//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2: Unlikely Companions 
// Story: Diary of the Necromancess 
// by Sebbaa 
//------------------------------//



Chapter 2: Unlikely Companions


I had waited months for this day. The day the stars aligned just right and favored the invocation of ghosts. I had prepared methodically. The summoning room in the highest tower of the circle; the heptagram's corners aligned with the seven citadels of power, drawn with chalk made from the ground up bones of the dead, candles made from their fat at every corner.

The hardest part of the preparations was finding the right specimen for the ritual. A recently dead who's ghost still lingered in the city.

I had thought about preparing such a corpse myself. Buying a whole family of slaves, then torture wive and children to death in front of the husband's eyes, before finally killing him.

I decided against it; too elaborate, too fail prone. Instead I volunteered for the circles exorcism branch. Getting hired to banish ghosts was sure to lead me to one of a recently deceased in time. And when the specimen was found, the bribe to get the body was far less expensive than buying even a single slave. 

I had embalmed the corpse personally. Even though the man had not been impressive in live, I was sure he would be magnificent in death, as I looked down on the wrapped and bound body in the center of the seven pointed star of the heptagram.

Claudius, a fellow novice and submissively depended to me, was my assistant for the ritual. He was handsome and tall, a real price! But most importantly he was very versed at summoning ghosts. When he looked up from his final memorizing of the spell, he smiled at me dreamily. If the ritual was going to work, we would revolutionize necromancy and be sure to become masters of the circle.

My part in the ritual was the raising of the corpse through an invocation of the power of Thargunitoth, the arch-demoness of undeath. Claudius would summon the ghost. The final part of binding the ghost to the risen corpse, giving it control over the body and then subjugate it to our will, we were going to do together.

We took position at the head and feet of the corpse, gave each other a last reassuring nod, then began the ritual.

Raising the corpse was but a formality for me. I didn't need to enhance the spell-matrix to make the undead stronger or more intelligent. No, if the second part of the ritual worked, it would be the most special walking corpse ever created anyways. Not a simple puppet dancing to the necromancer's strings, but a conscious soul bound to its former body, with all its skills and memories and capable of independent thought. True life after death.

The candles flickered in unseen wind as the astral powers swirled around us. Ten minutes in the ritual the body stirred as I finished casting the Ressurectio Infinitus. I forced the rising dead under my will by habit, and it stopped moving. It was not necessary. The body was bound with ropes, and once it was controlled by the ghost it wouldn’t matter if I had enthralled it beforehand or not.

Moments later Claudius finished his spell and a formless specter appeared in the summoning circle above the corpse. I could see sweat form on my lovers brow as he struggled to force the ghost under his command, force it to stay until we finished the ritual.

After long moments he finally stirred. Clausius took a relieved breath and gave me a nod. We took each others hands and started chanting the final incantations.

I had constructed the spell in many a sleepless night. Puzzled it together from fragments scattered over all known writings on necromancy, taken parts from half a dozen other spells and woven them together to a new matrix. It was a piece of art!

I closed my eyes and concentrated on the arcane patterns of the spell matrix, the chanting guiding me through the different parts in the right order. Whirling winds danced around the summoning room, tugged at our togas, scattering our notes, as I and my partner channeled considerable amounts of arcane energies into the spell.

I opened my eyes again, and we spoke the final words of the spell. The ghost floating above the corpse withered and struggled. I could only imagine the magic chains grabbing it, dragging it down to its former body to bind it. I watched as the specter was slowly drawn into the body. Its aura lit up brightly one final time, then it vanished.

Only to ignite twice as bright from the corpse's eyes, as it opened them and began to strain against the physical ropes holding it down.

“Quick now, we have to subdue it!” I had to yell. A storm blew in the room around us with the summoning circle in its eye; tools whirled through the air, furniture was thrown over.

Claudius nodded breathlessly and wiped his brow with the back of his hand. Both of us concentrated our will, trying to force the undead under our control. The spirit thrashed against our magic bounds, threatened to break free. I clenched my teeth and summoned the last of my arcane reserves, trying to pummel it into submission with sheer power.

Then Claudius let go of my hand and stumbled backwards. Our link broke; my concentration wavered, and my spell was battered off. Pain exploded in my head and my vision went white as the arcane backslash hit me like a club.

I found myself on all fours on the floor, blood dropping onto it from my nose. I held the back of my right hand up to stop the flow and looked up, just in time to see the corpse break free from its ropes. I threw myself around and crawled backwards, trying to get away from it. Around me was utter chaos; no longer a quiet tower room, but a cacophony of wind and fire.

The undead rose, and its burning eyes settled on me. Then it came towards me, stretching out its hand, grabbing for me.

“No!” Claudius came from the right, threw himself at the walking dead and tried to wrestle it to the ground. The undead didn't even stumble. He grabbed my lover by his neck. Claudius' scream echoed through the room, stinging in my ears. Then suddenly they stopped, and I watched in horror as naught but a shriveled corpse collapsed from the hands of the monster we had made.

I tried to get up, to get away from it and out of the room. But it was like I was moving through thick oil slowing down my every movement to almost standstill. Something grabbed my left hand and yanked me around. I looked right into its burning eyes. “For your arrogance you will pay. Your body and soul I shall consume!”

Pain soared through my hand where the creature touched it. I tried to scream but found I had no breath to do so. I could only watch as the flesh of my hand turned black, dried up and finally fell from the bone as my limb decayed in a matter of seconds. And from there it spread, up my arm, shoulder and neck until it finally reached my face.


.oOo.


I groaned and labored to open my eyes. I had stopped waking from that dream with a start months ago. Still, my body was cold with sweat and I had managed to kick off my blanket. I held up my left hand and flexed it before my eyes. It was masterfully wrapped in white bandages, hiding the awful truth beneath.

Reality had not been quite the same as my dream; far less magical side effects, and the creature was unable to speak. Other than that it was quite similar. Claudius, that stupid moron, died before my eyes, trying to save me instead of saving himself. But it had given me enough time to grab an iron candlestand and smack it into the creature's face as it grabbed my hand. It stumbled back with its face smashed in, and I dropped an oil lamp onto it for good measure; burning out the whole tower in the process.

From there everything went to the nether-hell. People I had considered friends turned their backs on me; I had fallen from the favorite pupil of every master and pride of the circle, to an example of failure, a grim reminder what awaited every necromancer should they lose control of the powers they summon.

With nothing in Bosperan to hold me, I set out on an expedition. My masters were too glad to finance my trip to be rid of me. Thus started my days of adventure, that had me finally stranded in the limbo.


I must have stared at my hand for minutes, lost in thought, before I finally noticed the bed beneath me move with a constant rumble. I jolted fully awake and examined the room around me. It was shrouded in twilight, the only light coming from drawn curtains covering the windows. The room was tiny and packet full with traveling supplies and theater requisites. I found my own belongings stashed beside the bed I was in. It was too short for me by about half a step, but wider than necessary by the same length. Yet the mattress was very comfortable, snuggling against my form, following every curve and supporting it quite firmly. I wondered how it was made. It was certainly not filled with straw, feathers or wool. It definitely beat sleeping on the ground.

I sat up and drew a curtain to the side to look out of the window. I instantly regretted it, as the ghastly light of a midday sun blinded me. I shielded my eyes with my hand and waited for them to adjust. When they did, I saw the world outside moving by; meadows, fields and trees on rowing hills, all covered in a white blanket of snow. It looked quite homely; the land was cultivated wherever I looked like it was around my home city of Bosperan. It was totally unlike the harsh wilderness I was now used to travel through.

I quickly checked on my foot wrappings, threw my cloak over my shoulders and opened the door at the rear of the room. It swung outward and I jumped from the moving cart. As I had expected, it was the wagon of that actress. It was traveling at walking speed over a dirt road that was hardly wider than the wagon. Yet it was free from high snow, someone must have cleared the road to keep it passable. I closed the door, wrapped my cloak tight to keep me warm and pulled up the hood to shield my face from the sun.

With a few quick steps I pulled even with the cart. I was a little bit surprised, when I saw no one on the drivers seat. “What? You're drawing the wagon yourself? Don't you have a draft horse for that or at least an ox?” I hurried to draw even with Trixie, who was clearly toiling to keep the cart going, but didn't seem too taxed by the task.

“Oh, finally awake I see. I was a bit worried when you just collapsed on me like that.”

“Ah yes, thanks for getting me out of the snow. . . whatever happened to the 'Great and Powerful?'”

She gave me a very horse like, and what I thought was dismissive, snort. “Oh please, it's just an act, part of the show. But seeing as you are no potential audience and I already slipped once. . .” She shook her head and went on in her stoic pace.

“I see.” I looked ahead, to see where the road was going, but as far as I could tell there was only farmland with the occasional farmstead. The buildings were not made out of logs, or dirt, but what looked like wooden planks. I had noticed this in the town where I had arrived, but now it was striking me as curious. This way of building was unfamiliar to me from my home world. I wondered what it meant. As far as I know making planks is a time consuming process of splitting a log with ax, hammer and wedge. Don't they have enough wood for building their houses out of whole logs like they do in the northern provinces? Or not the tools to make them of stone bricks like in Bosperan? One more thing to add to the list of curiosities in this world.   

“So, where are we going?” I didn't look down to Trixie and kept my eyes one the road ahead.

“To Pony Ville. Its a small earth pony town in the shadow of great Canter Lot. I know a unicorn there who may be able to help you. Her name is Twilight Sparkle. I hate to admit it, but she is quite skilled with magic, the personal pupil of Princess Celestia none the less! She is all over the news. If anyone can help you, it is her.”

I poked my translation amulet with my finger and gave it a crooked look. It seemed to me it failed to probably translate the towns' names. I figured it meant that there was neither a direct translation, and that what Trixie actually said would sound like horse gibberish to my ears. I thought Trixie only used one word for them, so I decided to call them Ponyville and Canterlot for  the time being. Curiously the amulet translated the names as such after I had done so. I shook my head and focused back on the conversation. “Ah, that's very good!”

But something struck me as odd. A looked down on the creature walking besides me, trying to pierce through her facade and look at the truth beneath. “But say, why are you helping me?”

She finally looked up from the road, didn't answer, but raised an eyebrow at me.

“I wonder, it would have been far easier to just let me lie there and let someone else take care of my body. But not only did you get me out of the snow, but you put me into your own bed. And instead of throwing me in chains and sell me to the next circus, you are bringing me where I need to go.”

Her eyes went wide as I explained this to her. “That's horrible!” she said.

“Pff! Of course it is. So what is it you want from me? Do you need my help to get out of this world yourself? Are you trying to trick me into going into an asylum, or do you need me to help you topple the government? What is it you gain from helping me?”        

Her mouth hang open, she needed a moment to collect herself before she replied. “No! What nonsense are you talking about? What kind of pony do you take me for, to abandon a creature in need. Everyone would have done the same.”

A smart pony. I replied in thought, but kept it to myself. “Ugh. Never mind.” I rubbed my temples with thumb and middle finger of my right hand. “The last few worlds I have been to have just been crazy.” The explanation seemed to satisfy her, she looked back at the road ahead.

At this part our conversation had pretty much died. We walked side by side in uncomfortable silence for a few minutes. Finally I made a tired groan; I was already dragging myself along again, my feet hurt, I was thirsty and a light nausea reminded me that I still had not eaten. “Mind if we take a break and share some food? I haven't eaten in days.”


We made camp at the side of the road and started a fire to make tea. I found the sight of Trixie preparing our lunch most interesting. She made up for her lack of hands with exuberant use of telekinetic spells. She was levitating and manipulating objects with impressive precision, often several at once. She didn't seem to have any trouble levitating a blanket, two sets of tableware and several bags containing her traveling rations at once.

I wouldn’t stand idly by while my new travel companion did all the work, so I started to build the fire. Luckily Trixie had a stock of dry firewood on her cart; it would have been challenging to find dry wood in the midwinter forests. It had been some time since I actually had to start a fire myself instead of leaving it to a servant or my travel companions, but I quickly remembered how it was done.

In a matter of minutes I had staked the wood and kindling and fluffed out a small portion of tinder from my own supply. I took my fire stone in my left hand and used my dagger to strike sparks. A real abuse of an unbreakable magic weapon, but over the course of my adventures I have learned to use anything that was at hand. The tinder caught on quickly, and I carefully blew the flame to life, before I put it to the kindling. It took only a bit of more blowing, and the fire was started and would be fully ablaze shortly.

As I stood up from my work to see to the cattle, I noticed that Trixie had been watching me just as curious, as I had been watching her. “Why do you light the fire the earth pony way? Why not simply use a spell?”

I cleaned my hands with some snow and put some more in the cattle. “My masters taught me only to use magic when it is necessary, and not because it would be convenient to do so, or one will become lazy. And a lazy sorceress is a weak sorceress; she will make mistakes and finally corrupt to the temptations of demons.”

I didn't add the part where I didn't even bother to learn a spell that could light a fire, nor the part about conserving power so one would not be exhausted when she really needs her arcane energies. I have also learned that it is unwise to let anyone know of your weaknesses, less they will use them against you. It was a hard lesson, and I have learned it well.

“What a strange thought.” Trixie tilted her head sideways, as she watched me set up the cattle.

I sat down next to her on the blanket, waiting for the water to boil. “I can see why the concept might be strange to you. Is every member of you species as versed in magic as you are?”

She smiled, taking my words for a compliment. “Most certainly not! Only unicorns can use magic, and most don't even try to learn anything but levitation.” She pointed a hoof at her own chest and held her nose up high. “I can proudly say, that I have a rare special talent for magic!”

I hid a chuckle behind my hand, but Trixie caught it none the less. “What's so funny about that?”

I motioned her to stay calm and quickly recovered myself. “I didn't mean to be rude, but where I'm from, being able to do magic is considered a special talent as it is. Only about one in a thousand of my people are born with magic ability. Furthermore not every child who has the potential gets the proper training to use it. So being a mage is a rare privilege in itself.”

The answer seemed to pacify her, but she looked at me like I was an even greater curiosity than to begin with. I gave her a shrug. “It doesn't really matter. But I have to wonder. How do the other members of your species get by? The ones without horns. What did you call them? Earth ponies? How would they even do something as simple as lighting a fire without magic?”

“Well, the earth pony way of course; with mouth and hoof. Winged ponies do that as well.”

Now it was my turn to look at her curiously. “I'd like to see that!” I stopped short when I realized what she had said. “Winged ponies?” Only now did I remember seeing them back in the town where I had appeared. “Are they some kind of chimera or something?”

Trixie shook her head and gave an amused snort. “No, of course not. They are just as much ponies as everyone else. She put her hoof to her chin, contemplating the thought. “Even though I sometimes think the thin air in the sky gets to their heads.”

Now that I think back on this, winged ponies probably have a name and not just a description of what they are. The amulet seems to have translated my use of the description back into that word though, or else Trixie didn't notice my blunder.   

“So, you are all one species? Unicorns, earth ponies, and winged ponies? You can all produce fertile offspring among each other?”

“Eh. . . yes.”

“Fascinating! Are there any mixed breeds. Like, let's say, winged unicorns?”

“No. . .”  She stopped her explanation, when she saw me pulling my diarium from a big belt pouch, I was waring on my left hip, to take notes.

“Please go on!”

“Alright then.” She quickly cleared her throat before she continued. “Every pony is of one of the three races no matter its parents. But the races have been mixing for so long that even two earth ponies could have unicorn or winged pony offspring. The only ponies with both wings and horn that are known of are the princesses and. . . well, they are the princesses! They encompass the traits of all three species!”

I looked up from my notes. “That's interesting. Are they able to produce fertile offspring with other ponies. And is it of one of the three races or mixed like they are?”

“Why are you so obsessed about fertile offspring?”

“It's important to understand the boundaries of a species. If the princesses can have fertile offspring, they are merely of a different race, but still the same species. Please, just answer my question.”

She let out a deep sigh. “Alright, since you asked so nicely. There are some noble families who claim to be descendants of the princesses. So I guess they can have fertile offspring. And since the nobles are just plain old ponies, their offspring seems to be of one of the three races.”

After I had hastily written down what she had explained, I tapped my coal pen on the bottom of the page. Something didn't add up. “Wait! If the offspring of the princesses are of the three races, and there are nobles who claim to be descendent from them, how can there still be princesses around? You said that unicorn you know is the personal pupil of a princess. How do they reproduce?”

She rolled her eyes. “Well, the princesses are immortal of course. They are the princesses!”

“I see. . .” I bit my lower lip absentmindedly, contemplating what I had heard. “How many princesses are there?”

“Three.”

“What about their parents? Emperors, queens or kings?”

“No. . . it's just the princesses.”

“So, they rule the land?”

“Yes?”

“Wouldn't that make them queens?”

“No?”

“So you are living under the tyrannical rule of some immortals?”

“No! The princesses are benevolent rulers! Everyone loves them!”

“Are they, or are they using some kind of mind control magic to make you love them?”

“No!” She stamped her hoof on the ground. “The princesses would never!”

I held up my hands to pacify her. “Alright, alright! I get it. Just checking if I'm in another world I have to leave sooner than later.” I shook my head. “I'm getting tired of those. A few days of rest would be most welcome.”

Only now did I notice the cattle on the fire was whistling. I forgot about the princesses for a second and took it off the fire. It stopped whistling shortly after. “Is this some kind of magic artifact that tells you when the water boils?”

Trixie levitated it off my hands and put two little bags into it without even looking. “No, it's not. Don't you know anything?”

I raised an eyebrow at her and crossed my arms in front of my chest. “Actually I'm well learned. But for the sake of my research, lets pretend I'm as clueless as a newborn child.”

Trixie groaned and rolled her eyes. “Alright.” She levitated the cattle close to my face. It was made out of bright, polished metal, little clouds of steam still puffed out of a tiny hole at the neck. “See this? There is a small hole in the cover of the neck. When the water boils the escaping steam gets so fast it whistles. Does that sounds like magic to you?”

I had started drawing the cattle into my diarium and made some notes. “What a clever design.” I think I heard her smack her face with a hoof, but I didn't look up to check.

Eventually the tea was ready, and Trixie poured both of us and distributed her food, dried fruits and nuts mostly, but also some hay, which I gratefully declined.

I was in for another surprise when I took the first sip from my cup of tea. It was all I could do not to spit it our immediately. It was the most atrocious brew that had ever been offered to me as tea.

I forced myself to swallow it and suppressed the urge to throw up. I looked up to my host, only to find that she was actually enjoining her cup. I sighed. Figuring that it was actually drinkable and would not kill me, I forced myself to take another sip. It was still as bad as the first, but I continued to drink it along my meal.

Eventually I had to ask an important question anyway: “Say, are there actual tea plants in this world? Or do you make all your tea out of grass?” A world without proper tea would be as unpleasant as a world without water.


.oOo.


We were soon on our way again. We didn't talk much; I was deep in thought, trying to comprehend what I had learned so far, and I think Trixie was happy enough not having to explain every little thing to a clueless offworlder. We eventually engaged in some smalltalk, and I learned a bit about pony cuisine, and that the main roads between major towns were indeed kept free of snow by use of some kind of plow.

It was late afternoon when we reached the outskirts of Ponyville. As far as I could tell it was an agricultural community. The outer parts of town considered mostly of farmsteads, orchards and vegetable gardens. But it was a rather large one at that. I could make out bigger buildings and even towers at the town center and the far side.

Trixie stopped in front of a large two story building not far from the town center. “This is where I will be staying.” She began to strap herself out of her harness. “Twilight Sparkle lives in the town library. I'm sure any local can give you directions.” Finally free from her cart again, she turned towards me. “Do you think you can manage that without my help, or do I have to take you to her doorstep?”

I just smiled and made a mocking bow. “Please, I was born in a city of over a hundred thousand people. I think I can find my way in a province town like this without someone to hold my hand.”

Trixie snorted and shook her head, but I could not let yet leave her to her own. “Believe it or not, but I'm very grateful for your help and you hospitality. I fear I have nothing to pay you, so I will grant you a boon. Ask of me what you will, and I will grant it, if it is in my power to do so. . . within reason of course.”

Trixie shook her head again. “That's really not necessary. Every pony would have done the same.”

But I couldn’t leave it at that. I wouldn’t have it said about me, that I was taking charity. “Please, I insist!” I leaned closer and stared her right in the eyes.

Finally she broke eye contact and sighed. “Alright. If it will make you stop bugging me. Wait here a second.” She quickly disappeared in her cart and I heard her rummaging in the inside. In the meantime I collected my luggage, slung my backpack over my shoulder and draped my cloak over it all. Trixie came back out about two minutes later, levitating a scroll in front of her. “Deliver this letter to Twilight Sparkle, and we are even.”

I took it out of her magic grasp and placed it inside my right big belt pouch. I gave her another bow, a sincere one this time. “It will be done. I wish you farewell now, and good fortune on your travels!”

She took a deep breath to collect herself, before she looked up and waved me goodbye. “To you as well. I hope you will find back to your home world soon.”

I nodded, and with this our ways parted.