Lord of Sins: Rebellion

First up is white; of the blinding kind.

Some of you are most likely to say at first that white is not a color, that it never was, and that you grow tired of even discussing this sort of nonsense. I assure you, it is a color. And you would do best to not argue with me.

    But, yes. It was white. It had felt as if the whole of the world was blanketed in a fleece sweater of snow. Above, the sky a dark black, as if it were reflecting the idea of polarity to the ground below, if it were not for the trees and open fields.

A single stallion sat crouched down with his head bent down, eyes shut. He sat alone at the edge of a still pond, his reflection slowly dancing in the rippling water. Above him the light of the rare blue moon shone down over the pond, turning the calm water to a turquoise blue. To his left was a large wooden bow, and in the other a small quiver of arrows.

All across the sky, a celestial line had divided the cosmos. The barrier itself could not be seen, but the heavens were clearly parted on either side of a great schism. One horizon glittered with the tranquil blue night. The other glowed with orange celestial radiance.

    Below this galactic canvas, a grassy knoll, in the center of which was planted a single tree. This particular tree was quite massive in size, an enormous and healthy specimen with widely stretched branches full of thick leaves. All along the branches sat those same leaves, and a few sprouting buds which provided another beauty that just added to the tree.

Even with no direct sunlight, the tree still thrived, its branches slowly and gracefully swaying in an invisible evening wind. There seemed to be a very hypnotic dance to the rustling leaves, as if the tree was waving towards the stars above. The heavens rolled in undulating motions, with the blue and orange tints of the sky alternating in the grace of a low and deep tide.

    There was no sound ever emitted. Not a single cricket, nor a crackling of twigs. Even the rustling leaves and branches held the occasional reverence, as if the hilltop was too sacred to disturb with anything more than a quiet whisper.

The starry sky continued its quiet, multicolored dance ever onward into a boundless eternity. As the eons drifted by, the tree never died, and the quiet hilltop had never eroded away. The glow of the stars was a slow constant, never fading. Never giving so much as a dimming twinkle.

    While most of Equestria had just shifted into spring, the hilltop and surrounding forestry was still gripped by clinging bits of winter. Snow covered most of the ground around the tree, and there was a lingering chill in the air. The occasional breeze would blow past, carrying echoes and howls that flew by through the dark forest, their shrieks like the cries of lonely spirits.

If the tree had a breath to even give, much less a soul of its own, it would have delivered a long, happy sigh. In fact, the stallion did just that. He sighed, letting his hot breath leave puffs of steam to curl and rise for a few seconds, before disappearing into the night. Slowly and carefully, he placed his right hoof on the soft earth, letting the dirt and rich soil deliver a sense of ease.

    The stallion let a sly smile crawl over and freeze itself on his face, hugging himself and delighting in the eternal serenity. For a while the stallion watched the rippling water continue its quiet dance, taking in all that surrounded him. Slowly the stallion’s attention turned from the dim light that emitted from the water, and began to scan the skies above. He stared for a second or two, and turned his attention back to the water.

For a long while the stallion sat alone in utter silence on the edge of the pond with the calm dance of the water and the light of the moon as his only company. Occasionally, the silence would be broken by the buzz and chirp of insects, or the creaking of the trees. In all, it was a scene of tranquility, and it was just what the stallion had needed.

    As the stallion began to draw in another slow breath, the flapping of wings and caws of a bird began to echo across the trees. He looked back up at the sky, scanning it for any sign of an approaching bird. A sigh of relief overcame him when the man saw a falcon breach over the treetops. The stallion stood and brushed dirt and snow off his legs, and continued to watch the skies while he awaited the arrival of the avian creature.

Soon the bird could be seen over the treetops above him. As the stallion watched, the bird began its descent. The stallion cupped his left hoof over his eyes as the bird came lower and lower, soon arriving just in front of him. The falcon flapped its wings for a few seconds, before landing on the stallion’s outstretched left leg.

    The stallion looked to the bird’s right leg, which had attached to it a small piece of paper. The stallion grasped the small paper in his hands, and looked to the bird. He patted the bird on the head, and said “Good job, Horus.” Horus cawed, and the stallion handed a small piece of grain to Horus, who took it gladly. The stallion then took the paper in his hoof, and slowly opened it. As soon as the stallion could read it properly, he read the short letter out loud.

“Dusk Swirl, thank you for your efforts. Horus is performing magnificently. You will receive your next set of instructions from Princess Twilight. You need to see her tomorrow at the Castle of Friendship in Ponyville.”

Dusk Swirl rolled the paper back to the way it was, and looked up at Horus. He grinned to himself, and handed Horus another piece of grain. “Heh, great job, my friend. You have made me proud to be your master.” His speech made Horus caw. Right after devouring the second piece of grain, Dusk Swirl attached another piece of rolled paper to Horus’ leg, and sent Horus off to deliver the new message.

    Dusk Swirl watched as Horus flew off, his eye staying on Horus until the bird disappeared behind the trees. Chuckling to himself, he grabbed a medium-sized bag that sat on the ground next to him. Dusk Swirl brushed it off of the dirt and snow, and then grasped the bow and arrows in his empty hands. Just as he was finishing packing up, he was interrupted suddenly by hoofsteps nearby.

Sighing, he didn’t bother to look in the direction the noises came from. “You know better than to try and sneak up on me, Timekeeper.”

    “Ah, yes. But does it really hurt to even try just once?”

Dusk Swirl looked up to Timekeeper, who was walking towards him. Dusk Swirl grasped his belongings in his hand, and chuckled to himself rather loudly. “No, I guess it doesn’t.”

Timekeeper chuckled, and began to help Dusk Swirl pack up the rest of his things, and kept talking all while doing so. “So, where’s Celestia sending you next? I hope it isn’t something boring.”

Dusk Swirl laughed to himself quietly before responding. “Nah, I don’t think so.” Dusk Swirl slung his bag over his shoulder. “Actually, I think that where we’re going next just might even be a little more interesting than our last trip.”

    “Ah, yes. I hated the Griffon Kingdoms. Quite much, as a matter of fact. I would be surprised if Celestia had the gall to send us there again.”

    Dusk Swirl sighed, and stood up. “Well, I doubt he will, but you never know.”

<<<>>>

The two began walking through the forest. All around, the darkened trees and tall bushes stood with their gnarled branches, each one surrounding the two on all sides like silent guardians of the forest lands. Dusk Swirl and Timekeeper continued to walk, conversing about different subject matters. Usually it was whatever would have come to either stallion’s mind.

Most of the conversation was about previous travels, and any misadventures that the two stallions had experienced together and alone. Both of them got quite a laugh out of their discussions, some of which drove the two to a point of laughing that nearly made them able to die. They would sometimes need to stop just to let a good laugh out.

    But, the two did in fact had a number of serious ones. Some of them involved so intense an argument that the two had to stop walking just to discuss it. Most of them were recalling different issues that they encountered on their outings, and how they could have taken a different course of action during quite a few perilous situations.

    “Well, I don’t see the sense in that!” Dusk Swirl proclaimed.

Timekeeper recoiled back a bit. “Look, all I’m saying is that maybe we could have done something differently. Then, maybe we might have saved a few more lives than we did!”

Dusk Swirl was more than just ticked off with Timekeeper at this point. “No! There was no other way of doing it! Had we done it any other way, we would have had a bigger loss than the one we got!”

The two kept yelling back and forth, each one trying to prove that they were right, and the other was wrong. That portion of the conversation nearly ended in a fist fight. Luckily, Dusk Swirl became the sensible one, and forced Timekeeper to drop the issue there. But unfortunately for the two, Timekeeper wasn’t too happy about simply dropping the subject.

Dusk Swirl froze in his place, and looked at Timekeeper. “Why do we even keep discussing this? This happened over three and a half years ago!” Dusk Swirl exclaimed.

    “I don’t care how long ago it happened!” Timekeeper yelled. “All I know is that if we had done it my way, there would be a lot more ponies alive than just the ones we’ve got now!”

“Over six million died, Timekeeper! There is nothing we can do! There wasn’t anything that we could do, and we still can’t do anything to change the past! Deal with it!”

Timekeeper decided to simply shut his mouth after that. The two continued walking for some time, and nothing more was discussed. Soon the two arrived at the outer edge of the forest. The immense and dark forest opened up to a beautiful and expansive meadow that was covered in lots of tall grass and occasional bush or small tree.

    The two men stopped just at the edge of the forest, and stared out at the horizon. The meadows seemed to stretch on forever, their beauty and expansiveness broken only by the sight of large, gray mountains in the background, each one surrounded by thick fog. Just beyond the meadow’s edge, the men could see the faint visage of a small town, nearby which sat a gleaming castle.

The two men stood for just a moment, taking in the eternal beauty of the meadow. Dusk Swirl reveled in the sight, but his calm state was interrupted by Timekeeper, who had started talking. “Well, we ain’t gonna get any closer to Ponyville if we keep standing here.” Dusk Swirl glared at Timekeeper. “What!? I’m just saying that, uh . . . maybe we should get going!? I mean, Ponyville isn’t gonna get any closer at the rate we’re going!”

Dusk Swirl simply sighed to himself, and motioned for the two to keep walking. As the sun began to peak farther and farther over the mountaintops, the light began to shine brightly over the castle and the town of Ponyville.