//------------------------------//
// Creation 
// Story: Stories from a Shattered Equestria 
// by Crimson97 
//------------------------------//

You awake in a room. It feels small, the air stale, your body is weak. Getting up is made impossible by the small shackles on your legs. They are meant to hold not to cause discomfort thankfully. You try to remember what happened, where you are, who you are; but you can’t. Your memories are blank.

  “You’re awake, good”

  A voice, you can’t see in the gloom but you hear her. Her voice is sweet but with a weight to it, It demands you listen. She sounds tired as she speaks, the weight she carries soon to become apparent.

  “Your questions will be answered in time, but for now you will listen and you will learn.”

  You see a light, a single pinprick of brilliant shifting color; the room seems to grow darker around it.

  “In the beginning there was nothing, absolute incomprehensible nothing. Before time, light, or matter there was an infinite yet non-existent void. This nothing existed for but an instant, but existed for longer than our world ever will. It was in this dichotomy of infinite and nothing that everything came to be.”

  The pinprick explodes, a mass of withering, flowing shapes fill your vision. Every color shifting like innumerable nebula in space.

  “First there came a single absolute from which all things would come; magic. Pure and uncontained it would soon sort itself into the elements, then the realms, then in time planetes and life. The first elements that were formed were earth, air, fire, and water. Each formed from the splitting of pure magic and each forever in conflict.”

  The magic splits, rock, fire, and water flying into the void. As you watch a planet forms, an earthen core covered in fire and water with air floating above it. It is now you realize something is missing, sound. All you can hear is the voice, even as planets collide and shatter, as suns form and explode the room is bathed in silence.

  “With earth came stone and rock, a solid surface from which other things could collide, merge, or rest upon. Next came ice, gas, acid, and electricity.”

  You watch as Ice forms, creating arctic scapes, gases rise from the oceans and lava flows. Acids bubble in deep pools, eating away at the land. The air sparks as lightning fills the forming clouds, great bolts rain down shattering the fragile ground below.

  “Next came sound”

  “With this our realm became stable and in time the first forms of life came to be.”

   Great crude beasts of misshapen stone crawl out of the ocean floor, dragging themselves along the bottom. Mountains shatter as titans of shifting magma seek freedom. One after the other creatures from and fade. Each made of and sustained by one of the new elements. You watch as dozens of iterations pass until finally one, then a handful, of creatures are able to survive.

  “The first forms of life, the primordials, were crude, unstable, and sustained entirely by the residual power of their element. Once that power was consumed they would collapse and release the power again. In time stable forms of life arose from the fragments of the primordials. These were the ancient races.”

  The first of the ancient races resemble in many ways the primordials before them. “These first ancients were beings of crystal, each unique in their shape and sustained on magic as the primordials before them but instead of consuming it they shed gems, condensed magic, creating a cycle that would sustain them for millennia. Now only one remains, a crude biped named Kreed. Resembling more a walking mountain than a creature he’s disappeared into the frozen north a century before the crystal empire was formed.”

  You watch as the planet is split, revealing great caverns deep below the surface. “Here you see what would become the underdark, a maze of stone and shadow. Strange magics fill these caverns warping any spell cast within.”

  “It is here a unique ancient formed, known as The Whisperer in The Dark, or simply The Whisperer it in omnipresent and nearly omnipotent. But only within its caves. It feeds on those that die below, retaining their memories and souls while condemning their bodies to walk forever as undead monstrosities continually warped by its presence.” Fitting back together she shows the surface again. Turning it so the oceans are visible.

  What looks like a small island is centered in your view until it moves that is. What looked like an island actually resembles a jellyfish. The image is pulled from the water for a better view. Instead of tentacles long necks ending in various colored dragon heads extend into the water. The mouth of each ‘dragon’ has a large bony plate turning their maws into a form of guillotine capable of cutting through any hide. “This is The Leviathan. From it all matter of sea creatures, large and small, prey and predator, would be borne. Even dragons can claim lineage to it. Today, if it still lives, it resides below the eastern ocean.”

  The Leviathan disappears, replaced by a great bony-plated worm. Its sandy length circles you. “This is the Burrower, the land counterpart of The Leviathan. It survives in the layers between the surface and the underdark feeding on anything it deems large enough to bother with. Dragons, parked Zeppelins, even small towns have been consumed by it. No modern weapon can pierce its hide and no ship can out run it.”

  The image shifts placing several in front of you. A giant minotaur, a gryphon and a great bird.  “The minotaur, Valus, is the last of the Colossi. Standing 50 feet high he can also wield the raw elements as weapons, if one were to encounter him he is able to be reasoned with but make sure he doesn’t step on or smite you.”

  The gryphon grows, it has a rich brown and sand plumage. Its claws glint in the magic lighting, and the predatory look in its eyes sends a shiver through your body. Arcs of lightning spark and crack along her body casting strange shadows throughout the room. You glimpse wings white as snow before the gloom returns. “Zis, the last Roc and patron of the gryphons. Legend holds that if she were to stand on her hind legs her claws would rend the sky. As with Valus she wields the elements specifically lightning.”

  “The last ancient you need to know of is the Thunderdevil. The ancestor of phoenixes, hydra, and other magical beast it and its kind are unkillable by normal means. However as the magics of the world calmed they began to starve. One by one until only one remains. Now dormant in a mountain it poses little threat, but much has happened and mining has come dangerously close to reaching it. Should it awake few will survive its rampage and the magic that now permeates the land will sustain it for an age or more. Be wary of any mines and watch them close.”

  The world takes up your view. It turns and ages the ancients clash, magic surges, and landforms are shattered. In time their numbers dwindle until the few that remain retreat to hidden havens and new life arises in their place. The first to appear were attempts by the ancients to interbreed. The various deformities carry with them traits of each parent race. As they develop new define and stable races arise. Dragons, gryphons, minotaurs, and other creatures from myth and legend inhabit the lands.

  “During this time pockets of latent magic were scattered throughout the world. Some aided the development of races, some of plant life, while others posed a threat to it. The stability of this world attracted beings from others, using one such pocket Discord the embodiment of chaos entered into our realm” You watch as a rift tears in space, a land of chaos and wild magic visible on the other side. From the rift steps a creature unlike any other. The head of a horse, the horn of a goat and of a buck, the paw of a lion and claw of an eagle, the hoof of a satyr and the leg of a dragon, the wing of a bat and of a pegasus, all ending in a red snake’s tail and attached to a long brown body. He looks over the world and flies off, sealing the rift as he works to create a small pocket of chaos for him to live in. “Thankfully he was more satisfied to watch when he first arrived. His passive appearance wouldn’t last forever. In an age or two he rises up to conquer the known world. We’ll come back to him then.”

  The world continues to calm and life to develop. The various races interact little avoiding each other other than occasional territorial disputes. “It is during this time sentience began to arise. New begins came into existence and spread across the land. It is during this final age of creation that the equines, earth, pegasi, unicorns, and zebra came to be. Through them a relative peace was established and civilization could develop.

  You watch as the world slowly develops, monsters ravage the surface but heroes rise to protect it. Relative peace does not mean harmony though. The different races continue to clash, rarely working together even as the world tries to destroy them. After once such incident a unicorn is banished from her home and sent to wander. Lost, alone, she stumbles deep into a cave. Long after it's too dark to see she continues to walk, a hum fills the cavern, her stomach aches for food, her throat dries as a bone. For days she follows the humming sustained only by her festering anger at those who expelled her.

  Finally she stops. Below her is a cassam, and within is a roiling pool of primordial magic, hidden away from the world and bathed in the emanations of the Whisperer. The once pure magic is thick as tar, gas bubbling out and filling the room with noxious fumes. With a grin she throws herself from the ledge and into the pool.

  Sickly green light pours from the pool, the surface churns and flows until a black chitin covered form breaches the surface flying into the air on bug like wings and darting from the cave. “The first changeling, ancestor of chrysalis and a terror on the land for the next century to come”


  The changeling travels to a secluded heavily forested region. Within days the plants begin to wither and die. Within weeks she has built a small hive, within months a wasteland has surrounded the hive. Within a year changelings begin infiltrating equestrian society.
“They find little success, and less sustenance. The split races experience little of the emotion needed to feed the chitin covered beings. But then things turned for the worse, because there are creatures that thrive in such conditions. The windigos”

  “The squabbling and distrust of the tribes came to a head during a particularly cold winter. The earth tribe was unable to grow anything during the blizzard, while the pegasi and unicorns were powerless against it. As they fought the blizzard grew stronger, their hatred feeding the windigo. After a failed attempt to reach a compromise two ponies of each tribe, the leader and another of the same race set off to find new lands for their tribe. The pairs each meet up later on, arguing over who has claim of the land. They’re hatred for each other draws the windigos again, a new blizzard starting and forcing them into a cave. As the cold spread the leaders became frozen, leaving the other three huddled together. With their decision to forgo hatred in favor of working and living together the windigos are driven away, and equestria is established.

  “The peace and prosperity the unification of the tribes brought allowed them to grow and develop a true civilization. But the world was not so kind. Beset on all sides by beasts, disease, dragons, and a shifting environment it seemed they were doomed to fall. In the constant war for survival six heroes arose. The six pillars of hope became the bulwark between equestrian life and the terrors of the world. It was during this time the sisters Celestia and Luna were born and ascended. Trained by Starswirl and groomed to rule they became the symbol of united Equestria.”

  “With the rise of the pony of shadows and the final battle of the Pillars their artifacts were scattered across equestria, leaving the young sisters to rule alone in a scared kingdom. Luck was not on their side. With the disappearance of the pillars Discord the embodiment of chaos turned his sights back to the world. Brushing aside the sisters with minimal effort Discord turned the realm into his personal playground. Gravity, distance, day, night, the constants of the world had no meaning here. Nice became evil, pain became kindness, the child-like nature of Discord is all that saved many from a horrifying demise. The sisters had escaped, but without their teacher and with the pillars gone they had little hope of reclaiming their land.”

  A great silver tree, hidden in a cave and studded with brilliant jewels comes into view, the tree of harmony. How did you know that? The elements! Six brilliant gems are taken from the tree and held between the sisters. Discord wait on his throne, buildings floating around, ponies move about frantically seeking any solid ground. The sisters approach, elements in hoof. Discord merely laughs and mocks them, up until the magic of the elements washes over him, turning him to stone.

   “The elements of harmony, discovered beneath their castle were wielded by the sisters to turn Discord to stone. With Discord defeated the elements were placed in a large stone statue and the six element was hidden away. Even as things were meant to get better they got worst. Seeking to raise an army of shadows Sombra conquered the crystal empire and subjected its citizens.”

  The images speed up as you watch the rise and fall of Sombra, the banishment of nightmare moon, the 1000 years of Celestia’s reign, the rise of the elements, the return of the pillars, the invasion of the storm king and his defeat.



  “For a while it seemed things would finally calm down and lasting peace would return. With the return of the crystal empire new magic, artifacts, and knowledge flooded into equestria. The kingdom grew in power, a fact that was not lost on its neighbors. Among the new technology were crude early forms of what would become known as guns. These weapons were powered by cartridges crafted more from alchemy than magic meaning any race could make and use them. These initially novel items would become pivotal in the coming war give the ponies unmatched control of the battlefield. “

  A large room filled with members of nearly every race comes into view. In the middle is a large table they sit around. While the ponies and their allies are at ease, the Zebra, bi-peds, and Gryphons are not.

  “The continued growth of the equestrian empire made everyone nervous. Particularly the Zebra and gryphons who while distant weren’t on good terms with or had even close to the power of the united empire. The return of the pillars of hope brought with it a return of ancient ideas of expansion and taming the lands.”

   The discussion seems peaceful, however it's obvious most leave the room dissatisfied with whatever agreement they had reached. A zeppelin, filled with zebra gifts of potions, gem artifacts, books, and medicines is unloaded as a similar ship is filled with pony books, artifacts, gems, and rare ingredients.

  “This exchange of gifts was the first of many, soon trade was opened between the countries while the gryphons, dragons, and yaks continued with their isolationist ways. The hope of the Zebra was to sway equestria away from them by becoming valuable; and it worked. The new items quickly became popular with equestrians of every status, gems flooded into zebra lands allowing for more and new artifacts feeding the cycle.”

  Soon zebra boom towns were forming on the coast. Members of every tribe seeking fortune and a piece of the new and growing market. Equestria was flooded with artifacts from blades carved of crystal, to pocket sized terminal projectors, to trinkets that enhanced one’s health. Life had never been better, and neither had relations with the outside world.