In Want for a Wand

by Leila Drake

Level 8 - Advanced Gardening

When Jonathan woke up, Brazie was gone. Was it already morning? He raised his head from the pillow and found himself alone in the room with the death knight. Darren stood at the window, looking outside.

"Where are Twilight and Arcus?", muttered Jonathan groggily.

"Brazie went outside to tend to his garden", explained Darren, turning his head to look at Jonathan. "The ponies joined him. I can see them from here." He pointed outside. "And I fed the bats. You have a deep sleep."

"Um... Thanks." Jonathan staggered to his feet, his head still a bit light. He rolled the blanket and pillow up and stuffed them into his backpack. When he was content with the result, he declared, "I'm outside."

Darren nodded and stepped away from the window, silently sitting down at the table.

Jonathan left the house, casting a last look at the knight before closing the door. Darren was reading a small mangled book. His icy blue eyes were hidden under the hood again.

The priest shrugged and went around the corner to see what the ponies were up to.

Brazie was wearing a thick coat and a fur cap. He seemed to be busy covering some of his plants with large sheets of linen. Arcus helped him by grabbing the opposing ends with his mouth. Together, they tied the ends to fence posts to prevent the wind from blowing the sheets away. Twilight took care of the plants next to them, gracefully floating a sheet over some bulky brown plants that resembled a mixture between rock tablets and ugly oversized walnuts.

"I'm done here", she declared happily. "What can I do next?"

Brazie waved it off. "Meh, go take a break. We're good, right, earth pony?"

"Yep", confirmed Arcus, grinning at Jonathan. The exercise seemed to do him good. Jonathan could relate; doing something productive like gardening was a great way to reconnect with one's self - even if it just meant covering plants to protect them against the frost.

Twilight walked past Jonathan, towards the hut, and smiled at him warmly. "Good morning", she greeted him. "How are you feeling?"

Jonathan thought about that for a moment. Still no snow, friendly faces, and the prospect of returning home soon: "I'm good", he said. The previous days were still fresh in his mind but a good night's sleep had dulled his worries somehow. He felt as if he had managed closing a book of unpleasant stories to start a better one. Was it because he had finally let his feelings out? One way or another, he suspected the ponies played a part in his recovery.

"See you later", he said, smiling back.

Twilight's smile grew wider and she entered the house, closing the door.

Jonathan stepped closer to the fence. "Mornin'."

Brazie looked up. "Morning, friend. Slept enough?"

"Yes", he said, greeting Arcus with a wave.

The pony raised his hoof and grinned at him. "How you doing?"

Jonathan nodded affirmatively. "You?"

"Good." Arcus stepped away from the plants. "I've never seen plants like this before", he said. "What are they? They look like carnivores with those big mouth... things." He waved at the ones that were still uncovered; Jonathan could not deny that they strongly resembled pitfall plants. Large balloon-like containers sat at the end of a long stem, all of them facing away from the house. The big leathery leaves rustled even though there was hardly any wind. Were they moving on their own? It looked that way. Some hybrid maybe? Or an elemental? Jonathan was not sure whether to be fascinated or disgusted.

"Do you like them? I call them spitters. 'Cause they spit. The plants secrete an acid into these pods." Brazie pointed at the 'mouth' of one spitter. "They can contract the pods and propel the acid towards natural enemies. Amazing, huh?"

"Er", said Arcus. "I guess..."

"I cultivated them myself", continued the goblin, proudly puffing his chest out.

"To what end?" Jonathan was confused. "Aren't they a lot of trouble to grow?"

"Hah, you bet", sighed Brazie. "But it's totally worth it. They sell exceptionally well. Do you have any idea how many people are interested in guard dogs that don't bark all the time or, even worse, run after carriages? I tested them, they are flawless. Except..." he frowned. "Except they don't like when it freezes. They contain too much water."

"So that's why you cover them", realized Arcus.

"But hey, I managed to grow another breed which is more resilient!" He grinned toothily from ear to ear, creeping Jonathan out a little. Goblin smiles needed some getting used to. "Interested?"

Jonathan snorted. "No, thanks. I don't have a garden."

"For a friend maybe?"

He pondered that for a moment. Derpy did not have a green hoof and Mara disliked exotic plants. Spirit did not have that much time, a plant like this would be more of a burden than a gift to him. Rarity would be aghast. Fluttershy? Hard to say but Jonathan considered it too risky. Luna might like it but Jonathan did not intend to bring the Princess of the Night a humongous ugly-looking pitfall monster plant. It might get the wrong message across. Pinkie Pie? Can you spell 'doom'? The only one who would maybe like it was Rainbow Dash - and she lived in a cloudhouse. Could you put normal items in a cloudhouse? "No, thank you", he decided.

"My wife would like them", said Arcus, "But I can't transport any. I mean, look at me and then compare the size!" He made an exaggerated pose next to the smallest uncovered plant. The pod was about as tall as Jonathan and significantly bigger than Arcus.

Brazie snickered. "I get your point. Eh, it was worth the try. Anyway -" his train of thought derailed as he gaped at something that was fourty yards or so away from the house. His eyes almost popped out of his head and he was suddenly in a big hurry to leave the garden.

Slim humanoid figures shuffled towards them in small groups. Their heads hung low and their clothes were torn to shreds. It was hard to make out any more details at this distance.

"Get inside!", urged the goblin, trying in vain to keep the panic out of his voice. "The zombies are coming!"

•°

The door opened so fast that it hit the wall.

Twilight jumped and, in an instinctive jerk, pressed the open book she had been reading to her chest. She regretted it instantly - the tome basically took her breath away. "Ugk!"

"Quickly, get inside!", shouted Brazie through the door. "Hurry up, hurry up!"

"But there's only a score or so", came Jonathan's voice from outside. "And they're slower than a turbo trike in Vashj'ir."

Twilight grinned. Vashj'ir was an underwater kingdom.

"Don't be ridiculous, you can't take them on! And neither can my spitters", insisted Brazie.

Darren rose from the chair and quickly hid his little book. "There are four of us. Judging from our previous experience, I believe we can take care of this rather quickly."

"F-four?!"

Jonathan and Arcus entered the house. The priest counted on his fingers. "He's right. One mage, one healer, one warrior and a death knight. That makes a ratio of one to five."

"What are we waiting for?", asked Arcus. "Let's go out and meet them!"

"Not so fast", said Darren, closing the door before the earth pony could storm out again. "We do require a plan."

Brazie looked from one to the other, pulling his own ears down in frustration. "You're mad, all of you. Don't you dare open that door!"

"And then what?", objected Arcus. "We wait until they fall apart? That might take a while. Can't we just get this over with?"

Jonathan silently pointed at the chair.

"Fine", groaned Arcus through clenched teeth and planted his rump on it.

"So", said Jonathan, "how do we do it? We've got to separate them somehow."

"Twilight", said Darren, "I understand that you are a mage. Can you cast any transformation spells?"

Twilight grimaced, her ears down. She didn't like where this was going. "Theoretically, yes, but I have only managed minor transformations so far. It needs a lot of concentration to do so and I am not sure it would be the best idea to try anything new in such a dangerous situation. I could levitate some of the zombies, though. If they can't get close, they can't hurt us."

I hope, she added in her thoughts, a bead of sweat running down her neck.

Darren nodded, rubbing his chin.

"That sounds reasonable enough", agreed Jonathan.

"Should I try and get their attention", said Arcus, "so Twilight can focus on a smaller bunch of them?"

"You should watch his back, priest", suggested Darren. "That will enable him to fight several of them without risking severe injuries."

Jonathan nodded slowly. "That should work. So, Arc, you think you're up to the job?"

Arcus hesitated, being asked so directly, then looked at Twilight. He tensed up, slowly rubbing his front hoof, then he averted his gaze. His ears flopped down, then slowly rose again as made a decision. "Yes", he said firmly and nodded. "I can do it."

"I will take care of the most dangerous ones first", declared the death knight, rising to his feet. "Remember to stay close together. We have to be able to assist each other quickly. Do not let the zombies divide us or drive us too far away from the house. Certainly we cannot expect any help from Brazie", he added, his mouth curling into a disgusted snarl.

The goblin sat on his bed, his big hands folded before his face, and stared at them with wide eyes. "You are definitely mad", he wailed.

"Maybe", snapped Jonathan, "but at least we are putting that madness to use." He turned back to Darren and the ponies. His expression turned grave as he looked Twilight in the eyes, then Arcus. They looked back at him with wide eyes, waiting for him to say something. His frown deepened as understanding dawned in his eyes.

Jonathan sighed and gave the ponies a friendly smile. "I can see you're scared. I know I am. It's a completely natural response. Up to now, we've almost always been surprised and didn't have time to think about what's going to happen."

Twilight nodded and shivered. "And this time it isn't a single opponent but a small army of walking dead", she admitted. She tried in vain to fight back a wave of panic that welled up inside her. Even when she had faced Chrysalis, she had not felt such a strong agitation. Jonathan was right, her previous fights had usually been against forces she had not fully understood at the time. Sometimes, she had been too surprised, but in many other instances she simply had not considered the possibility of death as an outcome. Darren was right; Equestria felt very appealing at the moment.

"I just want to remind you that I know how brave you can be. And I know now", he took a deep breath, "that we don't need to ignore our fear. Let's accept it instead - and remember why we are doing this. I want to thank you again for joining me on this quest. I wouldn't have gotten very far without you - my friends.

"Light, please fortify our hearts to fight this evil", he ended his little speech with a short prayer.

Twilight suddenly felt her fear subside. It was still there but it was somehow less important now, like a background noise. The tension left her limbs and she took a steady breath. The alicorn smiled, feeling calm enough to face the threat. A look at Arcus confimed that he felt the same way. He grinned cockily, jumping off the chair and flexing his muscles. Even Darren's movements were less tense; Twilight could not see his eyes because of the hood but his entire demeanor was changing into something else, something that made her feel safer. So that was what a 'blessing' felt like. Twilight's respect for Jonathan's regained abilities grew.

Combined with the strength her friends gave her just by being with her, she felt capable of facing anything.

"How do we know whom to attack first?", asked Arcus.

"I don't think it really matters. Pick a few and we'll adapt", suggested Jonathan.

"All right, let's do this", said Twilight, straightening up.

Darren approached the window and peered outside. "They are about fifteen yards away", he reported.

•°

The door burst open and Arcus stormed forward, throwing himself against the nearest zombie.

The undead was surprisingly squishy. The bones were hard to break but the innards and dangling limbs were easy prey. The zombies groaned and drew raspy breaths, reaching out for him with rotten hands or rather what was left of them. They probably stank to high heaven. Once again, Arcus thanked Twilight in his mind for her anti-smell charm.

He delivered kicks and blows, always on the move, and kept an eye out for his friends. Jonathan cast a spell to shield him from injury. Good, then it was safe enough to attack another zombie.

While Darren was busy with his own small group of undead, a violent whirlwind slashing and punting the staggering and groaning humanoids, Twilight floated several other zombies above the ground in a pink bubble of magic. It took most of her concentration so she was flying above them. She hoped to avoid nasty surprises this way.

Arcus pummelled zombie number four into oblivion. With grim satisfaction, he realized that he was starting to get the hang of it. They went down when you destroyed their knees, when you smashed their face in they got disoriented. Since they were already dead you could not kill them - but was that even necessary if they were nothing more than a twitching heap in the dirt?

A cold wind made the hair on Arcus's neck stand on edge. He staggered and hesitated, then realized that the cold was not dangerous to him. Darren had cast a spell to freeze a zombie on the spot. He punched it with his gloved fist. It shattered into a myriad pieces. His runeblade glowed brighter as he stuck it into another undead's head.

A female voice - Twilight's - shouted, "Look out!"

Arcus found himself surrounded by six zombies at once. His light shield flickered and went out.

Jonathan sang something, a sharp shout in five rising tones. Two zombies next to Arcus burst into flames. The earth pony yelped in terror and recoiled from the walking torches. The fire crackled, bathing Arcus in an eerie glow as his opponents shriveled to ashes.

Then, the bristling sound of Twilight casting offensive spells. She was releasing some kind of purple arcane missiles in quick succession, throwing another zombie to the ground.

Everything after that turned into a blur; Arcus tried to defend and attack, occasionally getting a burst of strength from Jonathan's healing spells. He had no idea how badly hurt he was. He just kept kicking, running, beating; his hooves felt as if they were on fire.

The fizzling of more ice magic, the sound of breaking bones, Twilight's spells - it all piled up to a cacophony that hurt Arcus's sensitive pony ears. One noise was the worst, though, a grating scream full of rage, and at first he did not even recognize the voice.

When he stood above the last zombie, panting and sweating, Arcus realized the screams had been his own. He gritted his teeth and with a passionate buck of his hind leg he cracked the creature's skull.

Silence fell, only interrupted by heavy breathing and a small dismal groan from Jonathan.

Arcus shook his head. He felt fuzzy and lightheaded, as if he was awakening from a colorful, disturbing dream. He looked around.

Jonathan and Darren were still standing, both dirty and covered with dark gooey zombie blood. The most stains were on Darren's armor, he had yet again destroyed most of their enemies. The priest panted as badly as Arcus and looked as if he was going to collapse any moment. His left leg was injured; red blood flowed down in a small stream. Jonathan sat down with a shiver and tried to heal it. A warm yellow glow encompassed the leg.

Twilight landed next to them and made a visible effort of keeping her mouth shut. Her ears were down, her mane dissheveled, and she did her best to avoid looking at the corpses.

Arcus walked over to them and noticed a stinging pain in his hooves. Was it from the constant kicking? Probably. And since when was it that hard to keep his head up?

"Guys...", he muttered. He felt dizzy but not really sick. Arcus could not shake the feeling that fighting the undead had somehow changed something inside of him. He was not sure if it was for better or worse. He pushed the thought aside and listened for a reply.

"I'm okay", offered Jonathan after checking his body for further injuries. "Twilight?"

"Give me - a moment", forced the alicorn out. She ran towards the house, away from the bodies, without a second glance at her friends.

Darren looked after her. "How often has she been in a fight?", he asked as casually as if he was asking about the weather. His voice was as cold as ever. The knight cleaned his runeblade by sticking it into the almost frozen ground. After polishing the sword with the rags from one of the corpses, he tilted it in the light. When he was satisfied with the result, he sheathed the sword and secured it on his back.

"Depends", replied Jonathan shakily. "For a pony: Too often. Concerning her experience: not often enough. No wonder she's feeling sick. I'm not doing so well either. Must be 'cause I'm alive. The blessing's still gonna hold for a while but I'm not a miracle worker."

Twilight confirmed this by disappearing behind the house. Arcus could hear hiccups, a disgusting splash, then more hiccups. He followed the alicorn and found her with her head low, a puddle of bile in front of her.

"Twilight", he said softly.

She looked up at him, lost for words. Her eyes were wet with tears. He touched her shoulder with a hoof, then, when she did not withdraw, he gave her a careful hug. She hiccuped again and cried on his shoulder.

They stayed like this for a while. Eventually, Twilight broke the hug and wiped her eyes, then her mouth. "I'm sorry", she muttered. As her pain appeared to be fading away, embarrassment took over.

Arcus shrugged. "Me too", he admitted. "I - I feel really bad. But to be honest..." He took a deep breath, steeling himself. "I feel bad because I liked it."

Twilight flinched and took a step back. Her eyes widened, the corners of her mouth turning down with a hint of disgust.

Arcus hung his head and dug at the ground. "I dunno why... but I really like fighting. Never thought myself to be royal guard material. But this... this is different. They are undead. I can't think of them as people." He looked up, seeing the frozen expression on Twilight's face. He noticed that in the far back of his mind, he was amused by her being speechless. He hated himself for this even more. Stop it!, he called himself to order.

"I know this is wrong", he continued. "Darren is undead, too... and Jon used to be. I don't understand it. Sorry, I'm rambling", he muttered and turned away to go back to the others.

"Wait!" Twilight had raised a hoof.

Arcus's ears perked up. "Y-yeah?"

"Sorry I reacted like that ", she said quietly. "Maybe you're just coping with it this way, trying to look away from your feelings. I'm in no place to judge you. But please, Arcus... be careful. Don't lose yourself."

He nodded curtly and left, trying to ignore the lump in his throat and the pain in his legs.

•°

It took them the next few hours to clean up the mess. Twilight's magic helped a lot but in the end even she was exhausted and drained. The cruelty of the fight had left her shaken and sad and it was still showing. Arcus did not talk much as they piled the corpses up in a big heap.

Jonathan was worried about the ponies. It was obvious that he needed to do something about this. Up to now, he did not know what exactly. He needed to figure it out somehow. It was probably better to avoid fights as much as possible.

He and Darren had the least problems with touching the zombie remains. Jonathan was exhausted from the fight but the Light could compensate for it - to a certain degree. He frowned deeply as he was painfully reminded how used he was to burying people.

This burial, of course, was going to be a short one. Once all the zombies were piled up, everybody stood back. Brazie poured oil over the corpses and walked back to the house, closing the door. He had also been way less talkative. Jonathan suspected that the goblin was ashamed of his earlier behavior, now that he had watched a group of strangers defend his home.

It was up to Twilight to levitate a burning torch above the pile. She dropped it on the zombies and they watched the bodies catch fire.

The ponies could not keep their eyes on the scene for long and both joined Brazie in the house, their heads hung low and ears down. Jonathan and Darren remained at the site, standing watch over the fire.

"Did you recognize any of them?", asked Jonathan quietly.

Darren shook his head. "Fortunately not." His hood was down, and he looked sternly at the fire.

Jonathan nodded and fell silent again, praying for the nameless souls that they had freed.

•°

"What is this?" Jonathan eyed the small paper bag Brazie was offering him.

"It's my way of saying thank you for saving my hide and my garden", explained Brazie. "And... please don't tell anyone how I behaved, okay? That would damage my rep really badly. I mean, I grow plants against zombies - and then you are the ones who defeat them. Gods, I can't believe I'm doing this..." He frowned at Jonathan. "Are you taking it or not?"

Jonathan slowly stretched his arm out and reached for the bag. It was about as heavy as a handful of apples. He peered inside the bag and let out a sigh of relief. "Ah, good, no spitter."

"Of course not!" Brazie was offended. "You declined the offer, how stupid do you think I am?"

And they are definitely way more expensive than this. Jonathan grinned.

"So, can I see it?" Twilight shuffled around, making her saddlebags shift on her back.

Jonathan rolled the edge of the paper bag down to reveal the yellow petals of a small pretty sunflower. It sat in a light brown ceramic pot and had unusual leaves at the base of its stem. They almost looked like vines. The flower moved on its own, tilting its head towards the source of the noise.

Twilight's eyes lit up. "Oh my goodness, it's adorable! Look at its face!"

Arcus stepped closer to the plant in Jonathan's hands and hummed. "Yeah, you're right, that's an actual face. I always thought something like that would look creepy on a plant. Apparently I was wrong." He reached for the sunflower, his cloak rustling, then withdrew his hoof. "Nope, still not gonna touch it."

The flower looked at Jonathan, smiling warmly at the human. He wondered how long it would stay in its pot. He had seen this species before, following a gnome around in Dalaran, using her roots like feet. The pet flower had been as tall as the gnome herself so it was likely that Jonathan's flower would still grow. Hopefully they would already be back in Equestria when it started to outgrow the pot.

Jonathan snorted. "Thanks."

"Sure." Brazie grinned, happy that his gift had been accepted. "Now get out of here before I change my mind and sue you for the property damage from the fire."

Author's Note:

I have always been surprised by how easily many protagonists appear to be handling violent situations, especially 'human' OCs.

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Rainbow Dashs' worst nightmare is about to come true.