Chapter 5
A short breakfast with Twilight and the group was off to visit Rarity. Whether Grimm was really upset over the small insult that Twilight unintentionally said or the fact that someone could make his look so trivial was a mystery. Either way, it looked like steam was emanating from Grimm’s head in the cool weather. A bright sunny day to contrast Grimm’s dark colors. At least Ghost somewhat blended with both day and night thanks to his appearance.
As the group walked through Ponyville, they were rushed by the CMC clad in gray capes and armed with wooden swords that resembled Ghost’s nail, “Mr. Ghost, look at what my sister created for us. Now we look like you.”
Twilight couldn’t help but giggle at the sight of the crusaders taking Ghost’s appearance, “I don’t think Ghost has time to teach you three anything. At least after we get him and Grimm to meet Rarity.”
Sweetie Belle smiled before bowing to the group in a comical fashion, “Let us lead the way. It’s only fair we do so.”
“Yeah, and maybe we’ll get our helpourteacher cutie mark this way,” Scootaloo added
Without any arguments against the three fillies leading the way, the group followed them. A few short minutes later, they were coming upon a large building that stood out from the rest. It was probably the tallest building within Ponyville, having a fine point at the end. To the vessels, it seemed like it could be a small tower from a quick glance, but the colors made it harmless.
Sweetie Belle went ahead and knocked on the front door, waiting for a few moments before she heard hoofsteps coming from inside. A couple of moments later and the door was wide open revealing another mare that Ghost vaguely remembered from Godhome. She was much different from Twilight and bore more of a resemblance to Sweetie Belle. That alabaster coat of hers coupled with her purple mane was quite unique. She also seemed to be wearing glasses and having some sort of measuring tape around her neck.
“Oh. I thought it was another customer. I see you brought your...er...visitors, Twilight,” the alabaster mare stated, unsure what to call Ghost or Grimm
“They’re not visitors sis, they’re our friends. Ghost is going to teach me and the girls how to swordfight,” Sweetie Belle replied with annoyance at her sister’s ‘proper’ attitude
This made the mare bawk in astonishment before she shook herself out of her stupor, “No, a lady does not participate in fights. At least, she doesn’t go out looking for them.”
Ghost, having a feeling that there was going to be some tension between the sisters, decided to cut in, “I didn’t want to but they were eager to learn. I won’t be teaching them too much, just the basics. You have my word on that.”
Rarity looked up at Ghost for a few moments, seemingly analyzing him from head to toe, “You’re that swordmaster the girls talk about. I appreciate what you did for my sister and her friends. Although, that cloak of yours has seen some better days.”
Looking towards Grimm, she seemed to analyze the Nightmare even more so due to the more complex appearance of the Nightmare King, “Although I do not care for the colors, it matches your eyes quite well. Is that eyeliner on your eyes or is that...natural?”
Grimm seemed to take whatever compliment he got with pride, giving his traditional bow to the unicorn, “All natural, my little pony. The scarlet flame does not accept charlatans.”
Twilight spoke up, “Rarity, if you aren’t too busy, I was showing these two around and I wanted to show them how great your apparel is around the town. Grimm was so eager to see what you how to show.”
This got the fashionista’s attention, her eyes glittering for a moment as her pride rose. Putting a huff to her mane to fix it up, she spoke in a more gracious tone, “But of course, all you had to do was ask. I would love to show these visitors my accomplishments. Do come in.”
Applebloom snickered before whispering to the vessels, “She’s a bit of a fanatic with cleanliness. Last time, mah sis accidently kicked up some dirt in her mane an’ she was furious.”
Grimm gave a deadpan look with a sigh, “Oh I do dread those types. I’ve dealt with too many from all my travels.”
“What places have you visited? Can you tell us?” Scootaloo questioned, her pitch raising as her eyes were now glued on Grimm
The Nightmare King chuckled in response, “Another time, little one. My stories will be long and boring for your youthful mind.”
At the very least, the vessels shook off any dirt from their cloaks before proceeding inside, followed by the others. Inside, Grimm was quite impressed with what he saw. Multiple mannequins with either full dresses or costumes on display with some being prototype. Ghost seemed to care less about the dresses per say, his mind too focused on earlier events. It was then that Ghost noticed that Rarity was using that measuring tape to check his dimensions.
“Before you ask, darling, I’m just having your measurements on in case I come up with anything for future plans. But first, you need a new cloak. That one seems to be fitting you a bit petite,” Rarity said, finding measuring Ghost’s height an issue and having to resort to magic
Ghost looked at Twilight, the mare smiling bashfully while her eyes avoided contact, “How would I be able to pay this back?”
Rarity scoffed before levitating a book over with a feather pen, writing the measurements down quickly, “Free of charge, darling. The material needed to remake your cloak will be less expensive since I assume you only care for simplicity, yes?”
Ghost only nodded, feeling the hooves of the fashionista touching his void body underneath. His senses wanted to explode out of his system, a feeling he never had before. Whether he knew it or not, his mask was beginning to lighten up in a red color as he looked downward. He took a quick glance to notice Rarity was practically under his cloak. Looking at the group, Twilight had the fillies’ eyes covered with paper while Grimm was busy inspecting the rolls of material around the boutique.
“Thin frame, so nothing too heavy or wide. Oh, your body is so cold darling. You need to cover yourself up more before you freeze. Wouldn’t want you looking like a popsicle during the winter,” Rarity said after coming out of Ghost’s cloak with the proper measurements
Grimm’s hands laid under his chin, looking at Ghost in every angle, “Scarlet would be perfect for him. It suits his eyes and mask quite well if say so myself.”
Rarity stopped for a moment before looking at Grimm with one eyebrow raised, “As much as I would love to agree with you, Master Grimm, I think a lighter color would be better. A contrast to your fabulous dark scheme.”
Grimm turned around in a playful manner, head raised while one of his hands was on his heart, “My dear, you are flattering me. I will admit I had my doubts from Ms. Sparkle’s words, but I am beginning to be impressed.”
Rarity proceeded to double check her measurements, making sure to account for a margin of error in case she missed a few centimeters. Her eyes looked over Ghost before stopped at the Pure Nail on his back, shining so brightly like a diamond. The alabaster mare trotted over to get a closer look of the weapon the void entity wielded.
“Darling, would you mind if I inspect your weapon?” Rarity asked, “I need to account for the fact it will be on your back when I make your new cloak.”
Ghost gave a nod while his blush died down. Removing the nail from his back, he held it out to the mare as she looked at the unique swirl design on the blade itself. No amateur could have made such a fine piece. Only a master could ever pull off the designs this weapon had while maintaining the integrity. Rarity felt the blade from hilt down to the edge with her hoof, feeling a chill run up her spine.
Suddenly, the fashionista sprung up with a bright look on her face, “Yes! I know exactly what to do.”
Twilight tilted her head to the side, “To do what?”
Suddenly, the entire group was being pushed out of the boutique as Rarity had a glint in her eye. A look that Twilight knew when her friend had a dash of inspiration needed to conceive some of her best dresses. Before the group could even question what was going on in Rarity’s head, they were outside the boutique.
“I’m terribly sorry for having to stop our little meeting so soon. Come back tomorrow and I will have something to show you,” Rarity said before closing the door
Twilight took a moment to recollect herself before dusting herself, “Well, that’s Rarity for you. The only two you have yet to meet is Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. I think Dash is currently maintaining the weather and Fluttershy shouldn’t be too far away.”
“But we wanted some sword lessons!” the voices of the CMC rose in protest
Twilight was going to respond before Grimm took the initiative, “Ms. Twilight, I believe we can work on a compromise. I will go with you to meet this Fluttershy while my friend gives these three their well-deserved lessons. We must always think of the children first.”
Twilight gave it some thought, finding it a bit hard to accept since she preferred both vessels came along. But, if Fluttershy got along with Grimm enough, then surely she could get along with Ghost. With the CMC occupied with their ‘lessons,’ that would make this process go a lot smoother without any problems arising.
Looking at the three fillies below her, she saw their eyes wide and glued to her for an answer. Those young eyes of theres were making her heart hurt a bit if she were to deny them their request. Ghost was giving the lessons so it should be fine. He was a capable individual, but she worried how the town would react.
“I’ll let you three have Ghost for the time being, but keep it out of the town. I don’t want complaints to reach Mayor Mare,” Twilight reluctantly agreed, giving them a warning
The three fillies began jumping up and down around Ghost, their little capes flapping due to their movement, “Yay!”
Then they dragged the poor vessel towards Sweet Apple Acres while Twilight and Grimm could only watch. After they disappeared out of sight, the Nightmare King and Bearer of Magic proceeded to the outskirts of Ponyville.
Ghost looked up at a surprisingly well kept clubhouse situated on a tree. There weren’t anything like this besides the web-made homes in Deepnest. The fact the CMC had their base of operations in a secret area of Sweet Apple Acres was a bit surprising. He didn’t spot it on yesterday’s trip.
Speaking of the three fillies, they had disappeared into the clubhouse to ‘retrieve some training gear’ as they put it. He didn’t see what they needed unless they were fetching some dummy targets for them to practice on. That thought made him think back to Kingdom’s Edge with Oro’s practice target that secretly was a trap.
“I wonder if Oro ever made amends with Mato,” Ghost muttered to himself before he heard sounds coming from inside the treehouse
CLANG!
Ghost raised a brow, that he didn’t have, before going up towards the clubhouse. What were those three fillies up to? He used his Monarch Wings to easily get up towards the door, bending down to open it and enter.
What he found was the Crusaders crowding around something. Scootaloo had a metal bell in her hooves, being bent either from falling or something. The other two were holding their wooden amateur swords in their hooves tightly.
“What’s going on?” Ghost finally inquired as he came closer
“It’s...Ah don’t know. Looks like you,” Applebloom answered, having the Crusaders back up to show something that made Ghost recoil in shock
On the floor unconscious was another vessel. This one had horns that mainly focused on one side of its mask while leaving the otherside with one small horn. It also had a cloak like Ghost but it was a bit longer than usual. It almost looked like vines compared to an actual cloak. But, there was one single feature that identified this vessel, the back portion of its skull missing.
“Broken...Vessel?” Ghost could only utter
Ghost carefully bent down next to his unconscious brother, lifting the vessel onto his lap while tracing the back portion of the mask. He could feel the essence of life still coursing through the injured being. The body was intact, and the mask would heal.
“I don’t understand, you said that you and Grimm were the ones to arrive,” Sweetie Belle said, moving closer to Broken Vessel
Ghost was silent as he traced his fingers over the vessel’s mask slowly, looking for any hints of damage. Thankfully, the fillies didn’t use an actual weapon to damage the mask or there would have been some consequences. The world around Ghost seemed to fade as he looked at Broken Vessel, thinking back to those days in Hallownest
Ghost blocked a strike from his opponent, nail clashing against nail in furious battle. His opponent was not one to underestimate. Looking directly into his opponent’s eyes, if Ghost could, he would be disgusted with what he saw. Eyes filled with orange puss of infection that gathered from the back of the skull. Yet, in that corrupted essence, he saw a glimmer of his opponent’s former self.
Ghost wacked his opponent’s nail away before delivering a decisive strike at the infection itself. His nail struck true, easily piercing the orange flesh as his opponent began to scream in agony. Infection began pouring Broken Vessel before the infection on top of its head exploded. The rest of Broken Vessel fell down onto the floor.
Ghost turned to walk away but looked back at his former brother. The last remnants of his kin reached out to him with what little strength it had. The emotionless void eyes began to leak void tears while reaching for its brother desperately. Ghost turned and approached the slowly dying vessel. Grabbing ahold of its hand, Ghost knelt before his fallen kin.
The dying vessel touched Ghost’s mask before slowly letting its appendage rest against the floor. The void eyes emptied slowly upon its death. Ghost kelt there emotionless, still holding the hand of its brethren.
“Mr. Ghost, why are you crying?”
Ghost rose his head as reality took him out of those memories. He looked at the three fillies, their faces scrunched up with concern as they looked at their teacher. Ghost reached up with one of his hands to feel his mask. Liquid void touched his hands, embracing them in their cold aura to confirm that he was crying.
“It’s…a long story,” Ghost uttered softly
His attention turned back to Broken Vessel. The being beginning to stir in his arms, void eyes opening to look up at Ghost. At first, the vessel did nothing but then it looked at the CMC. Dashing off of Ghost’s lap, it grabbed its smaller nail and went to defend its brethren from these beasts.
It aimed for the white one, the one that had discovered it first before the orange one attacked it. The nail rose to strike the creature while it had no time to react. It was a perfect shot.
ClANG!
The vessel looked surprised as another nail was now blocking the attack. A much larger nail that had to belong to its brethren. Broken Vessel turned towards the wielder silently. Ghost looked at his brethren before shaking his head at the actions.
“You don’t have to hurt them, they were just afraid,” Ghost put a protective arm around the CMC while holding his nail
Broken Vessel stopped to look at the three creatures. Shaking violently in Ghost’s arms, their eyes small and their teeth clenched. It contemplated on Ghost’s words for a moment due to how contradictory the creatures acted.
Ghost put down his nail and reached a hand out towards Broken Vessel. The vessel lowered its weapon as it saw Ghost extending its hand like it had in the past. Ghost had comforted Broken Vessel’s final moments in the past. Those thoughts resurfaced as the vessel tried to push them down due to its upbringing. But it failed...
Its cloak shuddered as it dropped its small nail. Taking small steps toward Ghost before breaking into a sprint towards him. Vessel brethren embraced each other along with their void eyes leaking profusely.
The CMC looked at each other, smiling that they had unintendedly reunited lost family together. They looked at their rears to see any marks form themselves but to their disappointment, nothing came through. Surely something this good would have had some fruits for their labor.
“Thank you...All three of you,” Ghost finally said, getting his composure together once more and wiping the tears away
“Coo,” Broken Vessel said as well, confusing the entire group
“What did it say?” Scootaloo asked confused
Ghost shrugged, “I have no idea either. This is one of my brethren, a vessel like me.”
Sweetie Belle began poking at Broken Vessel’s exposed skull curiously, “He looks really hurt. What’s his name?”
“He doesn’t have one,” Ghost answered, “But we can’t go around calling him Vessel.”
Broken Vessel looked between his brother and the new creatures in confusion. Name? Why would it need a name? They were vessels after all. Vessels didn’t need a name. The yellow one with a red mane then raised her hoof to speak.
“Ah got it! We call him Coo since that’s all he’s sayin’,” Applebloom stated, getting confused looks from the group, “What? It makes sense.”
“I don’t think Coo is a good name. I think Shorty is a better one,” Scootaloo retorted, looking at Broken Vessel for approval
Broken Vessel, the newly named Shorty, looked at everyone first. It was quite small compared to the rest of the beings in the room. So, the name wasn’t wrong persay.
“Wait a minute. Why don’t we have Shorty join us as an honorary member. Mr. Ghost, can he stay here?” Sweetie Belle asked, looking at the taller vessel with hopeful eyes
Ghost shrugged before looking at Shorty, “I don’t know. You girls aren’t bothered he just attacked you?”
Scootaloo sheepishly twiddled her hooves, “Well, we kinda attacked first. He just spooked us when we were looking for stuff. Sorry about that.”
Shorty was silent, walking around the clubhouse and picking up its nail on the way. If its brother was here, maybe its other siblings were here too. If these creatures were so kind to accept his brother into their ranks so quickly, then why shouldn’t he join them too? Whatever land they were in, there were questions that needed answers.
Reaching an appendage out towards the CMC, Shorty gave an affirmative, “Coo.”
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I’m surprised that the Broken Vessel showed up I thought that if any other characters came to Equestria they would still be alive. Though I guess being a vessel his shade went to the abyss after the knight defeated him.
Still waiting for Hornet to show up.
>Nightmare Night chapter
i predict Grimm getting a bit bigger of a head
9859733
You are definitely not wrong
Oro and mato made up in godhome, just saying.
UwU
And Equestria grants thought to another being of Void. Interesting.
im just waiting for hornet to show up lol
With this I expect The Hollow Knight to make an appearance somehow.
Hope that’s the case.
It would also be cool for more and more of Hoolownest to appear.....
What the whole kingdom arrives. And half call ghost king?
9860163
I will confirm that Hornet is planned after the Nightmare Night. Not directly after that specific point but expect her sometime around there.
As for the Hollow Knight, I have no plans as of yet for its appearance. I will have an update concerning future characters possibly soon
9860410
Well I certainly look forward to knowing what lovely characters you bring to life will be.
Based off of what you have so far, it’s going to be good!
If more vessels do make an appearance, might I recommend some from a recent fan animation called “Escapism”?
Hollow Knight Animation “Escapism”
It might just be wishful thinking, but damnit now I want to see that little vessel with one horn and the main one who seemed to take on a “big brother” role for it just make it to Equestria and finally live a life.
9862236
Believe it or not, that fan animation made me decide to use Broken Vessel first. I always felt the Vessel's had some sort of brotherly bond with each other whether they were truly hollow or not
9860410
Yay, Hornet's coming! Wait, does that mean Silksong doesn't happen in this fanfic?
9862688
The game isn't out so I have no idea how it would incorporate to the story
shorty is cute :D
I think hyphenation would help clarify what that is.
So if there are two more will they say "Rick" and "Kine" then?