The stadium had seen bigger crowds, but never an event as momentous as this. Unicorns half-filled the stands, grimly watching the spectacle unfolding, even as they all had their horns lit and feeding magical energy into the task of ensuring that said spectacle did not become something a lot more dangerous. Pegasi blanketed the sky overhead, all clad in lightweight enchanted armor and alert for trouble. Even so, they were just a precaution; the really dangerous task was being undertaken by the army of earth ponies that had started to file onto the field. Each earth pony was wearing heavy-duty armor, also enchanted but in ways intended to take advantage of their natural strength, and like that of the pegasi, it was being powered constantly by the unicorns to ensure that their defenses remained at maximum for the duration of their perilous task.
Herded between them were the reasons for the drastic precautions – beings of great power, great intelligence, and even greater cruelty. Their forms were chimerical, with a body like that of a great stag with strong, cloven hooves, but with a head of a horned dragon, and with shimmering scales covering their entire body, right up to the tuft of their lion-like tail. They were graceful and beautiful, but equally arrogant and maleficent. They were the ponies’ former masters, their tormentors, and the one thing that united them all. They were the Kirin, and this day they were also the ponies’ captives.
Both earth pony soldiers and Kirin continued to pour onto the stadium grounds. The ponies took up positions along the perimeter, building a protective barrier between their prisoners and those in the seating area. This continued until the last of a few thousand of the Kirin had been herded in, and the stadium gates closed. Despite ostensibly being in control of the situation, the guards were slightly unnerved by the way the Kirin continued to act contemptuously of their status. Some even seemed amused by the show of power by the assembled ponies of all kinds. It was perhaps slightly lessened when the leader of the forces made herself known.
An alicorn with pure white fur and flaming red mane and tail, stepped onto a platform at the head of the column of Kirin. She was flanked by her generals – mares and stallions of all pony kinds. They came to a halt at the edge of the platform, shoulder to shoulder in solidarity, and it was clear to the spectators that they stood as equals, even while acknowledging the alicorn as their leader. They gazed down upon the Kirin, a gamut of emotions running behind their impassive faces. This was the culmination of all that they had fought for, all they had sacrificed, all that they had dared hope for – they were free of the Kirin’s yoke of tyranny.
Noise died away as all conversation stopped. There was scarcely even any shuffling of hooves to mar the near silence that descended upon the stadium, so when the alicorn started to speak, she was clearly audible even to those on the far side of the stadium.
“I am Faust, commander-in-chief of the armies of freedom, defender of pony-kind, and voice of my people. Who doth speak for the Kirin?”
At first it seemed as if there would be no reply, but after a long, tense moment, one of the Kirin stepped out of the crowd and came as close to Faust as the belligerent guards would allow. With a contemptuous sneer, he said, “I will deign speak with you.”
“What is thy name, Kirin?”
“I do not give my true name to lesser beings.”
“Lesser? Thou doth seem to forget that I hath personally defeated thy ruler and his right-hoof war leader. My armies overcame your combined might. How does this make us the lesser?”
The Kirin waved a cloven hoof dismissively. “Mere military might does not make you superior. I cannot begin to enumerate the ways that we are better than you.”
There was a smattering of contemptuous laughter from many of the nearer Kirin.
Faust was visibly irked, but remained composed. “Yes, once you were looked up to, and honored for what you could do, and for your achievements. We made the mistake of elevating you to near godhood, but you became corrupt and malicious. What your kind did to not just ponies, but to all sapient species, hath left no room in our hearts for your boasts. You are immortals of great power, and yet you chose to use that power by enslaving us where once you advanced our civilization. You have fallen, Kirin; you are not our betters.”
“Bleat all thou want, pony aberration – we have no interest in thy opinions.” The Kirin turned his head from her in a show of boredom.
Faust flared her wings, her horn glowing with power as she stamped her forehooves with such power that the whole stadium shook with the shockwave. “I am the alicorn – the ascended combination of all that is good and strong in unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies. I wield magicks greater than any pony hath in the history of Equus. With but a word, my soldiers would leap to do my will. I have exceeded you in every way!” Faust folded her wings and let her magic die back down. “And yet I do not regard myself as their better. I have been given a destiny, and a responsibility. My ponies will be free to do as their hearts desire without fear of interference from me. I will not go your route. I am not their better, and neither are you.”
There was a long moment of silence before the Kirin spokesperson began a slow, derisive clap. “Such a pretty speech. Ridiculous, but at least not boring. What dost thou want of us, alicorn?”
“Be the people that you once were. Help instead of hinder. Build, not destroy. Save, not torture. Be our friends and restore harmony to our civilization.”
If Faust had hopes for at least a sign of interest in her pleas, they were quickly dashed as every Kirin started to laugh mockingly. She let it go on until it was plain that that they would do nothing to cooperate with their vanquishers. “ENOUGH!” Her voice reverberated throughout the stadium, stilling the laughter at last. She glared at the Kirin for a long moment before she continued. “So be it. I have extended the hoof of mercy, but you would cut it off. Therefore you must be dealt with.”
“Thou would be a fool if thou dost think that thou can deal with us,” the Kirin scoffed. “Whatever thy plans, they will come undone. However long thou dost hold us in check, we can out-wait thee. We are immortals and time means little to us.”
“Then I must deal with you in a manner such that your kind may never bother ours again,” Faust replied with chilling finality.
“Never? Thou would execute us all? Perhaps thou art not quite the fool I took you to be.”
“Nay, I am not a murderer. Your sentence is eternal banishment.”
The spokesperson laughed, accompanied by many of his kin. “Banishment? I take it back – thou art a greater fool than I thought, and a weak one at that. Thou shalt regret letting us live.”
Faust could hardly believe how callously they regarded life, even their own. “I regret only that I cannot bring peace between us. However, you will not darken our lives any more. You will all not only be banished to the far eastern Neighpalese Mountains, but you will also be shifted out of phase with our reality. As thou did say, you are immortals, and you will survive. Perhaps you will even build your culture anew. However, you will never again be able to enslave other races.”
The alicorn turned her attention to the earth pony soldiers. “Fall back into the stands and guard the unicorns as we perform the ritual of banishment.”
While still remaining alert for any trouble, the soldiers started filtering among the unicorns, preparing to defend them if necessary while they were distracted by the mighty effort they were going to be called upon to perform. When all were in place, Faust’s horn lit up as she began the complex spell that their most talented magic-users had assembled for the task. Far too dangerous for any mere unicorn to perform, it was one of the first true alicorn-level spells ever created, the first being what had ultimately defeated the Kirin.
Faust’s power grew as the ritual progressed. The unicorns fed their power into her in order to accomplish the enormous task. Banishing one with the spell was hard; banishing thousands at once bordered on the impossible. However, with Faust as the focus, and with the will of the unicorns united behind the effort, a sphere of magical potential grew around the Kirin. The mere backwash of the energies being released buffeted the earth ponies shielding the unicorns, and also the pegasi above. As the magic built to a crescendo, snow-capped mountains started to appear in the distance as seen through the sphere. Then the spell reached its climax and the sphere flashed with blinding light… and then there was nothing.
The Kirin were gone, along with a large portion of the stadium floor. In fact a perfectly spherical bowl was left, indicating how the entire contents of the sphere had been transposed, and not just the Kirin. Many of the unicorns collapsed from near exhaustion after their efforts, but they still found the energy to smile. Their enemy was gone, never to return.
Faust was tired as well, but was able to draw on greater resources to recover quickly. Her companions congratulated her, and there was much joy among them all. The unicorn general kissed her on the cheek and said, “Well done, beloved.”
“Thank you, Diamond Gaze,” she said and replied in kind to her husband. She then turned to the others and said, “And I thank you, my dearest friends and staunchest supporters for helping bring this day about.”
The earth ponies – one a Clydesdale mare and the other a mighty Shire stallion, both embraced her. The stallion’s booming laughter filled the air before he said, “It’s time to stop being so serious, Faust. We’ve earned the right to celebrate.”
The mare poked the stallion with a hoof that could have flattened any normal pony, and said, “After we make sure that the unicorns have all recovered, right, Thunder Hooves?”
He grinned back at her. “Yes, dear.”
“Don’t worry, Daisy, anypony who needs help will get it before any celebrations begin,” Faust reassured her. Daisy Cutter was a fierce warrior, but never a cruel one. Her concern for her fighters was a major reason why she had been chosen to lead the earth pony forces.
The pegasi both took the chance to hug Faust also as soon as the earth ponies made room. They were both mares, but one was of the rarer thestral breed. The other was small-winged and lean, built for speed and maneuverability, a trait that she had put to devastating affect in her battles.
When the latter finished her hug, she said, “To be honest, Faust, perhaps the Kirin were right about one thing – banishment was a foolish choice. No matter how good that spell was, nothing is perfect.”
“I know, Sky Blade, but we’ve discussed this before, and decided that the risk was more than acceptable. We aren’t going to blithely ignore them though; the Kirin’s new home will be monitored for suspicious activities. We’ve earned the right to celebrate tonight, but first there is one more important task to get done. We have accomplished so much by uniting the efforts of pegasi, unicorns, and earth ponies, and it’s time to start building upon that foundation.”
“Better start building fast,” Night Strike the thestral advised. “Looks like you’re losing your audience.”
“What?!” Faust exclaimed, whirling around to look, only to see the earth ponies and unicorns making their way out of the stadium. Even the skies were clearing of the pegasi that had so recently been swarming above. “Where are they going? We haven’t finished as yet! I wanted to make a speech about unification of the pony tribes continuing beyond our struggle against the Kirin.”
“I was afraid of this,” Thunder Hooves said. “There had been talk from the troops of going our own way after the Kirin were defeated.”
“But why? We have achieved so much by working together. Never in the history of Equus have all the pony tribes been so united, and gained so much. Why would they throw it all away now?”
Sky Blade replied, “Because they’re tired of war and suspicious of anypony who could defeat the Kirin. The pegasi have been talking about starting their own city-state for a long time now.”
“And why hast thou not told me this before?” Faust asked incredulously.
“Because thou had far too much to be concerned about already, love,” Diamond Gaze replied gently. “It’s too much too soon for everypony. Give them time – give thyself time. We have accomplished much this day – we can continue to pursue thy goals when they have had a while to get used to the changes wrought this day.”
“That is not good enough! Maintaining the peace and working out a means of monitoring the Kirin are things that can’t be procrastinated. I cannot do this alone.”
Daisy Cutter said, “We will not forget what thou hast accomplished, and I will always remind the earth ponies that they have some obligations because of that. However, I cannot force them into participating in thy dream. Thunder and I will always heed thy call if you need us though, I promise.”
Sky Blade spoke up next. “The pegasi will always be first in any fight to defend our lands and our lives. If you truly need us, thou need not call us because we will be there. But like the earth ponies, the pegasi have chosen to pursue separate goals.”
“And what of the unicorns?” Faust demanded, whirling around to face her husband. “Have they abandoned us also?”
“Nay, but they might not agree on the goals or methods. Thou dost know full well that unicorns are oft more suited to intellectual pursuits than the practical, or worse, they have their own dreams of political power. Also, they… many of them fear that they may have traded one powerful enemy for another.”
Faust felt tears of frustration well in her eyes. “Won’t anypony stand firm with me now?”
Night Strike gestured with her wings, and suddenly a swarm of bat-ponies plunged down from the sky where they had been patiently waiting for her signal. They formed ranks on the platform and then all bowed deeply. Night Strike then stepped up to Faust and said, “As leader of the thestrals, it’s my privilege to pledge our loyalty unto thee. The thestral tribe has unanimously decided that thy vision of the future is true, and it is our right and duty to support that goal. We are thine to command, Princess Faust.”
“Princess? I am no princess!” Faust protested.
“Would thou be our queen instead?” Night Strike replied with a grin. “If thou art to be the leader and figurehead that our world needs, then thou must be granted the authority to do such. We have declared that thou art our princess. It is our hope that all will eventually see that thou art theirs also.”
Faust did cry then. “I will strive to be worthy of your faith and loyalty, and if I am to be royalty, then I declare that the thestrals will be regarded as the first Royal Guards. Thank thee, Night Strike. Thank you, loyal thestrals.”
Faust then hugged Night Strike while her other friends cheered.
Eventually the hug ended and Thunder Hooves said, “Can we go party now? I think that we’ve had enough seriousness for one day.”
Faust laughed. “Don’t ever change, Thunder.”
* * *
Princess Faust went on to establish a watch to monitor the Kirin, but there was never a hint of anything suspicious for decades. Ironically this proved to be a disadvantage because the disparate pony tribes never felt any urgency to forge an alliance against a common foe, and her goal of uniting them was never achieved. Nevertheless, her efforts to protect and enhance the lives of all ponies gained her much respect, and while they never formally acknowledged her status as royalty, they increasingly came to her to help resolve disputes or get aid. Faust achieved much in her lifetime, but the thing that she was proudest of was being a mother.
As the first alicorn, there was much to be learned about herself, and one of the most dismaying was that her fertility seemed to be affected. It took many years and many attempts to fall pregnant, but eventually she gave birth to an alicorn filly whom they named Celestia. It was to be many years before they were able to give Celestia a sister whom they named Luna. Eventually they realized that there was nothing wrong with her fertility, only that it had been immensely slowed down just as her aging had apparently been also. On the day of Diamond Gaze’s death of old age, Faust looked not one day older than when she had first ascended to alicornhood. Diamond had not even managed to live to see his daughters grow to maturity because their aging had been retarded also.
It was a shock then when Faust did die. After over two centuries of relative peace, a powerful enemy struck unexpectedly, but while it was defeated, Faust was dealt a mortal blow. The ability to control the sun and the moon which she had wrested from the Kirin had been passed on to Celestia and Luna, but her daughters did not likewise gain the respect that Faust had worked so hard to achieve, and relationships between the tribes slowly started to sour until there was outright hostility between them, leading to the time of the windigos. Meanwhile though, Celestia and Luna studied and traveled the world, learning what they could of nearly everything, with the ever-loyal thestrals as their guardians.
And slowly, the Kirin were forgotten.
* * * * * * * * * *
Author's Note
This is not the story of how Faust defeated the Kirin, nor is it a story about her death. It is just a prologue to the current day events, but hopefully an interesting one. There is much to be told in this story that I only hinted at in The Time Of The Alicorn, with this prologue already exceeding the word count of the short story. This is a bit of a different kind of story for me than the usual slice-of-life material, so it will be interesting if i can pull it off well. You can consider this story to be in a different universe from that of "Change of Life", "Growing Up Dandy", and "Conversations in a Canterlot Café".
I tried to make good use of archaic speech in this chapter without overdoing it. Keeping the thous, thees, thys, and thines straight wasn't easy though. If you feel I have goofed up, feel free to point it out.
The cover art for this story is by Kat Miller a.k.a. Foxenawolf.
