Souls Apart

by GnollReader

Chapter 28: The deal

The necromancer tapped his foot on the floor with impatience, "Any minute now..."

Chrysalis shook her head, "I am starting to have doubts if it is a good idea to include Celestia in this trade... Surely it could be done without the ponies' knowledge?"

"Oh it could, no doubts about that..." he smiled, "But research is so much more simple when it isn't illegal, isn't it now?"

"Still..." Chrysalis commented with a worried expression, "How will she react to my presence?"

"She'll be delighted, of course!" the necromancer saw Chrysalis deadpan, "Lighten up. There's a trap door under your seat in case you need to make a hasty retreat anyway."

She looked down herself and at the floor in surprise, "There is?" she quickly shifted her seat a few feet to the side as she scrutinized the floor, "Where does it lead to?"

"Heck if I know..." he raised an eyebrow, "Haven't tried that one yet... probably goes outside."

"Probably?" Chrysalis asked with an unamused voice.

"Maybe..." he grinned at her, "For all I know it could lead to the torture chamber as well. I can't think about everything I do, can I now?"

Before their discussion could continue any further, there was a bright flash inside the chamber and a clearly aggravated Celestia appeared in front of the necromancer, "You are by far the most impossible man I have ever met!" she glared at him.

"I'm the only man you have met yet." he replied with a kind smile.

"What did you send my sister that made her lock herself in her chambers?! And what is this I hear about my student Twilight Sparkle and you in a duel..." she trailed off as she spotted Chrysalis sit at the table and take another sip from her cup, "I don't believe it." she whispered with clear disbelief.

"I can't blame you..." Chrysalis replied with an even voice as she lowered her cup, "I find it hard to believe it myself."

Celestia whirled back around to give the necromancer and accusing glare, "I thought you were playing a cruel joke on my part but you have clearly gone insane this time!"

"I haven't..." he leaned to the side to look at Chrysalis, "Have I gone insane?" Aergad asked with a contemplating voice.

"Hard to say..." Chrysalis mumbled in response.

"Why is she here?!" Celestia thundered at him with anger, "Do you even know who she is? What are you scheming?!"

The necromancer ignored her question and eyed her mane with amusement instead, "Are you wearing hair rollers? At your age?" making Celestia blush and her eye twitch.

---

A good ten minutes later, princess Celestia had calmed down considerably and after removing the hair rollers from her hair, the three of them were sitting at the table with stern expressions... at least two of them.

"So that I understand this correctly..." Celestia summed up what she had just learned, "You can enchant vessels to gather the emotions given off by those around them." the necromancer nodded with a happy grin, "And you plan to distribute them among my subjects in order to feed the changelings?" again, he nodded.

"Let me be clear on this..." Chrysalis spoke up, "If this will work, it would finally put aside the need for us to collect the emotions in disguise or by force. It would solve one of the oldest and most dire problems of our race... and it would open the possibility for a more... diplomatic relation between the changelings and equestrians."

Celestia listened to her words before turning to the necromancer with a frown on her face, "That is all good and well... I would indeed welcome such a solution. But still, you mentioned a trade in your letter... What is my part in all of this?"

"Well..." he sighed, "Seeing as I'd be the one doing all the actual work, I'd of course be demanding some sort of compensation."

"What do you want?" Celestia asked with skeptical voice.

"I need bodies..."

"No." her reply was immediate.

He continued, "Dead bodies to be precise..."

"The answer is still no." she cast him a glare.

"Hear me out on this." Aergad held up his hands defensively, "I have already discussed the matter with Chrysalis, and she would be more than willing to supply them to me."

Celestia gave Chrysalis an unbelieving look, but she only shrugged, "We changelings have no use for the dead, and we do not believe in burials or the rites of rest. For us, a dead body is just that... If he has use for our dead, then I have no concern in supplying them to him in return for his work."

"So there really wouldn't be the need for you to supply them..." the necromancer continued, "Your graves hold no interest to me."

"Then what is my part in this?" Celestia eyed him with doubt.

"Legalize my research. Make an exception so I can continue my studies." he spread his hands, "If we are really going to do this, I want to be sure not to commit any crimes while doing so."

"And what interest do you have in the corpses of changelings?" Celestia asked with slight disgust.

"They're abilities as shape shifters, of course." he replied with a casual voice, "It'll take some time for me to figure everything out, but when I do, I'll be able to bring them close to human bodies for sure... And I'll be able to conduct my research on them instead."

"You're talking about the reanimation?" Celestia asked with a skeptical face, "I am not sure if I can agree to something like this... nor am I sure that what you propose would actually be possible."

He sighed, "Neither am I... but I'm willing to give it a try." he chuckled, "Even if it all turns out to be impossible after all, you'll still have the changeling issue solved once and for all." Aergad searched her face for an answer, "So, do we have a deal? You'll let me continue my work and bring your world closer to harmony and peace in the process?"

Celestia let her gaze travel over both Chrysalis' and the necromancer's face, both of them were looking at her with hope in their eyes, though Chrysalis evidently tried to hide her anxiety. Countless scenarios and possible results rushed through her head... Allowing the necromancer to experiment on changeling corpses? That was indeed a very troubling thought... but this was also an opportunity to bring forth a new era of peace between them and the changelings. Would she be willing to give up such an offer simply because his own, personal ideas offended her?

She closed her eyes and played over the options she had over and over again... but in the end, she already knew that she desired peace with the changelings. The possibilities offered by a friendly relationship between their two species were simply too promising.

Celestia opened her eyes again, "I will allow it." a huge grin spread over Aergad's lips, "But I will make three conditions. First, you will not tell any of my subjects about the subject of the changeling bodies... it would not stand well should this become public." Chrysalis nodded, "Second, I will make the existence of the vessels and their purpose public, so that my subjects know of them and can decide for themselves if they accept them into their homes."

"I can agree to that..." the necromancer raised an eyebrow, "What's the third?"

"The third condition concerns your research." Celestia replied with a frown, "I wish to be informed on what you are doing inside your tower at all times. For this reason, the paladin will survey all of your research and report to me on a regular basis. Should I find her reports too troubling or your work a threat to public safety, you will stop your research immediately. And I will come personally from time to time to check on your work myself."

Aergad bit his lower lip... That condition didn't sit well with him at all, not a bit. "Why must it be her?"

"Because neither my sister nor I have the time or patience to watch over you at all times." Celestia replied, "And I trust Calindria to care enough about the safety of my subjects to report any troubling findings to me immediately." she paused, "These are my conditions. Take them or leave them."

"Can't it be that student of yours instead?"

"No. I do not wish to burden her with such a task. Also, I fear that her curiosity might get a hold of her. I have no desire for her to attempt to copy your... art." she mouthed the last word with unease.

The necromancer rubbed his temples, "That is... one heck of a condition."

Chrysalis watched him with a troubled expression, "Surely, that can not be such big a problem for you?"

"You have no idea, my dear." The thought of the paladin standing behind him during his work already served to send shivers down his spine... but for the sake of her soul, he would do it. "Very well..." he sighed, "I'll agree to your conditions. But you'll be the one to spill the beans to the paladin. I can imagine she's not going to be very pleased about this." he paused, "She wouldn't believe it coming from anyone else anyway."

Celestia nodded, "Good. It is decided then." she turned to Chrysalis, "Once everything is set up, I expect a diplomatic visit from you to show your good intentions... and you still owe princess Cadence and her husband an apology."

Chrysalis groaned, that would be a hard task for her indeed, "I'm am not happy about this, but for the sake of my people... I will comply." somewhere in the back of her mind she wished the necromancer had put more power into his lightning blast, then at least she'd be sure she wouldn't have to meet Celestia's student again.

Princess Celestia nodded, "Then all parties of this trade agree on the terms and conditions. I will prepare everything needed at once and inform everyone involved as well. I bid you goodbye until our next meeting." with a flash of light, Celestia had disappeared again.

"How annoying..." the necromancer mumbled to himself, "Making us agree to such silly conditions."

"Indeed..." Chrysalis replied with a sour voice, "I can already see the face of that idiotic captain Shining Armor."

"Huh? You know him?" he raised an eyebrow with surprise.

"I do... far better than his wife would like, I am certain." Chrysalis put on a small smirk, "What is your history with him?"

He chuckled, "I turned the little cunt into a goldfish since he was so annoying..." a conspiring smile appeared on his lips, "Also..."

"Also?" Chrysalis asked with curious voice.

"When I changed him back, I may have made a certain part of him glow in the dark." a sinister chuckle escaped him, "I'm surprised he hasn't shown up yet, he's probably enjoying it way too much to complain about it."

A small blush appeared on Chrysalis' cheeks as she laughed with him, "My, my... you certainly are a devious one, aren't you?"

"Just impulsive, I'm afraid." he fished another flask from his robes, "Care for another round of tea with shots to celebrate?"

Even though she had been feeling a slight high since her last cup of happy party emotions, a wicked smile spread over Chrysalis' lips, "How could I say no to that?"

---

A good hour later, the necromancer was laughing so hard that tears appeared in his eyes, "Oh god, no more! This is simply not fair!" he bawled as he watched Chrysalis, "Do that other one again! The one with the butt!"

Chrysalis groaned as she downed another cup of pure party emotions with a red face, "Alright, alright..." she slurred, "But this is the final time!"

There was a flash of green light and instead of the changeling queen, it was now princess Celestia that stood in front of him... with an impossibly huge behind no less. "Oh my..." she mimicked Celestia's motherly voice as she pranced around his chambers with her rear swinging from side to side wildly, "Our stocks have run out of cake ingredients? I simply can not imagine where those all went..." she knocked over a small shelf as the necromancer rolled over the floor, laughing helplessly at her display.

"Wait! Wait!" he got to his knees gasping for air, "I know just the thing to make this even better!" a small flash came from his hands.

As Chrysalis watched his spell take effect her eyes went wide and a big grin appeared on her face, "Oh, this... this will be glorious!"

---

The two guards walked the streets of Ponyville, just as bored as they always were. Nothing curious ever happened in Ponyville... A scream interrupted their boredom as something ran towards them. What came running around the corner though, was too much for them to even comprehend.

It was a cake... a huge cake with white frosting and two legs pumping furiously as it sped around the houses screaming, "Help! Princess Celestia has turned me into a cake and is trying to eat me!"

As if on queue, the said princess shot around the same corner with a hungry look to her eyes and a huge butt whirling through the air as she rounded the corner, "Come back here and let yourself be devoured!" she shouted with a maniacal voice, "Fulfill your ruler's desire and make my glorious rear wider!"

Both the cake and their princess shot past the two guards, all the while laughing manically as they stirred up dust. When they disappeared around another corner and from view the two guards just stood there, frozen in their position with unbelieving faces for what seemed like minutes.

"Should we report this?" one of them finally asked to no one in particular with a shaky voice.

The other guard shook himself wildly, as if awaking from a horrible dream, "Report what? I didn't see nothin'... did you see anything?"

The first guard shook his head with a nervous laugh, "Nope. Didn't see a thing. Especially no running cakes."

"Right then... just the usual boring night..." the two of them looked at one another, "Seriously though, if stuff like this is going to happen again in the future, I'm leaving service."

"I hear that." replied the other one. He silently hoped he wouldn't be the next to be turned into cake, "I wonder what color my frosting would have..."

---

In the entrance of the shadowy tower, the now human-again necromancer and the queen of the changelings were panting heavily from their wild chase through Ponyville.

"Did you see their faces?!" Aergad laughed as he gasped for air, "That was so worth the effort!" he eyed her with a big grin, "I think I'm falling in love!"

Chrysalis laughed as she gasped for air herself, "Don't get any wrong ideas, I'm normally far more composed. This is merely to deepen our official affairs."

He chuckled as he fished yet another flask from his robes, "Well then, how about we deepen them some more?"

Comments

[Demic]

oh god lol

help! I'm dieing of laughter!

[tia brony]

necromancer chrysalis?

[Mr101]

I just can't see how I could ever hate this story or any of the others you've done, every update is just simply entertaining! I'm nearly in tears from laughing.

[GnollReader]

2681702 2681659 I try, I try... took me about two runs to get it the way I wanted it to read though ^^

[bocaj518]

oh my god! this is AMAZING!!

[Demic]

2681729 you sir are a god in writing! too bad I'm horrible at it.

[Xomniac]

2681669 Naaaah, my guess is that he's gonna slip her a roofie!

[dawn_rising]

Glow in the dark. That's.... Original.

[KingOfTheMuffins]

2681669

It's merely just "business." Granted, the necromancer's "business" isn't the kind of business you'd think when you hear the word, "business."

[Potential_Hero]

Innuendoes, innuendoes every wheres.

[Sixpence]

Is it bad that I want to see some of this as romance?

You know, you can't spell Necromancer without romance. That'd be silly, tiny little Necrs running around, having no idea what their purpose is.

[Florida]

Goddamnit necromancer
Make his dick permanently flaccid

A better punishment for being a bad goldfish

[LuluTia]

Discord + Necromancer = CONTROLLED chaos

[MeTaLGuArD]

You are one of the most creative and entertaining writers I've seen on fimfiction, and considering how much I read daily, it's an achievement. I don't think I laughed this hard while reading in a very long time. Or perhaps not that long, since another of your stories, "The Reader", had the same effect on me. I'll eagerly await further updates.

And a possible meeting with Discord in the future. I can't help but see a lot of him in the necromancer, and I can only imagine what kind of shenanigans the two could get into together.

[hs0003]

I have never laughed so hard while reading as I just did at the cake joke

[EverfreeSparkle]

Honestly, he should have made Cadence's labia light up like an airport runway. Imagine this; Shining's glowing dick being lead into her cunt by many flashing lights! Hilarious!

[The Crimson Reaper]

5849900 .....thank you, now I will slowly asphyxiate from laughing... I hope you like being a murderer.

[FallenGods]

First I should say that I've really been enjoying this I have actually laughed out loud and all the character interactions flow exceptionally well.
The reason i'm leaving a comment now rather than continuing to race through this is this last chapter was shockingly different it was fine up until Celestia's three conditions.

The first was no great surprise it's just politics and public image. The Second is reasonable by it self, but seems very hypocritical when a demand for honest transparency comes right after a demand for total secrecy. But the third condition leaves me feeling like I've missed something The Necromancer has been very clear that he will not share his magical knowledge but now he's easily giving access to his most up to date research without complaint or argument.

Celestia was offered an unprecedented opportunity for true peace at zero cost to her or her ponies and she responds by making demands and everyone else acts as if it is reasonable. even in regular diplomacy you'd expect that she'd have to contribute something (beyond changing some laws about research on corpses) but given how focussed on friendship she is and how he only just opened up about his past it seems tantamount to a betrayal, especially forcing the paladin into the equation.

As I said perhaps I missed something but this scene really threw me out of the story trying to follow the logic.