Looking around her, Twilight could see that it was just as Grogar had said. Everywhere she looked, there were all kinds of creatures she'd never seen before.

From Grogar's description, she surmised many of the creatures were comprised of these 'troggles' he had mentioned, though without confirmation, Twilight could only make guesses.

The filly could also see several ponies, a few smaller creatures she assumed were gnomes, and one or two giant monstrous beasts that might've been grundles.

The ponies in particular caught Twilight's eye.

They looked very different from herself and the rest of the modern day ponies of Equestria. They were larger for one. Their eyes were smaller, and the unicorn's in particular had an odd crystalline look about them.

Their features overall were... for lack of any better words, bulkier and more defined. Twilight idly wondered just what had taken place over the long course of history to cause such a drastic change in the body structure of a pony.

As the lavender filly looked on in muted interest, each and every resurrected citizen had turned towards their King and were kneeling in some manner or another.

None spoke, and despite the thousands of bodies scattered throughout the city, the silence was almost absolute—as though all of them were waiting for Grogar to speak.

And speak Grogar did.

Twilight turned and watched as the ram—looking every bit the King he was—strode forth and stood before the massive crowd of creatures.

He scanned the crowd with an impassive gaze that belied an intense scrutiny of his undead subjects. There were a few more moments of silence before he finally spoke, his voice booming loud enough for all to hear.

"My subjects!" he exclaimed, "with the pale rays of the Mourning Moon, I have once again brought you back from beyond the veil to walk the earth!"

Many in the crowd raised their heads uncertainly, and relaxed a moment later when they were not immediately reprimanded for doing so.

"Like so many times before, you are free to roam the streets of Tambelon while the Moon sits high in the sky," Grogar raised a hoof and gestured to the city before him, "go, spend your precious time as you would have in life while you've the chance, for once the Mourning Moon descends, all will return to the earth."

There were a few murmurs and bellows of 'yes, my King', but otherwise, most wordlessly rose to their feet or hooves and took off in various directions to do just as Grogar instructed.

As Twilight looked on, the once dead and decaying city of Tambelon bustled with life, creatures chatting, milling about, setting up shop, and generally acting as any town would.

It was rather unsettling just how... normal it all was.

The filly gave the moon above another glance, its white surface reflecting brightly in her amethyst eyes. She had so many questions about what had transpired, not to mention the sudden treasure trove of ancient knowledge that were the ponies of old.

Her emotionally atrophied state had not dulled her insatiable thirst for knowledge, and she found herself thinking about how much she could learn just from simply talking to these strange and ancient creatures.

"You have many questions, child, of that I am certain," came Grogar's voice from right next to her, "but it is not yet time to sate that curiosity. Time is short, and we musn't delay any further in reversing your condition... come."

Before Twilight could respond, Grogar turned and trotted off in the direction of the castle. She went to follow, only to stop a moment later, caught slightly off guard by the renewed state of Grogar's castle.

"Do not dawdle, Twilight Sparkle!"

At Grogar's admonishment, the filly jumped slightly and hurried to catch up to the briskly trotting ram. They both made their way back to the castle and through the massive black wrought iron gates, restored as everything else was.

Twilight saw that there were two troggle guards on either side of the large ornate wooden double doors that made up the entrance to the castle.

When they spotted Grogar, they immediately moved to push the doors open before stepping aside and bowing as the ram and filly passed through.

Twilight watched them all the while, though they paid her no mind, save for a quick dismissive glance. Apparently if she wasn't Grogar, she wasn't worth their time or attention.

Once they were inside, the large doors slowly closed shut with an echoing thud. Inside, Twilight could see that the entrance led directly into a grand hallway that stretched out ahead of her, to her left, and to her right.

The halls were lined with grey, polished stone walls, and the same dark violet carpeting she'd seen in the throne room. Twilight could see a few doors marking the walls here and there, but had no clue where they led.

The combination gave the interior of the castle an overall gloomy feel, not that Twilight minded at the moment.

The grey corridors were adequately lit with a combination of sconces and tall braziers on either sides of the hall, and Twilight was rather surprised to see that they weren't alone.

As they both stood there in front of the door, a few creatures—most likely maids and servants if Twilight had to guess—stopped and bowed before Grogar dismissed them.

"I trust you remember the room I led you to when you first arrived here in the castle, yes?" Grogar asked, raising a bushy eyebrow at the filly, "the one with the altar we used to teleport outside?"

Twilight nodded in response and Grogar nodded in return.

"Good, because that will become a very important place for you and your studies soon," he continued, "as it stands, we must return there to complete the task meant to... sustain you."

"Sustain me?" Twilight asked with a slight frown, "what do you mean, Father?"

"You will see once we reach the Ritual Chamber child," Grogar replied mysteriously, "there, my most loyal servant should be awaiting our arrival with everything needed for the ritual."

Twilight wanted to ask more about this 'ritual' and the loyal servant, but she knew by now not to push an issue if Grogar wasn't willing to speak about it.

Instead she remained silent and followed close behind as the ram took a left and headed down the hall, down a flight of stairs, then two more halls.

Three full flights of stairs down and another darker, older corridor later, Twilight found herself and Grogar standing before the familiar double doors she had seen when she first arrived.

Had the filly been alive, the air around her would have been cold and damp, the chill clinging to her mortal flesh and fur.

As it stood, the chill had no effect, and she paid it no mind.

Twilight had thought the door before to be the exit to the throne room, but it seemed she was mistaken. When she asked Grogar about it, he merely grinned and chuckled in amusement.

"My child," he said as his eyes glowing a bright scarlet, "this is my castle. Do you think I cannot shape its interior as I see fit?"

That was all the answer he gave, and though it was not a satisfactory answer in the filly's opinion, she didn't push the issue any further.

The large metal doors—heavy, black, and engraved with markings Twilight could make no sense of—creaked open and they both stepped inside.

Beyond those doors, what Twilight presumed was the Ritual Room, was much like she remembered it, yet it was also completely different.

The room was circular as before, and the many braziers circling the room still burned with an odd ebony flame, but at the same time, Twilight could've sworn the room was... larger somehow.

Another change was the semi-circular table set against one side of the wall. The table itself was long, and the top had a single large, dark red book with several scrolls and pieces of parchment scattered around it haphazardly.

There was another door across from where they had entered that most definitely wasn't there before, and Twilight idly wondered if that was where Grogar's study was.

She had only ever been warped directly there and back, so she could only guess.

The hole above the altar was once again emitting a light Twilight now recognized as the same pale glow of the Mourning Moon, and its glow bathed everything directly below it in eerie shadow.

The wide circular stone altar itself was largely the same, gray, wide, and altogether unremarkable looking. Twilight knew better though, and was beginning to suspect that the alter had more to it than she had been led to believe.

What led her to this particular conclusion was the fact that sitting atop this unremarkable stone altar, as rigid and unmoving as the stone beneath her, was a unicorn mare.

She wasn't like the other ponies Twilight had seen in the city of Tambelon however. This particular pony was undoubtedly Equestrian.

Her coat was snow white, and her mane and tail were streaked in black and green. Her eyes were a darker shade of green and glazed over—staring straight ahead and seeing absolutely nothing.

She had a gaunt look about her with a face and stomach so thin as to show the outline of her bones through her fur. Whatever her cutie mare had been, it was long since hidden away under old darkened scars.

If it weren't for the mare's occasional slow blinking, Twilight would've thought her dead.

"Father," Twilight asked, not looking away from the mare, "who is this? How did she get here? What is she—"

"A moment, my child," Grogar interrupted with a distracted look above him, "I will explain, but first..." he lowered his head towards the mare, "Bray, my faithful and lowly servant! Come and stand before me!"

Twilight winced at the sound of Grogar's booming voice, but was soon distracted by a sudden movement from the mare.

As she watched, the mare shuddered and gave a low, agonized groan. Then she began to sway for a moment before suddenly going rigid once more with a sharp intake of breath.

At first, the filly didn't understand what she was seeing, but as she looked closer, she could see that the mare's shadow was shifting—its movement independent of the mare herself.

Then it stretched along the altar towards herself and Grogar. Twilight took a startled step back, but otherwise made no sound as the shadow tore itself from the mare and rose above the ground.

In a matter of moments the shapeless shadow twisted and morphed into a vaguely equine shape. As the shape of the shadowy silhouette became more defined, Twilight could see that it wasn't equine.

Well... not entirely.

It was about the size of a pony, maybe a little taller, and it's ears were far longer and thinner than a pony's. It had a large rounded muzzle and a thin tail ending in what Twilight guessed was a small tuft of hair.

A donkey.

It was the dark, featureless outline of a donkey. Twilight's brows furrowed in confusion as she looked from the shadow to the mare, who had once again gone still—though she looked a lot more pale beneath her fur.

She finally looked back to Grogar, saying nothing, but begging for an explanation with her eyes. Grogar ignored her for a moment and addressed the donkey.

"I trust everything is in order?" he asked, "you've done as I asked and made sure the proper extraction sigils are in place upon the altar?"

The shadowy donkey nodded slowly and silently.

"Good, good," Grogar replied, nodding in turn and casting an impassive gaze over towards the mare on the circular platform, "and what of the mare?"

I have done all that you asked, master. I have broken her mind and loosened her body's grip on her soul... she will pose no problems during the ritual.

Twilight resisted the urge to shiver at the voice that rose from the shadow. It came out as little more than an echoing whisper, but it carried within it something dark, terrible... and painful.

Just who or what was this creature, and what had happened to it? For that matter who was the mare, and what did the donkey mean by his words?

He mentioned something about loosening the body's grip on the soul...

Twilight's eyes widened slightly as everything finally clicked into place. She mentally kicked herself for not figuring it out sooner.

Her emotions were slipping away from her, and Grogar had said that the only way for a lich to retain themselves and avoid becoming a husk was to consume the soul of another.

This ritual was meant to feed Twilight.

"Excellent," Grogar continued, unmindful of the filly's revelation, "you have done well, Bray. Continue to serve me as you have been, and perhaps I may rescind your punishment. You may go for now."

The shadow bowed low before sinking back into the ground and snaking off towards the exit. It slipped below the door and was gone a moment later.

Twilight watched the door for another moment before Grogar's voice pulled her from her own thoughts. She turned and saw the ram eyeing her with some amusement.

"I take it you've finally realized why we've come here, Twilight Sparkle," he surmised, "an explanation is in order, but it can wait until the ritual is over. Time grows shorter yet, and I'd like to see this task over and done with."

Twilight wanted to argue, but Grogar's tone brooked no argument. She relented, taking some solace in the fact that all would be explained soon enough.

She didn't want end up a husk like the mare on the altar. She gave the mare another look—more curious than horrified. What had the shadow—Bray, according to Grogar—done to her to make her this way?

"The foolish mare," Grogar mused, his own red eyes falling on the whte unicorn, "take heed, Twilight Sparkle, this is the fate that awaits one who cannot pay the price for my... services."

Twilight nodded absently, not quite understanding what the ram was talking about. Grogar took notice and chuckled.

"You may not understand now, child," he said, trotting over to the altar, "but you will in time, and perhaps one day, you too will find 'clients' of your own, willing to offer themselves up for a mere taste of your power... the fools."

He chuckled to himself again before shaking his head and nodding towards the altar.

"Go on then," he commanded, "take your place on the altar and the sigils will do the rest."

Twilight obeyed, tentatively trotting over to the steps that led up to the rounded platform. She paused just as she reached the first step and turned back to Grogar.

In her current state, she wasn't all that bothered by the state of the mare, nor was she bothered by what she was about to do... but she did have her own concerns.

Namely concerns for her own safety.

"...Will it hurt?"

Grogar snorted.

"No, Twilight Sparkle," he replied impatiently, "as I said, there are many ways to extract and consume a soul, and while some methods are indeed very painful, this particular method is one of the more quick and painless variety, now get on with it, child."

Twilight nodded and hurried up the steps.

Just like before, as soon as her hooves touched the altar, the stone beneath her lit up. This time however, the sigils were different.

For one thing, there were two smaller magic circles rather than one large one. One sigil flared to life beneath Twilight, and another beneath the mare—both flashing a bright white before dimming into pulsing pitch black lines.

Twilight gasped in surprise as she was locked into place above the sigil. She was completely unable to move an inch, and the mare directly across from her was in very much the same position.

Both ponies were forced to look into each other's eyes. In Twilight's there was barely anything left, her amethyst gaze dull and clouded by apathy. The mare's eyes were wide and full of fear and horror, her mouth widening in a silent scream.

The two sigils gave another strong pulse, and Twilight had no idea what it was, but she felt something inside her pull. The mare physically responded, her head snapping upwards towards the light above them both.

The strange and uncomfortable pulling sensation continued and Twilight suddenly felt compelled to mimic the mare. She raised her own head, opened her mouth, and the pulling intensified.

By this point the air within the Ritual Chamber was alive and electrified with the crackle of ambient mana. Grogar looked on in silent satisfaction as the mare shuddered violently.

Her eyes grew as black as the sigils below, and a bright, almost blinding green light slowly emerged from deep within her throat.

It continued to rise up and out of the mare's mouth until it was completely free—a luminescent green orb, no larger than the hoof of a full grown pony.

Grogar frowned slightly and narrowed his eyes as he saw the mare's soul. Black mana flickered, crackled, and sparked about the orb like electricity.

"The fool has delved far deeper into the Darker Arts than I had expected," he muttered, shaking his head slightly, "had the child not been what she is, the consumption of such a tainted soul would've surely done irreparable damage."

The orb hung in the air between the two ponies for only a moment, then Twilight's own eyes blackened. With one final pulse from both sigils, the orb floated down towards the filly's open and waiting mouth.

As if by some unspoken instinct, Twilight inhaled, and the orb vanished into her maw before she snapped her jaw shut and swallowed visibly. Like the mare, Twilight shuddered violently and let out a shaky breath.

Taking the mare's soul into herself was an experience unlike the filly had ever felt before. It was surprisingly pleasant—like stepping into a nice warm shower after a hard day's work, or getting a particularly good massage at the spa.

The soul had no taste, but Twilight felt incredibly full all the same—though it wasn't the same kind of full she felt from eating a lot of food, but something else entirely.

At the same time, a dark haze lifted from her mind, and she felt as though she could think clearly for the first time in ages. Despite the fact that she was dead, she felt more alive than she ever had when she was actually alive.

It was a strange feeling to say the least.

The ritual had ended a few moments ago, but Twilight hadn't noticed, completely wrapped up in the experience of her first consumption as she was.

The filly's eyes were closed and she sat there on the altar in silent contemplation. She payed the mare no heed as she slumped over bonelessly, forever dead to the world around her.

The sigils had disappeared and the altar was once again nothing more than simple stone. Even the light of the Moon above seemed to abate slightly as everything returned to the way it had been before.

As Twilight sat there, Grogar made his way over to the stone altar, a pleased grin spread across his face. One of the filly's ears twitched and she finally turned to face the ram.

"It seems the ritual was a success," Grogar observed, "how do you feel, child?"

Twilight opened her mouth to reply, but stopped herself and turned to the semi-lifeless mare crumpled into a heap at the other end of the altar.

Her ears folded back and her shoulders slumped slightly.

"I... I did that," she whispered weakly, "I... ate her soul, didn't I?"

"You did," Grogar replied simply, "to be fair, the sigils did most of the work, but in the end, it was you that took that poor wretch's darkened soul into yourself."

"I..." Twilight swallowed and turned away from the mare to look back at Grogar, "Father, I don't... I don't know how to feel about this."

"How you feel is irrelevant, Twilight Sparkle," Grogar replied with a sniff, "it is that you can feel at all that is what matters."

Twilight's ears perked up slightly at that. She was so shocked by what she'd done, that she hadn't even registered her own emotional response. At the filly's look of realization, Grogar nodded and turned back to the entrance.

"The ritual is complete and the Mourning Moon still sits high in the sky," Grogar exclaimed, "come, my child. I shall explain to you all that has transpired as we trot about my city's streets."

Twilight sat there for a moment, trying to collect herself. She gave the mare another worried look and flinched slightly as the doors opened, not expecting the sudden sound.

"Do not worry about the husk, Twilight Sparkle," came Grogar's voice from just beyond the door, "Bray will take care of it, now follow quickly. The Moon will not wait for us."

Despite Grogar's words, Twilight glanced back at the mare one last time before hopping off the altar and quickly trotting after the ram.

Meal first, explanations later.

Another Shiny chapter incoming.

Also a slight correction regarding one of the creatures. Though I still think of them as 'orcs', I found out the pig creatures were actually called troggles, and I changed the other instance in the first chapter accordlingly.