41. Ruined Prospects
The morning after, Rarity received a message from Elkraps reminding her of their appointment this morning with von Zarovich along with instructions to meet her at the main campus’ welcome desk. The reminder was appreciated but wholly unnecessary as Rarity in her eagerness was already dressed and ready and was just about to leave her room and set off for the campus building at the risk of being unfashionably early when the painted stone stopped her. Minutes later, she was stepping through the front doors of the cathedral and into its entry hall where she was greeted shortly after by Elkraps. They made their way through the winding corridors that led to those massive chained doors, then it was down that long spiral staircase and into the dark ringed room with all of the murals.
There, waiting for them in front of the painted depiction of the skeleton being helped by the figure of black, was von Zarovich’s foul undead servant, his rotten lips twisted into a scowl as Rarity and Elkraps stepped into the light of his lifeless eyes. “Ladies,” the creature hissed, putting a hoof on the front of his suit. “The, master is expecting you.”
“Well let’s not waste anymore of your master’s time then with theatrics ,” said Elkraps with a roll of her eyes, complete unfazed by the venomous hate each of the talking corpse’s words carried. The servant pressed against the painting behind him and walked through the passage that formed in its place, and Rarity and Elkraps followed soon after and stepped into the bleak, cold world that was the necromancy department.
As they walked along the dirt trail and fought back shivers, Rarity noted that the area was a lot less crowded than it had been the last time she was here. The heaps of stuffed, lumpy burlap bags were missing, as was the pyre that had been burning in the center of the village they first arrived in. Some shambling zombies and skeletons were still around, mostly in the fields of frozen grass pulling carts or carrying crates, and there were a few individuals dressed in dark robes around who were directing the walking bodies, but it was nowhere close to the number Rarity saw the previous day. She didn’t have time to dwell on the matter, however, as they quickly arrived at their destination, and there, standing in front of a familiar large cube structure were Dean Sergei von Zarovich and his two assistants that had been in his office days prior.
The two deans respectfully greeted each other first before von Zarovich turn to Rarity with a small smile. “Princess Shmarity,” he said, and she gave a polite nod back to him and to the two ponies at his side. Professor Hollows, the thinner of the two stallions, coughed impatiently, causing von Zarovich to sigh. He rapped a hoof on the big black block behind him and gesture to the door that formed. “Yes, I suppose we’ve all waited long enough already, and yes, I suppose we do have other, duties to take care of, so enough pleasantries. Right this way.”
All but Elkraps and the vile valet entered the dark chamber within, and they made their way past the multitude of shelves until they had at last gotten to the very back of the room. The lead necromancer motioned to the shelf before them, and at von Zarovich silent command, both Hollows and Madam Enyaba reached up and pulled out a heavy cylindrical container made out of a material reminiscent of Selune’s hidden sanctum. Silver chains were wrapped so tightly around the container that it was impossible to tell where they began or ended, but all it took was a quiet utterance and a touch of von Zarovich’s hoof to cause the links to detach from another.
The lid was removed, revealing the parchment rolled up inside. There was a brief glance shared amongst the black robed mages before von Zarovich took the scroll out of its canister and held it out to Rarity. “Here you are, Princess. As we agreed.”
The scroll exchanged hooves. The paper felt surprisingly warm to the touch, and there was a heft to the scroll that Rarity wasn’t expecting. Gingerly, she lifted it up to the light of the floating blue orbs and saw that in addition to the red ribbon tied over it, the scroll was sealed shut by red splotch of dried wax upon which the symbol from Valmeyjar’s temple, the one with a set of eyes encircled by stars, was stamped.
“And I trust you will uphold your end of the bargain.” It was a statement, not a question, that von Zarovich punctuated with a short chuckle. “Like we’ve discussed previously, we’ll take care of the acquisition. You just concern yourself with, producing and procuring, the asset.”
The reminder of what this piece of parchment costed caused Rarity to grimace and nod grimly. Regardless of whether she succeeded in taking down the Squid Wizard, there would be another body in the school of necromancy’s possession. “And you are certain it will work?” she asked, more so to change the topic and redirect her own focus. “That there won’t be any negative side effects.”
“As certain as, we can be,” answered von Zarovich. “Granted, it hasn’t been tested, but we are confident,” he added with a quick glance to his assistants who gave their supporting nods, “very confident that the spell shall and will perform exactly how we described it would, provided that, of course, you can get it to work.”
Rarity took a couple of seconds to take in what the wizard had said, and when she finished breaking it all down, his vocabulary, his phrasing, his tone, she was left with a frown and a question. “I’m sorry, what do you mean by, getting it to work?”
Hollows answered her with a snort and a scowl. “Bah. How typical of the arcane ignorant. You’re all the same, coming here thinking that magic will just make all your problems miraculously disappear. That’s not how magic works. It’s not just a mere wave of a hoof or a quick read through a tome or a scroll.” He crossed his gangly legs in front of his chest. “This treasure is squandered on the likes of her.”
“Oh hush,” Madam Enyaba interjected before Rarity could. “Even if she were to leave it with us, would or even could you use it? Don’t answer, because I already know it to be no. It’ll just be one more sad spell this school hoards away, keeping it from ever reaching its true potential.” The old mare sniffed and pointed to Rarity. “That filly there is the sole reason why we have this spell in the first place. She was resourceful enough to get it to us, who knows, maybe she’ll show you a thing or two about magic.”
Hollows sneered at his colleague. “Ha! After all these years, you’ve finally gone senile. Methinks it’s time for the great Enyaba to stand down.”
“That’s enough, both of you,” von Zarovich exclaimed, his booming voice ringing through the room. “My apologies, Princess,” he said to Rarity with a short bow. “But to explain, Professor Hollows is right in that getting the spell to work is more, complicated than simply breaking away the wax and unfurling the scroll. Even if you were to do that, I very much doubt you’d be able to read what’s inside.”
“But, can you? Read it, I mean,” Rarity clarified. “I mean, you’re the ones who prepared it, surely you would know what was written.”
A few moments passed by in an awkward silence as von Zarovich appeared to struggle with his words. He finally responded, saying, “Remember, the scrolls you brought to us were already mostly complete. They just needed some finishing touches to reach their full power, and we’ve studied enough of the, necromantic magic from the temple to do that much at least. But being able to activate the spell within?” He shook his head, and as he sighed, the ends of his reddish mustache drooped. “We are wizards. Our powers come from understanding the Weave of reality and bending it to our will.” He tapped the scroll in Rarity’s hooves. “But this sort of magic requires a comprehension and control that is, for now and the foreseeable future, still beyond us mortals.”
“Then, what am I supposed to do with this?” Rarity demanded, shaking the scroll she held. The three mages before her rushed forward with their front hooves raised out toward the old parchment as their eyes were wide with panic. She took in a breath to calm herself and carefully lowered the scroll. “A spell isn’t going to do me any good if I can’t use it.”
“Your buyer’s remorse is hardly our problem, now is it?” muttered a huffy Hollows. “You came here for a spell, and now you have it. As far as we’re concerned, our end of the bargain has been met.”
Rarity took a step forward, her stomp echoing through chamber. “Why, you swindling, fraudulent, cheating—“
The dean held up his hoof, but it was von Zarovich’s glare at Hallows that eventually calmed her down, if only slightly. “Rest assured, Princess, there has been no treachery, else why would we even bother explaining this caveat to you? And do remember that we here have so much more to gain should you succeed.” He waited for Rarity settle back before clearing his throat and continuing. “Now while, ah, admittedly none of us here can activate the scroll, that’s not to say that no one can. It just requires some, otherworldly intervention, and there certainly are individuals and organizations out there that can call upon the powers of the divine. That paladin you were with, for instance. While I doubt he himself has the spiritual capacity to cast this particular spell, his order may have some capable enough clerics. Given that you already have a connection to that stallion, might I suggest starting there?”
“He’s, already left.” Rarity said with a sad shake of her head, “and I’m afraid I have no way of contacting him.”
“Ah. How, unfortunate.” The bald stallion sighed. “Well, as I said, you still have options, it’s just a matter of, doing a little searching outside the schools. Mind you, not every priest or minister you come across will have a strong enough connection to their god to perform a miracle of this level, so you will have to be selective.”
“Or perhaps you could seek the Moonmaiden herself,” Madam Enyaba proposed. “The spell did originally stem from her power after all, she may have more to offer you.”
“Yes, there is that,” von Zarovich agreed, “though I would be suspicious of any direct help a being claiming to be a deity from a long dead pantheon would offer. The temple itself may hold clues as well.” He paused, and from his cloak he pulled out a small badge fashioned in the shape of a kite shield. Upon it was a dark star pulsing purple. “Well, Princess, I suppose that concludes our, business for the time being,” he said as he put the badge away. “We have our jobs to get back to, and I’m sure you’re plenty busy with your own matters.”
And with a final gesture to the room’s opposite end, von Zarovich led the way out of the chamber of magical secrets, and Rarity in all her seething frustration and disappointment could only store away the spell she could not use and follow him and his fellow masters of the undead.
*
Elkraps only had time to bring Rarity back to the ground floor of the main campus building before she had to say her goodbyes and hurry off to attend to her own work. That might have been for the best because Rarity was on the verge of releasing a long and loud rant in regards to this new development without any concern for the promise of secrecy she had made to the school of necromancy. Any appeal such an act might have had was lost when Rarity lost her audience, and she still had enough self-restrain to keep herself from raving at the strangers she passed as she made her way down the streets.
By the time the center cathedral’s entrance was no longer in view, Rarity had calmed significantly, and she could think straight now that her thoughts weren’t so clouded by anger. She was still frustrated of course, any being would be to learn that after all the work and time they had put into something, the end result wasn’t quite usable, but though her current opinion of him wasn’t quite favorable, von Zarovich was right in that she did have ways of moving forward. It would certainly mean having prolong this protracted adventure that had been forced upon her, and Rarity already really wasn’t looking forward to seeing the financial state of her business once they were all back in Equestria, but if she wanted to save Spike and Discord, what else could she do but play along?
As she walked, Rarity considered her options. Unless she wanted to spend more of her gold to contact Biala Diyn through the Fine Copper Company, getting in touch with the stallion’s order didn’t seem viable, and she didn’t want to waste time wandering the land aimless in search for a powerful enough cleric. She ran through Princess Shmarity‘s own knowledge to see if there were any established holy organizations in Spiketopia and eventually discovered that among the denominations the royal family had close ties to the leadership of a particular church who would on occasion act as advisors. Any details on the church and its teachings were, however, fuzzy, suggesting that the princess’ interests in such subjects was no more than cursory, and all that Rarity could cobble together from the borrowed memories was the title of bishop and the distinctive white robes with gold trimming and tall white hat split down the middle said bishop wore during their monthly meetings with Princess Shmarity’s father the king. Maybe Sir Gustford would know the current status and whereabouts of this Bishop Canon, if Princess Shmarity’s memory served, or if not him then perhaps the pontiff’s direct subordinates or any other members of that specific clergy. Rarity even found herself considering the rumors of Mother Shim’s ability to perform miracles, albeit only briefly before filing that and any idea which involved working with that no-good swindling sister duo as the ultimate last resort.
Rarity’s best option would therefore be to seek her needed cleric in Spiketopia where her assumed royal connections would better facilitate and direct her search. Until she returned, Rarity needed to see if the schools’s library had anything on divine magic or the religions of Spiketopia and maybe ask Bluestockings if her studies happened to cover those topics, but first and foremost was following up on Madam Enyaba’s suggestion. Both the library and Bluestockings weren’t going anywhere anytime soon, while according to von Zarovich, the temple of Valmeyjar could potentially vanish at any time. It’s current location was stable, sure, but who knew if or when that would change. If Rarity wanted to ask anything to the goddess residing within its catacombs, she had to make the visit while she still knew where the temple was, and today was as good as any other day, seeing as it was still pretty early and Rarity had nothing else planned.
With the temple already explored and its traps safely navigated, Rarity had no need to bother Athkatla Bones or any creature else, and so after making some small preparations like changing into her sturdier cloak, refilling her canteen, and picking up a light brunch bagel along the way, Rarity set off for Valmeyjar’s temple alone. From the infinite tower and through the desert hills, following the trail of colored flags until she reached the ruined chapel with the flag of purple beside it. She made her way past the fresco at the entrance and into the main worship room, then it was down the stairs, past the arch of platinum, through the room with the decorated statues and passages that led to the drawers of mummies and silver plates, down the path of moons across the tiled floor, and into the chamber with the seven stone basins atop their lofty pedestals.
Once her hooves matched the curtains on the back wall, Rarity brushed the lavender drapes aside and stepped into the hidden sanctum. It was exactly as she remembered it, with walls of sleek tourmaline sparkling with specks of platinum and the great pair of eyes staring down at her over the preserved body strapped into the gold, jewel encrusted throne.
“Excuse me,” Rarity called out. “Ms. Selune? Um, Your Holiness? Oh, how does one address an actual deity?” she muttered to herself. “Oh holy Moonmaiden, Your Worship?”
A sigh and a blinding flash of light answered her, and when Rarity finished blinking, there before her eyes was the apparition of the grand blue alicorn in her silver armor. “Princess Shmarity of Spiketopia,” the great being said with a frown, her voice reverberating as the words that Rarity could understand were layered on top of that strange song-like language. “Why have you come here? Was my gift to you, the gift of restoring life, not enough?”
The alicorn spoke sternly, but whether she was genuinely angered by this disturbance or simply making a statement of fact was something Rarity couldn’t say for certain. She forced down a gulp as she considered her response carefully. The last thing she wanted was to further upset the alicorn in front of her and deal with an irate goddess.
“No, no, the spell was, is perfect,” Rarity assured. She quickly dropped into a low bow, nearly brushing her snout against the shiny floor. “I just, wished to thank you personally for showing me, a lowly and unworthy mortal, such incredible generosity.”
The air around her became deathly still as the silence permeating the room grew increasingly heavy. Unable to bear the discomforting silent stillness any longer, Rarity dared lift her head for a quick peek and saw that the alicorn could not have looked any less amused.
“I will ask you again, Princess Shmarity of Spiketopia,” the Moonmaiden said, dropping the temperature of the room with the cool impatience in her voice, “why are you here?”
Rarity held back a nervous sigh while she reconsidered her approach. Perhaps something more direct would be better appreciated. “I need help,” she said as she slowly, cautiously stood back up. The alicorn didn’t reply but neither did she appear more agitated nor did she keep her from rising, so Rarity continued. “The spell you gave me, it is exactly what I need, but I can’t use it. I was told that the magic involved in your spell was divine magic which is somehow different from regular magic that every creature else here uses and that in order to activate the spell I would need to find someone that has that divine connection. Er, at least, that is how I’ve come to understand the situation.”
“I see.”
“Ah yes, well, I was wondering, hoping really, if you had anything helpful that you’d be willing to share with me. Perhaps where I could find these adequately divine individuals? Or maybe a way to bypass this little prerequisite?” Rarity presented. “Or, I don’t suppose, and I don’t mean to presume, you and I could form that magic bond so then I could just activate the scroll myself?”
“If you are suggesting a pact between us, I have no qualms with such an arrangement,” the Moonmaiden said with the slightest of smiles that quickly turned back into a thoughtful frown. “However, while I would be able to lend you some of my powers, it would be nowhere near what is necessary to perform that spell you hold.” As she spoke, the alicorn gestured to the side pack of Rarity’s saddlebags. “Even if you were to devote yourself completely to me, I am afraid it would be many long years before you could even think of reliably activating the dormant magic within the scroll.
“As for those who would be able to act as an intermediary between you and the spell’s divine nature...” The alicorn shut her eyes and raised her horned head up toward the ceiling. Her form started to shimmer as she stretched out her wings to the ends of the chamber. Intense light flooded out from her eyes when she opened them, but as time went on, they and her shining frame slowly dimmed. She looked down to Rarity and frowned.
“It is as I feared. My influence upon this world has grown too weak, and what few clerics I do have can barely cure the lightest wounds or bestow the simplest of blessings. They would not be of any use to you. What’s more, I am unable to locate any hint of my essence amongst the mortals.” The breath she released caused the whole room to shake, and the deep distress it carried was unmistakable. “Had there been any being out there with even an ounce of Valmeyjar’s blood coursing through their veins, they would most surely would have had the potential divinity required for your spell. How unfortunate it is then that her line is indeed finished.” Selune glanced over to the mummified mare in the throne and shook her head sadly. “I was well aware that her direct descendants had passed when activities in her temple finally ceased, but still, I thought there might be at least one survivor still of this world.”
“Oh. I’m so sorry.” Rarity bit down on her lower lip. She wasn’t sure what made it more difficult and awkward, the fact that she was attempting to comfort a deity or that she was trying to show sympathy to someone who just discovered their entire lineage had died out. “Er, I’m sorry, would you like a moment to yourself?”
This time, the alicorn’s smile stayed. “A kind gesture but wholly unnecessary. It is natural for all things to come to their end, and even the reign of gods is no exception, and I have no right to mourn the existence of those I had never bothering knowing.” The feathers of her wings appeared to ruffle as she shrugged. “But back to the matter before us,” she said, again pointing to the bags Rarity was wearing. “The spell in question may have originated from my power, but any being with sufficient divine ties, regardless to whom or what, would be able to use it so long as they can sway their deity of choice to intervene.”
“And you wouldn’t happen to know where I could find these sufficiently divine individuals, would you?” Rarity asked, and despite her doing her best to temper her expectations, seeing the alicorn’s head shake no still hit her with an enormous wave of disappointment.
“That I cannot say for sure,” she answered. “Given time, perhaps a few nights, I might be able to provide you with a direction and possibly something more concrete, but beyond that, there is not much else I can offer you that is outside the walls of this place. Within this sanctuary, however, you will be under my protection and power.” The alicorn extended her less than corporal wings laid them upon Rarity’s shoulders. The touch was lighter than air yet still somehow left a cool, comforting feeling, like an evening breeze following a hot summer day. “And you are welcome to anything that you can find here and are able to retrieve. There is little more damage and desecration you can do to my temple that time hasn’t already done, but I trust that you will show respect to those who are—“
There was a noticeable pause as the Moonmaiden suddenly stiffened and looked up from Rarity. “Buried here,” she eventually finished, and an odd, unsure, and almost confused expression came over on her features. Eyes narrowing, the alicorn returned her gaze back to Rarity. “Did you bring anyone here with you?”
“No. I came alone,” Rarity answered. The unease the alicorn displayed was swiftly becoming her own. “Why? Is something wrong?”
The alicorn turned to the curtains behind Rarity. “There are others here in the temple.”