Bound by the Night, Part 3

>"Anonymous, breakfast!"
"Gnhf, what time is it...?"
>A skull resting on your nightstand glows green and responds to your question.
>"Six-fifteen AM."
>You sit up and rub the sleep from your eyes.
"...The hell am I doing awake at six-fifteen?"
>The voice from below calls again.
>"If you don't come down and eat this breakfast, I'm throwing it out the window!"
>Oh, breakfast.
>...
"Breakfast?"

>You soon appear in the kitchen with a voluminous blast of purple smoke, fully dressed in your standard robe and wizard hat.
>Nightmare Moon stands in front of the sink, washing dishes.
>Before you on the table is a finely made breakfast, with all the standard elements one would normally find in a balanced breakfast.
>Besides the totally unhealthy and ridiculously sugary cereal, at least.
>It was an altogether confusing scene.
"Night, why did you wake me this early? I was having a fantastic wizard dream."
>"I made breakfast," she responds curtly.
>Your gaze drifts back to the table.
"I can see that. Why, though?"
>The dishes fall into the sink as she turns towards you.
>"Because if I let |you| make it there's no telling how many lizard legs or frog eyes I'll find in it!"
>It is at this point you notice the pink flowered apron currently adorning the feared avatar of darkness.
>You can't help but smirk back at her angry glare.
"Are you wearing an apron?"
>Her concentration breaks, and she looks down at the frilly garment covering her normal armor.
>"It was all I could find to protect me from the dangers of culinary preparation."
>Your stare persists, only proving to further her agitation.
>"Are you going to eat or not?"
"Alright, alright."
>With another puff, you reappear sitting at the table.
>A wooden spoon flies at you, striking you in the head.
>"No teleporting at the table! You're getting that purple dust everywhere!"
>Rubbing your head, you glare back at the black-coated alicorn.
"I'm not–"
>A glance at your plate shows that there is a thin coating of purple specks all over your food.
"...Hm. I never noticed that before."
>"I can't imagine how. Do you know how long it took me to sweep up all that magical crud from the tower?"
>You look around the room, suddenly realizing that things in general look a lot cleaner.
"You cleaned the tower? When?"
>Nightmare sheds her flour-caked garment, levitating a plate of her own over to the table.
>"Last night, after you retired. I'm a nocturnal entity, if you hadn't noticed."
>She sits down and begins eating her own breakfast, while you continue to eye her in uncertainty.
>She looks up after a few bites.
>"What?"
"Are you feeling alright?"
>"I am at the pinnacle of health, why?"
"Well, it's just; back in my world, when you weren't crushing our enemies under the weight of your hoof, you spent a lot of your time going on about how you'd get revenge on 'those accursed ponies that banished me to this wretched plane of existence'. Didn't exactly peg you as the type to wash dishes and clean towers."
>She takes on a matter-of-fact tone, continuing eating.
>"That was |before| I found myself sharing a roof with you."
"We've lived together for days at a time on longer adventures."
>"Yes, in caves and tents and other such temporary dwellings. I've yet to spend any time in this tower of yours. And I'm not about to allow myself to live in conditions as squalid as what you are evidently used to."
>You stroke your beard inquisitively.
"That still doesn't explain the breakfast."
>This seems to catch her off guard, wincing as she bites down on her fork too hard.
>Your resulting chuckle elicits another angry glare from her, before she looks away.
>After a moment, her demeanor turns solemn.
>"Is it so hard to believe one might want to do something... |nice|, for the being they owe their continued existence to?"
>Now that caught |you| off guard.
>You sit back in your chair, mulling things over for a moment.
>Eventually, you let out another chuckle, which again earns you an angry stare.
>"Alright then. Thanks, Night."
>The stare fades, and is replaced by a smile.
>It's different from the smile she usually took on after cleaving a rock troll in two; that one was a lot more malicious and blood-spattered.
>This one seemed almost... gentle.
>"You're welcome, Anonymous. Now, eat it before it gets cold."
>You look back to your plate.
"It's still covered in magical soot."
>Returning to her own breakfast, the smile turns into a more familiar cynical smirk
>"And who's fault is that?"

>Despite the higher than average content of arcane aberrance, the breakfast was quite delicious.
>Thinking back, it didn't actually seem too much different than the rest of your meals.
>Suppose that explains why everything always had a certain grittyness to it.
>Come to think of it, wasn't that stuff supposedly mildly toxic?
>No, you're probably thinking of another substance the Council of Wizardry did studies on and deemed hazardous to wizardkind by way of causing dementia and insanity from prolonged exposure.
>Springo, the fairy that lives in your hat and tells you what others think of you would vouch for that.
>A light rattling draws you away from your deeper reflections.
>You look towards it's source, somewhere near the sink.
>A thought occurs.
"Nightmare, after you swept up all that magic dust, what did you do with it?"
>"I threw it in the garbage, why?"
>What is now definitely the garbage can rattles again, this time much more violently, as a result pulling Nightmare's attention as well.
"Normally the latent magic in that stuff is generally harmless, unless you bring enough of it together. Then it can get a little..."
>The garbage can rattles once more, loudly and angrily, before disappearing in a purple flash.
"...Unstable."
>"...Whoops."
"Ah, I wouldn't worry about it. A teleporting garbage can shouldn't cause too much trouble."
>Nightmare looks at you derisively.
>"Really?"
"No. But I also don't care."
>You clasp your hands together to mark a change of subject.
"Well then, now that that's taken care of, I believe it's time to start the day proper."
>"For you, maybe. I'm going to sleep."
>Your arms drop limply to your sides.
"...But we just ate breakfast."
>"Technically dinner for me."
>You plant your hands decisively on your hips.
"Who eats breakfast for dinner?"
>"Nocturnal beings with annoying wizard roommates, that's who."
"Alright, whatever. Go get your stupid sleep. I'm going into town."
>"Make sure you pick up a few things that are actually |edible|; half the time spent preparing that breakfast was finding food in this mockery of a kitchen."
"Wizard kitchen."
>"Whatever."
>With that, she saunters into the bedroom.
>With one last shake of your head, you focus the magic in your body towards making your body be somewhere else; specifically, the town market.
>Target location in mind, you disappear in a puff of–
>"And if you teleport inside the tower anymore I'll stuff that stupid hat where the moon doesn't shine!"
"Oh for– fine."
>The brim of your hat lifts up as a small creature peers out.
>"Shee doesn't respeect hyou. Ve shuld deestroy hur!"
"Shutup Springo."
>You jam your hat back down onto the irritating creature.
>Sometimes you wonder why you even bother to rent your hat out as living space.
>Walking towards the window, you leap over the sill with a 'hrup'.
>|Then| you disappear in a puff of purple smoke.

===

>It was another beautiful morning in Ponyville.
>Funny how that always seems to work out.
>But then again when you have a team of pegasi controlling the weather not even |it| does anything unpredictable.
>Sometimes, you wish just once that something unusual would happen around here.
>...Okay, that was a lie.
>Unusual things happened all the time in Ponyville, oddly enough frequently involving those six friends that always hang out and save the world and stuff.
>Never really got to know any of them beyond acquaintance; none of them seemed that interested in music.
>At least not harp music, anyhow.
>Anyway the point you were driving at is that things had gotten boring again, and the town was probably long overdue for another ridiculous (but exciting) catastrophe of some sort.
>At that precise moment, the town square explodes into a massive plume of purple smoke.
>Well hey, there you go.
>Didn't look like Twilight or any of her friends doing though.
>Didn't that one magician, Tracy or something, like to use smoke?
>No, wait, looks like whatever's in there isn't a pony.
>...Hey, is that that 'human' guy that supposedly showed up a couple days ago?
>Oh, you've been dying to meet him!
>You knew next to nothing about him, but he was probably a lot more interesting than the rest of this town's dull-as-dishwater inhabitants.
>...Bonny withstanding.
>The smoke had cleared off by now, giving you a complete picture of the otherworldly creature.
>Looks like he was bipedal, like a minotaur, but lacking in horns.
>Cool hat, though.
>Suddenly, the strange being raises both arms, clutching some kinda fancy stick in one hand.
>"Greetings, citizens of Horse World! I am Anonymous Arcanorum! Master of the arcane! Seer of the unseen! Shouter of greetings!
>A look around tells you that most everypony else had frozen in place at his appearance.
>In fact, Anonymous was pretty statuesque right now too.
>Perhaps he was waiting on a response?
>Might as well take the initiative, you suppose.
>You raise a mint-green forehoof and wave.
"Hello!"
>Anonymous bows in your direction.
>"Good morning, madame."
>Gentlemanly sort, huh?
>Seemed like a nice guy, you wonder why the others are so scared of him.
>Probably had something to do with Twilight introducing him to the town as "a big dumb jerk that lives in a tower out in the Everfree where nopony should ever go."
>But she was always overdramatic with this sort of thing.
>In fact right now he was... what |is| he doing?
>Having left his stick standing upright of it's own accord, the heavily bearded biped held his hands out above the ground, and while dark thunderclouds gathered overhead, yelled a series of magic words.
>"Ut hic modo immortui!"
>Okay, that |looks| menacing, sure, but maybe he's just– wait, no, he's summoning skeletons.
>The rest of the town had long since fled, and you found yourself alone and in the open.
>You quickly duck behind a rain barrel outside somepony's house.
>You'd be lying if you said you weren't a bit scared, but you still wanted to see how this played out.
>The swirling miasma of bones all funnel down to the ground before the mighty wizard, assembling themselves into the forms they once took, minus all the fleshy bits.
>The skies part, and six pony skeletons stand before him, ultramarine orbs of energy in their empty eyesockets all trained intently on him.
>Strangely, he puts a hand to his face.
>"Of course this place would only have equine skeletons. Right then! Minions!"
>The skeletons all snap to attention.
>"Bring to me... |everything on this list!|"
>A small scrap of paper comes into being in front of each skeletal being, which they grab hold of with a foreleg.
>After a moment of study, they all turn and take off to various corners of the market.
>One heads your way, and you rescind behind the barrel before he passes by.
>Alright, skeletons usually aren't good, this much you know.
>But maybe this time was different?
>Like, okay.
>He sent them all off to find things for him, right?
>And he came to the market to do it.
>What if he was just... picking up groceries?
>...
>No, that's dumb.
>Who summons skeletons to buy their groceries?
>They were probably here to harvest souls, or faces, or something equally gruesome.
>As much as it begrudged you to admit, Anonymous |was| showing all the signs of being evil.
>Better go tell Twilight.
>Taking off for the tree library, you can't help but grimace at how much she was going to rub your face in how right she was about the evil thing.
>At least it helps you remember why you're not too close to her and her friends.

===

>...
>"Anonymous?"
>"Anonymous, wake up."
>...
>"Get up you old fool!"
>The comfort of your wooden slatted bedding is abruptly pulled from beneath you, causing an impromptu trip earthwards.
"Hngfuh hrrbl fluh what eh hunh what?"
>After a short series of 'old man noises', you push back the brim of your hat to find a familiar purple unicorn glaring down at you with her familiar purple anger already in full swing.
>A look back tells you where the park bench you had been snoozing on had gone; hovering in the air by way of a purple aura.
"You shouldn't be so rough with your elders, Sparkles. I could have broken a hip."
>"I wagered on you being fine. Why are you taking a nap on a park bench anyway?"
"Wizard nap."
>"Whatever."
>A blast of smoke conceals your teleport into a standing position, whereupon you push against the small of your back in an attempt to straighten it out.
"Hneurgh... I appear to have been misled. Park benches are definitely |not| the most comfortable of resting spots."
>Twilight places the outdoor furnishing back in its proper place, while displaying another one of those confused looks she liked to give you.
>"Who in the world told you that?"
"Many a vagrant and vagabond of my world claimed it as such... though maybe I shouldn't take advice from the homeless, now that I think about it."
>"Sometimes I wonder if you ever think at all."
"Sorry, did you need something?"
>"Yes, I did. The town has another problem that–"
"Of course it does," you interrupt. "Why is it you always come bugging me when there's a problem?"
>"Because the problem is always |your| fault!"
>You put a hand to your chin.
"Really? I don't recall making any trouble today..."
>"Is that so? How about a horde of skeletons terrorizing the town! Does that sound familiar?"
"|Terrorizing|?" you ask, aghast. "I'll have you know my minions are doing nothing of the sort."
>"So you admit that they're under your control?"
"Yes, I never entertained the notion of denying it! What business is it of yours, anyhow?"
>It seemed like everything you ever said to this one only made her angrier.
>"Well, I was having a nice, peaceful morning of studying, until Lyra came busting into my foyer shouting about you and skeletons. And I knew it had to be serious, since she was the primary advocate of you not being evil; something clearly disproven today."
"Lyra, hm? Is she the green one? Harp on her butt?"
>"...Yes, why?"
"Seemed to me she's the only one of you little horse devils that has any manners. Nobody else even bothered to say hello to me this morning."
>"Most ponies don't cordially greet those that summon undead monstrosities."
"I'll have you know they take offense to being called that."
>"It doesn't matter, they're attacking the town!"
"Attacking? Is that what you think they're doing?"
>"What else would skeletons be doing outside of the ground? Buying groceries?"
>Before you can answer, one of the skeletal equines in question comes trotting over, a paper bag held in its mouth.
>Twilight spins around and braces herself against whatever misdeed she assumed the creature was planning for her.
>Naturally, it trots right past her, placing the back in your waiting hand.
>You open it to inspect the contents, pulling out a loaf of bread.
"This is regular whole wheat. They didn't have any seven grain?"
>The skeleton shakes his head.
"Ah well, it'll do I suppose."
>You place the bread back into the bag, and place that bag into your magical wizard pouch.
>Twilight is staring at you again.
"Is there a problem?"
>She shakes herself free of the confusion.
>"Hold on, let me get this straight. You actually |did| summon a horde of undead minions to do your shopping?"
>You place your hands at your hips again.
"Well, what do you do with |your| undead minions?"
>"I don't |have| any undead minions!"
"Well you might want to work on that, if you're planning on becoming a real wizard."
>"I'm |already| a– no. Nope, we're not having this conversation. Come over to the market and clean up your mess."
>With that, she disappears in an explosion of purple light.
>Pfeh, amateur; a real wizard would know that magic smoke is the way to go.
>Figuring you'd have ample further chances to bother her by following, you pliff yourself and the one returned skeleton after Twilight.

>Soon enough you reappear in the market center, next to a once more bewildered student of magic.
>With a brief look around you see hardly anything out of the ordinary, the market having returned to its normal hustle and bustle in your absence.
"I thought you said this place was in something of a panic?"
>Twilight stares at the relative normalcy for a moment longer.
>"But... it was when I left to find you."
"Everything seems alright now. In fact, here come the rest of my minions."
>The five skeletons canter to your position, each giving you a bag of collected supplies.
>You make sure everything is in order as Twilight stares incredulously.
"Excellent, everything is here. Good work, minions."
>The skeletons rattle in response.
>"Wait, hold on," Twilight interjects. "Who would even |sell| things to a skeleton?"
>One of the stall owners nearby speaks up, in a voice and accent you know you've heard before.
>"You talkin' 'bout them skellies? Ah'll have you know this establishment is non-discriminatory towards clientele. Ah won't turn away anyone as long as the bits are good."
>Twilight turns her incredulity on the apple merchant.
>"Applejack, they're |skeletons|! Aren't you at least a little, I don't know, |off-put| by the fact that they're shambling undead?"
>"Well, yeah, at first. But once ah realized they weren't tryin' tah rip my skin off an' wear it as their own, ah was able to conduct business as usual. Besides, they're right nice once ya get to know 'em."
>"Get to |know| them? How do you get to |know| a skele–"
>Another pony breaches the conversation bounds as he strolls up to one of your minions; a blonde male with some kind of stereotypical desert island on his buttock.
>"Hey, is that you, Iron Forge? Yeah, I'd recognize that skullshape anywhere! How ya been, man?"
>The undead construct stares menacingly at the newcomer for a moment.
>Then, a spark of recognition.
>"Coco? Coco Crusoe? Oh hey man! Sorry I didn't recognize you at first, I've been a little braidead lately."
>"Well from the looks of ya I'd say it's a little more than your brain, dude."
>The two erupt into a fit of laughter.
>"So what've you been up to?"
>"Being dead, mostly."
>"Yeah, yeah, I figured. Haven't really been yourself since you fell into the forge that one time."
>"I know, but I've been working on my temper."
>Another bout of laughter.
>His bones did look a bit scorched, now that you think about it.
>"Anyway yeah, just recently I got a job as this here wizard guy's faithful servant, what with the 'breathing life into my unmoving remains' thing and all."
>"I figured it'd take some kinda magical force to get you up and around again. Almost did when you weren't so skinny, too. Dang near took a bullhorn to get you out of bed every morning."
>"Well I was always a heavy sleeper."
>More laughter.
>One of your other minions leans over towards you.
>"I don't quite get that one."
"His name's Iron, remember?"
>"Ah yeah. ...Heh."
>The less dead half of the duo calms down first.
>"Hey, so, it's been great catching up. You wanna hang out for a bit? I don't have any real plans for the day."
>"Dunno, better check with the master."
>Iron looks back to you.
>"Hey boss, is it cool if I go hang out with my old buddy here?"
"I don't see why not. Just be back at the tower by eight if you can."
>"Yeah, alright."
>The two begin to walk away, before your jovial servant turns back one last time.
>"Uh, where's the tower, exactly?"
>You cast a thumb over your shoulder, towards the giant obvious wizard tower sticking out of the forest canopy.
>"Oh, right."
>"Man, how'd you miss that? You should get your eyes checked."
>"Alright, but we gotta find them first."
>The two walk away laughing uproariously.
>Realizing you haven't heard any complaining in a while, you look over to find Twilight just staring at the scene that just unfolded.
>She flops down on her behind in defeat.
>"Did... did that really just happen?"
"I believe it did, yes."
>"...Great."
"Ah, don't worry about it, Violet Vibrance. I'm sure you'll get the hang of things eventually."
>She looks back up at you, slightly less downtrodden.
>"I'd ask what you were talking about if I thought I'd get a clear answer."
"See, you're getting there already."
>You pat her on the head.
>She just sighs.
>Though her attention is soon captured by a small reptilian creature running frantically in her direction, clutching a scroll.
>"Twilight! You got a letter!"
>"Spike? What is it?"
>The young creature hands it to her magic, before resting on his knees, breathing heavily from the exertion.
>A moment of reading later, she rolls the parchment back up and casts a suspicious eye towards you.
>"...I have to go. Apparently there's some kind of 'magical teleporting trashcan' causing a mess of things in Canterlot."
>You shrug.
>Her leer lingers a moment longer, before she gets up.
>"I'd say 'until we meet again', but I'm going to spend much of my free time trying to prevent that from ever happening again. Come on Spike."
>You give a casual wave.
"It's been a pleasure."
>"For one of us, maybe."
>With another flash, the two are gone.
>There is a moment of silence, before one of your five remaining minions speaks up.
>"So, now what?"
>You give your beard some more contemplative stroking.
"Well, Nightmare probably doesn't want to be disturbed from her slumber by a band of rambunctious skeletons, so what say we go rough up some of the local horribly deadly wildlife; get you guys some combat experience?"
>"Are you sure that's alright with the purple one?"
"I sincerely hope not."
>If skeletons could smirk, you imagine this one would be doing it right now.
>Raising your hand to catch the incoming staff you left wandering about town, you strike a pose.
>The five skeletal minions each strike their own around you.
>Oh yes, this crew should work out perfectly.
"Onward, to beating up animals!"
>The six of you disappear in an explosion of smoke.