All is Dust

by Rennoc215

History Repeating

The first thing Twilight heard as she awoke was a worried, motherly voice."Twilight?" It asked gingerly. She shook her head rapidly, to clear the fogginess, and when her vision was cleared she found herself looking into the face of her mentor. "Ah, hello there, Twilight." Celestia said, a flicker of relief crossing her face before it returned to her original neutral glance.

Twilight, on the other hoof, was quite spooked. She was just standing outside, and began to relax after the thing had been contained. I must have fallen asleep. I guess my display of "fireworks" took more out of me than I realized. Twilight rationalized. She put on a sheepish smile and stood, rubbing her head. "Hi there, Princess." Twilight responded. She looked about to see herself inside her room, the caged creature simply sitting there, observing them. "I take it you have met the... ah, creature?" Twilight asked, tilting her head a little bit.

Celestia smiled. "Yes, I have become acquainted with it." She said, her tone quite formal. It reached out, between the bars, its arm reaching upstairs, towards Twilight's room.

Twilight frowned. "I take it Trixie is in my room?" Celestia nodded, and Twilight sighed. "Have we figured out why it is hunting her out specifically?" She asked.

Celesita's eyes brightened. "Actually, I have a theory. I heard Trixie had a new trinket? Could you go and get it for me?" she asked, nudging Twilight towards the door.

Twilight looked down and quickly walked towards the door. Thankfully, Trixie was asleep, so this should be easy. Simply walk in, pick them up in her aura, and then trot out. Simple, right? Twilight rationalized. She saw the pile of hedrons softly jutting from under Trixie's cape, prompting Twilight to focus on levitating them towards her.

But as she reached them with her psychic aura, to her surprise, she found that they actively resisted her call. What is up with these things? Twilight thought angrily. She prodded the defenses gingerly, feeling around for a backdoor. Within a few moments, she found the small, hidden opening, the one weak point.

As these were miniature magic wells, they resonated with their current owner's magic-color. Thus, these glowed a soft blue, diluted by white. As Twilight felt around, they began to accept her, the light blue darkening to the familiar purple Twilight's had. Soon, the matrix was swirling about her, and she felt her magic potential grow. So they lend their might to the strongest... Interesting.

Silently, she tiptoed out of the room, and she watched the creature as she walked down the stairs. "Interesting." Celestia murmured as the creature followed Twilight's movements, silently grasping for the purple mare. "Twilight, would you mind stepping just within reach of the creature?" Although her mind was screaming no, her body moved to comply. The creature reached out and grabbed a hedron from mid-air, and Twilight felt the drop of magical power leave her.

The thing held the hedron like a monkey picking fruit, and it reached out again, snatching another. Once again, the drop faded from her pool, and she stepped back involuntarily. Twilight reached out, and plucked the two hedrons from its grasp, and it shrieked like she had pulled an arm off with them. The creature recomposed itself, and reached out again, desperately trying to grab the hedrons. "Thank you, Twilight. If you do not mind, I would like to have a few moments of privacy with this beast." Twilight nodded, and stepped outside, looking at the large hedron before her.

"I had always thought I needed just a little more power..." She mumbled to herself, realizing she might now be able to get inside. She probed the part again, until she found the seam she had so neatly made. She dug in, and began rooting around, seeing the hedron's inner light briefly flash purple. The extended connection was putting a strain on her, and she found herself using up some of the matrix'es charges. The feeling was alleviated, prompting her deeper.

She had always found the intricacies of locks stunning and beautiful, but nothing mesmerized her like these arcane locks. She delicately probed deeper, and finally found the release. She set it off, and the way inside was made clear, albeit with a surprisingly loud boom. She saw the magic of this "super-hedron" Slowly convert to her color.

That's when she heard a loud crack.

-+-+-+-+-+-

Celestia watched as Twilight stepped out, and quickly shut the door behind her. No distractions. She faced the creature, which regarded her with mild disinterest. Celestia stepped closer, and the thing just sat there, watching her. Well, this is new. She thought mildly. "Alright. Have you a name?" It only sat there, unmoving, save for the rhythmic swaying as it adjusted its weight.

"Speak! I command it! Hear my voice and obey!" She shouted, not quite reaching royal canterlot levels. Yet the thing simply stood there. It then gently reached out, one finger extended. Curious... Very curious. Celestia broadened her mind, reaching out to see what sapience lay behind the cold, featureless face. What she found shocked her.

She found nothing. As she sat there, staring at the void of a mind, she heard a voice. "Come closer..." The dry voice whispered.

Celestia cocked her head, and leaned towards the creature. "What did you say?" She asked.

"Come closer. Let me show you..." It whispered again, and this time the creature motioned with it's finger, motioning her closer. She leaned in, and the creature set its elongated finger on her brow. Her eyes widened as the images flashed through her mind.

Days before ponykind, whole civilizations of two legged beings. Humans. I remember the studies in archeology. They lived in towns much like her own, including huge cities, with all kinds of humans. White, tall humans and green, shorter, frog-like humans. Then, the tremors. The hedrons, then this mindless horror. But they came in the thousands. They began as small ones, like this being here. Then, more violent tremors, and even larger ones rose. That's when everything went to tartarus.

Because the little ones had gathered the hedrons together, creating a superstructure larger than canterlot. It emanated enormous quantities of magic energy, and it ripped the ground beneath it apart. The hole in the ground created a doorway, where even more of the little ones came up. But buried beneath all the small, weak ones was a monster. A goliath of them, wordlessly leading it's abhorrent horde. It had no reason but destruction, no need but death.

These creatures were like locust, devouring the fields of all life. The humans were not alone either. Some wielded magics, some spears, and while their defended cities held against the smaller ones, the titan plowed through all the defenses. Soon, when more hedrons had been collected, a second one rose. He played mind games, and was a master manipulator. He would have them screaming their innermost secrets, just to make the burning in their minds stop.

And shortly after, there rose a third, forming a brotherhood of destruction. One, master of the soil, one of the sky, and one of the mind. They rampaged across the planet, and the humans fell. Their thousands of years of history crumbled in a year. Nothing survived. And when the soil was ash once more, and there was no more death to sustain them, the ancient gods slept again.

But there was still hope. Although the elder gods had killed everything, a few beings teleported into view. Although Celestia could not tell how, or from where, those beings planted new seeds, hoping the slaughter was over. They used immense magics, rebuilding the land. They wept silent tears as they walked, spreading hope of a new, peaceful world to follow. One particularly prolific mage pulled a strangely familiar mountain from the ruins of an old city. Celestia thought back to what she had seen, trying to remember the name of the old city. "Camelot, I believe." She heard the voice whisper.

"Canterlot..." She breathed. "But if there are only three blind intelligences, then you must be..." She began, before she was thrown away by a large exploding sound. She saw a blinding light from outside, the shadow of a unicorn shining through the window.

"Come back, let me in, let us talk, make me whole, make me strong, give me light, give me freedom." The voice whispered. Celestia shut her eyes, and took a moment to compose herself. Her mind finally returned to normal, the dark whispers shut out.

"Twilight." She whispered as she stepped outside, into the blaring light.