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// What's Right 
// Story: Accidental Necromancer 
// by 1FunnyFox 
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     The day wasn't unusual in any remarkable way when it started. The sun was shining, a few clouds hung lazily in the sky waiting to be bucked and the temperature was in that sweet zone between warm and brisk. Everything was very pleasant and quite mundane if you were to discount the small number of shambling skeletal ponies currently marching past the outskirts of the local houses and businesses of Ponyville. Some wore rotting cloaks and or misaligned hats or even glasses over their empty sockets and they continued scratching and moving about with that horrible rattling noise as they traversed the colorful streets. About a half dozen in total slowly moved forwards with soulless abandon before finally coming to stop in front of their master. 

A pony who raises the dead is something to truly be feared for they have broken ancient pacts with death itself. The word necromancer had fallen into complete disuse by this time in Equestrian history, only the princesses (give or take a Draconequis) remembered the most foul of pony kind. Necromancers were pictures of fear and malevolence, vile hatreds and cold detachment from all that is living. Thus it was quite surprising that the master  of these undead ponies was currently wearing a smile of titanic proportions and practically bouncing in place while shouting words like “Success, Perfect, Exactly like I theorized!”  Twilight Sparkle was quite proud of herself, so proud she did not notice Celestia descending gracefully behind her, taking in the scene and then placing the most saddened and heartbroken expression possible on as she stared at her precious student who had become a princess. Perhaps this is moving to quick however, let us move backwards a mere day and see how this all came to unfold.


One Day Earlier


“Spike! Where did I leave my copy of Starswirl’s Notes on Mana Flux?” Twilight asked from behind a rather precarious stack of tomes as her ever faithful companion continued dusting the new library. He only needed to think for a few moments before responding.

“Fifth shelf from the right, two shelves from the bottom, eight books in from the right I think!” Spike yelled out over the book fortress as he continued trying to clean the new library in Twilights “Castle.” It wasn’t what anyone would call regal, shiny yes, but everything was laid out in a standard manner and with a rather homely feeling. Spike thought it was nice, though he did miss the old library greatly. His comic books, his bed, honestly all his possessions in the entire world went up in smoke with Tireks rampage. Still, he knew it hit him only half as hard as it did Twilight, she had sat in the ruins of the Library for 2 hours just looking at the charred remains of her books. It had taken Spike and all of Twilight’s friends to bring her out of her funk. The donation of spare books from all across Ponyville had helped a lot, particularly a Dareing Doo set donated anonymously, though everypony was certain it had been Rainbow Dash she had still vehemently denied it. 

Things were returning to normal, the group falling back into their regular routines. Apples were bucked, parties were had, animals tended to, weather maintained, and fashions designed. Books however were practically devoured within the castles library where Twilight was working to learn all she could about ruling a kingdom, all though her duties were fairly minimal and mostly consisted of meetings with diplomats and protecting ponies from any dangers that cropped up, honestly little had changed. She always found time for her friends, often inviting them to the castle where they could all sit on their respective thrones and discuss whatever seemed important at the time. 

Twilight inhaled deeply before giving out a contented sigh and closing the last of her books on proper princess etiquette. Only a few hours sleep in the last week but she was now, (at long last in her opinion) finished with the books on her new station and the importance she played as a symbol in difficult times. She was more excited however by the prospect of finally getting to return to her studies of magic, this thought pushed any ideas of sleep away, at least for the time being. Many new spell books had come in recently from Celestia as a way of replenishing what was lost and Twilight had only barely managed to contain herself when they arrived to keep from tearing into them. Now however she was free to look them over and as she stood up from her desk. (her knees giving a small protesting crack from remaining stationary for such a length of time) She headed to the far end of the library where a pristine bookshelf sat, its tomes still waiting to be properly organized. (Twilight’s system of organization was a complex affair that made sense to herself alone and was just barely comprehensible to Spike) Spike noticing Twilight had moved quickly followed her as the library was quite clean by this point and he had little else to do today, he found assisting Twilight to be a quite enjoyable (if not always appreciated) experience. 

Twilight scanned the spines of the books, some of these spell tomes were old, pre-Classical era or earlier! She could barely contain her enthusiasm as she happily trotted in place imagining what might be inside them as she read some of the titles. “Advanced Illusionary arts, Light Spells all you’ll ever need to know, Channeling Mana an efficiency guide.” On and on the list went save a single book which immediately stood out to Twilight. The reasoning was simple, there was no writing on its spine just and extension of a pure black cover. Twilight quickly grasped the book in her magic and brought it eye level as she turned it around. There was no writing on any of the sides and it looked like a rather plain journal one would find in any bookstore for the last several centuries. Cracking open the book she turned to a random page and her jaw nearly fell through the floor.

Spike watched Twilight as she browsed over the shelf and took a book down in her magic. He thought of all the spells she knew, in all of Ponyville he was probably the only one who had any sort of clue how powerful Twilight actually was. She wasn’t on par with any of the princesses in raw magic, that had never been her strength. She excelled in minimising how much mana was lost from each spell and had learned a trick few unicorns ever fully appreciated, drawing mana from the air. She could (as long as the spells were only minor) cast for an entire day without tiring if she wanted to. Spike tried to think if her magic had any weaknesses but other than an only slightly above average pool of mana to draw from her casting was top notch. Spike turned his thoughts towards himself and what he took pride in. Only three things came to mind, His noble dragon code, his status as Twilight’s number one assistant and the fact that Twilight was like family to him. Shaking himself from all his thinking he turned himself back to Twilight and the slack jawed and mesmerized expression currently on her face. 

Twilight had never in all her life seen such comprehensive notes. The writing was neat and in a common black ink that flowed across the page. It was more of a personal journal than a spell book, with notes jammed into the margins and symbols drawn upon the page circled with lines leading to words. It was a large mess to the untrained eye but to Twilight it was wonderful beyond belief. Every detail of casting was written down, tips for channeling the spell, proper breathing and exact numbers for the amount of mana to focus. There was only one thing for her to do and she shot across the library to an unoccupied desk and placed the precious book onto the table while calling out to her most trusted assistant.

“Spike, please get me my quills, a stack of parchment, prepare some tea and....” Twilight was cut off as Spike responded before she had even finished.

“Sure thing Twi! One all night study kit coming up!” Twilight couldn't help but smile as her assistant went and secured the materials she would need. She wasn't certain even now what Spike was to her and she had been turning it over for years. When she was younger it was like a little brother, but now more and more it was almost like she was his mother. She was confused by the thought and at one point had almost considered adopting him officially but they were good in their routine so neither really saw much of a need to change things. Whatever it was it worked and they both cared a great deal for each other, as close as any family related by blood. Spike returned with the materials and the water for the tea ready to be boiled by dragon fire in a moment. Twilight placed a hoof on Spikes head fin and gave it a small ruffle.

“What would I do without you Spike.  I’m probably going to be looking at this journal for the rest of the day and into the night. I’ve never seen spells written out like this! I bet this is some kind of test, or maybe a new level of magic that Celestia trusts me with now! Oh, I can barely wait to see what some of these spells do. Spike you can take the rest of the day off. Don’t stay out to late alright.” Spike gave an excited nod as he dashed with enthusiasm out of the library mind set on one location, Carousel Boutique, he shouted over his shoulder as he shut the door behind him.

“Thanks Twilight, I’ll be back before dark!” She rolled her eyes as he left, she had no doubts as to where he would be heading. She refocused her attention onto the journal and flipped to the front of the very first page where a hand written title could still be read.

“Experimental notes and musings Volume one. By Bucky Blackhoof.” Twilight pondered the name, she had never even heard of it before which surprised her, the notes appeared so well written she would have thought he was famous. Pushing the thought aside she turned to the first real page and took in what appeared to be a simple detection spell. Slowly as she took the symbols apart from the text and pieced together the spell inch by inch all the while transcribing her own notes in her own style she grasped what the spell did. She questioned the very air, a note of surprise and confusion in her voice. 
“Detect dead? Huh, I wonder why Celestia would want me to learn that?”


Several Hours Later


Spike walked into the library pep in his step after spending several hours with his beloved Rarity helping out around her shop. He felt lighter than air, like nothing could possibly bring him down as he took in the state of the library and ran through a small checklist that everything was in its proper order. Shelves, check, Twilight, check, writing desk, check, giant pentagram.....Spike froze his eyes widening as he saw Twilight give him a wave and come leisurely trotting over to him.

“Hey Spike, how was your day? Spike....you alright, you’re not running a fever right.” She quickly placed a hoof on Spikes forehead with a concerned look which vanished when she felt he had no unusual temperature. Spike finally found his tongue as he gave Twilight his own concerned look.

“Twi...why is there a pentagram on the library floor?” Twilight for her part now looked confused as she responded.

“Well I drew it of course. How else would it have appeared? You sure your feeling alright Spike.”Spike was beyond confused and concerned at this point so he decided to just come out and say it.

“Twi, I might not be a master of magic but aren’t pentagrams symbols of evil? Like, serious dark magic. I know Celestia taught you a little dark magic but isn’t this....a little over the top?” A look of understanding crossed Twilights face as she nodded slowly and responded.

“Oh I get it, no Spike I’m not turning into some crazy dark wizard. Pfft, me an evil wizard, the only thing more ridiculous is Fluttershy as a supervillain in secret. I’m just copying some of the rituals from the book Celestia sent me. She wouldn’t send me something if she thought it was dangerous Spike, at least not without a warning. Don’t worry Spike, you have nothing to worry about.” She gave him a nuzzle that brought a warm smile to his face as she led him towards the door that led to his bedroom. Just she closed the door to the library she spoke.

“Don’t worry Spike, all the spell does is let me chat with some spirits. Completely harmless, now get some sleep and sweet dreams Spike” The door shut over Spikes look of concern that had returned twofold. Oh he was writing Celestia, oh he was bucking writing her this second. He hurried down the corridor straight for his room which had a few of his own writing implements.

Spikes room was surprisingly organized for someone his age, little bits of Twilight had rubbed off on him it seemed. His quill and parchment were on his nightstand on the opposite side of his bed. The quickest path to which was directly over top of his bed, his first real bed in fact. An overly comfortable, warm and well crafted bed after a long day of working at Rarity’s. His scramble over it slowed as he neared the opposite edge and felt himself sink into the soft embrace of the mattress, his rational mind was telling him to go just a bit farther and grasp the quill. His tired mind however whispered a much simpler solution, sleep now and in the morning send a letter, after all, how much trouble could Twilight get up to in a single night? Had he been fully awake he would have recognized the insanity of that statement, sadly he was not fully awake and he quickly fell asleep.

Twilight Sparkle had many positive traits, her studious nature, steadfastness, dedication and a deep love of her friends. She unfortunately had a few negative traits as well, an overly obsessive nature, a habit of missing the obvious, taking a few things (particularly assistants) occasionally for granted, and finally a habit of skipping sleep. The more sleep skipped however resulted in her other negative traits becoming exacerbated, particularly when it came to missing the obvious. The worst example of this was when the future version of herself had appeared and warned her of something. Her end solution after several days of not sleeping had been trying to stop the flow of time itself, in hindsight a truly horrific and insane idea, at the time however it had seemed completely reasonable to her. Her time spent not sleeping and instead reading books on how to be a proper princess had likewise taken their toll and so a number of red flags were happily trotted past as Twilight continued with the book speaking to herself as she went along.

“I never thought Celestia would know magic like this! It’s so unlike anything else I’ve ever done, it’s fascinating! Alright one last check of the spells so far. Detect dead, check. Commune with spirits, check. Next one is animate bones? Oh, so you use detect dead to find bones to use! I’ve never seen animated bones before? I wonder why, maybe Celestia uses them for basic jobs around Canterlot? It’s like recycling with ponies, how have I never thought of that before! Alright let’s see if I can find some bones!” 

A look of concentration passed over Twilights features for an instant before her eyes flew wide open, all color drained and a deep and pure black color filling them. Her vision was in a dark and twisting shade of blue with every bone and dead plant glowing a luminous green. Far off, through the walls of her castle, she could site a collection of the green light and she quickly grabbed her saddle bag, tossed in the book and the few materials she would need for the spell. She happily trotted through the door ready for a long night of perfecting her newest spell. 


Several Hours later


Celestia woke gently from her slumber with a smile. The night had been peaceful, as were most nights now that her sister had returned to her. Gingerly stepping from her bed she did her greatest royal duty first, the raising of the sun. The great orange globe ascended and spread its warmth across all of Equestria, to every one of her beloved citizens and it filled her heart with joy. Stepping back from her balcony she made her way inside to enjoy a nice quiet breakfast. 

Toasted dandelion sandwich, a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice, and a peaceful quiet, at that moment she felt a familiar buzz in her horn as a letter materialized before her. Her smile widened as she thought of her most faithful student. Taking a sip of her orange juice she unfurled the letter, obviously penned by Spike and started reading. Orange juice flew from her muzzle spattering the page as her eyes shrunk to dots. She stood as fast as possible and her chair clattered to the floor. One of the guards noticing the look of horror that was on Celestias face tried to rush to her side, but by the time he reached it she had already disappeared in a flash of light. The letter sat discarded (and soaked in orange juice) upon the floor and read very simply.

Dear Celestia

You didn't send Twilight a book on dark magic right? She found one from your last shipment of spell books and has been communing with spirits and drawing pentagrams. If you did please send a quick reply and I’ll stop worrying at once. If not please send a message I can show to Twilight immediately.

Your faithful subject 

Spike