The Last Testament of Myrddin

by Knight Breeze

First published 10th of March, 2021

Now that contact with Earth has been made, and the invasion repelled, Alex and his new friends have taken the time to translate and read 'Starswirl's' old record. What secrets of their shared history does it hold?

With the invasion repelled, and both planets in the process of rebuilding, there has come a moment for our heroes to stop and take a breather, and reflect upon the events that have led them to this point, and to investigate the nearly forgotten fragments of the past. One such fragment holds secrets that are easily revealed, however, mysteries that have been hidden for centuries behind an ancient tongue, and are finally within the grasp of the Royal Sisters to uncover.

At the special request of the sisters, as well as the curiosity of their new human allies, the last record of the old pony that the sisters had once called teacher are finally translated, and his last words have finally been revealed for all to see.

Yet, their shared history is not a happy one, and even though his story ended on a fair note, a dark shadow loomed over his last remaining years. Starswirl saw many things that others could not, and though he did not live long enough to prevent the tragedies of the future, his warnings still echo from the dust.

These are his writings. The last testament of his life.

* * *

Exactly what it says on the tin, this is the account in the book that Celestia showed Alex in What I Am, and ties directly into that story. It is a bit of a spinoff, yes, but it will have importance to the story as a whole, and will be very short (only around 6-7 chapters at most), so it will not be that big of a detour.

Chapter I

“If you are reading this, then you are human, like me.

You may be wondering how I can be so certain of this, but let me assure you that it is the only possible outcome. No one here in this strange land is capable of speaking the tongue of my homeland, let alone read in it, as I have done my best to mask my true identity from the native people I have met here. Not only that, but the gods have seen fit to bless me with a sight beyond sight, and though many things are cloudy to mine eyes, I have been able to discern that, while it is impossible in my lifetime, there will come a day when my countrymen will walk this land again. That day may seem impossibly far off, but I know it is a certainty, if only because the capital of the Crystal Ones cannot remain sealed away for eternity.”

“The curse I taught my students was not that potent.”

“I know you have many questions for me, however I cannot answer them all. The space I have to write is only so much, and I cannot risk writing more, for fear that my students will ask questions that I cannot answer. They have been through enough, have known too many hardships, and I fear that the country they have made is not ready for my kind yet. Not after the chaos bringer.”

“Did you truly think so little of us?” Princess Luna muttered under her breath.

“Possibly, though he does have a point. With the horror of Discord so fresh in everyone’s mind, it is entirely possible that he would have been branded a monster and chased from our nation had he been discovered by the common people,” Princess Celestia countered. “After all, it was only fairly recently that the changelings were seen as anything other than monsters, so such an assumption isn’t as insulting as it may first appear.”

Luna grumbled at this a little, but did not otherwise raise any further objections as she turned back to me. “Please continue, Alex.”

Alex nodded and turned his gaze back to the pages in front of him, his eyes quickly sweeping over the old text written in modern printer font until he found where he had last left off. He thought it felt a little wrong to be reading something as important as this on what amounted to a sheaf of copy paper bound together by a single staple, but there was very little he could do to change that. Even if the original manuscript was in a language he could understand, it was still incredibly old, even with the preservation spells that the princesses had used on it. It had only been removed from its resting place briefly for translation, but now resided again inside the princess’ vault, protected like a national treasure which, in retrospect, was exactly what it was.

As for what the former human held, it was significantly less impressive, though still quite valuable, considering it was the first manuscript of one of the galaxy’s earliest interplanetary travelers. He suspected that it would eventually become a book in its own right, translated into a multitude of different languages, studied by schoolers both human and otherwise, but at this point it was little more than a stapled collection of printer paper. Hardly a fitting look for the last words of one of the first people to cross the stars, but there was very little that he could do to improve the manuscript at that point, especially given that the room full of alien ponies were all staring expectantly at him, waiting for him to continue translating the words of one of their oldest heroes. With a shake of his head to rid himself of his misgivings, as well as a sip of water to quench his parched throat, he continued reading the old traveler’s words. “There will come a time, however, when they will need to know. Know what I have hidden from them, and what I have sacrificed. They are most likely there, behind you, waiting impatiently for you to read them my last words, and while I do have some to impart to them, that must wait until later.”

This caused another round of irritated grumbling, but they did not interrupt Alex this time as he continued to read the traveler’s message. “Now, I address you, my kinsmen, for I am sure you are filled with confusion at seeing an earthly tongue inscribed anywhere on this strange, yet beautiful world. I know that it may seem impossible, but know that not only have I bridged this impossible distance, but many others before me have done so as well. I am the last, however, and with the disappearance of the Crystal One’s city, I fear that it may take many millennia before another like me sets foot on this world again.”

“But though we are barred by the seas of time, you shall come. I have seen it, and I know it must come to pass. I have many things I wish to impart, many visions specifically for you, but before I give you what you require, there must be context before the warning. You must first know me, and know why it is so important that you heed the words of a lost madman.”

“My name is Myrddin. Many of my countrymen called me crazy, a mad prophet, for I spoke of things beyond their understanding. After all, how could one understand that which is impossible to prove? The power of Mother Earth had been waning for some time, so much so that those that believed she had any power to give to begin with were few, and far between. I might have even been one of those naysayers, had it not been for the fact that I was raised as a sorcerer by my father, and for the visions he and I had been given by the earth herself as she cried out in torment.”

“The spells I was taught were beyond anything that could be sustained on our mother earth, however. I was taught theories and practices that were no longer usable, and I would often complain to my father that he was teaching me useless drivel, for the most I was ever able to accomplish on our fair homeworld was a single, pitiful flame, no larger than my smallest finger. He saw wisdom in teaching me, however, and though the visions were quite weak, he still foresaw a time when they would not only prove useful, but save whole nations from the torments of a mad demon.”

“So, despite my misgivings, I learned under my father, while the visions I had instilled a trust that his teachings would not go to waste, even though they waned in strength. I had no other lifeline, no friends to cling to, for all saw me as a madman and an outcast, the son of a madman and an outcast. This scorn did pain me to greatly, but I endured it, and endured it well, in hopes that someday my suffering would bear fruit.”

“However, my father never saw that day. He died when thieves raided our home, and though they left me alive, I was left penniless and without support. I thought my fate sealed, and the future as well, had it not been for the events that transpired on my twenty-fifth birthday…”

* * *

I stumbled through the town square, my eyes downcast as I patiently nibbled at the crust of bread in my hand. It had been poor pickings this day, as the whole countryside was exceedingly poor, and had very little to spare a raving beggar such as myself. I didn’t mind so much, though. Even if I didn’t have much to eat, I still had a roof above my head, which was more than some could say.

Always stay positive, is what I would say to myself during such trying times. After all, It could always get worse.

Yet, even as those thoughts rumbled in my head, I couldn't help but feel my heart fall as I turned the corner. Speaking of worse… I thought as my eyes fell upon a wagon flanked by several soldiers, all armed to the teeth. For the most part, they all wore gambesons, though their apparent leader was outfitted with mail, causing me to groan inwards at what was in store for me. I was not guilty of any crime, but I knew of my reputation, and should the soldiers find fault with me, or were significantly bored, they would not hesitate to ridicule and beat the town’s madman.

What was worse was that, barring me turning around and circling the entire town, I had to pass them by. My cottage was on the other side of town at the edge of the woods, after all, and if I had any hopes of reaching it before sunset, I had to brave the jeers and strikes of these formidable warriors.

My hesitance cost me the initiative, as well. I couldn’t even bring my hood up to hide my face, for they had already seen me, and were smiling cruelly as they followed the cart up the street. “Ho, is it not the mad prophet?” a spearman asked, nudging his fellow as they came into earshot. “What news do we have from the gods today? Is the sky going to rain fire? Perhaps the sun will tear itself from the sky, and be replaced with the moon at midday?”

“Perhaps he will tell us again of the magic he possesses, but cannot use. Why was that again?” his fellow asked, his eyes gleaming with mischief. “Did you not say something about how the Earth was dying? About how we have very little time left before the grace of the gods forsook us entirely?”

I did not answer. I couldn’t. In fact, I barely heard their sneers at my previous warnings. Instead, I was frozen in place, my eyes locked onto the sheet that covered the large object sitting in the back of the cart. It was a nondescript, piece of patched cloth, probably made of wool, and dyed an ugly mud color.

That wasn’t what made me stop, however.

I could feel it, coursing through my veins, filling me with strength beyond any that I had felt before. It was like being warm for the first time, like sinking into a heated bath, or coming into a warm home during a bleak winter’s storm. It was, by far, the most exhilarating feeling I had ever experienced, and I knew without a shadow of a doubt that, had I woven even the most difficult of my spells, it would not only have succeeded, but far outstripped anything that my father had thought was possible.

Beyond that, however, was the voice. I could hear her, calling to me, begging me to come to her. I had heard her before, her tortured screams haunting my every dream since before I could even speak, but it had always been a distant thing, as if she were calling to me from behind a locked door, or if I had held my hands over my ears, or through the depths of the deepest of sleeps.

Now, however, her voice was as clear as the brightest sunrise, and though my conscious mind was preventing me from fully understanding her, my heart told me enough.

I had to obtain whatever was under that sheet, by any means necessary.

Before I had even comprehended what was happening, however, before my mind could even form a coherent thought, a fist lashed out at me, and I felt the whole world tilt and rush upwards to greet me. The ground was soft, as it had only rained a day previous, so I was not injured by the sudden fall. However, my shock at the blow had left my mouth open, and though I would have wished it otherwise, I quickly found myself with a mouthful of filth, and stripped of my pride as a boot pressed down on the back of my head.

“Next time I speak, you say ‘yes sir,’” a voice barked at me, all while his compatriots laughed and jeered. Even the townsfolk joined in, though I couldn’t help but notice a furtive, uncomfortable note in their voices. I knew they pitied me, might have even sympathized with me, but they laughed anyway. They feared the local lord and his cronies far too much to even think about aiding a mad beggar, so I found no relief from the pressure, no ally of those around me.

However, I endured it well. It would have been so easy to unleash the power at my disposal, but I did nothing. If even one survived, be it man-at-arms or townsfolk, I would be hunted as a witch for the rest of my days. My spells might have been mighty, but I had no actual practical experience with them, which left me far more vulnerable than I would have liked.

What's more it that murdering an entire town, especially this town that had been my home for so long, was a bitter choice to make. Even if they scorned me for my oddities, there were still faces here that I had come to know and respect, people who had gifted me sustenance in my poverty, even as they scorned me for my visions and peculiarities.

So, I took the face full of mud with grace and patience, waiting with an almost unnatural calm as the guards came and kicked me, listening with a detached sense of frustration until they were finally called away by their leader.

“That is enough,” the steady, strong voice of their commander piped up. “Let the man go, we are behind as it is.”

“We were having just a bit of fun, is all…” another muttered in disappointment.

“Nevertheless, Our Lord will not be pleased should we be late,” the leader said, his voice becoming sterner. “Leave the beggar in the mud and come along. We’re losing daylight, and must bring our lord’s new acquisition into his presence before nightfall, and your ‘fun’ is doing very little to aid that cause.”

The soldier with his boot on my head pushed one more time, before letting me go, his muttering clear as day to me, even as I coughed up a mouth full of filth. It was beyond degrading, but I cared very little. I cared so little, in fact, that I didn’t even bother picking up the now filthy crust of bread, choosing instead to rise to my feet, before stumbling away and off to the side of a nearby cottage and out of sight. The mud still caked my clothes, but it was of no concern to me as I eyed the cart from around the corner, closed my eyes, and exhaled all the breath from my lungs.

Imagine the clearest of water, or the wind itself… a voice I had not heard in a long time echoed through me. Superimpose that image onto yourself, and fade away, as you infuse your power into it. You are unnoticeable, untouchable, nothing more than an ant on the side of the road. Now… everyone will see you as such, for you are the most unremarkable thing to ever exist.

And with one final breath inwards, I became just that.

It was not true invisibility, for when I looked down at my hands, I could still see them, the mud and skin still there despite the magic I had woven. Despite this, however, I was still completely unnoticeable and unremarkable by others. Only the strongest of wills, or those that truly wanted to see me, would even take note of my presence.

It was not perfect, however. It would not protect me should I do something outlandish like, say, slit a guard’s throat in broad daylight. However, it was more than enough to allow me to calmly walk up to the now moving cart and climb into the back.

As I settled into the hard wood of the cart, I found myself unsure of what my next move was. I had an idea of a plan, for a number of the spells I had been taught would have sufficed to quell the unruly guards before we reached their destination, but even so, deciding which one to use was a chore in and of itself. Before I could use any of them, however, I had to first wait until after we had left the town behind us. There were too many eyes here, too many that could shake off my enchantment when I put my plan into action. The lord’s castle was a half-day’s journey away, though, which gave me plenty of time alone with the group to ensure that they never reached their destination with their cargo.

I briefly felt bad for the driver, for I knew that he would feel the brunt of Lord Æthelnođ’s wrath when he brought down his fury upon the escort, but I pushed down those feelings of regret.

After all, the fate of our world was in the balance. Their lives were a pittance in comparison to that goal.

* * *

“...Why would they treat him like that?” Fluttershy asked, her voice quivering in fright. “Even if he was… different, he still needed their help! Why would they…?”

“I am more concerned with why Myrddin thought the guard’s failure would result in their deaths,” Luna said, her voice filled with disdain. “A single failure like that should result in a reprimand at most, but death? That action speaks of the insecurities of a tyrant.”

“And you’d be right,” Alex said as he smiled sadly. “The answer to both is the same. Back then, it was the strong that governed the weak. If you could wield a weapon, or command men, then you had the qualifications to rule. Your actual ability to govern? Empathy? Wisdom? Cunning? All meant very little in the face of a blade.”

“It is not so different from how the ponies were supposed to have acted in the time before Discord, but it does beg the question... What changed?” Celestia asked him, her eyes narrowing slightly in worry.

Alex smiled slightly, before he held up a hand, finger and thumb extended, making a shape that looked remarkably like a human gun. “A few things… We invented the printing press, several important thinkers were born, several revolts against the ruling classes… but the most important was the invention of the gun. A sword, a spear, most martial arts… they take years to learn, and lifetimes to master… but a gun? A gun requires weeks. Not only did it allow armies to be assembled and trained quicker… but it also put power into the hands of the common man. You wouldn’t be so quick to oppress a village if they could turn those same weapons against you, now would you?”

“That… makes an odd sort of sense…” Princess Luna said, her mouth turned down in a frown. “It also goes a far way to explaining some of the… peculiarities of your species.”

“It does, though that’s not to say that it’s a perfect solution…” Alex said, nodding once in agreement before barreling onward. “We’ve still had our fair share of tyrants, even after the advent of the gun, but they all have one thing in common. They always disarm the populace before implementing their crazy schemes. Again, the gun is not a perfect solution, but then again, what ever is?”

“No one in this world is, and neither are the choices we make. All we can do is adapt, and move on,” Celestia said, before nodding once. “I also suppose this bit of history highlights the differences between our two peoples, as well. Ours is more of a herd species, and as such we have inherited many of those traits. We’re easily startled, we’re more inclined to flee then to fight, and we tend to have larger, more trusted ‘herds’ than you do. While you, from what I have observed, are a pack species. You tend to anger instead of fear, you’re more inclined to fight than to flee, and your social groups tend to be smaller.”

“It's a good observation, and one that’ll probably come in handy in the years to come. For now, though…” Alex said, before holding up the manuscript once more.

“Ah, yes, please, if you would continue,” Celestia said, before gesturing towards me with her hoof.

Alex smiled at her, before clearing his throat once more. “...It was so easy to remove those guards with magic, as they had never seen a spell before. In fact, their fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers had probably never seen a spell in their entire lives, so they had never needed to build a resistance to such simple powers. Their weak wills and malnourished spirits were easily manipulated, and all that was required to make them take a break from their duties was a simple sleeping spell. Once uncovered, I saw that the source of this strength was a statue of a horse, poised as if rearing back, all while its hind legs were firmly planted on a stone base, all of which was made of the purest white stone that I had ever seen. The base itself was almost man-high, and set into it was a curious carving of an arch on each side, with each arch’s inner surface being polished to an almost mirror-like sheen.”

“I knew not who had made the statue, or for what purpose, only that I needed to get it back to my cottage. I reasoned that, perhaps if I slept in its shadow, then Our Mother Earth would show me what I should do.”

“Sometimes at night, during my lowest hours as I stare at the opulent ceiling of my room here in Everfree Castle, lost far away from the familiar rolling hills of my homeland, unable to eat meat for fear of offending the natives, I wonder if it would have been better had I just left the statue where it was. I know in my head that that is wrong, that I made the right choice, and the lives of so many here are better for it, but my heart yearns for Wessex, for the company of a human woman, and the warm ale of Afton’s tavern.”

“But I am getting ahead of myself. I will not bore you with such petty musings, as I have made my choice, and I have lived with the consequences.”

“Back to the matter at hand, it was a simple thing to get the statue back to my cottage. I left the carriage, and instead carried the statue in my magical grip, as the horse hooves and wheel tracks would have made me far too easy to track. Getting the statue into my cottage was another matter entirely. The thing was much taller than the roof, and far bulkier than the doorframe would allow. Instead, I chose to hide it in the forest, and slept in the shadow of the trees, shrouded by the most powerful wards I could conjure.”

“That first night’s nightmare still haunts me to this day…”

Author's Notes:

Well, as promised, here it is! I know it's not really all that different from what I showed weeks ago in my blog, but babies got sick, and I wanted to post more than 4000 words after my long hiatus. So, I worked until I had two chapters!

Now, for those of you who haven't followed my blog, just keep in mind that this is only a short story. I was going to keep writing A Darkened Sky, but my muse was all like: "Write Myrddin's story, first! There's important things in there, and you'll have no where else to put them if you just barrel on with the main story! Especially if you have Celestia and Luna reference this book, as if they'd already read it!

So, here it is. I'll update these author's notes later to contain the usual links, but I'm tired, and just want to post this as quickly as possible before heading off to bed. Just know that this will be a single book, most likely 7 chapters and less than 40,000 words at most, as it's really just going to skim through Myrddin's journey, while only touching on the events that we see that led to Discord's initial sealing. That being said, I hope you enjoy it, and that you'll indulge this little detour, as my muse can be fickle at times.

Cheers.

Chapter II

I ran, screaming into the night as the strange amalgam of body parts pretending to be a living thing chased me. It cackled madly as blades and cheese fell from the sky in equal measures, while all around me I could see the faces of some bizarre, horse-like beings. They all stared at me with those huge, unblinking eyes of theirs, horror and despair written upon their long faces as they watched mutely as I was endlessly chased by the mad demon.

Yet, that wasn’t the worst part. The worst part was that nagging, quiet whisper. She was calling to me, begging me to hurry, all while she cried in pain. But as fast as I ran, I never seemed to be able to catch up to her, all while that abominable beast nipped at my heels, his insane cackling permeating through my very soul.

“Please, you must hurry…” I heard her suddenly say, as if she were standing right behind me. “I have been waiting so long for my children to come save me. Why do you tarry? The demon… the demon steals your birthright, and you do not even know it…”

I turned to look to her, only to be met face-to-face with the demon. His insane, yellow and red eyes gazed deep into mine, and with a snap of his fingers, I felt my form twist and melt. In seconds, I was nothing more than a bubbling gelatinous mass, my face locked into a primal scream as my form flowed into the cracks of the earth, every nerve of my body screaming in pain as the demon continued to cackle at me, his unhinged eyes staring into mine with an odd look of satisfaction.

Thunder crashed all around me, and I woke with a start, my eyes darting all around as I tried to get my breathing under control. This was rather difficult, however, as another lightning strike nearby purged all desire to stay out in the forest for the night, as well as any thought of sleep.

With quick, unsteady hands, I gathered up my blanket and pillow, and without another look back at the statue, I made my way inside. I tried to go back to sleep, but by the will of the gods, the storm, or the haunting nightmares, I had no luck as the rain continued to pelt my little thatched roof into submission.

As I sat there in my bed, my eyes staring holes into the ceiling of my little cottage, I couldn’t help but feel my gaze drift towards the shutters. They rattled alarmingly as the storm continued to pelt them, but they held firm, serving the purpose for which they had been built marvelously.

With sleep being a fleeting, distant thing, I decided that, with the outpouring of magic, it would be wise to better practice my powers. I stood up quickly, before making my way to the shutters to let some of the rain into my cottage. It pooled rather quickly onto the floor, to which I quickly shut them, to prevent much more from seeping in. Then, with shaking, nervous hands, I wove the magic before me, forming the spell in my mind before unleashing it on the pool of water.

The liquid shimmered a dark, grey color, before it stood up, becoming a small man standing on what remained of the puddle. He looked up at me, before tilting his head to the side as I let out a grunt of triumph. It worked far better than I could have hoped, as the last time I had tried that spell, the most I had gotten was a faint ripple, followed by a headache.

It was a shame, then, that my father had died before he was able to see this.

Unbidden, my eyes traveled to the shutters again, and with shaking hands, I opened them once more. I wove the magic pulsing through me, and quickly formed it into a protective barrier around the window, to allow me to look out without fear of any more water coming in. Off in the distance I could see that mysterious statue, and for a few minutes, I just stared at it. Voices seemed to echo through my mind, with one in particular being the most prominent, her dire warning seeming all the more serious, now that I have felt the power of the ancients at my fingertips.

Your birthright is being stolen from you, and you do not even know it… I thought I heard her say, her voice an echo upon the wind and the rain.

I quickly snapped the shutters closed, before exiting my cottage, the barrier wrapped around myself like a cloak as I ventured forth from my home. The water ran like streams against my power, but I ignored it in favor of summoning a small light to allow me better view of my recently plundered spoil.

The statue itself was of a rearing horse, its likeness nearly a one-to-one match for an actual steed, with the only exception being that I had never before seen a stallion that was quite as toned as this one. It was clear that the original artist had a vision of the ideal horse, and used his considerable talent to bring that vision to life. Legs were frozen in the act of kicking into the air, while muscles seemed to bunch underneath fur and skin, so lifelike that, if it had been any other color than the pale white of stone, and had been textured as fur, instead of the pure white marble that it was, I would have been forgiven for mistaking it for a real horse.

The base was equally beautiful, if not nearly as detailed. The arches had some work done on them, but as for the center, it was left completely blank, and polished to the point where I could almost see my own reflection in it. In fact, it was so stunningly shiny that I lost myself in that shimmering, reflected glow for a time, until I realized why the perfect surface nagged at my consciousness so intently.

The surface was shiny, almost ridiculously so, and so utterly, utterly clean. Not even water dotted its surface, and any raindrops that happened to land on its perfect surface disappeared entirely.

I stopped and examined the statue again. Everywhere else I could see there were droplets of water that peppered the surface of the statue. It was so bad, that the water was running down places, and forming small waterfalls near the base. Yet, on the surface of the base itself, it was completely clear.

With trembling hands, I reached out to touch the marble’s perfect reflection. Instead of stopping on the stone, my hand passed through, as if it encountered nothing but water. It even rippled like water, though it certainly didn’t feel like it. It felt instead like my hand had disappeared entirely, and the stump was now exposed to the empty air. It didn’t hurt, however, but even so, I still panicked, and pulled back my hand, half-expecting it to start spewing blood everywhere.

Imagine my surprise and relief, then, when feeling instantly returned, and I saw my fingers wiggle in front of my face as if nothing had happened.

I knew that I should have just turned away right then and there, that it would have been safer had I dumped the statue off somewhere, and forgotten about it, returned to my life as a mad hermit, and maybe find some way to make some coin other than begging.

Yet, that part of myself was so small, having shrunk to nearly nothing as I spent my life ignoring it in favor of following the mad dreams that plagued my every rest. So, it was no surprise, then, that instead of turning and running as far and as fast as I could, I took a deep, cleansing breath, and stepped through that smooth, alabaster surface.

Almost immediately, I felt my world explode. Lights seemed to pass me by at impossible speeds, and my stomach felt like it was being ripped apart as I felt myself cross some grand distance, all while staying completely still. The experience seemed to drag on for an eternity, and yet, contained in that eternity, I found myself counting, only to stop at five as I tumbled headlong out the other end of… whatever that was, nearly breaking my nose as I collapsed onto the stone floor beneath me.

I wanted to scream, I wanted to void my stomach, but most importantly I wanted to curl up into a ball and quietly weep. My body, however, seemed only able to lie there, shivering in terror as I quietly gasped in the life-giving air around me. I do not know how long I spent there, quietly breathing as I tried to get my body under control, but when I finally managed to get my shattered nerves back under some semblance of normalcy, I quickly became aware that I wasn’t quite as alone as I had thought.

Somewhere nearby, I could hear voices chattering to each other in some unknown language, though they seemed somewhat muffled, as if they were speaking through a closed door, or from a very far distance. With shaking, weakened hands, I pushed myself up and finally took stock of my situation.

I was… in some kind of cave, illuminated by odd crystals that shed a pale, almost sickly light. Scattered near the walls of the cave I could see several wooden crates lining the walls, as well as armor stands upon which several suits of armor made of bronze sat. They were shaped in an old, seemingly archaic fashion reminiscent to that of the old roman empire, or possibly older, though I could not be certain, as I was no expert in fallen empires and their arms and armor.

Yet, despite their obvious age, their ruddy, burnished surfaces gleamed dully in the pale light of the nearby glowing crystals, showing obvious signs that they were well cared for. There were weapons here too; swords, spears, bows, and shields, all in that ancient style, though the most notable thing about all of these objects wasn’t their style, or age, but the silvery runes that covered each of them that seemed to glow in the pale, oddly artificial light.

And finally, standing behind me as if it had spat me out onto the floor, was a huge, full-length mirror that stood upon a pedestal. It was framed in an odd, purple material that also seemed to glow in the pale light of the crystals of the cave, and was shaped as if it were a horseshoe with various decorative flares spouting from around its frame. It also had several priceless-looking gems embedded into its surface, and upon the top, I could see some kind of jutting piece, covered in silvery runes that gleamed far brighter than the crystals that otherwise illuminated this room. As for the mirror itself, it was, by far, the most perfect mirror I had ever seen, with the reflection being far clearer than that of even the calmest pools of water, or the most polished of metal surfaces.

As for the room itself, other than the crates, armaments and mirror, it was surprisingly bare, as if this place was little more than a storage room of some kind. Its walls were made of some kind of smooth, purple stone, with the only way out being a single archway that looked more like a gaping maw, than something made by human hands.

As I sat there, marveling at my surroundings, I suddenly became aware of the fact that the voices I had noted earlier seemed to be getting louder, and without knowledge of who, or what, I was dealing with, I felt it extremely prudent to hide. So, with quick, quiet steps, I made my way to a stack of crates and sequestered myself behind them. I left enough room to see, but as I was unsure of the ability of my unwelcome guests, I began to weave my invisibility charm around myself, and was almost knocked off my feet right then and there by the amount of mana at my disposal.

Now, under normal circumstances, I would have noticed the change immediately. The power was so overwhelming, it was like being drowned in an ocean when the most water you’ve ever seen was that which was contained in a damp rag. And yet, due to the immediate danger, as well as the stomach churning trip that the mystical portal had hurled me through, only now, as I wove this spell around myself, was I aware of just how much there was. It was so plentiful, that I nearly began weeping right then and there. Was this how our world was supposed to be? How long ago was our mother drawn away? More importantly, how gradually was she stolen away, for so few of my people to have even noticed until it was far, far too late?

This thought and others tore through my mind, causing me to nearly miss the arrival of two of my new ‘friends.’ However, all my thoughts froze when I first laid eyes upon those odd little creatures.

The things were only a bit bigger than the largest of large dogs, with the tops of their heads coming up to my chest, while their shoulders sat somewhere around my pelvis. They were quadrupedal, with the same general dimensions of a horse, but that’s where the similarities ended. These things had a shiny black carapace, like that of a bug, while on their backs I could see a dark purple shell. Their wings were similar to that of a dragonfly, or similar insect, while their tails, frills and the holes in their legs whispered of origins unknown and alien to my human sensibilities. Their heads were also horse-like, but larger and more bulbous, with large, protruding fangs and a sharp, curved horn on the tops of their heads that caused me to shiver uncomfortably.

What really got me, however, were their eyes. They were bright pink, lacking any iris or pupil, and were oddly large, making their appearance all the more strange and disturbing.

The creatures entered, all while chattering to each other in their strange, alien tongue, though there was something about it that seemed familiar to me. I couldn’t place it, however, and my new ‘friends’ weren’t about to explain to me why I found it so, so all I could do was watch as they looked around the crates for a few minutes, before finally selecting one, and leaving, their cargo floating behind them, held in their magical grip.

Jealousy wormed its way into my heart, and I briefly felt furious at these strange, otherworldly creatures for having what was denied me almost my entire life, but I kept my feelings bottled for now. I knew nothing of my surroundings, and if I were to actually save my mother earth, my first priority would have to be information, both about my new surroundings, and about the creatures that called this place home.

Which, of course, was my first mistake. I attribute it to me not having had the appropriate amount of sleep, and partially being drunk on the power that I had trained my entire life to use, but a mistake is a mistake, nonetheless. The proper course of action would have been to move to the mirror, to check if I could move back through it. Then, once I returned home, to then sleep upon my new discovery, and formulate a plan.

What I did instead was leave this little storage room, and become utterly lost in the twisting, sprawling maze that was the bug-like horse’s domain.

Thanks to my spell, however, I managed to remain hidden, but as minutes turned to hours, I became less and less sure of my ability to avoid detection. Several times I almost stumbled into a group of them, nearly breaking my cover and dooming myself, but I barely managed to avoid them each time. I also spied a few other odd creatures, these beings far closer to the horses of my world, if oddly brightly colored, oddly proportioned, and with a few extra limbs in some cases.

Every single one of these new, more ‘normal’ horses were being led by those bug-like ones, all with a distant, glazed look in their eyes, but I ignored them for now. I needed to either reach the surface, or make it back to the mirror room, to reorient myself, and get a better understanding of this twisted place.

Though this mistake eventually played out in my favor, I still wonder to this day if it would have been better had I just turned around and walked back through the mirror instead.

Eventually, the sound of running water caught my attention, and though we were underground, I had a feeling that running water would eventually lead to the surface. It was just a hunch, as I had no real way of knowing this, but I still rushed, moving past the armored bug-creature guards, to finally gaze upon the exit, which was blocked by a curtain of falling water. I could see light through that flowing, hazy barrier, which only made me hurry through all the faster, eager to lay my eyes upon the surrounding countryside, and to finally figure out where on earth I was, and where our mother was being held.

What greeted me on the other side was hard to describe, but for you, my dear kinsmen, I will do my best. The falls and surrounding hills were protected by a visible barrier, and all inside were as expected: green grass, green trees of unknown species, clear water, and dark brown soil perfect for fields and crops. However, just beyond that protective shell, was a confused, chaotic hellscape lacking rhyme or reason.

Checkerboard hills, a mountain made of a bright-green, somewhat jiggling mass in the distance, while pink clouds swarmed like bees overhead, leaving behind trails of a dark, muddy water that turned to ice where it laid. Nothing seemed permanent, either, as every aspect seemed to shift and change with the passing of the seconds, with even the very sun and moon in the sky bent to the whims of some spiteful deity, each shifting places with the other at random, changing from the brightest of days, to the darkest, most star filled nights at the blink of an eye.

What was more bizarre was the wildlife. Birds flew backwards, before turning into apples, or exploding entirely, all while they barked like dogs. Smaller woodland animals grew wings, before burrowing underground, only to emerge, skipping through the earth like fish, while larger predators ran from frothing, twisted creatures that would otherwise be their prey.

Truly, it was as if someone had taken the concept of chaos and had made it real.

It was then that I made my second mistake of the day. With wonder and trepidation, I stepped through the protective barrier, if only to get a better look at the confused terrain and the creatures within, all while trusting that my magic would keep me hidden from any danger that might have lurked just beyond that shimmering curtain of light.

Almost instantly, I felt myself lifted into the air, all while a mad cackling filled my ears. Something then whizzed around me, too fast to see at first, but as it came up to look me dead in the eye, I finally recognized the face of the demon from my nightmares.

It had a long, twisting, serpentine body, whose brown fur abruptly gave way to scales as it reached its tail, before terminating in a large, white tuft. Its limbs were equally confused, with wings from both a bat and a bird, while its four legs were assembled from seemingly random animals. I recognized a bird talon, a paw from some mighty predator, a lizard claw, and a goat’s hoof, with each part just starting, with no gradation between them and the rest of the body.

As alarming as this all was, it was nothing compared to the creature’s head. It looked like that of a goat, or a horse, with mismatched horns, ears like those of a donkey, bushy eyebrows, a goatee, and a single fang jutting from its wide, malicious smile. However, all of that was tame compared to the demon’s eyes. They were bright red, and seemed to glow with an inner evil, while the surrounding sclera was an ugly, putrid yellow. Finally, both eyes were of different sizes, only hinting at the depths of madness that lay behind that insane gaze that seemed to pierce my very soul.

It spoke to me, the words spilling from its mouth in a language I couldn’t understand, all while it laughed about some grand joke it had played. I could not understand it, to which it just rolled its eyes at me, before placing a single digit of its yellow paw upon my forehead.

It was then that my mind shattered like the flimsiest of glass.

Author's Notes:

Well, here's the second chapter. Yeah, more is coming, but at this point, I'm tired, since the only times I'm really able to work on them is at night. When I should be sleeping.

Babies are joys, but boy, do they demand a large percentage of your attention.

Well, thanks for reading this, and if you find any errors, don't hesitate to let me know. I appreciate it, really, all things considered.

Chapter III

“So, he became infected with the Madness, then?” Celestia asked, clearly confused about something.

“...What is… The Madness?” Alex asked as he looked up from the sheaf of papers.

The assembled bearers of the Elements of Harmony all looked uncomfortable at that. “It’s one of Discord’s favorite tricks. Not only can he modify the laws of reality, but the minds of ponies, as well,” Twilight piped up, all while rubbing her horn. “It… twists your perception, warps your very personality into something that doesn’t even closely resemble you, all while your form becomes a part of the chaos that he has inflicted upon the world around you. It’s… not exactly pleasant.”

“True, but I doubt it caused Myrddin too much trouble. By his own admission, he was not too far from the safety of Providence, and we have his record, meaning he was able to survive long enough to write it down for posterity,” Luna pointed out. “Discord’s curse would have run out long before then.”

Alex didn’t respond at first, instead choosing to read ahead a little, while flipping through a few extra pages. “...I don’t think that’s the case…” he muttered, before returning to where he was. “...This looks like it was something different from what you’re describing. In fact, he says as much.”

The assembled ponies looked baffled at that. “Something… different? Different how?” Fluttershy asked, her voice quivering slightly.

Alex didn’t explain, choosing to instead clear his throat and keep reading, to allow the ancient traveler the chance to explain for himself. “I don’t know what the demon did to me, nor do I think he fully understands it himself. Chaos, by its very nature, is unpredictable. To attempt to understand it, or to try and predict or control it, is to bring folly down upon yourself. However, I can make a guess as to what he intended. I can also inform you, dear kinsmen, as to what the practical effects were upon my mind.”

“Now, I am sure that my students are there beside you, speculating on the nature of my madness, and guessing that what their people experienced was the same as what was inflicted upon me, and let me assure you that that is not the case. My madness is something quite unique to me, and cannot be cured by such things as the changeling’s protective field, or even the Elements of Harmony themselves. Even as I write this, the world around me shifts and changes, and I see things that cannot possibly be. This book, for instance, appears as it does in my hand, while at the same time it looks as if I am attempting to write on an acorn, while at the same time, a tree larger than the largest beech tree in britain stares me down, silently judging me for using its corpse as a record. I surmise it must have something to do with how my madness interacts with my sight, but I am getting ahead of myself. Just rest assured that it will remain with me ‘till the day I die, though the effects are lessened in the absence of a magical field. How ironic, then, that the very thing I sought for my entire life, is the very thing I wish to be rid of...”

“However, I am rambling, so I will return to what I was speaking of earlier: the demon’s intention. I can only guess as to what he wanted for me, as I am not him, and am unable to read the madness that is his mind. However, based upon the effects that have been forced upon me, I can guess as to what he intended.”

“After Discord touched me, I blacked out for some time, but it could not have been too long, for my invisibility charm was still in effect. When I came to, however, I found myself lying face-down inside the changelings’ barrier, my clothes stained with numerous unknown substances, and my skin covered with bruises, all while I muttered to myself in what was once an unknown tongue.”

“It is my opinion that, when he touched me, he attempted to impart his language to me, whether it be to better taunt me, or for some other, more nefarious reason, I do not know. As I have stated before, though, chaos magic is unpredictable. It is likely that not even he knew what he had wrought that day, though I am sure that, had he known what would have happened to me, he would not have attempted such a foolhardy task.”

“The magic did impart the tongue of the equines to me, but that is only a happy side effect of what he truly did. When the demon worked his magic upon me, I gained a perfect understanding of every word that existed in the equine’s tongue, regardless of whether or not the equines knew what those words truly meant themselves.”

The silence that followed this statement was deafening, though an outside observer could have easily inferred that it was mostly over confusion about what Alex had just read out loud. “Wait… I ain’t sure how that’s any different than what he said before… Doesn’t that just mean he was taught how to talk? Why would a ‘perfect knowledge’ make him go crazy?” Applejack asked as she scratched her head with her hoof.

“I am not sure I understand either…” Luna asked as she eyed Alex wearily. “Though, from the expression on Alex’s face, I can infer that it is likely a much larger problem than we give it credit for.”

“Oh, I read ahead, and believe me, it’s pretty bad,” Alex said, before he turned the page and barreled forward. “This does very little justice to explain my affliction, so I will try to be more exact. I know that the sun and stars are the same. More importantly, I know how they work. I do not know the words for the inner parts of a star, nor do I know the names of the processes involved, for such words do not exist in the equine tongue. However, I know what a star is. I know it is a ball of energy and heated air. I know that it is constantly throwing out harmful energies, which impact our planet's air, loosing much of their bite before reaching us. I know stars have a lifespan equal to millions upon millions of my own, and that compared to them, I am barely a blip in the history of the cosmos.”

“All this barely scratches the surface of the knowledge that has been imparted unto me, though. I know what air is, and why we need to breathe it. I know what the wind is, and how it is driven, and what things contribute to its function. I know what magma is, and why it is so hot underneath the earth’s skin. I know all of this, despite the fact that most, if not all, of the people of this world are ignorant of these facts. What the demon forced into my head wasn’t a language attached to meaning, it was truth attached to a language. I know the exact, true definition of every word in the equine’s tongue, what those concepts encompass, and the hidden truth behind their function. I know far too much than any one man can handle at any one time, and… it broke me. It shattered my mind like a hammer striking glass, and I was not prepared for such a blow.”

“My vision and power were affected as well, for the power of a mage is intrinsically linked to his mind and soul, both of which were now irrevocably broken…”

* * *

I stood up from the earth, my head buzzing with noise and light, some real, caused by the chaos outside the shell, while most were things that only I could see. Phantoms seemed to pass back and forth between the falls and the world beyond the protective shell. It was a great multitude of horse-creatures, some bug-like, others not so much, and oddly, some humans scattered among them, as well, forever mingling as they passed through this area and into eternity.

It was more than a little disconcerting, but I pushed through them, their forms passing harmlessly through me as I made my way back to the falls, and to the mirror. I had to get back, had to sit down, and think. Rather, I had to sit down and not think. My head was too full, too packed with ideas, thoughts, information… and if that was all it was packed with, I think I might have been able to cope.

It was the voices that really got to me. There were thousands of them, all clamoring for my attention, though, at the same time, their volume was no more than that of the quietest whisper, barely too quiet for me to catch. It was truly maddening, which wasn’t at all helpful, considering everything else I had to deal with at the moment.

As I neared the falls, however, I stopped when I remembered the guards. I tried to concentrate on my invisibility spell, but as I did so, a wave of nausea passed over me, and it seemed like my mind went into overdrive. Concepts that the West Saxon dialect had no name for chased each other through my head, as several voices, all mine, began to argue with each other over how best to improve this one, simple spell.

They were far too many to name, far too many shards of myself, all arguing with each other, attempting to gain supremacy. However, the me that heard them all still seemed somewhat in charge of the body, despite my fractured psyche playing havoc with my head. It must be the largest part of your mind that is whole… a quiet voice whispered to me, clearly heard through the din inside my skull.

“Thanks… I don’t think I could have pieced that together myself,” I muttered out loud in the new tongue I had learned. It was a strange one, filled with inflections and sounds that were hard to make with the human tongue, but I still spoke it quite fluently, almost as if I had been born to it.

Anytime… the calm part of my mind whispered back.

I took a deep breath, which seemed to quiet the voices somewhat, and shouted in the recesses of my mind. Look, we’ll improve the spell later! For now, though, we need to make our way back through this place, and to where we came out from, and the old spell will work perfectly fine for this task. Agreed?

My head was filled with more whispered muttering at that, and it seemed like the pieces of my mind couldn’t even agree on that, but truth be told, I didn’t really need them to. I just needed them distracted long enough for me to check and see if the spell I had crafted earlier was still in effect.

To my immense relief, it was, to which I allowed myself a heavy sigh. Good, because I’m fairly certain I’m in no shape to try and make a new one right now.

This was also good for another reason: it gave me a frame of reference for how long I had been out. The spell only lasted for a day at most, which meant that I hadn’t been taken by that… thing, for longer than that. The spell was probably wearing thin, though, so if I wanted to make it back without being discovered, I had to move quickly.

So, it was with stumbling, faltering steps that I made my way back through the waterfall and into the underground dwelling. The bug-like horses were still oblivious to my presence, though that fact wasn't too comforting to my strained, fractured mind.

Even with my charm, it was exceptionally difficult to just avoid the owners of the cave, nevermind trying to make my way back to the mirror. The way seemed to have changed, for one, not to mention that the bug-horses… changelings… seemed far busier than they had been earlier. They chattered to each other, too, but I was both too unwell, and far too busy just trying not to touch any of them to really listen in on what they were actually saying.

That, and the constant shifts they underwent were somewhat distracting, as well.

Every creature I met seemed to be in a state of flux: One second, they seemed to be nothing more than a baby, their tiny, cute appearance belied by the fact that they moved way, way too fast for a creature of their apparent size. Before I could even fully comprehend what was happening, though, their forms would quickly shift into that of elderly changelings, their chitin cracked with age, and their eyes dulled with time, which in turn gave way to a blank, empty-eyed shell that were covered in dirt and worms, only to shift back to the baby form again.

As I watched all of this happen, their true forms, the ones I had seen on the way out of the hive, seemed superimposed underneath this shifting, chaotic mess. They seemed completely unfazed by how reality seemed to bleed into the past and future, which led me to believe that the problem did not lie with them, but with me.

I have to get home, climb in bed, and sleep this off… I thought to myself as I narrowly avoided a whole throng of the blackish-purple creatures, mindful of the fact that even the slightest brush into me could break the fragile spell, and reveal my presence.

As I hid off to one side to allow the throng past me, I couldn’t help but notice that they all seemed to be in high spirits, the reason for which was something I couldn’t even begin to understand in my current state, but it seemed to revolve around the mess of brightly colored horse-things… ponies, that they were leading between them. The ponies looked like they were in a daze, their addled mental states persisting regardless of what point in history I saw them in, which led me to believe that they were under some spell or poison that forced them into such a state.

These changelings are probably raiders of some kind… New slaves, and all that. Best not to get involved… I thought as I pressed myself further into the crevice I was hiding in, looking down the way they were coming from, to see how long I had to wait here.

I froze, then, at the sight that greeted me.

Two ponies, far larger and more regal than any I had seen before, stumbled past me, their eyes as dazed as their compatriots. I could faintly see the two foals that these creatures were now, but I barely registered that. My mind was completely consumed by the sheer majesty that those two creatures embodied.

The first was as brilliant as the rising sun herself. Perfect alabaster fur that seemed to glow in the pale, dim light of the cave, two majestic wings that seemed to encompass all that would shelter beneath her, two light purple eyes that carried an unspeakable strength and wisdom in equal measures, a mark on her flank depicting the sun in all its glory, and a sharp horn that nobly extended from her head, its every spiral thrumming with untold power.

The other was almost the complete opposite, though no less majestic and beautiful. She had dark blue fur that seemed to eat the dim light around her, beautiful teal eyes that carried a ferocity and sadness that caused my heart to weep, and a black splotch on her flank that gave way to a glorious crescent moon, as if suspended in the night sky. Her horn and wings were no less beautiful, though I did note that she was somewhat smaller than the white one, if only by a head, or so.

The most notable thing about these two, glorious creatures, however, wasn’t their stature, or the sense of wisdom and nobility that their eyes seemed to convey. Instead, it was the beautiful, twisting banners that made up their manes and tails. It was as if someone had taken the heavens themselves, and contained all of their glory into the locks of these wondrous creatures. The dark one looked as if she had simply taken the starry night sky, and wore it like a crown and cape, while the white one had beautiful, multicolored hair, all pinks, greens, purples and blues, almost as if someone had taken the mysterious alivahlah, and made it into a mantle for her to wear.

I did not have a name for the alivahlah in the tongue of my birth, yet I still knew what it was, and what it looked like, even if I had never seen it before in my entire life.

Both of these graceful creature’s locks flowed and fluttered in a wind that I could not feel, and I first had no idea what to make of this strange occurrence. Then, as the raiding party passed me by, I felt compelled to follow, if only to be able to continue watching these wonderful creatures for a little bit longer.

On and on we went, twisting through large halls, and tight passages, until finally we ended up in a circular, large room, filled with strange, purple, translucent pods. Each of these sticky-looking things had a pony contained inside, frozen, as if asleep, and as I watched, I knew what the changelings were doing with their new captures.

The glorious ones I had seen before seemed to stare at me as they were bundled up into their own pods, and I found myself filled with an unspeakable sadness at their containment. They are destined for more than this… I thought I heard a voice whisper to me. They are the key to ending the demon. You know this. Your charge is clear. You must take them far to the north, beyond the touch of the demon, and teach them. Teach them to be the gods you see them for, or your life’s mission will be for naught. It is your only hope, my son…. I heard Mother Earth whisper to me.

I didn’t answer, though, choosing instead to turn and make my way back through the caverns, searching desperately for the mirror that had led me to this strange, frightful place. There’s nothing I can do for them… I thought to myself as I narrowly dodged another group heading towards the pod room. I’m just one man… an alien among a strange people… even if I were to intervene, what good would I do for them? I would be chased out, cast out as a monster, for what else could I be, considering the demon outside that so casually twists reality?

These and other dark thoughts chased themselves around the shattered remains of my psyche, further adding to my headache as I finally reached the storage room I had first arrived in. I’m too broken… I thought, trying to drown out the quiet protest Mother Earth was whispering to me. Besides, the journey north would just expose me to the demon again, this time with his greatest enemy with me. He is powerful enough to force things into my head... What’s to stop him from peering into my mind, and seeing his own downfall in those foals? No, we’d all be dead if I were to take them from here. Best to leave them where they can have some semblance of a life among the changelings. At least they will be spared the torture that is living, and dying, under that demon’s hateful glare.

As these and other cowardly thoughts dominated my mind, I walked up to the mirror, fully intent on stepping through, and turning away from this world entirely. I’ll just learn to live without magic. Move to a different town, change my name, take up a trade, and try my best to forget the madness that has consumed my entire-

I stopped short when I stood in front of the mirror, my eyes widening at the creature being reflected back at me. Rather than my own form, I instead saw an elderly pony, grey in color, with a grey and white mane and tail that curled messily behind him. On his head perched a blue, wide-brimmed, pointed hat, while on his withers and back was a long, blue mantle that dragged slightly upon the earth beneath him. Both articles of clothing were covered in yellow stars, moons, and strangely, bells, which tinkled joyously with his every move. His face was hidden behind a curly white beard, and his eyes looked at me with a stern, almost reproachful glare as his muzzle turned down in a frown.

The call to teach is a heavy one, he said, his stately, almost fatherly voice echoing in my mind. Your fear is not entirely unfounded, either. You have been dealt a heavy blow by Discord, and you fear to be hurt again, for it may destroy you completely. No one would blame you were you to turn and run… but then, I must ask you, what will become of your people? More importantly, what will become of you?

I stared at the strange creature as he tilted his head to the side, the joyful jingling of his bells an odd contrast to the gravity of the situation. I swallowed any feeling of wonder at the scene, though, in favor of stubbornly shaking my head as I backed away from the strange apparition. “You cannot be serious.... whoever you are. That thing out there is so far beyond me that it would be like throwing a snowball into a volcano. At least back in Wessex I'll have a chance. I’ll build a new life for myself, one where I can live out the rest of my days in peace.”

We both know that’s a lie, he said, his eyes piercing through me. You’re too broken. Your mind is in shambles, and will only continue to deteriorate as time wears on. The only difference between going home, and staying here, is whether your deeds will be remembered as those of a hero who died a hero’s death… or those of a madman who was eventually put down.

“How will I be remembered if I’m vaporized before even leaving this place… this hive? That… That thing is a god! I’m nothing compared to him!”

And yet, the changelings somehow manage to bring others back to their hive, despite the so-called ‘god’ running amok, the creature shot back, his voice never changing from that soothing, fatherly tone of his. They have a way to brave the chaos, one which you can easily find and take for yourself.

“That doesn’t change the fact that I’m an alien here,” I pointed out, not willing to look the elderly one in the eye. “They’ll take me for a monster created by the demon, and kill me before I’m even able to teach those two how to respect their elders.”

The grey pony nodded once more, before stepping forward and out of the mirror. I held my ground, strangely unafraid as his ghostly form drifting closer to me, before he laid a single hoof on my knee. I felt nothing there, yet at the same time, I felt a chill touch my soul. It wasn’t a terrible experience… in fact, it felt quite nice, considering the chaotic, burning mess that my mind was. I still felt unnerved as the spirit reached out, though, its ghostly face filled with purpose as it stared up at me. They may very well do as you say, but it is still something that you must do. They need you… both our worlds need you. To abandon this place is not just to abandon them, but to abandon your own world, too… to abandon your own hopes and dreams...

“...How would I even begin to get them to listen to me?” I asked warily as I stared him down, my whole body quivering with anger, exhaustion, and fear. “I am no authority figure, no grand teacher, no powerful mage. Even among my own people, I am nothing more than a poor vagrant, worth less than the air I breathe, or the soil I disturb as I pass. I am not the great hero or teacher that you are looking for.”

...Neither was I, the grey pony answered, his muzzle and eyes turning up in an almost self-mocking manner. I was born the lowest of peasants among the unicorns, my upbringing was poor, and my education even less so. Yet, Starswirl the Bearded is not remembered for his upbringing, or how awkward and gruff he was towards others. Even now, as their minds and records are corrupted and destroyed by the demon, I am remembered fondly by these ponies. I remain a hero and teacher in their hearts and minds, even as everything I helped build crumbles to ash around them.

"You and I are two different people! They need a hero! Not some... broken wretch!" I shouted back, heedless of the danger that action might carry.

He stood his ground, however, the sorrow in his eyes piercing my very soul as his form began to fade. History does not call the bravest, the brightest, or the most capable to stand and change the tides of fate… She only calls those that will heed her. She is calling now… Can you hear her?

The ghostly entity disappeared entirely, then, leaving me with an odd hope throbbing in my chest. Yet… I was still nervous. I knew what I had to do, yet I did not know if I had the courage to follow through with the ghost’s insane instructions.

More importantly, I was tired. Far more tired than I had ever been in my entire life. With a groan that seemed to reverberate through my very bones, I shook my head free of the last vestiges of the vision, then passed through the glass portal, and back into the rain-swept woods behind my house. I’ll sleep on it… give it some thought, then maybe… maybe I’ll become this hero of his…

I was lying to myself, of course. I was trying to convince my guilty conscience that I wasn’t running away, not really. Deep down, however, I knew better. My cowardice bit into my soul, but I endured it, since living the life of a coward was a better fate than dying at the paws of that god-like monstrosity.

Yet, as I lay down on my pillow with the familiar sounds of the coming morn echoing all around me, my fractured mind continued to argue with itself, the noise in my head they created only fueling my ever growing headache. Thoughts and plans chased themselves around in my head, each rejected, one after another, until a thought finally struck me. The voices of my shattered soul to fell silent as they considered this brilliant, if somewhat daft, plan.

As I slowly sat up, my eyes wandered towards the window that had managed to re-open sometime during the storm, and I found myself seeking out the sight of that shadowed statue barely seen in the early morning light. Then, as the morning light broke, the statue seemed to glow in the glory of Earth's mighty star, and the thought that had been brewing in my mind solidified into an intent, gluing my fractured mind into a somewhat more coherent, if still somewhat broken, whole.

...I cannot do it. They will never listen to me, nor can I ever be the hero he wants. I thought, as I rose from my bed. I then gently caressed the blanket left there, before I gathered my power, and forced the cloth to change. Brown gave way to blue, and the coarse wool turned to the finest of silk, as stars, moons and bells appeared all over its smooth, pleasing surface. But I know who could, though...

Author's Notes:

Well, here you go, the midway point for this little short. Like I said, this one isn't going to be long, so we've only got three, maybe four more chapters before we wrap things up here and go back to A Darkened Sky.

For now, though, I'm going to sleep. The babies are sick, and have been running me ragged, but thankfully they've finally passed out.

Good night, and I hope you had as much fun reading this as I did writing it.

Chapter IV

"...That would certainly explain much about his behavior,” Princess Celestia said, interrupting Alex mid-word. Princess Luna did not say anything in response to that, merely choosing to nod her head in agreement as she eyed the manuscript in Alex’s hands.

“How… How can you be so calm about this?” Twilight asked, her mouth agape as she glanced between the two princesses of the realm. “The greatest, most influential mind of the early post-Discord era… your teacher… was not only a liar and an imposter, but was also an alien from another planet! This… This changes everything! Whole manuscripts, theories, reasoning… things we’ve never been able to decipher, all so clear, now that we know the mindset that birthed them! It could change how we understand modern magics! The classical era! Everything! And… And…”

“It changes surprisingly little, Twilight Sparkle,” Princess Luna said as she held up a hoof to stall the flow of confusion issuing from the purple pony.

“No, you don’t understand! It-”

“She’s right, Twilight. Calm yourself,” Princess Celestia said as she took a step forward. “By his own admission, his people’s magic was on the decline. It was very likely that, when he arrived here, his understanding of magical theory and practice was significantly less than any of our modern mages. Or, indeed, any of the mages of his time.”

If anything, this seemed to fray Twilight’s already strained psyche further. “But, he’s the founder of our understanding of magic! How can you say-”

“Actually, that does make a bit of sense,” Alex said, lowering the manuscript a bit. “When he showed up, it’s almost certain that his power and ability was quite weak. When he showed up,” Alex said again, placing even harder emphasis on those words.

Twilight turned to argue with him, but stopped herself short when something occurred to her. “...Discord’s curse.”

“He did say that he gained a perfect understanding of every word in our tongue,” Celestia said, voicing what was clearly going through Twilight’s mind. “All that he taught, the leaps and bounds in our understanding, the origin of them is quite clear, now. It is quite possible that his way of thinking became so alien, even to his own people, that I do not think it will ever be possible for us to fully understand his theories and work. Even knowing what he went through, and where he came from, it would still be quite impossible, simply because we lack the perspective gained through that perfect understanding.”

“And ah don’t think we’d want the same thing ter happen ta ya, sugarcube,” Applejack said, placing a hoof on Twilight’s withers. “By the sound of things, it weren’t too pleasant, and might’ve even cost the poor feller his life.”

“Given that he seemed to have interacted with The Veil, that’s highly likely,” Princess Luna said as she moved to stand behind Alex, her eyes narrowing slightly as she stared down at the alien script. “The madness that the Veil inflicts upon the living is not to be understated, seeing as, up until this point, the longest lived being we have on record was a gentlestallion who lasted a full month after he attempted to contact his dead wife. From his own admission, Myrddin contacted Starswirl very early on in his career, raised my sister and I, and went on to live a long, prosperous life for some time after the fall of Discord. I am honestly shocked that he lived as long as he did.”

“Getting back to the matter at hoof, his name and origin might have been a lie, but his actions were those of a scholar and a hero. All this changes in the history books is the name and home planet of a brave, if somewhat mad, stallion,” Celestia said as she returned to her throne. “A few name changes, a correction or two, and life goes on.”

“It was still based on a lie…” Twilight said sullenly, clearly not wanting to let this one go.

“And what would you have had him do?” Princess Luna asked, her eyes narrowing slightly as she eyed her sister’s student. “He was a lost, broken soul, cast adrift in a place where his first interaction with the local populace resulted in the loss of his very sanity. What would you have done in his place? Are you so certain that you would have made the right decision if your roles were reversed?”

Twilight opened her mouth to argue back, but stopped, her mouth snapping shut as a confused, guilty look washed over her. While she contemplated this, Celestia took the opportunity to further hammer home her sister’s point. “We have no right to pass judgement on the dead, nor do we have the power to enact punishment for any perceived transgressions. Not only do we not know everything that led them to the decisions that they made, but we would be judging them against our own sensibilities. The most important thing we can do is learn from them, rather than condemn them for not living up to our own expectations.”

“...She’s right, darling,” Rarity said, floofing her mane somewhat with a bat of her hoof. “The stallion might have been a liar and an imposter, but that does not make him any less a hero.”

Alex grimaced a little bit at that, before setting down the pages in his hand to concentrate on the purple unicorn more. “...I don’t know the exact definition of the word in your language, as it only somewhat translates properly to the word we have for it, but according to our standards, he is a hero, and then some,” the human said, his soulless eyes boring into Twilight. “I’m not sure how much it means to you, but to us, we greatly value our heroes. Those that would lay down their lives for their friends and family are highly regarded. However, those that would do the same for those that they’ve never met? Well… Let’s just say that the english language doesn’t fully encompass the respect we have towards those individuals.”

“A noble sentiment, indeed,” Princess Luna said, before she used her magic to gently pick up the alien work. “As dishonest as he was, I feel that few will condemn him for his actions. There will be some, of course, since the closed-minded exist in all peoples. However, I think that the greater whole will look at this stallion, and look at his life as a whole, and find that very little has changed in their outlook of him. In fact, they may look at this work, and find their opinion raised somewhat, as the legend that they grew up with becomes more real. More like them, when they learn that, for all his feats and accomplishments, underneath that grey beard and blue hat, was the soul of a fallible mortal like them. Someone who was stranded far from home, broken in a way that no other person could even fathom, and set to a task that he felt woefully unprepared for.”

“...A task that he succeeded at, I should point out,” Princess Celestia said as Luna handed the manuscript back to Alex. “However, we have gotten a bit off topic, and there is still much that we may learn about this lost stallion. Alex, if you please?”

Alex nodded at the solar diarch before he took another sip of his water, and once he refound his place on the sheet of paper, he cleared his throat once more. “After perfecting my disguise, I spent a day among them, hiding my presence, watching their every move, and seeing how they lived, and how they managed to brave the chaos outside. I found what I was looking for, but as I returned to the storage room to rest in my own bed, I was surprised to find my path home sealed against me. It was a shock, true, one that, at the time, I remember being quite angry about, but I kept my head, and did not rage and reveal myself in that dangerous situation. I sat, and reasoned with myself, thinking that it must have some kind of cycle that was uncontrolled, or else why would my kinsfolk not notice the doorway to another world sooner? It was to come with me, shrunken down for easier carrying inside my bag, for the voices I now suffered were unbearable, and my time outside of the magic field of this world eased their howls considerably.”

“However, I did not immediately take it, the foals, and the armor necessary for my survival in the chaos. I needed to plan my moves carefully, for I was bent on stealing important artifacts from these people, as well as what they regarded as their lunch. Regardless of my intentions, I knew that they would not take kindly to my theft. To that end, I needed to know their patrols, and how they moved through the hive. More importantly, I needed to know how strict they were with security, and which items they would notice missing first, should I make my move. As I listened to them, I found them agreeable, if somewhat depressed at their continued captivity. I sympathized with their plight, probably more than any other outsider is capable of, for I knew what the changelings were, and what their frail bodies needed to survive. However, as agreeable as these people were, they were stagnant and helpless, and had no ongoing plans to ever take back their homeworld from the darkness that engulfed them.”

“The foals could not stay here. They were too important for that. So, when their guard was the most lax, when most were asleep in their pods, waiting for the arranged resting period to end, I made my move.”

“Despite the guard dutifully protecting their home, they were obviously quite lax in this duty, for it was exceptionally obvious that they had not had any real trouble in the hive for many, many years. This meant that it was almost laughably easy to take what I needed and slip out. I kept the foals asleep the whole time, even going as far as to weave a spell for that specific purpose, to keep them quiet as I escaped and examined the mystical armor that was to protect me in my long, long journey north.

I still did not know where I was going, only that the voices whispered to me to take them as far north as I could. There, I would find safe haven, and quite possibly salvation for this whole world.”

“The armor was surprisingly easy to understand, and moreso to use. It carried runes that bore the very concept of order within them, thus protecting the wearer from the chaos without. Such a simple design was equally as easy to modify, so that the field of order would extend somewhat past my body, to protect the little ones on our long, long journey through the demon’s chaos. It wasn’t a perfect fix, since the draw of magic it used would have effectively tripled from even that small increase, but it would be sufficient for my needs.”

“I just had to pray that that was the only strenuous magic I would need on the journey, for most of the mana close to me would be subsumed by the armor just to protect us during our trip.”

“It did not help me in the slightest that Discord seemed to have been waiting for me to return, either…”

* * *

“...With that, I think I have it,” I said, taking stock of what I had made.

The runes remained unchanged, for they were made of an incredibly tough material, and I had neither the tools, or the skill, to physically change them. This mattered very little, since the important part was the spellform imprinted in those runes. The shape of the runes could have literally been anything at all. They could have even said the exact opposite of the intended effect, and would have still functioned as they did, thanks to the spellform contained therein. It would have been extremely inefficient to do things that way, seeing as how the belief and understanding of the creator was key to weaving a spellform of any kind, and such contradictory writing would be detrimental towards the final product, but nevertheless, it was possible.

So, it stood to reason, then, that modifying such runes was possible as well. I had the feeling that such a feat would have been exceptionally difficult, but with my newfound knowledge, combined with the shattered fragments of my psyche working together towards their goal with an almost obsessive zeal, I found it almost insultingly easy.

With a flick of my new horn, I put on the armor, and quickly noted another problem: it was too big. Clearly it had been forged for someone of a different build, but it was a discomfort that I was going to have to live with, as I could not afford the time necessary to alter my body any further.

With another flick of my horn, I levitated the two sleeping foals onto my back, turned towards the shimmering chaos, checked the pull of the world’s magnetic field one last time, and with one last gulp to push down my fear, I ventured out.

“Well, well, well… I didn’t think I would see you back so soon…” a familiar, and now understandable, voice said somewhere above me. I looked up to see the demon, floating above me as he negligently batted at a pink cloud with his claw. “I thought I might have broken you for good. You certainly weren’t any fun after my little… mistake.”

“I would say that I am surprised that you could tell who I was, if it weren’t for the fact that I know what you are, Demon,” I snarled back, my entire fractured mind filled with rage and fear towards the beast. “Is your domain truly so tiny that you must torment me even further?”

“I’ll have you know that my domain covers the whole planet, apart from this little prison that the changelings have made for themselves here,” he said, before landing before me and flicking me on the horn. The field around me sizzled at that, to which he scowled, his insane eyes boring into me. “Your predecessors were quite good at what they did, even if what they did amounted to a minor annoyance.”

“...Who?” I asked, a little confused.

The demon looked quite pleased at that. “You don’t know? Well, that’s a treat. It means you probably don’t know why they came here, either,” he said, before snapping his fingers, causing a suit of armor to appear on him that looked incredibly old, yet exceedingly similar to what I was wearing. “You aren’t the first of your kind to come galavanting into my domain. The last time was… A thousand? Two thousand?” he asked me, before rolling up the fur on his arm like a sleeve to reveal a strange band on his wrist. The device wasn’t one that the pony language had words for, which made it all the stranger. It had two sticks on a face of white, while positioned around its circumference was a number of black marks, and the numbers twelve, three, six and nine positioned at the cardinal directions. The sticks were busy spinning in opposite directions, which only further added to the confusion that it caused me. “Well, seeing as how time is rather subject to the whims of chaos, it could very well be more than just a couple of millenia… Or last tuesday, but who can really say?”

The demon let out a mad laugh at that, before taking off the strange device and throwing it over his shoulder, where it promptly detonated as it struck a passing tree galloping like a horse. The tree didn’t seem fazed, however, and continued its trek, albeit now missing its entire upper half.

I looked at the demon, hatred in my eyes, before turning to the north. “Then, if we’ve already done this before,” I said, my voice dripping with malice. “You should know that I can’t possibly defeat you.”

“Oh, of course… but, that begs the question… why are you still here?” he asked, causing me to briefly pause. “What’s more, is that you’re disguising yourself, all while you tote those two disgustingly adorable fillies on your back…”

“What’s it to you what I do?” I asked, my voice a lot more level than I felt. “You rule the world. Everything you could possibly want and more are yours at the snap of your claws, so why bother with me and two, lone foals?”

“Oh, it doesn’t matter to me what you do… but it is a funny little diversion, especially given how close you and I are,” he said, before popping into existence in front of me.

“You and I are nothing alike,” I shot back, offended that he’d say anything of the sort.

“Oh, your species is more like me than you could possibly imagine. Intelligent, clever… unpredictable…” he said, the word causing him to shudder with barely restrained glee. He then snapped his talons together again, causing an oddly colored hat and mantle of the same color to appear on his person, while a pipe that let out pink and purple bubbles as he puffed on it appeared at his lips and a circle of glass on a handle appeared in his claw. He then quickly whipped the glass in front of his eye, enlarging it in the process, all while he gave me a devilish grin. “You risked life and limb to come back and steal those from the changelings… going so far as to brave my chaos to bring them out, and are headed north, seemingly with a plan in mind, despite never having set foot here before, all while disguised as a pony…”

“Yes? And your point is?” I asked, pointedly raising my eyebrow.

“So, it’s almost hysterical the lengths you’re going to overthrow me,” he said, before throwing away his new apparel, which turned into a flock of geese and flew backwards as they quickly sped away. He then rubbed his chin, before a scheming look appeared in his eyes. “Now I’m curious at what you’re planning… Oh, I feel like this will be very fun… very fun indeed…”

He circled me a few times more, before he walked off, an insanely large grin on his face. “I’ve decided. You’re free to go, just make sure that the next time we meet, you show me this oh so entertaining plan of yours…”

I was about to retort, but he disappeared in a flash, leaving me to wonder just what I had gotten myself into.

* * *

“I find it hard to believe that this… discord was just that powerful,” Alex said, lowering the manuscript before looking up at the two princesses.

“Oh, he was that powerful, and more. He could rend reality with a snap of his fingers, which is why it is so impressive that the mortal magics that your people created had any effect on his domain at all,” Princess Luna said, a smile gracing her lips.

“...Who was this Themis, anyway?” Twilight asked, looking up briefly from her notes. “Queen Titania said something about her, saying that the throne and armor were blessed by her, but we don’t even know who she was…”

“I wondered about that, too, so I looked it up while I was home. Like I told Celestia before, we humans were a superstitious lot. We made gods for ourselves out of thunder, fire, the earth, and so on. We even made gods out of things that you couldn’t see or touch, but we still thought were real all the same. Themis was one such goddess, a Titan of Order and Justice, so…”

“The exact antithesis of Discord, then,” Celestia said, a smile on her lips as she nodded at Alex’s words. “Though I have looked at the armor, and I feel no divine spark from them. Their power is very much human, and no more powerful than anything we could make. This makes me wonder if Themis truly blessed their endeavor, or if they merely invoked her in the spellform, to further strengthen it against Discord’s madness…”

“I don’t know. There’s no real evidence that any of the gods we had existed, or at least, they didn’t actually walk our Earth. It’s another mystery to add to the pile, I suppose,” Alex said, before looking through the open page of the manuscript again. “Getting back on point… Did Merlin… I mean Myrddin, keep you asleep for the whole journey?”

Princess Celestia just shook her head, clearly lost in thought, while her sister caused an old tome to appear before her. It was engraved with a picture of a moon, though it looked quite faded with the passage of time. “He did not, for even in the throws of chaos, it is still a long, long journey,” Luna said, before flipping through the pages, stopping once she reached a specific page. “Foals need to eat, after all, and though food was plentiful, he could hardly feed us while we were unconscious. My earliest memory is of waking up, and seeing the wizened old sage, a campfire already prepared, while that ill-fitting suit of his glowed brightly, driving back Discord’s Domain.”

“...He talked very little during the journey, most likely to prevent Discord from divining his plans. I remember huddling with Luna, scared as the nightmare raged around us, all while this calm, though cantankerous, stallion prepared a meal for us,” Celestia said, before closing her eyes, as if trying to remember the scene better. “He had very little patience for the antics of two scared fillies, and often muttered to himself angrily. Though, in retrospect, he most likely wasn’t angry with us…”

* * *

Celestia slowly opened her eyes, her mind awash with fog as she tried to make sense of the world around her. The last coherent memory she had had was standing with her sister and mother, mouth open in wonder as the skies began to rain a dark, sticky, sweet substance.

Everything after that was a whirlwind of pain and confusion.

“Lulu? Where are you?” she asked, before looking around, and noticing her sister asleep next to her. She felt a little better about that, up until some movement at the edge of her vision caught her eye, and she looked up to see something that made her open her mouth in wonder.

In front of her was a shimmering barrier of some kind, its scintillating colors shifting and changing, though transparent enough for her to see beyond it. The world outside… was nothing short of incredible. A flock of birds were flying backwards, only to turn into a set of pies, before exploding in a shower of light and tinkling sound. The landscape resembled a checkerboard, with pieces as large as mountains slowly making their way across the world, before occasionally stopping to ram into each other, their impact causing a honking sound to echo through the skies. Pink clouds rained a thick, syrupy substance, which formed pools of glittering pinks and golds, all while ponies of all shapes and sizes danced and babbled funnily, in those puddles, their eyes twisting this way and that, before they each turned into a different animal and ran off.

Celestia found herself giggling at the sight, before standing up, and moving to the barrier to have a closer look. Her curiosity got the better of her, and she found herself reaching out to the barrier, wondering what it felt like.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” a gruff, tired, yet surprisingly young voice barked at her, causing her to quickly turn towards the source.

There, sitting in front of a fire, was a most peculiar pony. He was tall for a unicorn, though somewhat on the thin side for someone of his height, giving him a long, lanky appearance. His coat was a dull, grey color, while his beard, mane and tail were an odd combination of white and grey, making him look far older than his voice would indicate. Around his withers and back he wore a cloak of dark blue with light blue trim, upon which were embroidered several stars and moons, while upon his head sat a wide brimmed, pointed hat of similar make. Both of these by themselves would have made him look mysterious and wise, if they didn’t also have a large number of shimmering, golden bells that lined the edge of his cloak and the brim of his hat, each letting out a faint tinkling sound, even as he sat perfectly still. His horn was currently glowing a faint, white color, which immediately put Celestia on her guard, until she noticed a pile of armor pieces lying next to the fire, mystic runes covering its surface glowing a similar color. She briefly wondered what it was for, but pushed it from her mind as she focused more upon the pony in front of her.

The stallion was currently looking at her with an almost exasperated expression, though she couldn’t help but notice how his eyes kept wandering upwards, as if looking at something several feet above her head. She resisted the urge to check, not wanting to look away from this mysterious stranger, for fear that he might intend to do her harm. “...And who might you be, sir?” she asked, trying not to get on his bad side.

“...That’s a far more difficult question than you know, little one,” he said, his voice taking on a sad, almost wistful note. “I have a few names, some given to me by my father, some given to me by my order… but here, here you might know me by my lesser name…”

The pony trailed off, though, as Luna began stirring, her tiny voice frustrated at being woken up. As she looked around herself, though, her eyes shot open with fear, and she began to cling to Celestia, all while she tried to hide as much of herself behind her older sister. “W-W-W-Who are you?” she asked, barely stuttering out the question. “W-W-W-Where are we? Where’s mother? Tia, what’s going on, here?”

Celestia just shook her head, her eyes never leaving the stallion as he levitated a nearby stick to stoke the fire. “...To answer your questions, I am Starswirl the Bearded. I don’t know, I don’t know, and though your last question was directed towards your sister, I shall answer that too. Destiny. Destiny is ‘what’s going on, here?’ Though I honestly wish it were otherwise.”

“Destiny? What are you…” Luna started to say, but fell silent as her older sister hushed at her.

“...Starswirl? I heard about you. They taught us about you in school…” Celestia said, her face screwing up in confusion. “But… you can’t be him. You died over a hundred years ago!”

“...I’m afraid the news of my death was greatly exaggerated,” the wizened old pony said, his mouth turned down into a frown. “Besides, I’m afraid you’ll find that your grasp of how long ago I lived is somewhat outdated as well, seeing as what’s happening outside.”

This caused both fillies to look out again, the rolling, shifting chaos almost beautiful in its absolute absurdity. “What’s happening, sir?” Luna asked, her voice nothing more than a fearful squeak. “Why is the world outside… Like this?

“A demon on the rampage,” the old pony answered as he speared a number of tubers onto a stick. He then placed them over the fire to cook, all while continuing to talk. “Y… Our world has been conquered by a demon named Discord. A Draconequus of unfathomable power, and he uses that power to twist the very fabric of reality to his whims.”

“I don’t understand, sir,” Celestia said, shaking her head.

Starswirl shook his head in frustration at that. “Of course you don’t! You’re what, eight? Nine? Barely old enough to talk, much less know the inner workings of the universe!” he snapped at her, causing her to flinch back. He then softened somewhat, before rubbing his head, while groaning somewhat. “...Look, here, let me show you.”

The wizened pony then took a rock from the ground, and with a flick of his horn, he tossed it past the barrier and into the swirling chaos around them. Almost immediately, the rock turned into a goldfish, swimming around them, making tiny quacking noises, before turning into a bow and arrow, and shooting itself away. Celestia found herself laughing at that, while Luna let out a barely perceived chuckle. “That’s funny, let me try!” Celestia said, before grunting as she picked up another small pebble and tossed it beyond the shield.

This one turned into a swarm of butterflies, each leaving behind a trail of snow that crackled and popped as it evaporated into nothingness. Celestia laughed even harder at that, with her sister’s accompanying chuckles gaining strength, up until a tired, almost creepy chuckle reminded them that they weren’t alone.

“You think that’s funny, huh? Just a riot, huh?” Starswirl said, all while a smile that didn’t reach his eyes formed on his lips. “Do you think it would be funnier if you went out into that?”

This immediately silenced the two fillies, the laughter on their faces fading fast as the reality of what he said set in. “...What?”

“It might look like a fun time, but let me assure you that out there, it’s his territory. You step outside this bubble, and you can bid your form, your life, and your very sanity a found farewell. Those ponies out there… they aren’t sane. None of them are. They’re trapped in a living abyss, from which there is no escape. They pray for death, for it would be a mercy compared to the terror that their lives are, but it will not come, for the demon refuses to grant even time its rightful place. I pulled you from that, saved you from an endless, maddened existence, so I suggest you treat it with the respect it deserves. Unless, of course, you want to spend eternity in a waking nightmare.”

Luna began to cry at this, tears falling from her eyes, all while Celestia hugged her little sister, hushing softly to her. “Why… Where is mother? Father?” Celestia demanded, even as tears appeared in her own eyes. “Why… Why would this… thing, do this?”

Starswirl looked at her, a glimmer of sympathy in his eyes, before shaking his head again as he pulled the sticks with tubers on the ends of them from the fire. “...I don’t know where your parents are, little ones. They’re out there, in the chaos, unable to think for themselves, or even remember that they had children in the first place. As for the why… I do not know. I have my suspicions, though, and if I were forced to guess, I’d say it’s because the demon enjoys causing suffering and misery to others.”

Celestia’s tears came out stronger at that, but she kept her voice in check as she watched the wizened old pony blow on the tubers, before splitting one in half, and levitating the two halves towards her and her sister, before setting them on the ground. She looked at hers, sitting almost dejectedly on the ground, before she looked back up at Starswirl, hatred in her eyes. “Why didn’t you save them, too?”

“...What do you think we’re doing right now?” he asked her, his voice taking on an almost hopeful quality. “We’re headed north, where the demon’s hand cannot reach us. There, we’ll find and learn the secrets to beating him back, and ending his reign. Then, you can save your mother and father with your own hooves.”

This caused Luna to cry a bit less, her eyes looking up at Starswirl with barely contained hope. “...Really?”

“I promise. So eat up, it’s a long journey, and you two are still very, very young. You need to eat, or else your strength will fail you.”

The two sniffed awkwardly at that, before tucking into the provided tubers. It was plain fair, somewhat disgusting, if Celestia were being honest, but she felt like she didn’t have much room to argue over the quality of Starswirl’s cooking. Instead, she looked up at the wizened pony, distrust in her eyes as she regarded him. “Why us?” she finally asked, after what seemed like an eternity.

“...That’s a question not even the gods can answer…” he muttered under his breath, though Celestia still managed to catch it. He then straightened up, and fixed her with a commanding stare. “The why isn’t something I can answer. Only you can, given time to allow you to grow into your own. One day, years from now, you’ll look back on this moment, and chuckle to yourself, for you will find that you know more about the ‘why’ than even Starswirl the Bearded. But for now, you’re going to have to trust me. Trust me when I say that I am leading you towards not only the salvation of our world, but towards your destiny. And we’d be fools to keep her waiting…”

* * *

“He sounds… pretty harsh,” Alex said, his voice filled with worry.

“Starswirl was a harsh master, though it was time and circumstance that made him so,” Luna said, her voice filled with respect. “He mellowed out in his later years, but until then, with so much riding on his shoulders, one could forgive him for not being the nicest to two fillies, lost, far from home, and crying for their mother.”

“That he was. It was a long, arduous, dangerous journey, and the stallion had neither the time, or the patience to keep a constant eye on two small fillies. So, for the most part, he just kept us asleep, though we did not know that that was what he was doing until much, much later,” Celestia said, her nose ruffling in concentration. “By all standards, what he did would have been considered criminal, if it weren’t for the sole fact that what he did ensured our safety, and the salvation of all Equus. We were kept free of Discord’s corruption because of him, and for that he has my gratitude and respect.”

“The first time we were awake, and allowed to stay awake was after we reached the last remaining city of the Crystal Empire,” Luna said, picking up where her sister left off. “Not only had he already met with King Noche by that time and had obtained both room and board, but also a nursemaid to aid in raising us. The crystal ponies had a strict, no outsiders law, as well as strict birth control measures, to ensure their people did not outgrow what their city could provide. I do not know what it is that he said to change the will of the king, but I do remember the almost reverential treatment he received while we were there.”

“...Looks like it was because he had a vision in front of the king,” Alexander said as he leafed back to where he was before he stopped. “As I was brought before the king, it felt like lightning pierced my skull, and I found myself pushed aside as another stepped into me, to deliver a prophecy unto the ruler of the Crystal Empire. As the words spilled from my mouth, I felt panic fill my breast, for the words I delivered were not ones of hope, but of doom. The last remnant of their once glorious civilization… would disappear. It would be thrown adrift through time, and what’s worse, is that it would be by the blood of the king that such a travesty would occur. His people would eventually return, both in physical form, but also in glory, but at the cost of his entire line.”

“Yet, despite this vision of doom that I pronounced against him, he did not cast me out. Instead, he took me and my young charges in, even going so far as to bow before us, declaring me a seer without peer-”

“That would have done it,” Celestia interrupted, her eyes snapping open as she looked at the former human. “The Crystal Ponies were exceptionally superstitious, and they had very, very particular customs when it came to seers. I am sure that Noche didn’t tell him this exactly, but even with the pronouncement of doom against his line, Myrddin had, by all rights, set himself above even the king.”

“...No, it says here that the king offered him his throne after the vision, so he definitely knew. He just didn’t take it, and I can see why,” Alexander said, after reading ahead again. He then cleared his throat, and continued. “...I could not take his offer, as much as my greed told me to do just that. I was an imposter, and the knowledge imparted unto me by the demon could only protect me for so long, especially if I were to be placed into such a spotlight. I instead told the king that all I required from him was aid in raising my charges, and that through his service, he would bring about the demon’s fall.”

“It was quite humorous how quickly he agreed to my request. I was given all the aid I required: access to their library, a nursemaid, tutors, food, shelter in the palace. Every want I requested, it was fulfilled, and I tried my best to instill into my charges the knowledge that had been instilled into me, but I admit that I fell short in many regards. My father was never the best tutor, and the methods that he used were my only reference to fall back on. What’s more, is that the knowledge given to me by Discord was hard to explain, especially since many of the things I now knew did not have words to describe them. The Crystal Empire’s records proved more fruitful, however, and though many of the techniques contained therein were utterly barbaric to my sensibilities, I found that I had no choice. They would shore up my inadequacies, and give me the ability to raise two gods to wrest the world from its captor. I only pray that they will forgive me for stealing their childhood from them.”

“In all honesty, they could give you a more accurate account of their time with me. My account would be tinged with my own bias, and I hold no illusions at my competency as a surrogate parent. It sufficeth me to say that they eventually wrested control of the sun and moon, however briefly, and by doing so not only earned their ‘destiny’ marks, but also their wings. It was the proudest moment I have ever had in my life, and at that exact moment, I knew that we had already won.”

“Their story is one of triumph through adversity, and when you have time, I would implore you to listen to it from the two gods themselves. However, that is not the purpose of this record. The purpose of this record is to give context to what I must share with you, for from the dust, I bring you a warning most dire.”

“It occurred just after the disappearance of the Crystal Empire. I knew then, that the peace of my homeworld was forever closed to me, and that the artifact that I had stolen all those years ago would never be returned to the changelings. I knew what I had to do, I could only pray that they were in a forgiving mood…”

Author's Notes:

Well, here's the next chapter. Almost done, there's literally one chapter left, with maybe an epilogue, though I honestly doubt it.

The epilogue will be A Darkened Sky. So, if you didn't know it existed, you should head over there and read it.

I tried my best with this, and I hope I properly portrayed not only Myrddin, but also a young Celestia and Luna. That being said, I hope you enjoyed it, even if I failed in that respect.

Again, this was made mostly late at night, and edits were made from a tired father who cannot sleep, because babies. So, if there are any errors in here, let me know, and I will correct them. I won't even be mad, either, but rather thankful that you'd take the time to point out my mistakes for me. So let me again thank you all for reading this, telling me what I did wrong, and sticking with me for so long, even going so far as to stick with me past when the show that inspired this work ended. So, again, thank you for your support.

Chapter V

I stared out at the falls, a lump forming in my throat as I used my magic to adjust the pack on my back. It had been years since I had been anywhere near this place, what with everyone having been busy with the reconstruction following the fall of Discord, the arrival of Tirek, the school that had been opened, to which Celestia had begged me to teach… It really seemed like everything and everyone was conspiring to not only keep me away from the mirror, but away from where it had all started, as well.

Then that little skelpie-limmer just had to throw a tantrum when Luna turned down his advances… I thought to myself as my bells jingled merrily in the wind. Didn’t realize Noche would live just long enough to see that part of the prophecy fulfilled. I can only imagine the old man’s heartbreak when he realized that his own son would be his line’s undoing. Well… It was either that, or the sword that the little muckspout shoved through his father’s chest that did the trick…

I shook my head to clear it of the unpleasant memories that had arisen there. I was glad that the fractured nature of my mind had solidified somewhat as time had passed, meaning I was a lot more sure of my actions for the most part, but I still found it rather difficult to control my thoughts from time to time.

My sight, though? If anything, the passing years had intensified its decline.

Even now, as I stared out at the falls, I could see a multitude of phantoms. Trees and other plants in various stages of growth bloomed and wilted around me, ponies of all kinds and sizes faded in and out of existence, all while the endless, endless voices murmured their haunting, enchanting song…

And yet, as enticing as it was, it was also exceptionally irritating. It was as if a multitude was constantly whispering in my ears, their actual words just outside of my understanding, yet I could still tell that they were beckoning to me, somehow. It was honestly the worst, most maddening part of this curse that Discord had inflicted upon me, being so bad as to make me want to shove a pair of knives in my ears, on the off-chance that it might finally silence the maddening voices, and only the knowledge that such an action would do the exact opposite of the intended effect stopped me from trying just that.

Yet, even with all of that, I almost found the idea of shoving knives into my skull preferable to what I was about to do.

With a heavy sigh, I began the trek down the hill, and towards the falls. It didn’t take me long, and in a far shorter time than I would have liked, I found myself at the base of the grand waterfall, the cave beyond completely hidden from my sight. If I were anyone else, I would have been completely fooled, and would have thought nothing of what might lie just beyond the roiling, chaotic curtain of water falling from the cliff face above me.

They already know I’m here, but they probably don’t know why I’m here… I thought to myself before I took in a deep breath, focused my spirit like my father taught me, and constructed the spellform in my head.

Almost immediately, the curtain of water parted, revealing two very, very surprised changelings. Now, there were any number of ways that I could have gone about doing this, but with my headache only intensifying over the years, and with no actual way to alleviate that pain, it had made me rather reckless in my old age.

Despite the obvious shock at my bold, if somewhat suicidal maneuver, the changelings were quick to recover, their horns crackling with power as they set their legs into a better stance to protect their hive. They needn’t have bothered, and I decided to tell them as much. “Oh, stop that. Go fetch your queen, and tell her that I have a gift for you. And hurry, I haven’t got all day.”

Despite my winning personality, the two didn’t really seem to believe me, and instead of immediately rushing off to do as I asked, they both fired their magics at me, intent on knocking me out, or more likely, killing me.

As focused as their wills were, however, they were nothing compared to what Discord had made me into. I didn’t have a vast store of mana at my disposal like the Royal Sisters did; in fact, most children on this world had more mana at their beck and call than I did, simply because their souls weren’t fractured, burnt out husks of their former selves.

That being said, even with my weakened power, I was more than these changeling’s equals with my technique alone, simply because I knew exactly what magic was, and how it worked. For instance, a spell form as hastily constructed as theirs could be pulled apart if you knew what you were doing, and it took about as much spiritual power as it took to inhale. It was still an incredibly difficult maneuver to pull off, and required a degree of control that most ponies simply did not have.

As difficult as it was, however, I had spent well over twenty years simultaneously raising two foals as Æons, all while battling with my own fractured psyche that seemed to constantly want to kill me, if only to escape the pain. Compared to that, pulling apart two hastily thrown together spells at the same time was child’s play.

The looks on the two drones’ faces were priceless as the pink beams of force they had directed at me fizzled, and died, before they had even traveled three feet. I let out an amused snort at their obvious fear as I stepped into the cave, causing them both to retreat in abject terror as I stared them down. “Now, are we going to try that little stunt again? Or are you going to go and get your queen? Tell her Starswirl the Bearded is here, and make it snappy. I can wait, but I have a meeting with Celestia this evening, and I cannot be late.”

The way I irritably dropped my student’s name seemed to have the intended effect, and with a panicked squeal, both drones quickly took off, barreling through the tunnel before they disappeared into the darkness. It briefly occurred to me that they might just be getting reinforcements, rather than the queen, but I shrugged that thought off. While the sisters might not necessarily know where I had buggered off to, they would still take note of my sudden disappearance, or my subsequent replacement by changeling drones.

After all, my particular oddities were rather hard to mimic. What’s more, is that regardless of whether they stuffed me in a cocoon, or simply killed me, either fate would be preferable to the constant torment I had suffered ever since I stepped through that blasted statue.

No, it isn’t death that I am dreading here. It’s finally owning up to my sins, and confessing to them where their treasured mirror had disappeared to. Even back as a child, owning up to my mistakes had been difficult. Now? Now that I’m old and frail? Admitting that you made a mistake is downright terrifying… I thought to myself as I stood there, patiently waiting for my terrified hosts to return.

Thankfully, it didn’t take long for the two panicking changeling drones to spread the word, and within only a few short minutes, I could hear what sounded like an angry beehive stirring from deep within the cave. “No need to be hostile!” I shouted back at them, causing the sounds to deaden somewhat. “I’m not here to hurt you, or reveal your secret. Just go get your queen already, and stop bloody wasting my time!”

A few more awkward minutes passed after that, until finally she decided to show herself. She was magnificent, standing as tall as Luna, though that was where the similarities ended. Her black chitin and purple shell gleamed faintly in the evening light, while her mane was done up in a neat braid that cascaded off of her left shoulder, with her tail following a similar style. As stately as she looked, though, she was clearly nervous, judging by how her eyes narrowed, and her dragonfly-like wings would buzz faintly, as if she were seconds from taking off.

“...Greetings, Archmage of Equestria, teacher of the Sun and Moon, and imposter of the realm. To what do I owe this pleasure?” she asked, her tone dripping with suspicion and barely concealed fear.

Imposter, huh? Well, they were ‘free’ from Discord far longer than the ponies. Probably had records and everything, so they’ll be harder to fool. Not that I was trying to do that in the first place, but it’s something to watch out for… I thought to myself as I levitated the pack off of my back and set it in front of her. “I came to return something of yours that I… borrowed. I also came to apologize, since there were actually two things that I borrowed, but… due to circumstances, it is quite impossible to return the second thing…”

She looked down at the huge, jingling pack I had set at her feet, before glancing back up at me. “And what will happen when I open this pack, hmmm? Will your troops teleport in? Will my hive be butchered where they stand?”

“Nothing of the sort, you suspicious, white-livered poltroon,” I snapped at her as I rubbed my back. “I’ve known the location of your hive for decades now. If I wanted you dead, I would have set Tia and Lulu on you ages ago, but I didn’t. In fact, after today, you will never see me again, I can guarantee that. That is… if you let me live after seeing what’s inside that bag.”

She stared at me for a few more seconds, before begrudgingly using her magic to undo the strap and flip open the top flap of my pack. Almost instantly, the armor pieces I had stuffed in there began spilling out, causing her jaw to drop as she first stared at it, then at me, wonder clearly written on her face.

“I know it’s a paltry token compared to the mirror, but I had left the thing in the Crystal Empire when we had set out from there to stop Discord,” I told her as I took advantage of her silence. “I hadn’t been back since, and sadly, that is a major mistake that I cannot rectify.”

She looked back down at the armor and just stared at it for the longest time, before her eyes finally swept up again, a look on her face that I couldn’t quite place. It was almost like she was trying to see right through me, but at the same time, I thought I detected a hint of hope. After a few more moments of this, her shoulders visibly relaxed, and a faint smile graced her lips. “The mirror and armor were never ours to begin with. We were only acting as stewards for their creators, and they made these artifacts for the sole purpose of defeating the demon,” she said as her bearing became more regal. “While the mirror’s loss is a terrible tragedy, I think its creators would not mind, for it ultimately served its purpose. Right, Starswirl?”

That last word had special emphasis, and lacked any sort of malice. Rather, it seemed to be in the form of a seeking, hopeful question. It was as if she had guessed something about me, and was hoping that I would confirm her suspicions. I decided to keep her guessing, though. They obviously knew about humans, but since the mirror was now far, far outside of either of our reach, there really wasn’t any point in letting her know my origin. I’m old, after all. Better to leave them guessing at my origin… A few legends never hurt, after all… I thought to myself before I gave her a weary smile. “It certainly was useful, in more ways than one.”

She continued to study me for a few seconds longer, before she gave me a low bow. “Then I thank you for returning what you could. Thank you… for saving our world, traveler.”

“It’s my world too, you know,” I said, barely keeping back a laugh at how we were dancing around this issue. “Just… try and stay out of trouble. The ponies… They may see you as monsters, but… but I feel like there will come a time where changelings may walk openly among ponykind. You just need to walk the correct path.”

“...If all ponies are like you, Starswirl, then I have no doubt that that day is close,” she said as she rose from her bow. “However, I think that day is further off than one might hope. Ponies panic easily, and we are their natural enemies. Regardless of what we might hope for, some obstacles are impossible to overcome.”

“The day might be far distant, yes, but it is not nearly as impossible as you might think,” I shot back as I turned away from her. “These people are far better than they were, especially with the Sun and Moon as their guides. They will lead them to a better age, mark my words.”

“Ponies only live so long, however,” she said as I slowly retreated. “How are you so certain that the two alicorns’ legacies will be so enduring?”

I stopped at that, before I shot her a knowing smile over my shoulder. “...You don’t need to worry about the princesses. Their reign will last far longer than any of us. The future is in good hooves, I assure you,” I said, before I used my magic to part the waterfall once more, and for the third and final time, I left this place behind me, and stepped out into the future.

However, it seemed like the future was waiting for me, for as I circled around the bank of the river, a ghostly, humanoid form greeted me, its maw turned up in a smile, revealing sharp, needle-like teeth that could easily tear my throat from my neck. I was not frightened, though. I had seen this apparition before, both in my dreams, and in the waking world, and though it would sometimes do things that would turn my stomach, it had never made any threatening moves towards me, or any other pony, for that matter, regardless of whether they were real, or just a figment.

In fact, it was one such dream that had forced my hand, and had led me to return the armor I had stolen all those years ago.

“Okay, I gave them back their armor. Why was that so important?” I asked the apparition, glaring up at it, hoping that this was finally over, but knowing deep down that I would only be ‘done’ once I was buried under this world’s rich soil.

It didn’t say anything, instead choosing to point towards the distant mountain that played host to the ancient city of Canterlot. Go. Seek the peak of the mountain… I could almost hear it say.

Even as the impression of those words echoes through my skull, I could feel it. The air was too thick here… I had to get higher… something was trying to talk to me, and I couldn’t hear it down here…

So, I started walking, my appointment with Celestia that I had arranged that evening long forgotten. The closest town was only a few hours away, and as I passed through, it was easy for me to pick up some supplies, even get a ride up to the top of the mountain, but the real question was… could I handle such a high altitude? I was getting on in years, and my back was a constant reminder that I wasn’t nearly as spry as I used to be. Yet, even as this and other thoughts rattled around in my head, I couldn’t help but follow that voice that I could only barely understand, each step leading me closer towards some unknown end.

I only hoped that, once I reached my destination, I would finally be allowed to rest.

* * *

There was a gentle thump as the chariot set down on the mountainside. As I disembarked, the rightmost stallion yoked to the vehicle turned to me, worry in his eyes as he watched me put my saddlebags over my withers. “Are you sure, Sir? It’s pretty cold up here, and the mountain can be pretty treacherous, even at this time of year!”

I rolled my eyes at this, before shooing the worried stallion and his brother with my hoof. “Yes, yes, I’m sure, now get out of here. I have important business to attend to before the day’s through, and your presence is not required.”

“...Do you still want us to come back in the morning?” the other brother asked, clearly miffed by how I was snapping at the two of them.

To be fair, they really didn’t deserve how short I was being with him, nor did they understand why I was snapping at them for just doing their job. However, I was in no state to sit there for niceties. My head felt like it was about to split open with the thrum of the universe, and I could not be sure that I could maintain my form for the duration of the incoming vision. I could hold it off for a time, given the depth of experience I had with such things, but I could not hold it off forever. The gods were calling to me, and I had to answer. “Yes, yes, now leave, and hurry. I will be sure to pay you double when you return!” I snapped, before turning and making my way to the rock wall that led up to the summit of the mountain, though I walked slowly, so I didn’t have to try climbing while the two were still here. It was impossible for me to climb in this form, after all, which was why it was all the more important that the two that brought me here left already.

When I heard the two finally pull out, their wings bearing them aloft in the wind, my relief was so intense that I nearly dropped my disguise then and there. I didn’t, especially since I knew that the two stallions might spot me as they headed out, so I waited until they had left earshot before heading back to the ledge to make sure that they were really gone. I watched them closely as they descended to the city below, my eyes tracking their every move until I was certain that I was alone, before I finally released the spell that had me bound in my current form. I felt like my whole body had been carrying a weight, which was suddenly released. Limbs lengthened, hooves turned to fingers, and fur gave way to pale, wrinkled skin. In seconds, the stallion Starswirl had disappeared, and in his place, I stood, naked as the day I was born, save for the hat and mantle that I had worn in my previous form.

Shivering a little, I quickly opened up my bags, pulled out an old set of dingy clothes and quickly put them on. They didn’t fit as well as they had when I had first arrived on this world, but they didn’t really need to. After all, they only needed to manage for the short time I stayed on this mountain.

At the very least, they’ll keep me a little warm as I finish the climb… I thought as I started making my way up the cliff face. It was slow going, the chill was quickly sinking into my bones, and I quickly found myself cursing the slopes and the wind and how they had been too treacherous for the chariot to land me at the peak.

And yet, even as I cursed the wind, the rock and the world around me in general, I could feel the visions leaking into my consciousness. Flashes of dark shapes rushing in the dark, bursts of light, pain streaking into my flesh, all while the whispers grew with every foot I ascended. It was maddening, and every frayed inch of my weary body screamed at me to stop, to turn back, and forget all of this.

And yet… I continued to climb, heedless of the warning signs that were telling me to give up. I was a man possessed, no longer in control of my faculties, and as much as I would have liked it otherwise, nothing short of the intervention of a god could stop me now. I even slipped a few times, and though such mistakes should have sent me careening down into the valley below, a glow surrounded me, keeping me attached to the mountainside, pushing me ever upwards to answer the call of the great spirits beyond.

After what seemed like hours of constant ascent, I finally reached my destination. My hands and knees left trails in the snow as I slowly crawled up the gentle slope towards the absolute summit, the burning of my mind the only thing keeping me warm, or indeed, going. As soon as I reached the highest point, I flopped to the ground, utterly exhausted as I turned over to look up into the brilliant night sky.

Then, I let go of trying to hold back the visions, and I let the universe enter my being.

* * *

“Darkness swept over me, and I lost consciousness for quite some time. When I came to, I saw a field of stars, arranging themselves into different shapes. Soon, they formed themselves into a multitude of animals of all shapes and sizes, but I found my mind focused on the jolly, lowly crab. It seemed content, its legs happily dancing in the pools that it called its home, all while its claws made a happy click-clacking sound as it merrily scavenged for food. As it went about its way, a lizard, wounded in battle, limped into one of the crab’s pools, and drew its last breath. The crab-”

“Hold up, what does this have to do with anything?” Rainbow Dash asked, clearly bored and confused in equal measures. “It was just getting good, too! He was climbing a huge mountain, collapsed at the top, and then the universe showed him… crabs made of stars? What? I thought he said this was supposed to be important!”

“It is odd, but I’m sure he has a reason. Even if it’s not something we can understand…” Luna said, her nose wrinkling in equal confusion. “Remember, Myrddin isn’t talking to be understood by us, but to be understood by one of his own.” Luna then turned towards Alex, a question in her eyes as the human flipped through a few more pages. “Alex? Do you understand what he’s saying?”

Alex grimaced at that, before shaking his head. “Not completely, but I will, I’m sure of it.” He then looked up, and seemed to realize his cryptic answer did not satisfy his audience, and cleared his throat to better explain himself. “Myrddin isn’t the first prophet we’ve had. We’ve had more, and something they’ve all had in common is that their visions and prophecies will be allegories for other things, riddles filled with symbolism and cryptic messaging, which is one of the reasons that many of our prophets have been derided as nothing but madmen. For example, one such prophecy had a man with three baskets of bread on his head. Then, birds came and ate the bread, leaving him with nothing. Can you guess what the vision meant?”

The ponies surrounding Alex shook their heads, confusion clear on their faces, though Celestia tried to take a stab at it. “...I would assume that it means that he had something stolen from him? That something of great worth would be taken from him, leaving him with nothing left?”

Alex shook his head, before a wry smile graced his lips. “Close, but not close enough. It was an omen of his death. The man was a baker being held in prison, and three days after his dream, he was hanged by the neck until dead, and birds ate his corpse.”

This sent a shiver through the assembled ponies at the imagery. “That’s just… just awful…” Fluttershy said, shrinking into herself even further.

“I can’t argue with you there,” Alex said, his smile turning into a frown, before he glanced back down at the pages in his hand again.

“The future is rarely a happy thing to foretell,” Luna said, interjecting her own opinion. “It has happened, yes, but for the most part, visions are given as warnings of doom. They’re dark and foreboding on purpose, to give the receiver proper motivation to avoid such a future at any cost.”

“Well… how are we supposed to avoid such things if’n we’re not even able to understand it?” Applejack asked, clearly upset.

“That will come once we’ve read the whole thing. At least, hopefully it will come. It’s never a surefire thing with prophecies, even at the best of times,” Alex said as he slapped the back of his hand against the manuscript. “Though, to be honest, I already have an inkling about what this means…”

“Do not keep us in the dark, Alex,” Celestia said as she stared at the human, disapproval clear on her face. “There were enough mysteries surrounding Starswirl already. No need to artificially add more.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m getting to it…” Alex said, before taking another sip of his water. “Anyway, it was what he said he saw earlier, right after talking with the changelings, that tipped me off.”

There was a short beat at that, as everyone processed what the former human was implying. “He saw you…” Twilight said as the realization suddenly dawned on her.

“Eeyup. This leads me to believe that his visions had something to do with our time. Crabs made of stars? That could easily mean the Krin. In fact, I’m pretty sure that the ‘multitude of animals’ made of stars all represent the different species of aliens out there, or even possibly the empires they have built.”

“But… the krin are bugs…” Rainbow Dash said, grumbling a bit under her breath.

“Not really, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight disagreed as she flipped through a few of her own notes. “I actually had the opportunity to talk to a few of the scientists that Hazalk had stationed on his ship, as well as a few of the Quzin that stayed in the castle. While the krin share many traits similar to species of fauna found on our own world, their biology is still completely alien to anything we actually have. However, they have admitted to how most planets that have oxygen and carbon-based life tend to evolve similar groups of animals and plants. The krin are their own species, and as such have their own classification of subgroups, though their particular subgroup mirrors crustaceans far more than any insect, arachnid or ‘bug.’”

Rainbow looked at Twilight for a few seconds, her jaw slack as she tried to parse the gibberish that had spewn from her mouth. “...What?”

“...Long story short, they’re more closely related to crabs, then bugs,” Twilight said, clearly exasperated at her athletic friend.

“Ooooh… why didn’t you just say so?”

“Getting back on track, my point was that this is probably an allegory for either the war happening right now, or something that will happen in the future,” Alex said, bringing everyone’s attention back to him. “Though, to be honest, this specific point sounds more like something that happened in the past, since it refers to the crab as ‘happily feeding in the pools it calls its home.’ Though, that’s to be expected, given that a lot of our visions refer both to things of the past and the future, to give context to everything.”

Luna nodded in understanding at that, before turning to the royal scribe that had been recording everything. “As the human reads this, be sure to mark everything in Starswirl’s vision for future perusal and interpretation. It is better that we listen to the whole thing without interruption first, and interpret it later at our leisure. Otherwise, I have a feeling that this session may never end.”

The stallion nodded at this, before making several notes on his records. Spike did the same, as did Twilight, all while Celestia turned back to Alex, a smile on her muzzle. “Alex? Whenever you’re ready, please begin.”

The former human cleared his throat again, before he picked up where he had left off. He read through the entire prophecy once, then twice, then a third time, just to ensure that the scribes had recorded it in its entirety. With Alex’s earlier guesses at the meaning behind the allegory, the rest was easily pieced together, even for the ponies who had no grasp over human culture and symbolism. Once finished, Celestia sat back down on her throne, a disturbed look on her face. “...We should have sent your people to Chrysalis’s hive the moment they began to deploy troops there,” she muttered, before cursing under her breath.

“It’s not ideal, no,” Luna said, before shaking her head. “However, we didn’t know that that was going to be so pivotal. What’s done is done, and no amount of wishing can change the doom that is rapidly approaching.”

“Agreed. What’s more important is that we look to the future, and prepare for what’s to come,” Alex said, before running a single hand over his bald head. “I’ll admit, what he saw scares me, but at the same time… I think we have time to prepare. After all, a change like how Myrddin saw doesn’t happen overnight. We have time to prepare, to rally our forces, and to even recruit allies.”

There was a long pause after that pronouncement, which was only broken by a small squeak from Fluttershy. “Um… Sorry, but… but did Star… Myrddin, write anything else down?” she asked as she pointed towards the final page in Alexander’s hand.

The former human nodded, a grimace on his face as he straightened out the page with an audible thwack sound. “He did, but it isn’t exactly helpful…” he said, before he began to read. “I do not understand all the things that I saw, young traveler, but I know the emotions charged in that vision. Despair, torment, horror… a war beyond any before it approaches, and we must prepare. These people… they are too kind, too soft, they do not know the true horrors that come for them, nor do they know what lurks beyond the curtain of the sky. I must prepare. I must record what I know, and what I can make with my own two hands, in hopes that it will somehow cast a light into the coming darkness. My journals, my inventions… They are the last gift to the future generation I can give. My horn trembles as I write this, for my doom fast approaches, and I fear I am not long for this world. Even now, I can hear the clarion call of the great beyond. It whispers that my task is complete, that I have no more owed to the future generation, or any others. I know this is a lie, however. I will cling to life for as long as I can, in hopes that something, anything, I put to paper might one day save us all.”

“Please, do not dismiss this as the insane ramblings of a madman, but as a warning from the dust. What is coming is dark, pitiless, and wholly evil. It cannot be reasoned with, cannot be bargained away, and cannot be diverted from its course. It must be eradicated, root, tree and branch, for if even if a single one remains, his evil will infect others, and the doom I have pronounced upon you will come to pass, of this, you have my solemn oath.”

“May all the gods, both new and old, smile upon us, for I fear that the end draws ever closer. My only regret is that I cannot pass this burden onto another during my lifetime. The ponies of my day, they would not understand, and would cast me out as a monster should I reveal who, and what, I truly am. So, I pass this burden on to you. Bear it well, for upon your shoulders I leave the fate of our two worlds, and the many, many worlds that hide behind you, sheltered by the might that you can bring to bear against this coming evil.”

“And finally, I address you, my two beloved students. Yes, even you, Lulu. I know you shall return one day, cleansed from the wickedness that you allowed inside your heart, and born anew from those ashes, and my heart rejoices in your coming. Know that your strength and wisdom will be needed in the coming wars ahead, and though your duties shackle you to this world, it shall become a fortress and a haven for the war to come. Just as Earth shall be instrumental in raising the banner of war, so too shall Equuis be instrumental in its success. Our worlds are intrinsically linked by a demon, and made sisters through hardship and sorrow. Earth needs you. Your people need you. Stand firm for them, for should your hearts waver for even a second, I fear the worst will undoubtedly come to pass.”

“But I know you, I know the strength of your will, the iron of your conviction, and when the day comes that you waver, the very heavens themselves will weep. Stand united, and though the enemy will come, though millions shall die by the sword, your world will stand as a bulwark against the coming storm. If you hold the day, and endure the coming darkness well, then shall generations gaze up in the sky, your names as a blessing on their lips for the courage and sacrifice you made for not only your people’s future, but for all people’s future.”

“My only regret is that I have thrusted such a heavy burden upon the shoulders of two smiling fillies, two babes that never had a chance at a normal childhood. You were subjected to the worst, harshest training imaginable, designed to break the body and soul at such a tender age, and for this sin, I am truly sorry.”

“- Myrddin Starswirl.”

Author's Notes:

Well, here it is! And yes, I have the vision recorded, it's actually the next chapter, and is ready now. I hope you guys liked what I have here, and what I have in store. Trust me, it's going to be a doozy...

The Last Vision of Myrddin

Darkness swept over me, and I lost consciousness for quite some time. When I came to, I saw a field of stars, arranging themselves into different shapes. Soon, they formed themselves into a multitude of animals of all shapes and sizes, but I found my mind focused on the jolly, lowly crab. It seemed content, its legs happily dancing in the pools that it called its home, all while its claws made a happy click-clacking sound as it merrily scavenged for food. As it went about its way, a lizard, wounded in battle, limped into one of the crab’s pools, and drew its last breath. The crab looked upon the curious creature, shocked to its very core, for it had never met anyone else before in its entire life inside its little pool.

It examined the lizard’s corpse, and while it did not understand the lizard immediately, for the lizard was far beyond anything the crab had seen before, it was still quite intelligent in its own right, and quickly picked up on many of the lizard’s qualities. “Now that I know that there is more to the world than this little pond, I shall leave it, and seek companionship and fortune among others,” the crab reasoned with itself. “If this lizard is here, then so too should there be others. It has been so lonely in this little pond, and I am sure that I will find friendship among others like me.”

So, the crab learned how to walk on dry land from the lizard’s legs, and soon ventured forth, eager to meet others, and to speak for the first time with those that might welcome him with open arms. However, the crab was to be disappointed, for the first ones it met were the lizard’s kin, and though the crab tried to explain itself, they blamed him for the lizard’s death, and immediately threw stones at the poor crab, trying to kill him, or at the very least, drive him from among them. The crab was stronger and tougher than the lizards, however, and despite not being the aggressor, the crab soon drove the lizards from their homes, and they fled, crying out in terror at a new monster that walked the earth.

Yet, the crab did not feel like a monster. It felt hurt that it would be treated in such a fashion, to be shunned and cast out as a pariah for nothing more than the crime of learning from others. Yet, it did not let this setback falter its resolve, and soon struck out in a different direction, thinking to itself “Surely they can’t all be bad. I will meet someone that will want to be my friend, I just know it!”

And thus was its mindset as it continued its journey, traveling far and wide until it stumbled upon a peacock. The crab was overjoyed to meet someone else after searching for such a long time, and rushed to meet her, its claws clicking in anticipation as it scuttled forward, all while its eyes were delighted in the peacock’s beauty. Yet, the peacock was prideful, and held loveliness above all other virtues, and as it watched the crab dash forward, babbling excitedly in its rough, ugly tongue, its ugly legs and claws clicking in anticipation, disgust entered its heart. It struck out at the crab, its beak and talons brightly shining as it slashed and pecked at the crab’s tough shell.

The crab, hurt again at the peacock’s sudden outburst, fought back, not ready to die for the crime of existing. It was stronger than it knew, and before long, the peacock lay dead at its feet, gasping for breath even as it cursed the crab for its brutish ways.

The crab was sorry to see the bird die, but nevertheless pressed onward in its journey, though a bit more cautiously this time. It did not know why it was hated so, but it reasoned with itself that somewhere out in this wide world, there should be someone who was like him, eagerly seeking companionship in this wide, lonely world.

Before the crab had journeyed far, however, it was soon met by a mighty lion. The lion had heard of the crab, how it had effortlessly killed the peacock, and had driven the lizards before it, and instead of shying away from the crab, he sought it out. He desired conflict, for only in the heat of battle did the mighty lion feel truly alive, and in the crab he saw an equal, someone who could match him in conflict, and the victor would rise to new heights.

So, he attacked the crab, without warning, or provocation, and though the crab sued for peace, the lion would not allow it. He would devour the crab, and claim its strength for his own, and saw the pleadings of the crab as nothing but the weak mewlings of a coward.

However, he had underestimated the crab, for while it did not desire conflict, its dealings with the peacock and lizards had taught it to prepare for war. The two fought for an age, and though the lion was mighty, he had met his match in the once jolly crab, and was soon beaten back into his own den. The lion, fearing for his life for the first time, begged the crab for mercy, pledging his life to the crab’s service.

However, the jolly, babbling crab was no more. It had been murdered in cold blood by its conflict with the lizards, the peacock and now the lion, and though it now had everything it had asked for from the lion, it wasn’t enough. It slew the lion without pity or remorse, its eyes hardened and its claws sharpened as it turned to seek its next victim.

“If the world seeks my death so earnestly, then I shall make it rue the day it made an enemy of me,” the crab reasoned as it returned to its humble pool. It had made preparations before, weapons and armor to defend itself, but nothing like now. It prepared for war with the world. It bred soldiers from the pool, made weapons of unspeakable power, and outfitted them with the finest armor it could fashion, all to make the world a safer place for it, and it alone.

Then, once it was ready, it struck out.

Animal after animal fell under the onslaught, many of which had not even ventured from their own pools, trees and fields. Some fought back, some cried out for mercy, while others sought to run from the horde that had fallen upon them. It mattered little to the crab, however, and regardless of how its slaughter was met, it showed no mercy, for it knew no such thing existed in this world.

The animals that fled quickly made their way to the ancient tree, crying out for protection from the great old snake. She had seen the devastation the crab had wrought, but did not move, for she knew of the hatred that had been instilled into it by its wicked neighbors, and feared that, to act now, might be the greater sin. “Surely its bloodlust shall be sated eventually, and its hatred will burn out, and it will look back, and see what it had done was wrong…” the snake reasoned with herself. “The crab can’t possibly be that heartless…”

Yet, as the days passed, and more and more people were put to the sword by the crab’s relentless pursuit of vengeance, the snake finally relented. She saw that there was no more pity in the crab’s heart, and to leave it to its own devices would be to invite destruction upon the whole earth. Thus, it was with a heavy heart that the snake left her tree, and set out to meet the crab head on. The snake was older and stronger than the crab, and knew many secrets that the crab did not, making the conflict a foregone conclusion, rather than a real contest of wills.

Yet, even when faced with the obviously more powerful snake, the crab did not relent. It dug in its heels, and fought for every inch of ground, before being pushed back to the pool that had spawned it. The crab’s armies, beaten and bruised, then looked to their leader, hoping for salvation, and it was then that the crab, its heart blackened by war and hatred, turned and ran in fear. It told its fellow crabs to run with it, and many refused, choosing instead to fight and die for the pond that had given them life.

Yet some fled with the crab, and the crab hid in dark pools unknown, safe from the light of the snake, or indeed the light of anything, for it had fled deep into the caves of the underworld. There, it plotted against all those that had pushed it into this sorry state, fuming at the indignity and injustice of the cruel, cruel world.

It would have its vengeance. But first, it needed to match the snake.

So, it sent out its diminished forces, searching high and low for anything that might give it an edge. The world was teeming with life, and it did not take long before the crab stumbled across two beings that might help it. The first was a gorilla who had never left his tree, his arms chained by the barren field that surrounded his home. Yet, inside that gorilla was the spark of greatness, an intelligence that mirrored the snake in wisdom and power, yet tempered with a brutal nature that the snake simply did not possess.

The other was a horse, young and eager as it pranced across the verdant plains that had gifted her with life, uncaring at those that might live just outside the clearing that she called home. In her welled power that she did not know, yet she was thankful for the gift of life and light that was her home, and sung her joy continually to the heavens above.

The crab came to both, and stole both of their kin, seeking to take their strengths and make them its own. Yet, even as it made off with its ill-gotten goods, a worm came with it. A parasite that lived with the horse’s kin, and when discovered, the crab thought itself lucky, for it stole three powers for the price of two.

So, it took the gorilla, horse and worm deep into the bowels of the earth, secure in its secrecy, and unaware of the danger, until it was too late. The worm died in captivity, but its nature lived on, burrowing deep into the crab’s form, festering as it slowly consumed the once mighty creature. Its shell became brittle, its eyes milky white, while the strength of its claw began to rot. Then, still so sure of its power and wisdom, its shell shattered entirely, revealing the darkness within.

The crab, which had endured so much hardship, had finally died. In its place stood an entity born of shadow and malice. It left the caves, and saw the shimmering stars that the others were made of, and coveted those lights for itself. Yet, it remembered the mistakes of the crab, and resolved to not make the same errors of its predecessor.

It first found the mice, and in the dead of night, it consumed their stars, leaving behind nothing but empty shells of hatred and sorrow in its wake. Yet, it did not stay and establish itself, choosing instead to retreat into the depths of its cave, to digest its meal, and allow the shells of its victims to do the work for it.

The mice, consumed by the darkness, slowly spread out, and attacked their neighbors. The others thought them simply mad at first, for the mice had been such timid creatures, and to strike out at others was folly in and of itself. Yet, as the first mouse fell, its form cracked open, revealing the darkness within, which swiftly pounced upon its now surprised prey.

From field, to tree, to pond, the entity worked like this, moving from one place to another, consuming everything in its path, and leaving hollowed husks behind, to sow destruction and chaos in its wake. The snake could not fathom what had happened to her friends, and rushed to each, trying to cure the infection, but to no avail. She was too slow, too set in her ways to realize that her reign was soon coming to an end.

The gorilla and horse, both angered at the loss of their kin, begged the snake to allow them to hunt the crab. Yet, the snake was blinded by its pride, and forbade it. “This is a rot that I allowed to fester, and I shall be the one to cleanse it,” she said, before slithering off into the world to hunt down the crab which was surely the cause of all this suffering and death.

After many moons, she finally tracked the crab down to its cave, only to be horrified at what she found. “So, you have come…” the darkness burbled as it licked its chops. “You think you are powerful, powerful enough to end me. Yet I have grown strong, and you have grown old and weak.”

“Old I might be, but you will not find me so easy prey,” the snake bellowed, her chest thrust out in pride as she stared down the monstrosity with hatred. “Many monsters have come before you, and many shall come after, yet they shall not soil this wonderful green earth that has born such glorious life. You shall die like the rest.”

Yet, even as these words left the snake’s lips, her stars were swallowed up, and her light was extinguished. In its place was a husk, which the monster burrowed inside, before piloting back to the snake’s home tree, content in its victory.

“This world is too bright…” it said, before star by star, it consumed them all. Its hunger was insatiable, and though many turned to fight it, it was far, far too late, for none existed that were strong enough to challenge it. Soon, everyone was crying in terror as they fled, for whom could withstand a blight that swallowed the very stars themselves?

Yet, even as they fled, I saw them flock to the banner of the horse and gorilla. They alone stood against the darkness, despite the utter hopelessness that engulfed them. I saw too few stars amassed to fight, their valor unsurpassed, even though all hope had left them.

Yet, fight they did. They stood against the darkness at all sides, their armies arrayed before them, their weapons spewing thunder and lightning, their throats sore from their battle cries. Even the women and children took up arms to fight, and with each fallen hero, a thousand monsters were slaughtered, yet it wasn’t enough. For with each husk slain, a thousand more were waiting to take its place, while the dauntless, heroic dead were piloted like puppets for their new master, set to tear asunder those that they once called family.

Their war was mighty, but in the end, they were no match for oncoming darkness, and with a whimper, the last star of the world was consumed, leaving behind nothing but cold, shadows, and the laughter of the damned.

Then, I awoke, chilled to the bone, staring up at the stars above me as morning broke. I did not understand what it was that I saw, but I knew that it would be important some day.

This is the purpose of this record, young traveler. The purpose of my life’s work. The darkness is coming, and will soon engulf us all.

I only pray that you will receive this warning, and stop it before that awful day comes.

Author's Notes:

And finally, it's done! With this out of the way, maybe my muse will finally allow me to work on other projects. I have some things I want to do with my other stories, after all, and the second 'non-fim' book of this tale still needs to be worked on.

Yet, all of that is contingent on whether or not my babies let me. Such is the life of a father.

Hope you enjoyed this little excursion, and I hope to be writing to you all fairly soon!