The clatter of silver hoofguards echoed off the stone walls and stained windows. I was well used to the long hallways of the monumental structure I took residence in, however if I were to be frank, I would usually just forego wasting cumulated hours of my day in favor of teleporting to where I needed to go. Now, however, it wasn’t nearly as bad, since I was kept occupied with pleasant company - comparatively speaking. At any rate, my apprentice needed to get to know the layout of the castle, if he was going to eventually consider it his home as well, fates willing.
“May I ask an obvious question?" the alicorn-colt-turned necromancer asked from on my back, in his thus far typically captious yet charming tone of voice. "Why must I see your specialist?”
I considered my answer for a few moments. My first intention was to simply refuse his trick question, but as things were, we were not at very good terms. I decided to offer him a little leeway, at least now. “Leaving aside how I wanted a professional’s input regarding what to do with you, I figured you might be interested in help adapting to your sudden change in environment as well.”
A short few moments later, he answered, “Fair enough.”
“...What? No arguing? No hypocritical offense?” He didn’t answer. It seemed he was more upset than I thought. I asked him, after a while, “Is there something in particular on your mind?”
“Tell me, Luna. In this world, what is magic?”
I stopped in my tracks in surprise, turning my head around. “That’s a rather... specific thing to ask.”
He waited pensively for my explanation. ‘I suppose there’s still a way’s left to the office.
‘Let’s see. How do you describe why a law of physics exists, and why it exists in a certain way instead of a different one.’
“What exactly do you want to know?”
“Where I’m from, we have these things called leylines that run across the planet. Those leylines have two distinguishing characteristics. Firstly, they spread across all matter in our world, like water in a delta. Everything living can tap into it, and directly affect the world around them through it as an intermediary. Secondly, those leylines have certain central points that connect our world to the rest of reality. To the realm of Death, Destiny, Delirium… they’re all inter-connected by those Ley Gates. I feel that a realm of Dream might not be so far-fetched, but apparently we don’t have one, for whatever reason. Thought it’s probably fortunate...”
He stopped for a while, his demeanor turning more thoughtful. It was rather curious, to be sure. I briefly considered the names he mentioned. They seemed to ring noteworthy to me, but I couldn't recall why before my charge continued.
“Anyway. The realm of Vertigus doesn’t really coddle those living in it. It merely offers the possibility to survive to those who have the will to seize it. Your world, on the other hand, seems inclined to promote weakness by allowing you to survive things you otherwise shouldn’t, but I’m not going to judge a god on how they should run their world. I just want to know where magic is different between our worlds, so I finally know where to start making adjustments so you don’t need to keep this seal on me anymore. After all, I can’t actually ask you to remove these seals before I even figure out how to control my necromancy properly to begin with.”
“Why do you want your necromancy back so much, anyway?”
“Because it’s useful, and because it’s among the few things I’m truly good at.”
He answered a tad quickly, I noticed. Oh well. If he didn’t want to be forthcoming now, I could bear to wait for him to be ready to tell me later.
“I suppose it would be cruel to keep an artist from his art, even if that art might seem strange at first glance. As for our magic, no, we don’t have Leylines of that manner. Though the origins of the creatures of our world might be of a magical nature, our magic springs from us. From the connection between all living things. It’s only natural that a system like that would wish to protect its source, wouldn’t you agree?”
“A spiritual matrix then?… Forget a name, envious me.”
“It’s not all perfect, however. Considering we’re in a world populated by predatorial gryphons, warmongering minotaurs, not to mention reality-bending spirits and city-destroying dragons, is it really so unreasonable to consider that mayhap this world is organized less to coddle the lazy, but rather to preserve those at a disadvantage?”
“Whatever you say. Anything else?”
“Yes. Anything in particular?”
He chuckled. “Tell me about your people. How they fit into the world, how they got to having unaging rulers who actually have their people’s best interest at heart.”
“It’s a long history…”
“This hallway doesn’t seem to be getting any shorter.”
“No it does not,” I groaned tiredly. Honestly, was this really necessary? No wonder we need so many servants to keep the place clean.
“There are no definitive records, but it is widely accepted that there used to be the ponies’ progenitor which eventually adapted to what you see today. Regular ponies which split into several tribes and spread across the world, eventually taking on specialisations based on their environments. Our magic helped us adapt.”
“And alicorns? Where do they fit into all this?”
“Special circumstances. To make a long story short, it was a matter of necessity forcing a breakthrough. Our race fell behind the other ones in the balance of power a thousand years ago, and we needed a solution; which then required alicorns as a solution to that one.”
Apparently satisfied for now, he then considered his next immediate concern. “What am I expected to do during whatever you’re taking me to, anyway?”
“Talk. That is all.”
“About what?”
We arrived. “During this first meeting, about whatever you want. You merely need to get acquainted with her.”
He sighed. “Alright then. Who is ‘her’?”
I knocked at the office’s door. “Family,” I offered simply, as the voice inside beckoned us in.
The room itself was interesting, to say the least. It garnered the eye with its subtle aesthetics. All the furniture was modern in design, like an abstract artist tried their hoof at woodworks, stopped halfway before they were done, and asked a professional to finish the job properly.
The walls and drapes were lighter colors and the floor darker; warm and cold colors adorned all around, but they did not clash no matter where you looked. That was the theme she was going for. I’ve asked before during previous opportunities, Doctor Cross Heart explained that the choices in decoration were meant to evince color balance respective to the mind’s twin hemispheres... as far as I recall. She also mentioned something about a Superego?...
In contrast, however, the psychologist herself was about as unassuming as one could get. Light gray fur, orange and pink hair, thick glasses that hid her orange-pink eyes, and a yet unassuming smile.
She spoke in a pleasant voice, “Hello, Your Highness. How is your day going so far?”
Alicorns are allowed to have family, in case you might have objections.
Dr. Cross Heart, my sister’s daughter and my own therapist since I’ve been acclimating to… everything, had been previously informed on whatever she asked to know about her new patient. There was the matter of my language link only working when I was taking part in my child’s conversations, but as luck would have it, the good doctor was capable of managing a variation of the spell. The sight spell, however, was still beyond her ability.
There was also the matter of the beasts that might get sent after my charge during my time away from him. They would find my niece more than capable of dealing with anything the likes of the Snallighast, or even a throng of the beast, if it came down to it.
Either way, Dr. Cross agreed to escort him once they were done. In the meantime, I had a few errands to run myself. I needed to check on how the Night Guard were doing, see what paperwork required my immediate attention for them to reorganize. Technically, I wasn’t really needed to oversee patrols for every night. After all, they managed to run on their own perfectly well during my thousand years away from them. With no small thanks to the buffer provided by a certain, relatively unwilling, murderous part of the kingdom.
I digress.
There was also the matter of the new prince having yet to be formally introduced to his people. Something which I suspected was going to be slightly more difficult than his revelation that he knew about the seals we placed on him. And to top things off, I’ve yet to decide on what name to introduce him under. Yet another issue to discuss.
I pulled out the pair of glasses I had offered him this morning. Another complex spell, which would take an experienced mage - or a very talented pupil - to cast. A spell which fetches quite the price as well. My subspace pocket kept them safely tucked away during my encounter with the alien beast. I’d need to remember to take the time to enchant the spectacles with a proper sight spell, one that did not risk making his head explode.
Understandably, I wasn’t going to just let one of the royal mages do it. As a requirement, however, he would need to offer me sufficient leeway for the spell to bind. Nothing too invasive, of course, even if he might still mind at this point.
First things first. I would drop by the barracks, pick up Captain Ardent Gleam, provided she was in her office. There was an immediate priority I needed her to be aware of.
The beast thrashed in its bonds, turning in and out of its spectral abilities, trying to phase through the walls of its specially enchanted containment cell. Its various shrilling sounds, meant to intimidate, were muffled behind the thick, enchanted glass we used to view it. The glass was strong enough to hold against a dragon’s punch, so no one was concerned about the beast escaping any time soon. Certainly not any of the graying unicorns in white research coats that were busy at work, apparently far from done studying the creature.
Miss Ardent stepped in front of the glass, studying the snarling beast thoroughly. I had explained to her along our way that we were to expect more alien creatures of the Snallighast’s like in the future.
The pegasus mare was taking in every detail, or at least as much as she could now at what late hour it was for her. Her eyes were red under her crimson mane, looking more red than they really were in contrast to her teal fur. While her tired eyes took in all that they could, the lead researcher in charge of the project was in the middle of a heated explanation full of esoteric terms, describing everything he found out in great detail.
“... trace amounts of biologically adaptive magic working around its nutritional requirements. The subject’s digestive system seems to be natural, although inactive; it seems to be mostly vestigial at this point. As for its exact feeding habits, we are still studying the information we are gathering. It’s unique to anything anypony has ever documented so far, apparently reinventing the baseline by which all etherovores function! It shows certain aspects of magic-empathic digestion, but it’s not psionic in any way. It’s definitely not raw magic it’s leaching either, although its metabolic acclimation does not seem that far-off. It foregoes synthesis of any kind, which again points to the latter feeding method. Distribution is directly along a complex Verdant-Crux ley matrix, which we’re hoping will be the key in finding out...”
“Wait,” I cut him off. “Verdant-Crux?”
“Uhm, yes, your majesty. It seems the creature likely uses necromancy to sustain itself.”
“Wait, what?!” Captain Gleam burst out, shaken out of her stupor.
“Indeed, it is disconcerting,” the researcher offered, before Gleam cut in again,
“No! I mean yeah, that too, but couldn’t you just say, ‘hey, this thing’s a ghoul!’ and be done with it?”
“I didn’t, because by our traditional sense, this is not a ghoul. Yes, it’s still borderline living and breathing, even its blood is still marginally healthy... but it does not feed on what ghouls typically feed on.”
“What does it feed on, then?”
“Well… the results are inconclusive.”
“Then what did you manage to find until now?!” Gleam seemed to only notice her own tone after her words came out, if her subtle flinch was anything to go by.
“Captain, perhaps you might want to calm down.”
At her superior’s request, she drew away and let out a tired breath. “Yes, Ma’am.”
To his credit, the balding chrome-blue unicorn stallion conducted himself as expected of his age and position. Instead of paying any mind to my captain’s tired state, he was more interested in a sudden realization that struck him.
“You’ve witnessed undead beings, didn’t you?” he questioned Gleam.
“All I had to deal with were the odd animated corpse of Nightstalkers, nothing like the creature you’re studying,” she answered in a direct, no-nonsense manner.
“But there has to be something they still have in common, can’t there?”
“Not really. I first thought that thing was some poor wyvern that a unicorn got too overzealous experimenting on,” she regarded the old unicorn with no small hint of weariness, which did not go unnoticed. The old stallion was visibly upset at the insinuation, however I did not take it lightly.
“Captain,” I voiced out with finality. Her head fell, almost like she were struck. I relented when I recalled one of her more recent missions. A certain unicorn from Vanhoover who wanted to bring his wife back from the dead, desperate enough to ignore the risks involved. As far as I’ve heard, the spell did not go well for him.
I mentioned that naming magic was only used once a few hundred years, and never for the sole purpose of hurting another. I also said that no pony had ever killed another in recent history… however, that does not mean that there were no attempts. And as for necromancy, well, they died at their own hooves, not another’s.
Unfortunately, the unicorn in question was better off dead, rather than experiencing his flesh rotting off yet refusing to die. He’s currently still undergoing mental treatment… and filtering his memory of any knowledge of the spell he used.
I sighed and decided to let Gleam’s comment slip. She was tired, after all. Instead, I decided to move the meeting back to proper speed.
I regarded the old sage, “Alright then, is there anything in particular that you have gathered for us?” he was about to eagerly answer, before I specified, “That we might be able to make use of.” That seemed to have put a damper on his eagerness. It seemed that it only now dawned on him that perhaps we didn’t understand everything he ranted so far.
He could not really gloss over anything. It was because he wanted to make sure no potentially important conclusion would be missed because he chose to ignore some at-first-glance unimportant detail. After all, the first step of research was to gather all information and turn it all on its head, no matter how unimportant it may seem.
It was his hope that perhaps an ancient being like myself would be able to offer some sort of useful insight. He was at least halfway correct. For all the while throughout his explaining, I could only think of my charge’s short description of the creature that he offered me and my sister in her office earlier today. ‘A ghoul with spectral abilities.’
“So it uses necromancy to sustain itself?” I ventured.
“In a manner of speaking. Its digestive system appears to suggest that it does not feed through any conventional means, so we could only assume that the subject uses magic similar to other beings with magically-supported eating habits.”
“Like a changeling draining love?” Gleam offered.
“Yes, however only to a certain extent. As I was trying to explain earlier, the subjet’s eating habits are unlike anything previously recorded. There are all manner of beings that use a host to synthesize the magical energy they require, but none of them are anything like our subject. It’s as if it feeds on something else entirely.
“Fitting, I suppose. After all, it's not from our world, as far as I’ve been told.”
“My sister told you?” I confronted. The old stallion affirmed quite eagerly.
“She dropped by to have a better look at the creature, and check on whether we needed anything else. After all, one can’t be too careful when dealing with the dark arts, especially ones as strange as the ones at work here.”
‘Fair enough,’ I thought. It then occurred to me that perhaps I should’ve asked my charge for more details on what exactly this being was. Then again...
“Have you tried checking if the creature’s magic has any… exterior elements?”
The entire room went quiet as they heard my question. “What kind?” the lead researcher asked attentively.
“My sister told you that the Snallighast is from a different world. In that world, magic is of an environmental nature, rather than an empathic one. It’s not created from a race’s emotional state, but from several weak points in the fabric of reality.”
Suddenly, his face lit up in realization, as did the faces of everyone else in the chamber, gradually increasing into a cacophony of esoteric theory being exchanged left and right. The proverbial butterfly causing a storm, chaos theory at its finest.
Captain Gleam, however, did not seem to appreciate the sudden disorder, evidenced by her ever-increasing tension in her jaws. Eventually, she yelled in a commanding tone, “ATTENTION!”
Immediately, the room went quiet, the previously erratic researchers even going as far as forming a military line, which I found funny.
“Might I remind you that you’re still in the presence of royalty? Act with some decorum!”
“Sorry, Ma’am,” they all briskly rang out in unison, again as one does in military fashion. I stifled a chuckle.
“Now, I will repeat my last question, since you’ve all seemed to have forgotten. You said this thing doesn’t eat corpses. What does it eat, then?”
At that, everyone’s shoulders sank and ears fell nervously. It seemed they all had the same answer in mind to offer, but weren’t very happy about it. Eventually, their lead colleague approached us, and answered in an extremely serious tone, “So far, we had a suspicion, and we didn’t want to conclude anything unless we were one hundred percent certain. However... with this new information, let’s see…” he contemplated, then turned to one of his colleagues, “Zephirus Cipher?”
Said young stallion then rushed to a blackboard and quickly wiped and wrote in a frenzy. “Maths hold up, sir.”
“I told you not to call me sir, Zeph. It makes me feel old…” He let out a thoughtful breath. “Gradatio?”
A mare then voiced out, “Sorry, Leaden, but the theory’s model is holding up as well.”
I swapped a glance with my captain, she seemed to be of the same mind. 'What are they so upset about?'
After a short delay, the old stallion finally explained. ”You see, there is a reason why I and my colleagues have been focusing so much on understanding the creature’s dietary habits. As I’ve mentioned, It seems to be feeding on something other than magic or emotion… No. So far, I’ve been saying feed, but I doubt that properly describes it. It doesn’t feed at all, but rather it contains something, and uses that something in combination with its necromantic processes in order to sustain itself. That something would seem to be another living creature’s soul.”
I told Leaden to continue his research on the Snallighast’s taxonomy as well as anything else he and his colleagues could uncover. Captain Gleam ordered for extra guards on the project, and requested any future information the Guard might be able to use in the possible event of other such creatures coming to our world.
My charge had mentioned at one point how certain creatures of a necromantic inclination tended to feed on others’ souls. It was no surprise to me to hear the researcher’s findings.
There weren’t many things I knew on necromancy, but there was something that I didn’t need prior research to know. As someone responsible for the balance of the world I lived in, I had a responsibility to make sure those living under me didn’t fall to disharmony and darkness in such a manner. Allowing for creatures to feed on souls in your world was unconscionable. Having spells that destroy the soul was unacceptable. Allowing for the development and free, unrestrained use of Naming Magic like that was unforgivable. I had a bone to pick with a few gods.
Perhaps that was what Celestia was interested in finding out, regarding the difference between our world and our charge’s previous world. It merely seemed that this world had caretakers that gave a damn, pardon my Prench, as opposed to a world where darkness had already fallen, to the point where there were actually multiple subtypes of ghouls that prowled the realm.
There are many variations of undead here, however as a nation that had occasional dealings with the undead, even if rare, we needed to make clear distinctions, primarily because most might forgo rationalizing the exact type of undead creature one might come across. The common ponyperson did not have any incentive to be specific, instead preferring to freeze upon encounter, before promptly soiling themselves, then running away screaming in manic terror.
There are three clear distinctions between creatures of undeath specifications. The first one would be that of the Zombie. Reanimated corpses, either products of the desperate trying to hold on to those they held dear, or of those searching for a way to extend their own lives.
The second category are the Returned, or Revenants. Those who came back of their own desire for either vengeance, or who merely refused to leave things unless they were set right. Each race have their own variation for either situation. From the Diamond Dogs' Hellhound to the Gryphons' Einherjars.
Last category of undead are those that refused to lay to rest in the first place. Those who, through Necromancy, forced their bodies going despite already decomposing, constantly in a race to regenerate faster than they decayed. The Ghouls.
Where our world seemed to strive to protect its creatures and nurture them, Vertigus, as my charge called it, seemed to merely focus on allowing its denizens to persist, should they have the will to survive, and the chance. That would explain why a creature from our world would recur in the manner it did. It used whatever means it had at its disposal in order to survive.
I wondered if they had Changelings… or some kind of variation of our Nox Equus. It was unlikely that their history was similar to ours, but you never knew.
‘Suppose there’s no reason I can’t just ask directly.’
I teleported to Celestia’s location. When I arrived, I found her busy working on an incantation circle. A summoning circle, to be precise. It seemed Tia was already very well ahead of me, much to my dissatisfaction.
“Hello, Luna. Have you spoken with Leaden Insight?”
I ignored the playful tone of her voice. Yes, I forgot his name again. Judge me. “When?” I asked, short on words and temper.
"I had a hunch," was all she offered before focusing on her circle again. Her tone seemed as collected as it usually was, if not for the subtle undertone. If I were anyone else, I wouldn’t recognize the keen, hidden edge, sharp enough to slide through boulders without much resistance. I knew when my sister was upset.
I decided to relent. After all, there was someone else I was saving my aggression for. Moving around, I took notice of the details of the circle. Indeed, it seemed that she was preparing to summon a governing entity from another realm. Such a thing meant that she needed to offer something of interest in return… unless she was planning on presuming on the Laws of Equilibrium, which was a very risky move.
Celestia added another circle along the edges, presenting a greeting and promise of good-will. There also seemed to be room to add to what she was offering, most likely with whatever the entity asked in return.
She made her finishing touches on the circle. “After speaking with our charge, I’ve come to suspect that there were some rather objectionable details to his former world’s fauna. Judging by your current demeanour, I suspect I was correct?”
“That creature… it feeds on souls.”
She let out a heavy sigh. “I wished I was wrong.” She turned her head back up to focus on her preparations. “I suspect there are other things wrong with that world on the side. What was it called, anyway?” She then started feeding magic into her shrine, its runes starting to glow progressively. “Oh well, I suppose we can ask now, once we confront those in charge of it, don’t you agree?”
My anger flared. “I know just the right spell to test on them...”
“As do I, Luna. However, we both know how unwise that would be.”
I sighed. “Why must you always be right?”
“I’m the older sibling. It’s my job to be right.”
“Good to hear,” I smiled, before that fell as well. “So what are you offering them?”
“What ever could you offer a deity that needs for nothing? I offered to talk. If that’s not enough, then, well, we’ll figure something out.”
As the rune circle finished charging, the room became… different. Like back when we were in my child’s mind, only now instead of being in two places at once, we were in several.
I knew full well that there was likely more than one governing entity in that world. The circle’s conditions were clear enough. Send the call to whomever you wanted, as many as you wanted. The call will remain in the back of the receiver’s consciousness, assuming they’re capable and powerful enough, until they answer at their leisure. They may refuse to answer, unless the Laws of Equilibrium are called into effect, at which point a higher-consciousness would come to oversee the trial, making sure to bring extreme forms of punishment to whosoever might’ve either wasted their time, or done anything to endanger the balance throughout the planes of reality.
Chances were, at least one of the receiving parties were curious, or bored enough to answer, as governing, immortal entities often tend to be. Chances also were that if any of them were cautious enough, they would also wish to answer this call rather than risk a Trial.
“We’re not going to risk a Trial, are we?”
“No, but they don’t know that.”
Two of the receivers refused immediately, and one of them accepted, then seemed to change their mind. Eventually another two refused, leaving only three in total. As the uncertain one continued to accept and refuse at odd intervals, however, another one answer a little too quickly. Celestia then added another circle to the shrine, this one a containment one. As soon as they noticed the change, the overly eager one immediately left, leaving only the remaining two.
That elicited a chuckle in humor from me. “How quaint. Certainly nothing suspicious there.”
Eventually, the indecisive one seemed to have finally made up their mind and answer, at which point the other remaining one did as well. After a moment’s notice, I took the liberty of adding my own power to the circle in order to bring one of them of my own, which Celestia allowed room for. Since we could only summon one at a time, my sister decided to go first. It seemed that the more decided one of the receivers wanted to arrive first as well.
The chamber became noticeably colder and darker, the closer our guest was to arriving. Progressively, a sense of failure and aftermath overcame my being. By the time the summoning was complete, the feeling of a lonely end had fallen like a thick mist over the room.
Reality bent around the air above the circle. With a snap of Celestia’s magic, our host appeared before us, enveloped in immense, wretched-looking raven wings. Those wings moved away to reveal a stunning visage.
She was human, but only in appearance. Palest white skin with the blackest hair, lips and eyes. Dressed in an elaborate black mourning gown, reaching to her knees and leaving her arms and shoulders bare, it was the only thing that subtracted from the utterly alien look about her. Unreachable, yet beautiful in a fleeting manner.
She was wearing all black, of course, save for the Ankh pendant she wore around her neck. She appeared young, no older than an average human’s twenties, yet she was unmistakably ancient. The floating feathers drifted into nothingness, soon joined by her wings somehow retracting and disappearing into her back.
Her twinkling dark eyes, like twin abysses, searched the room from underneath her elaborate hair, studying everything in a cold, yet somehow caring look. Those eyes landed on my sister for a time, then studied me a short while longer.
And then, her eyes softened, and a completely unassuming and friendly, as well as notably brash smile appeared instead.
“I was wondering when you’d call.”
“Did you now?” my sister responded, a hint of suspicion in her tone otherwise undetectable to most. “In that case, we thank you for answering nonetheless.”
“You say that now,” she smiled in a challenging manner, before dropping into a serious one and moving to the side. “Either way, since none of the others decided to answer, I figured I might as well, since I had a certain responsibility regarding the reason you called. Plus, I couldn’t really let Delirium wander here alone..”
“...Delirium?” Tia asked.
“You’ll know her when you see her.”
After a short pause in expectation, they let me summon the remaining entity. The already cold and void room became progressively wretched and overbearing, like a visit to the hospital, specifically to a patient undergoing mental treatment. It felt… it felt like the aftermath of a broken dream. Not broken as disillusionment, rather broken as in… violently torn asunder. Combined with the presence of whoever was already here, it felt like a nightmare mere inches scratching at the surface of the mind.
With a snap, another shape took form on the shrine, an echo of a fever-dream escaping through from where she arrived from and enveloping her like a cloak. It faded away, revealing a shorter, thinner, seemingly much younger humanoid figure. Long pointy ears like blades rose along the sides of her head, oddly healthy and intact considering the rest of her appearance. Short hair a fiery orange, it seemed like it hadn’t seen a brush in years. Her dress was torn in places and her skin was pale, like she hadn’t seen sunlight in a long time. Head bowed, shoulders sagged, a dazed look on her vacant face.
Mismatched eyes arrived on me. One appeared blue at the surface, seeming like it was supposed to be something else. The other was an elaborate emerald green, flecks of silver dancing throughout, however one could never quite study the starry particles as they kept moving as you shifted your sight to better see them.
There were many kinds of gods throughout the realms, but these did not seem to be gods. They seemed too... primordial to be entities of prayer and belief. An idea sprouted in my mind as to whom they were.
“Pretty…” she voiced out silently, a shaky smile appearing on her face, before she looked over to my sister, then over to the other guest. “Hi, Death. It’s nice to see you...”
‘Death? Delirium? It's them, isn't it?’
“Are you...” I stammered, noticing I wasn’t receiving a proper answer. I addressed the other one, “Is she well?”
“She hasn’t been well in quite a while,” the darker being beside her answered, a smile on her face from cruel, defeatist glee.
I stared in surprise, she didn’t seem to care. The wretched girl decided to speak, or rather, go on a difficult rant.
“I’m… I remember being happy once... It’s kind of a jumble now. I’ve always struggled to find a reason to stay happy, now I don’t really need a reason.” The thin girl smiled. “Life wasn’t made for happiness, you see.”
There was no doubt anymore as to who we've summoned.
I might’ve had trouble pulling my thoughts together, but Celestia seemed more capable in that regard. “On behalf of my sister and myself, we would like to welcome you to our kingdom of Equestria.”
“You know it’s rude to call your world by your country, right?” the darker Endless sibling chimed in.
Tia was not abated by the dark figure’s nonchalance. “Perhaps we could discuss over a cup of tea? I’m certain there are plenty of wonderful things we could share.”
“Your hair is really pretty...” the younger Endless mumbled half to herself. “Can I have some?”
‘What have we gotten ourselves into?’
Every kindergarten needs a teacher to supervise the children. No matter how long they might take, they all need someone to make sure they’re looked after until they’re ready to move on, as well as make sure that they are ready to move on once the time comes.
The Endless are not kindergarten teachers, however. That would better describe my sister and I, or anyone else that could be described as a Pantheon. The Endless are something completely different.
They’re neither representations of any kind, nor are they conscious manifestations or personifications. No, that would be selling the Endless short. They are not managers, or spirits of their function, they simply are their function.
“I have two questions,” I voiced out. “First, why did you come? I thought we called for the gods looking after one of the worlds of your realm, not you. Second, why did my charge tell me that you don’t have a Dream Realm? To that effect, since you’re here,” I reeled in on the lady Death, “Tell me. Why are there creatures that feed on souls in one of your worlds? I know it’s not your responsibility, but you needed to at least have some say in the matter!”
After the initial surprise, Death looked over and shared an awkward look with her sister. The younger sibling didn’t move her awkward position in her chair, her legs held tight at her torso. She merely drew her attention back at her tea. Death looked back to me, “Well… you see, that’s easy to ask, but kind of tricky to answer.”
I regarded them in confusion. “Why, what’s the issue? I thought I asked a simple question.”
“You see, the reason why we arrived instead of any agents of the local Pantheon is because, well, the people living on the world of Vertigus killed their gods long ago.”
“...Come again?”
“Don’t worry, though. Besides hogging all the magical energies which the local creatures could’ve used to live marginally better, they were also reprehensible people. They had it coming,” Death added, to which Delirium continued,
“They were really bad gods. Killing, taking and hurting without caring at all...” then her tone changed into something more unhinged, “They didn’t die soon enough, if you ask me.” She then proceeded to dip her finger in the tea and start drawing with it on the table.
“Of course, then the ones living on Vertigus had to deal with the elements breaking out of control under the effects of their world’s unhindered magical leylines, but I guess that couldn’t be helped. It was then that the realm fell directly under our jurisdiction, in lack of anyone else. Now, Vertigus’ landscape is completely different from what it was before. Kind of like yours...” a contemplative look fell over the grim mistress. “But you’re not like those gods, are you?” She scrutinized my sister and I a little further before finally tearing away, “New reality, new rules, I guess.”
“Not to mention they’re not human. Ponies are just better, aren’t they?”
Death merely shrugged, balancing her hand in an odd gesture.
Eventually, I gathered my wits. “Okay… What about my other questions? The Dreamworld?”
“Oh, it’s there. It’s just sealed off. Trust me, if the locals had their way, they would’ve invaded that place long ago.”
“Okay…” I held my head. “What about the soul-eaters?”
“Consequence of the lack of a local god of death to filter out my magic. Same reason why I’m having issue keeping them from persisting or returning after death. Once they stopped being suppressed, they became capable of some pretty impressive feats. Humans most of all, not surprisingly. Even though Elves are more talented and magically inclined, it seems humans can surpass even them through sheer force of will. Quite amazing, the stubborn creatures.”
“Your magic? Never mind. What about their eternal rest?!”
She took a sip of her tea. As she put the cup down, she regarded it sadly. “It’s something I couldn’t do anything about. In actuality, soul-eating creatures are important for that world. What do you think dragons eat in Vertigus? The only reason they don’t burn down the entire world is because they have something better to eat, in the form of creatures feeding through magical means. Ghouls feeding on souls through Necromantic means, Ragers through Vehemic means, Succubi through Tantric ones. Vertigus isn’t a violent place by anyone’s choice. It’s simply the way things are.
"Regarding those souls bound by spells, however... That is not something unique to my magic. There are those who constantly misuse magic, far too many and too carefully for us to do anything about, which is why each of the Endless have acquisitioned local agents.”
My sister offered to ask in my stead, “What do you mean?”
She looked at us funny after that. “Well, you might find this offensive, but in Vertigus, it’s very popular to use horses for transport. We have Horsemen...”
“Not horse-people, though,” clarified Delirium. “Just horse-riding warriors, using our magic to stop bad people from misusing it.”
“I see...” Tia sounded out.
“Can I ride you?” Delirium followed.
“No,” she answered casually with minimal attention, eliciting a pout from the younger Endless. Afterwards, Tia went on, “We do know about how equine creatures are animalistic in your world, and though we might be uncomfortable with the knowledge, it’s no surprise or offense. Carry on, you were saying about your Riders?”
“Yes. Each Endless chooses a group of nine Riders, which were once people who misused our magic themselves. They’re tasked with maintaining balance through hunting down those who would repeat their mistakes. In doing so, either they give their quarry to me so that I may do my work, or they get replaced with their quarry, assuming their debt had been repaid, and that their replacement is capable enough to be worth the trouble. Like the necromancer in your care, for instance.”
Unintentionally, my magic flared upon hearing that. Death stared me down for a few moments before relenting. “Relax. Though he studied my Lich’s Pact, he didn't actually sign it and made his own version. He's in the clear.”
I stifled my magic, but my glare didn’t falter.
“I have to admit, however. Reverse-engineering one of my contracts is no small feat. Of all the humans that have ever lived, this one… he’s quite something. You two are quite lucky… unless you’re very unlucky.”
As soon as Death finished, a large explosion shook the castle. I identified the magic to belong to Dr. Cross. Moments later, a note appeared before us, attached to a bag that landed on the table. There seemed to be something struggling inside the bag… or rather, several somethings.
Tia seemed nonplussed, merely sipping from her tea unperturbed, while our two guests stared at the bag before them unintelligently. It seemed they weren’t as all-knowing as they would presume, I noted with a small note of glee.
I took the note to read it. “It says there was another attack on my charge, however your daughter took care of it. She also wanted to ask whether you were still up for tea this evening.”
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Tia smiled back as she took her own pen to paper and offered a response.
Meanwhile, our guests had appeared to have regained their senses, as one of them took the liberty of pulling the bag open before any of us could do anything. Out came an odd sight, the first thing that came to mind were the Parasprites, if they were somehow humanoid.
The first thing they did was to fly to Delirium, happily embracing her like a scared child would their mother.
“My pretties! What are you doing here?”
“That’s what we’d like to know as well,” offered Tia as she sent her message out in a flash of magic. “There’s also the creature from your aspect as well, Death. I thought you knew.”
“I… didn’t, actually…”
“How curious. So when you mentioned you had a certain responsibility regarding the reason why we summoned you, you were merely referring to the human that fell into our charge?”
She regarded us carefully. “...He’s a user of my magic, so he’s my responsibility as much as any creature from my aspect.” She got up. “Now show me.”