Autumn

by canonkiller

Libra

~Okay, I had the chapter done, but then my internet kicked out, and I lost all of it. So, upon waiting for word from knighty about the topic of retrieving said chapter, I will attempt to replicate it.~

It was silent, quieter than it had been even when the only noises were the crackle of soot and charcoal underhoof or the laboured breaths that sounded like thunder. Still and silent. The sun could no longer penetrate the blanket of ash, and had given up trying. Instead, it was a gloomy twilight, holding the battered bodies of many ponies and non-ponies, as well as the unmoving ironwork of a demon.

A creature stirred.

Before the creature had been... well attempted to be... destroyed, it had the same ragtag, discordant coat of it's father, as all creatures mortal gain traits from their parents. But the short fur was a mixture of long and short, and shimmered with some kind of spiritual light. The scales on the tail had also changed, becoming semi-reflective and much sturdier.

One one paw, the claws had grown longer and thicker, extending in the blink of an eye and always ready to spill the lifeblood of something.

The other claw had not only changed claws, but the leathery skin had hardened into a dinosaurian scale, heavier on the surface with softer, more sensitive skin on the underside.

The first back leg had gotten thicker, muscle running along the inner side, out of reach from a common attack. The fur had also grown shorter, and felt - even though it had not been touched since it had changed - almost like fuzzy sandpaper.

The second had dark green scales, marked by a pearly-white dewclaw and pair of thicker talons that served as both the claw and the toes. These claws looked sharp, and probably were, but that theory had not been tested.

The scales on the leg changed to a dark salmon colour and coated the tail, broken up by short pink spikes. The tip of the tail, once a soft plume, was now made of thin quills, which looked to be only useful for picking one's teeth, until they contacted and shot poison into the bloodstream of the target.

From the head came two horns - one almost like that of a unicorn, but bent and twisted into a curl that would leave even the strongest stallion wailing, the other a throwback to the antler of a young buck - each having shed the soft roundness of childhood for the icy sheen of maturity.

And the wings, only slightly larger than the fathers' before the death, had also changed. The feathered one was now double the height of the bearer when outstreched, and the widest section was his entire height, able to fold in half when not in use. This wing was coated in long, delicate feathers, each being sky-blue in the center, darkening to navy at the tip and being a snowy white at the base.

The other wing was the same size, but with the bone structure of a mammal, thick and heavy, while being coated in sparkling purple scales on the inside and a darker shade on the outer. Unlike the bat it drew from, the webbing was not skin and therefore throughly opaque.

This creature let out a sigh and looked up the sky, eyes closed and sensing the new things around it. Strands, of a material he could not specify, and doubted even existed normally. Taking a deep breath to calm his frayed nerves, he dropped his muzzle back to a normal angle and opened his eyes, focusing on the demon staring at him.

<Ah, you've decided to join me?>

The new creature tilted his head, studying the angles of the strands to determine where the next plane was. Moving one claw slightly up, he opened the seam, the inside of which seemed to seethe with moving colour. It would be disorienting, but not unescapable.

That would have to work. He needed some time.

No, he did not need time. His friends... no, his family... needed it.

The demon was still unaware of this happening behind him, and merely looked at the calculating look on the creature in front of him. With a quick motion, he thrust his other paw out, sending the shocked iron beast flying into the seam. With another motion, the seam closed.

That will not hold him for long. He is actually strong.

He lifted his ears, but did not turn to face the being that had appeared behind him. "I need to help my friends."

Yes, I know. You still breathe for a good reason. I will hold him for longer than the dimension will.

"He's already proven himself stronger than me. How can we beat him?"

There are others like your father. Elements of Order, to be honest, but you will have to get their help.

"The Firstborn? They're foal-tales."

To be honest, so are we.

He turned then, looking at the other supreme creature he now shared an existence with. It was the Alicorn he had met before. "You... you're something?"

None other. Now go, before he realizes you've tried to trap him.

He moved, another dimension bending dance. This one was more fluid, severing the ties that held him to this plane, in a motion that defied the laws of physics in it's grace and movement alone. The second he slowed the spin - if that was an aquedate title - he existed on thousands of realities at once, seeing the second creator in her true, ever-encompassing form. With a salute of farewell, he selected his dimension and vanished.

Sunrise fell forward as the body of her friend vanished under her claws. Instead of getting up, she just scratched at the thick dirt and cried.

The first thing she was aware of was Gilda's comforting claw between her shoulders vanishing.

Moments later, the second realization hit as a different claw began resting gently on her shoulder. She expected Tigerjay, but was too miserable to bite him.

The third was that, when she opened her eyes, Gilda was just in range of her long-sight, cradling the broken but breathing body of her son.

The fourth was that it seemed like the dread had lifted, instead becoming a soft, warm hint in the air.

The fifth was that there was no sign of blood, anywhere.

The sixth was that the demon-bird had vanished without a trace.

The seventh, that when she turned around, there was a set of soft, corcerned oceanic eyes looking back at her.

Lucky number seven.

"C'mon we have to leave. I hate to move you all along, but-"

Obsidian was cut of by Spike's irritated roar of "GET MOVING!"

He spun towards the dragon, glaring at him and making a slicing motion through the air. Once the dragon calmed down slightly, he dipped his muzzle to the dragonness sleeping quietly in his arms. "She's been sleeping peacefully for probably the first time in days. Could you turn it down just a little bit?"

"I hate having to walk."

Time to kill two birds with one stone. "Why don't you go back to Canterlot? I need you to find the oldest or smartest ponies of any breed and bring them back. Gently, if possible."

"I don't trust you alone. I've only ever known you as a killer." He paused, before his resolve broke. "But I have a feeling you reincarnating at the same time that demon vanished are connected, so I'll go. Pull one little trick, and I'll be eating your tail before sunset."

"Understood." He backed away, giving the massive dragon space to take off. He did, lifting slowly before catching a thermal and gliding up through the ashy blanket, which was slowly disappaiting.

The draconequus knew there had been a pony behind Spike, waiting for him to finish. She trotted up beside him, matching his pace. When he glanced down, curious at who the mare was, he saw the blankflanked filly, the lively mare Ponyville had once known, and the old, fragile elder she had become. When she looked up though, the only thing that showed in her eyes was a constant reflection of Celestia's death - or what Obsidian assumed to be Celestia, from the books he had read - and the pure devastation in her memory made him turn away.

"You can see it, can't you." She muttered, stating the fact instead of questioning him. "I used to know your father... wow, that sounded corny... but before all of this, before any of this, he was the second true villian me and my friends beat. He broke us, and tried to destroy everything we loved, but we won." Obsidian suddenly knew where the conversation was heading. "And I guess, in his own twisted, cosmic way, he finally succeeded. My home, my mentor, my library..."

"The library is fine. Spike has it."

"So, that's all you're going to defend? The books?"

"I didn't mean to do that. Burn... this. I lived here too. It was my home. It still is. And... this hurts me as much as it hurts you."

"It can't. Did you ever know what it looked like before?"

He made a casual glance over his shoulder, the battlefield splintering into pastel houses, whitewashed tents, burned rubble, and barren stone, and before all of that, a rolling, green meadow, with a few primitive ponies grazing.

"I do. And you do." Feeling Sunrise roll over, he shifted her around in his arms, holding her like a foal.

"You know, she never let me cuddle her. I could be close to her, I could hug her, but once she wanted to go to sleep I had to get out." She made a little smile, the kind a pony makes right before they start crying. "And I can't help but think she's a great judge of character. If she trusts you..."

The two had stopped walking, while the uninjured led the ponies further away. Twilight Sparkle put her hoof on Obsidian's claw.

"...then I trust you."

Obsidian had always been intrigued by the quick bonds they formed with others they had met only for a short friend. If someone got hurt, ponies who only knew them by the casual greeting exchanged during shopping would be showing up, concerned. This Unicorn... she had to think about trusting him?

And that made him want her trust even more.

"Thank you." He smiled, before releasing a small teleportation spell so she wouldn't have to canter to catch up.