The cursed resident.

by Sylif Daring Doo

.tsap seno desruc eht fo elaT

______*Ponyville, Rarity's house, a week later, 7:24 PM*_____

The house was quiet and dark, all of the lights were off, save one, Twilight was staying the night along with Spike, who was absolutely horrified of the two ghosts at first.

It had taken several hours to calm him down enough so that he wasn't actively avoiding them, and even then he was still wary, especially of Nightmare Moon.

Now though, the three unicorns, the two ghosts and dragon were all downstairs in the family room, the furniture was repositioned so that they could all sit around the single lantern on the table.

Most of the night was spent telling stories of all kinds, tall tales, family stories, funny ones, embarrassing ones even, so far, all but Nightmare Moon and Alecia had told a story.

And after enough convincing, Nightmare told them all a horrifying story, involving special effects and sounds from her magic, which, while able to be used normally, couldn't affect the physical world correctly, which gave them all a ghostly echo or appearance, adding to the scare factor.

Needless to say, after the Alicorn's story, the four living beings needed a break to calm down, leaving the ghost with a triumphant grin. "That was evil." Alecia said quietly as she sat on the couch.

Nightmare looked at the other ghost with a smirk. "I can't do anything to them physically, so I might as well scare them." She replied in a whisper.

A few minutes later, and the others returned, they took their seats. "So Alecia, what about you?" Rarity asked.

Alecia looked at the unicorn. "I don't have any interesting stories." She said.

"Over a thousand years old? and no story to tell?" Nightmare asked, clearly not believing Alecia. "I don't buy it, they may not be interesting to you, but they may be to us." She added.

Sweetie Belle looked between her sister and the Alicorn. "I can't believe they are agreeing." She whispered.

Alecia looked around the room, seeing them waiting made her sigh. "Well, what the hell? It can't hurt." She muttered.

The ghost floated up and then above the lantern and spoke. "Alright listen closely, cause you got me in a good mood." She stated before telling her story.

______*A long time ago.*______

The air was calm today as the light shone brightly over the lush green fields and forests, there were no clouds today and the air was warm, in one of many forests were a group of people.

Alecia ran through the forest, several sets of footsteps followed her as she ran, she looked around her environment quickly before she stopped moving, she then held her left hand up flat, and the footsteps slowed. "Captain?" A young male voiced said behind her.

Alecia looked back at the others, three male humans wearing similar outfits to her own brown jacket and light leather pants, the only difference was that the three males each had a different colored eagle on the backs of their jackets.

The first of the group was a six foot male with short black hair and a small mustache, he had wrinkles on his forehead and had hazel eyes, he was up there in years, but was still very fast, his name was Vigo.

The second man in the group was six foot three and had balding brown hair, his almost pale skin contrasted with his dark green eyes, he had a rounded head and only had eight fingers, missing his right index and his left pinkie, his name was Karl, but most called him Eight.

The last man was five foot seven tall, he had slightly tanned skin and had brown eyes, he had blonde hair that had recently been cut to a barely three inches long, he had smooth looking skin and was the youngest of the males, his name was Frederick.

"Why are we stopping?" Frederick asked.

Alecia blew a bit of her red hair out of her eyes. "We lost the trail, and you are going to find it." She said calmly.

"But captain!..." He was cut off as Alecia raised her hand, silencing him. "Your my student Frederick, and it's time for a lesson on tracking." She motioned for him to follow and he did so.

Alecia knelt down to the ground, nothing but leaves were in sight. "What are we supposed to see here? there's nothing but leaves." Fred wondered.

"The leaves are both friend and enemy in forests Frederick, they can give away your direction, as well as to help you track your prey." She said as she pointed at small portion of leaves that were crushed. "These leaves were crushed by a boot, which means that he went this way, now, find the next clue." She ordered as she stood up and back up.

Frederick took a few moments, but he eventually found the path and pointed them in the direction. "That way." He said.

Alecia patted her student on the back. "Let's get moving then boys." She said before running in the direction of their prey.

"Who were you chasing?" Rarity asked out of curiosity.

"A criminal, he assaulted several citizens before resisting arrest, nothing more." Alecia said. "Now don't interrupt." She added as she continued.

The chase went on for an hour, but the group eventually caught the man and arrested him, they brought him back to the nearby town.

Alecia waited outside of the guard station with Frederick as the others went inside to deliver the criminal to the guards. "Captain, can I ask you something?" Fred asked.

She looked at him and nodded. "What is it?" She wondered.

Frederick seemed nervous, but he spoke anyway. "I uh.......well I was wondering, about the Lost Legion, what's it like?" He asked.

Aleica chuckled. "Don't be so nervous rookie, the boys will sense it and pick on you for weeks." She rolled her eyes at the panicked man. "I'm joking by the way." This did little to ease his mind.

"It's not that bad actually, we are just scouts and trackers, we don't do much frontline combat if any, we stick together though, we don't leave anyone behind and we cover each other's backs." She looked up at the clear sky. "We also take care of one another, despite our differences we are like one big family." She looked at Frederick.

"You have nothing to worry about, just try to learn about how to fit in, don't butt in to the brawls, and most importantly, repay the trust we give with your own, loyalty is a big thing with us." She stated.

Frederick nodded and crossed his arms, waiting for the others to come back out.

It took a few minutes, but Karl and Vigo finally walked out. "He's in the guards custody now." Vigo said.

With that, Alecia nodded. "Let's get going then." She said before started to walk.

The three men followed her as they headed towards the current headquarters of the Lost Legion. "I thought we operated out of the capital?" Frederick said out of bewilderment.

"The Legion doesn't operate out of just one place, our HQ is where we say it is, it pisses off the higher ups, but they can't do anything about it." Karl stated calmly.

"Isn't that inefficient though?" The rookie wondered, he held his hands up when he got a glare from Vigo. "Hey, I'm just curious." He said defensively.

Alecia shook her head with a smirk. "Vigo." She said simply, her voice betraying no emotion.

"Yes captain?" The older man asked.

Alecia chuckled. "Seven." She stated calmly.

Frederick was about to ask what that meant when he recieved a quick slap to the back of his head, he flinched and held his head. "Gah!" He exclaimed as he looked at Vigo. "What was that for?" He asked as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Captains orders." Vigo said without any further explanation.

Aleica simply stifled a laugh as the group walked, after a few minutes, Karl eventually explained that 'seven' was a response order, meaning 'slap the newbie' to those that knew the order.

The group walked for around fifteen minutes, but they soon reached the current HQ for the Lost Legion, which was just an old barracks compound that they inhabited.

Alecia looked at the three men. "Your all dismissed, do whatever." She said before heading for the main building.

The barracks had three buildings and two towers, the main buidling had two stories to it, with three rooms on the first floor, one for storing equipment, one that was designed for managing the barracks, complete with ledgers and a desk with papers and quills to write with, the last room was small, but had the stairs for the second floor.

The second floor only had two rooms, one for planning and tactics, and the other room was another storage, but this one was for documents, papers, maps and writing supplies.

The other buildings were the mess hall, and the bunks for the troops.

Needless to say, the compound wasn't large enough for them all, and the troops had put up tents to act as additional sleeping quarters.

Alecia entered the main building and closed the door, she immediately headed for the planning room upstairs, she passed a few soldiers talking on the steps and crossed her arms. "Ahem, mind letting me through?" She asked.

The soldiers looked at her and one of them, a blonde haired woman stood up. "Sorry Alecia, didn't know you were back." She said.

The soldiers stood up and moved out of the way. "Thanks, see you at the brawl?" Alecia asked as she headed upstairs.

"You know it Captain." One of the men said.

Alecia walked to the planning room door, she heard raised voices on the other side and opened the door.

Inside were two men, one of them was tall and old, gray hair, short beard and tired blue eyes, he had darker skin that bordered on dark brown, he was obviously on edge and tense, he was the head of the town guard, Stephen. "Good day Commander." He said before walking to the door and leaving.

The other man was Commander Cory, a young six foot four man with scruffy brown hair and pale skin, he had brown eyes and wore black trousers, he wore steel boots on his feet and had a dark blue shirt and a black vest, and while his facial expression was neutral, his eyes betrayed his irritation, he glanced over and he visibly brightened when he saw Alecia. "Ah! my favorite captain!" He said, he was excited as he walked around the map table and looked down at the map.

Alecia closed the door and walked over. "The guard still giving us problems?" She asked.

Cory nodded, he frowned for a brief second but it was replaced by a smirk. "Of course, but we always have that problem." He stated.

The commander then looked at Alecia again. "How are the troops?" He asked.

"Eager to get back into the wild, but patient." She said.

Cory placed a finger on a forest on the map and looked at Alecia. "We won't be here much longer, we're being sent to the southern front." He stated.

Alecia raised an eyebrow. "Why? we don't belong on the front." She wondered.

Cory shrugged and crossed his arms. "Don't ask me, we're heading back to Arness soon and after that, it's to the front." He replied.

Alecia nodded and walked to the door to leave, but Cory's voice stopped her. "Alecia." He said.

She turned and looked at her commander, he looked back at her with a small smile. "What is it Cory?" She asked.

"Don't forget to visit your husband, you haven't talked in a while." Cory stated teasingly.

Alecia rolled her eyes. "If i have time, I'm still pissed at Douglas." She said before leaving the room.

______*The present day.*______

Alecia said nothing to break the silence that dominated the room after she finished her story, she looked around at the surprised expressions and scoffed. "What? surprised I was in an army? that I was married? I am one hell of a charmer after all." She bragged as she appeared behind Rarity, startling the mare. "Don't be so surprised, I am over a thousand years old you know." She stated as she floated around lazily.

The surprise soon faded away and Twilight was the first to speak. "Do you mind if I ask what Douglas was like?" She wondered.

"He was a merchant." Alecia said. "We were married for five years when I joined the Lost Legion, the first time I came home seven months later, I learned he had an affair with another woman, we argued for a while, I got sent out again." She sighed.

"He was a good guy though, he had heart and knew how to cheer people up, he had his downsides, but doesn't everyone?" Alecia then grinned and looked at Twilight. "What about you Sparkle? any lucky guy?" She teased.

Twilight felt her face heat up as she stammered. "N-n-n-n-no! there's no 'lucky' guy!" She blurted out, she immediately covered her mouth, much to Nightmare Moon's amusement.

Alecia smirked and floated above Twilight. "Ah, no lucky guy......so I'm guessing there's a.....mare you have eyes on?" She said in an amused tone.

Twilight buried her face in her hooves. "No!" She denied adamantly.

While Sweetie Belle and Spike remained ignorant to the joke that Nightmare was howling in laughter about, Rarity could only sigh and feel pity for her friend, as well as concern for both herself and Sweetie Belle.

Why? because they have to live with the ghosts of course, and they love to torment the living in their own way.

Author's Note:

I felt that Alecia deserved a little more backstory this time, and while the 'present' scenes may feel rushed, I am happy with how they turned out. (Grammar issues and autocorrect changes not withstanding.)