Death is but a setback

Finally, I had done it. It was impossible, but it was done. I clutched the last of the items I had been searching for to my chest eagerly as I galloped across a vast plain back to my home. When I finally reached it, I gazed at the pitiful collection of splintered wood and rusted nails disdainfully.

Doesn’t matter. I’ll live wherever I want soon enough, I consoled myself. I ran into the little shack and closed the door gently behind me, lest the whole building come down. I turned away from the door to see the fruits of my years of labor. A large pony skeleton, nearly complete, lay in front of me.

“Mortem...” I whispered to myself, the mere name sending shivers down my spine. I slowly held the last bone away from my body, Mortem’s skull.

The skull hadn’t been an easy thing to obtain. I’d had to bribe at least three ponies, and most of my savings were lost, but it was worth it. Years of work had been put into this moment, all of my life’s savings, and much research. I could already see the fruits of my labor coming to in my mind’s eye...

No. I couldn’t daydream yet. There was still much for me to do.

Reverently, I walked over to the skeleton, slotting the skull in its rightful spot. With my work finally pieced together, I stepped back to admire it.

He was certainly a big pony, I thought to myself. He had to have been at least a few hooves taller than most stallions, and his horn appeared to be really long. I shook my head clear of such distracting thoughts, then began looking around for the last thing I needed.

“Where’s that blasted knife?” I sputtered angrily. “I can find and collect the bones of a thousand year old unicorn, but my damned knife manages to escape me!” I found it rather suddenly when I kicked the sharp point and got it embedded in my hoof.

“Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow! Horseapples! Bucking horseapples!” I screamed as I swung my hoof wildly, sending the knife sliding across the floor. I continued to curse under my breath as I trotted back over to my knife and levitated it a careful distance away from my body. I trotted back over to the skeleton...

And began the ritual that would make me the most powerful pony ever.

With care usually associated with the most cautious of doctors, I began to etch the runes into the ancient bones with my knife, pausing only to refer to the faded manuscript that depicted the proper rune formations. Many of the runes were very intricate, and more than once I was unsure if I had incorrectly carved one in on accident, but I pressed forward regardless. There was no turning back now, not for me. After a quite a few hours of painfully detailed work, and a break for a short lunch, the task was done.

With the tedious task now completed, despite any possible errors, I prepared to perform the final part of the ritual. Sitting exactly three feet from the edge of the bones, I lit up my horn with ancient magics described in my tomes, and began pouring my magic into the runes. Slowly, they began to glow a faint greenish color, which gradually brightened to a bright, green fire from each rune as they sparked. I grinned as a small green hole opened up over the skeleton.

A tugging sensation suddenly pulled at me. I snapped my head up, confused. This wasn’t supposed to be happening... according to the manuscript, I was only supposed to feel the power flowing into me, like a gentle river.

“Heh heh, foolish mortal, you’re mine now!” A voice boomed from all around me at once. The tugging intensified as the little green hole suddenly widened greatly. I panicked and attempted to get up and run away. To my horror, I found that I couldn’t move though. I had no more control over my body. The yanking grew stronger, and I felt myself leaving my body, like I could see the world from outside myself. For moment, I saw a final glimpse of my home. Then, darkness.

***

Mortem opened his eyes. Or more accurately, he opened the eyes of the pony whose body he had just stolen. He blinked them several times in rapid succession, then experimentally moved one of his new hooves. It responded perfectly. He moved another with the same result. After performing a few more basic movements, he was satisfied that the transfer had worked. He stretched his new mouth into a giddy smile and began moving all of his body parts with satisfaction. He spent a few long moments testing all of his now-living body parts, revelling in his renewed ability to simply live before remembering he had something he wanted to do. He hadn't spent all those years in death planning for nothing.

It was time to right an old wrong.

Celestia had to pay for her wrongdoings. He regretted failing to strike her down last time they fought, but at least he had managed to seperate her from her most powerful weapon. If only he had managed to obtain the artifacts. Then his victory would have been assured. It didn't matter now, he would simply do better this time. Surely Celestia had hidden them in his death though, so where to find them? She surely wouldn't keep them in her castle, artifacts that powerful could leak magic and alter the citizens. That was it! He'd simply research any oddities in the populations of Equestria. Then he could easily locate the artifacts he seeked. Luckily the building he was in was filled with books from ancient tomes to new-looking novels. Mortem began his search at once.

Nothing would stop him this time.