Have you ever wondered what Equestria was like before the reign of Celestia and Luna? Have you wondered how the world was created, why all the different creatures of the world exist, amd much more? The history of the Age Of Legends, from the creation of the world to the coronation of the Royal Sisters, is detailed in the Gesta Deorum, the Deeds Of The Gods.
Welcome to Equestria, the land of myths and legends.
Inspired by Book Wyrm's A Complete History of the Kingdom of Equestria. Go check their story out, it's got some good history.
Chapters (4)
This is a great stab at a pseudo-mythology, and I'd be the last to carp at it on that basis, because it has the right voice and is well-written. We need more serious, thoughtful stuff like this on the site. But... apart from the name-check of Harmony as the original creator, I'm not sure how well it works as a pony mythology, in keeping with the ethos of the series. It feels a little too much like a mishmash of Christian and Greek myth, and doesn't really seem to invent a whole lot, or tie into the eventual concepts that appear in the show, like the division of the ponies into tribes, the Celestia/Luna balance of light and dark, and so forth. Understandably, that might come in later, since this is just the ur-myth, Age of the Giants part of the story, but it would work so much better if it both felt original and tied into the series more strongly, even at this early stage.
Just as a sample of what I mean by original, read this: Time and the Gods, by Lord Dunsany. It's available on Project Gutenburg, so you can read it online. It's a quick read, Dunsany wasn't a verbose writer. And it's a very well-done original mythology that really feels like the mythology of a fantasy world. And this isn't surprising -- Dunsany was basically Tolkien before Tolkien was a thing, so it's quality stuff.
Again, this story is good, and I like it, so take my suggestions as ways to make it even better!
9428410
Yeah, don't worry, the pony tribes and the Royal Sisters will come in later, closer to the end. Also, I tried to have friendship and unity be the deciding factor between Helios & co. and Aether, but if that got lost on you, I understand. I'm glad you enjoy it though.
This chapter does a wonderful job hyping up the rest of the fic.
9436693
I'm glad you think so, because I have a lot of mythology prepared. Grab a chair, get some popcorn, maybe keep a bronze sword handy, because you're in for a wild ride.
Rather interesting. I enjoy the ver classical style.
9462229
Thank you. I tried to make it sound like the King James Bible to make it sound more mystical and such, hence why you see words like 'beget' a lot. It just seems to work for this story, and I'm glad you enjoy it.
Here’s a question. What are the gods usual forms? Though gods can always transform, they usually have one form they prefer, on earth usually human. What is each one’s form in this world of many sentient creatures? Or, is this only the pony’s mythology, and the other species have different ones?
9464548
That is a hard question. While writing, I've always just imagined them as just human, because I'm a human myself, but that may not make sense in this world. I suppose they just take the form of ponies, but with more dexterous, amorphous hooves, seeing as they're able to hold weapons.
9464556
Or does say, Okeanos take the form of a seapony, or Aeulos a griffon. Is this the true creation story or just the pony’s?
9464558
This is the pony creation story. Whether it's true or not is a whole different question.
I guess I've never really considered the gods' true forms because they're kind of irrelevant right now. It's like asking which forms the Olympians of Classical Mythology took during the Titanomachy. There are no mortal characters for the gods to take forms for, and it doesn't make a difference either way since they're just interacting with each other. Each sentient being can imagine the gods as having their form in these early stories, since their forms aren't well defined yet.
"If horses had gods, they would look like horses."
-Xenophanes (paraphrased)
Wait, is this ancient Equestria or modern Ponyville?
Wonderful work in capturing the mythic tone. I look forward to when you can resume this project.
9818712
Fair point.
9818724
Well, I said to someone on here that this was on hiatus until the series finale...and that's about to air worldwide soon. So I guess I need to start working on this again.
Zeus... get ze lightning bolts...
I'm hype.
Gonna have to echo what Lets Do This said. I do enjoy mythological writing, and your style is excellent for covering that. I'm definitely interested, and hope you get back to this some day.
I'd also say that it's now my headcanon that no pony actually spoke like Luna back in the day. She just loved reading the myths you're covering and was a big ol nerd.
This is an excellent story! Very, well, mythological
I'm glad I read this - upvote from me!