"Twilight, can we talk for a minute?", asked Princess Celestia quietly.
"Of course", nodded Twilight.
Princess Luna beckoned Jonathan Baker, also known as Priest, and Spike to follow her to the hallway. "Let us wait outside until they are done discussing this."
The undead human and the dragon accompanied Princess Luna outside, passing two royal guards at the doors as they left the dining room.
Priest was surprised how big Canterlot Castle appeared to be. He had somehow expected that a castle for ponies would be more... cozy, but this building was representative, massive and impressive. Princess Luna eyed him suspiciously as he turned his head to admire an intricate alicorn statue that marked the end of the hallway.
Nobody said anything even though Priest was starting to get an idea what it was that Princess Celestia wanted to talk about. He tapped his foot nervously as they waited for the two princesses to join them again.
- - -
"Now, can you tell me why that creature's heart is not beating?", asked Princess Celestia, her tone light but with a hidden sharpness.
Twilight shrank inside her traveling cloak. "I'm sorry, I can't. He's been like that since I met him..."
Celestia nodded encouragingly, waiting for more details.
"It's a curse that made the humans and elves and other creatures turn undead years ago. But that's all that it did", she added quickly. "It can't spread anymore so we should be fine."
"Fine? You know that I trust your judgement but..." Celestia sighed. "All right. But I want you to consider this: Both of you told me about the world that this human is from. You yourself have been there for three months. At this point, you are more aware than me that it is a world of warfare and danger. Please make sure to show Jonathan that Equestria is different. Luna and I will not allow our little ponies to be harmed."
Twilight bowed her head, a sign of agreement, not of obedience. "I will. I promise."
Celestia smiled. "Once again, I trust you, Twilight. I am sure you will handle this situation well. You won't regret your decision to invite your new friend. I will send you some help once you arrive in Ponyville. Good Luck!"
- - -
"Huh. Nice view", commented Priest as they left the train. The train station of Ponyville had only one platform and was not that impressive so it was obvious he meant the town itself.
"I know, right?" grinned Spike. He sat on Twilight's back and enjoyed the rest of some gems they had bought on the train ride. As he munched happily, the alicorn kept scribbling notes on a parchment she held in her magic.
"So, Priest", she asked, "you never told me how long you've been livi- uh, staying in Orgrimmar..."
"To be honest, I don't really know. Three years, I think. I was in Undercity before that and kind of lost track after a while." He frowned. "It was boring as hell so I was considering to go travelling or something when you showed up. It seems you have to be careful what you wish for." He rolled his eyes and shrugged.
Twilight smiled at him. "Don't worry, you'll be fine here, I promise. Princess Celestia asked me to take care of you and I am more than happy to do just that."
As they walked across town, Priest could not help but notice the townsponies staring at him. He tried to ignore them but somehow it was harder than ever. He was used to getting stared at; undead were considered an abomination anywhere and even if the ponies did not know about his 'condition', the messy long colorless hair, the damaged skin and ragged robes along with his height made him stand out on more than one level.
He tried to look straight on and ignore the whispers and immediately made out a large tree with windows, a door and a balcony peeking out of the branches.
"Is that an oak tree? Seems to be some kind of house. Very elvish looking."
"It sure is a house", beamed Twilight, heading straight for the door which was decorated with the carving of a candlestick and opening it with her magic. "Welcome to the Golden Oaks Library!"
He followed the alicorn inside, lowering his head so he didn't hurt himself at the door, and was content to see that the main room of the library consisted of two stories. After hours of sitting in a train made by and for ponies Priest had learned the meaning of 'small space' better than he liked.
Spike jumped from Twilight's back and went to a nearby room. Priest suspected that the baby dragon was still creeped out by his appearence – or maybe he was just geeting some food.
Twilight took the cloak from her shoulders, folded it and put it neatly onto a chair, along with the saddlebags from Azeroth. She eyed them with some concern, muttering something about "Rarity". Then she raised her head and saw Priest standing awkwardly in the middle of the room like a misplaced statue.
He felt weird, as if someone was playing a trick on him. Everything looked clean and tidy to an extent that he was wondering how a single pony managed to keep a place this spotless. The undead half-expected to wake up even though he was sure he had not truly slept in seven years, give or take.
"Priest? Are you okay?", asked Twilight, interrupting his train of thought.
"Huh, what? Yeah", he said in a less than convincing tone.
Twilight's frown deepend. "Look, I still feel sorry that you got dragged into Equestria. I really want to make it up to you in some way..."
Priest let out a rasping sigh. "Tch, it's not that. This place just looks kinda... unreal... to me. Everything is so... um. Well-preserved?" He hesitated, then added, "I'm not used to it is all."
"Uh-huh. Maybe you mean that we don't destroy things or fight over them all the time, leaving behind ruins and wreckage?", said Twilight with more than a hint of irony in her voice.
He smirked and nodded. "Something like that."
The alicorn grinned now, too. "Maybe you can see this a a holiday from the fighting, then. At any rate, I was surprised that you took that drink Princess Luna offered you at dinner. Didn't you say you didn't eat?"
Priest sat down on a chair at the table in the middle of the room and admitted, "Usually, I don't, but after the whole portal incident I was magically drained. I don't know how it works, I think the water somehow helps to regenerate magical resources."
"I see", mumbled Twilight. "Well, if you want another drink don't hesitate to ask."
"'kay."
Twilight sighed and rummaged in her new saddlebags for the parchment she had written on. Then she turned her head to the room where her assistant had gone to, shouting, "Spike!"
The door opened and the little dragon stuck out his head. He was wearing a chef's hat which made Priest narrow his eyes. The idea of a dragon who cooked meals for a pony was a little ridiculous to him but after meeting three pony princesses he decided to keep that to himself.
"Please put these notes into a new folder", she told him in a firm but friendly voice. "And label it, 'Azeroth'."
"Uh, how do you spell that?", asked Spike with a raised eyebrow.
"A-Z-E-R-O-T-H. Sub-Category 'Unsorted'. I still need to separate my adventure from the rest of the pile that includes history, culture and friends."
"Okay, okay. That must have been quite a journey if you got yourself parchment and quills right from the start", laughed Spike.
Twilight blushed and nodded.
Spike closed the door again, returning to his cooking.
- - -
After lunch which involved Twilight and Spike eating scrambled eggs and hay sandwiches and Priest sitting with them with a glass of water, Twilight declared that she wouldn't do any studying today. Instead she took her new travelling coat to get it cleaned and repaired by Rarity.
Priest assumed that Rarity was a close friend of Twilight's. The alicorn was positively beaming when she mentioned her friend. He preferred to stay in the library, though, to keep a low profile for the moment.
"Suit yourself", commented Twilight. "She is a very nice pony, I'm sure she would like to meet you."
"Maybe later", said Priest. "I'm not so sure about that."
Twilight shrugged and left, leaving Priest alone. Spike went upstairs to take a nap.
Priest wandered up and down the room, examining the shelves. Twilight had more books that he had expected. Or maybe this was an official library? He had to remember to ask her when she returned.
'Supernaturals'... 'The Journeys of Starswirl the Bearded'... 'History of Cloudsdale'... 'The Crystal Heart and the Banishment of King Sombra' – huh, that one sounded interesting. He pulled the book from the shelf, trying to memorize where it belonged, and sat down to read.
After twenty-eight pages – Priest had always been a fast reader – he put down the book and looked out of the window. It was late afternoon and ponies of all colors passed by the window. None of them happened to look in his direction which made sense since the window was small and few ponies knew that he was here yet.
Priest frowned. He would have to confront them eventually. Even though he didn't need to leave the library, he did not want to stay at Twilight's expense for the rest of time. Therefore, he would need a job. Priest groaned and rubbed his right cheek before pulling the hand away apruptly.
The skin was itching, what the fuck?!
He was undead. Nothing was supposed to itch here! Especially not a cheek which was still mainly intact. Not that he was complaining; it was nice to feel something once in a while even though it was not exactly on the pleasant side of sensations.
He picked up the book again to continue reading, trying to ignore the unusual feeling.
He couldn't concentrate anymore... That. Damn. Cheek. Woudn't stop itching.
Sighing, Priest took a look at the page – thirty-two – he closed the book and put it back to its place on the shelf. He would need to do something else to distract himself.
Thank the Light, someone knocked at the door.
He was going to open it when it started to glow purple and swung open by itself: Priest recognized it as Twilight's magic.
The alicorn entered and beamed, "I'm back!"
"Hey", he said.
"And I brought somepony to meet you!" she continued in a chipper tone and stepped inside to reveal the unicorn behind her.
Priest had to admit that this one was the prettiest pony he had seen so far – if you didn't count the princesses. She had a white coat, an elegantly curled purple mane, blue eyes with pronounced eyelashes and an expectant half-smile on her face. She wore a bright pair of saddlebags on her back that emphasized her Cutie Mark, three blue diamonds. As the female entered, she flicked her mane, trying to look around Twilight to get a look at Priest.
Who, as soon as Twilight had announced the guest, had taken several steps backwards.
"Uh, Twilight, I don't think that's a good idea-", he started, raising his hands, but got interrupted by the unicorn's terrified gasp.
"Called it", he mumbled as his shoulders sagged forward.
Twilight cleared her throat. "This is my friend Rarity. Rarity, meet Jonathan. He prefers to be called Priest, though", she said with a hint of force in her voice, obviously trying to get a conversation going.
Rarity blushed, seemingly embarrassed by her behavior. "It's, ah, it's nice to meet you", she managed to say and even added a little smile.
"Hello", said Priest, not sure what to do next. He had no idea how to properly greet a pony so he decided to do the same thing as with the Princesses in Canterlot. He bowed slightly and forced a smile.
Rarity took her saddlebags off her back with her magic and stepped closer. "Oh my, Twilight didn't lie when she said you were — tall", she stuttered. "Would you mind if I take some measurements?" She pulled a measuring tape from her bag and looked at him expectantly.
"Measurements? What for?", asked Priest, narrowing his eyes.
"What for?! Look at your – well, we can hardly call those 'clothes' anymore, now can we? When Twilight told me that she had a new friend staying in Ponyville I just had to meet you but then -", she waved the tape around, pointing at his ragged robes and bandages, "- she said you have only one set of clothes which you wear all the time. This has to be corrected right away, my dear! I'm sorry about my earlier outburst by the way – those are more ragged than I could have imagined!" She blushed again.
What the – this was about his robes? Well, that was new. Usually people objected about his broken skin and bones looking through, not to mention the smell... when he was lucky. Priest thanked the Light inwardly for Twilight casting the anti-smell-spell on him.
Twilight giggled, unable to contain her grin, then shrugged apologetically.
Priest sighed. "You got that right, I guess. There's just one problem, though."
The tape levitated closer to Rarity. "What do you mean?" There was a glimmer in her eye, making Priest suspect that she would most likely make new clothes for him even if he asked her not to.
"I don't have any currency."
"Pff!", hissed Rarity, holding her head up high in defiance. "What kind of a friend would I be if I asked you for bits the first time we meet? No, no, this is on me, I insist."
"Uh... okay."
"Well, then", said Rarity, now eagerly floating the tape around, "let's see... The sash and robes' edges are way too torn to preserve them; I'll have to shorten them – ah, but then your pants are practically non-existent, now that won't do at all... you're going to need new pants, that's it, I'm suggesting something earth-brown, that would fit the pale green of the shirt I'd get out of your robes quite nicely... and a pullover under the shirt would be a reasonable addition... ooh, what is this? What a dashing touch, I hadn't thought that you would wear jewels but those two gems in your armguards are quite something! Hm, they are looking all right – oh my gosh, is that a Fire Opal?!"
Twilight took the chance to go to the kitchen, returning with hot tea, while Priest stood like a lifeless mannequin in the middle of the room, bearing with Rarity's rambling and praying for patience.
Meanwhile, Rarity went around Priest, further inspecting his clothes in so much detail that it started to annoy the crap out of him.
But as the saying goes, you don't look a gift horse in the mouth, right?
Now she was all over his hair. "You could really use a manecut, my dear, I'll include that in my little welcome gift – but we should probably keep it at shoulder length, it would compliment your head shape... and, of course, since you have soft feet instead of hooves -", Priest rolled his eyes at this one, his feet mainly consisted of bones and bits of flesh clinging to them, "-you are going to need some boots. The best choice would be something pale yellow, like your armguards. And don't get me started on your saddlebag -"
"It's just a bag", interrupted Priest with a level tone.
"-well, it needs some patching as well."
She stepped back, now wildly scribbling notes and sketches on a parchment she had pulled from her saddlebags, her eyes glowing with anticipation.
"Oh, how I do love a challenge", she breathed.
Priest exhaled and frowned. Was that supposed to be a compliment or an insult?
"Would you two like some tea?", asked Twilight who sat at the table, enjoying her own cup of tea while reading a giant tome.
"Don't mind if I do", replied Rarity happily, putting away her supplies. She winked at Priest and added, "Thank you for being so patient. I know how I can be when I'm in the zone."
"No problem", said Priest, grinning.
- - -
Silence fell as they drank their tea. Twilight had put the book down and looked from one guest to another.
"I think Spike is almost done with his nap", she said.
Priest nodded. "That guy sure sleeps a lot."
"He is a baby dragon after all", added Rarity.
With that their small talk supplies were pretty much depleted.
Rarity cleared her throat. "Well, Priest, I'd like to hear a bit about you", she said cautiously. "The only thing I know so far is that you went on a three-month adventure with Twilight in Azeloth."
"Azeroth. What would you like to know?", asked Priest.
"How is it there? Are all of the gems there so delicately cut? And – if you don't mind me asking – what species are you?"
Priest frowned and scratched his side which was now itching instead of his cheek. "How is Azeroth? Diverse, I'd say. There are many kinds of sentient species there, Tauren for instance – they are similar to the minotaurs of Equestria. There's dragons, too. I'm from a land which has lots of forests but, uh, they are not as bright as yours."
"Well, 'bright' is not exactly a word I would use for the Everfree Forest", mumbled Rarity, stirring her tea.
Priest smirked. "Trust me, there's always gloomier." He paused. "It's true, though, there are a lot of gems in the Eastern Kingdoms. I got mine from ore in the Felwood Forest, though. And yes, that one is even creepier."
Twilight raised an eyebrow. "In three months, you never mentioned that you can mine ore and gems!"
Priest shrugged. "There wasn't really a reason, was there?"
Frowning, Twilight admitted, "I guess you're right..."
Rarities eyes sparkled. "I-de-a!", she exclaimed. "Priest, how would you like to join me on my next gem hunt?"
The undead smiled. "I'd like that. So you use them too?"
"Oh, do I ever! You have noticed my Cutie Mark, haven't you?" She tilted her head and grinned. "Glitter always does the trick. I love to use gems on my dresses to dazzle my customers", she added.
"Wait", said Priest, "You don't enchant them or anything?"
Rarity blinked. "Why would I do that?"
Priest's eyes widened. "You know, to improve your-" Fighting stats, he finished in his mind. He facepalmed. "Nevermind."
"Not a problem", smiled Rarity.
"Your dresses already look magical without the gems being enchanted anyway", said Twilight.
"Why thank you, Twilight! Still, to get to my last question..."
"Oh, right. I was a human", said Priest absent-mindedly.
Now Rarity's confusion was complete. "You were a human? As in, you used to be but now aren't anymore? I'm afraid I don't quite understand."
Twilight hid her face in her hooves.
Shifting uncomfortably in his chair, Priest said, "Let me rephrase this. I am a human. Present tense."
"Oh. I see."
That was close, he thought. She ignored the signs quite well, no reason to rub the whole undead thing into her face...
Twilight's face came up again. A hint of red was visible across her cheeks but she gave a small nod to Priest.
"Well", said Rarity with a slightly forced smile, "I'm afraid I have to get back to work. There's this new order that came in today and I can't wait to get it done. I wouldn't want my customer to be waiting for it too long."
Very subtle, thought Priest and cringed inwardly.
She stood up and hugged Twilight, then nodded at Priest. "It was nice to meet you, Priest. And do come to the boutique tomorrow in the late afternoon or so, then I can present to you your new outfit."
"I'll do that. Nice meeting you, too", said Priest slowly and added another smile for good measure.
That stupid side still kept itching.
- - -
After Rarity left, they could hear a rustling and a sleepy Spike stumbled downstairs to join them.
"Hello, Spike. I hope you slept well", said Twilight.
"Well, definitely better than the last three days when you were missing", said the little dragon with a tired grin.
Twilight blushed a little, then turned to Priest.
"Look, I'm sorry-"
"It's okay", interrupted Priest with a wave. "I can see why you don't want her to know. I think she figured it out anyway."
"I think so, too", nodded Twilight. "Rarity just... didn't want you to feel awkward, I guess. She tried her best... but since zombies are usually the stuff of Nightmare Night stories here, I can't blame her for... leaving... in a bit of a rush at the end."
"I'm not a zombie", said Priest in a deadpan manner.
"But you're undead", said Twilight with a hint of impatience. "Doesn't that mean you're a zombie?"
"Nope", said Priest. "A zombie is someone without a conscious mind. Some troll tribes use voodoo magic turning others into zombies to get mindless slaves or to achieve a 'hiya state a'consciousness', as they would say. An undead is someone whose body is dead but soul is still stuck inside. And yeah, it sucks as much as it sounds", he added as he saw the disgusted expression on Spike's face.
Spike flinched a little and blushed.
Twilight smiled at him reassuringly, then turned to Priest. "Still, my point stands", she said. "We should try and keep your, uh, condition a secret just to be on the safe side, don't you think?"
Priest frowned. "I guess. But didn't you say once that honesty's a good thing?"
Twilight's ears pinned back and she suddenly took high interest in her cup of tea. "Yes, and if somepony asked me directly I think I would still tell the truth but... I don't know, I just don't want my friends to be scared..."
"Of me", stated Priest.
"Um", said Twilight.
"Awkward", said Spike quietly.
Priest held out one hand and touched Twilight's chin, gently forcing her to look at him. "Listen, Twilight. I get it. Seriously, I do. Don't think I'm not creeped out myself sometimes."
Twilight's ears went up again. "You do understand?"
Priest nodded firmly. "Yeah. Hey, you just don't want a ruckus. And Rarity was really tactful. I'm used to much worse", he mumbled, scratching his side again.
Damn itch.
"What I don't get is how you want to keep this a secret. It's not like I have an overly healthy complexion." He snorted.
Twilight giggled. "Right. I suppose we should just say that you are human. That's not a lie and since it has been a very long time since humans were in Equestria, most ponies should believe that this is what humans look like." Her eyes brightened. "And Rarity is going to make you some great clothes, you'll see! Trust me when I say that this mare is inspired. She will have some great ideas, I'm sure of it."
"Fine", said Priest. "But I still need to hang out somewhere. And I need a job to pay for drinks and all."
Twilight scratched her chin with her left hoof. "Hmm, about that... I'll think of something. Maybe I can talk to the mayor if she has an idea... for now, it's okay if you stay at the library. As I said, I promised to take care of you."
"Are you sure?", asked Priest.
"I am sure. It's not a bother at all", she smiled.
"In that case... is it okay if I take the sofa?"
"Of course", said Twilight. "But you don't sleep, do you?"
"I don't. But I like the routine to lie down and think about stuff in the night."
Spike frowned. "You don't sleep? Seriously, who'd miss out on that?"
"It's not like I have a choice", snapped Priest.
"Okay, okay", said Spike, raising his claws in a placating manner.
Priest exhaled – another habit of his of late – and said, "Anyway, I think I'll go on a walk. It's getting late so there shouldn't be many ponies in town. And I'm not in the mood to watch you guys eating supper, no offense."
Twilight just nodded and sighed. "See you later, then", she said quietly.