~~~ ⚕ ~~~
If you were to be asked what love is, what would you answer?
In all honesty, love is an ideal, just like any other. What is justice? It’s just a set of laws placed on paper, up until they bring order to a chaotic world. What is faith? A means of gaining moral strength from nothing, of both encouragement and deception towards either noble or selfish ends. What are loyalty, mercy and respect? They are positive outcomes from the fear of betrayal and cruelty, in other words they only manifest in those who know what it’s like on the short end of the stick. What are dreams? A means to broaden our horizons, when our current horizons are not enough. What is a sunrise? Well, it is the beginning of a new day, whatever that day may entail.
Love is something which is given by those who yearn for it themselves. And everyone yearns for it in individually unique ways. Some are more demanding, others are neglectful, yet others are overbearing, and most are childishly selfish and only want results with none of the work put in.
I suppose as far as relationships went, ours went fairly well, all things considered.
It’s a difficult balance to keep. Too much empathy can cause you to hesitate in a crucial moment. Not enough, and you become little more than a selfish, methodical beast. That’s the struggle we both decided to draw a line and face together.
That makes it sound so easy. No matter our perspective trick, we couldn’t easily hold onto both empathy and efficiency. You can’t both keep your heart open to birdsong and not think of how no matter what said stupid animal might witness, its song would sound all the same mere moments after it decided the immediate danger had left.
We were both callous, but we tried. We both offered the benefit of a doubt, most importantly we never held anything above the other. We communicated, we covered for each other's shortcomings. We worked together, and focused on the task at hand.
To that end, we both made sure we could trust the other could hold his or her own, when push came to shove.
I asked her if she wanted to start her own life, she said she wanted one with me. I trained her to survive, and her resolve only strengthened the more time we spent together. Mine did as well.
She wasn’t the first person I've met who I am happy to have known, nor is she the first person I’ve been involved with. She was, however, the first one I ever looked in the eyes and recognized as kindred spirit. Same in her case, if I was to interpret in any fashion the manner in which, light seemed to appear behind her eyes when I spoke to her for the first time.
The moment we met, we weren't alone anymore. I may have had other people willing to stay by my side now in this new world, but her? Well, I refuse to rationalize what she means to me.
“Am I to understand she also does not have a name?”
My trail of introspection stopped at the words, as did the maelstrom spinning around my and my lover’s location within my forming mind. It was in disarray.
The way children sort knowledge in their minds is completely haphazardly, because they have no basis for what is important to keep and what isn't. Although I already had priorities decided, my physical demigod mind was a different matter altogether from the mortal human template my Reanimation had to go on. I needed to learn my astral projection abilities all over again before I could control the maelstrom that was my mind at the moment.
All I could do was hold on tight and concentrate through meditation in order to impose some degree of order. So far, my progress was minimal.
Which was why I was grateful that Luna decided to enter uninvited and aid me with that predicament. She… calmed my turbulent mind, as well as helped me set up the arteries for my web of memories. My human base was gone, a demigod 'pony' one was to take its place. I would still behave childishly from here on, but I would at least still retain the memories that defined who I was.
“She didn’t know it when we met,” I answered.
My mind was scattered, but I still remember Luna looking at me questioningly. She knew I was avoiding the question without even doing it consciously.
Rather than press forward, she asked, “Are you well, Acheron?”
“I am, thanks to you,” I answered groggily. It took me a while to register her words, “Acheron?”
I focused my attention on the person who has helped me so much since my arrival in her world. I’ve heard Luna’s voice so much until now, but I barely ever saw her.
She made herself look human, I didn’t really care about it. “...Turn back.”
I think she seemed happy to hear that.
The memory was there for the remainder of the Reanimation’s effects, but after that, it was a memory of a dream. What else happened afterwards, I can only recall fragments. All I can recall is Luna’s features, trying to memorize as much of what she looked like as I could.
~~~ 🌙 ~~~
I busied myself tidying up my son’s mind while I kept watch over the two of them a while longer. It was a sordid mess, and I made sure to sort his worse memories further in the back and his worst memories behind a barrier, at least until he'd grown a bit older. He'd know what happened, he'd be able to dig up every horrid detail if he truly forced himself to, but he would first need to willfully dig the memories up.
As much as I wanted him to just forget his past, that was up to him.
Once his mind calmed down, it developed a more consistent shape. Our surroundings took the form of a red and black tiled room, with gray stone walls and ceiling. Lighting came from oil lamps on the walls and moonlight from a window.
There were several doors on the walls. On either side were his corresponding hemispheres. Each, evidently, had a wide array of functions, though his memory library had entrances to both hemispheres. As I’ve mentioned, I added a restricted section to said library, the key to which I placed in one of his pockets.
Behind us were two more doors. One of which was heavily enchanted and fortified, leading down to his subconscious, which gradually descended into the Collective Unconscious. Wouldn’t want any Nightmares in, would we?
Aside the bolted door was another one leading to a swirling dark void, it took me a while to recognize it as what passed for his lover’s own subconscious realm.
‘You two truly did share something special, didn't you?’
Said void was impossible for anything to survive in without taking the same lengths we did to find the poor dear. In other words, it would take the likes of either Grogar, or Mistress Death.
Then there were three other doors on the last remaining side of the square chamber. The leftmost was red, the right one black, both of their colors spilled into the floor like blood and tar respectively. However this fact was not as disconcerting as the way the colors seemed to shift, knit, pulse and fuse across the middle door, the only place the colors were static was in the door's center. They merged into the image of a unique symbol of a serpent coiled around a staff.
Have I mentioned how concerned I was about my son’s mental state and life choices? Because I feel I did not mention it enough.
I settled back in to watch over my charges. In the waking world I was looking over the list of names I made for the dormant girl. I enchanted the paper to write possible names on its own, because I didn’t quite know her well enough to imprint on her directly. Surprisingly, the spell I used for said purpose required adjusting several times. I still only managed so far, the words on the parchment would either be gibberish, or they would quickly decay into scribbles.
“...So. Ker is first on the list. As far as I can divine, that’s the name for a recurring type of denizen of the realm of death, a spirit of violent death, essentially another type of the more commonly known Valkyrie. It is… a charming name, as well as indicative to the hints I’ve been gathering regarding her end; surely we can find something less fatalistic to name her. There’s a straightforward archaic term for battle here, and I believe Sekhmet- oh wait, it changed. Apparently she could be likened to war deities with vengeful proclivities like either Sekhmet or Durga. I am to assume that my charge has found a spouse that would be capable of handling herself in order to survive at his side, presumably someone who would not just be adept, but excel at a prolonged life of struggle.
“Atalanta isn’t so bad.”
What followed down the page were more gibberish. Either the spell simply failed, or I was the one who failed to comprehend alien meanings. What I could decipher from them would often translate roughly to a wide array of ominous rhetoric straight from a horror novel. ‘‘She Who Slumbers in the Abyss’. How wonderful. Oh, look, ‘Eye of Oblivion’. How reassuring. I think I’ll get back to easier-to-read titles… Izanami is not any bette- and we have Megido. I give up.’
I groaned and just passively watched the words shift continuously. Styx changed to Lethe, Ker turned into Maenad, Ankou changed to Azrael and then halfway to Mortis before the letters broke apart. I then decided that perhaps it wasn’t just her bordering on death that was making it difficult for the spell to function, but also the fact that there simply wasn’t enough of her to put a name on.
‘Perhaps Acheron would be able to help settle the issue, once he wakes. Though he might also require to know the local language and conventions first.’
Eventually there was the sound of knocking at the door, which I telekinetically opened.
In walked one of my night guards. Nightshade I think. Almost half of them were named Nightshade, so I was probably right.
“Your Highness,” the guard saluted, “I’ve been asked to tell you by Princess Celestia that her student and her friends have arrived. They are currently in the banqueting area and are wondering if you would join them.”
‘Great. Social activity. How fun.’ I sighed. “Tell her I will be there momentarily. Thank you.”
Half an hour later, after making myself and my charge presentable, I decided to make a more dramatic entrance with a teleportation spell. Acheron was safe under my wings, still resting with his spouse’s container held in his death grip.
It didn’t take long at all to find the six Element bearers, sitting obediently at one of the tables with my sister, Cadance and her husband, the latter two mostly there to catch up with young Twilight Sparkle.
Celestia smiled upon seeing me, soon followed by everypo-... everyone else at the table halting what they were doing, their eyes all gravitating towards my charge.
“Greetings everyone. I hope I’m not interrupting anything with my late arrival.”
My sister answered, “Nonsense, Luna. After all, your charge is the main reason why I’ve had us all gathered. Or rather, him and his wife.”
“They never officiated,” I provided, ignoring the curious looks from the Bearers as I sat next to Tia at the table. “Also, I named him. It’s Asclepius Acheron.”
Needless to say, everyone was excited at the news. All except for a certain purple scholar, who was likely concerned with what the titles signified.
Celestia and Cadance were especially happy to learn the name of their new family member, even Shining Armor gave a reserved smile. “At any rate,” Tia went back on track, “We have been telling the girls what has happened, and why we could use their help.”
“Their help?” I asked.
“Yup!” interjected a very excited, very pink young mare at the table. One I remembered all too well... “Princess Celestia said we needed a party to let the ponies of Canterlot unwind after everything that happened!”
“Pinkie!” my sister’s student cut the excited menace off. “I’m terribly sorry, Princess. We’re just all very excited to not just help with organizing festivities, but also get to know the new prince! After all, there hasn’t been any record of a male alicorn in all of pony history! I’m certain you have great plans for him.”
I decided not to read too much into her last remark. “My sister wishes to organize festivities? Are the citizens about to riot already?”
That garnered chuckling of varying humor and awkwardness from the rest. So that’s what they discussed before I arrived.
The subject matter was simple. With Discord’s escape and departure, the populace was likely in a state of unease. This unease would only increase the longer the spirit of chaos took before he inevitably made a grand pandemoniac return, in their minds. In truth, the draconequus had left the realm altogether, but the ponies couldn’t easily accept that.
So, their fears were only going to increase until they decided to take their turmoil out on the most immediate ready target to their ire, namely the new mysterious colt of the former Nightmare Moon. The same colt who made a very clear show the other day in the middle of the city square of being a user of forbidden magic, evidenced by his glowing eyeless orifices and his magically pulling that creature’s blood towards him.
The fact that we were apparently under disguise likely proved further reason for suspicion for the skittish ponies, since clearly we were planning something nefarious yesterday whilst we were merely sitting peacefully, listening to music.
So. In order to offer an outlet for the populace’s unease, as well as to mark the occasion of not only getting rid of Discord, but also of welcoming my child into the world, we needed to celebrate, as one would celebrate any good thing.
“So you asked them to come,” I followed. “I suppose it would be good for public relations, having the Elements of Harmony not only standing at our side to support our claims, but also to reassure the populace that they’re safe should either my colt or I pose a threat.”
That killed what remained of the guests' amiable disposition, if the mares’ silently shifting in their seats was any indication.
My sister tried to salvage the situation, “I was also hoping the girls could get to know the new prince. After all, I’m certain they have so much to learn from each other.”
“He is still recovering,” I retorted. “If you wish to speak to him, you will need to wait for another occasion.”
Perhaps I was a bit short with them, but I could only notice I was feeling a bit protective of Acheron around the six mares. I was grateful for what they’ve done so far, but I was still nervous about six inexperienced civilians that were barely even adults, having not just the power to control artifacts initially created to prevent Catastrophe-class engagements before they had the chance to level the country, but also having the authority of judge, jury and memory-wiper over using said artifacts. Because either the gods or Harmony itself decided it.
The fact that Acheron and his spouse were what one would technically describe as evil by conventional standards, did not help either. One was a murderous psychopath that now had a legacy of authority over the realm of death in front of him, while the other had names like Megido suggested in that spell earlier.
‘No.’ I held my colt tighter. ‘So they’re far from innocent. That doesn’t mean they want to cause chaos and misery.’
Tia likely sensed my troubled state, but fortunately decided to exercise discretion. “By the way, how are they both? I trust the ritual went well?”
“I… do not know for certain. His mind healed, there was even a link with his mate already established. But currently I was waiting for him to wake up in order to see if he felt anything wrong.”
Kindness seemed to want to express her concern, but her words were lost due to Cadance interrupting her. The latter was delighted to hear what I said, “I knew it! I knew they were close enough to manage it! This is amazing!”
Twilight was very much left in the dark, which seemed to upset her. “Hold on, what are you all talking about? What do you mean mate?”
Her sister-in-law was more than eager to answer, “Twilight, remember when I told you about the Red Thread of Destiny?”
“Here we go,” the Bearer of Loyalty droned, before Twilight started explaining as if she were reading line by line out of a textbook.
“The Red Thread of Destiny is said to be an invisible thread connecting ponies through the magic of Harmony. It is said that these ponies are destined lovers, regardless of place, time, or circumstances. This magical cord may stretch or tangle, but never break.”
Cadance nodded. “That's right. Go on.”
The scholar seemed unsure but obliged. “It is said that in rare occasions, when such ponies are close enough lovers, they become Entwined. This phenomenon supposedly allows herdmates to know each others’ whereabouts, state of well-being, and allegedly also allows them to share glimpses of each others’ memories and even share intuitive skills to a certain degree. Of course, none of this is proven.” She looked at Cadance questioningly. “Wait. Are you saying Prince Acheron is already Entwined with somepony? Is that what Princess Luna meant about a link? Where is she?”
“About that,” I interrupted. “What exactly do you know regarding the field of Necromancy?”
After the words left my mouth, I realized my question was similar to what I've been asked myself three days prior. The irony rapped at my mood like claws on a chalkboard.
Twilight was evidently troubled by my inquiry. “Well, it’s evil of course. Every respected scholar agrees that it’s a dark and destructive field, pursued only by the truly evil or mentally ill. That’s why it’s forbidden, it corrodes the caster, mind, body, and soul, eating away at everything that makes them equine and leaving behind only a walking husk that feels nothing but hatred for all life!”
Her explanation managed to properly scare her friends and offer them a basis to further spread as truth. “An accurate explanation according to any study you could possibly find,” she seemed to inflate at the apparent praise. “Too bad the source material is wrong.”
It was almost as if a balloon deflated. “What? Bu-but every scholar agreed-”
“To the same inaccurate preconception. Think about it, Twilight. You said it yourself. Every respected scholar agreed to this notion. What do you think would happen to their status if they actually, I don’t know, researched the field?”
“Well, obviously they’d lose credibility because their judgment would no longer be reliable,” the student answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“I was under the impression that you were a scholar, Twilight Sparkle. Pray tell, how can someone possibly understand something without studying it?”
“By reading about it, of course!” she countered confidently, a little angry at my insinuation.
I looked at her critically. ‘Is she really this dense?’ I gave a cursory look to the other Bearers. They appeared either too confused to understand what I was asking, or not confused at all. I asked them all slowly, “And where do the books get their information from?”
Suddenly finding themselves being addressed, they all fidget awkwardly, avoiding eye contact.
‘Were they even paying attention?’
“Well, evidently from carefully conducted research! Where else could their authors compile their information from?” Twilight answered, still missing the point.
I was about to offer them all a scathing remark, but stopped. “I give up. Celestia, you deal with them. I’m leaving.”
I got up. The six civilians seemed surprised. ‘To think I felt any kind of admiration for them.’
“Wait!” Cadance beckoned before I could teleport away.
“Why? I asked shortly.
“Because…” she delayed, trying to figure something out, “...I’m certain Twilight didn’t mean anything wrong. Let’s just talk about something else instead!” She held a shaky smile. I offered a deadpan in return. “...Please?”
I just stared at her a while longer, then sighed and rubbed my temples. “Cadance dear, royalty do not say ‘please’. They need to behave with dignity, they represent their entire kingdom.” I turned to Celestia, “Sister, do you perhaps have anything to add?”
“Very well,” she answered nonchalantly. “You’re both right.” Celestia gestured to her student, “You see, the reason for the vicious cycle you were arguing over was because my faithful student was answering your questions as best she could, without knowing why you were asking her your questions. And the truth is, that anyone who tried to study Necromancy succumbed to its effects. Therefore, it is not a safe field to study. The research every book is based on is, after all, primarily a list of all the accounts of ponies succumbing to said effects.”
"...Oh." I begrudgingly understood. “You could’ve mentioned all of this until now,” I protested.
"Same way you could have mentioned the seal on his magic?"
"-Now wait just a-"
Tia went on, "Instead you decided he didn't need to know that distracting detail before he'd come to the logical conclusion that he needed to trust you? Essentially you were trying to gain his trust, by lying to him."
I was stunned. I could feel the others at the table staring at me. Loyalty spoke for everyone, "...Wow."
"...I'm, just... going to sit here and..." I sank in my seat and made myself as small as possible.
Tia turned to her student. “Twilight, my sister was arguing that the field of Necromancy isn’t fully understood due to bias, dismissal, and willful ignorance, and that no proper study was published and released because anyone who tried to do so were disregarded on account of the prejudice that anyone who tried to study the matter and offer any kind of results beside the ones already established as truth, were doing so because they were not in their right minds.”
The others at the table were understandably lost. Except for Twilight, who adopted a contemplative look. “I suppose the reasoning behind this established precept is a bit iffy… Still, questioning my integrity as a scholar was a bit low.”
I shifted in awkwardness. “And for that I apologize. I may have overreacted.”
Suddenly Twilight erupted in awkwardness. “I-It's nothing, Your Highness!” she chuckled self-consciously.
I cleared my throat to draw everyone's attention. “At any rate. The reason why I asked these questions was because it was relevant for you all to understand something. Necromancy is dangerous, but it is not inherently evil. It can be used for good… we just do not know how to use it safely yet.”
“How are you so sure, Princess?” Twilight asked.
“Because my colt used to be a wielder of the craft, and managed to use it to traverse the veil between worlds and recreate a new living body. The fact that it turned out as an alicorn body was not even intentional, it merely turned out this way due to a technicality in his spell’s parameters. And as for his mate, he successfully brought her soul back from the realm of the dead, albeit she is only in a dormant state bound inside the doll permanently in his grasp. Any questions?”
As with all youth, they are excitable. Whenever you reveal to them something remotely peculiar, they cannot help but get excited and ask dozens of questions.
Rainbow Dash was gushing up a storm regarding how awe-some my colt was, asking if he was some kind of vigilant hero that used magical powers to defeat evildoers. Rarity seemed touched by the romantic element of his ordeals, and started theorizing on the relationship between the ‘rugged, roguish gentlecolt’ and a kind but persevering mare that made him into an honest stallion. Pinkie Pie was excited about throwing my colt and his spouse an extravagant feast, asking what kind of decoration and sweets they might like, assuming we could just wake the girl up from being but a soul bound into an inanimate object. Twilight Sparkle floated out a quill and paper out of her magical pocket and started asking my sister question after question regarding the application of known magical principles into recurring themes in horror novels starring necromancer villains, before she systematically found reasons herself why each one of said themes had no techmaturgic basis. Celestia, for her part, merely smiled and nodded to her student’s antics.
Cadance and Shining offered input for Rarity and Rainbow Dash’s theories respectively. Apparently they had relevant knowledge on the subjects.
The final two ponies at the table remained quiet. The butter yellow one, Fluttershy, was merely reserved due to her temperament being that way. Applejack however, seemed genuinely upset.
Noticing my gaze, the Bearer of Honesty spoke her piece, “Ah don’t like this.”
The others stopped to listen. Twilight wanted to question her friend, but the Bearer of Honesty cut her off.
She took her hat off and started, “Ah’m just a farm mare, ah ain't pretendin’ to know better than the Princesses. But yer sayin’ this feller made controllin’ life an’ death into a science? Fer the sake of mah peace of mind, Ah need ta ask, do any of ya have any idea what yer’ gonna do with ‘im?”
Twilight finally spoke up, "Applejack! Think of the potential benefits! Even if he's a prince over mortality, he'd be able to revolutionize medicine!"
"There are some things ponies aren't meant to control, Twi. Sure, bein' able to cure any disease sounds great an' all. An' Ah'd love it if Granny were to feel young again. But where do we draw the line? When ponies stop dying, when is it okay to let them pass on? An' if nopony does, then how many of us are gonna fit on this world before it starts gettin' crowded?"
"But he's an alicorn! Who else to trust with these things than a prince?"
"Would you WANT Princess Celestia to ever be put in the position of decidin' who lives an' who dies?"
Twilight opened and closed her mouth in befuddlement. My sister answered, "There are many things I can decide as a ruler, Applejack, but I also made other pertinent things only up to vote. If any such choice would ever appear, rest assured that Acheron would not be the one who would need to decide."
The farm mare nodded, however her frown did not lessen. "Ahm happy ta hear that, Yer Highness, but even so. After what Twahlight said about this kinda magic, how it twists a unicorn's mind an' soul like that? What about that? What are ya gon' do if he went to deep into this craft an' lost it?"
"He won't." I faced her firmly. "Measures will be taken. Any research will be made impossible to conduct without proper regulations and supervision prepared beforehoof. And most importantly, I will raise him better than that."
Applejack lingered for a while, staring me in the eye, until she decided she was satisfied with what she saw. Still, she had one last argument to offer, though she couldn't voice it before Pinkie Pie intervened by shoving a confectionary into the orange mare’s mouth.
“Cheer up, AJ! I’m sure the princesses have everything handled! Besides, we have so much work to do to prepare Ronnie and his fillyfriend’s party!” She shifted her gaze to me, “By the way, what’s her name?”
Applejack begrudgingly relented, for the moment. I considered my options.
On one hoof, I was at a bit of an impasse regarding choosing the girl’s name, so looking for outside help would be the smart thing to do. On the other, I wasn’t too eager to share my current ideas with them.
I took in a breath to steel myself. “Right. Would any of you happen to have any ideas for a nice name to give a filly that’s adept at lethal combat and has an affinity with the realm of Death?”