Fluttershy's eyes flipped open when she felt a cold hoof shake her awake.
"Get up." She heard the Hollowcolt's monotone order, and she turned to look at it. The Hollowcolt had finally moved for the first time they were in that room, and Fluttershy remembered hazily the events of...last night? Last noon? Fluttershy couldn't tell what time it was, without a clock or window to give her a hint.
Fluttershy reluctantly pulled herself out of the bed, and groggily allowed the Hollowcolt to nudge her along. Fluttershy attempted to rub the sleep out of her eyes as she wandered over to the oak-wood door, and whimpered when the Hollowcolt suddenly said, "Wait. You cannot leave without me." Fluttershy felt a shiver run up her spine as the Hollowcolt came up behind her and reached it's hoof over her shoulder to push the door open.
As Fluttershy trotted carefully through the beige and oak-wood hallway, she thought back to her conversation with Mordu. The sickly green unicorn seemed friendly, but something at the back of Fluttershy's mind tugged at her, crying out, "Don't trust him!" And yet, she found herself unafraid of the necromancer. Why? He's a necromancer! They do horrid things to animals every day. Why would one try to make peace?
Fluttershy realized she was more afraid of Mordu's protege, Nightshade. Back at the buffalo camp, Twister had assaulted the dark pegasus, and now she was starting to wonder just what Nightshade did to him for it. Nightshade certainly seemed like the kind of pony to have a lot of enemies, but what could he have possibly done to Twister to summon that kind of rage?
Fluttershy reached the end of the hall, and she shivered as she waited for the Hollowcolt to open it. Once it completed the next step of it's routine, Fluttershy cried out when she realized the next room wasn't the engine room Nightshade had shown her. Instead, a magnificent hall was spread out before her, with cold stone floors, but decorative carpets covered it up in certain places. Pillars lined down the hall, supporting a small balcony that ponies could sit in. The pillars themselves had banners lining them, each one with it's own symbol and color pattern, and they had lining in the edge of them with small runes in them. At the center of the hall, there was a long, oak-wood table with chairs lining them at the sides, and several ponies in hoods were sitting at it.
Fluttershy swallowed, and she continued her trot when the hollowcolt pushed her rforward, and she trotted towards an empty seat. But before she could even pull it out, she heard the Hollowcolt say, "No. You are the guest of honor. You have a special seat next to the lord and master of this home." Fluttershy nodded reluctantly, not turning to look at the Hollowcolt. She was hoping to sit as far as possible from Mordu, but she knew that she didn't have a say in the matter. Nopony does when their kidnapped.
Fluttershy followed the Hollowcolt as it lead her to a fancy seat with red velvet lining, just at the end of the table. Fluttershy slowly sat down, and she felt relieved that Mordu wasn't here yet. She didn't want to talk to anypony just yet, and the unicorn was just plain creepy.
Woah...why did I think that? Fluttershy scolded herself for thinking such shallow thoughts. He may be a necromancer, but she shouldn't judge him for his appearance! Wait....what's going on now?! Fluttershy realized how dumb that sounded; she was kidnapped, and she was scolding herself for judging the kidnappers?
Ergh......I have a headache. Fluttershy held her head, despairing at the confusion she suffered. Then, she heard a chuckle, and Mordu suddenly materialized into his seat, a small smile on his face. Fluttershy jumped up, surprised by the suddenness of it all. Mordu chuckled again, and said, "Sorry, my dear. I couldn't resist pranking you like that. You're far too serious for your own good."
Now Fluttershy was confused. Pranking her? How did he prank her? By materializing? Admittedly, it was unexpected, but it couldn;t really be classified as a prank. "Oh, dearie. My materializing wasn;t the prank; my messing with your thoughts was." Fluttershy jumped again. How did he know what she was thinking?
"Oh, calm down my dear. Allow me to clear things up for you. One of the many talents of a necromancer includes telepathy and the warping of thoughts. I couldn't resist it; it's my favorite prank!" Mordu began to laugh, and it unnerved Fluttershy. She didn;t think messing with another pony's thoughts was very funny; if anything, it's frightening.
Mordu wiped away a tear, and he said, "Don't be so serious my dear. This is a gathering time for friends, and we're all friends here, no?" He gestured to the hooded ponies lined down the table, and a few of them began to nod. Other's didn't look up, and some actually grimaced when this happened.
Fluttershy looked down miserably; she didn't want to be here any longer. These necromancer's weren't the friendly bunch, no matter how much Mordu tried to make it seem so. Reading her mind like that didn't earn any trust from her. "Very well, my dear. If it truly bothers you, then I'll stop reading your mind." Mordu sighed, his expression changing from one of joy to one of boredom.
Fluttershy nodded slightly as a thank-you, but didn't look up. She didn't really want to talk to any of these ponies. She still wondered why any of them were trying to be friendly. "My dear, you look famished! Don't tell me you only ate when we last spoke!" The unicorn clasped his hooves together, and the table suddenly filled with plates holding food, goblets holding various drinks, and scented candles.
"Dig in my dear, by all means! Today is a day to celebrate!!" Mordu laughed heartily, and the old unicorn grabbed a daphodile salad and inhaled it. His appetite hadn't changed at all since their last exchange. Fluttershy eyed a bowl filled to the rim with varied hay. She gingerly placed some of it onto her plate, and Fluttershy realized for the first time just how hungry she was.
Fluttershy dug in, and she forgot all about her manners as of before. Not only was she hungry enough to eat a full grown pony, the hay was incredibly delicious. Tearing through it, she heard Mordu chuckle. *Nice to see somepony else eat like that. Now Nightshade can't bag on me for it."
Fluttershy finally remembered her manners and wiped her mouth with a napkin. "Um...where is Nightshade?" Fluttershy wanted to ask the dark pony about Twister. She doubted he'd tell the truth, but it would at least give her an idea of what happened. "I'm afraid he had unfinished business in Appleloosa. He won't return for a few more weeks." Mordu frowned, and he resumed devouring his dinner.
Fluttershy frowned as well at the inconvenience, and she returned to her hay. After a few more minutes of eating, Mordu spoke up again. "Well, I'v had my share, so I suppose this is the time for us to share a few anecdotes, no?" Some of the necromancers looked up at the unicorn, but most of them kept eating, their silence making her feel awkward.
Mordu sighed, and he turned to Fluttershy. "Well, they won't listen. Most of them only care for the training, nothing more. Such a waste...." He looked mournful for a moment, and Fluttershy couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. Mordu shook himself, and gave her another toothless grin. "Well, if you have any questions, my dear, now's the time."
Fluttershy immediately felt hundreds of questions pop into her head, but one stood out among the rest. "Why...why are you treating me so well?" Mordu looked shocked. "No guest of mine will be treated with anything less! All ponies...no, all creatures are treated with equal respect within my home!" Fluttershy looked about the room, admiring it's design, the banners specifically.
"They symbolize dark spirit's power. It harnesses it, and uses it as a protective shield. A crazy little part of my culture." Mordu chuckled, then suddenly frowned apologetically. "Forgive me, I didn't mean to read your mind again. Old habits die hard..."
Fluttershy nodded. "It...it's alright....um....what country are you from?" Mordu scrunched his face up, as he fought for an answer. "It is....difficult to explain, my dear. Technically, I'm just as much Equestrian as you are, but from a different....erm....I'll go with 'era'." Fluttershy gasped.
"You're from another age?" Mordu nodded again, his eyes closed in deep thought. "Yes...my people inhabited the land five thousand years ago, before Celestia inherited it from our first ruler." The necromancers all looked up at the mention of Celestia, and the spiteful anger in their eyes gave Fluttershy the impression that she wasn't very popular here.
"What's....what's wrong with...Celestia?" Fluttershy squeaked. She didn't want to anger any of them by asking, but she's met Celestia in pony. She certainly gave nothing more than a positive effect on the land?
Mordu scowled, but he didn't seem to be scowling at her. "Celestia is a blight to Equestria, and all who inhabit it, without any of them realizing it. She's played you all like pawns." Fluttershy frowned as she listened to this, and shook her head. "Oh, no...Celstia wouldn't do that. She's a wonderful leader; she hasn't strayed us wrong before."
Mordu turned to Fluttershy, a mixture of wisdom and pity in his eyes. "Oh, really? Have you ever argued with her?" Fluttershy immediately shook her head. "No, never. Few ponies ever do...but she's usually right. I mean, she's thousands of years older..." Mordu shook his head. "This is what I was afraid of...."
Mordu sighed, and the unicorn pushed his plate away, his first sign of losing an appetite. "Celestia never told you exactly how she came to power, has she?" Fluttershy thought for a moment. "Well....she's always been around." Mordu facehoofed, and grumbled, "Nopony lives forever, my dear. Death always finds a way to claim it's victims. Anything and everything can be destroyed, and eventually will be. Even Celestia. Magic can delay that inevitability, But not forever."
Mordu leaned back in his seat, his greasy, matted mane swinging above his shoulders. "But for everything that is destroyed...something is created. My people fell....and your people rose. 'Tis the cycle of life and creation. But ponies often don't realize that while something may be gone....it will refuse to be forgotten. Everything finds a way to....return. To give the replacement a reminder of it's mistakes...and the answers behind it's achievements. This is true for every civilization. My people prospered once, but then their mistakes ruined them. Celestia thinks she can break the cycle....but she cannot."
Fluttershy's blood ran cold as he spoke of Celestia, as if she was what's wrong with the world. "I...don't think I understand..." Mordu groaned, and leaned forward. "My people induced direct slavery. Of dragons, griffins, changelings, you name it. Ponies were at the top, but the other species suffered the pain of labor. So they eventually revolted, and guess who lead them?" Fluttershy didn't know how to react. Celestia tried to end slavery...what was bad about that?
"It was bad because she lied to her followers. Used them to rise to power, and tore down the throne of our leader. She broke the promises she made to them, and while she didn't enslave them, she didn't give them what they asked for in return; equality." Fluttershy was starting to get annoyed with Mordu's mind reading, and spoke up. "Your people were still enslaving others. Celestia sounds like the good guy right now, even if she....didn't do exactly what she was supposed to."
Mordu let out a groan of frustration. "I'm not defending my civilization, Fluttershy. They deserved to fall. But it doesn't change the fact that Celestia did all this for the wrong reasons. While the other species were certainly better off then before, they still suffered injustices. The changelings were banished to their homeland, the griffins were forced to go underground, and most of the dragons were raised from birth to be servants."
Fluttershy couldn't believe what she was hearing...but it made sense. Spike WAS given to Twilight as an egg, to be her assistant. Even though he was treated well and with respect, he never really had much say in the matter. He was never offered a choice. Chrysalis's homeland was barren, and without love to feed on, she couldn't feed her people. Her attack on Canterlot was nothing more than an attempt to survive.
"And don't forget about what happened to Luna. Who can blame a pony for wanting a little recognition?" Mordu grinned. The necromancer's horn glowed, and he levitated a dusty book from a shelf towards him. When it came to him, the old pony dusted it off and hoofed it to Fluttershy. It's title read Necromancy: The pros and cons of a universal school.
"Wha-what's this for?" Fluttershy stuttered with surprise. The book's surface was cold, and the binding was of strange, seemingly sinister material. Mordu smiled, and his voice had new, somewhat cool edge to it. "This can give you the straight facts about Necromancy. It's sphere is that surrounding the twists of Life and Death, for better or for worse. Yes, necromancy brings ponies back to life, and it does have spells that can cause great pain, but it has a bright side to it as well. It can prolong the life of another pony, through healing and restoration. It doesn't revolve just around the dark twists, but also around the brighter twists as well."
Fluttershy opened the book, her hooves trembling slightly as she does so. She was frightened of what the book's contents may reveal, and she didn't like that almost hungry look of eagerness in Mordu's eyes. "Hold on a second...why do you want me to read this? More importantly, why are you so dead set on finding the Key Shards? Why do you want tThe Artimus?"
Mordu's grin faded, and he brought one hoof up to his chin in deep thought. "Well....The Artimus didn't belong to my Civilization. We found it, of course, and learned how to use it's power, but we didn't create it. In fact....I don't know who did create it. But it's so much more than a magical artifact of greatpower. It holds....knowledge."
"Knowledge?" Fluttershy echoed. "Yes, knowledge. And knowledge is a power of it's own. If we recover it, who knows what kinds of incredible technologies we'll discover? New law systems, improved versions of our own inventions, the history of Equestria from beginning to end! It could be the key to creating a new, perfect civilization."
Fluttershy was beginning to feel overwhelmed by all this. Being told Celestia is wrong, and finding out the supposed truth behind her rise to power...it was enough to overwhelm anypony. A new question popped into Fluttershy's head.
"Why are you telling me all this? Why would you trust me like this, and why would you just....give me a book about your skill?" Mordu gazed at Fluttershy, his stare beginning to unnerve Fluttershy. "Because knowledge...should be FREE. I can show you the truth to everything, my dear Fluttershy. Necromancy can be learned by anypony; it's not limited to unicorns. Nothingshould be limited to you because of your race. With necromancy, we can retrieve The Artimus and it's secrets. With that kind of knowledge...imagine, Earth Ponies, soaring through the skies, Pegasi, lifting without their hooves...the possibilities would be ebdless. Celstia is trying to prevent such wondrous change, because she believes things should remain as they should be.Why should they? If we can control reality, change our fate, create a beuatiful metropolis, then what's to stop us?"
Fluttershy couldn't lie; the image Mordu was painting in her head sounded wonderful. But with Necromancy, a school that's been forbidden for thousands of years...hold on a sec. "What are you saying, Mordu?" Mordu looked at Fluttershy, that same greedy hunger in his eyes she had seen before. "I want to teach you necromancy. To give you the chance to be a part of something bigger than what your living in now. One question remains....do you accept?"
Fluttershy couldn't believe this. Shehad just been dragged halfway across Equestria, kidnapped by this colt, and he expected her to join him? But....maybe she could do more good than harm this way. Maybe she could find out the truth behind Mordu, and discover for real if what he's saying about Celestia is true or not. She's being offered a chance to be behind enemy lines...what would Twister have done?
Fluttershy's voice shaked, but it didn't diminish the strength and impact her voice had. "Yes."
--As usual, hoped you enjoyed the chapter guys! Thanks for reading! Nect chapter will be up next weekend, just like normal.--