...and lo, Harmony spread Her Light across the world, and unto us, Her children, so that we should know Her virtues and live in happiness, and may Her Age persevere forevermore...
The Age of Harmony refuses to die. Flurry Heart seeks to kill it.
Heavily inspired by the vibes of Dark Souls.
An entry into FoME's Imposing Sovereigns III contest, with the unusual interpretation of Flurry Heart vs. Perseverance. Hopefully that counts.
Thanks to ScatteredStarlight413, MockingBirb, Roxylalolcat, and Gelatino for various levels of pre-reading and editing.
Cover art courtesy of Roxylalolcat.
(Uh... top of the Mature Off Feature Box and 3rd Place Mature On Feature Box day of posting? Wow. Was not expecting that... Is this the place where I bring that up? People do that, right?)
Flurry: "It's Discord's turn to play the Xbox now, Harmony."
The Law of Harmony has ended. In its place a new Law has come: the Law of Chaos.
That city and Princess are a Failsafe that Discord knows that the world needs in case of the Cycle stalling again.
(A fun little story. Not without it's flaws, however a very cool idea. I personally think the flaw is it's length. We only see the battles with the last two element bearers, and the entire rest of her journey, and numerous potential monsters designs, are never explored. There is a LOT of untapped potential here.
Of course, many other stories try to tell long grand tales and fail, while this one has given us a powerful short one. There is that to consider as well. Still, I can't help but think that there's much that 'could' have been. And perhaps something more with WHY the Age of Harmony's bid for power became corrupted, really, instead of just 'the Bearers screwed it up'. And also something that might have been cool, would be the Bearers returning to their original selves for a few moments at the time of their death or the like, a poignant moment of who they were, before the final death.
My point is, this is good. I just feel as though it could have been a LOT more, and would totally like to see a 'reimagined' version or the like. In any case, thank you kindly for making, I very much enjoyed!)
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then The Law of Chaos would end and Law of Harmony would begin... the Cycle repeats itself
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because we know Discord could fell into the same trap as they did
A short but very good story. I really liked your characterization of Flurry Heart, and the mysterious aspect to everything makes for a very interesting read. Well done!
Got big Dark Souls vibe from the story. I like the implication that Flurry is now acting as a sort of contingency in case the cycle stalls again.
As has been noted, brilliant Dark Souls-flavored take on Equestria. I wish we could've seen what became of the other Bearers, but there's something to be said for leaving it to the reader's imagination. (Still, picturing what became of Pinkie... the mind boggles.) It is a bit shallow at times, but some of that can be laid on the word limit.
I'll happily allow this spin on the prompt. Ain't no rule that says the ruler can't work to oppose the virtue. Thank you for a thrilling tale, and best of luck in the judging.
I enjoyed this very, very much. The length feels about right for the story: It's long enough that I can understand what's happened, but not so long that I'm wondering if it's going to finally go home.
I won't lie, it does kind of make me want to finish writing The Velveteen Huntress so it can finally be published (I can't really finish Ex Sanguis until I do that. Learn from my mistake, children)
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if what has been implyed is true then the age of chaos is livable untill the final part where it becomes tourture fully and completly where after that in the age of harmony it becomes orginised and allows creatures to make citys and stuff but at the end of that harmony goes too far into making everyone get along. if the cycle was truely disterbed by what happend with twilight and the others then possibly in the future flurry could be the one to bring about a world were the cycle breaks and both discord and harmony fade into eachother? could be interesting
I really liked this story, wished it were a little longer but the concept is really good. The fact that chaos and harmony could be corrupted at the end times and refusing to die.
Oi...
What the heck happened?
As a Dark Souls fan, this was probably one of the best Souls-inspired stories I've ever read that didn't directly pull actual game elements. It was amazing, and I loved it immensely. The tone was spot on, the fight scenes were well written, and it gave just enough lore and backstory to give the general idea without overexplaining your world. I thoroughly enjoyed this story, and I thank you for it.
odd how flurry thinks using video game terms
For all that big talk from the seraph, Flurry sure was certain that there must be a vulnerable part to attack at all times. and she was right even
An amazing experience to read! Great work