Ghost’s eyes narrowed as the intruder materialized in front of him. He just saw dark blue hooves at first but as the mist formed into a proper pony, his stance was relieved. He quickly put his nail on his back as the mist fully formed into the Princess of the Night. Her horn shined a blue color until her form had materialized before shutting off entirely.
“We weren’t expecting thee, Goddess of the Night,” Godseeker’s eyes still were narrowed with hostility at the lunar monarch
“I was not expecting a dream like this. This is no normal dream,” Luna replied back, looking around Godhome, much to Godseeker’s dismay
Ghost sat back on the bench with some relief that he wasn’t going to be fighting at this very moment, “Luna, what are you doing in my mind? Last time I remembered, you don’t own a Dreamnail,”
Luna was taken out of her exploration of Godhome confused by Ghost’s question, “As Princess of the Night, it is my duty to watch over the dreams of everypony in Equestria and banish the Nightmares.”
“So you can just waltz into anyone’s dreams?” Ghost questioned further, feeling insecure about his mind being probed more
“Normally, yes. Yours, however, was much harder. I had to use a strong spell just to break through your mental defenses. I thought it was your control of the Void that allowed you to resist my entrance but I see it was something else,” the lunar princess answered, looking at Godseeker
Godseeker relaxed, taking Luna’s explanation as a compliment, “We pride ourselves in serving the God of Gods. Our strength comes from his attunement.”
“Attunement?” Luna raised a brow
Godseeker giggled, giddy to explain the process. This would be good for the Godseekers, and maybe, yes, she could have the God of Gods tear apart the Goddess of the Night! Then, once he was done, he could unleash his fury upon her shell….
“Godseeker,” Ghost’s voice broke Godseeker out of her stupor, her shell lighting up in a bright red with her thoughts
“Forgive us! We had let thy power overwhelm our senses,” Godseeker bowed down, hoping for punishment for such lewd thoughts, “Attunement is achieved when the God of Gods faces off against all opposing gods and defeats them in combat. Their strength becomes his and ours, and after defeating the most powerful of gods, the God of Gods unleashes his true form!”
“True...form?” Luna narrowed her eyes after the explanation
“Yes, true form. Did we stutter? Behold!” Godseeker exclaimed with ecstasy
Godhome lit up like a solar flare, blinding everyone inside before the scene was changed to the peak of Godhome. Luna could see the sun and the moon in the distance, her and her sister’s assigned roles in Equestria. However, there was one larger sun above them both, so large that it made their stars look like dwarfs. Before she could question the Godseeker on this larger sun, the sun had sprung wings and began flying at them!
“This is a memory,” Ghost broke the ice, looking across from Godseeker and Luna to spot himself, a much smaller version of himself
“A memory? Is this what you spoke of earlier?” Luna asked, remembering when she had interrogated Ghost upon his first arrival, and also breaking the spell that had stunted his growth.
Ghost was silent for a few moments, looking at his smaller form and how it drew its nail without thought and without fear, “Yes...This was my fight against the Radiance.”
“His final test to prove himself the God of Gods! Observe!” Godseeker added as the large sun had turned into a gigantic moth
The power it emanated was enough put Luna on edge, such power that not even her older sister could wield. How could Ghost fight against a threat so powerful without losing the will to fight? How could he have won against this being? Did the Void really make him that powerful or was the Godseeker at play?”
The fight for Little Ghost and the Radiance played exactly as Ghost remembered it. Using all his strength to damage and destroy the enemy that had destroyed his home. The multiple attempts of the Radiance to run away from Little Ghost and kill him from far away. The sea of void that rose to follow them and consume them. But, the one thing he couldn’t remember what happened when his shell broke.
Then they all saw it, Little Ghost’s shell breaking, his void body plunging into the sea of void with the Radiance being surrounded by it. The void rose and a disturbing creature of pure void appeared with its unsettling eight white eyes. With its multiple arms, it easily crushed the Radiance before consuming Godhome. This was the Shade Lord, the very epitome of death and destruction of all life.
“Oh great Shade Lord, destroy our shell and consume us once more with thy power!” Godseeker broke Luna’s thoughts with her prayers of punishment
The Lunar Princess was visibly shaking, seeing what Ghost could do was deeply striking fear into her heart. He did this for his kingdom, but would he do it for Equestria?
Ghost had a hard time expressing his own fear thanks to how Vessels were made. His eyes closed, his head hung low to think on the possibility of becoming the Shade Lord once more. No! He could not let that happen. If he were to, he needed a back up plan to make sure the Shade Lord never arose again.
“We see thy fears have manifested greatly. Be relieved, the Shade Lord was only summoned because the God of Gods had achieved his full potential. Then, it was uncontrollable, but with the God of Gods achieving more power thanks to thee, he shall be able to control it,” Godseeker assured, regaining her composure after almost losing herself then
Luna regained her composure before approaching Godseeker with narrowed eyes, “Are thee sure of it?”
Godseeker nodded, “We have served many gods. This one will be eternal, and we shall be forever attuned with him. But we have said enough, the attunement must take place!”
“What?” Ghost looked shocked, knowing what Godseeker meant at that moment
The whole area lit up again before the trio found themselves within an arena. Luna was seated next to Godseeker while Ghost was in the middle of the arena. The other Godseekers were making a roar of applause to Ghost when they laid eyes on him. Luna looked around at the others, noting their wrapped bodies and golden masks were nowhere as pretty as Godseeker herself.
The Lunar Princess turned to Godseeker in confusion, “Who is the Vessel facing?”
Godseeker hummed for a few moments, gathering all the thoughts of her compatriots before turning to the alicorn, “She who has been hiding in nightmares. She who the kingdom fears. She who was thought to have banished.”
Before Luna could question further, although Godseeker made it evident who she was talking about, the sky darkened. It became nighttime in Godhome, but not by natural causes. The moon rose above all of them with a specific mare-looking feature on it. Just as Ghost was wondering what could be the meaning of it, a pitch black split formed into the moon itself. This split began to expand, releasing blue mist all around the arena intensely.
A figure could be vaguely be seen in that expanse of mist, one looking a lot like a mare. The mist stopped before gathering itself on the opposing side of the arena. Tall, dark hooves formed first, followed by a regal body similar to Celestia. Great black wings came after before a head was formed, coupled with a blue helmet. The rest of the mist seemed to form a mane and tail for the new pony in the arena.
“Behold! Queen of Nightmares!” Godseeker said ecstatically, the rest of her followers roaring in applause
Ghost instinctively took out his nail and narrowed his eyes. He didn’t know who this Queen of Nightmares was, but she awfully looked a bit like Luna. Was this Luna’s alternate form similar to Grimm? But how could that be? Grimm was the Nightmare King, the only one to take power from the Nightmare Heart. Could it be the Nightmare Heart had other vessels in other worlds?
“Godseeker, how does Nightmare Moon exist when she has been banished from me?” Luna questioned the religious nutcase
Godseeker seemed confused that Luna would even question how that was possible, oh well, “We are able to summon gods in their prime form to challenge the future God of Gods. Even in death or banishment, they will return when the God of Gods challenges them.”
Ghost waited for the new alicorn to make a move, but she was preoccupied with looking at her surroundings. She couldn’t believe she was actually existing separated from Luna herself since she was a part of Luna. Her face showed her confusion and awe that she was now living once more. However, she was now in an arena surrounded by bugs that wanted her to fight this tall bug.
Ghost decided that he had enough time to wait for his opponent to do something, so he made the first move. He extended his hand outward and let out a blast of void energy that raced towards Nightmare Moon. The alicorn was able to notice him attacking and swiftly sidestepped the attack before firing a magical beam at him. Ghost’s features went turned into void itself as he charged into the beam, his void body absorbing the magical energy without injury.
When he was close enough, he let out a slash. Unlike his normal nail swings, his attack reached much farther than normal. Sadly, due to Nightmare Moon’s height being just as his own, his attack hit her right in the chest. The most he did was leave a single scratch on her breastplate which only infuriated Nightmare. It was then that the sky lit up with several of the stars overhead heading downwards to Ghost.
The first two were way off target, impacting several feet away from Ghost. Their concussive force left parts of the arena littered with craters as more fell down from the night sky. Ghost found a few heading towards him, running around to avoid their impacts. One was close enough to knock him off his feet before Nightmare Moon stopped her assault.
As Ghost got up, he felt something about to slam on top of him. His instincts took over as he dashed away, watching Nightmare Moon land where he had fell. Quickly getting up, Ghost sprinted right for Nightmare Moon. The alicorn began firing rapid fire shots of magical energy in his direction.
Springing upward, Ghost jumped into the air to avoid the initial blasts before sending himself downward with a void powered attack. His attempt hit right on, landing him a hit right on Nightmare Moon’s backside with his Descending Dark. The initial hit knocked the Nightmare to the floor before the blast dealt heavy damage. The alicorn teleported a short distance away, her face evident with pain from Ghost’s successful attack.
“Glorius! Thee may be holding back, God of Gods. However, you show strength with your restraint. Destroy her! Show the Nightmare your true power!” Godseeker seemed to be lost in the fight
Luna moved away from the Godseeker, finding her taste for violence nauseating. Nightmare Moon proceeded to slam the floor with her hoof, sending a shockwave and debris at Ghost. Ghost dashed through the shockwave but was pelted by several of the debris. Not letting the pain stop his momentum, he fired off another Shade Soul.
After the attack had hit its target, Nightmare Moon broke into a fine mist, moving about the arena to reposition herself. Ghost took this moment to get a good hit in before she could recover. Getting right under the mist, Ghost took a large gulp of air before releasing an Abyss Shriek. The sheer force of the scream forced Nightmare Moon to reform herself.
The Nightmare was panting in exhaustion and pain. Her body was shuddering and her legs looked ready to give out at any moment. However, her eyes shown defiance to surrender or even losing this battle she clearly could not win. A nail was right at her neck, threatening to end her life then and there.
Looking up at the wielder with anger, Nightmare Moon could only lose that anger and it be replaced with fear. Those soulless void eyes were bearing into her dark heart, showing her something that was making her confidence be torn to shreds. She swore she saw something in those eyes that was much more horrifying than her attacker before her. The nail left her neck and was raised in the air.
Luna looked away as she heard the sound of a sword swipe, not wanting to see her evil past beheaded in front of her. However, she expected the sound of a body hitting the floor, but she only got the sound of mist rushing out. She opened her eyes to look and see Nightmare Moon still in one piece but the mist that formed her was shooting out of her explosively. Before she could question Godseeker on what was happening, Nightmare Moon exploded into mist while leaving her armor behind.
Godseeker looked upwards as a light shined above them. Their surroundings changed to that of a long and dark hallway. Statues were hidden under darkness’s cloak, preventing the eyes of the living from seeing their beauty. A light shined in front of them with one of the statues sparkling. Walking closer, Ghost and Luna noticed the statue now enlightened.
The statue was exactly like Nightmare Moon. All her features were accurately depicted to the smallest feather. She had that overconfident grin while appearing on her back legs in a pose. A plaque was at the bottom of the statue. At first, it was empty but once the statue was brightened by the light, the plaque held words.
“Shunned Goddess of the Night.”
“Is Nightmare Moon truly dead?” Luna finally questioned, getting the feeling these statues were not just for show
Indeed, a power was emanating from Nightmare Moon’s statue. Bits of dark mist flowed out of said statue but did not form into anything. Was this some sort of summoning device for Godseeker to use?
Godseeker was amused by Luna’s question, her giggle noticeable, “Oh Goddess of the Night, in Godhome, nothing truly dies. Gods will be fought here for eternity, so long as we are within your lands. The God of Gods can fight all the gods whenever he chooses.”
“So she is trapped here?” Ghost also asked, looking at the statue of Nightmare Moon warily before trying to look at the unlit statues around
“Yes and no. There is a power at play. Perhaps the Nightmare King can be of assistance,” Godseeker answered with uncertainty
Luna’s eyes narrowed at the statue for a few moments, a pout square on her face before she relaxed. In ways, she was glad that her darker self was now put somewhere that wouldn’t haunt her for the rest of time. On the other hand, was Grimm connected to Nightmare Moon like Godseeker alluded to? Both were Nightmares and Godseeker called Moon a Queen.
While Luna was busy thinking about Nightmare Moon, Ghost had explored the Hall of Gods to see if any of the ‘gods’ from Hallownest were here. He looked at each statue, finding their forms more akin to pony appearances and none of them had any form to bugs. Then his mind went to the few ponies he met, did they have a statue dedicated to them?
Twilight, Applejack and Pinkie Pie, bearers of the Elements of Harmony. From the sound of it, they had to have a statue dedicated to them. Looking around at the various statues that he could see, he did find one that vaguely resembles the body appearances of the mares he met. But, the statue had six of them, so who were the other three? Were they the rest of the Elements of Harmony?
“Still so many gods to find and fight. This attunement will be the greatest we have ever partaken in. Seek them out, God of Gods. Then we shall see if the Pale King can be found. We await you in your dreams,” Godseeker said to Ghost as a bright light began to shine above them
Ghost could only look up before Godhome disappeared from him and he opened his eyes to see the wooden ceiling of Twilight’s home. Whoever the other three ponies were, he had to find them to see what Godseeker had planned in terms of their fight. Thankfully, Godhome was not a place where mortal beings were killed and even then, Ghost wouldn’t want to hurt these peaceful ponies. He had no reason to kill them and all those who were civil with him back at Hallownest he never killed.
His thoughts were distracted with the smell of something being made downstairs. Must be Twilight making herself something to eat. Thankfully, or not, Ghost didn’t need to eat or drink to maintain his health. Being part of the void made him invulnerable to hunger and thirst, but that meant he couldn’t enjoy the finer things in life. Did he ever wish to have a mouth so he could taste said items?
He got up from the bed before fetching his nail and making his way downstairs. Making his way down the stairs, he spotted a small figure sitting on a chair. Much smaller than Twilight but not too much smaller. This new creature was purple with green scales dotting its body. Ghost did not know what kind of species it was due to his only knowledge being of bugs. However, the creature looked in his direction and its eyes shrunk in fear.
“Twilight! We have a monster in our house! It’s an Eldritch!” the creature exclaimed in a terrified and male voice
Twilight turned to look at Ghost, patting the creature on the back to calm him down, “Don’t worry, Spike. He’s not going to do anything to you. Ghost, this is Spike, my assistant. Spike, this is Ghost, a newcomer to Equestria.”
Spike peered up from behind Twilight, his eyes narrowing in caution, “Newcomer huh? Where are you from?”
“Hallownest,” Ghost answered simply
“Never heard of it. Is that some sort of Changeling hive?”
“No, we don’t have Changelings. We have beetles, spiders, mantises, and various other bugs. Well, we did, but most of them are dead,”
Spike hummed for a few moments before relaxing, “Alright, then maybe you came from a whole different land. Did you come alone?”
Ghost was about to answer before a puff of rest mist appeared next to him. Grimm, as usual, appeared with a bow towards the small dragon, “Pleased to meet you, Spike. I was just sleeping underneath a window when I overheard you chatting with my dear friend. Call me Grimm, or Master Grimm, either works.”
Spike was stunned for a moment as his eyes scanned Grimm intently, “Are you supposed to be some sort of vampire.”
Grimm chuckled in amusement with that sort of comparison, “It appears I share a resemblance. But no, I am not exactly a vampire.”
“These two arrived here under some mysterious reasons and the princesses wanted me to let them get acquainted. So, they are under our care until further notice,” Twilight summarized to Spike, the small dragon nodding
“Alright, sounds good to me. Hey, you got a nice cloak there, where can I get one for Nightmare Night?” Spike asked, pointing at Grimm’s dark cloak
Grimm’s eyes brightened quite a bit at the dragon’s words, “Did you just say...Nightmare Night?”
Spike nodded eagerly, “Yeah, one night out of the whole year where everyone dresses up. There’s some myths around the event to scare the younger ponies but mostly, it's just a time to have fun.”
Ghost looked at Spike before saying, “You do realize that Grimm is a nightmare, right?”
Spike’s eyes widened before he pointed at Grimm, “Y-you are?”
Grimm nodded, “Yes, my friend. However, I will not hurt you, I only seek to prolong the Heart of Grimm. So long as you don’t go to destroy it, we are on the same side. But to answer your previous question, I can make you a cloak like this if only you join my troupe.”
“It’s not a simple circus if that’s what you were going to ask,” Ghost clarified before Spike could ask about it, “You’re better off having someone make a cloak like his.”
Grimm gave a scoff and turned away from the trio, “I am quite insulted that you would dare have someone ‘make’ an imitation of my cloak. Only my troupe could earn items such as these.”
Twilight had her hoof under her chin, “Well, Rarity is one of the best fashionistas in town. She makes some really good clothes that rival the most expensive ones.”
Grimm’s head turned towards Twilight while his body was facing away from her, his eyes burning scarlet fire, “Show me this Rarity you speak of.”