The mausoleum filled with light, making Rarity cover her eyes. Moments later, she felt weightless. Taking a peek down, she saw nothing but white around her, and no ground below. In surprise, she flailed her limbs around, sending her tumbling head over heels. At least, as far as she could tell with no frame of reference.

Before she could even start to think about her situation, she fell onto grass with a thud. Spitting soil out, she started getting up, only to be rudely reminded of her injured leg and fall back down. She groaned in frustration, but then felt warm magic around her, which lifted her up. She looked and saw Twilight smiling at her in relief.

“Rarity, are you OK?” she said, looking closely at Rarity’s injured leg.

Rarity looked around. The ground, the mist around them, and the mansion itself nearby. They were outside. “I’m fine, dear. Well, I got hurt when I fell earlier, but I managed to resolve all that ghost business, at least.”

Rarity felt Twilight’s magic lightly press on parts of her leg, and the princess announced, “Just a sprain, thankfully. Now, where’s everypony else?”

With that, they hurt a chorus of yelps behind them, and they turned to see their friends on the ground, having clearly gone through a similar experience as them. Thankfully, none of them seemed worse for wear, and they all quickly got up.

“What the heck was that?” asked Applejack.

“Whatever that was, it was awesome!” said Rainbow Dash.

“Says the mare who was screaming the entire time,” Applejack replied.

“W-well yeah, that’s how you know it was awesome,” Rainbow stammered.

“I was screaming too,” said Fluttershy, “but you probably didn’t hear me.”

Pinkie hummed. “Eh, I wasn’t impressed.”

Twilight and Rarity approached them, with Twilight’s magic holding up her injured leg. The princess asked, “Did you girls see the strange figure—”

“Just call it a ghost, dear,” said Rarity.

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Did you see it too?”

Pinkie shook her head. “Nope! No ghost deer here!”

Fluttershy frowned. “I think I saw something. In fact, I think it’s right there!”

The mares all gasped and looked where Fluttershy pointed. From the mist came an elderly mare, with a yellow coat and faded green hair. She wore a jacket and boots, along with a belt full of gardening tools. “Ah, you must be Miss Rarity and her party, then?”

Rarity brightened up. “You must be the groundskeeper!” Her expression turned serious. “You know, you were having quite a ghost problem there! I believe we have resolved it, however, so feel free to thank us.”

The groundskeeper hummed. “That’s good to hear. Now, you’re here for that silly contest, correct? Best I help you all in, then.”

Realization hit Rarity. “Wait, the contest?” She looked around. It was dark, with the only lights coming from lamps around them. “It’s still night! And we’re outside! We lost the contest!”

“Funny, I never saw you go in,” commented the groundskeeper. She chuckled. “Well, I suppose that isn’t so strange.”

“Do you really still want that house, Rarity?” asked Fluttershy, with furrowed brows.

Rarity thought for a moment, then sighed. “Honestly, even if the ghost is no longer dangerous, I’d rather never set foot in that place again.”

The groundskeeper shrugged. “Fair enough. You’re open to try again later, if you desire.”

Rarity scoffed. “I think not. Now, it was lovely meeting you, Miss…?”

“Just call me Caretaker.”

Rarity’s eyes widened. “Oh yes, so I’ve heard. In any case, I think it’s best we spend our Nightmare Night… not in a haunted mansion.”

With nods of approval, Rarity and her friends all left, leaving the groundskeeper behind in the mist.

Twilight and Rarity fell behind the others, with Rarity having to walk on three legs. To Rarity’s surprise, Twilight’s magic lifted her in the air and then placed her on her back. Breathing a sigh of relief, Rarity nuzzled into Twilight’s mane.

“So, where did you end up after we separated?” asked Twilight.

“I was at the ghost’s grave. Well, the ghost’s body’s grave,” said Rarity. “It—or, she I suppose, was guarding it but forgot why. I fixed up a statue of a unicorn—it was too worn to tell who it was—and that seemed to make her happy. Then I was sent back here. How about you?”

Twilight scrunched her brows. “I was in the same room or a similar one as when you last saw me, when we were solving those puzzles. I was alone for a while, but—I guess this was after you talked to her—she appeared in front of me.”

Twilight examined the room for a fifth time, wondering if there was something she missed. As a last resort, she could start blasting, but she was wary of what effect that would have on this strange dimensional warping.

Suddenly, she appeared. An apparition glowing white. It was hard to make out any features, but she seemed to be a unicorn mare.

They stood in silence. Twilight stared at the figure, trying to make sense of her. She couldn’t tell for sure, but Twilight could feel that she was staring back.

“Who are you?” Twilight finally asked.

The ghost was silent, as though pondering this. Finally she replied, “It’s hard to know what to say. Simply speaking for too long could give it away.”

There was a strange sadness in that voice, but also a warmth. Twilight’s mouth hung open, and she didn’t know how to reply.

The ghost continued. “Staying here was miserable, and I nearly lost myself in the process, but seeing you… Princess… made it all worthwhile. I think I’ll be able to leave now.”

The light around her head shifted, and Twilight felt like she was smiling. “Just one more thing. Don’t feel sad about what will happen.”

Before Twilight could ask what she meant, she was enveloped in light and had to cover her eyes.

“I can only speculate on what she meant,” Twilight said. “She must have been here for a while, so during her time, Celestia was the only princess. Is that why she was happy to see another princess? And when she said don’t feel sad, did she mean about losing the contest?”

Rarity hummed, trying to put the pieces together. “I wonder. Is that really all that was about?”

“Who was your great grandaunt, anyway? Really?”

Rarity pressed her head into Twilight’s neck. “The truth is, I can’t really say. In our family tree, she just sort of pops up without any parents listed, and she didn’t even marry in. One story I heard is that she just came in one day, declared herself part of the family, and she was just too fabulous to deny. Goals, I suppose.”

“And nothing that would explain how, well, all this happened?”

“If you’re asking for stories about her dabbling in the dark arts or something like that, then I’m afraid I have none.”

Twilight thought for several moments. “Maybe it’s best if we just let this be.”

Rarity sat up. “Twilight Sparkle, giving up on a mystery? My, what is the world coming to?”

“It’s just that kind of night, I suppose. Well, if we’re lucky, we should still have time to give out candy, so let’s hurry home.”

The two mares at last stepped again into the world of the living.

Caretaker worked in her garden, pulling out a particularly pesky weed, when she heard voices carry on the mist.

“And this is where we’ll be staying for tonight!” Rarity said with a cheerful voice.

Twilight hummed then said, “So to be clear, the contest is to stay here for a full night, on Nightmare Night, without leaving. And if we do that, we win the mansion?”

Rarity replied, “And we can bring any number of creatures inside, as long as none of them leave during that time. So, we’ll just clean it out, have a party with our friends, and all spend the night together. Couldn’t be simpler!”

Caretaker had a hard time seeing them clearly, but from the way the fog moved, she could tell from Rarity’s gait that she was completely uninjured. She watched as they continued speaking, then walked into the mansion.

The groundskeeper smiled. “‘As long as none of them leave during that time,’ huh?” She laughed throatily. “Well, Miss Rarity, I don’t expect to see you come out after you go in, so it seems you’ve won the mansion after all.”

She continued chuckling as she pulled an amulet out of her belt. She opened it and looked at the black and white picture inside, of an old but still remarkably beautiful mare, with an expression that was simultaneously sad and hopeful. Though her mane had long gone gray, it retained a lovely and carefully crafted curl.

“Not that it ever belonged to anyone else.”

Caretaker couldn’t help but giggle. It was just so absurd. Then, she reared back and let out uproarious laughter, making the crows around her take flight.

Don’t feel sad about what will happen… next time you visit...