Faust

Chapters

Chp.1: Soul's discovery
Chp 2: Meanwhile, In Canterlot...
Chp. 3. The Fourth In Line

Chp.1: Soul's discovery

This world is older than you can imagine, children. There were creatures here before us, and there will be creatures here after us. But she will always remain. – Starswirl the Bearded in his address to the Council of the Unicorn tribe.

Dust.

Dust, sweat and pickaxes, to be more precise.

Soul Finder had never known a single moment when he wasn’t in one of these situations. The wind at his back, the burning sun over his head, and the harsh terrain under his feet were all familiar sensations to him. That terrain was always different with each dig, be it in the frozen north or in the pits of the Everfree Forest, but the basics were always the same: He was in a long forgotten place, here dig up and recover long forgotten things. And he loved it.

Perhaps it was because he wasn’t swinging the pickaxe himself, of course. Real archeologists never did the hard labor if they wanted to make an impression on the higher ups, the fancy unicorns and the executive Pegasi. No, Soul just had to make sure everything was going according to plan and, when the time came, see what was found and try and identify it.

However, Soul finder was always hoping that maybe, just maybe, he’d one day find something that he wouldn’t be able to identify. That was the real prize: find something new, something unknown, and be immortalized for discovering a new piece of pony history. In retrospect, it was unlikely that he would ever make such a discovery. All the big archeological finds were made decades before he was born, back in the days of harmony, when the newly returned Luna had reestablished the Equestrian Historical Society, which had been known in her first reign as the leading establishment on the history of Equestria and the nations surrounding it. But perhaps today would be different. Perhaps now would be the day Soul would make the discovery of a lifetime.

This was the first dig that he, or anypony for that matter, had made outside the Equestrian borders in centuries. They were in the dry deserts of Saddle Arabia, which had just recently been declared an ally by Princess Twilight, after years of negotiations with the country that was begun by her predecessor. One of the first things the princess had done was to ask for permission to dig in the country, to which the leaders of Saddle Arabia had hesitantly agreed. Tensions had always been high between the two countries over the vast gem reserves in the land, so it was expected that they would be reluctant to allow any digging in their own lands. However, the Princess’s desire for knowledge was stronger, and after what could be described as a night of relentless whining on her part, the Horses finally gave in.

Soul took a deep breath of air. Out here, he thought, there was no telling what you might find. The ground in this particular area had only just been disturbed a month before, when a young zebra filly had found an artifact of interest. It was a small bas-relief, inscribed with a form of Old High Earth Pony script. What the relief had said, Soul hadn't been told, but it was apparently enough to send him and a few other archaeologists of much higher renown to come digging up the entire area for a hundred foot radius. And there he was, and had been, for more than a month, overseeing the digging and consulting his colleagues on what it might be that they were to uncover.

“Hey, Soul!” shouted somepony for deep within the pit that had been dug over the past few weeks. “Come on down here and help out a little bit. We’re not getting paid to look serious and stare at the horizon, you know!”

Soul sighed, and shook his head. He knew he’d be noticed at some point or another. Still, it had been nice to get some time off, even if he did enjoy the job more than most things he did in life. Slowly, he descended into the pit, passing a few Pegasi workers as he went down. He could tolerate Pegasi, at least, because they could on some level understand the Earth Pony struggle. It was the unicorns which got on his nerves. Not all of them, of course, not as a whole. He wasn’t racist, or at least he liked to think he wasn’t. It was just the idea of them that bothered him, the social stereotypes which had gathered around their race which made them seem better than the rest. The long horns, the arcane magic, the aura of superiority and pride which seemed to stick to them like a cloud of perfume was just sickening. At their best, unicorns were treated like kings, and at worst they were seen as miscreant citizens. For most earth ponies, though, it was always the same. You worked, worked, and worked some more, and if you were lucky you might get to spend a few short years in retirement before you rejoined the earth like the rest of your kind. That was the life of an Earth Pony in the big cities like Canterlot and Detrot , and it was disgusting.

Soul tripped over a rock as he climbed down, unaware of his surroundings while in his brooding daydream. He tumbled down, dirt and pebbles flying up in his wake until he landed at the bottom of the pit. Standing up, he looked around. A few zebras were staring at him, but they quickly went back to work, swinging away at the rock floor, hoping to find anything to raise their already meager wages.

Soul shook his head once more and headed to a bright yellow and green Pegasus mare at the edge of the pit, surveying another group of zebra workers. Soul smiled, and lightly tapped the mare on the shoulder.

“There you are,” she said as she turned around to look at him. “Done daydreaming, are ya?”

“I wasn't daydreaming, Citricus,” Soul replied, using his friend’s birth name to get the reaction he always hoped for.

“Do not call me that!” Citricus said, her eyebrows furrowing. “It’s Cindy, dammit, Cindy!”

“Sweet Celestia, Citricus,” Soul laughed, “That’s a human name, and humans don’t even exist. Do really want to go around using names that aren’t even officially used by our species?”

“If it means not being called… that, than yes, I’ll take the scoffs. Anything to stop ponies from staring at me like I’m some sort of royal vassal.”

“Very well, Cindy,” Soul said. “We’ll see how longs it lasts. Now, what was it you called me down here to see?”

Cindy smiled, and moved aside. Looking to where she had previously been looking, Soul’s eyes widened in excitement. In the dust before them was a small bronze tablet, covered in small etchings and symbols.

“Sweet mother of…” Soul began to say, but his voice trailed off as he became lost in the mesmerizing patterns on the tablet.

“What… what is it?” he continued, not taking his eyes of the swirling symbols and intricate etchings.

“We’re not entirely sure yet,” Cindy said. “It’s written in a language we don’t recognize, but some of the patterns resemble those of the ancient Earth Pony tribes. We might be able to get some hint to what the message is if we get Astro to look at it.”

Soul’s stomach clenched at the sound of Astro’s name. Of all the unicorns he knew, Astro was the most selfish, arrogant and downright annoying one he knew. He couldn’t think of anypony he’d want less to spend time with.

Cindy sighed when she saw the look on Soul’s face.

“Oh, come on,” She said. “Yeah, he’s a jerk, but at least you could acknowledge that we need him. Despite all the things that make him so intolerable, he’s still a genius.”

“I know that,” Soul said. “It’s just that…”

“You can’t get over your obvious racism towards unicorns?”

“I’m not-”

“Name one unicorn you’ve talked with on genuinely friendly terms.”

“I…”

Soul stopped. He couldn’t think of a single unicorn that he’d ever really been fond of or friendly with.

“Ok, I’m not fond of them,” He said. “But I’m not wrong! You know what they’re like. They think they’re gods just because they can cast fancy spells. They’re rich and fat and selfish and…”

“All of them?” Cindy asked, raising an eyebrow.

Soul sighed. This argument clearly wasn’t getting anywhere. Turning his attention to a nearby Zebra, Soul called out an order.

“You! Go get Prof. Astro for me, will you?” He asked.
` The zebra turned to stare at Soul, revealing a face marred by a long, winding scar which ran from its left temple to its chin. Soul flinched as the zebra nodded and began to walk up the flights of wooden stairs.

“What happened to him?” He asked Cindy.

“She’s probably a survivor of the Zebrazi inquisition. They did a lot of things to those they thought were witches, maiming being the least of them. She’s one of the lucky ones.”

Soul frowned, concerned. It rarely occurred to him how messed up the world really was. Equestria had to deal with such problems as racial discrimination and unequal pay, but it never experienced things like the inquisition.

“We’ve been living in a bubble,” he said.

Cindy nodded solemnly, understanding what he meant.

“Wait a minute,” Soul continued. “Did you say that zebra was a she?”

“Yep,” Cindy said, chuckling. Soul began to chuckle as well, feeling a bit guilty as he did so.

“Damn,” he whispered. “Things really are different here!”

With that, the two ponies burst into laughter. The solemn feeling of remorse which Soul had felt moments ago vanished in seconds, drowned in the echoing laughter of the two.

“And what, might I ask, is so funny?” asked somepony behind them.

Soul spun around, his smile gone. In front of him stood a round, grey unicorn, with a stubby little horn and short, yellow tail. The cutie mark on his flank was an asteroid of some kind, and it seemed to glitter in the sunlight as if the fur comprising it were made of gold.

“Hello, Astro,” Soul said, trying not to sound resentful. Despite his dislike for Astro, he didn’t want to risk his job over his emotions.

“That’s Professor Astro, mind you,” Astro said, a slight smirk forming on his face, clearly pleased at hearing the sound of his own title. “Do remember to refer to me by tittle next time, dear.”

“Of course, Prof.,” Cindy said. Soul saw that she was trying to suppress a scowl of disgust.

“Now, what was it you called me here for?” Astro asked. “I was just enjoying a bowl of Gallopfreyan grapes- you really should try them some time- when that damn zebra came to me, saying you required my presence. Damn those zebras, with their idiotic rhyme-language…”

“Oh, it’s no nonsense, Prof.,” Cindy said, interrupting Astro before he could say more. “We think we might have made a significant discovery.”

“Really? Let’s see it, then,” Astro said, raising his eyebrows expectantly.

Cindy and Soul moved out of the way, and Astro gasped as he saw the tablet.

“My, my, what do we have here?” he said to himself. Walking over to the tablet, he leaned over, inspecting the designs.

“It’s clearly not written in any language I’ve ever seen,” he said. “Is that why you’ve brought me here? To do a translation spell?”

“Yes, sir,” Cindy said. “You are the most experienced unicorn on the site so far.”

“Oh, Citricus, you flatter me,” Astro said, smiling. Cindy winced at the usage of her name, though Astro didn’t seem to notice.

“Very well,” he continued, “I’ll see what I can do. I advise you move back, however, as a translation of something this old will require quite a deal of energy.”

The two ponies did as they were told, and stepped back. Astro’s horn began to glow with a golden light, and Soul could feel the hair around them buzzing with energy.

Slowly, the symbols on the tablet began to shift, changing in to the modern language of Equestria. As they did, Astro read what was written down on the bronze surface.

“Here are the doors to the temple,” Astro began, “whose walls protect the last of our realm. Our last light ends here, where the new realm begins. Let the Fourth World carry our message forth, lest they receive the wrath of the demiurge. What was shall be again….”

Astro sighed. “Dear Celestia, this isn’t anything important. It’s just some religious nonsense of some sort. And a temple? Please. What temple is there to be seen? It was probably destroyed long ago.”

“But you haven’t even read the entire thing!” Soul protested. Astro raised an eyebrow, sighing in annoyance.

“Fine,” he said. “You want to hear the rest? Then listen, and we’ll see how utterly important this all is.”

Astro looked over the tablet for a moment, before getting to the section he had left off at.
“Let’s see,” he continued. “Hmm, more superstition, destruction, salvation, something about a ‘fourth generation’, whatever that means…. There might be something here about treasure, but it seems more spiritual than corporeal… Ah! Here we are.”

“What? What is it?” Cindy asked, suddenly much more excited than she had been before.

Astro’s eyes widened and he began to speak aloud what he saw.

“So go forth, oh Generation of the Sun, and begin your journey to godhood… Speak the words of man, and these doors shall open to you.”

“Interesting,” Soul said. “The doors must be hidden by some spell, which can only be unlocked by speaking ‘the words of man,’ whatever that means…”

“Obviously,” Astro said, wiping a layer of sweat from his forehead. “Anypony could have figured that out. Now, it looks like the words of man are this next section below. Let’s see if they do anything.”

Astro took a deep breath, and in a voice amplified by magic, he began to speak a language that neither Soul nor Cindy had heard.

“AMOR VINCIT OMNIA!” He shouted, his voice echoing against the walls of the pit.
There was a moment of silence. A light shone out from the wall facing the three ponies, outlining the shape of a doorway. Slowly, the rock within the shape began to crumble, until all that remained was the entrance to a long, dark tunnel, descending even farther below the earth.
“By Faust,” Cindy said. “What kind of language was that?”
Astro was silent for a moment, his jaw wide open in awe. Soul tapped him on the shoulder, jolting him from his trance.
“Oh!” He said, turning around to the pair and blushing. “Well, uh, to be honest, I’m not entirely sure. It must not have been of equine origin, because it didn’t get translated by the spell. No matter, though. We’ll ask the Zebra’s what it might means later, if it ever comes up again. Until then… well….”
“We’ll have to go down!” Soul said, stepping forwards into the tunnel. He turned around, and faced his companions with a grin.

“Well?” he asked. “What are you waiting for? We need to explore, to find evidence. Astro, don’t give me that look, you know what the tablet said! Godhood awaits!”

Astro stepped forewards hesitantly.

“It did say godhood…” he said, his horn beginning to glow to provide light. “though I doubt they we’re talking about it in the traditional sense.”

“Whatever you’re cool with, man,” Cindy said, eagerly following the two into the dark. “Let’s just not spring any booby traps!”

Soul laughed, and the three made their way down the tunnel. Pickaxe at his side, Soul felt for the first time like things were looking up for him. His first big discovery was at hand, and this time Astro wouldn’t be taking all the fame! He skipped down the tunnel, ready for anything, the dreams of his childhood leading the way.

The trio continued down the tunnel, disappearing into the darkness. At the foot of the tunnel, however, two figures stood, watching them go by. They were zebra’s the one with the scar being one of them.

“And so they go,” she said, her eyes glimmering with something old and wise. “They meet their fate. They go on down, to open the gate. No time is left, the end begins, for Faust shall rise to reap our sins.”

Her male companion turned to her, a confused look on his face.

“Um, excuse me,” he said. “But why exactly are you talking like that?”

Chp 2: Meanwhile, In Canterlot...

Canterlot, that same day.

The Sun was just rising in Canterlot the day the discovery was made. The sky was a bright orange on the eastern horizon, with the west still wrapped in the dark blue majesty of Luna’s influence. The peaks of the city’s uppermost castle, the royal residence of her majesty Twilight Sparkle, shone in the light, the gold shingles helping a great deal in doing so.

Twilight stood upon the balcony of the castle’s highest tower, her wings outstretched in a customary sun salutation, one which was necessary to move the great ball of fire through the heavens to bring the day to the western world. She sighed, and loosened her grasp on the sun, letting it drift slowly through the sky with the momentum of the tug she had given it. When it was nearing the western horizon, she would halt it, and wait for Luna to bring the moon up before pushing the solar mass back towards the western side of the planet. Twilight sighed, her muscles loosening after a strenuous effort to complete the ritual. Even after all these years, she still found it surprising how much physical effort, as well as magical, it took to raise the sun up every morning.

Walking inside the tower, Twilight slowly descended the staircase leading down to the throne room. She paused at the door, hesitant to start yet another day of running the kingdom, before opening it and stepping through into the massive, rectangular room.

A tall, slim horse stood waiting for her by the throne. He was a stallion, young and in his prime, with a calmness and surprisingly patient demeanor about him. He turned to twilight, and bowed at her approach.

“Greetings, your highness,” he said, his accent foreign and thick. “Would you care for tea before the day begins?”

“No, thank you,” Twilight replied, sitting on the throne and cracking her neck. “I’m still a bit full from breakfast. And please, Amon, call me Twilight.”

Amon nodded sharply. “Of course,” he said. “Whatever you wish, I will be happy to provide, Twiglit.”

“Oh no, please don’t feel obligated to perform anything like that,” Twilight said, ignoring Amon’s horrible pronunciation of her name. “I want you to be my friend, not my servant. Besides, you’re my cultural adviser. You shouldn’t have to worry about things like that.”

“If this pleases you, I will obey,” Amon said. He stopped for a moment, his strict and obeying expression momentarily fading.

“But this concept,” he continued. “I believe you call it friendship? Yes, this not a common political structure in my homeland. Is it similar to the clan system in Saddle Arabia?”

Twilight smiled, glad that Amon was actually starting a friendly conversation, and not asking how he might serve her.

“It has nothing to do with politics,” she said. “It’s something ponies do together, out of mutual consent, which they both enjoy very much.”

“Ah,” Amon exclaimed, nodding his head excitedly. “So it is an alliance of sorts, yes?”

Twilight chuckled. “Yes,” she said, “It’s something like that.”

There was knock at the door, and a pair of ponies entered the room. Amon quickly regained his strict posture, and Twilight adjusted herself to seem more regal in appearance.

“Greetings your highness,” The pony leading the pair said. She was a white mare, with a plump body and a pink mane. Her voice was high and regal, clearly from the upper area of the city. Her appearance reminded Twilight a great deal of Rarity, which she found to be surprisingly unnerving.

The mare’s companion was a squat Pegasus, with short, stubby legs and an equally short tail. He was clearly the mare’s servant, as his short stature emphasized her own height. Twilight couldn’t help but feel bad for the poor Pegasus; he looked so apprehensive, like the mare might bark an order at him any second.

“Greetings, Vanity,” Twilight said, trying to sound welcoming towards her.

Vanity smiled, though it looked more like a snobbish smirk, and bowed to the Princess.

“I was just coming in a bit early to ask how my husband is doing in his archaeological mission,” she said. “He said it was sin Saddle Arabia, and I’d like to know if he was safe or not. I’d hate to let those dessert savages get to my little pumpkin before he finishes his quest.”

Amon grunted, his nostrils flaring, and for a second Twilight thought she saw an anger she had only seen once before, in the eyes of the buffalo warriors in Appleoosa.

“Astro’s perfectly fine,” She said, interrupting Amon before he could say anything out of hand. “Though I doubt he has anything to fear. The Saddle Arabians are much more welcoming to our people since we made peace with them.”

Vanity rolled her eyes, quickly glancing at Amon in disgust before turning her attention back to Twilight.

“Yes, well, I’m sure that’s true for most of them,” she replied. “But I’m still glad to know my Astro isn’t in any immediate danger, though I’m sure he could handle it. He’s quite the adventurer, you know.”

“Oh, yes, I’ve heard many stories about him,” Twilight said, nodding her head and faking a smile. That wasn’t entirely a lie, either. She had heard plenty of tales about Astro and his exploits. It’s just that they were more often about his extreme arrogance than they were about his bravery.
It was at that moment that Twilight noticed a small pendent hanging from Vanities neck. It was small and gold, made in the shape of a small wand. At the end of the wand, there was a star, with a diamond set onto its surface, causing it to glitter as if it were really a celestial object.
Vanity noticed Twilight staring at the pendant, and grinned with satisfaction.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” she asked, stepping into the light of the morning sun. “I got it when I converted to Humbleism. No offense, of course. I do respect you, but I just don’t find Alicorn worship to be quite right for me. Now the Apologetic One, that’s the sort of mare I can worship without question.”
Twilight smiled genuinely now, seeing an opportunity to toy with Vanity a bit.
“Oh, yes, it certainly is beautiful,” she agreed, her eyes glancing over the pendant. “But you certainly know the cost of joining such a humble religion. What with the charity and such…”

Vanity’s smile vanished, replaced with a resentful frown.

“Well, there is that,” she said, her eyes drifting towards the ground. “I have to give away a quarter of my earnings each year to the community, or else I won’t be considered humble enough to join the inner circle. Can you believe that? Five million bits, every year for the next decade until I get to go to their silly mountains and meet the Apologetic One. If it weren’t for the prestige of meeting such an important figure, I’d have certainly declined joining.”

“Oh, yes, I understand,” Twilight said, though in reality she was far from understanding. “You know, I knew the Apologetic One before she became… well, whatever she is now. Quite the character, I must say. Now, if that’s all, I’d really like to be getting back to preparations for today’s work…”

Vanity nodded briskly, and bowed once more for the princess.

“Come now, Trotter,” she said to the Pegasus as she was leaving. With a remorseful glance at the princess, he followed his master out the door, and quickly disappeared behind their closing oaken wall.

Amon now turned to Twilight, a concerned look on his face.

“Does this mare and her religion bother you?” he asked. “I could force her to convert, if that is what you desire…”

“Oh, sweet Celestia, no,” Twilight said. “I actually hate the idea anypony worshipping me. It’s just that I have to tolerate her and her arrogance every day while her husband is off digging in the sand for tribal era artifacts.”

“You don’t wish to be worshipped?” Amon asked, surprised that such a majestic figure could not desire such an honor. “I thought your predecessor would be pleased to be treated as such.”

Twilight flinched at the mention of Celestia, the melancholy feeling she got when remember the past returning to her.

“No, she only appeared to like it,” She replied. “In reality, I only think Luna really enjoys being thought of as a goddess, and that’s only because it’s the only affection she gets most of the time. In truth, I hate being treated like some divine being, just because I have a talent others find awe inspiring. I’m not a goddess, and one day I’ll have to leave, just like Celestia did, and some other pony will take my place and start the cycle all over again.”

Amon nodded, though he still looked a bit confused.

“So, you aren’t upset by this newer, Humble religion?’ he asked.

Twilight laughed, and looked at Amon with fondness. He still had a lot to learn about reading ponies.

“I never said that,” she said. “Sure, I’m not opposed to it, but I am a little concerned. The idea of ponies worshipping anypony makes me uneasy, and when it come s to her, I’m really-“

It was at that moment that a bright, white light filled the room, like moonlight intensified a thousand times. Amon cried out in shock as he closed his eyes to block out the light, and Twilight used a spell to shield her own eyes. A light voice echoed out from the light, ringing out like a soft bell chime.

“Celestia?” it called out almost inquisitively, as if it could not see clearly. “Celestia, is that you? I’ve waited so long, dear, so long…”

The voice paused abruptly, and the air temperature seemed to drop substantially.

“Oh,” it continued, its voice much less friendly than it had been before. “You aren’t Celestia. Tell me now, where is the Sun Mother? I desired to make my return known to her first, but second in line is still good.”

“Who in Tartarus are YOU?” Twilight asked the light, emphasizing the last word with the royal Canterlot voice.

The cold air of the room now darkened, the light streaming through the windows fading until they were but slivers of orange light. The voice spoke again, deeper and more menacing before, a clear contrast to the light, high pitched melody that had spoken before.

“AND WHO ARE YOU,” it shouted, “TO SPEAK TO YOUR MOTHER IN SUCH A MANNER? YOU, WHO STAND TINY AND SMALL WHILST I STRADDLE THE HEAVENS AND GNAW AT THE WORLD?”

There was a brief moment of silence before the voice giggled, once more returning to the light giggle it had taken on before.

“See?” it continued, the air once more become warm and light. “I can play that game too! Now, please tell me where Celestia is. I so do wish to meet my firstborn daughter again after sleeping for oh so long…”

Twilight was silent. She had no idea what to tell the light. Whatever hid in its glimmering depths was of immense power, and she knew not what it would do if it heard the truth. The truth might be too upsetting for it, and yet lying might make it even more upset.

A voice cried out inside Twilight, a soft memory from days long ago.

You represent us now, sugar cube, it said inside her. Do what we would do, what the elements would do, and you’ll turn out fine.

Listening to the shade in her heart, Twilight answered honestly and with conviction.

“Celestia… is dead” she said, her muscles clenching in preparation for however the light might react. “She left this world a long time ago to refuel the sun, as all Equestrian Royalty must do when the time comes. I’m afraid it’s too late to speak with her.”

The light was silent for a moment. A strange air of mourning and recognition filled the room, as if the emotions the light felt were being emitted to everything around it. Amon himself sniffled quietly, trying to remain stoic and strong.

“I see,” The light said. “What a shame. But that is the nature of things. They are born, they live, and they die, paving the way for something better. At least Luna will be present for the new dawn.”

The light dimmed a bit, and the figure of something resembling an alicorn became slightly visible, though not entirely.

“Am I correct to assume, then, that you are the new Queen Regent?” It continued.

“It’s princess, actually,” Twilight said, “But yes, I’m the ruler of Equestria, though Cadence technically rules with me.”

“Wonderful!” the light exclaimed. “Then I feel it’s my duty to introduce myself. I am Faust, though that is merely a title I received quite some time ago. Perhaps you have heard of me?”

Twilight's eyes widened. Surely this creature must be joking. Faust was just religious figure, a barely mentioned deity who even Celestia rarely spoke of during her life. Twilight had only read a few books going into any real detail on the deity, and even those books mentioned only a few defining features, naming Faust as the creator of all things.

“I, uh, w- welcome you, Faust,” Twilight said. “Now, I’m just wondering, um, When you say you’re Faust, do you man to say that you’re the Faust, or rather just named after her.”

The Light laughed, and unnerving mix of both a light hearted giggle and a menacing cackle uttered by some infernal beast.

“Oh, child,” it said, still giggling. “Of course I’m THE Faust. Is there any other? No, seriously, is somepony running around using my name, because I’ll have to deal with that personally before I get to work.”

Twilight coughed, clearing her throat. If this thing was actually Faust, she really wouldn’t want to piss it off. On the other hand, if it was just some spirit masquerading as the creator deity, it might be best to interrogate it to find out its motives.

“Oh, don’t worry, Faust,” Twilight reassured the light. “No pony would dare pretend to be you. But what, might I ask, is your purpose here. You mentioned some kind of work?”

“Ah, yes, I was just getting to that,” Faust said. “You see, I’ve been sleeping for quite some time, resting up after ‘editing’ my previous draft of paradise. Needless to say, I was quite pleased with the updates I’ve given this world. You’re all SO much better than my last creation. However, it’s not quite right just yet. It seems the evil in this world is a bit more potent than I imagined it would be. It must be an effect of making everything in this world so damn intelligent. Anyway, I can’t stand by and watch my little ponies suffer while evil is capable of growing in the existence, so I’m going to have to remake everything again, a bit more enthusiastically than last time.”

“Um, I’m sorry,” Twilight said, furrowing her brow in concern. “What did you mean by ‘remaking’ things.”

“Oh my,” Faust chuckled. “I guess I didn’t make everything that intelligent after all. You see, dear, it’s like making a sculpture, or a sand castle. You can work as hard as you like on it, but if there’s even one flaw, the whole things is ruined. And you can’t just try and fix the problem itself, because that’ll just disrupt the structure of the whole thing. What you really need to do is tear the whole thing down, and start again from scratch. Do you understand now?”

Twilight was extremely nervous at this point. “I, um… I think I understand, but if you could just…”

“By god, girl” Faust said, the deep voice becoming more emphasized. “I’m going to destroy the world, ok? Could I make it any clearer than that? Jesus, you’d think that after a while you might get the i-”

Faust was interrupted by a bolt of purple light, firing at full velocity from Twilight’s horn. It passed through the light, shattering the image of the alicorn into a billion shards of light, and blowing a chunk of marble off of the wall behind it.

“Sorry you had to see that,” Twilight said to Amon. “I’d normally just bind the spirit with magic, but I don’t think even that spell I just cast worked on her.”

The room suddenly filled with Faust’s soft giggling, witch raised in volume and lowered in pitch until it was a menacing howl of amusement.

“Right you are!” Faust cackled. “That really didn’t do anything of use. I’m afraid that image was just a conduit, not even a full blown avatar. I’m actually still travelling to your little planet, so you’ll have to wait to get a full blown taste of my real power. Still, I guess it isn’t much of a spoiler to give you a little appetizer of what’s to come. Here, let me show you how I’ll start redecorating this world of yours. First, I’ll choose the city with the highest crime rate in the country.”

A hologram appeared in the center of the room, showing a map of the entire planet. It zoomed in on Equestria before zooming in once more on a detailed, birds eye view of Detrot.

“Oh my god,” Twilight exclaimed, and turned to Amon. “Get the guards, now. Tell them to warn Detrot city before it’s-”

“Too late!” Faust cried out, laughing as she did so. “So sorry dear, but I’m quite fast in my work. Now, let’s see. Ah yes, step two, my personal favorite. Nothing too extravagant, nor subtle. I just set everything on fire and blow it all up!”

There was no boom, as the hologram made no sound, but Twilight could hear the sound in her head as the city lit up in a huge ball of fire. Twilight gasped, and staggered forwards, too shocked to say anything.

“Oh, don’t act like that,” Faust said. “We still have to get to step three: Conversion! Now, let’s see, what’s the body count I’ve made? OOH, Seven thousand? Not exactly the highest number I’ve ever gotten, but it’s good enough. Now, I’ll just use a little black magic, and…”

The hologram zoomed in once more, focusing in on the mangled corpses of several ponies, surrounded by screaming and running civilians. Slowly, a unicorn with half her body blown off began to twitch and convulse. The patches of burnt flesh began to grow back, this time scaly and black. The blown off portion of the pony, too, began to grow back, but now it resembled the mangled hind legs of some reptilian beast. The neck of the unicorn grew longer than it should have been, and the once stubby horn how grew into a long, black spear. The newly formed abomination stood up, it’s red eyes surveying the carnage as the rest of the corpses began to undergo the same process.

“And BOOM, they become the perfect little soldiers.” Faust exclaimed as the reptilian beasts began to howl and chase after the surviving ponies, impaling them with their horns and beating them with their massive wings and talon covered feet.
Faust spoke again, her voice weary and exhausted. “My, my,” she said. “That really took a lot out of me. I’ll have to slow my approach just to regain the energy I just spent. Damn. Well, no matter. My little soldiers will convert more ponies and destroy more cities while I regain my strength. So don’t worry, Princess, you’ll have a lot to look forwards to before I get here with the my armies to get the REAL party started. Until then, I bid you farewell. I’m exhausted, and I think I might have to eat a few planets before I get moving again. See ya!”

With that, the voice stopped. The air in the room grew light and warm, and the progress of time seemed to speed up back to its normal pace.

Amon and Twilight remained still. They didn’t say anything; they couldn’t. There was nothing to say that wasn’t conveyed by their shocked silence. It was a silence that spoke louder than words, and heralded the coming of death.

Chp. 3. The Fourth In Line

"I was there when the Windigos invaded! I was THERE when Discord broke our spirits!"
"But were you there when she came? Where you there when she made the world anew, and made it yet again? You never saw Tirek. You never saw the Return of Tambelon. And above all, you didn't see her in all her glory."
- Starswirl the Bearded and Erebus the Night Stallion, from the Diary of Stwarswirl

Soul had been walking for what seemed like days.

His Breathing was labored, his mane was dirty, and his hooves felt like they had been worn to the nerve endings. His coat was covered in eons old dust, which had excited him for the first few moments before he grew bored and focused on the pain of walking once more.

"So," Astro said casually. "Where exactly is this grand treasure we were supposed to find?"

"I don't know, obviously," Soul said. "And I never said there would be a treasure."

"As I recall," Astro continued, "you said there would be godhood or some other instrument of unimaginable power here. But up to this point, I haven't even seen the temple that's supposed to house this power."

"I didn't say there would be any godhood or divinity in here," Soul replied. "I merely went on what the tablet said would be here."

"Well, apparently the tablet lied."

Soul turned to meet Astro face to face. Before he could say anything, Cindy stepped between the two, and spread her wings out to keep them separated.

"Come on, guys," She said, the tips of her feathers brushing each stallion's chest. "Let's not act like fillies. We're all adults here, so lets just quiet down and keep on walking. It's physically impossible for this tunnel to keep going on forever, so it's only a matter of time before we find what we're looking for."

Cindy could almost feel the stress drain out of the two ponies at her side as they realized just how stupid they we're being. of course, that didn't mean they weren't too proud to admit it. Astro merely huffed and continued walking, and Soul simply rolled his eyes in futile retaliation.

Astro was halfway in a step when he ran snout first into something invisible in the darkness. He stumbled back, muttering a stream of curses before looking at the darkness before him and gasping.

The shadows before the ponies rippled and shifted in the darkness as a veil of magic was torn away, revealing an immense, solid black door of pure granite. Upon the door were carved a set of words, though like the ones on the tablet, they too were a foreign mass of swirls and patterns.

"What a strange language these ponies must have used," Astro said in what sounded like admiration. "You know, I once met a travelling physician who wrote notes like this. It was a different language, obviously, and much more organized, but I can't help but be reminded of him when I see it."

"And this is relevant how, exactly?" Soul asked, knowing fully that it wasn't at all.

"Soul, shut up," Cindy said. Astro chuckled, but Cindy just gave him a glare that silenced him immediately.

"And you, Astro," she said sternly. "Just translate the damn message."

Astro did as Cindy asked without any sassy remarks, and the images quickly shifted into modern equestrian.

"Patience is a virtue," he read aloud, and began to laugh.

"Of course!" he said, smiling. "We really were walking on forever. The tunnel was just an illusion. we had to stay resilient, or else we'd keep walking forever. Oh, what a stupidly moral way of concealing the entrance, but it's still genius!"

"Well, I guess you can thank me for straightening you boys out, then," Cindy said, smiling, and pushed open the door.

There was a loud grinding noise, and the door slid open. As if on cue, the hallway beyond lit up as the torches embedded into each wall ignited spontaneously.

"I guess whoever built this place was expecting visitors a long time after they died," Soul said. "Which, to be honest, kind of disturbs me. But hey, it's an ancient temple, what else is there to expect but creepy, age old mechanisms?"

"Godhood," Astro replied. "I'd like to think godhood would be something you'd expect."

The three walked forwards once more into this new hallway. It was surprisingly clean for a structure dating before the time of Celestia, with marble walls and floors shinning as if they had been polished on,y recently. Once and a while a painting would appear, hanging on the walls of the hallway. Sadly, they were only obscure landscape paintings, showing beautiful but non descriptive mountainsides and dreadfully plain fields of grass.

Eventually, the trio entered a large, dark room. Unlike the hallway, it was lit only by a faint, blue crystal at the center of the room, which shone like moonlight and barely illuminated the curving walls of the structure, which displayed a vast array of mosaics.

"Oh my," Astro said admiringly. "What a beautiful peace of art. Perhaps, if its like most ancient equine mosaics, it tells a story of some sort."

"Maybe," Cindy said, walking towards the mosaic. "That would certainly help in explaining what this place is for. But it's too dark in here to see anything. Astro, do you think you could amplify the light of that crystal so we can get a better view of this thing."

"Certainly," Astro said, and lit up his horn.

The Crystal creaked and groaned and the magic was applied, activating after countless centuries of continual stasis. The light of the gem intensified, and ever so slowly a shape began to appear, hovering in the center of the room like some specter or ghost.

"Greetings," it said, it's voice dull and flat, more mechanical and synthetic than it was lively and organic. "This is a Ponyland military recording, made in the event of a world ending conflict. This should only be activated in the event that we, nor any outside allies were unable to make it through such an event. Please, verify the following question in order to conclude the state if the world at the present: Who is the princess of Ponyland at the current moment?"

The three were silent. Soul looked at Astro, a confused look on his face.

"Well," he asked. "What do we do now?"

"Error," the voice from the gem said abruptly. "'What do we do?' is not an appropriate response. Please, answer the question accordingly."

Astro sighed. "I guess we just answer the question," he said, before he,too, was interrupted by the synthetic voice.

"Error," it said once more. "'I guess we just answer the question' is not an apropriate response. Please, answer the question accordingly."

"Fine, fine," Astro replied dryly, obviously annoyed. "I'll answer the damn que-"

"Error," The voice said yet again. "'I'll answer the damn' is not an appropriate response. Please, answer the question accordingly."

"TWILIGHT SPARKLE!" Cindy said before any of the other ponies could respond. "Our leader is Twilight Sparkle!"

The image above the crystal was silent for a moment, hovering as it illuminated the dust particles drifting about it.

"Appropriate response," it finally responded, growing once more in luminescence. "However, Twilight Sparkle is not registered as the current leader of Ponyland. This can only indicate that the remodification of our world has been completed. We will now begin the presentation, in order to better acquaint you with the present situation."

The image over the gemstone now shone all of it's light on one particular spot on the mural, the first few images to appear on the wall. A new voice spoke out, now, clearly coming from real pony, and not some simulation like the voice before.

"Hello," it said, its voice light and squeaky. "My name is Star Song. You do not know me, nor will any records of your world mention my name. If any of them do, it will describe a different pony, with a different life and a different family, though her personality may share many similarities with my own. Please, for the mere purpose of simplifying an already complex series of explanations, regard this pony and I as two separate entities."

Soul and his companions were too astonished to speak. This was unlike anything any of them had ever witnessed before. Tribal era magic was supposed to be nowhere near this advanced, and the mere prospect of listening to the first hand account of a tribal pony was in itself extraordinary.

"Please," Star Song continued, "Focus on the mosaic the gemstone is focusing on."

The three ponies did so, and the mare continued.

"As history has taught my own generation, reality is based on the foundation of our own beliefs. This often makes the truth hard to come to terms with, especially if it contradicts everything you have been led to believe as true. However, the time will come when all must face the reality of the world, and step out from their sheltered caves of ignorance into the light of knowledge. My people did this, as did those who came before us, and you, too, shall have to follow us into the light. But to do that, we must shatter everything you know about your world."

The mosaic became more clear in light, revealing a startling array of images. Grand, towering castles peaked above the clouds over a small field, where a group of small, strange creatures were playing. They were not ponies, though they appeared to be quite similar to them, for all but their heads were the same. however, their snouts were fat and chunky, hyper-realistic images more similar to the horses of Saddle Arabia than they were to te ponies of Equestria. There were other creatures, too, small furry balls that jumped up and down across the field, and an odd, upright, ape like creature which Soul instantly recognized as being a human.

"Behold," Star Song said gravely, "the First Generation. This is where our story shall begin, though in truth it begins much early than this, before the time of ponies, when Mankind was the ruler of this world and countless others. Here, in the great world of Ponyland, a settlement forgotten by the humans long ago, our kind first emerged from the life of domestic laborers. They lived in harmony with the humans who remained, sharing knowledge with each other and building mighty civilizations. For centuries, pony and human and bushwoolies lived in harmony. Even the dragons were content to bother only themselves, those this was probably because of an abundance of gemstones in the land at that time. But Darkness always finds its way into the world, and there came a day when even the paradise the First generation had built would begin to decay, like so much else in the world."

The light now focused on a new section, darker and more grim than the previous one. A strange, demonic like creature stood in the center of the image, a hideous red and black amalgamation of a human and pony's forms. the lower half was that of an equine creature, whilst the top was a bare-chested, red skinned man of an unbelievable physique. Upon his head were two long, mighty horns, and in his and there lay a billowing cloud of darkness, from which all sorts of monstrosities emerged.

"Tirek, king of the centaurs and the first of the dark lords, emerged from the darkness to usurp the peace. His armies swept across the land, killing and converting all that stood in their way. Those that were once ponies became black dragons, and what were once bright rainbows became black as night, all stemming from the dark torrent that Tirek himself wielded in his own hand. Our people moved back, broken and afraid, and rightly so. For the darkness was endless, and they were but a few."

Now the light turned to a new, more hopeful image. A human girl, flanked on either side by the strange, pony-like creatures, were pushing back the demon, Tirek. He Was falling back into an abyss, which reached out with arms of black smoke, binding him and pulling him into the darkness of who knows where.

"But Tirek could not kill hope. From the plains and valleys of Ponyland, a human named Megan, left behind by her kind, aided our own in defeating the Dark Lord. With All the armies of Ponyland behind her, they stormed the Midnight Castle, and razed it to the ground, casting Tirek back into the Dark Realm where Grogar and other foul creatures lay, rotting for their trespasses against the Harmony of the First Ones."

The light focused on a new, large image. It depicted the ruins of a castle, lying in smoking rubble at he foot of a large mountain. In the Rubble there stood a small Pegasus, or at least the Pegasus variation of whatever ponies ruled during this time period, whose coat was a brilliant white and whose mane was a fiery red. It was outlined in gold, placing an apparent importance on the figure.

"But they could not destroy the darkness entirely. From their ponies, there came a pegasus named Moondancer. A timid mare, she saw only the finest things in life, and wished for the world to remain the way it had been. So when Tirek came to destroy the world, she was appalled by what she say. Searching the ruins of the castle, she searched for a an answer to her questions, a source of all the darkness, so that she might know how to prevent it from ever coming back to taint her world. Alas, she found no such source, but only more vile magic. Our records a blurry here, but it seems that she found something, perhaps a trace of raw energy left over from the battle of midnight castle, something so powerful it could give her the power of a god. She saw the potential of such a power, and she knew that with it, she could change the world to meet her ever desire, to make it perfect in her own idea of what perfection meant. But she still had hope, hope that the world would no longer be tainted by darkness, that suffering would no longer afflict her friends. So she waited, and saw all that came after Tirek. She saw the wrath of Grogar, and the desolation that he brought with him. She saw entire kingdoms be consumed by Smooze, and watched as forests were burned to ashes by Lavan. She saw all the chaos that came, and she knew that the world would never be the paradise she had once known. This is what drove her to do the unthinkable. This is what drove her to use the power she had found to change her cutie mark, to change the very essence of her being to fit that of a god, of a creator!"

Now the light grew, expanding until the whole of the room was lit, and the ponies saw the even larger mosaic that covered the dome roof of the room. It was one image, on dark, chaotic image, filled with fire and smoke and fractured worlds, with newborn stars and dying cities. And in the center, there stood Moondancer, her form wreathed in flames and lightning bolts, her once innocent for transformed into a marvelous and terrible mare of unbelievable power.

"She was Moondancer not longer," Star Song said, her voice shaking with what may have been either fear of sorrow. "She abandoned that name with er cutie mark, and her sanity along with it. For by changing her very being, she had changed her soul, a feat no mortal, even one with the power she had, could o without driving themselves insane. So she took a new name, the name of a goddess we worshiped long before she took its name and defiled it. She became Faust, the terrible! She became Faust, the destroyer! She became Faust, the GOD!"

The light flashed, and the room became as dark as the three had found it, only slightly illuminated. Star Song spoke again now, quieter and much more solemnly than before.

"She created two worlds after she destroyed the first," she said. "Each one built upon a principle she thought would make it perfect. My world, the one that proceeds yours, was the second she created, the third generation of ponies, and the world that received her greatest degree of wrath. To go into the specifics would only frighten you. What you must know is that I am the last of my kind, the last of the third generation, and the last to die. Faust has already destroyed the world outside, but my colleagues and i were able to hide this place, to conceal it before she did so. When she has recreated life, this place will still be here, to warn your people of her approach. even now, while you are watching this, she has begun her descent from the stars, to evaluate your world, only to destroy it and create a new one in it's place. You must stop her, and succeed where so many failed before you. We tried to find a way to destroy her, and we did, but by that time it was to late. But your generation, you still have time. You can still find the rainbow of light. It's older than her, an eternal force, and no matter how much she likes to try, she can't effect it in any way. But it can eefect her. It can kill her. So you have to find it, before it's to late. I repeat, for the love of our goddess, you have to find it! There's nothing else i can say but that. I don't know where it is, and the likelihood of you finding it is slim, but it is the only way of stopping her before it's too late. I'm so sorry about all of this, but i can't say any more. I can only hope that you succeed in doing what we never could."

The voice stopped abruptly. The gemstone turned a dark red, and a large ERROR sign appeared over it. the group remained silent, their mouths hanging open in shock before Astro spoke.

"Well," He said giddily, his mouth widening into a smile. "I think we just made the discovery of a lifetime!"

Soul Began to smile as well, and for the first time in his entire life he walked over to Astro and clapped him on the back, laughing with him as they both realized just how big of a discovery they had made.

Cindy looked at the gem, and then at the two, and then back at the gem, astonished at how thick her two companions were being.

"Excuse me," she shouted. "But we just got a warning of a huge catastrophe coming our way! We have to get to Canterlot and tell the princess about this NOW, before-"

"Before what?" Astro said, still laughing. "The mare was obviously insane. Yes, there probably was some terrible catastrophe which killed her people, but it's not coming back anytime soon. She was probably just insane from what she had seen, and recorded her message, along with all of her delusions."

"That's ridiculous!" Cindy said. "That doesn't explain the mosaics, or the tablet, or temple itself in the first place!"

"Maybe she was a religious nut job," Soul said causally. "You see them all the time in Canterlot and Manhattan, screaming about the end of the world. Maybe she was no different."

Cindy's angered look began to fade, and her wings pulled tightly to her sides.

"I guess you're right," She said. "But... It's just so much! How do we know she wasn't lying, and that the world really is in danger?"

"So sad," said a new voice, "but I'm afraid its the truth. The Moondancer comes, with claw and tooth!"

Soul, Astro and Cindy turned around. In the doorway leading to the entrance of the temple, there stood a zebra mare, with a distinct scare running across her face.

"Oh, for the love of Celestia," Astro said, "it's that damn zebra again. Listen, why the tartarus are you here? This is for Authorized personel only, is that clear? Perhaps i should say that again, but make it rhyme."

Astro was going to say more, but stopped when he saw the look on the Zebra's face.

"Zecora is my name," She said. "It carries much fame. Perhaps you've sworn oaths to me when making bold claims?"

Astro laughed. "You?" he said "You're telling me that you're THE Zecora? Ridiculous. She'd be somewhere like Canterlot, helping the Princess with some alchemical test, and not here, in the baking desert."

At that moment, another figure stepped in. It was a member of the royal Equestrian Guard, equipped in full gold armor and wielding a spear as menacing as his stare.

"Watch your tongue!" the guard shouted, his deep voice echoing off the walls of the room. "You will address Lady Zecora in the proper manner!"

At this point, Astro fell to the ground, bowing before Zecora and the Guard.

"Oh god," he said, "I'm so sorry. If I would have never-"

"Enough!" Zecora demanded, pulling her hooves away from the sniveling Astro. "There's no time to waste. Canterlot calls, and we must make great haste!"

"B-but why would we be needed in canterlot?" Cindy asked, stepping forwards to meet the zebra eye to eye.

"The world ends," Zecora answered grimly. "Just like before. Detrot burns with blood and gore. The skies are alight with dragonfire. Twilight craves the gem to kill Faust's ire."

"So, so you mean..." Soul began, his eyes widening as the realization of what was happening hit him like a bolt of lightning.

"Yeah," Cindy said. "Star Song was right."