Author's Note

Finally got another chapter out, though I should have done so a long time ago.

Well. . . hope you like it.

Old Friends and Origins

Faust flared at the leader as he stood before her, his hooves shaking in the shackles as the guards restrained him with rope. "You have some nerve invading my kingdom; and to think you were going to try and enslave us as your breeders, I don't know how I should punish you."

She'd thought about this ever since Amaterasu appeared in her throne room. She had to completely embrace the fact that her ally saved her and her ponies from a dark fate, but it was not as easy as the others made it out to be. She was the goddess of this world. Her purpose in life was to be the deity of this world, a symbol of peace and an unstoppable force, one with the greatest honor. And yet, she was embarrassed by this mortal, if not humiliated. No one had ever brought her down. Not even Discord. Such frustration ran through her veins and boiled.

"I say we send him to the deepest circle of hell." Amaterasu suggested in her spirit form, carrying a very Leo on her back as Higarashi worked his magic on destroying the crystal. Though he was tiny in the eyes of Twilight and the others, his knowledge of magic made him a strong ally and a good source for information.

"That would be too easy," Discord intervened, a smug grin worn on his lips. "I say we cut off his antlers and make him plow Applejacks farm with them. She does need help planting more trees."

"No!" came the high pitched voice of the Kistune, his tone filled with anger as the group watched him slide off Amaterasu's back. He approached the defeated Caribou with his claws out.

"Leo?" Faust said, but he ignored her, something she found to be more disturbing than Celestia setting her heart on the boy when he comes of age.

Leo stepped forward quietly and thought about this monster trying to hurt innocent ponies. Though he was just a child that barely knows the meaning of right and wrong, it did not sit well with him that a mean monster wanted to pick on his friends and family. He had to grasp the truth of monsters existing in Equestria. It is how life works; and although the Queen of Equestria is not his birth mother, she was still the closest thing he had to a loving mother. No one could understand that better than him. Not even Celestia and Luna had the right idea to what he felt right now.

Leo's hands curled into their near-deadly shape while the Caribou paid no attention to him, only to his captured allies as they were dragged into the dungeons. The little boy glared up to him and growled cutely, but also with enough of a tone to make it sound dark. His eyes swam with an ocean of rage and hatred for the fool. Faust was not his real mother, but he loved her like she was. She was his mother, his mother fox, and the best friend he never head, and this bastard had the gall to hurt her.

That hatred also ran in his veins. The more he looked at this guy, the angrier he had become. That reason was there, running beneath the surface of his young heart, calling to the divine power in his little body. It didn't have to be much, but it was decided. It was his choice—like giving up of one's soul. Faust and Amaterasu could see his extremely rare gifts show like they were meant to.

His birth mother had been a very powerful force, and now it was all his. Her ability to cross between realities from long distances and destroy anything within her power did not die with her. It had not come to its end from the betrayal of her comrades, rather start a new beginning in the body of that boy. More, Faust knew that her little fox had been given a special connection with the living and dead, but it was not showing yet. She hoped it would, but much later in his life.

Amaterasu was like her sister, she could grow any plant, and sometimes, plants would respond just to the sound of her voice. But to see the boy grow fresh green grass beneath his naked feet. . .

"What in the hay. . ." The guard closest to the leader broke off when Leo growled and a small flower sprouted from the top of the flower, a red rose to be exact.

Twilight and her friends gawked as he clenched his fists. Wind blew in out of nowhere and surrounded the boy, gusting his fur almost violently.

Discord, and Amaterasu knew the strongest of Leo's emotions was with Faust being injured and him not having the speed to stop it. This made them slightly afraid. They would need everything in order to help this boy learn where his limits could cross—unless, like his birth mother, he had a stubborn nature to go with his mischievous attitude.

Leo had fought through the fuzziness in his mind and thought about the best way to get revenge on the Caribou Leader. He had chosen poorly what to do. Just a simple technique he was taught by the all-knowing flea when they were still student and teacher. Faust and the others could see behind the boy's silence what he was about to do and feared the worst.

"Why did you hurt mommy and the others?" Leo asked in a hollow tone, shaking uncontrollably whilst jerking from the hoof that touched his shoulder. Celestia's hoof. "Mommy did nothing to hurt you or make you mad, so why did you hurt her and everyone in the throne room? Why did you hurt my mommy and Miss Celestia? Why did you hurt them?"

The smile growing on the Caribou's snout felt infuriating to him. His nerves had been all over the place, but once that smile appeared and he was chuckling evilly, all Leo could do is cry and clench his teeth, scowling at him, and fighting the animal inside him that begged to claw out the monster's eyes.

The leader leaned down as close as he could before the guards jerked on the ropes tied to his collar. He let in a deep breath and brought himself satisfaction of getting under someone's skin, even it was an ignorant child. He was a young Caribou in the making, yet his knowledge was old, and matched perfectly what his deceased father taught him. He could torment and tease anyone with the right motivation; and what better way to make the little prince grieve.

The guards surrounding him did not look to their angered queen. They did not have to ask what needed to done when he came close to Leo.

"I doubt that a brat like you would ever understand, but I will indulge your little head with my reason. Let's just hope you can process it. . ." he replied, coughing into the only hoof that is free to move slightly in the shackles. Celestia, like her mother, did not want Leo to hear the reason behind the attack, but she turned to her mother and saw received a nod of approval, something she unexpected.

"I am a Caribou, a dominant species of Equestria, while your 'mommy' is just like her fellow ponies, an inferior race that has nothing better to do than breed our children. We did it with the Jayponese and Prench when the Discordian War happened, but your dear mommy ended our conquest and forced us to live in the badlands. We had everything we wanted. We had mares to rut to our hearts content, but she took it all away."

"Because you enslaved them," Faust clarified. "You tried to make my little ponies into rutting slaves for your dark purposes, so I did what was necessary."

"It doesn't matter, because you're still inferior to us. And one day, one day, we will rise up again to rule over Equestria."

"You're all monsters," the queen spat on him, disregarding all formality as the little kitsune hung his head. A dark shadow hung over his heart while Faust lost herself to the past. "You and your kind are nothing but disgusting beasts that I should have destroyed all those years ago."

"Well we're still here. . . slut!"

Leo put down what Celestia told him about controlling himself, exactly where he stood. He was without good conscience as the grass beneath his feet turned black and withered. He kept tightening his fists, holding them tight as blood dripped to the floor, saying without words how angry he was. Faust, Amaterasu and Discord focused their gazes on the boy just as hard as they did with the Caribou, conveying their worry. None of three expected this much emotion or that amount of power to already show. They did not feel any darkness behind it, but all the same, it worried them.

Leo stepped into the Caribou's personal and glared up to him with intense fury. "You hurt my friends and my mommy because you think you're better. You are just a big bully," he spat before raising his bleeding fist. "AND I HATE BULLIES!"

The Caribou cocked his brow at the boy, uncertain if he really was going to try and hit him. "Are you stupid, or did you forget that I am ten times your size? I could step on you and—"

"Leo, no. I taught you better!" Higarashi screamed from atop Faust's head, but it was too late.

Leo chanted the words and aimed at the beast's chest, swinging with all his strength.

"TENKUU-KOBUSHI!"

The air surrounding him shift and molted to Leo's fist at the very last second, compressing into a heavy vacuum before making contact with the Caribou's chest. He pushed his fish, knuckle bearing into fur, and thrust quickly just above the chest cavity. Like a cannon going off, the force of the blast went through the Gazellor and sent him soaring into a wall. The guards were very lucky to have the ropes snap; otherwise, it would have been a big mess. At once the ponies felt the shockwave urge them to move back. They stumbled, the shock nearly throwing off their balance.

"JERK!" he screeched, his scowl extremely deep and intense.

The group gawked together and most were uncomfortable by Leo's punch. The guards could actually feel fear for the poor soul they have to pull out of the wall. They had faced so many enemies in the past, some being tyrants and monsters, but to see this much damage done in a single blow astounded them.

The back of Faust's neck tingled, another subtle warning. She approached her growling son and sank to her stomach and went very still with holding him back. The guard closest to them took a few steps back and clearly did not think he was going to be of any help with the little prince. He relied exclusively on his queen, just like the rest of the guards. Though it was their job to protect and advise, what good would it do to advise a child with that big of a temper?

"Leo, you need to calm down!" Faust circled him with her wings in order to hold him back, but he struggled through the anger and her grasp to reach Gazellor. He squirmed and yelled as Celestia and Amaterasu approached to help, though Celestia was more on the line of using different 'methods' of calming him down.

Sadly she could not, just think to herself He is going to be my stallion!

"Let go of me. I wanna hit him again!" Leo screamed before having his arms restrained by the alicorn's magic, forced to press against his sides as she nuzzled him. "Let go, momma! Let go! He's a bully and I hate him!"

Faust ignored him and inched past the intensity of his spirit. She was now deep in the inner circle of his power. This was where the fox inside him would be dormant, sleeping peacefully, perhaps in the darkest corner of his mind, but that was not the case at all. She did not have to see but feel his raw energy.

She felt the emotions of her son grow. Strong. So strong for a small boy. His tears burst through the dam like a river out of control. She held him close and fought down the need to vomit at her own failure. She had not counter on feeling his just because they were in close proximity, but it was so intense.

"It's okay," she cooed whilst planting tender kisses to his cheeks, avoiding the whiskers. "He's not going to hurt anypony again. Leo, it's fine now. You can calm down."

Drawing several deep breaths, Leo continued to cry in his mother's wings. Twice, he choked on a single thought and spun around to cling on Faust's chest, but she saw this was going to happen and trusted her instincts as a mother. Both times she saw it happen and suspected there was something wrong; that the anger inside him was to curtain the reason behind his sudden tantrum.

"Leo, what's wrong?" Her voice wobbled. She held back a lump in her throat. She knew it was bad, yet she hadn't imagined—this.

Leo did not move or give away that he was hurting on the inside. He kept his eyes close. His head down. But he felt safe with her to tell the truth.

"I don't wanna be alone again," his face was so ravaged with pain, Faust and Amaterasu wanted to cry. His eyes were swollen and bloodshot. Clearly he had been holding back a fear no one could see until now. "It was so empty in the house, and now that monster wants to take you away. I don't want you to be taken away. I want you, Miss Celestia and Miss Luna to stay!"

The girls, at this point, wanted to drop to their knees, hug the boy and comfort him. How could a little boy think like that and hold it in? How much did that fear eat at him? Shaken and stricken with guilt, Twilight pressed her hoof to her mouth and studied the depth of his fear. She could see where she went wrong in judging the boy to be a possible danger to society.

Tears fell all around as the boy's cries echoed across the castle. He stayed as close to his mother as possible, but it was not enough to take away the fear, even with her nuzzling and kissing his cheeks.

"I have failed." Higarashi whispered. His head low. Shame reflecting in his eyes. "Forgive me. . . Mithra."

"We will deal with those monsters later," Amaterasu said as she sat next to her fellow goddess. "Right now you need to take care of him, and we need to explain everything with your daughters and those other six over there."

"Thank you," Faust whispered.

"You are welcome, big sister."

After a brief clean-up of the destruction and informing the guards to keep the boy's tantrum a secret, Faust found herself approaching Luna's room with a now-slumbering Leo in her wings, tears dry and sticking to his whiskers as she opened the door. Celestia had warned her little sister with a small letter of what has happened. Twilight expected the Lunar Princess to be fast asleep since the daytime is her time to sleep, but Celestia made sure that the letter she sent gave a loud wake-up call.

"Why are we going to Princess Luna's room?" Rainbow Dash asked, flying next to the queen as Luna stood at the door with no crown on her head. In fact, she had no royal garment whatsoever and looked exhausted behind her bemused look.

"Who wishes to die first?" she asked in a hollow tone.

Knowing the weakness to her daughter's life and joy, she beamed a cheshire grin, lifted her wings a little, and showed the napping Kitsune to her. "I come with the offering of a little fox that just had a very rough morning. If you let us enter and speak privately, I will allow you to cuddle and sleep with him."

Luna looked down to the boy and up to her mother. "He may be the most adorable thing in existence, but that will not save you."

"I will buy you that new Fallout game you want and allow you to have the first date when he comes of age."

"Hey!" Celestia yelled, unaware of the small grin growing on Luna.

"Deal, but the location is my choice." she stepped aside, gesturing to enter. "Please make yourselves comfortable. Do ignore the root beer cans on the floor."

Entering quickly yet quietly so as to not disturb Leo, the entire group found different places to sit, though the minimal trash around them was very unnerving to Rarity and Sweetie Belle. Faust drew them in whilst giving her little fox to the Lunar Princess, wings extended and a gentle slide into her grasp as Amaterasu gazed at them.

"So this is Little Lulu from all those years ago;" the Sun Deity whispered, though it was loud enough for everyone to hear. "And look how big she is now. You've certainly grown into a beautiful mare just like your sister," she pinch the rim of a can and scrunched in disgust. "Though you could use a lesson in keeping your room clean."

"I'm sorry, but who are you?" Luna asked, brow cocked and horn tipped with magic as a precaution.

Amaterasu giggled lightly and took a seat in the beanbag chair behind her, ignoring the stern glare from the blue alicorn. "Let's just say that I am your long-distance aunt."

"But you're not a pony."

"No, but I am just like your mother. I am a first-born goddess of my species, and her and I were made by the same father."

"What?" Luna turned to her mother, confused as anyone can be.

"You'll know soon enough, but first I want to remove all doubt and mystery." Faust coughed, before clearing her throat. She pondered deeply where to start and how to make it subtle with everyone, while Luna found herself back in her own bed with the cooing Kitsune firmly grasping her chest. She took that as a victory over who is his favorite and stuck her tongue out at her jealous sister, who happened to be pouting. "Now I suppose you all have questions relating to Amaterasu, Leo, and myself."

Everyone but Discord and Amaterasu nodded.

"I'd thought so," she inhaled a deep breath, afraid to speak the story of her origin and relation to the all-mighty wolf. But this was not something to be hidden; the secret needed to come out so her daughters and Twilight and her friends could understand what makes Leo so special. "Well then I will start from the beginning. But before I tell you I must have your word that you will keep this a secret. It is for the sake of Equestria that nopony outside this room knows the truth, understand?" She focused on Rarity's sister, knowing the temptation to tell is hard on a filly. "Do you understand little one?"

Sweetie Belle nodded and hid behind her big sister, fearing the stare of her queen.

"Very good. . ." Again she recollected the past as though it were yesterday. She took another deep breath and cleared her mind of everything else, knowing this would need her undivided attention. "Now to start, but which beginning?"

"Just start from our birth;" Discord suggested, which was the best idea he'd ever had. "It's best that way."

"Yes, and thank you." Faust nodded. "Now then, you all know that I am the first alicorn and your queen for it. It was I who made this universe and this world. I created the Unicorns, the Pegasus, and the Earth Pony with pieces of myself to create life, but I was not born out of nothing, nor was I just a goddess that's always existed. I was created by powerful being, and so was Amaterasu and Leo's real mother. We are what you call the Firstborn."

"The Firstborn?" Twilight and her friends questioned a little too loudly. It had stirred the little fox, but not enough to awaken him. Thankfully Luna was quick-witted and placed a mute spell around him.

"Yes, we are the first of our species," Faust nodded and then turned to her sister. "I am the first pony to ever exist. Amaterasu is the first wolf. And like us, there are many other creatures that are Firstborn. We are the first gods of our species."

"There are gods that are not pony?" Rainbow Dash questioned. Faust gave her a quick now.

"Yes, and in the beginning of our birth we were the guardians of a powerful species known as humans." Faust said calmly, though it was not easy. "We, the Firstborn, protected the humans and served the one who created us. We served a powerful force that we call God as his protectors of the Mortal Realm while his angels protected them in a drift known as Limbo. We co-existed with the angels and helped them defeat malevolent creatures known as demons, because they are monstrous creatures that wish to infect anything with their evil."

"Are all demons bad?" Fluttershy asked.

Faust shook her head. "No, but those that are good were judged harshly and forced into exile by the humans."

Amongst the talk, Twilight found the queen's choice of words more intriguing by the minute. She found herself admiring her and Leo all the more. She knew there was a mystery behind the two, but this so valuable with it's information that she could barely hold herself back. Just knowing there is a world beyond hers and the mirror astounded her. And the birth of Equestria being the creation of her majesty, Twilight was at a loss of words.

"So what happen to yer co-exist'n with these hoomins?" Applejack asked.

Faust sighed with shame in herself. "Our coexistence came to an end when I created the first unicorn;" she replied in somber tone. "It was on the eve of the great flood and that monster was cruel to the humans. When the great flood happened, all mythical beings were forbidden refuge. Most of them died, while Amaterasu escaped to the heavens and I travelled across dimensions with Discord to create Equus."

"Discord, you're a Firstborn?" Pinkie Pie asked in her most chirpy voice.

Discord gathered himself close to Faust, sheltering his own mind with his unforeseen circumstances of the past. He stirred with regret and crossed his arms, every protective instinct telling him to run away. His heart actually raced with fear. Still. . . he wasn't about to let anyone or anything make him seclude the truth. He had chosen the higher road to save himself and Faust from the terror he was born from and had undergone a drastic change.

"Yes, but I'm not part of their family;" he said before Amaterasu could speak for him. "My origin is from the darkest realm. I am the Firstborn of the most vile and cruel monster to ever exist; and it pains me just to tell you that."

It took a great deal of discipline for Discord to stand there proudly and allow the girls look at him so worriedly. He respected their concern, but he did not want to be pitied, and did not feel he earned it in the first place.

"Back to the story," Faust coughed. "After I made Equestria, Discord and I sought creating new life by combining our magic and memory. Every creature you know is a copy of the original from Earth."

That got the girls thinking long and hard while Celestia put herself into the conversation.

"That would explain Hearth's Warmth Eve," the Solar Princess said. "But that does not explain Luna and I's birth, nor does it give me any relief. Leo is still a big mystery to me."

"Oh that is simple," Faust giggled into her own hoof. "On the first year of Equestria, I was bred by a unicorn who went by the name of Terra Nova. Lovely stallion, but he was a mortal. As for Leo, I think our little friend should be the one to explain."

None of the girls knew what the alicorn meant, until Higarashi leaped off her head and landed on the desk next to the bed. He stepped up to the gang and crossed his arms in a proud manner as all eyes focused on him. "That indeed will be where I come in to explain. Leo is my responsibility after all, and no one knows him better than me."

"Okay, so what is up with the little guy?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Why are Discord, the queen, and Ama—what's her name—making Leo out to be so special?"

"That's because he is special, just like Celestia and Luna." Higarashi replied with a big smile, feeling accomplished as the all-knowing flea he is. "Like those two, Leo is a child of a Firstborn. But that is not the only reason to why Leo is so unique."

"What's the other reason?" asked a yawning Luna.

"Leo's mother, Mithra, was the strongest of the Firstborn. She could do things not even Ammy and Faust can hope to do," he added before giving the red haired alicorn a stern glare. "And if what we saw is a sign, then Leo may be just as powerful as her."

"That does not explain how special he is."

"Sorry, I'll get back on track." he chuckled, and the became very serious with the girls. "This is the reason for it all. . ." he took in a deep breath, terrorizing them with suspense. "Leo is like Celestia and Luna—a god—but his power has no limit, nor restraint. Like his mother, his power will continue to grow and evolve. And let me tell you, there are some very bad people who would like to have him as a weapon."

"Like who?" Celestia questioned.

"The other Firstbornm, Faust and I's siblings;" Amaterasu reprimanded. "It would give them so much pleasure to control Leo and use him against us."

"Let's not forget demons," Faust said.

"Or my father," Discord added.

"He—especially him—would be the worst one to have control over Leo." Higarashi exaggerated with hand imagery. "If that bastard possessed Leo, Heaven and Hell would be thrown into chaos and absolute destruction."

"Why is Discord's dad so terrible?" asked Twilight.

Discord smirked at the purple alicorn, though it was more intended to express regret rather than joy. "Because my father is Lucifer, the creator of Hell."

"And the one who murdered Mithra." Amaterasu said sternly, thus making Twilight and her friends gasp.