~~~ ⚕ ~~~
I acted recklessly in Death's domain. I forgot myself, and fell back on what I knew. And what I knew was to use what she had offered me. I defied her using the tools she gave me and could take away at any time.
I really should have just asked. Instead I acted out like a child. Perhaps this new shape was fitting after all.
Using the Reanimation spell like that was the last time I’d ever channel Mistress Death’s aspect. Quite the goodbye. I relied on her for so long, from the day my heraldry was awakened. Without her, I would've been dead at Richard's blade. Without her… my family would've lived.
Perhaps I'm being fatalistic, but one can't help but consider what-ifs during a transitory time such as this. It was a time to adjust.
I've survived for so long. My hands were soaked in blood, and now I presumed to live peacefully.
People don't change. They adapt. They can't change their nature, only curb it. I could not become someone else, I could only make use of what I was in order to earn my keep. If that wouldn't be enough…
Death told me I was at my last chance. The Incursions would happen more regularly now, with a guiding judgement behind them. I had no reason to do anything except for my best towards earning my place in this new world. I’d gotten to this point, I wouldn’t let myself get killed just because I was considered too rude or petulant by a haughty upper management.
I told Death I wanted to give my wife a life that Vertigus denied her. I’d be damned before tainting this world with the darkness of the one I came from. Quite literally, apparently.
I pictured my new body in Luna’s care, what I wanted to do with it and the nature of potential obstacles ahead of me. I took a step back...
‘Whatever it takes.’
...and heard two doors slam shut.
~~~ 🌙 ~~~
The coffee was too hot. I put the cup down, then looked up to find the six mares still looking at me like I was insane.
As an alicorn, Acheron was linked to the sphere of death. Specifically, to two connected elements of death, if one was to surmise anything from the presence of the two doors in his mindscape on either side of the one with his cutiemark. If one was to further theorize, given his shared authority with his spouse, it would be safe to assume that he would preside over the Mortality half of the circle of Death, while his spouse answered for the Oblivion side. Of course, beyond playing with uncertain panderings, what would happen in the end remained to be seen.
A prince running authority over mortality, and a vengeful spirit of oblivion. It was up to me to guide them down constructive paths. Aid my son to make mortality into survival, aid his spouse in making vengeance into justice...
“[...]or perhaps even into protection.”
It was apparent the bearers were willing to give the benefit of the doubt to my colt before, but were not able to reconcile his mate's nature.
Twilight spoke for the group, “Excuse me your highness, but have you lost your mind?!”
The scholar was quite aggressive. Her friends did not seem surprised by her outburst at all. I realized I was treading on thin ice.
“I take it you disagree with my notion," I stated.
"She's a murderer!" Twilight shouted. "She's a spirit of darkness and death! What is there to guide them on?! Prince Acheron I can see being redeemed, but his mate? I'm sorry, Princess, but I think we should just use the Elements on her and be done with it."
"No."
My answer confused the scholar. "But Princess, it would just be an unnecessary risk to-"
I rose my hoof to halt her argument, waiting for her to calm down. She did, albeit only enough to stop arguing.
“First of all, my son’s actions were always out of self defense, this fact was confirmed under truth spell. It is a strong possibility that his spouse did the same, but you may interrogate him to your heart’s content once he wakes.” That seemed to placate her somewhat.
“Second, while his spouse may be aligned with oblivion, it is no worse than Celestia controlling a source of endless fire or me managing the realm of dreams. If you have accusations to make, then perhaps you should question my sister first, since she’s been around for millennia and hasn’t been challenged on her intentions once in her entire life.”
“All true,” my sister casually confirmed, outwardly seeming more interested in her tea than the conversation.
Before the scholar could give voice to her evident disagreement, I ended my argument, “...And finally, whether the Elements are used or not is not up to you to decide. You may be the Bearers, but you are not judges. None of you are."
I eyed them each in turn during my last statement. They were not reassured. Rainbow Dash inclined forward in her seat, “So what then, we just wait for him to wake up?”
“Evidently,” I answered, “since it seems my guardianship over the two of them is insufficient for you.”
Another stretch of silence followed. I pulled the list of broken letters out of my magical pocket. The bearers shifted awkwardly until Cadance spoke up again. “Didn’t you ask us about name ideas?”
“I did,” I shrugged, “but I didn’t want to insist on a subject that troubled them so.”
The bearers seemed conflicted on what to do next. Rainbow Dash was the one to finally speak first.
“Well, what did you have in mind?”
I regarded the brazen mare. She still held reservation, but at least she seemed somewhat open to get to know them now. “As I said. I want my charges to reflect positive facets of their natures. I named my son Asclepius, after a healer that earned ascension similarly to how he did, and Acheron, after the river flowing into the realm of death. An ascended savant, and a river of mortality. As for his spouse… it’s not so simple to explain.
“...Imagine a hoofprint in the sand.” They looked confused at my words. “Where the sand is the realm of the living. As you live, you walk forward. When you die, you walk into the waters of death. Time is the wind that ruins your hoofprints in the dry sand, and trying to leave prints in sand run by waves is impossible. But occasionally, you step in still hardening stone, and you leave an imprint. That would be the impression she left on my colt’s heart.” Rarity and Fluttershy teared up, the rest didn’t seem far off. “But that’s all that he had to go on. An impression. An empty hoofprint. What we found in Death’s domain was something corroded. Something that was returning to where we all originate before birth. Something less than his spouse… but also something more. That’s what he wishes to recover.”
Twilight asked in true scholarly scrutiny, “So you’re asking us to give a name to something unquantifiable?”
The others at the table seemed confused. Pinkie Pie asked, "Un-quainty-whatsit?"
"Unquantifiable," the scholar answered. "It means unmeasurable, impossible to be expressed in any form of measurement."
Applejack was still uncertain of what her friend meant, "So, what? Like tryin' to weigh a feather?"
"Not at all. A feather still has weight, it's just very, very light. Like measuring the size of a flea, it's small but it still has size. What I'm referring to are things that are outside the physical, measurable world."
“Wait, isn’t that kind of pointless?” asked Rainbow Dash while holding her head. “Like… I dunno, measuring the speed of a rock?”
“You can throw a rock though,” argued Applejack.
Rainbow frowned, “You can, but until then it’s still stationary.”
Twilight frowned in thought. “It is rather redundant. If we can’t perceive it or interact with it in any way, then it is a waste of time. You can’t fit something that doesn’t exist inside the context of what does exist. It’s like…” Her eyes widened in realization. She got up from her seat with a start, “Schrodinghorn’s Cat!”
Rainbow let go of her head and laid it on the table, “I give up.”
“Same here,” Applejack agreed, leaning her own head against a hoof.
Twilight, however, was as excited as a foal on Heart’s Warming, not really hearing her two friends’ complaints. “A cat inside a box that is both awake and sleeping! When we add magic to the mix, the potential applications are endless! Acheron’s findings could change magic at its foundations!”
Most of the ones present at the table sported looks of utter confusion. I wasn’t much better off.
Shining Armor voiced out, “Hang on. Is that why you brought a cat home and asked mom for her sleeping pills when you were six?”
The scholar blushed at that. “I didn’t quite understand the concept back then.”
Rainbow chuckled, “Wow, something she didn’t understand when she was six? Must be a tough field.”
“Essentially,” Twilight started, “Schrodinghorn made this thought experiment to highlight the dissonance between quantum mechanics and classical physics, specifically in the case of quantum superposition.”
“Could you use smaller words?” Pinkie asked.
She sighed. “You know how not one thing is ever two things at the same time? As in, Pinkie is never both jumping and sitting at the same… nevermind, bad example,” she rectified as Pinkie started to hop in place from a sitting position.
After a while, Fluttershy asked, “So it’s like Pinkie in a way?”
Twilight sprang forth, “Yes! Exactly!” eager to cling to any lifeline she could get in this sea of ignorance… before a look of terror started to take hold upon considering further implications.
I decided to steer the conversation before it got out of hoof, “So it’s a thought experiment referring to something being two things at the same time. Like asleep or awake, like my charge’s mate?”
“Y-yes, it is. Of course, the original experiment was referring to an environment void of magic, but from what I understand, Prince Acheron only used Necromancy to facilitate his wife’s… situation. He didn’t create it directly, only made it possible. Right?”
I considered her argument, until my head started to spin. “What he did was bind his spouse inside a doll and design said doll as a proper binding 'box', as it were. She is being sustained in the mortal realm, but if she were to be released from her 'box', she would definitely either succumb to death or undeath. Acheron is supplying her with raw necromantic energy to persist and try to heal. All that said, no, she is not being directly affected by any magic of any kind. She is being fed and protected, not changed or 'pushed' in any way…” I rubbed my chin in thought. “Schrodinghorn,“ I hummed.
“I’d go with Schroding,” offered Cadance. “It has a better ring to it, doesn’t it? Plus we don’t know if she’ll turn out as a pony, human, or anything, really.”
Shining nodded, “It covers her otherworldly nature. I suppose now we’re left with referencing her warlike one.”
My sister added, “What about Bastet?”
“Like the Bast Dynasty?” Cadance asked.
“The cat people actually named themselves after the goddess Bastet, also known as ‘She of the Salve Jar’. She’s also supposedly one side of the war goddess Sekhmet, a war deity and protector of the rightful ruler…” then added as an aside, in sotto, “exclusively.” She smiled serenely, “I’d say it ties together well, don’t you?”
A chorus of agreements rang out at the table.
“Bastet Schroding,” I sampled the name. “It certainly sounds unique. Fitting of her standing.” I nodded in agreement, disenchanting the list of broken letters.
I wondered what Acheron would think of his spouse having a cat's name. It’s a very strong, yet very childish name.
~~~ ⚕ ~~~
I woke up to the sound of laughter. I reflexively checked to see if I was still holding onto her.
I felt different. More at ease. It was suspicious. I reached out with my other senses. I recognized Luna’s familiar scent and heartbeat from within her grasp.
“Good morning, Acheron,” I could hear her smiling. I also took note of the fact that I didn’t notice her making a mental link. Bothersome.
I groaned, “How long was I out?”
I tried focusing inwards to find what was different. I was properly bound, so I no longer relied on any soul seals as go-betweens. Which was good, because it seemed my last stunt had left absolutely nothing of my seals and runes left. Mistress Death also mentioned the possibility of side effects...
There was a wall. When I pushed against it, it gave, but didn't break. As soon as I focused intent to pierce it, I realized what Luna did for me.
I left the gift be. Heavens knew I could use a break.
My guardian's next words completely drew me out of my musings. “Your eyesockets are on fire.”
It took me a while to register what she said. By then she spoke again, “Are you feeling alright?” She was maintaining her composure, but it was clear her concern was increasing rapidly.
“Yes, I’m well. I don’t feel anything wrong.” The others in the area were shifting nervously. I wanted to check something, “What does the fire look like? Does it glimmer or shine? What color is it?”
“The embers are red with yellow centers, as opposed to the smaller red ones you had during your trances. They're ethereal and gleaming, like a couple of small and angry Will-o'-Wisps. Also, they're interfering with my Clairvoyance spell, we can't share vision.”
'Death also mentioned an 'impressive reaction' last night.' A few seconds of consideration later, I offered, "There is a strong possibility that this development is benign. Though I will need to conduct tests to be certain."
"Would a doctor be able to do anything?" she asked.
I swayed my head from side to side. "If my life-force starts getting either drained or poisoned… well, they'd need knowledge which I do not know if they have."
Luna drew in a long, hard breath, then her magic ignited. “Sister, what do you think?” Celestia’s magic ignited in a similar ley matrix, then I felt eyes literally peering into my soul.
The older diarch rang out, “I can’t find anything wrong. Maybe he should try casting a spell?”
"And risk agitating what might be wrong?" Luna offered rhetorically.
"I can stop as soon as you detect anything wrong," I supplied.
Taking their silence as compliance, since agreement was too heavy, I started to focus magic into the problem area. Since my current magical aptitude was at the level of pushing and pulling and hoping for something to go 'click', I just kept going, always ready to stop immediately at any point in time. “I have no idea what I’m doing, so you’ll have to guide me.”
“Your concentration is erratic,” Luna criticized. “Stop pushing so hard, there’s no hurry.” A few seconds later, “...There! Just keep going like that a few seconds longer!”
All I could do was to follow her instructions blindly… “Wait.”
“What is it?” a different, younger voice rang out from further within the room.
The pun was not intentional. I was figuratively flailing randomly until blurred sensation of black started replacing the nothingness one would typically associate with a lack of eyes.
I pulled my eyelids open, maintaining the flow of magic. "...It's not average sight," I noted as I gained focus. "I think it's spirit sight."
Vigor, thought and emotion. The billowing youth of six good-hearted young ladies, a glimmering beacon of morality and duty which I ventured was Shining Armor, a cascade of empathy and joy right next to him, and finally the tempered storms of the two royal sisters.
You can't really see these things in the typical sense of the word. Honestly, all I could see were swirls of 'colors' where people's auras either wafted or dispersed; pervading around close-by objects in the physical world, shaping outlines the way a stream flows around rocks.
Without thinking, I locked my eyes on the doll in my grasp. There was a spark, infinitely small. That infinity constituted what my spouse was now. Not of the living, but something… other. Outside mortal reckoning.
How was I going to awaken her?
"It's not sight, it's some sort of ability caused by my affinity and Necromantic energy," I pointed out, holding my head in pain. I cut off the flow and felt my vision fade back to nothing.
A new development, I felt the flow of magical energy shift towards the doll.
"So, no danger, save for a headache caused by unusual senses. I should get used to it if I use the spell more... and learn how to cast it properly."
"Sounds like magical feedback. It's no surprise you'd get a headache."
'Again with that voice, I sighed. "I'm sorry, we haven't been properly introduced, have we?"