A New World, An Old God

by Northern Desert

Celestial Transcripts - They Came from Space

No one exactly knows where they came from. They were recorded to have possessed unfathomable power that would put them above all others in our galaxy. Even the Red King and his demonic legions feared them. It required multiple Draconequui and Alicorns to even confront one of them…to kill them.

Only one remains, rooted into the heart of Equus, the last of these powerful beings remaining dormant. They sought to corrupt our land and rule the minds and bodies of its inhabitants, and all but one were slain. He was imprisoned for thousands of years, locked beneath our oceans till the end of times. But he has not remained idle, and I fear that he will soon reawaken to put into action the plans set into motion long ago.

They are known as the Old Gods...but do not mistake such a title and compare them to the Goddess of Equus, for them being similar couldn’t be farther from the truth. The location of the one imprisoned remains unknown, and their identities are shrouded in mystery. What little we do know comes from legend: tales that tell us of these nightmarish creatures.

These Old Gods came and infected our world, bringing with them unstable elements that were once under the control of those of Equus. These elements battled each other on behalf of their new masters, the bloody conflict ending in the deaths of thousands of all other races. It would takes years to control these unstable elements, devaluing the control over things such as the weather or sea and leaving us with the ability to only manipulate these things, but not create them. Later, several of these immeasurable creatures have been carved into Equus’ history, some fearing their name while others worshiped them.

There are four that we know of: Izuidhig…“The One Who Sees All”, Yvhyndutl…“The Beast Of Time”, Z'erra…“The One Who Tempts All”, and the one who survived the war between the Old Gods and Equus...Nthoggom, a mystery unlike any other.

I give you their names, but the physical forms of these creatures are so terrible that even I dare not learn of them, for it would drive me mad. Their kind has been labeled long ago, before our world even existed, and the species go by the name “Eldritch Abominations”. As mentioned before, we have no true answer to their origin. Some speculate that they came from the cosmos, a place simply know as the “Void”.

The goals of these ancient creatures are usually unknown, but it seems that most of the ones who came to Equus seeked armies, other knowledge, some to play with our world as if it were a mere toy. But Nthoggom was much different...he did not seek such trivial things. No, his sights were set on control, to take Equus as his own. This ambition would lead to his survival while his fellow Old Gods would die. For while the Goddess of Equus and her forces were able to combat these monsters and even kill them, they stumbled upon a horrifying truth, told to them by Izuidhig.

Izuidhig had settled himself in the East, and his armies were buried with him in the sandy regions that are now the homeland of the Zebras. This was the first of the four Old Gods that Equus would fight, and it was through him that they learned dark secrets...ones that would shape our world. For while each of these Eldritch beings had come for their separate reasons, each one would have a powerful impact on the world should they die. When Izuidhig came to Equus, he brought with him knowledge of dark magic and powers. He twisted this world to apply to this knowledge, and when he died, this dangerous insight dispersed across the world. In his last breathes, he spoke of the affects each Old God would have on our planet.

Here are his words on the nature of the Old Gods’ deaths:

My death will bring dark learnings and abilities. This who learn even a fraction of what I know will become twisted and greedy, ambitious and cruel…

He who manipulates your time, when dead, will take away your control over such matters like destiny and time. Each event will create a ripple, one that will bar your Goddess influence over, choices of mortals shall affect the world.

The death of the tempter will bring upon you emotions unlike any other. Magic will act on these emotions: fear, ambition, hatred, and some many other malevolent thoughts. They shall manifest into physical creatures, and they shall take away what you love.

While the others sought lesser things from your world, this one seeks the highest of things: Control. He has rooted himself deep within the heart of Equus, and with his death he shall bring upon the end of this world. Yes...to kill him is to forfeit all that you hope to secure. Only imprisonment can stop him, and even then this world is susceptible to his influence…

This of course frightened our Goddess, that these creatures could have such an impact upon death. Each battle lead to the deaths of countless Draconequui and Alicorns, so many that my race along with Discord’s would become scarce. Each confrontation lead to the defeat of one of these powerful beings, until the only two left were Yvhyndutl and Nthoggom. And near his end, Yvhyndutl gave the Goddess a prophecy of his own:

Time flows free with my death, its events will no longer be altered through your power. This world’s very inhabitants shall tear themselves apart! Ambition will lead to the consumption of all magic! A bell will toll and a kingdom shall be lost! The madness of chaos shall cause strife upon your lands! Darkness shall enslave love! Blood shall fight blood and the moon will rise against the sun! Six shall use the power of one and vanquish all their foes…

And when all of this has come to pass, the horse of 17 plates will come with his brood. In doing this, he who sleeps in the depths below shall awaken, and his champion, a Draconequus of old, shall bring about the End of Times...

Deciphering this prophecy has been tricky and nearly impossible to those before me. Even the Goddess was not sure as to the nature of these events, but I believe that I have found some answers. But I must first tell of the last Old God and the sole survivor of his kind. As was told by Izuidhig, Nthoggom has fused himself with our world, making his death end all life. To avoid this, the Goddess need to set a trap for the powerful being, one that would lock him deep within the world. While the exact location of this place is unknown, I have come to the discovery that they locked him within the ocean of Equus.

Description of his form is vague, and for good reason. It is said that he is a beast of a thousand maws, with an octopus like body that allows it to traverse through the seas. It should also be noted that while these creatures came to this world in grotesque bodies, it seemed that Nthoggom has encountered a side effect when joining himself with the planet. Our world’s reality is somewhat...cartoonish if what I’ve been told is correct.

This had seemed to affect the appearance of this Old God. While he was still quite terrifying, it seemed that Equus had warped his body…making his appearance less disgusting. Of course, this only worsened the problem. For the planet to make such an effect on something so powerful, that would mean that it had already fused with him, thus ensuring his survival.

And yet, even with a more...cutesy body, the Old God was still a force to be reckoned with. He obliterated large numbers of the Goddess’s warriors, and had even managed to directly harm the creator herself. All had seemed lost for the dwindling numbers of the world’s last hopes, but it is said that the Alicorns brought with them seven lights and a great power had descended from the sky and joined in the assault of the Nthoggom.

Discord is probably the only one who exists that could give an accurate description of the seven lights , but all he would say was that it had been a last ditch effort of the Goddess part. That is was some ancient power created by the Alicorns during their war with the Draconequui. It was through this and the remaining warriors of Equus that the Old God was imprisoned, much of his power being stripped away.

Thus leading to the end of elder beings...at least, this is what was assumed.

As I had mentioned earlier, the prophecy that was spoken by Yvhyndutl was a foretelling of the future. This had only really connected under the rule of my sister and I.

This ‘Ambition’ that would consume all magic has lead me to believe that the Old God was talking about Tirek, who currently sits in Tartarus after being banished because he attempted to devour our magic. This ‘bell’ that was mentioned and the lost kingdom may have to do with an old story told of a powerful goat whose magic bell, upon its destruction, sent him and his kingdom to a dark realm.

The ‘Madness of Chaos’ definitely describes Discord and his chaotic reign over most of the known world. This ‘Darkness’ that would enslave love is probably describing Sombra’s takeover of the Crystal Empire…The next vision of the future is of my sisters rebellion against me, where we battled each other and she attempted to raise the moon against the sun.

But the last of these visions of the future have yet to happen. And while these unknown factors frighten me, what terrifies me even more was my confrontation with...him. I do not know why or how, but in the Zebra Kingdoms a cult had appeared and started to perform dark rituals. It was there that I had gone and destroyed the cult, but not before a manifestation of the Old God Nthoggom had arrived. While his appearance was no longer the monstrous creature of old, the mere image of him would stop the heart of even the bravest souls.

We battled for five days and four nights, with no end in sight. Truly he had been weakened by his first defeat, for I, a single alicorn, was able to battle him alone. When the fifth and final day came, I had gained the advantage to seemingly balanced struggle, and I struck him down with all of my might. I watched as his body shimmered out of existence, his voice barely a whisper spoke to me with cool contemplation. He told me that this was but just a fraction of what was to come, and that when he rose again, it would be his world, not mine.

I am unsure of when he will return, nor do I think that I alone can battle him again. His interactions with this world are unknown, but he has definitely played his part in many terrible events, this I am sure of. Discord’s descent into madness and Star Swirl’s disappearance came only after the two went to research more on this Old God. I had also assumed that this ‘champion’ of Nthoggom was Discord, but this seems far from the case. For while Discord had brought chaos to the world, he had made no attempted in destroying it.

Which arises many questions. Like where this other Draconequus is, who it is, and where it will strike next. Is this creature who once served the Goddess responsible for the cult? Was it seeking to awaken its master? What parts will the other evils my sister and I faced play in this game? Can we assume they would join something that threatens the entire world? With my sister trapped on the moon, I feel even more alone than I have ever felt before. My only hope is that this ‘horse with seventeen plates’ will never come, or that if he does, Equus will be at its greatest strength.

- Princess Celestia, ruler and patron of Equestria

Author's Note:

Hello Everyone!

Northern Desert33 bringing you part two of Equus' lore! This time, I bring you the "Old Gods". Man were these guys fun to write about. As mentioned in the story description, these creatures are inspired by a multitude of creatures that share the "Elderitch Abomination" trope that spawned from Cthulhu Mythos.

Edited by Glitchhunter5000