//------------------------------// // The Necronomicon Pt1 // Story: The Overworked Alicorn // by BreakDown //------------------------------// The Necronomicon Part 1: Prison of Lost Souls War-Helm was sent flying back by a backhand from the beast of shadow and flame. His body skidded across the hall before landing in a heap behind Light-Bringer. The icy stallion hadn't fared much better than he had either. His body had several new cuts, several missing patches of flesh to reveal bone beneath, his armor was practically ruined, and to top it off, his lower jaw was now missing. War-Helm was only glad his own iron armor was resistant enough to survive this battle. If it'd been just a bit less magically resistant, he'd also be missing limbs like the icy stallion. "This battle is an effort in futility," Nightmare growled through gritted teeth. The mare of the moon was the least injured of them all. Her attacks having come from a distance had saved her more than once. The rest of them were not so lucky. "All our attacks have been for naught, the beast still stands" the ebony mare stated through panting breaths. War-Helm agreed with her on that much at least. The massive creature had suffered little to no visible damage from their continued assault. Even the dragon's flames had done little better than annoy it. "If hwe hould onwy fihure hout ish weahness, hwe hould shop ish," Light-Bringer mumbled / replied. The no lower jaw thing clearly made it hard for him to speak. This was clear because Nightmare looked at him with obvious confusion. War-Helm however merely grunted and pushed his body back up. He instantly noted one of his limbs was stiff. Glancing down he felt no small amount of irritation. The joint had been crushed in on itself to a point where his armored limb could barely even move. If he suffered much more damage like that he'd be immobile and useless. "Finding it's weakness is secondary to surviving if you ask me," Spike grumbled while rubbing his head. He had gained a flaming shadowy hammer to the head. Not only had it obviously hurt him, but it had sent the dragon flying back into a wall. War-Helm frowned as it became more and more clear that they were fighting a losing battle against a superior force. He was not one to admit defeat, ever, but this was not a fight any pony could win. The creature was ethereal rather than material, making attacking it effectively near impossible. "Well beast if thou hath a plan to do so, pray tell what it would be?" Nightmare hissed at Spike. The massive magenta dragon gave a grunt and then rolled onto all fours. Standing up, the great dragon narrowed his eyes on the beast of shadows and flame. It stood across from them, watching and waiting for their next attack. It had basically started to toy with them once it realized they were no threat to it. It irked War-Helm to no end that it would dismiss him so readily. However there was very little he could do about it. "Perhaps we've been going about this the wrong way," Spike considered with a frown. He rubbed his chin in thought for a moment before a sudden look crossed his features. A grin split his lips and caused the beast of shadows and flame to glare at him. "Instead of attacking," he considered with a click of his tongue, "could you two absorb the shadows and fire out of it?" Spike questioned of Nightmare and War-Helm with a grin. The flaming pony blinked then nodded his head, Nightmare mirroring his action. With that decided War-Helm galloped towards the beast with a great whinny. His hooves left a fiery trail in his wake while Nightmare vanished into an ethereal mist. The great dragon that was spike picked up Light-Bringer and spoke to him as well. War-Helm didn't care what he had to say to the icy warrior. He just wanted this battle to end and the creature of shadows and fire to die. It hurt his pride to dismiss him as readily as he would a common pony. He would not let such an affront to his power stand. The beast would die, and it would die at his hooves! The creature of shadow and flame saw the approaching ponies and gave a great roar. It swung one of its arms and a whip of shadows and flame crackled into existence. It cracked its whip only once before twisting and lashing out with it. War-Helm lunged to the side and out of it's path. Nightmare did the same, moving like an ethereal wraith in her current form. The two dark 'alicorns' approached the beast of shadow and flame quickly. War-Helm was the first to make his move, getting in close until his mane and tail seemed to merge into the beasts own flames. The creature let loose a great cry as the flames of its body surged towards the fiery pony. War-Helm felt a great elation as it felt pain. He was finally causing it some form of hurt for the damage done to his own body. Nightmare soon joined, her ethereal body flying high up and above the creature. She twisted around it and began to pull the shadows from its body as if unwrapping a present. The massive creature of shadows and flame gave another cry and fell forward onto its hands and knees. It roared and glared towards where Spike and Light-Bringer were. Spike, a grim expression on his face looked to Light-Bringer. The undead stallion glanced up and mutely nodded his head to the great beast. War-Helm raised a brow, wondering what the exchange was about. Little did he know that he would not have to wait long to find out. Spike snorted a gout of white flame and closed his claw around Light-Bringer. He sat back and then reared his arm back as well. The massive magenta dragon then roared as he threw his arm forward. Light-Bringer was sent flying towards the great beast of shadow and flame. The beast howled and tried to rise up, yet Nightmare and War-Helm held it back, held it down, so that it could not escape. Light-Bringer began to glow as he approached the creature. His body gave off an icy blue glow that soon began to brighten. The wounds of his body gave off the glow as well, an icy wind began to form over his form... That is when he hit the creature of shadow and flame. There was an explosion of icy wind. Nightmare was sent flying away with a shrill yelp. War-Helm was knocked to the side and into a wall. Spike quickly folded his wings around his body. The creature let out a horrible shriek, one that could pierce the very soul of all who heard it. There was a sudden blinding light that escaped from the creature and then all was silent. War-Helm grunted and opened his eyes. He saw... snow? It covered the hall in its entirety. His body melted that which was near him, and some that fell on him. He looked up and saw snow sticking to the ceiling as well, but falling down upon them as it began to melt. War-Helm then looked to the creature of Shadow and Flame. Instead he saw a frozen sphere with hundreds of swords of ice stuck into it. He then looked around to see Spike shaking snow from his body. Nightmare shot out of the snow as well and reformed into her true body. However she looked horrified towards something else. War-Helm grunted and pushed his body back up onto his hooves. He felt shaky and weak after that explosion, but didn't care. The beast was finally dead, that was all that mattered, or, at least he thought so. War-Helm trotted over to Nightmare and then followed her gaze. He saw an icy spear, from it waved a tattered black cloth. Yet beneath it were the shattered and broken remains of armor. Finally, his flaming red eyes came to rest upon a frozen shattered helmet. The same helmet once worn by Light-Bringer. War-Helm felt a mix of amusement, and irritation, as well as what felt like sadness from that one small part of him he tended to ignore. The icy stallion was dead, his equal and opposite was dead... Good. He didn't want to have to fight him later when he went after Faust and her 'daughters' after all. "He's... beast, what did you do?" Nightmare questioned of Spike softly as she trotted to Light-Bringers helmet. The magenta dragon grunted and then cracked his neck. "He was already dead," Spike began while stretching out his wings. "So we figured it'd make more sense for him to fully die, so that the rest of us could live," the great beast finished with a look. Nightmare merely looked to the broken pieces of Light-Bringer's helmet. She then sighed sadly and bowed her head. "Rest now elder," the mare of the moon whispered softly, "know that we thank thee for thy sacrifice," she finished. Spike merely frowned and then turned on his heel. "We better get going," the great beast stated, "no telling the kind of trouble Faust and the others are in by now," he noted with a frown. Nightmare mutely nodded her head, still sitting and staring at Light-Bringer's shattered helmet. She remained that way for a brief time. War-Helm felt irritated that she was taking so long. They hadn't even known the icy stallion for all that long. Mourning for the dead was pointless anyways. If that book had its way 'Light-Bringer' wouldn't stay among the true dead for very long. Giving a whinny and a snort, War-Helm watched Nightmare snap her attention to him. She blinked and then sighed with a nod of her head. "Yes of course, we should be off," she noted distractedly. Rising ip the mare of them moon turned and trotted after Spike. War-Helm watched her for a moment, then glanced to Light-Bringers remains and snorted a gout of flame. Turning and following behind Spike and Nightmare, the flaming stallion ignored all distraction. The book had annoyed him greatly thus far. It was high time he burned the thing and be done with it. Although he did have to wonder what it would throw at them next. Faust marched down the staircase to the library. They had come up with a simple plan of attack. Rather than outright attack the book with brute force, Faust decided on a small group. Thus, she and three others would sneak into the library. While the three others fought the Zompony horde, she would use the Golden Horseshoes to approach and capture it. Once the book was captured they could close it and end the zompony threat for good. Following behind her to accomplish this task was the trio of Applejack, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash. The ancient alicorn had decided that the three would be the most ideal team up against the zompony horde that the Necronomicon would have guarding it. Applejack was strong first and foremost. She also had her lasso so had a ranged method of dealing with Zomponies. Rainbow Dash was fast, not to mention the force she could hit a barn with was not unlike a bolt of lightning. Twilight was a genius with magic to spare. All and all, it was a good team up for their mission. At least in her mind it was a good team up. The other three ponies were not so sure about this plan. Well, Rainbow Dash was fine with it. Being in the thick of things was her style after all. True, she'd have to be more careful than she normally was, letting any of the Zomponies bite her was definitely out... wait. "Do these guys turn you into a Zompony from a bite?" Rainbow asked Faust curiously. She knew they couldn't die from a 'head-shot' as it were. But she wondered if that myth about turning into a Zompony after a bite from one was actually true. "Depends," Faust replied honestly. "On what?" the prismatic mare questioned. "Whether or not they're giving off tainted spectra," the ivory alicorn replied in kind. "Tainted Spectra, but isn't Spectra just the stuff pegasi use to make rainbows," Rainbow noted with a frown. Faust sighed and brought a hoof to her face with a shake of her head. Twilight felt the urge to mimic Faust, but refrained from doing so in order to answer the pegasus. "Actually Dash, spectra is a special element inherent in all ponies and has several key traits," the lavender mare began. "First of all It is what allows our coats, manes and tails to have such bright and vibrant colors," the little lavender unicorn stated with a hoof to her mane. "Without it, our colors would be much more dull in comparison," Twilight noted with a nod of her head. "Spectra also allows a pony to use magic, Unicorns have a crystallized spectra shard in the center of our horns, earth ponies and pegasi have spectra in their hooves or wings, etc, etc," Twilight continued. "Spectra is also present in the air, earth, water, and everywhere around us. Sometimes it will crystallize naturally into the gems that dragons or diamond dogs eat. Other times it will take on a more liquid based form, such is the case with the Rainbow Factory. It has also been found that spectra is the cause for Cutie Marks to appear. How and why they appear is still being investigated in Canterlot, but in any case, spectra is perhaps the most magical as well as important element in all of Equestria," the little lavender mare finished with a smile. "Okay... so its not just rainbow juice," Rainbow noted with a blink. She then frowned and tapped her chin as a memory prickled at her mind. "So wait, does that mean that Pinkie basically drank raw magic when we visited Cloudsdale?" Rainbow suddenly questioned. Twilight face hoofed. Faust snickered despite herself and nodded her head. "Yes Dash, pretty much," the ancient alicorn replied with a smile. "Huh, is 'at why it was so gosh darn spicy?" Applejack questioned curiously. Faust actually stopped, then blinked and looked at the other ponies incredulously. "It was spicy?" the ancient alicorn questioned with a raised brow. The three other ponies silently nodded their heads. The ancient alicorn was silent for a moment, then pouted and clopped a hoof against the floor. "Well darn, I owe Surprise five cakes then," she grumbled irritably. "Who?" Applejack questioned. Faust blinked and then chuckled lightly as she remembered where she was. "Oh sorry, just a bet from when I was young," Faust began with a shake of her head and a fond smile. "My pegasus friend Surprise kept saying Rainbows tasted spicy, even though ponies hadn't located any liquid spectra back then," the ivory mare continued and chuckled lightly. "It was roughly ten years later that an earth pony named Starswirl actually found a pool of liquid spectra, then she and her friends got coated in the stuff," she continued with a snicker. "Their coats, manes, and tails colors were swirled up after that, but none of them managed to get a taste of it so we never settled the bet." "Isn't that a silly bet," Twilight noted pointedly. Faust merely waved a hoof at the younger pony. "Oh please that's nothing, there was this one time Firefly and Glory tried to outdo one another, I thought they'd never stop," the ancient alicorn noted with a shake of her head. "Firefly was a pony who specialized in dancing, so she was super graceful and able to move through the air like you wouldn't believe, she also loved doing stunts," Faust explained fondly. "Then Glory was a speedy little unicorn pony, equally graceful on her hooves, but loved to move fast," she continued with a smirk across her face. "So who won?" Rainbow asked with a grin. She vaguely remembered this 'Firefly' had invented that Double Inside Out Loop, but the story also sounded pretty interesting. "Neither of them, they caused such a ruckus around the castle that I had to break them up," Faust admitted with a frown. "I mean playing around is all well and good, but between Glory skating across buildings and Firefly bowling ponies over, some pony had to stop 'em," the ancient alicorn finished with a nod of her head. The three were quiet after that and so Faust got up and continued down the stairs to reach the library. Applejack took that moment to think about their current situation herself. Now, she was not the smartest pony alive. She didn't have half the kind of book learning that Twilight had. Nor did she have the kind of wisdom from living nigh forever like Faust or the princesses. She knew this, and she accepted this. That did not mean that she was stupid. Which meant she knew that things could go bad if they weren't careful. Zomponies, from what she saw earlier were slow and stupid. Twilight had her magic to fight them at a distance. Rainbow could easily mow through them with sheer speed. Faust was practically a goddess who had fought zomponies on her own in the past. That left her as the odd mare out. Her strength was great, true, her land speed second to none, again true, and she had her lasso to rope in zomponies. It was all true. The problem was that she wasn't looking forward to having to get close to a zompony. This was honestly a very rational fear and she knew it. Zompony bites could potentially cause her to become one of they had tainted spectra. That however caused her to wonder what the difference would be. "Say, y'all never told us how we could tell one a them tainted zomponies from a normal one," the orange apple mare noted aloud. Faust idly nodded her head then tapped her chin with a quite hum. "A zompony with tainted spectra will glow, the others won't," she explained curtly. Applejack nodded her head and spoke her thanks. Then mulled over the number she saw earlier with a frown. The vast majority had been gray, few had been blue. That meant they had to be careful or the blue ones would sneak up on them. They weren't smart, but that didn't meant the Necronomicon wasn't either. The book was also a factor into her worry. Capturing the book would be hard with it likely having guards. The book had shown a great level of intelligence thus far. But she had to wonder just how smart a book could possibly be. She honestly didn't know, and that worried her as the book was ultimately a greater threat than the Zomponies. All and all, Applejack was unsure of their chances in this upcoming fight. The plan was sound, but then again it rested heavily on the book underestimating them. "Alright the passage should be right about," Faust uttered aloud. The sudden voice pulled Twilight from her thoughts and back to the present. She looked to see the ancient alicorn tapping several bricks and steps in an odd pattern. A few moments later and the wall gave off a bright red glow. Glyphs formed across the bricks for a moment before they started to shift and move aside. Soon, a new passage was revealed to the ponies. "Here," the ivory mare stated with a smile. A frown crossed Twilight's lips as she approached the passage and looked into its dark depths. "Where does this lead?" the little lavender mare questioned worriedly. No offense was meant, but she wasn't taking any chances with the tower anymore. "It leads to my old trophy room," the ancient alicorn replied. "There should be some armor and weapons for you three to use against the Zomponies in there," she noted aloud. Rainbow blinked at the admission and scratched at her hair. "Why do you have weapons and armor in a trophy room?" the cyan pegasus questioned with a frown. "It's where I put ancient relics and weapons I've collected over the millenia," Faust replied with a shrug. The answer made sense to Rainbow Dash, who could understand keeping such items. After all, what better way to make sure no pony else used them than to hide them away in your own home? Applejack was just happy she wouldn't be walking into a mass of Zomponies unarmed. Brave as she was, she wasn't stupid enough to fight hordes of zomponies without at least a little protection. Twilight on the other hoof was curious of the objects that Faust had collected. "What kind of relics have you collected that we could use?" Twilight asked the ancient alicorn curiously. Faust hummed in reply and rubbed her chin in thought. In all honesty, the ivory mare had lost count of the artifacts she'd confiscated over the centuries. Some of them were rather well known, others were annoyingly obscure. However, it had been quite some time since last she had taken stock of her inventory. As such, she wasn't completely certain of what she had within. "Honestly, besides a few mementos from my early years, I've forgotten what I keep in there," the ancient alicorn admitted. Twilight groaned at the admission and brought a hoof to her face. In her own opinion, it was a wonder that the ivory mare had lived as long as she had. Not only did she only know the basics of an entire school of magic, but she also seemed to forget very valuable pieces of information. "Jeez, for an archivist you sure don't keep up with everything in this place, huh?" Rainbow noted with a smirk. Faust gave her a glance and then sighed tiredly. "I may be an alicorn, but my mind is as mortal as any pony else," the ancient alicorn stated flatly. "Meaning?" Twilight questioned with an arched brow. As much as she knew about the princesses, she knew relatively little about alicorns in general. Faust sighed and then closed her eyes and thought of how she would explain this. Though, given Twilight's thirst for knowledge, more information was better than less. "Alicorns are the most unusual of all pony races," Faust began, "in general, we can live for millennia without fear of dying of old age. As such our bodies retain our youth, we also grow larger than most normal ponies. Our magic is also far more potent than most normal unicorn magic, and we rarely get sick," the ivory mare frowned as she continued, "Though somehow the cold and other small illnesses are still able to affect us. Finally, our minds are still mortal in that we can only hold so many memories at a time, and we still forget like a normal pony would," the ancient alicorn explained. "So that means that because you live such long lives, you forget things easier than other ponies?" Twilight questioned. Faust nodded her head and sighed tiredly. "Normal ponies only live for a few decades at a time and even they forget things," she began tiredly. "As a result, Alicorns forget even more easily than normal ponies. After a millennia passes, we start to forget more and more easily, ponies, places, things, we forget all about them," she noted wearily. A sigh passed her lips as she looked up and thought back onto the things she had been remembering as of late. So many memories lost to her long long life, so many little things she had forgotten over time. "Faust? Y'all okay?" Applejack questioned worriedly. The voice of the orange apple-mare snapped the ancient alicorn from her musings. She shook her head and turned to the three smaller ponies with a pensive smile. "Sorry, just lost myself for a moment there," the ancient alicorn stated with a sigh. "Because we forget, we sometimes lose who we are and become simple in our actions," the ivory mare noted aloud. "Simple? How have you ever been 'simple'?" Twilight questioned with an arched brow. As far as she'd seen, Faust was one of the more unusual ponies she'd ever met. That included ponies who lived in Ponyville, such as Pinkie Pie. "I am currently the oldest living alicorn," the mare began, "as such I have lived the longest life out of us all and have the most memories," she started and closed her eyes. "What that means, is that sometimes I can forget hundreds if not thousands of years of my life at a time," the alicorn admitted tiredly. "Before I went to ponyville, I'd forgotten most of how I'm supposed to act around other ponies," she noted with a shiver. "Ya mean how y'all pretty much knew everything about me and listed it off for me?" Applejack questioned with a shiver. She might respect the mare now, but that had been more than a little creepy. The ivory mare grimaced for a moment but nodded her head all the same. "Yes, and I forgot other things as well," the ancient alicorn admitted with a sigh. However before one of the other ponies could question her further, they approached a wall. "We're here," she noted and touched her horn to the wall. Much as the bricks before, the wall was covered in crimson glyphs. It then started to twist and move, forming into a doorway into a large room with all manner of different objects. Rainbow instantly shot inside of the room and circled it in the air with a slight frown on her face. "So these are all trophies?" the cyan mare questioned while looking at her reflection. Faust chuckled lightly and entered the room as well. She ignored the mirror and instead approached a set of brass and silver regalia. "That mirror is actually one of Majesty's creations, it allows a pony to see anywhere in all the pony kingdoms," the ivory mare explained over her shoulder. Rainbow blinked and looked at the mirror with more interest. Twilight and Applejack also approached the mirror and looked it over as well. "So how does it work?" Twilight questioned curiously. "Just put a hoof on it, say the pony or the place that you want to see, and the mirror does the rest," Faust replied while she removed her saddlebags. Once off, she pulled several objects from them and went about putting them away around the room. Twilight watched this happen in the mirror, then hummed lightly. She placed a hoof onto the mirror and closed her eyes in thought. "Show me Ponyville," she finally said. Instantly the mirror began to glow and Twilight pulled her hoof from it. A second later she could see all of ponyville within the mirror. "This is incredible," the little lavender mare whispered. Rainbow rolled her eyes and placed her own hoof to the mirror. She frowned in thought and considered what she might want to see within it. "Alright, show me the Necronomicon," the cyan pegasus ordered. The mirror gave another brilliant glow as the mare removed her hoof. Once the glow had faded she finally got her first look at the horrible book. She shivered seeing it, stitched together flesh and bone making up most of it, a single golden eye staring out from it, the text upon its great many pages written in blood. "Yikes, that is one seriously nasty looking book," Rainbow noted with a shiver, "I doubt even an egghead like Twilight would want to read that," she added. Twilight shot the prismatic pegasus a scathing look in response. "I'm not an egghead, I'm just well read!" the little lavender mare stated. Rainbow merely rolled her eyes. Applejack on the other hoof frowned and looked at the picture of the mirror with a frown. "Er, is it just me, or are there no zomponies near 'at thing," the orange apple mare questioned with a frown. The question caused a bit of surprise in the other mares. Twilight looking at the mirror with a more scrutinizing gaze with Rainbow following suit. A moment later, Faust walked over and looked at the image within the mirror as well. She then placed a hoof onto the mirror and narrowed her eyes. "Show me the Necronomicon's protectors," she stated. With a bright glow the image of the Necronomicon moved outwards. Faust felt her eyes widen as she saw an enormous black deadened tree came into view. Its entire form was upside down with its roots in the air, purple miasma seeped out of cracks in its bark, and what looked like eerie iron body shaped cages hung from its gnarled branches with silhouetted figures trapped within them. Perched upon the tree in swarms were masses of crows, their eyes glowing bloody red. "Holy sweet Celestia! What is that thing?" Twilight all but demanded with wide eyes. Faust shivered as she saw the crows on the tree, and the tree itself didn't help matters either. "Those birds are called Carrion Crows, flesh eating birds tainted by eating necrotic flesh," the ancient alicorn stated while pointing to the birds in question. The younger mares shivered at that bit of information. "Then what about that tree?" Applejack asked with a shudder. She'd seen trees that were dead before, but this one just didn't seem right. Faust bit her lower lip and scuffed a hoof on the floor. The tree was something she'd honestly never seen before. Although whatever it was, she knew that it couldn't be good. "I'm not sure," the ancient alicorn admitted, then turned on her hoof, "but we're wasting time. I've got a few things for you over here," the ivory mare stated. Rainbow and Applejack glanced to one another, then the eerie tree for a moment. They then quickly trotted after the ancient alicorn. Twilight however continued to stare at the image within the mirror, and the tree that the Necronomicon had created. 'Could it be some kind of monster?' she inwardly wondered to herself. "Not exactly," a familiar monotone voice intoned. Twilight's eyes widened as the mirror's image shifted and twisted until she saw a familiar pony in its depths. It was a pony that had scared Twilight, not because she was frightening, but because of what she represented. 'She's what I could become,' the mare's thoughts reminded her. "Nocturne," the little lavender mare whispered. "How," she started to question. However the lilac mirror alicorn merely rolled her eyes and tilted her head with a frown. "I'm a part of you, whether or not you acknowledge me is beside the point," the mare responded curtly. Twilight snorted and narrowed her eyes on the mirror mare. "Then why haven't you shown up before now?" the little lavender mare all but demanded. The mirror mare gave her younger self a flat look and then brought a hoof to her face. "Maybe because you didn't need me, or ponies would think you were crazy if we talked out in the open," the lilac alicorn replied flatly. Twilight blinked and chuckled nervously, a light blush staining her cheeks. "Oh, well that is a pretty good reason," the little lavender mare admitted sheepishly. Nocturne merely smirked and then let out a soft sigh. She was silent for a moment then fluffed her wings and tapped her chest. "In any case, suffice it to say, that little pendent is for more than mere decoration," Nocturne intoned seriously. Twilight blinked and brought a hoof to the pendent. The cool metal seemed to pulse lightly, and brought a frown to the mares lips. "You're inside of this then?" the little lavender mare questioned. Nocturne merely shrugged her shoulders. "If it helps you sleep at night, then fine, I'm in the pendent," the other mare replied. Twilight frowned at the vague answer, then looked behind Nocturne to the eerie tree. A shudder traveled down her spine at the mere sight of the eerie plant. Whatever it was, it truly frightened her more than she wanted to admit. Whether it was because it was a creation of the Necronomicon, or something else, she wasn't really sure. However, her meeting with Nocturne did offer her a rather unique opportunity to learn about it. "You're a future me," Twilight stated more than questioned. Nocturne merely raised a brow then nodded her head. Technically she was only a 'probable' outcome for the other mare. But that was just semantics. Besides that explaining what that meant would take too much time. "Then do you know what that tree is then?" Twilight questioned. Nocturne turned with a frown and examined the tree herself. Her eyes seemed to shine as she took in the form of the eerie tree. Turning back to Twilight, the mirror mare let out a soft sigh. "I have a theory," she admitted. However, Twilight noted the worried look on the other mare's face. The fact that this was essentially an older and wiser version of her meant this was a very worrying being. "So what is it?" Twilight questioned. The lilac mirror mare looked to the tree one last time and then turned back to her younger self with a frown. "I think that tree is a physical representation of the prison for all the souls that the Necronomicon has devoured," Nocturne replied. Twilight widened her eyes and looked at the tree with horror clear across her face. "Th-then those cages hold," she whispered quietly. Nocturne merely nodded her head, a pained look on her face. "Lost souls," the lilac alicorn replied. "But listen," Nocturne ordered softly. The little lavender unicorn blinked and turned from the tree back to her 'future self'. The lilac alicorn brought a hoof to move her mane to the side of her face and looked at her younger self with a frown. "The reason I contacted you wasn't to explain that, I just wanted you to know a little something about that pendent I left you." Twilight raised a brow and looked at the mirror mare warily. She still wasn't sure if she could trust her or not, and her randomly appearing in front of her didn't help things. "What did you want me to know about it?" the little lavender mare questioned. Rather than answer her, Nocturne's horn gave a brief flash of light. There was a pulse of magic and Twilight found herself staring at herself in the mirror. However, her eyes widened and her jaw was left agape as she saw what had been added. The necklace had vanished from her neck, and instead she was clad in Nocturne's combat regalia. She slowly raised a hoof and looked at it clad in the shining silver armor of her 'future self'. 'How did she, I mean a necklace is one thing, but full barding?' the mare wondered to herself. While she was happy for something to protect her from the coming battle, she also wished she wasn't the 'knight in shining armor' for this adventure. Princess Lunar Glory paced in front of the picture of Majesty with worry etched across her features. Her sister Celestial Majesty however was examining the picture of Majesty instead. Rarity and Fluttershy were examining other portraits around the long gallery. Finally, Pinkie Pie had decided to explore the gallery since she wasn't allowed to fight Zomponies. Faust's reasoning for keeping the pink party pony was actually very sound. While she knew a great deal about the undead, she had never been trained to fight them. As such she would only be effective against them in theory. Regardless, Luna was worried. She knew that Faust was a warrior, unlike many ponies in this age. She also knew that if any pony could face the Necronomicon it was her. Yet the worry for her mother's safety remained. The lunar mare sighed and then looked to Celestia. The solar mare was still examining the portrait, a slight frown across her muzzle. "Sister, must you stare at that portrait?" Luna questioned. The older alicorn merely hummed and took a step back from the portrait. "Sorry Lulu," the solar mare began, "I'm trying to discern if this is a pictomancy portrait or a normal one," the older mare admitted absently. Luna sighed and brought a hoof to her face and wondered why she hadn't expected this. Her sister had practically idolized Majesty since they were fillies. The possibility of actually talking to the mare, or a reasonable facsimile at least, was probably like putting a cake in front of the mare. And every pony knew how much Celestia loved her cake. "Not to be rude your majesty, but since it hasn't started talking to you, I'd assume it that isn't," Rarity noted honestly. Celestia blinked and then nodded her head. A soft sigh passed her lips as she turned away from the portrait. "Disappointing, though I suppose Majesty wasn't alive when Pictomancy was discovered," the solar mare admitted with a disappointed frown. "In any case your highness, do you think Twilight and the others will be alright?" Rarity questioned worriedly. The solar mare smiled softly and turned to the young pony. "While Faust is often a bit 'eccentric' she is also a very capable combatant," the pale-pink alicorn noted, "if any pony can keep them safe from this threat, it'd be her." The pale-pink mare's response seemed to ease the mind of Rarity and Fluttershy, however Luna did not seem relieved in the least. "I only hope Mother has not lost any of her skill," the lunar mare whispered worriedly. Celestia looked to her sister for a moment and sighed tiredly. She knew that Luna worried for Faust, but she seemed to forget that the mare was an alicorn. Not only was she practically immortal, but she was also extremely powerful. "I'm sure she'll be fine Luna," the solar mare told her sister with a reassuring smile. The lunar mare merely scuffed a hoof on the ground and looked away from her sister. Releasing a sigh, the pale pink alicorn took a quick glance around and took note that Pinkie Pie wasn't present. "Where has Pinkie Pie wandered off to?" "I'm right here silly," the pink party pony's exuberant voice declared cheerfully. The other ponies instantly began to look for the pink mare. However strangely enough there was no sign of her anywhere they could see. "Uh, darling I don't see you," Rarity admitted. The party pony's voice echoed in the gallery, a snort following it as she replied to the fashionista. "Well duh Rarity, you're looking in the wrong place!" The pink mare's declaration did little to explain exactly where she was. Rarity actually found herself even more confused than she had been. "Er, darling, this is basically a hall, there's only two ways you could be," the marshmallow mare noted. The sound of her friend giggling only became louder, soon becoming full blown laughter. "Oh you'd think so, but no, I'm where you're not looking!" the pink party pony declared happily. Luna snorted and continued to look around for the strange mare. However much as Rarity had said there were few, if any, places for the mare to hide in what amounted to a hallway. "Pinkamena, art thou having fun with us?" Luna questioned with a frown. Pinkie giggled for a moment and then replied in a cheerful singsong tone. "Nooo." A twitch came to Luna's brow and she narrowed her eyes and looked all around for the mare. However much like before she could see no trace of the pink party pony. "Pinkamena stop this foalish behavior and reveal thyself to us!" the lunar mare demanded sternly. Pinkie merely laughed this time, while Fluttershy glanced around. "Um Pinkie, if it's not too much trouble, maybe you could give us a better hint," the butter yellow pegasus suggested timidly. Pinkie hummed for a moment and then snickered as her voice seemed to grow louder. "Yeah I guess you got a point flutters, so here's your hint!" the pink party pony declared. "I'm right behind you," she stated with yet another snicker and snort. Fluttershy yelped and leaped to her hooves, only to blink when she saw no pony was behind her. Celestia raised a brow and looked over to Fluttershy, however the mare was alone and there was no trace of the pink po... wait a second. "B-but Pinkie, I don't see you behind me," Fluttershy noted timidly. Pinkie merely giggled to herself cheerfully, while Celestia felt her eyes widen and her jaw drop. "That's not possible," she whispered quietly. None of the other ponies heard her however as Luna started to growl and glare all around. "This foalishness is becoming most annoying Pinkamena, we demand that thee show thyself at once!" the lunar mare ordered. Pinkie merely giggled once more and caused the powder blue princess to growl darkly under her breath. However, before she could set about on a tirade, Princess Celestia trotted forward with her mouth agape. "Pinkie, h-how are you inside of that portrait?" the pale pink princess all but demanded. The other ponies followed the older mare's vision and then gaped at what they saw. Pinkie, snickering to herself, was somehow sitting inside of a portrait. The pink party pony then burst into laughter and fell onto her back within the painting, before sighing and wiping a tear from her eye. "Oh I don't know exactly 'how' I got in here, normally I have to break reality to do stuff like this," the party mare noted with a nod of her head. "But my new friend basically just pulled me inside of this portrait if that's what your asking," Pinkie stated then frowned in thought. "Well technically I was pulled into one of the portraits down that way," the pink party pony admitted while pointing down the gallery, "but that's just semantics," she finished with a shrug. However she then frowned and tapped her chin before bringing a hoof to her head and added, "and my new friend also showed me how to move from painting to painting." Celestia tried to listen to Pinkie, she really did, but the fact she was now inside of a portrait hadn't quite sunk in. Yes, the pink party pony did strange things on a daily basis. Yes, she also tended to break reality for her amusement. Yes, she was a close personal friend with death itself. But somehow randomly jumping into paintings just seemed out there even for the mare in question! The only pony that Celestia could imagine doing this kind of thing was Discord, but even Pinkie wasn't quite that chaotic. She then frowned as that got her worried about his 'new friend' of Pinkie's. "Pinkie Pie, are you certain this friend of yours isn't trying to harm you," Celestia questioned worriedly. The pink party pony scoffed and waved a hoof. "Oh c'mon Princess, I'm not a total idiot," the mare stated with a frown, "I do know when some pony is trying to hurt me," the cotton candy mare stated seriously. Celestia frowned but nodded her head. While Pinkie was childish she wasn't helpless. She just tended to forget that with the way the eccentric pony tended to act. "I see, then might you come out of there then darling," Rarity pleaded with a shiver, "this is all very most unnerving," she added under her breath. Pinkie grinned, crossed her forelimbs over her chest, and then shook her head. "Nope," she stated simply. "But how 'bout you girls come in!" the mare offered exuberantly. Celestia raised a brow and looked over to Luna. It was clear by the look on her sister's face that she was just as unsure as she was. While Pinkie was trustworthy, hopping inside of a painting sounded insane. "I don't know Pinkie, w-wouldn't the portrait ponies be a little mad if we bothered them?" Fluttershy questioned meekly. The pink party pony scoffed and waved a hoof in response. "Oh please, these ponies are awesome! I mean did you know Clover the Clever had a green mane and tail?" the cotton candy mare questioned excitedly. Rarity looked notably surprised at the admission, however Luna huffed and trotted to the portrait with a frown. "Pinkamena, we are begining to tire of thy antics, we..." however before the princess could continue, Pinkie came halfway out of the portrait and wrapped her forelimbs around Luna. The princess gave a yelp as she was then pulled into the portrait, a brief ripple like distortion on it's surface as they passed through it. Celestia widened her eyes as Luna landed in a heap on the other side of the portrait. The lunar mare quickly got up to her hooves and shot a scathing look at a now grinning Pinkie. "Welcome to the picture world princess!" the pink party pony declared cheerfully. Luna merely frowned and looked around warily. "This is... not as horrible as we feared," she admitted slowly. She then took note of some pony Celestia and the others couldn't see in the distance. "Prithee Pinkamena, how wouldst I go about leaving this portrait to find and speak with the founders?" the lunar mare questioned curiously. It had been quite a long while since she'd last spoken with the founders after all. Well over a thousand years now, though most of that time she'd been sealed and asleep within the moon. "You just walk to the side of this portrait and hop through," Pinkie replied and trotted to the side of the painting. Celestia and the others followed them, then watched as Pinkie jumped into the next portrait over. The cotton candy mare then spun on her hooves and looked to Luna with a wide grin. "See, just as easy as that!" she cheerfully crowed. Luna idly nodded her head then slowly trotted to the side of the painting as well. She then placed a hoof forward to the barrier between the two paintings. To Celestia, Rarity, and Fluttershy it looked as if Luna was touching the frame around the portrait. "Simply hop through," Luna murmured and then took a step back before lunging forward. Much as Pinkie had before her, Luna landed in the next painting over. She blinked and then glanced around for a moment, before a smile graced her muzzle. "Huzzah! We have done it!" the princess happily cheered. Pinkie cheered as well and clapped her hooves together, then looked to Celestia and the others. "So girls what do ya say? Wanna be in the painting as well?" Pinkie questioned with a raised brow. Celestia frowned for a moment before she trotted forward. "Very well," the solar diarch decided with a sigh. Pinkie instantly came out and wrapped her forelimbs around the solar diarch, then pulled her inside of the painting as well. Once inside of the painting, Celestia felt a brief moment of disorientation before shaking her head to clear it. Looking around, the mare couldn't help but find the inside of the painting looked surprisingly lifelike. She was within a peaceful valley, a series of mountains in the distance, and what looked like a quaint little castle near a small waterfall. "Okay, now for Rarity and Fluttershy, you two ready?" Pinkie questioned as she looked out 'the fourth wall' as Celestia thought of it. Mostly because she could now see outside of the painting, though it was a bit disorientating to do so. Rarity and Fluttershy looked to one another cautiously for a moment, then slowly nodded their heads to their friend. "Great!" Pinkie declared and then stuck her forelimbs out for the other two ponies. Fluttershy and Rarity cautiously grasped hold of the mare's forelimbs, and yelped as she pulled them into the painting as well. The entire world of paint seemed to ripple and shake, until it finally settled down. Celestia raised a brow and idly wondered if this was yet another aspect of Pictomancy. 'A lost art that can create entire worlds to explore, ponies to speak with, and perhaps even more,' the solar diarch thought to herself. 'I really must convince Faust to teach this art to some pony, if for no other reason than to study it,' the pale-pink alicorn mused inwardly. Luna noticed the look on her sister's features and cantered up beside her. "Tis a most unusual magical art, is it not?" the lunar mare questioned. Celestia silently nodded her head in agreement with the younger alicorn's assessment. "Makes one wonder what else it can do," the solar mare noted. Pinkie was instantly in front of the princesses and grinned widely. "Well why don't you just ask my new friend," the pink party pony offered. Celestia hummed and then nodded her head. The cotton candy mare grinned and then shot to the side. She bounced into another portrait and waved for the others to follow her. Celestia quickly galloped after the mare, followed by the others, and hopped into the next portrait as well. She stopped to note she was now in a portrait of a small village, guards here and there moving about in crystal armor. Luna came through shortly after and then grinned. "Tia is this not the Crystal Empire before Sombra's rule," Luna questioned curiously. Celestia hummed for a moment and then nodded her head. The differences were minor, of course, but the village definitely had a few traits of the pre-Sombra Crystal Empire. "It's probably one of the smaller towns outside of the capital, but yes I believe it is," the solar diarch replied. She took a brief moment to appreciate the sight before watching as Pinkie galloped into yet another portrait. "However, if we are to find Pinkie's 'new friend' perhaps we shouldn't dawdle," Celestia suggested crisply. Luna nodded her head in agreement and set out after the mare. Rarity however looked around pensively, then sighed and nodded her head. "Well fine, but I'd really like to come explore this painting more thoroughly afterwards," the marshmallow unicorn stated and galloped after Luna. Celestia raised a brow as she left, then shook her head and looked to Fluttershy. Motioning for the butter yellow pegasus to follow, the solar diarch galloped into the next portrait as well. Fluttershy fidgeted in place for a moment before galloping after the princesses and her friends. She entered into the next portrait to find they were on a grassy hill in a peaceful valley, a calm stream off the the side. "There you are!" Pinkie suddenly exclaimed. Fluttershy looked to the source of the voice and saw the pink party pony was talking to a very young pegasus. The pegasus was in that awkward phase between mare and filly, where she was too big to be a filly, but too little to be a mare. Stranger still, the pony had swirling patterns of red and black for her coat and the tips of her primary feathers were each stained in the different colors of the rainbow. Otherwise she was normal enough, with a curly blond mane and tail, and bright blue eyes. She wore a pair of artists saddlebags that covered her cutie-mark and held a great many gemstones, pieces of paper, parchment, and other such items inside it, and a red bandanna with gold trim tied into a large bow at the back of her head. "Oh hi Pinkie," the painted pegasus offered cheerfully as she glanced away from her easel. She then turned her head to look to the other ponies and raised a brow. "Who are your friends?" she questioned curiously. Celestia took that moment to trot forward and smiled. "I am Princess Celestia of equestria," she offered with a curt nod of her head, "and I was wondering who you might be," the solar diarch admitted. The painted pegasus merely hummed for a moment, then looked to Luna and tapped her chin. "More alicorns, though you're both a lot smaller than Faust," she murmured quietly then shrugged. "Well whatever, I'm Arrow Realm, but just call me Realm," the painted pegasus replied and turned back to her easel. She thus missed the look of shock that crossed Celestia's face. "B-but you're a pegasus," the pale-pink alicorn stated. Pinkie snickered at the look on Celestia's face, then fell over laughing when she saw a similar look on Luna's face. The painted pegasus on the other hoof quickly turned and gave the alicorn a sharp glare. "What is that supposed to mean?" the painted pegasus questioned darkly. Celestia had the decency to blush then raised her hooves up in a placating gesture. "Oh no I meant no offense, but I wish to be absolutely certain," the solar diarch stated quickly. Realm merely narrowed her eyes onto the pale pink alicorn. "You are Arrow Realm, yes?" Celestia questioned and the painted pegasus nodded her head. "The same Arrow Realm Faust knew?" she continued. Again, Realm nodded her head. "The same Arrow Realm who taught her Pictomancy?" the painted pegasus smirked and nodded her head proudly. "The same Arrow Realm who's special talent was Pictomancy?" Realm rolled her eyes but nodded her head all the same. "Do all these questions have a point?" the painted pegasus questioned with a sigh. Rarity was the first to speak slowly approaching the painted pegasus. "Er, not that we don't believe you dear, but how does a Pegasus go about using Pictomancy?" the marshmallow mare questioned curiously. Realm sighed and reached to her bag to retrieve a few of the crystals within it. Biting down on one of the crystals she then steadily held it in place. Raising a wing she brushed one of her primary feathers against the gem, her feathers seemed to glow the tip changing to match the color of the gem. Once her primary was perfectly coated in whatever residue she had retrieved, Realm then began to brush her feather along her latest painting. Rarity looked at what the panted pegasus was working on with great interest. It appeared to be a strange purple octopus with ghastly yellow eyes and a multitude of sharpened teeth. Soon, Realm had finished painting the strange residue on the painting and folded her wings back into her sides. Moving forward she tapped the crystal she was holding against the painting and made a symbol over it. That done she put the crystal away and quickly took several steps back and glanced at Rarity. "You might want to move," she idly noted. As if to emphasize the painted pegasus point, the painting suddenly shifted and moved on its own. The marshmallow unicorn needed no more warning as she moved back from the painting. Mere moments later the octopus in the painting came alive. Its tentacles reached out of the painting before it pulled itself to freedom. The eerie purple octopus then slithered and crawled away towards the nearby stream. As the purple octopus moved away, Fluttershy watching it with great interest, Realm turned back to Rarity with a smirk. "That answer your question?" the painted pegasus questioned in a haughty tone. Rarity merely nodded her head with an awed expression across her features. Not sure what she should think after witnessing the painted pegasus's painting come to life. Celestia on the other hoof merely opened and closed her mouth for a moment, then looked to Luna. Judging by the look on her face she was trying hard not to grin. "The nobles will absolutely love this," she stated laughingly. Luna herself was trying hard not to laugh uproariously. "They..." Luna paused and snorted a laugh out, "they will not take well to a pegasus surpassing every unicorn and alicorn to ever use Pictomancy, will they?" she questioned with a cheeky grin. Celestia merely smirked and idly thought of all the pegasi and earth ponies who had wanted to learn magic over the years. Clearly none had, the only acceptation to the rule generally being in the field of Alchemy. The nobles also tended to make fun of such ponies whenever they tried and failed in mastering any of the magical arts. But apparently pegasi could not only use Pictomancy, but excel in it beyond unicorns as well. It was therefore not unlikely an earth pony could master and excel with it as well. She admittedly believed some Unicorns could probably do so to. But then again, the greatest of all Pictomancers had been a Pegasus. Not only had she been a pegasus but she'd basically been a filly when she mastered it. Clearly she had been a rare prodigy, not unlike Twilight, but that was beside the point. 'I really really want Faust teach Pictomancy to some pony now, preferably a pegasus or earth-pony so I can rub it in the nobles noses,' the solar diarch inwardly admitted. That wasn't to say she hated the nobles, just that they really needed to be taken down a peg. It just seemed that Pictomancy would be the easiest way to do it. While the thought was amusing another thought suddenly occurred to the pale pink alicorn. 'Perhaps I could even start a new school, one to teach the magics usable by non unicorns,' she considered for a moment, then widened her eyes as another idea came to her. 'Or perhaps I could have Twilight start a school like that instead.' Deep beneath Faust's tower lay a room. The room is enchanted and protected by great magic. The room is wide and open, but with dozens of traps protecting a single artifact. A simple glass jar, one no pony would ever think twice about. The jar is round and holds a twisting turning mass of purple gray matter of some kind. Below it is an iron work that curves and twists over a deep well. The traps around it encompass more of the room than the well itself. For within that jar is a creature more foul than any other. And as a certain Sinisteed approaches the chamber, dozens of eyes open and close within the jar. And an eerie tune began to sound out in the darkness. TBC...