Tears of Harmony

"The right history will one day fill a million bookshelves in every library, office building, courthouse, school, and home across Equestria. The wrong history will each day fill a thousand furnaces, until there is no more wrong history."

"I regret that you had to learn of our true purpose here. Great Ones do not deserve to be sullied by such knowledge."

The day after I'd seen the necromantic experiment room I confronted Mortis in the master bedroom I'd awakened in, and he'd readily admitted to it. "It's hardly a surprise. No one comes to The Dome without a purpose, and to practice such magics is certainly something that would see some of your ranks chased off their home worlds by the Royal Hunter" I said.

Mortis nodded glumly. "Indeed. I was fortunate enough to escape the notice of the Hunter, all those decades ago, but still I could not explore this fascinating side of the arcane on a world like Cadenza, especially when I was becoming a rather popular showpony. I left in secret, effectively disappeared, and came here to explore my true passions. I'm fortunate enough that I've found so many others who are willing to study such taboo magics."

"Perhaps you would allow me to study this as well" I said. This would be my best chance to learn how to use soul gems, rather than try to figure it out myself, or worse, leave it to Sunburst or Moondancer.

"Oh Great One," Mortis began. "That's hardly something a pony such as yourself should practice."

"I insist. An alicorn necromancer could be a powerful asset. I would throw myself into your work, and our research could one day prove beneficial. We might all one day be able to return to a Garden World" I said.

Mortis seemed to mull it over for a moment before he nodded. "I'm sure your magic is leagues above ours, but necromancy is certainly outside the realm of normal magic. I'm sure Indigo could help you study the nature of it all, and even allow you to observe some of the rituals."

"i'd be delighted to."

This is what Harmony demanded. This is what was required. This was simply another trial, another challenge, presented to me by the spirit of Harmony, to prove the lengths I was willing to go to in service of it. That I was now poring over the various volumes about the nature of necromancy and soul gems while Indigo tutored me was just one more thing to do to see Harmony returned to the galaxy.

It was fascinating, actually, the nature of necromantic magic. The kind of work that went into harvesting an individual's soul and supplanting it in another's body, or use it to power some manner of magical artifact, was interesting. Most of the books at the temple were truly ancient, hundreds of years old, but the basic principles of necromancy hardly ever changed, I suspected.

"Precisely how does this sort of thing work?" I asked Indigo, who sat across from me. She had brought along one of her one notebooks, filled edge to edge with remarks and sketches from years prior, when she herself had been a student of Mortis. She slid the notebook over to me and I began to review it, comparing the old notes with what the books had taught me.

"It depends on the nature of the ritual" Indigo said. "For supplantation, two bodies must of course be present. The dying has their soul removed from their body and transferred to the other corpse."

"Wouldn't they still be dead, if both bodies are just corpses?" I asked.

Indigo nodded. "Usually this sort of thing is performed with an elderly individual wishing to transfer their being to a younger body. The second body is usually sourced from someone who died suddenly--cardiac arrest, stroke, asphyxiation--and is revived through conventional necromancy as the soul is transferred. Obviously someone who was shot, crushed, or bludgeoned would not be used for the procedure."

"And this works? The soul is successfully transferred with all of the subject's memories intact?"

"Not typically, no. If the supplantation is successful the subject usually retains no memories of their past self, and attempting to remind them of their past life can have disastrous consequences" Indigo explained.

"How so?"

"The soul is a manifestation of self, of personal identity, but it's more nebulous than something like genetics or the brain. The soul does not harbor any memories, it does not have a physical effect on the body, but rather defines how an individual may act or think. It governs things like your conscience, your character, and your perceptions, but it can not remember. Therefore, when trying to make a supplanted soul remember the past self and reconcile it with the new memories of the new brain, severe psychological conditions can manifest. Multiple personality disorder, schizophrenia, even psychosis. It's as if two individuals are attempting to share the same spirit."

"So what is the point of supplantation, and how does it relate to other trees of necromancy?" I asked. From the outset I knew I was not seeking to use my soul gems for supplantation, but if the souls of the new Bearers could not bear the memories of their physical selves then my plan would not work.

"Honestly, the point of supplantation is to prove it can be done. It is typically sought out by the elderly who struggle to accept the concept of mortality, and wish to cheat death. If the procedure is successful, then technically the individual has successfully cheated death, but they're not the same person. Imagine driving a hovercar, and you get out. Someone else gets in and they drive it, but it's not their hovercar. They might believe it's their hovercar, and may even act or present it as it is, but it'll never truly be their hovercar. That's kinda what supplantation is like. As for how it relates to the rest of necromancy, it's more or less a test for new students of necromancy. To prove they have the knowledge to properly perform the ritual, and thus can perform other, more complex procedures" Indigo said.

I nodded. "You said that the soul does not remember, but since it governs conscience and perception, wouldn't the individual who receives the supplanted soul come to behave and think the same way as the former creature?"

"Yes, and it's actually rather fascinating to watch if the creature having its soul supplanted is someone you were familiar with. As the soul harbors the metaphysical sense of 'self' then soul gems are more or less storage devices for the conscience. The soul of a good pony being inserted into the body of a bad pony will see that bad pony come to behave as a good pony" Indigo said.

So it would work! If the souls of the new Bearers were put into soul gems and used to power the Harmony Device, then it would work! The device didn't need to know their memories, it just needed to act as a channel for their good and virtuous natures. "What about harvesting souls to power magical artifacts and tools? Would that be more or less complex than supplantation?" I asked.

Indigo thought about it for a moment before speaking. "Both. Since you're not supplanting the soul, the procedure is much easier. The trouble comes when you go to use that soul to power the device. The nature of the soul has to be compatible with the device; the soul of a shy, timid pony could not power a weapon, for example. Conversely, the soul of a selfish, sadistic pony could not power a gardening machine. A soul gem will change color based on the nature of the soul occupying it; the darker it is, the more sinister and twisted the soul inside."

I was giddy. With the guidance of the Pie sisters, the new Bearers would come to develop good-natured and virtuous souls, and would readily power the Harmony device! IT WOULD WORK!!

"What about returning a dead pony to life in the same body?" I asked.

"Well that's what medicine is for, isn't it? Bodies can be returned to life through necromancy, of course. It happens with supplantation, but that's the point of supplantation. If a pony dies, and there's a chance of bringing them back, then we use medicine or surgery. There's no point to use necromancy. Harvesting a soul and attempting to put it back in the same body would leave the creature still dead. It's why supplantation is popular; the dying believe they can just transfer their whole consciousness along with their soul, but it doesn't work that way."

I nodded. "Can I see a supplantation? Is that something you all do here?"

"It is, and I do believe we have some specimens ready for supplantation. Follow me."

A short time later I found myself in a ritual room with two tables, on each was a fresh corpse, one a pony and the other a Griffon. I could only wonder how the necromancers came to possess these bodies, but it mattered very little. I was merely here as an observer. Indigo and some of her cohorts were gathered near the bodies, runes painted on each.

"We don't chant incantations or light candles, if that's what you were expecting" Indigo said. "Typically this procedure involves just a tremendous amount of magic and some soul gems. Supplantations are usually fairly easy, so if you're comfortable with the spells you studied you could help."

I nodded and stepped forward. A soul gem had been placed on the stomach of the dead pony, a yellow Pegasus, and a rune painted around it. The necromancers formed a ring around the table and ignited their horns, each of them touching the soul gem. It began to hover into the air over the Pegasus's corpse and thick pink magic began to flow up from her body to the gem. I lit my own horn and touched the gem, and the hue of the magic deepened to violet. I looked to Indigo but she didn't seem perturbed, so I continued. After a few minutes the procedure was apparently finished, and the soul gem hovered of its own accord above the pony's body.

"After you" Indigo said, and I used my magic to move the soul gem over to the Griffon's body. She was the same sex, at least, though I wasn't sure if that was something that factored into the equation. I placed the gem over the Griffon's stomach and fed my magic back through the gem, and the violet magic poured down into the creature's still form. After a few minutes the Griffon began to stir; her head turned, her talons twitched, and her eyes fluttered open.

That's when she started screaming.

As the last of the magic poured out of the soul gem the Griffon rolled off the table, away from us, and scrambled back into a corner, screaming. She held up her talons as if she'd never seen them before, and her eyes shrank to pinheads. She began to hyperventilate, and her eyes darted along each of us. "WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?! WHO ARE YOU ALL!?!"

I was confused, and turned to look at Indigo and the others, who all looked as equally unsure as I did. It seemed something different had happened, and none of them were sure what. I was about to offer an explanation when the Griffon caught sight of the Pegasus's corpse, and she began shrieking in horror.

"THAT'S ME!! THAT'S FUCKING ME, ON THAT TABLE! THAT'S ME THAT'S FUCKING ME THAT'S ME!!"

That wasn't possible, at least not according to Indigo. There was no way that the supplanted soul remembered the past self. "Miss, please calm down! Just relax and try to talk to us" I said, and she turned to look at me, and all color drained from her face.

"An Alicorn... A fucking Alicorn... No, no that can't be... You're all dead, you're all fucking dead... I-- I'M FUCKING DEAD, TOO! WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?!?"

I wasn't sure of what to do, but as it turns out I never got to do anything. Before I could try again to calm the supplanted pony down Indigo shot her in the head with a quick beam of magic, and the Griffon corpse collapsed to the floor. I will admit to being more than a little disturbed, but if nothing else I was glad the bizarre episode was over. I looked at Indigo and she looked a little unsettled, but was otherwise completely composed. She walked over to the Griffon's body and picked up the empty soul gem from the floor. "What the fuck just happened?" I asked her.

Indigo took one look at the soul gem and placed it on the table. "She remembered who she was."

"You said that wasn't possible. The soul does not bear memories."

"It's not possible. It's not supposed to be, anyway. I guess it had something to do with you, and your Alicorn magic."

"I wasn't aware Alicorn magic was all that different from Unicorn magic" I protested. Certainly my magical tutors or Twilight herself had ever indicated as much. I may have been more powerful than even the most gifted Unicorn, and I was immortal, but I had always been under the impression that magic was magic. Would this complicate harvesting the Bearers to power the Harmony device? If it would then I supposed that Moondancer and Sunburst would have to perform the ritual, or perhaps we could construct devices to do it for us.

Indigo sighed. "You learn something new every day, I guess. Come on, let's go study some more." She ordered the others present to clean up the bodies and the two of us left the ritual room and headed back towards the common rooms.

I spent the rest of the day practicing using soul gems to power magical weapons and artifacts, and it was here that I thrived. I was told, even, that the weapons I'd enchanted were more powerful than normal, a fact I found interesting. This was the knowledge I'd need to power the Harmony Device, so the fact that I'd taken to it so readily was a good sign. I was confident that once I went over this knowledge with Moondancer and Sunburst that we'd be ready.

"I see that our resident Great One has taken to the rituals. I heard about the unfortunate mishap earlier. Sometimes that is the nature of magic; it can be unpredictable" I heard Mortis say from behind. I'd been in one of the rooms, using a soul gem to enchant a sword, when he'd come in. I took a moment to finish the enchantment before I set it down and turned to face him, a smile on my face.

"Yes, indeed. It's rather exciting, actually. To see wisps of steam rise off the blade as the chilled sword passes through the air, or see it alight with flame, is very interesting. It makes me wonder what other uses necromancy could have" I said.

"Well, supplantations and enchantments are the most common. Raising shades and spirits is less practical, but of course those can have their uses. Here, we just mostly practice and study the nature of necromancy. It delights me to see how Alicorn magic changes the nature of necromantic spells, even if there are some unfortunate consequences."

I nodded. "I've been wondering about that myself. Indigo explained that the soul cannot bear memories, but as you know when I do supplantations the individual remembers everything about their past selves. I understand this is new ground, but I was wondering if you knew anything about it."

"I'm afraid not, though I absolutely will study it more. This may be the breakthrough that legitimizes necromancy as a practical magic, that will allow us to return to the Garden Worlds as ponies of note. Think of a synergy with necromancy and science; our species might achieve true immortality" Mortis said.

"I'm not sure I follow. In order for a supplantation to occur, there must be two bodies. If the aim is for one to live forever, just being supplanted each time they reach old age, then what about the young body they'll be overtaking? That will have to come from somewhere. Does the young, dead pony also get supplanted? Where does that body then come from? You see where I'm coming from, yes?" I asked.

Mortis frowned but nodded. "Mmm, yes I do. I hadn't considered such a thing." He smiled. "Such is the nature of Great Ones; so much wiser than us all. Still, this discovery is something to be lauded, and it can still have practical benefits."

I had no intention of ever letting this knowledge getting out, but of course I wasn't going to tell Mortis that. I was beginning to think about how I would leave this place and get back to my search for soul gems. Although, I could just take one from here. I only need one more I thought, which was true enough. I'd just have to wipe all their memories and go.

In the end, I decided to stay at least a few more days, to learn what else I could about how to use soul gems. The less I had to learn later, on my own, the better.

"In any event, I'll leave you to your experiments, Great One" Mortis said, and turned to leave. I moved to follow, making sure I didn't leave anything lying out that didn't need to be.

"Actually, it's time for me to take a break. Do you know if Indigo is free?" I asked.

"Oh? I believe she is, yes. I have some business I need to attend to, myself, but as always you should find her in the other wing. Studying, most likely. Adieu, Great One." I nodded at Mortis and trotted towards the West wing. A quick check of the common rooms found Indigo lying on her bunkbed, reading. She nodded at me as I came in.

"Ah, Flurry, it's good to see ya. I take it you've been practicing?" she asked as she set her book down and sat up. I sat on my haunches next to her and nodded.

"Yes, though I'm taking a break just now. Mortis talked to me about how my discovery could legitimize necromancy, and show how it has practical uses. We may all be able to return to the Garden Worlds someday" I told her, making small talk. She seemed to perk up at that.

"You think so? Goodness, I'd love to go back to Ascension, or any of the Garden Worlds, even. Just to get away from this horrid place. I'd give anything to leave and never come back" she said, and I nodded in agreement.

"Wouldn't that be something? To leave The Dome and never come back. Maybe one day, Indigo. For now, though, we must study this breakthrough, refine it. The biggest hurdle is performing a perfect supplantation and preventing the supplanted individual from having a psychological breakdown once they realize they've been supplanted. Perhaps it's as simple as telling the individual that they're going to be supplanted" I said.

Indigo thought about it for a moment. "Perhaps, Flurry, but pretty much all the creatures we get are already dead when we perform the supplantations. We'd need a live pony. Any creature would work, of course, but obviously none of the other races trust us. I'll talk with Mortis about it, see if he can find us a live pony. It's certainly something worth investigating."

"Indeed it is" I lied. Something I'd been doing a lot. Something I promised myself I'd never do, but... Harmony demanded sacrifices. It was just a matter of how much more it would demand of me.