The Necromancer's Ambition

by KuroiTsubasaTenshi


9 - Farewell?

The next few days saw Ivory and I return to small talk, though this time it felt less obligatory and more genuine. Every so often, I’d try to direct our talks back to the guard, but Ivory remained tight-lipped about his identity.

Instead, I got side-tracked into a five-hour-long discussion of Daring Do, a direct result of learning Daring had come after Ivory’s generation had grown up. She, in turn had gone on about the Sand Knoll saga. I wasn’t a big fan of the space ponies and intergalactic war thing, but vowed to give it a try anyway. I had to admit, it was nice to set aside the weighty topics and just be two mares chatting for a while.

Bit-by-bit, my leg continued to heal and bit-by-bit, my concern for Ivory grew. Our talks were quite enjoyable and, masked as it was, I was starting to see that same enthusiasm from her journal. At that point, it was impossible to deny that we were friends.

Leaving was suddenly a cruel prospect. I was her only friend, after all. But I couldn’t just stay in those woods forever. It wouldn’t be fair to the rest of my friends and family. And it wasn’t like we were parting ways forever. If she had already survived that long without me, surely she could get by until I returned.

“How is it?” Ivory’s inquiry broke my daydream.

I leaned back, putting increasing weight onto my hind leg until I was angled back so strangely that I thought I might fall on my rump. “It’s about good as new.”

The corners of Ivory’s mouth trembled, uncertain of which way to turn. “Great. Then you should probably get packing.”

With a nod, I set to work on my flight satchels, taking a quick stock of my rations to ensure they were still good. I slung the bags over my back and donned my scarf. I put on my best reassuring smile as I turned to Ivory.

We stood there, staring at each other like two fillies at the end of a grand slumber party, never wanting it to end, but knowing not even the strongest of friendships can stop the flow of time.

I was the first to break the silence. “This isn’t good-bye forever. I’ll be back.”

“You will?” The tiniest hint of hope quivered in her voice.

“Of course.”

“When?” Her words sprung forth exactly as mine finished.

I pondered a moment. If I could catch her when she didn’t have any pressing business, perhaps she would reconsider her aversion of travel. “When do you think your war will be over?”

“I don’t know. It depends on how stubborn they are.”

“Then I guess I’ll just have to check back every few months until it is.”

“You… really mean it? Promise?” Uncertainty flooded her voice as her hoof traced circles on the ground.

“Yeah. I promise. Or my name isn’t Dusky Down.” I stepped forward and pressed my muzzle against her mane. My foreleg was halfway up for a hug when she flinched and pulled away. Heat touched my cheeks. “Sorry, I… that was wrong of me to assume.”

Ivory shook her head, her eyes filled with confusion rather than anger. “No, I… I’d just forgotten what that was like.”

---

The forest was strangely alive, the chittering of animals about as loud as in any other place. In my mind I knew they had had years to adapt to the presence of zombies, but in my gut, the idea that they could get over it bordered on unsettling. Of course, I had to admit that my only point of reference, accident or not,  had viciously attacked me. But for the sake of the mare behind them, I suppressed my nerves.

I wanted to break the tension, to chat with Ivory and savour the remainder of our time together. But the farther we walked, the more my traveler’s instinct kicked in and the more I was inclined toward silence. In the wilderness, the loud pony has a bright red target painted on her back.

Ivory had acquired a strange focus of her own. The look in her eyes was neither the unease of a wary pony, nor the measured intent of a wizard. It was more akin to the alpha wolf watching over her pack.

She gave me an apologetic look before veering off toward the brush. I raised an eyebrow, which meant little to her hindquarters. With a shrug, I followed, making sure to keep to the same trails.

We skulked along until we were nearly at the forest’s edge. It was there that I spotted a familiar orange mare about a dozen yards out. She strolled as easily over the uneven ground as the average pony would a well-maintained road.

A pair of earth pony stallions followed just behind, their equipment displaying a remarkable lack of misshapenness. Each of their spears were reasonably straight and topped by a jagged iron tooth. For armour they wore loose chain barding.

“You sure this is the place?” the one on her right asked gruffly.

I crept up to the nearest bush and peered through the gaps in the leaves. Ivory slipped up beside me, a frown forming on her face.

“Yeah, I’d never forget that broken boulder! I saw him here, I swear!” Blaze called over her shoulder.

“Okay, you don’t have to tell the forest too, y’know.”

“Hey, if he wants to show up in the open so we can get him sooner, all the better.” Her ‘spear’ bobbed in the yellow grip of her horn.

“Be careful what you wish for, little foal,” a stallion’s voice boomed out of the trees, its echo silencing the forest.

I swiveled my ears as I raised my eyes just above the topmost leaves. As best I could tell, he was somewhere off to the right, which was practically in front of Blaze.

A robed figure glided out from the darkness between two trees, his clothing and black mane billowing around his skull mask. He raised his hoof and the bushes near the path groaned and snapped as zombie-ponies in tattered clothes stumbled free of the branches.

I glanced at Ivory, whose frown was so deep, it threatened to creep down her neck.

It struck me how few specifics I knew of the bandits, for Ivory had never spoken of her encounters. A thought dawned on me. What if the bandits brought in their own necromancer? No, that can’t be right.

One necromancer was a rarity as it was. To find a second, and one that would be willing to work for someone else, well, those are definitely odds I wouldn’t bet on. Not to mention something didn’t smell right. That is, they didn’t stink enough. Compared to the zombie-bird, those guys were a breath of fresh air.

“Bandits,” Ivory whispered.

“Figured. So those three are about to get mugged.”

“Just the mare.”

“What?”

“I’ve seen this ruse before. The bandits take turns posing as mercenaries and then lead their employer into an ambush. Except their employer saved them the trouble this time.”

“Mercen—” I glanced at Blaze. Oh, shit. She didn’t.

“Bow to the Necromancer!” the masked stallion called, his voice carrying a knowing, almost arrogant tone. “And perhaps you will be spared!”

“No way!” Blaze stepped forward, spear poised above her head.

“What are you doing?” asked one of the fake-mercenaries. “There’s a lot of zombies here…”

“Hold them off! I’m putting an end to this!” Blaze boasted as she advanced.

“Um…” The fake-mercenary didn’t move, his jaw hanging open. I wagered he was genuinely baffled by her insanity-bordering bravado. I know I was.

“We have to get her out of there before she gets herself killed,” I whispered. “Can… can your zombies cover me?”

Had the situation been any less dire, I might have laughed. Never in a thousand years did I think I’d utter those words.

Ivory nodded. “Go. I’ll distract them.”

I drew my wingblade, pressing it against the top of my wing and whispered the magic word. A familiar tingle danced up and down my feathers as the weapon secured itself.

With one last glance back, I burrowed into the brush, keeping myself low and only moving whenever someone was being particularly noisy. And as luck would have it, my route provided a surprisingly clear view of what was unfolding.

“Are you really so eager to die?” The fake-necromancer hadn’t moved an inch.

“I am eager to end you and bring peace to my village,” Blaze spat and pawed the ground.

No, you idiot! Where are those zombies? I quickened my pace as much as I dared. Being caught out of position was as likely to get us both killed as Blaze’s own recklessness.

There was a long series of crashes, a chaotic orchestra signalling the start of the collision of bodies. A bandit-fake-zombie and the real deal rolled across the dirt to my right, hooves flailing. Blaze’s eyes flitted over to them, her expression melting into total confusion just a moment after.

That was when the fake-necromancer struck, a wicked, double-edged knife riding a red aura out of his robe.

I leapt into action, slamming my body against Blaze’s and sending her staggering away. Draw back and… I threw my wing into position just in time to parry the fake-necromancer’s blade. He scowled at me and the knife pulled back, ready to strike again.

Too bad he never noticed the zombie coming off his flank. As the two of them went spinning off into the brush, I rammed my head against Blaze’s withers. “Come on! Let’s go!”

“What—you!”

“Yes, me.” I rolled my eyes. I broke into a trot, looking for a break in the bandit line, which, thanks to Ivory’s ambush, was quickly falling apart. While the bandits had the benefit of being armed, the zombies just didn’t care about multiple stab wounds.

I threw a glance back at Blaze, who was following rather tentatively. “Now come with me if you want to live.”

“By running at all those zombies?”

I sighed, wondering if she had suddenly developed a sense of preservation or just hated zombies that much. “In case you haven’t noticed, some of them are on our side.”

Blaze stopped, anger lighting up her face. “You mean your side, you—you—necromancer!”

“Ugh, look, I’ll explain later! Living, now, prejudice when we’re safe!”

The fake-necromancer’s knife floated out from behind Blaze and pressed itself against her throat. Her knees bent, a backwards hop in the making. But the fake-necromancer’s words held her in place. “Uh, uh. Not unless you wanna get cut.”

He stepped out of the trees and slid up beside Blaze. “Call them off.”

I blinked, my mounting anger fading under the realization of what Blaze had just set in motion. I glanced side-to-side. No Ivory in sight. With a deep breath, I began my gambit, which would end in catastrophe for one side or the other. It all hinged on how much Ivory was paying attention. “By my name as Necromancer… Stop!”

A couple seconds drifted into eternity as my heart raced. The zombies paused, although they did not move away from their opponents, who all lay motionless on the ground.

Blaze gave me an intense glare consisting of “I knew it!” daggers.

“Now, dispel them and drop your weapon, or this filly dies.” The fake-necromancer inched his knife closer.

As my pulse settled, I felt my confidence soar. It was time to press my advantage. “No.”

“What?” The fake-necromancer’s voice wavered under his mask.

I had to focus, force myself not to look for Ivory. I pulled myself as tall as I could. “If I disarm, you’ll kill us both. But if you kill her, you’ll be dead in an instant. How about you surrender and I’ll think about sparing your life?”

“You think I’m bluffing?!” The fake-necromancer pressed the blade against Blaze’s neck. A whimper, alongside a thin line of blood, escaped her throat.

Shit. Come on…

The fake-necromancer laughed. “Last chance or I’ll—I’ll—”

A dull grey aura had surrounded the knife and a smile crept up my lips as the weapon was pulled away, leaving me my opening.

I bounded forward, wing poised.

A sinister red emanated from the fake-necromancer’s concealed horn. But I was already close enough that I was certain whatever attack he used wouldn’t matter.

And in a flash of light, they were just… gone, my wingblade cleaving through the air where the fake-necromancer’s throat had been. “Wha—?”

“Teleportation. I should have known.” Ivory’s eyes were full of anger as she stepped through the bushes, heedless of the branches pressing against her chest.

My mind reeled. Teleportation was no easy feat, never mind mass teleportation. His cutie mark had to be teleportation. It had to be. Otherwise, Blaze had just picked a fight with something well out of my league and the odds of rescuing her would have been practically non-existent. I shook my head. No, if he had to take a hostage, there’s no way he was a master magus. “Wait, why did he take Blaze with him?”

Ivory’s face fell. “Knowing them, they’ll use her to extort something from Pasture. All the while calling themselves the Necromancer, of course.”

A gigantic pit formed in my stomach and it was all I could do not to end up on my hindquarters. The things that come back to bite somepony in the flank. “Damn. Do you know where they’d keep her?”

“Not any specifics, but their only hideout is up in the hills.”

I glanced at the bandit bodies strewn around the forest. “Then let’s see if we can find somepony who can give us those specifics.”