Souls Apart: The Apprentice

Chapters

Chapter 1: New situation, old problems
Chapter 2: The Pale Queen
Chapter 3: The white cat
Chapter 4: No refunds
Chapter 5: White
Chapter 6: Mothers and children
Chapter 7: Understanding rocks
Chapter 8: Crocker
Chapter 10: New Standards

Chapter 1: New situation, old problems

"Ah, yeah!" Rainbow Dash stretched her wings as she viewed the ruins of Canterlot castle from above. Two weeks after the incident with Discord, most of the rubble had been cleared away by the imps and the ponies, but many heavily-damaged towers and walls were still scattered over the whole site, turning the old castle site into a maze of broken stone and rubble... Or as in Rainbow Dash's case, a playground for new, awesome stunts. "This is going to be off-the-scale awesome!"

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Twilight called up to her, "That tower could fall any minute!"

"Oh relax, Twilight! It's not like I got these wings for no reason!" Rainbow Dash started to repeat her planned course, "Alright, first it's a head dive off the tower. Then a seven-hundred-twenty barrel roll through those columns followed by a corkscrew up and around the old main hall..."

"I think you forgot the double backflip through the great observatory..."

"Oh! Right, right! Almost forgot! And then..." Rainbow Dash stopped, suddenly becoming aware that she was no longer alone on top of the crumbling tower. When she turned her head, she was found herself face to face with a skull.

"Hi." Death greeted her with a never-stopping smile.

"Woah!" Rainbow Dash instinctively jumped up and off the tower, almost falling out off the air in the progress. It took her a moment too catch herself, but then she quickly landed on the ground next to Twilight.

"What happened?" Twilight asked with curiosity, "I though you were about to..."

Rainbow Dash ignored her and shook an angry hoof up at the tower, "What is wrong with you?! I almost had a heart attack!"

"What a shame that would have been." Death suddenly stood before them, "And a tad too early as well..."

"Aergad!" Twilight gave him a nervous smile, "How nice to see you again! We were a bit worried when we didn't see you for two weeks..."

"I had a lot of work." he chuckled with a hollow voice, "You know... some people are just dying to see me."

"I see..." Twilight cringed before giving Rainbow Dash a quick glance, "You're not here for work, are you?"

Next to her, Rainbow Dash suddenly became very pale as she picked up on the idea, "Work?! Am I going to die?!" she started to panic, "Oh, no! That is totally too early! I still have loads of awesome stuff to do!"

Aergad shook his head, "Don't be silly, I'm not here to pick up anyone..." he pointed up the tower, "Go on, I want to see your stunt."

Rainbow Dash took a step backward, "I don't know... I think I'm getting a cramp..."

"Are you going to chicken out?"

"What?! Rainbow Dash isn't afraid of anything!" she gave him a glare... a glare that vanished immediately as a scythe suddenly popped into existence in one of his hands.

"Not now!" he whispered to the grim weapon, "She hasn't even started yet! You're going to ruin everything!" there was a short pause as a voice only he could hear answered him, "What? Of course I'm sure she's on the list!" an open scroll of parchment appeared in his other hand and he held the scythe close to it, "See?! Rainbow Dash..." he started to mumble, "Broken ribs... internal bleeding... crushed under falling... heh, that's nasty."

He pulled his head back up and both the scythe and the scroll vanished again as he pointed back to Rainbow Dash and then at the tower with an impatient gesture, "Well come on, lets get going! I don't have all day!"

Both Rainbow Dash and Twilight were staring at him with open mouths at this point.

"What?"

"I just remembered I have cloud patrol today!" with that, Rainbow Dash shot off the ground and into the air, quickly becoming a small dot as she fled.

Death watched her leave with his expressionless face, only the two small stars set in his eyes twinkling a bit brighter, "Clever girl."

"Was she really going to..." Twilight swallowed hard, "I mean she wasn't really going to get hurt, was she?"

Death didn't reply, but only continued to stare after Rainbow Dash in silence.

"Thank you."

"For what?" he chuckled, "I didn't actually do anything."

"Still..." Twilight frowned and carefully asked, "Aren't you going to get into trouble if you change things?"

"Why?" he turned to her and the list reappeared in his hand, "Do you want her to die? I'm sure I could change the entry from being smashed by a falling tower to having a heart attack while flying..."

"No! Of course not!" Twilight frantically waved her hooves, "Forget I said that!"

The list disappeared again, "Shame..." he paused, "Just out of curiosity, are you going to do any dangerous experiments soon? You know, I could arrange something to..."

Before Aergad could finish his sentence, he felt a tug on his being... and disappeared.

"What in the world?" he looked around himself in bewilderment as he found himself in another location, an invisible frown appearing on his face as he spotted two familiar faces, "You have got to be kidding me..."

"It worked!" Luna clapped her hooves together in joy, "We really summoned him!"

"Are you serious?!" he gave Celestia an angry look, "Since when can you summon me?!"

"You are Death, are you not?" Celestia replied with the tiniest of smiles, "Or have you forgotten that we are quite capable of magic as well?"

Aergad spotted the circles drawn on the floor around him, "Damn it, Celestia! This is an invasion of my privacy!"

"Be that as it may..." Celestia sighed, "But there are still pressing matters that we need to discuss."

"Like what? I have a tight schedule, you know!"

"There is the matter of Blackshadow Reach." Luna spoke up, "How will the griffons react once they find out you are no longer a living being?"

"I'm Death, Luna. What are they going to do about it? Even they should be smart enough to realize it's not a good idea to get on my bad side." he huffed, "Was that it? I have to give lessons in a few minutes so..."

"And what will the griffon princess say when she finds that her husband is a skeleton?" Luna continued.

"That's an easy one..." he made a small motion with his hand and slowly, the image of Death started to fade and reshape itself until the former Aergad stood before them. The only thing still out of place being the glowing stars in his eyes, even his voice was back to normal, "See? Good as new. She won't notice a thing."

"If you can do that, then why do you insist on running around as an undead?"

He snapped his fingers and stopped the illusion, "I like the way my fingers move when I wiggle them." Aergad held up his hand and wiggled the bony fingers with a chuckle, delighted by the creaking noises the knuckles made, "And it helps me to stay in shape... I think I'm actually back to my birth weight."

Celestia sighed, "Very well then, I leave it to you to discuss this matter with the griffons. But that still leaves open the question who you shall marry from the Equestrian side."

"You're not going to tell me I have to marry one of you two?" there was a short silence, "Lovely..."

"Putting aside the fact that this matter is still not decided, what is wrong with us?" Luna asked with a slight feeling of annoyance at being outright rejected.

"You're old enough to be my great, great... I don't even know how great, grandmother!"

Luna blushed slightly, "We are young by alicorn standards."

Aergad sneered, "Thanks. That really helps me a lot."

"There is still the possibility of prince Blueblood..." Celestia started.

"Not going to happen." he snapped back, "Even if you use your magic to remove his mouth or turn him into a mare..." he shuddered, "Ewww... now I've got that stuck in my head." he turned to the two alicorns, "Can't I just kill him? Nobody would have to know! His name would simply slip onto my list by accident!"

"We are not killing Blueblood." Celestia gave him a small glare, "But you will have to marry a member of Equestrian royalty and at the moment, Luna and I are the only eligible candidates."

"Great, just great..." he rubbed his temples with a small groan, "How are we even going to decide this?" he picked up his head and observed the two, "Do you snore?"

The diamond dog crawled forward carefully, cautious not to make a noise that would give away his location. It had been his turn to patrol near the entrance and by chance he had picked up a scent unknown to him. A scent that somehow reminded him of rotten flesh.

He carefully pulled aside a branch and peeked through the tiny opening, spotting a huge tent set up on a large piece of broken rock. Whether they were griffons or ponies, they were at least smart enough to protect themselves from surprises coming out of the earth... not that it mattered much. There were dozens of clans scattered throughout the region, a few outsiders wouldn't be able to do anything.

The entrance to the tent was pulled aside and something huge came lumbering outside, its enormous bulk hidden from view by a huge, ragged coat, but even here the diamond dog could notice how foul it smelled. Straight after the strange being though, a figure stepped outside that nearly took his breath away.

Golden hair swayed softly in the cold air and even from his position, he could see the armor shine in the sunlight like a gem in the dark. "Beautiful..."

His thoughts came to an abrupt end though, as something cold was placed on his shoulder, "Look'eh here boys... not a single day an' we already got ourselves a customer." a rasping voice chuckled.

"Sure do..." a second voice answered and the diamond dog found himself being violently whirled around only to look into a good dozen rotting, skeletal and grinning faces, "Should we bring'im to the pal'din now, or you guys wanna munch on him a bit first?"

"What kind of question is'hat ta ask? I haven't eaten since she pulled us out the ground!"

"Yeah, but you know how she gets..." the skeletons exchanged worried glances.

"Damn goldilocks would have our hides..." one of them gave the diamond dog an evil grin, "He's a fleshy one though..."

Although already huge in his shock, the captured dog's eyes widened even further when recognition struck him, "Uncle Nips? Is that you?!"

Chapter 2: The Pale Queen

Pipsqueak used one of his hooves to wipe the sweat from his brow. The necromancer had not lied, this really was hard work. The moment he arrived at the tower the imps had assigned him with his chores for the week. On his first day, it was helping the imps with cleaning the habitat of the flying baboons,

It wasn't really as bad as he had expected it to be, even with the smell. The imps took care of removing the baboons'... leftovers, which Pipsqueak was immensely grateful for. His job was mopping the floor and cleaning the walls, but that in itself was not as simple as he had anticipated.

The baboons, it seemed... liked to practice, everywhere.

Their drawings where everywhere, on the floor, the walls... even the ceiling was covered with their crude paintings. And where the baboons were able to use their wings Pipsqueak had to use a ladder. Holding the mop up straight was hard, but soon he got the hang of it and started making good progress... He even found the time to play a small game of tic tac toe with the baboons, which he lost.

"Alright..." one of imps called up to him as he was mopping away a picture of the paladin, "That's about it for today, kid. Take a small break, the boss should be back soon to start your lessons. We'll take care of the rest."

Pipsqueak carefully got down from the ladder, holding the bucket in his mouth and balancing the mop on one of his shoulders. "So kid..." the imp asked him with a small smile as he reached the bottom, "How's your first day?"

"It's alright..." Pipsqueak sighed as he put down the bucket, "It's not as bad as I thought it would be."

"Good to hear." the imp chuckled, "I'm sure you'll enjoy feeding the kraken tomorrow, he's a nice fellow."

"Really?" Pipsqueak asked with hope.

The imp shook his head with a small laugh, "Just remember to bring a towel, kid. You'll need it." he started to head for the exit, "Come on, you can join us for a snack while you wait."

Inside the dimly lit room, the old pony sat at his table... and waited for the end to come.

"Dusk Breaker..." a hollow voice spoke up as a tall figure stepped out of the dark and pointed a finger of bone at him, "I have come for you..."

"I know..." Dusk replied with a sinister chuckle.

"You do?" a small sigh escaped the skull under the black and torn hood, "Good... I was afraid I had gotten the wrong guy, you can't even imagine the stir up it causes when I bring in someone that's not on the list." a silent laugh escaped him, "Well then, come on. Let's not be tardy."

"I am not going." Dusk replied with a smirk.

Death tilted his head in wonder, "Come again?"

Dusk Breaker pulled out a chess board from behind his chair, "Unless you can beat me in a game!"

Death stared at him in silence for a moment, "Are you serious?"

"Of course! The rules clearly state that I am entitled to a game for my life!" Dusk started to place the figures on the table.

Death continued to stare at him, but then stepped up to the table with silent steps. "A game of chess, then?" he scratched his chin, the process emitting a strange noise as bone scratched over bone, "Well if the rules say so... Let me just..." his hand suddenly shot out and poked Dusk Breaker on his brow, "ZOINK!"

For a single second, Dusk Breaker simply stared at the finger on his forehead with surprise... and then fell over to his side as his last breath escaped him.

"I swear, that's already the third one to try that trick today..." Death leaned on his scythe with impatience, "Seriously, who came up with this crap in the first place?" a small chuckle rattled his teeth, "The one that tried to sell me her stamp collection though, that was priceless." he pulled out a thick book, "Not like she'd need it where she is anyhow..." he flicked through the pages, "Ohhh... this one has a peach on it!"

"So..." Pipsqueak managed to ask through a mouthful of his sandwich, "How many of you are there?"

"Us?" the imp replied with a raised eyebrow before turning to one of its comrades, "Hey, three-zero-eight?"

The imp in question looked up from his bowl of steaming... Pipsqueak decided it was better not to think about the contents of the bowl... seeing that there was something moving in it was enough already. "Yeah?"

"How many of us do you reckon there are?"

"Mmmm..." the imp rubbed its chin in thought, "I think there's a one-zero-twelve on floor twenty five."

"You mean the one taking care of the blind beholder?"

"No, that's seven-six-four. One-zero-twelve loads does the dishes for the never-ending food fight."

"That's him? I thought that was sixty-three?"

"Nah... he's doing door service this month." the imp replied with a shrug as it continued to eat, "There was a flood on one of the top levels and they need to replace the doors that drowned."

"Right, right." the first imp returned its attention to Pipsqueak with a small sigh, "I'd say there's a good thousand of us in here, only the boss knows for sure though."

"And he knows all of you by number?" Pipsqueak asked with surprise, "Isn't that confusing?"

"Nah... it's like memorizing cards, easy once you get the hang of it."

Pipsqueak thought for a second, "What's your number?"

The imp paused, brow working furiously as it tried to remember its own number, "I think... I think I'm twenty-five..."

"Nah..." three-zero-eight commented over another spoon, "You're forty-two."

"You sure? I could have sworn I was a twenty."

Three-zero-eight gave him a short look, "Nope, definitely a forty."

"Huh..." the imp seemed to do a quick count, "I guess I am..." he turned back to Pipsqueak, "Yeah, I'm forty-two." he offered a small hand to Pipsqueak, "Nice to meet you, kid."

Pipsqueak returned the handshake with a small smile, "Nice to meet you too, I'm Pipsqueak."

"Alright..." Calindria checked her map, "This seems to be the place." she turned to Tobie, "Did you remember to bring shovels this time?"

Tobie held up six shovels with six grubby arms, "Tobie brings."

"Good, then we can at least dig them out if we have too." the paladin sighed. The first raising had been a nightmare, the blasted corpses had awoken under several feet of hardened clay and it taken them hours to dig themselves up to the surface.

She reached into her armor and pulled out the charm that Aergad had prepared for her; it was a flat, triangular and black stone with rounded edges. Nothing really out of the ordinary had it not been for the strange signs that had been scratched deep into its surface.

Calindria could only wonder what the symbols meant, but she knew they were some sort of occult enchantment... how could she not, after using it for the first time?

"The clerics would burn me at the stake if they knew of this..." she sighed and pulled out her dagger, "Not that they ever needed a good reason to burn a woman though." she furrowed her brow as the tip of the blade drew blood from her little finger.

In her opinion... and especially after having gotten to know Aergad's history a bit better, the clerics were even worse than the Order itself. They worked for the glory of the light, though more for the glory and the generous donations than actually for anything good.

Calindria watched the first drop fall onto the charm in her hand, "How did I ever think they actually believed what they preached?" A second drop fell onto the charm... the signs started to glow in a soft red, "Well, no more delusions for me." she gave charm a grim look and placed it on the ground, "From now on I'll be the one choosing the path." the ground started to tremble, "And I'll see to it that my words aren't just empty psalms."

"Boss! Hey, boss!" she turned around to see several undead diamond dogs waddle towards her, "Look'eh what we found!" they dragged their captive towards her, "It's a live'y one! Can we munch on'im?"

Calindria watched the diamond dog in their cold grasp squirm under her gaze, "A local... good. That should speed things up considerably."

The dog trembled in fear as the paladin picked up the charm and returned her dagger to its place, the aura she was giving off was intimidating... he was sure by now that she had to be a queen; why else would she be adorned with such beautiful and shiny metal? Even his dead brothers bowed before her! For the second time today, he hoped that all of this was just a bad dream.

His mind came to a halt though, as shortly after she picked up the charm, countless rotting paws shot out off the ground behind her... as if the dead themselves were rising to acknowledge her presence. "Tobie, bring him to my tent..." the dog's gaze traveled to the paladin's cold features as the dead continued to break through the surface around her. There was no fear on her face... even with the dead returning to life she seemed to be completely calm. "I have a few questions for him."

Before the dog could wonder what was going to happen to him, a mountain of arms and flesh stepped up to him with heavy steps, a wide smile with misaligned and rotting teeth smiling at him from a deformed face, "Little doggie... Tobie will teach tricks!"

"Who... who are you? What are you going to do to me?" he turned his head to look into the rotting face of his uncle, "What's happening?"

"The Pale Queen has demanded your presence, boy..." uncle Nips spoke with a sinister smile as countless arms took a hold of the dog's body, "You'd better behave or the big one here will put you in the ground with us."

"One of us..." the other undead chanted with evil smiles.

"Tobie pulls off head!" the mountain sang as it carried him along.

All around him and as far as he could see, the dead continued to rise out off the ground like sprouting saplings. Before his terrified eyes, an army was awakening from its slumber. And even as he watched the unnatural event unfold itself, even as the mountain of arms carried him away, he saw them bow before her.

"The Pale Queen..." the dog repeated the words to himself with a whisper, the name burned into his mind for all eternity.

Chapter 3: The white cat

Pipsqueak was doing his best to remain serious, but a broad smile was now plastered onto his face. Aergad had returned to his tower. It was finally time for his first lesson.

"Alright..." Aergad clapped his hands together and faced the young foal, "You ready to learn something?"

Pipsqueak nodded, "Yes, sir necromancer." a small frown appeared on his little face, "Why are your eyes glowing?"

"My what?"

"Your eyes?" Pipsqueak tilted his head in wonder, "It looks like there are little stars in them..."

The necromancer grimaced, "They are?" he ran over to a mirror and looked at himself, "Huh... guess the illusion isn't fully perfected yet."

"The illusion?"

"I'll explain it to you later." he scratched his chin in thought. At the moment, the circle of those aware of his new... duty was still small. There were the two alicorn princesses, Chrysalis, the bearers of the elements, the paladin... and Xhergis. He frowned, "It's a necromancer thing, kid." he made a motion with his hand over his face and turned to Pipsqueak, "How's this?"

"Now they're just white." Pipsqueak replied with surprise.

"I guess it will have to do for now..." the necromancer mumbled to himself and started to rummage through the drawers of various closets.

"Are you going to teach me how to do that?"

"Maybe... but first." he pulled open another drawer and raised an eyebrow, "Really, Buttercup? Inside my socks?"

Pipsqueak tried to raise his head to see what his master was looking at, but found himself fascinated as a voice came out off the drawer with a small yawn, "It's comfy! And you never take me around any more!" there was a short pause, "And I told you, my name is Xhergis!"

"Nope, it's Buttercup." he replied with a grin and reached inside the drawer, "Chrysalis said so you're under my charge from now on so I get to decide the name. Plus, starting today, you are going to get a new job."

"Since when did I have a job anyway?" something replied from his hand.

"What is that?" Pipsqueak asked, but felt his mouth fall open as Aergad held out his hand in front of him.

Standing on his palm like a figurine, a tiny changeling was staring back at him with a small frown on its little face.

"Kid, this is Buttercup. Buttercup, this is Pipsqueak." he introduced the two with a big smile.

"I already know who he is..." Xhergis shook her head with a sigh before greeting Pipsqueak, "Hi, I'm Xhergis."

"I thought it was Buttercup?" Pipsqueak mumbled in his baffled state.

Xhergis groaned, "Please don't call me that. It's already bad enough with him doing that!" she pointed up at Aergad before turning to him, "So what job do I get?"

"Well..." the necromancer chuckled, "As you know, Pipsqueak here will be my apprentice starting today. And by tradition, a true apprentice should have a familiar."

"A familiar?" Xhergis frowned, "Wait... are you telling me..."

"She's going to be my familiar?!" Pipsqueak eyed the little changeling as if it was the most precious thing he had ever seen, "She's so pretty!"

"I am what now?" Xhergis gave Pipsqueak a surprised look.

"Come on, kid." Aergad called from the front, "No falling behind!"

"Yes, sir!" Pipsqueak ran after him, a big grin on his face as he followed his master through town.

"Slow down, or I'll fall off!" Xhergis complained from atop his head.

"Sorry..." Pipsqueak slowed down a little, "Can't you fly?"

"I could..." Xhergis shrugged, "But sitting is more comfortable." she looked after Aergad and sighed, "I still can't believe he's actually making me do this..."

"You... you don't want to be my familiar?" Pipsqueak asked with a voice sad enough to make her cringe and feel like someone was tearing her heart out.

"No! That's not what I meant! If Aergad wants me to be your assistant I'll do it, of course. I was just surprised by it. I'm sure we'll get along nicely, kid."

Untold to Pipsqueak, she actually was a bit dubious about this new task... especially since if she had understood Aergad correctly, Pipsqueak was going to practice his spells on her. She prayed that he wouldn't start with any destructive magic.

Still, the amount of joy and affection the young foal was putting out towards her was amazing and he seemed genuinely friendly and innocent... Maybe just a little too innocent. Xhergis frowned, she'd have to keep a sharp eye on Aergad to make sure he wouldn't spoil the poor foal.

Pipsqueak's smile returned, "That's great! I'll do my best to take good care of you!" he paused, "Do I call you Buttercup or Xhergis?"

"Buttercup!" Aergad shouted out at the front, "Her name... is Buttercup!"

"Damn it, Aergad! Don't make the poor foal as weird as you are!" she retorted with anger before addressing Pipsqueak with a calm voice, "My real name is Xhergis..." she whispered, "But don't let him hear you call me that."

"I won't." Pipsqueak whispered back, "Promise!"

"Thanks..." Xhergis replied from his brow with a smile before turning her gaze up again, "Aergad! Where are we going? I thought you were supposed to teach him magic?!"

At the front, the necromancer cackled with glee, "Silly Buttercup! You can't learn proper magic without the appropriate clothing! We're going shopping!"

Rarity chimed to herself as she continued to work on her newest designs. Two weeks after Discord's horrid rampage, everything seemed to be returning to normality once more. The only thing that remained a grim reminder of the terrifying battle that had taken place were the ruins of Canterlot castle in the distance... and the occasional exploding pigeon. It seemed that a few had managed to escape Aergad's imps.

Aergad... that name still was a mystery to her. Even after all the events she still hadn't spoken to him a single time. The last time she had seen him it had been in the aftermath of his battle with Discord... and the sight of a skeleton chasing after Twilight had left her speechless. Was he really supposed to be the new Death?

Untold to her friends she had actually entered the tower once, trying to win the fabulous cloth she had seen in his grasp... "Oh, the things I could have created with such a material!" she swooned, but her face dropped considerably as she remembered her challenge and she shuddered. No matter how beautiful the cloth had been, she would rather drop dead than... than do that!

Her challenge had been the challenge of worms... and the objective had been to hold a live earthworm inside her mouth for a full minute... She had left the tower screaming like a filly after two seconds. The memory still made her grimace.

Rarity was interrupted in her thoughts by a knock from the door.

"Coming!" she sang and quickly got up, "One moment!"

When she opened the door, she was surprised to find a broadly smiling Aergad in front of her, a little foal standing behind him with a... Rarity did a double check. Was there a small changeling sitting on his head?

"Greetings!" Aergad ignored her surprised expression, "We are here to inquire about your fabulous fashion!"

"Your are?" Rarity tilted her head and observed his torn robes, "Of course you are! Those robes look absolutely horrible!"

The necromancer looked down at himself, "What? No!" he pointed at the foal, "He's the one who needs new clothes!"

"I do?"

"He does?" Rarity asked before pausing, "You look different..."

"You mean the eyes?" he grinned, "It's a necromancer thing... Now, about those clothes..."

"Oh, yes of course!" Rarity fell back into her profession, completely ignoring the fact that he was not a skeleton. "We have got to do something about those robes!" she ushered them inside, "Now! I am thinking that a red robe lined with golden stitching would look simply stunning on you!"

The necromancer groaned, "Let's talk about me later, the kid needs a set of robes first!"

"I'm getting robes?!" Pipsqueak asked with excitement, "Will they be black like yours?"

"Certainly not!" Rarity almost cried out in terror before giving Aergad a questioning look, "Why does he need robes?"

"Pipsqueak here is my new apprentice." the necromancer replied with a proud voice, "So he'll need robes to show his new status!"

"Something traditional then?" Rarity thought for a moment as her gaze traveled over Pipsqueak, "Yes... I suppose I could create something fitting..." she turned back to Aergad, "But you are going to get something nice to wear too! I could simply not sleep in peace knowing that you are running around..." her eyes traveled over his torn and burnt robes, "Like that!"

The necromancer groaned, "Okay... I'll get myself some new robes too! But first, the kid..." he pointed to Pipsqueak.

"Yes, yes... of course." Rarity trotted towards the stairs, "Follow me, we'll get you dressed right away!"

As Pipsqueak followed her up the stairs she gave Aergad a warning look, "Don't you even think about leaving until I return!"

The necromancer flinched with his hand on the doorknob, "Leaving? Me?" he chuckled weakly, "I'd never!"

"Good." she frowned, "Please, take a seat while I make the robes for Pipsqueak." she waited until he was seated on the couch, "I'll be back in a moment!"

When Rarity was finally out of sight the necromancer let a sigh escape him, "New robes... seriously?" he looked down himself and frowned, "I guess I could use some new threads... but red?" he shuddered. Red was the color for clerics and pyromancers. And while he had no problems with the fire crazies he would certainly not go around looking like one of the damned religious fanatics.

"I guess I can turn it black when she's not looking..." he chuckled, "It's not like I'll be seeing her on a regular basis..." Aergad paused as something moved on the couch next to him, "Huh?"

"Meow." a white cat greeted him.

"Uuuh... a kitty!" he smiled and picked her with his hands, emitting a meow of surprise from Opalescence as she felt his fingers on her.

At first the cat seemed eager to escape his grasp, but when he started to scratch her behind her ears and pet her fur... a happy purr escaped her.

"Ahh... there's a nice little kitty. Mom had one too back in my days." he chuckled, "You know, people are surprised to find that animals aren't scared shitless of Death." he held her up to his face, "You're not scared of me, are you?" he cooed. Opalescence answered with a pleasant purr.

"See?" he placed her back on his lap and continued to pet her, "After all, I'm as natural as it gets. As long as your time hasn't come, there's no reason to be..."

The necromancer paused and looked down, the purring had stopped.

Almost afraid to confirm his rising suspicion, Aergad held up the white cat by one of its legs... the lifeless form dangling from his hand like a doll.

"This... this is going to be one of those moments when words can't explain the shit I just got myself into, isn't it?"

Still hanging from his hand, Opalescence did not respond.

Chapter 4: No refunds

"Yes, just like that, dear." Rarity continued to take her measurements. "And... done." she smiled. "You can relax now."

Pipsqueak returned to a relaxed posture with a broad smile. "I can't believe I'm really getting my own cloak! This is so cool! What will it look like?"

"Oh, you just wait and see." Rarity smirked as she got out a piece of green cloth, but paused as she pondered on something. "Tell me, dear. Are you really going to be his apprentice?" The thought of the innocent little foal becoming the apprentice of Death himself was more than troubling to her... yet Pipsqueak seemed absolutely ecstatic.

"Isn't it great?" Pipsqueak beamed at her. "He's going to teach me everything about magic!"

On top of his head, Xhergis couldn't help but pray that Aergad would keep whatever he intended to teach Pipsqueak appropriate and safe for the young foal.

"He is?" Rarity raised an eyebrow. "Couldn't you have asked Twilight instead?" Pipsqueak shook his head. "Could you tell me a bit about him then? I'm curious to know more about Aergad."

The little foal scrunched his face. "Well..."

"What do you mean I can't call in a refund?!" Aergad glared at the scythe in his hand and shook the dead cat in his other hand to emphasize his point. "How the hell am I supposed to explain this then?!" a silent voice answered from his scythe. "Tell her that its time had come?! Why didn't I ever think of that?!" he gave the scythe an angry shake. "Oh, wait... Because she'll never buy it!"

He waited for the scythe to give him a response. "Well of course I could just raise it! But that's not the point! Without the correct soul to put inside everything will get messed up! Not to mention that it's still a dead cat! How long do you think it would take her to rot?!"

"He is responsible..." Pipsqueak rubbed his chin. "And..."

Aergad gave the cat a pondering look. "What do normal people do with dead pets?"

Pipsqueak smiled. "He always knows what to do..."

Down in the boutique, Aergad was frantically operating the handle of the toilet. "Flush! Flush, damn you! Oh crap... oh, no. Don't you dare come up again!" ever so slowly, the toilet started to flood the bathroom. "What do I do?! What do I do?!"

"That sounds very lovely, dear." Rarity chimed. "Still..." she reminded herself of just who Aergad was, "Are Princess Celestia and Princess Luna alright with this?"

"They always visit him..." Pipsqueak tilted his head in thought. "They seem to get along well."

A bright flash flooded Celestia's chambers in light as she repeated the summoning ritual to make him appear again. "Aergad..." she started to talk before she actually saw him. "I know you don't like to be called like this, but we still need to discuss..." she trailed off as she saw the soaked and dripping object in his hand. "Is that... is that a dead cat?!"

"Don't judge me!" he returned with a wail before disappearing again in another flash.

"What is your name?" Calindria asked the diamond dog sitting bound in her tent.

"Buster..." the diamond dog managed to stammer as he was treated with a full view of her armor up close.

Calindria gave a short nod. "And you're a member of one of the clans living here?" Buster only nodded in reply. "Which clan do you belong to?"

"The Redbacks... my queen." Buster didn't even know why he said it. It was a slip of his tongue, but somehow he felt compelled to do it. No matter how terrified he was at being surrounded by the dead, he found himself enthralled by her appearance... the way her golden hair moved, the way she smelled... the air of authority surrounding her. Everything about her mesmerized him.

"Queen?" the paladin asked with a frown. "Why do call me that?"

"You... you are the Pale Queen, are you not?" Buster carefully asked. "I... I heard them call you the Pale Queen."

Calindria shook her head with a sigh. "Damn rotten bunch... I can already imagine who put that idea in their head." she paused. "Which other clans live in this area?"

The dog seemed hesitant to answer. "What... what are you going to do with me?"

"That depends on you." the paladin replied with a grim voice. "The griffons and Equestrians have decided that a new nation will be founded within Blackshadow Reach. I have been sent here to secure it." she pointed a finger at him. "Which brings me to the matter of your kind."

"Since we can't have you making trouble, I will see to it that the different clans fall in line." she paused to let her words sink in. "Three options. One, you follow me and become a part of the nation that will be born here. You'll have shelter, protection and the opportunity to make something of yourself. Two, you leave the area. No one will pursue you. Three... you decide to put up a fight." her face darkened and she pointed a thumb towards the flap of the tent. "That's what they are for. One word from me and they'll go straight down into your dens... and you'll join their ranks after they're done. Do you understand?"

Buster gulped and nodded. "But... but what do you want from me... my queen."

Calindria sighed. "Enough with the queen already, will you? I am paladin Calindria Westwind, first general of the necromancer." It cost her effort to mouth that last part, but all things considered it was her current position. "And what I want from you is your help."

Seeing that the dog did not respond, the paladin continued. "I would rather not make use of option three, but I will not hesitate to do so if necessary. If I can see to it, I'd rather have you lot work with me or leave. So..." she leaned towards him. "I want you to take me to the clans, so I can talk with the alphas..." she put a hand onto the hilt of her sword. "And negotiate their subjugation." Buster's eyes widened as the sword came from its scabbard and the tip was pointed at his face. "To make this perfectly clear; I'm taking over."

As Buster was staring down the tip of the sword, weighing his options... the flap of tent was opened and the monstrosity calling itself Tobie entered the tent, dragging a bloody pulp behind him.

"What in the world is that?" the paladin raised an eyebrow when she realized the mangled object was actually stuck to one of Tobie's arms.

"Tobie find cat with funny tail!" the abomination smiled broadly and held up his arm. "Tobie tries to pet but cat bites!" a toothy grin appeared on his face. "So Tobie pulls off head!"

Again, the flap of the tent was pulled back and one of the dead dogs poked its head inside, "Boss! We'hs found us a manticore near the camp!" the undead paused and scratched his head. "Can't find the bloody head though... do you want us to..." he spotted Tobie. "Oh... never mind then. Big guy, can ya give us the head? We wants to munch on it."

"Ahhh... but Tobie still wants to play!"

"I'm surrounded by undead idiots." the paladin groaned and rubbed her temples before returning her attention to the terrified Buster. "So, what will it be?"

Behind her, Tobie was using the manticore's head like a hand puppet... it didn't take Buster long to decide which option he would choose.

When Pipsqueak and Rarity came back downstairs, the necromancer was sitting on the couch and playing with his fingers.

"Look!" Pipsqueak exclaimed happily as he walked up to Aergad, a light green cape with a hood and golden lining on the edges now attached to his small shoulders. On the front, a golden brooch with an inset gem held the tunic together. "It's my own cloak!"

"Well, well now." Aergad stood up and walked around the foal, inspecting the cloak from all sides. "Very nice indeed..." he turned to Rarity. "I take it the fabric is easily washable?"

"Of course it is." Rarity smiled. "It is also highly durable, warm and light."

Aergad nodded and returned his attention to Pipsqueak. "And you are happy with your new cloak?"

"It's perfect!" Pipsqueak exclaimed happily. "It even has pockets on the inside!" one of which was now occupied by Xhergis.

"Good... good." the necromancer nodded and scratched his chin. "But it still needs a little finishing touch..." he reached inside his robes and started to search his countless pockets. "Let's see now..." He started to pull out little gems glowing with varying colors, checking each of them before returning them to his pockets again. "Soul of fire imp... probably a bad idea. Don't want you to set the tower on fire." he chuckled.

"Soul of rock gnome..." he raised an eyebrow. "Why do I even have this?" he continued his search. "Soul of abyss stalker... probably a bad idea. Soul of a snail... not even going to try." he pulled a brightly red glowing gem. "Nope. Definitely a bad idea." He paused as he pulled out a gem glowing in a soft blue hue. "Mmmh... spring pixie. Yes, this will do perfectly."

Aergad turned to Pipsqueak. "Hand me that brooch for a second, kid."

"May I ask what you intend to do?" Rarity asked with wonder as she watched the soft glow of the gem.

"I can't have my apprentice running around without something special now, can I?" he chuckled and took the cloak from Pipsqueak's grasp. "Buttercup, would you mind?"

"Yes, yes..." Xhergis groaned and flew out of one of the pockets, coming to rest on top of Pipsqueak's head. "So... what are you going to do?"

"Just watch." Aergad chuckled and magically removed the original gem from the brooch and replaced it with the one from his pockets. He held the tunic in one hand and spread his other above it. As the others watched in wonder, Aergad started to chant softly and as he spoke words in a language they had never heard before, the gem started to shine brighter and brighter... until the glow started to engulf the whole cloak.

Aergad stopped his chanting and the glow died again. "The spring fairies are a very interesting species." he smiled and handed the cloak back to Pipsqueak. "They tirelessly tend to the flowers of their gardens, protecting them against storms and rain, tending to their hurts and needs."

"What did you do, mister necromancer?" Pipsqueak asked as he watched the soft glow of the gem in wonder.

"The soul of the pixie now rests inside your cloak." Aergad explained. "It will protect you against any weather and give you warmth even in the coldest of nights. Quite handy in a thunderstorm." he chuckled. "And with time, you may learn to make use of its essence to help you even more."

Watching the sincere moment from one of the corners with unfocused and dead eyes, a little white cat sat perfectly still... every now and then a monotone "Meow" escaping its mouth as it stared straight ahead without blinking.

Chapter 5: White

At the edge of the town of Ponyville, with its back framed by the outline of the Everfree forest, there stood a large tower of stone. The tower of challenges, as the locals had come to call it with time, was not only the home of the strange figure known as the necromancer, but it was also a place of wonder and mystery.

There was seemingly no end to the variety and number of the challenges and creatures living within it. Rooms of puzzles, rooms of illusion, rooms of delight, terror and bliss. One could only wonder what unknown treasures the tower was filled with.

Right now though... the tower was filled with laughter. The laughter of a good thousand imps, skeletons, demons and assorted monsters. The necromancer and his new apprentice had returned, with him wearing a set of white robes no less... and while the occasion seemed to be a joyful one, the necromancer was the only one that wasn't smiling. Not one bit.

"Uhm..." Pipsqueak wasn't quite sure how to ask. "Master?"

"Yes?" Aergad replied while he rubbed his temples in annoyance as the laughter continued to roar throughout the tower.

"Could it be..." Pipsqueak carefully asked. "Are you maybe unhappy with your new robes?"

"Maybe?" Xhergis commented with a smirk. "He's been fuming ever since we left Rarity's shop."

"Why? Is there something wrong with the robes?"

"Wrong isn't even close..." Aergad mumbled with a grim face. "The problem is that..." he was cut off as another wave of laughter shook the tower. "Hold on a second." the necromancer placed one of his fingers on his throat and mumbled a few words to himself. When he spoke again, his voice could be heard throughout the entire tower. "This is Aergad..." he paused and turned to Pipsqueak. "Kid, cover your ears."

Pipsqueak wasn't quite sure what why Aergad wanted him to cover his ears, but being a good student, he did as he was instructed. When he had covered his ears, the necromancer started talking again... and Pipsqueak couldn't help but wonder what he was saying.

The way he shook his free arm with a clenched fist, only to turn it into a choking hand every now and then... the speed with which his lips moved and the angry sneer that appeared on his face from time to time... Whatever it was he was saying, it seemed to work. When Aergad stopped talking and motioned him to uncover his ears again, the tower had gone deadly quiet.

Unseen by Pipsqueak and seated on top of his head, Xhergis' mouth had fallen open and a look of pure horror was now plastered onto her face.

In the entrance of the tower, a certain purple unicorn had been unfortunate enough to hear the necromancer's tirade. Once what she would forever remember as the most terrifying announcement of her life had ended, she simply stared at the path ahead for a moment... "Nope." turned around and headed straight back to Ponyville. "Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope." With each repetition of the word, her pace increased.

"Now." the necromancer leaned back in his chair with a small smile of victory. "Concerning your earlier question regarding my... new robes." he spoke the last words with clear discomfort. "The robes themselves are lovely. The quality is exquisite, they fit perfectly and they are comfortable and light. However..."

"However?" Pipsqueak tilted his head in confusion.

"The color!"

"The color?"

"Yes!" Aergad threw his hands in the air in desperation. "Of all the colors she could choose, she chose white! Why did it have to be white?!"

"What's wrong with white?" Pipsqueak asked.

Aergad sighed. "All right. You're new to this, so I'll explain it to you." he spread his hands. "Back where I come from, robes are more than just clothes. They not only signal your profession, but they also show which field of magic you practice. They show which guild you belong to, what other guilds you are affiliated to, who your enemies are and who are your allies. Based upon the simple color of your robes, you define who you are, what you are... and who's going to be wanting to plant a knife in your back."

He started to count with his fingers. "Red is for pyromancers and clerics... and they've been quarreling over who gets to use the color ever since Zhankar the Crimson boiled Lorkun the Pure in his own bathtub. Green is for apprentices and the tree huggers..." he saw Pipsqueak's confused face. "They use magic to control plants, but they mostly use it to grow... well, lets just say they're not anyone's concern as long as they have enough of their favorite mushrooms and weeds." a soft chuckle escaped him. "But boy can they get scary if they don't."

The necromancer continued. "Blue is for the water mages, light blue for the air wizards and deep blue for the rock shifters..." he gave Pipsqueak an amused glance. "Yeah, I know... they get along pretty well though. At least as long as you don't put them in one room. The rock shifters are allied with the pyros, but they like dropping rocks on clerks... lots of accidental rockslides caused by red robes there... The water treaders are of course in conflict with the pyros, but both of them dislike the storm callers... they wear gray, by the way."

"Okay..." Pipsqueak tried to memorize the colors. "And what about the air wizards?"

"They tag along with the storm callers." Aergad waved a dismissive hand. "Though they mostly spend their time staring at clouds." he scratched his head. "Now where was I? Oh, yes! Golden is for the zealots of Drakh'tar, mostly stick to themselves and collect artifacts. Yellow is for the sun praisers... don't get them confused with the Drakh or they'll give you a sunburn down to your bones. Purple is for shape shifters, crazy bunch those guys. Love to annoy the air heads to no end, mostly end up stabbing one another though."

Aergad titled his head slightly. "Let's see... what else. Well, black is of course reserved for the necromancers. There was a cult of shadow mages..." he sighed. "Sadly for them, they got into a lot of trouble with both the pyros and the sun praisers... and that was the end of them. These days, black is just for necromancers. We get along well with the pyros, we blast the damn clerics... and everybody else is usually smart enough to avoid us or at least come at us in numbers."

"So... what does white stand for?" Pipsqueak finally asked.

"White..." the necromancer replied with a heavy voice. "White is the chosen color of the members following the covenant of purity... and before you ask; Yes, necromancers and the whites do not get along very well."

"So they fight a lot?"

"Ehh... No... not really." the necromancer carefully tried to explain. "The whites are pacifists, the whole lot of them. Wouldn't hurt a fly." his face darkened. "They do however, like to place seals to negate dark magic and enchantments. You can not imagine how annoying it is to come home one day to find your entire tower covered with seals and wards." Aergad leaned back in his chair with a groan. "Took me days to remove all of those."

Pipsqueak thought for a moment before speaking again. "I guess I can understand why you don't like them a lot... but... why were the imps laughing so much?"

"Oh, they had a good reason for that." Aergad replied. "See, the worst thing about the whites, in my opinion is that they all take an oath of chastity. Do you know what that means?" Pipsqueak shook his head. "It means they're virgins, the whole bloody lot of them."

"Aergad!" Xhergis suddenly snapped at him.

"What?"

"What's a virgin?" Pipsqueak asked with a puzzled expression.

The necromancer gave the foal a bewildered stare before realisation set in. "Oh... right. Never mind, kid. Forget what I said."

"But master..."

"Nope. Forget it. Let's just get on with your lessons instead." Aergad reached inside his pockets and pulled out a small pebble he had picked up during their way back. "First lesson; perception." he set the small stone down on the table before him. "I'm curious to see how long this one will take you to figure out."

"This symbol goes here..." Calindria carefully etched the piece of chalk over the ground. "Now..." she checked the scroll with Aergad's instructions. "Place the charm in the center... if it doesn't work, you screwed up, ya dunce..." she gave a sigh. "Always being a smartass."

"My queen..." Buster carefully asked. "What are you doing?"

"Enough with the queen already!" the paladin groaned in frustration. "I'm calling Aergad."

"Who?"

"The one who sent me here." Calindria replied as she placed the charm Aergad had given her in the center of the crudely-drawn circle. Given that he had basically prepared everything, it was surprisingly easy. She briefly wondered if he could place some enchantments on her armor for good measure.

"Your... your master?" Buster stammered in wonder, his mind churning as he tried to contemplate what being someone as frightful as the Pale Queen would follow.

"Please don't say it like that." Calindria cringed at the thought and checked the scroll again. "Sient'ra mer grul ma tan."

For a short moment, the circle started to glow softly, both the paladin and the diamond dog waiting with anticipation for what would happen next... only to watch the glow disappear again and feel weird as a strange silence beset the tent.

"Uh... was that supposed to happen, my queen?" Buster finally asked.

"Please not the queen thing again..." Calindria groaned. "Why didn't it work? I did everything according to his instructions!"

"You did." another voice spoke up as the necromancer suddenly stood before them. "I simply wanted to see if you'd fret if it didn't work. What do you want? I was just giving lessons to..." Aergad was about to continue, but a snort from the paladin cut him off. "What?"

"Are you kidding me?" Calindria struggled to keep her amusement hidden. "White? Seriously?"

"Calindria..." Aergad tried to interrupt her.

"Secure your chasity belts, maidens and fair ladies... there's a virgin on the roam!" Calindria broke into laughter. "Aergad, I had no idea!" she started to wheeze. "Oh god, you should see your face! It looks like a strawberry on a piece of paper!"

Next to her, Buster couldn't help but fall in on the laughter, albeit doing so very nervously. Something about this figure... something was really disturbing. His laughter got even more nervous, when he saw Aergad's face darken considerably.

"Enough with the comedy!" Aergad fumed with an angry shout. Before the diamond dog's terrified eyes, a wave of black mana washed over the necromancer, tinging his robes in a deep black... and burning the flesh off his bones as the illusion fell apart.

The next thing he knew, Buster found himself staring into the two small stars set in the skull of Death himself. "Not so funny now then, is it pup?" the skeleton snarled at him.

"No, sir!" Buster quickly shook his head. Calindria remained unimpressed, still chuckling as she stored the memory in her mind for all eternity.

"That's what I thought." Aergad gave a short nod and returned his attention to Calindria. "Who is this anyway? And why isn't he dead?"

Back in Ponyville, sitting on the top floor of the necromancer's tower, Pipsqueak was carefully repeating the mantras Aergad had made him write down... concentrating with all his might on the pebble before him as he tried to see it without using his eyes. The only problem was, Pipsqueak had no idea how he was supposed to see something with his eyes shut.

Aergad had not lied it seemed, this was more difficult than he had expected it to be.

Chapter 6: Mothers and children

"Now, concentrate on the flow..." Aergad instructed the young foal. "The mantras I taught you will help you to get a grasp on your own reserves and get the mana flowing throughout you. With time and a bit of practice you'll be able to do it without the mantras, just concentrate on the feeling... try to sense its path as it travels through you."

Pipsqueak did as he was told, closing his eyes and softly repeating the mantras while concentrating on the slow and subtle motion of the mana that was now flowing through him. It felt strange at first... warm, tingling... but after a while it almost felt natural.

He had yet to ask why the necromancer's robes had returned to black.

"Where were you?" Xhergis asked Aergad from atop Pipsqueak's head.

"I visited the paladin." Aergad gave her a short glance. "Quiet now, Buttercup. The kid needs to..."

"You went to see her?" Pipsqueak asked with curiosity, his concentration faltering the moment he did and the flow of mana coming to an end. "How is she?"

"She's fine..." Aergad sighed. "Even got herself a dog. Now, concentrate will you?"

"Yes, master."

The necromancer watched Pipsqueak return to his chanting, every now and then squinting his eyes in thought as the mana once again began to flow through the young foal. "Good, keep it up." He held up the small rock in his palm. "Now returning to the matter at hand... do you see this rock?"

Pipsqueak eyed the small pebble in his hand, trying his best to keep the mana flowing. "Yes..."

"Okay... close your eyes and concentrate on the mana." Pipsqueak did as he was told. "Good. Now consider the following... and keep channeling the mana, you need to practice this daily."

"Yes, master." Pipsqueak was obviously struggling.

"Don't try to force it." Aergad warned him. "Just let it flow, make it match your breathing... in, and out."

"In... and out." Slowly, Pipsqueak's expression became more relaxed.

"Good..." Aergad gave a short nod. "As I was saying, consider the following; the rock is there whether you can see it or not. But you have more senses than just sight..." he paused. "Touch... smell... taste..." Aergad's voice became low. "Imagine the rock... what it's surface feels like... how it weighs in your grip... the smell of earth and the taste of soil..."

Pipsqueak let the necromancer's voice guide; Slowly, a picture of the rock started to form in his mind... it was so clear it almost looked like the real thing...

"Whoa!" Xhergis gave an excited shout from the top of Pipsqueak's head, making the young foal's eyes snap open and... there, in front of Pipsqueak's eyes... the little rock was floating above the necromancer's hand.

"Did I..." he started to say with excitement but the necromancer cut him off.

"Concentrate!" Aergad tried to warn the foal, but it was already too late. The concentration of the foal had been broken... the mana flow stopped... and the rock fell back onto Aergad's hand. "Okay..." he sighed. "That's lesson one for you; Concentration."

"Sorry." Pipsqueak cringed before raising an eyebrow. "I thought lesson one was perception?"

"I changed it." The necromancer replied with an unamused face. "Okay, kid. I want you to keep practicing what we just did. It will help you to naturally call forth the mana at will... without any of the silly mantras." He chuckled at his own joke and set down the pebble on the desk. "Once you get it to float, try giving it a little nudge with your mind, see what happens."

"Yes, master." Pipsqueak beamed him a large grin, happy to have made his first steps into real magic.

Aergad clapped his hands and started to get up. "You can practice in the tower if you want. There's enough space and nobody will disturb you. That's all for today..." he gave the foal a short nod and a smile of his own. "I still have work to do, but we will continue tomorrow, same time and place."

"Thank you, master." Pipsqueak started to get up himself and collected the small rock before him before a thought occurred to him. "Master? Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, kid. What is it?" Aergad replied while making a scroll appear out of nowhere and letting his finger run over the list.

"Why did you want to learn magic?"

Aergad froze in his study of the list, a small sigh escaping him as he remembered. "I wanted to make people smile... one of them more than any other..." his shoulders sagging slightly and a small whisper escaping him. "And I still do."

"Master?" Pipsqueak asked with worry. "Is something wrong?"

"Never mind, kid." Aergad passed him a small smile. "Run along now, and be careful not to disturb the imps while you practice." He returned his attention to the list in his hand. "I still have a busy day before me..."

On one of the highest mountains of Equis, an adventurous pony named Luck Charmer was having a problem.

He was an explorer, courageous, well-looking, young... and stuck. He had been climbing, he had slipped, and right now he was hanging by a small ledge and couldn't get up or down. "Well..." he sighed after another unsuccessful attempt at finding a rock to hold on to. "At least the view is nice."

"I agree, there are definitely worse places to get stuck."

"Huh? Who said that?!" Luck Charmer turned his head and looked upwards; Standing on a ledge only a few feet above him, a black-robed figure with a skeletal face and little stars for eyes grinned and ever-lasting grin at him. "What in the world are you?"

"You're hanging from a slippery and crumbling rock on the side of a big mountain and you're likely to fall to your death any moment..." Aergad shook his scythe to emphasize his point. "Take your time. I'm sure you can figure it out."

Luck Charmer pondered on those words for a moment; the black robes, the scythe, the skull... "You're Death!"

"It's not my dream job but it's what I do... I wanted to be a sailor when I was four, you know." Aergad chuckled softly and checked his list. "Let me see, let me see... Luck Charmer; Kind of a stray... mountain climber..." he cast the pony an amused look. "You may want to rethink that profession..."

"Are you kidding me?!" Luck Charmer shouted beneath, trying to grasp that Death himself had come for him.

"Date and place seem right..." Aergad continued his check without taking notice. "Are you still there?"

"Of course I am!" Luck Charmer complained. "Lend me a hoof, will you?!"

"Sure thing, buddy." Aergad made a jab at the pony with the bottom end of his scythe, Luck Charmer barely dodging it.

"What the buck are you doing?!" Luck Charmer shouted and dodged another jab.

"Helping you to let go. Hold still, will you? I have a very busy schedule." Death chuckled. "Try to land on your head."

"Wait!" Luck Charmer frantically dodged another jab. "At least let me have one final request!"

"I am not playing chess with you..." Death grumbled before sighing. "But sure, what do you want?"

"I want to say goodbye to my mother."

Aergad was quiet for a moment. "Your mother?"

"I haven't seen her in years..." Luck Charmer replied glumly. "At least give me a chance to talk with her a final..." the rock he was holding onto broke off... Luck Charmer started to fall... only to hit soft ground a moment after. "What the buck?" To his surprise, he found himself on a small hill of grass.

"You wanted to see your mother..." Death said with a tired voice and pointed to a small cottage in the distance. "Here's your chance." In the little garden at the back of the small cottage, a female pony was tending the flowers. "Go on, I'll wait till you're done..." he took a seat on a stump with a tired sigh.

"Mom..." Luck Charmer whispered and felt a lump grow in his throat as he watched the smiling mare tend to her garden.

"Aren't you going?"

Luck Charmer continued to watch his mother for a long, lingering moment... old, warm memories coming to his mind and a sadness spreading throughout him he had not known before. "No... it's fine."

"Are you sure?" Aergad asked with surprise.

"Yeah..." Luck Charmer let out a heavy breath and a small tear escaped one of his eyes. "I guess I just wanted to see her smile one final time. It's still just like I remembered it..." he turned to Death. "I'm ready to go."

Aergad observed the pony's face, lost in surprise and silent as he pondered on his reply. Then, with a flick of his wrist he brought for a quill and his list and made a note; "Luck Charmer..." he gave the pony a short glance. "Couldn't be bothered."

He stood up and both the scroll and the quill vanished. He noticed Luck Charmer's blank expression. "What's with the long face? You've just been granted a parole. Be happy."

"You're... you're letting me go?"

"Let's say I couldn't find you..." Death chuckled and shook his head at the surprise written all over Luck Charmer's face. A weak laugh escaped him. "If I'm lucky they might even fire me for this one..."

He was about to leave when Luck Charmer extended a hoof towards him. "Thank you."

"No problem... just try to avoid mountains in the future." Aergad smiled as softly as his skull would allow him too and grasped the offered hoof to shake it in farewell... Luck Charmer falling over dead the moment he took it. For a few seconds Aergad simply stared at the dead pony in front of him in confusion while still holding the hoof in his hand. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me..."

Calindria stood before the alpha of the second tribe she had sought out that day, Buster several feet behind her. "Well?" She asked with slight impatience. "What is your answer?"

"We don't bow to any outsiders!" The diamond dog barked at her. "And that traitor behind you would do better to leave with you. Get out!"

The paladin remained quiet for a moment, her face hard as stone as she considered her options; She could give him a good beating... it had worked wonders with the first alpha. She could call for Tobie or the undead outside the entrance, or she could... She reached into one of her pockets and pulled out a small box. Aergad had given it to her one his last visit, saying it would help persuade any stubborn dogs to listen to reason.

"What's that? Some sort of trinket that's going to make us change our minds?" The alpha gave an amused bark. "We already got everything we need down here, and you're not one of those things."

Calindria shook her head with a sigh. "Guess it can't be helped." Secretly, she had been curious about the contents of the small box. It was barely large enough to hold a ring. She held the box towards the dog and opened it with her other hand. "This should change your mind."

From her point of view she couldn't see what was inside the box, but much to her surprise the alpha's expression first became blank... then horrified as a set of huge tentacles shot out of the box and took a hold of him... immediately latching onto him and in an act that defied logic, pulled him into the little box and snapped the lid shut.

Everyone present, both diamond dogs and the paladin, watched lost in surprise and confusion as the box shook several times before giving off one short burp and going completely quiet.

Calindria stared at the box in her palm with a raised eyebrow. "That's what you understand under persuading someone, Aergad?" She whispered to herself and groaned. "I should have expected something like this from that maniac." She put the box away again, praying to the stars it wouldn't open inside her pockets.

Behind her, Buster gave a triumphant call. "Did you see that, brothers?! That is the power of the Pale Queen! She answers only to Death himself and our dead brothers follow her call! All hail the Pale Queen!"

The diamond dogs understood... and they bowed. "All hail the Pale Queen!"

Having returned the body to its meant place, Aergad gave a huff of dismay and made another note on his list. "I hate this job." Next to him, the scythe was scolding him. "Keep it to yourself, will you?" Aergad sneered. "He's dead, okay?" More words of malice. "I should get some freedom to make changes from time to time!" Another string of silent words. "Yes... yes, I know. For crying out loud, I know! I'm doing the best I can so give me a break!"

Aergad shook his head with a sigh and continued to check his list for the day, his skeletal finger tracing the names of those to leave that day. "Let's just hope I get some funny ones today... I don't know how much more of this crap I can handle..." he pointed an angry finger at the scythe. "There should be a safety on that touch-of-death thing, you know? Just because the universe thinks their time has come doesn't mean I have to kill them on contact! Have a heart! I wanted to make people smile, not cry!"

He returned his attention to the list. "Boring... boring... that one is just plain sad... that one could be amusing..." he froze as his finger traced the next line. "Oh... oh, no." his empty eyes lingered on the name. "How am I going to explain this?" He dropped his shoulders. "This day started so good too... So much for making people smile." He shouldered his scythe. "I hate this job."

In the kitchen of the Apple family, while preparing the meal for that day... Granny Smith had just suffered a heart attack.

Chapter 7: Understanding rocks

"Concentrate on the flow..." Xhergis softly whispered into Pipsqueak's ear. "Let it flow. ...Breath in, and out." Pipsqueak's expression relaxed and his eyes closed. Slowly, the small rock before him started to lift. "Now... open your eyes."

The young foal opened his eyes, the little rock almost falling to the floor again as he did but catching itself after another second.

"Good!" Xhergis whispered with joy, happy at the progress Pipsqueak was showing. He had a hard time at first, but under her guiding words his efforts soon showed results.

"I'm doing it! I'm actually making it float!" A huge grin spread over his features as he made the stone ascend a bit more. "This is so cool!" The stone started to tremble.

"Concentrate! Don't get too excited!" Xhergis warned him and Pipsqueak instantly calmed himself. "Now, just like Aergad said; try giving it a little push."

"How do I give it a push?" Pipsqueak asked in wonder.

Xhergis was quiet for a moment as she thought about the question. "Just... imagine you're pushing it with your hoof."

Pipsqueak concentrated, his eyes narrowing as he imagined pushing the small object with his hoof. The rock trembled for an instant, and then it flew through the air in a small arc; coming to rest on the floor again a few feet away from the foal.

"Wow..." Pipsqueak whispered as he watched the now still rock.

"Not bad." Both Xhergis and Pipsqueak looked up to see one of the imps sitting above them on a small perch, idly chewing on a sandwich filled with something that was clearly moving. He swallowed the last of his meal before jumping down from his perch and in front of the two. "I'm number ten. Nice to meet you, kid."

"I'm Pipsqueak," he pointed to the top of his head, "and this is Xhergis."

The imp gave the miniature changeling a short look. "Fancy that, I thought her name was Buttercup." Ten shook his head with a small shrug of his little shoulders and walked towards the small pebble on the floor. "Want some advice?"

"Sure." Pipsqueak nodded with a smile before a worried expression found itself onto his face. "But master Aergad said I shouldn't disturb you."

Ten merely shook his head with a small chuckle. "Call him boss, kid. He doesn't like 'master' very much." He looked down at the stone. "Besides, he told me to check on you."

"He did?"

The imp only shook his head with a laugh. "Course he did. But he also said you'd have to accept help if it was offered, which you did." Ten picked up the pebble with a smile and started to walk. "Come on, I want to show you something."

Aergad had walked to the hospital. Not because he had to, but because he wanted to. He had paid the ponies around him no heed, not even responding to the occasional greeting they passed him. To anyone passing he had appeared to be lost in thought, mumbling to himself as he walked seemingly aimlessly. In truth though, he had constantly been praying that he would find a way to avoid the inevitable by the time he reached the hospital. ...But he already knew far too well that nothing could be changed about it.

When Applejack finally stepped out of Granny Smith's room and closed the door quietly, he was already sitting on a chair in the hallway; opposite of the door, head held low and averting her gaze. He thanked the stars that her brother was currently looking after the little one. Applejack's friends would probably arrive soon, and Aergad hoped he would be able to tell her what he wanted to say before they did.

"Hello, Applejack." Aergad quietly greeted her without looking up. He didn't need too. He was sure she had been crying.

"Aergad?" Applejack gave him a blank and confused stare before somewhere in her head, realization dawned. He looked up for a brief moment, and he saw countless emotions run over her face before tears started to well up in her eyes. "No... No, you can't! I won't allow it!"

"Applejack, I-" Aergad started to reply with a heavy voice.

More tears started to gather in her eyes as she shouted at him. "I won't let you! You hear me! I will never let you! You can't take her away from me too!"

"Do you think I enjoy this?" His voice was quiet as he raised his face again, but what Applejack saw there made her stop dead in her tracks.

The necromancer, was crying. Nothing was left of the cheerful expression he usually wore, only a deep sadness that seemed to fill his whole being and made him look older than she could have ever imagined possible.

"Do you think I enjoy taking children from their parents? Do you think I enjoy separating loved ones?" He asked with a pleading voice. "I hate this job, Applejack... this thing that I've become. I reject it with every fiber of my being and yet I can't stop it. I make changes where I can, whisper words and betray fate whenever I can. ...But I can't change it. Even the kid will one day-" His voice cut off in a choke and Aergad let his head drop in dismay while Applejack could only stare at him in silence. "I can't change what I have become... and I never wanted it to be like this. I'm sorry." He held his face in his hands. "I'm so terribly sorry, ...for every, single one of them... I'm sorry."

Applejack stared at him in silence, lost in shock and her own sadness as she remembered those that she had already lost. For a moment she hesitated, but then she slowly took a seat next to him. "I'm sorry." He didn't respond. "I shouldn't have shouted at you. It's just, I..." she was quiet for another moment. "She's always been there for me. And now..." Applejack almost choked on the words before leaning back with a quiet sob. "What do I tell Apple Bloom?"

The two sat there for a short while, each of them lost in their own grief and both of them hoping to find an answer other than the unavoidable truth.

After what seemed like an eternity spent in silence, Applejack finally spoke up again. "How long?"

The necromancer placed his hands on his knees, still not looking up. "Tomorrow."

Applejack closed her eyes as another wave of grief washed over her. "I still had so much to tell her," she hung head in silent defeat. "But the doctors say she won't wake up anymore." Her voice started to break again.

"Tomorrow morning," Aergad quietly spoke up and raised himself from the chair with a slow and tired motion. "Bring your family. You will have your chance to say your farewells."

Appejack stared up at him in shock. "But the doctors said-"

"What the hell do I care about what the bloody doctors say?" He replied with a grim voice before his features softened again. "Don't worry, she won't be in any pain. I know it's not much, but it's the only thing I can still do for you... and for her. I will see to it that she finds her way safely." He bowed his head as another tear escaped Applejack's eyes. "I'm sorry... for everything."

The necromancer disappeared without another word or sound, leaving behind Applejack as she searched her feelings for what words she needed to say. Aergad knew her friends would give her comfort, and he couldn't bring himself to look into their faces anymore.

"Let's see now." Ten scratched his head as he continued to walk through the tower while counting the doors. "Room of the belchers, room with the toads," he chuckled. "Nasty one..."

Ten stopped at a corner as he spotted another imp. "Oy! Three-fourteen! Where did we put Crocker?"

Pipsqueak watched the imp in question rub his chin in thought for a moment. "Crocker... Crocker... Should be three doors further. You know, the old room that used to have the-" he spotted Pipsqueak. "The you-know-what."

Ten gave the other imp a blank look. "The you-know-what?" He raised an eyebrow before remembering that the foal was accompanying him. "Oh! Oh, yeah! The you-know-what! Thanks!" He turned to Pipsqueak. "Come one then, Crocker loves meeting new members of the family!"

Pipsqueak followed the imp as he started walking again, all the time wondering what the you-know-what was supposed to be. Up on his head, Xhergis was pretty sure it was something intended for adults and she prayed that the you-know-what wasn't in the room anymore.

Ten reached the door and held up a hand to motion the young foal to stop. "Hold on a second, let me check first." The imp opened the door a crack and peeked inside, a small smile finding its way onto his lips and exposing a set of tiny, sharp teeth. "Alright, this is it! Step right in!"

Pipsqueak followed the imp through the door and just like with the other doors he had entered before, he found himself lost in wonder on the other side.

Behind the door was an actual forest clearing. As if Aergad had simply taken part of the forest and placed it inside the tower. There was a sky, there was a sun and the opening was surrounded by trees as far as Pipsqueak could see. He looked behind him and spotted the door they had come through was set inside one of the trees.

"Aye, Aye, Aye." Ten walked into the clearing; a patch of grass covered with several rocks, boulders and a small pond fed by a little river. "Let's see now. Crocker's probably sleeping at this time of day."

Ten walked among the different rocks, giving each of them a judging look before passing to the next. The imp suddenly stopped in front of one of them; barely taller than Pipsqueak and covered with a topping of green moss and a little flower. With a smirk on his face, Ten gave the rock a series of knocks. "Come on, Crocker. Wake up! You've got company! The boss wants the kid here to understand rocks!"

Pipsqueak was about to question what the imp was doing, but then two small eyes appeared on the surface of the rock, followed by two stubby little arms, two short little legs... and a huge mouth that smiled at the world.

Up on Pipsqueak's head, Xhergis was staring first in surprise, then in amusement as Crocker started to move.

Chapter 8: Crocker

"Ten!" Crocker used his stone arms to embrace the imp in a bear hug. "It's been so long!" he continued to crush the air out of Ten.

"Can't breath!" Ten wheezed as he dangled in Crocker's embrace.

"Oh! Sorry," Crocker gave Ten an apologetic smile as he set him down again. "How have you been? Anything interesting happen-" he spotted Pipsqueak. "A pony!" his smile broadened as he turned back to Ten. "I got a lot of them these days," he chuckled. "They're fun!"

"Yes, yes," Ten mumbled as he rubbed his ribs. "But this one isn't here for the challenge. He's special."

"He is?" Crocker gave Pipsqueak an interested gaze. "He is smaller than the ones I usually get..."

"He's Aergad's new apprentice." Ten stated. "Kid, this is Crocker. Crocker, this is-"

"You're Aergrad's apprentice?!" Crocker interrupted the imp and rushed to Pipsqueak to grab one of his hooves and shake it wildly. "It is such an honor! I'm Crocker!"

"I'm Pipsqueak," the foal couldn't help but smile as Crocker continued to shake his hoof with an enthusiastic smile. At the same time though, he couldn't help but notice that even though Crocker was only as tall as himself; he had a grip like steel.

"Don't crush the kid's hoof," Ten sighed with a small smirk. "The boss wouldn't like that."

"This is so great!" Crocker let go of Pipsqueak's hoof and bounced up and down in front of the foal; each bounce making the ground tremble slightly. "He's never had an apprentice before!"

"He hasn't?" Pipsqueak asked with surprise and turned to Ten with a curious look. "Why not?"

"Things work a bit differently back where he is from," Ten sighed. "And the boss has never been very trustful of others. There were several aspiring mages that sought him out over the years, but he turned down every single one of them."

"Why?"

"Because they all had the wrong goals," Ten replied with a small shrug. "Not to mention that most of them tried to steal his knowledge rather than ask for it," he chuckled. "He never liked that one bit."

"I remember," Crocker nodded. "The tower always smelled like burnt hair afterwards... Do you remember the treasure hunter? What was her name again? Najira?"

"It was Nadjira," Ten corrected him with a frown. "And she wasn't a treasure hunter. She was a thief."

"Nadjira?" Pipsqueak tilted his head in confusion. "Why did she want to steal from him?"

"Never mind, kid." Ten shook his head with a small sigh. "And take my advice, don't mention her name around the boss. Now," the imp held out the small pebble and tossed it towards Crocker. "Show the kid what you do best."

Both Pipsqueak's and Xhergis' eyes followed the small pebble as it traveled though the air and towards Crocker, and they both felt their mouths drop the moment it made contact with his surface.

Instead of simply glancing off Crocker's stone skin, the pebble started to roll over his little figure, dancing over his arms and head as Crocker chuckled happily.

"You see," Ten started to speak with a smirk as Crocker retreated his arm and legs and started rolling over the clearing; the pebble and several other small rocks starting to follow him. "Stone trolls have a very deep understanding of rocks."

"An understanding of rocks?" Xhergis asked with wonder.

"What the boss wants you to understand is the following," Ten turned to Pipsqueak. "Rocks want to move."

"They do?" Pipsqueak tilted his head in confusion even as he watched Crocker cross the clearing with his collection of smaller rocks and stones.

"Of course," Ten replied. "Everything has an inner desire. Flowers wish to bloom, water wants to flow," he took a step backwards as Crocker passed with an ever-growing collection of rocks; a small avalanche passing between them accompanied by Crocker's happy laughter. "And rocks, want to move," Ten finished with a small shrug.

The imp returned his attention to the foal. "When you made that pebble move, you were probably imagining you were pushing it with your hoof. Weren't you?" Seeing Pipsqueak's only reply was a confused nod, the imp continued. "But instead of forcing it to move, why not get it to move by itself?"

Ten tossed the pebble towards Crocker as he made another pass, the little stone instantly joining the rest of the stones happily following his trail. "You see, Crocker isn't moving them by magic," Ten smiled as he watched the laughing stone troll continue his path. "He's simply sharing his wish with them to move. He's passing on his desire, and the rocks make it their own."

He picked up another pebble and held it out towards Pipsqueak. "So instead of trying to force it to move, try to have it move by itself. Understand the rocks, and make their desire to move your own." Ten chuckled. "You might be surprised by the results."

Aergad felt old. It was a feeling that had come to haunt him far too many times these days, and he despised it more than anything else.

The feeling of unrest, the strange sensation that there was something he needed to do but could not bring himself to rested heavily upon him. And in consequence, it had driven him to the one room of his tower he hated more than his own disability to change fate.

This room only contained one object, not tapestries, no magic; only this one thing. No ponies were brought here, and even the imps that served him knew well enough to avoid it. This room had always been his own challenge, his own punishment.

Inside the dimly lit room and shut off from the world, there stood a single, large mirror covered under a dusty, old cloth.

The Mirror of Disbelief, the imps called it. It was an old artifact he had long ago added to his collection, and only he knew its true name these days. And even though he despised its existence, he had never found himself capable to get rid of it. The reason was that he simply hoped that one day it would no longer have anything left to say to him. That one day, he would have nothing left to regret.

Aergad walked up to the covered mirror with quiet steps, his black robes swaying softly as he did. Almost hesitating, he reached out and pulled off the cover, gazing into the black glass that showed nothing.

"Mirror, mirror. Plight of my life," Aergad whispered with a heavy breath. "What do I regret?"

At first, the surface of the mirror remained motionless. Then, a soft ripple started to spread over the black surface and slowly, words started to form from the black depth of the mirror.

"Everything..." the toneless voice whispered to him. "You regret, everything."

"You don't say." Aergad sneered. "Be a little bit more precise, will you?"

The mirror was silent for a moment. "There are not enough words in this world to speak of the things you regret and the truths you reject..."

"What a waste of my time." Aergad shook his head and grabbed the cloak. "I don't even know why I took the time to-"

"But above all things else," the mirror continued to speak. "You regret your own cowardice."

Aergad did not answer, but only stood there with the cloak still in his hands; an empty expression on his face.

"What you regret most," the mirror continued to whisper. "Is that you cannot bring yourself to face her... and not having told her that you love her."

For a while, the necromancer merely stared at the mirror; silent and contemplating. Then, with a quick motion he covered the mirror again and left. He had heard what he had come to hear, and like always; it gave him no peace.

"Alright, let's see," Calindria rubbed her chin as she checked the map spread out in front of her. "How many are we up to?" she asked without turning to Buster.

"All seven of the major clans, my queen." Buster replied with a small bow. "Also about twenty of the smaller or negligible clans. I expect that those remaining will soon send their alphas to join your cause. We have already sent word to everyone of the gathering."

"Good," the paladin nodded. "Everything is coming together nicely," she turned to Buster. "How many do the risen count at this point?"

Buster quickly opened one of the many bags he was carrying these days; stuffed with maps, assorted documents and anything he thought she would need. After he had managed to persuade the last clan into following her order without a single incident of violence, she had decided to appoint him as her representative. The decision had been simple; he knew the alphas, he knew the area, and it was by far easier to send him to the different clans rather than appear there herself with her army and Tobie in tow.

"About five thousand," Buster replied after a quick check of one of the papers.

Unknown to her though, Buster, in an attempt to serve her as diligently as possible had also started to fill his bags with any item she discarded. Among old chicken and rabbit bones, he had already collected an old comb, a torn shirt, some stale bread, and small twig she had used to write words into the sand with a day earlier.

"Send word to the clan leaders," Calindria spoke after a moment of thought. "I will start training them immediately. They can then pass what they learned on to their pack members. You'll also be joining the lessons, Buster. How is your writing coming along?"

"Better every day, my queen." The paladin let out a small sigh at the title. She had tried to make them stop calling her by that title, but they seemed fixed upon it; so she had given up trying to change it. There was simply too much left to do anyway. "Will you give me another lesson tonight?" Buster wagged his tail in joyful anticipation.

"Yes, yes," Calindria nodded absent-mindedly as he returned to her maps. "We'll also be continuing with math," she didn't see Buster flinch at her words. "Tobie! Nips!" she called out. A moment later, the two undead entered the tent, both grinning and each making an ridiculous attempt at a salute.

"Hey, boy," Nips greeted Buster with a smirk. "You doing good at helpin' the queen?"

"Doing the best I can," Buster replied with a slightly nervous nod. The undead weren't as scary as they were before now that he had spent some time among them; he even took his free time to chat with them every now and then. The other dogs avoided their dead brethren, but he had been starting to feel even slightly comfortable around them; as long as he was close to the queen at least.

"Alright, listen up." Calindria beckoned the three over to the table where the map was laying upon. "See this place? Where the two rivers join in the delta?"

"Backshadow's meet," Nips nodded. "What about it?"

"This is the place," Calindria planted her finger on the spot with determination. "Both tactically and from the necessity of getting resources; this is the best point to start."

"Start what, my queen?" Buster asked as he watched the spot on the map in confusion.

Calindria reached to the side, taking a big scroll from the table and unrolling it over the map. Upon the parchment, countless lines and circles traveled over one another to form a mosaic unlike any they had seen before. It had taken her days of work to turn the plans into what she wanted, and countless corrections had been made to make sure everything was accounted for; but now it seemed everything was ready and waiting for her word to start.

"Is that..." Buster whispered in wonder.

"It is time to lay the first foundations of the new nation," Calindria nodded and turned to Nips. "Gather your brethren. We will start building immediately." She turned to Buster and handed him the plans. "Copy it and hand it out to the undead workers. Today, we will start building our capitol."

Author's Note

Shout out to hs0003 for the idea with the mirror! Give him credit!

Chapter 10: New Standards

"Chrysalis..." Aergard mumbled as he furiously rubbed the bridge of his nose between his thumb and fingers.

"Yes? Aergard, dearest?" Chrysalis replied, her tone cheerful and innocent.

"What is that?" He pointed at the body prepared on the large steel table without looking.

"Why, my dear... That, is a medial ring." She replied in a tone feigning simple facts. The room dead silent as even the imps had paused their work if only to listen to what was being discussed.

The entire project had been under way for weeks. In between his new charity work, as he called it, teaching Pipsqueak and running the tower the necromancer had put every second of his free time into what was now laying on the table before them. A human body. Or at least something that looked akin to one.

It was shaped flesh. He had taken flesh from dead changelings provided by Chrysalis, and he had altered and joined it with blood from unicorns that had visited his tower. He did not favor discussing his methods with anyone, but upon being questioned on it by Chrysalis had revealed that Tobi had been formed from his own flesh in similar fashion.

Only this was much more complicated.

It had taken days for the combination to bear a clump of flesh, a live one at that; and it had taken weeks to make it grow into the proper form, to make the limbs take the right proportions, to make the muscles and bones grow and connect. It had been grueling work and it would not have been done as fast if not for the help of Chrysalis herself.

He had his suspicions of her reasons for this, and now that the facts layed befored them he was sure of it.

"Why does it have that shape?" Aergard asked somewhat flustered for the first time in what felt like an eternity. "Was there something wrong with the old one? I mean I -know- you know what it looked like."

"Oh, no! Not at all!" She did her best to not hurt his ego, males being fragile she was all too aware of on that certain part. Shining Armor had been too.

"I mean... look at it, it's way too big!" He couldn't help but point at it, or at least try to. His pointing hand shakily travelled back and forth along the length of it in an effort to purvey the issue he was having.

"Nonsense, dear!" She smiled sweetly "It is... adequate, trust me. As for the details, oh think of them as... as upgrades! It is simply a different standard to measure by!" She tried to change the subject "Have you figured out what to do about the skin tone yet, dear?"

The one thing that stood out about this body not really being human, was the skin tone. It was a greyish, faded blue which was much darker on the many lines that connected the intersections almost like the exterior of a beetles skin.

Aergard rubbed his face "No, sadly not. I've tried several things but I do not want to risk damaging the body at this stage." He motioned to the head. "It's the first one that actually looks like me!" He sighed, distracted if only for a moment "I'll live with it gladly, a simple glamour will be able to take care of it once the split works." He paused and looked down, much to his regret. "At least get rid of the studs."

"Oh fine, you!" She huffed. "But at least consider getting a replacement made for boring days."

He deadpanned at her "You could just get a dildo."

She chuckled "And why would I want that if I can have the real thing or it's bodyless clone?" She gave him a smirk.

"Yeah, yeah... I'll prepare it once this is done." He groaned. "Dont tell the alicorns or-"

He was interrupted as the runes on one of the walls came to life with a spout of blue flame, the portal opening inside their mass to let the paladin step through and closing just as fast behind her again.

"Aergard, Princess Chrysalis!" She grinned and started walking towards them, only to be halted in her tracks at the sight of what was laying on the table. "Holy mother of-it actually looks like you!" She paused, her expression falling flat "...And it has a horse cock." She turned her head to give Aergard an accusing stare.

"Don't you give me that look!" He glared. "Chrysalis took over shaping that part... and at least stop staring at it if you're so disappointed!"

Calindria had meanwhile tilted her head to give the thing a measuring look before glancing at Chrysalis "Not disappointed. Just was always kinda expecting it to happen from you, not her." She looked back at him. "So you're really going to try this?"

"Well it's her that has to deal with it going into places, primarily..." Aergard started to answer, earning him a short jab in the side by Chrysalis.

"I mean the whole.. splitting yourself up and trying to slip into that body you built." She motioned "You never even told us what risks there are!"

"Ahh well, about that..." Argeard gave her a sheepish grin. "I have no idea."

Calindria blinked at him "What do you mean you got no ide-" she paused. "You've never done this before, have you?"

"Hey, I have done it in theory many times!" He added. "And in my defense Tobi always turned out splendidly... and he's like a introductary version of this here!"

Chrysalis took a sip from her personal emotion-flask. "Not to seem cruel; but if you turn out like that thing you call Tobi I will deny having had a part in it or knowing anything about it."

"If I turn out like Tobi I'm so going on a magical journey to find my true purpose!" Aergard grinned. "It will be like one of those god-awful advent-"

He was interrupted by yet another flash of magic, followed by a bright light entering existence inside the room; Princess Celestia had arived via her own magic. Whatever speech or greeting she had prepared for the three awaiting her however was forgotten the moment she opened her eyes.

She had teleported in right at the foot end of the large table, Calindria to her left, Aergard opposite of her, and Chrysalis to the right. And in front of her... She closed her eyes again.

"Uhm... Celesti-" She stopped him from saying more by holding up a hoof, motioning them to be silent for a moment; the only thing visibly moving being her flowing mane, silent itself as well.

Princess Celestia opened her eyes again, and took a long hard look at what lay in front of her... before silently covering it with a blanket using her magic, doing the best she could do to not stare.

She started "Even I... understand that there is a certain obsession that males carry for these... these things." She tried her best not to sound shocked. "But you cannot seriously be planning to-" she fumbled with the words in her mouth. "I mean, Aergard... Lulu has no experience in these things!"

"Again!" He exclaimed while pointing at Chrysalis. "Her doing! Not mine!"

Chrysalis just smirked "I'll have you know Princess Cadence deals with this every night and I don't hear her complaining."

"Oh, for fucks sake now I might as well have glowing arrows on it too!" Aergard shouted in dismay, unaware of the totally dumbfounded expression princess Celesita was giving Chrysalis.

"No. Way." Calindria looked like she wasn't sure whether to cuss or to grin at Chrysalis. "You actually did that? I mean I heard the story of it some time ago but never any juicy details!"

"What?" Chrysalis simply shrugged, cleaning a speck of dirt from her hoof. "I had to keep the illusion back then somehow, did I not?" She passed Aergard a wink. "Just don't tell Twilight or she'll never let Shiny or me hear the end of it."

"I'm... just going to act like I haven't heard any of all that." Celestia simply replied more to herself than to the others. "Now please... let us start with this meeting?" She gave Calindra a hopeful look. "If time allows, I also wish to hear what good news the paladin brings to us fro-" she blinked. "Please put that blanket down again. We all saw it in far too much detail already."

"I'm just checking if it's still there!" Calindria quickly let it fall down again as she was caught peeking. "Yup! Still is!"

Author's Note

Short chapter, so sorry.. been hounded by work.. But im still writing, never dying. Be safe all!