The Necromancer's Apprentice

The rest of the trip back to Katrina's hut was relatively uneventful. The feline witch spent a good chunk of the journey explaining how she'd come up with her "miracle concoction" to rid Twilight of her macabre hunger. A lot of the little intricacies of the potion crafting process went over the filly's head. She found she even had trouble following the broader strokes of what went into making potions, but Grogar seemed genuinely interested as Katrina explained the various ingredients that went into the mixture.

Still, even if Twilight didn't understand now, she listened carefully, storing as much of the information about potion crafting and alchemy in general to study later. The filly wondered if she would've learned such things had she passed her entrance exam into Celestia's school without incident. The thought brought back some painful memories, but Twilight found that each of those memories had become... muted somehow. She could remember her family and her relatively sort life in Canterlot, but none of it felt real.

Or rather, it felt like it had all happened to somepony else entirely. It also felt like her death and the life proceeding it had happened eons ago, despite only a few weeks passing. Or had it only been a few weeks? Thinking back, the undead filly found she actually wasn't sure. She hadn't paid much attention to the passage of time in Grogar's castle. There wasn't really a need. All that mattered were the lessons her mentor was so graciously imparting to her.

Putting the intrusive thoughts out of her mind, Twilight continued to listen to the conversation between Katrina and Grogar as they approached Katrina's modest abode. From what little she could glean of the discussion, Katrina had brewed a potion that would, if all went well, spiritually graft what was essentially an artificial soul onto Twilight's own undead soul that would replicate itself indefinitely so long as there was a bit of the soul left.

It acted similarly to a prosthetic limb that could regrow itself if damaged. Granted, calling it an artificial soul wasn't a completely accurate statement. It was more so a blob of formless, artificially concocted spiritual essence. Twilight personal thought it was the same thing, but Katrina insisted there were small but significant differences. True artificial souls did exist, but creating one was no mere feat. It required tremendous sacrifice and a skill in soul magic that had been honed over centuries of practice.

What Katrina had created was far less potent and completely unfit to use as a substitute for any creature's true soul on its own. As a simple spiritual prosthetic, though, it was excellent. That said, it wasn't a perfect solution. Through Grogar's verbal prodding, Katrina eventually confessed that her solution was more or less a stopgap measure. While Katrina was confident the soul graft would hold for several decades, the spiritual essence used to create the graft would deteriorate eventually, and the whole thing would fall apart if not reapplied in time.

At Twilight's horrified expression and Grogar's dark grimace, Katrina was quick to explain that the filly's soul would remain unharmed. The hunger, however, would return with a vengeance. When asked by Twilight if Katrina could fix the graft, Katrina revealed that she could, so long as she had the proper ingredients to recreate the concoction. The problem was that a few of the most important ingredients she'd used to make the potion were exceedingly rare.

Given the current state of things, the witch, for as impressive as the potion was should it work, was in no position to supply Grogar and Twilight with any more of the brew. Some of the ingredients could be found in various parts of Tartarus. In fact, according to the witch, most of what she needed could be found in this very realm. The problem lay not only in the fact that they were still hard to find, but also in the fact that some of the ingredients Katrina had on hand were native only to her homeland and couldn't be replicated in Tartarus.

Once she was out, that was it unless she returned home to collect more, and naturally none of them could do any such thing. Not for a long time at least. Twilight asked Grogar if he could create a true artificial soul, given that he was a powerful necromancer. Grogar, in response, had said that he did indeed have such an ability. The problem was that trying to graft a true artificial soul onto the filly's own would completely overwrite Twilight's own soul.

Absorbing an artificial soul to sate Twilight's hunger was also out of the question. Not only was it far too resource intensive to be sustainable for very long, but it wouldn't work anyway. Artificial souls were just that—artificial. They functioned like real souls and could be used to animate a corpse or even bring the dead back to life in certain, specific circumstances, but at the end of the day, they weren't real souls. They didn't provide the necessary "nutrients" that a lich soul needed to stave off the hunger.

It was why Katrina's potion was so ingenious, despite its comparative impotence. Spiritual essence on its own was only good as a temporary supplement when applied to one's soul, but it worked because of how it was implemented. Artificial souls also used spiritual essence as a foundation, but the process to create one effectively destroys any usefulness that essence would have as a meal or supplement for the true soul.

Katrina's potion evidently not only left the function of spiritual essence intact, but something in the combination of ingredients allowed the essence to replenish itself. That meant that, weak as its separate components were, the potion itself was greater than the sum of its parts. To brew such a fiendishly complex concoction in so little time was a borderline miraculous achievement that proved that Katrina was, undoubtedly, a master of her craft.

That was, assuming the potion worked as it should.

"So... this is it, then?" Grogar said once they'd all made it back to the hut.

Upon their arrival, Katrina had wasted no time in showing the ancient ram and undead filly her latest and greatest creation. The proud molly had hurried over to a small crafting table next to her cauldron and snatched up a small corked vial before presenting it to her two guests. Rather than the typical rounded potion bottle Twilight would have expected to see, the witch held up a small, flat-bottomed cylindrical vial that was much closer to a test tube than anything else.

More than the glass container itself, Twilight was taking by the substance contained within. At first glance, Twilight thought Katrina had captured a vial of colorless vapor. The only evidence that anything was in the glass tube were the swirls and ripples that disturbed what looked like air as the witch gently shook the container. Twilight had to step closer and squint, but eventually, she could just make out that the diaphanous vapor-like substance was, in fact, a liquid so clear and fine that it was almost invisible.

"This is, indeed, it," Katrina replied proudly to Grogar's intrigued inquiry, "I've yet to settle on a name for the potion, but I'm partial to anima innesto, or the 'soul graft' potion for the layman."

"And you've made this kind of thing before?" Twilight asked, her tone and expression caught somewhere between awe and trepidation, "have you tested it?"

"Yes and yes," Katrina replied, looking somewhat affronted by the questions, "unlike you, little one, I've left my days as an apprentice long behind me. Granted, it's not often I get to make something like this, but I never forget a successfully brewed potion and I keep extensive notes on every part of the process, thank you very much."

As if to punctuate her statement, Katrina pointed a claw toward a smaller dresser near the table where she'd picked up the vial. Following the witch's claw, Twilight saw a grey and black quill, a well-used inkwell, and a black, time-worn journal so thick she'd almost mistaken it for a tome. Seeing this, Twilight gave a slow nod, a measure of respect cutting its way into her mild anxiety about imbibing an unknown potion.

"Now, before we begin, there is one more thing I need to complete the potion," Katrina continued, bringing the filly's attention back to the witch. She balked as Katrina gave her a toothy grin and said, "I'm afraid I'll need to take a piece of you, dear."

"I... wh-what?!"

The molly let out a very unladylike guffaw at Twilight's reaction. Grogar furrowed his thick brows in response, the necromancer not at all amused by her antics. Seeing this, Katrina's mirth faltered and cleared her throat, but her smile remained in place as she addressed the panicking filly.

"Relax, Twilight," she said reassuringly, "it's nothing like what you're imagining. I simply need to put a little bit of you into the potion to complete the brew—something as harmless as a strand of hair from your mane or tail would do just fine."

At that, Twilight visibly relaxed, then nodded and replied, "Yeah, I mean, if that's all you need, then I can—"

"Hold a moment," Grogar interjected, raising a cloven hoof in front of Twilight and giving Katrina a pointed look, "before we proceed, I believe a proper explanation of what this process will entail is in order." He narrowed his crimson eyes slightly, "What exactly is going to happen to Twilight?"

Katrina looked from Grogar to the vial in her claws, her brows furrowing in consternation. She grimaced as if struggling with something internal, then sighed as she returned Grogar's wary frown with a solemn gaze.

"Know that whatever immediate reaction may come, this potion will staunch the lich's hunger—of that, you have my word," the witch began. She paused, a brief flash of reluctance crossing her face before she schooled her features and pressed on, "that said... this is a delicate and incredibly invasive process, almost like surgery in a way." She gave Twilight an apologetic frown, "It'll be fleeting, but there will be pain, and lots of it, I'm afraid."

Twilight swallowed, her face going pale. Grogar merely grunted and gave a small nod, as if he'd expected as much. "Given your expertise, I will defer to your judgement on the matter and ask: Will the pain be enough to break her? And what of potential side effects?"

Katrina did her best to ignore Twilight's terrified flinch at Grogar's question as she responded, "It will essentially be the spiritual equivalent of a particularly nasty toothache—at least, that's how I've heard it described. It'll hurt, and the pain might linger a bit, but you'll live and be all the better for it. This, I guarantee."

Twilight swallowed again and opened her mouth to tentatively press, "A-And... the side effects?"

"It's different for each creature, but the side effects of the potion are almost always minor in scope from what I've observed in the past," the witch replied with a shrug, "I've seen everything from passing out for a time to losing one's voice for a few days... but none have died or been seriously injured."

"That's not exactly reassuring, witch," Grogar replied, his eyes narrowing further. To his slight surprise, Katrina shot the ram a look somewhere between exasperation and annoyance.

"Look, I never said the potion was one hundred percent safe to drink, Grogar," she snapped back, "potion crafting is a dangerous science at the best of times, and most potions will have adverse effects in some shape or form—especially with a potion this complex. There's no world where this potion won't have some kind of downside, but I swear on my life that she will come out of the ordeal much better than before."

For a long, tense moment, no one said anything. Grogar continued to eye the molly with an expression that gave nothing away. Katrina met his stare with cold, hard, confidence and determination. Twilight looked from the necromancer to Katrina, then to the vial of nigh invisible liquid. She bit her lip, but eventually the filly was the one to break the silence. Her face settled into something somewhere between resolute and resigned.

"I'll do it," Twilight said, catching the attention of the two adults. Katrina looked somewhat surprised, but Grogar simply watched the filly, his expression mostly unchanged. Twilight took their reactions in and let out a calming breath before nodding to the vial as she said, "The potion... you're sure it'll help me with that hunger and that I won't die, right?"

Katrina paused a moment, then slowly nodded. "I'd happily stake my life on that fact," she said, no hesitation in her tone whatsoever.

"Alright then," Twilight said, giving her own nod as she magically plucked an indigo-colored strand of hair from her mane and floated it over to the witch, "I... I feel like I can trust you, Katrina," she glanced over to Grogar, "maybe that's not wise... but something tells me you don't want to hurt me, and I want to believe that."

Katrina, completely taken aback by the undead filly's words, gently took hold of the floating strand of hair. Twilight's sinister violet aura vanished as the molly pinched her claws around the hair and pulled it closer, her mouth open and her mind working to give some kind of response. In the end, all she could do was give a helpless smile and chuckle warmly.

"Well, that's a first," she finally said as she uncorked the vial, "most would tell you not to trust a witch, and I'm sure the necromancer there would agree..."

Katrina carefully dropped the hair into the vial and corked it once more before raising it above her slightly and giving it a quick shake. All three creatures watched as the clear liquid bubbled and frothed before turning a deep, dark shade of purple that radiated a malicious-looking glow. Twilight was keenly aware that the potion was now the same exactly color as her own warped magical aura, and tried to ignore how unsettling the fact was. Katrina, for her part, gave a satisfied smile at the results.

"...I would also agree with the sentiment," the witch continued, bringing the vial closer to her face and peering into its contents as if the potion held the secrets to the universe, "a good chunk of witches are spiteful, mean-spirited harpies that won't hesitate to take advantage of you in every way possible." With a satisfied nod, she held the vial out to Twilight, her smile growing more genuine, "That said, we're not all of us are bitter, cantankerous crones, and I appreciate your faith in me. It won't go unrewarded, you'll see."

Twilight's horn lit up with that dark violet aura, but she hesitated to grab the vial. Instead, she glanced over to Grogar. The necromancer had kept his silence during the exchange, and despite his aloof demeanor, Twilight could sense his wariness. Still, the ram nodded after a moment, giving the filly the okay to take the potion. With that, Twilight took the vial into her aura and brought it to her lips, but paused.

The potion was still frothing and Twilight could even feel some slight heat radiating from the vial. The sight almost reminded her of grape soda, and she found herself suddenly craving the fizzy, fruity drink. She grimaced, but ultimately knew there was no sense in putting it off. Setting any hesitation or distracting thoughts aside, she tipped her head back and downed the frothing, bubbling brew.

At first, nothing happened.

Twilight stood there, her body tense and ready for anything. When a dozen or so seconds passed, she looked at Katrina expectantly. The witch didn't look worried and merely nodded at her as she said, "Give it a moment. Sometimes it takes—"

Twilight gasped in sudden pain, her body shuddering as she felt something settle into her very being. She had no way to describe the sensation other than that it was horribly painful and exceedingly unpleasant, like stepping in fresh dog poop. Twilight didn't know exactly what the sensation was, but she instinctually knew her body was trying to reject whatever the potion was doing to her.

Katrina was saying something, but Twilight didn't hear her. Her mind was entirely focused on what was going on inside her. The mysterious and painful invader—the spirit essence, the filly belatedly realized—shifted suddenly and the pain lessened somewhat. It took a moment for Twilight to understand, but then she felt it. The essence, apparently having found its target, was moving toward it.

Gradually, the pain grew less severe and the sensation grew less uncomfortable. At the same time, the silver bell hanging around Twilight's neck began to glow with increasing intensity, the rune-like markings engraved into the metalwork radiating a brilliant violet glow so bright it was nearly blinding. Twilight opened her mouth and was certain she was screaming, but the sound was completely drowned out by the sound of a raging river roiling between her ears.

Its tumultuous rapids swept up her pain, her fear, the disgusting sensation of the foreign spirit essence, and the last dregs of her consciousness, carrying it all away down into a waterfall of sweet oblivion.