//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: The War/ Fate's Beginning // Story: The Elements of Fate // by jrain91 //------------------------------// Some ponies believe that everything happens for a reason. They say such things as fate and destiny control our every move. Others would say that those ponies are completely wrong; that where we end up is in direct correlation with our own actions. In this tale, like in all others, both cases can and will be made. Despite that fact, however, the truth is only what you think it is. Welcome to a story of fate. Or is it a story of decisive action? That my friend, is for you to decide! This tale begins in the early years of Equestria, far before Ponyville even existed. Two main forces bid for control of the land: the alicorns and their pony kin and the draconicai, the chaos-loving creatures formed of many different animal parts. So far they have lived in a very troubled state of peace and harmony, but that soon shall end; just like any other good or bad thing that comes to pass. The draconicai have long-wanted things to be more chaotic and less structured. This being the exact opposite of the alicorn leaders of the ponies, who in turn believe that structure is the only way to survive. Thus, the grounds for the greatest conflict in Equestrian history have been set. And tensions were quickly boiling over. So one day the two sides held a hopeful truce meeting in the neutral land of Mount Zephyr to settle their differences. This land was characterized by its strong winds, but on that day it started out oddly serene with a gentle breeze and brilliant rays golden sunshine coming through slits in the clouds; creating what looked to be large golden harp strings being played by the breeze. The leaders of the alicorns, King Dusk and his wife Queen Dawn were the first to enter the meeting room. Dusk was a very muscular stallion sporting a blue-violet coat and a dark marigold mane and tail. While his wife, Dawn was an elegant mare with a shining silver coat along with an alluring pink mane and tail resembling that of metallic flamingo. Each one had the responsibility of keeping the kingdom safe during their respective times with cutie marks of a sun rising and a sun lowering. They were the only two ponies in history to share one cutie mark, they were truly soul-mates meant for each other. Then after a brief 5 minute wait, Pandemonium and Demona, the leaders of the draconicai entered, each made of various animal parts as all draconicai were. And thus the meeting to decide Equestria's future began. Would a truce come to pass? Or would things go horribly awry? The meeting started out relatively calm with both sides explaining their respective concerns. Dusk and Dawn explaining that the chaotic ways of the draconicai disrupts the order that the ponies need to survive. While Demona and Pandemonium explained that this had been their way of life since their race began and that they weren't about to change that. The sky started to cloud up and winds began blow with force as both sides got fed up with the stubbornness of the other. Until finally, King Dusk shouted. “ENOUGH OF THIS BACK AND FORTH RAMBLING. THIS IS GETTING NOWHERE; DAWN LET'S GO, WE HAVE A BATTLE TO PREPARE FOR!” At the very same time a huge bolt of lightning struck the top of the meeting cathedral, causing the roof to crack open and the gale-like winds blow into the tension-filled room. Pandemonium and Demona had also had enough, using their magic to warp out in a cloud of blood red smoke back to their homeland of Chimeria. Saying in unison as they vanished “We too shall be ready to rid this land of you boring ponies.” And so the pony/draconicai war had finally begun after centuries of uneasy peace. Back in the pony/alicorn capital Ponysopalis the alicorn leaders and willing pony soldiers prepare by learn new spells, more complicated flying formations and producing a surplus of food for the battle. While the draconicai studying their own chaos magics to use them in different, more unexpected ways. There were small battles here and there over the next two decades until the final, decisive battle finally arrived at the base of Mount Zephyr; where peace was once their objective; only disdain remained. Both sides, rulers and followers alike knew that this had to end there and then. The time was nigh, both pony and draconicai glared intensely at their adversaries; remembering all that both sides have lost since the war began. Resources, peace of mind and worst of all, lives, all lost to the stubbornness of these two polar opposites. Every being there knew that this was it, both armies came with the rest of their forces to this fight. On top of that, the four rulers: Dusk, Dawn, Pandemonium and Demona were all present for this sure-to-be epic confrontation. The fight started in a flash as the draconicai used their magic to hurl hundreds of stones and blades that seemingly came out of nowhere. The unicorns and alicorns used a gigantic bright lavender force field to block while the pegasi attempted to maneuver through the storm of deadly projectiles. Some made it through to strike down at least ten to twenty of the draconicai while the others were either impaled by blades or crushed by the boulders. In all of the chaos of the initial attack the earth ponies took the opportunity to flank around the left and right of the draconican army, taking out more of the opposing army. It was all going smoothly until Pandemonium unleashed a spell that turned the earth pony’s minds against their own kind. Unable to comprehend this weird and crazy magic the unicorns and alicorns could only watch as the earth ponies and pegasi tore each other apart. After all of the pegasi and earth ponies had demolished each other Dusk and Dawn decided to end it in one fell swoop. All of the unicorns and alicorns combined their magic to form a massive magic orb, the size of half the mountain, designed to obliterate all it hits. Seeing the dire situation that they were facing both Demona and Pandemonium decided to use the draconicai's last resort spell: The Doppelganger Attack! All the draconicais banded together just as the ali/unicorns had done moments before and used the Doppelganger Attack spell to replicate the Obliteration Orb. Shocked at the prospect of their own attack being used against them, the admiral of the pony army: Shock Wave, an alicorn with a vibrant lemon-yellow coat and onyx mane and tail warned Dusk and Dawn that this spell had never been tested against other magic, just earthly objects. He pleaded that if the two orbs collided it could create a shock-wave huge enough to wipe out both armies in their entirety! Seeing that her leaders weren't listening his wife: Storm Caster, approached him and said with a heaviness in her voice. “A-At least if we die here our son in Califoalia is safe from all this.” He started to cry and said “You're right, but I wanted to see him grow up. See how he'd develop and what his talent was.” Then to their surprise Dusk and Dawn were sobbing when both said simultaneously “We also have two daughters that we wanted to see grow up, but you know as well as we do that this is the only way.” So with the thought of their daughters and son in mind they ordered the attack to be made. Little did they know that Pandemonium and Demona also had a little one that was away from the battlefield, named Discord! Both orbs flew at each other with relatively fast speed, although to those six it felt like an eternity. As the orbs collided, a huge outburst of energy expelled from the clash, annihilating everyone and everything in its fifty mile diameter. At the very last moments of their life, the six prayed to their young ones. Pandemonium and Demona said with an evil tone “Make sure to wreak havoc on those who have wronged us and live a fulfilling, chaos-filled life.” Dusk and Dawn said with pride, “Celestia my dear, please take care your sister you're all she has now, only each other. We love you both, our beloved Celestia and Luna.” And lastly, Shock Wave and Storm Caster both said lovingly while crying and holding each other, “Our son, Ice Breeze, please know that we love you and will watch over you always. Goodbye.” After the blast nothing was left, only the loving memories of six loving parents and dead family members. The next morning, back in the Ponysopalis castle two young fillies: one with a white coat and flowing pink mane that resembled reflected sunlight and one with dark blue fur and light blue mane had woken up to a beautiful sunlit day. “Luna, wake up!” The white mare exclaimed. “Ugh, Tia what do you want? I'm trying to sleep.”Luna complained. “Luna, I don't see mom or dad or any of the guards for that matter!” Celestia said nervously. Luna got up quickly and both sisters looked around and searched the castle with haste, but to no avail. Luna started to cry out “TIA, WHERE'S MOMMY AND DADDY?” with tears streaming down her face. Celestia calmly said, “Don't worry, I'm sure they're in town and the guards are there too as royal escorts. I'll go check it out, you stay here and eat something.” “O-OK.” Luna said wiping the tears from her face. She smiled and said, “Tia, when you bring them back can you ask them to get my favorite salad in town? ” “Sure” Celestia said, “Although I don't know why you like having eggplants on your salad, eww.” she giggled. Luna laughed and said, “They match my fur!” Celestia laughed and told her sister she'd be back soon with their parents and left for the town. When she got there, Celestia noticed that there was a big gathering of ponies in the central market courtyard. She decided to see what all the fuss from the crowd was about and as she walked forward she saw a huge stone with her parents' name on the top and all of the royal army's names under them. As she came into the center of the crowd everypony stared at her and started to whisper quietly. She asked, “Um, why are mom and dad's name along with the royal army written here. On top of that, where are they? I want to see them”. All of the town ponies started to look down and kick at the ground slowly. Celestia asked nervously, “What's wrong with everypony? Where's mom and dad? What's this stone all about?” The worry on her face was evident now. One of the ponies walked over to her crying and said' “Well my princess, this is a... an um”. “Well spit it out!” she yelled. “It's an um memorial stone my dear princess. Your parents as well as the royal guard were all killed in battle yesterday, I'm sorry.” he said still weeping. The young princess fell to her knees and started to tear up. “W-what did you just say? I DON'T BELIEVE YOU, THEY WOULD NEVER LEAVE LUNA AND I ALONE!” she said now fully crying. All of town ponies came in one by one and hugged her, each giving her their condolences. After about an hour of staring at the memorial stone she realized, “How am I going to tell Luna? I'm not even sure I can, I doubt she'll be able to take it.” Then she remembered the salad that Luna had wanted for dinner, so she went to the Salad Salon: the resident salad shop. She walked in and asked the cashier: Veggie Garden “Um could I get two eggplant salads please?” Garden smiled and said, “Sure hun, Luna loves her eggplant doesn't she?” Celestia smiled half ways and said, “She sure does, it matches her fur. She said that's why she liked them.” Garden laughed and went on making the salads. “Here you go Princess. By the way, why'd you get two? I thought you didn't like eggplant.” Celestia smiled and replied, “Well I'm all she has now, so I guess I'll give it a shot for her.” Garden said “That's mighty nice of you; that will be 6 bits dear.” Celestia suddenly remembered that her purse was at the castle. “Um I'm sorry, I forgot my money at the castle. I'll go back and get” “Now don't you worry” Garden interrupted. “ These are on the house, just make sure to keep Luna positive.” “Thank you so much, and I'll try my best, but it will be difficult to do so.” Celestia replied with a worrisome look on her face. They each said goodbye and Celestia made her way back to the castle, trying to think of how to tell of this tragedy to her little sister. When she finally arrived back at the castle, she found Luna sleeping soundly by the front door. “She must have been waiting a while for me to come back with mom and dad.” Celestia thought to herself. So she took the salads into dining room, sighed heavily and steeled herself for what she was about to reveal to young Luna. She walks back to her younger sister and nudges Luna with her muzzle. “Time to get up, I'm back from town.” she calmly said, trying not to start crying right there. “Umm Tia, is that you? You were gone for so long, I got worried.” Luna said still yawning. “Yes it's me, would you like to come eat your salad now? They're in the dining room.” Celestia replied. Luna slowly got up and yawned again; then followed her elder sister into the dining room. Celestia opened the basket up using levitation magic to give Luna her food. Luna stared at it for a while before saying, “Thank you Tia, but I think I'll wait until mom and dad get back, OK?” Celestia's eyes teared up and Luna looked up at her with a confused glance. What's wrong Tia? When are mommy and daddy coming back?” Luna asked cautiously. Celestia didn't answer as tears started to cascade down her face. “WHY WON'T YOU ANSWER ME TIA?” Luna exclaimed. Celestia looked up and quietly said under her breath, “They're not coming back.” “TIA, I CAN'T HEAR YOU WHAT DID YOU SAY?” Luna replied worriedly. Celestia couldn't hold it back any longer and yelled despairingly, “THEY'RE NOT COMING BACK LUNA, THEY'RE DEAD OK?” Luna gasped and quickly placed both front hooves over her mouth as the waterworks began to flow. “YOU LIAR!! THEY WOULDN'T DIE YET, THEY PROMISED THAT IT WAS JUST A LEADER'S MEETING AND THEY'D BE BACK TODAY TO TEACH ME SOME MAGIC!!” Luna shouted. Celestia yelled back, “I'M SORRY, BUT IT'S TRUE LU” “NO IT'S NOT!!” Luna bellowed as she flew swiftly up to her bedroom, slamming and locking the door behind her. Celestia knew that she had handled that situation extremely poorly. She sighed again and flew up to her sister's room with both salads in tow. She got to the door and could hear the small filly whimpering on her bed “WHY? WHY DID YOU TWO HAVE TO LEAVE ME? WHY?” Celestia begin to cry even more hearing her sister's despair, but picked herself up and said “Luna, can you please let me in? I'm sorry for yelling at you earlier. I was just upset, I'm sorry.” There was a long sad silence, then she heard the door unlock. It slowly opened with the blue filly cowering behind the door. “I-I'm sorry too, I exploded at you and called a liar. I didn't mean it. I just.” “Shh, it is okay, I understand. This is very difficult news to take. I was like that the first time I heard it as well. Here's your salad if you still want it.” Celestia cut in. Luna grabbed the bowl of lettuce, tomato, carrots and eggplants and looked at Celestia's bowl in confusion. “Why does yours have eggplants as well, sister?” she inquired. Celestia smiled gently and replied “Because they remind me of your coat. And anything that reminds me of you can't be all bad.” A grin returned to Luna's face as she started to eat. “Thanks Tia, at least you're still here with me. Promise me you'll never leave me.” Celestia started to waver from her strong state of mind, but held fast and said, “I promise Luna, I'll never leave you alone.” Both sisters ate their food and went to sleep. Then the next day they went to town to the memorial statue. All the ponies in town stared silently at the grieving sisters. Celestia looked at her sister and said, “Let's leave here and find somewhere else to call home. Living in the castle is just too hard now.” Luna, thought about for a couple minutes and said “I agree Tia, let's head east. I've always wanted to see the rest of this land.” So they said goodbye to the ponies, the castle and their parent's memorial stone and headed off to a new life. As they left Veggie Garden thought to herself “There goes the only alicorns left alive, I hope they'll be okay.” Little did her or anypony else know, that there was one more! Meanwhile in Califoalia, a young male alicorn foal woke up to an unpleasant sound. “Ice Breeze wake up, make me some breakfast.” an old sounding voice yelled out. The young alicorn rose from his makeshift bed made from cardboard and thin mats. He was one of the most colorful ponies you'll ever see. A bright seafoam coat was second in radiance only to his beautiful mane and tail. Both were comprised of a translucent ice blue combined with a glowing fiery red. And his hooves were as brown as the earth he stood upon, but he didn't have his cutie mark yet. And many ponies made fun of him for it. “OK Uncle Smith I'm up.” he replied in a meek voice. His uncle with his black coat and dingy gray mane ran the local blacksmith shop for the local militia. While his aunt had left on a train two years before and hadn't come back. “Hurry up will you? I'm starving over here, worthless brat.” muttered Smith while reading the newspaper. Ice Breeze walked into the small living room with a plate of food in-hand, only to see his uncle's mouth gaping open and the newspaper on the ground. “What's wrong uncle? You looked surprised about something.” Ice Breeze asked. “It's nothing, just give me my food, brat.” Smith said sneering at the poorly cooked hay toasts. Going along like he always does Ice gave his uncle his food and went to pick up the newspaper when all of a sudden his uncle slaps his hoof away from it. “Don't you go worrying about that paper, we need more celery and broccoli for lunch. Go to the market square NOW!” Being as obedient as always Ice nodded his head and went into Los Hoofeles' market. Arriving in town, he thought to himself, “When are my parents coming to get me? They left me with my uncle a year ago and said they'd be back after the war was over. I hope it's soon, uncle is always hitting me and reprimanding me for being an alicorn. I can't help that I have two alicorn parents and he's an earth pony.” Seeing the young alicorn, a young pegasus stallion named Rain Dancer walks over to Ice Breeze and says “Hey, I know we never got along all that well, but I'm sorry about what happened to your parents.” Ice Breeze looked rattled by the words of the navy blue stallion. As Rain Dancer flew off Ice thought “Sorry about my parents? What was that all about?” He arrived at at produce store only to see a newspaper hanging in the front of the store. And then he saw the front page. “W-what's this?” he inquired to the lime green mare behind the counter. “You didn't know? Everypony and draconicai at the battle of Mt. Zephyr were obliterated without a trace. Most believe that it was huge magic spell meltdown. I'm sorry for your loss.” “T-thanks for your condolences, do you happen to have any celery or broccoli? Uncle's running low again.” he said almost breaking out in tears and rage. “Sure darling, here ya' go and don't worry about payment.” she said smiling. Ice thanked her again leaving the shop with tears welling up on his angry face. And off he went back to his uncle's cabin. The front door bursts open, thud! “What in tarnation?” his uncle yelled. “WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THAT MY PARENTS HAD BEEN KILLED? YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE FAMILY, DON'T YOU EVEN CARE?” Ice screamed with great rage. “Oh boo-hoo, so a bunch more magic freaks are dead, who cares. The world's better off if you ask me.” Smith replied with disdain. “WELL IF YOU THINK THAT WAY, MAYBE I SHOULD JUST LEAVE. NOBODY LIKES ME AROUND HERE ANYWAY. I'LL JUST BE ONE LESS MAGIC FREAK YOU'LL HAVE TO DEAL WITH!” Ice exclaimed. Smith turned and said with a surprising happiness in his voice, “You have no idea how long I've waited to hear you say that. Just go, I really don't care, I never did.” Disgusted, Ice decided then and there to leave and not look back. He stormed out of the house and thought to himself, “East seems like a good idea, I heard that Neighbraska is a very nice city-state. I think I'll pay it a visit, maybe I'll find my destiny there. And so the prince's journey began.