The Origin of Soul Shard

by TheGreatEater

Rating: teen
Tags: Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Adventure, Dark, Human
Length: 3889

This is a story on reincarnation, rebirth, and adversity. This is the tale of a magic using pegasus born to a noble family that despised her, and her accomplishments regardless of the trails she went through.

Soul Shard isn't your average filly, nor is she your average pegasi. No she's a pegasus that can cast spells as good as any unicorn, but born into a unicorn, noble family that sees her as a blemish against their blood purity. As she grow older, she is constantly locked away from the outside world with only her books and love for magic.

But one fateful day she's cast out on the street. With only herself and her wits she tries to make her way in the world only to be disappointed in the cruelty a pegasus whose love is magic can face. Then on one fateful day she gains her cutie mark and her fate is changed forever. Witness the journey of Soul Shard as she goes from a foal to gaining her cutie mark and the trails along the way.

[A/N: Human tag only applies for the reincarnation part of the story.

This story was inspired by Deathpony45 who got me to create my own personal OC as well as thinking of how she became the mare she is today. A special thanks also goes out LightStriker for making Azure Tomato and giving me inspiration for a pony type other than Unicorns casting magic. ]

Cover art by consultingdetectiveofequestria.tumblr [Disclaimer. Tumblr. page looks somewhat mature , but I thought it'd be polite to give credit where credit is due. That and she did an amazing job with Filly Soul Shard.]

Edited by, tencentpartycannon

Published 2013-05-29 18:30:01 UTC
Last updated 2013-06-11 21:09:56 UTC

Chapter 1

Reincarnation is a peculiar thing. There’s a lot of speculation of what it is, what it isn’t, whether it's real or not, and what it entails. I myself never really gave it a thought until now as I walk through a magnificent hall of white marble, surrounded by thousands of picture frames, each with a different life to tell. I chuckled to myself; how awesome was it that I could see all these possibilities before me? What really got me, though, was that it wasn’t just my universe I could reincarnate as.

I saw before me the My Little Pony Friendship is Magic universe, as well as other realities from my favorite book series and anime. But it was MLP that I was interested in. In life I was a brony, and I had always wondered what that universe was truly like. As I walked to the "entrance" of the universe, a Unicorn mare appeared before me. She had a dark green coat and a lavender tail and mane. Looking at me with plum-colored eyes she finally spoke, breaking the awkward silence in the crossroad of dimensions.

“Welcome. I am Almareda." she spoke in a formal, yet intimidating voice. "I am the being used by the Watcher and I determine the paths of those within this series of Universes. You wish to gain admittance?”

“Um ... sure?" I stumbled with my words, considering this was the first time I had spoken to a pony. "Listen... Almareda, wasn’t it? How can you determine the paths of those within the MLP multiverse if you aren’t an Alicorn?”

Almareda chuckled. “Simple! there was a spell created by Alicorns before the Great War. They allowed access to the cross roads of destiny in which the Watcher and his Nemesis exist. From there, I wrapped myself in the fabric of time and space before allowing my Special Talent to do it’s work, and I’ve been doing it ever since.”

“Okay. So what do I do if I want to enter?”

“You just... do." she replied. "It's like signing up for a club in your universe. Although I feel obligated to tell you that if you do fill this role, you will have been chosen to act as an emissary of the Watcher in these universes.”

My head may have been spinning with this new information, but I could smell bullshit from a mile away. “I’m not trying to sound retarded, but I don’t want to be royally screwed by the fine print. What does that mean exactly?”

“Asking questions doesn’t make you stupid." Almareda stated reassuringly, "Failing to ask them does. As for what it means, you will interact eventually with those who determine the fate of the Multiverse. You’ll find out who those are sooner or later.”

Gaining admittance to these multiverses? I was overjoyed! It’s not often that things go well for you; I guess the afterlife isn’t that bad after all

I looked through the various positions I could fill, and the various things I could become until one caught my attention. I could be a spellcasting pegasus. And not the flashy parlor tricks that some Unicorns pulled off. No, this magic was of Twilightian proportions!

I pointed to the picture and told Almareda that I chose that one. After all, how many ponies can claim to be a magic wielding Pegasus? “I want you to know that before you choose her, and it will be a mare, her life will be hectic.”

The picture frame showing the MLP universe changed to show the poor pegasus's life as it was explained by the dark green mare. This pegasus would be born to a noble family of unicorns, who would see her as a smudge upon their otherwise pure-unicorn heritage, but would try keeping her for several years. She would learn to read at the age of 3, and would be a prodigy when it came to understanding magic. Unfortunately, she would be kicked out onto the streets at the age of 5. There were many out comes to her life from there; some were great and spectacular after a series of dangerous actions, while others were bleak but would allow her to bloom into a wonderful mare through the storms of adversity.

“So now that you know what you’re getting into, are you sure you wish to become her?” Almareda asked.

“Of course. I’m ready to go.”

It was then that a bright flash of light washed over me, and I forgot all of who I was. I entered the world not as who I was, but as who I had become. A Pegasus filly, with a pale, pastel lavender coat, cerulean mane and tail with a plum, and dark blue stripe down the center. With crimson eyes.

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Soul Shard was born to a noble Unicorn family in a private hospital in Canterlot. While it isn’t all that uncommon for ponies to give birth to offspring of the other races if they had a parent of a different race, there is no greater disgrace for nobility.

So it came to be that Soul Shard was born, a blemish on the blood-purity of her maternal and paternal heritage. But she was lucky in a sense, since she was kept, well hidden in the family house hold. As long as her birth couldn’t be directly tied to them, she didn’t think they would care.

Soul was three when she learned how to read proficiently. Being kept in either the library or her room didn’t leave much options of entertainment for her other than the books on her shelves. She was four she started to delve through the tombs of magic; each time she was caught, her family would scoff at her for being a “feather brain." At first it hurt for her parents to call her this, but since it was one of the rare times they awknowledged her existance, she used it to motivate her to try harder. But she didn’t mind. She loved magic. While she was born the wrong race, she knew that she had something within her. All it needed was the right push.

That push came in the form of a seemingly innocent passage in a book on magic of the pony types. Earth ponies used the magic within them to augment their bodies, as well as connect to, communicate with, and augment nature. Unicorns had a mixture of nerves, and specialized neuroreceptors that allowed them to channel magic in a more potent way than the other races. While Pegasi used the power of electricity, personal gravity, and wind to power their magic. That usually fell into the area of metal working, weather manipulation, or aerial maneuvers.

It was seeing the information on Pegasus magic, something that she was kept from learning that made everything click. Magic was energy, and the most powerful physical manifestation of energy was electricity. She didn’t need to waste time with horns, since they were simply a conduit for internal magic to pass through. She didn’t need to be a Unicorn to master spells. All she needed to do was figure out how to convert Pegasus magic to Spell-casting.

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Himawari Link [Listen to the voice of Himawari at 26 -31 seconds, and 1 minute mark. To get an idea what filly Soul Shard sounds like in my head. In case anypony is wondering]

“OK. So levitation... it looks simple enough." Soul spoke to herself, her voice echoing through the massive yet uninhabited library. "If I understand it right, all it is is an electromagnetic force that allows for the lifting of an object. So let’s get this started.”

She stretched out her wings. She knew that this was probably a bad habit to get into, but for training it was going to be most useful. What most non-Pegasi didn’t know is that a Pegasus's wings are even more sensitive than a Unicorns horn. They are loaded with nerves that pick up the ambient electro-magnetic fields, sense the planet’s electromagnetogravitic field, barometric pressure, humidity, temperature, and, with training, arcane energy.

Using her wings to pinpoint the book and using her wings as a form of radar, like blind pegasi learn to do, she focused on the book and generated a static electricity ball with a small energy link to it in her hooves. She pushed it out to the book. Once the electricity touched the book, she pushed her energy into the ball. But for all her effort, all she got was some loose fluttering of the top cover.

“Well, at least I got that far." She said, obviously dissapointed. "I need to practice more if I’m going to be as good as a unicorn filly of my age bracket.” She panted, and deciding to rest up before trying again fell into a deep slumber.

It was hours later when she awoke. She was rejuvenated, but hungry. After getting in touch with a servant and asking him to get her something to eat, she went back to training. It eventually became a routine for her. Wake up, get food, train until she passed out, rinse and repeat. After a month of dedicated training, she finally learned how to convert her Pegasus magic into spell-crafting magic for doing such things as levitation and basic spell casting. It wasn’t until she was five, when she had crafted a number of spells of her own that she felt ready to show her parents. Feeling as if she had finally proven that she was worthy of her Unicorn parents, she went to them to show just what she had learned, although there were some spells that she invented that she wasn’t sure if she wanted to go try. After all, a filly needs to have some secrets.

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“Mommy, daddy! Guess what?” Soul Shard said, bouncing around with joy around her parents, who put little effort into reciprocating their daughter's joy.

“What is it this time?” Her father said with thinly hidden contempt, to which Soul Shard was oblivious too.

“I learned how to cast spells like you two!" Soul said happily. "I can do it! Want to see?”

What she didn’t expect was to be slapped by her mother and to spat upon by her father. “YOU ARE A FEATHER-BRAINED PEGASUS PIECE OF TRASH!" her father screamed. "ONLY UNICORNS KNOW MAGIC, YOU STUPID FILLY! I NEVER WANT TO HEAR THAT BLASPHEMY FROM YOU AGAIN, OR I SWEAR BY CELESTIA’S WRATH I WILL KICK YOU OUT TO THE STREETS LIKE I SHOULD HAVE DONE A LONG TIME AGO!”

Soul Shard was heart broken. A solid year of training, a solid year of dedicating herself to becoming worthy enough of her parents, and not only was she attacked by her mother, but her father had show that he was ignorant of the magic of the races, or rather, how similar it was between them. She was filled with an indignant rage and knew enough about nobility to know that her parents would have to repay any bet they lost.

“Want to make a bet then?” Soul said arrogantly, knowing that her father would detest the proud tone.

Still seething with rage, he placed his face within centimeters of his daughter.“What bet?! What can you possibly do that will be worthy enough of me to bet you with?”

“Simple. Neither of you want me here, that much is obvious. I will prove to you that I can do magic and I’ll get Celestia herself to say that I did it. If she never does, then I stay away from this family on the streets like you said because you’re a moron. However, if I ever get her to say that I did magic, and prove it to her, I own everything the family has connection to. You have to admit that I’m your daughter, sign over everything you own. And it’ll be you and Mom without a home, money, or your every whims served to you on silver platters.”

“Since it’ll never happen, I have nothing to lose to agree to it!" her father said, informally agreeing to the wager. "Now get the Tartarus out of my home!”

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She left crying in a mixture of indignation and woe. She had always knew her parents didn’t care for her, but she felt that they would have loved her if she had shown them that she could do magic. But her drive was no longer to attain the love and admiration of her parents; she had an entirely different motivation. A new purpose to her love of magic. To prove her parents wrong, and take from them what they stole from her: everything but her life.

Going to the alley outside her residence, she decided that she wasn’t going to leave without something that she needed and some things that she cared for. One of the spells she crafted was a summoning spell. She had made it to get food from the kitchens, as opposed to leaving her studies to get it, but it was now time to use it for a greater purpose.

Okay, internal and external circles set, inverted axis of the quadratic matrix in place. Now place the elements of the spell ... now the variables ...

With everything in place, she focused on gathering a few hundred bits, her unused saddle bag, a few books on the family's hidden arts, and the only source of comfort that she had for the last five years of her life, and the only thing she would never let her family take from her aside from her life; her soft, warm blanket. With those in place, she channeled the magic through her hooves into the spell.

As the electricity converted into arcane energy, it gave off a powerful, white, etheric light before discharging into the spell. With a massive flash, it pulled what she needed to her before removing all anchors, detection spells, and wards from the items in question. That part of the spell was necessary with how paranoid her family was over keeping track of every material item they owned. With everything in place, she put everything in her saddle bags and headed off to train; Celestia’s School For Gifted Unicorns didn’t start until the age of six, after all, so she had one more year of training to do.

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It was a disaster. Where to begin? Soul Shard had trained for a year straight, passing Thaumaturgy with flying colors and inventing numerous spells. She still hadn’t gained her cutie mark, but that wasn’t important to her; she knew her special talent and her life’s goal, it was just a matter of time before everypony knew it as well. She had taken an application and passed the written exams via mail, something the school did for those who were too poor to be in Canterlot but still had potential.

She had lived off of hustling the rich, robbing them of their gold. Since they never considered a magic-wielding pegasus, she was able to use that talent of hers to fleece them blind in a number of rigged games. She wasn’t proud of it, but money was money, and magic was magic. So in her eyes, as much as it shamed her to trick ponies out of money, the fact that her targets were Unicorns and they underestimated her for her race was enough to assuage the guilt. The final and most crucial element to her enrollment to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns still presented itself to Soul, though, in the form of entrance exams.

She had teleported to Alicorn Row, and waited for her turn to come up. The second the examiners saw her, they laughed at her. Using words similar to her father, they explained that it was a school for gifted Unicorns, and Pegasi couldn’t do spells. They left without giving her a chance to prove herself.

Soul didn’t even bother to walk out, deciding to teleport to what passed as her home: A one room, one bathroom, one kitchen wooden cabin she used her money to purchase. But that didn’t matter to her anymore. Nothing did. And in that moment she decided that she was going to lay on the cold wooden floor of the cabin until she either starved to death or figured out a way to get her purpose back in her life. That is, if there even was one to begin with.

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She had failed to starve herself after a week, not understanding how unbearable hunger truly was. Soul made a habit of reading, eating, and training, hoping that she could just forget everything and figure out the answers to her problem in her book. She knew she could use some of the spells she created, but was afraid to use them; they would strip control from her and were dangerous. The fact that she created them was in her eyes both fate and something to be wary of. But she also knew that there were other ways to show her skills; she just needed a push in the right direction, whatever that push would be.

Later that day, as fate would have it, a young filly racing for the honor of her friend broke the sound barrier, connecting her to friends she would meet across Equestria. Although Soul Shard didn’t know this for at that moment, she was lost in an explosion of magical power. Much like Twilight was in an exam trying to hatch an egg, Soul Shard was lost in a spell trying to hatch her potential.

Look to the north, see the tower whose light above shines with a green light. In that light, experience Earth and all the power within. Immersing herself in the experience of the element of earth, she took time to meditate upon it’s energies.

Fall beneath the center of the tower and see a dark green light that shines from it. In that light, experience Decay and all the power within. Just as with earth, she experienced the endotropic force of decay, the essence of entropy. The Four Towers was an exercise in Thaumaturgic spiritual workings. Learning how to tap into elemental energies and archetypes to allow the user to remake themselves, to grow in magical power.

Look to the east, see the tower whose light above shines with a yellow light. In that light experience Air and all the power within. Afterwards feel the merger of Earth and Air as the lights blend together. This was a hidden art from the book she took, and was something she had decided that she needed to do. Even if it was dangerous, it was one of the ways she was going to prove that she was as good as, if not better than those racist unicorns.

Fall beneath the center and see the pale yellow light that shines from it. In that light experience Void and all the powers within. Afterwards feel the merger of Decay and Void as the lights blend together. The four towers was the Thaumaturgic representation of the eight point star. The formation of the four positive elements, and the four negative ones.

Look to the south, see the tower whose light above shines with a red light. In that Light experience Fire, and all the power with in it. Afterwards see it’s lights merge with that of Earth and Air. As she did she felt a heat rise within her, and as the light merged all the lights into a purple energy, she felt a tingle of raw magical energy burn within her.

Fall beneath the center and see a dark indigo light. Experience Astral Fire and all the power within. Afterwards feel the merger of Astral Fire, Void, and Decay. It was at that moment that she saw the fires harmonize and merge both the positive and negative elements together, forming a great rush of power that felt as if she was being pushed, pulled, and twisted from the inside out. Regardless, she continued; this was either success or death for her, though at this part of the spell one couldn’t stop even if he or she wanted to.

Look to the west and see the tower whose light shines with a blue energy. In that light experience Water and all the power within. Afterwards, just as before, see and experience the merger. She felt the cool flow of water, and how it gave the energy movement; it made her more calm in the center of this storm of magic raging within her.

Fall beneath the center and see a white light. In this light experience Ice and all the power within. Afterwards see the culmination of all the elements as one, and feel the power of Spirit. It was here, as she felt the power of all the elements that made up the universe, that she felt a sense of peace. Even as the power felt as if it were going to rip Soul to shreds, she felt a sense of peace that she never knew before as she awaited the results of the invocation.

From within her spell, Soul heard a giant explosion that ripped her out of her revelry and pushed her magic out from her body. The massive burst of raw power stretched the wood of her cabin into a giant wooden tower. Fire made of ice ripped from her before transforming to stone outside her tower. The kitchen transformed into a garden, and she summoned multiple animals from her surroundings to her house. She was subconsciously casting spell after spell without any grasp of control as the power of her magic raged on until, eventually, her magic energy was completely depleted.

When she woke up a day later, she noticed the garden inhabited with squirrels, mice, and bunnies. Walking in a daze she nibbled on a few rose buds and regained her bearings only to see a swath of the Everfree Forest in ruins near her cabin, the crumbled stones leaving a trail of dust around her cabin. With a sigh she looked down only to notice something on her flank.

An eight point star with each point a lightning bolt, on each side of the star a Unicorn horn with a Pegasus wing attached to it. On the right hand side was one of gold, with the one on the right was made of a dark indigo. This was a symbol of not only her Special Talent with magic, but that she had indeed a special talent with all areas of magic as a pegasus, not a unicorn.

Looking more carefully at the sky she whispered, “Who ever you are, your explosion gave me my cutie mark. I will show everypony that even a Pegasi like myself can cast spells. Thank you."

Then Celestia will have to acknowledge me. The whole world will know my name.

Author's Note

I'll allow this OC to be used by anypony that wants to use her. Just send me a PM with a link to the story I hope y'all enjoyed this story. I have plenty of AU's and stories planned for her, and I hope I did her justice.

Sequel

Runaway to the Future follows where this story left off.