New World, New Problems
The world is harsh, a landscape of lava flows and volcanoes. The air is strangled by clouds and gases, and super charged particles cause sporadic lightning strikes to destroy bedrock and reinvigorate dead flows.
Although, not all the lightning was caused purely by atmospheric disturbances.
“TZEENTCH!” the former Emperor of Mankind screamed, slamming His, or rather, Her, hooves into the ground “THIS IS YOUR ATTEMPT AT DEFEATING ME?! WHAT ARE YOU, SOME KIND OF CHILD?! I SHOULD HAVE HUNTED YOU DOWN AND KILLED YOU FIRST INSTEAD OF GOING AFTER THAT WHORE SLAANESH!” She planted Her hooves and drew as much energy as possible, in an attempt to smash Her way back into the Immaterium. However, in Her rage, She drew too much energy and was blasted back, the ground shattering as She hit. The Emperor groaned and pulled Herself up from the ground, small bits of rock falling off Her back.
“Stuck in the body of a female xenos, tossed through the Immaterium, stranded on some barren speck of rock... Some victory this is.” She walked over to a nearby crag of rock and sat down, staring out across the landscape that was Her new home. Seeing nothing better to do, She opened Her soul to the Immaterium, hoping to glean any sort of information as to where exactly She was.
She found... nothing. The Immaterium was, for lack of a better term, clear. Where there were storms of emotion and the corruption of daemons, there were now calm pools of energy. Small tremors that could be mistaken for daemonic presence came and went in the blink of an eye, dying out from the lack of emotions to sustain themselves. Even the oppressive void of the Hive Mind was gone, the sound of innumerable monstrosities no longer echoing throughout the Immaterium.
Still, there was some advantage to having the Immaterium being so calm; with no daemons to worry about She could utilize more Warp energy than She normally could. How to properly channel and store that energy would have to be worked out later, but for now She was content to know Her powers had increased. She recalled Her soul, looking around again at the wasteland She resided in.
“The threats of the old world are gone.” She said, thinking long and hard upon the implications. “... Perhaps I have been looking at this wrong. With the Ruinous Powers scattered, the Hive Mind vanished, and no other xenos to be seen, I can rebuild.” She smiled as images of a new Imperium, shining bright and pure as the rising sun, flashed through Her mind. She saw cities of industrious people, all working together to build the Imperium, protected by thousands of devoted and beloved guards and soldiers. All of Humanity, working as one... for a leader who looked like some geneticist’s worst nightmare.
“No, no more humans. They served me well, but they must go on without me. I shall create new followers to rebuild my Imperium. The Chaos Gods thought they cursed me,” She chuckled. “But now I am in a position and have the power to build the universe to my design.” She smiled, plans for Her new empire already forming in Her head.
“First, though, this world is too harsh.” She looked up at the sky once more, watching the clouds of smoke drifting along. “It’s said that Earth was allowed life when a second planet crashed into it while it was still young... I could recreate that phenomenon.” Tapping into the Immaterium once more, She searched Her new realm for a planet or planetoid of sufficient size. Several She found would have worked, had they not been so far away, and the closest ones She did find were too small to have much effect.
Finally She found one; it was about the size of Mars, and similar in color to Holy Terra. Its normal path would cause it to fall into the system’s sun, but its gravitational pull was weak enough that a sufficient nudge from the Warp could shift it to a more desirable orbit. Releasing Her soul once more, the Emperor drifted through the Immaterium until She arrived at the planet, drawing as much Warp Energy as She could muster and aiming it at the planet’s surface.
An outside viewer would have seen nothing, just a strong wind blowing across the planet’s surface. Those exposed to the Warp, be they psyker or daemon, would have seen the Emperor beating against the planet with Her wings, waves of Warp Energy washing over the planet below. Slowly, the planet began to shift, set on a collision course for the Emperor’s dwelling. Exhausted, and with most of Her Warp Energy depleted, the Emperor returned Her soul to Her body, standing as She did so.
“This world shall have life, as I have commanded it. Now, I must prepare the ground.”
...
Years went by as the planets slowly drifted towards each other. For the first five years, She began to make adjustments to the system around Her, pushing and pulling every asteroid, planet, even the sun, just to make it perfect. When that was finished, She spent another five years meditating and studying Her new body. This was no easy task, and She now knew where to put the oceans due to the number of times She crashed attempting to fly. Flying aside, She had figured out that the horn She carried was very efficient at conducting Warp Energy, and much safer than Her normal methods of manipulating the Warp.
The last five years had been... different. With no real tasks to do, and having mastered Her new form, She took to carving effigies of the Chaos Gods out of the rock and blasting them to pieces with Her powers. She had just finished constructing a statue of Tzeentch, the raven-figure glaring at Her as She prepared Her assault, when She came to a realization.
“This must be what boredom feels like,” She said, casually knocking the statue over and walking away. “How could my followers do this, sitting alone in their little rooms and praying for my presence?” She sighed, sitting down near a small pool of lava. “As least when I was in the Throne I had the Astronomicon to maintain, and what do I have now? Rocks.” She sighed again, swatting a pebble into the lava.
That pebble proved Her inspiration, for after it had sank, the depression formed the shape of a bird before vanishing. She looked at the pool for a moment before smiling and getting back on Her hooves.
“Beings of flesh and blood cannot yet survive, but a creature of fire can prosper. It shall be my icon, my companion as I raise a new world.” Her smile widening, She reached out with Her power and plucked a fist-sized clump of magma from the pool, quickly forming it into the shape of a bean. Satisfied, She turned Her head and plucked a smaller feather from Her right wing, levitating it so it floated next to the bean.
“I now grant you the gifts of Fire, Life and Flight. By my side you shall fly, and by fire you shall renew yourself.” channeling more Warp Energy, She flattened the bean and wrapped it around the feather, the lightweight fibers proving no match for the intense heat of molten rock. As the feather melted, the bean began to twist and quiver, shifting as the transformation took hold. There was a flash followed by a shriek, and the Emperor watched as Her first creation took wing.
It was a spectacular thing, a mighty raptor in red and gold feathers. Flames danced from the tips of its feathers as it flew, soaring over the land and diving amongst the crags and cliffs. It circled once more before landing in front of the Emperor, staring up at Her as if trying to comprehend what the being before it was.
“You are my firebird, and you shall be amongst the greatest of my creations. Now,” She raised Her left foreleg. “Come, for there is more we must do to prepare this world.” The bird stared at the Emperor for a moment before squawking and flying off, leaving the Emperor very confused and a bit angry.
“No, I said ‘come’, not fly. Return to me at once!” the bird squawked again and disappeared. Growling, the Emperor spread Her wings and took flight, chasing after Her troublesome companion. “Cease this foolishness, bird!”
The two raced through the sky, breaking through clouds of smoke and diving between volcanoes. The Emperor was powerful, but the bird was fast and kept well ahead of Her. Occasionally it would stall, allowing Her time to catch up, before shooting off again and leaving small fleck of fire in the Emperor’s face. As Her frustration mounted, the bird became more crafty, doubling back and dropping down on Her from above.
“I do not want this to continue! If you will only listen-” the bird swooped down again, throwing Her sense of direction off for a moment. “I said you should-” there was another shriek as the bird dove behind a rock.
“BE STILL!!!” the Emperor roared, Her voice shattering rocks and causing lightning to split the earth. Power radiated from Her body, causing Her eyes to glow white and Her mane and tail to move quicker in the unseen wind. The bird landed on the ground in front of Her, unfazed by the show of power.
“LISTEN TO ME. I DO NOT WANT TO DEAL WITH YOUR EVASIVE ACTIONS. WE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE COMPANIONS, FRIENDS EVEN. WHY CAN’T YOU JUST ACCEPT THAT?” the bird looked up at Her and squawked.
"YOU THINK I’M... being... rude?” All the power drained from Her eyes. “Why do you think so?” the bird chirped several syllables. “Well, yes I may have sounded demanding, but I am the Emperor; it is within my right to demand something from you.” the bird squawked again. “... Fine, I’m the Empress, not the Emperor. Does that make you happier?” the bird nodded and the Empress sighed, descending and sitting down in front of Her creation.
“But that still doesn’t explain why you think I’m... rude.” The bird chirped a few times. “Of course I respect you; you are my first creation in this world... And, to be honest, you are the first non-daemonic being I’ve had a meaningful conversation with in centuries.” more squawking. “Lonely? I am never alone; my soul is fortified and the will of Humanity is at my back... or at least it would be if humans still existed in this realm.” She sighed again. “Don’t worry, in a few centuries I’ll have new followers to lead. Since you seem to be more free spirited than I anticipated, you may leave me if you so desire.” the bird shook its head and flew over to the Empress, landing on Her back and stroking its beak against Her neck.
“I guess that means you’ll stay.” the bird nodded. “Very well, we shall guide my followers together... but first, what shall I call you?” there was a pause before the bird chirped several times.
“Philomena? That is a fine name worthy of your splendor.” the Empress rose, Philomena remaining perched on Her back. “Come, there is more to do to prepare this world for life.”
...
“Wait, that’s where Philomena came from?” Twilight asked. Celestia paused from her story and looked at the filly.
“Yes. Did your parents tell you otherwise?”
“Uh... they said something about magic...” Twilight shuffled her hooves again. "Is that right?"
“That is the closest approximation to the exact nature of the Warp most ponies can think of. But yes, I did use my magic to bring life to this world.”
“By crashing planets together?”
“I can move the sun and moon with ease; I think I can handle something as simple as altering a planetoid’s movement.”
“But what about all the other living things?” Twilight said, standing up. “What about all the other birds, or lizards, or squirrels, or ponies? What about ponies?”
“I created them as well, although it required a few other techniques I would rather not discuss right now.” this caused Twilight to raise an eyebrow in confusion.
“Why not?”
“It involves a lot of advanced sciences that haven’t even been invented yet.”
“I could understand!” Twilight cried.
“I’m sure you could, but it is for the betterment of all ponies that I do not disclose them.”
“Why?”
“Remember those soldiers I told you about, the Astartes?” Twilight nodded as Celestia continued. “I used a similar technique to create them; I tampered with their genetic structures to make them stronger and faster than any living thing they could oppose, and I did so in the name of violence and conquest. I still hold that knowledge in my head, but should somepony without my morals get ahold of the information... I shudder to imagine what could happen.” there was a knock at the door, causing the Princess and her student to turn. “Who is it?”
“It’s me, auntie.” a voice called from the hall. “I was looking for Twilight so I could give her back her Smartypants doll, but I couldn’t find her anywhere.”
“She’s in here with me. We were just discussing a few things.” the door opened and in walked a young pink alicorn, a small doll clutched in her magic and her mane tied back in a ponytail. Twilight leapt from her spot on the floor and ran towards the newcomer, a massive smile on her face.
“Cadance!” Twilight squealed, grabbing her foalsitter in the biggest hug she could manage. The two held each other before breaking off for their “secret” greeting.
“Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!” the two chanted, a display that caused Princess Celestia to chuckle. The display over, Twilight latched onto Cadance’s leg as the young alicorn walked towards her aunt.
“I’m glad to see you two are getting along so well.” Celestia said.
“Of course. How could I not get along with the most amazing little filly in the world?” Cadance said, causing Twilight to giggle, before she turned to Celestia. “And... I see you’re wearing your old armor.”
“Well, I just got a little nostalgic and Twilight walked in on me.” Celestia said, giving a small shrug.
“Oh dear, you didn’t do your whole ‘I shall smite thee, mortal’ thing, right?”
“... Maybe.”
“She was all big and scary, too.” Twilight said, finally letting go of Cadance’s leg. “But she’s really really cool, too; she was this big emperor guy and fought all these monsters to save a whole bunch of... a whole bunch of soldiers and stuff!”
“Oh really?” Cadance smiled. “I remember when you told me that story when I was a filly.” she stepped back and raised her right hoof, trying to look as dramatic as possible. “I also remember that you used to get carried away sometimes, especially when you took control of Equestria. ‘The God Empress of Ponykind, Eternal Ruler of Equestria and Commander of the Twenty Legions!’” Celestia gave another chuckle.
“Well, we haven’t gotten that far yet.”
“No, she just made Philomena and was doing a whole bunch of stuff with the planets!” Twilight said, bouncing with energy.
“Oh? Mind if I join you two?” Cadance asked.
“Of course,” Celestia said. “Take a seat and I shall continue.” Cadance nodded and sat down, Twilight following and snuggling up next to her foalsitter. Celestia shifted once more and continued.
“It would still be another two years before the planets finally collided. Philomena’s presence helped me immensely, and I believe those two years were some of the happiest ones I had in a long time. But before the day of the collision, I still had several things to take care of...”
Awesome
Great chapter. So the pre-Long Night thing must Celestia marshaling an army against Sombra?
Can't waite for the next chapter this story is totaly awsome!!!
What 1597985 said. AWE-FECKING-SOME!!!
I'm really enjoying this history building you've got going.
And you're doing well with past Celestia's speech. So much so that I'm having so much trouble hearing it in anything other than than The Emperor, rather than the softer spoken Princess Celestia.
Nice origin story for Philomena. Yeah, she looks enough like the old Imperial sigil that it makes sense she would have been the first creation. It also makes sense that Cadence would know about who her aunt really is.
I think that, after defeating the Chaos Gods, the GEoM was simply too powerful for his universe to contain anymore so it... ejected him into a new one, one that could absorb his energies and intents without being fatally destabilised.
I really like the characterization yo're putting into Celestia, it makes it feel like this could be legitimate canon material.
-Sturrn
Needs some proofreading. I noticed 'when' instead of 'went' early on, there's probably more. Not totally awake.
Premise: still ridiculous. Probably made more ridiculous because you're playing it straight.
MOAR!
cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/400x/28440249.jpg
So according to this, Princess Celestia made her own sister?
Mind = Fucked
Yep. I am so glad I favorited this story. Tis great.
The part of losing his/her temper over Philomena was hilarious.
And as the guy above me said, He created his own sister. ....
i.imgur.com/OJLWK.png?1
Amazing.
WONDERFUL!!!
1598111
Well she isn't quite Celestia yet.
"
" (40k Lore)
I wonder if this will have an impact on Celestia (or the Emperor) when Luna gets corrupted, only instead of killing her own sister she banishes her to the moon because she couldn't bear to kill her most favoured creation once more because of the dark powers.
1599935 She learned her lesson: make sure your opponent is disarmed and subdued before trying to redeem them
1600884
Indeed. The fact that Horus became his old self seconds before his complete obliteration must have left a certain idea that no matter how far one may fall, they can always be redeemed.
Well, this is...
I need a word that's 20% cooler than awesome.
At minimum.
I want to get to that part.
Also, I wonder who will wander into story time next, will it be Shining Armor or Luna? Actually, When in FiM is this taking place? Has Luna even been redeemed yet?
Anyway, this is a great story, and I would like to read some more.
P.S.
I laughed so hard.
1601605 this takes place a few weeks after Twilight was chosen to be Celestia's student (she's about 7 at the time). Shining Armor will probably show up eventually
will this also explain how pinkie can defy the very laws of physics
1602507
You seem to be under the impression that Pinkie obeyed Physics in any reality.
1602507
By the gods....Pinkie is the pony equivalent of an ork psyker! Tremendously powerful and utterly clueless about except that things just happen!
1605721 That's what I was thinking; due to Celestia/The Empress using the Warp to create the world of Equestria, all living creatures have some kind of connection to the Immaterium. Pinkie... is more connected than most ponies
1605729 Ah makes sense. Her gyrocopter wouldn't have worked without her orkiness.....Pinkie needs to go "WAAAAGH!" at least once.
Also Tzeentch's last words to th GEoM knowing what was in store for him would likely be this:
I heart you.
I want to make and rule over my own realm... if only it were so easy.
Philomena caused the Royal Canterlot Voice to be invented?
I am so ok with this idea, and this story in general, it's not even funny.
Good chapter.
Few thoughts.
You have mentioned Hive mind. That equals Tiranids and that leads me to Changeling's as most Tiranid like creatures in MLP. I'm real looking forward to what have you done to describe how some of Equestria inhabitants came to being.
There is one part that bothers me. Not in this exact chapter but in general. There is little known about Emperors character in Warhammer to be honest. Ofc. there is a lot about how great and powerful he is and basically that he protects. But there is little known about his character and we can throw out of the window every gospel-like information we have known about him from Ecclesiarchy. We know that he can be compassionate ( couldn't bring him self to kill his son Horus) but there is also one more aspect of his character that has been given to us.
In Novel Legion we are introduced to The Cabal, a mysterious, ancient interspecies organization opposed to Chaos. In the novel Primarch twins Alpharius and Omegon are confronted by The Cabal. During quite impressive exchange of information members of The Cabal say that the Emperor was the only Human that was ever considered powerful enough to be proposed to join the The Cabal but at the end they rejected him because of his bloodthirst.
I was just wondering how did you as an author dealt with this aspect of his/her character. I like the part about him having high morality etc. but to be honest I'm expecting his bloodthirst to resurrect in his new form one way or the other. The infinite inner struggle of immortal being.
3209676 Well, we know he was born when every Pskyer in the world sacrificed themselves, but we dont know anything really about his persona
This story is excellent. So far, it has explained everything about Equestria in a logical manner, including how Celestia controls the sun.
I just keep flopping between doing it and disappearing for a month or two and then picking it up again only to disappear for another month or two don't I?
But, this is the review of this chapter. I really like how it just slows down after an entire 10000 chapter of "I AM A MAN!" punching the entire thing. I really like how it just has Celestia trying to figure out this world and she's still kind of this rampaging warrior. I really like Philomena's playful personality coming into play here and kind of mellowing out Celestia. I also love the creation of Philomena in this chapter. I thought it made sense because Celestia has had this bird for, who knows how long, and being a phoenix, they can live forever. So, that was neat and really cute. I am interested to hear how Luna comes in. That interests me because, you have to be pretty bad ass to beat Celestia and Celestia is ... basically God. So, how do you fight God? I'm interested to see that. Again, this comes from someone who knows nothing about Warhammer and knows nothing about the characters. So, that's rather fascinating and I'm interested to see how that's done.
The only part I think I didn't like about this chapter, is the Cadance interruption thing. It's not technically bad. But I do feel that it does kind of disturb the flow a bit. Like I said, it's not bad. There's certainly nothing wrong with it. But to me, it kind of kills the flow and not in a way that adds anything new really.
Um... You asked me if I thought about doing a Critique review on this... I think there honestly is enough material just in these few chapters that I could do it. After all, the story is about Celestia's transgender surgery. That's comedy gold. I honestly think there's enough that I could do a Critique review on this. I still want to do this kind of review as well, just to kind of do it. But I'd like to. I don't know when, but I'd like to do a Critique Review on this.
That's all I've got for this chapter, I'll see you at the next one, which will hopefully come sooner. Until then, take care.
Wow, you sir, have shocked me speechless!
*Slow claps* Bravo sir, Bravo...
1602968
Not like the Warp has any business being comprehended anyways....
6917313 Except it's not the warp anymore, it's the realm of souls
This is very enjoyable so far.
1602968 Human!pinkie in equestria girls obeys physics most of the time.
Y'know, when she's not swapping places with her pony self.
I could see that. In an alternate universe the Emperor of Mankind being Princess Celestia, makes sense.
Y'know, I was hesitant about this at first. But honestly so far this has been really enjoyable to read.