Is it "coming home" if I've never been here before? (ATTN: starsteemer)

[Blueblood]

Hollow Shades was the sort of town that most Equestrians gave a wide berth on their way to somewhere else.  Despite several slanderous rumors, nothing actually evil hung about the place, but even its most ardent defenders would admit that the atmosphere was a little...creepy.  It left the impression of having been built as an exhibit for Nightmare Night, only the staff decided to settle down and live in it.  Pumpkin patches aplenty, trees that reached to the sky like bony hands grasping for the lights of the sky, and old wooden houses that creaked when you looked at them (no doubt hiding a skeleton in every closet).  Fear City, most would say.

 

As far as Chipper Demise was concerned, however, this place was practically Elysium!  The minute he first walked into the chilly atmosphere of the place, he had started gleefully skipping down the road.  By the time he reached the main street of the town itself, he'd moved up from skipping to pronking, bouncing on all four hooves from cobblestone to cobblestone.  The little 'boing, boing' sounds his legs made as the unicorn pronked down the street really didn't match with the aesthetic of the place, but he didn't care right now.

 

"What a neat place!  Why didn't Sigrun wanna come here?"  The young necromancer's dark blue robes swished as he turned his head from side to side, trying to take in the view.  "The thought of missing all this is just... Haunting!  Nyaahahahaha!"

[starsteemer]

The town of Hollow Shades, as usual, was a quiet affair. Well, emphasis on was. A unicorn bouncing down the street, likely not recognizing his own disturbance, seemed to interrupt the tranquility of the sleepy town. Considering the town's population had quite a few Aerion, 'sleepy' was not just a metaphor. Tucked snugly into a forest as it was, despite the cheery sun overhead, the trees loomed dark over the town, obscuring the harsh light and casting long shadows and cool shade. The dew from the previous night had become an ethereal mist that coated the streets and pooled around trees, untouched by day's sun. 
Despite the..well, shadiness of the town, it was still sleep time for a majority of the town's population.

And yet, one cathemeral aerion was awake and about, her wings disturbing the mist and causing it to flow and ripple as fluidly as real water as she gently touched down from her flight. She had just come from the woods, an earthy smell of soft soil and early morning mist clinging to her pastel yellow coat, the handle of a woven basket stuffed and overflowing with wild mushrooms held carefully in her mouth, balanced just right so the pile of Oyster, Morels, and Cremini mushrooms stayed within their tightly woven basket. However, she soon realized she had touched down in front of a unicorn stranger, one she'd never seen in this town before. His offending voice and boisterous bouncing had been dampened and obscured by the mist, explaining at least a little while the aerion mare had not noticed him. 

Well, she was never one to turn down meeting a visitor! She delicately set down her overflowing basket of gathered mushrooms, and then stepped towards the unicorn, mist swirling around her hooves in elegant coils. "Greetings! I'm Goldenglow. Who might you be?" She called to him good-naturedly, her voice warm and as sweet as honey, her fangs revealed in a sweet smile. On any other aerion, the sharp teeth could be intimidating. On Goldenglow, they seemed as harmless as she was. It was easier to see her fully when the mist had swirled away, coils still brushing up against her feathering of long, silky hair skirting her hooves. She had a feminine appearance, all soft edges and gentle curves, her longer than average fur making her appear thicker than she really was. The mass of white hair that was her mane was braided tightly, streaked with gold and held in place by an opalescent pearl the size of a baseball. She tilted her head at him curiously, as she waited in anticipation for his answer. 

[Blueblood]

Upon being addressed, the unicorn pronked in place for a second or two, before settling into place.  "Nice to meetcha!"  He stuck out his hoof for a shake.  "I'm Chipper Demise!  I was passing through here on the way from Ponyville to Canterlot.  Most of my new family didn't want to take the direct path, but I wanted to see this place.  Glad I did, I really like it here!"  Close up, Golden Glow would be able to see that his eyes were heavy-lidded and sleepy.  He could see fine, but anypony else would barely see any of his iris or pupil.  Not only could he see, but he had no real qualms about saying what he saw either, in a kind of foalishly innocent way.  "Wow, you're pretty!"

 

Right about that time, the aerion would have found out that Chipper hadn't come to town alone, as she felt the weight of a bird descent upon her mane.  "Awk-crawk!"  The harsh cry of the crow sounded in her ears, as the corbie pecked at the large pearl holding her mane in place.

"Nyaha, silly Featherhead, that's not a crow!  Oy!"  Chip called out, in a slightly sharper tone, as his bird companion was peering over Goldy's forehead.  "Away from her eyes!  Go find a zombie or something if you're hungry."

 

"Cawk?  Croawk!"

 

"Sorry, just had to be sure."  The young stallion apparently had a knack for talking with animals, along with an innocent joy in the macabre.

[starsteemer]

Stunned into silence by his excited chatter, she politely took his hoof to shake as if on autopilot, her sunset colored eyes looking him over curiously. His energetic character seemed to be contradicted by his lidded eyes, making her wonder if he was.. to put it nicely, higher than a pegasus. Maybe he just really liked small, atmospheric towns. Upon recieving the compliment, Goldenglow blinked in surprise, then red tinted her cheeks, her tufted ears pinned back and her eyes swept to the ground in a bemused, flattered manner. She didn't have time to utter a meek, appreciative 'thanks' before a weight seemed to settle on her. 

Rather than being startled, Goldenglow did her best to hold still, turning her head to look at the crow, and flattening her sensitive ears from his raucous cries. It wasn't the crow's fault he was so loud, of course. An amused smile turned into a lighthearted giggle as the crow pecked at her pearl, he certainly was a curious fellow! She looked up at the crow as he then peered over her head, as cute as crows were she wasn't too keen on getting her eyes pecked, so she gently shook her head to discourage him from doing so, her braided hair swaying as she turned her head side to side. 

Returning her warm gaze to Chipper, she finally found the words to speak. "Nice to meet you too Chipper! I don't mind the crows, they're quite friendly and helpful if you treat them right." 
Goldy scanned the surrounding area to see if Chipper had anymore friends with him, because if so she might consider going to her house to bring out some peanuts, as a snack for the crows. She wondered at his suggestion that the crow find a zombie if they were hungry, as far as she knew no dead had been raised here recently. What an odd thing to say. 

"Will you be staying here long? I was just headed home to make dinner, you could join me if you'd like. Your crows can come too, so long as you tell them not to bother the bees." Her offer had a bit of a different meaning to it, of course the unicorn being out and about the town making racket in the day was sure to disturb the sleeping aerion. Goldy's offer was partly for their benefit, so they could get some rest. Golden herself had no strict bedtime, and thus no problem with hosting a stranger she just met in daylight. She looked both ways furtively, then smirked and leaned closer like she had a secret worth keeping, covering one side of her mouth with a hoof. "Dinner is a herby, barley salad with butter-basted mushrooms~" She whispered enticingly, then stepped back with her face aglow with hope. Despite her ulterior motives, she really did love having guests over, especially ponies as eccentric as this one. 

[Blueblood]

At hearing the compliment of his crow, Chipper nodded enthusiastically.  "Uh-huh!  They keep an eye out for anything dangerous, they're really smart, can pick apart an undead monster in a large enough flock, and even help me fly sometimes!  But all the little claws digging into me cause a lot of ouchies."  Ouchies?  He looked a little old to be using such childish language.  

 

A few other crows began to settle in the trees surrounding them, looking like hunched old ponies in black cloaks and plague masks, entirely fitting in with their surroundings.  "Yup, Featherhead's the friendliest of the bunch, Pintail's shy, and Huginn's.... not the friendliest."  His smile dipped a bit, but quickly recovered.  "I have a lot more, but I left them at home.  It's a long way from here to Whitescar, and not all of them like being in ships."  Whitescar was the northernmost continent; just on the other side of the sea where Golden's old village had been, as a matter of fact.  

 

On hearing that he was invited, he pronked in place again.  "Oh boy, thank you!  Jarl Sigrun said I might have a hard time making friends here, with my magic and all, but everypony here's been really friendly.  I like this place!  I wish I grew up here, it's much nicer than the Wilds.  We did have mushrooms there, though; big bright and colorful ones that made me feel happy and dizzy when I ate them!  Couldn't eat them much, though; otherwise, something might try to eat me!"

[starsteemer]

Goldenglow listened to him list off all the good things about crows, most of which she agreed with. Though she didn't have any crow friends of her own, she agreed with his sentiment that they were indeed very smart creatures. She left out nuts for the neighborhood crows sometimes, but never really saw if it was the crows who made them dissapear, or squirrels. Crows weren't fond of nesting in deep forests anyways, so she couldn't fault them.  She wasn't quite sure of his claim with undead monsters, though. Another mention of the undead? 

She gazed around at the crows settling on the trees, smiling where another pony might be anxious. She listened to his names for the crows, thinking it was a cute thing to do, give crows individual names. Upon mention of Whitescar, Goldenglow had to admit her knowledge of geography beyond equestria was pretty limited. She knit her brows in confusion, and resolved to ask Chipper about his home sometime. 

Her eyes followed his up and down movement, bringing a smile to her face, the kind of smile an adult might give to humor a child doing something silly. His words did cause her smile to falter however, as they seemed a bit odd. Goldenglow trotted back to her basket and lifted the handle with her wing, a seldom-discussed advantage in carrying things for bat ponies, at least on the ground. Turning back to Chipper, she spoke cheerfully.
"I wish i grew up here too, no mushrooms would grow where i used to live, was always too cold." Colorful mushrooms with those effects described worried her slightly, maybe she was right in her original guess that he was high as a pegasus off cloud duty. She gestured with her free wing for him to follow her, and began to lead the way through the misty, quiet streets. 
"what is your magic exactly, if i may ask?" She inquired politely, glancing over her shoulder to be sure he was trailing her. The imbalance caused a mushroom to tumble from the basket, and she debated whether to leave it there or go to the trouble of picking it up. all the mushrooms would be washed anyways. 

[Blueblood]

Chipper pronked alongside Goldenglow, just happy to be talking with somepony.  One got the impression that he hadn't had much friendly conversation in his early life.  "Really?  It was pretty cold where I grew up, too, though Halvard said it was the warmest part of the continent.  I wish he and Sigrun were here; Calder too.  My new family's really nice!  They just didn't want to come here."

 

Noticing the mushroom fall from the basket, he caught it in his magic.  His horn glowed with a dark purple aura, one that had a slightly... off look to it.  Shadowy, dark, not like most unicorns Goldy would have met.  "Dark magic, with a specialty in necromancy!  I can't do anything big, though; but if any of my little friends die, I can bring them back!  They come back a little silly, though, and get their bits everywhere."

[starsteemer]

"I can't imagine why they wouldn't like to come here, Hollow Shades is quite nice. Cool, dark, mysterious..." Golden trailed off and breathed in deeply. Night-time had a distinctly clearer scent, but daytime smelled just as nice. She hoped the pegasi would bring some showers to the town, or maybe even a thunderstorm. The rich smells of soft forest soil and soggy wood were delightful, and who didn't love to watch the rain come down in big sheets and cracks of lightning? So long as Goldy didn't get wet, she was happy to watch and breathe in the clean air after such a rain. 

Goldenglow held out the basket for Chip to put the mushroom back into, her sunset eyes alighting upon the dark aura holding the mushroom in its grip. Ah, so thats what all the casual mentions of undead were about! She supposed she ought to be nervous, but Chipper really did seem like a harmless fellow, childishly charming. She couldn't imagine what sort of good necromancy might serve, however. And wasn't dark magic... bad? Goldenglow tilted her head as these thoughts rolled around. What really made something dark or bad? Who was she to judge? Can magic be inherently evil, or was it the user who made a choice to use magic for evil, and thus make it 'dark'? She wasn't a unicorn, and frankly had no desire to be, but the question kept her mind from thinking about the possible really bad things dark magic was known for. 

"Oh, that's just dandy! I've never met anypony who can do that," Goldenglow admitted truthfully. "I hope you use it responsibly. Say, can it bring plants back to life?" Her soft voice took on an amused tone, as she didn't think necromancy worked with plants but it never hurt to ask. Golden was nearly notorious for having equestria's biggest black-hoof, so her backyard was bound to have a few dead plants, poor things. Goldy often grew anxious and panicked when something with the plants went wrong, and had a tendency to... overcorrect. If it weren't for helpful neighbors, her bees mightve gone hungry. 

[Blueblood]

"Uh huh, all that and there's no shambling hordes concealed in the woods bearing a grudge against all warmblooded life!  Reminds me of home, only I'm more than likely to wake up tomorrow, nayahaha!"  Good grief, what was the upbringing of this unicorn like, if that was how he answered a simple description of Goldy's hometown?  Well, at least it would go a ways to explain many of his... quirks. 

 

He didn't put the mushroom back right away, holding it up to his face for a closer look.  "Y'know, mushrooms are really weird, when you look at them.  Not quite like flowers, but they don't move around like animals.  Well, most don't.  They don't talk much, either; or I just don't know their language."  Shrugging, he tossed the fungus back in the basket.  "Not that plants talk much.  And sure, I can bring them back, if there's enough left of them.  The fresher the corpse, the easier I can get it walking again!  If it isn't too big, that it.  Can't do trees, or ponies either.  So just little things, like flowers and old Featherbrain here.  Ya gotta admit, though, it's still something to... crow about, nyahaha!"

[starsteemer]

Goldenglow was glad she was walking ahead of the strange unicorn, so he would not notice the look of concern and uncertainty that flashed across her features. That first part seemed like something to be a little worried about. Was he telling the truth, or delusional? Shouldn't somepony do something if there truly was an entity that dangerous lurking about? It was an uncomfortable thought. And yet, he was disarmingly light-hearted about it. Even making crow puns! Goldenglow tried to stifle a laugh, but it came out as a snicker instead. She was partial to cringy puns herself, and returned his joke with one of her own. 
"I suppose there isn't mushroom for morels where you're from, eh?" She laughed, content to use bad puns to cover up her concern of the most-likely horrific reality only a sea away. 

She stopped at the door to her cottage. In comparison to the other homes, it was quite small. Though considering Goldenglow lived by herself, it was probably just reasonably sized. The outside was unremarkable, but opening it up led to a rush of warm air scented with sweet honey and spicy cinnamon, the interior dark until Goldy trotted in, setting her basket aside and lighting the fireplace with a long match. As the warm flames leapt to life, they illuminated the small cottage's living room, revealing that despite Goldenglow's youth, she had old fashioned tastes. 
The close-knit room had tasteful floral wallpaper, pink flowers of all kinds budding and blooming, and wooden paned windows covered with pastel pink tiered curtains, layered with grandmare-like ruffles at the ends. Two similar ruby-red sofas stuffed with red floral pillows and draped with homey quilts faced eachother, a laquer coffee table between them and a rectangular burgundy rug covering all the rosewood floor but the door's path of entry. Candles lined the shelves and bowls of potpourri, incidentally where the cinnamon and spice smell was coming from, were arranged above the fireplace. It seemed like the exact type of decorating somepony's grandmare would opt for. 

"Make yourself at home!" Goldenglow declared, lighting a few extra candles to brighten up the dark corners, but not so much as to be offensive to her light-sensitive eyes. "Would you like anything to drink? I have a lot of tea. Skullcap, perhaps?" She smiled warmly at him, her smile a bit playful at her suggestion of skullcap, alluding to and making light of his dark talent. 

[Blueblood]

Chipper Demise, unlike most ponies, gave groan-worthy puns the dignity of full laughter.  "Nyahahaha!  Oh, shitake, you caught me out as a fungi!"  He was pronking again now; surely nothing bad could be about when a pony could be so carefree?  But then, a necromancer would have a somewhat distorted view of what a normal threat level was like.  At least Goldenglow would be able to count on him keeping high spirits in a crisis!

 

Not having any experience in homes between a literal hole in the ground, and a caribou longhouse, Goldy's small cottage was a novel experience for Chipper.  He bounced around to various corners to get a good look at every nook and cranny, which didn't take very long.  After he finished the survey, he hopped onto one of the sofas, perching on the edge of the cushion.  He took a deep breath, letting it out in a slow whoosh.  "Hmm, smells nice.  And the tea sounds great, too.  Just make sure you take all the hairs off first, nyahaha!"  

 

It was pretty clear by now that Chipper didn't fit the classic stereotype of the dark wizard, cackling in a high tower with evil plans to take over the world.  Well, at least he didn't have a tower, and probably had no interest in taking over the world.  Probably.  Now would actually be an excellent time to ask.

[starsteemer]

Goldenglow laughed indulgently, and watched him as he examined her small living room. Not for the first time, she wondered exactly how old he was. 
"I'm not sure what tea is like where you're from honey, but i promise the tea here has no hair in it." Golden said with amusement. "Give me juuust a moment to get the water boiling" 

She trotted out of the livingroom through an open doorway, setting a teapot on the stove and getting the water boiling, and in the meantime looking over her selection of tea blends. She was a lover of all tea so there was abundant variety, some in tea bags, some as extracts in jars and some simply dried herbs in jars. After careful consideration, she decided the boisterous stallion may benefit most from a calming tea, and as irony would have it, skullcap was great for soothing hyperactive nervous systems, albeit not the best tasting tea. She picked out the skullcap extract from her shelf, as well as dried chamomile herbs for its world-renowned calming effects, setting both ingredients aside while the water boiled. 

The kettle would whistle when the water was hot enough, so for now Goldy returned to the living room, climbing up on one of the sofas opposite to Chipper, curling her tail around herself delicately. Now that she had an apparent necromancer in her home, she was struck with an abundance of questions. Not really the kind of mare to blurt out queries one after another, she carefully considered wht to ask first. 
"So while the water is boiling, i was... wondering..." Goldenglow trailed off, thinking of the right way to phrase it. Another look at her companion however eased any possible insecurites, he didn't look like the type to get upset at clumsy wording. 
"What exactly do you use necromancy for? I've never met anypony with such a talent, and i'd like to know more about it!" 

Though Goldenglow knew very well of the possible implications and questionable morality of raising the dead, her altruistic mindset couldn't help but lean towards positive uses, such as raising the dead to solve crimes or disputes, letting loved ones say goodbye, discovering cures for diseases, answering questions about death and the afterlife, medical uses for bringing back somepony from near death after an accident, possibilities were endless! 

[Blueblood]

Given that Chipper was currently still bouncing a bit on the couch cushions, it was probably just as well that Golden Glow was making a soothing variety of tea.  He seemed to gave gotten a lot of his energy out, though, so the thestral was in no danger of being dislodged from her perch.  "Oh?"  His ears swiveled towards the mare when she asked him about his talent.  "Why, for raising the dead, of course!  Just... not big dead things.  I can't do anything bigger than a young wolf, and if you were all the way dead, I couldn't do anything for you!  Now, if you were only mostly dead, I could still bring you back!  Did that for my best friend's mother, and she said she wouldn't try to kill me, so I must have done a good job!"

 

So, apparently, a lot of his talent was utilized to heal the living, as well as call back the dead.  Perhaps not quite so cleanly as modern Equestrian medicine, but there was little denying that his heart was in restoration, rather than, say, raising an army to destroy the world.

[starsteemer]

Goldenglow beamed, that was exactly the type of answer she'd been hoping for! She could breathe a little easier now, but it struck her that although his intentions were pure, if such a talent existed then maybe somepony would not use it for the wellbeing of others. 
"Well, i'm very happy to hear that! That sounds like a very useful talent. Are there any drawbacks to being brought back like that?" 

She considered what it must be like, to think you're dead or dying and then suddenly be alive. All the questions about the nature of living came up, such as if ponies did indeed have a soul, and what happened if a body was raised without it. She'd never considered mortality like this before, so in a way she was grateful for meeting such a spunky little necromancer to broaden her worldview. 

[Blueblood]

Chipper shrugged.  "Don't know!  I've never been brought back myself, but a lot seem to be very angry when you do.  No idea why, unless the afterlife really is all it's cracked up to be!  My little friends are happy though, aren't you, Featherbrain?"

 

"AR-awk!"  A unicorn, or other magically sensitive creature, might have been able to detect that the crow currently perched on the unicorn's shoulder was, in fact, undead.  Golden Glow wouldn't have been able to tell from a mere naked eye examination, though.

"Suppose it really all depends on how fresh the corpse is.  Featherbrain had just died, and was all in one piece, so he came pretty much whole!  But if he'd lost an eye, well, I can't get back any lost parts after you're dead.  Maybe the angry ones lost something important!  It's why I don't work on things that don't like they'll be happy."  He stroked the feathers of his avian friend with his forehoof, idly kicking his hear legs as he sat on the couch.  "Mama Sigrun doesn't like it when I raise dead in front of her, but she likes it when I fix the mostly dead, so I mostly do just that.  The caribou are really nice, when they're alive!  They get right nasty, though, when they're brought back.  They must be having a party wherever they are!  Hope I'm invited!"

 

Chipper seemed pretty much alright with all the questions, and would likely have been content to be interviewed until the cows came home, if it hadn't been for the whistling of the kettle.  "Heh, it can't carry a tune.  Maybe I can fix that!  Never tried anything on something that was never alive, who knows what'll happen, nyahahahah!"

[starsteemer]

Goldenglow offered a patient, indulgent smile, the kind a mother might make when her child offers to help with something that would be better left to the adults. "I'm sure the teapot is happy being dead as it is, seeing as there is boiling water inside of it. I'll be right back!" 
She rose from the sofa and followed the sound of the shrill whistle, carefully pouring the steaming liquid into two mugs and preparing the tea mixture of skullcap and chamomile. She set the mugs on a tray, along with a jar of honey and a spoon, since she liked her tea sweetened and was unsure if her guest would like the same. 

Goldenglow carried the tray into her living room in her mouth, a cheerful smile on her face as she set it down on the coffee table between sofas. and spooned in honey into her own cup. "Would you like honey with yours?" She asked politely, and began to wonder with Chipper's restless energy if he'd be totally satisfied with a home as peaceful as hers, and pony as calm as she. His adventures sounded exciting, raising the dead and living with caribou. 

 

[Blueblood]

Chipper tilted his head, as he considered the point.  "Ooh, yeah, that does cause a lot of pain.  Hm, I never thought about how much it might hurt to be brought back like that...."  His smile actually dipped a bit at the thought, as he gazed pensively at his feathered friend.  Featherbrain, for his part, seemed unconcerned with the whole business, hopping off the unicorn's shoulder to swoop over the tea tray, snagging a snack of honey with a quick beak dip.

 

Goldenglow's arrival perked him backup, though.  "Honey?  Yes please!  It's nice to get some without having to persuade the hive to give it up.  Bees aren't unreasonable, but the buzzing really hurts my throat after a while.  Eh, that's diplomacy for ya!"  Over-eagerly sipping his sweetened tea, he quickly repented of his haste.  "Ooh, hot!  Ah, yeah, thanks for saving the teapot from me!"

 

Chipper blew over the top of the cup, letting the steam curl around him.  He remained quiet, disinclined to speech or action.  Was he waiting on some monster to break into this peaceful moment?  That had been his life for so long; and even the replacement of monsters by boisterous caribou had not fundamentally changed the rhythm of his life.