Lich Games

It took a long time for Ponyville to return to any sense of normalcy. After the disappearance of Rarity, Dash had turned on the others in the boutique, demanding an explanation. How could they let her just walk away like that? Applejack attempted to calm her, assuring Rainbow that their friends must have a good explanation, though her voice betrayed her lack of confidence.

It wasn’t until Twilight had finished a lengthy exposition on the Zafrican shaponies and their Netherstriders, which took even longer due to her frequent dissolution into a sobbing mess, that the fight finally left her. Dash sat, ears down, wings shivering at her sides, unable to decide if she should be breaking something or crying. In the end, she opted for both.

They packed most of Sweetie’s things, AJ immediately offering to house the suddenly orphaned filly. For her part, Sweetie Belle moved like a zombie, following whatever orders she was given without comment. Each time one of the friends tried to speak to her, the words died on their tongue. What does one say? Worse still, in their hearts, burned a flame of anger at the betrayal.

Kinslayer.

Nopony said it, yet it was said, once word got out about what had happened. Sweetie suffered a score of new bruises and maladies, though she and her friends never went crusading anymore. It only stopped once Scootaloo and Applebloom refused to let her go anywhere without one of them present. Sweetie never said who did it, she rarely spoke at all, and her presence cast a pall over any room she entered.

The silver lining was that Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon didn’t bother the trio anymore. Not after Sweetie had locked eyes with Tiara and said, in a voice like ice and gravel,

“You have no idea. No idea what it means to suffer.”

Now whenever she saw Sweetie Belle, she shivered. It’s like she’s dead. Dead and walking around and she just doesn’t know it.

Twilight researched furiously through everything related to Zafrica she could get her hooves on. Her anger was also directed at the princesses, who proved to be bafflingly unhelpful. Twilight’s requests for information, for aid, for any help at all, went unanswered. It took time, but eventually she found out why,

“Once the deal of the dead has been completed, the fates of the two beings will be forever exchanged. The Weave will reorganize, the living will become dead, and the dead will remain living.”

Her mind stopped, refusing to acknowledge what she’d just read. Violet eyes scanned the passage again. Then angrily read the rest of the page. Then the chapter. Then the book. When she closed the tome, it was jerked into the air in her purple aura, ready to be hurled across the room. For a second, it stayed there, until she lowered it gently to the table. It wasn’t the book’s fault.

Twilight’s vision blurred with tears, staring at the table without seeing it. The spell rewrote the Weave. The very fabric that held the universe together. Her head drooped, and her tears stained the floor.

“Twilight?” Her eyes snapped up to the dragon, whose worried expression pained her, “Don’t worry Twilight, you’ll find something!” Silence. She wanted to console him, to agree, but her body wouldn’t obey. Her mouth opened to speak, but nothing came out, and she simply closed it. Somehow, in that silence, she’d told him everything, and the tray he’d been holding clattered to the floor. The mugs thumped off the ground, spilling tea on the hardwood and soaking the daisy sandwich.

“No,” he said. Before she could move, he was gone, back through the kitchen and out the back door. She looked at the space he’d just stood and whispered,

“I’m sorry Spike.” Twilight curled up on the sofa, and let loose the emotions she’d been holding in.

Fluttershy sweat as she wrapped the gash on the bear’s arm.

“You really ought to be more careful Barry!” she admonished, “This is the third time you’ve come to see me this week!” The bear looked into her eyes, then at the bandaged arm. After he flexed it a few times to make sure the wrappings held, he wandered off, back towards the forest. He hadn’t even thanked her…

Before she could ruminate on his odd behavior, a chittering squirrel ran up to her.

“What? Oh no! Lead the way!” As she flew off after the critter, her eyes worriedly scanned the numerous others she’d been helping. I don’t understand… The animals had been behaving this way for the past week. They’d make their way into the Everfree Forest, fight the creatures in there, then return to her for treatment. Once she’d seen to them, they’d march right back in.

She’d wanted to ask for help, but her friends were all so busy, after… Tears welled in her eyes, but she blinked them away. No time for that! These animals need me.

Pinkie stood across the street from the Carousel Boutique, staring at the immaculate building. Even now, two weeks after Rarity… nopony had entered. Nopony even went near the place, and it seemed as though the elements themselves shied away. No dirt or grime, no stains or dust, like the moment they’d shut the door behind them, time had stopped for the little shop.

“Ain’t natural, is it?” AJ asked, walking up beside her pink friend, who could only nod in response. Applejack blew a breath in exasperation. Living with the zombie-like Sweetie Belle was starting to take its toll on the farmer, and, though she knew in her heart that Rarity would’ve demanded Sweetie make the deal had she been there, part of her still seethed. Pinkie pulled her into a hug.

“Don’t blame her AJ. Who knows what that thing showed her.” Tears formed in Applejack’s eyes, and she grit her teeth.

“Ya don’t sell your sister! Nopony gets ta-” she choked back a sob, “decide who lives or dies.” Pinkie just held her, knowing that arguing would be pointless. She knew as well what Rarity would have said, and indeed did say. It didn’t make it any less painful to hear. After a few moments AJ extricated herself from the embrace.

“Well, I better head inta town. I’ll see ya around Pinkie.” Pinkie nodded in response, watching her friend walk away, and sighed. Some Element of Laughter I am now, she thought miserably. There was a sickness in the town. Something sinister had seeped into the hearts and minds of the ponies of Ponyville, something that had caused adults to act cruelly towards a child. Pinkie was generally a relaxed pony, all things considered, but the bruises she’d seen on Sweetie Belle… even now it got her blood boiling.

With a shake of her head, she dispelled the dark thoughts, and frowned at the pristine structure. Maybe I should visit Twilight later. Her friend had been cooped up in that library for so long, she was bound to need some cheering up. Pinkie forced her mouth into a smile, something she was having to do more and more often, and trotted back to Sugarcube Corner to finish her shift.

Sweat ran down Dash’s face as her wings beat frantically. Rarity was just ahead, walking beside that… lich. The word sounded foul in her head, and she poured more power into her wings, desperately trying to reach her friend, but no matter how hard she tried, they drifted farther away, until they vanished into the blackness. Defeated, Rainbow slumped to the ground, tears rolling freely down her cheeks.

“Stupid dream!” she shouted, slamming a hoof against the ground. She hated this dream. The same one she’d been having every night since... Her hoof struck again. There was no escape, she didn’t even want to wake up, because it would just mean being back in her cloud home above Ponyville, a town she barely even recognized anymore. It was insane, how much the place had changed in Rarity’s absence. She grit her teeth thinking of Sweetie Belle.

On one hoof, she was furious with the sleazy, no good mother-buckers who’d dared to torment the poor filly. And yet, a dark corner of her mind silently applauded them, for doing what she could not. She shivered at the thought, ashamed, but it didn’t leave her. Frustrated, she leaned her head back,

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” She screamed with all her might, until she ran out of breath in a hoarse rasp.

Head hanging in defeat, she stared at her shadow, waiting to wake up. Dash’s eyes narrowed. Shadow? She lifted her hoof, and the slightly darker shade mimicked the movement. Something was wrong. Slowly, her head turned, until it couldn’t go any farther. She couldn’t breathe.

“Rarity?” she whispered. Suspended in a cylinder of blue light, was Rarity, looking no different than the day she vanished. Unable to believe it, Dash rubbed her eyes, and looked again, but she was still there. The dull ache in her eyes faded, and suddenly her heart was pounding. Stance wide, wings out, her head snapped from side to side, knowing there was something dangerous here. She needed to get Rarity, now!

With a mighty push she… didn’t move. An icy gale whipped through her, the chill biting to her bones.

“How did you get here?” it demanded. Dash shook with the cold, struggling to move, but her limbs refused to obey. Another cold wind struck, less intense, yet somehow seeping in deeper, filling her gut with ice.

“Then I will pull the answer from your corpse.” Even without the chill, Rainbow’s blood would’ve frozen at how calmly it spoke of murdering her. Her limbs shivered with effort, but she couldn’t budge. It was then that the lich appeared, its emerald flames regarding her steadily, and raised a black hoof. Terrible black-green magic gathered, and fresh tears leaked from Dash’s eyes.

She had to get out of here. Rarity was alive! They just needed to find her! But nopony was going to do that if she couldn’t get her bucking, legs, to, MOVE! The hoof descended, but the magical power remained swirling around it. The flames flared out, extending almost beyond the edge of the hood. Both heads turned towards Rarity.

Cold blue eyes looked straight into ruby ones, and her mouth moved. Go! The shockwave that ensued was like nothing Rainbow Dash had ever experienced. She flew away from the scene so quickly that in mere moments the blue glow had faded from view. She kept rocketing backwards, until the blackness itself flew away from her, like a sheet in the wind, and she was suspended in an infinite white light.

Her eyes darted around, but all she could see was white, until she jerked her head back and out of the cloud pillow of her bed. She was tangled in her sheets, and soaked with sweat, and it took some effort to finally disengage herself. Panting, she walked to the sink and filled her glass with water. Rainbow lifted her head, and screamed, dropping the glass. In the mirror, the skull of a pony stared back at her, with eyes of green flame and a mouth of obsidian teeth.

In time with her scream, the thing’s mouth opened wide, and a horrible hum emanated from the glass, bringing her to her knees, her forehooves pressed tightly against her head. The hum grew deeper, and her head pounded in response, until her fumbling hoof found the stone soap holder, and hurled it into the mirror with all her might. Never in her life had the sound of breaking glass seemed so beautiful.

For long minutes she knelt there, panting, waiting for the pain in her head to subside. When it did, she took off. The others needed to know about this, and they needed to know now.

“Twilight!”
“Twilight!”

Ordinarily the sound of two ponies shouting her name would have gotten her immediate attention. Today, however, had been far from ordinary, and she blearily lifted her head, turning to face the source of the commotion. Pinkie Pie stood in the doorway, Rainbow Dash hovered above her, having come in through the balcony. Twilight sniffled,

“What do you want?”

Pinkie opened her mouth, but Dash was faster.

“I know Rarity’s alive!” Whatever the other ponies had expected to hear, this definitely hadn’t been it. Twilight fell off the couch in a tangle of limbs, Pinkie just stared, slack-jawed, until her hoof came up and closed her mouth. Twilight finally got her hooves under her,

“What did you say?”

“I know Rarity’s alive!” Twilight glanced at the other mare, then back to Rainbow,

“How?”

“I had a dream, okay? I was chasing her and that… thing.”

“The lich?” Twilight asked. Rainbow shivered.

“Yeah that! But I couldn’t catch up, they kept getting farther away until I couldn’t see them anymore.” Twilight frowned, eyebrows scrunching together, and she opened her mouth to speak, but Dash plowed ahead.

“So I landed and waited to wake up, cause I knew it was a dream. That’s when something freaky happened. Everything was black, but I had a shadow, and when I turned around, Rarity was there!” Twilight spoke up,

“But that doesn’t prove anything. You-”

“I’m not done yet!” Dash glared at her, and Twilight snapped her mouth closed, huffing. When Rainbow was sure there wouldn’t be any more interruptions, she continued,

“She was in some kind of blue force field, but when I tried to get to her, I couldn’t move.” Twilight’s ears perked up. Once the dreamer knows they’re dreaming, they should have full control. If Dash couldn’t move… The pegasus grinned at her reaction.

“Exactly! And then that,” she shivered, remembering the way it had spoken to her, “lich showed up. It wanted to know how I got there, but I had no idea.

“So it said it would,” she swallowed nervously, “take the answers from my corpse.” Pinkie shivered. Dash’s hooves moved, mimicking the lich’s.

“It gathered some kind of black and green energy on its hoof, but when it tried to blast me, Rarity stopped it! I looked up at her and she told me to ‘Go!’, and I got flung out of there, until the black vanished and I woke up.” Twilight’s mouth was open, and her hoof had unconsciously come to rest on the copy of the Necroequicon she’d gotten from Zecora. What Dash had just described… it couldn’t be! Her eyes fell to the thick tome.

“It gets weirder. After I woke up, I went to the sink to get a glass of water, but, when I looked in the mirror, I s-saw it, its…” Rainbow’s face had gone pale, and her pupils had shrunk to pinpricks. Twilight took a worried step forward,

“Dash?” Rainbow’s gaze darted to her, and she whispered,

“...face.” Her eyes rolled back in her head and she collapsed onto the couch, convulsing. Twilight jumped on her, attempting to restrain her flailing limbs, and getting a bloody nose for her efforts.

“Hold her thnill! I need to uthe a thpell!” Pinkie broke out of her stupor and leaped on her friend, finally managing to pin her legs. Rainbow Dash screamed, the shrill shriek freezing their blood in their veins. Twilight’s horn glowed, and she touched it to her forehead. Abruptly everything went still, and Twilight found she was no longer standing in the library.

Her eyes darted around, and she turned about, looking for some clue-

“Mistake!” Icy wind roared through her, freezing her to the spot. Before her eyes the lich took shape, twin emerald flames twisting beneath its hood. She felt the telltale pressure on her horn of a psychic assault, and steeled herself on instinct. As suddenly as it began, the pressure eased, until it was barely noticeable.

What was noticeable was the lich’s anger, its fiery eyes dancing wildly. Emboldened by her success, and snarling at it for all the pain it had caused, Twilight took a step forward, her mind bringing everything she’d read in the Necroequicon to the fore.

“Driglar kor, ul zyresh pan veil!” The lich screamed in pain, backing away. Twilight pressed forward, each step landing more solidly than the one before it, more Phrases taking shape in her mind.

“Ardol fier!” Liquid flames danced across the thing’s cloak. Twilight’s tongue struggled against her, the bizarre language coming out broken and stuttering,

“Ziarkahn shel dora!” The flames became infused with lightning, and a web of shocking fire burned across the lich, which howled in furious agony. Twilight’s hoof slammed against the ground, the sound thundering across the Nether, and she roared, pouring her hate, and sorrow, and rage into each syllable.

“Eigel-lighnel! Fio tie baenocen!” Brilliant white light erupted from the black, a column of iridescent fury burning the lich to ash before her eyes. Huffing with exertion, but grinning elatedly, Twilight turned around to…

An icy chill went through her, and she heard the lich’s laughter. Spinning around, she prepared for battle, but there was nothing there. All evidence of their fight had vanished. Eyes darting around once more, she turned and made her way back… Twilight gasped.

There was nothing there. In all directions, only blackness. In her mind’s eye, she saw the fires dancing harmlessly on the lich’s cloak. The lightning merely coating it before bleeding off into the Nether. She saw her own hooves, becoming more solid with each step, with each Phrase she uttered. Twilight faltered, and fell to her knees. She wasn’t a shapony. She didn’t have Zafrican magic. And she was trapped in the realm of the dead. Teeth clenched and eyes squeezed shut, she wept bitter tears of despair.

Twilight lay unconscious on the couch where her friends had placed her. The moment her horn had touched Rainbow’s forehead she’d gone limp, and the pegasus had been awake. Pinkie reported that she seemed to be doing fine, but it didn’t look like she’d be waking up anytime soon.

Rainbow frantically paced the room. She’d seen the lich, had been trying to fight him in the blackness, when she’d suddenly been ripped out. She knew now that Twilight had taken her place, and, though she desperately wanted to trust in her friend, her chest prickled with cold. Somehow, she knew Twilight couldn’t win this fight alone. Her friend was trapped, and she couldn’t help but feel responsible for it. With a snarl, she turned to Pinkie Pie.

“Pinkie! Get that book.” She pointed at the Necroequicon.

“What? Why?” Rainbow just grinned.

“Twilight said that all this Nether stuff is Zafrican magic right?” Pinkie nodded. Dash hoisted Twilight onto her back. “Then we’re gonna go see somezebra who can help us.”