//------------------------------// // The Final Moonbow // Story: Mortem Obire // by The Ancestor //------------------------------// The pitter-patter of droplets against glass, pereodically interrupted by stikes of thunder was a rather uncomfortable ambiance for the lively unicorn currently lounging on a sofa, her eyes glued to the tv screen, waiting for the premiere of a show. A gentle glow illuminated the dim room, a hooffull of popcorn floating towards a relaxed mare, disappearing down her gullet. Izzy's eyes traveled lazily towards the digital clock standing on a nearby table, a bold 3:30 staring back at her. She wasn't nervous for the time, the show she was trying to catch won't be on for a good few minutes, and its not like it was easy to miss. It was just for her, after all. Truth be told, Izzy was nervous, for a better part of the week, actually, the memories of her little 'friendship hike' left to marinade in her mind at an accelerated rate thanks to the self-imposed isolation. Everypony needed some alone time, after all. Izzy's ear twitched as she felt the familiar un-sprakle brush past her magic, creeping into the immediated area. It was a harsh word to call something, but it was the best she could come up with. Usually, a sparkle is the summarised essense of somepony, their expiriences, thoughts, hopes and dreams, something that makes them who they are, concentrated and visible to any unicorn. This one was different, unlike any sparkle Izzy's ever seen. This 'un-sparkle' felt like the absense of a sparkle, like something one would see when looking into a void, with similar result following prolonged exposure. Simply speaking, after a day's worth of trying to interact with said 'un-sparkle', Izzy managed to get a reaction, albeit not the one she was expecting. The un-sparkle changed. Subtly so, of course, so much so that if somepony not borderline obsessed with the thing were to examine it, they'd find it no different from its previous interation. With each passing day it changed more and more, half the week passing by before Izzy realised something. It was beginning to look more and more like her sparkle. The discovery was certainly jarring, unnerving even, and were it to be made in some thrice-forgotten castle in a middle of a mountain peak, Izzy would've been terrified. But out of the comfort of her own house, in a middle of a forest chock-full of ponies, Izzy felt more or less at ease, the feeling solidified even further once she went over some of the books she nicked out of that dusty old library. She'll return them later. Maybe. One particularly interesting tome of "Inhabitants of Equestria" by a pony know only as R.F. , spoke of a species of beings that might've been responcible for what she was dealing with right now. Her inquiry into the life of the so-called 'changelings' was interesting, if somewhat irritating due to the less-than complete information regarding the species, due to the book's poor condition. The discription she'd managed to read was somewhat different from what she had here, combined with the memory of Sunny's campfire story, one might think that Izzy was dealing with something completely unrelated. Yet Izzy pondered that enough time has passed for things to change, and with the disappearance and subsequent long-awaited return of magic, even changelings could change. That didn't sound right, for some reason. That night, after an evening full of less than successful attempts at falling asleep earlier than usual, uncosciousness finally calimed her, the unicorn ready to spend the next six to eight hours in either blissfull ignorance, or adventure-filled lucid dreams. Yet something unexpected happened. Izzy woke up in a great expanse of green grass, stretching infinitely into every direction. Rich-blue sky hanged overhead, cotton-white clouds drifting slowly through the skyscape, a pleasantly warm sun gracing her with its presense. It was a serene place for sure, yet Izzy was quick to make a few changes, she simply preferred nighttime, is all. The first odd thing happened when Izzy flared her horn, intent on changing day into night, but found that she simply couldn't. The unicorn tried and tried, each further attempt ending much like the last, failure meeting all of them. Izzy was beginning to doubt wether or not she was lucid enough to control the dream, when another oddity happened. Before her eyes a mountainous cloud parted, blinding like pour from the tear, a snow-white figure descending towards the field. It was hard to see at first, Izzy's eyes hurting from the sheer brightness eminating from the figure, but soon enough it lowered itself to the mare, allowing her to witness itself. And what a sight he was. His fur was the purest white, the color putting the most expensive of marbles to shame, his wings stretched out to their fullest, pristine snow-white feathers with a subtle golden rim giving even the royal pegasus family a run for their money. His mane came down to his shoulders, his golden locks wouldn't look out of place on a front cover of a beauty magazine. His horn looked like it wasn't filed even once, but not out of neglect, but rather out of a lack for a need to file it, a faint golden gloriole eminating around it. His front legs were outstretched in a welcoming manner, his hooves looking like they never touched the ground. A graceful smile was plastered on his face, his eyes closed for the time being. Izzy was left speechless as he landed onto the field, the blades of grass bowing to his presense. She felt a shiver go down her spine, a deep-seated reverence firing up inside her core as he opened his eyes, his smile growing just a tad wider as he looked her over. Her mouth was dry as she wracked her brain around the multitude of question she wanted to ask him, yet all of her thoughts were put on hold when his voice rang out through the field, powerful yet calm. "Be not afraid. I am the Angel Morning Star." Izzy's tongue refused to obey her, her mind blank as she witnessed the magnificent stallion in front of her. Morning Star noticed her vacant expression, his smile growing a tad condescending. "I see you are seeking knowledge?" All Izzy could do was nod, the Angel noticing this before continuing. "And you are not intimidated by this?" His horn glowed subtly, the familiar aura of the un-sparkle now circling his hoof. Izzy gulped, shaking her head. His serene face was graced by a most curious expression, annoyance, for but a moment, before regaining its form. "Very well." His horn flickered, the un-sparkle dying out in a blink of an eye. "Listen closely, my child, for I am bearing great news. At the end of the week, in the dead of night, you will recieve a revelation. You will feel it coming. My messanger will make itself known. Like those that came before you, you will recieve my gift of knowledge. " A small frown marred his impeccable visage, his voice carrying a subtle edge. "Heed my message. Do not disappoint me." The Angel uttered these words, putting his hooves together and closing his eyes as his brilliant wings swaying gently, propelling him skyward. His immaculate form disappeared behind the clouds, the heavens themselves sealing his exit. Izzy was left alone for the remainder of the dream, although she never managed to mold it to her whims, no matter how hard she tried. Ever since the coming of the Angel, Izzy waited, each day passing painfully slowly in anticipation of the revelation. She inhaled sharply as she felt the familiar un-sparkle drifting closer, its color resembling her own more and more. Her eyes followed as it drifted past her clock, 3:33 glitching for a moment as it did, finally stopping as it reached her television. The screen flickered as the un-sparkle entered it, static covering every inch of it. Izzy stared at the television with bated breath, waiting for the fated revelation to finally arrive. The unicorn squinted as something began to form in the static, the mosaic white noise consolidating to form a pitch-black silhouette of a head. Two white dots floated across the ink-like surface, positioning themselves roughly where one's eyes should've been. "Hello?" Izzy tried the creature, giving it a small smile. The static ebbed and flowed through the bituminous surface of the face, forming a thin white line that stretched upwards, mimicking the mare's expression. "Hello?" Izzy gasped as her voice came through the television, the creature's smile widening further at her reaction. The mare steadied her breath, her eyes glued to the creature, who was seemingly observing her in return. Her heart raced as she waited for the figure to speak, finally choosing to take the lead when it remained silent. "Are you here because of the Angel?" She asked, tilting her head to the side. "To deliver a message?" The static around the figure fizzled, its smile flattening into a thin straight line. "here because of the A̸-̵a̸-̷a̷-̷a̸n̶g̷e̶l̵. To deliver a message." An involuntary shiver ran down Izzy's spine as she heard her own voice stumble and crack halfway through the sentence, unease bubbling at the core of her being as she noticed the flat line on her tv curve into a smile. "Can you stop doing that? Talking in my voice, I mean." Izzy rubbed the back of her neck, a bead of sweat rolling down her brow. "It's creeping me out." The figure's smile stretched wider than ever before, the sound of static filling the air. "my voice creeping you out?" The corner of the screen cracked with a loud noise, making the mare jump a little. "Y-yeah..." Izzy croaked, shifting in her seat. The sound ceased as quickly as it began, the monochrome face returning to a neutral expression. "Very well, the message will be delivered nonetheless." The face dissapated into the background, the static rearranging to form a different picture. A sprawling field of cotton-white clouds stretched before the mare's vision, gracefully lit up by a golden light stemming from up above. Countless figures hovered above the clouds, their immaculate white wings and stunningly perfect horns complimenting their spotless coats, their beauty bringing a tear to Izzy's eye. "In the beginning He created the heavens, He from whom all life stems filled it with my brothers, and all was as it was meant to be." The heavenly scenery changed, a single familiar figure drifting to the forefront. "The Most High loved all of his creations, yet Morning Star was his proudest one." The figure graced Izzy with a bright smile that made her heart skip a beat, before turning to the side to witness a massive group of angels stretching past the horizon bathed in light, all looking up towards the source of this light. Two figures stepped out of the light, one bright like the sun, the other dark as the night sky. The angels cheered as the two figures moved, great celebrations erupting throughout the heavens as the great news spread. Yet one figure differed from the others, a jealous expression marring its beautiful features. "Pride tormented his mind, jealousy following him at every step." The scenery changed to depict an angel sitting on a throne made of diamonds and gold, preaching to a group of his fellows. "And soon enough he thought himself to be like The Most High, rallying up a third of his bretheren to wage war against Harmony himself." Scenes of a great battle flashed past Izzy's eyes, the final image burning itself into her memory forever. Countless white figures were falling agaist a blood-red background, plummenting into a seemingly infinite lake of fire. "Undeterred by his failure, he vowed revenge on the Almighty, seeking to destroy everything dear to him." The scenery changed into a beautiful garden with two figures, a mare and a stallion, standing before an apple tree, a serpent wrapped around its trunk. "He succeeded in tainting his creation, yet they prevailed." The image shifted to a unicorn sitting on a throne, his horn engulfed in a red aura, a tringle-shaped amulet adorning his neck. Sun shone brightly through the window behind him, a thin line of red holding it in place. "Your kin helped him offset the celestial bodies themselves, yet The Most High once again emerged victorious." A duo stepped into the throne room, one bright as day, the other dark as the night sky. The two majestic figures lit their horns in unison, overpowering his influence, his face contorting into a grimace of agony as his coat witherd and turned black, holes appearing on his body. "Millenia passed in plotting, until his plans finally came to fruition, his revenge exacted once more." Images of desolate cities, of monsters that looked like ponies, but just weren't roaming the earth flashed before Izzy's eyes, mythical creatures of all sorts, from dragons to griffons falling to their influence, their struggle meaningless in the end. "Yet his plan failed once more. When the tribes drifted apart, their kind's magic dissapated, leaving him powerless. Until now." A picture Izzy remembered all to well appeared on the screen, she and her friends wearing bright smiles after the end of their exciting adventure to reunite the tribes and return magic to Equestria. Her heart ached when each face was obscured by a black box, leaving only her own smile uncensored. The screen was overtaken by static, the black silhouette forming once more, tow hite dots staring her down with unrivaled intensity, the thin line that constituted its mouth twisted into a smile. "Your friends heeded his words, and made the right choice. Follow their steps. Join them. Do not disappoint him." Izzy's ears were pinned to her skull as she closed her eyes, her mouth moving on its own as she bowed. "W-what am I to do?" She dared not to open her eyes as she heard the screen crack, the sounds of hooves hitting wood filling the room. She flinched when a hoof held her chin, both searing hot pain and ice cold numbness spreading at the point of contact as it guided her head upwards. "I am coming to save you." Came the voice from her dream, commanding and forceful, a sadistic satisfaction bubbling to the voice's surface. Cold sweat poured down her face as she heard the angel's mouth stretch into a sinister smile. Izzy forced her eyes open, fighting the bout of paralysis that had overtaken her, and looked at the Angel holding the mare, her heart threatening to burst out of her chest. His jet black mane hung limply down the sides of his face, reaching the Angel's shoulders. His once immaculate horn had blackened, a crack going down the middle, with small bits and pieces missing on the sides, seemingly chipped. His white feathery wings were marred with what looked like soot, the feathers scorched at the tips. Shadows danced across his once beatiful face, now twisted into a mask of gleedul malice. His eyes stretced far beyond what was concidered normal, solid black watching he under the arks of white. His smile was stretched into a mocking grin, blood red gums contrastic with prestine, white teeth. Izzy's eyes turned to pinpricks as an intense ringing permeated her hearing, her breathing quick and ragged as she mouthed... something. A prayer? A plea for help? For mercy? Izzy wasn't sure, the mare's words not reaching her own ears. "Be not afraid."