Spiritus ex Machina

by wonderkid125

First published 15th of March, 2017

After experiencing so much stress in such a short amount of time, Twilight and her friends, both old and new, need a break. However, as they take an all expense paid trip to a water park, they soon learn that not everything is as easy as it seems.

Life has been hard in the past few months for Twilight and her friends. They just saved Equestria from evil yet again, survived more monster attacks than you can shake a stick at, thwarted the plans of a psychotic cult of ponies in hoods, and made friends with a team of monster hunters and a human that happens to be a semi immortal slayer of evil, all of this happening in the span of a week. Needless to say, everyone could use a vacation, but their lives are so busy now with tasks both old and new.

Imagine Twilight’s surprise when Princess Celestia and her sister make Tom an offer he can’t refuse. He gets to stay at a luxurious water park and resort for a whole week, and all he has to do is solve a tiny little problem involving some ghosts at the park. He even gets to bring along Twilight, Spike, and any of their other friends that would care to go, what could be better?

But when the park’s mechanical entertainers start acting strange, what was once a tiny problem is now much less so. Now the group must dive into the forgotten depths of an underground section of the resort to uncover its dark secrets, but they aren’t alone.

Welcome to Fun Land, a magical place for foals and grown-ups alike, where fantasy and fun come to life.

Cover art used with permission by the amazing Christian2099

Uses concepts and characters from:

The Five Nights at Freddy's series, made by Scott Cawthon

Abandoned by Disney, made by Slimebeast

Five Nights at Treasure Island, made by Matthew Phoenix Rodriguez

Chapter 1: A Brand New Day

As the sun climbed ever higher into the sky, another day began in the peaceful land of Equestria. All across the nation; from the elegant Canterlot to the humble Ponyville, ponies of all shapes, sizes, races, and colors started waking up and going about their daily routines. Life carried on as it normally did, despite the frightening events that had happened only months prior.

It was hard to imagine getting used to normality after the hooded ponies were defeated and the knowledge of monsters and the supernatural became commonplace, but somehow everyone moved on and peace was restored. With only bad memories and the slight fear of the unknown to remind them of the experience, most ponies chose to not think about the past few months.

Although most of the ponies throughout the land were just now waking up, there were a few that started their day early. One such pony was a purple unicorn named Twilight Sparkle. The early bird catches the worm so they say, and Twilight was usually the type of pony to wake up early to start her day and get as much done as possible.

On this particular day, rather than roaming around Ponyville and spending time with her friends, the unicorn had more important business to attend to. Twilight sat in the back of a horse-drawn carriage with two pegasus stallions clad in royal guard attire ferrying her to Canterlot.

Dearest Twilight Sparkle… Searching for something to occupy herself with, Twilight read off the scroll that had arrived a few days ago from the princess silently.

It has been a while since you have written me with a friendship report. Are you doing alright? I know that you have more important things to do, so you don’t always need to give me a report if you can’t think of one, but it would be nice if you would check in every once in a while, especially considering recent events. Anyway, if you aren’t too busy, I would like for you to come to Canterlot this Thursday. I would like to talk to you about something very important, and I would like to do it in person instead of writing you these messages.

“Hmm…” Twilight pondered over the words in her head while wondering what her mentor could have wanted. She had neglected to write to the princess for the past few weeks, but she did have a justifiable reason at least. Ever since Raven Feather and her veritable cult of followers had been defeated, she had been assigned, or rather volunteered, to catalog and archive all of the books left behind in their mansion hideout. The old building held hundreds of books from several parts of human history. The estate’s usage throughout the ages meant that even books long past the time period of the house were included in its vast library.

Before she could elaborate further on her thoughts, Twilight noticed that she was descending from the air. The journey had come to an end, and the two stallions were bringing the carriage down right in front of Canterlot palace.

The carriage shook slightly as the pegasi’s hooves hit the ground. They gradually slowed their speed so that they could give their passenger a pleasant stop rather than giving her whiplash. Once they had stopped, Twilight quickly hopped out and trotted up to them. “Thank you for the ride.” She said courteously while passing by the two guards. They smiled before offering a stoic nod in response.

Twilight walked forward and took in the sight of the palace before her. No matter how many times she visited the princess, she would never get tired of admiring the palace’s stark beauty and magnificence. Anything that was damaged in the attack from months prior seemed to have been fixed or replaced. It almost looked like nothing had happened at all.

Not wanting to waste any more time, the unicorn started making her way up to the main entrance. After making her way through the large doors, she paused and stared ahead at the room before her. Twilight felt a slight chill going up her spine as she looked down at the floor in front of her. In this very spot just a few months ago, she had died.

It was an odd thought to have, but everything about the purple mare’s life had been odd after what had happened. She was dazed at the time, but she could still vividly remember the moments leading up to her untimely demise. She could still hear the frantic cries of her friends as they tried to save her. She could still see them crying over her bleeding body as she lay dying on the floor. And most vividly of all, she could still feel the icy coldness that came just before death.

Taking a quick glance to the side of the room, Twilight thought about someone she hadn’t thought about in a while. Her life had been so busy, and he had been absent for at least a month, so the unicorn had neglected to even think about her human friend that much. But now that she was seeing the spot where she died and remembering how he brought her back to life, memories of the blue-suited boy came flooding to her mind.

“*Sigh*… I hope you’re not working too hard wherever you are, Tom.” Twilight shrugged as she thought about the human’s absence.

“Hello, Twilight.” The voice of her mentor coming from across the room broke Twilight away from her thoughts. She looked up to see Celestia smiling at her while walking closer.

“Princess!” The purple mare exclaimed joyfully while rushing forward to meet the white alicorn. Once she got up to her, she immediately embraced her in a warm hug.

“It’s so good to see you, Twilight.” Celestia said in a sincere tone while looking down at her faithful student.

Twilight smiled as she forgot all about the grim thoughts that had plagued her mind just moments before. “It’s good to see you too, Princess. Sorry I haven’t written you in a while… things have been really busy for me lately.” She stated in an apologetic manner. Celestia merely smiled at her student as she tried to justify her reasons for not keeping in contact.

“It’s alright Twilight. You’re here now, and that is what matters. Now then, why don’t we go find somewhere comfortable to talk?” The princess suggested while motioning behind her with her head.

“That sounds like a great idea,” Twilight replied with a cheerful nod. With that said, the two walked across the room and made their way through another door. “So princess… why did you ask me to come here?” Twilight asked curiously as she followed the princess through the halls of the palace.

Celestia thought for a moment before replying. “Do I need a reason to talk with my faithful student?” She said with a slight smirk.

“Well… no, I guess not, but couldn’t you have just written letters to me if you just wanted to talk?” Twilight asked with a confused tone.

Celestia looked away for a moment while contemplating what to say next. “I suppose I could have… but I wanted to see you instead of just writing a letter. Those scrolls that we send back and forth are so… informal. I like to meet face to face every once in a while.” The princess explained in an almost awkward tone while hiding a smile. If Twilight didn’t know any better, she would have thought that the alicorn was hiding something from her.

“Right…” The purple mare muttered suspiciously.

Soon enough, the princess and her student found their way into the study. Various shelves lined with books adorned the walls of the room, while several tables and desks cluttered with scrolls and other such items were scattered throughout the area. Celestia sat down on a cushion and motioned for Twilight to do the same. The purple mare sat down across from the alicorn and smiled as she enjoyed the fact that she was having a moment with her mentor.

“So what have you been up to recently Twilight? I certainly hope that you haven’t been burying yourself in all of those books we found.” Celestia chuckled slightly until she noticed the unicorn looking away awkwardly.

“Yeah… about that… heh.” Twilight rubbed the back of her head nervously as she recalled how much time she had been spending on her studies of human history.

“Twilight… I know that learning about the human world is exciting, but you need to remember that there is a world outside of books.” Celestia gently chided the purple mare for not taking time out of reading to enjoy the finer things in life. “So, how are the girls doing? Have you at least been out of the library long enough to see your friends?” The princess asked curiously. She hadn’t been to Ponyville in a while, so she was interested to know what the other element bearers had been up to.

“I’ve been out a lot… I’m not exactly a shut-in, Princess.” Twilight said lightheartedly. She then paused and quickly tried to think of what all of her friends had been up to. “Well… Applejack has been busy down at the farm. Pinkie Pie has been trying extra hard to cheer up the citizens of Ponyville ever since they learned that monsters are real. Rarity has been busy with the boutique lately. Fluttershy has been preoccupied with her animals. And Rainbow Dash… well, she is pretty much still doing what she always does.” She explained what she could recall of her friends’ routines.

“I see… so everyone is doing alright.” Celestia said with a pleased tone. Twilight nodded in confirmation.

Now that the topic of what everyone had been doing was brought up, the unicorn’s mind drifted to her human friend again. She wondered what Tom had been up to since his departure from Ponyville. After everything that happened, the slayer had decided to live in Ponyville with Twilight and Spike, but he was unable to stay for long. The princess asked him to take care of several missions to eradicate monsters across Equestria, and he had been away for the past month or so.

“So, how is Tom doing? I haven’t heard from him in a long time.” Twilight asked curiously.

Celestia smiled and glanced over to the doorway behind her. “Funny you should ask that Twilight. That is actually why I asked you to come here.” She mused with a slight chuckle. Twilight tilted her head in confusion at the princess’s words.

“What? Why? Is he alright?” The unicorn asked quizzically.

“Why don’t you ask him yourself?” A familiar voice spoke up from behind Twilight. The purple mare gasped in shock and turned around. The moment she did, her face lit up with excitement. Standing in the doorway was the same blue suited human that she had learned to call friend all those months ago.

He was dressed in the same blue track outfit that he had always worn since becoming a slayer. The only thing missing from his apparel was his sword and holster. The blade had been broken during the struggle at the palace, and he had not found a replacement weapon since, so he removed the holster from his back.

Despite the lack of equipment that he had, he carried out his missions with the same spirit and heart that Twilight had come to love about him, and he still showed it even now. The boy smiled as he looked at the unicorn staring back at him with her jaw agape. He always looked at her like she was a dear friend to him, despite the short time that they had known each other.

“Tom!” Twilight exclaimed happily while getting up and rushing to the boy. She practically tackled him, although he was expecting her to do so. Still, he barely had enough time to brace himself before the unicorn plowed into him and wrapped her forelegs around his waist.

“Uh… Twilight… can’t breathe.” Tom barely managed to gasp out his words as the purple mare squeezed him tightly. Twilight smiled and laughed warmly as she let go of the human and backed up slightly. She was smiling so much that her face was hurting, but she didn’t care. She couldn’t even contain the feeling of happiness that was welling up inside of her from seeing the boy.

“I’m so glad to see you! It’s been forever since you’ve visited us!” The unicorn said while trying to calm herself down enough to carry on a conversation.

“Sorry about that. I’ve been a little busy mopping up Equestria. It seemed like every time I was about to go back to Ponyville, another assignment popped up.” Tom explained with a slight awkward chuckle.

“I apologize for sending you on so many missions Tom. I know that you deserve to have a little downtime, but there have been so many paranormal creatures appearing all over Equestria ever since Raven Feather attacked us.” Celestia said with a regretful expression. The human had wanted so badly to just stay in Ponyville with his new friends for a while, but he was the only one capable of handling the supernatural. He was the slayer after all, and killing monsters was in his job description.

“I’m not surprised… When Raven Feather and her brother unleashed all of that energy, it was like popping the cork on every evil thing that had been lying dormant since the humans died out. It’s ok, though, I’m fine with helping you guys out and keeping Equestria safe.” Tom stated with an earnest smile. He seemed genuinely happy to be keeping the land and everyone in it safe. Twilight and Celestia couldn’t help but admire the boy’s eagerness to protect the innocent. “So, how have the girls been?” Tom asked curiously while glancing back to Twilight.

“They’ve been alright, but Scootaloo and the others have been missing you a lot… we all have actually.” The unicorn admitted while smiling slightly. “But I’m sure that they’ll cheer right up when you come home with me.” She added cheerfully. Tom frowned at the purple mare’s words, much to her confusion. Suddenly it dawned on her that he wasn’t here to stay. As soon as she thought of this, Twilight’s cheery disposition vanished.

“Sorry, Twilight… I still have one more assignment to take care of. I’m heading out for Fillydelphia tonight.” The human explained sadly. Twilight shrugged and looked to the floor in disappointment.

“Don’t worry, Twilight. I have decided to give Tom a much-needed break after this mission. Once he gets done over in Fillydelphia, he will be free to come home to Ponyville for a few weeks… assuming no giant monsters try to destroy Equestria during that time.” Celestia said with a slight smirk.

“Fingers crossed.” Tom added with a lighthearted smile while holding up his hand and crossing two of his fingers.

“Really?” Twilight asked with a growing smile. She looked over to the princess for confirmation. Celestia closed her eyes and nodded in response. The small smile that had been building on the unicorn’s face exploded into a cheerful grin. “Yes!” The purple mare exclaimed joyfully while jumping up and wrapping her forelegs around the human again. Tom couldn’t do anything but hold on tightly while the unicorn bounced up and down eagerly with him clutched in her grasp.

“Easy Twilight… we need our slayer friend intact if he is going to help us.” Celestia said with a warm chuckle while watching the excited mare. Twilight managed to contain her joy for a moment and let go of Tom. She settled down and nodded in agreement, though her smile remained in place even if her outburst had been calmed.

“I’ve got some time to kill before my ride to Fillydelphia gets here, so why don’t we go out to eat or something? My treat.” Tom suggested with a smirk.

“That sounds wonderful.” Twilight replied with a warm smile.

“Before you two head out, there’s one more surprise I have for you, Tom.” Celestia spoke up as the pair was walking out of the room. Tom and Twilight paused and turned around curiously.

“A surprise…?” Twilight muttered curiously.

“For me…?” Tom added curiously. “I love surprises.” The boy hummed eagerly at the prospect of a surprise from the ruler of Equestria.

“It’s in the other room along with my sister. She has been dying to see you ever since she learned that you would be back today.” Celestia said while motioning towards the doorway across the room.

“Luna is here? I thought she was away managing Glimmer Shine and the others.” Tom asked in a confused tone. Last time he checked, the blue alicorn was going around Equestria to stay with Glimmer Shine and his two teammates as they completed missions.

“Well, Glimmer Shine and the others have proven capable of handling themselves, so Luna decided to return home while they continue completing assignments on their own.” The princess explained.

“I hope they don’t get hurt…” Twilight said in a concerned tone. She had grown to know the team of monster hunters as friends. It pained her to know that they had lost half of their members during the raid on Raven Feather’s mansion, so she knew that their performance must have been suffering.

“Don’t worry, they should be fine. We have been giving the really dangerous missions to Tom, and they have been taking it easy since they need to get back on their feet.” Celestia said in a reassuring tone. “In fact, I’m fairly certain that they are taking a short break after their next job. They might be back in Ponyville around the same time as Tom.” She added with an intrigued expression.

“I certainly hope so. They could use a break from everything… I can only imagine how it must feel for them without Brimstoke and the others around… especially for Glimmer Shine.” Twilight stated in a sad tone. She didn’t even want to think about the pain that the stallion must have been feeling from losing his brother. She at least knew that she would be devastated if her own brother died, so it was scarily real to the unicorn to be able to put herself in Glimmer Shine’s place.

“Let’s get going. I wouldn’t want to cut into the time you two have before Tom has to leave.” Celestia suggested while getting up and walking over to the other doorway. Twilight and Tom nodded in agreement before following the princess.

The trio walked through the door and entered into another hallway. They traveled through the lavishly decorated corridor and continued walking until they passed through another door on their right. The door led into an open room with several racks filled with weapons adorning the walls. There were a few wooden dummies with markings on their chest used for target practice and training in the center of the room, along with a familiar blue alicorn.

“Tom, Twilight, it’s good to see you!” Luna exclaimed cheerfully while walking up to the three. Twilight immediately walked up to the princess of the night and gladly accepted a hug from her, while Tom merely stood back and smiled.

“It’s good to see you too Luna.” Tom said while holding his hand out to shake her hoof.

Instead of grabbing the boy’s hand, Luna simply smiled and walked in closer. “I think we’ve moved past the handshake stage at this point Tom. Come here.” The blue alicorn said with a warm chuckle while wrapping her foreleg around the human and pulling him close. Tom was caught off guard by the friendly gesture. It still surprised the boy how enthusiastic the princess of the night could be with her greetings.

After taking a moment to release the human and hug her sister, Luna backed up and smiled at the group. She hadn’t seen any of them in a long time, although some of them she had seen more recently than the others. “I assume that you’re ready to show him?” Luna asked her sister curiously. Celestia nodded while glancing over to one of the shelves to the side of the room.

“Show him what?” Twilight asked in an intrigued tone. The suspense was even starting to get to her. She was excited to see what the princess had in store for the human.

Luna turned around and walked a few steps to the right. She lit up her horn and focused on an object on one of the shelves. The two hadn’t noticed it before, but now that it was enveloped in a magical aura it was easy to see. The princess was lifting what appeared to be a sheath and sword into the air. Judging from the slight curvature of the sheath, the group could tell that it was a katana, possibly similar to the one that Tom originally had. The handle to the blade was decorated differently, although it was still just as ornate as the boy’s first blade, with black and blue thread adorning it.

“Is that what I think it is?” Tom asked with a giddy smile on his face as the alicorn levitated the sword over to him. The boy grabbed the weapon and lifted the sword out of its sheath a short ways. Even without the bright blue glow that accompanied his old sword, the blade was still shiny and impressive.

“It is as close to your old sword as we could get it short of gluing the pieces back together.” Luna explained cheerfully while observing the human. He resembled a young child browsing through a candy store with money in their pocket with how much he was smiling.

“We did contemplate fixing the old one, but we figured that making a new one would be for the best.” Celestia added while glancing to Twilight with a slight twinge of unease in her voice. Everyone agreed that it would be best to forget about what happened, and keeping the blade that was used to kill the purple mare around would only remind the human of his failures.

“If I may?” Tom asked while motioning towards the practice dummies with his head. The two alicorns nodded before stepping back to give the human some room.

Tom stepped towards the wooden dummy and held the sheath out in front of him before bringing it to his side. He quickly grabbed the hilt of the blade and whipped it out. In one swift motion, the boy swiped the sword across the dummy’s neck. After a brief pause, the dummy’s head fell backwards and rolled across the floor. Tom looked down at the sword and flipped it a few times in his hand before smirking.

“Do you like it?” Luna asked with a hopeful grin.

“Like it? It’s perfect!” Tom replied happily while placing the sword back in its sheath. Celestia and Luna smiled at the success of their gift.

“All that’s left is for you to imbue it with positive energy… That, we can’t do for you.” Celestia said while thinking back to the glowing blue blade that the human used when he first came to Equestria.

“No problem, I’ll do that later.” Tom said while placing the sheath to his side. He then glanced over to Twilight, who was still admiring the blade that he had received.

“I think that you two should get going. We have taken up enough of your time.” Celestia suggested while looking over to her sister. Luna nodded in agreement. Twilight seemed to be hesitant to ditch the two princesses, but they were encouraging her to leave after all.

“Are you sure? We can stay and talk if you want.” The unicorn offered courteously. Celestia smiled and shook her head.

“No Twilight, go ahead and go.” The princess said while motioning towards the door. The purple mare hesitantly smiled before turning to Tom.

“Well then… I guess we should get going. What was that you said about going to eat? If I recall, I believe you told me that it was your treat.” Twilight said with a slight smirk.

“I guess I did. I don’t suppose the princess’s student has expensive taste?” Tom asked curiously.

“I guess we’ll find out.” Twilight replied with a chuckle. She walked alongside the human toward the door while waving goodbye to the two alicorns.

The pair strolled out of the palace and walked through the busy streets of Canterlot, all the while talking and catching up with each other to make up for lost time. The ponies that passed by them offered curious stares and brief whispers of intrigue. Most people in Equestria had heard about the human that had arrived and defeated Raven Feather’s cult. A few ponies were skeptical of the boy, but most had grown to like him for the general and sincere kindness that he treated even perfect strangers with.

After spending a long time walking around and talking, the pair finally settled on a restaurant to eat at. Thankfully for Tom, Twilight had opted to keep things cheap. Ever since she moved to Ponyville, she learned to appreciate the simpler things rather than expecting luxury, not that she was rich before.

“So, you’re heading out to Fillydelphia?” Twilight asked curiously while waiting for her meal to arrive. The two were sitting at an outdoor table enjoying the view of the city. Although Canterlot was a lot more crowded than Ponyville, it still had a certain beauty to it.

“Yep... well, the countryside outside of Fillydelphia to be precise.” Tom clarified while thinking back to the details of his mission. The added detail only peaked Twilight’s curiosity even further.

“What’s going on over there?” The purple mare asked in an intrigued tone.

“According to the reports that have come in, some ponies have heard some kind of animal howling in the direction of a nearby forest, and some animals have turned up dead with claw and bite marks all over them… I’m thinking it’s a werewolf.” Tom explained in an almost casual tone. It never ceased to amaze the unicorn how much he forgot about the bizarre nature of his line of work.

“A werewolf…? Seriously?” Twilight asked in a surprised tone. “Like… full moon and everything?” She added curiously. She was surprised to hear herself asking about such a silly concept, but then she remembered that she was talking to a time traveling monster slayer with supernatural abilities.

“Well, not all werewolves operate on the whole full moon thing. There are differences sometimes between the same species of monsters.” Tom elaborated, though he was unsure of whether or not his explanation was satisfactory to the lavender pony.

“I’m not sure if I should be fascinated or confused every time I talk with you.” Twilight admitted with a slight chuckle.

“I do like to keep people guessing.” Tom said while smirking cheerfully. Twilight shared a lighthearted giggle with the human.

Suddenly, a stallion in a spiffy bowtie walked up to the pair carrying plates on his head and on his back. He carefully lifted the plate from his back onto the table and gently pushed it closer to Twilight. The plate held a simple sandwich filled with flowers. The waiter took the plate from his head and placed it in front of Tom. The human’s plate held a salad with as many normal ingredients as the boy could find on the menu.

“Your meals.” The stallion said with a slight bow before walking away.

“Thank you.” Twilight offered a passing statement of gratitude before turning her attention to her food and rubbing her hooves together eagerly.

While the purple mare picked up her sandwich and took a bite out of it, she glanced over to the human as he picked up a fork to enjoy his salad. She couldn’t help but wonder at how well he had adjusted to Equestrian cuisine.

“So… have you gotten used to our food yet?” Twilight asked curiously.

“It’s not so much the getting used to your food that is the problem. It’s getting used to what food you don’t have that’s been bugging me.” Tom grumbled with slight annoyance while poking at his salad with his utensil.

“Oh yeah, I read that humans were omnivores. It must be hard to not have any meat… unless by chance you were vegetarian?” Twilight asked with a slight twinge of hope in her voice. The boy rolling his eyes at the mention of vegetarianism told her that she was dead wrong.

“Good lord no… I actually hate salad by itself… I have to drown it in dressing to even tolerate it, but it beats anything with hay in it… or a flower sandwich.” Tom said while watching the unicorn taking a bite out of her sandwich with mild disgust. She looked down at her meal and chuckled awkwardly before setting it down.

“Well, I’m sure that we can find something you like.” Twilight suggested optimistically.

“Thank god you guys have cheese… I think I would go insane otherwise.” Tom said while haphazardly pouring a small container of blue cheese dressing over the entirety of his salad. Twilight was suddenly intrigued by the boy’s statement.

“I’ve actually been meaning to ask you about that. What religion did you follow when you were alive? I’ve been reading through some books on the subject, and I’m not sure which one is the primary religion humans follow… There are so many of them! I read one about this guy that walked on water, and another about this other guy who reached enlightenment through meditation, and-” Twilight started naming off all of the knowledge she had learned on human religion until she was interrupted by Tom.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa… hold on there Twilight. I wouldn’t delve too deeply into the subject of religion if I were you. Humans believed in a lot of things, and it can be a bit overwhelming for someone who isn’t… adjusted to human norms.” The boy explained in a cautionary tone. Twilight chuckled slightly at the notion that she couldn’t handle learning about something.

“I’m sure it will be fine. I mean, what’s the worst that could happen?” The purple mare said in a confident tone.

“Pssh… just wait till you hit Scientology.” Tom muttered to himself, but apparently, he spoke loud enough for the unicorn to hear him slightly.

“What was that about science? Ooo I bet a religion based off of science must be really intriguing!” Twilight said in an excited tone. The human couldn’t find it in him to burst her bubble.

“Yeah… sure…” Tom added with an awkward smile while tugging at the collar of his shirt.

The two spent the whole afternoon talking to each other and walking around Canterlot. Tom accompanied the unicorn as she browsed through a few bookstores, went to a museum, and even went sight-seeing. All the while they were smiling and laughing and enjoying themselves.

As a nearby clock chimed, Tom shrugged as he realized that it was almost time for him to go. He looked over to Twilight, who was still smiling brightly, and sighed sadly. As soon as she noticed the downcast expression on the boy’s face, she frowned in realization.

“Time to go?” Twilight asked in a disappointed tone. He nodded slowly in response.

“Yeah… looks that way.” Tom stated while looking down sadly.

“I really enjoyed seeing you again.” Twilight managed to smile slightly to lighten the mood.

“Me too… but don’t worry, I should be back home in a few days… heck, all of us should be. I hear Glimmer Shine and the others are in Fillydelphia too working a case, so we might be done around the same time.” Tom explained in an intrigued tone.

“Wow, that’s an interesting coincidence.” Twilight said with an amazed expression.

“Yeah, maybe now I’ll get to test out that communication spell Glitterball put on me. She says that it should have synced me up to them, but I haven’t had the chance to try it yet.” Tom added with an eager expression. He then shrugged as he got up from his seated position.

“Well, I should probably get going. Come on, I’ll walk you back to the palace.” The human offered while extending his hand to help the unicorn off the ground. Twilight nodded before taking the boy’s hand and lifting herself up. She then followed the human through the streets of Canterlot on their way to where they would have to inevitably separate.

Author's Notes:

Thank you for reading through the first chapter in my next big adventure. I hope you enjoy all of the things to come.

As a sort of side note, I put the alternate universe tag in because of a few reasons. Namely, this is a story that uses characters and concepts from FNAF. It isn't an outright crossover where the group gets sent back into time to Freddy's pizzeria or anything like that, but the fact that animatronics exist kind of has to be accepted for this story to work. So just a heads up, the level of technology Equestria is capable of in this story might be a bit more advanced than it actually is. I try to keep from making too many leaps in logic wherever possible.

Chapter 2: A day in the Life

Another day came and went in Fillydelphia. Another normal day filled with normal everyday things. Most ponies would never believe that a small group of seemingly average looking ponies passing by them on the street would have such a strange career, but that was exactly the case for Glimmer Shine and his two teammates.

There were three members of the Supernatural and Paranormal Intelligence, Reconnaissance, and Intervention Team; A strong-willed and an equally strong hearted earth pony, a laid back and curious unicorn, and a boisterous and daring pegasus. All three of them seemed like they wouldn’t even know each other, much less work with each other. Just the same, they had one of the most important jobs in Equestria.

Whenever a pony would complain about a supernatural problem, be it a monster or an odd occurrence, they would report it in and Princess Luna would send in Glimmer Shine and the others to deal with the problem. They had been all over Equestria since they went into official duty after Raven Feather’s defeat. Despite their diminished numbers, they completed every job with speed and efficiency. At least, that is what they liked to think.

“So what do we have here?” Sunspot asked while walking alongside her two partners through the city streets. She didn’t like to bore herself with the details of every case, so she usually just left it up to either Glimmer Shine or Glitterball to brief her.

“Apparently there is a haunted house on the outskirts of town. Ponies have claimed to see one particular apparition multiple times in the past few months.” Glimmer Shine explained their mission as best he could remember. Upon hearing the subject of the mission, Sunspot’s face paled and she looked down for a moment.

Memories of what happened at the ancient mansion that Raven Feather and her cult of followers used as a base came flooding back to her. She had lost three very dear friends to her, one of whom was Glimmer Shine’s own brother, so she wondered why they were handling a case involving ghosts so soon.

“I know you’re not too pleased with the aspect of dealing with a ghost again. Believe me… neither am I, but someone has to take care of this stuff, and we’re the only ones in the business other than Tom.” Glimmer Shine said in a sympathetic tone as he observed the distressed pegasus.

“Just warn me ahead of time if we’re going to be handling ghosts…” Sunspot grumbled angrily.

“Maybe I would if you would pay attention during the briefing.” Glimmer Shine said with a slight glare at the lazy mare. Sunspot returned the annoyed glare before returning her attention ahead.

“Speaking of Tom, isn’t he supposed to be in Fillydelphia too?” Glitterball asked curiously, moving past the issue the others were having and turning her thoughts to their human friend.

“Yeah… I think he is outside of town handling a case. He should be here by now if memory serves.” Glimmer Shine explained with a hint of intrigue in his voice. He hadn’t seen the human much since they both started handling jobs around Equestria, so it was interesting to finally be in the same town as the boy.

“Hey, why don’t we see if we can reach him? You did remember to sync him up with our communication spell the last time we met up didn’t you Glitter?” Sunspot asked curiously while glancing at the unicorn.

“Yes, but I’m not sure if it will work. I did tweak the range a little bit, but Fillydelphia is a big place.” Glitterball replied while doing a mental comparison of where they were to where the human was supposed to be.

“Well, there’s only one way to find out.” Sunspot said while putting a hoof up to her ear. As she concentrated on the human, her ear and hoof were enveloped in a blue magical aura. “Tom, are you there? Can you hear me?” Sunspot asked curiously. Glimmer Shine and Glitterball placed their own hooves up to their ears to see if they could join the conversation if the human responded.

“Sunspot…? Is that you?” The familiar voice of their human friend rang out in their ears. Sunspot smiled excitedly as her experiment worked.

“Hey! It actually worked!” The pegasus cheered happily.

“I would hope so… I didn’t volunteer to have Glitter poke me with her horn for ten minutes straight just for nothing to happen.” Tom replied in a lighthearted tone.

“Well, there was a fifty-fifty shot of success I suppose.” Glitterball chimed in with a nervous chuckle.

“So anyway, what are you up to Tom? We heard that you would be in town, but nobody told us what you were doing here.” Sunspot asked in an intrigued tone.

“Oh, nothing much… I’m just outside of town dealing with a werewolf.” The human replied casually as if it weren’t that big of a deal. The three ponies were equal parts surprised and confused at the boy’s mission.

“A werewolf?” Glitterball asked to clarify.

“Seriously?” Glimmer Shine added in a tone of slight disbelief.

“Like… full moon and everything?” Sunspot raised an eyebrow while pondering the possibility of a werewolf being real.

“Why is that such a hard thing to believe?” Tom asked in a surprised tone. He at least expected the team of monster hunters to not be shocked at the existence of a werewolf.

“Well… while you’re hunting down wolfman, we’re clearing out a haunted house.” Sunspot said to inform the human of what they were doing.

“Really…?” Tom asked uneasily. He wasn’t sure if taking on a ghost was a healthy thing for the three ponies to do considering what the last ghosts they ran into did.

“Yeah, apparently there’s this mare in white that appears once a month for one night only. We wouldn’t be taking something like this if there wasn’t a chance that the legend might be true and she does only appear once a month.” Glimmer Shine explained with a troubled tone.

“Most legends are based on at least a single truth… but if it is true, you better get down there now. I may be in the middle of a forest, but even I can tell that the sun is setting.” Tom said with a slight tone of urgency. The ponies looked at the sky and noticed that the sun was indeed on its way past the horizon.

“Don’t worry, we’re almost there now. I talked with the owners of the house earlier, and they gave us the entire place for the night.” Glimmer Shine said in a reassuring manner.

“Well, good luck guys,” Tom said with a hint of friendly concern in his voice.

“You too Tom… We’ll call you in the morning.” Sunspot said before dropping her hoof to the ground to end the call. Glimmer Shine and Glitterball did the same before turning their attention ahead. As soon as they did, the yellow stallion noticed the same building from the picture he had been given coming into view.

“There’s the place.” Glimmer announced to his two teammates while observing the sprawling property. They were in the more upper-class section of Fillydelphia, so mansions and high-end estates weren’t uncommon, but it was still impressive to behold.

The house itself wasn’t nearly as big as the last haunted mansion they visited, but it still seemed much too large for just a young couple to live at. There was a lush hedge that went around the property, complete with archways to serve as gates. The hedge was only on the outskirts of the property, except for the large hedge maze that was to the right of the house itself. There were also several lavish decorations scattered around the front yard, most notably of which was a large fountain with a unicorn statue on top standing on one leg with water spouting out of its horn.

“Wow… these guys must be loaded.” Sunspot stated in an amazed tone while admiring the sight of the property.

“They are… which is why they asked the princess to send us here personally.” Glimmer Shine said while turning to his two companions.

“Well, we should probably get inside and settle in. We need to find this ghost and take care of it as soon as possible.” Glitterball suggested while pointing to the moon rising into the sky. Glimmer Shine and Sunspot nodded before continuing forward on their way to the mansion.

Meanwhile, out in the countryside outside of Fillydelphia, Tom was already starting his investigation. He was walking through the forest where the animal noises had been reported. The forest wasn’t nearly as boggy or unruly looking as the Everfree was, but it was still plenty creepy looking in the moonlight.

There were branches blowing in the wind, adding a constant rustling to the already ever-present ambiance of insects and frogs croaking. Occasionally, an owl or another nocturnal creature would make its presence known with a slight noise. Despite all of these noises and sights that would make any pony shiver with fright, there was something that even unnerved the human slightly.

It was hard to tell in the dark, but there was a slight tint of red strewn along the grass and on the bottom of one of the trees. This, along with a few claw marks on the trees, gave the impression that some horrible beast had been through the area.

“Looks like somebody has been hungry,” Tom said while placing his hand on one of the spots wet with blood. Judging from the temperature and the amount that was still wet, this particular spray was probably from the previous night. Maybe an animal had been killed, and the creature had taken the body with it further into the forest.

“Let’s see what we have here.” The human took in a deep breath and centered himself. He closed his eyes and concentrated for a moment before exhaling a puff of blue mist out of his mouth. As the myriad of senses and feelings rushed over him, he started to map out the area around him to look for energy signatures.

As he let out another burst of his senses, he began to feel trace amounts of energy from an evil creature directly in front of him. This was most likely the traces left behind during the beast’s last kill. He could also feel a stronger energy signature somewhere deep inside of the forest. A distant eerie howl cemented his suspicions. Whatever monster he had been sent to hunt was indeed making its home in the forest.

“Alright… looks like I’m going on a wolf hunt.” Tom shrugged and glanced down to a small holster he was carrying on a belt around his hips. “And me without a rifle… I guess this will have to do.” He said while taking a small dagger out of the holster. The silver blade gleamed in the moonlight, eliciting a small smirk from the slayer as he put it back in its original place and patted it with a sense of assurance. Without further delay, Tom stepped into the forest and began his search for the elusive beast.

As he continued walking further and further through the thicket of trees, the human continued using his senses to try to confirm his suspicions on the identity of the creature he was hunting. All the while, he kept following the trail of blood along the ground. It seemed like the further he got into the forest, the larger the splatters of blood along the ground were.

“What are you…?” Tom muttered while trying to make sense of the faint reading he was getting. “Ok… definitely a werewolf. And I’m not feeling anything too special about you… so I’m guessing you are just a run of the mill wolf.” He added with a small smile. It felt good for the slayer to be able to understand his foe. It made him feel more confident in his ability to kill whatever he was up against if he knew about it beforehand.

Suddenly, the thicket of trees opened up slightly. Tom looked up from the blood trail to see where he was going, only to pause in surprise when he noticed a gruesome scene before him. The blood trail kept getting bigger and bigger until it reached its source. There was a small clearing with a tranquil pond in the middle of it. Strewn around the pond, were the ravaged bodies of several dead animals.

Among the bodies, Tom could identify a deer, and at least two rabbits, though it was hard to tell which segment belonged to which animal. All of the bodies were ripped apart, with dried blood almost completely covering them. Along with blood, the animals were covered from top to bottom in claw and bite marks.

“Yikes… it’s a good thing Fluttershy isn’t here. She would probably freak out if she saw this hot mess.” Tom said while gagging slightly over the smell of decay. He didn’t even want to think about how the timid pegasus would react to seeing such a horrific scene. She hated to see animals getting mildly hurt, so this would probably give her a mild stroke.

Against his better judgment, the human took in a deep breath and used his senses again. The only way he could willingly use his senses was to exhale, and that proved to be difficult when his only source of air was contaminated by an odor so thick that he could taste it.

“Here we go,” Tom said in a cheerful tone as he picked up the monster’s scent so to speak. He could sense a definite reading that felt like a supernatural monster, and assuming that there wasn’t more than one bloodthirsty monster in the forest with him, that was most likely his prey.

“*Whistle* Here wolfy, wolfy…” The human spoke loudly in an attempt at coaxing out the monster. He walked around the pond and continued on his path through the forest on his way to the source of the energy he was feeling.

“Here wolfy… I got a nice shiny stick for you. Come on out and get it.” He whistled once more in a playful manner.

Elsewhere, back in Fillydelphia. The moon had climbed far into the sky, and the ghost hunt was well underway. The members of team S.P.I.R.I.T had split up and scattered across the house to search it more effectively. Glitterball was out in the hedge maze, Glimmer Shine was in the basement, while Sunspot had opted to take the first and second floors of the mansion.

The suited pegasus crept through the upper floor. She clutched a small chain and carried it with her. If her previous experiences with ghosts had taught her anything, it was that iron was really effective at hurting them.

The only sounds that could be heard were the quiet clatter of her own hooves against the carpeted floor and the chain beside her. With the lights off and the looming threat of a ghost lurking in the halls, the lavish mansion was much creepier than it looked on the outside.

Moonlight streamed in through each window she passed, making the atmosphere even eerier. Despite her creepy surroundings, Sunspot was steady and confident in her abilities. She still felt fear, but she kept it inside so as to not let it affect her actions.

“Sunspot, Glitterball, check in.” Glimmer Shine’s voice rang out in the pegasus’s ears, making her jump slightly. She put a hoof up to her ear and calmed her nerves before answering.

“I’m here,” Sunspot announced.

“I’m here too.” Glitterball’s voice chimed in. Sunspot was relieved to hear that her teammates hadn’t been brutally murdered in the time that they were away from her.

“Any sign of our mare in white?” Glimmer Shine asked curiously. Sunspot leaned around the corner she was up against and looked down the next hallway just to be safe. As she expected, the only sign of movement was some curtains blowing in the breeze further down the dark hall.

“*Sigh* Nothing up here… Any luck down in the hedge maze, Glitter?” Sunspot asked curiously while glancing towards the window next to her.

“I’m afraid not. I’ll keep looking.” Glitterball replied in a disheartened tone.

“Remember girls, only use your strobes if you’re in danger. We only have one shot at this, and the ghost might not come back tonight if we disrupt it with an energy blast to the face.” Glimmer Shine instructed as a reminder.

“Heh… if I have my way, I won’t need my strobe.” Sunspot said with a chuckle while gripping the chain in her hooves tightly.

“Sunspot… Remember what I said about taking the ghost on alone?” Glimmer Shine asked in a suspicious tone.

“Uhh… something about making it look as cool as possible?” Sunspot said with an awkward smile, even though her teammate couldn’t see it.

“Just be sure to call us before you do anything stupid.” Glimmer Shine replied with an annoyed groan.

“Yeah, yeah… don’t get your horseshoes bent out of shape.” Sunspot waved off the stallion’s advice. Although he dropped the call, she could tell that he was probably unimpressed with her words.

Taking a look down at the many vials dangling off of her Wonderbolts uniform, Sunspot shrugged and grabbed her detector to get a look at it. As she expected, the liquid in the vial was only faintly glowing as it had been since she arrived at the mansion. The reading offered little more than the knowledge that a ghost was present, but she already knew that. The pegasus didn’t want confirmation that there was something supernatural nearby, she wanted to know where it was.

“Ugh… I wish I had Tom’s senses right about now.” Sunspot muttered in frustration. “Hey now… there’s an idea. Maybe a little advice from our resident slayer could tell me how to find this pest.” She said with a pleased expression at her own idea.

The orange mare put her hoof up to her ear and concentrated for a moment on the human. Once she was certain that the connection had been made, she took in a breath to speak.

“Tom, are you there?” Sunspot asked in a hopeful tone. She suddenly heard a frightful yelp, followed by rapid breathing.

“Sweet mother of mercy, Sunspot!” Tom spoke up in a startled tone. He was very upset that the pegasus had spoken up so suddenly.

“Sorry… I didn’t think I would scare you.” Sunspot said with an awkward grimace.

“I wasn’t expecting you to call until morning, I’m in the middle of a forest at night, and I’m hunting a bloodthirsty werewolf. Of course you would scare me!” The human yelled before taking a moment to calm himself down. “Now then… what is it?” He asked in a composed tone, though there was still a hint of annoyance in his voice.

“I was just calling to ask for some advice on finding this ghost. We’ve been at this for most of the night and we haven’t found anything.” Sunspot explained in a pleading manner.

“Well… judging from what you guys said, if this ghost only appears once a month, she must be a creature of habit. Try searching the areas where ponies have reported seeing her.” Tom suggested in a confident tone.

“Of course… why didn’t I think of that?” Sunspot chuckled to herself with a cheerful smirk.

“Out of curiosity… what are you guys going to do once you find this ghost?” The human asked with an intrigued inflection in his voice. He was curious to find out what the team’s plan was for dealing with the spirit.

“According to the legend, the mare in white can’t leave the property grounds. We’re going to capture her with iron chains, and then we’re going to forcibly pull her over the property line.” The pegasus explained while glancing down to the chain at her feet.

“That might actually work. Most ghosts can’t leave the area they haunt, so that is probably the best option you have to disrupt her spirit without digging up her body and burning it.” Tom said in an impressed tone.

“We thought of that already, and we couldn’t find out who she was, much less where she was buried. This will do just fine as a replacement plan.” Sunspot explained.

“Just be careful when you do find the thing Sunspot. Ghosts can be aggressive when they’re cornered... even the more passive looking ones.” The human said with a cautionary tone.

“I think we can handle it.” Sunspot replied with a pleased smile. Suddenly, a low growl sounded out and bled through the call. The sound caught the pegasus off guard, even though she was certain that it wasn’t coming from her end.

“Tom… what’s that noise?” Sunspot asked with a concerned tone.

“Uhh… I need to go. Good luck with that ghost Sunspot… I-” Tom was suddenly interrupted by the growl erupting into a loud snarl. Sunspot heard the human exclaim in surprise before he dropped the call.

Sunspot was worried about the boy, but she figured that he could handle himself. At any rate, there wasn’t anything she could do to assist him. Deciding to return to her own mission, she got up from the floor and prepared to continue searching.

Suddenly, the pegasus felt one of the vials on her suit vibrating. She looked down and noticed that her detector was glowing a solid color rather than a faint one. Sunspot feverishly grabbed the vial and brought it closer to her face. She gasped in surprise as she noticed that the liquid inside was glowing in the direction behind her.

Hearing a rustling sound coming from the hallway around the corner, Sunspot crouched low to the ground and slunk back to the wall. She felt a sudden decrease in temperature, adding to her already tense nerves.

Slowly, she moved her head around the corner to peek into the next hall. As soon as she could see what lay down the hallway, she froze. There it was, in all of its stark glowing white glory. There was a pale white mare with flowing gray hair standing and looking out of one of the windows.

The strange pony was completely see-through, with a soft white aura shining around her. She was looking out into the yard with a gloomy expression and haunting blue eyes. If Sunspot wasn’t already expecting her, she would have been scared stiff.

“Oh man… oh man!” The orange mare muttered in a quiet panic. She wasn’t sure if she was more excited or nervous, although she was probably both.

“Glimmer Shine, Glitterball…!” Sunspot frantically put her hoof up to her ear and whispered in an eager tone for her teammates to hear her.

“Sunspot…? What’s wrong?” Glitterball asked in a concerned tone.

“I see it! It’s right in front of me!” Sunspot explained while trying her best to keep her voice quiet.

“What?!” Glimmer Shine spoke up in a surprised tone.

“Are you serious?!” Glitterball asked with shock clear in her voice.

“I am serious as a heart attack right now! I’m up on the second floor and I see her. She really is white and everything!” Sunspot said while peeking her head around the corner to see if the spirit was still there. Thankfully, the white mare hadn’t moved and was still staring out the window.

“Ok… Sunspot, wait right there. We’re coming up to you.” Glimmer Shine instructed in a calm voice.

“Wait here…? Are you kidding?! She will disappear by the time you two get up here!” Sunspot stated in an upset tone.

“You can’t handle her by yourself Sunspot. Wait until me and Glitter get there!” Glimmer Shine raised his voice in a desperate attempt at getting the pegasus to listen to him.

“Hay with this.” Sunspot shrugged in frustration while dropping her hoof.

“Sunspot!” Glimmer Shine tried to argue the point to the orange mare, but her mind was already made up. Sunspot stood up and clutched the chain in her hooves with confidence.

“Alright you ethereal featherbrain, let’s rock.” Sunspot said with a small smirk while glancing around the corner. The pegasus suddenly thought about how she would actually capture the spirit. She was relatively far away, and she could very well disappear before she could get close enough to wrap the chain around her. Suddenly, as she looked down at the chain, she got an idea.

“Heh… now then, how would Applejack do this?” She asked herself while thinking about how to go about performing her plan. She reached down and tied the end of the chain in a knot, forming a loop.

With a confident smirk, Sunspot stepped around the corner and started twirling the chain above her head like a lasso. It was slightly heavier than rope, but it would work just fine assuming she could throw it hard enough.

“Hey! Are you the mare in white?” She asked while stepping forward with a determined expression. The ghost turned her head and looked down the hall curiously at the pegasus.

“If you are, then I have something for you!” Sunspot yelled fiercely while throwing the chain at the ghost as hard as she could. The loop flew at the spirit and landed around her shoulders. The mare let out a yell of pain as her body burned from being in contact with the iron chain.

Sunspot grabbed the chain and held it as tightly as she could as the ghost writhed in her grasp. The constant screaming was hurting her ears, but she didn’t care. All she cared about was getting the spirit downstairs.

“Alright, let’s just head downstairs and… hey!” Sunspot exclaimed in surprise as the ghost tugged hard on the chain. She had to pull with all of her strength just to stay still. The orange mare had expected a fight, but this spirit was displaying more strength than she thought possible from such a non-threatening looking ghost.

“Stop pulling on me! You aren’t going anywhere, so just give u- WOAH!” She yelped in shock as she felt the ghost pulling her off balance. Not only did the mare start dragging the chain down the hallway with her, but she started pulling the pegasus along with her too.

Sunspot felt the chain pulling taut around her back leg. In all of the commotion, she had gotten her leg tangled up in the chain. She didn’t even have time to react before she was pulled from her feet and started sliding down the hallway on her back.

“Ahhh!” The orange mare yelled fearfully as she tried to find something to grab onto to slow herself. The ghost of the white mare kept running down the hallway towards the far window.

As the spirit approached the window, she jumped and went straight through it. Due to the solid chain being around her neck, the window shattered as she glided through it and out into the night. Sunspot saw the approaching window and widened her eyes in shock.

“AHH!” The pegasus screamed in terror as she was forcibly dragged through the window. She tried to spread her wings and fly, but the chain was dragging her down. The ghost kept floating away, taking her along for the ride.

After a few moments of trying to stay in the air, Sunspot grew tired from fatigue and dropped like a rock. She closed her eyes and prepared for her demise until she was suddenly stopped short. The pegasus felt a violent tug on her leg, causing her to stop in midair. She looked up to see that part of the chain had caught on the windowsill.

Taking a frantic look around her upside down surroundings for the mare in white, the orange pony quickly realized that she was nowhere to be seen. The loop she had made at the end of the chain was laying on the ground beneath her.

“Ughh… I almost had her!” She groaned in despair while covering her face with her hooves. She couldn’t believe that she had made such a big mistake and that Glimmer Shine was actually right for once. She could practically hear the stallion chewing her out already.

“How’s the weather up there?” Suddenly, Sunspot heard the familiar voice of the stallion speaking up to her. She almost thought it was in her head until she looked down to see her two teammates looking up at her with varying amounts of relief and annoyance on their faces.

Sunspot crossed her forelegs and pouted angrily. She could tell that the stallion was getting a little too much enjoyment out of seeing her getting her karmic retribution. Although she knew that he was probably just as happy to see her unharmed, she didn’t view him as her friend right now, she viewed him as the person that just won an argument that she completely ignored.

“Shut up… I don’t want to talk about it.” The pegasus grumbled while staring straight ahead to avoid looking at the pair.

“You know… this wouldn’t have happened if you would have just listened to me.” Glimmer Shine said with a slight smirk.

“Hmph.” Sunspot mumbled under her breath, although the annoyance in her voice was clear.

“What did she say? I didn’t catch that…” Glitterball asked curiously while glancing to the yellow stallion beside her.

“She wants me to shut up… I don’t need to understand her to know that.” Glimmer Shine replied with a slight chuckle.

True to her word, Sunspot only made small noises to communicate her disapproval. She was starting to get lightheaded from all of the blood rushing to her head, but she still pouted as hard as she could while staring ahead with a stoic and ticked off expression.

“I think we need to have a talk about your listening skills Sunspot. I’m just trying to help you out… we are on the same team after all.” Glimmer Shine said in a sincere tone while trying to bury the hatchet with the pegasus.

“Hmph...” Sunspot grumbled again.

“Was that one shut up as well?” Glitterball asked curiously while trying to make sense of the odd form of communication the suited mare was using.

“Oh, definitely.” Glimmer Shine replied with a confident tone. “Look Sunspot… I know you messed up, and I’m pretty sure you know that you messed up.” The stallion said while pointing out the orange mare’s predicament. She was still softly swinging back and forth in the breeze while being kept suspended just below the window.

“But I am willing to put this behind us if you just say three words… say I was right, and we can all move past this.” Glimmer Shine offered with a smug smirk.

“Grr…” Sunspot growled under her breath at the notion of admitting defeat. She wasn’t denying that she messed up, she knew that full well. But to admit it out loud would be to concede defeat, and that was unacceptable.

“Let me guess… you want me to shut up, and you want us to come up there and pull you up?” Glimmer Shine asked in a confident tone.

“*Sigh*…” Sunspot sighed silently before nodding her head. She would still be upset at the stallion, but she was starting to feel sick from staring at an upside down world for so long.

“Let’s go get her, Glitter.” Glimmer Shine said to the unicorn with a small smile. Glitterball nodded and followed the yellow pony as he walked towards the front door to the mansion.

Meanwhile, while the three ponies were licking their wounds from a humbling defeat, Tom was running for his life through a dimly lit forest. Ever since he had been pounced by the vicious creature that interrupted his call with Sunspot, he had been running to prevent it from getting the upper hand.

“Ok, I admit… I look kind of tasty, but you do not want to eat me! I will give you the worst case of indigestion that you have ever had!” The human yelled behind him while running forward. He could barely hear himself over the snarls and growls coming from the monster. He hadn’t seen much more than a furry blur of motion when he was attacked, but he was confident in his assumption that it was indeed a werewolf.

Due to his senses, he could feel every move the creature made as it bounded between the trees to chase after him. While this definitely gave him more incentive to run, it was also terrifying at the same time.

Spotting a low tree branch in front of him, the boy jumped as high as he could and grabbed onto it. He used his forward momentum to flip up onto the branch and quickly jumped backwards. As he expected, he flew over the furry beast and landed behind it. While the creature was turning around to find him, he was already recovering from his tumble and positioning himself to attack.

With one smooth motion, Tom pulled out the silver dagger on his belt and readied it. He charged forward and ducked to the side to avoid any strike the beast might throw so he could stab it clean through the chest.

“Ow!” He yelled in pain as he felt the monster’s clawed hand swiping the dagger out of his own hand. While he reeled from the strike, he watched the dagger fly off into the distance before disappearing into the forest.

“Ok… that is just rude!” The boy exclaimed angrily while staring at the furry monster. The creature looked like a giant wolf, although it had more human-like hands and was capable of standing up on two legs. Thankfully, Tom figured that this werewolf was not a pony that had been bitten and transformed into a monster, but rather it was just an average werewolf.

As the beast snarled at the human, it swiped its claws at him again. Tom jumped backwards and kept a sizable gap between him and his adversary. He clenched his injured hand as blood trickled onto the ground from it. He cringed slightly as he used his healing powers to make the wound vanish in a vibrant display of flames and ashes.

“Ok… my sword probably won’t make much of a dent in this guy, and my silver dagger is… elsewhere.” Tom shrugged while thinking about his options. “I guess I’ll have to use old tried and true.” He smirked slightly before dropping his arms to his side.

The werewolf growled and snorted angrily as fire sprang from the human’s fingertips. As the flames traveled into the air and vanished, the metallic claws that he was gifted after becoming a slayer were left behind. The boy lifted his hands up and readied himself into a defensive stance while brandishing his spirit weapons.

“Ok, Fido… it’s time for you to play dead.” Tom said while sizing up the monster in front of him and preparing for him to strike.

Suddenly, the werewolf bolted forward on all fours and rushed at the human’s legs with his vicious looking teeth bared. His speed was daunting, but the human didn’t flinch. Tom leaped into the air and stepped on the monster’s back as he passed him. The creature snarled angrily and turned around to snap at the boy, but he was already on his way past him.

Tom spun around in the air and slid to a halt as he landed while facing the monster. The werewolf swiped at him with its large arm, but he was wise to the attack. The human ducked and weaved to the side to let the swipe pass him, once it did, he made a swipe of his own at the monster’s side.

The werewolf howled in pain as the blades sliced through his side with ease. Blood sprayed from his wound, but he was un-phased by this. The beast reached downwards in an attempt at grabbing the human, but he was too quick. Tom ducked around the side and slashed across the monster’s back.

The anger filled burst of adrenaline caused by its injuries gave the creature a small boost in speed and aggression. The beast whipped around sideways with its arm and smacked the human into the air. The boy flew into a nearby tree and groaned in pain as he collided with it.

Tom looked up to find the creature, only to see a furry blur traveling towards him rapidly. Before he could react, the werewolf slammed into him and went straight for his face. Tom shoved his hands into the beast’s shoulders to halt its advance. He was barely able to keep the monster from biting his face off.

As the werewolf wrestled him from the tree onto the forest floor, Tom kicked at him with his free legs. The creature paid no attention to the human’s attack and instead continued pushing down on him. Tom cringed in pain as the beast raked its claws across his cheek. The wound wasn’t deep, but he could feel blood trickling down his face.

Finally, the monster reared up and prepared to slam its weight down on the human. Tom realized that he wouldn’t be able to strong-arm such an assault. He closed his eyes and shoved his hand out with his fingers pointed upwards in the hopes of stabbing the beast.

He heard the monster yelping in pain as his claws impacted its body. The creature’s weight drove the claws through its chest as it fell. Tom felt the monster’s dead weight coming down on him as the beast expired.

“Woo… that was exhilarating.” He said with a small victorious smirk. He then groaned from exertion as he tried to get the monster off of him. His claws were stuck inside of the beast’s chest, and even if he made them vanish to free his hand, his arm was pinned. With only one arm in a viable pushing position, the human heaved as he tried moving the werewolf off of him. After a few moments of barely getting the beast to move, he quickly realized that he would have a hard time of lifting it up enough to slide out from underneath it.

“Great… I guess it’s a good thing there was only one monster in these woods… I hope.” Tom shrugged as he rested until his next attempt at moving the creature. It would definitely be a long night for the slayer if he couldn’t lift the beast.

Chapter 3: Reunion

As Celestia’s sun climbed into the mid-morning sky, all the denizens of Ponyville were waking up and preparing themselves for another bright day. Twilight Sparkle yawned and stretched her arms tiredly as she stirred from her sleep. She felt well rested and alert, despite the hard day of work she had put in the day before. Taking a glance to the side, she noticed a book lying open beside her. She must have fallen asleep while reading and forgot to put the book away before dozing off.

Hearing a soft yawn beneath her, Twilight looked over the side of her loft and noticed that Spike was waking up too. “Morning, Spike.” The unicorn called down to him. Upon noticing that his friend was awake, Spike looked up and managed a small smile despite his tired exterior.

“Morning, Twilight…” Spike yawned lazily while rubbing his eyes to better acquaint them to the daylight streaming into the room. “Ugh… don’t tell me you fell asleep while reading again. You do know that those books will still be here if you slow down the pace right?” The dragon asked while glancing up at the unicorn as she lifted the book off of herself.

Twilight glanced to the book and cringed in embarrassment. She quickly put the book behind her and made an awkward smile in an attempt to brush off the matter, but clearly, her assistant wasn’t buying it. “I guess I must have dozed off without realizing it… oh well. I just can’t help myself, Spike, these books are so interesting! You know humans were just as into poetry and stories as we are?” She asked with an eager smile.

Spike shrugged in response to the unicorn’s giddy excitement. She had been this way ever since she got her hooves on the large collection of human books. She was so enthralled by what she read that she often took several of the books to bed with her. Thankfully reading was a silent pastime, so the unicorn didn’t keep the dragon up with her late night reading sessions.

“I’m sure that’s all fine and dandy Twilight, but don’t you think that you should get out some more? Maybe get a little exercise? I’m sure that sitting indoors and reading all day can’t be good for the muscles… and between you and me, I think the others are starting to talk about how flabby you’re getting.” Spike said in a quiet whisper as if he were divulging a well-kept secret.

“I’m just going to pretend that you didn’t say that…” Twilight muttered while eyeing the dragon with a raised eyebrow. “Anyway… I don’t think that the others are talking about how flabby I’m getting… which I’m not… getting flabby I mean.” The unicorn said while looking down and sucking in her gut self-consciously.

“Yeah… how would they know? You barely leave the library anymore.” Spike said while rolling his eyes at the reclusive unicorn.

Twilight furrowed her brow in annoyance. The dragon’s comments were starting to get on her nerves. “Alright… you know what? I’m going to go around town and see the others… and you’re coming with me.” The purple mare said in a stern tone. She smiled slightly as she saw the dragon’s shocked reaction.

“What?! Now… hold on a minute Twilight. You aren’t that flabby, so you don’t need to go out of the library today. How about I go grab you one of those books? I think I saw one about sciencetology… or something like that.” Spike offered with a nervous smile. He clearly didn’t want to be going around town this early in the day.

Twilight started to say something until she thought about the dragon’s words for a moment. She wasn’t sure if she was more upset at him for indirectly calling her flabby again, or for trying to weasel his way out of accompanying her.

“Sorry Spike, but it’s like you said. I don’t go out often enough anymore… and besides, I need to let the girls know that Tom and the others will be in town for a few weeks.” The unicorn explained in a smug tone. The dragon seemed to be excited to shift to the topic of the human returning to Ponyville.

“I can’t believe that the princess gave him a week off! When was he supposed to get here again?” Spike asked curiously.

“Well… he probably arrived in Fillydelphia yesterday, and I imagine that it wouldn’t take him longer than a day to get the mission done.” Twilight pondered out loud as she estimated when the human would return. “Actually, he might make it here tonight if he caught the train.” She perked up with excitement as she came to the realization.

“That’s great news. Maybe we could get the others together and throw them a welcome back party.” Spike suggested eagerly.

“I’m not sure if we could get a decent party put together by tonight.” Twilight said with a doubtful expression.

Spike chuckled slightly. “Clearly you underestimate the force of nature that is Pinkie Pie.” He retorted.

Twilight smirked as she thought about her pink friend. “Maybe you’re right… I suppose we could go see if Pinkie wants to set up a party.” She said while hopping out of bed and walking down the stairs to the waiting dragon.

“Since when does Pinkie not want to set up a party? You could walk up to her on the street with no reason at all and ask her for a party, and you can bet your bottom bit that she would jump at the chance.” Spike stated with a confident expression.

“Yeah, that is true. I’m sure Pinkie can come up with something to give Tom and the others a proper welcome back to Ponyville.” Twilight said eagerly while opening the bedroom door and walking out.

Spike started to follow her until he got a bright idea. He slowly and quietly walked over to his bed and climbed back in. “Heh… you can’t make me come with you if you forget about me.” He said while a small smirk while cozying up and laying his head on his hands to take a nap. Suddenly, he heard a magical hum and felt his body getting lifted off the ground. “Hey what the- WOAH!” He yelped in surprise as he was whisked out of his bed and floated over to the door where a very annoyed looking unicorn was waiting. Twilight hovered the dragon in front of her face so she could properly glare at him.

“So uh… I suppose you still want me to go with you? Heh…” Spike chuckled nervously while trying to avoid the piercing stare of the purple mare. Twilight shrugged before placing the dragon on her back and turning to walk back down the stairs. Spike groaned in protest while resting his chin on his hand with an annoyed expression.

After a brief walk through town, Twilight and her reluctant travel companion arrived at Sugarcube Corner. Just walking into the festive building and catching a whiff of the many treats inside immediately made her think about her energetic pink friend. It was like everywhere Pinkie went, she irradiated fun and happiness. Twilight had no doubt in her mind that the party pony was the right place to go for a party on such short notice.

“What?! What do you mean you can’t throw a party on such short notice?!” Twilight asked in a shocked tone while staring at the pink mare with a stunned expression. Pinkie was busy frantically rolling out dough and throwing ingredients together in various mixing bowls in the shop’s kitchen while Mr. and Mrs. Cake were running the front counter.

“Sorry Twilight… normally I would jump at the chance to throw a party, especially for a friend, but I have my hooves full here.” Pinkie said while feverishly rolling out a blob of dough until it was flat. With how hard she was working, Twilight thought she was going to bust a gasket.

“I thought you usually did this stuff really fast so you had the rest of the day off?” Twilight shrugged in disappointment.

“I do! But today we need to work extra hard! We just got an order in to cater a huge party in Canterlot, and we need to prepare everything by tomorrow. I think I’ll be back here rolling dough for most of the day!” Pinkie exclaimed while working up a sweat. Despite how fast she was moving, she didn’t appear to be making a dent in whatever large amount of sweets she was making.

“*Sigh*… do you at least think you will be free later tonight so you can come see Tom and the others when they get here?” Twilight asked with a pleading expression. She wanted to make everything perfect for the human’s return to Ponyville, and one of the most important things was making sure that all of his friends were there to see him.

“Yeah, I think so. Sorry Twilight, I wish I could do more to help you out… maybe you could make the party with the others? I’m sure that if they help out, you should be able to put together something nice by tonight. I might even be able to sneak you a few cupcakes or something.” Pinkie suggested in a quiet whisper while glancing around suspiciously as if she were divulging a well-kept secret.

“That sounds great Pinkie… I’m sure that the others will want to help out.” Twilight said with a small smile. She would have to make compromises, but she was sure that she could pull off a decent party with her planning skills.

After waving goodbye to Pinkie and the Cakes, Twilight and Spike exited the store and walked back through the streets of Ponyville to their next stop, Carousel Boutique. The pair knew that Rarity would be pleased to hear that her human friend was coming back to town.

“Sorry, darling… I don’t think that I will be able to help you today.” Rarity shrugged in disappointment while running a piece of fabric through a sewing machine.

“What…? But… but… why?” Twilight asked in a dumbfounded tone.

“I’m afraid that I will be occupied until later tonight with a large order of dresses that came in yesterday. I may be able to come with you to the train station later, but I don’t think I can help you plan a party for Tom and the others.” Rarity explained with a troubled expression.

“What’s that about Tom and the others?” Sweetie Belle asked curiously from behind the group. Everyone looked over to see the young unicorn trotting up to them with an eager expression.

“Tom and Glimmer Shine’s team will be coming to Ponyville for a week. They should get here tonight if nothing happens.” Twilight explained.

Once she heard that the human and the team of monster hunters would be returning, Sweetie Belle gasped in excitement. “You mean Tom and the others are coming here tonight?! Yaaay!” The filly cheered while hopping up and down eagerly. “You should throw a party for them!” Sweetie Belle suggested with a wide grin.

“Well… we’re trying, Sweetie Belle, but nobody seems to be able to help us so far.” Twilight admitted while shrugging in annoyance.

“Maybe we could help you? I’m sure Scootaloo and Applebloom would love trying out a party themed cutie mark. Cutie Mark Crusaders, party planners!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed loudly. Even though her two fellow crusaders weren’t with her, her outburst was loud enough to make the others cringe uncomfortably.

“Umm… I think we’ll pass on that one Sweetie Belle. Maybe you and the girls can try that another day.” Twilight suggested while trying not to disappoint the young unicorn. Surprisingly, Sweetie Belle was un-phased thanks to her high level of excitement.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure we can pencil that in at the next meeting. For now, I need to go tell Scootaloo about this!” The filly exclaimed eagerly before rushing out of the door. Before anyone could even react, she was out of earshot.

Rarity sighed before returning her attention to the purple unicorn. She could tell that her friend was upset that she couldn’t help out. “Sorry again Twilight… I’ll be sure to come find you once I’m done with these dresses.” The white mare said with an apologetic expression.

“Don’t worry about it Rarity. I’m sure that the others can help me out… it might be harder with fewer people, but I think I can manage.” Twilight said with a hopeful tone. Rarity smiled slightly as the pair waved goodbye and exited the boutique with a bright outlook.

Now that two of her friends were unable to help her, Twilight was starting to get desperate. She had to hope that nobody else had important matters to attend to. Deciding to ask Applejack next, the unicorn made her way to Sweet Apple Acres.

As she walked through the apple orchards in search of her friend, she glanced over to her side and noticed the orange mare pulling a cart of apples along with her little sister Applebloom. Every so often, she would park the cart in front of a tree and buck it until more apples fell into the cart. Applebloom was carrying a spare bucket, most likely to be used when the cart got too full.

“Hey Applejack!” Twilight called out to the farm pony while trotting to catch up with her. Applejack turned to watch the unicorn walking up to her and smiled warmly.

“Howdy Twilight, howdy Spike.” Applejack greeted before returning to her task. “What brings you around these parts?” She asked curiously.

“I have some good news to share with you, and I was hoping you could help me out with something.” Twilight explained with a hopeful expression.

Applejack shrugged before glancing around her at the numerous trees full of apples. “Sorry Twilight, but I can’t do much of anything until I get these apples harvested. We’re a little behind on apple buckin’, so I need to catch up.” The orange mare explained with a tired expression. She already looked like she had done a full day’s worth of work, even though it was in the afternoon.

“That’s… inconvenient.” Twilight muttered sadly.

“Now, what was that good news you were talkin’ about?” Applejack asked curiously.

“Tom is coming to Ponyville for a few weeks, along with Glimmer Shine and the others. They should be here by tonight.” Spike chimed in eagerly. Applejack and Applebloom immediately perked up upon hearing the news.

“Really? Tom and the others are comin’ back to Ponyville?” Applebloom asked with a growing smile.

“That’s wonderful Twilight! You should go ask Pinkie to throw them a party!” Applejack suggested cheerfully.

Twilight shrugged in frustration at the orange mare’s idea. “I already tried that… she is just as busy as you are. I was hoping that you guys could help me out to put something together, but apparently, that isn’t going to work out.” The unicorn said in a defeated tone.

“Cheer up sugarcube… I’m sure that Tom could care less if you throw him a party or not. All he needs is to be with his friends… I might not be able to help you out right now, but I should be free to come see them later on tonight with you.” Applejack said in a reassuring manner.

“I want to come too!” Applebloom chimed in with a pleading tone.

“You can come, Applebloom, but first we need to get as many apples as we can off’a these trees.” Applejack replied to the young filly.

“I guess we’ll get out of your mane…” Twilight sighed before turning and walking away gloomily. Applejack and her sister felt bad for the unicorn. She had a bad habit of getting worked up over the smallest things.

“Twilight… don’t you think you’re taking this a little too hard? Maybe you should just accept that we won’t be able to throw a party tonight… I’m sure that we can just throw one another night. They are going to be here for a couple of weeks after all.” Spike said while taking note of the stressful tension in the purple mare’s body. She was practically clenching her teeth from how frustrated she was.

“No… we need to throw one tonight! I want this to be perfect… Tom deserves a good welcome back home after spending so long out there fighting monsters… and so do Glimmer Shine and the others.” Twilight stated in a passionate manner.

“Yeah… I agree, but we don’t have enough people to put together a party.” Spike reminded in a pessimistic tone.

“Well, hopefully we can change that. Rainbow Dash is the fastest flyer in Equestria… I think she can handle setting up a party in no time flat.” Twilight said with a confident expression.

“Maybe, if you can find her.” Spike said while glancing up into the sky.

“She should be around here somewhere…” Twilight said while squinting her eyes and looking around. Her cyan friend usually lounged around on a wayward cloud when she wasn’t hanging out with one of them, but the sky was seemingly crowded with places to look for her. In fact, there seemed to be a lot more clouds than usual in the sky. “Hey… wasn’t it supposed to be clear today?” The unicorn muttered curiously while observing the cloudy sky.

“Look! There she is!” Spike announced while pointing up in the sky.

Twilight looked up and noticed the cyan pegasus flying overhead. “Rainbow Dash!” She yelled to get her friend’s attention. Rainbow Dash looked down and smiled as she noticed the pair. Twilight and Spike watched as the pegasus did a loop in the air before landing in front of them.

“Hey, guys, what’s up?” The cyan mare asked cheerfully.

“Hey Rainbow… we need your help with a party we’re throwing for-” Twilight started to explain until she was interrupted by Rainbow Dash speaking up.

“Whoa, whoa… hold on a second Twilight. I would love to stay and chat, but I’m kind of busy here. There was a mishap over at the weather station, and now there is a load of clouds floating around where they shouldn’t be.” The pegasus explained while pointing up at the sky.

“What?! Are you serious?!” Twilight asked with a shocked expression.

“Yeah, sorry… I’m probably going to be clearing the skies all day. Now, what was it that you needed?” Rainbow Dash asked curiously.

Twilight could feel her eye twitching in frustration. Four of her best friends were all too busy to help her. Now all she had to work with was Fluttershy, and that was assuming she agreed and her schedule wasn’t as full as everyone else’s was.

“Ughh… well… Tom and the others are coming to town tonight. I was going to throw a party for them, but everyone is busy. You were kind of my last hope.” The unicorn shrugged in annoyance.

“Hold up… Tom and the others?! They’re coming here… tonight?!” Rainbow Dash asked with an excited smile.

“Yeah, they should be… either tonight or tomorrow… depending on if they catch the train.” Twilight explained.

“Holy cow! I am definitely going to see them first thing when they get here… I need to clear the sky now if I’m going to get done in time!” The cyan mare exclaimed before spreading her wings and flying into the air. “Good luck with that party thing! I’ll see you later!” Rainbow Dash waved in the air before zipping through a line of clouds and out of sight.

“Bye… I guess.” Twilight muttered while staring ahead at the spot where the pegasus was just a few moments ago.

“So much for your backup plan…” Spike said in a droll tone. Twilight growled in frustration before rushing off in the direction of Fluttershy’s cottage. The young dragon barely had time enough to hold on before the unicorn raced off.

“Whoa! Twilight, slow down!” Spike pleaded as he tried his best to remain on the purple pony’s back.

Twilight paid no heed to his instructions and instead sped up a little bit. “I am not about to just roll over and admit defeat! I said I would throw them a party, and by all that is good and sacred, I am going to throw them a party!” She exclaimed furiously.

“You can’t do everything by yourself! And Fluttershy is the only option you have left!” Spike said in an attempt at getting the unicorn to come down to earth. Suddenly, Twilight skidded to a halt. The young dragon yelped in surprise as he was almost sent flying forwards.

Twilight took in a deep breath before returning her calm disposition. Despite her clarity, Spike could still tell that she was on the verge of a psychotic break. Her eye would still twitch uncontrollably every once in a while, and she was almost a little too giddy with excitement. “I know that Spike… and you, Fluttershy, and I are all we need to throw a party. I can’t wait to see the look on everyone’s faces when I manage to throw the best party in Ponyville history with just three people!” The unicorn said with a determined tone in her voice.

“Well, time’s a wasting… we don’t have that long to put this… whatever it is together.” Spike said while looking up at the sun as it moved across the sky.

“Which is exactly why we need to get to Fluttershy as fast as equinely possible!” Twilight announced while preparing to speed off towards the yellow mare’s house once again.

“Wait a minute! I didn’t mean to- AHH!” Spike yelled as the unicorn took off like a speeding bullet. She was running so fast that she would have given Rainbow Dash a run for her money.

After a quick run, probably quicker than Spike would have liked, the pair arrived at Fluttershy’s cottage. Twilight looked around at the various animals scurrying to and fro around the property. She smiled slightly as her plan was coming to fruition. If the yellow mare could handle taking care of so many animals, then there was no reason to doubt that she could help put together a party. Or at least, the connection made sense to Twilight.

Taking a quick stroll up to the front door of the cottage, the unicorn softly knocked and waited for her friend to answer. After what seemed like an eternity of waiting that was probably mere seconds in real time, Fluttershy opened the door and smiled upon seeing her friends.

“Hi, guys… what are you doing here?” The pegasus asked curiously while glancing between the two. Twilight was oddly almost as cheerful looking as Pinkie Pie, while Spike was clinging to the unicorn’s back with a pale expression.

“Hey Fluttershy, you’ll never guess who’s coming to Ponyville for a week!” Twilight said in an excited tone.

“Umm… is it the Wonderbolts? I think I saw Rainbow Dash flying through here just recently with an excited look on her face.” Fluttershy said while looking up into the now clear sky. Apparently, the cyan mare had become motivated enough to double time her clearing of all the clouds.

Twilight somehow managed to smile wider, probably hurting her face in the process. “No, it’s even better! Tom and the others are coming here on a break! They should be here tonight!” She exclaimed cheerfully.

“Tom and the others…? That’s wonderful!” Fluttershy smiled warmly as she thought about her monster hunting friend. She had been through a lot with each of them. Tom had saved her and her best friends numerous times, even going so far as to bring Twilight back from the dead. And as much as she didn’t want to think about it, she felt a close bond with Glimmer Shine and his teammates as well ever since their time in Raven Feather’s mansion.

“Yeah, I know! See, me and Spike here were going to throw a party for them, but everyone else is preoccupied with other things. We were hoping that maybe you could-” Twilight started to ask the pegasus for help when she suddenly groaned uncomfortably and averted her eyes.

“Umm… Twilight, I would love to help you throw a party for them, but you see… umm… I’m kind of-” Fluttershy could barely even form her next sentence before Twilight exploded into her face.

“BUSY?! Oohoho no! You are not telling me that you are busy, are you?!” The unicorn demanded in a frantic tone while getting right into the yellow mare’s face and glaring at her. Fluttershy recoiled into her house a short ways, but Twilight followed her, all the while managing to never break distance or eye contact.

“Umm… w-well… I-I mean… I…” Fluttershy stammered nervously as she tried to think of something to say. She could barely stand the purple mare staring at her so intensely. If she didn’t know any better, the pegasus would have figured that her friend had somehow learned how to do the infamous stare.

“Just tell her you aren’t busy Fluttershy! Maybe she will go away!” Spike suggested in a frantic attempt at helping the yellow pony.

“But… I don’t want to lie! Please don’t be mad at me Twilight! I was just going to go get more food for the animals!” Fluttershy admitted before closing her eyes and cowering to the floor. She covered her head and waited for the unicorn to explode with anger.

Twilight’s eye twitched even more so than usual. She gritted her teeth and growled under her breath. Spike could feel the unicorn trembling with anger and frustration. The dragon turned away and covered his ears in preparation.

Suddenly, all of the anger left the unicorn. Twilight stopped shaking angrily and instead hung her head in defeat while letting out a drawn out sigh. “That’s fine…” She muttered in a calm yet saddened tone. Fluttershy and Spike looked up in surprise.

“What?!” Spike exclaimed in shock.

“It is…?” Fluttershy squeaked timidly.

“Yeah… I guess I can’t control everyone’s schedule. I’ll just have to admit that I can’t throw a party for them tonight…” The unicorn explained with a gloomy expression while turning around to leave.

“I’m really sorry I can’t help Twilight…” Fluttershy said in a sympathetic tone while watching her friend leave. “If it makes you feel better, I should be back in time to-” She was suddenly interrupted by the purple mare turning around and speaking.

“Don’t… just… don’t. I have heard that four times already today… just be sure to drop by the library later so we can go see them tonight.” Twilight shrugged before returning her attention forward and sadly walking out of the cottage. Fluttershy couldn’t help but feel bad for the unicorn. She must have been through a long day to feel this upset.

-Later that evening-

Not that many ponies took the late night train to Ponyville. By the time the last station rolled around, most of the passengers had departed. The train was so empty in fact that Glimmer Shine and his team had their train car all to themselves. Well, mostly all to themselves.

Glimmer Shine sat across from Glitterball, while Sunspot sat across from them on the opposite aisle. The suited pegasus was still a little annoyed at her teammates from last night, so she decided to sit near them, without actually sitting near them.

Sitting in the seat in front of Sunspot, was their human friend Tom. The slayer had apparently gotten done with his job around the same time the team of ponies did, so they managed to get on the train at the same time as him.

The group had much to talk about with the boy. After all, they hadn’t seen him in a long time. But even with the high interest the ponies had with the human, their conversation topics had run dry two stops ago.

Sunspot tapped her foot against the armrest at the end of her seat as she lay across it. She was laying on her forelegs while staring up at the ceiling in utter boredom. The steady sound of the train chugging along was the only thing breaking the silence in the car, and even that had become annoying a while back.

The orange mare glanced up to see what her teammates were doing on the opposite row. As she expected, they were still sitting quietly and doing the same thing they were doing the last time she checked. Glimmer Shine was leaning back into his seat with his eyes closed, while Glitterball was just looking around pensively.

“Ughh… I am so boooooored.” Sunspot droned in an exaggerated tone while thumping her head back against the cushion. She would give anything for some sort of stimulation. She almost missed the days when everywhere she went there would be a surprise attack from the hooded ponies waiting for her. Now, whenever she went on a boring train ride that lasted for hours, she really was just going on a boring train ride that lasted for hours.

“I don’t want to hear anything from you about boredom… I spent like an hour and a half last night trying to get a dead werewolf off of me in the cold silence of a forest… with a tree behind me. Do you know how comfortable the bark of a tree is? Let me answer that for you… not very.” Tom shrugged in annoyance at the pegasus’s statement.

“Well excuse me, nature boy… did it ever occur to you that we could have come to get you? You could have called us at any time.” Sunspot explained in a snarky tone.

“I…” Tom started to speak up in protest until he paused mid-sentence at the sudden realization. “Don’t talk to me right now Sunspot…” He muttered in an irritated tone while ignoring the orange mare’s smirk of victory.

“Wow Sunspot… you’re just getting on everyone’s nerves lately aren’t you?” Glimmer Shine spoke up from across the aisle while still keeping his eyes closed.

“Shut it Glimmer… we’ve been over this enough times.” Sunspot muttered while glaring in the general direction of the stallion.

Glimmer Shine smirked as he felt the pegasus’s icy stare beaming into the side of his head. “And I’m sure we’ll be over it a few more times… that is if the owners of the house will let us come back in a month after what happened to that window.” He said with a shrug.

“I can’t wait to finally get off this train and get away from you people for five seconds… Maybe the girls will let me have a conversation with them without bickering with each other.” Glitterball groaned uncomfortably.

“If it makes you feel better, I could have a conversation with you without bickering.” Tom offered in a helpful tone.

“I appreciate the offer, Tom… but I think I just need a break from these two.” Glitterball smirked slightly at the human before returning her gaze out of the nearby window. Although she usually didn’t get involved in her teammates’ arguing, the unicorn did get tired of listening to it. At the end of the day, she just wanted the two to settle on who was giving orders so she could follow them and get the job done.

“Hey… we’re not all that bad.” Sunspot said in a surprised tone. “Well… I don’t know about Glimmer Shine over there, but I’m not all that bad. I try to make our kerfuffles as small and civilized as possible, but it’s kind of hard… I mean just look at what I have to work with.” She stated with a playful smirk while glancing over to Glimmer Shine.

Glimmer Shine stared back at her with an expression of disbelief plastered on his face. “I’m not even going to dignify that with a response.” He muttered in annoyance.

“Technically you just did.” Sunspot replied in a smart-alecky tone.

“Oh boy…” Tom and Glitterball groaned in unison while shaking their heads uncomfortably. They only hoped that they would arrive in Ponyville as soon as possible.

Twilight and the others waited patiently at the train station for their friends to arrive. All six element bearers, along with Spike and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were scattered around the various benches of the relatively empty station. Only a few worker ponies manning the station were present, so the group only had each other to occupy themselves with.

“I can’t believe that Tom is going to be back here for a few weeks.” Rarity stated in an amazed tone.

“Yeah, it seems like just yesterday that we met him.” Rainbow Dash added while thinking back to the day where everything in her life got turned upside down. It had only been a simple trip to Zecora’s hut when they departed for the Everfree Forest that day, but it turned out to be the beginning of a very harrowing and dangerous journey.

“I just wish that he didn’t have to travel around and fight monsters… he barely even knows his way around Ponyville, so I can only imagine how lost he must feel in the rest of Equestria.” Fluttershy said in a worried tone.

“Someone has to fight all of the monsters that have been poppin’ up Fluttershy… besides, he volunteered for the job. Right, Twilight?” Applejack asked for confirmation while glancing over to the purple unicorn.

Twilight’s mind seemed to be elsewhere, but she looked up upon hearing her name called. “Well… he certainly agreed to go along, but it was the princess’s idea to ask him.” The unicorn explained while staring down the train tracks in anticipation. She wondered how much better this welcome party would have been if it were an actual party.

“At least she was nice enough to give them some time off. Oooh, we’re going to have so much fun!” Pinkie Pie giggled in anticipation of all of the activities she had planned to make the group’s small vacation even better.

Suddenly, the ponies could hear the far off rumble of a distant train. They looked down the tracks and spotted the passenger train they had been waiting for all night. The anticipation was rising as the group watched the train pull into the station.

After a short wait, the ponies saw movement at one of the doors to the train. The door popped open, and Glimmer Shine and his two teammates walked out, closely followed by Tom. The four were surprised to see everyone walking up to them and surrounding them.

“Hey, guys!” Sunspot exclaimed cheerfully while glancing around at the small crowd of friendly faces. Glimmer Shine, Glitterball, and Tom quickly joined the pegasus in greeting their friends.

Twilight and the others were surprised to be suddenly pulled into a group hug by Pinkie Pie. The pink mare was so eager to greet the four that she decided to just hug all of them at once. After a few moments, the group settled down and gave the others some room to breathe.

“Wow, I didn’t expect to see all of you here this late.” Tom said while glancing up at the night sky. Upon mention of how late it was, Spike yawned, causing several of the others to yawn in response.

“I guess it is a bit late… but we all wanted to see you guys when you got here.” Twilight stated with a warm smile.

“Sorry guys, but we have had a long day. Maybe we could get together tomorrow and do something?” Glimmer Shine suggested tiredly.

“Yeah… I think I’m going to fall asleep standing up at this rate.” Sunspot added while stretching her limbs.

“Aww…” Scootaloo and her two fellow crusaders whined in disappointment. “But we just got here!” The orange filly protested.

“Now, now girls… It is way past your bedtimes… as a matter of fact, it is way past my bedtime as well.” Rarity admitted with a slight yawn.

“I agree… we should all be gettin’ home. Besides, Tom and the others need a good night’s sleep after their long trip to get here.” Applejack added while looking to the three fillies sympathetically.

“Ok…” The fillies said in reluctant acceptance.

“Well, it was nice seeing you guys. See you all later.” Glimmer Shine said while waving to the group. Glitterball and Sunspot waved as well before following the stallion.

Everyone walked back through town and went their separate ways. Before long, Twilight only had Spike and Tom to keep her company. It felt good to be walking home with her human friend again. The unicorn missed having him around.

After a few minutes, the three found themselves back at the library. Tom looked at the building and smirked slightly before following the purple mare inside.

Twilight smiled while turning to the human. “Welcome home, Tom.”

“Feels good to be back.” Tom stated while stretching his arms.

Taking a quick glance behind her, Twilight realized that Spike had fallen asleep on her back. She smiled softly before slowly making her way up the stairs to the bedroom. “We have the guest bed made up already. I think I’m going to just head to sleep.” She explained to the human in a tired tone.

“Yeah… I think I will too. We can figure out something to do tomorrow.” Tom replied.

With a nod of agreement, Twilight yawned before opening the bedroom door and stepping inside. She levitated Spike into his bed and pulled the covers over his body. Once the dragon was nestled away in his bed, the unicorn walked up the steps to the loft and quickly hopped in her own bed. Tom climbed into the bed set up in the corner of the room and immediately settled in. The pair scarcely had time to say goodnight before they drifted off to sleep.

Chapter 4: The Job Offer of a Lifetime

As the morning sun shone down onto her face, Twilight shifted in her sleep. Finally, her body gave up on remaining dormant and she opened her eyes. After a few moments of adjusting her eyes and getting the sleepy feeling out of her system, the unicorn sat up and stretched before looking around the room.

As expected, Spike was still sleeping peacefully in his bed down below. However, the bed off in the corner of the room was empty. Scratching her head for a moment, the purple mare figured that the human must have already gotten up.

Deciding to let Spike sleep a little longer, Twilight carefully got out of bed and walked down the steps to the bedroom door. After quietly exiting the room, the unicorn walked down the stairs to the main room of the library. She immediately noticed Tom sitting at a table with a book in his hands.

“Wow… you’re up early.” Twilight said in an amazed tone.

“I usually am.” Tom replied while glancing over to the purple mare and setting the book down.

“Oh yeah, I forgot that you don’t need as much sleep as the rest of us.” Twilight nodded as she remembered the odd sleeping patterns the human had. She then turned her attention to the book that the boy was reading. “What are you reading there?” She leaned in closer with a curious expression.

“Oh, this?” Tom said while picking the book up and showing it to the unicorn. “This is an old classic I used to read when I was a kid. I saw it in your pile of books over there, so I picked it up. Unless you have a time machine lying around somewhere, I assume this is from the mansion?” He asked while looking over to the pile of books on a nearby table. The pile was so large that there were a few stacks placed on the floor.

“Yeah… the princess let me catalog all of the books from the mansion. I’m sending them to the palace as I finish them.” Twilight explained while chuckling nervously at the absurdly large pile of books.

“Good lord Twilight… I hope you don’t intend on reading all of them. There were a lot of books in that library.” Tom said while thinking back to his brief time in the mansion.

“Well, I probably shouldn’t say all of them. As much as Spike and the others think I’ve been reading too much, I did send most of the collection to the palace right away. Anything I couldn’t fit on that table had to go… I can’t exactly store hundreds of books in this place now can I?” Twilight said while looking around at the shelves that held the normal books of the library. Most of the shelves were already full, so they couldn’t hold the large collection of human books from the mansion.

“Anything that couldn’t fit on that table eh?” Tom raised an eyebrow while looking at the stacks that were placed on the ground next to the table. “I guess you were a bit lenient with that definition.” He chuckled slightly.

Twilight chuckled nervously and looked down at the floor with an awkward expression. She clearly remembered overshooting the limits of the table and still picking more books to keep.

As they heard the sound of the bedroom door opening upstairs, the two looked up to see Spike descending the stairs slowly. The young dragon yawned and scratched his chin as he sleepily continued on his way. Once he got to the bottom step, he finally turned and addressed the pair in the main room.

“Hey, guys… morning.” Spike mumbled in a drowsy tone. He could barely open his eyes any more than half way.

“Morning Spike.” Twilight said with a passing smile while looking at the sleepy dragon. She always found it amusing to watch her assistant trying to keep himself steady and walk around after just waking up.

“So… what are we doing today?” Spike asked curiously while turning his attention to the pair.

Twilight paused for a moment and hummed curiously as she thought about what she could do that day. There weren’t any important matters to attend to, so she pretty much had free reign with what she wanted to do. “Hmm… I’m not sure.” She stated while deep in thought. “I guess we could go do something with the others.” She finally suggested the best thing she could come up with. Now that the unicorn actually had the freedom of choice, she wasn’t sure what to do.

“That sounds good to me… anything that doesn’t involve fighting monsters is cool with me.” Tom said with a relieved smile.

A sudden knock at the door shifted the group’s attention forward to the door. Twilight glanced at her two friends curiously. She wasn’t expecting anybody, and she had no idea who would want to see her this early in the day.

“Who could that be?” The purple mare said pensively while walking up to the door. She grabbed the handle and pulled the door open to greet her new visitor.

Standing outside, was a familiar blue alicorn. Princess Luna smiled at the unicorn as she opened the door. Twilight was surprised to see the princess of the night in Ponyville. She wondered what she could have been doing.

“Princess Luna…? What are you doing here?” Twilight asked curiously.

“Hello, Twilight. My sister and I had something we wanted to talk to all of you about, so I came here to tell you in person.” Luna explained while glancing behind her to a small tote bag she had on her back.

“Oh, ok then. Please, come inside.” Twilight said while opening the door and beckoning the princess inside. Princess Luna followed the unicorn into the library and closed the door behind her. Once Spike and Tom saw who the strange visitor was, they smiled and walked up to the alicorn to greet her along with the purple mare.

“Hello, Princess.” Spike said cheerfully.

“Hello Spike, hello Tom.” Luna said while smiling at the two. She watched as Twilight walked up to her two friends and turned to see what she had to say with an intrigued expression.

“So, what did you have to talk to us about?” The unicorn asked curiously.

“Well… my sister and I have a job for Tom and the others to do.” The blue alicorn explained with a hidden smile. Twilight and Spike glanced over to the human sadly. The disappointment on their faces was clear as day.

“A job…?” Twilight asked while trying to hide her sadness. Tom didn’t seem to be any more pleased by the news.

“Don’t worry… I think that you will like this one.” Luna said with a brief smile while using her horn to open the bag on her back. The princess lifted a small piece of paper up and levitated it over to the purple mare.

Twilight used her own magic to grab the paper and leveled it to her eyes. The paper appeared to be a flyer advertising some sort of water park and resort. As she read the name of the park, she was surprised to see that she recognized it.

“Fun Land…? Hey, wait a minute… I think I’ve been there before.” The unicorn stated in a surprised tone.

“Really? Let me see that.” Spike said while reaching up and taking the flyer out of the purple mare’s grasp. He read over the flyer curiously to ascertain the general idea of the park. “Hmm… says here it’s a water park and resort… Fun Land huh? That’s an odd name for a water park.” The dragon stated with an intrigued tone as he read off the large text at the bottom of the flyer.

“Yeah… I used to go there when I was a filly. It used to be a regular theme park a long time ago if I remember correctly…” Twilight muttered while looking down in thought.

“That is right. The park closed down many years ago after an earthquake destroyed much of the property. It reopened years later as a smaller water-themed resort, which is probably where you know it from.” Luna explained while glancing to the unicorn.

“What does all of this have to do with a job?” Tom asked curiously. Twilight and Spike joined the human in looking at the blue alicorn with puzzled expressions. They all wanted to know where the princess was going with this.

“Well… the park closed down a second time a while back. It has remained closed, up until recently. The daughter of the previous owner is trying to start the family business back up, but there have been some complications to opening the park back up.” Luna explained while looking between the three curious listeners.

“Complications…?” Spike asked curiously.

“Let me guess… complications of the supernatural variety.” Tom said with a confident smirk. He had a feeling that the alicorn wouldn’t just send him to take care of a run of the mill problem.

“Precisely… however, this is where it gets interesting. The park has been experiencing some low-level paranormal events… things like cold spots, disembodied whispers, feelings of being watched, and other such things.” Luna continued.

“Hmm… sounds like a simple cut and dry ghost haunting. That shouldn’t take much effort to take care of.” Tom stated with an intrigued tone.

“That is exactly what we thought. We were going to just let Glimmer Shine and the others take care of it in a few weeks, but then the owner made an offer that we thought you would like.” The princess said with a warm smile. “The park doesn’t have very much money, and they need all the resources they can get to work on the park before it opens, so they can’t pay you in bits. However, they have agreed to give you and anyone you decide to bring along an all-expenses-paid stay at the resort for one week if you take care of their problem.” She explained in an excited tone. The alicorn smirked as she saw Twilight gasp in surprise and look around at her two friends eagerly.

“So you’re saying that we could go stay a week at a water park, and we can bring the others?” Twilight asked to clarify what she just heard. Luna smiled and nodded in response, eliciting the unicorn’s already bright smile to grow tenfold.

“Woohoo! That sounds amazing!” Spike cheered happily while thinking of all the fun he could have at a water park with his friends.

“Judging from your reactions, I would assume that you’re ok with this, but I feel like I need to ask Tom to clarify if he wants to do this. I know how much you didn’t want to be doing any more jobs for a while… so how about it?” Luna asked in a playful manner while glancing over to the human.

“You know what? I think I can make an exception this one time. Sign us up!” Tom replied eagerly.

“Splendid! I will arrange for your transportation. You should go ask the others if they want to go with you. Come find me when you’re all ready to go.” Luna said before turning and walking to the door. She turned and waved to the three before opening the door and heading outside.

Now that the princess had left, the trio could let out their excitement properly. Twilight and Spike cheered happily, while Tom simply smiled in excitement.

“We should go tell the others about this right away!” Twilight exclaimed eagerly.

“You guys can go do that. I’m gonna go pack!” Spike stated with equal eagerness before scampering upstairs. Twilight and Tom glanced at the dragon rushing away before chuckling slightly and looking to each other.

“Well… I guess we are going to do something with the others after all.” Tom stated lightheartedly while walking to the door with the unicorn. Twilight smirked and nodded before opening the door and stepping outside.

Without delay, the pair went around town to find their friends and tell them about the momentous news. Stopping by Sweet Apple Acres first, Twilight and her human companion walked through the apple orchards in search of their orange friend. Finding no sign of the cow pony out in the orchards, the pair decided to check by the farm house. Sure enough, as they got closer they could see Applejack and her brother talking over by the barn.

Once they noticed the pair approaching them, Applejack and Big Mac turned and smiled at their visitors. The red stallion seemed especially happy to see the human walking alongside Twilight. He hadn’t seen Tom ever since he left Ponyville several months ago.

“Hey, guys.” Twilight greeted as she walked up to the siblings.

“Howdy Twilight. What are you two doing here so early?” Applejack asked curiously while observing the pair.

“We just got a visit from Princess Luna, and she has some great news for us.” Twilight replied eagerly.

Applejack could tell that the unicorn was enjoying leading her on a little more than she should have. “Really? Well, don’t just clam up on us now, tell me what the news is!” The orange mare replied anxiously.

“Well, you see-“ Twilight started another vague explanation until she was interrupted by Tom speaking up in her place.

“The princess offered us to come stay at a water park and resort for a week if we deal with a small paranormal problem they have while we’re there. She said that we could bring you guys along… if you want to go that is.” The human explained, much to the dismay of the unicorn beside him. Twilight pouted slightly in disappointment at the boy ruining her fun.

“That sounds great!” Applejack exclaimed excitedly. Suddenly, her excitement shifted to disappointment as she frowned and looked at the ground sadly. “Well… that would be great and all, but I’m afraid I can’t go with you guys.” The orange mare shrugged uncomfortably, much to the surprise of Twilight and Tom.

“What?! But… why not?” The unicorn asked in a disappointed tone.

“I would love to go… don’t get me wrong, but there is so much work to do around here.” Applejack explained sadly while motioning around her. “We still need to harvest apples, we need to fix a leak in the roof, and we need t-” The orange mare started listing off all of the chores she had to do around the farm until she was nudged by Big Mac.

“*Ahem*” The stallion cleared his throat while looking at his sister sternly.

Applejack was confused as to why he interrupted her. “What’s wrong Big Mac?” The orange mare asked curiously.

“You’ve been working yourself ragged around here Applejack. You need to take a break, and when opportunity comes a knockin’, you should answer it.” Big Mac explained while glancing back to the unicorn and the human.

Applejack shrugged as she felt the strain of fatigue on her body. She had been working extra hard to get things done around the farm, but she didn’t want to shirk her duties. Still, it was hard to argue her point with bloodshot eyes and strained muscles. “But… what about all of the chores? The orange mare asked curiously. Even if she did need a break, there were things that still needed to get done around the farm.

“I think I can handle things around here myself for one week while you and Applebloom have some fun.” Big Mac offered with a small smirk.

“Really? Are you sure we shouldn’t bring you and granny along?” Applejack asked while glancing towards the house.

“I don’t mind… And do you really think Granny Smith is the type to go to a water park?” Big Mac replied knowingly.

Applejack glanced over to Twilight and Tom as she thought about the matter further. The sight of her friends smiling back at her only made her feel happier and more willing to go with them. She felt a warm smile building on her face as she considered the prospect of spending a week with her friends at a water resort.

“Are you sure?” The orange mare asked courteously while glancing to her brother again.

“Eeyup.” Big Mac replied stoically.

Applejack turned to the unicorn and the human again and smiled in excitement. “Well, then it’s settled!” She cheered happily. Twilight and Tom shared in the farm pony’s excitement, although the human couldn’t match the enthusiasm and energy of the two mares as they celebrated. “I’m gonna go tell Applebloom. She’s up in the clubhouse with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. You want to come with me?” Applejack asked while motioning with her head for the pair to follow her.

“Sure, we can ask Scootaloo if she wants to go with us… and I’m sure Sweetie Belle wants to come too, but that’s Rarity’s decision to make.” Twilight stated while thinking back to how busy the white unicorn was yesterday. She hoped that she would be able to come along.

“I’m sure she will agree to come with us… if not, we can just tie her down and carry her with us.” Applejack suggested with a slight smirk. Twilight wasn’t entirely sure if the orange mare was joking or not.

Without any further delay, Twilight and Tom followed the farm pony around to the back of the house. The group kept walking for a while until they spotted the Cutie Mark Crusaders’ clubhouse up ahead. The three fillies used a small treehouse as their base of operations. It let them play and hypothesize their next attempt at getting their cutie marks, while also keeping them far enough away from the house to not disturb the Apple family.

As they drew closer to the clubhouse, the group could hear the three fillies chatting and playing from above. It was a few weeks into their summer vacation, so they usually spent their downtime together at the clubhouse.

“I don’t know Scootaloo… didn’t we already try that?” The muffled voice of Sweetie Belle could be heard as the trio gathered underneath the clubhouse.

“Yeah, I guess we did… oh! Maybe we could try pogo sticks!” Scootaloo suggested eagerly.

“We tried that last week…” Applebloom shrugged in a bored tone.

“Girls, could you come down here for a minute?” Applejack spoke up.

“Ok, we’re coming!” The three fillies replied in unison. The group waited anxiously while watching the ladder of the treehouse for any signs of movement.

Soon enough, Scootaloo started climbing down the ladder, followed by her two friends. Once the fillies got on solid ground and gathered in a line, they brightened up once they noticed Twilight and Tom standing beside Applejack.

“Hey, guys! Did you come to see us?” Applebloom asked curiously while smiling warmly at the human.

“Sort of… we’ve actually got something to tell you.” Tom said while glancing to the orange mare.

“Really? What is it?!” Scootaloo chimed in excitedly.

“Twilight and the others are headin’ to a water park for a week, and they’ve asked us to come with them. Big Mac volunteered to handle things around here, so we’re free to go.” Applejack explained with a wide smile while glancing to Applebloom.

“*Gasp* that sounds amazing!” The yellow filly cheered in excitement.

“Ooh, can I go too?” Scootaloo asked in a pleading tone.

“You certainly can Scootaloo.” Twilight said with a slight smile as she watched the young pegasus explode with excitement.

“Yes!” Scootaloo cheered happily while bouncing up and down.

“What about me? Can I come too?” Sweetie Belle asked with a hopeful expression.

“We will have to ask Rarity if she wants to come, but as long as she is alright with it, you all can come with us.” Twilight explained.

“Ooo! I need to go ask my sister! I think she is over by Sugar Cube Corner.” Sweetie Belle said while preparing to dart off eagerly.

“Don’t worry Sweetie Belle. We’ll go ask her for you. We’re heading down that way anyway to see if Pinkie Pie wants to come.” Twilight said while stepping in front of the young unicorn before she rushed off.

“You mean to tell her about it so she can come… I may have only known her for a few months, but since when has Pinkie Pie ever turned down something as potentially fun as a water park?” Tom asked with a slight chuckle. Twilight and the others giggled at the thought of the pink mare’s reaction when she found out.

“Well, we’ll see you later Twilight. We’re going to get ready to go, so we’ll come to the library later on.” Applejack waved to the pair as she gathered that it was time for them to leave.

“Alright, bye everyone!” Twilight waved back while turning to walk away. Tom waved to the four before following the unicorn as she walked back towards the front of the farm.

A short walk through town later, the pair arrived at Sugar Cube Corner. As expected, there were ponies going in and out of the store in irregular intervals. After all, it was early in the morning, and this was the best place to get sweets and baked goods in Ponyville, and arguably the surrounding area.

Twilight opened the door and walked inside, closely followed by Tom. As she looked around the interior of the store, the unicorn saw a couple of ponies walking up to the counter where Mr. and Mrs. Cake were taking their orders and dispensing them.

Off to the side of the room, Pinkie Pie was sitting down at a table along with Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Sunspot. The group was chatting happily while enjoying a few cupcakes. They seemed to be catching up with the orange pegasus and asking her about what she had been up to with Glimmer Shine and Glitterball.

“Hey guys, come on over and take a seat!” Pinkie Pie suggested while waving the pair over. Twilight and Tom nodded before walking over to the group and sitting in two empty chairs.

“So what are you two doing over here?” Sunspot asked curiously. Twilight was surprised to see the pegasus without her iconic suit. Usually, she wore her Wonderbolts outfit everywhere she went. Then again, the unicorn hadn’t really seen the orange mare too often when she wasn’t on the job.

Taking a quick glance downwards, Twilight noticed a small holster strapped to Sunspot’s back leg. The holster held a single vial with blue liquid inside of it. Even when they weren’t on the job, Glimmer Shine and his team always kept their strobes with them just in case. An understandable practice, Twilight thought.

“We have something important to talk to all of you about.” Twilight said while looking to Tom knowingly.

“Really? Well, we’re all ears.” Rainbow Dash said in an intrigued tone while leaning forward and resting her forelegs on the table.

Tom reached into his pocket and pulled out the rolled up flyer. He placed it on the table and scooted it forward for the group to examine.

“Fun Land…?” Rarity read off the flyer in a curious manner.

“Hey, I know that place! I used to trade party planning tips with the owner Berry Swirl.” Pinkie Pie stated while examining the flyer closer.

“What’s with the flyer Twilight? You don’t seem like the kind of pony to go to theme parks.” Rainbow Dash stated curiously while eying the purple unicorn and waiting for her to divulge more information.

“Princess Luna just offered Tom and the others a small job at Fun Land. In exchange for helping them out with their problem, they will let us stay there for a whole week!” Twilight explained excitedly. The others seemed eager to hear about the offer.

“A whole week at a water resort for free?! That is so cool!” Rainbow Dash said happily while looking around at the others for their opinion. Sunspot was just as excited, Pinkie Pie was just as giddy and energetic as usual, and Rarity and Fluttershy seemed open to the idea.

“And they will just let you bring all of us?” Fluttershy asked curiously.

“Yep… they don’t have the money to pay us, so they are giving us a free all-expenses-paid stay instead.” Tom stated with a pleased smirk.

“What job did they have for us? If I’m going to be heading to a water park on a mission, I would at least like to know what I’m getting into.” Sunspot said with a slight tone of paranoia.

“It didn’t sound like anything too bad. Just some minor ghost activity… shouldn’t take more than a day to clear out, and then we have the rest of the week to ourselves… literally. The park is opening up again sometime in a few months, so we will be the only ones there.” Tom explained.

“Wow! I’ve never had a water park all to myself for a week!” Pinkie Pie stated with an amazed expression.

“So how about it girls? Will you come with us?” Twilight asked while glancing around at her friends.

“Well… I would have to find someone to watch Angel and the other animals while I’m gone, but that shouldn’t be too much of a problem. I would love to go.” Fluttershy said with a cheerful smile.

“Heck yes, I want to go! This is like the best summer getaway I’ll ever have!” Rainbow Dash stated eagerly.

“Hmm… I suppose it couldn’t hurt… ooh, I wonder if they have a spa there!” Rarity perked up at the thought of having access to a free spa for a week. Even if they didn’t have a spa, the thought of relaxing poolside with her friends was enough for the white mare.

“I would love to go! But first I need to go ask Mr. and Mrs. Cake if it will be ok for me to take the week off.” Pinkie Pie said while glancing over to the couple manning the counter.

“What about you Sunspot? Are you and the others coming with us?” Rainbow Dash asked curiously while shifting her attention to the orange pegasus. Sunspot thought about the matter for a moment before speaking up.

“Well, I guess we might as well make the most of our downtime. I’ll go ask Glimmer Shine and Glitterball if they want to come, but I’m pretty sure the answer will be a resounding yes.” Sunspot stated confidently.

“Alright, well I’ll see you guys tonight.” Twilight said while getting up from her chair.

“Hold on Twilight. Why don’t you guys stay for a while and celebrate with us! I’ll go get you some cupcakes.” Pinkie Pie suggested while getting up and rushing to the kitchen. One look at the rest of her friends told the purple mare that they didn’t want her to leave just yet.

“Ok… I guess we can stay for a while longer.” Twilight said with a slight chuckle while settling back into her seat. Everyone smiled eagerly as they prepared to celebrate their big plans.

Throughout the course of the day, Twilight and her friends all prepared for their vacation. After getting permission to leave work for a week, Pinkie Pie proceeded to pack all of the things she would need, which mostly consisted of anything she thought would be fun to play with at a water resort. Fluttershy quickly found someone to take care of her animals so she could spend the rest of the day packing and spending time with Angel before her big trip. Rarity and Applejack had their hooves full dealing with their younger siblings’ concentrated energy and excitement while also trying to pack. Rainbow Dash decided to take a nap after she got done packing. After all, she had a big week of excitement and fun ahead of her, and she needed the energy. Sunspot had managed to convince her two teammates to come along, though it was hard to turn down an offer to spend a week at a water park for free.

Once the sun was setting, everyone made their way to the library as they had agreed. The ponies were greeted by Twilight, Tom, Spike, and Princess Luna standing outside waiting for them. Twilight and Tom had bags on their backs and around their shoulders respectively. Suspiciously, Spike wasn’t carrying anything, even though Tom had an extra bag. Perhaps the dragon had convinced the human to be his pack mule for a while.

“Is everyone ready?” Princess Luna asked while looking out at the sizable gathering of ponies.

“I would say so.” Rainbow Dash stated eagerly. Even at the end of the day, the excitement in the air was too great for the cyan mare to be bored.

“Splendid. Now then, if everyone will please follow us to the train station, I have arranged for a first class car for all of you.” The blue alicorn explained with a pleased smile as she watched the shocked and excited reactions from everyone in the crowd.

“A first class car?! Sweet!” Rainbow Dash could barely contain her excitement as she looked around at her friends in disbelief. She contemplated pinching herself to make sure she wasn’t still napping.

“I would say that you all deserve a little extra luxury for your vacation. The train will take you straight through to where you need to go.” Luna said with an amused chuckle at the excited pegasus.

After looking back to Twilight to make sure that she was ready, the princess walked forward and started on her way to the train station. Everyone quickly followed the blue alicorn through town, all the while chatting with each other about all of the things they would be doing in the following week.

By the time they arrived at the station, it was already night. There was a single train on the tracks, doubtlessly the one that the group would be departing on shortly. Once they gathered in front of the train, Luna handed each of them a ticket and told them where their train car was located.

“You all be sure to enjoy yourselves.” Luna said as she watched the group preparing to enter the train.

“Oh, I’m sure we will.” Twilight said while looking around at her friends. It was nothing but bright smiles and excited expressions as far as the eye could see.

“Thank you so much for doing this for us Princess… and please, thank Celestia for us when you get back to Canterlot.” The purple mare said with a grateful tone.

Luna smiled warmly at the unicorn while nodding. “I’ll be sure to let her know… now go on. You should probably get going now… the train will be leaving soon.” The alicorn said while glancing up at the clock on the main building of the station. Twilight nodded and turned to her group. Everyone started filing into the train and finding their way forward to their car.

As she was about to enter the train, Twilight turned and waved to the princess. Luna waved in return as she watched the unicorn walk forward to join her friends. She felt good knowing that the ponies were getting the break they deserved.

Chapter 5: Departure

Twilight gradually made her way through the many cars of the train on her way to join her friends. She looked around each car as she passed them, but many of them were empty. Other than her and her friends, there might have been one or two other passengers total on the train. It wasn’t surprising considering how late it was.

Looking ahead, the unicorn could see Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy walking one car ahead of her through the window in the door. The first class cabin must have been near the front of the train for them to be still walking through cars.

Finally, Twilight could see the two pegasi walking into a car with the rest of her friends. She quickly made her way through the car she was in so she could catch up. As the purple mare opened up the last door and stepped into the car, she was thoroughly impressed.

Due to the small amount of space available on the train, even first class had its limitations with what it could have, but it was fairly comfortable looking. Instead of rows of uncomfortable looking seats lining the aisle, there were large and heavily cushioned seats set aside in various sections. There was more distance between each set of seats, but there were still enough rows to offer the large group a choice of where they sat. A few tables lined with drinks and small snacks were placed in the empty space between seats.

Most of the others had already found their seats, but a few were still stowing their luggage in the overhead area and settling in. With a few exceptions, most of the group had an entire seat to themselves and sat across from each other. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were all sharing a single seat across from a reluctant Rarity. The white unicorn seemed to have her hooves full with attempting to settle the three fillies down.

“Wow… this looks incredible.” Twilight said while admiring her surroundings.

“Are you kidding? This is amazing!” Rainbow Dash stated while eagerly plopping her entire body on a seat and lying back on the fluffy cushions.

“Considering I was expecting a dismal and uncomfortable train ride… this is a pleasant alternative.” Rarity said in agreement with the pegasus. Even if she did have three rambunctious fillies across from her, she was still enjoying the level of comfort and luxury of her surroundings.

Twilight walked over to the section across the aisle from Rarity and the three crusaders. Spike had already sat down across from Tom and was waiting eagerly for the unicorn to join him. The purple mare sat down next to the dragon and levitated her suitcase up to join the others.

Deciding to look at the flyer for the park again, the unicorn pulled it out of a small compartment on her suitcase before gently lifting it downwards and grabbing it with her hooves. She stared at the picture on the flyer while thinking back to her previous experience with the park.

Although Twilight had only visited the park once, she was curious about its history. When she visited it as a filly, the resort was a water park, but it didn’t start out that way. She remembered tales of the park in its glory days back when it was a full blown amusement park. Ponies would come from miles around to try the rides and to see the shows that the mascots would put on for them, but those days wouldn’t last forever. Ever since most of the park was destroyed by an earthquake, it had been all bad luck and misery for the owners. After the park closed down a second time, Twilight never thought she would hear about it again, but apparently, she was wrong.

“So Twilight… where is this park anyway?” Applejack asked while peering over the back of her seat to face the unicorn. Twilight turned around and saw the orange mare sitting one section behind her with Pinkie Pie across from her.

“Hmm…” The unicorn hummed curiously while looking down at the flyer. Truth be told, she hadn’t even bothered to look at where the park was reopening at.

“Looks like it’s in Trottingham… hey, isn’t that where it used to be?” Twilight asked curiously to no one in particular while thinking back to her childhood memories of the place.

“Yeah, I think that the owner must be trying to restore the place to how she remembers it as a kid. What better way to do that than to use the original location?” Pinkie Pie chimed in with her knowledge of the suspect.

“You said you were friends with the owner right, Pinkie? What’s she like?” Rainbow Dash asked curiously while glancing over to the pink mare.

“Oh… Berry? She’s really nice. We would always try to find the best way to throw a party together. She always dreamed of taking over the park when her dad retired… I guess she finally realized her goal!” Pinkie explained with a cheerful smile for her old friend’s success.

“So… what’s this park like anyway? I’ve never even heard of it.” Scootaloo asked curiously while glancing at the flyer Twilight was holding with an intrigued expression.

“Well, here you go… I guess the best way to describe the park is with this.” Twilight said while levitating the flyer over to the three fillies. Scootaloo grabbed the piece of paper and read it while her two friends looked over her shoulder.

“Hey… what’s up with this rabbit thing here?” Sweetie Belle asked while turning the paper around and pointing out the anomaly to her sister. Rarity glanced to where the filly was pointing, only to raise her eyebrows in surprise.

The flyer itself was a picture of some of the more prominent features of the park. There was a resort building with some pools and slides in front of it, with Fun Land printed across it at the bottom. Standing in front of the resort building, however, there were three cartoonish looking animals that were waving at the viewer.

The animals looked very robotic in nature. Each of them had joints and other individual segments that connected to each other to make up the bulk of their body. All of the animals had their jaws open in big goofy grins, revealing full sets of blocky looking teeth and the painted insides of their heads. All of the animals also had dimples on their cheeks and overly exaggerated cutesy eyes and eyelashes. They all had a shiny plastic appearance to them, almost resembling children’s toys.

The one that Sweetie Belle was pointing out was a bipedal blue bunny with green eyes, a red bowtie, and segmented ears. He stood at about Tom’s height from the look of the picture. Next to him, there was a bear that stood on all fours and was smaller because of it. The bear had a black top hat on with red trim, as well as a small microphone clutched in his front paw on the ground. This animal seemed to be modeled more closely to pony physiology due to how it stood on four legs, and how its body was shaped. The last animal was another bipedal one around Tom’s height. This one was what appeared to be a female yellow chicken in a white tank top and red swimming trunks. The tank top had the words “let’s swim!” printed across it, along with a pattern of small life savers of various colors printed all around it. The chicken appeared to be holding a red life saver under her arm as well.

“Hmm… well, Sweetie Belle… those are… umm.” Rarity tried to come up with an explanation as to the odd animals, even though she was failing.

By this time, many of the others had gotten up and walked over to the white unicorn’s section to view the flyer. They looked at the depiction of the park with amazement, even though they themselves were also clueless about the odd animals.

“Well? What are they?” Sweetie Belle asked again.

“They look so weird…” Applebloom stated curiously while staring at the flyer.

“That’s easy… those are the park’s animatronic entertainers.” Twilight spoke up to shed light on the strange topic.

“Ani-ma… what? Scootaloo asked curiously while trying to wrap her head around the odd word.

“Animatronic… you know, like a robot.” Twilight explained to the group.

“Whoa… hold on a second. You mean to tell me that you have animatronics? I didn’t think your technology was advanced enough for that.” Tom stated in a surprised tone while glancing over to the picture. Scootaloo passed the flyer on to the curious human, who quickly examined the three robotic animals with an intrigued expression.

“To be fair Twilight… I’ve never heard of robot critters either.” Applejack said while sharing a confused glance with the others.

“I don’t think they actually have any complicated technology to them. I think that they used magical components to function back when I went to the park… and even then they didn’t do much other than sing and dance.” Twilight explained while thinking about how such a machine would actually function.

“Oh, I get it… so they’re pretty much mechanical puppets.” Tom said in an intrigued tone.

“Well… when you put it like that it doesn’t sound nearly as fun.” Twilight replied with a mildly offended shrug. She might not have gotten out much as a kid, but she fondly remembered her time watching the show that the animatronics put on at the park.

“So… those are robots? That sounds kind of cool.” Scootaloo stated with an interested tone of voice. Twilight seemed to be pleased that the fillies were intrigued by the park. She almost felt like she was introducing them to a new world of amazement and wonder, one that she went to as a kid.

“Yeah, that one there is Bonnie the bunny, and that one is… Chica the chicken.” The purple unicorn explained while trying to recall the animatronics’ names from memory.

“Let me guess… that one is Barry the bear?” Tom interjected with a slight chuckle while looking at the ridiculous animals.

“No… actually that’s Freddy. Your guess is as good as mine as to why they went with that name.” Twilight said in a confused tone.

“Huh… that’s… odd.” Tom said while scratching his head with a puzzled expression.

“I think it’s a nice name… he’s my favorite!” Sweetie Belle said eagerly while looking at the bear and smiling.

“How can he be your favorite? You’ve never even seen him in person.” Scootaloo said while shrugging at the young unicorn.

“Well… I like him. Don’t you have a favorite already from just looking at them?” Sweetie Belle asked while raising an eyebrow suspiciously. Scootaloo seemed to be uncomfortable about picking out a favorite animal. She felt like the animals looked a little too childish for her likings, or at least too childish for her to openly admit while the others were looking.

“Uhh… I guess the bunny… he looks kind of cool I guess.” The orange filly admitted begrudgingly while trying to play off the question.

“I think the bunny looks weird… I like the chicken better.” Applebloom chimed into the conversation in a condescending tone.

“Hey! He doesn’t look that weird!” Scootaloo suddenly became very defensive as she glared at the earth pony.

“Yeah, he does… he has buck teeth for crying out loud.” Applebloom replied while pointing to the picture.

“At least mine has teeth! Yours doesn’t even… huh?” Scootaloo paused suddenly as she stared at the picture suspiciously. Sure enough, the chicken actually had teeth in her beak. Applebloom smirked at the young pegasus’s confusion before sticking her tongue out at her. “Well… that doesn’t make any sense! Chickens aren’t supposed to have teeth… yours is stupid.” Scootaloo said while getting in the yellow filly’s face and glaring at her.

“Why do you hate chickens so much Scootaloo? You have so much in common with them…” Applebloom stated with a small smirk.

“Oh yeah? How’s that?” Scootaloo asked suspiciously.

“You’re both flightless birds for one.” Applebloom said with a devilish smile building on her face.

“Why you little!” Scootaloo yelled angrily while preparing to strangle her friend. The two fillies were preparing to fight, while Sweetie Belle tried her best to keep herself from being struck by the two reaching over her to get at each other.

“Now, now girls… settle down. Let’s just agree to disagree and pretend that we like each other for the rest of the train ride.” Rarity spoke up while separating the two feuding crusaders and giving them an icy glare. The last thing the white mare wanted was to listen to two bickering fillies for the rest of the trip.

Suddenly, a series of mechanical noises started coming from outside. The ponies heard and felt the train starting to come to life as the conductors prepared to depart. Before long, the train was lurching forward as it started down the tracks.

“Looks like we’re moving… I guess we have a long trip ahead of us.” Rainbow Dash sighed as she thought about how long it would take them to arrive.

“*Yawn*… Maybe we should get some sleep? I’m all for curling up on this seat and taking a nap until we get there.” Spike suggested while patting the cushion next to him to test its softness.

“I suppose it has been a long day… maybe some sleep would be good.” Rarity suggested while noting how tired she felt. The unicorn looked around, only to see that most of her friends shared her opinion. Fluttershy was about to fall asleep in her seat. Pinkie Pie looked like she could definitely use the sleep. Even the Cutie Mark Crusaders were collectively tired.

“Well… I don’t know about you guys, but I’m definitely hitting the proverbial hay.” Sunspot stated while stretching and laying down across her seat.

“I’m right there with you.” Glitterball said while reaching into her bag and levitating a small neck pillow and a sleeping mask down and settling in.

“You brought a neck pillow?” Glimmer Shine asked with a raised eyebrow while watching the unicorn across from him laying down sideways and propping her head up.

Glitterball smirked while lifting the mask off of her eyes a short ways to look at the stallion. “Yeah… a girl’s got to get her beauty sleep. Don’t get jealous just because you didn’t have the sense to bring one.” She stated while laying her head down and pulling the mask back over her eyes.

“*Sigh*… Whatever.” Glimmer Shine shrugged while leaning back against his seat and settling in.

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash and Twilight were glancing around as their friends all prepared to go to sleep. Spike was already somehow fast asleep next to the unicorn. The young dragon nudged into her every once in a while as he shifted around in his sleep, but Twilight couldn’t find it in her to wake him up to reposition him.

“So… are you going to sleep Twilight?” Rainbow Dash asked quietly to not disturb those around her. She looked across the aisle to see how her purple friend was faring. Twilight looked like she was trying to stay awake, but she was also unfocused and drowsy.

“Umm… maybe… I’m going to try to stay up for a while, but at this rate, I might end up nodding off.” The unicorn stated while holding back a yawn and glancing over to the pegasus. “What about you?” She asked curiously.

“Nah… I got some sleep earlier. I might take a nap before we get there, but for now, I’m going to enjoy the view. It’s not every day I get to ride first class, you know?” Rainbow Dash said while looking out the window at the passing horizon.

“Heh… just be sure not to stay up too late. You don’t want to sleep through our first day there.” Twilight said with a slight chuckle at the cyan mare.

“Oh, definitely not. What would you guys do without me at the pool to liven things up for you?” Rainbow Dash replied with a smirk.

Twilight smiled at the pegasus’s statement before turning her attention down to the flyer in her hooves. She wondered what the first thing the group would do when they arrived. Surely there would be too many things to choose from.

Glancing up at her human friend, she realized that even he had started drifting off to sleep. Other than Rainbow Dash, Twilight was the only one awake. Or at any rate, they were the only ones not trying to sleep.

“*Sigh*…” The unicorn shrugged while leaning her head back against the seat. Suddenly, her eyes drifted to the window beside her. Although it was dark, the sight of the landscape whizzing past the train was mesmerizing. All the colors and shapes blending together into one single blur, along with the constant noise of the train had a sort of calming effect on her.

Twilight felt a slight haze of drowsiness coming over her as she brought her hoof up to her mouth to catch a yawn. She didn’t think that she would be this tired so soon, but she was almost falling asleep against her will.

The thought of fighting to stay awake crossed her mind, but she felt far too relaxed to bother. The purple mare continued looking out of the window, all the while growing progressively more and more tired. Slowly, her eyelids began drifting closed. Another yawn escaped her mouth as she nuzzled her head into the side of the seat. The fabric felt cozy and warm against her face. Finally, Twilight closed her eyes and felt her mind drifting away.

A sudden jolt made Twilight sit up in mild alarm. She shielded her eyes as they strained under the light shining in through the window. The unicorn quickly realized that it was daylight. Not only was it daylight, but the train was slowing to a halt.

“Ughh…” Twilight groaned while glancing beside her. There was a small damp spot on the corner of the seat where her head was just lying. A cold and wet sensation on her cheek told her that the damp spot was her own drool.

“Finally… it’s about time you got up.” Spike said in an amazed tone. Twilight looked to the side, only to see that the young dragon was awake and staring at her musingly. She wiped the drool from the side of her mouth before stretching her legs.

“How long have I been asleep?” The unicorn asked while looking around with a dull expression. Taking a look around the train car, she realized that all of her friends were awake as well.

“You slept all night. In fact… you slept through the whole trip. We’re here.” Tom explained while motioning towards the window.

Twilight glanced outside to see where they were. Sure enough, the train stopped moving, and it was plain to see why. The group had arrived at the train station in Trottingham. There were ponies walking around everywhere with bags and suitcases in tow.

“Wow… the whole trip huh?” Twilight asked in amazement. She couldn’t believe that she slept for so long.

“Yeah… we were starting to wonder if you would ever wake up.” Rainbow Dash said with a slight chuckle while looking over to the drowsy unicorn.

“*Giggle* You snore a lot.” Pinkie Pie chimed in from behind the unicorn. Twilight glanced over her shoulder in surprise to see the pink mare chuckling to herself.

“What? I do not!” Twilight stated defensively. She always slept silently, or at least she thought she did.

“I hate to break it to you Twilight… but Pinkie is right. You darn near woke us up twice.” Applejack said with a slight chuckle as she watched the bewildered expression on her friend’s face grow. Twilight looked over to Spike and Tom for support, only to find them offering silently accusing eyes in return.

“*Sigh*… well, I must have slept in a weird position because I usually don’t make a sound when I sleep.” The unicorn said while folding her forelegs and avoiding eye contact with her friends. Everyone giggled quietly while trying not to let the purple mare hear them.

“Ok guys, I think we should start getting our stuff together so we can leave.” Glimmer Shine suggested to the others while pulling his suitcase down with his teeth.

“Yeah, I want to get to the park as soon as possible so I can start having some fun!” Rainbow Dash said eagerly while looking around to see who would join in her excitement. As expected, the first three to cheer in response were Scootaloo and her two friends.

“Yay!” The fillies cheered in unison while getting up and bouncing on the seat eagerly. If they had been tired the night before, they had gotten more than enough sleep to return their almost limitless enthusiasm and energy.

“This is going to be the best week ever!” Sweetie Belle stated while laughing and jumping between her seat and Rarity’s seat. Before long, Applebloom and Scootaloo were following her example and bouncing back and forth in a line, much to the dismay of the white unicorn.

“Now girls… settle down.” Rarity pleaded nervously while trying to avoid one of the excited fillies smacking into her by accident.

“So, where is this park exactly Twilight? I hope that somepony knows where we’re going…” Applejack stated while glancing out of the window. She had never been to Trottingham before, so she was pretty much lost.

“Princess Luna said that the owner of the park will meet us at the train station. It should be fairly easy to find her considering she is looking for us, and Pinkie knows what she looks like.” Twilight explained while glancing back to Pinkie Pie for confirmation.

“Ooo! I can’t wait to see Berry again!” Pinkie exclaimed with an excited smile while gluing herself to the window to look for the park’s owner. She shifted her eyes around rapidly in search of her old friend.

“Well, any friend of Pinkie’s can’t be too bad.” Tom said in a hopeful tone.

“Heh… you seem to be forgetting that Pinkie Pie is friends with everybody.” Rainbow Dash said with a slight chuckle.

“Good point… how does that even work? You can’t possibly be friends with everyone you’ve ever met…” The human replied while raising an eyebrow as he watched the pink mare.

“Oh, that’s easy! You just have to play games with them, and invite them to parties, and tell them jokes, and-” Pinkie started naming off an entire list of explanations until she was interrupted by Tom speaking up.

“But what about their personality? What if you don’t like them?” The boy asked curiously.

“Don’t like them…? PFFHAhahaha! *Snort*” Pinkie started laughing heartily at the human’s question. Tom looked to the others, who offered a shrug in response. Meanwhile, Pinkie was still recovering from laughing so hard. “Hahaha… *wheeze*… oh, that was a good one Tom. You are so funny!” The pink mare said while getting up and repositioning herself. She had been laughing so hard that she fell back into her seat and held her sides.

“Right…” Tom said while nodding his head uncomfortably.

“Anyhow… let’s get moving. We don’t want to keep Berry waiting.” Twilight suggested while levitating her bag along with Tom’s and Spike’s down from the luggage rack.

“Hold on a moment… hrk!” Rarity groaned while trying to lift her bag down with her magic. She was straining just to levitate the large suitcase a few inches off the ground.

“Sweet Celestia, Rarity… what in the hay do you have in that thing?” Applejack asked in an amazed tone while helping the white mare get her bag to the ground. The suitcase fell to the floor with a sizable thud, nearly landing on the two ponies.

“Oh, just a few of my summer outfits. I can’t exactly go to a water park without the proper attire now can I?” Rarity said with a slight smirk while getting the bag upright so she could wheel it around easier.

“So you’re tellin’ me that you just have clothes in there? I don’t even want to think about how many pounds that thing is.” The orange mare stated while eyeing the bag uneasily.

“Well, at any rate, thanks for the help.” Rarity said in an appreciative tone.

“Anytime… just try to pack lighter in the future.” Applejack replied.

Without further delay, the group gathered their luggage and exited the train. The early morning sun and clear blue sky perfectly complimented the excitement that the ponies were feeling. It was the beginning of a beautiful summer day, one that would mark the standard for what they would be enjoying all week if everything went as planned.

The station was buzzing with life as several ponies walked around the area. Although there was a sizable crowd, the area still felt open and vacant enough to not be constrictive. Still, even with the relatively small amount of ponies walking around, it was a daunting task trying to find the owner of the park. Twilight and the others had no idea what she looked like. In fact, Pinkie Pie was the only one who had ever even met her before.

“So Pinkie… do you see her around here somewhere?” Rainbow Dash asked curiously while looking around at the various ponies walking around. There were a few individuals standing around in various places, but only a few of them were mares.

“Hmm…” Pinkie strained her eyes and put on her best focused expression as she scanned the area. Twilight and the others watched as the pink mare looked up and down in the search for her old friend. “I don’t see her.” Pinkie reported while continuing her search.

“She has to be around here somewhere… It can’t be that hard to find a group as large as us leaving the same train.” Twilight said as she took a quick glance around, even though she had no idea what she was looking for.

Suddenly, Pinkie paused as she looked off by the side of the station. She squinted her eyes while trying to focus on a pony that stood out to her. “Oh!” The pink mare exclaimed while rushing off in that direction. The others barely managed to keep an eye on her as she zipped away.

The group watched as Pinkie rushed up to a lone earth pony mare by the side of the station. The mare was a soft and dark shade of purple, with a lighter shade in her hair and eyes. She had short hair with a pink band in it, and her tail had two pink bands on it as well. She was also wearing what appeared to be four pink leg warmers near the top of her hooves. Her cutie mark was a glass with light purple liquid in it and a tiny umbrella sticking out of it.

“Berry!” Pinkie exclaimed while rushing up to the purple mare. Upon noticing the excited pony approaching her, the mare turned and smiled while opening her forelegs to give her friend a hug.

“Pinkie!” The purple pony cheered excitedly as she caught the speeding pink blur into a friendly embrace. As Pinkie backed up and smiled at her old friend, she smiled back at her with a slightly confused expression. “Pinkie, what are you doing here? I thought you lived in Ponyville now?” Berry asked curiously.

Before Pinkie could answer, she noticed her other friends walking up behind her. “Well, you did just hire my friends, silly.” Pinkie replied while backing up and letting the others step forward. Tom and Glimmer Shine stepped forward and walked up to the purple mare.

“Oh… so you must be the ones that the princess sent. It’s nice to meet you, I’m Berry Swirl.” Berry said while reaching forward and shaking the pair’s hand and hoof respectively.

“Yes, we’re the reigning experts in the field of unusual problems like yours. I’m Glimmer Shine, those are my teammates Glitterball and Sunspot, this is Tom, and those are our friends.” Glimmer Shine explained while pointing out the rest of the group. Twilight and the others smiled and waved at the purple mare, who smiled in return.

“Well, any friends of Pinkie’s are okay in my books.” Berry said with a friendly tone of voice while glancing around at the group of ponies.

“Here, let me introduce you to my friends, Berry.” Pinkie suggested while walking over to the others. “This is Twilight Sparkle, that’s Spike, over there is Rainbow Dash, that’s Rarity and her sister Sweetie Belle, over there is Applejack and her sister Applebloom, that’s Fluttershy, and that’s Scootaloo.” The pink mare explained while pointing out each member of her large group of friends. Everyone smiled and nodded to the purple pony as they were introduced.

“It’s very nice to meet you all. I’m sure you can’t wait to start your vacation, so if you’re all ready, I can lead you to the park.” Berry suggested while noting the amount of heavy looking luggage the group was toting with them.

“That sounds great!” Pinkie cheered happily while looking over to her friends. Everyone shared in her excitement as they prepared themselves to start their vacation properly. Once the group had settled down, they let Berry Swirl lead them out of the train station and into town.

Chapter 6: Welcome to Fun Land

Spirits were high as the group followed Berry Swirl through town. Most of the ponies had never been to Trottingham before, so it was an intriguing experience to be able to take in all of the sights and sounds. The daily hustle and bustle of ponies in Ponyville wasn’t very noteworthy because everyone was accustomed to it, but it was always interesting to see the locals of a new town going about their business.

Twilight glanced behind her to see her friends following along behind. The other elements of harmony were chatting happily amongst themselves, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were playing as they walked to the side of the group, even Glimmer Shine and his team were off by themselves, but they seemed to be discussing business rather than pleasure.

“So, how long do you guys think it will take to get rid of the problem when we get to the park?” Twilight asked curiously while glancing between the team of ponies and the human walking beside her.

“Well… that depends on what the problem actually is.” Glimmer Shine said while glancing over to Tom for confirmation. Even after all of these months, the human was still the one with the most knowledge on the paranormal. Then again, it would be hard to outmatch the boy on his knowledge considering he had the memories of the slayers before him and all of their experience with monsters.

“Yeah… it could take a few hours, or it could take a few days depending on a lot of factors. It would help if we knew exactly what was going on.” Tom said while looking ahead to Berry Swirl. The purple mare realized that she was the only one with the knowledge the group needed. She looked down in thought for a moment while trying to put into words what had been happening at the park.

“Well, you see… we only just started working on getting the park up and running again about a year ago. Everything was fine for a while, but we have noticed a lot of strange things going on recently. Tools and other small objects would go missing, only to turn up in the strangest places. The temperature in certain rooms would drop suddenly. But the most prominent issue we have been getting is the voices.” Berry explained with a slight twinge of unease in her voice.

“V-voices?” Fluttershy asked nervously. Even the mere mention of such an eerie concept made chills go up and down her spine.

“Yeah… I thought my employees were going nuts when they first told me about it, but then I started hearing them too. It wasn’t anything too significant… usually, it would just be a quiet whisper or faint giggling coming from just outside of the room, but there have been a few instances where we have all heard the same thing… usually, it would happen in the basement.” Berry Swirl said while glancing behind her to see if the group was still paying attention. Most of the group was listening intently, while Fluttershy was cowering behind Rarity and her large suitcase for protection.

“Disembodied voices are a common occurrence when dealing with ghosts. If they are as quiet as a whisper every time, that usually means that the ghost, or ghosts, in question aren’t that strong.” Tom explained in a confident manner.

“It’s nice to hear that you guys know your stuff. I’m glad I have some real experts handling this.” Berry stated with a pleased smile.

“Trust us on this one. Tom and the others are the best there is when it comes to beating up ghosts, monsters, and anything else that ails you.” Rainbow Dash said with a confident smirk while looking over to the team of monster hunters.

“Yeah, they were the ones that took care of the hooded ponies when they attacked the palace in Canterlot.” Spike chimed in, eager to praise the group for their efforts.

“I heard about that… they caused a lot of havoc in Ponyville didn’t they?” Berry asked while glancing at the group for confirmation. “I’m glad somepony finally put a stop to those guys… who knows what they would have done if they succeeded in overthrowing the princess?” She said with an uncomfortable shudder. Twilight glanced to her friends and shared an uncomfortable expression with them. If anyone knew the full extent of the hooded ponies’ evil, it was the purple mare and her friends.

“Well, we don’t need to worry about that anymore! We beat those meanie pants fair and square. We were all like KAPOW! And then Tom came in like PEW PEW! And then they went KABLOOEY!” Pinkie Pie said while waving her forelegs around as she made sound effects with her mouth. Twilight and the others stared at the pink mare with raised eyebrows.

“Pinkie Pie… you are so random.” Rainbow Dash stated with an amused chuckle. Everyone else giggled lightheartedly at the party pony’s antics.

While the group laughed together behind her, Berry Swirl took a moment to look ahead to see where they were. She raised her eyebrows in surprise as she noticed the sight of her beloved park coming into view.

“We’re here, everyone!” The purple mare announced excitedly while pausing and pointing ahead for everyone to see. The ponies all gasped in excitement as they looked to where the earth pony was pointing.

Just ahead, there was a large fenced in area with a large and decorative sign over the front gate that read Fun Land in big colorful letters. Much of the space inside of the fence was just empty landscape, but further inside there were the silhouettes of large water slides and the main resort building.

“Last one in’s a rotten egg!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed before bolting towards the entrance. Everyone else barely had time to react before they started running after the cyan pegasus. Berry Swirl shrugged with a slight smirk on her face before following the crowd of eager ponies.

Once they made it past the front gate, the group followed a large path through the rolling green landscape around them. The area almost looked like a completely barren field with nothing but grass to either side as far as the eye could see.

“Wow… this place sure does have a lot of empty land.” Applejack observed while looking to either side and admiring the large grassy areas to her sides.

“I’m not surprised… this place was a larger park a long time ago. Isn’t that right Berry?” Twilight asked while looking ahead to the purple mare in front of the group.

“That’s right. Back when my great grandfather owned the place, it was a regular old-fashioned amusement park. After the earthquake hit the place and sank the majority of the property underground, the park closed down. My grandfather picked up the pieces and made it a water resort a long time ago, and my dad picked up where he left off.” Berry Swirl explained while looking ahead at the growing shapes of the actual resort.

“How is your dad doing Berry? I’ll bet he must be so proud of you for re-opening the family business!” Pinkie Pie stated while smiling eagerly as she thought back to the purple mare’s father. Berry looked down and frowned sadly at the pink pony’s question.

“Unfortunately my father passed away last year.” The earth pony explained in a somber tone. The others all looked at the purple pony with distraught expressions of sympathy.

“I am so sorry to hear that Berry… I had no idea.” Pinkie Pie said while momentarily dropping her normal energetic appearance and adopting a genuinely sad expression.

“Don’t worry Pinkie… I’ve already grieved my loss appropriately. Now I just want to keep my father’s legacy alive by restoring the park to its former glory.” Berry said in a slightly more cheerful tone. Even though she didn’t return a bright smile to her face, she seemed to be comfortable with moving on from the gloomy memory of her late father.

“Well, we’re here to make sure nothing gets in your way… nothing paranormal at any rate.” Tom said to shift the conversation to something less somber and saddening.

“Well, you’re welcome to enjoy yourselves for as long as you want… just as long as you take care of things before you leave.” Berry said in a friendly tone.

“It will be our pleasure Ms. Swirl.” Glimmer Shine stated in a sincere manner while looking back to his team. Sunspot and Glitterball nodded while smiling back at the purple mare.

“Please… call me Berry, and feel free to make yourselves at home.” Berry explained while motioning around her. By now, the group had reached the main part of the park. They looked around them with their jaws agape in awe as they stared at the numerous water slides and the glistening pools all around them.

Now that they were in the actual park, the grassy fields to their sides had been replaced with tiled areas that led to pools, various shacks with colorful pictures of food and refreshments painted on the side, and changing areas complete with towels and pool toys. The pleasing smell that came with the chemicals used to balance the pH in water was drifting through the wind, almost acting in place of the smell of the sea that would come from walking along a beach. There were water spouts shooting out from many of the pools and slides, many of which arched in the air and came down in a different section of their respective pools. The entire atmosphere had changed from empty green fields to a warm and sunny summer paradise, and at its center, was where the group would be staying for the next week.

“Wow… Get a load of this place.” Spike said while looking ahead at the large resort building.

The building looked like what the group expected a luxurious resort building to look like. There were several paths leading around the building, past numerous decorations and water fountains, and up to the main entrance. The entrance sat atop a flight of marble stairs, with an archway of colorful awnings shading the area in front of the main doors. The doors themselves were glass, and there were glass windows to either side that stretched from the floor to the ceiling, so the group could already see a little bit of the building’s interior, which was spacious and inviting.

“Are you telling me that’s where we’re staying?” Rainbow Dash asked in a tone of disbelief.

“Yep… that would be the resort.” Berry explained with an amused chuckle at seeing the awestruck ponies.

“Someone pinch me because I must be dreaming! This week keeps getting better and bett-OW!” Rainbow Dash yelped in mild pain as she felt a pinching sensation on her foreleg. She looked over to see Pinkie Pie pulling her hoof back from pinching her. The pink mare smiled awkwardly and backed away as the pegasus glared at her.

“I must say… this place looks incredible on the outside. I can’t wait to see what it looks like on the inside.” Twilight stated eagerly while looking around at her surroundings. She could already picture herself lounging poolside with her friends while reading a good book, or even playing around in the various pools and waterslides.

“Well, you won’t have to wait long. Let’s head inside so I can introduce you to everyone and give you the tour.” Berry Swirl suggested while motioning towards the resort. Everyone nodded in eager agreement before following the purple mare up the marble steps and into the resort.

If the pools and tiled areas of the park outside amazed everyone, then what they were seeing now must have doubled their excitement and wonder. As they walked through the glass double doors and into the lobby of the resort, the ponies were rendered speechless at their surroundings. The lobby itself was huge, with vaulted ceilings giving the impression of even more space. There was a large circular rug in the middle of the room that was a deep and inviting blue color, which perfectly complimented the cool colored wallpaper and carpet, creating a relaxing and comfortable atmosphere. The air in the room was cool enough to offer refuge from the heat of the sun, but not abrasive enough to freeze anyone walking in from the pools outside.

The group looked ahead to see a large desk at the front of the room, with a small placard on it that aptly read front desk. Behind the desk, there was a cream colored unicorn mare with white hair. The mare was wearing a white collar, a black bow tie, and brown reading glasses, giving her the appearance of someone who would doubtlessly work at the front desk of a hotel or resort of such caliber. Her cutie mark was a small bell that resembled one that would be used to summon a bellhop.

“Hey Silver. I’m back, and I brought our new friends with me.” Berry Swirl said while trotting up to the desk. The mare behind the counter looked up and smiled upon seeing the group of visitors.

“It’s nice to meet you all. Welcome to Funland!” The mare said in an enthusiastic tone that sounded rehearsed as if she was supposed to say that to everyone. Still, she did have a genuine smile on her face and she did put a lot of energy behind her greeting.

“Everyone, this is Silver Bell. She’s the general manager for the resort.” Berry explained while introducing the cream colored pony to everyone.

“And currently the receptionist, but I digress.” Silver said with an amused smirk.

“We’re pleased to meet you, Silver.” Rarity spoke up on behalf of the group with a friendly smile.

“So, I assume you’re going to give them the tour of the place Berry?” Silver Bell asked curiously while glancing over to the purple mare.

“Yeah, but first I need to have someone take their bags up to their rooms. Would you mind letting me use your radio?” Berry asked in a polite manner. Silver Bell reached under the desk before pulling out a small black walkie-talkie.

“Alright, here you go.” Silver said while handing the radio over the counter to the waiting hooves of the purple earth pony. Berry pressed the button on the radio down and cleared her throat before speaking into it.

“Hey Sparkplug, this is Berry. Our new guests have arrived. Can you send Bonnie over to the lobby to help them get settled in?” Berry asked in a clear tone before waiting intently for a reply. Before long, the group heard the voice of another mare speaking through the radio.

“Sure thing, he should be there soon.” The mare stated before falling silent.

“Thanks… I’ll probably come find you in a little bit so we can give our guests a tour.” Berry said while pressing down the button again. The purple mare looked over to the group of ponies, only to see them looking at her with puzzled expressions.

“That was Sparkplug, she’s our maintenance pony. I just asked her to send one of our animatronics over to help take your bags upstairs.” Berry explained while placing the radio on the front desk. Judging from their expressions, the ponies were even more confused than before.

“Wait… You asked her to send an animatronic over? What do you mean by that?” Twilight asked curiously. As far as she knew, the only things the animatronics could do was dancing on stage and playing pre-recorded songs and phrases.

Before Berry could answer, a series of mechanical sounds, followed by footsteps, made the group turn their heads to the side. Everyone was surprised to see the same blue rabbit from the flyer walking through a door and approaching them. The animatronic was much bigger than it seemed in the flyer. It was still around Tom’s height, but it was so unexpected to see something bigger than a pony walking up to them so casually.

“Ah, there he is. Everyone… this is Bonnie. He is one of the animatronic animals we have here at the park. Say hi Bonnie.” Berry instructed while looking at the blue rabbit. The robotic animal’s joints clicked and made a constant mechanical sound as it slowly moved its arm up and waved at the ponies. He moved in a choppy sort of fashion that was fluid enough to seem realistic, but obvious enough to realize that it was a robot.

“Hiya kids! My name is Bonnie the bunny. Are you ready to have some fun?” The rabbit spoke in a friendly manner. His voice had a slight distortion to it that made it obvious that he was using some kind of voice box to speak. His mouth barely moved at all when he spoke, remaining in a goofy smile and revealing his buck teeth. When his mouth did move, it merely moved up and down to give the illusion that his voice was actually coming from him.

Everyone marveled at the robotic animal with mixed expressions ranging from curiosity to outright amazement. They had never seen anything like it in their whole lives. Even Twilight was surprised to see the mechanical rabbit out and about. She was used to seeing animatronics like him on a show stage and performing prerecorded actions.

“Wow… that’s amazing… how is he able to walk around and understand you?” Twilight asked curiously while looking to Berry for answers.

“After my granddad took over the park, he was working on making the animatronics walk around and interact with guests for a while. He actually had a few models that could do the same stuff Bonnie here can do even back then, he just didn’t have them roaming out in the park. They work by using magical components on top of the usual machinery… Sparkplug would be able to explain it better, but they can understand and perform basic commands, speak using a voice box, and they even have their own personalities.” Berry Swirl explained while putting a hoof on the robotic bunny and resting on him. Bonnie stared ahead and continued looking around at the group of ponies. It was almost like he was analyzing them in his head.

“Their own personalities? Wow… that sounds so cool!” Rainbow Dash said while looking at the robotic animal with an amazed expression.

“I don’t know… it looks kind of creepy.” Fluttershy stated nervously while warily looking at the mechanical rabbit from the back of the group.

“I thought you liked animals Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash said while playfully smirking at the yellow mare.

“I do, but he looks kind of… umm… how do I put this?” Fluttershy said while staring at Bonnie’s eyes uncomfortably. They reminded her a little too much of a lifeless doll.

“He does look a bit creepy I suppose. Anything that tries to imitate life tends to come off as a little eerie.” Twilight stated in agreement with the pegasus. Even though she didn’t feel creeped out by the animatronic, she did understand why someone might find its hollow gaze unsettling.

As the robot laid eyes on Tom, he paused and stared at him. The human felt a little uneasy from being stared at by such a creepy looking creature. The rabbit looked a little too doll-like for the boy’s liking, and he had learned to be wary around dolls from his experience as a slayer.

“Why is it looking at me like that?” Tom asked uncomfortably while glancing over to the purple earth pony.

“Umm… I guess he has never seen a human before. He’s probably just trying to figure out what you are… Try talking to him.” Berry suggested while backing up to give the human and the rabbit some room. Tom was surprised to hear the earth pony reference the robot like it was an actual living thing. He would never have guessed that he would be trying to make friends with a mechanical bunny when he woke up earlier.

“Talk to him? Like… make conversation with it? Can it even do that?” Tom asked curiously while glancing between the ponies and the animatronic. On top of its unsettling appearance, it was trippy that the rabbit was actually at eye level with the human.

“Go on Tom, make a new friend!” Pinkie said while gently shoving the human forward.

Tom uneasily backed up slightly to prevent himself from running into the blue robot. “Umm… uh… hi, Bonnie… my name is Tom.” The boy said while hesitantly extending his hand to the rabbit. Much to his surprise, Bonnie reached forward and gripped his hand before shaking it up and down. The robot’s level of enthusiasm was astounding, especially since the human hadn’t expected anything to happen. Tom felt himself jostling up and down as the bunny shook his hand firmly.

“Hello Tom! Nice to meet you!” Bonnie said while letting the human go free. Tom’s head was spinning from how much he was shaken.

“Hehe… I think he likes you!” Pinkie stated with an amused chuckle.

“I would hate to see what he would do if he didn’t like me.” Tom said while rubbing his hand where the rabbit gripped him.

“Well, I think Bonnie should get your luggage up to your rooms now. You’ll have time to socialize later.” Berry said with a slight giggle before turning to the animatronic rabbit. “Bonnie, take our guests’ bags up to their rooms.” She instructed in a clear voice. Bonnie turned to look at the group for a moment. He looked down to their bags and made a note of which bag belonged to which pony before walking up to Rarity and reaching for her suitcase.

“Whoa, there partner… I don’t think you can handle Rarity’s bag. It’s a bit bulky if you ask-” Applejack started to speak until she was silenced by Bonnie picking up the unicorn’s suitcase with relative ease. “Wow… he’s a strong feller isn’t he?” The orange mare said in an impressed tone.

“Yep… he has a metal endoskeleton underneath his cutesy exterior. He might not look it, but he is strong enough to lift anything you might have in that bag of yours.” Berry said with an amused chuckle before looking over to the rest of the group.

“Well, Bonnie is going to take your bags up to your rooms. I hope you don’t mind, but I told him to lead you to shared rooms with three or so beds. It’s a lot easier for us to keep up with managing seven or eight rooms instead of fourteen. If you want, I can change it so all of you have a room to yourself.” Berry said in a courteous tone. Twilight and the others glanced at each other for a moment to gather their opinions. Nobody seemed to be against sharing rooms with some of their friends.

“No, that’s fine. We’re ok with sleeping in the same room. Can I ask which of us you have booked to which room?” Twilight asked curiously.

“Oh, don’t worry about that. Once Bonnie takes you upstairs, you can choose who goes into what room. We have several different suites with different numbers of beds. Just be sure to tell one of us which rooms you decide to stay in… you can even tell Bonnie if you want.” Berry said while giving the robot a pat on the leg. Bonnie glanced beside him to the purple mare for a moment before returning his gaze forward.

“That sounds great Berry. We can’t thank you enough for letting us come here like this.” Twilight said in a friendly tone while glancing to her friends. Everyone nodded sincerely as the unicorn expressed their gratitude for them. Hearing so much praise coming from her guests made the earth pony smile coyly.

“It’s the least we can do to repay you for helping us out. Now then… I think that it’s time for Bonnie to start taking your bags upstairs. You can follow him up there to get settled in right away if you want, but I’m willing to give some of you a quick tour of the place if you’re willing to stay. I’ll even take you over to maintenance so Sparkplug can show you how the animatronics work.” Berry Swirl suggested in a friendly tone.

“I am definitely up for finding our rooms and then heading straight to the nearest pool. Who’s with me?” Rainbow Dash said while looking to her friends, eager to see who would join her. Almost everyone stepped forward and cheered eagerly at the prospect of heading up to see their rooms. Before long, only Twilight, Tom, Spike, and Applejack were left standing by Berry Swirl. “You coming with us Applejack?” Rainbow Dash asked curiously.

“Nah, I’ll catch up with y’all later. I’m actually pretty curious to see how those robot critters work.” Applejack said while looking over at Twilight and the others. The unicorn was happy to see a desire to learn in the farm pony. Without further delay, Bonnie reached forward and grabbed another bag by the handle. As he was turning around, the robotic animal turned his head to face the group that was coming with him.

“Follow me.” The rabbit instructed in a friendly manner before walking forward towards the same doorway he entered through. Rainbow Dash and the others grabbed some of their other bags before following the animatronic, leaving Twilight and her three companions to wait for Berry to escort them.

“I can’t wait to find out more about those robots.” Tom said while watching the group of ponies following the blue rabbit curiously.

“Yeah… robots… that sounds cool I guess.” Spike sighed in a bored tone while resting on Twilight’s back. It didn’t take much to figure out that he didn’t really want to go on a tour of the building.

“You can go with them if you want Spike.” Twilight suggested with a knowing smile.

“Really? Are you sure?” Spike asked in a surprised tone.

“Of course… we can just meet up la-” Twilight spoke up until she was interrupted by the young dragon jumping off of her back and rushing over to the others.

“Ok, bye guys!” Spike said as he rushed off to catch up to the group while they followed the mechanical rabbit out into the hall. Twilight smiled and shook her head at her young assistant. She was surprised to see how willing he was to ditch her, but she understood that he was still a kid.

“Well… I guess we’re ready to take the tour Berry.” Twilight said while turning to the purple mare.

“Ok then, follow me. I’ll take you to our security room so you can meet Sparkplug and we can explain the layout of the park.” Berry said while motioning for the three to come with her. Twilight, Tom, and Applejack nodded before following the purple mare to the right.

The group walked through a few hallways and other rooms of the resort as they continued forward. They passed through a room full of couches and chairs before taking a left and entering into a door marked employees only. The four found themselves walking through a hallway with gray carpets and walls. It looked vastly different from the colorful rooms back in the public areas of the resort. There were storage areas and janitor’s closets spread along the hallway. Finally, Berry paused in front of a room marked security and turned to the others.

“In here is where we monitor all of the security cameras in the park. Hopefully, Sparkplug will be in there… she usually either hangs out here or over in the maintenance area.” Berry explained while motioning back towards the hallway with her head.

“Is Sparkplug the security guard too?” Twilight asked curiously.

“No… we’re kind of understaffed for the moment, so everyone pitches in for certain jobs. As you saw earlier, Silver usually takes care of the front desk as well as keeping an eye on things to make sure everything is spick and spam.” Berry Swirl stated in a praising tone. The group was impressed by how close of a relationship the earth pony had with her employees.

Without further delay, the purple earth pony grabbed the door handle with her hoof and pulled open the door. Twilight and her two companions followed Berry inside and into a small room. The room contained a wall of monitors that had various images from around the park, each with a small overlay of text that denoted which camera was on the screen. Below the monitors, there was a console full of buttons and switches that looked far too complex to warrant an average pony’s comprehension.

Sitting in a swivel chair in front of the wall of monitors, there was an older looking brownish-orange earth pony stallion with black hair. He had a wrench and a screwdriver crossing to form an x as his cutie mark. Once he heard the door closing as the group walked into the room, he spun the chair around to see everyone.

“Hey, Berry.” The stallion greeted the purple mare with a friendly smile.

“Hey Copper,” Berry said before turning to her group. “Guys, this is Copper Coil. He helps out Sparkplug with fixing up the animatronics and keeping this place from falling apart.” She explained while motioning towards the stallion.

“I assume these are our new guests?” Copper asked curiously while observing the group.

“You assume correctly. This is Twilight Sparkle and her friends Applejack and Tom.” Berry said while pointing to the three respectively. “Tom and a group of other ponies will be taking care of our problem for us. They brought a bunch of their friends to stay at the resort with them.” She explained cheerfully.

“Well, it’s about time we had some company. A water park isn’t really a water park without ponies to enjoy it. It’s nice to meet you all.” Copper said while smiling at the group. Twilight, Applejack, and Tom stepped forward and shook the stallion’s hoof with friendly smiles.

“Copper, have you seen Sparkplug around here? I thought she might be in here with you. I’m giving them a tour of the place, and she would be the best person to explain the animatronics, and show our human friend here where the problem areas are.” Berry said while taking a cursory glance at the bank of monitors in the faint hope that she might be able to find the maintenance pony. Copper looked down and scratched his chin while thinking for a moment.

“I think Sparkplug is in her workshop at the moment. You want me to call her and ask her to come here?” The stallion asked curiously while motioning behind him to a small radio placed on the console.

“No, I’ll just head over there to see her. Besides… you know how absorbed into her work she gets. I would be surprised if she heard you over the radio.” Berry said with a slight chuckle.

“Alright then, let me know if you need anything else.” Copper said with a friendly nod as the earth pony and her three companions prepared to leave.

“Will do… alright everyone, let’s go.” Berry said while opening the door and stepping out into the hallway. Everyone followed the purple mare outside and walked with her back the way they came.

“So, how many employees do you have currently?” Twilight asked curiously while turning to Berry.

“Counting myself, there are currently five ponies working here. You already met Silver and Copper. The ones you haven’t met are Sparkplug and our resident lifeguard High Tide.” Berry Swirl explained while thinking about all of her employees.

“You have a lifeguard? Then again… I suppose that does make sense considerin’ this is a water park and all.” Applejack stated while thinking further about the matter.

“Yep, we really want to make this place as safe as possible for our guests.” Berry said with a sincere tone.

The four walked through the hallways for a while longer before Berry paused in front of another door. The door had maintenance plastered across it in white letters. There was faint music playing through the door, making the group curious as to what waited for them inside.

As Berry pushed open the door, the music got slightly louder. The group stepped inside and looked around, only to find a room much larger than the tiny security room. The area was full of shelves and tables that had items on them ranging from pieces of scrap to small tools and machines.

Twilight and her two friends walked around the room and examined the various components on the shelves and tables while Berry walked over to an opening in the back of the room that led into another section of the room. The farther they got into the room, the louder the music got. It sounded like someone was playing rock and roll music over a radio.

The four slowly found their way to the back of the room and entered into the other section. Once they got around the corner, they saw a gray earth pony mare with white hair working on what appeared to be another animatronic lying on a table. The source of the music was a small radio that sat on a table at the back of the room behind the gray pony. The mare was wearing blue coveralls that had holes on her flank to reveal her cutie mark, which consisted of two gears meshing together. She was also wearing a backwards cap that let a tuft of her hair poke through the hole in the front.

“Sparkplug!” Berry raised her voice slightly to get the mare’s attention over the music. The gray pony looked up from her work and sat the tools she was using down. She then walked over and pushed a button on the radio, shutting it off and silencing the music.

“Hey Berry, how’s it going?” Sparkplug said while walking back over to the group. She glanced over to the three strangers standing behind the purple earth pony and examined them curiously.

“Sparkplug, these are the people who are going to be staying with us this week.” Berry said while motioning towards the three.

“Howdy, I’m Applejack.” Applejack said while reaching forward and shaking the gray mare’s hoof.

“I’m Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight said while shaking Sparkplug’s hoof as well.

“And you must be the human I’ve heard so much about. Tom, isn’t it?” Sparkplug asked while holding her foreleg out in front of the human.

“Yes… Thomas Greene, or Tom for short.” Tom said while reaching forward and shaking the pony’s hoof with a friendly smirk.

“Wow… I can’t believe we actually have the human who saved Equestria staying at our park.” Sparkplug said in an amazed tone while admiring the human for a moment. The boy chuckled awkwardly while rubbing his arm. He wasn’t used to having a fan, let alone meeting one.

“Well, I didn’t really save Equestria. Twilight and the others did most of the work.” Tom said while glancing behind him at the two mares. Twilight and Applejack smirked with flattered expressions at the mention of their heroism.

“So umm… what are you working on, if you don’t mind me asking?” Twilight asked while examining the animatronic laid out on the table next to the gray mare.

The animatronic was another bipedal one around Tom’s height. It was a dog with reddish brown fur. It had freckles on its face, as well as whiskers on its elongated muzzle. Its eyes were green, much like Bonnie’s were, but this animatronic lacked the exaggerated eyelashes and red dimples on its cheeks that the others had.

“Oh, this? This guy is a new animatronic I’m working on. Made him myself… his name is Sparky.” Sparkplug explained while motioning towards the robotic animal.

“Wow, so you made this guy yourself?” Applejack asked in an impressed tone.

“Yep… well, my assistant Copper Coil helped me out a lot. I assume you met him already.” Sparkplug said while looking to Berry for a response.

“Yeah, I was actually looking for you down there.” Berry said with a playful leer.

“Sorry. I had to get some parts to fix a camera, and I got a little caught up with this guy.” Sparkplug said while motioning towards the animatronic on the table. “Hey, do you guys want to see him work?” She asked while looking at Twilight and her two friends.

“He works? I thought you were still working on him?” Twilight asked curiously.

“I’m still working out a few kinks in him, but he has all of the basics parts needed to function in place. Here, let me show you.” Sparkplug said while walking over to the other side of the table. Twilight and the others watched curiously as the gray mare went to the animal’s head and lifted it up slightly. She flipped open a panel on the back of the dog’s head and fiddled around with a few switches for a moment before closing the panel and setting its head back down.

“Sparky, wake mode.” Sparkplug said in a clear voice while stepping back from the animatronic. Suddenly, the dog’s pupils blinked red a few times. A shrill beep sounded out each time the red light blinked on and off until the lights stopped coming on and only Sparky’s normal black pupils remained.

A series of mechanical clicks sounded out as the robotic animal started moving. Twilight and Applejack backed up slightly in surprise as the dog sat up and looked around slowly. It settled its gaze on Sparkplug before pausing and remaining still.

“His A.I is really basic right now, so he can’t walk around on his own, but I can tell him to do things.” Sparkplug explained to the intrigued onlookers before turning back to the robotic dog.

“Sparky, wave to our guests.” The gray mare instructed while pointing to the group. Sparky turned his head to look at the ponies for a moment. He then slowly raised one of his arms and waved his paw left and right in a mechanical fashion before dropping his arm to his side again.

“That’s amazing. I can’t get over how good at speech recognition these things are.” Twilight said in an intrigued tone.

“Yeah, well that just goes to show you how many things you can do with magic. When you get down to it, these things are just glorified buckets of bolts. It’s their magical components that let them do all of the cool stuff.” The gray mare explained with a chuckle while tapping on the robot’s head to prove that it was, in fact, a hunk of metal.

“You want to try?” Sparkplug asked while noting how excited the unicorn seemed. Twilight looked at the gray mare with a surprised expression.

“Really? You want me to tell him to do something?” Twilight asked to clarify.

“Go ahead, give him a command. Anything you want him to do. He can walk around, you just have to tell him where to go and what to do.” Sparkplug explained while patting the robotic animal on the shoulder.

“Umm… Sparky, stand.” Twilight said in the clearest tone she could manage while looking squarely at the animatronic. The dog stared at the unicorn for a moment before starting to move in a clunky fashion. Sparky moved forward and off of the table while planting his feet on the floor. He stood up straight before turning to face the purple mare and waiting in place.

“Wow…” Twilight said in amazement while admiring the robotic animal.

“Sparky, stand on one leg.” Tom instructed with a curious tone. He was interested to see just how much these robots could do. Much to everyone’s surprise, Sparky shifted his weight over to his right leg and lifted his left leg off the ground. He waited like this for a few moments before returning to his natural stance.

“Ok… color me impressed.” Tom said with a satisfied nod.

“Sparky, speak.” Applejack said while looking at the animatronic expectantly.

“Actually that’s not such a-” Sparkplug started to speak up with a nervous expression until she was interrupted by Sparky opening his mouth and doing as he was instructed. The noise that came out of the robot was what one would expect a dog to sound like, but it was loud and distorted. On top of being loud, the sound looped back on itself, providing a double of every bark that the robot made.

Twilight and the others cringed and covered their ears to shield them from the unpleasant sound. Sparkplug quickly walked over and pounded on the robot’s back for a moment. After giving the dog a few good whacks, the sound died out and Sparky fell silent.

“Sorry about that… still working on his voice box.” Sparkplug said with a nervous chuckle.

“Well, he certainly sounds like a dog… you got that part right at least.” Applejack said while glancing at the robot with an awkward chuckle. Sparky stared back at the ponies as if his outburst had never happened at all.

“Maybe we should shelf Sparky for a while… I guess there’s a reason why he isn’t even in the system yet.” Sparkplug said while pressing down on Sparky’s shoulder to get him to sit back on the table. “Sparky, lay down.” She instructed while moving around the other side of the table. Everyone watched as the dog put his feet on the table and laid back down in the position they found him in.

“Sparky, sleep mode.” Sparkplug instructed in a clear tone. Sparky’s eyes blinked red a few times like they did when he first woke up, causing a series of beeps to sound out before falling silent as the animatronic shut down again.

“You said that Sparky isn’t in the system yet… what did you mean by that?” Twilight asked curiously.

“Oh yeah, I keep forgetting that you’re new here. Sorry, I’m not used to us getting visitors yet.” Sparkplug said with a slight chuckle while walking over to another table. She picked up a small tablet-shaped device before walking back over to the group and showing it to them.

“This is the main controls for all of the animatronics we have at the park. They are all linked together on this system to let us monitor and control them better.” Sparkplug explained while pushing a button on the side of the device. A green light lit up on the side, and before long, the screen lit up with a display that had three boxes on it. One was marked, animatronic status, another was marked park map, and the final box was marked settings. Sparkplug pressed the animatronic status button before handing the tablet off to Twilight.

Twilight looked down at the screen curiously. The screen held five boxes that had pictures of each animatronic’s head. Three of the pictures the unicorn recognized to be Bonnie, Chica, and Freddy, but two of them she had never seen before. One was what appeared to be a red cat, while the other was a white cat with pink accents. Next, to each of the pictures, there was a small colored dot that was either red or green.

“These are all of the main animatronics we have at the park. Those lights there show you which ones are currently active, and which ones are sleeping so to speak.” Sparkplug explained while pointing to each of the features on the screen.

“Here, let’s see what Bonnie is doing.” Sparkplug said while reaching over and pressing the icon that held Bonnie’s head. Another screen popped up that contained a full body image of the robotic rabbit. The gray mare tapped another box down at the bottom of the screen that said location. After a moment, another screen popped up that showed a map of the building. There was a small icon on the screen shaped like Bonnie’s head that was moving through a hallway.

“Looks like he is still helping your friends with their bags.” Berry stated while taking note of the location shown on the map.

“Wow… this is a mighty impressive setup you guys have here.” Applejack said in an amazed tone.

“So, where are the other animatronics?” Twilight asked curiously while hitting the back button on the screen. She cycled through the screens until she arrived back at the screen with the list of animatronics.

“Well, the inactive ones are in a storage room down in the basement. The active ones are scattered around the resort.” Sparkplug explained while pointing to the various animatronics.

“Hey, what are those two?” Applejack asked while pointing to the red cat and the white one with cutesy features.

“Well, that’s Felix, and that’s Party Favor.” Sparkplug explained while pointing to the red and white cats respectively. “They usually hang out in the kids’ play area.” She added while pressing their images and letting the group look at them.

The cats were another example of bipedal animatronics. Felix had red fur with a light peach coloring on his stomach and face. His eyes were yellow, and he had four whiskers on each side of his face. Party Favor looked similar to the other cat, but all of her features were overly exaggerated and cutesy. She had pink dimples on her cheeks, as well as pink accents all throughout her design. Her eyelids were pink, her lips had pink lipstick, her stomach and paw pads were all pink. Somehow, she managed to appear even more pink and feminine than Pinkie Pie, despite her main color being white.

“So, you can monitor them and give them commands from this thing?” Twilight asked curiously.

“Yep… they all have maps hardwired into their systems, so they can go to any area we tell them to. When they aren’t on orders, they usually roam around and look for guests to entertain or help out. Chica usually sticks around pool areas, Felix and Party Favor stay with the kids, Freddy usually stays on stage in the dining room, and Bonnie roams around freely.” Sparkplug explained with a cheerful smirk. She enjoyed seeing the wonder and amazement on the group’s faces as they learned about the animatronics.

“Well, if everyone is done asking questions, there is a lot more to see than just the animatronics. Why don’t I give you guys a rundown of the park?” Berry suggested in a friendly tone. Twilight glanced to Applejack to get her opinion on the matter. The orange mare nodded knowingly as she gathered that the unicorn’s curiosity was satisfied for the day as well.

“That sounds like a great idea Berry. I would love to learn my way around the park before meeting up with the others.” Twilight said with an excited smile. She couldn’t wait to dive headlong into a pool with her friends.

“Hey Berry, do you think you could show me where you have been getting the most paranormal activity? I would like to get a feel for what we’re dealing with before I chalk the rest of the day up to poolside fun.” Tom asked while glancing to the purple earth pony curiously.

“Of course…” Berry replied before turning to Sparkplug. “Sparkplug, if you aren’t too busy working the kinks out of Sparky, could you take Tom down to the basement and show him around?” She asked in a courteous tone.

“Sure thing, let me just put my tools up.” Sparkplug said while picking up the tools from the table Sparky was on and walking across the room to a shelf that held various tools and toolboxes. As the gray mare walked by a table full of assorted mechanical parts and devices, Tom’s eye caught something that intrigued him.

“Hold on a second…” The human said in a curious tone while walking forward and picking up the item that caught his attention. The object was a small box with an antenna on it that had a series of lights built into the side of it. Noticing the boy’s curiosity, Sparkplug turned around to see what he was examining. “Is this an EMF meter?” Tom asked with a slight twinge of excitement in his voice. The gray mare was caught off guard by his sudden interest in the device.

“It most certainly is… you must have a good eye if you picked that thing out so quickly.” Sparkplug stated in an impressed tone.

“For those of us who aren’t technically inclined, what is an EMF meter?” Applejack asked in a confused tone while waiting for what she hoped would be a simple explanation.

“EMF meter stands for electromagnetic field meter. This bad boy is what people without magic or the ability to sense evil use to detect ghosts. I used to love old school ghost hunting tech like this back when I was still an average human.” Tom explained with a giddy expression on his face. “Did you build this yourself? It looks custom made.” He asked while glancing over to Sparkplug. The gray mare blushed slightly and looked down in a bashful manner.

“Umm… yeah, it’s kind of a hobby of mine. I’ve always wanted to be a ghost hunter ever since I was a filly. Spirits and the supernatural just intrigue me a lot, so I made one of those rather than spending a lot of bits on one. It’s more fun to build your own tech anyway.” Sparkplug explained with a small smile building on her face.

“Does it actually work?” Twilight asked curiously while examining the small device herself.

“Well… it should. I haven’t actually been able to accurately test it. Even if it does get a reading, I can’t be sure if it’s the real deal… especially with all of the tech around this place sending out electromagnetic waves like they’re going out of style.” Sparkplug said with a disappointed shrug.

“Hmm… why don’t you let me test it for you?” Tom suggested while holding the small device in one hand.

“Really? You could do that?” Sparkplug asked in a surprised tone.

“Yeah, it would be easy. I can sense evil, so I can tell you if a reading is accurate or not. Plus, I was kind of a total ghost hunting nut when I was younger, so I know exactly how these things should work.” Tom explained with a confident smirk.

Sparkplug smiled at the human’s proposition. She was excited to be able to finally see if her hard work would pay off, or if she just had a pile of junk on her hooves. Either way, it would definitely intrigue her to watch a real ghost hunter at work.

“You’ve got yourself a deal, Mr. Greene.” Sparkplug stated with an eager smile while reaching forward and shaking the human’s hand.

“Try not to have too much fun down there Sparkplug.” Berry Swirl said with an amused chuckle while walking towards the exit with Twilight and Applejack in tow.

“I make no promises.” Sparkplug replied with a sly smirk while waving to the trio. Twilight and Applejack waved to Tom and said their goodbyes as they followed the earth pony out of the room. Tom waited for Sparkplug to finish up before following her out of the room and starting towards the basement.

Chapter 7: Settling In

As Bonnie the mechanized bunny marched through the resort, Rainbow Dash and the others followed him closely as they anticipated reaching their rooms. Once they got settled in and unpacked, the ponies could start their vacation off properly.

The animatronic animal led the group around the first floor until they reached a stairway. They walked up the stairs until they reached the third and final floor of the resort. They turned down a hallway until they suddenly found themselves walking through a stretch of rooms numbered one hundred onwards. Apparently, their rooms were still a ways to go because Bonnie showed no signs of stopping. Still, the atmosphere in the hallway was pleasant enough to make walking around the building a positive experience for the group.

The dark blue carpet beneath their hooves was soft and clean. There was a spiral design set into the carpet that repeated every few feet. This pattern was also blue, but it was a slightly lighter shade than the rest of the carpet.

Along the bottom of the walls, there was brown trim that covered all of the space on the walls save for the doors. The walls were a dim shade of white that, when combined with the calm blues and the deep browns of the rest of the décor, created a peaceful and serene atmosphere. There were brown spiral shaped shells painted onto the white wallpaper in a pattern. The shells themselves were of various sizes and orientations, but they were all brown, and they all had intricate patterns painted into their spirals.

Other than the occasional painting on the wall and a few tables with vases of flowers on them, there weren’t many other things in the way of decorations. Despite this, the hallways still managed to look fancy and luxurious, while not shoving art in the face of guests so much that it took away from the serene atmosphere.

“Wow… this place keeps getting better and better.” Applebloom said while marveling at her surroundings.

“I can’t wait to see what our rooms look like!” Sweetie Belle stated eagerly while smiling from ear to ear. Most of the group shared in the fillies’ excitement, even though they showed it in their own ways. Still, the ponies couldn’t help but wonder when they would actually reach their rooms.

“Speaking of which… how long are we going to be walking around for?” Rainbow Dash asked her friends rhetorically, only to receive shrugged shoulders and uncertain expressions. Finally, the pegasus sighed before turning her attention to the robotic animal leading her along through the hallways. “Hey Bonnie, how much farther is it to our rooms?” Rainbow asked with hopeful optimism that the animatronic would understand her. Bonnie turned his head to look behind him at the group of ponies. Although he didn’t spin his head around all the way, which would have been plenty creepy in its own right, his expressionless eyes looked a bit eerie as he stared back at them from the corner of his vision.

“We’re almost there. Your rooms are just down this hallway.” Bonnie said with his usual friendly demeanor in full swing. The ponies wondered if he was capable of sounding like anything other than an overzealous clown at a birthday party.

Satisfied with the answer given, Rainbow Dash returned to her daydreams of everything she would be doing in the next week. There was so much to do in so little time. She could swim and play around with her friends to her heart’s content, and at the end of the day she could retire to a luxurious hotel room and kick back.

While the cyan mare was adrift in her own mind, the others were happily enjoying their time together. They had been incredibly busy with their personal agendas in recent weeks, so even walking through a hallway was a good opportunity to make up for lost time.

“So, what have you guys been up to since the last time we got together?” Pinkie Pie asked curiously while glancing around at her friends to see what they had been up to.

“Well… if you must know, I have been keeping myself busy with designing a new line of summer clothing. So many ponies go to the beach and to the pool when summer rolls around, but they have nothing stylish to wear.” Rarity explained in an appalled tone. It never ceased to amaze the others how much drama could arise from clothes for the white unicorn.

“That sounds neat, but I think I could think of an even better way you could have spent that time.” Pinkie Pie said with an eager smile while getting closer to the white mare. Rarity nervously chuckled as she thought of what her friend could possibly say next. If she knew the pink mare like she thought she did, she knew that it had something to do with parties.

“Is it partying?” Rarity asked hesitantly.

“No, even better! Partying with me and everyone else!” Pinkie corrected the unicorn while grabbing Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash and pulling them into a tight hold as if she were presenting them to the white mare for reference.

Rarity shrugged. “That sounds great darling, it really does… but sometimes life gets in the way of having fun and throwing parties.” She said with a slight frown. She really would have rather spent the past weeks with her friends, but she had been so busy at the boutique that she barely had time to see her own sister, let alone anyone else.

“Well, that changes right now. We have an entire week together! We can throw a party anytime we want!” Pinkie said in an excited tone.

“Slow down there Pinkie. We have to at least get to our rooms before we think about what to do next.” Sunspot suggested while trying to keep the pink mare’s energy in check.

“Besides, I think we should keep things simple for today at least. I think a little poolside fun will be plenty of excitement for me right now.” Glitterball added.

“Alrighty then, I guess we can throw a simple party without any streamers or cake or anything like that. Ooh, we can throw a pool party. I love those!” Pinkie suggested eagerly.

“What do you qualify as a pool party?” Rarity asked curiously.

“Playing around in a pool, silly! We can play marco polo, and splash each other, and all kinds of other fun stuff.” Pinkie replied, preventing herself from going off on a lengthy tangent.

“Whatever floats your inner tube.” Sunspot said with an amused chuckle.

While they were talking, the group turned around a corner into another stretch of rooms. After walking a short ways down the hall, Bonnie stopped and turned around before setting the two suitcases he was carrying down.

“Here we are! These are the best suites in the resort! You may choose which room to stay in. They are all unlocked for the moment.” The animatronic explained while motioning towards the rooms behind him. “I will go get the rest of your bags.” He stated before walking past the group and back around the corner. The ponies looked down the empty hallway and listened to the metallic footsteps made by the robotic animal as he walked away.

“I guess he isn’t the type for small talk.” Rainbow Dash said while glancing at the others with an awkward shrug. The animatronics may have been able to produce speech and understand commands, but they were far from passing for normal. Then again, it wasn’t really their purpose to blend in.

“So, we can just pick a room and check it out?” Spike asked curiously while glancing around at the numerous doors in the hallway.

“I guess so… I got dibs on first pick!” Sunspot said while smirking and opening one of the doors to look inside. The others followed the orange pegasus as she stepped in and took a look around.

“Whoa…” Scootaloo and her two fellow crusaders exclaimed in unison as they looked around the interior of the room. Everyone else shared in their amazement as they observed their surroundings.

The room they were standing in appeared to be a living room of sorts. There were a few couches and tables dotted around the room, as well as a number of chairs. Paintings and miniature shelves full of books lined the walls, which were a light shade of blue with a darker trim about midway down that ran across the entire room. The carpet was gray, with a spiral pattern set into it that ran throughout the room.

There was a small kitchen area at the back of the room, an open bathroom on the left wall, and a doorway in the middle of the back wall that led into a bedroom. As the group walked into the bedroom, they noticed that it had three queen sized beds in it, along with a walk-in closet and a desk. There was also a window facing out into the rest of the park.

“Wow… check out that view.” Sunspot said while staring out the window with an astonished expression. Even though there wasn’t much to see beyond the park itself, the extravagant pools and water slides were a sight to behold.

“And check out these beds!” Rainbow Dash said while hopping up and plopping down on the middle bed with a relaxed groan. She stretched for a moment before admiring the cozy texture of the blankets and the soft cool pillow.

“They’re so soft.” Fluttershy said while pressing down on one of the beds with her hoof.

“And bouncy!” Pinkie Pie added while jumping up and down on the remaining bed. The pink mare was able to get some surprising height off of the springy mattress, to the point where her friends were concerned that she would bump her head on the ceiling.

Glimmer Shine smiled contentedly while looking around. “I guess I could get used to staying here for a week… why don’t we share this room, guys?” He asked while turning to his two teammates.

“I am definitely ok with that.” Sunspot replied eagerly.

“Ditto.” Glitterball added with a smirk.

“What are we waiting for? Let’s go pick out our own rooms!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed before rushing off eagerly.

“Yay!” Scootaloo and her two friends cheered while rushing to follow the cyan mare. Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy giggled before following the excited fillies out of the room while Glimmer Shine and his teammates got settled in.

As they went back out into the hallway and searched through the rooms, everyone found a room they were comfortable with. Most of the rooms were similar, but they all had a varying number of beds. Some of them even had two bedrooms with two beds each.

After a rousing few minutes of everyone claiming rooms and playfully arguing over who would be staying where, the ponies came to a consensus as to who would be lodging together. Thanks to the number of rooms with several beds, they wouldn’t have to occupy that many rooms.

Applejack and Rarity would be sharing a room with their two siblings and Scootaloo. Although the white unicorn wasn’t too keen on sleeping in the same room as her orange friend and three fillies for a week, she was hopeful that everything would sort itself out and Applejack would agree to it when she got back from the tour of the resort. There were four beds in the room, so at least two of the fillies would have to share a bed. After delegating for a few minutes, the crusaders decided that Scootaloo would get a bed to herself while Applebloom and Sweetie Belle would be sharing the remaining bed.

Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash decided to stay in the same room together. Pinkie was already getting excited with all of the games she could play while spending time in the room with her friends before everyone went to bed. Somehow, she still found the time to unpack while fantasizing about all of her plans.

Spike found a room with three beds that he could share with Twilight and Tom. He would have to show it to them after they got back from whatever they were doing downstairs. The young dragon enlisted the help of Glitterball to assist him with unpacking the unicorn and the human’s bags as well as his own.

After everyone got settled in, they decided to start getting ready to head to the nearest pool. Pinkie Pie had her snorkel and flippers ready, along with some colorful floaties. Everyone else merely brought standard swimming gear.

The group gathered out in the hallway, but they quickly realized that they had no idea where they were going. Everything they traveled through thus far was a mess of hallways with barely anything in between for context.

“I don’t suppose anyone saw a map when we were walking?” Sunspot asked sarcastically while glancing around at the group.

“Not exactly… but I might have something better.” Rainbow Dash said while looking down the hallway. She noticed a familiar animatronic rabbit walking over with the remaining luggage from downstairs.

“Bonnie, can you tell us how to get to the nearest pool?” Rainbow asked in a clear tone while walking over to the robotic animal. The blue bunny paused and looked at the cyan mare before setting one of the bags down and pointing down the hallway.

“Go down this hallway and follow the next one down to the stairs. Go to the first floor, head left and the pool is the fifth door on your right.” Bonnie explained in an instructive tone. After he was done addressing the pegasus, he picked the bag back up and continued walking.

“Oh, and before I forget… Bonnie, could you tell Silver Bell that we’re staying in rooms one-hundred and fifteen, one hundred and seventeen, and one hundred and eighteen?” Rainbow Dash asked in a polite tone, despite the fact that she was talking to a machine. It felt odd for her to talk like she was addressing an actual sentient being when talking to the robotic rabbit.

“I’ll be sure to do that right away!” Bonnie replied cheerfully before setting the bags down and walking away. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy took the bags into their room before walking back out to join the others.

“Well… you heard the five-foot tall mechanical talking rabbit… let’s go!” Sunspot stated while starting her way down the hall. Everyone cheered in agreement before following the orange pegasus as she marched onwards.

Everyone walked through the hallways as instructed until they came to a stairway. They walked down the steps until they reached the first floor, where they turned left. As they counted the doors on their right, they noticed a set of double doors with blurry glass windows set into them. Through the doors, there was a room with a large rectangular pool, as well as two figures inside.

“This looks like the place.” Pinkie Pie stated while peering inside of the pool area.

“Looks like there is someone in there already…” Rainbow Dash noted while glancing between the two silhouettes in the room. One was shaped like a pony, while the other was another figure around Tom’s height.

“That must be another one of the animatronics.” Rarity said in a curious tone while observing the bipedal figure. She couldn’t see much more than the color yellow on the figure, so she gathered that it must have been the chicken animatronic she saw from the flyer.

“Well, let’s head inside. I’m sure whoever is in there won’t mind.” Sunspot suggested while reaching for the door handle. Everyone nodded in agreement as they watched the orange pegasus push the door open.

As the group stepped inside and took a look around, they smiled as they came across the usual peaceful atmosphere that any pool had before the commotion of ponies playing and swimming filled the air. The floor was made out of hard tiles that felt cold on the group’s hooves. The tiles were white, with blue tiles mixed in every few feet in a diagonal pattern. There were several white lounge chairs with mesh bodies strewn around the pool. Next to each set of chairs, there were white tables that held blue towels on top of them. There was a door to a storage closet on the wall to the right, and next to the door there was a small dial. The dial most likely controlled the hot tub that was nestled into the corner of the room.

The smell of chlorine filled the air, combining with the soft sound of water splashing to create the unmistakable aura of a pool. Light shimmered and reflected along the sides of the pool as it bounced off of the tiny ripples and waves. In the ceiling, there were a series of dome-shaped lights that had decorative casings of glass with designs set into them. These lights offered the entirety of the light in the room due to the lack of windows, but they were enough to create a comfortable level of lighting.

“Wow… this place is cool!” Sweetie Belle announced with an eager smile as she looked around the pool.

As they looked around, the group noticed the two figures from before looking back at them with equal curiosity. One was a tan earth pony stallion with brown hair. He was wearing a white tank top and red swim shorts that covered up his cutie mark. He also had a whistle hanging around his neck by a string.

The other figure, as expected, wasn’t a living creature, at least not in the typical way of describing one. A bipedal chicken animatronic was standing on the other side of the pool. She appeared to be female judging from the pink dimples on her face and her exaggerated eyelashes. She had a yellow colored body, with an orange beak and a set of white teeth that helped her to form a cheerful smile. She was also wearing a similar white tank top and red swim shorts that the stallion was wearing, only her tank top had brightly colored lifesavers on it and the words “let’s swim!” printed across it. The chicken also had a red lifesaver under her arm.

Upon noticing the group entering, the tan stallion walked over to them with a friendly smile on his face. He carefully walked around the corner of the pool and stepped up to the group of ponies watching him curiously.

“Hello, sir.” Rarity greeted the stallion on behalf of the group while stepping forward.

“Hi… you must be that group that Berry said was coming today, am I right?” The stallion asked curiously.

“You most certainly are. My friends came here to help solve your special problem, and we tagged along with them.” Rarity explained in a friendly manner while looking back at Glimmer Shine and his two teammates.

“Well, I’m glad you’re here. All of these strange occurrences have been starting to creep us out, so it’s nice to see someone who can take care of them for us. I’m High Tide. I’m the lifeguard here at the park.” The stallion introduced himself while reaching out his foreleg to shake the group’s hooves. Everyone stepped forward and introduced themselves while accepting his gesture.

“So you’re the only lifeguard here? That must be pretty tough.” Rainbow Dash said in an intrigued tone.

“Yeah, I’m the only one here… at least for the moment. I do have some help, however.” High Tide explained while turning to look at the animatronic chicken across the room. “That’s one of our famous animatronics over there. I assume Berry told you a little bit about them when she brought you here?” He asked curiously.

“She told us the basics about them. That one is Chica isn’t it?” Rarity asked while recalling what Twilight called the robotic animal earlier.

High Tide nodded. “That’s right. She helps me keep an eye on things around the park to make sure everyone is safe.”

“How does she do that?” Glitterball asked curiously while observing the mechanical chicken from afar. Chica stared back at the group as they stared at her, all the while standing still as if they were merely a slight distraction from her usual routine.

“Her A.I works a little differently than the other animatronics. She is patched into all of the security cameras around the park. If she spots someone in distress, she will send all the information I need to a pager I usually keep on me.” High Tide explained to the eagerly listening crowd. Everyone was intrigued by the capabilities of the mechanical mascots.

“Can she still follow orders and talk to people like Bonnie can?” Rainbow Dash asked while looking at Chica curiously.

“Sort of… she will interact with guests and talk to them when spoken to, but she doesn’t have the ability to understand complex orders right now. Our maintenance pony is still tweaking with her A.I to make it on par with the other animatronics we have. Here, let me show you.” High Tide stated before turning to the robot. “Chica, come here.” He raised his voice to carry across the room better.

Chica raised her head and turned her body to better face the group of ponies. She then started walking over to them. As she walked, her head barely moved and she didn’t even blink. She seemed to be missing the slight mannerisms that Bonnie had to make him appear slightly more realistic, like looking around at random or moving his body in a different way each time he moved.

Once the animatronic reached the group, she stopped and stood still without saying a word. She looked down at High Tide as if to wait for more orders, but otherwise, she didn’t show any sign of paying attention to the ponies.

Applebloom giggled cheerfully as she looked up at the robotic chicken. Even if Chica didn’t act nearly as lifelike as Bonnie did, the filly still liked her. Back when she saw the flyer with the robotic animals on it, she never expected to see them walking around and talking to her.

Noticing the filly staring up at the animatronic with a cheerful smile, High Tide smirked warmly. He knelt down to get at eye level with the yellow filly before speaking up. “Hey, what’s your name?” The stallion asked in a friendly tone.

Applebloom looked over to the tan pony with a curious expression. “Applebloom.” The filly said with a slight expression of confusion. She wondered why the stallion asked her for her name specifically.

High Tide stood up before turning to the animatronic and looking up at her. “Chica, say hi to Applebloom for me.” The tan pony instructed in a clear tone. A slight mechanical noise sounded out as Chica looked down to the yellow filly. As if a switch were flipped, the robotic chicken blinked and fluttered her eyes before bending down and placing her hands on her knees in a cutesy fashion. She seemed to be acting much more lively now, perhaps as some sort of routine she followed when talking to guests.

“Hello Applebloom, how are you doing today?” Chica asked in a friendly tone before tilting her head curiously. Her voice had the same robotic distortion that Bonnie did, but her voice was that of a higher pitched female to match with her appearance.

“Hehe... I’m fine.” Applebloom chuckled as a giddy smile formed on her face. She knew that the creature in front of her was nothing more than a mechanical puppet, but she still felt warm and fuzzy inside from hearing it address her by name.

Everyone smiled warmly as they watched the filly interacting with the animatronic. They couldn’t help but to sit back and watch as Applebloom spoke to the chicken like she was real.

“Wow… she’s really nice.” Applebloom stated while shifting her attention from the robotic animal for a moment.

“All of our animatronics are designed to treat our guests nicely.” High Tide said in response before turning back to Chica. “Chica, go down to the storage room and enter sleep mode. I think you’ve had enough excitement for today.” The stallion instructed in a clear tone.

Chica got up and walked towards the door. Her movements returned to being choppy and straightforward as she focused more on completing her given order rather than appearing realistic.

“Aww…” Applebloom frowned slightly as she watched the animatronic leaving out of the double doors.

“Sorry about that. Chica can say a few different greetings, but she can’t do much else other than monitoring the park for now. If you want someone to play with you, maybe you should check out the play area sometime. There are two more animatronics that stay in there, and they can interact much better with you than Chica could.” High Tide explained in a sympathetic tone.

“That sounds like a good idea… maybe we could go down there tomorrow.” Applebloom said while pondering about the matter eagerly. She would have to ask her sister about it the next time she saw her.

“Well, I’ll leave you guys to have some fun. If you need anything, I’ll be across the hall in the break room.” High Tide said while walking over to the door. Everyone nodded and waved as the stallion exited the room, leaving them alone.

Rainbow Dash looked around and smirked as she realized that nobody was looking. She was prepared to make the best of having fun in the pool, and she was eager to kick things off properly. “Last one in’s a rotten egg!” The cyan mare exclaimed while taking a running jump into the pool. Everyone cringed as water splashed into their faces from the pegasus’s impact. Scootaloo and her two fellow crusaders glanced to each other with wry smirks before scrambling to be the next ones in the water.

“Woohoo!” Pinkie Pie cheered while hopping into the pool after the fillies. Glimmer Shine and Sunspot bolted forward with an amused chuckle while trying to beat each other into the water. Glitterball unstrapped her strobe from her leg and levitated it over to a nearby table along with her two teammates’ strobes before hopping in.

Meanwhile, Rarity was still flinching her eyes closed as wave after wave of water hit her in the face. She was prepared to get herself wet, but she had hoped to ease into it at her own pace. As she sputtered and blew the wet strands of hair out of her eyes, she realized that her plans were apparently too slow for the others. She also realized that she was the last one in, and would be named the proverbial rotten egg.

“Ugh… I wish there was a way to enjoy a pool without endless hours spent fixing my hair afterward. Oh well…” The white unicorn shrugged before holding her breath and jumping in after her friends. Everyone cheered and laughed eagerly as they started to swim around and splash each other.

Meanwhile down in the basement of the resort, Sparkplug was leading Tom around to show him the areas where the strange activity had been experienced. As she walked through the darkened hallways, the gray mare flipped on light switches to turn on the lights further ahead.

“This place is really big, especially considering how few people are working here.” Tom noted while looking around at the many doorways to their sides.

“Berry plans on expanding the staff once we get more up to speed.” Sparkplug replied.

Tom nodded with an intrigued expression while looking at the gray mare beside him. “So how long will it be before you guys can open up the park?” He asked curiously.

“Well… we still have a lot of work to do on the animatronics. Most of the park itself is already functional. We just need to touch up some things here and there, but the animatronics still have a ways to go before they are ready for the public.” Sparkplug explained while thinking about the matter further.

“They seemed to work just fine to me… well, other than Sparky. But you are building him from scratch, so a few bugs are to be expected.” Tom stated with a slight cringe while thinking back to the mechanical dog.

Sparkplug tilted her head. “Well, you did only see Bonnie to be fair. He is the most complete out of the bunch. None of them are broken or anything mind you, but other than Bonnie, they can’t handle doing everything at once. Chica only monitors the pools for safety purposes. Party Favor and Felix work well with interacting with guests, but don’t do so great with anything else. And Freddy… well, he just knows how to go to and from the stage and entertain guests with prerecorded songs.” She explained each animatronic as best she could.

“So the idea is for all of them to be able to do everything at once.” Tom said as he caught on to what the mare was explaining.

Sparkplug nodded cheerfully. “Exactly.”

Before anyone could say anything else, the gray mare paused and opened a door on the right labeled “parts and storage”. The human followed the pony inside before taking a look around the dimly lit room for himself.

The room was an open space with tables and shelves lining the walls. The shelves were full of animatronic parts ranging from arms or random pieces of metallic gray endoskeletons to empty heads belonging to a range of animatronics that Tom hadn’t even seen yet. Scattered among the tables were full endoskeletons laid out across them. The endoskeletons had jaws full of blocky teeth and stock eyes that looked entirely different from the eyes on the finished animatronics.

Sitting up against the right wall were two inactive animatronics that were slumped over and motionless. One of the animatronics was a pony shaped brown bear with a black bow tie and a top hat. He had a microphone clutched in one of his front paws. Tom recognized this animatronic to be Freddy.

The other animatronic was a bipedal cat with red fur. He had a lighter peach coloring running down his stomach and on his face. He was wearing a bright red bowtie on his chest similar to what Bonnie was wearing.

“Are those Freddy and Felix?” Tom asked curiously.

“Yep, this is where the animatronics go when they are inactive. This is also where we store the spare endoskeletons and parts.” Sparkplug explained while flipping a light switch on. Two overhead lights flickered on, bathing the room in light.

“So that’s what they look like on the inside.” Tom said while observing two of the endoskeletons on a nearby table. One of the metal frames was built for a bipedal style of animatronic, while the other one was roughly shaped like a pony.

“Yep… they’re kind of unsightly without the friendly looking shells on aren’t they?” Sparkplug asked with a slight nervous chuckle while looking at the bare endoskeletons. The way that their eyes and teeth stood out from the dull gray frames that made up their body was rather disturbing. The pony shaped endoskeleton especially seemed creepy to the human, perhaps due to him still being used to his own physiology.

“Yeah… you could say that.” Tom said with raised eyebrows while staring at the two endoskeletons in surprise.

“Well if it makes you feel better, those endoskeletons don’t even have A.I programmed into them yet. They’re nothing but hunks of junk right now.” Sparkplug said in an attempt at lightening the mood. She picked up the bipedal endoskeleton’s arm and let it flop back down onto the table to prove that they were, in fact, lifeless.

Tom tilted his head curiously while looking over the bipedal endoskeleton. “Why do you guys have humanoid animatronics anyway? Freddy seems to be the only one that is modeled after a pony.” He asked while glancing over to the motionless bear leaning against the wall.

Sparkplug paused briefly in thought. “Well… to be honest, we just carried on where Berry’s father and grandfather left off. Most of the notes on how to make these guys came from their combined work, so we just made some models based on what they were trying to do. I guess they figured that bipedal robots would be able to do more around the park. They are a little easier to work on for sure. That’s most of the reason why we’ve been having trouble getting Freddy up and running like the rest of them. Silver Bell helped me out a little bit, but she could only do so much. Without a professional unicorn to help me out, we can’t do much to fix his A.I. and improve all of the others, and we definitely can’t make more pony shaped animatronics or animatronics in general without fresh parts. I was lucky to find the parts needed for Sparky when I started making him. I guess we will have to wait until Berry hires someone to help out before perfecting the animatronics.” She explained in a troubled tone.

Satisfied with the answer given, the human nodded before returning his attention to the room itself. “I assume you didn’t just take me here for fun?” Tom asked while getting back to why he was down in the basement in the first place.

“Nope, I didn’t. This is one of the places where we heard the voices. I’ve also noticed a few parts move from where I put them last, and I know nopony else touched them.” Sparkplug explained while looking around the room curiously.

“Hmm…” Tom muttered, walking around the room while deep in thought. “Are you sure that the voices aren’t just a malfunctioning voice box?” The human asked while glancing to the shelves full of parts.

“I’m positive. None of the spare voice boxes here are connected to a power supply. Not only that, but we’ve heard the voices in other locations too, with no animatronics or any other voice boxes nearby.” Sparkplug replied confidently.

“Alright, just checking to be sure… you would be surprised at how many ghost hauntings turned out to be fake in the human world. Most people get freaked out by the smallest random noise in a spooky old house and are convinced that it’s haunted.” Tom said with a slight chuckle.

“Well, there weren’t exactly that many real ghosts in Equestria… at least until you showed up and stopped those hooded ponies.” Sparkplug said.

“I’m sure there were a few paranormal things in Equestria before the hooded ponies performed all of their rituals, but there are a lot more now that all of that energy got released.” Tom explained with a slight shrug of disappointment.

“Huh… I would have thought you would be thrilled to have more monsters to fight?” Sparkplug asked lightheartedly.

“To be quite honest, I would be fine if monsters up and went extinct. My reason for being here might be to fight evil, but that doesn’t mean that I would prefer to do it.” Tom stated in a somber tone. The gray mare was unsure of what to say in response to the boy’s words. The two sat in silence for a moment before they returned their attention to the business at hand.

Tom flipped a switch on the side of the EMF meter, causing the red lights on top to light up as a shrill tone filled the air. The human walked around while using his senses, comparing what he was feeling to what the red lights on the machine were telling him. As he walked around with the small device, more of the red lights lit up in certain places, causing the tone being emitted to change in pitch slightly.

Sparkplug stood back and watched with an intrigued expression as the boy walked around. “Are you getting something?” She asked eagerly while watching the boy walking towards the door slowly. He seemed to be following something using his senses while also looking at the EMF meter to see how it was reacting.

“I’m picking up a faint trail of energy leading out into the hallway, but it’s too small for the machine to detect. This room is full of ambient energy, which the meter seems to be picking up just fine. All in all, I would say it works like a charm.” Tom said before switching the meter off and handing it over to the gray mare. Sparkplug was pleased to hear that her device worked, but she was also curious about the human’s statement.

“A trail of energy leading outside? What, like a ghost trail?” Sparkplug asked curiously.

“Sort of… The energy I’m picking up right now is ambient, meaning that it isn’t attached to any active entity. It could have been left behind from a ghost moving around in the area, but it could also have been left behind a long time ago. It’s hard to say what the cause of it is at the moment, but I’m going to try and follow it to the source.” Tom explained while opening the door and stepping out into the hallway. Sparkplug turned off the light in the room before following the human outside and closing the door behind her.

Instead of the gray mare leading the human around, their roles had now switched as Tom took the lead. Sparkplug watched curiously as the boy exhaled blue mist from his mouth every few moments. A shrill and slightly eerie hiss followed each puff of mist. The display was strange and intriguing to the pony, and certainly unlike anything she had ever seen before.

“How do your senses work?” Sparkplug asked curiously. The boy was a little surprised by her question. He hadn’t been asked anything about his abilities since he first arrived in Equestria. Still, he decided that he would try to answer her as best he could.

“Well… it’s kind of complicated to explain to someone who doesn’t have them. Imagine trying to explain colors to a person that has been blind since birth.” Tom said while trying to think of an elegant way to describe his powers.

Sparkplug cringed slightly while thinking about such a task. “I guess that would be pretty hard. You could always give me the simplified version if you want.” She suggested in a helpful tone.

“Basically, I can feel a lot of different things whenever I use my senses. I can pick up on energy traces that have been left several days in the past, and I can pick up current energy signatures left by something recently, and I can usually tell the difference between the two. I can also feel different things about what monster I’m hunting. This allows me to determine what monster it is before I even see it. Even if I have never come across the monster before, I can sometimes figure out what it’s like if I feel aspects of its energy that are familiar to me.” Tom explained as clearly as he could.

“What do you mean by that?” Sparkplug asked in a confused tone. She was trying her hardest to follow along with the human’s logic, but she was having trouble understanding everything he said.

“Like for instance… if I run across a shadow creature I’ve never seen before, I would be able to tell that it’s a shadow creature from a distance based on how it feels to me.” Tom said in an attempt at simplifying his lengthy explanation.

“Hmm… that must come in handy when you’re hunting something.” Sparkplug nodded with an intrigued tone.

“Oh, definitely… my senses also let me know if there is something evil in the area that I don’t know about. They really make my job a lot easier.” Tom stated with a slight smirk.

Sparkplug paused and looked to the boy with a curious expression. “If your senses tell you if there is something you don’t know about, then why aren’t they telling you about where these ghosts are?”

“Well, my senses only go off defensively if there is a sudden change in energy that I’m not aware of. Like for instance, if there was a monster behind me about to rip me to shreds, my senses would go off without my influence to warn me about the danger. Every time I use my senses, the area directly around me is what I can feel most vividly. I have to concentrate and use my senses multiple times to scope out a larger area.” Tom said before turning his attention back to his search.

“Wow… that is pretty cool. I’ll bet the princess must be incredibly relieved knowing that she has you to help protect Equestria.” Sparkplug stated in an amazed tone.

“At the end of the day, I’m just one of the many tools that the princess has at her disposal to keep Equestria safe. I do whatever I can to make sure that nothing evil can thrive in this world, and in return, the princess makes sure that I never run out of things to slay.” Tom said in a sincere manner. The gray mare could tell that he took his job very seriously from the passion in his voice.

Before Sparkplug could ask any more questions, Tom paused with a curious expression and looked around. He used his senses a few more times while glancing around in an almost confused manner as if he were looking for something.

“I’m feeling something underneath us… is there anything down there I should know about?” The human asked curiously, half expecting the park to have been built on an ancient graveyard or something else along those lines.

“Umm… yeah, there are a few rooms underneath us that are left over from when Berry’s grandfather tried to make an expansion to the building.” Sparkplug said while recalling from memory anything that might be lower than the basement.

“Could you take me down there? I think whatever ghosts you might have are coming from there.” Tom said while using his senses again to confirm his suspicions.

“Sure, just let me stop by a supply closet to grab a flashlight. Some of the lights don’t work down there… We haven’t really been down there since we got here, so it’s in a state of disrepair.” Sparkplug explained while walking down a fork in the hallway. She walked over to a door and opened it before rifling around in the small opening. Once she found what she was looking for, she closed the door before walking back over to the human with a flashlight. “Follow me.” Sparkplug said while walking down the hallway. Tom followed the gray mare as instructed.

The two walked for a few moments before reaching the end of the hallway. Sparkplug turned left and walked up to a door at the end of the shorter hallway that waited for her. The door had a small window set into it that looked like any door to a stairwell would.

Once Sparkplug opened the door, she flipped on the flashlight and walked inside before waiting for the human to join her. As Tom peered over the metal bars that served as the railing to the tight stairway, he noticed several cobwebs and lines of dust on the segmented metal steps. The stairs descended downwards until they reached a concrete floor that was covered in more dust. It almost looked like a storm cellar that had been left to accumulate dust and debris over the years.

“Yikes… you weren’t kidding when you said state of disrepair were you?” Tom asked in an amazed tone.

“I hope you don’t have asthma… or a fear of spiders.” Sparkplug said with a slight awkward chuckle before walking down the stairs.

Tom chuckled at the mare’s words before pausing as he realized what she just said. “Wait… what was that about spiders?” The human asked with a slight twinge of nervousness. Sparkplug ignored his question as she descended the staircase.

Each step the pair made rang out as their feet clanged against the metal stairs. The sound reverberated off of the walls in the small stairwell, creating an echo that made it sound like they were descending into something of far greater importance than an extension to a building.

Once they reached the bottom, Sparkplug opened up another door with a window set into it and stepped inside. Tom followed her as she walked out into what appeared to be another hallway, but this one was vastly different from the one upstairs.

The entire area was pitch black. There were a few lights scattered along the ceiling with broken or missing fixtures, but if what Sparkplug said earlier was true, they didn’t work. There were rooms dotted along the sides of the corridor, but they were missing doors. As the human and the mare walked through the dusty hallway and looked inside of each room they passed, they only saw half-finished rooms full of old and forgotten items. There seemed to be construction tools in some of the rooms, but they were left as they were, as if whatever workers were using them just left in a hurry and forgot them.

“So you said this area was supposed to be an extension of the building?” Tom asked curiously while glancing around at the aged rooms around him.

“Yeah, apparently Berry’s granddad tried to make an underground section for the resort. It would give the resort more rooms and allow for more attraction space.” Sparkplug explained.

“Oh yeah, this place was a park even back then wasn’t it?” Tom asked curiously.

“Right… After the theme park closed down, Berry’s grandfather and great grandfather wanted so badly to return the park to its roots, but they couldn’t just rebuild it with everything that happened. There wasn’t enough free space left on the property that didn’t get damaged by the earthquake.” Sparkplug said while thinking back to the story Berry told her of her grandfather and his dreams.

“So their solution was to build down?” Tom asked in a surprised tone. He would never have figured that a theme park owner in Equestria could take on such a task.

“Yeah, I guess so. Berry’s great-grandfather retired shortly after building this place with his son. It was Berry’s grandfather that decided to build down here. His original idea was to make a small extension to the resort and build as many attractions as he could underground, but he didn’t get very far with the actual construction of anything other than the layout.” Sparkplug explained while looking around and picturing what the musty hallways she was walking through could have been used for.

Tom shook his head in disbelief. “A miniature theme park built underneath a water resort? That sounds like a rather ambitious project.” He said with an amazed expression while looking around. He wouldn’t have believed such a thing to exist if he wasn’t seeing it with his own eyes.

“Well, Berry’s grandfather was an ambitious pony. Being the son of one of the most successful theme park owners in Equestria didn’t hurt either.” Sparkplug said with a slight chuckle.

“So what happened? I assume that everything didn’t go according to plan.” Tom said while looking around at the disrepair around him. It looked like the entire area was simply unfinished.

“Well… everything was going according to plan for a while. Cotton Swirl, Berry’s grandfather, had everything running smoothly. He had plans to build a few walk-in attractions that would bring in the crowds, and he even started working on animatronics down there using a few of the rooms as workshops. Then a roof caved in on the floor below this one… It killed a lot of workers and destroyed a lot of the work they had down there. Berry’s grandfather gave up after that… he even gave up on the resort entirely. The resort would have closed down sooner if Berry’s dad didn’t take over.” Sparkplug explained sadly.

“Why did Berry’s dad close down the park anyway?” Tom asked curiously.

“I don’t know… he never really told anyone, not even Berry. I guess the weight of everything happening must have eventually gotten to him. Most people thought him and his family were cursed with bad luck. Maybe he didn’t want any tragic events happening around Berry or anyone else. I mean… between the earthquake and the roof collapsing, they were pretty accident prone.” Sparkplug said in response, shifting her eyes down sadly at the thought of her friend’s family having such misfortune.

“That sounds horrible…” Tom said before thinking about the matter further. “I don’t suppose that’s the reason why there are ghosts here now?” He asked curiously.

“Maybe… I would imagine having a building topple down on your head would make you a little irritable in the afterlife.” Sparkplug said in agreement to the boy’s reasoning.

“Hey… if the place caved in on itself, wouldn’t that make this entire building unsafe?” Tom asked uneasily.

“That’s what we thought too, but apparently it’s fine. Berry’s dad had the place looked at before he decided to pick up the torch so to speak, and the hole that was created got filled in with all of the rubble. As long as no one digs down there anymore, it should be perfectly fine. We’re having some surveyors come out to assess the place in a few weeks just to be safe, though.” Sparkplug explained.

Tom was going to ask another question until his eye caught something over to the side. By the time he looked over to see what it was, Sparkplug moved the flashlight to where the light didn’t reach the area the human was looking at.

“Hold up for a second, I think I saw something in that room.” Tom stated while hanging back in the darkness. Sparkplug paused and turned around before walking over to the boy and shining the light into the room he was pointing to. What he saw inside the room made the human jump slightly in fright.

Lying in a crumpled heap on the floor was what appeared to be an animatronic bunny similar to Bonnie. It had the same blue and white coloring that the robotic animal from upstairs had, but it looked incredibly run down and decrepit.

The bunny’s normally colorful shell was faded and cracked in several places. The metal endoskeleton underneath managed to show through numerous holes in the body. Several wires poked out around its limbs and head. Its entire right hand had worn away, revealing the metallic skeleton in its entirety. Rust and grime covered several places, along with dust and cobwebs. The robot’s jaw was broken, causing it to slant oddly. Its face had a large crack going down one of the eyes, which were shaded by darkness, making it appear as though they were missing entirely. One of the ears on top of its head was bent in a manner that made it obvious that it was broken, and the other ear was completely gone. The animal’s teeth also had a buildup of some sickly looking yellow substance on them.

“Mother damn!” Tom exclaimed in a frightful outburst at seeing the disturbing appearance of the robot so suddenly.

Sparkplug tried to stifle a chuckle. “Sorry. I guess I should have let you know that was down here.” She said with a sympathetic expression while watching the human catching his breath.

“What is that?” Tom asked while recomposing himself to get a better look at the animatronic.

“We found that when we first came down here. We’re pretty sure it’s an older model of Bonnie from back when Berry’s grandfather ran the place. I was going to salvage it for parts, but most of it is so broken and obsolete that it’s useless. I guess we never got around to throwing it away.” Sparkplug explained while walking up to the motionless hunk of metal and kicking one of its legs pensively.

“Are there any more old models I should know about before my heart explodes?” Tom asked while breathing an anxious sigh.

“Nope… that’s the only one we could find. The other animatronics must have been down in the next floors when everything collapsed. They weren’t exactly used in public very often back then. Berry’s grandfather was working on them as more of a hobby, so not many of them ever made it outside. Maybe he was afraid that they would scare people like you.” Sparkplug said with an amused chuckle. She didn’t like laughing at the boy’s misfortune, but he made it so hard to keep a straight face.

“I wonder why…” Tom muttered sarcastically. “Let’s get moving then, shall we?” He asked while stepping out of the room in a hurry to get away from the disturbing relic on the floor. Sparkplug giggled under her breath before following the boy and shining her light back down the hall.

Before long, the pair came to the end of the hallway. The corridor opened up into a larger area that felt more like a room than the end to a hall. Directly in front of them was a large shelf placed in the middle of the wall. Oddly enough, there weren’t any other shelves or any other pieces of furniture in the area to indicate that a shelf even belonged there.

Tom walked up to the shelf curiously and knelt down. He could just barely feel a cool breeze coming from underneath it. After using his senses a few times, he concluded that the room didn’t just end here. There should have been another section to it somewhere.

“I feel a draft here… I think there’s something behind this shelf.” Tom stated as he prepared to move the large obstacle.

Sparkplug stepped in front of the boy to save him some trouble. “Don’t bother. I already know what’s back there. There are a few more hallways and rooms and then there’s a stairway leading down into the rest of the old building. Berry’s dad told her to never go in there because of how dangerous it is, and Berry told us to do the same. Apparently, the floor is collapsed in there and there is nothing but a blocked off room full of rubble downstairs.” She explained.

Tom stopped what he was doing and looked at the shelf curiously. “Alright then… I should be able to get rid of the ghosts without going in there anyway. From the feel of it, there is some ambient energy down there, but all of the active stuff is around here.” He stated with a confident expression.

“Isn’t it a little weird that all of the ghosts are up here?” Sparkplug asked curiously.

“I guess… I expected to find a lot more energy down there, but there isn’t anything other than trace elements from when the collapse must have happened. I can’t even really tell the layout of the next floor from how little energy there is.” Tom said while scratching his head curiously. Any tragic event like an underground cave-in that claimed a lot of lives should have been a hotbed for paranormal energy, but there wasn’t anything more than the signs of a few wayward spirits.

“Sooo… are you done looking down here? This place gives me the creeps.” Sparkplug stated with a slight shudder.

“Yeah, I guess I am. I can look down here more when I clear the place out tomorrow with the others.” Tom said in an understanding tone. He knew the gray mare must have been feeling uncomfortable in such a dismal location.

Sparkplug smiled gratefully before turning to walk back down the hallway. Tom followed the pony as she walked back towards the exit to the dusty and forgotten corridor. He would have to tell Glimmer Shine and the others what to expect when they finally stopped playing around and actually did what they came here to do, but for now, the human would have to join them in enjoying their vacation.

Chapter 8: Poolside Fun

“Wow… Look at this place.” Applejack said in an amazed tone while taking in the sights. The orange mare and her unicorn friend were following Berry Swirl around the park outside. The three ponies were walking along the outer edge of a large circular pool. The pool had crystal clear water, so clear that a stylized sun could be seen painted on the bottom of it.

Twilight marveled at the various water fountains and colorful decorations. “This is certainly living up to my expectations… in fact, it’s even better than I remember.” She said with an impressed nod.

Berry Swirl raised an eyebrow in surprise as she looked to the unicorn. “You’ve been here before?” She asked curiously.

“Yeah… my parents took me here to celebrate when I passed my magic exam.” Twilight explained cheerfully as memories came flooding back to her.

The purple earth pony smiled as she saw the unicorn having a nostalgia trip. She was pleased to see that the park could still make people happy. “Well, I’m glad to hear I’ve done such a good job of sprucing the place up… especially from someone who’s been here before.” Berry added.

“So, what did you do back when your dad owned the place?” Applejack asked, looking around at the water slides and pools with an intrigued expression.

Berry paused for a moment to recall her past. “I mostly just played around and helped my dad tinker with the animatronics. Well… I say helped, but it was more like I watched him work on them. He got his love of working on them from his father. He would always say that they would be ready to roll out into the park and replace the older models in no time, but he never got to finish them.” She explained with a dejected sigh.

“Well, you did a great job at picking up where he left off.” Twilight said in a reassuring tone. She flashed a brief smile as the earth pony brightened her expression back to normal.

“Right, sorry… I try not to ramble on about my past, but I get all nostalgic sometimes when walking around this place.” Berry said with a brief chuckle to wave off any somber thoughts lingering in the air. It was easy to see how someone like her would be close friends with Pinkie Pie in the past.

“That makes two of us.” Twilight added with a cheerful smirk.

After sharing a quick bout of warm happiness, the three mares fell silent while looking around at the park around them. The soft trickling of water fountains splashing into the various pools and slides filled the air, creating a peaceful atmosphere that enveloped the ponies.

Berry Swirl cleared her throat and rubbed her foreleg awkwardly. “I guess that’s pretty much it for the tour. You’ve seen the entire park by this point.” She gestured around with her hoof.

“Well, thanks for showin’ us around Berry.” Applejack said cheerfully.

“Yeah, we really appreciate the opportunity to see the place.” Twilight added in a friendly manner.

“Oh, of course, it was my pleasure. Now, why don’t you two go run along and have some fun? Maybe find your friends and go find a pool to jump in?” Berry suggested with a bubbly smile.

“That sounds like a great idea… I wonder where they would be, though.” Twilight pondered out loud with a pensive expression.

Berry took a moment to think of a possible answer herself while the two mares tried to figure out where their friends might be. “Umm… you might want to check with Silver Bell. If Bonnie knows where they went, she can call him over for you so you can ask him.” She suggested.

“Thanks.” Twilight said with a grateful smile.

After waving goodbye to the purple earth pony, Twilight and Applejack walked back towards the main building. Once they made their way back through the park, the two ponies found themselves facing the resort building again.

Opening the glass door and stepping into the lobby, the two could already see Silver Bell standing behind the front desk. The cream pony was leaning against the desk with her front legs while facing away from the two approaching mares and talking to a familiar animatronic rabbit.

As she noticed the pair walking into the lobby, Silver turned and got off of the desk before smiling and walking over to the two ponies. “Hello… I assume Berry finished giving you the tour of the park?” Silver asked curiously while glancing between the two.

“Yeah, we just got done. We were hoping that either you or Bonnie could tell us where our friends are.” Twilight said while looking over to the robotic bunny. The blue rabbit looked over to the unicorn and her orange friend as if he were listening intently.

“Umm…” Silver Bell muttered pensively while turning to face the animatronic. “Bonnie, do you know where the others went?” She asked in a hopeful tone.

“I told them how to get to the indoor pool, they might be in there.” Bonnie replied while turning to face the white haired unicorn.

“The indoor pool? Where’s that?” Applejack asked curiously.

“It’s just down that hallway… it’s the second intersection. Just head to the left and look for the double doors.” Silver explained while pointing to the opening on the right side of the room. “I can send Bonnie to lead you there if you want.” She added while turning to the rabbit.

“No thank you, I think we can find our way alone.” Twilight politely declined while smiling at the two. She felt odd thinking that she would somehow be inconveniencing the robot by asking it to lead her around.

“Well, I’ll be back here if you need anything.” Silver replied with a friendly smile. Twilight and Applejack returned the gesture before walking towards the doorway that the cream pony pointed out to them.

As the pair walked down the quiet corridor, they looked ahead for intersecting hallways amid the doors, paintings, and assorted plants and other decorations. After a short walk, the two passed one intersection, and after a few more steps, they could see the second intersection up ahead.

Twilight turned around the corner and looked ahead for the double doors that would lead her to her friends. Although she couldn’t see the door to the pool, the smell of chlorine in the air was getting stronger. Before long they could hear the splashing of water and the muffled yells of several excited ponies.

Spotting a pair of double doors with blurry glass panes in their upper sections, the two ponies smirked in achievement. They were ready to finally unwind and join their friends in actually enjoying their vacation for the first time.

Opening the door made all of the noises in the room intensify as the two mares stepped into the pool area. They could see most of their friends scattered around in various areas of the pool enjoying themselves and playing around.

Rarity and Glitterball were lounging around in the hot tub off in the corner of the room, Rainbow Dash was swimming around the deep end of the pool with Pinkie Pie and Sunspot, Fluttershy was sitting still in the shallow end of the pool while watching Spike and the crusaders play around, and Glimmer Shine was holding the side of the pool while idly kicking his legs and watching the others.

“Hey, guys.” Twilight announced in a cheerful tone to get everyone’s attention. Once they heard the unicorn, everyone turned to see their newly arrived friends standing on the edge of the pool.

“Twilight! Applejack!” Pinkie greeted the two mares eagerly.

“It’s about time you two showed up!” Rainbow Dash added with a pleased smirk.

Twilight chuckled slightly. “Sorry it took so long. This place is a lot bigger than it looks at first glance.” She said while looking around at her friends and taking in the sights and sounds of the pool. She couldn’t wait to get settled in and swim the rest of the day away.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Come on in, the water’s fine!” Pinkie said while motioning for the pair to join her in the pool.

Applejack smirked playfully. “You don’t have to tell me twice.” She replied while rushing forward. She jumped into the middle of the pool in the nearest open spot she could find. The resulting splash caused by the orange mare made Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, and Glimmer Shine flinch their eyes shut as water flew in their faces.

Once Applejack resurfaced, she blew water out of her mouth and adjusted to floating on her own. She exclaimed in surprise as she felt the cold temperature of the water jolting her system. The water was relatively warm after a few moments spent in it, but it was much cooler than the orange mare was initially expecting.

“Hey, watch it.” Rainbow Dash said with a slight chuckle while blowing water out of her mouth and offering the cow pony a playful leer.

“What’s the matter Rainbow? You’re already wet… a little more water couldn’t hurt.” Applejack replied while using her hoof to splash in the cyan mare’s direction. Rainbow Dash flinched again as the wave of water impacted her.

“Oh… it’s on.” Rainbow said with a sly smirk. The pegasus splashed towards the orange mare as hard as she could. Before long, the two ponies were having an all-out battle between each other using water as their weapons. Even Pinkie Pie decided to join in by sending a wayward splash towards the two.

Twilight smirked as she watched the group returning to their games and fun. She walked forward and stepped on the small stairway that led into the shallow end of the pool. Taking things slow, the unicorn placed a hoof into the water to see how warm it was. After a few moments of preparation, she walked forward and fully lowered herself into the pool.

Before the unicorn could think about what to do next, she heard the sound of the door opening again. As she and the others turned around, they noticed their human friend walking into the room. Tom smiled as he saw the ponies gathered in one room enjoying themselves.

“Tom! You finally made it!” Twilight greeted the human while slowly walking through the shallow end of the pool to reach the front. She paused in front of the pool’s edge and watched the human as he walked up to her.

“Yep, Sparkplug and I just got done downstairs.” Tom said in a relieved tone.

“So did you find anything?” Sunspot asked while swimming across the pool to see the human. Glimmer Shine, Glitterball, and everyone else in the room paused what they were doing and looked at the boy curiously as the subject of their trip was brought up.

“Nothing too disconcerting… It looks like a few ghosts might be hiding downstairs somewhere. I couldn’t find out exactly where they were, though.” Tom explained while looking over to the three members of Spirit.

“Sounds good… I suggest we take a look down there tomorrow to see if we can flush them out.” Glimmer Shine said while looking to his two teammates and the human to see their opinions on the matter.

“Sounds like a plan to me.” Glitterball nodded while walking over to the side of the pool and sitting on the edge. The unicorn dangled her back legs into the water and paused while adjusting to leaving the hot tub and entering the relatively freezing pool.

“Alright, now that that’s settled, why don’t you go get changed and join us, Tom?” Sunspot asked cheerfully while directing her attention to the human.

Tom shook his head with a slight smile. “Nah… I think I’ll save the pool for another day. Besides, Sparkplug says that Berry will be going into town to get us all some food in an hour or so, and I would like to walk around and get a feel for the place before then.” He explained.

“Aww, come on… you can’t just bring us on a vacation to a water resort and not swim in the pool with us!” Pinkie said in a disappointed tone while trying to coax the human into the water.

“Yeah, that isn’t fair! We’ve been waiting forever to see you!” Scootaloo said in agreement with the others.

“Please come and play with us…” Applebloom pleaded while pouting sadly at the human. The sight of the filly’s puppy dog eyes was enough to melt even the steeliest of hearts.

Tom stared at the yellow filly and the others while trying to keep his determination. He looked over to Twilight and her friends for assistance, but they didn’t look like they could help him out. Finally, he shrugged in defeat as he returned his gaze to Applebloom pouting. “*Sigh* Alright fine, how about I join you guys after dinner? That way we can both be happy.” He suggested while glancing between the three fillies with a hopeful expression.

“Yay!” Scootaloo and her two friends cheered in unison. Twilight and the others smiled as the fillies accomplished what they failed to do before. They hadn’t intended to guilt the human into joining them, but it all worked out in the end.

“I’ll see you guys whenever dinner is ready.” Tom said with a brief wave while walking towards the door. Twilight and the others watched as the human stepped out into the hallway and closed the door behind him, leaving behind only the sounds of the pool and a few soft noises from someone swimming.

A grand total of ten seconds went by without anything disturbing the serene atmosphere. Ten peaceful and unassuming seconds, which is also the time it took Rainbow Dash to climb out of the pool and take a few steps back.

“Cannonball!” The cyan mare exclaimed loudly before jumping into the middle of the pool and tucking herself into a ball.

The others barely had time to turn their heads before a wave of water splashed out in a circle. Everyone from the deep end to the shallow end got varying amounts of water splashed at them, which accomplished everything from providing an unpleasant splash to the face to completely covering them in water. Even Rarity managed to feel a few droplets spraying across the room and into the hot tub.

Rainbow Dash gasped for air as she shot to the surface. After catching her breath, she looked around at her soaked friends and started laughing. Her laughs grew less and less prominent as she noticed several ponies glaring at her with upset expressions plastered on their faces.

“Heheh… heh… a little water never hurt anyone… right guys?” Rainbow Dash asked nervously while looking around at her friends and their annoyed faces. Just as abruptly as the pegasus leaped into the pool, Pinkie Pie splashed as much water as she could at the cyan mare.

“Water fight!” Pinkie exclaimed loudly, only to be interrupted by Applejack sending another wave of water at her. The pink mare giggled cheerfully while splashing back. Before long, nearly everyone in the room was joining in with the mock battle. Water was flying everywhere and excited squeals filled the air as everyone continued enjoying themselves.

The merriment and excitement made the time pass in the blink of an eye. One game shifted into another, and not long after that, another game was suggested to take its place. After a while, the group lost track of time completely as an hour came and went.

The sound of the door opening drew everyone’s attention to the front of the room. They spotted a tan stallion that they immediately recognized to be High Tide walking into the area. He wasn’t wearing the white tank top and red swimming trunks that he was the first time the group saw him, though he still had a whistle around his neck. His cutie mark consisted of a red life preserver floating on a few ripples of water.

“Hey, guys. I assume everyone’s having a good time?” High Tide asked with a slight smile while glancing around the room.

“Yeah, we’re doing alright.” Rainbow Dash said while swimming over to the shallow end of the pool to casually rest.

“You must be that lifeguard Berry told us about. It’s High Tide, right?” Twilight asked courteously while getting up to address the stallion.

“Yep…. And you are?” High Tide asked curiously while glancing between the purple unicorn and the orange earth pony in the room.

“I’m Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight stated with a friendly tone.

“And I’m Applejack.” Applejack added with a welcoming smile.

“Nice to meet you,” High Tide replied with a brief nod before returning his attention to why he was there in the first place. “I hate to break up such a good time, but Berry just got back from town with some food. Are any of you guys hungry?” The tan pony asked curiously.

Everyone paused suddenly as they felt their stomachs collectively rumble. Before, they hadn’t paid much attention to their appetites, but now that the subject of food was brought up, everyone felt hungry.

“Hungry? I’m starving!” Rainbow Dash said eagerly while climbing out of the pool. She walked over to a nearby table and grabbed a towel to dry herself off with.

“I must say, I could use a bite to eat as well.” Rarity chimed in while gladly accepting a towel thrown by the cyan mare.

“I think we could all use a bite to eat.” Twilight stated while looking to the others for their opinion. Everyone nodded in agreement while making their way out of the pool.

“Well once you all get dried off, I’ll take you over to the dining room.” High Tide suggested with a friendly smile while leaning up against the wall.

“Thank you, darling, you’ve been incredibly helpful.” Rarity said with a coy smile. She eyed at the stallion in a fashion far more flirty than anyone else in the room was comfortable with, especially High Tide.

The stallion avoided eye contact with the unicorn while rubbing the back of his head with a flustered expression. “Umm…” High Tide muttered awkwardly. “Well uh… we aim to please here at Fun Land.” He said with a nervous chuckle while desperately trying to ignore the white mare. The others couldn’t prevent themselves from giggling at his discomfort.

After a few minutes of everyone reluctantly leaving the pool and getting dried off, they all gathered behind their appointed tour guide and followed him back out into the hallway. High Tide walked the group around the first floor until they finally reached the dining room.

The entire area had blue and white checkered tile flooring. The walls were mostly white, with a stripe of similar checkered tiles running along the middle. There were rows of tables with blue tablecloth lined up, with several chairs at each table. At the back of the room, there was a window-like opening into the kitchen where a few plates were stacked neatly in piles. There was also a door to the right of the window that most likely led into the kitchen itself.

To the left side of the room, there was a large stage area that had blue curtains concealing most of it. Poking out from behind the shaded area of the curtains, a drum set and mic stand could be seen. Streamers and other colorful decorations lined the top of the stage, and there were a few streamers placed in seemingly random locations throughout the room.

Gathered around the opening to the kitchen, Berry Swirl and her employees were sitting around and waiting for everyone to show up. Even Tom was leaning up against a wall in anticipation. There was a stack of pizza boxes on the counter behind the purple earth pony, which was creating a pleasant odor that permeated the room.

“It’s about time you guys showed up.” Sparkplug said with an anxious tone. “Did you get lost or something? I wouldn’t be surprised considering you’re following this guy around.” She said while walking up to High Tide and giving him a playful punch on the shoulder.

“I can find my way around just fine thanks… I have been here longer than you after all.” High Tide replied while offering the gray mare a playful leer.

“So now that we’re all here, who’s ready to eat?” Berry asked with a slight smirk while glancing around at the others. Judging by their expressions, the purple mare didn’t even need to ask the question.

“I am!” Pinkie Pie stated eagerly while raising her hoof in the air.

“We are too!” Scootaloo and her two fellow crusaders announced in unison. The three fillies were practically bouncing eagerly at the prospect of finally eating something.

“Settle down guys, there is enough for everyone.” Berry Swirl said with an amused chuckle while turning around and grabbing one of the pizza boxes. “I hope you guys don’t mind pizza. We don’t really have a team of chefs right now.” She explained while laying each box out on the counter and opening them up.

“Pizza sounds good to me.” Applejack stated while eyeing each different pizza eagerly.

“Don’t worry Tom, I didn’t forget about you. I got a plain cheese pizza just for you.” Berry explained while nudging one of the boxes over towards the human.

“Thanks.” Tom replied in a grateful tone while looking over to the other pizzas. Most of them had ingredients on them that he never even thought could be put on a pizza, let alone consumed by a human.

“Alright everyone… grab a plate and help yourselves.” Copper Coil stated while rubbing his hooves together eagerly.

With that said, everyone scrambled to grab themselves a plate and a piece of pizza. Once they got their selected pieces, the ponies walked across the room and settled down in one of the many chairs. Due to the high number of chairs per table, everyone was able to comfortably occupy two or three tables.

Twilight sat together with her five fellow element bearers and Spike. Scootaloo and her two friends sat together next to Rarity and Applejack. Tom and Glimmer Shine’s team sat at the table next to the others. Meanwhile, Berry and her employees were scattered around the next table.

“This is some pretty good pizza.” Spike said while taking a bite out of his piece. The others couldn’t help but agree with the dragon as they enjoyed their own meals.

“God what I wouldn’t do for a piece of peperoni right now…” Tom muttered quietly while staring at his plain pizza. He enjoyed cheese as much as the next guy, but the drastic change in his diet was starting to get to him. While the human stared at his plate with a pitifully wanting expression, the others couldn’t help but giggle slightly.

As time went on and everyone enjoyed their meal, Berry glanced over to Pinkie Pie with a curious expression. The pink mare was playfully laughing and telling jokes to cheer her friends up. She certainly hadn’t changed very much from when Berry first met her, but she never figured that she would be friends with a human and a team of monster hunters.

“So, how long have you guys known each other?” Berry asked while glancing between Glimmer Shine’s team and Pinkie’s group of friends.

“Going on a few months now I believe. It seems like forever ago.” Twilight answered while looking over to Tom and the team of ponies seated across from him.

“I hear that you all did your fair share of fighting that cult of hooded ponies.” Copper Coil said with an impressed expression.

“Well… I don’t mean to brag, but yeah… we did do a number on those guys.” Rainbow Dash replied with a cocky smirk.

“It wasn’t originally our intention to get involved with fighting them, but they kind of forced our hoof.” Twilight said while thinking back to the attacks the hooded ponies made on Ponyville.

“I’m glad none of you got hurt too badly. That must have been really dangerous… I mean, you could have died.” Silver Bell said in a timidly concerned manner. Everyone glanced to Twilight with uncomfortable expressions. It never occurred to them that the news wasn’t made public that one of them actually did die. Still, the mere thought made everyone, especially Twilight, uneasy.

“Right, well… it’s a good thing that didn’t happen.” Rainbow Dash said while trailing off with an uneasy chuckle.

“So anyway… how long have you guys known each other?” Pinkie asked curiously while looking around at Berry’s employees.

“Well… Copper has worked for my family since my grandfather was building the resort, but everyone else has only been here for a few months.” Berry explained while glancing to her team of workers.

“To be honest not much has changed since then… well, aside from finally getting the animatronics up and running.” Copper Coil said while thinking back to his previous stint of working at the park.

“Hey, just be thankful that my grandfather did most of the work for you.” Berry said before turning to Twilight and the others. “It’s a good thing that we already knew how to make them from my grandfather’s work, otherwise, Sparkplug here would still be trying to get them running.” She added with a wry smirk.

“Oh come on Berry, I’m not terrible or anything… I made Sparky from scratch after all.” Sparkplug said in an amused tone while waving off the purple mare’s jests.

“Yeah, and we all know there’s nothing wrong with him.” Copper said with a slight chuckle, eliciting the others to bust out laughing.

As she was eating, Rarity couldn’t help but look at Pinkie and Berry with a curious expression. They seemed like they were good friends, Pinkie’s policy on all of her friends notwithstanding, but the pink mare had barely said anything about her past with the park owner. “Say… Pinkie,” Rarity spoke up in an intrigued tone.

“Hmm?” Pinkie looked over to the unicorn while still chewing a bite of her food. She finished masticating while her friend composed her words.

“How did you and Berry meet?” Rarity asked while glancing over to the purple mare.

“Well… it was a little while after I got my cutie mark. I was on a trip to town to get some more party supplies when I bumped into her in the store.” Pinkie explained. She furrowed her brow in thought as she tried recalling something. “I can’t really remember how we started talking… I think I was having some trouble with picking out something.”

“It was streamers.” Berry chimed in. “You couldn’t make up your mind about what color streamers you wanted.”

“Oh yeah!” Pinkie exclaimed in revelation. “You walked over and gave me your opinion. Now I remember.” She mentally chastised herself for forgetting such an important detail.

Berry Swirl smiled as she pictured the event in her mind. “Yeah… me and my father were taking a trip to meet some other people in the entertainment business. I had just gotten my cutie mark for helping out around the park, so I wanted to go along. We stopped by the local party supply shop to take a look around when I found Pinkie having her dilemma. After that, we just sort of became friends.” She explained.

“I’m sure Pinkie didn’t give you much of a choice.” Rarity added with a lighthearted smirk directed toward the pink mare.

“After Berry left, she somehow convinced her father to offer me and my family a trip to the park for free, but things were too busy around the rock farm, so we had to say no.” Pinkie said with a slightly regretful expression. “But after that, I visited her at the park a few times before they closed down. I even got to help with some of their decorations and color schemes for one of their attractions.” She smiled warmly at the happy memories floating through her head.

Rarity and the others couldn’t help but smile as they saw their friend recalling her past. Hearing the story of how the pair met only further cemented their belief that Pinkie left a trail of new friends wherever she went.

After a few more minutes of talking and getting to know each other a bit more, everyone finished eating. Despite the large number of people present, everyone got their fill, with some even managing to somehow stuff themselves to the point of discomfort.

“Ohhhh… my stomach.” Pinkie Pie groaned while leaning back and distancing herself from the pizza still on her plate.

“You never did learn self-control when it came to pizza, did you Pinkie?” Berry asked with an amused chuckle as she watched the pink mare trying to soothe the sick feeling in her core.

“No… I don’t think she learned it for sweets either.” Twilight added with a slight smirk while gathering up all of the empty plates on the table in front of her. She carried all of the plates over to the kitchen window and sat them down on the counter.

“Thanks for dinner guys.” Glimmer Shine said while getting up and turning to Berry and the others.

“Yeah, it was definitely one of the highlights of the day… even if Pinkie probably doesn’t think so right now.” Rainbow Dash said while giving the pink mare a playful tap on the shoulder. Pinkie groaned uncomfortably while curling up in her chair.

“Speaking of highlights of the day, shouldn’t we be getting back to a pool or something?” Scootaloo suggested eagerly. The young pegasus and her two companions were all excited to get back to their fun and games, although they had different ways of showing it.

“Wow… you don’t miss a beat, do you? Aren’t you worried about swimming so soon after eating?” Rainbow Dash asked in a jesting tone.

Scootaloo tilted her head with a doubtful expression. “I’m pretty sure the whole waiting an hour before swimming thing isn’t real.”

“Relax Scoots, I’m kidding. Besides, me and Tom will go with you.” Rainbow Dash said with a smirk while looking over to the human.

“What have I told you about volunteering me up to be a chaperone Rainbow Dash?” Tom asked while offering the cyan mare a mildly annoyed expression.

“Aww, come on Tom… you wouldn’t want to say no to that cute face would you?” Scootaloo asked while nudging Applebloom suggestively. Right on cue, the yellow filly produced the best pout she could muster and pointed it full force towards the human.

Tom glanced to the pouting filly before averting eye contact and sighing. “Ok fine, I’ll go… no need to use your secret weapon on me… which by the way is not the reason why I am agreeing to this.” He said while shaking his head in denial with a slight smirk.

“Yeah, yeah… let’s just head upstairs and change, tough guy.” Rainbow Dash chuckled slightly. “Anyone else want to join us?” She asked while looking around at her friends.

“No thanks, I think I’m going to just head back down to the indoor pool and relax in the hot tub for a while.” Twilight said in a slightly tired tone.

“I think that we’re just going to head up to our rooms and settle in a little bit.” Rarity said while glancing to Fluttershy and Applejack, who both nodded in return.

“And I’m pretty sure we’re gonna need to walk Pinkie Pie back with us…” Applejack suggested while looking over to the pink mare. Pinkie was struggling to move a few steps without looking like she was going to throw up.

“Sorry guys, but we’re going to pack it in for the day too. We need to finish getting our gear ready for tomorrow.” Sunspot shrugged in disappointment while looking over to her two teammates. As much as she wanted to enjoy herself, they did have a job to do after all.

“Fine… suit yourselves, but we’re not going to waste any time on this vacation.” Rainbow Dash stated eagerly. Scootaloo and her fellow crusaders grinned with excited expressions while the cyan mare and their human friend prepared to take them to have more fun.

“Woohoo! I can’t wait to get back out there!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed while bouncing eagerly.

“I get first dibs on whatever we decide to do!” Applebloom said in a resolute tone while grinning at her two friends.

“Hey, no fair! That isn’t how this works!” Scootaloo stated in annoyance. She glared at the yellow filly in a semi-serious manner while waiting for her to retract her previous statement.

“Yeah, it is… you can’t argue with the dibs system.” Applebloom replied with a smug expression.

“Settle down girls. I don’t want to hear about any trouble when you guys get back, and I have it on good faith that Tom and Rainbow Dash will sell you out in a heartbeat.” Applejack said in a playful tone while still making her message clear to the fillies.

“It’s true… I was notorious for being the tattletale in my family.” Tom added with a slight smirk. The three fillies shrugged before nodding and agreeing to act civil, at least for the time being.

“Have fun you guys, we’ll see you later.” Twilight waved before taking Spike and walking out of the room. Everyone waved to each other briefly before walking, or racing eagerly, out of the room and heading to their respective destinations.

After heading back to their rooms to change into fresh pairs of swimwear, Rainbow Dash and Tom escorted their three young followers through the resort to find something interesting to do for the rest of the day. Having already swum in a regular old fashioned pool, the cyan mare decided that it was time to explore the more exciting avenues of entertainment that the park had.

“Wow Tom… I didn’t really take you for the floral pattern type.” Rainbow Dash stated in an amused tone while taking note of the swimming trunks the human had decided to pick. They were blue to match his usual attire, but they also had a spiraling pattern of flower shapes on them.

“Hey, it’s not my fault I can’t go shopping for a wardrobe anywhere. I’m lucky to have anything other than that track outfit.” Tom said while trying to defend his pride to no avail.

“Still… it looks a little weird, that’s all I’m saying.” Rainbow Dash replied while hiding a snicker. She looked behind her to see the trio of fillies giggling uncontrollably, much to the dismay of the human next to her.

“I really need to be more adamant when I let Rarity make clothes for me… it seemed like a good idea at the time.” Tom shrugged while trying to ignore the hushed attempts of Scootaloo and the others gaining control of themselves.

“Don’t worry Tom, she does that to all of us.” Rainbow Dash said with a smirk while giving the human a reassuring pat on the side. Tom sighed before shaking his head with a forced smile as he contemplated what to say the next time Rarity decided to enforce her designs on him.

As they walked out of the building and into the park itself, the group was awestruck at all of the possibilities they had. There were numerous different pools dotted around the park of varying shapes and sizes that had water jets spouting out columns of the liquid that shimmered in the mid-day sun. There were also more than a few unique rides and attractions to garner the ponies’ attention, from raft rides to water slides and everything in between. There was even an endless wave ride that had a selection of surfboards and body boards to choose from.

“Wow… Twilight was right. This place is way bigger than it looks.” Rainbow Dash said in an amazed tone.

Tom nodded while looking around at all of the attractions. “I’m sure we’ll have time to go on every ride at least a handful of times. After all, we have all week.”

“The question is which one do we go on now?” Rainbow Dash asked while looking around curiously. She wanted to make sure that her first pick was an exciting one, one that would get her blood pumping and her adrenaline flowing. This might not have been an actual amusement park, but that didn’t mean that the pegasus couldn’t indulge her inner thrill seeker.

Finally, the cyan mare settled her eyes on a water slide off to the left. The slide itself was one of the tallest ones in the whole park from the looks of it. It started on a raised platform made to look like a small mountain, and it twisted around the decorative façade before stopping just above a pool built in front of the mountain. The pool looked like a decent enough place to swim, with water streaming out of hidden pipes in the mountain to create a makeshift waterfall at the edge, but the slide was what was capturing the pegasus’s attention the most.

“I think I just found the perfect thing to do.” Rainbow Dash said in an eager tone while looking towards the large slide. As the three fillies looked over to where the cyan mare was looking, they were stunned into silence by the sheer sight of it.

“Wow… that thing is big.” Sweetie Belle said in an amazed tone.

“Alright! Let’s head over there!” Scootaloo suggested while scampering off in the general direction of the slide. Everyone followed the orange filly as she made her way forward.

After a brief walk over to the decorative mountain, the group made their way behind it to a set of stairs leading up into a colorful enclosed area. Although there were guard rails, and the climb up wasn’t astronomically high, it was enough to elicit a slight feeling of anxiousness in the ponies, or at least the ones who couldn’t fly.

Finally, the five made it to the top. They were standing in a small area with a covered roof above them that matched the color of the wall sections that prevented anyone from falling. Taking a look into the gaping red opening created by the slide, and peering over the edge to see where the slide would take them, some of the group started getting a little more nervous.

“Ok… this is a lot higher up than I thought.” Sweetie Belle muttered in a nervous tone.

“Don’t worry Sweetie Belle, you’ll be fine. We could always make Tom go first if you’re worried.” Rainbow Dash suggested with a devilish smirk while looking over to the human.

“Oh, I see how it is… Make the immortal guy go first.” Tom said while hiding a twinge of nervousness in his voice.

Rainbow Dash raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Don’t tell me you’re afraid of heights?”

“No… Maybe… Why does it matter?” Tom asked in an accusatory tone while trying to shift attention off of himself.

“Alright, fine. You don’t need to go if you don’t want to.” Rainbow Dash said in a casual tone before turning away. The human shrugged uneasily as the cyan mare prepared to go down the slide first. He hated having his masculinity challenged by a sentient pony.

“You know what? Move aside… let me show you how this is done.” Tom said in a determined tone while amping himself up and walking over to the entrance of the slide. The cyan mare backed up with a surprised expression as the boy sat down in a seemingly confident manner.

“Are you sure about this?” Rainbow Dash asked curiously. She noticed the human hesitate for a moment as he peered down the slide and let a small smirk creep across her face.

“Oh yeah… sure… just let me prepare myself for a second an- WHOA!” Tom yelped in surprise as he felt a shove on his back sending him on his way. Rainbow Dash and the three fillies behind her watched and listened with mixtures of amusement and surprise as the boy zipped through the slide and looped around the mountain. Due to the size of the decoration, the ponies could hear Tom completing a loop every few seconds as his muffled yells got further or closer. Finally, the group saw their friend popping out of the opening at the bottom and splashing down into the pool.

Tom resurfaced and sputtered as water flew everywhere. After ridding himself of the water around his mouth, he looked up to find the cyan mare and the three fillies looking down at him. He could barely see them due to a soaked strand of hair in his eyes, but the unimpressed expression on his face was clear.

“Pfft… *snort*” Rainbow Dash held back from laughing hard as she looked down at the human. “How was it?” She asked while stifling a chuckle with her hoof.

“Oh, it was tons of fun… why don’t you come down here and join me?” Tom raised his voice slightly to carry up to the ponies. The cyan mare could hear him contemplating to strangle her even from where she was standing.

“Heheh… why don’t you go next Scoots? I think I’ll give him a minute to cool off before I head down there myself.” Rainbow Dash said while turning to the orange filly, who was eager to oblige her.

“You don’t need to tell me twice,” Scootaloo said while rushing over to the slide opening and going down on her stomach. “Woohoo!” She exclaimed in an adrenaline fueled burst of excitement as she started looping around the slide. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle anxiously awaited their turns, for more reasons than one in the young unicorn’s case.

After a couple hours of fun had passed, the sun was getting low in the sky and the light was fading. Although the three fillies protested, the cyan mare and her human companion decided to call it a day and head back inside. Once they found a few towels and dried off, the group headed straight back to the resort.

“So how do you guys like the park so far?” Tom asked curiously to break up the silence as he walked along a path around the outside of the resort building with the ponies. The others had tired expressions on their faces, but they were also smiling contently from the excitement and fun they just had.

“Are you kidding me? That was awesome! I can’t believe we get to stay here for a whole week!” Scootaloo stated with an excited grin.

“Yeah, it was definitely the best way I’ve spent a vacation day in like forever.” Rainbow Dash said while chuckling slightly at the sight of the overenthusiastic fillies in front of her. However, there seemed to be something troubling at least one of the crusaders.

“Hey, Tom… do you think those ghosts will be a problem? I don’t really want to see or hear anything scary…” Sweetie Belle said in a slightly nervous tone. Perhaps it was the sight of the sun setting and the park getting covered in darkness, but the young unicorn couldn’t stop thinking about the real reason she and the others were here.

“Sweetie Belle, you’ve got nothing to worry about. Tom and the others won’t let anything scary happen to us on this trip.” Rainbow Dash stated in a reassuring tone while leveling with the filly. Still, she seemed to want to hear the human’s opinion on the matter before she felt more at ease.

“Rainbow Dash is right Sweetie Belle. Those ghosts won’t be causing you any trouble.” Tom added with a confident tone of voice.

“Really?” Sweetie Belle asked with a hint of uncertainty.

“Yeah… everything will be fine. You’ll have all of us with you most of the time, and the ghosts aren’t even that strong anyway. I doubt you would even have a chance of hearing or seeing anything out of the ordinary all the way up on the third floor. Besides, we should have everything cleared out by tomorrow, so you don’t need to worry one bit.” Tom said in a lighthearted tone while offering the white filly a reassuring smile.

“Ok… thanks. That makes me feel a lot better.” Sweetie Belle said while returning a soft smile to her face. The sight of the filly smiling made the others smile in return.

“I think we should be getting back to our rooms now. I don’t know about you guys, but I am beat…” Rainbow Dash said while holding back a yawn, to no avail. Everyone quickly turned their attention to how late it was getting and how tired they felt.

With a unanimous nod of agreement, the group started walking again and turned the corner that led to the front entrance. Soon enough, they would be heading upstairs and finding their way back to their rooms so they could finally get some sleep after the long day of fun and adventure they just had.

Meanwhile, back upstairs, Twilight and Spike were settling in for the night as well. They were still awake, with the purple mare huddled up underneath the covers of her bed enjoying a book, and the young dragon brushing his teeth in the bathroom located just off the bedroom. The lights were dim in the suite save for a small lamp beside Twilight’s bed and the light coming through a crack in the slightly ajar bathroom door.

Twilight looked up curiously as she heard something softly fall to the floor in the bathroom, followed by the sound of Spike groaning in annoyance. The unicorn wondered just how tired he must have been if he was knocking things over left and right.

“Spike, are you almost done in there?” Twilight asked while raising her voice slightly to carry across the room. She immediately heard the sound of something else falling as the dragon yelped in surprise.

“Um… yeah! Just give me a minute!” Spike replied while scrambling around, presumably to pick up all of the items he knocked over. The purple mare shook her head and sighed before returning to her book with a slight smirk.

Hearing the sound of the door to the suite opening up in the other area, Twilight looked up to see who had entered. Through the small corridor into the living room area, the purple mare saw her human friend walking into view.

“Hey Tom, how did it go with the others?” Twilight asked curiously while sitting up in bed and setting her book down.

“It was alright... we had a lot of fun.” Tom said while walking into the bedroom area. Just as the human made his way into the room, Spike walked out of the bathroom and nearly bumped into him.

“Oh! Hi, Tom… sorry, I should probably watch where I’m going more.” Spike said with an awkward chuckle.

“Words to live by.” Tom replied with a slight smirk while heading into the bathroom and closing the door again. After a few moments, he walked back out clad in his usual blue track outfit.

“I think I’m going to head to bed. I need to be up early to start investigating the basement with Glimmer Shine and the others.” Tom said while walking over to the bed furthest to the left and climbing in. Spike and Twilight both yawned tiredly as they thought more about going to sleep themselves.

“Yeah, I think I’m going to bed too.” Spike said while walking over to the bed next to Twilight and hopping up.

“Me too,” Twilight added while setting her book on the night table next to her and shutting off the lamp. “Night guys… see you tomorrow.” She said while cozying up under the blankets and laying her head back on her pillow.

“Night…” Spike and Tom said in unison while already face deep in their own pillows.

The peaceful atmosphere combined with the comfort of their luxurious beds to ensure that the three would sleep deeply. Twilight could already feel her mind hazing and her body relaxing. In no time at all, she would be soundly asleep, and she would most likely wake up in the morning wishing that she could sleep in for once. However entertaining the thought might have been, the young dragon and her human friend would hardly let the unicorn live down being so lazy. Still, the musings that were drifting through her mind were gradually becoming more unfocused as she fell deeper into sleep.
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…..

*Tap* *Tap*

A soft knocking sound suddenly broke the silence in the air. Twilight lifted her head up and looked around the dark room to find the source of the noise. Her head felt hazy, and her senses had yet to return to her in full, but she quickly deduced that someone was knocking on the door in the other area of the suite.

“What the…? Who would even be up this late?” Twilight asked while glancing over at the clock on the wall. Perhaps it was too dark, or perhaps she was sleepier than she thought, but she couldn’t clearly make out the time. Still, judging from her pitch black surroundings, she gathered that it was very late.

*Tap* *Tap* *Tap*

The knocking sounded again, confirming the purple mare’s suspicions and informing her that whoever was at the door didn’t care about whether or not she and her friends were sleeping. Working on pure curiosity and muscle memory, Twilight pulled back her covers and stepped out of bed. Taking a look to her right, she saw that Tom and Spike were still fast sleep under their blankets. Not wanting to disturb them, she decided to go and answer the door herself.

As she slowly walked through the pitch black bedroom and felt her way into the adjoining entryway that led into the living room area, she looked around with a slight feeling of nervousness inside of her. The foreign surroundings of the resort suite looked beautiful in the day, but without the light to bathe them in vibrant colors, the sights around the unicorn were slightly unnerving to behold. To think that anything was lurking ahead of her in the darkness was absurd, to say the least, but given her experiences with what lurked in the dark in the past, the thought still remained in her head.

The knocking happened for a third time, this time with a more hurried pace. Twilight heard a faint and muffled giggle coming from the door. Judging from the high pitch of the voice, she figured that it belonged to a young filly.

“Ugh… I really hope Scootaloo isn’t pulling a prank… I just got to sleep.” Twilight muttered in an agitated tone while walking up to the door and looking out of the peephole. Her eyes had adjusted to the darkness by now, so she could see through to the other side. However, she couldn’t see anyone standing outside of the door. The unicorn fumbled her hooves over the latch on the door to silently unlock it. She then opened the door up and peered outside.

There was nothing but the empty hallway and the overbearing sound of silence waiting to greet her. It was so quiet that Twilight could actually hear the sounds of the building settling softly echoing in the corridor. As peaceful as it might have been, the silence troubled the purple mare as she looked around for whoever had knocked on the door.

“Hello? Is anyone out here?” Twilight whispered while looking around once more. All of the doors to the other rooms were closed and most likely locked, offering a strong hint that everyone was asleep except for her. As she went back in her head to see if she imagined the noise, she quickly discarded this thought due to the repetition of the knocks and how vivid they were.

Just as she was about to give up and head back inside, a blur of motion caught Twilight’s eye. She turned just in time to see a small shape darting around the corner at the far end of the hallway. From what information she could gather before the shape disappeared, she estimated it to be a young filly with white fur.

“Hey, wait up!” Twilight called out instinctively before hushing herself and looking around anxiously. She looked back to her room and contemplated going to get Tom, but she didn’t want to wake him. Besides, by the time she returned with the human, the filly would most likely be gone. Prank or no prank, the unicorn was about to find out what was going on.

Twilight gently closed the door behind her and trotted down the hallway. She lit up her horn slightly to light her way, and she tried her hardest to go as fast as possible without making much noise. Once she turned the corner, she saw the filly again, if only for a brief moment. The filly was darting around the corner at the far end of the hall again, though this time Twilight got a better look at her. Although she didn’t get much of a look at her, the thing that troubled the purple mare the most was that the filly looked nothing like Sweetie Belle, or any of the crusaders for that matter.

Racing to follow the mysterious filly, Twilight turned around the corner and kept going. Now that she was away from the general area that her friends were sleeping in, she started running a little faster to catch up with the filly.

The purple mare looked ahead down the next hallway, only to find no traces of the white filly. Letting out a frustrated sigh, she picked up her pace and rushed to make it through the hall so she could hopefully catch up. As she turned the next corner, Twilight stopped when she saw nothing but darkness greeting her again.

“Ugh… I lost her.” Twilight shrugged while looking around. There were stairs leading down to the lower floors to her left, and the hallway had a few forks in it further up ahead. All of these openings combined with the fact that any of the numerous rooms down the hall could be unlocked meant that the filly could be in dozens of places by now.

Just before she gave up hope that she would find the strange filly again, Twilight heard a soft giggling coming from the stairway. As she walked over and looked over the railing, she was surprised to see the filly all the way down on the first floor. Right as the unicorn made eye contact with the filly, she darted out of view off to the left side of the stairs.

“Wait!” Twilight called out before sighing. “I can’t believe I’m chasing after a kid I don’t even know… what is she even doing here?” She muttered pensively while trying to figure out what the young girl was doing. Why did she knock on the door to the purple mare’s room? Why was she running away? And why was she seemingly waiting for her to catch up? Despite all these puzzling thoughts, Twilight had to keep moving to find the filly and ask her for some answers.

Descending the stairs all the way to the first floor, Twilight looked around to find any sign of the filly. As expected, the purple mare found her poking her head around the corner at the far end of the hall. Also as expected, the filly darted her head back around the corner as soft footsteps rang out. Without so much as pausing, the unicorn started walking down the hall at a calmer pace. Whatever the filly was doing, she wanted Twilight to follow her.

As she followed the filly through the winding hallways of the resort, Twilight looked around at the familiar sights she had seen during her tour earlier in the day. She passed by the front desk, walked down a few more hallways, and into the employees only section. Even though she seemed to be going down the same path Berry had used to find Sparkplug, the unicorn was slightly unsettled at how dark and foreboding it was. The employee areas of the resort were only gray, lacking any of the comforting colors that pervaded the public areas. The lonely hallways were only made more lonely and eerie by the fact that Twilight’s footsteps were echoing slightly against the thinly carpeted floors. It almost felt like she was being followed, however silly the thought might have been. Strangely enough, she couldn’t actually hear the filly’s footsteps at all, even though she could see her running ahead of her.

Twilight looked around and quickly realized that the filly was leading her into unknown territory. This fact was further cemented as she turned a corner and saw the strange girl walking into a door that looked like a stairwell and heading down, presumably into the basement. The purple mare gulped nervously as she walked over to the stairs and paused. She hadn’t been to the basement in her tour, but she knew that Tom and the others would be investigating the area as their primary pick for where the ghosts were. Swallowing any fear she had and focusing on her curiosity, the unicorn walked down the steps and continued following the filly through the basement.

Although the basement looked similar in every way possible to the upstairs employee areas, knowing that it was haunted somehow made it infinitely more eerie and disturbing to the purple mare. Twilight stopped wondering what the filly wanted with her and started worrying about it. She had a sneaking suspicion as to why a strange filly suddenly appeared in the middle of the night and decided to lead her down to a secluded basement away from her friends when ghosts were involved.

Finally, as she turned another corner, Twilight paused as she saw the filly sitting in the middle of the corridor. She seemed to have no problems with being in total darkness, even to the point of sitting in between two open doors that led into only more blackness. Now that the unicorn could actually get a better look at the strange filly, she could see her appearance in full. The filly had white fur with blonde hair, and although she was looking at the floor, Twilight could just barely see that she had yellow eyes as well. Due to the fact that she didn’t have a cutie mark, the filly must have been incredibly young, possible even around the age of the cutie mark crusaders.

“Hello? Is this where you wanted to take me?” Twilight asked in a soft tone. “What’s your name? Do your parents know you are here?” She continued while slowly walking toward the filly. As the purple mare stepped forward, the white filly raised her head to look up at her. She had a concerned, almost fearful expression on her face, which completely caught the unicorn off guard.

“Help me…” The filly spoke in a timid tone. Her voice sounded slightly distorted and faint.

“Help you…? What’s wrong?” Twilight asked with a hint of hesitation in her voice as she heard the odd distortion coming from the filly. She didn’t want to assume the filly was a ghost before, but now it was the only thought forefront in her mind. Still, not all ghosts were evil or powerful, so perhaps the filly really did need her help with something.

The filly turned her head and looked behind her. She adopted a sadder expression as she looked at the fork at the end of the hallway, particularly the left side of it. She turned back to face the purple mare and avoided eye contact with her.

“I just want to go home.” The filly said in a pleading tone.

A loud clanging noise erupted from behind her, causing Twilight to jump out of her skin in fright. She whipped her head around to see a small pipe rolling out into the hallway, presumably coming from a storage closet on the right. As she turned back to look at the filly again, the unicorn widened her eyes as she saw nothing but the dark hallway greeting her.

“Hello? Little girl…? Are you still here?” Twilight asked, barely managing to hide the fear in her voice. Now that she was truly alone, she felt chills going up and down her body. The eerie atmosphere of the basement was all she had left to focus on, and she wasn’t even sure if she remembered the way back upstairs.

Suddenly, a deep and distorted laugh echoed down the hallway. The disturbing sound immediately froze the purple mare in place from fright. Every fiber of her being told Twilight to flee from whatever was making the noise, but it was almost impossible to even tell which direction it was coming from.

Before she thought her heart would explode, another sound broke the eerie silence of the basement. What seemed to be mechanical clicks and heavy footsteps were walking toward Twilight from up ahead. As she looked forward with chattering teeth and amped nerves, she was surprised to see a pony shaped silhouette coming into view. Soon enough, the silhouette came into the light and revealed itself. The dark shape was actually one of the resort’s animatronics, namely a brown bear with a top hat and a mic clutched in its paw.

“Freddy? What are you doing here?” Twilight asked in a confused tone as she recognized the bear. The animatronic didn’t reply to her, instead opting to stand silently and stare at her with its unblinking eyes.

The distorted laugh made its presence known again, seemingly fading in and out of existence at will. However, the laugh was a lot closer than it was before. In fact, if Twilight didn’t know any better, she would have thought that the laugh was coming from the animatronic bear.

“I’m getting out of this place… Freddy, can you please show me the way upstairs?” Twilight asked, hopeful that the bear could understand her instruction.

Freddy started moving forward with sluggish and deliberate movements. Instead of moving around the unicorn to show her the way out of the basement, he continued moving toward her without looking away. Twilight backed up a few steps, but the animatronic kept walking closer to her. After backing up some more, the unicorn grew slightly concerned as to the odd behavior of the robot.

“Freddy, what are you doing?” Twilight asked nervously. As much as she wanted to, she couldn’t stop looking at the bear’s empty and lifeless eyes. The cheerful façade of the smiling face plastered on Freddy only made the fact that he was staring at her more disturbing.

A low moaning sound started coming from Freddy as he continued stepping forward. The sound didn’t have the robotic distortion that Bonnie had when he spoke. It somehow sounded organic, like it was being made by an actual pony.

Twilight tried to turn around and run, but she immediately hit the wall behind her and ran out of room. Before she could try running to the side, Freddy picked up his pace slightly and caught up with her. If she tried to move, the animatronic would move slightly in that direction, silently telling her that fleeing wasn’t a good idea.

As a firm feeling of terror cemented itself into the purple mare, she looked down and noticed the bear raising its free paw up slowly. Twilight watched the paw approach her until it was resting on her shoulder. She tried to move again, only to be forcibly held down by the oppressive strength of the bear.

“Stop it… let me go!” Twilight cried while struggling to break free. “Freddy, sleep mode!” She yelled while thinking back to how Sparkplug deactivated the animatronics. Much to her dismay, the command did nothing to stop the bear from pressing on her.

Twilight looked back up at the bear’s face as she tried to process what was happening. She recoiled slightly in horror as she noticed something she hadn’t before. Freddy’s eyes had glowing silver dots in their center. The burning white lights held a sort of overwhelming sensation that made the unicorn’s heart skip a beat. Whatever the thing in front of her was, it wanted to hurt her.

The unicorn watched with her body trembling and her eyes wide with fear as the robotic bear opened its mouth slowly. The blocky dull teeth didn’t look like they would be very painful, but even they could crack a bone with the strength of a metal endoskeleton behind them.

“AHHH!!” Twilight screamed fearfully as Freddy darted toward her with his mouth opened wide. A different scream carried over hers, one that sounded like a robotic screech and a child screaming mixed into one. A flash of red filled the unicorn’s vision, followed by nothing but blackness.

“Gah!” Twilight yelped while jerking upwards. Her heart was racing and her breathing was heavy, but the most troubling thing was the pitch blackness in front of her. As she slowly looked around and felt her surroundings, she noticed that she was sitting on her bed back in the hotel room.

As she felt the covers on her bed, her shoulder, and her face in a panic fueled rush, she tried to slow her thoughts down to see what was happening. Taking a look over to the side, she saw Tom and Spike still sleeping in their beds amidst the darkness of the room.

“A… dream?” Twilight muttered to herself quietly while still trying to calm her racing heart. “It was a dream? But… but… it felt so real.” She said while shuddering slightly at the terrifying thoughts still buzzing around her head. The feeling of panic from her apparent dream was still present. The sound of the animatronic screaming and the sight of its eerie white eyes were also still vivid in her mind.

The longer she looked around the dark hotel room, the more her nerves and primal fears got to her. Twilight laid her head back and pulled the covers closer to her while closing her eyes. Despite having her eyes closed, she stayed awake due to the fear she felt.

The peaceful ambiance of the room and the soft sound of her young assistant and her human friend breathing were slowly calming the unicorn’s nerves. However, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t stop thinking about her dream. She tried relaxing again and focusing on falling asleep, but somehow she knew that she would have a hard time getting a good night’s rest now.

Chapter 9: Marvelous Mechanisms

As sunlight started beaming down onto the Fun Land resort, most of the ponies inside were waking up and getting started on their day, most of them at any rate. Sunspot was still sound asleep in her bed despite the orange tinted light streaming in through the curtains.

The pegasus wasn’t exactly a heavy sleeper, but she didn’t get up unless she was good and ready. All her time with the Wonderbolts hadn’t beaten her laziness out of her, and she wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to enjoy her luxurious bed for a while longer.

A quiet rustling sound abruptly ended Sunspot’s slumber. With an agitated groan, she opened her eyes and looked around without even moving her head. As she looked around to find the source of the disturbance, she saw her two teammates out of bed and digging through the suitcases they had brought along.

Glitterball was putting her tactical vest on, or at least trying to. The unicorn was struggling a bit to actually get the vest on, but she was giving it her all. Glimmer Shine already had his vest on, and he was sitting on his bed in a professional manner with several vials and other pieces of equipment on the bed next to him, seemingly taken from his vest. Glimmer would pick up one of the pieces of equipment, examine it to ensure that it worked, and place it in the rightful place on his vest. While picking up one of the vials to inspect it, the stallion glanced over and noticed the orange mare stirring.

“Well, well… look who’s finally awake.” Glimmer Shine said in an amused tone while smirking at the pegasus as he placed the vial he was holding into a pouch on his vest.

“Ugh… I don’t want to get up.” Sunspot groaned in an agitated tone while thudding her head back into her pillow.

“I don’t think you have a choice in the matter Sunspot. We have a job to do.” Glitterball said while still struggling with her vest. She finally shrugged in defeat as Glimmer Shine reached over and helped her with it.

“Oh yeah… I forgot this wasn’t just a vacation for like five seconds.” Sunspot muttered tiredly while refusing to get up. She closed her eyes again in an attempt at getting a few more moments of sleep until she felt something getting tossed onto her head. As she pulled the object off of her and examined it, she noticed that it was her modified Wonderbolt suit. The numerous pouches, pockets, and clips full of equipment added on to the suit made it obvious what the harder objects she felt hitting her were.

“Get up and get dressed Sunspot. We’re meeting Tom downstairs so we can get started with investigating the basement. If we’re lucky we might get these ghosts cleared out by tonight, and then you can sleep all you want.” Glimmer Shine said in an understanding tone. As much as he wanted to be in bed himself, he and his two teammates had a job to do.

“Fine… I guess I can hunt ghosts while half asleep.” Sunspot muttered drowsily while sitting up and pushing the covers off of her. After hopping out of bed and stretching her legs, she started the process of putting on her uniform and tallying her gear.

After a few minutes of waking themselves up and getting geared up, the members of Spirit were ready to go. The trio made their way out of their room and through the hallways toward the stairwell. Once they hit the first floor, they headed to the front entrance where everyone had agreed to meet once they got up.

As they walked through the doorway into the lobby, the group could already see their friends dotted around the room. Sparkplug and Silver Bell were talking behind the front desk, while Twilight and her friends were sitting on the couches and chairs further back or standing around. Almost everyone was present save for Berry Swirl and the rest of the staff, and they all looked eager and ready to start the day, or at least most of them did. Twilight seemed to be a little drowsy, even to the point of having to prevent herself from nodding off.

“Wow… Check you guys out.” Tom said in an impressed tone while watching the trio walk toward the group. “I feel a little underdressed now.” He added while glancing between his own outfit and the professional looking team of ponies.

“Yeah, you guys really do look like a team of monster hunters.” Rainbow Dash said while admiring the sight of some of her friends donning tactical gear. She was still getting over the fact that she knew two ex-guards and one ex-Wonderbolt turned paranormal investigator.

“If it makes you feel better, we look a lot more professional than we actually are.” Glimmer Shine said in an amused tone while looking to Sunspot and thinking back to her deep and intense struggle with getting out of bed just a few minutes ago.

“You guys will do fine. This isn’t your first rodeo after all.” Applejack stated reassuringly.

“Yeah… I’m not exactly sure I would equate getting knocked around by Raven Feather’s goons as a rodeo, but I guess that analogy works.” Sunspot said in a lighthearted tone. She paused for a moment and looked away slightly as darker memories from her first official job with her teammates crept back into her head. She was surprised to feel the yellow stallion next to her patting her on the shoulder and laughing slightly at her quip.

“Heh… we sure have come a long way since then. So, are you ready to go Tom?” Glimmer Shine asked curiously while letting his hoof linger on Sunspot’s shoulder for a moment. The orange pegasus couldn’t help but feel like he was trying to offer her a little bit of comfort to prevent her from thinking about all of the tragic losses they had suffered without directly drawing attention to it.

“Uh, yeah… I guess I am.” Tom said in a confident tone while getting up from his seated position next to Twilight. As he walked by the purple mare, she let out a slight yawn and shook herself awake again.

“Hey, are you ok Twilight? You don’t look like you slept well.” Glitterball said in a slightly concerned tone. Twilight looked around to see the rest of her friends directing their attention to her as well. They had noticed her drowsiness before, but now that someone had asked, they were curious to find out if anything was wrong as well.

“Uh… um… yeah, I’m fine. I just… had a bad dream is all. I should feel more awake after a few minutes.” Twilight explained in a reassuring tone while trying to make herself appear more alert than she felt.

“Well if you need somethin’ to wake you up, maybe you should head to the pool with the rest of us after we get breakfast.” Applejack suggested while looking around at the others to gather their opinions. Everyone else seemed open to the idea of helping their purple friend to snap out of her drowsiness and having some fun at the same time. Well, mostly everyone at any rate.

“Hey, Applejack… do you think we could go to the kid area instead of the pool? I really wanna see the robots in there.” Applebloom asked in an unimposing manner while offering a pleading expression to her sister. The orange mare couldn’t say no to such a request, especially considering who it was coming from.

“Alright, we can go down there if you want, Applebloom.” Applejack said with a warm smile as she watched her sister’s face brighten up.

“I’ll come too. I’m sure Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo would love to go along with Applebloom.” Rarity suggested while getting up and walking over to the orange mare.

“I can handle watchin’ the girls if you want to do somethin’ else Rarity.” Applejack said while offering the unicorn a curious expression.

Rarity shook her head. “No, it’s fine. I want to spend some time with Sweetie Belle anyway.” She smiled warmly while glancing over to the white filly.

Now that their friends had decided on what to do for the next few hours, Tom and Glimmer Shine’s team walked toward the doorway to the right of the front desk. Before they made it very far, however, they were stopped by the gray earth pony walking up to them from behind the desk.

“Hey, before I forget, why don’t you guys take this radio with you? You can use it to reach me if you have any questions or need anything.” Sparkplug said while offering the group a small two-way radio similar to the ones the rest of the staff used. Glimmer Shine accepted the radio before putting it on a clip on his vest.

“Thanks, Sparkplug, but hopefully we won’t be down there very long. We should have things cleared up by the time we get back.” Glimmer said in a reassuring tone.

“Well here’s hoping. I’m sure Berry would love to hear that our ghost problem is over after she finally gets up.” Sparkplug chuckled while noting the absence of the purple mare and the rest of the staff. High Tide and Copper Coil were most likely doing something elsewhere in the resort, but the gray mare was confident that her boss was still in bed.

With everyone ready and all of their gear in order, the team left the room and headed down the hall. After a few minutes of walking through the resort, the four ducked into a gray door and entered the employees only area.

As they went further and further into the secluded corridors of the more private areas of the resort, Glimmer Shine and his teammates’ locator vials started glowing softly. The faint readings combined with the quiet and creepy atmosphere to really sink in the fact that they were walking through a haunted area.

“So what do you guys think we should do here?” Tom asked curiously while looking around to see how the three ponies would handle the situation.

“Well… assuming we don’t find any physical manifestations of the spirits, I suggest we set down some symbols for a spell and do a minor cleansing of negative energy. Any weak ghosts should clear out after that.” Glitterball suggested while thinking back on her training and everything she had learned about the paranormal.

“Good thinking. It’s nice to see you guys coming into your own as paranormal investigators.” Tom said in a pleased tone.

“We’re getting there. I’m not sure if we’ll ever have as much know-how as you do, but those books from the mansion helped out a lot.” Glimmer Shine stated with a flattered smile.

“Just be thankful a lot of that stuff is legit. I do not have the time or the patience to give out educational lectures on everything I know.” Tom said with a slight chuckle, eliciting a chuckle from the ponies as well.

“Well before we can do anything, we should probably get a better idea of what we’re dealing with. Once we get down to the basement, we should start gauging how powerful these ghosts are and where they are most active. Hopefully, we won’t need to coax them out.” Glitterball shrugged uneasily at the prospect of having to search endlessly for the ghosts. Being a paranormal investigator wasn’t always a glamorous job.

After making their way down into the basement, the group started their search. Slowly and methodically, they used their respective means of detecting supernatural energies to scan the area. Although there were faint readings all around the area, the intensifying traces of spirits led them toward the stairway leading down into the abandoned extension to the building.

As the door to the stairwell creaked open, Glimmer Shine and the others looked into the dusty and forgotten opening with surprised expressions. After being introduced to the lavish and colorful resort upstairs, seeing such an uninviting sight before them was unexpected, to say the least.

“Yikes… what’s the story with this place?” Sunspot asked curiously while eyeing the stairwell and the darkness below.

“It’s apparently an addition to the resort that Berry’s grandfather made. It was never finished on account of the ceiling caving in on one of the floors further down.” Tom explained what Sparkplug had told him the previous day.

“Well, I suppose the ghosts have to come from somewhere.” Glimmer Shine shrugged while thinking of the task ahead. He glanced back to the others for a moment before heading through the door and walking down the steps. Glitterball followed the yellow stallion down, taking slow and deliberate steps to avoid slipping and falling or touching anything to her sides.

“I don’t suppose we can avoid going down there?” Sunspot asked hesitantly while glancing at the grimy looking stairwell. If the entrance to the abandoned floors were anything to judge them by, then the actual floors themselves would undoubtedly be horrible places to venture through.

“Welcome to the life of a monster hunter Sunspot. As it turns out, most supernatural occurrences don’t happen in nice looking places.” Tom said in an amused tone while walking down the stairs with the others. The orange mare sighed uncomfortably while contemplating whether or not to abandon her friends and cut her losses.

“Blech… I feel like I’m gonna get tetanus down here.” Sunspot muttered while sucking up any disgust she felt and following the others down the stairs.

The group could hear their footsteps reverberating off the metallic steps and through the stairwell. The abrupt sounds were the only sounds to be heard in the otherwise silent air. The temperature was also noticeably colder, though the four were uncertain whether or not this was caused by ghosts or simply a lack of heating.

As they reached the bottom steps and gathered by the door, the group opened it up and stepped out into the hallway. The lights cast by the three ponies’ vest mounted flashlights and the human’s single flashlight were all they had to see due to the lack of other light sources. The four beams carried down the hallway to create a solid cone of visibility that revealed a corridor full of doorways that led into more darkness.

The air felt a little more thick and dirty than it did upstairs, although it may have been due to the particles of dust floating around in the flashlight beams. No matter what was causing the feeling or whether or not it was valid, the area felt cold and disgusting.

“Getting some stronger readings down here… looks like we’re in the right place.” Glitterball stated while examining her locator vial. The liquid inside of the vial was glowing more solidly, indicating that they were getting closer to the source of the reading.

“I would never have guessed that unless you told me, Glitter.” Sunspot said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice while staring down the hallway. The dark and forgotten corridor looked like something straight out of a horror movie.

“Enough messing around… let’s hurry up and clear these ghosts out. The sooner we can leave this place, the better.” Glimmer Shine said in a resolute tone while stepping forward and walking down the hall slowly. The others nodded in silent agreement before following the stallion.

Without wasting any more time, the four started sweeping rooms and searching for any abnormal readings. Tom would check rooms on the right, Sunspot and Glitterball would check rooms on the left, and Glimmer Shine would stay in the hallway to watch out for anything further down. The readings the group was getting weren’t anything out of the ordinary, at least from what they expected. Tom could feel trace amounts of spiritual energy, while the two mares’ vials were glowing slightly. Despite the lack of concrete evidence that a spirit was present, the rooms they were searching made them feel uneasy and tense.

Most of the rooms were seemingly unfinished, with bare minimum furnishings and fixtures in them. What few pieces of furniture were present looked and smelled unpleasant from the sheer amount of time they had been down here with no maintenance. Whatever had a flat surface was covered in dust and a few empty cobwebs, seemingly signifying that even the spiders had left the area and forgotten about it.

A few of the rooms looked a bit more finished and lived in than the others, complete with tables, chairs, and cabinets. There were even a few tools and hard hats placed around as if they were abruptly left there by the workers.

“Find anything?” Glitterball asked with a hopeful expression while watching her human friend step out of a room.

“No… nothing. It’s really weird how calm it is down here. I should be feeling a lot more activity, but I can’t make anything out other than some energy.” Tom explained in a puzzled tone.

“Don’t tell me the ghosts decided to move on to the afterlife the same day we show up.” Sunspot shrugged uneasily while walking down the hall to find the next room to search. The last thing she wanted was to be walking through a dusty basement for no reason.

“That wouldn’t make much sense… most ghosts stick around where they haunt for a long time.” Tom said while scratching his head curiously.

As the group walked past a door on the right, Tom glanced at it and paused suddenly. He used his flashlight to further examine the room and noticed that it looked familiar. What he didn’t notice however was the presence of something that should have been there.

“What the…?” Tom muttered in a confused tone while looking around. Noticing their friend stopping behind them, the ponies paused and turned around to see him looking into a seemingly average room with a troubled expression.

“What’s wrong, Tom?” Glimmer Shine asked curiously while walking over to look into the room and see what was so unusual about it. The room was just another empty room with dust strewn along the floor, so the stallion had no idea what was troubling the boy.

“When Sparkplug took me down here yesterday, we came across an old animatronic from back when Berry’s grandfather was still working on this place,” Tom explained in an uneasy tone while still looking around like he was making sure that he was remembering things correctly.

“So… what’s the problem?” Sunspot asked, oblivious to what the human was insinuating.

“The problem is that it’s gone… it isn’t here anymore.” Tom replied while pointing to the empty spot on the ground just in front of the doorway.

“What…? It was here? Are you sure?” Sunspot asked in a confused tone.

“Yeah, I’m positive. It scared the heck out of me when I found it.” Tom stated uneasily. As the ponies looked down to the area just in front of the door, they suddenly noticed a spot where there wasn’t as much dust, as if something had been sitting there previously.

“Maybe Sparkplug or someone else moved it… hold on a sec.” Glimmer Shine said while reaching for the small radio on his vest. He pulled it out and pushed the button on the side, eliciting a small click of static from the device as he held it in front of him. “Hey Sparkplug, are you there?” Glimmer asked curiously before waiting for a response. Everyone watched anxiously while hoping that the gray mare would admit to moving the animatronic.

“Yeah, I’m here… what’s up?” Sparkplug spoke up in a curious tone.

“We’re down in the sub-basement, and we were just wondering if you or someone else moved the old animatronic that was down here?” Glimmer Shine asked in a calm tone. He didn’t seem to be feeling the slight sensation of unease that everyone else felt.

“What, that old model of Bonnie? No… I haven’t even touched it, and I’m pretty sure nobody has been down there since yesterday.” Sparkplug explained in a casual tone. The gray mare’s words suddenly left a pit in everyone’s stomachs. They immediately looked into the empty room before setting eyes on each other nervously.

“Alright… thanks, Sparkplug, we’ll get back to you later.” Glimmer Shine said while trying to hide the nervousness in his voice. He put the radio back on his vest before turning to his teammates. Any confidence he had that the animatronic had been moved through normal means was completely gone.

“So… is anyone else going to tell me that there is a perfectly normal explanation for this?” Sunspot asked curiously.

“Come on guys… it didn’t just get up and walk away did it?” Glitterball asked in a rhetorical and insincere manner. As she looked around to see the uneasy expressions on her friends’ faces, her question suddenly took on a terrifying light.

Now that the thought of a haunted robot was floating around the air, the dark corridor ahead of the group and all of its concealed rooms felt a lot more foreboding. They had all of the proof they needed now. They weren’t alone anymore.

“Let’s keep moving… just keep your eyes open for anything out of the ordinary.” Tom suggested while returning a calm and collected tone to his voice and walking ahead of the group. The ponies nodded hesitantly before following him and keeping their strobes at the ready.

Meanwhile back upstairs, Rarity and Applejack were walking through the halls of the resort on their way toward the kid’s play area. Ever since they sat down with the others to eat breakfast, the three fillies in their care had been antsy and anxious to see what fun they could have. So while the others went off to do their own things, the two mares decided to take the crusaders where they wanted to go most.

Applebloom walked at the back of the group with her two friends. The fillies were excitedly chatting amongst themselves and imagining what was in store for them when they finally reached their destination.

“Are we almost there?” Sweetie Belle asked while looking ahead to her older sister with a pleading expression.

“Patience Sweetie, we will be there soon.” Rarity replied in a reassuring manner while looking back to the anxious fillies. They seemed to be far less confident in her claim than she was.

“Do you even know how to get there? I think we’ve been going in circles.” Scootaloo shrugged with a bored expression.

“Don’t worry about that, Scootaloo. We asked Berry how to get there while we were eating.” Applejack said while trying to curb the wave of annoyance and boredom arising from behind her. Although her younger sister was the quietest out of the bunch of fillies, she seemed to be the most anxious as well. Ever since the group had retired to their rooms last night, the orange mare hadn’t heard the end about how much the filly wanted to go see the animatronics. However amazing the robotic animals might have been, Applejack’s curiosity was swiftly being overtaken by annoyance towards the three fillies.

Just before the crusaders exploded from anticipation, a set of brightly colored doors came into view on their right. The doors themselves were white, but they had a splash of blue on them to mimic water. There were small windows set into the doors that revealed the inside of the room. Seeing nothing but bright colors and open space through the windows, the two mares decided to open the doors to save their younger companions from waiting any longer.

Stepping through the doorway, the mess of vibrant colors they had seen before opened up into a spacious room painted and decorated to fit a more child-friendly atmosphere. The floor was comprised of a checkered patterned carpet of blue and white, with enough thickness to it that it acted as padding to guard against any roughhousing children are capable of. The walls and ceiling were painted sky blue, with detailed white clouds added to complete the motif it was aiming for.

“Woah… check this place out.” Scootaloo said in an amazed tone while taking in the surroundings. Even Applejack and Rarity were surprised at how much of a bright atmosphere was in the room without kids playing in it.

Aside from the look of the room, its many decorations and play areas were just as colorful as everything else. There was a large open space in the center of the room, with several different toys and attractions dotted along the sides. There was a ball pit at the left end of the room, with a small slide leading into it and a climbing net along the edges. The right side of the room was dominated by a decorative pirate ship with many colorful tubes leading in and out of it for kids to crawl through. There was also a climbing net stretching from midway up the ship to a few feet away, seemingly to catch anyone who fell off the edge. And standing off in one of the corners, there were the two animatronics that the group had come to see in the first place.

“Hey, there are those anima-things!” Applebloom stated eagerly while pointing over to the pair of robots.

Perhaps hearing the sound of visitors to their lonely area, the two animatronics turned their heads to look at the group of ponies. Both of them were bipedal cats, and both of them Applejack recognized from her brief time learning about the resort’s animatronics. The one in red was Felix, and his partner was Party Favor. The two cats seemed polar opposites of each other in terms of appearance, with Felix’s deep red coloring clashing against his counterpart’s pink and white motif.

“Hi, there! Welcome to the play area! Are you ready to have some fun?” Party Favor spoke up in a cheerful tone while stepping forward slightly. She seemed to be much more lively than any other animatronic the ponies had seen, even going so far as to seem slightly realistic. She gestured with her arms when she talked, and shifted her weight around like an actual creature would. Meanwhile, her red counterpart remained back in the corner silently while watching the group.

“Can we go play?” Sweetie Belle asked her sister in a courteous tone while mustering all of the patience she could to stifle her excitement.

“Go on girls, we’ll watch you from here.” Rarity said with an understanding smile. She giggled slightly as she watched the three fillies cheer eagerly while scampering off to go inspect the animatronics up close. She couldn’t help but think back to when she was that young and all of the things she did to find entertainment.

Sweetie Belle and her two friends walked across the room and passed all of the enticing toys and playthings to go straight to the robotic animals. As they approached the pair, the white cat watched them intently while tilting her head.

“Hello! My name is Party Favor, and this is my friend Felix.” Party Favor explained while briefly turning to face the red cat. “What are your names?” She asked curiously while looking down at the three fillies.

“I’m Sweetie Belle, these are my friends Applebloom and Sc-” Sweetie Belle started to introduce herself and her friends when she was interrupted by the orange filly shrugging audibly and rolling her eyes.

“You don’t need to talk to it like it’s real, Sweetie Belle.” Scootaloo said in an unimpressed tone while noting her friend’s childish behavior. She was surprised to hear the robotic cat protesting her comment.

“Hey, that’s not very nice! I have feelings too you know.” Party Favor said in a played up sad tone. She put on the best pouty expression she could, given her limited facial freedom, before crossing her arms and looking down.

“Woah… they made them really lifelike didn’t they?” Scootaloo asked in an amazed tone while turning to her two companions. Sweetie Belle and Applebloom smirked at the young pegasus as she was essentially shown up by a robot.

“That lifeguard did say that these guys can interact with people really well.” Applebloom said while thinking back to the day before. She was impressed to see just how advanced the magical components made the animatronics. They almost felt lifelike in a sort of way.

“Whatever, let’s go play. Maybe we should head over to that pirate ship?” Scootaloo suggested to her friends while glancing behind her at the other end of the room. The numerous tubes and the climbing nets on the ship made it an appealing place to start playing.

“Do you think they could come with us?” Sweetie Belle asked curiously while looking back at the animatronics. The white filly and at least her yellow friend hoped that the two cats would be able to play some games with them. Party Favor observed the fillies for a moment before closing her mouth and partially closing her eyes, creating a warm expression. She then turned to look at the red cat behind her as he remained silent and observant.

“Come on Felix! Let’s go play with the kids!” Party Favor said in an excited tone while motioning for the red cat to follow her. The three fillies and their newfound mechanical friend looked at Felix expecting him to speak or move. After what seemed like a few moments of looking ahead at the group silently and shifting his eyes around, Felix started moving a bit more naturally and opened his mouth.

“Ok! Are you guys ready to have a blast?” Felix asked in an eager tone. His voice held the same faint distortion that the other animatronics had, but it still conveyed emotion well.

“Yay!” Sweetie Belle cheered in excitement while rushing away with her friends. The two animatronics followed them, making soft and steady clicks as they moved. Although they were slower than the fillies, they would catch up to them as they went over to the pirate ship and started climbing on it. Meanwhile, the two mares at the front of the room were watching the crusaders playing with empathetic smiles.

“Wow… I don’t think I will ever get used to seeing those things.” Rarity said in a surprised tone while eyeing the two robots. While the pink one was alright enough, the other one was still displaying the soulless qualities that any cheap imitation of life had, a clear and unavoidable limitation of technology. Even magical components had their limits, but the robotic animals were charming enough to make up for these shortcomings.

“The novelty would wear off if you got used to them.” Applejack stated with a slight chuckle at the unicorn’s words.

“I suppose you’re right. That would defeat the purpose wouldn’t it?” Rarity asked rhetorically as she caught on to the orange mare’s meaning.

“Still, as long as the kids like ‘em, they’re alright to me.” Applejack said while smirking as she watched her sister playing with her friends. The two animatronics were standing by the pirate ship and watching the fillies playing, but they would interact with them whenever they paused to notice them.

“I guess. I’m not so sure if I would feel comfortable talking to something that isn’t alive, though.” Rarity said warily.

“What, are you creeped out by them or somethin’?” Applejack asked curiously.

Rarity shrugged. “Perhaps… I just think they are a bit off-putting.” She replied, making an attempt at shaking off any negative thoughts lingering in her mind.

“Are you sure you’re not just creeped out by the thought of ghosts in this place?” Applejack asked with a slight hint of nervousness in her own voice. The thought of why they were actually here hung over everyone’s head, though they tried to suppress and replace it with happier ones.

“I’m sure the others will take care of any ghosts downstairs.” Rarity said confidently, albeit with a hesitant pause.

“I still don’t like the idea of being so close to any ghosts… not after what happened back at that mansion.” Applejack shrugged and shook her head as a heap of unwanted memories came flooding back to her.

“Don’t worry Applejack… not all ghosts are that powerful, or that evil. Nothing like that will ever happen to us again.” Rarity said while offering her friend a reassuring expression. The orange mare nodded while lightening up a bit.

“OW!”

A sudden thump and a yelp of pain drew the two mares’ attention to the three fillies. They saw Scootaloo and Applebloom staring over the side of the pirate ship with surprised and concerned expressions, and they saw Sweetie Belle curled up on the floor clutching her ankle.

“Oh, Sweetie Belle! Are you ok?” Rarity asked in a concerned tone while trotting over to the white filly. As she reached her little sister and knelt down to level with her, she looked up at the other two fillies to see what had happened.

“She just fell off the climbing net… is she ok?” Scootaloo asked while looking to her friend with a worried expression.

“I think she just sprained her ankle… hold on, let me see.” Rarity said while gently examining her sister’s leg. Despite how gentle she was being, it wasn’t enough to prevent the young unicorn from feeling pain.

“Owch!” Sweetie Belle yelped painfully while Rarity tried picking up her leg.

“Sorry darling, I need to see how bad it is. Try to hold still.” Rarity said in a sympathetic tone while frowning at her sister. Sweetie Belle tried to prevent herself from squirming, but the shooting pains she was feeling weren’t making things easier.

“You’re making it worse… ow!” Sweetie Belle complained in a distraught tone. She had a few tears welling up in her eyes from how badly her leg hurt.

Everyone watched with concerned expressions as the white mare tried to tend to her sibling. Even Party Favor was watching from the sidelines with an uncertain expression, almost like she was trying to figure out what was going on. Felix, on the other hand, was watching silently, and very intently. The red cat watched Rarity moving the filly’s leg and Sweetie Belle stifling cries of pain, almost fixated on them while remaining motionless and silent. The ponies were far too occupied to notice the two animatronics however as they kept their eyes on the two unicorns.

“Ugh… I think this will swell if we leave it alone… probably going to bruise as well.” Rarity shrugged uneasily while setting her sister down and turning to the others.

“You should get her back to the room and let her rest.” Applejack suggested while frowning with concern at the injured filly.

“Yes… but first I need something to help with the pain and swelling.” Rarity said while looking around in thought for a moment. She turned to the two animatronics with an idea in her head. “Oh, um… Party Favor, can you go find me an ice pack please?” She asked in a clear tone while facing the white cat with a hopeful expression. Party Favor looked at the white mare silently. After a moment of nothing being said, the robotic feline shifted to a confused expression.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t understand that. Could you say that again?” Party Favor asked in a less organic manner. It sounded like she was simply spouting out a prerecorded message rather than actually using her voice box and personality to form words.

Applejack tilted her head, feeling equal confusion to the animatronic. “What? How could you not understand that?”

“*Sigh* it must be the limitations that High Tide mentioned. These two can’t handle anything other than interacting with guests.” Rarity said with a frustrated tone in her voice.

“I can go find where they keep the ice packs if you want.” Applejack offered in a helpful manner, to which the white mare shook her head.

“No, I’ll just take Sweetie Belle up to the room and find one myself. Thank you for the offer, though.” Rarity said before turning to her sister with a sympathetic expression. “Come on Sweetie Belle, let’s get you back to bed so you can get some rest.” She lit up her horn and gently picked the filly up. Sweetie Belle sighed in disappointment as the older unicorn floated her up to her back and gently sat her down.

“Girls, let’s head back with them. I think you’ve had enough roughhousin’ to last a while.” Applejack suggested while turning to the other fillies. Applebloom and Scootaloo voiced their disappointment with verbal groans and sighs while climbing down from the pirate ship, all the while being careful to not fall off like their friend had.

While Rarity carried Sweetie Belle out the door and started on her way back to the room, Applejack and the other two crusaders slowly followed her out. Before closing the door and leaving, Scootaloo turned to look at the animatronics that were still watching from the side.

“Bye Party Favor…” Scootaloo said in a sheepish tone, still feeling a little bad about her previous dismissal of actually talking to the animatronics. Party Favor waved with a friendly expression as the orange filly walked out of the door. While the white cat waved at the departing ponies, Felix stared at the door in silence, even longer than his white counterpart did. After a few moments, the red cat took a step forward and slowly walked towards the door.

-A few minutes later-

After spending a few minutes walking around the resort and trying to wake herself up, Twilight finally settled in at the front desk. She was chatting idly with Fluttershy and Berry Swirl, who had finally managed to get up and about.

Despite the unsettling dream she had the night before, Twilight somehow managed to feel upbeat and energetic at last. Perhaps it was the bright atmosphere of the resort, or maybe it was just being around her friends, but the purple mare felt good as new.

“Thanks for sending High Tide into town to get some food Berry. Breakfast was really good.” Twilight said gratefully. While she wasn’t about to complain about the seemingly unprofessional meals they had received, she did enjoy the extra effort the earth pony was putting in for them.

“Well, you guys deserved more than just fast food for your vacation. Just be thankful that Silver Bell knows a thing or two about cooking.” Berry Swirl said with a slight chuckle.

“She seems to know a thing or two about a lot of things… you got a real keeper there.” Twilight said sincerely.

Berry smirked as she thought about how much work the cream mare put into the resort each day. “Yeah… the whole team would fall apart without her, that’s for sure.”

“It’s really nice to see that you and the others are so close. It’s like you’re a family and not just coworkers.” Fluttershy said with an impressed expression.

“We are a family… or at least it feels that way. After I lost my dad, it was pretty tough for a while. Copper helped me out with the plans for getting the park up and running again… he worked with my dad toward the end of his career in this place. Finding the others and talking them into going on this little adventure was another challenge… Sparkplug almost didn’t say yes. I guess she had the sense to make the right choice, but she signed up anyway.” Berry explained lightheartedly. It seemed like she was fondly remembering her past and looking forward to making the park as good as it was when her father owned it. Twilight and Fluttershy couldn’t help but feel for the purple mare as she kept her head held high through any problem she had, even if the problem was ghosts in the basement.

“Well I’m sure you guys will do a great job when you finally open this place-” Twilight was suddenly interrupted by another voice coming from one of the hallways to the right.

“Hey!”

A familiar voice exclaimed in an agitated tone. The three mares walked over to the doorway with surprised expressions as they listened to the distressed sounds coming from the corridor.

Looking out into the hallway, the ponies saw Rarity standing in front of an animatronic cat with red fur. The unicorn had what appeared to be ice packs on the floor next to her, seemingly dropped suddenly from her magical grip as the robotic animal blocked her path and stared at her silently.

“Rarity? What’s wrong?” Twilight asked in a concerned tone while looking at the white mare to see what was happening. Rarity turned her head to see her friends looking back at her with curious and concerned expressions.

“I was on my way back to our room when this thing just stepped in front of me and knocked into me!” Rarity explained in an upset tone while looking back to the red animatronic with an icy glare.

“He knocked into you?” Twilight tilted her head in confusion while looking at the cat. He seemed to be paying no attention to the fact that he was intruding on the white mare’s personal space.

“You’re absolutely right he knocked into me! If I didn’t have consideration for other people’s property, and I didn’t consider that walking hunk of junk to be other people’s property, I would have half a mind to give it a few good kicks.” Rarity huffed in frustration while picking up her ice packs off of the floor. She groaned in annoyance while getting up and attempting to walk around the animatronic. She was surprised and a little bit startled to see the robotic cat stepping into her path again and knocking into her.

“What in the name of Celestia is wrong with you? Let me through!” Rarity said in a frustrated tone while raising her voice slightly. The cat simply kept staring down at her silently, paying no attention to her outburst.

“Felix, what are you doing? Stop that right now.” Berry said in a commanding tone while stepping forward slightly. Much to everyone’s surprise, the animatronic didn’t budge an inch.

“He isn’t listening to you Berry… is he malfunctioning or something?” Twilight asked in a confused tone while looking between the animatronic and her understandably upset friend.

“I don’t know, maybe… he shouldn’t even be outside the kid's play area.” Berry stated in an utterly puzzled tone before turning back to the animatronic. “Felix, come here.” She instructed, hoping that a more simplistic command would work better.

Rarity and the others watched as the robotic cat remained perfectly still. The white mare, in particular, was starting to get a little creeped out by how intently it was eyeing her. She slowly took a step back to distance herself, only to backpedal in surprise as the animatronic followed her.

“Berry… what is it doing? And why is it so fixated on me?” Rarity asked in a concerned tone.

“Hold on a second,” Berry said before turning around and trotting back into the lobby. Twilight and Fluttershy turned and watched the purple mare heading to the front desk and going behind it. Rarity merely shifted her eyes to the side while keeping her full attention on her new metallic friend.

Berry quickly trotted back over to the others with a radio in her hooves. She took a quick breath before pushing the button on the side and bringing the radio up to her mouth, all the while keeping her attention on Felix.

“Hey Sparkplug, has Felix been acting strange recently?” Berry asked anxiously. The ponies waited for what seemed like forever for a response when finally the gray mare picked up on the other end of the line.

“Who, Felix? Um… no, I don’t think so. Why do you ask?” Sparkplug asked curiously.

Rarity sidestepped to try and get by the robotic cat once more. Every time she moved to one side, Felix moved to follow her, keeping himself between her and any exit behind him. The white mare was starting to feel threatened by the hulking animatronic.

“That’s enough. Felix, sleep mode!” Berry said in a frustrated tone. Nothing happened to Felix, let alone what the purple mare expected. There were no flashing lights in his eyes, no beeping to indicate that his systems were powering down, nothing at all.

“Girls… I would really appreciate it if you got this thing away from me.” Rarity asked in a nervous tone while locking eyes with the animatronic. Something about his silent stare was incredibly unnerving to her, but she couldn’t look away.

“Sparkplug, I need you to do a manual shutdown on Felix. He isn’t responding to any commands, and he is really starting to freak us out.” Berry said in an anxious tone. Twilight, Fluttershy, and most of all, Rarity, were all glad to hear that the situation was finally being taken care of. They could finally get back to their normal day, and not have to worry about anything other than how to stave off boredom.

“Uh… Berry, Felix isn’t online.” Sparkplug spoke up in a confused tone. The gray mare’s words hung in the air and made Berry’s eyes widen.

“W-what?!” Berry asked in a stunned tone. Twilight and Fluttershy looked at the earth pony as she stared at her radio in disbelief. They looked back to the animatronic standing in front of their friend with a new glint of fear in their eyes.

“Yeah, Felix hasn’t been online for a while. Nobody even activated him this morning… you mean he’s up there with you?” Sparkplug asked in a more concerned tone.

“Sparkplug, call Tom and the others and get them up to the lobby right now.” Berry instructed in an urgent and hushed tone before turning her radio off and setting it down. She stepped in front of Twilight and Fluttershy and looked ahead to see Felix still locking eyes with Rarity.

“Felix, sleep mode.” Berry said in one last ditch effort at shrugging off this whole experience as a glitchy animatronic. She slowly walked forward until Rarity took another step back. Strangely enough, the robotic cat remained in place while the white mare recoiled, though his silent stare was still firmly fixed on her.

“What’s wrong with him?” Fluttershy asked timidly while backing up slightly and staring at the animatronic with wide eyes. She hoped that her friends would have the sense to get as far away from the cat as possible.

“Felix, sleep mode.” Berry instructed in a louder and more deliberate manner. Still, the animatronic did nothing but stare ahead. Finally, an idea popped into her head. The mere thought sent an uncomfortable chill down her spine, but she had to entertain her idea.

“Felix… wake mode.” Berry said hesitantly.

*Beep, Beep, Beep*

Two sets of three rapid beeps sounded out as red lights blinked on and off in Felix’s eyes. The robotic cat moved his head to the side slightly, as if he had just woken up. Just as suddenly as the first beeps had come, another set of six beeps sounded out and the lights blinked again before turning off. Felix suddenly shifted his gaze back to Rarity and took a step forward. The white unicorn stepped back again, only to have the robotic cat take another step. Although she had gained distance on him from when he stayed put before, Rarity was outright terrified now.

“Get away from me… get back!” Rarity yelled defensively.

Suddenly the group heard frantic footsteps coming from behind them. They turned to see Tom and Glimmer Shine’s team running into the lobby and over to the doorway where they were. They darted their eyes around while trying to find out why they were called back so suddenly.

“What’s wrong?” Tom asked while looking to Twilight with a concerned expression. Before the purple mare could speak up, a bone-chilling noise erupted from the animatronic cat.

Felix opened his mouth and let out a heavily distorted growl that built in pitch and intensity before turning into a shriek. As he screeched, his eyes had a small glint of white in them that gave them a terrifying air. The robotic cat raised his arms and started rushing forward towards Rarity.

“AHH!” Rarity screamed and fell backwards onto the floor as she watched the animatronic make a dash toward her. Before Felix could close the distance between himself and the hapless unicorn, Berry Swirl darted forward and raced up behind him.

The purple mare stood up on her hind legs and reached up to the back of the animatronic’s neck. She grasped something on its neck and pulled on it, eliciting a small click from it as she stumbled backwards onto all fours.

The lights in Felix’s eyes disappeared and his shriek ceased. The robotic cat froze in place for a moment before going limp and falling over, landing on the floor and settling in a motionless heap. The still traumatized Rarity looked down at the cat before looking around at her friends. Fluttershy was cowering behind Twilight, while Tom and the others were paused mid-step as they ceased their imminent rescue attempt. Finally, the jittery unicorn looked ahead to see Berry Swirl holding a small ring attached to a pin in her hoof.

“Y-you… stopped it?” Rarity asked in a confused tone. The purple mare twirled the pin around by the ring for a moment while showing it off.

“It’s a safety mechanism we use to do a hard shutdown if any of the animatronics get a really bad error. It bypasses every system they have and prevents them from functioning.” Berry explained while still calming herself down after her rush of adrenaline.

“Are you guys ok? What the hay happened with that thing?” Sunspot asked in a concerned tone while examining Rarity as she got up from the floor. She seemed to be taking the experience in her stride, but she was visibly shaken.

Before anyone could even try to offer an explanation, the group heard the sound of someone rushing in from the other room. They turned around and saw Sparkplug walking over to them with a panicked expression on her face. Once she saw the motionless animatronic on the ground and the frightened expressions on Rarity and the others, she froze in mid-step.

“Holy cow… what happened?” Sparkplug asked in a stunned tone.

“I don’t know… Felix just flipped out and tried to attack Rarity.” Berry Swirl said in a confused and equally concerned tone while looking to the white mare.

“I noticed that thing looking at me funny ever since I carried Sweetie Belle out of the play area.” Rarity said while trying to fathom why she was having the worst luck in the world.

“Wait, you carried Sweetie Belle out of the play area? Is she ok?” Twilight asked in a concerned tone while looking down to the ice packs the unicorn was carrying before.

“Yeah, she just sprained an ankle after falling in the play area. Come to think of it… Felix started staring at me like that when I tried examining Sweetie Belle’s leg.” Rarity explained in a curious manner while thinking back to when her sister injured herself. She was too occupied with tending to the filly at the time to notice, but she did remember the red cat acting oddly the entire time the group was in the play area.

“I don’t understand how this happened… the animatronics aren’t finished by any means, but they aren’t so broken that they would do this!” Sparkplug said in a bewildered tone while walking over to the animatronic and kneeling down to examine it.

“Maybe it was acting on free will?” Tom suggested curiously while using his senses a few times and staring at the animatronic pensively.

Sparkplug shook her head in disbelief. “That’s not possible… they are designed to appear lifelike, but that’s it… just appearances. Even with their magical components, they are still just mechanical puppets.”

“I think you aren’t getting what Tom is suggesting.” Glitterball said while looking down to her locator vial and slowly catching on to the human’s meaning. The liquid in her vial was glowing softly, indicating a paranormal presence nearby.

“Huh?” Sparkplug muttered while tilting her head in confusion. The unicorn and the human seemed confident in whatever theory they had, but it wasn’t nearly as obvious to the gray mare or anyone else.

“I think Tom means that one of the ghosts was controlling Felix.” Glitterball explained to get the human’s point across to everyone else.

Sparkplug’s face shifted to a surprised expression. “A ghost possessing an inanimate object… is that even possible?” She asked, equal parts intrigued and unnerved.

“Not only is it possible, but it’s already happened. When we went down in the subbasement, that old model of Bonnie you showed me last night was missing. We didn’t find it… but judging from what just happened here with Felix, I would say that one of the ghosts hopped into it and used it to walk away.” Tom explained while turning to face the group. Most of the ponies had concerned expressions on their faces and hints of fear in their eyes.

“But, I thought the ghosts here weren’t very strong? How did they come upstairs so easily? Let alone possessing an animatronic and using it to try and attack Rarity.” Twilight asked nervously. The others could tell that she wasn’t so hot on the idea of being so close to powerful ghosts, and they perfectly understood.

As everyone looked to Tom and the others for certainty and confidence, they found them offering uncertain expressions in return. It seemed like they were just as in the dark as the rest of the group was, and that made the ponies even more nervous.

“I’m not sure why the ghosts are acting like this, or how they could do this in the first place. It’s been hard for me to gauge how strong they are… it’s like their energy and the energy in this place keeps fluctuating… I don’t fully understand what is going on.” Tom admitted hesitantly. He hated not being able to tell the ponies that everything was under control, especially when it meant that they could be in danger.

“We’ll get to the bottom of this, though… You guys shouldn’t worry about it, right?” Sunspot said reassuringly while looking to her teammates for support. Although they still felt unsure and uneasy themselves, Glimmer Shine and Glitterball softened up their expressions and tried to appear confident.

“Yeah… we’re going to head back down to the basement and see if we can’t find out what’s going on… not to mention track down our missing animatronic.” Glimmer said with a determined expression.

Rarity glanced back to the motionless animatronic on the ground with an uneasy expression. “Is this going to happen again? I don’t want another one of the animatronics to try and kill me.” She asked in a concerned tone while still trying to recover from the traumatic experience she just went through.

“Don’t worry. I’m going to send all of the animatronics down to the store room until they find out what’s going on.” Berry said while glancing down to Felix and shrugging uneasily.

“Come on Rarity, why don’t we go find the others and try to relax?” Twilight suggested while noting the tense atmosphere. She was certain that Tom and the others would do their best to solve the problem, but she still felt a twinge of anxiety and nervousness that wouldn’t go away. Hopefully, some time with their friends would ease their fears.

“That sounds good… let me take these ice packs up to the room first. Poor Sweetie Belle is probably still in pain waiting for me to get back.” Rarity said in a worried tone while picking up the ice packs on the floor yet again. Hearing about the white filly’s predicament made the others frown with sympathy.

“We’re going back to the basement now… we’ll catch up with you guys later. And Rarity, I’ll stop by your room later and heal Sweetie Belle’s ankle for you.” Tom offered while walking away with Glimmer Shine and his two teammates.

“Thank you, darling, I’m sure she would appreciate it. Stay safe for us down there, all of you.” Rarity said while waving to the departing group along with Twilight and Fluttershy. After watching the four disappearing into a hallway, the white mare turned to her friends and waved before walking down the hall toward her room.

Twilight and Fluttershy watched as Sparkplug examined Felix while Berry stood to her side with concerned expressions all around. The threat that the ghosts posed had escalated to new heights. The ponies were unsure of whether or not the spirits could do something this brash again, or whether or not they were capable of more than simple mischief. Either way, they were filled with a nagging fear that wouldn’t be going anywhere anytime soon.

With a new feeling of urgency and tenseness accompanying them, the members of Spirit and their human companion descended back into the forgotten sub-basement of the resort. As they stepped out into the dusty corridor and took in a breath of cold and stale air, their stern resolve made them press forward in spite of the mild ill feeling in their guts.

Tom exhaled a puff of blue mist and the three ponies held out their detector vials. Now that they were actually pursuing an active spirit that was able to possess something as heavy as an animatronic animal, they felt much more on edge than they did the first time walking through the dark halls.

The group scanned their eyes to each room they passed, giving them a cursory search to determine if their missing robot was lurking in the shadows. All of the rooms were still empty, for the moment at least. The ponies figured that the animatronic was wherever it had been since it moved from the spot Tom found it in, but they still kept on their toes just in case they were wrong.

A solid few minutes went by as the four swept through the hallways. Eventually, they passed the point where they were when they were abruptly called upstairs by Sparkplug.

With the looming thought of new territory playing into her already stressed nerves, Glitterball instinctively reached for her strobe before remembering what she was actually expecting to fight. “So, does anyone actually know what we’re going to do assuming we find this thing?” She asked in a concerned tone. If a ghost actually was hiding in the decrepit animatronic, then fire from strobes would likely do little to nothing to it.

“Well… assuming we find a lifeless hunk of rusted metal, we’ll probably just continue our investigation.” Tom said to offer his opinion on the matter.

“And if we find said hunk of rusted metal out on a leisurely stroll? I don’t think we’ve got anything that can take down one of those things.” Sunspot fretted while briefly looking down to her suit and mentally tallying her inventory. There was a small taser that caught her attention, but she wasn’t sure if she wanted to bank on that working if she ran into a ticked off spirit inhabiting a five-foot tall metallic rabbit.

“Uh… I guess I could hit it?” Tom suggested awkwardly, eliciting strange looks from his equine friends. “What? I’m a slayer… my plans don’t usually go much further than finding a monster and killing it.” He added defensively while shrugging his shoulders.

A soft buzz coming from the vials in their hooves drew the ponies’ attention downwards. They saw the liquid in the vials glowing slightly brighter than before. Oddly enough, the liquid seemed to be dimming and brightening slightly in certain areas seemingly at random.

“Huh…? This is weird… the signals down here are fluctuating so much that the detectors can barely figure out what’s going on.” Glitterball said in a confused tone while pointing her vial around in a circle. Moving the vial didn’t cause the amount of change she would have expected, although it did make it dim and brighten at different rates. She pointed it closer to one of the rooms to see if she could get a solid reading anywhere.

Tom used his senses a few times to get a lay of the area. The confused and mildly frustrated expression on his face told the others that his brief search had yielded similar results to what they were seeing with their detector vials.

“Ugh… this is flying in the face of everything I know about hunting ghosts. I can hardly even tell where the trail of ambient energy I felt last night is… it’s like the energy in this place keeps changing.” Tom shrugged in a defeated tone.

“Is that a bad thing?” Glitterball asked hesitantly while turning her head to face the others.

“Maybe… If the energy here really is unpredictable, I might have been completely wrong when I gauged how strong these ghosts are, or even how many there are.” Tom suggested with an uneasy expression, much to the dismay of his colleagues.

“Great… that’s just what we need, more uncert-” Glitter froze up suddenly as she turned her head back to examine her vial again. As she trailed her eyes up into the room she was facing, she found the hollow eyes of the missing animatronic staring back at her.

The blue rabbit was leaning around the corner of the doorway, seemingly peering out to view the group out in the hallway. The eyes that went with Bonnie’s shell were cracked and rotted into a sickly yellow color, but there seemed to be a slight red glow coming from behind them, most likely from the endoskeleton’s set of eyes. Its jaw was hanging crookedly, but it looked like it was forming into a silent growl directed toward the white mare.

“Uh… ah… AH!” Glitterball yelped fearfully as she finally processed what she was seeing. As she cried out, the aged animatronic suddenly leapt forward. Bonnie rushed past the terrified unicorn, knocking into her and sending her to the floor as it tore down the hallway with a broken shriek and a series of mismatched mechanical clicks.

“Glitter!” Glimmer Shine exclaimed in a shocked tone while rushing to the unicorn’s side along with the others. He briefly turned to see the animatronic disappearing down the dark corridor before returning his attention to the white mare on the ground.

“Are you ok?!” Tom asked in a concerned tone while examining the unicorn for injuries.

“I-I’m fine… I’m fine! He’s getting away!” Glitterball stammered in shock while pointing down the hallway.

Before the ponies could even get their comrade off of the floor, they heard their human friend taking off running. The trio turned to see Tom running full sprint down the hallway in pursuit of the fleeing animatronic. Deciding that they should help their friend, the members of Spirit rushed forward to try and catch up with him.

Meanwhile, Tom was running as fast as he could while trying to avoid the miscellaneous objects strewn along the floor. He followed the faint glimpses of the old robot down the hall until it turned to the right, eliciting the human to turn after it.

Tom could hear a loud metallic thumping as the animatronic’s feet pounded against the floor and it knocked into the walls while running clumsily. He wasn’t sure if the withered body the spirit inhabited was unable to move smoothly or if it was just not used to moving with it.

Despite him being able to follow the animatronic easily from the distant sounds, the human was barely able to keep him at the edge of his flashlight’s reach. As a few more twists and turns aided the robotic rabbit in gaining ground, Tom found himself unable to see his target anymore. Suddenly, the sounds of Bonnie’s footsteps and metallic body ceased.

Tom slowed to a halt as the hallway opened up into a small intersection. He panted heavily while scanning the area around him for the missing robot. Strangely enough, he noticed that he had come out near the shelf that was blocking the rest of the building last night. Even stranger was the fact that the shelf was now pushed to the side, revealing another dark corridor where it once was.

Hearing rushed footsteps behind him, Tom turned around to see flashlights bouncing up and down as his colleagues caught up with him. Glimmer Shine and his two teammates seemed even more out of breath than the human was, most likely due to their natural stamina.

“*Pant*… *Wheeze*… did you… did you lose him?” Sunspot asked while trying to catch her breath. She looked around the area in between bouts of hanging her head low to the floor. The orange mare and her teammates were naturally drawn to the large shelf and the dark corridor that it was sitting next to. Almost on cue with everyone losing hope that they would find the animatronic again, a loud clang sounded out from further down the eerie hallway.

“He went down that way… come on, let’s go.” Glimmer Shine said while walking toward the hallway. He was interrupted by Tom stepping in front of him to block his path.

“Hold up… Sparkplug said that this area was blocked off due to it being unstable from the collapse. I should go alone on the off chance the floor caves in.” Tom suggested while glancing between the three ponies.

“Are you sure?” Glitterball asked in a concerned tone. She wasn’t sure if she was comfortable with letting the human go alone into a possibly dangerous location to chase after a definitely dangerous haunted robot.

“Yeah, I’m sure. If the floor collapses, I would rather it happen to me than you guys. I can get back up afterwards… you might not.” Tom explained in a confident tone.

“Alright… what do you want us to do? Should we wait for you here?” Glimmer Shine asked curiously.

“No sense in you wasting time waiting for me. You guys go back and continue sweeping this floor for energy. See if you can make sense of these whacked out readings while I go find our animatronic friend.” Tom said while starting to make his way into the hallway. Glimmer Shine and his two teammates hesitantly walked back toward the hallway toward the rest of the area.

“Be careful in there Tom.” Sunspot said in an uneasy tone while pausing to turn her head toward the human. Tom offered a wave with his hand without turning around to signify that he heard her. The orange mare watched the boy leaving with a concerned expression. She hated not being able to do anything to help. Finally, she turned and trotted to catch up with her teammates as they walked away.

Meanwhile, Tom was making his way further into new territory. Before, he at least had a vague idea of where he was going due to Sparkplug’s brief tour of the place, but now he was on his own. Being in yet another eerie and dusty location hunting down ghosts sort of reminded him of his days as a slayer back in the human world, however brief they might have been. However, back in the human world, he wouldn’t have been hunting a possessed animatronic bunny, which was a scenario that still sounded ridiculous in his head.

Taking a look around yielded no signs that this hallway was any different than the other ones. There were still darkened rooms waiting on either side of him, and there were still forgotten decorations left lying around to offer the illusion that this place was originally supposed to be lived in. However, the knowledge that the structural integrity of this place might be compromised left a strong feeling of apprehension in the boy that made him very aware of where he was stepping. The floor still left hollow echoes of his footsteps like the hallways and rooms further back, but he couldn’t hear any signs of creaking or cracking.

As he used his senses a few times, he was left with little more than fluctuating pockets of ambient energy like before. He couldn’t even feel whether or not there was a haunted animatronic lying in wait to kill him, let alone how close it was or where it was hiding. His inability to make sense of the readings he was getting made the human let out a frustrated groan before continuing with his search.

Suddenly, Tom saw a box toppling over up ahead at the end of the hall. He immediately paused and shined his flashlight over the area anxiously. The hallway opened up and went a few feet more before ending in a wall. Set into the wall was a large opening with a set of stairs that looked much friendlier than the cramped stairway that led down into the sub-basement. The stairs stretched from wall to wall, with wooden handrails on either side. The carpet from the hallway followed the stairs down as they went on a short ways before doubling back and descending into unseen darkness.

Noticing that there was space for the animatronic rabbit to be hiding in the corner where the hallway opened up, the human crept forward slowly while keeping on his toes. He was fully prepared to body slam Bonnie onto the floor as soon as he entered the larger area, or at least he would give his best attempt considering his opponent was practically his size and made of metal and plastic.

As he neared the corner, Tom finally decided to swallow his apprehension and jumped forward while shining his flashlight to the right. Much to his surprise and relief, he found nothing but empty space in the corner.

“Man… I need to work on my horror movie senses… I totally thought he would be there.” Tom shrugged while shaking his head in disappointment. He had been able to apply a surprising amount of skills from watching scary movies with his friend to his job as a slayer, but apparently, real horror situations were less predictable than in the movies.

Deciding to take a look around, Tom turned and used his flashlight to check the rest of the area. Panning the flashlight to the left revealed the ominous stairs in the center of the wall, a few dead plants still in their pots, some peeling wallpaper, and a five-foot tall mechanical rabbit.

“Wait, what?!” Tom exclaimed in surprise while jerking back slightly. He scarcely had time to finish his statement before the looming animatronic lunged forward and grabbed him by the throat.

“Oh right… turning around is usually bad in horror movies.” Tom said as he noticed the irony of the situation, though he could only communicate this via strangled croaks as the withered model of Bonnie tightened its grip on his neck.

Tom kicked at the robotic animal and clutched at its arm as it squeezed him tightly, though without much effect. He could barely think straight with the animatronic’s powerful grip cutting off the blood supply to his head. The relatively soft shell of the blue rabbit was almost completely worn away on the hand it was using to strangle him, revealing the metallic endoskeleton underneath that equally looked and felt painful.

As Bonnie looked at the human with his lifeless gaze, he tilted his head while watching him struggle. Without much effort, the rabbit lifted the human off the ground and tossed him to the side in one motion. Tom flew a short distance away before hitting his head and upper back on the ground with a painful thud.

Before Tom could even look up, he heard an ear-piercing shriek coming from in front of him. The shriek sounded slightly distorted, but it sounded far too lifelike and terrifying for it to have been made by a voice box, even if it was decades old and broken down. The human looked ahead and saw the robotic rabbit charging straight for him with its arms jutted out in front of itself. Bonnie leapt at the boy, being just barely held back by his arms being shoved forward.

Tom grunted in a mixture of pain and distress as the animatronic sat on top of his lower body. He couldn’t even move Bonnie off of himself due to his heavy frame. The robotic animal tried to claw at his face, but he did his best to grab its arms and keep them at bay.

“Hrk... gah!” Tom winced in pain as Bonnie inadvertently knocked his hand into his jaw. Even without the animatronic doing it on purpose, the metallic appendage felt like a ton of bricks being knocked into him. The boy quickly realized that he would lose this fight if he didn’t do something to gain the upper hand.

Glancing up at the disturbing visage of the decaying animatronic, he saw the rabbit’s crooked jaw forming into a sort of half smile and half scowl that matched its unwavering stare perfectly. As he looked at the rabbit’s neck, an idea suddenly popped into his head.

Tom fought the haunted animatronic and reached his arm towards its head. Straining to reach past the rabbit’s reaching arms, he started clumsily feeling around the side and back of its head and upper neck. After what seemed like hours of struggling and feeling around, the human suddenly came across a small ring shape. Remembering how Berry Swirl shut down the animatronic cat that attacked Rarity, Tom smirked and grabbed ahold of the ring before pulling. The ring offered slight resistance before coming loose with a satisfying click.

*BZZT*

A couple of sparks shot out from the exposed opening in Bonnie’s ear. The animatronic paused as Tom looked up at the ring in his hand and the pin it was attached to. The pin was worn down in several places and the ring was rusted slightly, but it perfectly resembled the safety mechanism that Berry had used to shut down Felix.

Bonnie stared ahead silently and kept his arm in mid-reach, almost like he was a statue. Suddenly, the animatronic’s eyes shifted to the side with a soft mechanical sound. It looked at the ring in the human’s hand before shifting its eyes back in an almost nonchalant fashion. The crooked smile that was frozen on the robot’s face seemed almost eerily fitting as it reached forward and grabbed him by the neck.

“Cr…ap.” Tom croaked silently as his plan failed spectacularly. If anything was accomplished by pulling the ring out, it was pissing off the robotic bunny and making it more violent than it was before.

Struggling to think of something to do without oxygen reaching his brain, Tom realized that there was only one thing he could do. Mustering all of the strength he could, he balled up his fist and gave the best left hook he could toward the animatronic’s head. With a solid and painful thump, the human managed to make the robotic animal recoil slightly, although his hand was now on fire with stinging pain and possibly a fractured knuckle or two. Spotting his chance to escape, he grabbed Bonnie by the side and the head and pushed him back. Thankfully, the animatronic stumbled and fell to the side, allowing Tom to scramble backwards and out from underneath the hefty rabbit.

Before Bonnie could regain his balance and get back to his feet, Tom jumped to his feet and jumped him. With an angry yell, the human kicked the animatronic in the head as hard as he could, using his heel to transfer as much energy as he could with minimum pain to himself. Bonnie fell backwards with a metallic clang, barely reacting with little more than a turn of the head.

Tom quickly delivered a stomp to the fallen animatronic’s head, causing a few cracks in his colorful shell and sending shooting pains through the human’s foot. However painful it might have been for him, he stomped on Bonnie’s head again as hard as he could. Right now he was in a good position to do some damage, so he would have to deal with the possible broken foot he would get after he disabled his foe.

The robotic animal tried reaching up to stop the human’s assault, but it twitched and let its limbs fall back to the floor as its head cracked more. Tom didn’t even stop to rest for a good few moments, delivering kick after kick until his foot felt like it was about to shatter into pieces. Finally, the boy stopped as he noticed that the animatronic had stopped moving, and with good reason.

Bonnie’s already decrepit and aged head was completely cracked. One of his eyes was cracked open, revealing a broken endoskeleton eye beneath it. The entire center of his face was caved in, with the endoskeleton underneath broken as well. Tom stared at the motionless animatronic while breathing heavily. He remained still, almost in disbelief while waiting for the rabbit to get back up.

“Are you done…?” Tom asked in a threatening tone while out of breath. “*Pant*… good… I thought so.” He said while wiping his forehead and stepping to the side. Whatever damage he had caused the animatronic, it was apparently enough for the spirit inside to vacate its vessel.

Tom stood in the middle of the hallway while hunched over with his hands on his knees. His body felt sore, his hands and his foot felt terrible from where he had collided with the metallic animal, and he was completely exhausted despite how brief his encounter was. He didn’t even care that he was mostly staring into darkness due to his flashlight sitting on the ground at an angle a few inches away.

Suddenly, a hurried group of footsteps approached as beams of light appeared at the other end of the hallway. Tom looked up to see the unexpected sight of Glimmer Shine, Glitterball, and Sunspot trotting up to him.

“Tom, are you ok?” Sunspot asked in a concerned tone as she made it up to where the human was standing. His hair was disheveled, there was a red mark on his neck in the shape of a blocky hand, and his clothes were covered in dust and scuff marks.

The three ponies looked behind the exhausted human and saw the broken down remains of the animatronic rabbit lying in a crumpled heap. The sight of the animatronic was both surprising and enlightening. It certainly explained why their friend was out of breath and disheveled to such a degree.

“I thought… *Wheeze* I thought I told you guys to stay back there?” Tom asked while pointing behind the trio to save his breath. Despite how exhausted he was, the ponies could tell that he wasn’t impressed that they disobeyed him to enter a supposedly dangerous area.

“We heard a struggle coming from down here, so we came to see if you were alright.” Glitterball said in a concerned tone while trying to determine if the human was more injured than he was letting on.

“Besides, the floor looks stable enough to me… well, as stable as the rest of this place anyway.” Sunspot said while taking note of her dingy surroundings.

“That is a little bit odd. I would have thought that this place would at least be a little bit broken up from what Sparkplug told you.” Glimmer Shine said in a confused tone while returning his attention to the human. Tom glanced back to the stairwell behind him curiously. Sparkplug had said that down those stairs there was nothing but a room full of rubble, but there were no signs of a cave in from up here.

“We can investigate that tomorrow or something. I really want to call it a day right now. Besides, we should head upstairs and tell the others that it’s safe. Hopefully, no more ghosts will be able to pull anything like this again for a while. They must have spent a lot of energy going all puppet master on these animatronics.” Tom explained while glancing down to the broken bunny on the floor. Even with the bizarre readings they were getting from the energy in the basement, the group was certain that it would take a lot of energy to continue possessing inanimate objects, and average ghosts just didn’t have that amount of energy.

“Yeah… I guess you’re right. We need to rethink our plan before we take this any further anyway.” Glimmer Shine suggested with an uneasy tone. He was dreading the number of unknown variables that they were encountering, especially since they were dealing with ghosts.

With a unanimous nod of agreement, the four decided to leave the rundown and eerie hallways of the sub-basement. Now that they had dealt with the missing animatronic, they hoped that the ghosts would quiet down a bit and leave them alone until they could get some rest and come back with fresh heads.