//------------------------------// // An Unwelcome Visitor // Story: Rarity and the Phylactery // by Nevermore777 //------------------------------// Rarity had never really liked her basement. It was a storage room of sorts, so she would occasionally have to come down here to get more supplies, but that didn't change the fact that she had never liked it down here. For one, it was always chilly down her, enough so that she could often see her own breath. Thankfully that wasn't much of an issue at the moment due to her lack of feeling, but she still found herself putting on the heavy robe she always kept by the bottom of the stairs over her normal one out of habit, and she noticed she could still see her breath. Secondly, the place was just creepy. When she flipped the light switch, it turned on a couple heavy duty lights that illuminated sections of the basement but left a good deal of it very dim. In addition, there was, of course, the countless stacks of boxes and rows of fabric and old dress designs. It was here she stored a lot of her more seasonal ware when it was out of season. Nightmare Night costumes, Hearthwarmimg attire, those sorts of things. The creepiest part, however, and the part she had always wished to have some other option for, were the spare mannequins that were all over the place. Rarity remembered one time when Sweetie Belle had snuck down here. Rarity and heard her scream and had come down to find a curled little unicorn who was absolutely terrified of the cold plastic ponies partially hidden by the shadows. Rarity saw what had caused the noises almost immediately. A stack of boxes had knocked over, spilling emeralds and rubies all over the floor, and a mannequin had fallen over as well. The mannequin had broken apart and was in several pieces on the cold tile floor. "What happened in here?" Rarity muttered to herself, getting closer to investigate, eyes occasionally darting to the shadows around her. Her eyes narrowed as she investigated the wrecked mannequin, and at first she didn't see it, but when she did, she felt her eyes widen as a shiver went up her spine. "What in Celestia's name?" Behind the mannequin was a massive holein the wall. It looked like something had erupted from the wall and knocked the mannequin on its way out. She could see the bits of plaster and drywall that were sprinkled across the floor like dust. She felt her breathing increase steadily. It was a rather large hole. Pony-sized, in fact. There was no way it was some mole or some other little critter made it. Which meant... Rarity spun around, brandishing her bat as her eyes scanned the darkness and the shadows for any sign of movement. Who could it be? Her first thought was maybe the Dimond Dogs or something, but that couldn't be it. She would have either smelled them or they would have acted already. They weren't exactly patient or stealthy creatures from what Rarity could remember from her little "experience" with them. Gulping and mustering her courage, she finally couldn't take it anymore and called out, "I don't know who or what you are, but if you can understand me than I want you to show yourself this instant!" Rarity honestly didn't really expect this to work, so she nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard the sound of something moving and a raspy, impossibly dry voice answered her. "As you wish, my Lady." Rarity spun in the direction of the voice, and was shocked as something emerged from the shadow. As the light shone down on it, Rarity opened her mouth to scream, but her voice froze in her throat as she laid eyes on the horror that had revealed itself to her. At its base, the creature looked like the skeleton of a unicorn. However, there were multiple notable differences between the creature before her and a normal unicorn's bones. For one, there were more of them and bones appeared thicker and more compact, giving it an almost Changeling like appearance. The horn was long and curved, like King Sombra's, and unlike a normal pony, the creature's teeth were sharp fangs clearly meant for tearing flesh and little else. Its bones were white as fresh snow, and looked almost like fine porcelain. Its entire body was covered in a sickly grey-green aura, and the aura erupted outwards from its head and rump in a crude attempt at mimicking a mane and tail. Within its eye sockets, purple and blue flames burned with green trails coming from the sides. Strangely, neither the monster's aura nor its flaming eyes seemed to produce any sort of light, which is how she must have missed it until it revealed itself. The thing emerged from the shadows, and much to Rarity's shock, bowed to her. "Is this satisfactory, my Lady?" "Ummm... sure?" Rarity responded slowly, trying to process what was happening. This strange thing had seemingly dug into her basement, looked like a monster from one of Luna's bedtime stories, and was acting... subservient towards her? What was happening? "Excellent!" it said, clearly pleased. Rarity decided based on its raspy but still somewhat deep voice that the monster was probably male, if you could such an entity a gender. "Now, how may I serve you, my Lady?" "Um... How about you start by telling me your name," Rarity said slowly, trying and failing to stay calm, "and then tell me what you are... and finally tell me what in Tartarus is going on!?" "My name is Osseus. If you dislike the name, my Lady, please feel free to change it to something you would find more comfortable." He introduced himself, bowing like a gentleman which Rarity found vaguely amusing, though it only slightly helped lighten the rather tense atmosphere. "And as for what I am, my Lady, that is a rather loaded question. To be blunt, I am an Undead. If we are getting more specific, I am a Corporeal; and if you want to know what species of Corporeal I am, then I am what most would call a Revenant." "A what-what-what now?" Rarity said, trying to wrap her head around Osseus's words. "A Corporeal is an Undead who has a physical body, my Lady, he explained, and a Revenant is one of the higher species of Corporeal Undead. Our function is to act as the advisor and assistant to a Lich." "What's a Lich?" Rarity asked. "Why, you are, my Lady." "No, I'm a unicorn, the Element of Generosity, in fact. I'm not a Lich, whatever that is." Rarity responded, shaking her head. Osseus chuckled."Oh, but you are a Lich, my Lady. You have given your soul to a Phylactery, and ascended into unlife."