The Student
Midnight Dirge paced around his room restlessly, he had barely slept the night before and he wasn’t about to do so tonight. He had to complete his assignment before morning or else he will have failed his studies. That was not something he could cope with. Midnight had worked tirelessly day and night so he could be an apprentice to Princess Luna.
When Midnight had learned of the Princess’ desire to find an apprentice, he had literally leapt at the news. There was absolutely no pony that would have made a better student, besides maybe Twilight Sparkle, but she was already under the wing of Celestia. But now, it was proving more difficult than he imagined, pleasing Luna. His power over the Dark Arts was impressive, a fact stated by both Princesses, but it is much more difficult to learn necromancy than it is to learn Pony Magic. He sighed and walked across his room yet again, pausing at his mirror. He looked at himself and scowled. He looked awful; his lack of sleep was evident in the condition of his coat and mane. His usually glossy, obsidian black coat seemed dull and his fiery mane had seen much better days. His already red eyes were bloodshot and exhausted looking. The only part of him that didn’t look terrible was his horn; it always seemed vibrant and full of life. He sighed and walked away from the mirror, mumbling to himself.
The lesson and assignment were much more important than his looks right now, he had to stay focused. Midnight turned to the opposite side of his room where his work table and bookshelf were located. He walked towards them, sighing, his mind everywhere but his work. He stopped at the table looking at the tomes that were already open, displaying diagrams and intricate symbols used in rituals. He picked up a book titled The Ethereal Plane and its Denizens. He read through a few pages as quickly as was physically and mentally possible before putting it back down. He hadn’t realized it at first, but he had used telekinesis. Pony magic. He snorted; the ponies in Canterlot were getting to him. He considered going to the garden tomorrow and summoning a few skeletons to make him-self feel some control again. But first, he had to get this work done! What was wrong with him?
Midnight furiously drew the symbol he saw in the book on a piece of paper. He checked the symbol once, then again to make sure he got it right. He used telekinesis to maneuver all the supplies he’d need for the summoning into a saddle bag. He rolled the piece of paper tightly and put it into the bag as well. He moved the bag off the table onto his back. Afterwards, he cleaned the books off the table and maneuvered them to the bookshelf. He exhaled excitedly and trotted out his bedroom door.
About halfway down to the courtyard, Midnight broke into a sprint, he couldn’t help himself, and the excitement of seeing his teacher was too great. He finally exited the main part of the castle and entered the courtyard. He ran to the farthest corner, where a tall tree and bushes blocked the wandering eyes of the overly curious. He scanned the area for anypony that might be watching, and dove into the bushes. The area behind the bushes was large enough for him to organize the reagents needed for the ritual and carve the summoning symbol into the moist soil using his custom forged knife. He looked at the symbol on the ground and compared it to his early drawing; a perfect match.
Midnight was pleased with his work. The summoning might actually work this time! That would surely impress Princess Luna enough to let him continue to his advanced studies! But then, of course, there was the great chance of him failing. He could fail the summoning completely, not even being able to open the portal, or he could summon the creature, but lose control of it. What a disaster that would be! Or, most likely of all things, he would end up killing himself. Necromancy was very dangerous; a proven fact when he tried summoning a skeleton six years before. His heart had nearly stopped and he passed out for two whole days! He didn’t need a repeat of that, and if it were to happen again, he wouldn’t wake up.
Midnight sat down hard, ready for the Princess to meet him here, except that Celestia was coming too. This meant that they wouldn’t come here until morning, and it was around three in the morning. He sighed and silently scolded himself for his overexcitement that caused him to rush down here. He stood up and walked out from behind the bushes, accidentally bumping into a ruby colored form. He fell backwards, startled, and looked up to see his old friend, Ruby Shadow. She glared down at him, her coal colored eyes, especially in the darkness of the night, made her look frightening. Midnight stood and met her gaze, “What are doing out here, Ruby?” he inquired.
She glared at him for a moment longer before answering, “I should be asking you that question.”
Midnight sighed and shook his head slowly. “If you must know,” he answered, “I am, or was, finishing the final preparations for my summoning test in the morning.”
“You mean the one that’s four hours from now, the one that you could most likely fail at?”
Midnight snorted, and began to walk away. “Hey now, I was only messing with you!” he heard Ruby exclaim as she began trotting to catch up. When she was finally next to him, she bumped him with her shoulder. “Don’t be so uptight,” she said, “what’s the worst that go wrong? You’re the best necromancer in all of Equstria!” Ruby was now smiling.
“I’m the only necromancer in Equstria.” Midnight stated.
“Exactly, that’s what makes you the best! If no one else can do it that means you’re the best at what you do!”
“Ruby, I understand you’re trying to comfort me and whatnot, but I’m worried. This isn’t some simple summoning of an old dead mare’s bones. We’re talking a full-fledged monster from another dimension.”
“Then why not summon a smaller one? There’s less chance of failure then.”
Midnight immediately stopped walking. He stared ahead blankly. Ruby looked back at him, confused. “What? Is something wrong?”
“Nothing.” replied Midnight. “You’re just a genius.”
Ruby smiled smugly and said, “I know.”
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Midnight had gathered all his supplies from earlier and took them back to his room, Ruby in tow. She demanded to follow him, and he had agreed. The extra support would be nice anyway. In his room he had given Ruby orders to gather everything he would need for the new summoning. He, on the other hand, began to read through his tome on the Ethereal Plane. He found a symbol that would do nicely for this summoning and dedicated it to memory, as well as ink and paper. After he and Ruby had everything they ran back down the stairs, through the large corridors and random doors until they found themselves outside again.
Midnight was stunned by the fact that the sun was starting to rise. He didn’t have much time. “C’mon!” he told Ruby. She nodded and they ran even faster to the bushes. Ruby immediately went to laying the reagents out for the summoning while Midnight carved the new, smaller, symbol into the ground, his knife cutting into the earth as though it were butter. He pulled the roll of paper out of his pack to check if the symbol was correct. After comparing them he realized that he failed to add the three triangles to the topmost portion of the circle. He added them, clumsily almost. His nerves were getting the better of him and he needed to calm himself down. So, he took a deep breath, and read over the diagram again. It was all perfect, everything was in place. Now he just had to wait for the Princesses, surely nothing could go wro-
“We have a problem.” said Ruby.
Midnight felt his heart flutter in panic, “Wha’? No, we can’t have any problems! Not now!”
“Well we do. I forgot to grab that purple salt you asked for.”
Midnight paused and considered this. The Venus Salt wasn’t all that important… was it? Surely he could complete the summoning without it. He’d just have to add more of his own energy to the spell. “No, it’s okay. We don’t need it.” He replied. Midnight thought it over, again. He tapped his hoof lightly on the ground, “Could you maybe help with spellcas-“he caught himself before he could finish the sentence. He looked at Ruby; her head was hanging low to the ground. He felt horrible, of course she couldn’t help, because of her broken horn, she could barely use telekinesis. “I’m sorry Ruby. I-“
“It’s okay. Don’t worry about it, just a slip of the tongue, right? I know how nervous you are.” He knew she was upset, but there was nothing he could do about it now. He began to prepare the spell, charging magical energy into his horn. It flooded there eagerly, ready to be used. His horn gave off a faint coppery glow. Now all that was left was to cast the spell. That’s when he heard the sound of heavy wing beats. The Princesses, they were almost here. His heart fluttered again. He steeled himself and scanned the skies for them. There they were, about thrity feet away. Their majestic forms were amazing to behold in the light of the morning sunrise. Luna seemed to be surrounded by and aura of purple energy that pulsated slightly, her nearly transparent, blue mane trailing behind her. Her cobalt coat seemed to absorb the sunlight that touched her. Celestia was to her immediate right. Her white coat glowed slightly in the sunlight; her mane was trailing behind her like an artificial rainbow. She also glowed with an aura as well, but hers was a complicated puzzle of colors he couldn’t identify. Before they landed he asked Ruby, “Do you see those colors around them? Kinda weird. I never noticed that before.”
“What colors? I don’t see anything besides the sunlight.” replied Ruby. She stared at him for a moment before stating, “Maybe you should have slept some last night.”
“You’re telling me you don’t see the aura surrounding them?”
“No. I don’t see anything.” He wanted to discuss the topic further, but the Princesses had finally landed. He needed to start the summoning. He turned to the bushes, using his telekinesis to clear away any unwanted pieces of foliage and set the reagents where they needed to be. He heard the Princesses talking to Ruby.
“Is he ready?” asked Luna, her voice carrying her usual authority. Even with Twilight Sparkle’s help, she still spoke in her old world ways some days.
“I think so,” replied Ruby, her voice seemed a bit shaky, “let me just check real quick.” He heard her dive through the bushes, appearing next to him. “Is it all ready?” she questioned him.
“Yeah, I just need to start it now. But first…” his voice trailed off as he walked out from behind his cover to meet the Princesses. He bowed to each of them reverently before speaking. “I’m glad you could both be here to witness my first successful summoning of an ethereal creature.” He looked up to see that Luna was fairly surprised by this statement. Celestia, on the other hand, seemed completely unshaken by this.
“Are you sure you can do this Midnight? You are a necromancer, not a warlock.” stated Luna, concern filling her voice. She was genuinely concerned, he could see, but he couldn’t just stop and say no. He nodded silently, his horn still glowing; the copper color was even brighter than before. He could feel the magic trying to find its way out, to find home in the runes he carved into the ground. If it was ready then so was he. Luna stared at him, concern still written all over her face before nodding as well. “Very well then, let’s see what you can do.”
Midnight exhaled heavily. This spell was going to take more focus and control than any other spell he had ever cast. He walked to the symbol, the Princesses and Ruby following in suit. He heard Luna and Ruby gasp in surprise when they saw the symbol. It was glowing now, the same color as his horn, pulsating slightly. The reagents were also smoking now, near the point of disintegrating. Midnight began to channel the magic, charging the complexity of its energy and knowledge into a physical shape. He visualized the symbols and runes in his mind, feeling even more energy leak out of him. There was a chilling hum in the air that made everything around him go still. He inhaled sharply, surprised at a sudden immense tug on his entire being. So much energy was being drained from him now and he hadn’t realized it, but he had shut his eyes at some point. He held them closed so tightly that it hurt. He heard Ruby make a noise of worry. He felt his heart beating so rapidly and chaotically that he was sure it would fail. He had to keep going, though; there was no stopping, not now.
He continued to channel the energy until suddenly he realized what he needed the Venus Salt for. It created a physical medium for the ethereal creature to go through, but since that medium wasn’t here, that meant, that it would go through him instead.
Midnight panicked, but there was nothing he could do. The spell was already at its climax, if he tried to stop it, it would backfire and kill him, painfully. He had to follow through. He continued to charge his energy into his horn, into the spell. He felt the tug on his body gradually get stronger and stronger, draining him of all that he was. He heard a rip in time and space open in front of him, but he was still unable to open his eyes. He felt the massive discharge of energy from the portal tear through the area. His heart was beating so violently that it shook his body. Surely at this rate the summoning must nearly complete. But no, he couldn’t be that lucky, could he? There was a snap that resonated around the area. He heard somepony gasp, and somepony else yelled something, but he couldn’t make it out. Then, there was an explosive blast that struck full force in the face and chest. He was sent flying backwards at a dangerous speed. He slammed into something stone hard and unrelenting. He couldn’t even begin to comprehend what had just happened, his senses were too frazzled. He laid there, his vision too clouded to even see what was in front of him. He heard somepony yell something, but still he couldn’t understand. He couldn’t feel anything either, except his heartbeat. It was slow, too slow. And quiet. He tried to take a breath, but it hurt to do so. He tasted something like copper in his mouth.
Midnight’s heartbeat was coming to halt, he could feel it. His vision darkened, and he heard somepony, Ruby he realized, calling is name. He was too far gone, nothing could be done. He was going to die. He tried to focus on his friend, but he couldn’t. She screamed something at the Princesses. He couldn’t make it out however. The last thing he saw was a bright, white flash, and then he faded to blackness.
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