//------------------------------// // Unladylike Spellcraft // Story: Imperial Forclousure // by The Sound of Loneliness //------------------------------// Tiny sat on a bedroll, staring into a teacup Rarity put out for her. The tea was hot; wispy streaks of white steam were slowly rising from the cup, tickling Tiny’s nose. “Try it, darling,” Rarity prompted. “I promise, it’s not too hot.” Tiny shrugged, levitated the cup to her lips, and sipped. The tea was almost hot enough to burn, but not quite. It tasted buttery and sweet. “A lovely blend, wouldn’t you say?‘ Rarity asked, taking a sip herself. “It tastes like water with something added into it,” Tiny said flatly. Rarity sighed, “Oh, darling. You can’t even imagine how wrong you are.” Tiny shrugged again, “Water is water, no matter what you add to it. Can we go to Nightmare now?” “This again... Dear, I told you before: Nightmare specifically asked for you to stay here until morning. Nightmare is fighting a battle right now; we would only be in the way, distracting her.” “I can fight too…” Tiny grumbled. “Oh, perish the thought!” Rarity turned her nose up and away. “Fighting is uncouth and unladylike!” Rarity then looked back at Tiny. “We shall leave it to Nightmare and her soldiers.” Tiny decided to keep staring into her cup. She was excited when Rarity came running to call them back, but she didn’t even get to see Nightmare again. Daybreaker immediately left with the ponies, and Tiny stayed with Rarity. Celestia and Twilight were also there, but they were guarding a crowd of ponies in a corner. Tiny guessed they were prisoners from Nightmare’s battle but never asked. The steam from the cup seduced her after all, and Tiny decided to take another sip. The tea was still hot, and Tiny was starting to enjoy it. Looking at Rarity, Tiny suddenly froze. Across her, Rarity was struggling with a black cloud that was holding her mouth shut, restraining her hooves, and enveloping her horn all at once, leaving only her nose and eyes looking around in panic. “A foal,” a voice calmly stated. Only then did Tiny notice glowing red eyes in the cloud. She had seen it before; Nightmare had spoken to it in Twilight’s place. “She wants me to teach a foal. I wonder what she imagines you’d do with such knowledge.” Tiny didn’t say anything, starting to slowly quiver in her seat. This was a ghost; she didn’t doubt that. But it wasn’t like with Nightmare; in its tone, Tiny could sense malice. “You caught the eye of more than one usurper, it seems,” the ghost continued. “Flurry Heart wants me to teach you necromancy… how curious. I might just do so… if only to see where this will lead.” After those words, Rarity began struggling even harder, but she could do little without the use of her limbs or horn. “Well, come then. Your friend wishes to resurrect a specific corpse, and I will make sure you do. No one will say that King Sombra is a liar.” Sombra dragged the panicking Rarity away towards the exit, making no sound. Tiny knew she probably should have told Celestia… but the allure of new spells was more potent. With a cautious look between tents at the princesses, Tiny quickly trotted after the ghost as it kept dragging Rarity away outside. “There is a cave underneath the Castle,” he explained after Tiny passed the doors. “A pity you are not an alicorn,” he said before descending into the chasm. Tiny looked down; the chasm was deep. Probably as deep as the Castle was tall. That was no issue for her, though. Tiny focused on a specific point down at the bottom and tried teleporting there. In the blink of an eye, she was down there. Tiny really didn’t understand why this was a big deal if it was so easy. She got down even quicker than the ghost did, “Hmm… maybe you are not such a waste after all,” he only said. Sombra led her into the cave; at first, it was dark and ominous, but soon there was soft light ahead. There was a tree… a grand, crystal tree. Its dim light was glowing softly, but the tree itself was losing its coloration in places. It looked weakened but not ruined. At the very roots of the tree, there was something else; it looked like a changeling’s carapace but larger. “That is the corpse you will be reviving,” Sombra said. “Take this,” he produced a tied scroll and offered it to Tiny, “Read this, and the spell will be enacted.” “But weren’t you going to teach me how to do it?” Tiny whined. “If you are indeed as gifted as your caretakers believe, you will learn the spell yourself from the scroll. How do you presume Princess Twilight learned so many without any aid from her teacher?” Reluctantly, Tiny took the scroll. Opening it, she noted that it was written in a standard script; luckily, Mister Rich taught her to read it. Suddenly, Tiny was remembering all the instructions she received fondly; those books that Nightmare made her study were starting to become useful. The scroll was definitely written to ensure that even an amateur unicorn would at least understand it; casting it was another matter. It was more complex than the spells Daybreaker made her learn, and it relied on a different matrix as well, yet Tiny was confident she could crack it in time. Right now, though… Tiny looked at Rarity; the mare had calmed down somewhat. She shook her head rapidly. That made Tiny question whether this was the right course of action. Sombra did say that Flurry asked him to, but Flurry herself never mentioned him. Though Flurry rarely explained what exactly she had planned. “Flurry didn’t say anything about this,” Tiny attempted to excuse herself. “Ah, but of course. We do not say more than servants must know to perform their duties. Now, do as you are told and read the scroll over the corpse,” Sombra was starting to sound impatient. Reluctantly, Tiny headed over to the corpse. Upon reaching closer, Tiny noted a bird’s nest in the tree’s crystalline branches. The tree’s warm glow felt almost as if it was encouraging her. Was this really right? Tiny didn’t want to harm Nightmare or anyone else from her new friends. With a heavy heart, Tiny started to cast. The corpse was surrounded by her magic aura and began rapidly growing and restoring to a recognizable creature... as if going back in time. Tiny never stopped reading until she reached the end. This was much less gruesome than she expected from a necromantic spell. Tiny sighed in relief and looked on at her work. The creature at her hooves was definitely a Changeling, though not one she had ever seen before. It was tall and lean, with a long mane and tail. It still looked dead to her, as it did not breathe or move. “There. Now I will take my leave, tell the usurper that our agreement is finished. I will have no further dealings with her,” Sombra let Rarity slip out from his grasp, and in a single long line, he streaked out of the cave. Rarity immediately jumped to the dead creature, staring at it with wide eyes, “Oh, no-no-no-no! This a total disaster!” she lamented. “Oh, Tiny, darling, why did you have to listen to that treacherous ruffian?! This a catastrophe! She puts all of us in grave danger! We must imprison her!” “Looks still dead,” Tiny shrugged, not entirely understanding Rarity’s reaction. That slightly curbed Rarity’s panic. The mare touched the creature’s chest. “Oh, thank goodness! She has no heartbeat. Chrysalis returning at such a moment would’ve spelled absolute chaos.” “What’s so bad about her? Can’t Nightmare just kill her back?” “This, my dear, is the former Queen of changelings. The only creature in all the world that could contest Nightmare’s claim on the changelings.” “Oh… Don’t they dislike her now?” “Yes, but one could make some unusual choices for the survival of their race, darling. We must tell Nightmare.‘ “But isn’t she in battle?” Rarity stood silent for a moment, “Yes… we’d have to wait.” “What’s so bad about this? Even the spell is easy. I just read the scroll like Sombra said. He could do it himself if he wanted.” “No, dear, he could not. Only unicorns can read scrolls. Sombra cannot cast unicorn magic on account of being dead. He must conduct a ritual to cast the most simple spell. We should give the scroll to Nightmare as well: she would want to know all about this scheme.” Something suddenly hit Tiny, “No! Rarity, we can’t tell Nightmare! She’ll send Shadow to kill her! Flurry saw it in the future!” Rarity was visibly taken aback, “How can you say that? Nightmare does not harm any creatures unless absolutely necessary. Flurry is our friend; she would never do that. One of my other friends even attempted to kill her once: not even then did Nightmare harm her in return; she did not even imprison her; Nightmare simply put her where she knew she couldn’t do any harm.” Tiny took thought. Could have Flurry mistaken? Was it a different future? Rarity knew Nightmare better than either of them. She had no reason to trust Flurry, coming to think of it. Maybe she was lying about seeing the future and was trying to use her. But why? Flurry had no stake in Nightmare’s war unless she was acting on her mom’s behalf. “Maybe we should talk to Flurry first?” Tiny unsurely asked. “She’ll explain what’s happening.” “As nice as that would be, Flurry seems to be very aloof as of late. Would you happen to know anything about her whereabouts?” “No…” “Well, in that case, we should hurry and tell Nightmare as soon as she is finished. Come on now.” As Rarity beckoned her back out of the cave, Tiny’s mind began racing to find some sort of solution that would not endanger anyone. The spell did not revive the Queen outright, it seemed. She was still dead; it’s just that her body was no longer decomposed. Yet Nightmare might still take this as a threat. Tiny didn’t know what to do… but figured she could start by trying to delay Rarity. “Rarity?” “Yes, darling?” “Can you help me to practice some spells while we wait for Nightmare to get done?” “Why, of course! Although… I am not as good of a teacher as Twilight, I’m afraid…” “Sister taught me a new spell yesterday, but I need someone to practice it with. It’s for self-defense: I cast it, and the creature gets very tired, so I can maybe get away. “Oh… dear, I don’t know. Are you quite sure it is safe?” “Well, if I mess up, Twilight and Celestia are nearby. Nightmare will have some new stuff for them to do when she’s back, and I won’t get the chance to practice anymore despite things getting more dangerous… just look at what happened with that ghost that took you hostage. Can you help? Pretty please?”