How Death Lived

by Crimson Wisp


Chapter 7 Eye opener part 2/ Chapter 8 Run like Hell

////////////////Trephor//////////////////

After Starlight finished eating, she walked over to Mia and Twilight.

"So Azazel's magic doesn't use a spell matrix? Then how does he even use magic? Without something to focus his magic through, casting a spell should be impossible."

Twilight asked.

"Well... in a way he does, but not in the way you'd expect. You see, magic on our world resembles yours in the sense that it can be found anywhere and everywhere that there's life. The thing is that Azazel uses what's known as Argent energy, which is more commonly known as "demonic" magic. It functions differently from your "basic" magic since it comes from a completely different plane of existence, meaning that it abides by different rules than that of your magic and in turn, is focused differently."

Mia explained, holding her head in her right hand and applying air quotes with her left when needed. She was sitting besides Twilight on the long, rectangular table.

"Then how does it work? Is it some biological mechanism he has like how unicorns have horns, pegasi wings, or earth ponies with their hooves?"

Twilight asked with a mouthful of cereal while throwing up her hooves in exasperation. After realizing that all of us were staring at her hilarious show, she swallowed and gave an embarrassed chuckle.

"I'll be taking Trephor to Canterlot's public library so he can read up on some things he wanted to know."

Starlight expressed hesitantly. Twilight immediately perked up.

"Is there anything I can help with?"

She offered. I took one long look at Mia's dejected form before answering.

"Actually, yes. Can I take Mia with me? I don't want to be rude, I just... want to do some research with her is all. She's my go-to study buddy. And I work better when I have someone to keep me from going off topic."

I explained, giving Starlight a wink in hopes that she'd help me out. Mia, who hadn't been moving much, froze in her position before turning slowly to look at me.

"But I still have so many questions!"

Twilight pouted in a manner that made her unnervingly adorable.

"And she will answer them all in due time. But now, we have to get GOING, don't we Trephor?"

Starlight urged, wordlessly motioning for Mia to hurry up and move before Twilight could do anything about it. The three of us exchanged knowing looks before we bolted off to the library.

Once we got the all clear from Starlight that we wouldn't be followed, our little trio exited the palace and began walking through the beautiful streets of Equestria's capitol. Starlight took the lead with the two of us in tow.

"Mia?.."

I asked reluctantly as I walked along by her side.

"Yeah?"

She replied.

"I'm sorry for throwing you under the carriage earlier. That was... wrong on my part."

I apologized. My unease to her potentially aggressive reaction was made mute when I noticed her eyes turn pinkish in color as she gave me a nervous laugh.

"It's fine. If I had been in your shoes, I'd probably do the same."

She answered, still looking away. I was shocked, she didn't want to throw my head half way across the city. However, I didn't feel the unease leave me. It was getting worse, yet it didn't feel wrong... It was so strange.

Normally situations like this make me feel like my rib cage is going to implode, but instead I feel full of... butterflies? I feel all warm inside just thinking about how nice she's been to me and- WHAT THE FUCK AM I SAYING!? WHAT DID STARLIGHT DO TO ME!? WHY IS SHE LOOKING AT ME LIKE THA-

"You Ok there Trephor?"

She asked with a tone that I didn't like. She knew more than she was letting on.

"What do you mean?"

I asked as calmly as I could manage.

"You've been staring blankly at empty space for the entire walk, you haven't made a single comment or joke and your eyes are glowing pink."

I did my best to process the information Starlight spoon-fed my irresponsive body, and even then it took me a bit to understand why my eyes would be glowing pink. I was blushing. The realization made the fire of my eyes flare and the more I looked away to try and hide it the stronger the flames got.

Starlight let out a muffled giggle at my current predicament and it made me mad enough to force my eyes back to their original color and intensity.

"Are we there yet?"

I asked, now miffed myself. Gods, now I know how Avalon feels too. How positively enthralling. Starlight stopped at the door of a massive three story tall building.

"Mhmm"

She answered innocently along with a nod.

"Perfect. Then, let's get going."

I ushered them in as passive aggressively as etiquette would allow while also opening the door for them, gaining another bout of giggles from Starlight and- wait... MIA'S BLUSHING TOO! GREAT! NOW IM BLUSHING AGAIN! Ok, ok, deep breaths. Ok, we're good.

I let go of the door and head inside behind the girls. The librarian, a pale orange unicorn that looked considerably older than Starlight, took one long look at us before she could say "hello" and looked over to the sandwich she had suspended in her magic. She promptly threw it in a nearby trash bin and let herself out.

"I think it's time to retire."

She "calmly" repeated to herself as she walked out of the library. For some reason, Starlight and Mia paid no mind to this as they had already found a table to sit down. I blinked in confusion for a bit, finding it to be the only indicator that I was still same myself after the levels of nonsensical behavior I was witnessing. Snapping out of my confused stuper, I made my way to them.

After having Mia "reserve" our table in the mostly empty library. Starlight and I got a sizeable amount of books detailing geography, history, and culture. I'm thankful to Astoshan for experimenting with my gift. Now, I don't have to necessarily read a book to absorb it's information. Simply having an unobstructed view of the text for a few seconds is enough for me to record the information. It's a little more taxing on my mind, but I can get a lot more research done, much quicker than I would have without the pertinent modifications.

Apparently it has to do with the runes carved into my eye sockets. I don't think Azazel knows, considering that the last time I had been alive, it had been Astoshan who brought me back and Azazel hadn't asked about it. He took me with him during one of his excursions to find new types of magic, along with researching on another Lich.

I wouldn't bet my skull on it, but I think that he was doing research on some old mentor or friend of his that went missing. When I asked about their current state, he told me that they were "traveling". I didn't get much out of him though. I was too busy testing my upgrade on some arcane tomes from gods know how long ago. I think, that was about a year ago, but I couldn't be certain. I'm getting sidetracked again, aren't I? Probably.

I had just finished a book that mentioned a place called the Crystal Empire when I heard it. The the sound of the sonic barrier being broken and the call of my master. It was a high pitched wailing that, if I had ears, they be in pain. Azazel programmed us to respond to certain roars or loud sounds he could make as a last resort of communication. That specific one meant "Find me, I'm in trouble."

Mia looked up from the book on pony architecture to meet my concerned gaze and we immediately knew what we had to do. We dropped everything we had and made a run for the castle. Starlight struggled to keep up, but she eventually caught up with us.

"What's wrong!? What was that!?"

She exclaimed out of breath. We were still running towards the castle.

"Azazel is in trouble!"

I explained. Not having the need to breathe was a serious boon, I could run indefinitely without getting tired. Damnit! I'm getting sidetracked again! Focus!

We made it back to the castle only to be surrounded by ponies guards. They were aiming their Spears at us, and for the first time in my life, I was truly afraid. These guys, they meant business.

"DOWN ON THE GROUND NOW!!!"

One of the armor clad ponies shouted.

"LAY FLAT AGAINST THE GROUND AND DO NOT RESIST OR WE WILL USE FORCE!!!"

Another shouted, this one a mare with a gruffy voice. After the three of us looked at each other in shock, we quickly complied.

Shackles that were a little too big for me bound my arms behind my back. After I was restrained I turned my head to see Mia and Starlight had been cuffed and were laying flat on the stone road. Starlight had dark streaks running down her furred cheeks and her eyes were wet with tears. She was a afraid.

Mia... She doesn't have much to read in the facial expressions department, but her eyes... they were blue dots, lost in the emptiness of her hollow eye sockets.

"ON YOUR FEET!!!"

The first pony shouted. We complied, mainly out of fear we would get stabbed by their spears.

While it is very difficult to stab a skeleton due to our relatively small bones, a good hit to the head would be enough to permanently kill us. A shattered skull of an undead can't be repaired and brought back. Only living bone and flesh could be healed.

We were escorted into the castle. After walking through the castle's winding halls made it to the dungeons and placed inside separate cells. Mia and I shared a cell, while Starlight sat in a cell besides our own. I could hear Starlight's sobs echo through the dimly lit dungeons. This place was an empty hole, meant to instill a sentiment of isolation. There were very few ponies here. Two guards, one pony in a cell by herself, and two skeletons.

After inspecting the dusty cell we were in, I took stock of Mia. She had reached her breaking point. She hated this place. Not this specific cell, but prison in general. She had told me of the time her old self had been imprisoned years ago. She had been caught stealing from a noble in the outskirts of the elven kingdom and fled to the Solarian empire, where she eventually met my old self. We weren't them, but we had their memories, their experiences, their... lives in a way.

Mia had been captured by a bounty hunter and was sentenced to be hanged. She waited for four days in a dusty cell like the one we were in now before a window to escape presented itself. The sensation of impotency and the dread of not knowing if one is about to die... She tried for hours to find the right words to describe it. She cried for hours as I listened.

I wish I had known it then, how she felt about me. I wish I hadn't been such a dense prick. But no more. I liked to make jokes, and in turn make those around me smile. I wouldn't make her feel like the punchline anymore to the cruel joke that life was playing on us.

She was sitting against the wall, with an empty gaze looking outwards. Small blue embers fell from her eyes and hit the floor before snuffing out in the cool air of this godforsaken place. I sat down beside her and placed my hand on her's.

"That's life... that's what all the people say..."

She sung to herself in near whisper. I loved that song. It was ironic. From what Lilith told me, she'd come up with it when she gave birth to Azazel. She knew that her ex-husband would've killed her and her newborn child, and sang it to herself during her darkest hours. Sitting in a cell with someone she loved awaiting execution.

"And as funny as it may seem... some people get their kicks..."

But in that darkest hour, someone who loved her came. They literally went to hell and back for the mother of his child. And the story I had heard so many times before, now held a new meaning to me.

"Stomping on your dreams... but I don't... let it get me down..."

I didn't know what to do, but I'd find a way to get us back to Azazel safely. I now understood how Mia felt for me. And now I wanted to follow Astoshan's example.

"Cause this fine ol' world it keeps spinning around..."

Mia's fingers became intertwined with mine as she leaned her head onto my shoulder. I rested my head on hers and in that dusty cell filled with despair, I knew love as much as I knew fear.

My eyes felt heavy, as the stress of the last hour caught up with me. I looked down to see Mia's eyes were extinguished, meaning she had fallen asleep. Seeing as how I didn't see us going anywhere anytime soon, I closed my eyes, and drifted off to sleep.

//////////Avalon////////////

My master had been running for approximately four hours when I felt gravity shift to the surprisingly spacious walls of the bag I was in while hearing the muffled sound of someone gasping for air. It took me a bit to realize what had happened through my light daze, and I became very concerned in a very short lapse of time.

"Master!? Permission to come out!?"

I asked more afraid than anything. For an insufferably long period, there was nothing but silence with the exception of Azazel's tired panting.

"Master!?"

I called out again. As a response, I saw the opening of the bag part slightly and saw Azazel's fingers begin to open them before sliding back out. Taking this as an affirmation to my request, I further opened the rest of the bag's opening and crawled out. I came out to find myself in a patch of woods with large trees separated with ample room to walk around. The massive trees had their foliage intertwined and collectively covered the sky above us, with only some of the sun's rays poking through the leaves.

I turned around to find Azazel, drenched in sweat and dirtied with muck, laying down in exhausted defeat. I knelt down besides him and placed a hand on his shoulder. His wild eyes opened to look at me. I saw anger, betrayal, and hatred. I'd never seen him like this, and it frightened me.

"Master... what do I do?"

I asked in a hushed voice. Now being able to breathe a little easier, he answered me.

"Find... shelter..."

He managed as he tried to get up. His arms shook and buckled before he could raise himself to his feet. I knew Azazel was too weak to move, so I began to search for a way to get him moving. My eyes settled on a dead tree whose only remnant was a greyish trunk with some branches protruding at odd angles.

I began to think of a way to form it into a stretcher for my master, but then I realized the implications of time and effort needed to carve out a rough shape, not to mention the fact that it would have to be hollowed out enough to not be overly heavy. I began pacing around, before I heard an unsettling roar. It was loud and bestial, kind of like... That's as far as I got in thought when I was struck by something and sent flying into a nearby tree.

Having stronger bones than that of my fellow undead meant that the impact against the hardy bark of the tree I slammed into did little to my overall well being. When I rose to my feet, I saw my assailant. It was a chimera with a lion's body, bat like wings, and a scorpion's tail with a powerful stinger.

I'd seen my fare share of manticore while I was alive, but I had never had to face one in single combat. Azazel must have entered it's territory without knowing, and now the creature was defending it. I am strong, but a fully grown chimera like this one could kill me easily. I was a bit stunned to notice it hadn't immediately gone for the kill. It was looking at me angrily, and I knew I would have to fight it to keep it from trying to make my master it's next meal.

My mind raced with possible ways to put down the manticore. Unfortunately, my train of thought was cut off when it charged me. I rolled out of its way just as it knocked down a relatively thin tree by ramming straight into it. The manticore let out a roar of fury as it clambered back to it's feet and tried to attack me again.

This time I was ready for it. I sidestepped it's blind lunge and ducked under an incoming paw swipe. The creature was using it's instinct to fight, there was no thought behind it. Good, it wasn't sapient, or at the very least, intelligent. I continued to dodge it's attacks, letting it knock down more trees and letting the beast tire itself out.

After several minutes of back stepping swipes from it's powerful claws, bites from it's jaw and jabs from it's stinger, I lured it towards the dead tree. The beast jabbed it's tail angrily at me before impaling it on the dead tree. The manticore, now trying to free it's stuck tail, was now at my mercy.

I used my pointy fingers like daggers as I drove my hands through the manticore's neck in a flurry of quick jabs that punctured it's neck. The creature soon choked on its blood and lay dead at my feet. Making my way back to my master, I saw him resting with his back propped against a tree. He had watched my duel and was now eyeing my kill.

"Master?"

I asked, his eyes now locked with mine.

"Did you break any of it's bones?"

He asked with an amused expression.

"I don't think so, sir. If I may know, why do you ask?"

I inquired. I trusted my master. Astoshan had ordered us long ago to follow his orders unquestioningly. Although I didn't always understand his reasoning, I would follow his orders.

"Bring that creature over to me."

He ordered uninterestedly. He seemed to be lost in thought. I obeyed, and with much effort, I managed to bring the body to my master. The tail had lodged itself so firmly into the tree that when I began to pull onthe tail to try and get it to come loose, The hollow tree trunk was broken in half, the stinger still stuck.

I looked over to my master with embarrassment. Azazel on the other hand, was unfazed by this and simply waved for me to bring the corpse. Now dragging much more weight than I had initially expected, I dragged the body by the manticore's paw and let go of it when it was within arms reach of my master.

Azazel took a deep breath, extended his hand outward with his palm facing skywards and began to charge a magical sphere of what I recognized as necrotic energy that hovered over his hand.

"Resurectum Inmortous..."

He whispered. The orb then exploded outward with a sound similar to the wind combined with the distant, unintelligible screaming of souls. The magic that came out of the explosion was absorbed by the manticore's body. Azazel let his hand fall to his side while breathing heavily again.

"M-master, perhaps you shouldn't-"

My stammered suggestion was cut short when the manticore rose it's feet. It's slit pupils were now surrounded by a dark red Iris instead of a yellowish brown one. The beast looked down at Azazel and sat down, resting it's head between his legs. It let out a loud purr as my master ran his hand through it's mane.

"Good boy..."

He whispered to the beast before looking at me.

"Where are Mia and Trephor?"

He asked, his tone tired yet firm. Having received my orders, I shut my eyes and began to search for them with my mind's eye. I kept my eyes shut so that I could further concentrate on sifting through their memories. As the images, sounds, and sensations that they lived flashed through me, I gained an understanding of what had happened since we had escaped Canterlot.

"They are being held captive by Celestia. They have not been harmed, though I fear that may not last."

I explained, opening my eyes. I turned to look at Azazel. He had a look I knew all to well. Azazel, being part demon, had trouble controlling his temper. He could yell, and insult others when annoyed, but the look he had now was one of silent ire. He was quietly sitting on the ground, his fear aura activating without him even realizing.

"We need to find shelter so we can focus on finding a way to save them."

He states grimly. If I had a throat I would've gulped, and much to my surprise I subconsciously tried to perform the action and the sound of a lump going down a non-existent throat came from below my jaw. Azazel opened his bag, exposing Anvari's head just under the leathery fabric. She poked her head out completely to see Azazel looking down at her.

"Come out little one, I need your help."

He commanded in the most calm tone he could manage. Not oblivious to my master's ire she climbed out with some help from him. He turned to face me after setting Anvari down and prompting the undead manticore to sit on it's haunches.

"Help me stand."

He ordered. I reluctantly obeyed and helped him stand.

"Master, I do think you should stay put and rest. You still have to recover the rest of your strength-"

I pleaded. Azazel shot me with a glare and I immediately stopped talking.

"This beast was only the first. Scavengers will follow it's scent to us. We have to stay moving or we will die come nightfall."

He explained to me before turning to look at Anvari who was caressing the now docile chimera.

"Anvari, I need you to summon the horde."

He ordained. Anvari looked over to Azazel's discarded bag and extended her hands towards it. She shut her eyes and began to focus. Her skeletal hands were soon wreathed in the familiar crimson fire of Azazel's demonic magic and she began to charge a sphere of the necrotic energy in her hand. When fully charged I nearly missed her whisper the incantation.

"Resurectum Inmortous..."

The sphere exploded into a torrent of necrotic energy that snaked its way inside of the bag in smoking tendrils. After the last plumes vanished into the bag, there was an eerie silence before the bag began to rustle and convulse violently. I turned to look at Azazel, who was now branding a malevolent grin on his face.

"Rise before me... and serve."

He demanded, and on command, a tornado of ash and soot rose from within the satchel. It shot tendrils between us to points behind us, feeding the masses of dust behind us. They began to take and equine form, standing on four hooves. some branded skeletal wings while others had long, pointed horns juting from their foreheads.

After the stygian skeletons formed, the clothing they wore to their graves began to materialize with a different color palette than before. The once chromatic suits and dresses they wore were now all a uniform black with red accents. The only thing that remained the same was the buttons and long dead flowers that once decorated their impressive attire.

I heard Azazel chuckle, before tearing my eyes off the almost complete group of undead before us to points at my master.

"It is refreshing to see someone still pays attention to details. Especially at a time like this."

He mused. Anvari giggled nervously as the magic surrounding her arms faded and with a cacophony akin to the sound of muffled bells, I was made aware of our small legion's awakening into undeath.

Facing the thirty-ish skeletons standing at attention, I heard a unicorn stallion speak in a posh and cultured accent.

"My Lord, what would you have us do?"

He asked meekly with a small bow. Now looking at Azazel, his evil grin died down to an angry scowl.

"M̶y̶ ̶h̵o̴r̶d̷e̶,̵ ̷C̶e̶l̸e̴s̶t̵i̵a̸ ̸h̵a̶s̸ ̴b̵e̴t̸r̶a̷y̶e̵d̶ ̷m̶e̵.̸.̸.̶ ̴a̸n̷d̷ ̶a̵s̴ ̸m̴y̷ ̶c̶r̴e̵a̵t̷i̸o̴n̸s̷,̵ ̴s̷h̸e̵ ̸h̴a̶s̷ ̸b̴e̵t̵r̷a̶y̴e̵d̴ ̵y̴o̴u̴.̴ ̶N̷o̴t̷ ̵o̶n̴l̶y̶ ̸t̸h̷a̵t̸,̶ ̸s̵h̵e̸ ̸h̸a̸s̸ ̸t̷h̷e̶ ̸a̶u̸d̴a̷c̴i̵t̸y̸ ̸o̵f̶ ̵h̵o̸l̵d̵i̵n̵g̶ ̷h̸o̴s̷t̷a̸g̸e̵ ̴y̷o̷u̸r̴ ̷b̸r̶e̷t̶h̶r̶e̶n̵.̸ ̷M̷y̷ ̴c̷a̸r̸e̴t̵a̷k̵e̵r̵s̸ ̷a̶n̵d̴ ̵f̵r̴i̴e̴n̶d̶s̷,̴ ̴M̴i̵a̸ ̵a̴n̶d̷ ̶T̴r̵e̵p̶h̵o̷r̸ ̵a̷r̴e̶ ̷c̴u̴r̷r̴e̵n̴t̶l̸y̷ ̸i̷m̷p̴r̶i̶s̶o̸n̶e̷d̷ ̷i̴n̸ ̸h̵e̷r̴ ̸c̷a̵s̷t̶l̶e̵.̵ ̷A̶s̵ ̴w̷e̵ ̶a̴r̶e̵,̴ ̷w̴e̵ ̵s̵t̸a̴n̶d̷ ̴n̴o̷ ̸c̷h̴a̴n̴c̸e̸ ̵a̵g̴a̶i̸n̸s̷t̷ ̸t̶h̴e̵ ̵d̸i̷a̵r̴c̴h̷s̴ ̴o̶f̷ ̴t̷h̶e̶ ̶s̸u̷n̷ ̷a̴n̶d̵ ̷m̴o̶o̵n̸.̴"

He addressed the horde before looking directly at me with a powerful determination before continuing.

"Avalon is my second in command, an order from him is to be treated as one from myself. He will guide us to a suitable shelter where we can conjure a plan to rescue Mia and Trephor. Does anyone have any questions?"

He asked. The pony skeletons looked among themselves for a while before one rose it's hoof into the air. It was another unicorn, except this one was a mare.

"If I may ask, where exactly are we?"

She asked. I knew my master knew not where we were, but thanks to Trephor's prudence, I now knew where we stood and where to go.

"I can confirm that we are in the Everfree forest, south of Canterlot. I also understand that there are ruins of an ancient castle in these woods southward. Trephor's memory yielded a rough idea of where it lies."

I explained, the last part directed at Azazel. He nodded in approval before the sound of howling wolves began to cry out somewhere to the east.

"T-t-timber wolves!!!"

"We will be torn apart!!!"

"We're going to die!!"

Several skeletons exclaimed, causing the rest to panic.

"E̶͉͂N̵̻͉͊̇́Ô̶̧̺U̴̞̪̇Ģ̶̛̺͐H̶̨̯̄!̷̲̒!̴̡̰͙͗̿̌!̴̡͕̰̾̇̋"

Azazel roared before continuing, causing them all to shut up and stand at attention again.

"We need to move and leave the manticore here. Avalon lead the-"

My master was cut short by Anvari pulling on his arm. She was currently sitting on the inside of the concave tree bark the manticore still had attached to it's tail.

"But why can't we take him?.."

She asked sadly. Whatever rage Azazel had been harboring was dispelled by her plea. He looked between her and the beast for a while before letting out a sigh in defeat. He turned to look at me with the same look he gave me just before I threw myself out of a window back at the castle.

"Avalon, If I lose consciousness, you'll have to drag me to wherever those ruins you mentioned earlier are. I'm counting on you, understood!?"

He hurriedly ordered, holding my shoulders in his hands as he spoke. Not knowing what else to say, I nodded. Azazel took a deep breath before his forearms and hands were engulfed in his magic. Letting out a strained roar, I witnessed him plant his hands on the manticore's back.

The beast did not flinch as my master incinerated it's flesh. It's body was engulfed in fire and it's internal organs poured out onto the grassy floor in a gelatinous mass from the beast's abdomen in a disgusting display of gore. My master was sweating profusely from the exertion of his magic, the flames of a sable scarlet that perverted the lush green of the woods surrounding us.

When the dark flames dissipated, only an onyx skeleton of feline build remained. The tail was freed from the bark as the manticore rose to it's full height with the bark withering away around the stinger. My master spent the last of his magic on this feat and collapsed on his side.

I quickly kneeled by his side and placed a boney finger on his chest. His heart was pounding hard and he was still breathing, but only barely. I rose to my feet and looked at the horrified faces of the skeletons, the indicator of their horror being their eyes. Small, glowing dots of blue fire.

Taking stock of my surroundings, I laid eyes on Anvari standing on the half cylinder of tree bark, the pony skeletons, and four pairs of green eyes looking menacingly at us from a dis-... Wait. From behind the trees, I saw four bizzare creatures looking at us hungrily. They looked like walking masses of leaves and wood in the shape of wolves. They stalked us from afar and once they noticed I saw them, they began to charge at us.

My mind flew into overdrive as I hoisted Azazel up with all my might and dropped his limp form onto the concave bark. Anvari had moved just in time to avoid getting crushed, and when she saw why I had done this, she grabbed Azazel's bag from the floor and leapt on. I jumped on myself and wedged my feet between two convenient branches on either side of the makeshift sled. I grabbed onto the manticore's tail and shouted the only word I could think of.

"RUUUUUNNN!!!"

I screamed at the manticore, and after rising to it's hind legs and releasing a primal roar, the beast charged forward. The creatures I assumed the ponies meant by "timber wolves" fell upon my skeletal brethren before they could react.

The timber wolves slashed with their strong paws and chomped down on the skeletal ponies. They were killed relatively quickly, to die as an undead is painless so I didn't concern myself too much with those that did. As their old bones snapped and their skulls were pulverized, the necrotic energy that kept them alive snaked out of their bodies in tendrils of opaque fumes that flew back towards Anvari's form.

The one's closer to us began to run besides the odd carriage being towed by an undead manticore, with the exception of the five pegasi who flew a short distance away from us. The beast was smart enough to weave through the trees, and being undead allowed it to run without tiring, even with the added weight.

Just as I thought we were safe from the timber wolves, one of the pegasi that was flying nearby was snatched out of the air and torn in half. It's upper body slammed into a tree and exploded in a flurry of broken bones and necrotic energy. The one responsible for this was gaining on us with it's three companions. I felt my grip for only a moment on the manticore's tail slip and immediately adjusted to avoid losing it completely.

When I finally got my bearings, I sense behind me something... familiar... I felt pain. Nothing physical. Hell, it wasn't even my own. It radiated from Anvari like a whirlwind. I turned to see the last tendrils of necrotic energy be absorbed into her arms. Taking one look at her eyes made the world slow down to a near halt. She was crying in a prone position looking at her creations.

Glowing embers were trailing down her cheek bones and along the rim of her jaw before being swept away in the wind. However, these embers were not the color of sadness. They were that of rage. As the world resumed moving at it's normal speed, I saw Anvari's eyes ignite with a demonic hatred that would frighten even the most stone cold veterans of wars long since past. Seeing her creations be butchered had brought out Anvari's gift. While yes, it was a gift in an of itself for an undead to cast magical spells, the extent of her power mirrored Azazel's.

As the timber wolves closed in to destroy the skeletons forming a wall between the wolves and us, Anvari stood to her feet and glare at them with what I assumed was hell's fury. Focusing back in front of me, I noticed we were reaching a large river that flowed with a violent maelstrom of water. I immediately knew what needed to be done. I turned to face the ponies running by our sides and gave my first order.

"CLIMB ON!!!"

I shouted. To this the ponies nodded and jumped on, the pegasi doing so much quicker than the unicorns and earth ponies. Though being relatively light in weight, the sudden increment in weight began to slow down the manticore's pace. Though it did not tire, the creature was now struggling to keep up it's pace. I looked over at Anvari who was charging what I knew to be two powerful jets of hellfire.

"HOLD HER!!!"

I roared my second command, to which the skeletons obeyed. They locked themselves and formed a "web" to hold Anvari and Azazel pinned to the makeshift sled. I could hear the timber wolves snarling and barking hungrily as they drew nearer.

The manticore saw the river and thought about stopping it's pace, sensing it's thought, I overrode it and forced it to push forward and await for my signal. As we got dangerously close to the river, I could sense Anvari was primed and ready to release her anger on these bloodthirsty beasts. Fortunately for her, I was all too eager to oblige her.

"ANVARI!!! MAKE THEM BURN!!!"

She didn't even need my word to know what needed to be done.

"INFERNUM INCENDIO MAXIMA!!!"

She tried to out roar her spell, unleashing the fury of hell itself on the timber wolves she hated so. From her extended arms, two spiraling jets of black and red flame incinerated anything they grazed and propelled us forward with the speed of a falling star.

"JUMP!!!"

I tried to instruct the manticore over the roar of Anvari's rage fueled flames. Fortunately, my connection to its mind allowed it to know what I had been thinking before the command ever escaped my mouth. With a powerful leap from the manticore and Anvari's wrath unleashed we soared above the river and soared through the air. After we cleared the river and gained a considerable altitude Anvari could hold the flames no longer.

She lost consciousness and remained on our airborne carriage thanks to the hooves holding her in place. As if on cue, the pegasi who had stationed themselves on the corners of the large log clasped on to whatever they could to hold it aloft while being pulled by the manticore, who had also taken flight and pulled us forward through the air. We flew for what felt like an half an hour, crossing over a part of the forest that looked more ominous than the rest of the treeline. Once we passed it I spotted our destination.

"Over there! We'll land there!"

I exclaimed, rather relieved that this ordeal was nearly over. The pegasi and the manticore did their best to land as gently as possible, but the landing was still rough enough to result in the destruction of one more pegasus.

When we touched down, the poor creature thought it prudent to let go of the only thing giving it the ability to halt it's momentum. It slammed into an old stone pillar that broke over the skeleton and crushed it. When the dust settled, I let go of the manticore's tail and rolled out like a nauseous drunkard.

"Is everyone alright?"

I asked, falling on my pelvis and resigning to simply sit for a while on the dirt floor with my head hung in defeat, a sensation I was neither familiar or fond of.

"I believe so, sir. Though, I cannot say the same for... the others."

One of the three remaining pegasi, a stallion asserted. I looked up to see him and the other skeletons clammering out of our impromptu flying carriage.

"Are we all that is left?..."

A scared earth pony mare asked. I was slowly begining to understand just how bad of a predicament we were in. I was stranded in a section of dangerous woods I knew nothing of with three pegasi, four unicorns, and one earth pony. I shut my eyes and began to run my right hand over my skull, out of habit than anything, stroking a head of hair that wasn't there. I began rummaging through my head as for how Mia or Trephor would handle situations like this.

"Uhm... Tell me, what are your names?"

I asked, deciding it would be best to get their minds off what just happened for a bit. The ponies looked at me, then at each other quizzically before a unicorn mare with a dress that resembled an odd combination of a formal suit with a beautiful skirt that, with it's changed color pallet, shone like a murky night sky with stars dotting it.

"Well, if you must know, I am dutchess Spectre of the house of Luamoon. My family has had a long lineage of talented ponies that specialize in illusion magic."

She stated proudly in her comically snobby accent. This prompted another unicorn to speak up, a rather large stallion with a deep voice and very pronounced jaw.

"I am Blazing Shot. I was part of Celestia's personal guard in life, like my father before me and his father before him. I hope that my daughter has grown well and raised the next generation of royal guards."

He stated, standing at attention with his chest as puffed up as his new anatomy (or lack thereof) would allow. His statement annoyed me, considering what had gotten us in this predicament, but he paid no mind to it. Following Blazing Shot, the rest began to introduce themselves.

In summary, I was surrounded by a unicorn illusionist, a deceased unicorn soldier that died protecting the princess of the sun from a rioter, a unicorn archivist, three royal "charioteers" that were pegasi, and an earth pony . Their names were Spectre Luamoon, Blazing Shot, Savant Dancer, Silver Lining, Cherry Wing, Scarlet Stream, and Honey Blossom respectively.

"Well, now that we are all aquainted, what exactly are we going to do?"

The illusionist mare asked me. I looked behind them to see that the sun was now setting and quickly looked around my environment. Infront of me was an old rickety bridge that connected two patches of the forest, separated by a large crevice whose bottom was obscured by fog and the skeletons looking at me expectantly. To our sides were pillars of stone and fallen archways of what used to be a rather large complex and a certain fallen pillar that now served as a resting place for one of the late pegasi.

Anvari and Azazel lay unconscious on the tree trunk with the undead manticore sitting near it. The manticore would occasionally look over the side of the half tree trunk to check on Anvari. Wheeling my torso around on my spine, I saw behind us the large castle that lay in ruins.

From Trephor's memory of his research, this was the castle of the two sisters that ruled over Equestria many many years ago. The castle itself had been touched only by the passage of time, and looked about as decent as any thousand year old ruins could possibly look like. Seeing that the structure still had a roof I deemed it decent enough to serve as a shelter for the time being. Completing a full rotation of my torso I looked at my charge of undead.

"We will stay the night in that castle and nurse Master Azazel back to health. Until then, that is our priority. Find a suitable place inside for our master to rest. We'll set up shop there."

They looked at each other, then at the ruins behind me, and finally over to me. Some of them gulped audibly before complying, the one called Honey Blossom being the most frightened of the bunch. I stood up and walked over to the skeletal manticore. The creature did not seem to like me, as it growled angrily once I approached.

"You attacked me first, so I retaliated. You died fair and square, suck it up and help me move them inside."

I complained at the creature. While it lived, I could guarantee that talking to the chimera would result in me getting mauled to death. Now that it was undead, it obeyed my master, and it would obey me by extension.

As expected, the manticore let out an upset huff before it tried to obey the command. Without something to tether it to the tree, it didn't know how to move it other than pushing it from behind, which proved fruitless. I looked around for a way to help it out. After a bit, I noticed that there were some thick vines growing down the side of a broken pillar. I began to gather as many of them as I could and began to braid them into a makeshift rope.

Once I was confident it wouldn't break from the stress, I tore a sizeable branch off a tree before heading back to the "sled". The manticore tilted it's head in confusion upon seeing me.

"C'mere."

I ordered casually. As I closed the distance, the manticore looked quizzically at the items in my hand. Once I was besides the "vehicle", I began to tie the rope I had created to the corners of the trunk. I then tied loops around the sides of the branch.

Feeling confident it would work, I motioned for the chimera to come with my hand. The beast silently obeyed, and after passing under the rope and me gesturing for it to bite down on the branch, it was now towing the trunk with greater ease. Nodding to myself in approval, I walked beside the creature and closed the gap between us and the castle.

I placed my thumb and ring finger in my mouth and blew as hard as I could. A loud whistling sound came out, and as I had wanted, my entourage came out and gathered around me

"Report."

I commanded. Blazing Shot took a step forward and spoke up.

"Sir, Most of the structure has been destroyed due to the passage of time. The throne room is relatively undamaged, save for the massive hole in the roof. The only other section of the castle that isn't completely destroyed or covered in plant life is the library of this castle."

He stated matter-of-factly. The Dutchess from before walked past him and got closer to me. When she was directly in front of me, she motioned for me to get close, as what she wanted to say was for my proverbial ears alone.

"I believe I may have found something that would be of interest to your... friend.-"

She stated, gesturing discreetly with her eyes.

"Though I do not think it would be wise to show rest. It is... unsettling."

She explained in a conspiratorial tone. I nodded and opted to give this mare a private audience later. For now, Azazel was my priority.

"How bad is the damage to the library?"

I asked the undead soldier.

"Quite surprisingly, it is relatively untouched, save for a few broken tables and the obscene amount of dust. The windows are very thick, so they haven't been broken. It only has one entrance and it could be converted into sleeping quarters for all of us and still have ample room."

He explained. Savant Dancer seemed excited, his eyes glowing slightly brighter than his fellow undead. Noticing this, I then believed it best to ask for what was on rather than prod around in his head. Mainly because I was getting tired, and I needed to be awake to keep watch over my master.

Undead don't really need to sleep, but overusage of our gifts can tire us down and force us to fall into a form of hibernation. During these periods we remain "alive" but act as if dead until we are well rested.

"Savant Dancer? Is something the matter?"

I immediately regretted my decision when he rambled off on something about all of the books here that were in prestine condition given their circumstance. As he continued to drone off and miss me disappearing, I pulled the Dutchess outside of the library to speak with her privately. Though I had mostly wanted to get away from the rambling if the studious stallion. Having to experience the hell Mia went through with Princess Twilight was not something I was willing to endure again.

"Alright. Now that we're alone, tell me of what you found."

I ordered. She nodded before turning tail and guiding me to what seemed to be another room on one of the ruin's remaining towers. We approached an empty corridor that was cold and damp with a large wooden door coming to stop a few meters away.

I would've chalked it up to the cool temperatures of the night, were it not for what I recognized to be the signs of magic with my telepathy. Whatever was casting it was old, very old. Not only that, it was sentient.

"Do you feel it?..."

She asked in hushed and frightful tone. Her pompous facade now falling apart that we were alone. I stood there with her by my side, waiting for something other than the pressure of very old, very powerful magic. Surely enough, the sounds of the nocturnal forest outside the castle went silent.

I could no longer hear the faint chirping and scuttling insects in the night. All I could hear was the deafened silence. My mind began to play tricks on me, and I felt like j was hearing unintelligible whispering from the other side of the door. I took a deep, shaky breath before looking down at the equally perturbed mare by my side.

"I'll make sure Master Azazel looks into it when he wakes up. For now, I think we can both agree that it would be best to ignore it and lock ourselves in the library."

I explained as passive aggressively as I could to accentuate how uncomfortable I was feeling all of a sudden. With a hasty nod, she complied. The two of us walked back to the library.

I had the skeletons help me make Azazel a makeshift bed out of our impromptu carriage with dirt and moss I had the pegasi retrieve to make it a bit more comfortable. Blazing Shot even went out of his was to go to the throne room and bring back a large enough banner to act as a sheet.

Within the hour, my master was resting away his exhaustion and on a bed with Anvari by his side on a bed of dead wood, moss, and dirt with a posse of undead ponies, Human, dwarf and a manticore. I had placed Azazel and Anvari's "bed" on the far side of the library with the manticore sleeping nearby it.

I don't exactly understand why, but I noticed that it has a particular propensity to care for Anvari. It would only ever get up to stretch or to see if she was sleeping soundly. They others didn't like the idea of staying in the same room with the undead beast, but refusing to take any chances I managed convinced them that it was safe to have it around so long as it kept some distance from them.

I had got up to check up on Azazel after the manticore's tenth inspection of the sleeping undead dwarf. Azazel was looking in much better shape than before. He smelled awful, but I decided to wait until morning to go searching for a clean water supply to for him to drink and bathe.

Other than his smell, he was fine. He had bags under his eyes, showing the lack of sleep, but otherwise; he was sleeping like a log. Content with how well things had turned out, I walked back to the group of ponies gathered around a small bonfire made from books too damaged for Savant to read or broken furniture.

"Did you open the windows on the roof to let the smoke out?"

Asked Cherry Wing to Scarlet Wing as she descended from the roof.

"Of course. Though I would like to point out that those windows are extraordinarily dirty. How I managed to stay clean was beyond me."

Scarlet replied, looking over her form.

"Probably because you don't have any fur to get dirty with. One of the many things that you'll need to get to know now that you are undead."

I chimed in, coming back from having checked on my master. I dedicated the rest of the night to explaining to them our story of how we got to this world, where we came from and what it is like being undead. I got to know the skeletons I would be working with for the foreseeable future and after a VERY LONG DAY. I finally had a moment to catch my breath and relax.