Twilight gave a small grunt as she saddled her bags, they were filled to the brim with documents, the protocols of the day and countless requests for an audience with the purveyor... or Dorchadas, as the other deities called him. "What is wrong with them?" she huffed under the weight, "You'd think they'd be more cautious of someone like him..."
Almost all of the deities had rushed her for a meeting with him, especially eagerly so once Fin'gre had proudly proclaimed he'd gotten dibs... what a silly word for something so serious. And the dragon deity, Nithhogr? He had been the strangest one of all. Granted, his mere appearance was impressive and all, but there was something about him that made her think he was enjoying this way too much.
He hadn't even asked for an audience, he'd just told her that he'd keep in touch... "My, my... a new little alicorn." she mimicked his deep voice, "Give me a break..." she groaned, "This place is more like playhouse than an actual council! Don't any of them take their responsibilities seriously?"
"Not as seriously as they should..." a hollow voice remarked behind her, "The real work for you will be to learn which ones you should be cautious of."
Twilight whirled around as the purveyor walked up to her, his steps not making the slightest sound on the marble floor as his shadows slowly flowed after him. She let out a sigh, "Please don't surprise me like that..." she raised an eyebrow when she saw that Spike was accompanying him, "Spike? Where have you been?" she gave the dragon a questioning look, "What were you two doing?"
"Nothing, Twilight." Spike almost stammered, he was looking considerably paler than his usual self and his eyes occasionally darted to the purveyor, "I... I just got lost and he showed me the right direction..."
Twilight cast a questioning gaze towards the silent purveyor, "You did? Really?"
"I did..." his reply was impassive and he tilted his head slightly to inspect her saddle bags, "Are those the results of this council?"
"They certainly are..." she readjusted her shoulders, "Are all of these meetings going to end up with me carrying piles of paperwork?"
"It is likely." Zaeres replied with the tiniest of smirks, "But it could take centuries for another council to take place..."
"Thank the stars for that." Twilight muttered.
"Except if there is a war, of course." he continued.
"A war?" Spike watched his unmoving form with concern, "There's not going to be one soon, is there?"
"At the current situation?" the purveyor paused, "Not likely. The power among the different races is balanced quite evenly and there a only a few notable pacts... it would be highly foolish for one of them to take action at this point."
"You almost sound as if you are expecting one of them to do something foolish..." Twilight put on a frown, "Is there something I should know? One of them isn't secretly planning an invasion, or are they?"
A soft laugh escaped Zaeres as he watched her, "Not that I know of... but only time will show what may happen." In truth, the current balance was anything but stable. There were no clear alliances, no certain enemies... and the old pacts were slowly losing footing. It could fall apart with a single word, a piece of information placed in the wrong hands... or in the right hands if he saw it fit... It would barely matter if the information was correct or not if used correctly.
It felt strange to him to stand so at the center of it all... to have the power to tip the scale with a single word. He briefly wondered how long it would take Twilight to realize she would hold part of this power as well... and what use she would make of this potential he had given her.
He pushed aside the thought for the moment, there was still too much work to be done. Right now, though... he addressed Twilight, "Are you ready to depart?"
"Already?" Twilight asked in surprise, "I mean... of course I want to go as soon as possible..." she seemed hesitant, "But what about Spike?"
The purveyor gave the dragon a short look, "He can accompany us."
"I don't know..." she cast Spike a careful gaze, "Won't it be dangerous?"
"There is no danger. Your concerns are without reason."
"What are you talking about?" Spike asked.
"I have promised Twilight to... give her access to certain knowledge in exchange for her services. The place we are about to travel holds this knowledge." the purveyor explained, "You should accompany us, I am sure you will find the experience... enlightening."
Spike gave the purveyor an uncertain gaze, "If you say so..." he turned to Twilight, "I don't mind, I'll come along too."
"Really?" Twilight asked, "I mean if it is really fine with you and there really isn't any danger..."
"We should depart..." the purveyor interrupted them, "We have spent enough time here already and I still have work to do. Stand close to one another..." Spike carefully took a place next to Twilight, "Are you ready?"
Twilight watched the shadows from his form start to dance unsteadily, a feeling of worry washing over her as he stepped closer and towered above them with both arms outstretched, "Ready for what?"
Zaeres allowed the void to detach itself from him, enveloping both Twilight Sparkle and Spike in a roaring shroud of darkness, "To see the forgotten sins of the alicorns with your own eyes..."
The purveyor performed the phase shift... and the three vanished, leaving behind a shroud of shadows that gradually fell apart until nothing remained.
---
The few seconds that Twilight spent in the void would forever haunt her... the roaring darkness, the absolute black that surrounded her... and the whispers of countless voices washing over her like a tidal wave. It was terrifying, yet she felt strangely exhilarated at the same time. So many secrets waited in the void, so many things hidden from the world and forgotten by time. She felt... like it was waiting for her.
And him...
Twilight couldn't see the purveyor, not even hear him as his silent whispers carried them through the endless expanses of the void... but she could feel him. His presence... Twilight couldn't even begin to describe it... She had spent years next to princess Celestia and princess Luna, both powerful deities in their own right... but he.
There was something fundamentally different about him.
Celestia and Luna were deities, connected deeply to their individual elements... but only connected. He though... Twilight couldn't find another way to describe it, no matter how impossible it seemed... but he wasn't just connected to it... he was the void itself.
It took her a moment to realize it, but here... he was a god.
But then the moment was over and she felt her hooves make contact with hard ground, the sudden return of gravity almost making her fall over. Next to her, she heard a soft thud as Spike presumably landed on his back. When the void started to return to the purveyor's form and Twilight was finally able to see again she found herself lost in staring at the sight before her.
"No way..." Spike whispered in awe.
Down in a valley before them, countless spires of pure, white marble spiraled towards the sky, their surfaces decorated in delicate and intricate designs of gold while between the towers a sheer endless maze of blooming gardens, fountains and statues stood in a silence that had not been broken for thousands of years.
"Welcome..." the purveyor spoke softly as he stepped past the two, "To the lost capital of the alicorn kingdom."
and so the sins are shown the light
You and you cliffhanger... I don't know if i should love or hate them. Ether way you do not fail at entertaining me. Good job
Oi, oi, oi... Where'd this come from? First I thought they were going to the Barrier so he could watch as his new race formed. Now they're... here?
Hm, so is this city the equivalent of fallen Babylon?
Oh man, this is probably something that Celestia would really want to know about...
And Twilight probably can't tell her a single thing! XD
Buh?
if the alicorns were even worse then a fraction of nightmare moon wow i bet they did some monstrous stuff species suffering to any alicorn like that got to be horrible but with a big universe karma hit back so there punishment must be just as horrible as themselves if nothing less... boy twilight im gonna feel sorry for you... and spike.
why do i imagine an alicorn named Neptune all the sudden bottling up the sea ponies and keeping them as pets in a magical fish tank to do as pleased?
or the flutter ponies change and cursed to be adorable horrible para-sprites cause an alicorn found them to be annoying pests? or the diamond dogs were once something greater then but thank to alicorns ruin them. or the windigo's were once an another pony species like alicorn size pegasis with a demi god leader that angered the alicorn somehow maby a fight? i don't know but pretty darn mess up scary idea's they could do yeah? side it could happen.
god im getting ahead of myself imagining all that the alicorns potential of there evils i bet the sins of the alicorns im thinking of now is war and destruction and horrible curses not alicorns doing small thing like that...i think....
Well he has been watching the planet since it's formation supposedly, so he's known everything that has happened in it's history!
So, basically, alicorns were the equivalent to Nazis because they believed they were the master race.
Lovely
I expect the Alicorns' downfall to be reminiscent of them getting the same ideals as the Reapers from Mass Effect.
Yay for fast updates! Keep up this pace!
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...Why would the alicorns care about the wars between organics and synthetics?
3261540 No, the IDEALS that the Reapers had. You know, killing all life in a twisted and illogical way to save it.
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3261552 They were doing that because they wanted to end the wars between organics and synthetics. A better example might be the creators of the AI that created the Reapers.
3261840
Love it!
3261738 I'm jut saying that the alicorns might have gone genocidal on a semi-apocolyptic cale.
3261840 LAWL
3261840
I wasn't expecting Zaeres to give them a snow globe as an ancient artifact. Was there an Alicorn gift shop around? Then again, it's the best snow globe one could hope for. Now I want one. Zaeres, where are you? I know you can read this!
good chapter
Hmmm. I wonder if the humans will have access to magic or void abilities. Or will their powers be snow globe based?
I'm... just not interested at this point. The first story started out increadibly interesting. Dimensional watcher with unknown purpose saves Celestia? Intriguing. I was slightly less interested when it became clear he was a somewhat flat character, but enough was going on that it made up for it. The part where he showed empathy to Fluttershy and the mouse was really nice.
Then it became clear that he was a literal god and nothing could stop him, and that basically through all chances of thrill and excitement out the window. So I settled for watching him develope as a character, learn to feel, learn to empathize and interact again.
... He has done the exact opposite. He bullies and threatens, and when he isn't doing that, he is a case study in apathy and social ineptitude. I get that he was removed from the world of social interaction for a while, but he doesn't have to TELL everyone he meets he doesn't care about them and he will do whatever he wants.
And now this thing with the alicorns came outta left field, and it just feels forced at this point. Sad really, I was looking forward to an epic read at the beginning. Maybe some reworking and I would come back to it, but not like this.
If the alicorn race were literally a bunch of edgy Nightmare Moon-like (personality wise) alicorns, then yeesh that must have been annoying to deal with. I wonder how Celestia and Luna came to being without knowing of their own origins?