Beyond My Grave: Exhumed

by AnnEldest

Perchance to Wake

*shff…shff…clack*

The sounds of the steps interlude with the wooden clack came closer to the door. Discord and Spike did everything they could to escape. The door wouldn’t open no matter how they pushed, pulled or threw their bodies against it. Spike even tried to burn it down, but couldn’t even muster an ember. Not even his fiery breath worked. Now, he was even less sure of being able to use a spell to return home, even if he found it. But, he wouldn’t give up. He continued to flip through the pages of the spellbook to find what he needed, while Discord tried to pry the boards from the windows. No matter how he tried to remove the boards, they stayed on the wall. It was then that he saw the hellish void beyond the window, and realized escape from there was impossible.

*shff…shff…clack*

The sound was right outside the door. Discord watched in paralyzed terror as Spike hid behind him.

*shff…shff…*

It walked right through the closed door as if it had no form or shape. It looked like a mare, but it hardly even looked like a pony. Standing upright, dressed head to split hoof in tattered, gray clothes that looked centuries old that matched the look of its equally tattered, gray skin, there was no color or warmth to be seen in its form. There were no eyes on the thing. Not even hollow sockets where the eyes once were. In one of its skeletal hands, it held a wooden stick with a grimy metal handle. And it touched it to the floor with a loud *clack*.

The gray ghost stared at the intruders in the classroom, completely unmoving. Spike and Discord were equally still, petrified by the presence of the creature. The ghost moaned in that despaired filly’s voice and raised its cane over its head. There was almost no time for Discord to pull Spike out of the way as the thing lunged forward and swung its cane downward. The floor where they just were splintered under the blow, and the ghost withdrew its cane to attack again.

“My book!” Spike yelled.

In the moment that he was pulled from danger, Spike had lost his grip on the spellbook he had been carrying. There it laid by the instructor’s desk. And there he was with the gray ghost between the book and himself.

The ghost swung its cane at the desk between itself and its prey, destroying it as it shuffled through the wrecked object. Discord and Spike picked themselves up from the floor and ran as fast as they could from the ghost. Spike tried ramming the wall, but it didn’t even bend under his body. There was another crash of a splintering desk, and the two of them moved to the next corner. Spike dared to look over his shoulder and saw the gray ghost leaping across the room at them. He yelped as he tripped over a filly’s severed leg that was laying on the floor and landed in one of the puddles of fresh blood.

The grey ghost landed just ahead of him, smashing its cane onto another desk where Spike would have been. Spike rolled to dodge another swing of the cane, the blood on the floor splashing all over him when it impacted. He met the non-existent gaze of the ghost, feeling nothing but pure, malicious desire from its presence. An evil kind of despair that made it blame everypony for what it was and what had happened to it. And it was going to make them all pay for it.

Spike crawled backwards from the ghost and watched as a piece of debris thrown by Discord passed through its body. The ghost looked at Spike and shuffled toward him, its split-hoofed feet passing through the broken desks. It was then that Spike saw that its feet were stained red, and it was leaving bloody footprints in its wake. His eyes lit up just as he had to run away from the ghost once more.

Discord tried over and over to draw the ghost away from Spike, but to no avail. He tried to swing at it with a broken desk leg, but it passed right through. The gray ghost moaned again and whirled around to knock Discord away, before swinging back to attack Spike. It was only Spike’s thick scales that saved him from having his shoulder crushed, even by just the glancing blow that landed. He quickly backpedaled from the ghost, and climbed atop a desk just as it was winding up its arm for another attack. The cane passed beneath Spike just as he jumped up to grab one of the hooks from the ceiling and wipe his bloody claws all over it. Trying not to think about the filly’s ear that was snagged on it, he threw the bloodied hook at the gray ghost’s head. As if some switch had been thrown and the reality he knew had changed, Spike saw the hook dig into the open mouth of the ghost, snagging it like a fish on a hook.

“Discord!! Use the blood!!” Spike called.

He was knocked off the desk by a wild swing of the ghost’s cane and hit the floor. Discord took Spike’s example and started rolling a broken piece of the desk in the fresh blood on the floor. The gray ghost ripped the hook from its mouth, shredding its already ragged face even more. It swung its cane over its shoulder and blocked Discord’s attack. The ghost parried hard, making Discord stumble back. It swung as Discord got his footing.

Discord blocked the blow with his improvised weapon, finding that it was somehow strong enough to hold up under the force of the ghost’s cane. Whether it was the power of the blood or something else, Discord didn’t bother to question it as he swung at the ghost again. His attack struck true, and made it stagger under his attack. Before he could attack again, the ghost had already recovered and swung at him.

Spike was already at the front of the classroom and recovered his book. He frantically flipped through the book, trying to find the page he wanted. He glanced between the pages and Discord’s battle with the ghost, not sure how close he was to losing yet. He watched as Discord tried to throw one of the hanging hooks at the ghost, but forgot to put blood on it, letting it swing dangerously close to the mirror in the cabinet. Spike’s heart almost stopped when he heard the ding of metal on glass, but saw that the mirror was barely scratched. He returned to his book, and found the page he needed. His eyes danced across the page, taking in the information from before. It wasn’t much to go on, but he had to try it. Once he was done, he closed the book and began collecting chalk dust from the blackboard.

Another blow was blocked by Discord, who was pushed over the top of one of the tables. He covered his face with his hands in a futile attempt to shield himself from the debris of the cracking desk. The ghost jumped over the desk, passing through the shaking hooks from the ceiling and coming down with a vicious blow. Discord blocked and still took some of the hit. He was pinned. Kept on the floor by the gray ghost, which raised its cane again.

The ghost shrieked loudly as it swung its cane wildly. Discord was able to slither out from beneath it, as he saw a bloody hook protruding from its chest. Spike jumped through the ghost’s body and helped Discord up. Discord took a second to bloody another hook and jam it into the ghost’s neck.

“Hurry!” Spike said.

He led Discord back to the cabinet, where he started sprinkling the chalk he had collected into a circle on the floor. When he was done, he started smearing blood on the mirror.

“Quick! Get in the circle!” Spike instructed Discord, who stepped into the circle of chalk with him.

The gray ghost ripped the hook out of its neck, and started walking forward, held back by the hook that impaled it from behind. The hook slowly slid out of its back with each step, letting it closer to the two.

“Come on! Come on! Work!” Spike said.

The ghost slowly slid free, and it moaned again.

The image on the mirror was made murky by the blood. But, Spike could see something different on its surface. Something that he thought wasn’t there in the room with them.

The hook in the ghost’s back slid gradually out as it frantically swung its arms. One last pull, and the thing was free of the hook. It moaned angrily at the intruders as it raised its cane to end them once and for all.

Spike swiped his foot through the circle of chalk just as the ghost was upon them.

---

Discord awoke with a scream and rolled out of Spike’s bed. He quickly looked around and saw that the world was indeed the one that he knew.

Nearby, Spike awoke with a start and looked around himself. He looked at the circle of chalk he had drawn in the bedroom, and saw a part of it had broken. His plan had worked. And he now had to make sure of something else. He clutched the book that had got him so far and stood up.

“Quick! Find every mirror in the castle and cover it!” he said.

Discord didn’t question it. He and Spike went down opposite ends of the hall and set to work covering every mirror that they could find with anything that they could. Even if that meant spraying Twilight’s mane dye over it. By the time that they were done, Spike and Discord reconvened in Spike’s room.

“Did you get them all?” Spike asked.

“I went through every room in the castle. Even the ones you already did,” Discord said.

“Good. We don’t want anything following us here,” Spike said. He waited a moment, until he truly felt as if he and Discord truly were alone. He sighed and walked back over to where the phoenix rested on the nightstand. “I think I know what this is for. It’s mostly conjecture, but I think I found something before that paper shredder mare attacked us.”

“I think I found something too,” Discord said.

“You first.”

“The phoenix? I think it’s some kind of effigy or an idol. Something that’s had sacrifices made to it. If that’s not true, it’s probably something really close to it. How else would you explain all of the butchered foals and the bloody bowl in the closet?” Discord said.

“You’re probably not far off,” Spike said. “There was something on the chalkboard underneath all that other writing. It looked… It looked like instructions.”

“I know I’m gonna regret this, but instructions for what?”

“To steal something from others. To take it away, or contain it, or something! I don’t know what! Whatever it is, I’d bet that phoenix is more powerful than anything in the waking world,” Spike said.

He and Discord looked at it, feeling as if its unblinking bejeweled eyes were watching them. They waited once more, feeling as if they suddenly weren’t alone in that room anymore.

“We have to get to Canterlot. Quick. You keep trying to find more books like the one you’ve got while you’re there,” Discord said.

“What about you?” Spike asked.

“Me? I’ve got to pay a certain princess a visit.”

Author's Note:

I did my best to make sure this part was more fleshed out but also not dragged out like the original. I think it turned out alright. As always...

Till Next Time!!!