"Are you saying you just found this skeleton sitting somewhere in the Everfree?" Twilight asked

"This claim is true, I was not sure of its origin- that is why I came to you" Zecora replied

"Well one thing is for sure, this definitely isn't the skeleton of a pony"
"To hear that is a great relief, what is this creature, based on your belief?"

"I'm not sure, I'd have to run some tests on the bone marrow, maybe carbon date it to see how long it's been dead..."

"I must return to the forest before the storm, upon your next arrival to me will you inform?"
"I suppose I could, I'll let you know anything I find on it"

Zecora nodded and left the library, leaving Twilight alone with the mysterious skeleton

The skeleton was currently encased in protective glass she'd obtained from Pinkie
(Celestia knows why she had it), the empty eye-sockets were ovular and rounded, like a pony's- the skull was almost turtle shaped, and the large turtle-like shell seemed to validate her theory, the appendages that attatched to the body however, were far different from the average hooves a pony had. The top two appendages were almost like Spike's claws, save for the fact that they weren't pointed like his was, they almost looked like a soft version of claws, if she could hazard a guess.

Twilight looked to the only clothing the skeleton was wearing when Zecora had brought it to her, a two pieces cloth with five digits, and a pair of shoes, both a ghostly-blue.

The rumbling thunder outside snapped her out of her thoughts
'Spike should be back soon, I hope he doesn't get caught in this storm' Twilight thought to herself

She looked to the preserved skeleton one last time before heading upstairs to take a nap

X

Spike burst into the library, drenched in rainwater
'I sure hope Twilight isn't mad at me for tracking mud in here'
He dried his feet as best he could and headed for the stairs, and stopped when he saw the glass case

The lightning flashed, giving the skeleton a demonic appearance

Spike bolted up the stairs and ran to Twilight
"Twi! Twilight!" Spike said, shaking her
"Huh? What is it? Is the library on fire?"
"No, there's a skeleton downstairs!"
"Oh that? Zecora brought it in a few hours ago"
"But- but- it just looks so freaky!"
"I know, Spike- do you feel comfortable sleeping in your basket tonight?"
"Uh, I think I'd better stay with you, you know, in case it turns out to be a zombiepony"
Twilight gave a tired giggle as Spike curled up next to Twilight

Both of them drifted off to sleep as the storm raged outside

X X X(The next day)X X X

Twilight and Spike had both decided to keep the skeleton in the basement, as they didn't want to scare anypony that would happen to drop in

"Spike, put those things down" Twilight said, catching him wearing the pieces of cloth on his claws
Spike blushed and placed them back on the table

"Have you found out what it is, Twilight?"
"Not yet, there's still a few tests to run before I find anything definite"

Spike and Twilight continued through the day and well into the night, examining and performing multiple tests on the skeleton, most of their results coming up negative

"I just don't get it, Spike!" Twilight sighed "We've run every test possible- and still nothing!"
"Have you tried asking Princess Celestia for help?" Spike suggested
"She's much too busy Spike, I couldn't possibly ask her to come down here just to look at this"
"Couldn't you take it to Canterlot and ask her?"
"...I suppose so...no, I couldn't- with the both of us there, nopony would be able to keep the library open"
"That makes sense..."

"But I suppose I should write her anyway and let her know we've got this here" She said, indicating the skeleton

Spike stood ready with a parchment and quill

Dear Princess Celestia, our friend Zecora has found the skeleton of a creature that is of an unknown origin, I have studied it closely and have drawn no conclusive evidence, please respond at your convenience,

- Your student, Twilight Sparkle

"-Sparkle, there" Spike rolled up the letter and burnt it with his fire-breath

"Now all we have to do is wait for a response" Twilight said, trotting up the stairs with Spike
She turned off the lights to the basement and she and Spike walked out of the library and towards Zecora's hut.

X

I yawned as I stretched my arms, only for them to be stopped

'What the...' I shook my head, trying to wake up

'That was some dream...'

I looked down at my hands, only to find no flesh

"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

'I hope they didn't hear me...'

I took a minute to try to calm down as I simply stared at my new body

'Let's see here...'

'Turtle shell? Check'
'Nonexistent eyeballs? Check'
'Gloves and shoes on the table over there? Check'

I thought about why in the world I was like the way I was now, and came to the only logical conclusion

I was turned into a Dry Bones, the question now was why

Turning my thoughts to the glass case I was trapped in, I gently pushed on the pane in front of me, it swung open and I hopped down to the floor with a clatter of my new body.

My non-existent eyes found the pair of gloves and shoes I had seen earlier
I quickly put on the shoes, noticing they were much like the ones the Dry Bones in the games wore
Next, I put on the gloves

'These are really comfortable, no wonder they like to wear these'

As I pulled on my limited clothing, I had found a little tail- now given that I was an undead Koopa Troopa, and they had tails, it wasn't much of a suprise

I looked around the small room and didn't find much of interest, I walked up the stairs- my shoes prevented most of the sound from being heard

Once in the larger room, I almost fell apart when I found out I was in a library.

'Not the worst place I could've woken up in' I thought, glancing at the bookshelves
I looked at my gloved hands and wondered if I was able to use magic- I'd never seen any Dry Bones use magic, except for maybe in that one Mario Party, but it was worth a shot- right?

I focused as best I could- nothing happened
"Oh well..." I muttered

The door started to open and I panicked, it was too far to dive into the basement, the resulting trip down said stairs would draw even more attention anyway

Not knowing what else to do, I felt myself fall apart onto the floor and into a pile, I closed my eyes so they wouldn't see the glowing spots that served as my eyes

The door opened wider to reveal three small ponies

'Oh my god...aren't they the CMC?'

Yes, I'm a brony, nothing wrong with that

"Twilight! Spike!" Applebloom called
"Looks like they're not here" Sweetie Belle said
"What's this?" Scootaloo asked, approaching my pile of bones on the floor
"Looks like some kinda Nightmare Night decoration" Applebloom said
"Is that what it is? It looks so real!"
"D'ya think Twilight would mind if we borrowed it? We could set up a haunted house in the barn and bring it back right after"

'If it's almost Nightmare Night, that means I'm somewhere near the beginning of season 2'

"Sure! It's in pieces though, let's put it in the wagon" Scootaloo said, picking up my left arm and dropping it in the red wagon attatched to the scooter outside

The crusaders picked up my body piece by piece and put it in the wagon, saving the shell for last, two of them pushed my shell into the wagon while Scootaloo was waiting on the scooter

They hopped in and Scootaloo took off down the road towards Sweet Apple Acres.

X

Twilight and Spike trotted out of the Everfree and towards the library

"Even with what we found, Zecora and I haven't been able to find out what this creature was" Twilight said "I just hope Princess Celestia responds soon, then maybe we can get to the bottom of this"

Once inside the library, Spike went up to his basket and Twilight headed down to the basement

Spike was curled up in his basket when Twilight came running out of the basement
"Spike! Spike! Wake up!"
"What? What's the matter?"
"The skeleton is gone!"
"What? Where could it have gone?"
"I don't know, but we'd better find it, and fast!" Twilight said, running outside
"Wait for me, Twilight" Spike said, chasing after her

X

"There we go, it's all set up" Applebloom said as she and the other crusaders trotted out of the barn "That new decoration should make it really authentic"

"Let's go tell Applejack! Maybe she and Big Mac'll be our first customers!"

The three excited fillies bounded away to find Applebloom's siblings

Inside the barn, however...

"I've got half a mind to just lay here" I said to myself
The crusaders had partially buried me in a pile of leaves, giving the impression of me crawling out of the ground

I thought about pulling myself back together and standing up, but decided against it in fear of one of the crusaders coming back, my decision proved to be a smart one as the crusaders, Applejack, and Big MacIntosh entered the barn

"Applebloom, since when did I tell y'all that you could build a haunted house in our barn?" Applejack asked
"We were just decoratin' for Nightmare Night..."
"Well ya can't do it in here, why don't ya go ask the Mayor if y'all can help decorate the town"

I wanted to get up and scare them right there, but I could scare a lot more ponies at the party in town

"Applebloom- where did that come from?" Applejack asked, pointing to my head resting on the ground

"We found it at Twilight's, we thought she wouldn't mind if we returned it after tomorrow"
"A-applebloom, that ain't no decoration, Twilight said it was a real skeleton"

The crusaders jumped back from my body, shivering

"R-Really?"
"Yes, really, Twilight's here to pick it up"
Soon after, Twilight came into the barn and picked up my body with her magic
"What did you girls do? It's in pieces!" Twilight cried
The three blushed as Twilight carried me out of the barn

Twilight took me back to the library and set me down on one of the tables
"Great, now I have to figure out how to put you back together..." Twilight sighed