I heard Twilight gasp and Spike inhale sharply. Glancing at them, I saw they were staring wide-eyed at the sisters and sighed sharply.
“It sounds like that was quite the confession,” I said, my neck cracking as I put my face in my paws, “If you knew who or what a ‘discord’ is. A draconequus? A dragon pony? Is that what I am, then?”
I heard some muttering from across the table before Celestia said, “Discord is the only known example of a Draconequus. He is the spirit of chaos itself and ruled over all of the world until my sister and I vanquished him with the powers of the Elements of Harmony.”
“Okay, so I’m not one of his race?” I asked into the palms of my hands.
The muttering happened again.
“No,” Luna declared before saying, “at least not yet. Discord transformed as soon as the ritual began, but as the ritual has only been completed successfully twice, we cannot say for sure what it is you will become over time.”
“Okay,” I sighed. “That’s fine. But you mentioned Sun and Moon underwent the same process before they were placed above us?”
“Yes, though we weren’t there at the time,” Celestia said. “It is told in stories passed down through alicorns, most of which we have not written down to keep from the hands of those who would do evil with the knowledge.”
“Which is why Twilight does not know of them yet,” Luna chimed in. “We have not gifted her the knowledge yet, as she is new to the transformation.”
“Do you know any of the specifics behind their transformation or ascension?”
“We know the process, and that they did great things on the planet before rising,” Celestia replied. “They are responsible for many of the race’s creation, except the dragons and alicorns. Including ponykind.”
“Which is why we’re unsure as to you, Kiir,” Luna said before she could continue. “The other two who underwent this transformation were alicorns, according to the tales and our own knowledge. But since we did not hear of an alicorn’s disappearance, we assume you were a pony?”
“Yes,” I murmured into my hands before looking back up and across the table, “a unicorn. But wait, how did the dragons and creatures of the world live before there was Sun and Moon? I was taught that Sun gives us all the warmth and light, and Moon gives us the required rest and good dreams in our sleep.”
“They do, now,” Celestia said, nodding, “but before their ascension, our planet merely had a star and a satellite, the original sun and moon. A heinous villain known only as Grogar, an evil sorcerer, banished both of these to a realm of unknown shadows and deepest darkness before following them. Many learned alicorn magicians theorize that he created his own world, but didn’t have the power to mimic a star or another body such as the ancient moon.
“The leaders of the alicorns and the dragons called together a council, putting aside generations of fighting and death, to save this world from the blighted void and murderous cold of space.”
Taking a breath, Celestia gently coughed. Her horn lit before there was a noise from the room Spike had brought food out of before. A tall glass of water floated to her from within, and she drank half of it before continuing.
“For a year, our planet cooled, while the dragons used their fires and magics to keep it from freezing over completely. At the end of it, a singular theory was put forth by an oracle of the alicorns. Only the purest of blends of our magics could save our world.”
Luna took the glass and finished off the water before she took over.
“There were no hybrids of our races at the time. After some trials, it was found that the natural genetics of our races were simply incompatible.
“Some magical hybridization was attempted,” Celestia muttered with a frown, “but none of these homunculi were….”
She twirled her hoof in the air, searching for a word or term before Luna said outright, “They did not come out right. They were either outright evil in nature, or stunted in growth or intelligence. These failures were cast out, and many became the progenitors of our modern-day monsters.”
“So instead of saving the world, this council further blighted it?” I asked, frowning heavily.
The alicorns shared a look.
“We do not condone or forget the failings of our ancestors,” Celestia sighed, hanging her head, “but they did what they thought they had to do.”
“And in the end, they succeeded,” Luna said, sighing. “A process was theorized wherein the souls of their people could be mixed and used to create a pure, massively powerful being. But throughout the many trials, only more failures were conceived.”
“In the end, it was a mother that finally completed the theory,” Celestia said bitterly. “She held her daughter to her chest and felt some maternal magic flow between them, comforting them both.”
“Scholars, learned magicians, and philosophers on both sides tried to make sense of this new discovery, but the world was freezing. Death for all was imminent, and action was required,” Luna took up for her sister. “Acting on instinct and following the paths of magic that their hearts sang to them, the mother and father of dragons gave their lives to become one with the twin leaders of the alicorns.
“Through their sacrifice, the four souls were entwined, and Sun and Moon were given life.”
“On the surface of the planet?” Twilight asked. “But the— I mean, Sun has been magically recorded to be millions of degrees hot. The planet would have been incinerated!”
“Sun and Moon were new to their birth, and their powers were rawer and less concentrated,” Celestia told her. “Their magics were tied directly into the planet’s veins of magic, what we call the ley lines. With much of their magic being pulled away and into the freezing world, they were well and able to walk the earth.”
“For a while,” Luna put in. “In their time remaining, they performed many arcane feats, according to the tales. Such as creating many of the intelligent creatures of the world, to balance the evils accidentally unleashed upon it by their progenitors. They even changed how magic assists the creation of viable children, enabling offspring between alicorns and dragons, and many of the other races as well.”
“But then?” I asked when the alicorns were lost to their thoughts.
“But then,” Celestia said agreeably, “their magic grew. Where Sun walked the planet, the very life around them flourished, blossoming the world’s forests and gardens, until the warmth of their heart grew into the heat of a million furnaces, and they burned the very life they sought to progress.”
“Where Moon walked,” Luna intoned, “all of life grew weary, rested well, and dreamed of their heart’s wishes and wants. But those rests grew longer, and those dreams became dark with nightmares that snuck between the thin places in realms. The weather began to sleep and dream dark dreams, creating the seasons as Summer’s death became Autumn and Winter, and upon waking, lead to the birthing Spring and growing back into Summer.”
“And then, upon the place of their meeting, the world itself was thrown into chaos, as life and dreams and summer and winter and heat and cold all fought for dominance.” Celestia sighed. “They planned there, as the world around them died and lived, and then sent out dreams to the remaining alicorns, telling them their plans and how to enact them.”
“With great beats of their mighty wings, the two masters of the world left it,” Luna sighed, gesturing to the sky. “And thus, Sun and Moon move in an eternal dance, across from each other, around the world, to give life and rest in cycles. But they require tuning to not give too much of themselves to the world, which is what we do, my sister and I. Speak to these ancient powers of our world, and adjust them to best grow the garden of Equus.”
I stared at the two sisters for a long minute.
“But is that going to happen to me?” I asked.
The two looked at each other before shrugging.
“We have no idea,” Luna replied bluntly.
“But in case it does,” Celestia said, her horn lighting up as she seemingly pulled a thick sheaf of papers from the ether, “we have a plan in place. Just in case something like this happens, alicorns have passed down their tests on both themselves, and Sun and Moon after their ascension.”
“In paper,” I said, watching as Celestia carefully set the stack on the table, obscuring herself almost to the tip of her horn.
Leaning around the shifting stack, she said, “Well, I’ve transcribed it a couple of times whenever court gets boring. I keep the first bit with me to look busy when the nobles try to talk me into something stupid.”
“Wait, we didn’t even go into the process,” Twilight said, raising her hoof into the air. “How do we know what Kiir went through is even the same process as what Sun and Moon used?”
The sisters shared a look, pushing aside the pile of papers before nodding to Kiir.
“Oh, uh,” I said, blinking as I tried to remember where I’d been. “Well, when he said he wanted to reward me, he talked about how I would sleep for years. Thousands of centuries, he told me. After he made me swear an oath never to misuse this gift, he cut into his chest and then into his heart. Picking me up, he placed me into the chamber and invoked a phrase. Uh, he named himself and said, ‘I will now sleep in the rock of eternity’, whatever that means.”
“The names of the four original leaders are inscribed in the foundations of the world, forever living on in the memory of the earth,” Celestia filled in. “It sounds like since he knew and used this process, his name was somehow added? And perhaps yours as well.”
“But this doesn’t sound right,” Luna said, shaking her head. “The process was a full ritual, with chanting and promises to each other, sworn in the language of the planet itself. It sounds as if he merely followed along in the pattern of the ritual and didn’t fulfill it entirely.”
“Or he used an altered version of it,” Celestia said, chewing on her bottom lip. “Even five thousand years ago, the ritual was ages old. Maybe this new Dovbormah was one of the ancient sages that assisted with the ritual and altered it? Or perhaps he just didn’t know the full scope of it and went through with what he knew?”
“We’ll never know,” Luna sighed. “He’s long dead, and we don’t even know his previous name to attempt to find a relative of his.”
The five of us were silent after this proclamation. Spike was particularly still, his head lowered, gaze staring into the table as he thought.
“What about this Discord?” I asked, gaze flicking up to the sisters. “You said he was a pony?”
The two sisters instantly looked away, down and to the side.
“We will not speak at length about what we did to him,” Luna said, tone rigid. “We tried to force another ritual with a dragon who was unwilling, to confront a force more powerful than any other we’ve ever faced.”
“The disharmony between the two souls crystallized,” Celestia whispered.
“Discord did as we initially planned, sealing away the force that eventually became Tartarus,” Luna continued, “but after he did, he was consumed by the newfound power he controlled, the very spirit of the chaos that was born from the place where Sun and Moon sat together.”
“It’s why I asked you to reform him, Twilight,” Celestia admitted. “I had hoped to find our old friend again.”
“While you have succeeded,” Luna sighed, “he refuses still to be in our presence. Doubtless he knows of this new qilin, you, Kiir,” she nodded to him, “but he’s keeping his distance until he figures out more about you. And until we leave, he’ll keep this distance.”
“But he’ll show up eventually,” I guessed, sighing. Once again lowering my head into my paws, I groaned slightly as I tried to press back the growing headache.
“Kiir?” Twilight asked, gently placing a hoof on my shoulder.
“I just woke up,” I said, chuckling weakly, “and already I’ve had three royals come after me for information, with another ex-royal spirit of a basic worldly force on the line-up. I’ve heard the true telling of the formation of Sun and Moon and learned that I might follow in their hoofsteps. I need to buy a house and figure out if I even want to settle among a race that, last I remember, couldn’t even look at each other without fighting, though that seems to have been put to rest, judging by your group of friends.”
“It has been,” Twilight quickly interrupted, everyone else in the room nodding.
“Good,” I murmured before continuing, “I was also… I guess conceived? Reconceived? Reborn through some ancient ritual that, apparently, only produces godlike beings. And on top of it all, I’ve got a twelve-hoof tall pile of paperwork to read through.”
“And initial,” Celestia said apologetically.
Taking a deep breath, I stood up, pushing the cup of cold tea away.
“No.”
Shaking my head, I turned and headed towards the door.
“No?” Twilight asked, and I heard her stand from the table, her chair scraping. “Kiir?”
Laughing, I turned my head and looked over my shoulder.
Celestia had a stunned expression, and Luna looked at me like she was waiting for a punchline. Spike looked amused and had a little smile.
Twilight looked uncertain, one of her hooves resting on the table; the rest of her turned towards me.
“Twilight, no,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m going to go find someplace to sleep for the night, and then I’m going to find somewhere to live. After that?” I sighed, shaking my head. “I’ll figure that out after I wake up. For now? Goodnight.”
Grabbing my altered saddlebags from the peg beside the door, I left, closing the door behind me.
“Wonder if I can find an inn around here,” I muttered, glancing around the area before heading off toward where I’d seen the market.
Maybe I could find somepony sane there.