Ghosts in Equestria

"My master, do you know? This is the power produced from your Eye of Mikhail."

Teito Klein was already furious. He was also determined. And hearing the voice say that inside his head, Teito had reached a conclusion. He could feel Mikage perched upon his shoulders, and he drew upon his memories and emotions to further find his strength. He had made a promise to become stronger so that he could protect the ones he cared about, especially from Ayanami, who he was now engaged in battle with.

"I know that," Teito spoke out aloud, even though the voice had only spoken to him within his head, and not to Ayanami. Teito opened his eyes, which were green and resolute, and glared at Ayanami. "And because of that, I will..."

Teito willed his Zaiphon to form, and its words formed a ring and shell around him as he channeled power through his bascule. He raised his staff, confident, and cast the Zaiphon that he was holding. A brilliant light shone from the tip of his bascule, and it soon engulfed its caster. It grew further still, and the last thing that could be seen as it engulfed Ayanami was his grimace.

The light did not stop there. Its reach was not to be denied, as it extended to the far corners of the church, where the fighting had not yet been ceased. Everyone who gazed upon it were stunned at the sight until they, too, were consumed by it.

~~~

Twilight Sparkle had, levitated alongside her, a scroll that contained an inventory of newly acquired books for the Ponyville library. She silently skimmed through the list, making a mental checklist of what books she simply had to add to the shelves in the library, her joy growing with each title. It was a good batch, and even though she might not be able to put them all on for display, she would definitely keep them in mind.

Twilight heard a bump and the cluttering of books as they fell onto the floor, catching her attention from the scroll. She turned to source of the distraction, and she let out a small gasp.

"Spike!" she called out, hurrying over to where a pile of books had fallen. "Are you all right?"

Twilight was just about to use her magic to help lift the books off, when her dragon assistant and friend emerged from the pile, grumbling. She couldn't help but let out a small chuckle, and gave Spike a quick once-over to make sure he was unhurt.

"But Twilight, wouldn't it have been easier to have invited everypony else to help?" Spike grumbled as she finished her check.

"Oh, Spike-" Twilight shook her head, smiling "-everypony else is busy as well, with their own things."

"I know, I know," Spike replied with a sigh. "Although I'm still getting a gemstone cupcake later, right?"

"Yes, Spike, you will."

Spike grinned at the thought of being able to sink his teeth into some gemstones, and happily he picked up some books, inspecting them for damage.

"So, Twilight," he started. "What books are we going to set aside and put up today?"

As he finished the statement, the books became enveloped in Twilight's magical glow, and he released his grip on them. The books remained in the air, then floated over to Twilight.

"Well, these Daring Do books should remain on the shelves-" Twilight turned the books so that Spike could see the covers "-because you know how much Rainbow Dash likes them. And she's not the only pony who likes them, either!"

Saying the name of one of their friends caused the two to break into a smile as they allowed themselves to think of the good times they shared with Rainbow. A hoot made Twilight turn to its direction, where she could see Owlowiscious on his perch, possibly waiting for Twilight to make a request of him. She just continued smiling, however, and began arranging the cluttered books to a more manageable layout.

Twilight was almost done and ready to start re-adding books to the shelves, when a sudden flash of light appeared from nowhere. It was brilliant, yet not blinding, and it engulfed everything in the library. Twilight instinctively closed her eyes and turned away from the source of the light, and her companions did the same.

The light faded away as quickly as it had appeared, and Twilight opened her eyes, noticing a very strange sight in front of her. Before her was some sort of creature. It had a pale skin or coat, and was clothed in some sort of white robing. It had green eyes, and stood on two legs. It had two additional limbs, one of which was raised high and somehow grasping a strange staff in its hands. On its shoulder was perched what must have been some small animal, which was shivering slightly. Worse of all, this creature was facing directly at her.

Twilight was experiencing a whole array of emotions in that moment. She was fearful for she had not seen such a creature before, and she could not be sure of its motives. She was curious to know what the light could have been, and also to research more about the creature in front of her. She was in disbelief because of the sheer suddenness and absurdity of the current situation.

All of those emotions played out in the matter of a few heartbeats. The creature's eyes widened, and briefly Twilight wondered whether it was from surprise. The creature began to lower its limb which held the staff, resting the base of it against the floor. It somehow seemed to be staring warily at her, as if it was just as baffled by the situation as she was.

"At least its not attacking me yet", she thought to herself, and took it as a good sign. Perhaps the creature wasn't hostile, and maybe it was intelligent enough that she could start researching into it. She took a deep breath, hoping that the creature did not mistake it for an act of aggresion. However, just before she could even do anything, the creature doubled over, and let loose a terrifying sound.

Twilight let out a mental cry of alarm, believing that the creature wished to do her harm, and instinctively she called up a spell she would defend herself with. It was a simple spell, one which she had put to good effect during the changeling invasion of Canterlot, even though it proved futile in the end.

Her horn began to glow, and from it she shot out a single magic bolt at the creature. She hoped that it would be as effective as it had been when she used it against the changelings, if not better. But what transpired next definitely surprised her.

The creature moved the limb that was not holding the staff across its body, and wordings began to appear in a ring around him. The bolt collided with this ring, and it somehow caused a miniature explosion in the library. There was an audible boom, and a smoke appeared at the point of impact.

Twilight's next instinct told her to pour as much magic bolts as she could into the smoke cloud, but she stopped herself from doing so. After all, she did not know exactly what had happened, and she didn't want to cause any unnecessary damage to the library than she had to.

She didn't have to wait long. The smoke began to clear up almost immediately, and her heart skipped a beat. The creature was already in the air, and it seemed to be... flipping over! It had somehow leapt backwards, and was flipping with a speed and grace which she did not think was possible for it.

It continued its maneuver until its feet impacted solidly with the walls of the library. Amazingly, it did not drop, but was somehow rooted in place. Twilight could see that the robes it was wearing was sagging towards the ground, so it was definitely being affected by gravity. And yet, it somehow did not drop! Twilight would have been awed, and would have liked to figure out how it did that, if the creature was not hostile towards her.

"Perhaps I can still do my research later," she thought to herself. But first, she knew she had to find a way to stop the creature before it hurt anypony, and it certainly didn't faze her that she might have to hurt it to do so.

~~~

Teito could feel his boots land upon something solid, and instantly he arrived to the conclusion that it must have been a wall. He stopped himself from falling immediately with just a touch of Zaiphon, and retracted further, preparing himself to lunge at the purple colored creature that had attacked him.

He had no idea whatsoever where he was, or what he was facing, and all of it had caught him off-guard. After all, it had started the fight when he sneezed, launching what was not unlike his own Zaiphon bolt towards him. He felt lucky to have reacted quickly enough to use his Zaiphon to defend himself, but he also cursed himself for his complacency. Mikage could have been hurt by whatever the bolt was, and he could not let that happen.

As he brought himself into position for his lateral leap, he began to channel Zaiphon into his bascule. A ring of his Zaiphon formed around the tip, and he readied himself to end it in his next attack.

Teito leaped forward, lunging towards the horselike creature. As he flew towards it, his mind somehow clicked an answer: that he was in a library. It also wondered whether Frau might have one of his 'special books' stashed somewhere in here as well. Forcefully, he shoved those thoughts out. He could not afford to be distracted, not now.

Just before he reached the creature, Teito swiped with the bascule. Had the blow landed, it would have taken out a normal human who had no access to Zaiphon. In fact, he was sure that he did even not have to reinforce his attack with Zaiphon to achieve that effect, but he wanted to be certain.

As he made his attack, however, the most inexplicable thing happened. In a bright flash of purple light, the creature was suddenly gone. Teito had no way to alter his trajectory or to stop his attack. His bascule connected with the ground, causing it to shatter where it hit. Some of the fragments flew out from the radius, and he grimaced. He should have expected his enemy to dodge, but how could he have predicted this?

Teito landed on his shoulders, hard. He continued it into a slight roll, and emerged into a crouch. He realized that he was no longer facing the horse creature, but a smaller one of a similar color. Its facial expression, if it actually was that, was contorted in shock and horror. It was not attacking him yet, but it could very well do so at any moment. And Teito had no idea where the horse had gone. Should he attack the smaller creature? Assess the situation and get to a better position?

His answer came in the form of an abruptly hard blow to his side. The bascule flew free of his hand, and he landed with a grunt, rolling as he did so. Dimly, he realized that Mikage was no longer on his shoulder. As his roll came to a stop, he forced himself to look for Mikage. He spotted his friend just out of his reach, and the two creatures were advancing upon them.

Teito felt horror wash through him, worried for his friend who had already once sacrificed his life for him, and the creatures who now seemed intent to make him endure such a sacrifice again. Teito would not have that. He would protect his friends with his own hands now.

Calling upon his reserves of strength, Teito scrambled to his feet. He was vaguely aware that the horse creature's horn was glowing, and he knew had to come next. He didn't have the strength to call upon his Zaiphon, but he could still protect his friend. He dived for Mikage, scooping him up and pressing him close to his chest in a protective hug. Again, there came a blow to his side, and he found himself hurtling through the air.

An instant later, his body forcefully impacted against the wall. Teito had endured great beatings before, and he could have carried on in his prime. But he was exhausted. The bishop's exam had been harrowing, and his fight with Ayanami was, too. His vision turned black, and regardless of how things were going to turn out, he was comforted by the feel of Mikage in his hands. At least, they were together.