Lich Games

Akuji stood in the infinite blackness of the Nether, surveying the bizarre rarity he’d acquired. This gamble of his was turning out to be a great deal riskier than he’d imagined, and now there were more problems. His stomach flipped as he remembered the lavender unicorn, and he grit his obsidian teeth. The power of a mind flayer lay at his hooves, and she’d shrugged off his assault like a passing glance! There was some small solace to be had in trapping her in the Nether, however, and he permitted a wry grin.

It vanished the moment that cyan mare appeared in his mind. She should never have been able to come here! These ponies had no training, no herbs, no rituals or knowledge of the rules for traversing the Nether! A black hoof slammed the ground in irritation, reverberating into the darkness, so why do they keep coming? His fiery eyes turned to the inescapable conclusion.

Akuji’s hoof pressed against the barrier, feeling the slight give in it. Still too strong to break, whatever it was. It had been a long time since something so outright baffling had come to him, and for a moment he felt like his old self as he pondered the force behind the shield, and the power that was letting these others into his realm. At the edges of his awareness, something flickered, and, almost subconsciously, his will snagged the errant thought and dragged it to him.

Another scroll.

I don’t know what’s going on in Canterlot, but I hope you have a dam darn good reason for not responding to any of our letters! Rarity’s gone! She’s gone! And you don’t even care? And now I don’t know where anypony else is; the library is empty, Pinkie and Dash are nowhere to be found, and Mrs. Cake said she saw them heading to Zecora’s with Twilight on Dash’s back. Why? Why aren’t you here? Why won’t you DO anything?!

There was a break in the writing, where numerous tears had stained the parchment, then it picked up again.

I… I’m not going to let this go. Not this. If YOU won’t do anything about it, then I will. Sweetie Belle traded Rarity for herself? Maybe someone needs to go trade back.

An icy gale roared through the Nether as Akuji laughed. How perfect! He’d have his mare and eat her too! His mirth was cut short by something else in the letter though. Zecora? A distinctly Zafrican name, and that purple one had known several Phrases, though she was clearly a novice at stringing them together.

He steepled his hooves in thought. Whoever this pony was, she would be instrumental in their plans. A wicked grin spread across his skull. Looks like he had found his next target. In a swirl, reality drained into itself, and the lich was gone.

Fluttershy and Applejack walked side by side into the Everfree Forest.

“Thank you so much for coming with me Applejack. I really want to know what’s going on with my animal friends, I’m so worried about them!”

“Nothing to it sugarcube, always happy to help a friend. Besides, the way things been lately, I think the Everfree Forest might be a nice break.” Fluttershy raised an eyebrow at that, and AJ cleared her throat uncomfortably.

“You mean you ain’t noticed it? This… thing that’s got ahold of Ponyville?” Fluttershy could only shake her head.

“I’ve been so busy, I haven’t had time to go to town lately. I was actually starting to worry about running out of supplies until you showed up.” AJ chuckled, rubbing the back of her neck with a hoof.

“Well I’d noticed y’all hadn’t been around much, figured I’d stop by and make sure you weren’t in any trouble.” Her mirth drained away, slipping from her expression, “There’s something been going wrong in Ponyville ever since, Rares…” Her voice quaked and she swallowed audibly. Fluttershy nodded, gently patting her back with a wing.

“And I hate to say it, but it’s like it comes from Sweetie Belle. Everywhere that filly goes nowadays trouble seems to follow. Even more so than before.” She paused, shaking her head. “I never thought I’d say it, but I miss the days when I only had to worry about their crusadin.” Fluttershy was frowning with worry, pondering over Applejack’s words. The mare was clearly hurting for Sweetie, but she, like the rest of them, didn’t know what to do about it.

“Maybe when we find out what’s bothering the animals, it will help with whatever’s wrong in Ponyville,” she suggested, trying to inject some hope into the conversation. AJ just grunted,

“Maybe…” And their walk continued in silence.

The door to the Cutie Mark Crusaders' club house slammed open, causing Scootaloo and Applebloom to jump.

“Land’s sakes Spike! Ya scared mah bow off!” Applebloom’s admonishment fell on deaf ears, as Spike stomped over to Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo had never seen the dragon so angry before, but she stepped between him and their friend.

“Listen Spike, I don’t hurk-” A purple claw closed around her throat, and green serpentine eyes stared into her own.

“Get. Out. Of my. Way,” he growled, wisps of flame flicking between his teeth. Scootaloo was tough. She was at least as tough as any pony her age. But she would’ve been lying if she’d said she wasn’t scared silly right then. Spike may have been a baby dragon, but the fact of the matter was, he was still older than her, and he was a dragon.

Without waiting for her response, he tossed Scootaloo aside, where Applebloom caught her. Sweetie looked up when he got to her, and he stared straight into her eyes. For a moment, his resolve wavered, looking into those pools of hurt and misery, but he remembered Rarity, and steeled himself.

“How did you do it?” Sweetie just stared at him.

“How did you do it? How’d you get the lich to come?” Her eyes dropped to the floor.

“I died,” she whispered. For a moment, none of them moved, then, slowly, Spike’s claws closed around her throat.

“SPIKE!” Applebloom shouted, and dove for him, but he turned and screamed a gout of flame, catching the floor between them on fire. Through the fire and flames Spike glared at her, never taking his claws from Sweetie Belle’s throat,

“She took everything from me! Rarity! Twilight! Ponyville!” Angry tears leaked from his eyes as he tightened his grip, the edges of his claws causing beads of blood to form on white fur. He turned and stared into Sweetie’s eyes, and whispered,

“Maybe he’ll trade back.” Scootaloo slammed into him, his grip breaking as he was flung across the room, sliding and crashing into the wall. She turned to face him, ready for more, but the dragon lay there, sobbing. After a moment, he sat up,

“I hate you!” he screamed, his voice cracking, “You ruined my life! You ruined everypony’s lives! Why couldn’t you have just died? Like you were supposed to!” Spike turned and ran from the room, ignoring Applebloom’s cries to stop. To come back and apologize to Sweetie Belle. Scootaloo stared at the door for a moment, to make sure he wasn’t coming back, then grabbed her cloak and used it to put the fire out.

“I can’t believe him!” she snarled, shaking the ashes off. “What a jerk! It’s not Sweetie’s fault-”

“Yes it is.” Scootaloo stopped and turned to face her. “It’s all my fault. I should’ve just died. I was stupid to believe the lich. If I had just-”

SMACK!

Sweetie Belle raised a hoof to her cheek, touching the stinging spot where Scootaloo had struck her. Even now, the filly’s eyes were brimming with tears. She grabbed Sweetie and pulled their faces together.

“Don’t ever say that again,” she whispered, her voice deadly calm. Sweetie was so surprised she could only nod, and only then did Scootaloo release her. The three friends took up their positions once more, and resumed wasting the day away. Sweetie stared at the floor, but now there was a spark in her eye.

Celestia looked up from her dinner, eyebrows bunching together.

“Luna, what’s the matter?” The younger alicorn startled, head snapping up to face her sister.

“Oh, my apologies, I was… thinking.” Celestia raised an eyebrow, waiting. Luna cleared her throat, pushing the brussel sprouts on her plate around with her fork.

“About what, if I may ask?” Luna sighed, and a shiver rippled through her shoulders.

“Something is terribly wrong in Ponyville.” The chalice that had been rising to Celestia’s lips stopped, and floated back down to the table. Luna locked eyes with her as she continued,

“We’ve not heard from anypony there in some time. And…” Another shiver, this one worse than before, brought a tear to her eye. “Their dreams. They’re, so dark!” Somehow, Celestia had moved to her sister’s side, and wrapped a comforting white wing around her, letting Luna bury her muzzle in the soft down.

“I’ve not seen such things in… I can’t even remember! At first I thought it was merely some new problem Twilight and her friends were working on, and we’d hear about it shortly, but…” Her watery eyes turned up, and Celestia’s blood went cold at the fear in there.

“They’re dreaming of murder. Against a filly! But… I don’t know who. I’ve never seen such hatred.” For a long moment nothing more was said, as the two sisters considered what to do. Finally, Celestia’s head whipped around, eyes locking onto a tan mare with a clipboard cutie mark,

“Handle my appointments. Day court will need to be addressed by the council. We have pressing business to attend to that cannot wait. If anypony asks, tell them…” she faltered, unsure what to say.

“I’ll come up with something princess,” the mare said, pen dutifully jotting down her orders and other notes. With a grim nod Celestia and Luna rose, and briskly trotted from the room. Somehow, they both knew the situation was urgent.

Murder… against a child?

In her heart, she knew Luna was right to be worried, but they were together again. She didn’t have to face these obstacles alone anymore, and the thought brought some warmth back to her veins. The moment they exited the castle doors, both kicked off the ground and spread their wings. It would be a hard flight, but there wasn’t a moment to spare.

Pinkie Pie’s hooves pounded against the dirt road, Dash’s calls to her still echoing in her head. Sweat ran into her eyes, but she blinked it away and pressed on, cold dread in her heart. Finally, the boutique came into view, and her spirits lifted, only to come crashing back down. In the second story window she could see Sweetie Belle, leaning out over the sill. Below, at least thirty ponies had gathered, muttering and cursing. The violence in the air sent chills down her spine, and she felt like she might be sick.

“Jump! Get it over with demon!” somepony yelled, while another threw a rock which bounced harmlessly off the building. There was a general murmur of agreement, and the crowd moved closer to the entrance. Pinkie noticed the frontmost ponies seemed to be getting repelled by some force, their faces would waver, like they’d forgotten what they were doing there, but a shadow would pass, and they’d harden once more.

It shook her to the core, and she barreled ahead, pushing past the side of the mob and going through the door, the crowd cheering her on to “Put an end to it.” She put everything she had into getting to that room. She had to. Reality accommodated her, and she crossed the distance faster than should have been possible, bursting through the door to Sweetie’s room mere moments after she’d entered the building.

Time slowed as she watched the filly turn, standing on her hind legs on the window sill. Pinkie’s hooves hit the floor. Sweetie tilted backwards. Somehow, Pinkie was already halfway across the room. It wasn’t enough. She wouldn’t make it in time. Blue eyes narrowed to slits, teeth grit as she poured her soul into her movement, forcing her body to do the impossible as she reached out for Sweetie Belle.

Sweetie felt sorry for Pinkie Pie, as her view of the room was replaced with buildings and sky. She didn’t want any of her friends to see this, but she couldn’t deal with the pain anymore. The looks, the whispers, the cruel remarks.

Kinslayer.

They were right. All of them. She should have just died. Spike’s words echoed in her mind, and the cuts on her neck burned. Maybe she could make it right when they met again. She heard Pinkie slam against the wall, saw pink forelegs reaching for her.

She knew she was too far away, but somehow they stretched, longer than anypony’s legs had a right to be, snaring her and hauling her back up through the window. Like soft fur over iron bars, they pulled her back into the building, and against her friend.

Sweetie’s composure broke, and she bawled into pink fur.

“Shh shh sh,” Pinkie said, stroking Sweetie’s mane with a hoof. “It’s okay-”

“NO!” somepony shouted from below, and the mob grew much louder.

They surged against the building, and Pinkie could’ve sworn she heard Rarity whimper in concentration.

So fast she almost missed it, Pinkie saw a light blue shimmer in the air outside the window, and she knew they needed to move. The bloodthirsty mob bashed the door open, flooding into the boutique and pouring up the stairs, teeth and spit and bloodshot eyes. When they got into the room however, there was nopony there. Just a sheet tied to a bedpost hanging out the window. With a howl of rage, the mob reversed flow. Pinkie ran towards the Everfree Forest, Sweetie Belle clinging to her neck.

Celestia and Luna streaked towards Ponyville, wind whipping through their manes. Alicorns or no, the journey was taxing their strength, and the burn in their backs and wings grew ever harder to bear. As they passed over the perimeter of the town, a wave of dissent hit them, and Luna nearly fell from the sky. Both mares plummeted to the ground, pulling up just in time to land.

Dark energy swirled before Celestia’s eyes, green and black, living and dead. Like a festering infection it had seeped into the town, through the soil, water, and even the air. Each breath brought feelings of hate bubbling up, and her heart rate jumped from adrenaline.

“Do you feel that…” Celestia trailed off when she looked at Luna, who had sunk to the ground, eyes wide with terror. Celestia’s breath caught short.

“N-N-Nightmare?” The serpentine eye flicked to her, and the Nightmare’s mouth opened, but Luna’s voice came out.

“Get me out of here.” Celestia scooped her little sister onto her back, and in a flash they vanished, reappearing just outside the miasma of loathing. Both panting heavily, Luna slumped to the ground, resting on the cool grass. Finally, their breathing slowed, and Celestia turned her head to Luna.

“What was that? What happened back there?” Luna’s cheeks were wet with tears, and she flung herself at Celestia, wrapping her hooves around the older alicorn’s neck.

“I remembered! It was like a thousand years ago. All those feelings; the jealousy, and hate, and misery!” Her tale broke, and she simply sobbed into Celestia’s fur. Magenta eyes narrowed dangerously at the town, and a flicker of magic changed what she saw. The weave of the spell worked deep beneath Ponyville, flowing like an underground river towards the Everfree Forest. Celestia’s teeth pressed together as she thought of the draconequus presiding over it.

“Discord,” she snarled, wings rising. But she felt Luna’s head shaking against her neck.

“No. This isn’t his doing. This is too focused. Too well organized.” Luna had calmed slightly, and also turned to analyze the spell mutating Ponyville. She rose to her hooves, walking closer to the edge of the miasma, and sniffed at the air, recoiling and retching. Celestia shot to her hooves.

“What is it? What did you find?” After a few more coughs and dry heaves, Luna lifted her head.

“Necromancy.”