The cursed resident.

by Sylif Daring Doo

An enlightening visit.

______*Rarity's house, the same day.*______

Rarity was grouchy today, that much was obvious to anypony who saw her, but who could blame her? she was basically attacked by the ghost of Nightmare Moon, and was being pranked by said ghost who cut off most of her mane and tail as well as coloring it with magic.

And since Rarity didn't know how to counter or dispel the magic, she was stuck like this, she had hoped Twilight could help her be rid of the aggravating magic.

Twilight had cautiously scanned the magic used, but her reply was not helpful in the least. "The good news is that this spell is temporary, it should wear off in a few days, the bad news is that it would seem that the spell was specifically designed to not be dispelled." She explained.

Rarity sighed sadly but nodded. "I see, thank you." She said as she rubbed her forehead.

"Are you alright?" Twilight asked, at her friends sigh, she spoke again. "This was Nightmare Moon's work wasn't it?" She asked, pointing at Rarity's cut hair,

Rarity simply nodded. "Yes, it was her 'revenge' for what we did." She said.

Twilight looked around for the Alicorn. "I don't think she will do anything, she's far too amused with this prank to do another that she can't enjoy." Rarity stated.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that." Came Nightmare's voice from behind Rarity.

Rarity jumped in surprise and turned around to face the ghost Alicorn. "Will you stop doing that!" She snapped.

Nightmare grinned evilly. "Why should I?" She teased. "After all, since I won't be attacking you, I need some way to torment you on a day to day basis." She said before walking over to the living room. "Don't let me stop your conversation." She said.

"And if this is private?" Twilight asked, glaring at the ghost.

Nightmare Moon just smirked. "Don't worry, I can tell when something is private, I'll be back." She said before vanishing.

Rarity looked at Twilight. "Let's go over to the boutique , we can talk in private there." She said.

In the dining room, Nightmare Moon rolled her eyes. "That went well." Alecia said from the table as she laid on it, staring at the ceiling.

"They obviously do not trust us, otherwise they wouldn't mind talking here." Nightmare stated.

Alecia nodded. "Of course they don't, you did try to bring about eternal night after all.......which is impossible I might add." She replied, closing her eyes.

Nightmare Moon raised her eyebrow. "I am aware that the entire world cannot be night......I am no fool." She paused to think for a moment before speaking again. "What were the days and nights like in Human lands?" She asked out of curiosity.

"We would get real nights in the winter and real days in the summer, but we would get evenings and mornings the rest of the time, in short it was never really dark or bright, just bright enough to survive." The ghost stated.

Nightmare thought on this for a while until the door opened. "The filly is home." She said.

"She has a name you know." Alecia replied......she then looked at the Alicorn with a curious expression. "Why have you been avoiding her anyway?" She asked.

Nightmare scoffed. "That is my business, stay out of it." She said before vanishing.

Alecia rolled her eyes and closed them. "Whatever you say." She muttered.

_______*At the boutique.*_______

Rarity and Twilight were in the main room of the boutique, Rarity herself was standing by one of her designs, thinking on how to improve it, she did this while listening to Twilight.

"Anyway......I should probably tell you what I came to tell you in the first place." Twilight said, she had just finished talking about a project of hers, not that Rarity truly minded, it gave her something to focus on other than the two ghosts that tormented her.

"It did seem urgent, what was it about?" Rarity asked.

Twilight took a deep breath, as if calming herself. "The princesses are coming to Ponyville to see you." She stated, quickly bracing herself.

At the mere mention of this, Rarity froze and looked at Twilight in surprise. "WHAT!?" She exclaimed, raising her voice.

Twilight flinched and her ears folded back for a moment, but she spoke anyway. "I only found out myself today, they didn't say why but I'm certain it has to do with Nightmare Moon." She explained.

Rarity took several deep breaths as she tried to calm herself down, but even as she tried to do so, she couldn't help but to consider how bad things could go from here, especially if Nightmare Moon did something stupid like attack them.

While Rarity processed this information, Twilight spoke. "I know this is sudden, but think about it Rarity, the princesses might have a way to help." The mare said.

"Will they even WANT to help?" Rarity asked, she looked at her friend. "After all, if they do anything to help Alecia, they help Nightmare Moon, who I know they aren't fond of in the slightest." She added.

"Furthermore, there's also whatever magic that prevented you from finding the source of the curse." Rarity sighed. "Thank you for telling me Twilight." Rarity said, looking at her friend with a smile. "At least I have a heads up." She added.

Twilight nodded. "Of course, if they let me, I'll try to go with the princesses when they arrive, I can at least try to keep things calm." She stated.

The two then walked out of the boutique, Rarity closed and locked the door behind her and they walked to her house.

As they approached the large home, Twilight stopped outside and looked at her friend. "I have to go back to the library, good luck." She said.

Rarity nodded at her friend who turned to walk away, she looked at her front door which seemed much more menacing now that she knew what was inside. "Oh and Rarity?" Came Twilight's voice.

The white unicorn turned and looked at Twilight. "Yes?" She asked, curious as to what her friend wanted to say.

Twilight smiled. "I like your mane, it looks nice." She said.

Rarity blinked at the statement, confused. "Uh, thank you darling." She replied as she walked to the door.

"That was odd." She whispered to herself as she walked inside.

Once inside, Rarity was surprised to see her couch and sofa levitating in the center of the room while going in circles, with Aleica laying down on the sofa upside down, and Sweetie Belle just watching in awe.

Rarity closed the door and walked over to Sweetie Belle. "What is going on here?" She asked out of confusion.

"Alecia is bored again." Sweetie Belle whispered. "I didn't believe her when she said she could levitate these with her mind, but she can." She replied.

Rarity looked up at Alecia. "And why should I believe that this isn't Nightmare Moon doing this?" She asked the ghost.

Alecia opened her eyes and looked down at Rarity. "Damn, you caught me red handed." She held her hands......down? "Oh wait, they can't be red." She grinned. "Nightmare's sulking upstairs." She said, closing her eyes.

"Regardless, put my furniture down Alecia, the last thing I need is somepony walking in and seeing this." Rarity said firmly.

Alecia sighed and the furniture floated back to their original positions. "You are no fun." Alecia said before appearing near the unicorns. "So what's so important that you had to hide it from your favorite ghosts?" She asked.

Rarity looked at the ghost. "Nothing that concerns you Alecia, I don't mean to be rude but it is personal." She stated, her firm tone indicating that she wouldn't budge.

Aleica shrugged. "No problem." She crossed her arms and looked up. "I'll be upstairs if you need me." She said before floating up.

The two sisters watched as Alecia floated upwards, and then Sweetie Belle spoke after the ghost was gone. "I'll never get used to that." The younger unicorn said.

"Neither will I." Rarity said.

______*the next day, 03:00 AM*______

Ponyville was quiet at this hour, there was no wind, no clouds, just the dark morning covering the town, the moon illuminated the town with its soft glow.

And while Rarity and Sweetie Belle slept, Alecia read in the study, and Nightmare Moon sat on the roof, staring at the moon, she closed her eyes and sighed to herself. 'The one thing I missed about the moon.....the silence.' She thought.

As she sat in peaceful silence, Nightmare Moon felt something familiar, she opened her eyes and the moon lowered, she sighed and went back inside. "Oh well, all good things I suppose." She muttered to herself.

Nightmare Moon was soon in the empty room, she walked out of the room and headed downstairs, she walked to the couch and laid down. "Maybe some sleep will do me some good." She whispered to herself as she closed her eyes. 'Heh.....I'm dead, and I'm still tired.' She thought to herself.

_______*Later, 1:02 PM*______

The house was empty today, as Sweetie Belle had school and Rarity had work, although strangely enough, there was no one outside anywhere, the townsponies quickly rushed inside and rufused to come outside, this was exceptionally bizarre for the otherwise predictable town.

"I don't get it, what would cause the entire town to go inside in a panic?" Nightmare Moon asked curiously, she stood at the window looking out at the town.

Alecia shrugged. "Mating season?" She suggested from her place on the couch.

Nightmare Moon looked over her shoulder and stared at Alecia. "First off, I have never had that problem before, secondly no......mating season was a few months ago......or was it IN a few months?" She said as she gained a thoughtful expression.

Alecia closed her eyes. "Eh, not my problem really, and it isn't yours either." She stated putting her hands behind her head.

"And why exactly is it NOT our problem? if the townsponies rushed inside they could be under attack, and while I'm certain WE would be fine, what of the rest of the town?" Nightmare Moon asked.

Alecia opened her eyes and sighed. "Even if that did happen, we wouldn't be able to do anything about it because of this curse." She said.

Nightmare groaned in frustration and threw her head back, she then proceeded to ramble and angrily mutter to herself for a good ten minutes.

Alecia meanwhile had closed her eyes to drift off to sleep, Nightmare's angry ramblings were strangely calming.

Eventually after another five minutes of Nightmare Moon pacing, the Alicorn spoke. "Why is the curse affecting me if it was meant for you?" She asked.

Aleica opened her eyes and looked at Nightmare. "My guess? the curse is meant to prevent ghosts or spirits from leaving, but also to keep them from coming in......how you got in here is beyond me, the only thing I can even come close to guessing is that you unconsciously latched onto Rarity when you were defeated, and got flung here after a week or so." She replied, she then closed her eyes.

Nightmare tapped the floor with a hoof and her thoughtful expression returned. "That still doesn't explain-" She was cut off by sound of the door opening, she looked over and froze.

"Welcome back Rarity." Alecia said from the couch, she looked at the door and blinked. "Who're they?" She asked.

Rarity stood in the doorway with none other than Princess Celestia and Princess Luna behind her, she looked at the two who's eyes were locked on Nightmare Moon, and vise-versa. "Alecia, these are the Princesses." The unicorn mare said, her tone of voice indicating that she was just as surprised as Nightmare.

Aleica blinked and looked at Nightmare Moon. "Mind introducing me?" She asked.

Nightmare Moon's gaze narrowed as she spoke. "The tall white one is Celestia, Princess of the sun." She then looked at Luna. "The shorter dark blue one is Luna, Princess of the Moon." She explained, she practically spat their names in hatred as she spoke.

Rarity stepped between the two pairs and spoke. "This is Alecia." She said, pointing at the ghost on the couch. "She is-" she was cut off as Luna spoke.

"A human? it has been a long time since we have seen one." Luna stated, she seemed surprised.

Alecia frowned at the statement, she quickly stood up and crossed her arms. "I'm not human, so don't call me that....I am a ghost, nothing more." She stated firmly, she had a more aggravated tone than usual when called human.

Before Luna could say more, Celestia interrupted. "Perhaps it would be better if we stayed on topic?" She suggested.

Nightmare Moon was the next to speak. "Right.....lets start with the obvious 'why are you here' and get that out of the way." She stated.

Rarity was about to speak when Celestia stopped her. "If I may Rarity? i am certain that my sister wants us to be alone to talk with Nightmare Moon, but I believe that you want to ensure no damage comes to your home should things get out of hoof." She gave a reassuring smile and then looked at Nightmare Moon. "But let's consider this house neutral ground for now hmm?" She suggested diplomatically.

As Celestia suggested this, Nightmare Moon and Luna glared at each other, one with hatred and one with caution, soon though, Nightmare huffed. "Fine, no point damaging this place anyway." She said.

Luna reluctantly nodded but didn't take her eyes off the Alicorn. "Very well." She added.

And with that, the room settled into an uncomfortable silence, the tense air could almost be felt, this went on for a while until Rarity cleared her throat. "I'll uh.....go make some tea." She said before slipping away to the kitchen.

Alecia watched with interest as Luna and Nightmare Moon glared, Celestia apparently seemed unwilling to participate, instead deigning to be the neutral one, while she was curious, Alecia wasn't going to say anything to break the silence.

Celestia thankfully broke the silence after a few tense moments. "Nightmare Moon." She said.

Nightmare looked over at Celestia. "What?" She asked.

"You wanted to know why we are here correct?......the answer is simple, to find out why and how YOU are here." Celestia answered.

At that, Alecia spoke. "Good luck, we haven't the faintest idea about that, we were just theorizing when you showed up." She stated.

"One theory I thought of was that I unconsciously latched onto Rarity in an attempt to survive the Elements assault." Nightmare continued after a moment of thought.

Luna looked at Aleica. "And how do you fit into this?" She asked.

Alecia shrugged and sat down on the couch. "I was stuck in the upstairs room for six centuries, unable to move, stuck with just my thoughts." She absentmindedly started to float just over the couch. "I've been helping Nightmare here to better understand the position she's in." She explained.

"And you decided to help a lunatic bent on bringing eternal night to the nation because?" Luna asked, she obviously was angry but refused to act on it.

Before anyone could react, Alecia was in Luna's face staring her down with her dark blue eyes that glowed a strange purple. "Every ghost deserves the right to interact with the physical world, what they did in life is irrelevant." Her voice turned cold and angered, the complete opposite of her usual indifference.

Luna seemed genuinely shocked by what just happened, as did Celestia and Nightmare, who both thankfully recovered. "Alecia." Nightmare said.

The ghost looked back and saw Nightmare shake her head. "Whatever." She said, returning to her usual self.

It took a few moments before Celestia spoke. "Nightmare Moon.....if I might ask, what do you plan to do if you get out of here?" She asked.

Nightmare looked at Celestia and sighed. "Truth be told? now that I've thought on it more and have actually cooled off for the most part? I have no idea." She stated. "There isn't much for a ghost to do now is there?" She said sarcastically.

"You would be surprised what a ghost can do." Alecia interrupted. "Possess someone about to have a good time?" She grinned. "It'll be awkward for certain, but totally worth it." She teased.

Nightmare shook her head. "Can we stay on topic here?" She looked at the two sisters. "Look, all of this talk is irrelevant so long as I'm stuck here, so you don't have anything to worry about on my front." She stated.

"Well, other than driving Rarity insane." Aleica added.

After Alecia spoke, she realized that both sisters were looking at her, as if they had seen a ghost.......or at least a metaphorical one. "What is it?" Alecia asked with confusion.

"You look familiar." Luna stated simply.

Nightmare Moon perked up and her head snapped to Alecia who seemed confused. "Yes she does." Celestia added. "In fact, she looks a lot like-"

"Hey!" Nightmare interrupted, the three looked at her. "Can we talk in private for a moment?" She asked as she walked off to the dining room.

Alecia blinked but shrugged it off. "Must have known a human I guess." She muttered as she laid back and closed her eyes.

A few minutes later in the dining room, Nightmare finished talking to Celestia and Luna. "You haven't told her? why not?" Celestia asked.

Nightmare Moon looked at Celestia. "For one it isn't her business, and secondly, i haven't gotten around to it." She stated.

"With how you interrupted us, she probably knows that you are hiding something.......that or thinks that you knew a human a long time ago." Luna stated.

Celestia nodded. "Which you did." She commented.

"Anyway!" Nightmare snapped. "Don't say anything about it, this is something that I have to handle." She stated.

Celestia and Luna shared a look but nodded. "I suppose this couldn't hurt, but it is a good sign you don't want to upset your friend." Celestia said.

Nightmare looked at the solar Alicorn. "We aren't friends, we're just stuck in this house together, nothing more." She denied.

Celestia gained a small knowing smile and simply nodded. "Of course, now let's return shall we?" She said before walking back to the living room.

After a few moments, they were all in the living room, Rarity had finished the tea and had cups out for herself and the princesses.

Alecia floated in the center of the room in silence, ignoring the conversation in the room around her as she kept her eyes shut, this went on until Celestia's next sentence. "Twilight told me about her experience trying to detect the source of this curse, using this knowledge I did my own magical scan fo this place and discovered the source." Celestia said.

Alecia looked at Celestia as she explained. "The source itself was quite a surprise to discover.......the bones of a unicorn buried in what is now the Ponyville park." She stated, Rarity paled at this news while Nightmare seemed mildly disturbed.

"Of course, there was a powerful spell designed to inflict pain on any trying to discover it, but you knew that....didn't you Alecia?" Celestia asked as she looked at the ghost.

Both Rarity and Nightmare looked at Alecia with confused expressions, but neither said anything. "I did.....in fact, I can tell you whose bones those are, why they are there and how I know this." Alecia stated.

Celestia motioned for Alecia to continue and the ghost complied. "Those bones belong to Rarity's ancestor, Crystal Cut, a powerful sorcerer that had the rare ability to see the dead naturally, we were friends until his death, unfortunately his son Dark Amber went mad with grief and blamed me for his fathers death." She flipped around and stared at the ceiling. "He gathered a pair of his fellow wizards and formed the curse, they trapped me in the upstairs room while I slept and sealed me away." She looked at Celestia as she returned to floating around.

Celestia nodded. "This makes sense then, what I discovered is that the curse is threefold, with three layers holding it in place." She took a sip of her tea before continuing. "The first part of the curse is actually the house itself, a powerful bloodline spell was cast on this house, trapping ghosts or spirits inside, so only somepony from the casters bloodline can remove it." She explained.

Luna looked at Rarity. "In short, you have the power to release the curse on the house, if you can find the right spell." She stated.

Celestia then continued her explanation. "The second layer is more simple and is another bloodline spell, it prohibits the desired target of the curse from leaving a specific area without the permission of the bloodline, in this case, Ponyville." She explained.

"So what you are saying is." Nightmare interrupted. "Is that if the first layer is broken, and if need be the second, I'm free?" She asked curiously.

Celestia shook her head sadly. "Unfortunately no......the third layer of the curse prevents that comepletly.......the final bloodline spell." She sighed. "This one is by far simply demented, and it perplexes me to no end." She took a brief pause and continued.

"The final part of the curse is tied to Alecia's bloodline, it prevents all ghosts or spirits from moving on or even leaving what is now Ponyville." She stated, Nightmare Moon and Alecia both froze at this statement, and they looked at each other.

"You didn't happen to have a kid did you?" Nightmare asked.

Alecia shook her head. "Douglas never wanted a kid, besides the humans are gone if I'm not mistaken, so it wouldn't matter." She shook her head.

Silence reigned for a short while until Alecia spoke again. "Unless my brother had a kid of course." She said.

"Your brother?" Rarity asked.

Alecia nodded. "Yea, Watson, he was a good kid, and the last time I saw him he had a fiancé." She shrugged. "Again, humans are extinct, I'm not getting my hopes up." She stated.

Celestia seemed to ponder this while Luna spoke up. "If I may ask......what is your full name? or is it just Alecia?" She asked curiously.

"My name is Sonya Alecia Forge, of the Schattenreich." She replied, using a new language the others didn't understand, though Nightmare seemed far more thoughtful of this. [1]

Rarity blinked and looked at Aleica. "What was that word?" She asked, curiosity and confusion were evident in her voice.

Celestia and Luna looked on with interest as Alecia replied. "My people were from the Schattenreich.......or Shadow Kingdom in the common tongue, we derived the name from an old saying our old allies used to say." She cleared her non existent throat. "hüte dich vor den Menschen des Schattens......beware the people of the shadow." She explained.

"Staying on topic here, it isn't impossible for you to have a living decendant, I will begin a search for any possibilities." Celestia stated, opening the front door with her magic.

Alecia shrugged. "Sure thing, go for it." She said. "You know where I'll be." She muttered.

Luna looked at Nightmare Moon again, the other Alicorn didn't look back at her, but the smaller princess didn't seem to mind. "Farewell Rarity, thank you for your hospitality." Celestia said with a smile.

Nightmare snuck a glance at Celestia, she saw that the solar Alicorn had a strange smile that told her she knew something else, but seemed unwilling to say what it was.

Before the ghost could say anything, the two princesses left the house, leaving the three alone.

Alecia glanced at Rarity and smirked. "Nice hair by the way." She teased.

Rarity grumbled as she blew a stray piece of neon green hair out of her eyes and walked off. "Ugh, I should have asked about breaking this curse." She complained to herself.

It was just then that the door opened and Sweetie Belle walked inside, she noticed the thoughtful expression on Nightmare Moon's face, the frustrated face of her sister with neon green hair, and the amused expression of Alecia. "Um....am I going crazy or were the princesses just here?" She asked awkwardly.

Rarity sighed. "Well, good news and bad news Sweetie." She then began to explain everything that happened to her sister.

Alecia looked at Nightmare who was still lost in thought. "You alright over there?" She asked.

Nightmare looked at Alecia and for a moment she swore she saw someone else......but she quickly shook it off. "Uh, yea, I'm alright." She replied, walking to the window.

"If you need someone to talk to, I'm always available, just a reminder." Alecia said before vanishing.

_______*later*______

It was around twelve o'clock, the others were sleeping and Nightmare Moon was asleep on the couch, leaving Alecia alone and awake once more.

Moving through the house, Alecia entered the downstairs bathroom and turned on the lights, she closed the door and walked in front of the mirror, she then began to stare into it deeply, but mostly her own eyes.

She quickly checked the couch and found the the Alicorn was still asleep on the couch, she then returned and breathed deeply as she closed her eyes.

After a minute, she opened her eyes and looked at her reflection, her expression saddened at the sight.

Her hair had become a very vibrant bright red and her eyes were now bright blue, they no longer glowed purple and her skin no longer had black lightning dancing on it, she sighed sadly and rubbed her eyes, she cried silently for a good five minutes until she looked up all she could see was her usual faded dark red hair with purple streaks, and her dark blue eyes with a purple glow.

Alecia shook her head and shut the lights off, she then walked out of the room and kept quiet as she returned to the empty room and laid down in it. 'Why am I torturing myself? those days are over, this is who I am now, I should just let go.' She thought to herself.

Aleica turned her head and saw the moon shining directly into her room. "Night everyone." She muttered before closing her eyes.

Author's Note:

To those of you who are confused, the name of the previous chapter was changed because I realized it didn't have anything to do with what happened then.

Just wanted to clarify that.

[1]Kudos to anyone who gets this.

Comments

[dittomute]

uh huh.