"Good morning!" The cheery voice of a well-rested Twilight rang through the library.
"Ungh."
"Come on, Priest, this is Nightmare Night! No working today, just fun and shenanigans!"
Priest rubbed his eyes with two fingers and groaned again. "Huh? Why does the fun have to -", he yawned, "- start so early, then?"
Twilight rolled her eyes and entered the kitchen.
"Fine, fine, I'm getting up." Priest didn't move. "Soon", he clarified.
Spike descended the stairs, yawning. "Morning."
"Morning", agreed Priest.
"Is Twilight in the kitchen?"
"Yep", confirmed the human.
"Nice bed hair."
Priest reached for his hair. "Oh. Er, if Twilight asks, I'm upstairs."
"Okay", said Spike, joining Twilight to help her set up the table.
- - -
Priest stood in front of the bathroom sink and stared at his reflection, bending closer to it and turning his head left and right.
When did the cheek heal?, he wondered. It had been damaged all the time, even when he had healed himself back on Azeroth.
Not that I'm gonna complain. Did you do this, Light? What for?
Priest noticed something green in the corner of his eye. His pullover - washed, dried and bearing a subtle fresh scent - was draped over the towel rack.
"Thanks, Princess", he mumbled.
He washed his face and upper body, then put his clothes back on and ran his hand through his hair several times, trying to straighten it; with little success. Priest grinned absent-mindedly. He could already imagine Rarity's reaction if she saw him.
"My goodness, darling, whatever have you done to your hair? This just won't do..."
- - -
When Priest entered the kitchen, breakfast was ready. Spike and Twilight sat at the table eating cereals. They had prepared a third bowl for him. He slid onto the designated chair and poured milk over his meal.
"So", said Twilight, "when are you going to get the bandages?"
"What? Oh, those. After breakfast, I suppose. Wanna come?"
Twilight shook her head. "I still need to prepare some things. Our friends are coming over after the celebration; Applejack needs to close her stall first so she will be here a bit later."
"Have you heard anything from Derpy? How's she doing?"
Spike shrugged. "Dunno. You could ask at the hospital."
"I don't know where she lives but Mara might. They're close friends", said Twilight.
"I noticed", muttered Priest, his mood dropping again.
"I could help you", offered Spike. "I'm supposed to watch the Cutie Mark Crusaders this afternoon and Dinky's dad is probably in town right now, looking after them. They said they wanted to go crusading at Sugarcube Corner."
"'Crusading'... right", grinned Priest. "Sounds good, though. Anyway, where can I buy bandages?"
"At the drugstore. It's called, 'The Well Brushed Coat'."
Priest stopped chewing and raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?"
Twilight frowned at that. "What do you mean?"
"Nothing. But I'm assuming I can get a comb there as well?"
"Yup", confirmed Spike.
- - -
Mara Dust sat on a bench in the park, watching the ponies walk by. Most of them were busy, going through the park because it was a shortcut to Town Square. If you went to town, why not through the green?
As the ponies passed her, some of them nodding at her as they recognized her, Mara watched their auras floating around them. The colorful smudges changed shape all the time, trailing behind the running ponies like lazy flags. Everypony had their own personal color bubble.
She had not been able to see them this clearly before. It was hard to focus on the ponies when they were surrounded by all that prismatic stuff. Nopony seemed to notice the auras but that wasn't new to Mara. They hadn't seen the ghost either.
Mara wondered how she would feel if somepony told her that she was covered by her own personal light show twenty-four seven. At least she saw her own aura, too, and knew it was currently yellow with purple spikes bubbling out at the edges.
It scared the crap out of her.
She rose from the bank and headed for Town Square to get some ice cream.
- - -
"One, two, three, GO!", screamed Pinkie Pie as she swung down a black and white checkered flag with both hooves.
Rainbow Dash and Applejack sped forwards from the starting line – the entrance of Sugarcube Corner – and off into the distance.
"First one to set up her Nightmare Night stall wins", explained the pink pony to Time Turner who had just arrived at the shop.
"I see", he grinned. Five young ponies stood around him, their eyes wide with anticipation.
"Hi, Cutie Mark Crusaders!" beamed Pinkie and beckoned them to enter.
"Hi, Pinkie!", they replied in various ways.
Turner followed them into the Corner and accepted her hug. "Rainbow Dash is setting a stall up this year? I didn't know."
"Weeell, she is making one out of clouds and it's going to be a haunted house of some kind. I wonder what she's gonna put inside?"
Pinkie put the flag away, mysteriously storing it in her mane, and led the group into the kitchen. She started pulling out drawers and quickly put on an apron and a chef's hat. She turned to the fillies and colt with a broad smile. "Who's ready to make pumpkin muffins?"
The cheer of her guests made Time Turner's ears ring. He waved at Pinkie, Dinky and the other Crusaders and left the Corner to make his way to the hospital.
- - -
"Sooo", said Spike as he and Priest inspected a display of various combs in The Well Brushed Coat, "I know this comes a bit late but how did you and Twilight meet?"
Priest straightened up – the shelves were pony sized, of course – and frowned. "Then why are you asking now?"
Spike shrugged. "I'm just curious, I guess. Twilight never told me since you arrived. It's cool if you don't wanna talk about it."
"It's only been a few days", mumbled Priest. "I'm still not really used to all the ponies."
The baby dragon grinned. "I can only imagine."
"It's not the species that I'm having trouble with", clarified the human, scratching his elbow. "It's the fact that they don't care about it so much. Yesterday Fluttershy came to the library and apologized for being "mean" instead of just behaving like I was, uh, undesirable or something. Pinkie Pie keeps giving me cupcakes... it's... strange... You know, back home I was one of the smaller species."
"Really?"
"Remind me to draw an orc later. Anyway, we met on a zeppelin."
Spike's eyes widened. "You mean like those big, oval hot air balloons with propulsion magic?"
"Something like that. We were both traveling to the same destination. A troll and some goblins tried to take over the ship but we gank- … uh, defeated them."
"Wow... Hey, how about this one?" Spike pointed at a comb that was as long as Priest's hand and made of some sturdy dark red wood. Unlike the other ones it had no ornament whatsoever.
"Yeah, I'll take it. Let's go."
They made their way to the counter to pay for the comb and bandages.
The unicorn salespony's eyes widened when she saw Priest but Spike's presence seemed to convince her that everything was in order. She took the items and glanced at the price tags, then wrote the total amount onto a small notepad. Priest handed over the bits, took the items, tucked them away and accepted the copy of the note.
"Thanks."
"Thank you and c-come back any time!"
"Bye!", said Spike and pushed the door open.
- - -
Outside, he smiled at Priest who was frowning again and nudged his leg with his elbow. "What other species live on Azeroth? Are there dragons?"
Priest grinned. "Yes, there are dragons. They get really huge; I once saw a dragon that was about five times as big as the library."
"Whoa! I'd love to see a grown-up dragon from up close!"
"I wouldn't. Except Kalecgos maybe, they say he's more of a diplomatic type. He was in Dalaran when we were trying to open the portal but I didn't meet him directly. I've never been into politics much so I try to stay away from the celebrities as much as possible."
Spike's mouth stood wide open, overwhelmed. He nooded slowly as a grin of awe spread on his face.
Priest snorted. "Take it easy, tough guy. Let's see, what else would you know...? Griffins, windriders – they're like manticores and can be used for traveling – hydras, all kinds of woodland creatures, gigantic bats..."
- - -
Mara Dust enjoyed her ice cream in the small café at the corner of Willow Road. The Steaming Cup was very popular, maybe even the second most loved after Sugarcube Corner. Many ponies said it was thanks to the amazing coffee they brewed.
Mara didn't drink coffee. The place would always be her number one though.
She sat at a table in the corner, relatively close to the counter. It was a quiet hour, the ponies who loved their morning coffee were already gone but it wasn't yet lunchtime either.
The yellow unicorn stallion took the chance when the only other customers left and walked over to Mara. He nuzzled her cheek and said quietly, "How you doing?"
Mara tilted her head in a so-so way. "Not so great really. I had a rough night and the auras are really bright today."
Spirit Rez nodded and sat down next to her. "I'm glad you came here. Take your time and relax a bit, okay?"
She frowned and looked down at her ice cream. "Thanks for being so understanding."
"Hey", he said, stroking her purple mane. "I love you." He lit up his horn, casting a spell on her. Mara could feel her insides warming up a little as a relaxing wave went through her body. It was probably the Chamomile Tea spell.
"I know. And your spells are the best." She kissed him thoroughly, then let him return to his work, smiling at her coltfriend as he started cleaning some used plates. He waved at her with the cloth and stuck out his tongue, his aura glowing in a soft green. Spirit strongly disliked doing the dishes.
Mara laughed and resumed eating her ice cream.
- - -
"Lunchtime, everyone!"
Fluttershy's critter friends took the announcement with great enthusiasm. From all sides they came into the living room of her cottage, through the window, mouse holes and the front door. Birds left their birdhouses and joined the crowd of small creatures as Fluttershy presented the plates and wooden bowls of animal food she had prepared. A single bear and an eagle entered the cottage, careful not to step on any other guests.
"Now you all know, one at a time", said the pegasus and started distributing the food, feeding the sick critters and making sure that the carnivores got their share of fish.
The animals cheered and feasted happily, even Angel didn't complain this time. Instead, after finishing his carrot, he approached Fluttershy and tucked at her tail.
"Yes, Angel, what is it?", asked Fluttershy gently.
He waved a flower in front of her.
"Oh yes", said Fluttershy, "I will dress up for Nightmare Night after getting some cupcakes for Priest."
The bunny grabbed its ears and bent them downwards, obviosly deeply disturbed by Fluttershy's new acquaintance.
"I am a bit afraid of him but I will do my best to be the best friend I can."
He shook his head. Then he mimicked a zombie walk, his eyes gazing into opposing directions.
"Now, now, Angel, that's very rude. He is very nice. I mean, he is kind of nice. And a bit strange. But he isn't a pony, maybe all humans are like this. He has seen many bad things so it is up to us to make him feel welcome."
Angel continued walking like a zombie, little paws outstretched, then intentionally bumped into the bear. Mr Harry pretended to be scared of Angel, 'fearfully' hugging himself and shivering.
"I'm sure Priest doesn't mean any harm. But I will be careful, I promise."
The bunny lowered its paws and nodded, a frown still on its face.
Fluttershy nuzzled him affectionately. "I know you are worried; but as I said, he's not dangerous. I'm sure we will have a very nice evening with our friends."
The bear covered its eyes with a paw.
- - -
"Hey, check this out! I'm Spiderspike!" The little dragon put a fake spider on his face.
Priest snorted and pointed out, "It looks like these are for some kind of game."
Spike shrugged and put the spider back into the basket to join its look-alikes. "Yeah, you throw them onto a spiderweb to gain points. It's a lot of fun, Princess Luna enjoyed it, too. Though it turned out preeetty awkward when she brought them to life."
That made the human laugh for real. "I'd like to see that. Well, at least they are really small."
"Small?!" Spike's eyes widened. "You're kidding, right?"
"Nope. At home we've got spiders this tall. We use them as pets in battle." Priest held his hand up at the height of his solarplexus.
"Creepy!", commented Spike.
The undead shrugged. "Intimidation is a big part of warfare."
"If you say so..."
"Anyway, why are we still in the joke shop? Didn't you say something about looking after the Crusaders?"
"Oh snap!" Spike dashed out the shop door, then looked back in. "Come on, we're already late!"