“Romau City, Year 762, Emperor Romau Ascendant’s Journal. The Empire has lost something today, yet it has also gained so much. I had invited the Equestrian King, Ordirus, to visit the Arena today, that he and his family might be entertained by our many warriors, and so I could keep an eye on the development of his daughter, Celestia Solarium Ordver. Whilst here, he saw one of my favorite fighters, the young Malleus Noctis, the blue alicorn who fell from the sky and promptly became mine. He saw her defeat opponent after opponent, twice, triple, quadruple her size, ripping throats out with her oddly sharp teeth, smashing skulls with her namesake hammer, spurred on forever by the crowd, and I could see that he was thinking. I was, of course, admiring, as was his brother, King Sombra, whilst King Discord was off making merriment in some other section of the city. As the fights came to a close, King Ordirus pulled me aside, and he made me an offer.”
Raven stands in his lab, Sweetie Belle reading from a leather bound journal beside him, with him, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo watching as changeling after changeling comes into his laboratory, carrying bags full of miscellaneous bones within them, setting them down on a central table before leaving.
“He told me that he wished to purchase Malleus, or Luna, as he called her, that he could adopt her as his own daughter, away from the arena. In exchange for her, he offered me a golden chalice, what he called the Idol of Boreas, a chalice said to hold the power of a great god within it. I examined the chalice, of course, and there was indeed power within it, holy and pure, perhaps even more than Malleus, Luna, had within her. However, I rejected his first offer, I knew the King was a bleeding heart, that he would offer me more, that which could enrich my Empire. I was not disappointed. He offered to me what he called the Iron Crown, which he had gathered during his travels in the distant past from a land called Lombardy. It was impressive, a crown befitting an Emperor such as me, yet still I denied, there was more he could give me. Finally, he relinquished one final treasure as payment for the filly, a magical sword, one he calls, ‘Excalibur’, which seems to float, obeying the commands of the wielder as soon as they are thought.”
Raven’s eyebrow would raise, with him looking at Sweetie as she reads, “Lombardy and Excalibur? It would seem that the theories of us once being one realm is true. To trade the Iron Crown and Magic Sword for a filly, it seems mad. What filly could be worth such artifacts?” He motions Sweetie to read onward.
“Knowing better than to anger the Spirit further, I accepted the deal from him, for I knew he could tear down my cities if ever we got into a battle, and that would be annoying to clean. Sword, Idol, and Crown in my claws, I had the filly sedated and sent away with him that very night, just three hours ago. I remember Malleus, Luna, had a mutual crush with one of the slaves, a low-born named Grover Grydoen, but I refuse to sell anyone else to Ordirus without a large price. If I am lucky, she shall be so torn apart, ripped from her crush’s side, that she shall return to me willingly. But that is yet to be seen, for now, I shall be crowned with my new crown, the Imperial Crown, and shall show the mighty powers I have been gifted to my Empire. Romau Ascendant.”
Sweetie Belle then puts down the book, looking at Raven, “So, Raven, why did you want me to read all of that?”
He steps up to his laboratory table, filled with bags of bones, all changelings having left the room, “I am very interested in the connection my home world and your world seem to have, and wish to see if it has anything with why I was brought into this world. The knowledge gained may be very valuable.”
Scootaloo steps up as well, looking over the bones, then at him, “So… why are you all about knowledge anyway? What caused that?”
He nods along, beginning to exam the bags of bones closely, his hooves and eyes glowing green, “It was a Frenchman, Nicholas Flamel, who truly sparked my wish to learn. For centuries I had done nothing but blindly follow my namesake, Death, raising skeletons, zombies, and whatever else I wished, for no reason other than having nothing else to do. Flamel came to me, surprising me by being able to vanquish skeletons without a blessed weapon, instead using an alchemical elixir. He had come to ask questions of me, questions of magic, alchemy, and science, questions that would get common men executed for even uttering them. His… curiosity, it excited me in a manner, it was like I was sleeping for a millennia, and he opened my eyes to the world around me. There’s so much to explore, so much to learn, things which will last even longer than I will.”
Scootaloo nods along and then grins slightly, “Aren’t you Death, though? Isn’t it kinda impossible for you to die? It’s a… umm…” She looks at Sweetie Belle, who mouths it to her, “Right, a paradox!”
He shakes his head, with bones coming out of the bags, assembling themselves together, mismatches bones from different animals coming together to form vaguely humanoid shapes, before they begin to glow green, green fires appearing within their eye sockets, before they march out in single file, “Death is more of a misconception than anything. People died before I existed, and I am not immune to death, but I am very hard to kill. Average weapons and magic won’t do anything to me. If you want to kill me, you have to destroy my soul completely, and only a few weapons, blessed by divine magic, can do that.”
Apple Bloom keeps an eye on the skeletons, “I don’t like ‘em, but they do look pretty cool. Say, thus Nicholas fella, what was he wearing?”
Raven looks over, cocking an eyebrow, “Robes designed to keep one warm.”
She smiles, “Are you sure he wasn’t wearing… Nicholas Flannel?” She then snorts, and begins to laugh to herself, the other fillies also giggling along.
Raven looks at the three of them with a blank stare, “No, he was wearing cloth.” He then turns back to the skeletons, his magic doing its work.
Sweetie Belle stops her giggling, giving Bloom a small grin, “Geez, I don’t think he liked that one, Apple Bloom. I think he and a bone to pick with it!” She then begins to giggle at her joke, while her friends roll their eyes.
Scootaloo shakes her head slightly, “Come on, Sweetie Belle, at least Apple Bloom’s was creative.” She then looks at Raven, “That was a bad- are you smiling?” Indeed, though he keeps his face away, a small smile is on Raven’s face, “Oh my Celestia, you’re smiling at that? That joke? Seriously?”
He looks over, that small smile still on his face, as he speaks plainly, “No, I’m smiling because I get to hear your sandpaper voice grate against my ears once more, Scootaloo. I believed once that the bones I work with were the most dusty and dry things I’ve ever experienced, but then you opened your mouth.”
Scootaloo blinks, only to rapidly turn around as she hears her friends suppressing laughs, only for the two of them to burst out into laughs, causing her to frown and stomp her hoof, “That’s not funny, why are you laughing?!”
Sweetie Belle snorts slightly, speaking between her laughter, “Sounds like, heh, you’ve got a skele-ton of problems with us laughing at that!” This causes her to giggle even more, and even Raven lets out a small snort at the joke, though it’s hard to hear.
Scootaloo spins around again, looking at him with wide eyes, “You can’t be serious! That! You’re laughing at that! You’re insane if that’s funny, it’s a bone pun, a bone pun!”
Apple Bloom smirks, trotting up to Scootaloo, hitting her side lightly, “What, doesn’t it tickle your funny bone?” She then giggles herself, while Scootaloo frowns and fumes.
The door would burst open, Chrysalis poking her head in from outside, where she was inspecting skeletons, hissing at the fillies, “If I hear another pun from within this room, I will make it punishable by death!” She then slams the door closed, leaving all four of the foals a bit shocked. Slowly, the Crusaders would all begin to giggle, with Raven watching on, cracking a soft smile, before returning to his work.