Chapters Epilogue Unending
Prologue:
Twilight looked out to the remains of the ancient oak. It lay uprooted; its branches, shattered. The crackling and the slow wine of its green branches were the only audible sonance. The leaves of this once grand tree followed the wind’s call, dancing across Twilight’s sight; gradually making their way down to their final resting place among the scattered, ash-ridden remains of what had once been Ponyville’s Library, her home. Closing her eyes, Twilight could almost make out the tree’s whisper carried off by the wind’s prayer.
Her friends, family, and mentors… all lost at the hands of Tirek through the actions, or rather, inaction of Discord.
“Discord…”
“ Discord, Discord, Discord!” the name ran through Twlight’s mind like fire; its color, red.
The soot beneath Twilight’s hooves darkened as the ash mixed with water.
“The pegasuses said this week’s weather would be clear with a high of 70.” She absently thought.
A droplet came to rest on her lips, it tasted of salt. She quickly wiped it away.
“There is no time for sentiment.” She choked out.
Her entire life she had someone to ask, someone to look up to; now, there was no one. She was alone. The element bearers, her friends, were picked off one by one by Tirek’s magic. When she had fought him it had been like peering into the void. To call what he wielded magic would be like calling fire water. It was unnatural.
She could feel the Sun and Moon as well as the love and fear of the ponies around her. The Princesses’ had tasked her with saving Equestria. In the end, the combined might of all four of the Princesses had proven ineffective.
Twilight looked up toward the heavens. With the Celestial rulers gone, the sky remained in a perpetual state of twilight; the Sun being on one side of the horizon whiles the moon on the other. The irony of it was not lost on the newly crowned sovereign. Twilight spread her wings out in agitation. The ash that had coated her violet coat, plumed off of her.
The echoes of footsteps interrupted the leaves’ symphony. She was tired, too tired.
“Go away.” Twilight said, not bothering to turn around. Why talk? The people she loved were gone.
“Twilight” Discord said in a tone so gentle and unbecoming of the God of Chaos that it effetely shocked her out of her rumination.
Twilight’s mind snapped back to the rhythm of a single word, a name whose beat carried with it the drums of war.
Twilight's eyes flared white, the color of freshly forged steel. Her mane took on the Sun’s corona, its brightness, blinding. The heat of her aura incinerated the scattered remains of the tomes that she had once cherished.
Her horn charged.
All it would take her to kill him would be a simple flick of her head to the right. He would be gone, and then she would be truly alone.
“alone…”
She flicked her head to the left; the motion sent forward a force equivalent to that of an asteroid toward a nearby mountaintop. It crumbled into dust. The remaining citizens of Ponyville ran for cover as the aftershocks of the blast fractured glass and scattered the loose debris of the once proud oak.
The corona diminished. Twilight’s eyes, no longer reflecting the light of a thousand suns, returned to lavender.
“You’ve taken everything from me Discord! Why?! Why do all this?” She asked. The tonality of her voice carried with it both anger and pain but her eyes pleaded with him for anything that would give her loss meaning. “We… I… trusted you.” She whispered.
Discord looked at the fallout that had once been Mt. Paso and turned his attention back toward Twilight.
“Trust… trust had nothing to do with the outcome of today’s events Twilight. You’re seeking a reason as to why this all happened? From the God of Chaos?” he asked. The typical biting edge associated with his voice gone, replaced by one that spoke of understanding.
“I need a reason! There has to be one!” she yelled, tears now falling freely from her lavender eyes.
“You’re the reason for all of this Twilight.” Discord said. “Every decision made, every action taken, was to get “you” back!”
“Back!? What the buck are you talking about Discord! I’ve been here this entire time!” She yelled, anger marring her young face.
Discord let out a roar of frustration as he looked at Twilight.
“You still don’t understand… Obviously, how could you? Your perception is still that of a mortal; A foal!” Discord yelled in frustration.
“Twilight, I am old, older then time itself. I have gone by many names, and have taken many forms. All that I ask from you is that you let me show you…”
“Show me what!” Twilight yelled! “Cellestia is dead! Luna is dead! Dash, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Flutershy…. Spike… They’re all dead; and for what, riddles?!” Twilight yelled; her aura giving off a dangerous heat.
“Enough!” Discord yelled.
“Do you think I would have chosen this path if there was any other way?!” Discord looked away from Twilight, anger and frustration gave way to pain. “Flutershy…”
All necessary… “Necessary sacrifices for what? A memory?” Discord thought. “No, not a memory, an idea made whole again.”
“Abstracts… all of this Twilight is fragments of a greater whole. All I ask is that before you vilify me and label me “monster” is that you let me show you… How no matter what path I took, in the end, it would undoubtedly bring us to this exact place, at this exact time.”
Discord slowly made his way over to her, the heat stinging his draconic eyes, “…of how, it would lead me back to you.”
Confusion spread across Twilight’s face. “I don’t understand”
“You will in time, but first we must go back.” he stated.
“Back to where?” Twilight asked.
“Why, back to the beginning of course.” he replied.
Discord:
“How does one describe one’s beginning, or rather lack thereof? My brothers and sisters have always existed so the idea of a beginning, as the way mortals see it, is baffling to us. I should say rather that my life began with a conscious effort on my part. It’s rather like the way you mortals wake from a deep sleep. I emerged from a dream that carried with it a song; the lyrics of which spoke of everything and nothing and something in-between…”
Consciousness, it begins with a series of questions:
“Who am I?”
“What am I?”
“Where am I?”
I awoke to the warm touch of both my elder sisters and brothers around me. My consciousness was without form, but I could sense them much like a blind man can sense the presence of those near him. Then came the light, It was blinding. The auras of my siblings showed me color for the very first time, some of which can only be seen within the Fade.
The Voices of my brothers and sisters, or rather their collective voice, spoke and from their words I was given form.
“Can you hear us little one,” They asked. The warmth of their words carried with it the fresh smell of spring air.
I was, at the start of it all, a little firecracker. My aura shot out, reflecting my siblings’ auras back at them. In a rather misplaced attempt to make myself appear strong, I puffed out my chest.
A collective laugh issued forth across the Fade.
“Now, now, my little spark we wouldn’t want you to scare off your brothers and sisters.” A single voice broke off from the whole. It was the voice from the dream.
“Who are you?” I asked; my young voice cracking.
“We are the Forbearers, but this one, you may call Mother.” The voice from the dream said.
“Mother,” I repeated, mulling the word over. My young mind inspected both its form and weight and found that it fit perfectly.
“Mother!” I said again, this time giving its shape meaning. My aura crackled and spurted red, yellow, and orange as I skipped across the Fade’s expanse. My young legs came to a halt as my small form peered up at the one I now called mother. Her aura was vast. From its depths emerged what I can best describe as a doe. Her coat was as white as a newly formed star. Her eyes, as blue and as vast as any ocean, looked into mine.
“Come, little one. Now that you’ve finally awoken, we can begin.”
“What?” my childish voice asked hesitantly.
She swept aside the ethereal mist that had collected in the valley. My eyes widened as I looked out across the vast expanse of the Fade. Above us was what appeared to be six pillars.
“No, that wasn’t right…” My mind picked apart the word; looking for the right form to fit its shape.
“Beams!” I shouted out.
“Yes, six beams that hold the Nexus, from it the Fade stretches out and envelopes us all.” Mother said. She looked down and nudged me forward with her muzzle.
“Come, I must introduce you to Grandfather.”
The Fade shifted, and swirled around us, bending to Mother’s will. We emerged from the ethereal mist. The vapor around us began to solidify. From the Fade’s mist, a vast cathedral emerged. Mother began to ascend the stairs. She looked back; a smile touched her eyes as she saw my hesitation.
“Come now my little spark. We mustn’t be late for your Naming.”
I slowly followed her up the stairs. My short stature at the time made it more of a climb then a walk. The large Cathedral doors sprung open, revealing its interior. Its high vaulted ceilings rippled and reflected the crystal floors. Out from the center of the cathedral’s nave grew a tree unlike any other; its size a world unto itself. As we moved closer, I craned my head up to see if I could judge its height. The longer I continued to stare at it, the taller the tree grew. It seemed to almost be purposefully challenging my perception. Six branches flowed out from its trunk. Mother looked down at me as I gazed up in wonder.
“Yes, you were close in name. It Is Grandfather’s branches, or beams as you put it, which hold the Fade together,” she said.
We continued to move forward, are steps echoed through the halls. Nearing the trees trunk, we stopped as we came to the end of a line. The sisters and brothers in front of me were young. Each one had a guardian sister or brother escorting them. I tour my eyes away from the tree, in front of us stood a large crimson stag. He stopped talking to his charge and extended one leg out, bowing his head down in acknowledgment of Mother’s presence.
“Mother Hemera , It is good to see your summons has been answered,” He stated.
Mother bowed her head in turn, “Likewise, Father Pyroeis.”
My attention turned to the Crimson stag’s charge. Like me, her form was in flux. Her Aura was a mixture, of peacock blue and sunburst orange and her eyes were the color amber. Pyroeis nudged his charge forward with his hoof.
“It’s time little one.” He said simply.
They made their way up the dais. The Crimson Stag bowed, his antlers lightly touching the tree’s bark.
“Grandfather, bearer of the six paths, your summons has been answered. I ask that my charge be given name and form.”
The halls grew silent as all of my siblings’ auras turned their attention to Pyroeis and his charge whose aura seemed to shy away from the tree as her guardian spoke.
A voiced boomed forth. It seemed to be coming from every direction.
“Your Summons has indeed been met Father Pyroeis, and with it the Sun, Moon and Heavens below are born. Henceforth, Hera, your form is expressed.”
Hera stepped out from her aura, her form was like nothing I’d seen before, but what would later be named by ponykind as an alicorn. Her wings spread out, from them the warmth of the sun could be felt. Her primary feathers were pitch black from the tips, their color gradually shifting from indigo, to blue, ending its transition from sunburst orange to white.
She bowed and proceeded to follow Pyroeis away from the dais.
I could not keep my eyes from her. So entranced was I, that It took Mother’s repeated nudging to get me up the dais.
She let go a sigh as we finally made are way up its final steps.
“More steps…” I wined
Mother bowed and proceeded to speak, “Grandfather, bearer of the six paths, your summons has been answered. I ask that my charge be given name and form.”
….
The silence was palpable. The halls remained quite as everyone’s attention was drawn by Grandfather’s continued absence. Mother looked up, anxiety in her eyes. She began again,
“Grandfather, bearer of the six paths, your summons has been …”
She was cut off by Grandfather’s voice which came out like rolling thunder.
“He is not of the six paths. The summons goes unanswered.”
Pandemonium took hold of my brothers and sisters. Mother looked from the tree to her siblings in shock. She looked down at me. Her face riffled through a series of emotions simultaneously. At the forefront was concern.
“Grandfather, I don’t understand…. He answered the call… he’s…”
The voice boomed out again, “He is not of the sixth paths child. His summons goes unanswered.”
“How dare you!” Mother’s aura shot across the vaulted ceiling and cracked against the cathedrals walls, momentarily sending the solidified mist helter-skelter.
Pyroeis took a step up the dais. “Hemera! Stop this foolishness at once.”
“He has answered the call and is of this world! If he is not given name and form he will be forgotten!” She yelled. Her eyes bore into Pyroeis.
At the time I didn’t understand. How can you ask a child to understand that his family has rejected him? That he’s a mistake. My mind wondered, “Who was I?”
“Look at what you have brought down upon us Hemera! He is throwing the Nexus into chaos. If he remains Hear any longer he will bring nothing but discord!” Pyroeis replied.
“Discord?” I thought, my mind once again feeling the shape and weight of the word. It wasn’t perfect, and did not express my true self but it would be enough to hold my form.”
“My name is Discord!” I shouted.
Silence followed.
“Now, before we move forward you must understand that a name is not just a series of letters that is associated with an individual as it is with you mortals. A name to my brothers and sisters carries with it the essence or rather, what you mortals would call the spirit. It is the thread that binds our consciousness to both the heavens as well as the earth below. For immortals, it is the true form expressed.
Up until my naming, none of my sisters or brothers had thought it even possible to claim a name for themselves. It had always been Grandfather that had given us form. For me to claim a name as my own was blasphemy. It marked me as something foreign to the Nexus, something new. Perhaps had I known what my existence would change, create, and ultimately destroy, I may have willingly returned to the dreamless sleep. But at the time I was filled with life. The young do not think in the context of “we, the group” but rather they think of “I, the individual;” I wanted to live.”
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Silence… silence as thick as the mist that formed the hallowed halls carried across the Fade and echoed throughout the outstretched arms of Grandfather’s crown.
As I spoke the last syllable my essence shot out, momentarily disturbing the Nexus’ form, scattering it back into the Fade.
My body, for that’s what my essence now encompassed, felt as if it was fueled by liquid fire. I could barely contain myself within its bounds. Like an ill fit garment, my aura barely managed to abide by its newly formed constraints. Yet, despite this, I was more then I was. I existed. I was now part of the song. The verse, once spoken, could not be made undone.
I opened my newly formed eyes. The pain of my corporeal birth was immense. Every fiber of my being was screaming for me to make it stop. I looked down at my forelimbs, sinew stretched across bone, knitting together to make, contort and strengthen. My throat burned as my vocal cords matured and my chest heaved as my lungs took in their first breath. What followed was a roar that carried with it a declaration of pain, fear, joy, and triumph. It was the first note to my song; a song that spoke of upheaval and change.
Hemera was the first to react to the twisted sight that greeted the hall. She rushed over to me and looked into my eyes, their amber color reflecting into that of her ocean blue.
“My child, what have you done?! “She asked, pain marring her beautiful face.
I rose; my legs shook as I attempted to put weight on the shifting mass of sinew and bone that was still finding its shape beneath my sweat-coated fur.
“If discord is all that my sisters and brothers see me as, then I shall take it as mine!” I cried out, looking across the silent mass that filled the halls. Family, was that what they were? At first, I had thought the word fit but, like me, it had now taken a different form. They, who would deprive me of life; they were not family!
A new emotion stirred in me, anger.
Hemera reached out, her forehoof connecting with my paw.
“You are so much more my little spark, surely you must know that you are more than… this!”
“I am only what my brothers and sisters made me. They, who rather than joining in celebrating my birth, sought to instead oversee my wake! They are no brothers and sisters of mine!”
My aura heated the air around me. Fueled by my anger, I stood tall.
There was sudden movement from the right and left as Grandfather’s roots outstretched and circled around me, binding me in place.
“He is not of us and cannot be allowed to exist. His form is an abomination that must be torn asunder.” Grandfather’s voice echoed through the halls.
My aura shot out across Grandfathers branches as I attempted to free myself from the vice grip of the tree’s massive roots. However, Grandfather’s presence was insurmountable; I was a drop of water in comparison to his ocean.
The tree’s roots began devouring both my form and soul. The pain I felt at that moment is indescribable.
As I lost focus, my mind wondered to that of Black, Blue, Indigo, and orange. The sky would never greet me. The night would never whisper to me of its secrets. In those last moments I thought of Hera. Why did I feel like I knew her, knew of her sky?
I looked out at the current of auras that showed across the Nexus’ halls. They all shied away from me, all but one. Hera’s indigo, blue, orange shown like a beacon. Our eye’s met and from them I saw fear, panic, anger and recognition.
From the sea of her fellow sisters and brothers she stepped forward. Her essence flashed out, and joined with mine. How do I describe to you Twilight what I felt? The moment our aura’s made contact I knew that I had always known of her sky just as she had always known me by whatever name I went by.
What I felt was like what you mortals would refer to as déjà vu, only stronger. Her presence on me was as powerful as mother’s song and through her I found an aspect of myself; I found my spark.
Grandfather was shocked by the presence of another aura intermingling. Rather than fighting Grandfather’s current, I road it all the way to the six primary branches of his crown and from those branches I tore the Laylines out from Grandfather’s essence and drew them into myself.
The Fade itself cried out and my sister’s and brother’s joined with it. At that moment, I had doomed them. Through my childish act I had brought about the mass murder of my entire family and destroyed my home. Twilight, How can I… how can I convey to you what I felt at that moment? In protecting myself I unmade them. It is unforgivable.
Grandfather’s roots crumbled and released me. A shockwave erupted from Grandfather’s trunk, sending Hera, Hemera and myself flying away from the epicenter.
The tree began collapsing in on itself, its roots and branches twisting into a mangled, grotesque macerate of its former splendor. The hall of the Nexus began to crumble as the Fade began folding in on itself. My sister’s and brother’s in their fear began to evacuate the Nexus halls in an attempt to find area of the Fade that was safe from the catastrophe; it was all for naught in the end, nowhere was safe.
Hemera looked to Hera and then to me, “Hera, Discord you must leave here quickly.”
“What have I done!? I’ve doomed them!” I shouted
Hera looked out across the field as the fade steadily moved inward. The auras of my brothers and sisters blowing out like candles as they were devoured by the Fade’s absence.
“There is still time, you and Hera are connected to the six paths, you two can traverse the fade and find path through.” Hemera nudged Hera forward.
Hera looked away from the Fade’s collapse and turned to Hemera.
“What about you?”
“My connection to the Six Paths was severed by Grandfather’s death, I cannot follow.” Hemera said
“Mother, I… I only wanted to live and be part of the song…” I said
“Shush, my little flame, all this has happened before and will happen again. You are the flame that brings with it a new Dawn. I was glad I was the one to sing of your Song.” Hemera brought her head over to mine and placed her kiss, and to me, her last blessing upon my brow.
“Go now children, the end approaches and with it, a new beginning…”