Blood.

I do not fear it any more. I can draw it, shed it, and use it.

I revolve around it.

...Then why do I hate it...

Is it because the first blood I saw was my family's and my own?

"Master, the seal is weakening." Came a voice from behind me. I was in a forest, kneeling in front of a pond, looking at my reflection.

All I saw was a monster.

"Let us continue our mission then..."

I stood and started walking in a seemingly random direction.

How did I get this life again? It was so long ago... I'm pretty sure that it started when I nearly died.

Twice.

A long time ago... (Age: 6)

I was scared... It hurt so much... so cold...

Mother, father, and brother were dead. I knew what death was, my mother made me aware of the real world as soon as she could. Men had came in and shot them in front of me, and then they turned to me.

Tears were streaming down my face.

"Help..." I whimpered, letting myself be covered in red liquid. I couldn't help my family.

They were gone...

"Please..." I begged, knowing my pleas wouldn't reach mortal ears.

'I was useless... I wasn't strong enough... maybe I should die...'

Then, a miracle happened.

I was heard.

"Do not despair, young one..."

"...please...help..." I choked, finally drifting into unconsciousness.

I awoke in a dimly lit room. Its walls were a dark red and its roof, white with a single light in the center, which was turned off. A door was on the wall to my left along with an office desk and lamp, which was turned on.

A cloaked figure sat on said desk, its focus directed to me. It was rather tall, taller than average people. I couldn't make out any other details other than that the lamp behind it made it cast an eerie shadow.

"So, you finally awaken." He said in a dark and monotone voice. I could tell that it was a "he" because of his voice.

I could also tell that he was the one who spoke to me.

I tried to move, but I winced when pain shot up my body from my abdomen. "Don't move, you'll only reopen your wounds." The man ordered.

"Did you save me?" I asked. His answer did not surprise me.

"Yes, I did."

"Why?" This seemed to catch him off guard.

"What do you mean why?" He asked, giving me a curious look.

"I failed to protect my family... I'm a failure... why would you save a failure?"

The man chuckled, "Let's just say that I wanted to give you a second chance."

“A second chance?" I was confused, A second chance at what? Life?

"Yes, a second chance. You should be grateful, not many get another chance. However, there is a catch..." he explained, "You must become my apprentice..."

Just who is this guy? "...Who are you?" I whispered, glaring at him. He was silent for a while, about a minute.

The man just stared at the floor until he spoke. "Maybe it's best if I just show you..." He then pulled down the hood of his cloak.

The thing under the hood was definitely not human. It had white scaly skin, along with sharp teeth, a reptilian tongue, and blood red eyes. "I am known as Zero, and I am a god. If you decide to take my offer, you will become my representative, my demigod."

"I don't believe you... gods don't exist." I said, the atheist side of me showing.

"Well, believe what you want to believe, but I am what I say I am. Now, will you accept or decline my offer."

Well... I thought, it's not like I have anything holding me back... "...I... accept your offer."

Zero smiled slightly, "Good, now get some rest young one. Tomorrow I will give you your new name." He got up and went to the door.

"Wait, what kind of creature are you?"

He turned around and looked at me, "This is my dragon form, my original form." He then left the room, leaving me alone.

I thought about my recent past. I had lost so much, yet I did not feel any different. I thought about what I lost: my family. They had been the most important people in my life, and now I will never see them again.

The words echoed around my mind for awhile, and then I started to cry. I was silently crying, meaning that the tears were streaming down my face, but no noise was being made. I cried for a long time, I was not sure how many minutes... or hours I cried. However, my exhaustion caught up to me and soon, I fell asleep.

The next day...

Well, I'm not on my bed anymore. I'm face down on something soft, warm, and... fury? I tried to open my eyes, but it felt like they were glued shut. I tried to move, but it felt like there were lead weights tied to my limbs. So, I tried my voice...

"W-where..." I choked, not really expecting someone to answer.

However, "Ah... welcome back to the world of the living!" Someone said in front of me. It was very feminine, so it was probably a woman. "Don't try to move, your body has been through a lot in the past few hours. It will take a few minutes for your body to get used to the modifications we made to it."

I was now officially scared. I started frantically trying to move my eyes and body. I wanted to see what they did to me. "Stop! We only added things, we didn't take away anything! I give you my word as a god! If you keep moving you'll die!" She exclaimed, honest worry in her words.

I stopped. What did they do to me? At least I know she is a god. "Look," the god started, "I know you're scared, but I promise you that you are fine. All we did was strengthen your body so it can last longer." Silence followed, and I realized that our voices weren't the only noise in... were ever we were. It sounded like hooves on a tiled floor. Knowing that Zero was a dragon, could other gods be other things?

"Who...”

"Am I?" She said, finishing my sentence for me. "I am known as many things. A goddess, a deity, an alicorn, and a pony are some of the things I am called, but you can call me Solana." The newly dubbed Solana explained.

"Solana... the pony..." I whispered, letting it implant in my memory.

"Mmm-hmm" she confirmed. "Oh, and to answer your first question, you’re on my back, heading towards where you'll get you new name."

As I lay there, I couldn't help but notice something. "You're soft..." I stated, rubbing my head draped into Solana’s back to emphasize my point.

"I'm glad you think so. You're pretty cute yourself." She responded.

Solana carried me for a couple of minutes before she told me to try and move again. I opened my eyes and was enveloped in a sea of white. I blinked a couple of times, but the white was still there. I looked up to where Solana’s head should be and was greeted by beauty. She had teal eyes, her coat was a pure white, and her mane looked like an inferno. Her mane started off a dark red then it consistently got lighter until it turned into a bright yellow, it also blew in a non-existent breeze. I turned my head while examining her body and found out that she was equipped with a horn and wings, and her tail was the same way as her mane, but something caught my attention.

On Solana’s rear was a tattoo of the sun and moon circling three ponies in the formation of a triangle. The one on the left was normal, but the other two had something extra to them. The one to the right had a horn and the one on top had wings. Solana must have caught sight of my confused face because she asked what was wrong.

"Why do you have a picture on your butt?" I asked, honestly curious.

She giggled at my bluntness. "That's no ordinary 'picture', silly, that's my cutie mark!" I gave her a confused look and she sighed. "A cutie mark is a mark that ponies get when they discover their special talent." She explained.

"So, what does yours mean?" I questioned.

"Well, I'm the god who created the sun and moon, and they gave life to the three species of ponies: earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns." she explained. I looked at Solana with confusion.

"But, there are no unicorns or pegasi on earth." I stated.

She just smiled back, "Do you honestly think your world is the only world?" Solana asked. I was about to ask what she meant by that, but I was interrupted by Solana when she exclaimed "We're here!" I looked ahead of her to see large, white, double doors with red handles.

"Where are we?" I asked as she opened the doors.

"These are your new master's chambers." The room was dimly lit; the only light in the room came from some candles that had been placed around the room.

"New...master?"

"Yes, your new master." Came a familiar voice. In the middle of the room stood Zero without his cloak. All of his scales were white and he was tall, about 7 feet. "Come..." he said with a monotone voice. I slid off Solana’s back and approached the white dragon. As I stood in front of Zero, he looked down as he towered over me, studding me with piercing eyes.

"Do you, human, accept me, Zero, god of sorrow, as your mentor and master until I deem you fit to act on your own accord?" The room was tense and silent as he awaited my answer.

"I...I..." I hesitated and shook in fear. This was my last chance to refuse. I didn't want to leave my family; I didn't want to leave my old life. But... all of that is gone now. Everything is... just... gone... what other choices do I have? I...I...have none... I steeled my resolve and answered Zero's question.

"I... do," I declared, matching his tone. A ghost of a smile appeared on his lips and he put his right claw on top of my head.

"Very well, let this agreement be witnessed by my fellow god, Solana." Zero then motioned towards the pony and she shook her head in acknowledgment. "Then I declare you the demigod pain and despair, Zero Two."

Bellowing laughter erupted behind me. I turned to see Solana on her back, clutching her sides. "Zero Two?!?" She managed to squeak out in between laughter. "That's the most original name I've ever heard!" She said, her words dripping with sarcasm.

I just rolled my eyes and turned to Zero and was surprised to see him doing the same. "I accept my new name, Ze— my master."

"Very well... I have decided that since you have accepted me as you master, I should trust you. So, I am going to give you a very high honor. I'm going to give you a shard of my soul." Suddenly, the laughter behind me stopped.

I turned to find Solana starring sternly at my master. "Are you sure?" she asked.

I turned to my master, waiting for his response. He studied me, and then he said "Yes, without a doubt."

I was confused, Wasn't this what we were going to do anyway? What's the difference? I then voiced my concerns to the gods. "There are two types of demigods. There are the ones that have the power of a god, and then there are the demigods that have a shard of a god's soul within their own. The difference is that the demigod with just a god's power can only stay at the amount of power they started at. The demigod that has a shard of a god's soul, however, can let the god's soul unify with their own and let it and their own powers grow to levels equal to a god." Zero explained.

"So..." I started, "I'm special?"

The dragon closed his eyes in thought. "It's more like... you have a gift." Zero reopened his eyes and looked behind me to Solana. "Let us begin." He turned around and brought out something I didn't see before.

A sword. A broad sword, to be exact. "I've already said I trust you. However, I must know if you trust me." He turned to me and knelt, pointing his sword at me. "To claim my soul, you must impale yourself on this sword." I started backing away. To say I was scared would be an understatement. I looked to him, into his eyes. "Don't worry, it won't kill you," he said.

"But, w-won't it h-hurt?"

Zero closed his eyes, "I promise it won't hurt. I give you my word as a god." My eyes wandered back to the sword. Well, what have I got to lose. I thought.

My hands folded into fists. I clenched my jaw. I closed my eyes and ran at the weapon. It felt like I ran forever, but eventually something hit me in the chest. All feeling in my body was lost and was replaced by cold, and I felt my mind drifting off into darkness.

Solana watched as her fellow god removed the child from the blade and cauterize his wounds with a simple flame spell. "Was that really necessary?" she asked. Solana knew many ways to implant a shard of a soul into another being, but the way Zero chose was only used in dire situations.

"No," he responded, "but I wanted to test his loyalty to me. Humans can be easily mislead..." Zero carried the boy in both arms as he walked out of the room with Solana in pursuit. "Since my business is out of the way, how's the Discord situation coming along?"

Solana sighed, "Not good. Fo̱s won't even think about letting a demigod go down to Equestria, so my only hope is that he doesn't notice them," she explained. Zero groaned, he knew how stubborn the god of light could get, but this was out outrageous! How could he not let someone go down there and retrieve Solana's own children!?

"Don't worry, I'll try to convince him to let someone go," Zero said.

"That won't work, you and I both know that," she responded.

Zero sighed, he knew she was right, "I'll think of something. Just give me some time..."

The pair arrived at their destination, the boy's room. Zero gently tucked the boy in, turned off the light, and closed the door. He leaned against the door as he smiled, "That boy is going to have a very hard life, but I know he'll make me proud to call him my demigod."

Suddenly, a gryphon came scampering around the corner. "Lord Zero! Lady Solana! I bring urgent news from HQ!" he called out as he ran to the pair.

"What is it now?" Solana complained. The gryphon held up an envelope and she levitated it towards Zero with her magic.

The god opened the letter and began to read it, his eyes widening the more he read. When he finished, the letter slipped from his claw and floated to the ground, "Discord's taken the throne..."

Author's Note

Ok, so this story isn't going to be updated regularly, only when I find the time to write it.