"Necromancy? But that hasn't been practiced in Equestria for thousands of years!" stammers Twilight, sweat quickly beading on her brow, her breath coming in short gasps.
"Spike! Spike come here quick!" Twilight hollers for her assistant. Spike, looking as though he has just been roused from a restful sleep, still clutching his blanket and favorite stuffed dragon toy, slowly trudges in.
"What is it Twilight? I was just having the greatest dream; Rarity was there and.."
"No time for that now Spike," interrupting the small dragons tangent. "I need to send an urgent letter to Princess Celestia! Time is of the utmost importance!"
Groggily Spike moves to grab a piece of parchment from the desk drawer along with a quill and inkwell.
"Dear Princess Celestia,
While registering everypony for the roster to perform tomorrow on Nightmare Night, a strange stallion came by to sign up. His features were all concealed within a black cloak and cowl with the exception of his eyes. I have never seen eyes like that; they seemed to almost radiate magical energies of an unknown origin. That is, until I caught a short glimpse of his cutie mark when he turned to leave. I knew that I had seen this symbol before; it looked like two circles, one within the other, with a large eight-pointed star. I returned home to look into this and through extensive research; I believe it to be a necromantic summoning circle. I was under the impression that necromancy died out with the rest of black magic after the banishment of Nightmare Moon. Please advise me as soon as possible, a pony of the dark arts could be a threat to not only Ponyville, but all of Equestria!
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle"
With a puff of green smoke, Spike sent the letter via dragon mail directly to the princess.
"Necromancy? What is that Twilight?" asks the curious purple dragon.
"Well Spike, in the time before harmony came to Equestria, many more magics were practiced than are today. Legends say none were as dark or evil as Necromancy. Through this black art, it is said that a pony can steal the life from others, can afflict a pony with diseases or other afflictions, or even raise ponies from the dead."
"You mean...like Zomponies?!" said Spike, his stubby legs quaking at the knees. "I always thought that Zomponies were just an old mare’s tale."
"Spike, everypony thought that Nightmare Moon was just an old mare’s tale too and look how that turned out; and besides, we won't know anything for sure until we receive a letter back from the princess."
As if on cue, a letter bound with a red wax seal appears out of a green belch of smoke emanating from Spike.
"That sure was fast," says Spike after regaining his composure.
Twilight quickly levitates the scroll up and unfurls it with her magic.
"My faithful student,
It appears to me that the holiday spirit has gotten the better of you. Necromancy, as well as other the other black arts, has been all but abandoned for over a thousand years. The last practitioners passed on even before the Nightmare claimed my dear sister. I suggest that you take a reprieve from your studies to enjoy the holiday. My sister and I shall see you and your friends tomorrow to enjoy the festivities.
Your teacher,
Princess Celestia"
"Well there it is no zomponies here. Now we can all go back to sleep and forget all about any of this necro-whatever." Spike says with obvious relief as he makes his way back to his sleeping basket.
Twilight, with a look of abject outrage on her face, shouts, "But....but I know what I saw! How can the princess just write it off so easily?"
"You heard her Twilight, *yawn* there's no such thing as those ponies anymore." Says Spike as he pulls himself under his covers.
"No, I know what I saw Spike, and I am going to prove it to the princess no matter what." Pausing, looking down at a now fast asleep Spike, "even if I have to do it alone."
After gathering up a small amount of emergency supplies in her saddle bags, Twilight headed out on her self-imposed quest. "I'll prove to Princess Celestia that I know what I saw," she thought to herself; those words repeating like a mantra in her head.
Stepping out of her home, she spy's the position of the moon overhead. Judging by its position just before its zenith, it is around eleven o'clock at night there by leaving plenty of time to find this pony and get to the bottom of things. Looking at the still evident hustle and bustle of the town though, one may have easily waved off that fact that it was so late. Many ponies were still moving about the town center, all the while still setting up decorations and shopping stalls.
Through the crowd, Twilight spots the zebra shaman Zecora. Her black and white striped coat a sharp contrast compared to the other multi-colored ponies that scurried about.
"Zecora!" Twilight shouts to her friend. "Did you by any chance see where that hooded pony from earlier went off to?"
"If you mean that cloaked pony of mystery, I saw him head toward the forest Everfree. But if you look to track him down, beware that one from out of town. For I sense a magic not of this place, so I beg you give pause before you give chase." responds Zecora with her usual rhythmic rhyming.
"Don't worry Zecora I can handle myself. I need to figure out who that pony is." With that, Twilight headed undauntedly along the all too familiar path toward the Everfree Forrest.
The change in scenery was powerfully evident when she crossed the border of the Everfree. The once calming light of Princess Luna's moon high in the sky was quickly blotted out by the thick canopy of trees. The further she trekked in, the darker it got until she was forced to produce a magically induced light from the end of her horn.
Twilight was undaunted by the darkness, she has been here before so this did not come as a shock to her. What did make her uneasy was the deathly silence of the forest. Every other time she has been here, the sound of small creatures or howls of timberwolves in the distance were clearly evident. Now however, the silence was pervasive. For an hour she walked alone, the eerie quiet surrounding her like a hungry wolf pack cornering their prey.
Constantly scanning the foliage at her sides, Twilight failed to notice a thick, green object lying along the ground in the middle of her path. Her front hoof caught it, sending her into a tumble. With a loud "Ouch" she comes to a stop with her back against a tree. Rubbing her head with her forehoof, she looks up to see what she tripped over. She spies the object of her misfortune, still outstretched across the path.
With undaunted resolve, Twilight stands up to brush herself off and continue. Just as she collects herself, the once sedentary strand of foliage is quickly pulled into a nearby bush.
Beginning to collect her magic, Twilight quickly readies herself for whatever threat that should present herself, although too little too late. From out of the bush rose a beast with a white feathered head adorned with a red comb and razor sharp beak, all of which attached to the long, lithe body of a green serpent.
With a gasp, she uttered one last fearful word... "C-cockatrice."
With that, her world began to grow dark, her limbs unmoving as they turned stiff and solid. Doomed as she was, Twilight resigned herself to her inevitable fate.
As the petrification began to rapidly envelope her body and mind, a bright flash of emerald green appeared; a blinding light in her ever dwindling vision. The last sound she hears is the loud high-pitched shriek of the cockatrice.