1056 AD, January 11th

Log 35: It has recently occurred to me that perhaps these “humans” are not attacking us just because they have a drive for vengeance.
Four times they have invaded since the day of First Contact and each encounter has seen the humans suffer greater losses. If my reports are to be believed, we have lost about ten lives in the conflict, as opposed to the humans, who have lost – at a rough estimate – over fifty-three of their numbers. My initial thought was that they are ill-prepared for the likes of my forces and I, and are too blinded by their need for vengeance to realize that. The fact that so far, their attacks are largely uncoordinated with many knights splitting off from larger groups to go on their own, was just further proof of this in my eyes.

I no longer believe this to be true.

There is a common theme amongst these random attacks: the knights will prioritize subduing and capturing any unicorns in the vicinity, and risk life and limb to bring them back to the Entropic Fractures they arrive through. Why do they only go after unicorns? Why is it so important that they will throw an entire platoon worth of lives away just to capture a single unicorn, even if it is only a foal?

I have not seen nor heard about Knight Enforcer Caed since he ran during First Contact and I have a suspicion that he’s ordering his soldiers to capture unicorns as part of a much larger plan.

Unfortunately, capturing one of his knights alive is difficult because of their annoying habit of activating some sort of concealed device that causes their craniums to explode.

Autopsies reveal very little aside from an anatomy startlingly similar to equines, though Twilight points out that it seems to have been tampered with in a manner similar to the Animate Augmentation field in the Alteration school.

Examination of their equipment is also fruitless: almost all of their equipment is no more advanced than a regular sword or suit of armor and the gear that isn’t self-destructs when its wearer perishes or it is removed in any way.

We still haven’t figured out how they are able to communicate over long distances.

It is frustrating going on so little information, but I will have to make do, and just be thankful the princesses have been quiet so far.

Obviously, this means they’re planning something, but I have to take this one problem at a time, and right now, the human problem is the one that requires my immediate

“What is it?”

The guard standing in the doorway jumped in surprise. “Oh! Uh… Empress, it’s almost time.”

“I see,” Nightmare Moon waved her hoof at the guard. “I will be out shortly.”

The guard bowed her head and slinked back out the door before softly shutting it.

Nightmare Moon finished writing in her journal-

attention.

-and levitated both the pencil and book over onto her desk. Nightmare Moon unfurled herself and rose up from the velvet cushion, and stepped off to start stretching her limbs.

Once they were firm and free of the crawling sensation, she crossed the length of her room and went out on the balcony. She rested her forelegs on the stone parapet and looked out over Canterlot. It was a little past noon and many ponies milled about below, going about their business.

A serene and quiet day here to be certain, but there was always that nagging worry that perhaps the Rouge Knights were causing trouble in one of Equestria’s other major settlements.

Nightmare Moon was a force to be reckoned with, but she wasn’t omniscient and nor could she zip over to Manehatten or Las Pegasus and back in the blink of an eye.

She had to just hope that the forces she stationed in each settlement could hold out and send a message in time.

Nightmare Moon didn’t like relying on anyone that wasn’t part of her Praetorian Guard, but it was necessary.

…

Having had her fill of watching the populace plod around and try to pretend that the war was some big monster in the far distance, Nightmare Moon pushed off the parapet and went back into her room.

Ebony would be coming out very soon, so that was something to look forward to. She was very curious to see how the procedure had gone and was glad to have one of the few ponies she could actually trust carrying out her orders again.

She didn’t have anything else of significant importance to do, so she might as well get there early.

Nightmare Moon headed for the door and went through, startling the two guards stationed outside. “Nopony enters.”

“Yes, Empress.” They said in unison and stiffly saluted.

She went left, took a right at a ‘T’, and went down a set of stairs. She had gone down them enough to know that the fifth step always creaked; it was near silent but her ears were sensitive enough to pick it up. She had debated hiring a carpenter to fix it, but decided it was a waste of money – even if she had lots to spare – over something of no true significance.

The guards and cleaning staff littering the corridors and rooms she went through respectfully bowed; most had gotten completely used to her presence and habit of wandering about at random times by now.

Sometimes Nightmare Moon missed the initial fear, and would occasionally either flash her teeth or let her throat vibrate with a soft growl when she passed them, just to see their reaction.

It was really immature, but a surprisingly effective method of stress relief since she had no desire and often no time for intoxicants, games, and ‘pleasures of flesh’.

She had no urge to do that though, so the ponies that she passed were free to spend their day without fearing that their Empress had it out for them.

Nightmare Moon went down another floor and took a right, and happened upon a maid struggling to open a door. She was balancing on her hindlegs with her forelegs wrapped around a metal bucket and several cleaning supplies. If she had a wing or a horn, it might have been easier, but she didn’t, and had to resort to awkwardly leaning against the door while trying to stretch her neck down to bite the knob.

“Ah? Ergh! Hm!” The caramel-coloured mare scrunched her face up in determination and waggled her tongue at the door knob. “Ahhh…”

It was both amusing and sad to watch.

“Step away and stop trying to dislocate your spine,” Nightmare Moon sighed. Once the maid had jumped back in surprise, she telekinetically opened the door, ignoring the stammering excuses. “There.”

“Oh, th-thank you so much, Empress. I, um…”

Nightmare Moon was already moving past her. She had no idea why the maid didn’t just put the cleaning supplies down before opening the door, but even the most intelligent ponies could lack in common sense sometimes.

After going down several more floors, the amount of ponies dwindled to a scarce few guards; she had arrived in the ‘Forbidden Wing’, as Fade liked to call it. Technically not inaccurate since Nightmare Moon had performed her surgery on Twilight down here and had forbid anypony besides her Praetorian Guard from entering, and it was also the current resting place of Ebony.

Still, she wished he would stop spreading rumours about how parts of the castle were haunted. Bad enough when he did it, but sometimes his damnable marefriend would get involved and then-

“Empress.”

“Empress.”

Two near-mechanical tones snapped Nightmare Moon out of her thoughts. The two guards stationed outside a plain wooden door – reinforced with security spells – were bowing.

She was actually taken aback somewhat because they were both bat-ponies – thestrals? – and she didn’t remember…

… No, actually, she did remember: she was there when Miasma was training them out in the courtyard. It was about a week ago and she had more important things on the mind, so it didn’t really stick with her.

“Your captain is to wake shortly,” Nightmare Moon said, already igniting her horn to fiddle with the spells she had cast a month ago. “I’m going to wait inside until she does; let nopony else in. Understand?”

“Yes, Empress.”

“Yes, Empress.”

Once the spells were down, she entered the dimly lit room. She turned to close the door and set the spells back up before trotting over to the far side of the room.

The sleek, black coffin resting against the wall was still polished and had that ‘new coffin’ smell. Nightmare Moon smirked as she sat down in front of it, remembering the long argument Ebony and Haze had over what sort of coffin would be best.

Ebony had her heart set on practicality, but Haze was insistent that she take at least some measure of aesthetics in mind; this was a monumental event in her life after all.

Personally, Nightmare Moon agreed with Ebony, but kept out of the argument because it was much too amusing to watch. In the end, Haze managed to convince Ebony to use a more extravagant and ornately-designed coffin made of a rare type of wood distantly related to mahogany rather than the simple oak Ebony had planned to use.

She remembered Ebony’s last words to her as she sunk into the coffin’s interior padding, her eyes fluttering as the ritual spell slowed her heartbeat.

“I guess it is pretty comfy…”

Nightmare Moon hoped Ebony had enough cognition to enjoy that comfort because as soon as she was out, there was much lot to do. She had to catch up on current events, reintegrate into her role as Eclipse Captain and Right Hoof, and gain full understanding of her new… ‘lease’ on life.

It would be-

Skritch… skritch…

Nightmare Moon straightened. ‘Ah, that must be her now.’

The scratching was sort of… sluggish, lazy almost. It wasn’t the mad scratching of somepony desperately trying to get out, but the scratching of somepony unconsciously reaching out and dragging their hoof across the coffin’s lid.

Nightmare Moon stood and ventured closer to unclasp the locks that kept the lid in place. It wouldn’t do for her Right Hoof to wake up, forget where she was, and possibly injure herself in the process of trying to escape a dark and claustrophobic prison.

There were a lot of ponies out there that didn’t respond to well to waking up under such conditions.

She left the lid in place though; if Ebony couldn’t manage to move it out of the way even when it wasn’t locked in place, then she would be very disappointed.

But when Nightmare Moon stepped back after unclasping the last brass lock, the lid swung open a mere three seconds later. It only just barely missed grazing her muzzle; there was enough force behind it that she didn’t doubt it would have stung had it connected.

Still, she took another step back just to be safe, and watched as the body inside the coffin fell forwards with the strained gasp of a drowning pony. They landed on the ground, shivering and coughing and naked as the day they were born, carrying forward the sour stench of rot and lemons.

“Huagh! Ack!” Ebony pressed her face into the ground and coughed wetly, a few specks of blood – much too dark to be healthy – spattering the floor like paint drops. “Huagh… huagh…”

Coughing up blood? Good – that was the least severe of around a dozen possible defects she could have suffered.

Nightmare Moon was not disappointed.

“Welcome back to the waking world…” She said with a grin, bending to extend a foreleg. Ebony started and looked up, wide-eyed and frightened. Oddly, there were damp streaks on her cheeks like she had been crying. “Captain.”

“…” Ebony hesitantly took her hoof. “Nightm… Empress…” She was easily pulled up onto her hooves. Aside from some shaking, she held her own weight. “I… Where am I?”

“Do you not remember?” Nightmare Moon tilted her head as she started making circles around the smaller mare, examining every inch for abnormalities.

“Only… a little bit,” Ebony admitted. “I remember asking for help with something. A ritual spell, I think?”

“Yes. Go on.”

“I had to make a lot of these drinks and… and cast these spells,” Ebony pressed a hoof against her temple and frowned deeply. “… Mortal Recoil.”

Nightmare Moon made a full turn and stopped in front of her. “What about it?”

“That was the name of the spell, wasn’t it? The one I asked for help with. It was supposed to… to…”

Recollection flashed across Ebony’s face and she uttered a small gasp. The hoof against her temple slid across her face and her pupils shone a solid red against the black sclera of her sunken eyes, reacting to the sudden surge of alarm.

“Did… it work, Empress? Am I…?”

Ignoring her captain’s newfound pungent scent, Nightmare Moon leaned in close, tasting it on her tongue as she bared her teeth in a grin. “I believe so. Well done, Ebony – you are now a lich.”

“…” Ebony stared up at her, shocked and surprised and excited and everything in between, as she moved her hoof to rest over her silent chest. “It’s done? It… It’s done.”

Nightmare Moon chuckled, feeling a sense of pride as her Right Hoof explored her undead state. “That it is. But there is no time to stand around – you’ve been gone a little under a month, and there is much to catch up on. Come.”

“The Rouge Knights have invaded once more during your absence. They attacked Manehatten at 7:43 pm on January the sixth, and managed to escape with two more unicorns. The property damage was minimal, fortunately. However, the number of guards in the city has decreased by four.”

“Four?”

“They left to join Celestia and Luna, most likely.”

Ebony grimaced and her eyes shone brightly. “Hmm…”

Nightmare Moon inwardly smirked at the reactions the smaller mare was eliciting in the ponies they passed. Guards faltered at the sudden return of their captain before clumsily saluting, the castle’s staff balked at the sight of her glowing eyes and washed-out colours, and the nobility pressed handkerchiefs against their noses to block out the smell of death.

The latter seemed to bother Ebony the most considering she kept placing her hoof in front of her face and exhaling, her face scrunching in confusion.

“The Resonator still works perfectly…” Nightmare Moon continued. “Twilight’s managed to tamper with the inner workings so that there’s now an option to create an AOE blast that will close any Fractures in the sphere in case the beam option is out of the question.”

“She’s still loyal?”

“Loyal? No. Never. But under my control? Yes. So long as those crystals are still in her body, she can’t resist my commands.”

Ebony nodded and spared a small amount of sympathy for the augmented alicorn. She was the enemy, of course, but how could anypony not cringe at the sight of those crystals poking through flesh? Twilight moved around like it did not bother her, too… and that just made it creepy.

… Then again… Ebony was now a walking corpse, so she didn’t really have room to talk about what was creepier.

Seriously, it was weird not feeling the comforting lub-dub of her heart anymore; Ebony’s hoof kept going back to her chest as she walked alongside the Empress.

“Empress?”

“Hm?”

“What about our newest member?”

“Ah yes – Fade’s marefriend,” Nightmare Moon shrugged in a so-so manner as they turned a corner. The large double doors leading to the courtyard came into view. “Nothing new to report there, thankfully. She seems to have calmed her attitude a great deal lately; I can only assume it’s because of Fade’s influence.”

Ebony chuckled.

Fade getting somepony to calm down – she never thought she’d hear that sentence. Good on him, though.

“She continues to improve physically,” Nightmare Moon continued. “You know I dislike her attitude, Ebony, but her prowess is very impressive. I didn’t expect somepony who worked in a brothel to be such an accomplished flyer, not until I realized who she was,” With a flare of her horn, she reached out to telekinetically push open the double doors. “She’s already surpassed Rainbow Dash if we go by that accursed pegasus' record.”

Sunlight was… not kind to Ebony.

Flinching away from the light, Ebony hissed through her teeth in displeasure, and squinted while raising a hoof to shield her face. Her surroundings were blurred by golden rays, and she had to stand still in case she tripped up. She could hear guards training out here – the clashing of weapons, their voices – and didn’t want to lose face after being gone so long.

“Familiar, Ebony?”

Ebony blinked several times until the vague shapes and colours regained their details, and put her hoof back down to look around. “... Yeah, it’s all coming back to me.”

There was the sparring ring – it filled her with pride to recall her victories – where two guards were duelling with a crowd watching and cheering, there was the line of training dummies against the far wall, and there was the blacksmith’s shed.

“Fitter’s shed is bigger.” Ebony noticed.

“The stubborn stallion’s finally taken on an apprentice,” Nightmare Moon replied. “Requested another room just a week ago.”

Ebony nodded and cast her gaze over the Eclipse in the yard.

She could recognize a lot of faces: Private Tremor by the dummies with Ensign Scarlet next to him, Lieutenant Fissure observing the sparring match with his usual bored expression, Sergeant Moon Current talking to…

‘Miasma!’

A smile pulled at her lips as she recognized the armor of the Praetorian Guard and the imposing size of its wearer, even with their back turned to her.

“She’s done an admirable job standing in for you,” Nightmare Moon said, noticing her gaze. “If you wish to speak to her, then do so. I have business to attend to shortly, so I think I’ll take my leave,” She made to leave, but stopped and fixed her with a questioning look. “Was there anything else you needed to know?”

“No, Empress,” Ebony shook her head. “I think that’s it.”

“Contact me if you feel unusual, and do try to take it easy for a while, hm? Wouldn’t want any of your parts to fall off.”

“Heh… yeah…”

Nightmare Moon’s lips twitched as if she wanted to smile with the joke, too, but…

Wait, that was just a joke, right? She wouldn’t actually fall apart if-

Oh, Nightmare Moon was walking away.

“…” Ebony worriedly looked down at her limbs before cautiously trotting across the courtyard. The Eclipse guards did a double-take at her sudden appearance, but saluted dutifully anyway, and Ebony ignored their non-subtle grimaces of disgust and unease as she raised her voice to be heard. “Miasma!”

Miasma turned at her call, blinked owlishly, and then gave a small smile. “Ebony,” To anypony who knew her closely, it was an extravagant and bright exclamation. “You’re back.”

“Yeah – good to be back, too,” Ebony rubbed the back of her neck as Miasma walked over to her after dismissing the stunned Sergeant. “I can’t really… remember anything in that coffin, but I think it was a little stuffy.”

Miasma scrutinized her carefully, nose wrinkling. “… You smell.”

“I thought as much. Everypony I passed sort of made a face and…” Ebony shrugged, mildly embarrassed. “Apparently, there’s a mixture I can bathe in that eliminates the smell; otherwise, I’ll have to just wear an air freshener around my neck.”

“So the ritual worked? You’re undead?”

“My heart isn’t beating, so I guess so.”

“You’re still breathing.”

Ebony frowned and let out all her breath in one long exhale. She didn’t take another breath, and waited for the tightness in her chest, for her lungs to kindly inform her brain that they would very much like some oxygen so they could both continue living.

… Nothing happened.

Her lungs didn’t complain and her brain kept chugging along.

“Cool,” Miasma nodded, impressed, as Ebony refilled her lungs with useless air. “Fade will get a kick out of this. He’s around here somewhere,” She briefly looked in the air and settled her gaze on a spot behind Ebony’s head. “Speak of the devil…”

Ebony made to turn in place, but a heavy weight smacked into her side and almost sent her toppling to the ground. “Agh! Wha-”

“Ay, Ebony! Missed having you around here, yeah?” Fade laughed, still the same appearance-wise aside from a scar on his cheek that was especially noticeable when he smiled. “All these recruits get some sass when you don’t yell some sense into them, and my sis’ here isn’t exactly big on raising her voice above… ugh…”

His death-hug relaxed as he backed away, cheeks puffing out and eyes watering. Ebony’s opinion on her stench immediately went up a few notches.

“So I know you’re supposed to be a walking corpse, but do you really gotta smell like the ass of one? Kinda puts a damper on a touching reunion, yeah?”

“It’s nice to see you, too,” Ebony smirked and rolled her eyes. “How have things been?”

“Welp, we’re still dealing with the Cosmetic Knights running around and stealing ponies, but aside from that? Not much.”

“You have a scar on your face.”

“Eh? Ah, got that from one of those pillbug things that grow bigger, yeah? Appeared right in the middle of a shop and wrecked the place before we managed to kill it. Lucky hit, that’s all.” He shrugged.

“Everyone else?”

“Veil’s still being emo and Haze is getting off on browbeating nobles and the Royal Court,” Fade glanced over his shoulder. “And… Hey, babe! Guess who's back?”

‘Ah… her…’

Ebony’s expression soured a little as a female pegasus swooped low to come in for a gentle landing. Apparently, she had been training with several other pegasi, who visibly sagged in relief and tiredly floated back to ground level.

She didn’t really like Lightning Dust.

Oh, she was skilled, no doubts there, and Nightmare Moon’s augmentations only made her stronger, but her attitude left much to be desired. Personally, Ebony thought it was a mistake to let her into the Praetorian Guard when Fade first introduced her, but the Empress thought that her abilities were worth a bit of insubordination and wildness.

And so Ebony kept her protests to herself and welcomed the newest member of the Praetorian Guard, keeping her protests to herself even during the initiation, when Nightmare Moon modified Lightning Dust’s body so that now her coat was a deep azure, her mane a muted shade of orange with dark yellow streaks, and her pupils stretched into slits and situated in bright yellow irises.

“Ebony?” Lightning Dust’s eyebrows rose in disbelief as she landed, and then one lowered in suspicion when she fully took in Ebony’s appearance. “Yeesh, no offense, but you look like death.”

“She sort of is.” Miasma replied.

“I’m a lich,” Ebony told her. “It was what the ritual was for.”

“Huh, I didn’t think you’d actually be undead; thought that ‘reborn’ shit Nightmare Moon went on about was a metaphor or something,” Lightning Dust continued to examine her, uneasy. “So… I’m not gonna become a zombie if you bite me or anything, right?”

“Uh, no. It doesn’t work like that.”

“Okay, phew – just got all this power, and I’d hate to be a mindless moron that can’t even enjoy it.” As if it emphasize her point – and to show off – she extended her strong wings and flexed them.

“I dunno,” Fade shrugged and ran his hoof along the plumage with a sleazy grin. “I can think of at least one pony that would still enjoy it, yeah?”

She laughed and swatted his hoof away with a playful wink. “Pfft, keep it in its sheath, slowpoke.”

“Yes, this is what I wanted to see when I woke up today,” Miasma said dully. “It’s not awkward at all.”

“Was that sarcasm? Heh heh – you’re a riot!”

Ebony stumbled out of the way as Lightning Dust suddenly came forwards to lightly punch Miasma in the shoulder.

Miasma actually flinched.

Simply another reason why Ebony didn’t approve of Nightmare Moon’s decision – Lightning Dust was practically on par with Miasma in terms of physical prowess; perhaps not as strong but definitely quicker and more mobile, and if Lightning Dust went rogue for whatever reason…

‘Ugh, no – the Empress knows what she’s doing, I’m sure of it. If she thinks Lightning Dust won’t betray us, then I’ll believe it. She did say that she’s calmed down lately, so that’s something.’

“So you gonna take back position of captain?” Lightning Dust asked. “Bummer – I was set on stealing it while you were snoozing. Heh heh!”

Ebony gave a fake smile. “I bet you were…”

Fade looked between them, appeared to remember that they weren’t exactly ‘close’, and cleared his throat. “So, hey, babe…” He touched Lightning Dust’s shoulder to get her attention. “Why don’t you round up some guards and we’ll do another route? Just to double-check everything’s alright in the city, yeah?”

“Eh? We just checked,” Lightning Dust frowned before giving a shrug. “Alright, whatever – it’s another chance for me to leave your ass in the dust.”

“I’d rather leave my mouth in the ‘dust’, if you know what I mean.”

“Ew, puns – I better leave before they ruin my sense of humour. Catch ya later, hot stuff.”

“Later, babe.”

Lightning Dust took off into the air and flew away to round up some pegasi. Ebony muscles relaxed when she was gone; fellow Praetorian Guard or not, that mare rubbed her the wrong way, and death did nothing to lessen that feeling.

“She’s…” Fade grimaced as he searched for the right word. “… Difficult sometimes, but she’s super-cool, yeah? Give her a task and she gets it done insanely fast. Just, uh… give her a chance, yeah?”

“… So long as she doesn’t do anything stupid, I’ll keep smiling,” Ebony replied with a sigh. “Anyway, is my gear still where I left it, Miasma?”

“Nopony else has touched it since.” Miasma nodded.

“Okay, I’m going to go put it on, and then I’ll come out help you with the guards.”

“Alright.”

“Need me to do anything, Ebs?”

“No, nothing yet. I’ll Call if I do.”

Fade nodded. “Sweet,” Puffing out his wings, he took the air and went after Lightning Dust, shouting back, “Seriously – there’s this super-cool thing called ‘bathing’; give it a go, yeah?!”

Ebony rolled her eyes again before giving a wave to Miasma, and then trotting across the courtyard towards Fitter’s shed.

Oddly, she couldn’t wait to get back into uniform; the metal angles and points poking into her body and hefty weight had grown on her, and without it, she felt naked.

Like, ‘no fur and skin naked’, not just ‘normal naked’.

… She really hoped her fur and skin wouldn’t slough off. The book said it wouldn’t, but nopony had done necromancy, least of all a Mortal Recoil ritual, for almost a thousand years, so there was always room in her mind for paranoia.

Even if, in the long-run, a bit of decay and necrosis was a small price to pay for what she had received.

Ebony inhaled deeply through her nostrils and smiled, a sense of lightness in her bosom that she had never experienced before. Being undead – ironically – gave her a greater sense of freedom and life; she no longer felt held back by her own body’s limitations. There was no longer any need to waste her time eating or drinking or sleeping, and she could devote all that spare time to her work and her Empress.

She had no regrets.

From up high, a maid watched from a window as Ebony opened the door to the blacksmith’s shed and entered.

The caramel-coloured mare hummed and tilted her head thoughtfully. “Hmm… a most curious specimen indeed.”

With a flick of her tail, the maid moved away from the window and sauntered down the corridor.

“A life without life? How defiant. How poetic,” The maid lifted a hoof to her forehead and sighed wistfully, eyes sparkling. “What drive and determination! Oh, a ne’er do well she may be, but surely such traits can be admired no matter which side of the field one might play for?”

Turning a corner, the maid sighed again and looked to the ceiling as she walked to her destination, one hoof pressed against her chest.

“Ah, what am I saying? Sympathy for the enemy will be the undoing of my allies and I. No! If there is to be sympathy at any point, then it should be at the end of all this when the enemy is laying down their arms. We shall show them the true might of what tolerance and acceptance can do, and they shall quake with bladder-loosening terror-”

Two guards turned the corner, and the mare swiftly lowered her gaze to the floor and reduced her confident stride to an uncertain shuffle.

The guards paid no heed and passed her, their voices fading as they went down the hallway she had just came from.

And just like that, her gait and confidence were back.

“-and beg for forgiveness and the chance to be friends and more!” The maid rose up on her hind legs and pointed to the ceiling, beaming and boiling over with pride and confidence. “And of course we shall accept it; for you cannot spell pride and strength without adding and taking several letters from the word ‘humble’ and ‘merciful’.”

Twirling dramatically, the maid faced an open window and planted her hooves on the sill.

The wind blew back her mane, and she inhaled deeply, a winning grin on her face as she looked towards the bright, yellow sun.

“So hear me, Sun Goddess Celestia – I swear that we shall crush our enemies to dust in a most merciful manner, and then ruthlessly offer them friendship. By your life-giving, eye-watering, blinding glory I swear thi- eeeeeek!!”

The maid leaned too far and fell out with an undignified shriek that was cut off in a burst of green flames.

Author's Notes:

Note 1: Mortal Recoil - a spell that allows the caster to overcome the limitations of life such as circulation, respiration, nourishment, sleep, and cellular breakdown by utilizing magic to keep the body functioning.

Unicorns of old thought that magic could be used to transcend death itself, bringing them one step closer to the ageless immortality alicorns naturally have, and their finest scholars sought to do so. Marrow View, the first official necromancer, discovered such a way by removing the chains of the necessities of life altogether.

However, by removing that which labels us as ‘alive’, is it truly immortality or a grotesque imitation?

Note 2: A ritual spell is the term given to a magical incantation that requires several steps and/or items before the actual casting of it. Ritual spells have powerful effects, but require experience and great magical power.

The most famous user of ritual spells was Starswirl the Bearded, while the most infamous user was King Sombra.

From a strictly professional point of view, King Sombra was the better caster, as he managed to make an entire settlement vanish for over a thousand years, but most scholars would rather not give compliments to such a monster.