//------------------------------// // Interlude I: Looking For Answers // Story: Dawn Of The Silver Sun // by Nameless Narrator //------------------------------// Peace and calm ruled the little cottage on the edge of the Everfree forest. Despite the chill running through the trees and the nearby town of Ponyville, there were no clouds hanging over the cottage itself and the sun was shining brightly through what looked like a circle cut out in the middle of billowing clouds. What the solar rays illuminated explained this unusual phenomenon. A strange creature looking like a large snake with legs, arms, and equine-shaped head adorned with two different horns lounged and levitated in the air. He was sipping tea and listening to a story told by a yellow, pink-maned pegasus sitting across the table. The twisted creature's name was Discord and, by all means and rights, he was one of the three gods of Equus. While his looks confused all mortal minds and his thought process would reduce a pony's brain to butter, the yellow pegasus mare didn't seem to mind and happily chatted on and on about how she was going to help the forest critters hibernate. The world around them darkened and the pegasus' words slowed down, eventually stopping. All colour drained from their surroundings and the flow of time itself shut down. Two alicorn silhouettes stepped out from the monochrome landscape, walking straight to Discord. He sighed. There was nothing in his voice outside of minor irritation. "You know how I feel about my tea with Fluttershy being interrupted, Void." The blackfire alicorn looked from the pegasus to Discord. "I apologize. Our presence here is of utmost importance though, Discord." The god of chaos nodded at the golden alicorn standing next to Void. "It always is. What is it now? My time is precious these days." Scream didn't look distressed by Discord's barely hidden threat. "First of all, could you turn Void into a mare for a while again? He's immune to my magic." Void blushed, staining the black coat with patches of red, as he remembered his last brush with the god of chaos. Granted, it had happened right after his release from Tartarus, meaning he'd been at his weakest point, but even now, when his power was back, he wasn't going to provoke the god. The history between Void and Discord was long and strange, just like one would expect from the conflict between the primal force of Chaos, Life, and Change standing against the first creation of his nemesis. Both of them respected the other's role in history though. Discord, however, growled at Scream. The alicorn of Lust just smiled back "Alright then, let's get to the more important thing. You said your time was precious. Now, what could make a god of your caliber pressed for time?" she asked playfully. "None of your business, whorse," Discord spat on the ground and turned back to Void, "I'll talk only to someone above the intelligence of a rabbit in heat. Get to business, Void, I have no patience for games." The usually capricious spirit was surprisingly serious today. "Scream had a strange premonition, something to do with the Pact of Harmony, you, and Nightmare. Her vision showed something coming, something dangerous. With you not having, as you said, enough time, I have to assume you know something about it." Discord looked at the picnic blanket above which he was floating, sighed, and said in a tone of voice that, if he was a mortal, would mean sitting in a shower and drinking copious amounts of alcohol: "Void, just... just spend your last days with your loved ones," he nodded at Scream, "No matter how irritating they might be. Make the best of what little is left." "Discord?" Void asked carefully. "What do you know, Discord?" Scream scowled. The god snapped the fingers belonging to the hand on his tail and the air around blurred. Time started trickling back to the frozen reality, albeit slowly. Void's presence held against the deity's attempt to resume normality. "Discord, if it is something too personal for you then we can help," said the alicorn of Death calmly. When Discord looked up, Void knew there would be no more talk about the matter. The god was about to cry. "If... If I ever want a chance at something like this again," Discord pointed towards Fluttershy, "then I mustn't stand in his way. I'm sorry, Void. The time of this world is up. All of my and Nightmare's creations, alicorns, ponies... it's time for you to go. W-We knew it wouldn't last forever, the Pact gave us limited time, but you know how it is... when you have eons then you don't count days until it's too late." Both Scream and Void just stared at the god's breakdown. "You know, when I made the alicorn of Life, my first creation, I had no idea Nightmare would be jealous and try to MAKE something herself. I thought she would just try to destroy my little pet in various ways, but she didn't, she made you. The primal forces of creation and destruction stopped fighting and started competing. We enjoyed it, we also enjoyed how you little alicorns also competed with one another. We made more and more creatures, you made some yourselves. Some of them died, some of them survived until today. We were shocked to discover that the end of some of our creations brought on the coming of more alicorns, who somehow, over time, grew tied to the natural flow of the world even without our explicit wish." Void wasn't stupid. He noticed something off about the story. "What is Harmony's role in all this. There is more to the Elements' existence than holding you on a leash, is it not?" Discord just shook his head. "The Elements... they do exactly what they are supposed to. They are the safeguard keeping me and Nightmare from gaining too much power. Some of the more research-inclined ponies, such as my dear new princess and 'friend' Twilight Sparkle, falsely believe it is to protect THEM. OH well, it was fun while it lasted." "I WILL fight any threat to this world, Discord, even if you do not. You, yourself, said my power posed danger even to you, the gods." "How do you intend to fight something outside of the cycle of life and death? How do you stop the perfect being? You can't, you just bow to its will and hope it gives you another chance." When the reality returned completely, the alicorn duo wasn't there anymore. Discord just sighed again and sipped his tea. "So, will you help me prepare the dens for the hibernating animals, Discord?" "Of course, Fluttershy," the god smiled. Back at the mountain dimension, Scream was mumbling to herself while pacing back and forth on the red carpet. Void just sat down on a nearby skull sofa and rubbed his temples. Whatever was coming had something to do with Harmony and 'the perfect being'. Who could be outside of his reach, who could be completely immortal? His guess revolved around the three gods. Divine power was supposed to be eternal and indestructible. Alicorns possessed fractions of it and they could return after their physical death unless the power was siphoned away or they got rid of it themselves. The gods WERE the divine power, and as such it wasn't feasible to steal it. Void knew about only three beings posing real threat to the divines. The first one was Tirek, a centaur currently chained in Tartarus with the ability to steal magic and divine power in exceptional quantities. He didn't seem like a dangerous threat though, Void could always stop him because stealing the power of true death was fatal. The second one was Void himself, his power being the only thing able to disperse divinity in any form. The final one... "No, that's not possible. He suffered way too much in order to protect this world," Void mumbled to himself, "There is no way he could be the enemy." He kept going over recent events revolving around the gods. After a thousand years of peace and quiet, Nightmare had managed to break her host out of the prison on the moon. Possessed princess Luna had been stopped by the reawakened Elements of Harmony. Three years later, the Tree of Harmony had been attacked by Discord in order to... what? In its defense, the Tree absorbed the physical manifestation of the Elements back, leaving only a lingering trace of their power in the Bearers. Then, Nightmare had tried to take Luna over again, but she had been stopped by the combined effort of the Nightguard and changelings despite locking the Element bearers in stasis to prevent divine interference. The next big event had led Nightmare south to Zebrica, where she had gathered an army of slaves and undead servants under the banner of a corrupted alicorn called Holy Light. She'd been stopped again, her chosen host destroyed, and her army scattered. Nightmare's latest defeat had left her weak and barely able to affect even the most desperate of minds. For all means and purposes, there should be a period of peace and quiet coming. Unfortunately, that didn't seem to be the case. The common theme was Nightmare and Discord's gradual effort to destroy the Tree. Everypony assumed it was to give them absolute rule over Equus, meaning unbridled chaos for Discord and the death of everything for Nightmare. Harmony's protection had prevented all that. Void shook his head, being no closer to an answer than before visiting the god of chaos. Scream stomped the floor angrily. "Get up, honey!" "Did you think of something?" the alicorn of Death asked. "It's simple. If Discord won't talk and Harmony isn't around then we need to find and contact Nightmare." "I fear that is not possible. After Blazing Light destroyed her last avatar she is greatly diminished and might not even seek to enter the world again for some time. I would suggest talking to young Luna, she has got the most recent experience with the deity." "That won't be necessary. Come here!" Scream focused, and a small golden spark from her horn passed through Void standing up and walking to her, "Good, that'll be enough." "What was that?" "A tracking spell. Since the Nightmare's power is close to your own I can just let a standard spell track you, ignore this place, and see where it takes me. I have enough power to feel even the smallest of echoes. GOT IT!" "Impressive, where-" They disappeared. The overnight train to Manehattan was usually a calm place where ponies could rest because it was almost always near-empty. This time, a door to one private suite slammed open and shocked the six passengers inside. Two unicorns, a satyr, a changeling, a griffon, and a hippogriff looked as one towards the entering duo. Void, in his disguise as a black unicorn, shook his head and pulled Scream out of the suite. "We apologize, wrong door." As the door closed, he followed Scream pacing through the train. "Did the spell not work?" "It worked. It's still working. I KNOW something belonging to Nightmare is on the train. It's just hiding too well." "It could possibly be just somepony under her minor influence, not a growing avatar." "I guess. I suppose we're not gonna just shake every passenger-" "No. We have no idea if stealth is necessary, but I am not risking an open confrontation threatening the bystanders." "Fiiiiine," Scream sighed and both of them teleported back home where she resumed her pacing around. After a while she stopped, staring at Void. "You're the oldest living alicorn, right?" "Keyword - living. Yes." "Who came next?" "Hm?" "It's simple. The god of creation and chaos created the alicorn of Life using his own power. The god of destruction and order created the alicorn of Death the same way. Who came after you?" "Oh? Oh! You are right, honey. My memory is hazy on that one, but I believe Harmony's first creation was... Magnus, probably?" Yes, the god of creation, the god of destruction, and the god of life inbetween - will and potential. And what was the ability of will to shape reality? The potential to do anything? Magic. Discord, Nightmare, Harmony. Magnus, the original alicorn of Magic was their best bet now. Fortunately, both Void and Scream knew where to find him. "Epic!" the golden alicorn spread her wings and teleported both of them with a 'whoosh'. "At least let me-" The restaurant called Zeph's was situated somewhere in the constantly changing reality of Griffon Empire deserts. Its location kept changing partly due to the remaining magic left in the sands after griffon-pony wars and partially, well - mostly, due to the fact that it was a place where ponies of certain... special qualities could meet and talk about the events of the last century. As some old song went - sometimes you need to go where everypony knows your name. In short, Zeph's was an alicorn bar on the edge of reality. As Scream gracefully landed in front of the entrance, Void, having been lying on a sofa before the translocation, planted his face into a nearby dune. Spitting sand, he entered the small diner. Somepony normal would have expected the place for demigods to be strange, impossible to understand by mortal minds, but to one with experience the cool, shady interior, the simple counter surrounded by high barstools, and the round tables scattered around were completely normal. Okay, the seven alicorns sitting around and chatting would probably impress a casual observer. "Ey' lads, c'mere! Long time no see," came from a brown-maned, orange one behind the counter with the cutie mark of a tornado. "Hello, Zephyr," Void smiled and waved back. "Yo, Zeph," Scream raised a wing as a greeting. The alicorn of Winds was, unsurprisingly but maybe a little irritatingly, an excellent chilli chef, and he owned a diner accessible only by other alicorns or travellers lost in the desert. What did shock Void was the presence of the Equestrian royalty here. From what he remembered, this place had always been almost empty before his return from Tartarus, with Scream drowning her sorrow, Zephyr cleaning the glasses, Chronos, the alicorn of Time, being here because, well, he was everywhere in a sense, and Magnus, the first alicorn of Magic, who left the real world in order to focus and 'get some real freaking research done because the damn ponies never stop pestering me about stuff'. Speaking of the devil himself, he was currently sitting in a corner, leaning backwards on his chair, and trying to fuse into a wall with an expression of utter horror bordering on disdain. The white, considerably tall, blonde-maned alicorn was facing a much smaller, and a VERY enthusiastic, purple one talking with machine gun cadence and the expression of a teen filly being near her favourite pop idol. "Say, how did it feel when you relinquished your divine power? Did it hurt? Did it feel good? Did you see the light and turned back or did you simply become a normal pony? There are no books on the subject of alicorns and very little revolving around divinity itself. I mean, Star Swirl the Bearded wrote them, but outside of those there's nothing." Magnus just sat there, trembling, with his annoyance growing to Celestia's 'love for cake' levels. "Greetings, Magnus," Void came over, levitated a chair, and sat down while Scream chatted with Zephyr. "Finally, some decent company," Magnus unceremoniously shoved his hoof into the purple alicorn's mouth mid-word, "What brings you here?" "Serious business," Void nodded, shoved the purple alicorn back to her chair so that Magnus could pull his one back to the table, "Speaking of which, what are the royals doing here? I do not think I have ever seen Luna or Cadenza here. Not to mention Twilight Sparkle talking your ears off." "So that's the twerp's name?" Magnus didn't even turn back to the purple princess, "She just came in with Tia, Luna, and Cadance. The next thing I know she's sitting on the table, asking me about the meaning of life and the ultimate power of geometry." "She is the new alicorn of Magic, forgive her." He probably shouldn't have said that because Magnus looked at Twilight again and GLARED. She giggled nervously. "Hello, my name is Twilight sparkle. I'm the alicorn of Magic and the bearer of the Element of Magic, personal student of princess Celestia. Sorry for not introducing myself first, I got a bit carried away." Magnus turned to Void, the expression of pure dread returning. "She said Celestia was teaching her magic," he said slowly. Void knew where this was going. "Yes, yes." "That's like Scream teaching somepony to cook," Magnus burst out laughing before hiding his muzzle into a mug of blueberry juice. Void rolled his eyes. "My ears are burning," Scream appeared behind Magnus with a sadistic grin. He literally froze, patches ice forming in his fur from the shock. All of it turned to vapor instantly as Scream leaned in and slowly, sensually licked the side of his muzzle, "Or it might be like you teaching somepony to socialize with mares, Maggie." The alicorn of Magic sat there like a statue, staring into nowhere. "I think you broke them," Void facehoofed, turning to Twilight staring at Magnus and drooling. It seemed that all alicorns of Magic had a peculiar way of interacting with the opposite sex. "Easy fix," Scream grabbed Magnus' head and kissed him, not sparing her long tongue. "AAAAAAaaaaaaaa-mrhmrrhr-POP!" Magnus teleported a short way away, mouth silently open and pointing at Scream. "You, Celestia's whatever," Scream waved Twilight away, "Go bother your fat ass teacher for a while. We have important things to talk about. Magnus, stop being a colt and shut that mouth before I stick my tongue down there again." The white muzzle shut with enough speed and force to bite through a metal bar. Scream snickered. "First, can you turn Void into a mare for few days?" "Yes." "Good. Now, what do you know about the Pact of Harmony?" The white alicorn thought for a moment and then shrugged. "As our windy alicorn friend would say - fok all?" "Really?" Scream's voice dropped into the depths of annoyance, "One of the three primal alicorns doesn't remember anything about his god?" "Hey, Void," Magnus rolled his eyes, "Keep her on a leash, will you? Do YOU have any of Nightmare's memories?" Void shook his head. "Only blurs here an there. Nothing significant." "See?" the ex-archmage sipped his juice again, "It's not that simple, Scream. Our creation was... focused. We possess a certain aspect of our gods, but not everything that made them them. To get a deity's memories directly you would, in pure theory, need-" "-somepony able to steal divine power of any sort in its raw form, not just take what specific part he is given," Void finished the thought, his voice turning worried and very exhausted. "Exactly, gods are pure divine power, which means stealing a part of their power is taking memories as well. It would make an interesting research whether the memories get truly stolen or just copied. From your reaction I take it you know of somepony with said ability. Tirek?" "No, Nightmare's power would kill him. It is a... friend to whom I owe a lot. Unfortunately, he is a mortal... WAS a mortal. His ability to steal said power made him into an alicorn, but his mind was still young and unprepared so the memories were locked away. If we force him to share... it might destroy him." Scream's focused gaze didn't do much to relieve his worry. Her voice, though, was careful and caring. "Void... my vision was a dream and as such I don't remember that much from it anymore. The thing I know for sure is that it was worse than when Nightmare tried to destroy all life. This is more important than one individual. We have to take the risk." "Scream, I swore to protect him. You know he is the reason I am no longer in Tartarus, he is the reason why you are not hunted by Celestia, he is the reason Nightmare failed in the attempt. He has been through so much..." "Oooooh," Scream grinned, "the unicorn thief. Funny, I didn't put it together until you said that. Well, I guess we have a friend to visit, don't we?" "Scream..." Void growled, making both his lover's and the alicorn of Magic's hair stand on edge. Scream took a deep breath and raised a hoof. "I promise I will take any precaution necessary not to hurt him, I will bring any and all allies or experts on mind magic I can gather in case we attempt it, and I will not do it without his approval. Anything else?" Her answer was just Void grinding his teeth. "Now, where is he? His magic resistance makes it impossible to find him." "The Light family mansion in Manehattan. I can take us there," Void gave up. "No need," Scream shook her head, "I'm gonna have to make some preparations in order not to make his brain melt out of his mouth. It'll take some time." "Oh, Scream. You wanted Void to be a female, right?" "Riiight, almost forgot. Thanks!" Magnus focused and his horned glowed. A spark flew out from it, but it didn't hit Void, it hit Scream. Her muzzle lenghtened and in a short moment there stood a male, albeit very feminine, alicorn instead. Scream, unimpressed, just raised an eyebrow. "Nice try, but I could have done that myself. You have no idea what I turn into for some wet dreams when Luna's not looking." She focused, but her magic failed. "Can't dispel this one," Magnus snickered and grinned at Void, "Also, she'll obey anything anypony asks her to do, which means even if you tell her not to remember. Have fun, Void!" Scream knew she should be livid but... she was also very, VERY curious about her submissive side. Saying their goodbyes to everypony around, the duo disappeared. In their haste, they missed one peculiar thing that might have bolstered their need to do things fast. In a different corner, hidden in the shadows, Chronos, the alicorn of Time, was drinking himself into oblivion. As soon as Void and Scream disappeared, Twilight slingshotted back to Magnus' table, took a breath, opened her mouth, and- -got frozen in a block of ice immediately. Magnus chipped few fresh cubes into his juice. "Chill out." A resounding 'BOOOO!' from the other alicorns just made him take another sip. "Mares..."