I felt light-headed more like apathetic; traces of my illness were still there. And so cleaned myself up nice and get ready for the inevitable.
To my disgrace there was no one around; it was cold and horribly silent. I proceeded with caution.
As I approached the living room I began to grow really nervously and called out, "Is there anyone around? Rosie, Blak?"
Having no response it occurred to me that at least the cat would answer, "Lilicat, where is everybody?"
This situation made my skin crawl. I breathed faster and coughed repeatedly.
I rolled my eyes in fear. "Pull yourself together, come on, come on..."
"Having problems?"
I turned around and was shocked to find Emily by my side. She looked calm yet sad.
"How did you get here? I didn't invoke you," I said agitated.
"Oh, I believe you did," she said in a soft voice. "You need help."
"Where is everybody?"
"They don't exist here; it's just you and me. Come sit down; you look very pale and exhausted."
"But I just want answers..." I continued coughing. At this point the pain was unbearable.
"Your mind, body and soul are sick. The body makes pain tangible, that's all."
"You mean this? I'm not getting better; it's becoming annoying and it makes me feel so bad sometimes I cry at night."
"I know that and I hear you all the time," she said.
"Anyway; you are a Healer after all, so give me something for the pain."
She sighed deeply, "Magic such as ours is hard to come by these days because few creatures believe in it. On the other hoof I know you can heal on your own."
"No, only you can save me, please!"
Suddenly I felt someone tap me on the back.
"Marelyn! I'm awfully sorry to wake you up."
I was back in my room all curled up like a kitten. "Oh...it's you Blak; I had this terrible dream," I said as I stretched my legs.
"You're not well, aren't you?" he said and he caressed me with his hoof.
"I'm okay but I was extremely tired, that's all." He gave me this slow and deep open mouth kiss and I didn't want to let go.
"There's work to be done, big boy..." I said.
"Here." Blak wrapped me up his green scarf. "I think you need this more than I do."
"Aww, thanks! It goes with my eyes," I replied cynically.
"I'm serious!"
"I am too, do you think I'm joking? Alright, I'm up.."
There were four of us now including Rosie May. I fell under the impression that because she was a unicorn it made a lot of sense that she was there.
"You brought this charming colt; how delightful!" cried the hipogriff. Meanwhile Blak slightly blushed, I could tell.
"Please hold paws and hooves," said Mamma once again. This time her tone was more intense while I held on to Blak very tightly.
"Lead us through the Path of Darkness, oh Great Ones!"
Soon, I repeated these words to myself, closed my eyes and let go.
We ended up in a sort of large room filled with what looked like hospital beds yet there was no one around.
It was particularly warm. Surprisingly Blak appeared by my side.
"Oh, great!" I cried, "this is exactly what I was talking about with you making a difference."
"I think we should be quiet for I fear we're not alone, Love."
"Oh, okay."
"Down the stairs," said Blak.
"Would it be right if went over there?"
"We're here for a reason so we just better be discreet."
The both of us peeked remaining in the staircase and saw Emily having a heated discussion with an elder unicorn; her mane had gone all white and she wore a dark gown.
"Ann Marie!" cried the younger unicorn. "Listen well to what I have to say!"
"There is no use speaking to a traitor such as you."
"I realize that I was breaking the code of secrecy but I only did for the good of others. You are driving things out of balance and you know it brings terrible consequences."
"You had no right to tell this to others!" cried Ann Marie. "Your ways will put us in serious trouble."
"My ways? I am being unselfish so I feel in peace but what about you?"
"I am protecting my kind, we are a great family, do you consider that selfish?"
"You are twisting things in your favor, don't you understand? Maybe if we coped with them we can get to an agreement so that our future can be assured..."
"Listen to yourself!" cried the elder one, "this is some trickery they wrapped you in!"
She raised her head and we watched how her horn lit up surrounded by a pink colored mist.
"It can't be..." I said in a lower voice. "That's the same magic I saw the other night."
"What do you mean by that, Love?" asked Blak.
"She is another ghost just like Emily but it's obvious that they took different sides."
Suddenly Ann Marie tried to strike her companion yet she defended herself quite nicely using some form of shield.
"I beg you to stop this! You're just making things worse, you can't kill your kind!"
"Who said I was about to kill? I am just setting an example so that you will learn your place..."
"NOOOO!" I couldn't help crying and went downstairs to aid Emily. Blak tried to stop me.
Unfortunately there was nothing to do. The images we saw were just echoes, reflections of what happened. They faded away slowly in my hooves.
"What?" I said turning around.
"That's remarkable," said Blak and continued to check the place.
"This was supposed to be different; I thought they were real, at least in their ghostly form. I don't like this, Blak."
"I don't either but why are you sad? Tell me."
He hugged me tightly and explained to him that my anguish for Emily had grown; I feared she could have been killed by her own kind. The elder unicorn didn't specify that.
"She was just doing the right thing; it was Ann Marie who turned evil."
"It's lovely how you show empathy for a dead one; it's too bad the other had worse intentions."
"She is the aggressive one who is turning the house upside down; now I realize what Mamma said that she wouldn't do me any harm."
"So what do we do now, are we supposed to go back?"
"We have to keep searching the mansion because there could be other clues, probably stuff that's not written in the books. This will be a long night."
"Alright then, let's go."
"Once again, I'm glad you're with me for I feel much safer."
"Calm down; whatever happened to Emily belongs in the past because she perished and we can't do anything about it."
"What if she wasn't dead?"
"Oh, why do say that?"
"Nothing, it's just a feeling."
Blak and I had absolutely no clue of where to go next. There were several places within the house that I barely explored. It was very dark so the only way to walk across hallways and such was by using a candlelight.
"What about the basement?" said the pale blue pony.
"What do you expect to find down there?"
"Remember when you found me crying in the corner while a record was playing?"
"Yes?"
"Actually, there was somebody else that night."
(continued).
