A vast empty void. To the mortal eye, it seems like that is all there is. But to the eyes of the Divine, it is so much more.
The Gods can see what is really beyond that void, an endless space filled with different dimensions and timelines, 'The Multiverse'.
So many different dimensions, each with their own Universe and timelines, and one God was tasked with keeping all of them safe. A lone Male Humanoid figure with pale skin with brown wavy hair that parted to the side, red eyes that had a hint of blue around the sclerae and a pair of glasses with a green frame. He wore a black fur coat that showed wear and tear from exposure to the elements, a set of blue jeans with rips showing his kneecaps and running shoes with black and green accents.
This was Aura Kaiser, and he had a lot on his mind at the moment. His job was to make sure that everything in the Multiverse was balanced and to say that his job was taking its toll on him was an understatement. Sure he had help from his team but even with all that, it was still a lot.
"Perhaps I should take it easy for a while." He said while scratching his head. "Now..." He snapped his fingers and a map of the multiverse appeared in front of him. "Where do I want to go?"
With each swipe from his hand he scrolled through different dimensions, each one he had to categorize himself and connect to various others with his leylines. This way it would be easier to move through dimensions without any risk of falling into the realm between dimensions.
His hand stopped at one particular dimension called 34-EM, a quiet dimension filled with magic and wonder, as well as the majority of the residents in said dimension being made up pastel ponies. Still, he had an interest in it and double tapped the dimension on his map. "Sounds like a good place to relax and take my mind off of things." Aura smirked then created a portal to his destination.
Yet in the back of his mind, he had a feeling that this trip for relaxation might be more interesting then he originally planned. But that was what made his job so fun, you can never know what could happen while exploring the neverending web that is the Multiverse.
Meanwhile in said dimension, there was a lone mansion that looked like a barracks that guards would stay in.
But this wasn't just any ordinary mansion. This was the home of the Knight family. A group that has served Princess Celestia for over a thousand years. Each generation has always been a member of the royal guard and with one of them being named the captain of said guard. They were the pinnacle of what a guard should be, strong, powerful, and sworn to their duty, they had been an inspiration to any aspiring guards for generations.
However, the current head of the family as well as the current captain of the royal guard was anything but that. That would be Gallant Knight, a golden pegasus stallion wearing golden armor. His eyes were as blue as the vast sea and he was far bigger then the average stallion and under his armor hid his cutie mark that showed a sword and shield combo. He was strict, cold, and heartless, especially to those of his family mostly his own sons, only caring about his family's reputation and status.
His eldest son Gladius Knight a pegasus stallion with silver armor with a light gray coat and wings that fade to black towards the wing tips, red eyes, a white straight mane and tail and a cutie mark of a set of curved daggers. He was an exceptional aerial fighter, one that was on the same level as a Wonderbolt. Heck if he wasn't forced to be a guard he would of been one by now, but Gallant thought that his skills would be better suited for the royal guard, weather Gladius liked it or not.
And as for his second son Mystic Knight, a small unicorn colt with a green coat, dark purple shaggy mane and tail, gold color eyes, and a wolf fang pendant around his neck, he was born with a condition known as Magic Deficiency Syndrome meaning that the amount of magic as well as the aptitude of it was near nonexistent. Gallant hated him the most, as he had zero magic and he was terrible with a blade. It made his blood boil that the esteemed Knight family had a member who was as pathetic and weak as Mystic.
And Mystic, he was put through so much during his time in the family. He father put him through such devastating training that would break him mentally and physically all against his will since Gallant was so determined to turn his worthless son into something worthy of the family's name.
Then one day...
Mystic was playing hide'n'seek with his elder brother Gladius within the halls of the mansion.
Mystic used his small size to hide inside the cupboards in the kitchen while peeking through the crack on the lid to make sure that he was clear.
"Mystic! Where are you!?" Gladius' voice rang out
Mystic giggled to himself and then fully closed the cupboard door. 'With this spot l he'll never be able to find me. This time I'll win for sure.'
His ears picked up the sound of the kitchen door opening and he immediately held his breath. From the sound of wings flapping, Mystic could assume that it was Gladius flying to try and find him.
Mystic's curiosity got the better if him and he slowly took a peak. It indeed was Gladius as he was checking underneath the table and the oven. "Guess he's not here. Maybe he's in the dinning room." Gladius shrugged and flew out of Mystic's view.
He started to giggle even more thinking that he totally had Gladius fooled. But the doors opened and Mystic was face to face with his brother. "Found you!" Gladius declared as he picked up Mystic with his wings, causing the brothers to laugh.
"Oh, how did you find me? I thought my hiding place was perfect." Mystic asked as his brother placed him down.
Gladius pulled out a detective's cap and smirked. "Elementary my dear brother! Judging from your size you would have to go somewhere that was just enough to fit you, while also being within your reach since you cannot fly like I can. Plus," Gladius pointed to the cups that were stacked on the counter next to the cupboard. "It was kinda obvious when there are 20 cups just lying around."
Mystic had stars in his eyes. "You are so cool."
Gladius blushed and scratched his mane. "It wasn't anything special really. I just put two and two together and came up with the answer. So," He kneeled down to Mystic's level and smiled. "What do you want to play next?"
"He will be playing sword practice now."
That cold voice sent shivers down Mystic's spine as he held on to Gladius. The two turned to see their father holding two wooden blades and having his famous stone-cold stare.
Gladius glared at his father and held Mystic close. "Father, Mystic already had his training for the day."
The older pegasus rolled his eyes and sighed. "Your brother did so poorly during his training today, so I'm going to hammer out each imperfection he has until he is worthy to be a Knight."
Gallant grabbed Mystic and leered at Gladius. "That reminds me. Aren't you suppose to be doing inspections at the west Canterlot outpost?"
Everytime. Everytime his father forces more and more unbearable training to Mystic even though everypony knows that he isn't a fighter. All Gladius wanted to do was spend time with his little brother but all his stuck up father cares about is making himself look good. But he couldn't go against his wishes as he is the head of the family, for now.
"Fine. I'll go do the stupid inspection." Gladius growled and put his armor on. Then he looked at Mystic and gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't little bro, I won't be gone long. Once I'm done Ill go get that new game and we can play it all you want. I promise." Gladius took to the air and flew of towards the west Canterlot outpost.
With him gone Gallant threw Mystic to the training area and then threw his practice sword to him.
"This time, don't curl up into a ball and cry. You are a Knight, act like one!" Gallant roared and swung his wooden sword at the young colt.
"Celestia that took way too long!"
Gladius sighed in relief as he flew back home. He had just gotten Mystic a new video game for the two of them to play and he was excited to see his brother's reaction. But his excitement turned to despair as he saw Mystic with a rope around his neck being pulled into a cart by some dragons.
Gladius' eyes went wide as he dropped everything he had and rushed in to save his brother. "MYSTIC!" He donned his wing blades and slashed the rope, landing in front of Mystic in a protective manner as he stared down the dragons with intent to make them hurt.
"You will not take nor hurt my little brother! Not while I'm his big brother!" Gladius declared as he flared his wings ready to fight.
"Stand down Gladius."
Gladius turned around to see his father with a bag of bits in his wing. "Father, what is going on here? Why aren't you doing anything to stop this?" He asked, fear showing in his voice.
Gallant trotted towards the dragons and gave a disappointed glance. "I've just sold Mystic. He has done nothing but failed me in every way. And the Knight family has no need for failures like him."
Gladius started to tremble in rage as his feathers started to ruffle and his body filled with rage. "You sold your own SON!? What is wrong with you!?"
Gladius rushed in to save Mystic till he felt something hit his neck as he started to lose consciousness. Yet as he laid there on the ground, he weakly tried to reach out to his brother before he succumbed to darkness. "Myst-tic."
Gallant scoffed and picked up his son. "Seems like I'll have to discipline you more." Gallant noted then threw the dragons a few bits. "Something to say that I'm sorry for my son's behavior."
The dragons grinned and finished putting Mystic in a cage on the cart then they all flew off to their base, all while Mystic screamed in despair.
Yet what they didn't know, was that they were being watched from the shadows, by Aura. He was just minding his own business when he heard screams and saw the whole thing.
"How could he do this to his own son? He's worst then the nobles back in the Sacred Realm." He glared hateful eyes at Gallant then zoomed off towards the direction of the dragons.
"Somehow I knew that this vacation wasn't going to be as peaceful as I wanted." Aura complained.
Out by the mountain side, the dragons flew over into a cave and landed in front of some very threatening looking dragons. They unloaded the cart and picked up the cage holding Mystic, who was terrified and curled up into a ball.
"So, this is the little twerp that Gallant sold us?" One of the dragons asked.
He eyed Mystic and flicked the cage causing Mystic to jump up and come in contact with the dragon's gaze. "He doesn't look like much. Are you sure that he's a member of the Knight's?"
One of the dragons who was pulling the cart stepped forward. "Without a doubt. Gallant showed us his papers and all the information checks out." The dragon opened the cage and yanked on the rope that was tied to the Unicorn colt's neck. "To think that even the pristine Knight family could have a dud like him." The dragon chuckled and tugged on the rope harder. "I'm going to enjoy watching him break."
Mystic was so filled with fear that he couldn't even speak, only imagining what horrible things that these dragons would do to him.
"Get walking runt! We don't take kindly to those who can't work!" The dragon pulling his rope shouted. His neck was starting to ache in pain as the dragon pulled harder and harder.
How could this have happened to him? Mystic tried his very best to show that he wasn't a weakling like his father kept on saying, but when push comes to shove he was right. He didn't have any magic in him to preform even a basic levitation spell, and he was terrible with a sword. What did he ever do to deserve this?
Out in the forest by the base, Aura Kaiser narrowed his eyes on it and summoned a blue sword. "I can't just waltz in there without tripping some kind of alarm. The best that I can do for now is wait til night fall and take them out one by one." The God said to himself then looked down. "I'm sorry kid, just try to endure it for a little bit. I'll save you, I promise."
The moon had just risen and many guards were fast asleep. Now was Aura's time to strike. He leaped off the tree he was perched on and vanished out of thin air.
Carefully landing on the mountain side he slowly moved in the shadows and took out two dragon guards and hid their unconscious bodies in the tall grass.
"Hope these dragons are as dumb as they look, or else I'll be in serious trouble." Aura mumbled to himself then went inside the cave.
With each dragon he came across he took the opportunity to ambush, knock out, and tie them up. The more he went through the place the more sick he felt. Ad he discovered that these Dragons were slavers. Guess even a color and peaceful dimension like this one still have their dark sides.
Dowb in the dungeons, Mystic was huddled up in the corner of his cage, all chained up and bleeding. His tear ducts were dried out with all the crying he had done all day. A loud rumble came and through the corner was a large dragon who opened the cell and yanked on the chain around Mystic's neck. "Get up kid! The boss wants to see you!"
Mystic tried to fight back but nothing he did even hurt the dragon as it then hit him across the muzzle, with Mystic now unconscious he dragged him upstairs.
A seconds later Aura peeked out from the corner and processed the information. If he could take out their leader then the lackeys will start to scatter, making them easy to pick off. "This could work. But man do I hate follow missions." Aura sucked it up and jumped onto the rafters on the ceiling and followed the dragon carrying Mystic.
After a moment of following the dragon stopped in front of a large door and threw Mystic in. Then as he turned around he was greeted by Aura who had a smirk on his face.
"How's it going?"
The dragon didn't have time to react as Aura knocked him out with a killer right hook to the jaw. Then after hiding the dragon in a closet, somehow, he mentally prepared himself and stretched his limbs.
"Time to get the old blood pumping." He pepped himself up and kicked the door down to see a large bulky dragon lifting Mystic up by his neck.
"And who the Hell are you?" The leader asked, clearly annoyed that he was interrupted from whatever monologue he was making to Mystic.
Aura unsheathed his blade and twirled it in his hands before pointing it at the dragon. "I'm the guy who's going to shut you all down!"
The dragon breathed fire at Aura but he smirked and waved his hand, making the stream of fire bend around him and fly right back at the dragon catching him by suprise.
"What the...!" The dragon was hit with his own fire causing him to lose his grip on Mystic and send him up into the air.
Aura slid over to the colt and caught him before he could fall and hurt himself even more. The God felt a disturbance and sighed. "You just had to make this harder on yourself didn't you?"
The dragon charged at Aura with eyes filled with fury and his claws out ready to shread this intruder into ribbons, but the God stepped to the side and dodged the attack, sending the dragon crashing through the wall and right out of the base as he fell into the water.
Or he would of fallen if Aura didn't grab him by the tail and pulled him up. "As much as a piece of crap you are, you still have to pay for your crimes."
The dragon roared and readied to spit out more fire. "LIKE HELL I WILL YOU HAIRLESS A...!"
A sword hilt bashed against the dragon's skull causing him to drop unconscious. With that put of the way Aura kneeled down and checked to see if the young colt was safe.
"Are you alright little one?" Aura asked the colt in his arms. Mystic opened his eyes and saw Aura and was scared at first till he comforted him. "You have nothing to be afraid of now. I'm not going to hurt you. As long as I'm here, no one will harm you ever again."
Those words were just what Mystic needed to hear as he buried his muzzle into his chest and let out all the pain and sorrow at once. Aura stroking his mane and embracing him tightly.