//------------------------------// // Gaea' Tale (Part 2) // Story: The Tin Man // by Onomonopia //------------------------------// Celestia stood in the corner, staring at the stone. She couldn’t read anymore. The Ambassadors of Harmony were each taking what they had heard in different ways. Twilight constantly shook her head, unable to believe what she was hearing. Fluttershy had her face buried in her hooves, trying to block out the words. Pinkie’s mane had long since deflated and she stared at the ground. Rainbow and AJ both had grim looks on their faces. And Rarity lay passed out on the ground. Tony hadn’t moved at all. “Keep going,” was all he said. Seeing that her sister could no longer continue, Luna walked up to the book, taking a moment to brace herself before she picked up the ancient text and continued Gaea’s tale. ======--------====== Equis was the world Twinkle had always spoken of. Full of magic, wonder, a hint of danger and filled with color. I remember for a moment, being happy with what I had created. But this is the part of the story where I began taking more detailed notes. Once I am done speaking about the creation of Equis and my first couple of months there, I will start to put in the notes and entries I had made that day. Be…fair with my past self. He was an angry fool. Perhaps I am no better. The very first thing I did after creating Equis was to bring my love back. With another clap of my hooves, Twinkle was back. Her smile, her man, her eyes…it was wrong. She was a perfectly replica, with all of her memories. But it wasn’t her. I could tell. With the stones powers, I could see that. The real Twinkle Shine, the one I had fallen in love with, was still dead. And even the stones couldn’t bring her soul back. I erased the copy before giving it sentience. It didn’t deserve a fate like the one I would give it. But then I had an idea. With another clap of my hooves, I brought back the man in black with the skull on his chest. I made sure that he couldn’t do anything before I sensed him. And my pain grew. It was the same being. Identical in every way. Even his soul was there. I blasted him to ash, making sure it was painful. But I learned something that day. Those slain by the stones can be brought back by the stones. But those who die by other causes…cannot be brought back. Only recreated. Identical in nearly every way…but to those who wield the stones, the copy is easy to see. Which posed an interesting question to me. If I were to create a race identical to me, as was my plan, would they be alive? Or would they just be copies made by the stones? Only one way to find out. I clapped my hooves once more. They appeared before me. Two foals. One a male, one a female. Both perfect versions of what I considered my species to be. And they lacked the problem my love had. They both were…alive. A son and daughter to call my own. Both a potential for the foal I had lost. And while I could not replace my love…I could still have my family. This may be my most grievous sin. I played God in the worst way. I didn’t stop with them. They would need a world to grow up in. Beings to interact with. Creatures from myth, things I had learned…all of it would be for them. With a clap of my hooves I created new continents and oceans. With a wave I populated the world with all sorts of creatures, whatever I could think of. Dragons, monsters, changelings…anything I could think of, I made it. Yaks in the north. Seahorses in the ocean. I didn’t just stop with them. I created societies for them, gave them memories and back stories. Lives that they had never lived. Stories that weren’t theirs. I didn’t care about any of them. Only my foals. This whole world was for them. They would also need others of their kind. So I created ponies. I created the land that would one day be Equestria. And I made sure it was the most dominate nation on the planet. The strongest military. Magic that could not be matched. Unicorns that could not be overcome. Pegasi that controlled the weather. Earth ponies that could work the land in a way other creatures could not. It was my foal’s world. I built it all for them. I established myself as the king of the world. I made towns, cities, castles and kingdoms. I set the world up perfectly. And then, with one last clap of my hooves, my world began to turn. Cities ran as if they had for years. Ponies working the fields talked about the harvest and seasons as if they had been there. I have a chancellor who spoke to me as if we had worked together all our lives. It was perfect. A perfect world for my little Twinkle Star and Erik Steelheart. But even with all of this, I remember the last words of Magneto. How he wished to create a world without hate. A world where everyone could live in peace. He died defending his enemies for that peace. A statement that I agreed with. The only human I respected. So, I swore I would maintain the peace. I would make sure my world did not become one of hatred and rage that humanity had been. It would be better. And with the power of infinity in my hooves, I could make it be so. From here on out, most of the pages you read will be from me written in the past. The next one deals with where I…began to change. I will see you once more at the end of this tale. All I will say is that it takes place ten years after I created the world. When my world turns against me for the first time. I had spent those ten years wiping out any threat to my world, be it aliens, Asgardians or even the species I had created, while teaching my ponies how important it was to be kind and loving. The biggest hypocrite of them all. ====------===== Entry 1034 She defied me. She stood against me. For the first time in our lives, my little mare stood up to me today. I was meeting with my advisors when I had sensed a disturbance. Someone, gah, pony, was messing with my daughter. I was there in an instant, ready to bring down the full force of infinity onto them. Twinkle Star was in a forest, surrounded by Tmberwolves, and in front of a wounded kirin about her age. I clapped my hooves. The wolves were no more. I landed in front of my daughter. She had a black eye and some bruises. A quick look into her mind revealed what had happened to her. During a walk through the forest, this kirin, this…ungrateful creature had attacked her. I was going to make sure that it never bothered her again. But as I looked towards it, my daughter did the unthinkable. She placed herself between us. She screamed at me not to hurt him. That he was starving and desperate, as well as wounded. I told her that he had tried to kill her. She screamed that he didn’t need to be killed, he needed help. He needed her help. That was why she had come out. I was about to push past her, when she said something that shook me to the core. “Where is the love and friendship that you’re always telling us about? Were you just lying to us?!” Those words. That single sentence shook me to my core. I stopped and looked towards her. She was looking at me not as my daughter…but like I was a threat. And I was. If I wasn’t, she wouldn’t have needed to stand up to me. I looked down at the kirin and this time chose to look at him, not at what he had done. And it was as my daughter had said. He was desperate. His family was dying and he needed food and medicine. He needed help. I had missed it. I had all the power of infinity, and yet I had missed this desperate creature’s need for help. But she hadn’t. My daughter hadn’t. She had seen past the hurt and the pain. She saw the good beneath. And she had chosen to help him. I told her she was right. I opened a vortex to our castle, the hospital wing. She picked up the kirin and took him to it, flashing a smile back and me and thanking me for being the kind father she knew I was. That tore my heart out. I created a mirror and looked into it, at myself, for the first time in what felt like…forever. My eyes were dark. My mane was slicked back underneath my warhelmet. My armor was black…all aside from a white skull on my chest. I looked…just like the human who claimed my love. How long had I dressed like this? And how many…how many loves had I claimed just like him. I…I saw myself for the first time today. What I had become. What I had allowed myself to be influenced by. I had promised to create a world without hatred, a world better than humanity where all the species lived in harmony. And I thought I had. I thought I had gotten rid of hatred and violence. But how could it…when I exist in this world? When all of the hatred and pain…was being caused by me. My daughter was right. I am a liar. To the world…and to myself. -----======----- Entry 1564 My son made me so proud today. A confrontation downtown took place, between a unicorn who believed that a pony had stolen from him, against a pegasi who said that he hadn’t done anything. The unicorn hadn’t believed him and used magic against the pegasi. A punishable offense under my law. My son had been the one to respond. He saw what happened, but instead of dealing out my justice, he dealt out his own. What had been stolen was medicine that the unicorn was taking to his foal. The pegasi hadn’t stolen it. But rather, another thief had and framed the pegasi. Erik stayed patient and calm. He bought another vial of medicine for the unicorn while helping show him why what he had done was wrong. The unicorn, after explaining why he needed the medicine, apologized to the pegasi and swore he would make it up to him. And the pegasi had laughed it off, saying that if he had been in a similar boat, he would have likely reacted the same way. By the end of the day, my son told me they had become friends. He will be a far better king than me. I think on how I would have reacted. Most likely with scorn and distrust. I can read minds and I know I would have just punished both. But my foals…my prince and princess…they are so much better than me. They use kindness and trust. And in turn, the nation loves them far more than they ever will me. They see the best in others. I can only see the worst. I always have. ====------===== Entry 1656 Aquarius, the kirin Twinkle Star saved all those years ago, became my son in law today. It was a beautiful ceremony. My…my little girl looked so beautiful. For a moment…she looked just like Shine had. The same fierce fire in her eyes…for a moment I thought I saw the soul of my love living on through my daughter. Perhaps I was. Aquarius walked over to me as my daughter was being thanked by our extended family and friends. He…thanked me. Thanked me for letting him marry my daughter. For keeping the nations at peace all these years. And for…saving him, when he was young and suffering. My heart is in shreds. He should have thanked my daughter. She saved him. I would have erased him without a second thought. But she saved him. And now she’s happier than I have ever seen her. Had I done things my way, I would have never seen my daughter so happy. So…loved. I have the stones laying on the table next to me, feeling their power. I have not been just. I have not been kind. I have been this way long before Equis was ever created. I…I do not deserve to wield these stones. ------======----- Entry /666 I watched Equis burn for the first time today. I lay in the hospital as I write this, barely able to move. The burns…the pain…it is so much. I cannot remember the last time I felt pain. Or terror. A terror that goes down to my very core. I thought I had dealt with all the remnants of humanity. I was wrong. The eastern seaboard exploded into flames. I could hear the screams of my ponies without the use of the stones. I was awoken from my slumber, along with the rest of my family. I told them to stay at the castle before using the stones to teleport to the coast. I was not ready for what I found. Amidst the burning cities, with the ponies trapped within screaming out in pain, sat…a being. A being in a black leather jacket with leather pants. Chains were wrapped around his arms and he sat on a motorcycle that burned with…fire. But his head is where my eyes were drawn. He had no face…or skin. Just a skull. A skull that blazed with all the fury and might of hell. He said he was the Ghost Rider. And that I had an uncountable number of sins to answer for. I…never, in my twenty five years of having the stones, have I ever been pushed so far or forced to fight with all the stones might. I blasted him apart with power. He reformed with a laugh. I hurled him through space. His motorcycle brought him back moments later. I tried to rewind him through time. He said he came from before time was even an idea. And his power. His flames went through my defenses. My stones…couldn’t protect me from his wrath. His flames burned my very soul. His chains ripped my skin from my bones. And I didn’t dare look him in the eyes. If I did…I knew it would be my end. Even…even all of the stones together couldn’t stop him. I stomped my hooves and erased him from existence, like I had everything else that had tried to face me. And for a moment I thought I had beaten him. And then he came back. A tornado of fire. The roar of an engine. And the laugh of a being that said I had not yet paid my dues. My sins had finally caught up with me, he said. And he was do nine billion souls worth of vengeance upon me. I knew I was dead. He grabbed me by the throat and forced me to look into his eyes. And in there I saw the life of every soul I had ruined. The families I had torn apart and the suffering I had caused. It should have killed me. I wish it had. Living with this guilt… My daughter and son saved me once more. They threw themselves at the Ghost Rider, piercing through his flames and his gaze, freeing me from his grasp. The Rider’s flames didn’t touch them and they never flinched at his gaze. Because they did not have the sins I had. Because they had heeded my words even when I hadn’t. They lived love and kindness. For me…it was lip service. I got him in that moment. That moment when he tried to judge them, but found them practically sinless. I used the stones not to kill him, but to rip his soul from his body. It worked. All of the stones together created an urn, one which I trapped his very soul in. I sealed it with every stone, spell and trick I knew of. And it was over. We were safe. My children had saved me…from my sins. From what I had deserved. ====-----===== Entry 1700 I cannot wield the stones. Not anymore. I see that now. I see now that it was a mistake for me to ever get them in the first place. I am old now, much older than when I first took up these stones. My son and daughter rule the land now, with Erik’s wife and Star’s husband aiding them. And their children…how their children love me. Love to hear my stories and what I’ve done. If they heard what I had really done, they would hate me. I would deserve it. But after having my own children…and now grandfoals…and seeing this world of mine grow and grow, being apart of all of the lives within it…I see now what a monster I was. That I am. I had known it for a while. The Rider had been the final straw. The ponies that I feared losing during the Rider attack…to humanity, I was the Rider. The heroes of humanity had tried to stop me to save their families, just as I had fought to stop the Rider. All that pain the Rider had inflicted on me…that was what I had done. I cannot make amends. I cannot bring back humanity. If I brought them back, they would seek vengeance upon the world. My world of ponies. Ponies who have done nothing wrong. I cannot let them suffer for my mistakes. But maybe…I can make up for it. ===----=== Entry 1727 I am working with a young unicorn named Starswirl. Together we are using the stones to forge something new. Something that will protect the world for eons after I am gone. He calls them the Elements of Harmony. He believes that they are the physical embodiments of the lessons that I have taught the world. But there is another secret within. Within each of these six Elements is a fraction of the stones power. As well as a test. A test for whoever wields the Element. It is something I never told him or any of his chosen friends about. If the six ponies, or whoever wields them, should prove worthy of the Element, if they are able to wield it without evil or malice, without the desire to conquer or destroy, then they will be found worthy of the true stone hidden within the Element. It will become a part of them. And when those six noble souls are together…then they shall be an unstoppable force of good. I pray this plan works. ===--=== Entry 1730 Starswirl created a being called Discord with some of the power of the Reality Stone or whatever it’s companion among the Element’s of Harmony is called. After being brought to life, the creature tried to turn the seas to cheese and make the sky rain soda. I trapped him in stone. I believe I need to put some safety features in these Elements. -----======----- Entry 1734 Tonight is the last night. The last night before I pass on the stones. Before I trust the fate of the world to the hooves of others. To those who are better. The last night I wield the power of infinity. It’s…scary, I must admit. For so long, for hundreds of years, I’ve been so used to being untouchable, being a god. And now I will simply be an old alicorn. I will not be able to clap my hooves and erase any threat. I will not be able to shape the stars to my choosing. I will not be able to harm anypony else. This is for the best. Anypony…heh, the words they have come up with. One last time. I shall use the stones one last time. To help my land. And to finally lay to rest the billions of souls I claimed. Those who wield these after me should not be burdened for my mistakes. Tonight I release these souls into the heavens. I give them peace. I shall let them all rest. And then I shall be all mighty no more. =====----====== Entry 1735 I was....outmatched. He came from the sky. In the middle of the Sahaddle Desert, far from any pony or land. I heard his voice in my mind. He came specifically for me. I took the stones and, after telling my family to stay back, I flew off to confront him. And there, in the middle of the desert below a machine the likes of which I had never seen, stood a giant. A giant whose power matched that of my stones. Galactus. He called himself Galactus. I asked why he had called me out. He said that he wanted to see the being that had crushed humanity, when even he had failed. I showed to stones and said that if he didn't leave, I would show him what I did. He looked at the stones...and then smirked. He wasn't impressed. He then said he was there to devour my world. I attacked. Our power shook the cosmos. I gave everything I had...everything the stones had. Power that could rend the heavens. I tore reality apart. Time was completely on my side. I was God. And Galactus bested me. His power...the power cosmic, was impressive. It could match most the stones. But it was his knowledge, his intelligence, that was my downfall. He outsmarted me, he countered my stones with powers and strategies I could never dream of. And then...he trapped me in a sphere that resided in an alternate dimension. And my stones ceased to work. I was at his mercy. I was ready to die...along with my world. But he didn't kill me. He seemed...impressed with me. That I had managed to do what no one else had. Defeat humanity. He simply asked me how had I dealt with the heroes and villains of humanity. I told him. At his mercy, there was nothing else I could do. I told him of my fights with Hulk, Thor, Magneto...all of them. He lowered his head and thought for a minute. Then he asked me about Iron Man. I told him Iron Man had vanished weeks before I had grabbed the stones. He smiled at that. Then he dropped me. Let me go. Turned and headed for his ship. When I asked why, he said that he did not like to eat planet's with intelligent species in their infancy and he could tell that we hadn't been there long. He also said that this planet was tainted with the toxin of the stones and he hated their taste. My world was safe. But then he turned to look at me and said one day, after everything had been fixed, would he be back. And he would feast. And then he was gone. Entry 1937 Celestia and Luna were coronated today. My great-grandfoals are now the rulers of the land. I am so proud. Never before have I seen such champions of friendship and harmony than in those two. They will most likely be able to draw out the full power of the Elements of Harmony. Both of them can wield all six by themselves. They will protect the land. I find harder and harder to write in my old age. I have taken to dictating to myself, my magic writing down what I say. My wounds of old bother me. The Rider. Galactus. But I cannot rest. There is too much to do. I need to speak with the lords of the dragons. They have been having problems and they need my help. Then I must meet with the kirin’s. Our relationship has fallen off a bit in the past hundred years. And then there’s…there’s… Heh, look at me. Practicing what I preached. Maybe…maybe even the worst can change. Maybe…everyone deserves the chance. Magneto…you were right. I am sorry. ===----=== Final Entry. So there you have it. Everything I have ever done. My whole story. Go ahead and damn for what I did to humanity. I will not blame you. But if there is anything you have gained from reading this, it is that…hatred breeds hatred. Violence breeds violence. And if you are who I think you are, then you should know this. You should be better than me. But if you are somepony else…or there is somepony else with you, then please take the words of an old fool who made an uncountable number of mistakes to heart. My violence brought violence. My children’s kindness and love brought peace. Created a world that I never could. Learn from my mistakes. That is what I beg of you. Even now…in my twilight…I fear harmony being threatened. My dear Luna…is trapped on the moon. Celestia…is forced to rule by herself…when she always had her sister by her side. She is not ready, but she tries to be…Tirek…Sombra…so many evils. My sins coming back to haunt my nation, when I will no longer be here to protect it. But…twilight…Twilight Sparkle. Yes, I can see…she and her friends…will be worthy of the stones. Of the legacy my children left. They can set right…what I did wrong. …and I see…a motorcycle? A skull? Ah, the Rider…I’ve kept you waiting, haven’t I? Come. I’m ready to face my sins. Let us go. ------===------ “That’s where it ends,” Luna whispered. She looked around at the ponies and Tony with horror and disbelief in her eyes, unable to comprehend what she had read. The group had been there for days, teleporting food and water to them, all of them entrapped by the tale of Gaea. Some were confused. All were horrified. And for one alicorn, she was even angrier than the human who had his world taken from him. “So that’s how it all came to be,” Celestia whispered, breaking the silence. “That is how this nation of love and harmony, values that I swore to protect, was created. It was built on the blood and bones of billions. Of innocent and children. And I…I…Stark…I am so sorry.” Tony said nothing in reply. “I guess…I only have one question,” Rainbow Dash said, turning all eyes to her. “What do we do now?”