Season: Z

Episode: J

Scare Tactics

(By: Flame Runner)

The school day was almost over and Cheerilee was wrapping up her lecture.

“Now class, before you all go I need those homework assignments. If you would be so kind as to pass them to the pony to your right, I’ll collect them at the end of each row.”

“Oh no!” whispered Scootaloo to herself. “The homework! I completely spaced. I can’t turn in another late assignment. Think Scootaloo! Think!”

The little orange Pegasus thought quickly, but she was running out of time.

“Miss Cheerilee!” shouted the filly as her hoof flew into the air.

“Yes Scootaloo? What is it?”

“Um…well…I need an extra day for the homework.”

“I’m sorry Scootaloo, but I can’t give you an extra day without a good reason. You’ll just have to take a late.”

“No! No! It…it’s not like that,” stammered the Pegasus who was attempting to think up an excuse.

“Really? Then what is it?”

“Well…uh…you see…I…I was…” suddenly an idea came to Scootaloo’s mind and she went from guiltily looking all around the room to a bright and cheery disposition.

“I was finishing my homework in the journalism room under the school when suddenly a ghost appeared!”

(Insert Theme Music Here)

* * * * * * * * *

“A ghost?” asked Cheerilee flatly.

“Yes! A ghost from…from the Everfree Forest appeared out of nowhere and chased me out with his evil glowing eyes! I ran away as fast as I could and left my homework. That’s why I need an extra day to turn it in.” stated Scootaloo coolly.

“Well…that’s some story,” Cheerilee didn’t sound very convinced.

“Some story is right!” Diamond Tiara declared snobbishly. “I don’t think there’s any truth in it at all. Scootaloo should get a late grade plus points off just for that story.”

“Hey! You weren’t there! You wouldn’t know!” Scootaloo screamed back.

“Girls,” commanded Cheerilee, “stop your bickering. How about we do this? After school is out we’ll go and check out the print shop below the school and see if there’s any validity to Scootaloo’s story. Sound good?”

The two nodded in agreement and soon the final bell was rung and most of the class left for home.

* * * * * * * * *

In the print room below the elementary school stood Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, and Miss Cheerilee.

“I sure don’t see any ghosts,” smirked Diamond.

“Now Scootaloo,” began Cheerilee sweetly, “where were you working?”

“It was right…um…um…where was it?” the orange filly began to mumble to herself and pace around the room. Thinking quickly, the Pegasus sloppily kicked a few loose sheets of paper into a glob of ink while walking. “Um…here! It was right here!” She pointed toward a small writing desk next to the ink spill.

“I don’t see any homework,” protested Diamond.

“Wait! Here it is!” Scootaloo picked up the inky papers. “Just look at them! That nasty ghost knocked my homework off of the table and now it’s covered in ink!”

She held up the inky black pages for all to see.

“I’m sorry Scootaloo, but I just don’t think that what you’re telling me is the truth. Just turn your work in tomorrow and take a late for it,” stated Cheerilee compassionately.

Scootaloo began to perspire ever so slightly and her eyes grew a tiny bit larger. She didn’t want a late grade, but she would need to think quickly to avert the crisis.

“What if…what if I can prove that the ghost was here?” she blurted without thinking.

“Um…I suppose I’ll give you an extra day. If you can prove it,” said Cheerilee warily.

“All right then, I’ll come back here tonight and prove that the ghost exists.”

“Not so fast!” remarked Diamond. “If you’re coming back to prove it, then I’m coming too. If there really is a ghost then I’m going to find it.”

“Ok. Well good luck then girls, but I’m running a bit late for something myself. I’ll see you all in class tomorrow!” Cheerilee said her good bye and left the underground room.

“And I’ll see you tonight,” Diamond defiantly snorted at Scootaloo before taking her leave with Sliver Spoon.

“What have I gotten myself into?” moaned Scootaloo.

* * * * * * * * *

In the Cutie Mark Crusader’s clubhouse on Sweet Apple Acres were three fillies.

“So you really saw a ghost?” Sweetie Belle asked excitedly.

“No, I didn’t really see a ghost. I just made that up.”

“What? But why would you do somethin’ like that?” questioned Apple Bloom.

“Because I can’t afford to get another late. Do you know how many lates I’ve already gotten?”

The small unicorn and earth pony shook their heads ‘no’.

“One too many!” Scootaloo answered her own question.

“Then why pick a ghost? Why not a dog or something?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“It was the first thing that come to my mind. Look, I thought it was good at the time, but now I know how dumb it sounds.”

“So what are ya’ goin’ to do about Diamond Tiara tonight?”

“That’s where you girls come in.”

“Us?” Sweetie Belle pointed toward herself and Apple Bloom.

“That’s right! I need you two to fake being a ghost for me so that I can get my extra homework day.”

“But why would we do that?” asked Apple Bloom.

“So that I don’t get a late on my assignment! Besides, maybe you’ll get a Special Effects Cutie Mark or something.”

“Ok. Let’s say we actually did help ya’ out,” started Apple Bloom, “what would we do? I mean it’s not like we can jus’ dress in a white sheet. Diamond Tiara would see right through that.”

“Hmm…good point.” Scootaloo began to think until she had another burst of genius. “Oh! I know! Sweetie Belle could levitate a white sheet through the air. We’d cut out holes for eyes and then get some of Zecora’s powder to make it glow!”

“But I’m still not very good at magic,” Sweetie Belle answered.

“It’s just one piece of cloth! It couldn’t be that hard,” replied Scootaloo.

“Yeah but…”

“Look! Right there are the Cutie Mark Crusader capes that you made us, why don’t you try lifting one of those?”

The young Pegasus pointed out some red capes with a golden inside and stitched with the silhouette of a filly. They were sitting in one of the corners of the tree house currently collecting dust.

“I guess I can try it,” shrugged Sweetie.

The white unicorn filly’s horn began to sputter and spark. A feint glow surrounded her sparkling horn and another feint glow surrounded one of the capes. With a few pants and grunts from Sweetie Belle, the uppermost cape began to stutter a few inches into the sky.

“That’s it! Keep up the good work!” encouraged Scootaloo.

Sweetie Belle focused harder and her legs began to quiver. The cape floated slowly through the sky and gained height until it was floating a few feet off the ground.

“Perfect!” stated Scootaloo.

Sweetie Belle then lost her concentration and collapsed upon the wooden floor exhausted. The white unicorn was breathing hard and sweating.

“That’s all that we need to scare off Diamond Tiara,” the orange filly said. She then turned toward Apple Bloom and spoke. “Apple Bloom, do you think that you could get some of that glowing dust from Zecora?”

“I can sure try.”

“Excellent! Now, I’ve got some homework to finish, but I’ll meet you girls back here in three hours and then we can get a plan ready.”

* * * * * * * * *

Three hours had passed by quickly for the fillies and soon they were back in their clubhouse on Sweet Apple Acres. Sweetie Belle’s eyes roamed around the room nervously. The small unicorn had a large sheet of clean, white cloth sitting next to her. The cloth had two holes cut in it which were to pass as eyes. Apple Bloom was jittery with excitement. Sitting next to the earth pony was a small brown bag filled to the brim with a strangely luminous dust. Scootaloo was busily telling her plan to the other Crusaders.

“So we’re going to set ourselves up in the print shop in only a few minutes. Sweetie Belle, you’re going to get our ghost up and moving. Apple Bloom, I need you to throw that dust on the sheet after Sweetie Belle lifts it up. I also need you to get the lights going crazy down there to make it even scarier. Got it?”

“This is goin’ to be fun! We git to scare Diamond Tiara and maybe git our cutie marks!” Apple Bloom agreed excitedly.

“Um…what if I can’t make the ghost fly?” asked Sweetie Belle.

“You just need to lift it for a couple of seconds. We only need enough time to freak out Diamond Tiara so that I can get my extra day. After seeing you lift the cape, you shouldn’t have any problems.”

“But what if…”

“No ‘what ifs’. You can do this Sweetie Belle. Now come on! We’ve got to get there before Diamond Tiara shows up.”

The three friends grabbed their supplies and headed out to the school house.

* * * * * * * * *

“Everything ready?” asked Scootaloo.

She was standing under the school building in the print shop. It was dark and nopony else could be seen.

“Almost. Just one sec…there! Ready!” Apple Bloom called out from the blackness.

“Now remember this is just a practice run before Diamond Tiara shows up. So don’t throw any of the dust yet or the ‘ghost’ will be a glowing heap on the floor during the real scare.”

“Got it!” Apple Bloom called back again.

“Alright, let’s do this!” Scootaloo said excitedly. “Apple Bloom, turn the lights on. I’m going to walk out and then back in. I’m going to start searching around for the ghost. Then you hit the lights and the ghost comes out. Both of you need to stay hidden or else we’ll be found out,” she ran through the plan one last time before leaving.

The lights came on in the print shop and Scootaloo opened the doors to the underground room. She began to do a fake look around for any signs of ghostly activity then the lights suddenly went out. Scootaloo could hear a few of Sweetie Belle’s muffled grunts but stopped listening for them when something brushed past her legs. The Pegasus filly turned around to see a dark shape floating in the air. She gasped, but silenced herself quickly. The object then slumped and crashed to the floor.

“Great work everypony!” cheered Scootaloo. “Apple Bloom, get the lights.”

The lights flickered back to life and the two hidden fillies came into the open.

“That’s even more frightening than I thought it would be. We’re sure to scare Diamond Tiara!” stated Scootaloo.

Sweetie Belle panted from her magical exertion. “I…I need a breather,” the unicorn huffed.

“Hello?” came a muffled and snooty shout from above.

“That’s Diamond Tiara!” whispered Apple Bloom.

“Quick girls, hide!” commanded Scootaloo.

The two went off and hid while Scootaloo tried to find a way out of the print shop. The Pegasus found a small window and crawled through it. She then went around the school building to meet up with Diamond.

“There you are! Finally,” grumped Tiara.

“You’re a little early aren’t you?” asked Scootaloo.

“Well you never set a time. We simply planned to meet at night and judging by the moon in the sky, I’d say that it’s nighttime,” stated Diamond haughtily.

“Calm down. Look, we’ve got a ghost to find.”

“More like a ghost to prove doesn’t exist.”

Scootaloo’s face tensed up at the arrogant words, but soon relaxed into a grin as she remembered the scare they had planned. The young Pegasus walked over to the entrance of the print shop and pulled the wooden doors open. Light erupted from the room below and Scootaloo waved her hoof toward the entrance.

“After you,” stated the orange filly with confidence.

“Humph,” snorted Diamond as she entered the underground.

The two fillies scanned the room with their eyes and then set about checking around the machinery.

“Oh ghosty!” said Diamond jokingly. “Come on out!”

“You’re just going to agitate him,” cautioned Scootaloo.

“Pish posh! That ghost doesn’t exist and I’m going to tell Miss Cheerily that we checked all over this room and found nothing.”

“But we’ve only been here for two minutes.”

“Two minutes too many,” retorted Diamond.

The haughty filly turned to leave the building when she heard a grunt and a bump.

“What was that?” asked Tiara.

“What was what?” replied Scootaloo.

“It…it must be nothing,” responded Diamond a little uncertain.

Without warning the lights went out. Diamond Tiara screamed for only a second but then regained her composure.

“You did that just to mess with me didn’t you Scootaloo?! Well, now you’re really in for it!”

“But I didn’t…”

Scootaloo was interrupted by a dark shape which brushed her leg. The Pegasus turned around and let out a fake scream. Diamond Tiara turned to look at what had startled the orange filly. She couldn’t see anything in the dark, but suddenly an eerie puff of glowing mist floated cleanly through the air and landed upon the dark object. The white sheet became instantly covered by Zecora’s powder and creepily illuminated the ‘ghost’. Diamond Tiara screamed in absolute terror and fled through the entrance with Scootaloo hot on her tail.

“That’s…that’s…not possible!” shrieked the stuck-up filly.

“I told you there was a ghost!” bragged Scootaloo.

“I…I…I need to get home,” stammered Diamond who then fled away from the school house with all due speed.

Scootaloo reopened the doors to the print shop and went in to congratulate her friends on a job well done.

“Great work everypony! You should have seen the look on her face! Priceless!”

Apple Bloom came out from her hiding place giggling uncontrollably, but Sweetie Belle didn’t emerge. After the earth filly finally got her laughter down to a dull hiccup she noticed that Sweetie Belle hadn’t joined them.

“S…Sweetie Belle?” chuckled Apple Bloom. “Y’all can…can come out now.”

The unicorn still didn’t show.

“Uh oh,” said Scootaloo. “Where was she hiding?”

“Right over there.” Apple Bloom pointed toward her friend’s hiding spot.

The two fillies went to find their friend and find her they did, but not as they expected. The white unicorn was lying on the floor trembling; her eyes were shut.

“She must have pushed herself too hard!” said Apple Bloom with concern.

“Quick! We need to get her home,” commanded Scootaloo.

The two friends lifted their unconscious companion onto their backs and set a quick pace to Rarity’s place.

* * * * * * * * *

“Whatever happened?” squealed Rarity at the sight of her limp sister.

“She was trying to use magic. We think she pushed herself to hard and passed out,” said Scootaloo guiltily.

“I hope that’s all it is and nothing more serious. I shall have to give her a proper talking to about using magic. She is just a filly after all. Thank you girls for bringing my sister here, I’ll make sure to give her the best of care.”

The other fillies nodded and then left Rarity’s to go to their own homes.

“Do ya’ think Sweetie Belle will be alright?” asked Apple Bloom.

“Sure she’ll be fine,” replied Scootaloo unconvincingly, “I mean, her sister said she would take good care of her.”

An awkward silence greeted the two ponies as the bright moon stared down at the sad scene.

“Well…good night I guess,” Scootaloo eventually broke the silence.

“Yeah…good night.”

The two each walked off to their respective residences to spend a rough night trying to sleep.

* * * * * * * * *

The next day at school Sweetie Belle arrived on time, much to the joy of Scootaloo and Apple Bloom.

“How are you feeling?” asked Scootaloo.

“My head’s a little dizzy, but I’m fine. Rarity told me that I couldn’t try any more magic for a few days.”

“That’s good to hear,” spoke Apple Bloom.

The school bell rung and class was officially called to order.

“Good morning class!” chirped Cheerilee in a singsong voice.

“Morning Miss Cheerilee,” responded the class in unison.

“Miss Cheerilee!” Scootaloo’s hoof shot into the air. “Here’s that homework.”

The Pegasus handed her late work over to her teacher.

“Thank you Scootaloo. I take it you didn’t find your ghost?”

“No. We saw him…and Diamond Tiara can testify to it.”

“Diamond Tiara…is that true?”

Diamond Tiara shook her head dejectedly. The rest of the class began to murmur and whisper to itself about ghosts being under the school.

“Well…that’s…most disturbing.” Cheerilee was stunned at this turn of events. “Class I’ll be right back. I need to get somepony looking into this matter right away.” The teacher left the class, but then poked her head back into the room. “Oh, and Scootaloo, I won’t count the late work against you.” Cheeilee then truly left to get some help.

“There really was a ghost?” asked Silver Spoon to her snobby friend.

“Yes,” replied Diamond.

“What did it look like?” asked Snipps.

“It was at least 20 feet tall and had these glowing red eyes!” exaggerated Tiara.

“Woah! Now that’s something that I’ve got to see for myself,” responded Snails.

A rather loud conversation was taking place by Diamond Tiara, who retold everything quite more elaborately than what actually happened. But the Cutie Mark Crusaders were holding a hushed conversation by themselves.

“This isn’t good,” worried Scootaloo.

“What isn’t good?” asked Apple Bloom.

“I just remembered that we left the sheet and Zecora’s powder in the journalism room!”

“So what are you going to do?” asked Sweetie Belle.

“I don’t know. Miss Cheerilee is sure to send somepony down to check it out and they’ll find our things but I don’t think we can just up and leave, the rest of the class would follow us down there if we left right now.”

“Ok class! I’m back,” Cheerilee walked back into her conversation laden classroom. “The school is sending somepony to check on the print shop and they’ve recommended that we hold class outside today to be on the safe side.”

The young ponies followed their teacher outside and onto the soft green grass for a lesson outdoors.

* * * * * * * * *

None of the students were paying much attention to the lecture that afternoon, all of their thoughts were on the ghost beneath the school; the many eyes wandering toward the entrance of the print shop were indication of that. Cheerilee was saying something about Equestrian history when Twilight Sparkle appeared. The purple unicorn went determinedly over to the doors leading below the school house and cautiously tugged them open. By this point, the lesson was totally shot so Cheerilee allowed her students to watch as Twilight entered the underground.

A few moments later the purple colored equine reappeared. She seemed to be levitating a white cloth and a small bag filled with a strange substance. Twilight walked over to Cheerilee and whispered a few words into the teacher’s ear.

“Ah, I see,” replied Cheerilee. “Class, Miss Sparkle here has some questions for all of you.”

Scootaloo knew what was coming. The young Pegasus became increasingly nervous as her eyes began to wander every which way.

“It would appear that a very mischievous pony has played a rather nasty prank on your school,” Twilight began to speak.

Scootaloo started to paw at the ground with her front hooves in angst.

“Here I have a piece of fabric with two slots cut out for eyes and a bag of powder that belongs to Zecora. Does anypony know anything about how these items came to be in the print room?”

Silver Spoon shot her hoof into the air and then began to speak.

“Scootaloo and Diamond Tiara went down there last night and got spooked. In fact Scootaloo was the first one to see the ghost.”

Twilight looked over at Scootaloo and with sincerity asked, “Scootaloo is there anything you know about this? Is somepony trying to get back at you for something?”

Scootaloo began to feel small beads of sweat appear on her face.

“Um…I…” the orange filly stammered quietly.

“Yes?” asked Twilight kindly.

“Um…yeah somepony is trying…” Scootaloo began to fib when she looked over at Sweetie Belle. The unicorn filly was holding her head and wincing. Scootaloo stopped talking.

“Somepony is trying to what?” urged Cheerilee.

Scootaloo let out a sigh and then spoke, “Somepony is trying to lie to you.”

“Lie to us?” asked Twilight.

“Yes. I lied about the ghost to get out of a late assignment. Then I dragged Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle into it so we could fake the ghost in front of Diamond Tiara. But Sweetie Belle got hurt in the process and I just don’t think that it’s really worth that much trouble over one late grade.”

Scootaloo hung her head in shame and a tear fell from the bold filly’s eye.

“I see…” said Twilight slowly. “Well, the school isn’t haunted and is completely safe Cheerilee. You can bring your class back inside if you want.”

“That’s alright Twilight, school’s almost over anyway. I’ll just let them leave early. Thank you for coming.”

Twilight gave a brief nod and then trotted back home. Cheerilee broke in upon the quiet sobbing of Scootaloo to dismiss class.

“Well class, I guess school’s out for the day so you may all go home. But Scootaloo, I’d like a quick word with you.”

The young ponies left with whisperings and rumors buzzing through the air until only Scootaloo and Cheerilee were left. Scootaloo got herself back under control and looked up sorrowfully at her teacher.

“That was some prank,” stated Cheerilee kindly.

Scootaloo gave a small chuckle through her tears. “I guess it was…wasn’t it?”

“But why’d you do it?” asked Cheerilee.

“I…I didn’t want to get another late grade.”

“Scootaloo, you’ve only had one other late assignment. Two late grades aren’t the end of the world. You should pass easily. But if you didn’t learn anything else in class today I hope you learned a good lesson about lying.”

“Yeah…I guess I did.” Suddenly Scootaloo cheered up. “Hey! I learned a lesson! Good bye Miss Cheerilee! I’ve got a letter to write!”

The orange Pegasus rushed off to grab her scooter and left a slightly dazed Cheerilee standing alone. The teacher shook her head and laughed ever so softly before grabbing her own things and heading home.

* * * * * * * * *

“Princess Celesita,

Hi! It’s me, Scootaloo! Just recently I learned a valuable lesson about lying. I made up a ghost story to get out of a late assignment but it soon escalated into something much larger. In fact, one of my best friends, Sweetie Belle, got hurt when I dragged her into it. After that incident I figured that it wasn’t worth it to keep the lie going. If my lie is going to hurt those around me, my friends and maybe even myself, then why keep it up? Friendship requires honesty, Apple Bloom’s sister knows all about that. Ok, that’s it.

Signed, Scootaloo”