Heavenly Crusaders

As True works harder to strengthen himself to handle moving in his coat of mail by carrying four bushel baskets of Zap Apples to the barn, he prepares the cathedral for nightmare night that he decided to try having since Nightmare Moon was defeated and Luna returned to Equestria this year.

When the big night finally arrives, the stallion dresses up as a soldier and stands just behind the fence to wait for when the younger ponies start arriving with a guardian. The time finally comes several minutes later as ponies line up for the haunted cathedral he set up, then prepares his usual speech, saying, "Greetings on this wonderful Nightmare Night, before the tour begins, I will tell you that there are four important things to remember before going inside. The first is that: Nothing you see inside is real., the second is: The only danger here is falling and injuring yourselves., the third is: If you get injured or break a bone, I can heal you as long as it is not a more serious injury., and the last is: If you get too scared to continue or start feeling ill, you can always ask to leave. Before I continue any farther, I shall tell you now that the only spells allowed within are illumination spells if you are unfortunate enough to get separated from the group. I have a few ghostly friends inside to help out with a few parts that are no danger to you in any way, I assure you that they are not Windigoes, so do not be afraid of them. With the announcement out of the way, let the tours begin."

Getting into character, True uses an old way of speaking and greets the first group, "We Welcome thou all to these frightful, once-hallowed grounds, brave ponies. Grim news do we bring to thee about troubles which began a fortnight ago..."

Making her way into the throne room, Celestia sees her sister looking bored on the throne and chuckles, asking, "Not much patrolling to do tonight, sister?"

Sighing, she looks up from her spot on the throne, saying, "Unfortunately, not yet." Wanting something to do, she then asks, "Since I'm not too busy, is there anything we can do together as sisters?"

Knowing of one thing she has been wanting to do with her sister, she smiles and says, "Well, when you transformed into Nightmare Moon long ago, a tradition came into existence that eventually got me to recognize it as an official holiday at the end of October. I haven't been out during it because of two reasons, the biggest reason was that I was missing you. The second reason was because the duties I was dealing with left me too exhausted to do anything but sleep." Walking up to her sister, she nuzzles her cheek and pulls away, saying, "Since you have returned, I have had more energy to spend a few extra hours with you, sister." Smiling at her, she then asks, "Would you like to oversea one thing that our friend started doing after the Cathedral was finished? I even have a long distance listening crystal that we can use to hear what is going on where the telescope is looking."

Curious about the new tradition and happy for a chance to spend time with her sister, she smiles and nods, then gets off the throne, saying, "I would like that very much and learn more about this holiday. Do we need to go to the observatory tower?"

Celestia nods, saying, "That is the strongest telescope in our castle, plus I can use a projection crystal so that we don't have to switch back and forth between the lens."

Making their way to the tower at a trot, Luna gets the honor to attune the telescope to the front of the Celestial Cathedral in Ponyville. Adjusting it to the gathered line of ponies out past the fence, she then lets Celestia set the crystals in place to let them see and hear what is going on out front.

When her sister finishes fine tuning the crystals, the first thing they both hear is a crack of lighting followed by shrieks of terror followed later by peals of laughter from the ponies outside, causing Luna to be concerned and ask, "Are our subjects in peril, should we go investigate their screams?"

The older sister shakes her head, saying, "Not just yet sister, let us keep watching. If it looks like there is trouble, we will let Twilight and the Elements to handle it if we deem them capable."

Letting herself relax, Luna gets comfortable on a pillow and continues to watch the floating image before them curiously. A few minutes pass as a group of foals escorted by an adult and True Heart dressed as a war-torn royal guard, asking, "Did he acquire that from our old castle?"

Nodding her head, Celestia says, "From the looks of it, I think he found a way into the restricted armory."

Surprised to hear that, she turns to her and asks, "But isn't that only accessible by us?"

Turning to her sister, she sighs and says, "Yes, however, it seems that he somehow knows of another way." Turning back to the image, she huffs and shuffles her legs to get more comfortable, saying, "I keep learning more intriguing things about True Heart, sister. The first time I ever saw him was as a young foal in the gardens with one of our elder unicorn groundskeepers, Thunder Magic." Recalling that there was a statue there in front of them, she adds, "I heard a flock of birds take flight and turned to see them standing in front of a monument to the fallen order of Heavenly Crusaders."

With this being the first she's hearing of it, Luna cocks her head and asks, "There's a statue to their order?"

Nodding, she says, "Yes, it is somewhere in a far corner of the gardens, and I don't understand why I keep forgetting it exists. The first time I remember ever seeing it is when I first moved in, but it appears to be from before your banishment."

As they continue to talk about the curious young stallion, Luna then says, "I wonder what other secrets True Heart is not sharing with us, sister..."

Continuing to watch the image and listen to True Heart speak to the next group, Celestia says, "I don't know, but we will find out through careful conversation with him whenever we have encounters with him. One thing that I've learned from talking with him and hearing about him through Twilight's letters, is that he's careful with how he words things around his friends and us especially."

Nervous, the younger sister turns to her sister, then asks, "Sister, are you sure that he has the potential to be like us?"

Lifting her head up and turning to face her sister, she nods assuredly, saying, "I am, because when he took a strange pose and chanted a phrase in Latin, I thought nothing of it and translated it moments later." Telling her sister what else she saw, heard and felt, she trembles lightly and says, "Luna, I had no idea what kind of spell he cast and those flames scared me, I was about to dispel it when I noticed that he wasn't being harmed. I only realized that it was some kind of prophecy spell when I heard him speak, when it was finished, he passed out and his body was forever changed by the spell. Both worried and curious, I collected his materials to learn more about the spell he used while he was unconscious. What I found shocked me, there were various scrolls written in five different languages, Luna...and I could only understand one written in Latin. True Heart wasn't even close to being 16 yet and he was able to understand 5 written languages and decoded a spell using all five of them."

Looking at the stallion in question with wide eyes as he greets another group of foals wanting to go inside, Luna says, "True Heart is a stallion that we must go to great lengths to observe and watch out for, then." Unable to look away from him, she asks, "Do you wish he would have been your pupil instead of Twilight?"

Thinking it over for a moment, Celestia then sighs and shakes her head, saying, "As much as I want to say yes, I must admit that Twilight was and is the best choice to be my pupil. Unfortunately, True Heart seems to beyond any tutoring we can offer...at least until he becomes one of us, I hope."

Concerned, she slides over beside her sister and lays her wing over her, saying, "We will do what we can to help him out as he follows his own path."

Wanting to make the rest of their night together fun, she nods with a smile and looks at her younger sister asking, "Would you want to tour this 'haunted cathedral' with me in different forms, Lulu? I've never been to one before."

Wanting to try it, Luna nods and says, "I would, but how shall we go? Two fillies or do you have something in mind?"

Thinking it over, Celestia then looks at the image and says, "There seem to be chaperones with groups of foals, though there are groups of older ponies lining up in small clusters. We could either go as a mare and her filly, with me as the mother...or we could go as two teenage sisters. Which one would you prefer?"

Observing the image a bit, she watches True Heart greet the older ponies a bit differently, asking them if they are prepared for a scarier version of the same tour. Making her decision, she then says, "It appears that the tours for the foals have stopped, so, it would be best to not raise suspicion and go as teenage sisters."

Nodding her head, she says, "Alright then, let us take on smaller forms with blue and light yellow colors opposite to each other, with each of us having green eyes slightly different shades."

Standing up and moving off her pillow, Luna smiles, saying, "Okay, here I go." then uses a spell to change her appearance and size, picking a shorter light golden yellow unicorn mare with forest green eyes, and a blue mane and tail. The last change she makes is switching her cutie mark to a ruby split in half, changing to a younger voice in case she has to speak, saying, "How is this?"

Smiling and liking her sister's appearance, Celestia says, "Very well done, Lulu." Changing her own voice, appearance, and size to be identified as her twin sister with a lighter shade of green eyes, she picks an image of a diamond with a bright sparkle on one of the upper facets, saying, "I shall go by the name Star Shine, what will you choose, sister?"

Thinking of something somewhat like her sister's, she says, "Hmm...I will go by Rising Light."

Standing up and moving beside her sister, she says, "Be sure to talk with the same volume as we are using now while in these forms, because we will need to act like our subjects. If you're not ready to try talking to others in public yet, you can remain quiet and smile politely while acting shy and nervous. Are you ready to go?"

Taking a breath and nodding, she watches her sister collect the crystals and deactivates them. Putting them away, she then removes her regalia with a giggle, hearing her say, "Almost forgot that we aren't the royal sisters Princess Celestia and Princess Luna right now, silly me."

Giggling, Luna removes hers and puts them away, saying, "Now we won't raise suspicion as much."

Leading a few groups through the catacombs, the line gets shorter after the night wears on when two sisters arrive, with the light colored one dressed like a Timber Wolf and the other like a Thestral. Not caring that they make the line a tad longer, he goes through his greeting and then leads them into the dark labyrinth he has set up.

Several minutes pass as they watch him return with the group, giving them slices of caramel rainbow apples to eat. When they walk past them and head back to town, they overhear them talk about wishing they could have made it to the end and win the prize for completing the tour. Seeing a cart to the left of the line, Rising Light reads the sign above it, saying, "Grand Prize for thou braving the Haunted Cathedral's terrors."

While they stallion gives his speech to the next group, Star Shine looks around the others in the line and asks, "Excuse me, sir knight, but have any brave ponies completed the challenge this night?"

Looking to the mare that just spoke, True Heart nods and says, "Two groups have braved the perils lurking within and came out unscathed." He then begins to lead the group inside.

The two sisters stand in line, anxiously waiting for their turn as Rising Light says softly into her sister's ear, "I'm glad I remembered seeing the ponies paying a candy toll, it was interesting going to a few places to gather enough to pay it."

Nuzzling her back, she smiles and says, "I would do anything to have more time with my beloved sister."

When the time comes for the sister's group to enter the Cathedral, True heart greets them, not realizing that the two ponies are Celestia and Luna, saying, "Welcome to the Celestial Cathedral, miladies. Have either of you been on one of these tours before?" When they shake their heads, he smiles and says, "Very good to hear, there are four important things to remember before going inside. The first is that: Nothing you see inside is real., the second is that: The only danger here is falling and injuring yourselves., the third is that: If you get injured or break a bone, I can heal you as long as it is not a more serious injury., and the last is that: If you get too scared to continue or start feeling ill, you can always ask to leave. Before I continue any farther, I shall tell you now that the only spells allowed within are illumination spells if you are unfortunate enough to get separated. I have a few helpers of the ghost variety that will not harm you in any way, I assure you that they are not Windigoes, so be not afraid of them."

Once he reaches the end of his initial greeting, he gets into character, saying, "We Welcome thou all to these frightful, once-hallowed grounds, brave ponies. Grim news do we bring to thee about troubles which began a fortnight ago. Deep in prayer were we when there was a rumble that came from down below, go to investigate it did we. Discover the cause we had, for long-forgotten creatures had crawled out of the ground or breached the veil between worlds. Only on this night was it possible, to tear through what keeps us safe from what lies beyond death, as it is thinnest during just a single night out of the entire year."

Seeing them both trembling lightly, he continues, saying, "Greatly outnumbered were we, unable to beat them back and were then forced to flee. Managing to contain them are we for now, until salvation arrives." Looking up at them hopefully, he asks, "Might ye be capable of aiding us in our quest to seal them all away?"

Looking at each other, they notice the other trembling and giggle delightfully before turning back to him, saying, "We will do our best!"

Bowing his head to them, he says, "We are most grateful for thine assistance, for the barriers shan't last much longer. Go now, must all of us, though we have powerful talismans for thee to battle the fiends lurking within." Grabbing a couple of hoof-sized sacks full of candy hidden within candy gems, he then hands the bags to them, saying, "Accompany me inside, a challenge lies within. Though ye must both pay the toll of 1 piece of candy each, so that we may appease the wardens overseeing Nightmare Moon's cell and ensure her cravings are sated for another year."

Excited by what he said, they pay the toll as Rising Light turns to her sister, asking, "I wonder what lies in store for us?"

As Star Shine sees him use an old spell to seal doors, she chuckles and says, "We will both find out very soon. I wonder which of us will be the first to scream."

When the doors close behind them with a boom, they watch as the ancient locking spell is put back onto the doors. Once the golden spell finishes, the room is engulfed in darkness with the only light coming from glowing crystals scattered along the edges of the narrow black corridor they find themselves in.

As they stand there amidst a low fog not going higher than their pasterns, a low mournful wail is heard from somewhere nearby as Rising Light looks around to see cobwebs in places across the ceiling a few feet above their heads when she hears faint giggles from farther ahead.

Making their way down the corridor, Star Shine is the first to jump when a crate jumps off a stand and falls to the ground with a loud crash.

When there is a loud crack of thunder and lightning overhead, suddenly illuminating some well hidden statues of angry, two-legged shaggy-haired creatures resembling dogs with very sharp-looking claws, they both cry out in alarm and run behind their guide as he chuckles, saying, "That creature was quite tricky to defeat with its speed, sharp claws, and ability to see perfectly in the dark of night. Don't stray too far or thee might get snatched away by one of the creatures deeper in and carried off to the land of the dead, where thou will have to follow a spirit guide to find thy way back to us..."

By the time they reach the lower floor, both sisters are pressed against each other, walking side by side and trembling nervously when they spot the skeleton of a two-legged creature start crawling out from under a fallen stack of barrels, groaning out, "So...hungry."

Responding to its appearance, he backs towards the side of the corridor, saying, "QUICK, OFFER IT A RED JEWEL AND IT MAY RETURN TO ITS SLUMBER!"

Crying out in fright, Star Shine hastily pulls a red gem out of the bag and moves it in front of the undead creature, saying, "Eat this, not me!"

Once it sees two gems before it, it reaches up and clutches them in it's skeletal hand, saying, "Thank...you..." before crawling backwards to where it emerged.

Leading the two mares through the dark corridors with them offering the suggested gems to each potential snatcher, True is impressed they made it halfway through without getting grabbed, saying, "Ye have braved many perils thus far, but the most frightful lie further ahead."

Gulping nervously, they press on, determined to finish the challenge together. As they round a bend, they lose sight of their guide and call out for him. When there is no answer, they both let out ear-piercing shrieks as they are suddenly swept away by shadow creatures. Finding themselves in a dark, boarded up room, their hearts hammer away in their chests as Rising Light says, "H-How do w-we get out of t-this, sister?"

Star Shine looks around with wide eyes as she tries to force her heart out of her throat, saying with a forced chuckle, "I-I don't know, look around for anything that might provide a hint to our escape."

Rising Light looks around for a bit when she spots a subtle, glowing red text and reads it aloud, saying, "Twice shall show you the way." Looking up to her sister, she asks, "What do you think that means?"

Thinking it over a moment, she then spots a glint above her and illuminates her horn to see, spotting a large bell above her. Figuring it out, she then giggles, saying, "We must have to ring the bell above us twice to find the way out, we must be in the bell tower."

Finding a rope in the corner, they pull it twice and see a door lift up to reveal a spiral staircase leading down, illuminated in a bright cerulean glow with mist flowing up from the corners of the floor. Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs, they spot a glowing orb hovering before them, hearing a faint voice say, "Follow."

Waiting for them at the corner where they were snatched, he hears a couple high-pitched screams from above and waits for them to return. When they return a few minutes later, the ghost vanishes and heads to the next part. Heading towards them, he then bows, saying, "A thousand apologies, we had no idea there were mischievous gremlins about." Straightening back up, he asks, "Shall we continue on, miladies?"

Pushing on, Rising Light is the next one to shriek as the decomposing bodies of multiple ponies shamble towards them groaning, 'hunger'

After having to offer gems to each one, their supply is running pretty low. Making their way past more obstacles that gets one of them to shriek, they come across a large room with a large, skeletal dragon surrounded by a deep red, electrified mist.

Sensing intruders, the dragon raises her head slowly, grumbling at being woken and brings her head around to gaze upon them with a baleful glare. Letting out a breath of red smoke and red sparks, the skeletal dragoness growls out, "WHO DISTURBS MY SLUMBER?!"

Hearing the two sisters shriek in fear at the sight before them, he trembles and says, "Heavens above...it appears that the tear became large enough to let the dragon god Livalyel to enter our world and try to expand her rule. QUICK! OFFER WHAT GEMS THOU HAVE LEFT OR SHE SHALL SEND US ALL TO THE LAND OF THE DEAD SHE RULES OVER WITH AN IRON CLAW AND FIERY BREATH!"

Frightened by the sight of the of the true monstrosity before her, Rising Light frantically searches through her bag and empties it. Finding only two large gems, an emerald and a diamond, she bows before the creature and shouts, "THIS IS ALL I HAVE, YOUR MAJESTY, PLEASE SHOW MERCY!"

Looking the trembling ponies over before her, she moves her skeletal head closer and inspects the offered gems. Once two more gems are added by the blue mare, she snorts out a puff of sparking smoke, saying in a booming voice, "SUCH A PALTRY OFFERING I SEE BEFORE ME! I SHOULD DEVOUR YOU ALL FOR SUCH AN INSULT...HOWEVER, I SHALL BE GENEROUS AS DIAMONDS AND EMERALDS ARE MY FAVORITE TO SNACK ON." Taking the gems in her red magic, she grabs them with her claw and says, "AS A SHOW OF GOOD FAITH, I SHALL RETURN AND REPAIR THE DAMAGED VEIL. FARE THEE WELL, MORTALS." Shifting into a low-lying smoke, she slinks away out of view with her candy, whispering into her husband's mind, 'Just so you know, dear, those two mares are actually Celestia and Luna in disguise.'

Raising an eyebrow at hearing that, he replies, 'Oh? Well then I should punish them for fooling me...' Getting back into character, he then lets out a relieved sigh, facing the two disguised mares and says, "Thank heavens she was pleased with the offering, or we would of had to face her in battle. Let us leave this place and let her work her magic to restore things to their proper place."

Smiling to each other, they happily trot after him as he leads them out. When they walk out from where they entered, the doors shut behind them as the bell rings out twice in celebration of their achievement.

Leading them back to where the line was, there are no other ponies waiting as it is near the end of Nightmare Night as he stops beside the cart carrying the Grand Prize for completing the tour, bowing to them, saying, "We are most grateful for thine help in making this a sacred place once again, brave ponies." Picking up the box on top, he then offers it towards them, saying, "Please accept these delicacies in thanks for aiding us in our time of need."

Wide smiles cross their faces at succeeding in their goal together, with Rising Light saying with tears in her eyes, "We did what we set out to do sister, this is going to be a night I will treasure for a long, long time."

As the two begin to walk away, True Heart watches as the light unicorn puts the large box across her saddlebags and trots towards them, dropping his act and saying, "Oh and one more thing before you go, ladies?"

Star Shine stops and turns, looking right at him as he gets closer, asking, "Yes, what would tha-" when she suddenly feels him lock lips with her and slip his tongue inside her mouth.

Rising Light chuckles at seeing her sister being kissed passionately by a much younger stallion, egging her sister on when she sees her wrap her forehooves around his neck, saying, "OOH, looks like somepony's really enjoying the attention..."

Moaning softly in delight at the passionate kiss, she remembers that she is in public and slowly removes her hooves from his neck, asking, "Wh-Why thank you for that breathtaking kiss, kind sir, but I'm afraid that I am not looking for a special somepony at this time."

With a smile, he then starts turning towards the other sister, saying, "Is that because the both of you are a thousand years more experienced than I am, Your Majesties?"

Star Shine is shocked speechless at him figuring out who they were through their disguises, when her jaw drops open at how he starts making out with her sister.

As Rising Light finds herself backing up into a column, she sets the box down on the ground and lets him press her back up against it. Getting a little too into it she pulls away and nips at his neck, moaning softly while trying to wrap her tail around his.

Blushing fiercely at her sister being so forward, she clears her throat, saying, "Ahem, we are in public, sister, so please don't start mating in front of me."

Chuckling, she returns to her hooves with dilated eyes, saying, "Awe, someone wanted more..." When her sister stammers at his approach, she is silenced as he kisses her more passionately, asking him, "How did you figure us out?"

Once he stops, leaving both sisters with dilated eyes and waving their tails slightly, True says, "My wife saw the auras of your magic and then told me about it."

Huffing lightly in annoyance, Star Shine then says, "We will just have to work harder so you can't see through our disguises." Turning to her sister, she then says, "Let us return home and enjoy our reward together, sister."

Putting the box back on her saddlebags, Rising Light sidles up to True Heart and nips his right ear, saying, "Thank you for such a fun and memorable night, True. I might return next year to go through it again." Turning, she then walks away with a little sway in her hips.

With the closing hour nearing, True makes his way back to the front doors and removes the seal. Walking in, he then calls in, "Alright everyone, that's it for tonight. I'm heading over to join the others by the statue of Nightmare Moon to make the offering, thank you for all the help!"

Numerous laughs come from inside as they all give their response, commenting about hoping to do it again next year as four ghostly orbs appear floating before him with one of them replying in a familiar voice, "Thanks for giving us the chance to have a little fun tonight, it was very enjoyable to have a little fun making them shriek in fright at our actions."

Nodding, he smiles and says, "I'm glad that I was able to get in touch with you at all."

Swift Dart dances around him, saying, "We truly appreciate you reaching out to us with that spell." Feeling a little sad about having nothing else to do but wander, she looks to the others, then back to him and asks, "Uhm...would you have a problem with me hanging around here? It's rather boring in the spirit realm."

Surprised to hear her ask, the others watch True Heart curiously for his reply.

Having no problem with it, True smiles and says, "Not at all. Will you need me to relocate your remains to a preferred spot from where they lie?"

Swift looks around to track the direction of her remains, finding them in a peaceful meadow six feet down beside many others. Turning her head back to the stallion, she then says, "Nope, mine have been given a proper burial in a beautiful spot behind the old castle."

Looking to the others, he asks, "Do any of you need remains collected from where you perished?"

As they all search for the location of their remains, one orb moves forth, saying, "I do, unfortunately. My remains are trapped in a collapsed section of the dungeon, shall I guide you to them?"

Smiling at her, True Heart then says, "We can retrieve them tomorrow after mass, as there is a final task left for me to do tonight. Will that be alright?"

Nodding with a smile, she says, "That will be just fine, another day or week under the debris won't do any more damage than what was already done."

Before turning to head outside, he smiles and says, "Alright then, I will be back in about a half-hour, then we can take everything down."

She smiles and watches him go, saying, "Alright, I will help the others start cleaning up in the meantime." Turning to the others, she asks, "Why don't we all go make ourselves useful?"

Hearing a chorus of agreements, True turns and heads out, saying, "Thank you so much girls."

Making his way to the gathering at the statue with the black cauldron full of offerings, he waits for them to finish placing candy next to the statue and approaches it while preparing to put on a small show to close out the night. Bowing his head in reverence, he begins his act, saying in a loud voice, "The heavens above Equestria were free of Nightmare Moon's presence thus far," then places the full cauldron upon the ground before the statue and uses a spell to detect hidden traps just to make use of its unique yellow, flame-like aura, continuing, "but I pray that the offerings brought forth tonight are enough to please the wardens overlooking her cell and ensure her cravings remains sated through one more year." Raising his voice and throwing his head to the sky, he calls out to signal Marougeka, saying, "OH MIGHTY WARDENS WATCHING OVER NIGHTMARE MOON, HEAR ME! OFFERINGS HAVE BEEN GATHERED, I SEEK AN AUDIENCE WITH ONE OF YOU IN HOPE THEY GAIN YOUR APPROVAL!"

Having borrowed a set of Thestral royal guard armor for this, Marougeka transforms into a black cloud and rushes forth from a distance. Stopping and hovering beside the statue, she returns to her regular form and looks down upon the armored soldier she knows is True Heart and calls down to him, shouting, "WE HAVE HEARD THY SUMMONS AND I HAVE BEEN SENT TO GAUGE THE OFFERING THOU BRING." Looking down at the medium-sized cauldron nearly overflowing with candy and the pile beside it, she then turns back to the stallion, shouting, "THOU ART LUCKY THAT THE OFFERINGS ARE RESPECTABLE, FOR NIGHTMARE MOON HAS BEEN TESTING THE STRENGTH OF OUR WARDS IN ORDER TO SATISFY HER DESIRE TO FEAST. THESE OFFERINGS ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED AS THEY WILL ENSURE HER CRAVINGS ARE SATED THROUGH TO NEXT YEAR." Picking up the pile and drawing the candy out of the cauldron with her magic, she rises higher into the sky and bellows, "WE SHALL RETURN FOR NEXT YEAR'S OFFERING, ENJOY THE PEACE GRANTED UPON THEE."

True Heart rises from his bow and looks up at Marougeka as she transforms into a black cloud of smoke and bellows, "FARE THEE WELL!!!" while rocketing away out of sight, then heads towards Luna's chambers in Canterlot Castle as he hears cheers from the ponies behind him.

After having several ponies praise him for the haunted adventure, he passes by Twilight and Spike, who is enjoying candy on her back while dressed as a cragodile when Twilight asks, "So, how many ponies made it through your Haunted Cathedral?"

With a smile and a chuckle, he says, "Besides you, Applejack, and Rainbow...one other group from a farm far away from here, and another group from Canterlot I haven't met before tonight. Wonder if I should have asked for their names..."

Smiling, she then says, "Only if you wanted to become friends with them, is there any of the Grand Prize candy medallions left?"

Nodding, True then says, "There are five boxes of them left, I wonder what I will do with them..."

An idea comes to her as she looks at him, saying, "You could bring them to the after party tonight!"

Thinking it over for a few moments, he nods his head, saying, "Very well, show me the way there, Twilight. Unfortunately I won't stay long as I have to get the Cathedral ready for mass tomorrow morning."

Remembering that tomorrow is Sunday, she giggles and says, "Right, I forgot that tomorrow's Sunday."

After heading back with her and grabbing the remaining Grand Prize boxes made out of chocolate, True follows her to City Hall where he hands them off to Mayor Mare to do what she pleases with them at the party. Seeing that Spike is asleep and thinking he might need a little help in the crumbling dungeon under the ruined castle, he turns to Twilight and softly says, so the young dragon doesn't hear, "Hey, Twilight?"

Noticing his tone, she moves closer and lowers her voice, asking, "Yes? What's up?"

Double checking that Spike is asleep, he blows a couple short puffs of air to see how he reacts. When he only chuckles and tells Twilight to quit, he nods and then returns to looking at Twilight, asking, "After mass tomorrow morning, could you send Spike over to help Rarity for a bit?"

Nodding, she cocks her head in curiosity and responds, "Sure, why do you ask?"

Walking along as they head towards her home, True answers, "Because there is something that I need your help with, I'm going to be heading back to the castle ruins to recover something precious to a friend of mine I helped before."

As they reach her door, she opens it and walks in, saying, "Okay...can you tell me what it is?"

Smiling gently, he glances at Spike and says, "I will once you put Spike to bed, this is something that he isn't old enough to hear."

Knowing that it is something serious, she nods and carefully makes her way upstairs to put Spike to bed. Setting him down in his basket, she kisses his forehead, whispering, "Goodnight, Spike." As she lays his blanket over him, he grabs the blanket and rolls over, saying it back to her. Heading back down the stairs, she stands before him and says quietly, "There, he's tucked in and I closed the door to ensure he doesn't overhear, now would you tell me what's going on?"

Looking at her, he sighs and then says, "Alright, you remember how I said I had ghosts helping with the tour?" Pausing to see if she understands, then sees her nod, he continues, "Well those were the very same ponies who I helped grant peace, I won't tell you how I achieved that, so don't ask. But when they were locked away in the old castle's dungeon, they were left to starve and perished there. Once Luna returned, either she and her sister collected their remains and buried them personally, or they had guards do it. I'm guessing that possibly Luna saw to it personally, but anyway, one of the bodies is still down there, trapped in a collapsed section of the castle. I am heading there to recover and give them a proper burial, so I thought that I might need a little extra magical support to ensure they are recovered safely. Can I count on you to help me out in this grim task?"

Tears slip down her face at hearing of how ponies were left to starve to death, then raises her head high and wipes her tears away, saying, "Yes you can, I will wait for you after mass is over and have Spike go with Rarity. Then, we can be on our way."

Smiling at her willingness to help another despite how unpleasant it may be, he leans forth and kisses her on the cheek, saying, "Thank you so much, I look forward to a smooth recovery. So you know, the ghost, who's body we are recovering, will lead the way to where she fell."