//------------------------------// // Chapter Four // Story: The Genesis of Equestria - Book I: The Children of Armageddon // by volrathxp //------------------------------// The Genesis of Equestria Book I: The Children of Armageddon Chapter Four         The demon lumbered forward slowly towards the Knight of the Word.  She stood solemnly against the backdrop of the factory, holding her staff aloft.  The light from the staff illuminated everything around her as blue flame arced about.         “You are a fool, Knight,” the demon said.  “You think that I haven’t fought your kind once before?”         “I know you have, and I know you’ve killed many Knights, demon,” Angel Rose spat.  “But I also know what will happen if I don’t do this.”         The demon’s yellow eyes narrowed.  “Yes… you do, don’t you?  You know, you could reconsider your commitment to the Lady.  You could join me.  I would grant you power beyond belief,” he said.  “Just give me the Unicorn.”         “Tempt me not, demon,” Angel Rose said angrily.  “You killed a friend of mine, and your very existence is an abomination!  I will never waver in my duty to the Lady!”         “Very well then… prepare to die, Knight,” the demon said.  He lifted a claw and lunged for the Knight, seeking to pierce her heart.         Angel sidestepped and responded in kind with the magic in her staff, the blue flames searing across the demon’s hand.  The demon roared and pulled back in pain.         “More where that came from, demon,” Angel said.  She lifted her staff and invoked more of its magic, willing more of the blue fire to appear.  She knew that she only had a few shots at keeping the demon at bay long enough before her magic would run out.  It would have to give Twilight time to escape.         “Your parlor tricks are cute, but they are no match for the magic of the Void, Knight,” the demon crowed.  “You will bow before me by the time I am through with you.”         The demon’s mouth opened and exhaled a foul magic that settled upon Angel Rose.  The Knight reeled back, stumbling backwards into a couple of metal containers.  Intense pain wracked her entire body as she struggled to shake off the magic.  She couldn’t see, her eyes blinded by the power.         Angel reached inward and called forth more of the staff’s magic, coating herself in fiery defense.  The demon’s magic faded away and she found herself able to see once more.  She gasped loudly as the demon himself appeared in her field of view, reaching out with his talons.  Angel tried to call on the staff again, but found that she couldn’t.  She had reached her limit in spending the magic in defending herself.         The demon’s claws extended, wrapping themselves around Angel’s body.  With one swift motion he lifted her into the air.  Angel could smell the creature’s dark stink, the mere smell of it nauseating her.  The demon grinned widely.         “All out of tricks?” he said.  “It is over for you, Knight.  Now, tell me where the Unicorn is.  Tell me and I may yet let you live long enough to see the fruits of those dreams.”         “I… I won’t do it,” Angel said, mustering all of her strength to speak through the creature’s grip.  “She’s long gone from here.  You’ll never find her.”         The demon growled under his breath.  “Pity.  I thought that maybe you would come to see reason, but I can see you are blinded by the truth.  You will see your Lady soon enough, Knight.”         “Put.  Her.  Down.”         Angel’s eyes widened.  She knew that voice.  Oh no… why didn’t she just run?!  She had plenty of time! she frantically thought.         The demon turned his head and glanced across the factory floor.  Standing there was a purple coated mare with a spiraled horn protruding from her forehead.  A look of fierce determination had emerged upon her face.  The demon grinned widely.         “You must be very stupid.  Do you think you can save this one from me?” he said with glee.  “Now you have doomed both her and this world you care about so much.”         “I said, put her down,” Twilight said angrily.  “Or else.”         The demon chortled, a thick heavy snorting noise that sounded like two cats speaking to the moon.  “Excuse me, but was that a threat?  I don’t think you are in any position to make threats… miss…”         “Twilight.  Twilight Sparkle of the Unicorn Kingdom of Celestite,” Twilight replied succinctly.  “Archmagus to the Queen of the Unicorns.  You will unhand my friend.”         Angel blinked as she struggled in the demon’s grasp.  Friend?  I’m… what?  That doesn’t make any sense!         “Greetings to you, Twilight Sparkle.  It is fitting that you have given me your name.  Names have power, you see.  They allow you to label things, give them… value,” the demon replied.         “If that’s true, what is your name, so I may be able to speak it when I destroy you,” Twilight spat.  “It’s only fair after all.”         The demon pondered this for a moment.  “Knowing my name will not change the outcome this one has foreseen,” he said, pointing to Angel Rose.  “But, if you must know, my name is Tirek.  Lord of Darkness, promised champion of the Void.”         “Well then, Tirek,” Twilight said.  “I will ask one more time.  Let my friend go, or else.”         “You are out of your league,” Tirek mused.  “I am in control here.  Not you.  You will surrender your magic to me, and with it, I shall tip the scales of balance in this world.”         “I will not allow that,” Twilight replied as her horn began to glow.         Tirek snarled, dropping Angel Rose to the ground with a crash.  The earth mare grunted as she hit the ground hard.  Tirek turned towards Twilight, lifting his claw to cast a magical spell upon the unicorn.  Dark energy lanced from his hand towards the purple mare.         Twilight’s energy shifted, and the dark magic simply bounced away, having hit some form of invisible barrier.  The purple mare grinned widely.         “Your magic is no match for mine,” she said confidently.         “Twilight, are you crazy!  Get out of here!  He’s going to kill you!” Angel shouted.         “I had to come back for you!  Something deep down inside of me told me I had to!” Twilight called back.         Tirek chuckled loudly.  “How cute.  Now, enough with the pleasantries.  My ascension is at hand, and the Void will reward me greatly,” he said.  His hand extended once more, his claws reaching for Twilight.         The mare smirked and in a flash she disappeared as Tirek’s claws snapped into place where she had been.  She reappeared behind Tirek next to Angel Rose.  She quickly grabbed onto the fallen Knight with her hooves and cast her spell again.  As Tirek turned to strike, the two mares disappeared in a flash of blinding light.         Tirek howled.  He tried to track the unicorn’s magic, sensing its smell on the wind, but it was everywhere.  He couldn’t make sense of where it had gone.  He growled loudly and shouted, knowing no one would be able to hear him.  When he had finished, he lifted a claw and balled it into a fist.         “I will find you, Twilight Sparkle.  And when I do, you will know only the most exquisite pain I can imagine.” *        *        *         Angel looks outside the window and then back to where Zecora is.  The zebra is gone!  Her eyes drift back out towards the majestic being standing just outside of the shack.  Enthralled, she moves to the door and opens it, walking outside towards it.         As she moves closer, her eyes find purchase in the being’s features.  A brilliantly colored mane of pinks, purples, and blues flows endlessly alongside the being’s white coat.  Massive wings extend from each side of the pony, and a long spiraled horn protrudes from its forehead.  Angel realizes she is staring, the pony in front of her is like none she has ever seen before.  She doesn’t know what to say.         “Hello, Angel Rose,” the pony says suddenly. Her voice is melodic, sweet.  It comforts Angel.  Makes her feel safe just by hearing it. “You must have many questions, and I’m certain that Zecora only made things far more confusing for you,” the pony says.                  “Are… are you the Lady?” Angel finds herself asking without thinking.         The pony titters softly.  Even her laugh is gentle.  “Yes… I am the Lady.  You may call me Celestia.  I am the embodiment of the Word’s magic in this world.”         “The… the Word?  What’s that?” Angel presses further.  She’s never realized that she has ever been this questioning in her entire life.  She’s always just accepted things as they were.         “The Word is the force of all that is good in this world.  It is what is just, right, and works to restore order where this none.  It has been around since the dawn of creation, since ponies first touched Equestrian soil,” Celestia says.  “I am the arbiter of the Word’s will.  It is through me that the Word’s magic is spread to help others.”         Angel looks down at her hooves.  “Why then…?  Why, if the magic of the Word is so great, why did it let my parents… why did they have to die?!”         “Your parents’ death was tragic.  I can see it in your eyes.  Sometimes, the balance of life shifts, as it did in your case,” Celestia replies.  “But your adversity, your life has made you stronger.  You are capable of undertaking the battle that is being waged.”         “Battle…?  What battle?” Angel says.         “The Word is not the only force working in this world, my little pony,” Celestia replies succinctly.  “There is another… a force that we call the Void.  The Void has long sought to undermine the order of the Word, through chaos and anarchy.  It’s champions, dark creatures known as demons, sow the seeds of darkness in our world.  It is a precarious balance we find ourselves in, one that will continue on into the eons of time.”         “What do I have to do with any of this?” Angel asks.  “What importance could I possibly have to all of this?”         Celestia smiles.  It’s warm and comforting.  “I sought you out because I believe you are strong enough to take up my mantle, to operate in this world as an agent of the Word… a Knight of the Word, to be more specific,” she says.  “You would fight the dark things, the demons.  You would stop them from attempting to tip the balance.”         Angel snorts loudly and stands.  “Okay, you’re just joshing me, right?  There’s no way I can fight anybody.  I’m not strong enough.  I’m just a kid.”         “Strength comes from deep within, Angel,” Celestia says.  “The measure of your strength remains to be seen, but you will not be alone in your battles.  The magic of the Word will be with you.”         “What magic?  I’m an earth pony.  We don’t have magic,” Angel spat.  “Look, I’m not really what you’re looking for.  Find somepony else, please.”         Celestia sighs and looks away for a brief moment.  It makes Angel feel strange.  She almost wants to reach out and comfort the large mare.         “I was… I was there the night your parents died,” she says.  “Watching.  Waiting.  Wondering.  Your town was caught in a conflict it did not understand.  So many brave ponies died that evening.”         “What did you just say?” Angel says, her eyes wide.  “My parents died when I was young, from a fire.  There was no conflict.”         “The fire… the fire was caused by a demon.  He insinuated himself into your community, took advantage of the strong feelings between ponies to cause chaos and discord, all in the name of the Void,” Celestia replies.  “Tell me, do you remember your parents acting… strangely at all prior to that evening?”         Angel stops for a moment.  A vague and distant memory creeps into her mind.  She had thought that her parents had been acting odd for a few days before the fire, but the fire had been an accident… right?         “Yes… there was a… a mare in town,” Angel says, rethinking her last memories of her parents.  “Made… made claims about my father.  It was ruining his business.”         “Demons work in ways we can never fully understand, but the presence of the pony you mention is not coincidence,” Celestia says.  “He turned other ponies against your family, inserted thoughts into other’s minds that were not their own.”         “Why?  And why didn’t you send one of your… Knights it was… to stop him?” Angel says angrily.  “Isn’t that their job?”         Celestia falters for a moment.  It takes several seconds for her to regain her composure.  “There was a Knight there that evening.  He died trying to stop the demon.  It got away.  There was nothing I could do directly.  I am… merely a conduit for the Word’s power,” she says.  “The Knight in question… was your father.”         Angel’s eyes widen.  “What?  You’re… kidding, right?  My father was…”         “A Knight of the Word, yes.  The Void saw an opportunity, used his sight against him in order to kill him and claim his magic,” Celestia says.  “Now that you know this… do you think you have what it takes to be strong?  To be a Knight?”         Angel looks down at her hooves and thinks for several long hard moments.  She isn’t sure what to think.  She looks up at Celestia, the Lady.  Her smile is warm, inviting.         “What… what happened to the demon eventually?  Did he get caught?” she asks.         Celestia calmly shakes her head.  “No.  He is still out there, still attempting to tip the balance.  Should you take up my mantle, there is a chance that you may find him, and seek the justice you deserve.”         Angel grimaces.  She nods.  “I’ll do it.  Just… tell me how.” *        *        *         Angel startled awake with a jolt.  “Twilight?  Where are… you?” she said as she got her bearings.  She was lying on a couch, her couch to be exact, in what appeared to be her apartment.  Her eyes adjusted to the darkness as she saw Twilight sitting across from her.         “Oh, you’re alright,” Twilight said frantically.  “I was beginning to think you weren’t ever going to wake up.  What happened to you?”         “A vision,” Angel said, shaking her head.  “Or rather, a memory.  Strange, the first time I’ve thought of that night in a long time.”         “What night?”         “The night I entered into the service of the Lady.  She must be trying to tell me something,” Angel said, shuffling into a sitting position.         Twilight grimaced.  “I thought that we were dead.  You were hurt badly by the demon.  I did what I could.”         Angel winced as she sat up.  She could definitely feel that the demon had managed to crack a rib or two, but it didn’t feel as bad as she had thought it would.  “How did we get away without him tracking us?”         “Well… I may have had a hoof in that.  I remembered what you had said about him being able to track us if I used my magic by smelling it.  I took that and simply overloaded his sensors when we teleported away by flooding the area with ambient magic,” Twilight said succinctly.         Angel’s eyes looked blank.  “You… what?”         “I turned his sense of smell against him, silly.”         “But… why did you even come back for me in the first place?  I told you to leave, to get away,” Angel said.         Twilight shifted.  “Yes… well… I couldn’t exactly let you get killed, could I?  You’ve been so nice to me so far, and I just figured… well… you’re my friend, and friends don’t let friends get killed.”         “I… I see,” Angel said.  “Well… I guess we’re going to have to wait here another night before we can get going to Canterlot.”         “Why?” Twilight asked.         Angel Rose sighed loudly.  “You see… I used so much magic in the fight that I need to recharge it, and the only way to do that is the dreams.”         “You mean like the dreams that thing mentioned?”         “The same,” Angel Rose said with a nod.  “They’re more like… visions.  Every Knight of the Word experiences them.  They show us… well, they show us the future.”         “The future?  That’s… that’s not even scientifically possible,” Twilight said.  “How can anypony know the future.”         “One possible future,” Angel replied.  “They show the future of what happens to the world if we fail in our mission.  It changes all the time, based on our actions.”         “And now?  Will it have changed?” Twilight asked hesitantly.         Angel Rose grimaced and glanced up at the purple mare.  “I… I hope so.  Now that you’re here and safe?  Anything is possible.”