Dead in civilization

Thump!

"Rarity! Do you have any idea what that was?" Rainbow asked sounding concerned.

Boom!

"Uh oh Rainbow! That sounds like it is coming from the Library!"

Crash!

"Double time Rainbow!" Rarity called out as she broke into a sprint. Rainbow followed suit and tried to keep up with the surprisingly fast Rarity. The long winded halls that they had been walking through started to twist and turn. That hallway broke into two ways, and without anyway to tell where they were Rarity had to stop. "Drat." She sighed. "Rainbow do you know where we are?"

Closer... Come closer...

"Rainbow did you hear that!?" Rarity shouted as Rainbow caught up.

"Hear what Rarity?" Rainbow shook her head. "I didn't hear anything."

You have potential... Come to my chambers, we can... Talk.

"Uh Rainbow, I think some horror is trying to corrupt me..." Rarity said. "I want you to go find Twilight..." Rarity was said shakily.

"Alright Rarity, what are you going to do?" Rainbow asked.

"Whatever it is, it wants me for something. I want to know what it is after." Rarity stated. Without saying a word Rainbow nodded and flew of at a fast speed.

"Alright whatever you are, I'm not coming to you until you tell me what you want me for." Rarity said trying to coax the voice to speak again.

You have potential Rarity, I need you. Please, take the left path. I can explain when we meet.

"One condition, I want one of the necromancers with me." Rarity ordered.

Ah very well, I take you want Dead...

Rarity sighed and nodded her head, within moments Dead was next to her.

"And if you do that Cadance, the shield will fly off in all directions... Hey!" Dead said as she examined her surroundings. "Rarity? How did you get here?" Dead asked.

"Where is here?" Rarity asked.

"No, this isn't right. Rarity, what are you doing here?" Dead asked sounding confused and angry.

"I was looking for you with Rainbow, she flew back. But Dead, where are we?" Rarity asked again. "Dead I'm worried. Please..."

"It alright Rarity, we are just going to have to go do something. I don't know if I can do this without the others." Dead sighed. "Look Rarity, the fact that you are here worried me. You can only get access to this section when the ritual is ready. And I fear that we have been locked in..."

"Where are we though?" Rarity asked again.

"The archives, they were supposed to be sealed to prevent this. But that doesn't make sense. You have been hexed!" Dead lit her horn up and Rarity's world began to fade. When she refocused she was in a room that had bones for flooring, a few massive stained glass window that portrayed some stories were around the walls. "Come with me Rarity."

The pair walked for what seemed like miles, Rarity constantly asking Dead how they arrived in the hall and Dead constantly telling her the same thing. However at some point Rarity stopped asking. The pair walked on for five more minuets before Rarity asked Dead a question she was worried about.

"Dead?" Rarity started. Dead stopped and turned.

"Yes Rarity?"

"Does this effect us? I am sorry..." Rarity said as she started to tear.

"Rarity, this does not effect us. I only hope that I can get you out of here." Dead hugged Rarity. "Now lets get going you."

The pair walked on for a few moments. They ended up in large room with several objects placed around. In the middle of room a large jar was violently shaking. Around the edge of room several bone objects sat. They were shaped like dragon skulls with their mouths open and facing the jar. Dead walked over to one of skull and charged it. The skull then fired out a line of white energy that reflected around before hitting the jar. The jar shook violently before calming down slightly.

"This might be goodbye Rarity, I'm sorry if it is. But not likely." Dead sighed and she walked over to another skull and charged it. counting the one she had just charged there were a grand total of eight. The jar shook violently as the white beam refracted around the room and crashed into it. Several skeleton jumped up from the floor. The skeletons were different, they walked around on two legs and rather then having arms they have scythes that they swung around aimlessly.  Dead quickly took advantage of the unstable necrofield and rose a few skeletons to aid her. "Ha!" Dead chuckled.

Rarity... You must stop her...

"Dead, whatever it is. Its asking me to stop you!" Rarity called out. "Don't worry I won't."

"He made a mistake, he removed the shield so he could call some souls, but..." Just as Dead was explaining the other three necromancers and Twilight's company teleported in. "I had to do an emergency life form teleport or else I would be dead, and not just in name." Dead chuckled as she went about dodging the slowly increasing intensity of attacks on her left.

"What is this room?" Twilight called out. "Just went I thought this couldn't get any worse..." Twilight eyed the shaking jar in the center of the room.

"Dead, how did you get in here? The ritual isn't for a few days..." Grim asked. "Better yet, how did she get in here?" Grim pointed at Rarity.

"Not now!" Dead called out as she gingerly dodged a swipe from a skeleton. Cadance had already gone to work, trying to fight back the skeletons. "Urgh..." Dead groaned. "I hate the reapers."

"They are rather dull, if you ever want something killed... And a mess made." Grim sighed. Grim then charged his claw and then slashed if horizontally, a purple energy emitted from it in a line and crashed into a line of skeletons. The skeletons flew back but soon got up. "Hm, this isn't working. We need to figure out how to stop them."

Marcia promptly flew above the skeletons, just out of their reach and let loose a large firebreath attack. A few of the skeletons showed signs of charring however none were overly damaged. Nazz channeled a vast amount of energy and started blinking around the room, every time he blink a volley of skull bolts flew out the ground around him and honed in on a skeleton, however this had little effect.

Cadance, noticing that the others were failing to deal damage to the skeletons Cadance took note of their features and aimed a powerful spell at the sternum of a skeleton. Cadance blasted a skeleton and the skeleton fell back. The skeleton remained still for a brief moment and then crumbled to dust. "Ah-ha! I did it!"

"Yes... But if we did that we would be out of energy by the fifth kill." Nazz sighed. "And to make matters worse they only seem to be after us."

"Now why would they be doing that?" Applejack asked.

"Well, we are the only threats to it. If it kills us it can use you as a blood sacrifice, and a vessel." Dead said reluctantly. "It is an odd one..."

We have a name.

"Hmmp." Rainbow jeered. "Go on then, tell us."

We have many names. The destroyer. The Fester. And so many more, however we prefer Legion.

"Legion huh, that's a stupid name! And let me guess..."

Do not mock us. We shall smite you when we rise.

"Oh no! the jar ghost doesn't like me. Whatever will I do!" Rainbow mocked, the jar shock violently and all the skeletons turned their attention on the Pegasus. Rainbow flew up and over them causing them to give the necromancers a break.

"Now!" Cadance called out as she hopped behind one of the skulls and charged it with what energy she had. The other necromancer followed suit and went behind the remaining skulls. The necromancers all charged their skulls and the remaining five skulls shot their white beams at the jar.

RAGH! I AM UNLEASHED!

"Wait what? You planned of freeing it?" Twilight asked as the jar cracked and a black smoke started to leak out. The skeletons collapsed as the smoke start to solidify. The smoke formed to arms with razor sharp claws at the end of them, it had no legs but rather it stopped forming after the torso ended. Its body was large and a head sat on top of the torso. Several bones were implanted within what seemed to be armor and a large blood red teardrop crest sat on its torso. Legions eyes burned red and a white smoke appeared when it drew breath.

"No Twilight, we plan on beating it up and then trapping it again. If we just left it in the jar it would break free." Marcia sighed.

Legion roar out and raised ten skeletons, these tried to intercept the necromancers and Cadance as they attacked Legion. Dead was pulling large amounts of bones out of the floor, melding them together and then hurling them at Legion, while in flight Nazz would charge the bone ball with skull energy and this would increase its speed and damage. Any skeletons that got in the way were obliterated.

"Hey Dead, why isn't it attacking us?" Rainbow asked. "I mean, I don't mind sitting this out but..."

"If we die, or fail, or vanish it will use you powers to grow in strength. By eating your souls." Grim sighed. "The whole point of us locking the archives was to stop you from entering here and being used in that way."

"Oh..." Rainbow sighed.

Cadance flew up in the air and landed on a skeleton, crushing it under her hooves. She then absorbed some energy that was keeping the skeleton alive. Using the energy Cadance fired a large bolt of energy that hit Legion in his blood crest on his chest. Cadance did a short cheer before Legion turned and faced her. Legion raised his claw in the air and a purple bolt flew up and over to Cadance. The bolt hit the floor and caused a small purple cloud to form, after briefly chocking in it Cadance decided it would be a good idea to move out of it.

"Watch out! That stuff is lethal." Cadance said, alerting the other necromancers to Legion's change in tactic. Dead turned and nodded as Legion picked up the pace and kept firing the purple bolts.

"Urgh, not this again. You must be desperate Legion." Marcia mocked. "You know you won't win. You can never win."

You are nothing but followers of my art. You used to follow me, you were loyal, everlasting. You took my gifts and used them. Now you trap me, mock me and go against my wishes.

"What is he talking about?" Cadance asked. Legion threw up a purple shield that blocked all attacks on him and pointed at Dead.

"He is... Death so to speak." Dead shakily said. "I don't know how to explain this properly... He lived in the underworld. One day somepony or something summoned him. He came up and taught us how to raise the dead. He made lichs to spread his art. He tried to kill everything. The necromancers turned on him and stopped him in his tracks. They sealed him the the jar and left him. A thousand years later the amount of undead increased drastically, they started rising up by themselves."

I called out to them, offering them a second chance. They took it a tried to convert others. The traitors sense my power and released me, I thought they had changed but they simply put me back.

"And so the ritual of the dammed came into effect, every thousand years we needed to release him and then trap him." Grim added. "The original ritual had eight elders to do the deed."

And now fledglings and whelps imprisoning me.

Dead fired a large bolt that drained her energy and shattered Legion's shield. The other three necromancers and Cadance joined together and fired a huge singular bolt at Legion. Legion riled back in agony and started to return to smoke. Cadance jaw dropped when she saw she did.

"Did I just do that?"

"Yes... You took my place." Dead stated. "A Princess of unfathomable power is more then a suitable replacement for a trained necromancer." Dead chuckled as she blacked out.

"Quickly!" Grim shouted. "We need to activate the skulls to re-seal him!" The three necromancers and Cadance ran behind the giant skulls and charged them. The white bolts hit Legion and caused him to roar. The necromancers ran to the other four skulls and fired them. Legion roar and the gas started to get sucked back into the jar.

"We did it!" Cadance cheered. "Now what?"

"We go back and take care of Dead, she looks exhausted." Nazz said as he ran over to Dead. "Lets get her to the infirmary." Nazz turned and looked at the jar, which was now sealed and not shaking.