65 Days until Ascension
Twilight’s palace was the perfect place to tell stories, especially around the Cutie Map. Twilight, her friends, and the Royals all sat around the table. The Pillars were there as well at the request of Sol himself. Everyone brought their chairs.
“So, the patient finally woke up, his skeleton was missing, and the doctor was never heard from again!” Nox had just finished up his story. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash burst out laughing. Everyone else was just plain confused.
“And that’s how I lost my medical license,” Nox said with a snicker.
"Wait, what?" Star Swirl and Twilight asked simultaneously.
"AAAAAAAaaaanyyyyyyway, moving on." Celestia said with the utmost haste. She did not like to dwell on this subject before everyone was driven mad over if Nox was an actual licensed doctor or an absolute mad stallion. And to make matters even worse, Fluttershy and Mage Meadowbrook were terrified at the thought of a patient waking up with their skeleton missing, let alone that's how someone lost their medical license.
"So, shall I also tell you about the time Celestia got drunk?"
Celestia's face turned fully red. "Brother, I thought we agreed that this topic would be buried for eternity."
"She got up on the table and did a Discord impression. She wasn't half bad."
"CEASE AND DESIST IMMEDIATELY!" Celestia's mane changed from its normal colors to that of fire. A beam of solar magic hit Nocturne flinging him straight into the wall
"I deserve that." Nox groaned in pain.
Twilight was shocked. Celestia had never been... angry-angry before. Sure, she may have gotten frustrated from time to time, but, this was a whole new level. Everyone except Luna, Stella, and Sol were surprised.
"By the Primordials, would you two stop fighting, FOR FIVE MINUTES?!" Sol was not happy. His mane also flared, but it wasn't as intense as Celestia's.
"Wait a minute. Who are the Primordials?" Twilight asked. "I swear I've heard the term in my studies but it's so faint in my memory."
Star Swirl was eager to respond. "The Primordials were beings of immense power who came into existence before the gods themselves. They are considered to be the creators of all magic. Some gods are shards of the Primordials, like Sol and Star."
"Well, if they were so powerful, why don't we recognize them?" Twilight summoned a quill, some ink, and a stack of paper. She was eager to learn about this new subject. Star Swirl smiled and thought to himself "She reminds me of me when I was younger."
"Well in that case," Sol said with a grin, "I guess it's time for my turn to tell a story." Sol's horn lit up and the room was enveloped in darkness
"In the beginning, there was nothing. The nothingiest nothing that never not existed."
"What?" Everyone was confused.
"Yes, I know that doesn't make sense, but hear me out. There was one thing, however, or should I say one creature. The Architect. The God of all Gods and all of existence. From what I've heard, He found the empty nothingness extremely boring, so he created the singularity."
A little orb of light appeared in the middle of the table.
"Then, this singularity started to expand with the force of what you would call a massive explosion."
The little orb of light exploded outwards throughout the entire room.
"This event came to be known as 'The Big Bang' because the explosion was so big, that technically, it's still happening. The universe is constantly expanding, and thus, new things come into existence every day."
"Awesoooooooome." Flash Magnus and Rainbow went wide-eyed at the explosion.
"It's like the universe's largest party cannon!" Pinkie said with joy. "But why did the Architect create the universe? Did He make the universe so he could make a children's TV show and sell merchandise for it?"
Everyone sat in silence.
"Moving on," Sol was damn confused. "The energy and magic from the massive explosion that gave birth to the energy used to form the stars and planets, however, there was still some leftover."
"So out of this leftover magic and energy came the Primordials?" Applejack asked.
"WOOOOOW. Give this mare a Ph.D. for crying out loud. Like that wasn't the most obvious thing that father was building up to." Nox was obviously being sarcastic. It was here that everyone noticed Nox was hanging from the dent in the wall like a bat. His mark was now in full view. It was a crescent moon with a brown bat flying around it. It had the same black patches as Luna's mark, but the moon was facing the opposite direction.
"Son, as much as I love you, you're NOT helping."
"Love you too, dad!"
Sol was annoyed, but he knew that patience was a virtue. Otherwise, he would have gone insane many, many years ago.
"Back to the story. Yes, to answer Applejack's question in a less, snarky way, the Primordials were a result of the leftover magic and energy. Both of the Light and the Darkness. The Primordials, at first, were like beasts. They went around wrecking the place, devouring planets, stars, and sometimes even entire galaxies. The Architect decided that something had to be done about them. So, He created the first gods to deal with the problem. This conflict was known as the Divine-Primordial War. It shook the Universe to its very core and resulted in new planets, stars, and galaxies while also destroying others. The war ended after all the Primordials were either imprisoned within planets or outright destroyed. One such Primordial that was imprisoned was none other than what we know today as the Spirit of Harmony."
"Oooooooooh." The Pillars and the Mane Six said simultaneously. Nobody knew where the Spirit of Harmony had come from up to this point. Not even Star Swirl or Twilight who both tried to research it but came out empty hooved.
"Mum, as I like to call her, was bound to this very planet. It was around this time that she developed... how do I put this... some form of sentience, which would eventually develop into her consciousness. She recognized that this world was barren and lifeless, so she decided to do something about that. She decided to create the first generation of Equestrian gods. There was me, Stella, and..." Sol paused for a moment, considering his next words carefully. "...my brother, who has been gone for a very long time." Sol's words almost became a whisper. Twilight could see that Sol was going through some bad memories. Stella placed a hoof on his shoulder as he let out a sigh and continued. "It was through this shattering that the Elements were also created."
Twilight was a bit puzzled. "Then what about the other races? If it was only Equestrian gods, then where did the other races come from?"
Now it was Star's turn to explain. "After the Divine-Primordial War, the gods... didn't get along well. There were quite a few wars of rival gods battling each other for territory in the universe. It was nasty business. Lots of unnecessary death. The gods of the other species were refugees of those wars. Sol and I allowed them to come to this world in peace and create without them having to worry about their creation being destroyed."
"Like the Storm King and the hippogriffs?" Fluttershy asked.
"Yes! Exactly like the Storm King and the hippogriffs! Very astute observation Fluttershy."
Fluttershy smiled happily. It's not every day one is praised by a god.
"And that's everything about the creation of this world." The vision of the universe collapsed back into Sol's horn. The room became normal again.
Twilight was still a bit confused. "Wait, Lord Sol, didn't you say that the Primordials are both manifestations of Light and Darkness?"
"Yes, yes they are." Sol knew where this was going.
"Then those you described are the gods of light, are there gods of darkness as well?"
There was a long pause. Sol took a long breath in and sighed. His eyes dimmed, thinking of the one he was about to describe. "Yes. There was one. His name is-"
"Sheol." Everyone turned. It was Luna who had cut him off. Sol took no offense to being cut off like that. He knew this was a sensitive topic for Luna.
"He knows nothing of friendship. The only thing he takes joy in is making others suffer. He is cruel and unjust. He is a demon. A god of demons. He is the one who took advantage of my feelings and corrupted me to become Nightmare Moon. Before that, he plunged Equestria into an age of bloodshed. Millions died by his hand. Millions which I want to avenge. I still hear their screams. I still feel their pain. Not just those of this world, but others. Others share the same sentiment that I do. He murdered so many innocent lives. He killed entire families. HE TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME!" Luna's rage was about to flow over. She looked like she was about to turn back into Nightmare Moon as an inky darkness enveloped the room. Sol stepped in and the inky darkness receded as Sol spoke.
"Luna, that's enough." Sol sighed. "You may leave the room if you wish. I will not stop you."
Luna galloped out of the room with tears in her eyes, tears that only Twilight saw.
The Emperor sat in his throne room on the ship, hearing calculations and preparations, aiding in that which was to be planned. Planning for every outcome. His brothers were reliable tacticians. Veterans of long wars and galactic conquests. And then, he felt something, something which caused him to shed a tear.
His brother, Magnus, could feel that something was wrong. Placing a hand on the Emperor's shoulder he asked, "Brother, are you alright? You seem very distraught about something."
The Emperor looked at his brother, Magnus.
"Even when I am so far from her, it feels as if we're so close. She weeps for me... and I weep for her."