A single pony walked the streets amongst corpses, but she was closer to a cadaver herself. All around her was the silent screaming of death and she was practicing for a part in the chorus. Her coat was clean, if a little ratty, and she bore no wounds. Rather, her scars were on the inside. The infection ravaged her body, holding no quarter as it dug through the organs that kept her alive. She would be dead within the hour, but that had nothing on her twisted, rotting soul. Everywhere she looked, corpses. Everywhere she walked, ash. Unicorns next to earth ponies, the rich next to the poor. All of it undeniably equal, all of it undeniably dead.
She stumbled as her hoof hit against a ribcage, but managed to keep her step when the body turned to ash on the wind, as if it had only been a pile of the loose material to begin with. Her eyes followed the dust into the air and was awarded with the horrible sight of the gray world around her. The ash-choked air had tainted the colors that had shouted so loudly to the mare months prior, turning them blank and dead just as it had everything else.
She was ready to stop fighting it. She was ready to let it end. All her magic had told her she was the only thing alive. The other immortals had given up a long time ago, but her incessant stubbornness had drove her onward. She had insisted there was something, anything, that would make it worth continuing to live. It hadn’t swayed them in the end. Eventually, they had stopped their lives; they had left her alone.
It was in this loneliness that she had come here. To this town. She was tired of being by herself, alone and fearful as she dwelt up in Canterlot, and wanted to know the truth with her own eyes, to face the consequences of that discovery. Even after that decision, she had put off coming. But it had pulled at her mind incessantly until she gave in. This was to be the end of her painfully long life; she had known that for a long time now.
She had entered her own graveyard when she had arrived here.
The sight of the destroyed town tugged at the alicorn’s heartstrings. She had known these ponies and their ancestors. She had come to love all the different families in her kingdom, and now she was privy to their deaths. Her heart was so heavy she had to drag herself to the destination she intended to visit, her very body quaking in grief with every step. There was to be no solace for her here.
The last nail in the coffin had been the corpse of a unicorn in a library, a macabre but common sight in Canterlot. To the being, however, it was so much more. The last of her hope lay lifeless on that floor, the last of her stubbornness finding it held no traction. So large and important in life, the deceased had taken on another appearance when the pulsing energy of life had left her. Now she only looked small, helpless, and dead.
The long-lived being had let in the infection at that moment, allowing it to ravage her body with its cruelty, to do to her what it had done to everyone else. She was to die here, and she didn’t regret the decision. Luna was gone. Discord was gone. Twilight.... Even poor innocent Twilight was gone. And, in a few moments, Celestia would be gone as well.
Tears began to roll from her cheeks as she took one final look at the world around her. Untold lifetimes of work and care had ended in mere days. The high and mighty Princess Celestia, reduced to nothingness with her kingdom, unable to stop it, unable to even delay it. All her little ponies were dead, and she couldn’t do anything about it. Not even her most powerful numbing spell could dispel the despair welling up inside her. So, she had decided on this. She was tired of it, of all the pain, and she knew that regardless of what came after, death would numb her more than any degree of magic ever could. With this thought in mind and one last determined breath, she closed her eyes knowing full well she would never open them again.
If I can’t keep her safe next to my chest,
Or fight off the monsters and all the rest.
Then please, oh death, of strength untold,
Take me with her when she leaves this fold.
Celestia’s eyes blinked slowly open, everything past her eyelids obscured by the horrible unexpected assault of pure and violent light. She raised her hoof on instinct to block it out, but stopped as it was blocked for her. She could see a tall silhouette standing over her, a strange cape whipping in the winds behind two black pillars that held the body up. It didn’t speak to her, merely looking down at her from beneath its hood. As strange as the mute thing was though, the absence of sound wasn’t what caught her attention.
Just the opposite, in fact. She whirled around to face a cacophony of noises as familiar as a half-forgotten dream. It only took a moment before she realized what it was: birds. She could hear birds chirping.
She stumbled to her hooves and the creature backed away respectfully to allow her the room she needed to stand. A quick glance around the area told Celestia her location immediately; she was in the middle of Ponyville. A colorful Ponyville, not dead or gray, but alive. It struck home with Celestia’s memory, the countless times she had seen Ponyville in her life. It was beating, like a heart, and seemed bright beyond comparison, even without the ponies hurrying through the streets. She heard the sound of steps and was shaken from her awe at the Ponyville of her memory. She turned to face the being again, where the sound was coming from, and watched as he began to walk away.
“Wait,” she called to the retreating form, a commanding tone wrapping itself around the word. The creature paused and Celestia suddenly found herself unable to communicate what she wanted to say. She had no idea how to ask what she wanted to ask. About dreams, or perhaps nightmares. Maybe time magic, or perhaps an illusion. But none of these felt right.
What had happened before she had died, she knew was real. But this, this lively Ponyville around her, was also real. She could feel it in the air and the colors. The creature seemed impatient as it stood with its back to her, like it wanted to be elsewhere and was only lingering to be polite. She wanted to ask everything at once, but her mouth wouldn’t allow it. So, she stood there silent as her mind fought over the words that ran through her head.
As she did this, the creature walked away, and Celestia let it leave. She couldn’t express what she wanted to say, so it was for the best to just let it leave.
Around her she could hear the sounds of ponies stumbling out of their houses, but she didn’t move her gaze. She watched the thing shuffle away until it disappeared among the shadows of the Everfree forest. Cheers erupted from around her, shocking Celestia from her senses and forcing her to examine her surroundings. Ponies shouted loudly, all cheering for the princess who stood in the middle of the town.
The lost eyes of the alicorn looked at the ponies around her, struggling to find some clue that would explain the sudden reverie. Celestia was about to vocalize her question when she heard a shout of her name come from behind. She turned to face Mayor Mare, running with a speed that none had ever seen from her. As the older pony approached, several ponies moved to allow her through.
“Oh Princess Celestia!” the mayor shouted exuberantly, a tone in her voice that is usually in the company of tears of joy. “You saved us!” The shout answered the niggling question that dwelt in Celestia’s mind, confirming their misplaced honor.
“Well, ac—” She was unheard over the screams of ecstasy. Her gaze moved through the crowd, spotting each and every pony who she had seen dead not mere moments before until at last her gaze came to rest on Twilight Sparkle, whom had tears of happiness pouring down her face. She let the cheering continue, making no move to stop it, letting it continue even as the mayor struggled to make the crowd fall silent. The princess merely stared at Twilight with relief and joy in her heart. She wanted this time to last forever, the moment to stretch on eternally with this feeling in her heart filling every moment.
“I’m sorry, Princess. What were you trying to say?” Celestia snapped from her moment, looking around at those who had gathered around her, now quiet, and eventually letting her gaze rest on the pony who had spoken. Mayor Mare beamed up towards her princess, a smile of unparalleled enthusiasm on her face. The crowd, with similar looks on their faces, listened with rapt attention. Celestia's gaze moved to a mare who cradled her baby in front of her, looking at her princess with shining eyes.
“I’m just glad you’re all okay,” she said when she realized the question had lasted far too long. Her gaze flicked subconsciously back to Twilight for a moment before Celestia realized how nervous she looked and redirected her gaze once again. There was a certain degree of joy in her heart, a joy she couldn’t quite explain. She wasn’t in love; she had felt that before and this wasn’t it. This was something else. The two feelings were next door neighbors, but worlds apart at the same time.
“Such an event as this deserves celebration!” Mayor Mare exclaimed suddenly and much to the agreement of the group. “I’ll begin to get something together. I’m sure Pinkie Pie is already planning a party; that’ll work nicely. Oh, and I can get—” Celestia tuned her out. It was a horrible thing to do, and Celestia already felt guilty for it, but there were other things on her mind.
First was the matter of Luna and Discord. Had they come alive as well? Was this amazing reconstitution of everything right and good limited to Ponyville, or did it cover everything? Who was that being who had spoken with her? Had he caused this? She had several questions and her mind was already rationalizing answers on what little she knew. A horrible habit, yes, but one she could never quite get rid of.
“I’m sorry, Miss Mayor,” Celestia said, cutting off the kind pony in the middle of her plans, “but I was hoping I might have a word or two with Twilight Sparkle before we celebrate? There are issues that need to be discussed.” And, though she wouldn’t be announcing it to all the ponies, she wanted some time with her student. She wanted to talk, like they had so long ago. She wanted everything to seem normal and peaceful like it had been before.
“Oh, of course. Just tell me when you’re done and I'm sure we can throw something together. In the meantime, I’ll be at the town hall making sure everything is in order for any occurrence.” Celestia nodded in response, returning a smile. The mayor began to leave and Celestia paused her actions for a moment to look at the world around her.
It was exactly how she remembered it, down to the smallest detail. With a purposed stride, Celestia stepped slowly through the crowd, giving them time to part as she moved. As she left the circle, Twilight began to follow dutifully by her side and the other ponies began to disperse to their different jobs, all of them with springs in their steps.
The short walk to the library was silent. Celestia was unsure why Twilight wasn’t speaking. She seemed troubled, but though Celestia wanted to know the cause of it, she also didn’t want to discuss the mare’s fears in the open, out of respect. So, both maintained the quiet atmosphere with careful attention, both putting off the moment of reveal until they would enter the library.
The library began to loom in the distance, its large stature and tree-like form casting a large shadow, even near noon. Twilight approached the door first and enveloped it in the purple of her magic. With a preoccupied pulse of energy, the door opened quickly to its full length before letting out a painful cracking noise.
Twilight was shocked somewhat from her thoughts by this and took a brief glance at the door before she smiled apologetically to the princess, whom merely nodded it off. She was looking forward to hearing Twilight’s thoughts; she didn’t care to waste any time lingering on such a small thing as this. Understanding the simple action and the motive behind it, Twilight entered the library, preparing to speak her mind to the Princess.
She was, instead, interrupted by what she saw and her words were replaced with a gasp. Celestia followed into the library right behind her student after pausing to stoop in through the doorway. A familiar black silhouette stood at the bookshelves, an open tome in its hands.
Though it had heard both of the ponies enter, it didn’t move its gaze from the book, tracing a line with its finger slowly and its skin sliding softly over the parchment as its eyes traced the words above it. When he reached the end of the page, he closed the book slowly with an odd degree of respect, then deftly and carefully reshelved it.
The creature turned to face Twilight and Celestia, revealing that the definition of ‘silhouette’ was incredibly accurate, as all its clothes were colored a deep black. It paused for a minute, letting its loose clothing sway in the soft breeze that moved through the room, then proceeded into a low bow in the direction of the larger of the two.
“I understand you’re a princess,” it said in a light, masculine tone like a gentlecolt. The statement was closer to a question as it danced through the air, leading to the alicorn to answer it as such.
“That is correct.” Celestia’s face was solid and unmoving. Her eyes traced the features of the being, looking at his loose stance and the way he slouched. She saw tight skin across his hands, indicating he was young, at least by Equestrian standards. Then, the immortal’s eyes moved to his, only to find them hidden beneath his hood.
“They are lucky to have such a benign ruler,” the creature continued, the conversation robotic to Celestia’s ears: automated and predesigned.
“You are too kind.”
This elicited a sound somewhere between a cough and a snort. “I’m sorry for showing up uninvited. I had just gone into the Everfree when I remembered I had a book I needed to return. Seems I got detoured by a title that caught my eye. I thought I had some time to look over it, though it appears I was wrong,” the thing explained with the shadow of a smile on its face, then turned its back to them and made its way slowly towards an open window. “But I don’t want to bleed into too much of your time.”
“Wait,” Celestia said again, repeating the process that happened only moments earlier. This time, however, Celestia knew what she wanted to say. “Why did you set me up to look like the savior?” The look on Twilight’s face was a twisted mixture of relief and confusion as her eyes drifted over Celestia, an odd look that the princess hadn’t been expecting.
“I needed a scapegoat,” the creature responded slowly, choosing its words with care.
“A scapegoat? Did you do something wrong? If you’ve done anything negative to my little ponies—”
“That’s not how I meant the word,” he cut in as potent wrath began to build behind Celestia’s words. The being seemed to slump a little and groan in self-loathing, clearly angry at himself for being unable to communicate. He pressed a palm against his head, catching his hood in between, but not minding it. “Negative connotations can terribly obscure a definition. It’s not that I didn’t want to be blamed; I just didn’t want to be praised,” it explained. “Being the hero never really works out.”
“These words with negative connotations.... Would you say ‘necromancy’ is one of them?” Twilight asked, catching both of the beings by surprise as she entered into the discussion. A smile crossed the face of the hooded figure and Twilight backed up a step as she misunderstood the meaning of his bared teeth, especially at the sight of his sharp canines.
“You’re a very clever little girl,” he answered before letting his voice fall away, leaving an empty void in the air. The silence persisted for several moments as the creature seemed to be struggling with his own words, trying to articulate what he wanted to say next. But eventually, he gave up on it with an expression of deject shame.
He let the stillness sit in the library for a moment longer before he simply shook his head and carefully climbed out of the window. Twilight made to call after him again, but for some reason or another, she didn’t. Once on the windowsill of the building, he dropped a foot or two to the ground with a thump and turned around to lean back in.
“Now, I’ve got to go. You two take care of yourselves, and don’t worry.” His cloaked face turned to Twilight and a grave tone overtook his voice. “You’re just as alive now as you were before.” He left without another word. A blessing, really, since his few words had already put Twilight’s mind on a teetering point as she tried to understand everything.
Celestia watched him leave. She was torn about whether to make him come back or let him go, but her mind was decided when she looked to her shaken student. The princess quickly took charge of the situation and had Twilight sit down. She gave her a few moments to collect herself, then began to brew some of the tea that her student always kept on hoof for when she visited. A mixture of caring and preparation, but regardless the reason for the tea, it was a blessing all the same.
It was only a few minutes before Twilight began to recover from the mind screw that had hit her so unexpectedly and Celestia was there as she slowly brought herself back. Both were extremely happy to see the other, Twilight slightly more so when she saw the calming cup of tea that had been prepared for her, and neither was willing to break the comforting silence with words.
They enjoyed each other’s company in silence for several long moments before Twilight looked to Celestia with a face full of confusion. Instead of speaking her mind however, she bit her lip nervously and turned away, putting her attention back on the tea and beginning to stare into it with an anxious look about her. Celestia was having none of it, especially as she began to see the small salty tears beginning to gather in Twilight’s eyes. She was about to speak, to ask Twilight what the matter was, but was cut off as Twilight managed to muster her own courage.
“Celestia,” she began softly, having to force every word she said past her quivering lip. “Am I...” She struggled with the words, but not like the other two had. Where Celestia had had too much to say and the strange creature couldn’t explain his thoughts, Twilight just wasn’t sure she wanted the answer. “I know what he said, but... am I dead?” The words shattered Celestia’s heart as she heard them and, within mere moments, she had brought her student under one of her massive white wings.
It brought comfort not only to Twilight, but to Celestia as well. She knew now, both in her mind and her soul, the answer to that question. “No, my dear student,” she said, beginning to nuzzle Twilight’s cheek in a show of platonic love. “I promise you, you aren’t dead.”
Chrysalis stared deep into the crystalline reflection of her mirror. Her eyes scanned the image before her, looking for inconsistencies and lies. Looking for the part that would make her realize this was all some twisted macabre vision haunting her from her deathbed. She knew for a fact that this had to be the case, that it simply couldn’t be the truth. She had died! She knew it! She had experienced the horrible almost untellable dread of having your soul slowly dragged loose of your mortal coil, being carried off to be judged and filed with all the other souls.
She could even, at the very edges of her memories, recall being dead. She could recall being in the hereafter with all the other souls. Scared and frightened by the wrapping white light that choked her dark heart. So how then had she come back? And, more importantly, why was she alone?
She looked at the corpses of changelings around her room. All pulses killed mid beat and stifled breaths from frozen breaths. Why had she been the only one to return? Why were all the others still gone from the world? It pulled at her to see them like that, but not in the tragic way she had felt seeing them all fade out of existence. It was the kind of feeling that you only got when you knew they were going to be alright, that you knew they were in a better place where they would feel no pain. A bittersweet memory that stuck to your tongue and refused to leave until you swallowed every painful ounce.
She was happy for them, more or less, and found herself surprised by this. She had treated them as slaves and underlings her whole life through and now she felt happy that they were happy? She had taken them for granted, had forced them to her every will, and they had followed gleefully and completely naive that there were other paths they could take. And now... now that they were gone to a greater place, she found she was happy that they had finally found peace. And at the same time, she was extremely angry that she had been denied that gift.
She heard steps behind her, in the hallways of the hive, and for a moment her heart swelled with the idea that she wasn’t alone. That perhaps the pestilence of death which had taken so much from her may have left her one friend. However, when the door to the room opened, her gaze was not met by a changeling, but a biped of odd size and shape. Chrysalis felt the joy die in her throat, worming like roadkill in the last throes of it’s life. He spoke preemptively, not wanting the conversation to be misguided from the start.
“I’m sorry.” The words were heavy with meaning and they hit Chrysalis with their unexpected weight. “They didn’t want to come back.” His eyes fell on the changeling corpses around his feet and he dropped next to the nearest one, placing his fingers against the neck. The queen pondered at the meaning of the act, but when the creature stepped away and nothing had changed she grew angry. Still, her searing rage was delayed amongst the silence that hung like a corpse from a tree.
“What do you mean they didn’t want to come back?” The queen hissed.
“From the hereafter.” He stated sadly. “I brought back everyone who wanted to stay, but you were the only changeling who… ” he stopped and looked around again. “Who didn’t want to stay there.”
“And why would I want to come back alone?” Her tongue was sharp and bit through the air like a sword, unfiltered anger permeated her words as she spoke and a rising rage flooded into every syllable.
“You don’t remember?” The question was simple and full of mourning, and it gave Chrysalis pause. She thought back as far as she could manage, to the blurry remnants of what had happened before her revival, but came up empty. She could have called him a liar, she could have casted a memory spell, she could have killed him where he stood... She could have...
She remained silent and still, unable to say anything of import. Her gaze fell to the ground and she almost forgot her surroundings, lost in a conflicting sea of depression that had swarmed her mind without warning. She sat there, not wanting to move, for a long time. And yet her immovable demeanor lasted only as long as the silence that held her like a caring parent.
“Do you want to help me bury them?”
“And that’s the story?” Celestia said, her pity-filled eyes tormenting the queen with every blink. Chrysalis looked at her surroundings, the wedding hall, every inch of marble shining with a luminescence all it’s own. A room to be coveted, to be stolen, to be held like a prize gem. And here it was, this beautiful room barren of all the life that had crowded it’s walls and floor only moments ago. Now, it held the court for two rulers.
Her insectoid wings strained against their bindings subconsciously, itching to stretch out in a burst of glorious freedom. She remembered the reaction of the guards when she had showed up, they had feared her, even with her magic bound by the ring on her horn and her wings tight against her body under oppressive steel, they had still been scared by her presence, and that was the only thing about current events that she could take relief from. That she mattered to them, still.
“That’s the story.” Chrysalis answered at last. Her voice pained at the mere admission of that horrible truth. She had told all the important events. There were the facts that the biped had escorted her here, that he had comforted her when she had collapsed in another fit of apathy. Not in words, he had merely sat next to her, silent, she had admired his knowledge in knowing that she didn’t want to talk. And after a day or two she had managed to force her way through her depression and they had continued, without a drop of sarcasm or anger from the man in response.
She had told him about what she had done, about her attack on the ponies, about wanting to take all that they had and enslave them to her will. About her tormenting of Cadence and her corruption of Shining Armor’s heart. And she did this in the hope that he would shun her and leave her be, that he wouldn’t be able to take her to the capital in good conscience. But when the story was done he had merely asked if she was going to do it again. Her answer to the negative seemed to be all that he had cared about, and she wondered why, but decided he wouldn’t answer the question even if she asked it.
He had disappeared one night when they were only half a day’s travel from the capital, leaving a warm stew for her to eat and keep her strength up and a note that said he had important matters he had to address, and an apology for leaving the difficult part to her. It had taken all her willpower to get on that train alone, the trip to the castle had been unbearable comparatively, watching the ponies shake and rattle like mice in a snake’s cage, none daring to confront her even with her handicap. Still, she had made it here, bound in her chains and self-induced magical shakles.
Celestia sighed heavily, this was not an easy position to be in. A known enemy of the empire, surrendering herself with the desire to go disguised among her subjects. Of course she wouldn’t have let her under normal circumstances, and she certainly wouldn’t believe her story, but she had mentioned the strange biped, had mentioned that he said he could bring beings back from the dead, and that was information only she and Twilight were privy to. She hadn’t even told Luna of the creature, and Discord hadn’t seemed to know anything about it, despite his sharp and twisted intellect.
Chrysalis knew that Celestia was in a bad place, and it had been a long shot coming here in the first place. If the situations were reversed Celestia would be behind bars already if not worse, a testament to the changelings that their greatest foe had been toppled. But even the alicorn’s mercy might not be immense enough for this favor. An unbelievable story from the one who had tried to steal her kingdom out from under her, the very same one who had beaten her handily, who had destroyed her student’s entire life, from her brother to her filly sitter.
“Oh come on Celsestia, let her do it. Her face is so sad!” Both beings’ heads snapped to the sound, and watched as Discord walked into the scene from behind a pillar, a place that both knew had been empty only seconds ago. The smile on his face was wide and manic as he walked up to the side of Chrysalis and tapped the binding on her mid-section, which instantly shattered.
“Discord!” Celestia shouted angrily, getting the attention of the amalgamation right before it destroyed the ring on the changeling’s horn. “What is the meaning of this?” Celestia’s eyes held a white hot mixture of anger and annoyance, more the latter than the former. Chrysalis, meanwhile, looked at the draconequus with shock clear on her face. She hadn’t seen Discord in the flesh, though she had heard stories of him from her scouts, and the sudden exposure to such an impossible thing took her by surprise.
“Oh please Celly. After Fluttershy ‘reformed’ me I’ve done nothing but sit in this castle messing up one room over and over again.” Discord said with half lidded eyes, a bubble pipe lightly held in his claw. Of course that wasn’t enough to satisfy his chaotic tendencies, so naturally the bubbles would come out in impossible shapes and colors, filling the room with a rainbow of shapes. “I say you let our pretty queenie here go undercover and I keep an eye on her for you.”
“Why-” Celestia started, getting ready to challenge the logic behind letting two former villains stay with each other but was stopped by the sudden appearance of her sister, who entered via teleportation into the room. During the few fractions of a second before Luna spoke Celestia began to think about how she desperately needed to rework the magic protections on the room.
“Sister!” Luna called almost immediately. “I was informed of the Changeling Queen’s return! I have come to assist you!”
“Luna…” Celestia started in a caring tone, desperately trying to mask her growing levels of annoyance. “I am fine. You needn’t have worried yourself so.”
“I merely…” Luna’s voice fell away as she realized she hadn’t been needed, she seemed like a child then, for a moment, as she acknowledged her failure to herself. “I wanted to be there for you this time.”
Celestia closed her eyes, the look on Luna’s face right at this moment was something she didn’t need. She had to make the right choice, and that look on her sister’s eyes would cloud her judgement like nothing else could. The dark blue alicorn wasn’t just talking about the changeling invasion. She was talking about the end of the world, when she had given up on her. It was something that Celestia couldn’t blame her for. With how horrible things had been, it was only a false belief that had even let herself keep living, she couldn’t expect empty promises to keep her sister content.
They hadn’t worked on that dark day, and they hadn’t worked on the darker day one thousand years prior.
“I assure you Luna, you have no debt to me.”
“Nay, but I have one to myself.” The tone in her voice was wounded pride as she spoke these words. Celestia obeyed the rules of the state to the letter, but Luna obeyed her own code of ethics with a far greater strictness. Both had their flaws, their weak links, their extremes… but in the end, both worked well in the governing of the massive world of Equestria.
Luna and Celestia shared a moment, one of the purest sisterhood and promises. Then, as a pair, they turned their attention to Chrysalis and Discord. The draconequus seemed oblivious to the moment that had just occurred, never having known a family of his own and thus unaware as to what he had witnessed. Chrysalis, however, found herself struck by the pure levels of love that the two had shared. Something she had never done with her family while she had them, and something she would never be able to do with her family at any point in the future.
She turned her head to the ground, in submission and respect as well as in shame. She fought with her emotions and tried to hide it from the pair before her, and managed to succeed for the most part, with only a single tear dripping down her carapace muzzle and onto the ground.
“Chrysalis!” Celestia announced, glancing to Luna for a moment before turning her full attention back to the one of whom she spoke. “I have decided to grant Discord’s suggestion, admitting that you understand you will be under constant surveillance, both of you. Does that sound appropriate, sister?”
Luna paused for a moment and closed her eyes in thought. It wasn’t very long before her pupils revealed themselves from behind their deep magenta curtains. “I can not think of a better plan, dear sister, and I shall support this as much as you need me to.”
“Then it is settled.” Celestia finished. “We will allow you three nights in the castle to come up with your new identities, both of you, and we will want them presented to us before you leave. At which time we will ensure they won’t attract too much unwanted attention. If you fail to do this then the deal is off. Am I understood?”
Discord and Chrysalis nodded together. “Good, then I bid you farewell for now. Find a guard when you are done here and they will be able to tell you the way to your rooms.” Celestia left, Luna only a pace behind and, when it was only to two villains remaining, they both looked at each other and stared emptily. Even Discord hadn’t expected the idea to get passed. They too eventually left the building, and silence hung in the empty air that was left behind.
A biped emerged from his hiding place. His black cloak was gone from his shoulders, and was instead wrapped around a form that stood next to him. He hugged it and smiled. “Told you they would do it Anna. I knew they were good people.”
There was no answer.
“Yea yea, you told me so.” He smiled at the voice only he could here and then led the shuffling thing towards a dark corner of the room, where they both disappeared into the Aether.
Ruby was a ghost. That didn't stop her from having morals though, just made it hard to convince others that she was doing things for their own good. So, given that, she'd decided fear was the easier way to achieve her goal. It had worked so far and she intended to make it work from here on in.
“Don’t go any further.”
Ruby stared at the creature to which she had spoken, a large biped in a black cloak that had stumbled through the Everfree until eventually coming here. She’d been watching him. She’d let go of her invisibility when it was clear he intended to enter the village. She wasn’t going to let another pony go in there as long as she could do something. She owed the world that at least.
It turned to face her, a slight look of surprise on it’s face, no doubt from her sudden appearance. Instead of the questions she thoroughly expected, questions she couldn’t blame anyone for having, she got something else.
“You follow me for the past three hours and only now you’re talking?” He said, confusion holding onto his tone. “Why not tell me to stay away earlier?” Credit to him, despite his questions and apparent doubt, he did stop his trek as per Ruby’s request.
Ruby didn’t know how he knew she’d been following him, but stranger things had happened. No, at the moment the most important thing was to make sure he didn’t go any further in his current direction. That was all she lived for.
Well, figuratively speaking.
“If I’d known you could see me I would’ve, A guardian is much scarier than a random ghost in the Everfree. For all I know I might’ve scared you into the village instead of scaring you away.” Her eyes stayed on the thing… Something was different about it. Aside from the obvious form, there was something else, deeper in, that was different from the other ponies who found themselves lost in the thick unforgiving trees of this forest.
“Oh, there’s a village?” He ignored the rest of her words. “Huh. I suspected it was simply a magical binding. Maybe put in place by a mage to keep an undead army in check. A village though?” He tapped his chin. “That’s new…” Slowly his eyes swiveled from a thoughtful upward gaze and back towards Ruby. “How aware are you that you’re dead by the way? I mean, obviously slightly, but to what extent?”
Her eyes narrowed. He seemed to know more about her position than he was letting on. Not to mention the simple fact that he was completely unshaken by the transparent filly with glowing eyes and a voice that seemed to pass through the bones. Blonde mane and white coat included, she liked to think she was rather scary. He was also exceptionally rude and inconsiderate. “My corpse is in a fire place in the village. I’ve been dead for several years now.”
“So… very aware then? Explains why you can’t leave this forest though...” He tapped his chin again. “Well that leaves you two choices then, since you're obviously a benevolent spirit. I intend to exorcise this town of all it’s nightmarish residents. So,” He held out his hand, pointer finger stretched skyward. “One. I destroy your body and let you roam the world as you please, so long as you remain benevolent. Or,” He raised his second finger into the air. “Two. I free your soul from this mortal plane and let you continue on into the afterlife.”
He waited in silence. Ruby merely stood there in shock. Who did this mortal think he was? He was certainly crazy. She’d been convinced by two separate ‘exorcists’ in her time here, both had boasted exceptional credentials. Neither had gotten so far as the second house in before losing their lives. They were simply too strong and rooted in the world to be dispatched. The only hope was to contain them.
Of course, it hurt her to admit this. They’d been her friends not so long ago… even if they had killed her. Nothing could be done though, She’d learned that as time after time people died to them. Warriors, Spiritualists, Mages. None stood a chance. “I’ll let you think about it then, I need to clear the town first anyway.”
Ruby was shocked from her thoughts, she hadn’t even noticed him turning away. She COULDN’T let him go! The essences of death began to wrap around her hooves. She glared at the thing and raised onto her hind legs. The energy flowed together, drawn to itself, and formed a large swirling orb of transparent white. She leaned back for a moment before tossing it forward with all her strength.
It flew through the air, straight and true, only after launching it did Ruby realize what she had done. She hadn’t meant to. She’d simply lost control… “Watch out!” She called, wanting him to dodge it, something, she didn’t want another death on her conscience, she pleaded internally that he’d move, run, something. Instead, he raised a hand and without breaking step or slowing down, pointed off to the side. The ball immediately darted in the direction he’d indicated, hitting a tree and dissipating in a puff of energy.
He put his hand back into the pocket of his cloak and continued, as if nothing had happened at all. Ruby, still in shock at what she had done and how easily he had detoured it, stayed behind stock still for several moments before suddenly catching traction and dashing after the strange creature, both in fear and anticipation for all the possible directions that events might go from here.
As soon as he entered the town, he looked at the green happy world he seemed to have stumbled into. He frowned and moved his hand in front of his eyes, as if wiping something from a white board. The grass melted away to rotting brown, the sky became overshadowed by black clouds and, most importantly, the forms of the various citizens of the village dissolved into towering black forms of death and nightmares. They didn’t seem aware that their disguises were gone yet.
“Do you know their names?” He asked over his shoulder to Ruby, somehow knowing she was only a few steps behind him. His tone was sad and his eyes looked dead now, a stark contrast to how… full… they had seemed before. Like a man who watched his children die.
“Most of them, why?”
“It’ll make it easier.” He said idly as he began to step into the town. He took a white glove from his pocket and slipped it over his skin. Clenching and unclenching the hand as if to make sure it was still functional. “Make sure to tell me the name of the one I have pinned, it’ll make it more painless for all of us.” As he walked into the town, Ruby noticed a strange insignia detailed into the back of the glove, she couldn’t quite make it out though, it seemed like it was always changing, though that simply could have been the movement of the biped at play.
“Welcome to -” The first one greeted, it’s voice grating and rough. Before it could finish it’s phrase though, it had a hand wrapped tightly around it’s neck. The biped’s sudden momentum took the monster to the ground and trapped it under an impossible weight. The biped merely glanced at Ruby before she remembered her role.
“Grey Hoof.” She blurted hurriedly. He’d been the one to order her murder, If she had a grudge against any of the ‘ponies’ here, it was him. She watched as he tighted his grip on the struggling Grey Hoof, then, he let go. The black creature stayed on the ground, as if out of breath. It’s skin began to turn white and fleck off.
A white light burned through the clouds and hit the monster, causing it to hiss loudly. The strange biped let this light dance over the skin of the creature for a moment. Then, he spoke. “Grey Hoof.” The light died away and the form went still. In a sudden flash of light the body disappeared. “May you find whatever joy there is to be had on the other side.” He stood there, by the empty space for a moment longer, as if in contemplation, but was forced from his thoughts as the village began an all out attack. Two of the creatures charged him, but one was suddenly tackled away by another black form.
The biped seemed slightly distracted by this unexpected help, but only for a moment. He sidestepped the tackle from the dark creature, then spun and grabbed it’s throat with the gloved hand. Shards of white shot through the skin on such a rough impact. He looked expectantly at Ruby, but no words were forth coming. She looked at the biped hopelessly, she couldn’t think who it was. It might’ve been Three Leaf, but she didn’t know for sure, and she didn’t want to see what happened if she were wrong.
Panic shot through Ruby’s mind as she tried to think how to know for sure, but she only came up empty time and time again, she looked helplessly at the one who was trying so hard to fix everything, she wanted to apologize for being so useless, but she didn’t have the opportunity to voice those words.
A sharp crack broke the air and the black creature collapsed the ground, it’s head thoroughly separated from it’s body by a clean white slice. That originated from where it had been gripped by the glove. It disappeared in a flash of white as well, but this time accompanied by a sickening guttural roar of pain. It tore at Ruby and she suddenly felt extremely sick. She felt extremely sick at the prospect of what might’ve just happened. “They’re fine.” Came to words from the biped. “The pain is over.”
She wasn’t sure why, but these words brought great comfort to Ruby.
She watched, slightly uneasy as he repeated the process with each of the creatures, one at a time, the singular black monster helping to hinder group attacks, allowing him to take the situation at his own pace. One by one, each aggresive monster was freed from their torture, and allowed to move on from this cursed place. One by one, until all that was left was the one who had assisted them the whole way.
The biped looked at her, a half smile on his face that only barely covered up the confusion that was clear in his eyes. “Mitta.” Ruby said. She knew it was, it couldn’t be anyone else. The one who most deserved to go in peace.
“Ruby.” Came the sore words that scratched out of the things throat. “I’m so sorry…”
The biped glanced between the two, each one completely silent in the other’s presence. Then, a slow smile spread across his face. “Where’s your corpse Ruby?” His words seemed strange, stranger still was how he was taking the glove from his hand and replacing it in his pocket, even with the corrupted form of Mitta mere feet from him. “Were going to have a happy ending to this.”
The two beings looked at each other, confused, but they lead him to the fireplace all the same. He crawled in first and looked at the corpse. A sad look danced in his eyes as he carefully took the burnt form from the ashes, taking great care in his movements as he pulled it out. He laid it out on the floor, not more than a black skeleton anymore. “What you saw before.” He said idly as he began to arrange the body with great caution. “Was the part of my job I was hired to do.” Eventually, he decided it was acceptable and stepped back. “But this is the part of my job I enjoy doing.”
He clapped his hands together with force, and the world went white.
A feminine voice danced at the edge of Ruby’s hearing, but she couldn’t quite make it out. It was just… barely illegible. She forced herself onto her hooves and felt, for the first time in a long time, the floor underneath her. She was shocked by this, it didn’t make any sense, she looked around for an explanation until her eyes settled on Mitta.
Mitta was completely normal again, the pony she had been before, albeit a year or two older by the looks. Her head had finally cleared up enough to make out the words being spoken in the other room, but she was far too happy by this sudden change to care what was being said. She lunged at Mitta and wrapped her in tight hooves, a smile plastered permanently to her face. The form stirred, but she seemed to be just as out of sorts as Ruby had been.
It was a moment before she realized what was going on.
“Ruby! What… How…” Her words faded away, wrapped in disbelief. She looked at her own hooves and body and remained in complete shock for several impossible moments. Then at long last, returned the hug.
They were interrupted as the door to their room swung open. “Perfect, you’re awake.” The mare who spoke had a professional tone in her words, much at odds with the smile on her face. Her coat was olive green and her mane was black and her eyes seemed a little too dark, but somehow welcoming. “I’ve worked out a deal with the Apples here, they’ve agreed to give you shelter until you can get back on your feet. They can be gruff at times, but I assure you they mean the best and they’ll take care of you for as long as you need.”
“Why did you-”
“The thing that brought you to my door… I owed him.” Her eyes flashed green but neither pony could tell if it was magic or some malevolent lighting that caused it. “I really must be going though, before my husband begins to worry.” She smiled and left, but it was a long time before either mare or filly could bring themselves to do the same, but when they did they did it with force and determination to meet this new day.
It’s not everyday you’re granted a second chance at life after all.
Well, most of the time anyway.
Depends on circumstances and present company I suppose.
The stillness within a secluded cottage was all encompassing. It had been still for many months now, except for an occasional visitor. Inside however, something was finally beginning to stir. A black heap of cloth shuffled softly, followed by a muffled groan. The form beneath it struggled to get to its hooves, desperately trying to find traction in the darkness hiding the ground. Eventually, it managed the task and pulled itself out from beneath its cloak, though it remained tied around the neck. With a shake of the head, the newly awake stallion tried to clear his mind.
As he did so, a sudden realization seemed to spark within the lobes of his brain, born of two questions. First, a minor one, of wondering how long it had been since his collapse, more out of some base instinct than conscious thought. And secondly, how he was alive. With disbelief enshrouding an epiphany, he turned to the nearest window and looked out into the world.
He was greeted with the sight of light and joy, birds chirping, everything a show of happiness. When he saw this, the pony cursed angrily. “The spell should have worked! Why didn’t it work?” He pressed his face against the glass, as if the harmonious world outside was merely a trick of distorted light. The outside, however, didn’t change, and a burning rage grew brighter inside him.
He moved to towards his spell book, to check it and make sure there had been no mistake, but his path was blocked. A biped sat calmly on a chair and gazed back at him, unspeaking. Instead of fear, the stallion had naught but anger to give, and lashed out verbally against the monster in his way, suspecting the truth with what little evidence he’d been given.
“You did this, didn’t you!? Why would you betray me!”
“I didn’t betray you. You summoned me so I could help you with your spell. And you bound me in blood and curse. You know as well as I do that I was bound to your goal from the minute I came here. In fact, I’ve sent a few ponies to the afterlife while you’ve been gone, and unfortunately, that means the binding is up.”
“Ha! You think you can tell me when to end the spell? You’re my servant until I say otherwise. I thought you were working with me of your own volition, so I gave you some slack, but now that I know your true intention, I can easily just stash you away and do the spell again. You taught me how, after all.” The stallion brushed past the biped and continued towards his spell book. “Now, be a good little summon and go to your corner.”
A chill shot through the stallion’s spine as he said those words. When he turned to look at the biped again, he was beginning a slow approach. “No, you don’t seem to get it. A binding of blood lasts until the terms of the contract are fulfilled. Your contract stated only two things. First, that I help you cast your spell, and secondly, that I send ponies to the afterlife. I have done the first, as you vouch for in your magical signature alone, and I have done the second, as those in the afterlife can affirm in the arrival of lost souls who found their way home under my guidance.”
The biped continued his approach, and the stallion looked around fearfully. But when he found what he was looking for, his mind near gave up. The contract in question rested nearby on the table, easily within reach. However, it was also on fire, and the stallion knew that neither he nor the biped had cast the fire spell on it. “You played with fire, you fool. And unfortunately, the fire doesn’t agree with how you’ve been running things.”
Celestia was in the middle of a meeting. She’d deigned to visit with an ecologist from Ponyville in the Canterlot Library to find out how the current balance with the Everfree fared. Or rather, that’s what everyone else thought she was doing. In all honesty, she was meeting with a ‘friend’ to ask how her new life was treating her, and much to Celestia’s surprise, it seemed to be going rather well by all accounts.
Chrysalis informed her that while Discord could get rather out of hand at times, he was, by and large, not making her want to strangle him too much, which Celestia decided was as good an outcome as she could’ve hoped for. She also stated that there was an event, caused by a mutual… associate… of theirs, wherein two ponies had asked her to help them integrate into Ponyville. He had neglected to tell her anything about said ponies, but she had taken his word that they wouldn’t cause trouble on good faith.
Overall, Chrysalis had no major gripes about her current living conditions, seemingly still humbled enough by the prior events to expect anywhere near as much attention as she had had before. Celestia hoped it would remain that way and Chrysalis had truly changed, but she also made a mental reminder to check on her again, perhaps at much less persistent times.
She was in the middle of conversation with Chrysalis when something caught her eye: a movement at the edge of her vision. Ever careful, especially without her sister or guards, Celestia glanced back to Chrysalis once again and moved her hoof over her mouth. She made a cautious approach towards where she had seen the movement, Chrysalis following after silently and carefully with her horn glowing green and ready to shed her disguise and handicap if need be.
When Celestia peeked around a corner, she spotted the cause of the movement and was only slightly surprised and amused at who she saw. She moved closer, and as Chrysalis rounded the corner, she did a similar act and let the magic die from her horn. As they approached, however, the man didn’t break his view from the book, seemingly completely enraptured by it.
Celestia was about to greet him, only to realize she didn’t have a name to call him by. “It’s odd, I think, that despite all you’ve done for us, you haven’t given us a name to call you by,” she said to him, smiling and moving the chairs from a few shelves over to their present location so they could sit. Alicorn and changeling took their seat, but the biped remained standing, empty seat mere inches in front of him.
“I’ll be completely honest with you, Celestia. I don’t like it here.” He turned the pages. “I don’t like it at all.”
“You mean the library?” Chrysalis started. “I suppose it is rather crowded—”
“No. Not the library. The world. All of it. I don’t like it. I want to go home.” He flipped more pages, thumbing through them more often than reading them. “But that two bit necromancer didn’t set up a return path. You know, like any sane person would do. Oh no, that’d be too much. Can you imagine? A way to get rid of summons in case they get troublesome? Who’d ever set one of those up. That’d be silly.”
Chrysalis and Celestia shared a confused glance, not quite sure what he was talking about, then looked back to the man, unsure what to say. He slammed the book shut and tucked it into a burlap sack that was hanging over his shoulder, placing it among friends, it seemed, given the brief glance of paper and covers that the two rulers received.. “Not important, sorry. I’ll find a way home eventually. There’s still more things to take care of, anyway.” He took four necklaces from his pocket and held them out to Celestia, nodding at them once and waiting until she took them from his grasp,
As she took them and moved them closer, she was able to see the details on them more clearly, including the tarnished bronze that composed the thin majority of the necklace as well as the black stone that hung in the middle. She looked to the Necromancer for further instruction, but having to wait until he was done shifting the weight of the books on his back.
“Two for you and your sister, one for Chrysalis, one for Discord,” he said simply.
Celestia looked into the small black stone and felt some kind of ominous force deep within it. She carefully held it as she examined it, and the tingling that ran down her spine did nothing to ease her mind. “What is it?” She asked, caution in her anxious tone.
“I have imbued these stones with the magical essence of necromancy and similar magics, no actual spell, just the magical signature that similar spells would give off. I want you to become as familiar with it as you are with an old friend. Learn to pick it out in a crowd. If-” He stopped himself, shook his head, then continued. “When I leave, I don’t want all my work to go to waste. If you detect something similar to it, I want you to investigate it immediately, understand? It doesn’t take much death magic to cause a lot of problems.”
There was a moment of silence before Celestia nodded to him, understanding his intent. On queue, he began speaking again. “Good. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go do some reading, and you two probably want to finish your meeting. You’ll get these books back in a week, maximum, I promise.” His words seemed hurried and panicked, but Celestia decided she couldn’t quite blame him for that. She watched as he left, and she let him leave without a word.
“He didn’t give us a name,” Chrysalis said, glancing at Celestia and wondering if she had fully grasped what that implied.
Celestia frowned. “No… he didn’t…but I’m glad he’s on our side. Whoever he is.”
There’s a kind of power in names, in a way. But there’s also a handicap. A name will bind your magic in a strange way. It’ll limit you, restrict you. When someone says your name, says it with a kind of joy or happiness, it’s not as strong as it was before. It’s shared. Because when a your name is spoken by those who truly care. They aren’t speaking to your blood and bone, they’re speaking to your soul. That’s why love and friendship can cause such magical feats when done by multiple ponies. But, when no one knows your name, or when no one says it with joy… well... you keep all of it. You keep your magic, and you lose your friends.
