The Necromancer's Dutyby FresnorChaptersPrologueChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 4Chapter 5Chapter 6Chapter 7PrologueAuthor's Note Well here goes my latest attempt to drain my mind of the mental sewage that is fanfiction. Mostly just a teaser and starting point, but isn't that what the prologue is for? Expect more information in the next chapter whenever that one decides to come out. Such as actual names, even if one is already spoiled. Suggestions and ideas are welcome though. Prologue Silence reigned over the village as the sun drifted towards the horizon. Where once was a bustling community, now only ruins remained. A lone figure plodded through the streets as he examined the crumbling buildings, still warm from the fires used to purge the town of the corruption that had once ran rampant. The cloaked figure placed a hoof against the door frame of what was once the town hall and sighed at the devastation. Lifting his head a silver glow emerged from his cowl, revealing the presence of a horn, as he cast a spell over the area. A globe of pure silver spread from his location, and as it pass ghostly images began to form. Soon the entire town was once again alive, the spectral forms of ponies moving through the streets as if it was a normal day. That was not to be as the transparent forms began to rear back as if in a panic before a red wave passed over them, distorting their forms as the collapsed to the ground unmoving. As the bodies began to shrivel up the cloaked figure shook his head and canceled his spell. He moved in the direction the the red wave had come from in search of the source of the catastrophe he had just witnessed. As he paced along, the damage got worse and worse as the scars of flame were joined by clumps of a black, tar-like substance which had managed to escape the flames. The stallion wrinkled his nose as he passed the clumps, the stench enough to drive even the most iron-stomached of ponies sick. Coming upon what he assumed was a tavern, judging by the partially burned sign showing a mug of some variety, he found that the entire building had been leveled and set to the torch. In the center, around where the main hall used to stand, he found a seething mass of the black substance that was slowly succumbing to the flames. Lifting a hoof, the stallion presses it against the side of the mound, causing it to melt away leaving a pale object behind. “As I feared. What I had thought lost to time still has a hold on this world.” The stallion lifted the object in his hoof, revealing it to be a unicorn skull engraved with runes over every visible surface. Bouncing it in his hoof he noticed an odd weight to it and dropped it to the ground before smashing it open with his hoof. Inside was a still beating, black heart which was the source of the massacre that had happened here. “It is sad that something has brought the Blight back into the world again. To pervert that which they have no understanding of. Death is not a toy to be meddled with like some foal in a candy shop. It is to be respected for what it is, and those with mastery over its ways should know what it truly means to know death.” The stallion shook his head sadly as he lit his horn and sent a cool wave of magic into the heart, slowly evaporating it as it was removed from existence. Heading outside the stallion turned his head left and right as he surveyed the damage caused and tried to determine the secondary cause of the devastation. Lowering his head he sniffed at a hoofprint on the ground and frowned. “Hmm, standard issue, royal guard greaves. Judging by the depth and imperfections of the imprint, most likely and earth pony or a unicorn burdened with some weight. It appears to be leading... that way.” Turning off towards an alley the stallion follows the tracks until he detects a malodorous stench in the air. Following it it came to the source and looked on it sadly. “So it begins again.” Bodies. Bodies of ponies, blackened by the flames that had consumed them were piled in a mass grave just outside of the town. Young, old. It mattered not, all were treated the same as those that came to clear the town did what they could to erase the blighted threat. Even after the purifying flames had consumed them, there were still traces of the blight that had twisted their bodies into horrible shapes as they painfully died. “So many lost, yet how many survived? How many more shall fall to the twisted creature that is responsible for this travesty? Must I return to the world once more?” Looking over the grave he eventually sighed as he turned away and started to walk towards the horizon, knowing what would happen before the sun fully set. Yet something kept him from leaving just yet. A feeling that spoke to him from his very soul in a way that he had not felt in a long, long time. Reaching down within himself, he felt a faint pull in the direction of the village. It took him a moment, but he soon came to realize just what it was that he felt, the faint pulse of life. Curious as to what could still be alive in the blighted place, he broke out into a gallop as he had little time to spare. He sped through the town, ignoring the wreckage as he homed in on the source of the feeling inside of him. He soon came to a small cluster of buildings, but as he was about to enter he heard a quiet cry from behind a stack of crates. Moving over to them he used his magic to lift them out of the way and found a hidden alley hidden behind them. Looking closely at the ground he found many hoofprints of the royal guard going by it, but none going inside. Moving forward, he found nestled between the buildings a small garden which had a large oak tree at its center which had somehow managed to survive the flames. Peering up at it, he found that it had somehow managed to escape the devastation caused by the fires and only had minimal damage from the blight that had struck the town. As he peered up, he heard the cry yet again from the far side of the tree. Circling around he came upon a small hollow at the base of the tree and inside was what he had been seeking. “Oh you poor thing.” Nestled within the hollow was a young unicorn filly of around eight or nine years if he had to guess. It was hard to tell though as, unlike the tree, she had been hit by the full brunt of the blight and it was a miracle that she was still alive. Her entire body had been twisted by the blight leaving her skin wrapped around her bones as if she had a severe case of starvation. It also had the appearance of the black tar he had found earlier which left her with a rather lumpy appearance. It was so bad that he could see through her legs as the blight caused her skin to wrap around the individual bones in her legs making it easy to mistake her for a skeleton. Not only that but her mane and tail had rotted away leaving her naked to the elements, as well as making it impossible to tell her natural colors or cutie mark if she had one. The filly continued to make the occasional sound of distress as he carefully lifted her out of the hollow, yet she failed to react in any other way showing her catatonic state. Carefully placing her on his back he looked to the sky to see it slowly brightening, showing that he had to hurry. “Don't worry, I will do everything that I can to help you. I do not know how you are still alive, but for you to do so long enough for me to find you?” The stallion shook his head as the cloak around him began to flutter. Great wings of silver slowly spread from beneath them before giving a powerful flap, sending the two into the sky. Not moments later, a stream of light burned outwards from the sun, striking the town and burning everything away leaving the two being the only witnesses to its final fate. The stallion looked back at his young passenger before turning towards the rising moon and the face of the mare it held. “Well little sis. It seems that the foul ones rise once again. I just hope that this time things go better than before.” With a surge of power, the stallion flew off towards the heart of Equestria with the young survivor safe atop his form. Chapter 1“And once again yet another town of ungrateful ponies chases me out over some perceived slight. It wasn't my fault that that mare tried to do something to me and instead afflicted herself with blight poisoning. But of course they don't listen to reason and act like the usual superstitious hicks that they are.” The filly known as Angelic Chorus griped and moaned as she plodded along the featureless plane away from the latest town she had been at. It had been many years since her home had been wiped out, but in that time she had learned much of what had almost killed her and how to face it. The fact that it was necromancy, the reason that had caused it all, that she had learned was ironic in that most would have wanted nothing to do with what had hurt them so. Yet it was the fact that that specific branch of magic was being improperly used to cause such despair and that there was a better way that allowed her to press on. The years had been mostly kind to her as her lessons in the dark art had allowed her to slowly heal her body of the blight that had afflicted it. While much of her rear half, including her flanks and hind legs, was still blighted from the spell she lived through, her front half was restored back to what it was. Even so her mane, tail, and fur had regrown leaving her with a silver and gold mane and tail, and a purple coat. Unfortunately, something with what had been done to her had kept her from aging or getting a cutie mark. “Well at least this time they were easy to escape. I barely even had to try to get away, they were so slow. I wonder if had anything to do with that strange cutie mark they all had?” The filly pondered a bit before she shook her head. “Whatever. It has nothing to do with me. At least I managed to find some clues as to where I should head next.” The filly lifted the hood of her cloak over her head as she pulled out a newspaper she had managed to swipe from the town that a mare had tried to hide. Terror in Ponyville! Element Bearers Hospitalized After Dark Magic Assails Town! <><><><><><><><><><> “Thank you, Harry. Just set me down by the fence, please.” The large bear nodded as he slowly lowered Fluttershy down at the requested location. As she was lowered she reached a hoof out and groped for the rail of the fence until she managed to come into contact with it. As she rose to her other three hooves, Angel bunny hopped up on her back before taking his place atop her head. Feeling her friend take his place, the mare smiled fondly up towards him before she winced and reached a hoof up to rub at her blackened temple. The rest of her animal friends looked on at their caretaker sadly as she struggled to do the what were basic tasks a few weeks ago. While she was out of the hospital, unlike some of her friends, she wasn't unscathed. Due to the attack, both of her eyes were completely gone as they had been destroyed as a consequence of the battle. In their place were dark holes with a black streak of blight across both of her eyes. Fluttershy had tried to go back to her usual life after the incident, but without her eyes it had been hard. Her animals had been supportive of her, but she found herself missing the sight of her animal friends. If it wasn't for Angel being her eyes for her atop her head she wasn't sure if would even be able to take care of herself to the extent she had. “So it seems that I was right. That thing was headed this way.” Fluttershy let out a yelp of surprise at the voice as her head turned wildly searching for the source of the voice. Angel bunny lightly moved her ears around as he directed her head towards the filly, which he had somehow missed seeing arrive, allowing her to focus her full attention in her direction. The pegasus mare cringed back from the figure as she tried to recover her composure. “Um, who's there? Why are you here? Please don't hurt me.” Angelic Chorus slowly approached the mare keeping her full attention on the damage to her eyes. The animals warily watched the cloaked filly as she approached their caretaker, feeling uneasy about her presence. On reaching Fluttershy, she reared up and put her hooves on the mare's cheeks and pulled her downwards, surprising the mare with the size of the hooves touching her as well as their strength. “Hmm, standard blight damage except...” The filly paused as she sniffed and poked a hoof into the empty eye sockets of the mare before frowning in concentration. “Um, little filly? Could you maybe, um, please stop that? It's rather uncomfortable. And creepy. And gross.” The filly ignored Fluttershy's words, but should couldn't ignore the bunny as he reached down to slap her away from his mistress. Angelic Chorus glared up at him, but paused when she saw the intelligence in his eyes before she frowned in confusion. “This is unexpected. I would think that a druid would have succumbed to the blight already, but that smell... I never would have expected a half-vampire to follow the path of nature. Yet that doesn't explain what I felt though...” She paused as she brought a hoof up to her chin in thought while Fluttershy gasped and slowly backed away from her with her wings flared out in shock. “V-v-vampire? What d-d-do you mean? I have no idea what you're talking about.” The filly looked back at the mare before meeting the glare of the bunny on her head again. The two exchanged looks as she responded to Fluttershy. “I almost didn't notice at first, but all vampires, even a half-vampire, have a distinct scent. All the animals around here cover it up pretty good, but from this close it was easy enough to detect. What's with the bunny and why is he glaring at me?” Fluttershy tried to surreptitiously sniff at herself before sighing and lifting her empty gaze towards her head. The bunny leaned over to whisper into her ear and Fluttershy winced at what she was told. “Um, well, Angel says that you don't smell right, as if something about you was rotten. Sorry.” Fluttershy winced as she says this before trying to hide behind her mane. Angelic Chorus lifts an eyebrow at the bunny before lifting up her cloak to show her blighted back end to the bunny, causing his jaw to drop in horror as he looked between the filly's rear and Fluttershy's eyes. “His name is Angel? I usually have my friends, what few I have, call me that and I'm sure it fits just as well.” The two 'Angels' look at each other for a moment before they come to an understanding. The bunny allows the filly to approach again, keeping a close eye on her. “Um, well that's interesting, I guess. But, um, why are you touching my face like that?” The pegasus winced as the unicorn filly started prodding at her eyes once again without regard to how uncomfortable the mare was. After a moment the filly's frown morphed to one of annoyance as she suspected something happened that she didn't like. “Ugh, this is going to be annoying isn't it with you awake. Well, say goodnight then.” Fluttershy looked confused as she couldn't see the filly light up her horn with a pink color. “Huh? What so you... mean... by...” She never was able to finish as she slowly fell forward from the spell cast upon her, much to Angel's annoyance as he glares at the filly again who just shrugged at him. Pushing back her hood she revealed her pink eyes and unkempt mane as she started to settle down in front of the unconscious mare as the other animals surrounded her. “Would you rather I let her stay away to feel what I am about to do? The blight has gotten in really deep, if it wasn't for her heritage I doubt she would be alive still with how close it is to her mind.” Angel looks at her a moment, judging her, before he shudders and waves the other animals back. They settled down, but still remain wary as they weren't sure what to make of the filly. Taking a deep breathe with her eyes closed, Angelic Chorus lit up her horn once again, but instead of the previous pink it was now a deep black. Her eyes opened, revealing that they had also become an empty void as she exerted her will towards the mare in front of her. Fluttershy twitched as the magic settled over her, and the animals began to move in again until the noticed the black scarring on her start to peel away. They watched in amazement as the blight was pulled away from Fluttershy into the air between the two ponies as it was gather into a ball. Once the blight had been removed, leaving that sleeping mare with bare skin where it once was, the filly sighed as she shook her head. “Ugh, I always hate this part.” Opening her mouth, the animals watched in shock as the ball of blight began to flow into her own mouth while her cloak billowed away from her form. Once the last of it vanished into her mouth she closed it and let out a loud gulp before her blackened eyes flashed over into a brilliant white. vvvvvvvvvv It watched as the ponies milled about in panic as it rampaged through the town. Its gaze settled on a group of fillies and started advancing on them until a yellow pegasus flew in front of them and glared at it with her wide cyan eyes. Suddenly it leapt forward into the mares eyes and everything vanished into darkness. “Wh-what happened? What's going on?! I can't see. Twilight! I can't see!” Fluttershy began to panic as the light was robbed from her eyes. Suddenly she felt herself being dragged away from where she was until she felt somepony wrap their legs around her. “I've got you Fluttershy. Oh no, this is bad, really bad! I'll heal you right away, just let me...” The voice faded away as a humming started up and Fluttershy felt her eyes start to tingle. Suddenly a crippling pain erupted and she could hear someone screaming in anguish about something, and she only realized that it was her at her friend's next words. “They exploded? Why did her eyes explode!? This is bad! Oh no oh no oh no...” This was the last that she heard as Fluttershy screamed herself unconscious. ^^^^^^^^^^ Angelic Chorus shook her head as the memories in the blight flooded through her and she sighed as she recovered. “Eww, I hate that vile taste. It's like the worst black licorice ever made. But at least now I know for sure what happened. A blight spitter was here, and some amateur used a healing spell to try and cure her. Why hasn't anypony gotten around to telling these idiots that this stuff feeds off of magic like that?” Groaning angrily at the fallen form she slowly calmed down as she looked at the animals staring at her in amazement before she pointed a hoof at the bear. “You!” Harry perked up and pointed at himself in confusion. “Yes, you. Go over to the river and get me a decent sized fish!” Harry looked over at Angel who stared down at the filly for a moment, then at Fluttershy, taking in what had happened to her. Deciding to take a chance he nodded to the bear who quickly did as he was bade, and soon the filly had a decent sized fish in front of her. Looking it over for a moment, the filly nodded and used her magic to lift it into the air before smashing it with her telekinesis. After doing this for a minute she soon had a good paste made from the entirety of the creature. “Yes, this should be enough. Now for the hard part.” Turning back to Fluttershy, the filly brought the paste over before splitting it into two piles. The animals made sounds of agitation as the filly poured the mixture into Fluttershy's eye sockets, but were forestalled from doing anything by Angel's lifted paw. Once the paste had settled in, she closed the mare's eyes and the filly's horn lit up with dark energy once again as she directed it towards the mare. A black glow shone out from below her closed eyelids as the unicorn worked her magic, and the animals twitched in agitation, wondering just what was happening. Ten minutes later the glow stopped as the filly rubbed a hoof at her horn with a sigh. “That should do it. I hate having to clean up other pony's messes.” Reaching over the filly lifted up the mare's eyelids, and Angel, being right there to see, let out a gasp at what he saw. Where once were empty voids, Fluttershy now had a pair of pristine, if dilated, eyes once again. The left was exactly like he remembered, but the right was now a bright red color to which the filly frowned. “Hmm, never seen that before. Either she was always like that or something I didn't expect happened. I never have worked on a half-vampire before. Oh well, my work here is done, now to see if there are any other victims. Maybe this time he made a mistake and I can find a hint of him.” The filly looked over herself for a moment, rubbing a hoof at a small patch of skin that now adorned her hide which was once blighted, before covering herself with her cloak fully once again. The various animals just stared in shock at their caretaker as she made her way past them and towards Ponyville. After she was out of sight Fluttershy began to stir awake, and let out a cute yawn before blinking her eyes and looked around. As her eyes settled on Angel, memories of what had happened flooded back and she looked around in shock. “Oh, Angel! Where did that filly go? What did she just... do...” Fluttershy froze up in shock before she slowly brought a hoof up in front of her face in amazement. She blinked a couple times in amazement before she let out a whispered cry. “I can see.” She focused on Angel who smiled up at her tearfully before her own eyes began to leak as well. “I can see.” She was still in shock as she reached out to wrap up her pet in a hug before she completely broke down. “I can see again!” With her final cry, the rest of her animals snapped out of their shock and crowded around the ecstatic mare who had been given back that which she had thought lost forever. Chapter 2Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.Chapter 3Twilight Sparkle paced in a circle in the lobby of the Ponyville Hospital as she waited for more news on her friends. It had been days since the attack, yet so far nothing could be done to help them and she couldn't find anything on this blight that affected them except for the name. Princess Celestia seemed to know something, but she refused to talk about it which frustrated the young alicorn as the lives of her friends were in danger because of it. “Calm down, darling. You won't be doing them or yourself any favors if you stress yourself out so much that you put yourself right in there with them.” The alicorn looked over to Rarity, and flinched as her eyes fell upon the silver mask that she wore that covered the left side of her face, a symbol marking her own injuries. “Well maybe I deserve to be there. I couldn't do anything to protect them and after what I did to Fluttershy!? Can you imagine what would have happened if I tried that with you!? Or Rainbow Dash!? Or even Applejack!?” Rarity was silent as her friend stared into her eyes, not knowing what to say as that horrible event had scarred all of their friends. One of the few exceptions was there with them, but he had not been told about the incident to spare him the horrors. “I'm sure the princess is doing everything she can to help. I mean, it's not like she would just let them die because she felt some need to hide something from you that she doesn't want you to know about.” The two mares look at Spike before shaking their heads at his innocence, something the two admired as they felt discouraged by the princess' lack of help so far. Silence fell over the three as they awaited word of what was happening with their friends beyond the little that had already been told. The doctors had no idea on what to do with Applejack due to the severity of her condition, yet what they were suggesting with Rainbow Dash? They shuddered at the implications and just what it would do to the mare if they went through with the procedure. None of them noticed the diminutive figure enter the building and start looking them over, starting with Spike. “Hmm, not often I see a dragon in a town so I don't know much about them. Still, nothing appears to be wrong from what I can tell.” Spike blinked at the filly poking and prodding at him while mumbling nonsense. Twilight looked down and noticed the cloaked filly and was about to say something before she winced and grabbed at her head. “Oh dear. Are you still having headaches, Twilight? You really should check with a doctor if they've been happening for this long now.” Twilight shook her head at her friend, while the filly narrowed her eyes at the alicorn and moved over to her and began examining her. “Odd, nothing physically wrong, but I can certainly feel that there is a problem. Hmm, never seen an infection that only targets the internal magic, wonder what could cause that.” The alicorn blinked down at the filly as she ran her hooves over her head and pokes a hoof into her mouth. “Um, hello? Can I help you with something young f- *gasp*!” Twilight froze as the filly looked at her and her eyes turned from their usual pink color to a black void with the whites of her eyes. Before she could react, the filly's horn lit up and wrapped Twilight's in her glow before drawing her magic out of her. Unlike with what had happened recently with Tirek, it did not feel as if her magic was being drained away but was being torn out of her, causing her to scream in agony. In one of her few moments of clarity she shouted towards Spike. “Spike! Code Black!” While both Rarity and Spike were frozen in shock at seeing the filly seemingly attacking Twilight with black magic, her words were enough to snap the dragon out of it. In a frenzy he pulled out a scroll and wrote down a short message before rolling it up with a black ribbon and sending it to Princess Celestia. While Spike was writing the letter, Twilight's magic floated into the air between the two, glowing in its usual raspberry color. Yet within that blob of magic were specks of black and red, of which the filly focused her eyes on while examining the alicorn. “Hmm, interesting. It seems to be linked to five other sources somehow. That would explain how this corruption is here since three out of the five paths have it flowing in. Odd how it looks like one of the other two is damaged like the corrupt three are yet it appears to be healing. And the fifth is weird, it's like the corruption is trying to flow into it yet is repelled for some reason. I wonder...” She prodded at the area the she felt the energy was linked to and felt something familiar. “Huh, is that the mare from before? Even more interesting. That means there are at least three others that I need to find, one of them in really bad shape.” She glances at the frozen mare nearby who seems to be the source of the lightest corruption before poking at one that is nearly fully blighted from what she can tell. Shaking her head, she focused once more on the magic before her and began drawing out the black and red particles into a separate ball. Once she had cleaned out the purple blob she turned back to the alicorn and shoved it back into her, who then promptly collapsed as her eye rolled up into her head as her screaming stopped. Turning back to the blight she had pulled out she sighed before opening her mouth and eating it. <><><><><><><><><><> Fluttershy was once again hit by the spray from the blight spewer. *flash* A stream of blight splashed across a white mare's face. *flash* A cyan pegasus dipped and dodged streams of blight vomit until she miscalculated and her wings were hit. *flash* An orange mare plowed through the creatures attack head on before turning and bucking its head off. *flash* <><><><><><><><><><> The filly shook her head as the disjointed images faded before frowning. “Well that was pointless. I didn't learn anything about him this time. Must be because she wasn't hit directly from that thing. Must only work from direct sources.” Her eyes turn away from the alicorn and settle on the frozen unicorn who flinched when her eyes fell on her. Looking at the mask the elder unicorn was wearing the filly shook her head with a sigh. “Looks like today is going to be a long day. Might as well get started then.” Rarity's eyes widened as the filly took a step towards her with her horn lighting up black once again. As she let out a scream, Spike looked over in shock after watching the letter being sent and let out a yell. “RARITY!” Author's Note There, now off to the other stories again. Next chapter, whenever it is written, wil finish off with the rest of the injured, as well as some of the consequences. Chapter 4*CRASH* “Ms. Dash! Please get down from there!” The rainbow-maned pegasus glared down at the doctor from her position hanging from the lights. Her blackened wings dangled lifelessly below her as she swatted a hoof at a broom reaching for her. “No way you quack! There is no way I am letting you anywhere near my wings now!” The unicorn doctor sighed as he rubbed at his head with his hoof while the nurse tried to get the mare down. “Ms. Dash, there is no other option but to amputate. This infection is spreading and if something isn't done soon then you could end up like your friend or even die.” The pegasus only shook her head rapidly, her eyes wide in fear. “And I said no! I would rather die than lose my wings!” The nurse frowned at the pegasus as she reared back for another swing with the broom. Before she could get a chance to though it was grabbed away in a pink aura. “I would have to agree with the crazed pegasus. I don't need you making my work harder than it already is.” Before they could react, both the doctor and nurse were snatched up in the aura and flung into the nearby bathroom. Once the door slammed shut a chair was quickly wedged under the door followed by the spare bed and other furniture in the room being piled in front of it. Rainbow Dash watched in shock as this happened and was even more-so when a young filly walked into the room. “Whoa, uh, thanks for the I guess, but what is a filly like you doing here and why would you even do that though?” Rainbow Dash slowly climbed down from the ceiling, landing on her bed, which allowed the filly to approach. As the pegasus tried to clam down, the filly began running her hooves over her and muttered to herself. “Hmm, this looks bad, but I think I can work with it. Though...” The filly reach up and plucked a shriveling, black feather from the cyan mare's blackened wing, causing her to yelp in pain. “Ow! What the hay was that for!?” Angelic Chorus ignored her as she examined the feather. “Hmm, as I thought, the nerves are still working, but it's gotten into the roots. Oh well, I guess they'll just have to go.” Rainbow Dash's ears perked up at this and her pupils shrank to pinpricks. “Wait what!? You just said that you weren't going to... Wait, that magic..!? No! Not again! Anything but my wings!” The filly didn't give the mare a chance to flee as she wrapped her magic around the pegasus and kept her paralyzed as she focused on her wings. Rainbow Dash could only stare in helpless horror as she watched her wings begin to melt away before her eyes rolled back in her head as she fainted. <><><><><><><><><><> “Ugh, what happened?” Twilight shook her head as she awoke from her unconscious state. Her whole body ached, which reminded her of just what she had gone through before she had passed out, and who she was with. “Rarity! Spike!” Her head shot up as she looked around for the other two. She quickly spotted them a short distance away with Rarity facing away from her looking down at something in her hooves and Spike standing next to her. The young dragon slowly turned towards her with wide eyes and waved the alicorn over. “It... it's Rarity.. she...” Twilight's hoof came up to her mouth for a moment before she slowly made her was over to the two. As she neared, she noticed that Rarity was holding her silver mask in her hooves and it looked as if she was staring into her reflection in it. Lifting her hoof, Twilight was about to place it on her friend's shoulder when she suddenly turned to her. “T-twilight? I-it's gone!” The alicorn could only stare dumbfounded at the picture presented before her. Where once she remembered a blistered field of blackened skin, was now the pale pink-tone of healthy skin that the unicorn always had. Needless to say, the newly minted princess was confused as to what happened, especially with just what had attacked them. “But how?! I thought that that... thing got you. Why would something like that heal you? It just doesn't make any sense!” While Rarity was still in shock over her healed, if still slightly marred, appearance, Spike was still mostly aware of everything. “I don't know Twilight. After she finished swallowing whatever t hat stuff was she drained out of you she just shoved your magic back into you. Then she turned and went after Rarity. I tried to stop her but she just pinned my to the wall before using her magic to rip that black stuff off of Rarity and swallowed that as well. After that she just walked away further into the hospital.” Twilight was confused as to just what the objective of this creature she suspected as a necromancer was. Not only once, but twice now it had the chance to kill ponies that were helpless in the face of its powers, but both times it did something unexpected and even healed one of them. In fact she only then realized that the headache she had been suffering from was now gone, though she had trouble connecting to her magic still. “Oh my, is everypony all right in here? Twilight! Rarity! Did either of you see a little filly come through here and... Oh my! Rarity your face!” Twilight turned to the hospital entrance to see Fluttershy making her way in. She did a double-take as she only then remembered that the pegasus had been blinded due to her actions, yet now she seemed perfectly fine except for a familiar area of missing fur around her eyes. “Fluttershy!? But I thought...!? Wait, filly!? You mean that thing found you as well!? Does that mean your eyes are...” Fluttershy frowned at her friends wording, but slowly nodded as she lifted a hoof towards the one that was now red. “Well, I think it was the filly that did this. I didn't hear any other voices or feel anypony else at my home, and I fell asleep before my eyes were fixed.” Rubbing a hoof at the side of her head, Twilight tried to figure out just what the angle was of that creature in pony form. Suddenly her head shot up as she realized just what Spike had said about where it had gone. “Oh no! Rainbow Dash and Applejack! If its still here then it must be after them as well! Come on!” In a panic, Twilight took off towards Rainbow Dash's room followed at a slower pace by her friends. Yet when she arrived she found that things were once again not what she was expecting, and in fact was even better off than she had any right to believe. “I told you I'm fine! Now do something to fix this, will you!” Twilight wasn't sure how to react to finding Rainbow Dash completely unharmed while the doctor and nurse swarmed all over her wings. She knew she should be relieved that her friend still HAD her wings since she had heard about the plans to amputate, but a part of her almost wanted to laugh at the sight of the fur-less, plucked limbs that poked out from the cyan mare's body. <><><><><><><><><><> “Well one more to go before I have to worry about getting out of this town. Hopefully there aren't any more distractions to slow me down though, especially if what I've heard about her being the worst off is right.” With a sigh she pushed open the door to the final room and walked inside. Her hopes were dashed when she found herself face-to-face with an old, green mare staring her down, causing her to sigh once again as her eyes were stared into. The old mare hummed as she examined the filly before nodding her head. “Well it's about dang time ya showed up ta fix all this. Ah had been calling fer days so it's about time that ya got yer kiester here.” Whatever reaction the filly was expecting from the old mare, being shoved towards the bed containing the injured pony was not anywhere close to being on the list. She wasn't sure if the mare was senile or actually knew something about her, but she made on note to keep an eye on the mare as she felt something off about her now that she had a moment to focus on her. Still she glad that she didn't have to worry about her getting in the way as she examined the pony in the bed. At first glance, she had to wonder how the pony was even still alive. Her entire body had been blighted by the creature that had attacked the town except for a small area around her eyes and muzzle. On deeper examination she could sense that same feeling of off-ness she felt from the older mare, and deduced that they were related in some way. At the same time she could see that same web of connections that she had seen on the earlier mares and wondered how much of her survival was due to that. Looking up she let out a whinny of surprise when she found the old mare on the other side of the bed, leaning over the injured mare to look at her closely again. “Well? Ain't ya gonna work yer fancy mumbo jumbo magic and fix mah granddaughter or not? She don't got all night ya know.” Shaking her head to clear her head of the slight scare, the filly focused once more on the blighted mare before her. She had never seen a pony survive this much of an infection before so she knew it was going to take all of her concentration to make sure that every bit of it was removed. Granny Smith watched on as the filly's horn lit up in a pink aura before it slowly turned black as she focused on healing her granddaughter. With the filly's concentration off of her, the old mare shook her head sadly as she stroked a hoof over Applejack hat that was on the bed next to her. Suddenly her ears perked up as she heard the sound of galloping hooves heading towards the room and she sighed as she turned towards the door just as it burst open. “VILE FIEND! STAND DOWN OR BE-!” Princess Luna's entrance with the Royal Canterlot Voice was interrupted be a pillow striking her in the face as it was thrown by the old farm mare. “Settle down there ya loudmouthed old foghorn! Ah didn't go and chase all those quacks out of here just so that ya could interrupt just as mah granddaughter was finally getting the help she needed! Now sit down and wait yer turn.” Luna wasn't sure how to react to the old mare and glanced towards her sister who had entered the room behind her. Both Luna and Celestia were garbed in full armor that hadn't seen the light of day in centuries but had been pulled out as soon as they received word from Twilight about the necromancer. “Mrs. Smith, it is imperative that you let us-” Even Princess Celestia was cut off as the mare turned and shot a hard glare at them and spoke in a tone that brooked no argument. “Ah said, SIT!” Multiple thumps rang out around the room as all the ponies in hearing rapidly took a seat, from the princesses, to the four Bearers of Harmony that had followed behind them, to the filly standing next to Applejack even though the voice wasn't directed at her. Not many could withstand the voice of a parent or grandparent protecting their young, not even the princesses, though Celestia realized that there was something familiar about Granny Smith that was brought to light by her voice, something that she couldn't quite grasp. With them being thoroughly chastised, the group sat and watched as the necromancer worked her magic over Applejack, though many of them itched to stop her. Yet before their eyes, the black blight started to draw away from the downed mare into a ball between her and the filly. With wide eyes they watched as the one they thought as an enemy put forth all of her effort to heal their dear friend and they had no clue as to why. Soon Applejack lay in the bed, peacefully slumbering, completely nude as not a bit of fur or hair remained on her barring what was untouched by the blight. Several gasps rang out, as well as two pairs of narrowed eyes, as the filly's mouth opened and the ball of blight was placed into it and she swallowed. Once again Angelic Chorus saw the scene which caused Applejack's injuries, but at the end of it came a voice. “Everything shall be done as you ordered Lord-” The group watched the filly as the blight light faded from her eyes and she just sat there. Suddenly they heard a growling from the cloak-draped filly as she raised her head to the sky. “That's it?! All of this and that is all I find out?! Lord who?! Of all the-!” What followed next was one of the longest streams of cursing that most of them had ever heard, with four sets of hooves darting to cover Spike's ears. Even the two princesses had to be impressed as many of the swears had not been used in centuries, some even from far before Luna had been banished as Nightmare Moon. After looking over her granddaughter to make sure everything was in place, as well as covering her with a blanket, Granny Smith turned to the filly with a huff. “Now cut that out ya little whippersnapper! Don't ya see that ya have important guests waiting fer ya?” The filly turned to glare at the old mare, nose flaring, before looking over at the ponies she had missed entering the room. On spotting the Solar Princess she just snorted in her direction. “Oh great, the Hypocrite Princess is here. What? Finally got tired of letting somepony interfere with the plans of your precious pet necromancer in your city?” The pure bile in her tone surprised the ponies, though the challenge in her voice was quickly answered. “Hey! Who are you to talk about the princess like that!?” Rainbow Dash made to charge forward, looking comical with her chicken wings, but was stopped by a raised wing of Celestia. “Explain yourself, necromancer! I will have you know that I do not condone any of your kind to exist, yet for your actions today I will give you one chance to explain yourself!” The filly's look of disdain morphed to one of disgust at the princesses words. “What? You didn't know that the one that murdered my home town lives right under your nose?! Are you that blind?! The town that not even days later you burnt to the ground?! You didn't even leave so much as a grave to remember them by, you just forgot that they even existed! My mother, Crystal Song! My father, Evening Light! My-” Once again she was cut off, but this time by this youngest princess. “What are you talking about, Princess Celestia would never do anything like that! It has to be a-” Twilight gave pause as she noticed that her mentor was mumbling something and paused to listen in. What she heard was a list of names that meant nothing to her. “Iron Hooves, Morningstar, Holly Wood, Petunia, Evening Rose...” As the list continued on and on, tears began to fill the filly's eyes as she recognized each and every one of them as friends and neighbors. Years of pain and loss began to catch up to her as all of the strength went out of her legs and she collapsed to the ground. Eventually, after hundreds of names, Celestia finally came to the end. “...and Angelic Chorus... That is you is it not? I remember the name of every pony that I failed to save as I sought to stomp out the vile art that claimed their lives. But how is it you are still alive? Sunnydale has been gone for over five hundred years?” Her question was met with gasps as all eyes focused on the filly who looked no older than the Cutie Mark Crusaders yet was somehow older than all of the Element Bearers combined, three times that even. By this time the filly's sobs had quieted as she listened to the litany of names, each one bringing up a treasured memory. At the question, she slowly collected herself. “He came and rescued me minutes before your sun burned down, turning my home into yet another piece of the Badlands. Your ponies never found my hideaway where I was hidden, yet he managed to. Everything I know, I learned from him, all so I could hunt down the one that started it all and did this to me.” With a shaky hoof, the mare threw her cloak off of herself, revealing her form to the mares who gasped in horror, barring the eldest three who looked on in pity. While much of her front half had healed back to it's usual purple color, as well as her mane and tail to their silver and gold, the rest of her was still blackened with blight. Twilight could only stare on in shock at what she was seeing, and to a filly no less, in form if not in reality. Something about how the necromancer's rear half was twisted bothered her though. Princess Celestia on spared all this a glance as something else caught her attention. “Who is this 'He' that you refer to? Necromancy has been outlawed for centuries and there should be none left that can teach it. So how did 'he' teach you a forbidden and lost branch of magic?” The filly only glanced up at the princess with tired eyes before shaking her head. “That I shall not say as he told me that I was not to tell you his name.” This answer irritated the princess as she stood up and stomped a hoof, causing a spiderweb of cracks in the floor. “Do not give me that! As the Princess of the Sun, I demand to know who taught you!” The filly only raised an eyebrow at her. “I don't answer to you princess, but to a higher power. If you want to know, I will not deny you if you truly want to know but you will come to regret it if I answer.” Her words should have been a warning, but instead angered the solar princess even more as heat began to be emitted from her body, pushing the ponies around her back. “Tell. Me. Who. He. Is.” The filly's smirk only grew as she looked between the two princesses. “Don't say that I didn't warn you princess. His name is __________” The non-alicorns looked at her in confusion as it sounded like her voice just cut off, while Twilight rubbed at her ear for a different confused reason. All of that paled in comparison as Princess Celestia, Ruler of Equestria and one of the longest lived creatures on the planet paled in absolute terror, even her mane going completely white. Everything she was feeling was summed up in her next two words. “Buck. Me.” Author's Note No, that is not a typo for the name. That will be explained next chapter where things start to go a bit off the deep end. While every idea may not one that should be used, my mind just doesn't care and anything and everything goes in this story. Of course it will at least make a semblance of sense, so don't expect me to go all FLCL or Bobobo on this. Let's just say my mind took a few interesting directions when it came to brainstorming ideas for this, and boy are some of the loony. Chapter 5Author's Note Welp, there goes the neighborhood. The craziness begins. Chapter 5 “Uh, Princess? What did she just say that has ya so worried? Ah couldn't hear what she said for some reason.” Applejack rubbed at her ear as she looked at Princess Celestia as she stood frozen in place and completely pale. All the other younger mare's were doing much the same, though Twilight was mouthing something to herself. Even Luna was partially in shock as her mouth had dropped open, but her eyes showed that she was more excited than terrified which was shown when she started speaking. “We can not believe it. That name, how does she know it? Does that mean that-?” She was cut of from saying the name as Celestia sprang into action and shoved a hoof into her mouth. “Don't say it!? He can't get us if we don't say his name!” Luna looked at her sister in annoyance while the others mares watched on in confusion. Those that knew the princess could see that she was shaken as she was using contractions instead of her usual proper form of speech. Twilight was shaken out of her own musing on hearing her mentor's slip and decided to voice herself. “Um, princess? Just who is this _______ pony anyways? Not only that, what language is that and how do I even know it?” The solar princess froze up before her head slowly turned towards the purple alicorn, making a strange creaking sound. Twilight winced at the wild look on her mentor's face as well as the creepy smile. “Twilight, why? Why must you betray me like this?” The purple alicorn reared back at the accusation, her eyes wide and darting around at the others. “What?! What did I do?! Whatever it was I didn't mean to!” Princess Celestia didn't pay any attention to the now panicking purple princess as she paced around in front of the other ponies. “Wait, maybe he didn't hear her! That's it his deal was only with us, not them so there's no way that he could have heard her.” The heads of the onlooking ponies, barring the freaked out librarian, followed along with her pacing, before they stopped in shock as something appeared out of nowhere behind her. They all thought they were imagining him until they noticed him tickling Celestia's ear with a wing, causing it to twitch in annoyance. It was only then that they noticed that the silver figure was not only taller than the sun princess, but also an alicorn as well. Yet unlike the two older alicorns, his mane and tail were bone white and didn't have a spectral appearance and was instead looked to be just barely combed being much like how Rainbow Dash's mane and tail were but a bit neater. “Yes! That must be it! Only me and my sister can call him and allow him into Equestria, that was the deal! That means we are completely and utterly safe from him and there is no way that he can be here.” The stallion leaned his head over to the mentally disturbed princess until his head was next to her ear. “Oh, I don't know about that. I mean we did agree on the word princess, and not you or Lulu specifically.” The princess froze up at the tenor voice that spoke into her ear before tilting her head upwards until she was looking into the deep gray eyes behind her. Letting out a whinny of fright she scrambled away before turning to get a clear look at who it was and, upon seeing who it was, tried to compose herself though her voice still wavered. “_______, you're here. How great to see you after all this time. I'm afraid you'll have to excuse me I have a very important meeting that I have to get to so bye!” Princess Celestia attempted to leave the room but before she could reach it the door slammed shut in front of her. She froze in place for a moment before lighting up her horn, but that moment was long enough for her to be caught be the stallion as he slung a foreleg around the back of her neck. “Why the rush, Celly? We haven't seen each other in a very long time. I mean it's not like you agreed to call me whenever something major came up and you needed the help. I'm sure that banishing little Lulu was the only option that you had, right?” The princess' eyes darted around, looking for an escape path as she was pulled closer to the stallion. “That isn't the only incident either. There was Sombra, and Discord and a whole bunch of others that you could have called me to help with, yet you didn't and they eventually came back once again since you didn't deal with them well enough. So what do you think I'm going to do to you now?” Everyone's eyes widened at those words, Celestia's more than the others. Before any of them could react the stallion's other hoof came up and started roughly rubbing at her head, causing her to begin flailing her hooves. “No! Stop! Not the noogies! Stop touching me! I am the sun!” The younger ponies stared dumbfounded at what was going on while Luna's eyes started to tear up. Granny Smith herself stood off to the side with a smile as she watched the alicorns interact. “What the buck is going on!? Just who is this stallion!?” There was no direct answer to Rainbow Dash's question, but it was answered all the same as Luna bounded forward with a yell before pouncing onto the two. “Big Brother! We have missed you!” Jaws dropped at the moon princess' exclamation. “Brother!?” The chorus of yells caused the three tussling alicorns to stop and look over at the younger ponies. The stallion blinked at them before lifting a hoof. “Ahh, just one moment. I still have my other sister to deal with then I'll be right with you.” Luna blinked before looking at her brother with worry. The stallion tossed his other foreleg around her neck to prevent her from running as he began to speak. “No you aren't getting off easy little Lulu. When your sister ignored you you could have called on me instead of trying to kill everyone in the world. I almost had to step in myself in an official capacity, but luckily for you your punishment was already chosen for you.” Luna gulped audibly at her brother mentioning having to show up professionally but she looked confused about the latter part. Her eyes widened when his horn lit up before she was partially blinded by it flashing, leaving her feeling off. “Wh-what did you do to me?” Luna tilted her head as she registered the sound of her own voice before her hooves darted up to her throat. “Mirror! I need a mirror!” The watching mares only nodded in shock as Rarity levitated over a nearby mirror in front of the princess. Her mouth dropped open in shock as she beheld the image before her. Gone was her regal stature and flowing mane to be replaced with the view she had seen after she had been cleansed of the effects of Nightmare Moon. In fact she was no taller than Twilight was at this moment and she lifted a hoof up towards her limp mane before turning towards her brother with a pout. “Oh come on! Do you know how long it took for me to get that illusion to work!?” Luna lit her horn up for a moment before frowning and stomping her hoof. “Oh come on! I can't even put it back up?” As she glared at her brother he just smirked before ruffling at her mane. “Now Lulu, you should know better than to try and get out of your punishments. You know we agreed not to do that anymore. Besides, you look cute like this, little Loony.” The blue princess frowned at her brother before she leapt at him with a growl. The elder alicorn only smirked as he lifted a hoof to her forehead and held her back as Luna windmilled her front hoofs at him as she yelled in anger at him. “Hold it! Just what the buck is going on here?! Who is this stallion and how does he even know the princesses?! And why can't we hear his name?!” Rainbow Dash stomped aggressively towards the male alicorn with her wings spread aggressively. Celestia just sighed before speaking in the most deadpan voice possible. “Everypony, this is our elder brother, _______. _______, this is everypony, you can go away now.” The sun princess' dry tone caused a few eyebrows to rise, though the ponies with siblings could tell that they really were related as the could recognize the response as they had done it at one time or other. The stallion just chuckled as he ruffled his sister's mane with a wing. “Oh Celly, you're so silly. That's not how you do an introduction. You know that Aspects can't hear our true names unless it is gifted to them. Besides, I have a new name I go by now.” The stallion cleared his throat before flinging his wings wide, knocking his sisters back to the walls. “Behold! For before you the One Who Watches! The One Who Guides Lost Souls to the Afterlife! The Alicorn of Death! For I am-!” For as impressive as his introduction was, it was easily interrupted as a pair of pony projectiles plowed through the portcullis of the room and pounced the proud pegacorn. “Grandpa Morty!” “What!? No!? That's not my name, it's-!” The stallion was stopped again by a green hoof covering his muzzle and he looked down into the eyes of Granny Smith. “Ah just let them have this sweetie. Ya know that our foals could never say yer name so why even bother trying ta stop them?” The stallion pouted before the old mare pulled his head down and planted a deep kiss on his lips. Jaws all around the room dropped at the sight of the two snogging and when they stopped the stallion just sighed. “But just once I want to use the name I picked. It took me months to come up with Manchioneel Apple.” The stallion pouted for a moment more before sighing and looking down at the two limpets attached to his legs. One of them he recognized easily enough, but the other was familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. “Well, hello to you little Applebloom. My have you grown. But you? You I don't remember at all.” The pink pony attached to his leg looked up at him with a giant smile. “Of course not silly. This is the first time we've met. But my Granny Pie used to tell me stories about my great great great great...” This continued on for a while, causing his eyes to glaze over. “... great great grandfather who was an alicorn that just abandoned his daughter when she married into the Pie family.” The stallion frowned for a moment before a memory came to him causing him to wince and look at Granny Smith. “My little sweet apple pie? You remember our third daughter, right? Apple Dumpling? Well, Apple Pie after she left us.” Granny Smith looked thoughtful for a moment before her eyes widened. “Wait. Ya mean tha one that married that Discordian fella? Aye, ah still regret not talking ta her after she left with that odd fella.” She stopped as her eyes widened in realization as she looked at the pink baker pony wrapped around the stallion's leg. “Wait, wait, wait! You?! And her?! When did this happen?!” The two looked over at Celestia as she stared at them in confusion. While the stallion was amused at her look, the green mare just sighed and shook her head in realization. “Well ah guess tha cat is outta tha bag. Just give me a moment.” Jaws dropped once more as the earth pony closed her eyes and started to glow. The years began to melt away from Granny Smith as her wrinkles started to smooth away and her mane began to brighten to a pale yellow. Soon the transformation had finished, leaving her looking not much older than any of the other ponies. Once the glow faded, Celestia turned a glare on her brother as she now recognized the mare as one she had met a long time ago. “You have a lot of explaining to do, buster! I can't believe that I didn't recognize her before, but she is the exact same pony that is the daughter of the one I gifted the land of Ponyville to in the past! The only way she could still be alive is if you had something to do with this and you know the rules regarding the abuse of an Aspects talents!” The stallion just snorted as he draped a wing over the mare. “Oh fie on the rules! There was no way I was going to let my wife just die on me if I had anything to say about it and I will defy the universe itself if I had to to keep her by my side.” Granny Smith reached up to rest a hoof on his cheek which calmed him down before he could go on further with his rant before she turned to the princess. “Ah don't get why yer so angry at yer brother. Ah heard about tha rules from him and ah don't see how he is breaking them. Death eventually claims all. That was tha rule. Well he certainly has done that, hasn't he?” The silver alicorn smiles fondly down at his wife. “Don't you mean that it was you that claimed me? I seem to recall that you were the one that held me down that first time.” Granny Smith's face turned bright red at that before she buried her face under his wing and kicking him in the ankle. The other mares soon joined in as what he said fully registered with them while he laughed at the reaction. The only one that didn't understand the comment was still attached to his leg and looked up at him curiously. “Grandpa? Why is everypony blushing like that? And if you're here does that mean that Applejack is gonna get all better now?” Looking down, the stallion ruffled his daughter's mane with a smile. “You'll understand when you are older. As for your sister, why don't you ask her yourself?” The stallion waved a wing over to the bed-ridden mare to reveal that the mostly bald mare was moving. “Ugh, what the hay hit me?” As she rubbed at her head her eyes opened to find the area around her hoof bare of fur. Quickly examining her body, she found the rest of her body was bare as well. “What the?! Who the buck shaved me when ah was asleep?!” The farm mare looked up and her eyes locked on to Rainbow Dash at the foot of her bed. Her eyes quickly narrowed at the cyan mare as her mind connected the few clues that she had. “Rainbow Dash! This had better not be-!” She was cut off as she was pounced by her friends and her sister when they shook off their surprise. “Applejack! You're okay!” The farm mare looked confused at first before her memory caught up with her at what last happened before she woke up. Her eyes darted around at her friends and took in the bald patches each of them had where she remembered seeing them get hit. “Wait just a moment. What about you all? Fluttershy! Your eyes! They're back! But I thought...” The pegasus winced at the memory but didn't let go of her hug. “It was nothing really, a filly came to help out and helped everypony. You were the last one that was hurt.” It was only then that they all remembered the reason why they were all in the room in the first place and started looking around for her. The apple patron raised an eyebrow at this as he was only there as he heard his name twice, he ignored the first as it was in Equestria and not from a princess, yet thinking back the voice sounded familiar. They quickly found the filly when their attention was drawn towards the window by Pinkie Pie's voice. “So whatcha doing?” Looking over they found Pinkie standing behind the filly as she was trying to open the window of the room. Eyes narrowed as they focused on the filly, or more specifically her saddlebags which were bulging with a variety of objects that were obviously from storage areas of the room as blankets and toilet paper were sticking out of the bulging bags. “I'm *grunt* trying to open *hrph* this window.” Pinkie tilted her head to the side while looking at the filly. “Why?” “Because I'm trying to get outside without being noticed.” “Why?” “Because the faster I get out of here the longer it takes for the inevitable pitchfork wielding mob to find me, stupid ungrateful ponies. Clear their homes of corruption, save their lives, and what do they do? Attack me as soon as they no longer need me. Ungrateful little whelps.” The filly pauses in her efforts to open the window as she realizes something. “And just why am I telling you all of this anyways? What are...?” She whips around to find herself face-to-face with a pink pony that she had never met before. She frowned in confusion at the pitying look the mare was giving her before the mare just smiled. “Okie doki loki!” With that the mare bounced off to elsewhere in the room, allowing the filly to see the rest of the room. She froze up when she saw that the entire room was staring at her, before turning to begin beating on the window with her hooves, dropping any sense of stealth she had earlier. She let out a squeak of panic when she felt a wing placed over her back. “I thought the first voice to call my name was familiar. So how have you been, my diminutive student? And did you think that I would show up without making sure my sister wouldn't be able to run away?” The alicorn smirked down at the unicorn as she stood frozen in place. The voice got through to her though, causing her to start growling before she smacked the wing with a hoof. “Don't touch me! And how many times do I have to tell you not to call me that!? I left you behind since there was nothing else you could teach me. I only kept in contact with you because you just would not leave me alone!” Princess Celestia rolled her eyes at her words and muttered over to her sister. “I know that feeling.” The alicorn stallion just ignored her and started ruffling at her mane, causing her to flail her hooves wildly at him. The rest of the group looked on in confusion before one of them finally lost her patience. “Just what the buck is going on here!? I know I've already asked, but seriously, what the buck? Who is this filly and why is she stealing from the hospital of all places now? And how in Tartarus does she know how to fix what that creature did to us!?” The other mares nodded at Rainbow Dash's words, but they looked offended when the filly snorted at them in derision. “I didn't steal anything. This is payment. What, you think that ponies would actually give me bits or anything for helping them? Or even allow me into their stores to buy stuff even if they did pay me? The only bits I have are ones that I scammed out of those incompetent Royal Guard ponies, and that was many decades ago.” Celestia frowned at this, causing her to join in on the conversation. “What do you mean by that? The Royal Guard are some of the best trained ponies in all of Equestria.” The filly wasn't the only one to roll her eyes at this claim, as both of the other older alicorns and Rainbow Dash joined in as well.” “Seriously? If that's the best there is then I have to wonder how this country even exists. A group of your guards snatched me up years ago to take me to an orphanage. So in order to escape I animated some of the animal skeletons under the ground nearby. The idiots then tried to hunt down an unknown necromancer while trying to defend me, even though my horn was glowing black. After a while I got bored and just walked away. A week later I found wanted posters all over searching for a necromancer with me as a foalnap victim. So out of boredom I turned myself in for both, collected the rewards, then walked right out of the outpost with the sack of bits.” While Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie burst out laughing, the four alicorns just brought a hoof up to their face at this. “I am going to have to go through all those old reports and see how many of them were because of you, aren't I?” None of them said anything to Celestia, but some of them agreed with her and wondered just how much trouble this filly was going to be. She had stopped struggling in the stallion's grip and just sat there grumpily as he poked at her. All heads turned when the door opened one more time, revealing three small figures on the other side. “Whoa! What did we all miss?” Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo pushed by Spike when they saw their sisters in the room. They made a fuss of their shaved features, but were relieved to find that they had been healed of their injuries and would recover. With them all distracted once again by the trio, Angelic Chorus would have attempted to escape again, yet her eyes were drawn to one of the new figures. Scootaloo flinched when she felt a hoof rubbing between her wings, and when she looked back she found an unknown filly poking at her. “What they hay are you doing?” The unicorn ignored her as she continued to prod at her back. Frowning in concern, Angelic Chorus looked over at the grown mares. “This is odd, this is a very old injury, and I think I can feel that a bit of faded necromantic magic is part of the cause. How come you never took your daughter to have this checked out? Not that they could have helped much.” Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo exchanged looks before the older pony looked at the filly in confusion. “Um, what? She's just an adopted sister, not my daughter. And what's wrong with her wings?” The unicorn filly raised an eye brow at her before shaking her head. “Not you, her. Their magical frequencies line up perfectly.” All eyes follow the filly's hoof until they land on the surprised and confused figure of Twilight Sparkle. “WHAT!?” Chapter 6Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.Chapter 7The orange filly paced back and forth in front of her home, debating with herself. She had been left with her aunt since she could remember and had trusted her in many things. Sure she had told her little fibs over that time, yet never had there been one that had made her feel as betrayed as this one. Scootaloo wasn't alone in her thoughts, though she didn't know it, as she was being watched from a distance by a princess. Normally she would have moved to ask the filly what was wrong, but after what she had heard recently she was unsure of herself. It was a feeling that she was rather uncomfortable with, though one she had started feeling more and more often in recent times. The current situation was even worse for her as it brought up two of her more recent and greatest failures, and if they were right, one of them was right behind the door the filly was by. “Well, not getting any answers out here.” The pegasus filly sighed as she pushed the door open and entered her home. Celestia, after making sure nobody was watching, slowly made her way over to the front of the building and waited while listening in. Holiday Heights looked up from her needlework as she heard the door to her home close. She already knew that her wife, Lofty Heights, was in the kitchen so there was only one pony that should be entering without knocking, but she wasn't expecting Scootaloo to be home from being out playing with her friends for another couple hours. Leaning over to look behind her chair and around the corner into the entry hall she saw her niece nervously rocking back and forth on her hooves as she looked between the stairs and door to the kitchen. “Scootaloo, sweetie? Is there something wrong?” The filly jerked in place as if shocked as she looked over to see the green-coated earth pony mare looking at her with worry on her face. Seeing that it was the more understanding of her two aunts, the young pegasus calmed down before looking at the ground again. “No, um, I mean maybe. Do you know where Auntie Lofty is? I need to ask her something about my mother. My real mother.” The earth pony looked at her niece for a moment before she lifted a hoof up to rub at her temple. She had told her life-mate that it was a bad idea to lie to her niece, but her issues with her family were... complicated. With a sigh, she looked out towards the kitchen. “Lofty, dear? Can you come here, please?” There was some rattling around in the kitchen before a pale orange pegasus mare peeked out through the doorway connecting the rooms. Seeing her wife and niece she frowned with worry, especially on seeing the younger filly's face. “Is something the matter? Did something happen to Scootaloo?” The filly watched as her aunt approached, shuffling her hooves around nervously. The elder pegasus' ear twitched as Scootaloo muttered something, causing her to frown. “What was that? You'll need to speak up a bit.” Scootaloo frowned as she turned away from her aunt, leaving her confused. The young pegasus scrunched up her face as she gathered her courage before speaking once more. “Why did you lie to me about my mom?” While her voice was still rather quiet, the ears of a pegasus were rather sensitive so as to hear others speaking as they flew in high winds. So while low, her voice was still enough for her aunt to hear as she stared at her blankly. A knocking at the front door knocked her out of her daze, causing her to laugh nervously as she moved to answer it. “What are you talking about Scootaloo? Why would I lie to you about your parents? That's just ridiculous, hehehe.” Lofty opened the door with her head turned back to the living room entry so she didn't see who it was at first. As soon as she looked though she froze up in shock. The next thing the rest of the household knew the door was closed with a slam and they saw the mare march past them as she stomped her way back to the kitchen. Holiday sighed as she watched her wife stomp away and left her seat to see just who it was that incited the pegasus' temper. She expected to find a salespony or someone else that her wife didn't like outside of her door, but to find Princess Celestia rubbing her reddened nose was the last thing she had expected. Frowning at the sight, she looked back over her shoulder towards the kitchen where she heard pots and pans rattling around violently. “Holiday! Just what do you think you are doing slamming the door in the princess' muzzle?! I am so sorry about that Princess Celestia, I have no idea what has gotten into her. Please, come in.” Celestia waved a hoof at the mare as she lowered it from her nose. “Thank you, and please, do not worry about your wife's reaction. I should have expected it when I suspected that she may have been here.” The earth pony glanced at the alicorn in confusion as she leads her into the living room of their home. As the alicorn entered the room, growling could be heard from the nearby doorway leading to the kitchen. “I am so sorry for her behavior, princess. My wife is usually a kind pony and I just don't know what has gotten into her today.” A loud noise outside grabbed her attention before she could say more, which was quickly followed by another knock on the door. The growl in the kitchen turned into slamming as the pegasus mare threw down what she was working with and stomped back out into sight. “Don't go apologizing for what I did! That old nag deserved it after what she did! In fact, I told her to stay away from me and my family or else I would do much worse but I guess she just doesn't care, like usual. Now, who else is showing up to ruin my day?!” Scootaloo and Holiday looked shocked at Lofty's words, while Celestia could only look hurt as well as guilty. The angry mare grumbled under her breath at how the day had been going and let her anger flow into her actions as she threw open the door. “What do you want!?” Her anger kept her from recognizing who she was looking at, though she found the situation before her odd. On one side was a purple alicorn which she remembered to be Twilight Sparkle, yet gripped in her mouth was the ear of an orange unicorn. While the red and yellow mane seemed familiar to her, it wasn't until the mare broke free and saw her bright green eyes that she recognized her, causing her to freeze up. “Um, hey sis. Long time no see?” Sunset Shimmer rubbed at her abused ear while shooting a glare over at Twilight. She was still trying to wrap her head around how she could have forgotten that she had a child so she didn't need the additional abuse from her friend, even if she was the sire of said child. Looking back to her sister she flinched as her vision became filled with orange and she found herself flat on her side with a pounding headache. Twilight's jaw dropped at the sight before her as the pegasus glared down at her sister. “Long time no see? Long time no see?! You're gone for years leaving your daughter behind and that's the first thing you say?!” The downed mare shook her head as she brought a hoof up to dab at her mouth, finding blood on it as she pulled it away. Shaking her head she unsteadily got back onto her hooves. “Right, I expected that to happen.” As she said that, she was once again knocked to the ground as she was tackled by the pegasus. She winced, expecting more blows to fall, but her eyes widened when she heard sniffling and looked down to see her sister crying against her. A sad smile came over Sunset's face as she slowly reached down to hug her sister, one whom she had not seen in years. While the two would have been content to sit there and bask in the presence of each other, a shout from the nearby home caused their eyes to shoot open in horror. “My Little Sunny Bunny!” A pastel rainbow streaked out of the door to crash into the two hugging ponies sending them back a few feet into the ground. As the dust cleared, Princess Celestia could be seen wrapping the two up in a giant wing-hug and attempting to squeeze the two ponies into one as far as any observer could see. The two smaller ponies began to turn blue when Holiday came out and cleared her throat to get everybody's attention. “I really hope that this is all that is going to show as it will be cramped inside as it is. Might as well continue this reunion inside, Scootaloo is bringing tea and snack cakes out into the living room.” The solar princess looked up at the mare in the doorway before glancing down at the two she was holding, who were turning blue at that point, and levitated them both onto her back. The two looked as if they wanted to protest the treatment, but seeing the alicorn act like she was they just sighed and grumbled quietly to each other over it. Soon the group was settled down in the home of the married mares with Sunset Shimmer Sandwiched between her sister and the princess with the alicorn's wing wrapped behind them both. Across from them were Holiday and Twilight, with Scootaloo squeezing in between them once she had set a plate of sandwiches in the middle, and a cup of tea in front of them all. The sole earth pony of the group looked around at the others before her eyes settled on the princess and how she was acting. “Now that everypony seems to have calmed down, we can settle this all like civilized ponies. I believe that I know some of what is going on, but I'm not sure why you are here Princess Twilight. Maybe you should start since you seem to know something about what is going on.” Twilight glared at Sunset, causing her to flinch before she looked down at Scootaloo sadly. “Well earlier I just found out that Scootaloo is my daughter and I want to know just why Sunset never told me about her. It has been years since we first met, yet even after we became friends she said nothing about her to me! I don't even know what I'm supposed to do about all of this, I never expected to find out that I had a child this early in life!” Scootaloo winced at Twilight's words before looking across to the unicorn mare that she didn't recognize. It was only then that she realized just who the unfamiliar unicorn was, causing her eyes to tear up. A thought ran through her head and she didn't realize that she spoke it aloud until her aunt looked down at her in confusion. “Scootaloo? What did you just say?” The filly winced as she hadn't intended to say anything, but she had been thinking it so hard that it just slipped out. With a sigh, she summoned up her courage before repeating what she said a bit louder. “Why did you leave me? Was I really that unwanted that even your sister had to lie about you?” The two sisters flinched as if struck by her words before looking downcast. Celestia frowned sadly as she looked down at the two, seeing her own failings being passed on to her adopted daughters. Sunset Shimmer looked at her daughter, and for the first time truly looked at her, and felt a surge of regret leaving her with only claiming the blunt and honest truth. “If you had asked if I wanted you now, I would be terrified but would have stayed with you. Back then though... I was nothing short of a selfish monster back then. Everything I did was for myself and nobody else, I didn't even have any friends, thinking they would just drag me down. I originally planned to humiliate Twilight so that she would run away leaving Celestia all to myself again, but something went wrong with the spell and I became pregnant with you. Because of that I instead drew even further away from everyone and hid from the world until you were born. When I first saw you I was so terrified that I left you with my sister and ran away to another world where I did many nasty things until Twilight came and stopped me from trying to take over Equestria. Through all of that, I was so focused on what I wanted that I forgot everything else until Twilight reminded me of you and I had to come back and try to make things right if there even is a way to or if I even deserve to do so.” All attention was on Sunset as she spoke of her past, pain filling her voice. Both Celestia and her sister pressed in closer to her as she spoke, while Twilight looked on her with sadness, knowing only part of the story yet happy that she had been able to help her. Still, even though she was saddened by her sister's words Lofty just had to add her own two bits to it. “Monster? That fall short with how often you were tossing nobles out the palace windows. You got even worse after a certain princess started ignoring you, and you became a true terror after Twilight became her latest student. You actually were starting to become bearable again before you dumped your daughter on me and disappeared. It's why I never told Scootaloo anything about you.” Both the alicorn and unicorn winced at the blunt words of the pegasus, though neither could deny them. Even Scootaloo winced at her aunt's words, even though she was still unsure of how she felt about seeing her mother after all this time. Sunset sighed as she looked down at her hooves, not being able to bring herself to look directly at the filly. “Still, after Twilight defeated me, I have done my best to turn my life around. I have friends now, and I've been doing everything I can to make up for my actions. It hasn't been easy, especially when I tried to forget about all the things I did, but I have been making progress. It wasn't until she messaged me earlier today that I even remembered about you and if there is anything I can do to make it up to you just tell me.” The room was silent as they looked between Sunset and Scootaloo, waiting on the filly's reaction. The young pegasus, for her part, only looked blankly at the older unicorn before she just stood up and started walking to the stairs out in the hall. “Scoots? Where are you going?” The filly paused at the bottom step as she looked over to her aunt Holiday. “I'm going to my room. I... I just don't know how I feel about all of this and I need some time to think... alone.” She steadily climbed the stairs, before she was halted once again, though this time by Twilight speaking up. “Um Scootaloo, it may not mean much, especially since I just found out today, but I really wouldn't mind getting to know you more. I definitely know that my parents would want to meet you as well. Anyways, if you ever need a place to stay there will always be a permanent room for you at my castle. You can even customize it in whatever manner you want.” Scootaloo just looked at the young alicorn blankly for a moment before a sad smile appeared on her face. “I'll think about that, too.” To tell the truth, out of all the things that the filly had learned that day, her being related to Twilight was one of the few positives, though she'd rather it was Rainbow Dash. Leaving the sight of who were all apparently her family, the young pegasus soon made it to her room and flopped onto her bed. As she was about to scream into her pillow, she paused as she realized just what had gone through her head a moment ago. “Wait, I'm related to all of the princesses? How has that gone secret for all this time? And how am I...?” She shook her head as she realized that this was all too much for her to deal with on her own. Lifting her head off of her pillow she looked towards her window and in the direction of the CMC clubhouse and her friends. Author's Note Boo-ba-doo-ba-doop
PrologueAuthor's Note Well here goes my latest attempt to drain my mind of the mental sewage that is fanfiction. Mostly just a teaser and starting point, but isn't that what the prologue is for? Expect more information in the next chapter whenever that one decides to come out. Such as actual names, even if one is already spoiled. Suggestions and ideas are welcome though. Prologue Silence reigned over the village as the sun drifted towards the horizon. Where once was a bustling community, now only ruins remained. A lone figure plodded through the streets as he examined the crumbling buildings, still warm from the fires used to purge the town of the corruption that had once ran rampant. The cloaked figure placed a hoof against the door frame of what was once the town hall and sighed at the devastation. Lifting his head a silver glow emerged from his cowl, revealing the presence of a horn, as he cast a spell over the area. A globe of pure silver spread from his location, and as it pass ghostly images began to form. Soon the entire town was once again alive, the spectral forms of ponies moving through the streets as if it was a normal day. That was not to be as the transparent forms began to rear back as if in a panic before a red wave passed over them, distorting their forms as the collapsed to the ground unmoving. As the bodies began to shrivel up the cloaked figure shook his head and canceled his spell. He moved in the direction the the red wave had come from in search of the source of the catastrophe he had just witnessed. As he paced along, the damage got worse and worse as the scars of flame were joined by clumps of a black, tar-like substance which had managed to escape the flames. The stallion wrinkled his nose as he passed the clumps, the stench enough to drive even the most iron-stomached of ponies sick. Coming upon what he assumed was a tavern, judging by the partially burned sign showing a mug of some variety, he found that the entire building had been leveled and set to the torch. In the center, around where the main hall used to stand, he found a seething mass of the black substance that was slowly succumbing to the flames. Lifting a hoof, the stallion presses it against the side of the mound, causing it to melt away leaving a pale object behind. “As I feared. What I had thought lost to time still has a hold on this world.” The stallion lifted the object in his hoof, revealing it to be a unicorn skull engraved with runes over every visible surface. Bouncing it in his hoof he noticed an odd weight to it and dropped it to the ground before smashing it open with his hoof. Inside was a still beating, black heart which was the source of the massacre that had happened here. “It is sad that something has brought the Blight back into the world again. To pervert that which they have no understanding of. Death is not a toy to be meddled with like some foal in a candy shop. It is to be respected for what it is, and those with mastery over its ways should know what it truly means to know death.” The stallion shook his head sadly as he lit his horn and sent a cool wave of magic into the heart, slowly evaporating it as it was removed from existence. Heading outside the stallion turned his head left and right as he surveyed the damage caused and tried to determine the secondary cause of the devastation. Lowering his head he sniffed at a hoofprint on the ground and frowned. “Hmm, standard issue, royal guard greaves. Judging by the depth and imperfections of the imprint, most likely and earth pony or a unicorn burdened with some weight. It appears to be leading... that way.” Turning off towards an alley the stallion follows the tracks until he detects a malodorous stench in the air. Following it it came to the source and looked on it sadly. “So it begins again.” Bodies. Bodies of ponies, blackened by the flames that had consumed them were piled in a mass grave just outside of the town. Young, old. It mattered not, all were treated the same as those that came to clear the town did what they could to erase the blighted threat. Even after the purifying flames had consumed them, there were still traces of the blight that had twisted their bodies into horrible shapes as they painfully died. “So many lost, yet how many survived? How many more shall fall to the twisted creature that is responsible for this travesty? Must I return to the world once more?” Looking over the grave he eventually sighed as he turned away and started to walk towards the horizon, knowing what would happen before the sun fully set. Yet something kept him from leaving just yet. A feeling that spoke to him from his very soul in a way that he had not felt in a long, long time. Reaching down within himself, he felt a faint pull in the direction of the village. It took him a moment, but he soon came to realize just what it was that he felt, the faint pulse of life. Curious as to what could still be alive in the blighted place, he broke out into a gallop as he had little time to spare. He sped through the town, ignoring the wreckage as he homed in on the source of the feeling inside of him. He soon came to a small cluster of buildings, but as he was about to enter he heard a quiet cry from behind a stack of crates. Moving over to them he used his magic to lift them out of the way and found a hidden alley hidden behind them. Looking closely at the ground he found many hoofprints of the royal guard going by it, but none going inside. Moving forward, he found nestled between the buildings a small garden which had a large oak tree at its center which had somehow managed to survive the flames. Peering up at it, he found that it had somehow managed to escape the devastation caused by the fires and only had minimal damage from the blight that had struck the town. As he peered up, he heard the cry yet again from the far side of the tree. Circling around he came upon a small hollow at the base of the tree and inside was what he had been seeking. “Oh you poor thing.” Nestled within the hollow was a young unicorn filly of around eight or nine years if he had to guess. It was hard to tell though as, unlike the tree, she had been hit by the full brunt of the blight and it was a miracle that she was still alive. Her entire body had been twisted by the blight leaving her skin wrapped around her bones as if she had a severe case of starvation. It also had the appearance of the black tar he had found earlier which left her with a rather lumpy appearance. It was so bad that he could see through her legs as the blight caused her skin to wrap around the individual bones in her legs making it easy to mistake her for a skeleton. Not only that but her mane and tail had rotted away leaving her naked to the elements, as well as making it impossible to tell her natural colors or cutie mark if she had one. The filly continued to make the occasional sound of distress as he carefully lifted her out of the hollow, yet she failed to react in any other way showing her catatonic state. Carefully placing her on his back he looked to the sky to see it slowly brightening, showing that he had to hurry. “Don't worry, I will do everything that I can to help you. I do not know how you are still alive, but for you to do so long enough for me to find you?” The stallion shook his head as the cloak around him began to flutter. Great wings of silver slowly spread from beneath them before giving a powerful flap, sending the two into the sky. Not moments later, a stream of light burned outwards from the sun, striking the town and burning everything away leaving the two being the only witnesses to its final fate. The stallion looked back at his young passenger before turning towards the rising moon and the face of the mare it held. “Well little sis. It seems that the foul ones rise once again. I just hope that this time things go better than before.” With a surge of power, the stallion flew off towards the heart of Equestria with the young survivor safe atop his form.
Chapter 1“And once again yet another town of ungrateful ponies chases me out over some perceived slight. It wasn't my fault that that mare tried to do something to me and instead afflicted herself with blight poisoning. But of course they don't listen to reason and act like the usual superstitious hicks that they are.” The filly known as Angelic Chorus griped and moaned as she plodded along the featureless plane away from the latest town she had been at. It had been many years since her home had been wiped out, but in that time she had learned much of what had almost killed her and how to face it. The fact that it was necromancy, the reason that had caused it all, that she had learned was ironic in that most would have wanted nothing to do with what had hurt them so. Yet it was the fact that that specific branch of magic was being improperly used to cause such despair and that there was a better way that allowed her to press on. The years had been mostly kind to her as her lessons in the dark art had allowed her to slowly heal her body of the blight that had afflicted it. While much of her rear half, including her flanks and hind legs, was still blighted from the spell she lived through, her front half was restored back to what it was. Even so her mane, tail, and fur had regrown leaving her with a silver and gold mane and tail, and a purple coat. Unfortunately, something with what had been done to her had kept her from aging or getting a cutie mark. “Well at least this time they were easy to escape. I barely even had to try to get away, they were so slow. I wonder if had anything to do with that strange cutie mark they all had?” The filly pondered a bit before she shook her head. “Whatever. It has nothing to do with me. At least I managed to find some clues as to where I should head next.” The filly lifted the hood of her cloak over her head as she pulled out a newspaper she had managed to swipe from the town that a mare had tried to hide. Terror in Ponyville! Element Bearers Hospitalized After Dark Magic Assails Town! <><><><><><><><><><> “Thank you, Harry. Just set me down by the fence, please.” The large bear nodded as he slowly lowered Fluttershy down at the requested location. As she was lowered she reached a hoof out and groped for the rail of the fence until she managed to come into contact with it. As she rose to her other three hooves, Angel bunny hopped up on her back before taking his place atop her head. Feeling her friend take his place, the mare smiled fondly up towards him before she winced and reached a hoof up to rub at her blackened temple. The rest of her animal friends looked on at their caretaker sadly as she struggled to do the what were basic tasks a few weeks ago. While she was out of the hospital, unlike some of her friends, she wasn't unscathed. Due to the attack, both of her eyes were completely gone as they had been destroyed as a consequence of the battle. In their place were dark holes with a black streak of blight across both of her eyes. Fluttershy had tried to go back to her usual life after the incident, but without her eyes it had been hard. Her animals had been supportive of her, but she found herself missing the sight of her animal friends. If it wasn't for Angel being her eyes for her atop her head she wasn't sure if would even be able to take care of herself to the extent she had. “So it seems that I was right. That thing was headed this way.” Fluttershy let out a yelp of surprise at the voice as her head turned wildly searching for the source of the voice. Angel bunny lightly moved her ears around as he directed her head towards the filly, which he had somehow missed seeing arrive, allowing her to focus her full attention in her direction. The pegasus mare cringed back from the figure as she tried to recover her composure. “Um, who's there? Why are you here? Please don't hurt me.” Angelic Chorus slowly approached the mare keeping her full attention on the damage to her eyes. The animals warily watched the cloaked filly as she approached their caretaker, feeling uneasy about her presence. On reaching Fluttershy, she reared up and put her hooves on the mare's cheeks and pulled her downwards, surprising the mare with the size of the hooves touching her as well as their strength. “Hmm, standard blight damage except...” The filly paused as she sniffed and poked a hoof into the empty eye sockets of the mare before frowning in concentration. “Um, little filly? Could you maybe, um, please stop that? It's rather uncomfortable. And creepy. And gross.” The filly ignored Fluttershy's words, but should couldn't ignore the bunny as he reached down to slap her away from his mistress. Angelic Chorus glared up at him, but paused when she saw the intelligence in his eyes before she frowned in confusion. “This is unexpected. I would think that a druid would have succumbed to the blight already, but that smell... I never would have expected a half-vampire to follow the path of nature. Yet that doesn't explain what I felt though...” She paused as she brought a hoof up to her chin in thought while Fluttershy gasped and slowly backed away from her with her wings flared out in shock. “V-v-vampire? What d-d-do you mean? I have no idea what you're talking about.” The filly looked back at the mare before meeting the glare of the bunny on her head again. The two exchanged looks as she responded to Fluttershy. “I almost didn't notice at first, but all vampires, even a half-vampire, have a distinct scent. All the animals around here cover it up pretty good, but from this close it was easy enough to detect. What's with the bunny and why is he glaring at me?” Fluttershy tried to surreptitiously sniff at herself before sighing and lifting her empty gaze towards her head. The bunny leaned over to whisper into her ear and Fluttershy winced at what she was told. “Um, well, Angel says that you don't smell right, as if something about you was rotten. Sorry.” Fluttershy winced as she says this before trying to hide behind her mane. Angelic Chorus lifts an eyebrow at the bunny before lifting up her cloak to show her blighted back end to the bunny, causing his jaw to drop in horror as he looked between the filly's rear and Fluttershy's eyes. “His name is Angel? I usually have my friends, what few I have, call me that and I'm sure it fits just as well.” The two 'Angels' look at each other for a moment before they come to an understanding. The bunny allows the filly to approach again, keeping a close eye on her. “Um, well that's interesting, I guess. But, um, why are you touching my face like that?” The pegasus winced as the unicorn filly started prodding at her eyes once again without regard to how uncomfortable the mare was. After a moment the filly's frown morphed to one of annoyance as she suspected something happened that she didn't like. “Ugh, this is going to be annoying isn't it with you awake. Well, say goodnight then.” Fluttershy looked confused as she couldn't see the filly light up her horn with a pink color. “Huh? What so you... mean... by...” She never was able to finish as she slowly fell forward from the spell cast upon her, much to Angel's annoyance as he glares at the filly again who just shrugged at him. Pushing back her hood she revealed her pink eyes and unkempt mane as she started to settle down in front of the unconscious mare as the other animals surrounded her. “Would you rather I let her stay away to feel what I am about to do? The blight has gotten in really deep, if it wasn't for her heritage I doubt she would be alive still with how close it is to her mind.” Angel looks at her a moment, judging her, before he shudders and waves the other animals back. They settled down, but still remain wary as they weren't sure what to make of the filly. Taking a deep breathe with her eyes closed, Angelic Chorus lit up her horn once again, but instead of the previous pink it was now a deep black. Her eyes opened, revealing that they had also become an empty void as she exerted her will towards the mare in front of her. Fluttershy twitched as the magic settled over her, and the animals began to move in again until the noticed the black scarring on her start to peel away. They watched in amazement as the blight was pulled away from Fluttershy into the air between the two ponies as it was gather into a ball. Once the blight had been removed, leaving that sleeping mare with bare skin where it once was, the filly sighed as she shook her head. “Ugh, I always hate this part.” Opening her mouth, the animals watched in shock as the ball of blight began to flow into her own mouth while her cloak billowed away from her form. Once the last of it vanished into her mouth she closed it and let out a loud gulp before her blackened eyes flashed over into a brilliant white. vvvvvvvvvv It watched as the ponies milled about in panic as it rampaged through the town. Its gaze settled on a group of fillies and started advancing on them until a yellow pegasus flew in front of them and glared at it with her wide cyan eyes. Suddenly it leapt forward into the mares eyes and everything vanished into darkness. “Wh-what happened? What's going on?! I can't see. Twilight! I can't see!” Fluttershy began to panic as the light was robbed from her eyes. Suddenly she felt herself being dragged away from where she was until she felt somepony wrap their legs around her. “I've got you Fluttershy. Oh no, this is bad, really bad! I'll heal you right away, just let me...” The voice faded away as a humming started up and Fluttershy felt her eyes start to tingle. Suddenly a crippling pain erupted and she could hear someone screaming in anguish about something, and she only realized that it was her at her friend's next words. “They exploded? Why did her eyes explode!? This is bad! Oh no oh no oh no...” This was the last that she heard as Fluttershy screamed herself unconscious. ^^^^^^^^^^ Angelic Chorus shook her head as the memories in the blight flooded through her and she sighed as she recovered. “Eww, I hate that vile taste. It's like the worst black licorice ever made. But at least now I know for sure what happened. A blight spitter was here, and some amateur used a healing spell to try and cure her. Why hasn't anypony gotten around to telling these idiots that this stuff feeds off of magic like that?” Groaning angrily at the fallen form she slowly calmed down as she looked at the animals staring at her in amazement before she pointed a hoof at the bear. “You!” Harry perked up and pointed at himself in confusion. “Yes, you. Go over to the river and get me a decent sized fish!” Harry looked over at Angel who stared down at the filly for a moment, then at Fluttershy, taking in what had happened to her. Deciding to take a chance he nodded to the bear who quickly did as he was bade, and soon the filly had a decent sized fish in front of her. Looking it over for a moment, the filly nodded and used her magic to lift it into the air before smashing it with her telekinesis. After doing this for a minute she soon had a good paste made from the entirety of the creature. “Yes, this should be enough. Now for the hard part.” Turning back to Fluttershy, the filly brought the paste over before splitting it into two piles. The animals made sounds of agitation as the filly poured the mixture into Fluttershy's eye sockets, but were forestalled from doing anything by Angel's lifted paw. Once the paste had settled in, she closed the mare's eyes and the filly's horn lit up with dark energy once again as she directed it towards the mare. A black glow shone out from below her closed eyelids as the unicorn worked her magic, and the animals twitched in agitation, wondering just what was happening. Ten minutes later the glow stopped as the filly rubbed a hoof at her horn with a sigh. “That should do it. I hate having to clean up other pony's messes.” Reaching over the filly lifted up the mare's eyelids, and Angel, being right there to see, let out a gasp at what he saw. Where once were empty voids, Fluttershy now had a pair of pristine, if dilated, eyes once again. The left was exactly like he remembered, but the right was now a bright red color to which the filly frowned. “Hmm, never seen that before. Either she was always like that or something I didn't expect happened. I never have worked on a half-vampire before. Oh well, my work here is done, now to see if there are any other victims. Maybe this time he made a mistake and I can find a hint of him.” The filly looked over herself for a moment, rubbing a hoof at a small patch of skin that now adorned her hide which was once blighted, before covering herself with her cloak fully once again. The various animals just stared in shock at their caretaker as she made her way past them and towards Ponyville. After she was out of sight Fluttershy began to stir awake, and let out a cute yawn before blinking her eyes and looked around. As her eyes settled on Angel, memories of what had happened flooded back and she looked around in shock. “Oh, Angel! Where did that filly go? What did she just... do...” Fluttershy froze up in shock before she slowly brought a hoof up in front of her face in amazement. She blinked a couple times in amazement before she let out a whispered cry. “I can see.” She focused on Angel who smiled up at her tearfully before her own eyes began to leak as well. “I can see.” She was still in shock as she reached out to wrap up her pet in a hug before she completely broke down. “I can see again!” With her final cry, the rest of her animals snapped out of their shock and crowded around the ecstatic mare who had been given back that which she had thought lost forever.
Chapter 3Twilight Sparkle paced in a circle in the lobby of the Ponyville Hospital as she waited for more news on her friends. It had been days since the attack, yet so far nothing could be done to help them and she couldn't find anything on this blight that affected them except for the name. Princess Celestia seemed to know something, but she refused to talk about it which frustrated the young alicorn as the lives of her friends were in danger because of it. “Calm down, darling. You won't be doing them or yourself any favors if you stress yourself out so much that you put yourself right in there with them.” The alicorn looked over to Rarity, and flinched as her eyes fell upon the silver mask that she wore that covered the left side of her face, a symbol marking her own injuries. “Well maybe I deserve to be there. I couldn't do anything to protect them and after what I did to Fluttershy!? Can you imagine what would have happened if I tried that with you!? Or Rainbow Dash!? Or even Applejack!?” Rarity was silent as her friend stared into her eyes, not knowing what to say as that horrible event had scarred all of their friends. One of the few exceptions was there with them, but he had not been told about the incident to spare him the horrors. “I'm sure the princess is doing everything she can to help. I mean, it's not like she would just let them die because she felt some need to hide something from you that she doesn't want you to know about.” The two mares look at Spike before shaking their heads at his innocence, something the two admired as they felt discouraged by the princess' lack of help so far. Silence fell over the three as they awaited word of what was happening with their friends beyond the little that had already been told. The doctors had no idea on what to do with Applejack due to the severity of her condition, yet what they were suggesting with Rainbow Dash? They shuddered at the implications and just what it would do to the mare if they went through with the procedure. None of them noticed the diminutive figure enter the building and start looking them over, starting with Spike. “Hmm, not often I see a dragon in a town so I don't know much about them. Still, nothing appears to be wrong from what I can tell.” Spike blinked at the filly poking and prodding at him while mumbling nonsense. Twilight looked down and noticed the cloaked filly and was about to say something before she winced and grabbed at her head. “Oh dear. Are you still having headaches, Twilight? You really should check with a doctor if they've been happening for this long now.” Twilight shook her head at her friend, while the filly narrowed her eyes at the alicorn and moved over to her and began examining her. “Odd, nothing physically wrong, but I can certainly feel that there is a problem. Hmm, never seen an infection that only targets the internal magic, wonder what could cause that.” The alicorn blinked down at the filly as she ran her hooves over her head and pokes a hoof into her mouth. “Um, hello? Can I help you with something young f- *gasp*!” Twilight froze as the filly looked at her and her eyes turned from their usual pink color to a black void with the whites of her eyes. Before she could react, the filly's horn lit up and wrapped Twilight's in her glow before drawing her magic out of her. Unlike with what had happened recently with Tirek, it did not feel as if her magic was being drained away but was being torn out of her, causing her to scream in agony. In one of her few moments of clarity she shouted towards Spike. “Spike! Code Black!” While both Rarity and Spike were frozen in shock at seeing the filly seemingly attacking Twilight with black magic, her words were enough to snap the dragon out of it. In a frenzy he pulled out a scroll and wrote down a short message before rolling it up with a black ribbon and sending it to Princess Celestia. While Spike was writing the letter, Twilight's magic floated into the air between the two, glowing in its usual raspberry color. Yet within that blob of magic were specks of black and red, of which the filly focused her eyes on while examining the alicorn. “Hmm, interesting. It seems to be linked to five other sources somehow. That would explain how this corruption is here since three out of the five paths have it flowing in. Odd how it looks like one of the other two is damaged like the corrupt three are yet it appears to be healing. And the fifth is weird, it's like the corruption is trying to flow into it yet is repelled for some reason. I wonder...” She prodded at the area the she felt the energy was linked to and felt something familiar. “Huh, is that the mare from before? Even more interesting. That means there are at least three others that I need to find, one of them in really bad shape.” She glances at the frozen mare nearby who seems to be the source of the lightest corruption before poking at one that is nearly fully blighted from what she can tell. Shaking her head, she focused once more on the magic before her and began drawing out the black and red particles into a separate ball. Once she had cleaned out the purple blob she turned back to the alicorn and shoved it back into her, who then promptly collapsed as her eye rolled up into her head as her screaming stopped. Turning back to the blight she had pulled out she sighed before opening her mouth and eating it. <><><><><><><><><><> Fluttershy was once again hit by the spray from the blight spewer. *flash* A stream of blight splashed across a white mare's face. *flash* A cyan pegasus dipped and dodged streams of blight vomit until she miscalculated and her wings were hit. *flash* An orange mare plowed through the creatures attack head on before turning and bucking its head off. *flash* <><><><><><><><><><> The filly shook her head as the disjointed images faded before frowning. “Well that was pointless. I didn't learn anything about him this time. Must be because she wasn't hit directly from that thing. Must only work from direct sources.” Her eyes turn away from the alicorn and settle on the frozen unicorn who flinched when her eyes fell on her. Looking at the mask the elder unicorn was wearing the filly shook her head with a sigh. “Looks like today is going to be a long day. Might as well get started then.” Rarity's eyes widened as the filly took a step towards her with her horn lighting up black once again. As she let out a scream, Spike looked over in shock after watching the letter being sent and let out a yell. “RARITY!” Author's Note There, now off to the other stories again. Next chapter, whenever it is written, wil finish off with the rest of the injured, as well as some of the consequences.
Chapter 4*CRASH* “Ms. Dash! Please get down from there!” The rainbow-maned pegasus glared down at the doctor from her position hanging from the lights. Her blackened wings dangled lifelessly below her as she swatted a hoof at a broom reaching for her. “No way you quack! There is no way I am letting you anywhere near my wings now!” The unicorn doctor sighed as he rubbed at his head with his hoof while the nurse tried to get the mare down. “Ms. Dash, there is no other option but to amputate. This infection is spreading and if something isn't done soon then you could end up like your friend or even die.” The pegasus only shook her head rapidly, her eyes wide in fear. “And I said no! I would rather die than lose my wings!” The nurse frowned at the pegasus as she reared back for another swing with the broom. Before she could get a chance to though it was grabbed away in a pink aura. “I would have to agree with the crazed pegasus. I don't need you making my work harder than it already is.” Before they could react, both the doctor and nurse were snatched up in the aura and flung into the nearby bathroom. Once the door slammed shut a chair was quickly wedged under the door followed by the spare bed and other furniture in the room being piled in front of it. Rainbow Dash watched in shock as this happened and was even more-so when a young filly walked into the room. “Whoa, uh, thanks for the I guess, but what is a filly like you doing here and why would you even do that though?” Rainbow Dash slowly climbed down from the ceiling, landing on her bed, which allowed the filly to approach. As the pegasus tried to clam down, the filly began running her hooves over her and muttered to herself. “Hmm, this looks bad, but I think I can work with it. Though...” The filly reach up and plucked a shriveling, black feather from the cyan mare's blackened wing, causing her to yelp in pain. “Ow! What the hay was that for!?” Angelic Chorus ignored her as she examined the feather. “Hmm, as I thought, the nerves are still working, but it's gotten into the roots. Oh well, I guess they'll just have to go.” Rainbow Dash's ears perked up at this and her pupils shrank to pinpricks. “Wait what!? You just said that you weren't going to... Wait, that magic..!? No! Not again! Anything but my wings!” The filly didn't give the mare a chance to flee as she wrapped her magic around the pegasus and kept her paralyzed as she focused on her wings. Rainbow Dash could only stare in helpless horror as she watched her wings begin to melt away before her eyes rolled back in her head as she fainted. <><><><><><><><><><> “Ugh, what happened?” Twilight shook her head as she awoke from her unconscious state. Her whole body ached, which reminded her of just what she had gone through before she had passed out, and who she was with. “Rarity! Spike!” Her head shot up as she looked around for the other two. She quickly spotted them a short distance away with Rarity facing away from her looking down at something in her hooves and Spike standing next to her. The young dragon slowly turned towards her with wide eyes and waved the alicorn over. “It... it's Rarity.. she...” Twilight's hoof came up to her mouth for a moment before she slowly made her was over to the two. As she neared, she noticed that Rarity was holding her silver mask in her hooves and it looked as if she was staring into her reflection in it. Lifting her hoof, Twilight was about to place it on her friend's shoulder when she suddenly turned to her. “T-twilight? I-it's gone!” The alicorn could only stare dumbfounded at the picture presented before her. Where once she remembered a blistered field of blackened skin, was now the pale pink-tone of healthy skin that the unicorn always had. Needless to say, the newly minted princess was confused as to what happened, especially with just what had attacked them. “But how?! I thought that that... thing got you. Why would something like that heal you? It just doesn't make any sense!” While Rarity was still in shock over her healed, if still slightly marred, appearance, Spike was still mostly aware of everything. “I don't know Twilight. After she finished swallowing whatever t hat stuff was she drained out of you she just shoved your magic back into you. Then she turned and went after Rarity. I tried to stop her but she just pinned my to the wall before using her magic to rip that black stuff off of Rarity and swallowed that as well. After that she just walked away further into the hospital.” Twilight was confused as to just what the objective of this creature she suspected as a necromancer was. Not only once, but twice now it had the chance to kill ponies that were helpless in the face of its powers, but both times it did something unexpected and even healed one of them. In fact she only then realized that the headache she had been suffering from was now gone, though she had trouble connecting to her magic still. “Oh my, is everypony all right in here? Twilight! Rarity! Did either of you see a little filly come through here and... Oh my! Rarity your face!” Twilight turned to the hospital entrance to see Fluttershy making her way in. She did a double-take as she only then remembered that the pegasus had been blinded due to her actions, yet now she seemed perfectly fine except for a familiar area of missing fur around her eyes. “Fluttershy!? But I thought...!? Wait, filly!? You mean that thing found you as well!? Does that mean your eyes are...” Fluttershy frowned at her friends wording, but slowly nodded as she lifted a hoof towards the one that was now red. “Well, I think it was the filly that did this. I didn't hear any other voices or feel anypony else at my home, and I fell asleep before my eyes were fixed.” Rubbing a hoof at the side of her head, Twilight tried to figure out just what the angle was of that creature in pony form. Suddenly her head shot up as she realized just what Spike had said about where it had gone. “Oh no! Rainbow Dash and Applejack! If its still here then it must be after them as well! Come on!” In a panic, Twilight took off towards Rainbow Dash's room followed at a slower pace by her friends. Yet when she arrived she found that things were once again not what she was expecting, and in fact was even better off than she had any right to believe. “I told you I'm fine! Now do something to fix this, will you!” Twilight wasn't sure how to react to finding Rainbow Dash completely unharmed while the doctor and nurse swarmed all over her wings. She knew she should be relieved that her friend still HAD her wings since she had heard about the plans to amputate, but a part of her almost wanted to laugh at the sight of the fur-less, plucked limbs that poked out from the cyan mare's body. <><><><><><><><><><> “Well one more to go before I have to worry about getting out of this town. Hopefully there aren't any more distractions to slow me down though, especially if what I've heard about her being the worst off is right.” With a sigh she pushed open the door to the final room and walked inside. Her hopes were dashed when she found herself face-to-face with an old, green mare staring her down, causing her to sigh once again as her eyes were stared into. The old mare hummed as she examined the filly before nodding her head. “Well it's about dang time ya showed up ta fix all this. Ah had been calling fer days so it's about time that ya got yer kiester here.” Whatever reaction the filly was expecting from the old mare, being shoved towards the bed containing the injured pony was not anywhere close to being on the list. She wasn't sure if the mare was senile or actually knew something about her, but she made on note to keep an eye on the mare as she felt something off about her now that she had a moment to focus on her. Still she glad that she didn't have to worry about her getting in the way as she examined the pony in the bed. At first glance, she had to wonder how the pony was even still alive. Her entire body had been blighted by the creature that had attacked the town except for a small area around her eyes and muzzle. On deeper examination she could sense that same feeling of off-ness she felt from the older mare, and deduced that they were related in some way. At the same time she could see that same web of connections that she had seen on the earlier mares and wondered how much of her survival was due to that. Looking up she let out a whinny of surprise when she found the old mare on the other side of the bed, leaning over the injured mare to look at her closely again. “Well? Ain't ya gonna work yer fancy mumbo jumbo magic and fix mah granddaughter or not? She don't got all night ya know.” Shaking her head to clear her head of the slight scare, the filly focused once more on the blighted mare before her. She had never seen a pony survive this much of an infection before so she knew it was going to take all of her concentration to make sure that every bit of it was removed. Granny Smith watched on as the filly's horn lit up in a pink aura before it slowly turned black as she focused on healing her granddaughter. With the filly's concentration off of her, the old mare shook her head sadly as she stroked a hoof over Applejack hat that was on the bed next to her. Suddenly her ears perked up as she heard the sound of galloping hooves heading towards the room and she sighed as she turned towards the door just as it burst open. “VILE FIEND! STAND DOWN OR BE-!” Princess Luna's entrance with the Royal Canterlot Voice was interrupted be a pillow striking her in the face as it was thrown by the old farm mare. “Settle down there ya loudmouthed old foghorn! Ah didn't go and chase all those quacks out of here just so that ya could interrupt just as mah granddaughter was finally getting the help she needed! Now sit down and wait yer turn.” Luna wasn't sure how to react to the old mare and glanced towards her sister who had entered the room behind her. Both Luna and Celestia were garbed in full armor that hadn't seen the light of day in centuries but had been pulled out as soon as they received word from Twilight about the necromancer. “Mrs. Smith, it is imperative that you let us-” Even Princess Celestia was cut off as the mare turned and shot a hard glare at them and spoke in a tone that brooked no argument. “Ah said, SIT!” Multiple thumps rang out around the room as all the ponies in hearing rapidly took a seat, from the princesses, to the four Bearers of Harmony that had followed behind them, to the filly standing next to Applejack even though the voice wasn't directed at her. Not many could withstand the voice of a parent or grandparent protecting their young, not even the princesses, though Celestia realized that there was something familiar about Granny Smith that was brought to light by her voice, something that she couldn't quite grasp. With them being thoroughly chastised, the group sat and watched as the necromancer worked her magic over Applejack, though many of them itched to stop her. Yet before their eyes, the black blight started to draw away from the downed mare into a ball between her and the filly. With wide eyes they watched as the one they thought as an enemy put forth all of her effort to heal their dear friend and they had no clue as to why. Soon Applejack lay in the bed, peacefully slumbering, completely nude as not a bit of fur or hair remained on her barring what was untouched by the blight. Several gasps rang out, as well as two pairs of narrowed eyes, as the filly's mouth opened and the ball of blight was placed into it and she swallowed. Once again Angelic Chorus saw the scene which caused Applejack's injuries, but at the end of it came a voice. “Everything shall be done as you ordered Lord-” The group watched the filly as the blight light faded from her eyes and she just sat there. Suddenly they heard a growling from the cloak-draped filly as she raised her head to the sky. “That's it?! All of this and that is all I find out?! Lord who?! Of all the-!” What followed next was one of the longest streams of cursing that most of them had ever heard, with four sets of hooves darting to cover Spike's ears. Even the two princesses had to be impressed as many of the swears had not been used in centuries, some even from far before Luna had been banished as Nightmare Moon. After looking over her granddaughter to make sure everything was in place, as well as covering her with a blanket, Granny Smith turned to the filly with a huff. “Now cut that out ya little whippersnapper! Don't ya see that ya have important guests waiting fer ya?” The filly turned to glare at the old mare, nose flaring, before looking over at the ponies she had missed entering the room. On spotting the Solar Princess she just snorted in her direction. “Oh great, the Hypocrite Princess is here. What? Finally got tired of letting somepony interfere with the plans of your precious pet necromancer in your city?” The pure bile in her tone surprised the ponies, though the challenge in her voice was quickly answered. “Hey! Who are you to talk about the princess like that!?” Rainbow Dash made to charge forward, looking comical with her chicken wings, but was stopped by a raised wing of Celestia. “Explain yourself, necromancer! I will have you know that I do not condone any of your kind to exist, yet for your actions today I will give you one chance to explain yourself!” The filly's look of disdain morphed to one of disgust at the princesses words. “What? You didn't know that the one that murdered my home town lives right under your nose?! Are you that blind?! The town that not even days later you burnt to the ground?! You didn't even leave so much as a grave to remember them by, you just forgot that they even existed! My mother, Crystal Song! My father, Evening Light! My-” Once again she was cut off, but this time by this youngest princess. “What are you talking about, Princess Celestia would never do anything like that! It has to be a-” Twilight gave pause as she noticed that her mentor was mumbling something and paused to listen in. What she heard was a list of names that meant nothing to her. “Iron Hooves, Morningstar, Holly Wood, Petunia, Evening Rose...” As the list continued on and on, tears began to fill the filly's eyes as she recognized each and every one of them as friends and neighbors. Years of pain and loss began to catch up to her as all of the strength went out of her legs and she collapsed to the ground. Eventually, after hundreds of names, Celestia finally came to the end. “...and Angelic Chorus... That is you is it not? I remember the name of every pony that I failed to save as I sought to stomp out the vile art that claimed their lives. But how is it you are still alive? Sunnydale has been gone for over five hundred years?” Her question was met with gasps as all eyes focused on the filly who looked no older than the Cutie Mark Crusaders yet was somehow older than all of the Element Bearers combined, three times that even. By this time the filly's sobs had quieted as she listened to the litany of names, each one bringing up a treasured memory. At the question, she slowly collected herself. “He came and rescued me minutes before your sun burned down, turning my home into yet another piece of the Badlands. Your ponies never found my hideaway where I was hidden, yet he managed to. Everything I know, I learned from him, all so I could hunt down the one that started it all and did this to me.” With a shaky hoof, the mare threw her cloak off of herself, revealing her form to the mares who gasped in horror, barring the eldest three who looked on in pity. While much of her front half had healed back to it's usual purple color, as well as her mane and tail to their silver and gold, the rest of her was still blackened with blight. Twilight could only stare on in shock at what she was seeing, and to a filly no less, in form if not in reality. Something about how the necromancer's rear half was twisted bothered her though. Princess Celestia on spared all this a glance as something else caught her attention. “Who is this 'He' that you refer to? Necromancy has been outlawed for centuries and there should be none left that can teach it. So how did 'he' teach you a forbidden and lost branch of magic?” The filly only glanced up at the princess with tired eyes before shaking her head. “That I shall not say as he told me that I was not to tell you his name.” This answer irritated the princess as she stood up and stomped a hoof, causing a spiderweb of cracks in the floor. “Do not give me that! As the Princess of the Sun, I demand to know who taught you!” The filly only raised an eyebrow at her. “I don't answer to you princess, but to a higher power. If you want to know, I will not deny you if you truly want to know but you will come to regret it if I answer.” Her words should have been a warning, but instead angered the solar princess even more as heat began to be emitted from her body, pushing the ponies around her back. “Tell. Me. Who. He. Is.” The filly's smirk only grew as she looked between the two princesses. “Don't say that I didn't warn you princess. His name is __________” The non-alicorns looked at her in confusion as it sounded like her voice just cut off, while Twilight rubbed at her ear for a different confused reason. All of that paled in comparison as Princess Celestia, Ruler of Equestria and one of the longest lived creatures on the planet paled in absolute terror, even her mane going completely white. Everything she was feeling was summed up in her next two words. “Buck. Me.” Author's Note No, that is not a typo for the name. That will be explained next chapter where things start to go a bit off the deep end. While every idea may not one that should be used, my mind just doesn't care and anything and everything goes in this story. Of course it will at least make a semblance of sense, so don't expect me to go all FLCL or Bobobo on this. Let's just say my mind took a few interesting directions when it came to brainstorming ideas for this, and boy are some of the loony.
Chapter 5Author's Note Welp, there goes the neighborhood. The craziness begins. Chapter 5 “Uh, Princess? What did she just say that has ya so worried? Ah couldn't hear what she said for some reason.” Applejack rubbed at her ear as she looked at Princess Celestia as she stood frozen in place and completely pale. All the other younger mare's were doing much the same, though Twilight was mouthing something to herself. Even Luna was partially in shock as her mouth had dropped open, but her eyes showed that she was more excited than terrified which was shown when she started speaking. “We can not believe it. That name, how does she know it? Does that mean that-?” She was cut of from saying the name as Celestia sprang into action and shoved a hoof into her mouth. “Don't say it!? He can't get us if we don't say his name!” Luna looked at her sister in annoyance while the others mares watched on in confusion. Those that knew the princess could see that she was shaken as she was using contractions instead of her usual proper form of speech. Twilight was shaken out of her own musing on hearing her mentor's slip and decided to voice herself. “Um, princess? Just who is this _______ pony anyways? Not only that, what language is that and how do I even know it?” The solar princess froze up before her head slowly turned towards the purple alicorn, making a strange creaking sound. Twilight winced at the wild look on her mentor's face as well as the creepy smile. “Twilight, why? Why must you betray me like this?” The purple alicorn reared back at the accusation, her eyes wide and darting around at the others. “What?! What did I do?! Whatever it was I didn't mean to!” Princess Celestia didn't pay any attention to the now panicking purple princess as she paced around in front of the other ponies. “Wait, maybe he didn't hear her! That's it his deal was only with us, not them so there's no way that he could have heard her.” The heads of the onlooking ponies, barring the freaked out librarian, followed along with her pacing, before they stopped in shock as something appeared out of nowhere behind her. They all thought they were imagining him until they noticed him tickling Celestia's ear with a wing, causing it to twitch in annoyance. It was only then that they noticed that the silver figure was not only taller than the sun princess, but also an alicorn as well. Yet unlike the two older alicorns, his mane and tail were bone white and didn't have a spectral appearance and was instead looked to be just barely combed being much like how Rainbow Dash's mane and tail were but a bit neater. “Yes! That must be it! Only me and my sister can call him and allow him into Equestria, that was the deal! That means we are completely and utterly safe from him and there is no way that he can be here.” The stallion leaned his head over to the mentally disturbed princess until his head was next to her ear. “Oh, I don't know about that. I mean we did agree on the word princess, and not you or Lulu specifically.” The princess froze up at the tenor voice that spoke into her ear before tilting her head upwards until she was looking into the deep gray eyes behind her. Letting out a whinny of fright she scrambled away before turning to get a clear look at who it was and, upon seeing who it was, tried to compose herself though her voice still wavered. “_______, you're here. How great to see you after all this time. I'm afraid you'll have to excuse me I have a very important meeting that I have to get to so bye!” Princess Celestia attempted to leave the room but before she could reach it the door slammed shut in front of her. She froze in place for a moment before lighting up her horn, but that moment was long enough for her to be caught be the stallion as he slung a foreleg around the back of her neck. “Why the rush, Celly? We haven't seen each other in a very long time. I mean it's not like you agreed to call me whenever something major came up and you needed the help. I'm sure that banishing little Lulu was the only option that you had, right?” The princess' eyes darted around, looking for an escape path as she was pulled closer to the stallion. “That isn't the only incident either. There was Sombra, and Discord and a whole bunch of others that you could have called me to help with, yet you didn't and they eventually came back once again since you didn't deal with them well enough. So what do you think I'm going to do to you now?” Everyone's eyes widened at those words, Celestia's more than the others. Before any of them could react the stallion's other hoof came up and started roughly rubbing at her head, causing her to begin flailing her hooves. “No! Stop! Not the noogies! Stop touching me! I am the sun!” The younger ponies stared dumbfounded at what was going on while Luna's eyes started to tear up. Granny Smith herself stood off to the side with a smile as she watched the alicorns interact. “What the buck is going on!? Just who is this stallion!?” There was no direct answer to Rainbow Dash's question, but it was answered all the same as Luna bounded forward with a yell before pouncing onto the two. “Big Brother! We have missed you!” Jaws dropped at the moon princess' exclamation. “Brother!?” The chorus of yells caused the three tussling alicorns to stop and look over at the younger ponies. The stallion blinked at them before lifting a hoof. “Ahh, just one moment. I still have my other sister to deal with then I'll be right with you.” Luna blinked before looking at her brother with worry. The stallion tossed his other foreleg around her neck to prevent her from running as he began to speak. “No you aren't getting off easy little Lulu. When your sister ignored you you could have called on me instead of trying to kill everyone in the world. I almost had to step in myself in an official capacity, but luckily for you your punishment was already chosen for you.” Luna gulped audibly at her brother mentioning having to show up professionally but she looked confused about the latter part. Her eyes widened when his horn lit up before she was partially blinded by it flashing, leaving her feeling off. “Wh-what did you do to me?” Luna tilted her head as she registered the sound of her own voice before her hooves darted up to her throat. “Mirror! I need a mirror!” The watching mares only nodded in shock as Rarity levitated over a nearby mirror in front of the princess. Her mouth dropped open in shock as she beheld the image before her. Gone was her regal stature and flowing mane to be replaced with the view she had seen after she had been cleansed of the effects of Nightmare Moon. In fact she was no taller than Twilight was at this moment and she lifted a hoof up towards her limp mane before turning towards her brother with a pout. “Oh come on! Do you know how long it took for me to get that illusion to work!?” Luna lit her horn up for a moment before frowning and stomping her hoof. “Oh come on! I can't even put it back up?” As she glared at her brother he just smirked before ruffling at her mane. “Now Lulu, you should know better than to try and get out of your punishments. You know we agreed not to do that anymore. Besides, you look cute like this, little Loony.” The blue princess frowned at her brother before she leapt at him with a growl. The elder alicorn only smirked as he lifted a hoof to her forehead and held her back as Luna windmilled her front hoofs at him as she yelled in anger at him. “Hold it! Just what the buck is going on here?! Who is this stallion and how does he even know the princesses?! And why can't we hear his name?!” Rainbow Dash stomped aggressively towards the male alicorn with her wings spread aggressively. Celestia just sighed before speaking in the most deadpan voice possible. “Everypony, this is our elder brother, _______. _______, this is everypony, you can go away now.” The sun princess' dry tone caused a few eyebrows to rise, though the ponies with siblings could tell that they really were related as the could recognize the response as they had done it at one time or other. The stallion just chuckled as he ruffled his sister's mane with a wing. “Oh Celly, you're so silly. That's not how you do an introduction. You know that Aspects can't hear our true names unless it is gifted to them. Besides, I have a new name I go by now.” The stallion cleared his throat before flinging his wings wide, knocking his sisters back to the walls. “Behold! For before you the One Who Watches! The One Who Guides Lost Souls to the Afterlife! The Alicorn of Death! For I am-!” For as impressive as his introduction was, it was easily interrupted as a pair of pony projectiles plowed through the portcullis of the room and pounced the proud pegacorn. “Grandpa Morty!” “What!? No!? That's not my name, it's-!” The stallion was stopped again by a green hoof covering his muzzle and he looked down into the eyes of Granny Smith. “Ah just let them have this sweetie. Ya know that our foals could never say yer name so why even bother trying ta stop them?” The stallion pouted before the old mare pulled his head down and planted a deep kiss on his lips. Jaws all around the room dropped at the sight of the two snogging and when they stopped the stallion just sighed. “But just once I want to use the name I picked. It took me months to come up with Manchioneel Apple.” The stallion pouted for a moment more before sighing and looking down at the two limpets attached to his legs. One of them he recognized easily enough, but the other was familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. “Well, hello to you little Applebloom. My have you grown. But you? You I don't remember at all.” The pink pony attached to his leg looked up at him with a giant smile. “Of course not silly. This is the first time we've met. But my Granny Pie used to tell me stories about my great great great great...” This continued on for a while, causing his eyes to glaze over. “... great great grandfather who was an alicorn that just abandoned his daughter when she married into the Pie family.” The stallion frowned for a moment before a memory came to him causing him to wince and look at Granny Smith. “My little sweet apple pie? You remember our third daughter, right? Apple Dumpling? Well, Apple Pie after she left us.” Granny Smith looked thoughtful for a moment before her eyes widened. “Wait. Ya mean tha one that married that Discordian fella? Aye, ah still regret not talking ta her after she left with that odd fella.” She stopped as her eyes widened in realization as she looked at the pink baker pony wrapped around the stallion's leg. “Wait, wait, wait! You?! And her?! When did this happen?!” The two looked over at Celestia as she stared at them in confusion. While the stallion was amused at her look, the green mare just sighed and shook her head in realization. “Well ah guess tha cat is outta tha bag. Just give me a moment.” Jaws dropped once more as the earth pony closed her eyes and started to glow. The years began to melt away from Granny Smith as her wrinkles started to smooth away and her mane began to brighten to a pale yellow. Soon the transformation had finished, leaving her looking not much older than any of the other ponies. Once the glow faded, Celestia turned a glare on her brother as she now recognized the mare as one she had met a long time ago. “You have a lot of explaining to do, buster! I can't believe that I didn't recognize her before, but she is the exact same pony that is the daughter of the one I gifted the land of Ponyville to in the past! The only way she could still be alive is if you had something to do with this and you know the rules regarding the abuse of an Aspects talents!” The stallion just snorted as he draped a wing over the mare. “Oh fie on the rules! There was no way I was going to let my wife just die on me if I had anything to say about it and I will defy the universe itself if I had to to keep her by my side.” Granny Smith reached up to rest a hoof on his cheek which calmed him down before he could go on further with his rant before she turned to the princess. “Ah don't get why yer so angry at yer brother. Ah heard about tha rules from him and ah don't see how he is breaking them. Death eventually claims all. That was tha rule. Well he certainly has done that, hasn't he?” The silver alicorn smiles fondly down at his wife. “Don't you mean that it was you that claimed me? I seem to recall that you were the one that held me down that first time.” Granny Smith's face turned bright red at that before she buried her face under his wing and kicking him in the ankle. The other mares soon joined in as what he said fully registered with them while he laughed at the reaction. The only one that didn't understand the comment was still attached to his leg and looked up at him curiously. “Grandpa? Why is everypony blushing like that? And if you're here does that mean that Applejack is gonna get all better now?” Looking down, the stallion ruffled his daughter's mane with a smile. “You'll understand when you are older. As for your sister, why don't you ask her yourself?” The stallion waved a wing over to the bed-ridden mare to reveal that the mostly bald mare was moving. “Ugh, what the hay hit me?” As she rubbed at her head her eyes opened to find the area around her hoof bare of fur. Quickly examining her body, she found the rest of her body was bare as well. “What the?! Who the buck shaved me when ah was asleep?!” The farm mare looked up and her eyes locked on to Rainbow Dash at the foot of her bed. Her eyes quickly narrowed at the cyan mare as her mind connected the few clues that she had. “Rainbow Dash! This had better not be-!” She was cut off as she was pounced by her friends and her sister when they shook off their surprise. “Applejack! You're okay!” The farm mare looked confused at first before her memory caught up with her at what last happened before she woke up. Her eyes darted around at her friends and took in the bald patches each of them had where she remembered seeing them get hit. “Wait just a moment. What about you all? Fluttershy! Your eyes! They're back! But I thought...” The pegasus winced at the memory but didn't let go of her hug. “It was nothing really, a filly came to help out and helped everypony. You were the last one that was hurt.” It was only then that they all remembered the reason why they were all in the room in the first place and started looking around for her. The apple patron raised an eyebrow at this as he was only there as he heard his name twice, he ignored the first as it was in Equestria and not from a princess, yet thinking back the voice sounded familiar. They quickly found the filly when their attention was drawn towards the window by Pinkie Pie's voice. “So whatcha doing?” Looking over they found Pinkie standing behind the filly as she was trying to open the window of the room. Eyes narrowed as they focused on the filly, or more specifically her saddlebags which were bulging with a variety of objects that were obviously from storage areas of the room as blankets and toilet paper were sticking out of the bulging bags. “I'm *grunt* trying to open *hrph* this window.” Pinkie tilted her head to the side while looking at the filly. “Why?” “Because I'm trying to get outside without being noticed.” “Why?” “Because the faster I get out of here the longer it takes for the inevitable pitchfork wielding mob to find me, stupid ungrateful ponies. Clear their homes of corruption, save their lives, and what do they do? Attack me as soon as they no longer need me. Ungrateful little whelps.” The filly pauses in her efforts to open the window as she realizes something. “And just why am I telling you all of this anyways? What are...?” She whips around to find herself face-to-face with a pink pony that she had never met before. She frowned in confusion at the pitying look the mare was giving her before the mare just smiled. “Okie doki loki!” With that the mare bounced off to elsewhere in the room, allowing the filly to see the rest of the room. She froze up when she saw that the entire room was staring at her, before turning to begin beating on the window with her hooves, dropping any sense of stealth she had earlier. She let out a squeak of panic when she felt a wing placed over her back. “I thought the first voice to call my name was familiar. So how have you been, my diminutive student? And did you think that I would show up without making sure my sister wouldn't be able to run away?” The alicorn smirked down at the unicorn as she stood frozen in place. The voice got through to her though, causing her to start growling before she smacked the wing with a hoof. “Don't touch me! And how many times do I have to tell you not to call me that!? I left you behind since there was nothing else you could teach me. I only kept in contact with you because you just would not leave me alone!” Princess Celestia rolled her eyes at her words and muttered over to her sister. “I know that feeling.” The alicorn stallion just ignored her and started ruffling at her mane, causing her to flail her hooves wildly at him. The rest of the group looked on in confusion before one of them finally lost her patience. “Just what the buck is going on here!? I know I've already asked, but seriously, what the buck? Who is this filly and why is she stealing from the hospital of all places now? And how in Tartarus does she know how to fix what that creature did to us!?” The other mares nodded at Rainbow Dash's words, but they looked offended when the filly snorted at them in derision. “I didn't steal anything. This is payment. What, you think that ponies would actually give me bits or anything for helping them? Or even allow me into their stores to buy stuff even if they did pay me? The only bits I have are ones that I scammed out of those incompetent Royal Guard ponies, and that was many decades ago.” Celestia frowned at this, causing her to join in on the conversation. “What do you mean by that? The Royal Guard are some of the best trained ponies in all of Equestria.” The filly wasn't the only one to roll her eyes at this claim, as both of the other older alicorns and Rainbow Dash joined in as well.” “Seriously? If that's the best there is then I have to wonder how this country even exists. A group of your guards snatched me up years ago to take me to an orphanage. So in order to escape I animated some of the animal skeletons under the ground nearby. The idiots then tried to hunt down an unknown necromancer while trying to defend me, even though my horn was glowing black. After a while I got bored and just walked away. A week later I found wanted posters all over searching for a necromancer with me as a foalnap victim. So out of boredom I turned myself in for both, collected the rewards, then walked right out of the outpost with the sack of bits.” While Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie burst out laughing, the four alicorns just brought a hoof up to their face at this. “I am going to have to go through all those old reports and see how many of them were because of you, aren't I?” None of them said anything to Celestia, but some of them agreed with her and wondered just how much trouble this filly was going to be. She had stopped struggling in the stallion's grip and just sat there grumpily as he poked at her. All heads turned when the door opened one more time, revealing three small figures on the other side. “Whoa! What did we all miss?” Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo pushed by Spike when they saw their sisters in the room. They made a fuss of their shaved features, but were relieved to find that they had been healed of their injuries and would recover. With them all distracted once again by the trio, Angelic Chorus would have attempted to escape again, yet her eyes were drawn to one of the new figures. Scootaloo flinched when she felt a hoof rubbing between her wings, and when she looked back she found an unknown filly poking at her. “What they hay are you doing?” The unicorn ignored her as she continued to prod at her back. Frowning in concern, Angelic Chorus looked over at the grown mares. “This is odd, this is a very old injury, and I think I can feel that a bit of faded necromantic magic is part of the cause. How come you never took your daughter to have this checked out? Not that they could have helped much.” Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo exchanged looks before the older pony looked at the filly in confusion. “Um, what? She's just an adopted sister, not my daughter. And what's wrong with her wings?” The unicorn filly raised an eye brow at her before shaking her head. “Not you, her. Their magical frequencies line up perfectly.” All eyes follow the filly's hoof until they land on the surprised and confused figure of Twilight Sparkle. “WHAT!?”
Chapter 7The orange filly paced back and forth in front of her home, debating with herself. She had been left with her aunt since she could remember and had trusted her in many things. Sure she had told her little fibs over that time, yet never had there been one that had made her feel as betrayed as this one. Scootaloo wasn't alone in her thoughts, though she didn't know it, as she was being watched from a distance by a princess. Normally she would have moved to ask the filly what was wrong, but after what she had heard recently she was unsure of herself. It was a feeling that she was rather uncomfortable with, though one she had started feeling more and more often in recent times. The current situation was even worse for her as it brought up two of her more recent and greatest failures, and if they were right, one of them was right behind the door the filly was by. “Well, not getting any answers out here.” The pegasus filly sighed as she pushed the door open and entered her home. Celestia, after making sure nobody was watching, slowly made her way over to the front of the building and waited while listening in. Holiday Heights looked up from her needlework as she heard the door to her home close. She already knew that her wife, Lofty Heights, was in the kitchen so there was only one pony that should be entering without knocking, but she wasn't expecting Scootaloo to be home from being out playing with her friends for another couple hours. Leaning over to look behind her chair and around the corner into the entry hall she saw her niece nervously rocking back and forth on her hooves as she looked between the stairs and door to the kitchen. “Scootaloo, sweetie? Is there something wrong?” The filly jerked in place as if shocked as she looked over to see the green-coated earth pony mare looking at her with worry on her face. Seeing that it was the more understanding of her two aunts, the young pegasus calmed down before looking at the ground again. “No, um, I mean maybe. Do you know where Auntie Lofty is? I need to ask her something about my mother. My real mother.” The earth pony looked at her niece for a moment before she lifted a hoof up to rub at her temple. She had told her life-mate that it was a bad idea to lie to her niece, but her issues with her family were... complicated. With a sigh, she looked out towards the kitchen. “Lofty, dear? Can you come here, please?” There was some rattling around in the kitchen before a pale orange pegasus mare peeked out through the doorway connecting the rooms. Seeing her wife and niece she frowned with worry, especially on seeing the younger filly's face. “Is something the matter? Did something happen to Scootaloo?” The filly watched as her aunt approached, shuffling her hooves around nervously. The elder pegasus' ear twitched as Scootaloo muttered something, causing her to frown. “What was that? You'll need to speak up a bit.” Scootaloo frowned as she turned away from her aunt, leaving her confused. The young pegasus scrunched up her face as she gathered her courage before speaking once more. “Why did you lie to me about my mom?” While her voice was still rather quiet, the ears of a pegasus were rather sensitive so as to hear others speaking as they flew in high winds. So while low, her voice was still enough for her aunt to hear as she stared at her blankly. A knocking at the front door knocked her out of her daze, causing her to laugh nervously as she moved to answer it. “What are you talking about Scootaloo? Why would I lie to you about your parents? That's just ridiculous, hehehe.” Lofty opened the door with her head turned back to the living room entry so she didn't see who it was at first. As soon as she looked though she froze up in shock. The next thing the rest of the household knew the door was closed with a slam and they saw the mare march past them as she stomped her way back to the kitchen. Holiday sighed as she watched her wife stomp away and left her seat to see just who it was that incited the pegasus' temper. She expected to find a salespony or someone else that her wife didn't like outside of her door, but to find Princess Celestia rubbing her reddened nose was the last thing she had expected. Frowning at the sight, she looked back over her shoulder towards the kitchen where she heard pots and pans rattling around violently. “Holiday! Just what do you think you are doing slamming the door in the princess' muzzle?! I am so sorry about that Princess Celestia, I have no idea what has gotten into her. Please, come in.” Celestia waved a hoof at the mare as she lowered it from her nose. “Thank you, and please, do not worry about your wife's reaction. I should have expected it when I suspected that she may have been here.” The earth pony glanced at the alicorn in confusion as she leads her into the living room of their home. As the alicorn entered the room, growling could be heard from the nearby doorway leading to the kitchen. “I am so sorry for her behavior, princess. My wife is usually a kind pony and I just don't know what has gotten into her today.” A loud noise outside grabbed her attention before she could say more, which was quickly followed by another knock on the door. The growl in the kitchen turned into slamming as the pegasus mare threw down what she was working with and stomped back out into sight. “Don't go apologizing for what I did! That old nag deserved it after what she did! In fact, I told her to stay away from me and my family or else I would do much worse but I guess she just doesn't care, like usual. Now, who else is showing up to ruin my day?!” Scootaloo and Holiday looked shocked at Lofty's words, while Celestia could only look hurt as well as guilty. The angry mare grumbled under her breath at how the day had been going and let her anger flow into her actions as she threw open the door. “What do you want!?” Her anger kept her from recognizing who she was looking at, though she found the situation before her odd. On one side was a purple alicorn which she remembered to be Twilight Sparkle, yet gripped in her mouth was the ear of an orange unicorn. While the red and yellow mane seemed familiar to her, it wasn't until the mare broke free and saw her bright green eyes that she recognized her, causing her to freeze up. “Um, hey sis. Long time no see?” Sunset Shimmer rubbed at her abused ear while shooting a glare over at Twilight. She was still trying to wrap her head around how she could have forgotten that she had a child so she didn't need the additional abuse from her friend, even if she was the sire of said child. Looking back to her sister she flinched as her vision became filled with orange and she found herself flat on her side with a pounding headache. Twilight's jaw dropped at the sight before her as the pegasus glared down at her sister. “Long time no see? Long time no see?! You're gone for years leaving your daughter behind and that's the first thing you say?!” The downed mare shook her head as she brought a hoof up to dab at her mouth, finding blood on it as she pulled it away. Shaking her head she unsteadily got back onto her hooves. “Right, I expected that to happen.” As she said that, she was once again knocked to the ground as she was tackled by the pegasus. She winced, expecting more blows to fall, but her eyes widened when she heard sniffling and looked down to see her sister crying against her. A sad smile came over Sunset's face as she slowly reached down to hug her sister, one whom she had not seen in years. While the two would have been content to sit there and bask in the presence of each other, a shout from the nearby home caused their eyes to shoot open in horror. “My Little Sunny Bunny!” A pastel rainbow streaked out of the door to crash into the two hugging ponies sending them back a few feet into the ground. As the dust cleared, Princess Celestia could be seen wrapping the two up in a giant wing-hug and attempting to squeeze the two ponies into one as far as any observer could see. The two smaller ponies began to turn blue when Holiday came out and cleared her throat to get everybody's attention. “I really hope that this is all that is going to show as it will be cramped inside as it is. Might as well continue this reunion inside, Scootaloo is bringing tea and snack cakes out into the living room.” The solar princess looked up at the mare in the doorway before glancing down at the two she was holding, who were turning blue at that point, and levitated them both onto her back. The two looked as if they wanted to protest the treatment, but seeing the alicorn act like she was they just sighed and grumbled quietly to each other over it. Soon the group was settled down in the home of the married mares with Sunset Shimmer Sandwiched between her sister and the princess with the alicorn's wing wrapped behind them both. Across from them were Holiday and Twilight, with Scootaloo squeezing in between them once she had set a plate of sandwiches in the middle, and a cup of tea in front of them all. The sole earth pony of the group looked around at the others before her eyes settled on the princess and how she was acting. “Now that everypony seems to have calmed down, we can settle this all like civilized ponies. I believe that I know some of what is going on, but I'm not sure why you are here Princess Twilight. Maybe you should start since you seem to know something about what is going on.” Twilight glared at Sunset, causing her to flinch before she looked down at Scootaloo sadly. “Well earlier I just found out that Scootaloo is my daughter and I want to know just why Sunset never told me about her. It has been years since we first met, yet even after we became friends she said nothing about her to me! I don't even know what I'm supposed to do about all of this, I never expected to find out that I had a child this early in life!” Scootaloo winced at Twilight's words before looking across to the unicorn mare that she didn't recognize. It was only then that she realized just who the unfamiliar unicorn was, causing her eyes to tear up. A thought ran through her head and she didn't realize that she spoke it aloud until her aunt looked down at her in confusion. “Scootaloo? What did you just say?” The filly winced as she hadn't intended to say anything, but she had been thinking it so hard that it just slipped out. With a sigh, she summoned up her courage before repeating what she said a bit louder. “Why did you leave me? Was I really that unwanted that even your sister had to lie about you?” The two sisters flinched as if struck by her words before looking downcast. Celestia frowned sadly as she looked down at the two, seeing her own failings being passed on to her adopted daughters. Sunset Shimmer looked at her daughter, and for the first time truly looked at her, and felt a surge of regret leaving her with only claiming the blunt and honest truth. “If you had asked if I wanted you now, I would be terrified but would have stayed with you. Back then though... I was nothing short of a selfish monster back then. Everything I did was for myself and nobody else, I didn't even have any friends, thinking they would just drag me down. I originally planned to humiliate Twilight so that she would run away leaving Celestia all to myself again, but something went wrong with the spell and I became pregnant with you. Because of that I instead drew even further away from everyone and hid from the world until you were born. When I first saw you I was so terrified that I left you with my sister and ran away to another world where I did many nasty things until Twilight came and stopped me from trying to take over Equestria. Through all of that, I was so focused on what I wanted that I forgot everything else until Twilight reminded me of you and I had to come back and try to make things right if there even is a way to or if I even deserve to do so.” All attention was on Sunset as she spoke of her past, pain filling her voice. Both Celestia and her sister pressed in closer to her as she spoke, while Twilight looked on her with sadness, knowing only part of the story yet happy that she had been able to help her. Still, even though she was saddened by her sister's words Lofty just had to add her own two bits to it. “Monster? That fall short with how often you were tossing nobles out the palace windows. You got even worse after a certain princess started ignoring you, and you became a true terror after Twilight became her latest student. You actually were starting to become bearable again before you dumped your daughter on me and disappeared. It's why I never told Scootaloo anything about you.” Both the alicorn and unicorn winced at the blunt words of the pegasus, though neither could deny them. Even Scootaloo winced at her aunt's words, even though she was still unsure of how she felt about seeing her mother after all this time. Sunset sighed as she looked down at her hooves, not being able to bring herself to look directly at the filly. “Still, after Twilight defeated me, I have done my best to turn my life around. I have friends now, and I've been doing everything I can to make up for my actions. It hasn't been easy, especially when I tried to forget about all the things I did, but I have been making progress. It wasn't until she messaged me earlier today that I even remembered about you and if there is anything I can do to make it up to you just tell me.” The room was silent as they looked between Sunset and Scootaloo, waiting on the filly's reaction. The young pegasus, for her part, only looked blankly at the older unicorn before she just stood up and started walking to the stairs out in the hall. “Scoots? Where are you going?” The filly paused at the bottom step as she looked over to her aunt Holiday. “I'm going to my room. I... I just don't know how I feel about all of this and I need some time to think... alone.” She steadily climbed the stairs, before she was halted once again, though this time by Twilight speaking up. “Um Scootaloo, it may not mean much, especially since I just found out today, but I really wouldn't mind getting to know you more. I definitely know that my parents would want to meet you as well. Anyways, if you ever need a place to stay there will always be a permanent room for you at my castle. You can even customize it in whatever manner you want.” Scootaloo just looked at the young alicorn blankly for a moment before a sad smile appeared on her face. “I'll think about that, too.” To tell the truth, out of all the things that the filly had learned that day, her being related to Twilight was one of the few positives, though she'd rather it was Rainbow Dash. Leaving the sight of who were all apparently her family, the young pegasus soon made it to her room and flopped onto her bed. As she was about to scream into her pillow, she paused as she realized just what had gone through her head a moment ago. “Wait, I'm related to all of the princesses? How has that gone secret for all this time? And how am I...?” She shook her head as she realized that this was all too much for her to deal with on her own. Lifting her head off of her pillow she looked towards her window and in the direction of the CMC clubhouse and her friends. Author's Note Boo-ba-doo-ba-doop
