It occurred to me two hours after lunch was broken up by Cadance and Sweet Heart's reunion that I still don't know if Flutter Ponies eat solid food. Still, I'd managed to get away from all the hustling around. Granted I doubt I've actually sneaked off as no doubt all of them noticed my leaving despite my efforts, you just can't fool a god and those who spend time with them so easily. Either way no one's complained and I'm back in my older room before Mom moved me into hers. My horn is currently throbbing in pain as I use minor divination magic to continue reading the divination book that's on the desk as I lay down comfortably on the bed.
The next trick was actually a spell I'd learned by accident, sight without eyes. Go figure. Although it is a good part as it highlights how little I actually know about the way unicorns and by extension alicorns use magic. It's clear it's through the horn and something innate to the species but... why doesn't it impede my necromancy? My horn is broken and although it's gone from a jagged stump to a short jagged pole, it's still broken.
Logically I should have as hard a time with necromancy as all my other spells. But no, it still comes as easily as ever. I'm not complaining, but I am curious. Hmm... I focus further and my head pounds all the harder. The book turns onto it's last pages and I read a quick description of the final spell the book has. It's a distant sight and sense spell that has a range up to a hundred kilometres away. Not as powerful as I'd like but it doesn't need a focus and can be cast on the inside of one's eyelids so you can be subtle about it as well.
I wonder, how much in the way of divination does sensing necromantic elements count? How similar is such an ability to divination? Is it simply another sense that I could cast through divination or is it a type of divination? What are the limits to spells dealings with knowledge? How far in the future can you look? How far into the past? The mage has clearly demonstrated that it can reach across dimensions and across great distances. I now realize that the mage has either never told me his name or I've forgotten it. Either one is bad, the first implies he still suspects me in some small way and the second points towards senility.
“Oh for pities sake! Good afternoon young prince, I see you've finished your task.” the elderly mage's voice rings out and a small portal appears with his face in it. It's rippling so is he using water as a medium?
“Yes, there was a gathering of wendigo that with Sweet Heart and mother's help I was able to end. Mother held them back as Sweet Heart and I returned them to full life.” I explain knowing full well that I shouldn't be saying so much, but... he will most likely take this as proof that I'm clearly not who he's looking for. Even though I am. Ha.
“That... that's fascinating. It's rare if not outright impossible for the undead to be returned to full life. The implications... how can such a thing be done?” he asks and I blink.
“Well, you need an Immortal, a Goddess and a powerful necromancer to start. Which well... is not practical. Also... it wasn't returning them to life. It was giving them new life.” I say and he sighs.
“True enough, anyways sorry for interrupting you.” he says and gives a salute with a wince of pain. Then he's gone. Hopefully he's considering my earlier offer. It would be interesting to try and it would definitely destroy any remaining doubts of my innocence.
I flip through the book as I hold down a wince of pain as I go to the next spell and begin working on it. Apparently the other ones were geared wholly towards sight and this one would allow me to expand towards sound as well. Could be useful, but only if focusing on one thing. It certainly seems to be the weakness of divination, if you're not looking at the right place at the right time you miss everything. So unless there's a spell that tells you the right place and time, then it's something I'm only going to learn enough to sense it being used and how to dispel it. Still, like the other spell it seems easy enough to try. So with a bit of focus for the proper mindset and a stab of pain I cast my ears randomly through the palace.
“Sweet little bumblebee, I know what you want from me!” a high pitched voice sang and I quickly got away from that.
“So right as we left the club she started nibbling on me...” a male voice says and I shoot away from listening in on a stranger's sex life.
“Sir, we've found another one.” a guard says in a frayed tone and I hear Shining-Armour sigh deeply. “Standard protocol doesn't cover it either.”
“So it's a spirit then? Like a wendigo I mean.” Shining-Armour asks and I hear a slight scraping of metal on metal. So did the guard shake his head?
“It's non-hostile sir and was... is a colt barely more than six or seven years.” the guard explains and Shining-Armour makes a rumbling noise in his throat, clearly thinking
“Does it match up to any of the known types? What exactly are we dealing with?” The purple clad (I'm assuming he's wearing the armour.) pony asks.
“It doesn't sir. It doesn't seem to eat and is corporeal, yet is clearly undead. We thought it was a half decayed zombie at first that was oddly... juicy, but zombies do not speak.” the guard continues and there's a silence. Okay, I need in on this conversation. They obviously, clearly have dealt with this kind of thing before and I want to know more.
Still I can only hear them, how can I find them unless... oh this is going to suck. I focus on where the spell is and activate a sight effect. My head feels like it's literally splitting open at this point as my sight rushes forwards from my room towards one of the guard barracks. Just outside it Shining-Armour is talking to a pegasus guard. I drop the spell and the pain fades in a hurry.
I gasped and panted deeply as the pain had caused me to hold my breath without realizing it. At this rate it won't be long before I have to cast a spell that knocked me out with pain alone. I can hardly wait.
Shaking myself out of useless contemplation I got off the bed and quickly opened the door. There are two barracks in the castle situated on opposite sides, and large amount of guard break rooms so they could be relieved if something came up for the individual in question. A decent system as you always had someone on watch, but it also spread the forces somewhat thinly. But, not a problem if you have enough guards, which we do.
We do... hunh I really am... I really need to stop my internal dialogue it keeps distracting me from the task at hand. I head to the right as that's the way it showed me. Unless senses are mirrored or something by the spell. It did mention something about not all things shown being true. So maybe? I'll find out if I waste the next hour or two going to the wrong barracks and then walking to the other one.
A wasted hour or two later I finally got the break room that Shining-Armour was supposedly in, and cautiously opened the door. Not that I expect to be in danger but... rooms full of armed and armoured individual's... a lot of bad memories there. To be honest I have mostly nothing but bad memories about everything. You know... I honestly think that might change for the better now.
“Excuse me? Is Captain Shinning-Armour in?” I ask into the room and there's some chuckling.
“That's Shining-Armour, and yes I am.” the large unicorn says kindly as he walks up to me. “Can I help you with something young prince?” he asks and I nod.
“Uhm... I was fiddling with divination magic and... overheard part of a debriefing. I'd like to talk about it.” I told him and there was a silence that descended on the room.
“What did you hear?” he asks me and I sigh.
“Something about a strange undead.” I reply and despite my vast, vast lack of knowledge of pony culture I can tell I just stepped into a very uncomfortable subject. What exactly is their view of the walking dead anyways?
“Ah... how much did you overhear?” he asks quietly and is very clearly uncomfortable.
“That it's a foal, juicy looking and speaks.” I tell him not revealing that all those three facts either point to an artificially made foal vengeance zombie, or... well... I really hope it isn't the other type I've encountered. Frankly I'd rather deal with a bastard necromancer who stumbled on a child's corpse than... the other option.
“We occasionally find the living dead but... few ponies study them. Some Zebras and Griffons do, heck we've even heard rumours of a Minotaur with an army of the living dead once but... they're so few and far between in Equestria itself that to most they're nothing more than a horror story with no substance.” Shining-Armour tells me and I nod at this. It certainly explains why no one really knows what to make of me.
“Well... I'm basically a natural born necromancer, and I have a general idea as to what it might be. I'd need to see it face to face to tell for sure though.” I state hoping he'll catch the implication. From his expression he does, and isn't happy about it.
“You're mother would kill me if I spirited you away from the palace to look at a shambling corpse.” he said with a stern glare then a bit of an amused snort.
“But I have permission you would take me right?” I ask and he thinks.
“Just how much do you know about the undead?” he asks me and I can't keep the smirk off my face.
“A lot. Even if I haven't run into this type before, which is unlikely, then I can tell what holds it together.” I say and he looks thoughtful.
“Fair enough, if you can somehow talk Luna into this then I'll bring you to the creature, but only to observe! Unless you can prove to me that it's completely safe I'm not letting you get close to it no matter what.” he tells me with an extremely stern expression on his face. Clearly he takes this very seriously.
“Fair enough.” I concede, although I'd be willing to bet that if I was the size of an adult he would simply give me the location and tell me to be careful. Now to find mom and convince her... I left quietly and I hope he understands I do intend to be back. This is dangerous, because the sentient undead are the most deadly and often times they have conflicting strengths and weaknesses. Salt will hurt a zombie of vengeance, do nothing to a vampire, and just make a famine spirit hungrier. Sunlight will kill a vampire, weaken a shadow and just give a ghoul a slight tan. Not even holy water is a universal tool against the undead, the sentient ones often resist it outright.
“Something on your mind?” A voice asks and I jump. Shining-Armour had apparently decided to follow me out.
“Just... thinking about the undead in general. Most think it's a cut and dry thing but there are so many variations that the only common theme is that they've all died at some point in some way.” I tell him and he nods.
“True enough, I've only encountered a few types and the only two universal tricks are arcane energy if they don't have a body and fire if they do.” he admits and I nod, it's a fair rule but by no means a universal one.
“That's a good policy, but it won't work on everything. Some undead, the wet ones especially just aren't hurt by fire, and many many ghosts and spirits will return after being destroyed if they still have unfinished business.” I tell him and he nods before sitting with a thump. I clearly just opened up a whole mess of bad memories.
“How... how many types have you encountered?” he asks me sounding both resigned and pitying at the same time. How many types? Allip, Avenging Spirt, Ash Wraith... my mind quickly spun in the direction of the things I've encountered and I caught the look on Shining-Armour's face. “So many?”
“Yea, I've encountered hundreds of types. If not millions of individual undead. I've even created a few types of composite undead and plant based ones as well.” I tell him and he simply stares at me. I'm not sure if I've disturbed him or not. Probably.
“Undead Plants?” he asks simply and I raise an eyebrow but shrug.
“Yes, you can hide them in plain sight and no one knows exactly what to do with them. The perfect guardian!” I boast with a grin and after a moment he snorts in amusement.
“And not nearly as disgusting or tragic as other types.” he notes with a slight smile.
“You bet, I could animate an entire forest and it would raise maybe half the outrage of digging a grave for the corpse inside.” I remark and the smile on his face freezes.
“You know, you may look and sound like a child but it's moments like that which give me chills.” Shining-Armour tells me and I snort lightly.
“You'd be amazed at how terrifying a normal creature can get when they don't think they have options.” I tell him and he simply nods.
“I know. I've seen the most enormous earth ponies up and panic at the first sign of a fight, and saw the little pegasus who looked more suited to fetching coffee charge in without a second thought and win. Everything has hidden depths, and it's not until you force them up that you can make a proper judgement.” Shining-Armour tells me and I nod at the wisdom.
“Well I better get going, although I can pretty much guess what mom will say.” I remark dryly and he chuckles in his throat as I walk away.
It doesn't take me long to reach mom's room and at this point I stop myself before shaking my head. No time to muse, time to finally get to something familiar. “Hey Mom, uhm... well... the guard found something interesting that I could really help with so I was wondering if your would let me go with them to solve a potentially tragic problem.” I say and her smile instantly turns into a small glare. Pity she looked rather happy to be distracted from paperwork.
“And what, makes you think leaving the palace grounds would be a good idea with your wings and horn broken?” she asks and I actually see a bit of hope for persuading her.
“Well, I will be surrounded by guards at all times and it relates to the undead.” I tell her and she sighs.
“And because the undead are involved you are going to be endlessly interested about this.” she says hanging her head and looking thoughtful. “As much as I hate this, keeping you from this is going to be as frustrating as keeping Cadance away from matchmaking or marriage counselling.” she says and my jaw drops. Am I going to persuade her without persuading her?
“This is... oddly easy. There must be a catch...” I muse out loud and she nods.
“Frankly the fact that an entirely new species is now flitting about Equestria and is soon to expand beyond it's borders is going to require both myself and Celly to make sure this doesn't spike into a political disaster. The Griffons are a naturally paranoid species and miniature ponies flying around will just heighten that unfortunate tendency.” she explains and I wince a little. So I've nearly caused an international incident. Lovely.
“Good grief, even when I try to be good I just cause problems.” I mutter in a slight bit of annoyance. Does everything I do end up with pain in some way? Honestly... is there nothing I do that is well and truly free of evil? I try and redeem another and I may have started a potential war. Just trying to protect myself and I destroy another...
“Don't even go there sweetie.” Mom says and I realize that she's suddenly swept me into a hug. “Believe me, when you think you can bring nothing good you lose what makes you good.” she tells me and I can only sigh.
“Maybe... but let's be honest. Even my best moments are tied with tragedy and pain.” I say remembering my many victories... and all of them at the cost of the life or dignity of another.
“This is a far stride from the grim determination you've shown before.” she notes calmly. She's right... I'm changing very quickly... right I'd almost forgotten. Brain chemistry is not just a pair of words practised healers and necromancer's use to confuse. It's a true thing. A child's mind wanders and ponders and thinks in odd ways. It's growing and physically changing, so I'm seeing my life and actions in new and uncomfortable ways.
“I think I've said this before, but being transformed from one race to another and made into a child will alter one's mind. It makes you think in odd ways and... will never really stop.” I say as I come to a conclusion.
“Are you about to ask a deep question?” she asks and I blink before nodding in her grip. “Do you want me to let you go for the sake of dignity?” she offers and I think for a moment before the answer surprises me.
“No, I... I want to be held.” I tell her and she holds me tighter. Clearly she's worried. “It's just... just how much of who I am... who I was, was human? How much was my life, how much was my race and how much is me?” I ask and she gently rubs between my wings as I nuzzle into her fur for comfort. How long had this been buried?
“That... that is a question scientists and philosophers have been trying to answer for centuries. There is no answer, there is no true way of knowing. All you can do is trust in yourself and hope for a better tomorrow.” she tells me and I sigh.
“That's... pretty flimsy mom.” I reply before sighing deeply. “But, it probably is the best answer I'll get.” I admit and I can practically sense her nodding.
“What brought this on?” she asks and I can't help but sniff a little. Am I fighting back tears? Oh great...
“I... I think that the guards found a type of undead that changed my life before. I... I'm worried it might do the same.” I tell her and she goes still for a moment with only her heart making any noise. Then she breathes deeply in thought.
“In what way did it change you? Is it really so bad?” she asks and I nod despite being pressed against her dark blue fur. It really is soft and warm, like a blanket.
“It... it showed me how... how horrible and tragic necromancy can be. I saw myself as a horrific monster, and a deluded innocent feeding off of pain and sorrow. It still can't be unseen, even now.” I whisper and an image I've been repressing as hard as I can for a long time floats to the surface of my thoughts again. A little boy with half his face rotted away. A smiling happy child in rags, draining the life and soul from the world around him. Innocent evil.
“And then... I... I found the natural version. The creature it was based off of. A... a tragedy that refused to die... I... I learned to hate myself for it. For being associated with such creatures and their makers. For letting things get so far. For not taking action. My every failure pounded at my skull endlessly. It was when I learned that... I was doomed. That I was too stubborn and angry to lay down and die, and too horrifying to leave alone.” I say and she holds me tighter.
“It will be different, you've changed and grown. Here you are not reviled, here you are not an object of horror. This time, you may be able to make things right.” she tells me and I sigh as I think deeply. Could I? Have I changed enough for such a thing to happen? Or was it the bit I can never be rid of?
“We can only know if I go.” I say and nearly wince as I realize that I rhymed.
“Alright, you can go. But there will be guards, and I want you to leave your cat here so that if things go badly you can use your connection to it to flee here. Okay?” she asks and I smile to myself. Even though the whole bit was sincere it did help me get what I want.
“That works.” I say before smiling up at her as she pulls me away a little. She wipes tears out of the corners of my eyes ever so gently and I... I'll be honest. I'm actually starting to enjoy this. “Uhm... can I go tell Shining-Armour I have permission now?” I ask her and she let's me down with a nod. “Thank you...” I say quietly... I don't really know if I'm thanking her for the permission or being put down or... something else. Still I quietly back out the door as I suddenly feel very awkward.
Standing outside the room I let out a huff of air and sniff. My new form is really giving me the run around isn't it? The curse of a flawless disguise I suppose. Only four other beings at most truly know who I am and all of them claim to be family now. Even those who saw me last before being in this form truly cannot recognize me. I'd have to probably bring up direct evidence of who I am for my enemies to find me. Evidence I do not have...
Still... ... bah! There goes my focus. I've forgotten where I was going with my thoughts. Well isn't that pathetic? Time to at least tell Mr. Managed To Get A Goddess For A Wife. ... Actually in that light the guy's a marvel. He managed to marry a literal goddess of love. That's something right out of the older legends right there. Now that I think about it... that actually is something to respect the man for. Go figure.
And my child mind has wandered again. How lovely. I'm guessing the only way to cure this is to wait it out... hopefully it won't be more then a couple decades. “What are you doing?” a small voice asks me and I glance up to see a light purple flutter zooming towards me.
“Oh, I'm going to be talking to Captain Shining-Armour so I'm heading towards him now.” I tell the tiny creature who nods in understanding before flying around me so quickly that it leaves a ring around me. I feel a bit like a jerk that I don't know this flutter's gender, but it has a very androgynous voice and body build.
“So what are you going to talk about?” it asks me and I smile.
“I have permission to do something that... I've often been good at.” I tell the androgynous little thing and it stops right in front of my face forcing me to stop walking.
“Why would you need permission?” it asks and I force a grin.
“It's... not exactly a safe thing to do. Also it's kind of scary.” I say and immediately regret it. No doubt I've perked it's curiosity.
“Oh, OK.” it says and flies off. What? That was way too easy... right? After blinking like an idiot for a few moments I shrug and start walking fully expecting the tiny thing to zoom back and demand just what I'm up to.
So I set myself walking slowly towards the guard room that Armour was at last. I doubt he's still there but I will be able to get directions. Still that flutter really should be back by now, this is just bizarre.
I quickly arrive at the guard room despite dragging my hooves and open the door to take a look. Lucky me, he's still here. “Captain?” I ask out and he looks at me. He starts walking over which is a very good thing as I can't really tell his expression at that distance.
Oh good it's neutral. “So... Princess Luna has given you permission.” he says before I can open my mouth to tell him.
“Yes... and now I need to figure out how they managed to streamline the communications so much that you already know.” I say and he looks confused. In retrospect I've confused myself as well. “Nevermind. Uh... when do we leave?” I ask and he grins.
“In two hours. The Night-Guard are just starting to wake up and will be completely ready by then. Eager?” he asks and I blink. Yea, I kind of am, because if I'm wrong I might be able to have some fun. Now granted I might scar a few guards for life but still... fun. I wonder should I make them dance? That usually unsettles people plenty when the dead dance. I do hope it's just an unusually squishy zombie parroting words, that way I can really play with some heads... although... that might be a bad idea as they might not appreciate it.
Good grief I'm swinging back and forth on things all over the place. I will not take control of the dead simply because if that mage whose name I still don't know looks in at the wrong moment he might drop the bag of stupid he seems to be holding when he stares at me. Actually in that context I really need to get my flank back to the divination book.
“Equestria to Charon, come in Charon!” Shining-Armour says to me and it takes an effort of will not to hit him... one I fail at it seems as he blocks my swing with ease. “Lost in thought?” he asks and I nod. “Well decent swing for a knee jerk reaction.” he remarks kindly. “I'll find you when it's time to leave, be prepared for a cold evening.” he says and I nod. I have a few spells based around either keeping warm or not feeling cold. Good and practical for hiding in the mountains.
So I trotted back to my room to wait out the situation. When in it's comfortable privacy I blink a little and realize that Luna isn't being nearly as protective as she vowed to be earlier... is she more confident with the other two alicorns here? It would make sense... but she's also letting me well out of arm's reach to go to a place that can clearly be dangerous...
She's trying to figure out a proper balance isn't she? So... I guess the major question is if this newest bout of freedom will last. No way of really knowing, outside of trying to get things to go well. Which means no fun... why would I think wasting valuable resources and scaring allies would be fun? I hate being a child.
I start reading through the book again and sigh in disappointment as I remember there's nothing at all about sensing divination in this book. Still... may as well finish what I've started.
Numerous headaches later there's a knocking at my door. It takes me a moment to remember why someone would be bothering me. Which is a sign of my second childhood really getting to me, or senility has seeped in regardless of my new physical age. Neither is a pleasant prospect. One blinding headache later and I have a powerful warmth spell on me that won't cook me alive either, so with that in place I get myself up off the bed and open the door. “Time to go?” I ask hiding my increasingly turbulent thoughts.
“Yes, if you'll follow me. We will be travelling through teleportation so you do not need to worry about keeping pace with your injured wings my prince.” the night guard says professionally and I nod and follow him as he's requested. I wonder... do bat winged pegasi have a different name? Is it rude to ask such a question? Why do they have slitted eyes, when it's a trait more common to predators? Why was he so careful not to show his teeth as he spoke? Does he have fangs? If he does that would make him some kind of predatory pegasus sub-species right? Why am I phrasing my every thought as a question?
He leads me to a small room with gems embedded in the walls complete with mystic runes surrounding them, I can understand a couple of the runes saying 'Space' 'Move' and 'Anchor'. There is another bat pegasus as well as a very dark green earth pony all in the armour of the night guard. There was a matching design on the floor. There's a faint hum of power from the room and it's very clear the place is used to make teleportation much easier. Actually... although the humming is very low there is a resonance to it that... would this room do all of the work?
“So gentlecolts are you ready for a bit of undead recon?” Shining-Armour asks leading in five day guards, two of them unicorns and two of them earth ponies with one pegasus.
“Sir, yes sir.” all the night guards intone. The inclusion of a fourth and fifth voice alert me to the fact that two black unicorns had been standing in the shadows so damn quietly I hadn't noticed them! What the hell is wrong with me?! If I'd been this careless two weeks ago I'd be dead! Granted I would have walked it off but still...
“Form the circle boys, standard civilian approach procedures.” Shining-Armour states and I'm gently nudged into the centre of a formation of guards, the pegasi are on the outside with the earth ponies behind them with me behind the unicorns who are next. So the pegasi are given mobility the earth ponies are the walls and the unicorns are damage. With frail little me in the centre as the unknowable walking apocalypse. But shh! They don't know it. There's a rush of magic and a sound like a single note of music... played right in your ear with a gong. Ouch.
Blinking in pain I feel a wind that I must assume is bitter cold passing over me. It looks like the guards are effected but me? No problem. The pegasi immediately take off and quickly circle around to scout the immediate area.
“All clear sir! Only the creature is in range.” one of them shouts and Shining-Armour nods before motioning for me to follow him.
“Stay in formation Prince Charon and if I say run, you run.” he says curtly and I raise an eyebrow at this. Biting my tongue I follow him to a burnt out town, with the winds doing all they can to bite at me it gives the place a feeling of weight pressing down. I can sense something... it's very weak though... so was my zombie guess right?
“Hello?” A strangely echoing and breathy voice asks and there are hoof steps. A tiny rotting and wet looking pegasus foal with an orange and grey coat walks out.
“Oh no... oh nonono... not one of these.” I say unable to look away from the creature as I step out of the protective circle. One of them puts a leg out in front of me but by reflex I fade slightly into the aether and simply pass through it without issue. The pegasus guard who dive bombs me gets the same treatment and I am soon standing in front of the smiling corpse.
At this close distance I can clearly see that the orange colouration is not fur colour, but a mold. I can also clearly tell that one eye socket has flesh and blood putrefied to the point of being a liquid sloshing around in the lower part. Luckily the cold weather has partially frozen that so it's not moving around too much.
“Hello, I'm Nightshade. What's your name?” I ask gently trying to keep both disgust and pity off of my face.
“Hi! I'm... uhm... hmm... that's weird... I thought I knew it...” The undead colt says before rubbing the back of his head in a manner that would be endearing if that audible squelching did not represent exposed brains. “Do you know?”
“Well... I don't know your actual name... but would you like a nickname?” I ask him as I try and think about what to do. The greatest kindness for these poor monsters is swift death, but they don't die fast. Ever. The only way to end it's torture is to cause even greater pain.
“YES! I'd love one! Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!” he cheers jumping around with his entrails bouncing around horrifically. Why hasn't the flesh soup in it's eye socket spilled?
“Alright then... how about Corpsy?” I ask trying to plow through the emotional agony I'm getting off of this child. It is everything I had feared but for some reason... I don't feel so wretched this time. I guess what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. He smiles widely and earnestly. I can feel him celebrating the agony he's in. He's happy because he can feel his intestines swinging and his skin rotting. It's making him joyful to know that parts of his brain are literally freezing. It's exactly like I feared.
“Excuse me Corpsy.” I say as laughing corpse bounces around me, somehow he can actually hover in the air for a few moments despite one wing being skeletal... interesting and likely very useful. “Hey Corpsy...” I try again as the utterly insane child skips around me. My ability to sense pain spikes massively every time he lands and to be honest I'm starting to get legitimately creeped out by the dissonance of the cheerful child and the undead incarnation of suffering.
“HEY CORPSY!” I shout and he stops practically on a coin in front of me. “I need to talk to the adults for a little bit, alright?” I ask and he freezes.
“No! They... they're meanies! They...” he begins before motioning for me to lean closer. “They feel love and happiness! It'll kill us both! But, if there's no pony here then we can both live and play and have fun on the nothingness and cold forever!” he whispers then cheers at me and I step back a little. So I was right, it is one of those things... and it thinks I'm one too.
“Don't worry. It'll take more then love and kindness to hurt me.” I say with a grin and he smiles widely. I must say I'm quite happy to turn away from the creature so I don't have to look at it. Poor stupid thing...
“What is it? Is it dangerous?” Shining-Armour asks with a glare as I walk back into his earshot and out of Corpsy's.
“No... in fact these things have little to no offensive power. But they're regenerative abilities are almost unmatched.” I say looking back at the oblivious monster in the ruins.
“Alright... but what is it?” he asks me and I sigh.
“It's... it is a tragedy. This is a child that has been completely and utterly betrayed. Betrayed so thoroughly that... he twisted into something that... thrives off the neglect and hatred and sheer apathy that killed him.” I explain and despite the soldiers clearly trying to keep it off their faces I can tell that they're disturbed.
“It... it mentioned something about Love and Happiness like they're bad things.” One of the guards, which one I can't tell asks without actually asking.
“These sorts of things feed off of pain and suffering, and are injured by the opposite forces. If you walk up to it feeling pity you will hurt it. If you walk up wanting to help it, it will suffer for it.” I say and there is a very uncomfortable silence.
“Can we put him out of his misery?” A pegesi night guard asks and I sigh and shake my head.
“Not really. He feeds off of pain and neglect now, including his own. You use fire normally right?” I ask and there are a few nods. “Being set on fire would hurt, a lot. The pain would feed him and help heal him. So it would take hours if not days of burning, and he would scream for every second of it.”
“What would... what would a huge amount of a positive emotion do?” he asks and I stare at him for a moment before shrugging.
“I... don't know. I'll be honest, these things horrify me to the point that I can't really feel anything.” I admit and Shining-Armour gives me an odd look.
“Don't you have abilities relating to the undead? Shouldn't you be able to cut off it's power or something?” he asks and I shake my head.
“No... this is a natural undead. Think of it like this, to create an undead you have to make a sort of loop inside the creature. This loop is fed by the outside which heals the inside, which heals the outside again. The natural ones like this have a great many such loops within them, and to cut them off painlessly I have to do it one at a time. The process of doing it right is so slow that by the time I've cut one, another forms.” I explain before taking a few deep breaths. I don't like explaining so much.
“Cut off the pain perhaps? I've heard you have that gift.” one of them asks and I shake my head.
“Only physical pain, it feeds of mental and emotional pain as well.” I say, choosing not to explain that the emotional pain of being attacked as a child and the pain of a reasonable being forced to attack a child is enough to make killing the poor thing take days.
“Alright, so we go with the nuclear option then.” Shining-Armour says and walks off from the main group.
“The what option?” I ask and a guard shrugs.
“It's a term from another world meaning overkill.” A guard explains and I nod before raising an eyebrow. “You don't know what overkill means?”
“You can only kill things once, unless you have someone like me around to mess with things so then you might be able to...” I begin and he holds up a hoof to cut me off.
“Overkill means to bring hugely excessive force into something. Think using a massive fire spell to kill a fly.” He tells me and I nod.
“Alright, so it's like calling a god to... deal... with a single undead...” I explain before facehoofing. He's calling his wife. The phrase sounds pathetic, and even though in context it's not, it still does sound just plain sad.
There is a pulling sound... Yes a pulling sound. Anyways, Cadance is here! She and Shining-Armour speak to another for a moment and share a quick nuzzle. I think I saw a touch of tongue... anyways getting off of a Love God's affairs with mortals I steal a glance at my undead friend watching nervously from the ruins. He's terrified, he knows Cadance is the embodiment of everything that will destroy him.
“Do you think you can hold him still?” Cadance asks and I jump a little as she had basically sneaked up on me. “Sorry.” she apologizes with a clear smile in her voice. A fragile smile as she catches sight of the clearly terrified undead, but a smile none the less.
“You do realize that he's in agony just because you're here right? Your very presence is well... killing him already.” I say as I can feel his well... it's not life force... death force then. His death force is flickering.
“Yes, and I need you to hold him still. I believe I can help him.” Cadance says and I frown. Something stirs in me and... well why not go with it?
“Cadance, no. This is not some idiot zombie or a ghoulish parody of life. This is a victim, one that is suffering all the more for your presence. I'm not the type to do this. I'm not some shining protector from on high or a selfless hero standing as a willing meat shield. I am someone who's suffered and so is he.” I tell her before pointing back at Corpsy.
“Nightshade...” She says and I hold up a hoof.
“Please, let me finish.” I say and she nods. “Like I said, I'm not the type for this. But what happened to him, what created this being... is Fucking Wrong. And enough is enough.” I say and she nods. “What are you planning?”
“Do you know what Love is tied to?” She asks me and I frown.
“For the sake of explanations let's say no.” I reply and she sighs.
“Life, I'm basically your opposite.” she tells me and I nod. “Now... I haven't encountered these things much but... I think I can help. Please believe me, can you have faith in me?” she asks and I take a deep breath and I can feel... damn I hate this... it's been so long since anything like this that... oh forget it.
“I really hope you know what you're doing.” I say with a deep sigh. “He can't remember his real name and his nickname is Corpsy.” I start to walk towards the undead child dragging my hooves a little. “Also he smells, be ready for that.” I say over my shoulder with a wry grin. No other smiles. Yea... no one likes this.
Only the wind and the thud of hooves against the ground are the only sounds that herald my approach to Corpsy. “Is... is she going to go away? She hurts!” he whimpers at me clearly hurting.
“She... she's going to come closer and I can't stop her. You won't be able to really run away either.” I tell him and he looks horrified. Oh gods why do I care so much? “But, if you stick with me as she comes it won't hurt as much. You see... she wants to help you.”
“Help me!? By hurting me!? But... but... I don't want... it would be like Greyrush again...” he says and the fact he used a name sticks in my mind. If that's the name of the bastard that caused Corpsy here to exist then he will soon find either a long torturous death or a suddenly much more brutal eternal torment. Possibly both.
“She's not that type. She really does want to help and is strong enough to do it.” I reassure him, not including that I have no clue how she is going to help him. You can't return the undead to life, you have to destroy them first then use the corpse to resurrect what used to be there. But it's not the same. If you're trying to bring the living dead to full life then you fail as something else comes back. Still... if he remembers his time as the walking dead and his life before then it will not be true destruction.
I hear hoof falls and I know that Cadance is approaching, I take a breath to steady myself as this happens and I quickly stand beside Corpsy before laying a wing on him to stop him from running. I can't stop him from shaking though and it's so bad the blood and meat soup in his eyeball starts dripping out.
She freezes as she get's close and puts a hoof to her mouth in shock. Clearly she has poor long distance perception.
“I warned you about the smell.” I state blandly and she swallows before forcing a smile.
“Let me go, run! She will destroy us!” Corpsy half shouts in a panic but I've paralysed his legs. Which is surprisingly hard to do as Corpsy is feeding of his own pain and fear as well as my nervousness.
“Before you do anything, understand that the living dead are echoes. Life is the sound, death is the echo. If you restore the sound it will no longer be the echo. Do you understand me?” I ask and she nods.
“You hold the echo, I will return the sound.” she says and my eyebrows go up at this boast. Then she starts pulling in energy and starts glowing bright pink. Wait she wants too... OH FUCK THATS BRIGHT!
She's glowing so brightly that it's like staring at the sun and I have my eyes closed. I grab onto Corpsy's essence and hold a hoof in front of my eyes. Now it's like staring into a torch after being in the dark for an hour. I can feel a stupid amount of magic being brought to bare as Corpsy shifts and twists under my wing. I can feel his soul starting to twist into a normal living feel but I guide it so that it keeps at the very least it's memories.
After a few moments the rushing and bright light both fade. I blink awkwardly as my eyes readjust to the fact that I am not in fact on the surface of a pink sun. “My poor eyes...” I mutter painfully.
“That felt horrible.” Corpsy says and my eyes clear as I look at him. He's fully alive now. A grey and blond pegasus with yellow eyes and no marking on the side.
“How do you feel?” Cadance asks and the former undead blinks owlishly for a few moments as I pull away. He's mostly the same shade of grey that I am. Luckily the orange mold is gone, and so is the smell. Thankfully.
“He clearly just said he felt horrible.” I say dryly as I myself am not feeling too good. Actually I'm feeling strangely bitter about something... why would I be bitter? She just solved a huge problem and everything is turning out for the better, why am I getting angry!? All she did was spit on everything that has ever defined me by walking up and brazenly turning an echo of what was into the fullness of what is.
Ah, there we are. I think I should avoid Cadance for a while. I'm twitching, time to get the hell out of here. “You seem to have things under control. I... I have to leave now.” I say forcing myself to stay calm.
“Have I offended you somehow?” Cadance asks and I sigh deeply.
“No... yes... I don't know... I'm confused, angry and I feel like I've been stabbed. I'm going to leave before I do something... evil.” I say and I can feel a rush of pain from her... well... I'm about as blunt as a boulder, of course what I say hurts.
“And why... what's hurt you?” she asks and I turn to give her a plain look. I can feel my face twisting into a look of helpless pain and despair.
“I spent over a century wanting nothing more then to do what took you five seconds. One hundred years hating myself for not having what you do... I'll bet you can even return the long dead can't you?” I ask and my eyes are burning. She nods.
“If they're willing, they return with ease.” she says and I sigh with my head and neck drooping towards the ground. I feel exhausted. After a moment I pull my head up and notice that the whole... mystic aura effect on my mane is gone. Now it's a rusted brown... like dried blood that's been in the sun too long. Now it's long semi spiky wisps of hair rather than a flowing fog.
“I know it's not fair to you or... really anyone. I just bring out the worst in all things... it's just... you made my every struggle... meaningless with this one act.” I say and I manage to drag my head up a little. She looks heartbroken. “Also my emotions are bouncing all over the place. I know it's not fair... I'm sorry. I... I think I'm going crazy... and I'm going home.” I say feeling myself grow more exhausted with each word.
She's stunned and confused... and 'Corpsy' is just plain confused. The guards are walking forwards with clear purpose. I need to get out of here, I'm started to feel caged in. I quickly look into myself and feel for connections... Corpsy is confused, grateful and in awe to both me and Cadance... Cadance is worried as is Shining-Armour. I'm on the edge of a breakdown that jumped out of nowhere and I finally, FINALLY feel the connection to Bones. I pull on it as hard as I can with myself as the loose object.
“W-Wait!” Corpsy half shouts as I vanish in front of him. His voice echoes back at me as I struggle to not land on my cat. Bones just growls at me.
“Sorry... I needed out of there and jumping towards you was the easiest way to do it.” I say and he tilts his head before mewing at me. “Yes, I'm aware... I'm just... exhausted. Tired to the bone.” I say and the kitten snorts before walking off.
Right... well first things first. Bed. Now. I pull up my hooves and start walking... but I don't get far as I practically bump into mom.
“Are you alright?” She asks breathlessly, I don't look up so I can't catch an expression.
“Just... tired. Very, very tired.” I say and a moment later I'm wrapped up in her magic and laid gently on her back. “Thank you...” I say hoping to pass out into blissful unconsciousness. Unfortunately the blissful world of rest remains distant... however the world of pointlessly waxing poetical is expanding it's borders.