//------------------------------// // Chapter 16: Pink flag // Story: Souls Apart // by GnollReader //------------------------------// The necromancer crushed a piece of toast between his thumb and finger, letting the crumbs fall into the glass, "There you go... can't have you miss breakfast!" he clapped his hands together with a happy sigh before leaning back, taking a moment to observe the shocked faces of the alicorns, "What?" he started to frantically scan his robes, "Did I spill..." His words were cut off as an aura of pink magic enveloped him and yanked him around wildly, bringing the necromancer face to face with a visibly upset Cadence, "What did you do to my love?!" she growled at him. The necromancer eyed her with a blank expression, "Who?" Cadence turned him around and pointed at the glass with one of her hooves, "My husband!" He raised an eyebrow, "You're married to a goldfish?" "You turned him into one!" she shouted at him. "I did?" he asked with a patient voice. "I saw you do it!" she thundered back, her eyes burning with rage. "You did?" "Yes!" "Really? Are you sure?" he asked with a somber voice. "Cadence..." Celestia was about to interrupt. "YES, I AM SURE!" Cadence's voice thundered through the dining hall. "I see..." he stared at her for a lingering moment, his brows knitting in thought as she breathed heavily, "How does your husband know where to stick it?" "What?!" she took a startled step back, not believing what he had just asked. "Well, I am curious... seeing as you're all pink, there's really no point looking for the pink flag... does he aim by memory or do you have some kind of tattoo to show him the right hole?" he tilted his head, "Can't see any arrows..." he observed her completely speechless form for another moment, "Or do you glow in the dark?" to their side, both Celestia's and Luna's jaws had just hit rock bottom. "Youuuuu..." Cadence looked like she was about to catch fire. --- Calindria gave the pan an annoyed glare, she had never been good at cooking... the scorched toast was a silent testimony to that fact. "What I wouldn't give for a boar on a stake..." she mumbled to herself, "And a good flagon of ale..." her mouth watered but she quickly composed herself, paladins always made the best of what they had. She eyed the toast with dismay and sighed, "Bloody necromancer is probably having breakfast with the princess right now." Her thoughts of food were interrupted by a knock from the door. The paladin put the pan aside and walked out of the kitchen, passing the hand sitting in the corridor. She couldn't help but think that it looked a bit sad as it waited for its master to return. When she opened the door, she found Twilight waiting outside with a big smile. "You're in a good mood..." she observed Twilight's grin, "What happened?" "I did it!" Twilight laughed in triumph, "I beat the challenge!" Just as the necromancer had told her, she had demanded a form that didn't exist. The results had been astonishing. The imps had seemingly thought that one of them had made a change to the procedure without telling the others. Soon, hundreds of imps were running in a crazed mob between the different counters, shouting at one another and quarreling about who had made a mistake. In the end, and on the verge of total chaos, they had simply shoved form number three-two-five-A into her face and told her to leave them alone. The paladin raised an eyebrow, "That's nice for you... I guess... and you didn't mind giving him a drop of your blood for it?" Twilight cringed a bit, "Well I wasn't so happy about it at first, but it didn't even sting so I guess it's fine..." she pulled out a small box, "Look what I got as a reward!" Calindria eyed the box with distrust, "What does it do?" Twilight's face lit up in joy, "It's a box of lost things!" "A what?" "A box of lost things!" Twilight explained with glee, "If you lose something, like a key for example, you just open the box and it'll be inside!" The paladin gave an approving nod, "That's pretty useful..." Twilight tilted her head, "Something smells burnt." Calindria sighed, "Yeah... I tried to make toast but I guess that didn't really work out..." "Would you like to join us for a picnic?" Twilight spoke up with a happy face. "What?" "Well, me and the girls were planning on going out for a picnic. If you're hungry you'd be welcome to join us." Twilight smiled at her. The paladin looked back into the house where her burnt toast was waiting, and back at Twilight. "I'd be honored." --- "Change him back... now." Celestia commanded. The necromancer gave a grumble from his seat, had it not been for Celestia's intervention, Cadence would have thrown a fit for sure... and he would have loved to see that. "Alright, alright..." he sighed, "Give me a moment to concentrate..." under the watchful eyes of the three alicorns, he spread his hands over the glass... and paused, "Huh... that's new..." "What is it?" Celestia asked with a tint of worry. He chuckled, "I forgot the spell to reverse the transformation..." "That's not funny." she gave him a stern gaze. "No joke... I guess I forgot it since I never used it..." he saw her glare, "Don't worry, I'll figure it out." The necromancer spread his fingers and started to concentrate, "Alright... here we go!" There was a bright flash, followed by a loud squawk. "Seagull... wrong." another flash, "Butterfly, wrong." he continued, the flashes starting to repeat themselves at a constant pattern while he mumbled to himself, "Apple... tree... sheep... rock... glass of juice... another rock... cricket... bucket of butter..." There was another flash an the paladin stood in the dining hall with a baffled face, "What the fu..." "Bitch..." she was gone with another flash, "Cat... puppet..." with the next flash, a confused Shining Armor stood before them. For a short moment, the alicorns where about to cheer, but the necromancer, lost in his work and not paying attention for a moment, continued, "Pony..." there was another flash. "Wait!" the three alicorns shouted before a pumpkin appeared. "Pumpkin..." he mumbled before looking up, "Did you say something? I need to concentrate so keep it down... sheesh, some ponies these days..." he continued, "Pot plant... bee... another fish... stack of bits..." --- Twilight eyed the paladin with worry, "What just happened? One moment you were gone and then you were back!" The paladin stared straight ahead for a moment, her eyes still blinded from the flash. She sighed, it was far too early for this kind of crap. "I don't even want to know... We better get going before something else happens." Twilight raised an eyebrow, "Do you think he..." "Right now, I don't even want to know what he's up to." Calindria interrupted Twilight and shook her head, "He's probably annoying the princesses to no extent..." she mumbled to herself before looking at Twilight, "Let's just go eat something and have a nice time, I don't think I can deal with him on an empty stomach."