The New Gods

“Your Majesty, it may not sound very important, but it has many ponies in town quite worried for the safety of their foals. I understand that the preparations for the big festival are under way, and there are more important troubles which need to be worked on, but if Your Highness could spare just one official to give an investigation into the matter, it would greatly reassure them, that the palace is looking into their children’s safety for them. Even just to confirm that their little “monster” is a fake for them."

Aeon paused before beginning her prepared response, that the palace was rather busy, what-with-the-delegation-of-griffons-and-the-Summer-Sun-Festival-and-the-trouble-with-that-changeling-diplomat-who-turned-out-to-be-a-spy-and-that-, and a thought occurred to her. She glanced over at the mighty carved stone archway that marked the entrance to the palace library. A good, sensible girl is made for a task like this!

“Actually, Lord Feather-shield, I do happen to have someone in mind for the task!”

The Royal advisor, who had been expecting the flat refusal, pricked his ears with interest.

“Oh? Really? Who would be willing to spare time for such a trifling trouble?”

Aeon smiled “Why, my daughter, of course! It’s about time that she met some other foals.”

Feather-shield’s jaw dropped open, a move unwise to perform so rudely at his Queen.

“Oh… Ah-ah…” He replied stupidly. He shook his head. “Oh! Of course, Your Majesty! But…” He paused. It would be wrong to question his Queen. He continued anyway. “But…”

Aeon raised her eyebrows slowly.

“Well… is it truly wise, your majesty, for the princess to be mingling with ordinary foals, so soon before her great public appearance?” His mouth went dry at the look from the Queen.

“A princess must learn to lead her people. And if that begins with a hoof-full of frightened school-fillies, then so be it. Besides, she cannot be left to prepare her own birthday celebrations, CAN she? ‘Twould be good to send her out of the palace from under our hooves for a day, would it not?”

That silenced the matter.

Feather-shield went off to prepare his advice for the Queen concerning the next item on his list, and the queen moved in slow and stately fashion toward the library.

Though the princess was nowhere visible to the casual observer, the Queen knew exactly where her daughter was. She walked softly, toward the largest pile of books unshelved.

Though playful and affectionate with her parents in what spare time the family had, Celestia was set to be a good leader in terms of knowing the exact time and place for her behaviour as if by instinct. Though as yet a tiny foal with her mark of talent in sunlight only just fully settled upon her flank (after fading in slowly over her lifetime rather than appearing suddenly, as with most other foals), Celestia was at most times a silent and bookish filly, setting herself long hours of time studying the history, culture and ways of her people and world. She would pause only to throw a treat up into the air occasionally, for her restless young pet Philomena, a gift to the princess from HER at the first celebration of her arrival into this world. There was nothing the princess did not want to understand about the functions and ways of the world she would someday be required to rule.

A dark, sparkling shape entered the corner of Celestia’s vision, and she nearly jumped out of her skin to see her regal mother standing over her.

“Oh! Mother!” She cried out. “I was just…”

“Reading up on the Everfree forest again? Did Starswirl assign you these to read? One would think you’d know every inch of that forest back to front by now!”

Celestia flushed, her soft white coat turning a shade of pink not unlike that of her mane.

“Oh… no, Mother… I was actually… reading more than the assigned. I finished the study he asked me to complete on the composition of the astral clouds surrounding our world. So I began to read of the forest again. It is very fascinating.”

Aeon beamed. “Already? He assigned you that work just yesterday! But then… you do have a talent for our celestial bodies, do you not, my dear daughter?” She nuzzled the little filly, then drew back so as not to baby the princess.

“Actually, I have… something of a task to assign you myself, dear daughter.”

“Oh?” This alone was not new, but the way her mother said it suggested something more than extra study or helping to organise the cooks for the royal supper. “Whatever I may do to be of service, Mother.” The proper answer from a proper princess.

“Well, I am glad you are so intent on knowing that ancient forest inside and out, because this task will have to do with Everfree.” This was very new.

“Is my sun shining too brightly over it? I know those old trees aren’t used to growing in such bright light…”

Aeon chuckled. “As you know, the wellbeing of all of her people is of utmost importance to a leader…” Celestia nodded, as always, and fought not to roll her eyes, for she didn’t want to hurt her mother’s feelings, or get in trouble, but she had heard all this before.

“… including, -and especially, some might say- the children of the land.” Celestia pricked up one of her ears at the change in the usual speech. Aeon saw, and laughed.

“The children in the village just down just down there” –she gestured with her large black muzzle at a large cluster of huts in the shadow of the palace, between the fields of roses and the orchard’s edge- “have been very frightened of late. They keep claiming to have seen some sort of hideous monster in the woods… something comprised of many different animals pieced together. Most likely, they are just letting their imaginations run wild at seeing various creatures in the shifting shadows of those woods. But it is the right thing to pay attention to all such concerns, whether they seem well- founded or not, for even we cannot always be right. So it would be a good idea to reassure the little foals and their parents by investigating any possible beasts in that forest and either dealing with a real problem or dispelling their fears that their little school-fillies are at risk.”

Celestia listened dutifully to her mother’s small mission. “So… you want me to organise the response to this matter?”

Her mother smiled broadly. “I want you to be the response.”

Celestia cocked her head to one side.

“It’s about time you met some other foals like yourself” Aeon elaborated.

Celestia’s mouth went dry. Other foals? But she could not let her mother down. She straightened, she held her head high, and nodded, as ever dutifully. “What must I do, dear mother?”

Aeon knew her daughter well, and chuckled mirthfully at the brave little act. “You must lead them”, she said.

“-Organise, show your authority, use your mind and all the knowledge and skills we have taught you. Now is your time to apply them. You must reassure the children that they will not be harmed, ask what they saw and find the explanation for these sightings. By all means, take them into the forest to show them that what they saw was truly harmless and illusory! Make them follow you. Make them trust you as a leader. You were born for this!” she paused. “Oh, and don’t overdo your authority. Make sure to soften the Royal Voice. The volume is only for official functions, remember, and these are frightened children-“ She stopped again.” But do hold yourself with dignity! You need to make a good impression!” Oh dear. She was beginning to get as nervous about allowing her daughter outside of the palace as Celestia was! The princess could tell, and giggled softly, until silenced by a look from her mother.

She was frightened by the prospect of leaving the palace walls without her parents and officials, but she was exhilarated, as well. This would be no ordinary day of study. She was determined to prove her worth as a leader, as was her destiny.

Out in the forest crept Discord, determined only to find the source of a strange warmth he had experienced only on a handful of moments in his lifetime. He searched endlessly. Each strange little bird call was paid heed to, and each ripple in a stray pool of water inspected. He would sniff each object he passed, wonder at its difference from the next. Occasionally he would hunger, and prowl after rabbits or nibble at various seeds and fruits until something edible was tasted.

An inexplicable emptiness, that which had defined his short and miserable life, weighed heavily down within him, providing the sensation of a cold, dark cave tunnelled away within his chest. How could he understand this? This, for him, was life, and had always been life. Such was the sensation of living. Instinctively, unconsciously, he looked to distract himself from this feeling, idly picking up twigs between his great talons and flicking at them; trying to count the number of different bird calls he heard; and then simply swinging by his long tail from a branch, and focusing on the sensation of the wind pushing him back and forth.

He flapped his wings and tried to land gracefully on the ground below, as he had seen those soft, wide-eyed creatures from the towers do, but was of course unbalanced, and landed on his face, as always. The sudden pain was a shock, but his sense of irony was enormous for a child so young, and so he sat, and laughed, and continued laughing until he was ready to walk again.

With what little language the small draconequus had, he began to ponder, after a while, those velvety little creatures that would wander through these woods at times.

He made them fear. He knew that, now. When younger, he would give chase to them when they ran, thinking it was just some sort of game, as of those he had seen young manticores playing when learning to hunt. After a time, he came to recognise  the looks upon their faces when he saw them as the same as that which would stare back at him from a pool of clear water after a lion had chased him. These days, he would hide from them, and watch them interact, and wonder at their ways.

He was quick to learn of one vital thing: Laughter. He did not understand it, but this odd, rollicking sound would tickle at his chest and make him feel something almost as grand as watching the sun at dawn and at dusk. Not as much as a sensation of joy or of contentness, but, rather, a lack of one specific feeling- that of being alone. It was through laughter that he could understand this sensation within him, when he tried to, and it was through laughter that he would escape it.

But he always messed it up. There he would be, laughing at the joy of the soft beings, when suddenly they would hear him, or see him, and that special species of silence so adapted to the environment of fear would fall upon the clearing. High-pitched screams, as of a rabbit in its final moments, would ring out, followed by clattering as the creatures left. Discord would be alone once more.

Slowly, surely, Discord began learn how to feel a new emotion: Regret. Surely these velveteen animals were no different to any other in the forest? But the undulating sound of their voices and of their laughter would pull at his heart, and at times, the wish occurred to him that it would somehow be possible to be one of them.

But life went on, and Discord was a survivor. The last draconequus would shed his mysterious drops of salty liquid when the warm tingling in his eyes and the tightness in his chest became too great, and when he was done, he would scratch at an itch in his tough coat with his talons, shake himself out, and go looking for food or a cool stream of water.

Such was life.

“….Well…” she said, her head held high and level as she had been taught; meeting each of the foals in the eyes with what she hoped desperately was not too harsh –or too casual- a look; and trying to keep her voice even. These wide-eyed-trembling fillies and colts were all much bigger than she was, and they were supposed to be younger, too! Yet they were terrified. She could see that they looked upon their miniscule royal guest with awe, and shook for fear of doing anything that might get them into terrible trouble

They were embarrassed, too: Despite the dreadful dirt upon the ground out here, and the difficulty she would have scrubbing it from the white, white fur of her hooves, Celestia regretted wearing her gold horseshoes, neck-band and tiara. She was royalty, and so expected to wear these wherever she went in public, but how they set her apart from the other little ponies! Faced with such high authority as the princess who raised the sun, these children suddenly realised how ridiculous and immature they must seem: here they were, complaining to the most powerful figure in Equestria bar the Queen Herself, about a silly little pony-tale concerning monsters in the woods! They knew she would be far too well- classed and properly educated to believe them! One of the fillies tugged nervously at her pink ribbons, her face red and faced down at the dust between her hooves. Darn! She thought. Should ‘ave worn the butterfly clips! But the princess saw something else in their fear: The truth was far more terrible than the fiction.

She started again.

“Well, our loyal subjects, our Mother in her great wisdom has deemed it time for us to join in the taking of responsibility for managing our citizens, beginning now, as I near the age for such things!” She began, trying to ‘smile upon them regally’ as her mother would say. “…WE! As we near the age…” she corrected. She smiled. Tensions relaxed very slightly among her ‘loyal subjects’. But the presence of heavily armoured guards at either of her flanks, in their grim silence, heavy stares and the daggers shining at their belts, did not help.

The foals seemed more anxious to end the whole business and get away than to tell their princess what it was their fear had demanded a response to. But she wasn’t about to let this chance to show the great pride she took in her royal duty slip by in failure, just because some shy fillies were afraid to speak up!

“Could you please describe to us this monster which you so feared? We should like to investigate the matter at once, for the safety of our citizens is of enormous importance to us.” The little ponies remained dead silent, scraping their dusty little hooves into the dirt awkwardly. Celestia began to feel extremely frustrated that such a simple task was to prove so difficult, but one of the foals, the smallest, a grey and white filly, looked about to speak when one of Celestia’s guards suddenly burst.

“THIS INSOLENCE IS SHAMEFUL! SPEAK TO YOUR PRINCESS WHEN SHE-“

“WAIT!” Celestia cried. The foals had shrunk, quivering, to the ground, and looked set to cry. Celestia swallowed a lump in her throat as she forced herself to look the guard, a commander, no less, in the eye, expecting reprimand.

Instead, the guard looked sheepish. “Of… of course, your Majesty, -my apologies!”

Surprised and slightly pleased, Celestia turned back to the cloudy-maned filly. “Were you to speak, little one?” she asked gently, though even this smallest of the school-foals was taller than her by a good inch.

Cloud-dancer trembled again at being addressed directly by the princess. “Well, -uh! Your Majesty! It was… it was furry…”

“It was scaly!” piped up another

“Well, it was furry and scaly, and… and it had a-a horn, l-like a deer, a-and a h-horn like a dragon, and it had… uh…”

“Lizard claws!”

“Viper tails!”

“Bat wings!”

“Feathers!”

“It was the size of a house!”

“It was hiding under a leaf!”

“It swallowed a horse WHOLE!”

GASP.

“No it didn't!”

Celestia put a hoof to her head.

“Subjects…” she announced.

“Citizens...?” she asked.

“Children…” she pleaded.

There was no stopping them once started. Celestia had enough, and she let them know it.

“ENOUGH!” she stated, in fullest Royal Volume.

Silence.

“We will write down these attributes, you speak of, and make a coherent description.”

It wasn't exactly coherent, but they got a description.