Creationism

by Sollace

Chapter 3: Distant Past

Celestia stood with her eyes closed, on the edge of her balcony overlooking the castle courtyard. She took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly, feeling the warmth of her sun radiating from above. She pictured it in her mind, the ball of immense power and mass hanging far off in the distance, and felt for its weight as it rested in her aura in space.

She imagined pushing it slightly, and felt the resistance it gave, then slowly building up strength until it finally gave. She felt a slight tingling sensation up the back of her neck and off the tip of her horn as the flow of magic changed.

Releasing her breath, Celestia allowed the image to fade and opened her eyes. She watched as her sun slowly glided away towards the horizon. After watching if for a few moments, ensuring it followed its descent as instructed, she turned her attention to the activity below.

A row of guards stood to attention; their golden armour catching the sun’s light in a brilliant display, as Shining Armour passed by doing his inspections. Celestia watched intently as he stopped in front of one of the guards, a Pegasus. He spoke quickly, though too far for Celestia to make out what he said, his intent became clear when the guard nodded and reluctantly separated away from the group. He moved forward, lowered himself to the ground, and began doing wing ups in front of his comrades.

Celestia was jolted back to the present by Luna’s voice from behind “You truly have outdone yourself, sister. I could not have asked for a better prelude to the beginnings my night.” Celestia gave a heavy sigh and moved aside to allow her sister to join her at the ledge.

Luna turned to Celestia “Is something the matter?” she asked, concern clearly evident by her tone.

“I sometimes wonder if we made the right choice… all those moons ago.” Celestia replied, “Whether it could have turned out differently.”

“We did what we believed to be the best for them at the time.” as she said this Luna glanced over at the city of Canterlot, sprawling out beyond the castle walls. “There is nothing we can do to change the past. Why, ti’s thee that should know this better than any.”

“I know, Luna. But one cannot help but wonder...” Celestia trailed off and focused her attention back to the activities below.

Luna frowned and sat in silence beside her sister. A metallic clatter was heard from below as the guards saluted to their captain and took off jogging laps around the courtyard.

Celestia broke the silence, “How has the research been?”

“It is... slow”, Luna admitted. “We have the beginnings of a spell worked out and indeed have had some success in testings and with samples, but the spell fails in the most crucial parts when placed to any sort of realistic use. It is times like this that we wish Starswirl were still with us. He surely could have solved this within a fortnight.”

Luna looked up to Celestia. “What of you sister, will you be telling him soon?”

“I shall.” Celestia answered flatly. “I have already asked Shining Armour to meet me in the throne room this afternoon. I will be leaving to meet him there shortly.”

---

Draconequus glides aimlessly through the sky, observing the land as he thinks to himself. How could I have been such a fool? All of the signs were there, yet, I refused to seen them.

Through the ages Discord had slowly slipped his claws into Equestrian society, twisting the minds of their leaders. Blinded by his influence, the once peaceful ponies have now broken off into factions each claiming their own domain. The Unicorns now distance themselves from the other tribes in the belief that they are the master race.

The Pegasus tribes have claimed the skies as their dominion, governing them with an iron hoof. Their soldiers can be seen patrolling all throughout day whilst the Thestrals take to the skies at night.

But it is the Earth Pony tribe that is by far the worst off. They remain stuck in the middle at the mercy of the other tribes, tasked with providing food to both parties in exchange for the sunlight and summer rains they need to grow the very same crops.

These developments worry Draconequus; for the longer things continue on this path, the stronger Discord will become and the less likely that anyone will be able to stop him.

I need to stop this before it’s too late.

A distant gleam catches Draconequus’ eye. He directs his gaze out towards the horizon. Just visible in the distance stands a castle surrounded by a small village and defensive wall; its jewel-like surface glistening in the sunlight, the last nation outside of Discord’s reach, the Crystal Kingdom.

A smile spreads across Draconequus’ face. And I know exactly where to start.

---

Celestia sat at her throne deep in thought, her stone-like visage giving no indication as to the inner workings of her mind.

Her ears flicked forward when they picked up a light click as the front door cracked. The armoured head of a unicorn guard peeked through the partially open door, “Your Highness, he’s here.”

“Thank you, send him in.” She did not wish to delay much longer.

The Unicorn bowed his head, “Aye Princess” and then disappeared back through the door.

Celestia slowly picked herself up, descending to the base of her throne where she waited to meet her guest. Moments later the doors opened once again, accompanied by the trotting or armoured hooves through the throne room.

Shining Armour stopped a few feet before Celestia, and bowed his head slightly. “You asked to see me Princess?”

“Yes, I trust the preparations are coming along well?”

“Sort of” Shining scratched behind his head. “They’re all scrubs. I can’t believe how they could get so slack in such a short time.” Noticing Celestia’s slight disappointment he quickly added. “But I can assure you, they will be ready when the time comes.”

“Good, then I shall leave that to you…” Celestia gave a faint sigh. “But that is not the main reason for why I have called you here today.”

“You see, there are some details that may have been left out in our last meeting and, with some convincing from Luna, I’ve decided it may be best to bring them to your attention.”

Shining Armour’s ears drooped and he looked up in slight confusion, “What do you mean?”

“What’s happening now, the disappearances, is not so much a surprise to me and Luna as we may have let you believe. In a way, we were expecting it eventually. That is why we had to call you here so urgently. If we had not you surely would have befallen the same fate.”

“I’m not following, are you saying you knew this was going to happen? And that I could be a target as well?”

Celestia shook her head and paused for a moment in thought. “Perhaps, it would best I show you.” She moved to Shining’s side “I ask that you keep close. I would not want you to injure yourself.”

Shining nodded, and then Celestia turned her attention to the throne and began to focus magic into her horn. She lowered her head and aimed to the top crest of the throne where a large jewel sat, much like the one in the Crystal Empire. Celestia’s horn gave off a spark and flash as it was enveloped in a golden hue. A small wisp of shimmering light arced from Celestia’s horn and reached out to the jewel, finally connecting with it and making it glow in like colour.

There was a faint mechanical click, and a low rumble as an unseen mechanism sprang to life. On que the floor around them began to move. With a monotonous click, click, clicking, the arms of the solar emblem carved into the floor around them tilted and slid past each other. They turned and retracted away from the centre revealing a black abyss below, a dark tunnel carved deep into the core of mountain.

The mechanism’s tune changed and the sun’s centre, now a platform to both parties, began to descend. Shining watched as the petals of the sun closed in above them once again, cutting off the light from the outside world.

---

As Draconequus alights outside the front gates of the Crystal Kingdom, two guards run out to greet him. They set their spears upright at their side and flash a solute to their esteemed guest, “Lord Draconequus, it is an honour that you would grace our kingdom with your presence” they proclaim loudly.

Draconequus waves his claw nonchalantly, “Yes, yes, I care not for your formalities. I wish to speak with your princess. It is a matter of most importance.”

“Of course, this way your highness” The guards turn and lead Draconequus back through the front gate. The gate slowly closes behind them as they walk through. The one guard heads into the guard station to relay a message ahead whilst the other carries on as Draconequus’ escort to the castle.

The guard keeps up a quick pace as he leads Draconequus through the crowded streets, ponies clearing the way as they pass. He leads Draconequus to the castle gates where he leaves him in the capable hooves of the castle guard to return to his post.

Draconequus is taken to the grand hall, meeting place of nobles and princesses alike, where he is left to await the princess’s arrival.

At length, the door to the hall opens to allow a tall, plain white Unicorn mare into the room. Her light pink mane hanging almost perfectly straight, if not for the occasional curl, over her withers and her cutie mark, an ornate, cerulean crystal heart placed upside down adorned her flank.

“Draconequus, to what may we have this pleasure?”

Draconequus inclines his head, “Greetings, Princess Chrysalis. It is about my son, Discord. I trust you are aware of what is happening to the West?”

“Indeed, I am, you do not think Discord is behind this?”

“I know he is. I can feel his magic in the air when I speak with the nobles; I can sense his dark arts at work when I hear the dribble that flows forth from their muzzles. They are his puppets, blinded and manipulated into doing his bidding.”

Chrysalis walks over to the table and takes a seat; she welcomes him to join her. “Do you plan to confront him?”
Draconequus’ brow furrows. He pulls up a seat opposite Chrysalis and leans forward, resting his elbows on the table. “No, it’s too late for that. Discord would not listen to reason, and a full frontal assault would be foolish. As the chaos in Equestria grows so does his power, and as it is, with my power waning, I could not defeat him.” He pauses for a moment and ads “Even if I were at the height of my potential the, fight would be no more beneficial for Equestria.”

“No, I have another plan.” Draconequus looks back up towards Chrysalis, “And for this I need your help. Through some means your nation has been able to escape Discord’s influence, for now. I hope to use that to my advantage.”

He waves a claw over the table and a small patch starts to glow with magic. A mound no larger than his fist quickly takes form and so morphs into a small satchel sitting on the table between them.

Draconequus motions to the sack “This is for you. It contains a note and one seed. I entrust upon you the responsibility to find a place that this seed can grow and to protect it until it reaches maturity. The tree that it grows into will become the source of a powerful harmonic force capable of halting Discord’s advance. But as natural opposites, the tree will attract the chaos from around Equestria for which you must be prepared.” Draconequus pushes the satchel across the table towards Chrysalis. “When the time comes it will bear seven fruit that will aid in stopping Discord. The note contains instructions on what to do when that time comes.”

Chrysalis takes the satchel in her magic and weighs the contents, “Very well, we will ensure the tree receives the proper care.”

Draconequus nods, “Good.” He pushes his seat back and begins to stand. “Now I must take my leave.”

Chrysalis looks to him with a questioning gaze. “Wait, are you not going to stay to see your plan through?”

“I cannot. The eons have taken their toll. The effort needed to create that seed alone has taken a large portion of what little strength I have left. I now plan to head north of here, to the frozen wastes, where I can rest and regain my strength.”

“If you must go then I ask that you take some of my guards as an escort. They can help you along the way should you need it.”

“Thank you, Princess.” Draconequus inclines his head and turns to leave. He stops at the door briefly and turns back. “Just one more thing; a warning before I leave. No matter what, do not touch the fruit. For to trifle with untamed magic as powerful as this, even good magic, can lead to a fate far worse than death.” Chrysalis nods in understanding and Draconequus takes his leave.

Author's Note:

Such a short chapter for such a long wait. How many months has it been? 8?

Anyway I finally picked this up, no need to find me!

Comments

[mwclaud]

Lovely, well worth the wait. A really good read.