Lily places the copy of Pony Beat magazine she was reading on the arm of her chair by the front window and lifts her hooves up, stretching. âWho knew Photo Finish and Prince Blueblood would still be together after 18 days?â She says to herself. Her stomach growls, interrupting her celebrity gossip-filled thoughts. âThank goodness mom came by and brought food earlier. Iâm, like, starving.â
It was Lilyâs mom that suggested she move to Ponyville a few months back after a terrible run-in with a herd of run-away guinea pigs. Lily was in the hospital for days, not from physical injuries, but from shock. Upon her release from the Fillidelphia Hospital, her mom insisted she move to Ponyville to ârecoverâ and âget some rest.â Lily hasnât had the heart to tell her about her recent incident with the bunny stampede with her new friends Daisy and Roseluck. Who knows where sheâd make her move to next.
Lilyâs thankful her mom comes every few weeks to bring groceries and clean the house a bit, even if it annoys her. She just tries to be elsewhere.
Lilyâs friends in Fillidelphia would call her a slob, but she much prefers the term âfree spirit,â so itâs probably for the better her mom comes and cleans things up a bit, otherwise her house would be a dump.
She walks into the kitchen, turning on her music box along the way. She opens her fridge door with a hoof and sighs. While it may be fully stocked, there isnât a thing in there that Lily wants to eat right now. âUgh why does mom insist on eating healthy things? Honestly I get tired of spinach salads and junk.â
She slams the door shut and looks in her pantry. Her eyes scan the shelves before landing on a lone, unopened pack of Sour Patch Foals. âLooks like dinner tonight is going to be, like, totally awesome after all!â
She rips open the package of Sour Patch Foals with her teeth and pops a hoof-full in her mouth. She shimmies across the kitchen and sings (very poorly) to her music box.
Lily hip-checks the fridge, causing the door to open and most of its contents to spill out onto the floor. Sheâs so wrapped up in her music and dancing she doesnât even notice.
âLily, are you in there? Are you okay?â Her friend Daisy calls from outside the door.Â
She also doesnât notice her friends Daisy and Roseluck are frantically knocking at her door and calling out to her.
âAnd ponies were DANCINâ IN THE STREâEET!â she sings loudly, though it sounds more like a wailing than singing.
Roseluck shoots Daisy a concerned look. âIt sounds like sheâs hurt, Daisy! Should we barge in? Itâs important, right?â
âYou bet it is! Look out, Roseluck!â Daisy bucks the door down Applejack-style, sending it flying. Poor Roseluck squeals as the door flies past her, barley missing her mane.
âLily! GHOSTRUN! Daisy screams as they enter Lilyâs house.
The commotion startles Lily, she drops her bag of Sour Patch Foals, they fly about the room before landing in various positions on the floor. She turns her music box off.
âWhat, Daisy? A Ghostrun? Is that, like, a race or something? I love races!â She beams.
Daisy sighs, Roseluck shakes her head. âNo, like a ghost! Run!â Daisy clarifies.
Lily cocks her head to the side. âOoh a ghost! Did you, like, see it? Was it ugly? Did it have big teeth and stuff?â
Daisy pulls Roseluck and Lily under the dining room table for cover, she hoofs them each a flowerpot to wear as a helmet. Lily carefully removes the lily from her mane and secures it in the hole on the top of the flower pot. She nibbles on a few rogue Sour Patch Foals sheâs found underneath the table.
âOh gosh no, Lily! But⊠he at ate all my food! And made my kitchen explode!â Daisyâs voice comes out high pitched.
Roseluck nods. âAnd look at your kitchen, Lily! Itâs a wreck!â
Lily notices her kitchen for the first time. âOMIGOSH a ghost did this? Why didnât you two say so?â
âWe did!â Roseluck and Daisy say in unison.
Daisy trembles with fear and clings to Roseluckâs front leg while Lily shakes the other one. âWHAT DO WE-â she stops mid sentence. What if the ghost is still here? What if heâs listening? She whispers, âI mean, what do we do? How do you, like, get rid of a ghost?â
Roseluck pulls her leg back from Lily and tries to shake Daisy off, who is still clinging to her for dear life. âHow am I supposed to know? Ask it politely to leave?â
Lily spots a pile of flour from their position underneath the dining table. She whispers loudly, âOMIGOSH is that it?â
Daisy cranes her neck to see, âYES! Thatâs totally it!â
Roseluck shrieks, holding Daisy closer now.
âRoseluck you go get it! Your, erâ She pauses to think of a reason, âMane is the longest?â
Daisy nods, âYeah, Roseluck! Themâs the rules!â
âRules? What rules? I never got any rules!!â She says frantically.
Daisy scoffs, âI sent them to you via snail mail! In triplicate!â
âYou know how slow those snails can be, Daisy!â Lily and Daisy look up at Roseluck with fear-filled eyes. âDo you guys Pinkie Swear thatâs the rule?â
Daisy goes through the motions of doing a Pinkie Swear and gently pokes Lily in the eye. âOw! We wouldnât, like, make you go out there so we donât have to, Roseluck!â Lily tries her hardest to conceal her Applejack Face.
âAlright, alright!â Roseluck carefully crawls out from underneath the table.
Lily waves to her friend, âGood luck, Roseluck!â She says happily. âHey! That, like rhymes! Do you want a Sour Patch Foal, Daisy? Iâm a nervous eater.â
âSure!â Daisy beams, nomming on a piece of Lilyâs candy.
Roseluck inches forward to the ghost pile on the floor. âThereâs no such thing as ghosts, thereâs no such thing as ghosts.â She chants to herself.
She reaches a hoof out to touch the ghost and her whole life flashes before her eyes. All the things sheâs done. All the things she hasnât done.
Like that time she stole Daisyâs favorite pencil in second grade and blamed it on Compass. Why would anypony steal their best friendâs pencil? It was a fabulous pencil, though.
Or that time she told Thunderlane she didnât want to go sky-diving with him. She really did⊠she just didnât want to admit she was scared.
âIâm tired of being scared.â She mumbles to herself. She stretches a hoof and touches the ghost.
âOMIGOSH! Daisy! She, like, touched it!â
Daisy tries to stand and hits her head on the table, breaking her flower pot helmet. She crawls out. âOh no oh no oh no!â She runs in circles. âDoes this make you part ghost, Roseluck?â
âHOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW?â Roseluck screams. âIâve never been a ghost before!â
Lily crawls out from underneath the table now. âLick your hoof!â She says, âIf it tastes like a ghost then youâre totally a ghost! Itâs probably, like, poisonous, though! Youâre a dead pony either way.â
Daisy punches Lily in the shoulder. âDonât say that!â
âWhat? Itâs, like, true!â
Roseluck shakes her head. âNo, sheâs right, Daisy.â She slowly lifts her hoof to her mouth and gives it a quick lick. âIt tastes like-â She doesnât finish her sentence right away. Instead she giggles. âIt tastes like a ghost!â
âRoseluck is a ghost!â Daisy screams. âEverypony run!â
The trio run around Lilyâs house, knocking everything over in their wake.
Daisy avoids running into Roseluck and turns sharply, knocking more flour out of the opened flour sack. She and Roseluck are now both completely white.
âOoooOoooOooâ Roseluck says, giggling.
âNOOOOOOOO Iâm too young to be a ghost!â
Lily sniffs, removing her flour pot helmet and placing it over hear heart. âPoor Daisy and Roseluck⊠we, like, barely knew them.â
As Lily is placing the lily back in her mane, Roseluck sneaks behind Lily and pats her on the tail, turning part of her body white.
Lily flops on the floor, flailing about. âI donât wanna be a ghost!âÂ
âRoseluck! You monster!â Daisy wails, poking Roseluck. âWait, ghosts arenât pokeable!â
Lily notices white stuff puffing out into the air as she rolls. She stops, mid-roll, her legs up in the air. âHey is my ghost supposed to, like, come off?â
Roseluck laughs out loud, tears roll down her face from laughter, washing away some of the flour.
Daisy swats her. âRoseluck, you trickster!â
âHad you going for a minute there, didnât I? I have to say, I was pretty convincing, right?â She flicks her mane proudly.
Lily is still a pile of legs on the floor. âSo are we, like, not ghosts anymore or something?â
Daisy and Roseluck exchange glances and laugh even harder at Lilyâs expense.
âWhat? Like, what?â
âOh nothing, Lily.â Roseluck says, smiling at her friends. âNothing at all.â