Behemoth Chaos

Chapters

Chapter 1 Origin and Sin
Chapter 2 A stranger in the wasteland
Chapter 3 A Distant Country
Chapter 4 Forgotten Power
Chapter 5 Odd Changes
Chapter 6 Political tensions

Chapter 1 Origin and Sin

Behemoth Chaos

Chapter 1 Origin and Sin

In the beginning there was nothing but chaos. In the beginning there was no time, no space, no matter, no universe. Just chaos. Chaos not definable and impossible to understand. So long until the universe was born. It began to expand and order was born. The order grew and began to oust the chaos. The chaos decreased until it almost entirely vanished in the cosmic order.

Parts of the chaos became contaminated by the order and settled in with it, they became beacons of chance and unpredictability. But one part that was not entered by the order remained in its primitive stand. This primal chaos outlasted the development of life until the emergence of civilization and remained untouched from the elements of order like time, space and matter.

From this primal chaos a new race was born, the Ponytaurs. Nondescript beings, physically similar to the unicorns. But their horns were split, their canine teeth adapted for eating meat and the colors of their coats invariable bleak and relatively dismal.

But the time of glamour of the primal chaos was long gone. While the order found its way into all corners of the world, the last of the ponytaurs settled in the eternal shadow of Mt. Ziz. Mt. Ziz, a massive mountain on the outer brink of Equestria, was the only natural barrier to a peninsula separating it from the mainland. A peninsula, simply called “Ödland”, where the last of the ponytaurs lived, because there the massive Mt. Ziz obscured a bigger part of the sky. No sunlight ever touched the small land where the presence of the primal chaos was pervasive.

And this was convenient as well, because while ponytaurs possessed a general antipathy against sunlight, for their alternative forms, the Behemoths, it was deadly. This was the alternative form of each ponytaur. The behemoth, a massive, two-legged, hairy monster with razor-sharp claws, gleaming fangs, enormous bullhorns, a tail covered in pelt and a mane that reminds you of black flames. An alternative form every ponytaur could transform into after passing a task with flying colors for the first time. A form which bestowed few friends on the ponytaurs.

At first ponytaurs were mere carnivores, but because they were descendants of the primal chaos, they also shared its main attribute: Hunger. Hunger for anything that was alien to the primal chaos. So they soon developed other methods to feed. They gorged life energy from their surroundings and shortly afterwards they acquired a taste for something the country of Equestria had plenty of: Magic. Pure magic.

Eventually Ödland was not enough for the ponytaurs. Their hunger led to the extinction of almost the entire flora of the peninsula and their prey animals therefore became more and more slender. One day the ponytaurs left their area and crossed over Mt. Ziz. Their target was Equestria the country of order. The ponytaurs packs intended to carry the primal chaos into the country and to suck it dry. But they failed miserably.

Coordination and solidarity defeated the bloodthirsty beasts from Ödland and repelled them back to the shady slope of Mt. Ziz. Equestria was saved but its monarchs boiled with rage because of the invasion of their neighbors. They denounced all ponytaurs castaways and forbade them to set a hoof into Equestria ever again. They should stay away from the land of order and keep their hunger with them.

To make sure, this banishment would last the following millennia, the monarchs found allies in the Leviathans, creatures of order domiciled in the sea. They should guard Ödland and make sure that no ponytaur or even behemoth was going to cross the national border to Equestria. For these purposes a visible line had been drawn right through the middle of Mt. Ziz. Two rivers arose from the peak of the mountain and burst out down the national border on both sides of it. Since then countless leviathans curled in these waters and on the coasts, always ready to cart every revolting ponytaur back to the wastelands.

Chapter 2 A stranger in the wasteland

“You see something yet?”

“No.”

The same monotonous question, the same monotonous answer, again and again. It was the only thing Gladiox and Syronyx talked about to each other since daybreak. The two ponytaurs marched through the wasteland of Ödland covered by dusty, gray rocks and stopped for a short time only to survey thoroughly the area around them.

They were scouts for their pack of 18 more ponytaurs and their function therefore was always to go ahead and to look out for potential prey. It was a monotonous job which consisted primarily of one activity: Walking. Walking for kilometers, while the rest of the pack followed them slowly somewhere outside the range of vision. They should save their power.

But for the young ponytaur Gladiox, with his black coat, the yellow eyes and the silver black mane, and his companion from childhood on Syronyx, with his grey coat, the purple eyes and the white yellow mane, it was the only available function in their kind of society. They both had not managed the transformation into a behemoth yet and therefore they were like a millstone around the pack´s neck. To reach the transformation, the ponytaurs would have to cope with an unknown function where they see their assignation as fulfilled.

But that is not so easy when you’re living in an arid land with nothing but rocks, dust and creatures of their own kind.

“Let’s have a break,” said Syronyx and stopped. “I don’t believe that Gyrazzan will notice when we lie down for a short time.”

Gladiox agreed without thinking much for his tired hooves slipped off the rocky ground over and over as well and wore him out. The ponytaurs stopped and took a breather.

They didn’t talk, what should they talk about anyway? You didn’t experience much in Ödland you could talk about and the fact that Gladiox and Syronyx spent most of their time together while scouting gave them all the time in the world to talk about everything what’s worth talking about in any case.

Syronyx grubbed absent-mindedly in the grit with his front hoof and not long after he dug out a dried-up plant. Gladiox watched for a short time but his curiosity faded away again. The plant had no life force left which could be extracted, even the ants wouldn’t go for it.

And since the plants had disappeared from Ödland the gilataurs´ prey became rare as well. Therefore the functions of the scouts weren’t of good standing but still they were necessary ones. If there was a prey animal in this wasteland the scouts would have to alert the rest of the pack to call for hunt. For the scouts themselves only leftovers always remained, the lion’s share was the pack´s executors due. And since the prey had become more and more meager because of lacking plant food the times were less and less often when something was discarded for Gladiox and Syronyx. As cubs they had no possibility to compete against their older pack members and they had to bow to them, otherwise they might end themselves on the menu.

Something like family ties were seldom here, these things worked a little bit different among the ponytaurs. A female ponytaur, in case you could relate something like gender to a being of the primal chaos at all, coined new cubs from time to time. Afterwards the children were expulsed.

So after all a companionship like it was between Gladiox and Syronyx shaped up as a much better bond. They both were almost at the same age, they were treated equally and they did the same work, so they stuck together. But it was not more than that.

After the break that felt like five minutes the searching continued, Syronyx and Gladiox marched further.

At least there was some more hope in success for hunting today. It was only yesterday when a powerful, magical impulse had been triggered off somewhere beyond Mt. Ziz. An impulse so powerful that its force wave arrived over the mountain to Ödland.

That alone already was a rare event, since it was unusual for magical fragments to get lost in the land of the ponytaurs. Gladiox for example was only a few times so lucky to sample magic, but that impulse was so power donating like nothing before. And there was more. The magical wave had also carried potential prey into Ödland. Although the spectacle had been over pretty quick the entire pack was able to spot small, black creatures carried by the impulse over Mt. Ziz. They all descended somewhere in the wastelands.

If the scouts were lucky they would spot this prey before a rival pack. And packs like that were very numerous.

“There! You see that?” exclaimed Gladiox with a repressed voice and pointed to a distant point from them.

Syronyx strained his eyes and actually something was there. It was small but definitely moving. Thereupon the scouts crept ahead as quietly as possible to judge if the discovery was eatable and when they were close enough, they found out.

They hadn’t ever seen a creature like this before, although it almost looked similar to them. Its figure looked like a ponytaur or a pony in general. But it appeared basically more shaky with its holes in the legs and tattered ears. It had a horn on the forehead but it was curved, not unevenly split like these of the ponytaurs. The creature had also fangs and these were so long that they jutted out between its lips even with the mouth closed. This really was a newcomer in Ödland and it made Gladiox curious.

Syronyx already wanted to discharge a call as a signal tone for the rest of the pack. But suddenly Gladiox stopped him.

“What is this about? This is prey.” complained Syronyx.

“Calm down, Sy,” Gladiox appeased him. “Have you ever seen something freaky like this? I, for one, want to see it close.”

Syronyx wanted to object but Gladiox had already left his cover and approached the stranger. What could possibly go wrong? The creature had insect-like wings but one of them was pretty demolished and shredded. And besides it was an ideal opportunity to do something different than walking and scouting all the time. Gladiox wanted to capture this prey and if necessary slay it himself. The creature snarled hissing as he approached.

“Hello, miss, you’re lost? Come and let me look at you.” commentated Gladiox.

He should have kept his mouth shut. The assumed prey animal went into attack mode faster than Gladiox was even able to realize and kicked its hoof right between his eyes. With the stunner of the blow he lost his balance, tripped over some rocks and fell into the dust.

The creature followed him for a second attack, opened its mouth and tried to end it with a bite into the throat when Syronyx rushed roaring into battle and hit it into the flank.

Both adversaries rolled over the ground while Gladiox got on his hooves again to help his companion. But when he was able to see clearly again there were suddenly two Syronyxies revolving each other threateningly and ready to assault.

Gladiox thought confused, he might have hit his head pretty bad when one of them suddenly opened its mouth and spit out a green, adhesive chunk in his face. It came so unexpectedly Gladiox couldn’t react and got dazzled.

Syronyx jumped at the chance to attack his distracted opponent who was insolently imitating him. But now, at the latest, it had to be clear that this alleged prey animal had a lot more combat experience than the young ponytaurs, even though they were stronger. It intercepted his attack, turned him on his back and kicked his ribs with full power. The pain stunned Syronyx, he wasn’t able to defend himself anymore, when suddenly something massive swept over him and mopped the shape shifter away.

An almost 20-meter big monstrosity with a mane of black flames covering it from the scalp to the bulky tail, giant bull horns and eyes red like blood. It had caught the offender with a single move of its arm and smashed it against a rock. It was Gyrazzan the pack leader.

And still the shape shifter wanted to fight further. It came back on its hooves trembling and insecure as the behemoth used its chaos power to finish it off. Gyrazzans eyes flashed up for one second, a screaming noise cut through the air and a compression wave knocked the enemy down relentlessly. This time it didn’t get up again.

Syronyx got up again and removed the green mass off Gladiox´s face. When he was able to see again and spotted the giant behemoth, his pack leader, he virtually congealed.

“You two got wind of prey and did not inform the pack!?” thundered Gyrazzan.

His quaking words unleashed a wind gust blowing a thick cloud of dust against Syronyx and Gladiox. They coughed but also tried to answer as fast as possible because if they let their boss wait for an explanation right now their chances would be pretty bad.

“Master, we uh… we just wanted to…” Syronyx began to splutter.

“Surprise you,” finished Gladiox the sentence. “We wanted to spare the pack from the work of-“

But the leader didn’t listen anymore. He had already turned his head away and gazed at the distance.

“They’re coming,” he said while listening attentively. “A hostile pack has heared your noisy fight. They want our prey.”

Afterwards the Behemoth took a deep breath and unleashed a thundering roar into the sky which now echoed across the land. A short time later numerous silhouettes appeared on the horizon, approaching in full gallop. It was the rest of the ponytaurs of Gladiox´ and Syronyx´ pack.

Chapter 3 A Distant Country

Gladiox and Syronyx ran. They ran as fast as their hooves enabled it. In their mouths they carried the numbed body of the changeling which had been bagged by their pack leader. They had to cover as many meters as fast as possible, for behind them all the rest of their pack members was transforming right now into enormous behemoths. They grew high and gained enormous muscle mass. Shortly after the transformation to the twin horned, with claws and fangs armed monster was complete and the developed result yelled into the sky to demonstrate its strength.

Meanwhile a hostile pack came towards them at high speed. They already had transformed into their behemoth forms and rushed forward with bowed heads and the horns ahead.

The goal of Gladiox and Syronyx was simple. They had to get the slain prey away from the battlefield so the enemy couldn’t get its hands on it. Even if the strange insect was not very bulky, the ponytaurs would still prefer prey like this over the essence of their own kind.

While behind them the first behemoths collided with primeval violence, Syronyx and Gladiox ran down a slope, they couldn’t help anyway since they weren’t even able to transform.

They just got out of eyeshot from both packs when the stunned changeling suddenly came back alive. He shook off his numbness and started to bridle to get out of the jaws of his tormentors. With one leap he stabbed his tusks into Gladiox´ snout and kicked with his hind legs amain against Syronyx´ mandible.

Both ponytaurs were too surprised by the rude awakening of their captive and so his attacks caught them off guard. Syronyx was the first one who desisted from him and with one further kick against the kisser he got crashed into the ground. Gladiox on the contrary stopped and shouted with pain, this damn bug had pinched one of his most sensitive points. Blindly he lashed out at the changeling with his front hooves until he let go of his snout and remained aloof.

Gladiox gathered himself again and tasted blood. His own blood ran down his snout into his mouth. Syronyx got back on his hooves and tasted blood as well from the blow he had gotten. Now it got personal. The ponytaurs grumbled angry and their eyes started to glow. Immediately after they lunged at their meanwhile enervated enemy with wide opened jaws. They lapsed into a blood flush. They wanted retribution and became blind for everything what happened around them and even within them. They didn’t realize that they were not only about to wreak a carnage but also to break the shaky packs law again.

They ripped their prey apart. Syronyx bit in the soft belly of the changeling while he lashed out at the ponytaur with all four hooves. Afterwards Syronyx tore big pieces of meat out of his victim and swallowed them avariciously. Gladiox on the contrary clasped his jaws around the head of the changeling and compressed further and further until he got as well some soft gauze between the teeth after some crackling and crunching noises. Also he swallowed it and right in this moment an event happened which pulled him out of his blood flush.

Swirling pictures appeared inside his head. Pictures of an attack, of a defeat, but most important of all: Pictures of a country so beautiful and glorious, it bedazzled him and cooled down his rushing mind in seconds. A country beyond Mt. Ziz.

The pictures vanished as fast as they had appeared and shortly after Gladiox realized, he had just swallowed a piece of brain.

Not even an hour after the battle between the packs was over, it hardly could have come out worse for Gladiox and Syronyx. The two ponytaurs marched again through the rocky ranges of Ödland, but this time not because of scouting. This time they didn’t talk to each other, not because there wasn’t anything to talk about, but because of frustration.

The pack fight had ended because of escape of the rival pack. The massive behemoth warriors had caused each other devastating wounds and consistently some body parts had been ripped off, gorged and the wounds healed again. But then they had to find out, that their own cubs had misappropriated the prey while they were beating the enemy.

Syronyx and Gladiox had exploited the looted changeling in their blood flush and gorged the lion’s share of the cadaver. Understandably the older ponytaurs of the pack were very angry. Even if they didn’t do it on purpose the two brats did cut the line. It was rare that chaotic behemoths had anything like hard rules but it was common that when the older members wanted something, the younger ones had to follow. And with their behavior Syronyx and Gladiox had upset 18 older members.

In the end they were expelled from the pack and now were on their own. Well, it still could have gone worse. The pack could have seen the castaways as potential prey as well and in that case Gladiox and Syronyx would have been done for. But strangely the pack leader Gyrazzan did take a pity on them and gave the boys a deadline half a day to buzz off.

There was nothing else left to do for Gladiox and Syronyx but use this time to get as far away as possible from their former pack. Because when the deadline was over their once family member would see them as an easy meal.

“I hope you’re satisfied,” Syronyx hissed dryly. “If you let me alert the pack as it was our function none of this crap would have happened.”

“At least I was the first one who desisted from the prey,” Gladiox defended himself. His tone was still way less aggressive. “You on the other hoof did gut the entire abdominal region until you were right in your mind again.”

Although Syronyx´ angry temper and meanwhile even his instinct instructed him to kill his only comrade and to gorge what was left to gorge, he hold his horses. For today these tempers and instincts did already cause enough bad things to the two ponytaurs.

“Are you even aware of in what deep doo-doo we are?” asked Syronyx still petulant. “The two of us are most likely the last things left a behemoth would see as some prey. There is nothing left for us to gorge in Ödland, even these swift changelings are obviously more wily than us. And now we have lost our only protection...”

Then Syronyx became quiet, he didn’t know what else there was to say. Meanwhile Gladiox looked wishfully at the big Mt. Ziz. Like during the last millennia it prevented the sun from Ödland today.

“There is one possibility left for us.”

After a while the ponytaurs walked into a new direction. Now they marched directly toward Mt. Ziz. Gladiox had tried to describe what had happened when he had reached the brain mass of the changeling. The memories of the world beyond Mt. Ziz, food to abound and not a single rival pack. This was their chance for freedom.

When Syronyx listened to this, he had been initially sure his cully had lost his mind.

“Did this changeling possibly snap off a piece of YOUR brain as well earlier?” asked Syronyx aghast. “Ponytaurs mustn’t go to Equestria. It’s strictly forbidden.”

Gladiox turned his head to Syronyx while marching and answered, “Forbidden? That’s your argument? Primal chaos ignores rules.”

“Stop messing around!” replied Syronyx. “Did you forget, what’s lurking alongside the border rivers on ponies like us? Leviathans! Big, ugly, scaly leviathans! These beasts know mercy way less than the behemoth packs. They’re gonna catch us and make toothpicks of our bones for themselves!”

But Gladiox shook his head and began to smirk.

“When I touched the memories of the changeling, I saw its flight over Mt. Ziz. That’s how it came to Ödland,” he explained. “Two rivers spring up from both sides of the mountain and form the border to Equestria. They are full of leviathans for sure. But the peak, the highest point of the mountain is as dry as a bone. That is where no water can reach. Do you understand, Sy? It’s a gap. A gap in their defense, a gap we can slip through if we don’t cause any alarm.”

Syronyx let Gladiox speak but at the end his skeptic face revealed what he thought of that.

“You want to know that from some memory frazzles?” he asked. “Even if it’s true, the rivers are of a magical nature. Even on the dry peak single leviathans will remain overseeing the area. Apart from that if there is such a gapping gape in their defense line, why hasn’t any behemoth succeeded so far in discovering that and crossing the border? Well?”

“Bird’s eye view,” Gladiox answered. “Just think about it, I saw all this from the sky. What do you think? How many ponytaurs had such an opportunity since they’re all not winged?”

“Tyranny has wings,” replied Syronyx.

“Tyranny has also the biggest sloth in all of Ödland,” Gladiox had to concede.

Syronyx was still doubtful. Gladiox portrayed him the pure utopia there and this plan was very hazardous in his opinion.

“I don’t know…,” he said unassertively and sighed. “When we cross the border to Equestria, if it is even possible. What do you possibly think how the story continues? Ponytaurs are exiles, remember? The locals would see us as invaders or even worse. That is a world we don’t know and don’t understand. And in addition we would be lumbered with the entire population within days.”

“We will just have to maintain a low profile,” answered Gladiox. “Listen, Sy. What do we have as alternatives? Honestly, do you think any other pack in Ödland would take two tramps like us in? They are hungry as well. We are alone and I rather disappear in trying to cross the border than in being gorged by my own kind.”

Reluctantly Syronyx finally gave in and both of the ponytaurs marched further toward Mt. Ziz.

“Even if we won’t get any chance to cross the border,” he began, “perhaps we can stay there unnoticed for some time and we can gorge some magic that spills over.”

Gladiox smiled. “Did you notice already? Today we have talked more than the whole last month.”

Chapter 4 Forgotten Power

It was night. A starry night. The tremendous Mt. Ziz obscured not just the sun at day, but the moon at night as well from the wasteland of Ödland. You could see, if anything at all, the stars first-class. There were no clouds in the sky as well, it rained at rare intervals and so the dust stayed where it was on the ground.

This night Gladiox and Syronyx climbed up the mountain higher and higher. They had already covered scores of kilometers throughout the day and the path went uphill the entire time. In between a feral rabbit had crossed their path as well. A succeeded hunt did strengthen the two ponytaurs a little bit. They had forcibly cloven the animal into two big pieces and swallowed with one bite so they wouldn’t loose any time.

Syronyx wondered why this rabbit did appear in a country full of predators. Perhaps it had gotten into Ödland by accident by crossing the border at some point, but how?

Gladiox on the other hoof kept something different in mind. He thought of what was on the other side of the mountain, a notion which gave him much more power than the meager rabbit meat. But also he thought of the challenge waiting for them after he and Syronyx would have reached the peak. To fool the leviathans, creatures of order, wouldn’t be too easy.

“Great. Did this appear by any chance in your so called vision, too?” asked Syronyx exhausted and peeved.

For hours the two ponytaurs had climbed up the cliffy mountain, over and over they had slid down off slack boulders and the same distance had to be taken again and over and over they had scraped their knees, chins, bellies and other body parts to get a few meters forward. But now an absolute vertical aloft going rock wall obstructed the passage. It was all but impossible to climb that one with bare hooves, the barrier was as smooth as glass. One thing even more disconcerting was that the wall continued to the left and right with the same inclination.

“No wonder that no damn ponytaur has ever succeeded with such an idea!” groaned Syronyx extremely angry. “Why should the damn leviathans defend a damn weak spot in their damn defense when no damn pony can even reach this damn gap!!!?”

With this action the ponytaur shouted out his frustration but it definitely wasn’t a solution for the problem. Gladiox touched the rock wall with his hoof and analyzed it. It afforded no hold and it was cold like ice. Perhaps it had been formed artificially with magic to prevent plans just like this.

He thought out loud, “Maybe we can… maybe we can hit some nicks into the wall to scr-“

He didn´t get further for a shrieking noise tore the silence of the night. Syronyx and Gladiox span around and looked down the mountain they had just climbed up. They froze when they spotted a young ponytaur further down who had just started this shriek.

“Tell me, this was not a scout,” mumbled Syronyx.

“Sure it was one.” stuttered Gladiox. “Shit...”

A few seconds later the consequences of the scout´s call became noticeable. First the tromping sound of tonnes of flesh was dashing over the rocks, then the first members of the scout pack came in sight. More and more appeared and they headed for the higher place where Gladiox and Syronyx stood. They had already transformed into their behemoth forms because the hardened claws gave them a better road grip than the usual hooves.

The sight of these monsters broke the rigor of Gladiox and Syronyx. They turned around and ran along the rock face. It didn´t matter where just away from the attackers who climbed the mountain in frantic speed. But Syronyx and Gladiox understood straight away they couldn´t escape their chasers. Even though the pack had to climb uphill and was slowed down, in their transformed variations the ponytaurs were always faster.

“They´re gonna get us, Doxi!!!” screamed Syronyx while galloping in full speed. “They´re gonna gut us!”

Gladiox took a fast look behind and spotted ten behemoths who were close on their hooves. The sure doom breathed down his neck so he ran alongside his companion in the only direction which seemed halfway worthwhile. He smelled already the flows of magic on the other side of the mountain and followed the flavor.

But not much later the obstacle came finally in sight which seemed to lead the escape into a blind alley. A river, torrential and thunderous, outpoured in front of the ponytaurs down the mountain. It was the border. Actually this was the thing they wanted to avoid at all costs, but where else were they supposed to go?

Underwater something moved. It opened its eyes when it heard the rumbling of the attacking behemoth pack. Much time passed since something moved here the last time beside the constant and ordered water stream. And now this disturbance was like an alarm which woke up the guardians of the river and ended their deep sleep. A huge water fountain shot into the sky when the first leviathan broke through the water surface. A snakelike, blue scaled body glinted in the light of the moon.

The one was followed by many, more and more guardians appeared in the waters. They never looked the same for everyone of them differed in anatomy. But at least the leviathans in this area were all armed with countless octopuslike tentacles moving anxiously through the water. They positioned themselves in a defense line to intercept the inrush of the behemoths.

“Now we´re fucked up twice!” shouted Syronyx angrily while he and Gladiox headed directly toward the river. “Why do I always get mixed up in your damn ideas?!”

“GET DOWN, NOW!!!” shouted Gladiox, grabbed Syronyx´s neck and together they ducked down on the ground fast.

In the next moment one of the leviathans unleashed a glowing ion blast which was actually intended for the two ponytaurs. But the energy bullet missed the targets and hit a behemoth of the hostile pack instead. The creature didn´t see that sudden assault coming. It lost its footing and thereupon it fell down the mountain howling loudly. There was a gaping hole in his chest, it glinted blue.

The pack stopped at once and realized it had just been challenged. The hunt for the defenseless prey was interrupted because there were enemies in front of them who were willing to fight. The hunt became a battle. The behemoths roared raging, the rocks around them began to tremble. Then the furry bulls rushed forward and took aim at the leviathans´ defense line.

“If we survive this, I am going to murder you!!!” Syronyx shouted at Gladiox over the loud riot around them.

The behemoth pack had quickly forgotten about the two snips and one monstrosity after another tramped over them now. The talons of their feet bounced just centimeters next to the ponytaurs and the earth quaked from their footfalls. Only by accident the little bodies survived this melee without getting trampled down while the behemoths headed for the leviathans and clashed with their archfiends. An enormous battle began, a battle of monster against monster. Animal brutality dominated here. The leviathans used their teeth, thorns and tentacles to beat back and disable the enemies, while the behemoths on the other hand summoned up their entire body strength to tear hunks of meat out of the fishlike creatures and used their horns for ramming strikes.

Meanwhile Gladiox and Syronyx watched unbelievingly the spectacle from afar and couldn´t believe how lucky they had just been. It was the ideal moment to take flight and to leave the hostile pack behind them. But Gladiox had other plans. He looked into the thick of the fight and he obviously thought about how close he and Syronyx were to their goal.

“Tell me you´re not thinking about passing the river,” said Syronyx almost demanding.

Gladiox didn´t even look at him when he answered, “This is perfect, Sy. While they are fighting we can slip past them.”

Syronyx jumped up and slapped the back of the head.

“Are you totally nuts now!!!?” he shouted right into his ear.

Gladiox shook of the pain and talked back, “We will never get a chance like this again! We are so close to the border right now, don´t you hear the calls from the other side? It´s like a greeting melody.”

“Your hunger is running riot with your mind!” Syronyx blustered. “We almost got trampled down and you want to have a drama like this again?!”

Gradually Gladiox had enough.

With an angry hiss he told Syronyx to shut his trap. “You´ve got a counterproposal, windbag?! Just face it there is nothing left for us on this side! Right here we are going to perish sooner or later. I, for one, am going to perish with some future in sight!”

And so Gladiox turned away and started galloping. Although every single fiber of his body advised him against it, Syronyx pulled himself together and ran after his companion. After all hesitation was the biggest of all imaginable mistakes. And so the daredevil ponytaurs ran to the rampaging battle.

Gladiox focused on a certain point and slithered at full speed between the legs of the first behemoth. He didn´t dare to decelerate because he feared it could incite him to wimp out. He smelled the magical flows on the other side, he heard them, virtually saw them. All of his thoughts were focused on them.

With a great leap the ponytaur landed in shallow water. Not much farther and it would go steep into the depth. He had to get through, without being overtaken by a leviathan from below or carried away by the current. So he took the first opportunity deciding fast and jumped with all of his strength on top of the snakelike body of a leviathan who was in the middle of a fight right now. An absolute suicide squad for the slippery scale body coiled up in all directions. Still it was advantageous that the monster was too distracted to notice the little tot who used its body as a bridge. Gladiox kept on the move to keep his balance and galloped further. His performance was even encouraging enough for Syronyx to imitate it. He jumped on the body of a leviathan as well and followed his fellow in full hurry.

Over and over the ponytaurs had to jump from one leviathan to another to get further across the river. Over and over the slippery ground submerged in the blustering floods only to emerge again after a second. The atmosphere was dominated by an infernal row when beasts roared at each other, thuds hit bones and sharp talons cut through flesh. One time a past floating leviathans´ carcass which missed one half of its head served the ponytaurs as a bridge. Gladiox and Syronyx had already crossed the bigger part of the river when the tide turned.

An underwater couching leviathan had just spotted Syronyx, then a tentacle darted out of the floods and entangled the ponytaur in the blink of an eye. Syronyx was pinched and there was no possibility to escape. In panic and anger he called for help, but Gladiox couldn´t hear him over the noise. He just ran along without noticing anything.

Finally Gladiox charged one last time and jumped from the scaly ground to the safe shore. He did it. The first time after millennia a ponytaur entered Equestria. And it had consequences nopony had expected.

Immediately after Gladiox had set one hoof on the dry shore, he was totally overcome with the local atmosphere. He felt the magic flowing through every corner, every layer of this country. The amount seemed unlimited. It pulsated with such intensity it actually brought Gladiox into ecstasy. This feeling was indescribably good, the best emotion in all of his time. And he embraced it.

He let the magic flow into himself, like an abyss which wouldn´t give anything back it had once swallowed. He soaked it up to the fullest. And there it awakened inside him.

First just a strange symbol appeared on his so far blank flank, then the transformation began.

Gladiox was hardly noticing that while on the other side of the river he had been pinched as well. A leviathan had spotted his success of crossing the river and afterwards stretched its tentacles for him. They wrapped his limbs, his belly and his throat. But right now it didn´t matter to Gladiox at all for inside him his alternative form finally awoke and it brimmed over with power.

His coat became thinner on the breast and belly area until it almost entirely vanished. Instead the hair grew exuberantly on the head, back, tail and forelegs and hind legs. The still somehow delicate body of the ponytaur began to grow at high speed, mighty muscles started to take form. Clicking noises were produced when a new skeleton was formed for the new body. A body which grew more than twenty times bigger in seconds. While the head grew the split horn on Gladiox´s front faded away. Instead two massive bulllike horns burst out of the parietal bone of his head and angled in shape of a horseshoe to the front. His legs which were typical for a horse changed radically and the hooves made room for bulky fingers, each one with a crimson, razor sharp, meat hook like claw on its tip. The tail became longer and weightier, the teeth inside the mouth spiky, the jaws more and more powerful and the eyes glowed yellow like brimstone. At last the coat ignited from the head to the tip of the tail and assumed the shape of pitch black flames.

Gladiox realized the transformation he had managed and roared thunderously with triumph. Finally he had done it. He had achieved his behemoth form. Now he was no longer at the bottom of the food chain. The huge amounts of magic he had absorbed in such a short period made this possible.

This new creature couldn´t be held back by some slimy leviathan tentacles. So Gladiox grabbed them and pulled them away from his body like annoying parasites. It was the first time in his existence he could actually use something like claws at all. Afterwards he turned around back to the river to demonstrate that he had done it. Still this wasn´t the end of all evils.

Over millennia no ponytaur or behemoth had ingested so much magic in such a short time. It triggered other awakenings of powers which had been forgotten since the time of the demarcation. Powers of the primal chaos no behemoth was able to access for ages. Now Gladiox was the first lucky one who was and these powers chose him. For he was the first one for so long who made contact to the land of order.

Without a visible effort Gladiox lifted off into the air. The chaos free of definitions and explanations let him levitate without any scientific reason which could explain that. The ascending behemoth was followed by lumps of rocks which bordered the dry river bank. They shortly hovered up and then dissolved. Only subatomic particles remained which were ingested by the hungry monster. It began to gorge. To gorge matter.

More and more soil loosened from the ground and dissolved afterwards. One bold leviathan hurled an attack with tentacles against Gladiox and walked right into a trap. Immediately after its arms had reached the striking distance of the behemoth they also dissolved and faded away into him. The gorge field surrounded the creature like an aura.

At least by now, while the wounded offender retired groaning back into the floods the other leviathans and behemoths interrupted their fight and watched disbelievingly the spectacle from the other side of the river. Even the grip around Syronyx´s body became loose and he could escape. In full hurry he reached the realm of Equestria as well and was safe.

Meanwhile the leviathans unleashed a continuous fire of ion projectiles lashing down on Gladiox. But they all vanished before they could even scratch him. His chaos influence, a separate, not visible radiating aura annulled rules of nature and cosmos and became stronger the more food the behemoth had gorged. In this moment this influence was powerful enough to make the ion assaults deflagrate. Gladiox however amused himself more than ever before during his existence. Nopony was able to touch him, nopony could cause him trouble. The flows of magic still ran into his body and fed him more and more. Now he was able to fight back.

With a thunderous roar and a momentary flashing up of his eyes the behemoth unleashed an area wide compression wave pushing the leviathans under water and blowing the pack away from the riverbank. In that second Gladiox was the most powerful being of the primal chaos on the planet. And thereby the primal chaos gained might.

Before anyone was able to recover from the last blast wave, the most powerful symbol of the primal chaos returned to life. Enormous wings arose out of Gladiox´s shoulder blades. The pure wings of primal chaos weren´t bound to the laws of space, mass and matter in any way and they continued growing. In seconds they extended over the sky for kilometers and drenched the entire Mt. Ziz in their shimmer. A shimmer of countless colors as due to of the immense chaos influence right now the physical laws regulating the natural visible spectrum of colors were disabled. As a result the sky was flooded with all imaginable colors for kilometers.

These wings energized the chaos influence of their wearer like an accelerant and signalized one thing: Their wearer was absolutely free and not bound to any rule of the universe. Physics, chemistry, biology, the pillars of the universal laws were simply removed. These wings themselves chose their wearer prudently and their appearance meant the primal chaos came back to power. And Gladiox was their wearer.

But right now the behemoth was in such an exaltation it was not enough for him anymore. He wanted more and he knew where to get it.

Despite the fact that the wings on his back had a length of numerous kilometers it was no problem at all for Gladiox to turn around with them because they were totally independent from physics. He turned to Equestria the country which was strictly forbidden for somepony like him. A country full of life force, magic and matter in general. Although Syronyx had been calling up to him he should wait Gladiox took wing and left the border behind.

Though he came along with only a few meters per second he was already able to sense how the veil of magic became thicker the more he got upcountry. Every behemoth had dreamt to plunder this land and now it was open to him alone. Until then this was the best feeling for the young behemoth. He was so confident of victory and so boastful... until suddenly the sun rose.

It was the first time Gladiox saw it. The sun crossed the horizon and let its golden light shine on his furry body.

All of a sudden the shimmering wings of primal chaos disappeared and were gone. Gladiox´s chaos influence which technically held him alive right now decreased at high speed. Nothing carried him in the air anymore. With a confused scream he fell from the sky. The highly aggressive sunlight seemed to overload all of his senses at once.

But that was not the worst thing. He burned. The sun radiated strong magic, charged with pure order. That was poison for all beings of the primal chaos. In the twinkling of an eye the rays burned like molten rocks through the skin of the behemoth. His coat of black flames vanished and his real coat beneath it caught fire. Not even a minute and Gladiox´s giant body was completely covered in flames. They penetrated his inside through the molten wounds, devastated his bones and organs and they caused the most dreadful pain imaginable.

Gladiox´s ecstasy and sense of superiority had disappeared and now they were replaced by mortal fear.

There had always been stories of the lethal sun in Ödland. Stories like the sun lets behemoths vanish and it watches beyond Mt. Ziz. Now Gladiox had to experience the reality of these stories the hard way. The pain was so intense, he couldn´t move. He fell like a stone into the depth.

From the ground Syronyx could see what happened. He was stunned as he had to watch how the so strong appearing behemoth body of his associate was about to be burned to ashes by nothing more than the simple sunlight. While Syronyx galloped down the stony mountain he could recognize over and over again entire body parts loosening from Gladiox´s body during he was still in free fall. Until the blazing monster hit the ground at the foot of the mountain.

Although there was at most half of his body left the impact of the behemoth was huge. Huge enough so the ground gave in and Gladiox fell through it into an underground cave. A cave deep enough so the sunlight couldn´t reach him anymore.

Half dead Gladiox lay on the wet bottom of the grotto while the fire died out. Most of his body was nothing more than skeleton fragments. The only reason why he didn´t have to pass away right now, was because of he, as a being of the primal chaos, was not bound to the same order of life and death like others. Still it didn´t change anything to the fact that his entity had almost been ended. He panted with pain and every try to move ended with a new moan.

The bats in this cave took flight in panic and vanished through the entrance Gladiox had made into the ceiling. Although it was already dawn they accepted the light intensity to get away from the alien creature. A creature technically not even from this universe and foreign to all order. Though Gladiox was already finished. There was only one option left for him. To turn back to his ponytaur form.

His body began to diminish, the claws became hooves again, the head got his original form back, the coat spread equably again and the rest of the body deformed as long as Gladiox had his old form back.

There was one thing he could benefit from. The damage a behemoth body had gotten left only minimal consequences for the body of the ponytaur, so it served like an armor, an apparently combustible armor. Accordingly Gladiox was still pretty mauled afterwards, but at least the exposed bones were covered by meat and skin again.

Nevertheless he had no power reserves left. The sun had disintegrated the force of the primal chaos he recently had been full of and hadn´t left anything of it. This was not Ödland anymore, this was Equestria and it was governed by different rules in general. Gladiox realized, he had completely ignored that after the crossing of the border. He had only thought of his need for appeasing his hunger disregarding everything else.

It took hours until Syronyx had reached the foot of the mountain and had discovered the big hole in the ground. Thereupon he had climbed down to Gladiox and helped him to return to the surface.

After they had left the wet cave, the sun was already pretty high. Even though in the ponytaurs current form the sunlight was inconvenient but not as deadly as when Gladiox had been in his behemoth form. After all it was not only the sun. The entire country was soaked with order. It was a completely different habitat than Ödland. Although the chaos influence of the ponytaurs suffered from that it was tolerable as long as there was something to gorge.

While Gladiox was still barely able to stand on his own hooves the view compensated it for him and Syronyx. Before the ponytaurs was Equestria. They had found their way back from the exile. A paradise full of food. Gladiox and Syronyx could gorge here and become even more powerful than their pack leader Gyrazzan. The nutriment seemed unlimited.

They had no premonition how pathetically weak their will was supposed to turn out...

Chapter 5 Odd Changes

“Now?”

“Nah.”

“Now?”

“... Nah.”

“And now? There is no possible way to be even more distracted.”

“Do you think, we should act now?”

... ... ...

“Argh, forget it!”

Just like this the ponytaurs left their cover and came out of the bushes back to the dirt road. Thereupon Gladiox and Syronyx passed grumpily the two blithely chatting ponies that they originally had planned to hunt down. It had been the third try now and they had wimped out again without a reason, even though the opportunities couldn´t have been better. An absolute lull in the wind, a minimal distance from the hiding place to the prey and they even had their backs turned to the ponytaurs. But neither Syronyx nor Gladiox wanted to take the initiative.

In the last three days and nights the ponytaurs had marched continuously westward without sleeping even one time. They had had to get away from Mt. Ziz by all means. After all the shimmering wings of primal chaos over there had been visible over kilometers and everypony in the area should have noticed the incident. And if everypony wants to check out what had happened there, it would be better for the ponytaurs to be as far away as possible.

Usually after its first transformation into the behemoth form a ponytaur became capable of feeding on matter of any kind. However in practice this power had become disregarded more and more because there was almost no ordered matter left in Ödland which somepony could gorge. The primal chaos had found its way into every corner there. Therefore Gladiox could enjoy a unique privilege as the only potential behemoth outside of Ödland. He was able to satisfy his hunger with anything. It could be the magical flow of this country, the life force of a tree, the matter of a sign at the side of the road or the nutritious liver of a pony... in theory.

But since he and Syronyx had advanced into Equestria so deep that even Syronyx had been able to taste the magical atmosphere of the country the ponytaurs weren´t able to manage one single hunt. They hadn´t unlearnt it or something, it was something different. The echoes of the magical blast wave which also had carried the changeling over Mt. Ziz into Ödland still resounded throughout the country and these echoes were perceptible everywhere in the magical flow which ran through Equestria. These echoes awakened something unknown inside the ponytaurs. It felt like qualms but stronger, so strong it wrestled their familiar instincts... and it seemed to devour them from the inside out. This something blocked their most basic abilities to hunt. Actually they came to this land to gorge and now the tables seemed to turn. Gladiox felt this but he refused to believe it. He was sure it was just an illusion of the order to confuse the primal chaos. He told his companion it would be better to lie low because he didn´t want to show weakness and tried to detract from his uncertainty. Killed ponies would just attract unwanted attention and there was more than enough alternative food for them. To Syronyx on the other hoof this weakness was enraging. He hated being controlled by his own scruples.

Although it would had been good, especially for Gladiox, to get some fresh meat. After his first transformation into a behemoth and the first encounter with the sun his body was still quite devitalized. He had been lucky the sun hadn´t burned him up completely and the transformation back had transferred the wounds of his behemoth body only on a minimal scale to his original ponytaur body. Even so the ponytaur was covered with burn marks as if he had been pulled through burning brake. Many parts of his body once covered by coat were bald and pale and to make matters worse a strange skin rash had appeared on both of his flanks. It looked like a picture, a dark mess... and it seemed to move as well when somepony looked at it for too long.

Furthermore Gladiox´s wounds didn´t heal like in the past anymore. By gorging they should disappear within seconds but this country wasn´t ruled by chaos but order. In Ödland the primal chaos had determined the natural processes and wounds had been healed right after ingesting. However it seemed to take longer here.

Besides Gladiox had tried to speed up the healing process by gorging more than necessary, or healthy. He had gorged more and more magic from his environment until an unmistakable sign had shown him that it was enough. Gladiox´s body started to shudder, his knees became weak, the blood went from his face, he fell on his knees and finally he puked all over the dirt road. A weird brown broth had come out of his gap and had covered a wide area. But the weirdest thing had been that where the vomit had touched the earth the plants had begun to grow exuberantly in seconds as if it had given the ground a little fertility injection. Something like that didn´t happen to either Gladiox or Syronyx ever before. In Ödland a ponytaur was not able to throw up, the body just didn´t have an ordered response to too much eating. On the other hoof it was quite seldom for hoofed beings to do something like that as well.

Defecating was likewise new to Syronyx and Gladiox. In Ödland anything a ponytaur or behemoth had gorged remained inside him. Everyone took what he could get and never gave it back. They didn´t have to anyway because again in the land of primal chaos the body was under different conditions than here in the land of order.

This ordered Equestria already had so many novel laws of nature the ponytaurs were hardly capable of keeping up and they had to wonder permanently about the most simple processes. Rain clouds were guided to their appropriate positions by the pegasi, birds uttered strangely ordered sounds called singing, the air was filled with countless smells, the ponies slept in houses in place of in the open, they took the animals caringly for a walk instead of gorging them and some of them wore some odd looking rags on their bodies. Yet the simple dirt roads the ponytaurs walked on were a total novelty, just like the smiling ponies which passed them from time to time. But most of all it was colorful here, extremely colorful. There were colors here Syronyx and Gladiox had never known before. Compared to Ödland where ponies could tell the rocks apart from their form and shade of grey at most Equestria´s scenery appeared to them like an exploded rainbow.

In comparison to the civilized pony nation the chaotic ponytaurs appeared like hoggish yokels, an absolute unknown word to Gladiox and Syronyx by the way.

After all a town came within the range of vision, the dirt road´s only direction led to it. A place full of life and with so much movement it seemed uncanny to the ponytaurs. A sign on the roadside said: Welcome to Stutegart.

Gladiox and Syronyx hesitated. It hadn´t been planned to visit a place like that. A place that had nothing in common with the environment the ponytaurs had been used to. Houses placed tightly next to each other instead of endless wasteland, noise from numberless conversations instead of dead silence where not even a single fly made a hum and countless ponies in confined spaces instead of wide rock deserts with maybe a hostile behemoth pack within a radius of a few kilometers.

Furthermore Gladiox and Syronyx could stand out because of their looks. But in the end one thing led to another.

While the ponytaurs still wondered if they should follow the road into the town or if they should forgo it, two mares out for a walk came towards them. They chatted and their faces beamed with joy. Anyone could notice that their facial expression was quite different from the ponytaurs´. Compared to most of the ponies the frowns of Syronyx and Gladiox looked always so serious as if they wouldn´t allow themselves to laugh. The facial features of the two mares on the other hoof looked like bright sunshine.

But when the ponytaurs encountered them the ponies looked them over dumbfoundedly and stopped. The first mare was a little silent and eyed these strange stallions with their split horns, the bedraggled manes and one of them had these burns. In addition they smelled quite foul. The second mare was more open-minded and she checked out the symbol on Gladiox´s flank which was in the same position like her cutie mark. With the exception that this cutie mark here seemed to lag and it didn´t seem to represent anything. But when her look went to the empty flank of Syronyx she had to restrain laughter.

“That´s pretty steep,” she giggled. “Such an old-timer and still a blank flank.”

Thereupon the first mare pulled her friend quickly to herself and whispered as quietly as possible, “Please don´t mess around with guys like that again. Don´t you notice? They stink like a wet dog.”

But the two chatterboxes had piqued Syronyx´s curiosity.

He turned to them and asked, “Blank flank??? What is that?”

In exchange he earned some stunned looks until the second mare answered him, “Have you been living under a rock or are you having me on right now?”

Syronyx gazing silently, “???”

Second mare, “You´re... weird, boy.”

Syronyx, “There are ponies living under rocks?”

The second mare rolled her eyes, “That was a metaphor, genius.”

Syronyx again gazing silently, “???”

Second mare, “A metaphor is... Argh, for Celestia´s sake, go and visit the elementary school!”

Syronyx again gazing silently, “???”

Meanwhile Gladiox gazing silently as well, “???”

Second mare sighed desperately, “What didn´t you understand now?”

Syronyx, “What´s an elementary school?”

Gladiox, “What´s a Celestia?”

By now the first mare tugged impatiently at her friend´s foreleg for the two ponytaurs became more and more bizarre. She wanted to leave as fast as possible but the second mare stayed with a stunned face.

Second mare grumpy, “Okay, do I honestly have to clarify something like that to you?”

Syronyx gazing silently, “???”

Second mare shouting angrily, “I mean explain!”

Syronyx filled with wonder, “Ah...”

Second mare finally shook her head, “You know what, forget it. I just changed my mind. This conversation will get us nowhere. Find yourself a wordbook.”

Syronyx suddenly perked up his ears attentively, “Book? Book!”

Second mare was about to leave, “Yeah, book. These things you can read.”

Gladiox still gazing silently, “???”

Syronyx started to smile happily, “Book! Yes. We finally speak the same language.”

Second mare walked away with her friend, “Not even by half.”

The two ponies kept moving and left the ponytaurs behind who acted like the dumbest morons on the planet. While Gladiox still puzzled about the word read, Syronyx tried to remember all the new words. Words nopony would ever use in Ödland.

The two mares strode away and seemed very glad that the ponytaurs didn´t think of following them. Meanwhile two unknown stallions came toward them on the dirt road and flagged them down. It was nopony less than two unicorn soldiers from the Royal Guard, they were tall, broad-shouldered and wearing golden armor. They interrogated the mares of name, address and if they had seen something unusual during the last days. The first mare answered hesitantly to the last question pointing at the ponytaurs. They still stood where they had been left behind and talked to each other.

“The two of them had such strange horns and they were kind of spooky,” she said.

This aroused interest in the soldiers. They let the two mares pass and approached Gladiox and Syronyx. The first one took a wanted poster out of his armor and began to compare the pony on the piece of paper with the ponytaurs while the second one backed him up by keeping everything under surveillance. There was a picture of a changeling on the paper and some descriptions about its danger level and special abilities. This was not a big surprise for the changelings had invaded the capital city Canterlot and had suffered defeat just a few days ago. Since then their troops were scattered literally to the four winds and uncoordinated. It was certainly possible that scattered changelings were still somewhere in Equestria and that they now were hiding among the natives so they could await new commands. And these strange ponies with their split horns. Well they did look suspicious.

“No, take the sign earlier for example,” said Syronyx to Gladiox. “I think it was called Stutegart.”

“But that wasn´t my question,” responded Gladiox. “How do you know what a book is?”

“Excuse me, misters,” the first soldier harrumphed when he and his partner came up to the ponytaurs. Syronyx and Gladiox span around for they had been so lost in thoughts about all the new terms they didn´t even hear the Guards coming.

“Do you have an ID?” asked the first soldier severely.

“That´s weird. Both of them reek of the captain,” mumbled the second soldier quietly.

Gladiox and Syronyx gazing silently, “???”

“Name and address!” repeated the second soldier impatiently.

“What does ID mean?” asked Syronyx irritated.

The Guards became distrustful. The first one took again a look at the wanted poster and was willing to compare.

The second Guard was ready to pull out his weapon while the first one now requested, “Both of you. Open your mouths and show your bits.”

Unsuspecting Gladiox and Syronyx followed the instruction, opened their mouths and exposed their teeth. There the first soldier saw the needed evidence. The canine teeth of the ponytaurs were elongated. Together with the strangely formed horns and the dark body color they fit well the description of a changeling. Almost simultaneously both of the Guards grabbed with their magic their fold-out spears and turned them fast as lightning on the ponytaurs.

“You´re under arrest! You´re going to follow us to the next barracks!” dictated the first soldier with a dead serious face.

Quite surprised by this turnabout Syronyx and Gladiox flashed each other a look and did what they always did when there was an enemy bigger than them. Running!

As quick as a flash they ducked their heads and ran away in full gallop into the opposite direction, right to the town. Their advantage amongst others was that during their time as scouts they hadn´t done anything else than use their legs. But the Guards were likewise no snails, they chased the runaways at full speed and didn´t lose sight of them.

Chapter 6 Political tensions

Princess Celestia arose.

“And you are sure you are willing to stay with this version?” she asked insistently.

Her conversation partner was nothing more than a small, dripping ice crystal hovering at eye level. It started to oscillate the air molecules to create sound waves.

These sound waves resulted in an answer like from a little loudspeaker, “There were activities at the border but there is no confirmation that a behemoth has crossed it.”

The message, the piece of ice had transmitted as a communicator, came from a being beyond Equestria, from the depths of the eastern sea. A barely tangible being going by the name Sekai. Old like the world, quiet like the void and cold-hearted like a sliver of steel. The leviathans called her empress although she hardly ever uttered a sound and even in Canterlot Castle she had fallen into oblivion. Just like the wastelands of Ödland.

But now both of these relics had reappeared in a big way.

“You call this activities at the border?” Celestia dug deeper. “The newspapers of Baltimare are full of reports about the incidents at Mt. Ziz in the south. The chaotic lights were visible until Manehattan. Rampant speculations and conspiracy theories are going around. Why now, of all times?”

“The primal chaos has always acted unpredictably, my dearest,” answered Sekai, no emotion in her voice. “As long as it is only a bunch of lights there is no reason to worry. If there was a behemoth coming to Equestria the newspapers would have been filled with some other kind of stuff.”

“About these lights,” interrupted Celestia. Sekai´s distasteful sarcasm almost made her lose her poise. “Was it the wings of primal chaos or not, empress?”

Sekai hesitated one moment while Celestia awaited the answer.

“There is evidence to confirm this, princess,” the ice crystal finally uttered.

Princess Celestia closed her eyes and sighed silently. That didn´t sound good.

“Well then. If there isn´t any more information from your side, I still have other matters to settle,” she took leave of the leviathan leader.

Sekai didn´t utter any word of goodbye. The hovering ice crystal simply melted within seconds and left only a puddle on the carpet of the conference hall of Canterlot Castle.

Thereupon the princess left the room for she had to attend to her other duties. Her unique poker face hid her worries.

Over millennia the behemoths hadn´t shown themselves, their existence had gone into the realm of tales by now. And now there was this incident. As if there weren´t enough troubles since the last invasion of the capital city a few days ago.

It couldn´t be helped. The first priority right now was the search for other changelings which could have undercut the society of Equestria. The happenings on Mt. Ziz had to wait for now.

Sekai was angry. Their river guardians on Mt. Ziz had failed. She turned around and marched with her head held high through the corridor of her palace.

She truthfully was an entity you rather didn´t want to talk with face to face. In fact you couldn´t even see her. Her shape was not visible. Every of her snow-white scales radiated with the intensity of a floodlight and blinded the observer so it was impossible to identify her body. It was only known from history that it was a bipedal, upright walking being of approximately two meters with tender, fragile-looking limbs and dainty claws. And eyes cold like ice.

The light of her scales was mirrored in the glass walls, floors and ceilings of her palace and let the building shine like a star.

But the empress of the leviathans was anything but a gentle fairy. She demanded intransigent order from her subjects. A perfect, strict order without chaos was the necessary society status in her eyes. For this reason alone the mess on Mt. Ziz was a dishonor for all leviathans. A dishonor that had incited her to lie. Of course a behemoth had managed to cross the border river. Otherwise it would never have collected enough fuel in the form of magic and life force to unlock the wings of primal chaos. The lights had been visible within a radius of numerous kilometers after all and the appeared wings had been long enough to smother the whole Mt. Ziz. There was nothing else in the arsenal of the primal chaos which could have created such a phenomenon.

However the behemoths were primarily known for their ruthlessness. If the malefactor had managed to go upcountry, there would had been tracks definitely. Unmistakable tracks. But there was nothing like that. The river guardians could only confirm that one behemoth had reached the other side and that they had been thrown off their guard, seconds before sunrise. Hopefully this had obliterated the monster before it had time to take cover. But if not this would have enormous consequences on political level.

Therefore actions had to be taken without informing Canterlot´s royalty. As long as there was no evidence for an invader in Equestria there was no need for the leviathans to raise an alarm. Knowing all this Sekai established contact to the outside world once more, this time unofficially.

Meanwhile back in Equestria. A marsh in the middle of the country. Once a river had flooded many trees here and had formed a watery labyrinth. The roots were deep under water, became a habitat for many life forms and from the treetops you had a great view at Canterlot which was only a few kilometers away. Furthermore there was a unique life form roaming trough the waters. A scaly, ponylike creature which now went ashore at a dry location and shook to get the muddy water off.

The name of the creature was Charybdis and she was a leviathan, a single specimen among the countless mutations of her species. She had the size and the build of a pony, but instead of a coat her body was covered by blue, robust scales. She didn´t have a mane either, her head had only some small ornamental fins. Her ear conches had also the form of big fins for sound filtering. Her skeleton and her hooves as well were made of gristle. They were much lighter than bones and with the appropriate muscles they granted her agility and a stable body shape. In addition she had three gill slits on each site of her thorax front so she could breathe under water with them and with her lungs on land.

The teeth set apart Charybdis from a normal pony as well. They were thin and pointed like needles and ideally qualified to catch small fishes. Furthermore her long, thin, lizard-like tail made more than a half of her body-length. She was able to use it with amazing accuracy and it worked like a tentacle to help her getting along in the daily grind. In conclusion she had two wings on her sides. They were actually retractable fins with wafer-thin membranes. They worked primarily as a swimming help and they were qualified for gliding flight in the air at best with only a few flaps before exhaustion. Therefore these makeshift wings didn´t allow for a big maximum height, speed and range.

Charybdis had lived undercover in Equestria for quite some time. Usually she had kept track of the events and moods in the country and had changed her hideout from time to time, typically a marsh or a lake. It was pretty seldom for her to visit a town, even in disguise. A naked pony with blue scales would stand more out than a zebra. Altogether she lived a life in loneliness and spent most of the day under water.

But now this monotony of everyday life changed. She felt it in the water, a local drop of temperature. She went to her temporary established nest on land and spotted a small ice crystal in the stagnant water from there. In the heat of midday sun the crystal began already to melt, it wouldn´t last much longer.

“My empress?” asked Charybdis standing up straight.

The crystal oscillated and again delivered a message. Even when floating on the water surface Charybdis´s ears were able to recognize its sound waves.

“Charybdis, there is work for you,” declared Sekai. “By now the news should have reached the region of Canterlot.”

Charybdis knew what her empress was talking about. She regularly informed herself about the newest state of affairs by reading the newspapers and the chaotic lights at Mt. Ziz had been printed by every compilation at least one time.

“What has happened, my empress?” asked Charybdis.

“This is not important,” answered Sekai. “Essential for you is that there is possibly a ponytaur running around in Equestria. Capable of transforming into a behemoth and wily enough to cross the border river.”

Charybdis was surprised. A behemoth in Equestria and there hadn´t been any casualties so far? This was inconsistent.

“Your new task is to search for the ponytaur and handle it appropriately,” commanded Sekai. “You´re going to search the whole country for my sake, discretely, it goes without saying. And even if there is no hint that the target still exists, you will continue your search, except you receive new orders from me.”

“Understood, my empress,” answered Charybdis without hesitation.

Thereupon the rest of the ice crystal melted and the transmission was terminated. Afterwards without long hesitation the leviathan climbed jumping the highest tree around and reached the leafy canopy. Then she spread her short wings and pushed off a branch with her hind legs. Thereby she catapulted herself with all her energy into the air and faded to gliding flight.

She flew southeast toward Mt. Ziz. Her search would start there, a search which could be way more dangerous than a life as a spy in Equestria. Ponytaurs and behemoths, so the common leviathan conviction, were the worst enemies of the cosmic order, sort of the most dangerous creatures in the universe. There was no way these monsters could be allowed to get an opportunity to start gorging again and to gain new strength!

Most dangerous creatures in the universe, seriously. The first so called most dangerous creature in the universe stood in a dumpster right now, stretched butt in the air, went by the name Syronyx and chewed on the rind of a rotten orange. The other exemplar went by the name Gladiox and ate inside the next garbage can an entire full paper bag.

Prior to this both of the ponytaurs had managed to escape their chasers and had disappeared in the crowd of the town of Stutegart. The soldiers of the Royal Guard had been persistent but the ponytaurs had an anatomic advantage. The fact that they were in the world of order now where their bodies worked under different, ordered processes, didn´t have only handicaps. They had kept their natural strength. The flexible spines of the ponytaurs were of a very bendable material (even though it was originally foreign to order). In the sprint on a straight line without bends the spine moved like an elastic spring and allowed the ponytaur a maximum speed of almost 140 kilometers per hour. These creatures weren´t talented flyers at all but during such a sprint with all its jumps their body remained in the air most of the time.

After all Gladiox and Syronyx had disappeared in the crowd of ponies and had been forced to reduce their speed. In the full run they had been unable to corner sharply. When the soldiers had lost sight of them the ponytaurs found a shelter in a bunch of garbage cans standing at a train station. Or at least it should have become a train station sometime in the far future. Now it was just a gaping hole in the ground, raked up chaotically and even more chaotically organized. A building lot where nopony had an overview of anything. It was a place where shapes like some from Ödland didn´t attract attention at all. The only nice thing here was the great view on the huge forest in the north, outside the town. A forest nopony seemed to enter by choice.

But at this opportunity Syronyx and Gladiox had found something that was pure gold compared to everything that could be found in Ödland. Garbage. The dumpsters were full of junk which was like a feast without hunting to the ponytaurs. And it didn´t bother anypony when they took it.

Foul fruits and other rotten food were full of mold fungus, from bacteria to worms, louses and insect larvae – life forms Ödland didn´t have anymore, life forms full of life force. Syronyx hadn´t been able to hold himself back at the sight of such a buffet and shortly after that he drained the life force from the vermin like the juice from ripe grapes. Gladiox on the other hoof had inured to the benefit of being able to gorge bare matter. Busted cartons, empty bottles, dented cans, rusty metal and all sorts of other waste dumps had been dissolved and absorbed by his gorge field. Either way the hunger was satisfied.

Eventually a pony even came by and threw a newspaper into the garbage can in passing. It landed directly on Gladiox´s snout. Puzzled he already wanted to gorge it when Syronyx held him back. He was very interested in the paper stuff, so he took it and looked at the front page. It showed a picture of Mt. Ziz, the night sky was erratically filled with all colors of the rainbow and close to the peak of the mountain the enormous wings of primal chaos were visible. But since Syronyx had been there personally he didn´t pay special attention to the picture. He tried to read. Too bad his reading skills were so poor it was already difficult for him to decipher the first line.

“St-straa, stra-n, strange pheee, er, phenol-, phenipi-, phen-,” Syronyx stammered even the first two words so slowly, Gladiox interrupted him at last.

“I wanted to ask you before, Sy,” he began. “Where have you actually learnt to read?”

Thereupon Syronyx put the newspaper away and thought hard.

“It was... A book has once appeared in Ödland. You haven´t been there,” he told Gladiox. “It has been teleported there by magic. Oh, I remember now. The remaining magical radiation has been delicious. Anyway I have been able to read some. Haven´t understood too much, but it sounded tasty.”

Gladiox nodded, “Hm, like everything you look at.”

“Well I haven´t been able to gorge it,” Syronyx continued. “Do you honestly think I would give something like that to some Gyrazzan butt? I think its name was Cappa. No, Creepa. Ugh not again... er, Cupcubaba. Argh! I don´t know anymore!”

“Sweet mother of Tyranny, how can you forget something like that?” groaned Gladiox.