Princess Twinkle Star had invited several friends for a sleepover at Friendship
Castle. Morning Glory, Seabreeze, Moon Shadow, and Light Heart had all come. It had been an
evening of snacks, old movies, and games-- including (of course) Truth or Dare.
"I'm tired of this game," complained Light Heart. "Let's do something
else."
"Let's tell ghost stories," spoke up Moon Shadow suddenly. She had barely said
anything all evening. "I know a really good one about this very castle."
"Oh, neat, let's hear it!" piped up Seabreeze.
"Hundreds of years ago," began Moon Shadow, "Friendship Castle didn't belong
to the royal family at all. It belonged to a hermit pony named Starshine. Starshine didn't like to
be around other ponies. She preferred to stay among the birds and animals, singing and making
the castle more and more beautiful. Soon it was the most beautiful place in the realm.
"But this brought troubles. The royal family wanted this gorgeous castle. They
offered to buy it from Starshine, but she loved her home and refused to sell it.
"The royal family's desire for Starshine's castle grew and grew. Finally, they knew
that they had to have the castle no matter what. So, one night, they sent one of their servants into
the castle with a mission. The servant found Starshine at the top of the castle tower. Then, the
servant pushed Starshine out the window and into the castle moat!"
All of the other ponies gasped. Moon Shadow ignored them and continued, her
voice getting louder and her words more intense. "The last thing Starshine ever saw was the
leering face of a pink pony with red eyes. In her last instant in this world, she swore to come back
and push every single red-eyed pink pony in Friendship Castle out the window until the royal
family left her castle.
"And Starshine," finished Moon Shadow, with a strange expression on her face,
"always kept her promises."
All of the other ponies shivered, and Morning Glory looked positively ill.
Princess Twinkle Star was the first to break the silence. "Wow, you're a great storyteller, Moon
Shadow. But let's all go to sleep for a while."
All of the ponies crawled into their sleeping bags. Morning Glory was next to
Twinkle Star. She still looked scared to death. "Is something wrong?" Twinkle Star asked.
Morning Glory shuddered as she turned to her friend. "It's just... I'm scared of
ghosts. It's my worst fear. And I'm probably going to have nightmares about being pushed out
the window. I'm surprised you look so calm. I mean, you're pink with red eyes, too."
"Morning Glory, you don't really believe that story, do you? I mean, there's no
such thing as a ghost. And I know for a fact that the royal family had this castle built for
them."
"Really?" asked Morning Glory.
"Really," said Princess Twinkle Star.
"Okay. I'm going to go to the bathroom. Um, will you come with me? I'm still a
little bit scared."
"Sure," sighed Twinkle Star. The two ponies trotted down the hall to the
bathroom and then back again.
Twinkle Star was just getting comfortable again in her sleeping bag when
Morning Glory screamed. "What's wrong?" demanded Twinkle Star.
"L-look," stammered Morning Glory, sounding as if she was about to cry.
Twinkle Star looked at what her friend was holding.
It was a piece of paper with a message written in what Twinkle Star hoped was
red ink.
"You can lock the windows, pink ponies, and you can lock the doors. But it won't
stop the spirit of Starshine from taking her revenge," read Princess Twinkle Star. "Calm down,
Morning Glory. This was not written by a ghost."
"How do you know?" Morning Glory sobbed. "How can you know?"
Princess Twinkle Star looked at the other ponies, who had been woken by
Morning Glory's scream. "Okay," she said sternly. "Who wrote this?" All of the ponies looked
at each other nervously, but nobody confessed.
"Light Heart, was it you?" asked Twinkle Star. Everyone knew Light Heart loved
to play practical jokes. All of the other ponies turned to Light Heart.
"Yeah, Light Heart, you're always doing stuff like that."
"Come on, Light Heart, we all know you did it."
"That wasn't very nice, you know."
Light Heart looked upset and bewildered. "It wasn't me," she protested. "I wish
I'd thought of that, but it wasn't me." The other ponies continued to give her accusing
looks.
"Look, guys," said Seabreeze. "We don't know who did it, so let's not accuse
each other. I think we should just go back to bed."
Twinkle Star agreed, and the two of them persuaded the other ponies to get to
bed. Only Morning Glory refused to get to sleep. "I'm not going to let Starshine's ghost get me
while I'm sleeping," she said firmly.
Twinkle Star gave up on convincing Morning Glory of anything and crawled into
her sleeping bag for the third time that night. Who could it be? she wondered. Was it
Light Heart, who was always playing practical jokes? Moon Shadow, who had told the ghost
story? Seabreeze, who she didn't really know much about? What a sleepover this was turning out
to be!
"Aaaaaaaaaaah!"
Oh, no, not again! thought Twinkle Star, and went over to where
Morning Glory was standing-- by the window. The window was wide open and there was
another red-ink note.
"Look out the window, pink ponies," read Light Heart. "Look out the window
and meet your destiny."
"You did it!" Morning Glory screamed at Light Heart. "You know you did it, so
don't try to deny it! You did it, just like you did all those other practical jokes!"
Seabreeze quickly intervened. "I was watching Light Heart the whole time,
Morning Glory. You were the only pony who left your sleeping bags."
"It must have been a real ghost!" declared Moon Shadow.
Twinkle Star's mind was whirling. Morning Glory was the only pony who had
left the sleeping bags... suddenly everything clicked.
"I think I know who did it," Twinkle Star stated. "I just need to ask Morning
Glory a few questions."
Twinkle Star led Morning Glory over to the corner. "Okay, Morning Glory," she
said grimly. "I know your little secret."
"What do you mean?" asked Morning Glory.
"I know you did it and tried to frame Light Heart. You're the only one who could
have done it. I'm not going to be angry with you, and I think Light Heart will forgive you if you
apologize. But why did you do it?"
"I was angry with Light Heart," Morning Glory confessed. "She's always playing
practical jokes on me, and I thought if I got her in trouble for something she didn't do, she might
stop." Morning Glory hung her head.
"Well, go tell Light Heart and the others," instructed Twinkle Star.
Morning Glory and Light Heart whispered together for many hours that night,
and in the morning they seemed to be friends again. As all the ponies ate breakfast that morning,
Moon Shadow piped up, "I know another cool ghost story."
"No more ghost stories!" commanded Princess Twinkle Star, and everyone else
agreed.