’s the one you want. We’re right about here” Indigo pointed to their location on the map. “Just go slightly north of east and you should see the road to that town soon. You’re only like five miles away.” Miles? Apparently, Indigo was from down south. “Anyway! Now I gotta loop all the way around because your stupid tail had to go and draw its attention.” Indigo pulled the bottom of her eyelids down with her forehooves and kicked her rear legs as she groaned. “You guys had better show up tomorrow night! I don’t know how much more of this I can take.” Without waiting another moment, Indigo flew off into another pool of darkness. “Okay, but drew what’s attention?” Zest called out to the darkness. If Indigo was still around, she didn’t answer. “I think I blew that one, Sparky,” Zest whispered to her pet. “But hey, that could have gone a lot worse too!” Zest miserably floated off towards where Indigo pointed her. And it turned out those directions were completely unnecessary! Not long after she embarked in the right direction, Zest felt the pulse of Sugarcoat’s aura– which reached on for some amazing distance. Though to her credit, Indigo did at least give her accurate advice from the looks of things. Of course, Sugarcoat felt her frustration and noticed her taking too long. No doubt she was speeding in Zest’s direction right now. She really should be more uncomfortable with another pony being able to read her like Sugarcoat did, but right now all Zest wanted was to get back inside Sugarcoat’s aura… where seeing her emotions would be even easier. Maybe it really was natural, or maybe it was just Zest’s bad experience, but she like a shell-less hermit crab outside Sugarcoat’s massive aura right now. So she rushed off to intercept Sugarcoat, glad there was at least one place she could retreat to. Zest embraced Sugarcoat not far from Maple Hill. At least Indigo saved her from having to be rescued this time. As they returned to the academy together, Zest hastily went over the story. Broad daylight came to banish them to the basement by the time they’d settled in and finished comparing notes. The windows of the basement had all been boarded up and covered to the point no light could possibly enter this sanctuary. Even though Zest was largely stuck inside, she somehow felt safe. Being inside during a sunny day was like being inside during a blizzard. As long as you didn’t have to go outside, it was fine. Besides, Sugarcoat was here now. “Like a giant, hungry balloon!” Zest held her forehooves as far apart as they would go. “That’s the best I can describe it!” “How did you manage to find trouble?” Sugarcoat put her hoof on the bridge of her glasses and shook her head. “I merely sent you to the next town over.” “I didn’t get in that much trouble this time.” Zest folded her forelegs. “I think. That other one had to be a lesser ghost, right? Those aren’t too dangerous, unless… that one was! Oh! Or what if Indigo Zap was a spy?” “From your description, she sounded like a phantom,” said Sugarcoat. “Those do tend to be spies.” Zest knew it! “Of course, that’s no problem if she’s our spy,” said Sugarcoat. “Was the phantom the same ghost who was interested in joining us?” “I–” Zest froze on the spot. “I may have forgotten to ask. But I’m pretty sure they were. How many ghosts can there be around here?” Sugarcoat clicked her tongue. Zest felt the slight wave of displeasure. “Well! You can beat up some lesser ghost and a phantom in the worst-case scenario anyway, yeah?” Zest asked. “The way you described her is what worries me,” said Sugarcoat. “It implies things.” “You mean her eyes?” Zest asked. “Or the way she was giving off fumes?” Sugarcoat nodded. “Those are signs of extreme exhaustion,” Sugarcoat said. “If you don’t eat or sleep, you begin to evaporate until there’s nothing left. At the point you’ve described to me, she may only have a few days before starving to death.” “What?!” Zest forgot her little spat with Indigo upon hearing this news. She certainly didn’t want the other pony to die. “Then shouldn’t we go out there right now? We could build her a fire and–” “It’s a bad idea to go out during the day.” Sugarcoat looked up at the ceiling. “Besides, if she were really on the verge of death, she would have begged you to take her with you or to light a fire for her. These actions suggest she has something more important on her mind than exhaustion.” “Like what?” Zest asked. “And how did she even get that hungry? She was making fun of me for being so green but even I can make a fire at this point. So what’s her excuse?” Sugarcoat thought about the situation for a moment longer, putting all the pieces together in her head. “You said there was ice in the river?” Sugarcoat asked. “And that all the warm-blooded animals either ran or died in the mist?” “Yeah. So?” “Isn’t it obvious at this point?” Sugarcoat shook her head. “That other ghost you saw… it’s controlling the mist and eating any heat before she can. Perhaps it’s been hounding her for some time. Or else she’s stuck in that spot for some time. Yes, I’m going to make a prediction. When we return to that misty area, we’ll find dead animals if we go looking.” Admittedly, Zest wouldn’t have noticed anything of the sort in her haste. What sort of monster could devour everything in such a wide area, though? “Do you know what type that balloon ghost is?” Zest asked. Giving something a name went a long way to making it less terrifying. “It is somewhat puzzling,” Sugarcoat admitted. “Your description of its aura sounds like a greater orb, but you saw what must have been a hungering mist.” “So it’s a fusion ghost!” Zest slammed her forehooves together. “Is that a thing?” “You’re reading too many comic books. Though I admit this is an unusual situation. We should get some rest and get ready for whatever’s waiting for us.” Sugarcoat floated underground. Not long after sunset the following day, the two of them set off for the meeting area. The mist still lingered on the southern side of the Sugar River. Chunks of ice and frost lined the hazy side as well. Just as Sugarcoat predicted, they found a few dead birds, all of them frozen, lying about the trees. Few living animal remained in the foggy area now. The fog only grew thicker, so that the tree with the ghost runes on them remained obscured as they approached. On the off chance it was a trap, the two of them crept forward, keeping low to the ground. Zest felt only a single aura near the tree, Indigo no doubt. Sugarcoat searched the immediate area and, upon finding no other ghosts, nodded to Zest. In her sorry state, Indigo was the one with more cause for anxiety over their meeting. Zest lay on her side, eyes closed as if sleeping on some invisible bed in the air. The steam came off her more intensely now and small and the black holes along her body were noticeably larger. Her hair, while not grey, had turned a much less vibrant shade of blue. The sight of a ghost floating in the air as they slept seemed odd to Zest. She could never fall asleep above ground, nor had she ever seen Sugarcoat or Sparky manage such a feat. Zest wondered if she’d passed out. Or perhaps it was all an act. Indigo opened her eyes and looked down at them as soon as they showed up. “Hey! Finally!” Indigo opened her forelegs wide and floated down towards the two of them as though she were looking for a hug. Not at the sight of Zest, but after looking around for a bit, Indigo dropped her forelegs. “Hold up.” Indigo looked at Zest, then back to Sugarcoat. “Is this really the only other ghost you have? Please tell me there’s more!” Sugarcoat shook her head. “You have to start somewhere.” “How is my luck this bad?!” Indigo rolled onto her back and kicked her forelegs, clutching her face. “I finally find a specter and this is what I get?! Aren’t flushes supposed to be good luck?” “Ha! I know that one!” Zest pointed up at her. “Flush means, uh… well, me.” Indigo deadpanned at her once more. “Yeah!” Zest clung tight to Sugarcoat. “Well I may be an idiot but I’m an idiot under Sugarcoat’s protection! So if you’re too mean to me, she’s gonna beat you up!” “Oh, yeah?” Indigo turned back to Sugarcoat. “You’re the one who’s hypothetically smarter than the worm friend, huh? I really hope it’s by more than a tiny bit.” “I’m guessing a hungering mist has somehow been made to follow you, or else you’re trapped on this spot with it,” said Sugarcoat. “You haven’t been able to eat for some time because it’s been devouring any significant heat in this zone.” “Hey! You got it!” Indigo gave the most lethargic hoof-bump to the air that Zest had ever seen. It ended with her foreleg limply dangling down. “Thank goodness you’re smarter than your worm friend. Maybe this isn’t completely hopeless.” “Are you trying to get me to help you with something?” Sugarcoat asked. “If so, you’re not doing a good job.” “Do you know how long it’s been since I slept?!” Indigo came closer. “I’m not gonna do a good job of anything right now, okay?!” “I see.” Sugarcoat closed her eyes. “Well I’ll still need something of an explanation before I agree to anything. Where did you come from?” “Guess I’m a wood sprite.” Indigo turned to look deeper into the woods. “Wood sprite?” Zest asked. “I thought you were a phantom! Aren’t sprites basically animals? Like the wraith?” Indigo gave her that disgusted look once again. “Does she not know anything? What have you been teaching this worm again?” Indigo asked. “How to function.” Sugarcoat turned to Zest. “It’s more slang. That’s a ghost who lives alone in the wilderness.” “Oh.” Zest folded her forelegs and smirked, finally finding a chance to get one in on this cocky newcomer. “Heh. That sounds pretty pathetic. You really don’t have any friends?” That got under Indigo’s skin a bit more than Zest meant to. She shot Zest a deathly look. As a ghost, Zest could feel the wave of anger crash over her. She instinctually hid behind Sugarcoat. “Hey! I had plenty of friends, okay?” Indigo tried to get in Zest’s face but Sugarcoat came in between the two. “Can you try not to provoke her again?” Sugarcoat requested. “The same goes for you, Indigo. If you want me to help you, try being less antagonistic towards us.” Indigo raised her hoof and opened her mouth to say something stupid but thought better of it at the last second. “Alright, sorry.” Indigo lowered her hoof and sighed. “Look, I haven’t slept for a month, you know. I ran halfway across the nation with hardly any rest or food. I’m not gonna be singing songs about friendship until I get some sleep.” Maybe she had been too harsh with Indigo. Zest couldn’t imagine what it’d be like to stay awake for an entire month. Granted, sleep worked differently for the living, but Zest used to be barely function after just a day of no sleep. “What are you two even fighting about?” Sugarcoat asked. “She was making stupid ghost jokes.” Indigo pointed to Zest, though without much strength. “Didn’t I specifically tell you not to do that?” Sugarcoat raised her brow. “I–!” Zest had to retreat from her hiding spot. “I didn’t think you were being serious with that! I thought you just hated puns.” “Look, it’s fine.” Indigo waved her hoof. “I’ll forgive just about anything right now. Can we just finish up here?” Zest nodded. “Well for your information, it wasn’t a lonely life at all,” said Indigo. “I met tons of ghosts on my travels. I’ve been to almost every forest, cavern, and mountain in Equestria. It’s never really been my style to stay in one place too long is all. I knew a bunch of other wood sprites who liked to stay put. I’d bounce around, living with this or that ghost for a few months at a time. It was great. “There was this banshee who lived on top of the Redstone Spire. I knew this badass water elemental living in a cove out on the east coast, too. Both of them weren’t there when I went to check up on them. All my old wood sprite friends down south are… gone. We’re disappearing one by one.” Indigo grew quiet and sullen for a moment. “It’s not safe to live on your own anymore.” Indigo looked over her shoulder. “Not these days.” Zest came close to remembering what the cold felt like. Suddenly, that distant threat felt much less far away and far more real. If it really was what she thought, that is. “Was it those guys from Crater Cemetery?” Zest asked the obvious question. “Obviously.” Indigo rolled her eyes. “Well, I dunno if the chains actually got them all. Maybe they went off hiding somewhere and didn’t wait up to give me the memo.” Sadly, probably just wishful thinking. “Crater Cemetery is picking off loners like me.” Indigo reached her hoof out towards Sugarcoat. “So I gotta stop being a loner. Friendship is the oldest self-defense technique, right? So come on! I can be useful to you.” Zest frowned at Indigo. She felt bad for Indigo, but also didn’t want to live with her. “Are we really gonna let her join?” Zest whispered to Sugarcoat. “She’s a bit too confrontational, isn’t she?” “She’s a pegasus,” Sugarcoat said. “You just need to punch her, and you’ll be fine. They have a biological need to become friends with any pony they get into a fight with.” “Hey!” Indigo flared her wings out in protest. “I’m sure she’ll calm down if she gets some sleep, besides.” Sugarcoat shook her head. “More importantly, as she said, she’s a phantom. Those are incredibly important.” “I thought I was incredibly useful!” Zest put her hooves on her chest. “I haven’t contradicted that.” “That’s right!” Indigo tried to straighten herself out. She pushed up on her goggles. “If I’m on your team, I can get all kinds of information for you. I can spy on the predeads and let you know what they’re up to. And no other ghost will be able to sneak up on you.” Sugarcoat thought about the offer for what appeared to be a painfully long time for Indigo. Her face became more contorted in agony with each second until she couldn’t take it anymore. “So come on!” Indigo whined in misery. “Just help me out and I’m all yours! Then I’ll get some sleep and we’ll all be cool, okay?” “Are you desperate?” Sugarcoat asked. “You didn’t sound too impressed by what I’ve amassed so far.” “Yeah, I’m a little desperate.” Indigo’s laugh came off as unhinged. “But who wouldn’t be? I’ve been running around like a headless chicken down south. Everypony freaked out after the Spectral Federation got slaughtered. They panicked and ran off to hide someplace. I had to run up to freaking North Equestria just to find a specter willing to meet up.” Indigo looked down and shook her head. “Though I gotta give you props for being the first specter I’ve seen in months with enough guts to leave these signs out!” Indigo gestured to the meeting sign. “I dunno when you’ve been to Equestria proper last, but it’s been dead silent since the Spectral Federation lost. I feel like I’m drifting through a post-apocalyptic wasteland down there.” “I figure this far north should be safe from Crater Cemetery’s influence for some time,” said Sugarcoat. “Meltdown’s cowardice bought us a few years, at least.” They lost Zest near the end of the conversation. She could merely turn to whoever was talking with no idea of what they meant, exactly. Now didn’t seem to be a good time to ask for history lessons, though. Indigo would likely laugh at her for not knowing, for one. “If the other specters are hiding, then that makes it more important for me to build a refugee for those fleeing the south,” said Sugarcoat. “I’m at least brave enough to advertise my location locally.” “Hey! I like that!” Indigo pushed her goggles up an inch, likely as far as they would budge, and smiled sharply. “The daring hero! Well, here I am. Go ahead and rescue me.” Indigo held her forelegs out wide, eyes closed, ready to embrace sleep the moment the others agreed to take her in. “Before I agree to anything, I want to know more about what’s following you.” Sugarcoat came closer. “Is it simply a hungering mist like I thought? Or is there more you’re leaving out? They don’t typically have the intelligence to hound a pony.” With the reluctance of getting out of bed on a snowy Monday, Indigo groaned and opened her eyes back up. “Okay!” Indigo turned her hooves up and floated backward. “Fine. There’s a part of the story I left out. But if you think about it, I didn’t have to mention that at all, so I’m still good, right?” “What is it?” “I had a small run-in with some ghosts from Crater Cemetery. Back in the mountains.” “Did they follow you here?” Sugarcoat lowered her brow in a rare expression of anger, however slight it was. “Not exactly.” Indigo rubbed the back of her mane. “I ditched them, of course, but they managed to tag me before I got away. They sent that lesser ghost to hound me. They can’t track it, but it won’t stop till it’s killed me, and I can’t lose it.” “That’s much less worrying.” Sugarcoat’s face returned to its natural, neutral state. “Though it doesn’t make much sense for you to be so afraid of a lesser ghost. You should be strong enough to get rid of it without the help of a specter. They’re rarely significant opponents.” “I can’t kill this one myself,” said Indigo. “I gotta find somepony else to do it.” Sugarcoat waited for her to elaborate. “See, my unfinished business is, uh–” Indigo tugged on her mane and bit her lip. “Well, it’ll sound weird if I blurt it out without context. But basically, I can’t kill that thing myself. I might die too if that happens!” Sugarcoat watched Indigo critically for a moment. “Can’t you just lead it into a town?” Zest asked. “The predead would almost certainly kill such a thing if it showed up.” “Do you even think before you talk?” Indigo sighed and closed her eyes again. “They aren’t going to immediately attack any fog that comes to town. They’ll only realize something’s wrong once somepony starts freezing, possibly to death. I need to keep this thing out in the woods.” That made sense, though she still wished Indigo didn’t have to be so rude about it. “Very well.” Sugarcoat opened her eyes, her decision made. “I’ll destroy this ghost for you. If everything is as you said it was, I’ll take you in. However, if I feel you’ve lied to me afterward, you’re on your own. I have no need of servants I can’t trust. So if there’s anything else you’d like to tell me before we begin…” “It ain’t exactly a lie, but what they got chasing me is a hungering mist,” said Indigo. “And not a normal one. It’s like… well you’ll see, but those chains are compressing its nexus together. I think it’s a bunch of them all tied together, but I can’t tell.” “So it was a fusion ghost?” Zest whispered to Sugarcoat. “I don’t think tying two ponies together counts as fusion,” Sugarcoat noted. “Is it a serious threat to us?” “I haven’t even tried fighting that thing, as I said.” Indigo lowered her head and shook it miserably. “But it’s covered in those chains. A lot of them. You know what that means, don’t you?” Sugarcoat nodded. At least Zest would get to see those infamous chains at long last. Whatever that meant.