A Corpse in Equestria

by LucidTech

Twilight Interlude Three

Twilight was upset.

No that wasn’t right, upset was an understatement. Angry wasn’t really the word either though, maybe something more akin to annoyed but taken to the extreme? Pissed off was close, but still wasn’t quite right.

The fact that she didn’t have the precise words she needed to describe her mood proved to make her mood even worse which, naturally, made it even harder to find the right word for it, a vicious cycle if there ever was one. Of course, that wasn’t even the worst of it, the rest of the reasons for her terrible mood were frustrating even by a normal pony’s standards.

She had not even a half day ago just moved the study and investigation of the alien creature to a side project in her mental folders, had come to a resolution to the Rainbow Dash situation, having looked around and found a semi-local but unfortunately out of town therapist, and joining the hold queue for Celestia’s book, The Fragility of the Mind, at the Canterlot Library for further research. Things had, simply, been on the upswing. The world had been about to settle back into a kind of normalcy.

Or would have been if it hadn't been for the event at the glass shop, setting the world haywire once again.

Twilight had seen Rainbow Dash’s reaction when they’d learned that, apparently, the ghost of the dead creature had caught a falling fish tank. She had seen the confusion, the disbelief. She had seen that the resurgence of the strange creature had rubbed salt into the wound that Rainbow was already suffering from, keeping the damage fresh and open to the elements. The look on her face had made Twilight wish, more than anything, that she could discount the eye witness accounts of all those ponies. That she could say something like “Ghosts aren’t real Rainbow Dash.” The only problem was, if it wasn’t a ghost, what was it? Twilight had learned, mostly because of Pinkie Pie, that blatant denial in the face of strange evidence was not scientific, it was just naive stubbornness. She didn’t actually believe it was a ghost, she was still Twilight Sparkle after all, but until she had something to point to for why it wasn’t a ghost she had to remain open to the possibility.

Twilight had set up Rainbow’s therapist appointment as soon as she’d gotten back to the castle.

Then, as she made her way to the library for further research, she reexamined her notes of the various accounts of the ponies who had been present for the event and once again ran through the timeline that those involved had given her.

Colada, who was at the time under the care of Derpy Hooves, had been attempting to lift one of the larger glass fish tanks down from a shelf. This was, according to Derpy Hooves, something the filly tried to do quite a lot, whether to test or prove herself nopony knew. Usually whoever was with her managed to stop her in time but when Derpy had looked away for the briefest moment to see to her own daughter, Dinky, Colada had seized her opportunity. Unfortunately, the filly’s prowess was not on the level she thought it was, and turned out to be far from up to the task. Her grip had broken shortly after she’d pulled it from the shelf. The glass tank had plummeted like a stone but, instead of crashing to the ground, it had been caught, then lowered slowly the rest of the way. The force that had caught it, all the ponies present said, was the ghost of the strange creature that had died in the town square.

Twilight had triple checked with all those who had been in the shop at the time to make sure that they were sticking with that story. Hoping that maybe, just maybe, she could get one of them to say ‘well actually, now that you mention it, maybe it was just unicorn magic.’ But all of them refused to budge an inch on their testimonies. Twilight had magically scanned the store and had come up with… something, but whatever it was that had been present was long gone at the time of the spell and had neglected to leave any helpful clues for the princess. Moving to back up checks, she used a simple detection spell to check the environment for any potentially hallucinogenic sources, but had come up empty on that front as well. This wasn’t absolute proof that it was a ghost, crowds were very good at tricking themselves into believing things that weren’t true even without external stimulus, but it was enough that Twilight had to admit that there was a chance. And while there was at least a chance that it was a ghost, she couldn’t bring herself to tell Rainbow otherwise. If she did, and that ended up being a lie, Twilight didn’t know what she’d do.

Thus, Twilight’s miserable mood when she’d returned to the castle. She had thought she was done with this, at least until she had some free time. How foalish she’d been, thinking of it as a fun side project, but this was no longer a brain teaser to pass the time. Now it was an Issue with a capital I. Every second that went by with this situation being unsolved was a second that Rainbow lived in confusion with no outlet. It was a second that Ponyville might be in danger. Sure, catching a fish tank wasn’t nefarious, but who knew what the intentions of this strange entity might be. So, until such a time as Twilight knew that Ponyville and her friends were safe, this had been upgraded to an official princess matter.

Unfortunately, her official princess business hit an obstacle almost immediately. The shape of this obstacle was small with purple scales and green fins. Were it not for this small dragon blocking her entrance into the library, Twilight would’ve already been halfway through the first book in her new search. Yet there he stood, arms crossed, looking disappointed, in the doorway. Twilight would’ve teleported past him if the mere thought of it didn’t start up a headache. Instead she tried a magical alicorn princess’s second resort: Diplomacy.

“What’s the problem, Spike?”

“You’re not going to start another research session.” Spike said, defiant.

“I’m not?” Twilight asked, surprised. She was pretty sure she was going to.

“You haven’t slept in two days Twilight!” Spike frowned and the worry in his voice managed to reach into her soul and prod her heart. She turned to look out the nearby window and noticed it was dark outside. When had that happened? Sometime during her onsite interviews, if she had to guess. Looking guilty, she glanced back at Spike. His frown deepened. “At least two days,” he corrected.

“This is an extremely important project Spike!” Twilight defended. “Nobody knows what the timeline we’re looking at will be like. Things could change at any moment!” Spike, however, seemed unconvinced. In response Twilight changed tact. “Spike, I’m fine. I promise.”

Spike looked at her, doubting, and then reached out one claw and gave her a light push. Twilight wobbled on her hooves and was forced to spread her wings for balance to stop from falling over. Spike seemed thoroughly unimpressed. “You don’t look fine.” He said at last.

“Alright I’ll admit I’ve certainly been better,” Twilight acquiesced. The shove from Spike seemed to have fully broken whatever illusion she’d been under about her own state of self. “But that doesn’t mean that this isn’t important!” she asserted again, undeterred.

“Well I’m not letting you into the library until you get some sleep, Twilight.” Spike said again, kind but firm.

“I could just teleport past you, you know.” Twilight half-teased.

“Then why haven’t you?” Spike asked, smug.

The headache pulsed in Twilight’s head again as if she needed another reminder. Now it was her turn to frown. Seeing no way forward without risking a migraine so bad she wouldn’t be able to read anyway, and admitting to herself that a little sleep would be nice, she caved. “Alright, fine. I’ll go take a nap,” Spike seemed about to object but Twilight cut him off. “Yes, just a nap, and in the meantime you have to start getting the books together.” She passed a list of relevant books that she’d made on her way back to the castle to her number one assistant. “This is top priority Spike. Top. Priority.”

Spike didn’t seem happy with ‘just a nap’ but he snapped a salute anyway recognizing this was probably the best he was going to get, “On it Twilight!” He responded dutifully before he headed into the library and closed the door behind him.

Twilight took a step away from the library, then stopped and turned around with a mischievous grin. Maybe while he was busy she could sneak in and take one book back to her room. Just one! Just to get a head start. She had been about to undo her step away from the door when she heard the squealing of a wooden table as Spike shoved a barricade in place. Twilight rolled her eyes, admitting defeat, and retreated to her bedroom.

Twilight would like to say that she entered her bedroom, climbed into her bed, pulled her blankets up, settled into a comfortable spot and then eventually fell asleep after feeling uneasy about the work she was leaving unfinished.

What actually happened was she swayed into her bedroom. Hauled herself up onto her bed and was asleep before she made it to her pillows.

There was a period of darkness for Twilight Sparkle before she stirred again, and when her eyes opened to discover that she was no longer in her bed she blinked in confusion. Instead of her nice cushioned mattress she found herself in a long smooth corridor. As her mind worked to figure out where she now found herself she pulled herself from her hooves and looked down the hallway, noticing the doors decorated with familiar cutiemarks stretching along either side of her.

It took her only a moment longer to realize where she was. She hadn’t been here often, it wasn’t her domain, and her mind tended to go out of sync with itself when going from the waking world to a lucid dream, which always threw her. With a mind that was finally starting to clear and knowing now what, or more accurately who, she needed to be looking for, it was all too easy to actually find her. Such was the nature of dreams.

Princess Luna stood a couple doorways down the hallway, her eyes locked onto a spot on the wall where it looked like a door should’ve been. It was between two similar doors, so it would make more sense for there to be a door there than not. Yet, the space on the wall was bare. Twilight walked up to look at it as well, trying to divine what Luna was looking at.

After a moment with both alicorns staring holes into a vacant wall, Luna spoke. “I apologize Princess Twilight. It seems I have put the cart in front of myself as they say.” Twilight decided she wasn’t the right pony to critique the princess’s use of idioms and remained silent as the midnight princess continued. “I had intended to bring you here to show you a strange dreamer I took notice of a few nights back, one that I suspect is currently located within your town of Ponyville. Yet, it seems that they have neglected to fall asleep this night, or simply awoke before I made it here on my rounds, either way succeeding at making me look quite the foal for bringing you here.”

Twilight hesitated, her mind already wondering, curious, a sick kind of despair and worry taking root in her stomach. “A… strange dreamer?”

“Indeed.” Luna confirmed, turning away from the empty wall to Twilight. “A strange biped creature, I have not seen its like in our lands in all my nights.” Twilight, frozen by some realization unknown to Luna, did not respond. “I suspect my intention to get a closer look on my last visit to its dreams may have given it warning of me. Though it is strange that one glimpse of me would drive it from sleep. Most ponies do not even remember me upon waking.”

Twilight finally found her voice enough for some of the questions spinning in her head. “Was it… a creature with hair covering its head but mostly hairless on its arms?” Luna nodded. “And you couldn’t see its legs or torso because of the clothes it wore?” Luna nodded again, slower this time. “With two close together, front facing eyes?”

“You know it?” Luna asked at last.

“Yes… I’ve been… studying its corpse for the past week or so.” Twilight’s eyes gazed out into an indeterminate middle distance as Luna’s eyes widened.

“Surely you jest?” Demanded Luna. “I know my sister is one for pranks but I had suspected that you at least would not try to deceive me like this.”

“I’m not- I’m not joking, Princess Luna.” Twilight’s eyes managed to focus once again. “You said you’ve been looking at its dreams for a while, why didn’t you tell me about this sooner?”

Luna’s voice gained a wrathful edge to it. “Every night since my study began I have looked for you in this dreamscape and every night you remain awake, Princess Twilight Sparkle. You do not enjoy my night, as you sit in your library with magical lights simulating my sister’s sun, nor do you enjoy my dreams, as you keep yourself awake with stimulants.” Luna said, some resentful part of herself forcing its way up. Twilight opened her mouth to apologize, having gained a quick and disquieting glimpse into how Nightmare Moon had taken hold those thousand years ago, but Luna held a hoof aloft and Twilight remained silent at the command. Luna closed her eyes, focusing internally for a long moment, then she opened them once again. “I apologize. I did not mean to lose myself like that. After the work you and your friends have done to help me I have been trying to be better in my avoidance of the grooves I have worn into my thoughts. I only meant to say that it is hard to get in contact with you through my traditional methods. Had I known it was so important, I would have sent a letter, of course.”

“I’m sorry too, you’re right.” Twilight admitted, feeling guilty. “I’ve just been trying to sort this all out and I lost track of... well... a lot now that I think about it,” then feeling even more guilty she admitted, “I wouldn’t even be asleep tonight if Spike hadn’t made me.” Then, with finality, Twilight let out an irritated sigh. “This situation just feels like it’s getting out of my hooves.”

Silence reigned for a long moment before either princess spoke again, each taking measure of the other. “I accept your apology, so long as you accept mine.” Luna said at last, a faint smile on her lips. When Twilight nodded, Luna pressed on. “As for your situation, it seems like some help might be in order.” Luna’s smile grew wider as her own words gave her strength. “I have so missed you and the other elements since we last met, perhaps it’s time I took another visit to Ponyville.”

Comments

[AlanSmithy]

Glad to see a new chapter, and one that so neatly brings us back up to speed!

[6-D Pegasus]

An update??

[Solid Punch]

It's alive!!!

[first hand account]

It amuses me to say "it's alive"

[Venerable Ro]

It's undead! Good to have you back.

[Alyarin9000]

It lives!
(ironically )
Well, now they're sure to get to the bottom of it.

[Numinos]

Hah, good to see this story back! Looking forward for more!

[ThunderDash]

nice

[Scurra]

Liked! Into my library you go!

[Prettypony]

Oooh, I liked this, I hope we'll get more updates soon.

[Frazzle2Dazzle]

What I’m gathering from this is that Luna is a Medium.

[Techpriest Eh]

Wait the heck? This fics still alive?

[Furlok Serket]

Where the fuck have you been the past 4 1/2 years? I completely forgot that I was following this story.

[Monk With No Name]

B-B-Bakana!!!

[Greenhorn]

I would certainly say "It's alive!" then I realized our protagonist is still dead.

[HWolfW]

Oooh theres going to be a riot, in ponyville, again!

[Noname8]

[Insert overused joke about the story being alive and about a ghost here]

[OneAmongOthers]

Nice! It's so good to see these old fics coming back from the dead! Welcome back and hope full to see this great story continue!

[Shpoople96]

Holy based batman, it lives!

[Superbowl]

what the

[AliCentaur Br0ny]

Huzzah! It rises from the grave once more! Seriously though, it's good to see this back.

[zakan]

Nice, so finally another princess is getting involved.

[dinoding]

Awesome! I really wasn't expecting to see more of this one.

[BurninSoul]

So happy to see that you are posting chapters again. I really want to see what comes of this waylaid ghost.

[robocart9]

This story is getting interesting, can't wait for the next chapter! Just got yourself a follow!

[darklight731]

Hmm... considering that normal ghosts probably don`t sleep at all, and the "episode" Jack had in the Barn, something tells me Jack is not a normal ghost, is he?

[Mrnom]

11597695
He's a phantom...you get it? Danny phantom

[guang]

her eyes locked onto a spot on the wall where it looked like a door should’ve been. It was between two similar doors, so it would make more sense for there to be a door there than not. Yet, the space on the wall was bare.

Reminds me of a certain house that doesn't exist.