An agonizing amount of time passed between the departure of Spike’s letter and the return reply of fellow princess Celestia. Twilight couldn’t stand it. Was it actually taking a long time, or was the thick tension in the air just making it seem like it was taking a long time? The cold night air had nothing to comment on the matter. Ty had been situated on a recliner in the study, where Twilight had the time to look over him more carefully. He was in poor shape, but more importantly, he didn’t look like himself. Sharper teeth, digits that ended in claws, eyes that resembled black marbles, and darkened veins and pearly-white skin. Twilight would consult the hospital, but she was fairly certain they hadn’t treated a condition quite like this before. At the very least, she hoped that Princess Celestia would know about this and how to reverse it. Ty looked to be in pain: his face was contorted, his extremities twitched, and his head occasionally moved.

“What happened to you, Ty?” wondered Twilight aloud.

It was that moment when Twilight Sparkle asked that when Spike entered, along with the Solar and Lunar Princesses. Twilight immediately ran up and embraced them both, which the Princesses returned. Princess Celestia said, “We came as soon as we could, Twilight.”

“Thank you, Celestia,” was all the exhausted Twilight could manage. After the momentary reunion, Twilight broke away, leading the princesses to the recliner and to Ty. The princesses were horrified, and they rushed to his side, observing every little detail. The more they saw, the more they wish they didn’t.

"An ancient evil," whispered Luna aside.

While the Princesses looked over Ty, Spike stood aside, noticing that the place was dark, since the candles had gone out. He thought to open the curtains to the room and provide illumination since the sun had risen.

The moment that rays of light from the morning sun hit Ty’s skin, it started to boil. The dark energies tried to defy the light, but the sizzling and the convulsion of the energies belied their defeat. What was more shocking than that to everyone inside the room was that Ty recoiled, clutching at himself and screaming awake. Blackened eyes wide open and now aware, Ty fell out of the recliner to roll around in agony, screaming all the way. In a rush, Spike closed the blinds, and the impromptu frying of Ty ceased. He curled up into a ball, breathing heavily.

The air was silent otherwise. Twilight finally asked, “Ty?”

Working his jaw, Ty slowly formed the words, unintelligible until he said it the third or fourth time.

“Kill me.”

That shocked everyone else into silence.

“Kill me, please. I’m a demon with a hunger for raw flesh that I may not be able to resist. I’m going to kill and eat again. Frankly, this sucks.”

As Celestia, Luna, Twilight, and Spike backed away, Ty stood on shaky legs. He advanced toward the window. Celestia was about to ask what he intended when he fell on one of the drapes, dragging his claws into it and hanging on it. The windowsill groaned a bit before giving, again exposing Ty to the sun. As before, his skin started to object to the rays of the sun. Ty held himself up, grimacing and trying to embrace the sunlight as his skin cooked.

It was Luna who then tackled him to the ground, and she had to subdue him by holding her own arms over his. Pitiful cries of weakened defiance escaped him, and Ty continued to resist. His struggles eventually petered out, and Luna asked, “Art thou quite finished yet?”

Ty’s response was light snoring. After Luna set Ty back down on another sofa, and the drapes had been dragged away by Spike, all too eager not to be there, the trio of princesses gathered. Twilight noted that the severity of whatever afflicted Ty had... lessened. His skin was still grey and his veins were still blackened, but his digits were now rounded, and his teeth were significantly less sharp.

"What happened to you, Ty?" asked Twilight.

She was never really fond of him, considering the whole two day-long chase sequence, but seeing anyone in pain hurts Twilight. Seeing someone suffer from an inexplicable condition that he says will drive him to kill. Was this really what's happening?

Almost in answer to her inner question, Luna said, "The Spectrals."

The mention made Celestia shudder, but the meaning was lost in Twilight. "Spectrals?" she asked.

Luna nodded.

"They are all that remains of demonkind that invaded Equestria long ago. Their spirits haunted us long after their defeat, and these spirits were just as dangerous in death as they were in life. They lurked in the dark and liked to carry away foals into the abyss, never to be seen again, except as another Spectral."

Celestia walked closer to Ty and cut in, saying, "So, the decision was made to imprison them in a deep cave for all eternity. This was the original purpose of Tartarus."

Looking back to Ty, Twilight now held a new perspective on exactly what was ailing him... except she didn’t, actually.

“But why is he like that?”

Looking over Ty again, Celestia said, “It is extremely rare for someone to be able to resist the influence of a Spectral if it grafts itself into their body. Such cases were the stuff of fairytales. Tales of family members having to be put down for wandering too close to the woods. Tales of otherwise sane and stable beings begging for death and meat. Tales of Spectral Hosts.”

Twilight racked her brain for such a tale, but her inner search turned up empty. Should she have known about this earlier?

Celestia noticed Twilight's look and said, "You could not have known about this. Ancient evils are always best forgotten. The tales are no longer in circulation, and the danger is well-contained. It has been this way for many an era."

Celestia then turned back to Ty.

"Perhaps that time of peace from these monsters has ended," Luna mused.

Shadows. There seems to be nothing else other than that flooding my every senses. My every thought. My every emotion darkened and drained of any meaning by that devourer.

In other words, I'd rather be hung over.

My consciousness swam in darkness, beset by silence and the void of nonexistence, so it was when I heard... voices that I was roused from the stupor that complete sensory deprivation had put me in.

Voices. They were... spoken words from individuals. Individuals that were around me, even as I started to become coherent again. I felt... cold.

I was in a bed. Sheets and a blanket covered me. My head rested in a fine pillow. Something told me that I should be feeling warm, but I wasn't sure what it was, or why that was.

Next, I felt light coming through my eyelids. After a period of being blinded by the brightness every time I opened my eyes, I could see what was around me. I was in a hospital room. The whiteness of everything, from the walls to the bed and even the wood that made the bed frame almost blinded me.

The next sensation was a sore agony, as if I ran several marathons in a row, as well as fought armies along the way. I wasn't sleepy, but the sensation coming from my muscles all over was one that came from abuse and overuse.

Next, the hunger. The hunger. I couldn't really remember why, due to the groggy state I was in, but it seemed that eating would be very bad.

The hunger itself felt unnatural. I don't know why it felt that way, but it did. It seemed... revolting, as if something bad had happened. What was it, again?

Oh, right. Now I remember.

The texture of bone and soft organs, the way sinew and muscle snapped and tore beneath my hands and between my teeth. How easily it went down, and how the warm blood was more intoxicating than any drink. I held a beating heart in my mouth, feeling it pulse on my tongue until the pulse faded. It was... euphoric and horrifying.

With this memory came others flooding into my mind. The screeching of the damned. The way their claws tore at me, into me, and the sting of their bites and swipes. I remembered being in the deepest pit of Tartarus, and how I fought against the fury of the unholy. They even crawled inside me to find succor.

With the mystery of my fatigue resolved, I then thought of what I left behind when I went to Tartarus.

Mayor Bronzehoof. Bandit Chief turned Guard Captain Bullheart. The citizens of Dogeville. Bigpaw.

Freytara.

What happened to them while I was away? Did the griffon assassin get them, too? How long has it been since I was away?

What will happen to them if I should return?

What would happen to me? Am I to be doomed to die, having been cursed with something that is perhaps incurable? If I could be cured, would I have the strength left to go back to Freytara?

Would I have to find the strength to lead Freytara, as I once tried to do? Do I still have to, or is my mission accomplished?

My thoughts were interrupted by the entrance of a unicorn pony. Her outfit, demeanor, and her clipboard all screamed "Nurse". She took a moment to look up from her clipboard, suspended and highlighted in light pink magic, and her eyes widened.

She took a moment to twist her head to call to someone in the hallway, "He's awake!" Before stepping inside the room to go to the bedside. Up close, I noticed that her eyes were the same light bubblegum pink as her magic, and she cleared her throat.

Tender Care, a cream and earthy-colored unicorn nurse in the Ponyville Hospital entered the room where the unfortunate human Ty had been placed by the princesses. To Nurse Tender Care, it seemed as Ty was awake, judging by the way those deadened and lifeless eyes followed her. Tender Care managed to ask, "H-How are you feeling today, sir?"

Ty licked his dry, sickly lips. He was definitely looking better than the last time Tender Care had seen him. He looked around the room with sunken, mournful eyes before saying simply, "Cold."

Tender Care nodded. There are, after all, several ailments that can produce a sensation of cold in a patient while he can be under a mountain of soft, warm blankets. Perhaps this condition wasn't as alien as Tender Care had first feared. Still, better to be careful. She asked Ty, "Would you like a glass of water?"

His only answer was to nod his head. Tender Care hurried to get some nice, cold water. After having fetched it, she slowly and gently presented the drink to him with a straw in it. Ty moved to take the drink, but his movements were slow and, if the look on his face was any indication, they also caused much strain on Ty to simply shift his arm in the bed. Tender Care would have none of that.

She softly said, “No, you’re still too weak. Allow me.” Ty looked at Tender Care with sad eyes, but he slowly nodded his head. Holding the glass with her hooves, she helped Ty drink the water. It was a painfully slow process, and Ty was obviously pained to be seen in such a state, but the glass was gradually emptied, with ice gathered at the bottom of the glass. It was deposited on the side table, and Nurse Tender Care returned to Ty’s side. She then asked him, “Would you like some warm food, Ty?”

Suddenly, a new voice, deep and powerful, made itself known.

“I think I can help with that.”

Nurse Tender Care spun around, and there she saw a being with more shining armor and longer horns than she thought ever possible, but it seemed as Ty remembered him, since he took a sharp intake of breath and painfully muttered,

“Bullheart.”

Author's Note

Does this make the story undead?