//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: The Beginning of the End // Story: Epsilon's peak // by StoryWeaver //------------------------------// "...The heart is a great and terrible thing. It can build monuments, write songs, make poems, and exude love, but it can also destroy countries, burn nations, and above all else, hate..." - Diandus Dreamscape of Her Highness' personal guard circa 10 B.N.M. (Before Nightmare Moon) Chapter Six "Are you sure you can perform this on your own Princess? Wouldn't it be better if we used the Elements?" Twilight asked. "We don't have much time, but yes. The elements will help. gather them in the throne room, good luck to you My Faithful Student." Once Twilight left the room on her mission, Celestia lit her horn for a teleport spell, "May the Scales sway in your favor Twilight. I hope this will work" in a flash of yellow light, Celestia teleported through the ether to an unidentified location. _______________________________________________ Turning another one of the endless corners of the hedge maze, I stood before the first branch off. To the left, marked by red flags, a cloud stair rose into a pure marble pantheon corridor that stretched out of sight over the tall hedges. To the right, marked by blue flags, a tunnel led into the earth, also out of my sight. Left or right? Red or blue? Up or down? After a few moments of indecision I finally chose the right branch, leading down into the ground. I was particularly careful making my way down these stairs. My past experience going down stairs as a pony running through my mind. I hoofed my way carefully down the steps backwards slowly...painfully slowly. Woo! It took a few minutes, but I made it! I turned around and continued the journey, the corridor turning right twice, and opening onto another branch similar to the previous, The two stairways pointed up and down, marked by the same flags. Up to the hedge maze, down to deeper under the earth. I opted to go up, wanting to avoid inching down another set of stairs at a speed that a snail could outdo, back into the hedge maze. Another two rights, another set of two stairs, left went up into the clouds, marked by red flag, the right down into-... wait... Is this the same intersection? Rut... ________________________________________________ *knock, knock* Something stirred in the darkness of the royal bedroom, a rustling of sheets and feathers. *knock* "We are coming! Cease thy knocking!" *BANG!* A shudder ran through the castle. Luna jumped up out of her bed, immediately running toward the door and yanking it open with her magic. Light flooded the room, blinding the lunar diarch for a moment. Celestia was at the door. ________________________________________________ this time I went left, into the clouds, finding the same choice, just made out of white fluffy clouds. left led higher, to more clouds; right dived back into the hedge maze. "Oh come on! More stairs? You gotta be bucking kidding me!" I sensed a not so small amount of amusement from the presence...whatever it was...at my exasperation, and I shot a glare at the supposedly empty air above me. It actually laughed! What the rut! I've been wandering the maze for what seemed like ages but was more likely to be only a few minutes, the presence constantly watching, going both left and right, getting ample practice at going down stairs in the meantime...and several bruises too. I was in the hedge maze branch off when I finally saw it, two small signs at my left and right, the right had something about making decisions... The right one though, now that one clicked in me, it simply read, "what does it matter whether you go left or right if you end up at the same place?" It resonated with me, and made me think, what path had I not taken yet? Well, I could try going backwards... I trotted my way back the way I came, and lo and behold, the path had changed. It went from going backwards along the path I took before (stone if you wanted to know) to a straight path flanked by green flags, it turned left into more of the maze. It was a dead end. At least that's what it looked like, I doubled back again to the branch off, examining it closely to see if anything had changed, the signs were the same, the paths still branched off. What if I doubled back in one of the other areas? I wondered, well, why not? I went up into the clouds, left and when I came to the intersection I doubled back, it led back down into the hedge maze, and turned left, well, that's what happens...huh... I took a close look at the sign, just a fancy eye, I stared at it longer, maybe if I stared at it long enough I could get it to give up it's secrets. Did it just blink? Suddenly the hedge in front of me dissolved, the sign along with it, opening into a hidden grove. It was filled with statues, seven in all. Each one held some unknown symbolism, the presence spoke, "this grove is what lays at your very heart, the potential to be any of the eight gods within the four scales, that in itself is impossible, yet the armor you wear tells differently, it expresses six of the eight plates of the scales," "What're the missing ones?" I asked, curious. "Destruction and evil," I paused for a moment, something about that was very striking, I felt on the verge of realizing something very big. But- "Your next trial, judgement by the eight," Suddenly all the statues in the grove came to life, each being stood upon their pedestal, all but one, a shadowed humanoid figure wearing cowled dark grey robes with gold trim, it walked forward and spoke in the same voice as the presence, "What exactly is it about you that makes you so compatible? Is it what the girl gave you? Or is it simply an inborn trait, the culmination of your species? Unlike so many other hosts you are capable of much more than any other, yet something holds you back..." The figure's eyes were red and seething, he leaned forward, "What is it?" The other figures stepped forward, a pink alicorn, a mismatched creature, Celestia, Luna, A grey unicorn with green eyes that seethed a purple smoke. Each of the eight figures stepped forth and asked me the same question, "Why?" "I don't know..." The whispers of question continued, drilling into my mind, the pain of it making memories well up. The memory of my birth, and of untold power, and a kind understanding presence, easing my crying from within, the girl saving me from death, the creation of Argoron, That final defeat before he sent me hurtling toward the foreign equusian planet waking up for the first time in this strange technicolor world, twilight and the other five, Celestia's kind motherly smile, The book upon the pedestal, the key to my power, The seven entities surrounding me. Argoron. Suddenly it all clicked, There was no eighth entity in the circle, Argoron was not there, He was the point of destruction. I had made him...and he took something very dear to me. I straightened, somewhat, my eyes cold and hard, "I hold back because I choose to. The power of the eight isn't for one entity alone, it is for many to share in understanding. I have come to understand that through my adventures, because each and every thing I did resulted alone resulted in pain and strife for myself and my friends. It was only when I worked with Her that I could truly use my power. She sacrificed herself for me, and I was a fool to return the favor by bringing about her demise. I am truly remoseful for my mistakes, and though I will try to fix it so that this world doesn't suffer like the last, I will not be able to go back and fix my world. This place is now my home." Each of the seven figures stopped and looked at me, then each stepped forward one by one and nodded their approval. Then all but the spirit of creation and Celestia onto their respective platform and returned to their hosts, stone once more. The two stood together, an unspoken tension hanging between them. Finally Celestia spoke, looking away, tears in her eyes, "I wish you hadn't been so rash Raymond," "I know," spoke the robed one, "I am only the power he held you know," "I just wish..." Raymond extended a hand to Celestia's chin, gently guiding her to look into in his eyes, "I know, and yes, though he loved you, time is cruel to us all, Cel'. I wish he could have stayed, but that's not how the scales operate. Reach must take the place destined for him since his conception." Both of the deities looked at me lovingly. I could feel the love they had felt for me, I was their child in an odd sort of way, "I-I don't understand," I said. "You will in time Reach," Creation said, "You will in time..." He then turned to Celestia, "Cel', I need you to hold off destruction for as long as you can. He comes for the boy. I'll do what I can to get Reach ready as quickly as possible, you just keep him off my back. Glim-ahem- Cadence will help you, she's already on her way. release Chaos as well, tell him that he still owes me a favor, He'll understand." Celestia nodded, "It will be done my love," The last echoes of Raymond stood there silently, waiting for Celestia to go. Celestia began to cry again, "Please Raymond, don't leave me..." "I am sorry Cel'...he already did...goodbye..." And with that, Celestia was gone. A statue once again. The manifestation of creation turned to face me. "You are getting closer Reach, but you aren't there yet." He produced the black book of the four scales and handed it to me, "here is the book, read it quickly, it is your third trial." Finally! About time I get the chance to read this stupid thing! I opened to the front page. It was blank, I flipped through the whole book. "No...No NoNoNoNo!" It was all blank! "How am I supposed to read this!?" _______________________________________________ They had come out in a forest. Too bright and cheery it was, Argoron felt the need to destroy well up, the electric shock went through his diffuse form and everything blackened, corrupting in his presence, save for the girl already in his clutches. He wanted her to be sane when he destroyed the boy, the one she cared so much for, they would both come to serve him suffering with the other. The local Fauna had been corrupted. Good, they would spread his blight to the magical inhabitants of this world, then the true destruction would begin! His work done, Argoron zoomed toward the castle off in the distance, the boy was there. _______________________________________________ Celestia opened her tear streaked eyes, she was in the garden with luna, in front of the statue of Discord, "Luna," She commanded, "Get Shining Armor and the Elements of Harmony here as fast as you can, we need to release Discord and shield the city" _______________________________________________ How in the blazes am I supposed to read this when it had writing just a few minutes ago!? I thought to myself. This just didn't make any sense! I thought to use my power, and immediately discarded it. My emotions were going to screw over anything I would try. Wait a moment...these trials are all about me...all about introspection, discovery, and change of the self... Maybe...just maybe... I felt the electric pulse down my spine and a surge of joy as I once again called forth the power of creation and imagined the pages in front of me unveiling what they once held. When I opened my eyes I was met with A charred and black book that looked like it had been liquefied as well. It began to drip like paint, it completely fell apart, reverting into black muck. Shit... But the transformation didn't end there, the ooze began to bubble and seeth, pulling itself up, it reached toward me, and though I stepped back a few hooflengths, it reached farther and farther to get to me. It touched me, and in that moment several things happened. I noted how thick and slimy, but alive the ooze felt, as it began to engulf me, I tried to struggle but something stopped me, I couldn't move! Then the black void of nothingness took me. _______________________________________________ She couldn't think past the pain, it formed a haze over her mind as the black matter at away at her sanity, but it held back. Everytime it was about to send her over the edge it pulled her back and started again. The agony renewing itself. She faintly heard screaming somewhere. The faint realization that it had to be someone else trickled into her pain addled mind. she had nothing else to give. She couldn't save them from Him. _______________________________________________ I regained consciousness to find myself floating in a void, under me was a platform of glass, depicting myself as a human. The face was pockmarked with acne, the eyes were sad, almost suffering, but hid a quiet determination. The glass depicted me wearing the robes that the statue of Creation had worn, gray robes that went down to the ankles, a belt about my waist and sword strap over my shoulder. Around the glass were several platforms with mirrors. The first came up to me, what I saw inside was the black fire of Argoron. Well, that does make a twisted sort of sense, he is me after all Iturned to another and was surprised to find my pony-self staring back. The armor was a burnished copper color, shining as if it were only polished minutes ago. The blue mane was an ever shifting fire under the black feathered helm. The wings themselves looked like they were mechanical in nature, the armor giving the illusion that they weren't really part of my body. My tail looked like my mane, but it's undulations spread from the base down through the locks. I looked into the reflections eyes, and saw the cold uncaring of a detached god. Had I really become this-this thing? This godly unfeeling monstrosity? The image in the mirror sneered as it observed me. It passed by harmlessly as I neared the glass floor. "There are many things that you have yet to learn" "What? Who's there?" "I am what you might call god, or Gaea, or equus, The origin," A being of pure energy stood before me, white and vaguely ponylike, "I bind each of the four scales, granting my power to each new holder," Something grabbed me from behind, black tentacles. The white figure smiled, "But power comes at a price Far Reach, or should I say Gallimund? Or maybe Berune? Or any of the other names you have taken?" it reached out and held out a hoof to me. I felt something tear within my very being, something very desperately, deeply within me. Black motes swam in my vision as I nearly blacked out. After I recovered, the tentacles released me. A small blue ball hovered in front of the things hoof. I looked at it and instantly became dizzy, it was a part of my soul, "I took something very dear to you, and only time will reveal what it is." I blacked out. _______________________________________________ He had arrived. Argoron had made it to Canterlot. The capital of this Equestria. A purple dome hovered over the city, overlapping in places with white and dark blue. He knew what that meant. Twas only a slight delay. He would break those defenses easily, then his conquest would begin, and this land would see it's end once he took the boy's power. _______________________________________________ I came to a goodly ways above Canterlot, hurtling towards it at a pretty good peck. "HOLY MOTHER OF SHHHIIIIIII-" The shield opened up just enough to let me pass through. *BAM* I made my third crater of the week right in front of the canterlot hospital. It's a good thing this armor was so well made or I would have ended up as a very bloody pancake in the bottom of this dust bowl. BAM. The earth shook as if from a mighty earthquake. ________________________________________________ He Impacted the multihued shield. Hard. A small crack had appeared where he hit, but the cracks pulled back into themselves, the shield repairing, this would require more than brute force. More of his corruption would be needed. ________________________________________________ *CLANG* Celestia grunted as she focused on the crack in the shield that the black menace had created; it wouldn't hold together much longer at this rate. Twilight and the elements had gone to search canterlot to find where Reach landed. They had been gone fifteen minutes. *BANG* Shining armor gave a sharp gasp as hit part of the shield was impacted, the blow immediately drained the already strained unicorn almost beyond his limit, but he summoned the energy from deep within and held firm. *CRACK* Shining finally reached his limit and the magic drained from his horn, the sister diarchs tried to fill in, but their magic was spread too thin. *BOOM* The hit shattered the weakened shield like glass, the shards burning into the air before they hit the ponies on the ground. The shield had failed.