Chapter 1
The Age of the Bipeds
Twilight and company entered the council room to find Princess Celestia sitting on one of eight cushions set in a circle. Her pose spoke of relaxation, but there was a tension in her face that spoke of nervousness, sadness, and possibly even regret.
“Come in my little ponies, I have a quest I will be sending you on, but you have much you need to know before you begin.”
As they sat down, they saw the box containing the Elements of Harmony sitting in front of Celestia.
“Are we taking the Elements on this quest?” Twilight asked
Celestia looked down at the box and her face hardened in resolve then softened as she looked at the ponies she entrusted with the fate of her land.
“Yes, my faithful student, but the story I am about to tell you will also tell you of a danger that I should have told you about sooner.”
“Danger?” Rarity said with a shudder
“Yes, but we will get to that soon. First, we need to go to the founding of Equestria and the age of the Bipeds”
“The age of what?”
“Bipeds, Applejack. They were creatures that walked on two legs.”
“Like a bear?”
“Yes, Fluttershy, but unlike bears, not only did they only walk on two legs, but they couldn’t comfortably walk on four.”
“Why haven’t I heard of Bipeds in my studies of Equestrian history?” Twilight asked
Celestia took a deep breath
“It was a dark time that everypony who experienced it wants to forget. They had metal golems with wheels for legs and metal bird with wings that didn’t flap. The world was filled with metal, stone, and fire, but worst of all, the quadrupeds like us, the donkeys, and cows were their slaves, though we couldn’t talk, and it’s hard to tell whether we were aware at that time”
Fluttershy nervously bit her hooves, Rarity’s mouth dropped open, even Pinkie Pie sat quietly as they processed this revelation while Celestia continued.
“They would have continued ruling over us if it were not for their greed. They were a race preoccupied with gaining power and leisure. They constantly sought out new sources of power and new ways to avoid doing work. One of their magicians opened a gateway to another world in an attempt to gather even greater power, but the portal flooded their land with magics unlike anything they had and drastically changed the world. It is said that the sun and moon rose on their own and the whole land was like the Everfree forest where weather was unpredictable and uncontrollable, and few animals needed any care at all. In fact, the only animals they cared for were ones they could use. It was when this portal opened that the quadrupeds woke up. When we understood, we tried to speak with the bipeds, but they refused to listen and we had to fight for our freedom. Sadly, they were too strong and we were too new.”
“Oh Noes!!!! What didja do!!!1?”
“Really, Pinkie?”
“Yeah, really, Twi, that was horrifically horrible! What happened next” Pinkie looked to Celestia with an overly serious face
Despite the horrors she was remembering, Pinkie’s over-the-top concern brought a smile of remembrance to Celestia’s face.
“Well, we don’t know where he came from. Some think he was born from the mixing of magics, others say he came from the other world, and he refused to tell us anything that would let us figure it out. But whatever his origin, Harmony gave us the help we needed. He changed some of us into unicorns and pegasi so that we could fight better, and the five bravest and wisest he made into alicorns and gave the elements of harmony.”
A pure white Draconequis with talons, wings, and tail tipped with gold
stood with a regal crown upon his head and stood before five ponies.
Approaching a plum colored pony, he pronounced
“Starswirl, because you have the greatest understanding of truth,
I bestow upon you the element of Honesty.”
Twilight’s ears perked up
“Starswirl the Bearded was an element of harmony?”
“Yes, but she really hates that name. The beard was a parting gift from Discord”
Approaching the next pony, a pink one sporting
an electric blue mane, he placed another necklace around her neck
“Philhemina, you above all ponies understand the
value of humor, and I bestow upon you the element of Laughter.”
“Hey! My greatgreatgrandmare was named Philhemina!”
Celestia shook her head with a smile
“Yes, she was, and you are her spitting image, right down to the element you share.”
Pinkie sat down stunned at this revelation and proud of her grandmare
Next, Harmony approached a dark blue mare
“Luna, you more than anypony understand the needs of your fellows,
so I appoint you as the element of Kindness.”
After placing her necklace on her neck, He approached a
pure white mare with a multicolored pastel mane.
“Celestia, you above all value the wellbeing of your comrades,
therefore, you shall be the element of Loyalty”
Lastly, He approached a silver maned pony.
You, my dear pony, understand how powerful a gift can be,
so yours shall be the element of Generosity, my beautiful Chrysalis.”
“CHRYSALIS!” all six ponies gasped as all their jaws hit the floor.
“yes, she used to be the most beautiful of us all.” Celestia said wistfully
The five ponies stood before Harmony with their necklaces
as he intoned
“As the most noble and brave of all creatures in this land, I appoint
you as my generals in defense of this newly formed world.
As he spoke, their forms blurred and reformed taller with majestic
pointed horns and large graceful wings. All but Chrysalis had
feathered wings the same color as their coats, but hers were
gossamer wings reflecting all the colors of a rainbow.
Celestia suddenly grew sad
“With our newfound power, we transformed, banished, or killed every last Biped”
Celestia and Luna stood before a group of twenty bipeds holding a barrier
around their group as Starswirl and Harmony brought a shower of boulders
down on them. Philhemina and Chrysalis were picking up a group of pegasi
with wounds from the bits of metal shot out of the magic tubes they used as
weapons. Suddenly a metal bird swooped down, spraying them with its own
magic tubes. The shield cracked under the onslaught and everypony dove
for cover. They saw it circle for another pass and gathered to activate the
Elements.
“Don’t wait for it to face us, hit it now” Harmony shouted
Their necklaces glowed and Harmony’s eyes lit up. A rainbow shot from
them and hit the metal bird, causing it to turn into cloud. The biped that was
in it went hurtling through the air and hit the ground with a sickening thud
“you killed all the bipeds?” Fluttershy whimpered
“No, not all, we only killed those who attacked us, for they were the ones killing our comrades, but the ones who wanted to live with us were transformed to be the same as us, and those who rejected that were allowed to pass through the rift into a different world.”
Rarity put a hoof up to her mouth, going green in the face
“I don’t know how much more of this killin’ and banishin’ I can take” Applejack said with a shudder
Even Rainbow dash was looking uncomfortable.
“That is why so few know about it. As I said, it was such a horrible time that even I wish to forget and only talk to you now because you need to know.”
Celestia closed her eyes and shook her head, trying to clear the visions from her head