Bright Green Monster Realm, Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Undeath

by ArtieStroke

Lesson 2: Undead

Un-dead \ən-ded\

adj.

Not possessing the typical markers of life- including cellular regeneration and duplication- while maintaining some form of animation.

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"What was the one thing I told you not to do?" Shining Armor said, as he stood at the foot of Twilight's cot. She shrunk a little under his stern gaze.

"...Raise and-slash-or join the ranks of the undead?" She answered with slight hesitation.

"And what did you do?"

She sighed, "Raised and-slash-or joined the ranks of the undead... but it's not my fault!"

Shining shook his head, "Where did I go wrong with you? I thought being a paladin would provide enough of an example to live by," he said, looking up towards the ceiling with an overly-dramatic tear glimmering in his eye, "I just wanted a little sister that wouldn't turn to the dark side of magic. Was that too much to ask?"

Twilight threw a pillow at her actually genetically related brother. He didn't even bother to swat it aside as it hit him in the face, before gasping, "Already she seeks to overthrow the order!"

"Quit being such a stooge," Twilight whined, "And stop talking like you raised me on your own! Mom and Dad were both here earlier, and they were happy that I was still ali- er... kind of alive?"

Shining rolled his eyes, kneeling next to his sister and giving her an affectionate head pat, "Don't worry, Twily- even if you are an abomination against the natural order, at least you're my abomination against the natural order."

She stuck her tongue out at him, and he chuckled, "Be careful, that might fall off."

Twilight quickly stuck her tongue back into her mouth. Right- she couldn't exactly heal the normal way anymore. That could get... interesting later on, to say the least.

Deciding not to go mad with the revelation of the true consequences of undeath so early on, she asked, "Was anyone else hurt when everything went down?"

Shining shook his head, "No- it seems that explosions happen in that wing of the castle often enough that people tend to avoid it," he said with a wink, earning another pout, "So there were no casualties from the collapsing rubble."

He then frowned, thinking before he decided to ask the next question, "What exactly were you doing in there?"

Twilight closed her eyes and lifted a finger, and Spike groaned internally- the typical Twilight lecture stance. Now that she was some kind of immortal zombie, she'd be terrorizing the citizens of Equestria with it for all eternity. Spike feared for the future.

"I was merely attempting to access a different sort of power source for a more advance omnipresence spell- my personal reserves of spirit energy, while pretty impressive, were nowhere near the amount of power I'd need to perform the type of scrying I was looking in to. Obviously no one would approve of a blood letting ritual or an outside pact, so I decided to look into the elemental planes for a less costly form of acquiring energy."

"And you chose the elemental plane of darkness because?" Shining said, quirking his eyebrow. Twilight shrugged.

"Demonic energy is the most plentiful base energy in the planes- and the most malleable! It's not like I was going to get anywhere with this by summoning an Ignis to do my bidding. Intangible concepts are just better for intangible spells."

Shining Armor and Spike both sighed. Typical Twilight.

"Did you at least find what you were looking for before you went all intangibly possessed in your lab?" Spike snarked. Twilight glared at him.

"Actually, it just so happens I did-" Twilight froze mid sentence, as her eyes shot open with surprise.

"Uh... Twily?"

"I need to talk to Princess Celestia right now!" She shouted, tearing off her bed sheet and rushing the door. Shining stood up and tried to block her, but the undead nerd was now a lot tougher than she looked. He bowled over like so many pins as the door flew open, the pitter-patter of her bare feet echoing on the marble floors. Spike knelt down next to him, offering a hand to help him up.

"Now that was kinda sad."

Shining grumbled as they both gave chase after their sister. Hallways twisted and turned, and the surprisingly quick zombie kept her lead on them.

"Since when is she this fast?" Spike said between gasps for air.

"I think you just need to exercise more!" Shining joked, none the worse for wear despite still being in his paladin armor.

"S-shut up!"

As they rounded another corner, they saw before them the massive oak double doors, inlaid with the golden insignia of Celestia's rule- a sun wreathed in massive coronas. Twilight stood before them, and with an exhale she pushed through.

Celestia sat on the throne, talking in hushed tones with her dark haired personal assistant. She quieted as Twilight drew her attention.

"I think we can discuss the reconstruction at a later time, Raven." She said, as she stood and started towards Twilight. Raven nodded, and took her leave. Soon enough, the two mamono women stood inches apart, Twilight staring hard up into Celestia's eyes. Shining stepped through the opened door.

"I tried to stop her, your majesty-"

Celestia held up a hand, before kneeling in front of Twilight. Her normally placid expression was marked by regret, and she downcast her eyes.

"Twilight... I am so sorry." She said, "I wish I had more time to properly banish the Dark Matter from you, but its grip was already too strong-"

Twilight interrupted, "It's okay, Princess. I'm just glad to be... around."

Celestia shook her head, "Your humanity is yours to decide what to do with. I should not be so quick to cast it aside for you, my dearest pupil. I-"

The princess was quickly shushed by a hug, which she eventually returned.

"I forgive you." Twilight said, before finally letting go, "Besides, I think I can learn to live with it. Err, metaphorically speaking." she quickly corrected. It was quickly dawning on her how living-centric most average idioms were. That was going to be her biggest adjustment, she felt.

Celestia nodded, before taking a deep breath, "Thank you. Was there something you wished to speak to me about?" She asked, standing back up, "You seemed like quite the woman on a mission when you threw open my throne room doors."

The steel immediately left Twilight's posture, and she scuffed a foot on the floor- it was only now that she noticed she wasn't wearing more than just an off-white night gown.

"O-oh, I uh- I didn't really mean to interrupt like that. I just got a little caught up in the moment and- is this a bad time? I mean I can come back after you finish speaking with your advisor..."

Shining and Spike shared a look. Definitely still their Twilight.

Celestia shook her head, "Please, Twilight- speak your piece."

Taking a deep breath, Twilight steeled her resolve and spoke.

"Celestia, the great evil known as Nightmare Moon is returning to the land."

Nobody's face betrayed any emotion for a few solid seconds.

"Who?" Spike spoke up, before Celestia replied in the most even tone she could muster.

"Twilight, where did you hear that name?"

"I was researching into Oneiromancy," She started, swallowing despite lacking the need to do so anymore, "And the name just kind of... cropped up. I couldn't find reference to it anywhere else, so I tried to find out more about it through an advanced scrying spell, and..." she gestured to herself.

"This happened."

Celestia slowly nodded, before sighing, "I was hoping not to involve you in this, my dearest pupil- but it seems fate has other ideas."

Stepping a few paces away, Celestia drew a few symbols into the air, glowing with a bright yellow power. They swirled together, forming a shimmering portal in the air depicting a dark creature- as beautiful and terrifying as a goddess, but inverted to be as dark and evil as Celestia was bright and good.

"I battled Nightmare Moon many centuries ago- sealing her away before she could enact her plans to bring about a dark age for all of these lands, before they were even known as Equestria," She said, and the image shifted to a ruined stone castle buried deep in the heart of a wild forest, "It was an imperfect spell- I had hoped to buy enough time to find some way to purge the darkness from her heart, but even a thousand years later my efforts have proved fruitless."

Celestia sighed, looking at Twilight, "I may be a lilim- a daughter of the Queen of all Monsters herself. But my power is not limitless, Twilight. Your visions of her- how much time would you guess we had before her return?"

Twilight bit her lip, "If I was a betting woman... I'd say the rise of the full moon, in a few weeks' time." Twilight nodded. It seemed typically dramatic, and thematic enough to Nightmare Moon's perceived powers.

"I am inclined to agree," Celestia said, "Twilight, I know I have no right to ask this of you- and I understand wholeheartedly if you should choose to refuse. Canterlot is your home and the world is dangerous, even here in Equestria."

"Whatever you need, I can do it Princess." Twilight said, stepping forward with determination. Spike nodded.

"Yeah- she may be a total shut in, but Twilight's not one to back down from doing what's right!"

"Protecting and serving runs in the family," Shining added, placing a comforting hand on Twilight's shoulder. Celestia nodded.

"I fear so," Celestia said, "In such a case- Twilight Sparkle, I charge you to go out to the ruined Castle of Everfree, and find some way to delay Nightmare Moon's return."

Twilight nodded, "Your will is my command, Princess."

"We swear we'll do everything in our power to help, Princess." Shining said. Celestia shook her head.

"I'm afraid I need you here in Canterlot, Shining Armor. Should the unthinkable happen, I will need you to command the troops- and more importantly, Cadence will need you. I fear what would happen should you get hurt while on a mission of my request."

Shining opened his mouth to protest, but closed it with a blush at the mention of Cadence's name, "I-I see, your highness."

"Now hold up," Spike said, frowning, "I can get Shining Armor staying, but there's no way in hell I'm gonna stick around doing nothing! Twilight's your number one student, but I'm her number one assistant!"

As if to try and make the argument final, Spike hugged Twilight's nearest arm in a death grip, with the cutest of determined expressions plastered onto his face. Celestia's heart melted a little at the sight- these young punks, thinking they were in charge around here. She knelt in front of him, and his nerve nearly wavered. She sighed.

"When did you suddenly become such a brave young man?" She asked, before kissing him on the forehead, "Alright, brave young knight- go and slay evil."

Celestia looked up towards Twilight, "Keep him safe?"

"Promise."

With a nod, Celestia stood up, "Alright then- Shining Armor, you are dismissed. You other two, go pack whatever provisions you plan to bring and return here immediately. I have only a few more things to say before you start your quest."

Snapping a quick salute, Shining returned to his duties, and Twilight nodded, "Don't worry, Princess- I won't fail you!"

Comments

[Schroedingers_Katze]

Well, this is of to an interessting start, I dare say and seeing with what this will be crossed with I really look foreward to see the next chapters.^^

[Ponyninja88]

So at least Shining isn't part of the "The Order" like i feared, though i do wonder if Twilight is Just a zombie, i ask because you would think she would be something stronger then one of the more basic type of undead.