Chapter 1: Waking up to a Nightmare
Fluttershy slowly opened her eyes. She felt tired and weak like she had just finished a long day of taking care of her animals, but she realized this wasn't her cottage she was waking up in. It was far too dark and there were no windows.
"Hello? Anypony there?" Fluttershy asked meekly, but the only response was her own echo.
Fluttershy decided to stand up and look around to try to gain some kind of understanding of where she was. Her eyes were adjusting to the dark and she was beginning to be able to make out some of her surroundings. Stone and rocks were all around her. Stalagmites and stalactites could be seen in most directions, and the sound of dripping water could be heard echoing all around her. She noticed that there was an unlit campfire too in the center of a small clearing. From what she has seen she was able to guess that she was in a cave, and that herself and maybe some other ponies were camping here for the night. Fluttershy didn't understand though she had no memory of leaving her cottage, or even a reason to go camping like this.
Just as she had finished that thought she noticed a glow coming around the corner. She ducked behind a boulder and waited to see just what was coming. The glow brightened until a pony with a torch walked around the corner. It was wearing a black cloak that covered its head and most of its body, so she couldn't make out its race or gender. The pony walked to the campfire and placed its torch into it, bringing the whole pile to life. As soon as the fire was lit it looked over to where Fluttershy had awoken and noticed she was gone.
"Oh! She finally woke up!" A distinctly male voice said. "Are you still here? I hope she didn't get too far."
Fluttershy weighed her options. Should she reveal herself to this pony and hope he was a good pony and not an evil kidnapper? Or should she wait until he leaves and make a run for it once the coast is clear. She thought for a few seconds about how she had no idea where she was, and that it would be unlikely that she could find safety even if she flew around in the air. The stallion turned around and started to walk out, but she crept out from her hiding spot and yelled out to him before he left.
"Wait! Please don't go." She cried out as she leapt forward and landed softly with a few beats of her wings.
She was nearly crying at this point. Fluttershy didn't handle stress well, and waking up all alone, cold, and in a dark cave with no friends around had really started to get to her. The Stallion turned around and walked back to the campfire where Fluttershy had flew up to. He took off his hood and bowed to her, which Fluttershy assumed was a sign of good intentions. She could make out his face now. He was a grey unicorn, he had a short pale blue mane and a pair of matching eyes. He also seemed to be somewhat old. Not quite granny smith age but defiantly older then say, Mayor Mare.
"Good morning young mare, allow me to introduce myself." The unicorn began with a smile on his face. "My name is Aerick Trouder, how are you feeling?"
"Ummm, I'm feeling okay I guess. Just a bit chilly" Fluttershy said quietly. "Oh how rude of me! My name is Fluttershy, I'm guessing you saved me from something? I can't remember anything at all! Did I hit my head really hard?"
Fluttershy was just speculating about being hit on the head. She couldn't remember anything so head trauma was her best guess. Aerick's smile faded to a frown though after she asked that question. He sighed and looked at her with a very serious expression.
"I am not sure what happened to you Fluttershy." He said with a heavy tone. "I have a lot to explain to you so you should probably sit down." Fluttershy nodded and sat in place. "Let me first tell you about myself, it will make everything easier to understand. I come from a very far land, despite me being a pony I was not born or raised here in Equestria. Where I come from we practice many kinds of magic that I have yet to see here in Equestria. I specialize in one of those fields of magic called Necromancy."
"Necromancy?" Fluttershy asked with a worried tone. "What is that?"
"It is not a type of magic many love. In fact most hate and fear it. A Necromancer like myself can conjure apparitions, cast curses, talk to the dead, and even revive the dead from their graves."
"But... that sounds like horrible magic... are you-"
"No I assure you Fluttershy I'm not a bad pony. I do not intend to hurt anypony while I am traveling here in Equestria. I only wish to learn about magic that I haven't seen before."
"Okay" Is all Fluttershy is able to say at this point. She isn't so sure she should be trusting this unicorn, but she knows she doesn't really have much of a choice right now.
"Alright. Now that you know what I am I can tell you what happened to you. You see Fluttershy..." Aerick trailed off for a second. He looked as if he was trying to find the right words to use before continuing. "when I found you, you were already dead."
What? Already dead? I'm not dead I'm sitting right here alive and well! Fluttershy started to think to herself. She wanted to ask aloud, but didn't have the strength to say anything. She just sat there as the unicorn in front of her continued to explain.
"You were in very bad shape. Your head was twisted 270 degrees, several ribs were fractured, internal bleeding was evident, and both of your hind legs were broken in multiple places. It took a lot of effort to repair your body when I found you. Fluttershy there are two ways to bring a creature back from the dead. The first way is to simply raise it with whatever is left on the body, which can go as bear as just the bones. Those minions have no will of their own though, and just mindlessly do as they are told."
Minions? Oh no he was lying wasn't he?! He is a bad pony! He wants to turn me into his minion! Fluttershy's thoughts continued to race. She wanted to just get up and run, but she was still far too scared to do anything.
"The second way is a bit more difficult. If you can find them recently enough after death, and if their body is still in a functional condition, then you can revive them with all their memories and will intact. I prefer to revive creatures the second way so that they may choose their life in undeath or not. Fluttershy I revived you the second way after I found you about a week ago at the base of this mountain."
Aerick had broken eye contact with Fluttershy half way through his speech. It was possible to tell that it pained him to give this explanation to Fluttershy, and he avoided looking directly at her because of it. He finally looked back at her to see how she was handling the news. Fluttershy was trembling and crying. She did not take the news well, and infact she really didn't even believe him.
"I don't believe you! I feel fine." Fluttershy said. She was finally able to open her mouth and say something after he looked her in the eye.
"Yes most of them deny it, but there are ways you can tell you are really dead. Tell me Fluttershy have you been breathing?"
Fluttershy just looked at Aerick with a confused expression on her face. Breathing? Of course I've been breathing... wait no. I was breathing to talk, but was I breathing at all before then?
"You might want to check you pulse too, or well the lack of one."
She complied with his request and held a hoof up to her neck. She has checked the pulses of many other animals and ponies before. She knew just where to place her hoof to feel the pulse of blood flowing through her veins, but she felt nothing when she checked this time.
"You don't have to breath, because you don't use your lungs for respiration anymore, and your heart doesn't beat because your body doesn't need oxygen anymore. You are being kept alive with my magic now."
No breathing no pulse. Could he really be right? Am I dead? Fluttershy fell to the ground and covered her eyes. She tried to hide her crying and started to talk to herself.
"This is all a bad dream. I'm just sleeping in my cottage right now and I'll wake up soon."
"I'm sorry Fluttershy, but this is all too real." Aerick spoke with a comforting tone. "It might take you some time to accept, but the sooner you do the better it will be for you. If you need some time alone to think then I'll be waiting for you outside of the cave when your ready to talk." The Unicorn walked out of site leaving Fluttershy to contemplate what she was just told.
Fluttershy slowly stopped crying and opened her eyes. She was beginning to accept what Aerick had told her, but still had so many questions to ask. I've been holding my breath for at least five minuets now and I feel fine. I don't feel my heart beat either. Is this why I'm cold? Because my body is dead? How is this even possible!? And why did Aerick revive me with my memories instead of making me his minion? I... just want to go home.
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Aerick was sitting outside looking up to a cloudy sky. It was sometime in the early morning but the whole sky was grey and dreary from a recent storm that had moved by. He preferred this kind of sky to a blue and sunny one, and he had been spending most of his time outside waiting for Fluttershy to wake up because of the whether. From the cave entrance he could see a large part of the mountains around him. They could be more accurately described as large hills because of how low lying they were.
He had been sitting outside for about half an hour when Fluttershy came walking out to join him. She looked a little sullen, but considering the news he had to give her that was a very good condition for her to be in.
"Feeling any better now?" Aerick asked. "I heard crying can be very therapeutic."
"Ummm... I guess so." Fluttershy said quietly.
"Now I assume you have lots of questions so don't be shy, ill answer them all honestly I promise."
"Well, I just want to know why would you want to bring me back, from being dead."
Aerick smiled, this was just the question he wanted to hear. "You've accepted that your undead already? That was very fast."
"Well I'm still not really sure, but I do feel kind of cold and weak. If my body is dead it would make sense that I feel this way."
"Fair enough, now for your question." Aerick began. "When I journey to a new land I find it convenient to travel with someone who is familiar with the territory I am in. The easiest way for me, as a necromancer, to do this is to revive a local and contract them to guide me through their land." He paused for a second to give Fluttershy a second to think.
"You want me to be your guide?" She aksed inquisitively.
"Yes. I'm not going to force you to help me Fluttershy, but if you don't want to help me then I'm afraid I can not keep you alive."
"What do you mean?" She was worried about him speaking so frankly about her life.
"Imagine if you were to go back to your friends and family in your current undead state? How do you think they would react?"
Fluttershy thought about it for a second. Do my friends even know I'm dead? I still don't know how I died. I guess that doesn't even matter though... I'm a zombie now, and a zombie can't be a normal pony. Do I eat or sleep now?What about using the little fillies room?
Aerick continued. "Also there is the matter of my magic that is keeping you alive. You can't go too far away from me. If you do then my spell will break and you'll just turn back into a... dead body. So the deal is pretty much this, I'll give you more time to live your life if you join me as my companion through your land."
Fluttershy was finally beginning to understand. "So you just wait until you find a dead pony, revive them, give them the choice of remaining dead or joining you in your travels, and then move along? I'm sorry, but that sounds like a horrible thing to do! What about the loved ones of those you revive? How do you think they feel about you disturbing their graves?"
"It's not something I'm proud of. It's all I can do. The living fear me whenever they find out about my magic. Only the dead accept me." Aerick's face was angry for just a few seconds, but he returned to a smile and looked back to Fluttershy. "So how about it my little pegasus? Would you like to join me?"
"I still want to know what happened to me before I died." Fluttershy said with a bit of confidence.
"You don't remember how you died?" Aerick responded a bit confused. "Most of the time when I revive someone they remember how they died."
"No I don't know how, my last memory isn't even anywhere near here. Where are we by the way?"
"I'm sorry, but I don't know the name. I do know where a local town is though. I was planning on heading there next."
"I see. I'll come with you then. Maybe I'll be able to figure out what happened to me there."
"Excellent! There are just a few rules you need to follow."
"Rules?" She asked.
"Yes we have to be careful. Number one, no communicating with friends and family you had during your life. Number two, you are to stay with me at all times unless if I say otherwise. And Number three, If there is ever an oppertunity to learn about magic your country has to offer notify me as soon as you know about it."
"Okay." Fluttershy nodded in agreement.
"Also there is the matter of your identity. You'll need a new name since we want to make it hard for ponies to recognize you. Anything you have in mind?"
"A new name? But I can't name myself, I'm no good at that." Fluttershy was a bit uncomfortable with the idea of naming herself. She always thought names were something given to you by someone else. "Can you think of any good names?"
"Well I'm not really sure. I don't know what a normal name would be for an Equestrian." Aerick held a hoof up to his mouth and started to ponder. He then looked Fluttershy in the eyes and had an idea. "Okay, how about Ashlyn Flyer? It matches you since your a pegasus, and your eye color is grey."
"I love the name mister Aerick, but my eyes aren't grey they are more like a green." Fluttershy said confidently.
"You might want to take a look for yourself then." Aerick said as he pointed to a puddle of water near by.
Fluttershy rushed over and starred into the clear puddle of water. It wasn't an extremely clear image of her face, but she was able to make out her eye color. Sure enough it was no longer the greenish cyan color it had been before, but now it was a dull and miserable looking grey. Her mane and coat had even become a few shades grayer, as if she had been mildly discorded. The effect made her look the way she felt. Cold, weak, and dead.
"I'm sorry Fluttershy, or Ashlyn. There are many different side effects of my resurrection spell. One of them can be skin, hair, or eye color changes which you seem to have suffered from."
"Oh I see." Fluttershy said with a frown on her face. "It's okay, it matches me now, and it will make it harder to tell who I am." She looked up to Aerick and faked a smile.
Aerick returned the smile and turned to head into the cave. "I'm going to pack up my belongings and get ready to leave. It's still early in the day so we should be able to reach the local town here before nightfall."
"Okay. Wait let me help you!" Fluttershy yelled as she ran in after him.
Fluttershy and Aerick both collected the few things that was left around the campfire. Fluttershy noted that Aerick didn't seem to have any kind of food or cooking equipment with him, but didn't bother asking him about it. One pony would've been enough to carry all of Aerick's belongings but Fluttershy insisted that she help carry some of it. They put out the fire and headed out for a town Fluttershy would hopefully recognize when they got there. Fluttershy was feeling hopeful since the first time she woke up that morning.
"So Ashlyn tell me a bit about yourself." Aerick asked as they walked down the first slope. "Let's make this journey a bit less boring and tell us about each other."
"Hmm where should I start?...."