A Lullaby for Gods

Wine-red waves curled and churned to Poseidon's ire. Dark clouds accumulated upon each other with deafening crackles of energy rippling through their towering forms. And through the thick fog that laid heavily upon the landscape, a horrid shrieking of long dead beasts trembled the sand beneath the wind's own grotesque shrieking. If one was to look upon the scene with any cautious mien, one could say they were staring into the ethereal face of a terrible God.

It was here in which the immortal sovereign of the Sun found herself gazing into the oncoming storm. Brilliant white wings brightly contrasted against the dour facade of oncoming dawn with each lengthy thrust. Her multicoloured hair whipped in the cold wind. Behind her, a tad higher in the air, her nocturnal sister remained silent with calculations of the potential dangers flashing behind unfeeling blue eyes.

"We must rise the dawn, Tia." came the harsh whisper. "We can wait no longer."

Tia—an affection that she had thought lost eons ago—did not move in readiness for the ceremony. Though powerful magic did flow from her horn in wispy plumes of gold. Light purple eyes stared into the oblivion with little thought to the annoyed alicorn behind her. She shifted her head, pushing the few wisps of multicolored hair in her eyes into the wind, and gazed downwards at the raging, dark waters below.

"Tia." her sister called.

She paid no mind while they waited for their final companion to join them. The sovereign gave a short sigh at the sight beneath the heavy waves mercilessly crashing into the sands below. Despite the darkness of the waters, the Goddess stared at what seemed to be a reflection of herself. Albeit a younger version with little knowledge of what exactly laid in store for the her. There were no lines that crinkled her brow or the corners of her eyes, no light scars that were carefully concealed by a tainted godliness, and no hidden weariness in once young and fresh eyes eager to gaze upon the latest marvels of the world.

"Two millenniums I have waited, Luna." Tia finally said, tearing her gaze from the painful reminder. "Two millenniums I have spent in heart break or despair. Very rarely have I been shown happiness. My own happiness."

The alicorn Goddess smiled. "Yet, despite all this, I have had the pleasure of knowing thousands of marvellous men and women that I would never trade for anything. The years have been lonely without you I will admit, Luna, but in that time between Father and Mother, Discord's banishment and your own, I have grown to accept that not everything is how we want it to be."

"Tia, you are not telling us something." declared Luna. She eyed the eldest. "Is this about them?"

"Had it not been, we might not be here." Tia replied with a grim smile.

Whatever she was going to say was interrupted by the flashing of lightning, accompanied by the eerie laughter of a foe they knew all too well. The sudden appearance did not go without a shudder of... something from Tia when the very personification of Chaos wrapped his mismatched arms around both of their necks to draw them into a hug.

"Ah, the gang's all here, I see." hummed the deity. "Started without me, have you? That's not very nice."

"Discord." Luna growled a warning.

"Relax, Lulu. I'm not here to start trouble... yet." the Lord of Chaos grinned. "Though, apparently, Tia wasn't very good at doing the same it seems."

Tia could feel his breath against her face as she struggled to release herself from his grasp. However, a sharp claw kept her head locked as vicious red eyes stared into hers. "Have you, Celestia?"

"Release me now, Discord." Celestia hissed.

"Very well, princess." cackled the God.

He floated only a foot away from the two Royal Sisters with his tail swishing back and forth. Despite having only just arrived, he looked bored. Discord yawned dramatically.

"Just tell me already why you brought me to this miserable place. I do have a tight schedule you know." grumbled Discord.

Whatever snappy response Luna was going to make was lost within the roar of thunder that shook the very air. A rainbow of lightning shot across the sky in several arcs before disappearing back into the cold depths of the grey clouds. The sky was once more a dismal, grey sea of clouds.

"Do you see, Discord, why I have brought you here?" sharply demanded Celestia. Her purple eyes found the narrowed ones of the God and the icy ones of her sister. It was the younger of the two to speak first.

"Tia, what have you done?" hissed Luna. The accusation, the hint of betrayal laced underneath, sparked an anger inside her that she had not had towards her sister for centuries.

"I have done nothing, Luna." Celestia snapped. "The Elements of Harmony are out of balance, Luna, Discord. They are awakening and there is nothing we can do to stop them."

"Hm, harmony. Not really anything that concerns me. You know, being the God of Chaos and all that." tut-tutted Discord with a wave of his hand.

"Without Harmony there is no Discord." Luna snarled. "You would cease to exist."

She gave him a once over.

"Not that it would be a terrible happening."

The terribly misshaped man cackled a terrible laugh which rung in their ears from the enhancement he no doubtingly placed upon his voice to be heard above the chorus of howling winds and crashing waves. It was seductive but abhorrent all at once with thousands of emotions that the Goddess had not felt for many, many years. Her immortality wore on her and while she wore it well, it was still a great burden.

"You have much to learn, Lulu." sneered Discord, bearing his one, keen fang. There had been another—Tia remembered with great satisfaction, but where it should be, a normal one awkwardly sat between rows of an off-white. It could be seen when the beast curled his lips in disdain. His voice was full of malice and bitter amusement which swiftly reminded the Royal Sisters that this being floating only inches away was far older than either of them. "Chaos does not need Harmony. Unlike your stones, I'm flesh and blood."

"And so are the Elements of Harmony, Discord, if you have trouble recalling." narrowly said Celestia.

"Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Applejack are all embodiments of the Elements."

"I doubt that makes them Gods, Celestia." huffed Discord. "They'll die and someone else will take their spots. The cycle will continue and good will come to all of Equestria. Yada, yada. We've all heard it before. Tell us something new." He yawned once more. "Though I do wonder why you think standing out here in this dreadful storm will help with anything."

"Nature itself is reacting, Discord." pointed out Luna. "Surely that must make you believe that this is not a simple problem to be fixed."

"Yes, well, isn't that just swell. Get those darling girls of yours here before it's too late, Celestia. Wouldn't want history to repeat, now would you?"

It was plain to see the Royal Sisters' frustration with the deity. However, needing him, they simply could not banish him to wherever he had been wreaking havoc before. At least, that is what Luna had come to understand in the short time since his appearance. She would not admit that it was still quite troubling to know that her sister, the one who had ruled all of Equestria in her steed, had known that something of this magnitude would occur from simply gazing upon it some odd two thousand years ago. Luna briefly pondered the possibility if that Celestia was hiding more than one secret from her.

"The Elements of Harmony are the problem. We can not bring them here." sternly said Celestia.

"And what exactly is the problem, sister? You said the Elements of Harmony are out of balance, yet only last night did you receive a letter from your student, Twilight Sparkle. She had no mention of strange occurrences around Ponyville from what I gathered." asked Luna. "How could one happen without the other knowing?"

Celestia sighed.

"They would not feel it, Luna. During my reign as sole Princess, I had come across something important. The Elements of Harmony are much more powerful than we will ever comprehend, or can, and they would, even under the most dire of circumstances, conceal whatever ailed them in the fear of a threat looming. They would be virtually undetectable form even the greatest of alicorns." she explained.

"But we were able to find them all those years ago. Their magical signature is palpable!" exclaimed Luna. "I even felt them when Nightmare Moon was beginning her return to Equestria.

Discord gave a coy smile. "What your dearest sister fails to explain, Lulu, is that the Elements of Harmony are not the stones. They are not simple inanimate objects of endless potential magic."

"What do you mean?" Luna nearly glared.

"The Elements of Harmony," Celestia began, "are entities of boundless potential magic. They previously hosted the majority of their magic in the stones. That was until Rainbow Dash performed the Sonic Rainboom and unleashed the Element's magic from their temporary containers. The outburst was enough to blanket the entire continent within mere seconds."

Luna blanched.

"And their magic quickly returned to their original owners."