My Little Pony: Side Stories, Arc 1: Those That Walk With Gods

by Kiheiji

Prologue

Across the vast plains of the Kingdom of Equestria and down the Canterlot Mountain rides Fate. Her wheels spin the threads in indifference the the wills of the creachers that live in this world of Equus. Setting this world in motion and setting those tangled in her webs on certain paths. Affecting all the that reside near and far she rides hard into the horizon. Across the vast plains her webs flow, into the towns, and into the cities. Her reach is felt even to the far reaches of this world. Equestria, Vestabule, Kitharin, Lunguay, and Bilanall. They would all felt the twisting web of fate. Some would not survive until the end of this tale. This tale of loss, togetherness, joy, lost souls, and found ones.

“Is that the best you can do?!” He screamed as the air rippled. It rippled from the energy between the two pony shapes in the sky. The magic that collided between them had exploded sending offshoots of magic flying out on all directions exploding on impact with the nearest obstacle when they hit. The two creatures floating in the air above the old castle were mirrors of each other. They had been doing this for no more than fifteen seconds and the forest below them was already a blazing inferno. “Is that really the best you can do Celestia?!” He screamed again in her direction. Celestia was really doing her best but the use of the Elements of Harmony and losing her sister was making her falter.

“Demon!” She screamed back as she put more power into her horn and the energy between them shifted slightly more in the direction of the other creature. For his part he had a sort of aura, tangle of twin horns, and red slitted eyes. Those eyes had haunted her dreams and now they stared at her. They always looked so full of hate and bitterness then. Those eyes, now that she was forced to bare their gleam, look so full of glee as they taunted her, daring her to hate them. His wings flapped hard against the new magic that the Queen had used. It was a bad opera in this tug of war. She was using more of herself; so much so that she felt like she might even die from this. But he needed more from her, more raw power. He needed her to use the Elements. He grunted hard pushing his magical reserves to their limit forcing his horn to crack and the beams between them shifted over to her side. 'That’s not everything.’ He thought to himself. Even though she was still crying over her sister, he needed more from her. “Does your sister’s banishment mean so little to you that you'd fail this badly?!” A taunting laugh following the quip. “So sad…”

She would not give in to this abomination, this thing that had taken her dear sister from her. She couldn't stop the tears from flowing, even now as she seeked this one's destruction. He had taken Luna from her and she had sent Luna on such a lonely exile herself. Maybe that is why she couldn't forgive herself. Maybe that is why she didn't care right now. His jests and stabs. If she had not been in the throes of anguish she would had seen through him in a moment. As it was, his jabs were getting to her. It was making her mad. Not since Sombra had she felt this level of anger. Luna had calmed her down then, her presence was missed now. Celestia wondered if indeed she could use the Elements so soon after they had just been so recently used. Starswirl had warned her to never use them alone. Using them alone again would no doubt kill her, but she could no longer let this thing go on. No longer could she let this evil continue to ruin lives, as it had no doubt been doing for awhile. As he had been doing with Luna. Would it take Equestria as it's own if she were to disappear?

She couldn't do that! Her little ponys needed a ruler. Somepony to set the example of harmony, somepony to keep the three tribes together. It probably wasn't her that was needed, but somepony besides this thing. Him ruling Equestria? That would not do. Everyone else was gone. Starswirl, Snowdrop, and now Luna. Another couple of explosions and now the tower of the old castle was toppling down into the inferno. She was all that was left; she would have to stop him, even if it means her death. Somepony would take over, she knew. “Demon, don't talk to me of sorrow! You wouldn't know anything about that! You don't know what it's like to lose somepony you love!” It came out harsher than she had intended it, but she thought she could see a twinge of pain on his face. No, that was just a trick of the light. It had to be!

She summoned the Elements to her. She would take the responsibility now. They rose from the castle floor, rose through, the clouds of fire to encircle her. He only smiled wider, showing those fangs off as he did. He thought he could overpower them as well did he? They added their rainbow magic to her beam widening it and strengthening it. The harmony beam ate through his magic like parchment. The rainbow of colors that slammed into him made his eyes jump open in surprise, and as the energy ripped through him, purified him, she thought that he had said something, something she couldn't believe. The energy dissipated and he was gone. She still couldn't believe he had said that. Her eyes were getting heavy, it was quiet now. Only the fire remained. She had stopped his plans, she had saved Equestria once again.

This time though, it had cost her dearly. The castle was a ruin, the beautiful forest that she had grown to love was burning to the ground, and dear Luna... She had used all of her power. Every last bit of it, even the Elements were falling to the ground. She was no longer able to hold even them in her magic. She was spent. Her wings gave a few half-hearted flaps, then she fell out of the sky, her energy totally spent. She had given everything today and didn't even have enough magic to glide to the ground. As her heavy eyes started to close, the wind from the passing air was drowned out. She would be asleep soon, and after that she would slam hard into the ground. She was okay with this. This was a good death. She would go down with a smile on her face but his words came back to her now at her end. He had said it so plainly, so simply. She still couldn't believe it. It had to be something she misheard. He had just said, “Thank you.”