Do the dead dream? (prologue)
I've had this dream for a while, where I am going up to the palace in Canterlot to meet the Princesses. It is a nice evening out and I am standing in line for evening court on Saturday, the only time they both share the throne room. Anyway, there I am outside, wearing a reapers robe and carrying a scythe. Of course the thing doesn't have an edge or a usable point, the guards there are totally anal about things like that. But there I am, waiting in line for what feels like a few hours, which is only about half an hour anyway, and I pull out a scroll filled with like over a thousand names of all kinds on it. Now most of these names are scratched out, seeing as how I'm supposed to be the reaper, but a few on the bottom half are not scratched out yet. I turn around and ask the pony behind me if he's seen anyone by the next name today, try to scare him by letting him see my face... or what's left of it.
You see, I'm what you would call a Necromancers subject. Basically I'm supposed to be a shambling corpse. But I'm much more than that due to how I was killed. Now, while I was alive I was considered a very, VERY good looking griffin. I was of the northern variety as well, half lynx and half raven. My eyes have been replaced by balefire orbs that allowed me to see everything as it were. No shadows and no color. Till I eat someone that is. When I eat another living, sentient creature, I gain what I call a half life, which allows me to use the deadliest thing I have at my disposal... My silent blood fire. Thankfully I have a heart for the occasion. For some reason, the heart triggers the transformation to semi alive.
I had the heart in a small case on my person, a small wooden box about five inches long and three deep and four wide, perfect for carrying a heart. The case hung from a chain that was attached to my rib cage, allowing me to quickly grab it and consume the heart. Now I know what your thinking, "Oh, gross! You eat Ponies hearts?! That's like disgusting!", That is bullshit. What I do is absorb the tissue that it is comprised of. I just call it consuming because I don't have a better way to explain how I do so. Plus, it's not just pony hearts, I can consume just about any other type of heart as long as the creature was sentient. now you think that I go around just murdering people all willy-nilly. That is also wrong, I only consume the hearts of those who would kill or harm others, it doesn't matter what you are, if you harm or kill another being, I will have free reign to kill you and eat your heart. As permitted by my master, Bless her cute little cheeks.
Back to the dream, I would show the pony behind me my face (or lack thereof) to him and hopefully spook him. Then I would turn back around and continue to wait in line. As I enter the floor, I would ask the Princesses for a private session, or for the throne room to be cleared of all other ponies. As the last one of them would be cleared by the guards, I would take off my robes and Celestia would barely cover her anger towards me, Luna would just sit there perplexed as to why such a creature would be here. Luna then asks Celestia why I hadn't been destroyed by now, Obviously not pleased with her sisters lack of action towards me. Clesetia would try to deflect the question as always, then I would tell Luna as to why I had not been destroyed like the rest of all Necromancers subjects, forcing Celestia to admit that she had allowed me to live.
As they begin to argue, the throne room doors would be thrown open and Twilight Sparkle would come through with the rest of the elements of harmony. They would see me and assume a position of offense towards me, thinking that I was here over throw Equestia. I would raise the scythe and slam the hard steel into the marble floor, rendering it useless and drawing all the attention to me. As they all focus on me I sadly smile and tell them why I was there. "Please let me have her back..." I would nearly whisper the request, forcing them to focus on what I was saying in order to hear what I had said.
All but Celestia would be confused as to who I was talking about, the fear on her face evidence enough to shift all focus to her this time. She would sputter, try to tell me why I couldn't ever be allowed around her ever again. The others would still be trying to figure out who I was taking about, pestering Celestia and I about who I was talking about. "She was a sweet little filly, a poor blind and homeless pegasus who just wanted to be left alone so no one would hurt her again, always praying to Celestia before bed and trying to be a good little filly. And she was the last known Necromancer ever confirmed to be alive."
Luna would scoff at me, thinking that I was lying about the condition of my Masters person. Saying that no little filly would ever be able to raise such an abomination as I. Twilight would consider the implications of the last know practitioner of such arts, weather of not it was worth it to keep such a dangerous pony alive. Just to discern the secrets she held in her mind. The rest of the mares would be looking at Celestia and wondering weather or not she would do what ever I was talking about to her. Finally, Celestia would recover from the attention and accusation leveled at her. She would deny me the location of her imprisonment, saying that I would become a monster if she were ever to come back from where she had put her.
Then she would order the guards to restrain me and prepare the special holding cell meant for dangerous magical monstrosities and mancers. I would pull out the wooden box, causing her to gasp and yell for them to evacuate the building, as I pull out the still beating heat of the murderer that I had been saving for the occasion if she hadn't allowed me to see her one last time. As I absorb the heart into myself, I pull out a match booklet that I had and cut myself with a claw. "You have one last chance here Celestia, Tell me where she is and everyone here gets to live, if not... well, you know what happened to the Badlands."
She would hesitate for a second, then recompose herself, anger flushing her face in righteous fury. As she denies me her one last time, I light the match and put the open flame to my wound, all the telekinetic magic absorbing into my bones, hardly even a nuisance to me since I was altered in mind of magic wielding opponents. As the flame touches my blood, I burst into flames and blood begins to pour from cuts forming all along my body. The flames that pour out are black and white, no noise coming from them as they begin to consume all around me as I sink into the haze of the magic that grips me.
But none of that happened. I know that none of that happened because I was trapped that day. They had bound me with iron and then had begun to kill me again, smashing and slashing me to pieces. I have one window of weakness to those who know of it, the moments between when I absorb the heart and when I ignite my blood. I am mortal in those moments, though few ever live long enough to put the pieces together. Since I am a subject to my master Necromancer, every time that I kill it fuels me. But due to the nature of my peculiar ability, forced upon me by a Sangromancer, I am granted momentary mortality in order to create the Silent Fire. Now since I had been bested, thoroughly bested by her and her guards that had prepared the trap meant to kill creatures such as I, I was nearly destroyed. All of my bones except for my skull had been crushed and scattered to the winds, now I sit in an urn in the greatest lock box created to keep out all those who would try to get in and steel one of the many artifacts that preside with me. now all I can do is dream that dream and imagine what could have been.
Thankfully, I am older than I seem. I had gone into the Deep Sleep before and am able to cope with such things as inability to do anything but dream. I had died before, twice. The first is always hardest, but afterwards, every time I die... It hurts a little less. I was ready to destroy an entire City in order to find her, waiting is just another thing I had to deal with. I had only experienced about Nine hundred years of waiting before, that had been a hell I would never wish upon another. The darkness is all consuming if you are not meant for it, it eats you slowly, like a rat that bites you till you die. It hurts to die like that, it eats your very soul to die like that.
I had felt a disturbance in the magic, a great disturbance that would leave a great scar on the planet for ages. Of course, I hadn't know when it had happened, I just knew that it had happened. So I waited. And waited. And waited. the mental games and exercises that I played with grew boring and tiresome, time grew meaningless to me at this point. I had supposed that I had been tucked away for quite some time now. The mental landscapes I had built were massive and had grown boring like the games.
I heard scrapes and pings, something that I had never expected to hear, but quickly faded away. Again, the sound began again, this time louder and closer. It sounded like someone was mining out there. Again, it faded away. After some more time, I heard the sound of metal being melted, followed too quickly by the groan and slamming of a slab of steel. The tentative clip of hooves on the floor surprised me, I had never expected to ever hear that sound ever again.
"Wow... Chef will never believe what I found..." The pony sounded like he had gargled glass and followed it with a chaser of acid. "I FOUND THE CANTERLOT GRAND ARTIFACT VAULT!" The proclamation was followed by a series of whoops and hollers, accompanied by the excited clop of hooves running around. Of course this would be a reason for celebrating if I had a means for doings so. "I need to tell Rams, He needs to hear this! I'm coming Ramsheep!"
His voice faded down whatever tunnel he had dig, leaving me to dream once more.