The cursed resident.

by Sylif Daring Doo

Semblance of hope.

______*Ponyville, Golden Oaks Library, a week later.*_______

"You did what?" Twilight stood in the center of the library, talking to Princess Celestia, who decided to stay in town for a short time even though it was in shambles thanks to a parasprite infestation, and right now her left eye was twitching.

Inside the library was Twilight, Spike, Princess Celestia and Rarity, and they were discussing a very particular subject. "I helped Rarity weaken the curse on her home." The Princess said again, making Twilight's eye twitch and giving the young unicorn a displeased look.

"What's wrong Twilight? this is a good thing isn't it?" Rarity asked.

Twilight looked at the mare. "I'm fine with that for the most part, I'm just having trouble believing that curses exist." She replied simply.

Celestia raised an eyebrow. "Even though I gave you a book on counter curses and the fact that you sat through an hour of curse theory every other week for two years?" She asked.

Twilight sighed. "Princess, I'm sorry but I've always believed that curses were fake, so I never did any real research on them." She said apologetically.

At this Princess Celestia did not speak, instead she changed the subject. "Either way Rarity, you should probably mention this to Nightmare Moon and......Alecia?" She asked, unsure of the other ghosts name.

Rarity nodded and turned around to walk to the door. "Thank you for everything Princess, it means a lot." She thanked before leaving.

After the mare left, Twilight look at her teacher. "Princess, aren't you concerned that Nightmare Moon might do something?" She asked.

Celestia looked at her student and smiled. "She is still bound by the second layer of the curse Twilight, she cannot leave Ponyville and neither can Alecia, but at the very least she will be satisfied for a while." She replied simply. "Another important thing to remember is that Rarity won't be going crazy on us for a while now." She added with a smirk.

Twilight masked a laugh and spoke. "Have you discovered anything else about the......curse?" She asked, still hesitant to use that word.

Celestia nodded. "Not much I'm afraid, all I could find were records of the curse from the Wizards who assisted Dark Amber, apparently they weren't even allowed to put failsafes in place for the curse, in fact they say that Rarity's ancestor even threatened them should they try to break the curse themselves." She replied.

Twilight watched as Celestia walked to a bookshelf. "Do you remember the Canterlot archive?" She asked randomly.

Twilight blinked and raised an eyebrow at the odd question. "Yes? why?" She asked out of confusion.

Celestia pulled a book off the shelf and sighed. "In these books, it states that the archives are the largest collection of knowledge in history, but the human kingdom of Trinka had one that was larger centuries ago......and they claimed there was another archive somewhere else that was even larger." She shook her head. "It shames me to know that knowledge of those kingdoms has been all but lost." She said, she looked at Twilight. "May I ask a favor of you?" She asked.

Twilight seemed to be spaced out by thinking about the largest collection of books ever, before replying. "Yes Princess?" She replied.

"If Alecia or Nightmare Moon are willing, can you try to write down any knowledge you can acquire about humans or this......Schattenreich?" She asked.

Twilight nodded. "Of course....no problem!" She replied, seeming enthused about the prospect, until she remembered something. "Wait, Alecia doesn't know a lot about her old culture." She replied, somewhat deflated.

Celestia tapped her chin and then spoke. "Anything she knows will be good, after all there is no one alive who knows anything about those kingdoms, and I know very little." She said.

Twilight walked over to her desk and her horn lit up, she opened a drawer and pulled out a checklist, a few scrolls, a pair of quills and a few jars of ink. "I'll see if I can talk Alecia into sharing what she knows, starting with what I learned on a visit one day." She said aloud.

Celestia smiled as she watched her student prepare multiple things at once. "I am needed back in Canterlot, there is no rush necessary Twilight, take your time, after all we do not know anything about Alecia, and Nightmare Moon may not be willing to talk." She stated.

Twilight looked at her teacher and bowed. "Goodbye Princess, good luck in Canterlot." She said.

______*Rarity's house.*______

Alecia and Nightmare were in the living room with Sweetie Belle who was listening in on them as they talked. "Alright, we need to find out what caused me to bleed." Alecia said flatly as the stared at the Alicorn ghost.

"And what part of 'I am not blasting you with magic again', did you not understand?" She asked as she stared into the other ghosts eyes.

Alecia rolled her eyes. "We're ghosts, we can't die again, so either shoot me or I'm hitting you." She replied.

Sweetie Belle looked at Nightmare Moon who looked very annoyed. "I only hit you through dumb luck, you can try all you want, you won't hit me." The Alicorn taunted.

Alecia raised an eyebrow and then shrugged. "As you wish." She then appeared in front of the Alicorn and punched her hard in the nose, Nightmare Moon immediately recoiled and held her nose. "Ouch!" She cried out.

Afterwards, Alecia watched the Alicorn ghost for a while and then sighed. "No blood, it's just me then." She stated.

In response, Nightmare Moon fired a magic bolt and hit Alecia in the face. "Now we are even again." She growled before vanishing.

Alecia wiped her face and noticed some blood, she sighed. "Ok, so I can bleed now, good to know." She muttered as she walked to the family room.

Sweetie Belle was silent as she observed, for one a ghost just bled, another thing was that the two ghosts who were normally inseparable seemed to be fighting at all times for some reason.

"Sweetie Belle, we aren't fighting, me and Nightmare are just having a disagreement." Alecia said, as though reading the filly's mind.

The door then opened and Rarity stepped through, she seemed tired and yet happy. "Rarity!" Sweetie Belle called out before rushing over.

Rarity bent down and hugged her sister for a short time and then stood up. "Where are the ghosts?" She asked tiredly.

"Seven continents over." Alecia joked as she looked over from staring outside.

Rarity looked at the ghost and spoke. "Princess Celestia was here today, she helped me to break the first seal, you should be able to leave the house now, you just leave Ponyville." She replied.

Alecia rolled her eyes and walked over to Rarity, she chuckled. "Oh if only it were that easy, but I'll humor you." She said.

Rarity followed Alecia out of the house and they walked for a while, and Alecia crossed her arms. "Alright, getting pulled back in three."

One.

"Two."

Two.

"One."

Three.

Alecia blinked as she looked back at the house. "Odd, maybe I'm not far enough." She walked to the boutique and was followed by the two unicorns.

Rarity waited outside the boutique and soon enough, Alecia walked out and had a perplexed look on her face......which soon changed to a grin. "Time for some fun." She rubbed her hands together evilly and looked at Rarity's house, she chuckled mischievously and vanished.

Rarity blinked and looked at her sister, who stared at her with wide eyes. "What have I done?" She asked herself.

Sweetie Belle soon giggled and started walking. "I don't think she will do anything bad, she's probably just happy to be free." She said.

Rarity walked alongside her sister and looked around for Alecia. "True, but she may get fed up with not being able to be seen." She replied out of concern.

"Or she wants to prank the hell out of your friends." Said the voice of Nightmare Moon, causing Rarity to Yelp in panic and jump away, she then proceeded to breath heavily for a while in order to calm down.

Sweetie Belle had frozen from the initial shock but recovered quickly. "Don't do that Nightmare." Rarity said as she finally spoke.

Nightmare Moon raised an eyebrow. "Don't do what? my usual antics? talk? be visible?" She asked teasingly.

Rarity growled. "You are just like Rainbow Dash, i swear." She muttered to herself as she walked.

"Alecia will probably come home eventually, she just wants to enjoy herself after all." Sweetie Belle said as they walked together.

"Speaking of coming home." Nightmare Moon looked at Rarity. "What have you been doing in that boutique of yours? you spent three nights in a row over there, only coming by to eat and check on Sweetie Belle.....we aren't foalsitters after all." The ghost questioned.

Rarity sighed. "If you must know, I have been busy making the dresses for myself and the girls, they are for the gala coming up." She answered.

Nightmare Moon held in a laugh and said nothing, remaining a neutral expression despite perfectly understanding how boring it was, and how high the mare's expectations were for it.

"Well, just don't be in Canterlot for too long Rarity, ok?" Sweetie Belle asked.

Rarity looked at her sister and nodded. "I promise I won't be there for too long, and before you say anything I will try to get some sleep." She said with a small smile before looking forward, she spotted Alecia looking around curiously, as though she didn't know where to start. "I'm going home to sleep, if you need me you know where I will be." She replied tiredly.

______*the next day, 9:00 AM.*______

Nightmare Moon stood in Rarity's room, it was very dimly lit and the mare's breathing was the only sound to be heard.

'Perhaps I have been too hard on the mare, she only did what she thought was right.......which was correct because I was crazy, but now I'm dead......am I? or am I just an illusion?' She asked herself as she looked down at the sleeping mare.

"Why are you able to sleep so soundly with two ghosts in the house, one of them being a former enemy?" She asked herself quietly.

Her question went unanswered however as the mare still slept quietly in her bed Nightmare Moon sighed and flew up to the roof, she arrived quickly and she sat down on the tiles. "Need to think?" Alecia's voice asked.

Nightmare looked at the ghost who looked different, and she raised an eyebrow, Aleica's hair was a very vibrant red now, and she no longer had black lightning dancing on her body. "Yea......and you? what's with the make over?" She asked.

Alecia looked at the Alicorn, her bright blue eyes stared directly into Nightmare's teal cat like eyes. "This is what I looked like as a human, I was.....reminiscing." She said quietly as she looked back and stared at the town.

"Good memories?" Nightmare asked softly, not wanting to offend.

Alecia laughed quietly and looked up at the sky. "Yea, good times." She replied with a small smile.

Nightmare said nothing and simply went back to thinking, the roof grew silent very quickly, and neither ghost spoke.

______*The Afternoon, Ponyville*______

Rarity walked to the train station, carrying several suitcases and bags of luggage with her, she was followed by Sweetie Belle, Nightmare Moon and Alecia. "How long will you be gone?" Alecia asked.

"A few days." Rarity replied tiredly, she had slept for a good long while but had woken up only recently, thankfully everything was already packed and ready to go.

Sweetie Belle spoke up next. "Who am I staying with until then? because I don't think Alecia and Nightmare Moon count." She asked.

"I hired Derpy's daughter Amethyst Star to watch you until I get back." Rarity replied.

Alecia floated ahead of Rarity and closed her eyes as she floated with her back facing the ground, she was back to normal now, and there was no trace of her old self remaining right now. "Does she know about us?" She asked.

"No, and I would appreciate it if you could keep your antics to a minimum." Rarity said, glaring at Nightmare Moon specifically.

Nightmare rolled her eyes. "I would never scar a child for life." She replied in a fake innocent tone.

"Just don't do anything drastic." Rarity said to herself, hoping for what felt impossible.

Alecia floated above Rarity. "No promises." She stated as they neared the train station, spotting Rarity's friends waiting at the station.

Rarity walked over to her friends and accepted the train ticket from Twilight, she noticed that some of their gazes were pointed at the ghosts, but none of them said anything.

"Is everypony ready to go to Canterlot?" Twilight asked, getting a nod from the others, she sighed in relief. "Let's go then, don't want to be late." She said.

Nightmare Moon spoke up and what she said surprised them all. "If you manage to talk to the Sun lover, give her my thanks for her part in our partial freedom." She said before turned away. "Or don't, she doesn't need a ghost's thanks anyway." She said before taking flight and flying off.

Alecia watched and then looked at the mares and baby dragon. "See you when you get back I guess." She said before vanishing from sight.

Rarity bent down and gave her sister one last hug. "I'll see you in a few days, please behave for Amethyst." She whispered that last part.

Sweetie Belle returned the hug. "I will, now go before you miss your train." She replied quietly.

After that, Rarity and her friends boarded the train and a few minutes later it departed for Canterlot, Sweetie Belle stayed just to see her off, and when the train was gone, Nightmare appeared next to Sweetie Belle. "So, what are you going to do now?" She asked.

"Go home? maybe read a book, don't know yet." Sweetie Belle replied.

Nightmare sighed and walked with the filly. "Well if you need me, I'll be going through Twilight's library." She said, before Sweetie Belle could protest, the Alicorn vanished from sight.

The filly sighed. "Where's Alecia when you need her?" She asked herself quietly.

______*Ponyville cemetery.*_____

No one ever entered the cemetery except for the caretaker or those who were burying and mourning the dead, of course, this was just how the living saw things.

The truth was that a cemetery is........exactly as quiet as the living see it, just with a few more visitors a year, including one cursed ghost.

Alecia remained absolutely silent in the graveyard, she walked through the graves and eventually found herself staring at a pair of very familiar names, Crystal Cut and Dark Amber, her eyes saddened and she knelt down. "Hey Crystal, I don't know if you're still around or if you can even hear me anymore.....but I wanted to say I'm sorry I wasn't around to guide you through the afterlife." She paused and sighed sadly. "I know this apology doesn't mean much, but you deserve it, more than anyone." She said quietly.

Aleica said nothing for a time, as though waiting for a reply, she eventually spoke again after ten minutes. "Dark Amber, I don't know how you died, I don't know when you died, and I don't really remember your face that well anymore, and I want you to know that I don't hate you for sealing me away, I was angry at first, but now I can see exactly why you hated me, so I don't blame you, all I can hope is that you lived long, if you can hear me at all, I think you should know all of this." She closed her eyes and placed her hand on the tombstone.

And so she remained, the ghost did not move or speak, Alecia stayed by those tombstones for hours as the day passed by slowly, and later, she finally stood up and walked away in silence.

She had enough of visiting her past for one day.

Author's Note:

Quite the time jump right? no? either way works, so anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter,