//------------------------------// // Faust Almighty, Bandaid! // Story: The Affection of Princess Nightmare Moon // by Aegis Shield //------------------------------// The Affection of Princess Nightmare Moon Part 9: Faust Almighty, Bandaid! When Almighty Faust arrived on the planet, there was a warm breeze—nothing survived. With her five young and innocent children in tow, she molded the world. Discord, with his strong arms and wild imagination, crafted the mountains and all the oceans. Their secrets would provide an eternity of exploration. Cadance, with her boundless love, found the energy to help the mortal races love and prosper among each other as one. Celestia, with her wisdom and leadership, brought unto them sentience, government and law. Nightmare Moon, with her powerful desire to outdo Celestia, gave the mortal races all of their own needs, desires and unexplainable habits-- rage, physical passion and unsolvable mathematics. Chrysalis stood away from them as they worked to build a new home together, nurturing the needy and hungry-- when they were done they called it ‘Equis’. The second time Almighty Faust arrived on the planet, she stifled the breeze. Why, the whole thing was teeming with life! She smiled as she borrowed a form that would be deemed ‘local’ to the native population. Boundless, unlimited power folded and folded and folded again, into infinity, until it took a physical shape. She stood upon the barren earth and it blushed with moss and flowers to cushion her divine hooves. Giving her long mane a toss, she surveyed herself in a nearby fountain. A white alicorn with fiery red hair and beautiful blue eyes. Leaning a little, she flicked herself with adornments. A crown of golden laurels and a dainty little necklace appeared upon her. Her hooves shone as little hoof-gauntlets materialized from nothing. Satisfied with the simplicity of the shape she’d chosen, she smiled at her image. “That was totally wicked!” A colt said from behind her, startling the goddess. She gave a start, turning about. She’d forgotten what it was like to see in only one direction at any given time. “You’re amazing! Are you a princess from another country!? What’s your name? Don’t you have any guards? Princesses shouldn’t wander around at night alone, y’know!” he was a scrappy little thing with a bandanna around his neck. The royal signet of a messenger was painted delicately on his shoulder, and the cutie mark on his rump had a winged horseshoe. He scampered around Faust’s pillar-like legs, admiring her ivory fur and serene glow. She watched him go with an ever-growing smile, her eyes shining at his energy. “I know! I can guard you and take you to the palace! What’dya say?!” his eyes were big and shiny and full of young energy. Faust grinned, blessing him on the spot and nodding. With that, the colt wheeled around and started forward with authority. She followed him, leaving a spot in the courtyard where she’d touched down covered with massive flowers and mosses. They’d split the street open to receive her divine form. Had the colt been the only one to see her land? How lucky indeed! The few ponies that were out and about at night stopped to stare. A white alicorn with hair as red as the autumn leaves was strolling down the street, led by a foal. Some pointed, others gasped, and all gave her a wide berth. Stallions looked upon her beauty and sank to their haunches in reverence and desire. Mares stared, their eyes glazing over a bit as they took in every inch of her. Who was she? Where did she come from? The colt led Faust through several streets, beyond several courtyards, and beyond a private vineyard. The stallion working it exploded into confused cursing when all his grapes suddenly swelled up like pregnant watermelons. A pet shop they happened by instantly went silent, for all the animals were craning to see her as she passed the window. She lifted her wings to stretch them, and the trees around them rustled happily to enjoy the warm gust. She clip-clopped along, pausing only to admire a bakery for a time. Cooking was something she’d always really enjoyed the thought of. Taking a bunch of somethings and making something else entirely was like divine magic in its own way—and making others happy with this craft was something to be commended. She stopped and gestured at the bakery, but her little charge was very insistent. “No no, it’s further down the street, silly!” he chided, turning around and putting his forehead against her butt. “This way, this way!” he chirruped, laughing as she stumbled forward. “I’m just a royal messenger, but I can’t let a princess get mugged or something on my watch. Canterlot can get dangerous at night, you know,” he confided behind a hoof. Faust made a little shocked face, putting a hoof over her mouth. “Yeah, that’s right,” he said in confirmation. “We’re almost there, c’mon.” he coaxed. Faust followed him, sighing a little. Perhaps a cake or something later. She’d grown very fond of strawberries after Discord had invented them. Mmm, strawberries… shaking her head a little and ignoring the mortal stomach, she cocked her head as they approached what could only be the palace of Canterlot. The seat of power, the city itself, was grand, but the palace was breathtaking by any standard. Faust glanced up and down it. Her vision pierced earth, water, stone, flesh, and all the metals within. One, two, three, four of her children were here. Heh! Give the poor things a whole planet to enjoy and they all stick together like so many flecks of pollen! She stifled a little laugh, but then quickly looked up at a mean voice. “What’s your business, messenger? I don’t see your white flag up,” a stern, grey-coated guard said to the colt. “I’m escorting her majesty--” he gestured behind himself, for Faust had stopped a good twenty stretches behind him. “Uhm… uhm… I’m not sure what country she’s from, but she’s definitely a Princess! I mean, lookit her!” he waved both hooves at the horn and wings on the goddess’ body. Both guards standing at the archway stared at her. As with any armored pony, they knew the visages of all five of the children of Faust. She fit none of their descriptions. Yet there she stood, an alicorn! They gaped at her, having no idea what to do. Faust finally looked up from a flower that had shot up between the cobblestones to see her. She saw them staring and made a startled little flinch, then smiled bashfully. All that knew her knew Faust was a rather shy goddess. She didn’t like to be stared at like that. Flaring her wings open, she offered a more confident smile. “Uhh, uh-yeah, let her by,” said one guard. The other mutely agreed. The messenger colt went back to fetch her, then let the red-headed alicorn into the palace. “I work here too, like I said!” The colt told Faust. “I can run super-fast, so I was made a royal messenger to carry mail back and forth between nobles and such. Since you’re visiting from a foreign nation, I guess I can take you to the royal apartments, if you like? I can squire for anypony that needs a light-hoof’d servant!” he offered himself, bowing deeply and hitting his chin on the marble floor of the palace steps. Faust smiled gaily, then patted his head. Snapping a little stick from a little tree nearby, she knighted him with all seriousness. He jumped up and saluted, quick as a flash. She smiled only wider. She loved children, always so eager and happy to please. “So uhm… in we go I suppose!” he turned about, rushing up the stairs to press on the double doors. Faust walked gracefully up the white stone stairs, tilting her head back and admiring the architecture. For one that crafted galaxies and kissed the swirling cosmos to life, it was always fascinating to see the works of others. Especially others that had to very seriously work and labor for their creations. (Faust loved art and music, because of this) This castle was certainly amazing, she thought. She arrived at the top of the stairs to find her little servant heaving at the huge double doors. They just wouldn’t open and his tiny little body couldn’t budge them. Faust glanced through them to the other side, and found the bar. They must have closed it for the night to visitors. Lifting the bar and setting it aside with magic, she let her little knight push the way open with one door, then quickly rush back and heave the other one out of the way as well. “Here we go!” he panted, wiping sweat and puffing a little. Faust smiled, nodding a few times. She stepped into the white and gold hallowed halls. The palace was many stretches wide, and even more stretches tall. It was made to invoke the feeling of being small and insignificant, part of something greater. She looked upward, admiring all the stained glass windows and pictures that needed light to be seen. Such craftsmanship! She really needed to visit more often and see what creations others were coming up with. “Your Majesty!” the colt called from way up ahead. Faust caught herself standing still, then quickly shook her head. Walking forward at a quicker clip, she made a gesture or two at the fantastic artwork. “Oh yeah!” he said enthusiastically. “Princess Celestia has them all changed every couple of years, or when a big event happens that needs to be remembered.” Faust touched her chin thoughtfully. She wasn’t in any of these, thank goodness. She hated seeing herself in artwork. She’d only ever commissioned one painting of her face (well, the one she took to allow mortals to see her), and that was still in Celestia’s safe keeping. That had mostly been to see how all her children looked when they were little. She gestured to one that was covered in brilliant flowers and designs. That was where she needed to go. That was where Chrysalis was. “What? The garden?” the colt asked when she showed him the image. “It’s down that way, in the rear of the palace. But I’m not allowed to go there, I’m not royalty or a guard.” He wilted some, holding a hoof out to direct her. Leaning down, she kissed him on the forehead. He blushed a joyous sort of scarlet. “I-I-I’m around if you need me tomorrow or something!” he called after her as she went. She waved and smiled, then went on. Faust watched the events of the recent past. Yes, the past. Faust was not omniscient, despite being the creator of all. One did not know the future, no matter how powerful or divine, once free will was breathed into something. The slightest tip one way or another kept things going in a general direction, but so long as creatures like ponies could make their own decisions about themselves, there was no such thing as “fate” or “destiny”—despite their silly cutie marks. That had been Discord’s idea. That was more to nudge them along the ‘general’ plan, the plan that would help the world out the most. Faust watched Celestia kill Chrysalis in a moment of desperation. Celestia was the wisest, yes, but that didn’t mean she could handle everything so fluidly as she often did. The poor thing had the weight of the world on her shoulders, but a simple rule like ‘don’t kill your mortal sister’ was certainly one that needed to be followed. She watched Chrysalis dive at her, try to feed on her, and then get struck dead. Faust sighed quietly. She felt so, so bad for her youngest daughter’s lot in life. Suffering so much that others did not have to, or even think about. She would need to make it up to her. The timing seemed about right, for thousands of years her misery had extended—and while Faust did not like to interfere in the workings of Equis (it was a gift to her children, after all), this would have to be the exception. It was clearly an accident, she could forgive that. Faust emerged into the royal gardens, then out onto the hill by the carnival. Celestia lay hunched over the changeling queen’s broken form, sobbing loudly. She was stained with blood, misery, and self-loathing. When she sensed her mother, though, she whipped around in a panic. “Mother!” Celestia’s eyes were huge and her pupil’s tiny. “I didn’t mean to! I didn’t want her to prey on me and destroy Equis! I didn’t mean to kill her! I-!” Faust swept her daughter, suddenly much smaller, into her forehooves. The red-haired goddess was no giant, but Celestia was most certainly upon her knees before her. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Celestia chanted into her breast, weeping. Faust quietly shushed her, stroking her mane over and over. Celestia fell to miserable mewling. Easing her eldest daughter down onto her belly, she went instead to Chrysalis. Leaning over the body, the mother of the gods leaned down and kissed her on the mouth. Time stopped. =-=-=-= Chrysalis stood upon a beach. It was a sunny, carefree day with fluffy clouds and not a care in the world. “Pupa! Pupa sweetie wait for me! You’re pregnant you don’t need to be running that fast!” Chrysalis stared in shock as her two former bodyguards ran right past her, swollen in the belly and chitter-laughing between themselves. They weren’t changeling queens like she, they could only bear one young in their lifetimes, but it was still bizarre. A pair of pony stallions rushed after them, twin brothers. They left shoe-prints as they went across the soaked sand, and the waves quickly washed them away. She stared at them, wondering why she didn’t chase. Those two were deserters! They should’ve stood by their queen’s side and as they’d been trained! “Geode! Geode honey wait up! We’re supposed to go swimming later when the sun’s going down! Ack!” he was splashed for his trouble. The twin brothers looked at each other, then quickly took wing to catch up with their mates. Chrysalis watched them go until they shrank out of sight. How long was this beach? It seemed to go on forever. She watched the group go, then turned to survey the beach the other way. Faust Almighty stood not ten paces away, her hooves awash in the warm water. Chrysalis flinched, “Mother!” she said, mouth agape. She leaned back with a mix of fear and shock. Faust tilted her head, lifting one hoof and pawing idly at the sand. “Mother?” Chrysalis said again, tilting her head and squinting her eyes. She wasn’t sure she believed it. “Oh wait, I must be dreaming…” she looked around to find something wrong with the world that would confirm it was a dream. But no, it looked like any of her mother’s pocket dimensions. She usually made them, frought with symbolism, whenever she wanted to talk with one of her children. The red-haired alicorn turned slowly, sloshing along the warm waves toward her. A blue crab scuttled by to be out of the divine’s way. “Not a dream…” Chrysalis whispered, tilting her head up and up until her mother stood before her a head taller. “Why am I here?” she asked. There was a long silence between them. Faust seemed to be surveying her—admiring her. “Yes, I’ve grown big and strong, no thanks to you.” Chrysalis grumbled. The deity turned her head to look behind herself, and her daughter leaned. There was a set of large hoof-prints leading off into the distance, but they were pointed towards them. Chrysalis followed the prints until the was looking at herself. They were her own, and there was only one set. “Yes, I’ve walked alone for a long time! I’ve had no choice! I’m only mortal and you refuse to make me otherwise.” Faust turned back to face her, then leaned and crushed her into a hug. “Augh! Hug! Too much hug!” Chrysalis squirmed wildly. “Take a closer walk with me,” Faust whispered, turning and putting a hoof on Chrysalis’ shoulder. Suddenly and without warning, a hundred-million images rushed by through Chrysalis’ mind. Was this the future? Neigh, a prophecy. A veiled and uncertain future. Atom. It was an unfamiliar word, floating around it her mind. Chrysalis didn’t know what an ‘atom’ was, but the images she was being shown didn’t make any sense. Imagine, buildings tall enough to touch the sky made of glass and iron! Rushing trains moving at the speed of sound across entire nations! Millions of tiny, techni-colored ants rushed through the vein-like streets and across the land. They bred and eat and shat and built until there was no space left… a dot fell from the sky. A tiny dot covered and orbited by a hundred other little dots. When it struck the ground, all was white light and nothingness. The buildings. The trains. The mortals upon the ground. All were ash. The Changeling Queen stared in icy-veined horror as the ash and dust blew away like so many leaves in the fall. No trees stood, no flowers bloomed, and not even an insect crawled on the ground. Gone. All of it gone. As she watched the images fly by in a stomach-churning blur, she saw nations argue-- she watched all the finger pointing and raised voices and violence coming to a head in a great series of mushroom shaped clouds of world-consuming fire. Silence. Then, coming from the deepest of tunnels, she watched her changeling hive meet and interbreed with ponies—survivors of the terrible firestorm—A strange and funny-looking half-breed was born. A pony that could change colors? Or was it a changeling that could produce love in and of itself, to give to other changelings for sustenance? She wasn’t sure what to make of the new half-breed. She’d laid with quite a few stallions over the years and she’d never given birth to such a creature… =-=-=-= Chrysalis sat up with a shriek, startling Celestia back a few steps. The changeling queen coughed heavily a few times as her wounds healed themselves over. Faust sat with her, stroking her hair. “Am I a…?” she whispered, touching her wounds as she remembered she had them. They were gone. Faust nodded a little. “And was that my…?” Faust shrugged a little, smiling coyly. The future was not set in stone, but it was certainly heading in a general direction. Chrysalis stared at her destiny, laid out before her. Equestria and all her holdings, only temporary! A few handfuls of thousands of years! Equis herself would come to ruin someday. However far into the future, it didn’t matter. Her resources would run out, and only creatures that could produce and feed on love would survive while it germinated and rejuvenated herself. Equis was a cylinder of light and dark ages. All the children of Faust would have their chances to rule and be loved by all, taking turns with each other. But only her youngest, strongest daughter would have what it took to rule once it had all come to ruin in the far, far future. Then, when time reset itself and civilization began anew it would be the other four’s turn again. Chrysalis fell to her belly and wept happily. Faust held her close, tucking her daughter's head under her chin. She was not the weakest or the most cast out. She was the most important of all. And now, she was immortal like the others. Faust smiled, leaning and kissing the top of her head. End of Part 9