Chapter 21 - Gabbing in the Garden
“If I touch a burning candle I can feel no pain, if you cut me with a knife it’s still the same.” My miserable voice cut through the eerily silent gardens as I floated listlessly around. After Lyra had chewed me out I had drifted through the walls of the castle leaving a trail of grey tears behind me.
I eventually found my way into the gardens as the aching feeling in my chest slowly grew and I began to let out my feelings in one of the only ways I could anymore, by singing. “My heart is aching and though it doesn’t beat its breaking. And even if I’m dead, it seems I still have some tears to shed.”
I eventually came to a stop from my morose wandering in an open area that was bathed in rays of moonlight. Tears freely fell from my cheeks and chin and as they softly pattered upon the ground I briefly wondered why they didn’t simply fall away into oblivion.
I looked up into the almost full moon riding high in the sky, the deep ache in my chest slowly growing into a throbbing sensation of pain and loss. “In the ice or in the sun it’s all the same.”
I let my head fall with a sigh and I started back in surprise as I realized I was floating right in front of the mismatched God of Chaos himself. The tears running down my cheeks slowly pool at my feet as I stare at the statue before me.
“You know… I always thought you kinda got a raw deal. I mean, sure you were an asshole but you seemed like you just wanted to have some fun. Perhaps if you had been nicer about it you wouldn’t have been turned to stone.” A sigh escapes my lips. Silence follows as I stare at the ground for a few seconds. “I guess those are the breaks though. You don’t try to hurt anyone, you just try to have a good time but you end up messing everything up.”
I glance up at the stony expression the Draconequus is giving me, “Huh, I wonder if you can even hear me in there?”
“We can assure you that he cannot hear thee spirit.” A female voice said from behind me.
The high girlish scream that followed was cut short as I snapped my mouth shut. I whirl around to see Princess Luna standing a yard away from me.
She stands there with one eyebrow slightly raised as I floated, speechless for once. “Might we inquire what has brought a banshee such as you here this fine night?” She asks after a few seconds of silence.
My face scrunches up in confusion, “…huh, banshee?”
Her other eyebrow raises and she leans forward to inspect me closer. “Ah, we apologize spirit; we had mistaken thee for a banshee due to the weeping and the girlish wailing.”
I reel back a bit in surprise, had I just been sassed by a Princess? “I...Um…Wait a tick. You can see me?” I ask while pointing between her and myself.
“Indeed, we can see thee as clearly as the Moon within our sky.” She says with a hint of amusement.
“I…uh...huh…” I mumble a few times, dumbfounded at finding another pony that could see me.
The Princess circles me slowly, her gaze traveling up and down before she stops between me and the Statue of Discord. “‘Tis interesting, from thou speech and garb we would place thee as a newly formed specter but from the amount of energy you have accrued we would expect thee to have existed for centuries or even millennia.” She sits back onto her haunches, a hoof raised to her chin in thought.
“I… um, wait a sec… can we back this up a bit and start with you explaining why you can see me…” I stutter out while she is busy contemplating.
She chuckles slightly, lowering her hoof to the ground. “Thou art definitely interesting specter, it has been far too long since we have met one of your ilk that has not been frightened of us.”
After a second I shrug my shoulders, “Uh, what’s to be afraid of, I’m already dead anyway.”
Her slight chortling stops and she looks me in the eye with her eyes narrowed. “Thou would be surprised what can be done to the dead.”
I shudder, suddenly remembering the incident with Zecora’s ritual. “I’ll take your word for it.”
Her stern expression melts back into a more neutral appearance. “Indeed, back to the question at hoof. Beings like mine sister and I exist on both the material and ethereal planes. Tis the reason why we can see thee when you only exist on the ethereal plane.” She runs a hoof through her mane, the stars and nebulas within it flowing around the appendage. “‘Tis also why us three share a common trait, our manes flow within the ethereal wind.” She says while indicating my own hair.
“Huh, I guess that explains that then, thanks for that Princess.” I say with a nod.
She tilts her head slightly with a raised eyebrow, “Ah yes, thou seems to have us at a disadvantage, pray tell us your name spirit.”
“Oh, umm.” I bite my lip, pondering what I should tell her. “I guess you can call me Spooky…uh, your highness.”
She stares blankly at me for a few seconds before a faint grin appears on her face. “Thou art wiser than your mannerisms suggest. ‘Tis a sage decision to keep one's true name close. With such knowledge even a foal could control the actions of one such as thee.”
“Wait, what? Is that really what anyone would need to make me their spiritual plaything?” I ask, my eyes growing large with alarm.
“‘Tis true, since thou art only energy and emotion all thou really has left is your name. The name is the thing after all, and the stronger the connection the stronger sympathetic magic will be.”
I fall silent, trying to process all of this. I look up at her, an eyebrow of my own raised. “You’re being rather candid with me Princess, is there a reason why you are telling me all of this?”
Her grin widens and her eyes seem to sparkle with excitement. “Why? ‘Tis part of our calling Sir Spooky. As Mistress of the Night ‘twas our job to deal with all manner of spirits.” Her smile turns slightly sad as the twinkle leaves her eyes. “Sadly, the spirits of yesteryear have moved on. During our…absence, Celestia decided to simply banish or force souls to move on to the Elysian Glades or some other life hereafter.”
A soft sigh escapes her lips. Silence falls as she turns her head to stare up into the night sky.
“‘Twas a time that I counted many a spirit as one of mine friends…’twas even a time when mine only friends were spirits…perhaps that is the reason why Celestia has such a distrust for them.”
Silence falls again as she continues to survey the night. Slowly I float up next to her and join her in looking at the night sky. After a few minutes of stargazing, I break the silence. “You know Princess, if you would like, I could be your friend.”
Her gaze quickly falls to me, her tone of voice turning from melancholy to surprise. “Truly? Thou would be friends with us?”
I turn to her, chuckling slightly. “Of course Princess, I would love to be friends with you…even if I’m not the greatest of ones apparently.” The last part of my sentence I whisper under my breath.
“Why would you say such a thing Sir Spooky? We may have not known thee for long but we are certain thee will make a magnificent friend.” Luna says, her voice laced with slight concern.
I float there, pondering whether to tell her or not. On one hand I really shouldn’t be bothering her with my own problems. On the other she does seem to be generally concerned and it would be nice to have someone to talk to about it.
“Well, it seems that I have alienated one of my closest friends tonight. “ I slowly start. Luna nods her head, encouraging me to continue. “I…I have a rather abrasive sense of humor and I can be rather…direct I guess. I…Lyra was performing tonight with the band and she was going to perform a solo piece. Right after she started she had a string break and she just froze up. I...I just wanted to help…so I grabbed the harp and started playing, I played what I was feeling and it just came pouring out. When it was over she ran off…when I caught up to her she…she exploded. She told me how I had changed her life, how I was pushing her to do things she wasn’t comfortable with and then she…she told me to get out of her life.”
I hiccup as more tears begin to fall down my cheeks. “I only wanted to help…I thought I was helping…” Luna slowly gets up and sidles up next to me, draping a wing over my shoulder and pulling me close to her. I’m not even taken aback that she can touch me and just accept the little bit of comfort as I slowly cry while we stare at the stars.
The pain in my chest that had built up again slowly begins to fade as my tears slowly stop. Luna shifts slightly as she looks to me. “What will thou do now? Now that you know how thou friend feels?”
Her wing slowly drops from my back as I shift to face her. “I guess I will probably give her some space for a little while. Let her cool down for a little bit before I go and talk with her. Hopefully we can work this out…as a very wise Unicorn once said ‘Friendship may not be easy, but it’s certainly worth fighting for.’ I…I just want my friend back.”
Luna nods slowly, “Yes, ‘tis probably the wisest course of action.” She once again raises a hoof to her chin in contemplation as her eyes narrow slightly. “This ‘Wise Unicorn’ that you speak of, wouldn’t she happen to be the young apprentice of mine sister would it?”
“Yeah, ‘Sparkle-butt’ is that ‘Wise Unicorn.’ I count her and all of the other elements as my friends as well.”
Luna stares at me, her mouth slightly open before it quickly clamps shut. “Yes, we can see that abrasive humor thou were speaking of.” Turning back to stare at Discord she says, “But you being friends with the elements brings many things into context. This Lyra you speak of doesn’t happen to be the same Lyra that was assaulted by a Griffon a few months ago?”
“Yes, the one and the same…please tell me you caught that bastard?”
Luna looks back to me, her eyes crestfallen, “Sadly, we cannot be the bearer of good news. The Griffon’s trail grew cold within the Everfree and we have not had any luck with our contacts within the Griffon lands. We fear that he met his fate within the forest itself.”
The wind picks up slightly, rustling Luna’s feathers as I whisper “Good.”
Taken aback, Luna exclaims, “Sir Spooky, wishing death upon anypony is abhorrent, thou should know the pains of death better than most.”
I close my eyes and the wind that had picked up dies down, “…he was going to eat her Luna, and if I wasn’t there she would be gone.”
Whatever Luna was going to say next seems to die in her throat as a small gasp. Her eyes close as she takes a deep breath and then slowly exhales. When her eyes open again they glower in what I can only describe as righteous anger. “Then we assure thee Spooky, if we ever catch the… ‘Bastard,’ then we will have a lovely dungeon cell with which he can spend the rest of his days.”
The smile that graces my face is one of the few genuine ones I’ve had within the last hour. “Thank you; you don’t know how much that means to me. Even if Lyra doesn’t want to see me again I still want to see her safe.”
The anger in Luna’s eyes softens and her frown melts away. “See, we knew that thou would make a magnificent friend. Your loyalty is clear for all to see.”
“Oh stop it you, if I still had blood you would get me blushing.”
“Yes quite.” She chuckles slightly while she stretches her wings and adjusts her seat. “So, while we wait for thine friend Lyra to ‘cool off’ as they say, shall we make with the chatting of friends?”
“That sounds like a fine idea, what do you want to talk about.”
“Well, we must confess that we are most curious about thyself Sir Spooky. Might you tell us how long you have counted yourself amongst the dead.”
“Oh, um well it’s been almost a year I guess.”
Luna’s mouth opens slightly in surprise and then closes with a snap. “We are most sorry Spooky. We did not realize that it had been so recent for you.”
I wave my hand in dismissal, “It’s fine Luna. I’m not upset about it or anything.”
She looks even more surprised at this, “Truly, thou hast come to terms with your own death.”
“Well yeah.” I say with a nod.
“‘Tis most impressive, it usually takes a restless spirit a better part of a decade to come to terms with their own passing and then even longer for them to move onto the life hereafter.”
“Really?”
“Yes, ‘tis such a shock that most spirits will not accept what has happened to them and they will either fall into depression or swing into a rage. I wonder why thou has not only accepted your lot but how you have gained as much energy as you have.”
“Well, if I had to guess I would say that I have something that a good deal of spirits don’t when they die…besides dashing good looks that is.”
“And what would that be?” Luna says with a small grin on her face.
“Friends of course. I have ponies to talk to, argue with, play with. Heck, if I hadn’t found Lyra, and then the rest of the girls, I probably would have gone insane a long time ago.”
Luna nods slowly, “Yes, having friends can indeed help with the grieving process and we are most glad that thou has found such a magnificent group of friends. However, this still does not explain how strong of a spirit you are.”
I bring a hand to my chin and rub my beard in contemplation. “Would taking a Twilight Tazer to the chest have anything to do with that?”
Luna is silent for a few seconds as her eyebrows quickly disappear into her mane. “A What!?”
“Well, when I was still relatively new here I may have gotten between twilight and a book she was levitating and it felt like I had decided to jump headfirst into a thunderhead.”
Luna blinks a few times before nodding in comprehension. “Ahh thou means that you had a magic infusion. That would only give a temporary boost, perhaps enough energy to manipulate larger objects anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes depending on the source of magic. No, the energy for most spirits is often accrued from their own emotions and from the emotion of them around them combined with their own force of will.”
“Huh…I’m not hurting anyone by doing this am I?”
“No, the worst would be somepony noticing a chill in the air. The only way that thou would hurt somepony would be if you actively drained someone of energy. Thou hasn’t done that have you?”
“No, of course not…”I stop for a second as I begin to think. “Wait, would this active draining look like a trail of sparks?”
“What? Does thou mean that you have experienced this?” She says stepping forward forcefully, her hoof leaving an indent in the stone walkway as she slams it down. “Even if thou is a friend we cannot allow you to continue to harm our subjects!”
I back up a bit, wanting to put some distance between myself and the suddenly irate Princess. “No! I didn’t do it; I stopped a little green spirit from doing it to Trixie! Please don’t get out the gris gris bag…”
I cower away from the Princess expecting her to smite me with lightning or some other form of righteous fury, but when I didn’t find myself banished to the Moon I looked up. The image I’m presented with almost makes me want to curl up into the fetal position again. Luna’s hair seems to have frozen in mid wave, her wings are raised slightly as if she was a cat trying to make herself look larger, but it’s her face that scares me the most. Her mouth is drawn into a thin line and her eyes stare straight through me.
She steps forward again and I float backwards at the same time. She stops when she notices that I’m keeping my distance. In a quivering voice she asks, “Tell us we beg, what does this spirit look like?”
Dumbfounded, I float there for a few seconds. “Umm, well it was about ye high.” I say while I hold my hands about a foot apart. “And it had limbs that I couldn’t really make out and they were green and very hazy.”
Luna’s hair slowly begins moving again as she slumps down into a sitting position. “This is grim tidings that you bring to us Sir Spooky. If what thou speak of is true then we might have the first confirmed sighting in centuries of a mara.”
“A what in the who now?”
“A mara, they are spirits that have taken to stealing the energy of the living. They accomplish this by sitting on the chests of sleeping ponies and forcing their emotions to the surface so they can feast on them. They are the original cause of nightmares and…and they were part of the forces that we employed during our…rebellion against our sister.”
“…that’s, not good is it.”
“No, ‘tis ill-boding that we should have a sighting of one since our return…of course this could be due to ponies not recognizing the signs of a mara’s influence.” She falls silent again, her ears drooping. “Tell us, where did you see these apparitions.”
“Uh, well I saw two in the Everfree and I’m not entirely sure but I believe I might have seen a glimpse of one in Ponyville. I can’t be one hundred percent on the one in Ponyville though, and it was a few months ago.”
Luna steps forward again and this time I’m able to hold my ground as she rears back and places both of her front hooves on my shoulders. “You must make me a promise Spooky, can you do that for us?” She asks, her eyes practically pleading with me.
“Of course Luna, what do you need me to do?” I say as I grasp one of her hooves in my hand.
“Swear to us that you will alert us if you ever see another mara.” She says, shaking me slightly.
“Yes, I can do that.”
“Swear it! Swear that thou will alert us before anything else!” She says louder, shaking me like a rag doll.
“Y-yes, I s-swear. I’ll tell you first.”
“Good…good.” Luna slowly lowers her hooves away from me and the manic glint in her eyes seems to have disappeared. “We thank thee Spooky, we don’t wish the suffering those beings cause on any of our little ponies.”
“Yeah…good.” I mutter.
Luna looks up at me sheepishly, “We apologize for our behavior Sir Spooky, ‘twas very unladylike of us.”
“Don’t worry about it Luna, in all honesty I’ve been worried about them for a while myself, I just haven’t really had anyone that I could talk to about them. Ha, I didn’t want to tell Twilight because she would have probably gone charging off into the Everfree to try and catch one.”
“‘Tis a likely conclusion, from what we understand from our sister her student is diligent to the point of driving herself to hysterics.”
“Aint that the truth.” I say as Luna and I share a chuckle.
After a few seconds of silence I snap my fingers. “Wait a minute; you were saying that even with me getting all of my energy from my friends and the ‘magic infusions’ that I shouldn’t have as much energy as I do.”
“Thou are quite correct, ‘tis quite the enigma.”
“Thats me, an enigma within a mystery smothered in nacho cheese.”
Much to my chagrin Luna doesn’t seem to find that very humorous. “Yes…perhaps your origins might shine some light on this. We do not wish to offend you, but could thou perhaps tell us the means of your death?”
“Oh well that’s an easy one. A combination of an unhealthy lifestyle combined with a family history of heart disease and stroke is probably what did me in.”
Luna seems taken aback for a moment. “Truly? But thou are so young.”
“Yeah, pretty young. But eating nothing but greasy college food, going to a number of parties to drink myself into a stupor, and going days without sleep would do that to someone.”
I try my hardest not to laugh as Princess Luna does her impression of Lyra doing her impression of a fish. “We…I…what…what institution would allow one of their students to do that to themselves!?”
“It was just a small state school you will never have heard of.”
“And why would we have never heard of this institute for higher learning? Would it be because of our…absence?”
“Nah, it’s just because it’s in another world.”
Silence falls again before it is brilliantly shattered. “WHAT? THOU ART FROM ANOTHER PLANE OF EXISTENCE…BUT THAT IS NOT POSSIBLE!”
The shrillness of the Royal Canterlot Voice has raised all of my hair and made all of my tendrils stand on end. The soft sounds of the nighttime animals within the gardens have also been silenced.
“Well, if I still had a body I’m pretty sure my eardrums would have ruptured right there.” I shake my head a few times to clear my head.
Luna looks a little ashamed at least, “We apologize Sir Spooky, we lost ourselves in our confusion, how, how in the name of my sisters sun do you come from another world?”
“Oh you know; I died, saw the tunnel with the light at the end, decided to go the wrong way down the tunnel, met a black miasma that turned out to be a girl that turned out to be the Gatekeeper and then I made a joke.”
“You made a joke? That is how you came to our world?”
“Yeah, more or less.”
“Now who is this ‘Gatekeeper’ that you mentioned?”
“That would be me.” Said a voice that sent a chill running down my incorporeal spine. Luna’s eyes had grown to an astounding size as her pupils shrank to pinpricks.
Dread filled me as I slowly turned on the spot. I froze as the swirling black miasma of the Gatekeeper greeted me.
My echoing girlish scream is interrupted when a bone-cold finger is pressed to my lips. “Shhh, my sweet little keymaster. Now that is no way to greet your lover is it?”
Suddenly I find myself tilted backwards with black tendrils wrapped around me and both of the Gatekeepers hands gently pressed to the side of my face. “This is how you greet your lover.” She whispers before she presses her lips to mine. An electric tingle spreads outward from my mouth and quickly encompasses my whole body, right to the very tips of my tendrils.
I struggle weakly at first but I slowly cease resisting as the tingling turns to pleasure. Excruciatingly slowly, the tingle morphs, it feels as if I had a hundred fingers running up and down my body.
An eternity passes, and far too quickly I feel the Gatekeeper pull away, leaving me listlessly floating in her embrace.
“Isn’t that much better my love?” She asks, her stark white teeth revealed in an amused grin.
“I..wha..huh?” I stutter. The Gatekeepers grin widens at this and I honestly don’t know how to react to it.
I glance over at Luna who has been strangely quiet throughout all of this. She’s standing still with her wings partially flared at her sides and a slight blush is barely visible under her dark coat.
When she realizes that I’m staring at her, she brings a hoof to her mouth and coughs delicately into it. “Ahem, we beg your pardon, but are thou the Gatekeeper?”
The Gatekeeper turns to Luna without releasing me from her grip. “Yes, I am the Gatekeeper, it is… Nice to see you Moonmover.”
Luna tilts her head in confusion, “Dost we know thee?”
“Indeed we have met, perhaps you do not remember our last meeting; you were in the thrall of the Nightmare at the time.” The Gatekeeper says as she slowly strokes the side of my face with one of her tendrils.
Luna seems to be taken aback before her eyes narrow in a steely gaze. “If thou speaks the truth, then I wish to know under what circumstance we hast met before.”
“Yes, I had a hunch that you were not conscious for that. If you truly wish to know, the Nightmare had approached me about joining her in conquering this world. I said ‘no’ obviously, rather violently in fact.”
Luna’s iron hard stare melts into a puddle of shame. “We are most regretful for that, would thou be willing to accept our apologies?”
The Gatekeeper waves a hand at her, “There is nothing for you to apologize for, your actions were not your own but those of the Nightmare.”
“You speak as if thou know what the Nightmare was.”
“Was? You mean is. The Nightmare was not destroyed; it was merely ripped out of you.” The Gatekeeper says as a few of her tendrils wrap around me tighter.
As this information sinks in, Luna slowly begins to look more and more horrified. “Are thou telling us that the Nightmare is still out there?”
“Yes, that is exactly what I am saying. Your elements are powerful but they are artifacts of purification, not destruction. They saw that you were possessed and merely expelled the Nightmare from your body.”
“Does thou mean that the Nightmare was a spirit, an outside force and not a manifestation of mine own anger?”
“Yes, the Nightmare was given power from your anger, but was not your anger made manifest.”
“We…do not know what to say. This lifts a weight off of mine shoulders, but if the nightmare was not me then what was it?” Luna asks.
The Gatekeeper chuckles slightly, “The Nightmare is merely a spirit that was not allowed to move on. It existed for millennia within this world gathering hatred and malice towards all living things. That’s the reason why I believe it targeted you since an eternal night would have eventually killed everything in this world.”
Luna shakes her head back and forth, contemplating something. “Then…if the Nightmare was merely expelled from us then it is still roaming our world? Perhaps preying upon innocents again?!” Luna asks, her voice rising into a frantic pitch.
The gatekeeper shakes her head, “I wouldn’t worry about that, your elements would have left her weak. It will take her many centuries to regain her power.”
“This is all well and good, and I’m sure Luna has gotten some much needed closure, but can you please tell me why you’re here?” I say while trying to wiggle out of the Gatekeepers grasping appendages which only seem to squeeze harder the more I struggle.
The Gatekeeper smiles, which is incredibly creepy when the only two discernable features on her face are her glowing red eyes that seem to stare straight through me (which I realize they could) and her stark white smile that contrasts with the rest of her form. “I came because you called me, whenever my Keymaster calls me I shall be there for him.” She says as she pulls me closer to her and pressed my head against her misty bosom. “Ohhh, I shall hug you and squeeze you and call you my Keymaster.” Now this would have been rather adorable if she had not said it in a gravelly voice that sent shivers down my ethereal spine.
Luna just stares at us, looking like a combination of wanting to either run away screaming or break down giggling right there in the garden. She raises a hoof tentatively before saying “Spooky dost ask a valid question, why art thou here exactly.”
The Gatekeeper giggles in the deep voice once again, “I’m here because he called me here, simple as that.”
“I called you?” I ask, slightly perplexed.
“Yes of course, simply call my name and I shall be there for you.” She says as she slowly drags the back of her hand across my cheek.
“Well that’s good to know I guess.” I pause for a second, trying to gather my thoughts into something coherent. “There is one thing I’ve wanted to ask you…why?”
The gatekeeper tilts her head to the side, “Why what?”
“Why me?”
“I still do not understand what you wish to know, my beloved.”
“I believe Sir Spooky wishes to know why you have chosen him as your ‘Keymaster’ if we are not mistaken.” Luna interjects.
“Why it is simplicity itself, you proclaimed yourself the Keymaster so that is what I made you. It has been longer than I can remember since I have had a counterpart and I have been terribly lonely. It is great to have someone again.” She then twirls me around and plants a few kisses across my face, leaving me rather flustered.
She suddenly stops spinning and releases me from her grasp. “Now I’m afraid I have to take my leave, there is work to be done. Remember now my Keymaster if you have need of me simply call me. Now stay out of trouble.” She says as she taps my nose a few times with her forefinger before slowly fading away.
Luna and I stand there for a few seconds, staring at the spot where the Gatekeeper had been.
“Well, she was certainly interesting.” Luna says, breaking the silence.
“Yeah, I guess she was.” I mutter back.
“So what is the saying again that the foals use these day? Oh yes, ‘Spooky and the Gatekeeper sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G…” Luna starts singing while dancing back and forth on her hooves.
“Oh shush you.” I say as she chuckles. “To tell you the truth this isn’t the first time I have been dating a girl without knowing it.”
Luna stops chuckling and tilts her head to the side with an ear folded to her head, “Really?”
“Yeah, Sandra. She was a girl that I knew back at college in my theater group. She apparently decided we were going to be dating one day and didn’t get around to informing me about it until three weeks later.”
“Huh, ‘tis a most amusing life you have led Spooky.”
“Yeah, you can say that again.” I turn to look back to where the Gatekeeper had vanished. “I wonder if I should take her on a date.”
Luna cracks another smile, “That would be the path of wisdom; I do not believe the Gatekeeper is a lady you would wish to get on the wrong side of.”
“True, true…the question though would be what would we do, as you can see I am a little low on funding…perhaps a long float along the beach would do…if there’s a beach around here.”
“We are sure you will think of something, perhaps a_“ Luna is cut off mid sentence by a shout originating from the castle.
“SPOOKY! Where are you?!” I hear the voice of a certain aquamarine Unicorn that I’m not quite sure I am ready to see call out. “Oh where could he have gotten too? I hope he hasn’t left…”
“Don’t worry Lyra, I’m sure he hasn’t gone too far.” Says Pinkie, who seems to be getting closer as the sounds of hoof steps can be heard echoing on the gravel path.
“According to my spell he should be in this direction girls, come on let's hurry.” I hear Twilight call as she and the rest of the girls come cantering into view.
“SPOOKY!” Lyra shouts as she catches sight of me and gallops up to us. She screeches to a halt, sending pebbles flying everywhere, when she sees Luna standing next to me. She plops herself down, alternating between looking at me and Luna as the rest of the girls (excluding Spike and Bon Bon) trot up behind her.
“P-Princess Luna, what are you doing out here?” Twilight asks.
As Luna turns to look at the group of girls Fluttershy dives behind Applejack while Pinkie starts vibrating in place with a manic grin spread across her face. “We are simply enjoying our night, what brings you all into the gardens?” Luna asks with one of the best Poker faces I’ve seen.
Twilight glances at me and then back at the Princess, “Uhh, we were looking for somepony, I’m sorry if we disturbed you.”
“Nonsense, ‘tis always a pleasure to see you Twilight Sparkle and it’s a pleasure to see the rest of you as well. Now, perhaps you can tell me of this pony thou are looking for and we could be of assistance in locating them.” She says with a slight twinkle in her eye.
“I, well, he, uhh….I mean, don’t worry about it Princess, I’m sure we can find him by ourselves.” Twilight stutters while her eyes shift back and forth nervously.
“Oh ‘tis a Stallion, has one of you perhaps found a paramour?” She asks her grin widening.
“NO! I m-mean no, Princess, he’s just a friend.” Twilight shouts, a small blush forming on her cheeks as she tries not to look at me.
“Oh give them a break Luna, can’t you see you're going to give the poor girl a heart attack.” I say while nudging Luna.
“Oh, so you girls were looking for Sir Spooky, why did thou not say so?” Luna says as her grin morphs into that of the shit-eating variety.
“And here I thought it was your sister who was the prankster.” I say while nudging her again.
“We have been taking lessons from her, ‘tis quite amusing.”
“WHAT!? SHE CAN SEE YOU!?” Twilight shouts as the rest of the girls begin discussing amongst themselves and Fluttershy tries to make herself as small as possible .
“Of course she can see me, she is THE Princess of the Night and holds phenomenal cosmic power, did you expect anything less.” I’m cut off rather quickly as Luna smacks me upside the head with a wingtip.
“Oh still your tongue Spooky, thou was just as surprised as she was that I could see you.”
“Well yeah, but she didn’t know that.”
My argument with Luna is cut short by a whisper coming from the mare sitting right in front of us. “I’m sorry”
The various conversations around us ground to a halt as we all turn to Lyra. “Lyra…I…”
“Spooky, I’m so sorry, I…” I stop Lyra with a tendril to her lips.
“Ladies, could you give me and Lyra some privacy please.” I ask the rest of the group who all give nods or a quiet yes before trotting off a short distance away. Princess Luna gives us a sad smile before joining the rest of the girls as well.
Lyra looks up at me, her large eyes watering around the edges and her bottom lip quivering slightly. I sigh before I lower myself down so I’m on eye level with her. “Lyra…I’m the one who should be sorry, I…”
“NO, You did nothing wrong! You were only trying to help me and I took out my anger on you…you’re always trying to help me….”
“Lyra, of course I’m going to help you, you’re my friend. I guess I just don’t go about it the right way…and I know I’m a jerk, I’m a colossal jerk and I just end up hurting those I care about when I mess around.”
“No Spooky, I know you’re kinda tough to be around sometimes but you’re always trying to make me laugh or make sure that I’m doing alright. I’m the one who exploded on you when everything didn’t go my way. I mean tonight has been great and it was all thanks to you getting me here in the first place. How do I repay you, by yelling at you….Spooky, could you ever forgive me for that?” Lyra says as twin streams of tears start flowing down her cheeks.
“Oh Lyra, of course I can forgive you. Can you forgive me for being such a pain in the ass?” I say, small grey tears beginning to build up in my own eyes.
“Yes, a thousand times yes.” She exclaims before pouncing at me with her arms spread wide only to pass right through me. She chuckles a little bit before letting out a hiccup, “oh yeah, I forgot about that.”
I smile before I pick her up with a cloud of tendrils and carry her over to the group of quietly chatting equines with a smile on my face.
The girls look up at us as we approach with expectant faces and when I just float there with Lyra in my arms Rarity steps forward. “Well Darling, by the look on your face I’m guessing that you were able to resolve your little conflict?”
“Yeah…yeah we did.” I say as I look down at the smiling Unicorn in my embrace.
Pinkie suddenly shoots into the air “YAY, Lyra and Spooky made up! You know what this calls for?”
“A party?” We all ask in unison.
“No you sillies, it calls for a GROUP HUG!” She yells as she grabs all the girls, including Luna, and pulls them all together centered on me and Lyra. All the girls end up just hugging Lyra with me floating there amongst them, but it was the thought that counts.
“You know, when we get back this would make a great Friendship report to send to Princess Celestia.” Twilight says excitedly as they disentangle themselves from the massive pony pile.
Luna looks down at Twilight for a second, “It would indeed make a fine report for mine sister but…perhaps it would be best if you did not tell her which of your two friends where fighting.”
“Why would I do that Princess?” Twilight asks, obviously confused.
“Mine sister is rather, how should I put this…not fond of spiritual creatures, and it might be best if she did not know of Sir Spooky’s presence in Ponyville.”
“Now hold on a second there Princess, now ah don’ think its right ta be askin’ Twi to lie to Princess Celestia like that.” Applejack interjects.
Luna shakes her head, “‘Tis not a lie, we are simply asking her to omit the names of Spooky and Lyra.”
“I…I guess I can do that Princess, if you think it would be best.” Twilight says, not looking entirely convinced.
“Well enough of drama for tonight.” I say as I clap my hands together. “What do you say about us collecting Spike and Bon Bon and heading home for the night?”
Twilight slowly nods while the rest of the group gives their various agreements, poor Fluttershy nodding so hard it looked like she was banging her head against the ground.
After saying our farewells to Luna we begin to head back towards the castle. “Say Lyra, do you remember when I helped you plan your dates with Bon Bon,” I ask.
“Yeah, why?” Lyra says as she trots a little faster to catch up with the rest of the group.
Thinking back to the Gatekeeper I chuckle slightly, “Well, I think it might be time for you to return the favor.”
“Huh?” The look on Lyra’s face just makes me laugh as we walk off into the night.
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Luna is totally best starfire(teen titans cartoon)
Having finished the chapter now, is lyra going to think Spooky really hit it off with Luna? given the lack of real context, that does seem like a probability, at least unitl explained
...It's alive? Huh. I'll have to read the chapter in the next couple of days.
IT'S ALIVE IT'S ALIVE!!
kind of anyways
IT'S ALIVE!!! I don't care about your excuses. As long as you're alive and well and can update, I don't care.
I choose option number D: You're lazy, like the rest of us
#optionA4dayz
holy shit, its in the feature box already.
uuhmm number 2
Option 1, because ponies.
Option c. It's very generous for you to give up your time like that.
Glad you're alive and relatively well. We missed you.
It's a good thing that the Gatekeeper knew about Spooky's little lie. I was sort of dreading the moment such a powerful spirit discovers that she was deceived.
This is something I haven't seen in a long time,tis' good to see it alive
4108135 HEY THAT WAS MY JOKE NOW WHAT JOKE AM I GOING TO SAY hmmmmm I got one the keymasters key does not ft in the gate keeper lock if you know what I mean*nudge* nudge* wink *wink* eh eh/??
All three options are fairly likely. Two is a strong candidate though.... Hm, What if you aren't you and evil you kidnapped real you and now evil you is trying to trick us into being slaves by writing the fic. Y
Dude hank you s much for updating.
This is one of my all time favorite stories and I was afraid that you had given up on it. Can't wait for the next chapter.
Some writer I know of got hit by a truck at some point, and I'm going to assume that's not tremendously common for writers so I gonna say option 1. In any case its glad to have you back.
1) I didn't whine about not getting the next chapter.
2) No, even if I had I still wouldn't feel bad.
3) None of your excuses are true because; one and three are patently false and two is the natural, and only sensible, normality and thus not a valid excuse.
Fantastic update! It's always nice to see fics I'd almost forgotten about update again.
And don't worry about the break - no matter what people say, you're doing this on your own time because you enjoy doing it, not because it's our right to be given regularly scheduled AiE wish fulfillment fics. I'm just glad you were able to get over your depression, at least temporarily. Has your situation changed, or was this a force-of-will kind of thing?
4108260 I made a promise to myself to finish this story and I don't break promises...because Pinkie is always watching.
Number 2. Definitely number 2.
I hope to see a few more chapters in the near future. :)
Woo hoo!
Clearly it was reason one that the author didn't get around to updating. I mean, isn't it sooo obvious?
Good to see the story is still alive, if just snailing along. I was smiling throughout the whole chapter for the most part, pretty funny happenings going on, especially with Ms Gatekeeper.
Well whatever the reason why you took your break(i'm guessing writers block/depression) it is good to have you back. Don't feel the need to rush with the story to get another chapter out; take your time, we will be waiting for whenever you decide to update. Thank you for the story thus far, it has been quite enjoyable to read.
1-st is only reasenable excuse for not writting this story
"What wilt thou do now? Now that thou knowest how thy friend feels?"
In early modern English, thou/thee/thy/thine is singular informal while ye/you/your/yours is plural or singular formal... like tu vs. vous in modern French.
thou is the object and thee is the subject (like I vs. my and he vs. him).
You conjugate a verb associated with "thou" by adding "st" or "est" (whichever sounds right. This was before standardized spelling) and "will" is one of five irregular verbs where you contract it further. In this case, with "wilt".
"thy" is equivalent to "your".
Finally, while it's not specifically needed for your sentence, I might as well explain "ye".
While we now use "you" as both the subject (You did it to him) and object (He did it to you), we used to use "ye" as the subject (Ye did it). You can still see that in two bits of archaic flavour text: "Oh, ye of little faith" and "Hear ye, hear ye!"
Since it's a potential point of confusion, I should clarify that it has nothing to do with "ye olde shoppe", which is actually pronounced "The old shop".
The "olde" and "shoppe" are because it was before standard spellings. The "ye" is a little more complicated.
Basically, we used to use a letter called Thorn (Þ and þ) for the "th" sound (Icelandic still does... along with its brother Eth (Ð and ð)) but, when we started using printing presses, they were made in italy. Since latin-derived languages don't use Thorn, we had to substitute something else and chose "Y" during the period before "th" caught on.
"yea high"
And yes, there are a lot of similar words to trip over, like "yay/nay" meaning yes/no.
"Art thou..." (See my prior explanation of verb conjugation with "thou")
"my shoulders" (my/mine is like a/an. You use "mine" if the next word begins with a vowel. Same with "thy/thine". "my hat, mine eyes")
4108323 the more ya know kiddies
Thanks for the tip
IT'S ALIVE!
Number 3. Because that is both interesting and possible. Also because I would hope to not see you depressed (or injured.)
UPDATE~~~
Alas, need to read later. I've got classes in a few.
4108344
Glad I could help.
The other useful thing to know for proper archaic and/or formal English is the proper use of "shall".
Basically, "shall" is to "will" as "should" is to "would".
Their meanings are close enough that informal English just uses "will" almost everywhere now, but "will" is future tense without will behind the event (eg. "I will (inevitably) fall asleep") while "shall" connotes will, prophecy, command, or order (eg. "I shall fall asleep" meaning "I have decided to fall asleep (in the future)").
The easiest place to hear the distinction is probably "Shall we?" vs. "Will we?"
is the only excuse you can have for not continuing.
I'm glad to see an update. I'm even happier to see so much resolved and answered about lyra, the evil spirits, the gatekeeper, Luna etc. This was truly an awesome chapter. Thank you very much.
As for the three stories: Isn't Number 2 exactly what a lot of us were doing before we discovered Ponies in the first place?
While I hope that Number 1 was not what really happened, if it was, I'll pray for a speedy recovery and hope your Pony dreams were epic. I'm jealous of the dream part. I never dream of ponies. My dreams consist of losing my teeth, and bad days at work, family drama, and other oh so wonderfully similar things...
Well, I'm sorry you were in a coma for so long.
don't you dare f-ing die on me now!
i need this story
Hmmm, Sir Spooky / Gatekeeper... Why do I not hate this and am instead excited to see where it goes?
I call bullshit on 1, because no-one's THAT lucky.
I call bullshit on 3, because I don't like children.
I will gladly accept 2, because I also suffer from horrendous writer's block and while I have never played a tebletop RPG, despite wanting to, I have a tendency to immerse myself into video games to the point of hallucinations.
I think the ones caused by Conker's Bad Fur Day were the worst so far.
Good job feeding the starving nibberlets! (I'm not racist)
They're ALL correct!
Really interesting concept, looking forward to more!
Edit: Does anyone else imagine "Spooky" to look like Davesprite from Homestuck?
4108487 <--- That guy's picture for reference on who "Davesprite from Homestuck" is
Hmm, does he really need to fear banishment by Celestia, considering he is dating the Gatekeeper?
He could just go back to Equestria after being thrown out. After all, it is no use throwing someone out the door if that someone has the "key" to said door.
Btw, I'm guessing 3, because that would make me feel highly of you.
Holy crap! It's undead! 4108166 Girl's got needs. So, even though she knew he was joking, she made it true by accepting it as an answer.
4108619
Yeah, It's lucky for Spooky that she was "hiring" so to speak.
The gatekeeper is apparently an immensely powerful spirit. Imagine if the keymaster role was already filled? She's definitely not a girl you want to annoy.
Huzzah! Finaly a update!
*GASP* Celestia does not want spectral/otherwordly/supernatural/dead inividuals in her Kingdom!!?? That's racist!!!!
“We are sure you will think of something, perhaps a_“ Luna is cut off
“oh yeah, I forgot about that.”
1. I think ye accidentally held thine Shift key. Knave
(jk)
2. Forgot to capitalise.
For a minute, I actually thought the first story was true because I know an author who had almost shit bricks. Well, technically they had bricks fall on their head but yes.
I envy your option 2 though, I'm a recluse and have next to no experience with table top games
holy shit this story lives.
almost a full year gone by.
Please, excuse #1 is false, you don't dream while in a coma. You only dream during REM sleep. Excuse #3, while noble of cause, is highly unlikely because you never said anything about it leading up to the event itself.
Excuse #2 is the most probable.
In my case, I was spiraling down the life of a shut-in hermit as WoW drew in more and more of my free time outside work. Luckily FimFic came along and like David, smote the Goliath of WoW with ponies. My horrible addiction broken, I've since found real people and gone to a few Bronie meets.
My vote is for option 4: You are actually a time traveling space mercenary and you ended up trapped in the future, hunted by cybernetic velociraptors under the surface of Titan. Tell us what season 5 is like!
BooYa! Great to see you back, I seriously love this story.
Huh, and Spooky's got a ... spooky girlfriend now, that's ironically adorable. 
Imma go with number 3... Did I win anything?
Or what about option 5 there was a zombie outbreak near where he lives so he had to spend a couple of months with no power trying to find survivors, water and food while killing zombies with a katana and ozi and a badass pair of sunglasses.
Oh man, I literally just looked through my favorites last night, sad so many good ones had died... And then one of them updates next morning! Woo!