//------------------------------// // Twenty Questions is not amusing. // Story: The Godking is NOT Amused // by Zemez //------------------------------// Turns out Celestia did not in fact demand her servants to make that cake, instead she had them served tea and small sandwiches. Unfortunately, even if Veretus needed to eat, these sandwiches would do no such thing for his appetite, they were smaller than Celestia's hoof. That does not mean he did not eat the platter that was placed in front of him. It had been the first time he ate in a little over a thousand years, the last time was before the Godsfall. Even so, he never thought he would be eating hay, because that is what was on the sandwiches. They were seated in another luxurious room, the table a large rectangle with two chairs on each of the shortest sides instead of the one he was used to from his time as a mortal king. He was obviously seated at the longest side of the table, nearest to the edge Celestia sat. While proper etiquette would demand he sat at the other end, nothing since the start of the day said proper etiquette would be needed or wanted. The table had no chairs, only cushions, so he sat on his knees on the cushion. The table barely reached his shoulders when fully sat, so he also had to lift himself a bit. When Celestia was finished, she levitated a napkin to her mouth and wiped. He would have to learn how she did that. He obviously couldn't fully replicate the spell, he was not a wizard, he could not even cast the spell mage hand. But what he could do was cheat with his Domain. "I suppose you would not be averse to me asking questions while we await your sister's awakening?" He had spoken up. He had questions about this world, and using his connection to the laws of life here could only get him specific information. What species lived here, what their core beliefs were, how the species functioned, etc. It would not tell him anything about what knowledge they have accrued, inventions, or even much of how their society functioned. "I suppose if you answer mine, twenty questions then?" "Twenty questions?" He asked, having not heard this phrase. "We take turns asking questions, you won't have to worry about repeating your answers to Luna, I'll fill her in." She replied calmly, a stark contrast from earlier, in which she was off balance and stuttering. "I suppose that seems appropriate then, do you mind if I ask the first question?" At her nod, he continued. "What are the markings on your flanks? all I know is that they have something to do with your skills." "We refer to them as cutiemarks, they can perhaps be referred to as the destiny on our flanks, or our special talent. Mine for instance is controlling the sun, which would have caused the extinction of magickcraft if I hadn't come along." "That was two answers." "I suppose it was." She pursed her lips. "It is now my question though, what is your name, and why are you here." She said the honey in her voice couldn't distract him from the icy edge behind it. The queen of dragons had tried the same trick, as well as his brother. If he didn't give a satisfactory answer, he was sure she would try to attack him on the spot. Try being the keyword. "I come from what I suppose is a different reality, since all signs point towards it." He paused, thinking about what all he should say before deciding the entire title should be what she would want. "I am Godking Veretus, God of Might, Dragons, and Vindication, Lord of the Planes, Jailer of the Abyssal Sea, Overgod of Alvaris, and Half-Champion. I was sent here by a cheating wizard who had somehow found a scroll that could somehow banish a being of my power." "However, that was two questions, I think I now deserve to ask two now." He smoothly transitioned, getting the hang of the game. "If you and your sister are not truly immortal, is there a being that is?" "Discord..." The name hissed from her lips. "A draconequus, and self-proclaimed god of chaos... But do not think he'll be any help, he delights in harmful pranks and is the worst of the worst." "Then my second question shall be how did he earn this much ire from you?" "He is... Childish, true, but he manipulates reality on a whim. He has done some terrible pranks that to perform on a pony are unforgivable. Removing a unicorn's horn for laughs, delighting in pranks based off of a pony's fear." Celestia only now sucked in a large breath. "He seems tame." "TAME!?" She shouted, putting her hooves on the table as she stood up. "How is he tame!?" He ignored her outburst. "The trickster gods that existed before the Godsfall would do much worse than preying on your fears. Two lovers, only to realize they are on opposite sides of a conflict, sending adventurers on quests that span most of their mortal lives, only to realize it was all a sham at the end. I once heard of one posing as a man's wife for years before pretending to be killed by his neighbor. The man then killed his neighbor in perceived retribution." Veretus explained like it was common for trickster deities to do these things. "That also counted as your question, so my turn again." "But-" "How do you perform magic? More specifically, that telekinesis you used to consume your meal." Celestia took a few deep breaths. Before sitting down and answering the question. "Every pony has magic inside of them which they use naturally. Earth ponies- those without wings or horns, usually are stronger and have a better connection to nature. Pegasi use their magic to fly, and unicorns, thanks to the horns on thier head, allow them to use magic with the proper intent and training." By the end of it, Celestia had sounded like she was giving a lecture to a student, rather than the powerful entity he was. "Hmm, so intent, similar to sorcerers..." He muttered. Celestia began to open her mouth to ask a question before she was halted by Veretus' cup floating in the air, the multicolored shifting hue belying his elemental affinities as the god of all dragons. "H-how are you doing that?! You don't have a horn! Unless you were lying about not being from our world!" "Simple, you said that magic to you ponies was just intent and training. A god only needs intent to change the world around him, so I extrapolated how to use my own powers of divinity to perform magic... It seems your laws of magic are much looser than mine is." He set the cup down at the end of his explanation, where it promptly turned into a pile of shattered material. It seemed he was holding it together with his magic after using too much force to lift it. "That was your fourth question. Be careful Celestia, you only have six left before I end this game." He began, his tone brokering no argument from the mare. "Now, I have nowhere to go, and traveling for obvious reasons would attract attention, I will ask if I may stay within your fortress." "I-that... That would be delightful Veretus." Celestia lied through her teeth, he could tell she was used to an entire world relying upon her, and here he was, a being displaced from his home, and he showed no indication of being lost or worried. It upset her for some reason. "Now, how were you viewed by your subjects back in your world?" Celestia's horn glowed at this question. He ignored that. "By the mortals? As a king who would gladly lay his life down for them. By the immortals? A thorn in their side that would destroy them without a moment's notice if they tried to pull it out." "So then-" "It is my turn to ask Celestia, how long have you lived?" "One thousand one hundred and thirty six years." She impatiently answered back. "If you were the king of both of these factions, why did you suppress the immortals?" "Because since the mortals were first born from the Lover and Deceiver, the immortals have always sought to control and use the mortals, who have infinite potential, unlike them, who were created by the two previously mentioned for a singular purpose. this was what the entire Godsfall was about." "Now Celestia, what is your currency? If I am to be stuck here I may as well earn some. Regardless of my lack of need for amenities." "Bits," she materialized a golden coin with a sun on one side and flipped it over in her magical hold to show the other side, a crescent moon. "This is a newly minted one, and is made out of gold plated electrum." "How did you become king?" Celestia let out her questions quickly, most likely afraid he'd make her waste more of them. "The previous king was murdered by one of his two sons, my son had recently became the city's guardian, and as the guardian's handler, a title which made more sense when the city was protected by a Large Roc. We had no idea which son had committed the murder, so my companions tricked me into performing a ruse to make me king, and promised it was only till we could put the rightful prince on the throne. I had once owned a sentient sword by the name of Void, who would shock whoever was not the rightful wielder with lethal force." He paused, looking wistfully back at the past. "We had a legend about a king drawing a sword from the stone proving his right to rule. So Greesh, a small goblin- hm. green humanoid about as tall as my waist pretended to find some records about this succession right. In which we then set it up, After several months we still found no proof of which prince had done this, so I officially sent both of them out to perform a hundred good deeds. It was only after that we had found out the Dragon Queen had promised to bring back the Prince's mother if he killed his father, a despicable act of deception. By then, I had already started halting a war which was draining our precious resources and began fixing the food deficit, and many citizens had already seen me as their true king." Veretus recollected himself before asking his question. "I myself admit to becoming king through unusual circumstances, but might I question how you became princesses?" It was her turn to look slightly wistful before she hid the expression. "After a certain point, the sun no longer would naturally move by itself, so a unicorn by the name of Starswirl the bearded had to collect a group of unicorn archmages to lower and raise the sun. This would cause all participants aside from Starswirl to be unable to use magic in the future. Eventually, I and my sister came along, and I had the ability to lower and raise the sun with little effort." "Is murder a common solution where you come from?" Celestia asked nonchalantly, but Veretus could feel the dagger behind them. If he answered in the affirmative, she would most likely try and fail to attack him. And being hated by one of the diarchs of this land would not help him avoid the world's notice. "Before I answer this, I must explain a bit about where I come from first. Alvaris has had a history of violence dating back even to when it was first created. The first Immortals, the Elementals, had warred upon its surface for a hundred years before the lover and deceiver had stopped them and punished the Champions who had allowed them to destroy the paradise they had made to galavant in. Next, the Lover and Deceiver fought for intervening in each other's creations, causing the birth of mortals and other monsters. Next with infinite potential, also comes the potential for violence and even war. Even the Peaceful Elves could not resist this temptation when betrayed by the humans. Eventually, the demons, made to enforce the laws that the immortals would be ruled by, decided that as the strongest and most Numerous of the immortals, they would conquer Alvaris. My brother wished to do nothing about this, I wanted to do everything about this. So I abandoned my seat of power and helped the mortals in their war of Survival." He paused. He could continue explaining their history, but he had already given up a lot of information. "Is it a common solution? yes, mainly as a last resort. a monster isn't going to listen to reasons why they shouldn't eat you, and talking things out is just as common amongst the mortals." Veretus could tell she was thinking, so he posed another question to distract her. "if you are not a true Immortal being, then I must ask, what are you? you have the features of all three different ponies you mentioned earlier." "my sister and I are Alicorns, with the power of all of ponykind." she left it at that. "If you are a king, why do you wear armor and wield a sword?" His Ichor ran cold. Had she just insinuated that he was a coward? That all Kings were merely content to sit safely behind their armies? "I wear this armor, and wield this sword in defense of my people, whether that would be the Mortals or the immortals. I will and have died for them Celestia, I have lost my life for them, I have given up my mortality for them, I watched my son die for them! Do not ever insinuate that I will not sacrifice everything for those I wish to protect!" he was standing, when did he do that? He was not angry, no, he was merely seething at her audacity to judge him. They stared into each other's eyes, his smoldering orbs, and her violet ones. "Is tis' a bad time to gather the break and fast?" a voice came from the doorway, breaking their staring contest as they both looked at the dark blueish purple Alicorn that had just entered.