Chapter 4
Out on the Town
After getting set up with three rooms at the local hotel, the girls all gathered in the biggest one and started setting up. It took a little doing to let Spike in though, but the guy at the desk eventually relented.
"So… now we know where your counterpart's been huh Sunset?" Rainbow Dash said as she plopped down on the couch.
"Guess so," Sunset replied. "And odds are I'll get similar reactions from people all over the island so… probably should lay low for a bit while we gather information."
The girls nodded in response. No point in making things more complicated than they already were. As Rarity connected her laptop to the local wi-fi, everyone was discussing their next move. After a bit, they decided to have Applejack and Rainbow Dash do a PKE sweep while Rarity and Twilight actually did a few interviews.
Based on the information provided by Principal Aleena, the girls decided that the local church was a good place to start, seeing as how the incident that brought them here took place right outside. After that… probably try and track down Sunset's counterpart and talk to her directly. After a bit, Twilight went into a side room with a backpack. A few minutes later she emerged wearing something a bit more casual than their uniform jumpsuits, her usual shirt and skirt that she wears at Canterlot High. Catching on, Rarity soon followed suit. In the fashionista's hand was a tablet for taking notes during the interviews. Both she and Twilight also had their cell phones and PKE Meters. After getting the plan down, the girls all gave a group high five before splitting up for their respective jobs.
"Well… at least I'm not alone, huh Fluttershy?" Sunset asked as she poked around on Rarity's laptop.
"Well… its not like I can just go talk to the animals in public," Fluttershy replied, looking out the window.
"Yea… good point. Would be kinda awkward to try and explain your Dr. Dolittle powers to these people," Sunset replied with a laugh. "Probably best if we all kept our magic under the radar for now. Huh… Rarity DOES have a lot of music on this thing..."
Starlight looked up from what she was doing when she heard a knock on the door. After informing Father Michael about the arrival of the Ghostbusters, she went to work on her usual chores around the church. Shaking her head, she went back to the dusting until another knock was heard. Heading over, she opened the door a bit and found two young women standing there, one adjusting her glasses as if they fell out of place.
"Can I help you?" Starlight asked.
"I hope so," Twilight replied. "I'm Twilight Sparkle, and this is Rarity Belle. We're with the Canterlot High Ghostbusters. We'd like to ask a few questions about the recent Ghost attack."
Starlight narrowed her eyes a bit. They must have been in that van. All she actually saw was the driver anyways. After a moment, Starlight opened the door and invited them in.
"Wait here. I'll let Father Michael know you're here," she said before heading off to the side. Just before she went down the hall towards the office, she noticed Twilight Sparkle pull a device off her belt and start waving it around a bit as if she was trying to detect something.
Twilight narrowed her eyes as she looked at the readings on her PKE Meter. It was as if she was getting a low level hit everywhere. Not serious enough to worry about, but… just… there. After a moment she started to try and filter out different frequencies before it flat lined. There was no Psychokinetic Energy present at all.
"Rarity… you seeing these readings?" Twilight asked.
"Yes I am," Rarity replied as she looked at her own PKE Meter. "You're the Science girl. What does it mean?"
"I don't know… give me a sec to try something."
Twilight flipped a switch on her PKE Meter… and the screen lit up. It wasn't PKE they were detecting. It was magic! Unlike the base model that she learned about from Kylie, Twilight's PKE Meters were actually based on her original Magic Detector, and had the ability to track magical energy. But what was magic doing here?
"Might want to take note of these readings," Twilight said. "But why would there be..."
"I hope I didn't keep you waiting."
Twilight let out a surprised eep before turning towards the source of the voice and hiding her PKE Meter behind her back. Rarity just looked up before deactivating her Meter and clipping it back onto her belt. Standing nearby was an older man wearing the typical black outfit of a preacher.
"Of course not," Rarity replied as Twilight recovered and put her PKE Meter away. "Rarity Belle, Canterlot High Ghostbusters. Its a pleasure to meet you."
"Pleasure's all mine Ms. Belle. I'm Father Michael. I understand you two have a few questions for me?"
"Indeed we do."
"Please… come with me then. Starlight will be along soon with something to drink."
Soon the three were in the main office, with Father Michael sitting across from them behind a desk. Rarity had her Tablet active and was ready to take notes as Twilight adjusted her glasses again.
"We'd like you to tell us anything you can remember from the recent Ghost attack," Twilight said.
Father Michael leaned back a bit in his seat as he considered the request. He had to admit it was interesting that a pair of high school girls were investigating the paranormal like this. Especially since one of them looked more like she'd be at home at a fashion show or something.
"Well… it was an ordinary day for the most part," he replied after a moment. "I was watering the plants while my apprentice was cleaning. I heard a commotion, and came out to find young Sunset Shimmer being assaulted by a spirit. It actually had her up in the air when I tossed her the spray bottle I had in hand."
"A… spray bottle..." Twilight deadpanned.
"Well… it was full of water and… well… I guess you could say that any water from a church is Holy Water," Father Michael chuckled.
"O… k… anything about the ghost itself stand out?"
"It seemed to be wearing some kind of armor. Looked almost medieval. But not like a Knight's armor."
"Anything else?"
"It seemed rather focused on Sunset Shimmer and… I believe I heard it call her Gwenevere."
Both Twilight and Rarity looked at each other for a moment. That had to be important somehow. As the interview continued, there wasn't much more they were able to learn about the ghost itself. It seemed to be free roaming, rather than tied to any particular location or artifact. They did learn that Sunset Shimmer had a little house on the island. Apparently it had been in her family for generations, just… not occupied until now. They also learned that Sunset had come to the island only last year, and… was the only survivor of a tragic accident. Father Michael said that she had been told to come to Westside Island if anything happened to her parents. The reasoning though… was unknown.
"Thank you for your time Father Michael," Twilight finally said as the interview came to a close. "We're gonna have a lot to go over as we continue to gather information. Seems like you know a bit about Sunset Shimmer. By any chance do you have her address? We'd like to try and talk to her ourselves as… she was kinda the target of this attack."
"Of course," Father Michael replied as he stood up. "In fact… I was going to deliver a care package today and check up on her. But… if you two intend to speak with her yourselves… perhaps you could deliver it for me?"
"We can do that," Rarity replied.
Father Michael watched as the two young women left the church, a neutral expression crossing his face. Something about their demeanor put him on alert. They weren't amateurs. Those two girls had experienced the paranormal before. And there was something else too. A couple of the enchanted charms he had in his office actually glowed as the girls passed by them. Not enough to alert them, but he had been watching. These… were no ordinary girls. But at the same time, they weren't demons or anything like that. They were human. And they had power.
"Your assessment Starlight?" he asked his apprentice.
"Mainlanders," Starlight replied. "Typical, clueless mainlanders. But something about them seems off."
"There's nothing typical about them Starlight. You saw it too."
"Yea… I did. The charms reacted. One or both have magic or have an enchanted object. Question is… do they know it?"
Twilight and Rarity approached the little house that Father Michael identified as Sunset Shimmer's home. It was mostly hidden by trees from the road, but wasn't far from from the town. Shifting the weight of the care package Father Michael gave them, Twilight knocked on the door.
After a moment, the door opened, revealing a carbon copy of their friend. Unlike her Canterlot High counterpart, this young woman had her hair tied back in a ponytail and seemed a lot more reserved in her posture. Her outfit was similar to Sunset's, but lighter and less black.
"Can I help you?" Sunset asked. Twilight noted the slight accent in her voice. To her it sounded almost… Irish?
"My name's Rarity Belle. We're with the Canterlot High Ghostbusters. We'd like to ask you a few questions about the attack."
"And her?" Sunset asked, looking at Twilight.
"Twilight Sparkle. I'm with her, and this… is a care package from Father Michael. He asked us to deliver this to you after we finished talking with him."
For a moment, Sunset seemed to consider her options before closing her eyes.
"Tá mé ag dul go brón orm..." she muttered before opening her eyes and inviting them in. "Go ahead and put it in the kitchen."
Both Rarity and Twilight were surprised by how little decoration there was in the house. There were a few personal belongings but for the most part it seemed like Sunset either wasn't settled in even after all this time, or was afraid to settle down. As Twilight put the care package down on the counter, she noted an abnormal number of empty salt boxes lying around. Most were in the garbage, but a few that couldn't fit were just discarded on the counter top.
"Would you mind if I did a sweep of the house?" Twilight asked. "As you were the target of the attack, I'd like to make sure there isn't anything here."
"Alright I guess," Sunset replied with a shrug.
As Rarity interviewed Sunset, Twilight moved into the next room and pulled out her PKE Meter. As she went room by room she noted that the PKE was pretty much zero. However… there was another magic hit. Stronger than at the church. As she followed the signal, she was lead to what looked like a carrying case. The PKE Meter zeroed in on that and lit up like a Christmas Tree. Narrowing her eyes and adjusting her glasses, Twilight put her Meter down and undid the latches on the case. Opening it up, she gasped in surprise. Inside rested a beautifully crafted bow. This was the source of the magic hit. But it seemed to not react to her presence at all. Quickly taking out her cellphone, Twilight took a couple pictures for research purposes later, making sure to also get a close up of the details.
Closing the case, Twilight secured it so it appeared untouched, and took a deep breath. Something was going on here. By chance she happened to look towards the window, and noticed something on the floor. Walking over, Twilight waved her PKE Meter over what looked like a powder.
No response.
Narrowing her eyes again, Twilight touched it before getting some on her finger and actually tasting it.
"Salt..." she trailed off. "Why would Sunset… the boxes in the kitchen. This is where all that salt went..."
She looked around, and found that the salt was spread in a line along the floorboard. As she continued her sweep she discovered more salt. And there was one other fact that registered in her mind. The salt was set up along the outer walls of the house. Almost like a barrier.
Rarity tapped out some more notes as she spoke with Sunset. Unfortunately there wasn't much more the redhead could add to what they learned from Father Michael. All she got was that this wasn't the first encounter. Just the most extreme. Apparently there were two previous encounters during the week leading up to the attack. None of which were physical, but both seemed to disturb Sunset.
After wrapping up the interview, Rarity pulled out a card with some phone numbers on it.
"Thank you Sunset. If anything comes up… feel free to give us a call," she said as she offered the card to her.
"What's with all the numbers?" Sunset asked.
"Cellphone numbers for several members of our team. Easier to contact us directly than go through Canterlot High."
After Twilight returned, and some small talk, the two left. As they walked down the driveway, Twilight mentioned the discovery of the salt barrier.
"Hm… that is odd," Rarity said. "I think I remember reading something about salt being used to seal haunted artifacts. And I believe it was also used to deter dark spirits."
"You think she did that to try and protect herself at home?" Twilight asked.
"Well… anything is possible darling."
Sunset watched as the two young women walked down the street after leaving her house. Something seemed odd. When she was speaking to Rarity, she noted that several times the purple haired young woman seemed to catch herself before saying something or other. Not only that… there were a few times where there was a look of recognition in her eye. Almost as if she knew her from somewhere. The problem was, Sunset had never met the proper, fashion interested girl in her life. And there were similar looks from the scientist. What was her name again? Twilight Sparkle.
Whoever these Ghostbusters were… she had a feeling they were more than meets the eye.
Author's Note: The Irish is supposed to translate to "I'm going to regret this". Blame Google Translate.
