Ghost

How did it come to this? Princess Luna desperately wondered, slowly backing away from her assailants through the dark, derelict corridor of her castle. Her horn had been chastised, her magic cut off by the strange charm they clasped around it. Her wings had been bound, and were even now tightly pinned to her sides. All she had left was her strength – a poor substitute for the cunning and tactical forethought she had once been famous for.

“You’ll never get away with this!” she shouted, trying to stall for time.

“Poor, poor Luna. Who will you tell? Your sister? The Elements?” one of her attackers spat. “All busy, far too busy. We made sure of that.”

Luna’s eyes slowly widened in panic as she considered her options, forcing herself not to run just yet. There was a window to her left, she could maybe hurl herself through that… to what end? They were on top of Canterlot Mountain – even she would not survive that fall. The door behind her was locked, judging from how it would not even shift as she nudged it.

Noticing this, the lead attacker in the cloak laughed. “Nowhere to run, Princess…”

Luna swallowed nervously, resigning herself to the inevitable. “Very well…” she sighed. “I-“

Luna had been about to say ‘submit’, but she had been interrupted by the presence of a dark shadow in the moonlit hallway. None of the others had noticed it yet. It was quite tall for a shadow, certainly nothing that could have been cast by any of them. Furthermore, at first glance it appeared to be bipedal – perhaps a minotaur had come to save her? No, the form was not quite solid – she could see through it to the castle floor. A terrifying thought occurred to Luna, and her eyes widened: Had they summoned a demon to face her? The creature took a step backward, and vanished into the shadows.

“You what?” one of the masked ponies prompted.

“Don’t be an idiot, she was obviously about to say-“ another started, but was once again interrupted.

Looking up, Luna discerned why: A dark limb was reaching out from the shadows themselves, the impossibly long and backwards foreleg ending in five smaller, tentacle-like appendages. It grabbed the thing atop Luna’s horn, and Luna flinched.

“Wha – what is that?!” one of the other ponies screamed.

“What trickery is this, Princess?” the leader demanded, impressively keeping his wits about him.

Luna was still far too preoccupied by the appendage currently probing its way around her capped horn, almost as if searching for something. Moments later, it apparently found it, and twisted its grip around her horn once, the limb moving in a configuration that would be impossible had it possessed internal bone structure. There was a small click, and the device on her horn fell off, to the shock of the onlooking assailants and Luna alike. Its mission apparently accomplished, the limb slinked back into the shadows, once again vanishing from sight. For a moment, all was silence. Then, Luna’s horn lit up blue, and the bindings surrounding her wings vanished as though they had never existed.

“Now then,” Luna’s voice boomed as she applied just a tinge of the Royal Canterlot Speech she had once used so excessively. “You will learn how to treat your PRINCESS.”

One barrage of lunar magic later, and the ponies were sleeping in a heap on the floor, looking none the worse physically – only their sleeping expressions gave away that they were currently amidst the darkest of nightmares.

Just then, Luna heard a commotion outside, and seconds later Celestia burst into the room, horn already lit and a vicious snarl on her face.

“Luna – you’re okay? I heard of a setup, an attempt to capture you while we were distracted – but how did you…?” Celestia exclaimed confusedly.

Luna smirked and nodded, gesturing to the sleeping assailants in satisfaction. “We… had some help,” she admitted quietly, still unsure if the odd creature that had assisted her was still around.

Celestia looked at her askance for a moment, then gave a small shrug. “Why don’t we adjourn to our chambers, and you can tell me all about it,” Celestia decided.

Luna nodded, and levitated her new prisoners with her magic as she exited the room with Celestia. Just as she was about to close the door, she looked back. Upon the wall she had had her back to, written there in what appeared to be a shadowy, dark liquid, were the words “y o u ‘ r e   w e l c o m e”, in a concise, slightly dripping script. Luna wasn’t sure whether to be reassured or newly terrified, so she simply closed the door.

“You say a ghost helped you?” Celestia queried once more.

The moon was still up, but it wouldn’t be for long – Celestia had stayed up all night to discuss things with her sister. Luna often disapproved of these chats, citing the importance of the sleep cycle, but thousands of years of being a Princess had tempered Celestia’s mental physique to easily withstand such tireless work.

“Yes, sister. Nothing but the dead can vanish into the shadows so easily, save myself,” Luna responded for the third time.

“But… I still think that’s impossible. The only reason ghosts exist is because they hold worldly grudges that bind them to the earth – how could one so freely assist you?” Celestia wondered.

“What I am more concerned about is not the ghost’s actions, but its appearance,” Luna mused.

“Oh?” Celestia asked. “Was there something off about it?”

Luna stiffened – she had completely forgotten to discuss this. “Yes,” she began, unsure of quite how to describe what she had seen. “The apparition was… tall. It stood on two legs, and all its limbs were bent in the wrong direction – this was most certainly not the ghost of a pony.”

She watched as Celestia’s expression grew more and more worried. “But the most striking difference, to me at least, were the ends of its forelimbs – they ended in five blunt, tentacle-like digits, which it used to remove the device we… discussed.”

At this Luna gave a disgusted frown – the device had been confiscated and taken to the Royal Archives to be studied, but she wouldn’t be going down there to examine it any time soon. Far more alarming, however, was Celestia’s reaction – she had put a hoof to her mouth in shock.

“Is something wrong, sister? Do you… know this creature?” Luna asked curiously.

“I… well, not this one personally, but I know of them. Sister, you of course remember Twilight’s report on her experiences on the other end of Star Swirl’s mirror?” Celestia asked, and Luna chuckled.

“I don’t think I will soon forget – the verbosity of your student is not to be underestimated.”

Celestia smiled slightly, and Luna smiled back, feeling better now that she had managed to cheer her sister up a bit. Celestia’s face quickly fell back into its frown, however, and Luna resumed listening attentively.

“This spectre sounds quite a lot like the “humans” she described, and given her detail on the subject… I would say we’re dealing with an escaped ghost from their world,” Celestia concluded.

Luna considered this. “If that is true… then there is a chance it may recognize Princess Twilight, even in her alicorn form. Perhaps she would be able to return it to its proper world?”

Celestia hummed for a moment, seemingly unsure. “I am… hesitant to expose my student to such a potential threat. She’s gotten off very lucky in her past heroics, with nary an injury to her name, and I often find myself wondering when that streak of luck will end,” Celestia nervously admitted.

Luna shifted a bit, seeing the logic in her sister’s words but preparing a suitable counterargument nonetheless. “’Tia, she’s a grown mare now. And besides, this thing appears to be friendly. Think of it as one more test,” Luna soothed.

This apparently convinced her sister, who after a pause gave her a small smile. “You’re quite right – Princess Twilight is of equal skill to us, and not far behind on maturity. But where may we find this ghost? It doesn’t appear to have followed you…” Celestia looked around, as though expecting something to happen. When nothing forthcoming occurred, she turned back to Luna. “If you can track it down once more, then perhaps we can convene with it. Until then… Sleep well, sister.”

Luna nodded, lowering the moon before embracing her sister in the secret hug they had not practiced for a thousand years. “You too, sister.”

The next night, Luna cautiously stalked through the castle corridors, having dismissed all the guards in this area. Her plan was to head back to where she had met the apparition, as ghosts were usually tied to some sort of earthly location or object. Once there, she had brought along some of Star Swirl’s more eccentric equipment – he had claimed this apparatus could detect the presence of spirits.

Luna sighed in relief as she found the corridor she had been looking for – the only difference between this and every other one was the still-lingering presence of her magic… Oh, and the scorch marks. Luna sauntered down, and examined the wall which had been written on the night before.

“Spirit?” Luna quietly asked, wondering if it could hear her.

When no reply came, she set up the equipment, taking a moment to adjust the electromagnetic fields before turning on the sensor. To her dismay, it showed nothing – the only soul in the room was her own. But perhaps this creature’s soul did not respond the same as a pony’s would, and Luna was not giving up just yet.

“Ghost?” she called again, louder this time.

Once again, all was silent, and Luna briefly wondered if she had imagined the creature after all. Luna snorted in frustration.

“Talking to a wall,” she muttered angrily under her breath. “Oh, if they could only see their Princess now…” Sighing, she packed up her equipment, stopping only when one of the glass parts clicked out of its holding and fell to the floor, breaking into pieces.

“Oh, Tartarus!” Luna swore, then covered her mouth.

She was rarely irritated enough to swear, much less in public, but that had been a priceless artifact that she was now responsible for breaking. Sighing, she swept off to find a servant to clean the broken glass up before somepony stepped on it, failing to notice as the object reassembled itself and began gently floating after her.

“Ah, Lemon Fresh. A good night to you,” Luna greeted as she approached the maid, who quickly saluted.

“A good night to you too, Princess,” the maid responded, forelegs stock still in a formal stance – if the guards had half as much poise as the maids, perhaps they would accomplish something for once, Luna mused – but Princess Luna gave her a warm smile, and a moment later the maid relaxed.

“We may have broken some glass over in the second-most northeast corridor – would you be so kind as to clean it for us?” Luna politely asked.

Lemon Fresh nodded eagerly, but then stopped as a confused frown made its way onto her face. “This glass, Princess… was it bulb-shaped, with a metal part sticking out of the end?” Lemon Fresh queried, and Luna looked at her suspiciously.

“Yes… how do you know?” Luna asked.

Lemon Fresh pointed, and Luna looked behind her – there, as quietly as air itself, was the repaired object, floating behind her with no magical aura to support it.

“G-g-GHOST!” Lemon Fresh cried, and took off running, leaving her cleaning supplies behind her in an effort to get away.

The glass part, meanwhile, floated over to Luna’s saddlebag of supplies and gently lowered itself in, a small clink resounding as it came to rest inside the bag. Luna, unsure of what to make of this turn of events, turned to face where she presumed the spirit to be.

“…Thank you,” she declared, feeling odd that she was talking to the empty air. “For the assistance last night, I mean,” she pressed on, feeling more awkward by the second. “And just now. That… was quite kind of you.”

Small specks of what appeared to be darkness coalesced in front of her hooves, to form words: “i t   w a s   m y   p l e a s u r e”.

Luna, reading this, gave a soft chuckle. “Would you be so kind as to accompany us back to our room? We would most certainly like to hear the tale of a spirit such as yourself.”

Inside, she was ruminating on what she could do if the spirit betrayed her. If worst came to worst and she was possessed, she was sure the Elements of Harmony could free her, but they would have to be warned first…

With that in mind, she stopped in front of Celestia’s door.

“Good morrow, sister,” Luna called out, and Celestia turned over grumpily in her sleep.

“Lulu, it’s 3 in the morning…” Celestia groaned.

“Indeed. We have just found the spirit, and they are presumably accompanying us to our chambers for a discussion,” Luna announced.

The guards by Celestia’s doors remained remarkably stoic, given the nature of her discourse – then again, the night guards had always been more accustomed to the strange ever since Luna’s return.

“Sounds good – I’ll message Twilight in the morning,” Celestia yawned, and went back to breathing gently. Luna smiled as she gently closed the door, and entered her own bedroom.

Luna’s private chambers were a surprisingly sparse space, not quite as well-kept as Celestia’s but still devoid of anything resembling a comfortable atmosphere. After taking a moment to check that the moon was in its proper place, she took a seat on her bed, levitating the saddlebag of Star Swirl’s equipment off to the side.

“Spirit, are you still with us?” she asked.

A few seconds later, the shadows cast on the wall bled into the moonlight to form the mercuric script she had come to recognize. “s t i l l   h e r e” was written on her floor, and Luna smiled.

“Very well,” she replied. “Do you have a name?”

There was a short moment of silence, as the words on the floor coalesced into a simple blob but didn’t spread out to form any new words – Luna presumed the spirit was thinking. Finally, a simple “n o” surfaced.

Luna frowned in thought. “Would you like me to… give you one?” she suggested.

Far quicker this time, the dark blot of shadow was replaced by a “y e s”, and Luna gave a soft smile as she casted about for a name to give it.

“How about… ‘Ghost’?” she asked. Not terribly original, but it would certainly get the point across.

“. . .” the spirit responded, the ellipsis quickly lost as new words formed. “i   l i k e   i t”, Ghost announced, and Luna beamed with pleasure.

“Then ‘Ghost’ it shall be. Well met.”

A simple smiley face replaced the former text, and Luna noted the two eyes and a mouth – two more vague but recognizable anatomical features.

“So, Ghost, how did you come here?” Luna asked, hoping to sound friendly and instead coming out as more of a psychologist’s drawl.

“i   d o   n o t   k n o w”, Ghost answered, back to being as devoid of emotion as ever.

Luna frowned. “Do you remember anything at all?” she pressed.

“i   r e m e m b e r   d y i n g”, the words said, but Luna was sure she had caught something else.

In the split second before the words had shifted, ‘dying’ had been forming a very different word – in fact, she thought Ghost might have been about to say “I remember you”. What could that mean? In her long years of life, Luna had certainly never come across any ‘humans’, or anything vaguely resembling them. Deciding to ignore it for the moment, Luna continued conversing.

“Would you like to tell me the story of how you died?” she carefully asked.

The dark blot of ink separated and recombined several times, as though Ghost were choosing which words to use. Finally, legible text formed. “i   w a s   o n c e   a   h u m a n   m a l e.   i   c o m m i t t e d   s u i c i d e.   i   w o k e   u p   h e r e   a n d   f o u n d   y o u.”

Luna frowned sympathetically, but still got the feeling Ghost wasn’t telling her something – something potentially important. In addition, this simple statement gave her valuable information – Ghost had only just started existing when they first met, so at least it - no, he -  hadn’t been haunting the castle unbeknownst to all. Finding no viable way to convince him to divulge his secrets, Luna sat back on her haunches.

“Why did you commit suicide, Ghost?”

The words formed themselves slowly, almost as if Ghost didn’t want to write them. “i   w a s   u n h a p p y”, he simply replied, and Luna contemplated this. It wasn’t much of an answer, but it was the best one she would likely get for now.

“Well, Ghost, until such time as you can remember who you are, you are more than welcome to stay in our castle – on one condition…”

The dark blot froze in place, rather reminding Luna of a foal with their hoof in the cookie jar. “w h a t   c o n d i t i o n   ?” Ghost asked, the words staying stock-still rather than dripping slightly like they normally did.

“Don’t scare the staff,” Luna admonished with a giggle. “Their poor hearts might not be able to take it.” With that, she laughed to show him she wasn’t displeased, and he responded with another simple, smiling face.