“Do you have everything? Bandages, books, a big rock you can throw at anypony who looks at you funny?”
Twilight nodded to her mother as she opened one of the packs to her saddle bag, showing off that the inside was filled with a small boulder. She then slipped into the leather harness that had all of her supplies, including carious defensive enchantments and books on how to survive in the wilderness. All so she could do the day she had been preparing for for so long.
She was finally leaving the house to meet other ponies. Her excitement for this was already warring with her nervousness. While her parents, Trina, and grandma were all wonderful ponies, she had heard Ghastly talk about the dangers of life outside their cottage, and listened to her father recall his own fights against scoundrels and bandits so many times that she could tell the tales herself. She still wanted to though, just to say she did.
Ghastly smiled at her as the older mare’s tail flicked back and forth behind her. Twilight could see her mother’s own shaking, but made sure not to let it show. She didn’t want the scaredy mare to postpone today again. A denial of what they were to do was not what came though. Instead, Ghastly merely remembered something she had almost forgotten. “Don’t forget to say goodbye to your father, okay Twilight?”
Twilight smiled brightly as she removed her bags. She couldn’t believe she had almost left her father behind without even a farewell hug. The stallion should have been accompanying them, but even his strong smiles had started to fade after her fifth birthday, and now that she was ten, there was no way in Equestria that he was coming to the park with them. And I know how much he wanted to. I’ll just need to make sure today goes well then, so he doesn’t feel like he messed up.
Walking into the room, she saw her father standing at the window, staring out the window at the blue sky. Little of his dark blue hair was left, having been entirely consumed by the black that came with the curse. A pain appeared in Twilight’s chest as she remembered the day she was told the truth. He never let on how bad it felt though, and even now was smiling, even if he was in agony. “Hi dad.”
Night Watch turned to her, his smile widening as he leaned against the wall. She galloped over and wrapped her hooves around his neck while feeling one of his wrap around her two. The two stayed there, snuggling against the other for strength, before Twilight breathed, “Is meeting other ponies supposed to be this scary?”
A chuckle escaped Night’s lips as he leaned back and looked down to is daughter. “Well, for some it can be. It’s better than your mom though. When she first came to my village,”
“She was so against meeting ponies she thought beneath her that she sneaked past the guards,” The two almost immediately burst into laughter, just before Twilight got thumped on the top of head. “Ow!”
Ghastly looked down at her, one eyebrow raised. “Now Twilight, how do you think other ponies will react if you’re so rude as to make jokes at them?”
Twilight blinked a few times before raising a hoof to her muzzle. “They’ll laugh and enjoy it like I do when dad teases me?”
Night Watch laughed again as Ghastly groaned. “What has this idiot taught you?”
“I don’t know,” Night said as he ruffled Twilight’s hair, “but I definitely have no complaints.
Ghastly rolled her eyes before rubbing her eyes. “You’re not getting a peck goodbye now.”
Night Watch almost lifted himself up, before his body shook and he slammed his front hooves back down onto the hardwood, his eyes shut for a moment before he smiled again. “I-I suppose that’s fair.”
Twilight frowned as the loud bark of the timbers continued to bounce around the larger room, and she put her hooves on her dad’s back, just before pecking his cheek. “Than I’ll give you one, because I know I don’t need the luck, not when mom can help me.”
A sigh escaped Ghastly as she stepped over. She gently pecked Night on the lips, before patting his head. “Good luck, honey. There are a few chores on the table, but for the most, you should have a free day to yourself like we will.”
Night Watch’s smile grew brighter as he raised an eyebrow. “Not entirely to yourself I would hope. I mean, the purpose of this trip is to help Twilight meet other ponies, right?”
:”You are such a brat.”
“But he’s our brat, right mom?”
She let out a deep sigh before nuzzling into Night Watch’s chest. “Yes, yes he is.”
======+++++======
A rainbow maned colt tilted his head, staring at the oddity. He hadn’t been the first to notice the purple filly that was staring at them, but he was the one holding onto the ball. He turned to his friend, Crab Apple, and raised an eyebrow. “So, do you think she would flinch if I chucked this at her.”
The dark orange mare glared at her friend, her white mane briefly getting into her eyes before she blew it out of her face, wishing for some way to keep the stupid thing out of her eyes for the hundredth time. “Really? Spectrum, you know we don’t have to be mean to every last thing we meet, right?”
The gray mare who had first noticed the young one giggled for a moment. “Yes deary, why should we be so cruel? I’m thinking complimenting her on that wonderfully daring stripe of pink in her mane would be much more tasteful.”
Spectrum rolled his eyes before mimicking a gagging motion. “If neither of you offer anything better, this ball is going straight for her.”
A dark pink filly lifted an eyebrow while the broken pentagram tattoo over her right eye glowed for a moment. She had been watching her friends, and stood while her dragonic tail swished behind her, deciding she need to intervene. She would make sure they did not lose the possible new friend, despite the fact that she wouldn’t mind some target practice herself. Of course, Granny Pie would scream at her for such an act, because good cross-breeds tried making peace with others. Bleh.
Spectrum was just grinding his teeth when Pinkamena’s tail smacked it out of his hoof. On the edge of the black tail it balanced, and they could all see the purple filly’s eyes track it, before with a flick of her rump, Pinkamena sent the ball flying. It slammed into a tree besides the mare, finally getting her to move, even if she ended up falling, before returning to its sender, who now bounced it on her head perfectly, even as she walked. Looking down upon the cute, cowering filly, Pinkamena let out one of her rare smiles, before whispering, “Hi. Who are you?”
Twilight swallowed hard, before beginning to stand on trembling hooves. She had never been able to merely look straight and meet another ponies eyes before. Looking into the scary filly’s though, she saw a smile hidden behind her ocean blue irises. “H-h-hello, m-my name is T-Twilight Sparkle.”
The other filly nodded, before ratcheting her head back and send the ball rocketing back at Spectrum, who was immediately flattened by it. “Well, you’re being creepy by standing here like that. Luckily, I like creepy. If you want, you can join our game. Open invite even.” She then turned back and looked to Diamond. “That’s how you say it, right?”
“Yes deary.”
Pinkamena looked back, before tilting her head while she watched Twilight book it away from them, and instead to a gray mare.
Twilight however, knew exactly why she did this. While yes, her mission exceeded all parameters she had set to accomplish, those parameters had been set to protect her as well. Now, all she could hear was the thumb of her heart as her stomach felt so full of fluttering that she was afraid she might start flying. Fortunately, her mom had not gone far, and now she leapt onto the same bench as Ghastly. There she felt warmth, and snuggled ever close.
Ghastly’s whole body jumped at the contact as she tore her eyes away from the book that was to comfort her as well, and now she looked to her filly as she felt the familiar presence. She lowered her head and nuzzled against the side of Twilight’s face before whispering, “Are you okay?”
Twilight swallowed hard, before nodding ever so slightly. “I… I think so. I just didn’t expect that much contact that fast. I went to observe, but apparently, other ponies don’t like being observed.”
A sigh escaped Ghastly’s lungs as she nodded. “That is truly a shame, and one I dealt with a lot as a filly.”
Twilight smiled, some of her confidence slowly coming back. “However, they did invite me to play their game, and even though the weird one looked really scary, she seemed like she actually wanted me to be there!”
Ghastly ran her hoof through her little one’s mane as she beamed. “Well, why wouldn’t she?” She then tapped her muzzle ass she looked to the four fillies as they played. “Do you plan to go play with them soon?”
Twilight looked back to the park. She had spent almost half an hour watching them, and the walk into town had been two hours. She could feel another bit of fluttering in her when she thought of playing them, and could already feel the warmth of home at the thought of returning to it. “M-maybe next week, or whenever we come back. I think I just want to go home for now.”
Ghastly nodded as she closed her book, honestly overjoyed to hear her filly suggest them leaving. She wished she could say she was ready to re-integrate, and Twilight had indeed helped, but she doubted she would ever be truly fixed. Still, if Night Watch and my little filly keep pushing me, maybe one day I’ll be functional too.
The walk through the woods was peaceful as it always was. This was territory that Twilight was much more familiar with, and even spent most of the trip pointing out the best reading spots she had found below the tall trees. Ghastly joined in on the sport, trying to point out the flaws with each place while providing her own suggestions. By the time they were knocking on the door, both mares were once more laughing, the worry of the trip having been washed away.
“Honey, we’re home!”
A small gasp escaped Twilight as she started making her way up the stairs. “Dad, you won’t believe what happened today. Despite me having stared at them for close to thirty minutes, four other ponies seem like they may have been interested in knowing more about me. If they’re at the park normally, they could be my…”
Ghastly caught up with her filly as she stopped her excited speech, and stared at Twilight as she stood in the doorway. Her heart turned to ice as her filly’s jaw quivered, and she took a step back. Ghastly rushed forward, and looked within.
On the bed, without a speck of his original color, was Night Watch. He did not simply sleep, or lay there though, but was instead covered in frost. No clouds of fog escaped his lips, despite it feeling like the middle of Winter in the room, though that may have just been her. Above the body though, half faded, was her dear Night Watch.
He smiled at her and extended the hoof. “I’m sorry, my love. I will never forget you.”
She extended a hoof back, but like so many bodies she had seen, so many spirits her talent had allowed her to spot, he now faded. She assumed he had stuck around hoping to say goodbye one more time, but it didn’t make the sight any easier. It didn’t bring him back. “I won’t forget you either.”
“Mom, please… please tell me he isn’t…”
The two mares looked to each other, neither ignorant enough to be able to deny the truth, before wrapping their hooves around each other, and beginning to sob.
======+++++======
The sun blazed bright in the sky as the four mares, all dressed in black, stepped out into the back yard. First there was the wife, her horn glowing the strongest, as she put all of her focus on the coffin she now had to support. The hardwood carried all that her world had been for so long, and she was not about to drop it, no matter how heavy it felt.
The next mare was the deceased daughter, her horn barely lit as she couldn’t focus. Even after the week it took to get the coffin and her grandma to the house, the news made her feel numb. Not even the pretty cloak she had gotten from a private tailor made her feel better, though she was happy that the hood was able to hide her tears.
Clover stepped out of the door third, her horn glowing as it normally would. After putting her teacher into the ground, this was child’s play for her. Of course, there were reasons for her to be saddened and angry herself, but she knew not to show them, not yet at least.
Finally, Trina brought up the rear, trotting behind the coffin, and attempting to focus on the flowers that outlined the fine crafted wood. While not technically a part of the family, after so many years watching Twilight grow and trying to fight Night’s illness with him, they had generously invited her to the ceremony. She had even gone so far as to get herself quickly ordained for the rights by Celestia, before making the trip with Clover to the little town.
All four of them took to one side of the heavy casket when they reached the hole that Ghastly had spent all of last night digging. At the head of it was a slab of rock that Twilight had spent her fury on, now carved into a post with a crescent moon and an eye adorning the top to make for his tombstone. Ghastly stood behind the crude marble, before watching as her beloved slowly lowered, her horn fading with each inch. Twilight herself was of no help either, breaking down into tears as she saw his name engraved into the side in gold.
Trina rushed to the filly to comfort her once the coffin was down, slowly stroking her mane and whispering sweet nothings while Clover the Clever made her way to her daughter, who simply stared down at the hole. “I’m sorry I couldn’t figure out a solution faster.”
Ghastly swallowed hard, her throat trying to refuse her while she thought. “It’s not your fault. Death comes to us all, and with him, we were doomed to ever find a way to figure out the truth.”
Clover stared at Ghastly for another moment, before her mind decided that it was time. “Actually, I have been thinking of a way, but it requires that Twilight never leaves the house again.”
A wind blew through the back yard, before Ghastly turned to her mother. “That isn’t what Night would want.”
“That doesn’t matter now, especially since I know you probably never wish to leave this house again.”
“Why would that even matter?”
“Because if I am to get a wraith that I can test on to find the answer for unicorn immortality, I need one that no one will notice is gone.”
Ghastly lifted a hoof as she leaned away from her mother, her eyes widening as the meaning of her words struck her. “Y-you’re mad.”
A small smile appeared on Clover’s muzzle as she nudged some of dirt into the hole. “Am I? If my plan is a success, you never have to watch Twilight fade away. Any unicorn you become friends with no longer needs to fear death, not even you. Can you truly say you wouldn’t want that ability?”
A tear touched Ghastly’s eye, before she slammed them shut and turned away. “Y-you’ve gone mad mother. I… I won’t do that to my precious Twilight. She deserves a chance to be with the real world, and see things I could only imagine.”
“And who will help her in that goal?”
Ghastly stomped over, before puffing out her chest, and staring down at her mother. “I will.”
The two never left that house again until Twilight’s eighteenth birthday.