In the early hours of the day, a soft tapping of a hoof on their room made Spike jerk awake. Already awake, Twilight looked at the door curiously before vanishing from sight. Spike slipped from bed and stretched before ambling over to the door and its soft tapping, "Yeah?"
He pulled the door open to reveal a stallion with a beard, robes, and a pointy hat. For a moment Spike thought back to Starswirl the Bearded, but there were differences, starting with his bright yellow fur color. The stallion smiled at Spike, "Many apologies. I did not mean to awaken you, but it is a very urgent matter."
Spike hiked a brow, curious and wary at once, "It's cool. What can I help you with? The libra..." He trailed off and frowned, wondering just how sleepy he was that he'd think he was back in the library that didn't even exist anymore. "Everypony's asleep."
"It is fortunate you are not a pony," he said, sounding genuinely happy about this. "My name is Celestus Span and I have been given a vision. The Princess Luminace sends her fondest regards and wishes that I guide a lost soul."
Twilight suddenly appeared, floating over Spike, "What? Really?"
Celestus jerked back in surprise as Twilight popped into existence, "Oh my, yes. You must be the one." He reached into his saddlebag with his mouth and pulled out a monocle. With a careful flip, it landed in place on his eye and he looked through it at Twilight, "Fascinating... I research the unfulfilled you know, and you are an amazing specimen. I suppose that is why The Scholar choose me for this task."
Spike crossed his arms, "Not that I'm upset you're here, offering to help, but what proof do we have you're from Luminace?"
"Princess Luminace," said Celestus with mild testiness, "You'll have to take it on faith. She is a goddess, after all, most radiant and wise. Besides, why else would I know you were here, and needed my help. You do need my help, do you not?"
Twilight bobbed her head, "We're looking for Queen Iliana, so she can fix... this." She gestures at herself with a hoof. "I want to be alive again, all the way, with a body. Can you help me?"
Celestus gave a slow nod, looking Twilight over again, "I can see you only became a ghost recently, within the year, perhaps even within the month. I'm certain we could help you. There are only two things you need." He held up a hoof, "A lot of diamonds." He put the hoof down and raised the other, "A powerful priest. I am a priest and a scholar, but not of the magnitude you require. That would be far too easy and direct, even for a goddess. I do not even practice divine magic, I am simply faithful in my ways. I do practice arcane magics, but that won't help this matter."
Twilight sagged as Spike spoke up, "We should have brought some diamonds with us from Equestria."
"Where?" asked Celestus, "No matter. We are not there, so we will do it the old-fashioned way, by paying for them. There are many powerful priests in this city, and grand churches where they work. Come, we will visit one." He turned, but the others didn't immediately follow him and he looked over shoulder at them, "Well?"
Spike pointed into the room, "We have other friends, and they're still sleeping. Do you want to come in and wait for them?"
Celestus' ears perked up, "Oh! I am being so rude right now. Yes, I will wait for them." He trotted in past Spike and Twilight and settled himself into a comfortable position, looking quite patient. He drew out a thick tome and began reading through it quietly.
Twilight leaned in towards Spike, close enough that he could feel the chill of death radiating from her snout, "I think he's being honest, but keep an eye on him."
Spike nodded as he replied just as quietly, "Will do. He seems nice enough."
Spike then returned to his bed, to discover that Soft Mane had woken up at some point. Sleeping beside her had been a new experience, but not one he was sure he really liked, or didn't. He had slept with Twilight before, but this was... different. She was sitting up and looking at their new guest. When he climbed up onto the bed, she leaned towards him, "Who's that?"
"Celestus," replied Spike, "He wants to help Twilight, said Luminace sent him."
Soft looked surprised, "Huh, that's really lucky."
"Divine intervention?" said Spike, half joking, but Soft nodded as if that was the obvious answer.
Soft slipped from the bed and went over to her armor, starting to prepare for a new day. It was a chain reaction that couldn't be stopped, as the others began to rouse from the activity. Applejack leaned over the side of her bed, peering at their new guest, "Well howdy there, stranger."
Celestus looked up from his book, ears going back and looking nervous. "Hello," he said in a soft voice, reminding Applejack immediately of Fluttershy.
"Don't be shy there, fella. We're not going to bite ya," insisted Applejack in kind tones.
Rainbow was not as subtle, rolling from her bed with a thump. She got to her hooves quickly, looked around, then was on their guest in a flash. "Who are you?"
He cowered at her suddenly approach and Twilight intervened, "Rainbow, down. He's here to help, and you're scaring him."
Rainbow huffed softly, "Sure, yeah." She turned and walked away, and Celestus turned bright red through his yellow fur.
"Ma'am... you really should be dressed," he squeaked, turning in place to not face either of the naked mares anymore.
Applejack grabbed her stetson and plopped it into place before hopping free of bed and stretching out.
"I'm not dressed," pointed out Twilight.
"You are also a ghost," argued Celestus. "You... do not appear to have any objectionable anatomy to see."
"Are you calling me objectionable?" asked Rainbow with a loud snort, "I'll show you objectionable."
"Rainbow..." said Twilight, frowning at her. "Be nice."
Soon enough everyone was dressed. Drowsy End knocked softly before entering, not waiting for a reply. "Breakfast," she announced in her sleepy way, carrying a heavy tray laden with eggs, toast, a pitcher of something, and other treats beside. She set the tray down on a small table and moved to depart, "Eat well." Though Twilight was in full view, Drowsy paid her little mind, and the door was soon closed behind her.
Breakfast, hot breakfast, was not a treat to be turned down by any of the travel-weary ponies, or dragon, or pony satyr. They enjoyed the fresh food with appreciative mumbles and voracious nibbles. The drink proved to be some kind of squeezed fruit. They didn't recognize the flavor, but it was delicious, and went well with the rest. All too soon, the food was demolished, but so was their hunger. Twilight moped as she watched them eat, but resisted the urge to whine about it.
Celestus turned to Twilight and spoke a few arcane words of power. A bolt of darkness lept from him to Twilight. She jumped back, surprised and alarmed, but his aim was true. The bolt brought a strange kind of pleasure and vitality instead of the expected pain. She shuddered and blushed, her misty form pinkening around the cheeks, "Oh, what was that?"
Celestus explained, "Negative energy feeds and restores the undead, as you currently are. While positive energy remains largely the domain of divine magic, negative can be slung by arcane magics well enough. Now that we are all fed, shall we be off?"
"Off ta where?" asked Applejack.
Spike answered, "We're going to see some priests about fixing Twilight and find out how much it costs."
Rainbow shrugged as she hovered in place, "I thought we were looking for that Queen?"
Soft Mane seemed to grasp the idea quickly, "The Queen would be nice, but we need a priest anyway, powerful enough to fix Twilight. We may as well find one while we're here."
Twilight nodded, "Sounds like we have a plan then." She drifted up to Celestus, "I don't suppose you have a way to make the city ponies not panic when I go along?"
Celestus shook his head, "The public opinion of the unfulfilled is quite low, and for good reason. Most are angry and prone to lashing out. They are so desperate to fulfill their destiny that they will bully, hurt, or even possess the living to make it happen."
Twilight tilted her head, "I can do that?"
Celestus replied, "Do what? Bully? Hurt? Without doubt."
Twilight shook a hoof at him, "Not those things! The last one, possess things?"
Celestus looked around, then back at Twilight, "I should not encourage it."
It was too late. Twilight's curiosity was bubbling and would not be put down so easily. She looked over her friends nervously, unsure which to try with. Spike raised a claw, "You can, uh, wait, what is possession, exactly?"
Soft Mane offered the answer to that, "It means she would hop inside of you, and control your body. You would become a passenger in your own body while she was there."
Spike shivered, "Creepy."
Celestus gave a soft sigh, "It is I that opened this jar. If you must, take my body, but you must give it back. Proceed to the temple of Princess Luminace first, and let me speak to the clerics there."
Twilight surged at Celestus. When her body contacted his, he howled in pain. Twilight jerked back, not wanting to hurt him. She frowned and focused, trying to command her form. Suddenly, she vanished. She could feel herself in a dark place, and there was Celestus. She approached him again, "What do I do now?"
Celestus stepped aside, but said nothing. Twilight, a little confused, but taking it as a sign, rushed past him, and suddenly she could see again. She had weight, mass. Her body hurt where it felt like coals had been pressed to it, but she had a body! She looked around the room slowly in a slow circle.
"Where'd Twilight go?" asked Rainbow.
"I'm right here," replied Twilight, but it was Celestus' voice that said it. "Oh..."
Rainbow rushed up into Twilight's new face, "Oh, wow! You're a stallion, Twilight. This is too much!"
Twilight blushed with... his... new cheeks, "I suppose I am. Soft, can you please heal me?"
Soft quickly approached Twilight and laid pink hands on him, soothing the spectral burns that Twilight's clumsy possession attempt had left behind. Twilight relaxed as the pain faded away, "Thank you, you're the best. So, uh, it's good to see you all, for real."
Spike shook his head, "It's nice that you have a heartbeat again, but it's not yours, Twilight. Let's get you a body of your own."
Applejack nodded in agreement, "At least it means we can walk through tha city without trouble."
"It's strange," spoke Twilight, "I can feel him, inside. He's watching what I do. Thank you, Celestus. This is a very precious gift." He moved up to Spike and grabbed him up in his new arms, kissing him on the cheeks, "Oh I missed holding you, Spike."
Spike went rigid, "Uh... I'm glad to see you too, Twilight..."
Applejack gently separated the two with a chuckle, "Save that for when you're back to being a mare. You're scaring him."
Twilight blushed all the hotter, "Oh, sorry." Not that this stopped Twilight in Celestus' body from giving everyone a hug in turn, but he spared any further kisses.
Spike pointed at Twilight's flank, "Look."
All the energetic hugging had nudged his robes out of place, exposing his flanks. Thinking Spike was commenting on that, Twilight moved to set it back in place, but then he saw it. Twilight's cutie mark was emblazoned there in place of whatever mark Celestus had originally. Soon the robe was covering the starry image. "We should go see that priest," Twilight murmured softly with a borrowed voice.