What does it mean to be a god?
To live on forever?
A great sigh was heaved from the alicorn's body, her multicolored mane refracting myriad beams of her precious sunlight as she looked skyward. Her amethyst eyes sparkled with sorrow, regret, hatred. Oh, but the hatred was not directed towards the beloved sister she had banished only hours before, but to herself. Her voice was a hushed whisper, cracking under the stress her mind was undergoing.
"I'm sorry Luna..."
A solitary tear fell from the regal equestrian's face, splashing uselessly against the cobblestone that comprised the ground below her. This grandeur, this beautiful nation, these people that she cared so much for, what was the point of her ruling over it alone? A millennium, a full millennium would have to pass before even a chance of reunion would appear, and truth be told Celestia didn't know if she could take that much. Underneath this mask she wore for the sake of her people, underneath the might of the sun, and the glory of the alicorn, she was scared.
She was scared about surviving alone.
To possess endless might?
A cackle of purest malice escaped the lips of the God of Disharmony, his eagle claw snapping its talons as he channeled a minimal amount of energy. His mismatched pupils glinted in the ever-shifting sun and moonlight as he bent space, twisted time, warped reality. The world was his plaything, a tool for him to utilize to alleviate the endless boredom that came with existing.
Oh, how he loathed that boredom. It was as if he couldn’t stay still for even a moment before it set in, calling him to action, to practice his glorious chaos. This “calling” had been accepted by him long ago, it was his purpose, his reason for existing, his joy. Truly, if one could be called omnipowerful it would be him, an entity capable of altering anything and anyone off of a simple whim. He had everything a draconequus could desire.
He was unmatched on Heaven and Equestria.
Gods…entities that are few and far between, worshipped and feared as omnipotent, reputed as invincible.
Of course, the “invincible” attribute was well up for dispute, as evidenced by a certain draconequus who currently stood within the Canterlot Sculpture Gardens, his countenance frozen with a look of absolute fear. It was amusing really, in a cosmic sense. After only having been freed for a few brief hours, after tasting that infinite power once more, the spirit of Chaos was imprisoned once more. Being turned to stone was dreadful really, and certainly nothing that most of those pathetic Equestrians had needed to endure. Millennium upon millennium, he was sealed within a prison unlike any other. His mind was free, yes, but that only served as a source for torture. The world shifted around him: cities rose and crumbled, rulers were corrupted, darkness and light continued their neverending struggle, and here he was unable to act, unable to have a say as he watched the world, his world, morph with the sands of time. For any being, such a fate would be horrendous.
It was far worse for Discord. He could not stay still, and yet his choice in the matter was irrelevant. The calling roared in his head unceasingly, day after day, month after month, era after era he was forced to endure the endless screeching.
And here he was, sealed once more. To be a god...it was times such as these that could cause one to wonder if such a title was really worth it?
‘I’ll still get out.’ A voice echoed within the confines of the rock. ‘I always do.’
--
A black-skinned unicorn was seated in a lecture hall, a sigh escaping his mouth as the teacher droned on about basic telekinesis, its applications into the world, and an assortment of things any self-respecting unicorn should have learned years ago. Honestly, for an academy based around tutoring “gifted unicorns,” much of the education in the facility was sub-par compared to what he had taught himself over the years. There were occasions in which he would learn an interesting application of magic and add it to his repertoire of spells, but otherwise he found the actual teaching useless, the saving grace of the school that had long been his home being its extensive library. The unicorn, an adolescent colt by the name of Flare Specter, allowed his eyes to drift absentmindedly around the classroom, surveying his idiotic classmates and mentally pronouncing them all as useless for the umpteenth time. The colt was brought out of his mental irritation by an announcement of the teacher.
"Specter, Crash, you two are up next." The instructor stated icily, “Magical duel, all spell variances are allowed but please try not to damage your surroundings.”
Flare smirked internally as he rose to his hooves, while the grade he’d receive for the duel was unneeded the assignment itself was always…entertaining. His head whipped around as he detected another source of motion, a grinning classmate who too was rising. The instructor looked at the two, his expression wooden, "Alright then, enough stalling. Get up here."
Flare stood opposite his classmate in the front of the classroom, the instructor and remainder of the class watching expectantly. "Be sure not to break anything.” The professor repeated “And...begin!"
The other colt let loose a stream of blue-green energy at Flare with the intent of ending the battle early. Flare merely chuckled, his horn glowing with a mottled red and black haze that grew to form a wall in front of him, pure energy materializing in a lattice structure. Yet another smirk graced Flare's features as the offensive spell dissipated, the unicorn sighing lightly.
"Is that really all you can do? Suppose it's my turn then." He stated as the haze began to glow around his horn again, spheres of fire springing into existence in the air around them. For a moment Flare's expression was feral, dark, though this went unnoticed by the spectators. In a single instant the orbs of flame charged at Flare's classmate, Crash managing to fire off a quick bit of air manipulation to alter the spheres’ trajectories, one managing to singe his flank nonetheless.
Flare rolled his eyes as Crash charged up another offensive spell, a second beam of light. “Come now!” The crimson-mane colt chided as his wall of light was reforged, the energy that composed it weaving in tighter bonds, strengthening itself, “All of your spells are directly from the textbook, be creative! Show some initiative, some innovation!” For all of his unoriginality though, Crash’s beam was powerful enough that when it struck its antagonist spell, it caused myriad cracks to run up and down the shield. Flare gritted his teeth as he focused more energy into his magic, the light from his horn intensifying.
“Oh come on Specter, I think we’re all a little sick of you and your haughty little attitude!” Crash sneered, his beam persisting. “So you’re enough of a nerd that you get good grades, so what? When it comes right down to it you’re nothing special, and not half as strong as me. Just look at that pathetic excuse for a shield!” The colt’s face twisted into a cruel grin, “I bet it could barely save you from a fall, eh?”
Silence fell over the classroom, for several seconds the only sound being the hum of competing magical energies. Finally, Flare broke the silence, his voice a guttural snarl. “What did you say?” He spat, his eyes clouding over with shadows as a second shield formed directly around Crash, a sphere that encased him in the mottled light. The original shield dissipated, its caster focusing his power on the energy-based prison he had constructed. Crash’s eyes darted around, his beam fading as he ran out of the energy to sustain it. Flare’s spell continued to only grow in intensity, his expression lacking any of the strain that had been apparent moments earlier.
Rage is a powerful catalyst after all.
A feral grin split the unicorn’s face as he began to shrink the sphere around Crash, the walls enclosing on him, crushing him, asphyxiating him. Just as Flare prepared himself to finish off the offending whelp, he felt a sudden pain in his chest, a pain he recognized as a magical assault. “Rule Number One of the Academy: Do not allow anger to overcome you when casting spells.” The sterile voice of the instructor made itself known as Flare’s spell dispersed itself, the unicorn himself smiling wryly as he let his mind lapse into unconsciousness.
--
To be put simply, waking up from unconsciousness is a bitch. One moment you're suspended in darkness, drifting along in an endless void, the next you're thrust into an alien world, your senses assaulted by a plethora of stimuli without the comforting buffer of grogginess to aid your awakening. As you come to, you experience a deluge of memories and feelings, none of which are particularly pleasant, as your mind slowly recalls the events that had only just happened as it struggles to adjust to the current occurrences. This was precisely what Flare felt as he was brought back into a conscious state, standing before the twin monarchs of Equestria, royal guards flanking him. “FLARE SPECTER!” Princess Luna called out, the Royal Canterlot Voice stunning the barely-awake colt before it was drawn into a somewhat more reasonable volume. “We have been informed that thou allowed thineself to be overcome with anger in thoust class. We care not for why such an occurrence would happen, for the fact remains that thou must be punished.”
Flare’s expression was a mask of emotionlessness, the usual façade that he wore overcoming him once more as the Sun Goddess took her turn to speak. “Now Flare, I will be blunt about this: for the time being, you are banished from Canterlot.” Her words had no effect on the colt’s exterior, but within his mindscape nothing short of rage flowed through his brain. ‘I doubt you even knew my name before I became a nuisance just now.’ He thought venomously, ‘So be it though, I don’t need this city. I will find recognition elsewhere, and trust me Princesses, I do not need you any more than I need this miserable town.’
Flare was ever-silent as the monarchs went on, discussing length of banishment, areas where he might stay if necessary, and how his belongings would be stored in the castle until he returned. Once they had finished he gave a simple nod to the two. “Yes, your majesties. I understand.” He said, his voice dead as he turned on his hoof and exited the throne room, continuing walking until he was outside of the city.
--
There’s another thing about gods that has yet to be mentioned though. Sometimes, and quite often in fact, they fight. When deities of limitless might rise to do battle with one another though, it seems that mortals must step into the fray to resolve the conflict. How these mortals pick their sides oftentimes decides who will be victorious.
It certainly is tricky, being a god.
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Author’s Note
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Alright, so this chapter feels a bit (okay, make that very) disappointing to me. I haven’t written anything of substance in a very, very long time, so it’ll be quite some time before I get up to what I consider my “standard.” That being said, if you enjoyed this then please read the rest of this.
You see, I don’t plan on a predetermined plot for this. As this’ll mainly be a test for me, trying my hand at Pony fanfiction as well as getting me back into writing stories, how this turns out will be up to you guys. You should be able to get a general idea of what’ll eventually happen from this, so here’s how this is going to work. You message me, explaining what you want to happen. Want Flare to go to Ponyville? Think I should have him join Discord? Take your pick. The plot for this can potentially branch off in dozens of ways, and which path that takes depends entirely on what you say, this including whether order or chaos wins in the end. So basically you act as an extrinsic influence on how the story branches along, providing you don’t provide anything too crazy as an idea.
Also, it’s worth noting that Flare will not be some sort of primary protagonist, yes I might make him somewhat pivotal but not to any sort of enormous extent. The Mane Six will be featured rather heavily in this as well. Flare’s role is that of a character on the bridge of light and dark, and as such your choices on how to influence the story or how certain characters act is going to influence how he changes. The significance of that’ll be explained later. If you have any questions feel free to ask, and if you have any criticism (which I am expecting) then please, please let me know. Thanks!
