The Second Return

by Narim

Spurious history?

I wasn't always in this form, in this mixture of creatures, gathered together to serve as a container for my souls. Once, I was formless consciousness, just a pile of thoughts, just like my sisters. Now, when I say sisters, it's not like we are related by blood. We don't have father and mother like all of you have or had. The best way to describe us is by calling us the avatars. My sister Celestia is the avatar of the Sun, my sister Luna is the avatar of the Moon and to my eternal resentment I am the avatar of this planet, now called Equestria.

In our early days, this place was a barren wasteland, filled with sand and rock, lifeless. Yet, in our duty, we were commanded to serve our purpose. Every day, Celestia was to raise the Sun to shine upon that misery only we were to see. At night, we were forced to watch it in the moonlight. My purpose was to move the clouds, to pour water into rocky hills and to shape the landscape into various forms. It wasn't boring, as we had no idea what the fun meant back then.

We carried our duty, like a machines, days by days, for millions of years. We would still be aimlessly following the blind purpose if we hadn't discovered... the life. One day, during the daily reshapement of this world, I found something green sticking out of the ground. It was a plant, a flower. When I saw it, I was overwhelmed with something new, with a new feeling. I felt alive.

I showed that flower to my sisters and they too experienced it. We realized how pointless our existence is. It seems like feeling alive comes at a price. To overcome our useless destiny, I started spreading the life all over my domain in the most wondrous forms I could create. I covered the ground with grass and trees and flowers and they enjoyed our gifts in forms of sunlight and water. Our lives gained meaning. Still, it was not enough.

I was satisfied with the landscape, with forests and meadows, lakes and swamps. But it was silent, only my wind made them speak. Thus I created animals, made them thinking, so we could listen to them and watch them. The purpose was complete, every day was meaningful.

Meaningful, but repetitive. I saw the animals having their freedom. They could do whatever they could do. I, on the other hoof, was still bound to my duty, to take care of this planet. To free myself, I started to look for the perfect replacement. After many failed attempts, I finally succeeded. The earth ponies, gifted with strength, to shape the land to their free will. Pegasi, gifted with the wings, to carry for the sky and to protect the life with rain and clouds. Those were the two main types of ponies, blessed with the intelligence of our own. There were countless of minor types, most of them already extinct, others, like unicorns, still present to this day.

Even though I was delighted by my efforts and watched them closely, an unstoppable virus spread quickly throughout the pony population, killing every living being we cherished. We had to start again. We called it the First Age. To prevent this from ever happening again, we decided to take a matter form. So far, we have been invisible entities watching them from above, or in my case from beneath. You can see out first form to this very day - combining all three main pony types, the alicorn type was created. Even I was an alicorn. Just like my sisters, even I've got a name. It was a long time since someone called me that way. Named after this planet, I was Terran of the planet Terra, meaning 'earth' in long forgotten language.

The Second Age was of course better than the previous one. We have learnt from our past mistakes. Even though we were able to prevent any disease to take place, a tragedy occurred nevertheless. One of the unicorn magicians, gifted with potent magic skills, destroyed the land with one of his spells and thus, we had to start anew. We sure wondered if we are doing the right thing.

As the Third Age started, I severely limited the magical abilities of unicorns. To even enforce our precaution, the magic itself was to be studied at the special schools and we watched closely the ponies with great abilities. Well, I can honestly say we have not failed that Age because of magic. No, it was something different. A war. A war, so large and so destructive, we ended that Age regardless of survivors. The horrors of the war were so intense that they would beg us to do so anyway, just to forget it. I was shocked by the hatred of my creations. This was nothing I gifted them with. We took our last, final attempt.

The Fourth Age. This Age. I continued to supervise the magic, while Celestia started to teach the ponies about the magic of the friendship. Some minor conflicts still took place from time to time, several diseases or catastrophes hit the pony race hard, but now, with the knowledge of the friendship, they were able to help one another, without our great efforts. I always feared what could possibly destroy this Age. This time, the threat didn't come from ponies. It came from us.

You see, creating the life requires an incredible amount of energy. Celestia provided the almost unlimited solar energy, while I took care of the magic itself, with my sister Luna handling the minor, but important adjustments. Every time we created a new Age, it was harder and harder. One might say it will go easier, since, well, it was our fourth time already, but we always thought it's because of our improvements from the past Ages.

Few hundred years since this Age began, almost all of our original powers have suddenly diminished. Celestia and Luna could still, to our fortune, control the Sun and the Moon. Since I stopped caring about the daily duties, I was only able to use the same magic as unicorns could. If it weren't for that suddenness, I could say we were getting old, but something, or rather someone, was behind it.

Shortly after that, we have got a message from our Creator. It wasn't a message like a letter. From one second to the other, we knew what he, or she, or they, I don't know, wanted to say to us. It was the first time we've got a word from the thing closest to the parents we never had. No, they were no caring words full of love and how proud of us they are.

"For the unapproved manipulation with the Life force and failing to carry your purpose, your existence is declared undesirable and you are to be replaced to restore the harmony."

That was the message. Restore the harmony. What a joke. And you thought that your dentist reminding you your monthly check-up is the worst thing you could find in your mailbox.

I've gathered a few theories about this Creator, as we call him. I think he himself is not that divine as you might think. He is more like an observer, else we wouldn't be here. If you create something, you know how to undone it, don't you think? Following that idea, I found we've got a counterparts. Another spirits, with more power and the only objective. To destroy the life, once and for all. You have already met one of them. The counterpart to Luna is called the Nightmare Moon. Her goal was to set eternal night upon the world of living. As you know, without the sun, there is no crops, meaning no food and in the end, no life. Celestia got a spirit called Helia. She was to scorch every corner of this planet with the sun beams. And finally me. I've got a brother, who goes by name of Chaos. Just like his name, his purpose was to throw everything into the eternal chaos.

So, suddenly, there were our antagonistic counterparts, with more strength than we ever had, with their pre-set purpose and a single goal. To destroy. So why are we still alive and talking? Even though they were without a doubt more powerful, we had something they had not. Allies. You. While we stood together as brother and sisters, they fought among themselves, to our fortune. Should they come after us at once, we would stand no chance.

First to warm us with her presence, literally, was Helia. She was the most powerful of them all, but quite arrogant and overconfident. I did improve my magic back to formidable levels, so I was able to encounter her. But I was not alone. My twelve dearest friends, bravest heroes of all times, fought her together with me. I have to mention something problematic about our Helia. We could not kill her, as she was, like Celestia, connected with the Sun. Killing her would kill both my sister, destroy the Sun and therefore eventually kill all the life. Probably one of the Creator's fail-safe mechanisms.

It was a terrible fight, easily overshadowing the Third Age's war. We were able to imprison her, but ten of my companions paid the ultimate price. I knew I had to do something different next time. Another fight of that magnitude was not something this land could withstand again. I have made my decision, and instead of waiting, I looked for, and found, Chaos. Not to battle him, but to understand and explain.

We had a very long chat. He was willing to listen, I was willing to talk. We found some similarities. We both disliked our Creator, we both enjoyed creating. Chaos would do anything to avoid fulfilling his purpose. It was against his name to follow someone else's orders. I would do anything to protect everything I hold dear. He knew, that is we cut our connection with out space objects, the Creator would lose his interest. We would be insignificant, or rather invisible to him. But how could we achieve that? The Moon is not that important for this planet, sorry Luna. But this planet and the Sun is vital. None of us could do that.

Chaos had a plan. An offer you can not refuse. He told me there is a way. The Restart, he called it. It would require rebuilding this planet, the Moon and the Sun, and to remove anything that connect us to them. That way, they would exist regardless of our presence. Since I've already created ponies to substitute me for my original purpose, there had to be someone to raise the Sun and the Moon instead of my sisters. Our counterparts would lose their purpose and my sisters would gain freedom. Chaos was not asking for much. To take a part during the rebuilding was enough for him. But still, accepting his help seemed like a pact with the devil. Helia was out of the game, Chaos was de facto too and Nightmare Moon could be defeated too, since she was the weakest of them all. Sorry Luna.

But the Creator could sent another to do the job. Chaos' plan was the only permanent solution. We have joined together. Literally. We mixed our spirits together, merging memories and personalities. Both Chaos and Terran died, and I was born. The lover of chaos, the mighty magician, the protector of this planet. I still say Terran got the bigger part in me. To leave my past behind and focus on the present and future only, I've created a body as a collection of various animal parts, working together in harmony, to constantly reminding me of my goal. To disrupt the Creator's harmony and to move the scales to our good.

I have not wasted my time and started with the plan. I've had experienced recreating the planet for several times, and I modified it countless times, yet it was not even a basic of what I needed to get started. I had to start from the core. I had to include the three space objects, make them work together. I need to say that I had both Terran's and Chaos' powers, so I was free to run any test I needed. To Celestia's and others displeasure. Celestia and Luna were not happy of my action. I've tried to explain it, but I was expelled. You are only good for sowing the discord among us, parted Celestia with me with these words. That's how I got my charming name. I was a brother to them for no longer. For Celestia, that is. I have you know that Celestia had to keep Luna locked when I returned a year ago. Anyway, I convinced myself of my truth and continued with my experiments.

In hindsight, I realize how dangerous my experiments were. Some of them threatened the very existence of this place and the lives of everypony. It's for greater good, I kept myself telling that. Celestia declared she could not tolerate that any longer. My action could lead to an end of this Age, and we had almost no power to start again. I had my powers, but not Celestia and Luna. Even if they had, I was so proud of the ponies of this age, that I couldn't start the new one. For the first time, you stood to our expectations.

Celestia was of the same feelings, and she decided to put your happiness and safety over my quest to secure happiness and safety for all of us. I had almost finished my plans. I would have made everything rotate, the Sun set the middle, the Equestria around the Sun in almost perfect circle, and Moon around the Equestria. The differences between the Equestria and Sun would cause the different temperature and pressure. That would create the wind and clouds, and seasons, all this without Pegasi or Celestia's actions. The Sun and the Moon would rotate around the Equestria, making day and night to come and go all by themselves.

The theory was perfect; to achieve it required a precise calculations. Before I could even start with them, Celestia and Luna barged into my hideout, armed with my latest creations, the elements, which she named to my displeasure the Element of Harmony. Why did I create the elements for, you might ask. Well, for my plan, I needed a way more magical energy than ever. Since Celestia has been striped of her powers, I could no longer rely on her solar powers. The elements are my solution. All twelve of them would gather energy, from whichever sources, keep it stored, so I could use it later. I intended to place them on key ley-lines, to use them as a focus points when I finally switch from chaos to law.

Of course, Celestia had no idea what they were for, only that they were powerful magic focusing objects, and since I refused to turn back on my plan, she set me to stone. I had to add that I let myself to be set in stone. I could easily break out, to reflect the spell, since the Elements were still weak back then. But then again, I could do my maths from that stone prison and it would take a long time to prepare myself for the recreation. Meanwhile, the elements could gather the required energy.

It took longer than I expected. The source of that delay was Helia. She tried to break out of her prison and I had to stop her. Keeping her locked up required most of my focus, leaving me with only a tiny power to study for my plan. It took five thousand years.

Meanwhile, the Nightmare Moon made her appearance. As you know from your fairy tales, she defeated Luna and Celestia was forced to use the Elements on her. Since you can raise the Sun, raising the Moon is almost a piece of cake. But now, Celestia lost her brother and her sister. You know, Celestia, I watched you every time you did your duty. I saw the loneliness and the pain in your eyes every day and night. It hurts me twice as much to see you alone and suffering.

The Nightmare Moon made her return after a thousand years and since you know the best how you've dealt with her, I won't repeat it. Since the Elements changed its user, the magic from its previous one was weakened. That's how the Nightmare Moon was able to escape and since I was done with my calculations, it eased me my arrival. I wasted no time, since Helia was not showing any will to reduce her escape efforts.

You've told me that throwing the Equestria into chaos is not a good way to make it a happy and secure place. Well tell me, Twilight, how do you clear your library? Don't you throw all your books on the ground, making even bigger mess, and start sorting them one by one? And you, Applejack. How do you clear your barn? There is no easier way than to throw everything outside on a huge pile, and then start giving them back in order. Speaking of order, I sure remember Rarity's despair, when her room of organized chaos got cleaned by her sister. No, my ponies, I am here to make new laws, new rules. It is hard to fit them into existing rules and laws. The chaos, on the other hoof, is something you can bend, twist, push and pull, form at will with ease.

Since I still had to keep Helia at bay, my chaos proceeded slowly. Even during our wonderful party at the Canterlot maze, I had to focus on fighting her. When I broke out of my prison, I saw only six elements active. It later proved to be a mistake, as I have told you, but I still decided to proceed with my plan that time. It would take longer than I expect, but I managed to break Helia's efforts and to throw Equestria into chaos at the same time. Breaking your connection with the Elements was not as easy as I have planned, but I managed to do so, at least for a while. You, however, managed to restore the connection and you've decided to unleash its power against me. I was this close to kill all of you, since I would still be able to use the Elements' power. I saw countless deaths; six more were but a grain of sand in a desert. As I've said, seeing your protection spell made me stop.

Every single active element would make my plan easier than you could possibly imagine. For the second time, I let myself to be defeated, or at least to make you think so. You don't know how to use the Elements properly, you only know how to unleash its powers. You've almost got me killed with that strike. The pain still echoes in my body. But, I was alive, and I could do my observations.

I've focused my energy into watching all six of you, I even looked into your past, ever since your were small fillies. To my surprise, I discovered not one, not three, but all six remaining elements being active. I've could now proceed with almost no effort. Twelve elements, charging themselves for five thousand years, were more than enough to finish my goal. I have measured their energy, double checked my calculations and were ready to set myself free from my prison. But, I was, and I still am, too weakened from your attack to be able to break that spell. Your stone prison was way more potent than the first one. You have no idea how much I cursed you. I was a step away from the finish and due to some six little ponies; I had to wait for several decades, before I could even attempt to break it.

My freedom came sooner than I thought. Do you remember those Diamond Dogs, who kidnapped Rarity and forced her to locate gems for them? Well, they still continued to search for gems even after that. They dug too deep and too greedily. They broke the Helia's prison and she was set free. While it's almost impossible to break out from the inside, you don't need anything special to get in from the outside. I had my mind occupied with other things, since she seemed to calm a little for a change. With the vision of freedom, she went to the surface. I was able to stop her and pull her back, but I was too late. One single ray of sunlight touched her. That moment I realized her power. When we stopped her the first time, she was simply playing with us. Now, she's mad with rage and unleashed her full power. Her roar caused several underground earthquakes.

Even Celestia heard that voice. She wasted no time, unlike of what we are doing right now, and came to my statue, realizing I was the only one who could stop her. I couldn't stop Helia from the prison, that goes without saying. The problem was, the stone prison spell was not meant to be broken, ever. Well, if there were really no way, I wouldn't be sitting here, right? Celestia found a way. She simply called for my help. During the Second Age, I swore her that I would come to her side whenever she needed, regardless of the circumstances. To even strengthen my promise, I reinforced it by the long forgotten spell, the Unbreakable Oath. It gave me the power to break out of the prison.

I wonder what would you try to do should Celestia decided to keep me there. Fortunately, she did not and here we are. The current twelve elements and three founders of this world. Oh, and a little dragon. One does not simply forget about the dragon.

I have foreseen Helia's intentions, and Celestia confirmed them. The Sun is moving closer and closer to Equestria. This time, Helia won't scorch it. She wants to absorb the entire planed into the Sun's flames. The earthquakes, the hot weather, the animals feeling unease - all of that is because of her. I know how to stop her, but I need your help for that.

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We finally know the name of our foe - Helia, the counterpart to Princess Celestia, is on her way to destroy Equestria and only Discord and our ponies can stop her. What is his plan? Will it work? In the next chapter of The Second Return, find about events that even Discord is shocked about!