The ponies and Spike came out of the portal and fell in a pile, excepted Little Ghost, who remained floating in the air above them, regaining control. With some groans, they got up, with great difficulty in Apple Bloom's case, the filly taking heavy breaths, and they looked around.
"Where are we?" Twilight asked.
Apple Bloom quickly recognized the place. "We... We're on... the terrace... of the Treacherous Mansion..." She then lost strength and began to fall, only to be stopped by Twilight who placed her on her back with her magic. Big Macintosh rapidly went to her to look at her injuries.
"She needs to go to a hospital, quick," he said.
"The nearest hospital is dozens of miles away," said Twilight with a frown.
"There are bandages... and other medical stuff... in Smart Spirit's caravan..." said Apple Bloom. "M-maybe... there are ghosts... who can help... who are good doctors..."
"That's hoping Thanatos released all of them from his control," Twilight said.
"However... the caravan... is back at... the Secret Mine..."
That was when they started to hear somepony crying, and they saw Rarity holding Sweetie Belle's corpse, Pinkie Pie and Scootaloo looking at it on the verge of crying too. Pinkie's mane was now all flat. Then, Granny Smith began to cry too, taking Applejack's hat that had fallen beside Apple Bloom. The mood spread to everyone else.
"We will hurry to the caravan, to heal Apple Bloom, and also to free Applejack and Sweetie Belle trapped in the Poltergust," said Twilight, using a wing to get rid of some tears.
Rainbow roared and punched the altar, only succeeding in hurting her hoof. "And then we will find a way to make this Thanatos pay for what he did!"
"And stop him from continuing..." Fluttershy said with a gulp. "He said that he would 'play' with Apple Bloom again."
"But how do we defend ourselves against the Spirit of Death?" Spike asked.
"We could ask Discord," Fluttershy proposed. "Maybe he knows something because... you know... they are both Spirits."
"At worst, we may have to retrieve the Elements from the Tree," Twilight said. "But I don't like it. This may cause the vines to spread again."
"But... without Applejack..." Pinkie said.
"She's still there... as a ghost... Maybe it will still work," Twilight said, unsure.
"Can we please go?" Big Mac said impatiently as he nuzzled Apple Bloom.
Rainbow Dash approached. "Give me the Poltergust. I will defend everypony on the way, just in case there are still bad ghosts."
Apple Bloom nodded and slowly took off the Poltergust from her back, giving it to the mare. Then she finally lost consciousness. Once the Poltergust was on Rainbow's back, she nodded to Twilight, and they started to advance, followed by the rest, Rarity placing Sweetie Belle's body on her back.
It turned out that Rainbow Dash didn't have to worry. The ghosts they encountered on the way to the entrance of the mansion were back to themselves, and actually looked at Apple Bloom with worry, clearly wanting to help. Many of them followed the group. It was awkward for the ponies, but they quickly got used to them, and were even thankful of their presence. The ghosts even comforted them, easing their pain while they guided them to the entrance.
However, at the entrance, they discovered the broken path. Rainbow Dash looked down at the bottomless pit under the manor. "Yike! Apple Bloom had guts traversing this path above this pit!" She then looked at the manor and couldn't stop a gulp at its creepiness.
"How do we traverse?" wondered Rarity. She was answered by a Red taking her in his arms while a Green carefully took Sweetie Belle's body. "Oh my! Thank you, you gentleghost!" The Red rubbed his head, blushing. Other ghosts did the same with the ponies who couldn't fly and Spike, and they flew to the mountain of the Secret Mine, leaving behind the Treacherous Mansion. Thanks to this, it only took them a few minutes to reach the caravan not far from the chalet, and they entered it.
With the help of some of the ghosts, they immediately went to work to heal Apple Bloom while Twilight took the crystal of the Poltergust and went to the machine to transfer the ghosts, or free them. She turned it on, and placed the crystal on its socle, and with the press of a button, a screen above the crystal lit up, showing all the ghosts trapped in it.
"Oh, my Celestia! That's a lot of ghosts!" She shouted in amazement.
"I see Sweetie Belle!" shouted Rarity as she placed a hoof on Sweetie's image.
"And Applejack and Smart Spirit," Rainbow Dash said.
"Pyrite is here too!" Little Ghost shouted. “She captured him! And my family... again...”
"And the ghost dog too, and one of those weird dark ghosts again," said Twilight. "And a few normal ghosts. I recognize some of them from Thanatos' castle. I will use the yellow crystal for those. We don't know if they were controlled too or if they were really working for him."
"And don't forget the red crystal for Pyrite and the dark ghost," Rainbow said.
"Of course."
She started with the red crystal, transferring Pyrite and Dark Magic into it.
Holding the red crystal, Twilight said, "Next stop for you: Tartarus. You deserve it."
She then transferred the ghosts captured in Thanatos' castle to the yellow crystal. Done with this, she took the green crystal and placed it on the second socle, making the screen display the ghosts in both crystals. A looooot of ghosts.
"She must have captured the majority of the ghosts of the valley!" Twilight said, amazed.
"Remember, one of those ghosts was captured by me," Rainbow proudly said.
"And now, time to release them," Twilight said before she pressed a button, getting the machine to release all the ghosts in both crystals.
The ghosts were released outside of the caravan, and everyone excepted Fluttershy and Granny Smith (remaining at Apple Bloom's side) exited the caravan to see them in the cold of the mountain.
Maybe they should have waited to return to the Gloomy Manor before releasing them...
Before long, the caravan was surrounded by hundreds of ghosts, mainly the ones from the valley, but also the Gem Family, the ponies from the Old Clockwork, the griffons of the Secret Mine, some other ghosts encountered (like the cook in the Treacherous Mansion), as well as Smart Spirit, Sweetie Belle, and Applejack.
As the ghosts recovered their senses, Rarity immediately went to hug Sweetie Belle, only to pass through her and to fall on the snow, which amused many of the ghosts around, only to be calmed by others who understood it wasn't a situation to laugh at. Sweetie Belle then went to hug her sister, not passing through her, joined by Scootaloo. Little Ghost, her, went to hug her parents while the remaining ponies went to Applejack.
"Applejack, are you alright?" Twilight asked.
"Ah feel like Ah just woke up after one of Pinkie's crazier parties. Outside of this and the fact Ah'm... dead... Ah feel alright," answered Applejack while rubbing her head. She then looked at the mare, then around, and asked worriedly, "Where's Apple Bloom?"
"In the caravan," answered Big Mac before he approached, unsure. Applejack understood what he wanted to do and hugged him. They were joined by Twilight, Pinkie, and Rainbow.
Apple Bloom woke up on a bed in the caravan, and she was quickly surrounded by her friends and her family, dead and alive, all looking at her with worry.
Applejack was the first to speak. "Apple Bloom?"
Apple Bloom rubbed her eyes and looked at her body, seeing that it was now wrapped with many bandages. She was still feeling some pain, but much less than back at the Treacherous Mansion after returning from the spiritual world. She then looked around her at the ponies, and her eyes stopped at Applejack, tears starting to appear. Applejack immediately hugged her, and she returned the hug, crying.
"Ah'm so sorry Applejack! Ah couldn't save ya!"
"Hey now, ya saved me... partially. Don't be hard on yerself, ya could've done nothing to stop what happened. At least Ah'm still there, and not under the control of that monster."
"Listen to yer sister, youngin’," said Granny Smith. "Even if some of us died, ya still saved everypony, including all the nice ghosts in that there valley! Ah saw ya fight, and ya're like a tiger! Ya pushed yerself beyond yer limits against that pile of bones! Be proud of what ya did!" She then sighed as she looked at Applejack. "Ah regret that Applejack died, Ah didn't want to outlive mah grandchildren, not after already outliving mah son," She looked back at Apple bloom, smiling. "But it's not yer fault. It's that Thanatos fella's fault."
"And Pyrite," Applejack continued.
"Eeyup," said Big Mac.
Apple Bloom didn't reply and just looked back and forth between Applejack, Sweetie Belle, and Smart Spirit. "Hum... Are ya... alright?"
"As alright as we can be when we're dead," Applejack answered.
"This will certainly take some time to get used to," Smart Spirit said as he looked at his transparent hooves. "But I don't mind being a ghost. I was already old. It was only a matter of years before I would kick the bucket. I was already prepared for this."
Sweetie Belle remained silent for a few seconds, looking down. "I... don't know..."
Little Ghost hugged her. "Hey, it's not so bad being a ghost!"
"Uuh... Yeah... But... There are a lot of things that I will miss and... I would have liked to live a little longer?" She said with an unsure smile. "So I wouldn't be stuck as a filly forever?"
"What's so bad about being a filly forever?" Little Ghost asked, pouting.
"Uuh..." Sweetie Belle opened her mouth to answer, but closed it. After some more thinking she opened it again, closed it again, only to speak finally "I find nothing."
"Exactly," Little Ghost said with a giggle. "There's even a good thing with remaining a filly." At this, she flew in front of Smart Spirit, spread her front hooves to him, and gave him her best puppy dog eyes. "Cuddle? Please?"
"Ugh... How could I say no to this?" said the old stallion before he hugged the filly ghost. "If I was still alive, I would have died of a heart attack..."
Little Ghost giggled and looked back at Sweetie Belle. "By remaining fillies, we remain adorable, and grown-ups can't resist us."
"That's evil, you know?" Smart Spirit said.
"Don't care. I can have all the hugs I want, and nopony can say no."
Sweetie Belle giggled at this before she sighed. "Still... I wonder now what will happen to me..."
"Whatever will happen, we will remain at your side, through life and death," said Scootaloo. "Right, Apple Bloom?"
"Of course," Apple Bloom confirmed with a nod. "And ya don't have to worry about the rest. Ponyville has now gotten used to ghosts, so ya'll still be able to go to school with us and to go around town. For being a singer, well, ya saw how many ghosts there're. They'll love to have ya singing for them. And Ah'm sure yer family won't mind having ya haunting their home."
"Of course not!" shouted Rarity from the back. "Sweetie Belle can haunt my house as long as she wants! And our parents will say the same thing!"
"And mah manor's always ready to welcome a new ghost to haunt it," Apple Bloom said before she sighed. "Like ya said, ya'll still miss a lot of stuff, like... ice creams."
"NOOOO!!! I can't live without ice cream!" Sweetie Belle shouted.
"Uh... you're already not alive anymore," Scootaloo said.
"Oh, yeah... I can't... Uh... not live? Erh... Unlive? Yes. I can't unlive without ice cream!"
"Ya can always try to eat stuff, but it'll just pass through ya," said Apple Bloom. "Wait... Back in the Gem Manor, Pearl and the dog could eat food... Maybe it's because of the curse?"
Speaking of dog, she then spotted the ghost dog approaching her, Fluttershy behind it. The dog was looking really sad. "I'm glad to see you recovered, Apple Bloom," the mare said before she rubbed the dog. "This is Polterpup, and he's very sorry for everything he did to you. All the ghosts are, but him especially. In reality, he's a good boy."
"Aww Ah can't stay mad at him. Come here, ya," Apple Bloom said as she patted the bed, inviting the dog to jump on it. With a happy bark, the dog jumped on the bed and started licking her. Giggling, Apple Bloom started to rub his belly in return.
"He likes you," Fluttershy said. "He wants to remain with you."
"Ah can see that," replied the filly. "So, ya want to come to mah manor?" she asked the dog.
"Bark! Bark!"
"Alright, but Ah'm warning ya, we already've a dog. Ah hope ya'll get along well."
"Bark!" Polterpup was visibly very excited to encounter another dog.
Apple Bloom giggled again, then looked back at Sweetie Belle. "Ah just remembered. We're going to see Discord. Maybe he'd bring ya back to life." She turned to Applejack. "And ya too."
"Oh please! Please! Please! I hope!" Sweetie Belle shouted.
"Ah hope too," said Applejack with a chuckle as she showed the ghost tail that replaced her bottom body. "Ah don't think Ah'll be able to buck trees with this."
"It shouldn't be long before we reach the Crystal Empire," then said Twilight from the back. "We will pass some days here to recover from this adventure. Then, we will take the train to Canterlot. Big Mac and Granny will then take the one to Ponyville with Scootaloo while we go to the castle to talk with Celestia about Thanatos and what we will do against him. Of course, Discord will come, I hope."
"Why can't Scootaloo come?" Apple Bloom asked.
"Because school, duh," Scootaloo replied with a roll of her eyes. "Stupid school."
"Wait, who's driving?" Apple Bloom asked.
"A ghosty," Pinkie answered, back to normal, almost.
"What?"
"I'll show you," Little Ghost said before she used telekinesis to make Apple Bloom carefully float. Slowly, she then brought the filly to the front window where she could see that they were driving in the snow among the mountains of the Frozen North, and the one driving was an Orange. A Green was in the place beside him, and he looked back at the window. Seeing her, the Green smiled and waved. She waved back. In front of the caravan, there was also the Poltermobile, also being driven by a ghost, but she couldn't see which kind. Many other ghosts were flying around both vehicles, including some members of the Gem Family who weren't in the caravan or in the Poltermobile.
Seeing that she was awake, many of the ghosts entered the caravan to thank her, to apologize to her, and to have some fun with her. The fun with the ghosts continued until they arrived at the Crystal Empire.
The face of the crystal ponies when they saw the two vehicles approach with dozens of ghosts surrounding them... Thankfully, the ponies quickly warmed up to the ghost seeing how jolly they were, especially the foals who got some rides on their backs or in their front legs/arms.
Apple Bloom was sent to a hospital just in case there was anything serious they missed, but the ghosts did a really good job patching her. In just a day, she recovered enough to be able to walk as long as she didn't do anything too hard on her body. Meanwhile, Applejack, Sweetie Belle, and Smart Spirit got better used to being ghosts, but the filly still couldn't wait to be brought back to life by Discord.
The next day, they took the train to Canterlot, reaching the city a few hours later. The majority of the ghosts of the valley returned to the valley before that, only leaving a small number to follow the train with the Gem Family using the two vehicles. As Scootaloo, Big Mac, and Granny Smith went to the train to Ponyville, the rest of the group began to advance toward the castle, and the ghosts followed the train to Ponyville excepted Diamond Cup and Polterpup (without forgetting Applejack and the others).
The guards let them enter, giving an unsure look at the ghosts among them. A good number of the staff of the castle got scared of them, but nothing went wrong and some even found Polterpup adorable.
Soon enough, they were led to a room, and Celestia entered a few minutes later. At seeing that Applejack, Sweetie Belle, and Smart Spirit were now ghosts, and how Apple Bloom was bandaged, she immediately understood that something horrible happened, and was greatly saddened that there were some dead, especially a foal. Twilight then revealed Sweetie Belle's body (Smart Spirit was to be buried back in Ponyville) that she placed on a table, and Fluttershy called Discord. The draconequus almost immediately answered the call.
"Hello Fluttershy. It's good you called me. I was starting to get bor- Oh..." He saw the state of some of the ponies in the room, then saw Sweetie Belle's body on the table. "Oh, I see." He materialized a dark cloak on him, as well as a scepter with a skull from which green energy was escaping. "You want me to do some necromancy? I... must warn you, I never tried to bring back the dead before."
"It would be nice," Fluttershy said. "But first, do you know someone called Thanatos?"
"Oh, yes! He's my little bro! I'm not really fond of him. His gruesome way of having fun with the living rubs me the wrong way. Well, I was like him at first, but I never went so far as to kill my victims. At worst, they were turned crazy. But it's not surprising, he's the Spirit of Death after all." He looked at the ghosts in the room. "Let me guess, you encountered him and got a first glance at his deathly humor?"
"I didn't know there was another Spirit than Discord," said Celestia. "And one so dangerous. What happened?"
The ponies then told all that happened, from discovering the Evershade Valley to Apple Bloom's fight against Thanatos. Discord was visibly nervous.
"Yike... I wouldn't like to be you, Little Bloom. Being in Thanatos' collimator is fun only for him."
"Can't ya stop him?" asked the filly.
"Technically, I could. Death is the servant of Chaos, after all. Howeveeer... He warded his castle against me with the help of some magically powerful ponies that you may or may not know the names, like one Clover the Clever, or Gusty the Great?"
Twilight gasped. "He has their ghost under his control?"
"And much more, I'm afraid. He has a real army," confirmed Discord. "I can't enter the castle to talk some sense into him, but I can try to help in some other way..." He sighed. "To capture him. He's too powerful to be captured with your weak vacuum cleaner. With the help of the eggheads in this room, I can come up with a way to trap him, but it may take some time. Too bad you don't have the Elements anymore."
"I will put the most brilliant minds of Equestria in this," said Celestia. "Thanatos must be stopped before he kills more."
"Speaking of..." Discord booped one by one everypony in the room. "This should reduce his fun. Now, you won't be instant killed if he touches you, it will take him a whole minute. And for the ghosts, you won't be controlled as easily. It's all I can do against him. Now..." He materialized, his necromancer panoply again. "Time to try to bring back the dead!" He turned to Sweetie Belle. "You first. Your body is already here, so this should be easier."
With a snap of his fingers, the room was turned into a ritual room with a circle full of symbols at the center. Sweetie Belle's body was placed at the center of the circle, her ghost was floating above it, and everypony else was sitting around the circle, Discord holding a book with a face that was screaming. Twilight, who was just beside him, saw that the cover of the book was made of pony skin.
"Wait, is that-" Discord put a finger on her mouth to silence her.
"I must focus. Necromancy is delicate."
Twilight nodded and kept her mouth shut, letting Discord start the ritual. He opened the book and began to read a passage of it in a language not of this world, and everything in the room, ponies and objects excepted Sweetie Belle's body, started to float as a tornado of energy appeared in the circle. Demonic laughter started to resound around them as the room was plunged into darkness. The ponies could swear they saw things in it. Then, after about one minute, Sweetie Belle's ghost was sucked in her body, and everything stopped, returning to normal.
Everypony remained silent after what happened, many of them in amazement or in shock. Then, after a few seconds, a groan broke the silence. A groan from Sweetie Belle's body which started to move.
"Swee-" began to shout Rarity as she started to move toward the filly, only to be stopped by Discord blocking her with an arm.
"Wait," he said. "I must verify first. We don't want you to have your brain devoured by your sister, after all."
Some of the ponies gulped, Fluttershy shouting an "Eep!" as she stepped back.
Discord approached Sweetie Belle as the filly opened her eyes and looked at him. First bad sign: the pupils were fully dilated, and this wasn't changing despite the light. First good sign: Sweetie Belle didn't seem to be about to jump at Discord to attack him, devour his brain, or whatever. She looked at him with confusion, then at everypony in the room, then at her body, before she sat, looking at her front hooves.
"So..." started Discord. "Are you yourself?" he asked.
Sweetie Belle looked back at him. "Uh... Yes, I think... But... I feel cold..."
"You don't have the urge to try to devour my brain or whatever else?"
She shook her head. "No."
Discord then put a finger against her throat, trying to feel a pulse. "Welp... At least, you aren't one of those brainless zombies. Or, would it be best to say that you're now a lich? No matter, I would have preferred if you were fully alive. Let me try again."
With a snap, Sweetie Belle was now on a clinic table, and Discord was now disguised as a doctor holding defibrillators. An electrocardiogram was now attached to her, and right now, it displayed a flat line with a BIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP!
Discord rubbed the defibrillators together, shouted "CLEAR!" and placed the defibrillators on Sweetie Belle's body, causing electricity to traverse her. Seeing that it didn't work, Discord did it a few more times before giving up.
"Very well!" said Discord as he rubbed his paw and claw together. "Time to use the big gun!"
With a snap, Sweetie Belle was attached to the table by the four limbs, and a machine similar to the one in the laboratory back in the underground of the Treacherous Mansion appeared while Discord was now disguised as a mad doctor, white blouse, goggles, disheveled hairs, and all.
Discord then put two screws in Sweetie's head, turned around, and shouted, "Lower the lever, Igor!"
Another Discord, very ugly, deformed, hunchback, answered "Yesh maashteeer! Gaghiahahahuha!" He then grabbed a lever and lowered it, activating the machine. The mad Discord walked back and began to cackle as a huge amount of electricity came out of the machine and entered Sweetie Belle's body. After a whole minute, Mad Discord signed Igor Discord to stop the machine, and Igor Discord did so.
The poor filly was now looking like a porcupine, some electricity still crackling between her hairs. Mad Discord then placed the end of a stethoscope on Sweetie's chest to hear her heart. He then knelt and started crying as he yelled "IT'S NOT ALIIIVE!!!"
Rarity approached. "Can't you just simply snap your fingers and make Sweetie's body work again?"
"I could... But something would still be missing: the link between the soul and the body. And the truth is I can't recreate it. I really tried here, but it didn't work."
"But if Sweetie's body works while her ghost is in it, then she would be alive, right? Link or not," Rainbow Dash said.
"Without the link, the body would reject Sweetie Belle's ghost, and it would be like a newborn. A new soul would form in it. It would have Sweetie Belle's memories, still stocked in the brain, so with it, it would become like Sweetie Belle after some time, but it wouldn't be Sweetie Belle, it would be a new soul acting like her," said Discord before he crossed his arms. "At this point, the only way for her to become alive again would be for her to learn dark magic and to use it to form an artificial link, like Sombra did to remain alive all this time."
"It would be best to avoid it," Celestia said. "The risk of being corrupted is too high, and she could become like Sombra."
"So I'm stuck as a... Uh... You said a lich?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Unless you prefer being a ghost?" Discord asked.
"I don't know..."
Discord sighed and booped Sweetie Belle. "There, I made sure that you won't decompose." He snapped his fingers, and Sweetie's eyes now looked normal. "And here're some illusions to hide anything that would reveal that you're dead." He smiled. "This way, you will be able to have a normal life until ponies see that you aren't getting older. It should give you enough time to decide what you will do."
Sweetie Belle jumped at him and hugged him. "Thank you!"
Snap!
"Uh? What was that sound?" she asked.
"Oh, just the sound of my spine snapping in two. Nothing to worry about," Discord said. "Just, words of advice, you should watch out your strength. As an undead, you don't have all those limits that you had when you were alive. You know, for example, when you try to lift something, but it's so heavy that it hurts your muscles. Well, as an undead, you don't feel pain, so you can lift things without feeling the pain in your muscles. To put it simply, your physical capacities augmented A LOT. Something to remember next time you hug somepony. At least, you will be a killer in the Equestrian Games."
"Okay..." Sweetie Belle sheepishly said.
Discord turned to the remaining ghosts in the room. "I don't suppose any of you want to join the lich side?"
"Uh... Me?" Applejack hesitantly said. "I'd like to continue working at the farm."
"Of course, just let me..." He snapped his fingers, but nothing happened. Discord looked at his fingers in confusion. "Uh? Wait. Let me try again." He snapped again, to the same result. "Come on!" Another snap, but still nothing. "I should be able to bring your body from the spiritual world!" Another snap, still nothing. "Drat! Thanatos probably did something to it!"
Applejack groaned. "Dang it..."
Apple Bloom growled. "What did he do to AJ's body?"
Discord shrugged. "Who knows? But I need a body to turn her into a lich. Anything in mind?"
"Ah refuse to use somepony else's body," said Applejack.
"Why not a robot?" Pinkie proposed. "She would be Applebot!"
"This could work," Discord said with a nod as he re-materialized his mad scientist panoply. "She will be a ghost in the machine!"
"Ah'm not sure about becoming a machine," Applejack said before she sighed. "But if there're no other alternatives..."
"I will make sure to add in the earth pony magic," Discord said.
The next day, everypony was back in Ponyville. They were actually gathered in the cemetery, watching the coffin containing Smart Spirit's body slowly being lowered in the hole where it will rest forever. It was really strange, because the ghost of Smart Spirit was there among them, and there were a lot of other ghosts, the totality of the Gem Family, Polterpup that Apple Bloom was petting, and some of the ghosts of the valley.
The ghosts of the valley changed the emplacement of the entrance of the valley, so it was now not far from Apple Bloom's Mansion, in the Everfree Forest. This way, they will have easy access to it, and they will be able to visit the ghosts here and study them to advance the paranormal science and develop better magic and technology on it. They will also be able to go to the altar of the Treacherous Mansion to study it and maybe find a way to open a portal to the spiritual world by themselves.
The goal of all this: the capture of Thanatos.
Apple Bloom looked at Applejack. The mare was now inhabiting a robotic body made in her image, her hat back on her head. It will take some time to get used to this, especially for Applejack. Walking around with a metallic body, hooves going Clang! Clang! instead of Clip! Clop! not being able to eat with them anymore, not being able to sleep anymore, having to drink apple juice instead to recharge (it was chocolate milk at first, but they changed it), talking with an artificial voice as if she was talking through the communication device... But like she said, at least, she could still work with this body. She would have felt horrible to leave the majority of the farm work, mainly the apple bucking, to Big Mac. Still, this won't be like when she was alive. This cold metallic body... It had nothing to do with a real flesh and blood body. Apple Bloom will miss Applejack's warm hugs.
Then there was Sweetie Belle. At first glance, she looked normal, thanks to Discord, so not many ponies knew about her new, undead nature. But, that was it, she was an undead. No amount of illusions will change it. She was now inhabiting a cold, dead body, and it was no better than inhabiting a robotic body. The two main differences were that Sweetie didn't need to drink apple juice, or anything else, to recharge, and the fur was at least a little warm so the physical contacts weren't that cold. What great differences... But it could be worst. Her body could have been left to decompose, and after a few months, she would have turned into a walking skeleton. This would have been veeeeeeery weird and creepy.
Point to Discord. He could have left her to turn into a skeleton, probably spreading some chaos. This showed how better he was now.
But still, her sister was a robot, one of her best friends was a lich, and Smart Spirit was now a ghost (at least, he didn't mind). Three ponies close to her were killed.
And more could follow. Thanatos made it clear. This was just the first 'game'. More would follow.
Until she broke.
She imagined herself glaring at the Spirit of Death. Maybe he was watching her right now.
Thanatos... Someday, somehow, Ah'll end ya.