A Mockery of Life

by Farseer

Pictures

Lemon Hearts gazed at the pictures, surprised and slightly touched that she would attempt to preserve them. The Elements of Harmony. That's what was needed in this war-torn world right now. Harmony. A place where no one cared that you chopped up, stitched together, and reanimated bodies for a living. Peace.

She shook her head. She can't be thinking about this right now. She had several different things on her mind, and that was at the bottom. But, however, what was near the top was how to get rid of Colgate. Several things went through her mind. Framing, assassination, an 'accident'. But she couldn't figure out how she would be able to set any of that up without endangering her apprentice- despite what the other necromancers thought, the Cult was running low on necromancers-, herself, or Mockingjay. Several wild ideas came to her mind, each more crazier than before. And then she settled on an idea. Since Colgate was unable to send her apprentice over now, considering that her body was lying on the ground in front of Lemon, any more information about Mockingbird that she had to learn had to be learned in person. And she would provide large amounts of evidence directly to Mockingbird about that evidence, if not herself. A witness of sorts. The only downside? Revealing Mockingjay to the council, before she was fully trained. She debated with herself. Was it really a good idea to endanger her- to have her taken away- merely for revenge? And besides, the necromancer could merely claim that the undead was merely controlled to give evidence against her. So that means that she would have to provide an additional means of recording. Which was somewhat easily done.

She decided to check on Mockingjay before letting her know about her plans, as well as starting her work on this corpse. A Smiling Doll for sure. Just to creep out Colgate. For some reason, she hated them with a passion.

---

I watched silently as Lemon came out of her room and looked at me, staring at her from a cloud. "Hello." I said softly. "How are you doing?"

Lemon sighed. "Not very well..." She shrugged before looking at the puzzle. "Huh... I like this last-"

For some reason, she stopped talking. Her eyes grew a little bit wider, and she stared at the picture for a while, before shaking her head. "Wow... what a nice picture."

"Lemon... I have a question." She knew the answer to it- partially- but she wanted to hear what she said. "Who were the Royal Sisters?"

With this question, Lemon sighed. Neither she nor I spoke for a while. And then she said, softly, "They were the ponies who lead us, ruled us. But then they vanished. And now... they are nothing but pictures. Nothing but pictures." She shook her head, clearly disturbed about something. Then she said, "Mockingjay... there is a pony. With a blue coat, and a dark blue and while mane and tail that looks like toothpaste. She's out to get me- to bring me down, to humiliate me, and, possibly... make me lose you." She sighed. "If she decides to visit here, several things need to happen, all of which needs to happen as soon as possible. Do you understand?" I nod slowly and carefully. "Good. First thing that needs to happen is that, as soon as I come in, you need to tell me. About everything that she has told you, everything that she did. Alright?"

"Why?" I asked, fear building up in me.

"Because she will try to disrupt you. Make you doubt the world around you. And you need to play along until I get back. Alright?"

"Alright." I said, squeakily.

"And the second thing- you need to keep her out of my room. Alright? If she goes in there, she will be able to steal some of my most precious things- a disenchantment spell, for instance, or the special pictures you made for me." I nod again slowly. "Also... if these things come to pass... you will have to be seen by a group of ponies. There are seven of them, though one lies in a sarcophagus. They are my... leaders. The leaders of everyone here. All the servants, necromancers... we all owe them respect, because they have a direct link to the Laughing Mare... the one in the sarcophagus, we think, may even be the Laughing Mare. They might seem intimidating, but they are trying to keep you and me alive... hopefully."

I decide that I don't like the sound of these ponies. Hopefully? What is that supposed to mean?

"Alright, Mockingbird?"

I stop for a while and think about this. "But... why does this pony want to hurt you?"

She stopped and considered an answer. "Because she is jealous. She wishes to inflict as much pain on me as possible.. and one of the biggest ways she can do it is by destroying my heart... by destroying you..."

At this, Lemon fades out and stops for a moment. Then she smiles again, although I can tell that it is forced. "Now... I have to get back to work, alright? I'll give you a few more puzzles to do if you want."

I stop and decide not to ask about the sudden change of topic. "Alright... that would be nice. Thanks, Lemon."

Author's Note:

New chapter!

All my readers out there... how are you all doing? How am I doing with this? I feel as if I've been dragging this out too long...