Once, in the land of Equestria(Edited 3: Edit Harder)
1000 years ago
Looking out at the field of corpses before her, a mare wept.
She wept for her friends, many of whom had perished in this terrible war. She wept for her family, who had almost been destroyed when Canterlot had fallen. She wept for her princesses, who even now looked on and could do nothing. But most of all, she wept for the world. More than two thirds of the population of Equus--including almost all griffons, minotaurs, and yaks--lay dead in this field, many of which had died defending the crystal city to the north and all the refugees she kept safe.
As she picked her way through the viscera and gore, she came upon the last of the horde. Necromancy is a strange thing, for every corpse you reanimate the urge to continue grows. Whats more, the earliest corpses in your horde will always be the ones you see the most. The reason is simple, as you begin reanimating corpses most tend to inadvertently weave a piece of their soul into the spell. This will go on until your soul has been depleted. Once your soul is depleted, there is very little that can be done to remedy your situation, you become a Lich, an undead creature in its own right, hell-bent on raising the dead.
Such was the fate of the necromancer--surrounded by her undead--before her. As their eyes locked, the mare let the last of her tears fall. Now was not the time for such things. They each stood tall, waiting for the other to make the first move. The Lich struck first signaling its circle to attack, and the fight was resumed. The mare was quick to use the severance spell on them, splitting the Lich's soul fragments from their rotting husks, for she too was a necromancer. As the last of the circle fell the necromancer advanced on the pony, for with the return of her soul she was a pony once more, but stopped just short of touching her. The mare pleaded with the necromancer for mercy, but she would find none . As the mare's eyes, a lovely shade of violet, misted over; the necromancer gazed upon the carnage with a new appreciation in her, once joyful, eyes.
Remembering a promise she had made herself, she cast a spell she'd been working on for the past two years, since this whole necromancy mess had begun. The dead rose anew, they were now the perfected undead: for without a soul attached not one contained the rabid violence that they once were known for. As she looked back on the last salvation of Equus, tears returned to her eyes. She could never return to her old life, that much was certain. The princesses would likely banish her for what she'd done. No, what she'd been forced to do. Turning her head towards the south, the necromancer had only one thought on her mind...
It's time to end this...
825 Years Ago
The necromancer gazed out at her throne room, a small smirk on her muzzle. She knew they'd come, the new generation was probably hearing tales of the necromancer in the wastes, a dark creature who the princesses had vowed to destroy, they would hear these tales and some would come. The first to arrive had sought her skills, they had been sent back with nothing. Many had come after seeking knowledge, the truth of history from an eyewitness, they left with a head full of--if they could parse her many riddles and proverbs--new ideas and concepts. Finally there were those who came seeking her death, they were the ones she enjoyed the most. That is what she had before her now. Such young hearts, she remembered when she had been similar, she would have to deal with them quickly and patiently.
The leader of the group took a step forward, "Surrender now, you are an affront to the harmony of this world and must be dealt with!" Such a fool, did he truly believe that? Glancing down at the rabble before her, the necromancer cast a quick stun spell at the smallest of the bunch. Seeing his comrade slump to the ground, a pegasus in the group hurled his weapon, a razor sharp spear, directly at her chest. The spear plunged straight through, embedding itself into the throne back behind her and spraying blood and viscera across the mural on the wall. As her eyes dimmed, she saw the would-be heroes begin celebrating.
Time to cut this little celebration short.
Slowly, she started chuckling, watching as looks of horror graced their faces. Drawing herself up, the necromancer gracefully leapt from her throne and, with a deft flick of her horn, aged their weapons until nothing was left but rust on the ground.
"Did you really think you could best me with mere steel?" She Bellowed, "I am the last necromancer! I am the guardian of life and death, and you were fools to approach me. Now you must pay the price." She couldn't help but smile as their knees began to visibly shake in fear. Rearing back, she prepared to deliver their fate.
Watching their expressions change from fear to confusion as she lowered herself back onto all four hooves in order to help them all to theirs was probably the most fun she'd had for a long time. Brushing their leader off she examined him closely before saying, "your price is to join me for dinner."
"What?" The leader looked completely baffled, "after what we tried to do, your punishment for us is dinner?" Glancing back at his companions he found them to be as baffled as he was. "I'm not sure I understand..."
She smirked, "to be fair, I am a terrible cook. You'll probably be preparing our food."
He gave her a deadpan look, "but what if we try to poison you?"
As she walked away her smirk grew only larger, "good sir, if a spear can't do me in, what makes you think I can be poisoned?"
Tailing in her wake, the comrades-in-arms glanced at each other, "fair point." The smallest of them spoke now, "so we make you dinner, then what?"
"Oh, I impart some wisdom, you return to Equestria; no harm, no foul." This time she couldn't help but smile as she heard them stop dead in their tracks.
"Just like that?" The pegasus who'd thrown the spear inquired, "you'd just let us go?"
"Gentlestallions, I have no reason to hold you here." She stopped and appraised her companions, "you are all free to leave after dinner, though I do ask that you stay until I've imparted unto you my wisdom." Glancing out the window, she added, "it is also getting rather late, wont you stay the night? I have many guest rooms, part of living in the middle of nowhere is you always have at least one room unoccupied."
Following her gaze, the group discovered that she was indeed right. Night was falling, and at the rate it was going they'd not get back to their campsite until dawn. With little choice, they assented to her wishes.
After a dinner of potato stew and grilled leeks the group of companions settled around a fireplace in the grand hall. It was time for the necromancer's wisdom to be revealed. Standing before the group, she cleared her throat. "Ehem... I will start off by asking a question: How would you define Necromancy?"
The group was quick with their unanimous, "Evil!"
"Oh really? Then what am I, the last necromancer, in your eyes?" After her retort, she watched their faces and saw the confusion written there as they puzzled out her question.
"Evil... I guess?" This time it was the last of the group, a burly brown unicorn, who spoke. "I mean... that's right isn't it?
"Hmmm, not quite." She admitted, "let me ask this, how would you define Celestia?" As with her first question, the answer was almost immediate.
"She's good, she brings light to her people and guards us from our enemies." They responded as if by rote.
"Okay..." The necromancer's gaze darkened slightly as she continued. "Now, what if she banished someone who'd saved Equestria, but only because of how they accomplished it?"
The leader of the band gave her a strange stare, "I'm not sure any of us follow..."
She glanced down at the floor as a mirthless smile graced her muzzle, "Of course... Tell me, do any of you know the story of The Scourge?" At this their faces filled with confusion.
"You mean the corpse war? It made the Crystal Empire the seat of power for over a hundred years, of course we know about it." At their response her eyes took on a glow they had not had in many years.
"Tell me then," she questioned, "How was the 'corpse war' won?" She smiled as they wracked their brains to try to remember the answer.
"It was won by a friend of the crown," the leader tentatively began, and only upon a nudge from their host did he continue. "She died putting a stop to the lich and her plot." As he concluded his answer he saw her eyes begin to dim with some, as of yet, unreadable emotion.
"... After all this time," she murmured, sadness evident in her voice, "they refused to reveal the truth." This caused the group to perk up and look towards their host, who's face was a mask of solemn contemplation.
"What truth," the leader pressed, "if I may be so bold as to ask." This got a sidelong smirk from the necromancer.
"If I told you, then the way you look at your princesses will have forever changed." At this she saw them unanimously roll their eyes, "okay, don't say I didn't warn you though. The mare who stopped the lich didn't die." At this she saw each of them gaze incredulously at her.
"There's no way that's true!" The leader exclaimed, failing to see the necromancer's agitation at his outburst. "We've all seen her grave!"
"NO!" At this she slammed her hoof down, causing the tile beneath her hoof to crack. "A lich can only be killed by a necromancer, which in turn takes another necromancer to defeat. What you saw was what they wanted you to see!" As she glanced at each of them in turn, she saw the smallest of the group's eyes light up.
"What are you saying?" The leader demanded, "that we honor an empty casket?" Before she could respond the smallest of them asked a question.
"You said you were the last necromancer didn't you?" Finally, one of them understood. For the first time in a long while her smile was genuine.
"that I did, yes." As she glanced around she saw the unicorn's eyes brighten at the realization before him.
"Did the lich actually die that night?" He asked, glancing at the smallest of the group to see if their thoughts were aligned.
"Yes, she did." The necromancer replied. A quick glance at the pegasus told her that he too had drawn the same conclusion as the others.
"I still don't follow... Wait... She had to use... But that means... You?" The leader stammered, she rolled her eyes at his antics before answering.
"Yes, I am the savior of Equus, vanquisher of the lich and many other titles. Now, back to my original question: what if Celestia banished one who'd saved the world simply because she disapproved of the methods used ? Is she definitively good?"
This time the expressions on their faces told her that they were conflicted. On one hoof, saying yes meant ignoring the mare before them; on the other, saying no went against everything they'd been taught.
Suddenly the pegasus spoke up, "I think she's a little of both, after living as long as she has anyone would be." At this the necromancer smiled, it was a smile that filled the soul, a beautiful thing that was rarely seen adorning such a somber visage.
"You're right, but one doesn't have to live as long as she has per-se; rather, they might be molded by their experiences." As she finished talking she saw the leader of the group suddenly tense up.
"So wait... This conversation started with the question of whether we thought of necromancy as evil, right?" The leader had a certain look in his eye as he spoke, one that made the necromancer's heart soar with elation; at last, someone was beginning to understand.
"That it did, yes." She answered as recognition graced the features of his comrades, "I take it that you are going somewhere with this?" His face bore a more stoic visage after her reply, and in that instant she knew that she'd succeeded.
"During our first encounter, you said you were the guardian of life and death?" When he received a nod of affirmation he continued, "would you be willing to explain to us what necromancy is?" Upon hearing his question, she approached him and, after helping him to his hooves, wrapped him in a tight embrace.
"You are the first in 175 years to ask that most important of questions..." As she spoke she felt an almost alien sensation run along her muzzle, and when she opened her eyes she discovered that she was crying, "you also appear to be the first in 125 years to bring me to tears. You will receive all the answers you seek."
As the group left the wastes the next morning, the necromancer sighed, finally feeling as if her purpose was being fulfilled. Moving to a window overlooking the vast necropolis below her castle, she instead gazed out at the horizon.
Soon, you will come to me young one; you will come and your elders will seek you out. The thought of what would come brought one of the many smiles that graced her muzzle that evening. As the sun began to rise, she slowly walked back to her throne room and her thoughts of the past.
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Well that was great.
Hope this gets featured and everything and hope it gets updated because I can actually sit down and read this for awile.
personally I think the story midnight moon wrote had a lot more promise than mine, but that's because this isn't going to be as open ended (hopefully). I'll try to keep this updated as much as I can though.
Hm, this is looking very interesting. I'm definitely liking the twists you are putting on things and I'm looking forwards to seeing where it goes. My only little gripe so far is that the causality numbers in the beginning seemed absurdly high, although given the fact that these are necromancers and you later say the war went on for 100 years it is entirely possible that the vast majority of those bodies are very old, especially if they can raid a graveyard to resurrect long-dead bodies.
7608920 truth be told I don't actually remember saying how long the war went on for, my thinking with the two thirds number was that when the lich (and anyone who's read Midnight Moon's story would know who I chose to be the lich) started to attack, she not only attacked Equestria the country, but also every other nation on Equus. Your guess about the age of the bodies in the opening scene is in the ballpark of my idea, as this is based on the idea Midnight Moon came up with for the story My Little Necromancer. However I wont be fleshing out the history, or to a lesser extent the lore, because it's not important to the story I'm trying to tell; the effects of the war however, are quite important and will potentially take up a great deal of the next chapter.
7610277 I haven't read that story, but I definitely understand where you are coming from with the details. I get the feeling the actual necromancy won't be playing too big a part in this based on the description, so the nuts and bolts won't matter since it won't be used. Just make sure you line up what will and will not be possible ahead of time at least in broad strokes and give serious thought to how that will impact the backstory events and everything will be fine. In this case, you have that covered by saying it was more than just Equestria involved, although it might be smart to make a tiny edit to at least hint at that somewhere in the chapter since the implication is that Equestria is going at it alone. You also need to make sure not to do anything that explicitly contradicts raising long-dead corpses because that is a get out of jail free card for building huge undead armies and can leave the door open for something as extreme as taking a page out of the Dresden Files series (which you should read if you haven't already) and making yourself a zombie T-Rex to really get around the numbers barrier.
7610747 huh... I'm gonna have to find the series and give it a good read. But in the way of edits I'll probably start that tomorrow when I'm well rested.
could I ask for clarification? I'm runnin' on fumes today and my puzzler cant puzzle under the circumstances.
7611236 To make it simple, if you can wander into a graveyard/crypt and raise a giant mess of skeletons which are hundreds of years old, you can very easily get an undead army that is larger than the living population since you can access a lot more generations than are currently alive. Every living pony has parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, great-great-grandparents, great-great-great-grandparents, and so on, the vast majority of whom are dead simply because of age.
7612872 so just don't say that particular tactic couldn't be done? I think I can do that. Also is it bad that when you mentioned an undead T-rex in your last comment I couldn't help but feel like something similar would be an interesting plot point to add in? That maybe somewhere down the line, after the war of course, the Necromancer resurrected prehistoric creatures to aid her in making the Rift, and now they just roam around and graze?
Hm, not bad. This character is in a way mysteriously appealing to me. I want to see more of her
However, don't feel pressed by it. Write when you feel like it and don't let anybody urge you to write. That never ends well... trust me.
Also, if I were you, I'd check the capitalisation of names and beginnings of sentences.
7903745 I... messed up capitalization? I don't even have a witty retort for that, I'm usually good with capitalization. Oh and I have a chapter in the works but I'm waiting till the 1st to finish it.
7904488 It was not in every sentence, but an "equestria" for example crept its way in there.
7905044 ah, well I'll revise it on the 31st. Thanks for mentioning it!