Interlude: Fear Of The Unknown
From The Journal Of Royal Chronicler, Moondancer
The only thing more terrifying than knowing exactly what you're up against is knowing nothing about what you are up against.
For over a year now, we've done battle against King Sombra and his army of mind-controlled slaves. For over a year now, we've struggled to make any kind of progress towards victory. And we've failed. And all because of one simple, undeniable fact.
We know absolutely nothing about King Sombra.
Here's what we know: We know that he appeared in the Crystal Empire, wrested power from its rightful rulers, stole and corrupted the Crystal Heart that protected the kingdom, fought the alicorns, was sealed away, and then came back, intent on conquering Equestria, if not the entire world.
And that is the totality of all we know about him.
Where did he come from? Is Sombra his real name, or a moniker he took on to mask his true identity? How is he so powerful? Why is he so driven to conquer the world? Why do his eyes leak crazy purple smoke like that? We have no answers to these questions. And it is possible that the keys to defeating Sombra lie in those answers.
Is Sombra even a pony? There's any number of creatures that can change their appearance to suit their purposes. If Sombra were some manner of magical creature with a specific weakness that could be used against him, it would make sense to take on a new identity and a completely different appearance. However, our finest mages have used spying spells from afar to try and gain any insight to his true nature, and have come up with nothing.
And yet, no pony who ever lived has ever been as vicious, as cruel, as outright evil as King Sombra.
...Wait, perhaps that is not completely true. There is one pony, as old as myth, who was as outright terrible as Sombra, but... I shudder to think of the possibilities if there were any correlation between the two.
I suppose I should explain, in case somepony needs to read this later. And to do so, I'll need to crack open a book of our oldest legends.
In the beginning, our world was not, or so the legends say. There was naught but a cloud of cosmic dusts, gases, and raw magic. Then, the Builders came. The Builders were beings of immense power, and sought to create a new world. Not for any purpose or plan, but for the simple joy of creation, and because all of existence was empty of life, save themselves, and they wished to have others to share the wonders of the universe with. The Builders took the masses of dust, gas, and magic, and used them to build our world. It is difficult to say how long this took: The words for different lengths of time in Primeval Equestrian are almost identical to one another, so it could be anywhere from six days to six billion years. How long it took and how long ago are irrelevant, though: The fact is, they made a world. And then, using their own blood as a base, created life. The first ponies.
Things quickly went downhill from here.
You see, the Builders were not born with such great powers. Instead, they had gained their abilities through an amount of time that, while difficult to be precise about, context indicates was very, very long, and extremely arduous. During this time, they became immortal, but the Builders had to struggle for ages to gain the full powers they possessed. This meant they remembered what it was like not to have those abilities. They knew what it was like to be powerless. To have nothing. The Builders didn't want their 'children' to have to go through the same struggles that their parents did, so the Builders gave great power, knowledge, and immortality to their offspring.
In the Builder's defense, they had no other sapient lifeforms to compare themselves with, so they didn't understand just how bad an idea this would turn out to be. They were trying to do a good thing, giving such lavish gifts to their creation. They didn't understand just what these gifts would mean.
Don't understand? Well, then I should explain: If someone has started with little or nothing, and then worked hard to reach great wealth, power, or office, that person will, more often than not, be humble, kind, and generous. They'll remember what it was like to be helpless, and be more likely to reach out a helping hoof to others.
However, those born with wealth, power, and privilege that they had to do nothing to earn will often think of themselves as a 'special existence'. They will often be arrogant, selfish, and cruel. They'll be quick to use their power to cause harm to others, instead of helping them.
Don't believe me? Two words: Prince Blueblood. Need further evidence? Diamond Tiara. The prosecution rests, your honor.
Thus, the first ponies were nothing like the Builders. They had an entire world to themselves, and they treated it like garbage: They played 'games' that would ravage entire continents, and then demand that the Builders fix things. They pulled the sun and moon from their intended orbits, and tossed them about like playthings, to the point where it was impossible for them to be returned to their proper course and required constant guidance from the Builders. They changed the weather and seasons at a whim, to the point where all the plants and other animals on the planet would go extinct every other week, and the Builders were forced to recreate and repopulate them over and over again. Their creations didn't care: They were all-powerful and absolutely immortal, so no matter how utterly they ruined their world, they'd survive.
And speaking of the animals... Celestia above, the things that are described in these pages make me glad I've not eaten dinner. The first ponies tormented animals for sport in ways so cruel that words fail me... and I've not exactly lived what you might call a sheltered life this last year.
In short, the first ponies behaved like the most spoiled rotten colts and fillies on the planet. Spoiled colts and fillies who could flatten continents with their tantrums, and loved torturing small animals for fun. Meanwhile, the Builders played the part of the well-meaning parents forced to clean up the mess.
This went on for a long time, which speaks volumes for the Builders' patience. However, they finally came to the realization that this wasn't working. If things kept going on this way, then they'd basically be the slaves of their offspring forever. Finally, they said enough was enough, and that if their offspring wanted things fixed, they'd have to do it themselves.
The first ponies reacted to this in a calm and rational... oh who am I kidding? They turned against their creators and tried to force them to return to the status quo. The creations had spent ages believing that they were gods, and their creators were nothing but their slaves, in spite of all the evidence to the contrary. When their 'slaves' rebelled, they did what any 'master' does when the 'slaves' get uppity, and 'asserted their authority'. Through the timeless medium of violence and bloodshed.
This did not end well for the first ponies.
The battle that followed was long and terrible. But it could only end one way: All the first ponies knew was how to break, crush, and destroy. They had the powers of gods, but they had the mentalities of spoiled colts and fillies, and no real imagination in regards to how to use their powers. The Builders had eons of experience in how to use their powers, and had imagination to spare. And neither side could be killed. Thus, the first ponies could throw wave after wave of unbridled cosmic annihilation at their opponents, and the Builders would just sit and take it. After the first ponies exhausted themselves, the Builders would then restrain them and move on to the next group. It took perhaps a week, although as mentioned, it is hard to say for certain when reading Primeval Equestrian.
But once the first ponies were restrained, the Builders finally understood that they'd made an error with their creation, and something needed to be done. As long as the first ponies had phenomenal cosmic powers and absolute immortality, there was nothing to prevent them from pulling the exact same stunts all over again. And given their immortality, the first ponies could just ravage the world over and over again, destroying continents and eviscerating bunnies and kittens, and never having to worry about consequences.
Thus, their powers needed to be taken and their immortality revoked.
One by one and with great sorrow, the Builders stripped their children of their nigh-omnipotence and invulnerability. Then, the Builders rebuilt the world one last time. Then, they populated the world with dozens upon dozens of other sapient creatures, and thousands of other ponies (versus the two or three dozen first ponies) , some of whom could fly, and some of whom could do magic. They then dragged the first ponies up into the heavens, and made them gaze upon a world where they were not the masters of all creation, and were now as ants before the might of their creators.
"Where before you had this world to yourselves," the Builders proclaimed to the first ponies, "now you must learn to share it, else you will find yourselves surrounded by enemies. Where before you could control the sun and moon, the weather and the seasons, with but a thought, now you will be forced to work tirelessly to manage them, else you and this world be brought to ruin unending. Where before you had no fear of pain and death, now you must live forever under their shadow unto the end of your days. Where before you thought yourselves special and unique, you are now but a few amongst many. And where before you lived as gods, now you will live as the beasts you once tormented. And in the fullness of time, when death claims you, you and all who follow you will be judged for your deeds in life. Those who have been good, kind, generous, and honest will be treated to an eternity of happiness. But you, who turned against your creators and who have spent countless ages steeped in wretchedness and cruelty, you and those like you will know an eternity of suffering and torment, lest you change your ways and redeem yourselves. And you will know that you have earned every moment of it, either way."
And the first ponies wept, knowing now the depths of their folly. They'd been given paradise, and proved themselves to be wholly unworthy of it. Now, they would be sent to what was, in their eyes, Hades itself. And more Hades would inevitably follow it if they did not change. And they had no one to blame but themselves.
The Builders, before sending their creations to their fate, did a final counting of the ponies... and came up one short.
And the Builders turned to count their own numbers... and came up one short as well.
The Builders searched for the missing Builder and the missing pony. It took a long time. And when they found them...
It was far too late. The pony had figured out a way to sever his bonds, and had abducted one of his creators for a fell purpose: He knew that the Builders possessed secrets they hadn't shared with their creations, and these secrets had held the key to their victory over their creations. This renegade pony had tortured the kidnapped Builder in order to obtain those secrets. Or at least, the one that mattered most.
The secret of true immortality, a form of invulnerability that, once gained, even the Builders could not take away. Immortality that would mean that he could not die until he chose to die.
I cannot imagine what torments could have been used against the poor Builder that this renegade had captured, but when his comrades found him, the victim's second action upon release, after telling his rescuers who had done this and where to find him, was to allow himself to die.
The Builders before had acted as disappointed parents. Now, with one of their own dead, after torture at the hands of their own creation, the Builders were like a force a nature. They found their quarry, stripped him of his power (or tried. There's mention of how 'he had a shadow of power that would eternally be his', whatever that means), and then did everything in their power to destroy him.
But it was, again, far too late.
The Builders tore the renegade limb from limb. The renegade's body pulled itself back together. The Builders turned the renegade inside out. The renegade turned himself outside in. The Builders broke the Renegade down to the smallest possible particles. The Renegade put all of those particles back together again. The Builders converted the Renegade's body into pure energy, then dissipated that energy into pure heat and spread it all throughout the cosmos. The Renegade created a new body for himself from stone and water, sand and air.
What had been done could not be undone. The Renegade was immortal, as the Builders were immortal. He could not die until he chose to die. Or so he thought. The Builders proclaimed that there was a way 'for his death to find him', and called to it.
Death did not answer.
Yeah, this part is weird. There's about a page and a half of the Builders searching everywhere for the Renegade's death, including the back of the moon and the heart of the sun, but never finding it. I'll skip that, because I think you get the idea. The Renegade had duped his creators thrice-over. First, by escaping his bonds, then by obtaining seemingly irrevocable immortality, and finally by ensuring that whatever loophole the Builders had in subverting that immortality would not work.
Understandably, the Builders were livid. They bound the Renegade to an unbreakable stone with unbreakable chains, and imprisoned the Renegade in the heart of the world itself, where unending fire and unimaginable pressure would torment him until the day he 'chose' to call out to his death. And if his death was released from wherever the Renegade had hidden it, it would seek him out and claim him, whether he wanted to die or not.
And when it did, the Renegade would be sent to a place worse than anyplace else, a dark and terrible pit that would make the fires and torments of Hades seem as Elysium in comparison.
With that, the Builders left, and vowed never to return, for if they did, they might choose to undo their judgement out of pity. They're probably out there, somewhere, making worlds and creating life. Hopefully, they're doing a better job than they did with their first run.
Supposedly, the Renegade was bound inside the heart of the world for eternity, and could never escape. But then, he's slipped his bounds once before. And if he ever escaped his bonds... then how long would it take a truly immortal pony to dig his way out from the center of the world? After all, he'd have all the time in the world...
You're probably laughing at this, and think there's no way this could be. Well...
I was there, observing, at Fielder's Hollow. I witnessed Rainbow Dash and her command fearlessly charge Sombra himself. I watched as she kicked the dread tyrant in the face. I heard the pop of his jaw shattering, and the snap of his neck breaking... and then felt the cheer of triumph die in my throat as his jaw healed and his neck popped back into place, and then used his magic to shear the wing off of Rainbow Dash's body.
Far too much makes sense if King Sombra is truly this immortal: Dark magic harms its user, and King Sombra has used enough to slay an ordinary pony a thousand times over. Perhaps this is why he is bold, and so terrible. If he cannot die, then there is nothing that can truly stop him. Strike him, and it will not hurt him. Break his bones, and they'll pop back into place. Seal him away, and he'll patiently wait until his bonds wear away with time. His conquest of the world would be inevitable. All anyone can hope to do is delay it. After all, he has all of eternity with which to grind our defenses down to dust... and then all of eternity to grind us under his hooves.
I'm tired, and exhaustion has made me morbid. I need to get to bed. Sunset Shimmer is returning from her trip through the mirror portal tomorrow, and I need to be well rested: I'm sure she's got lots of fun stories to tell about the world that she visited, and I could definitely use something to cheer me up...
Also LikedSimilarAuthor
- Sofa King Zill-E · 8.3k words · 454 14 · 6.6k views
- Bender Alpha · 76k words · 887 37 · 12k views
- Celesti Lateo · 53k words · 1,374 74 · 19k views
- Bucking Nonsense · 36k words · 2,207 65 · 24k views
- PrincessColumbia · 48k words · 1,026 58 · 15k views
- Bucking Nonsense · 95k words · 1,930 91 · 28k views
- IMN · 37k words · 1,149 92 · 18k views
- Abaddon spice · 14k words · 1,099 32 · 17k views
Stats
Page generated in 0.202 seconds
Total duration
807 users online
1,657,296 hits today, 2,707,512 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Oh, hey, there's a new chapter. Neat.
WHOA! i was sure this story had died. Glad to see I was wrong
8598617
Awesome! Though also looking forward to more from your Grogar story too!
By the way, how’s your backlog of video games going? I just finished the last of mine (South Park The Fractured But Whole) and now gotta wait till March 27 to get the next one I am waiting on (Far Cry 5).
Edit: Definitley like all this bit of lore/world building... and certainly might explain WHY our human friend ended up in Sombra’s body.
Wow
I never would have guessed this story would update tonight. What an AWESOME surprise!
That story makes me anxious for what this all will mean. Xd
Can't wait for the next chapter!!! Xd
YES, so glad to see this still goin.
8598611
yes and this chapter pleases me
Interesting idea for the Abels and Cains of ponydom.
Glad to see you back. I liked this story.
That was kind of an intense lore chapter. Interesting that if Sombra was this Renegade pony that the power of love be what destroys him. I guess the Builders would have been too busy being vengeful and full of hate and wrath to try and use the power of love. Of course, Sombra wasn't defeated with love here...
I'm guessing the Builders went on to create Earth as well? I mean, if they themselves aren't ascended humans and did go on Building...
Glad this is continuing!
Hm, that's a big load to haul into this story; the EqG's universe as well I mean... Not that I'm for it or against it, just that you might be bringing in a lot to this table. Especially after this reveal. Oh well, I could be wrong and I don't mind. Looking forward to the next chapter!
Woot!!!
I was afraid we had seen the last of this story! I’m glad to see it’s still being updated, and I can’t wait to see where the plot goes! This was an interesting interlude of world building though, no doubt. It just gets me all the more hyped though to see how it plays into the story!
Please update soon!
KEEP GOING STRONG!!!!!!!
Woot its back!!
This interlude implies all sorts of fun and interesting things about the upcoming chapters...
8598718
I had to include EQG for a reason. It provides a clue for a riddle posed in this chapter, although you may not realize the riddle is there yet. Let me give you a hint.
You have something that you must hide in your house, and you must hide it well, because someone is going to search for it, and if they find it, they'll kill you. And they will search your house thoroughly. They'll tear up the floorboards, hammer down the walls, they'll tear it down until not even two bricks are standing atop one another, and then tear up the yard a good six feet deep to make sure you didn't bury it somewhere (And you don't have the tools to bury it in any case). In a situation like that, where they'll tear the house apart to try and find it, where can you hide it in your house where they won't find it?
8598825
In that case I would hide it in a black hole and toss it into the void? Does that count?
8598961
It's not in your house, so no.
What is with this week that is making everyone update. Well everyone I’m tracking
8598992
No idea. Maybe it's the holiday season?
8598961
You know, I just realized that I'd actually given the answer to the 'riddle' in another interlude, That Moment Of Dawning Comprehension. Silly me, I'd forgotten. So here's the answer to the riddle:
If they're going to tear your house apart looking for whatever it is, then buy another house, and hide it there. It's still in 'your' house, but not in the house they'll be tearing apart, so they can search all they like and never find it.
In the chapter That Moment Of Dawning Comprehension, I revealed that Sombra was still alive and generating a new body. He'd hidden his death in an alternate world. This way, the Builders could search for his death as long as they liked. They could search the entire universe from top to bottom, down to the quantum level, and never find it. It was the perfect way of hiding his death... or so he thought. You can reread the chapter for more info on it. I'd recommend a full reread anyway, since it's been a while since my last update.
8598713
That's assuming that the power of love actually destroyed him in 'The Crystal Empire'. It broke him and scattered his bits to the wind, but if he can survive being disassembled down to the quantum level like he did in this chapter, then he can survive mere shattering. The Crystal Heart and the Love Spell Cadence uses may repel him, and may break his body if super-charged, but killing him, truly killing him, requires his 'death'. Anything other than his 'death' is just a setback, although using the power of love and/or hope makes it take longer. But Sombra is patient: In The Crystal Empire, he spent days hammering at the barrier Cadence maintained, tiring her out so he could gain entry. When you're truly immortal, to the point that you feel no hunger or fatigue, time is always your ally, provided you play your cards right.
The container he used to hold Sombra's death is kinda like a lich's phylactery in Dungeons and Dragons: The lich's body can be completely destroyed, but if the phylactery, which holds its soul, remains intact, the lich will just generate a new body. When a lich's phylactery is broken, it's soul is returned to its body, and the lich can be killed permanently.
8598996
I don’t care I’m happy
8598825
You
shove it up yourswallow it? That explains why Sombra was so freaked out when he lost his body.But given your mention EQG, it means Sombra hid his death outside the world.
8598825
Of course you have to leave it in plain sight. That's the only place that determined people can't find it.
I love the new chapter but do have one question. Is Diamond Tiara known outside of ponyville? Like known nation wide? Because if she is not then having her as a second reason would not work. Also I though it was her mother that was pushing her to act that way and that when she got away from her influence she acts normally as a very nice pony?
Other than that I love the new chapter. Glad you are continuing it.
8598825
https://m.You may have already given the answer away previously, but I have a much better guess/thing that popped into my head immediately after reading that riddle:
After all, you didn't say that they'd check inside the bricks.
good to see you back again.
Nice! Looking forward to the next one
.
8598996
So you're saying we need more holidays?
(checks feed, sees Sofa King Zill-E uploaded a new chapter)
A really interesting background story to this fic, great work.
Is that foreshadowing i see
Rejoice bretheren!
It has returned!!!
8599542
Indeed!
finally, I do hope I don't have to wait 4 months for the next one.
8599542
Quite so.
If the only thing that can kill him, is his own choice to choose to die, what better way to kill him than to put a soul destined to die inside the body of the immortal?
8598661
I'm actually planning to change over to the Nintendo Switch. Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey, Hollow Knight (Soonish), Dead Cells (The developers indicated they definitely want to set up a Switch port with the finished product), etc. Nintendo has come out of the gate at a full sprint, and is catching up quick, especially because of one simple fact: Nintendo's games haven't been sucked into the Microtransactions Pit. I mean, Shadow of War, Assassins Creed Origins, etc, too many games are becoming Pay To Play, Pay To Win. I mean, if I want to pay to win a game, I'll get an MMORPG. At least with those, you usually don't have to shell out $60 just to start (The first time is free, every other hit will cost you). Shadow of War is especially bad about this: To get the True Ending, you have to either shell out a couple hundred bucks for loot boxes, or spend an extra 100 hours of your life in a monotonous grind in order to overcome ridiculously overpowered enemies. That's about the time I have to say 'No.' If I have to shell out enough cash to buy a new system in order to beat a game, I'd rather just buy a new system whose developers still remember that games are supposed to be fun, not a means by which they can extort money from people with large wallets and poor decision making skills. Besides, with Dark Souls being over, and both The Surge and ELEX being colossal disappointments, and NIOH having come out with its last DLC, there aren't any hardcore action rpg games to scratch that itch for me. Nintendo may end up winning this generation's Console War by simply not giving in to the affliction that is eating the gaming industry alive from the inside out, and instead focusing on one simple truth: Games Are Supposed To Be Fun. And if games aren't fun, no one will play them. Nintendo is honestly just one good Multiplayer FPS from being able to topple the other two giants from their thrones.
8599995
That, or his death finding him. And his death is currently out of the box, as of That Moment Of Dawning Comprehension. The only question is, where is it now?
Your initial description of the builders and their creation of Equestria reminds me of the ones who built Jade in Fred Perry's Gold Digger series.
8600269
Funnily enough, that's more or less the reason why I've either been playing great free games, going back to games I never completed as a kid, or spending my entertainment budget on classics from GOG.com (or indie titles with, at most, one large, Expansion Pack-style DLC) and on eBay listings for cartridges I can plug into my Retrode.
At the moment, I'm gearing up to install my old The Incredible Toon Machine CD (either in Wine or DOSBox+Win311) and beat those unlockable extra-hard puzzles I never figured out as a kid. (I'm honestly surprised GOG doesn't offer the earlier DOS revision, Sid & Al's Incredible Toons, wrapped up in DOSBox, as part of their Incredible Machine Mega Pack.)
8600417
Well well, a fellow fan of Mr Perry, all the way out here!
Always nice to see.
Long live the Peebo empire!
It's back with a awesome chapter to boot.
8600417
That's likewise why I got a SNES Classic about a month ago. I mean, yeah, it's basically an $80 bushel of Member Berries, but there's some genuinely fantastic gameplay in here. Super Mario RPG, Mega Man X, Legend of Zelda A Link To The Past, Secret of Mana, Super Metroid, Kirby Super Star, Earthbound, these were the games of my childhood. And they're some of the greatest games of all time. I've barely touched my PS4 since I got my SNES Classic... which is part of why I'm out to switch to Switch.
If I'm having more fun playing 15 year old games over the ones that have come out in the last six months on PS4, then it's time for a change. I mean, The Fractured But Whole made me laugh, but after beating it and getting the collectibles, there wasn't really anything to get me hyped for the DLC due to the fact that the actual gameplay can best be described as 'My First Strategy RPG', and everything else? Dark Souls is done: Last DLC of the last game of the series, and it ended on a high note. I've gotten all the fun I can get out of it. Likewise Bloodborne, The Witcher 3, Nier Automata... The only game that I truly enjoyed that came out in the last six months was Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen Enchanced Edition, and that's technically not a game that came out in the last six months, but a game that came out several years earlier that was given improved graphics. This is just my opinion, but the PS4 and XBOX are hitting a slump (XBOX has Cuphead, but I'm not going to switch over to XBOX for one game that I could just as easily get on Steam), and there's nothing I can see coming out in the next few months that is going to pull them out. I mean, the new God Of War? It could be good, but they've made a lot of changes to the series and it could just as easily go down in flames, and there's still not a release date for it, so it might not be out until late 2018... if it doesn't get delayed further.
Worse, it's getting extremely difficult to see which games will be genuinely good, and which ones are being given good reviews because the big-budget game studio is shelling out big bucks to get every 'professional' games critic to give it an overly inflated positive rating, while gamers irate over one or two features of the game bomb metacritic with '0' ratings. I'm looking at you, Shadow Of War. You know you did it, and you know how the fans reacted (The 0 was an overreaction, honestly: 0 is what you give to a game that is genuinely awful, and literally bricks your console when you try to play it. Shadow of War had its flaws, but the gameplay was solid, and the expanded nemesis system was a genuine improvement on an already great feature, based on what I've seen. The story was a mess, the side characters were largely unlikeable and annoying, and the 'final' chapter would, for anyone who had a limited budget, be a hair-pullingly frustrating grind-fest that's almost like the developers hate poor people and want to punish gamers in tight financial circumstances. It's just that the developers made such a blatant cash grab move, as well as created a story that broke the LOTR lore repeatedly, and this made a lot of people angry). I'm not an FPS guy, I don't do competitive multiplayer, and honestly, the direction that oh so many PS4 and XBOX games are going in is starting to make me disgusted. I play games to have fun, as previously mentioned, and PS4 and XBOXONE seem to be forgetting that for the overwhelming majority of games, that's what we're here for as well.
The human is his death?
So the mirror portal was created by Sombra? Interesting.
Keep going! ;)
8601200
How in the world did you come to that conclusion?
8602170
Essentially, the Builders created everything at first, right? So they would know everything about where stuff was. Until the fallen, this was absolute, since nothing had their level of knowledge. Then, when the one gained that knowledge, they could now do things that the Builders could, which in theory includes gateways to other dimensions. This would normally not be a problem, since the Builders would share knowledge, but obviously such knowledge sharing would not happen in this case and thus require manual discovery. Having a secret hiding place the Builders wouldn't know how to find is an excellent solution.
Would ya look at that? It’s back from the dead only to die again. (Please don’t leave again... I love sombra and any lore on him. Don’t run away from this! No wait! Come back...)
Oh, fantastic! I had hoped to see this again. Of all the stories of this little sub-genre, whatever you call it, I really appreciated the main character being a bit different. Instead of off the cuff and crazy, he is well educated and intelligent, choosing to play out the hand he was given as well as he can. He isn't just going to go with the flow and let luck and fate handle things, but rather intends to take charge. I in truth really want this become more a story of statecraft than of adventure.
On a note relevant to this chapter: very nice world building. It's a classic style of creation myth. Reminds me a bit of the fall of Melkor (Silmarillion), though the concept of all the original creations rebelling instead of being perfect is an interesting take. I suppose it makes sense with Creators who are expressly imperfect, being simply normal entities who gained an enlightened state and power after eons of life. Also seems befitting for the Alicorn process to gain a deitific state only after earning it in life.
8599050
You know, you're really giving me some Golden Compass vibes.