Chapter 24: A short party
Pinkie's party was fun for the most part. The necromancer had arrived in a flash of light and throwing confetti in all directions, much to the joy of Pinkie. He made idle chat here and there, but most ponies only had questions about his challenges, which bored him to no extent.
So instead, he focused on the various pastries and drinks, trying as much as he could until his tongue couldn't deal with any more sugar. Strangely though, Aergad found himself becoming more and more depressed as he continued to watch the party from the side. Everyone was enjoying the party, the paladin was nowhere to be seen and even Twilight wasn't pestering him with questions, which was nice. So why couldn't he enjoy it?
Was it the fact that there was no alcohol? No, that couldn't be it. He normally drank when he was upset, which he had been a lot in the past. And in his drunken ravings he had even created some of his most ingenious creations, thought his imps certainly disagreed with him on that point. But what was wrong with a child-like ghoul screaming she loved you while trying to grind your face off with a cheese grater?
Was he upset because he had smoked up his last batch of tobacco? A bit, admitted. Smoking had always been one of his favorite activities, but that wasn't causing this. He'd probably manage to grow a batch of his own over time anyway, or he'd find something else to smoke. He chuckled to himself, after all, if it comes out of the ground, people should be able to smoke it.
But then what was it? His conversation with Death? No, that had been more than amusing, in spite of the sore subject of her soul. The changelings certainly weren't something he was worried about, he'd have his fun with them or just incinerate the little buggers if they tried to make a fool of him.
He shook his head and tried to clear his thoughts, feeling himself slide deeper in his sour mood. What was it? The only thing left was... he could feel himself frown as he realized the source of his mood, his talk with Celestia. He had never enjoyed talking with deities, and he had never liked to think about his past, much less even so talking to anyone about it.
"What's her aim?" he mumbled to himself, "Talking like she cares or could understand... lives in fucking candy land that stuck-up..."
"Howdy there." a voice interrupted his rambling. He looked down and at an orange mare with a big hat on her head, "Everythin' alright? You looked a bit glum over here all alone so I came to give you some company."
The necromancer stared at her with a blank expression, "Who are you?"
"Ah shucks, sorry for not introducing myself." she laughed, "I'm Applejack, this here is the barn of my family."
A farmer... great, he mentally groaned. "I'm the necromancer." he replied with a weak smile, "Nice barn you have here."
"Thanks!" she smiled at him, "You got yourself quite the tower as much as Ah saw. Can't wait to see it from the inside for myself!"
He didn't reply to her comment, but just continued to stare at her.
"So..." she seemed a bit taken aback by his silence, "Somethin' bothering you?"
Aergad frowned, he had no intention to talk about his worries with anyone and he still felt unhappy at having talked with Celestia about them. In his mood, the necromancer did what he had always done when he wanted to avoid a conversation, he changed the subject.
An evil thought crossed his mind, "Do you have pigs on your farm?"
Applejack tilted her head, slightly confused but smiled at him nonetheless, "Sure do. Why?"
A small, devilish smile appeared on his lips, "Would you sell me one of them?"
This time, it was Applejack's turn to frown, "What for?"
"For a barbeque."
Applejack's frown became bigger, "You want to buy a pig so you can eat with it at a barbeque? Why would you..."
He cut her off, "I don't want to eat with it at the barbeque... I want to eat it at the barbeque."
The moment his words had sunk in, Applejack's eyes became big as dinner plates, "You want to WHAT?!" she asked in a mix of horror and rage.
He crossed his arms defiantly, "Well that's what you have them for, don't you?"
"We certainly don't!" she hollered at him, "They eat what refuse falls off and help keep the ground open! They're members of the family to us!" she took an angered step towards him, "Ah have a mind to drag you right outside and make you apologize!"
By now, the whole barn had turned to the two of them and was watching their fight with worried glances. But before any of them could react, the necromancer turned to the crowd with a huge smile, "And now, it is time for me to entertain you with a joyful magic trick!"
"What?! Don't think you're gettin' out of this that easy!" Applejack took another step towards him, but at a motion of his hands, she started to float into the air.
"First, take an overly excited mare." he laughed, "Make her do a few spins... chant the magic words, ALAKAZAM!" there was a loud puff, "And there you have the most adorable little pony you have ever seen!"
In his palm, he held a miniature Applejack, shouting furiously at him with a tiny voice. Under the thundering applause of the ponies, he put her on the table next to the punch bowl and placed a glass over her. Somewhere to the side, he could see Twilight Sparkle next to a laughing Rainbow Dash scribble down notes, probably trying to note down the spell.
"The next time someone asks something you don't like..." he whispered to Applejack, "Try to remain calm and polite." and with that, he slunk off and out of the barn. He had certainly had enough of the party for today, and farm girls always had a big, brawny brother somewhere, so a tactical retreat would be good for now.
---
Outside the barn, he drew in a deep breath to calm himself. She had seemed generally concerned and friendly, but like he had said before, he wasn't here to make friends. He still wondered, had he overreacted? Probably. Did he care right now? No. Would Celestia gnaw his ear off if she heard? Likely, but seeing her try would be fun.
Putting aside teleportation for the moment, he decided to walk back to his tower... and immediately regretted it as he saw the paladin approach. He stopped on the road and waited for her to close the distance.
"You're a bit late, I'm afraid." he said as she came close to him, "The party has already started, but it's dull anyway..."
"I'm not here for the party." she wheezed.
"Were you running?" he asked with a frown.
"I was looking for you." she replied with less spite than he was used to, "I couldn't find you at the tower so I figured you'd be here..." she took another breath.
"Please don't tell me you're going to give me a life counseling..." he groaned, "And please! No more prayers! I'll have nightmares for weeks!"
"Could you just be serious for one moment?" she cast him an annoyed glare.
He grinned widely, "On such a beautiful night? Where would the fun be in that?"
"We need to talk." Calindria said with a serious voice.
"Do we?" he chuckled, "You're not going to try and chop my head off?"
She ignored his remark and put on a determined face, "I need to see your arms."
The moment the words had left her mouth, Aergad's face and eyes became as cold as ice and the paladin could actually feel the wind around them come to a halt. For the first time in the countless times she had looked into his face, she actually shuddered.
He stared into her eyes, his brow furrowed and his features hard as stone, not even the tiniest sign of a smile on his lips, "So it's about that... is it?"
Calindria's mouth felt dry, but she managed to choke the words out, "I need to see it for myself. Please, let me see your arms."
The necromancer stared at her for another, agonizing moment. Then, he slowly lifted his arms and held them out before her, not the slightest emotion on his face as he watched her.
Slowly, with trembling hands the paladin reached out and took a hold of the sleeves that went down to his wrists. Taking a deep breath she pulled them upwards... and froze as she stared at his lower arms in utter disbelief.
"Not what you had hoped for?" he gave her a dry laugh, "Funny how the brightest lights always cast the biggest shadows, isn't it?"
On the underside of the necromancer's both arms, and burnt into his flesh for all eternity two symbols of the sun stared back at the paladin, the scars broken at the edges and a sickly red. A sad memento to the hospitality of the order of the light.
Stats
Page generated in 0.019 seconds
Total duration
617 users online
1,080,629 hits today, 2,814,898 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.®
you always manage to write the best cliffhangers
Eyuppp
Don't mind me, I'll just be sitting over here.
Break her, break her, break her.
how could those evil f
kers torture a KID! I hat the paladin order!
He's not retreating
He's not a coward
He's advancing in a different direction
2631272 He got off soft, at least it wasn't cleric order.You dont want to know what those do to boys his age.
Fucking hell, That's fucked up AND I LIKE IT!
Let me guess, when the "Order of Light", or the Paladin's Order found out that some random street rat was tutoring himself in what is called a "dark art", they captured and tortured him. Before they let him go, however, the Paladins decided to give him a reminder so that he could not forget about his time with the paladins, and by extension why the paladins inflicted said treatment to him. To the Necromancer, who we now know to be named Aergad, whenever he looks at his wrists, he remembers being tortured, having the tattoos seared into his flesh, and what he was lead to believe what the cause of it all was. His art, the "dark" magic of necromancy. If Aergad believed that necromancy was the cause of his pain, and that if he continued to use it the Paladins would find him and torture him again, then he would be unlikely to use the magic ever again.
2635286 it mentions in the previous chapters how they didn't think a kid of 11 could be the necromancer, thought he was just possessed so they exorcised him.
2630576 ...Im on it. *Brutally rips the paladin in two* Broken enough for you?