The very next day.
"Skullworthy, it would seem that a giga-storm is forming. Do we have any preparations for it?" Dead turn a concerned eye to the large patch of gray that was slowly moving towards her house. The skull quickly pulsated with a magical energy and a while shield covered the house and field. "Ah a shield! Will you be alright holding that for the duration of the shield? I wouldn't want to exhaust you." The skull gave a compliant nod. "Hey whats the matter my good friend? You haven't been so chatty today. What gives?" The skull let out a large sigh and then gave a concerned look.
"If I may say so, I am worried. I am worried that I may say something that will offend you. I am worried you might send me away..." The skull sounded sad, Dead was sure that if he could cry he would.
"Skullworthy. You have been my faithful servant, no my best friend for how long? I could not get rid of you even if my life depended on it. You just mean so much to me..." Dead grabbed the skull with her magic and brought it in for a hug. "Who needs living friends that will betray me and stab me in the back? I have you and that's all I will ever need." A happy tear came out of Dead's eye and fell onto the skull.
"Y-You really mean that? All of it?" The skull looked up at Dead as she refused to let him go.
"Of course I do. I don't know what I would do without you." Dead released the skull from her tight hug and skull bobbed in the air happily. Dead wiped her tears away and turned her attention to the sky. "But that.. THAT I could live without. Lets just hope our 'guests' come early today..."
They didn't.
"Twilight I don't like the looks of the storm. We better hurry up!" Spike said with a pinch of urgency in his voice. While it wasn't raining presently it looked as if a downpour would start at any moment.
"I hate to say it Twilight but it might be a good idea to head home and leave it for today." Rarity said with a slight stressed tone in her voice. "The valley we came down might flood if the rains to hard and I don't want to think what will come out after dark."
"Its alright you two, we will be able to get back safe and sound I promise. And anyway that storm doesn't look too bad." Twilight then turned her attention to the large cluster of gray clouds that were above them. Small bright flashes of electrical energy could be seen hopping from could to cloud. "If we hurry up we will beat the rain!" The group picked the pace up until it was a small sprint.
The group crashed outside of Dead's house just as the rain started to drop. It was small drops that were barely noticeable, however it was a sign of things to come. Twilight quickly caught her breath while the other two took a bit more time. She gingerly walked up to the door and knocked it a few times, within moments the door creaked open relieving the chestnut colored mare. "Ah Twilight and Co. I did not expect to see you today." The mare's normally half jokey half rude attitude reflected well in the almost expressionless face. "I take it you booked in advance?" The attitude was more jokey today so Twilight assumed she was in a good mood.
"Come on, you know why we are here." Rarity clearly wasn't in the mood for joking. If anything she wanted her to hurry up and say no so that they could get home. "So either give us the amulet or not, its your call." Rarity was a lot more forward she even sounded a bit frustrated.
"You know I'm not going to give you the amulet. Such an action would make the whole point of liberating it. Well pointless." The necromancer was stating the obvious and she had more of a fair point. If she had stolen the amulet she wouldn't exactly just give it up. "Anyway... If you knew I wasn't going to give it to you, why show up again?" Once again she had more then a fair point.
Twilight went into deep though for a moment before speaking. "Well we need the amulet for research, I want to know why it corrupt those who wear it." Twilight held out hope that the mare would see the logic in her argument.
"Is that it? Really? I'm not even going to justify that...." A large thunder clap interrupted the mare as she muttered something under her breath. "Great the storm is picking up! Skullworthy! Make sure the shield is fully charged! If you need a helping hoof give me a holler!" It confused Twilight how this mare could treat the dead so well yet be so rude to the living. However a more concerning matter filled her mind.
"Wait, why would you need a shield? Its just a storm." Twilight quizzed the mare. "All you should need is some sort of electrical conduit."
"A storm she says... Yeah sure, just a storm. You don't know how weather works in the deep forest right..?" The mare let out a short lived chuckle.
"Well normally we just have a weather team deal with the weather. And normally they control the weather and we don't have random weather. Save the few times a storm gets blown in." Twilight said with pride as she knew how weather worked.
"Well out here the storms can be a fair bit stronger. To the point where I need to use a shield in order to stop my house from being blown off the face of Equestria."
Twilight's face changed along with her companions finally Spike spoke up. "So you expect to see one of those today?" Spike spoke shakily as he kept his attention to the gray clouds that were darkening. The rain started to pick up and was more like a light shower. Rarity was now looking a little panicked as some shuffling came from the undergrowth.
"Not only are we expecting one, but some of the creatures are seeking shelter, wouldn't want to bump into any of them though, they get cranky when it rains." The mare's matter of fact tone only served to worry the group even more. "Y'know you could have come earlier. You would have avoided this storm."
"Well what can we do?" Rarity asked. An unhappy expression that came across the mare's face only concreted their fears.
Dead let out a large sigh as she glared at the two ponies and baby dragon. She hated what she was about to do, ever fiber in her body was screaming 'NO DON'T DO IT!' But she could not let matters go on as they were.
"I guess... I really guess... You will have to... Stay the night..." Dead shuddered and dropped her gaze to the floor. "I will have to set up the guest beds... For safety purposes you will have to stay in my room while you sleep." She gestured for the group to enter, once they were out of hearing range she looked at Skullworthy and sighed.
"Skullworthy, I really really give up on the living..."