97 - Absolve us of our Sins
Twilight, riding Celestus' body, walked alongside her friends down the hallway to the front of their inn. Drowsy perked up from her usual sleepy state to look at them all and frowned a moment thoughtfully, "You're missing one."
Spike quickly shook a claw, "Nah, she's out, room's clear. We might come back later, but the room's all clear for the next guest."
Drowsy seemed to accept this, "Thank you. I hope I see you again." Her head went back down to the counter, already looking asleep again. The group filed out onto the street and the morning sun.
Twilight savored the simple pleasure of feeling the warmth of the sun, but it was interrupted as she got an internal nudge. "I think I know where the temple is." She turned and moved towards a larger street, her friends trailing behind her.
Soft shook her head as she walked, "Probably for the best Long Road isn't here. I think he'd collapse having to think of you as that stallion, Twilight."
Twilight twitched her borrowed ear, "Huh? He doesn't... you know, look at me that way. That's why he's with Rarity."
Soft rolled her eyes, "You're adorably dense. Of course he likes you. He didn't hide that. But it was a choice, and he's not going to string you both along. I couldn't say how Equestria works, but only farm ponies and wild stallions even consider herding these days."
Twilight felt her new cheeks warming furiously as she stumbled mid-step, though quickly recovering, "I'm not sure how I'd feel about being in any kind of relationship with one of my best friends involved."
Rainbow made a face as she flew above, "Seriously? That's your worry? Any stallion I net is going to have to work full time just keeping up with me, they wouldn't have time to deal with any other mares."
Applejack gave a soft merry laugh, "Ah agree with Dash. Any stallion joining tha Apple tribe's gotta take on his share of making the farm work, and that doesn't leave time for juggling a bunch a mares. Shoot, that sounds like a job all of its own. Do ponies really do that?"
Spike looked a bit uncomfortable with where the conversation was headed. Soft noticed his stiff walk and patted him on the back, "Relax, Spike. Dragons don't do any of that, right?"
"Uh, I think so?" said Spike quite uncertainly. "One mare's hard enough to understand."
Soft ribbed him lightly, "Then it's settled. It's hard enough for just two people to get their act together. Toss in more and someone's going to trip over someone else eventually."
They passed into a neighborhood that appeared to be meant for religious pursuits. There were temples on either side of the narrowed road they followed. It was a bit quieter, though the songs and prayers of many could be heard, drifting from their temples. Twilight squirmed in her new form a little, drawing Applejack's attention.
"You OK Sugarcube?" she asked, looking sidelong at Twilight with concern. "You're looking fussier than a long-tailed cat in a room fulla rockin' chairs."
Twilight went full red in her face, "You're... I have to go."
"So go," said Rainbow Dash with a confused tone.
"But it's a stallion!" objected Twilight hotly, starting to trot in place from one hoof to another.
Applejack reasoned as she smiled comfortingly at Twilight, "Then ya best go take care of that. He's in there, aint he? Don't make him sit around all uncomfy like. Just don't think about it sa hard."
Twilight couldn't argue the logic, and trotted off quickly. The group waited for her to return, which she did about two minutes later, much less tense looking, but her blush had hardly decreased. When they resumed their journey, Rainbow Dash flew in close to Twilight, "So... How was it?"
Twilight froze in place a moment before she shook her head violently and she resumed walking forward, not answering the question, much to Dash's obvious disappointment. Rainbow rolled her eyes, "Spoil sport."
Spike crossed his arms as he walked, "Lay off her, Dash. This is already weird enough."
"Once in a life-time opportunity!" argued Dash, giving her wings an emphatic flap. "If I was a stallion for a day..."
Soft held up a hand, "I don't think anyone here wants to know what you'd do."
Rainbow stuck out her tongue before she flipped over in place, "It'd be awesome."
Applejack shook her head, "You're impossible, Dash. C'mere." Dash flew over to Applejack and a soft whispered exchange drifted between the two of them. Afterwards Rainbow Dash stopped talking about it, a blush of her own across her blue furred face, and a smug expression on Applejack's.
Further such conversation ground to a halt as they arrived at a library. Its presence seemed off compared to the temples all around it until they spied a statue of Princess Luminace perched above the door, seated with a book floating in front of her.
"Of course," said Twilight in her masculine voice, "Her temple would be a library. Perfectly logical." She trotted up to the door and took hold of it in her ghostly telekinesis, pulling it open with a violent swing. It banged against its wall loudly, causing a chorus of 'shhh' 'quiet' and disapproving glares from various ponies inside. Twilight wilted in place under the shared shaming. Suddenly she felt a powerful internal pressure and she struggled a moment, her grip on her new body waving a moment before she could restore her mental footing.
"You ok?" asked Dash as she landed.
Twilight nodded, "Yea, just got fuzzy for a moment. Let's go."
They proceeded into the library temple, and the doors gently closed themselves behind the party without a whisper of a noise. A goat approached them with a smile. "Welcome to the stacks of Princess Luminace. How can I help you today?" he asked in barely a whisper.
Twilight tilted her borrowed head at the goat, "I thought Princess Luminace was a pony god."
The goat shook his head, "She does not reject cloven followers. She is a wise and gentle god of knowledge, and it is my pleasure to serve her. What brings you before her today?"
Spike hiked a thumb at Twilight, "We're looking for a cleric powerful enough to bring a ghost back to life."
The goat frowned, looking Twilight over again, "He looks perfectly alive to me. I'm afraid I don't understand."
Dash nudged Twilight in her concealed cutie mark, "Time to come out of there."
Twilight hesitated, the body was so warm, and felt nice. With the most sullen of sighs she let go of that grip, and suddenly she was beside Celestus instead of inside of him. The goat jumped in surprise at her appearance as Celestus wobbled with recovering control.
With increased understanding, the goat nodded quickly, "Follow me, but bring no harm to others while you are here. Princess Luminace would not tolerate violence among her people." He spun around and began to trot away, leading them into the depths of the library, and up some stairs.
Twilight's eyes wandered over all the books they passed, "This is quite the collection. It would take years to read it all."
The goat perked an ear back, "Very few can claim without lie to have read them all."
"May I?" asked Twilight, "After, you know..."
"The standard donation," spoke the goat, "Is ten gold pieces per day. Multiplied by ten if you intend to bring scribing materials with you. The money goes towards upkeep of the library." He arrived at a door and knocked on it so quietly the group could barely hear it.
It was loud enough. The door soon opened and a wizened equine snout appeared. An elderly mare looked at the goat, then onwards to the ghostly Twilight and her entourage. Her eyes widened at the sight, but Celestus pushed forward, "Be at peace, director. The ghost is here at the summons of Luminace herself. She comes in peace and humbly."
Twilight quickly nodded at this, "I just want to be alive again."
The aged mare looked to the goat and waved him away, "Come in."
Soon the entire group was in the private room. It was scarcely large enough to fit them all. Applejack moved for the exit, "Ahm not gonna be helpful with this magic stuff. Ah'll wait outside." Rainbow wasn't as quick to flee, instead perching on a lower book shelf easily. With the two of them no longer taking up space at the ground level, there was room enough.
Twilight approached the desk that the old mare had set herself behind, "Can you help me? Luminace seemed like a nice pony when I met her. If she brought me here, it has to be for a good reason."
The mare and Celestus shared a surprised expression. Celestus asked first, "Do you mean literally, or figuratively?"
"Literally," replied Twilight, tilting her head.
The mare nodded, "You have attended one of her visitations then? To bask in her presence is an awe inspiring event. There was some complication with it this year, unfortunately." She raised a fuzzy brow at Twilight, "Now. How long have you been in this state?"
Twilight sighed out with soft echoing, "It feels like forever, but really just coming on a week?" She suddenly turned to Celestus, "Thank you, for allowing me to ride you here. It was very... educational."
Celestus shook his head, "You were in need, and you didn't do anything... too strange. Can you help her, Director?"
The mare held out a hoof and a book flew to it without any obvious magic on her part. She set it down on her desk and it flopped open to the page she wanted as she read over the exposed page quickly, "It will require a Resurrection spell, presuming you have a portion of her body?"
Twilight wilted, "Celestia wouldn't let anypony close to it."
Spike shook his head, "Sure, but now that we're here, with people that can help? We should ask her to send it." He dug out his writing supplies, "I'll send her a message in a flash."
Rainbow nodded from her high perch, "Not like she has any use for it." Her tone heavily implied she was baffled at the possible point of a corpse.
Soft made an agreeing sound as she moved to Spike's side. Together they wrote a quick letter.
Dear Princess Celestia,
We've found clerics that can restore Twilight to life, but we need her body for it. The whole thing would be great, but even a portion would suffice. It will be good to have Twilight back in a real body as soon as possible. We hope things are going well in Equestria!
Thanks,
Spike and Soft Mane
With a puff of controlled electricity, the letter was destroyed and sent on its way. The mare tilted her head lightly, "That is a unique variation of that spell. If you would consent to its study, we could count your pay towards her revival."
Spike looked to her, "Huh, what, the letter sending?"
She nodded, "Just the one. Can you send letters longer than two dozen words?"
Spike bobbed his head, "As long as I want. I've sent, and received, entire scrolls. It's a little uncomfortable when they're really big, but I can do it. I didn't know it was a spell though."
She smiled gently, "All magic can be a spell, when studied properly and codified. It would be be a marked improvement if we could properly codify your talent."
Spike opened his mouth to agree eagerly when Soft Mane's hand fell over it. "How much are you offering?" she asked.
The mare looked towards Twilight, then back at Spike and Soft, "What you request will require diamonds of non-negotiable value. One thousand to begin the study, and another four if we can produce a spell from it. A very fair sum."
Twilight shuffled in place, "I don't mean to be rude, but if you do succeed in making this spell, I imagine you'll make back five thousand very quickly at the standard going rate." She raised a spectral hoof, "Would you double that, please? You may study Spike, and if you discover the secret, we'll trade for my revival." She hesitated, "This won't hurt him, right? I don't want Spike hurt for any amount of coin."
Spike smiled brightly, "It's my choice, Twilight. I can take a little abuse if it gets you back."
The mare waved a hoof lightly, "It shouldn't come to that, sir dragon. We will just need to make exacting notes of you while you use this talent, both sending and receiving, then it will be up to our scholars to determine how to translate that into a practical spell, instead of a wild 'talent' as you have. I see no reason for any harm to befall you."
Celestus smiled, "Do they have a deal, director?"
She sighed softly, "Very well, but this presumes you retrieve a portion of her. The spell required if we have nothing is much more complex, and expensive.
Celestus bowed his head, "Then my task is complete, Luminace be praised. Be well, and ever seek knowledge." He turned and departed quietly. Only a few moment later, Applejack poked her head in, followed swiftly by the rest of her.
"So what's the deal?" she asked.
Spike looked ready to reply when he went to his knees with an expression of acute pain. His claws went to his belly as an odd rumbling emanated from within. The old mare was already writing a fury in a fresh book, watching Spike quite intently, as if she could see through him to whatever was bothering him, but it only translated to writing, not spoken words.
Spike wretched violently and shuddered as he suddenly expelled the perfectly preserved and cold body of Twilight onto the floor. Almost as an after-thought, Spike burped up a scroll on top of the corpse, looking comically neat and sealed atop the disheveled body. Spike sank against a bookshelf, looking drained.
"Freaky," said Rainbow, looking down at the ghost Twilight and the dead one.
Applejack nodded in agreement, "That's about tha right word fer it."
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Well, this story is a lot better than I initially expected when I started reading it. Good characterization, world building, etc. It seems to have a bit of everything.
I'm definitely tracking this one.
5677168 Thanks kindly, and welcome aboard!
There are two spaces between the words "ghost back" in the above sentence.
"Emanated" is misspelled.
Librarians are indeed easily upset by typos.
5677370 Fixed. Any thoughts on the chapter?
5677377 I'm of two minds about how things are shaping up. I'm quite liking the "ghost Twilight" arc, so it's a shame that it seems to be on the verge of wrapping up - there's a lot more fun and drama that could be exploited from the current situation.
At the same time... I have to admit that this is exactly how it should go, insofar as Everglow is concerned. When you die, it's a problem that you pay someone to solve, if you can afford it. Having the story not progress the way it is, at this point, would be disingenuous (and I suspect that I'd be among the first to say so).
Of course, there's one major hurdle left to overcome: even a resurrection spell can't bring back an undead creature - "ghost Twilight" will need to be destroyed first, and it's hard to imagine (especially with her trying to stave off mental corruption) that she'll so easily let that happen. So hopefully that will keep the drama going.
For the price of resurecting one body, the method of transmitting not just messages, but bulk cargo, not just over long distances, but interplanar as well?
Theyre going to have to call That spell, Oppenheimers Little Toy.
5677419 No one said Luminace's priests were foolish. They know when something valuable falls in their lap.
5677399 Next chapter promises to be an interesting one at least. Let the 'good' times roll on.
The first part is a question, but the second part isn't. I suggest:
"You OK Sugarcube?" she asked, looking sidelong at Twilight with concern, "You're looking fussier than a long-tailed cat in a room fulla rockin' chairs."
That simile is hilarious, by the way.
Also, Spike's message spell is clearly worth more than one little resurrection. "Can you send more than two dozen words?" *Spike burps up Twilight's entire body* "I'll take that as a yes." Isn't Twilight still at least as large as he is, and therefore much larger than his head? How did he survive that?
5677566 It comes out in the first instant as pure mystic smokey stuff, then quickly solidifies as whatever it is. That's how I remember it happening in the show at least?
Image found: img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20121224015218/mlp/images/1/1b/Spike_burping_up_letter_S2E01.png
I couldn't stop laughing at the part when dash said freaky, I was expecting something similar to disturbed or even nausia from the fact that Spike just expelled a body.
5677575 My mental picture for that scene involves Twilight's body being dumped in an undignified heap. Your descriptions for the whole second half of the chapter were great for keeping everything off-balance and novel: Twilight getting shushed for making too much noise in a library, Rainbow perching on a bookshelf, Soft haggling for Spike's magic, and then Spike coughing up Twilight. Brilliant.
There's something adorable about Soft Mane lecturing someone older than her about matters of the heart, especially when she's right.
Huh. I figured Applejack could be a bit earthy at times, if you'll pardon the pun, but I wasn't expecting that.
Wow. That was... Let's go with "expedient." I get the feeling that that may have been Luna's idea. Just a hunch.
Still, barring some unfortunate happenstance snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, Twilight's almost back to her old self! Of course, you probably ended the chapter there for a reason...
May Luminance forgive the typos, for her servants will not:
No apostrophe needed, since it's a plural rather than a possessive or a contraction.
And now I'm wondering what Twilight tasted like. Grape bubblegum?
5677607 All fixed! And Applejack knows how nature works. It's her job, and she's practically the archetype for which other earth ponies hope to aspire to.
5677608 Spike is doing his best to not even start thinking about it.
Don't forget the hyphen
I'm sorry to be "that guy," I really am.
5677566 My suspicion is that that simile is liberated from the old X-Men animated series of the 90's. That's where I first heard it (and from another Southern belle, to boot).
5677658 Fixed!
5677755 Why elephants?
5677763
Why not elephants?
Also, Elephants are awesome. >.>
5677662 Actually, I think it's older than that. It's a common expression in the Southern US.
5678312 Oh, I don't think that it originated in that cartoon - just that it was one of the more popular ways to hear it outside of where it's commonly used.
They're just about there, seems like. Their reactions when Twilight arrives back home are gonna be gooooood.
I'm glad I decided to read this one, and I'm looking forward to what comes next!
5679105 Thank you for the kind words and welcome to the front of the pack!
oh nice celestia that couldnt of felt nice to poor spike
on another note if it works on dead bodies could it work on live ones
oh oh oh make her a litch
5679651 Not assuredly true. Many spells work on 'objects' that don't work on 'people', and a corpse is an object.
Sorry for not commenting on the past few chapters, but I was way too drawn into the story. The haggling over spell story and Spike coughing up Twilight's body was absolutely perfect though. And why wouldn't Luminace's temple would be a library. Actually... would Twilight donating a magic book from Equestria count as a rare tome to allow for a new visitation?
5857281 If Twilight had an Equestrian book of magic, which, alas, she did not.
I actually burst out laughing when Twilight's corpse arrived via dragon mail. That was darkly humerous in a wonderfully horrible sort of way.
And then a scroll landed on top.
Why not ask Celestia to send 10,000 gp worth of diamonds?
5872181 I don't think they sent much through the spike-port until they tried Twilight's body.
Blarf... congrats spike you just had a twilight
5942787 Spike will never forget.
I've heard of having a frog in your throat, but a whole alicorn is just ridiculous.
Oh jesus, Poor spike is gonna be so scarred by this arc.
5677168 It had a rough start, like he wasn't sure where to go with it but the more I read the more natural and organic his characters have gotten. It doesn't feel like I'm reading the quotes from a pathfinder game anymore it feels like I'm reading a story based on one.
The chance to study Spike's message sending ability for Twilight's resurrection helps to remove the obstacle of paying diamonds in a way that doesn't seem like a Deus ex Machina.
,*
You don't need that comma because of the question mark.
9407711
Arg. the typos, the ancient typos!
Knew that was going to happen 😂
"So...what did Twilight taste like?"
"Really, Rainbow?"
"Hey, you were wondering it too I bet!"
"Only cause you just put the fool idea in my head just now! Aaagh!"