Conceptual Chronicles: Equestrian apostles

Conceptual Chronicles: Equestrian Apostles Ch. 1

By Simon Fraisure

 “It does not take a great man to do great things. Even an unknown can rise up to the challenge and become a hero, all it takes is heart.” –Anonymous

 In the beginning, there was only one consciousness, one being, floating in an endless void, he was all and none, everywhere and nowhere all at once. He saw that there were none but him, and willed that to be untrue, and so it was. He then realized there was nothing but him and his children, so he willed that to be untrue, and so it was. Lastly, he realized that his children were without light, and willed it to be untrue, and so it was. All that came to be, came to be because he willed it to be so. However, all power comes at a price, and the greater the power, the steeper the price…

With the limitless power that he commanded, he became unstable, splitting into eight selves, each a singular element of creation personified, be it negative or positive, their power, while still extending far beyond the comprehension of the mere mortal children of the creator, were mere fractions of their fathers.

The mortals came to revere the positive aspects, while despising the negative. This caused the negatives to grow dark and twisted, while the positives grew bright and holy, and so the once identical concepts began to differ. The disharmony between the eight grew greater and greater over time, until they finally bifurcated into the Conceptual Council and the Lords of Decay, the council was the purest collection of positive energies in the multiverse, while the Lords of Decay were pure negativity made real. As time went on, seven of the children longed for bodies of their own, and the council did their best to accommodate these seven.

The first asked for a sturdy body, strong as the earth below and linked to the magic of the land. Therefore, the council carved a stone into the first Stone Ogre, making his bones of steel, his muscles of rubber,  and his skin of stone, at his core a natural generator and conduit of the natural mana running through the ley lines of their home.

The council then named the planet Faeterra, thus awakening the planet to its magical energies.

The second requested magical power unlike any other, and sleek, skilled movements to be natural to their body, so the council brought forth the body of a wolf and made it as them, raising it to two legs and morphing its front paws into strong arms and hands, and gifting them the ability to tap into the power of the mana in the air, allowing them to grasp objects within their vision with naught but their minds, leaving their arms free to do as they wish.

These beings came to be known as Luperians.

The council then brought forth the moon, forever tying the Luperians power to this celestial body.

The third asked for a mind unrivaled in wit and cunning and feet as fleet as the wind, so the council brought forth the magic of the world, forcing it into a physical form. It's hide hard enough to withstand extreme blunt force, and it’s brain gifted with a knowledge reservoir unlike any other, creating the Gremlish as a result.

The Council then filled the air with mana, letting the wind flow with their power and creating the weather.

The Fourth, seeing the great power bestowed upon its companions, asked for the ability to fly, and to be able to live peacefully with their companions without fear of injury. The council took a dragon's body and  made it as them, granting her the ability to wield the fires of Faeterra as a weapon, and unleash it from their very souls, therefore blessing us with the first Dracovo.

The council then made the flora and fauna of Faeterra, allowing the future children of the world to have food to eat.

The fifth, seeing all the game ready to be hunted, told the council that he wished to be an unbeatable hunter of these mighty beasts, the council reluctantly agreed, and changed a bear to be as the others, yet strong and stout, and thusly was the first Bjorn born.

The Council then made the oceans, filling its depths with fish to feed the people of Faeterra.

The sixth, seeking dominion over his siblings, Asked for strength greater than any other, and stature so great that all who gaze upon them will be stricken with fear. The council was so struck with disgust by this request and adamantly refused, so the soul went to the lords of Decay and made his request, They eagerly agreed, taking fog from the marshes and forming it into a truly massive shape, making them taller than the very trees. And thus the Fog Giants were born.

They then looked to the mortals so far and sneered, quickly putting weakness and sin into the hearts of these mortals as the council was distracted with granting the wish of the seventh.

This seventh had but one wish, to be closest to their fathers in appearence. And so the Council made the race of man, forming them from their combined power, carefully balancing all aspects of their power with his making

Upon seeing the council's work, the other souls begged and pleaded for bodies as well, but the Council was not going to be taken advantage of, they granted these souls their wishes, but restricted them to the body types that had been chosen before.

 This is how the seven races came to be… and this? This is the story of one group of heroes, a light fighting against the darkness…This is but one story:

Darkness… there was naught but darkness as far as the eye could see… I was lying down on a cold stone floor as far as I could tell, normally this would be comforting, but given the lack of light I am quite unhappy with my current position ‘Where am I? I could remember praying to The Council… by the spawns… where are Zinu and Marcus!?’

 I panicked and stood up, my head seeming to burst through the ceiling as I saw that I was underground, I forced my way out of the ground and looked to my surroundings, I would of called out to my boys, but there was the glaring fact that I had no idea where I was, with no idea of what would hear me. Instead, I felt through the ley lines for the mana signature that I had come to know so well over the years…

I felt them… they were to the right... about a mile east of me, in a large crystal structure… They were unconscious… there was a large magical energy emanating from the structure, as if the very crystal it was built from was alive in some way. I turned eastward and began walking as I growled to myself  ‘If any harm has come to my children, I shall not hold back.’ I walked and  I looked to my stoney hand before I stopped and pounded it on the floor, calling the metal in the ground to me in the shape of a pick-hammer that fit neatly in my hand.

As I kept walking, I came across a large pack of wolves, seemingly made of wood. They growled at me and began to circle around me, gnashing their teeth angrily. I looked to them analytically with my glowing purple eyes, silently scanning their mana, before long, I realised that these creatures, nay,aberrations,were corrupted spirits of the forest! And as I looked to their prey, what I saw was an equine  behind them, cut and bloodied, various rips in her clothing, but still recognizable as a druid... I then looked to the wolves in a hostile manner before tightening my grip on my hammer. The cream yellow winged equine mare looked to me pitifully, as if she were about to faint from fear. This, I will not stand. “I know not if you can understand me, fell spirits of this forest, but you shall not sate thy bloodthirst here!” My voice was as the grave; cold, hard, and promising of death, as if the councilman of death himself was speaking through me.

I belted out a mighty warcry before the wolves leaped at me, As they tried to bite and scratch me, their wooden bodies broke upon my stone skin, those that were smart enough not to leap at me were quickly crushed into splinters under my hammer, I then looked to the yellow equine to see that she had fainted, I sighed and lifted her up into my arms, carrying her through the rest of the forest, humming a hymnal of the council that had been in my head the last hour.

When I eventually exited the dreadful forest, I felt the malevolent aura that had been surrounding me recede and heaved a sigh of relief, I walked to a small cottage that had a magical signature reminiscent of the yellow equine mare and set her at the doorstep before kneeling in front of her and beginning to pray, I let the power of Gabriel Zivot fill me and channelled the healing energies through my body, into the equine, I felt the gaze of five others to my left after I finished my prayer and turned to them after placing my new hammer at my belt. They were equines as well, yet… only two of this group had wings, and she was a light cyan in coloration with a rainbow mane, instead of yellow and pink in coloration, and was dressed as if she were a scout for some sort of an army. Truly, the only one who had any features in common with her was the pink one, and she was far more… excitable, at first glances evaluation, as well as dressed in the attire of a Bard.

The purple horned one that had wings as well looked to me cautiously as she approached me, her attire reminding me of an archmage “Who are you, and why do you have Fluttershy?”

‘Ok, her name is Fluttershy, then…’ I smiled and looked her in the eyes “I am Griswell, priest of the council. I saw the one you call Fluttershy under attack from spirits of the forest, they had possessed a body comprised of dead wood, molded into a wolf like body.”

Twilight gasped “She was under attack from Timberwolves!?”

‘Ah, they are referred to as Timberwolves, best learn that quickly…’

The cyan one flew up into my face at a high speed “And what was with that weird magic you were doin, huh?! What were you doing to Fluttershy!”

 ‘...These equines are way too hostile with strangers they know nothing about…’

I smiled warmly in an attempt to appease her “I was healing her wounds, the Timberwolves had injured her badly. If I had not acted when I did, she would be in great pain when she awoke.”

The cyan one looked to Fluttershy before looking again to me, then looked to the orange one, who was wearing a warrior's attire “Is he lying AJ?”

‘By Parhaels ever putrid breath! are they capable of keeping secrets?!’

AJ looked to the Cyan one and shook her head “Nah, RD, he’s telling the truth.”

‘...I am seriously considering the possibility that these Equines lack an education in the way of the world of any sort.’

RD looked to me and smiled shyly before rubbing the back of her head. “Heh… sorry about that, I get kind of crazy when people hurt Fluttershy.”

I smiled knowingly, as I had a good guess of exactly how she felt about her. ‘Ah to be young and in love…’ I then looked eastward again, seeing that the crystalline structure was, in fact a massive castle. I looked to the five equines and smiled “Do you know who lives in that castle? I believe my boys may be in there, and I wish to see them.”

The purple one looked to me in a curious manner “You have kids in there? But, that can’t be, there are only some unknown creatures in there, and they look nothing like you.”

My smile faltered as anger seeped in for a moment. “I am quite sure that these… creatures as you call them, are my adopted sons. They are a Luperian and Rabboo. Please let me see them so that I may be sure.”

The Pink one leapt to me excitedly “Hi!-I’m-Pinkie-Pie!-I-just-know-that-we’ll-be-best friends-because-I’m-besties-with-everyone-and-I-will-hug-you-andgiveyoucupcakesNONOTTHOSECUPCAKESREADERS!IwillneverdothatbecauseIhatemakingmyfriendslosebloodandickystufflikethatnormallyalthoughIguessI’llhavetogetoveritsoon!”

I blinked once before looking to the others while pointing to Pinkie pie “Who are the readers? Are they your divinity?”

The Purple one shook her head as she laughed “No, we worship Faust.  None of us know who she means when she talks about the readers… no one really gets her, honestly, she’s… just Pinkie.”

I nodded curiously and started walking towards the castle before the Purple one flew in front of me “Wait! If you really have to check, can you go around the town? The Ponyvillians scare easy!”

I sighed and nodded before turning a little bit to the right “I’ll make sure to avoid the town, thank you for the warning.” I then continued on my way, only to find the mares following me… I sighed and smiled ruefully, it seems that I won’t be visiting my children on my own after all.

The white one with the purple mane then decided to speak, apparently stunned into silence before, she was dressed in the attire of an arcane rogue “Dahling, wherever did you find those dreadfully colored clothes! And those markings! They are simply-”

I looked to her calmly before she began to insult my priesthood markings “They are the marks of my priesthood, and I would rather you did not insult them. They are as much a part of me as your horn is a part of you”

The white one then looked to me in shock and what seemed to be regret “I apologize, You have been not but a gentleman to us, and here we are accusing and insulting you.”

I smiled as she looked down guiltily as well as her companions “It is well, pale one, I know you did not mean any offence by it, but simply wished to inform me of my poor dress sense, I shall see if I may go to a tailors to see if they can make a new suit for me, my markings will go onto anything I put on. Also, what should I refer to you as? I have overheard everyone's name but your own.”

The white mare smiled charmingly “I can help with that, and my name is Rarity.”

I smiled at Rarity and nodded, ready to meet my sons.