Humani Victoria

Chapter 33~ All Shall Perish

                  "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

                                                                                                       ~Arthur C. Clarke

Castle of the Two Princesses, Canterlot, Equestria, Wednesday, 5th of March, 8:22am, 2206 AC

Jason's jaw popped in an almost satisfying way as he yawned loudly. He had been sleeping a lot lately. He reasoned it was probably to due with how surprisingly quiet the castle was on a day to day basis, servants moved silently, guards patrolled starkly, all was calm. All this was in stark contrast to the chaotic trend that Jason's life usually had. Equestria was many things, boring wasn't very often one of them. Yet the next few days promised to be relaxing and interesting as Twilight would begin to tutor Jason on magic, she had asked for time to prepare and reminded Jason to bring a notebook and quill, which he did, but also requested he bring his gladius for some reason. She didn't say why.

Luna had directed them to a room they could use for study and practice, her own. The cool, mysterious but welcoming atmosphere simply shouted 'magic' at least, from what Jason could tell when he first visited it. He had that same sense now as he quietly opened the door to Luna's chambers, the dark blue, the heavy calming haze of incense, the shelves lined with times both ancient and forbidden, and the intricate paintings of abstract design.

Twilight lay among some soft cushions that covered the floor, a stack of dusty books were piled next to her along with some parchment, ink, and a few quills. She motioned for Jason to sit and he did, unclipping his blade and laying next to him, he then cracked open his notebook and dipped his quill into his ink well and looked up in expectation. Twilight smiled at him and reached forward, she gently closed his notebook and placed it on the ground for him, followed closely by his quill into the well. Jason gave her a quizzical look as Twilight held his hand in her hooves, she seemed to be studying it.

"Jason," she finally said. "What is magic?"

"Uh," came Jason's intelligent response. "Well I was hoping you'd tell me."

"There's no real wrong answer," Twilight said, her fur was soft against Jason's hand. "What do you think it is? What do you feel it is?"

"Well... From what I've seen, I would fathom a guess it's a form of energy, like light, heat, or electricity, it's present in the atmosphere around us and flows through living things. Certain creatures like you or I can tap into it and use magic to affect the world around us... At least that's what I think."

Twilight nodded as Jason spoke, smiling gently.

"Good, like I said there's no real wrong answer," Twilight said. "When it comes to studying magic there are two major schools of thought, the spiritual and the physical. Many, like me, like to think about magic in a physical, scientific way, I could spend all day telling you complex calculations to perform every spell in existence."

"We're not going to do that are we?" Jason asked dreadfully, Twilight giggled.

"No, it's just that's how I perform magic, I do the math, I know the reactions and processes behind it all. You, I think, may find a more spiritual approach more comfortable," Twilight related. "Many believe that magic is a binding energy, a driving force behind the universe and what happens in it. They believe that to use magic is a way to tap into ones soul and inner being, many groups think it is the way to achieve enlightenment."

"Well... I dunno about that."

"It's okay, we won't be touching on any of that unless you want to, now, I want you to manifest your magic."

"Manifest?" Jason asked, Twilight nodded.

"First law of magic; magic must manifest," Twilight explained. "You know how an electric current always follows the path of least resistance to get to the ground? It's a similar concept, magic cannot exist in stasis, it cannot rest, it must be used or manifested. Often when a unicorn doesn't use their magic for too long they experience headaches which progress to migraines then seizures and eventually death simply from the magic trying to escape."

"So I should use magic as often as I can?" Jason asked.

"No, too must at once and you'll burn yourself out, it's like exercise, pace yourself. Now, when I say 'manifest' I mean bringing your magic forth, let it leak, like how my horn glows when I use magic? Like that, but don't do anything other than that, you need to exercise control."

Jason frowned and stared down at his hand, he could feel the energy deep inside of him, pulsing and arcing within him like a cup of expresso. It was wild, untamed even, it pushed against the boundaries of Jason's mortal form like a beast in its cage. Cautiously Jason reached out to it, almost immediately the magic lurched forward, it flooded his veins making his hairs stand on end and his eyes glow silver. It was almost overwhelming, a tsunami of pure chaotic energy washed over Jason's mind and body and struggled to be freed, to do anything, it took a great force of will not to let it do so. Jason managed to rein in his rouge power and focused it, a much more difficult task without adrenaline pumping through his veins, slowly his hand began to glow silver and burst into the ethereal flame that smoked and reached out with silver tendrils.

It didn't last long, Jason's hand began to shake. Pain shot through his head like a bullet and the glow faded from his hand, the magic surged once again as it tried desperately to escape its bounds. It took a great mental effort not to allow it to do so, within a few moments the energy retreated and fell back into place, nestled deep within Jason ready to be called upon again.

"You alright?" Twilight asked in concern.

"Yeah," Jason said shakily. "I think so,"

"You always need to exercise control Jason, remember you are simply a conduit to the magic," Twilight explained.

"A conduit eh?" Jason asked, reining in his breath.

"Yes, second law of magic; magic must have a conduit," Twilight said. "Magic doesn't exist outside of matter, it lives inside the atoms that make up the world around us, as magical beings we play host to magic. Unicorn's have an advantage in this, our horns are a complicated set of bone, organ, and other things, it allows us to process large amounts of magic easier."

"But I don't have a horn," Jason stated.

"Exactly, your magic flows through you raw, untempered, wild," Twilight said, putting emphasis on her words. "This is why you must have more control than even me, because for you the consequences could be much more dire than a simple headache."

"Well that's comforting, but... Why?"

"Third law of magic," Twilight spike solemnly now. "Magic has a mind."

"A mind?" Jason asked, his eyebrows raised. "Like it's intelligent?"

"No, not in the same sense as you or me, magic is like... A virus, all it does, all the time, is try and become bigger and bigger. To do this it will morph matter, affect weather patterns, take control of our very beings. Unicorns, and Alicorns as well, are specifically designed by nature to process and use magic. Humans are not, that's why you have to be careful, because I don't have any idea what will happen if you loose control."

Jason stared with an ashen face into Twilight's concerned look, he swallowed this information and his mind could help but go dark.

He felt cold, glowing blue eyes stared at him from the darkness and distant impassioned voices raised themselves in chant. Glalÿir-Hux! Glalÿir-Hux! Glalÿir-Hux!

"Okay," Jason said softly.

"Good, now let's move on," Twilight brightened up a bit, she motioned to the gladius on the floor. "Pass me your sword for a moment."

Jason did so and Twilight took the blade in her magical grip, she unsheathed it and inspected the edge, mumbling to herself. Her brow creased in concentration and the gladius began to glow silver and turn transparent briefly before the light faded and it became opaque again. Twilight seemed satisfied with the result as she continued to look the sword over.

"Like I thought..." She said.

"What?" Jason asked.

"This sword.. It's a Ghostblade," Twilight said.

"A who the what now?"

"Mm, how to explain this... Have you ever heard of a Magical Niche?"

"Let's assume I haven't."

"Well, hm... Alright, you understand what Cutie Marks are right?" Twilight asked.

"Yeah, they represent what makes you special and all that," Jason answered.

"Correct, now in Unicorns and supposedly Alicorns it goes even deeper, our Marks will determine our Magical Niche which is more or less the type of magic we are most naturally gifted in."

"For, say, Rarity," Twilight continued. "It would be synthesis magic, the ability to manipulate fine materials and share them to your liking. For me, well, I'm in a rather unique position, my Mark represents magic thus my Niche covers all types of magic."

"Okay..." Jason said slowly. "But what does this have to do with my sword being a ghost-whatzit?"

"I'm getting to that," Twilight assured him. "Now, you're Human and don't have a Mark but the same rules still apply, you need a Niche, a type of magic that best suit you. So without any Mark to latch onto, your magic just went with the first spell you ever cast."

"Jason, the scroll you found in Rome, what did it do?"

"It... Summoned dead soldiers," Jason said in realization. "Summoning the dead..."

"Summoning them, communing with them, bending them to your will," Twilight said. "You're a Necromancer, Jason."

Without hesitation Jason's oh-so-pleasant mind conjured up images on rotten corpses dragging themselves from their graves, sorrowful spirits wandering decrepit halls, and shadowy robed men chanting around a circle of candles with a dead goat in the centre.

"Let me make something clear, Jason," Twilight spoke, taking notice of the look on Jason's face. "There. Is. No. Such. Thing. As. Dark. Magic. Magic is not evil, it is not good, there are no dark and light mages nor any forbidden magic. Magic is power, it all depends on how you use it, you hear me? It's not who we are inside that define us, but the actions we take with the life we have."

The words sunk deep into Jason and fought away the darker thoughts that had almost filled him. In the back of his mind, cold corpses still moved and spirits wailed, but he did what he could to suppress such thoughts.

"I understand," Jason said. "And what about the sword?"

"Well, like I said it's a Ghostblade, a weapon from beyond the view, made in the land of the dead, the afterlife," Twilight explained. "By itself it acts as a normal blade, but when wielded by a skilled Necromancer it can damage not just the flesh but the very soul."

"Like... When I fought Chrysalis," Jason concluded.

"From what I saw, yes," Twilight said. "Your blade pierced her very soul."

"That explains what I saw, I had visions, of the past, when Aphrodite became Chrysalis," Jason said.

"What was it like?" Twilight asked, her curiosity piqued. "Seeing history like that?"

"It was like a dream, or a nightmare," Jason shivered a bit. "I'd rather not do it again."

"I can only imagine how intense it must have been," Twilight said. "Anyway, we should move on, now, I can't really teach you much about Necromancy because it's a practice that's... Well... Not really in style these days, texts on it are scarce, experts scarcer, so I'll be teaching you basic magic over the next couple days. Things every Unicorn, or Magical Human, should know."

"Then who'll teach me Necromancy then?" Jason asked.

"Who else? Luna, when she gets back."

So they began, it was a long and tedious process. The Human mind and body are of course is not at all designed for magic and its uses, but eventually Jason did begin to catch on. They began with levitation, which in theory would be the most simple, in practice it was very draining. By the end of it Jason could hover small objects shakily and big objects only for a few moments before the headaches hit, Twilight assured him that this was no fault of his only the limitations of his biology. Thus they moved on, to creating fire of all things, this was actually very easy, Jason simply had to imagine heat and it came forth, the only challenge was controlling the fire and not burning down Luna's chambers.

One and on they went, practicing, learning, studying, there were things Jason seemed unable to do of course. Scrying was disaster, Teleportation ended in blowing up several practice balls, he could produce only a few magical bolts before becoming tired, his attempts at Life Magic were the most worrying. When Jason attempted to make a simple flower bloom he made the plant rot and die right before his eyes which ended those lessons right there and then. All in all Jason thought it was a very poor Mage, yet Twilight assured him he was doing fine, he did begin feeling more powerful. The rush he felt when calling upon his magic increased and was a source of great pleasure to Jason, he began using his magic more and more in everyday life to increase his endurance and to always get that rush out of it.

Twilight advised against such things, warning that she was worried how his body would react. Jason, for the most part ignored her, that was until one day he happened to look himself in the mirror and saw glowing silver eyes staring back at him. He stopped using magic so much after that but found himself missing the rush and thrill of it. He didn't know which scared him more, the fact that he missed the sensation or the silver eyes that haunted his dreams along with icy blue ones.

Eventually, Luna and Celestia returned to the castle, and it was time for the real lessons to begin.

The Canterlot Cemetery, Canterlot, Equestria, Monday, 10th of March, 8:35pm, 2206 AC

The night was quite warm, the claws of winter were retreating back to allow for a more colourful spring. Jason couldn't help but think of his home, where the snows would still be falling, interrupted only by cold rain, hail, and sleet as the Maritime weather fought tooth and nail to keep spring at bay until at least April to which it almost always won. Strange as it was Jason couldn't help but smile at the memory of grey skies, cold winds, and grumpy faces bundled in damp clothing while gloved hands shovelled yet another pile of salt onto the pavement. He wondered how much Nova Scotia had changed in the last four thousand years, in defiance of logic and reason, Jason felt like his home province had survived all change that time brought with it. Stupid, but it brought a little smile to Jason's face.

"Jason," Luna's soft voice called from the darkness, Jason turned to see the Night Princess emerging into the Moonlight. "You seem in good spirits."

"Just... Thinking of home," Jason said.

"Ah, sorry, I did not know, you must miss your home terribly."

"It comes and goes," Jason said. "But you know, what can you do? Anyway, how was your trip... What did you think of Ed?"

"Mm, he's... An interesting character, with an interesting story," Luna said. "I must admit I feel sorry for the man, he has spend far too long trapped away in some far corner of the world."

"So, you're going to free him then?" Jason asked hopefully.

"We, my sister and I that is, want to but Celestia fears that attempting to break him free could kill him, wretch what little control over his magic he has and turn him into some mindless slave to his own power. No one wants that, thus we must consider carefully how to proceed before we try, you understand of course," Luna explained.

"I do, I'd rather him not lose his mind... Again," Jason said.

"Exactly, now, Twilight tells me your Magical Niche is Necromancy, this is true yes?" Luna asked.

"Yeah, she thinks it's because the scroll I used in Rome was a Necromantic one."

"A sound theory, and might I add that you should count yourself very fortunate, Necromany is a skill few can master and fewer have a natural talent for it. The last mortal master of it was the greatest Mage that has ever lived in my opinion."

"Starswirl?" Jason guessed.

"Who else?" Luna sighed a little bit. "I miss that mad old stallion... Bah, listen to me, I sound like a decrepit maiden remembering her lost love. We are here to discuss Necromancy, walk with me Jason."

The two of them began to stroll through the silent cemetery, hooves and booted feet crunched into dry dead grass and leaves. The tombstones that they passed were simple in nature and with varying age of the stone, some were almost blank from erosion and with cracks beginning to form on their edges. Luna was silent for a while until they were deeper inside the cemetery, when they were completely cut off from everyone, just them and the dead.

"Jason..." Luna began, her usually soft voice seeming oddly loud in the silence. "Are you religious?"

"Uh, no, not really," Jason answered honestly.

"No? I was under the impression that Humans had their own gods and beliefs."

"Well, we did," Jason explained. "There were several major religions during my time, one called Christianity was very wide spread but I never really bought into it."

"You use last tense, has your time in Equestria changed your perspective?" Luna asked.

"I think that's a bit of an understatement," Jason said. "Magic, talking Ponies, Gryphons, fucking immortal Alicorn gods, yeah my eyes have been opened up a bit."

"But?" Luna pressed.

"I still don't believe in an omnipotent force that created our universe," Jason said with confidence. "Now that I understand magic I know everything else just fits into science as I know it, Alicorns like yourself aren't really gods, you're just an alpha species. What nature and evolution chose as the replacement for Humanity, so no, I don't really believe in god... Unless you're about to tell me how the universe was created by your grandpa or some shit."

"No, Jason," Luna actually laughed, a smooth clear sound that made Jason smile in turn. "In fact, I have no idea of the origins of our universe and nor does any of the Alicorns no matter how much they like to give that impression, not even Hecate the Alicorn of Knowledge and Magic was able to discover such secrets. Personally I find it ludicrous that such things would ever be discovered by anyone whether Human or Alicorn, thus I don't trouble myself with such thoughts."

"Now, the reason I asked you about your faith in the first place  is because we shall be dealing with things such as the soul and the afterlife, as you are very aware there are many interpretations and beliefs both old and relatively new that all claim to know exactly how these things function. Unfortunately for the priests of the world, the truth is objective."

"First, the afterlife," Luna continued, she briefly sparked her magic and cleared the clouds above to allow the starlight to shine down on them. "When we die, are souls leave our body, and they are collected by an Alicorn known as Osiris."

"Alicorn of death I'm assuming," Jason guessed.

"Precisely, he's actually quite the gentle being, he simply gets a bad reputation for what he does. Anyway, Osiris guides the souls to... Well, the afterlife, now..." Luna paused in thought. "It's not a physical place, not really, it's sort of... Another plane of existence... It's rather hard to explain. But I do know it takes the form of a great empty ocean that is dotted with islands, these islands are were the souls reside, depending on how Osiris judges them. It's a very long and convoluted process if you ask me, sometimes he spends what seems like years judging just one soul. No wonder he used to complain about his workload."

"So you knew Osiris well, then?" Jason asked.

"Oh yes, we had something of a friendship, we stopped talking when... When the war started that is..." Luna seemed a bit awkward. "Like I said, he had a big workload."

"Yeah, I get it," Jason felt a bit queasy.

"Good, now, when we use Necromancy we interact with these souls, talk to them, summon them," Luna paused. "It used to be that a Necromancer's main task was to guide lost souls to the other side, nowadays the popular approach is to exorcize the poor thing."

"Is there a difference?" Jason asked, Luna seemed a tad offended.

"A massive one, exorcism is violent, painful, damaging to a soul that is already lost and afraid. That's how so-called ghosts are created, souls that fail to pass on and linger here until they go mad. A Necromancer can properly communicate with the spirit and coax it to let go, a much kinder process."

"Okay, but what about summoning spirits? Like I did in Rome?" Jason inquired.

"Well you should be made aware that I doubt you shall ever get to the level of prowess required to perform such a spell again, you were aided by a scroll remember?" Luna answered. "However, it's not impossible, summoning souls is a tricky business. It more or less involves convincing the spirit to aid you and the more strong-willed the soul the harder it is. The souls of warriors tend to be very strong-willed."

"Makes sense," Jason said. "So what're we doing first?"

"First, you shall learn how to build a connection to a spirit, this is the most fundamental skill for a Necromancer," Luna gestured to the tombstones. "That is why I brought you here, you may not have heard it but rumours have spread across the city, whispered warnings to not venture here at dark. Apparently a spirit has been appearing here, a young filly most say, one that died a year or so ago, lost on a fire the child was, so she is restless and you must rectify that."

"Hunting spooky ghost children at night. Awesome! Shame I didn't bring my proton-pack," Jason said with sarcasm. "So what do I do exactly?"

"First you get her to appear, then you must.. Well, talk to her, explain the situation, get her to let go," Luna explained.

"Really? Talk to her? Can't just anyone do that?" Jason questioned.

"Necromancers have a sort of... Calming aura to spirits, makes them more docile, it's a tad hard to explain but with a normal person the spirit would flee... Or attack."

"Okay, so how do I summon her?"

"Gently manifest your magic, she'll be attracted to it, and then usually spirits have something that they're connected to that will draw them out. Some like particular foods, others certain it seems or treasures, these can be found out with some digging into local lore and rumours."

"What does this ghostly-girl like then?" Jason asked.

"Singing," Luna stated, Jason slowly turned his head to give Luna a death stare, the princess meanwhile looked a little too pleased with herself.

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"You have to."

"The only things I have to do are eat, drink, breath, and produce waste, everything else is optional."

"You're the one who wanted to learn Necromancy."

"Yeah, but I didn't realize that meant being a contestant on Equestria's Got Talent."

"It's not that hard, just a little song."

"Can't you do it?"

"I'm not the Necromancer here."

"Neither am I!"

"Says the one who summoned a legion of dead warriors to his side."

"That was with a scroll!"

"Hush, less yelling, more singing, go on," Luna gave Jason a little shove and he stumbled forward until he was standing amongst the tombstones. He shot a her glare, who made a 'get on with it' motion with her hoof, Jason sighed and sparked his magic. The silver glow of his power cut through the darkness, Jason cleared his throat and slowly, reluctantly, began to sing.

"Farewell to Nova Scotia, the sea-bound coast,

may your mountains dark and dreary be.

For when I am far away on the briny ocean tossed,

Will you ever heave a sigh or a wish for me?

The sun was setting in the west,

The birds were singing on every tree.

All nature seemed inclined to rest,

But alas there was no rest for me.

Farewell to Nova Scotia, the sea-bound coast,

may your mountains dark and dreary be.

For when I am far away on the briny ocean tossed,

Will you ever heave a sigh or a wish for me?"

As Jason finished his short, slow and rather mournful rendition of Farewell to Nova Scotia a cold wind blew past him, but other than that nothing seemed to happen. He looked back to Luna whom looked at him only briefly until her eyed widened and she kidded to something behind him. Jason slowly turned away and had to resist a scream, sitting not two meters away from was a small Pegasus filly, and she was transparent. Her entire form was white and glowed like the moon, wisps of energy floated off of her and dissipated into the air, in the centre of her body Jason could see an opaque white sphere that seemed to be the source of the apparition in from of him.

She was facing away from Jason, hunched over and staring at the ground. Jason wanted to say something, anything, but his throat dried up, his face damned. He couldn't say anything as he stared at the thing that defied all his comprehension of the universe, for better or for worse, it was the ghost that spoke first.

"You have a pretty voice," she said.

Jason may have imagined it, but he swore he heard Luna snort down a laugh.

"Uh, thank you," Jason said awkwardly, he paused and slowly sat down on the ground. "You like music?"

"Yes, mama used to take me to the concert hall all the time, I would talk to the singers there, they would give me advice," the ghost said.

"Your mom sounds nice..." Jason bit his lip, he had no idea how to talk to the child... Ghost... Ghost child, in front of him. "Uh... My name's Jason by the way, what's yours?"

"...." The child turned to show transparent eyes, but sad eyes none the less. "Dew Drop."

"It's very nice to meet you, Dew Drop," Jason spoke as softly and as gently as he could, not wanting to scare the child away. "Listen... Do you know where you are?"

Drew Drop seemed perplexed by the question, she turned her body around to fully face Jason before taking in her surroundings slowly, eventually she shook her head in negative response.

"What's the last thing you remember?" Jason pressed.

"There was... I... It was hot, I couldn't breath, mama was screaming, papa was screaming, everything was so bright... Then it was really dark, and cold, I was scared... I still am scared."

"You don't need to be scared, it's all right," Jason was lying and he knew it. "There was a fire, that's what happened, your home caught fire."

"...My mama? My papa?" Dew Drop asked worriedly.

"They're waiting for you," Jason said, unsure if that was actually true but it felt right to say. "On the other side, you just need to let go."

"That's what the other one always says," Dew said in mistrust.

"The other one?"

"The white stallion, the one with both wings and a horn, he's come every night except this one. He keeps trying to get me to come with him but I never do, I know he's trying to trick me, mama said never to trust strangers."

"Your mama was smart, but you can trust this stallion," Jason said. "He wants to bring you to your parents, to a nice place where you'll be happy and safe."

"...do... Do you promise?" Dew Drop asked quietly, Jason smiled.

"I promise."

"Okay... But, before I go can you... Can you sing again? I want to remember your pretty voice," Drew Drop asked sweetly, Jason bit his lip but gave in.

"Farewell to Nova Scotia, the sea-bound coast,

may your mountains dark and dreary be.

For when I am far away on the briny ocean tossed,

Will you ever heave a sigh or a wish for me?

I have three brothers and they are at rest,

Their arms are folded on their chest.

But a poor simple sailor just like me,

must be tossed and turned in the deep dark sea.

Farewell to Nova Scotia, the sea-bound coast,

may your mountains dark and dreary be.

For when I am far away on the briny ocean tossed,

Will you ever heave a sigh or a wish for me?

The drums do beat and the wars to alarm,

The captain calls, I must obey,

So farewell, farewell to Nova Scotia's charms,

For it's early in the morning and I'm bound far away."

As the song came to a close Dew Drop began to fade, she was smiling now. The transparent form of the filly retreated into the white orb at it's centre which glowed brightly, Jason may have been imagining things but just before the soul disappeared he swore he saw another form appear. A large stallion, white like the soul, his wings massive and his horn long, his eyes glowed white as well before he and the soul both disappeared leaving only the wind and the dark behind.

The exhaustion hit Jason all at once, he rest faint and light-headed, he almost fell over when he tried to rise from the ground. He did manage to make his way back to Luna who was smiling in approval.

"Well done, very well done," she said, allowing Jason to lean on her for support. "You didn't realize it but every second you talked with Dew Drop you were using your magic to communicate and connect to her."

"I wasn't even trying, I was just talking to her..." Jason gasped.

"Your Magical Niche is Necromancy, it is like second nature to you, but you should always try and monitor yourself and not overdue it," Luna cautioned. "I think we should retire for tonight hm?"

"I second that," Jason said weakly, Luna chuckled and began to help him out of the cemetery. It was on their way out that Jason spoke again, a thought had been bouncing around his head for sometime and he needed an answer.

"Luna..." He began. "You mentioned talking with the dead, summoning them, interacting with them but... What about resurrecting them? Completely that is."

Luna's expression turned very grim and a little but sour and Jason instantly wished he hadn't asked, for a while it seemed like she wouldn't answer but Luna tentatively spoke.

"Why do you ask?"

"Just.. Curious," a lie.

"There have been... Attempts, by many  mages, but never successful. Many are of the opinion that it is impossible, most think it is sacrilege to even try. I will speak no more on the matter."

"Right, sorry," Jason said and they delved into an awkward silence, it wasn't until they had left the cemetery that Luna began giggling stupidly.

"What?" Jason asked.

"You really do have a pretty voice," Luna laughed.

"Shut the fuck up, Luna."

The Ponyville Cemetery, Ponyville, Equestria, Tuesday, 18th of March, 6:45pm, 2206 AC

The next week or so was filled with the souls of the dead. Luna taught Jason much, he learned not only how to find spirits but how to summon them. The easiest was was to summon a spirit he had already interacted with, Luna suggested Dew Drop but Jason wanted to let the poor girl rest a while before dragging her soul back to the world. So they found another one, this time an old stallion in Trottingham who was haunting his old estate, one of those 'too stubborn to die' types, Jason actually had to argue with him to pass on.

And his training progressed Jason found himself sleeping less, he wondered if it was a byproduct of his magic or spending so much time with the nocturnal Luna. Either way Jason found himself wandering the halls of the castle, deep within his own thoughts, it wasn't too long before Luna noticed this behaviour and joined him in his strolls. They would talk for hours on end about everything one could imagine, magic sometimes, strong opinions another, battle tactics, constellations, the events of the past and their wishes for the future. What divide that had once existed between them slowly closed in those long nights with naught but the moon to bear witness.

There was still that thought though, that thought that had pushed Jason to ask that taboo question on their first night of Necromacy. The thought that drove Jason mad as it grew and coalesced in his brain like some form of cancer, the thought that was the true reason Jason had originally spend so many nights without sleep. The thought that made Jason scour both the Royal Archives and Luna's own personal collection when she was not looking, he searched for every black and dark book on the art of the dead, any book that might hold an answer to that that thought. That thought, it had a name, a name it shared with the tombstone that Jason now stood in front of:

Roseluck.

Jason clenched and unclenched his hands as he rise the torrent of emotion that this simple slab of rock created. Pain that he had suppressed for so long now it was but a slow burning sensation in his gut. His sleep, for what he had of it, was often haunted by the final moments of the sweet sweet mare that has under that stone. Jason, as it was, was a living ghost, he refused to move on.

All doubting thoughts were drowned out by the emotion, and thus Jason steeled himself. Carefully he reached into his pocket and held out a single rose, he stared at it, took in every detail of its petals and thorns before taking a deep breath and bringing his magic forth. There was silence for several moments, nothing, nothing, more nothing. Seeds of doubt began to root into Jason's but eventually he heard a heart-achingly familiar voice call out from behind him.

"Jason?"

He turned around and yes, she was there, transparent but there. Roseluck, oh god Roseluck, Jason choked and fell to his knees as it became too much for him, tears sprang forth and stung his cheeks. He didn't know if he was happy, sad, horrified or some combination of all three. The words came in a torrent of hoarse whispers.

"Roseluck, oh my god Roseluck, I'm so sorry, oh god..."

"Jason?" Rose repeated, she looked rapidly around her surroundings. She looked confused, scared even. "What's happening? Where am I?"

"You're home Rosey," Jason said, smiling and crying at the same time. "I brought you back."

"Brought me back? What? No..." Roseluck seemed to be in some state of panic. "Jason, this isn't right, I shouldn't be here, no, you need to stop this, it doesn't feel right."

"It's okay," Jason said in a way that was no where near soothing. "C-can we just talk? Please? Oh god I miss you so much."

"Jason, please, t-this is hurting me," Roseluck said in fear. "I feel trapped, I can't move, please, just let me go!"

"B-but, I wanted to, but..." Jason couldn't understand, why wasn't she happy to see him? There was the sound of flapping wings and Jason saw Luna land softly on the ground, no! She was only here to ruin things!

"Go away! You couldn't ever understand!" Jason yelled angrily. Luna ignored him and instead approached Roseluck, sparking her magic as she did so. Jason felt his own magic forcibly retreat from Roseluck and shoved back down inside of him, it wasn't a very pleasant experience.

"I apologize that he disturbed your rest," Luna said to Rose. "Go now, return to where you belong."

"Thank you," Roseluck said, and she faded away, leaving Luna to turn and face Jason who was sobbing into the ground. She sighed and approached him, wrapping her hooves and wings around him in a comforting hug.

"What... What is the point?" Jason cried into Luna's chest. "What is the point of all this power if I can't even save the people I love?"

Luna didn't say anything at first, merely squeezed Jason and planted a kiss atop his head, then she spoke.

"I congratulate you," she said. "You're an Alicorn."