//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 
// Story: Code Geass: Lelouch of Equestria 
// by Dawn Flower 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 1


“I destroy… the world… and create it… anew.”

As Lelouch’s life began to fade away, his last sight was of his sister, Nunnally. He had finally accomplished what he had set out to do, and created a new world where his little sister could live in peace.

The rest of the world was now united in their hatred of him, and resources previously directed towards war and fighting, were now being used to end world hunger and poverty. Lelouch had become the symbol of all the hate and injustice in the world, and now it would all die with him. That was the Zero Requiem.

As Lelouch’s vision began to darken, the last thing he saw was the terrified look on his sister’s face. She clutched his hand in her own, and she began desperately calling out to him, begging for him not to leave her. Lelouch could feel the hurt in her voice. It was too much for him to bear. He had broken his biggest rule and made Nunnally cry. This one fact had almost made him regret his decision.

Nunnally had once told him that all she needed to be happy was to be with him. Even though he knew that that would never be enough, he had only just now, in his final moments realised just how upset she would be with living without him. He knew that she would continue living and make the most out of it, but she would still feel empty and sad for the rest of her life; and he had done that to her. It was all just too much for him.

As his eyes closed shut, the last of his life force faded away. Lelouch Vi Britannia was dead.

However, it was not the end.


---


All Lelouch could see was a total blackness. He couldn’t see anything, he couldn’t hear anything, and he couldn’t feel anything. “Am I dead? Is this what death is like? After everything I did, an eternity of this is nothing less than I deserve. But at least... I was finally able to end the cycle of conflict. If this is my fate, then so be it.”

However, suddenly his vision began to brighten a bit. He then felt a slight pain in his eyes; like the sunlight was shining down too hard on him. He instinctively twitched his eyes, and then quickly realised that he could feel his eyes again.

His eyes opened up slowly, but he quickly squinted them shut again because of the harsh sunlight. The Sun was shining high in the sky, directly above him. The sky was a bright blue, with no clouds in the sky. He had to admit that it was beautiful.

His body was currently spread out on the ground. He could feel the soft grass pressing gently against his skin. He didn’t feel like he was wearing clothes, but he didn’t question it. He remembered dying, and so he thought that this must be the afterlife, so it made sense that he would not be wearing clothes anymore. He did find it strange, however, that his afterlife would be this peaceful, and prepared himself for some sort of change for the worse that was coming soon.

As he lay spread out on the grass, peacefully, he tried to flex his fingers, however, his eyes suddenly shot open and he readied himself for that big change in his current situation that he had prepared for; he couldn’t feel his fingers. He could feel his arms, but not his fingers. It felt as if his arms had been cut off at the hands.

Lelouch slowly raised his hand up to his face so that he could get a proper look at himself. His eyes widened even more, and he tensed up upon seeing that he didn’t have a hand anymore; he had a hoof. He was completely dumbstruck at this revelation. “What the Hell?”

After his earlier relaxation, and his current freak out, Lelouch now had plenty of energy in his body. He picked himself up and stood upright; however, as soon as he was standing up straight, he almost immediately fell back down frontwards, landing on all four hooves.

Lelouch had no idea what was going on. Was this supposed to be his eternal damnation? But even still, why did he appear to be a horse?

When he was standing up on four hooves, he gave his new body a close examination. He now had a dark purple coat, and a black mane that matched his usual hairstyle. He also noticed that, judging by his size, he seemed small for a horse, and deduced that he was actually a pony. This deduction didn’t make his current situation any less crazy, though.

As he continued examining himself, what he found most bizarre about this situation was that he had a Geass mark on his flank; a red, bird-shaped symbol. Did this mean that he still had his Geass powers? But why was it on his flank now?

Lelouch raised his hoof up to his left eye, like he always did when he thought about his Geass. Still not saying anything, he tore his gaze away from his new body, and took a closer look around at where he was now. He was in a huge field, filled with luscious green grass. The Sun shining down through the cloudless, blue sky made the area look surreal.

The area in front of him was a big, open space, with nothing but the field visible on the horizon. On either side, there was a small mountain range, that encircled this area, but with an opening of sorts directly ahead of him. The area looked like a mountain valley. Behind him, where the mountains on either side converged with each other, there was what looked like a small town over in the distance, with stone buildings built right into the mountainside.

From where he was standing, there was a path that lead into the town. Lelouch turned around to look at the town in the distance; not an easy thing to do with only three hooves on the ground.

As he turned around, he lowered his left front hoof again, and he looked down at the ground as he started thinking. “What’s going on here? Where am I? And why do I look like a pony?” He then looked back up and faced the town in front of him, still with a confused look on his face. “Is this Hell? Was I sent here when I died because of all the bad things that I did?” He then thought about the Geass mark on his flank. “And why do I still have a Geass mark? Do I still have my Geass powers, or does it mark that I used to have it? Just what does this all mean?”

“Hey!”

Lelouch suddenly heard a voice call out from behind him. He turned around to see who it was, and he was surprised to see a strange creature, hovering in the air just a few feet behind him. The creature looked strange, but also somehow familiar. It had an eagle’s head and a lion’s body. From what Lelouch could remember, this creature was called a griffon, and he could somehow tell that it was female. What he found most strange was that this griffon was holding a gun in its claw; and she was pointing it right at him.

Lelouch didn’t blink as he stared down the barrel of the gun. After several seconds of silence, the griffon started to speak again. “Just what are you doing here, pony? Gryphallia is still a sovereign state of the Griffon Kingdom. You ponies have no place here.” The griffon then gripped her gun with her other claw and kept in pointed at Lelouch.

Lelouch didn’t know what to do. If he still had his Geass, he could just order her to put the gun down, or kill herself. However, even if he did still have his Geass, he didn’t want to waste it. This griffon was clearly hostile to ponies, and there was obviously something going on between the two races; however, if she was truly tyrannical or evil, then she would have shot him by now. Since she was hesitating, he knew that she could be reasoned with. This could also be a good chance to get some information on where he is right now, and what was going on.

“I’m sorry, I’m new around here.” Lelouch spoke in a kind and gentle tone of voice. “If you could tell me where I am, as well as give some information on the current situation then I would greatly appreciate it.” Lelouch gave a charismatic smile as he finished talking.

The griffon snarled back at him when he was finished speaking. However, she then lowered her gun slightly and hesitated for a moment before she spoke again. “You’re kidding. You’re kidding, right?” When Lelouch didn’t respond or make any gestures, she knew that he wasn’t kidding.

The griffon looked down at the pony in front of her. He still wore that same charming smile on his face, as he patiently waited for an answer to his question. Since this pony honestly looked like it didn’t know what was going on, and since he didn’t look too intimidating, since he was just an earth pony and couldn’t hit her while she was in the air, she lowered her gun to her side, but still held it in her claw.

“You really don’t know what’s going on right now?” The griffon asked in a calm and quiet tone.

“That’s right.” Lelouch responded.

“Then what are you doing in griffon territory?” She responded in a louder tone of voice this time.

“That’s a bit of a long story.” Lelouch responded immediately. “However, if you tell me what I want to know, then I’ll tell you what you want to know. Sound fair?”

The griffon simply stared back at him and folded her claws together. After a few seconds of silence between them, she then closed her eyes briefly and let out a short sigh. “Alright then.” She said as she opened her eyes, unfolded her claws, and looked down at Lelouch; the expression on her face was now slightly angry.

“Six months ago, you ponies annexed the Griffon Kingdom by force. You said that you wished to improve trade and relations between our kingdoms. Princess Celestia said she wanted to create a zone in our land, just for ponies, where we could all learn to live amongst each other. It seemed like a good idea at the time, until we realised that the zone would fall under Equestrian jurisdiction and laws, and would include a military occupation. When we realised what that would mean for us, we rejected the offer.” The griffon furrowed her eyebrows. “That’s when the fighting started, and in the crossfire a griffon child died. Oh sure, you claimed that it was just an accident, but we know better now. Once the child died, we started fighting back at full force, and it looked like it was going to be an absolute massacre of you ponies. That is, if it wasn’t for the entire Canterlot military that was stationed just outside our borders. They entered the front lines within hours of the attack, and started killing every griffon involved in the fighting.” The griffon then clenched her claw into a fist at her side. “That was the Princesses plan all along. Rile us up and force us to strike first so that she would have a justified reason to move in and take our country by force. There’s no other way; it was all just too perfect.” The griffon was now really riled up, and directing her anger towards Lelouch. “We had more advanced technology and weapons, but even with that advantage, we were no match for the pony’s magic. In just four months, they took complete control of our country, and now only a few pockets of resistance remain.”

As Lelouch listened to more and more of this griffon’s story, he couldn’t believe how similar it was to his own. This was Brittania invading Japan all over again.

Lelouch took one step forward, and the griffon quickly drew her gun again and pointed it at him. “Hold it right there.” She then narrowed her eyes at him. “Not another step.”

Lelouch looked up to look this griffon in the eye. “Listen I…”

Before Lelouch could finish speaking, a small spear suddenly came out of nowhere, and knocked the gun out of the griffon’s claw and sent it hurdling towards the ground.

Both Lelouch and the griffon were surprised at this, and turned around to see where the spear had come from. Several feet behind them, there were five white pegasus ponies, wearing gold armor, hovering in the air. They were all holding a spear in their front hooves, and they had several spears strapped to their backs. One of them drew another spear from the supply on his back to arm himself again.

One of the pegasi then turned his attention from the griffon to Lelouch. “Are you alright, citizen? Don’t worry, we’ll save you from this terrorist Beast.”

The griffon snarled at this pegasus’ words, but Lelouch just stepped forward to address them. “You don’t understand. This is all just a misunderstanding. I’m not being held captive. I just showed up here, and she was just giving me directions.”

The pegasus simply harrumphed in response. “Well then, clearly you don’t understand the severity of the situation. That there is Gilda; a member of the Talons terrorist group, threatening to disrupt the peace of Equestria.”

The griffon simply snarled back at them. “Bastards.” The pegasi all continued to glare back at her. Her eyes then drifted down to where her gun landed on the ground. The pegasi followed her line of sight.

The next second, Gilda quickly darted towards the ground to grab her weapon; however, one of the pegasi reacted quickly and threw his spear at her. The spear found its target, and collided with the griffon’s shoulder. The attack wasn’t fatal, though it was enough to knock her to the ground and cause her to lose consciousness.

As her body fell to the ground, Lelouch raced over to where she fell. “Gilda!”

Lelouch stopped when he was right next to her body, standing over her. He simply stood there silently, staring down at her limp body.

“Stand aside, citizen.” One of the pegasus guards called out from behind him. “We’ll finish off this terrorist and then escort you safely back to Equestria.”

“Tell me.” Lelouch started. He spoke in a completely calm demeanour, and he didn’t turn around to face them. “You would attack someone who isn’t even conscious?”

The guard who spoke earlier hesitated for a second, and huffed slightly before responding. “If that someone is a terrorist Beast, who threatens the lives of innocent ponies, then yes.”

As Lelouch listened to this answer, his face broke out into a smile. “Alright then.” He then turned around in order to face the five pegasi in front of him. “She already told me her side of the story about what happened between Equestria and the Griffon Kingdom. Now you tell me your side, if you please.” Lelouch spoke in a very smug tone of voice.

The lead pegasus simply stared back at him for several seconds, eyes unblinking. This pony seemed very strange. After several seconds, he then smirked back at him, similar to how Lelouch was smirking at him. “Alright, since you apparently need a history lesson. Six months ago, the ponies of Equestria came to the Beasts with a peace treaty under orders from Princess Celestia. She had the intention of creating a zone in the country where ponies and Beasts could all live together in harmony, in order to improve our relations, which have been a bit rocky lately. However, after we arrived, these Beasts not only refused our offer, but began open firing on the soldiers that we sent in as ambassadors. When we saw that they had no intention of treating with us from the start, diplomacy was no longer an option. How could we negotiate with a race that set us up like that? We then had no other choice left but to defend ourselves; we were forced to fight them. By that point, however, we had passed into a full blown war.”

Lelouch listened to the pegasus’ explanation carefully, noticing the differences and similarities to Gilda’s story. “And so you annexed their whole country by force?” He asked.

The pegasus’ arrogant smile fell slightly. “Yes. We had to make an example out of these brutish Beasts. If they wouldn’t accept peace on their own terms, then we had to teach it to them by force. They are citizens of our Empire now, and they must learn to follow our rules, obey our laws, and learn to live in harmony with us. Now if only these terrorist groups could accept that, then everything would be perfect.”

Lelouch suddenly started bursting out laughing after listening to this pegasus guards’ story. The other pegasi started to become annoyed at this, and inched closer to him, gripping their spears tightly. Lelouch then stopped laughing and spoke again. “Peace through war. That was the gist of your story, wasn’t it. Because that’s all I got from it.”

The lead pegasus snarled angrily at him. “How dare you? You are an Equestrian citizen, aren’t you? How could you say such things?”

Lelouch smirked again. “I’ve heard enough propaganda to be able to tell whose story is real, and whose is a bunch of political satire; and your little tale had government influence all over it.” The pegasi were now outright fuming. Lelouch then turned his head back around to look at Gilda, who was still lying on the ground, unconscious. “By the way, I’m pretty sure these creatures are called ‘Griffons’, not Beasts.”

Suddenly, all of the pegasus guard’s eyes widened. “How dare you refer to these creatures by that name. They have lost the war, and so they have lost the right to call themselves by that name. They are simply Beasts.” The lead pegasus flew out ahead of the others, and he narrowed his eyes as he stared down at Lelouch. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were a Beast sympathiser.”

Lelouch didn’t hear the second part of the pegasus’ rant. He lowered his head in thought. After hearing how they took away the griffon’s right to call themselves griffons, he saw the true state of things here. It really was just like Brittania and Japan. If he wasn’t certain before, he was now.

“Well…” The pegasus guard continued.

Just as he opened his mouth to continue, Lelouch suddenly cut him off. “No one has the right to take away a race of people’s identity.” He spoke calmly and quietly, but full of meaning. He then suddenly lifted his head up to look the pegasus in the eye. “These creatures are called griffons!”

The lead pegasus, and the four behind him all reacted as if they had been pushed back by the force of his words. The lead pegasus’ face was blank; however, it quickly contorted to an expression of rage. “I knew it! You’re with them.” He then drew his spear and pointed it directly at Lelouch. The guards behind him quickly did the same. “Well then.” He started, his angry expression slowly turning into a wicked grin. “We can’t have ponies outright defying us. We’ll kill you here so that you don’t tarnish our country’s image. Any last words, Pony-Beast?”

Lelouch stepped forward towards the pegasi, his head bowed. “Yes I do.” He then lifted his head up, and his left eye suddenly changed so that it showed the glowing Geass symbol. “My name is Lelouch Vi Britannia, and this is my first order to you: Die.”

The five pegasi were all transfixed by his gaze. Their eyes then all suddenly gained a glowing red tint. After about three seconds, the lead pegasus suddenly smiled and said, “Of course, Your Highness.” All five of the pegasus guards then all gripped their spears in their hooves, held them out in front of them, and impaled themselves through the chest with them. All five of them died instantly, and fell to the ground with a thud.

As their bodies hit the ground, the clean, cut grass of the pure surrounding countryside became stained with their blood. Lelouch, however, just smirked and laughed triumphantly. “So I still have my Geass. And it looks like this world needs my help to get back on the right track. This must be why I was sent here. Was I sent here to set this world free from the same cycle of conflict that persisted between Britannia and Japan? Or was I sent here as punishment, so that I would repeat the same actions forever? Whatever the reason, I already know what I’m going to do. I must end the cycle of conflict once and for all, and bring an end to all of the fighting; and together with my Geass, and whatever allies I can find, I will change this world.” He then lifted his head up and shouted to the heavens, “I will obliterate Equestria!”

As he stared up at the clear, cloudless, sunny sky, with a huge grin on his face, he then looked down again and looked over at Gilda’s body, still lying there unconscious. He then walked over to her.

As he gazed down at her limp body, he then turned to the right, to see the small town in the distance. He then turned back to face Gilda, knelt down beside her, and lifted her on to his back. After he had hoisted her on to his back, he then turned in the direction of the town, and slowly trudged towards it. He was never one for physical activities.


---


As Lelouch continued making his way towards the town, Gilda began to stir on his back, and wake up. She slowly opened her eyes, still feeling weak from being attacked earlier. As she looked down, she could see that she was moving somehow. Confused, she turned her head to the side to see that Lelouch was carrying her on his back. Her eyes then widened, and she tried to push herself up on his back. “Hey, what’s going on?”

“Don’t move around so much. You’re still injured.” Lelouch said to her in a calm tone of voice. He didn’t turn back to face her; he just kept walking forward.

After hearing what he said, realising that she was still injured, and seeing that she was no longer in danger, she rested back down on his back again. After a moment, she suddenly noticed something and spoke up again. “Hey, what happened to the pegasus guards from earlier?”

Still facing ahead of him and not looking back to face her, Lelouch just smiled and said, “They all killed themselves once they realised how pointless what they were doing was.”

Gilda just looked back at him with an expression of disbelief on her face. “Yeah, right.” She said sarcastically.

Lelouch just continued smiling. “If you don’t believe me, then look behind you.”

Not believing him, Gilda looked behind her, and she was surprised to see the five pegasus’ dead bodies, lying down, with spears impaled through their stomachs. From the position that they were sprawled out in, it was clear that they had indeed killed themselves. Still with a look of shock on her face, Gilda turned back to face Lelouch, or more accurately, the back of his head. “Why the Hell would they kill themselves? They’ve never been known to do that before.”

Lelouch simply smiled again. “People can always surprise you. Or ponies, rather.” He added.

After hearing Lelouch’s answer, Gilda shifted uncomfortably on his back. After several seconds of silence, she finally asked, “Why did you save me? You’re a pony, so why would you stand against Equestria?”

Lelouch’s persistent smile dropped a bit, and he looked down at the ground as he stopped walking along. “Because what they’re doing is wrong. Every nation has the right to be free; even ponies, and even griffons.”

Gilda’s eyes suddenly widened and she turned to face Lelouch. “You… just referred to me as a griffon.”

This made Lelouch smile again, and his eyes wandered back towards her. “Of course. That’s what you are, isn’t it?”

Gilda didn’t respond to that. She just turned her head away to the side.

“Listen, Gilda.” Lelouch continued. “This is a war you’re fighting; don’t forget that. But your enemy isn’t the ponies of Equestria. It’s Equestria itself.” Gilda turned back to face him at this. “The only way things are going to change is if you make it change… from the inside.”

Gilda looked at him curiously. “What do you mean by that?”

“I mean that just resisting, and attacking civilians isn’t going to accomplish anything. If you want to end the cycle of conflict, then you have to destroy Equestria.”

Gilda’s eyes widened in surprise. “Destroy Equestria? Are you serious?” Lelouch didn’t respond, but his silence told her that he was. She then lightened up a bit before continuing. “Well, that’s all easy to say, but actually doing it is another matter altogether. Equestria is the strongest country in the world, with immortal rulers that literally have control over the Sun and Moon. It’s taking all of our strength just to hold out against them, right now. It’s impossible.

The quick mention of immortality and controlling the Sun and Moon, briefly gave Lelouch a moment of pause, but not for long. “Trust me; nothing is impossible. All it takes to change the world is a small group of like-minded individuals, if they believe hard enough, and have the strength and willpower to get it done. I’ve seen it all happen before. It’s huma… I mean, pony nature.”

The moment of awkwardness at the end briefly made Gilda look at him a bit strangely, but she still took in everything that he just said to her. She then tilted her head up, to think about it further. After a few seconds of silence, she turned back to face Lelouch again, and asked, “Do you really think that would work?”

“Yes,” was all Lelouch said in reply.

After another moment, Gilda just faced away again and said, “Whatever.”

Lelouch‘s eyes drifted back to Gilda. Although she didn’t sound too enthusiastic, he knew that his words had struck home. He was just that charismatic. The idea had been planted in her mind, and in time it would grow. Soon enough, the Talons would be just like The Black Knights. He could just tell.

With that exchange over with, he started walking along again, and the two of them then continued on silently, slowly making their way towards the town.

To be continued…