Chapter 2

Who let the Ghost out?

A few days had passed since they talked about the mysterious green blob. Sunset had actually written to Princess Twilight on the subject, and... no response yet. Either she was busy with something important or was up to her eyeballs trying to research the creature.

Sunset's money was on research.

So far things were pretty quiet around town though. But ever since the Fall Formal, things haven't been quite the same. Magic was spreading, though nowhere near as strong as back in Equestria. Thankfully the incidents were relatively isolated, mostly surrounding Canterlot High itself. The Battle of the Bands was an anomaly though. The event wasn't even on school grounds, and magic was involved. Did that mean that it was spreading exponentially from the school into the town and beyond? What did that mean for the humans? Were they going to be affected in some way? How were they going to react?

As Sunset walked down the street deep in thought, her foot came down on something and slid out from under her. Landing hard on her back, Sunset groaned as she recovered and looked for what she had slipped on. It was too warm for ice, and whatever it was felt very slick. Taking a quick look at her boot, Sunset found some sort of slimy material she had never seen before. Looking around, Sunset found a puddle of the stuff just sitting on the sidewalk, and a slide mark where her foot had come down and lost traction.

"Ow..." she said to herself as she pushed herself up to her feet. She slipped a bit because of the slime on her shoe, but a quick slide through the grass cleaned it off easily. Something about this slime felt off to her. Bringing a hand close to it, Sunset felt a tingling sensation around her fingers as if there was some kind of energy charge. Pulling her hand back, Sunset looked around for something she could use to collect a sample to study later. After locating a food truck, Sunset managed to get a cup with a lid, and scooped up as much of the slime as she could before continuing on her way. Whatever this stuff was, she had a feeling it wasn't exactly natural. Not with that tingly charge she felt.

"Is it just me, or has Twilight been a little... weird lately?"

Rainbow Dash's question hung in the air as the girls gathered at the front of the school. The statue was still being rebuilt, but students were still allowed to hang out in the area since it was also the front door. Rarity leaned against the wall and thought about it for a moment.

"Well... now that you mention it... yea. She has been a little weird," she finally said.

Applejack pushed her hat up a bit as she sat on the steps, adding that Twilight seemed to be trying to find information on the mysterious blob, and gathering materials for something. She also said Twilight never really gave a clear cut explanation as to what she was doing. Just dodged the question entirely and went on with what she was doing.

"Twilight did stop by my place yesterday with a really strange request," Rarity said. "She wanted a simple jumpsuit. Nothing fancy, but she insisted that it be treated with some unusual chemicals. I asked her why and she just asked if I could do it. Well... of course I could make the jumpsuit, but the chemical treatment would be an issue..."

"Maybe Twilight is getting ready for some kind of close encounter with an otherworldly being!" Pinkie Pie chirped in that happy-go-lucky tone of her's.

The girls just thought for a moment before pretty much agreeing that wasn't the case and figuring it was probably some elaborate Halloween costume. It was around this time that Sunset showed up carrying a cup.

"Ooo! You get me a milkshake?" Pinkie Pie asked as she bounced.

"No," Sunset replied. "I... slipped on something strange and managed to collect a sample."

"What is it?" Fluttershy asked.

"Don't know. But for lack of a better term... its Slime."

The girls all looked at Sunset in confusion. The resident redhead just popped the lid off and showed them the large sample she had collected, eliciting a disgusted response from Rarity. Sunset explained about the odd tingling feeling whenever her hand got close to it, and said that she was going to run some tests after school in one of the chemistry labs. The girls had to admit they were curious, as Pinkie Pie noted that the slime was green. Was this related to the flying blob?

As soon as Twilight arrived, the girls headed in for the first class of the day. Unfortunately for Sunset, that meant subjecting the slime to a music class for an hour.

Trying to explain a dancing cup of Slime was not easy, especially since she didn't even know what was going on either. What Sunset didn't notice was Twilight's eyes locking onto the now dubbed Cup O' Slime as soon as the dancing started. She adjusted her glasses and narrowed her eyes as she watched the cup bounce to the beat.

For years now he had wandered around the unfamiliar town. Nothing seemed familiar about any of the buildings or the people. A few times he returned to the building that he got shot out of years ago. Nothing made any sense. What did trouble the Spud though was at first there was little to no paranormal activity here. It was quiet. But the last few days he saw things that troubled him. An increase in Ghost Activity similar to what happened back in New York. Something was stirring up the spirits of the dead, and not in a good way.

That much he knew.

With a sigh, the little Spud flew into yet another building. He perked up when he saw food, and in typical fashion for him, proceeded to devour anything in reach that was edible.

The poor old woman in the kitchen was scared out of her mind when she saw him, and ran.

"I've never seen anything react like this to music!" Sunset exclaimed as she held onto the bouncing Cup O' Slime. Even though a couple hours had passed since Music class, the cup was still trying to dance in the redhead's hands. Twilight actually pulled out her old Magic Detector, the first version before the locket, and tried to get a reading off of the cup.

"Still need to calibrate for the ambient magic, but... I'm definitely getting a spike off this substance," Twilight said. "I just don't know exactly what I'm detecting."

The cup bounced again in Sunset's hands, and the redhead just tried something random.

"Ok Cup O' Slime, if you're good, I'll let you listen to music later," she said in exasperation. Surprisingly enough, the Slime stopped moving, catching everyone off guard. Sunset looked at Rainbow Dash in disbelief after looking into the cup.

"There's no way that should have worked," both girls said at the same time. Further comment on the amazing dancing ability of the Slime was interrupted by a scream, and the sight of Granny Smith running faster than anyone could remember the old lady moving.

"Granny Smith? What in tarnation is goin' on?" Applejack asked as she stopped her grandmother.

"Th' Devil's come to Canterlot High!" Granny Smith replied, still freaked out. "Get th' preacher! Th' kitchen's haunted by a Ghost!"

Twilight raised an eyebrow before turning her Magic Detector towards the Cafeteria. Sure enough, the detector was picking up on something in that direction.

"Can you describe this ghost?" Twilight asked.

"Describe it? Ah was dang near eaten by th' bugger! It was all mouth! Green as can be! And them yeller eyes were hungry! Started tearin' up the kitchen fer anythin' edible!"

The girls all looked at each other. The main thing that stuck out to them was the color. Green. Before anyone could react, Twilight ran down the hallway towards the cafeteria. Along the way she had to maneuver around other students who had gone in for lunch, only to come out screaming. The readings on her Magic Detector were increasing the closer she got.

"If my modifications are working... definitely a significant PKE signal," she said to herself as she entered the cafeteria. What she saw inside froze her in place.

"Oh... my... god..."

After reassuring Granny Smith, Sunset motioned for the girls to follow her. Something was wrong in the cafeteria, and she had a feeling Twilight was going to need help. The problem was... how were they going to deal with it?

Sunset settled on their usual plan. Make it up as you go.

As soon as they arrived, they found Twilight just standing there in the doorway in shock. Her Magic Detector going off like crazy in her hand. But she wasn't looking at the device. She was looking at the chaos in front of her. Students backing away or hiding behind tables as a green, flying blob just floated by the food and stuffed its face like Garfield with Lasagna. Taking her backpack off, since she had to stash the Cup O' Slime in that, Sunset approached Twilight and put a hand on her friend's shoulder.

"Such disgusting table manners," Rarity complained.

"Ugly little spud ain't he?" Applejack added.

"Actually... I think he's kinda cute..." Fluttershy said, causing the other girls to just look at her.

"On the bright side, that blob's saving us from the Mystery Meat Special we usually get with the Nachos," Rainbow Dash said.

As the girls were discussing ideas on how to deal with the Ghost, Twilight actually stepped closer to it.

Slimer was happy. Then again, whenever there was food around he was happy. And here was a veritable buffet just for him. He looked up from his most recent target and saw the reflection of someone behind him. Turning to face the girl, Slimer tilted his body a bit in thought. For some reason, something felt... familiar about her. Behind her was a group of six more girls. Something about them felt different as well. Not familiar, but different.

The girl with the purple hair crept closer, and Slimer narrowed his eyes. In the girl's hand was something that reminded him of the PKE Meters. And it was getting brighter the closer she got to him. The look on her face was odd. Almost like she knew him from somewhere.

Deciding to ham it up, Slimer reared back and charged. The girl threw her hands up, and was covered in slime as he passed through her. But something caused him to turn to look at her afterwords. He felt a familiar presence inside her! His thoughts were interrupted as the other six girls came running, and Slimer just flew towards them as well. They scattered, but the white skinned girl with the fancy purple hair was not fast enough. The redhead did try to pull her out of the way, only for them both to get slimed.

The Spud couldn't help himself and laughed. He was having fun. But it was then that he heard something that chilled him to his core.

"That's enough Slimer!"

That voice! He knew that voice! It was the voice of someone he respected, and somewhat feared at the same time whenever she yelled. Turning towards the source of the voice, Slimer was confused. It was the purple haired girl again. Her hand went into her pocket and pulled out an oversized locket.

Sunset wiped the slime out of her face as she recovered from the close encounter. The ghost was fast for a fat spud. Then again... when you can fly like that, size is a non issue. Shaking her head, Sunset helped Rarity back to her feet as she prepared to confront the slimy creature again when Twilight did something unexpected. She called out to it like she knew the creature! And in her hand was the locket Twilight had during the Friendship Games. The same locket that detected and captured Magic Energy from Sunset and her friends. The defiant look on her face reminded Sunset of Princess Twilight facing off against the Dazzlings. But this was Human Twilight!

The spud seemed confused as it floated down closer to Twilight. It was then that it spoke for the first time in this encounter.

"Kylie?" it asked.

Twilight's only response was to thrust out the locket and open it. The spud panicked and tried to fly away but was caught in a vortex and pulled into the locket before it snapped closed. It was then that Sunset realized that something was going on with Twilight.

"Sorry Slimer, but it had to be done," Twilight said as she looked at the locket.

"Uh... Twi? What'cha do with the spud?" Applejack asked.

"Ugh... gross!" Rarity exclaimed. "I'm all... slimy! And my hair is ruined! God I hope this doesn't stain..."

"You'll be fine Rarity. Its just Ectoplasm. Just be sure to take a shower and... maybe burn your clothes," Twilight spoke up as she continued to look at the locket. "I just used the locket as a makeshift Ghost Trap. I figured if it could capture magic energy, it could hold a Ghost. At least for a little while."

Sunset thought for a moment. Twilight had called it Ectoplasm. A substance normally associated with paranormal entities like Ghosts. And it felt a lot like what she had in the Cup O' Slime. Her whole body was tingling like her hand did when she came close to the sample she took this morning. After a moment, Sunset just looked at Twilight. Something was off about all this. The girl wasn't freaked out. It was as if she not only knew what that spud was, she knew what was going on.

"Twilight," Sunset said. "I think we need to talk."

Twilight Sparkle looked over at the slimy form of Sunset Shimmer, and bit her lip.

Busted.