//------------------------------// // Prologue // Story: Ouranios // by Amadeus //------------------------------// Prologue Princess Twilight Sparkle sighed in frustration as she scanned over the book in front of her. It had been hours since she had locked herself into the royal library in Canterlot and she was no where closer to finding what she was looking for. With another sigh she tossed the book in front of her, and with her horn aglow, grabbed another book from the shelves to start her quest anew. It has to be here. She thought to herself as she read over the ancient text in front of her. How can something that important to the history of Equestria, nay the world, not have any real information on it? She was so wrapped up in her search that she didn’t notice the door open behind her and a shadowy figure walk in. They made there way over to where the young alicorn sat at their desk, deep in study. “Good e’en to you Twilight Sparkle.” the figure announced quietly, startling the young princess out of her seat as she fell unceremoniously into a heap on the floor. Twilight rubbed her sore plot as she shot the stranger a nasty scowl for daring to interrupt her. Only to find a much larger alicorn in front of her with a bluish-black coat, and whose starry mane and tail flowed out from them like it was being blown by some unseen wind. She quickly got up and bowed before the larger pony. “Princess Luna, I didn’t hear you come in. What can I do for you?” Twilight said cheerfully as Luna gestured for her to rise with a motion of her hoof. “Methinks the question that thee means to ask is what can I do for thee, Twilight Sparkle?” She asked as she gazed around the once pristine library, “Thou hath been locked in here for hours now. What is it that thou art looking for?” “Well princess, I was trying to find more information on the Elements of Harmony-" Twilight began to place the books back to there assigned locations on the shelves, "- like where did they come from or why where they created? I know that the history books state that you and Princess Celestia created them to beat Discord all those years ago. But what was it that made you realize that you had to create something like the elements to be able to beat him? I know that his power over chaos is similar in strength to alicorn power, but wouldn’t you and Celestia have more than enough power to beat him together? Also why did they disappear all those y-“ Twilight’s ramblings were cut short by Luna raising a single hoof. Twilight winced as she thought that she had crossed some invisible boundary with the princess of the night, as Luna stared at her with a calculating look. And then she saw the corners of Luna’s mouth slowly curl into a genuine smile before turning to leave out of the library. “Come; follow me Twilight Sparkle, we have much to discuss.” “But,-” Twilight started cautiously as Luna stopped, “-what about this mess?” Luna’s horn began to glow a deep blue as the books on the floor became wrapped in her magic momentarily before flying back to their designated spots on the shelves. Then Luna slowly continued towards the door calling over her shoulder again. “Come Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight followed her out of the library and down the halls of the castle, giving slight bows to the servants as they scurried along doing their different errands. They continued along up a flight of stairs to a section of the castle that Twilight recognized as Princess Luna and Celestia’s private wing. Eventually they came to a giant set of dark wooden doors at the end of a hall with gold finishing’s weaving up its surface like a set of vines. A set of grey pegasi clad in golden armor stood on either side of the door unflinching as the two princesses drew closer. Luna stopped in front of the door and gave it a quick knock with one of her large hooves. After a moment the door opened to reveal a white alicorn that stood even taller than Princess Luna and seemed to be her polar opposite. While Luna’s coat was a dark blue and her mane and tail flowed around her like a living representation of the night sky. This new alicorn was the purest of whites and whose hair, while ethereal in nature like Luna’s, was colored like the sky of a morning sunrise consisting of ever changing shades of pink, blue, indigo and even green. The larger alicorn looked from around her door and gave a smile when she saw her guest and opened her door wider as she greeted them. Twilight did not need an introduction to know who she was. Everyone in the world knew who she was, one of the two rulers of Equestria and Princess Luna’s older sister, Princess Celestia. “Luna, Twilight Sparkle what can I do for you at this late hour?” Celestia asked them curiously. “Sister we come to thee to aid me in answering the questions posed by your student, Twilight Sparkle, who has been dwelling in the royal library for most of this night.” Luna said as she gestured back to Twilight with one of her forelegs. “Oh...,-” Celestia raised a dainty eyebrow inquisitively and gave an almost knowing smile, “-and what is my favorite student delving into at such a late hour?” Twilight stepped forward to answer her teacher quickly. “Princess, I was trying to find out more information on how and why the Elements of Harmony where created? Celestia just continued to smile. “Why the Elements of Harmony where created by me and my sister Luna to defeat the spirit of chaos Discord and to bring harmony back to the land of Equestria.” Twilight gave a slight sigh in frustration knowing that her teacher was giving her the watered down answer on purpose. “I mean how did you and Princess Luna make the elements, and how did you know that they would be able to defeat Discord?” Celestia continued to smile at Twilight for a moment before opening the door all the way and beckoned them into her chambers. “I believe you should come inside, my sister and I have much to discuss with you.” As Twilight and Luna made there way into the room Celestia motioned to one of the guards to go and fetch some refreshments for her guests. Once the guard left to do as he was told Celestia closed the massive door and walked over to the other two. “Please have a seat.” Celestia offered while motioning towards a set of giant cushions she had laid out on one side of the room. Each of the cushions was more than large enough for Twilight Sparkle, having been made big enough for the much physically larger sisters to be able to lounge on comfortably. Even Luna who was the smaller of the two stood a good head height taller than Twilight. Which made her wonder if by now being an alicorn herself, would she continue to grow taller to the same height as Luna or even Celestia. Because as Celestia was the older sister, it wasn’t too far fetched to believe that Luna herself could also still get bigger. Then again did they ever stop growing? Would even Celestia get bigger as time went on? Twilight couldn’t be entirely sure of this because she didn’t truly know how old the sisters really where. Twilight was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn’t notice that Celestia was calling her name, trying to get her attention. “I’m sorry Princess, I was just caught up in my thoughts.” Twilight apologized as she laid down on one of the pillows. While the sisters laid on a pair next to each other so that they were facing her. “Quite all right,-” Celestia said as she raised a fore hoof, brushing it aside “-now how much do you wish to know?” “I want to know everything. I’ve always wondered at the origins of the Elements of Harmony and how they came to be. The history books only state that you and Princess Luna –“ “Just Luna please, Twilight Sparkle.”- Luna interjected- “Thou art a princess of Equestria now, as well as our friend, so there is no more need for such formalities when we speak.” Twilight gave Luna a smile which was returned, “Of course Luna. Anyways, as I was saying, the history books only state that you and Princ-I mean Celestia challenged Discord and he was defeated by the elements.” Celestia gave a look to her sister before turning back to Twilight. “And why do you want to know? You and your friends already posses the elements and use them with great ability. There really isn’t much else to learn on them than what you already know. I’m afraid that you’ve already learned that lesson my faithful student. Surely there is something else troubling you other than that?” At that moment a knock came from the door and Luna got up to go answer it. She opened the door to reveal a maid who was carrying a tray of refreshments on her back. She bowed low to the princess of the night, who returned the curtsy with a small nod of her head, while using her magic to grab the tray from the servants back. As Luna walked back to the meeting the servant closed the door quietly behind her and continued on with her duties. Luna set the tray down so that it was positioned between the trio of princesses, and upon taking her seat again, used her magic to pick up a cracker. Lifting it towards her mouth, she took a dainty bite from it. Meanwhile, Twilight was still trying to figure out a way to answer Celestia, her wings fluttered a little as she thought deeply on it. “I guess…-”Twilight began while looking up at the sisters“-what I really want to know about is you.” “Us?” Celestia asked raising an eyebrow slightly. “Yes, I guess if I knew more about you and Luna then I might be able to, in a way, better understand the history behind the elements. Because unfortunately the books are just as vague on your twos history, if not more so, as they are on the elements. And I figured that if I knew a little more on one. Maybe I would learn a little more on the other.” Twilight said as she looked between the two trying to gauge their reaction. The sisters stared at her with stoic expressions for a moment, as if trying to come to a conclusion. Then they slowly both gave her a warm smile, that helped ease the worries that Twilight held in her head. “Very well Twilight, we shall tell you about how we created the elements to help us in our challenging of Discord, and in turn how we came to rule Equestria.” Luna said finally. “Really!” Twilight exclaimed with excitement. “Yes,” Celestia replied as she lifted a cup of tea with her magic, and took a small sip before setting it back down on the tray. “You see in the beginning there was nothing, not even thought existed. It was void of all the things that ma-“ “Please excuse me Celestia.” Twilight interjected causing the princess to frown ever so slightly at being interrupted. “I thought you where going to tell me about when you and Luna faced Discord?” “Would you like to hear the story?” Celestia asked with ever the slightest tone of irritation. Twilight’s ears folded back against her head as her wings drooped, knowing that she had done something wrong. “Yes Princess. I’m sorry please continue.” Celestia gave a reassuring smile before continuing, “In the beginning there was nothing, not even thought existed. It was completely void of all the things that make this existence what it is today. Then in a moment of light and thought the High Goddess Faust and her siblings came into this dimension, and upon looking into the nothingness she wept a single tear in sadness. “As the tear fell it formed into the world and Faust took a drop of her blood and formed the land. Looking on the new world she was pleased with the results, but saw that this new world would need stewards to take care of it. So she created the three races of ponies to watch over the three realms. The earth ponies to tend to and cultivate the land, the pegasi to watch over the skies and control the weather, and the unicorns to watch over the magic and control the heaven’s beyond the planet. “After the creation of the races Faust’s brothers and sisters blessed the new world with gifts. Giving them all the plants and animals that roam the land, swim in the sea, and fly through the air. Then Faust gave the gift of light, in the form of the sun to light and warm the day, and the moon to light the night so that their creations would never know total darkness again. “Pleased with their new world, the gods and goddesses came and lived among their creation for a time. Which gave rise to the other species of the world like the zebra tribe, the griffons, and even the minotaurs. For a time the planet flourished and all the tribes lived in harmony. But nothing is meant to last forever, and soon there was strife between the different tribes which led to many wars. “ Celestia paused for a moment to wet her throat with another sip of her cup. She stared at the contents in the cup with a sad expression as she swirled the liquid around lightly. -“Faust and her siblings cried as they looked at the suffering ravaging the world, but were unable to interfere according to the laws that they had placed upon themselves. Unable to make the tribes see the error in their ways, and unable to live among such unjust actions. The gods and goddesses retreated to their home in the heavens. After that the tribe’s hate and mistrust in each other grew until it brought forth the blizzard and the windigos. As the blizzard decimated the land, the tribes tried to escape their hardships by traveling across the sea to a new land that they called Equestria. “All seemed well for a short time but they still had not learned to trust each other, and the blizzard soon followed them across the sea to the new land. So once again the ponies were trapped in a blizzard that seemed to have no end. When all seemed lost the different pony tribes came together and finally put their differences aside lighting the Fire of Friendship which drove back the windigos and ended the blizzard that threatened to consume the planet.” Luna took over narrating while Celestia took another sip of her tea. “Unfortunately the damage had already been done. While the blizzard had ended it was just the first part of what was to come. From the first disagreement the spirit known as Discord was born. At first he was just a simple spirit and no real immediate threat, but with each disagreement, each act of chaos that happened he drew more power till he was almost on par with the gods themselves. And it was at that point, shortly after the end of the blizzard that he made his move to recreate the world in his liking.” Twilight seemed a little puzzled by this new information as she tried to put the pieces together. “So Discord isn’t a god?-“ Luna and Celestia both nodded in agreement. ”-Then why didn’t the Goddess Faust or one of the other deities deal with him before he was able to get to that point?” Celestia cast her eyes away from Twilight in what looked like shame, and even Luna now held a look of grief on her face. “Twilight…”-Luna started solemnly-“thou hast to understand that the deities while very wise and powerful are not omnipotent, nor are they omnipresent. Plus they had never dealt with a creature like Discord in their existence. “Faust and the other deities whole purpose is doing good and creating harmony in their creations. Unfortunately, by giving the ponies and other creatures in this existence the gift of free will to do what they want without the binds of the deities they brought about beings like Discord. So in a sense Discord was a creation of the world, unlike the other species who where created from the essence of harmony that is the deities.” “I see.” Twilight said as she contemplated what Luna had told her. And here she had always believed that Discord was part of the old order of deities that had helped create the world, or at least had been created to help maintain a balance. But to hear that he had been created by the creatures of this world made her see him in a slightly different light now. He wasn’t necessarily bad, that much had been proven in his recent rehabilitation, just mainly mischievous because he feed on the very nature of chaos that dwelled in every pony and creature even herself. Twilight looked back at the sisters who were waiting while she digested the tale so far. “Well that kind of explains Discord, “Twilight started, “About as well as you can explain him. But where do you two fit in, along with the elements.” Celestia gave a warm smile before she spoke, “That is where we begin.”