The Original Alicorn

by Mimkage

Chapter three: Gods of old

“Reading that old book again, sister?” Luna entered the library, rudely interrupting the story which seemed to bug Twilight.

“Look who’s decided to join us! Such a pleasure having you among the living, Luna.” Replied Celestia in a teasing manner, smirking at her sister who simply replied with sarcastic laughter.

She sat next to Celestia, yawning a bit.

“So, what part are you on?” She asked, laying down on the ground to settle in.

“Just before they make it to the Undiscovered West, you know, the part where Athen-”

“No! Don’t spoil it!” Cried Twilight, cutting Celestia off mid sentence which seemed to shock both her and Luna. Instantly Twilight slammed her hooves over her muzzle, seemly horrified at herself for yelling at them like that.

“I-I’m so sorry! I just… don’t want to have anything ruined…” Twilight slowly sunk into the cushion, burrowing her face into it to hide her shame.

“Of course not, my apologizes. Perhaps I should continue?” Celestia said, reaching over to pet her precious purple pony. This earned her a bashful smile from Twilight which seemed to warm Celestia’s heart a bit. She turned her head back to the book and resumed reading.

*Flashback*

Athena became merciless to all who dared to stand in her path, assuming the roll Anomi once played she protected the herd without hesitation. Her eyes seemed permanently stained with that of hatred at all she crossed.

Her friends could do nothing as Athena became more and more cruel. Despite what they told her Athena believed this new behavior was her being brave when, in truth, it was just what consumed all else in this war.

The bitterness and distrust in everyone, the very thing that sparked this war to start, now imbedded it’s roots deep in her heart and were sealed off even to her friends by grief.

Athena did not even cry, not a tear, at the loss of her parents. She saw it as weakness and instead grew colder. She was to focused on her goal to even acknowledge her parent’s deaths at all after that night.

Reaching the Undiscovered West became an obsession to her to the point where she would push her herd beyond their limits to reach it. She was still kind, being gentle and loving on the surface but was cruel in the way that she would wait for no one.

The herd only kept up only thanks the efforts of Athena’s friends. Zilo would soothe the wounds and aches of those who needed it with her knowledge of medicine and magic. Although Anomi’s injuries made it impossible for him to fly ever again he worked to keep the spirits of the herd high by providing moral through his valor. In the rare moments where the herd would stop and rest Palma and Norran would tell them stories and legends to entertain them. Bun would teach them about the constellations, keeping their hope high with the belief the stars could grant them luck and blessed their journey.

During one of these rest stops Norran finally decided to tell the stories of the ancient gods, the origin of the alicorn, to the herd in hopes that maybe the lore would quail their hearts.

They had begun to grow wary of Athena, fear emerging in them.

It was easy to see why as, even now as the herd gathered around a warm fire to listen to Norran’s story she sat alone with her head to the west. All could see the bags under her eyes, the wear and tear her fall had caused her. She seemed to be a very different pony now.

Norran gave her a simple gaze, greatly concerned for her as he began to tell his tale. He projected his voice loud enough for all to hear, including Athena.

“It is said that a long time ago, before even the creation of the Everfree Forest, there was a time where no war existed. It was a time that knew true peace and harmony between all the species and the creature known as the “Alicorn” was simply a symbol of hope and harmony. Only those proven to be leaders of great valor and wisdom would ever receive these symbols.”

As Norran told his story he used his Reindeer magic to make magical silhouettes in the air to entertain his herd, glancing back at Athena who seemed to not pay him any heed. Still he continued.

“Back then, those of this land knew many odd occurrences that happened without explanation. Sometimes, flowers would bloom for no reason or streams of rainbow lights would adorn the sky when creatures gathered together and expressed the joy within their hearts. In an attempt to explain these occurrences stories were spun and, from these stories, the myth of the great gods came to be.

The God of the Sea, A powerful Seapony said to be able to bent the ocean to his wills was thus dubbed Poseidon.The Goddess of the Seasons, a gentle Reindeer who would bring snow and sun to the land was named Demeter. The God of light, a Zebra that inspired creativity and brought medicine to us was named Apollo. The God of War, a boar, wild and temperamental was dubbed Ares. The Goddess of Love, a Sphinx whose beauty was rivaled by none, was named Aphrodite. The God of Fire, a Griffon known to forge weapons greater than any was named Hephaestus. The God of Communication, a Breezie who was able to fly faster than any being, was named Hermes. The Goddess of the Hearth, a Changeling whom was the diplomat to all her family was named Hestia. The God of Ecstasy, a goat whom inspired theater and celebration was named Bacchus. The Goddess of Marriage, a Cow, known as the Queen among the gods was named Hera. The God of Gods, the God of the sky, a winged Centaur whom had the power to throw lightning down at all who opposed him, Zeus and, finally, The Goddess of wisdom, truly knowledgeable and intelligent, a creature that represented the true harmony along the pony folk and the only goddess based off a creature that never truly existed, an alicorn. Her name was Athena"

The engaged herd listened closely, seemly enjoying the tale Norran told. Athena, even though she pretended not to listen, did so closely. The mention of her name in an ancient legend was hard to ignore.

"But why would they base a god off something that didn't even exist?" Asked a young, goat kid.

"Well, as I mentioned before the Alicorn was a symbol used to represent harmony and leadership among the three species of pony. So, when the identities of the gods were being assigned the pony folk choose the Alicorn as the Alicorn is not only a great symbol to them but also all of them mixed together into one species. The ultimate unity. As you can imagine, they held great pride in this.

So much so that they erected a statue in her image. Soon, the other creatures also created statues of their own to embody their own gods as well. They built them in the circle around another statue encrusted in gems of many different kinds from polished jade to diamond as clear as glass. It was a simple sculpture meant to represent the planet we call home. It was said that when creatures that represented the statues gathered around this sculpture a powerful, unknown magic began to well there. With this magic they had the ability to warp the world, turning winter to spring in the blink of an eye, bring rain to the driest deserts and could even control the setting and rising of the moon and sun themselves. They believed this to be a gift from the gods, a taste of their power to thank those of our world for being loyal to them.

This magic allowed them to do wonderful things, benefiting the entirety of the world as a whole. For hundreds of years, they lived without difficulty, assigning new 'representatives' every couple of years to appeal the gods. Truly it was a time of prosperity for all.

But for every age of wonder and prosperity comes one of darkness and greed. The harmony that kept these creatures in balance soon caused a fracture in them as the desire for power grew more and more. One day, a dragon arose and approached the current representatives, demanding that gems rain from the sky. However, despite what the dragon believed they could not make that be, they did not know how. If they were to try likely such a event would drain all the power they would summon forth, leaving none for everyone else. However, instead of understanding the dragon became furious with their refusal.

"How dare you deny the plea of the dragons! Is it already not insulting enough that we not have a god to represent us?! Instead we must crawl to you tiny creatures and beg for what we desire. We demand to have a god of our own!" she yelled. They tried to explain the gods were creatures beyond them and they could not decide which creature did or did not have a representative. In fact they themselves did not even know if the depictions of the gods were accurate as they simply based their gods off the creature that best represented what their gods lord over.

Despite this explanation, the dragon refused to accept this and swore that one day her kind will have a god of their own and that they would no longer need to come crawling to them for their needs. She left in a fury so great it left all who crossed her shook.

Due to her sheer hatred and anger she was dubbed Hades by everyone even though that was not her true name. She adopted this name and used it to stir not only the hearts of the dragons but of many other creatures with one simple phrase.

"Where is OUR god!?"

Yaks, horses, elephants, giraffe, hippogryphs, gazelle, all the creatures without their own god began to rally in mass. Slowly, a power hungry force began to be born, demanding the power the gods had for their own. They believed it to be their right and, no matter how much those with gods tried to quail them, their anger would not cease.

Worse still, the more creatures Hades would rally behind her the less power the representatives could draw from their well. It seemed that, the more the harmony was disturbed the less power they could draw and, although they explained this to the enraged creatures whom noticed the decline in magic the creatures refused to believe them.

They believed the representatives were hoarding the power for themselves, keeping it from them to silence them.

It wasn't long until their greed had drove them to the point of attack. If they could not be given the power they desired they would simply take it instead. Once the attacks began the power from the well dried up completely and instead began to ooze purple and black gunk that sucked the life of all that touched it.

The only magic the well produced seemed to be unusable and destructive to all.

But this only seemed to send the masses into a power crazed rage.

By the time anyone could realize what had happened it was to late. The last hint of magic the well ever expelled was a single, protective spell that encased the entire area in a magical field.

No creature would ever approach it again and it vanished.

To this day, many generations later the war continues and the desire for power consumes all in it's ravenous jaws. It's destroyed our spirits, our land, our homes and...."

Norran stared directly at Athena who now looked intently at him. She listened to every word that left his mouth as he spoke. The next words that left his mouth were directed right at her. He hoped that, somehow he could stop her from falling down the same despair that consumed many others.

How he hoped.

"Even our families. Even so, even now as our world burns we still have one another in our refugee herd. This is more than several others have and will likely ever have. Together, together we are at our strongest. That is the true purpose meant to be shown to us through the creation of the gods. A message lost to many... but I have a feeling that through us... and through Athena... That message may be revived again."

Athena felt all eyes fall to her, staring at her form intensely. It made her wince and turn away from their stare but still she felt them against her back.

"That, at least, is what I hope."