Chapter 1: The New Task
Chapter 1: The New Task
I scanned the “horizon” of the astral firmament, pleased that once again, the forsaken dredges didn’t dare show their faces in my presence. It was something I prided myself on ‒ my mere name being able to instill fear into the black hearts of our enemies. Even with that being the case, I was ever-vigilant, ready to defend the council at all costs...ready to pay any price.
I sighed and let my left hand rest on the gemmed pommel of the blade at my hip, enjoying the comfort it gave merely by touching it. She was Cassandra...a pure-forged blade created for the sole purpose of striking down the swarm of darkness that threatened to swallow the light. I ran my right hand through the brown locks of hair upon my head and smiled as I felt my brothers approaching.
“Hello, Christopher.” sounded a deep, powerful voice.
I closed my eyes and smiled. “Hello Gabriel...Michael.”
The eldest of us, Michael, simply nodded his head with a smile as he stood beside me.
For a few quiet moments, the three of us simply stood in silence, letting the soft chimes of the aether waft into our minds and hearts. It was a sound and feeling that no word can truly express...and something only the council truly understands.
Six words, three brothers.
My two siblings and I embodied the very values that all those of angelic creation strove to attain: Justice, Truth, Wisdom, Humility, Wrath, and Love. Michael was blessed with the attributes of Wisdom and Humility, with him being the first of us created, and thus, without fault caused by mortals. Gabriel was the iconic defender of Justice and Truth, who would stop at nothing to do what’s right, regardless of the cost demanded of him.
I was left with the remaining two, that were the oddest pair one could imagine.
Wrath made me the greatest warrior among the beings of the astral plane, feared by many, and respected by all. With this, however, was paired Love...and ironic pair if ever there was one. I embodied two of what made mortals what they were, and because of this was closer to them than any of my kin. Me and others like me were often called “Guardian Angels” by the mortal races of existence, and this title was not far from the truth. My calling was to seek out and destroy darkness wherever it may hide, and in doing so, watch over the living and keep them safe from opposing astral forces. Because of this, I had seen many worlds and many people, all unique in their own right. When sent away on a “job”, my time there could last anywhere from a few hours to millions of that planet’s years.
The honor alone was payment enough.
“You have been tasked with another world, Christopher.” Michael spoke gently. I turned to him and he handed a golden scroll to me, and as I took it he continued. “The council finds this world to be in grave danger as of late, as more and more darkness is threatening to swallow it whole. Some of this darkness is native to the world, while the rest is from...elsewhere.”
I opened the scroll and looked at the lettering...instantly recognizing the writing style. “This is from the council itself...isn’t it?”
I looked up to see my eldest brother nodding. “It is. The council has found that this world in particular demonstrates the potential for unheard-of prosperity for many different worlds...not just itself.”
“How long is my term?” I asked as I rolled the scroll up.
Michael sighed as he brushed his long black hair out of his face. “Undefined.”
“Come again?” I asked, hoping I had not heard correctly.
“Undefined.” the wise archangel spoke carefully. “You are to remain for as long as it takes to ensure the safety of the denizens of the planet.”
Suddenly this felt like a punishment.
“Have I done something wrong, brothers?” I asked with concern.
“No.” Gabriel responded resolutely. “You have done everything right, and so much more. It is because of your ability to execute your orders with such stunning efficiency that we are placing you directly on this task.”
“What if I never come back?” I asked with growing concern.
Michael’s gentle hand patted my shoulder. “We are timeless, brother. There is no beginning, there is no end for us. We will meet again eventually.”
I sighed and lowered my eyes to the ground. “You owe me for this, brothers.”
“Perhaps you will change your mind when you get there...and when you hear of my task.” Gabriel quipped with a grin. I looked up to meet his eyes with a raised eyebrow, and he continued with, “The world of humans...Earth. I have been tasked with overwatch of the Four Horsemen...”
I chuckled. “Oooh...I do not envy you. Cleansing an entire world can’t be all that rewarding.”
“It is necessary, though I do admit it will weigh heavy upon my heart.” he responded sadly. “Still, I have yet to have reason to question the council, so I will follow their wishes to the letter.”
I nodded and smiled. “I agree. When am I to depart?”
“Whenever you are ready. Gather your armor and arms, and depart as soon as possible.” Michael responded gently. “Upon arrival, you are to meet with Goddesses Celestia and Luna.”
I raised an eyebrow. “The pony-people of Equis? That’s who I’m going to be defending?”
Gabriel grinned and nodded. “Yes. The council has deemed the world worthy of our personal protection, and you are the most qualified for that position.”
I sighed and rolled my eyes. “Very well. I will prepare for departure immediately and will contact you both when I arrive.” At this, the three of us stepped forward and bowed our heads, placing our foreheads against one another as we clasped our arms around each other’s shoulders. I felt it...this would be the last moment for quite some time that I would see my two brothers, and I savored every second of it.
With my armor and many veteran arms ready, I departed the astral plane and followed the swirling angelic doorways to worlds, tracing my path by instinct until I came upon a wide open green field full of small equines who were milling about, going through their daily lives I assumed. Luckily they could not see me unless I wished it, so I unfurled the large ethereal wings upon my back and took flight towards a palace in the distance, which held the power of the ones I was seeking.
As I floated over the large palace, I noticed quite a few guards posted all about, some on the ground, some in the air, and others likely in places I could not see them. A very unbecoming thought crossed my mind as I imagined exactly how much trouble one such as I could cause among them.
It was times like this that I was glad that my eons of training held fast.
As I found a rather exuberant throne room, I landed beside two tall ponies that I immediately identified as the princesses. They were currently engaged in what appeared to be a meeting with officials of their land, so I allowed them to continue while I waited for them to be alone.
Finally after the single sun in the sky began to set along the western horizon, the many ponies gathered began to clear out, and I breathed a sigh of relief.
Whether eternal or not, patience was never my strong suit.
The two princesses were speaking amongst themselves softly and I whispered, “Princesses...I have arrived.”
I watched as both of the ponies’ ears perked up, and the white one whispered, “Archangel Christopher?”
“Yes.” I responded softly.
The two princesses nodded to each other and the white one ordered, “To my chambers.”
After a few minutes of walking through the white marble corridors of the large palace, we arrived at a set of oversized gold double-doors, and as the taller princess held the door open, I made my way inside and watched as she locked the door and used some sort of energy from her horn to close the curtains of the windows, leaving us about as concealed as possible.
“We are alone...reveal yourself, Christopher.” the white pony asked.
I did so and immediately dropped to my right knee, placing my left fist on the ground and bowing my head. “Princesses...it’s an honor.”
“The honor is mine, archangel. It makes me feel like a little filly again to behold such an ageless being.” the white pony commented, who I assumed by her behavior and willingness to speak was Princess Celestia.
I stood and rolled my eyes playfully. “And knowing that I am over a quadrillion years older than you makes me feel like a feeble old man.”
The elder princess quipped, “Feeble...right.”
I smiled and nodded. “You are the elder Princess Celestia I assume?”
The white pony nodded with a gentle smile. “I am. Princess of the sun, love, and life.”
I smiled as well before turning my gaze to the smaller princess. “Which would make you Princess Luna, yes?”
Princess Luna completely ignored my question as she asked her sister, “Tia, what is this creature?”
The sun princess placed a hoof on her face with a sigh. “I have forgotten that you have yet to take your place on the council.” She then removed her hoof and pointed it at me. “This is an archangel of the Astral Council...the supreme rulers of all existence everywhere in the universe.”
“And what is an archangel exactly?” the blue pony asked curiously.
The solar princess looked to me with a shrug and I felt I should explain. “Well Princess Luna, angels themselves are the enforcers of the balance of power put forth by the council. Archangels are the most elite warriors within our ranks, and at the current time there are only three among millions of angels: myself and my brothers Michael and Gabriel. Michael’s wisdom and humility earned him a place at our Lord’s side as a personal advisor, while Gabriel’s unbridled sense of truth and justice put him in complete control of the entire legion of angels at our Lord’s command, while my focused wrath has made me quite possibly the most powerful warrior in existence...next to the councilmembers, of course.”
Princess Celestia thought for a moment before replying, “I noticed that your two siblings each embody two traits that make them who they are as astral beings...but you only have one.”
I shifted a bit uncomfortably and answered, “Well...my other trait is not useful in battle.”
“And that is?” the tall white pony asked.
I sighed and closed my eyes. “Love.”
“Curious.” the blue pony remarked.
The elder sibling nodded in agreement. “Very curious.” Her expression of deep thought changed to one of seriousness as she addressed me again. “Well Archangel Christopher, we welcome you to Equis, more specifically, the kingdom of Equestria. From what I understand, you have been sent by the council to watch over our world and protect it, yes?”
I nodded. “That is true. Can you explain to me what sorts of situations have presented themselves?”
“Well,” the white pony began, “we have come across three great evils already, all of which have been thwarted by a mystical power known as the Elements of Harmony.”
I raised my eyebrow. “Elements of Harmony? These are unfamiliar to me.”
The princess smiled and gestured to a violet chair. “You may want to take a seat...this is going to take awhile to explain.”
After a few hours of explanation and many questions posed by me, I had the gist of what these “Elements of Harmony” were and how they worked. From what I understood, this world fundamentally worked with an energy that ran through nearly everything and everyone, called magic. This magic was most prominent in a breed of pony called “unicorns”, which had a horn with which they could channel magic and use it on command. These Elements of Harmony were physical representations of the six attributes that promote harmony within this world: Honesty, Loyalty, Generosity, Kindness, Laughter, and Magic...and each attribute was also represented by a bearer chosen by the power to wield it. These six special ponies were the physical embodiments of what these Elements were, and their friendship and willingness to protect the world had saved it time and time again.
This begged a very obvious question from me, however...
“Why am I needed then?” I asked curiously. “Forgive my forthcoming attitude on the matter, but it appears that you don’t need one such as me with these Elements of Harmony to quell dangers that may arise.”
The lunar princess nodded and responded, “This is true archangel, however the ponies that are the Element bearers are not warriors such as thee. They know not the severity of the evil that potentially lurks in the shadowy areas of this world, and We fear that a time may come when a trial is too great for the six ponies to overcome...and they will perish.”
I nodded in understanding. “That makes sense. So what would you have me do, exactly?”
The solar princess smiled warmly and answered, “Simply do what you do best...guard them. Should anything ever come up that they cannot handle and are in immediate danger, intervene.”
I bobbed my head a bit in thought before smiling. “That seems simple enough. What are my orders as far as secrecy?”
At this question, the white pony frowned. “I am under no delusions about my student, Twilight Sparkle, the Element of Magic. You will not meet a more intelligent pony in this land, nor one more observant than her. Should the time come when you must intervene, I am sure she will recognize something unnatural is happening to whatever their opponent is. Let it simply be said that we will cross that bridge when we come to it. Until then, simply observe and keep watch over the town.”
I nodded as I also placed my hand upon the pommel of the sword at my hip. “It goes without saying that should any demons show their grotesque faces within this world, I will cut them down without hesitation...secrecy be damned. I understand your faith in the Elements of Harmony, but I do not believe they would be ready to handle something of that magnitude.”
The princess of the sun sighed and nodded. “I understand, and fully agree. There has yet to be such a breach within the world, but should one occur, you have full authority to execute your purpose without delay.”
Suddenly I felt the familiar itch within my hand as I was given that sort of authority, and I smiled. “Thank you, princess. I will depart immediately then, and will advise you personally of any goings-on in the town.”
“Ponyville.” The blue princess corrected gently. “That is the name of the town thou shalt be staying in.” She then pleaded, “We beseech thee to watch over them, Christopher...those ponies mean the world to us.”
I held the stern expression of an angelic soldier and nodded. “I will, princess. Worry not of your ponies...they have nothing to worry about with me around.”
The princesses both nodded and the white one added, “I know you were technically tasked with this Christopher, but I would like to personally thank you anyway. You have no idea how important those six girls are to all of Equis...and to us.”
I nodded once more before smiling and shrouding myself once more and taking flight towards the town in the distance.
I arrived as the moon began to rise into the sky, and from what I understood, it was the work of the lunar princess herself that such a beautiful night was now in existence.
I found a large building that was, in fact, also a tree, and it took me a moment to recognize the writing. Though technically an archangel knew everything about the mortal races, that did not mean we didn’t have moments of mental “gumming-up”, as the humans of Earth said. After all, there were many things to know about each race of mortals, and many mortal races in existence. With my mind now focused on the language that appeared to be the written and spoken word of this world, I read that this was the “Golden Oaks Library”...the Element of Magic’s place of residence.
While it was true that I didn’t sleep, that did not mean I could not rest my eyes and body as I waited for my charge to wake and go about her day. With that being the case, I flew to the small observation deck at the very top of the tree-building and took a seat on the red bench before closing my eyes and resting against the railing as I let my senses keep alert, but I still let my mind wander.
From what I’d seen, this world might be quite interesting compared to the others I’d been to in the past, so I smiled as night continued on and prepared for the next day, and the first day of my new task.
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I see great potential with this. Ive had a soft spot for these Angel/Deamon fics ever since playing Diablo. You've definitely done your work and were plenty descriptive with the important elements. I'll definitely be keeping my eye on this one.
this is awesome! keep up the good work
reading this i can't help but think of transformers, protecting the innocent whatever the cost.
You leave me curious.
*clicks player... clicks stop... "Disturbed: Asylum" pauses... starts to read...*
*after reading... nod's satisfied... and "Disturbed: Asylum" starts to play again*
you always do a great job RD ^^
Okay Drew, with this story here. Prologue is a rather solid lay down of some facts so far. It should be very interesting to see how you develop this story, it has some high potential.
Nice disclaimer by the way, lol!
2100625 Well I'm pleased you are interested, as this is an idea I've been toying with for awhile.
2100745 Well the difference between them is that Transformers have other agendas beyond just war. True, they are good at it, but that doesn't mean they want to do it all the time. Angels on the other hand, were created specifically for defense.
2100942 You leave me thirsty.
2101355 Of course I do. I wouldn't be a good writer if I didn't.
2101556 Thanks man. I have high hopes for this story as well.
I have to say that from the first chapter I'm quite eager to see what you'll be doing with this story. For the life of me I cannot understand the downvotes. Spelling and grammar look impeccable, the stoic tone of Christopher speaks of a strong warrior archetype but there are those subtle hints that he isn't your typical Gary-Stu, and the council is certainly something I will enjoy getting more information about.
This story has a lot of potential for being a good one. So far the pacing seems a little quick and in my opinion the chapter was a little short, a bit more description of the characters and locations would be nice. While we all know what certain locations in the FiM world look like, locations look different in almost every episode. More description of your world would be very welcome, the sights, sounds, characters, and other such things. Such as how we know Christopher was waiting in the throne room, but where? What were some of the observations he made about the princesses and their subjects? What did he think of the architecture or decoration of the room in comparison to the other beings in creation? Putting these things into his thoughts would give us not only a better picture of the location allowing us to place ourselves there, but would give us greater insight into the character himself. I'm one of those who prefers to be able to put themselves in the scene as a bystander rather than just "seeing" it as though it were a movie on a screen so in my view there is no such thing as writing too much, too little certainly, but then again when I'm searching for new stories I generally search by word count with the minimum being fifty thousand. I enjoy works that span multiple stories and bear high word counts such as the works of BlackRoseRaven which in total are almost 2.5 MILLION words.
My chief worry is that Christopher will be your typical Gary-Stu badass with little actual character development, no real personality except being "hardcore", only having contrived flaws and weaknesses, very superficial interaction with the ponies, etc. There are also fears of the story rushing about, again lacking enough description to put me in the scene, and the greater fear that this will end up just being another "action clop" story.
But we'll see what comes with the next chapter.
2105896 Well as far as a strong backstory for everything, that'll be revealed as the story progresses, as it's a rookie mistake to reveal that all at once, like I did on my very first story. I will be a bit more descriptive as far as the senses for the story, but as a whole I don't like doing that too much, because it then just feels like filler material.
As far as Christopher himself, think of him like a piece of paper with a single line drawn on it. There's literally infinite directions character development can take, and he will not turn out to be a Gary-Stu. I don't feel wrong at all saying that this task of his is going to change his whole life. Keep in mind that quite a few things are at play here, namely the fact that Christopher and his two brothers are older than the universe itself, by a factor of one million...and over time, they've subtly changed as people and their personalities have slightly deviated from their original purpose. You'll see some major changes and flaws pop up that will add quite a bit of depth to our main protagonist, as well as some flips and turns that no one will see coming.
Have fun.
One chapter and I'm already sucked into it. REALLY looking forward to other chapters!
How are you not a best-selling author yet?
The whole council thing is really interesting, and I can't wait to learn what makes this story hold its ground.
I like the semi-religious shake to this, too. Well worth the read. : 3
2115468 I'm not a best-selling author because as of yet, I've only written fan-fictions. If I can actually come up with a unique story, I just might become something big...but for the time being, I'm just enjoying myself.