//------------------------------// // Prologue: The death of Noah // Story: The Chronicles of No One // by Pr1me Sh0ck //------------------------------// Prologue ”Is death truly the end, or is it a chance to become something greater?” Unification +60 Years “And will this spell work?” asked Red Vine, his voice echoing around the cavern in which they held their meetings, “Will it find the being we need and bring them to us?” “Yes,” replied Shimmering Dusk, “After a decade of work the spell is finally ready although we cannot be sure of its results.” “And why not,” demanded Fleeting Winds. “Because it has not and will never be tested beyond this day. For the safety of all Equestria this spell is not written down, as a part of the requirement all knowledge of the spell will be eradicated upon its casting, it cannot be replicated.” “Is this by design?” asked Garnet Wonders. “Yes, I designed this spell specifically to be used only once before all knowledge of it purged and lost to time. There are, however, a few drawbacks to its use… The first is that a large portion of land will be thoroughly decimated in the process, the magic expended on initial casting will cause monumental damage.” “Easily avoided,” said Winds, “There is a desert far south and east of our fair lands that barely hold water let alone life. The land might even benefit from such an expense of magical energies.” “You would so happily let entire swathes of land become decimated?” asked Red angrily. “I would if it kept our Equestria safe,” retorted Winds in a similar tone. “And you two have no problem allowing this to happen?” demanded Red. “If it kept our country safe,” began Garnet, “well into the future then it is an acceptable price to pay, I am not happy with it but it must be done.” “The land will recover, it will just take a little longer that’s all,” consoled Dusk, placing a hoof across Red’s shoulders. After a few minutes of quiet contemplation Red finally spoke up, “I am not happy with this but I see no other choice in the matter, I just hope no unforseen harm comes from our actions.” “I acknowledge your reluctance but this is not the only problem with the spell,” said Dusk, “aside from the damage to the land the spell itself maintains intelligence enough to choose correctly when to actually activate, it may happen right away or it may happen towards the end of the timeframe of the vision, a thousand or so years in the future maybe, I can’t be sure.” “Any other surprises for us after this dramatic bombshell?” asked Wings. “Yes. One more and it’s bad. The spell needs a lot of power to work, more than any unicorn could ever hope to muster. This spell requires the combined magic’s of unified tribes,” said Dusk solemnly, she let that last point sink in before continuing. “This spell is so complex it needs the magic of an earth pony to provide a solid connection to the ground and the magic buried beneath. It needs the magic of a pegasus to provide oversight throughout the entirety of the spell. It requires the concentration of a unicorn as a focal point to direct the spell and finally it needs the love of a crystal pony so that the choice made is the right one.” “And you propose that we provide the magic required for this spell to work?” asked Red. Dusk took a deep sigh before replying, “You always were a bright one, Red. Yes I propose that we four provide the power for this spell, our energies will help shape it and we may be able to guide it to the being we need. I trust nopony else to get this job done.” “I’m in,” spoke Garnet in the softest voice, “My love for all ponies should be enough for this spell to work.” “As am I,” declared Winds, “Let it be said that Fleeting Winds never backed down from impossible odds. Besides I always wanted to go down in history for something grandiose.” “We might simply be forgotten not recorded, labelled as missing and nothing more,” commented Red, “But none the less count me in, you will not find an earth pony more stable than me.” “Then let us make plans for the oncoming storm,” said Dusk, “Fleeting Winds, in two weeks and three days you need to arrange for transport for all four of us to this desert, from there we shall make a camp and prepare ourselves for the spell. It will take a lot of time to cast, two full days if I’m not mistaken, as such we shall need nourishment for this trek, Red, if you would be so kind as to organise provisions. Leave the rest to Garnet and myself.” “Then if there is no more to be discussed,” said Garnet, “I call this the twelfth unified council to close. May Equestria remain united for a long time after our actions have passed.” “And the gods know this pray will be needed,” replied Winds, and with that came the end to the twelfth and final unified council. Earth Current Era The wind ripped back the hood on the Noah’s jacket as he exited the lecture hall. He hoisted a backpack over his shoulder and began to run across the campus to his next exam. Glancing up at the sky he took note of the ominous clouds rolling in turmoil above him. Thunder roars overhead as a crack of lightning strikes, a rolling boom assaulting his eardrums no more than a second after the light faded. As he paused to take a breath a nagging voice in the back of his mind criticised him for not being more active, for focussing too much on his studies and too little on his body. It’s not my fault, Noah reasoned to himself, the university life has made me soft. The truth lingered in his thoughts, years of study has left him with a weak body, but a mind alive with the buzz of number and the machinations of situations and fantasies. A less hectic exam schedule in this final semester would have been welcomed by him. It would have been fair. But unfortunately the world had a different definition of fair, demanding his entire intelligence for the rare promise of success. In his first year dashing from one class to another wouldn’t have been a problem. However four years of a sedentary lifestyle and the location of the classes at opposite ends of the campus were providing him a challenge. He could not help but wonder why life had played such a cruel joke at his expense, to have two of the most important exams just minutes apart, but located at what could have been the opposite ends of the earth. Resting for a minute he gave himself the chance to take a deep breath, to rest his burning muscles and try to slow his racing heart. “The first thing I’m going to do when I graduate,” he mutters, “is join a gym.” He takes a moment to glance around at his place of respite. A lamp post, he thinks, of all the places I could have stopped in a lightning storm I choose a lamp post. The situation is not lost on him as he begins to question his intelligence, thinking that his degree is further out of reach than he thought if he chose to take shelter under a lamp post. He goes to move on, to press further towards his next class, as he notices a peculiar sensation surrounding him that makes him stop. The air around him was becoming charged, tingling sensations ran down his spine, spreading out from his core to his extremities, and the hair on his arms began to stand on end. He noticed dust particle appearing frozen in mid-air, no longer subjected to the wind that had been whipping up before. Where is the wind? He thought as he noticed not even a slight breeze ruffle his jacket. There’s more, he thought suddenly. Looking up at the lamp posts he notices them start to glow brighter than before, as if the globes are being charged with more energy. He flinches as suddenly the lamp five posts in front of him explodes with glass showering down onto the path. A second later and the fourth lamp explodes in a brilliant firework, then the third. The nagging voice is back in his head no longer berating his choice of lifestyle but instead at his inability to react. It is screaming at him to run, run very far away and not look back, but he can’t. He seems frozen to the spot, mouth agape at the lamp post, in wonder, maybe in astonishment? The lamp two posts away detonates, he recognises the emotion, fear. The bulb in the lamp post right in front of him explodes. He shuts his eyes against the flash of light and throws his arms up in front of his face for protection. Slivers of glass from the bulb bite into his forearms, rivulets of blood form and trickling down dripping from his elbows onto the ground. The pain snaps his mind back to reality. Recognising the peril he faces he turns to run, a moment too late as the bulb above him explodes showering him with sparks and glass. The sting of a thousand piece of shattered glass burying itself in his back and neck causes him to curl into his knees, crying out in pain. The voice from before is back, but different, brash and demanding it asks him why he hasn’t run. Noah thinks his answer, Because it is braver to face the unknown head on. The questioning voice changes its tone again, in a softer voice it asks what he would give for love and admiration. He answers in his head, I would give just about everything I could. The voice changes for a third time in a grounded voice asking for his thoughts on stability, Noah’s answer, A strong footing is required for the best step forward. The voice changes for a final time asking that if he could, would he do it all again, learn a subject like he had done so before and become a master in his own right. He think for a split second before a simple affirmation is given, he would do it all again. No longer questioning his actions but instead telling him to stand and face what is coming. He complies and rises unsteadily to his feet, he can feel a change in the air again and as he looks around he takes in the wonder surrounding him. He can see everything as thought time slowed to a crawl. All around the dust particles that hang in the air begin to glow, a luminescent tower begins to build from the ground to the heavens. The path just hangs there softly illuminating the space around itself. Sparks begin dancing from one speck to another. All around him the particles are doing the same things, each one creating a path to the clouds. Once again he casts his gaze skyward and sees, as if in slow motion, a wave of light coming down to claim him. The light starts to envelop him cascading down over his head to his toes and in an instant a tug is felt from his feet. The energy front that will pulse skyward from the arc of lightning begins its ascent towards the stars, claiming the stranger’s life in the process. He sees the atoms of his existence start to break apart as the energy moves up through his body, their bonds holding them together simply vanishing, and they are pulled to the clouds by the pulse. As the wave front reaches his chest the small voice can be heard again, soft, asking that if the chance was given to do it all again would he make any changes. He smiles inwardly thinking that if the chance was given he would do it all again, the joy of learning was too great a feeling to simply let go, but, he thought, simpler would be nice. As the surge reached the top of his head the small voice starts again, soothing him, it sounds content with his answer. The final words in his mind are an acknowledgement of his answer being the absolute truth and as suddenly and as instantly as the lightning struck, he was no more.