A Pale Horse Named Death
Twilight was dreaming. The logical part of her mind assured her that this was the case. It must be the case, it whispered to her, because what she was seeing couldn't be real. Standing in front of her was giant earth pony stallion the colour of a blind eye with a thin, patchy mane. He towered over Twilight, easily twice her height and wider than any pony she'd ever seen, every inch of him dense, hard muscle. He was utterly still, like a statue, not even breathing. However, what truly convinced her that she was dreaming were his eyes. They glowed faintly, the same colour as his coat and mane, and the light seemed to wash away the features of his face. Twilight felt naked under the gaze of those eyes, like they could see through her and learn her deepest secrets with a glance.
“Hello Twilight,” the stallion said without moving his mouth, the deep, resonant voice coming from everywhere at once. “I am The Keeper.”
“Keeper?” Twilight asked, suspicious and afraid. “Keeper of what? What kind of messed up dream is this?”
The Keeper's lips curled minutely into what a kind pony might call a smile. “You think this a dream? You think I am some wisp of your imagination? I am the Keeper of the Void. What you see here is no less real than The World That Is, your realm of life. Welcome to my realm, the land of the dead and the cursed.”
Twilight found herself staring in shock at the stallion before her as she let out a short, nervous laugh. “That can't be right. If this was some sort of afterlife, I'd have to be dead. My subconscious is sick, to make me dream this.”
“Indeed. Yet, here you are. What is the last thing you remember?” he asked, and the question caught Twilight off guard.
“Well,” she answered quickly, “I was experimenting with an old spell I found, but there was an accident...” Twilight's eyes went wide and her ears flattened to her skull. “Sweet Celestia, I am dead, aren't I?” she whispered.
“You are, and yet you are not,” The Keeper answered. “You are between. This is why I could bring you here, and why you will return to your world.”
Twilight shot a sharp glance at The Keeper and raised an eyebrow. “What? I don't understand.”
“I know,” The Keeper said. “Speak to Luna when you wake. She will explain. I would ask a favour, however.”
Twilight frowned, but nodded, unsure of what to believe about the situation.
“Tell your Princesses that as life is their domain, death is mine,” he said, his voice dreadfully quiet and calm. “I will not tolerate their interference again. There are balances that must be maintained, and they will find the price heavier than they can bear.”
Twilight shivered. “I will,” she said. As soon as the words left her mouth, she felt the overwhelming compulsion to turn around and walk away, and though she tried to stand still, it was entirely out of her control. As she walked away, she heard The Keepers voice.
“Remember this, young Twilight. Though you now stand half in death and half in life, one day I will claim you. This is inevitable. Do not fear it.”
With that, a mist descended over her vision and she felt herself fading, leaving The Keeper alone in his Void.
In The World That Is, three days had passed and a third night was beginning. The Princesses had stayed the night before leaving, making sure Spike knew to send them a letter the moment Twilight showed signs of waking, but she was expected to sleep for another four days at least. Applejack and Rarity had both made a habit of checking in several times a day despite their businesses, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash both stayed in the library almost constantly, and Pinkie Pie would check in every half hour, day or night. For the moment, however, Spike was alone with Twilight. He had taken to sitting by her bedside and reading aloud when they were alone, and today he had chosen to read a summarized history of the founding and construction of Canterlot. He found it dreadfully boring, but he knew Twilight adored history, so he read on with as much enthusiasm as he could muster. He was halfway through a paragraph detailing an odd error in the construction of the palace that had left a hall leading to nowhere when Twilight began to mumble and twitch.
“Twilight!” he yelled, tossing the book away before grabbing a letter he had prepared and sending it as hastily as he could. “Twilight, can you hear me?” he asked, hope in his voice. “Speak to me! Are you alright?”
“...Spike?” came Twilight's quiet reply as her eyes fluttered open. She saw her young assistant standing over her, and she heard his wordless cry before he pulled her into a hug and held her tightly. “It's alright,” she said, returning the hug. “I'm alright Spike. Everything is going to be fine.”
At that moment there were twin flashes of light, one white and one blue, before Luna and Celestia appeared in the room. Twilight shot them both a meaningful look as she tightened her hold on Spike, and the two Princesses waited until the baby dragon let her go before they stepped forward to stand beside the bed.
“Celestia? Luna?” Twilight said, her voice nervous. “What's going on? How long have I been unconscious?”
“Three days and two nights,” Luna answered quietly. “You have woken early.”
Twilight paled slightly as she glanced out the window. “Was it that bad?”
“I've rarely seen worse,” Celestia said, eyeing her sister, “and none of those survived. You're a very lucky mare, Twilight.”
Twilight glanced between the two Princesses and frowned. “Spike,” she said, “I'm starving. Could you run out get me some hay fries?” The little dragon snapped a salute before hurrying out of the room, and Twilight crawled out of her bed. She walked about for a moment, expecting her legs to be shaky after so long in bed, but was pleasantly surprised to find her steps solid and sure. “Did something else happen?” she asked.
Luna raised an eyebrow and Celestia smiled. “I told you she'd have questions,” the elder Princess said. “She's always been very clever.”
“So it would appear,” Luna said. “It will help her in her new life.”
“New life?” Twilight asked, curious.
“Nothing to worry about at the moment,” Celestia said. “First, why don't you tell us what you remember of your accident?”
“There's not much to tell,” Twilight replied, closing her eyes. “I found a spell that I wanted to test and it didn't seem like there would be enough energy involved for it to be dangerous, so I decided I could try it inside the library. Something went wrong, the energy wouldn't release, and by the time I realised what was happening I only had time to contain it.”
“An energy cascade,” Luna said. “Power draws power to itself. The magic in the matrix would have started siphoning energy from wherever it could, most of it likely from your own rather substantial reserves, until the matrix could no longer contain it. Rare for it to happen, however, if the matrix is complete. Where did you find this spell?”
“The book should still be on my desk downstairs,” Twilight said. “Just a moment.” The young unicorn's horn glowed for a moment, and the book popped into existence beside Luna's head.
Celestia smiled. “It's good to see that you aren't afraid to use your magic. Many are after accidents like these.”
“Indeed,” Luna said as she flipped through the book. “Far too many never use their power again.”
“Page three hundred and ninety four,” Twilight supplied, and Luna quickly found the spell. She studied the page for a moment and creased her brow.
“This is a complete matrix,” she said, “but only half the spell.”
“What?” Twilight asked, surprised. “Every book I've read on the subject of dual matrix spells declared them impossible.”
“They are,” Celestia said, “for most unicorns, anyway. Only one in a hundred are skilled enough, and most of those aren't strong enough. The power requirements don't double, like you would expect, but square. I intended to teach you the theory, but never found the time.”
Luna flipped the page and saw the illegible second matrix. Staring at the remains of the page in concentration, she drew upon her own extensive experience with magic, drew connections between what little remained of the second matrix, and blinked in surprise. “This is an extremely powerful spell, Twilight. Where did you find this book?”
Twilight's ears drooped slightly. “Uh, the Canterlot archives, in the restricted section of the Starswirl the Bearded wing.”
Luna glanced to Celestia, who wore a small smile “The palace guards have standing orders to ignore her intrusions.”
“They do?” Twilight asked, surprised.
“You thought I was unaware of your extracurricular activities?” Celestia asked playfully. “I thought it was wonderful that you were willing to learn the darker side of the art. The realisation of how destructive magic can be is important to any unicorn, especially magical talents like yourself.”
Twilight smiled sheepishly at her mentor while Luna frowned. “You could have simply asked me, Twilight,” she said. “Forbidden magic is part of my domain. I would gladly teach you anything you wish to know.”
Twilight's smiled vanished as she remembered something. “Speaking of domains, something weird happened while I was unconscious.”
“Oh?” Luna asked as she returned to flipping through the book.
“Does the title 'Keeper of the Void' mean anything to either of you?”
Luna dropped the book as both Princesses eyes went wide with shock.
“He spoke to you?” Celestia asked after she recovered, her voice cold, hard, and much to Twilight's shock, afraid.
Twilight flinched away from her mentor. “I thought it was some sort of dream.”
“No,” Luna said. “He is very real, and very dangerous. He would only show himself to a mortal if he had some purpose for them. Did he give instructions, a message?”
“Yes,” Twilight answered nervously, her eyes darting between the two angry and fearful gods. “He said that death is his domain, and that you shouldn't interfere again. He said you would find the price too heavy to bear.”
Silence reigned for a moment as Twilight's heart beat a furious rhythm.
“Twilight, there are things you must know, but they can never leave this room,” Celestia said, her voice calmer and her horn igniting with a spell Twilight didn't recognise. “Are you prepared to swear yourself to secrecy? Think carefully before you answer, there will be consequences should you change your mind.”
Twilight frowned a moment as she realised what the spell was. “A binding? Those-”
“Are fully legal when I deem it necessary,” Celestia interrupted calmly.
Twilight was quiet for almost a minute. “Tell me,” she said eventually. “I swear to keep it secret until you release the binding.”
Celestia nodded and her horn grew brighter. Twilight felt something twinge painfully in her head, then the light faded.
“How much do you know of the old times, Twilight?” Luna asked. “Not the history taught in schools, the scrolls you would have found in the restricted section.”
“Not much,” Twilight admitted. “I always thought I couldn't stay there for long, so I mostly grabbed spell books and texts on magical theory. I saw the scrolls, but never read them.”
“What about the black books with no titles?” Celestia asked, and Twilight shook her head. “The next time you visit the Castle, take them. The scrolls are pre-Discordian history as written by scholars, the black books are my personal observations. Both are relevant and you may find them interesting as well.”
Twilight shook her head slowly. Talk of Equestria before Discords reign was unofficially suppressed by every reputable academic institution in the country, and no scholar had ever had access to the personal diaries of either Princess. She couldn't understand how they would connect to the strange stallion she had met, though.
“The Keeper was directly responsible for much of the trouble we faced during those times,” Luna explained, seeing the confusion in Twilight's eyes, “though it must be said that he helped us in equal measure.”
“What is he?” Twilight asked.
“I'm not quite sure,” Celestia admitted. “Luna knew him better than I ever did.”
“The closest cultural analogue I am aware of is the Reaper,” Luna said. “Taker and guider of departed souls. He never revealed the full extent of his powers to me, but he could always best me, in magic or physical contests. He rules the Void with an iron hoof as well, his control over the realm is astonishing.”
“So the Void is real too? He said he'd brought me there.”
“Truly?” Luna asked, surprised. “That is strange indeed. He rarely draws the living to his realm.”
“Well, according to him, I'm actually dead. Sort of,” Twilight said. “He told me I'm 'between' now, 'half in death and half in life.' What does that even mean?”
Luna fidgeted uncomfortably. “In order to save your life, I had to use a very old magic.”
“Not magic,” Celestia said. “Call it what it is, sister. Necromancy.”
Twilight's eyebrows raised so quickly she thought they were trying to achieve escape velocity. “Necromancy?” she asked. “I thought that was a myth!” Twilight started pacing quickly back and forth, hyperventilating slightly and speaking quickly. “After all, when Necromancers were named a key threat against harmony in Equestria six hundred years ago, you claimed that necromancy was invented and spread by the Gryphons to try and turn earth ponies and pegasi against unicorns during the unification of Equestria! But if that was a lie, and necromancy is real, then...” Twilight stopped, tilted her head, and looked at Celestia. “But why lie?”
“It's an unnatural force,” Celestia replied. “I'll not have it in Equestria if I can avoid it.”
“Except when it serves your ends?” Luna asked. “I seem to recall an army, armed with necromancy and immortality, marching under your banner.”
Twilight eyed the two princesses, her eyes curious. “An army of Necromancers? What?”
“Not Necromancers,” Celestia said defensively. “They may have used necromancy, but they were not Necromancers. There is a difference.”
Twilight frowned. “There's nothing about that in any of the histories in the palace library.”
“Indeed not,” Luna said. “My vamponies were erased from all official records after they were murdered.”
Celestia flinched slightly, and Twilight found herself feeling very confused. “Vamponies? They were real too?”
“Not in any form you would recognise,” Luna said calmly. “ They have been demonized by the stories you may have heard. Vamponies were not monsters, nor were they emasculated fairies masquerading as stallions. They were soldiers, strong and proud, ponies that did great services for the crown when no others could. Without them, Equestria would have fallen.”
“I did what I thought best,” Celestia said sadly. “I won't apologise for it.”
“Huh?” Twilight said.
“My vamponies, my children, died at the hooves of my sisters guards,” Luna said, her voice quiet. “They saved a nation, and such was their reward, for they were creatures of my night.”
“No mortal should hold the power they did,” Celestia said. “You know it had to be done.”
“This is all very interesting,” Twilight said, “and I'd love to hear the entire story, but is this relevant to what's going on?” she asked.
“In part,” Luna replied. “Our magic could not have healed you, young Twilight. Not all the magic in Equestria could have restored you this completely, or this quickly.”
Twilight narrowed her eyes. “I don't think I'm going to like where this is going,” she said.
“You have always been most perceptive,” Luna replied, walking over to stand directly in front of Twilight. “You are a creature of the night, now, young Twilight. You are the first vampony Equestria has seen in thousands of years. Welcome to the ranks of the immortals.”
Twilight blinked once, twice. Then she fainted, falling onto her side with a dull thump.
“Tactful as always,” Celestia muttered under her breath.
Then Spike walked through the door, the large plate full of hay fries in hand dropped when he saw Twilight unconscious on the floor. “Oh come on!”
Twilight found herself once more in the Void, The Keeper standing before her, still as stone. Now that she knew who and what he was, his presence left her heart pounding. She wondered for a moment if there was a way to run or hide.
“If you attempted to leave, I would restrain you for the duration of this conversation,” he said as if he could read her thoughts, his voice again seeming like it came from everywhere at once.
“What do you want with me?” she asked, suspicious.
“You are the first mortal I have spoken with in thousands of years,” he said. “Luna is able to prevent me from reaching the living through their dreams, and so I have kept the company of the dead. The dead never change, Twilight Sparkle. I quickly grow tired of them. You are full of life and energy, you fascinate me.”
'Well, that's just grand', Twilight thought. “So I have no choice?” she said aloud.
“You always have a choice,” The Keeper said. “You could convince Luna to allow me access to the dreams of other mortal ponies, thus distracting me from yourself, or learn from her how to prevent me from reaching you. I would not recommend either. You now know what she has made you. Will you trust her to be your only teacher?”
Twilight frowned and took a step back. “What do you know about what I am?”
“More than you,” The Keeper said. “More than Celestia.”
“More than Luna?” Twilight asked.
“More than she will tell you,” he answered.
Twilight drew in a few deep breaths. “Why should I trust you?”
“Ask instead what I would gain through deceit,” The Keeper said. “I wish your company, would it benefit me more to deceive you or to help you to the best of my ability?”
Twilight thought a moment. “That assumes you're being honest about your intentions.” The Keeper inclined his head slightly, but it wasn't an acknowledgement, more a signal to continue with that line of thought. “But, from what Princess Luna told me, you have at least alicorn-level magic, despite being an earth pony, so if you wanted anything that can be taken by force, you could just do that. So, whether you have an ulterior motive or not, right now you really do just want to spend some time with me?”
“Your logic is sound,” The Keeper said. “More so than most. You will need that strength in coming days.”
“What?” Twilight asked, her voice flat.
“It would be improper for me to explain,” The Keeper answered.
Twilight sighed. “Is there a single ancient being out there that doesn't take sadistic glee in being cryptic?”
“Yes,” The Keeper said. “She is not here. Would you like me to tell what I can about your condition?”
Twilight's ears swivelled forward, but she looked worried. “I'm still not sure I should trust you.”
“That is wise. Allow me to suggest a small test. I will educate you as to your condition, so that when you awake you may confirm what I have told you with Luna. Would that prove my honesty to you?”
“It would be a start,” Twilight said after a moment, sitting as she spoke.
The Keeper nodded fractionally, and Twilight wondered why he moved so little. “You are no longer alive,” he began, “though your soul is still trapped inside your body. You will find you have no need to breathe or eat and your body will not tire, though your muscles will still rip and tear if you push past your limits, and you will feel that pain. You will find your senses growing far sharper as you learn to control your new abilities. Eventually, the light of the sun may begin to hurt your eyes, although many of the old vamponies found a way to limit their sensitivity to light. Your physical abilities will be the greatest change by far. Even now, young and unblooded, your strength will be as the strength of many strong stallions.”
Twilight shuddered and raised a hoof. “Unblooded?” she asked. “Does that mean..?”
“Yes,” The Keeper said. “You will require the blood of others to survive. Do you know why?” he asked, and Twilight shook her head. “You are dead. Your soul wishes to leave your body. The blood of others contains the spark of life that anchors their own souls to their bodies. When you feed on them, you are stealing this spark for yourself. The more you drink, the stronger your own anchor will become, and your abilities will grow in turn.”
“Does it hurt the other pony?” Twilight asked, feeling a little silly to be asking whether or not it was harmful to have your blood sucked out.
“It can, or it can not,” The Keeper replied. “The more deeply you drink, the faster your powers will grow. The greatest increase will come if you drink the last heartbeat, but this will obviously kill the pony. For survival, you need very little. A cup of blood a week will keep you alive, two will keep you satiated. I recommend you never force yourself to consume less than two cups a week, the hunger is extremely unpleasant. It will, in due time, drive you insane. Should that happen, you would likely kill many ponies before one of your Princesses could kill you.”
Twilight paled slightly. “Kill me?”
“There is no recovery from that madness,” The Keeper explained. “You would be no more than a violent, starving beast. With your magical talent and physical abilities, only your Princesses could safely kill you. Would you like to know more?”
“Not about that,” Twilight said with a shudder. “Can you tell me anything about necromancy?”
There was silence until Twilight began to worry she had offended The Keeper somehow. “That is a question rarely asked,” his voice said. “What do you wish to know?”
“Anything,” Twilight asked. “I passed out before the Princesses could even tell me what it was.”
“They would not have told you,” The Keeper said. “Celestia feels it is an abuse of the immortal gift. I suspect Luna would be willing to teach you it's use, however, so I will only teach you how it came to be, and how it came to be feared, if that is acceptable.”
Twilight nodded.
“As your Princesses rule of The World That Is and I rule over The Void, there is another who rules over The World That Is To Come. I have little knowledge of this entity, only that she is the mother of all three realms and the one from whom all life flows. Her influence is easily felt by those of us who were born immortal, it is she that allows us to live until such a time as we decide to die. When the spark inside of us grows dim, she replenishes it. I do not know how or why she does this, nor does any being I am aware of.
“Many millennia ago, long before Luna became Nightmare Moon, The Giver appeared to her in a dream and granted her a great power. This was the gift of necromancy, though it had a different name then. Luna experimented with this power, but found she could do little with it. In time, she came to me for aid. Eventually, we unlocked the secret, and we were content to explore out new-found power in peace for several centuries, but questions eventually arose.
“First, we determined the source of necromancy's power. We had thought it an undiscovered branch of magic, but found it was entirely different. Where magic's power comes from magic itself, necromancy draws upon the wielders life. This led use to wonder at the limits of necromancy. We tested them as thoroughly as we could, but answers eluded us. It seemed as though an invisible line was drawn, before it we were limited only by imagination, beyond it we could do nothing.
“Then my mind turned towards experimentation with mortal life. Luna objected to this, strenuously, but she eventually agreed to teach six ponies the secret of necromancy. We watched these six for years, but saw nothing until the day the first one died. We were surprised by this, for he had been healthy and strong, but he simply ceased to live with no apparent cause of death. I tried to draw his soul to my realm, but I found it trapped within the corpse. Luna attempted to recover the body for examination, but it could not be found.
“He lived near a forest, so we assumed an animal had found his body and thought little of the missing corpse until the other five died within days, also leaving no body behind. Luna witnessed the last one die, and claimed that his corpse simply stood up and ran away, faster than she thought a mortal pony could be capable of. These six became the first Necromancers, twisted mockeries of life bent on chaos and destruction, enemies of all that drew breath in the world.
“They spent years wandering the world, slaughtering ponies, gryphons, dragons, and other species now gone. They revelled in senseless death, making an art of murder for their own amusement. The stories survivors told seemed impossible, yet they were always the same. Six stallions, clad from head to hoof in black armour, would circle a settlement as the sun set. They would walk inward, tightening the circle, burning any that tried to run with a fire that turned all it touched to ash. When the circle was closed, they would spends hours tormenting their prey until dawn, when they would kill all who remained alive. Any intact bodies would then rise, and follow their new masters.
“We assumed this was an exaggeration and any missing bodies had simply been consumed by the fire, but we were mistaken. After six months, the Necromancers marched against Equestria in force, an army of empty Husks and lesser Necromancers behind them. This was six thousand years ago, the first Necromancer War, when the first of the vamponies were created by Luna. The Husks were stronger and faster than any mortal pony, the Royal Guard could not stand against them. Luna herself captured one of the Necromancers, and through her experimentations on the beast, she found a way to grant the same powers to a pony without destroying them. This was the first Lunar Guard, one hundred soldiers who traded their souls for the strength to defend their home. Over the course of years, they beat back the Necromancers, and for a time peace reigned.
“Then the Necromancers returned. Three times they built an army, three times the vamponies defeated them. Your Princesses expected a fourth attack, but it never came. Five hundred years after the third war, it was decided the threat had ended. Celestia feared that the vamponies would be tempted to use the power they held against her, and so she had them killed. Many of her own guard died, but within a week of her decision not one vampony still lived. This was the start of Luna's own fall, which is a history you know well.”
Twilight blinked. “I don't understand,” She said. “If the vamponies wanted to depose the Princesses, they would have tried.”
“Indeed, but a wise ruler never suffers a threat to live longer than necessary.”
“Celestia isn't like that,” Twilight said. “She's kind, she's just. She wouldn't kill ponies because of a possibility.”
“No?” The Keeper asked. “Perhaps you should speak to Luna. She will enlighten you.”
Twilight frowned but nodded. “I will. You said the vamponies had the strength to push back the Necromancers? How did they do it?”
“They turned evil against evil,” The Keeper answered. “As brutal as the Necromancers were, the vamponies did worse, and gladly. Never underestimate the strength a pony can find when their homes and loved ones are threatened, let alone a legion of immortals armed with the most destructive power they could possibly wield. Wrath the like of theirs has not been seen in the world since. Not even Nightmare Moon's heart burned so brightly. I once witnessed a kind hearted mare tear the throat from a foal with her teeth and drink his lifeblood, purely because it was the most expedient way to return to battle.”
Twilight shuddered. “That isn't strength.”
“No?” The Keeper asked. “They did whatever was necessary, no matter the cost. Is that not strength?”
“It's barbarism,” Twilight answered. “Strength is finding the best way, not the fastest, or the easiest, or the simplest. Strength is doing what's right, even if it isn't easy.”
“Would it have been right for her to abandon her fellow soldiers? Without her, the line may have faltered. The battle may have been lost, a city destroyed, thousands of lives lost. Is one life worth that destruction?”
“You have it backwards,” Twilight said, standing and cracking her neck. “Not one life is worth any less. Will I be waking up soon?”
“Yes,” The Keeper answered, and The Void began to fade from her vision.
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Interesting...go on.
N.I.B. - Black Sabbath
599932
Funny you should post that. I wrote this song listening to the band the first chapter is named after, some of my friends have compared them to Sabbath. All of the chapter titles will be the names of bands or songs I listened too while writing them.
599948
Now that's some good shit. Gonna need to get more of them.
599962
I recommend the tune Heroin Train off of And Hell Will Follow Me (yes I lifted the story title from them too).
first of the remade version
The Giver was a great book.
Ah, the optimist. But she is, naturally, wrong. She's forgotten the entire concept of soldiers. Many lives, for many more. A soldier sacrifices their life for their homes. And strength isn't any particular way of doing something, it's just being able to do it. Optimistic cartoons and anime get a lot of stuff wrong. For another thing, courage is the facing of fear. Not any of the crap anime would have you believe. We here in Realityville call what she's talking about morality.
6086011 It's an easy mistake to make. Morality is easy to preach in peacetime, but when it hits the fan, morality takes more courage and strength to uphold than many of us will ever have. That strength is the difference between a hero and a soldier.
7089249 But when the time comes, will we need heroes or soldiers?
I am getting a huge Red Thirst and Black Rage vibe here.
Ha, that got a laugh out of me. Goddamn obtuse incorporeal bastards.