Synch

by sunnypack

77 - Apotheosis: A Heart of Felt

Gruff helped Solid up like the gentledog he was, Solid thanked him and wandered off into the back to do something else.

I turned to Gruff with a questioning look.

“So”, I began, my tone serious. “How’s Solid? After that.”

Gruff wilted a little but lead us silently to a small room with a table and a few chairs. I gratefully sat down in one. Holy smokes finally a chair with a back! Gruff settled into the one at the far end, whilst Luna chose to stand, for some reason.

“Solid has been keeping busy, she told me that it took her mind off things… and it was probably what Iron would have wanted”, he explained, ears splayed back.

“Iron was nice”, he continued. “I did not meet him for any long period of time, but he was nice.”

I nodded. I had the impression that Iron was a good per-pony. Argh, I’ll never get used to these pony mannerisms. Actually, why did they use everpony and somepony and these pony-centric words all the time? I better ask that of Twilight later on.

Gruff stretched, relaxing in his chair with a tired groan and mumbling something I couldn’t hear.

Luna broke the comfortable silence after a while.

“Mr Gruff”, she said impatiently. “We must know of this magic throughput problem, do you have a solution?”

Gruff waved a paw dejectedly.

“No”, he growled, clicking a clawed finger on the table. “There is no solution, short of sending him away or destroying him.”

I hung my head, I had suspected as much.

“The only other alternative I see is to seal you up somewhere magic can’t touch you”, Luna pondered out loud. I couldn’t help it. I took an involuntary step back.

Luna gave me a sad look and halfway stretched out a wing to comfort me, but it fell to her side as she remembered that she couldn’t touch me anymore.

I sighed. Wasn’t there some way I could prevent this disaster?

Gruff looked agitated.

“I have to find a way”, he mumbled, tapping his claw harder on the table. The sound was beginning to annoy me but I understood that it was probably a nervous tic on his behalf.

A knock on the door interrupted us from our dark thoughts.

“Come in”, Gruff called and the door opened to reveal a griffon. How many friends does Gruff have? Wait, I think he mentioned a network…

“Sir, reporting in”, the griffon snapped, giving Gruff a salute. I looked at Gruff strangely.

Gruff shrugged at me.

“Term of endearment”, he joked, turning to the griffon. “What is it, Gael?”

“Would you like this in private, sir?” Gael asked, her eyes warily taking us in.

Gruff shook his head.

“We’re among friends, no need for that”, he answered easily.

The griffon composed herself before launching into things like agent movements, sightings and general information before concluding with potentially useful gossip. I widened my eyes in realisation.

“Gruff, you’re an information broker?” I asked him, surprised. He looked at me thoughtfully.

“I’ve never heard of that term before”, he said, tapping a claw to his chin. “But I think that suits me perfectly.”

I addressed Luna.

“No wonder he knows about the Tree of Harmony, he’s got his paws on all the information in Canterlot, I bet”, I clarified, a little proud the diamond dog had gotten so far so rapidly.

Luna eyed the diamond dog warily.

“This is indeed… news to me”, she said, eyeing Gruff suspiciously. “I am glad we are both on the same side.”

Gruff shrugged, unconcerned.

“My duty is to myself and if protecting this world allows me to protect myself, then that is what I’ll do”, he explained. I whistled in appreciation, silently of course, Gruff had come a long way from the inexperienced, uncertain diamond dog I had found in the caverns.

It hit me.

“You may not have a solution”, I started and I clicked my fingers, startling Luna. “But you do have a plan.”

Luna glared at me.

“Don’t do that”, she grumbled, eyeing my hand.

“Do what?” I asked, confused.

“Snap your fingers like that”, she replied uneasily.

“Huh?”

“Never mind, it just brings up uncomfortable memories”, she dismissed, with a flick of her hoof.

Weird. I’ll ask her about that later.

Gruff nodded.

“It’s a very bad plan. You’re not going to like it”, he told me, fixing me with an intense look.

Why do I get the feeling that things are beginning to spiral out of my control?

“You have to visit Chronus”, he stated flatly, as Luna yelled. “WHAT?!””

-----

I had to physically bar Luna’s path to prevent her from climbing over the table and stomping on Gruff. Luna was angry but she evidently still had a shred of sanity for she tried darting around me. She even thought about teleporting, if her horn was any indication but teleporting in such a confined space was a recipe for disaster. I heard from Twilight that if I unicorn or alicorn for that matter tried teleporting they would displace objects that occupied the small space that the unicorn would take if they tried teleporting into a solid object. There were safeguards of course, but if there were a partially occluding chair for example, then the chair would be violently blown to bits.

In our small, cramped dining room full of chairs and tables, I was sitting in the middle of a teleportation grenade.

When Luna finally calmed down enough to talk, I popped the question that had been on my mind as soon as Gruff had mentioned the name.

“Who’s Chronus?” I posed, watching Luna for any sudden movements.

Luna tapped a hoof on the table and waved my concern away, she took to lying down on the floor in a huff so I had to reposition my chair and look down to make eye contact with her.

“Chronus is my father”, she explained sullenly, ignoring my shocked expression.

“But… by your own admission you are thousands of years old!” I exclaimed, confused. I still don’t know whether I could believe that claim, by the way. I mean they radiated age, that’s for sure, but I wasn’t ready to believe a thousand year old being could work out. How did they get around the telomere problem? Wouldn’t they have succumbed to aging diseases a long time ago? Heck if I know, they’re probably as healthy as bats.

Luna gave me an annoyed glance that suggested I was being impertinent. Oh yeah, women, err mares, and age. I guess some things were constant no matter where you went. They probably don’t like weight jokes either. Okay, I wouldn’t on both accounts if I ever get to that age, but you know what I mean.

“Chronus is not my father in the birthing sense, it is much like Cadance is not our niece in the birthing sense”, she said slowly, her wings ruffling.

I think I understood.

“You’re talking about alicorn ascension”, I stated, almost snapping my fingers again, but resisting the urge until I found out why that put Luna on edge.

Luna nodded, catching the reflex movement of my hands and giving me a look of approval for my restraint.

“Alicorn ascension is the first step to becoming a deity”, she began but was interrupted when Gruff perked his ears and suddenly got up.

“I’m sorry, princess and friend, I have to go, there is something that requires my attention”, he explained, leaving the room. Luna glared at him the whole time he walked to the door and even after he left, but Gruff appeared to pay no heed to Luna and walked proudly to the door. Exiting, the silence he left behind was acute as Luna fumed for a bit before addressing me again.

“As I was saying, alicorn ascension is only the first step to becoming a deity”, she repeated, just casually explaining the mechanics of apotheosis. I mean really, becoming a god? Impossible. I’m not saying gods don’t exist, I’ve just never seen any proof.

“The first stage consists of power, tempered by mortality”, Luna was speaking as if reciting something from a long-forgotten memory. “The second is a gift of life, tempered by the deaths of others.”

Her last gaze chilled me.

“The third is transcendence, tempered by neutrality.”

Considering Luna’s mood, I chose my next words with care.

“I’m assuming Chronus has something to do with the ascension process?”

Luna nodded, with a weak smile.

“You are right, young one, Chronus has the ability to ascend the powerful to the immortal”

I started.

“Oh I see, so that’s why you refer to him as your father”, I commented, Luna affirming my statement with a grunt of acknowledgement.

Chronus… Chronus… where have I heard that name before? Mythology? I was never into that kind of thing. I wish Emilia were here, she would know about Chronus, I thought to myself.

Luna continued, while I pondered the familiarity of the name Chronus.

“Chronus is an old name, almost as ancient as the name Tartarus or Gaia… or Chaos”

She shuddered at the mention of the last name.

“Chronus”, I enunciated, and then it clicked. “The god of time.”

Luna pursed her lips thoughtfully.

“How do you know that?” she inquired, fixing me with a look.

“Chronus is the name for the god of time in an ancient culture on my world. I only know about him because I read about him in a trashy online novel about Greek gods. I was interested in them for a while so I looked him up. I don’t think you’re referring to the Titan, he wasn’t in charge of time per se…” I lost myself in my memories for a bit. Amazing how the mythology and this world were so similar…

An impatient hoof clop snapped me back to reality.

“Chronus is guarded by Aether and Aion”, Luna spoke softly, she regarded me with a sad expression.

“They will be the reason that you won’t be able to make it”, she commented drily.

I looked at Luna in confusion.

“Surely they could spare me a few moments to plead my case?” I asked, crossing my arms.

Luna flicked her head, snorting in response.

“Young one, you don’t know these powerful beings. They are deities before you or even I were born. They have rules, and they stick to them like molasses, Chronus may decide to grant you an audience, but only if you prove worthy to Aether and Aion”, she replied.

“This has something to do with the power requirement”, I realised slapping my forehead.

“Indeed, once you become an alicorn you may at any time challenge Aether or Aion to a match. Lose as an alicorn and you get away with injured pride, lose as a mortal and the consequences are death, among other things”, Luna scowled, but she seemed more angry at the situation than at me. Among other things? What could be worse than death?

“Since you are a null being, we cannot force a temporary ascension upon you and the other ways of obtaining ascension are far more risky and nearly all of them require magic, which we cannot use”, she continued, her muscle tensed in agitation.

“It seems we are stuck”, Luna remarked, giving me an apologetic expression.

I shrugged. We were only back to square one.

“Unless you can find a way to ascend, there’s really no point to this plan”, Luna finished, getting up on her hooves.

A soft voice spoke up from the corner of the room.

“Unless I can help”, it squeaked as we turned our gaze upon it.

My jaw dropped. What the?

Author's Note:

So... become a god, help save two worlds. All in a day's work for our young protagonist.

What happens if he becomes a god? Will he even become a god? Guess what is the only way to find out?

Hehehe.

Next Chapter: The World is threatened by a zombie pony apocalypse! Quick, grab your nearest (live) pony and and medical kit, it's time for survival! Dang it, why are there so many!

As always, my literate and portable readers, thanks for reading!

Comments

[sunnypack]

4937930 He has become quite a favourable diamond dog. He's a nice guy.

[Amber flicker]

Dun dun dun!

[DaedricPrinceSheogorath]

....its Kronos.....Madgod is displeased with the misspelling of Madgods favorite deity to prank

[Photonic Rainboom]

The synch speaks?!
Or is that something else?...

EDIT: Heh... Nevermind I jumped to conclusions a bit there...
But you know with all the plot twists happening lately...

[Dinoguy1000]

Need to make sure you spell your names consistently; you used both "Chronos" and "Chronus" here.

[sunnypack]

5440076 Fixed.