//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Someone Who Met Standards // Story: Necromancy: The Simple Spell // by Travesty //------------------------------// When I first awoke that morning, I couldn't help but feel well rested. It was a feeling I've never experienced in my life, what with me being raised in a poor family as a child. I was very giddy at the feeling of such comfort, and wanted to just lay there for hours. But, sadly, I had duties to attend to, and a new pony to meet. I casually got out of bed, put on my clothing, and set out to find the dining hall. God knows I can't help teach a small child without food to keep me calm and collected. Besides, I was almost certain that it was breakfast for these ponies. I couldn't find my way around the castle, so I asked a nearby guard where the dining hall was. When he gave me the directions, I thanked him before heading back on my merry way. After a couple seconds, I found the dining hall and pushed the doors open, my smile stretching from ear to ear when I saw the amount of food sitting on the long-table; from end to end, there was an variety of breakfast foods like waffles, pancakes, salads, eggs, and all that good stuff. Sadly though, there was no meat, understandable since the ponies are herbivores. At one end sat Celestia, and next to her sat a filly with a lavender coat, large purple eyes and a straight, dark royal blue mane and tail with violet and rose streaks. She was much shorter than Celestia, barely reaching the top of the princess' foreleg knee joint. I found it adorable at her height, and found it even more adorable when she gave me a fearful yet curious look. This had to be that 'Twilight Sparkle' pony that the Princess was talking about, and I was rather excited to teach her the arts of magic. I smirked, looking up at Celestia, "Hello, Your Highness. May I be allowed to eat here?" Celestia chuckled, "Of course, and stop acting so formal. If you're going to help teach Twilight, we might as well be friends!" I noticed that Twilight seemed a little scared when Celestia said that I was going to help teach her, and said Princess took notice of it too. She turned and looked over to Twilight, a small smile on her face, "Do not fret, Twilight; he won't hurt you. In fact, he's quite humble!" Twilight gave me a once over before speaking quietly, "O-Okay..." I smiled softly, walking around and sitting next to Celestia and dug into the food. --------- -Twenty Minutes Later- --------- I burped softly as I smiled with satisfaction, leaning on the table. Those were the best waffles and eggs I ever had! There was just enough syrup on them to make them not too sweet and not too bitter. The eggs were cooked to perfection, too! Oh my lord I would go for seconds, but I took about five waffles, which was almost too much! During my time of eating, I got to know Twilight Sparkle a little better; she told me about her parents, her brother, and how she ended up becoming the protégé of Princess Celestia. I was quite shocked about the dragon hatchling and the sonic rainboom occurrence, and how she had a magical freak-out session before Celestia showed up and calmed her down. When she saw my expression she felt hurt, but I said that I had my fair share of freak-out accidents in my lifetime, which seemed to cheer her up. I arose from my seat and brushed myself off, heading off to the library that I heard was filled to the brim of the knowledge these ponies held. I was stopped, however, when Celestia spoke, "Greg, where do you think you're going?" I turned and smiled at Celestia, "Simply to see your library filled with extensive knowledge beyond my own comprehension." "Take Twilight with you then, since I have court duties to attend to." She replied less than enthusiastically, before arising from her own seat and nudging Twilight. I shrugged, "That is fine, come along Twilight, you could teach me a few things about your nation that I don't already know." When I left the room, she followed suit and walked alongside me. "So, about that dragon hatchling." "What about him?" She asked curiously, looking up to me as we walked down the long hallways of Canterlot Castle. "The first thing a hatchling sees is its mother, and the first thing it saw was you, so it should believe you're the mother." I replied calmly, before asking, "What are you going to name it?" When I looked down to see if she would reply, she instead had a look of thought. "Hmm, I'm not sure... it's a he so I'll need a male name." I chuckled, catching her attention. "What?" "I would pick out a name based off his physical traits, perhaps you could do the same?" She nodded, and thought it over once more. "Well, he has spines that are a little sharp, so maybe something spikey... spikey... Spike... Spike! That'll be his name!" I nodded approvingly, "Good thinking, Twilight. I'm sure that the young drake will enjoy the name very much." She smiled with glee at the sound of approval, and seemed pretty excited of having her own dragon. We eventually reached the library, and were let in by the librarian. When I asked where the books on Equestria and its history were, she showed me, and I was in awe at the amount of books before me; at least fifteen rows, all thirty feet long in length. There were so many books that ranged from the beginning of this country all the way to this day! I looked down to Twilight with a giddy smile, "Twilight! Come with me and help me learn about these..." I looked over to the books, my smile growing, "...amazing books of knowledge!" It almost brought a tear to my eye how happy I was. Almost. "Can't you read though?" She asked curiously. I nodded, "Indeed, but I want you to help explain and tell me about these events and places." I looked over the books, and found one that seemed to stick out on the shelves; one dark blue book, about as thick as my fist, and had the title 'Mare in the Moon: Facts and Myths'. I reached out and pulled it off the shelf, a small smile coming across my face as I brushed a bit of dust off it. "You want to read that one?" Twilight asked, walking over and reading the title. She rolled her eyes, "That book is all myths, no facts." I looked over to her, a smirk on my face, "Sometimes myths can be fact, even if most deny it." She seemed unmoved, "Horseapples, there are no facts! It's all just about a mare who was sent to the moon, and how she'd return after the thousandth summer sun celebration." I raised a brow, "Twilight, if someone says a fact is myth long enough with the same amount of effort along the way, then eventually everyone will believe that the fact is now myth." I shook my head, "Not everything in this book is a myth, otherwise there would be no purpose in having the title 'Nightmare Moon: Facts and Myths'." She sighed, nodding, "I understand, but are you sure you want to read that and not something else?" I chuckled, "Yes, I am certain. Now tell me a bit about this Nightmare Moon." As I read through the book, she told me everything she knew about the pony; apparently she was pure evil, and wanted to bring around midnight eternal. A bit idiotic, but it had some biblical qualities to it. Twilight also told me that, according to the book, Nightmare Moon was once Princess Celestia's sister. But she also said that it had to be myth because even Celestia herself denies it. After that little session reading the book in its entirety, I sent Twilight off to go play with her brother; he was in the guard, and was currently off-duty if Twilight was correct. Besides, I got a few questions of my own for Celestia. I entered the throne room, and saw that Celestia was sitting atop her throne whilst having a bored expression on her face. She didn't appear to have any duties at the moment, and it seemed to not have anything more important than sitting on the throne. So I walked up to the bottom of her throne, bowing my head to her, "Princess." She looked relieved to see me again, "Ah, Greg, how nice it is to see you." She looked around curiously. "Where's Twilight?" "I sent her off to go join her brother while he was off-duty." I then whispered, "Want to tell me a bit about this 'Nightmare Moon' character?" She seemed to narrow her eyes, before replacing it with a calm look. "Guards, go wait outside the throne room; me and Greg have a few things to speak of." The guards did so reluctantly, their eyes trained on me as they left the throne room. When they were gone, I could feel Celestia's eyes glaring at me, "Where did you hear that name?" I smirked, "I heard it in the library, Celestia. A little book told me quite a bit about you and her being related." If she wasn't glaring daggers, she was now. I raised a hand, "I know this might be a touchy subject, Your Highness, but some facts must remain true lest your people not trust you for changing them." I gave her a caring look, "I've read the book, from beginning to end, and quite frankly I don't judge you for sending your possessed sister to the moon." Her glare stood its ground, but I saw the sadness in her eyes, "You don't know what that's like, sending your sister away and never seeing her for a thousand years." She looked away, and I thought I saw a tear roll down her cheek, "In twenty-five more years, I will have to face my sister again, and I'll have no chance at succeeding; she's just too powerful..." I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose, "Well, perhaps I could be of service in that field?" I looked at her, and gave her a smirk when I saw her confused face. "How can you help me? You are but a necromancer, not a pony filled with power stronger than mine." She seemed doubtful, but I turned my smirk into a confident smile. "You defeated her with elements once, yes?" Celestia nodded, and I continued, "The book says your aren't as strong as you used to be, and it also says that a great amount of trust is needed." I rubbed my head, "So you can't use them, and neither can I because of my lack of trust." "All of them are true, but whom could we ask to help?" Celestia asked while in deep thought, rubbing her chin with her foreleg. It took me a minute, but an idea came to mind. I turned back to her, "Perhaps Twilight could be of great assistance." Celestia gave me a soft glare, "Twilight is my student, what would make you say that she has the ability to take on somepony who is as strong as a god?" I shrugged, "I don't know, perhaps it is the mark on her flank that signifies that she has some power." I chuckled, "In fact, I'm pretty sure her mark is a symbol of magic, meaning that's her special talent if I'm not mistaken?" Celestia bit her lip and closed her eyes, letting out a breath before speaking calmly, "Her talent may be magic, but she is still a young filly and has much to learn." I could sense the anger behind her words. "Exactly, yet we have twenty-five years to train her. Twenty. Five. That's more than my people ever had before a villain raided." I then gave her a smile, "And I'll be damned if someone says she doesn't meet standards for the task. She meets all of mine!" Celestia sighed in defeat, nodding in defeat, "I suppose you're right. But we cannot tell her that the world rests in her hands, otherwise she will not be the kind young filly she is now." I nodded in agreement, rubbing my chin with a finger, "Indeed, that would be most unpleasant. Perhaps... we could get her to study a bit more on this topic? Make her believe that Nightmare Moon is coming in twenty-five years?" Celestia thought it over, before nodding, "Yes, but it must be you who gets her to do it, not me. If it were me, then there would be a problem, what with us both worrying about it." "Of course, I'm sure I can convince her enough to believe that Nightmare Moon is coming back. But I'll just say that you don't believe me, and that you want me to refrain from studying such things." I replied with a calculative tone, turning on my heel and heading off to search for Twilight. "Be warned that if this fails, then world may pay the price." Celestia stated behind me, and I raised my hand to let her know that I already knew the consequences. I prayed that this all played out nice and neatly, not with a crash and burn. Then again, Twilight has met plenty of standards already, why not save the world while she's at it?