Friends Of a Forgotten Age
"Are you sure this is the place? Emerald asked as the group looked around the clearing they had come to.
Cosmos and the girls were now deep in the Everfree Forest, far from what few paths existed in the forest.
She had been acting weird ever since she had been hit by that sudden pain at Canterlot High. Dropping everything as fast she had, saying there was something she needed to check, was off for her. And then there was what she had said before they had returned to Equestria.
Just who was 'They' anyway? Cosmos had not said a word upon their return to the outskirts of Ponyville and had immediately strode into the forest without a backward glance. The girls had struggled to keep up with the pace she was setting.
During all this, Cosmos had mumbled several things like "It can't be them, can it? And why here? Why do I feel like I should know this place?" And a moment later "What if it is them? What do I say? What can I say? They deserve better than what I gave them."
The girls hadn't had the heart to say anything. What was there to say? Something was going on in her mind, but they had no idea what it could be, so they had just followed her silently into the deepest and most remote corner of the forest.
Cosmos nodded as she smiled gently. "This is. Even after so long they found a way for me to find them again if I ever came back."
"But why would they do it out here?" Water Lilly asked.
She shook her head as her brows creased. "I don't know. But they must've had a good reason. They always did. But I feel like I should know about this place. Not as ti is, but something, else."
"Are you sure you want to do this? Crystal asked.
She nodded. "I owe this to them." Igniting her horn she pushed her earth pony magic into the ground and soon found what she was looking for. With a heave, she yanked upwards.
The girls watched in surprise as a massive marble building pushed itself from the ground. As the dirt and grime fell away they could see that it was just about the same size as the Golden Oaks Library. On the front portico, flanked by columns that rose to the roof, was a single door carved from a piece of Oak.
As the group walked up the steps to the door, they could see there were words on a plaque over the door handle. Cosmos felt her tears gather as she stopped to read it.
Here lies the Exarchs. First among equals and friends to the greatest pony this world will ever know.
In her name do we serve, now and forever.
She didn't bother to hold back her tears as she came to the next part.
May we all be together again in the next life.
But it was the final message that drove the dagger into her heart and twisted it.
We forgive you. We forgave you a long time ago.
The girls all put a hoof on her shoulder. Cosmos gave them all a thankful look. "Thank you." She whispered in a tone that broke their hearts to hear.
"You don't have to go in." Celestial said as the others nodded.
Cosmos shook her head. "No. I have to. For them. They gave me so much. They deserve to finally know." And with that she pushed the door open and entered, the girls following a moment later.
***
For as big as the outside was, the inside was rather small with only one room they could see as they entered. Finding Cosmos was easy as she was standing in front of something in the very center of the room. As they came up beside, they could all see the tears streaming down her face as she looked at what was in front of her.
Five stone coffins lay in a circle around a central statue. Though it had been uncounted years since it had been carved, it was as pristine as the day it had been finished.
"Is that?" Crystal asked.
Cosmos nodded. "That's me. Or it was me. In another lifetime." Her response came out in a hoarse whisper. They could all feel how much she was hurting inside as walked over to the first coffin. She knew that aura anywhere, no matter how long it had been as she placed a hoof on it.
"Diamond." She said before walking over to the next and repeating the motion. "Ocean Breeze." She did this for all of them. "Amber, Ivy." But as she came to the last, she stopped and struggled to speak. "Moon Petal. I am so, so, sorry. I'm sorry we never got to say goodbye, that I never told you, girls."
She finally gave in to her grief and fell to her knees, laying across the lid. "You girls were five of the greatest friends anyone could ever ask for, and I wasn't there for you. Like you always were for me." She sniffed as she smiled. "I hope you all found peace. In the next life if not this one. Even now, you all came together, to face the Final Road together."
Her tears returned in full force as she sniffed. "I promise. We will see each other again and maybe. Maybe I can make up for abandoning you."
The girls couldn't take it anymore and rushed over and gave Cosmos the biggest hug they could. She felt them through the pain and heartache and appreciated what they could do for her.
A sudden wind blew through the open doors. On it, they could all hear "You came back! You came back!"
Cosmos's eyes grew large in shock. She knew that voice, but. "Amber?"
Without warning, all five coffins began to glow brightly even as she felt the Element of Magic flare to life in her armor. A bright light soon filled the space. When it faded five new ponies stood before the group.
Cosmos felt her tears gather again, but this time in joy. "Girls. Is that you?"
Moon Petal smiled as did the rest. Her coat was a light cerulean which stood out next to her midnight hued mane and tail. Her cutie mark was a flower blooming under a full moon. "Yeah. It's us."
Cosmos was stumped. She could feel it. This was really them. Not their spirits pulled back from beyond the veil of death, but alive and as spry as the night she had last seen them. "But. How?"
Diamond smirked. Her coat was a shade or two lighter than Celestia's own. A horn poked through her peach-colored mane and her cutie mark was a near-flawless diamond. "Until time itself is unmade we would stand beside you. That was part of our oath." She said as she and the girls shared a look.
"Guess it held true even after you vanished," Ivy added. She was a nutmeg brown earth pony whose cutie mark ivy wrapping around several different types of spices.
Amber gave her a heartbroken expression as her wings drooped at her side. She was the same age as Crystal, her cutie mark a light shining from a piece of amber a shade darker than her own tan coat. She asked the question the five of them had been asking for ten thousand years. "Why did you leave? Why didn't you tell us? Do you know how much it hurt when we woke up and you were gone?"
Cosmos lowered her head in shame. "Every day I regret what I did then. I knew it was wrong, but I convinced myself that it was for the better." Her ears drooped. "I know I can't ever make that up to you, and if you hate me for that, I don't blame you." She sniffed. "You all deserve better than me."
Crystal, Emerald, Celestial, Orchid, and Water Lilly all felt their hearts break at the sight before them. But before they could do anything, Cosmos was engulfed in a massive hug by Amber, Ivy, Diamond, Ocean Breeze, and Moon Petal.
Cosmos was shocked, to say the least.
"We never stopped believing in you," Ocean said as their own tears joined her. "We never stopped hoping that one day, you'd come back."
"Even if we could, we can't hate you for that," Ivy added. "There are things going on in your mind that we'll probably never understand."
Cosmos's smile lit up the room as she returned the hug in full force. Crystal couldn't help but squee at the heartwarming sight. It was something they all heard. As the girls pulled apart, they finally noticed the other group who had stayed back from all of this.
"So. Are they the new breed for an Exarch?" Ocean Breeze asked with a smile.
Cosmos chuckled. "You make it sound bad when you put it like that. You know how that process works."
"At least that hasn't changed, like so much else." Moon Petal said with a smirk.
Amber giggled as she poked an armor plate. "Yeah. You're way more purple than I remember you ever being."
Cosmos gave the five of them a deadpan glare. "I'm lavender, thank you very much. I happen to like this color."
"Purple, lavender, whatever. Are you gonna introduce us or not?" Diamond asked.
She smiled as she waived the girls. "Indeed. Girls, meet your predecessors. Girls, meet the new generation."
Crystal and Amber eyed each other. "Does she have a thing for picking fillies?" Crystal asked.
Amber chuckled as she threw a hoof around her. "Looks like it. Welcome to the family."
Diamond and Emerald also took each other in. "So, what kind of pony are you? I don't remember ever seeing somepony like you before." Diamond said.
Emerald wasn't too surprised. "I'm not surprised. I'm a Chiroptera. We're not a numerous kind of pony as it is."
Water Lilly and Ocean Breeze seemed more hesitant. Lilly was more in awe of who she was meeting. In the few days since their ascension Cosmos had talked about them so much but always tinged with a hint of sadness. And now...
Ocean finally smiled. "It's a lot to take in isn't it?"
Lilly nodded. "Yeah. She's talked about you girls a lot, but I never thought we'd meet. I don't think any of us did."
"That makes ten of us then," Ivy said from Ocean's side. "But then again this is new for all of us."
That finally got Cosmos out of her thoughts and she asked the question that was foremost in her mind. "How are you girls still alive? Celestia said you died millennia ago."
Moon Petal shook her head. "Not died. Suspended animation. I guess it was something no ever thought would be used."
Cosmos lifted a brow. "What do you mean?"
The girls sighed. "After you vanished, we searched long and hard for you. Days became weeks, weeks became months, and months became years." Diamond said.
Amber nodded. "I'd like to say they remembered you. But somepony else was already on your throne that first morning, and they didn't remember you at all."
"They knew us though," Ivy said. "Not sure how, but they did. Eventually, the world forgot about us too, and moved on. None ever took your title. It was either Queen or Princess."
"We eventually settled down and started families of our own." Moon Petal added. "But we never forgot you. We kept your memory alive and told our children, who told theirs, and so on."
Amber shuddered at the memory of the Breaking of the World (as so many had called it, among other names). "And then, well the horseapples really hit the fan. I went back to what was left of Dream Castle and found a way for us to stay unchanged until you come back." She shrugged. "Or the universe ended, whatever came first."
"We all agreed that as we had been together in life, we would be together in this. So we vanished altogether, making it look like we had died." Ocean added.
"We came here, the heart of what used to be your kingdom, and we slept," Ivy added.
"Until you found us once more." They said together.
Cosmos nodded. "Can you leave here? I won't risk it if it might..."
Amber snorted. "Oh please. We slept here, we didn't tie ourselves to it. So yeah, we're getting out of here."
"If you'll have us once more Empress?" They said together, bowing their heads reverently.
Cosmos smiled gently as she lifted their heads one by one. "Girls. You above all others have no need to bow to me. Of course, I would be glad to have you by my side once more." Her smile widened as she turned to her newest Exarchs. "And maybe you can help our newest family to grow into their roles."
***
"So what did we miss while we were away?" Diamond asked the group returned to Ponyville. So far they knew only a little aside from the most recent ascension, and they were curious.
"You want the good or bad?" Orchid asked.
The girls shared a look. "Both?" Ivy replied. "Though I get the feeling there is a lot to go over."
Cosmos nodded. "Far too much for right now. Safe to say it hasn't been all sunshine and rainbows."
Amber tapped her chin. "Speaking of rainbows, how did Tirek come back? I thought he was dead for sure the first time."
Cosmos nodded. "He was, I'm sure of it. Somehow he revived himself. Not that it matters now, not where I sent him."
"And where's that?" Moon Petal asked.
"The Prison Plane," Cosmos replied. "No being has ever escaped it. Where he landed on it I don't know, and frankly, I don't care."
That put an end to that line of questions for they could all feel she was holding in her anger at something. Only the First Five (as the newest members had begun to call them) had any idea as to why.
Tirek had managed to tap into the Well of Midnight far more than any mortal being should have been able to. He had done things so vile that when she had come into her own Cosmos had erased any and all knowledge of them. The things he had done to his own people, among so many more, the less said about the better.
By this time the group had neared the edge of the Everfree Forest. For five of them, this was both exciting and worrying. Everything they had once know was now nothing but dust. It was a brand new world, one that had erased or glossed over the genocidal Three Tribes Era, it wasn't clear.
But they vowed that would change. Equus would remember its past and become once more the shining jewel it had once been, even if it took a thousand years. They had plenty of time to do it for only the death of the universe or Cosmos herself could kill them.
It was a vow they had made before. That night, under the light of the moon, on the site of what would one day be Dream Castle. They had been newly ascended then, not yet sure of their new strength and powers. But Cosmos had spoken to them then.
She spoke of a world where all races were equal, where no one would be shunned for their choices or ideas, a world where the darkness had been beaten back and light-filled the world. She spoke of the Rainbow Bridge and the world that existed on the other end of the rainbow, a world of peace and prosperity. These things and more she had spoken of.
Those visions had awoken something in them and they had vowed to bring that to reality, no matter how long it took. Even if they hadn't been bound to her as they were, they still would have. It had taken many years and many hard-fought battles to make that vision a reality, for Equus of the Age of Myths was crawling with evil and darkness of all kinds, but they had not been alone for many had joined them along the way.
Even if Megan had been the most hesitant of their friends in what they had been trying to do. "It's a nice idea Cosmos, but what's stopping you from becoming another Tirek, or worse? Plenty had the same idea as you, but they turned to evil in the end. I don't want that to happen here." Is how she had put it at the beginning.
At the conclusion of it all, Cosmos had admitted loud and clear that Megan's council during some of the darkest hours had indeed kept her from going overboard and becoming no better than what they had fought against.
In time that vision had become reality and it had lasted for millennia, and then... Well, they tried not to think about what came after that now. It was all in the past. Though from what they had heard so far, it seemed like they would have to start all over again. Oh well. The world sounded like it needed a good kick in the flank now more than ever, whether it wanted it or not.
As they came to the edge of the forest, Cosmos turned back to the girls. "Okay, Ponyville already knows about me and five of you." She snickered. "Be prepared to be ponyknapped at some point by Pinkie Pie."
Amber, Diamond, Ivy, Ocean, and Moon Petal all shared a look. "Why would she do that?" Diamond asked. "It's not like she could though."
"Pinkie has an obsession with throwing parties for every new pony that comes into town." Celestial said. "And you girls are new to everyone but us, so it'll probably be even crazier."
Amber rolled her eyes. "Unless she's semi divine like us, nothing she can really do if we don't want her to."
Crystal tilted her head. "How's that?" She asked.
Ivy chuckled. "We used to beat up whole armies for fun. One pony should be easy to handle." She tapped her chin. "And we used to beat them up in more than one form too."
"I think we only used one more than once more," Ocean added.
Cosmos's eyes grew large. "Oh no, we are not going there yet. I don't even know if we can become that now with all of us."
"What do you mean?" Lilly asked.
Cosmos sighed. "Do you girls know the name Tiamat?"
They shared a look. "The five-headed Dragon Queen? Isn't she just a myth?" Celestial asked.
Amber, Diamond, Ivy, Ocean, and Moon Petal all stared in shock at that. "Just a myth?! Is that what we've become?" Ivy said indignantly as she began to glow. "I have a mind to knock heads for that!"
Cosmos placed a hoof on her shoulder. "Please don't. Whoever wrote that about us is long dead anyway."
"What do you mean us?" Orchid asked.
Amber looked up at Cosmos. "You haven't told them yet?" Cosmos shook her head. Amber's face split into a huge grin. "Oh, the fun we'll be having with that."
"With what?" Emerald asked.
Cosmos shook her head. "Tiamat isn't a myth, and she isn't a five-headed dragon. She's six-headed. She's based on us. A form we could all take together." She smiled broadly as she remembered all the times they had.
The girls shared a look. "Okay, but what's stopping us from doing it now too?" Crystal asked.
Cosmos sighed. "Because I've never done it with more than five. I don't even know if we still can." She gave Ivy a look. "Though from that glow, you still have some part of it."
"And what's that?" Celestial asked.
"We each have our own dragon form we can take on if we don't combine into one." Moon Petal said. "Probably not a good idea to show it though. Don't wanna start a panic our first day back."
Cosmos nodded. "Good idea. Ponyville doesn't have a perfect track record with dragons as it is. Let alone all of us at the same time."
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THIS was a VERY interesting chapter in more ways than one.
love the chapter can't wait for next update
9378343
Can you be specific?
9378466
The fact that the Exarchs (did I spell that right?), can turn into DRAGONS is one along with the fact they're STILL ALIVE due to an OATH of all things are two I can name off the top of my head.
9378487
Good point. To be fair, and this will come up in the side story that will show the Breaking of the World and what inspired them to wait for her to be reborn, they didn't realize that when they took that oath so long ago.
And as for their dragon forms, well that one will get weird real fast when I get to it. The probelm with that one is is that each chapter has its own unique cover art (tied into who we see do it that chapter), and then a combined pic for all of them as the overall.
And that one isn't even close to being ready yet. So that arc will wait awhile before we see it.
And yeah, you spelled it right.
9378502
Thanks... Are you going to use my ideas or anything based on them that I stated in your recent blog?
9378519
Those ideas, and some from another who commented, will be used, but it won't be said in story that that's what's happening. I have another idea in the works using the same idea as this one.
But the big change there is that, unlike here, that will be seen as she awakens for the very first time in that universe. No previous life, no previous Exarchs coming back.
9378614
Okay again if you need more ideas just give me a PM
Out there in craziness?
Even by this sites standers?
Have you seen some of the absolute nonsense people post?
9378668
I have, and I wonder what people were smoking, or high on, when they came up them. Same will probably be said when I get to that arc.
9379232
Looking forward to it.
9380575
That's STILL killing him.
So wait, the all powerful goddess of the multiverse needed to combine with others just to fight mortal armies? If she can tear reality asunder and effortlessly remake it in a fraction of a second, then what mortal army could possibly warrent more power?
10036556
I suspect it is more of a PRESENTATION thing / intimidation than anything else. Because the way to do is minimal casualties to an army as possible is by destroying their will to fight.