Long ago, before the dawn of time, there was a goddess. She is known to modern mortals as the Sundered Goddess. Such was her power that the other gods grew envious. All of the gods -- except for Harmony -- ambushed her. They tore her to pieces, killed her, and used her Heart as the foundation of the universe. Her last breaths as she died became the magic that flows through the universe.
This is not her story.
The twenty-four pieces of the Sundered Goddess each held tremendous power. So much power, in fact, that each one became a god or goddess in its own right. One of those pieces was named Okami Amaterasu. She manifested in the form of a beautiful white wolf and traveled the world. In her journeys she did so much good for mortals that they began calling her the Origin of All that is Good and Mother to Us All. Revered as a wild, playful goddess of good, she used a wide variety of powers to fight the demons that plagued the world.
This is not her story.
Harmony, daughter of the Sundered Goddess, carried out a plan to reincarnate her mother in a form that would be graced with such compassion that she could forgive the other gods for murdering her, yet still use all due force to keep herself alive. The mortal she chose to become the Heir of the Sundered Goddess was a little lavender unicorn named Twilight Sparkle. Manipulating the gods of Chaos, Day, Night, and Love, along with many demons, Harmony orchestrated Twilight’s ascension.
Twilight Sparkle, now the Goddess of Magic, started seeking out the Twenty-four Fragments of the Sundered Goddess, with the intent of restoring her full power. Three years after her ascension, Amaterasu came before Twilight and merged with the young alicorn. Twilight gained the ability to assume Amaterasu’s form and use her powers. She also inherited the wolf goddess’s duties. Among the most important of those duties was raising Amaterasu’s son, Chibiterasu, more commonly known as Chibi.
This is the story of how Twilight tried to find a foalsitter, or rather, a wolfsitter that could look after her new son for a few days.
Easier said than done, considering that one aspect of Chibi’s domain is Cuteness.
Twilight trotted through Ponyville. She carefully maintained a glamour around the precious bundle on her back so that she would not distract anypony. After all, wolves are a rare sight in normal life.
As she approached Fluttershy’s cottage, she noticed an unusual abundance of butterflies. Twilight took a second look. Wait, those are not butterflies, those are breezies!
Moving carefully through the fluttering breezie crowd, Twilight finally reached the door. A small note on the door explained that Fluttershy was in a meadow behind her house tending to the butterflies that had been displaced by the breezies.
With an amused roll of her eyes, Twilight walked around the cottage and spotted Fluttershy surrounded by a flock of butterflies.
“Hello, Fluttershy,” she called out. Fluttershy turned to the sound and saw Twilight. She gestured to the butterflies, and they parted to allow Twilight through. One landed on Twilight’s ear.
“Hello,” Fluttershy said, her voice its typically gentle volume. “Is it time for our weekly afternoon tea party already?”
“No. I was just wondering if you could look after Chibi for a couple days.”
“Chibi?”
Twilight dropped the illusion hiding Chibi. A wolf cub, his fur white as driven snow with red marking across his body, slept between Twilight’s wings.
“You have a new pet?” Fluttershy’s voice had reached the level of excitement it got when she talked about the animals in the royal gardens. Soft, but with audible excitement.
Twilight’s ear, the one with the butterfly, twitched. “No. He is not a pet. He is the son of the goddess Amaterasu.”
Fluttershy processed that. “Why would you be taking care of her son?”
Twilight thought about explaining, but decided that it would take too much time. “That doesn’t concern anypony except Ammy and me. I just need somepony to take care of him for three days while I deal with a small problem.” Mentally, she added Yeah, seven thousand demons of varying strength marching on Neighpon qualifies as a ‘small’ problem. Twilight’s ear twitched again.
Fluttershy opened her mouth to reply when the ear butterfly, disturbed from its perch on Twilight, landed on Chibi’s nose. He sneezed, shook his head, and gave a squeaky yawn.
Fluttershy gave a big “daaaaww!” before rushing over to stroke his ears. Chibi blinked the cobwebs from his mind for a few moments before leaning into the gentle touch. When Fluttershy lifted Chibi off Twilight’s back, he pawed at her nose. Setting him down, Fluttershy started petting his back. He rolled over, giving the clear canine request for a tummy rub.
While the pegasus continued to lavish the wolf with affection, Twilight started going over a small list of rules.
“I will leave you with a bag of Holy Bones. He is only allowed one small Holy Bone a day. If he is injured, he is allowed one large Holy Bone. Do not let him into anything you own that is religious in nature; bad things will happen if he plays with them. Most importantly, if his Holy Mirror appears on his back, let him go where he wants.”
Fluttershy collapsed. Chibi had started batting at her mane like a cat with string.
Twilight blinked for a moment before moving to place her ear against the downed pegasus’s chest. After confirming that there was a heartbeat, she turned to Chibi.
“Well, she can’t take care of you if she passes out from your cute behavior.”
Chibi just gave a canine grin.
Twilight sighed. “Come on. And you are walking since you are awake.”
Chibi just gave a yip in response.
As the pair walked past the cottage, Twilight spotted the resident bear carrying the pegasus to her cottage. Twilight happily noticed that the breezies were not passing out thanks to Chibi. Though a couple appeared to be experiencing a squee-fit.
Twilight shook her head at the antics of the breezies. Chibi, you need to tone down the cuteness.
Applejack had her ear to a tree. She punched it. *Thump* “Ah can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Ask Granny Smith.” With that, Applejack continued checking the trees for parasites.
Twilight turned to the farmhouse. She spotted Chibi and Winona playing with a rope with Applebloom watching. Somehow, Winona was winning.
Inside the farmhouse, Granny Smith was making a batch of apple tarts to sell.
“Good morning.” Just being a goddess was no excuse to be impolite. “Applejack said I should ask you why your family cannot watch Chibi.” Being a goddess with a job to do was an excuse to get straight to the point.
The old farm mare finished measuring the sugar she was about to add to her mix before replying.
“When ah was a little’un, the great goddess Amaterasu visited Ponyville. Her divine presence blessed all the farms in the area with stronger crops. She also set off the Zap Apples.” Grany Smith’s next words were quieter. “Said it was somethin’ to do with an ogre problem.”
“I think you mean oni.” Twilight blinked in internal shock for a few seconds. It still caught her off guard that she could access Amaterasu’s memories. Then she caught onto what the elderly mare had said.
“Set them off?”
“Yes. They went straight to being ripe faster than we could prepare. We lost about fifteen trees worth of apples.”
Twilight did the mental math. Her eyes widened. “That would have cost you…”
Granny was nodding at Twilight’s realization. “A lot. We get a lot of our yearly income from those apples. If that son of hers has any of her fertility power, he could cause us to lose product.”
“I understand. Thank you for at least explaining your refusal.”
“Not a problem, Princess. Ah just wish we could help you. Our whole family worships the Great Mother Amaterasu.”
I know. I can hear your family praying to her, and thus, me. Applebloom’s prayers are cute, when they are not about Cutie Marks; those are just repetitive. Babs Seed’s prayers to help her friend find that doll are also in the middle of being granted. Three… Two… One… And there is the doll.
~-~=~-~
In Manehattan, Babs paused. She had been helping a friend find a doll that was lost under the bed when she felt a sensation like a brush on the cheek. She turned toward the sensation and spotted a small bundle of fabric. Grabbing it, she climbed out from under the bed.
Her friend glomped her before she could speak.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you! I’ve been looking for Mr. Fuzzles for days!”
~-~=~-~
As Twilight left the farmhouse, she spotted Chibi catching a stick; Applebloom was apparently playing fetch with a godling without realizing it.
Applebloom noticed her approach. “Hey Twi? What’s with this doggie’s markings?”
“They represent the belief that you have in certain gods. A more detailed explanation would leave you with a headache.”
“So that puppy is a messenger of the gods?” The filly’s eyes could not go any bigger. “What god does he serve?”
Twilight chuckled. “He is no messenger. He is the heir of the goddess Amaterasu.”
Applebloom gaped in awe for a few moments before bowing to the god puppy. The god puppy, for his part, simply gave her mane a lick. Twilight shook her head.
“For three years, you have lived in the same town as a goddess, namely me,” Twilight said. “You can see my combined castle and temple from some of the taller hills in the Acres and from the upper floors of your house. Yet you bow in religious reverence at a godling that is not even half your age?”
Suddenly bashful, Applebloom said “Um, well ah… ah don’t really understand magic, so ah don’t worship you like ah do Amaterasu.”
Twilight failed to contain her chuckle. “Don’t worry. I’m not upset that some ponies don’t worship me.”
Applebloom’s responded with a sigh of relief.
Twilight said her goodbyes and left with her son in tow.
“Chibi, I have seen you beat Cerberus in a tug of war. Why were you letting Winona beat you? Were you flirting with her?”
Chibi stuck out his tongue.
“We could watch him, but…” Carrot Cake began.
“Between him, the bakery, and the foals, we would have our hooves full,” Cupcake stated apologetically.
“Would Pinkie be available?” Twilight asked.
“Check with her in back.”
In the back rooms of Sugar Cube Corner, Pinkie worked on mixing cookie dough.
“Pinkie, could you---”
“I heard you asking the Cakes. Sorry Twi, but no. My Pinkie Sense told me that I have to refuse to watch over any godlings in the next month.”
Twilight could only ask “Any idea why?”
“Yep.”
“… So, will you explain?”
Pinkie paused in mixing the dough. “Twilight, I am a follower of Dionysus, Lord of Parties. I am aware of what happens when an Avatar plays around with blessed artifacts owned by another god.”
*sigh*
“Um, Twilight?”
“Yes?”
“Is Chibi speaking Alligator with Gummy?”
Twilight turned to see the alligator and the wolf blinking out of sync at each other.
“He is a nature god. It stands to reason that he can speak with most animals.” Twilight groaned. “And now it would be impolite to leave because alligator is a slower language.”
Twilight had summoned Celestia and Luna to Ponyville.
“Daww. Look at you. You are cuter than Fenrir was at your age.”
“He’s as cute as Twilight was when she was little.”
Chibi ignored Luna and Celestia as he tried to pounce on the rope that Celestia was waving around.
“Can either of you take him?”
Both goddesses paused in their attentions toward Chibi long enough to shake their heads.
“Twilight, you must remember that this is the busier season for the Solar Court,” said Celestia.
Luna looked up from petting Chibi. “I would love to, but I am needed to deal with a trade policy revision with the sphinxes. They are more problematic when I am not the one dealing with them.” Luna gave a pointed look at Celestia.
“Hey, it’s not my fault they live in a desert.”
“Thou could try to get along better with their pharaoh.”
Just before Celestia and Luna could get back into an old argument, a low grumble interrupted them.
Chibi was staring at his mother with professional-grade pleading eyes.
“Chibi wants lunch.”
~-~=~-~
After preparing a simple salad in the castle’s kitchen, the Princesses retired to a reading nook. They decided to take the chance to catch up on the latest news. Celestia brought up a few of the more annoying petitioners she had dealt with recently. Luna happily described negotiating the peaceful end to an issue between the gryphons and minotaurs. Both elder alicorns congratulated Twilight on reuniting with one of the Fragments of the Sundered Goddess.
“So, what is it like being the Goddess heralded as ‘The Origin of All that is Good and Mother to Us All’?” Luna asked between bites of salad.
Twilight contemplated the best way to answer the question for a few moments. The only sound that could be heard was the crunch as both Twilight and Chibi chewed on Holy Bones.
“It is jarring. I suddenly have access to so much memory and experience from Ammy that I’m struggling to maintain my sense of identity at times. The sudden increase in prayers is also strange. Then there is the pronoun confusion.” Twilight swallowed a piece of the bone. “My constant appetite for Holy Bones is proving to be a minor irritant. There are also the demon infestations that I am called upon to purge. Those are very similar to the times I have fought against monsters to protect Equestria.”
“That reminds me,” Celestia said. “Where do Amaterasu and Fenrir get those bones they are always snacking on?”
Twilight looked a little uncomfortable with the question for a few moments. “Some individuals that worship us offer their bodies in sacrifice when they die. The burned offerings create the Holy Bones. The intensity of their faith, and the faith of other worshipers, condenses in the bones and fills them with collected praise. They taste like hope and belief.”
“Isn’t that disrespectful of the dead?” Luna asked.
Twilight rolled her eyes. “You two have never demanded blood sacrifices in your holy rituals. Ammy, and thus I, have no choice. We need the power from those sacrifices to keep up with the demon war since I am a front line fighter. Besides,” Twilight added defensively, “they offered their bodies for her and the war. To refuse to use them would be the bigger insult, like refusing to use a cadaver to further the cause of science, when they specifically asked for that.”
“If Fenrir had bothered to explain it like that, I might not have dumped him,” Celestia mused.
Twilight coughed on a bone fragment. “You used to date Fenrir?”
“It was a three way between Fenrir and us.” Luna’s reply was nonchalant.
“Please tell me that you are using the Royal Plural.” Luna only shook her head. Twilight groaned.
“Fenrir and I had quite a bit of fun. We even had a child together. Fenrir named him Jareth.”
“Jareth? The chief God of the Diamond Dogs, Lord of the Stars, and all around recluse? That Jareth?”
“Yes.”
Turning to Celestia, Twilight asked “Did you have any offspring with Fenrir?”
“No.”
Luna had a sly grin on her face. “What my sister means is that she was too busy getting kinky with Fenrir to actually get either of them pregnant.”
Twilight’s head met the table.
“Did you two forget that Fenrir is one of the Sundered Fragments? Which means that I will eventually merge with Fenrir and become one entity?” Celestia and Luna both sported blushes. “It’s bad enough that I have distinct memories of Celestia and Amaterasu having intercourse during the Third Equestrian Imp Insurrection. Now I know that I will have to deal with memories of you two with Fenrir?”
Awkward silence ensued.
Chibi remained oblivious to the subject of the Princesses’ discussion as he continued to nom on a Holy Bone.
Twilight walked toward Carousal Boutique. Chibi raced around, energetic after his lunch.
Voices came from within the shop as Twilight approached.
“--- add a strip right here, it will solve the support issues without much added weight.”
“We would need a few hidden strings to keep it all lying flat.” That was Rarity’s voice.
*knock**knock**knock*
Rarity’s responded. “I am sorry, but the Boutique is closed for today. If you want a commission, you will have to come back tomorrow.”
“Rarity, it’s Twilight.”
For a few seconds, the only sound was the tapping of Rarity’s hooves on the floor of her shop.
“Oh, do come in. Sorry about the mess.”
~-~=~-~
Chibi slinked backwards and out of Twilight’s field of vision. He had noticed some interesting smells from a nearby garden. Bouncing over, he took a deeper breath.
The flowers smelled… blue. The flowers looked orange. Chibi realized there must be a demon about. Following the blue smell, he found a small ogre. Small enough that a simple bite was enough to kill it.
Once it was dead, he decided to play with it a bit more.
~-~=~-~
Indeed, the dress shop was a mess. Papers covered the walls and parts of the floor; some of them had written information, while others had sketches of dresses. Small samples of various fabrics covered the chairs. And the couches. And a ceiling fan. Discord occasionally left things more organized, though usually on accident.
Twilight blinked at the mess. “…Did Opal and Angel team up to go on a shredding spree?”
The other voice that Twilight had heard sounded from behind a pile of fabric. “This was us. We’re working on a joint commission.”
“I guess I shouldn’t be bothering you then.” Before Twilight could leave, Rarity put a hoof on her shoulder.
“The commission isn’t due for two weeks. We could spare a little time for tea. What do you think, Coco?” The last was directed to her unseen friend behind the fabric mountain.
Coco Pommel walked out from around the fabric. “Tea with an alicorn. I don’t think I will ever get used to that.”
The three mares left the chaotic main room behind and entered the cleaner kitchen. Rarity set the tea to boil.
“So, Twilight, what have you been up to? You disappeared for a couple weeks without warning. Not even a note.” Rarity stared at the alicorn expectantly.
“Emergency alicorn duties.” Technically true. Meeting with a fragment of your previous form’s soul is an important duty. “Now I’m looking for somepony to watch over Chibi for a few days.” Twilight blinked for a moment before a flare of her horn poofed Chibi inside. Chibi quickly transmuted the ogre he was chewing on into a flower.
“Daaawww.” Coco reacted similar to Fluttershy. She picked up the puppy god and started scratching his ears. “We could watch him for you.”
Rarity stared. The white puppy filled her head with inspiration. She grabbed a measuring tape and encircled the puppy’s throat and head. “Such beautiful fur should have an equally fabulous accessories.”
“Rarity,” Twilight deadpanned, “Chibi is a guy. He does not go for accessories.”
“But imagine how fabulous he would be!” A few pieces of black cloth levitated to Chibi in Rarity’s blue aura. They formed up into a top had and bow tie combo and settled onto Chibi.
Chibi in a top hat and bow tie being held by Coco Pommel. If Twilight was not Chibi’s mother, and thus inoculated against cute, that would be dangerous. Then Chibi gave a shake of his head to knock the top hat off. He wriggled out of Coco’s grasp and scurried behind Twilight.
A grey pegasus with a blond mane and seven bubbles for a cutie mark flew over town. She was heading home after a busy day of delivering mail. After the appearance of Princess Twilight’s castle, the town had had much more postal traffic. It had been decided to add a few new postal service ponies after the first week. It changed up her job a bit, but it also gave her more time for her daughters. Win.
One eye spotted a droopy, purple princess. Twilight was lying on a park bench. Her wings were almost brushing the ground.
Swooping down, Derpy landed in a small cloud of dust.
“Hi, Twi.”
Twilight mumbled something that could have been a greeting.
“What’s got you down, huh?”
“I have spent this whole day looking for somepony to watch Chibi, but every time it went wrong.”
“Chibi?” Derpy asked before noticing the white ball of fur between Twilight’s forelegs. Chibi lifted his head and looked at Derpy. “What’s the problem? Surely somepony would want to watch over your dog?”
“God. Not dog. And everypony is unavailable or unacceptable. Fluttershy passes out, Rainbow is at the Wonderbolts Academy, Applejack can’t take him, The Cakes and Pinkie are not options, Celestia and Luna are busy, and Rarity tried to dress him up against his will. Chibi did not take kindly to that.”
“I could watch him for you.”
“Do you think you can take his cuteness?”
Derpy did not respond immediately. She reached into her saddle bags and pulled out a small book. Opening it, she leafed through until she found the picture she was after.
“Twilight, this is Dinky last Nightmare Night. If I can take care of my daughter, I can take care of a godling.”
Twilight stared at the picture. Dinky in a ladybug outfit. “You can have the job.”
The next morning, Twilight dropped her son off at Derpy’s home bright and early. After going over the rules one more time, she said her goodbyes to them.
Twilight nuzzled Chibi as she whispered in the language of the gods. ::Remember, my son, do not get into any fights with demons beyond Class I. Play nice with Derpy and her daughters. They are distant relatives of mine.:: Chibi nodded.
Twilight vanished in a shimmer of mist.
Derpy and Dinky both pulled Chibi inside for breakfast. Oatmeal for Dinky, muffins for Derpy, and a Holy Bone for Chibi. After breakfast, Derpy decided to take them to the park.
For the first few minutes, everything was fine. Dinky and Chibi played fetch with a ball while Derpy looked on. When Dinky threw the ball too hard and it landed in a pond, things got interesting.
Dinky tried to levitate the ball out of the pond, but something pulled back. By the time she realized what was happening, a blue and white energy was picking her up and dragging her into the center of the pond. Derpy, seeing her daughter being dragged away, immediately flew in to pull her daughter back to safety. Yet, no matter how hard she tried, the force continued to pull at them until it drew them into a swirling thing that appeared in the pond’s center.
Chibi simply shook his head. He charged forward and started paddling out to the vortex. All three went into it at the same time. The ponies closed their eyes and clung to each other. Chibi simply relaxed into the flow. The lurching energy caused Derpy and Dinky to pass out. They had no idea where they were being taken, but hoped that having a godling present would protect them.
They did not expect to wake up in the Crystal Empire.
Author's Note
Working on second chapter about Chibi, Dinky, and Derpy having an adventure in the Empire.
Something I asked myself when writing this: Why aren't there more shipping stories of Rarity and Coco Pommel?
Special Thanks to HB_DS2013 for bouncing ideas with me.
Jareth came from Von Snootingham.
If you want to know more about my AU, check this thread. Then, join the World-Building Alliance for stories that explore other cultures beyond Equestria. The Alliance is a really fun group. Feel free to continue the discussion.
Some of you have seen my World-Building Alliance thread about the gods. If you think that my version of Equis’s cosmology is confusing, you haven’t seen my ideas on Twilight’s mortal family tree. The Twilight family, or as I call them: House Everfree, is even more complicated than the full explanation of Twilight’s domain as a goddess once she finds all 24 Fragments. A brief summary of how Derpy is Twi’s relative:
-I think that Amethyst Star is a member of Twi’s family and serves in the House Guard, protecting Lady Twilight Sparkle under orders from Duchess Twilight Velvet Everfree. This also applies to Lyra.
--Amethyst Star is shown to be Dinky’s sister in Sisterhooves Social.
---Dinky and Amethyst are thought to be Derpy’s daughters. Therefore, the Hooves family is part of Twilight’s extended family.
*House Everfree is such an old and powerful House that they feel secure in their position. They do not act snooty because they see it as a meaningless farce that only weaker Houses do to convince themselves that they are important.*
Uploaded Jan 31 2015. Small edit made April 27 2015
Amethyst Star had seen her mother and little sister being pulled into the pool. She was not unduly concerned because she had seen her mother walk out of substantially more dangerous situations that being pulled into a kelpie pool. None of the kelpie pools emerge somewhere dangerous.
Upon realizing what she had been thinking, Amethyst collapsed.
“I’m picking up trivia from cousin Sparkle. Again. Wonderful. I really hope Lyra can find something for us to do since Twilight will be gone for a few days.”
~-~=~-~
Derpy opened her eyes slowly. As her awareness came back to her, she noticed her grip on her daughter. Despite having just woken up from unconsciousness, Derpy felt exhausted. Looking around, she tried to figure out where she was
There is a tree that looks like it has been struck by lightning twice, lush grass, crystal boulders, a snowy field-- wait. Crystal boulders? This must be the Crystal Empire. Nowhere else has those.
The sky was beginning to turn orange as the sun set. Chibi sat on a boulder a few meters away from the edge of the pond.
Chibi indicated with a jerk of his head that Derpy should follow him. Deciding that the godling might have a better grasp of the situation than a postal worker, she followed with her unconscious daughter on her back.
Chibi lead her around a few hills until a house came into view. Crystal Empire houses do not use paint or siding, thus removing the majority of the usual signs of age, yet this one appeared old and abandoned. There was dust on the windows. The walls were chipped. Ivy was growing over the walls and onto the roof.
Derpy simply stared. Why is he… Her thoughts were interrupted by Chibi whining and scratching on the door.
The door was not bolted shut. The knob turned freely.
The house was empty. The only things present were a fireplace filled with nothing but soot and a tattered pile of straw and blankets in one room that might have been a bed at some point in the past.
“Well, at least we will be safe from rain and snow.”
Chibi shook his head and sat down in front of the fireplace. One paw pointed to the fireplace as a Mobius loop of fire appeared from nothing, an orb of orange energy manifested at the point where the loop crossed. Then a fire appeared, burning without visible fuel or smoke. One could easily imagine the puppy saying “Let there be Fire!” while wearing a top hat and tuxedo.
“Huh. Well, do you have any tricks stored away so my daughter can sleep comfortably and wake up to a filling breakfast?”
Though she could not see it by the flickering firelight, she suspected that Chibi was rolling his eyes. He turned and stared at the ruins of the bed. As he stared, a cloud of black smoke shrouded it before bursting away, leaving an intact bed with bedding. Chibi then left the building, only to return bearing a branch laden with peaches.
“You have an answer for everything, don’t you?”
A canine grin was all the response she received.
The ponies passed the night in the bed. Dinky lay curled up against her mother’s side with Derpy’s wing serving as a blanket. Chibi passed the night curled up at the foot of the bed, one ear open for trouble, the rest of him as content as a kitten in a paper bag.
~-~=~-~
Many leagues away, Amaterasu pinned a kitsune to the ground. Her teeth were barred and a growl akin to the rumble of a volcano with an upset stomach issued from her throat. The moonlight gleamed on her snowy coat, the reflections carrying glimpses of her endless battles from ages past.
“Mortal fox, you are nothing. I am the alpha bitch. You and all canines are bound to my will. Even Reynard and Coyote know better than to defy their aunt. Now, guide the quilin army to the demon encampment, or I will be very cross.”
The young fox, normally given to causing mischief against authority figures, decided that obeying the goddess who ruled both halves of his half-demon soul and could boss around the gods he worshiped was wiser than trying to defy her orders.
~-~=~-~
Dinky announced the arrival of morning by squirming out from under her mother’s wing. The movement woke Derpy. Chibi woke briefly before deciding to sleep through breakfast.
After the ponies had finished their breakfast, the trio left the abandoned house. Dinky gazed at the landscape. Her young mind saw only the opportunity for adventure.
“Come on Dinky, Chibi. We need to find the Crystal City, and that could take hours before we even find a landmark.”
Dinky, in the innocent bluntness of youth, asked “Why don’t you just fly up to get a view of the area?”
Derpy sighed. “Things look different from above. If I got a destination, I could fly to it, but I would have to leave one of you behind.” A muffled yip came from Chibi.
The puppy had a scroll in between his teeth. Derpy took it and found it to be a map to the city. It looked like a map drawn freehoof by an experienced cartographer. Chibi’s posture positively screamed ‘Why, yes. I do have an answer for everything.’
Two hours later, the three walked into the city. It would have been thirty minutes, but Chibi and Dinky kept going off the trail for little adventures against imaginary bandits (Dinky) and real demons (Chibi).
The city’s layout from above resembled a snowflake. Each of the six sectors of this city is devoted to a different task. The part of the city they had arrived in was the artisan district.
One pony was crafting crystal marbles in a furnace. There was another forging plow blades designed for the gem-encrusted farming fields outside of the city. A pair of craftsponies were making jewelry with customers watching the process. Many scholars and foreign artisans were walking through the district to study crafting techniques from a thousand years ago.
The hustle and bustle was enough to stop ponies and non-ponies from noticing Chibi. At least, it was until Chibi decided to beg some food from a funnel cake vendor. He had already rejected Derpy and Dinky’s requests for some food due to lack of bits, so Chibi had decided to bring out the ultimate puppy dog eyes.
“Aww. Look at the floofy. You hungry little guy? Here you go.” Customers in line for food heard him. Before they could object to another customer being given free wares, they spotted Chibi bouncing with eagerness over free funnel cakes.
Word quickly spread of Chibi. Within thirty-five minutes, his adorableness had shut down fifteen percent of the artisan district and an average of five percent of each of the other five districts. Derpy and Dinky just snacked on the free food that Chibi was getting them.
The situation would have snowballed further if Cadence had not heard about a hubbub going on in the city.
One puppy should not be able to cause this much of the city to shut down. There must be some sort of magic at work. Cadence knew about the dangers of uncontrolled mind magic. She had heard of Twilight’s Smarty Pants Incident. She worried that something similar was befalling her city.
Upon arrival at the center of the commotion, she found herself silently grateful that being the Goddess of Love comes with inoculation against adorableness, otherwise the godling she beheld would have rendered her unable to resist his whims. Wrenching her gaze away from Chibi, she scanned the area. It took a minute, but she spotted a pony foreign to the city that she recognized.
Derpy cheerfully greeted Cadence. “Hello Cadey! Having fun with Shiny?”
“Yes I enjoy my time with Shiny. What’s all this?” Cadence gestured to the mass of ponies and visitors surrounding the puppy.
“Oh, Twily had business to attend to so…” Derpy gave Cadence a brief summary of the past couple days. While their princess’s back was turned, the ponies continued to lavish attention upon Chibi.
“Huh. You got pulled here by a portal in a pond? Strange. I’ll look into it.” Cadence turned her gaze to the crowd surrounding Chibi. “Do you need a place to stay until you can head back to Ponyville? It will be a couple of days until the next train arrives thanks to a rockslide that damaged the tracks.”
“Well, we passed the night in an abandoned house, but we would not say no to a chance to stay in the city.”
Cadence nodded and turned to address the crowd. “Ponies and visitors, please return to your businesses. Chibi will be staying in the city for a few days. You will have chances to see him during his stay.” It was not the Royal Canterlot Voice, but it did the job.
As the crowd dispersed (albeit reluctantly), Cadence, Derpy, Chibi, and Dinky headed to the castle. A scheme started to form in Cadence’s mind as they approached the castle. Mare-talk ensued between Cadence and Derpy while the youngsters spent the day exploring the castle. Everywhere Chibi went, the crystals started shimmering.
Shining Armor arrived in the castle for lunch, worn out from putting the recruits through a training exercise.
The first point of boot camp is to get all the recruits to a uniform level of basic competence. The competence was sorely needed with the current group of oafs-to-be-trained. Shining Armor mentally evaluated them. This batch is horrendously clumsy. What I wouldn’t give for an instant anti-clumsy spell.
Glancing ahead toward the dining room, he noticed that the crystal surfaces were shimmering with greens and pinks that were normally reserved for the Crystal Fair. Huh. Something must have gotten the crystal ponies in a good mood.
A servant approached him. “Her Highness sent me to inform you that she is having her noontime meal in the small lounge.” After dismissing the servant, Shining Armor turned his path toward the room in question.
Upon entering the small lounge, he beheld an unexpected sight. Cadence was cuddling a white puppy.
“Oh Shiny, look!” Cadence said as she lifted the dog. “The crystal ponies got me a puppy. Isn’t he adorable?” The last word morphed into a loud “Squee!” as Cadence hugged the puppy.
“Um, honey, didn’t we agree that getting a pet was not an option at this time?”
“Yes, but they got him for me.” Cadence’s pleading tone was already having an effect on Shining Armor.
“Dear, I love you and want you to be happy, but we simply can’t have a pet at this time. After all, if we manage to have a foal like we were planning, then the foal would take up too much time for us to take care of a pet. Particularly a high maintenance pet like a dog.”
At that, one of the hidden servant’s entrances opened. As Derpy stepped out, she said, “I imagine that your mother and sisters would be interested in hearing about your plans.”
Shining Armor turned in shock. “D-Derpy? Where did you come from?”
“Ponyville. Visiting with my younger daughter and Chibi. And I must say that Cadence’s idea to prank you paid off better than anticipated. I suspect that you two are trying to keep your plans secret from our family. How much would you be willing to pay to buy my silence?”
As Shining parsed her words, the first thing that caught his attention was “That is blackmail.”
“What’s a little family blackmail between an aunt and her nephew?” Derpy’s relaxed smile told Shining that she could be bought off from telling the plans to his mother for cheap.
“I will mail you a cheque with enough bits to keep you supplied in muffins for a month in exchange for a promise not to tell anyone.”
“Done.”
Shining gave a sigh of relief. Now that our secret is secured… “Who is this Chibi you mentioned?”
As he was introduced to Chibi, he was silently relieved that they were not getting a pet. Especially not a canine. Shining had issues with dogs and their tendency to lick at his face.
It’s annoying enough that I have to be around them during inspections of the tracking units. Having a pet dog would mean too much slobber for me.
~-~=~-~
Far away, Amaterasu paused from sneaking into the demon encampment for her third hit-and-run raid that hour.
Why do I suddenly feel like my future interactions with Shiny will be awkward?
Shaking her head, she turned her attention to the task at hoof/paw. Seven thousand demons were gearing up to ravage Neighpon. The numbers were dropping. She had charged away to start thinning the numbers after sending the fox to lead the quilin army through a precarious mountain pass so they could attack the demons from behind. Even for her, seven thousand-to-one is was far too dangerous. She had been preforming raids for hours, attacking from one side or another, killing roughly twenty demons at a time before fleeing to recuperate and move into a different attack angle. If she could keep it up, she would have reduced their numbers to a much more manageable five and a half thousand by the time the quilin army arrived.
She spotted an opportunity to attack their food supplies. Even a demon army needs food when on the materiel plane. Moments after she charged forward, the hills echoed with the screams of demons being rent to pieces.
~-~=~-~
The city was gleaming; the joy of the crystal ponies balancing on the edge of setting off the Crystal Heart at any moment, and not for the first time since Chibi’s arrival. Beautiful Aurora Borealis kept popping up. Observers as far south as Appleloosa were witnessing the light show.
For days, Chibi, Derpy, and Dinky had been exploring the city. They had learned not to go out during the lunch hour, after the second trip during lunch set off the Heart. Acquiring free food using weapons-grade puppy-dog eyes was fun, though the way ponies kept giving him annoying nicknames was getting old. Seriously, how do they come up with names like “Snow Road” when looking at a white wolf pup? Derpy had been doing her job of keeping Chibi from eating all his bones or causing too much mischief from playing with mortals. Dinky and Chibi had spent many happy hours in the park, playing hide and seek with the local foals.
But, despite the fun, Chibi was bored. Twi-Mama and Pink-Love were extra thorough when they cleared this city of any demonic influence left from Demon-Unicorn. How am I supposed to get better at demon slaying if there are no demons to fight?
Chibi looked out from the castle balcony. In the distance, he spotted a faint wisp of demonic energy. Following the trail of energy back to its source, he saw a large concentration of demon energy gathering around some hills north-east of the city.
He climbed over the railing and leapt down to the ground below, intent on investigating the energy. Dinky, disturbed from her doodling, quickly leaned over the railing to see where he was going. She ran to get her mother so they could track him down.
Chibi raced away, out of the city in a minute, and miles away in two minutes. He slowed as he approached the demon infested cave in the hills. As his mother had advised him, “Keep your senses sharp when entering demon territory. They can be crafty.”
Chibi stalked toward the cave. It was not his regular walk, full of energy and happiness. It was a slower, menacing gait, filled with aggression and an unspoken oath that something was going to die. It was slightly offset by being a puppy, but the menace was there. As the cave drew closer, the air became saturated with an overpowering stench of demon. There were a lot of demons in the cave. Some of them were moderately powerful, if Chibi was any judge.
Just before he was going to look into the cave, he heard demons coming from behind. He dove behind a crystal growth and watched. Two small plant demons, pests from the first sphere, walked into the cave. Seconds later, a pair of second sphere earth demons left. Then more demons. Dozens. Chibi had to wait in his hiding spot and hope that they would not spot him. There were too many for him, and two of them were fourth sphere.
~-~=~-~
Dinky had gotten a bit ahead of her mother as they tried to track down the runaway pup. She thought that she had heard some rustling in the bushes, but it had turned out to be some snow hares that promptly hopped away.
“If I was a puppy that ran off for no reason, where would I be?” She had found her misplaced homework that way once. She saw no reason why it wouldn’t work on a wayward puppy.
The muffled sound of multiple paws snapping twigs sounded from some brush to the left. As she turned to face the sound, something distinctly unholy emerged. A twisted body resembling a root system on a plant, with three paws for walking, and a pair of minotaur arms. Before Dinky could react, it pounced on her.
“Mommy!”
~-~=~-~
Derpy was moving before Dinky called. One eye on her daughter, one eye looking for Chibiterasu. She saw the thing emerging from the bush. She saw several other things behind the bush.
Normally, she was not a violent mare, but when anything threatened her daughters, her warrior heritage broke through. For the first time in weeks, her eyes locked on the same target. Heartbeats later, she was driving her hooves straight into the creature that had scared her daughter.
Derpy had always had troubles with breaking things. Everything broke from minor exertion on her part. Her mark, her career, her self-chosen destiny, all focused on making things safe and secure enough that she could handle them without breaking them like bubbles. All that went out the window as she clobbered the root-minotaur thing. Force is relative to mass and acceleration, and she could achieve a lot of acceleration. She struck at a velocity slightly lower than the speed of sound. That sort of force could reduce bones to rubble.
…Which is why she was shocked that it ignored the blow, and pushed back.
After pulling herself up, she tried to generate a wind to blow it away.
The wind was ignored.
Flinging herself into the sky, she grabbed a cloud. One buck later, and a lightning bolt struck the beast.
Even the roots showed no signs of scorching.
It retaliated by tossing a rock. The rock whipped by her wing with a roar, and the turbulence caused her to flip over.
Three more creatures emerged into plain view. One flew on a kite, one danced on a top, and one sprang forth from underground. The burrowing one headed for Dinky while the flying one and the root monster targeted Derpy. Boulders and blowdarts kept Derpy off balance enough that the burrower managed to catch Dinky and toss her to the top-monkey. It raced away with its captive.
Derpy attempted to follow, but faced an obstructing monster. As she attempted to demolish the beast that stood in her way, her daughter was hauled further away.
~-~=~-~
Chibi was stuck. The march of demons had left the cave, but two big ogres were standing at the entrance, apparently waiting for the troop to return. Chibi plotted.
… use the vengeance slips Twi-Mama left me, I might be able to hurt those things enough to take one down with Tsumugari, but the other one would strike me, and I cannot wield a glaive and a reflector at the same time, so I will not be able to counter. Dropping a Power Bomb, followed by an Exorcism Slip might work, but that would leave me with less essence to face the demons in the cave.
Chibi was caught off guard as the demons that had left returned. They were carrying the Littler-Pony.
ohhh {untranslatable}. Uncle Fenrir? Why aren’t you here to eat the demons? You are supposed to be the guardian of children like Twi-Mama’s mortal family.
He received no answer.
With a growl, he charged in. The rhythm of battle consumed him.
His blade slashed and stabbed. His paws carried him around the numerous demons in the dance of death. All the while, his mind tried to figure out the optimum targets for his Brush.
Too many. Way too many. Twi-Mama did not give me nearly enough Blessed Ink Pots. Okay, He targeted a group of demons coming from his left. Time for a bomb.
A second later, ten demons were blown away by the blast, but more moved in to fight.
I wanted a bit of action, not a full demon insurrection!
~-~=~-~
Most ponies thought that Derpy was just the mailmare in Ponyville. They thought that she was little more than a doting mother and friendly neighbor with a propensity for emptying the refrigerators of anypony that let her into their homes overnight. They forgot that she was strong enough to fly in the Equestria Games. They forgot her pure tenacity that she called on when delivering a letter through some of the more hostile regions of Equestria.
Derpy managed to crush the monster that dared to block her. Without the obstruction, she made a beeline along the path the monsters had taken her daughter.
Upon spotting the cave, she dove in.
~-~=~-~
Chibi spotted Derpy’s arrival.
Fun-Eye is here? He saw her charge a group of demons. Right. A mother’s rage. I can use that.
Weaving a Kamikaze into the air, he lent Derpy his power.
Derpy’s charge at the demons ended with seventeen demons blasted into the wall hard enough to splatter. Derpy simply turned toward the next group and began to growl. He wove a lightning strike into her winter breath.
He started watching Derpy’s attacks. With each time she struck, he enhanced her wrath with his blessing, making her far more effective, and saving on Essence for him.
In minutes, the pair had laid waste to seventy demons. They charged deeper, and found the big one.
~-~=~-~
On a battlefield formerly covered in demons – now covered in flowers – Amaterasu stopped savaging the demon under her paws. She sensed danger. Not danger to herself, but to her youngest son.
Amaterasu’s tail inscribed the blessing of mist onto the quilin army’s weapons.
A few swift Power Slashes left a ring of demons transmuting into flowers around Amaterasu. She drew a deep breath, threw back her head, and let out a roar the world had not heard since she remade the sun and moon at the most recent apocalypse.
The tide of battle quickly turned in favor of mortals.
~-~=~-~
In the center of a chamber that had been artificially enlarged, Dinky was strapped to a demonic altar as a twisted mock-alicorn waited for Derpy and Chibi to make the first move.
Whatever race the pony had been was irrelevant. Vile, powerful, and hideous demon magic had twisted the pony’s body into what most would call a taxidermist’s prank gone wrong. A unicorn horn was riveted to its skull. Four wings, two pegasus, and two longma, were sewn onto its shoulders. Its front legs had the flippers of a seapony stitched on at the elbow. The most horrifying part was that the left eye was a glowing red ball of spite and hatred.
The Eye of Viscus.
Ohhhhh {untranslatable}. Double {untranslatable}. How did a seventh sphere demon general get his Eye onto a mortal when Níðhöggr has been keeping his forces busy?
Derpy’s charge interrupted Chibiterasu’s thoughts. He threw a vengeance slip onto her while he desperately tried to think of a way to get anyone out alive.
Even if I supply her with every scrap of power I have, I will simply run out of Essence long before that thing runs out of vitality. I don’t have the debts that Twi-Mama has on the other gods to call in a favor.
Derpy’s blows didn’t even budge The Eye. It responded with a puff of rancid breath that threw Derpy into a wall hard enough to leave a crater. The vengeance slip was the only thing that kept Derpy from dying as it transferred the blow back to The Eye.
Chibi, still panicking, charged it. His sword struck home, but it struck back just as fast.
~-~=~-~
Amaterasu raced on, swifter than a coursing river.
~-~=~-~
Derpy had rejoined the fight, but The Eye showed no signs of even noticing their blows. It struck fast, hard, and unpredictably with hooves, wings, fins, tail, and horn. Chibi desperately tried to layer protective and offensive blessings onto Derpy, but they could not keep up with its attacks.
If Chibi didn’t know better, he would swear that The Eye was beginning to smile, despite Chibi chopping off its lower jaw.
The Eye started flinging spells. Reality itself began to twist like an overburdened steel girder.
Divine power flowed freely as Chibi patched the holes in physics. Through it all, Chibi grew more desperate, and more exhausted. Derpy fared little better.
A voice of sandpaper on a chalk board. “Here I was, thinking I would only get to find some of Lieutenant Sombra’s scraps, but I got more. A unicorn filly of healthy blood, perfect for my new body. A pegasus with the spirit of the ancients warriors.”
It walked forward, striking both Chibi and Derpy down with crystals of darkness.
“Best yet, an avatar too weak to stand against me.”
It leaned over Chibi’s prone form.
“You will make fine additions to my body once I have transferred my master’s Eye to the filly.”
Derpy tried to rise, a growl in her throat.
A spray of webbing burst from one of the gashes on The Eye’s body to tie up Derpy.
Chibi hauled himself to his paws. Tsumugari had disappeared from his back. His markings faded.
No choice. He started concentrating. I can’t let this thing loose on the world.
The Eye, sensing Chibiterasu’s gathering energy, savagely attacked. Strips of flesh were torn from the godling’s shoulders, his legs, his belly.
Divine Sacrifice.
Chibi began to annihilate his avatar to seal the demon.
Oh, I hope that I my tomb will be classier than when Mama got turned into a mossy statue.
He closed his eyes.
*Tink*
… and found his gathered energy severed from his grasp.
Wha-
A massive sword, four times Chibi’s length and five times his mass, slammed into the demon.
Wild Power? Twi-Mama!
~-~=~-~
Amaterasu wasted no time. Her Glave tore the air asunder. Her Reflector waited to block any blow. Her Rosary beads blasted holes in the demon.
Time crawled as she filled the cave with mist. The demon struggled to its hooves, only to find intangible blades slicing its hooves off. It tried to summon power through its horn, only to find a bomb stuck to it. Holy fire disintegrated the body parts that were sheared off. Both the rosary and spells pounded its flesh to pulp.
With a single spell, the body was surrounded by ice before Amaterasu shattered it. The largest surviving piece was the Eye.
Amaterasu crushed the eye beneath the blunt edge of her Reflector.
~-~=~-~
Chibi, Derpy, and Amaterasu walked back into the city with Derpy carrying her daughter.
Chibi walked with his tail between his legs. I have no idea how grounded I am.
Derpy’s focus was on her daughter. I really hope Amaterasu was telling the truth about a way to blanket Dinky’s mind against the memories of today.
Amaterasu’s attention stayed on the task of reverting the forest that had sprung up when she had broken the sound barrier.
Once their arrival in the city registered in Ammy’s mind, she stopped. A scroll manifested under her paw. Shooting a look at Chibi that promised a talk later, she departed.
The scroll read:
Fear not, mare of wandering eyes. No mortal would truly be able to reign in my son when he wanders away.
My mist will keep your daughter asleep. When you return home, seek out Coco Pommel and say
“The Innocence lies broken and requires repair.”
She will guide you to someone who will help.
An approaching messenger from the palace interrupted her thoughts.
“The Princess has sent me to inform you that the repairs to the tracks have been completed ahead of schedule.”
It was all Derpy could do to refrain from bulldozing everything in her path to the train station.
~-~=~-~
A day later, Derpy stood outside of Carousel Boutique, impatiently sipping tea with Coco.
“Patience,” Coco intoned in a sweet and low voice “Patience.”
“I want my daughter to have this healing that Amaterasu promised. How am I supposed to be patient?”
“The way of the wolf is one of patience.”
Derpy glared at Coco. Coco merely waved a hoof to the side. Derpy slumped down, her head on the table Coco sat at.
A snapping twig caused her to glance away from the table, only to find herself surrounded by a forest.
“Where? How?”
Coco stood up. “We are in the home of The Lord of the Wild Hunt, The Guardian of Children, Fenrir. You just needed to be distracted from your environment to get here.”
“Why have you brought this one Coco?”
Derpy turned around. A vast wolf, the size of a hot air balloon, stood among the trees. It was staring at her with one pair of eyes while another pair stared at Coco.
Coco supplicated herself before the wolf. “She seeks to have her daughter healed from an encounter with a demon.”
Both sets of eyes locked on Derpy. They gazed through her flesh, through her soul. Derpy locked one eye on the lower left eye of a god, and her other eye on the upper right eye of Fenrir.
A chuckle, low enough to sound like an earthquake, came from Fenrir. “It has been a while since a mortal tried to give me a stare down. Your daughter will awaken, with no memory of any demons. She will never remember until she is too strong for such memories to weaken her. Now sleep and awaken in your bed.”
The compulsion from his orders immediately had Derpy’s eyes close. She could still hear for a few seconds though.
“Tell me the truth My Lord, how badly did the filly need your help?”
“Desperately. You remember how you felt before I swallowed those escaped hyenas? … This mare’s daughter was put through much worse."
~-~=~-~
Derpy woke up on her couch, her daughters assembling a puzzle in front of the fireplace. Dinky showed no signs of her harrowing experiences. Derpy was content with that.
~-~=~-~
Chibi stood under the moonlight. He contemplated the orders his mother had given.
::If you are going to be getting into trouble, then you need to begin to establish your temple and followers. Dinky is undecided about devoting herself to a single god. She could be your first follower, if you make yourself available and create miracles around her as she grows up.::
Times were changing. Chibi would play his part.
Author's Note
There is no excuse for how long it took me to get this out.
I beat the clock to 2016 by about 4~6 minutes. Just barely before the clock ticked over.
