Title:           Lichanon & Twi-Twi 03 - The Library
Author:          caraml
Pastebin link:   http://pastebin.com/vYiCMh65
First Edit:      Thursday 13th of August 2015 03:18:43 PM CDT
Last Edit:       Last edit on: Thursday 13th of August 2015 03:23:38 PM CDT

>"All aboard!" shouts the conductor as a loud whistle blows, and the train begins to slowly accelerate as it heads to the city of Canterlot. The sun's about to set.
>Together with Twilight and Rarity, you continue on your journey, first to have an audience with the princesses, then get your powers back. But not before you look for a cure to Twilight's cursed wound. You might be a spoopy not-lich, but that doesn't mean you get to be an ungrateful asshole with no heart.
>Even though you technically don't have one in the literal sense.
>Also, you depend on Twilight's magic to move around and do shit. If worse comes to worst, you just might have to have her lose the spell and just carry your bones around in a bag or something.
>Hopefully that doesn't happen anytime in the future. You've already been there, and you know you don't want any  of it. But if you really need to, you think you'll be fin--
>*BANG* *RUMBLE* *RUMBLE*
"Woah!"
>*SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEECH*
>"Aaah!"
>The three of you almost fall off your chairs as the train suddenly comes to an emergency stop.
>Ponies look around in confusion, and you hear random whispers about someone getting run over by the train, or something that sounds like "halflings" trying to invade again, or a herd of rampaging buffaloes wanting attention.
>Sounds like crazy talk, you think to yourself, and you filter out the murmurings as just noise.
>The two mares sitting in front of you, however, think otherwise.
>"Oh my gosh, do you think it might have been somepony we know?"
>"Dear me, I hope not!"
>"What if it's a changeling invasion? Oh no! If that's the case, I won't be able to fight them head on. What am I going to do? What if they hold hostages? What if I can't make it in time? What if..."
>"Of all the worst things that could happen, this is... THE. WORST. POSSIBLE THI--"
>Then all of a sudden, the train whistle blows and the train resumes chugging and choo-ing.
>"O-Oh," Rarity says, realizing she's been overreacting to the previous situation.
>So does Twilight, and she just lowers her voice down and letting out an embarrassed laugh, trying to calm herself down.
>Moments later, one of the operators enter your car and move from pony to pony, telling them of the incident and what the delay was all about.
>Apparently, there's been a rock slide, and some big rocks have been blocking the tracks. Fortunately, there was a certain group of unicorns, passengers, who came to help remove the rocks.
>Nothing out of the ordinary, you guess.
>As the conductor moves to the next car, you find something to talk about with the two.
"I think we're being a little bit too tense here. Maybe we should relax a bit, get our minds and bodies rested. We can't really do much while we're riding on this train, anyway."
>"I suppose you're right, Anon," Rarity says. "We've been too stressed lately, and I also don't think any of what we're being right now is helping in any way at all. A lady needs her beauty sleep. Goodnight."
>As Rarity finishes her sentence, she pulls out a blanket and lays down on her bed, almost instantly falling asleep as if she can do it on command.
"..."
>"Well that was fast."
"Tell me about it."
>"So, uhh... Rarity's asleep now."
"Yeah..."
>"What now? I still don't think I could sleep just yet. Not with all the stuff that's been happening."
"Maybe we should, uhh... talk, about something?"
>"What do you want to talk about?"
"Well, ever since you've told me about current and past events here in Equestria, I still couldn't grasp the idea of two certain ponies taking control of two heavenly objects, not to mention a star more than a hundred times greater than the size of this planet. And the distance they would have to cast their magic from... I mean, how is that even possible?"
>"Hmm, I've never really questioned it, since I've been taught it as a filly. But, now that you mention it, it does seem a little bit too over-the-top," she says. "Nevertheless, something like that would be, to my opinion, quite plausible for alicorns, who in fact, have lived a thousand of years in rule of a great nation such as Equestria."
>"I think of the two princesses as either really gifted or extremely lucky, to have discovered the cutie marks they have right now. That might be a huge factor. And, considering how I quickly progressed as a magic-user since getting a magic-oriented cutie mark in the period of just a few years, I think the exponential growth in power would reach such lengths as to being able to move heavenly bodies from great distances."
>"And I just might be exactly that in a millennium or two. Even just the thought of it gives me the chills," she says, shivering a little bit at the thought.
>"I think it's the cutie marks that grant them something like a... an increased amount of magical power towards the thing depicted in the cutie mark itself, but unrelated magic stuff would rely purely on their personal skill. Like an innate, niche skill bonus of some sort. I dunno."
"Huh..."
>"Anyway, all this mumbo-jumbo talk has actually kind of taken my mind off of the more stressful stuff, even though just a little bit. Thanks, Anon. You've been a really great help to me."
"Hey, don't mention it. In fact, I kind of owe a lot to you. You're the one who freed me from that coffin, and I kind of feel guilty for... you know."
>"Don't say that. I kind of went in unknowingly and unprepared, so it's kinda my fault too, you know."
"..."
>"Come to think of it, I don't remember asking how and why you were captured and sealed under the cathedral. Why is that, Anon?"
>Why were you even captured and sealed in the first place?
>Somehow, you can't seem to recall anything about the subject, and the only thing you know is that you've been somehow related to them at some point, but something happened, and they came to hate you for some reason.
>Something about collecting skeletons? Was that the reason they hunted you? For collecting the dead bodies of unique specimens?
>You admit you've killed people before to add them to your collection, but most of them were complete eccentrics, psychopaths who proved to be threats to humanity during your time, and the rest were the ones you took from nobles, and anything of the like, that were already dead.
>Wait. So, they sealed you inside a magic coffin guarded by stone knights under a sacred cathedral... for grave-digging? That mustn't be it.
>And you don't even consider being a spoopy skeleton to be reason enough for them to hate you. That's just racist, or skelist? Whatever.
>"Anon? You in there?"
>Oh yeah, you zoned out again. Dammit.
"Oh, uhh, what was your question again?"
>"Why were you sealed inside that coffin? And why do they have something against you?"
"Yeah, uhm... I really don't know. It's kind of fuzzy, but I think it's something related to either me being a lich, or me having a huge collection of unique skeletons of--"
>"You had a skeleton collection?" she asks, interrupting you.
"Oh, not just ANY collection," you answer. "We're talking about nobles here. Demi-gods, mythical creatures, even--"
>"Even... unicorns?"
"... Yes."
>Twilight can only look at you in... you can't seem to describe how she feels about what you just said.
"Well, basically, I had something similar to a museum of sorts back when I still had my manor. I put them on display, and make sure I also provide notes relating to each specimen I find. Doing research for the rare ones were the hardest, believe me."