//------------------------------// // Chapter IV // Story: The Last Testament of Myrddin // by Knight Breeze //------------------------------// "...That would certainly explain much about his behavior,” Princess Celestia said, interrupting Alex mid-word.  Princess Luna did not say anything in response to that, merely choosing to nod her head in agreement as she eyed the manuscript in Alex’s hands. “How… How can you be so calm about this?”  Twilight asked, her mouth agape as she glanced between the two princesses of the realm.  “The greatest, most influential mind of the early post-Discord era… your teacher… was not only a liar and an imposter, but was also an alien from another planet!  This… This changes everything!  Whole manuscripts, theories, reasoning… things we’ve never been able to decipher, all so clear, now that we know the mindset that birthed them!  It could change how we understand modern magics!  The classical era!  Everything!  And… And…” “It changes surprisingly little, Twilight Sparkle,” Princess Luna said as she held up a hoof to stall the flow of confusion issuing from the purple pony. “No, you don’t understand!  It-” “She’s right, Twilight.  Calm yourself,” Princess Celestia said as she took a step forward.  “By his own admission, his people’s magic was on the decline.  It was very likely that, when he arrived here, his understanding of magical theory and practice was significantly less than any of our modern mages.  Or, indeed, any of the mages of his time.” If anything, this seemed to fray Twilight’s already strained psyche further.  “But, he’s the founder of our understanding of magic!  How can you say-” “Actually, that does make a bit of sense,” Alex said, lowering the manuscript a bit.  “When he showed up, it’s almost certain that his power and ability was quite weak.  When he showed up,”  Alex said again, placing even harder emphasis on those words. Twilight turned to argue with him, but stopped herself short when something occurred to her.  “...Discord’s curse.” “He did say that he gained a perfect understanding of every word in our tongue,” Celestia said, voicing what was clearly going through Twilight’s mind.  “All that he taught, the leaps and bounds in our understanding, the origin of them is quite clear, now.  It is quite possible that his way of thinking became so alien, even to his own people, that I do not think it will ever be possible for us to fully understand his theories and work.  Even knowing what he went through, and where he came from, it would still be quite impossible, simply because we lack the perspective gained through that perfect understanding.” “And ah don’t think we’d want the same thing ter happen ta ya, sugarcube,” Applejack said, placing a hoof on Twilight’s withers.  “By the sound of things, it weren’t too pleasant, and might’ve even cost the poor feller his life.” “Given that he seemed to have interacted with The Veil, that’s highly likely,” Princess Luna said as she moved to stand behind Alex, her eyes narrowing slightly as she stared down at the alien script.  “The madness that the Veil inflicts upon the living is not to be understated, seeing as, up until this point, the longest lived being we have on record was a gentlestallion who lasted a full month after he attempted to contact his dead wife.  From his own admission, Myrddin contacted Starswirl very early on in his career, raised my sister and I, and went on to live a long, prosperous life for some time after the fall of Discord.  I am honestly shocked that he lived as long as he did.” “Getting back to the matter at hoof, his name and origin might have been a lie, but his actions were those of a scholar and a hero.  All this changes in the history books is the name and home planet of a brave, if somewhat mad, stallion,” Celestia said as she returned to her throne.  “A few name changes, a correction or two, and life goes on.” “It was still based on a lie…” Twilight said sullenly, clearly not wanting to let this one go. “And what would you have had him do?” Princess Luna asked, her eyes narrowing slightly as she eyed her sister’s student.  “He was a lost, broken soul, cast adrift in a place where his first interaction with the local populace resulted in the loss of his very sanity.  What would you have done in his place?  Are you so certain that you would have made the right decision if your roles were reversed?” Twilight opened her mouth to argue back, but stopped, her mouth snapping shut as a confused, guilty look washed over her.  While she contemplated this, Celestia took the opportunity to further hammer home her sister’s point.  “We have no right to pass judgement on the dead, nor do we have the power to enact punishment for any perceived transgressions.  Not only do we not know everything that led them to the decisions that they made, but we would be judging them against our own sensibilities.  The most important thing we can do is learn from them, rather than condemn them for not living up to our own expectations.” “...She’s right, darling,” Rarity said, floofing her mane somewhat with a bat of her hoof.  “The stallion might have been a liar and an imposter, but that does not make him any less a hero.” Alex grimaced a little bit at that, before setting down the pages in his hand to concentrate on the purple unicorn more.  “...I don’t know the exact definition of the word in your language, as it only somewhat translates properly to the word we have for it, but according to our standards, he is a hero, and then some,” the human said, his soulless eyes boring into Twilight.  “I’m not sure how much it means to you, but to us, we greatly value our heroes.  Those that would lay down their lives for their friends and family are highly regarded.  However, those that would do the same for those that they’ve never met?  Well… Let’s just say that the english language doesn’t fully encompass the respect we have towards those individuals.” “A noble sentiment, indeed,” Princess Luna said, before she used her magic to gently pick up the alien work.  “As dishonest as he was, I feel that few will condemn him for his actions.  There will be some, of course, since the closed-minded exist in all peoples.  However, I think that the greater whole will look at this stallion, and look at his life as a whole, and find that very little has changed in their outlook of him.  In fact, they may look at this work, and find their opinion raised somewhat, as the legend that they grew up with becomes more real.  More like them, when they learn that, for all his feats and accomplishments, underneath that grey beard and blue hat, was the soul of a fallible mortal like them.  Someone who was stranded far from home, broken in a way that no other person could even fathom, and set to a task that he felt woefully unprepared for.” “...A task that he succeeded at, I should point out,” Princess Celestia said as Luna handed the manuscript back to Alex.  “However, we have gotten a bit off topic, and there is still much that we may learn about this lost stallion.  Alex, if you please?” Alex nodded at the solar diarch before he took another sip of his water, and once he refound his place on the sheet of paper, he cleared his throat once more.  “After perfecting my disguise, I spent a day among them, hiding my presence, watching their every move, and seeing how they lived, and how they managed to brave the chaos outside.  I found what I was looking for, but as I returned to the storage room to rest in my own bed, I was surprised to find my path home sealed against me.  It was a shock, true, one that, at the time, I remember being quite angry about, but I kept my head, and did not rage and reveal myself in that dangerous situation.  I sat, and reasoned with myself, thinking that it must have some kind of cycle that was uncontrolled, or else why would my kinsfolk not notice the doorway to another world sooner?  It was to come with me, shrunken down for easier carrying inside my bag, for the voices I now suffered were unbearable, and my time outside of the magic field of this world eased their howls considerably.” “However, I did not immediately take it, the foals, and the armor necessary for my survival in the chaos.  I needed to plan my moves carefully, for I was bent on stealing important artifacts from these people, as well as what they regarded as their lunch.  Regardless of my intentions, I knew that they would not take kindly to my theft.  To that end, I needed to know their patrols, and how they moved through the hive.  More importantly, I needed to know how strict they were with security, and which items they would notice missing first, should I make my move.  As I listened to them, I found them agreeable, if somewhat depressed at their continued captivity.  I sympathized with their plight, probably more than any other outsider is capable of, for I knew what the changelings were, and what their frail bodies needed to survive.  However, as agreeable as these people were, they were stagnant and helpless, and had no ongoing plans to ever take back their homeworld from the darkness that engulfed them.” “The foals could not stay here.  They were too important for that.  So, when their guard was the most lax, when most were asleep in their pods, waiting for the arranged resting period to end, I made my move.” “Despite the guard dutifully protecting their home, they were obviously quite lax in this duty, for it was exceptionally obvious that they had not had any real trouble in the hive for many, many years.  This meant that it was almost laughably easy to take what I needed and slip out.  I kept the foals asleep the whole time, even going as far as to weave a spell for that specific purpose, to keep them quiet as I escaped and examined the mystical armor that was to protect me in my long, long journey north. I still did not know where I was going, only that the voices whispered to me to take them as far north as I could.  There, I would find safe haven, and quite possibly salvation for this whole world.” “The armor was surprisingly easy to understand, and moreso to use.  It carried runes that bore the very concept of order within them, thus protecting the wearer from the chaos without.  Such a simple design was equally as easy to modify, so that the field of order would extend somewhat past my body, to protect the little ones on our long, long journey through the demon’s chaos.  It wasn’t a perfect fix, since the draw of magic it used would have effectively tripled from even that small increase, but it would be sufficient for my needs.” “I just had to pray that that was the only strenuous magic I would need on the journey, for most of the mana close to me would be subsumed by the armor just to protect us during our trip.” “It did not help me in the slightest that Discord seemed to have been waiting for me to return, either…” * * * “...With that, I think I have it,” I said, taking stock of what I had made. The runes remained unchanged, for they were made of an incredibly tough material, and I had neither the tools, or the skill, to physically change them.  This mattered very little, since the important part was the spellform imprinted in those runes.  The shape of the runes could have literally been anything at all.  They could have even said the exact opposite of the intended effect, and would have still functioned as they did, thanks to the spellform contained therein.  It would have been extremely inefficient to do things that way, seeing as how the belief and understanding of the creator was key to weaving a spellform of any kind, and such contradictory writing would be detrimental towards the final product, but nevertheless, it was possible. So, it stood to reason, then, that modifying such runes was possible as well.  I had the feeling that such a feat would have been exceptionally difficult, but with my newfound knowledge, combined with the shattered fragments of my psyche working together towards their goal with an almost obsessive zeal, I found it almost insultingly easy. With a flick of my new horn, I put on the armor, and quickly noted another problem: it was too big.  Clearly it had been forged for someone of a different build, but it was a discomfort that I was going to have to live with, as I could not afford the time necessary to alter my body any further. With another flick of my horn, I levitated the two sleeping foals onto my back, turned towards the shimmering chaos, checked the pull of the world’s magnetic field one last time, and with one last gulp to push down my fear, I ventured out. “Well, well, well… I didn’t think I would see you back so soon…” a familiar, and now understandable, voice said somewhere above me.  I looked up to see the demon, floating above me as he negligently batted at a pink cloud with his claw.  “I thought I might have broken you for good.  You certainly weren’t any fun after my little… mistake.” “I would say that I am surprised that you could tell who I was, if it weren’t for the fact that I know what you are, Demon,” I snarled back, my entire fractured mind filled with rage and fear towards the beast.  “Is your domain truly so tiny that you must torment me even further?” “I’ll have you know that my domain covers the whole planet, apart from this little prison that the changelings have made for themselves here,” he said, before landing before me and flicking me on the horn.  The field around me sizzled at that, to which he scowled, his insane eyes boring into me.  “Your predecessors were quite good at what they did, even if what they did amounted to a minor annoyance.” “...Who?” I asked, a little confused. The demon looked quite pleased at that.  “You don’t know?  Well, that’s a treat.  It means you probably don’t know why they came here, either,” he said, before snapping his fingers, causing a suit of armor to appear on him that looked incredibly old, yet exceedingly similar to what I was wearing.  “You aren’t the first of your kind to come galavanting into my domain.  The last time was… A thousand?  Two thousand?” he asked me, before rolling up the fur on his arm like a sleeve to reveal a strange band on his wrist.  The device wasn’t one that the pony language had words for, which made it all the stranger.  It had two sticks on a face of white, while positioned around its circumference was a number of black marks, and the numbers twelve, three, six and nine positioned at the cardinal directions.  The sticks were busy spinning in opposite directions, which only further added to the confusion that it caused me.  “Well, seeing as how time is rather subject to the whims of chaos, it could very well be more than just a couple of millenia… Or last tuesday, but who can really say?” The demon let out a mad laugh at that, before taking off the strange device and throwing it over his shoulder, where it promptly detonated as it struck a passing tree galloping like a horse.  The tree didn’t seem fazed, however, and continued its trek, albeit now missing its entire upper half. I looked at the demon, hatred in my eyes, before turning to the north.  “Then, if we’ve already done this before,” I said, my voice dripping with malice.  “You should know that I can’t possibly defeat you.” “Oh, of course… but, that begs the question… why are you still here?” he asked, causing me to briefly pause.  “What’s more, is that you’re disguising yourself, all while you tote those two disgustingly adorable fillies on your back…” “What’s it to you what I do?” I asked, my voice a lot more level than I felt.  “You rule the world.  Everything you could possibly want and more are yours at the snap of your claws, so why bother with me and two, lone foals?” “Oh, it doesn’t matter to me what you do… but it is a funny little diversion, especially given how close you and I are,” he said, before popping into existence in front of me. “You and I are nothing alike,” I shot back, offended that he’d say anything of the sort. “Oh, your species is more like me than you could possibly imagine.  Intelligent, clever… unpredictable…” he said, the word causing him to shudder with barely restrained glee.  He then snapped his talons together again, causing an oddly colored hat and mantle of the same color to appear on his person, while a pipe that let out pink and purple bubbles as he puffed on it appeared at his lips and a circle of glass on a handle appeared in his claw.  He then quickly whipped the glass in front of his eye, enlarging it in the process, all while he gave me a devilish grin.  “You risked life and limb to come back and steal those from the changelings… going so far as to brave my chaos to bring them out, and are headed north, seemingly with a plan in mind, despite never having set foot here before, all while disguised as a pony…” “Yes?  And your point is?” I asked, pointedly raising my eyebrow. “So, it’s almost hysterical the lengths you’re going to overthrow me,” he said, before throwing away his new apparel, which turned into a flock of geese and flew backwards as they quickly sped away.  He then rubbed his chin, before a scheming look appeared in his eyes.  “Now I’m curious at what you’re planning… Oh, I feel like this will be very fun… very fun indeed…” He circled me a few times more, before he walked off, an insanely large grin on his face.  “I’ve decided.  You’re free to go, just make sure that the next time we meet, you show me this oh so entertaining plan of yours…” I was about to retort, but he disappeared in a flash, leaving me to wonder just what I had gotten myself into. * * * “I find it hard to believe that this… discord was just that powerful,” Alex said, lowering the manuscript before looking up at the two princesses. “Oh, he was that powerful, and more.  He could rend reality with a snap of his fingers, which is why it is so impressive that the mortal magics that your people created had any effect on his domain at all,” Princess Luna said, a smile gracing her lips. “...Who was this Themis, anyway?” Twilight asked, looking up briefly from her notes.  “Queen Titania said something about her, saying that the throne and armor were blessed by her, but we don’t even know who she was…” “I wondered about that, too, so I looked it up while I was home.  Like I told Celestia before, we humans were a superstitious lot.  We made gods for ourselves out of thunder, fire, the earth, and so on.  We even made gods out of things that you couldn’t see or touch, but we still thought were real all the same.  Themis was one such goddess, a Titan of Order and Justice, so…” “The exact antithesis of Discord, then,” Celestia said, a smile on her lips as she nodded at Alex’s words.  “Though I have looked at the armor, and I feel no divine spark from them.  Their power is very much human, and no more powerful than anything we could make.  This makes me wonder if Themis truly blessed their endeavor, or if they merely invoked her in the spellform, to further strengthen it against Discord’s madness…” “I don’t know.  There’s no real evidence that any of the gods we had existed, or at least, they didn’t actually walk our Earth.  It’s another mystery to add to the pile, I suppose,” Alex said, before looking through the open page of the manuscript again.  “Getting back on point… Did Merlin… I mean Myrddin, keep you asleep for the whole journey?” Princess Celestia just shook her head, clearly lost in thought, while her sister caused an old tome to appear before her.  It was engraved with a picture of a moon, though it looked quite faded with the passage of time.  “He did not, for even in the throws of chaos, it is still a long, long journey,” Luna said, before flipping through the pages, stopping once she reached a specific page.  “Foals need to eat, after all, and though food was plentiful, he could hardly feed us while we were unconscious.  My earliest memory is of waking up, and seeing the wizened old sage, a campfire already prepared, while that ill-fitting suit of his glowed brightly, driving back Discord’s Domain.” “...He talked very little during the journey, most likely to prevent Discord from divining his plans.  I remember huddling with Luna, scared as the nightmare raged around us, all while this calm, though cantankerous, stallion prepared a meal for us,” Celestia said, before closing her eyes, as if trying to remember the scene better.  “He had very little patience for the antics of two scared fillies, and often muttered to himself angrily.  Though, in retrospect, he most likely wasn’t angry with us…” * * * Celestia slowly opened her eyes, her mind awash with fog as she tried to make sense of the world around her.  The last coherent memory she had had was standing with her sister and mother, mouth open in wonder as the skies began to rain a dark, sticky, sweet substance. Everything after that was a whirlwind of pain and confusion. “Lulu?  Where are you?” she asked, before looking around, and noticing her sister asleep next to her.  She felt a little better about that, up until some movement at the edge of her vision caught her eye, and she looked up to see something that made her open her mouth in wonder. In front of her was a shimmering barrier of some kind, its scintillating colors shifting and changing, though transparent enough for her to see beyond it.  The world outside… was nothing short of incredible.  A flock of birds were flying backwards, only to turn into a set of pies, before exploding in a shower of light and tinkling sound.  The landscape resembled a checkerboard, with pieces as large as mountains slowly making their way across the world, before occasionally stopping to ram into each other, their impact causing a honking sound to echo through the skies.  Pink clouds rained a thick, syrupy substance, which formed pools of glittering pinks and golds, all while ponies of all shapes and sizes danced and babbled funnily, in those puddles, their eyes twisting this way and that, before they each turned into a different animal and ran off. Celestia found herself giggling at the sight, before standing up, and moving to the barrier to have a closer look.  Her curiosity got the better of her, and she found herself reaching out to the barrier, wondering what it felt like. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” a gruff, tired, yet surprisingly young voice barked at her, causing her to quickly turn towards the source. There, sitting in front of a fire, was a most peculiar pony.  He was tall for a unicorn, though somewhat on the thin side for someone of his height, giving him a long, lanky appearance.  His coat was a dull, grey color, while his beard, mane and tail were an odd combination of white and grey, making him look far older than his voice would indicate.  Around his withers and back he wore a cloak of dark blue with light blue trim, upon which were embroidered several stars and moons, while upon his head sat a wide brimmed, pointed hat of similar make.  Both of these by themselves would have made him look mysterious and wise, if they didn’t also have a large number of shimmering, golden bells that lined the edge of his cloak and the brim of his hat, each letting out a faint tinkling sound, even as he sat perfectly still.  His horn was currently glowing a faint, white color, which immediately put Celestia on her guard, until she noticed a pile of armor pieces lying next to the fire, mystic runes covering its surface glowing a similar color.  She briefly wondered what it was for, but pushed it from her mind as she focused more upon the pony in front of her. The stallion was currently looking at her with an almost exasperated expression, though she couldn’t help but notice how his eyes kept wandering upwards, as if looking at something several feet above her head.  She resisted the urge to check, not wanting to look away from this mysterious stranger, for fear that he might intend to do her harm.  “...And who might you be, sir?” she asked, trying not to get on his bad side. “...That’s a far more difficult question than you know, little one,” he said, his voice taking on a sad, almost wistful note.  “I have a few names, some given to me by my father, some given to me by my order… but here, here you might know me by my lesser name…” The pony trailed off, though, as Luna began stirring, her tiny voice frustrated at being woken up.  As she looked around herself, though, her eyes shot open with fear, and she began to cling to Celestia, all while she tried to hide as much of herself behind her older sister.  “W-W-W-Who are you?” she asked, barely stuttering out the question.  “W-W-W-Where are we?  Where’s mother?  Tia, what’s going on, here?” Celestia just shook her head, her eyes never leaving the stallion as he levitated a nearby stick to stoke the fire.  “...To answer your questions, I am Starswirl the Bearded.  I don’t know, I don’t know, and though your last question was directed towards your sister, I shall answer that too.  Destiny.  Destiny is ‘what’s going on, here?’  Though I honestly wish it were otherwise.” “Destiny?  What are you…” Luna started to say, but fell silent as her older sister hushed at her. “...Starswirl?  I heard about you.  They taught us about you in school…” Celestia said, her face screwing up in confusion.  “But… you can’t be him.  You died over a hundred years ago!” “...I’m afraid the news of my death was greatly exaggerated,” the wizened old pony said, his mouth turned down into a frown.  “Besides, I’m afraid you’ll find that your grasp of how long ago I lived is somewhat outdated as well, seeing as what’s happening outside.” This caused both fillies to look out again, the rolling, shifting chaos almost beautiful in its absolute absurdity.  “What’s happening, sir?” Luna asked, her voice nothing more than a fearful squeak.  “Why is the world outside… Like this? “A demon on the rampage,” the old pony answered as he speared a number of tubers onto a stick.  He then placed them over the fire to cook, all while continuing to talk.  “Y… Our world has been conquered by a demon named Discord.  A Draconequus of unfathomable power, and he uses that power to twist the very fabric of reality to his whims.” “I don’t understand, sir,” Celestia said, shaking her head. Starswirl shook his head in frustration at that.  “Of course you don’t!  You’re what, eight?  Nine?  Barely old enough to talk, much less know the inner workings of the universe!” he snapped at her, causing her to flinch back.  He then softened somewhat, before rubbing his head, while groaning somewhat.  “...Look, here, let me show you.” The wizened pony then took a rock from the ground, and with a flick of his horn, he tossed it past the barrier and into the swirling chaos around them.  Almost immediately, the rock turned into a goldfish, swimming around them, making tiny quacking noises, before turning into a bow and arrow, and shooting itself away.  Celestia found herself laughing at that, while Luna let out a barely perceived chuckle.  “That’s funny, let me try!” Celestia said, before grunting as she picked up another small pebble and tossed it beyond the shield. This one turned into a swarm of butterflies, each leaving behind a trail of snow that crackled and popped as it evaporated into nothingness.  Celestia laughed even harder at that, with her sister’s accompanying chuckles gaining strength, up until a tired, almost creepy chuckle reminded them that they weren’t alone. “You think that’s funny, huh?  Just a riot, huh?” Starswirl said, all while a smile that didn’t reach his eyes formed on his lips.  “Do you think it would be funnier if you went out into that?” This immediately silenced the two fillies, the laughter on their faces fading fast as the reality of what he said set in.  “...What?” “It might look like a fun time, but let me assure you that out there, it’s his territory.  You step outside this bubble, and you can bid your form, your life, and your very sanity a found farewell.  Those ponies out there… they aren’t sane.  None of them are.  They’re trapped in a living abyss, from which there is no escape.  They pray for death, for it would be a mercy compared to the terror that their lives are, but it will not come, for the demon refuses to grant even time its rightful place.  I pulled you from that, saved you from an endless, maddened existence, so I suggest you treat it with the respect it deserves.  Unless, of course, you want to spend eternity in a waking nightmare.” Luna began to cry at this, tears falling from her eyes, all while Celestia hugged her little sister, hushing softly to her.  “Why… Where is mother?  Father?”  Celestia demanded, even as tears appeared in her own eyes.  “Why… Why would this… thing, do this?” Starswirl looked at her, a glimmer of sympathy in his eyes, before shaking his head again as he pulled the sticks with tubers on the ends of them from the fire.  “...I don’t know where your parents are, little ones.  They’re out there, in the chaos, unable to think for themselves, or even remember that they had children in the first place.  As for the why… I do not know.  I have my suspicions, though, and if I were forced to guess, I’d say it’s because the demon enjoys causing suffering and misery to others.” Celestia’s tears came out stronger at that, but she kept her voice in check as she watched the wizened old pony blow on the tubers, before splitting one in half, and levitating the two halves towards her and her sister, before setting them on the ground.  She looked at hers, sitting almost dejectedly on the ground, before she looked back up at Starswirl, hatred in her eyes.  “Why didn’t you save them, too?” “...What do you think we’re doing right now?” he asked her, his voice taking on an almost hopeful quality.  “We’re headed north, where the demon’s hand cannot reach us.  There, we’ll find and learn the secrets to beating him back, and ending his reign.  Then, you can save your mother and father with your own hooves.” This caused Luna to cry a bit less, her eyes looking up at Starswirl with barely contained hope.  “...Really?” “I promise.  So eat up, it’s a long journey, and you two are still very, very young.  You need to eat, or else your strength will fail you.” The two sniffed awkwardly at that, before tucking into the provided tubers.  It was plain fair, somewhat disgusting, if Celestia were being honest, but she felt like she didn’t have much room to argue over the quality of Starswirl’s cooking.  Instead, she looked up at the wizened pony, distrust in her eyes as she regarded him.  “Why us?” she finally asked, after what seemed like an eternity. “...That’s a question not even the gods can answer…” he muttered under his breath, though Celestia still managed to catch it.  He then straightened up, and fixed her with a commanding stare.  “The why isn’t something I can answer.  Only you can, given time to allow you to grow into your own.  One day, years from now, you’ll look back on this moment, and chuckle to yourself, for you will find that you know more about the ‘why’ than even Starswirl the Bearded.  But for now, you’re going to have to trust me.  Trust me when I say that I am leading you towards not only the salvation of our world, but towards your destiny.  And we’d be fools to keep her waiting…” * * * “He sounds… pretty harsh,” Alex said, his voice filled with worry. “Starswirl was a harsh master, though it was time and circumstance that made him so,” Luna said, her voice filled with respect.  “He mellowed out in his later years, but until then, with so much riding on his shoulders, one could forgive him for not being the nicest to two fillies, lost, far from home, and crying for their mother.” “That he was.  It was a long, arduous, dangerous journey, and the stallion had neither the time, or the patience to keep a constant eye on two small fillies.  So, for the most part, he just kept us asleep, though we did not know that that was what he was doing until much, much later,” Celestia said, her nose ruffling in concentration.  “By all standards, what he did would have been considered criminal, if it weren’t for the sole fact that what he did ensured our safety, and the salvation of all Equus.  We were kept free of Discord’s corruption because of him, and for that he has my gratitude and respect.” “The first time we were awake, and allowed to stay awake was after we reached the last remaining city of the Crystal Empire,” Luna said, picking up where her sister left off.  “Not only had he already met with King Noche by that time and had obtained both room and board, but also a nursemaid to aid in raising us.  The crystal ponies had a strict, no outsiders law, as well as strict birth control measures, to ensure their people did not outgrow what their city could provide.  I do not know what it is that he said to change the will of the king, but I do remember the almost reverential treatment he received while we were there.” “...Looks like it was because he had a vision in front of the king,” Alexander said as he leafed back to where he was before he stopped.  “As I was brought before the king, it felt like lightning pierced my skull, and I found myself pushed aside as another stepped into me, to deliver a prophecy unto the ruler of the Crystal Empire.  As the words spilled from my mouth, I felt panic fill my breast, for the words I delivered were not ones of hope, but of doom.  The last remnant of their once glorious civilization… would disappear.  It would be thrown adrift through time, and what’s worse, is that it would be by the blood of the king that such a travesty would occur.  His people would eventually return, both in physical form, but also in glory, but at the cost of his entire line.” “Yet, despite this vision of doom that I pronounced against him, he did not cast me out.  Instead, he took me and my young charges in, even going so far as to bow before us, declaring me a seer without peer-” “That would have done it,” Celestia interrupted, her eyes snapping open as she looked at the former human.  “The Crystal Ponies were exceptionally superstitious, and they had very, very particular customs when it came to seers.  I am sure that Noche didn’t tell him this exactly, but even with the pronouncement of doom against his line, Myrddin had, by all rights, set himself above even the king.” “...No, it says here that the king offered him his throne after the vision, so he definitely knew.  He just didn’t take it, and I can see why,” Alexander said, after reading ahead again.  He then cleared his throat, and continued.  “...I could not take his offer, as much as my greed told me to do just that.  I was an imposter, and the knowledge imparted unto me by the demon could only protect me for so long, especially if I were to be placed into such a spotlight.  I instead told the king that all I required from him was aid in raising my charges, and that through his service, he would bring about the demon’s fall.” “It was quite humorous how quickly he agreed to my request.  I was given all the aid I required: access to their library, a nursemaid, tutors, food, shelter in the palace.  Every want I requested, it was fulfilled, and I tried my best to instill into my charges the knowledge that had been instilled into me, but I admit that I fell short in many regards.  My father was never the best tutor, and the methods that he used were my only reference to fall back on.  What’s more, is that the knowledge given to me by Discord was hard to explain, especially since many of the things I now knew did not have words to describe them.  The Crystal Empire’s records proved more fruitful, however, and though many of the techniques contained therein were utterly barbaric to my sensibilities, I found that I had no choice.  They would shore up my inadequacies, and give me the ability to raise two gods to wrest the world from its captor.  I only pray that they will forgive me for stealing their childhood from them.” “In all honesty, they could give you a more accurate account of their time with me.  My account would be tinged with my own bias, and I hold no illusions at my competency as a surrogate parent.  It sufficeth me to say that they eventually wrested control of the sun and moon, however briefly, and by doing so not only earned their ‘destiny’ marks, but also their wings.  It was the proudest moment I have ever had in my life, and at that exact moment, I knew that we had already won.” “Their story is one of triumph through adversity, and when you have time, I would implore you to listen to it from the two gods themselves.  However, that is not the purpose of this record.  The purpose of this record is to give context to what I must share with you, for from the dust, I bring you a warning most dire.” “It occurred just after the disappearance of the Crystal Empire.  I knew then, that the peace of my homeworld was forever closed to me, and that the artifact that I had stolen all those years ago would never be returned to the changelings.  I knew what I had to do, I could only pray that they were in a forgiving mood…”