I sense it. There is a disturbance in my unnatural slumber. My grasp to the mortal realm is weak, very weak, but that is to be expected after so much…time. I don’t know how much time since my last return has passed and it doesn’t matter. There is nothing like a normal pony would call a lifespan to my being. It is more a curse than anything, but that’s part of my destiny. I lie here in my half slumber and because there is currently nothing I can do, I just wait. I can afford it, I’m not in a hurry.
As time passes on and nothing happens I get tense, something is wrong. The ritual should normally complete by now and I should have already taken control over the body of one acolyte, but as it is, there is only this half-slumber and I can nothing more than wait until somepony frees my power to look at the world through its lay lines. But until now that hasn’t happened and I simply continue to wait. If there is something wrong with the ritual then I would be stuck here, for better or for worse, that is something somepony that isn’t me has to judge, but if somepony was foolish enough to disturb my slumber without the need to bring back the balance between light and darkness, then…I really don’t know. Normally there shouldn’t be any motivation to bring me back without the need for balance.
There goes a ripple through my essence as the second binding stone is removed and some of my powers return to me. I can’t sense my body and I panic a bit as it occurs to me, that I must be longer in my undead slumber than I expected, but I realize there is no need to panic, because the complex rituals, enchantments and spells that were casted on my body in the past will ensure that it will rebuild itself from the memory engraved in my essence. It will take time, so obviously I need a host or at least an avatar, depending on the grade of decay my body has. It ultimately doesn’t matter anyways, the always existing magical energies in Equestria will guarantee that I will have access to my full potential, no matter how twisted and against all things natural they may seem to anypony.
At least I now have access to the ability to get a good look at today’s world via its ethereal lines. I let my spirit wander along those lines, careful not to disturb anything. There is currently no need to alarm anypony about my presence. I take my time, focusing my will on the strands that are more pronounced than the others, feeling my way along, observing what the lay lines tell me. True it isn’t as precise as astral sight, but it has its advantages. I’m surprised to see that there a four princesses now and the world has changed since my last wandering through the plane of existence. The Elements of Harmony are now split up and bound to six ponies. That could make my task a bit more difficult, especially since one of them is one of the four princesses, but then again, she is rather new to this princess-business. Interesting, that could mean, that Luna’s possession through the Nightmare is over, but maybe it just means Celestia has found another pony that can perform Luna’s tasks. Anyway, I only know two of the four princesses for certain. One is Celestia, which is made obvious through the extreme thick strand of ethereal energy which was always connected to her being; the other is one of the bearers of the Elements. The other two I don‘t know, yet. Interesting, but no big surprise as far as I’m concerned. But more important is my realization, that there are no disturbances in the balance between light and darkness and that my awakening is a mistake. Something or somepony was unfortunate enough to stumble upon my prison and is now removing the binding stones. The pony in question probably doesn’t even know what danger lies within these ritual grounds. Well, the pony will be in for a big surprise.
My essence starts to vibrate as the third binding stone is removed and I’m now able to sense that is in fact one pony. I still don’t know what could be the cause for the pony to upset the magical bonds that trap me within. I withdraw my mind from the lay lines, enjoying the peace and quiet here in my unearthly tomb. It will only be a few more hours until I’m free again, but without a task at hoof, there is nothing for me to do. I can only wait in my involuntarily hosts body until my own body is restored and then…I will most likely simply see to it, that the Celestia is informed about my untimely awakening and will seal me again. Hopefully she will keep track of where the ritual takes place this time. I wonder what race this pony is, if it’s a Pegasus it may be a minion of some sort, who his master has masked against my powers. It could be a unicorn, trying to dig up knowledge, but it will find something much darker here. Then again it could simply be an earth pony, oh how do I hope it is one, that stumbled upon this ground on accident, not knowing what lays beneath its surface. Until the last binding stone is removed I will not know for certain, just thinking about the possibilities and waiting. Waiting, as I said, doesn’t bother me, but the possibilities are a pain. I never understand why some ponies think possibilities could be something that is positive. I had my fair share of possibilities and they led me to now, buried under a binding stone in a ritual circle, denying my soul to be at rest.
The fourth binding stone is removed, sending a jolt of invisible lightning through my very core and soul. Lucky for me I can’t feel pain in this state between the planes of existence and death, but even if I could, I currently have no mouth or any orifice to let any painful noise out. Pain is a good motivator, but not as good as doubt and mistrust if one need to scatter any kind of gathered beings. Otherwise, I need trust from my temporary host, maybe I should rather make the pony my avatar, but I hate the feeling of being bound to an inanimate object, it just feels like a permanent state of unrest. The soul of a being cannot be bound to inanimate objects for an indefinite duration without taking damage and I don’t like having not my whole mental faculty.
Time passes and I once again use my powers to observe the pony above. The pony stopped working, walking along the ritual circle, but seems oblivious to its meaning. That kicks Unicorn out of the equation, but still no further information about the race of that pony. I still hope it’s an earth pony, Pegasi are fun and ideal for fast travel, but their hot temper always makes them hard to keep in line. It is just now that I realize, that my whole body has decayed to dust and that I have no other choice as to intrude into the body of the pony. That could be a problem, because as far as I know that procedure is at least uncomfortable and I need the ponies trust. I retreat my ethereal senses again, focusing instead of building enough magical energy for the needed spell.
The spell is almost finished, but it took longer than I thought. My powers are still limited and…A sudden surge of magical energy courses through my essence and I would need definitely a mouth to voice adequately how much pain that caused, but more important, the spell got disturbed. It still seems active though, but know I have to alter my plan. At first I just wanted to seep into the pony, but now? Now I have to force my way into its very being before the spell discharges and fizzles away without accomplishing anything. The pony on the surface is a foal, disturbing the magical circle just like that, so at least it definitely isn’t a unicorn. But no matter if Pegasus or earth pony it should in the very least know basic handling of magical rituals from its school days. But it could be, that they nowadays don’t teach such things anymore, how long have I really been gone?
There are a few more magical surges, but I adapt with every surge a bit more. The last five only leaving so much as an dull itching in my core and I can at least stabilize the spell. Suddenly it occurs to me, that now that there only remains the head stone of the ritual, that the enchantment upon it should be active by now. It will draw the pony towards it, telling its subconscious to free me. Normally that would be a desired effect, because some acolytes were very skittish and needed this magical will-bending to take the last steps. This time its different, my spell is roughly ready inflicting probably much pain in the target and that will ignite its fighting spirit. It could get ugly, if the victim of this spell is to frail it will break its mind and body, killing it and more important disintegrating my essence in the process.
Suddenly there is something else, I can’t place it at first, it’s too small and it may be caused by the spell itself, but there seems to be a shifting dark presence somewhere in the far, far north. I can’t be sure, the magical interferences of my active spell are to severe and I’m unable to cast more than one spell at a time, one of my limitations, I’m no princess after all, so I can’t counter the effects of the headstone and it would take to much time to channel this spell again, so I’m left unsure if it were anything or just my imagination. But I should investigate further, it’s my duty at least. so I try to decide what to do...
I’m free