Morning star's Gambit

by Excalibur Reward

Rating: everyone
Tags: Romance, Adventure, Crossover, Anthro
Length: 5091

A soon to be alicorn gets more then he bargained for.

Morning Star is a unicorn, known to be incredibly lucky and/or smooth talk his way out of even the worst situations, is on the verge of becoming an official alicorn, but before he embraces a life of responsibilities he goes to Pony Ville against his teacher's wishes to party one last time. He eventually gets caught up in a 5-way relationship with 5 of the main 6. Between that and the fact that he can just barely control his powers is enough to make anybody go crazy. Can he rely on his luck and make it out of this one in one piece?

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2014-09-21 06:19:14 UTC

Morning Star's backstory

My name is Morning star. As you may already know I am the verge of becoming a full power Titian like my teacher Helios (the orginal sun god). I may seem like a normal unicorn, but don't let that fool you. I have what you call a natural knack for magic. But not just simple parlor trick magic like levitation and simple beams like you're used to seeing. I know advanced forms of magic like cloning, force fields, illusions,  redirecting incoming enemy blasts, etc. But my favorite form is chaos magic which seems to be my best subject, at least that what my teacher says (no surprise there).

Back in my home world I was the top of the class when it comes to battle spells. Everyday another pony would challenge me to a magical duel. Only to get a face full of my golden energy blasts. In fact on the day of the quantifying duel for the school Lord Helios was a spectator and he got a good look at my magical abilities. Now don't get me wrong, I was very humble at the time. Not to mention a nice guy: I gave magic lesson to those who were struggling as well as a sparring partner. Things like that made me the big pony on campus at least it did until everyone realized something. Despite all my abilities I lacked one thing: a cutie mark. Now you're going to get all sympathetic on me, word of advice: don't.

Fate solved that problem for me and it was the day of graduation.

"I can't believe that graduation day is here! Finally here! " young Morning said bursting through the doors entering the cult's dorm.

Morning was an average sized cult, about 5'2 and around 13 years old. He Had a gold mane and tail with a spikey bed head hairstyle with a gold yellowish coat and medium sized horn o his forehead to match. Sadly the only thing insignificant about him was his blank flank.

Most of the cults were not as exited as Loki. They were mostly nervous and looked like they were going throw up. Gross.

That didn't bother him in the least bit. He hopped out of the dorm feeling very happy and without a care in the world. That's when he walked right past a group of  wannabe bad boy cults that like to hang out in the hall ways picking on a fellow cult from one of Morning star's magic classes.

"Ha. Look at this spineless excuse for a cult. You think you can survive the graduation ceremony? Not on your life!" The first one howled in laughter.

"Yeah you're so puny I could use you as a tooth pick." another joked.

"And where do you think you're going twinkle toes?"  one of them said.

Loki stopped short and turned around.

"Who me?" Morning asked.

"Yeah you."

One of them walked up closed to Loki.

"Wait, I know you."

"You do?" The others said.

"Yeah." He said looking back towards the group then back at Loki.

"Your lord Helios's favorite student."

"Well, I don't know about favorite."

"Oh, so now your gloating!" another one of them growled.

"Huh, wait no!"

"Let's teach the nerd a lesson he won't soon forget."

They started to close in on me and I thought that this was the end for me. But before they could even lay on hand on him Loki's eyes glowed bright yellow. The hallway brightened up with a huge FLASH. After the flash went away all Loki could see was their bodies sprawled against the floor.

"Wha-what just happened?" One of them asked.

"I don't know but I can't get up." The other said.

"OOOOOWWWWWW" The last one said who seemed to be doubled over in too much pain to say anything else.

There was a long, awkward pause. Morning star's classmate who stared in awe at the what he just witnessed.

"Wow" He said finally said.

Loki just stood there. His eyes still flowing with energy until they final stopped. He shooked his head as if he was in a trance. He looked at the hallway full of bodies of the knocked out wannabes.

"Uh...did I miss something?"

"You mean ... you don't remember?"

"Remember what?"

"You just knocked out 3 guys at once...with one blow!"

Morning Star put his hand on his chin. He was about to say something when the bell rung.

The graduation battle was about to begin.

"There's the bell!" Loki yelled out excitedly "I'll see you in the arena!"

Loki dashed out of the hallway making his way towards the arena.

'We'll get you back kid!" One of the wannabe said wincing "Just you wait!"

In the arena each gender was set up in separate lines. Standing between the lines stood the silvered haired, dark navy blue Titian Atlas (god of astrology) in full battle armor . He was given the job of explaining the rules.

"As you may already know, you all have the opportunity to demonstrate your magical talents and abilities that you've learned over your time here." He began. " Some of you are probably wondering why we have gathered in here instead of a simple dueling room as tradition."

Some of the students murmured in agreement.

"Well I thought of something better. Instead of a simple dueling between two opponents which is way too simple and boring for my taste. Not to mention it lets weak tributes become weak heroes and nobody wants that. So I thought of this: our 1st annual Battle Brawl Mania!"

Atlas 's loud voice shook the coliseum. Several of the students lost their footing and fell on their butts. Morning snickered but helped them up anyway.

"As I was saying each student will team up with one another to work together to get to the other side of the field. I suggest teaming up with someone who's athletic and knows how to survive. They'll need those skills for what I have planned." Atlas said with a wide smile.

Students gasped and whimpered. But Morning just smiled. To him it just meant more fun and a sweeter victory.

"I will now pick a student to be the 1st captain." Atlas boomed.

He walked down the aisle between the two gender lines. Morning could see him coming. Loki held his head down and closed his eyes . With every step Morning's heart raced with anticipation, until he heard no more footsteps. He opened his eyes to see a large shadow cased upon him.

"You" Atlas said loudly "will be the 1st captain."

Morning smiled, grinning from ear to ear. He walked up next to Atlas.

"Make your choice."

He looked around at the possible teammates. He saw the cults that he knocked not too long ago. They did the signature finger across the neck motion so it was probably not a good idea to pick them. That's when he saw the cult that was being bullied. Morning felt that if he was left alone he'll be the first to be terminated.

"I choose him" Loki finally said pointing at the cult.

Atlas was surprised. He was sure that he would pick a stronger looking teammate but he didn't argue. After the next few minutes the other students paired themselves up.

This is going to be fun.

Morning star's backstory: part 2 Battle Brawl Mania

The teams were finally ready and had their backs against the wall. Morning star's new teammate ran up next to him. He was a few inches shorter than him. He had a sea foam green Mohawk and tail. As well as a black coat, a medium sized horn, and a small scar on his left cheek.

"So just to recap you're choosing me? Why?" he asked. He sounded half relieved, half worried.

Morning just chuckled.

"I thought you could use some help" he said giving him his signature smile.

He could tell that his new friend was feeling a little bit better.

"So what's your name?" the dark unicorn asked.

"Morning Star" The golden unicorn answered as he held out his hand. " Yours?"

"Swift blade." he answered while warmly shaking Morning's hand.

"Mares and Stallions" A new, yet familiar voice has entered the Arena " I present to you the tributes who we be participating tonight!"

Morning turned towards the familiar voice. It was Lord Helios in all his glory sitting on his throne next to his brothers Atlas and Kronos. The young stallion hasn't seen him since the day he was chosen to enter the school. But now he was here no doubt expecting the best out of everybody and Morning star always gives it his all. Even when he doesn't want to like what happened in the halls. Helios smiled when he saw his student again.

"This will definitely be an interesting event." He said to himself.

Soldiers filed out of the large door leading into the arena. Carrying with them were crates containing series of magical weapons meant only for stunning, not killing. The soldiers began dumping the crates revealing the weapons. Atlas allowed the tributes 30 minutes to choose their weapons. Out of the whole pile Morning Star had his eye on a magic staff, he grabbed it with no hesitation and returned to his spot on the wall. Swift blade did the same.

"What weapon did you get?" Morning asked.

"Just this energy knife. I didn't really want any of the other ones. Too barbaric for my taste. You?"

"This staff. pretty cool right? Watch this"

Morning did some parlor staff tricks flipping it with his tail. A few feet away the Wannabes were watching with a growing hatred of the two. Swift blade noticed this and immediately started to worry.

"Hey, dial it down will ya?"

"Quit worrying" Morning said sighing.

"I'm not. Just....save it for the contest."

"Let's begin" Kronos finally said.

Kronos was wearing his formal top hat and monocle that resembled a gold watch with a chain train conductors use. He was a medium sized stallion. He had a bronze coat and a tan mane and tail. His horn glowed and an hour glass appeared indicating the time available during the contest. As soon as he flipped it over the bugle horns blared for the game has begun. Luckily Morning star already knew Atlas's intention really were. The objective is not to make it to the other side but to survive the other tributes. For this is the true way of separating the strong from the weak and for the record Morning totally agrees. The only thing that he couldn't figure out was how is he going to protect Swift blade as well as show off in front of his superiors? Looks like he's just gonna have to rely on his luck for this one.

All of Tartarus broke loose in just the 1st few minutes. Some tributes were blasting each other with energy beams. Others were using the magical weapons provided to subdue each other. Morning was sure that Swift blade was probably overwhelmed with all this chaos but when he turned to look at him he was one of the main ones out there, subduing his opponents left and right with his magical knife. It was obvious that he was sick of being underestimated and was now showing what he was made of, Probably getting some extra points for doing so.

"Time to show what I got!" Morning said before running into the chaos to make his mark.

Above Helios and his brothers were picking out their favorites to win. Naturally Helios is hoping that Morning star qualifies and Atlas was leaning towards Swift blade qualifying.

A few more minutes of fighting with Morning star and Swift blade definitely making their mark on the field. Instead of panicking about if he'll make it Loki was having the time of his life. Swift blade was doing pretty great too. Both was making their way towards the other side of the arena, nearly halfway there when trouble finally reared its ugly head. Swift blade was tackled hard by one of the wannabes.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the toothpick. Finally showing a little backbone huh? Well guess what? I don't like that."

Swift blade struggled to get free but the wannabe pinned him down with no signs of letting go. Morning saw this and was on his way to help when the other two blocked his path both carrying high grade energy swords.

"Where do you think you're going?"

They howled with laugher. The sand in Kronos's hourglass was halfway empty. Morning star knew couldn't beat them one at a time, that would take too way long, he had to think of a way out of this.

"Morning Star!" Swift blade cried out still trying to get free. "Remember what you did earlier in the hallway!"

"What I did? I can't remember what I did!"

He suddenly realized that he had no time to think as the two started to close in on him. They were a few feet away and Morning was shaking his head trying to figure out what Swift blade was talking about. The spectators watched in high tension, sitting on the edge of their seats as they feared the worst for their favorite team.

"Lights out kid!" the wannabe raised his sword and swung it at the cult.

Suddenly the unbelievable happened. Morning Star caught the blade with both his hands and snapped it in half like a twig. The wannabe was shocked at what he was looking at: Morning was bathed in glowing light from head to toe, His eyes filled with golden energy. The two looked at each other then did the stupidest think you could do at that moment: they both charged at him. Morning Star moved with blinding speed sending them both flying. They landed a few yards away, both knocked out cold.

"Oh, so you think you're so bad wimp? Huh? Is that it? " the last one said getting off Swift blade. "Well...... take this!"

Without a weapon the wannabe's horn lit up. He threw a large ball of energy at Loki smiling to himself, thinking he had won. He was sorely mistaken. Morning Star caught the ball and it disappeared in a puff of smoke. He then teleported behind the wannabe and delivered a stone wall breaking punch to his back. The wannabe was down for the count, he then walked over to his teammate. Swift blade's leg was broken after being tackled so hard. Morning had no problem helping him walk the rest of the way there. He had Swift blade put his arm over Morning's head and slowly walked while his teammate hopped but they only had a few minutes left so they had to hurry. Morning had stopped glowing and Swift blade noticed something. There was a new image that must've just appeared on Morning star's armor but he couldn't make it out from his point of view.

They were close to the finish line with just a view seconds left: 9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1! Both leaped over the line and into the winners circle as the first Battle Brawl Mania Victors!

The Test of courage

Both cults was breathless and sore. But all the same they're glad they passed the test. Everyone clapped and cheered for the two victors. The big three flew down from their thrones to the ground to so every member could formally congratulate them. Well, almost every member. Atlas was, unlike the others, feeling neutral. He had a look in his eye which Morning and Swift blade knew all to well: Atlas has another challenge.

Great. Swift blade thought Another challenge? What could Atlas possibly think of?

As if he heard him, Atlas answered.

"Now that the 1st challenge is completed, the real test can now begin!" He boomed.

The audience, as well as the other members of the big three, was shocked at the decree their brother just made.

"Victors will meet in the throne room where they can truly be tested. Don't be late."

Atlas walked off, with Kronos following him leaving Helios on the field with the victors.

"What does he mean by final test?" Swift blade asked.

"Do not worry." Helios said trying to calm the cult. "I don't think it's  Atlas's intention to harm you for no reason. It's just not in his nature."

"Besides, how bad could this be?" Morning said laughing.

Remember this question for it will soon be answered.

                                                                ~~~~~~~~~

The victors meet the big 3 in their throne as promised. But they weren't the only form of royalty there. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had heard about the Battle Brawl Mania and wanted to catch the ending. Celestia sat on a extra throne next to Helios while Luna sat next to Atlas.

"The victors are here. Now Atlas will you, pray tell, inform us on your idea on a final test?" Helios asked.

"Gladly." Atlas said with a smile." My idea of a final test is easy, it will be a test of power. Both victors choose one god to do battle with. If they win I'll agree to their titian ship. If they lose....well I'll send the coffin makers a notice. Simple."

Behold. The answer to Morning star's question

"Brother! You can't possibly expect them to beat a god. Even the weakest one could destroy them easily!" Helios said worrying.

"But do see any weak gods present? No? I didn't think so." Atlas said bluntly. "Now is the time! Victors! Choose your opponent!"

Swift blade didn't now what to do. Each member of the big 3 was powerful and could destroy us in their own way! If we choose Kronos he'll just turn us into dust with his time traveler's magic. Choose Helios and he'll just burn us to a crisp and/or simply vaporize us, but at least he'll be nice about it. And Atlas .... well, lets just say the last guy who challenged him never made it out of the throne room,,,, alive anyway. So any way you look at it the ending result is: we're screwed.

"I can't decide!" Swift blade confessed and closed his eyes. " You pick."

Morning Star already had his answer.

"You!" he blurted out.

Swift blade opened his eyes once more to see who their opponent was and sure enough he was pointing at the last Titian you would to get into a fight with : Atlas. Helios was no doubt shocked at his student's choice.

"M-Morning star! Are you insane! You want to challenge Atlas?!? You do remember what happened to that stallion last time?"

Atlas just smiled.

"They obviously want to prove themselves with a real challenge."

He then started to rise from his throne but Morning star just now realized something: All the gods were not their full size back at the arena. But now they were. And another thing: despite of Atlas being the youngest of the 3, he was the biggest and strongest. Atlas continued to rise but showed no signs of stopping. That's when Morning star noticed one final thing: Big wasn't a good word for him. He was a colossus! In fact he was so tall his horn scraped the ceiling!  His throne must be magic because there was no way it could have contained him if this is his true height. Atlas's throne was in fact custom made from scratch by his own design and raw magic. It was indeed a special type of magic: space distortion magic, One of Atlas's main powers. His horn lit up a blazing white and a giant energy claymore appeared in his giant hand.

"Okay how in the wide, wide world are we going to beat him!?!" Swift blade cried out.

"Like this!" Morning yelled as he charged at the giant with his staff.

Atlas swung his giant blade downwards nearly missing Morning star but instead hit the marble floor creating a giant crater. The aftershock forced the young cult backwards thus landing on Swift blade. The sword was probably 3x the strength of a speeding train.

"Well man, at least you gave it your best shot." Swift blade groaned.

"We're not done yet!" Morning star said as he charged at the giant again.

"I was afraid you'd say that." Swift blade said as he followed.

I hate to admit it but they have a lot of courage to attack me, twice. Atlas thought. They Definitely show promise.

This time they had the 1st strike. Before Atlas could react they both leaped high in the air and with delivered another Stone wall breaking blow toward Atlas's chest. Sadly the best it did was make him step back a few spaces. Never the less Atlas was impressed by the power by the two novices.

I think I saw everything I needed to see. Time to finish this..

Atlas raised his sword once more. Swift blade thought they was going to die. The sword came down and he closed his eyes. He waited for the blood curdling scream of his teammate but instead heard nothing. Swift blade opened his eyes and was happy to see he and his friend were still in one piece. As for the sword Atlas had just planted it into the ground, there was a huge grin on the his face.

"You have passed the test. Congratulations!"

Both Morning star and Swift blade were dumbfounded. Atlas explained that his true intentions were in fact to see what we would do if while guarding their kingdom we came across a dangerous opponent with absolutely no chance of beating him . Would we a) run or b) stand their ground and fight for their lives. Atlas was fairly happy with our choice. The princesses clapped and cheered, the other gods were just as happy as they were relieved.

The Victor's reward

Morning star and Swift blade finally made it to the actual graduation portion of the day, everyone gathered in the large room of ceremonies. Oddly enough the whole ceremony looked a lot like a high school graduation: the chairs formed an aisle through the victors could walk through leading to a large pedestal where the big 3 as well as the princesses were seated behind. Morning and Swift blade saw the losing tributes but instead of sadness they showed happiness and excitement. They all cheered when they saw them, well not exactly all of them: the wannabes sat in the far back in a corner. Their battle wounds healed nicely, the hospital must really do wonders but they all shared a cold looked on their faces. The face of pure hatred for another. If Atlas didn't make this mandatory they probably would've been anywhere else in the kingdom besides here. But the two didn't pay them no mind, it was their time. They walked up to the pedestal where the big 3 shook their hands and gave them medals of bravery and honor.

"You have passed the arena test with flying colors." Helios said proudly.

"Not to mention you survived your fight with me" Atlas added.

"Quite." Helios noted. "You demonstrated what it takes to be a hero. Something that I hope rubs off on your colleagues."

Everyone laughed. The wannabes just leered at them in ultimate hatred.

"By the way, nice mark Morning star. It'll go great with the armor you'll be getting." Helios said smiling.

"Mark? What mark?"

"You mean you haven't noticed? Well now would be a good time."

Morning looked towards where his old teacher was pointing and he saw it: It was an image of a gold coin.

"Cool!' Swift blade said.

"Very nice." Atlas commented.

"Kudos kid!" Kronos added.

Out of the whole ceremony Morning loved the after party the most. There food, games, and Gods/Goddesses everywhere. Most of them came to congratulate him and Swift. He also saw Luna standing next to Atlas. He had heard some rumors that Luna and Atlas had a lot in common and that they would be a great couple. The only problem is Luna is too proud to admit her feelings. In fact she had feelings for him since she met him during that supernatural hurricane incident. If only she knew Atlas felt the same way.

Morning Star took it upon himself to set the mood. With his magic he switched out the music sheets the band was using to smooth jazz: A favorite of both Luna and Atlas, another thing they have in common. Other things they have in common include: both have siblings of higher authority, both were ironically trapped by what they are best known for, and finally both haven't seen their parents since they became royalty.With the smooth jazz playing Atlas built enough of his own courage to ask Luna to dance. She gracefully accepted.

The waltz was the only dance Atlas knew had to do, luckily that was Luna's favorite. So they did the waltz for a few minutes, both loving the music and letting it controlled them.This was the 1st time Morning star saw Atlas enjoying himself so much. In fact enjoying himself period! Reason why was because he was the symbol of authority around here and tends make sure every single law written by Helios is enforced and known. So A.K.A he takes his role in the kingdom very seriously but when it comes to fun things like parties even he cant help but tap his shoes to the musical beat. It shows that Atlas was a cool guy once you get to know him.Throughout the whole dance Atlas couldn't help but look into Luna's teal eyes and she couldn't help but look into Atlas's steel silver eyes. They both closed in for a kiss.

Aww. Celestia thought My little sister's first kiss.

Celestia turned to look at lord Helios who just so happens to be watching as well, he walked up next to her.

"Strange isn't it? Seeing our younger siblings grow up so fast right in front of us?" Hyperion said.

"Yeah. It's a little bit unfair really" Celestia said.

"Really? How so?" Helios said feeling quite puzzled.

Celestia Pulled Helios Closer to her.

"Because she got to kiss the love of her life before me."

"Oh."

Both closed their eyes and kissed passionately.

                                                                       ~~~~~~

After the party the princesses and the big 3 said their farewells and see you soons. Especially Luna since she was planning on visiting Atlas in his dreams later on tonight.  The princesses were getting ready to walk through a portal Atlas had conjured up. He calls them dimensional distortion gates or D.D.G's and tends to use them or run instead of flying whenever he can. He just used to walking on the ground nowadays.

"Hey where does that lead to?" Morning star asked.

"I heard to a place called E..Equestria? I think." Swift blade answered. "Hey, since we're going to be gods and all, does that mean we part ways now?"

"Of course not! We can still see each other during the summer and winter solstice meetings." Morning laughed.

"Oh yeah. Totally forgot about those meetings. I hear that they always end with a bang."

"Probably from a God blowing his or her's fuse. So yeah don't want to miss any of those meetings, they're never boring!"

Both laughed. But Morning still couldn't stop staring at the portal.. as if it was calling his name:

Mooorrrrrnnniiinnnggg, Ssssttttaaaarrrrr.

His eyes went wide as he started to walk closer towards the portal.

"Uh, dude what are you doing? dude! " Swift blade shouted.

Morning couldn't hear him he was close to it that he touched it....and immediately fell right through.

Flight to the Finish!

Okay let me just say one thing: Atlas's portals are awesome! Going through one gives you a super high feeling not to mention saps the energy out of you. Not kidding! I usually have a lot of energy so being exhausted was a 1st for me. When I opened my eyes I was out of the portal....and was now falling towards the ground! I thought I was going to die when suddenly something totally awesome happened: A pair of gold wings sprouted out of my back. So instead of falling to my death I was pretty much freefalling. Till I flew face first into a pole.

"Not bad for my first time ." Morning groaned as he got up.

Suddenly the pole he hit glowed then snapped in half. Weird.  Morning looked around. He hills and forests far as the eye could see. He walked over to a nearby pasture to see a group of pegasi..

He have never seen pegasi before, only unicorns and alicorns. So it was understandable for him to mistake them for alicorns. He squinted and realized that they had no horns.

If they don't have horns then.....what are they?

With his newly developed wings he flew over to them. One of the stallions turned towards him.

"Oh. You must be the new recruit. Your a little late don't ya think?."

"Uh...." Morning started,

"Don't worry I wont hold against you personally since it's your first day."

Clearly the Pegasus was mistaking Morning star as one of their own when he had just received his wings no less than 5 minutes ago.

"Sorry but I think mistaking me for a professional flyer," Morning said trying to clear up the confusion

"No need to be modest. We have lots of flyers: Some good, some... well no so good." He said pointing towards a disproportional looking white stallion with tiny wings.

"But no, honestly I'm just a cult."

Now the stallion Pegasus looked really confused.

"Uh have you seen yourself lately?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well I'm just saying that you look a little to old to be a cult."

"What do you mean I look to-"

That's when Morning star got a good look at himself. He was around 5'8 now and sounded at least 15 years old.

"old. What happened to me?"

"Weren't you always like that? What did you woke up from a coma or something?"

That gave Morning an idea.

"Uh... yeah. Yeah that's what happened. I hit my head on a pole and slipped into a coma. I must've been out longer than I thought. I just woke up this morning."

"Well that's very lucky of you." The stallion said smiling.

"Yeah. Lucky." He turned to look at his mark: the gold coin. "That's must be your meaning, isn't it?"