Azure Flame

by Silver Page

The Alicorn Truth

Author's Note:

Well hello, there! Happy Leap Year Day! Have a chapter.

Azure Flame stared up at the massive dragon, taking in the sight of the ancient being. Its scales were a vibrant green, deep and pure, though massive wounds covered his body. Despite that, bushes of flowers and various berry-bearing plants seeing to grow from the rents and fissures in his scales, becoming a part of him. The Dragon’s spines were no more, replaced by slender trees; pine, oak, elm, and more, their roots trailing down his back. In fact, his tail seemed to be a mass of vines and knotted wood rather than made of flesh and blood. No wings graced his back, but instead the branches of several trees grew outwards and their canopy gave the illusion of wings.

“Amazing,” Azure whispered in awe. The Dragon chuckled.
“Yes, those who see me tend to agree. Becoming one with nature is hard, but the results are worth it. But enough about me. You have questions, do you not?”

“Yes, I do!” Azure said, looking the Dragon in the eyes. “Who are you? What was that… thing outside? And… what is the truth about Celestia and Luna?”

“Let us start with your questions in order. I am Arnos Everfree, a Dragon-Lord of the old Empire of Draconia. The last one, to be precise. It was I who sealed away Discord in a prison beyond space and time many ages ago.”

The Dragon shifted, and the plant-life rustled musically with him. “As for the second question… that is a bit harder to explain. He is a Colossi, one of the beings who ruled this world long before us Dragons. I do not know his name, and other than his title, I doubt he even has one. He is the Secretary, managing the affairs of the Afterlife’s and the pocket dimensions scattered around Erafore’s time and space.”

Azure Flame nodded slowly, taking it all in. This was all so surreal.

“And my last question?”

“That will take a bit more time. And a bit more backstory.” Arnos took a deep breath, then exhaled a cloud of shimmering dust, that began to take shape in the air.

“There have been many ages in this world, and many races upon it. The first age, The Age of Elements, was when the world was first formed. The Elementals are born from the primordial and raw magic of this newly born planet.” In the air, the dust takes on the shapes of ethereal beings of energy and matter. Beautiful, wild, and powerful. “Many, many years pass before the second age, the First Age of Dragons. The Dragon races first appeared then, with many forms. Some in the sea, some in the air, some on land.” New images of bizarre creatures appear; some with long necks, some with flippers and fangs like swords that swam in the deep oceans, and some with massive wings that soared in the sky. It shifted rapidly to images of fire, storms, and roiling melees across a single, gargantuan continent. “Time passed, and my ancestors are wiped out by the Elementals after foolishly waging war upon them. For what reason, it is unknown, and those who may have the answer are few, and incapable of being roused for their slumber. The war shatters the land, causing great changes in the climate and ecosystem. New species arise, supplanting the Dragons and Elementals.”

“Then comes the third age. The Age of Archons, named after the next race to grace Erafore.” Unusual, bipedal creatures appear, with hands like that of Minotaurs, but feet like an apes. They walked beneath towers of steel and glass that pierced the sky, towering above even mountains. “These beings rule the shortest, but achieve the most, escaping the bonds of the atmosphere and settling onto worlds that bask in the light of other suns and stars. The Archons die off after only a dozen or so millennium, and leave Erafore after a devastating war, but not before creating the inheritors of the next age; the Colossi.”

Azure, who had sat on his haunches when the Dragon began to weave his story, listened with rapt attention.

“The Colossi were artificial beings made of advanced machines, but also of magic and engineered flesh. They were the caretakers of Erafore in the absence of the Archons, healing the wounds of the planet, and ushering in the fourth age, the Age of Titans.” Massive creatures appeared before Azure’s eyes, many different and distinct, but all vaguely similar to the creature that called itself The Secretary. Now, the dust began to no longer appear as mere blobs of shape and color, but turned into grainy images, as if photographs, or memories.

“The Colossi crafted the world anew, and many races that inhabit Erafore today owe it to the work of these beings. The ancestors of the Minotaurs, Griffons, and even Ponies owe life to the Colossi. Of course, many arise on their own, and split and evolved separately from the will of the Colossi, but they were content. We, the Dragons, awoke from eons of slumber beneath the earth and rose to find the world vastly different to the one left billions of years ago.”

“Wait, billions?!” Azure exclaimed, breaking the silence. Arnos did not seem put out by it at all and smiled at the Unicorn.

“Indeed. Billions of years. Equestria has existed for but a minute fraction of Erafore’s long life. But back to history. The Colossi entered their twilight years, and faded peacefully, while the Dragons grew in strength and intellect. We lived alongside the Titans and other mighty races, and after a few conflicts, became the rulers of much of Erafore, and when the last Colossus passed away, formed an Empire, and the beginning of the fifth age; the Second Age of Dragons.” Dragons appeared before Azure Flame, similar, but different to the ones he knew today. “Our Empire, Draconia, lasted for two million years, and was the premier power of the world.” Massive buildings filled Azure Flame’s vision, cyclopean works of architectural genius and wonder, while elegant Dragons flew through the air. In the streets, countless other species walked the insanely wide streets, gazing in reverence around them.

“All the other, ‘lesser’ races bowed to us, heeded our whims, and paid tribute. In turn, we protected them from the monsters and demons that rose in the wake of the Colossi and the Titans, and taught them to be great, and worthy of a brighter future. But it was not to last. An old monster reappeared, the one we believe to be responsible for the fall of the Archons and was without a doubt responsible for the fall of the First Age of Dragons; Discord.” The dust-vision darkened, and a hideous beast rose from a cloud of shifting, multicolored lightning. Multiple limbs of grotesque appearance with a mass of eyes and mouths balefully glaring out at the world. Azure couldn’t even begin to make a sound, shivers of fear running down his back. Arnos reached out a clawed hand, and pulled the Unicorn close. Azure accepted it, feeling no fear towards the mighty creature before him.

“Discord was an Elemental; the eldest and most powerful of the Chaos Elementals who’d ruled along with his siblings in the First Age, and later wiped out many of the Dragons in the Second. He was banished by his fellows for the genocide of the Dragons, and only recently became free. His rage still great at the Dragons of the Second Age, he tortured our kind, and became the doom of the Fifth Age.”

“Why? Why would he do that?”

“I do not know. Personally, I think the Dragons of the First Age must have harmed him greatly, perhaps having taken the life of something, or someone, dear to him.” Azure Flame nodded silently, mulling it over.

“Reasons aside, he nearly wiped us out. Those that were not killed were driven mad and tainted, their souls poisoned by greed and jealousy and wrath. The Dragons of today are these survivor’s descendants, the curse of Discord having thankfully faded a bit over the years.”

Azure Flame said nothing, but in his mind, the thought of the callous, crude, and brutal Dragons now being somehow more civilized then their ancestors was a sobering thought.

“And that is where I come in. I was the last of the Dragon-Lords, rulers of Draconia. In order to stop Discord, I and the others cast a forbidden spell that tore open space and time and sealed him away. At the cost of our own bodies, however. My companions sacrificed their bodies, reduced to dust in a moment. As for me, I was not allowed a quick death. I started to decay while still alive, soon to become a lich, or worse. After the spell was completed, I escaped the madness of my fellows and settled in a small forest north of the Dragon Heartlands in order to live out my last days. The raw magic of a spell that transcends reality and the taint of Discords curse upon my flesh leaked into the land around me. What you know as the Everfree Forest was born around me, and as I lay, wishing to die, but unable to do so, the world changed. Many tens of thousands of years passed, and then the Alicorns came.” Azure Flame’s ears perked up, and he leaned in unconsciously.

Suddenly, the dust took on new images, clearer and brighter. An image of the night sky filled him sights, and Azure felt himself calmed by the vision of stars. He frowned as he noticed something odd; a star that was moving, and growing closer…

He gasped as what he thought had been a star, or maybe a comet, was in fact a gargantuan chunk of metal and crystal of multiple hues. As it hurtled through space, he noticed it was carved and shaped to vaguely resemble the pod of a zeppelin, or one of those new-fangled ‘submarines’ that was being researched. A thought, ludicrous and insane, crossed Azure’s mind, but he refused to believe it. It would be too absurd!

“I see you are catching on, little one. Yes, that thing before you is a vessel designed to fly through space, and carrying a very interesting cargo,” Arnos said, with a teasing tone to his voice. Together, they watched as the hunk of metal and crystal approached Erafore, affording them a view of their fair world from space. As breathtaking as it was, the next part was even more amazing. The space-borne object descended and hovered above a region that Azure vaguely thought was the Badlands based on certain landmarks, but was far too green and undevestated. Then, the object settled down, and a hatch opened up on its side. Stairs unfolded smoothly from the opening, and soon, a tall, majestic creature stepped forth. A tall, majestic creature with four legs, wings, and a horn…

“No. Bucking. Way,” Azure uttered, shocked. Right in front of his eyes was a column of Alicorns like his Aunts descending from within the bowels of the space-ship.

Comments

[SageBrony07]

Wow. I did not see that coming

[josue]

So is it possible that Fluttershy is descendant of the Pony who Discord loved