Ghosts in Equestria

Teito's eyes opened reluctantly, his body yelling at him internally for more rest. His eyelids fluttered for a moment, as he slowly drifted between sleep and semi-consciousness again. Thoughts slowly crept into his mind, gnawing at him, and prompting him back to wakefulness.

"How long had I been out? What's going on?"

Teito groaned as his senses came back, and the first thing he felt was pain surrounding his body. The pain wasn't particularly fresh, but his body was sore and aching, as if he had been training without rest for a few days. He tried to bring a hand up to rub fatigue out of his eyes, and was surprised to see that all of his limbs had been tied to a bed with rope. He pulled against the rope, causing it to sink painfully into his wrist, jolting his memory.

"Mikage! Those creatures!"

He had been fighting Ayanami before he had fallen unconscious, and afterwards, following the Zaiphon he had cast, he had engaged in a quick brawl with some creatures he had never seen before. He had lost to them, resulting in him being knocked out. But what had happened to Mikage? Did the creatures hurt him?!

Teito struggled frantically against his restraints. He even managed to call out some Zaiphon onto his hands, and felt a surge of strength. The ropes didn't block Zaiphon, and though he was impeded in casting it because of being bound, it would not stop him from rushing to Mikage's aid. After all, Mikage would have done the same!

On the verge of tears with images of Mikage being tortured all over again, Teito mustered as much energy as he could summoning his Zaiphon. He had a sizable amount, and he was just about to cast it to free himself when a familiar scent filled his nose. With his concentration lost, the Zaiphon he had been channeling dissipated. He turned to his side, following the scent, and he was shocked by what he saw.

Sitting on a stool, next to the bed, was a man Teito was overjoyed to see again. Frau was seated, eyes closed and looking towards the floor, with a lit cigarette in hand, letting out an occasional puff of smoke.

Teito didn't even bother to contain his tears. With Frau here, things didn't seem so bad anymore. He leaned as close to that edge of the bed as he could, tears streaming down his face.

"Frau?" he called out, forgetting for a moment the situation he was in.

Frau raised his head and opened his eyes. As he locked gazes with Teito, he smirked.

"I leave my eyes off you for a minute, and you get yourself into more trouble, you damned brat," he mocked.

There was no doubt in Teito's mind; this was the real Frau that was seated before him, and not some figment of imagination from his pain-addled mind. From the scent of the cigarette he was smoking, down to his reaction, it was all too real not to be Frau.

"Frau!" Teito cried out, pulling against the ropes that bound him in an attempt to lean as close to Frau as he could. "What's going on? What have you been doing? Where's Ayanami? Where's Mikage?! Is it really you?!"

Frau stood up and sneered. "Who else could it be, you damned brat?"

Teito pouted, although he was, in actuality overjoyed to see Frau. Had he not been tied down in bed, Teito might actually have leaped out to hug him.

"Do you like getting yourself bound up, you damned brat?" Frau asked mockingly as he walked over to Teito, examining the rope that bound his limbs. He bent over slightly and reached out for Teito. "Let's see if we can't-"

Frau froze, and he paled.

"Frau?" Teito asked him inquisitively.

The man didn't respond. Teito followed his gaze towards the window, and his eyes widened in surprise at what he saw. Hanging outside with his hands on the windowsill, and peering in rather intimadtingly, was Castor. His gaze was fastened squarely on Frau.

"Frau..." Castor started, as he eased himself into the room. "What do you think you're doing to Teito?"

Frau began mumbling unintelligently as Castor closed upon him, but was unable to vocalize proper words, and Castor stopped in front of him.

Right before a loud grunt and thud rang out in the area.

~~~

Frau was seated on the bed, next to Teito, clutching his stinging abdomen as the conversation took place. He glanced sidelong towards Castor, the one how had elbowed him earlier, only to be ignored by him. Frau allowed his irritation to boil for moment, before letting it all out with a sigh. At the very least, it was good that he was here with Teito, Castor and even Labrador. But there were pressing issues to settle, the first of which was : What had happened to bring them here? Wherever 'here', was.

The purple horned pony, who had identified herself as Twilight Sparkle, was going on some sort of intelligent monologue about the possible reasons that had brought Frau and his friends into their world, which was aptly named Equestria. Frau was disinterested in hearing her out, but he could see Teito and Castor paying close attention to her. Labrador, on the other hand, was only half listening, while giving out herbal tea to the attendees with a smile.

Frau took a cup of tea and sipped gratefully, because Labrador really knew his way around tea. Almost as soon as he drank it, Frau felt the pain in his abdomen subside somewhat, partly from the effects of the herbal tea, and partly from the effect of the distraction drinking it had helped. He also couldn't help wondering if Labrador could have infused his tea with some healing Zaiphon, either.

Castor suddenly interjected Twilight in mid-speech. "You've been speaking quite a bit about magic, Miss Twilight," he spoke, adjusting his glasses as he did so. "Unfortunately, Teito here-" he gestured towards Teito "-used Zaiphon, and more specifically, the power he had over the Eye of Mikhail to transport us here. While Zaiphon and your magic does share is similarities, I'm afraid it's still two very different things we're talking about here. I wouldn't be too sure that your magic would be able to help us in our predicament."

A few of the other ponies present nodded in understanding. Twilight considered this for moment.

"Well, it wouldn't hurt to try!" she replied optimistically. "The elements of Harmony might also be useful at this juncture, and I'll have Spike send a letter to the Princesses about this situation as soon as possible. They may have an answer for us! Spike! Take a letter to the Princess!"

The dragon whelp, Spike, produced a piece of parchment, and inkwell and a quill, holding them at the ready. Before he could receive further instructions, however, the white unicorn, Rarity, spoke out.

"Twilight, darling," she started. "It would be best if we informed Mayor Mare as well. After all, she IS the mayor of Ponyville. She does have a right to know about these things."

This was received with nods from the ponies in attendance. The men there, however, had no clue what was going on, and simply let the ponies convene among themselves.

Twilight herself nodded. "Absolutely," she replied. "Mayor Mare should know about this. Rarity, would you do the honors?"

Rarity smiled as she stood up. "Of course I would be happy to, Twilight!" she replied. "I'll be back before you know it!"

With that, Rarity strode out of the room with poise. As she passed Teito, Mikage let out a tiny 'burupya!' in farewell, eliciting a squeal of delight from the yellow pegasus pony seated next to the door (which was coincidentally the furthest away from the humans), who name was Fluttershy. Labrador had shared with his friends that Fluttershy had a way with animals, and she was the one who had tenderly carried Mikage back to Teito.

After the door closed behind Rarity, Twilight turned back to her assistant, who raised the parchment and quill again. Twilight nodded, and started on what sounded like another monologue to Frau, much to his chagrin.

"Dear Princess Celestia..."

~~~

Lyra hadn't seen humans before, but they had intrigued her. They stood upon two legs and had two upper limbs as well, similar to what a pony might have looked like if they stood upon their hindlegs. But what passed for forelegs for these creatures begged curiosity. Their forelimbs ended with five appendages per side, and it was definitely prehensile, judging by how that red 'maned' human who used them to hang outside of Twilight Sparkle's window.

As much as she was frightened by these unknown creatures, Lyra's curiosity had been piqued. She had to know more about these humans. She continued spying on the library, hoping to catch a glimpse of the human, or humans if there were more in there. And Lyra could feel it that it was so. Maybe she'd even have a firsthoof account to share with Bon Bon! How exciting!

Lyra hoped she was as hidden as she felt, continuing with keeping her eyes on the library's windows and doors. Her attention was disrupted, however, when a sudden chill blew across her, and she heard the gentle flapping of wings. She looked around, and yet she could not locate the source of the mysterious wing flapping.

As she returned her attention to the library, a voice sounded in Lyra's mind. If it could have been felt physically, it would have been cold and threatening.

"I see that you have taken an interest in the humans hands," the voice resonated in her mind. "Would you be interested in trying them?"

Lyra's decision came almost instantly, with a resounding mental "Yes!".

The voice chuckled in her mind, and Lyra could feel something pressing against her cutie mark. She exhaled sharply, and the last thing she saw before blacking out was the silhouette of multiple humans and ponies moving within the library.