Humans

by unclefester84

A new shadow

Author's Note:

Comments are my joy and lifeblood, i feed on them and they sustain me, so you can imagine my joy when the last chapter bagan to get more of them...
And then imagine my disappointment when those comments turned out to be two readers arguing about stuff that had nothing to do with the story.

A new shadow

Nobody has ever discovered precisely when or where the Dark Enemy first arose, but some have said that, as Aurion and Hope were swept away in the bliss of discovering each other under the Tree of Harmony, this evil being first set its existence on the world.
And many believe that it was no coincidence that after that day the Humans almost completely separated themselves from the alicorns, and only three more times they would show themselves in the world, before the fall of the kingdom.

It is also said that this foe was a little thing at its beginning, a whisper of a dread that has no name, but what it lacked in might, it more than made up for in a quality that no Abomination ever had: sapience.
Indeed many of these old enemies had shown a predatory intelligence more similar to instinct than actual rationality, yet this new foe possessed a wicked cunning that, with time and labor, made it the most grave danger the alicorns, and creation itself, ever faced. (1)

Slowly, in the many years after the apparent end of the Great Crusade, a new unrest began to manifest in some alicorns, and among them were many legionnaires that fought with valor during the long campaign against the Abominations.
At first it was felt like an innocent desire of freedom, a rightful wish of being masters of their own fate, and the kingdom acknowledged and aided this need by promoting new laws and initiatives granting more liberties and independence for those who lived in the frontier of the known world, but at time went these new needs became ever more arrogant and selfish, demanding sometimes not only to rule on themselves, but to assert dominance over others, and more than often the local authorities found themselves entangled in long disagreements that only by some miracle did not turn into something violent. (2)

This new development grieved Queen Faust and King Laurent, but no decisive action was taken against it, for their minds were filled with worry at the sudden disappearance of their precious daughter, Princess Hope.
So great was their distress that the two even resorted to ask for a direct meeting with the Humans, a request that was denied by their Heralds, who in turn urged them to worry not for their daughter, for she was safe, but to heed instead the troubles of their realm, since the Creators could not, and would not, interfere.
But a hidden dread remained set on the heart of the two monarchs, especially of Faust, and so it was that much of their effort remained focused on finding news of their daughter, and their shepherding of the realm was somewhat diminished in those days. (3)

And so it went for a long time, the unrest of the frontier seemed to wax and wane with a slowly increasing tempo, but always diminishing before troubles escalated beyond the point of recovery, and while some concern could be felt all over the kingdom, no sign of real conflict ever came nearer to the heart of the realm than some far off province at the borders of the world, and so any rumor of trouble came far and faint.
With the benefit of hindsight, many would then attribute this to the cunning of the Enemy, which would grow ever so slowly with each cycle, but always turn to hide before it was discovered as a darkness in the hearts of the alicorns.
And the wise have said that it was by accident that this new darkness came to light. Indeed some believe that, had this enemy bid its time until it had taken root into the soul of every alicorn, the Universe itself would have become its playground until when the Humans themselves had to intervene to cleanse, or more probably to unmake, all creation. (4)
The event that caused the darkness to be revealed, was the first murder of an alicorn by another alicorn.

The First Murder and the reveal of Darkness.

In later days no one would remember exactly how the facts really happened, for so many stories and legends were born around it, that truth and fiction mingled together beyond the point of being distinguishable. (5)
What is accepted today is that the murderer had been at first a healer of great renown in the legions, though her name has now been forgotten, a gentle soul that retired after the end of the Crusade to spend her life in the peaceful wilderness of a distant valley.
No one knows how it happened, some have said that she acted in self defense, some others believe it was out of rage for being disturbed in what she considered to be ‘her’ dominion, and others again are convinced that it was a mistake on her part, that she did not mean to actually hit her victim.
But whatever had been the cause, the result was that a young Errant Knight was killed by a powerful destructive spell, and the news of this most horrible fate was brought to the realm by a Spirit of wind that later found the broken body.

Unimaginable was the shock that rang throughout all the realm, for no alicorn had ever intentionally caused such harm to another, and it is said that in that day the light that could always be visible beyond the distant clouds that covered the summit of Thronus flickered, like a torch hit by a sudden gust of wind. (6)

Suddenly it was as if a great alarm bell had rung in the hearts of the alicorns, in an instant the root of all the troubles that had plagued the frontier were made bare for all to see, and King Laurent himself took the lead in discovering the source of this darkness.
And it might be that foresight was with him, for it was by his decree that the victim would be buried with honors in the Caves of Stars, despite seemingly not having been killed by an Abomination.

Of what happened the murderer after she escaped the scene no story tells, but some have said that the shape with which the enemy later revealed itself was in fact the very body of this poor soul, twisted and corrupted beyond the point of being recognized as a former living alicorn. (7)
But that was not always the form with which the Enemy decided to manifest itself, indeed soon after the murderer disappeared many began to witness a vast and dreadful cloud, moving seemingly at random over the provinces of the realm, and while it was correctly deduced at that time that it was indeed this horrid being, it was only later realized that its journey was purposeful in its route, for it took it above all the places that saw the defeat of an Abomination.

Then a great chase set off in pursuit of this being, one that span the whole circumference of the world and often went far beyond the farthest borders of the alicorn kingdom, and it took a long time for the hunters to finally catch up to their prey, but when they finally did, and at last King Laurent and his personal guards cornered the elusive fiend, joy soon turned to dread, for at that moment the purpose of the Enemy was revealed, and in many places the earth trembled and the skies darkened, and even the air and water became like poison, for all the Abomination that ever had been on the world came back to life at the same time.

And so, the War of Horrors began.

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Annotations

1. If anyone who reads this has ever seen an intelligent predator, like the packs of timberwolves of the Everfree forest, or the jade tigers of the tropical jungles, or even the great spotted whales in the oceans, then it should be pretty clear what it was meant here. All these animals are considered intelligent, capable of planning their moves to achieve a successful hunt, some of them can even use naturals tools at their advantage, but none of them can be considered “sapient” in a strict sense, none of them can create a tool that is needed to fabricate another tool that is part of a bigger instrument that is used for something else rather than survival, none of them can create a piece of art or study the sciences of nature and philosophy for the sake of it, none would plant a tree that they would never see the fruits of, but maybe their great-grandchildren will. That is something that only truly sapient beings can conceive, and the fact that there had been an enemy capable of such things scares the tartarus out of me.
2. Apparently some alicorns began to act like lords and ladies without being recognized as such, claiming lands and rights that sometimes clashed with others, it was as if Princess Twilight had, during her time in Ponyville, declared all that region an independent country under her authority, including the Apple’s Family Farm, while Lady Applejack declared that her family and land would remain under Equestrian crown. In other words, quite a political mess.
3. As you will read in later chapters this lack of supervision will come back to haunt the two royals, however as a father myself, I cannot really blame them. But then perhaps I would make for a bad sovereign.
4. This passage here made me wonder what the final objective of this being really was, if it really was as smart as it is described, it would have known without doubt that the Humans would never allow it to reign all over their creation, even if it meant to unmake all the Universe, then again perhaps that was exactly what it was hoping for.
5. I suppose it’s a curse upon every civilization that historical fact would be sometimes lost to myths, then again in some occasions it is exactly thanks to those legends that history resurfaces when you least expect it.
6. Thankfully, on this point at least, the world of today seems to be better off than the glories of the alicorns of the past. After all no pony ever killed another, even wars between more violent creatures are fought with non lethal methods on both sides, and besides some that had been hurt quite badly, at most one could be expected to be imprisoned, albeit for a long, long time.
7. Elsewhere it is indeed hinted that this dark creature used the body of the murderer so it could manifest on the material realm, but then it would imply that it needed a (formerly?) living host to actually be present, which contradicts some different reports later on that said that it could be physically present in different places at the same time.

Comments

[BleuBlooms]

This is so cool.

[Starlight Nova]

Why aren’t there any genre tags?

[Starlight Nova]

11650364
But aren’t you human?

[unclefester84]

11660054
I added a few but frankly i'm not sure which ones would fit best

[unclefester84]

11660681
Who knows...

[unclefester84]

11659903
Thanks, hopefully it'll get at least 20% cooler by the end.

[paladinwolf]

I'll admit, I was on the fence about this story for the first couple of chapters, but I am pleased to see that it is coming along nicely. Everything fits together like a legend should, and seems to be leading to a climax. I can only wonder where it will lead... If ya want to think crazy like, try this.

<Rhythmic tattoo of drums in the background>

Between the time when the oceans drank the Isle of Everfree and the rise of the Unicorns of Unicornia, there was an age undreamed of. And unto this, Celestia, destined to wear the jeweled crown of Equestria upon a troubled brow. It is I, her chronicler, who alone can tell thee of her saga. Let me tell you of the days of high adventure!

i.pinimg.com/originals/35/45/d0/3545d0208c909497131d715bac2c2a07.png

<shrugs> who knows!

[TerrorCooper]

[…] for all the Abomination that ever had been on the world came back to life at the same time.

…
…
…
…
Well f&#k. That’s bad. Also, I’m getting a strangely creeping suspicion that I know who/‘what’ this Abomination will turn into.