Celestia stared at Black Sun from across her tea table. "At least remove that ridiculous hat."
Black Sun shook his head. "No way, Tia. I don't want ponies swarming some new alicorn."
Celestia let out a sigh before raising a teacup from its plate. "Dear, you've been here for the past month. You've also visited at least once a month for the past century. Surely you know by now that as soon as that door closes nopony will come in to disturb your little charade?"
Black Sun nodded, absently moving his own teacup to his lips. He then blanched and sat it down with a glare. Celestia had to stifle her giggle. She had long ago learned that Black Sun preferred coffee, and he always expected it to be around. In turn, he knew that she would never serve him coffee. He was still miffed about that. "Yeah, yeah, but I’d rather be safe. I like not being a pretty princess, thanks. I'll stick to being my dad's lab assistant and exploring old ruins. Way easier than dealing with ponies."
Celestia let out a short laugh. "You say that, but somehow a new artifact shop opened up in Canterlot run by a blue pegasus who refuses to say where he got them from."
Black Sun shrugged. "I can neither confirm nor deny that I opened up an artifact shop because Dad doesn't seem to know how money works."
Celestia raised an eyebrow. "Really? How does he get all his supplies, then?"
Black Sun laughed. "Nowadays? He sends me out with a sack of bits that has absolutely no relation to however much something costs. He gave me a hundred bits for a freaking apple. ONE! I mean, Dad can summon up skeletons, secure an ancient ruin, and then study the ancients arts within. Give him a sack of bits, though, and he just throws however many he wants at something. I swear he has no clue what bits even are."
Celestia let out a bark of laughter. The dark and evil necromancer, master of the darkest and most evil magics, couldn't balance his budget. She wiped the joy from her eyes. "By Faust, that's great. Anyways, what have you two been up to? Since you've started visiting, Ragar has thrown himself into his work."
Black Sun nodded. "Yeah, apparently he lost a ton of research time while he was making sure I would live a full life. But he's really gone in full force since I've been out and about more." He threw out a hoof. "Hell, I think he's died like four times in the last year alone."
Celestia spit out her tea. "HE DIED!?!"
Black Sun nodded. "Yeah, that's how I reacted the first time. I was freaking out until one of his skeletons sat me down and explained it to me. Turns out that as long as his phylactery stays in one piece, he can just pull himself back together. He was careful to make sure he didn’t die until I was, like, twenty, but he’s been taking a lot more risks lately."
Celestia was flabbergasted. She had called him a lich before, but never imagined he actually was one. By definition, a lich was someone who had sold their very soul to dark beings to attain immortality - but that couldn't be true. A being like that would quest for naught but death and destruction; Ragar appeared to quest for books, even occasionally coloring books for some reason. She shook her head; if anyone could find a way to become a lich without selling their soul, Ragar could. "Of course. Just another mystery to add to the man, then."
Black Sun let out a snort. "Please tell me you aren't still trying to figure him out. Dad's a riddle locked in an enigma. You’ve just gotta learn his rules and live with that."
Celestia perked up her ears. "Really? What rules does he have?"
Black Sun shrugged. "Well, they aren't exactly written down. The big one is that dad doesn't lie, but that doesn't mean he doesn’t deceive. I've seen him spin a tale that leads someone to the wrong conclusion, though he never tells anyone an outright lie. That's his line."
Celestia nodded. It certainly gave her a new way to look at what Ragar said. "Now that you mention it, I can see it. He surely has a way with words."
Black Sun let out a loud laugh. "A way with words. Riiiight. A way of being insane you mean. That crazy old coot livens up any conversation he blindly stumbles into." In the inevitable way of these things, the orb in the corner lit up and began singing. Celestia quickly answered it, and Ragar came into view.
"Hello. RAGAR, SKELETAL WIZARD OF INCOMPREHENSIBLE MAGIC wishes to check up on Black Sun." He was wearing his normal robe, though there were pink bunny slippers peeking out from the bottom.
Celestia smiled at him. "We were just enjoying a spot of tea. I believe Black Sun is heading out to some new adventure later, though."
Black Sun nodded. "Yeah, I'll be heading to that spot in the badlands. You know, near where you had to blow up that statue?"
Ragar reached out of sight and pulled out a mug, sipping it calmly. "Ah yes, the statue. Was that the one where Ragar was assaulted by the hole filled bug thing?"
Black Sun smirked. "Yes, and you screamed like a little girl and started throwing spells everywhere."
Celestia bit back a smile as Ragar kept up a calm facade. "Ragar would never send spells everywhere. A spell sent out to cover an area is much too draining with very little effect. Ragar will admit that he did not aim properly."
He took another small sip while Celestia struggled to keep herself under control. She refused to laugh at the feared necromancer. She absolutely refused. "Understandable, under the circumstances. So how are you getting along, Ragar?"
Ragar struck a heroic pose. "Ragar is beginning to implement his final plan. When Ragar is done, all of his work will pay dividends."
Celestia smiled softly at the absolutely ridiculous pose Ragar was in. "Of course. I'm sure all of Equestria will learn to fear your great and powerful evil."
Ragar stuttered as he fell from his stance. "Not as such, Celestia. Ragar's plan shall be a whisper in a crowded room. Unheard and unheeded. Ragar will be a shadow in the night. Like an owl, or a velociraptor."
Celestia raised an eyebrow and looked to Black Sun, who just shrugged. "Dad knows all sorts of weird creatures. He probably meant one of those."
Celestia nodded. "Of course he does." She turned back to Ragar. "Ragar, if you wouldn't mind, I have a proposition. You refuse to meet me here in Canterlot, and we can’t meet in your lair, but I would like to propose a meeting on neutral ground so that we may meet in person and talk with no fear of reprisal, attacks, or capture by the other."
Ragar nodded, a finger clacking against his teeth; Celestia found the action fascinating. He eventually nodded. "Yes, Ragar can see the upsides of this arrangement. An exchange of knowledge between two immortals is always useful. Ragar shall acquiesce to this request."
Celestia smiled, happy to finally get to meet the person behind this strange and wonderful adventure she'd been living for almost a millennia. "Excellent. Shall we agree to a split, then? I choose where, and you choose when?" Ragar nodded and Celestia continued. "I was thinking the small town of Murcurial. It is in the badlands, and should be a neutral city."
Ragar nodded and began to tap his teeth again. "That is an acceptable location. Ragar shall be there in one hundred and twenty years." Celestia stared at the creature in annoyance. She had hoped he would say a week or two. She quickly nodded, however. After all, what was a century to an immortal? She smiled at the lich. "Then we have an accord. I will be counting down the days until then." She would add it to the ongoing list alongside Luna's return. She smiled as the conversation continued; an evening talk between friends was just what she needed.