"Salt is very useful for keeping away spirits. Defining a boundary with it will make it unable for a hostile ghost to harm you. However, this is not a permanent solution, especially when dealing with powerful paranormal beings, whose magic is greater than the usual deceased spirit's."

But it is a start, I thought as I put Do It Yourself: Exorcisms and Other Charms for the Oblivious down on the end table in the sitting room that had become my sort-of headquarters. I had even moved my coffee machine in here, which wasn't really needed since I already knew a few coffee making spells in case things got super-serious.

I began to pour a small line of table salt around the edges of the room and on the windowsills, tripping over the occasional coffee cup in the process. I'd neglected to clean up a few things with my focus shift - ghosts took priority over coffee cup cemeteries.

When I was done I plopped onto the sleeping bag I had set up in the corner, kicked off my black boots, and levitated both the book and an espresso over, sipping it as I read passages out loud. I wasn't somepony who liked to talk for the sake of hearing my own voice, but it was easy to feel a little lonely - and even uneasy - without the noise of other ponies around the castle.

"A spirit is classified in relatively simple terms based on origins and powers, as well as differentiating them from other kinds of undead that have more physical forms. Motive also plays a key factor and can influence what they can do. For information on spirits in general please turn to page 55. If you are attempting identify a poltergeist please turn to page 37."

Taking a brief gulp of espresso, I decided to turn to page 37 since it named a specific kind of ghost rather then just 'spirits'.

What I found was something in between a customer survey and a magazine quiz. Lucky for the pony that wrote this, I'm a magazine quiz ace.

"The abilities of this ghost strongly resemble that of a draconequus: Strongly Agree, Agree, Unsure, Disagree, and Strongly Disagree."

I think 'agree' would work best, despite my limited knowledge of draconequui. Discord is the only known one, isn't he? I've never heard a single Equestrian myth mention another, and even Discord himself is, well, Discord.

"The spirit is able to induce trances, or other dreamlike states."

Strongly Agree.

"The spirit can manifest in a physical form."

Unsure.

"The ghost can directly influence objects rather then indirectly (i.e. tip over a glass rather then simply shake the table it sits upon)."

Hmm... that's another 'unsure'.

"The subject can verbally communicate instead of just sending visions or other nonverbal attempts to make its purpose, desires, or thoughts known."

Yes, I am obviously going to go talk to this thing to find out and share on of my espressos with it. Haha, nope. I'll just put 'agree.'

"The ghost is self-aware."

Most definitely, that's another 'strongly agree'.

"The subject can directly influence or manipulate living creatures."

Possession, eh? 'Unsure'.

"The spirit manifests realistically as opposed to powerful or surreal incarnations."

Any more questions like this and I'll need to set up cameras or have to work out some kind of elaborate spell system to get a look at it.

"The ghost will use repetitive traumatic visuals or effects to get its point across."

A 'strongly agree' once more.

"The spirit appears to be very sane and is able to be reasoned with when confronted or contacted."

Not at all. 'Strongly Disagree'.

"The subject is organized and does not seem scatterbrained, addled, confused, or forgetful."

Why would I want to observe it firsthoof? 'Unsure'.

"Motive of the spirit:"

Oh, a fill in the blank one... what was the reason this thing was haunting me? All it said that I understood was that it hated me. Not very specific there, Ghostie.

But why did it hate me?

I decided to skip over this question and score my results, but not before I grabbed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. This paranormal stuff was even frustrating than the magic Sapp'ra and I were working on.

As I levitated the sandwich I scanned the results:

"You definitely have a Poltergeist: a ghost with the ability to manipulate many physical objects, and on higher levels, the hauntee's world. Most often falling into three categories: mischievous, mysterious, and vengeful. They often have an object or objects that can influence them and be used to pacify their monomaniac desires for a short amount of time. These spirits are the most capable of interacting with the world they inhabited, and are best described as a lich without a true body. If they fall into the latter, more powerful categories the ability to speak should be present. Unlike most spirits salt does not repel them but only increases their power and makes them angry. Instead try the recommended wards on page 42..."

I nearly choked on a glob of chunky peanut butter. "SALT DOES WHAT NOW?!"

Quickly I dropped the book and dashed over to the door, planning on getting something to clean up all the salt. I flung open the door to the dim hall.

"Oh no," I breathed. Everything was replaced with jagged äerint crystals and small patches of darting purple and green fire high above my head.

The door slammed behind me and disappeared,fading into the wall of black crystal. I knew that Sombra was nowhere near here so this could only mean one thing.

I was stuck in the past with only a sandwich for help.

It felt cold and I saw why: my coat was nearly invisible, I don't think you could even get a proper glimpse of me no matter how hard you focus.

And this time it was I who was the ghost.

When Sombra ruled the Crystal Empire, I knew that the castle was not the same. I just wasn't sure exactly how different it was. Entire hidden chambers and corridors were one thing, but how many were there? Even in the present, I was still coming across all sorts of dark hidden traps that made keeping the castle staffed pretty tricky.

Nothing was even remotely familiar as I hovered through the halls as transparent spectre clutching an equally see through lunch item. My knees where knocking and I'm sure that if I had still been a physical pony I would have been in a cold sweat as well.

"So you this is all my fault!?"

I stopped as soon as I heard the scream hurtling through the crooked halls. Whoever was talking was simply furious and sounded exhausted too... but also dangerous. I shuddered. Whoever this was, I'd never want to cross somepony so hateful and angry.

"No, it is not my fault; none of this mess is! It never is! You never said anything about this before so that makes it your fault, you imbecile! You have been the one whose antics have nearly gotten us both killed due to your lack of foresight! Do I really need to bring up the cabbage loaf incident?!"

How funny... it seems like I'm not the only one somewhat angry towards bread today. Even stranger was that the voice sounded somewhat familiar. An accent I knew, maybe? Whoever spoke didn't sound that Crystalline.

"I don't care what you do to me later! You'll always do something, even when I do exactly what you want, you sadistic monster. Even when I do exactly what you want, all you do is- GAH! Stop it! Just stop talking! Your tone is even more obnoxious than usual, you useless brat."

Rounding the corner I came to a hallway where a shattered mirror was strewn everywhere and a pony was pacing like mad, äerint crystals gradually sprouting up in random places on the walls, which were already heavy with the stuff.

If I didn't know better, I'd say that the castle almost felt like an extension of the pony - like that one book I read years ago... the creepy one where the house ends up collapsing into a marsh, if I remember right.

It was Sombra; a much younger, decently shorter, and skinnier Sombra. He was wearing a scarlet cape with a white trim that was clearly a couple sizes too big. Although he was fairly tall - I've never met a pony as tall as Sombra - he had to be only about sixteen years old, barely an adult. He looked about the same as well: crimson eyes, shaggy mane, and a twitch in his left eye, though both were marked with dark circles.

The paranoid rage in them was haunting. Did he even trust the halls he walked in?

Unfortunately, I could not make out every detail of his face in this rather... animated... conversation he was having. especially since his crown, while it appeared less helmet-like and was more of a glorified circlet, hid some of the details of his face. The armor he wore on his hooves made a sharp clanging noise and kicked up papers that were strewn everywhere. I dropped my sandwich which did nothing but flop soundlessly onto the floor.

Thankfully Sombra did not seem to notice me. Or the sandwich. Especially the sandwich.

"I hid and trapped the only artifact that matters. We do not need these magic eyes that this book mentions... and yes, yes! I know that you know I cannot read, but there's something called damn obvious illustrations and maybe those words mean something to you?" Sombra snapped.

Wait... the papers strewn there mention Sapp'ra's eyes? I could certainly use those... but do they still exist in the present? Or could I just take them here...?

"'But these will give me more power!' you say. Is that all you ever think about? I'm sure it is. How can something neither of us can use have any potential benefit?! This is like the magic of that silly heart, it'll kill us!" Sombra yelled again.

Who is he talking to? It's not me, but nopony else was here.

I sidled a little closer to the papers and remembered Sombra mentioning something about personalities created by dark magic. Maybe that is who that is, though that must be very annoying having a voice in your head all the time.

Young Sombra rolled his eyes. "Onyx you are about as powerful as a the rock you are named after, and have about as much as intelligence as one. Although at least the rock has some class to it, and can hold more meaning full conversations then you could ever hope to attempt. If you care to punish me for being spiteful again, I'm just going to go on even more. So what's it going to be for me later?"

There was a pause and then Sombra burst into a brief bout of eerily humorless laughter. "Keep telling yourself that," he muttered.

So Onyx is the name of the voice? That honestly sounds more like a crystal pony's name then the name of some monster. But why would he be talking to a crystal pony that was... in his head? Crystal ponies obviously don't pop into the heads of other ponies. Perhaps he's drunk? It didn't seem like it but I probably shouldn't rule out any possibilities at this point... and now that I can see him a little better... well, it does look like he might've been drinking at some point earlier, actually. His gait is off, for one.

I got close enough just as Sombra gathered up all the loose papers in a stack and began to walk off in another direction, angrily rifling through the levitating pile as he went.

Picking up my sandwich, which thankfully still seemed edible - not that I was planning on eating it after all this. I drifted after him as he muttered about how stupid or cruel this Onyx was, even though it was too for me hard too make out all the words. To me, it mostly just sounded like he was mumbling at a bratty child, but who could hate anypony that much? Especially a child?

The sounds of his voice seemed to grow softer and the äerint seemed to fade until I woke up to the call of a flugelhorn outside, beams of sunlight straying across the crystal floor.

Somehow I had ended up back in the hall where I started, as if I had never left. The door to my sitting room hideout was wide open.

Then, I noticed that my sandwich was gone, a trail of its remains leading off in another direction.

However weird that may be, the first thing I was going to do is clean up all that salt.

...And talcum powder.

Author's Notes:

All of the paranormal stuff in this story comes from all the ghost books I read as a child, some of which was altered for the purpose of messing with Cadance (and because I cannot remember every word of what those books said). I do love ghost lore, and I'm sure that it shows in my writing, so have some silly ghost-hunting things. In a world where magic is real, like Equestria, ghosts are bound to be too. I really couldn't resist writing about ghost-hunting.

I also wouldn't go sprinkling salt all over {Insert Dwelling Here} since salt is also very useful for food. Don't eat peanut butter and jelly though, it's gross.

This chapter in the Coffee Princess story was edited by me.