The Elemental Lords and the Divine Beast · 3:54am Feb 8th, 2018
The following is an inscription from an ancient tablet, recovered from ruins on the continent west of Equestria:
Long ago, in the time before time, there were four elements. From came the earth came Tezcatlipoca, who planted the seeds that the soil would nourish. From fire came Huitzilopochtli, whose heat and flame ignited the heart of the world. From air came Quetzalcoatl, whose winds carried the sun and moon across the skies. And from water came Tlaloc, who brought rain to the barren land. Then came the many peoples of the world, who the Elemental Lords gifted with the art of alchemy, so that they would keep the world’s lifeblood in motion. So it was, and so they believed it would always be.
Then from high above came the great Divine Beast, who looked down from the heavens and saw only chaos. “Take this,” he spoke, “for it will bring you order, and order will bring you prosperity.” He bestowed upon the world an orb of purest gold, and instructed the Lords to channel their power into it, before returning from whence he came. In awe of the Beast’s majesty, the Lords agreed, and so the Golden Sun was born.
Under the light of the Golden Sun, the forces of nature grew more vibrant than ever before. The land bore fruit, the sky bore wind, and the clouds bore rain and thunder, all without need for the alchemy of eras past. Even the sun and moon would rise through their own motion, until they moved beyond the Golden Sun’s light, and were left to the be guided by the unknown powers of the world’s underside. From the land’s new bounty grew many great civilizations, prospering just as the Beast had promised.
But without the need for alchemy to guide the elements, the Elemental Lords grew restless. No longer did they or their followers need cooperate to keep the world’s lifeblood flowing. And so the art of alchemy was turned to war, and the Lords turned against each other to compete for power. The once great civilizations of the past were brought to ruin, only for others to rise in their stead, and then be brought to ruin once more.
Thus began the eternal cycle of war. So it is, and so it shall always be.
Dammit, Azor.
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Dammit, Azor, indeed.
And now I kind of want to dust off Sideboard of Harmony just to have Pinkie shoo him away from Ungula with a squirt bottle.