By Royal Request
Bone was captivated by the appearance of Princess Celestia, her grin included. Her mane flowed in some sort of ever-present gentle breeze, the aurora of dark blue fading into a pleasantly soft green; the pink stripes in her mane and tail blended together seamlessly without a beginning or end, as if they were a portal to someplace far more spectacular.
Celestia leaned into her mirror, bringing the blue skull of Bone's vision to the front. A ring of soft purple and pink colored her eye as her face turned from side to side, ensuring the mark wasn't a work of her imagination. Pulling back, her grin turned into a delighted smile and her horn was set alight with a sunny glow.
From the mirror's reflection, Bone witnessed a quill being dipped in ink along with a scroll floating next to it, quickly scribbling something down as the Princess tapped her hoof in thought. After a short moment, the quill soared away into its ink well and the page floated in front of Celestia, allowing the necromancer to read what had been written.
Bone Marrow, is it?
Come to Canterlot, we have much to discuss.
You can bring your skeletal army with you, if it makes you feel comfortable.
Her eyes looked away, bringing Bone Marrow's sight along with it. Princess Celestia looked to the door of what appeared to be her private bedroom to face none other than Captain Pure Intent, his armor absent as he was wrapped in clean white bandages.
The Princess waved a hoof at him, urging him to come closer. Bone could see the silent surprise of the Knight, his eyes widening as he caught a glimpse of the skulls within. When he was close enough, the Princess reached out and pulled the captain close to her, pointing at the mirror and sighed with apparent relief.
Pure Intent was just as confused as Bone Marrow was, but the young necromancer was even more interested in what was going on and continued to watch the silent progression of events. Bone could see the captain speaking rapidly, his chest rising only to take in another large breath as Celestia politely nodded. She offered him a cup of tea as well, but the knight refused and only redoubled his chatter.
The view through Celestia's eyes squinted as Pure Intent came to the end of his report, looking nervously at the skulls in her eyes before pointing his hoof toward the previously rebuked tea-cup, which the Princess floated over to him. Looking back into the mirror, Bone was surprised to see the Princess actually appear indecisive.
Her magic grabbed quill and scroll once more, the previous lines scratched out when Bone was allowed to read.
You saved Captain Pure Intent from certain death and routed an army bound for Canterlot?
You had your own eyes cut out to avoid others being imprisoned?
I have more than a hundred questions for you, Necromancer.
Please, come to Canterlot; I extend an offer of truce, if you are willing to accept it.
Soon I will look at two different plants. One will be a Sunflower; the other, a Night Lily.
If you accept my offer, consume the sunflower. If not, consume the night lily.
"Wait," Bone asked himself with surprise, "I can use my powers when I'm looking through other pony's eyes!?"
Sure enough, Celestia moved herself to a window sill. Two potted plants sat nearby, one in the sun and the other hiding nearby in the shadow on a glass table. The Princess waited patiently, looking between each of the plants.
Bone gulped... and consumed the Sunflower. It disintegrated into a pile of ash, and Celestia's view nodded.
"Oh, what have I done?" Bone worried aloud, galloping down from his tower towards the other ponies he knew to tell them what had happened. "I'm an idiot! I'm so dead! Not the inconvenient kind of dead, but the dead-dead kind of dead!"
Tiny hooves clacked against stone as he ran down what remained of the collapsed wall, his skeletons parting to make a clear path for their master. A small cloud of dirt gathered in Bone's haste, drawing the attention of the ponies nearby.
"What's the rush? Are the Bright Moon back?"
"No!" Bone shouted in reply, "Worse!"
This understandably made more than a few ponies alarmed as they grabbed hold of weapons and readied themselves. Sliding past a corner in the manor, Bone barely had time to stop before colliding with his friend Scenic.
"Whoa, Bone. Everything okay?"
The young colt shook his head, his voice panicked. "No, I just did something stupid!"
Scenic reached out to grab hold of her friend but he was already launching into another full gallop in search of Obscenely Rich. Eventually after checking dozens of gold trimmed rooms with silk drapes, Bone Marrow spotted the noble in question enjoying a hot beverage while overlooking the courtyard, dressed in a comfortable robe.
"Bone Marrow! My favorite necromancer," Rich replied, his eyebrow raising with concern, "what troubles you?"
The necromancer paused for a moment, gathering his breath before explaining the situation in a continuing ramble. "I just went up to the tower to get some time alone for myself and to enjoy the quiet when I wondered if I should see what Anvil said was true or not; you know, the whole evil tyrant thing. So, I decided 'Oh, why not, I'm hunted by everypony anyway so why don't I just look through Celestia's eyes and see what she's up to since I knew her name."
He paused for a deep breath as Scenic and Rich's expressions changed from concerned to worried, and eventually reached fearful.
"So, I said her name and my vision went to her eyes as it usually does when I look at another pony. She looked in the mirror and noticed that I was there, but started to write something down. She said I should come to Canterlot and talk with her. I thought that was suspicious and sounded like a trap, but then Pure Intent came in the room and talked with her. Then, she wanted me to come to Canterlot because of what the Captain said and it didn't seem like before; she declared a truce and had me agree or disagree to come."
Rich held out his hooves, "Hold on, hold it. You looked through the eyes of the Princess!?"
Bone's head tilted sideways a bit with confusion, "Yeah, I told you that just now."
The noble blinked in response, his disbelief only increasing. "Go on, I suppose."
"So," Bone continued to explain more calmly, "Princess Celestia wants me to come to Canterlot to speak with her, and... I agreed to come."
Obscenely Rich was very thankful of the fact that he was not drinking at the current moment, carefully setting his drink down before allowed himself an outburst. Taking a moment to let the news sink in as well as gather his breath, he replied with a very loud, "What!?"
The Necromancer practically sucked his lips back into his own face at the shout, now feeling even more doomed from Rich's reaction.
"Can you... do it again?" Scenic asked, offering her own voice in the discussion.
Both necromancer and noble were none too keen on this idea, so the filly decided to explain.
"Well, if you can drop in and check on the Princess at any time, you'll know if she's planning something bad, right? Like if there's an army of guards marching out of the throne room then it's probably a trap."
Bone and Rich shared a look of dawning comprehension before nodding with approval at Scenic.
"I still think this is a terrible idea." Rich voiced, taking a sip of his beverage and looking off into the distance through an expensive window. "You're going to get yourself permanently killed if you wander into Canterlot."
Scenic was curious. "Are you going to take your army with you for safety?"
Bone shook his head. "What good would that do? Everypony would just run away and scream in terror if they saw a necromancer like me leading an army into the city..."
"You'll need an outfit if you're to see the Princess," the golden pony suggested to change the subject, "and no, I don't mean cutting your eyes out again. You need proper clothing, not just your cloak. It's not polite to see Princess Celestia without an outfit."
Bone and Scenic were confused. "You're going to help?"
Rich set down his drink once more, hopping from the recliner he rested in. "You, my dear Bone Marrow, may have the only chance in history to not be thrown into a volcano compared to the other three necromancers that have come before you. In recorded time, none have actually been so stupid as to actually look through Celestia's eyes."
The noble quickly trotted past the two foals, calling for any surviving servant's attention.
"I'm not sure if that's a good or a bad thing..." Bone murmured, following after Rich.
"There!" Rich's servant announced with a proud inflection, "Looking absolutely stunning, for a necromancer."
Bone extended one of his hooves, marveling at the fine stitched clothing he now wore. A deep blue shirt of silk combined with a white vest and black coat. A small hoofkerchief poked out of his left chest-pocket with a small blue skull design proudly displayed, each pocket lined with silver thread.
The necromancer's mouth opened with speechless silence as he looked to his other hoof, noting the same spectacular craft. Looking up, he noted that the servant was a unicorn mare almost as white as himself, a sparkling shine in her eye.
"Will that be all, Sir Rich?" the servant asked with a short bowing of respect.
"Thank you, Radiance; that will be all."
Scenic raised a hoof of her own. "Do I get a fancy outfit?"
Rich shook his head. "I don't think you should be going anywhere near a confrontation between Princess Celestia and Bone Marrow. Especially judging from history's recollection of what happened the last three times..."
Bone was now even more nervous. "Ah, what do you mean by that?"
The noble looked to the ceiling in recollection. "Well let's see. The first necromancer was torn apart by the full force of the sun; that was fairly spectacular. The second was thrown from the top of Canterlot Mountain repeatedly since he kept attempting to come back before being eventually drowned in lava, and the third... well. The third was simply carried off to volcano and melted again and again until she didn't come back."
Sweat was making tiny beads on Bone's forehead, his mouth dry. "Y-you don't think she'll..."
"It's absolutely possible if you say the wrong thing, she'll have you killed," Rich replied without hesitation. "It's your own fault for contacting her directly in the first place. Now that she's taken a special interest in you, I doubt she'll let you slink away into the night to be hunted for a few centuries."
The well dressed necromancer sighed. "Well... It was gonna happen sooner or later, right?"
Scenic nodded to the nearby window overlooking the courtyard. "What about your army?"
He blinked regularly, his vision shifting from skeleton to skeleton as he checked what was going on outside the manor.
"I'll leave them here; maybe take... four or five of them with me for protection?" Bone smiled, "I don't want another crossbow bolt through the heart again."
"They're going to stand out pretty bad..." Scenic reminded her friend, "Especially with the whole... dead thing."
Bone grimaced, "Yeah, they're going to freak out ponies if they get spotted."
Rich clacked his hooves together, "Radiance! I have a new task for you..."
The unicorn mare's head poked from around the room's doorframe with a wide smile on her face. "Outfits for skeletons?"
The noble's eyes narrowed, "You were eavesdropping, weren't you?"
Radiance looked guilty, her eyes darting to anywhere but her employer's gaze. "Ah, maybe?"
"Good," Rich replied, "Now I won't have to explain why."
Bone stood outside the inner gate of the manor as his skeletons lowered the drawbridge with the steady clanking metal that accompanied a chain-pulley system. He decided to bring six skeletons with him, just for the sake of uniformity when he made his appearance and the vague hope that if Celestia did attempt something, he would have maybe half a second longer to panic before getting vaporized.
The skeletal servants accompanying Bone Marrow had been adorned with silver plate; their uniforms a padded cloth of deep blue and white stripes that was completed by a black cape that made them indistinguishable from a living noble's guard, though they happened to be eerily silent. The cloth provided protection from swords and puncturing attacks since the skeletons had to make up for a lack of muscle to cover, and the consideration of heat was easier to work around due to the their being dead. The plate armor furthered their durability and would deter most bandits on sight, giving more security to their master in addition to the swords scavenged from the Bright Moon.
Bone smiled proudly at both the tailor named Radiance as well as his newly adorned skeletal guards. "This is awesome."
Radiance smiled, "I'm glad you approve, darling!"
The necromancer then looked to his friend and offered a hug of goodbye. "You stay safe, alright? I don't want you getting hurt while I'm gone and... if I don't come back..."
Scenic protested almost immediately when she realized what Bone was saying. "You mean I'm still not coming with you?"
Bone pointed to the manor around them. "Look at this place! If you stay here you'll be safe. If you come with me, Celestia will obliterate us both if something bad happens. I don't want to know what I'd do if I lost you, so if you stay here I won't have to worry about you being captured or hurt or... worse."
"What am I supposed to do?" Scenic asked, feeling a bit betrayed by being left behind. "Everypony I know is dead!"
The necromancer grimaced at that, having become so used to that fact for himself that he had nearly forgotten what it was like. "Ah..."
Scenic stamped her hoof, her wings expanding with her temper. "I'm coming with you, Bone. If Celestia wants to throw you into lava, then I'm going too!"
Rich interjected between the two foals, his hooves pressing against their chests until they slid across the dirt away from each other.
"Bone Marrow is correct, Scenic. While you stay here, under my care, no harm will come to you." The noble continued with an official detachment, "If you adventure with your necromancer friend, you will eventually die. Either from conflict, subterfuge or the woes of old age. How would that affect him then, if you died in his hooves?"
Scenic was confused, shaking her head as if the situation would alter itself in her favor. "What do you mean? Bone will get old too, won't he?"
The young necromancer shook his head and Rich explained, "Whenever Bone Marrow dies, either by old age or any other reason, he will return to life. You, dear Scenic, will not."
"I want you to be happy, Scenic," Bone Marrow explained, "If I'm running all my life, or if I'm thrown into a volcano by Celestia, you won't be happy. You'd be miserable following me around everywhere, with all that I have to manage and how few ponies actually take the time to understand who I am."
Bone moved around Rich, pulling his friend closer for a comforting hug. "Live a happy life, alright? Find somepony special; somepony that isn't chased every day of their life and killed on a regular basis." He lifted the golden pocket watch around his neck, pulling the lid open with his magic. "And hey, I'll always have you close by, one way or another; right?"
The mirror showed a photograph of Bone Marrow and Scenic, leaning on each other and gazing into the rising sun. Both foals were happy with gentle smiles and slightly squished faces from their shared moment.
Scenic returned Bone's hug, whispering in his ear, "If you get killed by Celestia, I'm bringing you back to life. Even if it's just to say 'I told you so'."
The foals' hug deepened and lasted for a few minutes before Rich decided that Bone and Scenic would stay that way for eternity if he didn't do something about it. Urging Bone Marrow to be on his way, the necromancer soon left with a final wave of goodbye to his friends.
Walking along the road was less eventful than Bone had imagined with his disguised guards. He looked every bit the adventurous noble from a distance, though his cloak did its best to conceal the necromancer's true nature. Radiance had made it a point to teach Bone Marrow how to magically clean his clothing before he left, being borderline neurotic about dirt and grime getting anywhere.
Bone didn't really mind it much, though he figured he may as well keep the attire clean as much as he could on his day's journey to Canterlot. What bothered him more, however, was the feeling of impending doom that each hoof step brought as he came closer and closer to the Capitol of Equestria.
The necromancer regarded his minions for a moment, noting their uniformed march to distract himself from the gloomy walk. The corner of his mouth turned up in thought. "I'm gonna have to work on that, aren't I?"
The skeleton looked to him almost questioningly.
Bone gestured to the six of his servants with a hoof as he walked. "You're all marching in unison. Ponies don't usually do that; It might give all of you away."
They seemed to understand as each skeleton stumbled for a moment, switching up their hoof steps to be more random. Bone's ears folded back, impressed.
"It's really that easy?" Bone questioned himself now, uncertain about what was being implied. "Are all of you alive, or are you just..."
The skeleton had no reply to give, instead looking forward blankly.
Bone rolled his glowing eyes, "There has to be some kind of instruction manual for all of this. Even Celestia knows more about my abilities than I do, and necromancy is my special talent!"
The clanking of armor and trotting of hooves continued for minutes, the boredom getting the better of the young colt. "I hope she has a book about necromancy; and that she doesn't kill me."
Looking to his skeletons again he asked, "Do you think we're all going to die?"
The skeleton shrugged.
Stats
Page generated in 0.099 seconds
Total duration
1,061 users online
2,505,227 hits today, 2,571,732 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Well, doesn't sound so bad. Those clothes look good on you Bone. And for the sake of your fillyfriend, don't die...again. She loves you with all her heart.
Kinda figured her grin wasn't malicious.
Best line so far.
I'm really hoping that that goodbye between Bone and Scenic is just temporary and not for good.
Both of them have been through a lot, so it would be good for both of them to have somepony that they trust unconditionally to lean on and confide in.
this fic is fucking amazing
Why not just make Scenic a... Werewolf, i guess? If you consider werewolves undead, then they are one of the few that are actually "living," along with vamps and some kinds of liches. Some form of spirit could also be acceptable.
They are aliveish!
Bone left Scenic behind with the clear intention to never see her again! Please let this not be the case! Let them be together in the end!
8508645
UNINTENTIONAL FORESHADOWING! I'M CALLING IT! Scenic sights will become a disciple of the light, a resurrector!
How else would we be left with a satisfying ending where those two get to live together forever?
That skeleton needs a name now.
Damm it Queen Sanguine Dreams, these cliff hangers are infuriating. The suspense of what Celestia will do, is winding me up.
I am loving this story! Eager to see what will happen.
all its gonna take is one dart with a narco and he's in a volcano with out a fight.
just sayin'
I am very torn about Bone leaving Scenic behind. I can understand it but other hoof I think Bone needs more ponies in his conner. I hope a least he gets to come back to her.
Rarity' s ancestor!!! Lol
Scenic die of old age? But granny smith was still alive a 1000 years later, why would they say-......oh, they don't know that bone might be capable of prolonging a ponies life yet.
Ok, so I can't decide if going to Canterlot is either smart or dumb. One hand he could actually make peace with celestia and be allowed to live as one of her subjects, with a probable downside he'll have to do something for her. On the other hand it could be a trap. This can go many ways.
So like how tall is bone? Is he still a foal or is he a colt? Or a stallion? Definitely not a stallion but I'm just giving an example of age size.
Well. That went a LOT better than I thought it would..... now to see if that remains true.
8508589
Would consider that foalish in most cases. Seriously fimfiction even have a troll Clestria face.
Although... I may be bias given my recent fimfiction readings of her, Plus you figured correctly... Apparently.
8508659
You make a good point.
8508639
Couldn't agree more.
8508611
Definitely got a smirk out of me.
Dang might as well call him Prince of the Dead:3
another cliffhanger alright well if you don't get the chapter out soon I will find your house come over there and.......... bake you cookies or cupcakes whichever you prefer
Odds on somepony in Canterlot other than Celestia doing something stupid...?
I assume the tension shall be palpable in the next chapter, I am looking forward to it.
So, how long do we reckon before Scenic sneaks off the castle grounds, and flies off after Bone at top speed?
8508777
That's not even a bet; it's a given.
Goddamn cliffhanger!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I NEED MORE!!!!!!
This came to mind, why would celestia risk bone coming to Canterlot? If somehow he died in the center of the capital it would be a catastrophe with many pony civilians dying.
Which Is why i think the peace talks is authentic, but I could be wrong.
8508680
We'll call him boney........lol
8508791
It's a great plan if she wants to clean out all the deadwood in the nobility...
(Get it? "deadwood"? Eh? EH??
)
8508731
Colt, it is mentioned many times that the necromancer they are looking for is a colt.
We NEEEED this next chapter! Gonna be so awesome!
8508791
They did mention that one of the previous "born necromancer"s was killed permanently by the full power of the sun, this means that it is likely Celestia has a way to kill him permanently, without him returning to life by killing everything in the surrounding area.
8508659
Healing magic is also in the sphere of necromancy. That's why he can Powerword: Heal.
Oh, they may try to pretty it up with fancy names and not feeling the ache of an insatiable hunger for life, but you're still killing disease and sculpting flesh.
I think this was a good segway chapter for what's coming next. It wasn't too over the top, it provided good reasoning and setup for what we're all now eagerly anticipating; a good short cool-down/setup chapter in my opinion.
This should be interesting! Can't wait!
8508863
True, but what if she misses? Like he was able to have parts of him dodge a blast that he could still come back from? That just seems to much a risk with the lives of her ponies in the line of fire.
8508827
Deadin't see that pun coming. Xd
The skeleton shrugged
Bone is an adorable idiot
also calling it right now, that skele-pony is best pony of this story, fite me
This seems genuine, actually. Let's just hope Pure Intent doesn't betray him, as I have a feeling Celestia is a bit more soft when it comes to foals than he is and will have no qualms about tricking Celestia in order to get Bone killed.
I mean, come on -- Bone is adorable! Celestia's grandmotherly instincts will have to kick in... right?
8508680
I dub thy skeleton Boneless.
seems to me like Celestia wanted bone to choose between Day and Night
and also like this is a reference to either choosing to obey her or not following her and follow Nightmare Moon. How sneaky.
8508985
Don't you mean 🅱oneless
If she asks less then 100 questions when he gets to see her I'm going to be disappointed.
8508786
Yeah, I could see that happening. It'd be a toss up as to how it'd go though. Heh, I could totally see Celestia finding Scenic and Bone's antics adorable however.
8509006
Ya know, I had the same though about the symbolism there... Celestia has been shown to be big on portents and the like. It could've just as easily been her way of reassuring herself as it was her subtly probing Bone's intent through psychology. Heck, it could've been both.
One thing I'll note though, Celestia's first invitation didn't contain a mention of truce and overall the second's tone was far different. Is it possible she was originally planning to attack him, but CPT Pure's words changed her mind?
This is all going to end horribly and I can’t wait to see how.
asked the necromancer to the skeleton...
(always love a good chapter of this! if i'm honest i'm looking forward to a possible time skip to present day Equestria but hey thats just me)
I'm just thinking out loud here.
But I think what happened to the first three necromancers is they continually gave in to the void a little at a time, as it was a source of strength that they could wield to protect themselves as they would inevitably not be trusted and be put in terrible circumstances just by their nature over and over again.
But the more they give in the more the void takes over, and I think the void has a big grudge against Celestia. On top of you know the personal reasons for trying to kill her. To me this would explain the suicidal behavior of his predecessors.
On the subject of Celestia's responses
Pay attention to the wording.. It was daring him to march to Canter lot with an army, as if she had no other expectation from him.
The second response again watch the wording and the stress. His actions are clearly shocking to her, as if she thought it was impossible for a necromancer to do something so selfless. Let alone commit to actions that helped defend the capital city and herself from an attack.
She is genuinely curious.
If Bone marrow is so worried about dying (like he should be) why doesn't he just send a skeleton to
Canterlot and control it, he's done it before on the trip to Rich's house. He can just use the skele to write to Celestia in the comfort of Rich's home.
8508955 Now if only we knew if this was one of the skeletons which had been lightly toasted by a near-miss fireball during the fight, we could say the shrug was performed by a well-tempered clavicle. :)
I vote for names:
1) Tavish
2) Mundy
3) Mikhail
4) Dell
5) Jeremy
6) Ludwig
It would be so hilariously terrifying if little Boney somehow Ascended. Assuming he hadn't already gotten the love and admiration of everypony, of course.
Ugh, too much waiting. It's only a day, but I don't like waiting. I am a sad pone :(
I won't give up on the Bone and Scenic ship! I'll go down with it if I must! Puts on a captains hat