Bells and Keys

by ComradeCthulhu

The Storm

The small army arrived at the Red Lake about a week later. Dragging a wagon full of large rocks across the continent had tired the Old Kingdom horses, as well as everyone else. Hayes was still laughing about that time when Applejack had tried to talk to one of the Old Kingdom horses. That had been hilarious. Unfortunately for everyone else, Twilight had made the mistake of asking Hayes why the horses couldn’t talk. He had launched into his whole scientomagical lecture on the subject, and it took fifteen minutes to shut him up. Then Twilight had asked what scientomagic was. Hayes had explained that scientomagic was a blend of Old Kingdom magic and Ancelstierran science. He had developed it while he was in the NPRU, and there were already many other Scouts who used it. Adding magic to modified machines could make them run better, and if properly added to explosives, it could make them more destructive. The soldiers began to make camp while Hayes moved the stones into position. Night was coming, and the sooner this was over with the better. A light rain began to fall. Once they had gotten the stones arranged properly, Hayes drew a pentacle in the dirt and lit a candle at each point. Then he began to chant slowly. The rain began to come down faster, and a wind blew the rain right into the soldier’s faces. Several of the soldiers shivered as they felt a strange mix of the Charter and Free Magic wash over them. Ivan completely ignored the chanting, and stared intently up at the ridge nearby. He turned to Sameth and Lirael.

“Can you see something up there?” he asked. The two others squinted to see the ridge in the growing darkness.

“Now that you mention it, I think I can see something.” said Lirael. Sameth nodded in agreement. He motioned for the soldiers to form up and ready their weapons. Now it seemed like something was coming down the hill, something darker than the darkness. Then Rarity recognized their jerking movements.

“Hands!” she gasped. Everyone readied their weapons immediately, except for Hayes, who had begun to chant faster and faster. Then a soldier cried out. There were more Hands on the other sides as well. They were completely surrounded. Sameth let out a low whistle.

“I would hate to meet the necromancer that summoned this many Hands.” he said. The Hands stopped a few yards away from the soldiers. Then there was a flash of lightning, a roll of thunder, and the Hands attacked as the rain continued to pour down faster and faster. The first wave hit the outer rank of soldiers with a screaming crash of steel on bone. The first few Hands were greeted by a hail of arrows, and battered down by swords and shields. However, as more and more Hands filled the gaps, the square of soldiers slowly began to shrink as first one fell, then another, then another. The Hands took advantage of small gaps, pouring into them, making them bigger. Soldiers began to fall more quickly. The square shrank to only a small fraction of what it had been before, with a ragged circle formed around Hayes and the unfinished portal. There were the seven ponies, Ivan, Sameth, Lirael, and five soldiers left. All of them had at least one injury. The Hands continued to close in, but the fifteen survivors continued to fight against the endless horde. Rarity and Lirael worked together, one ringing Saraneth and the other ringing Kibeth, to make many of the Hands return to Death at the same time. Eventually the Hands stopped coming and began to fall back. Ivan looked around, and saw that three more of the soldiers were lying dead on the ground. Sameth had also received a bad wound to his sword arm, rendering him combat ineffective. A few of the ponies relaxed for a moment, but no one else did. They knew it was only going to get worse. Then Derpy spotted something. They were tall figures, glowing faintly with muddy marshfire. She pointed them out to the others. Ivan grimaced. Mordicants. He had seen these things only once before, and he remembered it clear as day. A single Mordicant had encounted his squad about a mile from the Wall, on Ivan’s first day in the army. Ivan remembered running from it while he heard it slaughtering the rest of his squad. He had run all the way to the nearest checkpoint, which was manned by a single Scout. That Scout, who was of course Hayes, hadn’t even bothered to call for backup. As Ivan hid he had walked straight back to where the Mordicant was feasting on the deceased soldier’s souls and blown it to pieces. He was later criticized for incinerating a large section of forest, though no one ever figured out how he’d done it. Ivan snapped back to the present as Lirael and Rarity rang their bells. One of the charging Mordicants collapsed, but the others barely faltered. Then suddenly, Hayes’ chanting stopped. Everyone looked at the empty stone archway. A tiny pinprick of rainbow colored light appeared in the center, and then expanded to fill the entire space. A second later Hayes collapsed into a coma. The ponies hesitated.

“What the hell are you lot waiting for!?” yelled Ivan, “Go through the portal!”

“What about you guys? The Mordicants will rip you to pieces!” replied Pinkie. Lirael took a moment to assess the situation.

“There aren’t enough of them to completely block us from escaping!” she said, “We have a chance, so just go!”
The ponies turned and vanished into the light. Then a bolt of lightning came down from the sky and struck the archway. A huge section of the stone was blown into dust. Ivan gulped. Hayes had warned them about this. The portal was destabilizing. That meant it was going to blow up. He turned to Sameth, Lirael, and the two soldiers.

“Run through a gap in the Mordicant’s line!” he said.

“What about you?” asked Sameth.

“Hayes had a contingency plan for if this happened! I’ve got to follow it!”
Sameth nodded, then he led the others into the darkness. Ivan turned, grabbed Hayes by the hood of his cloak, and just managed to heave him through the portal. Then there was a massive tremor, and Ivan nearly collapsed. He turned around just in time for a Hand’s claws to rake his arm. He fell backwards, but as he entered the portal there was a flash of lightning. He saw the necromancer up on the ridge. The necromancer was a pony. Ivan blacked out. The portal exploded. Up on the ridge, the necromancer watched as the rainbow light enveloped his army, vaporizing them. He grimaced, and then smiled. His quarry may have evaded him this time, but he could wait. Sure the humans would get in the way, but what did a few more lives matter. They were just more soldiers for his legions anyway. Still smiling, the necromancer turned and cantered down the hill.

Author's Note:

Credit must be given where credit is due, and I also feel like adding a disclaimer. This story is based partly on Garth Nix's Abhorsen Trilogy, as well as Lauren Faust's television series My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic(I add that only for completeness' sake). Scientomagic was borrowed loosely from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual people, places, or events is entirely coincidental. No insult to person, race, or religion is meant in any way, shape, or form. I apologize for any inconvenience.

Comments

[Paaaad]

Well... That's a twist.
Guess they wern't the first to find the spell.

[ComradeCthulhu]

2568102
Or maybe the necromancer sent them there on purpose by making some choice edits to Twilight's spell book. I actually haven't even planned that part out yet...

[Paaaad]

2568641
I guess either works, but only if the necromancer can go between worlds at will.

[ComradeCthulhu]

2568682
Tell me if this makes sense...
A unicorn is doing his/her magic thing. They accidentally screw it up and are transported to Ancelstierre. They embrace the dark art of necromancy, figure out how to reverse the spell, and transport back. Then, because they have a grudge or something against the mane six, they mess up Twilight's spell book. This causes the mane six to be transported to Ancelstierre, where the necromancer can summon copious amounts of Hands to deal with them. Now the necromancer also knows how to go back and forth at will using necromancy, probably using the River of Death as a pathway.

[Paaaad]

2568750
Through Death? That's a lot of walking, and only Mordicants (And possibley some free magic entitys) can go there phisicley. They would need a body in each world. Need to shut down now. Sorry.

[ComradeCthulhu]

2579719
Only you would say that...you monster.