//------------------------------// // 36 Amulet (A Bloody history) // Story: Knowledge Brings Change // by hydra30 //------------------------------// The citizens of Ponyville continued with the average routine of their daily lives, the one noticeable difference so far being the celebrated return of Twilight and her friends, which became common knowledge along with the fact that they were once again organizing the wedding between Princess Cadance and Shining Armor. Pinkie Pie trotted amongst them, her overly large basket hat still brimming with invitations as she sought out as many of her Ponyvillian friends who could attend the upcoming wedding in Canterlot with her and the others. Nopony noticed the shadow slinking through the clouds above, zipping from one puffy hiding place to another, frantically trying to avoid notice from the many ponies below. Eventually, the whipping figure arrived at what apparently was its destination. The Golden Oaks Library. The local library's front door was quickly thrust open, a pony shaped shadow sliding through, slamming the door shut and bracing it with its back. Rainbow Dash breathed a sigh of relief and slid down to the floor. "I don't think anypony saw me." Would it not have been easier to use a spell of invisibility? And why was Rainbow Dash here, instead of practicing her Sonic Rainboom? Well, apparently, that disastrous first attempt only failed because of those few stray seconds Rainbow Dash spent admiring the Slow Time Thu'um and the effects it had on her surroundings. Once she had her head in the game from the moment the Thu'um left her lips the entire process was easy, the modified Rainboom did as it was supposed to do. And in every way Scootaloo predicted. Rainbow had been ecstatic at her success, of course, but after she and Scootaloo settled down from their two mare celebrations, Rainbow came to realize she had nothing to do now until the others finished their respective tasks. Of course, she was Rainbow Dash, she could have gone off to take a nap on a cloud somewhere, found a fellow pegasus to challenge to a race (though they would probably have to be a Wonderbolt just to keep up with her), or gone for a snack. But, as was true for all of them, Rainbow Dash wasn't the same pony she was before. Not only did she have new abilities, but also new perspectives. One was her new revelation that not all good reads are confined to Daring Do novels alone. When she first entered Apocrypha, one of the first books that caught her eye was the detailed accounts of the adventures of the Nerevarine, and Rainbow had to admit, despite always seeing history as a total snore-fest for most of her life, those records of the Nerevarine's accomplishments had actually been awesome. Even almost on par with how awesome Daring Do could be. And the fact that it was all historically recorded events that actually happened (at least on Nirn) made it that much more fascinating to Rainbow. And then, as luck would have it, she actually got to meet the Nerevarine in the flesh. Sarian had been one badflank woman, Rainbow had to admit, and her prowess in battle was nothing to sneeze at. So, Rainbow Dash got to thinking, if things like that happened historically in another realm, what kind of epic adventures have gone down right here in Equestria's history? After all, this world all technically originated from Mundus. Not that she was ready to reveal her new found enthusiasm to the rest of Ponyville. After all, if it ever became known she was slipping into the "egghead zone" even more than she already had, who knows what would become of her reputation, hence why it was necessary to sneak her way in here with nopony noticing. A little obscure rifle through the books, just to sate her curiosity, and nopony would be the wiser. "Okay, where to start?" Rainbow slid away from the door and out into the multiple shelves, filled to the brim with parchment treasures of knowledge. It never occurred to her to check and see if the substitute librarian was around, but, luckily for Rainbow, Amethyst Star had stepped out for a cappuccino not too long ago and would not be back for a while.. As Rainbow navigated the shelves she began to understand how Twilight got such pleasure from being surrounded by books so much. While she doubted she would ever share her mulberry friend's full enthusiasm, Rainbow Dash could not deny the immense sense of suspense coursing through her being at the moment. There was something about searching for a book that gave one a feeling of excitement like no other. Even if you didn't fully know what you were searching for. "Okay, let see what we can find." Rainbow lightly flapped her wings, hovering alongside the wooden bookshelves, "Understanding Medieval Equestria, nah. Modern Spellcasting, no, too bookwormish. The Art of the To-do List..." Rainbow blinked and back-flapped to see if she had read that right. She frowned and tilted her head to the side upon discovering she had indeed read the title on the binding correctly. What really confused her most, other than the ridiculous title, was how thick the book actually was. "What pony in his or her right mind would even waste the time coming up with so much to write about something so boring?" With one last shrug, Rainbow continued her browsing. "The Art of the To-Do list? What nonsense." She skimmed the shelves for at least five minutes before something finally caught her attention. "Huh," she commented, examining an unusual book nestled upon the shelf, its black binding and red colored letters allowing it to stand out among its peers also sharing the shelf. "Dark Magic Users Throughout Equestrian History." The title was foreboding, but surprisingly enticing. Having been associated with Twilight for many years, Rainbow Dash had gained at least a rudimentary understanding of magic, at least from Equestria's point of view, and though she may have immersed herself in Magicka in Apocrypha, her understanding of Equestrian magic had barely changed logically in the last few years, and what little she had seen from Twilight, while astronomical, hadn't been 'sinister' enough to considered dark (at least that was her assumption) so she doubted she had seen any dark magic previously. But it sparked an interest in her, after all, there was something alluring about the unknown, even if the foreboding appearance of the book was a little off putting. And the phrase Dark Magic Users had a certain villainous ring to it. "After all, what is a good hero story without a villain?" commented Rainbow to herself, pulling the book off the shelf and cradling it in her hooves. "All the Daring Do novels have a bad guy, heck, Dagoth Ur was a real nasty customer, and look how awesome of an adventure confronting him turned out to be." Looking left and right to see if the coast was clear, Rainbow fluttered up into the branches that composed the library's roof and hid herself where nopony could find her (well, unless Pinkie decided to track her down for whatever reason). Breathing a sigh of relief, Rainbow turned the book In her hooves and examined the cover. There was a depiction of a pony so clad in robes only the petite, orange muzzle identifying her as a mare could be seen through the thick hood, a strange ruby necklace resting around her neck. Eagerly, Rainbow bathed the book in one of the pillars of daylight poking through the branches and began to read: --- Magic. It is the driving force of Equestria. It has allowed ponies to shape their kingdom into the thriving utopia it has become to this day. It allows the Pegasus Ponies to control the weather, Earth Ponies to till the land unlike any of the other pony tribes, and gives Unicorns their extraordinary talents and abilities. And as Equestria has grown throughout the ages so did the magical fortitude of ponies. But though every caste of pony is taught how to harness the power of their inherent magic from a young age, most are unaware that the most common used in everyday life is the more benign side of magic. There exists a sinister side of magic, known by the few who are aware of its existence as dark magic. "Hah, I knew it," said Rainbow, "Alright book, show me what this dark magic can do." These days, everything regarding dark magic has been suppressed by Equestrian law, due to the fact that this branch of the arcane arts is extremely dangerous, to both the user and everything around them. But dark magic users have risen throughout Equestria's history, bringing with them eras of pain, suffering, and death. Such as the first, The Era of Twilight. --- Rainbow mouthed the three words over again, her face paling and her mouth going dry. While far from the model student back in her school days, she could never recall reading about these Eras of darkness in the few times she didn't sleep through history class, especially this Era of Twilight. Despite how powerful all the instigators of all the afore-mentioned dark eras were, none were as powerful, ambitious, and dangerous as the very first to ever emerge to ravage Equestria, beginning the first of many eras of violence and darkness, The Era of Twilight. The Necromancers. --- "Necromancers?" commented Rainbow out loud. "Those guys who work for those Ideal Masters? We have them here too?" But then Rainbow realized that, against all odds, it might just be a coincidence. After all, nopony in Equestria, other than her, her friends, and the Princesses know about the Ideal Masters. It must be a group that somehow shared the name. Shaking off the foreboding feeling she was already getting from what she had read so far, Rainbow continued: --- It all began with the literal beginning of Equestria itself. It is a widely known tale of how Equestria was founded, the holiday Hearth's Warming is based upon it, of how an intense winter drove the ponies from their original kingdom (the precise location of which is unknown to this day) and to set out to find a new land to start anew. Upon settling upon a suitable location simultaneously, the leader of each pony tribe quarreled over the this new fertile land, their bickering somehow instigating another blizzard that threatened to destroy the new land, which, in turn, led to the discovery that the blizzards weren't a natural phenomenon, but the result of the Windigoes, spectral creatures that feed on hatred and distrust. The tale goes that the pony tribes eventually settled their differences, driving the Windigoes away with friendship and love, but it isn't widely known that establishing cooperation throughout all three tribes was far from a subtle affair. --- "Huh?" gaped Rainbow, "So it wasn't all hugs and songs after the tribal leaders got their butts frozen?" --- After the threat of the Windigoes had passed, and a treaty of unity had been signed between the three tribes, establishing the country of Equestria, each tribe, despite their leaders' urgings, had to deal with a faction of extremists who would not back down from their prejudiced ways, despite the fact that such behavior could bring forth the Windigoes once more. None were a bigger threat to the safety of this new alliance then the uprising that came from the Unicorns' end. And it came from a source that nopony could ever expect. The identities of the leaders of the three pony tribes of this time is basic knowledge in present Equestria, Commander Hurricane led the Pegasi, Chancellor Puddinghead led the Earth Ponies, and Princess Platinum led the Unicorns, under her father. But what isn't well known is that Princess Platinum had a younger sister, Princess Blood Diamond. And it was with her that the first nefarious plot to conquer Equestria began. --- At the edge of the page, a small portrait of a unicorn family was printed, styled in the same fashion of the stained glass windows in Canterlot Castle. It depicted four ponies, a tall muscular stallion with a black mane and coat in regal garb, the name King Onyx Crown printed beneath him, a tall, but slender, white mare with a silvery mane, the name Queen Lunar Eclipse beneath her, a white mare with a sapphire mane wearing an outfit identical to the costume Rarity wore at the Canterlot Hearth's Warming Eve play, the name Princess Platinum beneath her, and next to her stood a bright red filly with a dark orange mane (looking no older than the Crusaders) the name Princess Blood Diamond beneath her. Rainbow squinted at the filly in the picture, and despite the fact that it was a small, innocent looking picture, there was something unsettling within those little red pupils. --- It wasn't long after the unification of the three tribes that tragedy struck within the royal family. A royal feast had been held after the new Unicorn society had been established, but the celebration was short-lived when both the king and queen suddenly fell violently ill. Both were immediately rushed to a medical facility, but it was for naught, and both king and queen perished that night. Not even a month of peace had passed when such tragedy befell the Unicorns. But as the citizens mourned the loss of their strong rulers, the bodies of the king and queen were examined, and it was discovered that they hadn't succumbed to some kind of disease, like originally believed. The king and queen had been poisoned. Further studies revealed that it had come from the wine bottle the royal family had been drinking during the feast, and that also explained why nopony else had been exposed to the poison. The variety of wine they drank was reserved for the royal family only; nopony else was allowed to drink any. But it also meant that only a hoofful of ponies could have committed this heinous crime, since only the royal family had access to the wine. At first, Princess Platinum was suspected, her motive being to kill her parents, assume the throne, and oppose the unification, since she had only ever looked down upon the other pony tribes with prejudice. She was at the table with her parents when it happened, she had, supposedly, drank the same wine, yet hadn't succumbed like her parents, which was suspicious. For how could she have avoided ingesting the poison if she was unaware of its presence, like her parents had been? During an interrogation of Princess Platinum, apparently genuinely grief stricken by the death of her parents, she explained there was a reason why she hadn't ingested the poison. After the unification, Chancellor Puddinghead had invited the tribal leaders to a traditional Earth Pony hoedown, and although she was snooty and condescending about the whole affair, it was revealed she had enjoyed going, and not only that, she had acquired a taste for something new. Hard apple cider. --- "Ha, can't blame ya sister," said Rainbow to a pony who had been lost to the ages, "Wine shmine, give me good apple cider any day." --- According to Princess Platinum she enjoyed the drink so much, even the royal wines were bland by comparison, and she found she could not stand to drink anything else anymore. Fearful for what would happen to her reputation as a high class unicorn if it became common knowledge that she enjoyed such a brutish drink, she had kept her indulgence a secret. But since she could no longer tolerate drinking wine, even to keep up appearances, she had her assistant, Clover the Clever, place an enchantment on her wine glass. What happens is that once wine is poured in, the enchantment transferred the wine back to the bottle while simultaneously replacing it with hard apple cider from a secret barrel Princess Platinum had stashed away in her chambers, the enchantment also recoloring it to look like wine. These facts weren't enough to exonerate the princess, however, in fact, they cast more suspicion upon her, for she could have easily poisoned her parents, knowing she would be out of danger of the poison, due to her secret indulgence. But her name was officially cleared when Clover the Clever arrived. She had been examining the wine bottle for magic impressions, a signature of sorts left behind when a unicorn exercises their magic upon an object. She claimed she had discovered only two ponies had handled the bottle in the last twenty-four hours. Other than the wine server, there was one other magic impression, one of royal lineage... but not Princess Platinum. That left but one other suspect, Princess Blood Diamond. According to the ancient accounts, nopony was willing to believe the obvious at first. Princess Blood Diamond was still but a filly, the thought that she would do something like this was unthinkable. But it could not be denied she had the opportunity. She was too young to drink wine, so she could have spiked the bottle, knowing that she would not be anywhere near the poison. But Princess Platinum refused to believe the claims more than anypony. She set off in search of her sister so as to prove she was innocent. And not long after her departure, a great explosion rocked the palace, leaving everypony scrambling to find the source, which was discovered to be the royal chambers, now reduced to rubble by the blast. Princess Platinum was found in the wreckage while it was being searched, battered and bruised, but otherwise unharmed. At least physically. Even while having her injuries treated, Princess Platinum howled in complete heartache and loss. When she finally became coherent enough to speak, she was finally able to give an account for what happened. She had found her sister in her chambers after the accusations and assured her she didn't believe any of the claims, and she believed in her sister's innocence. But Blood Diamond didn't respond to her reassurance, instead just staring at the wall of her room, not even acknowledging her sister's presence. After some coaxing, Princess Platinum managed to get a response from her. And, according to her own accounts, Princess Blood Diamond's words haunted Princess Platinum till her dying day. "You should have perished with mom and dad, sister. They were weak, you are weak. Unicorns don't need to be equal with Earth Ponies and Pegasi. We are superior, we should be ruling over them all." Princess Platinum then explained that, after her sister's cruel declaration, multiple Unicorns clad in black robes teleported in, and before setting off the explosion that almost killed her, one of them said: "We are the Necromancers, and under Princess Blood Diamond's guidance, we will restore Unicorn supremacy to its rightful place." Then they teleported out, taking the child princess with them, and set off a magical explosion to cover their escape. And that was the last time Princess Platinum ever saw her sister. Rainbow gulped and suppressed a shiver over what she had just read, bringing her attention back to the tiny picture of Princess Blood Diamond. "Kid, I am no stranger to feeling like I am better than everypony, but... your parents, your own sister...?" Rainbow gulped and shuddered again. "I used to think Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were bratty. You take the cake." --- Across Ponyville: "La la la la la, la la la la la!" Pinkie Pie was singing merrily to herself, leaping around town, delivering invitations to the upcoming wedding, when suddenly, in mid leap, her left foreleg coiled around her right hind leg. "WHOA!" THUD! She face-planted in the dirt hard, her overly large basket hat spilling its contents. With a groan, Pinkie rolled over and examined her entwined legs. "Huh?! Oh no!" She gasped and sprang up to her hooves, effortlessly bringing her basket hat up with her, "A really bad pony has been accused of stealing cake!" She crouched like a cheetah ready to spring. "Well nopony steals my cake, especially bad ponies! They'll have to answer to me..." "AAAAAAAGGGHHH!" The sound of multiple ponies screaming at once drew Pinkie's attention. Up ahead, her spilled party invitations were causing massive pandemonium. They were blowing around in the wind, flying into ponies' eyes, into their mouths, tripping up their hooves, and causing all sorts of chaos. "OH NO, NOT GOOD, NOT GOOD!" Pinkie frantically looked around for a solution. "Aha!" Pinkie reached off screen to a silver knob following a light grey bar, leaving a red line as it traveled, grasped it, then pulled it back a little. Suddenly, Pinkie was back to leaping and singing, her basket still full. "Wait!" Pinkie paused in her leaping just as her hooves became tangled, balanced tediously on uneven ground. "Holding it, hold it, hold it, wait for it!" With a sigh of relief, Pinkie's hooves de-tangled from each other. "Phew, crisis averted!" With that, she resumed giving out invitations, but vowed to keep a look out for cake stealers. --- Back at the library Rainbow continued reading: Platinum was so shaken by what she lost that day that she lapsed so deep into despair that she was unable to perform the royal duties that she now found herself responsible for, but the threat of this radical group calling themselves the Necromancers was too dire to ignore, so, until the newly crowned Queen Platinum came to her senses, the governing of the Unicorn nation was temporarily passed to Clover the Clever. And her first order of business was to deduce how many of their own had joined with Princess Blood Diamond to form the Necromancers. It stood to reason that the Princess had been gathering followers while the rest of the nation had been dealing with political matters, and their numbers needed to be known. Thankfully, after a thorough search of the Unicorn population, it was revealed that no less than a few dozen had betrayed the crown for Princess Blood Diamond's idealisms, but what was worrying is that over half of them were among the most esteemed magic user's of the kingdom, there talents in arcane arts almost unmatched. If the wayward princess's last words were to be believed, this group of fanatic deserters were intending to strike out against the other pony tribes, and as part of the new unified kingdom, the Unicorns were not going to stand for such atrocious acts, especially committed by such an unassuming number of their own brethren who were just too obnoxious and prideful to accept the unification between Unicorns, Pegasi, and Earth Ponies. --- Rainbow rolled her eyes at the gall of these ancient unicorns she was reading about, "And I thought Rarity could be stuck up." She pulled the book closer to her muzzle. "I wonder what crazy stunt they pulled that got them worthy enough to be put in this book? After all, there weren't very many ponies willing to join them, it would seem." --- Clover the Clever's first order of business was to warn the alliance of this uprising, and offer them support. She predicted that the Necromancers would strike against more isolated settlements within the tribes first, so she sent a detachment of unicorn soldiers to those sections of Equestria first, but her prediction proved false. The attack came, not from outside, but within the Unicorn Kingdom itself. It was the more remote settlements of unicorns that felt the wrath of the Necromancers first, and when word reached Clover of this unforeseen development, she set out to investigate herself. The first village she reached, according to Clover's own account, was not a pretty sight. The place had been ransacked, all the buildings burned to the ground and all resources stripped. But what startled Clover the most was that, other than a single unicorn family consisting of a mare, a stallion, and their five year old foal, there were no bodies found in the ruins, survivors or casualties alike, and this didn't sit well with Clover. Her first assumption after hearing that the Necromancers were attacking unicorn settlements was that they were stocking up on supplies to prepare for their initial assault against the other tribes. But if that was the case, why was there nary another soul to be found? Why would the Necromancers abduct their own brethren if they had such high regard for fellow unicorns? According to the unicorn family's statement, unicorns in dark robes teleported out of nowhere and began to ransack the town, but at the same time, they were teleporting their friends and neighbors away. They only escaped because they hid under an upturned wagon that had been too damaged in the attack to be claimed as a spoil, allowing them to witness everything that went down, and what had caused the destruction of their home. They said they would never forget the sneering cackle of that little filly that obviously led those rampaging monsters. A filly that couldn't be much older than their own foal. This kind of thing happened repeatedly over the next few months, with villages being razed to the ground and stripped of supplies and the population (this time not leaving even a single witness, unlike the first time). Clover deduced that they were abducting ponies so as to force them to fight for their cause, and if that was the case, the threat was growing more dire with each village struck. Clover had sent the bulk of the unicorn forces to bolster the defenses of the Earth Ponies and Pegasi, and, caught off guard by this unexpected tactic of the Necromancers, it was taking them a while to regroup. And with the limited armed forces Clover had left under her command, by the time she heard of a new attack on a Unicorn village it was too late to respond quickly enough. By the time the army did return, enough villages had been attacked that the number of ponies abducted by the Necromancers was well into the hundreds. Clover was sure by then that the Necromancers had enough resources to enact their prejudiced assault by that point, and with how they had been so unpredictable, she had no idea how, when, or where they would strike. But rather than stretch her resources thin like she did at first, Clover had instead devised a plan that would hopefully give some advantages. She had developed a rune that, when laid at a location, acted as a beacon to a unicorn teleporting, sending them to Commander Hurricane and Chancellor Puddinghead to be placed at several strategic locations throughout Equestria where the Necromancers would likely strike first. Her plan was that when Blood Diamond and the Necromancers finally made their move, the vast majority of the unicorn army could teleport to the closest rune and be there in time to assist. It would hopefully not be too difficult, especially considering the bulk of the enemy forces would be abducted villagers being forced to fight against their will. All they would have to do would be to take down the original instigators of this conflict and the bulk of the imposing forces would have no need to fight. But this proved to be another miscalculation on Clover's part. "Huh?" mumbled Rainbow, "She ain't being too clever is she?" As predicted, the Necromancers did indeed eventually strike against the other pony tribes, the first being the Pegasi, for it was Commander Hurricane who contacted Clover to report an attack when it finally came to pass, but when Clover used the rune connected to the Pegasus capital, she found not an army of unwilling unicorns, but something else. Indeed, Clover's intuition about the Necromancers using the abducted unicorns as foot soldiers proved to be true, but not in the way she expected - when Clover finally saw the havoc they were wreaking on the Pegasus forces, there was no way they could be the same tranquil villagers they were before. They fought not from the ground with magic from their horns, as expected, but upon the air, same as their Pegasus opponents, due to the temporary gossamer wings each one now sported. Clover was familiar with this spell (she had had a hoof in developing it) and what disturbed her is that it was far too complex for an average unicorn to perform, let alone an entire army. Not only that, but the wings were incredibly delicate, easy to destroy, but even as a unicorn's wings were destroyed, they simply re-manifested them easily, which would have been a difficult task for even the most accomplished of mages, let alone so many simultaneously. But the wings of the captives weren't the only thing noteworthy at the battle. Each pony the Necromancers were issuing commands to wore some type of helmet, A dark menacing device which bore slitted eye holes, housing a green glow where the wearer's eyes should have been. Upon further examination of the wearer's behavior, Clover came to the morbid conclusion that the Necromancers were not just abducting ponies, but bending their minds to their will using dark magic of some kind. It also explained their newfound arcane talents, for even if the wearer of the helmet was just a novice at magic, if whoever was controlling the dark magic wanted something done, the helmet made the wearer perform. With the arrival of Clover and her forces, the Necromancers were eventually driven off by the combined forces of the Unicorn and Pegasus armies, but at great cost. There had been severe casualties on both sides, and the Pegasus capital, Pegasopolis, had been completely destroyed. But Clover knew the Necromancers would strike again, and they needed a way to counter whatever foul magic was being used to control their forces, so, reluctantly, Clover salvaged one of the helmets from the corpse of one of the poor souls being forced to fight for the Necromancers for examination. And that was when Clover discovered that the threat the Necromancers posed was far more dire than originally believed. Indeed, a spell was placed upon the dark helmets to bend the wearer to another's will, but it was far from anything new. Clover had researched this spell herself during her time as an arcane novice. It was one of the more ancient of the dark spells of magic history. Centuries ago, this spell had been developed during a international civil war among the unicorn aristocracy, and had caused much strife, but the worrying part for Clover was that, other than for studious purposes (like for Clover's own studies, as mentioned) the tome containing this spell hadn't seen the light of day in practically centuries. It wasn't even utilized in the conflict between the pony tribes, despite the vast hatred between them, due to its instability and unpredictability. --- "Instability, unpredictability!" muttered Rainbow Dash to herself, 'Try saying those two words ten times fast.' Rainbow Dash paused for a second then shook her head as if to rid herself of a bothersome fly. 'Buck, I can't even think it twice in a row.' --- This spell to suddenly being utilized on the battlefield by the Necromancers not only made the situation regarding their order that much more dire, it also meant the unthinkable had happened. With newfound suspicion, Clover checked the Unicorn archive and confirmed her suspicion to be true, with great dread. Not only was the tome that housed the mind-bending spell missing, but several others as well. It appears, before they broke off from the kingdom to pursue their conquest of ponydom, the Necromancers had raided the archives of every dark magic spell they could use to aid them in their nefarious goals. This made them an even greater threat then initially believed. Even to this day, ages past the times of the tyranny of the Necromancers, the ancient tomes they pilfered have never been recovered, despite generations of scholars', adventurers', and treasure hunters' efforts to retrieve them. It is likely that The Necromancers' Library (the title given the supposed location of wherever the Necromancers hid the stolen tomes) will remain lost for the foreseeable future. --- Rainbow gazed at the page, contemplating what she had read, about a lost stash of knowledge that apparently had remained hidden all this time. 'The Necromancers' Library, sounds like something Daring Do would be interested in, in fact, I bet that would make a great title for one of her novels.' --- Rainbow didn't know how close to the truth she was. Far on the outskirts of Equestria, a lone cottage stood deep in a wooded area where few ponies had ever set hoof. The occupant, whomever they might be, was out at the moment, attending to something or another, but upon a desk in the study, an unfinished transcript sat next to a typewriter, titled Daring Do and The Necromancers' Library, by A. K. Yearling. The unfinished page still in the typewriter was stuck at a point where the main villain of the story was about to open a door that apparently led to a store of terrible knowledge, the writer seeming to be unsure of how to proceed (most likely due to the fact that what transpired next would be unfit for younger readers). Upon a shelf, a sapphire statue of a two headed dog rested, glistening in the light of the sun streaming through a window, its appearance strikingly deceptive about the role it once played as the key to the fabled Necromancers Library... ... whose vast stores of knowledge now sat in Apocrypha, jealously guarded by a deity whose passion for knowledge was even deeper than his own ocean of ink. --- With confirmation that her foe was armed with all this dark magic, Clover knew that the Unicorn forces were outmatched. They had suffered heavy casualties in Pegasopolis against brainwashed civilians alone, and when she thought about it, Clover now realized that they were most likely just testing the strength of their mind-controlled slaves. Otherwise, they would have fought with more than just a flight spell and rudimentary magic. They most likely withdrew from the battlefield when they realized that, with the mind control alone being so successful, when they did arm their minions with true dark magic, victory was all but inevitable. With the true might of this adversary finally confirmed, Clover was left dumbfounded at how precarious the situation was for the still young nation of Equestria. She had to mount a defense, there was no other choice. But Clover was still reluctant to resort to lethal action. Despite the threat they posed, the bulk of the Necromancers forces were still unwilling participants who were warped by dark magic, and if a way could be found to break the Necromancers' hold on them without bloodshed existed, Clover wanted to find it. However, the spell being used to bind their will was too far beyond Clover's skill to unravel, especially with the next suspected attack due to occur at any time, Clover decided to seek council with the one Unicorn that could outclass her in regards to magical talent, and maybe even enlist his aid. Her mentor, Starswirl the Bearded. She had not wanted to involve her teacher in this matter at first because she felt it wasn't worth him possibly getting hurt, or worse, but with such high-class magic being wielded by their enemy, he was their best, if not their only, hope. But, once again, fate seemed to be against her. When Clover arrived at Starswirl's school, the very place where she had studied under him, she made a devastating discovery. According to Starswirl's colleagues, the legendary grand master of the arcane arts hadn't been seen or heard from in many months. Clover searched for as long as she could, but all she was able to discover was that, after the Windigoes were vanquished, Starswirl set out to rid Equestria of any other dark creatures that may be of a threat to pony kind, and then apparently vanished. With her one hope of liberating the Necromancers' captives dashed, Clover reluctantly prepared her forces to retaliate against them with lethal force. With how heavily armed the Necromancers were, and with their most powerful spellcaster unaccounted for, Clover had to seek aid elsewhere. And she found it in the other pony tribes. Despite all the history of bad blood, the Pegasi and Earth Ponies were not hard to persuade to join in the conflict between the Necromancers. Earth Ponies valued family, and they recognized what a threat to their kin the Necromancers posed, so Chancellor Puddinghead was more than willing to lend a hoof. Pegasi were a warrior race, so it went without saying that Commander Hurricane was more than willing to bloody her feathers against a worthy opponent. So when the Necromancers finally attacked, they met not just Unicorn forces, but Pegasi and Earth Ponies as well. It was a long and strenuous conflict. The Necromancers, with their brainwashed civilians, indeed armed with every dark spell imaginable, and the unified Pony tribes, armed only with the desire to defend their way of life. For years, the two armies clashed all over Equestria, and in that time Princess Blood Diamond grew from a cunning little filly to an ambitious young mare, time and again proving her mental fortitude, for despite being greatly outnumbered, the Necromancers' victories greatly outweighed Clover and her allies. And with each victory, Blood Diamond's forces only grew stronger, for they absorbed every unicorn they encountered, whether they be warriors off the battlefield, or otherwise, into their ranks. It grew to the point that so many unicorns were drawn into the conflict that it became impossible for enough to be present to move the sun and moon, leaving the sky in a perpetual state of twilight, which is why this time became known as the Era of Twilight. Little by little, Equestria was overrun by the Necromancers' forces; even to the point where they threatened to overrun the whole kingdom. But, when all hope seemed lost, when Clover, Hurricane, and PuddingHead met in the battlefield which they were certain would most likely make their last stand, aid came in the form of a legend come to life. They emerged from the sky, descending within a pillar of arcane light, two ethereal sisters of such majestic grace that their beauty seemed to rival the very heavens themselves, landing before the opposing forces upon the peak of a nearby hill. And what baffled all was that they were Alicorns, the symbolic illustration of Equestria meant to represent the new unification of the three tribes, a mythical symbol of harmony, now brought to life. --- Rainbow Dash licked her lips with anticipation. 'Is this who I think it is?' --- One bore a shimmering white coat, with a pastel mane of every color that waved in a non-existent wind of the still day. She stood at an unprecedented height that made her tower over all, even her fellow Alicorn who had arrived with her. The other was no less impressive, her coat a menacing dark blue, her mane a sparkling, waving trail of inky blackness, twinkling with miniature stars, like somepony had torn a fragment of the night and weaved it into a banner. They stared menacingly, and nopony knew why these sudden arrivals were here. But they made their intentions clear shortly. With a grace none could believe, the two Alicorns weaved their necks, pointing their long horns to the sky. Then, in a display of golden and navy magic, the still sky above came to life for the first time since the conflict grew to the point where no unicorn could be spared to manage it. The moon was gently guided below the horizon, astride soothing blue magic, finally allowed to slumber after so long. The sun was lifted to the sky, transmuting the maroon sky to blue, finally ushering in the frozen day. Nopony had ever beheld such benevolent beauty before... but such beauty was misleading. Before anypony could comprehend what had transpired, the white Alicorn unleashed a torrent of golden magic from her horn, striking one of the commanding generals on the Necromancers' side, sending him to the ground, where he moved no more. Again and again she struck, taking to the air on her majestic wings and raining bolts of magic upon her foe like a living sunstorm. The shorter, but no less graceful Alicorn also pressed forward, but rather than strike out at a single individual, the magic of her horn washed over the battlefield like a bedspread over a mattress, and in an instant, the great aura housed within the Necromancers' captives' helmets flickered and died. The spell binding them broken, they all fled the field, ignoring the orders of their captors for the first time in as long as years, galloping for safe haven elsewhere. But even with their numbers drastically reduced, the Necromancers still posed a threat to Clover and her allies. Over the course of their conquest, the Necromancers had gained more than just brainwashed followers, ranging from ponies who either joined them because they believed in their cause, or thought that resistance was useless at that point, and the arrival of these Alicorns, while undoubtedly helpful, wasn't enough to turn the tide of the battle. But they hadn't come alone. Once the Necromancers realized that these Alicorns intended to side with Clover, they immediately turned to engage with them, believing their greater numbers would give them the advantage, but they were wrong. Over the cleft of the hill the Alicorns had first descended upon, a new force of ponies emerged. They were Earth Ponies, garbed in crystalline armor, but their coats gleamed with even more prismatic brilliance than their armor. They charged the Necromancers, not just with the average Earth Pony strength and durability, but with some form of magic never before seen. At the touch of a hoof, these ponies could summon crystal from the ground, whether to form a barricade to block an enemy's attack, or to literally form a sword, spear, or any other type of weapon, which they wielded with precision. It wasn't long before the Necromancers were forced to retreat, for the first time. Afterwards, Clover, Hurricane, and Puddinghead greeted their saviors with praise and gratitude. The Alicorns introduced themselves as Celestia and Luna, sisters, with Celestia being the older, and Luna the younger... --- "HA, I knew it!" said Rainbow triumphantly. "This must be the first time Celestia and Luna were ever encountered in Equestria." She smirked slyly to herself, "Bet those ponies back then would never believe what we have learned. "Celestia and Luna, daughters of the Daedra Lord Azura, sent here to stabilize this world after the Dwemer screwed up the design so bad. Who would have thought?" ---- ...and their allies were the Crystal guard from Princess Amore's kingdom to the north. Chancellor Puddinghead knew of them. When Equestria had been formed, several of the Earth Ponies expressed a desire to see what lay beyond the Frozen North, the Chancellor gave her consent to their expedition, and, as a show of faith, King Onix also sent one of his more talented mages to assist and lead them, Amore. No news of their whereabouts had reached Equestria since they set out, and it wasn't long afterwards that the Necromancers made their move. But apparently, according to Celestia and Luna, Amore and her Earth Pony party had discovered some form of crystalline magical artifact in the North. Not only did it grant them their shiny coats, but also modified their inherent Earth Pony magic to not only be able to have kinship with the soil of the earth, but to also transmute crystals to their will. Now, apparently, a whole new kingdom had sprouted up from the utilization of this new magic, which the self proclaimed Crystal Ponies call the Crystal Empire, with Amore leading them as their princess, the artifact, which they called the Crystal Heart, at the heart of their kingdom. As for Celestia and Luna, they freely explained to the tribal leaders that they didn't know their own origin, nor why they were legitimate Alicorns, all they could say was that they were proteges of the unaccounted for Starswirl, and after he vanished, sought refuge with one of his former pupils, namely Amore, to complete their magical training. And now that they had reached the peak of their talent, they were ready to defend Equestria in the stead of their teacher, against the Necromancers. So, now allied with the forces of the Crystal Empire, and with the assistance of two living Alicorns, the tide of the war between the Necromancers and the forces of Equestria turned in favor of Equestria for the first time. No matter what dark magic the Necromancers' forces brought forth, the Alicorn sisters were able to counter it. The same could be said for the Crystal soldiers. While not just esteemed warriors, their crystal magic also seemed to be able to reflect all magic like a prism does light, leaving anything the Necromancers could accomplish with magic useless. Celestia and Luna were also able to easily liberate the brainwashed victims of the Necromancers, unlocking the enchantment on the helmets as easily as a key in a lock. Equestria was being taken back by those who had founded it, decimating the forces of those who sought to twist it to their own twisted propaganda. Eventually, the enemies of Equestria found themselves backed into the same corner they had forced the Founders into not long ago. The Necromancers' primary base of operations was finally discovered within Ghastly Caverns. The combined forces of the Founders and the Alicorns stormed their remaining ranks, filling the caverns with the sound of battle, and the screams of the wounded. And at the deepest depths, Celestia encountered the instigator of it all. The white Alicorn confronted Princess Blood Diamond, now a fully grown mare, and demanded she surrender and be taken into custody. But Blood Diamond's pride was boundless. She refused to surrender, saying that she alone could restore the Unicorns to their rightful place, and that she, a Unicorn Princess, would never surrender to a metamorphic insult to everything she stood for. To Blood Diamond, a pony with a unicorn horn, but had the audacity to also have wings like the inferior Pegasi, their very existence was an insult, and should be exterminated. Blood Diamond and Celestia dueled, with both combatants especially skilled, but eventually, Celestia gained the upper hoof, throwing Blood Diamond to the ground in a panting, exhausted heap. Celestia wasn't about to let such a threat to pony kind continue though, so even though her opponent was now helpless, Celestia readied a spell to finish it. But what transpired next made her unwilling to deal the final blow. Out of the shadows, a tiny figure jumped out and put itself between Celestia and Blood Diamond. A little colt stood between them, forelegs outstretched protectively, his gray coat and black mane and tail shimmering in the sinister magic channeled into Celestia's horn. Despite it all Celestia could not bring herself to harm the youth to get to her quarry; he couldn't have been older than three moons. Celestia insisted he let her finish the job, but he said he would not allow to hurt his mother. It was shocking enough for Celestia to learn that Blood Diamond even had a foal, but this diversion was all said unicorn needed. She produced a dagger from the folds of her robe, and before Celestia could react, Blood Diamond plunged it deep into her shoulder, then ripping it out with enough force to produce a fountain of blood which then showered over Blood Diamond and her son. Blindsided by the pain, Celestia could not react in time to stop Blood Diamond from striking the caverns with her magic, setting off a chain reaction that caused a massive cave in. Using her immense magic, Celestia was able to teleport herself, her sister, and their forces from the caves before they collapsed, but both she and Luna could sense that they weren't the only ones. While most of the Necromancers perished in the cave in, it was believed that no less than seven, at least, had escaped, Blood Diamond among them. They would have pursued, but Celestia needed medical attention, so, for now, the Equestrian forces withdrew to lick their wounds. Celestia didn't require long to recover, thanks to the traits she shared with Earth Ponies and their endurance, so once she was able, a search effort to track down the Necromancers and eliminate them once and for all went underway. Weakened as the Necromancers were, Equestria could not afford to let them rebuild, they had to be dealt with while they were vulnerable. But it proved to not be that simple, once again. When the Alicorns and the Founders finally caught up with the Necromancers, they discovered that, not only did they still possess a fair number of brainwashed soldiers, but the seven survivors of the assault on Ghastly Caverns now had an dark air about them. They seemed to 'bleed' dark magic, and their eyes contained a terrible hunger. And when they were engaged in battle, it became apparent they weren't through being a severe threat to Equestria just yet. Their prowess in the art of dark magic hadn't lessened, but the intensity to their spells had increased dramatically, somehow. Such amounts of force was being channeled into their spells, it became clear that something was amiss, for no normal unicorn, no matter how skilled, should be able to pour so much magic into a single spell as the Necromancers were at the moment. And to their horror, Celestia and Luna had to watch as their forces lost their best advantage. Once the Crystal Empires forces used their crystal magic against the Necromancers, the ability was then used against them. Now the Necromancers could use this unique ability, despite the fact that it wasn't supposed to be possible for a pony to use magic from another tribe. Recognizing that they had been caught off guard by this new ability, Celestia sounded the retreat, leaving to regroup, and devise a strategy. After holding council with the Founders, Celestia and Luna came to realize that the Necromancers must be somehow harnessing Alicorn magic themselves. It was obvious that they utilized the blood Celestia had shed when she had been wounded, but how was a mystery. Commander Hurricane reported that she and her Pegasi troops observed from the sky that Blood Diamond and her six remaining followers were each wearing some form of amulet that hadn't been documented in the incident reports of the Necromancers until now, and Celestia and Luna deduced that they must have been forged from Celestia's own blood. It explained how the Necromancers were able to use Crystal Pony magic. Alicorns, being a conglomeration of the three tribes, are able to use all three castes of magic, and if the Amulets somehow had a reproduction capability, then whatever spell was used near it, the wearer would gain access to it. But the problem was far greater than they believed, and not just because the enemy was now armed with these Alicorn Amulets. Starswirl once told Celestia and Luna that if a normal pony were to be exposed to their vast stores of magic, it wouldn't be long before they were driven mad by it. He told them because of their inherent gifts as Alicorns, they were immune to the corruption of such amounts of magic, but if a Unicorn, Pegasus, or Earth Pony were to use it, their mentality would soon buckle under the strain. With such magic now held within the Necromancers, it was all but assured that they were just as dangerous to themselves as to Equestria. And their next attacks confirmed it. Over the next few months, the Necromancers continued to hound the Equestrian forces, but gone was the cunning and strategy. They attacked at random, ransacking settlements of all tribes without cause, even unicorns. And apart from the few enslaved soldiers they still had, they stopped rounding up ponies for armies, mindlessly slaughtering all they came across. Celestia, Luna, and the Founders could do little to hinder them, for now that they had Alicorn magic on their side, not even the binding enchantment on their soldiers, which Celestia and Luna undid effortlessly in the beginning, could be undone. And even when a Necromancer was restrained, it became impossible to completely hinder them. They were too powerful with the Amulets, and it became clear it was impossible to remove them. It was deduced that they had enchantments on them that made them impossible to remove by anypony other than the wearer. This dragged on indefinitely, with the once mighty Necromancers reduced to nothing more than wandering fanatics, destroying anything they came across. But, when all seemed lost, when it seemed that the citizens of Equestria would forever fear when the Necromancers might strike again, he came. It was in the midst of another battle between the Necromancers and the forces of the Alicorns and the Founders, locked in another stalemate, when a sinister chuckle echoed across the battlefield. "Oh, what delicious chaos! Mind if I cut in?" laughed a voice of pure malice. --- Rainbow Dash blinked in anticipation, "No way, is that who I think it is?" --- Then, an abomination of nightmares appeared, standing among the bloodshed and battle almost smugly. "Discord, the Master of Disharmony and Chaos will show you how it's done!" then it snapped its fingers, and the world was turned upside down. The sky became a conglomeration of incomprehensible colors, the ground and horizon twisted. Blood Diamond was the first to react, ordering her brainwashed henchmen to take down this demon from Tartarus. But whatever this creature was, magic had no effect. He arched an eyebrow at the Necromancers' efforts to assault him, then casually clicked the tuft at the end of his tail, as though it were fingers. In a flash of chaotic magic, the helmets that had bound these hapless ponies for so long were transformed into powerless party hats. One look at Discord and they all fled, leaving their seven enslavers alone on the battlefield. The Necromancers tried to use their Alicorn Amulets, but even their vast power had no effect on Discord. He just laughed at their efforts, snapping his talon this time, conjuring a gelatinous blob of slime that somehow looked at the Alicorn Amulets, despite not having eyes, licked its slimy lips, and gave chase. This creature was just as immune to magic as Discord himself, so the Necromancers were forced to retreat. At last, they were on the run again. But Discord was no savior. After driving off the Necromancers, he set his sights on Equestria, playing with ponies' lives like they were his own personal toys. His reign of terror was almost worse than the Necromancers' rampage. Celestia and Luna had no choice but to confront him, leaving the Founders to try to deal with the threat of the Necromancers for the time being. Soon, they discovered that they were just as powerless against him as the Alicorn Amulets had been, but as they searched for a way to bring about his downfall, it became clear that one location wasn't as affected by his magic as the rest of Equestria. The Everfree Forest. While chaotic in its own right, this forest seemed to resist Discord. He was able to affect other forests, Whitetail Woods was currently in orbit, so why not this one? An expedition by Celestia and Luna revealed the answer. Artifacts of great power were discovered within, which the Alicorns named the Elements of Harmony. Wielding this new power, Discord was quickly neutralized, locked in stone. And with these new relics added to their arsenal, the Necromancers were quick to follow. The Alicorn Amulets apparently had a flaw. While able to duplicate a pony's magic, they were incapable of duplicating magic from another artifact, meaning the immense power of the Elements were well beyond their reach. So, at the base of what we now call Foal Mountain, the seven remaining Necromancers were met by the Alicorns wielding the Elements, their whereabouts having been tracked by Clover during the incident with Discord. One by one, each Alicorn Amulet was met with a blast from the Elements and destroyed, the feedback from such immense power destroying the wearer in the process, until only Princess Blood Diamond herself was left. The last pony of her order standing, Blood Diamond met Celestia and Luna at the peak of the mountain, alone. They demanded she surrender and answer for her crime, but Blood Diamond would not repent her ways, once again trying to pull the concealed dagger from her robe. But Celestia, having had enough of this mare's treachery, didn't give her the opportunity, smiting Blood Diamond across the chest with her golden lance. With their foe wounded tremendously, Celestia and Luna thought victory was finally at hoof and readied the Elements to destroy Blood Diamond and the last Alicorn Amulet. But Blood Diamond had one last trick up her sleeve. Igniting her horn, she made it appear as if she was about to attack, but when Celestia and Luna cast a forcefield around themselves, she sent a magic blast to the peak below. The mountain top exploded, and even though Celestia and Luna's spell protected them, when the debris cleared, all they saw of Blood Diamond was her levitating herself to the river below, leaving a trail of blood in the air. It was obvious she was trying to get away, most likely to start again someday, but she plunged into the river and the swift rapid swept her away before Celestia and Luna could react. For years, Celestia and Luna organized search parties in search of Blood Diamond, but no trace of her was ever found, even her son's whereabouts remained unknown, though Celestia put a lot of effort herself into trying to find him, hoping it wasn't to late to steer him out from under his mothers dark shadow, but no trace of him was ever discovered. It was feared that either him, or his mother would rebuild the Necromancers. But as time went by, and with the Necromancers never resurfacing or rebuilding, it was assumed that the wayward princess had succumbed to her wounds somewhere, and her son finding his own path, whatever that was, the threat of the Necromancers had finally passed. Eventually, Equestria moved on from these dark days, with Celestia and Luna being named rulers of the nation, having proven their resourcefulness. The closing chapter of the Necromancers is when Princess Platinum finally snapped out of her emotional stupor, her first act was to lay her crown at Celestia and Luna's hooves, claiming her sister had shamed her family's name too badly for her to continue ruling the Unicorn Nation. So, while Hurricane and Puddinghead retained some rule, under the guidance of Princess Celestia and Luna, Platinum relinquished all her authority over her people, her lineage blending into the common folk families. But to this day, the Alicorn Amulet Blood Diamond had in her possession is unaccounted for. It is a dangerous magical artifact, so on the off chance it does resurface, Celestia put measures in play to minimize the damage. Young unicorns are taught about it from a young age in school, though vaguely, so if it is eventually discovered, it will be brought before authority immediately. --- Rainbow gulped as she finished reading the chapter, closing the book to gaze at the hooded mare on the cover, the sinister neckpiece below her chin. "So that's the Alicorn Amulet?" she mused. "Sweet Celestia, I had no idea such things happened in Equestria." She smirked to herself. "As Rarity would say 'Oh, such atrocious behavior, Blood Diamond, you brute!" Then Rainbow Dash began to dwell on what she had read when Celestia and Luna entered the scene in the book. 'I... didn't want to believe Twilight, what she said about Celestia. But she was right, she was being a coward.' She cradled the book. 'How could the pony who fought that Blood Diamond yahoo tooth and hoof let an overgrown bug like Chrysalis whoop her flank? If that Celestia had been on our side back then we probably wouldn't have needed Hermaeus Mora at all. She needs a good kick in the rear and to get her act together. Who knows– "AAAAAAAGGGHHH!!!" A sudden scream from outside tore Rainbow out of her thoughts. "That sounds like Rarity." She face-hoofed, "What is it now? 'Oh, I gave the flower fillies dresses six gems, they must have an even dozen a piece!" she mimicked mockingly. "Well, I'd better go see if I can help." Rainbow tucked her book under her wing. "After all, I need to help with the preparations as much as possible." --- Amethyst Star approached the library, blowing on the cappuccino in her hooves. Before she could get to the door, a rainbow streak came barreling out and passed her, knocking the hot coffee over her muzzle. Her eyes twitched as her mane dripped with coffee. "Okay, I haven't missed that at all." --- Rainbow flapped her way towards the boutique, but suddenly an explosion of red erupted below, and when she looked, she saw Rarity standing below, clad in a dress that seemed too gaudy, even for her. "YOU BEAST!" she screamed, examining the dress with terror, "Why this shade of brown should only be used for accents..." She made to faint, but Pinkie caught her with her back, her discarded overly large basket hat spilling its contents all over the flower sisters and their market stand. "I got you Rarity," she said, cradling the delirious unicorn, "I have a soothing pink that will fix you right up, stat." "WHERE IS TWILIGHT SPARKLE!" At the sound of the loud, aggressive voice, Rainbow Dash ducked above a cloud and peaked over. 'Who is that? that voice sounds familiar.' Rainbow spotted the speaker, a blue unicorn with a silver mane, the hood of her traveling cloak pulled down to reveal her features. 'Is that... Trixie?' Rainbow scowled, 'What's that sideshow wannabe doing here?' "IF SOMEPONY DOESN'T TELL ME WHERE SHE IS, I AM GOING TO LEVEL THIS BACKWASH YOU CALL A HOME!" With a blast of her horn, Carrot Top's stand went flying. 'Oh no you don't, miss tantrum." Rainbow Dash spread her wings. 'Wait... why is her magic a different color?' She looked at a puddle of water laying in the road beneath Trixie and did a double take at her reflection. "No, it can't be," she whispered to herself, looking between the cover of her book and at Trixie's reflection in the puddle. "The Alicorn Amulet?"