//------------------------------//
// Chapter 14 
// Story: Weakness of the Flesh 
// by totallynotabrony 
//------------------------------//

	Luna glanced at the dead sorcerer, still displeased with all the trouble he had caused.  The forest surrounding Ponyville would need to be swept for bodies and cleansed of his memory.  She performed a spell, and the stallion’s body lit up with quick-burning blue flames.  In seconds, all that was left was a bare skeleton.
With a flick of her horn, the pile of bones flew into the cave, rattling off the stone walls.  Luna nodded to Cheerilee, and the lavender mare picked up her cigarette from where she had dropped it.  After taking a deep inhale to make the ash glow cherry red, she lit the fuse on the explosives.
Tossing the butt away, Cheerilee joined the others as they turned back towards Ponyville.  Perhaps thirty seconds passed before the thundering detonation came.  The entrance to the cavern came down in a pile of rocks, hiding the fact that there had ever been something at the location.
The Princess sighed.  It was over and she had accomplished what she wanted to.  Why wasn’t she happy, then?  Was she supposed to be?  It had been mostly anger driving her forward.  That was what had caused her to incinerate the dead necromancer and bury the remains under a pile of rocks, although Luna told herself that it was because she was making sure he wouldn’t come back.  Truthfully, she’d let herself go and lost a little self-control.  I suppose everypony sometimes does things they aren’t proud of.  Even Princesses.
Twilight saw the look on Princess Luna’s face and guessed that she was wrestling with something in her mind.  Could the Elements of Harmony have done the job more easily or with a better end?  The purple unicorn didn’t know.  At best, what would they have been left with?  A sorcerer who was sorry for creating an army out of dead ponies?  Perhaps killing Skull really was the best solution, although it was very troubling that it might be true.
Golden glanced at the rest of the group.  The high she felt from success was beginning to fade.  The battle was won, but it hadn’t been easy or painless.  While it wasn’t what Cheerilee did every single day, the white pegasus couldn’t help but wonder how the schoolteacher managed to put up with her job.
Beside her, the lavender pony walked slowly, shaking off the last of Skull’s magic attack.  She thought of the future, about what would happen next.  Golden had made great progress, but she wasn’t ready to take care of herself yet.  Perhaps once she learned a little more self-control they could send her back to high school.  Cheerilee smiled a little to herself.  It might take a while to get to that point, but they would get there.
“I’ve been wondering,” said Spike, “The last time there was a necromancer around, the Royal Guard was sent to stop him.  Ponyville was established in the area as a cover up.  What are we going to do this time?”
Princess Luna shrugged.  “We’ll handle things as they come.  Hopefully some curious ponies like our friend Teacup don’t stumble on anything.”
Cheerilee nodded, catching the subtle reprimand.  She deserved it, though.  In a moment of weakness she’d made a few bad decisions.  She would cooperate however Luna wanted to handle Tea.  Hopefully that would be a simple memory spell.  Surely she wasn’t thinking about…no, that was silly.  Tea was a good pony, but Cheerilee couldn’t see him as a coworker.
Luna glanced at everypony else.  She had gotten them involved, so it was up to her to make sure they were all right.  If she made mistakes, the only thing she could do was correct them as well as possible.  After all, everypony was weak sometimes.  It was the support of friends that kept them going.


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Tea sat alone in his house, the sharp tools he’d taken from the china shop laid out in front of him.  He’d had no chance to use them in self-defense or in defending any other pony.
The revelation that he’d been living next door to two vampires had set him on edge, and Tea didn’t know what to do with himself anymore.  He could go on with his life…but he would still be living next door to vampires.  Granted, Cheerilee was nice, but he didn’t know how he would treat her in the future.  He felt like an idiot for trying to get closer to her.
The stallion packed up his tools and set out for the china shop.  He unlocked the door and stepped into the back room only to stop short, staring at the loose floorboard where the mountain of bits was hidden.
Tea stood for several seconds, mind working.  He knelt and pulled up the board.  After a moment’s hesitation, he began scooping the money into his saddlebags.
After picking the space clean, Tea exited the shop and locked the door.  He looked longingly towards the General Store where cigarettes were sold.  It was just his addiction speaking to him and with some effort he could ignore the weakness and focus on more important things.  Instead of giving in, Tea turned the other direction.  He walked to the train station, buying the first ticket he could.