On Necromancy · 11:23am Jul 12th, 2014
art by Brisineo
Today, we go even further down the rabbit hole. In conclusion to our exploration of reaper ponies and necromancy that I have touched on in my previous blogs, most notably "The Littlehorn Valley Recordings", I want to post a bit about the nature and workings of necromancy. (As usual, please remember that is headcanon, and need not be treated as canon.)
But first, I want to give a shout-out to the wonderful work being done by those participating in Bronies for Good. I particularly want to promote their latest effort, Summer o’ Good:
...we would like to encourage folks to participate in a good deeds drive. Find a local charity, volunteer, give blood, talk to your friends and collect old clothes they don’t need and donate them to a charitable organization.
Sometimes the little things really do add up to make a big difference, and even though so many of us are geographically separated and may go about this in totally different ways, that doesn’t mean we can’t still shine together.
In Fallout: Equestria canon, there was one ultimate source of necromancy: the stars... at least according to zebra mythology, wherein the stars were believed to be cold, malevolent entities. Specifically, the four stars that are seen in the first episode of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic aiding Nightmare Moon's escape. In my expanded headcanon, I have introduced a second source: the spirits of death. The Reapers.
In the Equestrian Wasteland, little is known or understood about necromancy. What those like Littlepip have learned is that necromancy is alien -- it comes from an some outside source -- and it can be learned by pony and zebra alike. My last blog, "Good Pony and New Futures" sparked several comments regarding the headcanon revelation of a necromantic element to Wonderglue, that miraculous substance that can fuse seemingly any two surfaces together such that they become seemlessly one (a fusion only rivaled by the effects of pink cloud). I hinted in my replies that this revelation tied into a greater story, one about the true nature of necromancy. In the "Fallout: Beyond Equestria" game, this revelation about Wonderglue lead the group of ponies (and one griffin) to a very portentous meeting.
When Shatara looks up from the shotgun, he finds himself staring into the eyes of Death. The Reaper standing before him is unlike the others. Larger, non-skeletal -- in fact, a sleek musculature lies beneath a slick black coat. It lacks the horn, but instead stands on four legs. It's mane and tail are like black plasma, rippling out behind It.
>> I am Sleipnir, first of the Reapers. You wished to see me. <<
Sleipnir is the Spirit of Death as Discord is the Spirit of Chaos. Sleipnir's progeny are the guardians of the afterworld. The guides of dead souls. Death spirits. Necromantic bargainers. They are tasked with helping the souls of the dead travel on to whatever lies beyond this life.
art by icekatze
The Crimson Caravan ponies and griffin spoke at length with Sleipnir, gaining a lot of understanding and insight into necromancy. Here are some of the questions they posed and the answers they received:
"So, I was wondering, you know, what does necromancy actually do? Does it have t' be, you know, possessions, soul rendin', and hurtin' others?"
>> Necromancy is magic fueled by the raw energy of death. It takes many forms, depending on who is channeling it. <<
"So, uh...why make glue out of ponies?"
>> I often do not comprehend the motions of mortals. Perhaps because they knew how. <<
"But they knew how because one of you deathpony-types told them how...why would they do that?"
>> We... those you call Reapers... are spirits of death. Our power is, by nature, necromancy. We are the raw energy of death given form and sentience. Any power we give you to channel will be necromancy. But we do not chose the form that power takes. You do. This is why my... grandchild... could not tell you what you would gain from being offered necromancy. It did not know. <<
"Um. A-a-alright. So, um. What else can it do?"
The shadows in the room deepen and seep. They melt and grow, connecting together like drops of water that get too close. Soon, the room is nothing but darkness, like everything has been painted black. The lights from PipBucks refuse to light more than a few inches of the appendages to which they are attached. In the darkness, images appear, figures of ponies and others... like mirages in the black. One image is a zebra waving a crooked staff adorned with feathers, the crook like a dreamcatcher with a black sapphire woven into the center. The zebra chants through the staff, waving it over powders, and the powders change color, darkening. A small grey unicorn with muddy-colored hair and a pair of scissors on his flank cases a spell, forming a ball of black, crackling energy. A sea-green pegasus swoops high through the air then dives... faster and faster... faster still as the air distorts around her. Glimpses of colors form and are bled black as she goes faster still until... >>>BOOOM<<< ...the sky explodes around her, darkness rippling out in an expanding black ring. And everywhere below, life withers and dies.
>> We are the source. Or, I should say, a source of the power of death. Mortals are the channel. When a mortal becomes a necromancer, a part of their soul is... changed... so that our power may flow to them. A conduit. But it is the mortal's soul, and the mortal's inherent magical nature, that shapes the power... gives it... form. Most unicorns cast spells. Zebras infuse necromantic energies into things, or even attempt to bind death spirits. For the pegasi, necromancy naturally flows through the channels of their own magical abilities. <<
"None'a those were Earth Ponies. What do they do with it?"
The scenes change, showing an earth pony hoof-crafting a hunting shotgun. Kid recognizes the weapon immediately, his named shotgun "Blood". The griffin Bonaparte hastily sketches a symbol on the wall with the ground dust of children's bones. A hoard of Academy Foals charging up the alley stop suddenly. They surround him and glare, but cannot approach. One conjures a thick cloud of pink, but the cloud dissipates as it nears the symbol and the griffin cowering under it.
>> For some, particularly those whose magic are different and less overt, I have witnessed necromancy shaped by their natural talents. In the case of those you call earth ponies, their Special Talent usually informs how they wield the power we give them. For others, like griffins and minotaurs, it is similar, albeit harder to predict. The pony who ran this place was an earth pony. A chemist by talent. We did not tell her how to turn ponies into glue. We merely gave her necromancy. She... used that power... and told herself. <<
"So, it ain't the stuff itself, but the use of necromancy that makes folks do awful stuff."
"Wait...so this pony took on the powers of death it self, solely for the purpose of...making really sticky glue?"A new mirage forms. One of the incinerator, the smoke pouring out. The burning of thousands of desecrated bodies. An insect flies towards the factory, then drops dead. The view changes, showing Tragedy's End much as it is now. A large, white bird approaches the wall, but doesn't quite make it before falling from the sky. Stronger life forms -- a group of pegasi, an Enclave scout team -- actually make it into the base before succumbing. Simultaneously, a mirage of an almost identical set of buildings -- Wonderglue factor and incinerator -- pour smoke into the air above a vast, ugly swamp. The smoke descends, changing, becoming a neigh-impenetrable mist.
>> Places like this... affect the veil between the world of life and the realm of death. Things are possible in places like this that are not elsewhere. Things are... affected. It is in places like these where new spirits of death are born. They are young. They need guidance least they go astray. I am here for them. The aid we seek is in helping those cross over who are unable to do so naturally, yet whose souls yearn for peace. We offer the power you call Necromancy to those willing to work for us in return when we need agents in the mortal world. We give it in exchange, and can stop doing so if the mortal attempts to... renege on its obligations. Other... agencies of death energy have... other ways of dealing with those who displease Them. <<
The mirages change. A red and scarlet earth pony is working on some sort of spyglass. She stops, muttering to herself shaking her head in horror as she realizes that she needs the fresh blood of a murdered foal to properly craft the lens. In the background, in the next room, stands a crib; the baby inside horribly deformed and kept alive only by magic -- the product of severe inbreeding amongst the swampfolk of Froggy Bottom Bog, the results so grotesque they would have slain the child had it not been "rescued" from them. Another image, this time Bonaparte with mortar and pestle, pulverizing the bones of an Academy Foal, identifiable by bits of her cloak still clinging to bone in the pile next to his workbench.
These imagines fade. To the left, the mirage of a healthy yellow earth pony trots into view. To the right as a ghoul shuffles into view and begins a conversation with her.
>> These are life, perhaps not as life has always been, living as they should. <<
A small pink pony in a yellow environmental suit walks up, asking "Have you seen my mommy?" in a cute but oblivious voice as her eyes take on an unnatural pink glow.
>> This... is not. This is a soul trapped in a body that cannot truly live, prevented from moving on. <<
Sleipnir points to the deformed newborn in the crib, kept alive by magical life support.
>> As is that. <<
Its gaze turns towards the Academy Foals surrounding Bonaparte, kept on the edge of going feral by the unique magic of the Academy Foal named Joy.
>> As are those. <<
More figures appear in the darkness. Similar images of sadness and horror.
>> As are many more. These are the ones for whom we seek the aid of mortals in enchange for our gift. <<
art by Xatiav
Uhhm... So does that mean the black book that Rarity used to rip portions of ones soul wasn't written by the zebras themselves, rather it was transcribed by a darker entity and then passed to them as a curse later used as a semi blessing?
First, wow! The headcannon involved in this is staggering in its depth and implications. That tools in a magical realm are affected not only by their purpose but the method and intent of their creation? I'm going to need some time to digest this. It may involve nightmares.
I'm going to wander off into a corner and contemplate exactly what Rarity did to herself... Those statues...
Wonderglue = ponies being turned into glue?
Should have seen it coming from a mile away. This idea is both hilarious and disturbing at the same time...
Huh. Sounds like you've read at least a little of Pink Eyes (just from the character reference, so I could easily be wrong).
Anyway, reading this was a nice way to start a Saturday, thank you.
Excellent, just in time to help outline some of the mechanics in my fic. I was worried I would have to go from the ground up, which would have been worthwhile but time consuming. Now I can focus on fine tuning my plot that looks like it will toe the line of grinders in some places.
Headcanon adopted!
...And I caught that Doctor Who reference.
Ah. So some necromancers are assigned to set right what has gone wrong. Not in a very nice manner, but when all you have is death magic, everything looks like a corpse. Or something along those lines.
Fascinating. Thank you as always, Kkat.
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I wouldn't mind knowing more details about what Rarity did do herself. What are the psychological effects of having your souls split into dozens of pieces?
So necromancers who are good guy's......
That's new...
Well time to go play They hunger
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Beyond that, can the remaining fragment of her soul reach its rest while so divided? What tarnish did it place upon her despite her noblest of intentions? And beyond even that, did any of the mane 6 obtain peace? Twilight: trapped in the gestalt of the goddess, Fluttershy: treed, Rainbow: turned into a ghost by the efforts of her friends, Pinkie: somehow still manipulating events two hundred years after her death. Did AJ alone get to move into the afterlife? Even Winona was trapped in a cursed, undying existence.
Is this the penance they must serve for their sins?
oh so clever, klkat. originally necromancy was meant for speaking or guiding the dead. it would make sense that such powerful gifts would be abused vastly.
sleipnir is not a force of evil, it simply wishes for the cycle to occur naturally. yet mortals will misuse the gifts she, and those like her, would bestow, and simply cannot control how a mortal will react to them.
if anything, though, sleipnir are far more powerful than even discord it seems. discord, despite his power, is still a being of his world and vulnerable to it. sleipnir is not.
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But has she moved on? If we take Pink Eyes into consideration(and I feel we should), Pinkie does seem to be serving a sort of afterlife community service. One she may well have chosen for herself, but nevertheless she seems to be filling a role of intermediary between the realms of the living and the dead.
So... you're telling me that wonderglue is made of ponies? Next thing I know, you're going to be telling me soylent green is made of people.
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She was sorta the head of Equestria's secret police. I think she did plenty to have to atone for.
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Do I even need to mention the morality of forced interrogation via memory orb?
2277079 actually i am pretty sure it was done by a zebra necromancer who abused the gifts of the reapers.
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The Black Book was written by a mad zebra necromancer who was corrupted by the stars. Even Sleipnir acknowledges that the reapers are not the only source of necromancy:
One of these days, I'm going to write up a blog about my headcanon for Froggy Bottom Bog. One of the features of the setting is feuding groups of necromancers, one empowered by the stars, and the other by the reapers.
2277162 don't get the idea of the stars being sources of death. things of death often have some connection to life as well.
think my favorite idea of that comes form Mass Effect. Thane krios tells of how the ocean gives life yet it is not life as is known, and can take life as well.
stars are things i see more as mystery than destruction, light in the dark. the reapers stand between the dark and the light. basically some part of some balance. what part would the stars play in it?.....
unless they represent death without the balance i guess. they take and not give. still, why stars?
Basically this is part of my headcannon for my little magic the gathering
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With the truest of intentions, she used a tool commonly associated with evil and made something... pure. And all it cost her was the very thing that kept her safe from the evils she invited in.
All for her friends.
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Reference to the original Mass Effect games, where UFOs (often seen first as glimmering 'stars' in the game sky in the 3D ones) often just show up, kill stuff or destroy it, and generally be a bunch of dicks.
Also, some cultures from earth also had beliefs that the stars, who are beautiful but too distant to touch, were watching us, and bore the power to do almost anything... but chose not to, because they enjoyed our suffering.
Very humanocentric POV, but still.
Possible explanation: The stars are ancient and powerful, and are tired of ponies poking and prodding at them for power, so they give it int he most destructive way possible.
The one thing that perhaps I wonder, you see the after effects of what happens when a darker world seeks their aid, and the price paid. But I noted, not one aspect, asked what they did when the world was in its pristine state, long before all this started. When death was a time to celebrate a beings life.
And where I wonder, for all their nature, what is to stop them from seeking to gather more power in this world, where so often power is the only thing so many listen to.
So, how it is with Pink Eyes? What happened to pinkie in the end, that task of ferrying souls 'beyond', this is just another job given by reapers to a pony?
And, that fact of Necromancy being just magic fuelled by death, not necessarily pure evil, is something I long waited for, Necromancy can have some 'good' but twisted effect. Being ghoul is a curse, but also some form of gift and Wonderglue is one of wasteland's most useful substances.
Ahhh that in deed does make since. K, I like how interactive you are with your fans. It allows us to be more in tune with the more subtle detales that we as fans of FOE might overlook or have questions on. In other words, YOU`RE AWSOME!
hi hi
Kinda makes you wonder just how many other spirits are out there...
2278105 that right there is a big part of my stories overall plot. Ill leave this with a question. What could be the significance of subterranean black Crystal obelisks arraigned in strange patterns around zebra megaspell strikes?
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They're clearly not there to further the hugging of cute baby bunnies and kittens, that's for sure.
2279020 "Are you my mommy?"
2279115 Maybe I'm mistaken?
It happens.
Necromancy goes deeper than I thought. Aren't the Balefire Bombs also Necromancy? (That or Dragon magic. I forget.) Those bombs covered a land that was already poisoned, it seems.
Froggy Bottom would make a good Point Lookout.
Also, Puppy Smiles!
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"It’s bottled, necromancy-enhanced dragon’s breath, Ambrosia had told me. The magical, disintegrative type of dragon’s breath that can send you someplace else. In the case of balefire, probably straight to hell."
A couple lines later it talks about how Ambrosia might not be entirely correct, but I think that's referring to the "straight to hell" embellishment.
So, as a Zebra invention, it fits into their "infuse[ing] necromantic energies into things". Note, I'm under the impression Balefire was exclusively Zebra-tech and Equestria had their own horrific destruction spells.
2280546 Ah, so it was both. And yeah, Balefire being a Zebra-only weapon does make sense.
Makes you wonder what happened to Discord on the Last Day?
2277797 could be that pinkie pie became a reaper pony.
......... actually there is another reason why the star thing is kinda strange to be a force o fdeath. even ignoring the tyree's existence for the sake of the story, which is pre tree of harmony, the Star is an emblem of Harmony itself. the element of magic imitates a starburst, in an abstract way, and is the element that channels the powers of all the others.
Basically how can stars be of death when one of the most powerful forces of balance and thus life in equestria has one as its emblem?
I never though to hard on the subject, the most information I got for it was from "F:E PH" were Blackjack learns about the experiments that Rarity had done before she made her gifts. So my throry was about that; the black book was a creation a evil Zebra who learned from an "evil" star and then bound his soul to the book, but overall it was just another form of magic. The ghouls are just accidental performance of necromancy, with the radiation being just a mish mash of random magic, it could kill you or it could kill you but not have you die. then their is the pink cloud, of wich I see as necromantic magic used to make a death could powerful enough to kill gods (a over reaction by the zebras) but I like the idea that "F:E PH" had in who actually made the stuff, and why. then we have "Pupy Smiles Day" and why she still walked around, the Necromancy there seemed to be an extreme way to just keep someone alive, and then add a demon to the the mix and we got a walking pink cloud.
as far as I can see Necromancy just another form of magic, but just not the kind some pony can just do, not quite alicorn magic, but somewhere in-between. like using magic to move through time, possible, but not even close to easy for even the strongest unicorns.
To farther expound on Necromancy per my headcanon:
The death energies that one must wield to perform necromancy are not something a living being is capable of tapping into naturally. Instead, an outside force capable of gifting those energies must warp (or, perhaps more accurately, defile) a portion of the would-be necromancer's soul, making their soul a conduit through which they can channel death magic. The only outside sources with the ability and willingness to give these "gifts" are the stars and the reapers. Once a person's soul has been made a conduit, the necromancer can channel death magic so long as the outside source continues to provide the death energies involved.
The outside source may provide the power, but the necromancer shapes it. The necromancy will manifest in the easiest way based on the necromancer's natural magical abilities. If the necromancer is a unicorn, that shaping comes in the form of spells. If it is an earth pony, the necromancy will manifest through her natural talent. And so forth.
As the powers of death magic come from outside and are being fed into the necromancer, any creature could potentially become one.
I see, If you need a medium before even accessing Necromancy, be it the stars, the reapers, and even artifact like the black book, or possibly another necromancer like snips and snails, it would answer why their would never be some unicorn randomly being able to use necromancy, like other magic. That and you could never tell who is a necromancer until they reveal themselves to be one, as any thinking anial could become one; rabbit, bird, pony, dragon, even a sea serpent could be a necromancer.
I am guessing Sleipnir had a busy day on The Last Day with reaping hundreds of pony souls?
I hate to do this to you Kkat but I have to. The origins of Wonder Glue has already been taken by Somber. In FoEPH ch 37 Somber brings us Flim, Flam, and Hippocratic Research. They said there the ones to make Wonder Glue from Flux. This brings up alot of problems with you origins. I would go into more details, but spoilers.
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Project Horizons is not canon to Fallout: Equestria and so there are no problems.
2303960 it's not? I thought that was it's first hook to draw in readers that finish your story and want more. The Wiki LIed
This talk of souls and necromancy is reawakening some questions I had about the fate of my favourite pony
. 
KKat, in your headcanon, are souls more like the Dresden-verse version where the material of the soul can be used to lend permanency to magic and will grow back as long as you don't use all of it or is it more like the Potter-verse where a damaged soul won't grow back, but can have the pieces restored to it? It gave me nightmares to think of the second one being true, with rarity trapped in a tortuous sub-existence created from her own self-sacrificing love for her friends,and kept that way by articles that are both cherished and seemingly indestructible...
So, if I am understanding this correctly, ghouls are kind of being kept in "limbo." Their souls are still present, but there bodies are dead.
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Turtle necromancers will be a thing, mark my words.
(FIMfic's double posting, make it staph. D:)
didn't know where else on your profile to ask this, so I'll post it here, as it seems to 'fit' best, as it were;
in Fallout 3 there's a quest in the point lookout DLC that involves the Fallout equivalent of the Necronomicon
my question (in question,) being that, is there anything like it in the Equestrian Wasteland?
the quest involved is called 'Dark heart of Blackhall manor'.
item in question is called the 'krivbeknih'.
2579279 Yes. The Equestrian Wasteland had "The Black Book". It's fate is revealed in the story.
2579325 thanks