Who you gonna call?

The repurposed firehouse was quiet. The only sounds were the occasional blip of Sunray’s arcade machine, and the occasional clank and bump from Whinnyston working on the Aether-1. Queenie was sitting at her desk, leaning back and idly filing her hooves while she chewed on some gum. Every so often she would blow a bubble and pop it loudly, the snap echoing through the garage. The phone on her desk had been quiet for the past few days, which was a relief, but it meant the Wraithwreckers had no work, and no work meant no bits. Epona was out with Sunray doing research on some of the spirits they had encountered in the past week, which just left Prancer, Whinnyston, and Queenie at the station.
Queenie huffed quietly to herself and blew another bubble. Whinnyston and Prancer weren’t bad, but they weren’t her kind of pony. That Epona Spangler, though… Queenie smiled as she daydreamed about Epona’s cute little glasses, humming to herself.
“Queenie!”
Queenie was rudely roused from her daydream by a voice she knew all too well. Prancer Venkpon. A colleague of Epona’s like Sunray Stance, they’d all worked together before forming the Wraithwreckers to combat the growing threat of spirits Manehatten had suddenly found itself beset by. Queenie distinctly disliked Prancer. He was an earth pony, but thought himself Celestia’s gift to mares. He really just seemed to be along for the ride, and Queenie was positive he had been nothing more than a con-artist who was luckily at the right place at the right time.
“Yeaaaah, what is it?” Queenie answered.
“We gotten any calls today?” Prancer asked.
“I’d’ve let you know if we did.” Queenie said, snapping her gum loudly.
“Fair enough. Thanks Queenie.” Prancer said. He pointed a hoof at her and winked. She just rolled her eyes and went back to filing her hooves.

About an hour later, the firehouse door opened and Epona walked in with Sunray. They were chatting animatedly about the possible origin of some of the spooks they’d blasted around the city.
“I just think we should investigate the area, Epona. The ghosts all seem to be circling that part of town, so if we were to sweep the area…” Sunray was saying.
“…we’d likely not find anything. There’s too many houses, stores, buildings, and other areas we wouldn’t have access to the source could be hiding in. We would need more evidence before we try to get in there.” Epona said firmly.
“But we could at least walk through the area where we’re allowed. Maybe we’d find some of the evidence you’re looking for!” Sunray insisted.
“If you’re so set on it, then sure, go ahead. But if you find anything, ANYTHING, you come right back here and let us know so we can all check it out together, alright? The last thing we need is somepony getting possessed.” Epona said, pushing her spectacles up her muzzle.
“Fantastic! Thanks, Epona! I’ll be back later!” Sunray said, and trotted back out the door.
Epona looked Queenie’s way. “No calls today Queenie?” She asked.
Queenie started in her seat and dropped her hoof file. “None yet, Epona. Hey, if you’re not buy later, would you like to…”
“Sorry Queenie, I need to double check something I left sitting out in the lab overnight. I’ll be back later.” Epona said, continuing up the stairs.
Queenie huffed and floated her hoof file back up and angrily started filing away, grumbling.
Whinnyston chuckled from underneath the Aether-1. “You really ought to choose your battles a bit better, Queenie. Epona’s almost always busy, and won’t pay attention to anything that isn’t work. If you could phrase it in terms of working, then you might stand a chance.”

Queenie huffed. He was right, but that didn’t make it any less frustrating.
Upstairs, Epona unlocked her lab and stepped inside. The lights had been left on to make sure there wasn’t going to be any unexpected behavior in the ectoplasm sample she’d acquired. She wanted to see if it behaved the way she expected in light before trying to measure what was happening in the dark. The sample itself was a small pile of powder-blue goop, pressed up against the walls of a petri dish she had clamped to the table.
She fussed with dials, buttons, and bottles, before floating over a pad of parchment and a quill.
“Aetheric signature remains stable. Ectoplasmic growth normal. No unexpected discoloration or decay. Sample is still active, despite being separated from the host-ghost.” She said aloud. “Everything remains as I had left it yesterday, without any unpredicted changes. The question remains why it still seems to be trying to get somewhere, even without its host.” She said out loud.
Epona picked up the dish with her magic and turned it, and as she did the slime moved around the dish, sticking to one specific wall.
“You know, the best way to find out where it’s going would be to let it out.” Prancer said, leaning casually against the doorjamb.
“I realize that, but I don’t know if a small part of the wraith we caught will communicate information to the host body about us and the containment unit. Have brought it home, I don’t know if it is still intelligent without the host body, which is what I’m trying to determine.” Epona answered, pushing her spectacles back up her nose.
“Even ants know how to go home, Epona.” Prancer said.
“You raise a good point, but I still have a few tests I want to run before we attempt your idea. And I’ll want every Wraithwrecker here for every eventuality.” Epona said.