The Girl Who Followed a Ghostby GhostlyDarknessChaptersJust Another DaySalvation From a VisitorNightmares of the PastForceful ResponsibilityThrough the Eyes of DangerA Celebration TownThe Nightmare WithinThe Beginning of a New JourneyFighting With YourselfJust Another DaySunshine was just breaking the dark night sky to make way for morning. Light filled into a room where a silver stallion rested in a peaceful slumber. His shaggy hair swayed slightly as a light breeze found it's way into his room. His black and white split end tail moving rhythmically to his breathing as he slept in the embrace of the warm light that now rested on his whole body. Soon a guard poked his head into the room of the stallion. "Sir, Princess Celestia requires your presence in her room now," the guard spoke firmly. The stallion looked up from his slumber at the guard, "Alright, I'll be there in a minute," he said lazily as he began to rise from his resting place. The guard nodded before leaving from the door and closing it as he left. The stallion looked around before levitating a black and dark blue chestplate onto his body. He then strapped his sword to the side of his armor before looking around the room. "I wonder what the princess wants," he whispered before stretching and heading for the door. Miles away in the small town of Ponyville an orphanage resided near the outskirts of town. At this time many of the young fillies and colts in the orphanage were out playing and laughing with each other. All except one, a grey filly that sat alone outside that seemed to be staring off into what appeared to be nothing with gold eyes. "Hey! Onyx! Still talking to your imaginary friends," a young colt yelled at the little filly. Onyx seemed to ignore the remark and stayed silent watching the empty space, looking as if she was listening intently to. "You didn't hear me stupid? What are you doing you weirdo?" the colt said as he came up and pushed her down onto the dusty ground. The grey filly closed her eyes and whimpered as the colt stood over her. More colts and fillies came to circle around her to look down on her. "Why is she so weird? What's wrong with her? She's such a loser," were some of the murmurs coming from the cluster of children that sat around her. "Children come back inside and leave Onyx alone," said a scratchy voice that came from an old, yellow mare. The children then went back into the orphanage in a single file line until it was just Onyx outside. The yellow mare walked right up to Onyx. "Are you alright Onyx?" she asked concern filling her voice. "Yes...thank you Ms.Marker..." she said softly before dipping her head and running into the orphanage. "I wish I could be a princess like Princess Celestia," the little filly thought to herself as tears began dripping from her eyes. "I hate my life here, I wish I could fly away from here forever," she whispered softly as she wore a sad expression on her face. The filly had a place where she liked to go to feel better. She quickly went into Ms.Marker's room and locked the door and closed the blinds to the windows till the room was shrouded in darkness. The filly liked this place to relax and talk with her friends. As soon as she finished darkening the room a white filly appeared before her. "Hey Onyx, how are you" the pure white filly asked with a smile upon her face. "Hey Snowy, Im fine just; I was bullied again by Raz," she said sadly. "But just you being here cheers me up and makes me feel better" she said smiling. Snowy smiled even wider "Im glad to help then, anyway I have to go I'll come and visit you later tonight," she said before disappearing into thin air. Onyx sighed before smiling, Snowy was her only real friend although she was the only one who could see her. Onyx has the ability to see dead ponies. Some follow her and frighten her day and night, others are her friends and protect her from the scary ones. Author's Note This is a continuation sorta from The Tale of Ghost, there's going to be a couple references so if you haven't read it yet I recommend that you go back and read that before reading this. Also Onyx is my friend's OC and she gave me permission to use it, by all means she isn't mine. Salvation From a VisitorAs the silver unicorn walked into the room he could Princess Celestia waiting for him in the room on her balcony. He slowly approached her. "Hey Celestia, you needed me for something?" he asked stepping up beside her. "Oh Ghost, I want you to accompany me later today while Im on my visit to Ponyville" she said turning to look at the stallion by her side. Ghost looked at her with a confused expression, "sure, why are we heading down there though? Is something special going on?" he asked looking down over the ledge at the town not too far from where they were. "Not in particular, I just want to go visit the orphanage to see the little children" she said smiling with happiness. "Anyway let's go now" she said before bounding off the edge of the balcony to spread her wings and glide down to the bottom of the castle where a chariot driven by pegasi awaited them. Ghost grinned at the sight of the princess soaring down to the ground before turning around and running through the hallways to meet her outside of the castle. "So which orphanage are we heading to right now?" Ghost asked as both him and the princess road the chariot on its way to Ponyville. "The only orphanage, Sunshine Orphanage, then afterwards we can take a walk around town for a bit to talk to the locals" she said smiling looking calm and elegant as usual. Once they landed they headed straight for the orphanage while townsfolk stared at their very presence as they walked by. "Children, gather around I've heard that Princess Celestia will be visiting today" Ms. Marker yelled as the children played. "All of you need to be on your best behavior while she's here!" she said. The children froze at the mention of the princess and suddenly erupted into a loud cheer. Onyx looked away from her dark corner to enjoy the exciting news as well. She always wanted to meet Princess Celestia and she couldn't believe she was just about to get the chance to do so. "Hey runt, don't screw things up by being all weird and talking to yourself," Raz said as he came and pushed Onyx out of his way. Onyx didn't care she was too excited and happy to let Raz get to her. She was about to fulfill her dream. Ghost knocked on the door using his hoof "should I wait outside princess?" he asked looking back at Celestia. "Why of course not" she said giggling. "Come in and watch me play with all the beautiful children" she said just as the door opened up to Ms.Marker. "Why hello princess, the children are very excited to see you," she said before dipping her head down respectfully. Celestia looked at Ms.Marker and returned the gesture before turning her attention to all the children who stared at her in awe and amazement. "Why hello all you lovely children," she said warmly as the children began to smile. "Princess Celestia!!! Yay!!! You're actually here!!!" the children yelled before running up to her. Ghost watched silently, he didn't take much of a liking towards children especially because they were just troublesome and never wanted any of his own. Onyx ran up to the princess happily and hugged her legs "I want to be a princess like you," she said overwhelmed with joy in her voice. Celestia smiled at her remark "well maybe you will be on,e" she said softly sounding motherly. Onyx's gaze widened and her smile grew wide with happiness, her smile faded as she looked over to Ghost who seemed to be ignored by the children. His silvery eyes floating around the room aimlessly looking at anything that crossed his vision before meeting the little filly's gaze. Onyx looked surprised and turned away from his cold gaze and backed away from the princess. She was now intrigued by the stallion who stood at the doorway of the room watching Celestia play with the many children crowding around her. The grey filly walked over to Ghost and looked up to him "Hey...what's your name...?" she asked shyly. Ghost looked down at the little filly "my name's Ghost" he said flatly. "What's yours?" he then asked. Onyx tilted her head slightly "why's your name Ghost? And my name is Onyx," she said softly. "You have two ponies following you around," she said looking behind him. Ghost looked behind him to see nothing and then looked back at the filly with a confused look "there's nobody there," he said looking at Onyx raising an eyebrow. "Oh sorry, I must be seeing things again..." she said shyly before turning away. "Hey Onyx stop creeping out our guests" Raz came shoving Onyx down using his hoof. Ghost looked at the colt "Hey! Leave her alone, you shouldn't bully someone because they act different!" he yelled sternly at the colt who seemed to flinch at his stern voice. "Wha--Whatever" the colt said shakily before slowly walking away. Onyx looked at Ghost with a soft smile "thank you..." she said softly. Ghost grinned slightly at the small unicorn "anytime kid," he said nodding his head. "Well it's time for us to leave children, we'll come back another time," Celestia said getting ready to leave. "Ghost let's go, we can take a nice stroll around town and maybe get something to eat at SugarCube Corner," she said smiling. Ghost looked back down at Onyx "well kid I got to go, stay strong and stand up for yourself," he said before turning around and walking out the door with Celestia following close behind him. Onyx watched Ghost and Celestia as they left out the door, she looked around quickly before darting out the door to follow them. "So how did you like playing with the children?" Ghost asked looking over at Celestia. "It was fun, who was that little filly you were talking to?" Celestia asked smiling with joy. "It was just some kid, I think her name was Onyx" Ghost said carelessly. He didn't really care for the filly, but couldn't help to think about the poor kid for some odd reason. "Anyway let's get something to eat and then get back to the castle, I need to ask your student a couple questions about something" he said with slight concern. Little did either of them know, that they were being trailed by a curious admirer of both of them. Nightmares of the Past"Are we done princess, sorry I just really need to ask your student something important," Ghost said sounding a bit impatient. "What's your rush all of a sudden? We're supposed to be relaxing and having fun," Celestia said sounding concerned. "What do you need to ask her about so badly?" she asked as they began to leave SugarCube Corner. "Well...Im not entirely sure yet, but it has something to do with that filly from the orphanage, anyway it's really important that I get back to Canterlot," he said rushing forward towards the chariot that awaited their arrival. "Alright, but next time let's have some fun and take a break from the royal duties," Celestia reluctantly said before joining Ghost. Onyx watch the two ponies board onto the chariot, she knew she needed to be quick with her actions if she was going to attempt what she was thinking. As soon was the chariot looked ready to leave she quickly dashed towards the back and grabbed onto the edge of the chariot. The chariot then rolled slowly before taking to the skies back to Canterlot. Once they landed Ghost ran off to see Twilight Sparkle, Celestia's student. He met her a couple times and knew she was a very knowledgeable pony that loved reading books since she was a filly. As soon as he walked into her library he was greeted by Spike, Twilight's helper. "Hey Ghost, if you're looking for Twilight she's somewhere in the back reading," he said pointing down a long aisle of books. Ghost sighed and nodded before continuing down the aisle to look for the lavender colored pony. Outside Onyx was following Celestia back to the Canterlot Castle, she passed by many guards unnoticed and followed Celestia inside back to her room. A guard coming to stand watch outside her room noticed the child. "How did you get up here youngling?" the guard asked sternly. "I..I came to see the princess.." she said softly. The guard narrowed his eyes at Onyx before nodding and gesturing her to proceed in. Celestia looked back at the door to see the grey filly entering her room. "Well who might you be dear?" she asked with a warm smile. "My name..is Onyx," Onyx said shyly. The little filly smiled latched herself onto Celestia in a hug once again. "Oh you're from the orphanage down in Ponyville, how did you get here?" she asked stroking the top of the little filly's head. "Princess can I stay with you and Ghost, I don't want to go back," Onyx asked looking up at the princess. The princess looked uneasy before smiling, "sure little one you can stay as long as you like and I'll show you where you'll be staying," she said leading Onyx out of the room. Ghost stopped to find the purple mare flipping through the pages of a chunky looking book. "Hey Twilight you got a minute?" he asked as he came closer to her. Twilight looked up from her book "yes?" she asked. Ghost stopped where he was, "have you ever heard of any instances of little kids seeing things that weren't actually there?" he asked carefully. Twilight closed the book and came closer to Ghost, "well kids have imaginary friends but if we're not talking about that there have been instances in which supposedly the kids can see ghosts," she said. Ghost smirked "well even if they are or aren't real tell me what you know about ghosts then" he said jokingly. "Well they are said to be spirits of dead ponies, they have supernatural powers, and some are good while others may be neutral or bad. The bad ones are sometimes referred to as nightmare forces which feed off of hate,sadness, jealousy, etc. any negative emotions basically. They can take control of any pony who has these emotions and well...let's say the outcome is bad" she said looking away. "But then again they aren't real so no need to wonder" she finally said looking back at Ghost. Ghost nodded "thanks" he said as he turned around to leave. He stopped and looked back at Twilight "if ghosts aren't real then how do you explain my name?" he said laughing slightly. "Oh ha ha very funny," Twilight said rolling her eyes. Ghost laughed before continuing to walk out. Forceful ResponsibilityGhost was content with his answer from Twilight, by this time it was just becoming night and Ghost was tired. He walked up to his room to see a surprise waiting for him. In his room sat a golden eyed gray filly that seemed to be talking to the wall. Ghost looked around and then back at the filly. "Hey what are you doing in here?" he asked sounding confused at Onyx's presence in his room. "How did you get in here?" "Princess Celestia told me that I'll be staying here from now on, and in your room," she said with a slight smile. Ghost was mortified to hear this news, how could the princess just put a filly to stay with him in his room. He turned around ran all the way to Celestia's room as fast as silver bullet. He burst through the princess's doors and caught her in his sight. "Celestia this isn't funny, why would you put that kid in my room to stay!?" he demanded. Celestia turned around with a playful smile "Because well, she's your new daughter," she said light-heartedly. "WHAT!?!?!" Ghost yelled out in rage so loudly that several guards came to peek their heads into the room to see what the commotion was about and to see if they were needed. "Yes that's right Onyx is your new daughter and I did this because she needed a place to stay and well she looked as if she took a liking to you," she said turning back around to face the moonlit night. "But--," "Enough! Im ordering you to take care of that filly!" Celestia demanded. Ghost was ready to protest, but reluctantly gave in and bowed his head. "As you wish," he said before turning around to go back to his room. "Oh and I think you should know that she sees ghosts," she said simply. Ghost turned around and looked at Celestia "ok and I need to talk to you in the morning...anyway good night," he said softly, his head down. Celestia sighed "there hasn't been a good night since Luna left..." she responded. Ghost stiffened up before looking down and letting his ears flatten down "you're right..." he said before he left her room. Ghost came back to his room to see Onyx looking out of his balcony at the night sky. "Wow the night is really beautiful," she said in wonderment. "You haven't seen anything..." Ghost said softly stepping up to sit next to her. "You don't think the night sky is beautiful?" Onyx asked looking over at Ghost. "They used to be, back when it's ruler was still here," he said sadly. Onyx looked curiously at Ghost "what do you mean?" she asked scooting closer to him. Ghost looked over at the filly with soft silver eyes before closing his eyes and sighing. "Nothing you're too young to understand right now," he said flatly. Just as he spoke a tear left his eyes and dripped onto the floor. Onyx looked at Ghost and hugged him tightly. Ghost looked at the filly confused, but felt comforted because of her and returned the hug. "Go to sleep now," he said then nudging her back to his bed. She smiled before nodding and plopping down in his bed. Ghost stared back out at the night sky and began to sing the lullaby he sang for almost a thousand years. The tears began to flow as he sang. Every word overflowing with sadness. Onyx watched and listened as he sang, feeling his pain and sorrow before closing her eyes to drift into her sleep. Through the Eyes of DangerIt was nearly morning, the sun still hasn't risen yet and Ghost continued on walking with a small filly trailing him unknowingly. The darkness was slowly creeping away from them to reveal small bits of light from the rising sun. The shadows still resided in the denser parts of the forest which hid whatever settled in their depths. Onyx was quietly following Ghost still from almost 20 yards behind him. She silently trekked the same path he was taking. She stopped at the sound of slight rustling near by. She looked back to see nothing, just as she turned around she noticed she had lost sight of Ghost. She ran forward wondering where he went, but didn't find him. Snowy then appeared next to her with a worried expression on her face. "Onyx, you need to get out of here it's dangerous," she said in a soft caring tone. "How?" she asked looking around. Before Snowy could answer her something the looked like a tree branch wrapped around Onyx's hoof and dragged her into the bush. Snowy's cry out for her vanished as Onyx was dragged deeper into the vegetation. she soon was met face to face with five hungry looking timberwolves snarling in her face. Onyx squealed in fright at the sight of the wooden wolves. Their green eyes staring viciously at her and their maw opened to reveal the rows of sharp teeth with drool dripping from their mouth. "Help!" she screamed out as she closed her eyes waiting for the attack. Yet, she didn't feel anything and the growling had stopped. she peeked open her eyes to see Ghost standing infront of her. Ghost had heard her cry for help and without hesitating he ran back towards her cries and drew his sword to slash the wolf in the face. The beast flinched and howled in pain before turning around to run away. Before he knew it the others looked at him for a moment before bounding away after the first one that had ran away. Ghost sighed and sheathed his sword before turning around to face Onyx who was now in tears. He was ready to scold her until she just hugged him. Her sniffles was all he heard from her, it was so sad it made his heart soften up for the little filly he grew to care for. "Onyx...why are you here?" he asked softly. He started to pat her head softly hoping it would calm her down. Onyx began to stop crying and realized she needed to lie why she was following him. "I...I wanted to go with you..." she said in a crackled voice filled with sadness. She looked up at him with sad golden eyes with trails of tears that raced down her face. Ghost sighed, "you can come with me but you're staying in Ponyville; we're too far to go back to the castle," he lifting the lil filly to ride up on his back. "Don't get into trouble like that," he said to her as he began walking. "I won't..." she said before sniffling. She looked up to see two pegasus hovering over them smiling warmly at the sight of them. For the rest of the day the two of them continued traveling towards Ponyville, by the end of the day they were pretty near but it was too dark too continue. Ghost decided to stop and rest and wait for morning before continuing traveling. "Ghost?" Onyx said as she rested next to Ghost who was sitting down meditating. "Yes?" he answered without opening his eyes. "Why did you save me back there? And why didn't you get mad...?" she asked snuggling up on his side. Ghost exhaled slowly, "Because you needed help and because you mean alot to me," he answered calmly. He opened his mouth to say something but closed it and opened his eyes. "It's because I think you've been through enough today and because life is the best teacher to you," he said softly. "Now go to sleep we have to leave early in the morning" he said as he patted her head. "One more question Ghosty" she said with a smile. "Alright fine" said reluctantly with a small smile. "I want to know, why are you so sad when you sing that song at night?" she asked looking up at him. Ghost's smile disappeared and he looked away from her "because...I lost the love of my life...and it was all my fault..." he said trying to choke out the words. "I don't want to talk about it..." he said sighing. Onyx could see the dark energy appear again hovering over Ghost and begin to circle around him. She looked shocked at it "well don't worry she's coming back so don't worry," she said happily smiling hoping he would cheer up. Ghost sighed and smiled weakly, "you're right she'll be coming back soon so I guess I don't need to worry too much,". He looked at Onyx and rubbed her head with his hoof. Onyx smiled as she saw the dark energy dissipate. "Oh Ghost can I umm...watch you sing please?" she asked nicely. Ghost looked at her with a questioning glance before nodding and smiling. He began walking away till he could see the night sky clearly with the moon shining brightly. Onyx smiled with glee and followed him. She sat right next to him and leaned up on his side. Ghost smiled and thought to himself "Im sure Luna would love this little kid." He closed his eyes before he began to recite the lullaby he sang for years at night to pay his tribute to the princess of the night, his love, Luna. Onyx closed her eyes enjoying the soothing sound of his voice before drifting off to sleep while he continued singing. When he finished, he looked down to see the sleeping filly snuggled up on his flank. Ghost smiled before bending down to kiss the filly on her head. He looked back to the night sky and closed his eyes to continue meditating. A Celebration TownBy the time the two reached Ponyville it was already midday. The town looked to be filled with busy ponies running all over. “What’s going on?” Onyx asked looking confused at the amount of ponies running around. “Oh how could I forget it’s the Summer Sun Celebration,” Ghost said shaking his head. He had completely forgotten about the celebration with everything that’s been happening. Onyx looked at Ghost with a confused look. “What’s that?” she asked tilting her head. “It’s whe--,” he began when he was interrupted by an air balloon landing right in front of them. And a purple pony hopping out of the basket to greet them. “Oh hey Ghost what are you doing here?” Twilight asked seeing the guard she knew for years. “Aren’t you supposed to be up in Canterlot helping Princess Celestia?” she asked curiously. “I forgot about the celebration and Im down here on personal business for a couple days,” he said. He looked down at Onyx who seemed to be staring off into space again. “Oh and this is Onyx, Celestia wants me to look after her,” he said gesturing to the grey filly. Twilight looked over at her and then back at Ghost. “I didn’t figure you to be the type to take care of kids,” she said with a sly smirk. “Well if you need a place to stay I’m staying at a library house so both of you can stay,” she said turning around to walk away. Ghost looked back down at Onyx and pushed to walk in front of him. “What are you doing here yourself Twilight?” he asked curiously. “Well the princess believed I should make some friends and check on how the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration are coming,” she said sounding annoyed. “Well that sounds good for you because you could be somewhat of…an introvert,” he said snickering. Twilight turned around fiercely and glared at him, “What was that?” “Oh nothing,” Ghost said quickly. “Anyway keep an eye on Onyx for me while I’m out and let me know how the celebration goes” he said catching up to Twilight. “How about you just come for a bit it’ll be interesting for Onyx to see” she said smiling. “Especially with her new daddy,” she said teasingly. Ghost rolled his eyes “fine, Onyx let’s go stay at Twilight’s house for a bit before we go see the Summer Sun Celebration.” Onyx looked very happy to hear the news. She was so overjoyed that she jumped ontop of Ghost’s head. Twilight giggled at the sight of the smiling filly on Ghost’s head. “Well let me show the way I suppose and she can play with Spike while we wait for the celebration to start,” she said leading the way. “Oh Ghost I have important research to do on something so you can talk a walk around town later.” “May I ask on what?” he asked sounding intrigued. Twilight looked back at him, “well it’s about a mare being trapped in the moon and that in a thousand years she’ll get free.” “Have you heard anything about it?” she asked curiously. Ghost stiffened and looked away “eh it’s just a legend,” he said not making eye contact. Twilight narrowed her eyes at him “I see,” she said just as they made it to the house. “Well it’s here you can go walk around now,” she said turning to him. “Be here around dusk so we can go” she dismissingly. Ghost nodded and looked at Onyx “be good,” he said before turning around to walk off. The Nightmare Within"Where did Ghost run off too he was supposed to be back by now," Twilight said pacing around. "It's urgent that I get there to warn Princess Celestia," she said looking over to Spike and Onyx who were playing. Spike looked over at Twilight, "don't worry yourself about it he's probably running fashionably late," he said nonchalantly. "Yeah besides he's probably going to the celebration already so let's go," Onyx said running about excitedly. Twilight smiled at the filly "you're probably right," she said as she got ready to leave. Spike and Onyx ran excitedly out the door and chanted, "we're going to the Sun Summer Celebration!" Meanwhile deep in the Everfree forest Ghost continued on venturing. He had no intentions of returning in time for the celebration as he had seen it hundreds of times. He slowly trekked through the overgrown vegetation. "Where are those ruins? I was pretty sure they were around here," he said looking around. Without warning he felt a sharp pain in his head that made him cringe. It also came with a cold chill that roamed through his body. "A voice seemed to echo out of nowhere, "you're getting clooooseeeerr," it said evilly. Ghost continued slowly with the pain worsening before collapsing to the ground in pain. He closed his eyes and opened them to notice he was close the ruins he was seeking. Back at Ponyville the whole town was in shock, Princess Celestia was missing and Nightmare Moon had threatened to shroud them in eternal night. Twilight and five other ponies were in the library conversing when Onyx slowly came in. "Um Twilight Ghost never came to the celebration," she said sounding concerned. Twilight looked over at the little filly, "Im sure he's fine besides we have a bigger problem we need to stop Nightmare Moon," she said urgently. "To do this we have to find the elements of harmony," she said turning to the others. "Well let's go!" a pink pony jumped up and yelled before zipping out the door. Back at the ruins Ghost was slowly crawling on the floor towards the ruins. The pain was intense and the air felt as if it was in a deep chill. It felt as if ice was growing on his body. He could also hear whispers all around him, the words were inaudible though. A voice erupted in his head, "It's right in front of you," it said darkly. Ghost looked up to see a deep black scythe stuck in the ground. Skeletal remains littered the ground around it and it seemed to have a dark purple glow to it. "The secret to stopping nightmare forces..is a...scythe?" he asked himself weakly. His breathing was heavy and labored as he kept inching his way closer towards it. his magic felt as if it had been drained out of him already. He was right in front of the scythe before he reached out a hoof and touched. The pain and the chill seemed to have disappeared in an instant. He stood up feeling unharmed and checking himself. He then turned back to the scythe that stood in front of him. Ghost tried grabbing it using his magic, but when he did the scythe gave off black electrical sparks and broke his magic. "Hmm..." he said looking around before concentrating intently. He was going to try and use dark magic. He grabbed it with a black and purple aura that the scythe seemed to accept, but before he could bring it closer he became surrounded by a swirling torrent of black magic. He stood his ground unflinching but then realized it was coming closer and the previous ailments returned to him immobilizing him in the magic till it consumed him. Two hovering pegasus watched in horror as their son was consumed into the darkness. "We need to find Onyx," Starlight said as the both disappeared to find the filly. By this time Onyx had followed the six ponies and watched them defeat Nightmare Moon with the elements of harmony when she was greeted by Ghost's parents. "Onyx Ghost is in trouble something bad happened to him," Slayer said with urgency in his voice. "You have to tell the princess," she said pointing to the inside of the structure where Princess Celestia appeared. "Onyx please hurry I sense he's in great danger. Snowy appeared next to Onyx, "he's at the old ruins not far from here. Onyx nodded before running inside. She noticed Celestia was with a small alicorn that was a blue-ish color. All the other ponies were bowing to them. Onyx ignored them and ran up to Celestia. Celestia opened her eyes to noticed Onyx, "oh hey Onyx what are you doing here?" she asked. She looked around "where's Ghost?" The small blue alicorn looked up, "did you say Ghost? He's here still?" she asked with a small excited smile. Onyx nodded, "yes but right now Ghost is in trouble he's at the old ruins not far from here." Celestia looked a bit shocked, "we have to hurry everypony follow me," she said before running as the rest of them followed closely behind. The Beginning of a New JourneyThe next day Onyx awoke to the sight of her friend Snowy looming over her. "Wake up sleepy" she said with a cheerful smile. Onyx rubbed her eyes before smiling back at her friend, "what are you doing here?" she asked stretching to get out of the bed. "Well duh! Im checking up on you to see how everything is in your new home" she said giggling anyway there's something weird I saw last night that I think you should know. Farther upstairs Ghost just walked into Celestia's room, she sat upright as if she was waiting for him the whole night. "What did you want to talk about Ghost?" she asked lightly before smiling. Ghost frowned a bit "well...I wanted to ask you what exactly happened to Luna and why was she banished to the moon" he said nervously. Celestia's smile dissapeared before turning into a slight grin, "how come you only ask now all of a sudden?" she asked raising an eyebrow at him. Ghost sighed "well she is supposed to come back sometime this year and I just want to make sure that once she comes back that it doesn't happen again, so everything can be averted" he said looking away. Celestia frowned "I don't know the whole story, but I do know that Luna was exposed to nightmare forces and the forces fed off of her jealousy that not enough ponies appreciated her night and she lashed out against us" she sighing. "That's all I know, Ghost it's alright try not to worry about it Im sure she'll be fine when she comes back" she said warmly resting a wing on his shoulder. Ghost looked back at Celestia "Im still going to look into it just to be safe, Im going back to see Twilight" he said turning around slowly and walking out the room. "Are you serious?!?!" Onyx asked Snowy with a look of shock. Snowy nodded slowly "I saw it once you went to sleep, and its growing too with every night" she said sounding concerned. Onyx looked at Snowy "this is bad, it's really bad" she said looking down. "What are we going to do?" she asked frantically. Snowy shrugged "maybe it'll go away" she said simply. Onyx calmed down "yeah...maybe it will...I hope" she whispered. Ghost came back to a Twilight who looked to be sleeping on a book. He slowly prodded the mare with his hoof before she jolted back awake. "What are you doing here!?" she demanded. Ghost rolled his eyes "I need to know more about those nightmare forces you told me about yesterday" he said sternly. Twilight looked at him before levitating a book over to him "well this book tells how, and why they come and where they originate from; there's ruins not too far out in the Everfree forest that is said to harbor many of them and that deep in it's depths lie the secrets to vanquish them. Yet its very dangerous to go down there" she said darkly. "Why would you want to go there though?" she asked. "I have my reasons" he said before leaving just as quickly as he came. A shy Onyx entered into Princess Celestia's room "Um...Princess can I ask you something...?" she asked quietly. Celestia looked up from some scrolls she was reading "why yes, anything Onyx" she said with a friendly smile. "Um..well..I wanted to know...why does Ghost sing, and who is it for..?" she asked softly. Celestia smirked and stood up from where she was kneeling to walk over to the filly. "He sings as a tribute to his true love little one" she said smiling. "Who is she and what happened to her?" she asked sounding more curious. "The moon princess, her name is Luna and she ruled over the night skies, she made the night beautiful and majestic every night" she said with a soft smile. "Im sure you'll be meeting her soon as well" she said happily before returning back to the pile of scrolls. Onyx looked in wonderment at Celestia and then ran back out the room where she ran into Ghost had just stepped into Celestia's room. "Oh sorry Onyx" he said looking down before looking up at Celestia. "I'm going to be gone for a couple of days, I'll be done at Ponyville" he said getting ready to turn around. "For what?" Celestia and Onyx asked in unison. "Um...personal business, I just want to check out something" he said with a slight cough. Celestia narrowed her eyes at him before answering "well take a chariot down" she said staring at him. "Oh that won't be necessary I'll be walking down there" he said wanting to hurry and leave. Celestia paused before nodding "as you wish anyway safe travels" she said before turning back to the scrolls. "Im coming with you right?" Onyx asked looking up at him with a smile. "No, you should stay here where you'll be safe er...I mean where I don't have to look out for you so you don't get lost" he corrected himself. He didn't want Celestia to get suspicious of what he was going to do and he didn't want Onyx to get in the way or hurt. "Awww, fine" she pouted. Ghost sighed "anyway Im going to get ready and I'll leave as soon as I finish packing" he said rushing off to his room. Onyx stood there with a frown before noticing Celestia right by her side watching Ghost race down the hallway in a flash of silver. "Follow him for me, see what he's up to Onyx" she said before walking back into her room. Onyx nodded before dashing after to Ghost to see him taking off his armor with the insignia of the moon to replace it with standard guard armor leaving off the helmet and strapping his sword to his side. He also packed a book into the bag on his side as well as rations before turning around. At this time it was just becoming dusk, the cool wind swept through his room, he turned to look at Onyx and paused. "Who were those two ponies you said you saw with me back at the orphanage?' he asked looking down at her. "Well they said they were your parents, they were both pegasus and they called themselves I think it was Starlight and Slayer they said their names were" she said looking past him at nothing. Ghost closed his eyes and smirked "well those are my parents alright, anyway stay here and keep out of trouble" he said before walking past her. Onyx looked at Ghost as he left, she could see what Snowy told her about, "please don't get into trouble" she said and she quietly followed after him. Fighting With YourselfA strange noise echoed through the darkness to jolt Ghost awake from his seep. It was pitch black he couldn't see anything past his own nose. The sound echoed again sounding closer than before. "What's that sound?" he said softly rubbing his eyes. He looked around and noticed he couldn't find Onyx anywhere. "Onyx?" he called out hoping to hear her soft voice answer. "She's not here," a voice answered him from behind. He turned around to see a mirror image of himself approaching him. Yet there were some differences this doppelganger had. It's coat was pure black with silver slit pupils that pierced right through him. It's hair was a white silver color and was significantly longer and shaggier. "Who or what are you?" Ghost growled at him. The other him smirked and showed the sharp fangs he had. "Why I'm you of course," he said coming closer to Ghost. "Although you can call me Nightmare, I absolutely despise the name Ghost," he said with a disgusted look. Ghost backed up as Nightmare kept coming closer, "there's no way you're me," he said looking ready to fight. He was ready to draw his sword, but noticed it wasn't at his side. He looked back up to see Princess Celestia walking slowly around him looking at him with an devilish grin. "Luna's never coming back just face it, if I didn't want her gone why would I have banished her?" she said wickedly. Ghost shook his head and closed his eyes trying to ignore her remark. The room went quiet until a familiar voice broke the silence. He opened his eyes to see a horrific sight, Onyx laying in pool of blood with slash marks across her stomach. "Ghost, why did you do this to me? Why would you hurt me?" she said softly with a whimpering voice. "No, no, no! Onyx please! Im sorry!" he said huddling around her bleeding body. He began crying and shaking his head vigorously. "Why did you do this to me? Why?" another voice said in a moan. Ghost looked up to see Luna, but her eyes were gashed out with blood dripping from them. Her wings were badly mangled where some of the bones would poke through the skin. "Why would you do this to me?" she repeated. Ghost looked terrified looking at them with tears dripping down his face. He then heard Nightmare again. "We are the same, I am a part of you, I will always be there, I am you," he said in evilly. Ghost lunged up awake breathing heavily,he looked over at his side to see Onyx sleeping peacefully. "It was a dream?" he asked himself. He calmed down, "I hope this was just a passing nightmare," he said softly. He looked back at Onyx before nudging her closer to him. "You're safe at least," he said with smile before looking up at the dark sky. "I hope you're alright too..."
Just Another DaySunshine was just breaking the dark night sky to make way for morning. Light filled into a room where a silver stallion rested in a peaceful slumber. His shaggy hair swayed slightly as a light breeze found it's way into his room. His black and white split end tail moving rhythmically to his breathing as he slept in the embrace of the warm light that now rested on his whole body. Soon a guard poked his head into the room of the stallion. "Sir, Princess Celestia requires your presence in her room now," the guard spoke firmly. The stallion looked up from his slumber at the guard, "Alright, I'll be there in a minute," he said lazily as he began to rise from his resting place. The guard nodded before leaving from the door and closing it as he left. The stallion looked around before levitating a black and dark blue chestplate onto his body. He then strapped his sword to the side of his armor before looking around the room. "I wonder what the princess wants," he whispered before stretching and heading for the door. Miles away in the small town of Ponyville an orphanage resided near the outskirts of town. At this time many of the young fillies and colts in the orphanage were out playing and laughing with each other. All except one, a grey filly that sat alone outside that seemed to be staring off into what appeared to be nothing with gold eyes. "Hey! Onyx! Still talking to your imaginary friends," a young colt yelled at the little filly. Onyx seemed to ignore the remark and stayed silent watching the empty space, looking as if she was listening intently to. "You didn't hear me stupid? What are you doing you weirdo?" the colt said as he came up and pushed her down onto the dusty ground. The grey filly closed her eyes and whimpered as the colt stood over her. More colts and fillies came to circle around her to look down on her. "Why is she so weird? What's wrong with her? She's such a loser," were some of the murmurs coming from the cluster of children that sat around her. "Children come back inside and leave Onyx alone," said a scratchy voice that came from an old, yellow mare. The children then went back into the orphanage in a single file line until it was just Onyx outside. The yellow mare walked right up to Onyx. "Are you alright Onyx?" she asked concern filling her voice. "Yes...thank you Ms.Marker..." she said softly before dipping her head and running into the orphanage. "I wish I could be a princess like Princess Celestia," the little filly thought to herself as tears began dripping from her eyes. "I hate my life here, I wish I could fly away from here forever," she whispered softly as she wore a sad expression on her face. The filly had a place where she liked to go to feel better. She quickly went into Ms.Marker's room and locked the door and closed the blinds to the windows till the room was shrouded in darkness. The filly liked this place to relax and talk with her friends. As soon as she finished darkening the room a white filly appeared before her. "Hey Onyx, how are you" the pure white filly asked with a smile upon her face. "Hey Snowy, Im fine just; I was bullied again by Raz," she said sadly. "But just you being here cheers me up and makes me feel better" she said smiling. Snowy smiled even wider "Im glad to help then, anyway I have to go I'll come and visit you later tonight," she said before disappearing into thin air. Onyx sighed before smiling, Snowy was her only real friend although she was the only one who could see her. Onyx has the ability to see dead ponies. Some follow her and frighten her day and night, others are her friends and protect her from the scary ones. Author's Note This is a continuation sorta from The Tale of Ghost, there's going to be a couple references so if you haven't read it yet I recommend that you go back and read that before reading this. Also Onyx is my friend's OC and she gave me permission to use it, by all means she isn't mine.
Salvation From a VisitorAs the silver unicorn walked into the room he could Princess Celestia waiting for him in the room on her balcony. He slowly approached her. "Hey Celestia, you needed me for something?" he asked stepping up beside her. "Oh Ghost, I want you to accompany me later today while Im on my visit to Ponyville" she said turning to look at the stallion by her side. Ghost looked at her with a confused expression, "sure, why are we heading down there though? Is something special going on?" he asked looking down over the ledge at the town not too far from where they were. "Not in particular, I just want to go visit the orphanage to see the little children" she said smiling with happiness. "Anyway let's go now" she said before bounding off the edge of the balcony to spread her wings and glide down to the bottom of the castle where a chariot driven by pegasi awaited them. Ghost grinned at the sight of the princess soaring down to the ground before turning around and running through the hallways to meet her outside of the castle. "So which orphanage are we heading to right now?" Ghost asked as both him and the princess road the chariot on its way to Ponyville. "The only orphanage, Sunshine Orphanage, then afterwards we can take a walk around town for a bit to talk to the locals" she said smiling looking calm and elegant as usual. Once they landed they headed straight for the orphanage while townsfolk stared at their very presence as they walked by. "Children, gather around I've heard that Princess Celestia will be visiting today" Ms. Marker yelled as the children played. "All of you need to be on your best behavior while she's here!" she said. The children froze at the mention of the princess and suddenly erupted into a loud cheer. Onyx looked away from her dark corner to enjoy the exciting news as well. She always wanted to meet Princess Celestia and she couldn't believe she was just about to get the chance to do so. "Hey runt, don't screw things up by being all weird and talking to yourself," Raz said as he came and pushed Onyx out of his way. Onyx didn't care she was too excited and happy to let Raz get to her. She was about to fulfill her dream. Ghost knocked on the door using his hoof "should I wait outside princess?" he asked looking back at Celestia. "Why of course not" she said giggling. "Come in and watch me play with all the beautiful children" she said just as the door opened up to Ms.Marker. "Why hello princess, the children are very excited to see you," she said before dipping her head down respectfully. Celestia looked at Ms.Marker and returned the gesture before turning her attention to all the children who stared at her in awe and amazement. "Why hello all you lovely children," she said warmly as the children began to smile. "Princess Celestia!!! Yay!!! You're actually here!!!" the children yelled before running up to her. Ghost watched silently, he didn't take much of a liking towards children especially because they were just troublesome and never wanted any of his own. Onyx ran up to the princess happily and hugged her legs "I want to be a princess like you," she said overwhelmed with joy in her voice. Celestia smiled at her remark "well maybe you will be on,e" she said softly sounding motherly. Onyx's gaze widened and her smile grew wide with happiness, her smile faded as she looked over to Ghost who seemed to be ignored by the children. His silvery eyes floating around the room aimlessly looking at anything that crossed his vision before meeting the little filly's gaze. Onyx looked surprised and turned away from his cold gaze and backed away from the princess. She was now intrigued by the stallion who stood at the doorway of the room watching Celestia play with the many children crowding around her. The grey filly walked over to Ghost and looked up to him "Hey...what's your name...?" she asked shyly. Ghost looked down at the little filly "my name's Ghost" he said flatly. "What's yours?" he then asked. Onyx tilted her head slightly "why's your name Ghost? And my name is Onyx," she said softly. "You have two ponies following you around," she said looking behind him. Ghost looked behind him to see nothing and then looked back at the filly with a confused look "there's nobody there," he said looking at Onyx raising an eyebrow. "Oh sorry, I must be seeing things again..." she said shyly before turning away. "Hey Onyx stop creeping out our guests" Raz came shoving Onyx down using his hoof. Ghost looked at the colt "Hey! Leave her alone, you shouldn't bully someone because they act different!" he yelled sternly at the colt who seemed to flinch at his stern voice. "Wha--Whatever" the colt said shakily before slowly walking away. Onyx looked at Ghost with a soft smile "thank you..." she said softly. Ghost grinned slightly at the small unicorn "anytime kid," he said nodding his head. "Well it's time for us to leave children, we'll come back another time," Celestia said getting ready to leave. "Ghost let's go, we can take a nice stroll around town and maybe get something to eat at SugarCube Corner," she said smiling. Ghost looked back down at Onyx "well kid I got to go, stay strong and stand up for yourself," he said before turning around and walking out the door with Celestia following close behind him. Onyx watched Ghost and Celestia as they left out the door, she looked around quickly before darting out the door to follow them. "So how did you like playing with the children?" Ghost asked looking over at Celestia. "It was fun, who was that little filly you were talking to?" Celestia asked smiling with joy. "It was just some kid, I think her name was Onyx" Ghost said carelessly. He didn't really care for the filly, but couldn't help to think about the poor kid for some odd reason. "Anyway let's get something to eat and then get back to the castle, I need to ask your student a couple questions about something" he said with slight concern. Little did either of them know, that they were being trailed by a curious admirer of both of them.
Nightmares of the Past"Are we done princess, sorry I just really need to ask your student something important," Ghost said sounding a bit impatient. "What's your rush all of a sudden? We're supposed to be relaxing and having fun," Celestia said sounding concerned. "What do you need to ask her about so badly?" she asked as they began to leave SugarCube Corner. "Well...Im not entirely sure yet, but it has something to do with that filly from the orphanage, anyway it's really important that I get back to Canterlot," he said rushing forward towards the chariot that awaited their arrival. "Alright, but next time let's have some fun and take a break from the royal duties," Celestia reluctantly said before joining Ghost. Onyx watch the two ponies board onto the chariot, she knew she needed to be quick with her actions if she was going to attempt what she was thinking. As soon was the chariot looked ready to leave she quickly dashed towards the back and grabbed onto the edge of the chariot. The chariot then rolled slowly before taking to the skies back to Canterlot. Once they landed Ghost ran off to see Twilight Sparkle, Celestia's student. He met her a couple times and knew she was a very knowledgeable pony that loved reading books since she was a filly. As soon as he walked into her library he was greeted by Spike, Twilight's helper. "Hey Ghost, if you're looking for Twilight she's somewhere in the back reading," he said pointing down a long aisle of books. Ghost sighed and nodded before continuing down the aisle to look for the lavender colored pony. Outside Onyx was following Celestia back to the Canterlot Castle, she passed by many guards unnoticed and followed Celestia inside back to her room. A guard coming to stand watch outside her room noticed the child. "How did you get up here youngling?" the guard asked sternly. "I..I came to see the princess.." she said softly. The guard narrowed his eyes at Onyx before nodding and gesturing her to proceed in. Celestia looked back at the door to see the grey filly entering her room. "Well who might you be dear?" she asked with a warm smile. "My name..is Onyx," Onyx said shyly. The little filly smiled latched herself onto Celestia in a hug once again. "Oh you're from the orphanage down in Ponyville, how did you get here?" she asked stroking the top of the little filly's head. "Princess can I stay with you and Ghost, I don't want to go back," Onyx asked looking up at the princess. The princess looked uneasy before smiling, "sure little one you can stay as long as you like and I'll show you where you'll be staying," she said leading Onyx out of the room. Ghost stopped to find the purple mare flipping through the pages of a chunky looking book. "Hey Twilight you got a minute?" he asked as he came closer to her. Twilight looked up from her book "yes?" she asked. Ghost stopped where he was, "have you ever heard of any instances of little kids seeing things that weren't actually there?" he asked carefully. Twilight closed the book and came closer to Ghost, "well kids have imaginary friends but if we're not talking about that there have been instances in which supposedly the kids can see ghosts," she said. Ghost smirked "well even if they are or aren't real tell me what you know about ghosts then" he said jokingly. "Well they are said to be spirits of dead ponies, they have supernatural powers, and some are good while others may be neutral or bad. The bad ones are sometimes referred to as nightmare forces which feed off of hate,sadness, jealousy, etc. any negative emotions basically. They can take control of any pony who has these emotions and well...let's say the outcome is bad" she said looking away. "But then again they aren't real so no need to wonder" she finally said looking back at Ghost. Ghost nodded "thanks" he said as he turned around to leave. He stopped and looked back at Twilight "if ghosts aren't real then how do you explain my name?" he said laughing slightly. "Oh ha ha very funny," Twilight said rolling her eyes. Ghost laughed before continuing to walk out.
Forceful ResponsibilityGhost was content with his answer from Twilight, by this time it was just becoming night and Ghost was tired. He walked up to his room to see a surprise waiting for him. In his room sat a golden eyed gray filly that seemed to be talking to the wall. Ghost looked around and then back at the filly. "Hey what are you doing in here?" he asked sounding confused at Onyx's presence in his room. "How did you get in here?" "Princess Celestia told me that I'll be staying here from now on, and in your room," she said with a slight smile. Ghost was mortified to hear this news, how could the princess just put a filly to stay with him in his room. He turned around ran all the way to Celestia's room as fast as silver bullet. He burst through the princess's doors and caught her in his sight. "Celestia this isn't funny, why would you put that kid in my room to stay!?" he demanded. Celestia turned around with a playful smile "Because well, she's your new daughter," she said light-heartedly. "WHAT!?!?!" Ghost yelled out in rage so loudly that several guards came to peek their heads into the room to see what the commotion was about and to see if they were needed. "Yes that's right Onyx is your new daughter and I did this because she needed a place to stay and well she looked as if she took a liking to you," she said turning back around to face the moonlit night. "But--," "Enough! Im ordering you to take care of that filly!" Celestia demanded. Ghost was ready to protest, but reluctantly gave in and bowed his head. "As you wish," he said before turning around to go back to his room. "Oh and I think you should know that she sees ghosts," she said simply. Ghost turned around and looked at Celestia "ok and I need to talk to you in the morning...anyway good night," he said softly, his head down. Celestia sighed "there hasn't been a good night since Luna left..." she responded. Ghost stiffened up before looking down and letting his ears flatten down "you're right..." he said before he left her room. Ghost came back to his room to see Onyx looking out of his balcony at the night sky. "Wow the night is really beautiful," she said in wonderment. "You haven't seen anything..." Ghost said softly stepping up to sit next to her. "You don't think the night sky is beautiful?" Onyx asked looking over at Ghost. "They used to be, back when it's ruler was still here," he said sadly. Onyx looked curiously at Ghost "what do you mean?" she asked scooting closer to him. Ghost looked over at the filly with soft silver eyes before closing his eyes and sighing. "Nothing you're too young to understand right now," he said flatly. Just as he spoke a tear left his eyes and dripped onto the floor. Onyx looked at Ghost and hugged him tightly. Ghost looked at the filly confused, but felt comforted because of her and returned the hug. "Go to sleep now," he said then nudging her back to his bed. She smiled before nodding and plopping down in his bed. Ghost stared back out at the night sky and began to sing the lullaby he sang for almost a thousand years. The tears began to flow as he sang. Every word overflowing with sadness. Onyx watched and listened as he sang, feeling his pain and sorrow before closing her eyes to drift into her sleep.
Through the Eyes of DangerIt was nearly morning, the sun still hasn't risen yet and Ghost continued on walking with a small filly trailing him unknowingly. The darkness was slowly creeping away from them to reveal small bits of light from the rising sun. The shadows still resided in the denser parts of the forest which hid whatever settled in their depths. Onyx was quietly following Ghost still from almost 20 yards behind him. She silently trekked the same path he was taking. She stopped at the sound of slight rustling near by. She looked back to see nothing, just as she turned around she noticed she had lost sight of Ghost. She ran forward wondering where he went, but didn't find him. Snowy then appeared next to her with a worried expression on her face. "Onyx, you need to get out of here it's dangerous," she said in a soft caring tone. "How?" she asked looking around. Before Snowy could answer her something the looked like a tree branch wrapped around Onyx's hoof and dragged her into the bush. Snowy's cry out for her vanished as Onyx was dragged deeper into the vegetation. she soon was met face to face with five hungry looking timberwolves snarling in her face. Onyx squealed in fright at the sight of the wooden wolves. Their green eyes staring viciously at her and their maw opened to reveal the rows of sharp teeth with drool dripping from their mouth. "Help!" she screamed out as she closed her eyes waiting for the attack. Yet, she didn't feel anything and the growling had stopped. she peeked open her eyes to see Ghost standing infront of her. Ghost had heard her cry for help and without hesitating he ran back towards her cries and drew his sword to slash the wolf in the face. The beast flinched and howled in pain before turning around to run away. Before he knew it the others looked at him for a moment before bounding away after the first one that had ran away. Ghost sighed and sheathed his sword before turning around to face Onyx who was now in tears. He was ready to scold her until she just hugged him. Her sniffles was all he heard from her, it was so sad it made his heart soften up for the little filly he grew to care for. "Onyx...why are you here?" he asked softly. He started to pat her head softly hoping it would calm her down. Onyx began to stop crying and realized she needed to lie why she was following him. "I...I wanted to go with you..." she said in a crackled voice filled with sadness. She looked up at him with sad golden eyes with trails of tears that raced down her face. Ghost sighed, "you can come with me but you're staying in Ponyville; we're too far to go back to the castle," he lifting the lil filly to ride up on his back. "Don't get into trouble like that," he said to her as he began walking. "I won't..." she said before sniffling. She looked up to see two pegasus hovering over them smiling warmly at the sight of them. For the rest of the day the two of them continued traveling towards Ponyville, by the end of the day they were pretty near but it was too dark too continue. Ghost decided to stop and rest and wait for morning before continuing traveling. "Ghost?" Onyx said as she rested next to Ghost who was sitting down meditating. "Yes?" he answered without opening his eyes. "Why did you save me back there? And why didn't you get mad...?" she asked snuggling up on his side. Ghost exhaled slowly, "Because you needed help and because you mean alot to me," he answered calmly. He opened his mouth to say something but closed it and opened his eyes. "It's because I think you've been through enough today and because life is the best teacher to you," he said softly. "Now go to sleep we have to leave early in the morning" he said as he patted her head. "One more question Ghosty" she said with a smile. "Alright fine" said reluctantly with a small smile. "I want to know, why are you so sad when you sing that song at night?" she asked looking up at him. Ghost's smile disappeared and he looked away from her "because...I lost the love of my life...and it was all my fault..." he said trying to choke out the words. "I don't want to talk about it..." he said sighing. Onyx could see the dark energy appear again hovering over Ghost and begin to circle around him. She looked shocked at it "well don't worry she's coming back so don't worry," she said happily smiling hoping he would cheer up. Ghost sighed and smiled weakly, "you're right she'll be coming back soon so I guess I don't need to worry too much,". He looked at Onyx and rubbed her head with his hoof. Onyx smiled as she saw the dark energy dissipate. "Oh Ghost can I umm...watch you sing please?" she asked nicely. Ghost looked at her with a questioning glance before nodding and smiling. He began walking away till he could see the night sky clearly with the moon shining brightly. Onyx smiled with glee and followed him. She sat right next to him and leaned up on his side. Ghost smiled and thought to himself "Im sure Luna would love this little kid." He closed his eyes before he began to recite the lullaby he sang for years at night to pay his tribute to the princess of the night, his love, Luna. Onyx closed her eyes enjoying the soothing sound of his voice before drifting off to sleep while he continued singing. When he finished, he looked down to see the sleeping filly snuggled up on his flank. Ghost smiled before bending down to kiss the filly on her head. He looked back to the night sky and closed his eyes to continue meditating.
A Celebration TownBy the time the two reached Ponyville it was already midday. The town looked to be filled with busy ponies running all over. “What’s going on?” Onyx asked looking confused at the amount of ponies running around. “Oh how could I forget it’s the Summer Sun Celebration,” Ghost said shaking his head. He had completely forgotten about the celebration with everything that’s been happening. Onyx looked at Ghost with a confused look. “What’s that?” she asked tilting her head. “It’s whe--,” he began when he was interrupted by an air balloon landing right in front of them. And a purple pony hopping out of the basket to greet them. “Oh hey Ghost what are you doing here?” Twilight asked seeing the guard she knew for years. “Aren’t you supposed to be up in Canterlot helping Princess Celestia?” she asked curiously. “I forgot about the celebration and Im down here on personal business for a couple days,” he said. He looked down at Onyx who seemed to be staring off into space again. “Oh and this is Onyx, Celestia wants me to look after her,” he said gesturing to the grey filly. Twilight looked over at her and then back at Ghost. “I didn’t figure you to be the type to take care of kids,” she said with a sly smirk. “Well if you need a place to stay I’m staying at a library house so both of you can stay,” she said turning around to walk away. Ghost looked back down at Onyx and pushed to walk in front of him. “What are you doing here yourself Twilight?” he asked curiously. “Well the princess believed I should make some friends and check on how the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration are coming,” she said sounding annoyed. “Well that sounds good for you because you could be somewhat of…an introvert,” he said snickering. Twilight turned around fiercely and glared at him, “What was that?” “Oh nothing,” Ghost said quickly. “Anyway keep an eye on Onyx for me while I’m out and let me know how the celebration goes” he said catching up to Twilight. “How about you just come for a bit it’ll be interesting for Onyx to see” she said smiling. “Especially with her new daddy,” she said teasingly. Ghost rolled his eyes “fine, Onyx let’s go stay at Twilight’s house for a bit before we go see the Summer Sun Celebration.” Onyx looked very happy to hear the news. She was so overjoyed that she jumped ontop of Ghost’s head. Twilight giggled at the sight of the smiling filly on Ghost’s head. “Well let me show the way I suppose and she can play with Spike while we wait for the celebration to start,” she said leading the way. “Oh Ghost I have important research to do on something so you can talk a walk around town later.” “May I ask on what?” he asked sounding intrigued. Twilight looked back at him, “well it’s about a mare being trapped in the moon and that in a thousand years she’ll get free.” “Have you heard anything about it?” she asked curiously. Ghost stiffened and looked away “eh it’s just a legend,” he said not making eye contact. Twilight narrowed her eyes at him “I see,” she said just as they made it to the house. “Well it’s here you can go walk around now,” she said turning to him. “Be here around dusk so we can go” she dismissingly. Ghost nodded and looked at Onyx “be good,” he said before turning around to walk off.
The Nightmare Within"Where did Ghost run off too he was supposed to be back by now," Twilight said pacing around. "It's urgent that I get there to warn Princess Celestia," she said looking over to Spike and Onyx who were playing. Spike looked over at Twilight, "don't worry yourself about it he's probably running fashionably late," he said nonchalantly. "Yeah besides he's probably going to the celebration already so let's go," Onyx said running about excitedly. Twilight smiled at the filly "you're probably right," she said as she got ready to leave. Spike and Onyx ran excitedly out the door and chanted, "we're going to the Sun Summer Celebration!" Meanwhile deep in the Everfree forest Ghost continued on venturing. He had no intentions of returning in time for the celebration as he had seen it hundreds of times. He slowly trekked through the overgrown vegetation. "Where are those ruins? I was pretty sure they were around here," he said looking around. Without warning he felt a sharp pain in his head that made him cringe. It also came with a cold chill that roamed through his body. "A voice seemed to echo out of nowhere, "you're getting clooooseeeerr," it said evilly. Ghost continued slowly with the pain worsening before collapsing to the ground in pain. He closed his eyes and opened them to notice he was close the ruins he was seeking. Back at Ponyville the whole town was in shock, Princess Celestia was missing and Nightmare Moon had threatened to shroud them in eternal night. Twilight and five other ponies were in the library conversing when Onyx slowly came in. "Um Twilight Ghost never came to the celebration," she said sounding concerned. Twilight looked over at the little filly, "Im sure he's fine besides we have a bigger problem we need to stop Nightmare Moon," she said urgently. "To do this we have to find the elements of harmony," she said turning to the others. "Well let's go!" a pink pony jumped up and yelled before zipping out the door. Back at the ruins Ghost was slowly crawling on the floor towards the ruins. The pain was intense and the air felt as if it was in a deep chill. It felt as if ice was growing on his body. He could also hear whispers all around him, the words were inaudible though. A voice erupted in his head, "It's right in front of you," it said darkly. Ghost looked up to see a deep black scythe stuck in the ground. Skeletal remains littered the ground around it and it seemed to have a dark purple glow to it. "The secret to stopping nightmare forces..is a...scythe?" he asked himself weakly. His breathing was heavy and labored as he kept inching his way closer towards it. his magic felt as if it had been drained out of him already. He was right in front of the scythe before he reached out a hoof and touched. The pain and the chill seemed to have disappeared in an instant. He stood up feeling unharmed and checking himself. He then turned back to the scythe that stood in front of him. Ghost tried grabbing it using his magic, but when he did the scythe gave off black electrical sparks and broke his magic. "Hmm..." he said looking around before concentrating intently. He was going to try and use dark magic. He grabbed it with a black and purple aura that the scythe seemed to accept, but before he could bring it closer he became surrounded by a swirling torrent of black magic. He stood his ground unflinching but then realized it was coming closer and the previous ailments returned to him immobilizing him in the magic till it consumed him. Two hovering pegasus watched in horror as their son was consumed into the darkness. "We need to find Onyx," Starlight said as the both disappeared to find the filly. By this time Onyx had followed the six ponies and watched them defeat Nightmare Moon with the elements of harmony when she was greeted by Ghost's parents. "Onyx Ghost is in trouble something bad happened to him," Slayer said with urgency in his voice. "You have to tell the princess," she said pointing to the inside of the structure where Princess Celestia appeared. "Onyx please hurry I sense he's in great danger. Snowy appeared next to Onyx, "he's at the old ruins not far from here. Onyx nodded before running inside. She noticed Celestia was with a small alicorn that was a blue-ish color. All the other ponies were bowing to them. Onyx ignored them and ran up to Celestia. Celestia opened her eyes to noticed Onyx, "oh hey Onyx what are you doing here?" she asked. She looked around "where's Ghost?" The small blue alicorn looked up, "did you say Ghost? He's here still?" she asked with a small excited smile. Onyx nodded, "yes but right now Ghost is in trouble he's at the old ruins not far from here." Celestia looked a bit shocked, "we have to hurry everypony follow me," she said before running as the rest of them followed closely behind.
The Beginning of a New JourneyThe next day Onyx awoke to the sight of her friend Snowy looming over her. "Wake up sleepy" she said with a cheerful smile. Onyx rubbed her eyes before smiling back at her friend, "what are you doing here?" she asked stretching to get out of the bed. "Well duh! Im checking up on you to see how everything is in your new home" she said giggling anyway there's something weird I saw last night that I think you should know. Farther upstairs Ghost just walked into Celestia's room, she sat upright as if she was waiting for him the whole night. "What did you want to talk about Ghost?" she asked lightly before smiling. Ghost frowned a bit "well...I wanted to ask you what exactly happened to Luna and why was she banished to the moon" he said nervously. Celestia's smile dissapeared before turning into a slight grin, "how come you only ask now all of a sudden?" she asked raising an eyebrow at him. Ghost sighed "well she is supposed to come back sometime this year and I just want to make sure that once she comes back that it doesn't happen again, so everything can be averted" he said looking away. Celestia frowned "I don't know the whole story, but I do know that Luna was exposed to nightmare forces and the forces fed off of her jealousy that not enough ponies appreciated her night and she lashed out against us" she sighing. "That's all I know, Ghost it's alright try not to worry about it Im sure she'll be fine when she comes back" she said warmly resting a wing on his shoulder. Ghost looked back at Celestia "Im still going to look into it just to be safe, Im going back to see Twilight" he said turning around slowly and walking out the room. "Are you serious?!?!" Onyx asked Snowy with a look of shock. Snowy nodded slowly "I saw it once you went to sleep, and its growing too with every night" she said sounding concerned. Onyx looked at Snowy "this is bad, it's really bad" she said looking down. "What are we going to do?" she asked frantically. Snowy shrugged "maybe it'll go away" she said simply. Onyx calmed down "yeah...maybe it will...I hope" she whispered. Ghost came back to a Twilight who looked to be sleeping on a book. He slowly prodded the mare with his hoof before she jolted back awake. "What are you doing here!?" she demanded. Ghost rolled his eyes "I need to know more about those nightmare forces you told me about yesterday" he said sternly. Twilight looked at him before levitating a book over to him "well this book tells how, and why they come and where they originate from; there's ruins not too far out in the Everfree forest that is said to harbor many of them and that deep in it's depths lie the secrets to vanquish them. Yet its very dangerous to go down there" she said darkly. "Why would you want to go there though?" she asked. "I have my reasons" he said before leaving just as quickly as he came. A shy Onyx entered into Princess Celestia's room "Um...Princess can I ask you something...?" she asked quietly. Celestia looked up from some scrolls she was reading "why yes, anything Onyx" she said with a friendly smile. "Um..well..I wanted to know...why does Ghost sing, and who is it for..?" she asked softly. Celestia smirked and stood up from where she was kneeling to walk over to the filly. "He sings as a tribute to his true love little one" she said smiling. "Who is she and what happened to her?" she asked sounding more curious. "The moon princess, her name is Luna and she ruled over the night skies, she made the night beautiful and majestic every night" she said with a soft smile. "Im sure you'll be meeting her soon as well" she said happily before returning back to the pile of scrolls. Onyx looked in wonderment at Celestia and then ran back out the room where she ran into Ghost had just stepped into Celestia's room. "Oh sorry Onyx" he said looking down before looking up at Celestia. "I'm going to be gone for a couple of days, I'll be done at Ponyville" he said getting ready to turn around. "For what?" Celestia and Onyx asked in unison. "Um...personal business, I just want to check out something" he said with a slight cough. Celestia narrowed her eyes at him before answering "well take a chariot down" she said staring at him. "Oh that won't be necessary I'll be walking down there" he said wanting to hurry and leave. Celestia paused before nodding "as you wish anyway safe travels" she said before turning back to the scrolls. "Im coming with you right?" Onyx asked looking up at him with a smile. "No, you should stay here where you'll be safe er...I mean where I don't have to look out for you so you don't get lost" he corrected himself. He didn't want Celestia to get suspicious of what he was going to do and he didn't want Onyx to get in the way or hurt. "Awww, fine" she pouted. Ghost sighed "anyway Im going to get ready and I'll leave as soon as I finish packing" he said rushing off to his room. Onyx stood there with a frown before noticing Celestia right by her side watching Ghost race down the hallway in a flash of silver. "Follow him for me, see what he's up to Onyx" she said before walking back into her room. Onyx nodded before dashing after to Ghost to see him taking off his armor with the insignia of the moon to replace it with standard guard armor leaving off the helmet and strapping his sword to his side. He also packed a book into the bag on his side as well as rations before turning around. At this time it was just becoming dusk, the cool wind swept through his room, he turned to look at Onyx and paused. "Who were those two ponies you said you saw with me back at the orphanage?' he asked looking down at her. "Well they said they were your parents, they were both pegasus and they called themselves I think it was Starlight and Slayer they said their names were" she said looking past him at nothing. Ghost closed his eyes and smirked "well those are my parents alright, anyway stay here and keep out of trouble" he said before walking past her. Onyx looked at Ghost as he left, she could see what Snowy told her about, "please don't get into trouble" she said and she quietly followed after him.
Fighting With YourselfA strange noise echoed through the darkness to jolt Ghost awake from his seep. It was pitch black he couldn't see anything past his own nose. The sound echoed again sounding closer than before. "What's that sound?" he said softly rubbing his eyes. He looked around and noticed he couldn't find Onyx anywhere. "Onyx?" he called out hoping to hear her soft voice answer. "She's not here," a voice answered him from behind. He turned around to see a mirror image of himself approaching him. Yet there were some differences this doppelganger had. It's coat was pure black with silver slit pupils that pierced right through him. It's hair was a white silver color and was significantly longer and shaggier. "Who or what are you?" Ghost growled at him. The other him smirked and showed the sharp fangs he had. "Why I'm you of course," he said coming closer to Ghost. "Although you can call me Nightmare, I absolutely despise the name Ghost," he said with a disgusted look. Ghost backed up as Nightmare kept coming closer, "there's no way you're me," he said looking ready to fight. He was ready to draw his sword, but noticed it wasn't at his side. He looked back up to see Princess Celestia walking slowly around him looking at him with an devilish grin. "Luna's never coming back just face it, if I didn't want her gone why would I have banished her?" she said wickedly. Ghost shook his head and closed his eyes trying to ignore her remark. The room went quiet until a familiar voice broke the silence. He opened his eyes to see a horrific sight, Onyx laying in pool of blood with slash marks across her stomach. "Ghost, why did you do this to me? Why would you hurt me?" she said softly with a whimpering voice. "No, no, no! Onyx please! Im sorry!" he said huddling around her bleeding body. He began crying and shaking his head vigorously. "Why did you do this to me? Why?" another voice said in a moan. Ghost looked up to see Luna, but her eyes were gashed out with blood dripping from them. Her wings were badly mangled where some of the bones would poke through the skin. "Why would you do this to me?" she repeated. Ghost looked terrified looking at them with tears dripping down his face. He then heard Nightmare again. "We are the same, I am a part of you, I will always be there, I am you," he said in evilly. Ghost lunged up awake breathing heavily,he looked over at his side to see Onyx sleeping peacefully. "It was a dream?" he asked himself. He calmed down, "I hope this was just a passing nightmare," he said softly. He looked back at Onyx before nudging her closer to him. "You're safe at least," he said with smile before looking up at the dark sky. "I hope you're alright too..."
