Andromalius and Celestia stared in shock at the ghosts of many unicorns. They were walking around, talking, buying things from market, resting, and everything was in absolute, dead silence.

"What is this?" Celestia spoke nervously and fearfully. "Is it what I think it is?"

"Ghost town." Andromalius frowned. "There is a strange thing about them all... If there are ghosts, which are souls, where are bodies, bones? Something is surely not right here."

Then, the two heard a scream full of despair and fear. They shivered and turned their heads to the source of noise. Somewhere in another part of the city a strange white silhouette with light-blue zebra-like marks over its body could be seen, and the creature was not a ghost. It quickly disappeared behind the buildings, leaving the two living equines puzzled and confused.

That scream, however, didn't disturb the ghosts. They were still as alive as ever.

Slowly, Celestia and Andromalius descended the old stairs that led to the city itself. There was a small square with a fountain there with benches around the latter. Near the square a marketplace stood in ruins, yet there were many merchants, and all of them were unicorns, selling ghost items.

The ghosts didn't notice the two, passing through them without effort. There would be a buzz of a busy city, but the ghosts were silent, making the situation more and more unreal with every passing minute.

"This is disturbing me greatly." Celestia whispered, her voice echoed through the empty city. "Why did it happen?"

"An ancient legend says that ghosts are people who can't or won't leave the world they lived in." Andromalius replied. "It seems that the reason is pretty simple here... None of them accepted death. They try to simulate their simple life, even if it is not real. However... real ghosts would've noticed us... No, scratch that, no one from my world knows how the ghosts act around the living people. Maybe they can't see us at all... Hmm, why do we see them? Where are the bodies? There is still something not right..."

"Ghosts are not right!"

"There is something else, I feel it..." Andromalius walked to one of the buildings, noticing something silver on its wall. "Hmm..."

The silver thing on the wall was a small splash of silvery liquid. Andromalius got the liquid on his hoof and licked it. Tasting it, he came to a startling realization.

"Celestia..." he warily began. "This is blood."

"Blood?" Celestia looked at what remained of the liquid skeptically. "That looks like molten silver."

"It tastes strange for a thing made of silver." Andromalius shook his head. "It has something metallic and salty... Like blood. And the only known being I remember has the silver blood is a unicorn."

"Unicorns have red blood, what are you talking about?" Celestia frowned.

"There is one book that says that a unicorn's blood is silver-colored." he explained. "Trust me, nothing can be certain. I already know that anything fictional can become real in a blink of an eye."

The two walked around the town, noticing drops of silver blood here and there. The drops made a trace, which Celestia and Andromalius followed. There were also hoof marks on the dusty ground, making the trace even easier to follow.

Soon, Celestia and Andromalius reached the final destination. The trace led into one of the abandoned buildings. The doors were closed, the windows were blocked. Muffled sobs could be heard coming from the inside.

"Whoever is inside, we must help." Celestia said and moved closer, but was stopped by Andromalius.

"We don't know what is inside, that is the thing." he said. "It can be everything, and it can be a trap. I remember one thing... There were sounds of crying baby in the abandoned toilet. I opened the door to that room and was almost killed, not to mention that I was scared almost to the point of shitting myself. That situation was fictional, though, but you can never be too careful."

"I suppose you're right." Celestia sighed. "But what if someone is indeed in need of help?"

"I'll try to check it out by myself using magic." Andromalius replied. "Hmm... What if I make a spell that acts like an echolocator that bats use? I send waves of magic, and receive them distorted if any sign of living being, like warmth, breath, or heartbeat are present."

"You know, you're smart." Inanna spoke inside his head.

"Uh, thanks, but I guess anyone could figure it out." Andromalius replied. "The knowledge is the key."

"You have plenty of knowledge, then." the succubus stated. "I didn't know that bats rely on that echo thing."

"Perhaps the reason is that humans study a lot."

"Are all humans that smart?"

"I'm not the smartest one, nor am I the most stupid one." Andromalius replied. "There are a lot of people, who are much smarter than me. Now, stop talking, I need to focus on the task at hand."

Andromalius closed his eyes and focused. Feeling the magic inside himself, he made it into waves. He sent them through the walls of the building, and they passed it without effort. He felt the beat, he felt the warmth of a living creature. He felt someone there was breathing shallowly.

Opening his eyes, he told Celestia: "There is indeed someone there. Scared and alone, and there is also something wrong... there are wounds on their body, painful ones."

"Then, we must help!" Celestia stated. Andromalius nodded in reply and walked to the blocked doorway.

The barrier was very weak and made in haste.

"That wouldn't hold ghosts away if they are the case." Andromalius thought, frowning. Slowly and warily, he removed the obstacle. The sobs stopped and some rustle could be heard coming from the inside.

Warily and carefully, the two entered the building. It was dark inside, but the darkness was dispelled by the light of their horns. There was a silhouette in the farthest corner of the room, and it was trying its best to hide. Drops of silver blood traced to it, glowing slightly in the darkness.

"We've come to help." Celestia spoke nervously.

"Get away from me, rotting filth!" a feminine voice replied angrily. "All of you can go burn in Sheogh!"

Andromalius's eyes widened in shock and surprise. He seemed to understand from where the owner of the voice came.

"Celestia, there is something I can handle." he whispered to the alicorn. She looked at him and noticed the serious look on his face. She was confused but didn't ask questions. She nodded.

"Who are you?" Andromalius spoke, his voice calm.

"Who is there? Name yourself!" a reply came in fear.

"My name is Andromalius. My companion is Celestia." the hell stallion took a step forward. "You are wounded, you need our help."

"How do you know?!"

"There are drops of your blood all over the place." Andromalius replied. "If you allow us, we'll help."

"How do I know I can trust you?"

"We haven't hurt you, we don't intend to do so." the hell stallion took another step forward. "We don't need you for the rituals of necromancy, we are not the undead. We are living and breathing creatures like you are."

"...Alright, but if you do anything wrong, I will blind you!"

Andromalius slowly walked to the figure in the shadows. The light from his form fell on a female pristine-white unicorn with light-cyan mohawk mane and light-blue marks on her body. There was a blue scarf with a round aqua-colored sapphire in it wrapped around one of her forelegs, drenched in silver blood.

"Better not fuck everything up." Andromalius thought, getting closer. The unicorn turned her head to him. Her sky-blue eyes shrank to pinpricks as she saw the massive figure of the hell stallion before her.

"Demon!" she exclaimed, trying to get away from Andromalius, fear in her eyes. Suddenly, her scarf untied and her wound was exposed. "GAH!"

"I am a demon, yes, there is no denying that." the hell stallion spoke calmly, trying to get the situation under control. "But I will help you. Trust me, I am not a demon from Sheogh."

"All demons are liars!" the unicorn snarled in reply. Suddenly, a light-blue aura wrapped itself around her wounded leg. She yelped in surprise as the wound began to close and heal itself rather quickly. "What did you do?!"

"I came not to hurt." Andromalius emphasized each word. "I will heal you. I am not your enemy, no matter if you think I am."

"Everything is crazy..." the unicorn muttered, sighing. "A Nightmare is helping me... Wait, you do spells? Does that mean that you are a Hero?"

Celestia looked puzzled by everything.

"Perhaps I am." Andromalius shrugged. "But pretty much anyone with a horn can do spells."

"Uh, all right..." the unicorn sighed and closed his eyes as her wound healed. She breathed calmly, yet her heart was still beating faster than usual. "Um, I think I didn't tell you my name... I am Natura Stella."

"Hm, it is translated 'star of nature'." Andromalius thought. "Wait, I didn't learn Latin, how can I understand?.. Magic, of course. Well, I'll leave it as that."

"Nice to meet you, Natura Stella. It should've happened in a better situation, though... So, how did you appear here? Can you tell me?" Andromalius asked.

"Uh, I was sleeping at the Crystal Lake, in Irollan... Then, something disturbed me, I went into the forest. Uh, it's all hazy from there... I think I saw green light, something black, and something... something else strange." Natura nervously replied. "And then, I am here, weak and scared. I was attacked by some skeletons, and they wounded me. Thanks for the healing, by the way... And now I can talk, and I feel like I'm smarter in some way... It is all strange and scary."

"Have you seen anything unnatural here besides ghosts?" Andromalius frowned, thinking of worse things than bags of bones.

"Just that strange light at the top of the tower in the center of the city, why?"

"All of us must be very careful here." Andromalius said. "There is something... weird, strange, odd... something unnatural is here, in this city. Ghosts aren't the worst of things here, and definitely not the strangest."

"What do I do now?" Natura asked. "Where am I?"

"...You're not going to like the answer, Natura." Andromalius spoke nervously.

"Bring it on." the unicorn sighed.

"Alright... I warned you. So, you are not even in Ashan anymore, nor you are in Sheogh."

"...W-What?" Natura asked in disbelief and shock, tears started rolling down her cheeks. "That means... that means I'll never be able to go home?"

"I went through the same thing, I know how you feel." Andromalius frowned. "I've lost my home and went through many changes... But I adapted. I will help you to adapt as well. You are not alone, Natura Stella."

"I... Thank you..." Natura sniffed. "Even if you look like a demon, I don't feel like you want to hurt me... Oh, help me Elrath!"

Unsteadily, the unicorn stood up. Andromalius dried her scarf and wrapped it around her neck, making her feel much better.

"But what do we do?" Natura asked, still shaking a little.

"First, we find out what is happening here. Maybe we'll find a cause of your appearance." Andromalius replied. "Then, my next destination is a city even further into the Frozen North. If you don't want to go with me and Celestia, we'll go back to populated cities."

"I'll think about it." Natura said nervously. "Just... just don't leave me, okay?"

Andromalius, Celestia, and Natura Stella walked through the city to its center. A high tower with a strange teal-colored flame on top was their destination.

The closer they got to it, the bigger the tower became, menacingly towering above all the city. Strange sounds could be heard coming from the inside: a rattle of bones, whispers, wails.

Everyone could say that they have a very bad feeling about this.

Author's Notes:

Natura Stella's appearance: