//------------------------------// // Flowers // Story: Sanctioned Necromancy // by One-Of-Three-Names //------------------------------// Authors note: I'm still new at this, and I have no editor. I apologize for any formatting, punctuation, or other errors. My writing improves greatly by the fourth chapter and onward. The sun woke him. Prying his eyes open, Pale Bones stared out the castles window at the rising sun with as much disdain as he could muster; which he assumed to be quite a lot. Staring at things with disdain seemed to be a fairly common ability for Canterlot ponies, especially among unicorns. A stereotype perhaps, but he felt it was a true one. After a few minutes of glaring at the source of the morning light, he slowly slid out of the warm embrace of his ridiculously comfortable bed and onto the stone floor of his chambers. He stumbled slightly as he struggled to keep his hooves steady. A cold breeze flowed through the window and seeped into his skin like his coat of dull white fur wasn't even there. It sent a shiver down his spine and caused his sickly green mane to stand on end. Part of his brain was still asleep, and he decided to make a game of how little effort he could put into walking without falling. The short path to his red mahogany dresser became a wobbling journey where he nearly knocked over several items about his room. After a few embarrassing seconds, he clumsily managed to open the bottom drawer of the dresser with his hooves, and used his teeth to pull out a thick brown cloak with built in saddlebags. With a practiced motion, he flung it around his shoulders and over his back, sighing with relief as it settled over his body and cut off the cold air still wafting through the open window. He stood there for a moment and blinked a few times, clearing the morning ooze from his eyes. He briefly thought about grooming his mane, figuring he might as well look presentable like a pony of his status should, but thinking of the effort that would require changed his mind rather quickly. It wasn't as if his job required him to be seen in public very often. And during the few times he was required to make an appearance; ponies had much bigger problems to worry about than whether or not he had bed head. The halls of Canterlot Castle were usually quiet. Most jobs in the castle were slow, there just wasn't much that needed to be done throughout the day. Bones figured the only place that was consistently busy here was the kitchens, feeding the entire castles staff three times a day wasn't an easy thing to do. His stomach gave a low growl as he was reminded of food, and he decided to take a shortcut through the throne room towards the kitchens. He could hear echoed voices join the sound of his hoofsteps as he passed through the throne room's back archway. Celestia was here, as she was every morning, giving audience to various important ponies as they voiced their complaints. Bones admired her seemingly endless amount of patience, and wondered how long he could remain sane in her position. He asked himself this question almost every time he walked through here, and the answer changed from day to day depending on his mood. Today however, his answer was not particularly long. "Bones" one of the two rear guards said, acknowledging him and letting him pass. Bones noted the other guard whom he didn't recognize give his ruffled mane a condescending look. In the light of his earlier glaring match with the sun, Bones found this funny, and found himself struck with barely contained chortles as he made his way past. He could hear the two guards whispering intently once they thought he was out of earshot. He wondered for a moment what they were discussing. Officially, Bones was a royal adviser to the princesses, but had on more than one occasion heard rumors about what the staff really thought he did. Bones found the rumors about him to be as humorous as they were inaccurate. "-and so I believe I should be granted possession of his estate if he passes on, heavens forbid." A regal looking unicorn was addressing Princess Celestia. Well dressed in a stylish overcoat and top hat, he was probably one of Canterlot's aristocracy, or a wealthy land owner from somewhere. Celestia fixed him with a patient smile. "I really think you should take this up with him, Mr. Hills. I'm afraid this is really none of my business, especially since he is still alive." Mr. Hills looked flustered, and was about to speak when Celestia interrupted. "Ah! Good morning, Bones." she said as he trotted towards the eastern exit. "Morning Celestia." he replied, sparing her a sleepy glance. He then began muttering something about her sun being too bright for its own good while he continued on his way out. The words came out slightly slurred, the mornings haze of grogginess only just now starting to rise, but he could swear he heard her chuckle softly when he left the room. Over the years Bones had been in service to Celestia, he had begun to suspect that she secretly despised being treated like a royal mare by everypony. So he began attempting to converse with her more casually, and after a few months he had simply stopped bowing, and spoke to her as he would anypony else. He didn't attempt to claim that he knew what the princess thought, but he imagined having at least one pony other than her sister who didn't treat her like the living demigod she was pleased her. The kitchens were hectic as ever, and warm, several blazing ovens will do that. Nearly a dozen ponies hastily wove their way around each other as they attempted to fix meals for every member of the staff. A bright green stallion that Bones recognized as one of the cooks greeted him as he entered. "Bones! What can I get for you today?" He pondered for a moment before responding, his head finally clear. "Two carrots, and a bouquet of flowers, please." The chef cocked his head "What kind of flowers?" "I don't care, as long as they're alive." The cook shrugged and disappeared into the kitchens chaos. "Hey Bones." A mares voice came from behind him, and he whipped around to see a familiar brown earth pony. "Oh, its you again." Bones was surprised to hear the tone of his voice be several degrees harsher than he intended. The mare seemed unfazed. "You remember my name yet?" She said, a smile forming on her face. "You get one guess every day!" Bones rolled his eyes and tried to get another look at her cutie mark, but she quickly turned and put her head in front of his, blocking his vision. "Ah ah ah! No cheating!" she giggled and tried to flick her black mane out of her eyes. Bones sighed heavily "I don't know. Uh, Dolphin Tale?" It was a stupid guess, but he found himself just wanting her to get out of his face. She laughed "Not even close!" The mare peeked over his shoulder at something, and quickly ducked past him into the kitchen just as the brightly colored cook returned. "Who was that?" The cook inquired, watching the brown earth pony navigate her way through the kitchen staff. "I have no idea." Bones replied, shrugging "She's been talking to me almost every day for a few weeks now. I thought she was one of your staff." "She's not a cook, I'll tell you that much." The chef said as he passed Bones the food he had requested. "Perhaps she is a serving girl or something." Bones levitated the flowers into his cloaks saddlebags, and the carrots into his mouth where he munched on them gratefully. After messily thanking the Chef, Bones headed to the gardens. Bones found Celestia's statue garden to be unnerving, doubly so after the Discord incident. He had often wondered why she had kept such a dangerous creature, even trapped in stone, in such a public place. Granted it wasn't often anypony got to visit the garden, but still. He purposefully made his way through the maze of marble and hedges until he reached what appeared to be a large ornate crypt, so worn and eroded that that the text etched upon it was no longer legible. Bones made sure the coast was clear, and closed his eyes, reaching for his magic. Celestia had taught him this spell many years ago, a sort of royal password in magic form. It involved sending a series of images and ideas directly to the door of the crypt, almost as though he were attempting telepathy. After concentrating for a few seconds, the stone door of the crypt began to slowly rumble aside with the grating sound of stone on stone. He made sure nopony had seen him, and slipped inside the ancient structure, letting the door sliding shut behind him. Navigating the tunnel in absolute darkness was something Bones had picked up over time. After so many years of passing this way, he knew the path by heart. It wasn't exactly a difficult path, as long as he never took any ninety degree turns he ended up where he needed to be. He had once set off on an expedition to explore all these tunnels, and emerged from the labyrinth nearly dying of thirst a couple days later. As far as he could tell, they constituted some sort of hidden bunker, long abandoned and unused. Imagining a time where something like an emergency command bunker was actually necessary sent chills down Bones's spine, and he made an effort to clear his mind. After a few minutes of walking, he followed a curve in the tunnel, and saw candlelight flickering from underneath a stone door ahead. He could hear the muffled music of a record player emanating from within. The sound of the door opening made Scarlet jump, nearly dropping the books she was holding. "Oh! Is it morning already?" She asked, still trying to hold the books while balancing on her hind legs. Bones laughed and levitated the books out of her grip, letting her fall back to the ground on all fours. "Yes, yes it is." She sighed and stretched, though Bones couldn't imagine why. Habit he supposed, curious. "What were you doing anyway? Forgotten how to use magic?" He joked with a smile, and began looking at the titles of the books she was carrying, sorting them into their proper shelves. "Just trying to save some energy, boss!" She said with what Bones would describe as a 'bubbly' voice. Bones twitched with slight annoyance, causing his focus on the levitation spell to wobble. Scarlet had taken to calling him boss recently. Probably in a playful way, but he didn't like it. He concentrated on sorting the books again, frowning slightly as he read one he didn't recognize. "Thatched Knee's guide to.. What? What is this?" "That one goes in the Creatures of the Night section." Scarlet said cheerily as she approached him. "Right, I've never seen it before." He said, sounding troubled. He tucked the book into its respective shelf and sat down at the central table. "That's because it showed up last night, after you left." Scarlet settled down across from him, her red mane falling down over her face mask. now that she was close, the odd echo in Scarlet's voice was audible. It seemed to just come from her general direction, rather than just her mouth. "Showed up huh? Who delivered it?" Bones asked curiously, gazing into the glowing purple sockets of Scarlet's mask. "No idea, but you know how it is." She said, standing up again and grabbing the candle on the desk. She began lighting the remaining lanterns, once again neglecting to use magic. He did know. This certainly wasn't the first time tomes has simply shown up out of nowhere. He suspected they were enchanted to seek out practitioners who could make use of them. "You know you don't need to save your energy like that, It isn't as if I'd let you run dry." Bones said, watching her as she went from lantern to lantern with the candle. "I thought about what you said earlier, about potential. I thought it might be useful someday, you know. If we need it." Scarlet said, still focusing on her task. Bones couldn't really think of an adequate reply. The music from the record player came to the forefront of things again. As the lights were lit, The Archive became more visible. Bones and Scarlet were in the central research area between the two main isles of bookcases, There were several desks which held invaluable regents and tools for casting the most elaborate spells, a brass summoning circle inlaid into the floor for the more complex or dangerous rituals, and there were various potions which were placed precariously along the tops of the bookcases, for use in contingency plans. To the casual observer though, it looked like a library. A medium sized library with green glass lanterns which gave the place an unnecessarily eerie green glow. Unlike the average library however, The Archive was full of forbidden and terrible knowledge, manuals on how to use the most despicable and terrifying dark magics known to pony kind. Bones had read almost all of them. Scarlet approached him out of the stacks. Her entire body was wrapped with a black cloth, pinned in place at each of her hooves. On top of the wrappings she wore a dark blue hooded cloak, which actually looked quite good in contrast with her red mane. The silver mask she wore covered the upper half of her face, and it was carved with wonderfully elaborate designs and details. She cocked her head to one side as Bones examined her. "Why are you staring at me?" Her jaw didn't move as she spoke. Bones snapped out of his reverie, apologizing and clearing his head. He remembered the flowers. "Oh, I've got something for you." he said, unbuckling one of his cloaks saddlebags. She seemed to perk up. "Hm?" Bones produced the bouquet of flowers and levitated them to her. Scarlet almost snatched from the air and let out a gleeful noise. "Oh thank you! You don't know how much I needed this." She said, almost giddily, she placed the bouquet against her nose and made an inhaling sound. "Yeah, well I did say-" He was cut off as the temperature in the room abruptly plummeted about twenty degrees. A dark purple glow enveloped Scarlet, and a feeling of power radiated around the room. Bones shivered and clenched his teeth shut as he watched the flowers wither and die, drained of their vitality. The temperature and lights returned to normal as Scarlet exhaled. The purple glow vanished. "You enjoy that far, far too much." Bones said, wrapping his cloak around himself a bit more tightly. "I cant help it! It feels like a full nights sleep in flower form." Scarlet replied, disposing of the daisies remains. Bones almost groaned, still remembering how tired he was when he woke up. "That does sound nice." "Mmhm." She concurred. "Still, its a shame not being able to replenish myself naturally. What with being dead and all."