"Tia..." Luna whispered into her sister's ear, causing her to look up from her scroll.
They were in the middle of the morning hearings. Numerous ponies and nobles mingled in the great hall, waiting for their turn to state their requests and concerns. Most of them were trivial, but Celestia insisted that she and Luna hear them all. Her commitment to her subjects' concerns never wavered.
Luna on the other hand, was mostly bored. And tired. Her duties during the night always left her on the verge of sleep. This morning though, had been quite interesting and by her evaluation, it would still get more interesting.
"What is it, Luna?" Celestia replied.
"Look." she nodded her head towards the far end of the hall.
There, sitting on a stool a good distance from the general crowd and under the nervous glances of the guards present, sat the necromancer.
Amazingly, he had been sitting there for over a full hour now. Not saying a word or moving even in the slightest, just staring straight ahead and making any pony cringe when they came too close to him without noticing until turning around.
Celestia followed Luna's eyes and looked over to where he was sitting, "Has he done anything while I wasn't looking?" she had explicitly forbidden him to use any magic during the morning hearings.
Luna shook her head slightly, "He hasn't done anything."
Celestia sighed in relief, "That is good then. I'm happy to see he can pull himself together if..."
"You don't understand." Luna whispered fiercely and her eyes narrowed, "Look closer! Do you see his eyes?"
Celestia's focused on the necromancer's face, "I admit it is a bit strange for him to just stare straight ahead like that..." she whispered to Luna before turning back to her scroll, "But taking into account what he has already done today I'm more than happy for him to be serious for once."
"He hasn't blinked once in thirty minutes."
Celestia's head snapped up and she stared at the necromancer with unbelieving eyes.
Luna raised an eyebrow, "I'm starting to think those are just painted on."
As if on queue a soft snore escaped the necromancer, traveling through the air and making the ponies turn their heads in wonder as the necromancer's head slumped forward slowly. Celestia felt a headache grow in the back of her head.
---
"This is nice..." the paladin commented happily as she took another bite of her sandwich. It had taken her some time to find some without flowers on them, but doing something not related to war or hunting the necromancer was a nice change of pace. They had found a nice place in a big park in the middle of Canterlot, the castle looking majestic as it stood over the other buildings.
"It certainly is a beautiful morning." Rarity chimed, "Princess Celestia outdoes herself every day."
"Hey! Who do you think made sure there weren't any clouds today?" Rainbow Dash protested, "I've been working all morning!"
"Ah seem to remember you snorin' in one of our trees... or was that a different Rainbow Dash?" Applejack laughed as Rainbow Dash blushed.
"I can't help but wonder what the necromancer is doing right now..." Twilight eyed the castle in the distance with worry, "And I still wanted him to show me some of his magic!" she grumbled.
"Forget it." Calindria sighed, "He'd probably wear pink before he tells anyone about his secrets and I certainly don't want to know what he's up to now." she saw Twilight's look of dismay, "Sorry."
"I think he'd look charming in a suit of pink!" Rarity swooned, "I can already feel the inspiration running through me!"
"I'd advise strongly against it." the paladin chuckled, "He'd probably throw a fit..."
Rarity huffed, "Well, we can at least get you something nice to wear."
The paladin looked down herself in surprise, "What's wrong with my clothes?" She was currently in her boots, saggy pants and white linen shirt, her sword lying by her side. "I always wear these when I'm not in armor."
"And they're dreadful! Far too crude!" Rarity huffed, "But a beautiful dress, with ribbons!" The paladin blushed, she had never been one to wear dresses and the necromancer would probably die laughing should he ever see her in one... "And of course we have to do something about that armor!"
"My armor?" the paladin asked bewildered.
"I think the armor looks awesome!" Rainbow Dash interrupted Rarity before turning to the paladin, "You have got to show me how to use that sword!" she eyed it with a glint in her eyes.
The paladin's brow furrowed, "My armor and my weapon are a sign of my rank and belief. It would be blasphemy to paint it in any colors other than those of my order." she picked up her sword, "And a paladin never lets another wield their sword and only relinquishes should etiquette demand it."
"I see..." Rarity replied with dismay, "Still. I'll be sure to make you something nice to wear when your not clad in metal." she rubbed her chin, "I wonder if one sash would be enough for a casual summer dress..." the paladin cringed.
"May I... may I ask something?" Fluttershy asked softly.
The paladin eyed her with surprise, the pegasus hadn't even spoken up when they had been introduced.
"Yes?"
"Well I was wondering..." Fluttershy mumbled without looking up, "Now that you have such a nice house for the two of you..."
The paladin felt a frown grow on her forehead. Fluttershy had obviously not heard of the necromancer's tower yet, and she would skin him alive should he try to pull one of his pranks on the timid pegasus... but what was this about?
"Well..." Fluttershy trailed her hoof over the ground, "Are you going to start having foals soon?"
The paladin just stared at her, her face suddenly white as snow and her eyes big.
"What?" it was barely a whisper.
Fluttershy tilted her head, "Isn't that how you normally do these things? First, you find your special somepony, then you find a nice home, and then..." she saw the paladin's bewildered look, "Eeep..."
"I... What? Are you..." the paladin mumbled before a picture flashed before her mind, "I think I'm going to throw up..."
The looks of surprise on their faces became even larger when an explosion shattered the silence of the morning. All of them turned their heads in shock to see the windows of the Canterlot main hall burst to pieces, fire and lightning shooting out in all directions.
"Shit! Speak of the devil!" the paladin cursed as she picked up her sword and ran for the castle.
---
They were hunting him... how had they found him this time? Where was he? Everything was a blur as he ran aimlessly from the sounds of his pursuers. The necromancer looked around himself in the dark, shadowy figures with red eyes approaching him slowly. In the distance, standing open in the dark he saw a door, and behind it he saw a room he was all too familiar with... a torture chamber... and they were waiting for him.
The necromancer felt his heart beat frantically, and the scars on his back burn like fire. The figures started to draw nearer, ready to take him away. He ran into a deadend, he was cornered. The shadows came down upon him.
His eyes snapped open and the necromancer snarled as he sprang to his feet, his magic already rushing to his fingers, "You'll never take me alive!"
---
Celestia and Luna cringed as countless magic missiles pelted the shield they had set up over their subjects.
Until a few minutes ago, the necromancer had been snoring softly and causing several of the guards to give him stern gazes. Then, he had started to sweat and shake on his stool, mumbling to himself in his sleep. When one of the guards had poked him in an attempt to get him to wake up though, chaos had erupted.
The necromancer had jolted straight up from his seat with a frenzied look in his eyes, giving off a savage scream before bringing his sparking hands together in clap.
The shockwave that erupted from his hands had been powerful enough to shatter the windows in the great hall and throw all the ponies around him off their hooves. Celestia and Luna had barely had enough time to set up a shield before he started to hurl thunder and fire in all directions, screaming like a mad man the whole time as guards tried to take cover behind overthrown benches or shattered pillars.
What surprised the two alicorns the most though was the sheer amount of power he was putting into his chaotic attacks. There seemed to be no end to the destruction as he blasted everything in sight. Not much longer and he would likely destroy the carrying pillars.
"Luna!" Celestia called out to her sister over explosions and cracking air, "Uphold the shield! I will..."
Before Celestia could finish her sentence, it stopped. Just as sudden as the mayhem had started, it was over again and an eery silence started to spread as the dust started to settle. In the center of the hall, among scorched stone and crushed pillars, the necromancer stood with a strange expression on his face.
He looked around himself in disbelief, his face growing pale and a look of sorrow appearing on his face.
"No..." he whispered, "It wasn't supposed to be like this... I wasn't..."
He turned to see the ponies stare at him with terror in their faces. The necromancer looked up and into Celestia's eyes, and she saw something in his face she had not seen before... fear.
"No..." he whispered one more time before a glow started to appear from his hands and he vanished.