> Dead Heart
>  by Leila Drake
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Level 1 - Welcome to Ponyville - or not
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Twilight, can we talk for a minute?", asked Princess Celestia quietly.

"Of course", nodded Twilight.

Princess Luna beckoned Jonathan Baker, also known as Priest, and Spike to follow her to the hallway. "Let us wait outside until they are done discussing this."

The undead human and the dragon accompanied Princess Luna outside, passing two royal guards at the doors as they left the dining room.

Priest was surprised how big Canterlot Castle appeared to be. He had somehow expected that a castle for ponies would be more... cozy, but this building was representative, massive and impressive. Princess Luna eyed him suspiciously as he turned his head to admire an intricate alicorn statue that marked the end of the hallway.

Nobody said anything even though Priest was starting to get an idea what it was that Princess Celestia wanted to talk about. He tapped his foot nervously as they waited for the two princesses to join them again.


- - -


"Now, can you tell me why that creature's heart is not beating?", asked Princess Celestia, her tone light but with a hidden sharpness.

Twilight shrank inside her traveling cloak. "I'm sorry, I can't. He's been like that since I met him..."

Celestia nodded encouragingly, waiting for more details.

"It's a curse that made the humans and elves and other creatures turn undead years ago. But that's all that it did", she added quickly. "It can't spread anymore so we should be fine."

"Fine? You know that I trust your judgement but..." Celestia sighed. "All right. But I want you to consider this: Both of you told me about the world that this human is from. You yourself have been there for three months. At this point, you are more aware than me that it is a world of warfare and danger. Please make sure to show Jonathan that Equestria is different. Luna and I will not allow our little ponies to be harmed."

Twilight bowed her head, a sign of agreement, not of obedience. "I will. I promise."

Celestia smiled. "Once again, I trust you, Twilight. I am sure you will handle this situation well. You won't regret your decision to invite your new friend. I will send you some help once you arrive in Ponyville. Good Luck!"


- - -


"Huh. Nice view", commented Priest as they left the train. The train station of Ponyville had only one platform and was not that impressive so it was obvious he meant the town itself.

"I know, right?" grinned Spike. He sat on Twilight's back and enjoyed the rest of some gems they had bought on the train ride. As he munched happily, the alicorn kept scribbling notes on a parchment she held in her magic.

"So, Priest", she asked, "you never told me how long you've been livi- uh, staying in Orgrimmar..."

"To be honest, I don't really know. Three years, I think. I was in Undercity before that and kind of lost track after a while." He frowned. "It was boring as hell so I was considering to go travelling or something when you showed up. It seems you have to be careful what you wish for." He rolled his eyes and shrugged.

Twilight smiled at him. "Don't worry, you'll be fine here, I promise. Princess Celestia asked me to take care of you and I am more than happy to do just that."

As they walked across town, Priest could not help but notice the townsponies staring at him. He tried to ignore them but somehow it was harder than ever. He was used to getting stared at; undead were considered an abomination anywhere and even if the ponies did not know about his 'condition', the messy long colorless hair, the damaged skin and ragged robes along with his height made him stand out on more than one level.

He tried to look straight on and ignore the whispers and immediately made out a large tree with windows, a door and a balcony peeking out of the branches.

"Is that an oak tree? Seems to be some kind of house. Very elvish looking."

"It sure is a house", beamed Twilight, heading straight for the door which was decorated with the carving of a candlestick and opening it with her magic. "Welcome to the Golden Oaks Library!"

He followed the alicorn inside, lowering his head so he didn't hurt himself at the door, and was content to see that the main room of the library consisted of two stories. After hours of sitting in a train made by and for ponies Priest had learned the meaning of 'small space' better than he liked.

Spike jumped from Twilight's back and went to a nearby room. Priest suspected that the baby dragon was still creeped out by his appearence – or maybe he was just geeting some food.

Twilight took the cloak from her shoulders, folded it and put it neatly onto a chair, along with the saddlebags from Azeroth. She eyed them with some concern, muttering something about "Rarity". Then she raised her head and saw Priest standing awkwardly in the middle of the room like a misplaced statue.

He felt weird, as if someone was playing a trick on him. Everything looked clean and tidy to an extent that he was wondering how a single pony managed to keep a place this spotless. The undead half-expected to wake up even though he was sure he had not truly slept in seven years, give or take. 

"Priest? Are you okay?", asked Twilight, interrupting his train of thought.

"Huh, what? Yeah", he said in a less than convincing tone.

Twilight's frown deepend. "Look, I still feel sorry that you got dragged into Equestria. I really want to make it up to you in some way..."

Priest let out a rasping sigh. "Tch, it's not that. This place just looks kinda... unreal... to me. Everything is so... um. Well-preserved?" He hesitated, then added, "I'm not used to it is all."

"Uh-huh. Maybe you mean that we don't destroy things or fight over them all the time, leaving behind ruins and wreckage?", said Twilight with more than a hint of irony in her voice.

He smirked and nodded. "Something like that."

The alicorn grinned now, too. "Maybe you can see this a a holiday from the fighting, then. At any rate, I was surprised that you took that drink Princess Luna offered you at dinner. Didn't you say you didn't eat?"

Priest sat down on a chair at the table in the middle of the room and admitted, "Usually, I don't, but after the whole portal incident I was magically drained. I don't know how it works, I think the water somehow helps to regenerate magical resources."

"I see", mumbled Twilight. "Well, if you want another drink don't hesitate to ask."

"'kay."

Twilight sighed and rummaged in her new saddlebags for the parchment she had written on. Then she turned her head to the room where her assistant had gone to, shouting, "Spike!"

The door opened and the little dragon stuck out his head. He was wearing a chef's hat which made Priest narrow his eyes. The idea of a dragon who cooked meals for a pony was a little ridiculous to him but after meeting three pony princesses he decided to keep that to himself.

"Please put these notes into a new folder", she told him in a firm but friendly voice. "And label it, 'Azeroth'."

"Uh, how do you spell that?", asked Spike with a raised eyebrow.

"A-Z-E-R-O-T-H. Sub-Category 'Unsorted'. I still need to separate my adventure from the rest of the pile that includes history, culture and friends."

"Okay, okay. That must have been quite a journey if you got yourself parchment and quills right from the start", laughed Spike.

Twilight blushed and nodded.

Spike closed the door again, returning to his cooking.


- - -


After lunch which involved Twilight and Spike eating scrambled eggs and hay sandwiches and Priest sitting with them with a glass of water, Twilight declared that she wouldn't do any studying today. Instead she took her new travelling coat to get it cleaned and repaired by Rarity.

Priest assumed that Rarity was a close friend of Twilight's. The alicorn was positively beaming when she mentioned her friend. He preferred to stay in the library, though, to keep a low profile for the moment.

"Suit yourself", commented Twilight. "She is a very nice pony, I'm sure she would like to meet you."

"Maybe later", said Priest. "I'm not so sure about that."

Twilight shrugged and left, leaving Priest alone. Spike went upstairs to take a nap.

Priest wandered up and down the room, examining the shelves. Twilight had more books that he had expected. Or maybe this was an official library? He had to remember to ask her when she returned.

'Supernaturals'... 'The Journeys of Starswirl the Bearded'... 'History of Cloudsdale'... 'The Crystal Heart and the Banishment of King Sombra' – huh, that one sounded interesting. He pulled the book from the shelf, trying to memorize where it belonged, and sat down to read.

After twenty-eight pages – Priest had always been a fast reader – he put down the book and looked out of the window. It was late afternoon and ponies of all colors passed by the window. None of them happened to look in his direction which made sense since the window was small and few ponies knew that he was here yet.

Priest frowned. He would have to confront them eventually. Even though he didn't need to leave the library, he did not want to stay at Twilight's expense for the rest of time. Therefore, he would need a job. Priest groaned and rubbed his right cheek before pulling the hand away apruptly.

The skin was itching, what the fuck?!

He was undead. Nothing was supposed to itch here! Especially not a cheek which was still mainly intact. Not that he was complaining; it was nice to feel something once in a while even though it was not exactly on the pleasant side of sensations.

He picked up the book again to continue reading, trying to ignore the unusual feeling.

He couldn't concentrate anymore... That. Damn. Cheek. Woudn't stop itching.

Sighing, Priest took a look at the page – thirty-two – he closed the book and put it back to its place on the shelf. He would need to do something else to distract himself.

Thank the Light, someone knocked at the door.

He was going to open it when it started to glow purple and swung open by itself: Priest recognized it as Twilight's magic.

The alicorn entered and beamed, "I'm back!"

"Hey", he said.

"And I brought somepony to meet you!" she continued in a chipper tone and stepped inside to reveal the unicorn behind her.

Priest had to admit that this one was the prettiest pony he had seen so far – if you didn't count the princesses. She had a white coat, an elegantly curled purple mane, blue eyes with pronounced eyelashes and an expectant half-smile on her face. She wore a bright pair of saddlebags on her back that emphasized her Cutie Mark, three blue diamonds. As the female entered, she flicked her mane, trying to look around Twilight to get a look at Priest.

Who, as soon as Twilight had announced the guest, had taken several steps backwards.

"Uh, Twilight, I don't think that's a good idea-", he started, raising his hands, but got interrupted by the unicorn's terrified gasp.

"Called it", he mumbled as his shoulders sagged forward.

Twilight cleared her throat. "This is my friend Rarity. Rarity, meet Jonathan. He prefers to be called Priest, though", she said with a hint of force in her voice, obviously trying to get a conversation going.

Rarity blushed, seemingly embarrassed by her behavior. "It's, ah, it's nice to meet you", she managed to say and even added a little smile.

"Hello", said Priest, not sure what to do next. He had no idea how to properly greet a pony so he decided to do the same thing as with the Princesses in Canterlot. He bowed slightly and forced a smile.

Rarity took her saddlebags off her back with her magic and stepped closer. "Oh my, Twilight didn't lie when she said you were — tall", she stuttered. "Would you mind if I take some measurements?" She pulled a measuring tape from her bag and looked at him expectantly.

"Measurements? What for?", asked Priest, narrowing his eyes.

"What for?! Look at your – well, we can hardly call those 'clothes' anymore, now can we? When Twilight told me that she had a new friend staying in Ponyville I just had to meet you but then -", she waved the tape around, pointing at his ragged robes and bandages, "- she said you have only one set of clothes which you wear all the time. This has to be corrected right away, my dear! I'm sorry about my earlier outburst by the way – those are more ragged than I could have imagined!" She blushed again.

What the – this was about his robes? Well, that was new. Usually people objected about his broken skin and bones looking through, not to mention the smell... when he was lucky. Priest thanked the Light inwardly for Twilight casting the anti-smell-spell on him.

Twilight giggled, unable to contain her grin, then shrugged apologetically.

Priest sighed. "You got that right, I guess. There's just one problem, though."

The tape levitated closer to Rarity. "What do you mean?" There was a glimmer in her eye, making Priest suspect that she would most likely make new clothes for him even if he asked her not to.

"I don't have any currency."

"Pff!", hissed Rarity, holding her head up high in defiance. "What kind of a friend would I be if I asked you for bits the first time we meet? No, no, this is on me, I insist."

"Uh... okay."

"Well, then", said Rarity, now eagerly floating the tape around, "let's see... The sash and robes' edges are way too torn to preserve them; I'll have to shorten them – ah, but then your pants are practically non-existent, now that won't do at all... you're going to need new pants, that's it, I'm suggesting something earth-brown, that would fit the pale green of the shirt I'd get out of your robes quite nicely... and a pullover under the shirt would be a reasonable addition... ooh, what is this? What a dashing touch, I hadn't thought that you would wear jewels but those two gems in your armguards are quite something! Hm, they are looking all right – oh my gosh, is that a Fire Opal?!"

Twilight took the chance to go to the kitchen, returning with hot tea, while Priest stood like a lifeless mannequin in the middle of the room, bearing with Rarity's rambling and praying for patience.

Meanwhile, Rarity went around Priest, further inspecting his clothes in so much detail that it started to annoy the crap out of him. 

But as the saying goes, you don't look a gift horse in the mouth, right?

Now she was all over his hair. "You could really use a manecut, my dear, I'll include that in my little welcome gift – but we should probably keep it at shoulder length, it would compliment your head shape... and, of course, since you have soft feet instead of hooves -", Priest rolled his eyes at this one, his feet mainly consisted of bones and bits of flesh clinging to them, "-you are going to need some boots. The best choice would be something pale yellow, like your armguards. And don't get me started on your saddlebag -"

"It's just a bag", interrupted Priest with a level tone.

"-well, it needs some patching as well."

She stepped back, now wildly scribbling notes and sketches on a parchment she had pulled from her saddlebags, her eyes glowing with anticipation.

"Oh, how I do love a challenge", she breathed.

Priest exhaled and frowned. Was that supposed to be a compliment or an insult?

"Would you two like some tea?", asked Twilight who sat at the table, enjoying her own cup of tea while reading a giant tome.

"Don't mind if I do", replied Rarity happily, putting away her supplies. She winked at Priest and added, "Thank you for being so patient. I know how I can be when I'm in the zone."

"No problem", said Priest, grinning.


- - -


Silence fell as they drank their tea. Twilight had put the book down and looked from one guest to another.

"I think Spike is almost done with his nap", she said.

Priest nodded. "That guy sure sleeps a lot."

"He is a baby dragon after all", added Rarity.

With that their small talk supplies were pretty much depleted.

Rarity cleared her throat. "Well, Priest, I'd like to hear a bit about you", she said cautiously. "The only thing I know so far is that you went on a three-month adventure with Twilight in Azeloth."

"Azeroth. What would you like to know?", asked Priest.

"How is it there? Are all of the gems there so delicately cut? And – if you don't mind me asking – what species are you?"

Priest frowned and scratched his side which was now itching instead of his cheek. "How is Azeroth? Diverse, I'd say. There are many kinds of sentient species there, Tauren for instance – they are similar to the minotaurs of Equestria. There's dragons, too. I'm from a land which has lots of forests but, uh, they are not as bright as yours."

"Well, 'bright' is not exactly a word I would use for the Everfree Forest", mumbled Rarity, stirring her tea.

Priest smirked. "Trust me, there's always gloomier." He paused. "It's true, though, there are a lot of gems in the Eastern Kingdoms. I got mine from ore in the Felwood Forest, though. And yes, that one is even creepier."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "In three months, you never mentioned that you can mine ore and gems!"

Priest shrugged. "There wasn't really a reason, was there?"

Frowning, Twilight admitted, "I guess you're right..."

Rarities eyes sparkled. "I-de-a!", she exclaimed. "Priest, how would you like to join me on my next gem hunt?"

The undead smiled. "I'd like that. So you use them too?"

"Oh, do I ever! You have noticed my Cutie Mark, haven't you?" She tilted her head and grinned. "Glitter always does the trick. I love to use gems on my dresses to dazzle my customers", she added.

"Wait", said Priest, "You don't enchant them or anything?"

Rarity blinked. "Why would I do that?"

Priest's eyes widened. "You know, to improve your-" Fighting stats, he finished in his mind. He facepalmed. "Nevermind."

"Not a problem", smiled Rarity.

"Your dresses already look magical without the gems being enchanted anyway", said Twilight.

"Why thank you, Twilight! Still, to get to my last question..."

"Oh, right. I was a human", said Priest absent-mindedly.

Now Rarity's confusion was complete. "You were a human? As in, you used to be but now aren't anymore? I'm afraid I don't quite understand."

Twilight hid her face in her hooves.

Shifting uncomfortably in his chair, Priest said, "Let me rephrase this. I am a human. Present tense."

"Oh. I see."

That was close, he thought. She ignored the signs quite well, no reason to rub the whole undead thing into her face...

Twilight's face came up again. A hint of red was visible across her cheeks but she gave a small nod to Priest.

"Well", said Rarity with a slightly forced smile, "I'm afraid I have to get back to work. There's this new order that came in today and I can't wait to get it done. I wouldn't want my customer to be waiting for it too long."

Very subtle, thought Priest and cringed inwardly.

She stood up and hugged Twilight, then nodded at Priest. "It was nice to meet you, Priest. And do come to the boutique tomorrow in the late afternoon or so, then I can present to you your new outfit."

"I'll do that. Nice meeting you, too", said Priest slowly and added another smile for good measure.

That stupid side still kept itching.


- - -


After Rarity left, they could hear a rustling and a sleepy Spike stumbled downstairs to join them.

"Hello, Spike. I hope you slept well", said Twilight.

"Well, definitely better than the last three days when you were missing", said the little dragon with a tired grin.

Twilight blushed a little, then turned to Priest.

"Look, I'm sorry-"

"It's okay", interrupted Priest with a wave. "I can see why you don't want her to know. I think she figured it out anyway."

"I think so, too", nodded Twilight. "Rarity just... didn't want you to feel awkward, I guess. She tried her best... but since zombies are usually the stuff of Nightmare Night stories here, I can't blame her for... leaving... in a bit of a rush at the end."

"I'm not a zombie", said Priest in a deadpan manner.

"But you're undead", said Twilight with a hint of impatience. "Doesn't that mean you're a zombie?"

"Nope", said Priest. "A zombie is someone without a conscious mind. Some troll tribes use voodoo magic turning others into zombies to get mindless slaves or to achieve a 'hiya state a'consciousness', as they would say. An undead is someone whose body is dead but soul is still stuck inside. And yeah, it sucks as much as it sounds", he added as he saw the disgusted expression on Spike's face.

Spike flinched a little and blushed.

Twilight smiled at him reassuringly, then turned to Priest. "Still, my point stands", she said. "We should try and keep your, uh, condition a secret just to be on the safe side, don't you think?"

Priest frowned. "I guess. But didn't you say once that honesty's a good thing?"

Twilight's ears pinned back and she suddenly took high interest in her cup of tea. "Yes, and if somepony asked me directly I think I would still tell the truth but... I don't know, I just don't want my friends to be scared..."

"Of me", stated Priest.

"Um", said Twilight.

"Awkward", said Spike quietly.

Priest held out one hand and touched Twilight's chin, gently forcing her to look at him. "Listen, Twilight. I get it. Seriously, I do. Don't think I'm not creeped out myself sometimes."

Twilight's ears went up again. "You do understand?"

Priest nodded firmly. "Yeah. Hey, you just don't want a ruckus. And Rarity was really tactful. I'm used to much worse", he mumbled, scratching his side again.

Damn itch.

"What I don't get is how you want to keep this a secret. It's not like I have an overly healthy complexion." He snorted.

Twilight giggled. "Right. I suppose we should just say that you are human. That's not a lie and since it has been a very long time since humans were in Equestria, most ponies should believe that this is what humans look like." Her eyes brightened. "And Rarity is going to make you some great clothes, you'll see! Trust me when I say that this mare is inspired. She will have some great ideas, I'm sure of it."

"Fine", said Priest. "But I still need to hang out somewhere. And I need a job to pay for drinks and all."

Twilight scratched her chin with her left hoof. "Hmm, about that... I'll think of something. Maybe I can talk to the mayor if she has an idea... for now, it's okay if you stay at the library. As I said, I promised to take care of you."

"Are you sure?", asked Priest.

"I am sure. It's not a bother at all", she smiled.

"In that case... is it okay if I take the sofa?"

"Of course", said Twilight. "But you don't sleep, do you?"

"I don't. But I like the routine to lie down and think about stuff in the night."

Spike frowned. "You don't sleep? Seriously, who'd miss out on that?"

"It's not like I have a choice", snapped Priest.

"Okay, okay", said Spike, raising his claws in a placating manner.

Priest exhaled – another habit of his of late – and said, "Anyway, I think I'll go on a walk. It's getting late so there shouldn't be many ponies in town. And I'm not in the mood to watch you guys eating supper, no offense."

Twilight just nodded and sighed. "See you later, then", she said quietly.
> Level 2 - A Request from the Princess
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Priest walked through the emptying streets of Ponyville, the last sunbeams disappeared behind the horizon. He had hoped to get his mind clear... but trying to do that in a town of ponies was probably a dumb idea.

Again, most ponies stared at him, some even dropped what they were holding with their hooves or magic, their mouths agape. The only exception was an orange – what was the term again? - earth pony with a blond mane and a stetson hat. She just narrowed her eyes for a moment and then kept selling apples from a stand she had put up in the town square.

Priest frowned, lowered his head and heightened the pace, heading for the edge of town.

He passed the last house and found himself on a road that snaked through patches of grass and golden fields that were partly cut down. There was less noise than in Ponyville itself save for some birds and crickets. Somewhere a raven cawed, an eerie sound that felt familiar to Priest. As always, he only heard muffled sounds and saw dull colors – it was part of the curse of being undead that all sensations felt less intense than to a living being.

He sat down on a rock that marked the crossroads closest to town, facing Ponyville. As the windows lit up one by one, Priest wondered what exactly he was supposed to do here.

There was no enemy to defeat, nobody he owed anything, and no treasures to find.

What a boring place.

The only upside was that Twilight was safe. She had been really nice to him even though he could hardly see how he deserved it. Granted, he had helped her to get home but that had been more or less of a coincidence.

And she had been like this ever since the incident on the zeppelin when he had helped to defend herself and Tak from pirates. In return, she had forgiven him for lying to her about his allegiance. As far as Priest was concerned, they were even.

Now it seemed that she wanted him to make friends with other ponies.

Ugh.


- - -


The door of Canterlot's throne room opened and Princess Luna entered. Day court was over and her sister Celestia prepared to leave the room. She looked up as she noticed the Princess of the Night enter and approached her. They hugged and Luna took a step back as she said, "My sister, I need to talk to you for a moment, if you have the time."

"Of course", said Celestia, her soft, melodic voice warm with affection. "What would you like to discuss?"

"It's about the human", said Luna. "I am still having a strange feeling about him. Have you warned Twilight about him as I recommended?"

"Yes, and I trust she can handle him. Additionally, I still want to send her assistance. Still, I have insisted on giving him financial support as well. Twilight and her friends are generous, that much is certain, but counting on that would be unfair. I do not want him to feel guilty for staying with them."

Luna nodded and they made their way outside so she could raise the moon to complete the night. "Agreed. Have you thought about who might be suitable for helping Priest to get on his own, er, feet?"

Celestia sighed. "Sadly, I have not. There are several professionals on my mind who know about starting businesses, applying for jobs when in an unfortunate situation or laws concerning pony/non-pony-interaction... but somehow I am not really comfortable with this... It would still mean forcing a foreigner on him and Twilight."

They approached their balcony from which they usually raised and lowered the celestial bodies and Celestia stepped to the baluster.

"What you need is a pony he can relate to", stated Luna. "That's difficult."

Celestia nodded and looked down at the city. The spires and roofs were glistening in the light of the evening star. Once again, she admired her sister's attention for detail.

She turned her head to look at Luna. "He will always be a stranger, even if he finds a place to stay."

Luna lowered her head and pondered that for a moment. "I may have somepony in mind", she said with a small smile.


- - -


Twilight and Spike sat together in the main room of the library, eating spaghetti with tomato sauce for dinner.

"You know", said Spike, "that human is not a very nice guy. What is he doing in Equestria anyway? Couldn't he return to his world?"

"Don't be like that, Spike", chided Twilight. "Priest doesn't have a choice. If he went back, he could end up anywhere. That kind of travelling magic quickly tends to get unpredictable. There's a high chance he would not survive using the portal anyway. I only managed to get through twice because I could protect myself and stabilize the portal with my magic. But his kind of magic is different, it couldn't do that. It can be used for fighting and healing but not for portals."

"Huh, tough luck", commented Spike. "Is that why you want to take care of him?"

Twilight nodded and drank a bit of apple juice. "Exactly. I know he can be a bit harsh but he is actually a decent person. On top of that, I promised Princess Celestia to keep an eye on him."

"Well, in that case...", said Spike, grinning.

Now Twilight smiled as well and declared, "Tomorrow I will return to my studies. Maybe Priest would like to learn more about Equestria. I didn't tell him much when we were in Azeroth, he was usually the one to keep me informed about his world when we did our research."

Spike nodded and swallowed the remains of his meal – a giant emerald was the dessert.

"Then, in the late afternoon, he will probably go to Rarity. We can make a list of possible jobs for him until he returns..."


- - -


The moon rose and the stars came out, one by one, tiny shimmering lights in the sky. The night air was perfectly clear and it started to get colder.

If Priest had been alive, he would have to go inside now, to seek shelter and sleep. Even though he didn't have to, he decided to go back to the library and see what Twilight was doing.

Who was he kidding anyway? She and her books were the only thing he was at least slightly interested in right now.


- - -


The next morning, Twilight came downstairs to get her morning coffee, her second one in Equestria since her adventure in another world. She stumbled into the kitchen with her eyes half closed and poured water over the powder. Yawning, she went back to the main room to see what Priest was doing.

He sat on the sofa, reading The Crystal Heart and the Banishment of King Sombra. As the alicorn said, "Good morning", he replied with a "hey" and put down the book, a finger between the pages.

"You're looking damn tired", he commented.

"I couldn't sleep", said Twilight. "I have been thinking about this whole situation... and I'm not even used to my own bed anymore, can you imagine? Don't answer that", she added, smiling sheepishly as Priest opened his mouth to let loose a sarcastic comment.

He closed it again and expectantly rose the spot where his right eyebrow used to be.

Twilight held up a hoof and went back to the kitchen to get her coffee. When she returned, she said in a much cheerier voice, "So, Priest, how would you like to learn more about Equestria? I have – as you may have noticed – tons of books on Equestrian history and magic..."

Priest looked up, thinking.

"I'd actually prefer to do something more active for now."

Twilight's ears drooped and she mumbled quietly, "I see."

"Come on, don't look like that", said Priest, "it's not a no. I will still have plenty of time for that at night, right?"

"I guess you're right", admitted Twilight. "I just need to tell Spike to rewrite the checklist then. I need him to add some groceries to the shopping list anyway, he can do that along with the other list..."


- - -


In a small house on the edge of Ponyville, a young earth pony leaned over her kitchen counter.

"Celestia damn nightmares", she mumbled and shook her head. She probably shouldn't have had stayed up this long. Having her coltfriend over had been great but she vowed to give him a hint the next time it got too late. That unicorn really knew how to make her forget the time.

The mare put the kettle on the stove, then went to the bathroom to get her mane done.

Once again, a battle was lost. Her deep purple mane always maintained some kind of wavy bed hair look even though it was over shoulder length. She regarded herself in the mirror. A tired, greyish green face with freckles stared back. Her silver eyes blinked, then she shook her head again, eyeing herself with determination.

Time to start the day for real.


- - -


Spike and Priest went to the town square in the late morning.

The small dragon went alongside the undead with quick steps while Priest took time to get a better look at the houses of Ponyville. There were too many big windows for Priest's taste and the bright straw roofs reflected a lot of sunlight.

Flowers, flowers everywhere, and the scent of fresh vegetables. It had to be really strong if even he was able to smell it...

"The first thing on the list is... apples!", declared Spike with enthusiasm. "Hey, you haven't met Applejack yet, have you?"

"No", said Priest, "so far, I know you, Twilight, the two other princesses and Rarity. That's it."

Spike's eyes widened. "Oh, then it's about time!"

Priest sighed. "Whatever."

That startled Spike a bit but he quickly regained his cheery attitude and lead the undead to the fruit stand Priest had seen the day before.

The orange mare was there again, selling her apples and greeting passing townsponies.

She eyed Priest suspiciously as they approached but her face lit up when she greeted Spike.

"Morning Spike, how're you doin' today? And you, er, brought a guest?", she asked with an accent Priest couldn't place.

"Hi Applejack! This is Priest, he is staying with Twilight."

"Is he now?", said Applejack and rose an eyebrow, dropping the smile.

"For the moment, until find my own place", emphasized Priest earnestly, uncomfortable with the assumptions that might or might not pop up in the mare's head.

The earth pony nodded firmly, as if he had passed a test, and a more genuine smile creeped onto her face. "So you're new here, huh? And what exactly are you?"

Wow, that mare got to the point really quick. Priest cleared his throat. "I'm a human."

"Oh", said Applejack. "Like from those old mare's tales? Now that's somethin' else..."

Spike shifted his weight from one foot to another while Priest shrugged. "Can't really help it."

Applejack's grin widened and she winked playfully. "If you're new here you probably haven't tasted any Apples from our acres yet, have you?"

"Er", said Priest.

"Actually, that's what we are here for", explained Spike. "Can I have a size two bag of apples, please?"


- - -


The mare finished her tea and left the house. Unsure where to find her client, she decided to check the town square. She had to start somewhere. Up to now she only had a rough description of what he looked like but she was confident that would be enough.

Her Highness, the Princess of the Night, was asking her for help and the earth pony would not let her down.


- - -


After buying more vegetables, ink, quills, parchment and a blanket, Spike and Priest went back to the library. The mare who sold carrots had shrieked and almost run away when Priest approached, so they had decided to let Spike do the talking and Priest wait at a distance. The undead carried the paper bags inside and helped Spike to put away the groceries, then grabbed his book again to continue reading.


- - -


The frustrated earth pony walked up and down the town square, then checked town hall and the nearby shops.

Nothing.

She asked some salesponies if they had seen a tall, bipedal creature with torn clothes and after questioning the third pony she was successful. The client had been seen on the town square after all, carrying paper bags with food. It was impossible to get more out of the mare, she was stammering so badly that her words were hardly apprehensible.

Was that creature this intimidating? Well, there was no use in making assumptions, she probably just had to find out herself...

The earth pony sighed and decided to check another store. If the salespony who worked there didn't know, she wouldn't know whom else to ask.


- - -


"Hello and welcome to Sugarcube Corner!", chirped a cheery, high-pitched voice. "What can I get you – oh, hello Mara, nice of you to drop by! Have you tasted my new cupcakes yet? They are super-duper-sweetyliscious!"

"Hello Pinkie", said Mara and smiled back at Pinkie Pie. She always found it hard to resist that happy grin. "I'm sorry, I'm not here for that..."

"Oh, do you want to order something else? I have muffins, fruit cake, banoffee pie, butter cake, frog cake, mooncake, punchkrapfen, angel cake-"

Mara held up her hoof, stopping Pinkie Pie's rambling.

"Uh, Pinkie, I'm not here for cake at all."

"Huh, but this is a bakery, silly!"

The green earth pony laughed. "I know, but I'm here to ask you about a new resident of Ponyville."

"I see, well, why didn't you say so in the first place? Now that you're asking, I've had this strange feeling from my Pinkie Sense yesterday that somepony new had come to town but I haven't seen them yet. Have you met them? What's their name? I can't throw a welcome party for them without knowing which name to put on the cake."

Mara sighed and scratched her neck. "That's the problem, I don't know the name either but I need to talk to him-"

"It's a he? Oooh, but wait, you already have a coltfriend, don't you? I saw you together at your party, and Derpy was there, too, and Rarity, I really hope you two are still getting along well, I woudn't want my new friend to be-"

"Pinkie", said Mara.

"Yeees?" Pinkie batted her eyelashes at Mara at a fast rate.

"It's nothing like that. He's not even a pony! He is very tall and walks on two feet like a minotaur and wears ragged robes. I need to talk to him because Princess Luna asked me to help him."

Pinkie's eyes widened. "Ooooh, okay. If I see him, I'll tell you. But please try and find out his name if you meet him first, okay?"

Mara grinned. "Sure thing, Pinkie. Thanks anyway."

"No problem! And here, this is for you, they're on me! Have fun!"

"Thanks, that's really nice of you! See you!"

As Mara left Sugarcube Corner to go back home, she took a look into the bag. Four delicious-looking muffins looked back, one of them blueberry-flavoured, one with chocolate and the other two were actually cupcakes with sugar frosting.

She grinned and put the bag into her saddlebags. The blueberry one was for Derpy, Pinkie knew that Mara worked at the post office, the chocolate one was obviously for Spirit, Mara's coltfriend, the third for Mara herself. That left the last one for the new guy, assumed the mare. Pinkie really was amazing... She'd probably throw a welcome party for a headless horse if it was nice enough and even figure out a way to get it to eat her cupcakes.

Wait a minute, the post office...!

Mara changed direction to go and see her colleague and friend. Derpy was probably at home by now, waiting for her daughter to come back from school.
> Level 3 - Boxes
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Derpy Hooves's ear perked up. There was somepony knocking at her door.

"Oh, hello Mara", she said as she opened it, "what brings you here? I was just leaving..."

The earth pony nodded. "Can I walk with you?"

"Sure, why not. Dinky wouldn't mind seeing you again. Since she hasn't gotten to join the Cutie Mark Crusaders yet she is feeling a bit down."

Mara blushed. "I see."

"So", said Derpy, "what do you want to talk about? Is everything okay?"

"I'm all right. But I just got a request from Princess Luna. I'm supposed to find somep- somebody but so far I've had no luck..."

The pegasus smiled and hummed thoughtfully. "I could check the address list in the office..."

"That would be great", said Mara, "I'm not allowed to do that yet. Have there been any deliveries lately that had strange names on them?"

"Huh, you're right! That's exactly what happened today!" Derpy beamed. "I brought a box to the library that didn't have Twilight's name on it but another one instead. The stamp was from the Canterlot Post Office."

"Finally some luck", breathed Mara. "Can you remember the name, too?"

Derpy's ears pinned back. "No, sorry, Mara. But hey", she cheered up again, "why don't you go the library and ask Twilight?"

"Right." Mara facehooved. "I could have done that in the first place. Twilight is a princess so she would know about something like that..."

They walked silently for a while, enjoying each other's company.

Derpy cleared her throat. "So, have you had any success with your-"

"Nope", said Mara, nodding at her own flank. "See? Still nothing."

"I'm sorry", said Derpy with a sad smile.

Mara shook her head and looked ahead. "That's just the way it is. I'm not really trying anymore."

"But everypony has a special talent!", insisted Derpy. "How can you ignore that?"

"It's not as if I ignored it", corrected Mara. "It's just... I can't chase after something about which I'm not even sure if it's gonna show up anyway. For a while it was okay but when you reach a certain age you just start living day by day, you know?"

The pegasus nodded slowly. "I guess..."

They were approaching the schoolhouse. Derpy waved at her daughter who came running across the schoolyard to hug her.

The beautiful scene made Mara forget her worries for a moment... then she frowned. Wasn't there something--?

Oh right, the princess!


- - -


"I see", said Twilight, scribbling enthusiastically on her parchment. They were sitting in the library, surrounded by towers of books and notes on the floor and any furniture available. "So you are actually twenty-nine years old?"

Priest nodded. "Yep."

"And you really don't age anymore since you-"

He held up a hand. "Well, er, I don't technically age but if you count decomposing, that's... an issue."

They could hear Spike making gagging sounds as if he were trying to persuade his lunch to stay down.

Twilight turned around and sighed. "Sorry about that", she mumbled. "Spike, please get me that box with extra parchment from the basement."

The dragon nodded, his face pale, and hurried downstairs.

Priest rolled his eyes. "Shoudn't he have gotten by now that I'm dead? This is starting to piss me off."

Twilight chuckled. "I guess he hasn't. Look, I'm sor-"

"Yeah, yeah, you said that already", Priest cut her off. "Anyway, I don't know how the whole undead thing really works. I just try to stay as... complete... as possible and deal with it."

The alicorn nodded with a sad smile. "I see. Well, I don't know what to do about it either. Necromancy is unknown in Equestria and I think you'll understand that the Princesses don't want any of it here."

Priest nodded and drew circles on his parchment. There was no ink in his quill, he just wanted to do something to occupy his hands. "Right."

He looked up. "Wait, why didn't they keep me in Canterlot then? Wouldn't that have been the safer thing to do?"

Twilight frowned and tapped her chin. "I think as long as you don't perform any dark magic yourself they are okay with you being in Ponyville. And so am I. Which reminds me! How was your morning?"

"Meh. Applejack was okay but the other ponies just gawked at us or evaded us entirely. Well, me. Don't worry", he added quickly as Twilight's ears pinned back. "I'm used to it."

Priest shrugged but Twilight set down her hoof on the table, a determined look on her face. "I don't believe you."

"Huh?"

"Remember your reaction earlier when Spike ran out? It bothers you-"

"Psh", said Priest. "Well, crap... Guess I'm a bad liar."

"Which is a good thing", smiled Twilight. "But if somepony in town bothers you, please tell me. I won't let anypony mistreat my friends."

He nodded, feeling a strange lump in his throat.


- - -


Mara cantered to the library, her saddlebags on her back, containing parchment, a quill, ink and a single cupcake.

"Here we go", she mumbled as she raised a hoof to knock at the door.

She started when the door swung open, missing her by inches.

"What-"

"See you later, Priest", she heard Twilight Sparkle's voice from inside.

"Whoa!", said somepony. A ragged wall of cloth blocked Mara's line of sight. She raised her head.

"Eek!", she squeaked.

It was the human. He was way taller than she had expected, almost twice her height. Now she understood why everypony had talked about him in such a hushed voice. She shook her head, trying to focus, when the human opened his mouth - half of which was hidden behind a dirty cloth wrapped around his head.

"Um", he said. "Hello...?"

Mara laughed nervously. "He-... h-", she stammered. Where the hay had her voice suddenly gone? She cleared her throat and tried again.

"Hello, I'm Mara Dust. I've been sent here to help you with adjusting to life in Ponyville."

Priest frowned. "Thanks, but no thanks. I'm fine. Bye."

He walked past her, heading for Carousel Boutique.

"But-! Wait, please!", cried Mara, trying to catch up with Priest. "I got sent here by Pr-"

The undead turned around, an annoyed expression on his strange face. "Look", he said. "No offense, but I don't really care who sent you. And I'm fine. And busy, by the way, so why don't you go and help someone else, hm?"

Mara blinked, unable to respond.

Priest shook his head and went away, leaving the confused pony behind again.

She hung her head. This was not what she had expected at all. How was she supposed to help him if he wouldn't even talk to her?

Mara huffed indignantly. "Just you wait", she said, stomping back to the library. "I won't give up like that."


- - -


It didn't take Priest long to find Rarity's boutique. Twilight's description had been more than accurate - as expected - and Priest found himself slightly amused by the house's appearance. These ponies sure knew how to take things literally.

He opened the door. A bell jingled above his head as Priest entered, looking around with curiousity. You could call this place almost comfy but for his taste it had way too many ribbons and decoration.

On the other hand, the gems on the dresses were damn impressive. The amount alone made him wonder what kept the seamstress in Ponyville.

A girl's voice interrupted his train of thought.

"Hello, I'm gonna get my sister right away - eek!"

A little white unicorn with a curled pink and purple mane had approached Priest and was now staring at him with her mouth agape. Her green eyes fixating him, she seemed to be frozen on the spot.

Priest frowned.

"Okay", he said.

That made the filly snap out of it. She managed to open her mouth and squeak almost as loudly as before, "R-Rarity, there's somepony here! Um-"

"Thanks", smirked Priest.

"S-sorry", stuttered the little unicorn, now evading his gaze. "I'm Sweetie Belle, Rarity is m-my big sister. She asked me t-to watch the shop while she got some material from upstairs..."

"Ah."

An awkward silence stretched out between them. Sweetie Belle dug at the ground with her hind leg, trying to keep herself from retreating.

Priest sighed. The he realized what she was waiting for. "I'm Priest. I'm currently staying at Twilight's place. Rarity said she'd make some clothes for me so here I am."

Sweetie Belle's eyes widened. "Oh, I see. Sorry for freaking out..." She blushed, still trembling a little, but also deeply embarrassed.

"Nevermind", said Priest. He crouched to get at least closer to the same eye level. "You probably haven't seen a human before, have you?"

"N-no", said the unicorn. "You're the first one. Are you from the Everfree Forest?"

In that moment Rarity entered the room, carrying a paperbox the size of her sister in her magic. She smiled at the undead. "Hello, Priest, and welcome to Carousel Boutique!", she said, putting down the box on the floor. "I see you have already met my sister Sweetie Belle?"

"Hi", said Priest. The he shot a glance at Sweetie who was still waiting for an answer.

Rarity noticed that and tilted her head. "Can I tell her?", she asked Priest.

He shrugged. "Sure, why not."

Rarity put a hoof on her sister's shoulder. Sweetie Belle twitched, then looked at her expectantaly.

"You see, Sweetie", said Rarity, "Priest is actually from another world entirely. So you can imagine I was very curious when Twilight asked me to come and visit."

Swetie Belle's eyes widened again. "You're from another world?! Whoa! I can't wait to tell my friends! This is so awesome! It's gonna make Scootaloo so jealous!" She giggled with excitement.

"Sweetie, don't be rude, please", scolded Rarity.

"Sorry", said the filly, now grinning. All her fear seemed to have been evaporated somehow. "Anyway, can I go to the Acres now?"

"Go ahead", replied Rarity. "Have fun!"

"I will!", beamed Sweetie Belle, dashing to the door. "Bye, Rarity! Bye, Priest!"

She was outside before he could reply. The bell jingled wildly as the door slammed shut in a very un-ladylike manner.

Rarity smiled generously. "Fillies... But I do love my sister."

The undead smiled for the first time since entering the shop and rose again. "I can see that."

The pretty unicorn nodded, then cleared her throat. "Well, I presume you are here for the ensemble, are you not? I think I managed to make it dashing yet practical - Would you like to see it now?"

Priest's smile grew wider.


- - -


Twilight put away the last book, leaving her table tidy and clean once again. She had been writing down the new discoveries she had made on portal magic. With a content smile, she went to the kitchen to make some tea.

"I wonder what's keeping Spike", she mumbled when she heard shuffling and grunting from the staircase that led to the basement.

"Are you alright, Spike?", she shouted in the direction from where the noise came.

"Al-most there", huffed the dragon, carrying two large boxes up the stairs. He set them down next to the table in the main room and collapsed on top of the bigger box.

"Oof!", he panted. "What in Equestria is in that box?!"

Twilight had a curious look inside the first box. It contained the parchment she had asked for.

The second box was covered with lots of tape.

"What's that?", she asked Spike. "I haven't seen this one before."

Spike, still panting, stood up and stretched. "It's the box that... got here... earlier... by mail. I just forgot until... you asked me to get the parchment."

"Why did you carry it to the basement?", wondered Twilight.

Spike facepalmed. "I guess it was... really stupid after all to store it before... checking the name above the adress."

He pointed at the writing at the side of the package.

It said, 'To Jonathan Baker, Golden Oaks Library, Ponyville'. A royal mail stamp from Canterlot covered half of the writing, making Priest's first name hard to read.

"A package from Canterlot?", mumbled Twilight. "Is that the help Princess Celestia promised? Why didn't she send it via dragon breath?"

Spike shrugged. "Dunno. The only difference is that other ponies know now that he lives here..."

"Huh." Twilight examined the box, then shrugged. "I'm pretty sure it's from Celestia. Just leave it here until Priest gets back."

"Thanks." Spike let out a sigh of relief.
> Level 4 - Looting the Fridge
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Priest waited at the Boutique, a towel around his waist, he watched Rarity repair his salvagable clothes and combine them with new ones. When he put them on they were, to his surprise, a perfect fit. Rarity had removed the torn parts and the sweater beneath the shirt covered a good amount of his skin, leaving only the hands exposed. The unicorn had somehow managed to emphasize his build while disguising the damaged spots of broken skin and exposed bones. She even gave him the promised haircut and a pair of shoes. He decided to keep the cloth that covered half of his face, though. No reason to push his luck.

Rarity still insisted on giving the new clothes for free, as a "Welcome-to-Ponyville gift", she said, but Priest suspected that Twilight had told her that he had no money.

The time at Rarity's turned out to be more fun than expected when they returned to the one subject they were both interested in – gems. While Priest didn't really care about what gems looked like, Rarity had an eye for detail that enabled her to use just the right ones on her products. Even the undead had to admire her skill when it came to working with them. Priest on the other hand knew a lot about gem cutting and their magical properties. He explained to her how his own gems boosted his mental ability to focus his magic which in turn led them on to a conversation about unicorn magic.

It was evening before they knew it. Priest eventually excused himself, thanked Rarity for the new "equip", as he called it, and headed back to the library.

Priest entered without knocking and found Twilight bent over her studies again. She raised her head and smiled. "Welcome back."

"Hey", he said.

Then the alicorn did a double take. "Wow. Rarity has outdone herself again! You're looking really good."

"Er, thanks", he mumbled. 

Wow, I can't remember the last time someone complimented me on my looks... She seems to mean it, too.

"By the way, this was on the doorstep. There's a cupcake inside." Priest raised his hand, holding a small paper bag.

"Just put it in the kitchen", said Twilight. "We already ate since you don't, you know..."

"Sure", said Priest, feeling a tinge of anger which he quickly dismissed. "So, what are you doing? Still on portal magic?"

"No", explained Twilight, "I'm currently sorting my adventures in Azeroth, I intend to write a book about it."

Priest grinned and decided to return the favor. "Studious and ambitious, huh?"

Twilight blushed. "Thank you."

He went to the kitchen and put the paper bag on a counter, then returned to the main room.

Twilight put her quill away and waved her hoof at the huge box next to her. "This came by mail, from Canterlot. It's for you."

Priest grinned. "Yeah, right. Very likely."

"I'm serious. Look at the adress."

The undead turned the box and found the stamp. "Okay. What the hell?"

"Princess Celestia promised to send help", explained Twilight.

That made Priest frown. He remembered the green earth pony from earlier and tensed up a little. Another itch made its way into his side.

Crap, maybe she meant that kind of help, too. Oh well, it's not my problem. It's not as if an earth pony could assist me with any of my real 'problems'!

He eyed the package, scratching his itching side. "Doesn't your Princess trust the mail? That's a shitload of tape..."

"I am pretty sure she trusts the post office ponies. This tape looks as if it has been added later. We have a pegasus here who sometimes crashes into stuff when she delivers boxes."

Priest laughed. "Right." He took out a small knife and opened the box.

Then he removed the contents and spread them on the floor, getting a small frown from Twilight.

"Let's see... I've got... a letter, some weird bowl... looks like an oil lamp... parchment and quills – why am I not surprised? - and a purse? Yep, there's money inside. What do you call your coins again?"

"Bits", said Twilight, once again tearing her eyes from the pages.

"And a... fist-aid box? Huh?"

Twilight giggled. "I have no idea what the Princess had in mind when she packed that box", she said. "Except for the bits maybe... what does the letter say?"

Priest unfolded the letter.

"Er... 'Dear Mr Baker, I have taken the liberty of sending you these gifts. I think you might find them useful. Please make sure to carry the lamp with you at all times'... What the fuck? okay... 'The parchment is for your own studies and letters. Feel free to ask Spike to send any of them to me should you have any questions. My sister, Princess Luna, has ordered somepony to assist you during the first three weeks. Her name is Mara Dust and she has probably already introduced herself to you and given you a tour around town as she promised.' No, she didn't. Ah wait, I think I've met her, there was that weird green pony..."

He grinned at Twilight. "I kinda told her to piss off. Moving on... 'I also attached a form for the Mayor to acknowledge you as a legal citizen of Ponyville.' Wow, Celestia is thorough. And pretty informal for royalty." He had a look at the other sheets. They were documents signed by the Princess herself. "'I wish you all the best'... blah blah blah... 'Princess Celestia.' This is neat. One less thing to worry about."

Twilight smiled at that, then she raised her eyebrows. "Maybe you should go and talk to that pony Celestia mentioned."

"What for?", retorted Priest. "I told her that I was fine - and I am. 'Specially now with all that loot. Talk about generous."

The alicorn sighed and raised her hooves. "You're an adult. I'm just worried that she might get the wrong idea."

"Fine", grumbled Priest. "I'll talk to her and tell her I'm fine. Again. Happy?"

Twilight just shook her head and resumed reading.


- - -


Twilight went to sleep very late that night. After her reading, she and Priest had talked a lot, completely forgetting the time again. It started to become a new habit of them. For some reason, he was getting way more talkative than in Azeroth.

Maybe it's because he didn't want anything to slip when he kept his mission a secret, thought Twilight during their conversation. It would explain a lot. Maybe he had to keep secrets more often than not.

Luna's moon had been in the sky for six hours when the alicorn wished Priest a good night and the undead made himself comfortable on the couch to continue reading The Crystal Heart.


- - - 


Shuffling and rustling woke Twilight up again. The noise came from the kitchen.

"Ugh, Spike!", she groaned, angrily hitting her pillow. "I told you there's no midnight snacks!"

"Huh, what?", mumbled the baby dragon, shifting around in his basket. "What'cha talkin' about?"

The alicorn stood on her bed, suddenly wide awake.

"There's somepony in the kitchen!", she hissed.

Spike yawned and rolled his eyes. "It's probably just Priest. He skipped dinner, didn't he?"

"It can't be him, he doesn't eat!", explained Twilight. "It must be somepony else. Wait here, all right?"

"You bet", said Spike, turned around and started to snore again.

Twilight sneaked downstairs as quickly as she could. She lit her horn to provide some light.

The rustling continued. 

She went to the kitchen, opening the door so fast it hit the wall.

"Stop right there and-! ...What... Priest?!"

The human sat at the kitchen table, munching. He held a piece of cake in one hand and a fork in the other. Some noodles fell off the fork as he froze in mid-movement. He looked like a foal caught with his hoof in the cookie jar.

"Hi", he said slowly.

"What are you doing?" Twilight was flabberghasted. "The kitchen is a mess!"

Priest looked around, suddenly growing aware of his surroundings.

The entire table was covered by plates, bowls and cans. Most of them had contained leftovers from previous meals, some cans were freshly opened, though. The paper bag from the doorstep was long gone. There was hardly any food left. Half a loaf of bread decorated a chair. Twilight noticed that the noodles that Priest was eating were from the day before. She had not known a single individual could make a room this untidy in such a short time.

"What is all of this supposed to mean?", demanded Twilight.

"I got hungry", stated Priest and swallowed hastily.

"I can see that", said Twilight. "But one, you said that you don't eat, and two, why in the middle of the night? I don't mind sharing, you know!"

Was that a blush Twilight saw?

"I... didn't expect it either", said Priest. "I just... got hungry", he finished lamely. Twilight's left eye twitched. "Sorry about the mess, I'ma clean it up", he added quickly.

Twilight took a deep breath and sat down next to him. "It's okay", she said, forcing a smile. "Do you have any idea what made you so hungry?"

Priest shrugged and resumed chewing.

Twilight sighed again. "All right. Well, I'm going back to bed if you don't mind. And please try to make less noise, it's four in the morning, for Celestia's sake!"

"'kay."

The alicorn left the kitchen.

Priest lowered the fork.

The urge had come so fast that he hadn't really thought about it. Now he wondered what caused the hunger. He didn't perform any magic and he hadn't been wounded either... This didn't make any sense! Priest had eaten all of Twilight's food now, including the apples from the orange pony. The fridge was empty.

Well - the only thing he knew was that he had to find out where to get more of those awesome cupcakes.


- - -


Priest kept his promise. When Twilight entered the kitchen the following morning, it was as clean as before the incident. There was a clean bowl of breakfast cereal on the table and a note.

Got some food and milk for you earlier. Going to the bakery now. P.

A tired yet satisfied smile crept onto Twilight's face as she made some coffee.


- - -


Priest hurried across Town Square. He was trying to get directions for the bakery but no luck so far. Every pony that he asked either froze on the spot ot squeaked and stumbled backwards, collected their goods and bolted off.

He felt anger building up inside, making it hard to concentrate.

Maybe I should have waited for Spike or Twilight to come along. But the whole point was to surprise them.

Finally, a familiar face!

Three little fillies ran across the square. They screamed with delight as one of them, an orange pegasus, performed tricks with her scooter, involving the other two. The little unicorn was the one Priest recognized.

"Oi! Sweetie Belle!", he called to her.

The fillies reacted very differently. The yellow earth pony shrieked, the orange pegasus just froze and stared blankly. Sweetie Belle turned her head and waved at Priest enthusiastically.

"Hello!", she said, beaming at him.

The undead approached the three fillies.

"Scootaloo, Applebloom, meet Priest! He's a human", said Sweetie Belle with a serious face as if she was trying to explain a new weather phenomenon.

"Hello", said Priest. "Sweetie Belle, which way is the bakery?"

"Whoa", mumbled Scootaloo, still staring up at Priest.

Sweetie nudged her with a hoof, probably to shut her friend up. "Oh, you mean Sugarcube Corner? It's that way, two blocks to the left. It looks like a cake, you can't miss it!"

She beamed, obviously pleased to be acquainted with the new oddity in town.

"Thanks." Priest raised his hand to wave to the fillies, then followed Sweetie's directions.

He could hear a whispered conversation behind his back.

"That's a human?"

"Yep. He was at my sister's yesterday, she made the clothes!"

"He looks wild! I think he's even taller than Princess Celestia!"

"Yeah, Sweetie Belle, are ya sure he ain't dangerous?"

"Of course I am! He's really nice. I think."

"But everypony is scared, look..."

The voices died away as he left Town Square.


- - -


Priest was greeted by the widest pony smile he had seen so far.

"Hello and welcome to Sugarcobe Corner – oooh are you the new arrival that Mara told me about? What's your name? There you go, all super-duper fresh and tasty! Thanks! Bye, Bon Bon! Wow, I haven't seen her in such a hurry before... Anyway, I haven't thrown a Welcome to Ponyville party for you yet because I can't put your name on the cake without you giving me the name first and I asked Mara to tell me but she hasn't come back yet even though she said she would and now you are here and I'm still without a name, I'm Pinkie Pie by the way, and if you want to get the bestest sweets and baked goods in all of Equestria you've come to the right place, so what's your name?"

How does she do that? Priest was sure that Pinkie didn't even breathe once as she said her greetings.

"I'm Priest-"

"Welcome to Ponyville, Priest, and make sure to drop by tonight for a super duper party just for you! There will be cake and games and punch and I can help you to meet all kinds of ponies so you will have lots of new friends-"

"Uh, about that", interrupted Priest.

"About what? The party? Is it the wrong time? I tomorrow better? I can totally throw it tomorrow if that's the problem -"

The undead frowned. "I don't want a party", he said slowly.

Pinkie's curly mane deflated slightly. "What do you mean? Who wouldn't like a party?"

Priest shrugged helplessly. "I just wanted to buy some cupcakes."

Light, please let her just sell me the cupcakes and forget the party.

"Oh, I see", said Pinkie, her smile slowly returning. "Which ones do you like?"

"I ate one with sugar frosting. It looked like that one, I think."

"Ooh, that's the one I gave Mara yesterday! Good choice! How many cupcakes do you wanna eat then? You can get six for the price of five today!"

"Er, then I'll take six", decided Priest.

"Okie dokie lokie!" Pinkie removed the cupcakes from the counter, wrapping them in paper at the speed of lightning.

"There you go!"

"Thanks."

As Priest took out some bits from his purse, Pinkie leaned forward to stare into his eyes. Her face was so close that he had to step back to regain focus. What was wrong with this mare? Did she suffer from a speed-up spell or something?

"What?", he asked.

"Are you sure you don't want a party? This could be your fantastiriffic chance to meet new friends!"

"Er-"

"Or do you already have friends here? I can invite them, too!"

Priest sighed. "You won't take a no, will you?"

"Nope", beamed Pinkie.

"...Ugh...fine. A small party. And only a few guests, got it? You can pick the ones that don't run away when you mention me, that should narrow it down enough."

"Will do", said Pinkie, still smiling and completely ignoring Priest's cynicism.

"Thanks for the cupcakes."

"Anytime!"
> Level 5 - Fluttershy
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Thank you for helping me with this", said Rarity and smiled at Priest. He just nodded, trying not to drop any of the four humongous shopping bags he was carrying. "Usually Spike is the one to help me out but sometimes I get the feeling that he's biting more than he can chew."

Can't imagine how that feels..., he complained silently.

"What do you need all that stuff for anyway?", asked Priest through the pile.

"'Stuff'? That, my friend, is not 'stuff'. It is cloth, ribbons, a new pair of scissors, food, snacks, beverages, a small gift for Sweetie Belle, feathers and a surprise but certainly none of it is", she huffed, "'stuff'. All of the things I have purchased have a designated purpose one of which is a nice picnic in the park. If you have the time, that is."

"Wait, what?"

"After we have brought everything else home, of course."

"...Right."

Did she just use three different words for the same thing?

As they walked back to the Boutique, Rarity with a content smile on her lips, deliberately ignoring everypony else's stares, Priest wondered why she was so friendly.

Rarity could have asked Spike to help her. She even invited Priest for lunch – oh wait, how did she know about last night's kitchen raid? On the other hand, she probably didn't and just assumed he had to eat something eventually, like every living being does.

And by the Light, he might be an ass sometimes, but it seemed she was one of his few friends now so it would be really dumb to turn down the harmless invitation.

Then there was that party Pinkie Pie was planning which made Rarity's behavior even more suspicious. Was she trying to occupy him to stay out of the party planners' way?

Nah, now I'm just assuming they're planning something big. Talking about big, I wonder how Tak is doing. Gotta remember to ask Twilight if she has a way to find out, mused Priest.

"Oh my, they were so rude!", complained Rarity. "It's just the same as with Zecora all over again!" It seemed that the townsponies' disapproving glares were getting on her nerves a lot more than on his - which made sense since Rarity was not new to town anymore.

"Who's Zecora?"

The unicorn magicked her shop door open and let Priest walk past. He put the bags on the table at the back of the room. They were freaking heavy and friendship or not, he wouldn't carry them upstairs or anything. Rarity was the one with the levitation magic!

"Zecora", said Rarity as she started unpacking, "is a Zebra that lives in the Everfree Forest. When she was new to town, everypony avoided her, there were even rumors that she ate ponies. I do have to admit it was not one of our best moments", she added, blushing with shame.


- - -


They picked a secluded spot in the park under a huge willow tree. Sitting on a blanket, Rarity enjoyed a daisy sandwich. Priest preferred the carrots, apples and cucumber. He could even taste them a little and the fruit contained lots of water so it wasn't as bad as he had feared. The whole eating business still felt awfully strange to him (except for the cupcakes).

They didn't say much, just leaning back and watching ponies of all ages walking and playing in the park. Rarity would occasionally point at some of them and tell Priest their names. From their spot they weren't seen immediately but could keep an eye on almost the entire area. This way Priest could watch the green earth pony approaching way before she got into earshot.

"Oh, great...", he mumbled between two bites.

"What is it?", asked Rarity.

Priest nodded at the earth pony. "It's Mara Dust. She keeps trying to 'help' me. Yesterday she even left a cupcake at the library."

"I don't understand. That sounds really nice after all, why would that be a problem?"

Priest frowned. "Because I don't like 'help' like that, especially not out of pity. I hate it when random people think they have the right to meddle with my day or tell me how to do things."

"You do?", said Rarity, a mixture of a confused smile and a slighty hurt frown on her face.

Priest shot a sideways glance at the unicorn and made a vague gesture, pointing at the food. "This is different. I helped you, you helped me. That makes us even, right?"

Rarity hesitated. "I suppose."

Guess that came out wrong, thought Priest. I should pull myself together. Just accept the earth pony's 'help', say thanks and be done with it.

"Hello again", he forced himself to say nicely to Mara as she came closer.

She smiled and nodded. "Hello, you two."

Rarity, noticing the slight change in Priest's attitude, smiled as well. "Nice to see you, Mara. How are you doing?"

"I'm good. The job at the post office is going well. Did you get the cupcake?", she turned to Priest.

"Yeah, it was good", he said truthfully. "I went to Sugarcube Corner to get more this morning."

"I see", beamed Mara. "Well, you're probably wondering why I'm so insistant..."

"Pray tell", he said with a certain sharpness in his tone, causing Mara to shrink a little.

"I, uhm, Princess Luna asked me to help you settle down in Ponyville... so I wondered if you'd want to check out some things and places on the list I made... I mean, later, if you have the time..."

Priest tilted his head, getting curious. "Twilight made a list, too, so I guess combined with yours I'll definitely find a job and all. Wait, I get it, you have to report to the Princess or something like that, right? Because if that's all, why not."

He was not really too convinced of his own words but hoped that she would buy it.

"Thanks!", smiled Mara, relaxing instantly. She sat down next to Rarity who moved on her blanket and encouraged her to have a bite of the sandwiches.

"By the way, Mara", said Rarity, "have you heard of the commotion at Quills and Sofas this week? Whatever was that all about?"

Mara glanced at Priest who was studying the list she had hoofed over to him. He seemed busy for now, absent-mindedly scratching his back, so she shrugged, took a carrot and replied, "Actually, it was kind of a big deal. Half of the store got demolished. Nopony knows who it was and I don't believe the rumors that it was Derpy. She wasn't even there at the time, she had left before that happened."

Rarity scoffed. "Why would they assume it was Derpy? There was just that one incident with the Town Hall and the one at the hardware store... hm, now that I think of it, I do remember that time when she crashed into the joke shop, the noise was hard to miss..."

Priest suppressed a snort.

Mara threw a scolding glance at him even though he had not made any noise. "It must be hard for her", she said. "She's not even that clumsy... but sometimes when she touches stuff, it... collapses or explodes or... I don't know, gets destroyed in some other way... but this time I know it wasn't her. We're good friends and when she denies being involved you can believe her. Besides, everypony just talks about 'somepony' doing it, that's not terribly specific..."

Rarity looked at the park, pondering what to say. In some distance, Pinkie Pie bounced across the street, balancing a huge crate on her back. Her pink mane and tail bounced along, brushing the side of the container.

"This is strange indeed", she said slowly.

Mara shrugged. "I'm afraid there's not really anything we can do about it."


- - -


After the picnic, Mara and Priest decided to visit some ponies to get to know Ponyville better. That meant that Mara suggested it and Priest chose to go with the flow and see how it would turn out.

He could already see the trees beyond the fields. They stretched on to the horizon, bright and dark green shapes covering the hills with a gap threading through the pattern - Priest assumed there was a river running through the forest.

"You know, I've heard of the Everfree Forest several times now", said Priest as they made their way to a cottage close to said forest, "and you got me curious. So there's a Zebra living inside the forest and it's supposed to be", he raised his hands to do the quote-unquote sign, "'dark and scary'. What's so scary about a freaking forest in Ponyland?"

Mara grinned. "It's 'Equestria'... and well, since you're asking, the forest is different from the other forests. The clouds move on their own and everything grows by itself! Isn't that creepy?"

"Yeah, so damn spooky we might as well call it the Flower Garden of Doom", deadpanned Priest.

That made Mara flinch and stare at him with disbelief. "Excuse me?"

"Come on, that's not creepy at all! It's completely natural!"

"N-natural?"

"Sure", said Priest. "Where I come from, the entire world works like that. No exceptions."

"Huuuh?"

He rolled his eyes.

"Seriously, Mara? You can't really think nature is somehow waiting for you to make it work. That's ridiculous!"

"S-sorry", stuttered Mara, "That's a... new perspective to me. And I still think it's creepy! They say that there's manticores and hydras!"

"Okay, now you're talking", said Priest. "I'd really like to see that forest later."

The earth pony shuddered but did not answer, unsure whether he was serious or not.


- - -


They approached the cottage. It was unlike the other houses of Ponyville, its roof coverd by grass like the dwarven homes of the Twilight Highlands and surrounded by trees. It seemed as if it wanted to completely merge with its surroundings. Birds flew around the cottage and sang in the trees. A small fence surrounded the area next to the house. Priest spotted some chicken behind the hedge.

"Please remember, Fluttershy really lives up to her name", said Mara now. "She is very sensitive and will probably be scared by your appearance at first. Please try to be... nice?"

He shrugged. "I'll do my best. Why are we visiting her anyway?"

Mara smiled. "Because despite her shyness, she is very interested in all kinds of creatures. It might be interesting for you. Maybe she needs help with them so you could ask for a job. She's a friend of Rarity's." She threw a skeptical glance at Priest. "We can still go back..."

"Psh", said Priest, "I've got the time anyway."

Mara nodded. "Alright."

She knocked at the door. They could hear some rustling and hoofsteps inside, then the door opened by a few inches.

"Hello?", asked a gentle, quiet voice.

"Hi Fluttershy", said Mara. "Remember me from the party a month ago?"

"Oh, yes, of course. Nice of you to drop by, Mara."

The door opened a bit further, revealing the mare's face. The bright yellow coat and her pink mane along with her friendly eyes made Priest cringe with guilt. She'd probably get scared as soon as she-

"Eep!" The cry was not even loud, more like a strangled shriek half stuck in Fluttershy's throat. Her eyes reduced to pinpricks, she froze on the spot, then fainted.

"Ugh, great", snorted Priest. "Now what?"

Mara groaned. "I had hoped she would at least remain conscious."

He gave her an annoyed look. "Is that a thing of hers, to faint when she sees someone new?"

"Er...no", said Mara. "But you're not a pony..."

"Whatever", he interrupted her, getting more pissed with every second, "let's wake her up already."

She eyed him suspisciously. "Are you okay?"

Priest frowned. "Course I am. Except I just scared the living crap out of a harmless pegasus I meant to visit!"

He bent down to pick up Fluttershy and carried her carefully to her green sofa. For some reason her being scared of him made his insides burn with shame, something that had never happened before. He was usually just annoyed when everyone stared at him or got freaked but something about Fluttershy was... different. He couldn't put his finger on it.

This house is different than other houses on the inside, too, noted Priest as he looked up. There were birdhouses and holes in the wall. It looked like a small petting zoo in here.

Except the critters had all disappeared once the intruders had entered the room.

The only animal that had stayed was a white rabbit. It eyed him with a suspiscious glare matching that of a viscious watchdog.

Mara stretched out a hoof to pet the bunny. It seemed to approve of that; with a curt nod it let her continue for a few seconds, then it hopped outside through the window.

Meanwhile, Priest tried to pray and convince the Light to help Fluttershy wake up.

His magic did not respond, though. Maybe his request wasn't important enough? That could happen sometimes. Despite bending to his will, the magic of the Light was still fickle at times and didn't do anything if it seemed to consider it too minor.

He chose to use the more common way and slapped Fluttershy gently on the cheek.

"Hey, wake up", he said softly.

The pegasus's eyelids fluttered open and she stared at him. Before she could say anything, he asked, "Are you alright?"

Fluttershy blushed and nodded, her eyes still wide. "I'm sorry", she whispered.

"Nevermind", said Priest. "Mara, can you get me a glass of water?"

Mara nodded and made her way to the kitchen, ignoring Priest's commanding tone.

The undead looked back at Fluttershy, sitting at the ground to appear less tall and intimidating. "So you're Fluttershy", he said, trying to break the ice. "Twilight says you are good with animals."

Fluttershy nodded silently, half her face hidden behind her long mane.

"Um", said Priest.

Crap, she really does live up to her name...What am I supposed to say?!

"Your animals are really... cute.", he offered.

The corners of her mouth went up a little. "Yes, they are. Angel, the bunny, is one of my closest friends", she said quietly, seemingly relaxing as Priest still wasn't moving a limb.

"Well, I just wanted to drop by", mumbled Priest. "So I did. Uh... I can leave if this is a bad time."

"Oh, it's okay", said Fluttershy with a steadier voice but still hiding behind her mane. "I'm sorry, I was so surprised. I've never seen a creature like you." She blushed violently at that.

"Ah, right. I keep forgetting it's not just me being...", he managed to stop himself before saying, 'undead', mentally slapping himself, "...tall."

Idiot, don't make this harder than it already is!

He coughed. "I'm a human. Twilight... met me when she was doing her portal research." Half the truth, but it should be enough. "I'm going to stay in Ponyville for the time being."

He got interrupted by a confident male voice.

"And why in Equestria would you, a strange and probably terribly dangerous being from another world, be this interested in my dear friend Fluttershy?"

With a creaking noise, Fluttershy's sofa started to wiggle, urging her to stand up. It curled and bent until one of the pillows, a patchwork mess of shrill colors, jumped off, spinning wildly, and floated across the room. As it whizzed closer to Priest, it transformed into a fully grown...

Priest wouldn't have been able to identify the species two months earlier but after doing research with Twilight for this long, he knew whom he was facing. The undead jumped to his feet and put himself between Fluttershy and the dragonequus, ready to charge up his magic.

"What do you want, Discord?", he demanded.
> Level 6 - There's a Corpse in My Living Room
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Discord floated around Fluttershy's living room, grinning at Priest like a skull.

"Well, my first impression was that you species was intelligent but it seems that I have to keep my expectations lower", he teased. "I obviously asked you a question so of course what I want is an answer!"

Priest frowned. "That's none of your business."

He could see Fluttershy walking out from behind him and standing at his side from the corner of his eye.

"Careful, Fluttershy, Twilight warned me about this guy", he said.

The pegasus shook her head. "I know that Discord can seem a bit... unusual... but please don't worry. Everything is fine, isn't it, Discord?"

In that moment, Mara entered the room, a tray with a glass of water on her back.

"Oooh, a glass of water!", beamed Discord, completely ignoring Mara's protest and grabbing the glass. He downed the water in a single gulp, then released a pleased and exaggeraterd, "Aaaah! Tasty!" Then his head swung back to Priest. "Now, where were we? Right, my business!"

Priest took a cautious step back. "Fluttershy", he asked without taking his eyes from Discord, "can you elaborate that a bit more?"

I have to be careful, he thought. Twilight said this one can do nearly anything with his chaos magic. She didn't mention he was on the loose, though.

Fluttershy looked at Priest with pleading eyes. "Discord is reformed", she explained. "He is telling the truth: We are actually friends."

Mara's jaw dropped at that. She put the tray down with shivering hooves. "B-beg pardon?"

"Yes, my dear Shutterfly here" – "Fluttershy", corrected the pegasus with a small voice – "is my friend now so I would highly recommend to refrain from any aggressive acts on your side", sneered the dragonequus.

Priest shook his head, bewildered.

Mara frowned. "I didn't take you as somepony who would make friends with the spirit of chaos", she said slowly. "That kinda sounds like a trick to me."

Fluttershy's expression hardened a little. "I didn't say it was easy", she said, her voice quiet but steady, "but please believe me. Discord won't hurt anypony because he promised, right, Discord?"

Discord rolled his eyes, trying in vain to still appear intimidating. "Urgh. That."

Priest suppressed a grin. It seemed that Discord owed the pegasus despite his mischievous attitude.

This could be fun.

"Well, I'll answer your question then", said Priest. "I wanted to visit because Fluttershy is the local animal caretaker. I intend to buy a pet."

"You do?", asked both mares.

Priest folded his arms. "Yeah, so what?"

Discord grinned. "Now that is really strange! You are not even a pony yourself! And you want to buy a pet? Well, good luck, then, I wonder if you will find anything that doesn't run away barking or screeching or whatever sounds the animals make which you want to purchase!"

He cackled and emphasized his words by making his shadow do an impression of a dog and some critters dashing and hopping across the entire room.

Priest's expression darkened. "Humans are good with pets", he stated.

"Oh, I would never doubt that", said Discord in an voice dripping with sarcasm. "But I still think you would be much better at handling Fluttershy's pets if you actually were a pony!"

He snapped his fingers, grinning from ear to ear. There was a blinding flash of light.

Fluttershy and Mara gasped, staring at Priest with wide eyes.

He blinked, trying to see again. Small dots were dancing in front of his face. His perspective seemed a bit off, suddenly everything was much taller than before. Mara and Fluttershy were only slightly smaller than him while Discord was still towering above all of them.

"Priest, are you all right?", asked Mara, her voice trembling.

"Discord, what are you doing?", scolded Fluttershy.

"But he's looking so much better now, don't you think?", laughed Discord.

Now it dawned to Priest why his perspective was off. He looked down at himself and realized his clothes were gone – and he was indeed a pony! He could feel some appendages on his back and realized he had wings.

I'm a fucking pegasus. This is wrong on so many levels!

"Turn me back right now!", he spat.

Discord's yellow eyes widened as he leaned in to have a closer look at his newest prank. "...Wait a minute", he said in an almost serious tone, seemingly oblivious to Priest's demand.

Mara stepped away from Priest, her eyes wide with horror. Fluttershy started to tremble violently while Discord walked around Priest with crossed arms, examining him from all sides. Her eyes darted from Discord to Priest and back. She seemed unable to react, her wings tightly folded.

"What?", asked Priest, his tone level though his left ear twitched with irritation. What a weird sensation... "What's with that look?"

"Y-you're - a c-c-c-", stuttered Fluttershy.

"Corpse", finished Discord matter-of-factly. "How curious..."

Oh crap, don't tell me I'm undead as a pony, too?!

Priest turned his head, trying to get a better look at his body.

Big chunks of his flesh were missing and several ribs and bones exposed, especially at the joints. His coat, a sickly greyish yellow, was uneven and rough and hardly covered his necrotic flesh. His tail (and probably his mane as well) still were the same white as when he was a human. His wings also looked awfully bony and had only a few feathers. There was an image on his flank, in the same place he had noticed adult ponies had their so-called Cutie Marks. His was a wand with a sapphire star as a tip, crossed with a sword.

Does this represent my talent with enchanting gems and weapons?, he mused. Guess I could use my light magic even as a pegasus.

Who cares, I'm still a pony! And undead! And they can see all of this!!

"Boo, surprise, you found me out", growled Priest. "Can you change me back now? Please?", he forced through clenched teeth.

Discord snapped his fingers again, turning Priest back into a human.

Priest exhaled with relief, noticing his clothes were back as well. He turned at Discord. "That was uncalled for!", he said as anger kept rising in his gut.

"Calm down, human", said Discord, raising his paw and claw defensively. "You're back to your original shape! So stop the nagging already. I must say this is one of the few times somepony managed to genuinely surprise me. That alone was worth it!" He grinned and bowed graciously. "Good luck reviving your friends!"

He vanished in another flash of light, leaving his so-called friend to her own devices. A harmless-looking colorful patchwork pillow reappeared on the sofa, right where the Discord-pillow had been during Priest's conversation with Fluttershy.

The undead scratched his neck nervously, looking at Mara and Fluttershy. Both were still standing still with shock. Mara drooled a little which would have been adorable given different circumstances.

Poor mares. Discord can't be much of a friend if he leaves Fluttershy of all ponies in a state like that. Thanks for nothing, asshole...Though technically it's my fault. I shouldn't have come here in the first place!

Priest sighed. "Would you ...kindly snap out of it now?", he pleaded. "I'm still the same guy, you know!"

Mara blinked several times, then shook her head. "Sorry", she mumbled, avoiding his gaze. "I'll... go ahead back to Ponyville..." She hurried out the door, leaving Priest and Fluttershy behind. The pegasus took a few steps back, unable to speak, her eyes wide with terror.

Priest swallowed, concern etched into his face. "Fluttershy, are you all right? ...Please say something."

There was that strange sinking feeling again. Why did he feel so sad?

Fluttershy squeaked and hid behind her sofa. "Please... leave...if you don't mind", she whispered.

"All right, I'm going", said Priest. "I guess I'm gonna buy that pet later..." He let out an awkward laugh that fooled no one, then left, carefully closing the door.

Once he was outside, he hit the wall so hard that dark blood oozed from his hand, leaving a small smudge on the plaster.

Priest carefully wiped it off with the back of the other hand, then he made his way back to town.


- - -


"So what do you think?"

"Huh, what?", asked Priest, raising his head from the couch pillow.

Twilight frowned at him, holding two sets of saddlebags in her magic. "Really", she said,  "it's about time you stopped sulking on that sofa. I asked you which one of these I should take to the party."

Reluctantly, Priest sat up and scratched his neck. "I'm not sulking, I'm thinking", he lied. "And why are you asking me a question like that? Just choose the one you're more comfortable with."

Mares and human women are disturbingly alike, he thought. Asking me about fashion! Might as well try and get tips from the Lich King about gardening!

Twilight smiled and floated her older but prettier saddlebag back into the closet. "It's the one from Azeroth, then", she decided. "Rarity will disagree but I kind of like it now - even though it's leather." She blushed violently.

Priest shrugged. "Whatever you like better. You wore it for three months, I can get why you would want to keep using it."

"Exactly", said Twilight, relieved that somebody understood her antics, and fastened the belt of her blue saddlebags. "Are you ready to go, too?"

"No."

"Aw, come on! It's your party! Pinkie Pie has put a lot of effort into it, the least you can do is show up!"

He grimaced. "How do you know she did?"

"Because she always does. Now get your … butt... off that cushion and have a little fun!"

"Urgh", he groaned. "Fine, I'm going. Haven't eaten since midday. But don't expect me to play any games! There won't be many peo- uh, ponies anyway. 

"Where's Spike?"

"He is already at Sugarcube Corner. Don't worry, nopony is going to judge you there. And there will be a cake and everything. Pinkie's parties are the best."

With that promise on her lips, Twilight unceremoniously shoved Priest outside with her wing and locked the library door. He noticed that despite many pony houses didn't even have locks on their doors, Twilight never forgot to make sure her books were safe.


- - -


"Hello, Priest!", shouted Pinkie happily as they entered Sugarcube Corner. "I'm so happy you could make it!"

Her smile was so wide that Priest couldn't help but cheer up a little. He felt the corner of his mouth turn up. "Thanks. I heard there's cake."

Pinkie Pie giggled. "Of course there's cake! But what would a party be without guests?" She led them across the room, waving at random ponies.

There were about two dozen of them, standing in groups and chatting. They turned their heads and smiled at Priest and Twilight. Spike was standing at a table with Sweetie Belle and her two filly friends. They waved at Priest enthusiastically. Rarity approached him from the side, along with a mint green unicorn.

"I'll leave you to it, there's something I want to talk about with Twilight. Have fun!" Pinkie bounced away, taking a curious Twilight with her.

Rarity cleared her throat. "Priest, I would like you to meet Lyra Heartstrings. Lyra, this is, as you may have guessed, Mr Baker or, as he prefers, Priest."

Lyra gave him a hesistant smile and stretched out her hoof. Priest bumped it with his fist. He had watched Spike doing that with Scootaloo after waving at him.

"Hi", he said.

Lyra shuffled around nervously. "So you're new to Ponyville, huh?"

"Yes, it's a nice town", replied Priest. "Very peaceful."

She nodded, smiling more genuinely now. "More or less", she admitted. "There is some trouble now and then but luckily for us, Rarity and her friends helped us through the rough parts."

Rarity waved dismissively with her hoof. "Please stop it", she said, though seemingly enjoying the compliment.

Priest frowned, trying to remember what Twilight had told him a month ago. "Right... The Elements of Harmony. Yours is the Element of... uh..."

"The Element of Generosity. Without their magic we would have lost peace a long time ago. We had to use them from the day after Twilight came to town... and the Celestial Princesses used them before as well." She waved at Twilight who was currently talking to Pinkie Pie. The pink pony listened to her eagerly, nodding nonstop.

"Well, nice talking to you", said Lyra. She mingled with the small crowd faster than Priest could say "evasive manuevers".

Priest sighed and threw a glance at Rarity.

"Don't mind her", she tried to cheer him up. "Would you like some cake? I've spotted somepony you haven't met yet."

"You know", said Priest as they made their way to the counter, "your Element makes a lot of sense. I still can't believe you gave me all of this for free." He nodded at his clothes.

Rarity just smiled and elegantly put her hoof around the neck of a cyan pegasus who was standing next to the cake.

The mare grinned and flicked her rainbow mane. "Hey", she said nonchalantly.

Priest immediately liked the pegasus. She had a certain air about her that made him feel at ease. He smiled at her, forgetting the awkward introduction to Lyra. "Hey yourself. So you're the famous Rainbow Dash, I presume?"

"Ooh, you know my name? Seems my rep precedes me. Awesome!"

Priest shook his head and picked up the knife next to the cake. "Twilight told me about you. She said you're one of her best friends and a really fast flyer."

Rainbow Dash stroke a pose and flashed another smile at Priest. "I am trying to be - and succeeding so far. What's your name anyway?"

"I'm Priest. Nice meeting you. Who wants cake?", he added, raising his voice a little. He did not know why but Rainbow Dash's self-confidence had boosted his own somehow.

"I'm always for cake", said Rainbow, accepting the plate Priest offered. She set it down on the next table and started munching away.

"Did somepony say cake?", came a voice from behind.

Rarity floated another plate with a slice over to Applejack. "Thank ya kindly", said the cowmare and joined Rainbow at the table. Pinkie Pie was still in the conversation with Twilight, now chattering at an incredible speed while Twilight scribbled down notes on a parchment.

Really, Twilight? At a party?

Priest rolled his eyes, then kept slicing the cake as some other ponies joined them. He recognized Mara though she was still avoiding his gaze and quickly withdrawing to join a grey pegasus with a bright yellow mane.

But she's attending, he thought. Either she's very loyal to her princess or she's feeling guilty for avoiding me earlier. Or both.

"Have you seen Fluttershy?", Rarity asked Applejack as they enjoyed the cake.

"Nope, haven't sheen har", she managed to say with her mouth full, making Rarity cringe. "Wonder what'sh keepin' her."

"Huh, now that you're mentioning it... I haven't seen her either", said Rainbow Dash.

Priest coughed and got his own piece of cake.

Rarity turned to face him. "You wouldn't happen to know?", she asked.

He grimaced, shoving the slice of cake into his mouth. He was hungry, so what?
> Level 7 - Twitchy Tail!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Applejack frowned at Priest. "I think ya actually do know somethin'", she said. "It's the exact same look Applebloom gave me when she failed at her Cutie Mark Crusader Firefighters project thingy two days ago."

A sudden image of himself bound to a chair, blinded by an uncomfortably bright beam of light, came to Priest's mind. Applejack didn't look particularly angry, though, just very concerned. Yet he was somehow cornered, maybe because she sensed that he felt guilty. How did she do that? He swallowed and gave in to the mare's stare.

"Argh, fine! I was at her cottage. And I scared the living crap outta her. So there you have it!"

During his last words, Rainbow Dash jumped up and hovered in front of his face. "What. Did. You. Do?!", she demanded angrily, inching closer with each word.

Priest jerked his head back, raising his arms defensively. "I didn't mean to! The moment she saw me, she fainted! And when I finally managed to wake her up, that Discord  character popped up and messed around with what little success we'd made!"

That made Rainbow retreat a little. "Discord?", she mumbled, raising an eyebrow. Some of the mares gasped and Twilight asked with a dangerously calm voice, "What did he do?"

"He... he turned me into a pony."

That did not cause the reaction he had expected. Rainbow Dash snickered, Applejack just raised an eyebrow and the other ponies looked at each other cluelessly.

"Which is bad?", he added slowly. "Considering the circumstances?"

Understanding dawned in Twilight's eyes, her mouth forming a small 'O'. Rarity raised a hoof to her heart, muttering, "Oh dear..."

In the corner of his eye, Priest noticed that Mara, who was still talking with the wall-eyed pegasus, glared at him for a moment before returning to her conversation.

"I don't get it", said Pinkie. "Isn't being a pony fun? I think it's great! And he turned you back into yourself anyway so it was a... a species vacation!"

"No", said Priest, lowering his voice, "because as a pony, I was the same as when I'm human."

"Which means...?" Rainbow Dash started to get impatient, seemingly feeling left out of the big secret.

"You know, we should probably discuss that later", said Twilight and smiled desperately as a bead of sweat started to form on her brow.

Applejack opened her mouth, but Rarity cut her off by declaring, "I would like to postpone this discussion as well. I think I should go to Fluttershy and see how she is doing."

"I'm coming with you", offered Rainbow Dash, hovering above the ground, ready for action. "It sounds like she needs some serious cheering up."

"B-b-but the party is not over yet!", protested Pinkie half-heartedly. "There's still a lot of cake left!" She frowned thoughtfully. "On the other hoof, I really hope Fluttershy is okay... you should bring her a slice, it will make her feel better!"

Priest grimaced and sighed. "You two just go and take care of Fluttershy. I'm gonna stay here. After that messed up introduction I better stay out of her way to avoid further... mental scarring."

Rarity and Rainbow Dash hesitated for a moment, then, as they saw Twilight's subtle nod, they left.

She's probably locked herself up in her cottage and nailed the door and windows shut, mused Priest, his stomach turning despite the deliscious cake. I wonder if she's ever gonna come out again.

Twilight looked down. "I'm sorry it blew up in your face like that."

To Priest's disdain, Applejack still eyed him suspiciously. "I don't like this", she said. "You're sayin' it's not your fault? Then I believe ya, especially when Discord's involved. But somethin' definitely ain't right here!"

"Can't argue with that", said Priest and took another piece of cake. Maybe more of the same thing would help to calm his insides. Sugar makes you happy, right? "But I can't change it. And I certainly don't want to go into the details. Sorry, Applejack. What I can say is that you're not in danger because of me. Neither is Fluttershy or anyone else in Ponyville for that matter."

The mare nodded slowly and exhaled, then she smiled a little, not a sign of acceptance, but at least of a truce. "Fine then, we'll talk about it later. Would ya give me another bit o'cake?"

"Sure."

Pinkie Pie smiled widely. "So we are okay with each other? Great! This means we can move on to-", she gasped, then shrieked, "Twitchy Tail!!!"

Twilight grabbed Applejack and a confused Priest with her magic and pulled them below the table. Pinkie dove underneath the buffet, covering her face with an empty platter for good measure.

There was the dry sound of splintering wood, someone yelled, "Watch out!", then a deafening crash.

Ponies screamed and dashed around, trying to avoid tumbling debris.

"What's happening?", shouted Twilight above the noise.

"Ah... ah think somethin's exploded", said Applejack, squinting her eyes. "There's holes in the wall and the ceiling."

"Shouldn't we help them or something?", asked Priest. He could feel his training as a healer take over, urging him to rush over to the pile of rubble. 

Twilight's eyes widened. "Right! You've got healing magic!"

They scrambled out from below the table and hurried over to the debris. Applejack and some other ponies Priest didn't know were now trying to lift the bricks, wood and plaster that had fallen down.

"Somepony's stuck under the pile!", realized Twilight, lighting up her horn to help.

Priest had a look around the shop, trying to get an overview of the situation. Half of the guests had left in a hurry. Spike was nowhere to be seen. The only ones left were the mares and stallions trying to lift the debris, Pinkie, who dashed to the kitchen to get the first-aid kit, and Mara Dust. The green earth pony stood as stiff as a statue, her eyes staring without focus.

"It's her", she muttered. "It's actually her...oh dear Celestia..."

Priest shook his head and rummaged in his bag for his own bandages – the ones he had gotten from the Princess. Mara might be under shock but if someone was stuck under the pile, they had to get help first. Then he realized the bandages were still in the library. He only found that useless oil lamp and stuffed it back into the bag.

Twilight lifted the last heavy piece of wood with her magic, revealing a grey pegasus.

"Oh mah gosh, Derpy!", gasped Applejack. "Let's get ya to the hospital right away!"

The mare whinced and shook with pain. Blood dripped to the ground. A wooden beam, the last one Twilight had removed, had struck her side, cutting it open and as far as Priest could tell from a quick glance her left wing seemed to be dislocated.

Priest kneeled down next to her, beckoning Pinkie Pie closer.

"We should remove the splinters first", he said, "and then I'll try and heal her. This doesn't look good. Let's hurry with the cleaning to keep the blood loss at a minimum."

Pinkie Pie nodded and pulled a pair of pincers out of her box. "I'll get the teeny-tiny splinters, too, they are the ones that itch the worst afterwards", she said with a serious expression, contrary to her cheerful demeanor from earlier.

Priest's respect for the pink pony grew. At first he had thought she was a bit shallow but it seemed she knew when it wasn't the time to fool around... And it looked as if Pinkie had a weak precognitive ability. It didn't really strike him as a surprise since seers often had a "sieze the day" attitude, trying to let their intuition guide them. That or they boarded the crazy train. Priest was sure he'd prefer the spontaneous, cheerful Pinkie Pie over a mad warlock any time.

Twilight frowned. "How do you know... nevermind. Spike!"

The baby dragon, who had seemingly leapt behind a curtain to shield himself, showed himself again and hurried to her side.

"Please go to the hospital and get help. I'm afraid we shouldn't move Derpy much until the doctors can take care of her. Applejack, can you accompany him there?"

Spike jumped onto Applejack's back, who nodded at Twilight without protesting and galloped outside so fast that Spike had to hold on to her mane.

"How did this happen?", asked Priest, turning to a bright yellow unicorn.

The stallion shook his head and frowned. "I'm not sure", he said hesitantly. "We were just talking when somepony accidentally bumped into Derpy. When she stumbled against the wall, it suddenly collapsed."

Pinkie pulled the splinters out of Derpy's wound at an incredible speed, her eyes wide with surprise. "Huuuh? I alwaysh thought that Sugarcube Corner wash a stable construction!", she managed to say through her teeth.

"You're right, this is weird", said Twilight. "Careful, Pinkie!"

Derpy was still trembling violently, so Twilight stroked her mane and muttered soothing words to her, trying to comfort her. The pegasus smiled shakily, acknowledging the effort. "I'm sorry", she whispered. "It just hurts so much. The w-wing, it hurts the most."

Mara snapped out of her daze. "It's not your fault", she said. "I saw it."

Priest frowned at that, then he felt a poke in his side.

"I'm done", said Pinkie and tilted her head to the side. "So what's the healing magic that Twilight was talking about?" He absently noticed she wasn't using any made-up adjectives at the moment, completely focused on the problem.

Priest nodded and said, "You'll see. Can someone get me some towels?"

Twilight looked over to the kitchen and concentrated, her horn glowing as she floated two towels over to him.

"Press one onto the wound. And keep it there. Yeah, like that. Cover her with the other one. Listen, Derpy", he added gently. "This is tough but you're gonna feel better in a moment. Just try to breathe normally. Got it?"

"Uh-huh."

Priest stretched his arms, then carefully reached for Derpy's back and wing, trying to locate the correct places to hold. He just had to assume her wing anatomy was similar to a griffin's and prayed that he wouldn't mess up.

"Here goes nothing", he muttered under his breath, positioning his knee on the side of Derpy's barrel to keep her body from shifting.

Then, with a soft but determined pull, he let the bone slip back into position.

Derpy let out a small sigh. "Thank you", she mumbled.

Twilight gave a small grunt of approval and opened her mouth to say something.

"Not now", said Priest, pointing at the wound. "I'm not done yet."

He bowed his head and tried to concentrate.

The undead reached out to the Light with his mind and found a connection. He could already feel the warmth flowing into his core and relaxed, his breathing slowing down. Being a corpse, the only time he did not feel cold was when he healed people. He tried to push the thought aside and focus.

And here comes the pain. A starp sting shot into Priest's hands, a certain indication that the Light was flowing through his dead body, ready to affect the physical realm. The warmth got quickly overshadowed by the trademark agony that all cursed beings had to bear when wielding pure magic. Sheer willpower kept him from screaming as he forced his limbs to remain steady.

Priest said another silent prayer, then moved his hands closer to Derpy's side, trying to direct the flow of magic. 

The wound should close any moment now.

Pinkie held her breath, shaking with excitement. Mara and the yellow stallion with the orange mane watched curiously as the human mumbled to himself. The stallion pulled Mara closer with a hug, making her relax a little.

"Shouldn't it do... something?", muttered Twilight. "Priest, this is taking longer that it used to take when we were in Azeroth..."

The undead hesitated. "Wait for it", he said. He could feel the Light leaving his grasp again and tried to force back the tension building up in his limbs. A strange sensation hit him and it took him a moment to realize it was exhaustion. He was suddenly incredibly tired. His hands were shaking for real now. He lowered them with a ragged sigh.

Derpy's wound still looked the same. Priest could feel the warmth leave his body again, the painful fire inside subsiding as he let the Light go.

"I don't get it", he said, a hint of panic in his voice for the first time. "It feels as if I've been doing magic for days...I feel drained..."

Twilight looked up, forcing a smile. "Calm down, help is on its way. And you did great, Priest."

"Still", he insisted, "I should have been able to heal her!"

Derpy frowned. "What are you talking about?" Then she whinced again, her eyes unfocused and misty.

"Try... not to move", stuttered Priest. He covered his mouth. His head felt numb, his hands were still shaking like leaves.

This is no good. What is happening to me?! Why didn't it work?

"Don't worry, the doctors are here", cheered Pinkie, distracting him from his panicked train of thoughts with her usual ease. "Over here, Miss Redheart!"


- - -


Twilight and Priest sat at the table in the main room of the library, facing Mara and the unicorn stallion who had introduced himself as Spirit Rez.

Priest had to suppress a snicker when he had heard the name, it reminded him of an expression from home. It was usually being used when a group failed at raiding a dungeon, resulting in the need of a ressurrection. He very much doubted that the stallion with the orange mane and a cup of steaming coffee as a Cutie Mark was aware of that particular meaning.

The meeting wasn't about him anyway. He was mainly present because he was Mara's lover or, as the ponies called it, 'coltfriend'. The distraught mare was still trembling now and then but with Spirit's help she had calmed down enough to tell her side of the story.

"So let me get this straight", said Twilight. "You saw a pegasus punch the wall?"

Mara nodded.

"A translucent pegasus nopony else could see or hear?"

She nodded again, blushing.

"Sounds like a windigo", said Spirit Rez.

"Or an extremely powerful pony", offered Twilight.

"Or like a ghost", added Priest, getting stares for that. "What? I thought we were brainstorming."

Twilight smiled generously. "Ghosts are just an old mare's tale to spook fillies on Nightmare Night. Windigoes or powerful ponies – including pegasi capable of weather magic so strong it can destroy houses – on the other hoof are very real. Though I doubt it was a windigo, we would have felt cold and hatred - and the room temperature and mood were pretty normal at that time."

"Yeah, and that would totally be the first time the myth turns out to be real", snarked Spike who was sorting books and putting them back to their respective places on their shelves.

Spike's got a point, thought Priest. Twilight had told him about the day when Nightmare Moon had returned. She had voiced her concern about the approaching danger but no one had listened to her, telling her the return of the Mare of the Moon was 'just an old mare's tale'...

"I'm curious", said Spirit. "You're talking as if you've seen ghosts before."

"Duh", grinned Priest. "Seen them, fought them... some are harmless, though."

Mara swallowed. "You can actually see ghosts?"

The undead nodded, "Sometimes. It comes with my... condition. I probably didn't see yours at the party because I was... er, busy..."

Shifting around on his chair, he didn't exactly enjoy thinking back to the painful experience.

The earth pony nodded slowly. "Maybe - but it's not 'my' ghost!"

Priest waved dismissively, "You know what I mean."

"All of this happened so fast... There's still so many questions", said Twilight. "What exactly did it look like? What does it want? Are there more of its kind?"

Mara stared at the table. "It was tall, about as tall as Priest, I'd say", she began. "And it... she... was kind of blurry, as if I looked at it through water. She was... beautiful in a way... but she looked so angry. Her mane was really long and so was her tail and they were flowing in the breeze... I mean, there was no wind but it looked like it with the mane flowing..."

Twilight nodded. "So it is a mare? Could you see a Cutie Mark or anything that might give us a clue about her identity?"

Mara's ears drooped. "No", she said. "She was blurry and more like the image of a pony than... an actual one... sorry..."

"Don't be", said Spirit Rez firmly. "It wasn't your fault the ghost trashed the place."

She turned to him, her eyes filling up with tears. "But Derpy's h-hurt now, and the party has been ruined, and I should have said something, I just saw her floating there and d-did nothing... " Her voice died, she sniffed and cleared her throat.

Spirit shushed her gently and kept holding her close.

Priest felt a lump in his throat. Mara was new to this but he... He should have paid attention, he might have been able to sense the ghost, too! Instead, he had been whining about Discord and evading the truth! If not for Pinkie Pie's well-timed warning, even more ponies might have gotten hurt... or worse.

The tightening feeling in his chest made it hard to breathe. He noticed a sharp pain in his hands, too. Looking down, he realized that he had been clenching them into fists, his nails digging into the flesh. 

Twilight leaned forward. "Sorry to keep asking, Mara, but I need to know: Was that the first time you saw a ghost?"

Mara looked directly into Twilight's eyes as tears of desperation made her vision blurry. "Not exactly. I've been able to see auras ever since I was a filly."
> Level 8 - Who You Gonna Call?
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I can't take it anymore!", wept Mara. "They are ruining everything, p-putting my friends in danger! Nopony else can see them, I had to keep it a secret and try t-to ignore them while I can do nothing to stop them!"

Twilight and Priest exchanged helpless gazes as Mara wetted Spirit Rez's shoulder with her tears. The alicorn had suspicously misty eyes as well and she seemed to be lost for words.

Priest rubbed his itching side, unsure what to say either. He felt terribly awkward with that crying pony in front of him. Granted, it wasn't as bad as the moment Fluttershy had asked him to leave but it was close enough.

"Mara", said Twilight finally, "I'm really sorry you had to bear this burden all by yourself. But you won't have to anymore. I... we will help you because we are your friends... and we believe you."

The undead nodded slowly. "Yeah, cause we know ghosts are real. So we can try and find it and then get rid of it for good."

What have I gotten myself into?, he thought. Don't I have enough problems already? And Mara wanted to help me? What a laugh, she's a total mess herself.

"Thanks", whispered Mara, hope making the corners of her mouth turn upwards.

On the other hand, I've got nothing to lose - but she does. That pony is still alive so she deserves a chance to live in peace... I guess. And I'll need to keep an eye on the other one, what's-her-face? Right, Derpy. That ghost might come back after all.

Still holding Mara close, Spirit said, "Thank you for your kindness, Prin- Twilight. But can we do that another time? I think we all need a bit of rest after this. How about we meet here again tomorrow afternoon?"

Mara nodded. "Sounds okay to me", she mumbled.

Twilight smiled and stood up swiftly, determined to solve the problem. Her eagerness reminded Priest of a huntress who had found her new prey – which seemed weird to him because last time he checked, ponies were herbivores. "All right. Priest and I can think of a way to deal with the ghost until then."

"We can?", asked Priest.

"Yes, we can", emphasized Twilight, shutting him up with a stern look that said, 'Don't make this anymore awkward than it already is.'

Mara and Spirit got up as well and slowly walked to the door. Mara wiped her wet cheeks and cleared her throat. Turning her head back to Twilight and Priest again, she said, "Thanks again. I don't know what - just - thank you."

"Come on, let's go", said Spirit, nodding a goodbye to Twilight and Priest as he led Mara out the door.


- - -


Just as Priest had expected, Twilight started her research immediately after Mara and Spirit had left. She asked Spike for all kinds of books concerning ghosts, apparitions and auras. The poor dragon had to climb and re-climb the ladder so often that Priest eventually helped him, unable to stand the exhausted panting and wheezing anymore.

When the pile of books beside Twilight had become taller than Priest, he decided to say something.

"Twilight?"

"Hm...", muttered the alicorn.

"Twilight."

"Uh-huh."

"Twilight!!"

"Sorry, did you say something?"

"Not yet", Priest rolled his eyes.

"Sorry." Twilight grinned sheepishly. "What is it?"

"Are you sure this is the best way to gather information?", asked Priest. "These books are fictional at best! How is there supposed to be a guide to vanquishing ghosts in them?"

Twilight put a post-it note into the book she was currently skimming through and closed it with a sigh.

"I don't know", she admitted. "This kind of approach is new to me, I've always thought that ghosts weren't real."

Priest grinned and crossed his arms. "Because up to now, you had no proof. Is that it?"

She nodded. "But", she continued, "now that we have witnessed a real ghost's attack first-hoof, I just have to try. These books may be... mostly fictional, but they are all that I've got."

"Yeah, about that 'first-hoof' thing...", said Priest.

Twilight and Spike looked at him expectantly.

"I was telling you the truth, you know. I've seen my share of ghosts. I actually know how to deal with those fu-, er, entities."

"You do? Why didn't you say so before I started all that research?", demanded Twilight, her left eye twitching.

"Yeah, I'd like to know that, too", Spike piped in.

Priest shrugged. "I thought you had reliable sources so I just waited until proven otherwise."

Twilight's mouth opened, then closed again. "Um -"

"I hate to admit it, but that actually makes sense", commented Spike. He tapped his claw on the pile, making it shake dangerously. "Twilight's books usually have the answers to all kinds of problems." He quickly withdrew the claw before the pile could collapse from the shaking, a guilty expression on his face. "It's a rare occasion when they don't."

"But it happens", Twilight forced herself to say. "Well, if you know what to do... would you care to share it?"

Priest frowned. "It's not really that complicated. First, you have to determine what kind of ghost it is."

Twilight quickly grabbed a quill and parchment with her magic and started scribbling notes.

"Then... uh, it depends on what type of ghost it is, really", Priest said slowly. "I mean, they usually only appear because they died very suddenly and still have unresolved issues... or because some nutty necromancer thought raising the dead was a clever idea", he added with a sneer.

Twilight's eyes widened with shock. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, pretty much", he confirmed. "But I don't think it's the latter – except if there's pony necromancers in Equestria."

Twilight shook her head. "I don't know of any. There haven't been any mentions in my books anyway."

"Thought so. 'Kay then, so it's most likely one of the unresolved issue ghosts." He started pacing around the library, trying hard to remember. "There's two types: peaceful and poltergeist. A poltergeist is a ghost that-"

"I know, they demolish things and make noise", interrupted Twilight.

"Right, the name gives it away", admitted Priest.*

"Ghosts always haunt something. They never exist without some kind of anchor that binds them to the realm of the living. It can be a person – or, in your case, a pony, I suppose -, a place, an event or an object. The reason that many cursed objects are so dangerous is because there is some kind of soul attached to it..."

Or souls, plural, he added in his thoughts, but let's not scare her to much. It's not important anyway... now where was I?

"How do you know all this?", asked Twilight.

He hesitated. "I've... met my share of, er, evil ghosts."


- - -


Priest scrambled down the stairs, trying to keep up with his group. A high-pitched screech drove them to heighten their pace.

"What are those things?", shouted Gardok, his guttural words hard to understand between the clanking of the orc's armor and his heavy breathing.

"Banshees", said Priest, barely raising his voice. "If you want to live, you better shut up and keep running." He had no problem with his breathing the way Gardok did. Priest chanted a prayer to give his teammate a boost of energy and to shield his mind against the piercing screams from behind.

"Better", grunted Gardok and dared to look behind them. "Thank the ancestors, they're falling back!"

They kept running for another mile, dashing through the giant purple-leaved trees and dodging enormous dark grey rocks and ruins. They belonged to the remnants of Zul'Drak, the temple complex of another ancient civilization that had fallen prey to the clutches of the Lich King. The sky was grey and heavy with clouds and fumes, a foul odor filling the air around them. That, of course, wasn't exactly helping Gardok and Vol'Shalai with the breathing. If you stayed in these lands for too long, you could kiss your heartbeat goodbye. If you still had one.

Vol'Shalai sighed and collapsed on the ground.

"Dat's it, I'm not gonna run no more", the troll declared. He pulled out a fist-sized flask containing something that resembled a very dark red wine and downed it within two seconds. "Nevah again! Dose Banshees are frickin' crazy, mon! Almos' screamed my soul into da void!"

Priest and Gardok sat down on a rotten tree trunk. It was still cleaner than the ground itself.

"That's the point", said Priest, throwing an annoyed glance at the troll. Vol'Shalai was a good shaman, granted, but the way he kept pointing out the obvious was starting to get on his nerves. "Their screams detach the soul from the body, causing you to split into a lifeless corpse, ready to become a zombie, and a ghost."

"Shut up, bonehead, I don't wanna know the details", snarled Gardok. "If not for the ridiculous amount of gold they promised us for investigating, I'd never had set a foot here or teamed up with a Forsaken in the first place. Fucking Scourge!" He spat on the ground and took his own bottle out of his backpack.

"Good news is, now we know how many there are. And we found the necromancer."

Vol'Shalai nodded sagely. "Yea, we gonna tell'em da numbers an' we gonna get reinforcements. I can't wait ta get ma revenge. Der soul essences are gonna make sum great voodoo ingredients..."

"Yeah, whatever", said Priest.

"Why do you even care?", asked Gardok, raising an eyebrow. "You're dead anyway."

"Well, duh, that's the Scourge's fault. And the Banshees are obeying that Scourge necromancer so I'm gonna vanquish as many of them as possible", said Priest. "The money is just the cherry on top of the revenge cake."

"You don't eat", pointed Gardok out.

"Shut up, you know what I mean", groaned Priest.


- - -


"Priest? Are you okay?", asked Twilight.

The undead blinked. "Uh, yes, sorry, I was just remembering something... anyway, we need to figure out what the anchor is. Once we find it, we can get rid of it and send the ghost 'on its way'."

"What does that mean? I mean, how do you destroy an event? And what if the ghost is mad at a pony? We can't hurt the pony! It wouldn't be right!"

Priest rolled his eyes. "Calm down, Twilight, that's not what I meant. I meant destroying the, er, grudge of the ghost. Um... an example: The ghost died without finding something important he had been looking for. We find it and give it to him, the ghost vanishes."

Twilight looked up. "It is that easy?"

"I never said what the object could be", said Priest. "It might be something that has been destroyed or lost for ages. Get it?"

The alicorn nodded. "Wow, this is so... strange and new", she said.

Priest shrugged. "You get used to it. To a certain point."

"I see", she mumbled.

"Anyway, there's more; but I guess details only make sense once we've found out more about the ghost", concluded Priest. He stretched and yawned.

Twilight blinked slowly. "Priest..."

"What?" He froze with his arms still in midair.

"You yawned."

He frowned, lowering his arms again. "Huh. You're right. Didn't know I can still do that. Weird."

"Well, I don't know about you but I can hear my bed calling me", said Spike, a tired smile on his face.

Twilight threw a glance at the clock hanging above the kitchen door. "Dear Celestia, it's that late already?! I'm sorry, Spike, I could have asked Owliscious to help me with this!"

The dragon waved lazily. "Nah, it's okay. It was interesting – a bit scary, though", he said.

"Well, have a good night, Spike", said Twilight. "Don't forget to brush your teeth!"

"G'night", mumbled Spike. His entire body relaxed as he dragged himself upstairs. It seemed he had been hiding his exhaustion for Twilight's sake.

She must mean a lot to him, thought Priest.

Twilight put the quill and ink aside and rose from her chair. "I think I'm going to call it a night, too", she said. "I'll just leave the table like this... We might need the books tomorrow."

Priest grinned, amused by Twilight's excuse. It seemed to be her way of saying, 'please excuse the mess; make yourself at home', and she probably needed a reason for herself to justify leaving the books unsorted overnight.

"Good night, Priest."

"Night."

The alicorn went upstairs, leaving Priest and the book pile behind. There was some noise upstairs, then silence.

He sighed and looked around. What should he read tonight? He had finished The Crystal Heart today so it was time for something new.

"Let's see... 'Tabletop Games for Beginners'... 'How to Raise a Griffin', urgh, not really... 'The Mystery of Cutie Marks'?"

Priest remembered what Twilight had told him about those strange tattoos on the ponies' flanks. She had said it symbolized a pony's special talent and that every adult pony had it. He frowned. There was no reasonable explanation for this. Why for Light's sake would you need a picture on your butt to know what you're good at? Maybe it was the other way around, though, and it magically appeared once you found out your main talent.

Which means that Sweetie Belle and her friends haven't discovered their talents yet, concluded Priest. And Mara hasn't either. Now that he thought about it, she was the only adult pony without a mark he had met so far.

This book could be interesting. Might as well have a look.

He took it from the shelf, closed the curtains and made himself comfortable on the sofa.

About half an hour later, the book fell to the carpet with a muffled thud.
> Level 9 - Realizations
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Princess Celestia,

strange things have happened yesterday and I feel obligated, if not as your former student, then as the Princess of Magic and your subject, to inform you about them and ask for your advice.

Priest has talked to Mara Dust, the pony your sister Luna has asked to help him with finding his place in Ponyville. However, when the two of them visited Fluttershy that afternoon, Discord momentarily turned him into a pony, revealing to Fluttershy that the human is undead. I was not there - Priest told me afterwards - but I am assuming that his state is more obvious when he is the same species as us. Now Rarity's suspicions about the human are confirmed and Applejack, Pinkie and Rainbow are intending to find out what's so strange about him. I have managed to postpone the discussion but I am afraid it has become inevitable that they will soon discover the truth.

Needless to say that Fluttershy is deeply disturbed by this and refusing to leave her house. Rarity and Rainbow Dash have talked to her but she is adamant on avoiding Priest at any cost. I really want to take away her fear of Priest but I am unsure of how to proceed. The curse of the undead should not be taken lightly and I do not want to make it seem harmless.

Priest is my friend and I do not blame him for his condition – and neither should Fluttershy. He is direct and sometimes moody but also caring, helpful and eager to learn new things. He has made friends with Rarity and they are planning on going gem searching soon.

There is something else on my mind. After his visit at Fluttershy's, Pinkie Pie threw a Welcome to Ponyville party for Priest and invited about two dozen ponies to Sugarcube Corner. During the party, there was a big ruckus and part of the shop got destroyed by, as it seems, an explosion. Mara Dust claims to have seen a pegasus ghost causing the demolition and Priest is convinced by it as well. Therefore, we have started research on the matter and I would like to ask you if you have heard of any similar occurances. We are planning on finding and vanquishing the ghost but since this is a completely new situation for me, if you could tell me anything you know about ghosts and the like, I would highly appreciate it.

The collapsing of the wall has caused severe injury to Derpy (Ditzy Doo), one of Ponyville's mailponies. She is recovering at the hospital. Priest tried to heal her but since he has arrived here, his magic does not work anymore. He is confused and shocked by it although he is trying to hide it. Is it possible that the nature of his magic is blocked somehow? I have never heard of such a thing.

I cannot make heads or tails of these events and neither can my friends. We are trying our best to get on top of things again, but so far it is not looking good.

Hoping that your sister and you are well, I am awaiting your reply,
your friend,
Twilight Sparkle

"Spike, please send this to Princess Celestia", said Twilight, floating the extraordinarily large scroll over into Spike's grasp.

"Wow, that's one big scroll", commented Spike and inhaled deeply. With a green flame, he sent the letter on its way.

The alicorn rose from her chair and looked over to the sofa.

"This is the first time I've seen Priest sleeping", she said thoughtfully. "He must be really tired after the failed healing and everything else."

Spike closed the window through which he had sent the scroll and shrugged. "There's nothing wrong with a nice and long nap", he said.

Twilight smiled and nodded. "I guess you're right. Well – now that the letter is on its way, we can have a nice breakfast."

"Yes!", hissed Spike happily and struck the air with a little fist. "I'll prepare some eggs!" He hurried to the kitchen, a wide grin on his face.

"I should have let him eat before writing the letter", mumbled Twilight. "This took longer than I thought."

She threw a glance at Priest who was snoring – actually snoring! - on the sofa, then decided to let sleeping Forsaken lie and joined Spike in the kitchen. She should probably think of a way to cheer him up.


- - -


Priest regained consciousness with a start.

Where am I?

Oh, it's the library. I'm at Twilight's.

Why am I so dizzy?

"What happened?", he asked but didn't get a reply.

Priest sat up and wiped his eyes, then stretched his arms with a repulsing crack.

Have I been asleep? It seems that way. I feel better than yesterday. Kinda refreshed.

His stomach rumbled.

And I'm hungry. Again.

He sighed and scrambled to his feet, remembering faintly that seven years ago, he had not been a morning person either.

Welcome back to the realm of grumpyness and time loss. Yay. Now I really feel like twenty-two again.

At least he could do something about the grumpyness. Priest stood up – a task that was harder than ever – and slowly made his way to the kitchen. He put the kettle on the stove and watched the water boil, letting his thoughts drift...

Wonder what Twilight and the squirt are doing.

Drip, drip, drip. The water went through the filter, passing through the powder, thus creating something that promised a waking mind and -

A small wave of panic rolled over him as the realization hit him.

I have eaten. I have slept. You could almost say that I'm...

Alive?

He grabbed the counter, trying to keep his hand from trembling.

But I died. I died and I - he felt his pulse.

Nope, still nothing.

Priest sank to the floor, leaning his head against the counter.

What the fuck is going on?


- - -


"Rainbow!", shouted Twilight at a cloud that floated lazily above the ground of Sweet Apple Acres. "Rainbow Dash!"

A multicolored tail that was hanging from the fluffy white cloud twitched and a few moments later Rainbow turned to lie on her belly and stared down at Twilight, her hooves dangling from both sides of the cloud.

"Huh? Hey Twilight. What up?"

"I need to talk to you."

"Okay", said Rainbow. "I should have been watching Scoots anyway." She pointed at the Cutie Mark Crusaders who were currently climbing their own clubhouse. The fillies were wearing belts with hooks and ropes attached to them and shouting slogans at each other with ridiculous enthusiasm.

"What are they doing?", wondered Twilight.

"Well, to quote Applebloom, 'Cutie Mark Crusaders Alpinists'." She grinned knowingly. "So what'cha wanna talk about?"

Twilight grinned as well, then got serious again. "It's about Priest."

The grin fell off Rainbow's face. "That human, huh? He's one strange guy but he tried to be nice to everypony, that's gotta count for something. There's still something about him I can't figure out." 

"That's pretty much why I want to talk to you", explained Twilight. "I know you've been talking to Fluttershy again. Spike told me this morning. What did you say to her?"

Rainbow flew off the cloud and landed next to Twilight. "Oh, you know, that he's a good guy, she should talk to him, stuff like that... I just tried to cheer her up but maybe we should have brought Pinkie Pie for that."

Twilight tapped her chin. "And Fluttershy? How is she doing?"

"Still the same as yesterday, she's so scared she barely let us in. Rarity tried to convince her that everything is fine but... it didn't work. Did that human really look that scary as a pony? I mean, he's tall and all but that's not a reason to be so scared, not even for Fluttershy."

"So it's as bad as I thought", mumbled Twilight. "I guess I should tell you what's going on. Spike has already gone ahead to Applejack..."

Rainbow frowned and tilted her head. "You're acting like he's dangerous. What's going on, Twilight? I haven't seen you this nervous for weeks."

Twilight sighed and looked down. She inhaled deeply to gather courage, then said, "Alright, Rainbow. I'm going to tell you now but you have to Pinkie Promise you won't fly away and try to harm Priest."

Rainbow's jaw dropped, then she frowned, a slightly hurt expression creeping onto her face. "Why would I do that? He said it wasn't his fault and that Discord was the one who messed everything up."

"Please, just promise."

Rainbow groaned and made the motions of the promise. "Fine! Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye. There. Now are you gonna tell me the Big Secret Of The Human?"

"He's dead", said Twilight.

Rainbow gasped. "Oh my gosh! What happened? I'm so sorry! Why didn't you tell me sooner?!" Her eyes filled with tears of empathy and Twilight hastily raised her hoof.

"Wait, wait, wait! Not like that!", she stammered.

The pegasus froze. "W-what? How can you be – d-dead – in another way?"

Twilight smiled wryly. "He the same kind of dead he's been when we arrived. Priest is an undead human."

Silence. Twilight closed her eyes for a moment, waiting for the bit to drop.

"W-wait... a... minute", muttered Rainbow Dash, wiping her tears off. "Are you saying that he's a zombie? And that's why he scared Fluttershy? Oh, he is so gonna regret this -!"

"Rainbow, the promise!", reminded Twilight, catching the pegasus's tail to prevent her from flying off.

Rainbow Dash hesitated, then looked back at the alicorn. "But Twilight, he's dangerous! He might do something to harm -"

"No, he's not!", insisted Twilight. "He's honest and helpful and he's been my friend for three months now. I trust him, Rainbow!"

"Wow", said the pegasus and sat down next to the fence surrounding the Acres. "You have a friend and he's a zombie. A human zombie." She repeated the words several times, trying to feed the new information to her brain. Then she looked at Twilight. "How do you mean to explain that to Fluttershy and the others?"

Twilight raised her eyebrow. "Thanks for staying here."

Rainbow nodded, still gazing at her friend.

"Well, first of all, he's undead, not a zombie. He explained the difference when we arrived in Ponyville. Just imagine a friend... without a heartbeat. But he has a kind heart", she added quickly. "Ugh, that sounded so much better in my head."

Rainbow grinned and scratched her neck. "I guess I'm getting what you're trying to say. We better join Applejack and Spike before things get out of hoof then."


- - -


After his panic attack, Priest forced himself to pull it together and drink that coffee, hoping that it wouldn't affect his mood in the wrong way. He sat down at the kitchen table, staring into his mug.

Okay, okay. Options!

I could tell Twilight... which is stupid, she already saw me sleeping. But maybe she has an idea what's going on. And there's still the ghost and all those ponies I creeped out.

Asking the Light to calm me down would be kind of counterproductive. If healing hurts that much, I don't wanna know what happens if I use it on myself.

He groaned and bent forward, banging his head onto the table.

"Kill me now", he whined.

A hysterical laugh escaped him as he realized what he had just said.

Damn... I have to talk to Twilight. She's a powerful mage. She might know. All right. Breathe. Breathe...

Surprisingly, it helped.


- - -


Rarity sewed on the last ribbon, cut off the edge and smiled happily.

"Here you go, Bon Bon, and please say hello to Lyra from me", she said, magicking the ensemble over to her.

"Thank you, Rarity", said the pale yellow earth pony. She sighed. "Lyra's still a bit edgy after yesterday. But I'll do that." She left the boutique with the dress in a bag on her back and a smile on her lips.

"Now, that went quite well", mumbled Rarity. "With this order done, I think I can relax for a while..."

The doorbell rang as a pink pony bounced inside.

"Oh, hello Pinkie Pie."

"Hiya Rares!", chirped Pinkie, a wide smile on her face. "What'cha doing?"

"Oh, I just finished an ensemble for Bon Bon."

"I see, well, if you want to you could come and visit Twilight with me, I wanted to see how everypony's doing after the party, I'm not sure how Fluttershy's doing either and then there was that accident and everything went totally crazy so I thought it would be safer to check up on everypony, especially Priest, he looked super-duper-sad when he left, what do you think?"

"Hm", said Rarity thoughtfully, "I suppose I will join you. Sweetie Belle told me about the explosion, do you have any idea what that was?"

"Oh, Mara says it's a ghoooost!", Pinkie replied cheerfully, rolling her eyes around and waving her front hooves in a futile atempt to look scary. "Which is completely fine by be, it's totally in the spirit of Nightmare Night, by the way, do you have a costume already? I wondered whether I should go as a crazy manticore but I couldn't figure out a way to make the scorpion tail work so I think I'm gonna settle for a cockatrice, I already have the upper part of a chicken anyway so it's easier to make, right? And I wouldn't want to miss the night at the library for the world, it's been sooo much fun the last time and I'm sure Twilight is going to agree with that and we can eat s'mores and drink pumpkin juice and let Priest tell really scary ghost stories to get the whole thing back into perspective!"

Rarity's eyes widened as she realized where Pinkie Pie's rant was headed.

"Pinkie, are you saying that ghosts really do exist?!"

Pinkie smiled and nodded wildly. "Yep! Twilight thinks so, too!"

"Oh dear Celestia! I wonder... have you figured out Priest's condition as well?"

"Duh!" The earth pony rolled her eyes.

Rarity sighed heavily. "I thought as much. It was probably inevitable."

Pinkie tilted her head. "Soooo... do you wanna come?"

"Ah! Yes, of course!"

Rarity flipped the sign at the door – she wasn't expecting any customers since it was one of those Thursdays – and followed her energetic friend as the she bounced to Golden Oaks Library.


- - -


"Mana cupcakes!" Spike and Fluttershy jumped as Twilight rose to her hooves, a determined look on her face and wings flared triumphantly.

"Sorry, what?", asked Applejack.

"It's perfect!", beamed Twilight.

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy looked at each other in confusion. They were sitting on Fluttershy's sofa. Applejack sat on the windowsill, chewing on a single blade of grass.

With the help of her friends, Twilight had finally managed to talk the timid pony into giving Priest another chance. Fluttershy still seemed very upset, shuddering now and then, but if Twilight, Spike and even the watchful Rainbow Dash gave their word that the undead human was harmless and a nice guy, Fluttershy would give him a chance as well.

"What's 'mana'?", asked Rainbow lazily.

"It's a term that describes one's capability of performing powerful magic", explained Twilight, getting even more confused glances.

"Slow down, sugarcube", said Applejack, "we have no idea what'cha goin' on about. The whole undead and ghosts thing still sounds way ta much like a scary story of Nightmare Night ta me. And here ya go and suddenly change the subject. Ya shouldn't be surprised if we can't follow."

Twilight smiled apologetically. "Right, sorry. I've been thinking about something to cheer Priest up. Mara brought him a cupcake and it turned out he loves them. He already bought some more from Pinkie Pie."

"So that's what this is about!", sighed Rainbow. "You want to buy him some cupcakes."

"No", said Twilight, "I am going to conjure them. It's a spell I learned on Azeroth – actually, I still have the book! I am sure he will appreciate the gesture."

Fluttershy smiled. "That's... nice."

"Blimey, Twi", chimed Applejack in. "I didn't know ya could actually conjure food. Dont'cha dare force me outta business!", she scolded with a stern voice but winking at the same time.

"I wouldn't dream of it. So who's going to come to the library with me?"

Applejack sighed. "Ah'm sorry, I'll have ta get back to the farm. Looking after Fluttershy was really important to me but work is work. Those apples don't harvest themselves, ya know."

"I'm gonna practice some moves for my next trick. It's waaay from being perfectly awesome yet", said Rainbow, sliding off the sofa in a fluent movement and getting back on her hooves.

Fluttershy mumbled, "I still haven't fed most of my animals. I'm sorry, Twilight..."

Spike rolled his eyes and shrugged. "I'm with you", he declared, throwing an accusing glance at the ponies. They shuffled uncomfortably, not daring to look at their alicorn friend.

Another quiet "sorry" escaped Fluttershy's lips.

"I see. Well, see you around, then. Come on, Spike", said Twilight, unable to hide her disappointment as she almost slammed the door shut.
> Level 10 - Fear the Broom of Justice!
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Rarity and Pinkie Pie made their way to Golden Oaks Library, Pinkie Pie bouncing and talking about this and that and waving at everypony on the streets, Rarity's thoughts started to drift. It was about lunchtime so many ponies were wandering about, buying groceries. The mixed scent of hay fries and fresh salad indicated that the Hayburger had already opened for business.

"I'm really glad we are doing this", said Pinkie, "I'm feeling really bad about Fluttershy being so scared but you should have seen the look on Priest's face after he tried to heal Derpy, he was like 'Aaaaaah Tartarus why can't I do this?' and Twilight was like 'It's not your fault' and Sugarcube Corner is a mess! I helped Mr and Mrs Cake to instruct the construction workers, hah, that sounds funny, instruction - construction, instruction - construction, - I wonder how long they are going to take to repair everything. Have you ever seen a wall explode like that? It was almost as loud as a Sonic Rainboom! I heard Rainbow Dash is working on some new tricks..."

I hope Priest is all right. He looked really upset about scaring Fluttershy. When we are finished talking to him, I need to check up on her, too. Maybe visiting the spa might do the trick. She will need some relaxation after all of this.

"...and then a barrel roll, and then she said, 'This is going to impress them for sure', and who's gonna argue with that, I really need to remember to bring her some of my new muffin samples, they are with rainbow sprinkles so I bet she's gonna love them..."

What is it with Priest's complexion anyway? I have never seen such a disturbing illness before. It must be of a magical nature... I wonder whether that is why he is staying with Twilight. Princess Celestia might have asked her to monitor his condition or try and find a cure.

"... noticed that the mail was awfully late today, I really hope Derpy is getting better soon, maybe we could invite her to join us on Nightmare Night, though then we'd have to invite Dinky and Time Turner, too, but I'm sure it's going to be even more fun with more ponies around..."

Nevertheless, he has a kind heart and I will not let my sense of aesthetics get in the way of our friendship! At least he has taken good care of his new ensemble so far, I would hate if he neglected it like Applejack would. No offense to Applejack, of course.

"...happy your order turned out so well, we missed you a lot during your project in Manehattan..."

I wonder what Pinkie Pie's plan is to cheer him up. And I wonder what conclusions she has drawn. I tried to withhold any suspiscious comments... well, we shall see.

"Here we are, knock, knock!", said Pinkie, banging her hoof at the library door multiple times.

For a moment, there was no reaction. Then the door opened.

Rarity eyes widened with surprise as she suppressed a gasp. 

The undead's hair was almost as messy as when they had first met. He looked healthier than before, especially the tone of his skin had gained slightly more color, but his gaze seemed unfocused and distant. He frowned at them, then cleared his throat.

"Hi", he said evenly.

"May we come in?", requested Rarity, a polite smile on her face.

"Sure. It's a public library anyway. But if you're looking for Twilight, she's not here. And neither is Spike." He stepped aside to let them in.

"That's okay", said Pinkie Pie, "we're here for you!"

"Huh?"

"After yesterday, we wanted to see how you are doing", clarified Rarity, following Pinkie inside and closing the door with her magic.

Priest scratched his neck. "I... I'm fine. But thanks."

Rarity leaned closer to him, one eyebrow raised, and even though she was about half his height, he suddenly felt smaller by several inches.

"My friend, this would not even have been convincing if your hair had been in good shape. You looked very upset yesterday and Pinkie told me about the ghost and everything. We are worried about you. Pray tell, how are you really doing?"

He sighed, then silently beckoned them to sit on the sofa.

"Not so great", he mumbled. "So thanks for coming. I'm still pissed about Discord. And worried about Derpy and Mara..."

Rarity made herself comfortable, absent-mindedly rearranging the pillows with her magic to give it a tidier look. Pinkie Pie bounced to a chair at the table and pushed it closer to the sofa. Then she grabbed Priest and shoved him onto the chair.

"Pinkie, what are you doing?", asked a surprised Priest.

The earth pony jumped onto his knees and came so close that her muzzle almost touched his nose, a grave expression on her face.

Again, just like in Sugarcube Corner. Doesn't she have any sense of personal space?

Pinkie Pie kept staring at him. She slowly raised her hoof, balancing a cupcake on it.

"Open. Up!", she hissed, keeping the deeply serious frown on her face.

Priest obeyed, unable to process what she was up to.

She lowered the hoof to his mouth and slowly pushed the cupcake into it, not without unwrapping it at high speed and storing the paper in her mane first.

"Ohn. Mmm." He tried to chew it all at once without choking on the delicious piece of heavenly sugar-topped... why was I so upset again?, he thought. This is one very tasty cupcake!

"Pinkie, stop it!", said Rarity, worried about her antics. "He's almost-"

"SH!", said Pinkie, staring at his mouth. "Chewing is still in commence! Awaiting completion of cupcake consumption!"

The human swallowed, then grinned at her. "Thanks. I needed that."

"Anytime!", beamed the earth pony, suddenly cheerful and relaxed again, and jumped from his lap to join Rarity on the sofa.

"What just happened?", wondered Rarity.

"Duh, I gave him a cupcake, silly! And it's a new flavor, too!"

"Yeah, not bad", admitted Priest. "Cherries?"

The unicorn shook her head. "I... oh, never mind that. So how was your morning?"

Priest shifted around on his chair. "Ugh, well, I had coffee, then I cut some gems."

And I had a little panic attack in between because my body suddenly decided that it needed sleep again which is totally freaking me out... Oh great, here comes the dizzyness again.

"Oh, oh, can I see the gems?", asked Pinkie.

"I would love to have a look as well", said Rarity, a sparkle in her eyes. "I do wish to remind you that I still intend to do my next gem search with you, by the way."

"They're on the table over there, I'm not done yet."

Rarity floated them over with her magic. "Oh my, they are truly amazing! Especially the star on this moonstone is being emphasized so well!"

"Oh, that's because I had to consider the direction of the atomic structure", explained Priest, getting clueless looks from both ponies. "It means that by chance, they usually look good when I cut them to make them ideal for enchanting."

"Ah, I see", mumbled Rarity.

"Shiny!", was Pinkie Pie's contribution to that. "But what do you enchant them for?"

He shrugged, glad to get distracted from his worries. "Many things. You can use enchanted gems for increasing magical focus or boosting agility-"

"Like this?", asked Pinkie as she suddenly lowered herself from the high ceiling, dangling from a rope. Then she started swinging around the library and performed several tricks and double flips.


- - -


Mara Dust waited patiently at the closed door. The nurse would come out any minute now.

She could hear muffled voices from inside the room, indicating that Derpy had a visitor.

The door opened and a white earth pony with her pink mane in a bun emerged.

"Twenty minutes", she said.

Mara nodded and entered the room. Just like the hallway, the walls were painted in an ocean blue pattern that was probably supposed to make a soothing impression but felt rather cold to Mara. It had the color of boredom. Curtains covered the windows, dimming the bright sunlight to a dull glow. A portrait of a purple pear and a red banana hung at the wall.

The occupant of the lone bed however seemed well entertained. Derpy's little unicorn daughter Dinky stood by her side, nuzzling her hoof, the one without a small tube sticking out and leading upwards to a plastic bag of unknown liquid. She looked up when Mara entered and waved at her. "Hi Mara!", she greeted her.

A brown stallion sat next to the bed. Mara recognized the earth pony as Time Turner, Derpy's husband. Mara felt a sudden wave of sympathy emerging from the three, washing over her with a soothing warmth.

"Hello", she said to everypony.

Time Turner nodded courteously and Derpy smiled at her. "Hello, Mara. That's nice of you to come and visit. How was your morning?"

"Er", said Mara. How could the pegasus be so cheerful after what happened to her? Right, she probably didn't know about the ghost. "I guess it was all right", she stammered.

Dinky resumed the nuzzling of her mother's hoof. Mara remembered the filly to be much more carefree but a heavy accident like this was bound to throw her off.

The poor child.

"You can see that my family has been entertaining me", said Derpy and grinned.

Dinky smiled at that, saying, "Yeah, we have to make sure you get well fast, Mom!"

"I'm sorry, my little muffin, but the doctor said I'll have to stay here for at least two more nights."

The filly's smile faded, her ears drooping.

"Which is a pretty short time", commented Time Turner, "for such injuries. I'm glad the doctors took matters into their hooves real quick. They said the wing should be fine in another week or so. We were also lucky that Pinkie Pie and that human stabilized her and relocated the wing until help arrived. That creature may look scary but he sure knows his stuff!"

"I see", mumbled Mara. "Well, Dinky, how about I take you to town tomorrow to get you a Nightmare Night costume?" She looked at Derpy and Time Turner, knowing that the final decision was not really Dinky's to make.

Both parents smiled. "That would be fun, wouldn't it?", said Derpy to Dinky. "Daddy has a free day today but tomorrow... You think you're up to it?"

The grin on Dinky's face told them everything they needed to know.


- - -


"You are not going to get past me, creature of the East!", yelled Pinkie Pie, "My Shield of Sugary Bubbliness and Sprinkles is impenetrable!"

"Oh yeah? Just wait until you feel the Sweeping Strike of Justice!", countered Priest.

"What in the name of Celestia are you doing?!", demanded Twilight.

Priest lowered his arm. He was holding a broom but he had obviously not been using it for sweeping the floor. Instead, his "weapon" had been crossed with a rapier which Pinkie Pie was somehow holding in her hoof. She was wearing a cavalier hat, adorned with a feather, and used Priest's opening to poke his chest, triumphantly yelling, "Touché!"

Rarity tried hard to stifle her giggling. She was still sitting on the sofa, cheering the two on.

"Oh dear, this is the craziest performance I have ever seen! Including the act of my sister", she declared, beckoning Twilight to come closer.

Spike snatched the broom from Priest and carried it to the closet to return it to the other brooms, grumpily mumbling something about "misuse of tools".

"Please, calm down, Twilight, everything is in order", Rarity assured the fuming alicorn.

Twilight was not amused. "This is a library, Rarity! And it is the middle of the day! You can't possibly think that... that fighting is going to end well between all these books!"

Priest guiltily rubbed his neck. "Guess we got a little carried away..."

"I'll say!", said Rarity. "But it was very interesting! Did you know", she put a hoof around Twilight's shoulder, "that there is a class called 'mage' that wears the most dazzling outfits? They are not as daring as the robes of warlocks but nevertheless...! Priest here was just demonstrating the skills of a 'paladin', which, as Pinkie told me, is a class that exists in 'Ogres and Oubliettes' as well. Your brother played a paladin, did he not?"

Twilight closed her eyes momentarily and took a deep breath. "Yes, he did. Pinkie Pie, thank you for cheering Priest up. But please, no more fencing."

"Aaaaw." Pinkie pursed her lips but tucked away her outfit. Priest did not see where it was going but Rarity had told him not to question Pinkie Pie.

"Now. Have you eaten lunch yet?"

"No", said Priest and blushed. "We completely forgot."

Twilight shook her head. "Then let's have some, all right? Spike, please set up some water. Wanna join us, Rarity, Pinkie?"

"Sure!"

"With pleasure. Can we be of any assistance?"

"Oh, it's not a problem", said Twilight, relaxing a little. "We still have enough time until Mara and the others are coming."
> Level 11 - Eclipse
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The meeting with Mara and Spirit in the afternoon turned out to be pretty boring. Twilight had prepared a checklist (no surprise there) and everyone had to sit down and work it through from the top. This included going through Twilight's notes from the previous day to get Mara and Spirit up to date - and searching approximately sixty books for ghost references and collecting the information on a whiteboard Spike had set up in the library. Needless to say that Pinkie Pie and Rarity had quickly made their way out before Twilight could shove a notepad into their hooves.

Priest envied them for it. A lot. He would probably have done the same thing if he had not promised to help Mara with this. He was almost as fast at reading as Twilight and had managed to check off eighteen books already when the alicorn finally suggested to take a short break.

Mara threw her hooves up. "Thank Celestia!"

Spirit Rez grinned and put the book he had been skimming through onto one of the piles. "We actually found out that the ghost is real and that there have been previous sightings of spirits. Come on, it's not that bad."

"Says the pony who doesn't have to turn the pages by hoof. I hate being this slow compared to everypony else." She huffed and crossed her front hooves. "I mean, we can't really do anything except wait for the ghost to reappear and I'm not looking forward to that."

Her coltfriend simply shrugged apologetically and joined Twilight and Priest in the kitchen. "Come on. You, too, Spike, I'm sure Twilight won't mind if you leave that whiteboard alone for fifteen minutes."

"Fourteen!", corrected Twilight, calling from the kitchen.

Spike rolled his eyes.


- - -


Princess Celestia stifled a yawn and lowered her cup of tea to its saucer. This would drag on for another two hours, wouldn't it? She was slowly starting to look forward to the second half of Day Court. There was no getting around this meeting until then.

A representative of the Royal Guard was currently explaining to twenty-eight new recruits - pegasi, earth ponies and unicorns alike - the importance of diligence, practice and perseverance, a task that Celestia was certainly not needed for. She had made it custom to visit the Guards' premises on a regular basis for her presence had proven an efficient means of encouragement and inspiration (ranging from, "Pay attention, you featherbrains, the Princess might be watching!" to, "Y-y-you're the reason why I swore to defend Equestria!").

It was one of those days again and as usually she would smile serenely at her beloved little ponies that did their best to maintain order in Equestria and at the same time think about matters such as letters from her subjects.

Twilight Sparkle was not the only one who wrote letters to her but the message that had arrived this morning still occupied Celestia's mind. She had ordered one of the librarians, Turning Leaf, to find a book called, "The Most Rare Ande Unheard-Of Syghtings" and bring it to her chambers. She was almost completely certain that the book might aid her former student in shedding some light on the mystery of the apparition at Sugarcube Corner. However, she still had not written an answer. It would have to wait until the hour when her beloved sister raised the moon which, at this moment, felt more than a decade away.


- - -


When Mara and Spirit left, it was late in the afternoon and Twilight allowed Spike to spend some time with his friends. She smiled at the thought that the Cutie Mark Crusaders had finally started to accept other ponies – and dragons – into their group. Spike prepared a backpack and hurried outside with a huge grin. When Twilight had asked him about what he was planning, he simply had said, "It's a surprise."

However, the day was far from over. It bugged the alicorn that something was wrong with Priest's magic. She had dedicated her entire life to studying magic and the discovery of several new branches by itself was amazing. During her time at Azeroth, Twilight had used the chance to ask Priest and Tak about theirs – light and spirit magic – and they had told her that there was even more. Pyromancy, shadow magic, ice spells, the nature magic of the hunters... the list went on and on.

When Priest had told her that he couldn't perform any of his own spells anymore, Twilight was deeply shocked. It was the first time that she was witnessing one of these new branches failing someone who had practiced them for such a long time that it had become second nature to him. On top of that, she had a feeling that Priest was hiding something from her.

She decided to put all her strength into helping him to get his magic back.

The first course of action was to determine what was blocking the spells.

Priest insisted that he could still feel the presence of the Light so the source wasn't the problem.

What else could it be? She started asking him more questions and made sure to cross-reference his statements with the research she had been doing on the arcane flows of magic in Equestria.

It wasn't a counterspell.

It wasn't a magic barrier.

Tartarus, it wasn't even a common curse!

She wondered whether ponies might be attuned to different kinds of residual magic. Both times Priest had tried to heal somepony, it had been a pegasus. Tests with Rainbow Dash (who heartily expressed her annoyance at getting hooked up to a machine that measured her residual magical output instead of being able to practice her moves) resulted in confirmation of the thesis that ponies did have an affinity to light magic, regardless of their race.

At dinnertime, Priest convinced her to stop her research for the day, claiming the ability to devour a kraken. She decided to reward his patience and save the kraken with her freshly conjured mana cupcakes. It turned out that she had chosen the right moment to use the new spell. A happy smile on his face, Priest assured her that she had not overdone it with her tests.


- - -


Spike returned an hour after that, a tired yet content smile on his face.

"Hey Spike, how was it?", asked Priest who sat on the couch, drawing sketches of new gemcuts into a notebook. 

"Pretty good", replied the dragon, "We almost finished up the, er, what we were doing."

"'Kay. Nice."

"How was your afternoon? Did Twilight insist on more research?"

"You bet", confirmed Priest with a wry smile. "Does she always get like that? When she tried to create a portal to get home, I thought that was understandable, but this..."

Spike grinned and shrugged. "Yep, she gets like that when there's a mystery to solve. You've got two options, mate: Play along – or duck and cover."

"Light, save me from the Alicorn of Research Papers", joked Priest, getting a snicker from Spike.

"Well, I hope it will because I can't", he said. "Night, Priest."

"Night."

The dragon made his way upstairs.

A hearty burp suddenly reverberated through the library, accompanied by an eerie green light. It was coming from upstairs.

"The fuck?", muttered Priest.

The baby dragon scrambled down the stairway, holding a scroll and a bulky book in his grasp.

"Where's Twilight?", he asked.

The undead simply pointed at the kitchen with his thumb.

"Thanks!" Spike ran over to Twilight, almost dropping the enormous tome on the way. A few moments later he returned, the corners of his mouth twitching. "Brace yourself, Priest, Twilight just got a book from Princess Celestia. It's really old, really rare and really relevant to ghosts..."

The human just let out a long sigh and resumed his drawing.


- - -


Priest sat in the dark, hoping that Twilight would take her time to drool over the new book. He didn't mind her trying to help per se, she was a nice pony and good company after all, it was just that he needed his privacy once in a while. That's why he had insisted on postponing the rest of the research.

After his death, he had drawn great strength from the fact that the magic of the Light had not left him. It had been the only constant in the years that had followed. He hadn't had any real friends, just... allies.

It wasn't that bad, really, just... lonely.

If I had to choose between a solitary, simple life or a social, complicated one... I'm not sure anymore. Being with Twilight and Rarity has been more than pleasant. The others are okay, too. Mostly. Never thought I'd ever say that ponies are my friends.

Now he didn't feel as if he had a choice anymore. He could always leave town, though, if it turned out to be too much. The thing was, if his abilities wouldn't come back, he would have a problem. He wasn't the strongest fighter, not even a very fast one. If you needed a caster who stood in the background, protecting the group with prayers and chanting the occasional offensive spell, he was the right guy – but anything else? He would probably be useless if he got into a fight in Equestria.

Priest walks along the path of the Everfree Forest. A rustling from a nearby bush makes him stop. As he turns around, a manticore leaps towards him, pinning him to the ground with its heavy paws. Lying motionless, he can do nothing as it raises its poisonous scorpion tail-

Urgh, great, now I have to get that image out of my head.

He shifted around on the couch and put his feet up to get more comfortable. No, leaving wasn't really an option. It was very unlikely he'd find work outside of Ponyville either.

"Excuse me, I saw the note at the door. You're looking for a jeweler, right? I've got plenty of experience..."

"Oh, I-I-I'm terribly sorry, M-mister, but we only employ P-ponies here..."

Priest leaned his head back, staring at the ceiling.

Nice sun ornament. Never noticed that one before.

He could hear Twilight upstairs, trying her best not to wake up Spike as she went to sleep. Some hoofsteps, then silence.

That picture looks a lot like that Cutie Mark of Celestia's, he mused. The alicorn that can raise the sun. That's so damn overpowered I can't even compare it to anything. Maybe her sister takes care of the moons, then.

Moon, he remembered. There's just one and it's a similar size as the sun.  My sun is so much further away from my world. This place is so strange! Wonder what it would be like... to be able to magically touch the Celestial Lights. The feeling of power must be inconceivable. And they are really good at their job, too.

I could go outside and have a look at the night sky... Maybe tomorrow.

I wonder what would happen if Celestia forgot to lower the sun...

Priest walks through Ponyville, carrying a bag with apples from the market. He notices a strange gleaming in the corner of his eye. Some townsponies let out gasps of surprise as the moon rises. The sun is still in the sky so it is not a full moon as it has been the previous days.

The crescent moon moves closer to the sun, following her on the ecliptic and getting slimmer with each mile. It accelerates with a sudden burst of energy, shortening the distance between itself and its counterpart with every second.

The earth starts shaking as gravity suddenly refuses to work properly. Ponies, market stands, carriages, flower pots... everything starts floating around. The bag of apples escapes Priest's hands and vanishes between the rushing clouds.

Priest desperately tries to hold on to a bit of fence as howling winds further upset the town. The roofs get ripped off the small Ponyville houses, screaming ponies try to hold on to something, anything, as they get sucked upward by an irresistible current of chilling air.

Several pegasi try to calm the weather but have to give up when the gale throws them around like straw. Priest bets he can hear a distant laughter of a single amused creature. No problem guessing who that might be.

The fence he is holding on to starts shaking violently, unable to withstand the force of nature. A gust of wind rips it apart and Priest falls upwards as nothing can prevent his movement anymore.

His speed increases as he gets drawn towards the colliding sun and moon. The two celestial bodies touch, then merge. A deep red light expands from them, bathing the entire atmosphere in an eerie glow.

Priest panicks as he tries to escape his fate. A scream of fear escapes him, unheard in the deafening noise of the winds rushing towards the dark hole. Who'd have thought he would, of all things possible, fall into a crimson pit created by an unlikely sun and its sister? He's going to get crushed by it any moment -


- - -


Priest sat up with a gasp.

It was dark and it took him a moment to realize he had been sleeping again. He shook his head to escape the images in his head. His limbs were shaking and if he had a heartbeat it would probably be racing at an unhealthily high rate. Priest slapped himself to get it together.

The dream had felt so real!

He rose and shuffled to the bathroom – never needed to go there before – and managed to figure out how the faucet worked. Priest held his hands under the flowing water and drank some, then he washed his face. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, opening them again as he exhaled. The anxiety slowly dissipated, and after some moments the shaking subsided as well.

Now that's way better. What in the name of the Light was that? A nightmare? Probably. Well great, sleep I don't mind but I could really do without dreams.

He took a fresh towel from the counter that stood next to the bathroom sink and dried his face off. The undead stared at his reflection in the oval, ornamented looking glass. He realized it had been a while since the last time he had looked into a mirror. Maybe avoiding his image after death had not been such a good idea. Naturally, the mirror hung at a pony's eye level. Priest had to bend down a little to see more than his chest.

He still looked mostly the same though. The white hair was shorter, of course, thanks to Rarity's treatment. It didn't get into his eyes anymore which was a big plus. A bit messy... He'd fix that in the morning. He had somehow remembered the injuries on his cheeks to be bigger, though. The smaller one on his right cheek was not bigger than an olive in diameter. His eyes still emitted the faint yellow light that indicated his curse of undeath. In short, same old.

Priest noticed a faint, unknown scent in the air. Was that soap? Probably not, soap was supposed to smell like pretty flowers or something. This smelled more like someone else had been in the room.

Did Twilight have a visitor that Priest didn't know about? He knew that Spike and Owliscious lived here but they had a different scent.

He shrugged and went back to the couch. The inspection had calmed him enough to give that sleeping routine another try.
> Level 12 - Cutting and Mending
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

A grating, scratching sound assaulted Priest's ears, the signals in his brain causing him to clench his teeth and groan with annoyance. He lazily opened his eyes and looked around to determine the source of the noise that had disturbed his sleep.

Twilight was sitting at the round table of the library's main room. Her horn glowed and so did the quill that hovered above a piece of parchment which the alicorn had spread out next to the pile of books from yesterday. She raised her head as she heard him shifting on the couch. "Good morning, Priest!"

"Ungh, if you say so", he grunted and squeezed his eyes shut again. "Bright", he added.

"It's called the sun", commented Twilight.

Priest sighed and convinced his body to sit up and rise from the couch.

Spike stood at a bookshelf close to him, holding a book in his claw. "This one, Twilight?", he asked, getting an affirmative nod from her. He went over to her with the tome and added it to the pile on the table. Then the dragon picked up three books from the floor pile and returned them to their respective places. "Morning, Priest."

"Morn'g." The undead turned his head to look outside. The sun really was pretty high in the sky. "How long was I out?"

Twilight's quill stopped moving. "Well", said Twilight with her head tilted to the side, "it's ten in the morning. To be honest, I am surprised our moving around and talking didn't wake you up earlier. You must have been terribly exhausted."

"Huh, not that much really. I was just tired, I guess."

"I hope you slept well", said Twilight.

"Meh, coulda been better. Woke up in the middle of the night. I'm way out of practice."

Twilight giggled. "It's the second night in a row that you have been sleeping", she observed, getting serious again. "Are you sure you're okay?"

He shrugged and stretched, then decided to go and look for some food in the kitchen. "Yeah, feeling better than yesterday evening... I think I even dreamt something", he added thoughtfully.

"Spike and I have been collecting more information about ghosts. If you join us, we could continue our research on Light magic. I also got this really interesting book from Princess Celestia that's about ghosts among other things... What do you think?"

"You know", said Priest through the kitchen door as he took a bowl from the counter, "once I'm awake, I'm gonna do that. Just please, have a little mercy with the newly awakened dead."

"Take your time." She grinned, shaking her head, and resumed reading.


- - -


The doorbell of Carousel Boutique rang again.

"I'll be with you in a moment", promised Rarity as she took one last measurement, then declared, "That's all I need for now, my dear, you can come and get the costume at four o'clock."

"Thanks, Rarity! I already got the wig and stuff, but the Cutie Mark would have been way too hard to get right. I can't wait! See ya later!"

"Bye, Rainbow, have fun! Now what can I do for you, Mara and Dinky?" She gave both customers a wide smile as she floated her measuring tape back to its place on the counter. Rainbow Dash zoomed out through the still open door, making the exhibits rustle in a gust of wind.

Dinky jumped with joy as Mara nodded to greet Rarity. "You see, I promised to take care of Dinky here today and we figured we could get her a costume for Nightmare Night."

"Yeah, this year, I wanna be a zombie!", declared the filly happily.

"A-are you sure? You didn't say you wanted to be that", asked Mara, taken aback. Was Dinky up to something? Did she know about Priest?

"Why not? It's scary and fun and I thought we could get a messy wig and a tattered dress and stuff. And we can paint my muzzle with ketchup!"

The earth pony pondered that for a moment. Dinky had no idea of what was going on with the human after all. She couldn't blame her if she wanted to go as a zombie pony.

Besides, he said himself that he's not a zombie. Twilight told me the other day. Ugh, I hope I'm not getting into trouble for this. I hope he doesn't get into trouble.

Rarity, still keeping her smile on even though it appeared slightly more forced than a moment ago, tapped her chin.

"Hm, well, in that case let's see what we have here, shall we?" She led Dinky over to a rack in the back of the room. It lacked its fourth wheel and was supported by a makeshift crutch, namely a brick wrapped in rough linen. Several dresses hung there, some had strange color combinations, others seemed worn out. All in all it seemed that Rarity had been hiding the rack in the back of the boutique for a reason.

"These are the, er, older ensembles that I don't normally sell", explained Rarity. "Sometimes I get the shape wrong or I look at them a day later, thinking, 'Rarity, you fool, how could you have come up with something as horrid as this?' Then there are ponies who wish to sell their dresses for a discount. I keep them in the back for occasions such as this one. I would never consider presenting them to anypony who has... taste."

Dinky frowned, sightly confused. "What do you mean? That I'm tasteless?"

Rarity gasped. "Why, I wouldn't dream of it! No, I was simply assuming... let me put it like this: Dinky, do you want a scary zombie costume?"

"Yeah, definitely!"

"Then trust me when I say this: Nothing is scarier than these." She shuddered.

Mara grimaced. "Is that really okay with you? You seem kinda busy."

"Don't worry about it. I'll just have to," she swallowed, "tear one of them into shreds and it's the perfect zombie dress. It won't cost much; as I said, I would not sell these under normal circumstances."

"All right then, let's do that. Go ahead, Dinky, pick one."

The purple filly nodded, then scrunched up her nose in concentration as she used her magic to shakily pull some dresses closer. She inspected them, then pointed at one of them with her hoof, determination on her face. "That one!"

Rarity floated it off the rack and examined it. "Good choice", she complimented Dinky. "It is rather despicable. I think I won't have any second thoughts destroying this mess of a dress." She winked and opened a drawer with her magic, floating a pair of scissors over to the rack. "Before I begin, would you like to try it on first?"

Mara gave a nod behind Dinky's back. Rarity nodded back and helped Dinky to put the dress on. Its shrill blue color and the orange-brownish ribbons clashed terribly with Dinky's purple coat and yellow mane. The filly turned around, looking at her reflection in the nearby mirror. "Wow, it really is pretty ugly when I wear it, too."

"Agreed", snorted Mara and grinned at Rarity.

The seamstress helped Dinky out of the dress again and floated it over to her sewing table, readying her scissors. "I am enjoying this far too much", she mumbled to herself. 


- - -


The marketplace was as busy as always, today probably even more. Nightmare Night was only one day away and everypony went about buying sweets, costumes and the last parts for the booths that would be set up the next day. The air was filled with cheerful anticipation. 

Spirit Rez cantered over to a small stall next to Sugarcube Corner. The shop always put it up to attract and accomodate more customers the days before Nightmare Night. Mrs Cake was occupied selling an enormous bag of sweets and baked goods to a pale yellow pegasus – Fluttershy, he remembered – while Pinkie Pie bounced happily below the pink and blue canopy, occasionally zooming into the Corner to restock the stall or get a special order. Fluttershy nodded at her with a small smile as she added an extra cupcake to the bag, probably free of charge. Spirit knew that the two mares were close friends despite being so different and smiled as he witnessed the kindness with which they treated each other.

He nodded at Fluttershy as he passed her and stepped over to the stall to buy some muffins.


- - -


Fluttershy nodded kindly at the yellow unicorn that approached Mrs Cake and Pinkie Pie. She tried to remember his name but it had escaped her. Didn't he work at that little café in Willow Road? She couldn't put her hoof on it but he seemed to remember her.

Fluttershy felt uncomfortable with so many ponies knowing her. She didn't mind being known in general but when they greeted her and she could not tell their names it was sort of embarrassing. After her short-lived model career this had happened quite often.

She greeted Applejack who was selling apples next to the pumpkin stall and followed the street to the library. Hopefully both Priest and Twilight would be there.


- - -


"Um... hello?" Nopony was in immediate sight. "I can come back later if this is a bad time..."

"Fluttershy!" Spike stepped away from a shelf, grinning at the pegasus. "Nice to see you here! Everypony was pretty worried about you."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you worry. I was just... scared." She looked at the floor, ashamed.

"Sorry, what?"

Fluttershy cleared her throat. "I was s-scared of Priest. I came to apologize. Have you seen him? It's okay if you haven't, I was just wondering-"

The baby dragon smirked and pointed at the door that led to the basement. "They've been down there for hours now. Some experimenting, Twilight says. I dunno what about exactly but I think it's got something to do with his magic being blocked."

As if on cue, a sharp hiss could be heard through the closed door, followed by a muffled, "ow."

Fluttershy cringed, her eyes darted to the door, then back to Spike. "Are they okay?"

"Yeah, yeah", he waved dismissively. "Twilight said she'd call me if anything bad happens."

"Oh, okay then. Thank you, Spike." She picked up her paper bag and went through the door that Spike had opened for her.

Fluttershy followed the staircase that wound down into the ground below the oaken tree. The cave-like hallway reminded her pleasantly of some critter homes and she took a deep breath through her nose, trying to calm herself.

You have to be brave, she told herself. You can do this. He may be different but you have to give him a chance. Rainbow Dash said he's all right, Rarity likes him and Twilight trusts him enough to keep him under her roof. That counts for something. So I can talk to him, too. Who knows, we might even become friends.

She didn't manage to completely convince herself but it was enough to keep her going. That would have to do for now.


- - -


"Aw man! Light dammit!"

Twilight sighed and shrugged. "It had to be expected, wouldn't it?"

"Well, I'm glad you just agreed to a small cut", admitted Priest. "But still... it seems I can't even heal myself anymore. Look, it's not closing at all!"

The purple alicorn curiously eyed the shallow cut on Priest's outstretched left arm, notepad and quill floating next to her as well as the short kitchen knife she had just used to break his skin. Priest had taken off his armguards and turned up his left sleeve for the experiment. He rummaged in his bag with his right hand, producing a small bit of cloth which he used to wipe off the few drops of blood that trickled down from the wound.

"Self-healing test result: Negative", stated Twilight, making a note. Then she put down the utensils on a small table that stood nearby and sighed. "I'm sorry, Priest, I'm out of ideas. We tried everything we could imagine but all the results are negative. I don't have the means to measure the output of your magical aura since it is not arcane magic. We are left to guessing here. It's so frustrating!"

Priest dabbed at the wound once more. No more dark grey slime oozed from it so he put the cloth away and shrugged. "Yeah. But it seems we can't do anything about it."

"How can you be so calm about this?!", demanded Twilight.

"I'm not. I'm just stating the facts", said Priest, his voice getting sharper. "It's obvious we don't have any influence on the situation. So the only logical solution would be to avoid injury. I'm not going to spend the rest of my time in this basement trying to figure the whole thing out. Using the Light hurts a lot, you know."

"What? Is that normal? Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

Priest crossed his arms. "It's normal for somebody who's cursed. I just forgot to mention it. Not that it has any influence on the result... it just hurts like a bitch."

Of course I didn't forget to mention it. Ignorance is bliss, little purple alicorn, especially for small innocent ponies.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry! And here I am asking you to use it on yourself... How does it feel, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Um... how do I put it? At first it just feels warm but when I start channeling it, it stings in the hands. Then the burning spreads to the entire body. It's a bit like hot iron pokers piercing your insides and a rockslide crushing your skull at the same time. It also feels as if you're gonna barf lava any moment. Oh, and the subsiding tension is what makes my hands shake afterwards."

Twilight exhaled slowly and massaged her temples. After some moments, she said, "Fine. Let's leave it at this for now. It's your choice after all, not mine."

He nodded, smiling sadly. "Thanks. I'm just glad I'm done with the fighting. The risk of, er, becoming dust would be way to high for my tastes."

A small voice interrupted them. "Um, excuse me? Twilight? Priest? Are you there?"

"Oh, that sounds like Fluttershy!" Twilight smiled and went to the door. It was half open, with the timid pegasus hiding behind it. Only her pink mane was visible. "Come in, you're always welcome", said Twilight, using her magic to swing the door open.

Fluttershy entered, her face hiding behind her mane. She was carrying a paper bag in her mouth which she put down next to Priest. He quickly rolled his sleeve down to hide the cut on his arm.

Priest could not help but stare at her. Wasn't she afraid of him? Why would she show up like this? Maybe Twilight asked her to bring something.

Yes, that was probably it. Hence the paper bag-

"P-Priest, can I talk to you for a moment? If you're not busy, that is..."

"Er, sure." He exchanged a look with Twilight. A mysterious smile was on the alicorn's face, reminding him faintly of Princess Celestia.

"Should I leave?", asked Twilight.

"N-no, it's okay if you're staying. I think I'd prefer it if you..." Fluttershy's voice died and she let out a little squeak.

Priest's heart melted. That pony was the cutest thing he had ever seen. In fact, this was the first time he was using the word "cute" in his mind at all. He frowned as he realized that Fluttershy was shivering violently.

"Fluttershy, are you okay?", asked Twilight.

"Y-yes." She trembled even more, staring at the frowning human. "I'm okay, really."

"So...", said Priest, helplessly fiddling with his left sleeve. "You wanted to talk about something?"

"Yes." The word was barely audible.

"Okay?"

Fluttershy squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breath, "I'm sorry I sent you away. I was very scared and became awfully rude." With her eyes wide open and teary, she continued, "I didn't know what to do. I made a bad decision. I-" She looked at the floor. "Can you forgive me?", she mumbled, back to her usual quiet volume.

Priest's eyes widened. "Wow. I honestly wasn't expecting that."

Fluttershy looked at him.

"Thanks for coming, Fluttershy. You have no idea how much this means to me. If anything, I should apologize to you! Gotta admit I didn't want to, um, scare you again so I didn't come over..." He grimaced, his insides contracting at the sight of the shivering pony.

The corners of Twilight's mouth twitched but she still said nothing.

A small smile crept onto Fluttershy's lips. "Does that mean...?"

"Yeah", said Priest. "I'm not holding a grudge or anything. I'd like to have a talk with that Discord guy, though. Leaving you like that, what kind of a friend does he think he is?"

Fluttershy nodded. "I understand. But please be patient with him, he is the spirit of Chaos. It's hard for him to behave normally, even though he is reformed."

That pony, still defending him after that. She is way too kind. Wait, didn't Twilight say something about her Element, Kindness of something? Whatever...

"It can wait." He smiled at Fluttershy. Her own smile grew wider as well.

She pushed the paper bag over to him with her hoof. "I brought you some cupcakes. Pinkie Pie said you liked them."

Priest laughed, picking up the bag and peering inside. "Ponies keep giving me those."

"I can get something else if you-"

"There's no need. They're great."

"Oh. All right."

There was an awkward pause.

"Thanks for forgiving me", said Fluttershy.

"Well, thank you for trusting me."

Twilight smiled. "There is a special book upstairs", she said carefully. "You can write something into it if you like."

Fluttershy let out a small giggle. "Oh, I know which book you're talking about. I'll be happy to explain it to Priest."

"You got me interested", he commented.

"Let's go upstairs", said Twilight. "We're probably done here anyway." She sighed and rolled her eyes to emphasize her disappointment with the experiment.

"Right", confirmed Priest, grabbing his armguards.

A newly formed dark smudge on his left arm caught Fluttershy's attention.

"Oh my, is that... blood? It's so... dark."

"Um", said Priest. "Nah, just some dirt." He smiled at her reassuringly.

The worried frown didn't entirely leave Fluttershy's face but she gave a small nod. "Okay."

"I'm doing some laundry today so if you want to add your pullover...", said Twilight as they made their way upstairs.

"Maybe I should", mused Priest. "My stuff is starting to smell a little."

Twilight frowned and sniffed at his sleeve. "It doesn't smell rotten, though, more like... I don't know..."

Fluttershy mumbled something.

"Sorry, did you say something, Fluttershy?", asked Twilight.

"Um, yes. I think I recognize that kind of smell", she said. "It's a bit like a... stallion's. It's a little different but not... really that bad."

Twilight shook her head. "No, it's not bad at all, but its - strange."

Priest, his head low to keep it from hitting the ceiling, hummed thoughtfully. He now recognized the smell as well. It was the same he had smelt in the bathroom.

Was it... his?

"Yeah", he said. "Strange."
> Level 13 - A Bowl of Cookies
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spike hurried down the road to Sweet Apple Acres, firmly clutching a giant scroll in his claw. The sun was not going to set for another two hours yet he was already late.

He passed the fence of the Acres, then turned left to cross a meadow. The trees along the fence had started to lose some leaves though most of them, golden and red, were still remaining on the branches. It was pretty warm for a late October day. Spike was sure that tomorrow would be just as nice. Rainbow Dash was a big fan of Nighmare Night; the only thundercloud would probably be her small prank cloud.

Finally, the Cutie Mark Crusader Clubhouse came into sight. Spike heightened his pace, almost tripping over a root of the clubhouse tree.

He climbed up to the entrance and barged in, huffing, "I'm here, I'm here!"

"Thank Celestia! We were worried ya wouldn't show up anymore."

Apple Bloom, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were already present as well as the other two new members of the club, Dinky and a brown colt with orange hair and a funny propeller beanie. Spike had forgotten his name; he was going to get initiated today as the second male member of the group.

Spike couldn't wait for it. The colt shared his kind of humor. They had had the new amazing costume idea for this year's Nightmare Night. It had been hard to prepare them under their siblings' noses. As far as Spike knew, nopony except the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Time Turner knew about the idea.

"Did you bring the pamphlet?", asked Sweetie Belle.

"Yep!" Spike presented the scroll.

"Awesome!", commented Scootaloo. "Before we start, Dinky, did you get your costume?"

Dinky nodded and grinned sheepishly. "I needed some help from Mara and Rarity, though. I didn't tell Rarity about yours, I promise!", she added quickly when the other Crusaders groaned.

"Good", said the colt. "It's supposed to be a surprise!"

"I know, I know, Button." Dinky waved with her hoof.

Spike frowned and shook his head. "I hope we aren't taking this too far. Twilight might get the wrong idea..."

Apple Bloom put a hoof on his shoulder. "Now dont'cha worry, Spike! Ya told us the human's got a sense of humor and if Time Turner says he'd be okay with it we should be fine. Besides, it's way too late ter try and get different costumes now. We came up with the idea this summer after all."

"Yeah, and my dad's a good judge of character, says Mom."

"All right." Spike sighed. "I just don't want him to feel uncomfortable is all. But I really want to do it, too! Look, I even got some silver paint to make a nice finish."

Scootaloo squeed. "This Nightmare Night is going to be awesome!"

- - -

"Were you serious when you said you wanted a pet?", asked Twilight.

"I wasn't that sure when I told Discord but... I think I'd actually like to get one. You think I could drop by and have a look?"

I probably should not tell her the kind of pet I want quite yet.

Fluttershy nodded. "Of course. I would love to find a good pet for you."

Twilight smiled and put down her teacup. She sighed and stretched, rising from the couch. "My cup is empty, does anypony else want some more tea?"

Priest shook his head. "No thanks." He was sitting on the couch next to Twilight, a bowl of cookies on his lap. It was half full but only because he had made sure to keep a box of cookies next to the couch for refilling.

Fluttershy sat on a large purple pillow on the ground, facing her new friend. "Where is Spike? He left in such a big hurry."

"He's with Sweetie Belle at Applejack's farm", said Priest. "I forgot to ask her friends' names the other day. One of them has this big bow in her hair."

"You mean Apple Bloom and Scootaloo? They're calling themselves the 'Cutie Mark Crusaders'. I think I saw a new filly with them recently. They are quite a hooffull."

Twilight returned from the kitchen and sat down next to Priest. "They are to anypony else, but Fluttershy here managed all right when they had a sleepover at her cottage."

"Oh, it was nothing, I guess I'm good with fillies like I am with animals."

"Come on, Fluttershy! You made a cockatrice un-petrify me in the process!"

Fluttershy blushed and cringed, a small smile on her face.

"Is that true?" Priest's eyed widened. "How the hell did you do that? You don't look like the fighting type to me."

"I wasn't fighting, I, um, I used the Stare on it."

"Uh-huh." Priest nodded sagely, then grinned and shrugged. "Fluttershy, I don't know what the Stare is. Some kind of Evil Eye?"

"Oh, no, no, it's not like that. I just stared at it because it threatened the girls and petrified Twilight and Elizabeak, my chicken. It gave in eventually. I'm really glad it did, I can't really control my Stare that well. The last time I used it on purpose I..." she rubbed her cheek. "I don't want to talk about it, if that's okay with you."

"Okay." Priest leaned back and grabbed another cookie from the bowl. "Damn, these are good. Are they from Sugarcube Corner?"

Fluttershy nodded. "Yes, they are a new flavor, a recipe of Pinkie Pie. She's doing most of the baking since Mr and Mrs Cake have their hooves full with the foals. Would you mind giving me another one?"

Priest handed the bowl over to her. "Dig in."

As the pegasus took a few cookies from the bowl and placed them on her saucer, Priest scratched his left arm and eyed Twilight.

"'Cutie Mark' Crusaders, huh? Are they on a quest for their Marks or something?"

"Exactly", nodded Twilight. "They always think up new ways of trying to get their Cutie Marks. It's totally adorable. I think they just like to be together and have fun."

"Sounds legit. The Crusader thing sounds funny to me, though, I think you would know why." Priest smiled wryly.

Twilight frowned and levitated her Azeroth journal over to the couch. "Let's see... I think I have something on this... Ah! Here! The 'Argent Crusade'. Yes, I can see what you mean." She giggled. "But believe me, some of their ideas turn out to be kind of dangerous so the name is fitting in a way."

"Oh my, Twilight, there's crusaders in Priest's world, too?"

Twilight shifted uncomfortably. "Yes, but... they are usually warriors and the like. We saw some of them in Dalaran when we did our research on portal magic. I guess you could compare them a tiny bit with your royal guard except they assembled for a certain purpose. They teamed up to defeat an evil King called, er..." She quickly shuffled through the pages with her magic. "Where do I have that note...?"

Priest cleared his throat. "The Lich King."

"Right." Twilight blushed. "Sometimes I rely on my books so much that I forget you know those things."

He laughed. "I know, Twilight. Don't sweat it."

Fluttershy's eyes widened. "What's a lich?", she asked, gracefully taking a bite of the next cookie.

"Er", said Priest.

Twilight looked at him and frowned, then shrugged with her wings. "Just be careful with how you put it."

He sighed. "Well, you noticed that I'm not the healthiest fella."

Fluttershy swallowed and nodded. "When you were a pony, you looked m-more dead than alive. I don't mean any offense, I just noticed..."

"Nevermind that. But you hit the nail on the head there. My point is, I'm not, um. You know, we don't have to talk about this..."

Fluttershy swallowed again, this time not because of the cookie in her mouth but to collect strength. "We are friends now, Priest. I know you won't hurt me so whatever it is, you can tell me."

"Fine. - I'm undead."

The pegasus stared blankly.

"Fluttershy...?" Priest slowly waved his hand in front of her face. "Are you... okay?"

She blinked and jerked her head back. "Sorry, I... did you say, 'undead'? ...As in, 'not alive'?"

"Yeah."

This is getting old, he thought. Maybe I should make a pamphlet or something I can hand to new friends.

"Aaanyway, so is a lich. There's a difference but that would probably take it too far. So there you have it."

"O-okay. Thanks for telling me... I guess?" An anxious frown darkened Fluttershy's features.

Priest shrugged. "I hope this doesn't change anything, me being undead. You're a nice pony, I'd prefer to be your friend."

"You are nice, too, and no, it doesn't." She smiled shakily. "I just need some time to get used to it."

Twilight grimaced, obviously uncomfortable with the subject of Priest's condition coming up again. "Now that Fluttershy knows what a lich is, could we maybe move on..."

Priest rolled his eyes. "You know, Princess, you really need to work on your subtlety. So what is it you wanna ask?"

Twilight blushed and coughed. "I suppose you already noticed that there's a holiday tomorrow."

Priest nodded. "Yeah, I heard some ponies talk about it. They said something about Nightmare Night."

"It's a holiday around spooky thinks like ghosts and such. It came up after Nightmare Moon was banished. There is the story that she comes back at Nightmare Night to gobble up foals so they have to collect candy and give her an offering. She's supposed to take the candy instead of the children." Twilight smiled knowingly. "Of course, she never came to Ponyville except on the thousandth anniversary of her banishment when she was freed from the moon."

Priest nodded. "And you took care of that."

"Yes, we did. When Princess Luna returned, we had a hard time explaining to her what the holiday was about..."

He laughed and took another cookie. "I can imagine the awkwardness. And she's still okay with it?"

"Surprisingly, yes. She wanted to cancel the celebration at first but we convinced her that it was about having fun, not mocking her past."

"Admirable. I don't know if any royals I know would have been okay with something like that. On the other hand, we have something similar. It's even on the same day."

Fluttershy's ears perked up. "It is?"

"Uh-huh. Hallow's End celebrates the freedom of my people. We were under a spell of the Lich King and the day we got our free will back became the most important holiday. It was a different holiday before that but when you go through hell and back... let's just say the citizens of Undercity put a lot of effort into the festivities."

"Undercity? Is that where you come from?"

"Nope, I was born somewhere else. It's the capital city of the Forsaken Lands."

Fluttershy frowned. "That's not a very nice name."

"No, it's not. But it fits. The living don't want to have anything to do with us anymore."

"I'm sorry", said Twilight. "I am beginning to understand why you didn't talk much about your past. What changed your mind so suddenly?"

Priest ate another cookie. "Friendship", he said bluntly. "You're not avoiding me. You even seem to seek my company. Though that's an honor I don't really deserve."

"Don't be silly", said Twilight. "We talked about this."

"Right", said Priest. "I know. I'm just trying to get used to it, okay?" He stuffed a cookie into his mouth.

Fluttershy coughed. "How do you celebrate Hallow's End? Is it very scary?"

He hummed. "Maybe a little. But we have this tradition with giving away candy, too. Then there's enchantments to turn you into, say, a cat or a frog. It's not permanent since it's supposed to be a prank."

Twilight beamed. "That sounds just like what we do! The foals and many adults wear costumes that night to confuse Nightmare Moon. It's a lot of fun. I got the chance to dress up as Starswirl the Bearded."

"Let me guess; he was a famous high level mage?"

Twilight smiled proudly. "That he was. My costume for this year will be a different one, though. I'm going as Clover the Clever since I already have the basic parts. I could keep it after the play at Hearth's Warming Eve and decided to change it to make it historically accurate."

She floated a sketch over that depicted a dark purple pony with a brown cloak. Twilight had marked the changes with red ink, straightening the hem of the cloak and adding several bells. "It's almost finished. I only need to attach two more bells." She smiled happily. "Rarity would have been much faster and better at it but I take pride in always making my own costumes for Nightmare Night."

Priest smiled and reached for another cookie, only to discover that the bowl was empty. "Ah crap, not again." He bent over the side of the couch to refill. The box was empty as well.

Twilight giggled. "Would you like to join us tomorrow when we go to town? I heard that Princess Luna is going to attend again."

Priest slowly put the bowl down next to the box. "Sure. Why not."

"But how are you going to get a costume? The shops are already closed", said Fluttershy. "That is, if you want one."

"I think I'll just get some bandages."

Twilight laughed. "You want to go as a mummy?"

Priest grinned, standing up to get the tea for Twilight. "Yep. It's not much effort and with my white hair it should look convincing enough. Not to mention the skin tone."

"I can't argue with that", mumbled Twilight to herself.

Fluttershy smiled and got to her hooves. "That sounds like a lot of fun. I'm going to excuse myself, if you don't mind. It's time to feed the critters before they go to sleep."

Priest returned from the kitchen and set the teapot down on the round library table. "No problem. It was nice talking to you. And thanks for not freaking out..."

The pegasus shyly held out her hoof and Priest bumped it with his fist. "You coming tomorrow, too?"

Fluttershy nodded. "I have a costume, too. It's a surprise."

"I'm looking forward to it", said Twilight and hugged Fluttershy. "Take care."

"You too. Good night everyp- body." Fluttershy walked over to the library door and left with a smile on her face.

Priest put his hands on his hips and shook his head as he watched her close the door from outside. "That pony is something else."

Twilight poured herself some tea and sat down at the table, opening a book that had been on the top of her usual pile. "I'm glad you put your differences aside."

"Me too." But I don't know if I'm gonna enjoy tomorrow night, he added in his thoughts, his mood already turning sour again.
> Level 14 - Sharing a Nightmare
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Princess Luna woke up to the gentle nudge of her sister.

"Awaken, my dear sister, it is time for you to raise the moon."

"Thank you kindly. Ugh, this day's sleep was not my best. I feel as if a rock had been tucked under my mattress."

Princess Celestia smiled softly. "I'm sorry to hear that. I could -"

"I will raise the moon", said Luna. "I know that you mean well but this is my area of expertise."

The white alicorn nodded gently. "There is no doubt. Your recent nights have been especially beautiful. I was asked by several ponies to tell you they were most impressed."

Luna's eyes lit up as she left her bed. "They were? How pleasant to hear this at the dusk of night. It certainly motivates me to fulfill my duty with joy in my heart. 'Tis true that I have put even more effort into it these days before the celebration. I want our subjects to enjoy my night, not fear it."

She bent down and levitated her mattress off the bed with her magic. "There must  be something there", she insisted. "There you are! Why! Isn't that a pea? How did it get here?"

"I think it goes back to your day party with your friends some days ago. The pea must have dried up over the week", assumed Celestia.

Luna removed the pea from the bed and levitated it out the window. "Out with you, foul destroyer of sleep!" She giggled and threw a glance at Celestia. "Let us go."

Her sister hugged her, grinning as well, and both of them made their way to the balcony.


- - -


After raising the moon and decorating the night sky with shimmering stars Luna went to her night chambers. They were close to her bedchamber, filled with countless books sitting on countless wooden shelves. She was very proud of her private library. Not even Twilight Sparkle was aware of its existence.

Princess Luna loved stories. The night was the time of stories and secrets, mysteries would suddenly become clear in the moonlight. It was different to the day, a magical time in the very sense of the word.

She walked along the shelves, casually looking at the backs of her beloved books. The moonlight fell onto her treasures, the only source of light was just enough to read the titles. Tonight she would not read. It was time to dreamwalk.

Luna could not dreamwalk every single night for it was a tiring experience that consumed much of her mental energy. Dreams were fickle; you had to treat them with the utmost care and love in order to keep the dreamer from harm.

She sat down on the huge pillow in the middle of her library. It was an immensely old cushion, made of dark blue silk with a golden hem and intricate silver thread embroidery depicting the night sky. Luna was deeply thankful to Celestia that she had it restored and preserved for her. It was her most valuable possession.

As she stretched and tried to relax her body, she wondered what dreams the night would bring to her. Many nightmares had recurring themes, such as the fear of failing at a test, being rejected or the ever-present running away theme. Luna often split up her consciousness to handle the dreams of her subjects. It was very rare that a single dream required her undivided attention.

She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, allowing herself to calm her mind. The image of her library faded away as she closed her eyes and began weaving the complicated spell.


- - -


Luna can feel her mind touching others, slowly reaching out. One by one, the small flames of billions of souls come alight, covering the dreamscape with blue fire. Distance is different than in the waking world; somepony who is hundreds of miles away in the waking world would feel very close while somepony from Canterlot can be at the dreamscape's horizon. It depends on the intensity of the dream and the connection of the dreamer's soul to other ponies.

Luna is about to reach for a couple of foals' dreams when a certain glow catches her attention. Two flames are burning especially strong this night.

She draws closer and merges her own flame with them, feeling the tugging sensation as she touches the foreign souls.

What she sees makes her gasp with surprise. If somepony had been in the library, they would probably have heard it. The sound faintly reverberates in her mind, distracting her for a moment.

The problem with entering a dream is that it is not immediately certain who is the dreamer. Some ponies can be so close that their dreams will overlap. It usually happenes with unicorns but there are exceptions. As Luna manifests as a faint shade in the background of the dreams, she notices that the settings are identical. Both dreams take place in Ponyville, the small hometown of Twilight Sparkle's friends.

How curious...

The town looks stranger that its waking counterpart, having more houses that shift and change shapes as she turns her head. Luna ignores it; it is very common in dreams.

The actors on the stage are of much more importance. The streets are filled with ponies, they walk around laughing and talking. Fillies and colts run around, playing children's games.

A feeling of agitation touches Luna's mind. Something is going to go wrong soon.

The images shift; the marketplace becomes visible, dominated by Rarity's boutique (isn't it further away in the waking world?) and the post office. More and more young ponies join the crowd while the adult ponies fade away one by one. They cheer and dance around a green mare with a dark purple mane, an earth pony that lacks a Cutie Mark. 

Mara Dust.

The pony stares at the fillies and colts that are dancing around her. They all have Cutie Marks, except for a group of four filles. Luna recognizes them all; two of them are younger sisters of the Element Bearers. They wear brilliant red and golden capes, decorated with a yellow pony shape on a blue background.

Hi Mara, come join us.

I can't join you, I'm an adult.

But you are nice.

And you don't have a Cutie Mark, just like us.

Don't mock me. Go away. Mara stomps her hoof. I am not looking for my Cutie Mark anymore. I have a job, I have a coltfriend. I don't need a Cutie Mark. Go away.

Luna shakes her head, still hiding in the shadows. She has seen variations of this dream before. So far nothing new is happening.


- - -


At the same time, she notices a new shape in the other dream. It is tall, fuzzy and unfocused, floating around Ponyville, watching the ponies as they gawk back at it.

They shouldn't see me. Why are they aware of me?

Right, I am taller than them. I am not like them.

The ponies move closer, closing a circle around the shade.

Why are you still here?

I - I live here.

No, you don't. You are no pony. You are dead.

Luna frowns. What is going on? This doesn't feel like the usual "I'm different' dream. Something is off here.


- - -


Go away before I hurt you.

Luna's ears perk up.

Mara starts to shake violently, steam rising from the ground around them.

The fillies shrink, cowering before her.

She's crazy! She's dangerous!

Another voice booms through the village. I told you so. You will never find a place. You are a disappointment!

The steam balls together into a giant shape, whirling and hissing, and turns into a translucent pegasus. Its mane is floating in a breeze that Luna does not feel, its features remaining slightly fuzzy as it hovers above Mara.

Mara screams and tries to run away - but her hooves are stuck; the ground has turned into dark, icky mud. She wiggles around, desperately trying to remove her legs from the puddle.

The fillies are gone now, replaced by a grey pegasus with golden eyes and a yellow mane.

The steam pegasus grows even taller, enveloping the new pony which Luna recognizes as Ditzy Doo, taking her off the ground.

Leave her alone!, screams Mara.


- - -


I know I'm dead, says the shape.

Then leave us. You will kill us. You will infect us.

No! I'm staying! Shut up!

Make us. We are stronger. You didn't even see us until now. You are nothing compared to us.

The ponies merge into fog, rising in front of the shape that suddenly comes into focus.

A giant ghost hovers in front of Jonathan Baker. Luna faintly remembers that he thinks of himself as 'Priest'. The ghost is the same species as him, with features that remind Luna of a pegasus. It is winged, her hair flowing in a nonexistent breeze. The human stands firmly in a fighting stance, raising his hands as if trying to cast a spell - but nothing happens.

Come on!

He waves his hands again, mumbling. The words are too faint for Luna to understand.

What he seems to desire does not happen; instead, his body is engulfed in flames and his arms and legs start crumbling away. His skin breaks and shrivels, his teeth start to fall out. Luna gasps again with surprise, causing the dreamscape to shake and both dreams to go fuzzy for a second.


- - -


Now is the time for her to act. Luna forces herself deeper into the dreams, carefully taking shape in the background as herself.

These dreams seem different in some aspects but it is obvious to Luna that they are linked, with the ghost as the connection.

It makes sense that the human would see the ghost differently; a lifetime among his own kind makes him imagine the intelligent ponies as similar to himself.

Luna gently nudges both dreams, causing a wave of magic to ripple through them.


- - -


The ghost pegasus looms above Mara, laughing at her with an echoing cackle.

Then its expression freezes. It frowns as a strong wind blows across the dreamscape. It is not cold but a nice and warm breeze, slow but unstoppable. The ghost fades away, leaving Mara and Ditzy alone in the abandoned town square.


- - -


Jonathan/Priest is lying on the ground, unable to move. His eyes are fixed on the giant spirit that floats above him.

You cannot protect them. You are dead. Watch me as I kill them.

Leave my friends alone!

He shakes, trying to get up, but his limbs are gone. Jonathan/Priest slowly sinks into the ground.

Suddenly a breeze rushes through the ghost, dispersing it like dust. It is gone within seconds.

Jonathan/Priest stops sinking into the firm patch of dirt. He tries to wiggle his torso out but he has no chance. He is stuck.

A dark blue alicorn approaches him. Her mane and tail, as blue as the night sky and just as regal, flow in a magical breeze. She is wearing dark metal regalia and her expression is serious yet friendly.

Jonathan/Priest recognizes her as the cause of the wind that has blown away the ghost.

Princess Luna!

That is me. Do you know why I am here?

In Ponyville? How should I know?

Why are you on the ground? Here, let me help you up.

Princess Luna extends her hoof and Jonathan/Priest reaches for it. She pulls it back, assisting him as he rises to his feet.

Thanks. That was a close one.

She nods. I am the Princess of the Night. Though it is my duty to watch over the dreams of my subjects, I have never seen the dream of a human, much less a dream of one that is undead.

I can't hide anything from you here, can I?

No.

Jonathan sighs deeply and realizes that his body is completely restored. He pats his chest and limbs as if to make sure everything is back in its place.

Thank the Light!

Indeed. I see that you are afraid of being unable to protect someone. Whom do you wish to protect? Why are you afraid?


- - -


Because I couldn't do anything. Derpy is hurt because of me. If I had been faster, braver...

Do not blame yourself for the actions of another pony, Mara.

But I'm the one who can see her! And I failed you.

Luna tilts her head. Fail me? I do not think so.

Then how could this happen?

The scene changes. Mara is standing in Sugarcube Corner. She is facing Jonathan.


- - -


I will never fit in, says Jonathan. I'm of a different kind after all.

Luna frowns. Yes, you are different.

I can't help him, I don't even have the one thing that marks every adult member of society. I can't teach him anything. Why did you assign me for this?

Yes, you don't have a Cutie Mark. Yet I put my trust in you.

Jonathan and Mara look at her, then at each other. Mara shakes her head.

Am I really dreaming?, asks Jonathan.

How is this possible?, demands Mara.

You are both asleep, explains Luna. Your dreams are linked because you are somehow connected.

You mean... we're dreaming about the same thing?, asks Jonathan.

The ghost... you're afraid of it, too, states Mara.

Jonathan looks at the ground. I guess. I... feel defenseless. The Light won't answer me anymore.

They frown at each other. Jonathan pulls a corner of his mouth to the side, as if to say, 'What could I do anyway?'.

A smile creeps onto Mara's face. You know what? Let's keep an eye out for this thing. And when it comes, we'll defeat it together. Two heads are better than one, right?

...I suppose... our chances are higher that way.


- - -


Luna retreats from the dreams, letting them dissolve naturally as the dreamers return to the waking world. They will awaken soon, then turn around and fall asleep again to forget the dream in the morning.


- - -


She opened her eyes and massaged her temples. What a bothersome night. It seemed that her enthusiasm had been premature.

Had her help been enough? Hopefully she had not damaged their minds by her intrusion. She knew she was only allowed to do so much; the rest was up to the dreamers.

The Princess of the Night sighed and closed her eyes, diving into the dreamscape once more.
> Level 15 - Charades
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Good morning!" The cheery voice of a well-rested Twilight rang through the library.

"Ungh."

"Come on, Priest, this is Nightmare Night! No working today, just fun and shenanigans!"

Priest rubbed his eyes with two fingers and groaned again. "Huh? Why does the fun have to -", he yawned, "- start so early, then?"

Twilight rolled her eyes and entered the kitchen.

"Fine, fine, I'm getting up." Priest didn't move. "Soon", he clarified.

Spike descended the stairs, yawning. "Morning."

"Morning", agreed Priest.

"Is Twilight in the kitchen?"

"Yep", confirmed the human.

"Nice bed hair."

Priest reached for his hair. "Oh. Er, if Twilight asks, I'm upstairs."

"Okay", said Spike, joining Twilight to help her set up the table.


- - -


Priest stood in front of the bathroom sink and stared at his reflection, bending closer to it and turning his head left and right.

When did the cheek heal?, he wondered. It had been damaged all the time, even when he had healed himself back on Azeroth.

Not that I'm gonna complain. Did you do this, Light? What for?

Priest noticed something green in the corner of his eye. His pullover - washed, dried and bearing a subtle fresh scent - was draped over the towel rack.

"Thanks, Princess", he mumbled.

He washed his face and upper body, then put his clothes back on and ran his hand through his hair several times, trying to straighten it; with little success. Priest grinned absent-mindedly. He could already imagine Rarity's reaction if she saw him.

"My goodness, darling, whatever have you done to your hair? This just won't do..."


- - -


When Priest entered the kitchen, breakfast was ready. Spike and Twilight sat at the table eating cereals. They had prepared a third bowl for him. He slid onto the designated chair and poured milk over his meal.

"So", said Twilight, "when are you going to get the bandages?"

"What? Oh, those. After breakfast, I suppose. Wanna come?"

Twilight shook her head. "I still need to prepare some things. Our friends are coming over after the celebration; Applejack needs to close her stall first so she will be here a bit later."

"Have you heard anything from Derpy? How's she doing?"

Spike shrugged. "Dunno. You could ask at the hospital."

"I don't know where she lives but Mara might. They're close friends", said Twilight.

"I noticed", muttered Priest, his mood dropping again.

"I could help you", offered Spike. "I'm supposed to watch the Cutie Mark Crusaders this afternoon and Dinky's dad is probably in town right now, looking after them. They said they wanted to go crusading at Sugarcube Corner."

"'Crusading'... right", grinned Priest. "Sounds good, though. Anyway, where can I buy bandages?"

"At the drugstore. It's called, 'The Well Brushed Coat'."

Priest stopped chewing and raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

Twilight frowned at that. "What do you mean?"

"Nothing. But I'm assuming I can get a comb there as well?"

"Yup", confirmed Spike.


- - -


Mara Dust sat on a bench in the park, watching the ponies walk by. Most of them were busy, going through the park because it was a shortcut to Town Square. If you went to town, why not through the green?

As the ponies passed her, some of them nodding at her as they recognized her, Mara watched their auras floating around them. The colorful smudges changed shape all the time, trailing behind the running ponies like lazy flags. Everypony had their own personal color bubble.

She had not been able to see them this clearly before. It was hard to focus on the ponies when they were surrounded by all that prismatic stuff. Nopony seemed to notice the auras but that wasn't new to Mara. They hadn't seen the ghost either.

Mara wondered how she would feel if somepony told her that she was covered by her own personal light show twenty-four seven. At least she saw her own aura, too, and knew it was currently yellow with purple spikes bubbling out at the edges.

It scared the crap out of her.

She rose from the bank and headed for Town Square to get some ice cream.


- - -


"One, two, three, GO!", screamed Pinkie Pie as she swung down a black and white checkered flag with both hooves.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack sped forwards from the starting line – the entrance of Sugarcube Corner – and off into the distance.

"First one to set up her Nightmare Night stall wins", explained the pink pony to Time Turner who had just arrived at the shop.

"I see", he grinned. Five young ponies stood around him, their eyes wide with anticipation.

"Hi, Cutie Mark Crusaders!" beamed Pinkie and beckoned them to enter.

"Hi, Pinkie!", they replied in various ways.

Turner followed them into the Corner and accepted her hug. "Rainbow Dash is setting a stall up this year? I didn't know."

"Weeell, she is making one out of clouds and it's going to be a haunted house of some kind. I wonder what she's gonna put inside?"

Pinkie put the flag away, mysteriously storing it in her mane, and led the group into the kitchen. She started pulling out drawers and quickly put on an apron and a chef's hat. She turned to the fillies and colt with a broad smile. "Who's ready to make pumpkin muffins?"

The cheer of her guests made Time Turner's ears ring. He waved at Pinkie, Dinky and the other Crusaders and left the Corner to make his way to the hospital.


- - -


"Sooo", said Spike as he and Priest inspected a display of various combs in The Well Brushed Coat, "I know this comes a bit late but how did you and Twilight meet?"

Priest straightened up – the shelves were pony sized, of course – and frowned. "Then why are you asking now?"

Spike shrugged. "I'm just curious, I guess. Twilight never told me since you arrived. It's cool if you don't wanna talk about it."

"It's only been a few days", mumbled Priest. "I'm still not really used to all the ponies."

The baby dragon grinned. "I can only imagine."

"It's not the species that I'm having trouble with", clarified the human, scratching his elbow. "It's the fact that they don't care about it so much. Yesterday Fluttershy came to the library and apologized for being "mean" instead of just behaving like I was, uh, undesirable or something. Pinkie Pie keeps giving me cupcakes... it's... strange... You know, back home I was one of the smaller species."

"Really?"

"Remind me to draw an orc later. Anyway, we met on a zeppelin."

Spike's eyes widened. "You mean like those big, oval hot air balloons with propulsion magic?"

"Something like that. We were both traveling to the same destination. A troll and some goblins tried to take over the ship but we gank- … uh, defeated them."

"Wow... Hey, how about this one?" Spike pointed at a comb that was as long as Priest's hand and made of some sturdy dark red wood. Unlike the other ones it had no ornament whatsoever.

"Yeah, I'll take it. Let's go."

They made their way to the counter to pay for the comb and bandages.

The unicorn salespony's eyes widened when she saw Priest but Spike's presence seemed to convince her that everything was in order. She took the items and glanced at the price tags, then wrote the total amount onto a small notepad. Priest handed over the bits, took the items, tucked them away and accepted the copy of the note.

"Thanks."

"Thank you and c-come back any time!"

"Bye!", said Spike and pushed the door open.


- - -


Outside, he smiled at Priest who was frowning again and nudged his leg with his elbow. "What other species live on Azeroth? Are there dragons?"

Priest grinned. "Yes, there are dragons. They get really huge; I once saw a dragon that was about five times as big as the library."

"Whoa! I'd love to see a grown-up dragon from up close!"

"I wouldn't. Except Kalecgos maybe, they say he's more of a diplomatic type. He was in Dalaran when we were trying to open the portal but I didn't meet him directly. I've never been into politics much so I try to stay away from the celebrities as much as possible."

Spike's mouth stood wide open, overwhelmed. He nooded slowly as a grin of awe spread on his face.

Priest snorted. "Take it easy, tough guy. Let's see, what else would you know...? Griffins, windriders – they're like manticores and can be used for traveling – hydras, all kinds of woodland creatures, gigantic bats..."


- - -


Mara Dust enjoyed her ice cream in the small café at the corner of Willow Road. The Steaming Cup was very popular, maybe even the second most loved after Sugarcube Corner. Many ponies said it was thanks to the amazing coffee they brewed.

Mara didn't drink coffee. The place would always be her number one though.

She sat at a table in the corner, relatively close to the counter. It was a quiet hour, the ponies who loved their morning coffee were already gone but it wasn't yet lunchtime either. 

The yellow unicorn stallion took the chance when the only other customers left and walked over to Mara. He nuzzled her cheek and said quietly, "How you doing?"

Mara tilted her head in a so-so way. "Not so great really. I had a rough night and the auras are really bright today."

Spirit Rez nodded and sat down next to her. "I'm glad you came here. Take your time and relax a bit, okay?"

She frowned and looked down at her ice cream. "Thanks for being so understanding."

"Hey", he said, stroking her purple mane. "I love you." He lit up his horn, casting a spell on her. Mara could feel her insides warming up a little as a relaxing wave went through her body. It was probably the Chamomile Tea spell.

"I know. And your spells are the best." She kissed him thoroughly, then let him return to his work, smiling at her coltfriend as he started cleaning some used plates. He waved at her with the cloth and stuck out his tongue, his aura glowing in a soft green. Spirit strongly disliked doing the dishes.

Mara laughed and resumed eating her ice cream.


- - -


"Lunchtime, everyone!"

Fluttershy's critter friends took the announcement with great enthusiasm. From all sides they came into the living room of her cottage, through the window, mouse holes and the front door. Birds left their birdhouses and joined the crowd of small creatures as Fluttershy presented the plates and wooden bowls of animal food she had prepared. A single bear and an eagle entered the cottage, careful not to step on any other guests.

"Now you all know, one at a time", said the pegasus and started distributing the food, feeding the sick critters and making sure that the carnivores got their share of fish.

The animals cheered and feasted happily, even Angel didn't complain this time. Instead, after finishing his carrot, he approached Fluttershy and tucked at her tail.

"Yes, Angel, what is it?", asked Fluttershy gently.

He waved a flower in front of her.

"Oh yes", said Fluttershy, "I will dress up for Nightmare Night after getting some cupcakes for Priest."

The bunny grabbed its ears and bent them downwards, obviosly deeply disturbed by Fluttershy's new acquaintance.

"I am a bit afraid of him but I will do my best to be the best friend I can."

He shook his head. Then he mimicked a zombie walk, his eyes gazing into opposing directions.

"Now, now, Angel, that's very rude. He is very nice. I mean, he is kind of nice. And a bit strange. But he isn't a pony, maybe all humans are like this. He has seen many bad things so it is up to us to make him feel welcome."

Angel continued walking like a zombie, little paws outstretched, then intentionally bumped into the bear. Mr Harry pretended to be scared of Angel, 'fearfully' hugging himself and shivering.

"I'm sure Priest doesn't mean any harm. But I will be careful, I promise."

The bunny lowered its paws and nodded, a frown still on its face.

Fluttershy nuzzled him affectionately. "I know you are worried; but as I said, he's not dangerous. I'm sure we will have a very nice evening with our friends."

The bear covered its eyes with a paw.


- - -


"Hey, check this out! I'm Spiderspike!" The little dragon put a fake spider on his face.

Priest snorted and pointed out, "It looks like these are for some kind of game."

Spike shrugged and put the spider back into the basket to join its look-alikes. "Yeah, you throw them onto a spiderweb to gain points. It's a lot of fun, Princess Luna enjoyed it, too. Though it turned out preeetty awkward when she brought them to life."

That made the human laugh for real. "I'd like to see that. Well, at least they are really small."

"Small?!" Spike's eyes widened. "You're kidding, right?"

"Nope. At home we've got spiders this tall. We use them as pets in battle." Priest held his hand up at the height of his solarplexus.

"Creepy!", commented Spike.

The undead shrugged. "Intimidation is a big part of warfare."

"If you say so..."

"Anyway, why are we still in the joke shop? Didn't you say something about looking after the Crusaders?"

"Oh snap!" Spike dashed out the shop door, then looked back in. "Come on, we're already late!"
> Level 16 - Consequences of Grass Consumption
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Aaand done." Twilight happily checked off the last item on her list.

She looked around the library, content with the decoration. Bat shaped streamers and ballons hung from the ceiling and shelves. They had covered the table with a dark purple tablecloth and put some carved pumpkin lanterns into corners - in a safe distance from the books, of course. The kitchen was filled with food and drinks and a gigantic bowl of sweets stood on the counter. Everything was ready for the celebration.

"Thank you so much for helping me, Rarity, you really have an eye for those things."

"Why thank you, it wasn't a bother at all. It's a pity Pinkie Pie is still working at the Corner."

Twilight smiled and put away the list. "I think she's taking care of the Cutie Mark Crusaders."

Rarity raised an eyebrow. "She is? Well, that certainly explains why Sweetie Belle was so energetic this morning. Pinkie Pie is extraordinarily good with children, don't you think?"

"Definitely", agreed the alicorn. "So, are you ready to dress up for the night?"

Rarity winked. "You know me! I better go home to prepare - but this was fun. Make sure to ask Priest to join us when he and Spike return, if you would be so kind."

"I will", smiled Twilight.

"See you later, my dear!"

"Bye, Rarity." They hugged and the white unicorn left the library with a spring in her step, humming to herself.


- - -


Time Turner waited patiently at the counter of Ponyville Hospital. Visiting hours were just beginning and as soon as the nurse approached him, he asked her about his wife.

"She's almost completely recovered", she told the reliefed stallion, "but we recommend that she refrain from flying for two weeks."

"Did you tell her?"

"Yes, and I contacted her insurance. They said they are covering for the accident since it was a magical explosion."

Turner nodded. "I see. Thank you very much."

The nurse nodded and smiled, then pushed the door of Ditzy's room open. She left as soon as Turner entered.

"Hi!", said Ditzy. She was standing next to the bed with some kind of supportive bandage wrapped around her barrel. With her wings loosely folded around it and her flicking tail she looked more relaxed than hurt.

He cantered over to her and hugged her carefully. "How are you doing?"

She smiled and flicked a strand of mane out of her face. "Not too bad really. The side still hurts sometimes but I'm off medication. They said I can go home today!"

"Aw, Bubbles, I'm glad you are better!" Relief spread on his face.

She nuzzled his cheek affectionately and grinned. "I wouldn't want to miss Nightmare Night, would I? Did Mara get a nice costume for Dinky?"

"Errr, it's a bit creepy", admitted Turner.

Ditzy laughed. "Come on, Timey-Wimey, you know that it's part of the fun. If she wants a creepy costume, why not?"

"Yeah, why not?", he mumbled to himself.

"By the way, Twilight invited us over tonight. I think Mara's coming, too." He held up a scroll that had a broken seal, decorated with a six-pointed star.

"That sounds great! Do you think it's okay if we bring the Cutie Mark Crusaders? I wouldn't like it if Dinky had to spend the evening without her daddy."

"Or her mommy. That's the plan, actually. Applejack and the others got similar letters, says this one. I met Button's parents on the way here and they agreed he could come over with the Crusaders. I don't know for sure about the others yet."

"Well, we all know how thorough our new princess can be", laughed Ditzy. "Do you have a costume yet?"

"I'm just gonna wear a hat. If Spike and I watch over the Crusaders tonight as planned, I need a crusader-proof outfit. Though I had considered a hazmat suit for some time."

"Good point", snickered Ditzy. "Ow." She smiled awkwardly, resisting the urge to rub her side. "I guess I really need to take it easy for a while."


- - -


Ding ding, went the doorbell of Sugarcube Corner, instantly drowned by the deafening cheer of six ponies, the oldest of them with such a high pitch in her voice that it made Priest wince.

"Just a teensy second, fillies and colt, I'll be back, there's somepony at the doooooor."

Pinkie Pie bounced out of the kitchen to greet Priest and Spike. "Hiya!"

Oh, that voice was Pinkie's. I should have known.

"Hey... Pinkie Pie."

"Hi, how are the Crusaders doing?", asked Spike as they entered the kitchen together.

"See for yourself!"

Spike saw.

The kitchen was a mess; every surface covered with dough and occasionally milk. Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were trying hard to wipe the floor clean with cloths as big as themselves, interrupting their efforts when Priest and Spike entered. Dinky sat in front of the oven, watching the cupcakes while Button was at a counter putting away some clean dishes, counting quietly as he stacked them.

The dragon grinned and waved at them. "Hey, Crusaders."

"Spike! Didya come to help us clean up?"

"Er..."

Pinkie Pie snatched the broom and cloths from the girls. "No, silly, I can do the rest. But thanks for helping! This is a lot more work than some ponies think and I am happy you had fun making the cupcakes but now that Spike is here I think it's time for you to get ready for Nightmare Night and put on your costumes, oh, I'm so excited, this Nightmare Night is going to be great!"

"Yay!", cheered Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.

"But what about the cupcakes?", wondered Applebloom.

"Pinkie, I think they're done!", announced Dinky, pointing at the oven.

"Really? Let's have a look, come on!" Pinkie dashed over to the oven and opened it, peering inside. "Oooh, looking good, looking reeeal good!"

Priest noticed a small blush on Spike's cheeks.

Pinkie drew a large fresh towel from her mane and used it to cover her hooves as she removed the tray from the oven. The sweet smell of delicious pumpkin muffins intensified, filling the entire Corner.

Some excited "Aaah"s and "Ooooh"s went through the kitchen.

Button looked up and flinched as he noticed Priest. "What – I mean, who's that?", he stammered.

Priest raised a hand. "Hi."

Sweetie Belle nudged him, "That's Priest. He's a human. And he's a friend." She gave Priest a wide smile.

"Oh. Uh, hi, Priest." He still wasn't moving, frozen with fear as it seemed, his pupils as tiny as pinpricks.

Priest decided to ignore it.

Dinky approached him and smiled. "Are you the one that saved my mommy?"

"Well, technically, I just-"

"Yes, he is", said Spike, stepping on Priest's foot.

"Spike!", warned Priest.

"What? It's true, you don't know what would have happened to that wing it it weren't for you and Pinkie Pie. Twilight helped, too!"

Dinky's eyes teared up. "Anyway", she sniffed, "thanks. Mom's allowed to come home today."

Spike smiled at her, patting her shoulder. "Don't worry, your mom is going to be all right in no time."

"I hope so", mumbled Dinky.

Pinkie Pie reached with her tongue for a freshly baked cupcake and devoured it. "Hmmm, they are perfect! Wanny try some, too? They're still hot!"

That made the smiles return immediately. Eyerybody, including Priest, dashed to the tray and snatched a cupcake.

"So did you ha' lunth yed?", asked Pinkie through her second cupcake.

Spike nodded and sat down on a relatively clean chair. "Sure, we went to the Hayburger and had the Special Lunch Menu with extra gems for me."

"Ooh, the one with the flower salad?"

Priest started and dropped his cupcake. It rolled under a chair. "Did you say 'Hay-Burger'?"

"Yeah, didn't I mention it when we went?"

"Hey, Priest, you're looking a little funny, and not the ha-ha funny, are you sure you're okay?", asked Pinkie.

The human stared at her, squinting his eyes and swaying a little.

"Priest...?"

Pinkie's features blurred together; the corners of Priest's sight were starting to get fuzzy and grey.

"Where's the bathroom?", he slurred.

"Oh my gosh, was he that pale last time?", whispered Scootaloo to Applebloom.

"Er, no, ah don't think so..."

"Second floor, first door on the left -", said Pinkie.

Priest bolted upstairs, leaving the confused ponies behind. Spike hesitated for a moment, then ran after him.


- - -


Pinkie Pie's smile was getting suspiciously wide. "Sooo, Nightmare Night! Let's dress up!" She stuffed about half of the cupcakes into a basket, filling it to the top. "Here, take these, I'll bring the rest when we meet at the library, 'kay?"

"Right", said Dinky slowly. "Is... is Priest going to be okay?"

"Well, I'm sure it's nothing serious!", offered Pinkie reassuringly. "Maybe he just ate something bad, I'll look after him right away!"

"Uh-huh." Doubt was etched into Button's and Applebloom's face.

Sweetie Belle shrugged. "When Pinkie says it's going to be okay..."

"...then it is going to be okay", finished Scootaloo. "Come on, guys, we really gotta go."


- - -


Pinkie knocked at the bathroom door. "Everything all right in there?"

"Well, what do you think?", came a muffled snarl from inside.

Her ears splayed back.

A dry gagging sound followed, then a desperate gasp. "Fuck", mumbled a deep voice, obviously Priest.

"Watch the language, please, Spike's a baby dragon", said Pinkie in a friendly singsong voice, her cheek at the door.

"Whatev-urgh."

The door opened and Spike emerged, closing it quickly. "This is going to take a while. I think he ate too much grass. Looks like humans can't digest it as well as ponies."

"Uh-oh", said Pinkie. "Can I do anything to help?"

"Well, I gotta catch up with the crusaders and help them dress up so if you could look after him..."

"You can count on Pinkie Responsibility Pie!"

"Thanks." Spike hurried downstairs, waving at Pinkie as he left.

"I'm not a kid", stated Priest shakily through the door, followed by some splashing sounds that made Pinkie flinch.

"Of course not! But I can't leave you here! The fun of Nightmare Night is not worth leaving a friend alone when he's sick", she declared, planting her behind on the carpet in front of the door.

There was a moment of awkward silence.

Pinkie heard the rushing of water, then the quiet voice of Priest saying, "...thanks, Pinkie."
> Level 17 - A Royal Visit
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Nightmare Night, what a fright,
give us something sweet to bite!",

yelled five Crusaders at the door of Golden Oaks Library.

Spike squinted and picked his wooden sword up from the ground. "Sheesh, tune it down a little, okay?!"

"Sorry", said Sweetie Belle through her bandages.

The library door opened, revealing Twilight and Fluttershy. Twilight was already wearing her Clover the Clever costume. The bells on her hat rang with every step she took. Fluttershy had put on a flower crown and a pretty green dress that looked like large pointed felt leaves stitched together.

"Hi everypony! Did you have fun so far?", asked the Princess.

"Yeah, it was awesome!", squeed Button. "Everypony loves my scythe!" He waved his scythe at Twilight. The blade was made of paper and it was scaled to fit his size but aside from that it looked rather realistic. Button himself was wearing a dark cloak, the hood concealing most of his face. He seemed to be doing some kind of Grim Reaper impression.

Scootaloo's costume was a little harder to recognize. She had painted her entire coat light blue, making her look like a pony popsicle. Some spots on her back were blank, though. Maybe the paint had already been rubbed off there. Twilight guessed that the pegasus had a Windigo in mind.

"We're going to give a candy off'rin' to Nightmare Moon after your door!", said Applebloom. Her accent and bow gave her identity away, the rest was hidden beneath a bedsheet with two large holes cut out for her to see through.

Derpy and Turner smiled. The mailmare added, "We're going to get Mara and the others after that."

"I guess I should tell Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow it's almost time", said Fluttershy quietly and flew off.

Twilight floated a basket of sweets closer to the door and let the Crusaders pick some of them. They assaulted the basket, then dashed off, laughing and cheering, Spike and Dinky's parents trying hard to keep up.

"When did Dinky get so fast?", wondered Derpy, a little out of breath.

Turner laughed. "I suppose it's gotten rare that we have to actually run after her."


- - -


The only pony left at the library door was Twilight. She smiled and closed the door.

Every time the Crusaders left it felt as if a storm had passed.

Where is Priest anyway? Didn't he want to join in the festivities?

She frowned and shook her head. Maybe he's had second thoughts. But why isn't he at home then?

A Who made her look up.

"Hello, Owliscious. Did you see where Priest went?"

"Who."

"He's still gone? That's odd. Maybe he's at the marketplace with Rarity and the others. Come to think of it, I haven't seen Pinkie Pie either."

"Who?" The owl widened her eyes, then narrowed them.

"You're right, I should be more patient. Oh well, let's wait until everypony comes for the storytelling. If he still doesn't show up, I'll ask Rainbow Dash if she can look for him."


- - -


Princess Luna waited until the children were gone, then dropped her Nightmare Moon disguise.

"Well now", she said to one of her guards, "It seems that this Nightmare Night has been a success, more so than last year. 'Tis hard to stay composed with all those happy faces around. Hast thou noticed the Grim Reaper?" A not-so-dignified squee escaped the Princess.

The guard, a bat pony called Still Leaf, nodded, a small smile on his face. Princess Luna still kept mixing the old and new speech sometimes but he knew when to hold his breath. He rustled his leathery wings. "Yes, your Highness. Quite impressive for a young colt's costume... Do you wish to return to the castle?"

She frowned. "You may fly ahead without me. I shall go to Ponyville and visit Princess Twilight. There is something urgent I need to take care of."

"Your Highness." Still Leaf saluted and he and the other guards took off, Luna's sky carriage in their tow. They were already out of the Everfree Forest so it wasn't necessary for them to stay with her anymore, if only to watch her back.

Luna sighed and made her way to town, deep in thought. Her mane and tail flowed in the arcane breeze, a night sky below the night sky.

Her recent encounter with Priest was still occupying her mind. There was something about that human that made her uneasy, like a cold veil that nopony could see. The feeling had been weaker when she had been in his dream but now it was back again. Celestia had said it was probably him being undead. Maybe that was it... but maybe not.


- - -


Pinkie's hooves moved a small rock across the carpet. It had been a gift from her sister Maud. She liked to play with it on the rare occasions that she was not in the mood to go into town and be with her friends. This time, one particular friend needed her and if it involved staying indoors being bored it couldn't be helped.

"How are you doing in there?" she asked tentatively, shifting Rocky (her imagination had improved in the years after recieving the gift but she had kept the name for her pebble) from one corner of the carpet to the opposite one. "Anything I can do to help? Something to drink maybe?"

"Uh, thanks, not really. I just... can you stay here for a bit?" 

"Of course!" Priest could hear Pinkie's smile in her voice. "If there's something you need, just tell me, okay?"

"Yeah."

Rocky went to the middle of the carpet to get a better view of the staircase.

"Pinkie?"

"Yes?" She jumped up and pressed her ear against the door.

"Have you ever... Did you ever feel like your friends don't really need you?"

Her ears splayed back. "What makes you ask that?"

She could hear some shuffling inside the bathroom.

"Do you know why I'm here?"

"Nope!"

"It was an accident. I'm not really of any use here, you know. I wouldn't go back if I could but... ever since I came here I've just caused trouble..."

Pinkie frowned. "Don't be so hard on yourself! Nothing bad that happened here was your fault! Except if you can secretly manipulate the thaumaturgic spheres, resulting in a feral spirit haunting Ponyville but somehow I don't think that's the case, do you?" 

"Er. Pinkie, what you said didn't make any sense."

"Neither do you! And believe me, I've been in your position, thinking that nopony likes me. Look, Priest, I know that sometimes things look sad and scary but there's always a way through if you trust your friends to stand by your side. You have been a really good friend, everypony here that knows you thinks so."

Priest sighed and leaned against the door with his back, then slid down to sit on the ground. "I just don't know what to do."

"Well", said Pinkie, "I suggest you flush properly and wash your hands and then we can go and join the others. Don't you think that would be much nicer than hugging a toilet seat? It seems a teensy little bit suspicious to me that you started getting sick the second that Spike was busy with the Crusaders, you know."

"Ouch."

"Sorry." She grinned apologetically, then remembered he couldn't see it through the door.

"But you're probably right", said Priest.


- - -


A knock at the front door made Twilight jump, then rush over to open it.

"Welcome back, I just - Princess Luna? I mean, Luna! Er, how are you?"

"I am fine, Twilight Sparkle", smiled Luna. "Are you enjoying Nightmare Night so far? Are your friends not here?"

"They are closing the stalls right now. I suppose they will arrive any moment... please, come in..."

"Very well", said Luna, entering the library, "this is quite fortunate for I need to discuss an urgent matter with you before I return to Canterlot."

Twilight frowned. "Is something wrong? Did everypony treat you all right this time?"

Luna waved dismissively. "'Twas a splendid celebration. No, this is about something else entirely. Somebody, to be exact."

She sat down on one of the pillows that Twilight had spread on the floor and let her gaze wander. "Your decoration is very unique. Is this Rarity's doing?"

Twilight nodded, "She helped a lot. Oh, right! Would you like anything to drink or some candy maybe?"

Luna chuckled. "Come, sit with me, Twilight. Your courtesy is appreciated but I have to give your little friends from Ponyville credit – I am stuffed."

"Right." Twilight grinned sheepishly. "So, about the problem...?"

Luna cleared her throat. "I suppose you are aware of my dreamwalking duties?"

Twilight nodded.

"Well, last night I was doing just that, like I always do. But yesterday's dreams were quite... unusual." She frowned.

"Unusual? I always thought that dreams were kind of surreal anyway...?"

"They still abide to certain rules", stated Luna. "They are defined and shaped by the dreamer's mind. But this time, something else took hold of a dream."

Twilight's eyes widened. "What could do something like that? Could it be the Nightmare?"

"I am afraid it is not that simple. I believe it is a ghost." She glanced at Twilight. "You do not look surprised."

The purple alicorn looked down. "I wrote a letter to Celestia about the ghost that attacked Ditzy. She sent me a book but... we didn't really get anywhere."

"I see. She told me about your encounter. I am sure that the ghost in the dream matches the description of your ghost."

"I... I didn't give you a description."

"Ah, no, you did not, but you know the dreamers. Mara Dust and Jonathan Baker? And I recognized the shape of the spirit. It is unlike the ghosts that ponies usually imagine after a scary bedtime story but instead it is, as they say, the real deal."

Twilight's jaw dropped. "Why d-did you not tell me that you have encountered ghosts before?", she stammered.

Luna raised an eyebrow. "What good would that have done? I only know what they look like because somepony used to dream of spirits a thousand years ago! I do not know how to deal with them, much less how to vanquish them. Why didst thou think we sent Mara to Ponyville in the first place?", she chided, slipping back into the Royal Canterlot Voice.

Twilight instinctively pulled her head back and squinted her eyes, her ears splaying back.

Massaging her temples, Luna sighed. "I had hoped that she would find out more about the spirit and investigate whether Priest could help vanquish it. Look at the mess we have now. Both are scared of it and it managed to harm one of our subjects! I am concerned for your safety - more so now that I do not know where Priest is standing."

Twilight swallowed, then, with a detemined expression, she declared, "Priest is my friend. He really wants to help us. We just need more time to figure this out."

"We may be running out of time", warned Luna. "To-night is a special night for a reason, Twilight. The veil is thin this time of the year. The ghost might return this very evening. You must be ready to vanquish it!"

"But – how?"

Luna hung her head. "I wish I could give you better advice than this. Arcane magic cannot affect spirits. Even our alicorn magic is useless against them. But Mara can see the spirit and may be able to communicate with it. Priest can see it as well. So they should work together and look after the pony that got attacked lest the spirit returns and strikes again. I tried to convince them to do that in their dream but I am not sure whether I succeeded. It is not as direct as a waking conversation."

"I see. I'll make sure to inform my friends of the situation. We invited Ditzy over tonight so we can keep her under our protection anyway.  She does not know that certain reason, though." Twilight scrunched her nose and looked up. "Should I tell her?"

Luna shook her head. "The fewer ponies know about this danger the better. It might feed on fear like the windigoes."

"Oh."

But aren't ponies afraid of the unknown, too? On the other hoof, in this case I suppose they'd be more afraid of a ghost.

Luna stood up. "I must go now, Twilight. Remember to reassure Mara. She is our hope. If she fails I have to take the matter into my own hooves and make arrangements for Ditzy's safety. I would hate if it came to that. Do not hesitate to contact me if the need arises... though I still wish I could help more than just give vague advice."

Twilight sighed and nodded. "It's okay, Luna, I'm sure we can deal with it somehow. Thank you for warning us."

"Good luck to you and your friends." Luna hugged her, then departed in silence.
> Level 18 - Get More Garlic
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I'm so happy you decided to join the party!", cheered Pinkie Pie.

She and Priest were on their way to Golden Oaks Library, Priest still a bit wobbly on his feet. Pinkie more than compensated for his lack of enthusiasm with her own, bouncing on the spot when he paused and trotting ahead when he resumed walking. Her mane bounced along, giving Priest the impression of a Pinkie-shaped Balloon with a caring smile on its muzzle.

The streets were not entirely empty but most ponies had already gone to their respective homes to further celebrate Nightmare Night. This time almost no one gave Priest weird looks which was probably because everyone was wearing some kind of costume. On this night he didn't stick out as much as usually.

"Twilight and Spike really like you, Priest, it's as plain as day, and besides, I'm sure everypony is already at the library having fun, oh, I can't wait to get there, Rarity and Twilight did the decoration. The Cutie Mark Crusaders are there, too! Did you see Button's scythe? Oh right, you probably didn't, he kept it a secret until today, I just caught him getting the parts -", she giggled, "- you'll probably see it when we arrive..."

She went on like this for the entire walk. Even though Pinkie claimed that she couldn't wait to get to the party she patiently offered a glass of sugary water she had pulled from light-knows-where to Priest and smiled happily as his face gained a little color after a while.

She stopped and turned back to Priest when a hand touched her shoulder.

"I'd prefer if you didn't tell anyone about earlier", he said.

"Okay", shrugged Pinkie.

"Wait, that's it?"

"Of course, silly! If you wanna keep the talk private, who am I to un-private it?" She smiled warmly at him.

"Thanks."

"Oh my gosh!", gasped Pinkie and jumped back.

"What?"

"I just realized! You don't have a costume!", she exclaimed in a horrified high-pitched tone as if someone had left the stove on.

Priest frowned. "I... kinda forgot that over the puking."

"Wah, Priest, too much information!"

"Sorry."

"But this is Nightmare Night! You need a costume! It's the most important thing ever!"

"But you don't have one either", pointed Priest out as they passed the Marketplace. The stands were already gone or closed. A single cloud floated lazily above an empty wooden tub. Maybe the weather team had had a stand, too. A single unicorn made her way across the square, a basket of candy in her magical grip.

Pinkie rolled her eyes and grinned. "Of course I do!" She jumped behind a tree and emerged from the other side in blue pants and a yellow-orange vest which clashed terribly with her pink coat. "I'm going as a construction worker! I just didn't wear it because of the cupcakes. Wouldn't wanna get it dirty before the party! Rarity gave me that tip." She completed the costume with a hard yellow hat. "So what's your costume?"

"I bought some bandages to go as a mummy..."

"Oooh, like Sweetie Belle? Do you have them with you?"

"Yes...?" He didn't like the sound of where this was going.

"Then prepare for the Pinkie Bandage Cyclon Attack!"


- - -


The library was already full of ponies when they arrived. The Cutie Mark Crusaders had gone upstairs with Spike and Time Turner while Mara and Derpy stayed in the main room.

Rarity was there, wearing a beautiful light blue dress, along with Fluttershy – completely in green – and the blue pegasus Priest recognized as Rainbow Dash. She wasn't wearing her costume anymore. Twilight had mentioned it had been some green pegasus pony. He had forgotten the name, Something 'Do' and basically a Harrison Jones kind of character. Twilight and Applejack just came from the kitchen, bringing the snacks. The delicious smell of baked apples and the jingle of Twilight's hat bells filled the library.

Priest smiled. "Wow."

"Now look at what the night wind brought in", grinned Applejack. She had already gotten out of her costume as well. Streaks of red paint still decorated her left cheek.

Rarity turned her head from her conversation with Fluttershy and beamed. "Priest! Are you all right?"

"Uh, sure. Why?"

The unicorn smiled at him, a small concerned frown darkening her expression. "Spike said you were not feeling well."

He tried to wave it off. "Nah, I'm good. Hey Mara, Derpy, Fluttershy."

Fluttershy waved at him, then she and Rarity resumed their conversation. Derpy and Mara approached him and stretched out their hooves. He bumped them with his fist and eyed the grey pegasus's bandage. "How is your side?"

Derpy smiled at him. "Better than the doctors expected. Thanks to you, that is! If there's anything I can do to show my gratitude...?"

"Watch out for yourself. Your family will appreciate it."

She smiled awkwardly, a hint of confusion in her golden eyes. "Huh?"

Stupid, she still doesn't know about the ghost. Better not to spoil the evening for her.

Priest swallowed. "I – I'm glad you're better. Just take care, okay? Mara, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure", said Mara, frowning a little. "Later, Derps."

"Yep." Derpy waved at them as Priest led Mara into the kitchen which was thankfully empty at the moment.

He pushed the door shut with a click and turned around to face Mara.

"What's wrong?", she asked.

"Where's Spirit?"

"Oh, he's out with a friend, he's all right. Dear Luna, you look tense!"

Priest snorted. "You're not the paragon of calmness either. The way your eyes keep darting around..."

Mara let out a deep sigh. "Yeah, about that..." She looked at the floor. "I think I had a dream last night."

Priest shrugged. "That happens. I had a dream, too."

Her eyes met his. "I wish I could remember it, I can't shake the feeling it might have been important. And the auras are so bright today, it's really scaring me."

"Any idea what's causing it?", said Priest.

Mara shook her head. "Maybe they are so strong because it's Nightmare Night, maybe it's because of the ghost..."

"Hum. I haven't seen her around today."

She smiled weakly. "Neither have I. First good news since Ditzy got out of the hospital. Still, she might come back."

"I get the feeling we should stick together until the whole thing is resolved", said Priest softly, rubbing his bandage-covered chin.

"Agreed", nodded Mara, relief on her face. "I'm glad Spirit is out of harm's way and the foals are upstairs. If anything goes wrong, the Element Bearers -"

A knock at the door made both of them jump.

Priest opened the door. It was Twilight.

"Can I come in?", she asked politely.

"You can", said Priest and smiled briefly. "You are just in time, Princess. Mara and I were talking about our... situation." His voice went back to its usual raspiness.

Twilight blushed. "I figured that. I wanted to ask if you were all right?"

"Yes. Stop asking me that", said Priest in an annoyed tone.

"I'm just worried, we all are", stated Twilight, throwing a glance at Mara. "If the ghost comes back we are defenseless."

Priest frowned. "What? But the Elements - ?"

"Scratch the Elements", sighed Twilight. "We gave them back to the Tree of Harmony. And before you say anything else: Arcane Magic doesn't work on spirits."

"Great", groaned Priest.

Mara tilted her head. "How do you know that now?"

"Princess Luna visited earlier. She said that she knows of no magic that can vanquish the ghost."

"Oh dear", mumbled Mara, sitting down at the table.

Priest smiled wryly. "I know some magic that does. Unfortunately it's not... at our disposal right now."

Twilight's eyes widened. "Your Light magic?"

"Yeeeeaah", he confirmed slowly. "Bummer, huh."

The alicorn's frown deepened as she started pacing around the kitchen table. "But there must be some way to restore your magic! I know that we looked into what might have caused its disappearance but what if..."

Priest stretched out his arms. "Twilight! There's nothing we can do! Except stick to traditional means, I guess." He sat down on a chair next to Mara.

"Traditional?", asked Twilight and Mara at the same time.

"Traditional", said Priest, surprised by the sudden undivided attention of both mares.

Thanks, Vol'Shalai, he thought. They don't need to know old school exorcisms are more of a Troll shaman specialty.

"We gotta get some stuff for it. I can't heal or fight anymore buuut I think I can still bless stuff... I mean, the Light is not 'gone'..." He indicated quotation marks with his fingers.

Twilight blinked at him. "Would you mind explaining that?"

Priest straightened up and raised his voice a little. "That would take too much time. We need to be prepared if the ghost comes back."

"Which might happen pretty soon, according to Luna", added Twilight, producing a piece of parchment and a quill. "Go ahead, Priest."

"Okay, we need whatever we can get of the following: an ash branch - or holly or cedar, a sage flower, garlic, a bell, a piece of coal, a lamp - wait, I think I have one!"

He pulled the small lamp from his bag. "Scratch that item."

How did Celestia know I'd need it?, he wondered. Oh well, not important right now.

"My goodness, how do you know about all of those things? And why bring it up now?", said Twilight, looking up. "You said we needed to find out what the ghost wants."

Priest sighed. "Sure we do. But that doesn't work out so often. Remember what I said about the lost causes?"

Mara cleared her throat. "This is weird. Wouldn't Zecora know anything about anti-ghost-potions or something? She is an expert at that kind of thing."

Twilight shook her head. "I already asked her. She knows how to trap some spirits like the Nightmare's minions but this one's a different kind of spirit and way too dangerous for a single pony to deal with."

"So which of those things do you think you can get on short notice?", insisted Priest.

"Hm", mumbled Twilight. "I have garlic and a bell. There's no coal in the library, just normal wooden logs..."

"I might need to write on the floor", explained Priest.

"Oh." Twilight giggled awkwardly. "Then what about chalk?"

"That would work."

"Good", she grinned. "Let's see... A sage flower? No, sorry..."

Priest nodded. "How about the wood?"

Twilight blushed violently as she said slowly, "There's a small casket made of ash in my bedroom. I could get it..."

"It would have to be a stick or a small branch."

"Then: No, I don't have any of those."

"Not really a surprise", sighed Priest. "Fine, I guess that will have to do. I suggest we keep an eye on Derpy."

Mara nodded and rose from her chair.

"I'll get the items", offered Twilight. "Let's not tell the others unless we have to. I don't want to scare them prematurely."

"But what if she attacks us?", said Mara.

"We should try and draw her away from the other ponies", mused Priest. "Pull her aggr-, get her attention somehow."

"I'll try", said Mara, her expression as dark as the cloudy night sky.

"All right, let's join the others before they get suspicious", reminded Twilight.

I really hope that Priest knows what he is doing, she thought.


- - -


"Alright everypony, you all got your cards?", asked Derpy.

The others nodded. They were sitting in a circle in the main room. Priest had taken two pillows; it still was a bit uncomfortable but he had decided to shut up about it. Bowls of sweets and other delicious treats were spread between them.

"So", said Derpy, shifting in her seat while Rarity shuffled two piles of cards, "Mara and I made this game up but if it goes wrong we might have to change the rules a little. We never played with so many ponies before. Is that okay for you guys?"

Twilight smiled expectantly. "Sure." Applejack nodded and Rainbow Dash simply shrugged.

"Now look at the two stacks. There's doors and there is treasures..."

"I like where this is going", mumbled Priest into Pinkie's ear. She just grinned.


- - -


Two hours later they were telling ghost stories.

Rainbow's tale of the headless horse's latest victims was the scariest so far. Applejack's story about a strange crop-eating creature which was totally not a bat got interrupted by Fluttershy who stated that it was not really a ghost story. The cowmare grumbled but let Fluttershy tell another one. It was not creepy at all but no one stopped the nervous pegasus. Something about Applejack's story seemed to have struck a nerve and the cowmare refrained from any comments about Fluttershy's reaction to it.

When it was Priest's turn everyone was already hyped and excited.

"I'm not sure I should do this", said Priest, chewing on a pumpkin cupcake.

"Come on, you can do it!", Pinkie encouraged him.

He glanced at her. "Yes. That's why I'm worried", he explained.

Twilight hummed. "Maybe if you don't go too much into detail?"

He sighed. "That could work."

"Whoo-hoo!", cheered Rainbow Dash. "Bring it on!"

"Oh my", muttered Fluttershy.

"Are you all right, dear?"

"S-sure, Rarity, no problem. If it gets too scary I'll just say so."

Rarity nodded and turned to Priest. "So, what is your story about?"

"Fine, you asked for it." He sat upright and cleared his throat. "This is a ghost story from my world - actually the only one I can remember well enough to tell. It's about a woman that lived in a forest close to Lordamere Lake..."
> Level 19 - Lizzie
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The name of the place was Silverpine Forest. It's always been kind of dark in there with the tall trees and the hills. There was a lot of wildlife and you could go fishing on the edge.

Now there was a time when you could live off trading because Silverpine was on the route to the capital city, Lordaeron.

Okay, okay, enough Geography, here's what happened:

One day the woman whose name was Lizzy and who lived at the trading post halfway to the Gilnean Wall went out to pick some berries and when she came back there was a visitor waiting for her.

It was her brother. He'd been studying in Lordaeron. Magic, they taught it there. Yes, humans can do magic, too. He stayed with her for a while because times were getting a bit rough. People were talking of a plague spreading and so he'd decided to stay away from the city for a while. It was a trading post after all so people always came by and they didn't have to starve or anything.

Except they didn't know that part of the crops from the country had been infected with a potion that spread the plague. And they bought flour that was made from that wheat.

Exactly, he got sick. His sister didn't for some reason, not right away, but then she started seeing... strange things. Like shades walking around in the forest, especially when it got dark. And she had to go there to find food that wasn't infected with her brother being sick in bed and all.

So on one day when she returned, he was gone without a trace. Lizzy went around the hut to see if maybe he had gone to the stream to their fishing spot but he wasn't there either.

Then the shades came back.

But this time it wasn't just the shades and the fog. The air stank. Really bad, like rotten flesh.


- - -


You okay, Fluttershy? All right, fine; I'll continue.


- - -


So there is this smell and Lizzy thinks, 'I gotta get back to the hut, maybe my brother is already back', and she starts running.

She keeps running faster and faster because the shades start chasing after her. She can hear groans and the rustling of leaves and metal cutting the bark of the trees.

Lizzy runs as fast as she can but the shadows keep getting closer and when she's just about to reach the hut and open the door, she turns her head around.

The fog has cleared but the shadows are still there. And Lizzy can see that they are not actually shadows but people. Dead people. They stare at her with empty eyes and stretch out their arms to grab her.

And when they grab her and raise their blades she recognizes one of them: The one right at the front is her brother.

No, that's it.


- - -


Fine, I'll tell the rest, too. This is usually the moment when you stop, you know.

Okay, we wouldn't want anyone to piss themselves, I guess... Sorry, Fluttershy, I didn't mean it like that...


- - -


So Lizzy died and when she did, her soul rose from her body and looked around. She watched her brother kneel down at her body and cry and the other dead drop their weapons. They are confused and angry but they are not angry at her.

You see, they had been enchanted to do that and just after she died the curse had been lifted.

Yeah, you could say that, Applejack, some coincidence.

No, really, it was.

Shut up, Rainbow Dash.

Well, the dead wanted to go home but knew they couldn't anymore. Some went to reclaim the capital city, others roamed the land, eternal wanderers. Some went to the northern continent to take revenge on the one who had caused the curse.

Her brother stayed at the hut for some days, buried her body and mourned her.

After three days, he decided to go back to the city. When he went to her grave for the last time, he could see a reflection in the stream that was nearby. And when he looked into it, he could see the image of Lizzy. He was surprised and excited and scared - but when he looked again it was gone.

Nobody ever entered the hut again... I think it got burned down a while later.

They say that her spirit still haunts the Silverpine Forest... and when you go to the stream you might catch an image of her trying to run away from the shadows.
> Level 20 - One Track Mind
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"That's it", said Priest and crossed his arms.

Everypony stared at him as he shrugged and looked back.

Was it too much? I didn't got too much into detail but maybe it was still too gross. Fluttershy is looking a bit too shaken...

Twilight hummed thoughtfully while Rarity had a glance at Fluttershy who was shivering a bit. Rainbow Dash grinned excitedly, Applejack was tapping her chin, her eyes wide, and Pinkie Pie and Derpy were begging for more.

"Come on, another story! That was so intense!", cheered Pinkie.

"I have to concur", said Rarity, smiling at him. "You didn't exactly try to sound creepy or anything of the sort but it was certainly a thrilling tale."

"Tell me about it", added Applejack, "I wasn't that scared really, just excited, and I really thought she'd get away for a moment. That almost sounded as if you'd been there. It was kinda sad actually."

Priest could feel Mara's gaze boring into him. He turned to her and saw a deep frown darkening her expression.

"What?", he asked.

"Nothing", said Mara, averting her eyes. "I just... nevermind."

Derpy beamed at Priest. "That was awesome! Are you sure you don't know any other stories?"

He frowned, keeping his arms crossed. "Nope, no more stories from me."

"Come on, Derpy, I'm sure you've got a story", said Twilight. She shot a suspicious glance at Priest. "I'm sure you can think one up as well."

"'Think one up', huh", mumbled Mara to herself, almost inaudibly.


- - - 


The atmosphere grew happier as they approached Midnight. Derpy's story was actually pretty good. It involved some windigoes and a pegasus going on a quest.

When Rainbow Dash stifled the third yawn they decided to call it a night. Most ponies said their goodbyes and left, save for Rarity, Mara and Derpy.

Time Turner came downstairs, confirming that the Crusaders were asleep. Derpy rose to leave as well but Mara raised her hoof.

"Ditzy, please wait a moment..."

"Huh? Sure. What is it, Mara?"

"I'm going ahead, okay? See you later", said Turner and kissed Derpy on the cheek.

"Bye", she said, then turned to Mara.

Mara dug at the ground with her hoof, suddenly embarrassed. "I don't really know how to put this..."

"Pardon me, ladies", said Rarity as she went by, floating an empty tray over to the kitchen.

"I - uh..."

Derpy frowned. "Mara, whatever it is, you know you can tell me. I'm your friend."

The earth pony took a deep breath. "You ever wondered what caused the explosion at the party?"

"Of course I did. I think some spell misfired or something. There were unicorn foals..."

Mara slowly shook her head. "No. It wasn't a spell."

"Come on, just spit it out!", called Priest from the kitchen.

"I was getting there!", snapped Mara back at him. She turned back to Derpy, only to notice that the mare was getting seriously annoyed, indicated by the red and purple aura that engulfed her. "I actually saw what it was, Ditzy, and... it was a ghost."

Derpy rolled her eyes. "The storytelling's over, Mara. I'm not a foal anymore. Just tell me the truth, I won't mind."

"She is", said Priest, bending backwards to look at them through the doorframe. "Telling the truth, that is."

"Cut it out", hissed Mara.

"This is stupid. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate your help, but you don't need to sugarcoat that I was just -"

"Get down!", shouted Mara and pulled Derpy's head down.

The pegasus, a seriously annoyed expression on her face, winced. "Watch the wing!"

"Sorry", said Mara. "But she's here! Priest! Get your human flank over here!" To her relief the ghost had not charged yet. She had somehow expected it to attack them on sight. Instead, the blurred pegasus simply hovered a few feet away from them, gaping at the group.

"Who is here?", asked Rarity, approaching them slowly.

"Not over there!", hissed Mara.

Rarity's eyes widened. "What in the world is going on?" She did listen, though, and joined Mara and Derpy behind the table. 

We need to get her away from here now, thought Mara, staring at the spirit. It must look really weird, us cowering under the table with nothing in sight.

She rubbed her neck awkwardly. "I'll just go over to the kitchen for a sec- ah, thank Celestia, you're here!"

Priest hurried over to them, shoving some garlic into their hooves.

"What the hay?" Derpy stared at the bulb in her legs, one eyebrow raised.

"Don't let go of it", said Priest.

"Oookay..."

Mara glanced at her. "You better keep that garlic, Priest knows what he's doing. I think. What are you doing?", she inquired.

Priest produced a piece of chalk and quickly started drawing an accurate circle on the library floor, its diameter roughly half the room's length.

"That... should... do...", he mumbled, adding intricate letters the ponies could not read and gesturing over the circle. It responded with a faint golden glow. "Twilight?"

"Coming!"

With a magical pop, the alicorn appeared between Mara and Derpy, more garlic draped around her neck. Mara stifled a snort.

Twilight glared at her.

"Sorry", said Mara, "I know it's for our safety but we still look kind of stupid like this."

"I can't argue with that", admitted Twilight. She turned to Priest. "What now?"

"Uh, you better stay here with Derpy, she'll be safe in the circle."

Mara frowned at him. "What about m-me?"

Priest sighed, his eyes on the ghost. "Let's stick to the plan - watch out, she's moving again!"

Did our reaction confuse her?, he wondered. I bet she thought we couldn't see her.

Derpy turned to Twilight, shivering. "What are you talking about? Is there really a ghost?!"

Twilight nodded, biting her lip. She put a wing around Derpy. "Let's listen to Priest and wait here. He and Mara are the only ones who can see it. This time... I can't do anything", she concluded in a whisper. "I even forgot to get the bell..."

The pegasus raised her blurry forehooves, producing a glowing blue sphere. It grew to the size of a watermelon with a hiss, its heat blurring the pegasus's features even more.

"It's a missile! Move it, Mara, she's aiming at you!" Priest grabbed her hoof and pulled her out of the circle, towards the front door.

The pegasus pointed at both of them, releasing the sphere. It sped towards them, rotating and spraying blue sparks across the library floor. To Twilight's dismay, they burned small brown dots into the backs of several books.

Priest pulled the door open and he and Mara raced out of the tree and into the open. The sphere hit a bush next to them, burning it to a pile of ash.

Mara stared at the stain on the floor. "I dropped my garlic... Can't I stay in the circle?"

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea... But what else are we supposed to do to minimize the damage?" Priest grimaced with guilt. "Also, the circle keeps her out but not the missiles..."

The earth pony shrieked.

"Uh-oh", said Priest as he looked back at the oak.

The ghost rushed through the library wall, not bothering to use the open door. She glared at the two of them, anger distorting her face.

"We gotta get her outta here!" Priest pointed at the road that led out of Ponyville.

"But where?", shouted Mara, following the human.

"Somewhere without vegetation! Know a place?"

They ran around a corner. Another blue sphere crashed into the road, less than a cart's length behind them.

Priest thanked the Light for the ghost's low speed, rummaging in his bag at the same time.

There it was, the lamp!

"The train station! There's just earth and a...", Mara panted, "a bit of grass. This way!" She took a turn to the right. "It's not too far from here", she added.

"Good", wheezed Priest. "I can't run for much longer."

If I was thoroughly dead, he thought suddenly, there wouldn't be any breathing problems.

The frustrated ghost howled behind them; a screeching hiss that made their hair stand on end.

They arrived on the edge of town, leaving the houses behind. A train track became visible behind a small hill. It was surrounded by short grass, short enough that fire wouldn't be a problem.

"Right, I remember", mumbled Priest. They ran over to the railroad, stopping a few feet away.

"Do you have any fire?", he asked.

"What? No!", exclaimed Mara. "How should I, I'm an earth pony!"

Priest slapped his face. "So no lamp. Uh... what do we do?! I'm out of supplies! And ideas for that matter. Fuck..."

The pegasus loomed over them, growing. A wicked smile split her face.

"We could... talk to her", whispered Mara, her eyes on the ghost.

"Seriously?", hissed Priest. "Look at her, she's pissed! I'd rather exorcise her right away!"

She glared at him. "As you said: With what? Let's try it my way first, all right?" She straightened up, taking a firm stance.

She's got a point. If she buys us time, I might come up with something. "Fine - but get ready to run again."

The pegasus tilted her head, confused.

"H-h-hello", stammered Mara.

Another glowing sphere formed.

"I know we h-had a rough start but mmmaybe", Mara dodged the missile, "could you calm down and tell us what's bothering you? It's probably just a m-m-misunderstanding." She panted, this time out of fear.

The sphere hit the clock of the train station. It melted away, its glass exploding into tiny shards.

Priest who had jumped into the opposite direction and was now further away from Mara gave a thumbs up. She frowned at him, confused by the foreign gesture, then turned back to the pegasus who was summoning another sphere.

He glanced at the ghost. She was still looking freaking upset but at least Mara still seemed to have her attention. "Keep going!", he encouraged Mara.

"Again!", shouted Mara at the top of her voice. "Why are you doing this?! Why are you hurting my friends?"

To her surprise, the ghost answered. The voice sounded as if it came from everywhere at once, echoing in her head.

Not... your friend.

"Yes, she is! Ditzy's my friend", insisted Mara.

The ghost threw the sphere at her, missing her again.

Wow, she has a really bad aim, thought Priest.

Stay away from her!, hissed the ghost.

"No", spat Mara. "I won't let you do anything to her!"

Did... not do anything! The ghost rushed towards her, embracing the terrified earth pony.

The blue glow flared up and enveloped Mara like a blanket. Their features blurred together until the blaze made it impossible to distinguish between the two.

Priest wrung his hands, staring helplessly into the blinding light. It was the kind of thing you should not look at but aren't able to draw your attention from.

Oh Light, what the hell did I think? I have no plan, no weapon, no -

He took a deep breath and clenched his fists.

What do I have? I wish I could just summon the Light and do some righteous smiting right now...

The blue light faded, releasing Mara. She toppled over and collapsed on the ground.

"Mara!" Priest hurried over to her. He knelt down at her side and touched her shoulder to turn her head around. 

I shouldn't have listened to Mara, he thought desperately. We should have tried and exorcised the ghost right at the start!

A shiver ran down his spine when he saw her face.

The pony's mouth formed an odd expression, as if surprised. A little frown was still visible on her forehead. Her eyes were half open, staring lifelessly at something Priest could not see.

No.

How could this happen so fast? 

He started stammering incoherently, gently slapping Mara's cheek, then listened for her pulse. He prayed, stroked her mane, talked to her, not even aware of what he was saying, hoping for a response of any kind. He checked her pulse again.

Nothing.

The ghost was nowhere to be seen. There was just the girl he wasn't able to protect.

Priest dropped his hands. He suddenly felt very small.

Unable to utter anything anymore, he hugged Mara's limp body tighly, rocking her gently.


- - -


Mara is standing in a white mist.

She turns her head. "What is this? What's happening? - Priest?"

There is no answer. 

Mara looks at her hooves. She can't see the ground, there is only the white fluffy something that surrounds her.

"Is that... a cloud?"

She takes a few steps. The cloud shakes a little but she does not sink in or fall through it.

"This is amazing, I'm not even a... pegasus..." Mara's eyes widen.

"Is this a dream? Princess Luna? Are you there?"

"You won't find her here", says someone.

She spins around.

A pegasus looks at her, her long yellow mane and light blue coat faintly reminding her of Derpy.

"Please, tell me what's going on", pleads Mara. "How come I can walk on clouds?"

The mare approaches her, her mane floating a little like the Celestial Princesses' manes. Mara catches a glimpse of the pegasus's flank and notices a Cutie Mark that looks like a lightning bolt surrounded by three stars.

"It is because I can", says the pegasus.

"Why -"

"Stop asking questions!", snaps the mare.

Mara's ears splay back. "Tell me who you are!", she demands.

The pegasus glares at her with pale orange eyes.

Mara holds the gaze, sweating. She can't see the pegasus's aura. She has always been able to see them, getting an indication of what the others are feeling. Now, here, it is gone and Mara finds herself astounded by the fact that she misses her ability. She doesn't know whether the pegasus is angry or afraid. It's probably a bit of both.

Then, to her surprise, the strange mare lowers her head and looks away.

"My name is... Levinia."

She turns to Mara, confusion on her face.

"How could I forget?", she whispers.

Mara smiles shakily. "So you do remember now?"

"Yes", says Levinia, slowly stepping closer. She is now only a few noses away from Mara.

"This... is not just a cloud. It's my home."

She spreads her wings. The fog around them clears, revealing that they are standing in a room which is completely made of clouds. Mara looks around and recognizes a cloudy bed, a table, a cupboard and even a cloud bookshelf. She has no idea how the books stay on the shelf but remembers she had heard something about it when she had been a filly at school. Everything has a superior air to it, maybe because of the curls and ornamental shapes.

A large window takes up almost the entire side of the room.

Mara walks over to it, shaking a little.

She looks outside and can see a town made of white shapes. The beautiful houses tower above her, stretching as far as the eye can see. Cloud roads cover the space between the intricate structures. Pegasi walk on the fluffy roads, talking and going about their business. Mara spots rainbow colored waterfalls here and there.

"Cloudsdale", she realizes.

"This is how I remember it", says Levinia, stepping to Mara's side. "This is where we lived..."

"What happened?", asks Mara.

The pegasus frowns. "There was a day... when he didn't come home." She turns away, pacing in circles. It reminds Mara of Twilight. "They said it was an accident. They said that something of the sort hadn't happened in years."

She is silent, staring at the opposite wall.

Mara waits.

"My husband", continues Levinia. "He worked at the Rainbow Factory. The didn't even bother to retrieve his body. Said it had been 'lost'." Her voice is harsh, she spits the words out like poison. "Then, only a few days later, I almost lost my daughter, too. But it won't happen again. I will protect her from anything!" Her hair starts flowing more wildly as the pegasus's temper rises.

"I -", begins Mara, but Levinia interrupts her, her face red with anger as she comes nose to nose with her.

"Don't you dare to come close to my Ditzy ever again!"
> Level 21 - Interview With a Ghost
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Priest, his head low, gave Mara a light squeeze. The mare was as cold as as the valleys of Icecrown. A small sob escaped him.

He had been defeated several times before but this felt different. It was not about him. Mara had trusted him and this was what she got for it? He had failed her completely. Not only this, he had put her into danger once again, with fatal results!

It was not fair!

It was not fair for Mara who had been so young, younger than he had been when he had died. It wasn't fair for Spirit and all the friends that got left behind. And it definitely wasn't fair for Derpy who was now left defenseless. With the only pony gone who could talk to ghosts - what were they supposed to do? He did not trust himself to come up with anything anymore and he was not even sure what to say to the ghost.

The worst thing was that it reminded Priest of his own loss. Burying his sister had been hard enough and he had thought that the wound had healed a little. Seven years were a long time after all. He had even been able to talk about it for the first time today. It had felt like some kind of breakthrough even though he had been avoided to mention his own name.

It seemed he had been wrong. This road was so long he couldn't make out the end. 

If he had not gotten close to Mara she would probably still be alive. Why did he agree to let her talk to the ghost? What possessed him to trust in someone else's judgement in the first place? He should have just skipped the festivities, gotten the supplies for the exorcism and get it done by himself but no, he had to stay at the stupid library!

He knew that the pain would come later. If he was experienced in something, it was in burying people. Right now he just felt numb, exhausted and way too old.

Priest shook his head, absent-mindedly rubbing his nose, and staggered to his feet. The stupid bandages started to feel constricting. He impatiently ripped off some of the loose ends.

There was only one thing for him to to. He had to get Mara's body back to town.

Priest shuddered at the thought of how Spirit would react.

He stroked Mara's mane and prayed to the Light, asking it to show her spirit the way. A tiny glimmer of hope glowed in his chest for a moment, then, when Mara did not move or breathe, it died out again.

The human grabbed her legs and placed the mare across his shoulders. Her held her in place like a wounded soldier, testing his stance carefully. Mara's head bobbed a little, her mane falling into her face and mercifully hiding her empty eyes. When he was sure that he would be able to carry her, Priest slowly made his way down the road to Ponyville.


- - -


In the Golden Oaks Library an impatient unicorn, an intimidated pegasus and a determined alicorn sat in the middle of a magical barrier. Rarity tapped her hoof, reminding Twilight of Rainbow Dash. Usually the blue pegasus was the one who wanted action.

"Twilight, dear, for how long exactly are we supposed to stay in this circle? It's not that I mind the company of both of you but I am starting to get rather tired and under a table is not where I intended to be for the rest of the night."

"I don't know", admitted Twilight, surprisingly calm. "For as long as it takes Mara and Priest to banish the ghost, I think. We have to trust our friends with this one."

Derpy grimaced. "Come on, let's sit over here. It will probably be okay as long as we stay within the boundaries of that circle thing. No need to hide under the table."

Rarity and Twilight blushed. "Of course", said Twilight. "I'll get some tea." She closed her eyes and they could hear clinking sounds from the kitchen as the alicorn used her magic to brew tea from afar and float it close to them.

"Let me help you with this", said Rarity and summoned the teacups. "There, isn't that better?"

"Thanks, Rarity. This was starting to get really awkward..." chuckled Twilight.

Derpy smiled and accepted her cup. "Thanks."

All three of them raised their heads when someone knocked at the door.


- - -


Mara gapes at Levinia, dumbfounded.

"B-but she's my friend!"

The room is getting darker. 

Did the sun go down? No, it's the house itself, Mara realizes.

The cloud's shade shifts from white to rain grey; the window is getting narrower with every passing second.

Before Mara knows what is going on she is stuck inside a thundercloud.

Mara can feel her insides grow hot with anger. Blood rushes to her head as she points at Levinia.

"Who do you think you are?! Ditzy is not a filly anymore. She can choose with whomever she wants to be, mother or not! Her husband is a really nice pony and her daughter is bucking adorable! So quit your pretense and leave them alone yourself!"

Levinia's left eye twitches a little. "What?", she asks in a neutral tone, caught off guard. Her mane is still lashing around her wildly but the pegasus herself is not moving by an inch.

"She's an adult!", repeats Mara, a little calmer. "If you really are her mother, you should put more trust into her."

"Impossible!", claims Levinia. "She's ten years old! I swear by Celestia's mane!"

The earth pony canot help but grin desperately. "You better don't. This is so dumb. Didn't you look at her properly? Seriously, how can somepony confuse a filly with a grown mare?"

"Don't you try and play the smart one here, it doesn't suit you!", spits Levinia. "My eyesight hasn't been the best since the last accident." She lowers her gaze. "In fact, everypony is so blurry I'm surprised I can see you this clearly now. And I know how old my muffin is!" 

She has no idea she's dead, realizes Mara. She thinks she's just gotten bad eyes. Dear Luna! Do all ponies get this crazy when they die?

"Last accident? Are you still talking about your husband?", inquires Mara.

"What? Yes! No!" The pegasus is confused.

Mara steps closer, eyeing Levinia carefully. "What is the last thing you remember clearly?"


- - -


Priest walked down the main road, Mara's body becoming heavier on his shoulders. The bandages around his chin and cheeks felt oddly cold. He could not take them off without putting Mara down so he tried to ignore the itch and walk on. Nobody else was on the streets anymore. 

He shifted Mara's weight a little and tried to remember the way back to the library. He had to turn right at the next house. Probably. Priest had not really paid enough attention to where his feet were taking him.

What was he supposed to tell Spirit? And Twilight? Would she even allow him to stay? He knew that she was a trusting person but everyone had their limits. He had the feeling he had overstepped his boundaries when he had taken charge and messed it all up.

How could it all go so wrong? He had tried to remember what he had learned only to realize that he had completely ignored the fact he could not fall back on his magic anymore. It had always been rush in, cast spells, blast the bad guys and in case anything went wrong, trust the Light to fix it. It wasn't like he had a problem with wounds, food or breathing or-- 

Damn.

I really need to reorganize my priorities, don't I.

Priest's feet were starting to get numb. His arms were as heavy as lead. He couldn't even feel his shoulders anymore. Carrying a pony that weighed almost as much as a human for a few miles was not something you pulled off without breaking a sweat, he realized.

He had always made fun of the blood elves when they had asked other group members to carry their stuff. The truth was that they were the only members of the Horde with strength comparable to that of humans. Now he was getting a taste of his own medicine.

Shame made his insides burn as he realized that he was contemplating something like the weight of a pony's corpse. He should be sad or something but for some reason he kept analyzing everything from a distance, his thoughts going in circles. 

One more reason for Twilight to kick me out.


- - -


Twilight opened the library door with her magic. "How did it go - oh, hello, Spirit Rez."

The yellow unicorn stepped inside, a wiry, not too slim earth pony in his tow. The new arrival had a coat slightly brighter than grass, a short sky blue mane and tail, and brown freckles all over his body.

"Hello, ladies", said Spirit nonchalantly as the two stepped inside. "Uh... why is there a big glowy circle on the floor?"

Twilight winced. "It's a protective barrier. You better get inside it until Mara gets back."

Spirit and the earth pony looked at each other, then Spirit sighed, a pleading expression on his face. "Please don't tell me the ghost returned."

"It did", said Rarity. "Would you care for some tea, Mister – I'm afraid I did not catch your name?"

"Arcus Tangens", said the green stallion and entered the circle. He bumped hooves with the three mares like Spirit did, then looked around. Rarity noticed his Cutie Mark was a brown and white triangle, maybe signifying a mountain. "I don't think I've been here for quite some time. Since when has Golden Oaks been this big?"

"Since I came to Ponyville, I suppose", admitted Twilight, grinning sheepishly. She left it to Rarity to magic some more teacups from the kitchen onto the table, nodding thankfully. 

Arcus frowned. "I don't mean any disrespect, Princess Twilight, but I'm a bit surprised to find you..."

"In a library?"

He nodded, blushing a bit.

"Please, call me Twilight. You see, I initially moved to Ponyville to study friendship and I love books and learning. This is also a great place to invite friends so I accepted the Mayor's offer to stay here and work as a librarian."

"Ah", said Arcus, glancing at Spirit. "I haven't been in town much lately so I guess I missed some of the bigger news. Just knew a princess was in town but no specific details."

"Sorry to interrupt", said Derpy, "but don't you guys think we have other problems right now?"

"Right", Twilight called herself to order and straightened up. "In fact, the ghost did return. Mara and Priest lured it outside--"

"What?!", blurted Spirit, dropping his cup as his magic fizzled out. The dish fell onto the carpet, leaving a nasty green stain. Rarity twitched, trying very hard not to rush to the kitchen for tissues.

"I don't know what to say", stammered Twilight. "They told us to stay here and simply rushed out. Priest said to stick to the plan... but I have the feeling he wants to wing it somehow."

"Oh great", groaned Spirit, covering his face with both front hooves. "Where are they now?"

Twilight's ears splayed back. "I... I don't know. We'll have to wait for them."

"No way in tartarus!", stated Spirit. He turned on his heels, ready to leave. "Thanks for the tea."

"Wait!", pleaded Twilight but he was already out of the door.

"What do we do now?", asked Derpy, turning to the princess.

Twilight frowned, looking at Rarity for advice.

"We cannot let him go without backup", said Rarity in a businesslike tone. She rose to her feet, a determined expression on her face.

"That's true", agreed Twilight. "I don't expect you to accompany us, though", she added, turning to Derpy and Arcus Tangens.

"Seriously?", said Arcus, concern in his bright yellow eyes. "Rez and I are best friends, Twilight Sparkle."

The alicorn nodded. That was enough of an explanation for her.

"Let's go", said Derpy.


- - -
 

Levinia walks up and down the dark cloudy room. To Mara's relief, there is hardly any wind anymore, no lightning nor thunder either. It is just raining a little.

"I think we had a party. There were a lot of guests, friends and neighbors and lots of fillies and colts... it was Ditzy's tenth birthday!"

Mara nods, encouraging the ghost to go on.

"I was inside the house, chatting with... uch, I can't recall his name, some purple stallion with a rainbow mane... anyway, there's this sudden scream so we hurry outside to see what's happened", remembers Levinia.

She frowns, turning to Mara directly. "My little Ditzy fell off the yard."

Mara's eyes go wide. "Oh my goodness."

Levinia nods. "Naturally I dived after her to catch her. I only managed to get her just above the ground." She smiles widely. "There wasn't a scratch on her. It was the shock of my life."

"What about you?", probes Mara.

"Hm... I can't really seem to remember", says Levinia and shrugs. "But I'm fine now so what's to worry?"

Mara shakes her head. "I don't think you are fine", she explains slowly. "So that's the last thing you remember clearly?"

"Yes, I already said that", hisses Levinia impatiently.

The rain is getting heavier. Mara tilts her head upwards, the water dripping onto her muzzle. Some of the drops get onto her lips and she licks them off.

They are salty. It is raining salt water.

"This can't be right", mumbles Mara.

"What is this?", demands Levinia. She is wincing every time a raindrop hits her. Her tail is flicking irritably. "What are you doing?"

"It's just rain", says Mara. "It's admittedly a bit salty but it's not like it's going to hurt us or anything..."

"No way. It's like the sky is crying..."

Soaking wet, Levinia spins around and around, trying to figure out why the drops are hurting her. "Mara, please stop it!"

"I'm not doing this!", claims Mara. "I'm an earth pony, I can't make it rain! I can't even walk on clouds... M-maybe it's because this is a dream!"

"It's not a dream!", snaps Levinia. "It hurts like fire! Make it stop! Please!" Tears are streaming down her face. The pegasus is shivering in her desperate dance, her eyes wide with fear.

"I'm sorry! I don't know how! I'm sorry!" Mara looks around. "Please, somepony help...", she mutters. She tries to walk towards Levinia but she can't. The cloud is getting thinner.

"Uh-oh", mutters Mara, realizing that the rain has come directly from the cloud they are standing on. She can already see some green and brown patches shimmering through the mist beneath her hooves.
> Level 22 - Hello, Ground
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Priest! There you are!" Twilight's cheerful voice made Priest stop dead in his tracks. The alicorn ran towards him, Rarity, Spirit and some other stallion running alongside her. Derpy was flying next to them, keeping up with a little difficulty.

Spirit was the first one to recognize whom the human was carrying.

"Mara! What's going on here? What's happened to you?"

The other ponies slowed down as they realized something had gone wrong. Priest wondered why the green earth pony stallion didn't freak seeing a human, then remembered seeing him at the party. He had been standing in the background somewhere.

Mara did not reply. Priest looked at the ground, unable to meet Spirit's eyes. He opened his mouth. When nothing came out, he cleared his throat and tried again. "Sh-she tried to talk to the ghost. It kept attacking us." His voice was raspier than ever.

He knelt down to put Mara on the ground, then rather collapsed than sat down at her side. Spirit rushed over to them, almost toppling Priest over to get to his marefriend.

"Wait!", objected the human, his arm outstretched to keep the stallion away. "She's -"

Spirit brushed Mara's mane out of her face and gaped at her in disbelief. He fell onto his rump, his mouth slightly open. Priest could almost see something shatter inside the unicorn.  Spirit's lower lip quivered as he kept staring at Mara's empty eyes.

Twilight and the other mares gasped in unison. Rarity dashed over to Mara and bowed down to listen for a pulse.

"Is she...?" Derpy's eyes started to water up. 

Rarity shook her head, her face unreadable. She staggered away from the body, her legs shaking. 

"Oh dear", whispered Twilight, her eyes darting around, looking for help, looking for a clue. "What do we do? What do we do?"

Priest, still sitting on the ground, sniffed. "You can leave that to me. If you want." He still wasn't looking up.

"You've done enough!", snapped Spirit suddenly as he frowned at Priest, his ears down.

Now the human raised his head. He looked directly at Spirit and simply said, "I'm sorry." He knew that nothing he said would be enough but he had to voice his regrets anyway.

"Now wait a minute", said Twilight. "Nopony said it was your fault." Even to herself it sounded feeble.

"Please... don't make it worse", said Priest and stood up. "I don't know where the ghost is now but she did something to Mara. I couldn't stop her. To be honest, I couldn't do anything really." He sniffed again.

There's no use in stalling, he thought. "I better go soon", he added, impatiently removing his bandages. He had enough of disguises. Nightmare Night was ruined anyway. "Gotta see if she is still at the train station."

Rarity gasped. "P-Priest, your eyes..."

Priest ripped the last pieces of white cloth off and rolled the fabric into a tight ball. He looked at Spirit, guilt etched into his face. When the stallion didn't move, Priest tossed the ball aside and knelt down again – fuck the pain from carrying the body – to close Mara's eyes.

He could still feel a gaze boring into his back. Priest turned to see it was Rarity's.

"What?"

The white unicorn mare trotted over to him. She tilted her head to get a better look at Priest's face. Her brow furrowed as her eyed were fixed on him as if she was seeing it for the first time. She sniffed but could not help but observe, "Did they not glow before? And your complexion! It -"

"Who cares about my face?" Priest turned back to Mara, stroking her cheek with his thumb.

He's saying Goodbye, thought Rarity. Dear Celestia, he isn't even hesitating to touch her.

The human never flinched. The fashionista noticed the ease which only comes to you when you practice a movement many times. His gaze was distant, as if he wasn't looking at Mara but seeing someone else instead.

Derpy walked over to the statue that was Spirit and hugged him carefully. She stammered soothing words, trying to make him snap out of his trance.

Twilight and Arcus joined Rarity and Priest.

"Let us h-help you", said Twilight. "Come on, Arcus..."

Arcus simply nodded affirmatively. 

As expected, mused Priest. Spirit hates me but is too shocked to focus on it, Twilight is promoting the Magic of Friendship and the others try to make the best of it. I guess I should, too... even though I don't think there's a way of making it right ever again.

Oh, Light, I can't believe I messed up so bad! There's no way to make up for it. I just wished I could do something to comfort Spirit. He doesn't deserve this... and if I could save Mara... but without your help I'm useless.

Just pick her up, then, and get her inside... 

Why did you leave me? I know I'm not worthy but this is not about me! I don't care what happens to me now but can't you please spare Mara?

Priest squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. He shuddered as he realized he could not stall any longer.

Focus, get it together...

"Fine", he said and tried once again to lift Mara.

"Wait, what's this?", wondered Arcus.

Priest wiped his face with his left hand, his right arm already supporting Mara, and examined his wet fingertips. "Tears, I guess. Now shut it and help me -"

"No, not the tears", insisted Arcus, pointing at Mara. "Look!"

Priest almost dropped Mara when a shiver ran through her body.

"What's that glow?", Arcus asked again.

"It's some kind of magic but I've never seen it before", muttered Twilight. "Priest, is that the Light?"

A tiny smile crept onto his face. "Yes."

"But... how is that possible?"

I don't care, he thought, surprised that it had returned... even though it seemed he wasn't able to focus it actively. "I don't know."

The faint golden glow encased Mara's entire body. By the look on the ponies' faces, they could sense its warmth despite it being very dim. Priest felt himself relax a little. He didn't even feel any pain which was most likely the reason he hadn't noticed the Light right away. This could only mean something good.

"Thank you", he whispered. Now the glowing warmth left his body as well but a feeling of peace remained.

Mara's legs twitched a little; her chest started moving. She was breathing again.

Spirit snapped out of his daze, shivering all over. "Mara!", he whispered. "My stars!" He squeezed his barrel between Twilight's and Arcus's, impatiently trying to get closer to Mara.


- - -


Two mares are falling to the ground from a height of roughly five hundred feet. The air is as cold as ice, draining their bodies of all their heat. One of them is screaming and wildly flailing her legs around.

"Levinia, help!", screams Mara over the howl of the wind. "You're a darn pegasus, do something!"

"Hold on!", shouts Levinia, struggling to stabilize her own fall with her wings. "I'm trying!" She manages to turn her fall into a controlled dive, flapping her wings hard to get closer to Mara.

"I almost got you! Just look at me, muffin!"

They are almost down now. Mara is rotating helplessly. As she is facing the ground that is hurling towards her at an incomprehensible speed she can already make out single branches of the trees below.

A blinding light forces her to close her eyes. She doesn't really mind. Her throat is raw from the screaming and she really does not want to see when gravity subtracts a dimension from her shape.

"Ditzy, NO!", screeches Levinia at the top of her voice and puts all her strength into a last desperate dash.

She doesn't make it.

Mara can't feel any impact. Instead, the light engulfs her until everything is white.


- - -


"Oh, Mara, Mara", sighed Spirit. "What are you doing?" Everyone relaxed a little, relief spreading on their faces. The unicorn hugged Mara, crying openly. "You're gonna be okay, sweetie, you're gonna be okay."

Twilight stood up and declared, "I'm going to get Zecora. She'll know a brew to help Mara back on her feet."

"Wait", said Spirit. "You don't have to." He lit his horn, casting a spell on Mara. "I got this."

"H-how...?", asked Derpy.

"Something that will lift her spirits. It's my special talent", answered Spirit, a hint of mirth in his teary eyes.

Rarity covered her mouth with her shaking hooves. "Thank Celestia, she's still alive! She's alive..."

Twilight nudged Priest with her elbow, frowning a little despite the sudden turn of events. "Something must have protected her. Do you have an idea what it could have been?"

Spirit's light blue aura encased Mara for a few seconds, then he let go of the spell and it faded again. "There."

"...Salt", muttered Priest.


- - -


The light fades away and Mara finds herself standing on a meadow. The green hills stretch to the horizon, a few trees growing here and there. It looks peaceful and quiet, almost too quiet.

No birds, realizes Mara. Something must have startled them. 

"What?" She turns her head and finds that Levinia is a few steps away from her. The pegasus is sitting on the ground, bending over something Mara cannot see, rocking back and forth.

Mara's ears splay back. "Levinia?"

She trots over, throwing a glance at her surroundings. She can make out a huge patch of clouds in the sky – Cloudsdale.

I'm still not dead, thinks Mara. This is totally something like a dream. Still, I should check if she's okay.

"Levinia!", she cries, running over to the weeping pegasus. "Are you all right?"


- - -


"Excuse me?", asked Rarity.

"Salt", repeated Priest, a little louder. "I'm a fucking idiot. I completely forgot the simplest of means to repel a ghost." He shrugged, hopelessly embarrassed. "Tears contain salt."

Twilight facehooved at that, shaking her head. After taking a deep breath, she admitted, "Well, I'm glad you remember it now. It looks like it's been a close one for Mara, a really close one. I'm also glad you can cry."

He nodded and wiped his nose, smiling a little. "Yeah. Never thought I'd say this, but me too."

Spirit let loose a small hysterical laugh. "Awesome."


- - -


"I'm so sorry", says Mara. She is now close enough to see what is lying in the high grass.

Levinia turns her head. "Me too", she says.

On the ground lies a pegasus, her neck broken, her right wing and a leg bent at an unnatural angle. Mara recognizes her in an instant. It's Levinia.

There are some differences, of course: This Levinia's hair is not floating, the mane ruffled and unkempt from the gusts of wind on the way down. Her features are not blurry at all. She simply looks like a regular pegasus.

She is looking rather peaceful for somepony who has just fallen to her death, muses Mara.

An unconscious young Ditzy is lying next to Levinia. Her chest is moving, shallow breaths the only noise besides the wind in the grass and the sobs of Levinia's spirit.

The grey pegasus has survived the fall. Her mother has not.

"How long?", asks the distraught mare, looking up to Mara.

"Ditzy's turning twenty-nine in two weeks."


- - -


"Come on, guys, let's go somewhere warmer", suggested Arcus, stretching a hoof out to Spirit to help his buddy up. The stallion took the hoof, shakily getting back on his own feet. "Thanks, Arc."

"Sure. I'm just glad Mara's still alive!"

"Or again..." Twilight carefully took Mara into a floating bubble of magic and nodded. "Priest, what do you think?"

"Sh-she's looking stable for now. I guess we should just... return to the library and get her comfortable."

Rarity and Derpy nodded, still looking confused and shaken.


- - -


"My filly, my brave little filly", weeps Levinia. "I'm so sorry I dragged you into this, Mara! I had no clue! My little Ditzy - I almost killed her!" Mara hugs her, lost for words, and lets the mother cry on her shoulder. The distraught mare keeps muttering, regret and shame blubbering out as she tells Mara over and over how sorry she is.

They stay like this for a while until Levinia has cried enough. Then she leans back from Mara, wiping her muzzle. "Oh Celestia, I'm so embarrassed."

The earth pony smiles at her. "It's a little too late for that, I'm afraid. And before you say anything else", she holds up a hoof as Levinia opens her mouth, "I do forgive you. And I'm sure that Ditzy is very thankful that you saved her life that day. She even told me that once. Don't worry, she'll be okay. Time Turner and I will look out for her. I promise!"

After a moment of hesitation she adds, "You should see your granddaughter, she makes an awesome Cutie Mark Crusader. She's been wearing a totally cute zombie costume this Nightmare Night."

Levinia gives a weak laugh, the first sign of happiness Mara has ever seen on her.

"Thank you", she whispers.

Mara just nods, feeling exhausted.
> Level 23 - Levinia's Decision
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Here we go", said Twilight, carefully floating Mara onto the couch. The earth pony was still unconscious; her face had regained some color, though. She was breathing regularly, much to Spirit's relief. The stallion did not leave her side for a second.


- - -


"How is she doing?", asked Rarity. She joined Spirit and threw a worried glance over his shoulder at Mara.

He sighed. "She's still not waking up."

"I see. Well, please tell me should anything happen. I'll be outside."

"Okay."

Rarity nodded at Twilight who was bringing a blanket for Mara and trotted out of the library.

Spike was already upstairs, fast asleep. Rarity wondered how he would react when he would come downstairs in the morning and see the drawings on the floor.

Arcus Tangens had also left, muttering something about his wife killing him. After checking up on Spirit once again, he had promised to return in the morning.

Derpy just sat on a pillow in the corner of the library, her eyes on Mara, and said nothing. She seemed to be in deep thought, chewing her lip now and then and completely ignoring her half empty cup of tea from earlier.

As Rarity left Golden Oaks she could make out a tall shilouette sitting next to a pile of ash. It was close to the oak's roots. Tthe bush had been hiding a small basement window which was now completely visible. A faint light shone through it; maybe Twilight had forgotten to blow out a candle downstairs.

"Priest?" Rarity stepped into the shadows, inching closer to the shape.

The human didn't answer; he just sat on a large root of the tree, staring at the former bush.

"Priest."

He shifted his weight a little, humming to confirm he had hear her.

"What are you doing out here? It's really late - almost early. You'll catch a cold."

"Whatever."

Rarity, taken aback, huffed and leaned over the pile of ash, inspecting the stain. There had to be something she could talk about to make him loosen up a little.

I wonder what really happened at that train station, she mused. He's behaving as if he willingly put Mara in danger. But she's a grown mare after all, and as harsh as it may sound, he's not a ponysitter.

Poor Mara... oh Sun, please let her be okay... Wait, did I just pray? It seems that Priest is rubbing off on me.

"What is this? Wasn't there a shrubbery before?"

"Yeah. The ghost burned it."

"Oh."

The awkward silence started to stretch until Rarity couldn't take it anymore. She sat down next to the human.

At least he didn't shift away from her.

"Won't you tell me what's bothering you?"

"No, not really."

She sighed. This is going to be an even longer night, it seems.

"Priest, I'm your friend. You can trust me. I won't pry but I am really worried. Ever since Mara got attacked, you have been acting strangely. I just want to make sure that you are alright. But anytime you're ready", she added when he didn't react.

She stood up. "See you inside, yes?" Rarity made her way back to the door when Priest finally spoke up.

"I'm sorry."

"It's alright, you did your best. I'm sure Mara will be right as rain in no time." She gave him a smile.

"Maybe. It's not as if I could help her with it."

"Oh for goodness sake, human, you can't blame yourself for everything!"

He ran a hand through his hair and let out a long sigh. "How's the pegasus?"

"Derpy? She is waiting for you to come back, I think. The ghost still hasn't reappeared. Please, just join us for a little while?"

Her pleading eyes drew another sigh from Priest. "Fine, I'm coming..." He got to his feet and stretched his arms, only to stop the exercise with a wince.

"Agh, dammit!"

"Are you hurt?"

"Nah, it's... from carrying Mara."

"I see. Pray tell, how come you are not wearing that cloth over your face anymore? You look tired, no offense, but not half as pale as a few days ago."

"Oh right, that's some weird thing. For some reason I've been healing up recently. The cheek's much better now."

"What do you mean, better?"

"Existent."

"Oh." Her eyes widened. "Oh!" She shook her head, trying in vain not to imagine his face without skin. "Ugh. Ah, I am glad you are feeling better now... given the circumstances, of course."

Priest frowned. "Maybe you're right about the getting a cold thing."

She grinned. "Come on, let us go inside and see how our friend is doing."

He nodded and smiled sadly. "Right."

It seems it was the right choice to look after him, thought Rarity as they entered the library. He looked so downcast it was hard to bear. If only I could cheer people up like Pinkie Pie... Oh well, it's no use, she's not here - so it is I, Rarity, who will show him that he is still welcome. Starting with making him a new outfit tomorrow. If what he says is right I can switch to shorter sleeves this time. So many new possibilities... Oh Celestia, I hope I'm on the right track with this idea!

She stopped and gasped when she saw what was transpiring inside.

"What in the name of..."

Mara was a few feet above the ground, surrounded by a blue mist that was streaming out of her mouth like breath on a winter's night. The cloud grew in size, swirling around and pulsing with a strange glow.

"Twilight! What's happening?", screeched Rarity, aghast.

"I don't know!", replied the alicorn. "Priest, have you ever -"

"No."

Before they could decide what to do, the mist stopped pouring from Mara and formed into a ponylike shape. They could only make out blurry outlines – just enough to realize that the shape was now holding Mara in its hooves. It floated down to the floor and set her down on the couch once again, then reshaped a few feet away, waiting and watching.

Mara's eyes fluttered and she let out a groan. Spirit stroked her mane as she slowly regained consciousness. She was a little cross-eyed at first, then she managed to focus again. Twilight gasped and rushed over to her, always eyeing the floating shape of blue mist.

Rarity decided to stay back, there were enough ponies crowding Mara as it were. She could hear Priest's sigh of relief and closed her eyes for a second, thanking whatever was listening for Mara's release.

"Spirit?", asked Mara, squinting her eyes at her coltfriend.

"Y-yes?"

She smiled and threw a glance at the blurry shape. "I'm glad you're okay", she said, "but I need to take care of something." Her tone was quiet but firm.

"You do?" Spirit was confused.

She nodded at the cloud.

"So what will you do now?", she asked as if continuing an ongoing conversation.

Oh my, is that actually the ghost?, thought Rarity. Is this how Mara sees it? How can she stand it, it looks really disturbing. She shuddered. All that floating mist, and this blue glow! I'm not sure I could take seeing things like that on a regular basis. Why can we see it now anyway?

"Is it safe?", she blurted out, hinting at the fuzzy spirit.

Mara nodded. "Yeah, I think so. Everypony, I want you to meet Levinia."

The cloud moved an appendage up and down that looked like a hoof.

"Er, Mara, why can we see it – her – now?", asked Twilight.

"Maybe because it's the witching hour of Nightmare Night", assumed Priest. "The veil doesn't get any thinner than this time of the year."

"I see."

Spirit frowned at the ghost. "Don't tell me it's you who did this to Mara!" He stepped closer to the spirit, who retreated at the same speed that Spirit approached her.

"Wait!", pleaded Mara. "You don't know the whole story!"

He looked back at her. "What do you mean?"

The earth pony smiled sadly. "We had a long talk. Turns out that it was a misunderstanding. Levinia attacked other ponies because she thought they were a threat. She's very, very sorry for hurting them, especially her daughter."

"Daughter?" Twilight tilted her head. "Care to elaborate a bit more?"

Mara opened her mouth but was interrupted by somepony else.

"Mom?", asked Derpy with a tiny voice, staring at the cloud.

The ghost nodded.

"Mara, what's happened to her?", asked Derpy, fear and hope in her eyes.

"She... she gave her life when she saved you from falling. Can you remember anything about it?"

Derpy nodded slowly. "I only remember that was the last time I saw you, Mom", she said directly to the ghost. "Dad said I should be brave and that you p-proved to be the best mom ever..." She broke into sobs and hiccuped into her hooves. 

Rarity trotted over to her and hugged her. "Oh darling, I am so sorry", she muttered to her.

Levinia floated down to the crying mare, stretching out a hoof. She hesitated, then pulled it back again.

I can't do it. I have cried for missing her so much... but the feeling remains that I should not touch her anymore. Hopefully she will get better eventually... my precious daughter.

Priest, who had been quiet during Mara's revelation, tipped Levinia on the shoulder. He was able to see her clearly so he wasn't left to guessing which part of her was which.

The ghost jumped, startled by the unexpected touch, and hissed.

"Sorry", said Priest.

Ah, you just surprised me, sighed Levinia. What did you want to say?

"To repeat Mara's question: What are you gonna do now?", asked Priest.

Levinia sighed, audibly only to Mara and Priest. I don't know. Now that I have no more purpose I am a little scared. What does a ghost usually do in that kind of situation? She grinned sheepishly.

"Er", was Mara's comment to that.

"Why are you looking at me?", said Priest.

Twilight frowned, looking from Mara to Priest and back. "Could you please include us in the conversation?"

"Oh, right", said Mara, shaking her head.

Derpy looked up, as curious as the other ponies.

"She's asking whether anypony has a clue about what to do... in the afterlife", she finished lamely.

"That might be a question for someone more experienced", mused Twilight.

"Excuse me?", grunted Priest.

"Actually, I was referring to Princess Luna."

"Oh."

"Anyway", said the alicorn to Levinia, "I think it is your decision to make. It's your... death." She blushed.

The ghost floated silently around the room, pondering that.

Now that I am healed, I would like to help others to get better, too, she concluded. I know now that Ditzy is safe, she smiled, and I won't regret leaving her to live her life in Ponyville. Maybe I could wander the world and see if there's other spirits who need help.

Priest nodded and smiled a little. "That sounds good."

"What did she say?", reminded Rarity.

"She wants to travel Equestria and heal other spirits", repeated Mara.

Twilight beamed. "That's a very generous decision. What do you think, Ditzy?"

The grey pegasus smiled through her tears. "Yeah. Thanks for looking after me, Mom. I know you meant well. I promise I'll never forget you."

Levinia smiled and nodded. Goodbye, my little muffin. I love you forever. She turned her head to Priest and Mara. If you ever need my help, I'll be there. Just call my name, all right?

Mara nodded, her mouth slightly open. "O-okay."

Everypony gasped when the spirit glowed even brighter, then rushed out through the crack of a window.

"Wow", commented Spirit. "Who'd have thought. Thank goodness you're okay!" He kissed her again.

Derpy smiled. "Thank you for saving us. Including Mom." She blushed.

Mara hugged both of them, grinning. "I'm just glad the nightmare is over. You have no idea how scary it was when I was in that cloudhouse..." She pulled her hooves back and frowned. "I don't really know how I managed to be so calm in the end. But Levinia was so sad, I just had to help..."

"Uh, sorry to interrupt", said Priest, but you might wanna look at your butt for a second."
> Level 24 - Debriefing
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The situation turned a little awkward when everyone present looked at Mara's flank for a few moments, including herself.

Finally, Spirit broke the silence by saying, "Congratulations!" and grinning at Mara.

"Thank you", mumbled the embarrassed pony but could not help but grin as well. "It sure took me long enough..."

"So... what does it stand for exactly?", asked Priest. "I've read a book on Cutie Marks but since each pony has a different one, I am kinda at a loss here."

"Oh", beamed Mara, "I think it represents my ability to see auras and communicate with spirits!"

"It is certainly looking rather impressive", observed Rarity, stepping a little closer.

Twilight, also smiling, said, "I've never seen any Mark like it. Congratulations, Mara!"

Mara's Cutie Mark was the picture of a flame, dark blue on the outside and light blue in the center, with tiny sparks surrounding it. The flame's shape was irregular, as if a gust of wind was upsetting it.

"It's pretty cool", agreed Derpy. "Don't you think this means we should celebrate? I mean, I've been reunited with my mom  and since there hasn't ever been a Cuteciñera for M-"

"Did somepony say party?"

The high-pitched voice of Pinkie Pie made everyone jump and Priest assume a defensive stance until he realized who it was and relaxed. His chest was throbbing, a weird sensation he couldn't place.

Mara's grin became even wider when she registered Pinkie's green aura was bubbling in a bright orange at the egdes, indicating that the pink pony was excited and happy for her.

"Light, Pinkie, scare the crap outta us, will you!"

"Sorry, Priest, I was just walking by to check if anypony is still celebrating because I heard some explosions and thought, hey, that might be a party cannon or something like that and then I saw the bush in front of the library had been turned to ash -"

"What?!"

"Oh, didn't you do it, Twilight? ...So anyway, I wanted to knock at the door but then I saw those strange blue lights shining out of the library window and some weird noises as if Princess Luna talked into a rusty pipe in a reeeeally loud voice, now that was kinda scary but if it is something scary you have to look after your friends, right? When I came inside, the light was already gone again and then you were all so happy but obstructed the view but now I can see you have got your Cutie Mark, Mara, congratulations, this is neat, we so have to celebrate this but maybe tomorrow when everypony is rested, there's still lots and lots of leftovers from today so it won't be any trouble at all, what do you say about three o'clock at Sugarcube Corner?"

There was a moment of silence until Mara had registered what Pinkie had been saying at that trademark speed of hers, then she agreed, "Sure, why not. But please don't call it a Cuteciñera, that would be kind of awkward..."

"Oh", mused Pinkie, "then how about 'Cutienitiation'?"

Mara winced and Priest and Spirit exchanged amused looks.

"Cutesday? Cuteuation?"

"Those actually sound worse", commented Spirit.

"Yeah, maybe we should just call it a party", suggested Priest.

"Okie dokie lokie!", beamed Pinkie Pie. "See you tomorrow then, I can feel my sugar going down with every second, it's really time to hit the hay, byyye!"

She hugged Mara, then waved at the others and bounced outside with slightly less energy than usual.

Mara shook her head. "Any reason for a party will do."

"She's Pinkie Pie, she just wants us to be happy", said Twilight and smiled. "Anyway, I guess we really should go to bed. I'm still surprised how we managed to get through this relatively unharmed... but it's almost two in the morning and there's been way too much excitement tonight."

Nobody objected.


- - -


Five minutes later the bit dropped and Priest realized that it had been his heartbeat that caused the pulsating sensation. He sat down on the couch, curiously feeling his wrist.

Yep, there it was.

lub-dub lub-dub lub-dub lub-dub...

Weird. Weird! This would take some getting used to...

He shook his head and got ready for bed.


- - -


Spike sloppily descended the stairs, his eyes half closed. He knew the way down so well that he didn't really need to look where he was going.

As the baby dragon passed Priest who was snoring on the sofa, he smirked a little.

The human's right leg was dangling off the side of the couch, his foot touching the ground and twitching a bit.

He looks like he's dreaming, thought Spike.

A narrow ray of sunshine shone through the curtains and Spike could see the tiny smile on Priest's lips. The human mumbled something and shifted his weight a little.

Spike's smirk grew wider as he entered the kitchen. Better to keep the curtains closed. It had been a long night but most likely longer for the adults.

He opened the fridge, looking for some milk. There was still half a gallon left in the ceramic milk jar. Spike reached for the milk and frowned. Why were there so many leftovers? Didn't Twilight usually give another round of snacks to everypony around midnight?

It was weird... but maybe something had come up.

Spike shrugged and prepared some cereals, spiced with gem powder. Today it was going to be rubies. The light pink ones, of course, Twilight may be a princess but she wouldn't spend hundreds of bits just on her assistant's breakfast. Spike didn't really mind – they had some inclusions but were still really tasty. A bit like brown sugar, actually... not that you could see the inclusions in a fine powder like this.

He sat down at the kitchen, not waiting for Twilight or Priest to join him. Spike was used to having breakfast on his own on the morning after Nightmare Night.

He munched quietly, comtemplating his tasks for the day when he heard a familiar voice.

"Who."

"Oh, morning, Owliscious! You okay?"

"Who," said the owl who had settled down on the kitchen counter next to the cookie jar. The times when Twilight had to hide it on the top of the cupboard had been over for a while now.

"Good, me too. Is Twilight awake yet?"

"Who?"

"Thought so. Oh well, I better get started with cleaning up. The only problem is: Priest is still sleeping..."

"Who", agreed Owliscious. He tilted his head.

"What, you mean I should start anyway? Yeah, I guess you're right, he probably won't wake up. Did you hear his snoring? Sheesh."

Spike cleaned his bowl and returned it to its place on the cupboard. The spoon went into the kitchen sink. He'd clean it later with the other cutlery Twilight would be using.

"All right, let's go. I suppose you want to go to sleep pretty soon, huh?"

"Who." Owliscious flapped his wings, flying into the main room. It seemed that he wanted to show Spike something.

Spike followed him, then headed for the broom closet.

"Okay, broom: check", he mumbled.

"Lights", he went over to the switch and turned it on, "...check. Oh, come on!"

He stared incredulously at the mess in the main room. He didn't remember the party going this far out of hand. Candy was spilled all over the floor. There was a scorch mark on the carpet that could only be fixed by buying a new carpet. For some reason bunches of onions were laid out on the table.

"Twilight, where have you been with your head?", mumbled Spike irritably.

"Whooo."

The worst part was a giant circle on the floor. Fortunately, it seemed to have been made with chalk but the sheer size of it promised at least an hour of scrubbing.

Spike uttered a resignated groan and put the broom away. This was calling for more desperate measures.


- - -


A shining city sits on the side of a mountain, its glory visible for miles. It is the home of the two most powerful alicorns in the world, the sisters that raise and lower the celestial bodies. It is also home to thousands of unicorns, earth ponies and pegasi, all adoring and gladly following the Diarchy. Countless spires pointing to the sky, countless arches and almost as many domes, gleaming in the bright morning light.

Princess Luna is sitting on the balcony of the astronomy tower, her eyes on the roofs of Canterlot, when a shuffling sound from behind her makes her perk an ear.

She turns her head to see a human standing next to the balcony doors. Luna slightly bows her head to greet him, then beckons him to join her.

Greetings, Jonathan.

Hello, Princess Luna. Uh... why am I in Canterlot?

You are not.

Oh, realizes Priest, I'm dreaming again, aren't I? 

Indeed. I am glad to see that you are unhurt. Did you succeed in vanquishing the spirit? She smiles at him expectantly.

About that... He wrings his hands, unsure what to say.

Jonathan?

No. Not exactly. He grimaces, rubbing his neck.

I do not understand. Did you or did you not defeat it?

We... ah, Mara and I drew her out of town and Mara... convinced her to stop haunting Der- um, Ditzy.

The princess frowns. Are you saying that it still roams the Waking Plane. It is more of a statement than an actual question.

Yeahhh... She said she was sorry so we kinda... dropped the issue. Is that going to be a problem? I mean, we couldn't come up with anything else since we were focused on trying not to get burned to a crisp -

As Luna keeps looking at him, he closes his mouth.

Curious indeed.

Princess?

Luna smiles at him. It is quite all right, she says, rising to her feet. My sister would certainly agree that the two of you made the right choice by not destroying her and befriending her instead.

Uh, we didn't exactly - 

Hush! Let me finish. I could sense someone wanted to speak to me. That is why I allowed you into my dream.

Your dream? I thought I was asleep.

So am I, Jonathan. Are you not aware that it is well past sunrise? That aside, I would like to thank you for your efforts. You may not think of yourself as highly as I do but consider this: You went into danger with seeing eyes and succeeded with your mission. Please tell Mara my thanks as well for she is already awake and I really need to get my rest. To be completely honest – Luna bends closer to him and lowers her voice – I ate too much candy. With her normal voice, she continues, Now is there anything you wish to say?

Um, says Priest. I think what you said pretty much covered what I wanted to talk about. Except...

Yes?

So it's okay for Levinia – I mean the spirit – to stay in the Waking Plane, as you call it?

I need to discuss this with my sister but I will allow it, given that she will not harm anypony.

Ah, good, sighs Priest, because I don't think I'll be able to vanquish anything anytime soon. Thank you, Princess.

Luna nods. You are welcome. I was wondering... Twilight mentioned that you were having trouble with your magic. Has there been any change?

He frowns. That's just it, I don't think I got it back completely yet. But the Light did heal and wake up Mara... so maybe, if I wait long enough, it'll return. I sure hope so anyway.

Oh, I almost forgot!, he blurts out. Mara got her Cutie Mark.

The alicorn's face lightens up immediately. She did? That is most delightful to hear! I will remember to send her a gift and, if I can, attend the celebration.

Priest nods. She'll like that for sure.

Luna smiles at Priest as she circles him.

You seem different since when I last met you, Jonathan. I am under the impression that a weight has been lifted off your shoulders...

I feel different, he admits.

She smiles knowingly. Keep your friends close, then. And feel free to call me shall the need arise, hm? I would like to see you as my friend as well.

Wow. Um, I'll gladly accept that offer, Princess. Thank you.

They share a smile, then Luna raises her head.

Call me Luna... I believe there is someone approaching on your side. Farewell, Jonathan, until next time.


- - -


"GAH!" Priest fell off the couch with a start. "What the hell?"

"Sorry, Priest", said Spike, a wet cloth in his claw, "didn't really want to wake you up but it is almost midday. Don't you think it's time to get up?"

Priest sighed and rubbed his back. "I guess. What's with the cloth?", he looked at the remains of his magical circle that Spike was working on removing, "...oh." He carefully avoided mentioning the artist of the drawing as he wiped some drops of water off his shirt. "Ew..."

The dragon glanced at him. "What was that drawing for anyway?"

"I wonder", mumbled Priest, staggering onto his feet. He was feeling slightly dizzy. "Where's Twilight?"

"At Sugarcube Corner, helping prepare Mara's Cutie Mark party", replied Spike, wringing water from the cloth into a bucket.

"I see... well, I need to take care of something anyway. See you later."

"Sure."
> Level 25 - Party Dead Ahead
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Priest walked across Town Square, a small gift box in his hands. It was about an hour after midday and the town was bustling with activity. Most ponies had slept in this morning but even the sleepiest had managed to get out of bed (or wherever they had spent the night) and return to their business. All the vibrant colors really helped to get him into the right mood. He greeted some ponies he recognized, like the mint unicorn called Lyra and Mayor Mare who was carrying rather bulky saddlebags towards Town Hall. Lyra's melodic voice startled Priest for a moment - he didn't remember hearing her this clearly the last time he met her. It felt like a lifetime ago. 

He noticed Applebloom and her big brother pulling an apple cart along the street. The red stallion did the pulling while it was Applebloom's job to make sure no apple bounced off the cart. She still looked a little tired but waved at Priest when she saw him.

Priest waved back and kept going. He was heading for Sugarcube Corner, trying to remember where exactly the café was. If he recalled correctly, he had to turn right after the house with the violet window frames...

"Priest!", called a familiar voice.

He turned his head to see Rarity and her little sister trotting over to him. A warm fuzzy sensation in the area of his solarplexus rushed upwards through his body. It took him a moment to recognize it as the happy feeling you get when you meet a friend. Priest could not help but smile widely.

Crap, I forgot the name of the kid, he thought. It's been a few days but still! That kind of thing is embarassing in any situation.

"Hi, you two. You're going to the party?"

"Why of course! Pinkie invited half of Ponyville, she said that we could bring our own friends and family as well."

He rubbed his nose, frowning. "If Mara is okay with that..."

Rarity's sister smiled. "She came by earlier to get the 'proper attire' for it. I think she's okay. What's that box?"

"It's a gift for Mara."

"Oh, how thoughtful of you! I am afraid I forgot to get anything, how embarrassing! However, I promised to help at the party so I suppose I will be off the hook... Sweetie Belle and I are very much looking forward to the event", said Rarity. "It would be nice if this time there wouldn't be any... unfortunate accidents."

"If any ghosts show up, we'll know what to do this time. With Mara able to see auras, my innate healing abilities and Levinia as a backup damage dealer there's no need to worry. We're gonna own anyone who thinks they can pester us", said Priest, sounding a bit more confident than intended.

She sighed. "Well, in that case, we should be fine."

Sweetie Belle grinned. "Come on, let's go! I wanna see how they do a Cuteciñera for grown-ups! Let's just hope I won't be taking this long until I get my Cutie Mark", she pouted.

"Mara's talent is extremely rare", said Rarity. "She couldn't get her Mark before she helped the ghost because she didn't realize what exactly her talent meant to her. It is, as they say, an exception."

"Oh, okay", mumbled Sweetie Belle, not entirely convinced.

"Hey", interrupted Priest, "isn't that Fluttershy over there?" He pointed at a yellow pegasus that approached them from a side street. She was carrying a small covered basket in her mouth. When she noticed the group she waved at them and trotted a little faster to catch up.

"Hello, Fluttershy!", said Rarity. "Let me help you with that." She lit her horn, casually taking the basket into her magic so the pegasus could talk without the handle in the way.

"Hi, Fluttershy!", squeaked Sweetie Belle with enthusiasm. "What's in the basket?"

"It's a surprise", said Fluttershy, winking at Sweetie Belle. "How are you doing? You are looking awfully tired, especially Priest. I hope we didn't stay too long yesterday."

She's as perceptive as Rarity, mused Priest. I bet she noticed that my shoulders are still aching a bit by the way I'm walking. I wonder what else that quiet pegasus notices.

He waved it off. "Nah, that wasn't it. But nevermind. Do you know the occasion of the party?"

"Pinkie Pie said, 'it's a Cuteciñera but I am not supposed to call it that'. I didn't really understand what she meant by that", admitted Fluttershy, the tiniest of frowns on her face.

Rarity and Priest exchanged a look, unsure what to say.

"That's because it's my Cuteciñera", said Mara.

She, Spirit and Derpy had just caught up with them. Mara was wearing a pretty dark blue vest that emphasized her Cutie Mark. Grinning, she held out her hoof to Priest, who bumped it with his fist.

Spirit greeted him the same way, politely nodding at Rarity and Fluttershy. "You okay?", he asked.

"Yeah", said Priest, now grinning as well. "I slept until eleven or so."

"Me too", admitted Derpy, smiling sheepishly. "Turner and Dinky were out for almost as long. They're coming to the party later. I think the Crusader faction of Nightmare Night wore him out more than he'd expected. I know it wasted me all right."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?", chimed Sweetie Belle in.

"Anyway, I'm actually looking forward to this", said Mara, ignoring the filly. "I finally got my Cutie Mark!" She punched the air with a hoof, a genuine grin on her face. "Woo!" In a normal tone, she added, "I think Arcus will be there, too, and all of the other Cutie Mark Crusaders – no surprise there – and is the rumor true that Princess Luna wants to join the party? I mean, I did move to Ponyville because she requested it but wow..."

Spirit ruffled her mane. "I guess you're famous now!"

"Psh, yeah, right!", laughed Mara, waving with her hoof.

"So... you sure you're all right?", asked Priest.

Mara nodded. "Yes. Thanks for looking after me when I was... out. I don't think I would have gotten my Mark without your help."

Priest nodded, rubbing his neck. "Anytime", he managed to say despite the sudden lump in his throat. He cleared it, then looked around. "Any other ponies coming? The Corner's going to be pretty stuffed."

Rarity frowned. "I'm not certain but I believe Applejack, Rainbow and Tw-"

A sudden magical pop interrupted her. 

Sweetie Belle shrieked and hid behind her sister.

Fluttershy's basket had expanded until the head of a certain dragonequus was able to peek out.

"Why hello everypony! Ahem, everybody!", Discord corrected himself, squeezing himself out of the basket and floating to the ground next to Fluttershy. "Nice Cutie Mark", he remarked with a casual glace at Mara's flank.

"Discord!", said Rarity, disgust in her tone.

"Of course, my dear Rarity! What's with the frown, didn't Mara agree that everypony could bring their friends?" He made an invitation card appear in his bird claw and waved it in front of her face.

"Gah, I suppose", admitted Rarity, squinting an eye and leaning backwards.

Derpy and Spirit just gaped at Discord, unsure what to make of his appearence. He was now dancing around the group with a party hat on. It was decorated with blue paper flames and a text saying, 'ɐɹǝuᴉɔǝʇnƆ ʎddɐH'.

Mara rolled her eyes. "So much for a party without incidents."

Fluttershy stepped between Discord and the others, her hoof outstretched. "Please, I know we didn't start on the best of terms but Discord really is my friend! But Discord, I must ask you to not bother my other friends or do anything chaotic to – them...", she finished in a tiny voice.

Another flash and instead of a human Priest there stood a pegasus with a greyish yellow coat and white mane, his Cutie Mark a crossed wand and sword.

"Discord!", growled Priest, instinctively flaring his wings. "Stop - turning me - into a pony!" This time he had recognized the spell as soon as it hit him.

"Oh... my", he heard Fluttershy say.

Discord grinned sheepishly and shrugged. "How could I resist?"

Spirit giggled. "Hey, you're not looking so bad as a pony", he said, eyeing Priest.

He raised an eyebrow, his mouth agape. "W-what?"

"Yeah, I guess with some exercise your wingspan would be pretty impressive", added Mara thoughtfully which got her a playful nudge from her coltfriend.

Discord beamed. "This is wonderful! You, my young fellow, are turning out to be quite the looker!" He wiggled his eyebrows. "Another surprise from our resident human. You don't look very happy, though, hmm... Let me lift your spirits and show you how to party! You know what they say... Nevah look back, dahling, it distracts from the nao!" He produced a camera and took photos of Priest from many angles - until Fluttershy vigorously stomped her hoof.

The sound had been almost inaudible but to everyone's surprise Discord listened and the camera disappeared with another flash. His face assumed a slightly guilty expression.

"Discord", said Fluttershy.

"Fine, fine, be boring, will you?" He snapped his tail like fingers and Priest found himself as a human again. His clothes were back and so was the little box with the gift for Mara. Priest carefully stored it in his bag to give it to Mara later. He wouldn't want to risk for it to get into Discord's paws.

Uch, thank the Light I'm back to normal.

He felt a little crosseyed, his vision slightly blurry from the sudden transformations. As soon as he was able to focus, he pointed at Discord. "You. Are not going to ruin Mara's party", he stated.

Discord blew a raspberry. "I wasn't going to..."

"Good", said Fluttershy. "I just want us to have a nice and happy time together..."

Mara shrugged. "Look, D-Discord, if you won't cause any trouble you are free to join us."

"Really?"

"Really. Right, Priest?"

"Why are you asking me?"

"You're my friend, too", said Mara. "And I trust your judgement."

"Um, thanks... What she said", agreed Priest, slightly blushing.

"It's decided then", said Mara. "Come on, everyone."

Mara wasn't entirely sure but for a moment she thought there was a small 'thanks' coming from Discord's direction.

- - -

The ponies, human and dragonequus resumed walking and soon Sugarcube Corner was in sight. They could see Twilight peeking out of the door, Pinkie at her side. Both of them happily waved at the group.

Rarity and Mara waved back. Discord did not; however, he did an exaggerated bow and flashed a grin at Twilight, wiggling his eyebrows again. Twilight rolled her eyes, her smile not leaving her face.

"I'm glad you are better, Priest", whispered Fluttershy to Priest. "I know you didn't like it when Discord transformed you again but it showed me how much you've healed."

Priest grinned. "Thanks, Fluttershy", he mumbled back. "And can you call me Jonathan?"

Pinkie Pie rushed forward and tackle-hugged Mara. "Welcome! Now we can start the party!"

Jonathan grinned. "Hey, Pinkie."

She beamed at him. "Hey, Jonny!"

Wait, how did she hear from this distance... oh, right, don't question Pinkie Pie.

"Shall we?", asked Rarity.

"Definitely", said Mara, following her inside. She grinned from ear to ear, her eyes suspiciously misty.

"You've really outdone yourself", said Jonathan as he followed her inside along with the rest of his friends.

Pinkie giggled and nudged him playfully. "Teehee, thanks, Jonny, I'm glad you like it, and so many ponies have come, it's really amazing, Princess Luna is going to arrive in an hour or so, right, Twilight? We have cake and punch and apple pie and all kinds of awesome candy that are Nightmare Night leftovers and juice and Arcus here said that Mara likes muffins a lot - just like Derpy does - so we made lots and lots of Muffins..."


- - -


~The End~