Ghost

Celestia was there, anxiously comforting her with a cool rag and a worried expression. “Lulu, what in Equestria’s the matter? I’ve never seen you this distraught before,” she inquired concernedly.

“Oh, ‘Tia,” Luna sobbed. “T’was awful. He just… without even talking about it…” she incoherently trailed off as Celestia took her into a close hug.

“Tell me everything,” her sister gently ordered, and Luna sniffled for a moment more before beginning her explanation.

“And then he just kicked the c-chair away, and I couldn’t even watch and he – h-he – “ Luna burst into a fresh round of sobs. Celestia, showing a remarkable presence of mind, had brought over the tissues before Luna had even finished her sentence, and Luna gratefully accepted one.

“There, there. He’s okay, we know that much,” Celestia soothed. Inside, however, she was worried, though not quite for the same reasons as Luna’s distress. Ghost was normally drawn like a magnet to anything that would cause Luna harm – aside from Luna’s earlier instructions regarding her bathing room, it was a safe bet that he followed her at all hours. Where, then, was he now? If he can hear her breakdown, surely he would have said something, Celestia mused. But all was silent: The walls were clean, the shadows of the room untouched. Either Ghost had finally found something else to do at just the right time, or he was simply staying as silent as only he could.

At any rate, it was time for Celestia to start the Day Court, and she reluctantly left Luna’s side. “If you ever need me, you know where to find me,” Celestia called out, and Luna nodded. Though she had technically just slept, she was exhausted from going so far into the dream world, and needed some rest of her own. Luna closed the curtains, shrouding the room in darkness, and drifted off to actual sleep, waiting until the evening to resume her duties as Princess of the Night.

If there was one thing Princess Celestia was happy about, it was that Ghost preferred to haunt the night. He was rarely, if ever seen in the daytime, and his most noticeable appearance thus far had been upending a wine glass on an intoxicated Prince Blueblood, who in his inebriation had apparently insulted Princess Luna’s figure while right outside her door. A still-wet Blueblood had reported directly to Celestia from his quarters within the castle, demanding an explanation, but Celestia had merely smiled and shrugged, claiming that she had no idea what could have possibly caused the event. Tipsy enough to believe this, Blueblood had sauntered back to his room, where Celestia presumed he would continue to drink and complain about things. Really, if it weren’t for his political expertise, my nephew would find his stay in our castle to be much shorter, Celestia thought tiredly as she signed yet another form. Seeing a petitioner at the front door, she put on her best motherly smile. “Greetings, my little pony,” she politely opened, staring down at the unicorn with as much comfort as she could muster. This quickly ceased as a form was all but shoved in her face, and she levitated it over to read it. “Petition for Expulsion of Spirit,” she read out loud. Oh, what fresh Tartarus is this.

“We have received multiple independent confirmations that there is a vengeful spirit haunting the castle at night – a spirit that, so far, has been welcomed. Do you not remember Discord, Princess? The damage he caused with his ‘pranks’? This cannot be tolerated,” the unicorn stated clearly, sounding as though he had rehearsed this speech.

Celestia inwardly smirked, regaining her outward smile. Weak logic, at best – this will be easy to deal with. “Of course I remember Discord – who doesn’t? And lest you forget, Discord has reformed and allied himself with harmony. This spirit is of much the same temperament – while he may perform childish pranks at his own whimsy, he has never harmed another, and is in fact quite friendly according to my sister.”

The unicorn was stumped at this, and Princess Celestia levitated the scroll containing the signatures back over to him. “I apologize, but I must politely reject this petition, on the grounds that the premise is inaccurate. This ghost means no harm to Equestria, and rest assured that the moment he does marks the end of his tenure at the castle.” With that, Celestia returned to her throne, indicating the unicorn’s dismissal. She vaguely wished more petitions went that way – unfortunately, few matters of economics were quite as simple as the discussion of whether a neutral spirit should be allowed to stay in her castle.

The rest of the day went much the same as ever: Petition-signing, appearing at a private event, and finally lowering the sun. Celestia yawned as she trotted inside, the moon slowly rising from its position on the horizon as Luna followed her inside.

“So, how’s our resident spirit?” Celestia queried. Luna gave her a concerned frown. “He has been… quiet. This bodes ill, sister.” She looked around, searching for any errant blobs of shadow that would cue Ghost’s presence. Nothing was there: the room was as empty and shadowed as ever. “Ghost?” Luna cautiously called out.

To her surprise, he almost immediately responded. “y e s   ?”

Luna stared for a moment – she had fully expected him to have left, with such a long period of silence. “Where have you been?” she asked.

“r i g h t   h e r e”, Ghost answered.

“But why did you not reveal yourself? We were discussing you just now,” Luna wondered aloud.

“y o u   d i d n ‘ t   a s k   m e   a   q u e s t i o n”, Ghost wrote. Luna frowned, and Celestia quietly closed the door behind her as she made for her bedroom, satisfied that Ghost was as ‘normal’ as ever.

“Ghost, you do know that you have your own free will, right?” Luna asked cautiously. “You can ask us things, if you want. Nopony has to give you an order… do they?” Ghost seemed unsure of how to respond. “Lewis, you know you can always talk to me, I’m your friend,” Luna pressed on. And then paled.

“h o w   d o   y o u   k n o w   m y   n a m e” was written on the wall – and the words were shaking. Oh, this was very, very bad – she’d just revealed she’d eavesdropped on his dream, and Ghost was clearly not happy about it.

“H O W   D O   Y O U   K N O W   M Y   N A M E   A N S W E R   M E” quickly replaced the prior text, the shadow writing turning blood-red and quaking more violently. The very room seemed to darken, and to her horror Luna saw Ghost’s body, the same one she had seen in their very first meeting, appear in front of her, limbs raised to its head as though he were in terrible pain.

Luna took a step back. “I… I’m sorry!” she cried. “I just… I looked into your dreams, after we last spoke, I had to know… I’m so sorry,” she pleaded. Her room slowly stopped shaking, and Ghost looked at her once with his blank, white eyes before vanishing again.

“w h y” was written on the wall, and Luna gave herself a moment to calm her beating heart before attempting to discern his meaning.

“Why… why what?”

To her surprise, the shadows that comprised the words fully turned to liquid, bleeding down the wall to form a puddle of darkness on the floor. Slowly, they formed into new words. “w h y   d o   y o u   s t i l l   k e e p   m e   a r o u n d   i f   y o u   k n o w   h o w   m u c h   o f   a   f a i l u r e   i   a m?” coalesced around her hooves.

Luna looked at this for a moment, her expression slowly turning to righteous indignation. “T’was not your fault that thy father was an elderberry-scented puppetmaster!” she replied, slipping back into her old mannerisms of speech for a moment. “You are not a failure, Lewis,” Luna hastily amended. “You’re perfect just the way you are, and you have proven that with your conduct as of late. You haven’t once harmed another, despite ample opportunity to do so. And… you saved my life,” Luna whispered. “Please, Lewis, let me help you…” she trailed off, unsure what she wanted to help him with. What did Lewis want, now that he was dead? To protect her, that much was clear.

While she thought, Lewis too was composing a response. “o k a y” was all that was written, and Luna gave him a smile – perhaps he had figured out what he wanted.

“So… what may I help you with?” she asked, bowing slightly to accentuate her proposal.

Ghost slowly and uncertainly moved his words around, until finally settling on an answer:

“i   w a n t   t o   b e   a l i v e   a g a i n”

Luna grimaced: She knew she had just claimed she would help him with anything, but… what he was speaking of was necromancy of the highest caliber, and was under normal circumstances illegal in Equestria. However, dark magic was supposed to be her jurisdiction, and as such Luna felt she was qualified to make an exception in this case.

“…Very well, Lewis. Just so you know, this will be quite a difficult task – for both of us. There are items that we need to gather, incantations I shall practice, spells of such deep complexity that one mistake could result in the end of your existence as you know it. Do you still wish to undertake this endeavor?”

There was an immediate response of “y e s” on the wall, resolute and unwavering.

Princess Luna nodded in finality. “Then let us begin. Your first task shall be to gather the Amulet of Life – it is hidden deep within the catacombs under the palace, where no living being dares to tread. The dead, on the other hoof, may pass unharmed – therefore, it is a task we shall bequeath to you for the time being.” Ghost made no response, but Luna assumed he would have nodded if he could. “In the meantime, I shall begin my studies on the required magics needed to resurrect a being from the dead. The best of luck to thee, Lewis.” With that, she departed to the royal library, leaving Lewis alone with his thoughts once more.

Ghost watched her leave from every corner of the room simultaneously. He would have heaved a sigh, but he no longer had a body or the vocal cords to do so. He could always conjure a body from the shadows like before, but it was rather hard to maintain his concentration for long periods of time, and such effort would be better wasted on trying to find this “Amulet of Life”. Constraining himself to a single point of view, Ghost began drifting down the corridor.

He had no idea precisely where the entrance to the catacombs was – or even if he could find such a thing. Had he been alive, he would have been just as stuck, as Lewis had been far too shy even to ask such important things as directions. Useless, he was utterly useless – he’d already failed before he could even start the task! Stupid ghostly body, with its nonsensical rules and its incorporeal form that he had to maintain every second – wait… Ghost had an idea. His point of vision swooped down to the floor, until he was only inches above it – due to the vague, almost muscle-memory esque compulsion of his prior life, he’d never tried something like this before. Mustering some courage, and feeling vaguely as though he were holding his breath, Ghost plunged downward through the floor itself.

He ended up in what appeared to be a kitchen, busy with activity as maids and chefs rushed around to deliver meals and snacks to the various nobility occupying the castle. Ghost watched with detached interest for a few seconds, then continued on.

He passed through a few meeting rooms, then he was met with the sight of tightly packed dirt. Ghost watched in fascination as he simply phased through hundreds of feet of soil and rock, able to see earthworms and other life burrow through the underground. He wasn’t quite able to describe how he could see these things, given that there was no light down here – it wasn’t something he could put into words.

Ghost continued descending, and finally came to a single room, stone-walled and lined with strange symbols. Strangely enough, he recognized one of them – an Egyptian ankh was inscribed on the wall farthest from him. Curious, he floated forward – and immediately jumped back as two walls slammed together to block the entrance. If Ghost had been alive, he’d have been crushed instantly. The walls remained closed, and after taking a moment to steel himself Ghost continued on.

He phased through the stone door, and after a moment of darkness was met with a torch-lit atrium, the torches somehow still alight with fire despite evidently not being touched for years, perhaps centuries. In the exact middle of the atrium was a raised platform, inscribed with the same ankh symbol. Curious, Ghost floated forward. On top of the platform, almost innocuous compared to its surroundings, was a golden ankh set with what appeared to be an amethyst in the loop. If Ghost had still been alive, he’d have been thrilled – it appeared to be real gold, and was probably worth a fortune even in Equestria. Extending his concentration outward, he attempted to pick it up.

As soon as he did so, the entire atrium around him crumbled, until Ghost was left marooned on the platform – that is, if he weren’t already dead and could fly. Looking all around him and giving the ghostly equivalent of a shrug, Ghost grabbed the amulet more securely and made his way back to the entry chamber. He was feeling quite confident – he had succeeded in his first task! Easily so, from the looks of things – apparently being dead had its perks. Ghost examined the so-called Amulet of Life – it was quite small, but seemed to vibrate with some sort of power whenever he touched it.

There were no more traps, now that Ghost had successfully retrieved the amulet – he ascertained that the creators of this odd, Indiana-Jones-esque area had meant for him to already be dead. Upon returning to the entry room, he realized that he still had a problem – there was no apparent exit to this place, it having been sealed off years ago from the looks of things. It wasn’t like he could just phase through the walls, either – he was carrying a physical object, right? Attempting to test this theory, Ghost attempted to levitate the amulet through a wall. Unsurprisingly, this failed completely, and the amulet bounced off and hit the floor, somehow unharmed. Ghost thought a while, allowing his presence to disperse and fill up the room as he examined it from every possible angle. After a while, this became mentally painful, and Ghost retreated into himself, the shadows of the torchlight coalescing to form his body – being omniscient was not something he was designed to comprehend. Picking up the Amulet once more with a shadowy hand, he studied it. The torchlight reflected off the amethyst set into the artifact, and Ghost fell backwards – more out of habit than anything, it wasn’t like he could be blinded. As he did, he made sure to keep his hold on the Amulet – and was therefore quite surprised when his arm phased through the wall, Amulet vanishing along with it. Ghost raised an eyebrow. Oh, that makes so much sense! Lewis thought to himself. Of course it goes through if I’m using my shadow body, why wouldn’t it? Stupid ghost rules… Still, he couldn’t be too mad: After all, he’d just solved his own problem. Ghost gave a pearly white grin before ascending upward, back into Equestria.

A new problem became apparent as he entered the kitchen from earlier: The chefs took one look at him and started screaming in terror. Now thoroughly frightened himself, Lewis took off through the ceiling again, heading directly for Luna’s door – hopefully if he went fast enough, ponies would think he was a trick of the light.

As he came to Luna’s door, he was reminded that she was asleep, and he didn’t feel like she would approve of him watching her sleep, even if he had the Amulet. On the one hand, he would probably terrify passersby if they saw him, but on the other, he didn’t dare displease Luna. Ghost resolved to hide behind a nearby statue of Princess Celestia, and wait for dusk to fall.