The Necro Walk

by WorldWalker128

Chapter 17

Chapter 17

I came back to the waking world slowly, with the first things I heard being the familiar annoyed tone of Trixie's voice that I knew so well yelling at someone.

“For the last time, Trixie is a performer, not a doctor! Even if Trixie were one, I know nothing about how Humans work on the inside! I might kill him rather than help him!” I tried to open my eyes, but was only able to open one. My vision was blurry at first, then fuzzy, then it became as clear as it normally was. I was lying on something that made my bare arms itch when the wind blew, but other than that I had no idea where I was.

Above my chest Applejack and Trixie were looking at one another. Trixie was glaring at Applejack, and Applejack wore a from of her own.

“Well we can't jus' drag him all the way back through the jungle to that gateway! It'll look mighty strange to any Human that sees us, and with him bein' injured an' all, we'll draw curious folk like an ice cream shop draws foals on a hot summer day! Le' just pull all the pieces of bone out of his front that we can fer now, and clean him up while we've still got a source of water.”

The source of water was apparently a stream that we'd stopped next to off of the road, and I could hear it gurgling over possibly stones or bits of wood as its contents flowed by us.

“Before you do that,” I began. The girls looked down at me, surprised. “could I have a drink first?”

Apparently while I'd been unconscious they'd fled the room without grabbing any of our things, which included water bags, clothing, and food. Because of this, Applejack and Trixie had been living off the land while dragging or carrying me along behind them, and they had been following the stream for the most part rather than the road. When I asked if they still knew where the road was Applejack rolled her eyes at me.

“Wut do you take me fer? Of course ah do! Ah wouldn't be a very good scout if I had no sense of direction!”

“I apologize, Applejack. I meant no offense. By the way, how long was I out?”

“For a little more than two days.” Trixie answered. “When we fled from the castle we didn't stop until we were sure that we weren't being chased. It seems that whoever hired Jackylin's killer just wanted her dead.”

“Well, I'm not complaining about that.” I said, taking a breath before I began sipping water from a floating orb of it that Trixie had levitated from the stream. When I finished, I asked how bad I looked and if the two of them were okay.

“We are certainly in better health than you, Lighthand.” Trixie replied. “Both Applejack and I were further from Jackylin than you when the explosion went off, and then we had to drag you a few miles across cobblestone, dirt, twigs, and small rocks.” She sniffed and stroked her cloak, which now was quite dirty. “It wasn't fun.”

“I think he wuz talking 'bout his injuries, Trixie.” Applejack deadpanned, rolling her eyes again. “Well, to start, you've got a bunch of small holes in yer front, and we think it's bits o' bone and maybe some stone from the blast. Most of it just stuck in yer clothing or was pokin' you a bit, but some of it went deeper. I'm no surgeon, and Trixie ain't a healer, neither.”

“Well, that's no problem, I'll just-” I stopped mid-sentence. While I'd been talking I'd reached for my magic, and to my dismay could not feel it! I raised my head slightly so I could look at my feet and saw that one of my boots were missing. The boot.

“It's gone!” I exclaimed. “Where's my other boot?!” Trixie and Applejack gave me a puzzled look.

“Yer other boot? Why would yeh- ohhhh....” I nodded and then lowered my head back to the moist dirt. Trixie looked back and forth between us, and then asked what was so important about one ragged boot.

“The source of his power was in it, Trixie. Howeva...” Applejack's eyes trailed up Trixie's head to her horn. “We've still got another.”

“Hmm?” Trixie looked behind her and, seeing nothing, looked up with her eyes until she saw the horn I'd repaired. Her expression became puzzled. “Trixie does not understand.” Neither did I, as it suddenly occurred to me that I'd not mentioned this information to her yet. When did Applejack find out I got magic from horns?

“Twilight told me his secret before we left home, and to be wary of the fanged Humans that held Unicorn horns, as they could have the same ability.” She looked down at me. “She told me to act like I didn't know, though really, seeing as how you knew that a horn would open the door, how could ah not figure it out?” Trixie looked down at me in shock.

“So that means, you stole another Unicorn's horn?!” Trixie looked aghast.

“No!” I said fiercely. “I have never taken magic by force! All of the horns I've used were given to me, save for the first, which I inherited when I was in my twenties.” Trixie took a few steps back.

“Woah, take it easy! Trixie meant no offense! But what Unicorn would give up their magic?”

“The relatives of those that are dead. The first horn given to me was from a nurse named Heartblood who lived in Ponyville. The second was given to me by Luna and Celestia, and had belonged to one of their caretakers from when they were much younger. The others I-” I stopped for a few seconds, then continued. “I got after some friends of mine died. That one we left behind was one of those horns.”

“Oh...” Applejack repeated, her voice tinged with regret. “Mah apologies, I didn't know, or I woulda grabbed it.”

“I forgive you.” I sighed. “It served its purpose anyway; the king is dead, and we're not. It's not like we left its owner behind. She's been gone for a long time.”

Though Trixie had been somewhat hesitant towards me using her still-attached horn as a source of power, she allowed it and after a few hours I was up and moving again, though both of us were tired afterward due to the process taking energy from both of us and mine having been the one that was injured.

We rested for the remained of that day, and then began the long trek back to the Stone Arch Gateway, for the most part sticking to the stream to ensure that we had a continual source of water, but food was a bit of a problem for me given that I could not eat the trees' leaves or the grass, but fortunately we would occasionally come across freshwater fish and a few fruit trees (which were far more common than the fish, to my relief). There were a few days where I had to go without food, but I survived, and in a few days less time than it took us to arrive at the castle we had made it back to the Gateway. News of Jackylin's death had apparently not reached them yet, though news of our victory had. But we won't have long before news does arrive. We should hurry.

As with when we first crossed over Trixie became invisible, and though they wondered at my missing any footwear and having holes in my shirt, I 'explained' to them that my mission was urgent and that I had not had time to change my outfit or get replacement boots. From their expressions I doubted they really believed me as far as my clothing went, but one of them still walked away from our group and into the woods, leaving us three, and those four that were left went back to gazing back out at the jungle, their faces inexplicably bored once I declined their offer to tell them of the battle between myself and the former king.

After a good ten minutes the woman who'd left the group returned, holding a slim wooden box with a small lock on it. She handed it to the most decorated of their group, who pulled a key from his pocket and promptly dropped it. Frowning, he knelt down to pick it up, when suddenly a girl's voice called out loudly, shouting

“Jackylin Darkfist is dead without a Contest being called! They are the ones who killed her! Stop them!”

Our trio spun and we saw who seemed to be one of the guards from the castle pointing a finger at us.

Where did he come from? We were alone, weren't we?

The sound of weapons being drawn drew back our attention to the now very wary and disgusted sentries around the Gateway.

“We did no such thing, ya dirty liar!” Applejack objected, glaring at the guard. “We barely made it out of that room ourselves!”

“And yet you bear no injuries other than a few scrapes, which you could have gotten on your way here!” Observed one of the sentries, her weapon's blade slightly curved. “No wonder you did not want to talk much with us!”

“But sir, they're unarmed!” Objected the youngest of their group.

“Then they'll be easy to kill. Get them!”

Three men and three women came at us and for a second I froze. During that second, Applejack jumped in front of me and spun around so leg hind quarters faced the oncoming guards and she bucked the first one that reached us, the leader. There was the familiar snap of bones as her hoofs made contact with his knees, followed a split-second later by a scream as he fell to the ground, his neck landing on the point of his sword and sloppily cutting his head off. While one of the remaining five tripped over his corpse Trixie revealed herself and hurled a large stone that had been half-buried in the dirt into a roll that struck two more, one a man and the other a woman.

I took a stride forward and pulled my knife from my other boot, grateful that that though I'd lost Twilight's horn I'd still had a weapon on my person, and raised it at an angle to parry the curved blade being swung at me. As I pushed it my blade slid along hers and I balled my open hand into a fist and punched the woman attacking me in the face. The youngest of the sentries came at me from the other side, his weapon rising up from below me.

Again I was saved by Applejack, who bucked the flat of the blade so hard it flew out of his hand, his face following it in surprise.

A crashing coming from the jungle followed and joined by the sound of metal clanking and scraping on more metal signaled that the shouting had not gone unnoticed and enemy reinforcements were coming out way, and quickly.

“Trixie!” I shouted as I drove my knife into my foe's side. She grunted through gritted triangular teeth and clawed at me with her own empty hand, her clawed fingers tearing the skin on my face, causing blood to run into my beard. “Get to the Gateway! Stick your horn into the door's keyhole while turning your head to one side until it's in as far as you can get it, then pull it out!”

Trixie galloped underneath mine and my enemy's legs, her head lowered (for obvious reasons) and hopped over one of the badly injured that had been struck by her stone (who tried to grab her and received a magically-induced concussion their effort), skidding in the dirt to a stop in front of it. She looked over her shoulder at me and called over, asking if it would hurt.

“It can't hurt as much as-!” I twisted the knife, withdrew it and stabbed the woman again. “as getting stabbed by a sword! Hurry up!” I finished, yelling as I finally shoved the woman away and turning to help Applejack, who was certainly fighting better than I was. As I joined her she took down the last male of the group by using her powerful hid legs to launch herself up into his ribs, breaking them and impaling his organs with his own bones. He was dead before he hit the ground, and the last woman turned away from us and ran, leaving only the guard who'd originally sounded the alarm.

“Looks like my little plan failed. Oh well.” The guard shrugged and flickered three times in rapid succession, and then disappeared, revealing a familiar mint-green Unicorn. “You're still not leaving this world. I know your secret, Lighthand, and I also know that without a horn you're just as useless against a Unicorn in a fight as the Earth Pony.”

The sound of grating stone followed by Trixie shouting the door was open made the Unicorn frown, and her horn lit up. “It's nothing personal between us, but you all need to die now.” I dove to the left and Applejack to the right as a wall of magical energy the same color as the Unicorn shot toward us. The end of my right foot was hit, but fortunately all that happened was it being pushed back toward by backside, and I escaped injury. Applejack dodged it entirely, but neither of us managed to get back up to our feet before the rest of the sentries arrived on site.

Oh boy, we're in trouble now! I thought as the sweat droplets rolling down my brow increased.

“Secure the Gateway first! Don't let them es- gah!” Trixie reacted and levitated one of the fallen we'd defeated at the newcomers, knocking the first two back into the others, and buying a few precious seconds. Focusing her levitation on us next, she pulled Applejack and myself over to her, and then pushed us through it as the mint-Unicorn began firing bolts of energy at us.

Appleajck and I landed safely (albeit a bit roughly) on the ground in Mythica, but when we turned out heads to look back through the Gateway we quickly flattened ourselves on the ground again as magic whizzed through as well. Trixie turned her own body to run through after us, but an arrow stuck in her side. Trixie screamed, and as a second arrow struck her throat and it ended in a gurgle. She looked at us, tears forming at the rims of her eyes as her front legs buckled and she fell to her front knees.

“TRIXIEEEE!” I shouted, pulling myself back to my feet, the knife left behind in Gaea, and began running back through the glowing passage between worlds. Applejack grabbed my legs, causing me to fall on my face. I turned a desperate, angry face to her own as she hauled me back through. “No! What are you doing?! We have to he-”

“She's already dead, Lighthand!” Applejack shouted over me.

“No she's not! If I can get to her, we can-” The sound of a body dropping drew my gaze back through the passage, tears of my own running down my face. I saw, for just a second before the doors on the other side closed, a half-closed pair of glazed purple eyes. She was already dead, and not even Discord had the power to bring back the dead.

* * * * *

Meanwhile, in Jacob's Mythica, Human-Trixie bolted awake in her bed, breathing heavily, her throat aching and her stomach hurting as well. She ran a five-fingered hand across her throat and then her stomach, finding no injuries,and sighed in relief. She looked around, finding herself safe in her bedroom, in her house. Satisfied at the familiarity of it, she slowly laid her head back down on her pillow.

What kind of dream was that?! I felt like I was really there! Human-Trixie turned to one side and stared out of her window. Jacob, where are you? You've been missing for over a month, now! Please come home soon, you aren't the only one who misses old friends, you know.

^ ^ ^ ^ ^

“Get up, ya idjit!” Applejack scolded, kicking me gently (for a member of the Apple family) “They'll be comin' through that door any second! We have ta get out of here and tell Ponyville and the princesses what's happened!”

“I failed...” I muttered again. “That's twice I've failed to save a friend's life.”

“There wasn't anythang either of us could 'ave done, now come on!!” She began to drag me along behind her by one arm. After ten seconds of this the sound of grinding stone came again, and Applejack looked frantically over me. “Lighthand, ya might not have been able to save Trixie, but jus' like the rest of us, she volunteered for this little fiasco! Now me 'n you, we failed to save both Rainbow and Trixie, but once news gets back to the Human camp that Jackylin's dead, they might cancel the agreement we got! We gotta get back home 'afore that happens!”

My mind was still in a state of depressed shock, but I still got up to my feet, and began to follow Applejack through the woods, who ran just slow enough for me to keep sight of her, but quick enough that I myself had to run to keep up.

When we finally emerged from the forest we were both out of breath, but me more so than Applejack. While we ran we'd managed to lose our pursuers by doubling back several times (as Applejack later explained to me), and now we stood alone on the edge of the wilderness.

While I bent over and placed my hands on my knees for support and caught my breath Applejack scanned the area around us and told me that we should keep moving. I nodded and waved a hand at her, and, after straightening up, continued following her until close to nightfall when we finally arrived at the tree-trunk wall encircling Ponyville, which had grown considerably since we'd departed more than two months ago. The place was practically buzzing with activity even this late in the evening, and there were far more actual guards standing at the entrance this time, which turned out to not be the entrance to Ponyville, but rather the entrance to the the original wall that had been under construction when we'd left, and form there, into Ponyville proper.

We were, of course, stopped at the gate and I had to wait outside while Applejack was escorted into town to speak with whoever had been put in charge of the town (as one could hardly call it a village anymore).

Half an hour later Applejack came back along with the village's mayor and I was allowed inside, though not without an armed escort. After all, as far as the new residents new, I'd never been there before, and until my character could be judged, I was a possible threat. I did not hold it against them.

Our destination was Twilight's library, and inside awaited Twilight and Spike the Dragon. Twilight informed me that Applejack had told her what had happened in a brief summarized story, but wanted more detail. I nodded and took a seat as Applejack began her story again, I occasionally interjecting to add a detail here and there. The process took a bit over an hour and forty five minutes, by which time Spike had ever-so-thoughtfully brought in a bowl of fruit for us to snack on. Applejack took a cluster of grapes and I helped myself to a nice, juicy pear.

When it was all finished with, Twilight rubbed her face with a hoof.

“So Trixie, who you told to stay behind in the first place, is dead, Jackylin, our ally, is dead, and we don't know who's in charge now. Wonderful. So we're right back where we started from.”

“Not 'zactly, Twi.” Applejack objected. “We did succeed in killing the king.”

“Yes,” Twilight agreed verbally, but was now shaking her head. “but just how do you think the Humans camped near here are going react to hearing of her death? Even with some of them befriending some of the colts and fillies in town I don't think they'll be wanting to stay friends for long once the deal's off.” Twilight began pacing back and forth across the room. “Celestia needs to be told. She'll probably be too busy coordinating her forces where they're needed to send any help, but she still needs to know. Spike!”

Spike, who had been eating a bowl of small sapphires, burped and set the bowl down on a short table that might have been a stepping stool.

“Yeah, Twilight?” He asked, wiping his mouth with his arm, a few blue granules falling to the floor like crumbs.

“Here.” She levitated a dipped quill and a piece of parchment over to him. Spike nodded, and took one in each claw. “To princess Celestia, greetings. The Human Jacob Lighthand, and Applejack have returned. Jackylin Darkfist, as well as Trixie Lulamoon are dead, as is the previous king of the Gaea. I am nervous as to how to proceed with the Human camp, as they may become hostile once more when they hear of Jackylin's demise. Please advise me when you can.” Spike's scratchings continued for eleven more seconds, and then he rolled it up and torched it with a single breath.

Turning to the mayor, Twilight suggested that for now nopony else be told other than the guards and the hoof-full of soldiers that were busy healing up in the recently-extended Ponyville hospital. The mayor was nervous about the few Humans other than myself (after the liberation of those captured she trusted me a little, at least) and did not agree that it was a wise choice, but agreed to put off announcing it publicly for the moment.

“In the meantime, though, we should remove the other Humans from town.” The mayor stated.

“Why?” I asked. “It's not like they'll learn of Jackylin's death before the camp will, and judging from what Applejack told me on our way here, they seem to be getting along rather well with your citizens.”

“For the moment, yes, but none of them stay longer than a day or two before going back. What happens when they do find out?” We were all quiet for a moment, then the mayor continued. “My point exactly. We don't know.”

“There might be a very easy way to find out, you know.” Spike said after swallowing another mouthful of gems. We looked at him. He looked at Twilight. “We bring one of them in here, have a guard stand outside, and we tell them. If he or she goes nuts, you pin him down with magic, and the guard locks it up.”

We all traded looks, then nodded.

“I think that sounds reasonable enough.” The mayor agreed, speaking slowly, as if still mulling the pros and cons, though there were few. Either this would go well, or it wouldn't. If it didn't, like Spike said, it wouldn't take much to keep word from spreading.

Twilight smiled at Spike, looking proud of him.

“When did you turn into such a smart little Dragon, Spike?”

“Well, you know...” he blushed, turning away a little and shrugging. “I had a good teacher.” This time it was Twilight that blushed a little, and I smiled too.

The Human they picked later that day same day was one I'd seen sitting on a barrel sharpening the standard-issue long-knife that I was familiar with as we walked through the much-larger Ponyville. He had brown hair so dark it was almost black, a beard with no mustache, stood as tall as my father had been (almost six feet), and had only one eye with the other just being a patch of smooth flesh; he'd been born with only one eye. He also had several scars on his hands, but nowhere else.

“You wanted to see me?” He said, looking behind himself at the armored guard as he did. Twilight nodded.

“I did. I am afraid I have some bad news.”

“I guessed that from sir-frowns-a-lot. What is it?” He pointed a thumb over his shoulder as the door closed behind the leaving guard. Twilight took a deep breath, and the rest of us held ours.

“The king of your world is dead, and so is Jackylin Darkfist.”

The man blinked, then twisted his lips a bit, not really making an expression for a few moments. Then he nodded.

“I see. Well then,” He rubbed his hands together and turned his head to look at me, his face blank, but his eyes blazing. “tell me the name of the bastard that killed her so that I know who I'm going to kill.” My eyebrows rose. “Jackylin saved my life once back home when we were younger and on our first hunt. I owe her my life, a debt I can now never repay. The least I can do is avenge her.” He flexed the fingers of his right hand next to his knife's sheath, and stroked it with his index finger three times.

“I can't be certain,” I began. “but given his attitude toward Jackylin and us, I think it might have been-”

“Wait a minute.” The mayor interrupted. The man looked at her and frowned. She recoiled a little, but forced her face to return to calm. “The real reason we brought you here was to see if you'd turn on us now that the deal was off.”

“Our deal isn't off, miss Pony. On the contrary, our deal is sealed.”

“What?”

“Jackylin told me about her plan, and the deal before she left. The deal was for him” He pointed at me. “to help her kill the king so she could take his place. If the king is dead, then she did exactly that. How long she lived afterward doesn't matter. A deal is an oath, and to break it would be shameful.”

The mayor sighed with relief, a smile finding its way on her face for the first time that I'd seen since we'd met.

“I am very happy to hear that! Well then, if you'll all excuse me, I need to inform the guards that we've got nothing to worry about from your camp after all! Twilight.” She nodded at her. “Spike. Lighthand.” We raised a hand each (or claw in Spike's case) in a half-hearted wave when she addressed us, and then she left the library.

“Now,” the man said, once more looking at me. “the name.”

__ __ __ __ __

Faltos frowned in displeasure at Lyra, who fidgeted nervously. Though she had indeed managed to track them to the gateway, which he respected her for given that she was a herbivore rather than a hunter, but that did not make it any less a fact that she'd failed the mission he'd given her, and now Mythica might have time to rally their forces at the Gateway and hold them off indefinitely.

Faltos was not much for military strategy, but he was no moron. Once the way into Mythica was secured they could start making better strikes against the Humans that were already there, and once they'd been dealt with, they might be able to talk the Gryphons back into peace. If that happened, it would be that much harder to take the other world over.

“You failed.” He said simply. Lyra said nothing, but she was now making an effort to look everywhere but at him. “They've seen you, which means you're no good to me as a spy, and you've let them escape, which means they'll be forewarned that their attempt to take the throne has failed. Tell me, miss prey,” He narrowed his eyes at her, and took satisfaction in the fact that she was shivering from fear. He stood up from his seat and walked toward her until he was right in front of her. He squatted down and moved his mouth next to her hear. Whispering, he asked “of what use are you to me now? Give me three good reasons to not have your head literally on a silver platter.” With a dash of salt and lightly scorched on the outside.

“I-I...I-” Faltos stood up and smacked her face hard with his right palm, his fingers curled enough that his claws raked across her face, scratching shallow lines across it and drawing a few drops of blood. Lyra leaned hard to one side and almost fell to the floor, just barely catching herself. Faltos grabbed her head in his arms, gripping her tightly, his index finger nails just barely below her wide, terrified eyes.

“I have not worked so hard all these years to attain this position just to be thwarted now by a incompetent horse-girl who has delusions of being something she's not!” He threw her the rest of the way to the floor, where she scrambled against it to push herself away from her angry, and violent employer. He stomped away from her, his footfalls heavy and echoing in his new throne room. He kept stomping along until he reached the throne, until which time he placed a hand on it and looked down into the seat. Lyra, in the meantime pushed herself up to her hoofs, ready to run if necessary, though knew she'd not get far. Even if Faltos did not catch her, another Human would. Magic or no, as soon as she'd get tired, she'd be done for.

“I-I can still be y-your wild card. I can spy on your rivals unseen, a-and I can eliminate them at your command!” Lyra said, her tone desperate. Faltos laughed, to Lyra's confusion.

“You see, girl, that is why I'm king now, and not Jackylin. I don't kill my rivals until they cease to be of any value to me. I use them. I weave a web of intrigue and sow seeds of distrust amongst them until they live their lives as I live my own: I trust no one. This way of living has kept me alive, and proven to be a weaker state of mind for those unused to it.” He let his arm slide down the rough wood of the throne (rough, because comfort could make one soft) and fall to his side before once more walking toward Lyra. He stopped four meters away. Lyra tensed. “Still, you are correct.” Lyra visibly relaxed. “However, that's only one reason. You need two more.” Lyra nodded, and racked her brain while Faltos waited, still angry, yet genuinely curious if she could come up with two more reasons.

__ __ __ __ __

Celestia sighed, both relieved and worried at the same time at her student's latest letter, the second one during the day.

It would seem that my little student has grown up and managed to do what even I and my family failed to do. She made friends, or at least neutral ground, with Humans! Or at least some of the townsponies have. Perhaps my father wasn't so foolish with his hopes of bringing them back into our world after all... She rerolled the scroll and set it on her desk in case she wanted to read it again later. She would consider that topic more in the future, but for the moment the Humans dwelling near Ponyville were only one less problem on her literal list of problems.

Her uncle had dealt with the attacking forces at Manehatten, and the Gryphons were being a bit more cautious in their attacks on Cloudsdale now that they'd turned their city into a war-fortress armed with cannons loaded with shatter-shot, but sooner or later they'd come up with a new strategy, and they still were trouble for other cities and towns.

And then, of course, there were rumors all over Equestria of Dragon sightings near every town closest to the territory most often inhabited by the larger and older members of their species. If the Dragons were finally stirring to strike back as a whole against their invaders, she would have to move quickly to ensure that her little Ponies did not get caught in the middle, it it was not already too late.

Comments

[Zergoza]

Love this story. Keep writing

[paladinwolf]

(cries) poor Trixy... She will be missed. Great chapter, loved how the humans near ponyville have chosen to remain loyal to their word. Could it be the 1st instance of co-operation between the equines and humans? Only time will tell :)

Keep up the good work!

[Andreno]

You know whats really funny?

I abandoned this story when I saw the sequal was full of doctor who.

You know what is funnier?

I never noticed this alternate. I am now excited to see what happens here.

[WorldWalker128]

1718006
violence, and much of it. Though I haven't decided how I'm going to end it just yet. I've got a general idea, but I've been suffering from Chronic Writer's Block for almost two months, now.

[ArtyTheReader]

Mourning the death of Queen Darkfist :( She really grew on me.