//-------------------------------------------------------// The Universe's Puppet -by Viking Hoof- //-------------------------------------------------------// //-------------------------------------------------------// Prologue: The World's Geass //-------------------------------------------------------// Prologue: The World's Geass On a small isolated and normally unpopulated island in the middle of no where sat what might be the largest and most diverse coalition in the history of Equis (also known as Drakas, Zebras, draconquis planet B, and Griffgard). Literally every species nation and ethnicity was represented. The Stick King of the great Everfree Timberwolfpack was even allowed a representative, the most vicious and hungry Branch the third. It was through unspoken agreement that the imperial princesses of the day and night would be first, but to most's surprise Gilda of Griphonia had managed to be third. After that was Lord Taurus, and followed by him was the Spynx a Goddess Riddle. Next were minor deities, followed by the mortal rulers, and then the lords and ladies of important states. At the very back sat the paparazzi. They were of course upset to be behind the real journalists, but they were strangely quietened by the sharp spears leveled at them by every species of guard on the planet. The event was singularly unique in its occurrence. It went beyond the first contact between Equiss and humanity three years ago, and the Swarm's short but fruitless invasion the week after. It was quite possibly the most unique event in the universe. Something unimaginable had forced the dimension traveling unbreakable Starkingdom of Vinland and the huge ever adapting  unstoppable Swarm to stop fighting. The whole of the multiverse was holding their collective breath as they prepared to weather whatever storm could force the two greatest enemies and powers in the universe to agree to a cease fire. Then just three days ago, Equestria had received a joint message from the two forces. The message was unspecific, but most everyone had figured out two things. 1) The threat was one being. 2) And they wanted Equestria to watch it. As Equestria was the greatest and most god heavy planet in its reality, the choice made sense. Whatever the creature was, neither side could trust each other with it. Equestria was powerful enough to tip the war in favor of whatever side they joined, nuetral enough to not Madame secret deals with one or the other, and isolated enough to be hard to ambush. It wasn't powerful enough to stop both the swarm and Vinland, but nothing was. Equiss was the best possible nuetral ground. This did nothing to comfort the gods of Equiss, and the 3 days after the message was to prepare for whatever horror or mad thing could scare Vinland and the Swarm into making nice. On top of that was the riots and fear of the common people. Already 3 governments had toppled under the monster induced panic. Even the Equestrian Empire was creaking under the stress. The creature wasn't even here, and already it was slowly destroying Equiss. Every head turned as at once there was a sharp clap. Every jaw fell open as the sun was blotted out by the culmination of the two greatest navies in all of the realities sitting side by side. The ships may have filled the sky, but all eyes rested on a single shuttle as it approached with terrifying speed. On either side sat a veritable flood of fighter craft and swarmlings. All of them headed for the congregation of congresses and gods. Some cowered, some stood tall, but all of the islands temporary residents looked in awe upon the greatest culmination of small craft this dimension might ever witness. With trained precision the shuttle landed. All held their breath as the air seals gave out a sharp whine and the door dropped open. Every god flinched as the door slammed upon the ground. Every noble wet themself as a huge razor sharp fore leg and a knee length leather boot emerged from the shadowy shuttle. Following those were the rest of the swarm's Grand Harbinger, and the immortal admiral of Vinland. Between them sat the most pitiful thing that Celestia had ever seen, a frail looking empty eyed human. The poor thing looked empty, like it didn't even care that it had ever existed. It had obviously been drugged, but the drugs couldn't hide that sort of depression. It looked underfed, abused, miserable, but oddly the wounds were faded. Whatever had happened to it was before its imprisonment. It also held a sketch pad in its hands. A large voluminous affair, bulging with inserted drawings. It was at this point that ever sentient looking upon the human who knew of human genders realized that the human before them had none. The immortal admiral was obviously female, but you could see the I infinite forms of existence in her eyes. The human beside her had no discernable gender, no percievable existence. "Hello." Two voices boomed across the island. It wasn't the boom of loud noise, but that of telepathy so powerful that even the trees could hear their thoughts. "We bring to you a person of immense importance to us." The voices thought again. Even the gods could feel the compulsion behind the message. "In a few days she-" the frail human immediately took on a female appearance. "- will awaken." The human had always been female, why hadn't anyone noticed it? "Every single being on this planet will ensure her survival." Of course they would? To do otherwise would be unthinkable! "Failure to do so will result in instantaneous repercussions, for everything." Even the gods shivered in fright at their possible failure. "That is all." And with this thought the two telepathic immortals stepped back into the shuttle, and everyone watched as the huge armada left. That was that. The immense throng broke into immediate squabbling. No one would risk fighting so near the human, but the seriousness of their task drove even the smallest or oldest of hatreds into a new life. The Griffons claimed that Equestria wasn't powerful enough to protect the human, the zebras argued that their medicines would be best, the taurans didn't trust the zebras, the changelings threatened to invade the Taurans over the right to protect the human, the goddess of love threatened the same against the changelings, the crystal dragons claimed that the crystal empire would use it to enslave other races, the god of death argued that she could ensure that the human would never die, his wife threatened to leave him for a different reason, the goddesses of the Sun, Moon, and Stars, normally calm and calculating, shouted over everyone trying to get control. Behind the gods was an even bigger mess. Political groups, religions, sexualities, genders, languages, races, colors, and even age groups fought over the right to protect the human as well as nations. Then, silence reigned as a soft feminine yawn emerged from the now sleeping human. Feuds ended, love was found, and a few mare's water broke as the throng moved as one to comfort the human. Some did it out of sympathy or empathy, others did it to reinforce their claim, but all did it as their existence was in the balance. In the mass movement, no one protested the timberwolf for laying next to the human, no one stopped the changeling queen and goddess of love feeding the human with their magic, and no one stopped the sun goddess as she gently lowered the brightness while increasing the warmth of her sun's rays. Then, after backing a good distance away from the human, they went back to fighting. The fighting had subsided as the goddess of sleep worked her powers. The moon stood high in the sky, and all needed rest. As the others went to sleep, the most powerful gods sat in a circle around the human and strangely nice timberwolf to discussed the situation. The first to speak was Celestia. Her voice was soft, but carried centuries of intelligence and wisdom. She argued that the human should be kept in a controlled environment, seeming free, but tightly controlled. She worded it convincingly, but the goddess of freedom and the god of Discord refused to even consider it. They argued that protecting the human included protecting its rights. Next to speak was the god of the dead. He argued that a existence in the realm of the dead would both protect it and allow for it to be free. Predictably, the gods of life and cheer opposed this. They argued that the humans happiness and sanity were too important. Then spoke the god of Sex. She insisted that the human be given a harem of her succubi. She claimed that the human would be to busy fucking to get herself killed. The goddess of love reprimanded the goddess of sex on the shallowness of that existence. As usual, the two argued themselves into a storm and them made hot sexy love in the corner. Following the goddess of sex was the goddess of the moon. She lobbied for a dream based existence. The other gods rejected this as a easy source of power for the dream goddess. Finally, there was the goddess of Imagination, Inspiration, and Insanity. She pointed to the humans sketch pad and insisted that the human should be left to live without knowing that she was special. She agreed that the human should be watched and protected, but that she live with free will. She agreed that the human needed to be protected from death, but she instead appealed to the god's wife. She showed appreciation for both sex and love, but insisted that there should be both and a presence of many species. In closing, she again pointed to the sketch pad, and proclaimed that it's presence showed extreme importance. She reasoned that the human would need to have a healthy life to be a healthy artist. In summation, she argued the middle ground. The other gods argued against her in turn, but none could agree to any other agreement. With this decided, the gods turned back to the human only to be astounded as it regressed in age before them. Looking at what was now a sleeping child, the gods broke into a dozen new arguments, but eventually a agreement was made between them. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 1: The Chosen of The Gods //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 1: The Chosen of The Gods Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Twilight Sparkle sat quietly in their cabin as Celestia's personal airship made speed for their mysterious destination. Twilight and Fluttershy looked obviously excited, but Rainbow Dash looked anxious. "How long did Celestia say we were going for?" Rainbow Dash asked with a unusual tone to her voice. "A whole month!" Twilight answered happily, having missed the subtlety of Dash's tone. "A whole month studying a mysterious island that rose up out of nowhere! On top of that, this island is in a really good spot for trade, so we will probably get to see the birth of a city!" Twilight squeaked with obvious joy, but Rainbow Dash looked perplexed. "You mean there will be more ponies there besides us?" Rainbow Dash almost sounded relieved. "Yeah." Fluttershy answered, but she had noticed Dash's look. "Rainbow Dash, is something bothering you?" Rainbow Dash sheepishly rubbed the back of her head. "I am now. It's just, Cadence said some dumb things about love, and a I was worried since both of you are..." "dating?" Fluttershy and Twilight finished in unison. "Yeah. I mean, I'm sure they aren't as awesome as me, but I don't like doing that to ponies." Rainbow Dash admitted. "Don't worry Dash, I hear that there is a veritable city of people there now." Twilight comforted Dash with a hoof. "Ohh... no." Twilight and Rainbow Dash shared a look as the turned to now comfort Fluttershy. The flight was okay once Twilight had told Fluttershy about the cute new animal scientists had supposedly found. Vinyl Scratch and Octavia sat across from each other in a luxurious luxury liner cabin, graciously provided by the patron. "I still don't understand why Fancy Pants wanted both of us on this new island." Octavia sighed luxuriously and reclined across the sofa. "I thought it would be obvious Octavia, you are going to play for the scientists, while I'll play for the masses of workers flooding this supposed "trade heaven."" Vinyl looked up from their ledger to glare at Octavia. "What did I say about bugging me while I do our taxes." "But Vinyl, I'm bored!" Octavia whined morosely. "Go seduce a stewardess then." Vinyl retorted sharply. "But Vinyl, they can't spank like you can." Octavia complained while trying to look seductive at Vinyl. "Octavia." Vinyl growled, but set the ledger aside. Numbers could wait a little. Sunset looked worriedly at the dragoness next to her. Her fur soft gray fur standing slightly, and her deep blue eyes twitching with anxiety. "Kindle I'm worried." Kindle gave the Pegasi next to her a gentle kiss on the forehead, brushing aside some of the mare's dark blue hair with her red scaled claw. "You said you wanted a daughter..." "I know, but what if she doesn't like us, what if she won't see us as mothers?" Kindle just smiled. "Sunset, the princesses said that the poor thing had been through a lot and that it had amnesia. I can't think of anyone better suited to help it than you, and I'm always going to be there to support and love you." Kindle reassured her wife gently. "I-I... I love you Kindle." Sunset whispered as she stared into Kindle's soft green eyes. "I love you too." They kissed. Gilda growled as her maid/guard/leash holder read off a list of things to do and not to do on the new island. "You will not try to marry a passing protitute, you will not steal, you will attend balls in formal gowns, you will not attempt to sneak back home, you will not marry a passing stripper, you will go on a date with the nice Minotaur your mother met, you will not attack that Minotaur, you will not fuck that Minotaur on the first date, you will not shit on that Minotaur, you will let the Minotaur pay for dinner-" Needless to say, being a princess wasn't a picnic for Gilda. Strongarm sat uncomfortably in his cabins chair. The suite had been made for ponies, but that xenobiology job had been really last minute. As a recent college graduate, Strongarm just couldn't pass up a chance to pay off some of the loans he was saddled with. Still, his dark brown hair rubbed uncomfortably in the faux leather seat.