“Alright… So I have enemies…” Rarity muttered. That wasn’t anything new, she had had plenty of enemies in both the political world and the business one.
But, enemies who wanted her… dead? Re-dead? Destroyed? Rarity didn’t know the correct term, but it didn’t really matter. She wasn’t used to having enemies who were after her life, especially when she hadn’t even done anything to thing besides exist.
“Yes, my Lady, but don’t worry,” Osseus said, “They aren’t fools who will come blindly charging you after they found you, which should give us time to make sure you are prepared for them.”
“Well, that’s a relief,” Rarity said with a sigh as she straightened her mane, “and you know why they say, no time like the present! So, why’s first?”
”Before anything of note can be done to prepare for the Paladins inevitable attack, you’ll need minions,” Ossues said, moving to the hole in the wall, before turning a gesturing to his surroundings, “And a base of operations that is better hidden and more easily defendable than this…?”
“Boutique.”
“Boutique…” Ossues turned and looked at her curiously, “I was so distracted that I didn’t think to ask, but who were you before?”
“Who I AM is Rarity,” she answered, scowling slightly, “Fashion Designer, Teacher, and Element of Generosity.”
“Element of… you possess an Element of Harmony?” Ossues said, the flames in his eyes sockets widening.
“Yes,” Rarity said proudly, before wilting slightly, “Unless I lost it when I became a Lich.”
“I wouldn’t know, none of the first Lichs were Elements, but I would guess not. The Elements were not intended to fight Necromancy, as neither did the Pillars.” Ossues said, Rarity sighing in relief. “However… why aren’t the Elements with the Princesses? Did something happen to them recently?”
“Rather out touch with time, aren’t you, Darling?” Rarity asked curiously.
“I have been asleep eversense your predecessor was destroyed,”
“Hmm, well, to make a long story short, the Nightmare Moon incident resulted in the temporary destruction of the Elements when Princess Celestia used them to banish Nightmare Moon. When she returned, my friends and I became the new Element Bearers.”
“Ah, that explains it… The Elements aren’t designed to be used for banishment. All of their power must have been used to keep this “Nightmare Moon” banished and could only return once the banishment was no longer in effect.” Osseus muttered, before looking back at her. “Well, shall we begin your lessons in Necromancy, my Lady?”
“Alright,” Rarity said, before frowning with a quizzical expression, “though I must ask: what exactly is Necromancy? I don’t really recall the term.”
Osseus stared at her blankly for a moment. “Ah, right… Necromancy is a rather… controversial magic, to say the least. It’s no surprise Magic Colleges these days don’t really go over it…”
Rarity shrugged, “I wouldn’t know. You’d have to ask Twilight, she could probably go over the specifics of what ever single Magic College teaches.”
Osseus was silent for several moments, before sighing. “My Lady… how skilled are you in magic?”
Rarity shrugged, “I’m a little better than your average unicorn these days I’d say. I have finer control with telekinesis, and I have a couple of gem finding spells or simple alteration spells. Nothing to fancy or powerful though.”
“That is… unfortunate. This will take longer to explain than I thought, my Lady.” Osseus sighed. “Too much longer to explain right now. It will be far easier to show you.”
“Alright.”
“Firstly, I need to prepare something. While I’m doing that, I need you to gather a few things for me.”
Rarity internally grimaced at the thought of going out, but decide it was certainly better than Osseus going out. She wasn’t sure how she could explain him or anything had been happening, mainly because he hadn’t explained anything her yet. “What do you need?”
He told her, and she frowned. “Some if that will be… tricky. But maybe Zecora has it?”
Osseus noticed her nervousness. “Is something else wrong, my Lady?”
“Well it’s just… I’m a Fashion Designer, Darling,” Rarity explained, “I’m not sure how I can justify getting some of that.”
“Lock eyes when you ask for them.”!Osseus said simply as he walked through the hole.
“Huh? How will that- oh blast, he left,” Rarity sighed in defeat as she turned. “Well, let’s hope my bluffing skills are on point. Everypony is going to think I’ve become some sort of witch.”
She reached the stairs and had been about to begin ascending them when realization flashed in her eyes and she hung her head, “Ah, and they wouldn’t be so far from the truth, would they?”
A few minutes later, Rarity was at her door and began to open it-
“Ahhh!” Rarity slammed her front door shut with her magic as she fell back, clutching at her eyes and blinking away tears. The sunlight… It had felt like she’d taken a bottle of bleach, soaked sandpaper with it, then tried scrubbing her eyeballs. On one hand it was the most she’d felt all day, on the other hand it was also one of the worst pains she’d ever felt. “Note to self… Lichs and sunlight don’t mix all that well.”
She pulled her hooves away from her face, and was shocked to see they were covered in blackness. She rushed to bathroom and looked in the mirror, gasping. Her tears were black. It looked like she’d spilled a bottle of ink on her face.
“Oh… I hope this doesn’t stain…” Rarity moaned.
A few more minutes later, after discovering that thankfully her black tears didn’t stain and actually washed out rather easily, Rarity once again opened her front door and braced the burning sunlight. Now equipped with a appropriate hat and sunglasses, she was thankful that there was no burning pain.
There was, however, great discomfort. The sunlight made her coat itch and burn as if she’d instantly gotten a sunburn. A strange lethargy came over her in stark contrast to the almost disturbing alertness she’d had before. She still couldn’t feel anything, not even the wind running through her mane which was most unfortunate, but her numbness had become unbearably uncomfortable.
Gulping, then exhaling softly, Rarity steeled herself. She had things that needed to be done.
Roseluck sat at her flower stand alone, her two normal companions having taken the day off. It hasn’t mattered, for it had been a rather slow day. There were no holidays coming up anytime soon that would require a large amount of them, and few this time of day were in the mood for some of the cheaper flowers as a quick snack.
So she was somewhat surprised when she looked up to see a familiar unicorn. “Oh, hi Rarity! I heard you were t feeling so well.”
She certainly didn’t look well. Her mane and tail were a mess, quite a rarity for, well, Rarity. She was sagged slightly and looked exhausted, her posture lacking its normal pose. More peculiarly, she was wearing a hat and sunglasses, despite the fact that the sky was actually partly cloudy. It was a really nice day out, really, and Roseluck looked at her friend in concern.
“Just a little down under the weather, Darling.” Rarity said, and Roseluck noticed how ragged and dry her voice sounded.
“Are you sure? You don’t sound so good-“
“I said I’m fine, Roseluck. Thank you for asking,” Rarity suddenly snapped at her, though her irritation quickly turned to guilt as she saw the hurt in Roseluck’s face. “Sorry, it’s… it’s been a long day. I’d like to get this shopping done as soon as possible and go back home.”
“Of course! What do you need?” Roseluck said quickly.
“I actually need five different flowers, a large bouquet of each of them, please.”
“No problem! We have plenty of everything, what do you need?”
Rarity hesitated, then finally sighed and spoke: “Aconites, yellow carnations, orange lilies, petunias, and black roses.”
Roseluck blinked, then stared at Rarity in silence for a few moments. “Wow, who pissed you off?”
Rarity shook. “No no, Darling, there… they're for my work. A new friend of mine needs them for something important.”
“Your friend sounds rather grim.”
Rarity laughed, though it lacked any substance, “Ahahaha, yes, he’s quite a character. All bones and darkness, you know?”
Roseluck chuckled, “Don’t get many of those types in Ponyville. If he visits he probably cause quite the scene.”
“Yes, it will be a real riot.” Rarity said. “So, do you have the flowers? I wouldn’t be surprised if you didn’t.”
“Oh, we do. There in the back of the shop though,” Rose said, turning and gesturing for Rarity to follow. As they entered the physical store, Roseluck noticed the look of relief on Rarity’s face as soon as they were out of the sun, though strangely she kept both the hat and sunglasses on. Was it really that bad that even the dim lights of the store were to much for her?
Roseluck opened a second door that lead into the stores back and revealed shelves upon shelves of flowers. Some were seasonal flowers that were only brought out during holidays, and others clearly there for a different reason.
“Why do you have Poison Joke?” Rarity finally asked in a somewhat perplexed tone.
“Same reason I’ve got these flowers,” Roseluck answered with a shrug as she began to examine the various flowers before finally pulling out a bouquet of orange lilies. “Not all flowers are meant for good occasions, after all. Some are meant for pranks, and then these are for breakups or hate mail or things like that.”
“So there’s some truth to your gossip after all…” Rarity muttered under her breath as she looked at the various shelves.
Roseluck quickly found them all, and as they exited the back she couldn’t help but notice Rarity’s grimace as they left the colder, darker storage room.
“So,” Roseluck began as she started ringing the flowers up. Normally she’d have the prices memorized, but the flowers were far from commonly bought ones so she began flicking through a booklet looking for them and writing the prices down.
To pass the time, Roseluck did what she normally did during her free time when her friends were at the shop with her: she gossiped. She talked about her life, about other ponies lives, about current events, about the weather, and about a million other things.
“Roseluck,” Rarity suddenly said as Roseluck wrote the last price down. She looked up, and noted Rarity’s somewhat irritated expression.
She realized that while Rarity of all the Elements was by far the most eager to talk about such things, this may not be the case when she was feeling somewhat off.
Roseluck opened her mouth to apologize for stammering, when suddenly Rarity’s horn began glowing softly and lifted Rarity’s sunglasses.
Roseluck’s voice died in her throat. When had Rarity’s eyes gotten so pretty? If she recalled correctly, Rarity’s eyes had been a moderate shade of azure. Now, they were a beautiful mix of red and purple, like pools of fine wine. Roseluck stared into them, and felt like she couldn’t look away. Like she couldn’t focus on anything else. She couldn’t even see anything but Rarity anymore. She couldn’t see the shop around them or the sun through the window behind Rarity, it was all just black emptiness.
She felt her chest tighten uncomfortably. It felt like something had reached inside her and was gripped her heart and squeezing it. Her insides squirmed and twisted, her nerves randomly firing and sending pricks of pain across her body like she was being showered with needles. Her breaths felt thick, the air uncomfortable and ice cold. Her face felt wet, and though Roseluck couldn’t see it it was because she had started crying tears of blood.
And then Rarity spoke. The words were simple, but not to Roseluck. They were so much more. The echoed from her lips, from the blackness all around them, and from within Roseluck’s mind and heart. The words wrapped around her thoughts and choked the life out of them. She couldn’t think of anything else but her words.
She opened her mouth and spoke words. Were they an answer to Rarity? Had Rarity asked a question? Perhaps she had, because tilted her head in affirmative, and the levitated some bits, wrapped in her beautiful magic. As soon as her magic left them, the vanished into the blackness like every other thing. They no longer mattered to Rarity, so why should they matter to her?
More words came from Rarity. These ones were orders, a plan for Roseluck to follow. She nodded in affirmation, of course she’d do as Rarity asked. Nothing else mattered.
The pain that was getting worse certainly didn’t matter. Her blood was freezing in her veins, but that didn’t matter. Her flesh was getting harder as the life left it, but that didn’t matter. Her coat and mane was becoming ragged and would soon crumble and fall from her skin, but that didn’t matter. Blood ran in rivers from her eyes, her nose, her lips, her ears, and from various places better left unsaid, but none of that mattered. What mattered was Rarity, and that was all. She had told Roseluck to do something, and so she obeyed. She hadn’t understood the words, but rather they had been carved into her heart and mind, and she trusted her body to do what was right and listen to Rarity…
Roseluck opened her eyes, confusion instantly erupting within in her. When had she fallen asleep? The last thing she remembered was standing outside and some pony coming to talk to her…
Who had it been? Roseluck was pretty sure it had been a mare. Maybe? That made since, mares liked flowers more than stallions certainly, though maybe he was getting one to impress a mare?
Roseluck shook her head, she couldn’t remember, and her head felt like it had been hit by a jackhammer. Had she been drinking? Roseluck hoped. After that very embarrassing moment where she and Berry had woken up in the Apple Barn to a snickering Applebloom and somewhat peeved Apple Jack, she’s decided to try and avoid getting to drunk.
Roseluck looked at the counter and stared in shock and the amount of red soaked into the wood, and upon examining herself found herself covered in blood.
Roseluck looked around in panic before something caught her eye, and she felt a moment of relief. On the flower was a poisonous herb called Red Garment, which caused bleeding and short term memory damage if inhaled. She had gotten it for Zecora so she could brew some antitoxin or something.
She must have inhaled it and been knocked out from the effects. She remembered reading that it was fine if only briefly inhaled and that the plant only killed when creatures fell unconscious in a patch and bleed to death before being pulled out.
Roseluck sighed, wondering when her silly self had inhaled it. That had almost been bad. Roseluck shook her head, clearing the rest of the fog away. She’d have to get cleaned up, and then probably go see the doctor. Oh well, Roseluck decided, it had been a slow day anyway. It wouldn’t matter if she had to close early.