Author's Notes:

My brain wanted to do something different here and expand on the world a bit without having Sarah or Liz read about it in a history book.

Let's face it, reading about other people reading isn't itself the most exciting thing, unless it involves a huge cliffhanger. Thus I present the first chapter not involving either of my main point-of-view characters. Take it away, Sunbutt!

I check myself in the bathroom mirror after arriving back in Canterlot Castle and take the time to make a minor adjustment to my tiara before stepping out with the strange weapon cradled in my magic. A small and curious part of me wants to attempt to take it apart myself, but the urge quickly subsides as I remind myself that I have at least one more petitioner to hear regarding the odd disturbances the other day. A quick check of my hooves shows that neither they nor my shoes picked up any residual grime from visiting those two in their 'hive,' for which I am grateful. A soft chime from the other side of the door alerts me to the fact that the kitchens have sent up my lunch promptly upon my return, as requested, and the fact that no doors opened tells me that my favorite chef must have recovered from the trauma quickly.

Opening the bathroom door results in my nostrils being attacked by the inviting scent of a warm vegetable and flower pie: daffodil and honeysuckle in a pea stew base with carrots, quinoa, and a bit of garlic. My nose leads my gaze over to the table where the food arrived after being teleported, and the side dish of two halves of an apple cut apart so carefully as to appear to be a pair of off-white roses causes me to pause. Trouble in the castle while I was away. Green skin means an impertinent guest... I move over quickly and lift up the upper half to examine the details of the shaping. Counter-clockwise spiral with pips removed: powerful leader of an Equestrian protectorate state. I find myself rolling my eyes while quickly eating the upper half of the apple and lifting both the small pie and the bottom half to take with me.

The wall of guards on the other side of my bedroom door parts as I open it, which in turn allows my harried-looking assistant, Quick Quill, to step to my side and begin briefing me on the situation while I do the best I can to savor my lunch under the circumstances. Luckily, holding the still-hot filling of the pie inside is no challenge with a delicate telekinetic touch. "Princess, about ten minutes after you left to air the previous collective grievances with the source of the recent disturbances your afternoon guest arrived. I realize that she is in charge of a small portion of the country, but she is an absolute terror! Isn't there something you can do about her temperment, or her appearance? One of the new maids soiled herself and started screaming about not wanting to lose her soul when that...that thing teleported in."

Female pronouns narrows the possible field of irritations from over a dozen to less than five, and having an overtly frightening appearance narrows it to two on the planet; one of which I have just seen and cannot yet teleport herself. Nevertheless, I swallow the first half of the pie and take a deep breath before asking the question that will determine how I handle this visitor today. "How many guards are just paralyzed, and how many are actually dead?" I dont wait for a response before popping the second half of the pie in my mouth and chewing as quietly as possible.

"At least a dozen are incapacitated in one way or another, but we aren't sure how many are actually dead." We continue towards the throne room; dodging a unicorn racing towards the healers' wing with a frozen pegasus towed behind him. "Princess, I have a long list of titles for this guest of yours, and the initials N.M., but no name: Queen of the Necropolis of Hollow Shades, Dread Necromancer of the Octarine Veil, Pale Master of the Boneyard, Vanquisher of Grogar the Defiler, Lady of the Forsaken Crypt..."

"Believe me when I say she has earned both those titles and my respect many times over throughout the last forty centuries; despite the fact that we tend to disagree on moral grounds. She actually works to keep undead in check and a relatively benign disruption of the cycle of life and death rather than guiding them to spread like the plagues of old." The device in my grasp is quickly given to a guard who is still able to move. "Get this to the guild of artificers, tinkerers, engineers, and alchemists. I want it examined and analyzed so that we can make more of it if we need to." I step up to the vaulted doors of the throne room; carefully wrapping my magic around them before a thought occurs to me. "Are there any guards missing that should have been here today?"

"Just Captain Blueblood the 97th," Quick Quill doesn't sound overly concerned, but hearing that makes me flinch a bit. I make a quick adjustment to the flow of magic around the throne roon to activate the sound-proofing wards before opening the door and stepping inside. The room that is normally bright and cheerful even on the rainiest of days has been turned into an abattoir. The scent of death and blood fills my nose alongside a faint hint of decay while ribcages are strewn on the floor like the broken toys of a spoiled child; some of them are empty and covered only in a thin layer of blood while others clearly still contain lungs and other viscera. The walls and windows are both spotted with large blotches of red and brown with the net result blocking more of the light that should be permeating the room at this time of day.

I direct my gaze up to my throne and the floating skull with sapphires for eyes and ruby teeth capped with pearls to look more like natural bone. A spectral hand holds Captain Blueblood up by his horn and shakes him in front of me as a tired voice surrounds me. "Celestia, your great to the umpteenth power nephew here thought it was a good idea to try hitting me with a simple magic missile assault. Rather than realize his error and apologize when that failed, he decided to attempt to cast a delayed blast fireball...in a room full of other guards. Your mortal bloodline has become astoundingly foolish in this last generation. I must admit the whole snake-like lower body is a new thing, though. This one wasn't foalnapped by yuan-ti at some point, was he?"

"Teleport him to the hall of healing already, Nanay. You know mortals tend to struggle to breathe when paralyzed." I light my horn while calling the runes of illusion erasure forward in my mind; smiling as the throne room brightens considerably with the macabre decorations dissolving back into the Weave. "And could you at least take the time to call up an illusion of your old body for state visits, for old time's sake if nothing else?"

"If anyone but you were asking that of me I'd turn them into a skeleton and a skin kite." The skull seems to glare at me for a few seconds before an image starts to flicker around and beneath it, eventually focusing with great difficulty into the body the demilich once had. The visage is still somewhat menacing, being that of a normal lich, and I give a deliberate cough to drive my point home. "Ugh, you really want me to go back three and a half thousand years? I was all flesh and hair and, ugh, the biological needs..."

"Biological needs you no longer have, but a body that I always felt comfortable around, and that didn't scare my citizens into thinking they were in danger of having their soul sucked out. Forgive me for feeling a bit nostalgic in my old age." My next runes activate and quickly pull Blueblood out of her grasp while teleporting him to the healers along with the rest of the incapacitated guards.

"Old age my ass, Celestia, your body hasn't changed a bit since you came into your full power two thousand years ago, and it's not likely to change again anytime soon unless you decide you want to wish for a few more improvements."

I roll my eyes at this old argument of hers about unchanging bodies and bite back my usual retort. "So, other than the reality-rewriting energy from the other day, what brings you to Canterlot this time, Queen Manaallin?"

An eyebrow raises on her illusionary body and her voice echoes faintly as her temper flares. "Titles titles titles. Are we to fawn over each other in an attempt to recall as many titles the other holds as possible, or can we just skip straight to the meat of the discussion, 'Princess' Sunbeam? I was wandering recently through the Plane of Shadow, trying to see if I could find a new path to a new prime material plane if there ever came reason to abandon this one, when I happened upon two comatose figures. A few simple spells allowed me to backtrack their arrival there so I could observe them for a time." I roll my eyes again at this since I know Nanay considers spells as complex as a hellball to be 'simple.' "One of them managed to enrage a supreme trickster."

"A supreme trickster? You mean there's more things like Discord out there?" My question actually makes her laugh,and the sound is a bit grating on my ears as I wait for her mirth to subside. "Have I truly limited my perspective that much by keeping my attention on mortal affairs that this comparison is so funny?"

"Comparing this thing to Discord would be like comparing you to a breezie, Celestia. As much chaos as the Lord of Pandemonium can wreak when you don't have his consciousness trapped in stone; this thing that I saw was leagues beyond even what he could manage. For all my power I couldn't do a damn thing to stop it from throwing those two girls into a death sentence. What I was able to do is bring them here instead."

"Wait...that was YOU!? You brought them here?"

"Just because I'm evil doesn't mean I lack all compassion, Celestia." At this point Nanay's body has become a perfect reflection of her form when she was alive. Bipedal and vaguely similar in shape to the new arrivals, her body was visually more delicately built and anorexically-thin. Her right arm remains skeletal, but the rest of her is flesh as solid as any stone; with a coloration akin to fine marble. Black hair hangs limp from her neck and reaches her thighs while her entire body is garbed in black robes with purple trim. "Your sister always liked what I did for her anyways."

"You know I still blame you in part for inviting her to chase darker paths. It isn't wise to remind me of that. Just a week ago I was slinging spells around as if I were only four hundred again in an effort to destroy smooze and the corrupt creatures it spawns."

"As if you would stoop so low as to resort to violence against an old friend and honored guest. What would your precious ponies think if you violated diplomatic immunity over a literally centuries-old squabble?"

I grin; my eyes practically sparkling as I seize the opening before she can try to take back the poorly-phrased question, "That I had finally come to my senses about destroying the vile infestation of undead in our fair land? Nevermind that your position over the Tomb of the Bone Roc as its guardian ensures we have ample warning if those things ever revive."

"Fair enough. How about you order some of your kitchen staff to prepare a meal while I reconstruct my taste buds, then we can discuss the new arrivals and our respective observations of them over the last seven days as well as our plans for the future with them?"

"You're going to try and tempt them to evil. You'll lose, old friend."