//------------------------------// // Who you gonna call? // Story: The cursed resident. // by Sylif Daring Doo //------------------------------// ______*Canterlot Castle gardens, a few moments later.*______ Nightmare Moon stood next to Celestia undisguised after a teleportation by the Solar Alicorn, the gardens were serene as always, the grass was green and the flowers bloomed, little critters ran or flew around and the statues stood tall and proud, even the addition of the statue of Discord didn't ruin the garden. There were three benches surrounding a fountain in the center of the garden and an open hallway leading into the castle was off to the side, covering two sides with masterfully carved pillars and columns standing six feet apart, giving the gardens a much more natural and pleasant feel to them, Nightmare Moon nodded her head in approval and looked up at the sky, the sunset glow gave the sky an orange and dark blue coloration. "Whoever the gardener is does a good job." The former villain observed. Princess Celestia smiled and walked over to a bench to sit down. "It was a team effort actually, Luna sometimes tends to the statues in her free time, I personally planted a few flowers, and quite a few of my little ponies have tended to the garden itself, I think the result was worth it." She replied with a pleased tone before she looked at Nightmare Moon. "But that isn't why I brought you here." She added as she sat down on the left side of the bench. Nightmare nodded and joined her fellow Alicorn on the right side of the bench. "So, what do you need my help with? I've already told you I won't be ruling again, so it can't be that." She asked, some confusion in her voice, but with a tone that said she was serious. Celestia chuckled. "As much as Luna and myself would love the help, no.....this has to do with a certain ghost, one I believe you are friends with." She stated, she sounded amused but hidden underneath it was a level of tiredness. "Alecia has been very.....active." She paused for a second. "Around here lately, and she has been causing quite a bit of chaos in the castle for a week and a half now." She explained with both mirth and annoyance. Nightmare raised an eyebrow in confusion. 'Why did Alecia stick around for that long? she can't have seen everything she wanted to see within a week could she?' She wondered before looking at Celestia's eyes with curiosity. "What did the lunatic do?" She asked without hesitation. Princess Celestia sighed and closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Well......I should start from day one I suppose." She muttered. _______*A week and a half ago, Canterlot Day Court.*_______ Princess Celestia sat at her throne as she always did when Day Court was in session, today she had her nephew Prince Blueblood attending, he sat at the bottom of the stairs to her left, and she was glad that he was more tolerable today, she did love her nephew but there were days where even she lost her patience with him. Today was overall a good day, she was able to talk to Luna after breakfast today about a possible visit to Ponyville, just to try and relax for a day, then her sister went to her room to rest and then she opened Day Court, she was also glad to receive a letter from Twilight last night. She was surprised to discover that Day Court wasn't very busy for once, only a total of twenty seven scheduled appointments, it was unbelievable and for once Celestia had to admit it to herself, she privately wished that Day Court wouldn't be so boring or short today just so she could take her mind off the upcoming wedding. Apparently the universe agreed as a very familiar red haired ghost floated into the throne room from the main door, Celestia managed to keep an eye on Alecia while listening to the noble speaking, he was explaining his plan to close a few schools in Fillydelphia then upgrade them with up to date policies and equipment, as many were in disrepair. Princess Celestia watched as Alecia floated up behind the noble speaking and the ghost grinned, she raised her right hand and opened and closed it as if she were speaking through it, she matched pace with the noble and had a large smirk on her face. Thankfully, Celestia had over a thousand years of experience on her side, she made no visible reaction while mentally laughing at the absurd situation, she also noticed a few of her guards subtly staring at the ghost with cautious gazes, she heard the noble finish explaining her plan and she spoke with practiced calm. "Have you gained the support of the school board mister Pots?" She asked with an even tone. Winston Pots, the noble nodded. "I have their approval, but they desire your consent before we go ahead with our plan." He stated calmly. Princess Celestia nodded. "Education for young fillies and colts is important, and you wish to improve the schools, you have my consent mister Pots, I look forward to seeing the results." She stated. The noble bowed and walked away, Alecia meanwhile crossed her arms and stared at Celestia, her eyes had a look that said 'challenge accepted' and the ghost grinned widely as though an idea came to her, she waved and disappeared, leaving the throne room ghost free. The day court continued as normal for two hours, and by the time there was only five noble's left, Alecia had returned, she floated over to the noble that was furthest from all the others, this noble was a unicorn and the ghost held her hand over the unicorns horn with a large grin. Celestia watched with interest and some dread as she maintained her neutral expression, and then suddenly the unicorn noble's mane stood on end as though she were being electrocuted, but she didn't seem to notice at first, only when her pale yellow fur stood on end did she notice and then her eyes went wide, she looked around the room but no unicorn or Celestia's horn was lit up, she took a step back and Alecia didn't move. The noble's mane and fur slowly went back to normal and she shivered, letting out a cold breath which could be seen, the other noble's took notice of this but Celestia quickly worked to soothe them. "It would seem we have a sudden magical hotspot, I think it would be best for us to adjourn for today, lest something else happen." Celestia stated calmly. Thankfully the noble's seemed to be placated by this but were disappointed by the news, after promising to hear them next time Celestia cancelled Day Court and walked out of the throne room from the back door near the throne. 'What is she trying to pull?' Celestia asked herself as she walked. _____*That night.*_____ Princess Celestia visited the kitchen with the mindset to see how the royal chefs were doing because dinner was late, but she wasn't expecting to find them running around the room trying to grab flying ingredients and pans, it was actually quite sad yet amusing to watch and for the second time today, Princess Celestia had to fight the urge to laugh while doing so in her mind. The ringmaster behind this chaos was of course Alecia, who stood in the center of the kitchen with her arms crossed and facing away from the Princess, one of the chefs, a unicorn stallion with a gray mane and tail with a dark green coat and pepper shaker cutie mark, spotted the Alicorn and ran up to her. "Your highness! I am so sorry for the delay, but everything we try to touch flies away!" The chef apologized, his voice had a soft Prench accent. "It is alright chef Peppercorn, why don't you gather your fellow chefs and wait outside to rest and calm down? I will deal with this and then let you know." Princess Celestia said, the chef nodded in agreement with a tired sigh before heading off to gather his fellow chefs. Alecia turned to face Celestia and wore the biggest grin, as though she was silently saying 'I win' to the Alicorn, her bright blue eyes were filled with mirth and mischief. Princess Celestia waited until the chefs left the room, the ingredients and pans still flying around, albeit at a slightly lower pace, she waited for a minute and then spoke. "How are you enjoying your freedom Alecia?" She asked calmly. Alecia shrugged and floated around lazily with her body in the air, chest facing the ceiling and back to the floor. "It's amazing, you have no idea how liberating it is to explore the world without restriction, it's almost like being alive again." She said as she floated around, still allowing everything to float around. "As happy as I am that you are free, the castle staff do need to eat, so if you could return everything to its proper place, I would be grateful." Celestia said. Alecia sighed dejectedly and set everything down on the counters, she looked at Celestia and after a few seconds she grinned. "I know that look, you were amused in both the throne room and here, you're just too polite to laugh when others are around." Her grin widened. "I'm going to stick around for a while, I'm having way too much fun to leave now." She then vanished into thin air while laughing. Princess Celestia sighed and rubbed her eyes. "Great, as if Lulu's pranks were bad enough, now I'm going to be pranked by the undead." She shook her head and took a few seconds to compose herself, she then walked out of the kitchen to tell the chefs that they could return to work. ______*The present.*______ "And that was just day one?" Nightmare asked with amusement clear in her voice. Princess Celestia groaned. "Yes, and she found more and more creative ways to prank us, though at the very least she took a few days off from it, spread out of course." She replied with an exhausted tone. Nightmare stifled a laugh at the mental image of Celestia screaming in frustration before shaking her head clear of her thoughts. "So, tell me more." She said. _____*Nine days ago, two days after Alecia's arrival.*_____ Princess Celestia sat in her private study reading some of her personal books, Day Court went by smoothly today and Alecia had yet to strike, making the Alicorn wonder if she wasn't going to be pulling anymore pranks. Celestia turned the page of her book, a romance comedy novel that her assistant Raven Inkwell recommended, she levitated her cup of tea over and put the cup to her lips, she took a brief second to appreciate the aroma from the tea and took a sip, her gag reflex instantly kicked in when a foul taste entered her mouth. Celestia spat out the tea and stared at the cup for a second, she narrowed her eyes and levitated the cup back to the tray. 'Odd, I usually enjoy jasmine, why is it suddenly so foul tasting?' She wondered. Celestia stood up and walked over to the tray and examined the tea in the pitcher after taking off the lid, it looked alright but she knew it would taste horrible, she closed the lid and sighed, an idea coming to mind. "Was this your doing Alecia?" The Alicorn asked. A chuckle came from the center of the room and Alecia appeared. "Yea yea, you caught me red handed." She said, she held up her transparent hand. "Oh, well.....you caught me dead in the act at any rate." She stated. Celestia took a deep breath and looked at the ghost who had a smirk, she also heard a stifled laugh outside her study. "I see you recruited Luna for this one, tell me, how did you do it?" She asked. Alecia grinned. "Luna distracted Raven by talking to her, and I poured flour into the tea and quickly mixed it in." She shrugged. "It's very clear that Nightmare gets her love of pranks from Luna, she's a natural." The grin on the ghost grew as she floated up close to Celestia. "How would you like to get even?" She asked mischievously. Celestia stared at the ghost with disbelief. 'I am over a thousand years old, I will not be drawn into or be made a victim of this childish endeavor, besides, Alecia is the perpetrator here.' She argued in her mind, with her decision made, she spoke. "Let's get her." She whispered. 'Crap! that's not what I wanted to say!' Alecia nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow then, after Day Court." She whispered before vanishing. Celestia sighed. "What have I done?" She asked herself before returning to her book. _______*the next day, after Day Court, two hours before Night Court.*_______ Celestia entered the dining hall where Luna was waiting while reading the morning paper, she walked up and took a seat next to her sister who looked over at her. "Good evening Tia." Luna said. "Good evening Luna, did you sleep well?" Celestia asked. Luna nodded. "I did." She replied calmly. Soon enough, one of the servants entered the dining hall with a trolley, he wheeled it up to the table and carefully passed a couple of trays between the sisters, he then set up the utensils and napkins and then walked out of the dining hall. In the evening, when both Alicorns ate together it was always just them in the large room, Celestia was grateful for this because it allowed her and Luna to talk in private without staying up all night or day to talk with the other, it may have been quiet most days but it was a welcome change compared to the daily duties of running a nation. Celestia took the lid off her tray and set it aside, she looked down at the items for her dinner, there was a green salad and there was also a large bowl of vegetable soup, she looked over at Luna and saw that she also had a salad, though her sister had a pair of apples and cooked fish. "I thought you might like to know, I was able to set everything up after all, we can take our weekend vacation in two weeks." She stated. Luna smiled and took a large bite out of one of the apples, she chewed it for a few moments and swallowed. "That is good, after all I do have words I wish to give the Nightmare that I could not say on Nightmare Night." She stated before continuing to eat. Celestia rolled her eyes and after taking a couple spoonfuls of the soup, she spoke again. "I hope you are not going to do anything rash Luna, Nightmare Moon has done nothing since she came back to life, I do not want to have to step in if you two start a fight." She said, hoping that it wouldn't come to that. Luna huffed as she finished off the first Apple and started on her salad. "You worry too much sister, I simply have things I wish to say to her, if a fight breaks out, it will not be my fault." She stated. Celestia continued to eat her soup and after two minutes the soup was almost gone, she then spoke up again with a thoughtful expression. "Technically Luna, Nightmare Moon is a part of you, she has your memories and is in essence your other half." She allowed mirth to show in her eyes as she looked at her sister. "So if she starts a fight, by all rights, you did too." She teased. Luna grumbled as she chewed on the last piece of her second Apple, she cut a piece off from her fish. "Please, we are nothing alike, we do not even share a body anymore." She countered before eating her fish, she then paused and as she swallowed, her ears started to tear up and she started panting. Celestia watched as Luna suddenly cried out in alarm and let out a small breath of fire, the lunar Alicorn then quickly gripped a pitcher of water and greedily drank from it, after two minutes Luna managed to get herself under control and she looked at Celestia, glaring daggers. "WHAT DID THOU DO TO MINE FISH!?" She shouted in an accusing tone. "Who? me? I did no so such thing dear Lulu." Celestia said defensively, though her mouth twisted into a smile. "I mearly told the chefs that you asked for something spicy tonight." She explained innocently. Luna's right eye twitched. "Do not lie to me TIA, you were never good at it." She said as she glared. "I know the taste and burn of Seven Hydra Fire Sauce anywhere and YOU told me that you got rid of it all last week." She stated. And just then, Alecia made her entrance, laughing heartily and sitting at the table, realization dawned on Luna and she sighed. "I should have known." The lunar Alicorn muttered. Alecia laughed for half a minute before calming down and looking at Luna. "Don't go blaming Celestia, she didn't lie to you, she did tell the chefs about you wanting something spicy, I just mixed in the hot stuff while they weren't looking." She said with a grin before standing up. "I can't wait to try out some more ideas of mine." She chuckled before vanishing. Luna looked at Celestia and the two sisters shared a look for a moment. "What have we done Lulu?" Celestia asked with worry. "We have successfully enabled a ghost that is almost as old as us to, as the ponies say these days.....go crazy." Luna replied bluntly. ______*the present.*______ Celestia shook her head with regret. "If only we knew, there was only two more pranks, but she struck both Luna and myself the same day, Alecia never said why, but she held out from any big pranks for three days." She said. Nightmare raised an eyebrow at the mention of the time gap. "What happened exactly?" Just as she finished speaking, she heard a familiar voice. "Alecia has a twisted sense of humor, that is what happened." Nightmare Moon and Celestia looked over in the direction of the voice and saw Luna walking over. "Your friend pulled simple practical jokes on us for three days, I do not know where she got the items, but she pulled every single one." She sighed and stood in front of the bench. "Perhaps we should walk?" Celestia suggested as she got off the bench, Nightmare soon followed suit, and soon the three Alicorns started to walk around the gardens. "Alecia had fun with her jokes, she would pull stunts in both Day and Night Court, in the kitchens, the dining hall, our personal studies and chambers, nowhere was off limits, and by the fourth day she approached us." She stated. Luna sighed and facehoofed before continuing to walk beside the two larger Alicorns, the memory still fresh in her mind. ______*four days ago.*______ Princess Luna walked with her sister through the halls of the Castle, she had remained awake for a long time, and Luna was getting agitated. "It is impossible to fulfill my duty in the Dream Realm! we have to do something about that ghost!" She complained with anger and frustration. Thankfully Celestia was the voice of reason. "Sister, I understand but we cannot trap Alecia, she was just freed from a curse not long ago, besides, she cannot remained amused by pranking is forever." She stated. "Oh no, I could be amused forever.....you know, me being dead and all." Aleica's voice cut into the conversation as she appeared before the Royal Sisters, Luna growled and the ghost rolled her eyes. "It's alright Princess, I just wanted to tell you that I won't be messing with anyone for couple days, so you can relax." She stated. "Why should we believe a trickster like you?" Luna asked with a skeptical tone with hostility in it. Alecia shrugged. "Believe me or don't, not up to me, if you need me I'll be in the library." She said before vanishing. Celestia looked at Luna who seemed ready to burst in anger. "Luna calm down, there is no sense getting angry over this." She stated as she continued to walk. Luna twitched in place but followed Celestia anyway, they walked for about ten minutes and in that time Luna calmed down a lot, they entered their private chambers and Luna looked around cautiously for any tricks. "Luna, there is nothing to fear, let's just take this time to relax, you could use it before Night Court starts." Celestia suggested, she walked over to a chair. Luna watched as Celestia stared at the chair for a moment before speaking. "If there is nothing to worry about, prove it." She stated, happy to test her sisters confidence in herself. Celestia nodded and moved to sit down, but as soon as she sat down she heard the chair creak, she quickly teleported off the chair and stared at it, while Luna smirked. "So, I am not the only paranoid one here after all." The lunar Alicorn stated. Celestia looked at Luna. "You should take some time to get ready for Night Court, it starts in three hours." She advised. ______*the present.*______ "We were.....paranoid for those days, and it turned out that it wasn't a prank." Luna stated with some shame. Nightmare looked at Celestia who simply sighed. "So for a couple days, nothing happened at all?" She asked. Celestia nodded and looked at Nightmare Moon. "Yes, absolutely nothing happened to either of us or anyone else in the castle, Alecia kept her word, but since we were so paranoid we could not relax, which led to us being unable to really sleep." She shook her head. "Alecia said that while she was sad to hear that we didn't trust her to keep her word, it was hilarious to hear that the co-rulers of Equestria were checking under the pillows and mattresses for whoopie cushions." She stated with embarrassment. Nightmare Moon chuckled. "Yes, I can see why that would amuse her, so what was the last prank?" She asked with genuine curiosity. ______*Yesterday.*______ Princess Celestia awoke with a tired yawn, she opened her eyes slowly and breathed deeply, she blinked a couple of times and slowly got off the bed, a few moments later she stood to the side of the bed, she stretched her limbs and yawned again, she rubbed her right eye and looked to the outside world, she saw that the moon was still up but it was lowering. "Time to raise the sun." She said quietly as she walked to the balcony doors, she opened them by hoof and stepped outside. Celestia lit her horn and felt the warmth of the sun fill her, she smiled at the sensation. 'Over a thousand years I've been doing this, and I still enjoy this part.' She thought to herself as she willed the sun to rise, it took a few minutes as usual, but soon the sun was in its place and Celestia extinguished the light on her horn. Stepping back into her room, Celestia closed the balcony door and walked to her personal bathroom, she opened the door and stepped inside, she walked to the mirror so she could splash some water on her face to help with some eye crust, she rubbed her eye as she walked, once she was done she looked up and into the mirror and she froze. Her face had been painted along with a little bit of her body, dark purple lines started from her eyes, facing away from her nose and went back to her ears, they then curved around her ears went up to her ear tips, the purple lines also formed a strange eight pointed star around her horn, dark blue lines were painted on her face as well, they started from the tip of her muzzle and went up to her eyes, they connected and split again, going from between her eyes down the sides of her muzzle and then ending where her chest began. Though the biggest change was easily her mane, where it usually flowed in an endless wind of magic, it was now flat and dyed ocean blue. "Alecia......of course." She muttered before turning on the water, she splashed some water on her face and saw that the paint didn't vanish, she quickly turned on the large bath tub and stared at her reflection, waiting as the tub filled. 'I will admit, while I don't like the look, I have to appreciate the level of detail Alecia put into this, she even managed to avoid getting any paint on my horn.' She thought to herself. A few minutes later and the tub was filled, Celestia was about to enter the tub when her bathroom door burst open. "Tia! the ghost hath gone too far!" Luna's voice shouted as she barged into the bathroom. Princess Celestia, Alicorn of the sun, co-ruler of Equestria and champion chess player, a mare who lived over a thousands years and gained great patience and tact, laughed at the sight of her sister, unable to hold her laughter back. Luna was fuming with rage, that much was clear, but the rest of her is what caused Celestia to laugh, her mane, once majestic, filled with an image of the night sky, was dyed a bright pink, while her body was covered in lines and zigzags of rainbow paints. "This is no laughing matter Tia! we are a laughing stock!" She shouted. Celestia managed to close the door as she laughed, unable to help herself, she continued for a good minute before managing to get some semblance of control. "Luna, come on, I'll help you wash it off." She chuckled before covering her eyes with her hooves, hoping to clear the image of her sister from her mind for now so she could help, but it didn't work and she simply lowered her hooves. Strangely enough, whatever Luna saw upon looking at Celestia changed the lunar Alicorn's mood drastically as she laughed happily at what she had seen. Celestia raised an eyebrow and looked in the mirror, she sighed at the sight of two large black circles which were now around her eyes, she looked at her hooves and saw that there was black ink of some kind on them. "Let's just clean up so we can perform our duties." She stated with irritation. _______*The present.*________ The three Alicorns stopped at the statue of Discord and Celestia looked at Nightmare Moon. "Now you know why I desire your help, as harmless as these pranks may be, they have caused us to be.......ineffective lately." Celestia stated calmly. Nightmare nodded in understanding. "Alright, I'll talk to Alecia, I'll see what I can do about these pranks." She said before looking at Luna. "Do you happen to know where she is right now?" She asked with curiosity. Luna nodded. "She said she was going to the library, you might find her there." She replied. Nightmare nodded again and lit her horn, her form shifted into that of Silver Wing. "No point walking around undisguised if I can help it." She whispered to herself before following Celestia out of the garden as Luna stayed behind. ______*thirty minutes later.*_______ Nightmare Moon walked into the Castle library and looked around, there were stacks and rows of books all over, but the main area where she stood was mostly clear, she walked into the library and heard a familiar voice instantly. "Nightmare Moon, I'm honored." Nightmare chuckled and turned to face the owner of the voice, she ended up staring into the ghostly face of Alecia, whose bright blue eyes shined brightly. "It's good to see you again." The ghost said. "Same here Alecia." Nightmare said before taking a step back. "How did your travels go?" She asked with curiosity in her tone. Alecia shrugged. "As expected, the old kingdoms really are gone, I did some more exploring and found that the Schattenreich was completely reclaimed by nature." She replied, she was nonchalant but Nightmare recognized disappointment in her voice. "Checked out the griffon lands.......not much to say really, they are pretty desolate there." She added. "After that you figured that you might as well torment Celestia and Luna for over a week?" Nightmare asked with a raised eyebrow, the ghost chuckled at that and put her hands behind her head. Alecia grinned and took a deep breath, she released the breath and then spoke. "Yea, that's fun......but not as fun as Ponyville if I'm honest." She turned around walked towards the library. "If you have room for the deceased, I would like to go home." She said with a little bit of hope in her voice. Nightmare Moon smiled. "I know that Rarity will love having you back, and so will Sweetie Belle and I." She stated with confidence and surety. Alecia smiled and looked at Nightmare Moon. "Well then, in that case I will see you back in Ponyville." She replied before vanishing, without a single laugh for once. 'Now to go tell Rarity our friend is home.' She thought to herself.