//------------------------------// // Interlude: How'd we get here? // Story: Harmonic Fellowship // by Sun Sage //------------------------------// Interlude That Which Has Gone Before “That’s a rather pretentious lead in, isn’t it, darling?” ...With forward by Rarity. “I most certainly did not-” So, let’s start at the beginning of this particular conflict and head back about two thousand years. For simplicity’s sake I’ll separate this whole thing into sections for time periods… though how much I can really tell you about that first conflict is limited. Over 2000 Years ago My source on this is not trustworthy, but for what it’s worth the facts in question don’t contradict our other information. Long before anything else that set current events in motion, the Draconequii of Equus were perfecting magic as they knew it. Little did they know the voices whispering in their ears as they reached beyond their own mortality were not to be trusted. Thinking themselves in the presence of Magic Incarnate, Equus’ aether personified, they strove forward and shirked their mortal forms. They rose beyond their old limits, at the cost of their sanity and any Harmony they may have earned between themselves. It would be the end of most of them, and the signal that Equus was indeed ripe with magic, waiting for harvesters. 1500 Years ago (approximately) An ancient, highly advanced, powerful race we call the Demondim (or Demon race, whichever you like, you know how it goes with old races and unpronounceable true names) attacked Equus, with the intention of molding the planet and its magically potent inhabitants into energy sources for their technology. These are your classic ‘sufficiently advanced tech’ types who blur the line between science and magic, or really treat magic as another branch of science, as valid as chemistry or biology. For them, magically potent souls and Equus’ crystals were a valuable commodity, and one which could turn the tide in their war against another ancient race, the Seraphim. At first, they went at things subtly… by their standards. By damaging the balance of the climate on Equus, they drove a wedge between the pony tribes which had, to that point, lived in untested harmony for centuries. They were still molding the last of the Draconequii, with varying success, and could not actively oppose the planet. So while the dragons hunkered down in their caves and the griffons fought over the best farmland and hunting grounds they could, the ponies tried to adapt to the challenge which required pegasi to fully control the weather, and earth ponies to work much harder to harvest enough food for everypony. “What about the unicorns?” ...What about them? “What did they do?” What DID they do? “...” Moving along… in time the three tribes were fully at each other’s throats, and the Demondim (in the guise of Windigos if you hadn’t picked up on that) were ready to begin harvesting the death they’d been sowing. But… we know how that ended: with the ponies coming together in a stronger Harmony and revitalizing the planet’s aether field, which would both repel the Demondim and save many from a horrible fate. In the face of a few brave souls that were willing to see past their differences even on the cusp of death, the monsters could not prevail. And I should explain that the Demondim have always been loath to engage their enemies directly. They are few in number, and prefer the role of chess master, manipulating things at a distance rather than direct conflict. Whether it’s a psychological aspect of their people or simple fear I couldn’t say. Remind me to ask one if I ever meet one. As such, when this first attempt failed, they adopted a new strategy. If they couldn’t damage Equus enough on their own without exposing themselves they would need an army to do their fighting. They sought out the Oni-koru. Bipedal with hands (and occasionally wings, tails, and other odd limbs), the Oni-koru could best be described as monstrous humanoids- “That doesn’t tell them much, darling. ‘Humanoid’ doesn’t translate well into Equish.” Right. Think of them like… if you mixed minotaurs with dragons, except they’re usually thinner than that. They look mean, and frankly most of them are, but if you know how to talk to them they can be okay… sometimes. ...Getting ahead of myself. Back then, they were taken in by the Demondim. A warrior race, the Oni-koru saw promises of glorious battle out amongst the stars, far beyond anything they’d known. Adventure, conquest, fortune, and glory... If the Demondim had come to us first, they probably would have gotten plenty of volunteers. Glad that didn’t happen… They came to Equus, with what technology the Demondim allowed them, and began the war of conquest their new masters wanted. But therein lies the problem, at least for the Demondim. The Oni-koru are a warrior race; fighting is in their blood. Conquering and ruling aren’t. Their own world was basically one big fighting tournament on repeat and other than that, low key anarchy. The Demondim, as I understand it, were walking a tightrope. Equus was a desperation move for them: a relatively undefended world full of resources that would turn the tide in a war they were losing. They couldn’t risk a more orderly race to be their army since said race might see the Demondim’s waning strength and turn on them. With the Oni-koru there was little chance of that. Instead they went for the challenges Equus could provide: griffon warriors, dragons, and not to discount the paragons of ponykind for whom fighting was much more common than nowadays. The Oni-koru had found a whole new set of challenges, and while they were winning and loving it, the going was slow. They also weren’t killing enough for the Demondim’s taste, which brings us back to the Draconequii. It wouldn’t be until some time later that Discord would really cause problems for Equus. No, at this point the Demondim approached the Draconequus they’d been most successful in molding: Kirin. Once a war-mage of terrible destructive talent, he’d molded his Ascension into the pinnacle (as he saw it) of martial prowess. His Aspect of Magic, his spark of Draconequii immortality, was his power and his desire to destroy and subjugate. During the torpor following his Ascension, the Demondim had carefully groomed him for the time when he would take over as King of the Oni-koru, supplanting their previous leader and whipping them into the fight with greater, more violent zeal, backed by a strength that would demand their attention. “Why didn’t they just use him? ...Oh, I suppose they couldn’t risk letting him do all the work without risking him taking all the spoils for himself.” That’s my guess, too. The Demondim couldn’t just hand things off to Kirin if they wanted anything out of this. With the Oni-koru as a distraction on all sides, they could quietly rob all the graves they intended the conflict to make. “...Such a lovely people.” Fortunately for Equus, moving an entire race across galaxies had at last drawn the attention of the Seraphim. And when they realized what the Demondim were using the Oni-koru for, they responded in kind. Scouring worlds where they’d plied their own influence, they were able to find what they needed, or rather who. While they didn’t go for a warrior race the way the Demondim did- “Arguable, darling… and I do say that with love, of course.” Fair but... eh... I’d like to think we’re more versatile than violent. Anyway the key for the Seraphim was that we had the capacity to fight, and to learn how to fight in a way that was totally beyond anything we knew as a race at that point. And, just as important, we were compatible with the natives of Equus. “I’d say so.” Heh. They wanted a people that could appreciate Harmony, but also help fight for it. I guess there’s a lot of very pacifistic races out there. I don’t blame them; I haven’t much enjoyed war. But we were a good choice because they could reach us, and convince us this world, despite being so far from our own, was worth helping, worth fighting and even dying for. I imagine it didn’t hurt that you folks are mostly adorable. “...Bit condescending but I’ll let it pass, darling.” Just the facts, ma’am. Anyway from there the Seraphim had their army. A bit of training up along the way and humanity arrived to help protect Equus from the Oni-koru. Meanwhile, the Seraph who’d stayed behind had begun her own experimentation to match the Draconequii’s clear advantages: Alicorns. Now, before you ask, no, she didn’t really make Celestia and Luna ‘stronger’ in the way you might think. Maybe a little in terms of tempering what they already had. But what she really did was give them a way to fully output the strength they were born with. How they happened to be born that strong at just the time they’d be needed most I can’t really say. Maybe Harmony at work? Then again, there’s nothing saying there’s never been stronger who just didn’t realize their potential. We lost plenty in the war stronger than some of those that made it through… But I’m off track here. And you know how this ended. In a few more years, with the Alicorns at the lead, humans using Seraphim tech, and all the forces of Equus fighting for their world, the Oni-koru were simply outmatched. Decimated and driven to retreat, they escaped the planet, to embark on a journey of pillage and carnage that would give Kirin the power he needed to one day find his way back and take revenge for his defeat. And he would indeed need to find his way back. With their last act of spite the Demondim had destroyed Equus’ star; in their last act of love, the Seraphim created another, and would hide Equus and stand vigil against his return for centuries to come. “And the fact that that vigil eventually faltered takes nothing away from how meaningful a sacrifice it was. They’d already won and the Demondim were defeated, protecting us was no longer necessary for their war. They just… did it. Your people, too, by returning them quietly to a world the Demondim and their allies had never known.” They did. And that brings that chapter of our little history review to a close. Probably the longest of them, since it’s the furthest back and took the most explanation, but let’s move on. Not too Long Ago, Really About fifteen years ago, the Oni-koru invaded Earth. Given that it took them almost fifteen hundred years to find us it would be surprising they even held a grudge that long, if not for the fact that Kirin was still their leader, unbeknownst to them. The Draconequus had taken to disguising himself and succeeding himself every hundred years or so, to keep the unruly Oni-koru from getting bored of the same leader forever and rebelling. Even when there were rebellions, he could just take the place of the leader and tow the party line for awhile, slowly keeping them on the course he wanted. “I guess he’s not all bad, hmm?” ...Chrysalis, who let you in here? Anyway… by the time they invaded Earth he’d directed modifications to their tech, the same tech the Demondim had left for them that they struggled to understand and maintain with very little guidance from their advanced, aloof former masters. This was designed to not only kill off humans in droves but direct a psychological manipulation at the Oni-koru: convincing them that we were so unworthy of existence that even the presence of power would kill us. That, without the Seraphim to hold our hands, we were nothing, and the Oni-koru could wipe us out and avenge their previous shame. “Wait, was that how he intended to sell it to them?” ...An educated guess on my part, remind me to ask the bastard when I see him. The... essentially irradiated aether, did its work for the most part. However, some of us who were descended from the original travelers had a different reaction: the spark of magic in each of us was awakened. And with it our ability to fight back, to hold the line against the Oni-koru long enough for humanity as a whole to learn about our would be exterminators, and beat them. “Probably didn’t hurt that many of the Oni-koru’s hearts weren’t really in it.” I won’t deny that. But most soldiers don’t favor wiping out opposing nations completely. ...Some do, but let’s not get too deep into that. The point is, over the course of almost ten years and hundreds of millions of losses, the war played out. Most of the First Generation of Espers died, and a fair portion of the Second. Those of us who did survive faded out of the limelight. Our time as heroes became quickly politically inconvenient. Luckily we still had a lot of friends, more than some of us- “You…” Shush… more than some of us knew, who helped us get away from the growing sense of unease about us, and live quiet lives. “I understand that. Of course beings with power must hide from the common rabble. Lest they be afraid you’ll take what’s rightfully-” “Chrysalis, darling? Not really contributing.” “Hmph.” ...Right. So a lot of us went into hiding and, despite public opinion being a little against us, overall things were getting better. A war against genocidal aliens apparently can force human beings to work together in harmony and even make it stick, for a while anyway. Whether or not it would keep going with just that we’ll never know. Let’s skip ahead a mere five years to the part you kids- “Fillies. Kids are goats.” ...Right. You fillies were asking about. Rarity, did you want to tell this part? “Nonsense, darling. You’re doing a fine job so far.” ...Of course I am. Well, you’ve heard this part already so I’ll summarize. “That’s all you’ve been doing.” ... I’ll summarize harder. Really, really not too long ago Rarity found a gem that was actually a teleportation device still linked to an Oni-koru ship, specifically one that had been left behind on Earth during the war there. She accidentally activated it, and it warped itself and her back to said ship. She was briefly captured by Veritech, a weapons RnD- “Rainbow Dash?” ...No, R n D… ‘Research and Development’, as in they invented and produced new weapons and such during the war. Of course the war was over but progress marches on, especially when you have those who are afraid of a repeat of the conflict. And I guess I can’t totally blame them for that. They wanted magic, which for humans is confined almost exclusively to Espers that awakened to it during the war, to be available to anyone. Unfortunately they didn’t mean ‘anyone’ so much as ‘anyone they chose’. They were less interested in science and developing new technology than in applying that technology to forge a new world. “Such a nostalgic feeling.” Are you still here? ...Huh, your tongue is forked. Oddly appropriate. Anyway they were hoping to use Rarity to further their goal of unlocking magic. Unfortunately for them General Grumman had made it his mission to keep an eye on them, and had a person in place who could help Rarity escape. Once she did… instead of going where they told her, she sensed me nearby- “She was already in love, and just followed- hmmrrpph!” “...Continue, darling.” ...Sensed me because I’m an Esper, and her time on Earth had given her a new perspective on sensing magic, allowing her to focus her old gem finding sense, which works on a similar principle, and expand it to a sense of all the magic around her. It’s why her sense for it exceeds pretty much anyone’s: a combination of her unique perspective and initial talent. “Oh do go on.” I’m trying but you all keep interrupting… and muzzling your sister doesn’t seem to be helping. Anyway from there, and with Grumman pretty much leading the charge, we went searching for a way to get Rarity home. A lot happened along the way… some of which I’m not ready to relive or tell all of you about, so we’ll gloss over and say that it was… challenging, and there were prices to be paid along the path we walked. We found a ship, and found our way here, but not before Kirin was able to pry the same information from Garken. “How’d he get it, though?” “He seems kinda mean. I don’t think I like him. And Joy always gives him weird looks.” “Aw, he ain’t so bad. He acts all tough but it’s just fer show.” “No I’m pretty sure he’s really tough.” “Well okay but not like you need to be scared. He wouldn’t bully you or nothin’.” ...This is part of the stuff I didn’t want to go into. Garken… is complicated. He was hiding on Earth, and helping Adstrum, another RnD- “Research and development!” Right. Another RnD company, in order to make amends for the war. According to him, his people don’t believe in total war. Their kings push them to it while their Grand Marshals fight the wars their way; only doing what’s necessary to win, and sometimes even making amends afterward, if the enemies were worthy enough, by helping them to get stronger. “That’s weird.” They’re a weird people. And who knows how much of that is them being twisted up by 1500 years of manipulations by Kirin? I take solace in knowing that they probably gave him conniptions with how obnoxiously stubborn I'm sure they were at times. “But doesn’t he just control them with crystals?” As I understand it, that’s a fairly recent development. It wasn’t until he’d found Earth and started plotting against it that he began more drastically controlling his army. And according to what we’ve recently learned, even that’s not enough for him now. “Of course not, since even his crystal enhanced soldiers haven’t been enough. He’s fighting a war his people don’t want to win. I’d sympathize with him if I didn’t hate him… and if I did that sort of thing.” Quality contribution, Chrissy. “Do not call me that.” Heh. So at this point, near as we can tell, he’s developing a cloned army that he’ll use the souls of the Oni-koru to empower. And while we’re hoping we’ve killed that plan along with the spire Celestia’s team destroyed, there’s still unaccounted for spires, and whatever might be left on the Klades that survived its crash into the moon. That ship was massive, and very well armored. Most of it is probably intact, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we had to go there to see this finished. “...I’d like this story better if it were just a story. Y’all are gonna win… right?” We will. Together… we will win. He’s basically alone, trying to build puppets because that’s all he can do; he needs that control. I’ve noticed that… anyone weaker than him he tries to forcefully build into something he can better use. But he’s no architect or smith, and he’s damn sure no doctor. His… alterations do more harm than good. And he’s running out of options. A cornered animal can be scary… but it can also be caught. We are going to win. I promise you that. ------------------------------------------ It was some time later, as the two sat in bed, not quite ready to sleep. “So darling… where did you learn all that?” Aiden grimaced, “Assuming you mean the stuff about the Demondim, since most of that we both knew?” “Exactly, yes.” “I wish I knew. It sort of came to me, the moment your sister asked. By the way, she’s too cute. It’s literally unfair. I have a hard enough time dealing with one of you-” Rarity’s eyes went wide, her lower lip pouting just slightly at the perceived rebuke. “...Yes, that. ...Jerk.” He kissed her forehead and she grinned innocently. “But yeah I dunno, it’s like… a dream I forgot until someone asked just right. Or maybe… ugh I dunno. ...‘Progeny of Synnove Ó Catháin’... that’s what she called me. Sidera did. I think maybe I’ve got more of a legacy to live up to than I may have thought, or maybe she left something behind in my head to honor an old friend. Either way… I know where we need to go next.”