The stench of death was a pungent one. One could never mistake it for anything else, due to it's very obvious odor.
Upon entering the cemetery, this is exactly what Platinum Cross realized as he crossed under the splendidly made marble arches of the Pristine Pony Sisters Chapel. His saddlepack was adorned in what appeared to be several small boxes, along with a shovel and small crate.
The smell of decay was strong, and yet many of the cadavers in the cemetery were unsuitable for the historic event that Cross wished to put them through. As he slowly made his ways into the depths of the burial grounds, he realized just how insane his grand plan sounded.
To the average pony, creating a spell to save the recently-deceased would probably sound like something straight out of necromantic folklore. To the well educated, it would sound incredibly difficult and perhaps even risky. To an expert like Platinum Cross, it sounded more akin to a challenge.
However, no matter how important he thought this test was, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was off about this cemetery. He picked up his pace, entering into a quickened trot so that he may reach the fresher burials. As he passed the twelfth row of gravestones, he could sense the remaining magical energies left over by a recently-deceased being.
His eyes widened, and he grinned in excitement. He broke out into a full gallop towards the gravestones emanating magic.
'I'm so close I can almost taste the magic!' He thought, as the streams of magic flowed past him.
Cross crossed into a side path, following a trail of particularly strong energy. He traveled along the bright blue stream of magical energy, eventually coming to what appeared to be a smaller grave off to the side.
It looked quite quaint, with only a few words inscribed upon it, underneath a carving of a rose. The words read
"Here lies Dusk Dance, our beautiful little colt. May he pass from this world into the other in peace."
Cross's will faltered for but a moment, as he came to a resolution.
"A foal should never pass on before earning their cutie mark. This is who I've been searching for." He said, lighting up his horn and removing the shovel from his pack.
As Cross began digging, he noticed a flickering of light coming from the chapel. He ignored it however, thinking it to be the caretakers of this home of the dead. After several more minutes of digging, he'd finally reached the wooden casket of the grave. Noting it's shoddy craftsponyship, he realized that this poor colt's family must have been quite poor. Cross would not let his emotions get in the way of progress though, and thusly he shoved them aside.
Lighting his horn, Cross quickly yet carefully lifted the beaten casket up from it's earthen prison. After making sure it was sufficiently lifted, he used a spell to force at least most of the dirt back into place. Placing the casket onto his pack, he secured it with the remainder of the rope he'd brought with him. He quickly retreated from the cemetery, heading back to his clinic.
Upon entering the comforting reception room, he quickly entered into his operating room, placing the corpse upon the table. He drew a piece of magically enchanted chalk, before slowly and precisely drawing a large circle around the table. After crossing the last lines of the sigil, he tossed the chalk to the side. Platinum Cross smiled at his work, before beginning the spell.
Drawing in the life-forces of the plants and animals in the surrounding area, he concentrated their essences around a single point, melding them together. He shifted their essences around, before carefully lifting the colt's essence out as well. He then transferred the mixture of essences into a potion bottle, before looking over his notes one last time.
Seemingly satisfied with his progress thus far, he split the remaining amount of the colt's essence into three chunks, and combined one of them with the others. He then poured a specially brewed compound of Bogwater, Frog Flesh, Unicorn shavings, and Manticore bone marrow into the bottle as well.
After mixing the second fragment of the Child's essence with the potion, he poured it into the body's mouth, forcing it to drink it. He then levitated a scalpel over to himself from his trolley, before slicing it across his hoof wrist. Hissing in pain, he held it above the colt, allowing it to flow down the child's throat. Finally, he added the last piece of the child's soul.
Using a final burst of magic, he sealed the magic within the sigil, making the process incapable of being prevented. Suddenly, he heard what sounded like a hundred ponies marching around. Quickly and carefully, he made his way to the front of his shop, the eerie glow of his sigil encasing him in a blue light. Outside of his window, he saw what appeared to be a large gathering of ponies, many armed with a torch for light, or some type of sharp tool. Being a curious stallion, he was about to open the glass window when he heard a shout.
"RETURN THE BODY YOU FIEND" A male voice shouted, followed by many "Yeah's" and "Do It's" He looked at the one who shouted it, unable to discern his face in the darkness of the night.
"I cannot do so, my fellow friend. I am on the verge of a glorious revolution in medicine!" He shouted back, hoping to convince them to end this.
"So be it, Doctor! STORM THE BUILDING!" That same stallion roared, before leading a charge of ponies at Cross's shop!
Cross quickly retreated into his operating room, tossing several cabinets and chairs towards the doors in hopes of slowing them. He heard the shattering of glass, and a brick smashed into the wall next to his head, narrowly missing crushing his skull. Deciding to fall back, he retreated into the walls of the Operating Theater. He barely managed to make it into there, as they banged their hooves upon the door.
"YOU MONSTER! LET US SEE OUR SON! He heard a mare shout, and he became confused.
"Your son is in here for the good of Equestria!" He said, glancing back to the sigil, which was now growing brighter.
"GIVE HIM BACK TO US!" He heard that same stallion shout, before a large hoof-print was dented into his door.
"That is exactly what I'm doing!" Cross countered, smiling as the Sigil exploded outwards in a shower of beautiful blue light.
The door was suddenly flung from its hinges, sending Cross into the opposite wall, his body smashing against the wall with a painful THUD. Cross coughed up a small amount of blood, before groggily looking over towards the remains of his door. His eyes barely managed to focus on the sight of a Stallion and Mare, both staring at the Operating Table, and the currently mumbling Colt upon it.
"By Celestia's mane..." The Stallion mumbled, before looking over to Cross.
"What witchcraft have you committed? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!" He roared, his eyes burning with a hatred unseen before by Cross.
"I gave you... your son back" Cross mumbled, before stumbling upwards. "And... this is what I got?" He said, before his viridian eyes focused on the countless notes he'd taken on his now-successful project.
"You monster... what kind of black magic do you practice? I thought you were our FRIEND" The mare shouted, looking at both Cross, and her foal at the same time. Cross took this moment to suddenly pull his notes over to himself, before looking sadly to the two parents.
"I gave you your foal back, and you attempt to kill me? LOOK AT HIM! HE IS AS ALIVE AS YOU AND I!" He screamed.
The two were taken aback enough for Cross to suddenly begin his teleportation spell. Cross had nearly completed it, before suddenly a hoof struck him across the muzzle. He was thrown to the side, causing him to smash into a potion-rack and become covered in them. His vision swirled, before he swung back in a bit of rage.
His hoof connected with the stallion's muzzle with a sickening CRACK, and the stallion stumbled backwards into the mare, who then tumbled over onto her side, knocking down several ponies with torches. One such torch impacted the stallion who'd hit Cross, and both him and his wife were suddenly engulfed in a dark green fire, as they began screaming. Seeing this as his escape, Cross quickly threw his remaining power into a Teleportation spell, and vanished from the operating room.
Reappearing several hundred meters away, Cross looked on sadly at the burning carcass that was once his home, and he saw that several fireponies were now surrounding it, rescuing those who'd been inside. Along with the two parents he'd seen before, now heavily burned, he also saw their colt. Smiling sadly, he realized he'd accomplished his goal all along.
Platinum Cross turned, and began trotting into the Everfree Forest, still dripping potion, with much of it seeping slightly into his minor cuts and bruises. He passed underneath the dark canopy of the Forest, and vanished in the depths of the wilds.
To Be Continued
