As the day progressed, Apple Bloom was too paranoid to focus on the rest of the field trip's tour. She had just been kicked in the face by an unseen force and now she constantly felt as if she were being watched or followed. To make matters worse, she had two Horseshoe-shaped bruises on her cheeks that made her face swell slightly, but when her family asked her about this, she simply told them that she had accidentally ran into a display statue of a running Stallion while playing with her friends. Even when she had made it home for the night, Apple Bloom still felt as if she were being watched and followed. She kept seeing large shadows move around the house out of the corner of her eye and feeling a hot, moist breath snort onto the back of her neck. She just brushed these incidences off as her mind playing tricks on her, though.
After the young Philly had finished dinner and brushed her teeth, she removed her hair ribbon, setting it onto her nightstand, before climbing into her bed and making herself comfortable.
"Gol-ly...Today sure has been a long day, today..." She yawned as she rolled over in her bed, now facing the door. She was about to close her eyes when she saw the large shadow of a Colt clopping down the hallway, toward her bedroom.
"Big Mac?" Apple Bloom questioned, thinking it was her older brother coming to check on her. The figure stopped in its tracks, however and just stood there, staring at her door. Apple Bloom shrugged, just thinking it was Big Macintosh just being his concerned self and rolled over onto her back. She slowly began to close her eyes but they quickly shot back open when she felt the weight of a full-grown Colt pounce onto her and pin her small, frail body down to her own bed.
Apple Bloom was horrified to see a large Colt, wearing a full-body cover with elongated, Donkey-like ears and piercing-blue eyes that seemed to glare right through her soul standing on top of her and pinning her down to her own bed. Apple Bloom struggled to get free as this transparent Mule began to nay and whinny aggressively into her face, spit splattering all over her as he did so, but he was too strong and too heavy to get away from. She tried to scream but no sound could escape her vocal cords, she was completely helpless. She watched in horror as this ghostly creature continued to make a mix of both Pony and Donkey-like noises. She soon began to hear the sound of blood splattering and bones cracking along with this creature's horrifying noises. Tears streamed down the poor, helpless Philly's cheeks as she silently prayed that one of her family members would hear all of the horrifying noises that this creature was making, but nobody came to her aid.
Apple Bloom was helplessly trapped by this horrifying-sight, not getting even a few minutes of sleep until the morning had arrived. As the sunlight spilled into the bedroom from Apple Bloom's window, the angry, Mule spirit slowly faded a way and Apple Bloom was now free to move. The first thing she did was run into her older sister, Apple Jack's room, crying hysterically.
"Apple Bloom?" Apple jack groggily yawned once her younger sister had leapt into bed with her, trembling and clinging to her for dear life.
"What happened to you?" Apple Jack asked the crying Philly in concern.
"Y-Ya didn't hear it?" Apple Bloom sniffled.
"Hear what?" Apple Jack questioned with a brow raised slightly in both confusion and slight suspicion. Apple Bloom told her everything that had just happened to her, expecting her older sister to do something to help her.
"You're not gettin' outta goin' to school..." Was the only reply she had gotten from her older sister. School? Apple Bloom was genuinely terrified and upset, and this was the only thing her older sister was concerned about?
"Apple Jack, did ya even hear what I just told ya?!" Apple Bloom complained.
"Aw, of course I did, sugar-cube; it was just a bad dream, okay? Now, let's get ya ready for school." Apple Jack reassured as she placed a hoof on her younger sister's shoulder. Maybe Apple Jack was right, maybe it was just a bad dream after all, but then why was it so vivid? Why did it all seem so real?
So Apple Bloom headed off to school, just barely awake as she trudged around like a zombie all day and had even fallen asleep in class a few times. Her friends, Scootaloo and Sweetiebelle were beginning to grow concerned when lunch time had come around, and Apple Bloom had fallen asleep yet again but this time with her face in her plate-full of oats.
"Are you okay, Apple Bloom?" Sweetiebelle finally decided to ask. Apple Bloom slowly lifted her head from her lunch tray, her face now completely covered in oats as she let out a small yawn.
"Yeah, I just didn't get very much sleep last night; I kept havin' weird dreams..." The Earth-Pony Philly replied as she rubbed the crust from her fall-colored eyes.
"What about?" Scootaloo asked curiously as she and Sweetiebelle stared at their friend in concern. Apple Bloom told them everything that had happened to her the night before; Sweetiebelle appeared to be horrified by the story but Scootaloo was thoroughly intrigued.
"D-Do you think you might be haunted by the ghost of Bartholomule?" Sweetiebelle gulped.
"I-I dunno; I tried to tell Apple Jack about it, but she didn't care, just told me it was just a 'bad dream'..." Apple Bloom sighed.
"Well then, why don't we take matters into our own hooves?" Scootaloo asked with a mischievous smirk as she rubbed her fore-hooves together sinisterly.
"Whata ya mean?" Apple Bloom asked curiously. At this point, she was desperate to receive some sort of help, even from one of Scootaloo's twisted ideas so she at least wouldn't feel so alone in this situation.
"I mean why don't we all meet up at your house after school and try to contact this ghost?" Scootaloo suggested.
"How do ya suppose we do that?" Apple Bloom questioned skeptically.
"Well, I got this thing called, a 'Ouija Board' for my Birthday, and it's used to contact the spirits of dead Ponies." Scootaloo explained.
"This doesn't sound like a good idea..." Sweetiebelle whimpered fearfully.
"Let's do it!" Apple Bloom agreed with a look of determination. Anything so she could get both some answers and a good night's rest.
TO BE CONTINUED...
