As Priest walked through the emptying streets of Ponyville, the last sunbeams disappeared behind the horizon. He had hoped to get his mind clear... but trying to do that in a town of ponies was probably a dumb idea.
Again, most ponies stared at him, some even dropped what they were holding with their hooves or magic, their mouths agape. The only exception was an orange – what was the term again? - earth pony with a blond mane and a stetson hat. She just narrowed her eyes for a moment and then kept selling apples from a stand she had put up in the town square.
Priest frowned, lowered his head and heightened the pace, heading for the edge of town.
He passed the last house and found himself on a road that snaked through patches of grass and golden fields that were partly cut down. There was less noise than in Ponyville itself save for some birds and crickets. Somewhere a raven cawed, an eerie sound that felt familiar to Priest. As always, he only heard muffled sounds and saw dull colors – it was part of the curse of being undead that all sensations felt less intense than to a living being.
He sat down on a rock that marked the crossroads closest to town, facing Ponyville. As the windows lit up one by one, Priest wondered what exactly he was supposed to do here.
There was no enemy to defeat, nobody he owed anything, and no treasures to find.
What a boring place.
The only upside was that Twilight was safe. She had been really nice to him even though he could hardly see how he deserved it. Granted, he had helped her to get home but that had been more or less of a coincidence.
And she had been like this ever since the incident on the zeppelin when he had helped to defend herself and Tak from pirates. In return, she had forgiven him for lying to her about his allegiance. As far as Priest was concerned, they were even.
Now it seemed that she wanted him to make friends with other ponies.
Ugh.
- - -
The door of Canterlot's throne room opened and Princess Luna entered. Day court was over and her sister Celestia prepared to leave the room. She looked up as she noticed the Princess of the Night enter and approached her. They hugged and Luna took a step back as she said, "My sister, I need to talk to you for a moment, if you have the time."
"Of course", said Celestia, her soft, melodic voice warm with affection. "What would you like to discuss?"
"It's about the human", said Luna. "I am still having a strange feeling about him. Have you warned Twilight about him as I recommended?"
"Yes, and I trust she can handle him. Additionally, I still want to send her assistance. Still, I have insisted on giving him financial support as well. Twilight and her friends are generous, that much is certain, but counting on that would be unfair. I do not want him to feel guilty for staying with them."
Luna nodded and they made their way outside so she could raise the moon to complete the night. "Agreed. Have you thought about who might be suitable for helping Priest to get on his own, er, feet?"
Celestia sighed. "Sadly, I have not. There are several professionals on my mind who know about starting businesses, applying for jobs when in an unfortunate situation or laws concerning pony/non-pony-interaction... but somehow I am not really comfortable with this... It would still mean forcing a foreigner on him and Twilight."
They approached their balcony from which they usually raised and lowered the celestial bodies and Celestia stepped to the baluster.
"What you need is a pony he can relate to", stated Luna. "That's difficult."
Celestia nodded and looked down at the city. The spires and roofs were glistening in the light of the evening star. Once again, she admired her sister's attention for detail.
She turned her head to look at Luna. "He will always be a stranger, even if he finds a place to stay."
Luna lowered her head and pondered that for a moment. "I may have somepony in mind", she said with a small smile.
- - -
Twilight and Spike sat together in the main room of the library, eating spaghetti with tomato sauce for dinner.
"You know", said Spike, "that human is not a very nice guy. What is he doing in Equestria anyway? Couldn't he return to his world?"
"Don't be like that, Spike", chided Twilight. "Priest doesn't have a choice. If he went back, he could end up anywhere. That kind of travelling magic quickly tends to get unpredictable. There's a high chance he would not survive using the portal anyway. I only managed to get through twice because I could protect myself and stabilize the portal with my magic. But his kind of magic is different, it couldn't do that. It can be used for fighting and healing but not for portals."
"Huh, tough luck", commented Spike. "Is that why you want to take care of him?"
Twilight nodded and drank a bit of apple juice. "Exactly. I know he can be a bit harsh but he is actually a decent person. On top of that, I promised Princess Celestia to keep an eye on him."
"Well, in that case...", said Spike, grinning.
Now Twilight smiled as well and declared, "Tomorrow I will return to my studies. Maybe Priest would like to learn more about Equestria. I didn't tell him much when we were in Azeroth, he was usually the one to keep me informed about his world when we did our research."
Spike nodded and swallowed the remains of his meal – a giant emerald was the dessert.
"Then, in the late afternoon, he will probably go to Rarity. We can make a list of possible jobs for him until he returns..."
- - -
The moon rose and the stars came out, one by one, tiny shimmering lights in the sky. The night air was perfectly clear and it started to get colder.
If Priest had been alive, he would have to go inside now, to seek shelter and sleep. Even though he didn't have to, he decided to go back to the library and see what Twilight was doing.
Who was he kidding anyway? She and her books were the only thing he was at least slightly interested in right now.
- - -
The next morning, Twilight came downstairs to get her morning coffee, her second one in Equestria since her adventure in another world. She stumbled into the kitchen with her eyes half closed and poured water over the powder. Yawning, she went back to the main room to see what Priest was doing.
He sat on the sofa, reading The Crystal Heart and the Banishment of King Sombra. As the alicorn said, "Good morning", he replied with a "hey" and put down the book, a finger between the pages.
"You're looking damn tired", he commented.
"I couldn't sleep", said Twilight. "I have been thinking about this whole situation... and I'm not even used to my own bed anymore, can you imagine? Don't answer that", she added, smiling sheepishly as Priest opened his mouth to let loose a sarcastic comment.
He closed it again and expectantly rose the spot where his right eyebrow used to be.
Twilight held up a hoof and went back to the kitchen to get her coffee. When she returned, she said in a much cheerier voice, "So, Priest, how would you like to learn more about Equestria? I have – as you may have noticed – tons of books on Equestrian history and magic..."
Priest looked up, thinking.
"I'd actually prefer to do something more active for now."
Twilight's ears drooped and she mumbled quietly, "I see."
"Come on, don't look like that", said Priest, "it's not a no. I will still have plenty of time for that at night, right?"
"I guess you're right", admitted Twilight. "I just need to tell Spike to rewrite the checklist then. I need him to add some groceries to the shopping list anyway, he can do that along with the other list..."
- - -
In a small house on the edge of Ponyville, a young earth pony leaned over her kitchen counter.
"Celestia damn nightmares", she mumbled and shook her head. She probably shouldn't have had stayed up this long. Having her coltfriend over had been great but she vowed to give him a hint the next time it got too late. That unicorn really knew how to make her forget the time.
The mare put the kettle on the stove, then went to the bathroom to get her mane done.
Once again, a battle was lost. Her deep purple mane always maintained some kind of wavy bed hair look even though it was over shoulder length. She regarded herself in the mirror. A tired, greyish green face with freckles stared back. Her silver eyes blinked, then she shook her head again, eyeing herself with determination.
Time to start the day for real.
- - -
Spike and Priest went to the town square in the late morning.
The small dragon went alongside the undead with quick steps while Priest took time to get a better look at the houses of Ponyville. There were too many big windows for Priest's taste and the bright straw roofs reflected a lot of sunlight.
Flowers, flowers everywhere, and the scent of fresh vegetables. It had to be really strong if even he was able to smell it...
"The first thing on the list is... apples!", declared Spike with enthusiasm. "Hey, you haven't met Applejack yet, have you?"
"No", said Priest, "so far, I know you, Twilight, the two other princesses and Rarity. That's it."
Spike's eyes widened. "Oh, then it's about time!"
Priest sighed. "Whatever."
That startled Spike a bit but he quickly regained his cheery attitude and lead the undead to the fruit stand Priest had seen the day before.
The orange mare was there again, selling her apples and greeting passing townsponies.
She eyed Priest suspiciously as they approached but her face lit up when she greeted Spike.
"Morning Spike, how're you doin' today? And you, er, brought a guest?", she asked with an accent Priest couldn't place.
"Hi Applejack! This is Priest, he is staying with Twilight."
"Is he now?", said Applejack and rose an eyebrow, dropping the smile.
"For the moment, until find my own place", emphasized Priest earnestly, uncomfortable with the assumptions that might or might not pop up in the mare's head.
The earth pony nodded firmly, as if he had passed a test, and a more genuine smile creeped onto her face. "So you're new here, huh? And what exactly are you?"
Wow, that mare got to the point really quick. Priest cleared his throat. "I'm a human."
"Oh", said Applejack. "Like from those old mare's tales? Now that's somethin' else..."
Spike shifted his weight from one foot to another while Priest shrugged. "Can't really help it."
Applejack's grin widened and she winked playfully. "If you're new here you probably haven't tasted any Apples from our acres yet, have you?"
"Er", said Priest.
"Actually, that's what we are here for", explained Spike. "Can I have a size two bag of apples, please?"
- - -
The mare finished her tea and left the house. Unsure where to find her client, she decided to check the town square. She had to start somewhere. Up to now she only had a rough description of what he looked like but she was confident that would be enough.
Her Highness, the Princess of the Night, was asking her for help and the earth pony would not let her down.
- - -
After buying more vegetables, ink, quills, parchment and a blanket, Spike and Priest went back to the library. The mare who sold carrots had shrieked and almost run away when Priest approached, so they had decided to let Spike do the talking and Priest wait at a distance. The undead carried the paper bags inside and helped Spike to put away the groceries, then grabbed his book again to continue reading.
- - -
The frustrated earth pony walked up and down the town square, then checked town hall and the nearby shops.
Nothing.
She asked some salesponies if they had seen a tall, bipedal creature with torn clothes and after questioning the third pony she was successful. The client had been seen on the town square after all, carrying paper bags with food. It was impossible to get more out of the mare, she was stammering so badly that her words were hardly apprehensible.
Was that creature this intimidating? Well, there was no use in making assumptions, she probably just had to find out herself...
The earth pony sighed and decided to check another store. If the salespony who worked there didn't know, she wouldn't know whom else to ask.
- - -
"Hello and welcome to Sugarcube Corner!", chirped a cheery, high-pitched voice. "What can I get you – oh, hello Mara, nice of you to drop by! Have you tasted my new cupcakes yet? They are super-duper-sweetyliscious!"
"Hello Pinkie", said Mara and smiled back at Pinkie Pie. She always found it hard to resist that happy grin. "I'm sorry, I'm not here for that..."
"Oh, do you want to order something else? I have muffins, fruit cake, banoffee pie, butter cake, frog cake, mooncake, punchkrapfen, angel cake-"
Mara held up her hoof, stopping Pinkie Pie's rambling.
"Uh, Pinkie, I'm not here for cake at all."
"Huh, but this is a bakery, silly!"
The green earth pony laughed. "I know, but I'm here to ask you about a new resident of Ponyville."
"I see, well, why didn't you say so in the first place? Now that you're asking, I've had this strange feeling from my Pinkie Sense yesterday that somepony new had come to town but I haven't seen them yet. Have you met them? What's their name? I can't throw a welcome party for them without knowing which name to put on the cake."
Mara sighed and scratched her neck. "That's the problem, I don't know the name either but I need to talk to him-"
"It's a he? Oooh, but wait, you already have a coltfriend, don't you? I saw you together at your party, and Derpy was there, too, and Rarity, I really hope you two are still getting along well, I woudn't want my new friend to be-"
"Pinkie", said Mara.
"Yeees?" Pinkie batted her eyelashes at Mara at a fast rate.
"It's nothing like that. He's not even a pony! He is very tall and walks on two feet like a minotaur and wears ragged robes. I need to talk to him because Princess Luna asked me to help him."
Pinkie's eyes widened. "Ooooh, okay. If I see him, I'll tell you. But please try and find out his name if you meet him first, okay?"
Mara grinned. "Sure thing, Pinkie. Thanks anyway."
"No problem! And here, this is for you, they're on me! Have fun!"
"Thanks, that's really nice of you! See you!"
As Mara left Sugarcube Corner to go back home, she took a look into the bag. Four delicious-looking muffins looked back, one of them blueberry-flavoured, one with chocolate and the other two were actually cupcakes with sugar frosting.
She grinned and put the bag into her saddlebags. The blueberry one was for Derpy, Pinkie knew that Mara worked at the post office, the chocolate one was obviously for Spirit, Mara's coltfriend, the third for Mara herself. That left the last one for the new guy, assumed the mare. Pinkie really was amazing... She'd probably throw a welcome party for a headless horse if it was nice enough and even figure out a way to get it to eat her cupcakes.
Wait a minute, the post office...!
Mara changed direction to go and see her colleague and friend. Derpy was probably at home by now, waiting for her daughter to come back from school.