Sigil of Souls, Stream of Memories

by Piccolo Sky

Daybreak: The Father of Monsters

One Day Earlier

“Uhn…”

That vague groan was the first audible sound that Shining Armor had made in some time, but even that seemed distant and incoherent to him. Like it was being said through water at the end of a long tunnel. All of his thoughts were mush and dreamlike. He couldn’t even tell if his eyes were open, but if they were his vision was little better than what it had been with them closed. Nothing but faint light and vague, misty blobs moving one way and the other. He could barely even comprehend what was going on now, let alone where he was or even how he had gotten that way.

One of the nearest dark shadows rose up from his side, indicating he was lying down. Faint noises in a disjointed mumble washed over him. They were all indistinct, and constantly rising and lowering in volume.

“How is he?”

That was the first phrase he understood. It came from a taller, darker shape standing farther away from him. He vaguely recognized the voice—Luna.

“Better now, I think,” the voice of Ocellus answered.

“Will he be alright?”

“I honestly don’t know… I think he has a head fracture…maybe a hematoma. He opens his eyes like this from time to time but he doesn’t react when we speak to him. But…at least it’s better than the big man…”

“Big Macintosh’s case has not improved?”

“His…wounds smell bad. Even people who can heal can’t help that… His family is trying to keep him cool now because he’s really burning up. I…I don’t know if he’s going to make it through tonight… I’m sorry I can’t do more but we don’t really have a functional hospital here…”

“I am grateful for what you can do. You and all of the Healers among us. I wish I had time to teach you the right spells but we haven’t that luxury at the moment. Besides…it seems we have a way to secure medical supplies. I don’t know what madness drove that farmer to invite those two charlatans here, but we might as well make use of them…”

“So we’re staying in a big school, huh?” another distant voice spoke. “Eh…with this kind of pad, I can’t knock it.”

“I’ll organize you shortly. With this many new arrivals, I believe we have sufficient numbers to start repopulating the surrounding city. Canterlot has to become self-sufficient and very soon.”

“There you are… Ms. Luna!”

The new voice was accompanied by a new shadow which ran up to the largest one.

“What in the world is going on in here? I could barely get back in to Canterlot! Where’s Twilight and the others? And why is everyone deferring to you?”

“Seeing as I am in charge here, Starlight Glimmer, that seems appropriate. Twilight is not here. Why do you ask?”

“…This is kind of something she’d be interested in more than you, I think.”

“Neither she nor her friends are going to be returning here any time in the foreseeable future, so if you have something important to share with us you might as well inform me.”

Silence for some time.

“…Very well. Take a look at these pictures. I took them during my visit to another one of those hidden facilities that my group turned up while perusing over sites that Sombra might have wanted to invade. This is the first one we found that had those tubes that seemed to be filled with something. In particular, things that looked like they were animals in stages of development. Only the tubes were all sealed. It was as if those animals had been growing inside the tubes their whole lives. What more, we saw what looked like ‘adults’ in some of those tubes. Only they didn’t look like anything. They looked like unfinished, blank dolls or what a kid would draw as an animal. Now take a look at this tube. This was one of the opened ones. And it was big enough for a person.”

Silence again.

“…Is that all, Starlight Glimmer?”

“No. We did some more snooping of the area. We found the former property that facility was on was owned by a woman named ‘Celestia’. Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t that the name of the former Headmistress here? And your sister’s name?”

The silence lasted so long this time that Shining Armor wondered if he had again slipped into unconsciousness. It was a long sigh that summoned him back to reality.

“I’ve kept everyone here in the dark long enough. Now that both Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer are gone, there is nothing left to stop me from telling you all the truth. And since I know Shining Armor will take it the worst, then it is best that I tell you now before he awakens. Let me preface this by saying within the next few days the world you know will change forever…for the worse.”

---

Now

Sunset Shimmer really wished she had a cigarette right now.

She had somehow managed a ground landing on her own, which wasn’t an easy feat even with Celestia’s special airship. If she hadn’t been accustomed to the sight of carnage, she would have immediately vomited on stepping out of the gangplank onto the ground. Even the Nighttouched and Light Eaters only mutilated bodies. They didn’t “disassemble” them and leave the unnecessary, chopped-up, and/or incinerated pieces everywhere.

A feeling rose in her chest when she looked around and saw nothing but the corpses and strange crystals, some like sapphire and some like obsidian, everywhere mingled with the carrion. She didn’t know what it was at first until she realized it was in response to not seeing the ladies there. In spite of everything she had been through, she knew she was concerned…even fearful that she would see them among the dead.

However, on spotting the huge, metallic island stretching in front of her, as well as the foreboding opening in the side of it, somehow she knew she didn’t need to bother searching the bodies any longer. Something told her they were in there. That wasn’t the only feeling that unsettled her, however. She felt a pull toward that place. Something deep inside her. Like she was meant to go inside, in spite of the fact that it looked about as inviting as walking into the den of a dragon.

She might have forced herself to pull away, except she remembered what she had been told. And in spite of the fact she once vowed to never obey her ever again, her thoughts of Twilight compelled her to finally walk forward.

With neither her helmet nor tobacco to support her, she summoned what personal courage she had and passed through the opening.

---

The inside of the metallic island wasn’t any more welcoming than the outside. It was very dark. There were periodic green lights of various sizes dotting their way in one space or another, but they provided such small illumination that they could barely detect the shape of things in front of them.

The place smelled old…old and wet. Like it had been under the water or perhaps frozen in seawater for a very long time. It was colder on the inside than the outside. While they couldn’t see everything, they could tell it opened up wide from the echo that resonated as they moved along. All throughout the darkness were formations of odd shapes and sizes. They looked too regular to be natural, but they were also too bizarre to conform to any device any of them had ever seen.

It continued to stretch on and on, well past when the entrance was out of sight. However, there was a wide path that they were on, and the lights only appeared alongside it, and so they continued to follow. Over time, it felt like they were wandering a ruin of a city or landscape rather than inside an artificial structure. None of them grew used to it, however. It only became more unnerving with each step.

“Spike?” Twilight called. “Spike?!”

Nothing but her long, resounding echo slowly fading through the metal halls. That alone was nerve wracking for the ladies.

“This place s-s-sure is…s-s-scary…” Fluttershy nervously muttered.

“Boring is more like it,” Dash flatly retorted. “If someone’s gonna jump us, get it over with already!”

“Perish the thought, darling,” Rarity quickly answered. “At least until we’ve recovered enough to heal, I’d prefer if nothing else happened.”

“Hey look!” Pinkie suddenly chirped. “There’s something happening!”

The ladies immediately turned and braced themselves, finding that Pinkie was pointing to one of the nearby devices. This one was rather large and resembled a thin rimmed portrait frame, only with nothing in the center of it. However, sure enough, the lights at its base were coming to life, and soon after regularly spaced lights began to illuminate the rim itself. The girls tensed further as it began to make a noise and, before long, the lights seemed to start weaving a pattern in the center of the frame. Like it was making a portrait or picture of beams of energy right in front of them.

But what it ended up completing was something none of them expected.

It was an image of them—just as they were now, wandering through a place that looked identical to where they were. Perfectly identical, it seemed. What more, it wasn’t just a mere picture. The figures in it were moving as if they were alive or, at least, one of those rotary scope images that carnivals had.

Soon after, however, they started to speak. Or, rather, sound was played as the lips on the figures moved. Like there was a phonograph hidden somewhere only much larger and clearer-sounding.

“Spike? Spike?!”

“This place s-s-sure is…s-s-scary…”

“Boring is more like it. If someone’s gonna jump us, get it over with already!”

“Perish the thought, darling. At least until we’ve recovered enough to heal, I’d prefer if nothing else happened.”

“Hey look! There’s something happening!”

The lights turned off, and the image immediately disappeared.

The ladies were left frozen except for Pinkie. She grinned and laughed. “That was so cool! How do you think they managed to make that so fast?”

Everyone else turned to one another nervously. “What…what was that?”

“Was that…us?” Applejack spoke up, shaken out of her own misery by that unsettling sight.

“Was it some sort of machine? Or…photography?” Rarity suggested. “I’ve never seen the like in my life…”

“Neither have I…” Twilight answered uneasily. “Even Celestia never had anything like that. If it was some sort of photographic device, though…how did it show us? We just got here…”

Before anyone could say anything else, another machine began to hum to life. They turned and looked and saw a nearly-identical device just up ahead also lighting up. This time, in its glow, they began to see that there were multiple of those devices along their way—seeming to stretch along the entire path, in fact.

Soon this one was displaying an image, and this one was even more familiar.

“What…what was that?”

“Was that…us?”

“Was it some sort of machine? Or…photography? I’ve never seen the like in my life…”

“Neither have I… Even Celestia never had anything like that. If it was some sort of photographic device, though…how did it show us? We just got here…”

Again, it turned off. And the ladies began to tense up.

“Someone out there think they’re being cute?!” Dash shouted into the room, getting nothing but her own echo back as a reply. “Come on out and I’ll show you what I think is cute!”

“There’s somebody…w-w-watching us…” Fluttershy nervously spoke as she looked about.

“I do say, I feel more uncomfortable with this place than ever now…” Rarity half-muttered.

“Don’t worry! They’re just like pictures!” Pinkie suggested. “They can’t do anything to us!”

Twilight exhaled. “Pinkie’s right. They’re only showing what we’ve done since we got here, so there’s nothing to worry about. Whoever’s here, they’re just trying to distract us. Let’s move on.”

She began to boldly lead the way once more, and after only a little hesitation the ladies followed. They kept their eyes ahead, fully expecting a new one of the frames to light up and show that conversation they just had any moment now.

Sure enough, they didn’t get much farther before another frame lit up in front of them. But what they saw made them hesitate all over again.

It was indeed an image of them, and it was indeed of where they were right now. Yet it was something they had never seen before.

“What was that supposed to be? We never-”

“Did…did you just-Eep!”

“That…”

“How…?”

“But…but we just watched…”

“How…how is it showing us…?”

“That was neat! Hmm…you think they’re taking the pictures of us now?”

“This…this isn’t possible… How can it show us doing something that we haven’t actually done yet?”

The image cut off. The ladies were left standing there, mostly confused…but also a bit unnerved.

“What was that supposed to be?” Dash spoke up. “We never-”

Immediately, just like the version of her in the image she had just watched, she clamped her hand over her mouth in shock. Fluttershy, wide-eyed and frightened, nervously pointed at her.

“Did…did you just-” Realizing what she was saying, and how she was obeying her counterpart from the image, she cringed. “Eep!”

The others, save Pinkie, turned as pale as ghosts. They looked to each other in total shock—now quite unsettled and even frightened. That, of course, only made it worse…because they realized as they looked to one another they looked the exact same way they had on the image.

“That…” Was all Twilight was able to spit out, silencing herself on realizing she was still matching the images.

“How…?” Applejack spoke up, being shaken totally out of her sadness in the wake of this.

“But…but we just watched…” Dash half-gasped.

“How…how is it showing us…?” Rarity half-whispered with her hands to her mouth.

“That was neat!” cheered Pinkie, about the only one not realizing the situation. She began to look about her into the darkness. “Hmm…you think they’re taking the pictures of us now?”

“This…this isn’t possible…” Twilight said on finally finding her voice. “How can it show us doing something we haven’t actually done yet?”

Pinkie paused, growing “thoughtful” again. “Hmm…oh! Maybe these are machines that are just really, really good at guessing what we’re going to do?”

“I’ve never heard of any machine like that before…” Rarity answered quietly.

Twilight shook her head. “Even if this is some sort of machine that just shows people doing things, it showed us reacting to ourselves reacting to it. How in the world is that possible?”

Another light came on, and another image was generated. This time, the ladies in it looked even more nervous than before save for Pinkie and Dash.

“Alright, this is startin’ to spook me a little…”

“You think this is funny? Come out here, you big coward!”

“I-I-I’m not sure I want whoever it is to come out…”

“Hmm, would he be over there if he saw us from that way? Or…will he be over there now?”

“If their goal was to upset us, Twilight, I hate to inform you that it’s working rather well. Perhaps we should leave for now…”

“No! We have to stay until the end of what we saw, because then I… Spike? He’s over there!”

“Then let’s get him and get the hell outta dodge…”

The images shut off again, leaving four of the ladies even more shaken up…although Twilight looked at where the image had been more intently.

“Alright…” Applejack spoke up again. “This is startin’ to spook me a little…”

“You think this is funny?” Dash snapped out to the darkness around them. “Come out here, you big coward!”

“I-I-I’m not sure I want whoever it is to come out…” Fluttershy whimpered.

Pinkie stuck her tongue out, put a hand over her eyes, and peered in front of them. “Hmm, would he be over there if he saw us from that way? Or…” She looked elsewhere. “Will he be over there now?”

Rarity, looking rather frightened, backed up to Twilight’s side. “If their goal was to upset us, Twilight, I hate to inform you that it’s working rather well. Perhaps we should leave for now…”

“No!” Twilight shouted back, still staring where the image had been. “We have to stay until the end of what we saw, because then I…”

Sure enough, just like in the images, Twilight perked her head up at that moment. Mostly because the sound of a distant dog bark became audible up ahead.

“Spike?” She pointed in the direction of the sound. “He’s over there!”

Tightening her grip, Applejack pushed forward to take the lead. “Then let’s get him and get the hell outta dodge…”

While most of them were still nervous, the others fell in behind her and quickly picked up to her pace, until Twilight was again able to move ahead and lead on. They didn’t get much farther before another device began to light up. But even as it was coming on, another device further down was doing the same thing. By the time it displayed an image, a third one was lighting up. Twilight tried to ignore it, but she couldn’t block out the sound or the image in the corner of her vision.

“But you’re right that I don’t want to go in there. Mostly because it feels almost like my body is pulling me in that direction against my will… I’ve got to anyway, though. I’m not going to ask any of you to come with me.”

“I’ll come. I mean…um…I still think I’m too tired to heal much…and I don’t think I can fix your fingers, Twilight… But I hate the thought of Spike being in there with some scary guy all alone…”

“Terrific. You can’t heal and Twilight can’t even cast with that hand.”

“Frankly, we all need doctors at this point…”

“Not me! I’m still fresh as a daisy and fine as a birthday cake! I can come!”

“Well then, I’m coming too I guess… This place is freaking me out and I’m not about to turn chicken before the three of you.”

“It’s a good thing I went with the wide ribbon on this one so I can use it for a sling. I think going in there is an absolutely horrid idea, but Twilight’s right. I’m not about to let little Spikey-Wikey be subjected to some awful fate; hand or no hand.”

“Harmonium knows how many folks we lost already today… We ain’t losin’ no one else on my watch if I can help it. Let’s get to it while we still got enough spit an’ vinegar to put up a fight…”

“Thanks, everyone…”

This made her slow to a halt, and the others with her. Sure enough, the image wasn’t of the place they were in. It was of outside, right after their encounter with the “peddler”.

“Wait…that’s us right before we walked in here.”

“Whoever’s here was watching us from outside as well?”

The next one came on soon after, again showing the outside…and the ladies looking much healthier and cleaner but no less frightened.

“Twilight, dear…I know we’ve practiced a bit with them, but…Applejack doesn’t have more than one Anima Viri. And as for the rest of us, I don’t think we can manage more than a quarter of an hour at most in battle…”

“It doesn’t matter. We’ll have to anyway.”

“Um…Twilight? What if we…end up having to attack the people? And the animals…?”

“We don’t have a choice. We already saw what Sombra did to the people he seized. We just…have to hope there really is no way to save them now.”

“One last little detail. Let’s say we do stop him. Who’s the lucky lady who makes him their new Anima Viri?”

“I…already got the one from Nightmare Moon, and I don’t think it’s a good idea for any of us to have two…”

“Oh, oh! Pick me! I’ll do it!”

“Alright then. Everyone, get ready…he’s coming at us fast.”

“That’s from before the fight started!”

“We weren’t even in front of the damn big metal thingamajig then!”

The third one lit up as other started to come to life simultaneously. This one wasn’t even in the area. It was from days earlier, when they had been stopped at the broken bridge.

“I know, but…”

“What?”

“Nothing…probably nothing. I know Luna wanted me to have this, but…I’ll just let him hold onto it and not tell her until I get back. I’ll explain the situation to Double Diamond. Everyone else, move over into the other train.”

“Isn’t this great? He’s helped us out twice now!”

“Yeah… And showed up right when we needed him…with just what we needed. I mean, he ended up helping last time, but…”

“Maybe he’s a guardian angel?”

“Not sure I like someone keepin’ an eye on what I’m doin’, angel or devil. What’s he get outta all this?”

“Who knows. But so long as we’re both getting something out of it, that’s alright. I’m going to go check out that engine just in case there’s any other of his ‘little surprises’ in it…”

“Kinda hope this is the last time we ever get a visit from our tall friend…”

“And that’s from when we had to change trains… That’s nowhere near here.”

“Was whoever this is watching us from that far away? And if so, then how?”

The ladies didn’t bother calling out the next images as they came on. They merely stared in shock and silence as they kept walking onward. There were dozens of them coming to life. And as they moved further along, each one showed the ladies themselves. More specifically, an event that had brought them to this point while moving backward in time. There was the train trip at first, but eventually it turned to Canterlot and the library. Yet the images were no less clear there. In spite of thinking they had safety and privacy in that place, each event was perfectly replayed for them.

But it got worse than that. It showed them when they had split up afterward, and in spite of being in different places and even different continents, it watched them perfectly. Even Dash’s anger gave way to unease as she knew for a fact no one could have been photographing them—let alone recording them. Yet it kept recalling image after image, and as they walked deeper into the metal island and farther away from anything natural or that they knew, it only unsettled them more.

Eventually it reached the point in time where they had initially listened to Luna when she showed them the chamber and first pointed out the Anima Viris, including that of Sombra. It was an unsettling scene—for it brought back all the dark and unsettling memories of that night as it went over each one of the six and made each of the ghastly visages look more nightmarish than ever.

But as they passed this one, only one of the glowing frames was left and it was directly in front of them. It wasn’t until they approached it that it came to life. This one didn’t show past events, however. It showed them right there as they were—possibly right in that very spot.

“Is that…gonna happen soon? What did we see?”

“Wait…Sunset’s here? How did… Where did she…?”

“Twilight…that’s Spikey-Wikey!”

“Here Spike!”

“Over there!”

At that point, from the shadows, a new figure ran out into the scene—Sunset Shimmer. Yet as she ran in, both she and the others gradually slowed down and looked ahead. One by one being captivated by something ahead of them and going wide-eyed.

The image died soon after, leaving the group standing unnerved for a moment as the frame faded out.

“Is that…gonna happen soon?” Applejack ventured uneasily. “What did we see?”

Twilight stood a moment, before her brain clicked on what it meant. “Wait…Sunset’s here?” She spun around, as if expecting her to already be standing behind them as in the image. However, just like when she had looked around in the image, there was no one yet. “Where did she…?”

She was cut off by the sound of a dog whining and letting out a bark. Very close now.

Rarity lit up on hearing it as the mage quickly turned back around. “Twilight…that’s Spikey-Wikey!”

Sure enough, he wasn’t far away at all based on the sound. Pinkie immediately cupped her hands to her mouth and called. “Here Spike!” She followed it up with some canine whistling.

Dash pointed forward. “Over there!”

The ladies looked forward and noticed something was changing. The last frame wasn’t staying stationary—it was lifting up quietly and pulling into the darkness of the ceiling. Behind it, it revealed that their path ahead only stretched forward a little more before spreading out into a small open area. Right in the center, still wearing that odd collar and attached to some sort of metallic stake, was Spike. He had started yelping again on seeing Twilight so close and was pulling and tugging at his restraints.

Twilight began to run to him, but she only got three steps before halting again. Soon she and the others were gaping not at Spike but beyond him.

What it was defied description. It appeared to be some form of machinery, but far more bizarre and intricate than anything that had ever been built on that world. The best way to describe it was what looked like metallic “plant growth” in the form of huge branches and roots all streaming toward that part of the chamber and forming something of a “mound” with a pillar or podium in the center. From the looks of it, these metallic cables were not only thick and massive but stretched out into the darkness in all directions—as if everything was feeding right to that spot.

On the top of this mount, which stood a good distance over the ladies’ heads, were another series of frames. These ones were lit up, along with faint lights all over the metal “roots”, but showed no images. But in spite of there being hundreds of the small lights, the area was still draped in shadow and even a cooler temperature. They all seemed to surround the very center, where another mass arose. Here, all of the “roots” seemed to taper and thin until they formed connections all over it. Some of them looked like they were pumping odd fluids while others gave off faint hums and glows.

This part seemed fairly unremarkable, until it gave off the slightest, faintest noise. As it did, it began to slowly swivel around. Only at that point did it become clear it was some sort of great metal “armchair”—especially as they saw that someone was seated in it.

It was an old man, arms curled over the rests and sitting back in the chair in such a way that he perfectly conformed with it. Emphasis was on the “old”. When he first turned about, the ladies thought he was more of a dried-out corpse than a man. They could scarcely believe he was even alive—so withered and hollow he looked. Like he had undergone mummification only without coverings.

He had a long beard just on his chin, coming out in a thick, white tuft. His eyebrows were likewise just as bushy and thick. His lower chin jutted out enough to be an underbite, and his canines protruded from his shrunken lips. But two other physical features overshadowed those—and made the ladies question the figure’s humanity.

One was that his head had two very large, very curved black horns growing out from it. They looked like ram’s horns.

The other was his eyes. They were completely red and the pupils were oblong. Something so hideous and unnatural that it struck fear into each of them just to see it.

He was so striking that the ladies almost didn’t even realize just what he was sitting on. It seemed all of the cables and pipes tapered off and proceeded to enter him—such that it didn’t seem to be so much a throne he was sitting on but a mass he was attached to. He nearly looked like he was growing out of it like a sickly, withered plant. Or some sort of corpse being kept unnaturally alive. He barely moved, but his eyes did focus on them and, hideous as they were, the pupils contracted to focus upon them.

The chamber was deathly silent for a moment. Even Twilight couldn’t bring herself to look away and down to Spike. She swallowed before she finally relaxed enough to briefly look behind her to the others.

They were all transfixed but, sure enough, just as in the image, Sunset Shimmer was now there—having run up behind them but halting on seeing the same thing they saw. She didn’t worry about that now, though. She turned back and looked up to the hideous, intimidating figure.

“Who…who are you?”

The ancient man lowered his head slightly—as much as the cables that were connected to the back of his head would allow. He smiled. It showed more of his teeth and was not the least bit friendly.

“I am the Father of Monsters. Think of me as the ‘Devil’ of the Harmonium faith. You may call me…Grogar.”

His voice was as hollow and old as his body, but it was what he said that filled the ladies with a wave of fresh fear. They scarcely had a chance to express it, however, before all of the frames in the chamber came on at once—surrounding the ladies with light and images. Now they had even more events. Moments from their trek across Greater Everfree. Moments from their battles with Nightmare Moon. Moments from their fights and flights from Sunset Shimmer. All of their private meetings, gatherings, and everything leading up to when everything between them started. It left them stunned and afraid.

“Beautiful, isn’t it? Wondrous even,” Grogar spoke up as they remained dumbfounded. “That is the power of destiny. That is the power to not only see the future but to see all things. Not nearly as remarkable as one might think, however. If one can see far enough back in time to the same origin, and sufficiently understand it, then in the end they can always see the destiny of all things.”

He exhaled, long and slow, and leaned back in his seat. “That is the end of all things—to be slaves to destiny. None can escape it. Not I and not you. There’s only one question that remains.”

He smiled, once again darkly…even cruelly.

“Does the thought of destiny bring you comfort…or despair?”

The ladies didn’t even know how to feel about this, let alone respond to it. They remained standing silent for a moment before another familiar voice let out a joyful exclamation.

“Ah, you all made it! Very good!”

The ladies, now including Sunset, looked to one side. To their surprise, the “peddler” was there. He was no longer hovering but instead leaning on the top of one of the devices, but he had clearly not been there a moment ago and was unsettling none the less. Even more so with his gleeful grin.

“I thought you’d all never get here! And believe me, I’ve been waiting a very, very long time.”

Twilight winced at that, but saw neither he nor Grogar were making a move. With that, she risked turning around again and looking at the new arrival. “Sunset, what are you doing here? How did you get here?”

The woman blinked a moment, snapped out of her own distraction. “I-I-I came to get you… I was…I mean…someone told me you were all in trouble.”

This got the others to look at her, equally puzzled. “Someone?” Rarity echoed.

“Someone who?” Dash added.

She blanched momentarily. “That…that’s not important right now. Let’s just get out of here.”

“Not without Spike…” Fluttershy meekly answered.

“And not just him,” Twilight stated, before turning back to Grogar. She firmed himself up as best as she could before speaking out more boldly. “Did you just say your name was the ‘Father of Monsters’?”

“Yes, I did, Twilight Sparkle. I figured that you would remember that name from Luna. And you know what that means. It means you must kill me to obtain my Anima Viri.”

At this point, as many things as Grogar knew, the fact that he knew about that as well shouldn’t have been terribly surprising. Yet how nonchalant he was about it made the ladies tense up. Applejack and Rainbow Dash both braced themselves for an attack.

Instead, they got a burst of laughter.

“It should certainly be an easy task! Look at me, Twilight Sparkle. I’m far older than you can possibly even comprehend. My body is little more than a withered stick. My muscles are not just atrophied but decayed. My bones have practically disintegrated. If not for this life support system, I’d be dead in moments. My lungs won’t even breathe enough for me to talk to you now—I’m cycling air into them as if I was little more than an instrument.” He laughed again. “Sombra lamented his destiny, but mine was far worse! Grogar, Father of Monsters…now no more than easy prey for harbingers eager to feast on his soul!”

The way he said that and laughed again afterward unnerved Twilight and the others even more, but soon he calmed and smiled at them again.

“And one day you shall, Twilight Sparkle. Just not today. After all, it’s not my Anima Viri that you really want, now is it? Neither you nor Sunset Shimmer behind you.”

Twilight was puzzled, but Sunset managed to be more bold and spoke out to him for the first time. “And what is it that we want?”

“Answers, Sunset Shimmer. Answers to all the riddles that Luna keeps leaving you to ponder over. Answers to all the questions that keep coming up. Why were you born with the power of Promethian Sigils and others not? Why did Celestia think you two, out of all of the bearers, would be the ones to save the world when she had more power than either of you, and why did she keep that monster locked right beneath your feet? Why did Luna think that she could save the world by keeping my Anima Viri and those of the others for herself? What is Canterlot and everything there, and why were your instructors so eager to expose some parts but keep you away from others? And why, Twilight Sparkle, did no one remember you when you returned to your hometown?”

The mage stiffened, growing rather uncomfortable at that memory, but…deep down inside…focusing more on Grogar in response. After all, the man had already demonstrated the ability to see the past.

“And the greatest of all…who is the Angra Mainyu? What is the Angra Mainyu?”

That question lingered there momentarily, leaving the chamber in silence. The ladies were still on edge, and on realizing that this man was one of the “evil” Anima Viris none of them were that eager to be in his presence. Spike began to whimper again and pull at this chain, but by now he was all but forgotten.

Grogar’s smile eased as he sank back into his chair. He took a deep breath.

“To understand fully, we must go back. Not years or millennia but eons before this world as you know it came to be. Harmonium, the god of this world, is not god of this world alone but of numerous others.”

“Wait…” Dash cut in. “Did you say ‘Harmonium’? All that crap all those nuts believe in?” She snorted. “You aren’t actually saying that’s supposed to be real, are you?”

Pinkie immediately giggled. “Of course not, silly! Everyone knows Gaia Everfree is god!”

“Oh…what’s wrong?” the peddler cut in, pivoting around to lie on his belly with his head on his hands. “Do we have some ‘faithless doubters’ in our midst?”

Twilight was still uncomfortable, but she did manage to retort. “You have to admit…in the modern age, the idea of an actual religious deity is…more than farfetched.”

Sunset crossed her arms. “Not to mention that if Harmonium was real, then how come she let so many of her ‘faithful’ die over the past eight years?”

That question made Grogar grin all over again. “How indeed… Oh, but trust me. You will become true believers shortly. As I was saying… Harmonium is the god of not one but many. Hundreds and thousands of worlds much like this one and all bearing a form of sentient life, and more similar to it than you would believe. You see…Harmonium is the ultimate architect of destiny. All others merely obey her will and her plan for them—including both you and I.”

The frames surrounding the ladies lit up again and began to display images. They looked about, but this time it didn’t show them or any time in their past. On the contrary, it showed dozens of different people who looked like they could have come from any part of the world at any time over the past few decades. A few of them looked familiar, but most were strangers. However, they all looked noble, courageous, devoted, brave, compassionate, or any other mixture of great character traits.

“Of course, you can guess the fate of the ‘good’ souls…the leaders…the healers…the devoted…the chaste…the virtuous… All those things that make for the exceptional and beautiful spirits. Their fate is to make the domain of Harmonium more glorious…to persist for all eternity and fill her realm with light, life, and splendor. To bring healing to the sick, hope to the despairing, and light to the darkness. And, for those who are the most exceptional, there is the destiny of the Anima Viri. To have their souls bind to others and manifest the power and knowledge they had in life in the body of another.”

The images faded.

“Now then, what about…the rest?”

The images lit up again, only this time in a different hue. People were produced again. These ones were far more ‘common’ looking…as well as more numerous. They filled all of the screens with multiple images and stretched behind it.

“The sinful…the perverse…the liars…the thieves…the murderers…the traitors…the impure…the depraved…all those consumed by hate, jealousy, greed, pride, vanity, and everything else that becomes their sole lot in life? Well, as it turns out, there’s a place for them too. Not one of honor, mind you; but a useful one none the less.”

The people faded, but into something else. Silhouettes outlined with a light like a fire. As they did, they curled over, twisted, and arched into they began to look more monstrous… More wrathful. More feral. More like monsters than people.

“Torment… Torture… Darkness and pain. Punishment their eternal lot. Again and again, until they know nothing but agony and envy for the more upstanding and pure. Nothing but hatred and rage for the order of Harmonium. Seeking nothing but to make others as pained and miserable as they are now. That produces a great deal of power. Power that, in the proper hands, can make one quite a mighty being. Of course,”

Grogar looked at both Twilight and Sunset squarely.

“You two would know all about that.”

The two were unsettled at that answer. Sunset looked confused, but Twilight was hesitant…seeming to realize something.

“What are you talking about?” Sunset asked. “Why would we know anything about that?”

The peddler laughed. “Oh Sunset, don’t feign such ignorance if you really were Celestia’s star pupil. What did you think the reason for your power was? Magic? Psychic abilities? Being born with the ability to roll your tongue?”

Sunset went silent, but Twilight looked up uneasily. “You’re saying that…what we think of as ‘magic’…what we’ve been doing this whole time…is…?”

“And here I thought you liked to ‘study independently’, Twilight Sparkle,” Grogar chuckled. “Did you ever bother to try translating any of those spells and sigils that you were taught? If you were, you might have realized you were invoking the souls of the condemned each time. Calling one or more of them back to life briefly for the chance to vent their hate and misery on this world that has cast them out in the form of fire, lightning, or whatever.”

The group grew uncomfortable, and not just Sunset and Twilight this time. A chill had gone through the room. They didn’t answer but they didn’t have to. Twilight uneasily looked down at her own hands…giving a look like she had taken something for granted for so long that she only now began to think seriously about.

“In other words,” the peddler snickered, “not everyone gets to be an Anima Viri when they grow up. But the world needs the soul equivalent of ‘ditch diggers’ too.”

“More or less,” Grogar answered. “Or, it is to say, even in a world where Harmonium allows enough room for…‘variation’, so to speak, everyone in the end has their place. Everyone has their destiny. It can be difficult to plan out every little detail due to the nature of chaos, but with the proper setup you can know all paths. That, Twilight Sparkle, is why I knew you and these women would be here today. Or haven’t you noticed?”

The frames changed again, this time to replay everything that they had seen on their way in.

“These aren’t recordings or mirrors of any sort, Twilight Sparkle. Oh no…these images you see and witnessed coming in were created a very long time ago. A few showed you what you had just done while others showed you what you had yet to do. As you can see, it accounts for some variation. And while some events show more than others, I understand your destiny quite well and knew that the most likely path you would take would be the one that has brought you before me. It was destiny that you would be here today, Twilight Sparkle. It always was.”

None of the ladies liked the sound of that. It was unsettling and making them more uncomfortable all the time. Even Pinkie’s perpetual energy began to diminish. As for Grogar, he let that sink in only a moment or so before taking another deep breath.

“But I digress. Harmonium, naturally, desires perfection in her domain. Peace, prosperity, and contentment. The optimal end. Yet I already told you that some variation has to be allowed, and sometimes it can grow quite extreme. And even in spite of her best efforts, that doesn’t always allow for the best outcome. Not even when she sends her celestial servants to help steer people into the right direction. Still destiny, mind you, but not the best destiny. A horrible one at times, in fact. Ones where war, greed, pride, and callousness rot the world and slowly poison it. Or, worse yet, one where the people continue to grow but only as predators or parasites…destroying everything good to make themselves worse. What you call evil and corruption. Those worlds…those peoples, specifically…have to be disposed of.”

“D…disposed of?” Rarity asked.

“Like yer just ballin’ ‘em up like a newspaper and throwin’ ‘em in the trash?” Applejack added, sounding a little angry at the idea.

“Oh, don’t be so naïve, ladies,” the peddler spoke up again. “I’m sure all of you can think about at least three or four people this world would be better off without. This is just a bit more of an…extreme case.”

Grogar ignored this and continued. “Harmonium approached me with a task—find a way to cause these worlds to annihilate their own species. Root out the corrupt races and peoples before they have a chance to destroy the rest of the viable world or, worse yet, move to ruin others. And do so without necessitating divine involvement—what would destroy the world and anything remaining that was good and pure on it. The problem daunted me for some time. I saw it as an instance of wanting to have one’s cake and eat it too. However, there was one night where I had a dream and it all became clear to me.”

He leaned his head up, gazing skyward.

“I saw a cup…a goblet…a vessel being filled with blood by thousands of tiny, savage creatures no larger than ants. The more they warred on each other, the more blood they spilled to fill it with. Eventually it grew so full that it spilled over and drowned them all in the very blood they had filled it with. It was then that I realized the answer to Harmonium’s balance problem…what you all know as the Angra Mainyu.”

The ladies stiffened again as Grogar looked back down at them.

“The Angra Mainyu is a natural occurrence when too many ‘bad’ souls are sent into the next life. As they accumulate more and more and the power of chaotic, destructive magic grows stronger and stronger, they eventually naturally conglomerate and manifest themselves in a more pure and deadly form…an individual. One born with the sole purpose of devastating this world with its own wickedness. It is, figuratively, a cup which fills with the world’s sins until it topples over…at which point it drowns the world that gave rise to it. The only ones who can possibly survive it are the elect…the chosen…the ones who destiny picked for greatness.”

Sunset shifted uncomfortably. “You mean…the ones with Promethean Sigils.”

The ladies turned to her at that, but Grogar let out a single chuckle. “It seems you can put two and two together about some things. They arise to combat the Angra Mainyu when it appears. They unite to destroy it—if they can. And now, it seems, you all know the story with ‘Nightmare Moon’. How the celestial being known as Luna attempted to subvert the emergence of the Angra Mainyu with this ‘lesser’ apocalypse. Yet it was far inferior, of course. Against a vastly inferior entity incapable of more than a fraction of a true holy war. The real Angra Mainyu is far more pure and cleansing, with its hate and anger far more genocidal and annihilating. A true scouring of a sinful world…leaving only sanctity behind.”

He smiled.

“Beautiful and perfect.”

Twilight, however, was aghast…as were most of the ladies. “No… Horrible. Insane.”

The peddler snickered. “Only if you’re a ‘sinner’.”

“What about all of the animals? The birds? The bunnies? The fish? The forests?” Fluttershy weakly spoke up. “They were all…ruined by that shadow Nightmare Moon put out…”

“I saw youngin’s gettin’ eaten alive by damned Nighttouched!” Applejack shouted. “Babes who ain’t never hurt nobody!”

“And what about everyone who ended up dying of starvation and disease? Or the hundreds of thousands who were left homeless and with nothing? Or all of those people who gave into despair and took their own lives?” Rarity threw in.

“And I’ve seen plenty of these so-called ‘chosen’ people getting killed too!” Rainbow Dash retorted. “Your little system sucks!”

This only made Grogar chuckle even more loudly. “Heh…Harmonium said the same sorts of things once she saw the price she had to pay for a world of balance. That was her foolishness, however. I gave her exactly what she wanted and, more importantly, what she needed. I enabled her domain to remain peaceful and glorious in spite of her squeamishness. In the end, almost every last celestial agreed with me. And for that, I became ‘the Devil’. Nevertheless, destiny is absolute, and now you know the destiny of this world. You know its fate. There is nothing to be done now but wait for the end.”

Twilight frowned. “You’re wrong. Celestia wanted us to stop this from happening, and we’re going to stop it. We already know the Angra Mainyu can’t ever get full power unless it gets a special set of Anima Viris, and we’ll make sure it never does. We’ve already kept it from getting two of them.”

Dash cracked her knuckles. “And once we crumple your withered butt, we’ll be up to three.”

At this, the peddler suddenly peeled out in bowlfuls of laughter. The biggest and loudest ones yet. Strong enough to resound throughout the entire chamber. The ladies turned to him but he only kept laughing. And as it went on, it seemed to grow more unhinged. More deranged. More…malevolent.

Grogar himself kept smiling as he waited for the peddler to stop.

“I’m sorry, Twilight Sparkle…but Luna didn’t tell you everything about how the Angra Mainyu works. It’s true that the Angra Mainyu can’t access its full potential innately. However, even supplying it with the Anima Viris of past Angra Mainyus gives less than desirable results.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “Past Angra Mainyus…?”

“To truly gain proper Anima Viris for the task, it wasn’t sufficient to just have the evils of this world give rise to the ultimate destructor. It needs the souls of the wicked taken from still-living bodies in its own time period. Individuals who perfectly capture the evils of their race and who, together, represent a damning edict for the same. The purpose of the special Anima Viris is not to empower the Angra Mainyu directly, but rather to ‘awaken’ their own potential as Anima Viris within their souls by attaching to them. So you see…”

His eyes narrowed.

“You haven’t done anything to halt the zenith of the Angra Mainyu. On the contrary…you’ve already bound two of the necessary Anima Viris to their proper souls, and gathered all the rest of the ones it needs in the process.”

It took a few moments of silence for what Grogar said to sink in, and even longer than that for the ladies to realize the insinuation. They slowly began to look surprised, but also confused. One by one, they inquisitively looked to one another in puzzlement before turning back to him.

“Does anyone get what this guy is saying?” Dash spoke up, “Because I can’t make any sense of it.”

Pinkie giggled. “It almost sounds like he’s saying we’re the ones that the big scary monster wants! That’s so silly!”

Twilight, however, took that very seriously. “You…think we’re those ‘souls of the wicked’? Us?”

“No,” Grogar flatly answered, “I know you are those ‘souls of the wicked’.”

Author's Note:

As I mentioned in my blog, this latest chapter is gigantic, and rather than do the whole Part I, Part II, etc. thing I've been doing I've decided to split it into standard chapters.

Even so, the next chapter will be MASSIVE. You've been warned.

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