Book Two: Chapter Five: Wrath of the Gods
Myths and Birthrights
By Tundara
Book Two: Duty and Dreams
Chapter Five: Wrath of the Gods
The village of Lourdes ground to a halt. Mouths fell open in unison and a wave of chilly disbelief swept across the market square. All eyes turned to stare at the gods standing in their midst. Some saw only Faust, her rust red mane caught in the breeze rolling down the mountains and through the valley. For others, the brothers were all they could focus upon, caught in a whirlwind of questions and conflicting emotions.
Those nearest threw themselves prostrate upon the ground and issued fervent prayers to their returned goddess.
Zeus had eyes only for Faust, trailing over her long legs and thin withers. She was a little too lanky for his tastes, attractive, though, in the eyes and with refined features.
“Brother…” Hades began in warning, but trailed off at the broad grin his brother carried like a banner.
“I tell you again; leave my world.” Faust struck her hoof upon the ground in a thundering blow.
Her essence crawled along Zeus’ wings and filled his nose with the scent of cardamom and spice. She was deep within the throes of her Domain, searching for something from the way her pretty blue eyes darted. Her presence caressed his face like a mid-fall breeze, gentle with the last fleeting traces of a tender warmth.
This only widened Zeus’ grin.
“Well, this is a fine greeting, if ever I’ve received one. You give my brother competition for having the most unwelcoming home. We have done nothing to earn your ire, madam. Made no attempts at usurping your place within these mortals’ hearts. We have started no cults in our own names.” Trotting in a slow circle, Zeus gestured towards the town with a sweep of one wing. Faust’s gaze followed the gesture, her expression growing ever more sour. “Had we knowledge of your location, we’d have sought you sooner.”
“The worship of ponies has never interested me, only that they are safe,” Faust countered, still searching her domain. “And you herald chaos and death. You must leave.”
“That is impossible,” Zeus replied with a slow shake of his head. “Our daughters have come to this world, and we would have them returned to us.”
“Daughters?” Faust’s eye locked onto something only she could see. She narrowed her gaze, peering at it as if she were trying to stare into the sun. “Ah, yes, them. They are known to my weave.”
Zeus’ smile vanished, replaced by a stern glare and pinched brow. His blood rose, and the next words rolled like thunder across the town square. “Explain yourself, madam.”
“There is little to… tell…” Faust clicked her tongue, and prodded the air as if to pluck an invisible lyre. “How…?” Whatever she saw or heard broke her spell. Blinking as if waking from a dream, Faust frowned, shook her head, and focused on Zeus.
An odd one, then, Zeus determined.
Straightening her shoulders, Faust said, “Leave this world. You will not find what you seek.”
Bristling, Zeus’ pulse quickened, and his hackles rose. He was not used to being spoken to in such a manner by any mare save his wives.
“You do not command me, for I am Zeus, King of the Gods, Last of the True Aethyir. He who cast the formless Quus into their eternal prison. He who imprisoned demonkind beneath Tartarus. And, he who granted the archons Elysium so that they may reward the faithful among mortal kind. There is naught another in all the cosmos, on all the worlds, in all the realms, who is my equal.” A truth rang in his words, a truth tempered by time and the shifting sands of history.
Faust did not hesitate or waver, however. A mare Zeus could respect, steadfast to her convictions.
“Calamity follows you, Zeus. You intrude on events that do not concern you. If you will not leave my world of your own volition, then I must make you leave by other means.” She lowered herself into a ready stance, hooves planted wide and jaw set with determination.
Yes, he liked this mare. She was an old god like himself and unused to being challenged.
If it was a fight she desired, than that was what she would receive.
He struck first, crossing the square in a pulse of the lightning he commanded. This was not teleportation, but speed, pure and raw. The mortals in the square were sent sprawling in his passage, unable to react or comprehend his movements. Awnings and market stands were sent tumbling, storefronts shattered, glass raining into the shops, and would have been deadly had not every pony come into the street to witness the alicorns. Dropping low, Zeus swept up his hoof in a swing as powerful as a tempest.
Barely did Faust have time to register the attack and tense before she was struck on the cheek and sent hurtling towards the distant end of the valley. Trees and a rocky outcropping were shattered in her wake, the latter sending her spinning until she struck the walls of the monastery. In the middle of afternoon prayers, the sisters were caught utterly by surprise as their walls burst around them and Faust came to a stop in the deepest sanctums. Such was the power behind the blow that the stone beneath Zeus were crushed to dust.
Blinking a few times, he turned to Hades and said, “That was disappointing. After all that bluster, I thought her to put up a little fight at least.”
“She is probably just deciding if that was the limit of your strength,” Hades countered, leaning up against the edge of the fountain, chin on hoof.
“Come now, she can not be so foolish as to believe that was a serious kick.” Zeus snorted and shook out his wings to loosen them. Momentary worry caught him, and he tilted his head. “Can she?”
Hades shrugged, and looked away with abject disinterest. Next to Hades, Soir trembled and shrunk within his shadow. The questions posed by the filly’s mere existence buzzed around Zeus’ head like a nectar-drunk bee. Zeus had hoped that with Faust’s arrival some answers could have been attained. Shame she was not the talkative type.
Instead, more questions had been tossed upon the pile. Questions, and concerns that twisted his insides.
“By my beard, what does she mean with this delay?” Zeus growled, narrowing his gaze down the valley. His hoof tapped with impatience. “Does she wish to fight or not? And what is this nonsense about weaves? Is she the goddess of tailors?”
A booming chuckle came from Zeus. He turned to see if Hades would share his mirth, but his brother was dour, as always.
“Ha-ha-ha! I have such a wit. ‘Goddess of tailors.’ Hera would have loved that one.” Zeus’ mirth faded at the thought of his wife. Impatience returned, grown a little more sour with Hades sullen silence. “Should I go see if she wishes to continue?” He tugged at his beard and frowned.
There was no need to go in search of Faust, as she came at him flinging magic with no other purpose than to destroy. A lance of ruby light tore apart all it touched, breaking the fundamental bonds that held all things together. It was among the most powerful of war-spells ever devised on Ioka, and nothing special to Zeus.
Slow and unwieldy, Zeus turned it aside with but a sweep of his wing, redirecting the deadly beam into the heart of Lourdes.
A long trail of destruction sheared through the town, buildings bursting into flames like oil soaked torches, thick plumes of smoke curling up into the blue afternoon sky. Hovering just beyond the town, Faust gaped in shock at the damage. She paled beneath her snowy coat, mouth pressed so tight her lips drained of all colour.
She tried the spell again, and Zeus let out a gruff sigh as he turned this one too aside, with identical results.
“Come, madam, surely that is not all you are capable?” He let out a jocular chuckle that hid his own diminishing hopes. “Or, are you but a fool? If you mean to challenge me, then give it your all.”
Faust again touched her domain, stronger this time, eyes rolling to the back of her head as she immersed herself in its power. Zeus almost regretted his failure to learn just what her domain entailed. Clearly nothing related to battle or warfare, from the poor showing she’d given him thus far.
He dipped a glance down to the streets on either side torn and consumed by Faust’s magic. Ponies ran back and forth, shouting at one another, calling for bucket brigades. A few bodies lay where they’d fallen, twisted and mangled where they’d been grazed by the lethal energies. Those struck fully were little more than ash drifting on the slight breeze.
Powerful, deadly magic, to be certain, but only against one unused to battle. Only somepony very foolish, or very inexperienced, would attempt the long sequence of runes, the obvious build-up of aether, and then letting it out in a straight, frontal attack. At least, against anypony conceivably their equal or better.
Still, Faust continued to hover, to hesitate.
He could think of no other reason for the delay. Patience growing ever thinner, Zeus took to the air. As he lifted himself on broad strokes of his wings, Zeus caught, out of the corner of his eye, Soir running off, and Hades not giving any pursuit of the filly. His brother just leaned against the fountain base with a thoroughly disinterested air. Finding the filly again would be easy enough. She could not get far.
Reaching out in the same manner as Faust, Zeus touched the skies, and the storms that lay hidden even within the most beautiful and calm days.
At first it was little more than a slight kick to the wind, one that grew and grew until the top of the trees bowed and there was a shrill whistle through their boughs. Dark clouds gathered, clumping above the town, and began to spin. The nascent storm sent its master a query, curious as to why it was being formed. Zeus responded with the rush of blood in his veins, and the song of battle that was the tempo set. Electricity rippled through the growing anvil head of the storm in response.
Faust shook her head, the connection to her domain lessening, but not gone. She looked around for Zeus, and found him standing on the leading edge of his storm, like a captain at the prow of his ship plunging into blood foaming seas.
“Come, Faust, let us play!” Zeus’ deep voice rumbled across the valley and lands beyond. “Let us see you cast me off this world.”
Dropping off the ledge, Zeus grabbed hold of the lightning growing in the storm’s belly. He hurled himself at Faust like the roaring storms he commanded. There was an utter lack of subtlety to his assault. Lightning wreathed his wings and mane, splitting ancient cedars and stone to a crackling refrain. Wind howled behind him like the breath of a monstrous chariot, and hail scoured the town, stripping bare those trees not torn apart.
Curious what she would do, Zeus loosed the first lightningbolt in a perfect mirror to the spells she’d summoned.
The thunderbolt could not be stopped, only turned aside. There came a tremendous ringing tone, like a dozen bells had crashed together, and a brilliant flash of the purest white pierced by an indigo lance. Two hundred miles away they saw the light and heard the refrain as Mount Ossau was cleft in twain from peak to base.
Zeus grinned. Perhaps this would be entertaining after all.
Soir ran through the chaos consuming her village as fast as her little legs could carry her. She darted around burning stumps, shattered trees, and sundered homes. Screams rolled across the town on a glowing red cloud of smoke. An older mare wandered, eyes glazed with shock, half her face a mess of burnt fur and dirt caked flesh. A colt cried alone, and was scooped up by a passing stranger. Lowering her head, Soir moved faster. She had to reach her mother.
In the distance beyond the valley, one of Faust’s ruby beams blazed through the building storm. The terrible, metallic ripping was hardly muted by the many miles. Like a monstrous sword, it slashed across once verdant fields. Plumes of dark ash bloomed in the deadly wake, climbing hundreds of hooves into the sky before falling in strangling clouds.
Zeus emerged from the cloud, spinning around the beam, and then firing a jagged fork of lightning up into his storm. On contact, the belly of the clouds came alive with ten thousand lances of brilliant blue-pink electricity. Forming spokes of a cage, vibrant bars that burned to look upon, lightning sought the disc and clawed into the heavens.
It were as if the pits of Tartarus had been torn open and the hellish wastes contained within let loose.
For the rest of their days, those who survived would wake from nightmares of the whistling screams proceeding each new blow. A spinning tempest formed over land in all defiance of the pegasi that came to halt its growth. Wind lashed trees bare, hail scoured fields and homes, and fire fell as rain, lighting the mountains with an abyssal reddish glow. Nowhere in southern Prance was left untouched by the fury of two gods battling in the fullness of their power.
Unsure what was happening, ponies ran to find help and seek shelter. Fire teams attempted to put out the flames, but it was a futile effort. Brittle from two years of drought, forests and fields went up like bundles of matches, sparks leaping from tree to tree like they were carried on the backs of cackling, mad sprites.
The noise was an unmatched din, voices screamed directly into the ear lost among the growing cacophony.
Far overhead, the embattled gods flew, Faust deflecting blow after blow that rang like a colossal hammer on a mountainous anvil. A blast of twisting green flecked with violet bursts sent by Faust was turned towards Lourdes’ school. Losing only a moment to surprise, Faust dove, putting herself between her own spell and the school, conjuring a golden disc to negate most of the crackling energies. Molten aether fell in thick, glowing globs, splashing and setting alight even the cobblestone roads.
Faust darted off soon as she could, Zeus giving chase. Their passage sent the ponies below sprawling. Struck on the side by wind as if she’d been bucked, Soir tumbled into a ditch, embers stinging her flanks and singeing the ends of her tail and mane. Her ears rang, and the disc lurched underhoof as she pulled herself up and onward.
By the time Soir found her footing, the battle had already moved back out of the valley.
Soir was alone on the road leading to her home. The houses were spread further apart than in town, isolated by small patches of farmland or pieces of forest stretching down from the mountain. Head lowered, Soir ran past the final home before her own; that of the miller’s herd. Wheel askew, slanting in the slough, Lourdes’ mill burned, the miller and his wives strewn before the threshold, unmoving among open sacks of their meagre personal effects.
Frightened tears staining her cheeks, Soir rounded the final corner. Her home in sight, Soir felt a flicker of relief. The cottage stood relatively unharmed by the warring gods, tiles stripped from one side of the roof, and windows broken, but still standing otherwise. The grounds around the cottage showed further damage, the gate hung askance, the top hinges broken, and small patches of fire clung to the shrubbery along the street.
“Mama!” Soir yelled at the top of her lungs, only for a deep percussion of some distant spell drown out her voice. She called again, short legs aching as they carried her the final few yards.
Jardin’s voice answered, panicked and hopeful in equal measure.
Then a belltower she did not recognise hurtled from the sky, crushing her home and the surrounding gardens in a single, cruel blow. Lifted off her hooves, Soir tumbled head over tail back along the lane. Her shoulder cracked against the rocks, and the disc spun violently. Stone and splinters rained down around her as she stared, dazed, up at the roaring storm.
Hail joined the debris, creating a deafening blanket of noise through which the distant blows of Faust and Zeus came in muted groans, low booms, and crackling howls. Winds came next, fanning the flames around the valley and lands beyond, driving them into wild firestorms. The rapid popping of pinecones, like a fireworks shop were setting off its entire stock, soon joined the incredible din.
Pulling herself up, Soir stared open mouthed at the rubble burying her home.
Bruised, tired, a heavy static curtain falling over everything so that all sound and even sight began to bleed away, she dragged herself forward.
“Mama?” she called out, hope against hope pleading for a miracle.
Jardin would emerge from the ruins, having protected herself with a shield in the last instant! Or, she teleported away on reflex.
Crawling over the pile of bricks and tiles, Soir failed to notice the thick, oily flames and smoke of an approaching comet. Picked up as it passed, she was sent tumbling down the rubble, flame dragging over her back and curling the ends of her fur. Her nose and mouth were filled with a searing wave as the comet landed only a few lengths away, casting up a shower of burning hot rock as it dug a shallow crater.
Haggard gasps pulled through cracked lips, Soir peered into the crater and felt her insides twist in horror.
At its center, Faust lay on sprawled wings. Burnt from nose to flank, her once glorious right wing was little more than a skeletal, blackened mess of cracked flesh and bone. The stink of burnt hair and skin assaulted Soir, and she had to cover her mouth to hold back the contents of her stomach.
Growling, Faust slowly sat up and crawled from where she’d landed towards Soir. Right eye as ruined as her wing, and ear little more than a melted stub, Faust was a horror to look upon. Wishing to scream, but unable to do more than whimper, Soir trembled as Faust grew closer.
Nearly at Soir, Faust attempted to stand, but could not and collapsed.
Good eye settling on Soir, Faust blinked, and let out a weak, almost manic chuckle. “Fitting, to see my greatest failure now. Come here, come here, Namyra.”
Faust beckoned with her good leg. Soir gulped, and heart beating heavy in her chest, she came close enough that Faust could reach out and touch her.
“How long have I dreaded this reunion?” Faust asked nopony, a delirious quality to her voice.
“But, we’ve never met,” Soir protested. The words escaped her with a distant, far-off quality, as if spoken by somepony else.
A short laugh turned into a hacking cough, and Faust shook her head slowly.
“Namyra, no, Soir,” Faust spoke, each breath taken with a long, wheezing rattle in her chest. Hoof trembling, she brushed back Soir’s mane, hooking it behind her ear. “I am so sorry for what happened to you. It was impossible to prevent and not cause a greater tragedy still. So much death… Ioka herself would not have survived. Only one path open… and… No! The foolish child. She comes too soon!”
Faust pushed Soir away, sadness in the goddess’ every aspect.
“Hide!” Faust commanded, “And seek the stars. Find Twilight. Only then can harmony be restored.”
Soir squeaked as she was thrust by Faust’s magic into a sheltered nook beneath what had been part of the roof of her home. A pile of bricks held in a ruddy glow fell across the entrance, sealing her within. There was just enough of a gap for Soir to peek out and witness the impossible play out before her.
Zeus swept in on a chariot of storm and cloud. At his side hovered a tall staff or spear, golden head glinting in the stoccata flashes of distant lightning strikes.
“This has been, sadly, less enthralling than I hoped,” he declared as his chariot came to a stop, hovering at the height of the tops of the trees that had once filled the town. “There is no shame in your loss. I am Zeus, and—”
He was silenced by a tepid beam of magic. There was none of the former screaming force behind Faust’s spells, and Zeus only had to shift his head a little to avoid the attack.
“Cease this nonsense.” Zeus’ voice had long since lost all its usual rumbling humour. “This contest is over, Faust. You have given it a good effort, and I have indulged you far longer than I should out of respect of one monarch to another, but this has long since entered the realm of absurdity. Look upon the destruction your arts have wrought. Surrender, and I will show leniency. I am not a god bereft of mercy. Do not force me to destroy you.”
“You do not understand,” Faust coughed, and forced herself up. Her legs wobbled from exhaustion and pain, and Soir had to stifle a gasp at the sight of Faust’s charred wing and side that had been hidden beneath her body. “If you do not leave, this world is doomed.”
Some small hope that he would listen flickered in Soir, and died as he tossed back his head and let out a long laugh. Not a jovial laugh, but one of dark humour and promised violence.
“Enough with this doomed world nonsense. Who are you to make such a claim?” He demanded.
Trying to take a step closer, Faust tripped and fell to her knees. Still, she held her head high, and through gritted teeth and with as much force as she could muster, said, “I am the Goddess of Fate, and—”
“Fate? The Goddess of Fate?” Zeus laughed longer and louder still, a dark, mirthless sound that merged with the distant roll of thunder. “Now I see what has happened here. Yet again, I have played into those harpies hooves, doing their dirty work. By my beard, I knew they had ulterior motives, but I never would have suspected this. You are not Fate, Faust, but a fool. You claim a domain not yours. Attempting to steal what belongs to the Moirai, no less. That, however, is between the Fates and you to resolve. I would offer caution, they are far more subtle in their ways and hold a grudge far longer than I.
“No, what I want is the location of my daughters. Tell me where they are, and we may put this trifle behind us.”
Falling to her side, Faust began to laugh, low and slow at first and rising to a hysterical pitch.
“Where are my daughters? Tell me!”
Grinning wider, Faust hurled the answer as he had done his thunderbolts, “They are dead. Destroyed! They will never call you ‘father’. Never share the triumphant grins that you long to see. My weave is pure of such intrusions. Pure. Yes, my weave must remain pure.”
Zeus was silent a long while, his face passive, expressionless. When he spoke, the wind ceased as a solemn silence rang across the valley. “Then you will be sent to join them, madam.”
An electric current ran through the air at Zeus’ proclamation. Soir’s fur stood on end, little static sparks jumping from tuft to tuft, then up towards Zeus. His staff glowed, brighter and brighter, until it hurt to look upon. A thrumming noise filled the valley, resonating through teeth and bone. Soir curled in on herself, unable to stop shaking as noise, light, and sparks grew to a fevered pitch.
And then all was silence as Zeus leveled his staff at Faust.
Through the miasma of the horizon as far away as Hackney’s white cliff coasts in the north, the mountainous city of the zbori to the east, the fleet of ships carrying grain just through the Marelantian Islands straits far, far in the west, and the lairs of the dragon lords within their desert across mountain and sea in the south, every eye was turned upon the battle between gods. Each blow exchanged lit the sky and was felt in the breasts of onlookers as if they’d been struck by a hammer.
Mothers clutched their foals close, though they did not know why. They wept, openly, even the cold and stoic zbori, batlike wings wrapped tight around each other as if to provide some measure of comfort or protection.
In the towns of southern Prance, panic gripped the villages and towns in flaming bands. Debris from the destruction of Mount Ossau plummeted upon their streets and homes, lit their dry fields, and spread devastation wide.
Sisters, monks, and anypony devout prayed as they ran, stumbled, or wandered through the sweeping destruction. Many of the voices were lifted to Faust, and these she reformed into armour to withstand Zeus’ thundering blows. Near as many were given to Celestia, Luna, and any god or saint that may have been listening.
Stuck in a meeting with the Astronomer’s Guild, quietly listening to their latest set of grievances, Celestia didn’t notice the first such prayer as it brushed against her conscience. The prayer was easily put aside, as were so many others that were issued every single moment of her existence, no thought at all given to them. A dozen more joined the first within moments, then a hundred, and then a thousand, two thousand, and more and more. Even this would not have been enough to garner her attention, but for the wild tinge of dread that weighed the prayers down like barbed anchors. And then, dozens were snuffed out at once mid-utterance.
Celestia twisted around in her seat to peer at the wall as if she could see through it to the source of the prayers.
‘Love, is something happening in the east?’ She asked Sol.
The sun did not answer at once as she wrenched her attention away from Manehatten to scan the rest of the disc.
Across from Celestia, the members of the guild grew agitated at being ignored. She gave them a pleasant smile, and begged their indulgence a moment. “There seems to be an issue that—”
Her explanations came to a sharp halt at Sol’s cry of, ‘You must see this!’
Rarely did Celestia share Sol’s sight. Rarer still at Sol’s insistence. No sooner had the sun spoken than she was tugging at Celestia’s essence, fusing it with her own so that they each saw with the others eyes.
The view from so high among the heavens was breathtaking, as always. Clouds drifted across swatches of greens and yellows, softer browns where grasslands gave way to arid plains and then the oranges of the deserts. Interspersed throughout rose the grey points of mountains like spiny frills. Within the heart of southern Prance a wild tempest overtook the usual emerald forests and rolling hills. Jets of lightning shot skyward and into the ground, but not in the usual haphazard manner.
Sol tightened her gaze, narrowing in on where the storm was fiercest. At first Celestia did not see what caused Sol enough panic to pull her essence to the heavens. Then she noticed the two specs darting this way and that above the smoldering, jagged base of what’d been Mount Ossau. Ruby lances burst from one at the other, and though Celestia had never witnessed Faust use war spells, she knew this to be her mother.
Fear leapt through Celestia as Faust’s spells were turned aside, their deadly power redirected towards the wounded earth. The other combatant darted in close, and with a mighty buck, knocked Faust from the sky trailing wisps of smoke and feathers.
“I must go,” Celestia said, and without a further word she’d teleported the short distance to the armoury. There was no time to don her armour, and just enough to snatch her sword from where it rested.
She didn’t even hesitate over whether to contact Luna or not. Selene had set for the day, and Luna was asleep. There was not the time to rouse any of the others and explain what was transpiring. Her only hope was that they too were receiving prayers, and that they were not putting them aside.
Then Celestia lost all sight, sound, and warmth as she fell into the leylines of aether flowing across the disc. Ordinarily, it would take several minutes to cross from Canterlot to southern Prance. Celestia did not have that time. She forced her will further into the maelstrom of pure energy, bending, reshaping it, forcing it to carry her faster. There wasn’t even a proper destination set, simply ‘east’.
Whenever Celestia taught her students the arts of teleportation, one of the first lessons was to never, under any circumstances, teleport without the end-point firmly affixed. The number of wizards who’d been lost within the swirling confines of the leylines were nearly beyond counting. Sometimes, other travellers managed to spot these lost souls, catching them in the corner of their eye for a fleeting instant before they were swept away again.
As the aether permeating Prance drew nearer, Celestia became aware of the toll being exacted by the battle. Massive amounts of energy were not being just summoned, but expelled so that the furious storm ravaging the land was mirrored within the leylines. Currents glutted with the cast off energy from spells buffeted Celestia, threatening to knock her off course, or out of the aetherial veil entirely.
She grabbed hold of these currents, following them to the source of the disturbances. There, she would find Faust and whoever her mother fought.
Stronger distortions buffeted Celestia, like a stone had been cast into the veil, and then she was struck from behind as it rushed to fill the void. She could see, physically see, the spell being formed, the aether gathered into a single point. Runes Celestia did not recognise blazed in the near distance, a song to resonate across the leylines flowing from the heart of the spell. Mighty runes, each was equal to the most powerful rune within Celestia’s considerable repertoire.
Riding the currents, Celestia tucked wings and legs tighter against her barrel, willing herself just a little bit faster. The pitch of the song shifted, the final runes taking form. Celestia had to chose; go where the spell was being formed, or where it was directed. Two points shone at either end, one her mother, the other whomever she fought, but who was which remained obscured by the blinding formation of runes between them.
The spell was completed, and Celestia chose.
Light, sound, the scent of burnt wood on a cold, wet wind slammed into Celestia, and from above fell a stream of screaming plasma.
Celestia acted as Luna would have in her place, swinging Coronal Edge up with all her might, the powerful artifact's blade emitting a deep roar of its own. Forged from a piece of Sol, few blades could stand in comparison to Celestia’s sword. She caught the lightning bolt on the flat of the blade, aura trembling beneath the force of stopping the oncoming spell.
Never, in all her years, had Celestia felt such staggering strength. Only Nightmare Moon could compare, and her attacks had always held a semblance of grace carried over from saner times. There was none of that here, just pure, unbridled power bereft of any subtlety or nuance.
Clenching her teeth tight, Celestia let out a snort that turned into a deep shout as she withstood the killing stroke. Against Coronal Edge, the lightning split and ricocheted across the valley, leaving great gouges carved into the already scarred land.
Standing astride her wounded mother, Celestia billowed flame and might as she had not done in an age. Her mane was as the flaring surface of the sun, her eyes the molten core, strength swirling in their depths. A terrible yell broke from her throat, and she sent her flames through Coronal Edge and up the lightning pulsing against the blade.
The lightning petered out, spent, and her counter-attack, so hastily formed, burned only through clouds and up into the heavens before being expended.
Celestia Invictus, the Sun Unconquered, leveled her sword at Zeus, Coronal Edge a match for the fires commanded by her mistress.
Upon his storm, Zeus stood smitten. His grin grew wider still, and his heart pounded against his chest. He was ten thousand years younger in that moment, as fresh and full of life as he’d been as he declared victory over the Quus and claimed Gaea for his throne.
Never before had he been challenged so brazenly. He gathered the greatest of his thunderbolts, coaxing it together across the still growing storm, and drew his staff close to his side. He would test this mare.
Spell upon spell tumbled through the back of Celestia’s thoughts, just gracing her awareness enough to respond at the slightest command. Some were slow, but brutal, others quick flicks that swarmed and ground an opponent down, like rain hammering a mountain into a hill.
Old wounds and fresher stings reminded her of past defeats. A dull ache throbbed where Amon had once hacked off her wing and skin prickled where Chrysalis had humiliated her. With the former she’d been so young, inexperienced, and overconfident. The latter she’d been hemmed into Canterlot, terrified of unleashing the fullness of her power, and diminished by the careful work of months of poison.
Now, none of these were factors.
The greatest, and youngest, of her runes rose of its own accord, answering the call before she’d even begun to call its name. Ursea was so fresh, having spent less than a few months among her considerable repertoire, and only ever used once. A rune of her own devising, formed of her own essence, with the gentle, life giving qualities of the sun on a spring day, and the terrible, consuming wrath of Sol’s surface when angered, Ursea was as powerful as its mistress.
At the touch of the rune’s presence, Coronal Edge blazed hotter, sensing the sisterly nature of the rune to her own magic.
Shifting her hooves, wings spread ever so slightly so she could dart up or to the side as needed, Celestia readied her onslaught.
Before she could move, a hoof grabbed hold of her leg, and her gaze flickered for an instant down.
“We must leave,” Faust gasped through split lips, clutching at Celestia’s leg. “Twilight! Twilight. We must go to Twilight.”
The fury directed at the figure of Zeus so far overhead swung down to Faust. Celestia’s jaw tensed, fear clutching at her for her cousin. Without a word she took up her mother and teleported away.
Sweeping off his storm, Zeus descended to where Celestia had stood. He tugged at his vibrant, once more golden beard, and crinkled his blue eyes. Gone was the middle-aged stallion of yore, and in his place stood a figure full of vitality and youth.
“By my beard,” he said in a long breath, “Who was that stunning creature? I must find her. I must make her mine. Surely, there is no other who could be my equal. I am alive as I have not been in an epoch. To win but a moment more of the passion in those eyes! To taste her lips! I must find her.”
A sigh of pure longing issued from his throat, and Zeus took off to the west without further thought.
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Oh, boy.
Now I am reminded of this:
s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/2f/10/40/2f1040e66fe67bc125d5eedb4a3f6ea5.jpg
and Zeus fall in love with the Celestia.....am I the only one think she be good choose for him, that she would not let Zeus get away with anything ever again.....
8190918 so true, so true, I surpise Zeus's Wife had not had that remove
8190918
So true!
8190941
That's my thoughts as well, but I keep getting resistance to the mere idea of Zeus and Celestia eventually getting together...
Zeus... ahh good old Zeus. I guess I can understand why an embodiment of storms and lightning is always so active/randy... but seriously man.
Not that Faust is any better with her own faults. I can see where Celestia gets that mysterious vibe to her, it's entirely natural. Faust couldn't explain 52 card pickup, let alone what's going on with the world and the events forthcoming. That and she's still locked into her own delusion about her own domain. It's understandable that she thinks she's a goddess of Fate, but I don't think it's a 100% fit. She's definitely fate-adjacent, but I don't think she's one of the Moiria, though... I do think I remember something about a 4th moiria in old greecian mythology.
8190950 Trust that resistance. She would burn it off before she lets it near her. I'm sure there are far more fitting alicorns back on his world. Apollo maybe...
8190950 I can see they get together after huge fight and being massive drunk, they wake up in bed togeather, few week later the princess find out she pregnant......
and during the whole fight Hades and Luna are snacking on some popcorn have gotten along very well....
Goddamn it, Zeus.... SOMEONE GO GET KRATOS!
8190994
Fuck Kratos, get this fella instead
static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/7/76733/2953575-gorr-the-god-butcher.jpg
Awesome chapter. The disaster movie approach was a wise decision, and I shall look forward to the aftermath.
I think focusing on the environmental and collateral damage served to depict the sheer amount of power being tossed around, much better than had you focused on the fight itself.
But I find myself... annoyed with Zeus. I know he's supposed to be, but his arrogance is so freaking irritating. He's acting as if the destruction is Faust's doing, yet he's the one who initiated the conflict, refused to listen because the words were not his own, and then (deliberately, I assume) deflects attacks at innocents, rather than towards the sky where they'd do no harm.
I'm not saying it's badly written, 'cause it's not. You do well to depict who he is, but fucking hell I would love to see Celestia wipe him off the surface of the
planetdisc. God knows he deserves to be knocked down a few pecks... or a thousand. I dunno how you measure the power of the Alicorns, but if we go by the power of what they represent, storms are but a tiny side effect of the Sun's mere presence. By that logic, Celestia should be more than his match so long as they are on Ioka, where she has Selene.Edit:
Not to mention "You're not the Goddess of Fate because I know someone else who says they are!"
Just another +1 to his Arrogance Meter, which already breaks the limit of probability.
So Zeus did it again it seems. Except this time he basically curbstomped Faust, as opposed to sustaining some wounds himself. Well, I hope Faust survives. And for the love of Celestia, I hope that Zeus gets gelded should he try to hook up with any of Ioka's alicorns, much less Celestia herself. You don't bang the guy who beat your mother half to death. Looking forward to more.
8191057 Yeah, I hate his character. It is dead on as he was portrayed in Greek mythology. He cares for nothing but stroking his own ego.
I really hope Celestia does not fall for him. He tried to kill her mother. Now he's going to claim her domain as his own. Next he's going to claim her daughter as his wife.
Buck that guy.
8191057
I think I may write something on the alicorns and how they are measured in a blog post in the near future, and perhaps go into a bit on Zeus' character and his actions in this chapter. Though, maybe not as it would tread a bit into the realm of sociology and concepts of culture and what is morally justified and not. Eh, we'll see... Point is that from his point of view, the fight was justified and responsibility falls to Faust as she was the instigator. I would like to quickly say that I am not saying he is right or wrong on the matter, simply that is his views on the matter.
As for him trying to steal her domain, he never said that or made any indication that was his intent. Rather that he'd been put on this path by the Moirai, they being the ones who originally told him to go to Hades in order to find his daughters way back near the start of the first book. Essentially, the Moirai have used him to hurt Faust. He was going to destroy Faust as he believed that she was claiming she'd destroyed his daughters.
The way I try to write Zeus is to find a place between the Disney interpretation and the classical depictions. So he is wild, affable, boisterous, and quick to temper, and violent once thrown into a passion. He is also stubborn, and once he sets his mind on something will rarely change his opinion or decisions. At times he can be a likable character, and I've seen comments to that effect, but also a loathed and hated one.
Which, I hope, simply means I've been able to make him a complex character with at least some depth.
It's much the same with Faust. She's a flawed character. I don't want to say too much yet, but there will be some insights given in the next chapter on what she was thinking throughout the fight, and why she thought it was necessary. It's been no secret for some time that while she is called the Goddess of Fate by other character in the story, that it is a misnomer, and she is not. I can't recall if I've ever stated what her true domain actually entails. Not that it is hidden, or not self-evident, just there hasn't been a 'word of god' moment where it has been clearly laid out.
Sadly, I can't say much more right now as I have to log-off. I think I'll write up and look over a blog on the subject of the alicorns/gods tonight.
All these comments and discussions really make me happy. Thank you all for taking the time to respond.
I liked the battle. Really put divine power into perspective with the mortals. Plus that tease about creating a rune! And of course Zeus is instantly distracted by his love at first sight, that's very him. I imagine Hades just sighs and moves on without him.
I don't get Faust though. Surely she can tell the daughters live, so why does she goad Zeus by telling him they're dead?
8191280
You're right that he's "complex", but complex or not he's still a giant freaking asshole that, by the measure of our world's philosophies, is the worst type of person - He believes he is right because he says so, and anyone who disagrees is wrong. I know a person like that, and he is one of two people I legitimately hate. That's the reason for my... annoyance towards Zeus.
But you hit the mark on his personality. Likable and funny at times, but arrogant, stubborn, infuriating, and so much more at other times.
Also, I never said he was trying to steal her domain, simply that he says that she's wrong because what she says is not what he thinks. Even if he's technically right (because you said sojust now) and she isn't a Goddess of Fate, unless he's a living lie-detector, he cannot know that she isn't speaking the truth, and so the immediate assumption that she's wrong/lying is infuriating to me.
I think he irks me as much as he does because I've had to deal with the same type of person, but without the "Likable" side.
8191057
I would argue that Faust was the one who instigated this fight, and this whole mess could have been avoided if she wasn't so tight lipped. That said, all of your other arguments are spot on. The amount of arrogance at play on both sides are truly Olympian in scope, just as they should be. That is why the body count easy so ****ing high.
8191319
No, no, no. The daughters are in fact dead. It is the granddaughters who are still alive.
8191280
The problem with Zeus is that it is Zeus. Inject all the Disney you want, but the Greek source material means that a lot of us are going to hate him no matter how you write him. Now Hades we can work with. Aside from the Pomogranet incident (Dresden Files went with the overprotective mother/eloping angle), he was basically a working stiff. He did his job, in as dour a manor as posable, and didn't get much in the way of recognition for it.
8191489 Being and objective jerk doesn't mean Zeus can't fall in love, in fact the worst thing about him is how easily he does it, then loses interest. Celestia will never return his affection and he will just not get why. He's a Greek God, meaning he's a selfish, capricious, short tempered ass with far too much power.
8191623
Your description of him is the specific reason I'm not giving him a chance. He is like a perpetual teenager, and as the saying goes, no one loves like a teenager. The problem is that once that initial flare of infatuation cools down, he moves on. He never bothers to stoke those embers into the slower burning but more intense flames of true love. That, and he's ****ing married!
Contrast Bowser, king of the Koopas from the Mario series. Sure, he is an irredeemable *******, but most of his actions are due to his (admittedly creepy and stalkerish) love for Princess Peach Toadstool. ...and being an orphan raised by servants and yesmen. Now, Word of God states that his original seven kids aren't his by blood. That means that they were orphans whom he adopted. Presumably on the Happily side of that trope. And then we have Bowser Jr., mother unknown. Most likely from a "Rebound Relationship". Now given Papa Bowser's history as an orphan, having raised other orphans, it is likely that he would have tried to make that relationship work, even if said relationship was otherwise toxic. That means either she left him and didn't fight for custody, or she died (most likely in childbirth). This in turn reinvigorated his interest in Peach, in order to give Jr. the mother figure he had been denied.
Now take a wild guess who I respect more, the jerk who can't keep it in his pants, or the jerk who is also a somewhat decent father?
8191319
There are reasons why she goaded him, but I really can't get into them without venturing into spoilers for the next few chapters. Her reasons, to an objective observer, wont be considered good ones. But, it is important to note that by that point she is in tremendous pain, and is exhausted mentally, spiritually, and physically.
8191368
That's rough, having to put up with someone like Zeus.
Sorry, I miss interpreted what you wrote. >.<;;;
8191623
This is very accurate. I wouldn't say it is impossible... except for the whole 'almost killing her mother' thing. Even then, I don't think it is fair of me to say it wont happen. But, ho-boy, would I have to write something absolutely amazing for it to be believable if Celestia did fall in love with Zeus.
8191944
A! Option A! ... Which is option A?
Being serious though, I don't think it is wholly fair to hold this Zeus accountable for what every interpretation of the character has done over the three thousand years he's been around. At the same time, I understand why you feel as you do. Sometimes you don't like a character, no matter the story or author involved. Zeus has a lot of baggage.
8191983
What would the fun be if Celestia liked Zeus right away anyway? If I member the old version right he is going to get an opportunity to be humbled and demonstrate willingness to try life the Iokan way. He'll certainly have to work hard to win her heart, that's for sure.
8192001
Sorry I went into rant mode there. Originally I wasn't even including myself in the original post, simply explaining how the baggage as you called it was a factor. However, by the time I noticed his reply, I had just read a chapter of a SMB crossover, and began comparing Bowser to Zeus. Things went into a proverbial Death Spiral from there.
And again, I don't paint every version of Zeus with the same brush. The Disney version, for example, only shares a name, title, and power set with the original. Which raises a question I never thought to ask up until now. Namely, what happened to your Zeus's primary wife/herd all inclusive?
Faust was foolish to attack Zeus but he was not going to leave and he would have started the fight if Faust would not have answered him anyway. It is good that Celestia was there in time to save her mother and probably Soir as well. Zeus will probably receive a lecture from Hades about his actions which he won't listen to and merely considers annoying.
8192074
No apology necessary.
Hera shows up in a big way later in the Rariad, so I don't want to go too in depth on what happened between her and Zeus here.
8191443
Faust provoked him, yes, and threatened a fight, but Zeus struck the first blow.
8191983
We're no longer in classes together, and I haven't seen hide nor hair of him for well over a year. So I'm happy 
No worries
8192610
Zeus struck first. She simply retaliated.
While this introduction does work better, I am going to miss being able to use descriptions like:
"He found something about her quite striking, specifically her hoof."
"So, he's a leg man?"
"No, across his face. He likes a mare with spunk."
8193008
Who says you still wont? He has yet to properly introduce himself after-all.
8193112
Ah, but he is already smitten[1], so it is too late for it to be why he fell for her.
[1] And it isn't even cold.
8190950
Well, I mean, he's an unapologetic murderer. I understand that from his perspective, he's A: not at fault for all those mortal deaths, and B: that even if he was, he believes himself so far superior that he might not even understand why he ought to care that his actions were both directly and indirectly causing massive suffering and loss of mortal life. But even if he eventually 'reforms' or whatever, eventually figures out why the Iokan gods care, it just feels really gross for Celestia to be written as falling in love with a character with tens of thousands of years of uncaring and callous disposal of mortal, often innocent life under their belt; who is shown 'on-screen' as redirecting attacks meant for him into schools. Maybe he didn't intentionally do that, but he certainly didn't care one way or the other whether it hurts innocents or not, which strikes me as even worse — innocent lives are literally nothing to him, not even worth a first thought let alone a second. I can see the 'she can keep him under control' angle, but that's gross to me too, that she should end up saddling her heart to someone just to protect people from him.
Just my two cents as to why anyone might be opposed to the ship. Maybe you can write it well enough that you can address all that baggage, but you'd have to really, super address all that baggage for me not to cringe at it.
As for the chapter, it was a HUGE improvement to focus on the effects of their battle instead of the battle itself. It felt so much more 'real' (which, not to beat on a dead horse here, but it certainly makes my feelings about Zeus feel validated). But did you have to drop a bell tower on Jardin right in front of Soir?
And finally, YES, Faust didn't died, even though she was a complete asshat!
I agree. Celestia is the maternal leader of Equestrian, and cares for others. Not perfect yet she cares. She was in battle stance to deal with Zeus. And would of engaged it seemed if Faust didn't shift her focus.
And she didn't desire his attention in the previous draft. She groaned over Ioka allowing him to remain to woo her.
Though it seems instead of encountering him in the populated localities like Canterlot. She was gearing up for a battle in still a populated region of Prance.
I wonder how quick Iridia would of engaged him in the similar situation.
8191983
I definitely got the impression Faust was goading him at the end. She knew Celestia was on her way and set it up to get her to act how she wanted. We'll have to see how it turns out.
Why was it vitally important Celestia and Zeus don't talk? And somehow I don't think it was because Faust didn't approve of a relationship. She's trying to keep news of the foals from reaching him. At least that's what I think.
8193588
Thanks! I'm really glad the shift in overall perspective of the battle worked out.
In all honesty, I doubt Myths will go on long enough for Zuelestia to become an issue... Celues? Eh, I should not make shipping pair names... >.> The Anthology stories featuring the Muses take place years after Myths, and he's still chasing after Celestia and her attitude is pretty much, 'at least he isn't causing trouble for others when he is bother me.' Mind you, those shorts have more of an 'this is where I would like for events to go,' and are not set in stone. If some great idea for Myths presents itself that overrides what is depicted in the Muses shorts, I'll probably use it.
Ramblings about canon within the stories aside, I have little intention of changing the unrequited love aspect of Zeus and Celestia. Personally, I do not think I have the skill needed to write Celestia falling for Zeus and it being believable. Luna and Hades I'm starting to feel a little more confident I just might be able to manage. Maybe. Probably not. We'll see...
Zeus is very true to the original mythology. An arrogant asshat.
Besides, wasn't there hints of Twilight x Celestia in this story? Or was that the old version?
Holy Throne....
8194912
I vaguely remember some half-implied Twilestia undertones from somewhere in, I believe the original... but while incestuous relationships are very in line with Greek mythology (and Greek reality, let's be honest), I somehow doubt it's going to get any more than vaguely implied in this story, at least so far as main characters go, lol.
8194542
I should really read those Anthology stories at some point... ^^;;
8195150
I had undertones of Twilestia??!!
Yeah, if those were ever in any version of Myths it was purely happenstance and in no way intended.
or was it???
I was kinda iffy about reading this (this tends to be a slow story, or at least for me because sometimes its boring), but im so glad i did. :)
“By my beard,” he said in a long breath, “Who was that stunning creature? I must find her. I must make her mine. Surely, there is no other who could be my equal. I am alive as I have not been in an epoch. To win but a moment more of the passion in those eyes! To taste her lips! I must find her.”
ugh...still just as offensive as ever, aren't you, zeus? i'd take blue blood over this animal any day.
First contact between the alicorns of two worlds. What a good first impression!
You must really hate Faust because you keep almost-killing her. Poor Faust. *hugs*
8210199
I only hate the issues her domain and power set causes to the tension of the story. Well, maybe I do hate her a little, on reflection, as I put a lot of my own relationship issues with my father on her (and Iridia as well). But, while Iridia has been going up in my estimation of late, Faust has been going down. Just the time periods and stories I've been focusing on. They both have their flaws, the difference being Iridia has seen hers and does try to learn from her mistakes (while making new mistakes along the way), where as Faust does not see herself as wrong.
And, the next chapter... Oh, boy, the next chapter... It is heavy with Iridia and Faust stuff. Twilight too. And Celestia and Luna. I've been building a fallout shelter to hide in after it gets posted...
Assuming events don't change during the editing process... 
8210769 But you make Faust so damned interesting
Eh... whatever, we'll see
8211668
I am glad she is interesting.
I’m being a little rougher on her though, this draft, than the last go-round. 
I found that there really wasn’t much tension at this point in the story and it kind of dragged a bit. I’m trying to get better with the rises and falls of action. 
8214058
So Faust is injuried heavily. Zeus is smitten. And I understand that Faust isn't the goddess of fate as she claims. Yet she does tend to the weave that links all life on Ioka.
I do comment. River did tell the traditionalists that if Iridia returned, it would be with intent of reasserting her authority. They will not like that as they out of tradition try to keep her in check. I can understand the oath is one taken to prevent another long winter by keeping Iridia safe from the disc and the disc safe from her.
I loved the Dragon Rider's of Pern reference in the last chapter! And I love how you've characterized the Greek gods as alicorns. Keep up the good work!
8250424
There are some potential twists being written in regards to Iridia and the Taiga at the moment. As in this very moment... I'm taking a break from writing Chapter 7 to make this comment... It is one of those spontaneous ideas that I'm following. Has some potential to it. Time will tell if it survives all the way through to being posted.
8250569
Thanks! I used to do a lot more references in my writing, and have done Pern at least twice with Rukbat. I need to find some new material for her.