Chapters Chapter One: A Boring Day
A Boring Day
By: Leon Rojo
Edition by: Leon Rojo
It was dark and full of wind. The sun had failed to emerge from behind thunderous rain clouds, and the humid air carried a pestilence with it, unlike the world of Equestria had ever seen. It was autumn, late in the month, when the rain and biting winds were the most common, and outside a regular Equestrian Highschool, nothing was out of the ordinary.
The janitor, and old stallion with a graying beard and mustache, was slowly wiping milk stains out of the cafeteria floor. His uniform was badly torn and unwashed, and his cap had a large hole on its side. His eyes were dull and full of boredom. He looked like a soul ready to keel over out of sheer monotony.
Passing the janitor's pitiful frame, a long series of corridors and rooms made up the complex of the highschool. Fire alarms, tiled floors, hallway lights, and lockers. This was what made up the corridor through which hundreds of students walked daily, before entering one of the rooms. A metal doorknob, a slight twist, and a gentle push was all it took to open one of the many doors in the highschool, but not just any door was opened that day.
Marked with the number fifteen, and allowing entrance to the mathematics classroom, was the door of destiny, for not one, not two, but four Equestrian ponies, that were very well underway to become part of one of the strangest places in the universe's history.
"Alright class, please copy the exercises from the board, and answer them in your notebooks." Spoke an old mare, wearing a pair of even older glasses. "You have ten minutes." The old mare slowly walked to her desk, and sat down facing the classroom.
"Excuse me, Miss, but can we just write down the answer, instead of copying the whole problem?" Asked a slightly overweight colt. Fourth row, back seat. Bubblegum stuck under his desk, and a calculator hidden on his lap.
"No can do, mister." The teacher shook her head, arching an eyebrow. "And I expect to see the steps for each one too."
Her words silenced the young one, making him wish calculators would answer problems step by step.
The class was silent for a long time, as everypony went about their tasks. Some did fairly well, while most of them failed miserably, but even then, there were those few that had not touched graphite to paper for the whole day.
Third row, third seat. A young, unicorn mare. Black mane, olive green eyes, and a bored-dead expression on her face, stared at the blank piece of paper before her. The wooden desk seemed oddly uneven to her eyes, even if she knew it was nothing but an excuse to pass the time while the two hours of math went by. Her eyes flew from the desk to the clock on the wall, wishing it were over. 'As long as the teacher doesn't ask for the papers, I should be fine...' She thanked genetics for her dark-grey fur, as it seemed to melt into the graying walls of her classroom. Like camouflage, she hoped it would be enough to keep her from the spotlight.
Second row, first seat. A burly, young, unicorn colt had his eyes stuck to the paper before him, as his magic wrote down random numbers and formulas down on it. 'It's important to make it look like I'm doing something...' He thought as his magic kept on scribbling down furiously on the sheet. Twos and threes added to become the multiplication of five hundred times twenty four, and divisions between even numbers and two somehow ended up as decimals. He did not care. As long as the teacher turned to look at him and saw a full page, he was happy.
Last row, last seat. Being in the last place of the fifth row closest to the door, and the farthest away from the teacher is quite the blessing. 'The old mare can't even see me. Heh. Oh, Celestia, do I love this seat?' Hoof pumping, a slender, brown, young, unicorn stallion smirked happily. He was on top of the world as far as he knew. Last seat, last row, and a portable video game, one of the few that existed too. Not even a paper on his desk, as the teacher was much too old to keep a tired eye on the last row and its final seat. He simply laid back, and relaxed.
Third row, middle seat. A young, unicorn mare looked at the problems on the board, and sighed. 'Even if I tried to do them, I wouldn't be able to... Why bother, if it's just going to be another disappointment...' She sighed again, and laid her head down. Not caring much whether the teacher saw her or not. Her pale coat and light blue mane matching her mood, as they lacked luster, and looked badly out of color.
The teacher slowly started to doze off in her seat. The cold of the morning failing to keep her awake for long, as her age refused to allow her body the energy it once had. Her students slowly began to lose concentration as the minutes dragged on, and small talk, and idle chatting began to break out throughout the class.
"Psst! Hey, Shady, did you get number four?" Called the young mare that would not be bothered to even try and solve the problems. "I could use the answers." She said with a smile, as Shady Greywood turned her olive green eyes to look at her.
"Sorry, Amber, but I'm not feeling like math today..." She shrugged, looking at Amber with a nonchalant look. "Haven't answered nothing the whole day..."
"I know that feel, sister. I know that feel." Amber looked down and nodded, staring off into space, as if somewhere between her eyes and the floor lay the answer to all her problems. "At least it's Thursday, right?" Her eyes gleamed with slight hope, as a smile began to form at the corners of her lips.
Shady sighed and shook her head, patting Amber on the back. "It's Wednesday, Amber. I told you your calendar was off." Blowing her black mane out of her face, Shady Greywood returned to look blankly at her paper, as a saddened Amber sighed and turned to flirt the answers out of some colt.
'I wish it were over already...' Sighed Greywood for the fourth or fifth time that hour, and looked at the clock. The two hours of math went by slowly. Painfully so, and lethargic for everypony involved. When the bell finally rung, it was like a holy sign, heaven-sent to release them from the bonds of slavery.
Shady Greywood, Amber Goldenplank, a burly colt by the name of I.G. Graham, and a brown, young stallion by the name of Hayshoe Molina, walked down the corridors, stretching and yawning, as they tried to shake off the tiresome feeling of being half-dead from mental exhaustion.
"So, what's up?" Asked Amber, as she cracked her neck, waving it from side to side. "Anything new?"
"Meh." "Not really." "I passed level four on this thing, I guess..." Replied Shady, I.G., and Hayshoe. None of them said anything else, as they sat down on their respective seats in their next classroom, ready for an hour of history, another hour of literature, and then yet another hour of chemistry.
"The day stinks of fun..." Greywood sighed as all four of them sat down at the very back, to share the burden together if nothing else.
The door closed, and the history lesson commenced.
Not far from that very same highschool, on the alleys and dark corners of Canterlot. Where rats and pests writhed and thrived, deep within the filth of a growing city, a lone stallion covered in dirt and waste, walked among shadows. Keeping out of sight.
He looked from side to side as he moved, limping badly from a bleeding wound on his hind leg. The stallion passed pedestrians and carriages, none of whom paid him any mind. He crossed streets and causeways, going over bridges and under gateways, until he reached a section of the city's inner wall.
His tired eyes looked up at the sky, judging the time of the day. He smiled softly, and opened a bag inside his filthy clothing. The bag fell to the floor, spilling its contents.
Incense, candles, and a blood-dripping bag rolled on the ground, under the grim gaze of the stallion. His eyes never wandered after the contents fell. He looked at the spot, and collapsed.
Panting and sweating, the stallion closed his eyes and allowed his soul to escape the confines of his mortal body. His spirit left him, and his physical being perished from blood loss.
From the shadows surrounding the corpse, a figure emerged.
Covered in a dark cloak, and masked from any onlookers by a thick magical camouflage, the creature left the confines of the alley it had been hiding in and approached the dead body.
'Well done, little pony, well done.' He thought as he bent his knees and squatted next to the corpse, stopping to grab the bag and candles the stallion dropped, and place them inside his robes. The being extended a long claw and pressed it against the cheek of the stallion. 'Still warm. Good, this will do finely.'
Kneeling beside the body, the stranger looked sideways, making sure no one was following, or spectating him. Then, he used his claw to make an incision on the stallion's side. Arching a scaly eyebrow as he worked, the reptilian figure smeared a viscous, white substance on the opening, and the blood flow slowed down to a trickle.
His magical camouflage disappeared, as he was now too focused on the surgical procedure to keep muttering the spells needed to keep it up. His claws worked swiftly and efficiently, functioning as scalpels, as he cut through flesh on his way to the heart. He stopped to recognize his position after a few inches of his claw were inside the body, and the tip of his finger grazed the ribcage. Smiling, he pushed forward, until he held the heart in his palm.
"Now, for the hard part." He muttered in a raspy voice, like dry leaves crunching beneath one's feet, and utilized his free arm to pull out a folded piece of paper from his robes. Words in an odd language were scribbled on the blank paper, illegible to anyone other than the one holding it. He put on a pair of spectacles with his tail, and began to mutter the words in a low voice.
Slowly, the words flowed into a halt after the last incantation had been spoken, and the creature removed his glasses, and looked intently at the body. The flesh slowly, but steadily began to rise and fall with the inhaling and exhaling of the body, and soon enough, muscles began to contract, bringing movement to the corpse once more.
'A work of art in every sense...' The reptilian necromancer thought, as he slowly stood from his position and admired his work.
The stallion had a blank look on his eyes, and the wheezing and panting of his breaths was horribly enlarged, but his injuries were gone. The cut on his side had disappeared, leaving behind a horrid scar to mark its passing. The injuries on his legs had closed in the same manner too.
The stallion stood and stared into the eyes of the reptile. The necromancer pressed a claw against his forehead and ran it downwards, making a sharp, vertical cut, followed by three horizontal ones that ran by the middle of the first.
"You are now my property." The reptile announced, smiling down on the body, with his claws tapping his legs rhythmically. "Property of Azcin."
The stallion nodded without so much as a hint of intelligence behind his glazed-over eyes, and followed the necromancer through the streets, hidden by the newly casted spells that kept them out of sight.
They moved through the same paths the stallion had taken, being guided by the memories that the reanimated corpse still retained in his brain. The necromancer and his pet reached the alley from which the stallion had departed, and they waited.
"This is the place? It doesssn't look like much." The reptile scowled at his slip of the tongue, and waited for an answer from the possessed stallion. "Oh, right. You can't talk..."
The speechless minion nodded his head gravely. "I guess we better get this over with then." Muttered the reptile, and his claws rapidly pulled out a green flask full of a transparent liquid. "Drink up, and go bite a few of the locals, yes?"
The stallion nodded once again, and took the flask between his lips. He arched his head backwards and gulped down the contents. Immediately afterwards, the necromancer smiled and vanished with a clap of his claws and a swift incantation, teleporting himself inside the school.
The stallion looked ahead at the wall, without so much as a care in the world. At least, until his bowels started to contort and hurt in a way that brought a sharp pain to his whole body. Spasming and convulsing on the ground, foam started to leave his mouth, and his eyes turned bloodshot. The need to attack became the only important thought inside his limited brain.
In a bright flash of light, the necromancer made his appearance. Inside an old maintenance room full of brooms and mops, the necromancer straightened the creases on his robe and checked his extremities, to make certain nothing was out of the ordinary. With a satisfied nod, he opened the door and undid his spells, leaving himself visible to plain sight.
Out on the street, screams and shouting could be heard plainly and clearly. What had started as one, soon became a dozen. The liquid was swift in its work, and with those affected being overly violent to the point of biting, it spread rapidly from host to victim, facilitating the process.
The reptilian necromancer walked slowly through the corridors full of shouting and screaming students. The agitation partially created from the sight of an alien, but mostly induced by the terrifying sight outside on the streets. It didn't matter. Azcin, the necromancer, had sealed every door shut, and reinforced the windows magically. Nothing would disrupt his mission.
Police forces moved from street to street, using magic and brute force to push back the affected population, while desperately trying to keep the unaffected safe and out of danger. It was rapidly becoming a losing battle, however, as the officers too started to fall victims to the increasing numbers of the infected.
Azcin kicked the principal's door open, and took hold of the microphone.
"All students report to the cafeteria. Emergency and evacuation teams have been arranged to teleport you to safety." Pressing a glowing claw to his throat, the reptile made a perfect emulation of the principal held beneath his foot. "Once inside the cafeteria, please allow unicorn students to the front, so that they may aid the emergency crew if need be. That would be all, thank you."
Smiling, Azcin knelt down and patted the principal's cheek. "Thank you for cooperating," He shrugged his shoulders. "and sorry it had to end like this. Nothing personal."
Walking out of the room, the necromancer made a swift calculation of things. He gazed out the window and looked at the mayhem he had created. The infected were beginning to fall back, as the officers were authorized lethal force, and pegasus teams had started to land on the school's roof.
'Tsk, tsk... The humans and venusians took less.' Shaking his head, Azcin scrawled a symbol on the wall nearest to him, and muttered a swift spell. Soon enough, the infected surrounding the building converged by the main entrance. Azcin muttered a few words, and the doors caved in.
With hungering howls and screeches, the school was broken into.
'This is going to lessen the student count by quite a bit.' The necromancer grimaced, and teleported into the cafeteria.
Gasps and screams broke out in full force, as he appeared by a lonely corner. Azcin looked around and noticed that he was not the cause of the student's fright. The cafeteria doors had been blocked with furniture and other heavy objects, but the makeshift barricade was swiftly collapsing without the necromancer's magic to sustain it. The pegasus teams on the roof had been badly delayed by the infected, and despite making fast progress into the school, they would not reach the survivors in time.
Azcin then aimed a claw at the door, and with a few words, it was sealed completely. The echoing sound of the hooves battering against it could still be loudly heard, but it posed no threat anymore.
The remaining students and teachers shook and trembled, but their breathing seemed to calm slightly after a few minutes of the door being perfectly shut. They still had not noticed the figure behind them, as he slowly took position by the middle of the room.
"The door is sealed. You can let go of it now." The necromancer shouted in a booming voice amplified by his magic. "Help has come."
The ponies turned around the moment they heard his voice, and yelps of fright escaped their lips. Azcin pulled out a piece of chalk from his robes and commenced to draw symbols and words on the floor.
"Enemies of Equestria have planted chemical weapons around every major city in the country. This is happening to every city in the world." He said as he wrote. His hands travelled across the tiles of the cafeteria ground with swiftness, running the chalk down rapidly as more and more symbols appeared. "Your world is done. No survivors."
Collective gasps and frightened looks escaped from the students, while the teachers looked at the stranger in disbelief. One or two of the adults tried to question him, but they found themselves physically unable to speak. They could only watch.
"I am part of a group of mages and wizards. We have gone around your world, rescuing as many young ponies as we could find." His hands stopped, and he dropped the halved chalk into his robes once more. "You are the lucky ones from Canterlot," He said with a smile. "But you have to hurry. The infection is spreading quickly, and I won't be able to hold them off much longer."
'More like it's thinning...' He thought to himself, knowing full well that by that point the army would have stepped in, and his distraction would be gone in minutes. "I need ten unicorns to help me open this portal to a safe haven we have built in Equestria's north. Then we can start rebuilding the nation. You'll be heroes." He said with as honest a smile as he could fake.
The teachers were frozen in place, and not out of free will. The students looked from themselves to their fellow mates, and finally, ten young unicorns stepped forward. Azcin led them to his circle, and instructed them on what to do.
In a matter of seconds, the ten young mares and stallions were aiming their horns at the scrawled symbols on the floor, and the chalk dust was illuminated with green fire. Azcin took a step back, and raised a barrier between the rest of the students and the chosen ten. He then looked at the circle and barked a word charged with magic.
His concentration snapped. The door caved in. The teachers were released, and the infected launched themselves at them.
The chalk exploded fiercely, knocking the ten unicorns unconscious. Then, a portal opened next to the circle of chalk, and Azcin reinforced the barrier between his selected group and the rest. The unlucky earth ponies, pegasus, and unicorns that did not volunteer, swiftly met their ends, as the few infected that still remained alive in Canterlot city had their last meal.
Azcin locked the barrier in place, and turned to check on his new students.
'These will do finely, I suppose...' He thought, as he rapidly modified their memories into altered versions of the real ones. 'All you will remember will be a life of misery before I saved you all. You will give no trouble. You will only be grateful to us.'
Azcin looked at the portal, and one by one he tossed the unicorns into it, severing their final link to their home world.
"Welcome to Nekros Citadel, kids." He muttered as he watched the last one of them fall in. "Welcome, to Necromancer High."
The first of many special operations unicorn soldiers barged into the room, blasting away immobilization spells at the infected, and shooting a lethal magic bolt at Azcin.
The reptile leapt into the portal, and the bolt entered along with him.
Into another realm.
Chapter Two: Nekros Citadel, a First Glance
Nekros Citadel, a First Glance
By: Leon Rojo
Edition by: Leon Rojo
What does it mean to be a necromancer? What is the dark purpose behind long hours of isolated study, research, and condemnation? Is the reward so grand, that all the pains and persecutions become meaningless to the necromancer? Is there a hidden treasure at the end of this, our dark and twisted rainbow? Can we hope for salvation, after the fame and power die out? What is it in death that entrances our souls so strongly? Why can't we let go of that which has already abandoned us? - Lament of a Neophyte Necromancer.
Azcin growled and bared his fangs as he landed on the other side of the portal. His left leg had a dark, smoking piece of charred flesh between the knee and the heel, and he failed to support himself as he touched the ground. He let out a guttural growl and turned around, his eyes shining in the darkness of the room.
The scales on his hands turned dark red, and a crackling fire erupted from them. The flames entered through the portal, and an agonizing scream echoed from the other side. Azcin barked a short spell, and the portal collapsed, severing the passageway between worlds.
The recruiter groaned and laid his head back on the cool, stone floors surrounding him. He closed his eyes and directed the magic from his hands to his leg, running a quick scan of the damage. Azcin grunted and panted heavily as the trickling sensation of magic flooded the burnt scales and skin of his leg.
'Broken scales, second degree burns on the flesh below, possible fracture...' Azcin let out a groan and ran a claw over his scalp. 'It will take weeks for this to heal...'
With several grunts and hisses, Azcin managed to sit himself upright despite the pain. He stopped for a few seconds to catch his breath and looked around. The room was spacious. Enormous dark-stone walls towered over the recruiter, and the ceiling of the chamber was a good hundred and fifty meters away from the floor. Chandeliers and oil lamps adorned the walls, and shed light unto the ten unicorns that lay unconscious around him. Mares and stallions, all of different colors and sizes, but averaging the same age.
Azcin grimaced and planted both palms on the floor. He crawled towards the nearest of the equestrian abductees, and took a hold of her muzzle in his claws. The recruiter frowned and brought the unicorn's mouth to his ear, since the scales and claws made checking for pulse impossible.
Azcin waited completely still for a few seconds, until the sound of the unicorn's exhaling breaths reached his ears. With a sigh of relief, the necromancer moved on to the next one, checking each and one of them for vital signs, running magical scans on them to discover any injuries, and checking their response to physical, auditory, and magical stimuli. When he was finally satisfied with the results, the recruiter crawled towards one of the walls and rested.
A good half hour passed before the first of the unicorns finally woke up. Azcin watched intently, his claws aflame with magic in case anything went wrong. There was still the chance that the memory replacement had not worked, in which case he'd have to dispose of the defective unicorns.
'Come on, kiddo. Don't make me kill you...' Azcin thought, as the newly awoken unicorn rose to his hooves, clumsily trying to steady himself. 'It's too early in life to be killed.'
The stallion shook his head to clear it, and then he gasped. Azcin narrowed his eyes, fiery flame at the ready, and took subtle aim. The unicorn looked around, exploring his surroundings. The necromancer arched an eyebrow, and lowered his aim.
"It will take your eyes a few minutes to adjust." Azcin called out, startling a frightened yelp from the colt. "Don't worry. You're safe now."
"Who's there?!"
"Calm down, kid." The necromancer said, as he tried to get on his feet. "Now, I need you to do a few things for me. Come here."
The young stallion looked at Azcin with wide eyes and an open mouth, and his hooves trembled a little more. "You're that guy that saved us in the- the..." The colt's words stopped as his eyes stared ahead in confusion. Azcin focused his piercing glare on him.
"From where, exactly?"
The unicorn's brow creased into a frown as he tried to remember, but after a few seconds, he simply shook his head.
Azcin sighed. 'Defective.' He raised his aim once more, but stopped. 'Maybe...'
"Kid, where are you from?"
"I'm from..." The unicorn closed his eyes as his mind travelled back in time, gathering the bits and pieces of his memory to form a complete image. "I'm from Canterlot refugee camp, outside the mountain."
'Memory implants working, defect only partial. He'll live' Azcin sighed once more, but with relief. "What's your name?"
"Ion Graham, but everypony calls me I.G." Graham replied, eyeing the necromancer with curiosity. "What's yours?"
"Doesn't matter. From now on, you'll be referring to me as sir, or master. Ask one of your friends later on about me." Azcin waved the question away, and turned to look at the other unicorns while Graham looked on with an offended gaze. "Wake up your friends. We'll have to move soon."
Graham opened his mouth to say something, but closed it the moment he saw the necromancer's wound. Seeing the burn, he opted to simply obey and do as he was told, instead of questioning an injured being further.
One by one, Graham went about waking up his friends, starting by the ones he knew the most.
"Amber. Amber, wake up." The burly unicorn nudged and shook his friend. "C'mon, planks, wake up."
The young mare slowly fluttered her eyelids open, and streams of tears began to flow. "Don't make fun of my last name..." She sniffled and trembled, hugging herself as the fur beneath her eyes became matted and humid with tears. "It's not nice." Her voice broke into a frightened whisper, and Graham felt a pressure build inside his chest.
"Amber..."
"I'm scared."
Graham held the now openly weeping mare in his forelegs, consoling her as best as he could. She hugged back fiercely, burying her face on his neck.
Azcin watched from afar, trying to force a smile from crossing his features. 'In all my years... These equestrians will make for an interesting bunch, indeed.'
One by one, Graham and Amber woke the rest of the unicorns up. Shady and Hayshoe being the first, and the calmest there were. Sobbing and crying filled the room for many minutes. Both mares and stallions doing their fair share.
The necromancer simply contented himself to be a silent spectator, quietly measuring and assessing each and every one of the newcomers. He ran his eyes from one to the next, judging them.
"Graham, Amber, please come here." Azcin said after the crying had been quelled.
All ten unicorns' heads turned instantly as the necromancer's voice erupted from the darkness of the wall. Ten pairs of eyes were fixed on Azcin, and yet none of them were surprised to see him. To Graham's surprise, Amber smiled as she obeyed without hesitation. He followed soon after, eyeing the necromancer suspiciously.
"Help me up." The injured reptile said, motioning with a hand. Both unicorns concentrated their magic on Azcin's arms, and slowly, but surely, they lifted him up so that his back was pressed against the wall, allowing him to stand. "Thank you."
"I need everyone's attention, and I need it now." The necromancer continued, addressing the entire group. "We escaped the camp back there, and managed to get out alive, so congratulations on that." Azcin smiled, eliciting a couple of similar, if shaky, gestures from the unicorns, and a puzzled look from Graham. "Now, I was injured during the escape, however, we are safe now, so don't worry about me." Azcin felt himself slipping, and waved a glowing hand to stabilize himself magically. "Now, I need to ask one of you to please explain what happened to Graham, and then we are moving out."
A choir of questions and anxious comments erupted from the unicorns at Azcin's words, but he simply waved them all away and said everything would be explained later on. With that vague answer, the group left him alone and began to chat among each other, with sobbing and crying reappearing every now and then, with the odd laugh or smile making their entrances as well.
Graham and Amber gently lowered Azcis to the floor, and the necromancer nodded his thanks before closing his eyes to rest. Amber smiled at Graham, and sat down a few meters away from Azcis. The confused stallion walked over to her and sat down as well, with Shady Greywood and Hayshoe Molina approaching them a few moments later.
All four of them sat down in silence for minutes, taking in the past events as a reality was a hard thing to do, but Graham broke the question after the silence and ignorance became unbearable.
"So, can anypony explain to me what's going on?" He asked, looking from one of his friends to the other. "I can't remember anything about escaping anywhere."
Shady tilted her head to the side, while Amber and Hayshoe gave Graham an odd look.
"You really don't remember? It happened just a little time ago." Shady said, brushing a few strands of her mane away from her face.
"I only remember seeing that guy," Graham pointed a hoof at the sleeping necromancer. "at some point, but I don't remember where or when. I only remember something about running away from the zombies..."
"Well, you got that part right, at least." Amber muttered as she toyed around with a strand of her mane. "Canterlot refugee camp was full of those things when he appeared."
Hayshoe nodded. "The guy came out of nowhere and started blasting the freaks away like it was nothing. He even closed the hole in the wall. Sucks it didn't help much..." Molina shuddered as his eyes stared deep into space, remembering.
"Wait, wait, wait. So the camp got attacked? Where were the soldiers and stuff? That place was full of the guys!" Graham frowned and moved closer to his friends. "They couldn't just disappear."
Molina scowled, and Amber kept silent, while Shady looked down at her hooves.
"They did. There was no darned soldiers on the walls when the zombies busted in."
"The adults tried to... they- they tried..."
"If he hadn't appeared when he did, we'd be dead."
Graham looked at Hayshoe, Amber, and Shady with a horrified look on his pale face. "What happened."
"We locked ourselves in a storage room."
"The sounds were horrible... There were screams and roars and..."
"Then the guy popped out of nowhere, bro. He just appeared out in the middle of the yard and started to blast the zombies away like it was nothing."
Graham kept silent throughout the explanation. None of it seemed familiar to him, and yet, it was all that he had to make sense of his situation. "How did we escape? We aren't in the camp right now, so how did we leave?"
"Well, he couldn't stop them for long. He closed the hole in the wall, though, and then he took us to the storage room and told us to get in a circle to open the portal. Then there was an explosion and, here we are." Shady Greywood shrugged, looking at Graham.
Amber then began crying freshly. She wept with abandon, making every soul surrounding her face in her direction. "Mom and dad!" Her wails only increased, as those around her gasped and screamed in realization, and the weeping grew fresh once again, tenfold. Azcin cracked an eyelid open as the sobs woke him. He looked at the fresh tears being shed, and tried to stand.
"Gods damn-" He hissed, as his leg shot a glaring pain up his body. 'Well, they can have another minute...' The necromancer laid back down, and waited for the sounds to die around him.
It was a good thirty minutes before the group had quieted down enough for Azcin to address them, and tell them to move out. He organized a pairing system and wove a series of spells around his leg, to numb the pain and fortify it. Then, they moved out.
Into the depths of the citadel.
Hayshoe Molina walked alongside Shady Greywood through a dark hallway. Both unicorns kept their senses at full alert, as the echoing sounds of growling, footsteps, and shouts resounded throughout the area, emanating from the very walls, ceiling, and floor. Molina was scared. Terrified even, but he would not show it. He kept his face serious and stoic as he could, keeping a brave front for the ones in the group that were horrified of even taking a step further into the darkness.
Azcin limped at the front of the group, grunting and hissing every time his injured leg was left to support his weight. The necromancer kept a hand pressed to the wall for support at all times, but it often wasn't enough. He kept straining and pushing himself forward despite the hurt, and it soon paid its toll on his body.
With a frustrated groan, Azcin collapsed to the floor, managing to shield himself with his arms. "Damn it..." He muttered as he struggled to his knees. He started to move himself up once more, when an orange and violet glow took hold of his arms. Gently, two unicorn mares behind him helped him to his feet. He stared into their eyes, bewildered at the smiles they sported.
"Get moving." He whispered, turning his back on them. "It's still a while till we reach the big room."
"What's the 'big room'?" Asked one of the mares behind him, her soft voice contrasting with the black walls surrounding them, and the lit oil lamps hanging from the sides of the corridor. Azcin simply walked on, stopping at times to tap on the walls around him. "The big room is where we're headed. Think a conference room, but bigger." He replied as he knocked loudly on one of the walls. An equally sonorous reply was given to him from the other side, and Azcin smiled.
"Equestrians here!" The reptilian necromancer hollered into the wall, and the ponies behind him turned to look at each other questioningly.
But they all stood still as the reply came. A loud, booming voice that echoed through the entire hallway and made ears tremble with its powerful resonance. That was the reply.
"Myrnians, you self-centered son of a useless ternian! Myrnians here!" The voice roared back, accompanied by the thunderous cheering of dozens of similar voices, and what sounded like hooves being stomped for a frightening effect. The unicorns cowered behind Azcin, while the necromancer chuckled.
"Did the raid go well?" Azcin shouted, resting himself against the wall.
"Well ? Myrnians, how did the damned raid go?!"
The cheering escalated ferociously, reaching a crescendo of enormous proportions, as the stomping and shouting grew louder and stronger.
"Damn right it went well! How about your evacuation mission ?" The voice shouted back, sneering at the mention of an evacuation. The voices that had cheered before erupted into mocking laughter, with many things being spoken in a strange language none of the unicorns could understand.
"We managed." Azcin replied, smiling throughout the exchange. "How's your arm, Axtraz?"
"Fell off after the fight at Huzzuba's. The new one's grown out though."
"Good." Azcin knocked on the wall once more. "Equestrians out."
"Myrnians out as well!"
The hallway grew quiet, as if the volume on a radio had suddenly been lowered, to the point where not a sound could be heard from the other hallway. The unicorns swallowed hard and turned to look at Azcin.
The necromancer gave a cold smile, with a glint of amusement in his eyes.
"Your new neighbors." He chuckled as he kept on limping down the corridor, with the unicorns following close behind, their ears lowered and their step shaken.
The group walked through many more corridors and hallways, never meeting any others as they went. The knocks and calls from the walls increased, however, and soon enough the ponies had heard all manners of names and species. Azcin hailed and greeted as many as they came, and stopped to chat with a few of them. In the end, they finally reached a massive pair of wooden doors at the end of the hallway.
"Behave yourselves now, kiddos. You are the first equestrians to ever enter these doors, and you better make a good first impression, otherwise we could get into some pretty deep trouble." Azcin said as he turned to look at the unicorns. "Don't talk to anyone, don't look at anyone, and don't touch anything. Simple, aye?"
The mares and stallions barely had time to nod before Azcin's hands were set aflame, with flickering fire surrounding them. He then aimed them at the doors, and they opened fully.
Jaws dropped. Gasps and whispers left the unicorns, as the massive size of the room revealed the origin for its name. The Big Room was no exaggeration, and it was probably not making the place justice either. The ceiling stood above them at an impressive distance, with many pillars rising up into the heights to keep it in its place. The depth and length of the place was astounding, and many oil lamps were needed to keep it lit. Red carpeting covered the floor, and a long path that crossed to the center of the room was guarded by the strangest sight yet beheld by mare or stallion.
In two lines, guarding the sides of a pathway to a large arena-like structure by the center of the room, stood armed guards on two legs, much like Azcin, though they had no tails. These guards were covered from head to foot in dark uniforms, with black visors on their heads. In their hands they held weapons of a sort never seen by equestrians before. They had their hair at various lengths. Some kept it long, while others had it short. None of them looked stoic like the Royal Guards the ponies were used to. These guards had lax stances, and most of them were dirty and their uniforms were torn.
As the group approached the soldiers, one of them moved up to Azcin, holding his hand up and gesturing for the necromancer to stop. The soldier had his weapon lowered, but at the ready. Azcin and the guard exchanged a few words in a language unknown to the ponies, and when the soldier gestured to Azcin's leg, and the necromancer nodded with a smile, the talk seemed to end. The soldier pressed a hand to a device on his ear and spoke some more, then nodded at Azcin and returned to his post.
The necromancer sighed and walked back to the unicorns. "Follow the path to the auditory, and then ask around for Nyira. Tell her Azcin sent you, and she'll get you seated." The necromancer groaned as his spells began to wear off, making the pain on his leg return with doubled strength. "Get going now. Sergeant Mathews will see you to the entrance of the auditory."
Shady Greywood nodded anxiously. Uncertainty plastered on her face, as her eyes looked at the armed guards, and sergeant Mathews. "Where are you going?" She asked, looking at the necromancer with a concerned tone in her voice.
"To the infirmary." Azcin replied, as several more armed guards entered the scene, carrying a stretcher. As Shady looked at the guards, she noticed that the ones carrying the stretcher had black crosses tattooed on their hands, while the armed ones had a sword. "Take care now, kiddos. I'll be back with you shortly." Azcin smiled, then frowned. "Unless I lose the leg..."
Several unicorns waved goodbye as the necromancer was carried away, which made the soldiers glance at each other, some of them shrugging. Mathews motioned with a hand, and his men fell silent.
"Sergeant Mathews of the Sword Division, at your service." The man saluted. "If you'll follow me, please."
The ponies nodded sheepishly and followed the soldier down the pathway. It was completely deserted, with the exception of the guards standing around them. They walked on until finally reaching the entrance to the strange auditorium. With Mathews leading them, they passed through the guarded gates without being bothered and entered.
There is a moment in everyone's lives. That one moment when you realize that the center of the universe is not yourself, and that the value of a single life is much, much less than imagined. This never held more true for the ten ponies as they entered the auditorium.
Roars. Shouts. Screams, and yelling erupted from every corner of the place, as a mass of strange limbs, faces, and frames jumped up and down in their seats.
"Hayshoe, I'm scared..." Amber muttered as her pupils shrunk to a minimal size, and her hooves froze in place. Her gaze wandered, though it simply wanted to stop seeing. Her ears listened despite the ardent protests of her mind. Her very being shook and felt the tremors of terror and fright, as fangs, claws, and wings all became visible from down to the last inch and foot of the auditorium. Every unicorn gazed into the bright dozens of eyes of the ternians. They looked at the scales and fangs of the farians. They watched as a pair of human males shoved a venusian against a wall, and pressed a piece of glass to one of his throats, only to be shot by more armed guards standing along the steps of the auditorium. The humans screamed and convulsed as electric charges went through their bodies, before collapsing. The rest of the creatures around them moved in faster than the guards could, and soon enough, the humans lay naked and unconscious on the floor, robbed of all their belongings, while the venusian made his escape.
With a shrill scream of terror, Amber Goldenplank passed out in Hayshoe Molina's trembling hooves, as hundreds of eyes settled on their little group.
Small Talk in the Library
These do not follow the story chronologically, and are simple scenes that offer some insight on the characters and the setting. The chapters marked as 'Chapter #:' are the ones relevant chronologically.
Don't forget to comment and leave a like if you enjoy the story, it really helps a lot!
In the darkness of an old, dust-filled library, a shadow bent over a wooden desk. Her tired eyes hid behind broken spectacles, as her gaze scanned page after page of secrets and demonic incantations. Her hands, bony and arthritic to the point where they trembled fiercely with every movement, and shook with every turn of yet another ancient page, wandered clumsily through papers and scrolls. Her graying hair hung from her head like strands of web, covering her face and hiding a long, vertical scar that ran down her forehead, crossed thrice by the middle with horizontal cuts.
She fumbled meekly with several books, trying to find the correct one. Her arms moved like rusted machines, barely able of locomotion, but still capable, even if barely, of carrying. The shadow, a human female, took hold of a large book, and carried it with her, as her feet moved her broken frame from the desk and through long corridors flanked by shelves overflowing with scrolls, books, boxes, and papers.
She placed one foot in front of the other like it was painful, but she managed to exit the maze and approach an open space, filled with a small table, chairs, and a leather couch. She walked toward the couch, and lowered her arms to offer the book to the figure sprawled on it.
"Dismissed." Spoke the figure, with a dry voice like dead leaves crunching under ones foot. A scaly hand that ended in claws reached out and took the book, retracting it from the woman's hold, and placing it on the armrest of the couch. The woman bowed and wandered off, mindlessly moving through the maze, until a new order was given to her.
Azcis the Recruiter, laid on his back, resting his leg on the wooden table sitting in the middle of the room. From the knee to the heel, bandages covered his left leg, with only the foot being free of the white wrappings stained in blood. The reptilian necromancer sighed and let out a grunt as he adjusted himself to a sitting position, trying his best not to move his leg too much.
"Three more weeks." He muttered under his breath, and his tail reached out to grab a hold of the book sitting on the armrest. "I sometimes wonder if it was worth it."
From behind him, leaning against one of the shelves, a second figure made his appearance.
"You brought it onto yourself, Azcin." The newcomer said, an air of amusement surrounding his words. "Ponies. I still doubt your sanity over such a thing."
Azcin opened the book, eyeing through the pages rapidly. "Everyone does. That is no news to me." He settled his sight on a particular page after a while, and he softly commenced to read to himself, stopping only after a few minutes to speak with his interlocutor. "Why would you care anyway? You have your own sector and students, do you not?"
"The myrians and grarians are fine, I suppose, but I never thought I'd live to see the day when Azcin, the great educator of humans, venusians, and farians would also take ponies under his wing." Said the figure, as he slowly emerged from the shadows, smiling. "It just doesn't make much sense to me, considering how savage and competitive your other charges are. How do you expect the tiny horses to survive?"
Azcin turned around to face his companion. He was a male. Tall and strong, with four appendices ending in claws upon which he walked. His muscular arms were crossed as he smiled down at Azcin. His body was covered in a black carapace with dark blue stripes running horizontally from his back. His eyes were a deep, dark navy blue, and long fangs adorned his mouth.
Azcin cocked his head to the side, eyeing him carefully. "New shell, Axtraz? What happened to the red and black one from before?"
Axtraz chuckled. "Answer the question."
"I don't expect them to merely survive." Azcin said, as he nodded. "I expect them to show these kids something they forgot long ago." He continued with a pensive look, gazing off into space. Axtraz tilted his head sideways, and tapped his fingers against his arm.
"I guess it's your business then." Axtraz muttered and left the room, glancing backwards briefly. "Don't get too involved in helping those ponies if it means throwing your life away though. It isn't worth it.."
Azcin heard as Axtraz walked out of the library and closed the door. The recruiter then laid his head back, and went to sleep.
Headmaster's Letter to Recruiter Azcin
Dear Recruiter, Azcin.
I hope this day finds you well and safe inside our beloved citadel, as it has found me. Truly, your efforts and actions towards the improvement of our home have not gone unnoticed, as I have recently been informed that your most recent aggregation of students has just been brought into the citadel grounds.
Equestrian unicorns. Now there's an intricate choice of species to bring into the most demanding and powerful institution of magical research on the face of this universe, Azcin, and I must ask myself if I think you have made the correct choice.
However, due to the recent expulsion of over four hundred species from the citadel, I simply cannot be picky, now can I? It would seem like anything other than the original five thousand species that conform the pillars of our organization simply do not make the cut, and that is saying something, considering how much the requisites have dropped since the first time you and I came to serve in the citadel. So many rules have been revoked, and not enough examples are made out of students anymore. None of our early ones needed it either, but it was always resourceful to have a scapegoat laying around, even if the early ones were perfect.
Indeed, it's been a while since we have found a species as resourceful as the humans proved to be, or as brutal and savage as the venusians. Not to mention the grarian and ternian students that almost managed to commence a war between each other inside the citadel. Those were the good days, really. When students understood 'survival of the fittest' for what it was, and not for what it represented. Indeed, whatever happened to the armed guards and war beasts we used to break crowds apart? I know you miss those days, and I won't lie, I do too.
Now, however, back to the matter at hand. These Equestrians you have brought. I have neither the time nor patience to waste on them, and the other wizards, and mages have already expressed their dislike for the idea of having ponies inside our facilities. Luckily for you, none of them have the antiquity, loyalty, and ferocity with which you have served me, and thus, I am inclined to allow you this one little whim.
Do keep in mind, though, that if they do not meet the standard requirements expected of every other species, I will have them cast out from the citadel, to fend for themselves on the deserted plains of this our dark and inhospitable planet.
Once again, have a good day, Recruiter Azcin.
Yours truly, Headmaster Borz.
