Life as a pony had been interesting, to say the least. Fifteen years in and I could say I didn't have many regrets.
After centuries in limbo, my anger had simmered down and a desire to just do something other than float in the middle of a black void grew.
In the end I simply let go and allowed the cycle to take me, my soul was too powerful for it to erase my sense of self, I knew it was unlikely for me to have the same body once I reincarnated but I simply thought of it as needing patience.
Just wait until I grew old and strong enough and get back my power, then get revenge, simple as that.
Of course, it took me little time to realize that Gusty was already dead, having passed of old age centuries ago.
To say I was perplexed would be putting it lightly, my bell held so much power I was two steps from being able to manipulate reality itself. Just claiming ownership of it should have granted her ascension, let alone using it.
When I was reborn I was expecting a world completely overtaken by ponykind with a living goddess at the helm.
But no, apparently, against all common sense, she decided she didn't want the -consequence free!- source of ultimate power, and since she couldn't destroy it she hid it somewhere.
At least according to the children's books my new mother read to me.
I had been reborn as a pony of all things, truly the universe was feeling ironic.
In my previous life I had been a mass of dark energies and magic that eventually gained sentience and was strong enough to make a physical body.
Positive emotions where not something I was familiar with, small and short lived feeligns of amusement and satisfaction where the best I had felt during my first life.
Now?
Now I could feel so many things and in such potency that they were hard to control.
The old me had watched thousands of his creations slaugther innocent beings and being killed in return with nothing but a thought on how many he would have to create to replace them and what improvements he would have to make.
The new me spent multiple days crying because he stepped on his pet rock.
I was an "emotional" child to say the least.
Still, according to my parents I was a saint when compared to my oldest sister and their own siblings when they where my age, so I was easy to deal with.
With a final swipe, I set the brush down and made sure my yellow tie and purple button-up were nice and tidy.
Stepping back and looking myself over I scowled slightly. When I was born some higher being decided that from five children only one would take massively after their mother.
And let me give you a hint, it wasn't any of my four sisters.
While my eldest and second eldest sisters were big blocks of muscle and my other two sisters were pretty much the same only slimmer, no matter how much muscle I packed I still looked the same.
Short, soft, curvy, and easily mistaken for a mare.
Thankfully just like my mother, it didn't make me any weaker, I could break boulders in half and overpower my sisters on a bad day.
I sighed.
' From father of all monsters to stallion that barely looks its gender.' I thought to myself.
Suddenly my door was almost ripped from its hinges (again) by hard knocking.
"Come on you peacock it's getting late and I want to get back in time for dinner." My eldest sister's voice came from the other side of it.
"Coming," I called back.
Opening the door I was greeted by the sight of my scowling sibling.
"Finally, now let's get a move on." Without waiting for my answer she started walking away. "The Sapphires and the Quartz have been testy lately and dad wants us to give them a reminder of why we are in charge here."
As we walked down the stairs we passed by the kitchen and I noticed my mother preparing something.
"Goodbye mother" I called out to her as we headed out the door.
"Farewell," she called back. "And remember to be on the lookout for any touchy stallions Octavio."
I sighed. "Yes, mother."
As we walked towards our destination I glared at my laughing sister.
"Shut up Limestone."
The Rock Breaker lands had always been a place where might makes right was the way of life.
More than a thousand years ago one of our ancestors Cioux Igneous Pie challenged every clan leader he could find and beat every single one of them.
And just like that, the Pie clan brought hundreds of Rock Breaker Clans under their leadership.
They reigned uncontested for two centuries until the twin princesses ascended and started the unification of the pony tribes.
In the end, when Equestria was founded, the only ones who didn't want anything to do with it were the Rock Breaker Clans.
To say that our ancestors were unimpressed with young Celestia's attempts at"diplomacy" was an understatement.
Eventually, when the clans started to get annoyed at the attempts to "civilize" them, Princess Luna, Faust bless her soul, decided that enough was enough and simply flew over to the Pie clan home and challenged the current clan head to a bare hoof duel.
The clan head was on board with the idea of a contest of strength with an Alicorn.
At the end of the day with all other clan heads as witnesses, the duel began. The clan head predictably lost but still submitted with all the others following his example.
Truthfully the Pie clan was still in charge with the only difference being that "officially" we were governors put in place by Luna that paid taxes and asnwered only to her.
The keyword being, Princess Luna.
After all, she was the one who earned their loyalty, and years later, when the griffons crossed the sea and invaded Equestria Luna and the Rock Breaker Clans were the first to counterattack.
Having her fight alongside them and eventually win the war earned her their respect, that and the fact that Celestia and the Canterlot army only joined towards the end of the war meant that the clans refused to give even a single bit to whom they thought of as an I quote, "horned chicken and her flock."
Sometime after the war, Princess Luna showed up with multiple sacks filled with her magically duplicated feathers as a gift.
Since then as a display of loyalty to Luna, all Pie clan members would wear one from their birth to their deaths.
And then Nightmare Moon happened.
Her attack and Luna vanishing into thin air got the clans to head straight to Canterlot to ask questions.
Sadly the more they asked the more pushback they received until the clans were all but segregated from Equestria.
After that, at the night of every summer sun celebration all Rock Breaker Clans would gather on the place Princess Luna and have their very own summer moon celebration.
Here we are a thousand years later and the tradition continues,
I almost reached back to touch the dark blue feather attached to the ponytail on the back of my head before I remembered I had blood and dirt on my hooves.
I grimaced before putting it back down and looking around.
Laying on the ground around me were the forms of multiple ponies, some bruised, some bloody, some broken, and some all of the above.
I absentmindedly noted Limestone knocking the last one unconscious as I thought about how all this started.
The Sapphire clan had always been an annoyance to our clan, it was basically their tradition, but whenever they stepped over the line they needed a lesson, or as grandfather used to say, "kick them around until they remember why they are just that, an annoyance."
The Quartz clan on the other hand was very small, almost unnecessary honestly, but they were the clan mother was from before she married our father.
Father and mother hadn't married for convenience or because somepony else chose for them, oh no, they met at a summer moon celebration, locked eyes, and instantly fell for each other.
Sadly the fact that a Pie clan member, and the heir at that, married one of their own gave them an inflated sense of importance.
With the years they only got even more unbearable, not even mother could tolerate them anymore. Some time ago one of them had the gall to mock me about my mare-like appearance to my face, it didn't end well for him.
It was widely known among the clans that despite being a stallion I looked more like a mare than all of my sisters put together, and while I had been mocked about it at the start, some bone-breaking eventually earned me enough respect and fear that they quickly stopped.
That Quartz stallion broke the unspoken rule and paid the consequences.
Anyway, all that aside, Limestone and I were walking out of the rock farm in the Sapphire clan's direction, and just as we crested a small hill on the edge of it we bumped into a group of Quartz clan ponies heading in the opposite direction.
With a quick look, we noticed that some were pushing mining carts filled with pickaxes and that all of them were wearing miner helmets.
It took me a second to realize they were heading towards the farm, but if they were doing that then it meant that not only were they heading towards OUR farm but that they were doing so without our permission, not that they would have gotten it if they asked but still, its the principle of it.
'But no, they can't be that stupid...right?' I thought to myself.
"Are you... Heading to the rock farm?" Apparently, Limestone was as confused as me judging by the tone of her voice and her expression.
The stallion on the lead blinked like an idiot before responding with a happy "yes."
And like that, he sealed his fate as Limestone's face quickly changed from confusion to anger. Then they both tumbled back down the hill as Limestone leaped at him with a roar.
As everypony was distracted by the sudden act of violence I quickly chose my target and charged.
Two minutes late we were back in the present and I was pulling a napkin from one of my shirt pockets.
As I wiped the blood off my hooves Limestone walked towards me and spoke. "Lest leave the Sapphires for later, father will want to hear of this."
"Good idea, the Quartz dug their grave, it's time they lay on it."
After some deliberation, it was decided that Limestone would keep watch over the unconscious ponies while I ran back to the farm and informed our father of what happened.
"...and that's what happened." Finishing my recounting of the events I had to hold back a smile at my father's baffled face.
While I could sympathize with him, -after all, I was surprised by their sheer stupidity as well- I couldn't help but find it amusing for my normally stoic father to be making such an expression.
Thankfully before I could show any of it on my face his expression shifted into an angry one and he stomped out of the room.
As I followed him he turned his head towards me and spoke. "Octavio, stay, and look after your mother."
At his words, I nodded and watched as once we reached the ground floor he had a short conversation with mother before heading out.
As he closed the front door behind him I headed into the kitchen to see if she needed any help.
All the while thinking about how much the Quartz had messed up.
A week later.
Father hadn't gone easy on the Quartz.
Loss of business, monetary compensation, and overall loss of face and respect, the little they had of it at least. Of course, all of this came after Father and Limestone gave them the beating of their lives.
Ponies wouldn't be at fault for believing that in a society where ponies tend to choose violence to solve almost everything, the clans wouldn't see something like stealing to be a serious crime, and they would be wrong.
Something ninety percent of all Rock Breaker Clansmen take very seriously is tradition, and stealing another clan's resources is one of the worst taboos a rock pony could commit, not only that but it also makes the pony in question seem pathetic, after all, if they had to resort to stealing then it means they were too weak and cowardly to challenge the owners for them.
So, now, the Quartz clan is in a lower than ever before position.
Mother, despite being a Quartz herself, didn't have a shred of sympathy for them and in fact, completely agreed with their punishment. Some good news was that the Quartz situation served as a good lesson for the Saphire Clan so, at the very least we didn't have to deal with them as well.
Now, a clan full of ponies I wish I wasn't related to aside, I had to finish my preparations for my journey to Canterlot. The Pie clan, despite our small numbers and the fact that our "territory" is only our house, our mine, and the surrounding land, had always been somewhere at the upper ranks when it came to our riches, that was thanks to the sheer quality and quantity of gems, ores, and stone that our mine provided us with, which we then sold to the towns and cities closer to the Rock Breaker Lands.
But, once when I was younger I had found myself rather bored and was sitting with Marble in our living room, absentmindedly chipping away at a chunk of emerald with an old chisel I had found on our shed, a small flash of light and my sister's gasp and excited pointing had bought my attention to not only the almost professionally carved emerald sitting on my hoof but also to the image that had suddenly appeared on my flanks.
A piece of coal cracked open in the middle to reveal a shining diamond.
At the start I thought my special talent was carving, but, as I grew older I quickly realized what my real talent was, from carving to cooking to painting, my special talent was Creating Beauty.
When I turned thirteen it had been surprisingly easy to convince my father to let me start my little business, of course with the drawback being having to take his place any time he was required to head to Canterlot, despite our very "disconnected" relationship with Equestria the Pie clan was still considered a noble house, even if we were only barons, and thus were obligated to attend any major events or meetings at the capital.
Father liked to say it would be a good learning experience for me but we both knew he was just tired of dealing with the Canterlot nobles and I was the only one of my siblings that could take his place, he would have an easier time putting a tutu on Limestone than convincing her to go, Maud would unintentionally insult at least half the ponies she met, Marble would get eaten alive, and the less we speak of Pinkamena the best.
But now, some years later, my business was booming and I had grown used to the monotony of Canterlot parties, I had even made a couple of acquaintances I got along with fairly well, I would even go as far as to call them friends.
I had been able to set up a small shop in the middle of Canterlot City, close to the upper ring, it had quickly gained fame but after a month I had gotten myself a trusted pony to man it and returned home, after I only did a single trip to Canterlot each month, not only to restock our wares but also to offer custom work to any clients that paid for it, by my third trip I had gained quite a number of clients which, in turn, earned me even more money.
This time I was heading out a little earlier than normal since my services had been requested by one of my above-mentioned friends, they had been given the duty of preparing Celestia's arch for the Summer Sun Celebration, and they wanted it to be perfect so they had sent me a message asking for my help.
So now I was headed towards Canterlot to not only restock my shop but also to join him so that we could travel together to the site of the festival, Ponyville. The fairly big wagon I tended to use when I needed to transport my goods was filled with a variety of perfectly cut gems and jewelry, the only thing besides that was marble I had personally mined along with some paints I had made and my satchel had only some bits and my custom tools on it.
I made a final check to make sure I hadn't forgotten anything before I placed myself on the harness and despite the heavy load I quickly started trotting towards my destination.
The road to Canterlot had been long, if uneventful. While I could have taken a short way and simply crossed the Everfree, something within my capabilities and which I'd done before, in the end, I decided not to as I didn't want to risk any of my merchandise or materials being damaged in any way.
In the end, while it stretched my travel time I went around, taking the road to Appleloosa spending a night there, and then I took the road north directly to Canterlot.
Now, I was walking through the busy streets of Canterlot towards the upper ring, where the noble sector and the Palace were located, so that I could meet up with one of my friends and maybe if we had the time I could at least say hello to the other one.
As I reached one of the many gates on the wall surrounding the upper ring I was briefly stopped by the guards manning it with the usual round of questioning, while I was well-known anypony who didn't reside in the upper district received the same questions as I and from what I knew the royal guard was very strict on protocol and I wasn't going to get annoyed at somepony for simply doing their job. Thankfully I had the forethought of leaving my cart back in my shop on the way here so I wasn't delayed very long.
Once inside the noble sector proper the difference between it and the rest of the city became readily apparent, especially the sheer difference in the quality of materials used on the buildings and of course the fact that most of them were multifloored mansions with decorations that probably cost more than what an average pony earned in their entire lives.
It didn't take long to reach my friend's "house", a familiar tall fence and gate greeting me, behind it a path of white brick cut through the front yard, perfectly trimmed bushes following it to the doors of a massive white building.
Being neither awed nor intimidated by such a sight I opened the fence's gate and stepped through, closing it behind me before walking straight towards the mansion doors nocking on them. I didn't have to wait long before a slit on the door slid aside, allowing a pair of eyes to see me for a moment before they widened in recognition, the sound of the slit sliding close followed by the sound of the door itself unlocking and opening.
As I stepped through I was greeted by an elderly unicorn butler bowing to me.
"Greetings Lord Igneous, my lord is currently in his study and I was just about to prepare his lunch, do you desire for me to prepare some food for you as well."
"I already know the way to his study so no need for an escort as for the food add some fish if you could please." Hearing my response the butler nodded before giving me another bow and trotting away.
The study in question was on the second floor and after a short walk, I reached it and without bothering to knock opened its doors and stepped in.
What greeted me was a room with bookshelves covering the left and right walls, a coffee table in the middle with couches on either side, and a window was most of the back wall in front of which was a nice wooden desk and leather chair with a unicorn sitting on it looking over some papers.
The unicorn in question had turned towards me a raised eyebrow at the sound of my entrance but his expression turned into a happy one as he saw me, smile wrinkling his blue mustache as he got down from the chair and stepped around the desk with a greeting.
"Octavio, my good friend it's good to see you, how are you, I was expecting you sooner."
"Marquiss F-" Whatever I was going to say was interrupted as the unicorn waved his hoof in a dismissive gesture.
"How many times do I have to say it Octavio, no formalities when you are in private with friends." At his good-natured tone, I could only sigh and smile before responding.
"As you wish, it's good to see you too Fancy Pants, and I apologize for the delay but my materials were a little bit too valuable to risk them in the everfree so I had to take a long way around." At my words, Fancy Pants let out an understanding "Ah" before nodding.
"Perfectly understandable my friend, besides we still have some time before we need to leave so in the meantime how about we eat some-Ah just in time Gerard." He was interrupted as the same butler who greeted me walked in pushing a cart with the food on it.
Sometime later we were wiping our mouths with some napkins after a delightful meal.
After a moment I cleared my throat and spoke.
"So, how is our little business venture going." Fancy Pants eyes narrowed as he understood what I was referring to.
"Hmm, quite well I'd say, currently we have control of around sixty-three percent of all distribution in the kingdom but on the other hand we have almost complete control over production, if we keep up with our current rate of growth we will completely control all distribution as well within two to three years." As he finished speaking he took a sip from his glass of water.
"I see, that is good news, and tell me, any news about our friend, last I heard he was at Griffonstone."
Fancy Pants nodded before continuing. "Yes, he is still there, and in fact, I received a letter from him not two days ago, according to Blueblood, Semion has been getting more and more aggressive lately, there have even been some conflicts between our "workers" and he doesn't really have the time to talk him down, a diplomatic envoy can't really be left alone and his time in Griffonstone is going to end sooner rather than later." Then Fancy Pants snorted. "Well the good news is Blueblood has actually made some headway with the griffons, on the legal side at least, I'm sure his aunt will be oh so proud of him."
"Oh leave him alone Fancy, there's nothing wrong with wanting some parental affection, Faust knows his actual parents didn't give him a lot of it before they kicked the bucket."
"Yes, that was somewhat mean, I apologize." Then Fancy's expression turned serious as he continued. "On another note, it appears the Syndicate may be reneging on our deal, one of our facilities was raided by the guard after they received an anonymous tip about its location, while nothing too important was lost during the raid the administrator there decided to confess in exchange for a lessened sentence, that lead to the loss of four other facilities one of which was a refinery."
I set my glass down and exhaled through my nose, trying to control my rising temper as I spoke.
"This may not be a big loss in the long run but it's still an insult towards us, if we let them walk away without consequence other groups will get bolder, after the festival, I will return here and deal with them personally, the only reason they lasted this long was that we didn't think they were worth the effort of getting rid of them, it seems now they want to convince us otherwise and they succeeded."
I took a moment to catch my breath before continuing in a calm tone.
"As for Semion, leave him to me, a month from now I have official business in Griffonstone so I'll deal with him then." Grabbing my glass once more I raised it towards him.
"For the Triumvirate." Fancy Pants smiled before mimicking me and knocking his own glass against me.
"For the Triumvirate."
Timeskip.
An advantage of being not only noble but rich was that we had access to the pegasus chariots, but that we got not only guards to pull the chariot but also an extra chariot where my materials were being carried.
The flight was less than two hours and Fancy and I spent it just making small talk and appreciating the scenery.
Our arrival to Ponyville wasn't met with much fanfare and we both took a moment to take in the sights, Fancy commenting on the homey feeling the town had while I warily looked around, the only real thing of interest was a purple maned unicorn mare that had seemed to freeze mid-step someway from us and was staring at us mouth agape, while I appreciated her lustrous mane and fur which showed a great level of care and I could admit she was quite beautiful I ignored her in favor of looking around the immediate area for any sign of my sister, if I was lucky I would see her before she did.
I love my sister, really I do, but Pinkamena and I are simply on a completely different rhythm and I didn't have any way of slowing her down, if I found her first then I would only have to deal with a crushing hug and some squealing instead of something worse if she caught me by surprise.
I absentmindedly nodded to Fancy Pants as he told me something about finding the perfect spot for the arch and some festival supervisor coming in later.
Finishing my little "Where's Pinkamena" session I called out to Fancy as he trotted away.
"What's the supervisor's name again."
"Twilight Spa-" Whatever he was going to say was interrupted as a prowling monster took my momentary distraction as its chance to pounce.
As for me, I didn't have enough time to react before a pony-shaped mass of sugar, cotton candy, and sisterly affection crashed into me.
She is your sister, you love her, you are complete and utterly calm.
"-PARTYTHENWHENTOMO-"
You are patient, you will not lose your patience, you didn't lose it while you were conquering the known world, nor when you realized you were being beaten by a fucking musician, and neither when you were trapped in an empty void for thousands of years, you certainly weren't going to lose it just because your sister wouldn't, shut, UP.
You sighed, while she lowered her volume her pace seemed to get even faster to compensate, at this rate, it would take at least an hour before she slowed down.
"Pinkamena." Thankfully she stopped -finally- and looked at me with a smile on her face.
"Yes, Octi?"
"Are you perhaps in charge of something for the celebration, food maybe?"
Looking at the cloud of dust where my sister was standing just a second ago I shook my head and sighed.
She was proof of how much this life had changed me, the old me wouldn't have hesitated to blast her into dust, but this new life gave me a new perspective, new emotions, and new experiences.
Grogar, emperor of all, father of monsters, demon, was dead, only Octavio Igneous Pie remained.
Now to find Fancy Pants.
Carving marble was a delicate process, especially the initial scrapping of extra material, a hit too strong or in the wrong place could break the entire thing into pieces.
Now, looking at the schematics for Celestia's arch I realized that for something that big I would have to use a block of marble the size of my carriage, thankfully I had brought several smaller blocks of it, I would simply carve them into the appropriate size and stick them together with a mix of connectable segments and strong adhesive.
But before putting the whole thing together I would have to paint it, the golden paint that would give it that shiny metallic texture wasn't going to stick to something like marble but something like that could be fixed by using several layers of chalk paint first.
Plan set I started to set up my workplace, the place where the ceremony would be held was a small elevated platform made of stone brick in the main plaza.
I started by setting up a large tarp not only to make sure I didn't stain anything while painting but also to make sure any remains from the carving process weren't left behind, I would admit I was somewhat of a neat freak when it came to my work.
While most would spend several days just on the carving it took me only a couple of hours to finish most of them thanks to my talent, currently, I was working on the last piece, once finished I would start painting them.
"Excuse me."
'Hmm, three layers of the chalk paint should be good enough.'
"Excuse me, Miss?."
'Each layer should take a little over ten minutes to dry completely but I'll give them fifteen just to be sure.'
"Miss?."
'After I paint it gold it shouldn't take more than half an hour to dry, then it will be rea-' My thoughts were interrupted as I felt a tug on my tail.
Jumping slightly in place I resisted the urge to buck -didn't end well the last time- and spun around, coming face to face with a lavender unicorn mare.
POV Change.
Twilight's day hadn't been bad, per se, but it had certainly been different from her usual routine, and if there's something Twilight disliked was having her schedule ruined by unexpected events.
Being sent to some little town she never heard of to "oversee" the Summer Sun Celebration preparations didn't put her in a better mood, but at least she had Spike with her.
Then, when she arrived the first thing she had to deal with was some random mare taking one look at her and making the most dramatic gasp Twilight had ever heard before running off without saying a word, immediately after that particular situation she almost had one of her hooves torn off her body by some tall, muscular earth pony mare she had nice hindlegs, dealing with a horde of very enthusiastic and muscular earth ponies was quite mentally taxing for her.
Of course, what better way to rest her mind than a mud bath followed by a cold shower and a quick mane drying, right.
She swears to Faust if she had to deal with that athletic, fit, ANNOYING, yes, annoying, pegasus any time soon she couldn't be held responsible for any action she makes.
At least she had her mane fixed up, the only cost was getting a good look at that sizable flank almost having her insides crushed by a corset of all things.
The least annoying pony she had to deal with was a shy pegasus who was in charge of the music, nothing too crazy happened during that encounter besides some initial difficulty communicating with the very quiet pony, although the moment she saw Spike she seemed to light up her smile made her feel weird.
Now, she only had to check on whoever was in charge of procuring Celestia's arch, she found it a bit of a waste to make a new one every year but the kingdom's budget wasn't her problem if she was honest if what she read was right then Marquiss Fancy Pants had been the one chosen this time and had hired a professional artisan of some renown to build the arch.
Twilight didn't take too long to find them -her papers said the ceremony would be held in the main plaza- and when she did she stopped for a moment
Slightly shorter than her, with a light gray coat and mane, the mane itself was held up in a ponytail by a purple hairband which had a dark blue, almost black, feather hanging from it, other than that she also had a purple dress shirt and a yellow tie.
Unconsciously her eyes slid down the other mare's form, from a very well-kept mane, down a slender neck, and all the way down to her...
'Oh my'
Unfortunately for Twilight, her little "distraction" made her unable to hear Spike as he called out to the mare in question and after receiving no response for the third time he climbed down Twilight's back and walked towards the grey mare, giving her tail a light tug.
The fast movement the mare did as she spun around broke Twilight out of her staring and made her look up, locking eyes with the startled mare.
As the silence grew more and more awkward Twilight's brain was running a mile a second to try and come up with something to say, ultimately she shoved her hoof forward and said the first thing that came to mind.
"HI I'M TWILIGHT SPARKLE, NICE FLANK." . . . "What." The "mare's" blank tone and distinctively male voice made Twilight's face burn up as she realized what she had screamed out for everyone around to hear.
