//------------------------------// // Chapter 6 - The Hold Between Space and Reality: Chaos // Story: The Elohim's Lament // by MangaBro //------------------------------// Twilight stood up from her bed, the only object besides the book that wasn’t swallowed by the darkness of the imaginary domain. Hesitantly, she slowly walked over to the red stallion, his bright yellow eyes shining through the darkness. “How did you–” “Just learned it.” the old red stallion interrupted, holding his right front hoof out. “It’s still incomplete, but it’ll do.” Twilight stopped when she had reached within eight feet where the red stallion stood. “Ho-how’d you get in here?” she asked, her voice trembling, “The Crystal Heart is supposed to act as a barrier to disable any magic from intruders. How did they not sense you?” The red stallion chuckled, then paused for a moment. “The Crystal Heart is only fifty-thousand years old. It is made to disable the magic of creatures of that Era and beyond. This spell is ancient, over a million years old.” He answered, “Magic back in the Antediluvian Era was much stronger than any period in the world, even this spell is only a fraction of what it used to be.” This stallion… Twilight stared at the red stallion for a moment and couldn’t help but think of the legend she had read in a book just before going into that cave. The initial idea was that the vulture, the animal of death, had possessed more knowledge than any creature in the world. Not only knowledge of what happened centuries ago, but the knowledge of magic… all kinds of magic, even those that are forbidden. She also thought about how he corrected her earlier. Yes, Starswirl the Bearded was a great mage, probably the best in the history of Equestria, but she had never heard about him using ancient magic… nor did she even think it was even possible. History had only told her that he had created new spells to further enhance the civilization of Equestria. Why would he know how to use an imaginary domain? Unless, it was all a lie… “Tell me, just what are you?” She asked, her tone heavier. “As I told you, I am many things.” The red stallion answered as he did in the cave, “Though, If you choose to give me a name, I don’t mind.” The red stallion’s gaze then shot over to the book right behind Twilight who stood confused. Upon doing so, something just snapped within him. It was a feeling, a strange one. One that he hadn’t felt in over a million years. However, he couldn’t quite put his hoof on what it was called which irritated him. If anything, being alive for this long, with a great understanding of nearly every creature and magic, he’d thought he’d know by now, especially knowing the truth that was in the book . Maybe it’s the eye. He thought to himself. I’ve never liked that eye of yours, not ever. “Hey.” The red stallion snapped back into reality and his gaze was back on Twilight’s, blinking his eyes rapidly as if he was coming back into the real world. All he could do was smirk. Have I really lost myself? He thought, chuckling in his mind and holding back a laugh in reality. His blinking stopped, his glowing, yellow eyes making their presence known. Twilight, taken off guard by this, took a few steps back, her eyes gleaming with uncertainty. Without talking, he pointed over to the book behind Twilight, to which she whipped her head around to where his hoof pointed. “That book,” he muttered, “where’d you get it?” Twilight looked at him, then the book. “It was somehow on my bookshelf… it just fell, but I've never seen it before.” Twilight whipped her head back to the red stallion, “What about it?” She asked, sounding almost defensive unintentionally. “The eye,” the stallion answered, “The all seeing eye… did you see it?” “Yes…” Twilight answered, lowering her tone. “Do you know what it is? Can you tell me about it? Have you seen it?” She asked, her eyes glimmering with interest with each question. “Don't you already know what it is?” The red stallion asked. Twilight nodded faintly. “Yeah, sorta, Cadence told me about it.” she answered, remembering a conversation with Cadence two years ago. “She told me that it was a force that contradicted Elohim’s ability to create. An eye of Chaos.” she mouthed the word from Cadence, putting a hoof to her chin. “It was also the source of Discord’s Chaos magic before he got sealed.” Twilight then turned her attention back over to the Red Stallion. “Do you know why this is here?” she asked, pointing over to the book using the same hoof that she held to her chin, “It shouldn’t be. Anything related to the underworld is looked down upon. Artifacts like this are banished by the great church, so it doesn’t make sense why it is here.” “Just how much has changed?” The Red Stallion asked. “You cannot simply banish something that is cursed.” “Cursed?” Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, a curse,” The Red Stallion replied, a slight hint of confusion in his voice. “The evil fabric that exists between creation and chaos.” “What?” Twilight asked, “No, that’s corruption.” The Red Stallion let out a sigh. “Is that what it’s called nowadays?” He asked. “I’m pretty sure there is a huge difference between corruption and a curse.” “Okay, what’s going on? Why are you here? What’s with all the talk about curses, and why do you want to know about the eye?” “Well, you wanted to learn more about Alchemy, right?” Asked the Red Stallion. “This is the first step in that. To answer your question about the book, I made the book appear there this morning, before you came into the cave with the help of the teleportation spell. I was originally going to let you read it once you came back, but given the circumstances, I’d just thought we’d get this first lesson over with.” “Hang on,” Twilight commanded, “You said I was wrong earlier about the spell, that Starswirl used it even after it was said to be gone,” she mentioned, “Just how do you know?” “Why I’ve lived for so long, Twilight,” The Red Stallion spoke followed by a chuckle, “Did you really think everything you read or hear was real? Just look at me, for example. Ponies spoke of my appearance to be a vulture, an animal of death, but in reality, I’m just a stallion!” At this point, Twilight didn’t even know what to say. She could only question the knowledge she obtained from the book and just how accurate they truly were. At first, she wanted to rule it out as a possibility that a stallion like the one in front of her could exist, but the spell casted before told her otherwise. The knowledge I’ve gained. Is it even true? “Some of it is.” Twilight let out a short gasp, nearly jolting up into the air. Oh, right, this is an imaginary domain. He can hear everything I say without me saying it! “However, If you want the most reliable source, I’m just the deity you need.” The Red Stallion said, pointing a hoof to his face, arrogance full within his voice. Slowly, the Red Stallion walked past Twilight, and took the book within his magical grasp. He then opened it to the very first page, where the eye seemed to stare at him eerily. He could see a slight tear forming within the eye as he continued to stare at it longer and longer, even though he knew those tears weren’t really real. “This first lesson,” Twilight muttered as he stared at the book, “Just what is it?” Twilight turned her body over to where Tirek stood, “Is it difficult.” The Red Stallion tilted his head over to the right ever so slightly before bringing it back up again. “Only if you make it out to be,” he said. Twilight was going to say something due to his silence, but he eventually turned the book to her and asked, “Can you read the text on the bottom?” At first, Twilight was confused by his question, because she had already read half of the first page. However, as she looked at it now, the text was entirely different. It was no longer just words, there were symbols mixed with text she could not understand. She glanced over at the Red Stallion, a look of puzzlement crossing her face as she tilted her head quizzically. “What is this?” she asked, taking frequent turns glancing over at him and the book, trying her absolute best to not glance at that eye. “They’re hieroglyphs,” answered the Red Stallion. “They’re used by the Cats in the east.” Twilight froze. “But… it was just written in pony language when I read it.” she said, “Did you do something to this?” “Not really,” The Red Stallion answered with a smirk, “You see, the very purpose of an Imaginary domain in the Antediluvian Era was to reveal the truth of something, whether it’d be text or something on the creature’s mind. Deciphering, as you may call it. These were not written in Pony language, Cadence simply casted a spell to make it seem as if it was written in Pony language.” “Just how many years of knowledge do you contain?” Twilight asked intently, taking her attention completely off the book. “As I said before, I have been in that cave for tens of thousands of years. The years before that I was spending through… well, the world.” Twilight moved closer to the Red Stallion ever so slightly. 'You're not an Alicorn.’ She mentioned. “Is it because of Alchemy that you have been able to live so long?” The Red Stallion nodded, his smirk only growing wider, “You are correct,” he said, “speaking of Alchemy, let’s get to reading, shall we?” The Red Stallion then gestured over to the book using his right hoof which Twilight followed blindly onto the book. “Just look at the shapes… what do you see?’” The Red Stallion asked. Twilight pointed her hoof at the seven shapes below the eye, dragging it across as she spoke. “A pony… Goat… a Peacock… a Pig… let’s see, a toad, a Lion… and… a snail?” “Well done!” The Red Stallion said, giving her a small round of applause. “You actually managed to figure them out. I see you are well inversed in the existence of other animals!” Twilight stood confused, staring aimlessly at the shapes she had just listed, “I don’t understand,” she said, “What does this mean?” “These are the seven evil fabrics behind existence, the seven deadly sins.” Answered the Red Stallion. “No.. these are just animals.” Said Twilight. “Yes, but it is also the meaning behind those animals that define them as sins,” The Red Stallion said, moving closer between Twilight and the book and pointing his hoof at the first shape. “That right there is not a pony, but a Changeling. They are from the renaissance era where creatures from the Era before thought to be dead, became new creatures. Changelings used to be sea creatures called Kelpie, before one bred with the third Alicorn of love, creating a Changeling. Because creatures are not supposed to breed with beings other than their own, this created a disturbance within their nature, causing them to bind their divisive nature with the Alicorn’s love… which created the first sin: Lust.” “The first Alicorn of love? But, that can’t be…” Twilight argued back. “Cadence told me the third Alicorn of love sacrificed themselves to create the Crystal Heart.” “That’s a lie even she is unaware of,” The Red Stallion clapped back, “Also, why are you trusting your mother so much? I thought you resented her.” Twilight froze for a moment and looked down at the darkness below her. “Well, it’s not like she’s the worst pony in the world…It’s because of her existence that the Crystal Empire is safe. I don’t love her, but I know she has to live.” she answered, her voice shuddering. “I just… I don't like that I have to be the one to carry out her will. I’m not ready for it, nor am I fit for it.” “And I assume that’s another reason why u decided to come to me, is it?” The Red Stallion asked in a more sinister tone. “The Great Tales of the God of Death and Rebirth is to grant ancient knowledge. You thought that if you were able to learn how to revert yourself back to a Unicorn, your life would be easier… And then, you nor your mom would suffer anymore, right?” Twilight raised her head, a raging fire within her eyes and her teeth gritted. For some reason, even more than she imagined, she hated hearing the red stallion speak of the little affection she had for Cadence. “Teach me how to do that.” she demanded, her voice carrying a heavier weight. The Red Stallion’s smirk was as big as it has ever been. She’s just like him. He mentioned, seeing a mere reflection of Starswirl as he stared deep into her eyes. To Be Continued!