Once, an evil demon roamed the lands. From the Aruri Desert to the Lifu Fire Lands, his magic pervaded every living being and corrupted them. They were left as twisted shells of themselves, shadows of their former greatness and drained of all color.
The ancients, in one last attempt to rid the lands of this presence, banded together. Such a thing was unheard of! Each of the five nations were usually embittered in intense wars and feuds with each other, so an alliance such as that was rare indeed.
Each of the five leaders, the Churs, met atop of Mount Yuzman for a summit. Each brought with them sacred gems from their homeland, each a different color but all the same size and consistency.
Unlike us, the ancients knew magic. They enchanted the stones with every drop of harmony and order that their magic could summon. Each stone was infused with powerful magic that, when used together, would drive the demon back from the five nations!
Alas, when the five Churs set out to use them, they failed. They sputtered and sparked, but no magic flowed forth. The stones would not work for them, and the demon was not yet felled. That’s when a winged vision came to them all, she shone like the sun and spoke with a voice of velvet.
“Creatures,” She said, her voice akin to a goddess’.“You must find the true bearers of these elements, only they may drive the chaos from your home. When you find the five, the sixth will become known.” She gave them the true nature of each element and sent them on their way.
The search for the bearers took years, years which our fair nations did not have. The demon spread the desert far, making it cover the entire Aruri nation; the Fire Lands became more active, The Plains would not grow anything, and the Mur Sea became restless and violent.
Eventually though, after much trial and error, the bearers were found. One from each nation, one to represent the elements of order and peace. When all five were brought together with their respective stones, another element was formed, the most powerful of them all.
The new element shone upon one of the lowly assistants of the many Churs and chose him as its sole bearer. Together, the elements forced the demon out of our lands and deep into the Dark Forest, where his evil magic still lingers to this very day.
Each of the bearers, the Protectors of Order, became the new Churs. The lowly assistant became a new type of leader, his court stood in the very cave where the stones were enchanted. Any and all countries could go to him to settle disputes, whatever they may be. With this, the lands fell into a state of bliss and peace.
“Is the legend true, daddy?” The little boy asked, his little hands holding his blanket excitedly and his dark eyes filled with fascination by the tale.
“Of course it is, little one.” The boy’s father answered, his rough hands tossing his son’s hair. “Now, can you tell me what the six elements of order and peace are?” The little boy cocked his head,thinking.
“Nobility.”
“So that we may stay by those we love, no matter what.” His father finished for him the old mantra.
“Humility.”
“So that we may know and show kindness to others when they need it.”
“Optimism.”
“So that even when the demons appear, we may smile and laugh.”
“Understanding.”
“So that when people are in need, we can give accordingly.”
“Strength.”
“So that we can speak the eternal truths at all times.”
The little boy hesitated. He knew he was forgetting one, the last one. The most important element of all! How could he forget? How could such an important thing slip his mind?
“Knowledge, my dear son, so that we may understand the dangers and magics of our world and others.” The older man smiled. “Do yo know why knowledge is so important, Jakel? It gives us light, purpose, and a soul. It was imparted on us by the goddess who visited the Churs, and it still stays with us today...”
A loud crash came from somewhere outside, the man and little boy both looked around the small one room mud hut they called a home. Another loud crash, this one accompanied by a flash of light came from outside.
“Sedale, come out here! You owe us!” The father stood from his kneeling position, a scowl across his rough face. This was one of those things, Jakel knew, that his father had to deal with on his own. It was the reason his father had so many bruises and scars....it was the reason why little Jakel could not go to school.
“Jakel, stay in bed. I will be right back...”
--
Jakel Sedale, now at the age of forty, bolted upright in his bed. It was not often he had nightmares of the night his father perished, but when he did they were immensely disturbing. When they occurred it was as if he was but a child again, fearing over the smallest things...and it upset him greatly.
Even now the desert moon still scared him half to death, the shadows it threw across his room startled and terrified him. Were they the shadows of the men who had come to finally take him as they did his father? Were they specters from the dark lands come to condemn him for his many sins? Or were they just shadows...?
He took a deep breath to steady his nerves, then wiped the sweat that had accumulated on his brow off. Steadying himself after the nightmares proved to be more and more difficult each time.
The sound of rapping on his door drew him away from his calming. It was not often he got visitors, even more rare at this time of night. He threw his thin cover off of him and grabbed his sandy brown robe from its resting place on a hook by the door.
His room was not very big, in fact it was his room from when he was little. He still lived in his parent’s home, as was custom in these parts. He inherited the house and was meant to live in it until he passed away, at which point his offspring would take it. Along the way some would add more rooms or perhaps make it bigger, for him though...it would stay the same. Tradition is a wonderful curse that burdens all in the desert.
He pushed aside the sheet that acted as a door to his room and walked across the very Spartan living room towards the front door. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of his work table, upon which several unfinished things lay.
He was an inventor by trade, and a machinist at heart. After his parents passed he started tinkering with things, be they the magical sun crystals which absorbed the sun’s rays and converted them into a renewable resource, or just a common carriage whose wheels had become misaligned. Eventually, his tinkering brought about a genuine revolution...and a bit more than he wanted.
Around fifteen years ago he discovered something deep in the caves of the Lifu Fire Lands that many had missed. The ground was saturated with a coarse powder that, when set ablaze, reacted violently. It came from the very rocks that saturated the unstable region of the world, and most likely contributed to the instability.
At the time, many men were attempting to create weapons that utilized steam power to launch projectiles at high velocity...all of which were met with very poor results. Unless you could build up enormous pressure consistently and without corroding the barrel of the firearm rather quickly, you would only get very weak shots with poor accuracy.
He figured it out though, loading a chamber with the powder and setting it ablaze in a barrel would propel the projectile at an amazing speed and have a very devastating impact upon the target. So, he did what any struggling inventor would do, he sold his designs to the government and let them mass produce his weapons.
“Jakel, open up!” He immediately recognized the voice that was outside of his domicile. It was one of his few friends in the village, a skilled healer named Samir Bohad. When the inventor opened the door he found the plump visage of the good doctor greeting him, his usually happy plump face creased with worry and fright.
Samir Bohad had grown up alongside Jakel, healing him whenever he was injured, or providing a shoulder to lean on in troubled times. He grew up in a relatively wealthy family, as made evident by his quite rotund stomach and jolly features, but that in no way made him think himself better than his poor counterpart. He and his friend were equals in each others eyes.
Their tanned hands met in a friendly shake, which Samir accompanied with a hasty smile that stretched from ear to ear and nearly reached his turban that topped his head.
“It is quite late, Samir. What do you want?” Sleep deprivation was all but broadcast from the lonely engineer. The dark bags under his eyes, sorry state of his greasy brown hair, and overall disheveled appearance attested to this fact. Jakel did not sleep very much any more, nightmares and guilt tormented his waking and sleeping mind.
“There are men, my friend. Men in the town square. They say they are looking for you.” A feeling of terror ran through Jakel, his mind running rampant with the most terrible of scenarios. Perhaps they were here to bring him to trial for the terrible things he had done, or perhaps they were here to send him...both sent the worrying feeling of relief through his mind. “I believe they are from Yuz’Ki.”
Yuz’Ki was the unofficial name for the capital of the five lands where the five Churs met in legend. Officially it was Yuzman, but many found this to be a breach of proper etiquette and referred to it as Yuz’Ki, a rough translation would be ‘Fortress of the Supreme’ because it was where the leader of all lands had his throne and power.
“Yuz guards? What do they want?” Jakel was very hesitant to have anything to do with Yuz anything. They always wanted him to invent some new death machine or give him some reward for his ‘ingenuity.’ Neither scenario was welcome anymore.
Luckily, the people of the village saw him as a curse and therefore would not divulge the location of his home to anyone, fearing the curse of Sedale would be put upon them like they believed it was upon them all for the death and destruction he brought.
“Tell them I am not here, tell them I am dead. Just tell them to leave...” Jakel hissed to his friend. “Tell them their kind are not welcome here, nor are their wishes.” A long shadow was cast between the two friends, when the looked up they saw a man in full battle dress standing in the middle of the street, looking straight at them.
“Actually Mr. Sedale, our wishes are the only ones that matter right now.” As the man drew closer, Jakel could make out the pale skin that identified him as a native of the plains, but the triangular tattoo below his left eye identified him as a member of the High Guard.
The guard drew a rifle from his back, not shouldering it but clearly stating his intent that he could and would use it if necessary. Just the sight of the firearm made Jakel’s stomach knot in many ways, he wanted no part of this.
“Now, either you can cooperate, or I can do all of the work.” He drew closer, raising the rifle as if to shoulder it. In full view of the men, the name ‘Rodrick’ could be made out engraved into the armor and locks of sandy hair shorn down adorned his head with grey emerging around his temples. “Personally, I’m okay with doing all of the work.”
Jakel decided that lest his hesitation or resistance beget violence, the best course of action was to surrender himself over to the soldier. There was no need to die from stubbornness, so he stepped forwards with his hands raised.
“Very well, Knight. I will go with you.” There was more of a weary resignation in his voice than he wanted, but there was no way to change that now.
“Good. My men are stationed in the town center, that’s where we’re going.” Rodrick turned to leave, resting his rifle on his shoulder. “I would hate for them to get antsy…”
“Sir Knight, wWait!” Samir spoke, his tone polite but urgent. “Would you grant me one last audience with Jakel? We have been friends since we were but boys and I wish to say goodbye.” The guard turned, his shoulders sagging with annoyance.
“Make it quick.,” tThe curt response came back. Samir put a strong hand to his friend’s shoulder and turned their backs to the armored man so they could talk amongst themselves.
“Jakel, my friend, do you know what you are doing? What if this man wishes to harm you? These soldier types often come bearing grudges…” The plump man spoke in hushed tones, his face bearing the creases of worry and unease.
“You worry too much, Samir.” Jakel responded, giving his lifelong friend a kind smile that did not quite reach his eyes. “I suspect that he is here to talk to me, perhaps about more money or maybe the Yuz’Chur himself wants to congratulate me again.” ThHis was a lie, Jakel knew it...and Samir certainly did too.
“No, if it was that they would have sent an envoy like last time. We both know that. This is something different. I...know you have no choice on whether you go or not.” Samir’s head turned slightly, so he could look at the impatient guard holding the rifle. “But you have to promise me that you will stay safe. I have a bad feeling about this.”
Jakel had no comforting words to feed his friend, he could sense it as well. This man, Rodrick, had a violent and uneasy vibe coming from him. If this was not to be Jakel’s last memory of freedom, then it was going to be something much worse.
“Very well, Samir. I promise...I will do my best to make it back home safe.” Without another word, the two old friends embraced warmly. “Farewell, old friend.” Samir simply nodded, clearly saddened as his friend walked away to his possible demise.
The town square was bustling with an amount of activity very rarely seen, even during the day. Families gathered around to keep a wary eye on the small army which had set up a small camp in the square. The people of the desert were not the ones to readily welcome the government or their agents, as in the past they had only brought pain and strife.
Murmurs came from the gathered crowd as he entered their collective lines of sight. He heard various unkind phrases, the likes of which had plagued him for the last decade. Several jeers went up, crying for the public execution for the man they considered to be a demon and a killer. To them, he was simply the monster who gave the brigands weapons to more efficiently slaughter their loved ones...and under the harsh cries from them, he felt like it.
“I call for peace!” Rodrick shouted as the cries got louder. Alas, more joined in calling for Jakel’s head with a new hole in it. “Guards!” As if reading their leader’s mind, the once docile contingent sprung to life with their guns raised. “If you do not calm down, I have no qualms of ending you all! Do I make myself clear?”
A silence fell over the crowd, mothers cowered behind fathers with children, the old had a determined fire in their eyes, and the soldiers looked ready.
“Good.” Rodrick spoke calmly, his voice projecting with a practiced ease. “Now we are taking Mr. Sedale here with us, does anyone object?” Another silence. “I thought not.” That hurt...Jakel was hoping at least one person would stand up and defend him...even that one person would be better than the silence that assaulted him. “Reagant, signal the Peregine!”
Rodrick strode forward confidently, with Jakel following meekly behind . As they entered the folds of the contingent Jakel saw a young man, barely old enough to join the guard loading up a tube with a strange metal cylinder. Jakel watched intensely as the young man struck a fuse; as it ticked away, Jakel was attempting to understand it. Obviously it used his designs to launch a projectile, but how could that be used as a signaling device?
Once the fuse ran out, the metal cylinder once housed in the tube shot into the sky. It hung there for a second, and then exploded in a bright flash of fire. In the light of the explosion, the civilians cowered and ran to their homes, Jakel simply watched with fascination.
“The fire powder…” He said, slowly working it out on his own. “You ground it up so it would burn faster...then-” He was cut off mid sentence by the young man who launched the flare.
“We put some bigger chunks in the casing to fragment it, so the flare can spread. It sure is somethin else ain’t it?” The young man said with a smile. Jakel, for the first time, studied the boy. His skin was strongly tanned and his hair short and dark, patchy facial hair covered his face. It was quite safe to say, judging by the accent and traits, that he was a native of the islands to the east and most likely at home in the water. “Kinda like the fragmentation shells we use in our shipboard cannons.”
“Reagent!” Rodrick barked at the young man, who visibly flinched. “Did I tell you to give Mr. Sedale a description of our flare system?” Jakel dared a smirk at the two, Rodrick was the epitome of the traditional High Guard in every way, right down to the voice.
“No, sir.” The young man, obviously named Reagent, responded with not even a hint of fear in his voice. “I could just see how interested he looked in it, thought I might help him out. Honest.” Rodrick scrutinized the greenhorn for a moment, then turned.
“I suppose it was either that or have him bug us for answers.” Rodrick muttered so Jakel could barely hear him. “You're in charge of him then, make sure when the Peregine lands that he gets back to Yuz’Ki safely. Am I clear?” Jakel internally sighed, he had acquired a babysitter half his age...this did not bode well. “When you depart we’ll signal the Sedale and be off towards the next target.” Rodrick swiftly walked away, more important things on his mind.
Jakel’s eyes widened in surprise at his name. This was quite unexpected. “The Sedale?” He inquired and turned to his new handler. “As in, named after me?” This was something that struck him as odd; why was he never told of a ship bearing his name…? Was he not invited to the christening, or was he simply being presumptuous?
“The Yuz’Chur had it commissioned long ago, it was finished being built just last month. It’s the biggest war ship in the fleet.” Reagant stated as if it was a matter of idle fact. “Kinda figured you would know about it, considering it’s named after you.”
Biggest warship. That hurt; another instrument of destruction bearing his name and shame. It was as if the universe wanted, or rather needed, to remind him of all that he’s caused. He lowered his head shamefully.
“You don’t talk much, do you?” Reagant asked, his tone suggesting a mild hesitation at the subject. “Aren’t you happy? You’re respected so much that they named the most expensive ship ever built after you! That’s something to write home about in my book.” Reagant’s honest grin was almost contagious. Almost. Jakel didn’t think the young man could understand why he wasn’t excited.
“I-” Jakel was about to speak when a deafening wind picked up. Instinctively, he brought his shirt over his mouth and shielded his eyes with his arm. Sandstorms were common in this part of the desert, so immediate reaction was programmed into every native. “Sandstorm!” He yelled over the wind to his handler, who had his helmet put down to block out the obtrusive sand.
Over the wind, he could almost hear Reagant laugh as the boy pointed upward. Turning his gaze skywards, Jakel could barely make out the shape of an airship hovering over them. He had seen plenty in his day, even ridden in a few, but he stilll didn’t like them. Flying made him feel ill.
The ship sat there, hovering, as if waiting for something. Then a platform appeared and descended from the belly of the flying beast. Once it landed, Jakel and a small envoy of men were loaded up and lifted into the Peregine.
“I hope you like flying, Mr. Sedale.” Reagant said with a hearty laugh as he slapped Jakel on the back, almost knocking the smaller man down. This was going to be a bumpy ride….
~~~~~
“Raaaaaaaainbow Dash!” Pinkie Pie shouted into the sky, bouncing with anticipation as she did so. It wasn’t every day that something so amazingly awesome like this happened! So of course she had to find and show it to her bestest friend in the whole wide world, Rainbow Dash. Sure, sometimes she tried to hide from Pinkie, or ignore her, but Pinkie always found her in the end! Just like a good bestest friend would!
“What?!” The slightly irritated reply came back from somewhere in the group of clouds hanging above. “I’m trying to sleep, Pinkie! You had me up all night trying to find that stupid...thing!”
“But Dashie,” Pinkie pleaded. “We were so close to catching the Snipe last night!” The party pony promised that she was going to catch that elusive Snipe, her dad had told her it needed to be hunted back when she was little! If Twilight also told her, then it had to be a super big deal!
“Nu-uh Pinkie, no way! I asked Fluttershy about the Snipe and she said it wasn’t even a real animal!” Dash’s head poked through the cloud layer, her eyes accentuated by the dark bags hanging beneath them. “That kind of prank just isn’t funny, Pinkie.” With that, Dash’s head went back up into the cloud.
“But...I caught it.” Pinkie said meekly, looking back at the horned reptile in her oversized butterfly net. It’s W shaped pupils looked at her expectantly. “Oh well!” Her voice regained its usual energy as she lifted the net from over the monster. “Bye Mr. Snipe, see you next time!”
“Ssssee you later, Pinkie Pie,” the chimera hissed as it slithered away from its would-be captor and into the wild unknown. Pinkie turned the other way, towards Ponyville and began bouncing back to the village.
“Oooh, a snipe! One of my favorites.” A voice suddenly said from behind her, making her fall flat on her face. As she spit out the pebbles that had congregated in her mouth, she turned to look at who distracted her from her bouncing.
“Discord?” She stared up at the draconequus questioningly. She wasn’t scared of him anymore, after all he quit being a big ol’ meanie thanks to Fluttershy. The pony was confused because he wasn’t with Fluttershy. “What are you doing here?”
“What, a god of chaos can’t just go for a walk? I thought Equestria was a free country!” The patchwork god demanded in an over exaggerated tone, pulling an Equestrian flag seemingly from nowhere. “Where did the days go when someone could just say hi to someone freely, go?” He started to wave the flag back and forth as ‘Viva La Revolucion’ banners started to appear between trees. “I say we revolt!”
“But aren’t you usually with Fluttershy?” Pinkie picked herself up and looked at the reformed villain. His face fell sullenly as the flags and banners burned wherever they were hung.
“Yes, well she’s busy with Fluttershy stuff.” Discord said, crossing his mismatched arms. “So I decided to find the next best to hang out with, you.” Pinkie was silent for a split second as her brain processed what he just said.
“Next best?” She asked. Discord’s heart skipped a beat, did he upset the overly hyper partier? Was that possible? Was he going to get turned back into stone if he upset one of the elements of harmony? “Woohoo! I’m the next best after Fluttershy!” Pinkie jumped in the air, throwing a hoof in the air victoriously. “Ooh, ooh!” She jittered excitedly. “What spots are the others in?”
Discord let out a breath he didn’t know he was actually holding in. When did he, Discord, start worrying about what ponies felt? ‘Since you promised Fluttershy you wouldn’t be bad anymore’ the little voice in his head responded.
Sadly, the voice was right. The kindly pegasus had really turned Discord’s way of thinking around. He had never actually had somepony care about him, or extend such a kindness like she had. She made the former villain want to be...good.
“Well, Pinkie-” He said, lifting up the pink pony and putting her under his arm as he walked towards the town. “Fluttershy is number one, you’re number two, your polychromatic friend in the clouds is three because I like her chutzpah.” Discord was, for one of the few times in his long life, telling the straight truth. He decided it was the elements’ fault and that they were rubbing off on him.
“Oooh, that’s a funny word!” Pinkie giggled, punctuated by a snort. “Chutzpah!” Pinkie laughed loudly again, this one Discord could feel deep in her belly as he carried her. It was genuine and completely, utterly contagious.
As the two laughed, a passing unicorn trotted past and gave Discord the most hate filled look the chaos master had ever seen. Luckily for Discord, Pinkie was laughing so hard that her eyes were closed and her hooves were flailing, so she didn’t see the unicorn...or see his face fall.
It only took him a second to recover, he was quite the actor when he needed to be. “Number four is Applejack, for obvious reasons. Five is Rarity, and last is Twilight.” He finished the list easily….not that he’s thought about who he likes more or anything like that before now.
“Wanna know my list, Discord?” The draconequus nodded. What did he have to lose? A few hours to the rambling of a crazy pony over who were her favorite friends and why? He could handle that. “All of my friends are number one, because they’re all my bestest friends for different reasons.” A happy sigh escaped from the pony.
Discord thought about that for a second. Friendship was still a relatively new concept to him, and even through all of his usual confidence he felt inadequate in the field of friendship...was he doing it all wrong?
Discord could only sigh, this whole reformed thing was going to be a bumpy ride...