When going to PAX I expect and prepare for everything logically possible. Too bad that getting thrown into a world with pastel ponies fighting against the force of Hell wasn’t on the list to prepare for. That was three thousand years ago...
Notice: This story is currently undergoing a rewrite which will be finished soon. Once the rewrite of all original chapters is completed I will begin posting new chapters, thank you for your patience in this matter.
When going to PAX I expect and prepare for everything logically possible. Too bad that getting thrown into a world with pastel ponies fighting against the force the of Hell wasn’t on the list to prepare for. That was three thousand years ago and with the war finally over I am returning home to my family. But I wonder how Equestria will react to the return of their king and an army of immortal warriors sworn to protect the nation against all threats.
Big shout out to JohnrId03 for assisting me in the development of these characters
Okay... so hello everyone, it's been a long time. Before you read further I want to say something, this story was my first one ever done and contained elements of a Video Game that I and several others were working on known as Heroes of Heaven. All that information has been moved to the story Fire Fox and as such I plan to remake this story. Some parts will remain the same while others will change I plan to reformat this and remake it in the style of writing I've developed over my time doing these stories. For those who are new here, welcome! And to those who have been loyally waited for the return of this story then sit back and enjoy the remake.
I signed as I and my friends entered the convention center where PAX was being held; being the mega nerds they were the moment that we stepped through the doors they went crazy and ran in different directions like someone had smashed a bottle on the floor and yelled scatter, I just sighed again and walked into the crowd. As I walk around I saw a lot of people walking around dressed up in some badass gear from franchises that I mostly couldn’t name.
There was a Man dressed as an Assassin from the Assassins Creed franchise, a Madalorian from the game Star Wars the Old Republic with armor modeled after the Corellia Boltblaster Armor however the helmet he wore was designed for the Mandalorian Enforcer Armor set, there was a man dresses as Steve form Minecraft and he even had a diamond sword in his hand and there were even some dresses as anime characters. I smile as I see a few cosplayers wearing costumes form Team Fortress 2, good to see there’s those still loyal to the greatest game ever. One of the Cosplayers was a blue spy walking with a group of people dressed as characters from Naruto wearing a mask that had the face of Naruto on it, clever and hilarious. One of the Characters I saw stood out form the rest however, Umbrella from RHG and Stickpage, which was odd as he was a character made by Resh not a show or game.
Unfortunately I didn’t exactly have the time to make a good costume so I’d done the next best thing and dressed up in one of my old Halloween costumes; the costume I'd selected was my Grim Reaper outfit and before you say that's lazy let me tell you about it. The cloak was hand stitched and perfectly ripped around the sleeves, bottom and around the hood. The cloak was open in the front similar to that of a Jedi robe is allowing me to show the silver armor with gold inlay underneath that one of my friends had hand forged for me as well as the utility belt that went from my left shoulder to my hip and held fake potions and empty bottles. This alone was pretty intimidated but perhaps the most intimidating part was my mask, the mask was ivory and carved to look like the skull of a human. The only openings in the mask were in the eye sockets and they had been carefully carved to reveal only enough to allow a person to see with their vision not impaired. However I had forgotten the most important part of the costume and that was the scythe as well as the custom sword that I had hand forged myself specifically for this costume.
Unfortunately I still had the scabbard for the sword; I guess that was for the best though, if I'd brought them my costume might have been to real, already people were keeping their distant. Oh well I sighed and continue wandering around, looking at different vendors, I see a few choice looking ones, I turn to see a My Little Pony stand with a few people looking at comics or plushies, I continue on my way down the stands till I come to the end. That's when I saw the Resident Evil 4 merchant.
“Well, hello Stranger. It's interesting to see a collector among the rabble.” Since the vendor had the slight cockney accent and the voice down-pat, I felt it only respectful to play along.
“Greetings fair Merchant, it is rare for one to willingly speak with one such as I, for your courage I would ask permission to peruse your wares.” My voice was slightly deeper and gruffer but held an air that commanded respect.
“Heh, it would be an honor to serve the Grim Reaper. What're ya in the market for my friend?” The Merchant asked as he very clearly gestured to a scythe with an engraved handle, exactly like the one death is depicted using but at the same time it was different… somehow. It held an other worldly air to it and my eyes widened as the Merchant chuckled, having caught his customer like he knew he would.
“This here is the genuine Scythe of the Great Reaper; legends tell that the scythe holds the power to not only take life but also to give it.”
“You know my needs too well Merchant for I have lost mine, what's your starting price?” I knew to fall out of character would be disrespectful right now, and the twinkle in The Merchant's blue eyes and his amicable raspy chuckle told me he appreciated it.
“For you free, but only if you buy these.” The Merchant said as he blindsiding me with the change in offer, the scythe an incentive but the items he brought out was incredibly tantalizing. “The Hourglass of Death, said to have the power to tell when ones time is growing near and show anything that the user desires. As well as this,” once again the merchant pulled from his stall a sword locked in its sheath. “Silver inlay with Obsidian engraving, she’s named Oblivion. The smith who forged it claimed that only Death himself could release it from its sheath.”
“You must be kidding. Scythes like that go for 1,533 dollars and that's not even including the sword or Hourglasses. How could any con goer afford that?” I was no fool when it came to medieval weapons. I was nuts about these things to a point that I was borderline obsessed. “Let alone there aren't any actual weapons allowed in here, security's running scans at the entrances.”
“This thing isn't worth much to me, I'm a gunman myself.” He said as he opened his coat to reveal a sawed off. “It came in with a bunch of props by mistake and I opted not to mention it. This thing is the genuine article though, just requires a little sharpening, easily enough done at a later date. Since this isn't normally something I specialize in, I'll be making a killing with whatever price I can get for it. I'll cut the price down to what you feel is fair, so long as you aren't trying to cheat me. As for the sword, well I can’t remove it from the scabbard so she is no use to me either.” The Merchant said and demonstrated trying to remove the sword and failing.
I bristled slightly, the Merchant's challenge of my integrity really ate at me. Those who know me know I follow what’s called the law of equivalent exchange; I always give something of equal value when I make a deal and I quickly reached into my cloak for my wallet. Fishing out all the cash I had, and smacked it on the table. “10,000, I've been saving up for this con and I want what your offering so I’ll lay all my saved cash on them, besides what you offer is the best deal in the entire convention. I’d be a fool to not take this opportunity”
“Well, that’s quiet of ya generous ain't it? Alright then; 10,000 for the scythe, Hourglass and sword.” The agreed as Merchant took the cash and put it in his lock box behind the stall, one he did He handed me the Hourglass which I tied it my utility belt and the Scythe which I strapped to my back however before he handed me handed me the sword he pointed to the scabbard on my belt. “If you want I’ll take that off yer hands.” I smiled and nodded as I unclipped the scabbard and passed it to the Merchant and in exchange he passed me the sword but held onto it for a second. “Oh, and one more thing, always mind the natives. A collector has to be wary of his debtors after all.”
I nodded, taking the words to heart as they were filled with truth. “Thank you for the warning fair Merchant, I will not forget your advice.” I said just before I tied the scabbard of the sword to my belt and pulled my cloak hiding it inside. The moment the sword was strapped to my belt I walked away but as I left I had a thought. ‘What if like the merchant I could not draw the blade?’ Slowly I reached for the hilt and grasped it, the moment I touched the blades hilt there was a click and the scabbard unlocked. I took a deep breath with the scraping of metal on metal drew the sword and examined it, the blade was beautiful; it was sharpened and polished, looking as if had been just forged. Suddenly the blade glowed and I felt a presence that seemed to attach itself to me.
“At last you have come for me Death, I have a Master.” The Blade glowed brighter as arcs of red energy rippled through the blade and then I vanished in a flash of red light. People watched in shock as they saw me disappear; the only proof of my existence was a circle of scorch marks left on the floor
27,000 years later ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Twilight Sparkle sat on the balcony of her castle several books open and floating in her magic while several more lay scattered around her with a noise that sounded like a mix of a groan and a scream she slumped back into the chair she was in. “It just doesn't make sense!” Twilight exclaimed as she angrily slammed the book shut and groaned.
“What doesn't Twilight?” Spike asked as he lazily looked up form one of his comics concern showing on his face. “Twilight if you don't mind me asking, what is it you’re looking for?”
Twilight sighed. “Remember last week when I went to see the princesses?”
Spike nodded. “Ya, when you got back you asked me to look for any books we had that were written before Discord’s rise.” He said with a shrug. “You’ve been looking for something but you haven’t even bothered to tell me what is it that you're looking for Twilight, is some new evil villain rising and Celestia and Luna asked you to research him?”
Twilight shook her head. “It’s not that Spike, have you ever noticed that the Celestia and Luna never mention there father? I mean we have stories referring to Queen Physis as their mother and there is even mention of a king but if you actually search for a name or even an appearance there is nothing! It's like any information about him was erased, even his name is unknown!” Twilight sighed and hung her head.
“I'm sure it's nothing Twilight.” Spike said slowly thinking about what Twilight had said. “I mean not a lot survived form Discords time and given what he’s told me I can kinda see why.”
Twilight frowned “I don’t think that’s it Spike, after I started looking into it and considering all the facts I realized that aside from the holidays there is only two time that Celestia and Luna ever closes court. It's on Mother’s Day and Father’s Day and the days leading up to those days they're always really upset.” She countered as she stood and stretched. “I think there is a lot more to this than we can see. I think I’m going to head to Canterlot; I need to return some of these to the archives and maybe go ask the princesses about this. I mean this is a huge part of our history that’s just missing.”
“That isn't the best idea Ms. Sparkle.” A voice said causing Twilight to spin around to find Discord sitting on the railing.
“Discord, what do you mean by that?” Twilight asked as she turned to look at the Draconequus.
“Before you go running off you should be aware of what the ramifications of this question. There is a reason that the saying, ‘some questions are better left unanswered.’ exists.”
"What do you- wait, you know who the King is!” She said with a gasp. “Who is he Discord and what would be so bad about asking?" Twilight asked.
Discord looked away and sighed. "Just don’t Twilight, just don't." Twilight stared at Discord for a moment before turning and entering the castle. “Tread carefully down the path you've chosen Twilight Sparkle, lest you be swallowed whole by it.” Discord sighed “Spike?” He called to the dragon who turned to him. “Send a message to Celestia, tell her that Twilight is on her way and that she can't cuddle her any more she figured it out and is on her way for answers.”
Spike nodded and quickly took out a scroll and quill quickly writing down Discords message “Got it anything else?”
Discord thought for a moment. “Yes, ask her if I should get the other elements and that I'll join her shortly.” Spike nodded and finished the letter before sending it.
Chapter 1 - The Legend of Creation Part 1 - The Beginning (REWRITTEN 6/15/2019)
Equestria 27,000 years ago ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Long ago, before Time was even given form, name or even became a conceded notion there existed a Being, He traveled the Void going from place to place or at least what stood as a place when there was an abstract Void of nothing. One day as He stopped to rest and meditate a creature approached him. The Being was shocked at first, here before him stood the first living thing he had seen in many countless eons.
"Who are you?" He asked the creature before Him.
"I do not know." She replied in a sad tone. "I do not know who I am, who are you?"
The being pondered this as He had never truly thought about it. "I believe that I was once known by another name, though what it was I cannot remember, however the name I am now called is Death. I am the Grim Reaper."
The creature tilted its head in confusion "Grim Reaper? Is that what I am?" She asked.
Death laughed at her question. "No my dear, I am and always will be the only Grim Reaper, it is the title given to the ruler of the Reapers, the title of Death. And before you ask no, you are not a Reaper either as you bare no cloak or scythe. But I do believe I know who you are, that is if you wish to know."
The creature nodded its head. "Yes, can you please tell me who I am?"
Death sighed at her response and he too nodded. "Very well, I will tell but first I must be sure so I will ask you a few questions. Please answer them as best you can." The creature nodded and Death began. "First tell me what you are." The Creature hesitated before answering.
"I am what’s known as a... Pony. I think I'm part of the species called... an Alicorn... wait, how do I know this!"
"This is basic knowledge given to you when you were created.” Death Explained. “This same basic knowledge is also why you can speak. Tell me, how did you find me and what do you remember before finding me?"
The Alicorn thought for a moment. "I remember there was… nothing a great nothing that existed and at the same time didn’t, then there was... something. When I... awoke? Yes, awoke, I sensed something and a voice called me to find that something. So I followed looking for that something. I walked for what seems like a long time and that something always stayed ahead then it stopped moving and I... found it. It was you., I was searching, following you!"
Death nodded. "I see, tell me what’s the opposite of Death?"
The Alicorn didn't hesitate or think on this question. "Life."
"And there is your answer." Death said with a sigh. "In all honesty I wondered when you would show up."
"So... I am Life?" The Alicorn asked. "And what do you mean ‘when you would show up’?"
"You are Life my opposite in all ways. You give while I take, you are all that which brings joy I am all that which brings sorrow but without you I cannot exist for it is I that takes what you give. As Death it is my duty to oppose you and insure that when the time comes for those whose time it is to return go back to where they must return."
The Alicorn liked surprised for a moment before frowning. "But that‘s not fair, I have only just met you and yet you have been so kind. You have walked this realm for who knows how long and yet you now abandon your only chance at companionship in the face of some greater duty?!" Life scoffed at this as if it were a cruel joke. "Tell me that this is some form of sick joke to amuse yourself, for if you are truly Death and I Life then the first thing I create will be whatever you desire!"
Death laughed, he laughed long and hard but there was no joy in it. It was a mirthless laugh that spoke the answer more than any words could. "Perhaps you should challenge the universe with your humor for the joke was never mine to make, I wish it was but it’s not. All that I have spoken is truth and I truly am sorry but if you do not believe then follow me. Death rose and began to walk in what seemed a random direction. "Ahead of us is a world that holds no life. It has the remains of a moon and a dying sun but that is all, let's prove my claims and bring that long dead world life."
The two beings walked in silence and as they walked Life began to notice that where ever she walked the stars around her glowed brighter or new stars formed. ”I cannot be life.” She whispered as she followed Death. Death ignored what she muttered and continued to walk, the Alicorn following for what seemed like an eternity but at last they came upon the world of which Death had spoken of.
"Here it is the world of which I spoke. When I came to be it was this world on which I and two others lay. Sadly there was no life on the planet even then and one of the other two I was with passed before they could truly learn their power. After a few years of learning how to control my power I tried to bring it life but ultimately I failed and this world has only fallen deeper into ruin since."
"What do you mean bring it life? If you are Death why try to bring life to something?" The Alicorn asked as she turned to him.
Death sighed. "My scythe is more than a weapon or tool; it holds the ability to take the Soul of any living being however that is not its only power. You see my Scythe is rather unique in the fact that it can grant life as well, sadly while I might be able to grant life I can't create life but you, you hold the ability to do this, you can do what I cannot, create life from nothing."
The Alicorn sighed "Fine I'll try and 'create' life. I assume that you want a world of darkness or so-"
"NO." Death roared causing the Alicorn to shrink away from Death in fear however he raised his hand and a dark aura surrounding her and pulled her close to his face. The Alicorn screamed in terror as the hood of the cloak fell away revealed his face to her, it appeared as that of a bleached white skull with glowing red eyes. "What I desire is this world restored not twisted into an abomination!" He yelled at her in anger.
The Alicorn closed her eyes and whimpered as Death held her in his power for a few more moments before he slowly began to take a few deep breaths. Slowly the Alicorn cracked her eyes open however they quickly widened as she watched him calm down and quickly realized that the more he calmed down the more features appeared on his face. Once he had fully calmed down she saw what he really appeared as, his skin was only slightly pale and boar a single scar across his right eye. His hair was a deep black almost matching that of the space of which they stood, his eyes no longer glowed red but instead where an arctic blue and gave off a faint silver glow.
'He is certainly handsome.' She thought before her eyes widened in surprise. 'Why did I think that? He is Death and I am 'supposedly' Life! Besides we only just met I can't like him!'
"I apologies for that outburst." Death said as he released her and he looked away. “That was… unbecoming of me.”
"It's... well it's not alright but this was partly my fault. I shouldn’t have said that." the Alicorn said as she raised a hoof to his arm.
Death began to chuckle and soon it turned into a full on laugh, the Alicorn was taken aback by Deaths reaction till she realized that his laughter had devolved into sobs. “It's not fair this cruel universe!" Death said as he slowly fell to his knees crying. “You were not far off when you said I have traveled for countless eons, Time is meaningless on this universe as there is none, but I have existed for so long alone. And then here I am almost chocking the one person who willingly tolerates my presence and not look upon me in disgust.”
The Alicorn watched sadly as Death cried. Slowly she knelt down her horn glowing with she magic didn’t understand and lightly touched it to the dirt. With a flash of green energy the earth beneath them was rejuvenated and sprang to life as grass and flowers rippled outward from underneath her and spread out like a shock wave but the Alicorn was not done she raised her head and trees ripped from the earth and rose standing tall as if they had for thousands of years. Another wave of her magic and the sun glowed as the threads of light that had made it look like an unraveled ball of yarn began to weave back together and merge into one and the broken moon above them was pushed together and reformed creating a sky born in the twilight hours of both day and night. The Alicorn gasped for air as the effort left her drained but she still had one thing left she had to do. 'I can't be with him in this form we're too different. I have already restored the planet, sun and moon now for him I will use the last of my power to change myself.'
The Alicorn gasped in pain as her body cracked and bones shifted. Slowly her body changed to support that of a bipedal creature, her chest expanded outward as her forelegs shifted onto arms and her hind changed to support her new form while still having hooves, once these changes had finished her front hoofs shifted and slowly morphed into hands. Tears fell from her eyes from the pain but she willed the changes to continue, her magic faltering for a moment but remaining strong as it continued changing her body to further take on the traits of Deaths only more feminine. Her body took on a slight hourglass curve, her bones shifted to support her weight and her wings grew larger to allow flight. Once the changes finished the Alicorns limbs gave out and she collapsed on to her stomach.
After a moment to recover the reformed mare slowly sat up and looked herself over. Her body very different than her previous form, she noted that she still had her rear hooves, her fur and while she could tell her face had changed slightly it was mostly unchanged. The rest was what she assumed was what a female of Deaths species looked like. Slowly The Alicorn approached Death and embraced him in a hug. "Please stop crying." She said and gasped, her voice had changed slightly as well; it now held a melody like quality that was quit soothing.
Chapter 1 - The Legend of Creation Part 2 - Moirai Physis and Aion Erebus (REWRITTEN 6/15/2019)
As the Alicorn was lost in thought Death slowly looked around him and stared at the trees and flowers. He raised his head and looked to the sky to see not the empty void but rather a beautiful sunset and stars as far as his eyes could see. Suddenly the Alicorn approached Death and embraced him in a hug. "Please stop crying." she said and gasped, her voice had changed with it now held a melody like quality that was quit soothing.
"Told you were Life." He said with a sigh as he turned and froze. "wh-what happened to you!"
"I... I used my power to somehow change my form so that... I just thought that you would be more comfortable if I took a form more similar to you. Do... do I look ok?" She asked hesitantly.
Death blushed and looked away as he removed his cloak revealing the silver armor with gold inlay underneath and handed it to her. "Here, cover yourself with this. It's... well I guess it doesn't matter anymore but from where I'm from it is taboo to... well... it's complicated but just put this on."
Life accepted the cloak with a giggle. "You don't need to explain, I understand. So what do you plan to do now that the world is alive?" She asked as she put on the cloak.
Death laughed and lay down on the grass and looked up at the sky. "For now, nothing."
"What do you mean 'nothing'?" Life asked.
"I can't tell you the last time I've seen the stars or felt the grass beneath me so I will enjoy this time." Death replied without looking at her. Life watched him for a moment before walking over and lying down next to him. The two said nothing for a time simply choosing to laying together in companionable silence however the silence soon ended as Death looked down at the Alicorn. "We need to think of a name for ourselves I can’t keep calling you Alicorn or Life."
The Alicorn turned to Death and laughed. "And I suppose I can’t simply call you Death, so what is your name or will you choose a new name as well?"
Death frowned. "As I said before, once long, long, ago I was called by another name but I have forgotten it. Besides while I may not remember where I came from I do know that this isn't my world and that name would hold no meaning any longer except to remind me of what I have lost."
"So, new name then?" Life surmised.
"Yes." The two continued to lay together in thought. "I... may have a name for you..." Death said slowly "While I don't remember much of my old life after so long one thing that has stayed with me was the old Mythological stories from my world. I always loved those stories... one of the bigger stories, actually it was a collection of stories, was Orphic tradition and the Iliad." Life sat up and crossed her legs, excitement clear in her eyes as she listened to Death. "The legend tells of the Gods and Goddess's but also their parent the Titans and there parent the Primordials. They were the very first ones and if I remember right there were 24."
"Who were they?" Life asked.
"Do you want me to list them all or just the ones I'm thinking of?" Death asked.
"Can you list them all?"
Death sighed. "If you really want me to I'll try." Life nodded her head excitedly and Death sighed again. "Alright, to start off with there was the Eternal Void its name was Chaos, from Chaos came two beings. Erebus who the God of Darkness and then there was Nyx the goddess of the Night. From them came the rest of the Primordials. Gaia the kind goddess of the Earth, Uranus the Cruel God of the Sky, Ourea the wise God of the Mountains, Pontus crazed the god of the Sea, Tartarus the mighty warden of the prison that bared his name, Aether the god of Light and his daughter Hemera, the goddess of Day. After them came Achlys the demented Goddess of Misery, Physis who was known as Genesis, Ananke was the goddess of Compulsion, Chronos was the Lord of Time, Aion was the God of Eternity, Himeros was the God of desire and unrequited love, Phanes was the original god of procreation, Nesoi was the Goddess of Islands while her sister Thalassa was the Goddess of the Sea. Then there was Ophion the god of Life, Moirai the weaver of Fate and last was Moros the god of Doom."
"That's fascinating but what does it have to do with us deciding upon names?" Life asked confused.
"Moirai Physis," Death said. "it means Fate Genesis and that's what you are."
"If that is the case then you will be Aion Erebus." Life replied with a smile
"Eternal Darkness, why that name?" Death asked.
Life smiled. "If I am to be Fates Beginning then you will be my Eternal Darkness."
Death laughed as he rose to his feet and bowed. "Very well my lady, I Aion Erebus the Grimm Reaper and Primordial of Death swear that as long as you live I will guide Souls to the Gates Eternity and be your Eternal Darkness."
Life rose and reached out grasping his hands and cupping them in hers. "And I Moirai Physis the Fate Weave and Primordial of Life swear that as long as you live I will weave the Strings of Fate and Life and be your Eternal Light." After that little proclamation the two smiled at each other before laughing till they fell back into the grass and lay together. "Will you tell me more of those Mythology stories tomorrow?" Moirai asked Aion. "And can you um... can you teach me how to use my power better, I... I want to try and actually bring life to this world."
"I'd love to help but for you to be able to actually create living beings will take a long time. While we have given this planet life there is a lot to do before it can support life. Remember the other Primordials that I mentioned?" Aion asked and Moirai nodded her head. "Well think about them for a moment, what did they all have in common?"
Moirai thought for a moment. "Most of them were tasked with controlling an important part of the world or Universe, things like Time or Emotions."
"Correct, we got our work cut out for us." Aion said.
Will we have to create all those Beings that you told me about?" Moirai worriedly asked.
Aion chuckled. "No, I have a plan, well I'm working on one so don't worry." The two lay together for a time neither falling asleep. "Can't sleep?" Aion asked.
As the song ended Moirai was fast asleep and Aion smiled. "May all your dreams be sweet this night Moirai." Aion whispered as he closed his eyes and drifted into the realms of sleep.
Twilight and the other elements sat on the train to Canterlot the other six giving concerned looks at Twilight. "So you gonna tell us why Discord decided to teleport us all to here Twilight or just leave us in the dark?" Rainbow asked impatiently.
"Oh, um... he mentioned to me that we’ll be getting some explanations to some things, but that was it." Fluttershy said as she turned to look at Rainbow.
"I really don't know why girls, all I was planning on doing was ask the princesses about their parents. It's not like it’s a big deal."
"What do ya mean Twi?" Applejack asked slowly.
"Well… there’s a lot of information on their mother Queen Physis but when it comes to their father there's nothing! I checked every book that I could find and while there are mentions of him, it was as if all information was purged for some reason."
Applejack frowned and began to fidget around causing the group to her. "Twi was there mention of other Alicorns in them books ya read?"
Twilight turned to her with a confused look. "No, why do you ask Applejack?"
Applejack hesitated before replying. "There’s a story that's been passed down in the apple family for generations, it’s one of the oldest that been passed on and it tells why only my family cam grow them Zap Apples." Applejack began slowly. "The story starts by telling that long ago my great, great, thousands times great, grandpa found an injured Pegasus mare on the side of the road. Now ya gotta keep in mind that this is long before the tribes united so that means kindness to others outside out your tribe was a lot more than a something rare but he couldn’t in good heart just leave her to suffer. So my old Grandpa picked her up and prepared to take her to his home, as he walked she began to feel heavier and heavier, it was as if he held the world itself on his back but he pushed on and by the time he reached home it was all he could do not to collapse. When He got her to his home he gave her the only bed in the house and left ‘er to rest, when he awoke the next morning the Mare was gone but he still looked around for her since he was concerned ‘bout what condition she was in. After searching for hours he finally decided to return home praying for her safety. As he did this she suddenly walked out of his house as if she was there the whole time. She asked why he, an earth pony, of all ponies would bother with her rather than try and beat her or leave her for dead.
Now we don't rightly remember what his response was but we do know that the next thing he knew was that the mare before him was engulfed in light and when it faded the mare was gone replaced with an Alicorn. Her wings were as brown as the earth and she wore a robe that appeared to be made of leaves. She told him that as long as our family tilled the earth and remained humble and honest then the earth would always give to us a bounty, she then gave to us a seed. And warned him to gather his family and leave the land for a time of great strife would soon be upon the land. She told him to seek the forest Forever Free and to plant the seeds in the forest once there. My ancestor went and did just that and those seeds grew into the first Zap Apple trees, shortly after Discord appeared and began to terrorizing the land throwing it all into chaos but never once did he bother my ancestors for when he came they would run into the forest to escape him and the wrath he brought."
"Cool story AJ but what’s this got to do with Twilight's question about the who the Princesses old man is?" Rainbow asked.
"Ya see there’s always been a name attached to the Alicorn in the story. Gaia Nesoi Ourea, the Alicorn of Earth and Daughter of Moirai Physis and Aion Erebus."
"Hm... I think I understand what you’re saying now dear, you think that Moirai Physis is Queen Physis and that this Aion Erebus character is the long lost King of Equestria?" Rarity asked.
"But that just makes more questions than answers!" Twilight exclaimed. "If I'm translating their names right which I may not be then that would mean that in equestrian their names would have been Queen Fate Genesis and King Eternal Darkness. As for AJs story the Alicorn would be..." Twilight paused for a moment before reaching into her bag and pulling out some book and began to flip through it. "The language these names are in is ancient, dating back to the earliest recorded writings so, the translation maybe wrong but Gaia Nesoi Ourea would translate to... Earth... Islands... Mountains...? So that would make her the Alicorn all the land or maybe the earth, I’m not sure."
"So... my family got blessed by the land itself...damn." Applejack said.
Chapter 2 - Lessons of Immortality (REWRITTEN 1/16/2020)
Moirai groaned as she slowly awoke to the sensation of someone shaking her; with a grunt she turned to the warm sensation and nuzzled in to it causing Aion sighed. "Moirai, if you want to do anything to day you'll have to get up."
"Mmmmh... don wana." Moirai groaned and sunk deeper into him. "Shut up an be pillow."
Aion sighed and snapped his fingers teleport out of her embrace. "Nooooo!" She cried out as he stood and walked back over to her where she lay.
"Come on you stubborn mare, you can sleep later but you wanted me to teach you how to use your power and we have a lot of work to do; also I got a gift for you." Aion said. Moirai rolled over and ignored him and he sighed. "Alright just know that I didn't want to do this, so you brought this on yourself." Aion sighed.
Aion raised his hand, a dark aura surrounding it. The shadows lengthened and warped into a liquid like substance and began to float over Moirai. "Last chance~" Aion said with a dark smile as Moirai ignored him; Aion smiled wider and the shadowy liquid fell on to Moirai’s sleeping form.
Moirai screamed in surprises as something cold and wet splashed her. "Aion I hate you!" She yelled at the Reaper as he fell over laughing. Moirai picked up a rock and threw it at him only making him laugh harder.
After a few moment of him laughing he calmed down enough to get up while still chuckling. "Well now that you’re up, here's part of my little gift." he said as he set a down some folded fabric. Moirai slowly reached for it and picked up the top most fabric and unfolded it revealing it to be a white shirt with gold trim and several intricate designs. "These are interesting designs."
"There not designs, there what’s known as Runes." Aion said and then sighed. "I guess I a great amount of have to explain when it comes to magic.” He said with a sigh as he gestured for Moirai to sit which she did. “Now, Magic is divided into both different levels and categories. The levels depend upon three factors: who can wild it, Difficulty, and lastly what they do. Magic such as manipulating the elements, increased strength, the ability to use light magic and other basic things fall into the first level of magic; they're the things everyone can do.” He explained as he slowly circled Moirai. “A step up from that, are a creatures special talents, they’re the thing that only they will ever be the best at; in my world this was called Personal Magic and it was a natural ability that one was able to do and only that person. For example in my world one of my friends had a personal skill that allowed him to alter any objects density making it heavier or lighter.”
Moirai nodded in understanding. “So the first level is magic that anyone can do and the next is magic that is unique to the individual alone. How can one tell what their Personal Magic is?” She asked.
Aion paused and rubbed his chin. “Well, the power one receives is often linked to one’s nature, for instance my nature is Shadow and Quantum.” He said as he opened his hand showing what appeared to be a clock made of shadow. “Because of this my Personal Magic a mix of shadow and time magic allowing me to create a sort of Shadow Zone that works outside of time however even though you can see everything in the real world you can’t interact with it, just like a shadow.”
Moirai nodded. “I get that but how does one know?” She asked again.
Aion frowned. “Normally one just discovers it as they train.” He explained. “Other times like with mine where it can only be used for one thing the spell and its nature eventually just comes to us.”
Moirai nodded. “Oh, I see.” She said with a sigh.
Aion smiled and continued to circle her and talk. “The next level is what is what’s called World Level Magic, this is actually as close as a mortal can get to beings like us and as the name implies it has the power to manipulate a key point of the world however this can only be achieved with the blessing of an immortal being. After World Level would be what are known as Aspects, an Aspect is an Immortal being that controls a key point of nature there power is similar to World Level with the exception that they have full control of such power where World Magic is temporary.
“So is World Level Magic and an Aspect the same in power aside from one having temporary con troll and the other having full control?” Moirai asked.
Aion nodded. “Yes, an Aspect could actually be considered a literal incarnation of what they represent. Say for instance one created an Aspect of the earth, that being would not only have full control of the earth and all the plants animals and nature of the earth but they would be fully aware of all that happens to and in their domain. Furthermore if their domain is affected then so would the Aspect meaning that if the earth was poisoned so to would the aspect and vice-versa. They are tied to their aspect and only when what they are tied to is destroyed can they truly die.”
“So they can be killed though their bodies?” She asked.
Aion shook his head. “At best they can be damaged or rendered to a near death state but the only true way to kill an Aspect is to destroy what they represent and that would lead to the destruction of the world as a whole.” He explained.
Moirai nodded. “Okay so what’s next?”
“After the Aspects comes what are known as the Avatars.” Aion replied. “While an Aspect controllers a force of nature, an Avatar controls what’s known as a Universal Force. The best example of what a Universal Force that I can think of is something like Order or Chaos; it is law of not just nature but of the universe itself that cannot be denied no matter what.” Aion stopped and took a breath before continuing. “Finally we come to what we are, Embodiments. An Embodiment is a being that controls a Cosmic Forces. Cosmic Forces are forces that are very similar to a Universal Force with the difference being that while Universal Forces are laws or forces of nature that cannot be denied a Cosmic Forces is a fundamental rule that not only is part of nature but also is required to exist to begin with. A good example of a Cosmic Force would be us; we're the Embodiment of Life and Death themselves.”
Moirai looked a bit surprised. “So we ae the most powerful beings allowed to exist?” She asked in shock receiving a nod form Aion.
“Yes but just because Aspects, Avatars and Embodiment are forces of nature does not mean we're unstoppable.” He said with a deep wisdom. “There is an order to things, a Balance if you will, as any of these forces that are opposites could counter another, in theory. The exceptions for this however are beings like you and I in which case only we counter each other as Embodiment of Life and Death. Do you follow me so far?”
“I… think so,” Moirai said as she thought about it. “Natural magic is the lowest level followed by ones special talent or Personal magic. Then comes World Level, Aspects who control nature, Avatars who control Universal Forces, and finally Embodiment who wield a Cosmic Forces.”
"That's correct. Aion said as he turned and looked off into the distance. “Runes...they’re above everything.”
“Everything?” Moirai raised an eyebrow in curiosity. “Even something like us?"
Aion nodded. “Embodiment are the closest to them and we are powerful but Runes... they’re the language of the Universe itself. They’re deeper and more entwined in the nature of the universe than anything else, I have my suspicions about the origin of Runes, but they are for another time and when you understand more about magic and the universe as a whole.” He explained before taking a deep breath. “All you need know for now is that Runes are the language the Universe uses and that if a true Rune Master was to rise, they would require the efforts of all the power of the Universe, and we Embodiment combined to stop if they were evil. Rune can be used to describe anything and everything you could possibly want or do and the Universe itself will listen when you spell it out in Runic." He explained.
Moirai shuddered. “I hope we never encounter anyone who can use them.” She said before looking to Aion. “I-I didn't mean you.”
Aion shrugged. “No offense taken, fortunately there are a few things to stop it from being abused,” Aion said as he turned back to Moirai. “First, you have to know all Runes to use them effectively. Second most Runes were written down in ancient temples back in my world so, you know, good luck to anyone looking in this world. Finally to use Runes you need a great amount of magical power and to fuel a Runic array would be incredibly draining; even to a being like you or I. Runes are not cheap and using them actually removes portions of one’s life as such power is often drawn from one’s own life force, I’ve seen Runic Masters consumed by their power and rendered nothing more than mummified husks drained of all life."
“So how come you are able to use such power then?” Moirai asked as confused. “If Runic Magic is so great, shouldn’t I to wield it?”
Aion smiled. “Thank goodness you asked that question before attempting to use Runes.” He said with a sigh. “You see, there’s a reason I sowed them into your clothes,” Aion said with a relieved tone. “You see even I can't truly use Runes. But I did learn through the attempts of past masters that if they are engraved into another item and used in small amounts then they take far less power to use; of course to engrave or sow runes onto an object one must use specific materials. Silk is good for clothing, especially spider silk, Silver is the best for weapons and armor as it’s a pure substance and there are a few other items.” Aion explained further before walking toward Moirai and pointing to the runes on her shirt. “These ones I sowed into your cloths are the same that I have on my armor. With them you'll require less Mana to cast your magic and will make you more resilient, stronger and faster among other things.” He explained before leaning back and propping himself up with his hands and he looked at the sky. “You know someday I'd like to make a big grand tome of Runic Magic, it would contain every rune ever written so I don't have to worry about forgetting any of them.” He said with a smile before it slowly faded and he sighed. Of course I could never do it; it’s too risky to have such knowledge in any book, to be perfectly honest I plan to only using Runic Magic when the situation is truly dire.”
Moirai sighed, and flopped onto her back, with a sigh. “I agree that this needs to be kept a secret. If such knowledge fell into the wrong hands nothing would be able to stop them, you even said as much. She said as she looked at Aion. “Such power seems too dangerous to use ever or even have hidden away.”
“There’s a reason I let the art die out.” Aion said a hint of sad determination in his voice. “When I rediscovered the lost art of Runecrafting back home I didn't tell anyone, it's far too dangerous. Runes... they’re perhaps my greatest secret.”
“So why did you tell me then?” Moirai asked him as she walked over and hugged him. “You could have lied to me.”
"You'd have found out eventually." Aion sighed. "I need to tell you something that I've been putting off. Moirai, you know what immortality is correct?"
Moirai nodded. "Immortality is the ability to live in defiantly with little to nothing able to kill you. Beings that have immortality are called Immortals."
Aion nodded. "Actuality there is in fact two types of immortality; Basic Immortality and True Immortality.” He explained. “Basic Immortals are like Avatars, they cannot die under traditional means however there are three way to kill a Basic Immortal. Do you want to guess?"
Moirai tilted her head in thought. "The most obvious way would be to have you reap there soul since you are death incarnate. Another would be to somehow break there immortality by destroying their sphere of influence as you mentioned in your lecture. As for the last one... I have no idea."
Aion smiled. “Glad you listened and you are correct in your theories. The first and most easy way to kill an immortal would be to have me do it but even them I could only bring them to a near death state unless the domain they control is extremely weak or destroyed, also note that if a being only has Basic Immortality any other immortal can bring them to a near death state. Your seconded guess is again right, as I said weakening the domain of an immortal will weaken them as well. Also immortal with Basic Immortality can break there immortality for a power boost or to make a mortal immortal, this process doesn't kill them but rather leaves the them with only agelessness, meaning they can't age but are still vulnerable. In this state an Immortal can be killed without the weakening of their domain, however this effect is only a temporary condition as the beings body will begin to restore itself and once it has enough power they will become immortal again."
Moirai nodded "I understand, so what's the third one?" Moirai asked.
"Beskar." Aion said.
"... uh... Bless you?" Moirai said confused.
Aion chuckled at her reaction. "I figured you wouldn't know what it is but I didn't expect your reaction." He said as he doubled over laughing. After he finally got control of his laughter he turned to her the laughter still appearing as chuckles. "Beskar is a legendary metal, but it does have another name. It's known as the Immortals Bane. It got this name for being the only thing to ever have been able to kill an Immortal. It’s said that even the tiniest cut from this metal leaves an immortal screaming in pain and depleted of any and all magic. The only good thing about it is that it can't be forged and its one if the rarest metals in the universe.
Moirai shuddered. "How can it do something like that?"
"By destroying the soul.” Aion replied darkly. “Beskar literally destroys the soul of any living being it so much as scratches." Moirai turns to Aion in horror and he looked at her sadly. "It's a horrible metal and the only thing in the Universe to actually be able to destroy souls." He reassured. “Fortunately as I said it can’t be forged and is extremely rare, I’ve actually only seen a small shard of it and it was used to make a dagger known as Last Words the creator of the dagger took the shard and spent over fifty years carving it like a mason craves a statue. He died shortly after he made the blade and the location of it was lost as before he passed he hid it away.”
Moirai looked down and the two sat in silence for a long time before she finally turned to look at Aion. "So what's the difference between Basic Immortality and True Immortality?" She asked.
"While Basic Immortals can and eventually do die, we can't die." Aion said not looking at her. “True Immortals can never die. We can also create new Basic Immortals the same way as other Basic Immortals do however we don't enter a state of agelessness; we're also the only ones to be able to make other True immortals."
"So... what does this have to do with everything?" Moirai asked; Aion didn't respond. "Aion... you said 'we' when you were explaining this. Are...are we True Immortals." Aion didn't say anything for a long time."
"The power Of Life and Death are among the core and driving forces of the Universe. They must always be and they must always exist." Aion finally said. "There is no way for a True Immortal to die and that's including once the Universe dies, no matter what we will continue to exist, the only exception to this is long ago when the embodiment of Life before you gave her life to imprison a great evil that sought to end all life. She used her soul to bind the being for all eternity."
"Aion... Remember what I said last night? I said 'as long as you live I will weave the Strings of Fate and Life and be your Eternal Light.' And what did you say?" Moirai asked as she turned to Aion.
"That as long as you live I will guide Souls to the Gates of Eternity and be your Eternal Darkness." Aion slowly replied.
"As long as you live I will never leave your side. If that means that I will forever be with you then so be it." Moirai said as she embraced him.
"Thank you, Mora." Aion said.
"So we're doing nicknames now my Shadow?" Moirai giggled. "Now if I remember correctly you promised to teach me how to use my power.
Aion sighed and wrapped his arms around Moirai. "I will but for now let's just sit together for a while.
Chapter 3 - Training - part 1 - Magic (REWRITTEN 1/18/2020)
The next day Aion and Moirai returned to the clearing where Moirai once more sat and Aion stood calmly looking down at her. “Yesterday I explained the tiers of magic, today we will start your training. Now as I am Death I won’t be able to teach you how to use the power of Life, I’m not compatible.” He explained calmly. “However I will be able to teach you the basics but before we start any exercises it would be best to get explanations out of the way.” Moirai nodded and waited for him to start. “Now let's first debunk some common ideals and beliefs about magic; most people believe Magic to be some complicated thing that requires complex rituals, incantations, and a bunch of other shit however this is both incorrect and accurate. The reason for this is because Magic is only as complicated as you make it."
"So that stuff isn't required?" Moirai asked in confusion as Aion shook his head.
"It depends on what you’re trying to do.” Aion explained calmly. “Some spells do require a ritual to perform; these are more often highly complex spells or spells that require a significant amount of mana energy. The incantation part is mostly a miss translation, Mages will often use words to direct their magic and some can even use their voice to cast spells.”
“Now in the ways of the Arcane Arts there are two paths one can take the path that you choose normally depends on how much of a Mana Pool have." Aion Raised his hand and a ball of blue energy formed in it. "This is Mana, all living things have Mana but some races and people will have more than others." Aion explained before dispersing the mana and looking at Moirai. “Are you following so far?” He asked
Moirai tilted her head and though before nodding. "I think I understand; the path one takes depends on how much Mana a person or species has, but what’s that determined by?" Moirai asked.
Aion thought for a moment before responding. "While I don't know exactly I do have a few theories on the subject but that's something for a later lesson. For now we should focus on the basics, later on I will go into Magic Theory. Now the two paths one can take are Alchemy and the actual Magic. To use alchemy one re-"
"Wait, what's the difference between the two?" Moirai asked interrupting Aion.
"Ah... right, I need to explain everything." Aion sighed as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Well, Alchemy runs off a few set rules. To put it simply while both paths alter reality, Alchemy does so by manipulating the laws of nature... tweaking it you might say. However Magic doesn't manipulate nature’s laws." Aion grinned as his hand glowed and Mana once more collected in it before slowly tuned black and exploding into a Black Rose. "Magic flat out breaks it."
Moirai gasped in awe as she reached out and took flower and examined it. “This is increadable!” She whispered in shock.
"Beings such as us, who are, Aspects, Avatars and embodiments can make anything, by the power of our will alone; we need not wands or chants. We might transmute lead to gold, make fish swim in the sky, or restore a devastated world back to full health.” Aion explained as he looked up at the sky. Moirai’s eyes grew wide as she looked at Aion who slowly turned to her his excretion sad. “But just because you can does not mean you should, though this is all within our power we should never usurp the natural order or flaunt the laws of nature in such a way.”
Moirai nodded. “Yeah… doing something like that could cause problems.” She said slowly.
Aion smiled and looked at her with a sad grin. “I'm guessing that Magic sound easier doesn’t it; but it's not." Aion rolled up the right sleeve of his cloak revealing the gauntlet on his hand. On the back of the hands was an intricate design that he used his left hand to twist; as it moved there was a sound of gears turning and with the sound of a lock unlocking Aion slowly removed it revealing the black leather underneath. "It can be difficult to learn to control, if you get ahead of yourself and attempt more than your capable of well..." Aion pulled the leather up revealing his arm was covered in deep red crystals that looked to be growing out it. "In my youth I made one silly mistake during my training days and this was the result.” Aion sighed and lowered the leather before returning the gauntlet and locking back into place. “Magic is far more dangerous than Alchemy and if you don't take it serious there are consequences that can be scarring. So please don't make that mistake."
Moirai nodded. "So will you teach me magic today or is there more to explain?" she asked.
Aion chuckled. "Slow down, Moirai; yes I'll teach you Magic but there is more to it than you think. When you talk about Magic your actually talking about it as a whole there are four branches to magic. The first and least dangerous it Light Magic, the magic innate to all creatures. It’s simple to learn and while it can be dangerous if used in combat it is the safest of all magic.” He said as he raised his hand and an orb of light appeared in it. “As my essence is shadow I’m not exactly compatible with this magic however I am far more compatible with the next type of magic, Dark Magic. Now most see Dark Magic as corruptive and evil but as long as a mentally stable person or one with a soul bound to darkness learns it then it's safe to wield. If the person doesn't meet those criteria then the Dark Magic will become corruptive and start to play upon the person’s desires and fears but it’s still relatively safe. Those of us that use this magic prefer to call this magic Shadow Magic.”
Moirai frowned. “So is it stronger than the normal light type of magic?”
Aion shook his head. “Contrary to belief Dark magic is no stronger than its lighter counterpart the only difference is that it requires the user to feed it with negative or dark emotions such as hate, anger, misery, etc." Aion hesitated and after a moment shook his head. "Moirai Promise me that you will only use the next two Magic branches only as a last resort."
"Why?" Moirai asked curiously.
"While Shadow Magic is still in your domain the next two branches of Magic fall under my domain and only I or those of my kind can use them safely. These branches are what gave Shadow Magic the name Dark Magic so please promise." Aion replied carefully.
"Alright, I promise that I'll only consider using the next two branches if all hope is lost" Moirai replied.
Aion sighed and nodded. "The next two branches are honestly about as twisted as it can get. The third branch of Magic is... it's called Necromancy. It's the power to raise the dead, now while it animates the corpse it doesn’t affect the soul. Most see it as desecrating the dead but to be honest most souls are fine with the use of their bodies as they no longer have a use for them. The last branch is called Blood Magic and this is the root of all the fear and hate for Shadow Magic and Necromancy. You see Blood Magic focuses on corrupting souls, summon Demons and controlling the literal blood of others; It even has the ability to siphon the powers and abilities of others granting the user those powers, It's a horrible branch of magic."
"I- I understand." Moirai said shakily.
"Well with that out of the way do you still want to learn Magic?" Aion asked receiving a nod from Moirai. "Alright so the first thing we're going to do is make you a weapon." Aion said happily. "The weapon of a being like us allows us to channel more power, is actually formed from our magic and as such it's nearly second nature to summon it so that’s probably the best place to start. I want you to close your eyes and clear your mind." Moirai nodded and did as Aion said. "Once you have succeeded you will see the world slightly different. It's hard to explain because it's different for each person so this is something I can’t walk you through. Once you have done this you will see your weapon, all you have to do is simply grab it." Moirai nodded once again and slowly let the world and world around her faded.
As Moira closed her eyes she did her best to clear her mind and focus on her power. As she did this the world seemed to break away and as it slowly returned She opened her eyes and looked around to see that she still sat in the same clearing but it looked much different. Instead of seeing the world in color she saw a white glow everywhere in the shape if what was the trees and other plants.
"What is this?" Moirai asked confused as she floated over to what she assumed was a tree. "Is this its Life Force… so in this state I can see the Life Force of living creatures? This is fascinating!" She exclaimed. "But where's Aions' Life Force?"
As she looked around she suddenly noticed a void in the area were Aion stood slowly she drew closer and realized that it was slowly sucking in the life not only around it but that everything except her was connected to it.
"So that's what Aion looks like when I'm in this state; I guess it makes sense, he is death so that would mean that he would slowly drain life. So I guess that if he slowly takes life then I must slowly release the energy that brings life." Moirai shook her head and looked around. "Aion said that my weapon would be near me so where-" Suddenly another shape appeared behind Aion the thing held a similar aura as Aion but instead of drawing in the Life Force it began to destroy it. Moirai stood in shock as the world around her began to die at a near instantaneous rate. Aions form turned and suddenly the space beside him warped releasing what appeared to be a dying sun shaped like a scythe. "Somethings wrong, I have to find my weapon and help Aion!" Moirai exclaimed as she began to frantically search for her weapon.
Aion sighed as Moirai succeed in accessing her domain, now all she had to do was find her weapon. As Aion stood waiting he sensed a presence and dark voice spoke from behind him. "So she's returned."
Aion turned to the voice and summoned his scythe. "You are not welcome here, now state your business." He said coldly as he leveled the scythe at the being.
The being before him frowned and put on a hurt expression. "Can't two brothers catch up with each other?" He asked. “After all it’s been so long since we last spoke.”
"Don't make me laugh bastard, you have no interest in such things.” Aion Growled. “Do you honestly take me for a fool?"
"Oh very well." The man said as his appearance changed from that of a living shadow to that of a man in heavy armor. He wore a tattered black cape with red inside and his black hair floated in a nonexistent breeze (think of Alucard when he becomes Dracula off Hellsing Ultimate). "I've come to kill Life and destroy this planet again."
"Over my dead corpse." Aion replied as he raised his scythe and the being drew his sword.
"I expected you to draw Oblivion not that pathetic scythe.” The being murmured before smiling darkly. “Come now, draw the true weapon of death; let us fight as the Gods we are."
"Silence Apocalypsis, we are not gods and you hold no right to ask such a thing; this world has only just been restored and I will not have it laid to ruin just so that you might indulge in your sick fetish for destruction!" Aion growled in anger.
"Then you will die a coward." Apocalypsis said as he charged at Aion only to be struck by an arrow made of pure light. Aion and Apocalypsis turned in shock to see Moirai holding a large bow a second arrow already notched and aimed strait at Apocalypsis.
Apocalypsis growled. "This isn't over Reaper, I destroyed the last Embodiment of Life and this one will die by my hands as well." Apocalypsis spat as he pulled out the arrow and turned to back to a shadowy form and faded away laughing.
"You can try but when you do I will be there to stop you. As Death It is my duty to do so till the day entropy consumes us all." Aion said solemnly.
As Aion finished speaking Moirai dropped the bow and sank down to her knees before releasing a shaky breath. "Aion who, or what was that thing?" Moirai asked fearfully.
"That was Moros Apocalypsis, also known as Doom Apocalypse. He was once the Avatar of Gravity and one who I considered a brother but now he is the literal embodiment of the destruction." Aion replied. "Your predecessor, I think her name was Le'fay, was murdered by him, he is singlehandedly responsible for the state that the universe is currently in."
"I thought you said we were the only living beings in the universe." Moirai said.
Aion sighed and sat down patting the ground next to him. As Moirai sat Aion opened his mouth to speak only to close it and look away before turning back to her. “I may have lied to you a bit on a few things.” He said calmly as he looked at Moirai in sadness. “When I spoke of this world I mentioned I just found it like this but to be honest… I once saw it flourishing with so much life.”
Moira looked angry for a moment before taking a deep breath. “What happened?” Shje asked
Aion leaned forward and for moment he appeared as he was; an ancient god who had seen far too much. “There was a war, The Pantheon War, the last great war of the old Pantheon. It was a fight to save or doom the universe and we lost, we all lost, there was no winner.” He explained. “Before that time there were thousands of Embodiments, each given a domain to control. Mine was the Domain of Death, Moros’s was Gravity. But eventually some Embodiment became corrupted and tried to take more power, they were led by Moros who had taken the title of Apocalypse. We never thought it would last long but it did and as time went on the war only got worse.”
“You said neither side won so what happened?” Moira asked as she looked at Aion in concern.
“There was a man in that war, a man with more blood on his hands than any other; a man feared by both friend and foe, whose very name would cause whole armies to run in terror.” Aion said calmly as he looked off at something only he could see. “He was a man that would commit a crime that would silence the universe, and that man was me.” He said darkly. “In the final battle the whole universe convulsed in agony, the last of the non-corrupted Embodiments standing against a hoard of abominations and their leader. So I ended it in the only way I knew how; I destroyed them all, I ripped apart the fabric of reality itself, on this very world, and created an abyss from which nothing could escape. I imprisoned the army he created with in that abyss before I dragged Moros Apocalypsis into the pits of hell itself and used the life force of every living thing in existence to fashion chains that would never break, rust or decay! I bound his body and shackled him to the very throne he so craved, and imprisoned him for all eternity.” Aion stood and walked away from Moirai before turning to her with tears in his eyes. “That’s why I said there was no winner and only losers, because I may be the last one standing but a victory at such a price is nothing but hollow.”
Moirai sat in silence for a moment before looking up at Aion. “So if he can’t break free, how was he here?” She asked. “I thought you said he was trapped forever.”
"So did I." Aion grumbled. “Apparently he found a way to escape at least temporarily but he is most likely still trapped.” He explained as he looked up at the sky. "So… any idea why the sun hasn't set yet? He asked as he looked at Moirai with a raised eyebrow.
Moirai looked at the sky as well and frowned. "Um... we may l have to move them manually for a while, stellar engineering is still way out of my ability. But I can move the sun or moon right now; I'm not strong enough to move both at least not yet."
"I'll move the moon and I bring out the stars; you get the easy job of lowering the sun." Aion said.
Moirai nodded and raised her hand, her magic glowed and the sun began to set, once the sun was about to disappear over the horizon Aion raised his hand and the moon rose as millions stars exploded in the night sky. Once it was done Aion and Moirai walked back into the forest and lay beneath a tree. After a while of laying together Moirai shifted and looked up to Aion. "Can you sing again...I-I can't sleep again."
As the song ended Moirai was fast asleep and Aion smiled. "May all your dreams be sweet this night Mora." Aion whispered as he closed his eyes and drifted into the realms of sleep.
The train had been quite since Applejack had told the others her story. With everyone trying to process what they had been told the only sound that could be heard was the tracks moving under the train car. As the six sat together Rainbow looked over to Twilight and opened her mouth before closing it and looking away only to take a deep breath and look at Twilight. "Uh, hey Twilight I just thought of something." She said hesitantly.
"What is it Rainbow?" Twilight asked still reading the book that she had pulled from her bag not paying attention to her friend.
"Just out of curiosity what would the name Caelus Atlas Uranus be in that book of yours?" Rainbow asked.
Twilight stopped reading and turned to look at her friend confused. "Rainbow why do-"
"Just check ok?" Rainbow said interrupting her friend. "I gotta be sure before I say what I'm thinking."
Twilight sighed and turned back to the book mumbling a few things and flipping through it trying to find the name. "Caelus... Atlas... Uranus... If the book is correct then that would translate to Heaven World Sky. Why do you as-wait Rainbow where did you hear that name?" She asked as she looked at the uncomfortable Pegasus.
Rainbow hesitated before replying. "It was from my dad; you know Commander Hurricane right?" she asked.
Twilight and the others nodded. "Commander Hurricane, the High Commander of The Pegasus Empire military during but the Discord Era and early Unification Era." Twilight said calmly "She is known as one of the greatest warriors of both the Discord era and the Unification Era."
"And what was her full name?" Rainbow asked.
"Commander Hurricane's full name and title was Lady Hurricane Dash... wait..." Twilight trailed off realizing what Rainbow was saying.
Rainbow sighed. "Ya, she's like my great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, grandmother or something." She said causing Rarity to faint and Rainbow to groan.
"Look that's not the point!" Rainbow exclaimed. "The thing is my dad use to tell me this story about how Hurricane once meet a stallion named Caelus Atlas Uranus at this tavern and how she gained all her powers. The guy appeared to be drunk and claimed that he was the master of the sky and that no one could defeat him as long as he flew in them. Of course Hurricane over hears this and challenges the guy to a duel one on one. Caelus accepts the challenge saying that if they fight and she wins that he will give her a gift that would make her the greatest Pegasus to ever live.
However Hurricane didn't fall for the bait and asked what would happen if she lost to which he replied that if she lost with in the first five minutes that he would take her wings, but if she survived longer than five minutes then it would depend on how impressed he was.
Now a Pegasus without wings is literally nothing but despite the great risk Hurricane accepted and the two went to battle. Despite Hurricanes skill she wasn’t able to land a single attack on him and every hit he delivered was so precise that it seemed impossible for her to win.
But even though she was clearly out classed in both skill and speed she managed to lasted almost seven minutes before she was taken down, as the lay there defeated and awaiting the stallion to take her wings he instead approached her and his form shifted from the rags he had worn to a set of heavy silver and bronze armor with a sky blue cape. His wings grew and turned as blue as the sky at noon as his hands crackled with magic as if it were lightning. "I am Caelus Atlas Uranus, the Alicorn of the Heavens, Son of Moirai Physis and Aion Erebus." He declared to her as he extended a hand to help her up.
As she took it he raised her he said, "You have impressed me Hurricane Dash. While you did not defeat me you stood against me longer than any mortal has and for that the winds shall always answer your call, the weather shall obey you as if you were me. May your decedents use this gift with honor, now go and build me a city in my domain one that all races of the air may call home." With that he vanished.
After that day Hurricane became the most feared commander of the Pegasus Empire and after the three tribes united she founded the construction of a city that was only for the races of the air such as the Pegasus and Griffon. The city became known as Cloudsdale and she was awarded a noble title that made her the duchess of Cloudsdale."
As Rainbow finished her story the group stared in shock. However Twilight was sitting in confusion. "This doesn't make any sense!" She exclaimed, startling her friends.
"Um, what's wrong Twilight? I-if you don't mind me asking that is." Fluttershy asked in concern.
"This is the second Alicorn that has never been mentioned in the history books and if that's the case then are there more?!" Twilight exclaimed shocked the others. "Just how many Alicorns are there?" Twilight asked as she deflated in her seat. As the other five looked at each other with concern.
Moirai groaned as she was softly shaken awake, with a groaned she nuzzled into the warm person next to her. "Mmmmh... just a few more moments Aion." Moirai mumbled causing the dark immortal to sigh.
"Come on Mora, you have to get up and raise the sun; you know it doesn't like me." Moirai groaned and sunk deeper into him. Aion sighed and snapped his fingers teleport out of her embrace. "Nooooo!" She cried out as he walked back over to her.
"Come on sleepy head, you we have a lot to do today." Aion said. Moirai grumbled as she rolled on to her back and her hand glowed with a white aura as she raised it and the sun began to rise. As she did this Aion raised his hand as well, a dark aura surrounding it. and above them the stars began to fade as the moon set and the sun rose.
After a few moment the moon had vanished and the sun had been set on it's course, Aion nodding in satisfaction as he turned to Moirai. "Well now that your up, I got something for you." he said as he set a down some folded fabric.
Moirai slowly reached for it and picked it up. "Really Shadow, more cloths?" she asked as she examined the cloths only to realized that it was a cloak similar to Aions but instead of it being black and tattered it was white and had gold fabric lining it.
"Well you've been asking for a cloak but if you don't want it I can always take it back" He said prompting the young goddess to pull it to her chest and give him a dark look. Aion smiled and chuckled as he turned and walked over to the fire pit and sat down reaching into the wood pile to transport a couple more sticks into the little fire. The hungry embers nibbled at the log till there hunger got the best of them, and with a chorus of crackling flames devoured the log. Once the fire was made he beginning to stir the contents of a crude clay pot that was set above it. Moirai grinned like a child as she pulled the cloak on and fastened the clip, the morning was filled with the calls of birds and the chirping of insects. Nothing quieted down for a second, it was as if the schedule was always filled with the need for some animal to call out and confirm its existence.
"Mora we've spent the past three years in this valley, and you've grown in leaps and bounds both in skill and power." Aion said as he ladled some soup into a bowl and handed it to her. "As the embodiment of Life it is your duty to create and maintain life. As the embodiment of Death, especial as the Grimm Reaper, it is my duty to rule the Underworld and guide the souls of mortals to the Gates of Eternity. We've performed our duty perfectly and you've even created the races of this world in the image of us. The Earth Ponies have done well maintaining the earth, while the Pegasus have maintaining the air."
"Aion, if you don't mind I... I'd like to ask about Moros Apocalypsis? I mean, what is his place in all this?" Moirai asked.
Aion was silent for a moment before sighing. "I suppose I'd have to explain who he is to you eventually." He said as he set the bowl of soup down. "My original home is far from this place, not simply on another world but in another dimension entirely." He started to explain. "When I was brought to this place I was not the only one, there were in fact three of us. The first of us was your predecessor, Morgana Le'fay the Embodiment of Life. She was... almost your opposite in every way. The next was myself as the Embodiment of Death and finally there was Moros Gravitas the Avatar of Gravity."
As time went on more and more immortal being appeared and with each group to come came different immortals with different powers. As time went on the first thirteen immortals, including myself formed a council that worked to insure that things ran smoothly however as time wore on it became obvious that three factions began to form, those that sided with Life and those that didn't were the first and each side was headed by either Morgana or Moros, I formed the third faction which was the neutral faction.
During this time Moros and I were close allies, bordering on almost brothers, but I'm sure you can guess that this state of events would not last. A darkness was slowly creeped in and began to corrupt us but we were all too arrogant to see it but this darkness would soon give way to Moros and his allies turning on Morgana in an attempt to kill her. The battle was long and eventually I and my faction were forced to side with Morgana in an effort to stop the madness. I tried to get Moros to see reason but he wouldn't see reason, he was convinced that Morgana had to die and all life be extinguished; in the end by the time I was able to confront him there was nothing left of my friend, he was just too far gone.
It wasn't long after out first confrontation that he abandoned his old name and took the name he now has, Moros Apocalypsis. After that everything went about how I explained it, Moros led the corrupted Embodiment to try and take more power with the war lasting longer than we ever thought and only getting worse with each battle. By the time of the final battle the whole universe was convulsing in agony, the last of the non-corrupted Embodiments barely able to standing against the endless hoard of abominations that Moros now commanded and Morgana was nearly dead so I ended it by destroying both sides. I ripped apart the fabric of reality creating an abyss from which nothing could escape to imprison his army before I dragged Moros into that pit of hell personally and used the life force of every living thing in existence that had survived up to that point, even my fellow Immortals, to fashion chains that would never break, rust or decay. He wanted to rule the universe from a throne so that's what I gave him, the throne he so craved would be his prison for him for all eternity.” As Aion finished his explanation Moirai sat in shocked silence. "In the end, as I said, there was no winner of that war. Morgana was dead and Moros imprisoned while I leveled the entire universe just to contain him.”
"So if all that you've said is true than how did he get out of his imprisonment?" Moirai asked.
"He didn't." Aion replied with a stern tone. "Or I should say that he hasn't yet. Apocalypsis is still trapped, I even checked the Abyss myself. But from what I can tell he figured out how can manifest his presence for a few moments but to do so would take a extreme amount of power." He explained in frustration.
"So it's like a 'once every hundred years he can appear for a few minutes' thing?" Moirai asked.
Aion nodded. "It's not possible to imprison an Embodiment forever, we can be contained and trapped but even that's not easy to do and ultimately is just a temporary measure. When you take into account that Moros ascended to become the Embodiment of Entropy itself then you realize that it's impossible." Aion said in a tired voice. "But we got a bit off topic with your question about Moros." Aion said as his tone shifted to a bit more happy, even if it seemed forced. "Moirai it's time for us to start creating the new Aspects of this world and the Avatars of power." As he said this he stood up and began to clean the area around them.
Moirai frowned. "Hey Aion what's the difference between us and a Aspect or Avatar?" Moirai asked.
Aion paused in his cleaning up to think for a moment. "An Aspect is a living manifestation of a certain part of the world. For example the Aspect of the Earth would have full control of the earth and anything to do with earth but would have no control of the air or sea because that is not there domain. An Avatar is the physical manifestation of a Cosmic Law, an example of this would be Moros, before he became the bringer of the Apocalypse he was the Avatar of Gravity meaning he controlled the laws of Gravity itself. Then there's us, as Embodiment we control all that Aspects and Avatars represent but we also represent something the Universe can not exist with out, Life and Death."
"Can I really create such beings? I mean sure I've created the races of the world but this entirely different!" Moirai asked as she shifted uncomfortably.
"Well, you'll need my help to do it but the short answer is yes, you can." He said with a dismissive wave. "As for your concerns about being able to create them, who was it that created the Earth Pony, Pegasus and Unicorn?" Aion asked as he turned to Moirai.
"I did but it was relatively easy I just took the components required and fashioned them after us." Moira replied.
"Hmm... okay maybe that's true, but who was it that created the Zebra, Griffon, Dragon and Minotaur after hearing the legends about them from me." Aion asked and smiled.
"The Zebra and Minotaur were similar to the Earth Pony and the Griffons are similar to the Pegasus. The Dragons were just like a lizard only more intelligent and able to breath fire. Besides you did better when you made the Reapers, Goats and Changelings." Moirai said with a scoff.
"Perhaps, so I'll give you a challenge. Explain the Phoenix and Windigo."
"Um..." Moirai stopped and thought.
"Moirai, no matter how much you try to deny it you are ready to do this. Besides I'll be there every step of the way." Aion said encouragingly.
Moira nodded and walked over to Aion. "What do I have to do and wouldn't you have to train them?"
"We wont need to train them, when a Aspect or Avatar is created it has the knowledge required to do its job from the start, think of the Aspect/ Avatar as a machine that has the basics programed in to them from the beginning, just don't treat them like a machine." Aion chucked at that and looked at Moirai. "Remember they are living beings and while they know what to do they will be like a new born child in that they will need to learn about the world."
"I understand, they institutionally know what to do but they are children in how the think and act. While we wont have to teach them there power we'll have to teach them restraint."
Aion nodded. "Correct, now we just need to figure out what we will be creating, do you want to make a Aspect or Avatar?"
"Um... I think we should try to make a Avatar, they seem to be the more important of the two." Moirai said hesitantly.
Aion nodded. "So which one do you want to create first? There's... hang on I need to remember." He said as he tapped his chin in thought. "Magic, Space & Time, Chaos, Harmony, Retribution and Probability? I think that's all of them?" He said with a shrug.
"Magic." Moirai said.
Aion nodded. "Okay so next we need a name."
Moirai paused for a moment as she thought for a moment. "I think we should follow the same concept for how we named ourselves. What was the Primordial of magic?"
"There wasn't one." Aion replied. "However there was being that represented Magic, Hecate the Titan of Magic."
"Hecate... I think we need another name to go with it. How about... Asteria." Moirai said slowly before turning to Aion "Asteria Hecate, Star Magic." She said with a smile.
"Alright now with all that done, all we have to do is pool our magic together and imagine what they will be like.
After Aion explained this the two immortals raised their hands and gathered as much power as they could before slowly pushing it together and allowing it to take the form. With a bright flash the magic transformed and a girl with pail white skin and snow white hair with small demon horns and wings appeared.
The girl yawned and slowly opened her eyes revealing they were a bright red and looked at the two tired Embodiment. "Mother, Father!" She cried in joy as she saw them. Moirai and Aion froze up for a moment before Moirai fainted and Aion simply sat down.
"I need a drink." Aion said mournfully as Asteria walked over and sat next to him confused.
Big shout out to JohnrId03 for helping me design these characters.
Chapter 5 - The Sand Starts to Fall ------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aion simply sat there staring at the young child sitting next to him. He had no idea what to do. 'I expected them to be young but it seems that when we created her our magic imprinted upon her. Is this going to happen to all of then? And if it does what do we do. We can;t stay in this valley for ever and when we do leave... bah, problem for future me.' Aions thoughts were interrupted when the little girl pulled on his sleeve causing him to turn to her.
"Did I do something bad Father?" She asked her eyes swelling with tears.
Aions felt a sensation in his chest and he grabbed it gasping. 'How-I... what? My heart? But it stopped long ago, how is this passable!?'
"Father? FATHER!" The girl screamed in fear she got up and ran over to Moirai. "Mother, somethings wrong with father!" She cried as she shook Moirai thing to wake her. Slowly Moirai groaned as she slowly opened her eyes before she shot up.
"Aion!" Moirai yelled as she turned to the person who had woken her only to stair in shock. Slowly she reached her hand out as touched the girl before pulling her into a hug. "What's wrong?" She asked the girl who turned and pointed to Aion who was frozen-while clucking his chest. "Aion are you ok?"
"I... I have no idea Moirai." Aion wheezed out. "Just don't make her do that puppy eyes look children can do. It's weaponized cute." Aion finished as he fell back and groaned.
"Aion you are acting like you just saw a ghost." Moirai said as she looked at her companion.
"Moirai, that girl is so adorable that she actually made my heart start beating for the first time in I don't know." Aion said slowly. "I'm being serious don't make her do that puppy eyes."
Moirai gave Aion a hard look before turning to the little girl. "Asteria what was the look you gave Aion?" she asked.
Asteria looked confused. "Did I do something bad?" She asked her eyes swelling with tears again.
Moirai froze before she quickly turned and looked away. "N-no you didn't." She wheezed out. "Aion I-you were right, never again."
Asteria looked at the two other immortal beings confused before smiling. "You are silly." She said giggling.
After they had laid there for a moment Aion rose and walked over to the two girls. "So, we need to figure this out."
"Despite the knowledge I have on creating life, most of the blanks I've needed your help to fill. I think this is something you'll have to fill in as well." Moirai said sadly.
"You are correct Mora." Aion said with a smile. "Despite this not being the best time for a lesson I still wish to know why you think this is."
Moirai thought for a moment before Asteria jumped up and down excitedly. "Oh I know the answer! I know the answer!" She exclaimed excitedly.
Aion smiled. "Them tell Asteria. Why is it that despite Moirai being the embodiment of life she doesn't have the knowledge or the ability to create immortals without my aid?"
Asteria cleared her voice as a blackboard appeared behind her and a set of glasses appeared on her face. "The reason is the same that certain beings can wield the power of Darkness and others Light. The Universe turns on the balance that is set between Life and Death. Excluding the fact that Father is far older than Mother, Father is also the embodiment of death. To create an immortal requires on to experience both life and death at the same time rendering their body beyond the reach of one without the other. As to the reason that Mother doesn't know everything about how to create life, It's a security measure that the Universe placed so that no one single individual may obtain the secret to the universe. This is also the reason for the Avatars and Aspects. We are the Universes fail safes. In the event that something were to occur that would threaten the Universe as a whole it is our duty to act against it."
As Asteria finished he explanation the props her magic had summoned disappeared. Aion walked forward and patted her head. "Vary good Asteria, you get full marks." Asteria cheered and jumped up and down in joy.
"So why does she think we are her parents?" Moirai asked.
Aion sighed. "Because we are."
Moirai froze up. "W-what!?"
Aion sighted again. "Mora, do you remember what I told you about Aspects and Avatars? I said, 'that while they know what to do they will be like a child'." Aion sat down and rubbed his forehead. "While I meant it more toward their naivety to the world as well as there power it seems that I was more correct than we assumed. When we created Asteria Hecate our power merged and imprinted upon her that we are her parents."
"Aion, I wished to tell you at a better time but it seems that now might just be better than waiting longer." Moirai said as she walked over and sat next to Aion. "From the moment I saw you I... well I fell in love. I guess it was that stupid love at first sight trope. Even worse it's even a forbidden love, your Death and I'm Life. I know it's silly but well I-" Moirai froze as Aion pulled her into a hug.
"Mora... I don't know what to say." Aion said as he hugged her. after a moment he slowly pulled her away and smiled sadly. "Mora, I wont lie to you and say that I love you," Moirai began to speak but Aion placed a finger to her lips."let me finish."
Moirai eyes began to tear up but she nodded. "Thank you, now as I was saying. I wont lie to you and say that I love you, but I would also be lying if I said that I don't like you as something more than a friend. However I've held myself back from those emotions as I feared what would happen if I were to voice those feelings but knowing what I know now, I wish to get to better know you and perhaps come to love you as well." Aion finished saying and removed his finger.
"Aion..." Moirai pulled him into another hug and sobbed into his arms. It wasn't a rejection, he had accepted her feelings and even said he wished to one day return them. "You better help me raise these children Aion." She said shackle.
Aion smiled. "Of course... wait children?"
"We still have a job to do and from what you explained each aspect and Avatar will see us as there parent. Hope your ready for a big family, honey. She said her smile turning into a evil grin at the end.
Aion groaned. "What have I gotten myself into. Ah, well. So you want to create more?"
Moirai nodded. "I think we should create all the Avatars first. From what you explained an Avatar is the physical manifestation of a Cosmic Law and I feel that before we create the Aspects of this world we should work on first stabilizing and set the laws of the universe."
Aion nodded. "So which one is next?" he asked. "Space & Time, Chaos, Harmony, Retribution or Probability?"
"Space & Time, this time you name them." Moirai said.
Aion thought for a moment. "There was a Primordial of Time, do you remember who he was?"
"How could I not?" Moirai asked. "You told me he was the ruler of the Titans and from the stories you have told he was a monster."
"That he was however the term 'crono' has become intimately tied to the concept of time and I must admit that I am quit fond of the name Chronos but he will need another name other than Chronos." Aion said As he thought. "Theodon Astraios, Chronos Theodon Astraios." he said.
"What does it mean?" Moirai asked.
"Time Reality Space" Aion said. "Alright now with all that done, all we have to do is pool our magic together once more.
Aion and Moirai once again gathered as much power as they could pushed it together. As they did this Asteria walked over to watch. Slowly the magic to began to take form, this tome it was of a young boy. With a bright flash the magic completed its transformed and a boy appeared. He had a well built figure and his hair was black with silver steaks slowly cloths formed around him they were basic garments light brown shirt with dark brown pants once they finished forming a royal-blue hooded robe with gold trimmings materialized around him and a neck less shaped as an hour glass appeared around his neck.
The boy yawned and slowly opened his eyes reveling they were green and looked at the two tired Embodiment and Avatar. "Greetings Mother, Father." He said as he rose and bowed to them.
"There is no need to bow to us child you are family." Moirai said happily. Suddenly a chime was heard through out the glade that they were in and a cold chill permeated the air.
Aion froze and slowly looked down at his side. The sand in the Hourglass of Death had began to fall. Death was no longer simply a duty that he and the Reapers had to perform, Now it was an obligation.
"It seems that the gift of Time has a price." Aion said slowly as he reached for the Hourglass.
"Aion what is that?" Moirai asked fearfully.
"It is an artifact that transcends that of the creation of this Universe. It is known as the Hourglass of Death. It has the power to tell when a mortals time is growing near and can show anything that the user desires be it in the present or the past, however it does not have the power to see the future even artifacts of this caliber are all powerful."
"What did you mean a price father?" Chronos asked.
"With you came the creation of the concept of Time and Space the vary core to Reality itself. However with Time now a implemented in this world it means that mortal beings will now age. And that means that Death has at last been truly brought to this Universe.
--------------------------------------------------- Authors Note: You know I find it odd that in all this time no one has once picked up on the full story, the entire thing is laid out all you need do is look. It is a special feeling and one that I take great pride in. Each chapter has a deeper meaning that once looked at correctly come together to reveal a picture that, while shocking, is actually quit amazing. Perhaps when the story is truly complete and all the pieces fall into place it will all make sense but I want to let it be known that everything in the story is done on purpose. While I wont tell you out right I feel that if you went back and looked at it all you would see the truth. Ironically, the one chapter I had trouble with was the one that almost ruined it for me. Perhaps it's the grammatical errors that make it hard to discern the clues from the mistakes. If that is indeed the case don't worry, as I will be going back and fixing them. However for now I think the truth is best left unanswered and unknown. ---------------------------------------------------
Moirai stared at the hourglass watching the sand slowly fall. "The more Avatars we create the more dangerous this world gets, Aion what were the repercussions for bringing Asteria into being?"
"When I was created the magic fields of the world were thrown into disarray They will eventually stabilize but I'll have to do it manually, until that happens though you should expect random portals to open up around the world. There wont be any thing bad coming through really, mostly it will simply bring plants or the occasional animal so well be fine." Asteria said calmly and smiled. "Don't worry mommy, Every thing will be fine!" She exclaimed happily.
Moirai took a deep breath. "Okay, okay, so what's left?"
Aion thought for a moment. "Chaos, Harmony, Retribution and Probability. If you want we can stop and pick this up tomorrow." Aion said before hesitantly turning to her. "Mora, you do relies we've been living outside this entire time? Three years we have lived in this valley with the ponies and we have never really made a house."
Moirai nodded. "Yes, but we never really needed one." She replied before her eyes widened in realization. "Oh, we need a house. Aion what do we do?!" Moirai asked as she began to panic.
"Mora, calm down, like you said we really haven't had a need for one and I doubt that will change over night." Aion said calmly. "I'll start working on one later, I can probably use Alchemy. But that's not really important right now, are you are still able to keep making Avatars or do you want to stop. The next ones are going to be... tricky."
Moirai took a deep breath and slowly breath out. She repeated the motion several times before looking at Aion. "Alright, I'm ok now. So what do you mean by tricky?"
"Well, up until now we have only made Avatars that are single operators meaning that they didn't require an opposite to work." Aion explained.
"Let me guess," Moirai sighed. "These ones are different in the fact that they require an opposite."
"Without Order, Chaos can't exist as there would be nothing to balance, that's how the universe works." Aion said as he rubbed the back of his head. "People always make the universe more complicated than it actually is but I'll simply explain it now. The universe works on the universe really only runs on two basic rules, Physics and the Law of Equal Exchange. The physics part is self explanatory, it's the Law that complicates things. Think of the Universe as a set of scales," Aion said as he paused and used his magic to create a set of scales. "when something like Order is placed on the scales something has to stabilize the scales." He explained as he summoned a block and set it on one of the scales causing them to tip. "For that to happen the Universe will do one of two things. The first is if your trying to use Alchemy, Moirai can you tell me what happens in Alchemy?"
"One of the main laws of Alchemy states that for something to be gained something of equal value must be sacrificed. In the case of say creating stone you would need either the exact amount of minerals and such required to make it or an equal amount of something to turn into what you want." Moirai said.
Aion nodded. "Correct, Now the second way is when things such as a Cosmic Law is involved. Because Order exists the universe it creates the opposite to balance itself out. So if Order is created then the Universe creates Chaos." Aion explained as he created a pyramid and placed it on the scale and they returned to balance as they leveled out.
"So the next ones are tied with each other in the sense as they must be created at the same time?" Moirai asked.
Aion nodded. "Yes."
Moirai sighed. "Great twins." she said grumpily before a devilish smile grew on he face "So which do you choose Aion, Chaos and Harmony or Retribution and Probability?"
"Ah, what's the saying, turn about is fair play?" Aion said with a chuckle. "Vary well my dear, I choose door number one."
"Um... what?" Moirai asked as she raised an eyebrow.
"Nothing, never mind." Aion said with a sigh.
"Father means that he chooses Chaos and Harmony mother." Chronos said as he chuckled and Asteria laughed.
"At least someone gets my sense of humor." Aion grumbled and crossed his arms.
"Just pick a name!" Moirai said exasperated.
"Discord Pandemonium Chaos and Eris Zodiac Harmony." Aion sad with a smile.
"Aion if you do any more puns with names I swear I'm gonna do something, I don't know what but I will do something and you wont like it." Moirai said a edge in her voice.
Aion shrugged. "I doubt it but I'll stop." Aion said with a smile.
Aion and Moirai once again gathered there power and pushed it together as they did this Asteria and Chronos watch from a distance. Like the last two times the magic began to slowly take form, however unlike the last times the magic began to destabilize and instead of solidifying it began to warp and take on a life of its own. With a bright flash a magic shock wave occurred and the energies spit into two forms. The first to stabilize took the form if a young girl she wore a gray jacket and a fedora that was way to big. The other however didn't stabilize but instead began to condense and grow more and more chaotic before it completed and took the form of a boy in a brown jacket and a fedora that was way to big. As the magic dissipated the two twins were laid next to each other and with a final flash both there forms changed into what appeared to be chimeras with a lion's paw and an eagle's talon as arms and hands, a bull's hoof and a raptor's claw as feet, a dragons tail, something furry's body, the head of a pony with a single fang in the right side of his mouth, the antler of an elk and the horn of a goat, a Pegasus and a thestral wing on his back.
"Oh no, no, no,nonono!" Moirai ran over to them and used there magic to feel for any signs of life. After a moment she sighed. "There alive." She exclaimed with a smile as she turned to Aion only to pause. Aion had frozen in place a look of shock on his face and she swore she heard him mutter 'So that's what happened.' "Aion are you ok?" She asked.
Aion shook his head. "Sorry, it's just, I've seen there kind before. There race is called Draconequus." Suddenly the twins yawned and opened there eyes. The boys were yellow eyes with a red sclera and the girls were brown eyes with a blue sclera.
"Hey, can you be a little quieter? I'm really tired and I wanna sleep. Discord asked before falling back asleep. Eris looked at Moirai and Aion and raised her finger to her lips before snuggling black with her brother.
"Prepare for trouble and make it double." Aion sighed.
"Aion whats going on?" Moirai asked as she picked up the children.
"They have a great destiny Moirai, I only hope that we can prepare them." Aion replied.
A man walked through the Everfree Forest at his side pair of skeletal dogs walked and on his shoulder a crow perched. A pack of timber wolves charged the intruder, the dogs growled and the figure turned, with a flick of his wrist a scythe appeared in his hand. One of the wolves leaped at him and the figure swung the scythe catching the wolf with the blade the wolf howled in agony, as the figure pulled the scythe from the creature a glowing blue orb came with it. The figure picked the orb from the blade and tossed it to one of the dogs who snapped it up and devoured it.
The wolves circled and growled at the intruder. "If you value your life then leave, I am in no mood for this foolish act. This is your only warning." The figure said and wolves froze in fear, his voice was echoed as if he had spoken in a cave but held an edge that was unmistakable.
The Alpha growled and the wolves charged. The dogs charged as well and the crow flew from its perch. "They are yours I be ahead." The figure said as he continued to walk toward the hart of the forest. As he walked he came across a small stream and he stopped and sat down on a fallen tree and closed his eyes, after a while the dogs returned and the crow landed and perched on his shoulder. "Did you enjoy your meal?" The man asked. The dog growled a reply and the man chuckled. "Well we're almost there." He said as he rose and began to cross the stream.
If any one had been around they would have noticed that the water wasn't stopped by the figure but rather flowed through him as if he were a ghost. Once the figure crossed the river he continued down the path till he reached the ancient castle but instead of crossing the bridge he began to walk down into the chasm that surrounded the castle.
Once he reached the bottom he approached and entered to the cave that house the Tree of Harmony. Once he entered he stared at the tree in sadness. "Hey my dear, sorry I'm so late but I did it, I got him to spill. He told me how to free you." The figure said as he reached into his robes and pulled out five glowing blue crystals and walked toward the tree. He slowly circled the base till he located a spot in the back where it appeared as if something had been broken off. He smiled and placed the five crystals in the slot and the tree began to glow brighter and brighter till stopped and the tree went dark.
The figure gulped and walked back around to the front of the tree and waited. A sudden cracking sound made him jump and the tree began to crack and break apart, suddenly with a loud smashing sound the tree exploded and where it stood was a girl in her late twenties. She had long white hair, two small fangs, two big white angel wings and hooves instead of feet. She wore a grey fedora and trench-coat and she slowly opened her eyes to reveal they were brown with a blue sclera. "Good to see you again, Eris." The figure said with a smile.
"F-father?" Eris said shocked before charging the man and tackled him in to a hug. "FATHER!" She cried as she hugged him. "But how? We all thought that Starswirl imprisoned you as well?" She asked.
Aion smiled. "Remember what I said? No mater what someone does nothing can contain death, and none except an immortal can stop death."
"Does Tia and Lulu know?" Eris asked with a smile.
Aion shook his head. "The others are on there way to Canterlot but they don't know were free yet. Though that will change now, with you restored the Elements will no longer be needed. Come on we got a lot of work to do and very little time to do it."
Celestia was looking out the thrown room windows watching for the train. Luna sighed as she watched he sister. "Sister I know thou are worried but there is nothing to do till thee student and-" She was cut off as the Elements glowed brightly and shattered. Celestia and Luna stared in shock.
"Luna, I think there is more going on then we first thought." Celestia said in shock.
A sudden pop brought the two alicorns out of there shock as Discord appears with a smile. "Celly, Lulu, do you feel it? She's back! ERIS IS BACK!" He yelled in joy as he grabbed and hugged the two alicorns.
This weeks chapter is taking far to long to complete and life keeps getting in my way, so I had the idea that I should release a list of what races I will be using in the story. Now know that this is not a complete list as some races I want to be a surprise for when I use them at a later date. With that said let's introduce some of the races of Equus.
Pegasus/Earth Pony/Unicorn A.K.A. Pony: Ponies were the first creation of Moira Physis.
Thestral:
Zebra: Zebra are a ritualistic race created by Moira Physis. They are skilled potion brewers and are well known for there ability to read the threads of fate. They are extremely in tune with nature and often act as the liaison between the Earth and other races of Equus. They follow the will of Gaia Nesoi Ourea no matter what she asks. They once lived in harmony with the ponies but a Unicorn by the name of Starswirl the Bearded spread rumors that they were evil which's and enchantresses that used black magic and stole ponies souls.
Seaponies: The Seaponies were created by Nereus Pontus Aquaria. They are exactly like the other Ponies, the only difference is that there body from the stomach down is that of a fish. and they live in the water.
Hippogriff: Hippogriffs were created by Caelus Atlas Uranus by merging a Pegasus and Griffon. They are the best of both worlds. They have a small country to the west of Equestria.
Siren: The Siren were created by Nereus Pontus Aquaria. At one time they were a mighty race that were ruled by a King and Queen. However a Unicorn by the name of Starswirl the Bearded lead a genocidal crusade against them by depicting them as demons that caused strife and feed of misery. Toward the end of the crusade He banished the three Siren Princesses to another world and used a spell that brought the Siren race to extinction.
Minotaur: Minotaur's were created by Moira Physis after hearing Aion tell legends of them. They are extremely strong and skilled in construction. While they don't have magic they make up for this in there intellect.
Griffons: Griffons are fierce warriors like creatures created by Moira Physis after hearing Aion tell legends of them. They are natural warriors and only respect those who are strong. However they also live by a strict code of honor and will always live by it.
Dragon: Dragons were created by Moira Physis after hearing Aion tell legends of them. They are large winged lizards that breath fire. Fiercely intelligent, Dragons have a natural desire to horde anything shiny or valuable. There have been many dragons ho have horded knowledge instead of gems or gold.
Flutter Ponies/Breezie: Flutter Ponies were created by Asteria Hecate and were based off her fathers creation, the Changeling. They were tasked with assisting in the stabilization of the worlds Magic fields. They later devolved into Breezie who are simply lazy.
Changeling: The changelings are a race of hive based shape shifters that was created by Aion Erebus. The Changelings are ruled by a Hive Queen who in turn are ruled by there mother the Supreme Queen. They once lived side by side with the ponies till a Unicorn by the name of Starswirl the Bearded lead a genocidal crusade against them by spreading rumors that depicting them as demons. After that they were brutally mascaraed and hunted till they fled to the badlands.
Phoenix: The Phoenix are a race of fire birds created by Moirai Physis. They have a form of sudo Immortality that allows them to be reborn. There fire is made from pure magic and there tears and feathers hold incredible healing properties. They are the opposites of the Windigo.
Windigo: The Windigos are a race of ice wolves created by Moirai Physis. They have a form of sudo Immortality that allows them to be reborn. There ice is made from absorbing negative emotion. They are the opposites of the Phoenix. Windigo's live in the Frozen North and normally prefer to be left alone. The only time they have ever caused trouble was when a Unicorn by the name of Starswirl the Bearded stole a pup from them. The enraged Windigos chased after the unicorn following him back to the land that would become Equestria. Unfortunately by the time they were able to find the pup it had already been killed. Enraged Windigos froze everything in there path and only were placated by Clover the Clever who begged them to stop the freeze of innocent ponies. When the Windigo's refused Clover used her magic to bring the pup back as the first Timber Wolf.
Crystal Pony: The Crystal Ponies were created by Gaia Nesoi Ourea. They are constructed from living crystal and infused with magic to bring them to life. They were originally lead by a Prince or Princess but when Prince Diamante was forced to accept a deal from Moros Apocalypsis to protect his kingdom and he was corrupted in to King Sombra the Crystal Empire fell and was later locked away for a thousand years.
Sphinx: The Sphinx's were created by Gaia Nesoi Ourea to act as guards for the most important locations and artifacts. They have eternal youth but are not immortal.
Draconequus: There are only two Draconequus, Discord and his twin sister Eris.
Deer: The Deer were created by Moira Physis to act as the protectors of Life. Deer spend most of there time in meditation and are master mages and are supposedly even able to bring the dead back to life. They are lead by Fauster Life (Faust).
Goats: Goats were created by Aion Erebus to act as the Guards to the Gate to the Underworld. Goats have a similar power to that of a Gargoyle in the since that they can turn into a stone statue at will. Because of this fact they spend most of there time in this form guarding the Gates to the Underworld. Goats are the opposite of the Deer and are master necromancers able to raise the dead to aid them in combat. Despite being near opposites of the Deer they actually get along quit well together and both live together.
--------- Undrworld ---------
Reapers: Reapers are under direct command of the Head Reaper, Thanatos Death, who reports directly to Aion Erebus, they are tasked with the duty of escorting the souls of all who die to the River Styx where they are handed over to Charon who escorts them to Purgatory for judgement by the Arbiters.
"I think we should pick this up tomorrow." Aion said as Moirai yawned and sat down on a small boulder.
"No I'm good." Moirai said through another yawn. "I still have enough for another set."
"I really don't see the problem with not having those two." He said as he crossed his arms. "Eris and I can do what they do just fine." Discord grumbled as he sat next to Eris and Chronos.
Moirai chuckled at his complaining. "I honestly don't understand either. But if Aion says we need them then I wont argue he is far more knowledgeable than either of us on this sort of stuff."
"While I may not hold my maturity level, I do agree that those two will be nothing but trouble." Eris said slowly.
"The reason we need them is because they are the balancers of the universe." Aion said as he sat down. Asteria walked over and sat in his lap with a giggle. "Probability adds a factor of randomness. If something can happen then it will happen as long as Probability is involved. As for Retribution, well there is more to Retribution than revenge. Retribution is about justice, and the right to level the playing field. It ensures that everyone pays the same in the end, that all debts are payed in full."
"So do you have names for Retribution and Probability." Asteria asked.
Aion nodded. "Yes I have an idea for there names. Can you get up sweetie?" He asked her. Asteria nodded and got up. "Before we start I need to make us a house. I'm running low on magic so I better do this before I run out." Aion rose and walked a ways away from the group before taking a deep breath, closing his eyes and slammed his hands together. The clap resonated with the world and the ground began to rumble as a house began to construct before them. Once it finished Aion took a deep breath and slowly opened his eyes and turning to the group whose mouths hung open. "Well what do you think?" He asked.
Discord whistled. "Call me impressed." He said as the others nodded.
"Father please tell me that you didn't create a pocket dimension in the house." Chronos asked as he rubbed his forehead.
Aion chuckled. "I did. The house is the size of a small castle on the inside and each room is a contained pocket dimension that you all will be able to modify as you see fit. I'll show you around it later right now I think we should finish what we started."
Moirai nodded. "So we are doing Retribution and Probability?" She asked.
Aion nodded. "As for the name well I have them." He said smiling.
Moirai tilted her head. "What are they?"
Aions smile turned creepy "Karma and Murphy."
Discord summoned a glass of water and did a spit take as Eris froze up. "Dad are you crazy?!" She exclaimed.
"Vary." He said with a smile.
"Well despite the unoriginality, the names fit perfectly for who they are and there role in the universe." Discord said as he recovered.
Aion nodded turned to Moirai. The two there power and pushed it together the others watching from a distance. Like with Discord and Eris, the magic destabilized and instead of solidifying it spit into two forms. The first to stabilize was in the form of a boy. He had short cut red hair, and demon horns, he wore a red dress shirt and black dress pants. Slowly the second formed a young girl, she had long blueish white hair, two big white angel wings. She wore a white sleeveless dress. However before it finished a cloth formed and covered her eyes.
The two groaned and the boy opened his eyes to reveal them to be blue however the sclera was draconic. The girl however looked around before slowly raising her hand to her face and feeling for the cloth. Once she had it she lifted it to reveal that her eyes were milky white. She slowly began to panic and breath faster. "I-I can't see!" she cried in panic. "Please someone help, mommy, daddy? Please help!" She began to cry as Aion and Moirai ran over to her.
Moirai picked her up shushing and hugged her. "Aion can you hold her while I do a scan?" Aion nodded her and took her. Moirais hands began to glow as she placed them over Karma's eyes. After a moment she sighed. "There's nothing I can do, She's blind. Not even my power is able to fix that."
Aion sighed. "I was afraid of that. Well there is nothing we can do but look after you." He said as he looked down at Karma.
"Dad what happened?" Murphy asked as she turned to Aion.
"I don't actually know but I have two theories." Aion said as he turned to Moirai. "The first is that Karma's powers are to great for her to wield at the moment but the problem with this theory is that if this were the case then the others would have some sort of problem as well."
"So whats the other?" Moirai asked.
"Remember what I said about Retribution? There is more to Retribution than revenge, it's about justice, and the right to level the playing field. It ensures that everyone pays the same in the end, that all debts are payed in full. Now remember what I said about the Universe?"
Asteria gasped. "You think that because what her power does this is the price." She asked.
Aion nodded. "Karma's powers are to balance those scales and keep it that way. However do to the responsibility..."
"She has to pay a price." Moirai finished. "In exchange for the power to wield Balance itself she had to she has to pay a price."
Aion nodded. "The universe may be cruel but the price is always fair in the end."
"So what is the price of our power?" Moirai asked. "You once told me that the power Of Life and Death are among the core and driving forces of the Universe. What is our price?"
"The price is that we can't die." Aion said. "Simply because we can't die doesn't mean that we don't pay a price. We are cursed to watch as everything we build is destroyed, no matter what it is, no matter what it's made of or how it's made we will endure while all we build and create will fall to the sands of time. Even these children will pass one day. This is our curse." Aion chuckled. "Look at this I really brought the mood down. Come we have a house to explore." He said as he turned to the others. "Come lets go get settled in."
The group headed toward the house Moirai and Aion walking together Karma in their arms and the others behind them.
Return of the Reaper of Life Arc 1: Rise of the Caribou By W. D. Arceion -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 1 --------------------------------------------------------------------------
Deep beneath the earth in the lowest levels of Tartarus stood an ancient castle, inside a man sat upon a throne. His hands and feet were chained to the throne with thick chains embedded into the walls. The man wore heavy armor and a tattered black cape with a red inlay. His black hair floated in a nonexistent breeze. "So they created the Avatars... interesting. I had not anticipated this. However, if they think this will stop me then they are in for quit a surprise." Moros Apocalypsis rose from his throne the chains clanging as he stepped forward and and raised his hand. "I am Moros Apocalypsis, the bringer of the End. I call upon that of which is Plague, I call upon that of which is War, Come forth and serve." As he said this a read mist emanated from him and began to solidify into two orbs, the first was an orb as red as that of freshly spilled blood, the second was a sickly green. The red orb formed into a creature of hulking proportion, it had the body of a horse from the waist down and from the waist up the body of a man, its face was that of a baboon and it had two horns atop its head. The second orb took the form of a man with cloven hooves, he had the horns of a ram and he wore the tattered robes of a necromancer. As the two beings completed they bowed to Moros Apocalypsis.
"We have heard the call master we answer." The first said. "I am Tirek, the Bringer of War."
"I am Grogar the Ram, The plague Bringer." The second said.
"We have answered your call Master what is your will?" Tirek asked.
"You will do." Moros Apocalypsis said calmly. "You are creatures of my realm Demons I have summoned to be my generals for my army. They will never tire, they will never weaken. They hold no morals, humility, or those ridiculous virtue that those created by Aion Erebus and Moirai Physis hold."
"I see no army only a man in chains Moros Apocalypsis. Yes, I've heard of you. the one being that even I fear. A man so evil that he was sealed away for all eternity." Tirek said a hint of fear in his voice.
Slowly Moros Apocalypsis raised his hand and the dark mist formed again. "I craft you an army, the Army of Depravity!" He yelled, as the mist collected the shadows warped and animalistic screams and grunts as well as moans came from with in the mist, as it dissipated an army of creatures slowly appears. There lower body was shaggy with fur and were that of Caribou, there chest and arms bulged with chiseled muscle and there face was that of a Caribou complete with horns and all. However unlike the two Demons that Moros Apocalypsis had summoned they wore no cloths and they appeared to hold no humility. As the creatures completed forming they bowed to there master. Tirek and Grogar shook in terror as Moros Apocalypsis laughed. "Here is your army." He said as he turned and walked back to hes throne and took a seat. "I have given you the means of which to exact your revenge. Tirek you have failed me twice, I will be more lenient with you Grogar as you have only failed me once but if you fail me again Tirek I will take what you owe me. You sold me your soul for your power, fail m again and I shall collect upon that debt." The two demon generals bowed to there master.
"I will not fail this time master, I swear it." Tirek said as he turned and walked away.
An army of demons brought forth within the pits of Hell had risen to claim the world.
Twilight Sparkle and her friends walked into the throne room of Canterlot castle before them sat Celestia and Luna upon their thrones, However four other Alicorns sat with in the room each sitting upon a throne made of different material. Discord sat off to the side a big smile on his face. The first was a mare, she had a brown coat with dark blue eyes, a sandy-yellow flat mane and tail, she wore a green dress made of leaves and her feathers fade from brown into grey at the ends. She sat upon a throne made from Stone and gems. The second was a stallion, he had a sky-blue coat with sun-yellow eyes, a white windswept mane and tail and his feathers fade from sky-blue into white at the ends. He wore heavy silver and bronze armor with a sky blue cape. At his side was an ornate rapier and he sat upon a throne of clouds. The next was a large stallion, he had a navy-blue coat and his eyes were miss matched with one red and one blue, he had an ethereal dark and light blue mane that looks like a waterfall, his feathers fade from navy-blue to royal-blue at the ends. He wore hardened leather armor and had a trident gripped in his hand, he sat upon a throne of water though he seemed to not be wet.
The last one was Cadence. She smiled as Twilight ran over and hugged her. “Twilight.” Cadence said with a smile as the purple Alicorn neared and stood before her old foal sitter. “Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake, clap your hooves and do a little shake!” They both said in unison as they went through the motions. Celestia smiled as the other beings stared in confusion.
"It's good to see you Twilight." Celestia said as she rose and walked over to her. "I only wish that this was under better circumstances." She sighed
The stallion on the throne of air laughed. "Well, well, little Tia finally found a lover. Shame to, wouldn't have minded trying to make a pass." Celestia and Twilight's face turned red at his comment.
"Oh don't tease them Caelus." The mare on the earthen throne chastised the warrior.
"But Gaia!" Caelus whined only to get a stern look from the Alicorn mare. "Fine." He huffed.
Luna sighed. "Allow us to introduce you to our family, the oldest and most immature family on Equus." Everyone froze in shock except for Rarity who fainted. Fluttershy whimpered and curled into a ball. Discord teleported over to her and picked the shy girl up and caried her over to his throne and placed her down stroking her main trying to calm her down.
"Tact Aunty Luna" Cadence said with a sigh.
"What tis true, they are all immature and act like children, Discord especially." Luna retorted.
"Hey, I resent that remark!" Discord exclaimed.
Pinkie gasped. "Oh I have to plan a Happy-First-Family-Reunion-2000 years-Party!" She exclaimed in excitement."
"You read the story didn't you?" Discord asked with a chuckle.
"Yup, Oh there's so much to do I have to plan the celebration and get the invites and bake the cakes and get the presents, does a Happy-First-Family-Reunion-2000 years-Party even need presents? Oh, so much to do." Pinkie exclaimed as she skipped out the room.
Celestia sighed and shook her head. "Twilight these are my brother and sisters in a sense. The one on the Earth throne is Gaia Nesoi Ourea, she is the Aspect of the earth and it tasked with maintaining the earth and insuring it stays healthy. The one on the Air throne is Caelus Atlas Uranus, He is the Aspect of Air. He's tasked with maintaining the air, weather and everything else. He's ruler of the Hippogriff race. And the one on the throne of water is Nereus Pontus Aquaria, he is The Aspect of the Ocean and is tasked with maintaining the ocean."
"Oh ya, Like I can do that when that damn Bastard Starswirl Killed almost all my subject!" Nereus yelled in anger. At his comment the mood severely darkened as the other aspect grumbled an agreement.
"Nereus, we aren't here to rehash the past. Were here because someone got to nosy and started looking for answers despite it being obvious that those answers were erased." Said a mare as she entered the room. The women has long red hair, two big white angel wings and hooves instead of feet and she wears a white sleeveless dress and white cloth to covered her eye. Next to her walked a stallion, He had short cut red hair, blue eyes and demon horns. He wore a business suit.
"Karma, Murphy It is good to see you!" Luna exclaimed as she walked over to the pair and hugged them before turning to Twilight and here friends. "Twilight, this is our big sister, Karma and big brother Murphy. They're are the Avatars of Retribution and Probability."
"Wait, what'er Aspects and Avatars?" Applejack said confused.
Gaia sighed and rose from her throne. "Right well have to start at the beginning. Long ago there was nothing, In this Nothing a single being walked. He was named Aion Erebus and he was the embodiment of Death. One day he stopped to rest and another being appeared before him, It was a mare and Her name was Moirai Physis. She was the embodiment of Life. They became friends and traveled to a dying world, when they reached the world Moirai Physis restored it and gave it life."
Caelus cleared his throat as he then rose from his throne and picked up the story. "Over the next three years Moirai Physis and Aion Erebus brought the many races and creatures of this world to life, Moirai Physis created the Earth Pony, Pegasus, Unicorn and Zebra in the image of her and Aion. She then based the Griffon, Dragon, Minotaur Phoenix and Windigo after legends that Aion had told her about. Aion then created the guardians and denizens of the Underworld."
Caelus finished speaking and Nereus Rose next and spoke. The first he created was the first Changeling, The High Queen. She then gave birth to twelve children who would become the Hive Queens and lead the changelings. Next he traveled deep into the planet and created the Underworld. He them made the Reapers, Arbiter and Valkyries. The Reapers were tasked with the duty of escorting the souls of all who die to the River Styx where they are handed over to Charon the Ferryman who escorts them to Purgatory for judgement. Arbiters were created by Aion with the unique ability to judge the souls of the dead and determine if you went to 'Heaven' or 'hell'. The Valkyries are the warriors of the Underworld, acting as both law enforcement and military/guards for the Underworld. Once this was done Moirai and Aion created the place you call White Tail Woods. With in these woods They created two more races to act as the guardians of the Gates to the Underworld, the Goats and the Deer."
Discord then walked over to the group and cleared his throat. "The Deer were created by Moira Physis to act as the protectors of Life, while the Goats were created by Aion Erebus to act as the Guards to the Gate to the Underworld. Despite being near opposites of the each other they get along quit well together and both live in harmony side by side. Once this was done Aion And Moirai returned to the ancestral home of the Ponies, Dream Valley. It was then that they created the Avatars and later the aspect. An Aspect is a living manifestation of a certain part of the world. For example Gaia is the Aspect of the Earth and has full control of the earth and anything to do with earth but has no control of the air or sea because that is not her domain. An Avatar is the physical manifestation of a Cosmic Law, like me. I am the Avatar of Chaos."
Murphy stepped forward. "The first to be created w-"
"Was me!" A girl exclaimed excitedly as she appeared from nowhere. She looked like a young filly with pale white skin, white hair, frost-blue eyes, 2 small horns and 2 small wings. She wore a light purple dress. "The first was the Avatar of Magic, me, Asteria Hecate!" The girl giggled. "Next was my brother the Avatar of Time, Chronos Theodon Astraios."
"And where is big brother?" Luna asked before she was hugged from behind by a tall stallion His hair was black streaked with silver and he had a well trimmed beard that was the same as his hair, his eyes are green. He wore a royal-blue hooded robe with gold trimmings and a golden scythe as strapped to his back.
"Right behind you." The stallion said with a chuckle. "Greetings I am Chronos Theodon Astraios, the Avatar of Time. I was the second to Avatar."
"SO who was next?" Twilight asked excitedly.
"That would be Discord and His twin sister Eris." Chronos replied.
Discord sighed. "We were the Avatars of Order and Chaos."
"You had a sister?!" Twilight and her friends exclaimed in surprise.
"What happened to her and if she is order then why didn't she stop you instead if us?" Rainbow asked angrily .
"Because she can't!" Discord replied angrily.
Murphy placed a hand on Discords shoulder. "You weren't the only one he got. She'll be free soon. Any way After them came me and my sister Karma. We lived in peace for many years but where there is light there must be shadows, and were there is shadows there is darkness."
That Darkness took the form if a being like Aion and Moirai, His name was Moros Apocalypsis, bringer of the Apocalypse. Moros Apocalypsis had only one desire, to destroy everything. His first attack was during the days of Dream Valley and it came in the form of the Demon called, Tirek. However he was defeated and banished. The next to attack was a corrupted Goat named Groger the Ram Necromancer. He was slain by Aion and His power over the dead was used to create the last two Avatars, Finitis Mors and his sister Aeterna Vita."
"Where are those two?" Celestia asked.
"There on their way with father and mother!" Asteria said with a big smile.
"So there coming as well?" Gaia asked and Asteria nodded.
"Yup and there bringing someone special!" Asteria exclaimed happily.
Anyway, it wasn't too shortly after that Aion and Moirai created us to be the Guardians of the Earth, Sky and Sea. That's the end of the story." Nereus said finishing the story. Twilight nodded in thought.
"What about the Princesses?" Fluttershy asked quietly as she had calmed down.
"I ascended like Twilight." Cadence said before turning to Celestia and Luna. "However you never mentioned how you to were created, were you made like the others or did you ascend?" Gaia, Caelus and Nereus glanced at each other before chuckling.
"So you never told them." Nereus said with a smile.
"Celestia and Luna are vary, vary special." Gaia said with a devilish smile. "All of us were made by Moirai and Aion mixing there magic to create us, we were created by magic but Celly and Lulu were created another way and no, they didn't ascend."
Cadence looked confused for a moment before realization dawned. "They had a natural birth!" She gasped.
Gaia nodded. "They are the first and only true children of the very beings who created the world."
Authors Note: Thank you to all who support me and this story and thank you to all those who inspire me
It had been several hours since the meeting in the throne room and Twilight and her friends were sitting at a large dinning table with the immortals. Rarity had been fawning over them since she had woken but they simply ignored her, Except Karma who was muttering something her never learning her lesson. Meanwhile Applejack and Rainbow dash were speaking with Gaia and Caelus, while Fluttershy and Discord sat off to the side simply cuddling.
Pinkie and Murphy were locked in what one would call the most intense poker game ever played, Pinkie was winning. Luna had dropped out of the game early and simply watched in fascination as the Avatar of Probability was beat at a game that involved Luck and chance. "How is this possible?!" Murphy cried as he lost another hand. "Karma, sis please! She must be cheating, she hasn't lost once!" He cried as he turned to Karma.
Karma laughed. "Sorry brother, but Pinkie hasn't cheated once. However, a few more hand and she'll loose." She replied as she turned to Murphy.
"You said that an hour ago and we're still here." Murphy grumbled as pinkie showed her hand to be a royal flush and beat his full house. "This is both logically and physically impossible!" Murphy exclaimed as he slammed his face into the table. Luna and Karma laughed.
As this happened Twilight had walked over to Nereus who had been looking out a window. "Uh excuse me..." She said as she approached him.
Nereus turned and smiled. "Greetings young one, how can and old man help you?" he asked.
Twilight shifted nervously. "Um... you mentioned that Starswirl had killed your subjects... uh are you okay?"
"No, no I'm not." Nereus said as his form began to change his dark blue fur changed to a stormy gray and lightning crackled from him and his ethereal mane changed from its waterfall appearance to that of a short cut militaristic style. "Do you have any idea what he has done to us?!" He roared in anger. Magnus Starswirl was a traitor, murder, xenophobic and genocidal stallion who caused suffering not only to we immortals but to every race to ever exist upon this planet!" Nereus outburst causing everyone to freeze.
"That's not possible!" Twilight retaliated. "Starswirl was a master mage and is known as the father of magic for his accomplishments in the arcane arts!"
"Starswirl was a thief. All that knowledge, he stole from me." Asteria said in a calm voice. as she approached Twilight and Nereus. "I am Magic incarnate, that is what it means to be an Avatar. Starswirl stole much of my work and passed it off as his own but that's not his greatest crime."
"Twilight how do ponies react to other races?" Celestia asked.
Twilight thought for a moment. "Most ponies react in fear or aggression but that's understandable we've been at war with them more times than any pony can count."
Celestia sighed. "Twilight there is a reason the Starswirl wing of the library is locked up. It's not because of his spell but rather something that was locked away inside of it. Twilight, it's because of Starswirl that ponies react like this."
"What do you mean Princess?" Twilight asked confused.
Celestia sighed. "Let's have a seat." She said as she walked over to the table. Slowly everyone walked over and took a seat. "First let it be known that I despise Starswirl, we all do and for good reason. From the moment Starswirl first appeared he was power hunger and desired what we had, immortality. He came before our parents and demanded that they make him and immortal. Seeing the darkness in his heart they refused and Starswirl left but not without delivering a warning. "A day will come when I will return and when I do I will have what is rightfully mine." With that he left. That was the start of our pain." Celestia said with a sighed.
Gaia continued the story "As time continued only whispers of Starswirl spoke of him but something was happening. Rumors began to emerge that fostered distrust among the races that until then had lived together in peace. Soon a race of ponies I had created were shunned and driven out. These Ponies had the body of an Earth pony and the only difference was there power. These ponies follow my will no matter what I asks and had the power to hear the earth. They often traveled the land using herbs to heal the sick and to aid any who asked. But Starswirl spread rumors that they were evil witches and enchantresses that used black magic and stole the souls of ponies. Eventually they were driven away and I was forced to lead them to a safe haven where they could live in peace and this is how the race known as the Zebra came to be." As Gaia finished a tear fell from her eye.
Murphy cleared his throat. "Since Father isn't here yet I'll tell this part." He said before continuing the story. "Once the Zebras left Starswirl began to target another race, the Changelings. The changelings are a race of hive based shapeshifters and was the first race our father created only this time it wasn't through rumors and from the shadows. At this point Starswirl had gained aid from the other races and personally lead a genocidal crusade against them by depicting them as demons. After that they were brutally mascaraed and hunted till they fled to the badlands. They hadn't been seen till the invasion of the Royal Wedding."
Nereus rose and cleared his throat. "Once he completed his crusade against the Changelings he set his sights on my Siren's." Nereus slammed his fist against the table in anger. "Long ago the Sirens were a mighty race that were ruled by I as there King and my wife, Queen Thalassa Aquaria. However Starswirl depicting them as demons that caused strife and feed of misery. Toward the end of the crusade He banished the three Siren Princesses to another world and used a spell that brought the Siren race to extinction as well as kill my wife. Queen Thalassa was not immortal she was a mortal Siren that I had fallen for and loved with all my heart, And he KILLED HER!" He yelled angrily as he drew a large trident and roared.
Suddenly Nereus froze and fell back passed out. "Sorry." Luna said as she rose from the table and began to check her brother. "Due to what Starswirl did Nereus is slightly insane on the best of days. He spend most of his time tending to his garden, rarely leaving to do anything but eat and sleep. Do to his madness both his mood and personality can change on a dime and it is near impossible to predict how he will act. I didn't want him to do something he'll regret."
Celestia sighed. "I guess I'll continue the story." She said as she seemed to deflate in her chair. "As all this occurred Mother and Father were unable to help. Mother was pregnant with Luna and I, it was shortly after the destruction of the Siren race that we were born. We spent much of our time playing with Discord and learning from his sister Eris, it was wonderful, peaceful, but it would not last. Starswirl attacked Asteria's home and stole a lot of her research, armed with this stolen knowledge he then came for us. When he arrived we were playing in the throne room with our parents, he demanded that he be made immortal and threatened to kill any who refused him. Our Mother and Father refused and he attacked. Finitis and Aeterna our brother and sister quickly joined the battle. Luna and I were so scared and soon Mother had scooped me up and Father had grabbed Luna, they took to the air and fled. I remember looking back and seeing Finitis and Aeterna being cast into a abyss. I learned later that Starswirl had cast a banishment spell on them, they had given there lives and took a spell that was aimed for us."
"Princess, pardon my interruption but what does Finitis and Aeterna mean?" Applejack asked.
"There full names were Finitis Mors and Aeterna Vita They mean Finite Death and Eternal Life, however you know them better by other names. Thanatos Death and Faust Life." Asteria explained.
"Thank ya." Applejack said calmly.
Celestia took a deep breath and tried to continue. "Father and Mother fled into the night, travailing till we were far way. Sometime l-later w-we f-fo-ond shelter in a cave and... an-" Celestia burst into tears and cried. Twilight and the others watched in shock as Celestia bawled like a child. Luna ran over and hugged her and Celestia sobbed into her shoulder.
Discord sighed and walked over to Celestia and placed a paw on her shoulder. "I-I'll pick up from here Luna. Celestia needs a moment." Discord turned to the group. "Some time later our parents found a cave deep in a forest, it was here that they stayed till Eris and I found them. I use my power to enchant the forest to guard us against those who sought to harm us, the forest was later named the Everfree. Sadly it wasn't enough, Starswirl found us and attacked. Mother and Father threw everything they had at him but it wasn't enough and they too were banished. It was them that Eris and I stepped in. Starswirl was already weak from battling our parents and so could not defeat us both, so he attacked Eris. It was them that Starswirl made his greatest mistake, Starswirl attempted to banish Eris. He fired the spell and it struck but in his weakened state he couldn't banish her all the way and so instead of banishment she was imprisoned in a crystal tree, the Tree of Harmony."
Discord paused for a moment before sighing. "It was at this point I snapped. Gaia was helping the Zebras, Caelus was protecting the griffons from pony Crusaders, Nereus was driven mad, Asteria was injured, Chronos, Karma and Murphy unable to help, Thanatos and Faust were imprisoned as well as our parents and now Eris, my sister. I was the only thing standing between Starswirl and my last two siblings. I couldn't take it anymore I lashed out, I hit Starswirl with everything I had nearly killed him. Starswirl ran, injured but alive. I would have chased but I had to protect Celestia and Luna. As time moved on the Ponies came upon our forest and settled the land that would one day become Equestria but I never trusted them, Ponies had taken too much from me. It wasn't long till Starswirl returned and attacked. That was what set me off, I was done, no more mister nice guy! I threw all of Equus in to Chaos and tortured the ponies that had taken everything from us. Sadly I went to far and was imprisoned by the fruits of my sis's Tree of Harmony, the Elements. The ponies rejoiced and asked Celestia and Luna to rule them but they refused and returned to the Everfree."
Luna cleared her throat. "I would like to tell the rest of this tale." Discord nodded and walked over and took Celestia. Luna cleared her throat. "The rest of the story is built more upon what we learned than what happened to us. Starswirl fled once again and returned to his home where he healed himself. He then later took on an apprentice named Clover Sparkle. For many years he trained her but he never stopped seeking immortality. As the years passed he grew more and more desperate till soon it became an obsession, then suddenly he disappeared. When he returned it had been many weeks and he had a strange wolf with him. When Clove asked Starswirl said it was a Windigos. He had stolen a Windigo pup and planed to use it to gain immortality through a ritual. However it wasn't long till the sky darkened with clouds and the great freeze occurred.
Clover went to aid the other races who had been at war, when she realized why the Windigos were there she went strait to the pack leader and told them what had happened and offered her help. Clover lead the Windigos to Starswirl but it was too late, Starswirl had already killed the pup. In a rage that even the Windigos feared Clover drew a blade and stabbed Starswirl in the heart killing him instantly.
The pack in sorrow and morning nearly froze all of Equus but again Clover had an idea She took the pups body and traveled deep into the Everfree Forest where she met us and asked if we could save it with our power. We brought the Pups body to the Tree of Harmony and it was there that the first Timber wolf was born. The Windigos retreated and the Ponies asked us again to become there rulers. We accepted this time but asked that the leaders of the tribes act as our advisers. Princess Platinum Shard and Clover Sparkle, who was given the nickname Clover the Clever, were chosen to act as the leaders for the Unicorn, Hurricane Dash and Pansy Shy were chosen to become the Pegasus Leaders and lastly Puddinghead Pie and Cookie Crumble were chosen to act as the representatives of the Earth Pony. After many years the races rose united as the country known as Equestria with us as the Princesses of the night and day."
"And there you Have it." Karma said. "The full story of Magnus Starswirl the Betrayer. He was given the tittle of the Betrayer because he betrayed every living being on Equus and almost doomed the world."
Chapter 3 - Unsealing the Chains that Bind Life and Death
-------------------------------------------------- Location: Dream Valley - Castle of immortals Date: UNKNOWN Time: UNKNOWN
Far into the north east of Equestria lay a valley covered in ice and snow. The land was quiet except for a slow whistle from the wind as it hadn't been disturbed since the great freeze done by the Windigos. A sudden rift in reality opened disturbing the peaceful land and two figures stepped out. The first was a man, he wore a long black hooded cloak that was torn and open in the front revealing his silver armor. At his side pair of skeletal dogs walked, on his shoulder a crow perched and in his hand he held a Scythe. The second was a women in her late twenties, she had long white hair, two small fangs, two big white angel wings and hooves instead of feet. She wore a grey fedora and trench-coat and at her side an ornate long-sword rested in her sheath. The group walked walked toward a distant set of ruins.
"A shame that the Valley was destroyed." The women said sadly.
The man nodded sadly. "Perhaps one day we can restore it. I would love to see out home as it once was rather than as this."
Silence fell once again as the two walked together. Once they reached the Ruins they made there way to a large room that appeared to have once been a throne room. The man reached into his cloak and pulled out two shards one a glowing white the other and ominous black. The man then walked to the center of the room and thrust the shards into the ground. The shards sank into the ground and a white portal began to form. Suddenly with a burst of energy the portal opened and the man and women reached into the void it created. Two figures grabbed their hands and the man and women pulled them up. The firs to come through was a women. She had long flowing red main and tail and white fur s well as white angle wings. She wore a white dress with a crimson cloak. Strapped to her back was a comically large paintbrush as long as she was tall. The next to come out was a man. The man was nothing more than a skeleton warped in a black robe and his wings were shaped in the form of a dragon but held no flesh, strapped to his back was a scythe similar to the other mans.
The two stared in shock and looked around before facing the man and woman who had freed them.
"Father, Eris?" The woman asked in shock.
Aion walked over to the two and pulled them into an embrace. "Faust, Thanatos." He said as he hugged them.
"Good to see you again big bro, sis." Eris said with a smile. "I missed you."
"Where is Mother" Thanatos asked.
Aion smiled. "She's on her way to where the others are. We'll meet up with her in Canterlot and then go see the rest of the family."
"It will be good to see everyone again after so long." Faust said. Thanatos nodded.
Aion smiled. "Next stop, Canterlot. Oh and mind the nobles there all self entitled little shits."
The others chuckled at this and Eris gave a devilish smile. "Oh, we;ll behave." She said sweetly.
Aion chuckled. "Between you and your brother I sometimes think that you were the more sadistic one." Aion said getting an hurt look from Eris. "Just try not to break them too hard."
Eris giggled. "We'll see."
Aion shock his head and snapped his fingers opening up a portal that lead to Canterlot. "Let's have a party and maybe a blood bath too."
Chapter 4 - Twilight Sparkle Meets Death (Edited Version)
Authors Note: So this is something I vary rarely do, change a chapter. In the past I have edited them but this chapter will be changed drastically and for vary good reasons, I shall explain.
The simplest explanation is that with the little amount of time I have to write these days. I've simply started looking for the easy out and the results was the original version of this chapter. However you don't want nor need my excuses. As such I wish to apologize to you the readers. What happened was something that I won't allow to be done again and the cause for this entire situation has been dealt with severely.
Sincerely, Walter D. Arceaion
Wild Strikes grumbled as he watched ponies pass by, he and Jade Moonstone had been assigned to gate duty which was widely considered the third worst post in the Guard. The second was the post next to the Kitchen were one had to fend off either a cake-thirsty Celestia or a caffeine deprived Luna, and the first being the guard of that one hallway that literally no one ever goes down.
Wild Strikes sighed as he continued to watch, at least gate duty was boring or rather it was supposed to be boring. "Hey Strikes, You see that?" Moonstone asked concerned as he pointed at something in the distance.
Strikes squinted as a group two stallions and three mares walked through the crowd and approached the gates. The first was a Stallion who wore a long black hooded cloak that was torn and open in the front revealing his silver armor. At his side pair of black dogs walked and on his shoulder a crow perched. Grasped in his hand was an ornate Scythe its blade as black as the abyss. Everything about him from his main and tail to his fur and even his face was hidden by the cloak. At his side walked a mare her main and tail were a swirl of stars and light that waved in an ethereal breeze and her fur was white as the snow. The mares eyes glowed with an electric blue light, she appear as if the were a goddess. The mare cloak similar to to the Stallions but instead of it being black and tattered it was white and had gold fabric lining it. A top her head sat a gold circlet, a gem half white and half black sat in the center.
Behind the two were the other two mare and the stallions. The mare appeared to be in her late twenties and had long white hair, two small fangs and big white angel wings. She wore a grey fedora and trench-coat and at her side an ornate long-sword that rested in a sheath. The other mare had a long flowing red main and tail and white fur as well as white angle wings. She wore a white dress with a crimson cloak and Strapped to her back was a comically large paintbrush as long as she was tall. Lastly was a stallion though he appeared to be nothing more than a skeleton warped in a black robe and his wings were shaped in the form of a dragon but held no flesh, strapped to his back was a scythe similar to the other stallions.
Wild Strikes eyes widened as he saw the group approach. Slowly he and Moonstone moved to attack the group however the stallion in the front simply laughed. It was long and low, and sent a shiver down the spines of the two guards. Strikes felt...uneasy looking at the stallion almost as if he was looking upon his own death.
"Not many can look upon me and not show fear, you must be to stubborn to look away, or mad." The Stallion said as he slowly he raised his hand to the hood and pulled it down revealing his face. The Stallion's skin was only slightly pale and boar a single scar across his right eye. His hair was a deep black matching that of the empty space from a void, his eyes glowed with a light silver glow. Upon his head was a silver crown showing him as a King.“Carry a message to Celestia, tell her That I've returned.”
Moonstone froze as he looked at the stallion. "It can't be..." He said trailing off before turning to the mare in the white cloak and looking over the robes. He then chuckled before bowing to the beings. “King Aion, Queen Moirai It is a privilege and honor.”
Strikes eyes widened as he turned to his partner. "What are you talking about Moonstone?"
King Aion laughed. "I honestly never thought I'd see the day that Commander Moonstone would have decedents. Damn fool, how long did he wait?" He asked sadly.
“Five generation we've served in the guard waiting your return.” Moonstone said as he rose. “I heard from a maid that several immortal beings were cooped up in the throne room and are now in the dinning hall, you want me to lead you to them, Your Majesties?”
“Thank you, that’d be appreciated,” Aion Erebus said as he looked at the castle his brow furrowing. “I can tell just from looking at the castle that it’d be a nightmare to traverse, not like the ones I’m used to.”
Moonstone smiled. “Yup, times have changed a bit with how castles are made.” Moonstone said as he turned and led the Group into the castle.
Wild Strikes stared in shock as he watched the group enter the castle. When he was finally able to think he only had one thought. 'What the buck just happened.'
Princess Celestia sat at the head of the dinning table her eyes red and tear lines showing in her fur. Beside her Luna sat her hands holding Celestias.
Slowly a guard entered and bowed. "Your Highness's I apologize for intruding but a group of ponies are at the doors.” The guard named Jade Moonstone told her. "There are five, two of which are your parents." the guard said with a knowing smile.
Both Celestia and Luna froze and stared at the guard as did the other beings in the room. “Are they really?” she whispered, before tears began to fall and she burst out crying.
Luna clear her throat and looked at the guard. “Allow them entry guard. I assume the others are our siblings?”
The guard nodded with a smile and turned to leave the room, before Discord placed a paw on his shoulder. "Hold a moment guard." He said calmly. "Is there a mare with white hair and in a gray coat?"
The guard stopped and turned to Discord with a smirk. "Yes." He said as he turned and exited the room. For a moment Discord froze before tear began to well in his eyes.
As he left Discord slowly turned to the others a smile on his face as tears ran down it. "She's back, my sister is back." He said as he walked over to the table and sat down."
The doors to the dinning room opened slowly as the group walked into the room and looked around. When they finally looked at the room occupants they froze the sound of the door closing was the only sound as the two group came face to face.
A low chuckled from Aion was what finally broke the silence. "You know, this moment played in my mind but never once had I thought about what I would actually say when I finally did see you all again." He said.
Celestia and Luna ran and leaped into their arms as they cried. "Father, Mother! " Celestia cried as she hugged them.
Aion gasped and stumbled back before steadying himself. "Hello my little sunshine and moonbeam." Aion said as he hugged them, Moirai smiled as she embraced her children. Slowly the others except for Discord approached them joining into the hug,
As this happened The mare in the trench-coat and Discord slowly approached each other. As he approached his form began to change Twilight and the others watched in shock as the Draconequus's form changed to a more pony like appearance, when it finished a Stallion with short white hair and beard stood in his place. Discords eyes were still yellow with a red sclera, he still had a single fang on the right side of his mouth, a black thestral wing and blue Pegasus wing and hooves though they were now matching. However the biggest difference was he now wore a brown long-coat, a black dress vest and light brown pants.
As the transformation finished he stood before the mare. "Eris..." He said before he pulled her into a hug.
The mare slowly reached up and removed the fedora revealing brown eyes with a blue sclera and a smile showing two small fangs. The mare quickly wrapped her arms around Discord as tears began to fall from her face. "Hey bro, missed you to." She said as they broke down and embraced each other.
Twilight and the main six watched in shock as the immortals cried and embraced each other. After sever moments the groups separated and the new arrivals stood before the others.
Celestia cleared her throat. "Father, mother, allow me to introduce you to Mi Amore Cadenza my adopted nice and my student Twilight Sparkle, they are the newest Alicorns since you were banished." Celestia said happily as Cadence and Twilight stepped forward.
"Hello, I'm Mi Amore Cadenza though I prefer to be called Cadence, I'm the Alicorn of Love." Cadence said as she bowed to the two immortals.
"It is a pleasure Cadence." Moirai said with a smile. "I am Moirai Physis, Embodiment of Life. This is my husband Aion Erebus, he is the Embodiment of Death."
Aion nodded. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you Cadence. When you ascended you were quite the talk, I have looked forward to meeting you." Aion said before turning to Twilight. "It is a pleasure to meet you as well young Twilight Sparkle."
Twilight blushed and turned away. "Hello King Erebus. I-I'm Twilight Sparkle, the Element of Magic. And these are my friends and the other bearers." She said as she bowed to Aion.
"Oh please don't bow I always hated that." Aion said as he gestured for her to rise and turned to the other five. "So come, please, introduce yourselves." He said with a smile
Applejack walked forward and tipped her hat to the group. "Names Applejack, I run the farm in Ponyville and am the Element of Honesty."
"Oh, I like her, hard working and determined." Thanatos said with a nod causing Applejack to blush.
Fluttershy slowly walked over shaking as she approached. "Um...h-hello I'm Fluttershy." She said timidly.
Aion smiled and nodded. "Pleasure to meet you miss Shy."
Rainbow walked over to the king. "Names Rainbow Dash, fastest Pegasus in Equestria and element of Loyalty." She said proudly as looked him over. "So your the princesses dad huh? Gotta say I expected more th-." Rarity gasped and clamped a hand over Rainbows mouth before she could finish.
"I do apologize for my friend, she just can't see beauty for what it's worth and may I say it is an honor to meet such esteemed ponies! I am Rarity, Element of generosity." Rarity exclaimed with a bow.
Aion glared at the mare and Rarity froze as she met Aions eyes. "Young mare, I have played this game since before you were born and with beings older than Time himself."
Rarity paled for a moment before regaining her composure. "I'm sorry but I have no idea what you mean."
Aion narrowed his eyes. "Be careful with whom you play child." He growled before Moirai slapped him in the back of the head.
"You could at least show some tact Aion." Moirai said with a sigh. "Her attempt was adorable after all." she said.
"I don't understand it Mother, I really don't." Thanatos said with a sigh. "Why waist ones life trying to gain prestige and become one of the 'elite' when it is pointless! You can't take your money, status, fame, or influence with you when you die, in fact it's some of those traits that prevent mortals from ever entering what mortals call heaven."
Faust sighed. "Brother, that's not the point to it."
"Faust the point is lost to beings like us." Aion sighed. "But we're not her to debate the political climate. this is a family reunion for heavens sake!"
Pinkie gasped before pulling out her party cannon and firing it off launching balloons, streamers, and several cakes out. "The lets party!" She exclaimed.
The group stood bewildered for a moment before Aion laughed. "Indeed let us celebrate this occasion!" He exclaimed as he pulled a bottle of wine out of his cloak and popped the cork.
Deep within the Frozen North Tirek walked the blizzard battering against him. The Centaur growled and looked down at the map that his master had given him. Suddenly a lone howl was heard and a cloud of shadows rose up around him.
Tirek smiled and stood his ground waiting slowly a unicorn stallion appeared before him. "What do you want." The stallion growled.
"The Master is calling back all who serve. I am to restore your form and then take you to him." Tirek said wit a smile.
"NEVER!" The stallion roared.
"You have no choice." Tirek said as he pulled out a red curved horn and stabbed it into the ground.
The stallion screamed in agony as the his smoky form was sucked into the horn and Tirek took a step back as the horn glowed and a body began to form. Slowly a skull formed from the horn, then a torso, limbs, then organs muscle and flesh. The stallion screamed in agony as his body was rebuilt in the most gruesome and painful way possible, once it had finished the shadows covered his body and armor appeared around it at his side a crystal sword formed.
Tirek smiled and reached for the king only to cry out in shock as the King drew the sword and stabbed the Centaur arm. "Arg, You ungrateful whelp, I revive you and this is how you repay me!" He roared.
"I wanted to die you damn fool!" The king growled as he angled the sword at Tirek. "Never again will I serve Moros Apocalypsis."
The king quickly leaped away from the Centaur and slammed his hand onto the ground. "King Erebus will defeat you and your Master, Tirek. Mark my words." He said as the shadows swallowed him and he vanished.
Tirek roared in anger as he clutched his arm. Moros was not going to be happy about this.
It had been several hours since Aion and Moirai had returned, everyone was seated at the large dinning table sharing stories and laughing. As they enjoyed themselves Aion noticed the shadows lengthening suddenly the two dogs that had been at Aions side snarled and crouched down preparing to pounce, Aion narrowed his eyes and drew his scythe causing everypony to turn to him.
"Reveal yourself shade." He said as he leveled the scythe in the direction the dogs were growling.
For a moment nothing happened but slowly a chuckle was heard. "So you see me. It is a pleasure to meet you again King Erebus." A voice said as a stallion materialized from the shadows.
The stallion was a unicorn with a curved red horn, he stood as tall as Celestia and wore heavy armor. However the most noticeable feature were his green and red eyes.
"I don't believe we have met before, however you reek of Moros's corrupt influence." Aion said.
"I'm wounded that you would forget me old friend." The stallion said hatred radiating from him.
Aions eyes widened in surprise. "No... Diamante? Is that you?" Aion asked in shock.
"I go by Sombra now, a bit unimaginative but to the point." King Sombra said as he approached Aion.
"But the crystal heart destroyed you!" Twilight gasped in shock.
Sombra turned to Twilight with a sneer. "Oh I was killed but my soul was not let rest." He growled. "Instead I was remade and cursed into this form!" He roared angrily.
"Then you shouldn't have made a deal with the devil himself!" Celestia spit back.
"You think I wanted this!?" Sombra roared as he dove into the shadows and appeared behind Celestia launching a crystal at her.
Luna fired a spell and shattered the crystal before it reached Celestia. "Then why, Why accept his offer?" She asked
"It was this or the destruction of my Kingdom." Sombra growled before re-materializing before Aion. "Despite my actions I am not here to fight, it's just hard to stay in control." He said as he winced. "I want to be free from my curse and there is only one way." He said before knelling to Aion.
"King Erebus, as the Ruler of Death, the Grimm Reaper, you have the power to slay me, I ask that you bring my soul rest. Please, kill me." Sombra begged.
Aion froze. "What happened Diamante, what made you accept this agreement?"
Sombra sighed before looking at the King. "I was given a choice. Protect my people or be destroyed."
Flashback: Crystal Empire, 1,000 years ago
A stallion stood on the balcony of the Crystal Palace over looking the Crystal Empire, he wore a suit of silver armor with a blue gem set in the center of its chest, a light blue cape covered him and upon his head sat a platinum crown. King Obsidiana Diamante stood with a smile he looked over the shining blue crystals that served as his ponies home however as he looked to the horizon his smile turned sad.
Word had spread that his old friend, King Aion, had been imprisoned. While he wished to be their to aid his friends children he couldn't just leave his kingdom, the guilt had torn him apart but it wouldn't for much longer. King Aion's daughters Princess Celestia and Luna were on their way to the Empire to see him.
The sound of a somepony clearing there voice caught his attention and he turned to find one of his servants. "Pardon me your Majesty, but the train will soon arrive." The servant said.
The thought of the two children arriving caused his smile returned. "Thank you, I will be leaving for the station immediately." He said as he turned from the balcony and walked out of the throne room.
By the time he reached the gates a small group of guards stood waiting for him. King Diamante nodded to the escorts who a wordlessly lined up around the king and followed him out into the city. As he walked he waved to the citizens often stopping to speak with them or aid them if they required it however eventually they reached the edge of the shield and the cities gates. As they reached the gates to the city they placed on heavy coats that shielded them from the eternal blizzard that surrounded the empire and exited the shield. The guard walked calmly as they crossed the frozen plains.
Suddenly the ground cracked and exploded throwing many of the guards away while the others turned to defend their King, from the explosion a black shadowy figure appeared at his side stood Tirek, the demon Centaur and Grogar, the Necromancer Ram. The guards charged forward to defend their King but Tirek simply laughed as he drew a massive duel-headed war ax and swung decapitating all that approached.
"Enough!" King Diamante roared causing all to freeze as he walked forward and glared at the shadow. "I recognize you," He said as he approached the shadow. "Moros Apocalypsis, Bringer of the End, The King of Demons. King Aion warned me about you." He said with a growl.
The Shadow laughed as its permanence changed from a shadow to that of a man in heavy armor. He wore a tattered black cape with a red inside and his black hair floated in a nonexistent breeze. "And you are the mighty Ruler of the Crystal Empire, King Obsidiana Diamante."
"Well now that we're all antiquated, you mind crawling back into that hole and fucking off?" King Diamante asked.
Tirek growled as he raised his ax and Grogars Eyes glowed with anger however Moros simply laughed. "Oh but where's the fun in that?" He asked as he drew his sword. "With Aion imprisoned I plan to begin destroying this planet and where better to start than with the only kingdom not thrown into chaos at the moment, your pathetic Empire?"
King Diamantes Eyes widened before he summoned a ruby crystal sword. "Not as long as I stand." He said as he glared at Moros.
Moros smiled and charged the king who blocked the strike before stamping his hoof and a spike of obsidian shot from the ground impaling Moros. Diamante sheath his sword and raised his hand causing more crystals to explode from the ground forcing Moros to dodge otherwise he'd be impaled, he then charged Diamante who sidestepped him and launched crystal spears at him.
"I am the King of the Crystal Empire Moros, as long as there is even a single crystal around I can call upon my power and use them." Diamante said calmly.
"So this is the power of the Crystal Monarchy, the ability to wield the vary earth against your opponents." Moros said as he dodged more crystal spikes.
"We are the children of Gaia gifted with the power of the earth." Diamante said as he summoned more crystals causing them to orbit around him. "You wish to destroy my Kingdom, harm my ponies!?" He roared as he charged the demon the crystals orbiting him transforming into swords and daggers. "NEVER!" He screamed as he struck.
Moros smiled as he countered each strike appearing as if he were wielding a hundred sword instead of one. While Moros's strikes were powerful, Diamantes strikes were swift and precise each blow testing the Demon Kings defense and preventing him from going on the offence. Suddenly a roar came from behind and Moros turned to see a large crystal dragon soaring toward them quickly He fired a blast at the dragon shattering it however his laps of concentration gave Diamante the opening he required and he struck Moros in the chest the crystal piercing through his armor and shattering in his chest. Moros roared in pain as his eyes began to glow with hellfire as he turned to the King.
"Enough of this charade!" He roared as he opened his hand a miniature sun appearing in his hand.
Diamante froze as he saw the orb of fire. "Hell energy." He gasped in fear. "You wouldn't dare use that! It would destroy everything on this continent!"
Moros smiled cruelly. "I would prefer not to though it is simply because of how limited I am. My power is weak and using something this powerful would only weaken me further."
Diamante eyes widened in fear as he backed away. "Fine I concede this fight only if you leave us and don't destroy my Kingdom or harm my ponies." He said in disgust.
"Vary well." Moros said with a smile. "I will leave and won't destroy your Kingdom or harm your ponies," He said as he stretched his hand out. Diamante hesitated before shaking the hand only to be pulled closer to the demonic being. "instead you will." He finished with a wicked smile.
Diamantes eyes widened as arcs of red energy traveled up his body and he screamed. His armor shifted becoming heavier and more demonic, the cape turned red as he main began to flow in a nonexistent breeze. "No I will not submit!" He cried as the energy reached his head his eyes shot open as the sclera turned a sickly green and the iris turned from blue to red as dark magic emanated from his eyes and his teeth sharpened and became fangs. "I will not bow Moros! I will fight till I am free, You will never control me! You hear me I... will... fi... Crystals..." As the transformation finished all that remained of Diamante was locked away as a the dark magic transformed him, once it ended the king fell to his knees and groaned.
"Rise my servent rise as the King of Shadows, King Sombra." Moros said with a smile.
Slowly the newly dubbed King Sombra rose to his hoofs and bowed to his master. "I live to serve." he said.
Everypony stared in shock as the king finished his tale. "When the Crystal Heart destroyed my body it also freed me from that demons control, You have no idea what it is like to be forced to watch as you do thing against your will. I was forced to destroy my kingdom and I was powerless to do anything." Sombra said as tears fell from his eyes."
Aion closed his eyes and leaned his head back in thought before returning to look at Sombra. "Technical your free from the worst of the curse and while I could simply lay your soul to rest I have a better idea." He said with a smile.
Sombra looked at Aion in surprise. "What do you mean?" He asked confused.
"Long ago Moros used his power to make Tirek the Aspects of wrath and Grogar who was the aspect of death, however when I slew Grogar the first time I took his power of Death and created Finitis Mors to be the Avatar of Death."
Moirai smiled and walked over to Sombra. "While we can't restore you to exactly how you were we can remake you."
"What are you saying?" Sombra asked surprised.
"How would you like to become the true Aspect of Shadows?" Aion asked.
"We won't be able to completely restore you but it is better than nothing. You will be free of the curse and you will be restored to who you use to be."
Sombra stared at the two beings in shock for a moment before frowning. "What's the catch?" He asked. "I mean this sounds like an amazing deal but that's just it it sounds to good."
"Well, technically there is no real downside but you will bound to the shadows and become immortal but other than that I don't think anything will be much different."
"Um, hate to be the one to point out the obvious and all but won't everyone be all panicked about Sombra returning?" Applejack asked concerned.
Most of the immortals laughed before Celestia turned to Applejack with a smile. "While Diamante and Sombra may look alike in some points they are distinctive enough to appear as two different beings." She said happily. before turning to Sombra. "Well looks like you'll finally be the uncle we always called you."
Sombra laughed happily. "Indeed," He said happily before his smile turned sad. "Listen, Celestia, Luna I'm so sorry for putting you two through all that." He said sadly.
"Thou twas under Moros's influence, you have nothing to be ashamed of." Luna said with a smile.
Sombra nodded. "So you say but that still doesn't erase what I have done." He said with a sigh before turning to Aion and Moirai. "I'm ready." He said.
Aion nodded as he and Moirai raised their hands and a white light enveloped the stallion. Sombra grunted in pain and closed his eyes. Slowly the armor he wore shattered and rebuilt to it's original form the cape he wore turned blue and the head piece he wore returned to being the Platinum Crown of the Crystal Empire. Suddenly bone like appendages burst from his back and quickly grew flesh and feathers the fangs returned to normal teeth.
As the light faded the stallion opened his eyes revealing the sclera to be white, iris were blue and the dark magic that had once emanated from his eyes was gone. The stallion smiled as he examined himself. "I'm free." He said in disbelief before he turned to Aion. "Aion it worked I'm me again!"
Aion smiled as he placed a hand on the Stallions shoulder. "Welcome back Obsidiana Diamante."
Tirek grumbled as he walked through the black gates of the ancient citadel, as he approached the doors he saw two changeling guards guarding the doors. "Open the doors." he said in disgust. Quickly the changelings opened the doors and Tirek stormed in angrily. As he walked down the halls of the Citadel he admired the tapestries on the walls depicting the ancient history of the place.
The tapestry started with a dark figure cloaked in shadows who approached what appeared to be a younger version of Tirek offering a hand. The next showed slaves constructing a massive tower the Centaur standing over them as the shadow watched. The next shown was an attack on the White Tail Woods, Deer and goats fighting against the slaves and Centaur rising victorious and the Centaur retreating defeated.
The next showed a Goat approach the Centaur and shadow only to kneel as it is transformed and given robes, a green fire and a bell. The next showed an army rising from fire and blood to murder and feast as they saw fit. This army was lead by the Centaur as the Goat was shown using it's power to bring forth the dead and command them to fight. The next showed a pony bowing before the shadow and being transformed into a changeling and from this changeling rose an army of the same.
The next showed the army uniting and once again battling the Deer and Goats only this time two figures stood at the Deer and Goats side aiding them. One was a white Angle while the other was a black angle there weapons, a scythe and bow was raised high as the attacking army cowered in what looked like pain with the shadow rising and aiding them.
It then shows them returning to the tower and the shadow destroying it. from the ruble it showed them rebuilding and creating the Citadel that now stood. The next was a mix of the many battles that came forth from the mage Starswirl and the fall of the Crystal Empire.
The final tapestry depicted the Moon Alicorn turning upon her sister and summoning an army of stars to fight the ponies. The shadow approaches the Moon Alicorn but the Alicorn refuses and attacks the shadow. It then shows the Shadow fleeing and watching from a distance as the Sister uses the Elements to seal away the Moon and rain supreme. It was here that the Tapestries ended and the corrode opened up into a chamber with a table and where three figures sat.
"About time you got here." Chrysalis said grumpily.
"Where is Sombra?" Grogar asked curiously.
"Somehow he's free." Tirek said angrily. "He has refused to come and has turned to Aion."
Grogar frowned in thought. "The Crystal Heart may be responsible however he would still be bound to the Shadows. To free him Aion would have to make him an Alicorn."
"So we have more to worry about that Simply Aion and Moirai." Chrysalis sighed as she slouched in her seat. "Great, just great."
"Interesting." The third figure said causing the others to turn to him.
"Interesting? INTERESTING?! That all you have to say?" Chrysalis screamed angrily. "Your apprentices dependent is a bloody Alicorn, Princess Luna has returned and to top it off the ones you imprisoned are free!"
The third figure laughed as he turned to the angry Queen. "While I was brought here to aid you I do find it interesting how everything is starting to fall into place after so long. Add to what I am and we have a very interesting game of chess set up. However I can assure you that this game has only just begun." The figure said as he walked into the light revealing a star speckled cloak and old wizard at with bells and he smiled as his eyes glowed a sickly yellow.
So as most of you can see I've been updating these chapters slowly but as of recent I've pushed up the editing and will be posting the updated chapters more frequently. My hope is to get the rewrite of all the old content finished and have the all updated chapters posted by the end of this year. Once I have all the updated old chapters redone and posted properly I will begin work on new chapters and this story can pick up once more.
This has been an announcement that is a long time coming so I thank you for your patience and understanding in this matter.
