//------------------------------// // The Gods Unleashed! // Story: Acheron's Call: Chronicles of a God // by Talon19912 //------------------------------// Acheron’s call Chapter 3: The Gods Unleashed! Location: Neigh York Month: Unknown Day: Unknown Year: 600 B.D. (Before Discord) Talon was staying in the room he had rented at a local inn. It had been a long time since he had spent the night in a location such as this and just had a chance to relax, it was nice. Two days ago he had meet one of the inheritors of his power, naturally he didn’t bother to mention it to Gaia, he didn’t want to cause her any more stress than absolutely necessary. He also didn’t want to over stay his welcome. Now he had to wait for Gaia’s other daughter to get old enough to test her as well, of course he already knew she would be an ascended one as well. ‘I think it would be best to wait until she actually awakens to meet her,” Talon thought to himself. Talon quickly looked around for witnesses before opening a portal to his realm and walking through it. “So how did things go father?” Chrysalis asked. “Just as I had expected,” Talon replied. “It looks like their powers are maturing as I thought they would,” He said. “So how do you think their life is going to be once their power awakens?” Chrysalis asks. Talon sighs. “It won’t be easy, most Ascended don’t have power on that scale so it’s hard to tell, Immortality is a given, due to the density and the nature of their powers their going to live forever, as long as they aren’t killed, they don’t know that though, and I’m not going to tell them either. I had to learn about my powers the hard way, I’ll be there to guide them but beyond that, it’s their problem. They’re going to be targeted because of that power, most ponies are either going to worship them as gods or fear them as gods, I had to deal with that as well until my people started to colonize other worlds. Finally the sheer magnitude of the power they wield alone is going to make their lives hard, simply because of the amount of effort they’re going to have to put into controlling it,” Talon explained. “So how’s Discord doing?” he asked. “He’s biding his time and waiting for the perfect time to strike,” She replied. “Moon?” Talon asked. “She’s doing as well as can be expected,” Chrysalis replied. “Considering what your planning on having her do,” she said. “She’ll be fine, of that I have no doubt,” Talon said confidently. “What about Sombra?” he asked. Chrysalis was silent for a moment. “I’m not sure, we haven’t seen him for a few days,” Chrysalis said. “A few days?” Talon asked. “Yes he just up and disappeared on us,” Chrysalis replied. “He left a note saying that he was going to start his portion of the plan a little earlier than expected, he said he needed to make sure that it went off without a hitch,” She said. Talon sighed yet a again. “His perfectionism is going to be the end of him, and even though your all gods the one thing you’re all not, is invincible, before the actual plan commences I can see both him and Discord messing it up at least once, Discord will probably end up being sealed away, Sombra will probably end up being destroyed due to the arrogance he has been displaying lately, you and moon are the only two I can actually see completing their missions as planned, with any amount of success,” he said. “I know it sounds cruel, but you’re not just going to be teaching ponies a lesson, but will be learning your own lessons as well,” he said. “I know you told us before, but, what happens when we completely fail our tasks?” Chrysalis asks. Talon shrugged his shoulders. “ I’ll strip the ones who fail of their godhood as punishment, it seems harsh, but, this plan cannot afford to fail,” Talon said. “I don’t want this world to follow the same path as mine did, the main reason my people left my planet is because we sent it to its own destruction, I will not allow that to happen,” He said resolutely. “Hi father welcome back,” said a cheery voice from behind. Talon turned to see Moon coming up to them. Talon smiled at the filly. “Hello Moon how are you?” Talon asked. Out of all his children Moon was the only one to remain young, Talon had a very important role for her to play and it would require her to be as young as necessary before her part began,. After all she would be sealed in Gaia’s youngest daughter in a short while. After the sealing their lives will merge and the two would become one pony. Moon understood her part well, after all even though she appeared young she was just as mature as the rest of his children. “I’m doing fine father, a little nervous, but fine,” Moon replied. “That’s good to hear,” Talon said with a smile. Talon walked over to the window of the living room of his house that he had created when he made his realm, it was a large house with four bed rooms and two and a half bath rooms. It was designed using a traditional Japanese style. Just then he felt of the lights fluctuate dangerously. Talon’s head shot up quickly. Running to the door talon yelled “Moon, Chrysalis come with me, something terrible has happened” he said quickly. “What about your cloak?” Chrysalis asked. “No time, let’s move,” Talon replied quickly as he grabbed his sword. Chrysalis’s body was enveloped I green flame for a moment, then it quickly died down, in her place stood a mare on par with Talon I height, with a pitch black coat and a dark teal mane and tail, large majestic black wings, and a slender horn on top of her head, her eyes were a bright teal with slits in them and on her flank was a green flame, this was Chrysalis’s true form, it was something Talon had thought up when creating her. As her power grew her form would change to resemble her true self, instead of a sickly insect like pony, it would be a beautiful mare that radiated pure power and an aura of serenity to her, and although she was dwarfed by Talon in her insect like form, in her true form she could easily match Talon blow for blow, she just didn’t have his stamina, it was kind of like shikai and bankai from a show Talon watched a long time ago. “Come on girls we don’t have a lot of time,” Talon said. ++++++++ Scene Change +++++++ Year: 595 B.D. Celestia was having a good day, the sun was shining the birds were chirping, it was just a beautiful day. Each and every day Celestia followed a set schedule; Wake up, eat breakfast, help her mom in the store, babysit her little sister Luna, eat lunch, babysit her sister again, help with the store some more, close the store for the day, eat dinner, study politics, arithmetic, alchemy, magic, history, and even self-defense; read a story to Luna before bed, wash up, then finally go to bed herself. Every day was the same thing, and Celestia was happy for that, however the nights were different for her. She was plagued by nightmares constantly, of course to everyone around her they were just that, but to her they were like experiencing the events up close and personal. She constantly dreamed of destruction of entire planets, of masses of living darkness consuming everything in their way, at the end though there was one thing that brought her any kind of peace, A voice, a strangely calming female voice, that would reach out to her, and comfort her. Of course that voice wasn’t just a dream either; it was always there at the back of her mind even while awake, she could always feel a calming presence within her. Today however was a rare day off for her, with nothing to do, she would have the day to herself, which she would take full advantage of. Like her mother, Celestia enjoyed art of all forms, whether it was music, painting, or even acting, she enjoyed them all. Even Luna who was five years old love art with a passion, that little filly had already discovered what she loved while Celestia was just content to sit and watch he sister happily paint whatever she wanted. She had to admit though, she was a little jealous of her sister. Luna even as young as she was knew exactly what she wanted, while Celestia herself being almost sixteen had no clue. Walking towards the door of her mother’s shop she grabbed her sketch pad and pencil set and headed out towards her usual spot a small grove in the park near the center of the town. Upon reaching her spot she laid in the grass under a tree and just started to sketch, it was just something she liked to do when she wanted to relax, it wore away the stress that would no doubt accumulate as time went on. She would sketch just about everything, from the birds that would come close to her while she was sketching to the flowers that would bloom around her. While she did this she would reach perfect harmony with herself and the environment around her, she almost seemed to disappear. Hours passed by before she packed up her pencil set and sketch pad and placed it in her saddlebags before deciding to return home, but as she was doing this she stopped, a familiar smell was in the air, but she couldn’t place it following looking in the direction of the smell Celestia froze. Plumes of black smoke rose over the horizon. “By the maker,” Celestia gasped before galloping in the direction of her home. “Please be alright, Please be alright,” She chanted. She was extremely worried about her family, or at least what was left of them. Her father had died over a year ago, in an attack by diamond dogs, due to that she would have to take small jobs around town to help support her family. It wasn’t perfect but she was happy with the way things were. As she turned the corner her breath caught in her throat. “NO!” she cried as she rushed towards the shop that was burning along with everything else. Busting through the burning door into the shop that had already started to collapse, everything was on fire. The sound of a crash came from the floor above. “MOM! LUNA” She cried as she rushed up the stairs. “Celestia!” a voice called from the other side of the room. Celestia looked towards some falling debris to see her mother with a crying Luna beside her. Her mother was trapped beneath a smoldering part of the roof, her horn alight with magic to keep the two of them from being burnt by the fire. “Thank the maker,” Gaia sighed. “Celestia listen to me,” She said through the exhaustion of using her magic for an extended time period. “I want you to take your sister and run as far away from here as possible, there was a rebellion on the other side of the city earlier this week, I didn’t say anything to you earlier because I didn’t want to worry you, but it seems the rebels have decided the city wasn’t important, I want you to take your sister and run, run as far and as fast as your legs can carry you,” She said a the magic surrounding her horn started to falter. Gaia grunted and pushed more magic into her horn. A crying Luna was lifted onto Celestia’s back. Celestia looked at her mother who only had a small smile on her face. She knew her mother wouldn’t make it and even with her magical power Celestia knew she couldn’t save her. “Celestia, my back has broken and even though I want to be with you and your sister I won’t survive with my injuries the way they are, so promise me you’ll always look after your sister, and take care of yourself,” Gaia said. Celestia couldn’t stop the tears from flowing. “I promise,” she said. “Celestia you have such a bright future ahead of you, the night you were born a vision came to me, a vision of you and five other faceless ponies on the balcony of a magnificent white castle watching over and protecting the ponies of this world with you and one other leading them to a future just as bright, three ponies stood behind you, and two stood at your side, the power I felt from the six of you rivaled the maker itself. I only wish I could have seen that future for myself, Celestia I am so proud of you, you have no idea,” Gaia smiled softly at her daughter. The wood of the shop started to groan. “Go now Celestia and make a bright future for yourself and every other pony in the world,” Gaia called as the shop started to collapse on itself. The magic around Gaia’s horn finally faded, but the last thing she saw before black was her daughter taking a last look before running down the stairs and into the shop below. And thus was the end of Gaia, Mother of Celestia and Luna. Celestia ran just like her mother wanted, she ran hard and fast for two days just to get away from what remains of her home in Neigh York, of course now she wasn’t running, she was walking, along a path that led towards the town of Everfree, the economic center of Equestria. Celestia had a few bits on her to maybe afford a room for a week or two for her and Luna, but that was it. She sighed and looked back at Luna who lay asleep in her saddle bag, then to the horizon where the Everfree Castle stood proudly in the distance, her expression resolute. ‘Things will be better, I promise,’ she thought. +++++Back to Talon+++++ Talon, Moon, and Chrysalis had arrived in the park of what remained of Neigh York. What greeted them was a dismal sight, the burnt wreckage and the remains of various buildings. “What happened here,” Talon asked. Even though he was a god he wasn’t all seeing. “The Legion of Discord happened,” a voice said from behind. Talon and the other two turned to see a member of the equestrian guard, in full combat gear. “The Legion of Discord?” Talon asked. He had a hunch but he needed confirmation. The soldier snorted. “A group of rebels that claim to be doing the will of some crackpot that believes he is the will of chaos ponified, we had only just arrived as they were starting to burn the town with fire spells,” he said. “We were sent to bolster the guard here, because of a recent uprising about a week ago,” “Were there any survivors?” Chrysalis asked. “A few here and there but it’s only a small number compared to those that were lost,” The guard replied in a somber tone. Talon lowered his head in respect for the dead. His newest God Thanatos would be having a hard time with this, after all it was his home when he was alive. “If you here to look for some friends amongst the living or dead your free to do so,” The guard says. “Thanks,” Talon replied. “Come with me,” he says. Talon and the girls walked through the ash laden streets to the location of what used to be Gaia’s art store. All over the place ponies were cleaning up the after math of the attack. The dead bodies on the side of the street covered by blankets and sheets really put it into perspective on how terrible even a peaceful world like Equus could be. Upon reaching what remained of the store Talon stopped, In front of the store stood a lone stallion, He coat was dark grey and his main and tail were pitch black and shone like obsidian, his eyes were deep red that seemed to glow in the dim light of the setting sun his horn was aglow with black magic that seemed to absorb all light in the area, He wore a tattered black cloak in his right front hoof he wielded a scythe. His eyes shone with deep sadness while in his magic was clutched a small tattered cloth doll that had miraculously survived the fire. The stallion gently placed the doll on the ground leaning it against a single surviving stone pillar. “Thanatos?” Talon asked. “Such a tragic loss of life isn’t it?” The stallion named Thanatos said. “I was created to regulate the flow of the dead to the afterlife as well as choose who lives and who dies, but I can’t seem to care about any of the life that was lost here but one, and she lies in the remains of this store,” He said in quiet tone. Talon looked to what was once a store and caught the glimpse of a soft glow amongst the rubble. Talon walked carefully towards the glow, past Thanatos towards what was once the center of the store. He looked down and reached out with his magic and then pulled. What came up was a small glowing gem. “Thanatos, do you realize what this is?” Talon asked. “It’s a soulstone!” Thanatos replied wondrously. “It’s also how I made you the god of Death,” Talon replied. “With this e will have Zoe, the goddess of Life,” As soon as Talon said this, his magic sparked to life enveloping the small crystal in a brilliant silver light. Talon steps back as bright white light envelopes the area. The light formed into a ball, which then began to change shape until it was a pony of roughly Talon’s own height, the light grew what was obviously a horn then large majestic wings the energy began to shift into a golden color that formed her main and tail, then she opened her eyes to reveal ocean blue irises. Plant life began to sprout around her hooves as the light begins to fade. “Gaia?” Thanatos asked. The new pony turned her head sharply to face Thanatos. “Terminus?” she asked shakily. “But how? You died a year ago, I saw your body!” she says. “You can thank lord Talon for that, if he hadn’t intervened when he did I would be truly dead, not the god of death himself,” “Lord Talon?” Gaia asked. “Ahem!” Talon coughed. The two looked at him. “Right sorry,” Thanatos apologized. “Gaia, or should I call you Zoe, this is Talon, Overseer of the mortal realm, in other words, my boss, and head god,” he said. Talon deadpanned at Thanatos. “Right thanks for that intro Thanatos,” he said. “Why are you calling him Thanatos, his name is Terminus,” Zoe replied. “The same reason I’m going to start calling you Zoe from now until the end of time, Goddess of Life,” Talon said calmly. “When a mortal dies they leave behind all attachment to their previous lives, when a mortal soul ascends into god hood, the leave behind any attachment to their mortal lives as well, only now though, there are a few perks to the job. One is that you can return to the mortal realm any time you wish,” Zoe looked happy at that “But,” and the happy is gone. “You must not interact with anybody you knew in your previous life, at least outside of visions and dreams,” And the happy is back, sort of. “Another is absolute power over your domain, an example is Thanatos and his absolute control over the force of death,” Talon explained. “Yours would be life, mine is reality itself,” he said. “But why us?” Zoe asked. Thanatos chuckled a little “This will probably blow your mind, it did me, when I first heard him explain it,” he said. Talon smiled. “I’ve been watching you both for most of your lives until the times of your deaths, I marked you both before either of you met as my avatars of Life and Death. Let me say something first though. I CAN NOT control your choices or the choices others make, I actually don’t have that much power in the mortal realm, but just as I have watched you so too have I watched your daughters Celestia and Luna. They have inherited the same power I wielded before I became a god myself, as such I have a vested interest in their fates,” he explained. “But any ways let us return to my realm, Thanatos should be finished here so we can all go together, I need to locate your daughters before they get into trouble,” Talon said. As they arrived in Talon’s realm, Zoe was amazed. “You created all this?” “Everything you see around is modeled after where I grew up as a child before learning about by powers, that was some twelve thousand years ago, I think?” Talon said rubbing the back of his head. “I’m not sure after about two thousand it all kind of blended together,” Talon turned away from them and closed his eyes. “Found them!” Talon said suddenly, then his mood darkened. “This is really bad,” he said. “What is?” Zoe asked. “The Legion of Discord is heading straight for their location, and with the current defensive capabilities of Everfree the city will last for about as long as Neigh York did before it’s fall,” Talon said. “Thanatos, Zoe if the fighting breaks out and there is no other choice, you may reveal yourselves to your children, but I’m not going to be held responsible for what happens afterwards,” He said. “Besides I’ve never been a fan of the rule that makes it forbidden for a god to never see its mortal children again, there’s actually a loophole around that but I’ll let you figure it out,” he said. “But if you’re going down to fight wouldn’t it be easier to just wave a hoof and say ‘be gone,’ then banish your enemies to the void,” Zoe asks curiously. “Not really, No,” Talon said. “In my mortal form I only have access to about ten percent of my full power, unless I go against another godlike being, and the chances of that happening are slim to none, there are actually rules against it,” Talon replied. “And no threat on Equus that I know of would warrant me using that kind of power anyways,” He affirms. “At most I’m about as powerful as a super powerful Alicorn, that’s our racial name by the way, except for you Thanatos, you’re a horned thestral or bat pony,” He said. “Let’s get a move on, we need to get to Everfree at precisely the time their army arrives to make it look convincing,” Talon said. “Make what convincing?” Zoe asked. “The return of the Alicorns of course, if you’ve read your history you would know that the Alicorns of old died out around ten thousand years ago roughly the time I arrived in this realm,” Talon said. “In a sense you could call me the last known living Alicorn on the planet, but I digress, let’s get a move on already,” Talon says as he opens a portal and subsequently jumps through. “Does something seem off to you,” Thanatos asks Chyrsalis. “Not any more than usual, he actually doesn’t get out as much as one would think, and he really has no friends besides us, his children, so I guess he happier knowing he has someone outside his children he can actually talk to without feeling like a foal,” She says. “Ah, I see,” Thanatos replies. +++++ Scene Change, Everfree +++++ Chaos was the one thing on everyponies mind as Armor clad guardsponies ran towards the gates to hold off the enemy army heading their way. Celestia, one of the few combat capable ponies outside of the guard was drafted in immediately in order to help defend the town. In the weeks since the attack on her home, and the death of her mother things had finally calmed down. She had ran herself ragged trying to care for young Luna, who only recently started to come out of her shell. It had looked like it was going to be alright, at least until now. She had left Luna in the care of a friend while she was on duty so she wouldn’t have to worry about her. Celestia placed a golden helmet on her head and trotted towards the wall where she would join in the defense of her new home, and the last of her living family, she would protect them or die trying. The clouds began to roll in around Everfree, with most of the Pegasi drafted into the guard, there was no point in controlling the weather when a fight would soon start, a drop of water hit her helmet ‘Rain,’ she thought. ‘with this it will be even harder to see the enemy incoming,’ thunder rolls and lightning strikes the ground nearby. “So not only do we have to fight, but we have to fight in a storm,” She grumbled. Another bit of thunder accompanied by lightning. Then she saw them. The enemy, the same ones that destroyed her peaceful life. She wanted nothing more than to go down there and rip them to shreds. Her anger abated then the clouds themselves began to churn. The clouds swirled around like a hurricane eye was directly over top of them. The moonlight filtered in from the sky above and illuminated the battle field in front of them. “It seems like the maker has blessed us this evening,” The guard next to. “Something feels wrong though,” she said. “Why do you say that?” he asked her. “There is a heavy concentration of magic in the air holding the clouds into that shape. More magic than I’ve ever felt from anypony,” She said. “Well I wouldn’t know seeing as I’m just an earth pony,” He said. “Sorry,” Celestia said. “No harm done,” the guard chuckled “Names Shield, Rey Shield” “Celestia,” she replied. “Ah, you’re old Termites oldest, right” “Termite?” Celestia asked. “Sorry, Terminus he got the name as a colt when he took a header into a wooden post and took a chunk out of it,” he said. “You knew my father?” She asked, surprised by the revalation. “Sure did!” he replied. “I used to live in Neigh York myself when I was young, when he and Gaia started dating he was over the moon,” Rey chuckled. “How’s he been anyways,” he asked. “He died, about a year ago, diamond dogs,” She said. Rey looked depressed at that. “I’m sorry to hear that, well here we go,” he said suddenly. The enemy began to send out their siege equipment first. Catapults were rolled onto the field where they began to fire flaming projectiles at the hapless defenders. “Magical Artillery! Return Fire,” the guard captain yelled. The unicorns all around began charging their horns with their most powerful area of effect spells they had and unleashed them into the lines of the enemy, taking a few out with them, but it wasn’t enough, the enemy still kept coming. Scores of Minotaur and diamond dogs filtered from the trees and poured onto the battle field, unleashing ferocious war cries. “Sharpshooters! Fire!,” the captain ordered. “Incoming!” a guard yells. Celestia looks away from the battlefield and up into the sky only to see a fire ball heading straight for her, then everything flashed white. Celestia was rendered temporarily blind. Shaking her head quickly from left to right, her vision began to clear. Only to be met with a face full of Dark Grey Fur. “Now now Tia, I thought I taught you better than to lose focus on the battle field,” a disturbingly familiar voice said. “One sec Tia. Hey Assholes, your package has been marked RETURN TO SENDER!,” the voice yells. Celestia takes a step back. Only to see a dark grey pony with a horn and bat wings send the fireball back at the enemy with the use of magic blacker than night. Celestia watched the fireball only to see it crash into an enemy catapult, destroying it and surrounding enemies in a massive explosion. “Now where were we,” The pony says and turns to face Celestia. And her jaw drops. “Dad?” She asks carefully, her eyes wide. Thanatos smiled at his daughter. “Yeah it’s me, but it’s not just me, you mother is here as well. Well not here, here, but on the battlefield, probably tearing into the enemy with her enchanted thorn bushes,” he said contemplatively. “Like me she’s changed as well, you may not recognize her right away though,” he said. “Then there’s Acantha, and Lord Talon as well. Hmm I wonder where he’s at, ah well, best not to worry about him, no normal pony can kill him…maybe,” he said. “But now’s not the time for talking, it’s the time for kicking ass,” He looked around quickly. “Ah there she is, come on let’s go see if we can help your mother,” He said then took off in a quick trot. Celestia was shocked. That was definitely her dad but, he said her mother was here as well, and Fighting? Oh she had to see this. She took off after her father. Talon, or Acheron as Thanatos had dubbed him, and Chrysalis, otherwise known as Acantha, were on the other side of the battle field laying waste to the enemy. Talon was mowing them down by teleporting and using his sword to finish enemies before they could act. Chrysalis was content with dealing widespread fire damage to the enemies by incinerating them where the stood. The final kill count 250 to 200, in favor of Talon. As soon as their part in the battle was done they were content to watch as the enemy scrambled to get away from them. “Well that was fun!” Talon said with a smile. “What say we regroup with the others,” he said. “Sounds like a plan father,” Chrysalis replied. The two flashed away using a teleport spell.