A Ponyville Haunting Pt 2

[TreadingWater 6]

The weeks that followed were like something straight out of a campfire story. 

Objects moved on their own accord, sometimes directly in front of her eyes. At night, she felt hooves streaking down her back and pulling on her tail. Sometimes the radio would turn on by itself, allowing sinister whispers to flow through the speakers. Whispers that promised unspeakable pain and suffering. 

Afraid of being branded as crazy or superstitious, Trixie kept quiet and endured her new ghostly tenant. She was asked by plenty of concerning ponies regarding her recent bouts of paranoia and insomnia, especially Starlight and Twilight, but she turned them away. They wouldn't believe her.

It wasn't until roughly one month afterward that a nightmare-inducing incident in the bathroom convinced her to finally tell her friends what was going on. 

Trixie had been preparing for a warm bath to soak the autumn chill out of her body, as she sunk into the water a cold chill traveled up her spine and a high-pitched laughter made her coat stand on end. Suddenly the lights flickered and eventually died, smothering the bathroom in complete darkness. Emitting a faint glow from her horn, she anxiously looked around the dark room as she rose up to get out of the bathtub.

An invisible force suddenly flung her down into the water and Trixie felt the air being knocked out of her lungs. Her head was pushed beneath the water and she thrashed around madly as she tried to get back up. Her panic grew as her oxygen was draining fast and her attempts to get air only resulted in water splashing everywhere. She kicked fervently against the bathtub, dearly hoping that someone would hear her. 

As she started to lose consciousness, the muffled sound of someone frantically banging on the door reached her ears and moments afterward the door was blasted open by a powerful spell. The force pushing her down suddenly disappeared and as she was able to breathe once more, Trixie had never been happier to see Starlight's face. She got a glimpse of a white, spectral shape gliding through the wall and she barely comprehended the world around her as a blanket was placed over her body and she was being led out of the house.

By the time her mind caught up with her surroundings, Trixie noticed that she had been taken to Twilight's castle. The alicorn in question awaited them within the throneroom, anxiously pacing while muttering under her breath. Upon entering, Twilight immediately walked over and gave Trixie a comforting hug. 

"Thank Celestia that you are okay. Here, sit down."

Twilight motioned towards a collection of pillows and Trixie laid down, her shaky legs buckling under her as soon as she got there. Starlight soothingly rubbed circles on her back and she settled down next to her, desperately wanting to comfort her friend. Twilight cleared her throat. 

"Trixie, I need to know what happened in the abandoned house. These incidents didn't start until after that visit."

Teary-eyed of guilt, Trixie managed to retell the traumatizing events that had been haunting her both figuratively and mentally as well everything that happened afterward. It wasn't until she was done that she realized a particular detail in Twilight's sentence. 

"Wait, there have been more hauntings?"

Twilight nodded and Trixie's heart sunk into her stomach. 

"There have been many supernatural incidents over the last month. Rarity's mirror started to warp her reflection and at one point tried to pull her inside. Pinky Pie was making cupcakes when the batter suddenly came alive and attacked her. And just the other day, Fluttershy was lured out to the train-tracks by a voice shouting for help and was almost run over by the train. And that is just the tip of the iceberg."

Trixie began to cry, this was all because of her. Just because she hadn't been able to say no, so many innocent ponies had been put in danger.

"This is all my fault. If I hadn't gone in there..."

She was immediately hugged by the two ponies in the room, desperately trying to soothe their friend. Twilight gently lifted up her head, allowing their eyes to meet again. 

"You couldn't have known that this was going to happen. I am going to keep researching in the hope that I can find something in the old texts that can put an end to this. It is kind of tricky though, spirits are very rare here in Equestria so there is no concrete manual for these kinds of things..."

Twilight turned to face the window, a serious expression present on her face.

"The first order of business would be to recover the identities of the ponies that once lived there, uncovering and understanding a spirit's past is usually the most important part of getting rid of it. Hopefully, the Mayor might have some information. I going to contact her tomorrow."

Starlight also enthusiastically added in her own two cents as well. 

"And I will be helping too, I will comb through every shelf of the entire library if I have to. I am also going to ask some of my contacts outside of Equestria if they know something that can help us."

Trixie started to look up, Twilight had not failed her yet and few entities could stand up against the Elements of Harmony.

Perhaps this nightmare would come to a close soon after all. 

But a small voice in the back of her mind kept telling her that it wouldn't be nearly that easy...