My mouth was dry and sunlight coming from the window hurt my eyes.
"Hello, this is Marelyn speaking," I slurred.
"It's me, Blak! How are you, sweetheart?"
"Well, first of all I officially have a terrible hangover and second, I've become a medium."
"I beg your pardon?"
"A medium; a guy who's supposed to contact the dead...because you know this house is haunted, right?"
"Right, and how did that go?"
"It's not going to be that easy," I said as I stared at my hoof for no reason, "so I need to make a serious decision because I can't stand living here anymore; it's like a damn battle every night and chances are I may have been already raped by a ghost."
Blak couldn't stop laughing, "Are you serious? Have you even listened to yourself?"
"Nope, that only happens when I record an album which is half-finished by the way so I don't really care."
"It's a figure of speech, Love. What I mean to say is that you're babbling nonsense because you were drinking last night."
"Oh, so now you say I can't control my liquor? I just don't wanna go crazy like that actress did."
"I'm sorry, it'll be alright..."
"History can't repeat itself, Blak. I feel that I was meant to solve this mystery but I can t do it alone. If I asked you to come would you do it?"
"Sure.I realize that all of this is very farfetched and I have been very patient and exercised my will power but I really need you, Love!"
"I think the distance makes our bond grow stronger," I said sighing deeply, "You say such beautiful things sometimes," I said as I began to cough repeatedly.
"Are you okay?"
"No, I need to take some medicine if I want to make it through the day."
"I'll call you as soon as I arrive."
Mamma Lyon promised she would be back to continue with the sessions and I suggested the weekend would be best; I had some business to take care of while I was downtown.
So the Summer was just around the corner so that meant another more touring until the end of the year. I was crossing my hooves thinking Saddlestitch would join us but it would only be for a few shows. That meant I wasn't going to be seeing too much of Blak; I guess I was right about that "bond" thing.
The rest of band called me to go into the recording studio for an urgent matter. Unfortunately I arrived almost two hours late. The premises were rather small yet cozy, very much like a cave.
"I apologize, you guys; I had a small domestic problem."
"Hey, no big deal," said Twigster. "I was telling the guys about what went on last night."
"Wait, you told THEM?" I yelped.
"Yes, Marelyn," said Fred, "You should know by now that there are no secrets between us. Ever since I was a puny colt I heard about the tall tales that went on in that mansion."
"Well," I said nervously, "It's not that I'm underestimating you, it's just that there have been some unusual activities going on lately, like something or someone that woke up."
"Yes! And that's the main reason we brought you here. That and discussing other details about the tour."
"Sure, sure, sure." And so I went through the hallway and into the studio dragging my feet and shaking my head a little; the hangover was still there that's Rosie packed a fresh bottle of water in my saddlebag. She was always so careful with me as if I was her son.
The guys brought the sound engineer, someone who just went by the Steve who was older and wiser than all of us put together.
"Ah, welcome, Marelyn!" he said effusively, "it is a great pleasure to have you here once again."
"Thanks, I appreciate that. They said you had something to that I should listen to?"
"Indeed. You better sit down for I've made a great discovery with one of your songs, one of the most popular."
"Which one?"
"It was Toxic Girl but this another version you asked us to throw in," said Steve. "Where was this recorded?"
"Oh, damn!" I said with a raspy voice, "the one that was done at home about a year ago."
"Apparently some gibberish can be heard at the end of it so for mere curiosity I played it backwards and here's what it I found:
And so we waited
Pray for the decay,
for the witches' fray,
Pray for those who oppose the righteous way!
The voice was weary and slow. "It sounds familiar," I said.
"Oh, good! So was this intentional, Marelyn?" said Steve. "I find no harm in these things because it's been done before but I only wanted your consent."
"No, it wasn't intentional. We were in the small theater, remember guys?"
"Oh yeah; that was quite painful," said Fred.
"You two were fighting because Marelyn claimed he had seen a ghost that day!" said Twigster.
"It's not really necessary to go into details but this is actual proof of a disturbance in the mansion," I said.
"Look, I don't care where the sounds came from as long as it's harmless to include in the last cut," said Steve scratching his head.
I took a deep sigh, "It's ancient history; there's nothing sinister about it. I think it can pass censorship, if not I won't miss it."
"But then how do you know it's harmless?" asked Twigster.
"Because it doesn't mean anything to those who live in the modern world. The witches are gone," I said.
"Great, so I'll pass this to the fellows at the record label for their say-so," said Steve and continued with his job.
Later we gathered inside a small lounge when I noticed Jayson resting in a big couch crestfallen.
"Hey, dude, why so glum?" I said as I approached them.
"Be careful, Marelyn; very, very careful..."
"What seems to be the problem?"
"You heard the song, right?" he said as he got up. "You do know the meaning of those words, right?"
"From the recent experiences I had, yes. The Dead are trying to communicate with me somehow."
"Then you already know who they are and what they are capable of."
"Not entirely, do you know who they are because I could really use the help."
"Every unicorn has heard of those wild stories! That's why our magic is very limited. You noticed I've been away for a while."
"Yes but you're okay now, everything's cool and you are fit to travel?"
"Yeah but I had to renew some permits. You see, every time unicorns do this they're asked a series of questions where you have to be awfully smart with every single activity you have done."
"I guess so, what about it?"
"Magic has been very limited for many reasons precisely because of what went on in that house."
"I know that; in fact Rosie May explained it to me; it's only for the greater good."
"Because one thing is dealing with a crazy unicorn and another is a the ghost of one."
"Jayson, you remember last year, when we rehearsed in the small theater?" said Twigster.
"Yup," he said.
"Did you sense anything in particular?"
"To be honest, yes but not in the way Marelyn did."
"So why is this coming back to me now, this haunting?" I said desperately.
"Maybe someone or some pony was protecting you?" said the brown unicorn.
"It was that Evie, wasn't it? I never fully trusted that girl," said Fred.
"Yes! Don't blame her," I interrupted, "maybe she wasn't such an expert at what she was doing. Perhaps now that I'm with someone else the outcome will be different."
"Excuse me?" said Fred.
"Nothing, forget it. So tell me; we start touring in June, right?"
"Oh sure! We'll begin with one date in Neigh-on at the Big Summer Festival," said Twigster in a moreenthusiastic way.
"Great, I always wanted to go there!" I said. "They say that if you're big in Neigh-On you can be biganywhere."
"Yeah, that doesn't apply to us anyhow because we're already big and famous."
"Do you know who else will be included in the lineup?" I asked.
"Of course! Dragonslayer will be there too in the "Mane Stage"," said Twigster.
"How about that, Jayson? Your old buddies..." said Fred.
"Eh, I put that behind; besides our style is a lot different from theirs so there will be no point of comparison."
Neigh-on was a country in the Far East and I simply adored everything about it starting by their philosophy; a different audience with a different way of thinking and more tolerant than those from Amareica. This was beginning to look like more a discrimination issue against unicorns but the burning question was who was behind it, the scientists?
(continued)
