Twilight Sparkle knew a lot about magic for a filly her age.

It was something she had a passion for—something she strove to constantly improve in, whether it was through knowledge or practice. It was something that practically defined her as a pony.

To those that didn't know her that well, she was simply 'that one filly that likes magic'. That's the reputation she had gained, and she didn't mind being thought of that way... not in the slightest.

Twilight Sparkle may have known a lot about magic for a filly her age... but she didn't know everything. She fell woefully short when it came to magic of a darker nature, and that made sense. Nopony would blame her for this though.

She was just a filly after all.

What use did she have for Dark Magic? In her studies, she had both read, and been told outright time and time again that Dark Magic went against everything Harmony and Order stood for.

It was for this reason that—though it went against her nature and it secretly pained her to do it—she had avoided the subject of Dark Magic entirely.

So when Grogar called Twilight Sparkle an undead lich, all he got in response was a tilt of the head and an incredibly bemused furrow of the brow.

This in turn, caused Grogar to frown.

"Come, child," he said, raising an eyebrow, "surely you know something of the darker Arts? Something of Necromancy? Not even simple passing knowledge?"

"No," Twilight replied, shaking her head, "I know what being undead means, and I know that Necromancy is a Sub Branch of Dark Magic, but I don't know anything other than that."

She lowered her head and looked away, her ears flattening.

"Mommy and..." she winced as an odd compulsion overtook her, "...mommy and Night Light always told me that Dark Magic was unnatural and that if I used it, Celestia would send me to Tartarus, so I didn't—"

"Fools!" Grogar growled, his blazing red eyes causing the filly to squeak in fright and take several steps back, "every last one of them, blind to everything but the words of their lauded Sun Goddess! Too drunk on their own 'Harmony' to see beyond the veil of ruinous complacency!"

In what Twilight was beginning to think would be a common occurrence with the ram, Grogar paused and took a deep breath before addressing the filly once more.

"Dark Magic is indeed a terrible thing to those who do not know how to properly wield it, Twilight Sparkle," Grogar explained in a much calmer tone, "left in the hooves of an amateur who has not had proper guidance or instruction, it becomes the bane of the caster."

Grogar gave Twilight a pointed look and the filly nodded quickly, soaking in as much information as she could. Scared and confused as she was, Twilight couldn't pass up an opportunity to learn—especially when it came to magic.

Even in death she couldn't resist the pull of thamatological knowledge when it was placed before her.

Seeing Twilight's eager and attentive expression, Grogar nodded, satisfied that she was listening, and continued with his explanation.

"To those who study Dark Magic with diligence, caution, and common sense however, it becomes nothing more than a tool to carry out one's will."

As he spoke, Grogar's eyes shone a bright red once more and one of the books floated over to, and in front of him.

"Certainly, it is a dark will more often than not, but that is because many of those who attempt to master the darker Arts are often neophytes who've forgone proper study and precaution in favor of a quick access to power."

Twilight watched in slight confusion as the book flipped open and the pages within began to shuffle of their own accord. Grogar didn't seem to acknowledge this directly and continued to address the filly.

"It is because of those fools and their lust for power that Dark Magic has gained a less than desirable reputation over the many millennia since its original discovery."

As the pages flipped on after another, Twilight noticed that there were small flashes of light that would appear between them every now and then. After a moment, the book snapped shut and floated over to the filly.

She sat up on her haunches and took the book in her hooves.

"Make no mistake, Twilight Sparkle," Grogar continued as Twilight looked over the book she'd been given, "power corrupts, and many spells born of Dark Magic can be very powerful indeed."

Twilight listened to Grogar's words, even as she turned the book this way and that, eyeing it with a small frown. The book was thick and heavy, no doubt containing at least five thousand or so pages by the filly's estimate.

The cover was made of a black leathery material and, aside from the silvery, indecipherable script that made up the title, there was nothing else of note about it.

"Given what you've become, casting Dark Magic should come much more naturally for you," Grogar explained, "but you must still maintain constant vigilance.

"There are spells—powerful, dangerous spells that can corrupt the minds of their users, and while being a lich provides you immunity to such corruptive effects, it will not protect you from the consequences should the spell go wrong."

Grogar paused his explanation for a moment and just watched as the filly tried to pull the book open to no avail. He frowned slightly and narrowed his eyes.

"I trust you've been listening and have taken my words to heart, child?"

"I have, Father," Twilight replied absently, "it's just that... you gave me this book, but it... won't... open!"

Grogar raised a bushy brow, pleased that she had remembered to address him properly, but annoyed that the filly had not figured out what she was doing wrong.

"You've not attempted to use your magic once since you've arrived here in the Shadow World, have you, child?" Grogar commented, somewhat curious, "why is that?"

"Huh?" Twilight replied, looking to Grogar and blinking in surprise. She then furrowed her brow and slowly brought a hoof to her horn, "I... don't know. I didn't forget about it, it's just... something's telling me using it would be a bad idea."

"And why is that?" Grogar asked, knowing full well the answer, but wanting to hear it from the filly, "what makes you think using your magic would be a bad idea?"

"I don't know," Twilight replied, shaking her head, "it's just... a feeling. But... I love using magic," she looked back at Grogar with a confused frown, "why would I feel this way?"

"Perhaps you should use it and find out," he suggested before nodding towards the tome in Twilight's hooves, "why don't you try opening it with magic?"

Twilight frowned and turned her attention back to the book. She felt hesitant, like she shouldn't be doing this. Something was telling her that if she used her magic now, there would be no turning back.

But what did that mean?

No turning back from what? Death? She was apparently already dead, and nothing would change that. Based on everything Grogar had told her, there really wasn't any reason not to use her magic.

So she lit up her horn.

In an instant, Twilight knew something wasn't right. The aura that enveloped the tome was not its normal magenta hue, but a dark violet color.

That's not what alarmed the filly however. What caused Twilight's eyes to widen was the complete and utter wrongness of the magic coming out of her horn—coming from her own body.

It felt alien and unnatural, like somepony had sucked her own natural magic out of her wellspring and replaced it with something different, and altogether unpleasant.

She was about to ask Grogar just what on Equus had happened to her magic when she began to notice a change.

The 'magic' flowing from her wellspring to her horn gradually began to feel less alien and more natural the longer she channeled it.

Without even realizing it, she began to relax, and eventually let out a sigh of relief as the strange, unpleasant sensation passed completely.

The dark violet hue remained, but her magic once again felt like her own.

Caught off guard by the event as she was, it took her a moment to notice that the book she held in her magic had opened at some point.

"It seems your magic did not take long to acclimate," Grogar commented with an impressed nod, "that is a good sign. A very good sign indeed."

"I... okay?" Twilight replied, turning from the book to Grogar with an uncertain frown, "what does that mean? Why did my magic feel so... weird?"

"The necrotic nature of this realm interferes with foreign magic," Grogar answered, "it changes it—twists and molds it into something more like itself. It is... ironic in a way, I suppose."

He chuckled and turned to look back into the glow of the fireplace.

"In banishing me to this place, those traitors only made me stronger, for without this realm and its magic, I would not have gained the arcane might I wield now."

"I... think I get it," Twilight replied with a slow, thoughtful nod, "so... this place has a sort of... ambient magic of its own that affects foreign magic, and that's why it felt so weird at first."

"Precisely," Grogar replied with a nod of acknowledgement, "but there is more to it, child, for you see, this land favors the undead, and you, Twilight Sparkle, are now the most powerful of undead creatures."

"You called me a 'lich'," Twilight said, idly flipping through the book for a moment before looking back up at Grogar, "this book talks about different branches of Dark Magic, but it doesn't seem to say anything about what a 'lich' is."

"The Black Compendium," Grogar explained with a chuckle, "within its pages lie a millennia's worth of information on the dark and forbidden. It is something I give to you to better your knowledge of all branches of Dark Magic, but be aware that many of those pages have been magically sealed by me."

"What?" Twilight whined, "but didn't you say we shouldn't—"

"I know what I said, child," Grogar interjected with a glare, "but what you need to understand, is that even a glimpse of some of the information contained within can ruin you if you're not properly prepared, do you understand me?"

"...Yes, Father," Twilight replied quietly, "I understand."

"Good," Grogar responded with a nod, "those pages will reveal themselves to you once you are ready to see them, now... you needn't worry about what the book says regarding the undead. I myself will tell you what means to be a lich."

The ram turned and trotted back around his desk before taking a seat. He took a moment to get comfortable before speaking again.

"By removing one's soul from their body and containing it within what is called a 'phylactery' one gains immortality.

"Normally, this has the unfortunate downside of twisting the body in unnatural and grotesque ways, and a lich only remains immortal so long as their phylactery and the soul held within remain in tact."

Remembering what Grogar had said when they had first met, Twilight's gaze once more was drawn to the silver rune engraved bell around her neck.

Furrowing her brow, she looked past the bell and finally took note of the color of her fur. She had thought it was the dim lighting at first, but her coat was indeed a darker shade of lavender than it had been originally—now almost violet in color.

She grimaced and placed a hoof over the bell before looking back to Grogar. Her grimace became a look of trepidation as she thought about the implications of what the ram was saying.

"So... I'm immortal then?" she asked, "does... that mean I can't age either? Am I gonna be stuck as a filly forever?" she turned to look back at her blank flank, "am I never gonna get my cutie mark?"

"So long as your phylactery remains in tact, you will never age, nor will you die by any means," Grogar answered, leaning forward and steepling his cloven hooves atop the desk, "though a significant enough amount of Light Magic will weaken you greatly.

"Oh..." Twilight replied, her entire frame sagging slightly, "okay then."

"As for your... cutie mark," Grogar continued, his last words dripping with distaste, "that is a magic entirely of its own, and from what I've gathered, it is an inherent part of being a pony. You may still receive one in due time, but I am... unsure of how the magic of this realm and your new form will affect it."

Twilight brightened a bit at the news, though not by much.

"And you need not worry about remaining a filly, child," Grogar continued with a small smirk, "you may not age, but your mind will continue to grow without end, of that, I have made sure."

"How?" Twilight asked, releasing the book held in her magic for the moment, "if I'm dead, then wouldn't my biological clock stop turning as well? And for that matter, didn't you say a lich's body turned all gross and decayed or something? My coat is a bit different now, but other than that, I look fine."

"I did," Grogar replied, "but your circumstances are a bit different, child. Your original body was completely vaporized when your magic went out of control, so I created you a new one."

"What?!" Twilight cried, looking herself over frantically, before turning her wide eyed gaze back to Grogar, "so I'm... I... what does that mean?! What am I?"

"Well... I suppose you could consider yourself something of a flesh golem, though I hate to use that term, as it implies a far more hideous and incomplete creature than what you actually are."

Twilight fell to her haunches and stared at the ram sitting behind his desk, her mouth slightly agape and her expression one of shock and horror.

"I'm... not even a real pony anymore?"

"You're still a pony in every way that counts, Twilight Sparkle," Grogar replied with a hint of anger, "I could've made you into less than what you were before—something far worse, something downright monstrous... but I chose instead to keep you as you were in life," he narrowed his eyes dangerously, "be grateful, child."

"I... I-I'm," Twilight swallowed nervously and gave a jerky nod, "Y-yes... Father," she replied in a near whisper, "thank you."

Grogar eyed the filly for another moment before giving a slow nod of approval.

"Even if you can no longer walk amongst the living," Grogar intoned, "never forget who it was that gave you the means to walk beside them."

Twilight nodded again, this time more stiffly than before.

"Yes, Father."

Grogar smirked and gestured to the book Twilight had set aside.

"Good... now take up your tome, child, I believe it is past time we begin your very first lesson."

And this is normally where the super long time skip would go, but the next chapter is instead going to focus on Shiny, and while I do plan on a time skip, it'll be a short one (like, I'm talking a week or two into the future).