Queen of Storms

by snakeizar

Rating: teen
Tags: Death, Twilight Sparkle, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe, Princess Luna, Original Character, Adventure, Discord, Violence, Princess Celestia
Length: 155477

An endling drakoness finds her world taken from her. An ancient force as old as Life enacts his vengeance on the world - and the bells begin to ring, as the Queen of Storms begins to stir.

Storm (noun)
a violent disturbance of the atmosphere...rain, thunder, lightning, snow

=== [1] ===
A hateful serpent lying in wait.
An alicorn underneath the churning waves.
A cowardly king who saw the face of death.
An ancient wizard past his prime.
Two fillies lost in a world, responsibility thrust onto them.
A drakoness with the world taken from her.

An ancient force as old as Life seeks to enact his vengeance on the world, empowered by the tensions building in the land, people at odds with one another and each kingdom on edge. A young drakoness is the victim of his bloody crusade, fueling her on a single-minded path to vengeance.

She must fight against an omnipotent foe with impossible odds stacked against her, while not losing herself as a person in her journey. She is Tempest - and this is her story.

=== [2] ===

Power that the world had not seen in an eternity tore the lands apart.

In the distance, the dragons began to roar.

In the distance, bells began to ring.

And deep below stirred the Queen of Storms.

Published 2018-09-26 12:30:01 UTC
Last updated 2021-06-20 01:25:34 UTC

[2] Taffy

Taffy

The apocalypse is taffy scented.

On my twelfth year of life, after my magic had grown in and all six of my horns sprouted, I took to solitude. Whatever scraps of knowledge I could find from the handful of books my mother had, I would sit in my little section of the cave in silence and read it all. I was too weak to cast anything but the most basic of spells, telekinesis and a spell of raw force. The books my mother had were all books to go over the basics. "Focus the energies of creation through your head. Think of it as a river/ocean/boat," blah blah blah. They all repeated the same basic ideas but didn't expand on any of them. So I needed more.

I searched for Sogrisdottir. She had gained her name, Omorphia - meaning "beauty," something that befitted her. While I had no interest in romance, I was still able to appreciate how beautiful she was. And yes, I do mean gained. While most drakons earn their names, King Bellum is said to know the magic of names, a magic that I have never been interested in or bothered to track down. Omorphia was necessary to the next step in my magic progression - through her, I could reach her father, a royal mage dragoon. He was one of the rare fathers that didn't leave their children at birth, likely thanks to his dragoon heritage.

Omorphia was resting under a tree in the shade, eyes tilted up to stare at the sky. She was relatively close to where we had first met, closer to the summit of the mountain. My claws rapped against her perfect not-quite-pink scales and she turned to me. She regarded me calmly for a moment before her lips curled into a small smile. "Hello, Tempest." I nodded in greeting. "Hello, Omorphia."

"It's nice seeing you." She spoke in a soft, calm tone. It contrasted radically to the strong and almost regal tone of her father.
"It's nicer to see you," I spoke before a blush tinted my flesh. Thankfully for my scales, it was impossible to see, but I'm sure she could tell. Draconics simply could. I didn't mean to sound flirtatious, but sadly that's how it ended up. She arched an eyebrow in response, but thankfully she didn't press on the subject. Thankfully.
"Sadly," I continued after a brief moment of silence, "I do need something from you. Do you mind if I speak to your father? I'd like to...borrow some books from him." Omorphia stared at me silently, her body betraying nothing of her thoughts.
"Yes, I'll speak to him. I'll be back at the suns summit." As she left, I waited.

She returned as she said - while the sun was nearing its peak. She dropped down three books in front of me, two bound in cloth and the last bound in leather. "My father said you'd like these." She tapped the smallest cloth book. "This is going over the basics." She tapped the other cloth book. "This is about healing magic." She finally tapped the leather book. "This is about combat magic. He had a feeling you'd be interested in that one." Interested I was. "Thank you," I nodded. She nodded at me as I took the books and walked off without another word, my ravenous appetite for knowledge prodding at me to read the books as soon as possible.

The first book was surprisingly interesting, for something that just went over the basics of magic.
The world was born in magic. From the primordial nothingness, sprung the Spirit of Spirits - the Maker herself, omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient. From her flesh and blood she forged life, from her power she forged magic, and from her bones and organs, she forged the universe at large. The life used her power to shape the world, to shape the cosmos to their will - through ley. Crystalline growths that can channel her power.

That excerpt was interesting, while the rest of it went over how to control magic in a similar, storytelling esque way. Nothing new, but at least it was fun to read. "Channel the power of the Maker, enforce your will on the world," was quite a powerful line. At the end of the book though were two series of Glyphs, the language of magic. Glyphs were the first language, the language that the creator spoke and the language that she used to forge the universe in. Magic is learned through understanding and glyphs. Often, the more glyphs in a spell the more complicated it was. To take three dramatically different spells - Telekinesis, Teleportation, and True Transmogrification. Telekinesis is a two glyph spell. Teleportation is twelve. True Transmogrification is one thousand and takes decades of study and understanding to learn. The glyphs for these spells are easy to learn, but to memorize and understand them is a much harder task.

Each glyph has a meaning. The glyphs for Telekinesis are known as "Moreut," Movement, "Mys," Magic. Movement through Magic. To perform telekinesis you need to understand what magic is, and what movement is. Movement is a change in location, to weave through space. Magic is power, lifeblood, fuel. The understanding of these words permits for your ley to channel magic into these glyphs and cast a spell.

The glyph chains at the end of the book were two glyphs each. "Mys, Fres," magic, force, and "Mys, Dos" magic, order. A spell of brute force and a spell to enforce order - to restore things to its natural state. A spell of dispelment. This is why magic casters that have mastered transmogrification aren't weapons of pure destruction on the battlefield that can transform everyone into a toad and melt them, while it takes a lot of effort to transmogrify it takes significantly less to dispel magic. To enforce order, the natural state of the world. This is also why casters of True Transmogrification were so powerful, as the magic they used changed the very universe itself so that dispelment wouldn't work. Although True Transmogrification doesn't work on the Spirits, by virtue of the fact that - to take Earth for example. Earth is Earth. Earth cannot be Air, because Earth is Earth and Earth is not Air. The universe will remember this - and unless someone has the power to not just lie to the universe and convince it that a small, insignificant speck shaped like a pony is actually shaped like a frog, but convince the universe that Earth is not Earth then True Transmogrification does not work on a Spirit. Regular transmogrification does, though, although only very, very briefly.

The next book had some important glyphs.
"Mys, Doreus, Mys, Boryd, Moreut, Creut, Asptra, Doreus."
Magic, Denial, Magic, Body, Movement, Cut, Space, Denial. A spell to defend against teleportation, significantly less hard to cast than actual teleportation, but still, the most complicated spell that I knew at the time. Every series of glyphs are at the least, two glyphs long - they all start with magic, as they are fueled by and done by magic. This glyph had magic twice in it, as it was denying the effects of magic on the body through magic.
"Magic - Denial of magic on the body, movement cutting through space denial."

"Mys, Reosr, Boryd, Hos. "
Magic, Restore, Body, Harmony. A spell to heal, to restore a body to its natural state. Easy to cast but draining on the magic. Through magic, it's restoring, fixing, mending a body to a natural harmony, all the organs and flesh working together as a body does. A body is harmonic by nature - which is why chaos magic can be so fatal, disrupting the harmony between the organs and making a body useless. "Magic - Restore the body to harmony."

"Mys, Hos, Fyrd, Cyrd, Aerut"
Magic, Harmony, Fire, Ice, Air. A spell to conjure up wind - you're probably noting the "Fire" and "Ice" part of that, but fire and ice aren't parts of wind. This is because Glyphs have no intensity. Fire could mean a fire as hot as the stars, or a slightly abnormal amount of heat - all would be classified under Fyrd. More accurately, Fyrd, in this case, would mean "Heat," and Cyrd would mean "Cold." The harmony is there because this is what wind is - hot air, cold air, reaching an equilibrium.
"Magic - Harmony of hot and cold wind."

This is what all magic is. Understanding, stringing words together to achieve their effects. Those three spells I learned were quite important, but there was also some means of basic attack. Weaponized air (Mys, Moreut, Aerut) - telekinesis to condense air into a blade, a spell of raw magic turned into heat and a spell of raw magic turned into cold. (Mys, Fres, Fyrd, and Mys, Fres, Cyrd.) There are no spells that exist that are just raw magic - you cannot throw a beam of raw magic at something to hurt it. It would be like throwing an intangible bar of metal at someone in place of a sword. All magical attacks have properties to them that allow them to be harmful. If it didn't, it would actually help your opponent, by throwing raw magic at them that they could potentially use for themselves if they were skilled enough.

Of course, this would be next to impossible - creatures regenerate their mana pool slowly, through rest and sleeping, or from absorbing the magic around them in thickly saturated areas of magic. The Nexus, for example, was the center of the world where all magic flowed through. Simply standing there was enough to recharge anyone to full capacity. The stars produce magic that the planets absorb, and the Nexus is the point where all magic on Liogella originates from. All creatures that aren't Spirits absorb magic from the Nexus - and while Spirits can actively drain the magic of the Nexus, they get more than their fair share of energy from their sphere. However, the Nexus doesn't just have its magic flow through all life, but the world itself. The Nexus, the pony citadel mounted atop it is how Celestia wove her network of spells that made the world malleable for her ponies.

I suppose, however, that if you did throw enough raw magic at someone that didn't have divine potential in them to ascend they'd probably explode. Any creature that isn't a Spirit has a very finite amount to how much raw magic they can store before they either ascend if they have the divinity in them to do as such, or explode. Violently, violently explode. But the only one who can throw out enough magic to make someone a Spirit is another Spirit. So, I suppose it could be said that "You cannot hurt someone with raw magic, unless you are a Spirit, and they don't have a shard of divinity in them."

A bit of a mouthful. But ultimately, irrelevant to the topic at hand.

I don't remember much about my first foray into the realm of magic and spells. The spells I focused on the most were Telekinesis and Brute Force. I practiced on the walls of my cavern, and every once in a while I'd sneak out during the dark and experiment on a small animal that I would then eat. Mother taught me never to be wasteful. I learned to channel the heat beam through my mouth with enough strength to cook the flesh of an animal in half a minute. The ice beam was significantly harder to control, as draconic scales were susceptible to the cold. I eventually gave up on mouth-casting that and settled with casting it from my horns. The reason I desired to mouth cast was that that empowered spells, not by a lot mind you but by enough that it was noticeable.

The magic that I found lends itself towards me the most would be magic that had to do with force and air. Off the bat, my brute force spell was enough to tear apart stone and grind bones into paste, and I managed to get it to a degree of power where I actually broke the scales of my hand. The blade of air felt like an extension of my magic, easy to control and easy to summon up. Telekinesis was a bit harder, but ultimately I was able to modify Telekinesis so that I could control the air around an object to pick it up. It wasn't 100% effective, but it was effective enough that I could use it as a substitute in almost all circumstances.

I felt happiness. I had a friend. I had a family. I had magic. I had a life ahead of me - there was nothing more I could have asked for. But despite my twelve years of life, I could never shake that feeling of dread, deep, deep within my stomach.

The apocalypse came within my sleep. The ground shaking underneath me - roars, surges of magic so violent and powerful that I could detect them without even trying to. As I pushed myself from my section of the cavern and beheld the madness in the main room - my family absent, boulders and stalactites and dust dropping down from the cave roof, I smelled the apocalypse.

Taffy. Vanilla, sugary and salty, wood and metal. I stood in shock for a moment before I pushed myself out of the cave, and beheld it in its glory. The sky was gosruk, purple and chocolate - how it was a color that didn't exist and how it was a scent was beyond me. But it was. The mountain and hill spilled out molten hot ketchup that melted the scales of drakons as it touched them, the ground rising into the air and forming up circles of rock that smashed down towards the nearest drakon. And at the center of it, were two figures - King Bellum, in all his red glory, and a curled, coiled serpent, laughing maddeningly. A bucket of popcorn was in his hand, throwing it all up into the air as he chomped on it loudly. "Oh, you should see the look on your face right now! Truly." The serpent smiled, leaning back on a cloud that formed underneath him. "It's so funny I could die." He flicked his hand to the side, a surge of pink energy causing cracks to spread across the ground and more molten ketchup to spew out. Around him, drakons were running as far as they could, avoiding the chaotic mess. Corpses littered the ground, causing me to wince. My eyes widened as I rested by a crushed drakoness. Omorphia. Her lower body was pinned down under a large rock, her blood pooling underneath her.

"Omorphia?" I murmured. She looked up at me, eyes dull.
"T...Tempest." She murmured. 'I-" She gasped, blood dripping from her lips. She reached out towards me. I stared blankly before I reached out towards her.

Her body was cold. A dagger in my heart. My eyes were wide, and hers were dull. Twisted.
I turned my gaze to the serpent and the king, slackjawed.

Bellum stared up at the serpent, a snarl painted on his face. "Discord. Do not harm my subjects."
Discord smirked wickedly. "Oh? Is that a rule? You know I've never been any good at following those, Bellum." He snaked through the air, and for a split second, I was able to see the red and pink energies that animated his body. His body was an extension of his magic, not the other way around, able to move and fly through the air through sheer magical force. He rested his elbow on Bellum's nose as Bellum sighed.

"Your quarrel is with me, Discord. They aren't a part of this."
"I beg to differ, Bellum!" He flicked Bellum's chin upwards. Despite the fact that Bellum was absolutely colossal, Discord seemed to have the physical strength to actually move his chin upwards before gravity took hold on him once more. "They have everything to do with this." He spat out in a tone filled with vitriol. "But you know what, Bellum? Just for you? I'll let them go." Two of Discord's fingers crossed behind his back.

Bellum fell silent for a moment. "...How many?" He said very, very quietly, so quietly that if he wasn't naturally thunderous I doubt it would have been audible.
"You, Misika, Draelos, and Gryphus. You should know that. Your kind killed the only others worth a damn."
Bellum smirked at this. "Draelos and Misika could win. And even you can't chase down Gryphus."
Discord's eyes narrowed. "You should know better. You have no idea what Chaos can do. As for Gryphus - well. That's a simple matter of targeting his subjects. That's your biggest weakness, you know. Your honor. Your pride. The weaklings you surround yourself with."
Bellum's eyes widened. "LIAR!" He roared. He lunged towards Discord, his claws trailing blazing flame behind them. Pink energy encircled the entire mountain, including both forests. The drakons that were fleeing were vaporized as they touched it. I gasped and threw up my magic instinctively - my horns screamed with pain as cracks ran down their length. My vision blurred as I fell to the ground, surrounded by ruin and charred corpses.

Discord gripped onto Bellum's claw with a single hand, squeezing. Magic coursed between the two, the sound of cracking and reforming bone deafening. Discord slowly dragged Bellum's claws over his own cheek. "Of course." He rolled his eyes. "Did you expect less of me?"

"You're insane, draconequus. And you know it." Bellum thundered, his eyes glowing red. He stood up to his full height, absolutely dwarfing the tiny draconequus. As far as I knew, draconequus were an extinct species that were naturally inclined towards primal magic. "I'm going to enjoy licking your blood off my claws."

Discord threw himself backwards away from Bellum with a pulse of energy. "All of you are the same." He whispered. His tone was almost sorrowful. "The same lines, again and again. Is there a script I missed?" His eyes narrowed. "I'm sure I can improvise. I'm going to enjoy watching you try." He said in an over-exaggerated mimicry of Bellum's voice.

Pink energy poured off of Discord, red energy streaming out of Bellum. The two stared at each other, Bellum's horns alight with magic and Discord's entire body glowing. While most creatures had ley in their horns, draconequi, windigos, and quetzalcoatls all had a form of ley "veins" across their entire body - their entire body was their conduit. This was one of Discord's advantages over Bellum - Discord just had to target Bellum's horns while Bellum had to target his entire body. Although, without his brain Discord wouldn't be able to cast magic. An orb of half pink and half red energy formed midway in between them, and I vividly remember being able to feel the power wash over me. The orb erupted violently, throwing Discord and Bellum backward. Even far as I was, I was pushed into the rock, feeling my body burn with pain and my bones bend and threaten to snap. Bellum was able to catch himself quickly due to his laws, Discord having to wrap his magic around his body to float through the air. Discord's wings spread out, flapping twice as he began falling to the ground. He hovered a bit over it, body coiled around himself as he smirked. "Let's tango, War." Discord giggled, his claws erupting into pink light.

Bellum responded with a warspell. Combat spells and warspells were dramatically different - combat spells were designed to weaken, hurt, and only kill if truly pushed to its limit. Warspells were meant for one purpose and one purpose only, to kill. The ground underneath Discord exploded, shrapnel slashing his body. Some of the larger and sharper pieces of rock pierced his flesh, but more of it than not bounced off him. The true damage came from the pure concussive force that the warspell brought with its eruption, throwing Discord backward. Discord slid backward before he retaliated with a pink smiley face shaped sphere of energy that Bellum was only able to dodge through teleportation - but somehow, Discord had been able to predict where Bellum was able to teleport. Teleportation is very magically noisy, and those with magically attuned sights can see the world shifting. The teleportation of a Spirit was impossible to detect, yet Discord had. Discord threw a lance of earth at Bellum. Bellum jolted and winced but then blinked as it rebounded off his scales, each fragment turning into a butterfly. His eyes widened when the butterflies began to spit out acid at him. Bellum let out a roar, an eruption of fire energy vaporizing the butterflies.

Discord didn't give Bellum the chance to rest. He reformed in-front of Discord, the flame parting as it neared him and forming an orb behind him. The butterflies' melted corpses fell to the ground and turned into liquid, the earth softening dramatically. Bellum sunk into the earth. The earth rose around him before solidifying, trapping Bellum's lower body in rock. Bellum's mouth opened, wisps of flame curling around his mouth before a volcanic torrent of flame washed from his mouth, the stone melting away. The orb of flame that Discord had prepared splashed over Bellum, the firelight bathing him in a red glow. Discord leaned on Bellum's back-right horn, smirking as his arms grew to colossal proportions and yanked Bellum's jaw backward. He leaned in and whispered close, his body elongating - "say CHEESE!" before he disappeared. Immediately after, a large pie-shaped slab of rock moving at the speed of sound impacted Bellum's head. His scales cracked slightly, but the real damage was done to his horns - one of his horns snapping in two, the other slightly cracking. The explosion of red energy that came from his horns was great, blanketing everything in sight, including Discord. Discord squeaked as he ducked down into a large pool. The water was vaporized, and Discord was leaning back on a strange yellow floating animal. "Hey! I was reading." He grumbled. He then squeaked again when Bellum threw a lance of rock into his chest. A pink glow surrounded him for a brief moment before the lance impacted - blood spurting into the air as Discord was impaled on the ground. Bellum shot over, pouncing on the opportunity as he smashed Discord underneath his claw like an ant underneath a boot.

Then that Discord shattered into glass, the real Discord smirking and leaning on Bellum's nose. "Missed me." He winked before he reared his lions paw back and slammed it into Bellum's nose. Bellum was sent hurtling through the ground, the ground shattering as the drakon king was pushed into it. Discord landed, panting over dramatically. "I forgot...how much magic it takes to hurt you draconics." His usual grin returned to his face as he perked up, boxing gloves forming on his paw and claw as he began moving them in a rhythmic pattern. "Come at me, draconic!" He giggled.

Bellum snarled. "Don't forget-" He spat out a mouthful of blood, "you're draconic too." Three sparkling red orbs with white edges formed above Bellum and shot down near Discord. Discord warped in front of them, but they readjusted course and shot towards Discord. Discord appeared behind Bellum - but the warspells phased through Bellum harmlessly, speeding up rapidly and striking into Discord's flesh. Discord shrieked in pain, his eyes wide as he fell to the ground, white smoke rising from the holes in his body. Everything seemed to slow as Discord looked stunned, quite literally. "You...hurt me." He said quietly. Bellum growled in response, smashing his fist down onto Discord for a finishing blow. A pink barrier stopped him in his place as Discord pushed himself up, giggling maddeningly. A trickle of blood slipped down from in between his teeth. "You hurt me! Hats off to you, Bellum." Bellum pushed down harder, the pink barrier beginning to crack before it shattered with explosive force, throwing Bellum back.

The earth tore itself apart under Bellum. Fragments of rock scratched at his scales, the pink circle on his hindquarters glowing as it began melting a hole in his flesh. Wave after wave of telekinetic force struck Bellum, throwing him further and further into the air. Tornadoes of supersonic drakon corpses and blood slashed at the king, Discord's anarchy intensifying as the volcanoes of ketchup began floating upside down and spraying onto Bellum. Bellum's scales began to melt, his flesh began to tear as the islands of rock pelted his flesh. Bellum managed to respond to this in kind with a small orb forming in front of him that proceeded to erupt into a torrent of flame so powerful that it melted Discord instantly. His organs, his brain, his flesh, his muscle. His bones were blackened and darkened, and for a moment the anarchy stopped.

Then everything became black, inky darkness pushing its way out of Discord's skeleton as it began to whiten. Discord floated in front of Bellum, immobilized in the void, and his laughter rang from everywhere.

Bellum looked horrified. "What...are you?"
Discord tilted his head to the side. His pupils were visible in the darkness of his skull as he spoke - not with the voice of a god, but with the voice of something that didn't belong in this world.

"I am magic." Discord reached out and tore something out from Bellum- and then Bellum exploded.

The energy consumed the entire mountain. The few living drakons left were melted to nothingness. The rock blackened and turned into magma, Discord being thrown against the barrier and sliding down it weakly. I saw death. I looked it in the eye and-

My mother threw herself in front of me. Drakons are heat resistant, but the cosmic heat Bellum released was too much for any of them. My mothers' scales and flesh melted as she looked at me. She nodded a resigned nod, eyes shutting as her dust spread over me. I stood there, my eyes wide as I quivered.

Discord panted and pushed himself up, leaning on a tree. "Goodness me that hurt. Draconics are the worst."" He grumbled, rubbing his chin. His flesh was burnt and toasted, healing at a snail's pace.

I saw red, and I lashed out at him. Tendrils of magic, rays of heat and ice, whipping air, telekinetic and brute force. Every spell I knew I threw at him in my madness, even trying to tear him apart telekinetically. His hold on himself was too strong even in his weakened state, and I collapsed. Despite how he was on the verge of death, blood oozing from his wounds, he was able to wrap his magic around me and immobilize me. He brought me upwards and I stared into his eyes.

My gray eyes met his yellow and red. His lion's paw scraped against my white scales slwoly. His face was beyond rage. Gone was the creature that had torn my species apart - gone was the god that had crushed Bellum. What looked back at me was a cornered animal.

And then he switched back to rage in an instant. "Scum." He whispered, his voice breaking as it struggled to contain the sheer amount of rage. He began to squeeze tighter and tighter on me - my scales began to crack.

"I am many things, drakon. Merciful is not one of them." He leaned in, his voice a hateful whisper. "I will break you. Your species will burn - break, snap, tear. Don't you understand?" He whispered. "DONT YOU UNDERSTAND!?" He roared, smacking his tail against the ground. There was a *snap* as the bone shattered. Blood leaked from his lips.

My heart pounded. My eyes watered. My horns and body screamed for this pain to end.

I spat at him. Discord stared at me, driven to a point of rage beyond words as his grip began to slip from me.
"I'll make you watch, drakon. I'll leave you for last - and only then will I allow you that same mercy."
"i-i-i...I vow, on my name - Tempest - that I will kill you." I managed. Blood leaked from everywhere it could, broken scale dust running down my face.
He stared for a moment. He smirked. "I'll see you, Tempest." He snapped his fingers - and both of us disappeared.

My eyes were shut as the teleportation spell ended. I had no idea where I was, my eyes weren't open so I couldn't even tell. I don't think my horns were blown out, but they were definitely bubbled and blackened from my surge of magic. My bones were broken, scales shattered, my flesh lacerated.

I passed out.

Mad was the politest word used to describe my predicament. Having gone from zero to hero and feeling quite like a zero right now once again, was not the best for one's ego. Especially at the hands of a draconic. Despite my relation to them, I must confess my distaste for them. I am the reason for three of their subspecies' extinction. Extinctions? But I wasn't in the spot to exact at the time.

I am, by far, the single most powerful magic caster alive. Oh - yes, maybe number two. Potentially three, depending on a certain little lavender - or is it violet, pony. But by far, I am the most skilled. Despite this, Bellum did have the brute strength to wound me. I can say with absolute certainty if the Alicorn Pantheon had Bellum on their side, I would have been defeated. He and Order were perhaps the only ones to have ever wounded me at the time. And while Order was rotting at the bottom of the ocean unable to harm me, Bellum had exacted a toll on me.

I have been afraid very few times. Five or six, I suppose. Four of them were because of Drakons. Pesky little things - extinct now. Or, endlings, I suppose. They can't breed, at the very least. Bellum didn't incite fear in me - but Tempest's little onslaught against me did. I was already weakened, and I'm sure if that a more experienced magic caster was there in Tempest's place they would have been able to kill even me.

My body was broken. My magic reserves, next to empty. Not even enough to conjure some ice cream to eat - oh, how I could go for some ice cream...But I'd probably melt myself if I did. I had to rest. I had to heal. I had to hide, lick my wounds. I curled up in some cave somewhere, unbeknownst to even me.

I screamed. I sobbed. I hit things and I lashed out until I couldn't find the energy to move anymore - and then I withdrew from the physical plane, entering the realm of magic to allow myself to heal.

All while thinking up how many ways you could cook drakon.

-

[3] Olympus

Olympus

War gave into her wounds, and gave into Peace.

What next? It's a simple question. The answer is not so simple. What would you answer if someone asked this question after your family was slaughtered, your king killed, and you were thrown across the word by a god with a vendetta against anything big with scales? My answer - was vengeance.

When I woke up, at first, I wanted to die. I truly, truly did. This world had nothing for me anymore - family, dead. People, dead. King, dead. Whoever was left of my kind would be hunted down and slaughtered. As my bones, flesh and scales began to knit back together thanks to a drakons more powerful regeneration and my magic naturally healing me at an elevated rate, I contemplated all the options I had available to me.

To die. To be at rest, sheltered from the world. Discord would have wiped the draconics out, and possibly the only species who could defeat him - while I was woefully unaware of the other species, I knew that the draconics were generally the strongest of the mortal races given enough time. There were exceptions though, to the point where this was not a rule so much as a suggestion. This suggestion was tantalizing - but then I realized. Living is harder than dying. And if I lived, I would spite Discord with my very existence. Reminder of the time he came close to death - I was unaware of the complexities but I could still tell how painfully close he had come. Reminder of the time he had failed. This was off the table - I had to live. But what would I do with my life? Hide? Run? Look for help? No, no. My mind settled on a choice, a single word that explained everything I needed to do. Vengeance.

I had to be strong. Strong, like my mother - like the mother who had given up her life for me. Strong, like Bellum, who had went down fighting a battle he knew he would lose. I had to put my grief aside, steel myself, and move towards vengeance. So this is what I did.

I pushed myself up on sore muscles and freshly healed bones. My legs were quivering, my scales still chipped. A drakon's healing was a trait that was especially useful - it wasn't regeneration, but it was close. Scales were the hardest and took the longest to heal, but they were still doing it. Just slowly. A plan of action formed in my head.

Step 1. See where I am.
Step 2. Find a town.
Step 3. Don't get noticed by people. That would be bad - draconics and...any other race that isn't a gryphon tend to mix poorly. Gryphons are quite calm and accepting, though, especially of strength.
Step 4. Find a library.
Step 6. Kill Discord.

...I was still working on Step 5.

I was, absolutely, unfathomably lost. I had no idea where I was - forested, that was for sure, but apart from that I didn't have a clue. No landmarks I knew. No castles that looked familiar. No lands that I had ever been in. Despite how powerful Discord was, his influence over my home...town? Home-capital? Over my home had likely faded, so I wouldn't be able to detect it from afar even if my magic was strong enough. Now - this is not to say that I was alone. I was located in a forest by some plains decorated with hills, yes, but there were settlements. There was a pony settlement further up ahead. I had kept an eye on it for a few hours now, and had managed to locate the library. My plan was quite simple.

Find a book that tells me how to kill Discord. And follow the instructions. Well - that was the ideal scenario. More likely, I'd end up finding books on what exactly Discord was, who else had that level of power, who I could turn to. A map would be nice too, as well as any tome of magic I could get. I'd prefer a book on how to kill Discord outright though. That would be a lot easier. I fantasized about it, actually - about tearing his throat out, tearing his head off, him losing his power and begging for his life. About cooking his flesh and eating it, mounting his skeleton on my wall as a reminder to never cross me - the Drakon Queen, Queen Tempest I, First of Her Name! With jaws that could shatter mountains, claws that could rend planets, and wings of pure magic that dwarfed the sun. Yes, I had an overactive imagination. It wasn't very productive, but it was something to do that kept me busy.

I wanted to eat him.

I wanted to eat him, and that terrified me.

I had neglected my stomach. My mother had always told me to never eat more, but never eat less than I needed to. In an unfamiliar territory, without the plentiful animals that the forests had provided me, it had been hard to find food. So I brushed aside the concern and waited until nightfall, so I could raid the library in peace. The doors were locked, but I had managed to carve through the wood wall easily with my claws, not even using a droplet of magic. I pushed the bookshelf to the side and began to search through the books. I knew Allspeak, and I knew how to read and write - although reading Allspeak does take me significantly longer than reading Draconic. This is part of why I spent so much time in the library. The other part was that I kept getting lost, in the wrong section - for some reason, it was alphabetized instead of divided into sections THEN alphabetized like a normal, proper collection of books. While my mother's library was small - maybe ten, twelve books, at least they had proper organization.

A book on warspells, a book on the draconic races, a book on Spirits - which at the time I wasn't familiar with what a Spirit was but I did know they played the roles of "divines," a book of glyphs and magic, and a map. This was what I had in my collection, floating in my colorless grasp. My magic was a white color, but a telekinetic glow only appeared if you were using telekinesis. My..."air grip" spell, for lack of a better term wasn't actually telekinesis, allowing the books to float glowlessly. Glowessly? Without a glow? WIthout a glow. Allowing the books to float without a glow. Not something that was useful at the moment, but it could potentially be useful eventually. It was a little difficult to lift all of them at once. Not draining on the magic but just...mentally draining, I suppose? Unless you've cast magic yourself it's impossible to accurately explain.

Then I froze in my place as I saw a little pony - a colt, I believe, no taller than my knee. I stared at him. He stared at me. I stared at him. He stared at me - and he screamed. He screamed at the top of his lungs, shrieking and babbling incoherently in allspeak. Something along the lines of "monster." And for a brief moment, I played the role of the monster. Because my stomach rumbled with hunger, and I realized - I could eat him. It would be a simple spell to snap his neck then take him back and roast his flesh, chomping down on his cooked meat hungrily and throwing his bones away, my belly full and bloated with meat. I could eat him, and nothing could stop me. And I didn't just realize I could eat him - I wanted to eat him. I wanted to pounce, I wanted to bite, slash, cook, bite, eat. My horns lit up with magic and a wave of brute force-

struck the ceiling, the library ceiling beginning to rumble and crack as chunks of it fell down. It wouldn't cave in entirely, but it still caused the colt to stop screaming and run off. I convinced myself to sprint away, although it took tremendous effort - It had taken my everything to not target the colt. I ran, I ran so far until I was in the forest, where I couldn't hear the ponies yell and congregate, I ran so far and so fast I couldn't feel my legs before I collapsed in the middle of the forest, completely lost to where I was. And I laid there for a while - thinking.

Maybe Discord wasn't the only monster.

It took some time to get my mind off of what had happened, but the books had helped. Not only had the books helped with that, but they helped further my knowledge of magic in general. The two most important books were the ones on warspells and Spirits.

A warspell is a specific type of spell, made for one purpose and one purpose only - to kill. A ray of heat can be weaponized, but it can also be used to cook your food. An air blade can be used to cut yourself free, brute force can be used to push or break - but the spell that goes by the name "Cleave" is meant for one purpose and one purpose only. To hurt. To cleave with mystic force, to cut, to sharpen your magic into a blade of telekinetic power. The blade targets flesh and only flesh, phasing through defense. The spell happens to be quite taxing on the magic however and only phases through armor, magical defense and regenerative defense is not taken into this. There are spells that ignore regeneration, and a lot of utility spells can be weaponized or have dual purposes...but in the end, a warspell has one purpose and one purpose only. To destroy.

But with this purpose comes its greatest strength and weakness. Intent. You cannot practice or spar with a warspell. Say you suddenly ascend to Spirithood, and are given the strength to quite literally rend countries apart. You create a warspell that can destroy a country for you, but you cannot practice this spell with the desire to see what happens. You have to truly desire to destroy the country. Intent. Desire. This is the power and downfall of a warspell - it has no effect unless there is meaning behind it.

The book on warspells had many, it even had spells meant for combat that weren't warspells, but only a few of them were of use to me. Cleave, Thunderous Discharge, Electric Discharge, and probably most terrifying of all - Destruction.

Cleave was a warspell meant to slash through flesh and ignore defense. (Mys, Destrum, Fres, Srecis, Foreo, Vitrus, Ignum, Defrus - Magic, Destroy, Force, Edge/Sharpness, Focus, Life, Ignore, Defense. "Magic Destruction - Force edge sharpened that focuses on life and ignore defense.)

Thunderous Discharge was a spell meant to create a thunderous boom of sound to stun and daze. (Mys, Tesrun, Fres, Auden - Magic, Storm, Force, Sound. "Magic - Force of a Storm's Sound)
Electric Discharge was a spell meant to shoot lightning from the horns. (Mys, Tesrun, Fres, Fyrd - Magic, Storm, Force, Fire. Magic - Force of a Storm's Fire)

But there was one spell that frightened me, and while I mention it I doubt I would ever be able to cast it. Why? It was one glyph. The horror of this may not dawn on you, but as you've noticed - each spell starts with "Mys." Magic. The reason for this is because glyphs are sentences, basically, that are willed into the world through magic. If a glyph doesn't start with magic, that means it is primal in nature. A spell only a Spirit could cast. A primal force of nature, willed into the world. "Destrum." That was the entire spell. "Destruction." A primal spell of destruction, meant to destroy. Not kill, maim, hurt, but to destroy. No doubt it would be powerful enough to actually destroy the molecules of something, a feat only a Spirit could do. The spell frightened me, frightened me almost as much as the idea of Discord coming to kill me and my vengeance being cut short. Almost.

The book on Spirits was equally interesting, and significantly less horrifying. More...awe-inspiring, if anything. From the Maker's corpse rose life, and the first being ever created became Life. The first Spirit. The second Spirit was the Spirit of Death. But they had no sapience. Life, with a lower case l, did have sapience - fighting and warring for years, birthing Discord and Harmony. As the Windigo attacked and were promptly banished, Order was born. While I won't bore you with the details of every single Spirit being born ever, there were a few especially notable ones.

The only Spirits that had never been reincarnated were Life, Death, Discord, Harmony, and Order. Their names were Vitrus, Mortrus, Dis, Hos, and Dos, although they preferred to be called by their spirit names. Life and Death were infinitely beyond anything that anyone could throw at them - so much so that they removed themselves entirely from the physical plane. If they were to become physical, they would be able to end Discord's life with a thought, so great was their power. Discord and Order had tried to kill one another, but Harmony had weakened both of them and stopped them from fighting, more or less.

The most powerful Spirits were, at the time of this book being written, were the Elemental Spirits and the Celestial Spirits. Draelos, the Spirit of Fire. Misika, the Spirit of Water. And Goraloth, the Spirit of Earth. The Celestial Spirits - Apollo and Artemis, were no pushovers either, both being Alicorns that were crowned as King and Queen of the ponies. Above them all was Hos - or, Harmony as she was called, who had rooted herself to prevent her from misusing her power, and as such wasn't on the list, rather a footnote.

But the book was written ten years ago. I made a mentally revised list. Considering there were only three I knew who were alive that weren't Discord, the list would probably be something like...

Discord. He was chaos incarnate - his power could literally warp reality.

Draelos? I knew he was strong, about as strong as Bellum, and Bellum did managed to actually wound Discord.

Misika. She was a water serpent, but she wasn't that strong. Strong magically, yes, but nothing compared to Discord most likely, and weaker than Draelos physically.

Gryphus. The Gryphon King was confirmed to be alive, and was probably the only one who Discord actually couldn't hurt. Gryphus' speed would be far too great.

Further reading revealed that apparently each Spirit had a spell, totally unique to them that corresponded to their glyph. Draelos had a spell of "Fyrd," probably one that could call infinite flame into existence. The book didn't tell. Did this mean that Discord had a spell of "Dis" that could do anything as long as it was chaotic? These single glyph spells weren't very descriptive much to my annoyance. Was the spell that Bellum used that actually managed to hurt Discord a spell of "Wreis"? A spell of pure War? Ugh. This was getting me nowhere, and turned out to be much more annoying than helpful.

Although, there was a helpful thing I had found at the back of the book. A list of all the Spirits still alive. This book was written a decade ago, but Spirits are ageless - maybe I could find someone who could help me. I formed a mental list of everyone who could help.

The Alicorn Pantheon. According to the map I had stolen, Mount Olympus was relatively close - I had found the forest I was in, and I was in Pony territory.

The Draconic Pantheon. While Bellum was dead, Discord had mentioned Misika and Draelos still being alive...but the dragonlands were so impossibly far from where I was, that even if I was at the drakon capitol it would take a month to get there.

Gryphum was relatively close, maybe a day or two's trip, and King Gryphus was apparently one of the Spirits Discord had been unable to kill. While Gryphus was quite powerful, his strongest feat would be his pure speed. He was the air. Wherever there was air, he was there too. It was something unique about specifically him - apparently, all Spirits had one unique trait that only they could do. The first Spirit of Sun, Sol, had the ability to call down solar flares with extreme effort. The second Spirit of Sun could also do this, but they had another trait on top of that - I believe the Alicorn of Sun, Apollo, has the ability for precognitive dreams. I don't know all of them, but this did spark my curiosity as to what the abilities of all the Spirits were. Why were there Spirits? Where does their power come from? I don't think any of these questions would get answered, any time soon.

My plan was simpler now. First - I would go to Mount Olympus. Then, with the Alicorns, I would go to Gryphum, then to the Dragonlands with the help of Gryphus, and the remaining Spirits would be able to defeat Discord, hopefully. Hopefully.

...Hopefully.

My belly empty, my mind full, my body healed, I pushed myself up and steeled myself.

It was go time.

The Future

The world of Liogella is a very large place. It's adorned with three continents - one small, one large, one colossal. Murysicinia is the smallest of the three. I've never personally been there, but from what I'e heard it can be described in three phrases. Sand, sand-serpents, and heat. The entire continent is a sandy landmass filled to the brim with hundreds of bestial creatures and draconics, creatures that have adapted to the sand and heat. I'm unaware of what the spirits there look like, but I doubt there are any. Only sapients can become spirits, which is why the wyverns and most windigo aren't spirits. Sure, they're sentient, yes, but it's exceedingly rare for them to actually have intelligence. And the only sapients located in Murysicinia were the "Saddle Arabians," as well as the few dragons that had made their home there.

The large continent's name is lost, and information about it is scarce. The colossal continent is Augolor. It's more or less divided into six sections - the North, the Eternal Forests, Equestria, the Dragonlands, Gryphum, and the Badlands. Equestria is the largest section, where all the ponies live - and is where the Nexus exists. Deep, deep underneath the Everfree Forest is a swirling cauldron of raw magic where Celestia wove the spells that made the land of Equestria tameable. Gryphum is a large, sea-bordering nation where - surprising no one, the gryphons life. The Dragonlands and Badlands are interchangeable terms, but the Badlands are a scorched, mountainous wasteland that leads into the Dragonlands. The North is where a host of things exist, including the home of the Wyverns, Windigo, Quetzalcoatl, Crystal Ponies, and what not. The Eternal Forests are...an oddity. The Deer and Wolves are the only known sapient creatures that exist there, but both haven't been seen since decades before I was born. There are no sapient creatures there, just endless forests filled with strange and ancient mystic creatures.

The Alicorn Pantheon were powerhouses. The first creature on the planet was an alicorn. Forged from a glob of blood from the Maker herself, Life was born as the first creature. From her sprung all Life. From Life came Death, and from Death and Life all Spirits were born. When Life created Fire, the Spirit of Fire was created - the first Draconic. The Spirit of Air was the first Eagle, who eventually became Gryphons...but you've heard this before. But Life was an Alicorn. A pony. Ponies were the first spirits, and this is reflected in the fact that - take 100 people from each race with shards of divinity, fill them with magic from the Nexus. 99 of everything that isn't a draconic or pony will explode. Two from each draconic race will ascend, and a whopping four from each pony race will ascend.

The Alicorn Pantheon was made by Life before she followed Death into the fabled Crucible of the Cosmos, the realm above our realm where they watch down as omniscient and omnipotent entities. Throughout history, the Spirit of the Sun, Moon, Love, Peace, Glory, and Sky have acted on the behalf of the Alicorn Pantheon. A note to make - there a lot of similar Spirits, and not all Spirits exist at the same time. Glory and War are both similar but they aren't the same. There are some distinctions. The Spirit of Sky is not the Spirit of Wind, but the Spirit of Storms is a term for the Spirit of Wind.

It's...strange. I could spend all day listing all the Spirits that have been confirmed to exist. But according to that ever so "useful" book on Spirits, the Alicorn Pantheon was composed of...

Apollo, the Crown Alicorn of the Sun. His unique power was the power of foresight in the form of precognitive dreams, and the ability to detect imminent danger.

Artemis, the Crown Alicorn of the Moon. Her power was the ability to walk through dreams and banish the nightmares of the ponies. It worked on non-ponies although in a very close range. About 100 meters.

The Alicorn of Love had died about 4,000 years prior to my birth, in a spat with the Spirit of Fire .

Serenity, the Alicorn of Peace possessed the power to provide someone with mental clarity despite their emotions. Even if they were furious or enraged or mad with grief, she could clear their minds with a touch and make them act rationally.

The Alicorn of Glory was the oldest Spirit in existence that wasn't one of the three core Spirits (Discord, Order Harmony,) or Life or Death. Emphasis on was, sadly. The legends about her were fearsome - said to have been able to defeat King Bellum without a droplet of magic in single combat, said to have so much magic that she fueled an entire army off of it. These were myths and legends and their validity was to be doubted, but there was a fact that was included in this book. Her death. She had killed herself using the single most powerful magic ever cast on Liogella. The Dragonlands used to be colossal, the entirety of Equestria fitting on and at the feet of Mt. Olympus. The Dragonlands stretched over the entirety of Equestria, and what is now the Badlands. There was even a natural bridge where the gap inbetween the Badlands and Dragonlands are.

This gap came from the magic she used. The Alicorn Pantheon all are about 3,000 except Serenity, who had ascended during the war by brokering peace between the oldest dragon in the world and a town. All the Alicorn Pantheon had died in the Draconic Wars, and Glory was the only one left. She stood still and stalwart against 10,100 dragons, all the size of towns, the largest of them being the bloodthirsty Spirit of Fire who is the size of what is now Mt. Canterlot. Or, Mt. Draelos as I knew it.

Her magic tore the landscape apart. Created a gap, caused huge floods, earthquakes, and the scorching of an entire land. Her magic tore the dragons apart and drowned those who survived. The Spirit of Fire, Draelos I was turned into pure stone and flung across the continent, while Glory gave into her wounds and died in Serenity's arms.

Since the Spirit of Fire, Draelos I was dead, the eldest dragon took his place as Dragon King. Calling up the Dragon Lords, he and Serenity brokered peace. Peace that continued, even after Draelos II, the son of the eldest dragon was born and ascended to the Spirit of Fire.

The Alicorn of Sky was dead too. Recently, actually. He fought Gryphus a mere decade before I was born and died as a result. While Sky had the raw strength, Gryphus had much more speed, experience and did have enough strength to do damage to Sky.

Apollo, Artemis, and Serenity were all that were left. But they would rebuild. They always did.

...Not this time, though.

The Present

The trip to Olympus was uneventful. It took about two weeks, most of which I spent eating and practicing my non-warspell magic. I was able to create a "ball" of brute force that I could move around telekinetically, allowing it to switch directions. This did take a lot out of me, though. I was able to create a basic shield, two air blades at once, and heal a scale a minute if I used my magic. I couldn't do any of this easily mind you, I was just able to. I had mastered telekinesis where I no longer needed to use my air spell, but I would keep that in mind if I ever wanted something to float invisibly.

Food was a bit of an issue, at first. Pony territory didn't have much in the way of meat. And the meat that I did find usually was guarded in towns and happened to speak.

I still managed around the food issue, however. There were rabbits, some non-sentient deer, a manticore - which honestly did prove a problem to me. The scorpion like tail could scratch my scales, and the poison could kill two drakons the size of me. But, a manticore doesn't have a strong natural hold on its body due to its lack of sapience, so I tore its bones out with telekinesis and cooked it with my fire. There was enough food.

Until I got to Mt. Olympus. The peak was about 10,000 meters up in the air, and while Equestria had expanded significantly, this was still the capital. There were dozens of settlements on its sides no doubt. Which means encounters - and ponies don't tend to work well with draconics, especially after the war. In fact, anything that wasn't a pony they tended to be racist and generally xenophobic towards.

Climbing Mt. Olympus presents a problem to me - if I was a dragon with wings, this would be much easier. But I'm not a dragon. Thankful for that - Discord probably would have been able to kill me in a weakened state if I didn't have the regeneration and higher defense of a drakon. Nor would I be able to do quite as much damage to him. But I do have very, very sharp claws. Sharp enough to pierce rock.

I had two options, basically. I scale the mountain - which takes tremendous effort and time. Or I blitz through the settlements, attract a lot of attention and quite possibly die. While a single draconic with their scales grown in could take on many ponies, eventually their magic resistance would wear down and they'd be vulnerable to the spells of the unicorns. Which reminds me - I learned that there are different types of magic. Well, no, I knew that. Everyone knows that. But the dark magic of a quetzalcoatl is different from the dark magic of a windigo, as they all present themselves in different ways. The spells of a unicorn are about order, control, and utility. The spells of a drakon are about war, destruction, and power.

But I've never killed a sapient. I don't know if I have it in me. Killing a rabbit for food is different from killing a creature saying "please don't kill me I have a family" for self-defense. As such, I decided to scale the mountain. I walked up the mountain path as far as I could before I spotted a settlement - and dug my claws into the side of the mountain and began to climb.

The trip was painful. Very painful. My arms ached like Tartarus, and I had to sleep twice to restore enough energy to finish the climb. I was hungry, very hungry - the only food I was able to find being a goat and a lion, but I was close to the top now. About ten minutes, and I'd-

There was an earth-shattering roar. I began to slide down the mountain, rocks made loose from its sheer force. The mountain began rumbling as rocks slid down the sides - and a dragon erupted from its side. He was a huge beast, about two of my mothers taller than Bellum. His wings were punctured as he slid through the ground, smashing down next to the mountain. He landed on his head - and there was a painful sounding crunch. Above him, a squiggly shape floated. My eyes weren't as strong as a gryphon's, so I had no idea what it was. The fact that something could kill a dragon larger than Bellum terrified me. I began climbing up the mountain as fast as I could, the rocks smashing against me and only dazing me for a moment. I only had to actively dodge a few large boulders before I had ascended Mount Olympus - and I met destruction.

Corpses of ponies clad in white robes littered the floor. Severed heads, tendrils of flesh and candy, dried blood mixing in with ketchup and mustard, and most terrifyingly of all - a corpse of an orange stallion with his eyes gouged out.

I had to hold what little lunch I had in. The corpses and blood weren't the disgusting part, rather the sheer chaos that had greeted me. Olympus was in ruins, probably one of the first sites that Discord had attacked.

The Alicorns could be of no help to me. But what of Olympus itself?

The resources I needed to defeat Discord were magic, allies, food, and tools. He had defeated the most powerful creatures in existence - my magic alone couldn't defeat him in it's current state, so I'd have to get stronger. I'd need allies to surround him and target him at the same time. I need food to survive, and I would like tools to make my vengeance easier. Olympus was home to the Alicorn Pantheon. One of the oldest groups of gods to have ever existed throughout the ages, of which a single member had defeated 10,000 dragons, of which controlled the very heavens themselves. I steeled my nerves and put my stomach's protests aside. I began to scavenge.

The library was my first stop. Due to the death of all the Alicorns, there were no protective wards on the books that were probably older than some of the Alicorns themselves. I grabbed a book on dark magic, chaos magic, and combat magic. I needed to know how to defend against dark and chaos magic, as well as learn whatever combat magic I could. I'd need every edge. Next stop was their...cafeteria, for lack of a better word. Their food there was spoiled and rotting, but there was enough food and vegetables that were in good enough condition to eat. My stomach wasn't full, but it wasn't empty.

My third stop was probably the most revolting, and actually lead me to pause for a moment. The corpse of the orange stallion was definitely Apollo, which meant that the the two here would be Artemis and Serenity. Artemis was nailed to her throne by her own horn, dried blood staining her throat and her eyes burnt out. I only knew the other Alicorn corpse was Serenity because of process of elimination. Her flesh and fur was burnt off, her body more of a pile than an actual corpse. I gagged but I did have to consider something.

A body is 50% magic, 50% matter. Some extremely powerful creatures can push that up to 60-40, but even the weakest Spirit is 80% magic and 20% matter. The reason why eating fresh things restores your magic is because the magic doesn't leak out into the world and go back to the Nexus to be recycled, but rather it still lingers in the meat. If I ate the Alicorns, I'd be full - of magic, and stomach.

...I gathered up the bits that weren't burnt. I wasn't particularly happy about it, but it would be better than letting them die in vain. I had hunted before, but never out of malice, only to eat and better myself. This wasn't that different, was it? Just...not allowing them to die in total vain. Most of their flesh was burnt, and what wasn't was cooked with a simple heat spell. Their meat tasted very sweet, but still retained the strong meat flavor. My theory was right. My stomach did feel fuller, and I could feel more magic inside of me. Not enough that I had doubled in power, but...maybe I could pull off that two air blades a bit easier now.

"Apollo, Artemis, Serenity, thank you for your gift." I whispered quietly. Maybe, if Life and Death did exist they'd give my message to them.

Moving past the madness of the throne room I found what I was searching for - the armory. Most of Olympus had been destroyed, leaving the armory exposed. Immediately I saw six things of note - a sword, a ring, a book, a pouch, an armor set, and a stone.

The sword was the Sword of Glory. The Sword she used to slay hundreds of dragons. Its design was unremarkable, but the red blade made it extremely...prevalent, for lack of a better word. The ring stood out because it was large. About the size of my wrist, actually, but ring-shaped in design. It wasn't meant for a pony - it wasn't meant to be worn by an alicorn. I was a small drakoness, but I was still twice the size of an alicorn and this was the size of my wrist. This was likely an artifact from before the dragon wars, and a basic magical scan told me its properties. It was enchanted to be extremely durable, but more importantly the large ruby on it could store magic. Not just store it and allow someone to drain from it - but acting literally as an extension of a creatures magic, giving them more magic as long as they wore it. The book was interesting because how it was bound in scales and had no title. I tried to open it - but it seemed to harden and close more in my grasp. But it was still noteworthy. The stone was interesting because it was just a regular stone - that I couldn't scan with my magic. I then tried to telekinetically lift it, and it ignored my attempts. It was a null-stone, a rare stone from the Nexus that had become so saturated with magic that it was immune to all but the absolute most powerful magic.

The most interesting of all would be a small pouch with a string around it that had two runes in it - Mys, and Vor. Magic Void. A bag of holding. A theoretically unlimited pouch - as long as the pouch itself was intact, it could store any number of materials. Immediately I stuffed the books I was telekinetically carrying into it as well as the scaled book. Just as I was picking up the Sword of Glory in my physical grasp - it ignored my magic, only shivering slightly with a telekinetic push, the ruins of Olympus turned into butterflies. I recoiled in shock as the butterflies rose up, forming a body and a head-

Discord, made of butterflies, stood over me. "Yoo-hoo!" He wiggled his fingers at me. “Did you miss me?” He giggled excitedly. I remember seeing red, throwing a chunk of rock directly at his head. He arched an eyebrow before he dodged to the side. “I suppose you did.” He was suddenly in front of me, leaning on top of me. I tried to move away but chains of candy bound me. “I must admit - I didn’t expect to see you again. I’d thought you’d kill your self out of grief! Sadly, though, you’re a bit more durable than that.” He sighed. “Impressive though. You've improved. Although - ugh, that ring? Really?" He tutted as he yanked the crystal out of the ring and chomped down on it, tearing the ring off me and throwing it to the side. He chewed on the crystal, gagged then spat it out. It was crushed and useless now. I stare at it before snarling and physically picking up the null-stone and throwing it at him. He rolled his eyes as he prepared to snap his fingers - then shrieked like a little filly as it flattened his head cartoonishly. He swayed side to side, a sad trumpet playing before he shook his head and growled. "That hurt! You wound me, Tempest. After all I've done for you?"

"Ever heard of Karma?" I retorted. "One day - you'll get what's coming to you. You'll die. Maybe not at my claws, but at the hands of another." I readied all of my magic against him, and threw it at him. Waves of brute force, a blade of air shooting towards his throat. The brute force splattered pathetically on his hold on his body. The blade of air elicited an eyebrow raise for him before he caught it with magic, keeping it hovering in place. My horns began to hurt as I shot beams of heat and ice against him. As the heat hit him he was suddenly in a lawn chair, sipping a lemonade, and as the ice hit him he was in a parka sipping hot cocoa calmly. Magic clearly wasn't working against him, but physically?

I launched towards him, but he dodged each time. Then I don't remember what happened next, exactly, but I remember holding the Blade of Glory in my hand and launching towards him, aiming it as his heart. His joyful expression dropped off his face and he stared at me for a moment before he narrowly dodged the blade. It scraped his arm, causing him to wince as it began to glow red and he recoiled. His voice thundered in my ears. "Little girl. You have NO idea what you just did." He spoke, his tone quivering before his magic enveloped me. A wave of pink washed over my outside, the Blade of Glory falling from my immobile hands. He picked it up and stared at it quietly, his eyes shutting. "Oh, Glory." He whispered. He stroked the blade fondly before casting it into the ground. The mountain cracked slightly as he walked towards me, his eyes glowing pink. He touched a paw to my head and I saw-

The world was on fire. The world was burning. The world was dying, drained of its color. The Nexus was ablaze, the ley-lines covered in flames, the mountains and landscape all melted. I saw great typhoons, hurricanes, storms, tornadoes, and earthquakes tearing the world asunder, oceans of magma and obsidian shores, and I saw the Nexus condensing in on itself until it was gone and-

Discord was quieter as he took his paw off me. But he was no less angry. "...Tempest." He spoke after a brief moment of silence. "You have done something no creature has ever done. No draconic. No equine. No chimera. No mortal. No Spirit. You have made me feel, twice. Genuine fear. Genuine anger." He smiled warmly, oddly. "Let me reward you for that."

"I'm going to kill you now." He spoke. My blood ran cold and I struggled in his mystic grasp, but his power had overpowered my own hold on my body. If he really wanted to, he could telekinetically crush my brain in an instant. "Or, try to. Let me explain, actually. I'm going to drop this mountaintop on you. And if you survive? You have one week to prepare. If you don't? Good riddance. I've always despised draconics, and you my friend are the last drakon left. Did you know the Wyverns were sapient before they met me? Not anymore." His body wiggled as he swam through the air and leaned on me. His touch was vile. "Good luck." His fingers snapped-

I was on the ground now, cloaked in shadow. My gaze tilted upwards as I saw the mountain top, crumbling as it barreled towards me.

-

[4] Gryphum

Gryphum

The skies split with lightning. The skies stayed split.

As the mountain hovered over me for a split second, I realized how immensely powerful Discord was. Telekinesis and Teleportation were the easiest and hardest utility spells respectively, for a myriad of reasons. Telekinesis was innate to all species in some degree that had magic. Tactile Telekinesis is how Earth Ponies and Pegasi can write with their hooves. But not to a high degree. Tactile Telekinesis was proportionate to physical strength, but Active Telekinesis was proportionate to how much weight you were lifting. Anything under a pound or so would be negligible - but as the weight got higher and higher the cost of telekinesis would scale up exponentially. I could lift a pound of stone for a decade before I would have any noticeable drain on my magic. Lifting up a thousand pounds would be significantly harder to say the least.

Teleportation was an incredibly hard spell to pull off successfully. In addition to being incredibly costly, teleportation is done by propelling yourself into the aether, the realm of pure magic, creating a magical shield around you and launching yourself forward then exiting safely in the span of under a second. It requires fast reflexes, lots of practice, and is incredibly dangerous as if the shield isn't properly formed you could lose yourself in the aether and become pure magic. Or lose limbs, rarely did people lose themselves in the aether unintentionally.

I believe I haven't gone into enough detail about the size of a dragon and drakon, who grow about the same rate. Born the size of a cat, grow to the size of a house with a proper diet over fifteen years, then it's all upwards from there. King Bellum wasn't that much smaller than Mount Draelos, and had to tear out a huge chunk of it to break himself free, and was incredibly long. The dragon that had been torn from the mountain was about three quarters of Bellum's size.

Discord had telekinetically lifted a dragon, already an impressive feat no matter the age but the older a drakon or dragon got the stronger their magical resistance. The fact that he could effect a dragon of that age already meant he had more power than I could comprehend. But the fact that he teleported at least a million tons of mountain with no visible effort? How strong was he? How strong was Glory, who's blade alone he had been afraid of? How strong was Bellum, who wounded this monster?

Oh, yes. The mountain. Shooting towards me at...a fast speed. I would definitely die if it would hit me, so...I had to run. I leapt away as far as I could in one go before using the momentum from my jump to begin running, as fast as I can but the shadow got thicker and thicker and seemed to stretch into infinity. It was going to hit me. I was going to die - and there was nothing I could do about it. I couldn't move fast enough. But there was one alternative that would either kill me extremely painfully, or save me.

The glyphs in it were many. But I understood what they meant.

Mys - Magic. Magic is my power. Magic is my will. Magic is my reality, supplementing our own. And it was through this magic, through this power travelling from my soul into my ley that I would perform this spell.
Creut - Cut. And this is what I would do with my magic. I would cut, tear a hole in something, slice something open so that I could fit through it.
Asptra - Space. This is what I could cut through. Out of space, still in time, into-
Aesr - Magic. Magic is what I would enter. Magic is my power, but magic is also the aether. Mys is your own magic, Aesr is the magic of the world itself.
Moreut - Movement. I would move through the Aesr under my power, under my mystic-
Fres - Force. Propelling myself forwards with it.
Boryd - Body. My body would be submerged in the aether. A pony would die instantly in the aether, a draconic would survive three seconds at best, and a Spirit would be able to survive an entire minute. The presence of Boryd was for a base for-
Prosr - Protect. I would protect my body from the aether.
Creut - Cut. Finally, I would cut again - and I would exit the aether.

My magic filled out the runes and for a tiny, tiny second, I saw infinity. I saw more magic than was possible, magic that made my mind hurt to think about. There was a pain in my head, a pounding as I felt the aether pound and eat away at my magic shield. And I saw visions. I saw a gryphon, standing proud and tall. I saw the sun and the moon encompassed in a storm that consumed the entire world - and then, as I was being pulled out of the aether, I caught a glimpse of a colossal white dragon, staring directly at me. And the dragon smiled.

I was thrown out of the aether screaming. The grass was wet underneath me, and I hadn't perfectly teleported. In addition to losing my left hind claw, my right hind leg was crushed underneath the rockslide from the collapsing mountain, the scales cracking and the flesh tearing. The bone was only barely intact as I threw a wave of telekinetic force at the mountain and dislocated just enough rock to land on my leg.

Discord leaned against a tree in front of me, chewing on a piece of wheat. He grinned wickedly at me. before he leaned in and whispered. "Boo." I shivered in response and recoiled, before immediately wincing and letting out a cry of pain from my red-hot crushed leg. "Oh, poor little thing." He tutted. He walked over and tilted my head up. My head was unable to move with the force of his two of his fingers - he was clearly immensely physically powerful. "Do you need some help?" He smiled before I felt pure agony in my leg. I shrieked and wriggled, and no doubt would have been crying if draconics had tear ducts, my mouth opening as I roared as loud as I could and tried to pull away from my leg. I wasn't thinking straight, reduced to a bestial state. Which is probably the reason I chomped down on eagle claw and bit down as hard as I could. He shrieked before he threw me across the ground and sent me flying into a tree.

"Dumb bitch!" He growled, his hand bleeding. And immediately, my determination was renewed. Gods didn't bleed. Spirits did. If it bled - it could die. And Discord didn't expect me to bite him - he wasn't omniscient. Ominpresent, maybe. Omnipotent, maybe. But not omniscient. My determination was dashed once more as my leg flared up with pain. I looked backwards and had to supress a cry - my leg had been torn off, messily. Probably the only reason I was conscious was due to my draconic heritage and the adrenaline in me. He raised his lions paw, and it began to glow pink before he paused and sighed. "Oh, yes. That deal." He grumbled. "I really didn't expect it to have it in yourself to teleport - I must confess how impressed I am. Although, you did forget a bit of yourself back there..." I whimpered in response at first, before I managed to form a fragment of a word - "g..." o forget your own head in the aether is what I wanted to say before the pain coursed through me.

He grinned. "Oh, I have a delicious idea. You'll succumb to your wounds at this rate. Too much of yourself is lost in the aether, and despite your resilience...you're going to die. But I did promise you a week. So, let me fix your body for you, hm?" He picked me up with a paw before giggling. I tried to pull away from his revolting touch before he sighed. "You draconics will never get it, will you? You can't defeat me. In fact - let me let you in on a little secret. This isn't the first time I've purged a species. Oh, the first was long ago - so, so long ago. But? The reasons the Wyverns and the Windigo aren't sapient? The reason the Quetzalcoatls and Draconequui are gone? The reason why Muryscinia is so small? All me, Tempest." He used my name, causing me to shiver. My eyes were wide as I fell to the ground from his grasp. "But, I am a man of my word, sadly. Here you go." I felt that same vile sensation of when he was physically touching me.I looked down and shivered, seeing my leg regrowing - but it wasn't my leg. It was black, caked in blood, throbbed with chaos magic so potent I could almost see it without using my magical senses. It was different, too, the scales weaker and thinner but more magically resistant, the claws sharper. The same happened for my left claw. I looked up at him confusedly, the pain fading as my new body parts began to fuse to my body through chaos magic.

"Oh, the dragon over there? His head isn't attached to his body anymore, so I doubt little old - should I say old Drael will mind." He smirked. "Enjoy those body parts, Tempest. And remember - you have one week to prepare before I find you again. And I will find you." For the last three words his eyes began glowing red, sending shivers down my spine before he disappeared with a pop. "Toodles!" His disembodied voice echoed.

There are a lot of magic types. But, three notable ones are Order, Chaos, and Harmony. The three Conceptual Elements, the Equilibric Elements - there are a lot of names for the same thing. Order is control and dominance, Chaos is change in information, and Harmony is working together for a common goal to loosely sum them all up. They all present themselves in colors depending on their strength. Weak/Strong. Order is white when its weak, black when it's strong and is mistaken for dark magic, while dark magic is an entirely separate entity. Harmony is many, many, many colors but often a softer gentle white or gold when its weak, and a rainbow when it's strong. Chaos is yellow and pink when it's weak, but red when it's strong. By "strong," I mean destructive. Red chaos magic is the most deadly type of magic. Fueled by rape, murder, destruction, storms of napalm and fire, natural disasters and the destruction of continents - this is all part of red chaos magic. This is not to say that pink chaos can't represent this too, but more often red is chaos in its purely destructive state where pink and yellow is just...chaos.

I stared at my leg, looking at the fading thin line of yellow around where it fused to my skin and I shuddered. It was revolting. Disgusting. Only out of self-preservation would I not rip it off and throw it to the side. But my journey wasn't done. It had just started.

The bag of holding was still around my throat. I had books inside it - and I had newfound knowledge. I couldn't beat Discord on my own, but the aether had shown me a gryphon, and had shown me a storm. That was a sign. I had to go to Gryphum. I had to see King Gryphus, and I had to...I don't know yet. I don't know.

I read as I walked. My magic was drained to the point where casting a spell of brute force would probably melt me. I had five books in my possession, now. A book on Spirits, a book on Chaos magic, a book on Dark magic, a book on Combat magic, and a book bound in red dragon scales that I could just not open, despite how hard I tried. I had decided to read the book on chaos magic to see what exactly I was up against. Chaos magic was the term for power that derived off of chaos and entropy, change and decay in information respectively. It wasn't forced to do your bidding like Order magic or Harmony magic, but rather guided and coaxed into performing the functions desired - but there were no specifics.

Three unicorns walk into a bar. They hold a competition as to who is the best spellcaster - one is a mage of Order, one is a mage of Harmony, and the last is a mage of Chaos. They first decide to teleport. The mage of Order summons up his magic and moves space around him, standing still as everything else moves. He's exhausted by this method of teleportation. The mage of Harmony travels through the aether - I'd like to note that the term "Harmony" does not just mean Harmonic magic, but rather all magic that isn't Order or Chaos. She's tired, but not exhausted. The mage of Chaos creates a wormhole around himself that teleports him there instantly. He's still fine.

They next decide to summon up a chocolate cake. The mage of Order summons one from somewhere else. The mage of Harmony creates one from magic. The Chaos mage has the easiest time, but the worst result - his magic is guided into a "cake shape" but there are no details given, and Chaos fills in the rest. It could be a vanilla cake, a frisbee shaped cake, a cake made from antimatter that would then explode and violently kill them all...

I believe you understand enough to distinguish the magic types now. I certainly did. Discord was chaos incarnate, but he still couldn't go incredibly precise because his magic wouldn't allow him to. Mine could. While he could lift dragons and teleport mountains, it would probably be a lot, lot harder for him to use tiny telekinetic actions. I was on my way to Gryphum, likely going to arrive there within two days. And honestly? Not much happened on my way there.

The beast was huge. At the edge of the gryphon-pony border, marked by a wooden spiked fence, was a small bottleneck gate where some gryphons were stationed with crossbows and armor. They were a little distracted right now, though, by the abomination - a chaos beast, straight out of legend. Said to be made from pure chaos magic and to take any size, shape and form, and that Discord was one of them. Although Discord was a draconequus, and had no relation to a chaos beast save for his role as Chaos King.

Three gryphon corpses were on the ground - really two and one was dying on a wooden spike. The spiked fences were smashed, and the beast's hide was littered with bolts, blood oozing from it. It was tall, about the size of my mother with large thick curled legs and a small body, with two great fangs and wriggling tendrils attached to its legs. It smashed its legs down like a child, its tendrils whipping around and trying to slash at the gryphons. The only advantage they had on it was the air - it had tendrils on its body but they were a lot slimmer and a lot less.

It had been two days, and my magic had fully regenerated. And allowing a chaos beast into Gryphum would be detrimental to me, and the King would definitely like it if I helped his subjects. And I was the last drakon alive - he would have reason to talk to me, most likely. I shot into action, desperate to try out some of the spells I had learned.

The first was a warspell. A stone "bullet" struck the creature in the stomach, pushing into its skin before it erupted violently. The eruption managed to cut through its skin, causing blood to began oozing from the wound and causing the beast to rumble. I tackled one of the legs with my physical strength - my mother was about 100 feet tall, and I was slightly less than a fourth of her size. The beast began to fall before more legs sprouted from it and it straightened itself up, legs beginning to smash down on me with extreme strength. The gryphons began yelling, causing them to target the legs that held it upright as I readied my magic once more. I summoned two blades of air and shoved them into the stomach wound on the beast, cutting the stomach of the creature open and causing its blood to gush out of it in a thick stream. It's skin was thick, but my blades of air were able to scratch dragon scale. As it fell to the ground, dying, the creature shrieked, wriggled and began to vibrate - the gryphons began to yell at me, seemingly angrily, although they weren't speaking all-speak. I had killed it, hadn't I? What was the problem?

It turned into hundreds of little spider-like beasts that began crawling all over me and the gryphons, targeting me moreso. I stamped on them with my forelegs, and they seemed to avoid my back right leg and left paw. I turned around and began crushing them from the behind before I spun around and let a spell of flame erupt from my mouth. Most of the spiders were cooked alive, and were now liquefying and condensing into a solid object. Finally - a creature from my nightmares, one that I had only seen in legends formed. A shoggoth. A huge mass of shifting, liquid-like flesh with tentacles, tendrils, arms, eyes and mouths too many, they were said to be manifestations of pure hatred.

From behind me a gryphon with a blade shot forward. He slashed off two of the Shoggoth's limbs with one blow, before pointing at the severed flesh. "CYRD!" He roared out in the language of glyphs. I nodded in response, understanding his meaning as I opened my mouth. Drawing from my horns, I created a thin cushion of heat before an orb of energy formed in the back of my throat and a torrent of icy energy froze the shoggoth's flesh solid. The gryphon with the blade, and the gryphons using their claws began hacking the shoggoth to bits. One was stabbed in the chest, causing him to scream out - and in response I summoned up three air blades and cleaved the shoggoth into three sections that I then froze. This was very, very taxing on my magic admittedly, but it was worth it - the shoggoth chaos beast cracking into crystals.

As two of the gryphons picked up the wounded one and began to fly off, the bladed Gryphon walked towards me. He pointed at the remnants of the shoggoth. "Boryd reosr...uhm...doreus cyrd reosr?" Body restore denial cold restore. Body restores - cold denies restore. So chaos beasts are weak to cold. This makes sense - cold is the absence of energy, and chaos is energy.

I nodded in response. "...Do you speak allspeak?" I tilted my head to the side. The gryphon blinked then facepalmed. "Oh...yes. Draconics can speak all-speak. It's...even in the name. Dear Gryphus I'm dumb." He shook his head. "Yes, I do. Commander Durion at your service. Thank you, draconic, for your assistance. May I ask why you're here?"

"You're fighting a chaos beast." I nodded. "Have you done this before?"
Durion nodded. "Yes. Decapitate them or freezing them works to kill them. Why?"
"I'm assuming you know who Discord is." I spoke, trying to get to my point. Durion nodded in response, raising a questioning eyebrow. He knew who Discord was - good. He should be impressed by this then.
"He killed my people. He killed my King - the Spirit of War. He tried to kill me, twice, and he failed." No, a bit of a lie - he had tried to wipe out all drakons when he fought Bellum, not specifically me, and he could have killed me the second time but instead chose to play a game. But this sounded more impressive, and if I was to see the King I would need impressive. Durion stared at me for a moment before bursting out laughing, holding his stomach. "O...oh...that's a new one." He giggled.

I stared at him. "I'm not lying." I spoke. He stared at me, looking me in the eye. After a few moments he blinked. "...You're not kidding." He murmured. "Why are you here, drak...drakoness?" He had paused to search for the word.
"My name is..." I paused for a moment. I could say "Tempest," but I could also go for an honorific to make myself sound more prominent. No, there was no need. My credentials, exaggerated were still enough - and I had to see the king. Although..I don't know why. Would this all be for nothing? Would the king turn me away? What...what was I doing?

No. I couldn't think like that. I didn't know the details - but I had to beat Discord. Because...if I don't...if I don't try...what else would I do? What else do I have? Nothing. And, he hates me because I'm draconic. I had to...do something.

"Tempest." I answered after a moment of silence. "I'm here to see the King."
"The King isn't taking visitors. He's busy. Preparing for Discord."
"He needs to talk to me. I know Discord's motives and plans." That was a bit of a lie - I knew that he wanted to kill the draconics, the Spirits, and the Gryphons to draw out Gryphus. He had probably already killed Misika and Draelos if he had come to bother me, and was likely winding up to kill Gryphus. We had five days, though.
"...Alright." He said after a moment, sighing. "Let's go."

Me and Durion had walked for about half an hour, as I couldn't fly. I was hungry, a little tired, but generally fine - he wasn't very talkative, thankfully. But let's take a bit of time to talk about the nations of Liogella. There are five, very, very loose categories - the Draconics, the Equines, the Chimaera, the Fae, and the Lupine.

The Equines include the ponies of Equestria, the horses of Saddle Arabia, the Kirin, the zebras of the Murysicinia Jungles.
The Draconics include the dragons, drakons, quetzal, draconequui, windigo, dragoons, and serpents.
The Chimaera include the Hydra, the Gryphons, the Sphinx, the Chimera.
The Fae include the Fairies and the Breezies.
The Lupine are limited to Timberwolves, Frostwolves, and the Wolves, although Wolves themselves haven't been seen in centuries.

Those are the categories of species. The nations though? Generally, you can say Draconic, Equestria, Murysicinian, and Gryphon and you'll be correct. The draconic keep to themselves, having a loose alliance with other draconic races. Equestria is the largest nation of ponies. Muryscinians have to work together and are grouped under the catch all title because of the harshness of their land. The Gryphon Empire is noteworthy.

Gryphons are stronger than pegasi, with better eyesight if a bit slower. They tend to be more militaristic, under the Gryphon King. A Gryphon King can be any gender - male or female, they're still called the Gryphon King. The nation, the territory's name changes depending on who the Gryphon King is. For King Gryphus, it was Gryphum. For the King before him, King Zeus, Zeuserum. Et cetera. The architecture there is honestly quite beautiful. Large stone fortresses and structures, towers, a palace of marble, homes made of brick foundations and wooden walls.

Every Gryphon is trained in combat, until they graduate school - then they have the option of joining the military, the guard, or choosing their own route in path. But they still have required monthly combat training, to keep the entire nation on its edge. Despite this, the Gryphons seemed peaceful except for the fact that there was a lot of security and a lot of weapons as we passed through the towns on our way towards the city. There were some shifty looks at me due to my size, some gasps and shocked expressions at my blackened leg - Durion either didn't notice or didn't care, probably the latter, but overall everyone seemed peaceful, calm, and...

Happy. I liked Gryphum, so far. They weren't as skittish as ponies who would panic at the sight of something that wasn't a pony, they were open to meat-eaters, and they had a beautiful home. Durion had lead me down a marble road from the gate that connected to "Guard Point," a small fortress where all the guard posts were connected to by. There were tubes filled with air or something, I'm not sure about the details, but it was for sending notes for aid as fast as possible to Guard Point. Guard Point itself was a large fort with mounted ballista, crossbow and sword wielding Gryphons, and large stone walls. As we stood in front of the gate, I shivered as I could feel the ballista aiming at me, dots of light on me where they'd strike if they fired. Durion called up - "Hail, Adreus!" He pounded his chest. "Adreus," I'm assuming, was a gryphon in extra heavy armor with no crossbow and instead a simple but large greatsword, stood atop the fortress.

"Hail, Durion." He pounded his chest in the same place. A Gryphon salute, of sorts, I'm assuming. "Your...friend here is a-"
"I can speak for myself. My name is Tempest." I interrupted.
"...Tempest here..is a strange sight in these parts." He crossed his forelimbs over his chest as he leaned on the stone wall. "What brings you here, away from your post?"
"Our drakoness-" he put emphasis on the word, Adreus raising an eyebrow and his eyes landing on my back leg, "friend here has information about the Chaos Lord. And she claims that Discord-" Adreus scowled, causing Durion to stumble over his words, "the...uhm, Chaos King, tried to kill her - twice - and failed. She wants to see the king."
Adreus burst out laughing. "Hah! And you believe her? Oh, little Durion, ever heard of a liar? Yes, a shockingly novel concept, I know. How's to know she isn't just a drakoness assassin?" I growled in response.
"I tell the truth. He dropped the top of Mount Olympus on me. I teleported away, lost my paw and my leg. His magic is on me. Use your magic senses. I know you have them, even without active magic."

I could feel Adreus and Durion's senses landing on me, the eyes of other Gryphon's moving to examine me. They both shuddered at the same time, before Adreus drew his sword. "So you have the Chaos Lord's magic on you. Any last words, Chaos Creature?" I stepped back, mouth opening before Durion cut in.

"Adreus, calm down. This drakoness is the reason I'm not dead, and that there isn't a Chaos Beast heading towards Guard Point." Adreus sheathed his sword, grunting as he stared at me. "That leg is a dragon's leg - and you know how he likes his Chimaera. She's telling the truth." Adreus turned his head to the side and let out a long sigh.

"Fine. She can go see the king. Stay with her though - if there's any trouble? It's on you. I mean it, Durion."
Durion nodded. "Thank you." The gate to Guard Point opened, and Durion began leading me through. I turned to him, blinking. "...Thank you." I really meant it - he was clearly sticking his neck out for me. Durion shrugged in response. "We were being crushed. The Chaos Beasts have gotten stronger. We were gonna die. I'm just repaying you."

I nodded. "Adreus is...aggressive."
Durion nodded. "He is. He had some poor life circumstances that lead him to where he was, but he does mean the best. He's just a bit paranoid. Thinks everyone is out to get us." I nodded in response.

The city was contained within stone walls, the entrance being through Guard Point. There were hundreds of Gryphons with crossbows to shoot out any aerial offenders, the homes themselves being made of stone and some wood. There was a large stone palace in the center, probably where we were heading. Durion confirmed this as he began walking towards it with renewed vigor - we walked for about five minutes before we stood in front of the palace doors. Durion nodded at the two guards stationed by the door. The guards nodded back before opening them.

The palace had an exterior of stone. Calling it a "palace" was a it of a lie, while it did have one or two large majestic spires of stone, it was more accurately a fort - made from squared off stone bricks, with thick two layered walls where gryphons were stationed in between to be able to shoot out of. But the inside of the palace was majestic. Floors made of smooth white marble, the walls adorned with murals and gold. It was kind of like someone having a strong cube that was hard to break with a diamond inside.

The palace opened and lead up a flight of stairs. Durion lead me up the stairs, the guards stationed all the way along the path (Current Note: Gryphons do not mess with their security at all.) keeping a watchful eye on me, but generally seemed to be fine with my presence no doubt thanks to Durion. Then, we entered the throne room - and at the end, I saw him.

A pony is about four feet tall. A gryphon is five, an alicorn is seven. I was about fifteen feet. King Gryphus, for who else could it be, was a huge eight foot tall Gryphon with a scarred face, the tips of his feathers red and his wings and claws with sharp metal tips. He rested on his throne, his yellow eyes tracking my every minute movement. I froze when I saw him, before Durion began pushing me along and I continued along the path. We stood infront of him, and King Gryphus stood up, tilting his head up to stare at me. And I could feel the power inside of him.

I had met three live Spirits, and seen six total. Discord was terrifying because of his appearance and what he could do. Bellum was terrifying because of the raw power dripping from him and his huge size - although I'd like to mention that Bellum was relatively young, only around 6,000, when most draconics were considered to reach adulthood at the age of 10,000, and that most drakons lived in the dragonlands away from the capital.

Gryphus was not terrifying, but he commanded respect. He was infinitely more powerful than me, and was considered to be one of the weaker Spirits, yet the Alicorn Spirits were some of the strongest and Discord beat all three of them at once. He wore some simple armor made of gray and white metal that covered his vitals and left his joints unarmored, his beak also clad in metal. His eyes pierced through me and into my soul as he spoke,

"I've been told that you have some information for me." His voice wasn't particularly special, but the weight he put behind his words made me shiver.
"Y-..." I coughed. "Ahem. Yes, King Gryphu-"
"Drop the formalities and be out with it."

I blinked then nodded in response. I wasn't entirely used to someone in a royal position being so informal, although with the militaristic nature of the gryphons I probably shouldn't be surprised.

"Discord wiped out the drakons. I'm not sure about the other draconics, but their spirits are dead. The Alicorn Spirits are dead - to my knowledge, you and Discord-" the guards shifted uncomfortably at his name, "are the last spirits alive. I know this because Discord tried to kill me twice - and he fail-" I spoke, but was interrupted.

"Enough." He shut his eyes and sighed. "I know your story is true. I can feel Discord moving, writhing through the air. I could feel Draelos being thrown into a mountain. I could feel all of this." He shook his head. "Bellum being dead though...that mean's he'll come for me next." He paused. "No. That means he's already here." He began pacing while talking to himself, and his line of reasoning lead me to dread.

"Discord doesn't fail to kill mortals. No mortal could withstand his torrent - no, thats a lie. Starswirl...but he's been...hm. But you're not strong enough. You - your leg." And suddenly he was there. It wasn't like teleportation, he didn't shift through the aether magically. It wasn't Discord tearing space and warping through it impossibly - he was one moment somewhere else and the next he was there. He ran his claws over my black scales and I shuddered, the vile feeling of chaos magic washing over me once again. "It's his magic."

"...You're Discord."
"No! I'm not!" I interrupted loudly, shaking my head. "He killed Bellum and tried to wipe out my species - then he dropped a mountain on me. I teleported. My paw was torn off and my leg was crushed. He healed it from a dragon that was there-" and suddenly with a gesture from Gryphus, our surroundings shifted. Me and Gryphus were no longer surrounded by guards, instead out by where the dragon Discord had thrown out the mountain.

Gryphus' eyes widened as he stared at the missing leg of the dragon - Drael, was it? and the missing paw. He turned to me, his wings spread and lightning crackling over his feathers. I could feel the power radiating from him. "Tell me everything." He whispered.

And so I did. And when it started, I couldn't stop it - words spilling out of me like lava out of a volcano, a pressure and weight I didn't realize were on me moving out of me as I got it all out. The pain I felt over my mother. The directionless I felt - was what I was doing right? Was it all for nothing? The pain I felt about the fact that, despite how I wanted to cry I couldn't. About how I wanted to eat and kill a little colt, about how I ate the alicorn spirits. And then about my story - everything since the taffy scented apocalypse.

I didn't realize I had it all pent up. I didn't realize how much there was, the days blurred by so fast...so fast. Gryphus listened attentively the entire time, only commenting when I was finished.

"We have five days to prepare for Discord. Then he'll strike." He paused. "He clearly has some strange fetish for you-" I blinked and blushed in response to that, causing Gryphus to roll his eyes, "sorry, obsession, which means you're a vital asset...but I don't like that leg of yours." He shook his head. "Discord doesn't do gifts without a catch. But it's been too long since the wound set in and it can't be healed normally...hm. I'll see about getting the chaos magic drained from it." He rubbed his chin. "You're the last drakon. He has a confirmed hatred for draconics, they did kill Glory after all...and you need to do something." He nodded. "Alright. I can work with this." And with that same not-quite-teleportation, we were back in the throne room.

King Gryphus stood up and stretched his wings out. "Durion. Tell Adreus to speak to me." Durion nodded and began flying off immediately without a word. Gryphus turned to one of the guards. "Rothsgard, tell the others to be on high alert. If there's a chaos beast. If there's an abnormal amount of butterflies. If there's an elongated gust of wind that they weren't informed about beforehand by me, you, or Adreus, I want to know. If someone hides or fakes any information, I want to speak to them personally."
"Yes sir." The guard, who I assumed to be Rothsgard, saluted then began flying off.

He turned to another guard. "Rothsgard-" were there multiple Rothsgard? Wait, no. Allspeak was a universal language, but Gryphons still did have a distinct language. I didn't know much about it, but Rothsgard was probably a title. It was pronounced "Wroth's Guard," so maybe something along the lines of...Wrath Guard, or Mighty Guard? This was a bit of a stretch, but it did seem possible.

"I want you to alert the Archmage that I need to talk to him personally. Immediately. Yes, and clear my calendar for the day - I have much to do." He rolled his wrist in a motion that gestured for the Rothsgard to leave. He turned to me, finally, and spoke.

"You have told me much. Thank you for that. You'll be provided with four days of shelter, food, and training - but after that you must leave." I blinked and immediately nodded in response, that was much more than I hoped for from him. Honestly, I expected him to ask me to leave immediately and allow him to fight Discord alone - not that I would, but that he would ask me to.

"My archmage will refine your basics of magic. What's your affinity?"
"Air. Chaos. Light." I recited slowly. And for a split second, I saw a cocktail of strange emotions flit across the Gryphon King's face before he gave a resigned nod.
"He'll refine your basics of magic. I will personally teach you the magics I think will most benefit you. Understand that this is a privilege that very few have had." I wasn't able to see my own face, but I'm sure that if I was able to I'd see my jaw hitting the floor. A Spirit. Not just offering in exchange for something, but stating factually that he would teach me. The knowledge of dozens of ageless creatures that had seen the entire world pass by, passed down to me.

What was special about my affinity? It just meant the magic types that I was most attuned to. Air, Chaos, and Light. Did it have some dual meaning that I was unaware of? The only thing I could find strange with that is that I had met three spirits, and two of those spirits had something to do with my affinity. But there was no Spirit of Light, Apollo would be the closest but he was very, very dead. Although, I did eat him...did that have to do with something?

...Maker. I ate him. I ate the corpse of a once-living being. And I felt nothing for it.

No. No, no no no. No it wasn't...it wasn't my fault. It wasn't a mistake. He was dead - no way he was coming back. His body would serve me better than it would someone else - without him I would have died. I wouldn't have been able to teleport.

Right? Yes. Yes, right. That's the truth.

Gryphus stamped his foot down. "Tempest!" He said forcefully, no aggression behind his words but snapping me out of my downward spiral nonetheless. "My Rothsgard will take you to the room we used for the dragon's visits. Please - rest. You need it."

I nodded in response. I don't remember the last time I slept - the last time I had a full meal. The last time I had time to think, really absorb what I had done. They lead me towards the bed and I fell onto it, before drifting into a state of deep sleep.

-

[5] Clarity

Clarity

Through his power, sanity turns to insanity and insanity turns to clarity.

I slept dreamlessly that night, and when I awoke immediately the full realization of what I had done had dawned on me. The full realization of what I was doing as well. As well as what had happened.

My mother had sacrificed herself for me. My friend died in front of me. My people died. A god dropped a mountaintop on me for his sick amusement. I lost my leg. I ate three sapient creatures. Sure, they were dead...but...I don't know how I feel about that. I should feel bad. I know I should. But honestly? I don't. They were dead. Burying them would serve no one, so why was I so confused about it? This is a self-imposed problem. This is beneath me. No, I don't feel bad about eating three dead people I had never met. They were dead and they served no other purpose to anyone. They were best suited to serve me and my purpose.

Yes, that's the problem. The real problem - my purpose. Was I overreacting? It sounds dumb when it's phrased like that, but the question needs to be asked. A creature who could literally make it so a sneeze could kill me turned up to my home and killed my people - and then immediately like that I dedicate myself to finding a way to kill him.

Who am I? My name is Tempest, but what is that? A tempest is a violent, windy storm. According to Bellum, I will bring tremendous destruction for that is my nature, destruction will bring change, and change will bring peace. But what does that mean? Was there some prophecy I didn't know about? Did my name and affinity have something to do with Discord's sudden attack? Why did the two spirits I met seem to know more about who I am than I knew about me. My name is Tempest. Does Tempest mean - she who will dedicate her life to a mindless warpath to destroy a spirit? Does Tempest mean a fool that died in vain? Does Tempest mean savior, defiler, accursed, blessed? Who am I?

Tempest is my name. Magic - I like magic. I've never really thought about it, but I love magic. The power flowing through me. The power to shape the cosmos - learning glyphs, understanding the meanings of the words that shaped creation itself. What else did I love? I loved food. I loved to hunt - my mother taught me never to kill out of fun and out of necessity, but honestly? It was fun. I enjoyed the chase. I enjoyed pinning the creature down. I enjoy the scent of cooked meat. I love to eat, too, letting my teeth rip flesh. I love my tail - I know it's strange, honestly, but there's something about it that's just nice. It's almost...reassuring? I don't know what word would work best, but that's the only one I can think of.

Yes, that's who I am. My name is Tempest Pulseradottir. I love magic. I like hunting. I like food. I like my tail. And I'm going to be the one to kill Discord. Well - no. Probably King Gryphus would, but at the very least I'd be there with him. Either way, Discord will die. He deserves to die. He's wiped out what - three species? And he's gotten away with it? It's vile that a creature like him is allowed to exist. It's disgusting that Life and Death, if they are indeed real haven't stepped in and done something about him.

I pushed myself off of the bed that was used for the dragon ambassadors and let out a deep sigh. The room was warm, probably the warmest in the castle, with a circular stone bed with heated coals underneath it. Honestly, it was probably the most comfortable bed i've ever been on. A warm, hard surface. There were even pillows, which we didn't have back home on Mount Draelos.

I stretched myself out, kicking my legs out and pushing my arms forward. I let out a large yawn before standing up and shaking myself off. The room had a bed as well as a second room, a washroom. I'll spare you the details, but I entered the washroom covered in dirt and grime from my travel and exited with shiny scales and smooth skin. While I've never cared for romance or physical appearances, I had to confess that I did look at myself in the mirror quite a bit. I understand that to equines I would probably look terrifying, I personally thought that any draconic would think I'd look nice. Not necessarily pretty or beautiful, but nice.

As I moved to exit the washroom I was immediately surprised by a loud pop in my room, and there was someone there. Someone had teleported into my room. I saw something flying towards me, and immediately my instincts took over. It was moving towards me - about my throat. If I ducked it would hit my head, and if someone was attacking a dragon there's no way they'd use basic metallic weapons. Not to mention that someone was able to teleport and still have enough power to telekinetically attack me. I had to take it seriously. I threw myself to the side, almost stumbling over myself before I summoned up a projectile which whipped forward and smacked what I now recognized to be a pony. I had to hold my surprise as my projectile impacted a magical shield, and the shield cracked. It didn't shatter, but just cracked. Someone had enough magical power to teleport into my room, throw something at me, and hold up a strong shield. Who was this?

I doubt I'd be able to win this in a competition of pure magical force. I had barely enough strength to teleport, and I was a drakon. Although, this was a unicorn...I did have the ability to expel most of my magic pool in one go. Too risky - if I was drained of magic I'd be unable to defend against any of my foes magically based attacks, which would be most of them. But they were a pony, and even the strongest pony couldn't stand up to a draconic. If I was a quetzal, a draconequui, or a weak wyvern, they might be able to daze me, but I was a drakon. Physical strength and high magic output were mine. I channeled my magic into a wave of heat. It was a simple spell, but one couldn't deny it's effects. The pony was pushed backwards as embers sparked off their shield, probably having adapted their shield from force to heat once they detected my magic. It's not like I was particularly subtle about the charge up, I telegraphed it from miles away. But that was my intention.

There are three types of shields. Cast, adaptable, and artifact. Cast shields are when a shield spell is cast by one or more people and is maintained through constant effort, and is formed with a series of instructions to defend against. Only with tremendous effort can they be adapted during the cast - adaptable shields are shields that are made with one instruction to defend against and can be adapted to numerous things. This is what most mages use during combat. Artifact shields are cast shields but they're run through mystic artifacts and physical components to make it permanent or stronger.

My enemy's adaptable shield switched from force to heat, and before it switched back to force my tail shot out. It had been something I was neglecting to use - a tail was the most deadly part of a drakon. It was kind of prehensile, but the deadly part about it was that it was strong. The most heavily armored and the strongest part of a drakon, tapered to a thin point. While it didn't have the bone blade on the end like a dragons, it still did have spines near the end.

Crack. My tail smashed against the shield, moving faster than the pony could even see. The shield shattered into pieces, causing the pony - who I now recognized to be a mare from her voice to yelp in pain. I didn't necessarily want to kill the pony, so I didn't strike her with the spines, but my tail still crashed into her and pinned her to the wall. I ended up putting too much weight into my tail and stumbled forwards, landing on my face before there was a snap of claws, and King Gryphus' voice rung out.

"Enough. Thank you, Astrabelle." I looked up. King Gryphus was standing tall in my entrance to the room, and the blue unicorn mare was kneeling down in front of Gryphus. I blinked twice before I fit the pieces together in my head - this was a test.

"Good morning, Tempest. I have very good hearing, so when I heard you get out of bed I signalled for my archmage here, Lady Astrabelle to go...test you." He turned to Astrabelle and she nodded, looking down at me with an unclear expression.

"She's large, and can use that to her advantage, but she isn't used to her own weight. She tripped twice, and there were huge openings where I could have damaged her. She's smart enough to dodge, too. Most draconics tend to believe they're invincible. Her magic? Her pool is on the large side, but her output...she's using too much for each spell. Almost twice as much." I blinked. Was I really wasting that much magic with each spell? Was that how she teleported without draining herself dry? "That tail is wicked deadly. Put a blade on that and sire, I do believe that she might be able to nick even you." I blushed at the compliment but my scales thankfully hid it. "Finally, she did something smart. While I wasn't adapting as fast as I possibly could, she still broke through my shield. All in all? She's fine, and on the smarter side."

The King nodded and rubbed his chin. "Tempest, what's the most magically draining feat you've done?" He looked at me with glowing eyes. I recognized this as magical sight. Magical sight and magical senses were different. Magical senses were...a sixth sense of sorts, while magical sight was using magic to enhance a present sense.

"I teleported...I don't know how long. The mountain top of Olympus was dropped onto me. I wasn't under the dead center, but I did teleport through most of it." The King nodded. "And how much did that drain you?" He tilted his head to the side.
"Dry. I could barely use telekinesis afterwards." Both the King and Astrabelle frowned at this.
"Your pool is much larger than that. You should have been able to do it once without being dry. Weakened significantly, yes, but not dry." Astrabelle said with her head tilted to the side.

Gryphus nodded. "Astrabelle will work with you to help you keep your magic drain down to a small amount, as well as go over what spells you know and redefine your teleportation. After that you'll work with me. Oh - yes, actually." He walked towards me and leaned up towards me. He wasn't able to, so I leaned down to bring my head to his level. He poked my neck in a sensitive spot, causing me to jolt and shiver, before that area of my neck felt very itchy. I began scratching at where it was, before Gryphum interrupted me and shook his head.

"That is a Glyph of Spirits. It's an old trick - very, very old. The first Spirit of Air was taught it by a mysterious figure, so long ago even I can barely remember with all of Aeryie's memories. It will hide you from Discord's sight, as well as prevent you from being transmogrified or killed instantly. He'll actually have to try to kill you."

"Thank you." I nodded. I really did mean it - that would be invaluable. Especially that Discord didn't know about it.

"Oh yes, last thing before you and Astrabelle get to work." He leaned down and then I let out a roar of pain as he stabbed something into my back right leg. I kicked my leg out at him and snarled, before the air thickened around me and I could no longer move. Gryphus wrapped something around my leg and then tied it tight before pulling away. "There. That'll expunge the chaos magic from it." He had put a crystal inside of my leg with a white string wrapped around it. I kicked my leg out experimentally before I winced again. While the pain had significantly subsided, it still hurt. "Try not to put too much weight on it." He nodded before exiting the room, leaving Astrabelle with me.

I turned to Astrabelle and blinked. "Alright. So when do we start?" Astrabelle responded by grinning. "Now."

Like always, I'll spare you the details of the training. It was hard, but despite how there was a strange white crystal in my leg pushing the chaos magic out of it, causing a yellow mist to ooze out into the air, it was also fun. I enjoyed learning about magic. I enjoyed technical demonstrations, asking questions, learning new things.

The most interesting and fascinating things I learned were about the act of casting itself, teleportation, mana and glyphs. She taught me all of this over the course of three days. She had also taught me how to make magical artifacts. Let's start from that.

Magical artifacts were when runes were carved into magically conductive materials (mainly crystal and metal) and imbued with their properties. While it wasn't a particularly expansive subject, she did help me create some basic artifacts. Apparently Archmages made their own, and spent years adapting and working on them. The ones she helped me make was a better, cleaner bag of holding, much better than my raggedy sack that I had pillaged from Olympus, as well as two horn rings that could store some more magic as long as I remembered to fill them.

Casting is the catchall term used for when magic is channeled through crystal ley into achieving an active effect. Telekinesis is casting. Tactile Telekinesis is not casting, as there is no ley crystals being used, rather the aura of magic as well as the trace amounts of ley in all creatures - before I mentioned how horns are usually what contain the sensitive ley crystals, but there is also ley in blood. That's why sacrifices can generate magic. Although, the ley present in someone's blood is nothing compared to how much a sacrifice generates - the reason sacrifices generate so much is...a little confusing, but it has to do with the idea of sacrifice of life. Now, I learned that the creatures with the highest number of ley are, in order - drakons, dragons, and unicorns. Drakons have more than five times that of a dragon, a dragon has thrice that of a unicorns. The reason why is that drakons have four horns as well as the ability to cast through their mouth, each packed to the brim with ley.

She also taught me that I could divide up my ley, and that if we both had the same level of magic and skill I should be able to beat her because of that. The reason why a drakon can let out massive amounts of magic quickly is because of their higher ley count, but I should be able to divide up my ley into casting multiple spells at once all with the same power a unicorn would be able to. And that instead of using all my ley at once, I should use the bare minimum or slightly above the minimum. She had me practice, picking up water telekinetically and shaping it into an orb. It was hard, at first, but after much practice I was able to reduce my mana costs by half.

She taught me a new method of teleportation, too. Rather than cutting myself into the aether, I would instead create a pocket of aether around myself to enter it, which would create significantly less mana. The aether was a plane underlying ours where magic originated from, the power of the Maker. It had some strange behavior - it converts matter into magic. Unless, when a rift is open it finds magic guarding a physical object, in which case it takes the magic and the physical object too. The aether can be summed up as greedy magic, wanting to suck up as much magic as possible at any means possible. Astrabelle taught me that by warding myself against the aether and opening a pocket of aether around myself, I would be moved into the aether instead of having to cut through dimensions. After some practice, I was able to teleport anywhere within a room pretty easily.

The third thing she taught me was what mana was. Mana was the term used to describe the energy that flowed through someone. Mana is what fuels magic. Numerous things determined mana capacity - physical size was a small one, diet was a big one, and soul size was the largest one. While soul sizes were mainly determined by birth, rigorous magical exercise could increase the size of ones soul. Astrabelle says that Gryphus told her back in the old days, there used to be a magic that let people link their souls together, but that the Alicorn Spirits with the help of Harmony destroyed all knowledge of the spell when it was weaponized and allowed people with larger souls to crush the souls of weaker people. She helped me learn about foods that would best benefit me, eels, fish, meat, which plants to eat, et cetera. That was fun - going out into the wild and being instructed to find a set amount of food in a set amount of time. I had already began to like Astrabelle. She was an old mare, a widow with one child, and had found her passion for magic at a young age - leaving her home in Equestria to work in Gryphum, and working her way up to the Royal Archmage. While she wasn't particularly nice, she was instructive and didn't treat me differently due to my draconic heritage, which was a trait that most ponies didn't have.

The last thing she did was redefine my magical understanding of glyphs. This part was admittedly boring, and she recognized that, but she tried to make it interesting. But failed. It was basically a vocabulary lesson, teaching me what words mean and delving into their "deeper meaning." Blugh. It wasn't fun, but it was useful. I could notice a difference in the effectiveness of my spells, although this got me wondering. If somehow, there was magic that could change someone's pre-existing knowledge...what would that do? Could you change someone's understanding of chaos to what the understanding of order was? Although, mind magic didn't really work like that. It could erase. It could edit details. It could change emotions and thought patterns, or make you gloss over things. But a complete overhaul? The mind would reject that, and the soul would ward itself against your magic signature.

A part of the lesson that I had completely neglected to mention was the physical aspect. Archmages weren't expected to be expert fighters, but they were expected to be in good condition as to have more magic (the healthier you are the more magic you have) and to be able to handle themselves in a physical fight. She taught me about my natural advantages, my mouth-casting being next to impossible to disable and allowing me to burn through any ropes in my mouth, teaching me how to flatten the spines on my tail as well as how to handle my weight better. She also taught me a neat trick that all draconics could do - if their horns and mouth were both busy, they could also use their claws to channel basic ley spells. While horns could do spells due to crystal ley, and the form of ley in a drakon's tongue allowed to channel some basic offensive spells with added strength, the claws could also be used to imbue properties into. "Poison, ice, fire, sharp," all of those properties could be applied. Afterwards, Astrabelle challenged me to another fight, a more formal one to see how I had progressed.

The archmage opened up with a wave of energy before teleporting behind me and striking with another one. I saw what she was doing, she was testing how I would handle multiple attacks at once. I threw my magic senses out and absorbed the information of the attacks. They were telekinetic, but one was purely based on slashing force. Scales were basically immune to being scratched or cut by anything that wasn't draconic or origin. Magic might be able to do it, but this definitely wasn't. I didn't even have to dodge. If it had been crushing force, that would hurt a lot more and would warrant a dodge. The other attack did warrant a dodge, as it was crushing force. I knew what she wanted me to do - she wanted me to dodge backwards and roll, and would then respond by slamming something down on me. But no. She taught me all the glyphs I needed to know.

Mys, Prosr, Dis, was what formed my adaptable shield. Magic - Changing Protection. I added onto that with Fres and Doreus. Magic - Changing Protection that denies force. The spell splattered on my shield and I shot forward through the slashing wave. She threw projectiles at me accelerated to insane speeds with her magic, torn from the ground, but I managed to weave through all of them. And then - I saw it.

I don't know what it was. But I could just see...threads, almost. A thick web of magic, entangling the entire world. I could see threads being drawn around her into a circle, the purple void color of the aether leaking through. She was preparing to teleport. I had to stop that...without killing her. I went for the simple solution - Mys, Dos. A spell of pure order. Aether did not belong in this world, so the spell of order forced it out. The aether didn't envelop her, and she blinked as she was unable to teleport...then was tackled by me. I pinned her down with a claw, leaning in and staring at her.

"I concede." She said after a moment. I pulled my claw away and she sat up, rubbing where I had pinned her down. "...Sorry." I said, hoping I hadn't been too rough. Astrabelle laughed in response.

"Sorry? Sorry for what? You completely outplayed me. You were using too much magic though, I could almost see it oozing out of you, you have to learn to use less in the heat of battle. That idea of using a...was that a failsafe spell? That was smart. Although I don't know how you knew how I was teleporting. The adaptable shield was smart, although a little inefficient. You were creating a shield meant for prolonged combat for one spell. Way too much magic spent on that. Mys, Prosr, Fres would work just fine." I nodded. She hadn't included Doreus in her glyph list - did that mean "denial" and "protect" kind of cancelled each other out? Or rather didn't...both apply? Hm. That would make sense. "Protect from Force" and "Protection that denies Force" both mean the same thing ultimately.

"Alright. You're ready to meet Gryphus now. I didn't expect to get so much done in three days. Eat, Tempest. You'll need it."

I ate until I couldn't eat anymore. The food supplied to me by the Royal Chef was amazing. Fish, meat, eels, sauces that I didn't knew existed. Bread was very nice too, and the Chef even taught me how to cook things and make them taste better with magic. Not anything near as good as what he could prepare but for being able to do it on the run it was great. When my belly was full, I headed to King Gryphus' room. While the Palace did belong to him, his room was above the Archmage's Quarters, in a tower that was anchored by cables from the walls of the castle. Making my way up the tower uneventfully, I knocked on his door.

The door opened. King Gryphus stood there, looking at me.

"Yes, Tempest?" He said quietly.
"Astrabelle said I was ready to see you. That I've completed my training." I responded.
"Meet me in the courtyard in ten minutes. I'm in the middle of something." He closed the door on me, and I did as he instructed.

Ten minutes flew by in the blink of an eye, and with a faint whistle of air Gryphus stood across from me. In his hand was something of myth. From what I've been able to tell, a long time ago - so long that even the Spirits with the memories of their precursors can't remember, that Spirits were a lot more powerful, active on "the Continent" and that what they did was recorded. That eventually passed down into legend, which turned into myth, which became distorted over time. The first spirit of Air and Storm, Aeyrie, raining lightning bolts down for whatever reason would turn into the sky itself (despite how the Spirit of Sky wasn't involved in the source material) destroying the land out of rage. In Gryphus' hand was a lightning bolt. It was confirmation.

"Storm magic is, bar Primal Magic, the hardest magic to control." Gryphus began, his claws running over the lightning bolt. It hummed with barely contained power, the tip glowing with heat that even I could feel, and seemed to try to escape from his grasp while leaning into it at the same time. I had heard about King Gryphus' storm magic before. The ability to control lightning and wind to destroy your opponents. Something worth noting is that, while you could argue (correctly) that a storm is naturally chaotic and discordant and therefore Discord should be able to control it...no. Think of it like this. The Maker died, and the Spirit of Life was born. Life was the first Spirit. And since there were no other Spirits, she had full control of everything that could be loosely classified under her sphere. Air was a part of Life. Mind was a part of Life (although there is not a Spirit of Mind, allow me to enforce that,) so was dark magic and light magic and chaos magic and storms...

Discord may have, at one point controlled storms, and it may be derived from his chaos magic...but it's no longer completely under his jurisdiction. He's a prince, the Spirit of Air (Gryphus) is a king.

"It's a force of nature. Not destructive for destruction's sake, but destructive because it is destructive and it cannot be not destructive. A storm is a storm, a storm cannot be a breeze. But it is necessary. Something that the Spirit of Chaos doesn't seem to understand is that destruction should not happen for the sake of destruction, but destruction and chaos should exist to bring change."

I had heard what he was saying before. It was what Bellum had said to me once he had learned about my affinity. The question was being begged to ask. Did Gryphus and Bellum communicate? If so, why didn't Gryphus help with Discord? Had he been there with Bellum, Discord would be a corpse and the remaining Spirits would have banded together. That was off the table. My name was Tempest, and drakons did use Name Magic to discern what someone's purpose would be. Bellum, which means war in a dead language, wasn't named Bellum because he likes moonlit walks with his wife, but rather because he would be the embodiment of war. I was named Tempest. Did this mean I would become a storm mage? My affinity was suited for it. Air, Chaos, and Light. That was in fact, the perfect affinity for storm magic. Ah...I get it now. Gryphus and I spent the remaining third day and the entire fourth day on my storm magic.

The general idea behind Storm Magic was to either channel all your discordant and chaotic feelings into summoning up as much chaos magic as possible and create a storm out of rage and anger, of which I had plenty directed at Discord, or to calm and collect yourself and craft components of the storm using logic and reason and pure magical skill. Gryphus had me practice both methods, and taught me some spells to aid in my storm magic.

He taught me how to make storms. Mys, Tesrun. Magic - Storm. Simple.
He also taught me how to create components of storms. Mys, Tesrun, Aerut, Destrum. Magic - Destructive Air of a Storm, would call up powerful gusts of wind that would destroy what I directed them at. Or, damage at the very least. It was about the same strength as my brute force spell but significantly longer range and easier to start. Start, not control. Once it started I couldn't stop it.
He taught me a form of Electric Discharge meant to call up blasts of lightning, that I could even mouth cast and imbue my claws with the property of lightning. Apparently, while Tesrun Fyrd was what lightning was called, there was an entire part of glyphs I didn't know about. Compound Glyphs. They only worked in some occasions, and didn't drain more mana but had different properties. Lightning was Tesfryrd.

Tesrun Fyrd was purely for destruction and nothing else. It summoned up a bolt of destructive lightning, but Tesfyrd was lightning. Gryphus taught me a spell that I couldn't cast but would be interested in that could turn me into lightning and allow me to travel long distances fast, although not nigh-instantaneous like a teleport. He taught me the applications of Cyrd, which in addition to meaning "Ice" also meant "Water." Storms weren't just rain, lightning, and wind, they were also cold, hot, wet, and tore up the land itself. At the end of my training he had me create a storm for a final project.

The first part was converting my magic into storm magic. I created a large pool of my magic in the air then channeled all my chaotic feelings into it. My fear of losing myself. Fear of Discord. My hatred, my anger, my passion. Every droplet of emotion I could muster up I threw into my magic. I could even feel my leg, which had healed around the crystal now and incorporated it into its being pulse and add more chaos magic to it. While the majority of it was in the crystal, there was still some usable in my leg.

There. A large pool of chaotic magic, rapidly decaying into nothing. I didn't have much time now. It was above me, a good fifty feet, but still way below the distance that my magic would actually have to travel. So I'd just have to react fast. I did what Astrabelle taught me to - I divided up my ley.

Cyrd. Aerut. Tesfryrd. Dis. Ice/water, air, and lightning. These were the properties I imbued my storm with. Clouds began to form from my chaos magic, hail beginning to fall and pelt the large courtyard where we had been training. Gryphus didn't seem to care much. The storm had been made now, that was the easy part. The hard part was maintaining it. It was like keeping a physical grip on a slippery eel when your hands were covered in butter. It slipped and slid through my magic, weaving into it and trying to escape. I couldn't even hear the thunder and lightning, my magic rapidly being drained as I kept it under my control. But at the same time...it felt good. It was tiring, draining, but it felt nice to try and control the storm. I could feel the air empowering me. I could feel power coursing through my veins. Then exhaustion overtook me, and I then fell down, panting. I looked at Gryphus, my eyelids heavy.

Gryphus nodded. "Two minutes of a storm. Not bad. Not bad." I blinked. Only two minutes? That felt like at least ten minutes. At least. Gryphus smiled, a warm genuine smile. "Alright. I have one last gift for you." And suddenly, we were in his room.

There was a table with metallic armaments, clearly not meant for a gryphon - way too big even for Gryphus. Gryphus began to speak,
"Tempest. I can't beat Discord. Delay him. Run from him. Escape from him, yes. But I can't beat him. Only Glory would have the raw power to, and she would never take up arms against him. Glory and Discord..." He shut his eyes. "...They loved one another. After the dragons killed her, he fell to madness. We...we should have seen it coming. But we sat, and grew fat and lazy and comfortable in our power, all while he schemed and plotted. No. I don't have the power to. Only one person can - you. Not through your raw power. Discord is beyond strength." I wanted to growl. So what? He had been training me for nothing? Wasting my time and setting me up to fail? No, no. I couldn't think like that. He must have had a reason. Hear him out, Tempest.

"Somewhere, there are two Spirits. I know they aren't dead because I would be able to feel their absence. Somewhere - the Spirit of Harmony and the Spirit of Order exist. Find. Them. The Tree of Harmony and the Alicorn of Order are the only forces that could defeat Discord. Understand me?"

I nodded in response. I didn't know how to feel, but there was a ball of icy dread in my chest that had formed when this conversation started. Even knowing that Discord could be defeated, if not by me and by two Spirits instead didn't melt the ball of ice.

"My last gift to you is this. After King Draelos the First died, his hoard was given to his father, Drael. The dragon Discord killed. I searched through his hoard until I found this." He pointed at the metallic armaments. "They're weapons. They can grow, and they're bound to Drael. And now you, by virtue of your leg."

I looked at them more intently. There were metallic claw-caps, some paw armor, horn armor, and tail armor. It didn't seem to be that special, but they were armor nonetheless. Armor that could grow with me. Immensely useful. Gryphus helped me put on the armor, and then I looked at myself.

A pale white drakon with four horns, all pointing backwards and straight and a ring around the two front ones that the armor had molded around. The armor morphed and changed into a pure white color. My face was a bit long, my eyes both grey and with slitted pupils. My scales were clean, and my leg - a dark black in contrast to my white scales had a thin aura of yellow magic around it. My tail had a sharp metal spike on it that I could use for stabbing, and could also flatten with a little bit of magic channeled through it.

I realized what Gryphus had done for me, just then. He had taken me in. He had given me a home. He had given me a purpose. He had given me training. He had given me armor. Why? All out of the kindness of his heart. An old man, helping a young and stupid draconic just because he could. I turned to him slowly, before walking forward and gripping him in a tight hug. He looked surprised, before awkwardly responding to the hug.

"...Thank you." I murmured, choking the words out. I wasn't crying. Draconics didn't have tear ducts, as I've mentioned before. Or rather, we did but they didn't...exit? I'm not entirely sure on the biology. But if they weren't, I definitely would have been crying. Emotion made it hard to speak, so I repeated my words once again once it became a bit easier. "Thank you." I repeated. Gryphus ran his claws over my back.

"You're welcome, Tempest. Really. You are."

It's hard to remember what much happened after that. I know I created an edited version of my lightning spell that could be mouth-cast easier and could channel heat and ice, but then I fell back into the realm of dreams.

-

[6] Ashes

Ashes

Ex Nihilo

The smell of taffy haunts my nightmares. Vanilla. Caramel. Salt. Sugar and butter. Sometimes the nightmares are just pure void with the scent permeating every corner. Sometimes I'm drowning in it. Suffocating in it. Choking in it. But no, I will never forget the taffy scented apocalypse that destroyed my home. So when I woke up from a dreamless sleep and smelled taffy...I immediately knew something was wrong.

I stood up and bolted out towards the door. It had been seven days since Discord said he would attack. What had I been thinking? Going to sleep, unprepared, totally unaware of how long it had been? How stupid was I? I moved to smash through the door. I had to get to Gryphus. I smashed through the door and managed to peak out at the window and immediately I gasped. The entire city was in chaos. Chaos Beasts fighting groups of guards, the corpses of both beasts and guards turning into pools of flesh, blood and muscle that created "hives" of sort that produced any number of bees, butterflies, or wolves. The chaos wolves were especially brutal, made purely of muscle and bone, hunting down gryphons and tearing them to tiny shreds. Buildings exploding into butterflies, candy, blood, or the bodies of the fallen, or sometimes just floating off into space or forming small "planets" that fell down. I saw Adreus fighting a chaos beast with his sword by his lonesome, cleaving the beast into pieces, before the pieces turned into abominations of blood that tore him to shreds.

And then, in the distance, I saw a thin squiggly shape. The shape from my nightmares. The shape that had enough power to tear a dragon out of a mountain and replace my leg with a mere thought. Just that faint shape was enough to paralyze me for a moment before I jolted into action and began running towards Gryphus' room. I eventually decided running was too slow and then, charging up my horns and teleporting in front of Gryphus' room. I knocked on the door before immediately opening it.

Astrabelle and Gryphus were both wearing armor. Gryphus had a silver blade that crackled with energy on his back, Astrabelle with a horn blade. Astrabelle turned to look at me and blink, Gryphus following suit. And then I saw Gryphus' shadow rising up behind him, morphing and taking shape. An antler and a horn, lion paw and eagle talon. As the pony head formed I realized what I was looking at - maybe too late at the glass in Gryphus' room began to glow. Gryphus' room was a large circular room at the top of a tower with many, many windows as well as an observation deck.

"DISCORD!" I managed to yell out past my fear, interrupting whatever Astrabelle was saying and pointing behind Gryphus. Gryphus jolted and spun around before maddening laughter erupted out of the room. The windows all exploded into shards that rested on the floor before the window sockets themselves disappeared, the door disappearing and suddenly the screams and yells of fear outside were deafened and the room went dark.

There was a gentle hiss of fire, the beast's lions thumb aflame as he was curled around Gryphus. His sickening face was softly illuminated in the firelight. Gryphus suddenly appeared by my side, his lips curled into a frown. Astrabelle made her way to Gryphus' side as Discord leaned down and suddenly a large roaring, crackling fire appeared in the center of the room. Discord was leaning back on a swiveling chair, sipping a cup of tea. "Hello, Gryphus. Tempest. And...oh. Is this your archmage? How painfully cute." Discord then just blinked as Astrabelle charged her magic and let out a blast of power from her horns that shot towards Discord. It was fast, lightning fast, but it just turned into water that splattered onto the ground. Astrabelle stepped back in fear and shock, but I wasn't surprised. Discord had been able to deal with Bellum, one of the strongest Spirits. Gryphus was really the only one Discord would have to actually try to kill.

"Discord." Gryphus spoke in a shaky tone before clearing his throat. "This is your only warning. Leave my land. Undo your chaos - and then I won't hunt you down to the ends of the world and-"
Discord began wheezing with laughter, doubling over. "O...oh! Oh my lord. You really do know how to crack a good one, Gryphus. Really. See - the difference between you and the other spirits are," he stood up, "is that you are a coward. You are. You have been. You always will be." He dropped onto his fours and walked towards Gryphus. "Three spirits of air, you're the third. And those first two - oh, they were fearsome. Powerful warriors. If Zeus had been here, I would actually maybe have to try. But you? You're just going to run, run, run."

"I beat Ouranus." Gryphus said quietly. "I killed him and I tore him apart. Am I still a coward?"
"Both you and I know exactly how that fight went down. That help from Serenity didn't go unnoticed by entirely everyone, despite how stupid Ouranus was. She masked it well enough, honestly. Using old magic. Magic so old I can barely remember it, and I've been alive since Lady Life dropped down from the sky."
Gryphus steeled himself and planted his paws down on the ground. "Discord. This isn't a request - leave." He repeated. Discord tilted his head to the side, and he seemed honestly confused.
"Why would I do that? I'm here. I already plan to kill you, so why would I suddenly up and leave? It makes no sense." He shrugged. "And this is coming from me. Whatever. I've never been able to understand you other Spirits. It's strange." Discord shot forward and curled himself around Gryphus, causing him to flinch, his mouth right next to where his jugular vein was. Gryphus was suddenly on the opposite side of the room and then he shot towards Discord. Discord dodged his stab with the lightning-covered blade before the glass on the floor moved and flew at me, Gryphus, and Astrabelle. Gryphus dodged easily, Astrabelle and me both calling up shields. But then as the glass touched our shields it turned into flame, moving through our shields. The flame did nothing to me. I was a drakon, born in flame. But to Astrabelle? It pierced through her shield and slid down her throat before her flesh began glowing red. She barely had time to scream before there was a hiss and she was cooked alive, falling down onto the ground. I heard silence then, and it was more deafening then any noise could have been.

He didn't even care. He didn't even blink. He didn't even notice or make a comment on it.

Gryphus turned to me and yelled, "RUN!"

But I could barely hear him over the silence. And then, and then, ending the painful silence was laughter, maddening laughter that made me crave that silence once more. Discord wasn't there anymore. Gryphus was yelling something, I couldn't hear what. I could only hear the laughter. Wheezing, gasping for air, cackling, just laughing. And then the tower began glowing before it exploded.

I was in free-fall for a moment, falling from the sky. Gryphus looked angry. I could faintly see Discord, high above the cloud layer. Then, Gryphus and I were on the ground in front of the castle. I hadn't moved. She had been killed. Discarded without a second thought, and Gryphus didn't even care. Was that what we were to Spirits? Mortal? Fragile? Discardable?

Gryphus gripped onto my shoulders and shook me out of my stunned state. "Tempest. We have to run. Discord can't track you, and I can escape from him. Find the tree, and we can meet up there."

I snarled and stamped my claws. "We can't just leave!" I growled. "He...he killed her! And you don't even care!"
Gryphus glared at me, lightning crackling over his feathers. His tone was deathly quiet, and despite my rage I could feel shudders run over my back. "Watch. Your. Tone." He huffed. "This is not a debate Tempest. We are going to run and-" There was a boom. A white wave in the distance, rolling over everything in sight, flattening buildings before they inflated into balloons or spiders or frogs or any number of animals. Then, suddenly, there was a soft hiss. "You know how it is with teenagers, Gryphus." Discord whispered into his ear. Gryphus jolted and spun around, claws slashing at Discord's stomach. Discord dodged and retaliated with a pie to the face, but the pie was aflame. Gryphus narrowly managed to dodge. "They never listen to those in charge."

Gryphus and I were suddenly at Guard Point. He growled and turned to me once more. "TEMPEST, RUN!" He yelled. I decided to follow his advice and start running - before Discord was coiled around my neck and grinning at me. I had to hold back a shriek as I stopped myself mid-moment, heart pounding. "Trying to escape? Really, Gryphus." With a snap of his claws Gryphus, me and Discord were all there. Gryphus and I were side by side, and Discord was opposite us. Gryphus was tensed and ready to run, and I could feel my heart pounding in my chest. I didn't know what to do. What to say. How to help. My fear overwhelmed my rage.

"See, Gryphus - the thing with you...is that you aren't like the other Spirits. They all stand up to me. Bellum fights me tooth and claw. Draelos ambushes me with Misika. But you? You just run away, and tell your little drakon to do the same. The old Spirits of Air, oh they were fearsome.
Your cowardice has always been disgusting. Nothing like Aeyrie or Zeus. They were brave. They were strong. But you, Gryphus? You're weak. A weak, coward. So, go on now. Run. Run and let me chase you." As he said this he was walking towards us, holding a rubber ball and tossing it into the air. When he caught it, it turned into the head of a dead gryphon with its tongue sticking out. Discord reached down and yanked the beak off the gryphon with a bloody tear before popping it into his mouth and chewing on it. "Mm. Candycorn." Then, he picked up the gryphon's head and it grew a horn before morphing into Astrabelle's cooked head. He snapped the horn off and popped it into his mouth. "Or, candy-horn?"

My rage came back, a hundred-fold. The attack was fast and vicious. Mys, Tesfyrd, Dos. Magic - Lightning of Order. The bolt actually stunned Discord, causing him to lean backwards, and struck him before he could even react. I summoned up two waves of force on both his sides and moved them to crush him, but his tail just whipped through the air and sliced through the magic. I was stunned. That was impossible - unless you were the aether itself, you couldn't affect magic in the physical world. Discord glared at me. "Now, now, Tempest. Good effort - but the adults are talking." Chains of fire wrapped around me and held me tight, which made no sense cause it didn't really have weight, but I'd chalk it up to magic.

Gryphus was trembling, his eyes shut. "No, Discord. No more. No more running. No more letting others to die. I make my stand, Discord." He pointed at me. "Tempest. Leave."

Discord shook his head. "Nope. Not this time. Not ever again." Then, I could see them again, for a moment. The threads of magic appeared and Discord was teleporting towards me - but Gryphus was already there, his blade slashing at Discord's midsection. Discord was cleaved in half, but there was no blood, his body turned into cotton candy before it reformed. And then I began to run.

Gryphus had been the first to strike, but his strike had been rendered ineffective by Discord's magic. Gryphus and Discord now stood opposite one another, magic flowing around them. Discord giggled playfully, while Gryphus gripped his blade tighter. Gryphus struck again, three balls of heated air lobbing themselves at Discord while Gryphus used his air magic to turn his body into air that then reappeared behind Discord. But where he had reformed he immediately had to dodge, as a blade of water moved to cleave Gryphus' head off in one smooth motion. Gryphus had dodged before retaliating with a lunging jab at Discord's stomach. Discord blocked it with a shard of bone before one of the planets of rubble shot towards Gryphus.

There were two deafening blast of thunder. One was so powerful with its sound alone that every piece of glass in a mile radius shattered. A bolt of lightning had destroyed the rubble ball, the other blast of thunder coming from Gryphus as he spun around and sent a lightning bolt from his paws directly into Discord. Discord responded by holding a bat in his tail and smacking it away, the lightning reflecting off into space. "Strike ONE!" Discord yelled. His tail whipped forwards and smacked Gryphus across the chest. There was a crack before Gryphus was air once more and reformed above Discord, flapping his wings. Gryphus shot forwards despite his damaged if not broken ribs and, just as a glowing pink Discord tilted his head up to look at him Gryphus stabbed Discord through the head and pinned him to the ground. Gryphus fell down behind him, grunting as he tore the blade from his head.

Discord exploded into acid. Gryphus had to pull away but he was already screaming, his paws red hot with lances of pain shooting through him into his bones as he stumbled backwards. He pushed his magic into his paws to help them heal faster, while Discord stood in front of him, grinning. "That trick always works on you Spirits." He tutted. "So obsessed with an honest fight. Never understanding that sometimes your opponent just tricks you. It's disgusting. And stupid."

"I've always had a...distaste for primals. Water. Fire. Air. Three of the most chaotic elements, ever-changing, ever-destructive. Earth is orderly so I couldn't care less about him, but fire? Water? Air? They should belong to me, not some upstart gryphon." He glared. Gryphus' paws had finally healed, causing him to get into a fighting stance once more with lightning sparking off of him.

"So, lets see." His hand burst into flames, the firelight illuminating his face as Discord got brighter while everything but him and Gryphus were drained of color. "What does cooked gryphon taste like?" An orb of fire formed around Gryphus and began to close up tightly. Gryphus grunted and turned himself into air. He then would have screamed if he could as the fire began to absorb him, hungrily licking up the air as Gryphus realized why Discord had switched to fire. Earth and Air. Fire and Water. These were the primal elements, their two pairs - their opposites. But there was also a circle of sorts. Water extinguished fire. Fire ate air. Air eroded earth. Earth held back water.

Fire ate air.

He immediately solidified himself, budgeting his magic. He didn't regenerate any non-vital organs out of efficiency's sake, they wouldn't be important for this fight, but he did need his body and his wings. He burst through the flame, holding back a grunt of pain as the flames licked over him. Discord responded by sending three waves of fire at Gryphus, each hot enough to melt stone on contact. Gryphus managed to dodge two of them, but the third one grazed his wings and immediately the feathers burst into fire. Gryphus fell to the ground, screaming out in pain as the most sensitive organ of his was attacked by Discord. He pushed himself up slowly but was immediately met with a flash of red light, before two super-heated needles burst through Gryphus' heart.

Discord tutted and calmly walked towards Gryphus who was writhing on the ground in pain. Discord leaned down. "You're strong, Gryphus. Don't get me wrong. But you are painfully, painfully weak compared to any other Spirit - and I am the strongest Spirit." He stood up and gripped onto both of Gryphus' wings. Gryphus paled. "N...NO! Discord, you cant!" He pleaded.

"Can't I?" And then he began to pull. Gryphus suddenly turned into lightning that struck Discord directly in the face before bouncing off.

Gryphus landed down next to me. I had already exited Gryphum, causing me to jolt. I then felt relief wash over me. If Gryphus was alive, that meant that he had killed Disc-

"I'm dying, Tempest. I don't have much time. Listen." And immediately my hopes were dashed.
"With my death, there will be six spirits. Do you understand me? Six. Discord won't help you - the other five will. Search for them. Find Starswirl the Bearded - only he can find them. Find them. Find Harmony. And find-"

"GRYPHUS!" Discord roared out, smashing down behind the two of us. I didn't even have time to react to how fast the two moved. One moment, Gryphus and Discord stood there. The next, Discord had torn both of Gryphus' wings off, and just as he moved to snap his neck I could feel the world fade below me and then there was no more.

Across the world, over the ocean was a swirling Nexus of magic. The walls of the maelstrom were made of nullstone, barely containing the magic contained within. So much that it was liquid, solidified. So much that it could kill someone if they were dropped into it without the capability to ascend. And from that Nexus, the last living spirit of Liogella wove magic that would change the world forever.

The phoenix is a remarkable animal. Under the kingdom of "Fae," a phoenix is loosely related to the original draconics but more closely related to the Thunderbirds born from when natural lightning strikes a birds nest. It's a cousin, of sorts, to the windigo. The exact genealogy and ancestry isn't known to me, but for most purposes they can be called "Fae." It's a favored pet, for the Spirits, who find themselves just as ageless as their phoenixes. They're powerful animals of life and healing, as well as death and fire. They aren't immortal, although you'd find yourself hard pressed to kill one. Their flames are known as "Eternal Flames," or "Phoenixfyre." Unless their flames are extinguished, they heal from most anything, and they can vaporize water if they so wish. The tears or feather can heal any non-mortal wound, and as long as it's administered within fifteen minutes a potion made from their blood could cure any disease. Slowly, as they age, their feathers begin to molt and their physical health begins to decay while their flames grow brighter and brighter. Eventually their flames grow too powerful and it consumes them, before from their ashes they're born again. That "born again" part is a little strange, I'm not exactly sure how hard it works. But I know it does.

A book I had read cited someone as saying, "From the ashes of a phoenix rises life anew." From the Ashes, life. And it was this quote that made me feel quite like a phoenix indeed. The cycle of a phoenix is life, death, then starting all over agone ad infinitem. Life and death and life and death and life and death. I had been born, I made friends, I practiced magic. Life. Discord comes. Death. I find my way to Olympus and gather what I need. Life. Discord comes. Death. I find my way to Gryphum. Life. And now, Discord came to destroy what I knew. He killed Astrabelle, and King Gryphus, the coward kin- No. Gryphus had been a coward in life, but he had died honorably. He had sacrificed himself to save me. I squashed that train of thought and gathered myself.

I came to to desolation. A land, unknown to me, razed by fire and force. Corpses with no care administered to them, messily thrown to the side. Impaled on the rubble of where there were once buildings, flames and embers decorating the landscape, a trail of destruction leading away from the small, ruined town. Life would not rise anew here. This was just ash. Mindless destruction for destruction's sake. I had learned why storms were necessary. They brought change, scattered seeds, brought unity to help shelter from their destruction, and they weren't destructive because of destruction but rather that was what they did. With or without storm mages to control them, there would always be storms. (There are Storm Mages, Solar Mages, and Lunar Mages, all trained for the absence of a Spirit, and during a time where the Alicorn Spirits were all missing for some reason unbeknownst to me the Solar and Lunar ponies were the ones to raise and lower the sun and held it as a bargaining chip.) But this? This was sickening. This was disgusting. I could see the yellow lines, tainting the air, and I realized...

This was chaos.

The first thing I decided to do was figure out what had happened. I had deduced that the threads of magic I was able to see was probably due to my limbs being lost partially in the aether, meaning maybe some...aether juice? Was in me? I'm not sure if that would actually do anything, or if that was even possible. Nonetheless, from when it had happened, it happened when there was high magic quantities. I channeled my magic into my eyes - oh, yes. That's something I've forgotten to mention. Magic runs through your body from your soul like blood through your ley. Ley connects to the brain, mostly, but sometimes it can connect to muscle and blood which in turn is connected to the brain. This is also why magic can be corruptive - dark magic channels that power directly into your brain, and also why magic overloads are so fatal. But there's enough trace ley in the entire body that it can be channeled, with focus, internally into any part of the body. This can be done for a number of reasons. To make it stronger. To make it heal faster.

Channeling enough magic into my eyes that i'd use for a teleport, I switched my sight to my magic sight. And the world shifted, and I saw threads. There were threads of magic, woven around me, around the bag on my throat. They were connected to a dense white orb inside of me, that was "leaking" almost down into the ground, into the crystalline leylines deep below. Magic was being regurgitated from the ground into the leylines and from the leylines into the ground, but something was wrong. Wild Magic in its purest form is purple, violet, lavender, et cetera. Wild Magic was the mana that saturated the air and our bodies, it wasn't usable magic - usable magic, or Refined Magic came from the natural processes of the body that converted Wild into Refined. The Wild magic in the area had been tainted, with yellow parasites latched onto it and suckling away at the leylines. No doubt Discord's work. The leylines seemed to be sucking up magic as opposed to pumping it out, and after throwing my magic senses out I could feel a very subtle drain on my magic. Faintly, I could see a thin line that seemed to "point" towards the town in general, pulsating with white magic. I frowned. That was probably the spell that had teleported me here.

That was bad news, though. If I was able to see it and track it, that meant that others could too. I gathered up my magic, seeing how the dense white orb that was my magic allowed energy to flow upwards through my bones and blood and flesh into my horns in the span of a second. They alit with soft white energy, and I began to get to work. Magic in its raw state wouldn't accomplish what I wanted to do, so I applied a Creut glyph to it, as well as another glyph of Mys. Mys, Creut, Mys. Magic - Cut Magic. While this could also be interpreted as Magic - Magic Cut, there are a few things that prevent this from happening. Two glyphs of the same type cannot interact. "Mys, Dos, Dos" is impossible because glyphs tend to apply to what comes before them. Mys, Dos, Dis, the Dis applies to Dos, the Mys acts as the "start point." This isn't a 100% rule, but this is how it almost always works. Series of glyphs tend to be even because of this.

I ran my magical senses alongside the string, using it to carry me almost. It was more magic than i had to spare to completely destroy the line of magic and make me untraceable, but I was able to reach down very, very far and slash the line of magic open. This didn't work, however. So I then tried to apply a glyph to it. This did work, converting the leftover remnant into a weak spell. I ended the spell. Then, it changed from a remnant of a powerful spell into a leftover string of magic. It was honestly mildly frightening how fast it was consumed due to leyline pull. If you throw magic up into the air with no purpose and without anyone maintaining it, the leylines will tear it up and cannibalize it. I wasn't completely untraceable, but I had severed most of the thread that had given away my location. I was hard to find, now. Now I had to find out where to focus my attention.

There was a general path of destruction away from the town. I could tell towards because of the markings, and some...prints. I couldn't tell what animal they were. There was paw, but there was also tentacle, and then just...large swaths of mark. I had a feeling it was a Chaos Beast trail, and that Discord had sent his Chaos Beasts over the world. Let me explain in more detail what a Chaos Beast is. There are three types of Chaos Beasts. Randomized, Selected, and Crafted. But to understand this, you need to understand what a golem is. A golem is a physical construct imbued with magic to fill out predetermined actions. "Lift this, and heat it." That would be described in runes (probably along the lines of Moreut Oes Fyrd Oes which means Move Object Heat Object) and it's usually an art that is studied in schools then forgotten about. But there are golemancers. I had heard of a dragon with a hoard of infinite gold guarded by hundreds of thousands of golems.

There are three types of chaos beasts. Randomized Beasts are constructs made of flesh that are filled with chaos magic. They mutate randomly and gain any number of traits, powers, weaknesses. They're usually made for mass production. Selected Beasts are made from some animals thrown into a pool of chaos magic. Crafted is when chaos is painstakingly shaped into choosing very specific traits, which is something that is nearly impossible for chaos to do. There had been attempts for chaos mages to perform hostile takeovers of towns and cities before, and usually their armies were composed of randomized and selected chaos beasts. Crafted beasts are possible, but honestly? Not really worth the effort, when you could achieve the same level of strength from a Selected beast.

Damn it. I had gone off topic. Where was I before? Oh, yes. What I would be doing next. Gryphus...dying words. Gryphus had died for me.

He had died. For me.

Oh.

The realization fully set in. I could feel that ball of ice, thicker and stronger than ever before, settling in my chest. What was wrong with me? How could I forget that someone had sacrificed their life, for me? I would have just let him die in vain, wouldn't I have? Disgusting. In my mind I paraded myself as the hero to a story, but in the end, was I any better than Discord? How many people had died for me, because of my actions? No. No. They had chosen to die for me. They had chosen to sacrifice themselves. I didn't ask them to - I never asked them to. I never compelled them to. This wasn't a productive line of thought. It was just delaying my task. My mission. To kill Discord. To kill Discord.

...To kill Discord.

Gryphus' dying words had told me much. Six spirits, including Discord. Five spirits that can help me. Starswirl the Bearded. Find Harmony. While it didn't seem like a lot when put like that, it told me exactly what I had to do. Find Starswirl the Bearded, the most powerful mortal mage alive and the most powerful unicorn mage period. The man who sealed the Gates of Tartarus and bound the overlord of Tambelon. The creator of the amniomorphic spell, and the father of time magic. I didn't really know where to start looking though - I was kind of at a dead end. But, then I had to wonder. Gryphus' last action on this mortal plane, as far as I was aware, was teleporting me away. Did he just fling me across the world with no regard to where I would end up? Or did he choose where he would send me? Let's assume it was the latter, for this chain of thought. That meant that I was somewhere that he chose. Somewhere significant. A ruined town? No, maybe the ambient chaos here drew me in?

...But then I noticed something. An average pony couldn't kill a chaos beasts. Unless decapitated with a blade imbued with Order, or through freezing they'll regenerate (I'd also like to note). This was clearly a pony settlement, from the corpses as mutilated as they were, I could still make out features, colors, and some details. Enough to make the assumption that it was pony. But there were also chaos beast remnants amongst the corpses. Severed flesh, pools of black liquid. Well - I assumed it was chaos beasts. After death, all magic was thrown to the leylines and sent hurtling towards the Nexus before it was thrown back out into the world. This small town wasn't right on top of a leyline, so the drain wouldn't be instant, but it was close enough that this desolation could have happened days ago, hours ago, or even minutes ago. It was a bit on the recent side, as the ash hadn't scattered entirely.

So let's say this had happened sometime under six hours ago. Wait. What time was it? A quick glance to the sky alerted me of the information I sought. The sun had been high over head when Discord had attacked. Now? It was lower, but not significantly lower. While King Apollo was dead, the Sunraiser Unicorns had probably taken over the deed. The sun itself wasn't very large, smaller than the planet of Liogella and held tightly together by magic, and only slightly larger than the moon, and it wasn't telekinesis that moved the moon or sun (as that would require twelve hours of intense focus,) but rather two spells. I'm not sure of the glyphs for either, as they're a secret known only to the Raisers and the Alicorns, but it basically...spins the sun and moon and sets their rise and fall into motion.

So that meant in all likelihood, this had happened within the span of three to six hours ago, and I had been teleported there one or two hours ago. Damn it, if only there was a spell to tell me what time it was, and what day. I had lost all track of months, days and weeks ever since the...extinction of my species. ...When I put it like that, so casually, I sound insane, don't I? Damn it, I'm getting myself into this again. Stop it, Tempest. Where was I? Oh, yes. If I followed the trail and see where it lead, then I would probably find something. Something had happened here recently. Gryphus had sent me here for a reason, that was the conclusion I had come to. So let's see what it was.

Let's put what I had together. Gryphus had sent me somewhere, probably intentionally. Something had happened recently and there were corpses of chaos beasts, something that could only be done by people with knowledge of what they were and more power than the average pony. I was significantly stronger than any pony, by virtue of my draconic nature alone. I had a bit more magic to spare than Astrabelle, but was sadly lacking in the experience or skill so she'd still be...stronger than me, I suppose. Not that I'm happy to admit that. Draconics by their nature have prideful or greedy tendencies. Dragons tend to have more physical greed, drakons more greed in a not physical way (knowledge power and influence,) wyverns and quetzals more pride. It didn't make me feel better to admit that someone was stronger than me. Even admitting that Discord was infinitely out of my league was painful, but it was the truth.

Damn it, I keep getting off topic! Anyways, putting the evidence together it was pretty clear what had happened here - someone of high power, maybe a unicorn mage with a beard, walked through a town and killed some Chaos Beasts that were terrorizing the populace. But what about the tracks? I had been following the trail without any luck for a few minutes. It seemed to avoid the forest. This town was right by the forest, maybe a minute walk from the far edge of it and I had woken up on the closest edge. The path the Chaos Beasts had made started from the center of the town, where there was a large hole (not a gaping abyss into Tartarus but rather just a hole with nothing down at the bottom dissapointingly,) curling through the back end of the town before coming back to the other side of the town which is where the corpse trail picked up, and then exiting the town and moving towards the forest, moving away from the forest the last minute before impact and then heading over a hill so I couldn't see. I just passed over that hill, and I saw...not that surprisingly, more destruction. But not total. Not rampant, like in the tiny town I had woken up in.

There were large pools of corpses of chaos beasts and pony alike. The beasts made my skin crawl to look at - red or black flesh, slick with slime and blood and ash. The moment I drew near to the pile the beasts started twitching, which caused me to jolt out and fire a bolt of ice so fast I didn't even realize I had summoned up the magic. Disgusting. Vile creatures. The pony corpses were of no use or interest to me, so I walked past and went towards where there were survivors. I had seen them from my outlook above town. The town had been burnt and razed, but there were still enough survivors to rebuild. Slowly though. Although slowly would be an understatement and a half. It would probably take months, or they'd just abandon the ground and build anew elsewhere.

They were quite like a phoenix too. From their ashes, life. But not immediately - just give it a bit of time. Time overcomes all obstacles and opposition. Nothing can escape time.

I walked towards the survivors. A unicorn, three pegasi, and a lot of earth ponies had gathered up and were collecting the dead and throwing them into piles. The second the pegasi, with the best eyesight saw me they turned and began screaming. Immediately I raised my hands up and yelled,

"Wait!" This caused them to blink and settle down, but they were still on edge. Some of the earth ponies had picked up crude weapons (bricks, rebar, wood,) one of the Pegasi had an actual sword but it was bent out of shape and the other two were just using their hooves, and the unicorn had his horn lit up. I think it was a him, he did seem a little bulkier than Astrabelle but honestly? It's hard to tell with ponies.

The unicorn, with a blue mane and white coat, let out a growl. "What is it that you want, dragon?" I slightly frowned at this. He probably wasn't educated enough to tell the difference, was he? Hmph. "We have no land, no jewels, no offerings to give. Leave us to our own devices." I internally frowned more. He was treating me like I was an elder dragon - oh. Yes. Ponies were usually four or five feet. And I was...about three times his size. I hadn't really considered that, had I? But I could use that to my advantage. I forced a wicked grin onto my face and spoke in a deep voice,

"I am Tempest of the White Way," I had white scales and they didn't know anything about dragons if they couldn't tell me apart from a dragon, so I could pass that off, "and I have come with questions. Answer my questions and I will leave you be. And if you don't - well, I'll suppose I'll learn what pony meat tastes like, hm?" If it wasn't obvious, a total bluff. Alicorn meat I had eaten purely out of necessity and it wasn't that good, I doubt pony would be any better. I was much more partial to boar and cow. I conjured up a spell of Fyrd, but channeled only enough power into it to cause sparks and embers to drip from my mouth. The ponies shuddered, the unicorn's eyes went wide but it seemed to do the trick.
"...ask away, o' great Tempest of the White Way." The unicorn said after a moment. They were scared of me, and while they wouldn't go easy ideally they'd like to avoid a fight altogether. I could see some the pegasi shifting uncomfortably though. I don't think they were happy with the unicorn speaking for them.

"This town. How did it deal with the beasts?" There were some shifty looks. The unicorn was silent for a moment before he answered,
"...I killed them." He said quietly. One of the pegasi snarled. "W-" She began, before another pegasi clamped his hooves over her mouth and whispered something to her. Ugh. He was obviously lying. I had to hold back from rolling my eyes. Strike one.
"Really? You did? So I must be talking to a mage of great renown and great power. O', fearsome mage, tell me how you killed these beasts."
"I called up spells of...of fire-" strike two "-and ground them into dust." I actually did roll my eyes this time. This pony was an idiot. Clearly he wasn't a mage, probably just the run of the mill unicorn with some basic magical knowledge. But saying that he ground them into dust using fire spells? Where was this dust? How come there wasn't a lot more fire? How come he didn't seem magically drained? Maker almighty.

"Now, my little pony. Why, oh why would you lie to me?" He stepped backwards, the pegasi shivering and their wings spreading. "I told you what would happen."

"W-wait!" One of the earth ponies yelled, stamping his hoof down. "Ignore what this idiot said! I ain't lettin' no dragon eat me! Screw what that hornhead said!" I had stopped to listen. The unicorn turned to him, snarling. "That unicorn is an archmage of the highest degree, and he deserves your respect!" There was some more meaningless argument between the two that I didn't particularly care for, an exchanging of racial slurs...but I had gotten what I needed. Although, I would need a bit more confirmation. Go for intimidation.

Mys, Tesrun, Fres, Auden. Four glyphs, but the effect was noticeable. One of my horns cast this spell, as the other cast a basic Mys, Tesfryd, spell and the rest of my magic called up a gust of wind. Thunder, Lightning, and Wind. The thunder was deafening, the lightning slamming down behind me and drawing attention to me, the ponies collectively flinching and cowering, the wind blowing. I thundered,

"Enough of this. Explain to me exactly who killed them. And why."

Before the unicorn could speak, one of the pegasi stepped forward. Her voice was loud, but a bit shaky. Brave. "It was a...uhm, unicorn stallion. The chaos beasts saw him and went wild. Ran towards him fast as...uh, lightning, and then just as fast they were all dead. We were being slaughtered." The pegasi mare was orange with dark yellow hair swept to one side with a streak of blue through it.
"Thank you, for your help." My voice softened immensely. "And where did the stallion go?" I turned my head to the side.
"Towards the forest, back over there. Just a few minutes ago, actually. The beasts followed him there. From what I saw though they were kinda...scared, of something. I'm not sure."
"Mm. Thank you." I nodded once more. "That'll be all." I turned off and began to head back towards the forest.

I learned a few important things just then. One - that the chaos beasts were afraid of the forest. Two - that I was a draconic, and was very intimidating to anything that wasn't draconic or older or infinitely more powerful than me. Three - ponies seemed pretty stupid. As I neared the edge of the forest I immediately found what I was looking for. A set of hoof prints, followed by paw prints and wet blood. Then the hoofprints came to a stop. And the paw prints split into two groups. Damn it. Left or right? The left path curled backwards closer to where I came from, and the right path lead deeper into the forest. I followed along the right path accordingly.

I must have been following it for a solid three minutes before I heard a faint growling coming from where the track seemed to lead. I shifted from a brisk walk into a run, stampeding through the forest towards there - and I found a cave, a wounded unicorn stallion at its forefront. And he was surrounded by wolves, made from wood. There were about seven of them, with glittering emerald eyes and an awful stench emnating from their mouths. I had to hold back my vomit from the pure pungency of the smell.

The stallion was clearly on his last legs, a bloody gash from his back right leg to his shoulder. I activated my magical sight and gaped. His orb of magic was almost three quarters of the way drained, and while there's no...exact words to describe it, I could still tell that he had half as much as my entire magic pool in a weakened state. This stallion was powerful. At full capacity, he'd probably be unstoppable by any non-divine entity.

One of the wooden wolves leaped at him. With an ingenious bit of spellcrafting, he summoned up a wall of force and slammed it into the wolf. It was quite literally like a brick wall had rammed into him, the wolf being sprawled out. The other wolves took this as an opportunity to strike. He met two of them with the same walls of force before he dispelled them and called up a telekinetic blade. He slashed through one of the wolves, but ended up spinning away from a wooden wolf and then as the wolf leaped - and I knew he would die. He was exhausted and wounded, magically, mentally and physically. His eyes met with mine. Mine met with him.

My mind went into overdrive, an adrenaline rush hitting me. Lightning? No, too slow at casting. Ice? Wouldn't do much. Fire? He'd still die, the wolf would still be able to bite. Force? Yes, but none of the strategies I had for applying brute force to something would work. A beam of force wouldn't impact fast enough, it took time to travel. Ideally, it would have to impact instantly.

Then, I realized. My magic sight was still active - and there was no hold on the wolves. No magic holding them together, rather they were just animated wood held together by a thin core of chaos magic that wasn't theirs. Chaos magic was durable, and while it wasn't a permanent solution it would save him. Mys, Dos. A pulse of order magic ran over everything in sight. The wolves stumbled down and began crumbling into pieces, the one that was mid-motion towards the unicorn completely gone. Then, they immediately began reforming, and I got to work. I ran forward a bit and stamped my claws down, letting out a loud roar. The stallion didn't seem all that fazed, his eyes gravitating to my black leg. He just blinked before a golden glow erupted around his horn, and a white glow around my horns. He got to work on those walls of force, grinding the wolves into powder. I picked him up in a claw and held him close to my chest as I called up a circular wave of force and sent them hurtling into the trees and ground, before stepping back and setting him down. He fixed his hat, and I examined him.

He was a frail, old stallion with grey fur and a beard that transitioned into bushy white, a wizard's hat on his head and a robe with many bells on it. A necklace around his throat with a blue jewel around it.

"Drakon." He spoke in a calm and even tone. "I thank you for the assistance, but it wasn't necessary." I gaped. Was he serious? On the literal verge of death, and the he says he didn't need my he- A roar threw me out of my thoughts. Bounding from the forest came a ten foot tall juggernaut of wood, the stench of this creature made me gag.

"Timberwolf." He, who was probably, probably Starswirl, whispered and slammed his hoof into his face and dragged it down. I had conjured up a wave of force to push the creature backwards while he spoke. "Fire, drakon. Fire." His horn began glowing red, flames licking around him. I wanted to facepalm just as much as he did. Wooden wolves and I slammed force into them instead of using fire. Maker almighty. I then frowned and decided to experiment - using a fire spell I conjured up a torrent of flame from my horns and sprayed it out in a general fan, making sure to avoid the unicorn and target the wooden beast. Then I created a telekinetic orb and condensed all the fire into it, creating a fireball.

The fireball was very hot, but it just splashed against the beast weakly. Then, the beast leapt forward - and I realized that I probably wasn't strong enough to kill this beast by my lonesome. It stung my pride but I just didn't. So I conjured up a huge wave of force, one of the strongest I had done and sent the creature hurtling into a tree and smashed it into pieces. It drained my magic reserves significantly, but gave me time and that was all I needed. Starswirl turned to me with a frown on his face and began to speak, but honestly? I ignored him. Now, I cast a spell made of three glyphs. Mys, Aer, Mys. Magic - Magic of Aether. I used it to create a strong thread of magic stolen from the aether held together by my will power alone and connected it to Starswirl's dense magical core. I could feel his eyes widen before I sent my magic hurtling down the current, filling him with almost all of my magic reserves. He was a stronger, better, faster and more experienced caster on me. While he couldn't move as much and it had less physical drain on my body, he could also do things I had no idea how to do. Those walls of force were incredibly useful, and way beyond my current understanding of magic.

Starswirl had more magic than me, now. But I still had something of use. As the wooden beast regenerated I used what was left of my magic to imbue my mouth with fire. I opened my mouth and let it splash out over the timberwolf just as I tackled it and pinned it to the ground. Starswirl conjured up fire, red that turned to orange then to yellow tipped, tinged and edged with white that was so hot even I was uncomfortable. The wolf began to burn, letting out an unholy scream as it was slowly consumed by flame. It struggled and thrash but to no avail. Honestly? I was probably one of the physically strongest creatures on the planet, if only by process of elimination. Discord with magical enhancement was able to knock around Bellum, and I wasn't entirely sure what he had done to the dragons. Say he wiped them out like he did the drakons, in that case, I would be the last draconic alive. And therefore, probably one of the physically strongest people on the planet. Draconics were generally the physically strongest and most magically...gifted? No. Wrong word. They had the largest mana pools, naturally. While others could surpass them and others had more natural skill, even a young draconic was a force to be reckoned with. I was a bit on the weaker and smaller side, but my sheer size alone made me able to pin down something a good five feet shorter than me.

Although, chaos beasts did count as creatures...and there was that one in Gryphum that was over four times my size and strength...

...Nevermind. Not important. The beast was just a pile of ash now, that I quickly scattered with a gust of magical wind. But my supplies were dangerously low, and I could feel the toll it was taking on my body as the adrenaline of battle wore off. My head was throbbing, and I could taste iron. My scales had protected me from any physical damage, but despite this I was exhausted. Not panting or in need of air, but just exhausted. So, I inverted the current that had fueled my magic into his. I had never ended the spell, and began to slowly drain his magic.

I was not stealing his magic, nor was he stealing mine. Nor could this be weaponized. Sharing magic was when you opened an aetheric current between your mana pool and someone else's mana pool, and it was either one way or two ways. But it had to be accepted. You couldn't drain someone dry of magic unless they allowed you do. If Starswirl wanted to, he could blink and crush the connection in a moment. But he didn't, and let me feast gluttonously on the buffet of magic. I could almost feel myself swelling up with invisible strength.

Now, that it was over, I looked at him. "Didn't need my help?" I said dryly.
"...Hmph." He was silent for a moment, and I was too. His head tilted to the side. "Name."
At least he was straight forward, if arrogant. Maybe he had some dragon blood in him. There were half-breeds between dragons and ponies, kirin or draquines were they called. Draconequui had some pony in them, too. "Tempest Pulseradottir. You're Starswirl the Bearded?"
A thin smile painted his features. "Yes. I am. Or maybe I was. I know who you are, too. We'll get to that. Pulseradottir, as in Pulsera, the drakoness who refined the universal spell of light?" He tilted his head to the side. I blinked. I...hadn't known that. Not the universal spell, that is. I actually didn't know much about my mother. "I'm not sure." I responded with uncertainty in my voice.

"Mm. I don't believe drakons have multiple names, so I'd say yes."
"I don't know that spell." I shook my head. "I never...studied it." The word felt weird to say, but what else would I call my foray into magic?
"You understand the meaning of light, I hope. Mys, Lusm, Vor, Doreus. Magic - Light that Denies Void." With a flick of his horn the series of glyphs formed in mid air. I believe I have mentioned the physical components of glyphs before, but they weren't quite as important to describe as knowing the words and the meaning. The knowing of the physical glyph (called a rune) is necessary for the casting part, but in the end you usually just call it a glyph.

"...Thank you. But I'm not here to learn magic - although that would be nice. I'm here because King Gryphus told me to find you."
Starswirl stared at me. His eyes ran over my black leg and he frowned. His gaze turned to the crystal in my leg, that had almost incorporated itself into my flesh, scales and flesh growing around it. I honestly couldn't even feel it anymore. Then, the faint glowing mark on my neck. It was so faint you'd actually have to lean in to see it, but its glow gave clue to its location. I shivered at his silent inspection. He nodded sagely and turned around. "...Come with me." And he began walking into the cave. I followed him closely, having to kind of squat down to be able to move.

The cave entrance lead into a large circular stone room. This had clearly been molded and morphed by magic, no stalactites or stalagmites present. There was a crack at the end of the room, and Starswirl spun around to face me.

"I am Starswirl the Bearded," he spoke, and the room was enveloped in a vast starry void. I couldn't see the entrance (exit I suppose), only him and me. "And my power is the power that shapes the universe." There wasn't even a pop of aetheric energy as he teleported next to me, but there was the flash. "I am the strongest unicorn, ever. And I am the strongest mortal mage alive. I have done things - done so many things. Searched for magic under trees so old no one has seen them. Sealed away beasts so old, evil and powerful that no one can or wants to remember. Understand who I am - and understand that I am nothing. At least - not anymore.

I'm past my prime, Tempest. I'm just a puppet. Just like you. And in the games of the Spirits, in the games of the Divines...the puppets cannot defeat the puppetmaster. Do not think me blind to the world, Drakon. I have noticed the deaths of the Spirits. I have noticed Discord's rise to power. But I am powerless to do anything. The moment Bellum fell, the fate of the Spirits was set in stone. I know about the extinction of your species. The fall of the dragon and gryphon kingdoms. Do not think me for a second unaware. But what was I to do? Throw my life away meaninglessly? No, no." Starswirl shook his head and he stood up and looked me in the eye.

"I found the only ponies, people that matter. The only people that might be able to defeat the mad tyrant. And it is not you. Not me, either. Despite all my knowledge and my mastery of time magic, it is impossible for either of us to scratch him. Understand this Tempest." And then, what I had recognized to be the aether brought into the world closed around us. A moment later, we reappeared in a cavern - with two sleeping fillies.

"And understand that these are the last hope in this cruel world." Starswirl used a hoof to gesture at the two fillies. My eyes ran over them.

"Tempest," Starswirl spoke as I took in their coat colors, their mane colors, their horns and their-

wings.

"meet Celestia and Luna. The Spirit of Sun and the Spirit of Moon."

-

[7] Celestial

Celestial

The Goat's bell rang for the last time.

Magic was the blood of the world, and the Nexus was it's beating heart. A torrent of all magic in the world, where all magic came from, swirling at speeds that far surpassed the speed of sound. Every five minutes, all magic in the ground and trees across the entire world had been recycled into the Nexus and regurgitated out - so Discord only had five minutes to work on. Chaos magic was his tool, but using it on the Nexus was similar to using a flaming chainsaw to carve a piece of wood into an incredibly detailed shape, while six mages were calling up fireballs and a dragon was breathing flame on the wood.

Or, in another word, impossible. But the laws of the physical universe were Discord's pet puppy dog, and he was a master of the impossible. He had done the impossible. He was the impossible. While Order and Harmony were bound to the laws of reality, he was above that. He was, and he was not. The process was slow, painfully slow - so much that he had to fully open his ley circuits across his body and use as much magic as he possibly could. Had anything alive that wasn't the embodiment of chaos itself been in the area, it would have been torn apart. Sent into the depths of gibbering insanity as its mind and body were both lacerated.

The product of his work was solid magic, above the Nexus. Had it been inside the Nexus, it would have no effect and be torn to the wilds. There'd be an increase in chaos magic, but not enough to be significant. The ball was about twelve feet in diameter, but it glowed with red and pink energy, a thin barrier of yellow energy holding it tightly together. If this barrier wasn't here, the orb would erupt. The barrier of nullstone, stones that were so saturated with magic they were themselves immune to its effects, that surrounded the Nexus was shaking due to the sheer amount of magic present in the orb. This wasn't just enough to change the world - if Discord wanted to, he could destroy the world. (Well, no. Not literally. While he definitely could have destroyed a continent, the world was far too large for Discord to LITERALLY destroy it. Damage it irreparably? Sure. Cake.)

...Luckily. He didn't want to. Using the tiny bit of magic he had saved for this one purpose, he created an echo of himself - something with his thought patterns and mind, to control the chaos he was soon to forge. Then, he threw the orb down - the Nexus, the world trembled as an eruption of chaos magic changed and morphed the entire world. Only a select few areas, bastions of order and harmony would not be affected by the general surge of magic - but given time, this chaos, this anarchy would create much more power then he had spent.

Soon, Discord would be unstoppable. And all he had to do, was wait.

Tempest

If you had told me, even a week ago that I would meet the reincarnation of the embodiment of the very Sun and Moon, even after eating their corpses in a fit of hunger-fueled thought and being hunted by Discord...well. I wouldn't have laughed in your face, but I would silently think you were insane and walk off. Why? Because this never happened. Once there were thousands of Spirits, then there was the Great Purge and there were none. Nothing knew anything about the Great Purge. Even the Spirits who survived through it or were reincarnated after the event don't remember - the only details that people did know is that it happened, and it was bad. Not why or when, but it's also known that it muddled up history. When was Equestria founded? When did the dragons become a nation? Why was there a period of time where the Alicorns were gone? But after the Great Purge, it took centuries before the Spirits began to reincarnate. They aren't necessary. They're useful, but the world will spin with or without them.

The Spirit of Sun and Moon had been dead for weeks and they were already reincarnated. There was no denying that they were Spirits, either. The horns, the wings, the thick scent of harmony and order magic that the alicorns radiated all present in the air. But they were just filies. Something was clearly wrong, Spirits became the prime physical specimen of their species. They couldn't be just fillies, right?

"Wh..." The words had to be forced out of my mouth, but even then they made no sense. I didn't know what to say. I was at a loss for words. Using most of my magic I activated my magical sight and had to hold in a gasp. Starswirl claimed to be the most powerful mortal mage in the world. And honestly? I didn't doubt him. He had about four times my mana pool, and I was a drakon, he was just a unicorn. Although, was I immortal? I suppose I was ageless...well, no. Draconics did have an end to their lifespan, although it was unheard of for them to die of old age. The oldest draconic ever was by the name of Berzkeriel, Lord of the Fang, an old dragon empire and he was over 80,000 years old. If Discord had been around as long as Life had, that meant that he was at the bare minimum one billion years old. Was that possible? Possible to be alive that long without going insane? Ugh! I keep on getting off topic. Starswirl was a strong mage, the strongest mortal mage. But both of these ageless fillies had enough magic to dwarf him six times over, and they were so, so young.

In fact, they had enough magic that had they been fighting Discord with Gryphus, he might actually be threatened. This was an absurd amount of magic. If they were children with this much power, then how was Discord able to kill the many-thousand-year-old alicorns? Spirits were confusing.

"...They're Spirits." I said dumbly, and I had to resist the urge to smack myself in the face. The greatest mortal mage shows you two Spirits, and you say they're Spirits. What a great observation, Tempest. Starswirl arched an eyebrow and nodded. "Yes, they are Spirits. Thank you. I might not have noticed." He paused, then he continued. "They're also young. Imagine my surprise when a desperate mare holding two ten-year-olds in her magical grip comes to my doorstep and begs me for help." Starswirl shut his eyes, his horn glowing and with a pop we were back outside of the crack.

"Tempest, I'm going to die." He tilted his head to the side and looked at me. I stared at him blankly, not really sure what to say. "I've seen it foretold. Something will take me. Be it beast, age, or magic - this year, I will die. But I cannot die. I owe it to the world to somehow, somehow contribute to Discord's defeat. I know that will come to - he denies it, but deep down he knows it's inevitable. But the thing is, Tempest? You and me? We are footnotes. Footnotes at the bottom of history. Inconsequential, because the only creatures that matter in the end are Spirits. And I cannot guide them any longer."

"You have the Mark of the Spirits on you. Discord cannot track you, and this makes you an infinitely better caretaker than me. He will come to me soon. I feel it. You clearly know how to find food. How to survive, how to cast magic. Tempest - you and I are footnotes, but make yourself better than that. Guide them into greatness, and guide them to defeating Discord. And then rebuild."

He just met me, and he was asking me to take care of them? ...So he was a madman, alright. I stared at him for a moment before asking the one question that was important.

"Why me?" I tilted my head to the side.
Starswirl blinked and said, as if it was obvious, "who else?"

He brought up a valid point. I was the only one since this whole event to have started to have encountered the mad Spirit multiple times and survived, if only by sheer luck. Not to mention I was one of the last draconics in existence, if not the last...although, considering that I've heard Bellum was only a tenth of the power of Berzkeriel, it would be safe to say I was one of the last. Sadly he was senile, barely able to remember his name. That alone made me...honestly, the only candidate. The tribalist ponies in the town would probably end up using them as weapons and attract Discord right to them.

"...Alright." I nodded. "But I have questions for you."
He nodded. "Please, ask away."
And so I did.

The Book of the Endless Blood. That was what the book bound in scales was called. Before the Great Purge, during the times of The Continent - it was known that once, Spirits did live there instead of Augolor, there was a dragon empire. Not dragons, but they were called the same. They were hybrids between drakons and dragons, basically, and ended up dividing into two groups. Their king, known as Draelian the First, the forefather of the Draelos Line of dragons, got in a fight with another Spirit. Their fight apparently was the reason that the Continent was destroyed according to legend, but that was up for debate. What was for sure though is that Draelian lost, and his scales were used to create a book that could hold infinite knowledge.

...But it also couldn't be opened. The book contained all the knowledge of the Spirits, but then they died, and just so happened to be bound with magic that only the Spirits knew...so the binding couldn't be undone, and the knowledge was trapped behind a dragon scale that was so durable and resistant to magic that even if it was teleported into the sun for a million years it would only be half melted. Its title was as such because apparently, a lot of people didn't know that it couldn't be opened. Wars, battles, large-scale fights of all kinds from all races were fought over the book. As much blood as was spilled in the Draconic Wars was also spilled over this one book.

That was one of the many things he taught me. He also taught me more about Spirits. Nothing concrete was known about them. Why were some people Spirits and some couldn't be? What was a Spirit? Why were there so many? Why are there so few? How old are they? How do the memories of their predecessors work? Well, Starswirl told me that everything I had learned was basically speculation and theory crafting. He told me the list of facts about Spirits.

They are powerful and represent a concept. The Rule of Concept.

They are ageless, but not immortal. The Rule of Death.

A drakon Spirit is not a drakon, but rather a drakon shaped Spirit. The Rule of Being.

They have some relationship to the Maker, and all have a Grand Role to play. The Rule of Role.

They had memories of their predecessor. The Rule of Memory.

Only four things were known about them. Five, technically - four was a two-parter. Starswirl also told me one of his theories that he couldn't really prove. It's a little hard to explain but, I believe he referred to it was percentage based memory. Take the Spirit of Examples. The Spirit was originally born as a stallion, who then became an alicorn. He lived for 10,000 years before he met his end in a fight against a dragon. The next Spirit would be able to remember 50% of that - but not "50 starting from the end" or "50 starting from the beginning." Random memories, equivalent to 50% of the knowledge the first Spirit accumulated would be present in the next one. And this continued. While Starswirl wasn't sure about the percentage, he had noted four caveats to this theory.

5A. They had some knowledge that would always be remembered. Every Spirit knew every other Spirit and what they thought of them. Magical knowledge, as well as what their Role was and...some other things, but it took time to remember all this. Base Knowledge.
5B. With focus and meditation, Spirits could remember more and transcend this rule. This was the most speculative of this theory. Meditation.
5C. Memories could be damaged irreparably with magic, and then deleted from any further succeeding Spirits. Destruction.
5D. The Spirit of Examples lived for 10,000 years. 50% of his memory would be transported to the next Spirit, as well as Base Knowledge. Then, when the next Spirit of Examples died, 50% of that knowledge INCLUDING the original Spirit of Examples would be transported. Basically, each generation of Spirits had a more random assortment of memories.

The Rule of Role is another important rule. Each Spirit had a grand, cosmic role to play. The Spirit of the Sun maintained the sun and made sure it didn't explode and destroy Liogella. The Spirit of Air maintained the storms of the world and made sure the storms didn't consume the world, although storm mages also did that. The ones with the most important roles were Death, Life, (who Starswirl had found were quite real in his studies, but hadn't been seen in millennium,) Order, Harmony, and Discord. Life created life. Death ended it. Order enforced what had to happen, and what couldn't not happen. Harmony made sure the magic supply was in balance and that the world didn't overload with one type or be drained too much of one type, while Discord would provide challenges to make sure things didn't remain static. By challenges that meant storms, volcanoes, earthquakes, not mass extinction for fun...although, what were his motivations? He did have some relationship with Glory, I believe romantic in nature. Was this some...misconstrued attempt at vengeance? On who? Why would he kill the alicorns then? Ugh. No matter. He also taught me that these Spirits had a name - the Essentials. The Essentials all could sense magic and magical disturbances. So he had placed Celestia and Luna into a magical sleep when they slept as to prevent them from accidentally surging and firing off an alert that would tell Discord where they were. He taught me this spell, too. It was an adaptation of a sleeping spell, made to be maintained every few hours. Mys, Somn.

I'm sure you're more interested in the magical side of what the greatest mortal mage alive taught me. And well...honestly? He only taught me one thing. Creativity.

"What is the most important trait a wizard can have, Tempest?" The old stallion spoke, voice containing renewed vigor and the fire roaring within his belly. "Power? Intelligence? Knowledge?" He stared at me, his horn glowing.
I hummed and thought for a while. Power was clearly what he expected me to say. Everyone wanted to be the strongest in the world, but what good is strength without any knowledge? But no. Knowledge by itself is useless. I know over fifty glyphs, but none of that matters unless I know how to use that knowledge. Intelligence. "Intelligence," I answered, and he laughed and shook his head.

"No, no. Tempest - intelligence is a good answer, but no. If I was given the opportunity to start anew, I would choose none of these things. Power can be earned and gained. Intelligence can be cultivated, and knowledge can be learned. But in reality? Creativity is the only part of a wizard that matters. Think fast," he spoke, and then I was going to die.

The spell was deadly. It was a swirling physical black bolt that crackled with power. It had enough power to penetrate my magical defenses, so I couldn't just let it splatter off me. I doubt it would be able to kill me, honestly, but it would wound me. A shield I couldn't conjure fast enough to save myself, nor could I dodge. My mind went into overdrive, thinking of everything I could do...then I realized. Magic absorbed magic. I used a basic spell to call the aether into the world, a bubble of purple stripping the magic away from the bolt. But it was still accelerating towards me lightning fast, and- it paused right in front of my scales. Starswirl tutted. I snarled in response and prepared to say something, but he interrupted me.

"I suppose that one was a bit too hard. Again." And this time, he threw a fireball at me. This wouldn't hurt me, but I knew that wasn't the point. My anger faded away as I realized what he was doing. He was testing my creativity to see how I could dodge it, and denying me the ability to just block it with a shield. Alright. This, I could do.

The fireball I tore the air and force out of it, causing it to melt into nothingness. I had a ball of air still in my grasp, so I threw it at Starswirl and then, converted it into a bolt of lightning. The lightning shot out fast, so fast that I could barely see it but I could see Starswirl's eyes tracking it perfectly. The ground shot up and blocked it, the lightning dispersing harmlessly into the ground before he threw the chunk of the ground at me. This was easy enough to block, I just applied some force to it and let it crumble. He then responded by firing out a fan of magical bolts at me before teleporting behind me and throwing out another fan. They were purely magical, so I couldn't move them physically and they would pass through any physical barrier. Except for iron, iron wasn't very magically conductive. But I had no iron.

I couldn't teleport, I didn't have enough magic for that. I couldn't open a pocket to the aether. While I didn't find it that hard, honestly, it still did take the magic out of me. So then I looked at the actual spellcrafting of the bolts.

They were simple. Bolts of force, but with an aether bubble around them that would allow them to pass through physical objects. This is what I meant by purely magical, they had aetheric properties. But then I realized...why should I open an aetheric bubble when I could just close one? Mys, Aesr was the blade I wielded. Then- The bolts impacted me. I had been too slow. They didn't hurt that much, but it still pushed me back and caused me to grunt. Starswirl tutted. "Again!" He repeated, and so we did it again.

He continued the idea of creativity. Teaching me how to use it to dodge, how to use it to attack. He taught me twenty uses for every spell I knew and then told me an old adage that his master had told him - "I fear not the mage with a thousand spells with one use, but rather with one spell with a thousand uses." Basically, to practice, elaborate on and expand the knowledge of the spells I knew. He said it wouldn't be worth the effort to teach me a hundred spells that I would never use but to select a few spells that I could really work with. He did teach me one spell, however.

Mys, Moreut, Boryd, Domnus, Boryd. Magic - Body Movement and Body Strength. Also known as an "enhancement spell," to enhance the physical components of someone. Make them faster and stronger, basically. He also taught me how I could expand it or edit it into different body parts, and how often during fights he had spells of speed cast on him during combat so he could react and move faster. Speed was another important part of a caster. He said that often in his fights against the powerful demons that roamed the world, speed and creativity were the two deciding factors.

Anyways, he asked me to bring to him a few spells that I was interested in. So I did. The bag of holding around my throat was nice, but honestly? I kept forgetting to use it, and it was far too easy to damage. If a rune was damaged, everything would be lost to the aether and turned into raw magic. Which would not be preferable. But it wasn't the spell that called to me the most. That spell would have to be Tesfyrd. Lightning. Something about channeling the force of a storm through my magic and through my horns was exciting. I also chose Telekinesis, Brute Force, Storm Magic, and Teleportation.

He taught me applications of all of them as well as alternatives to bags of holding as well as once more going over the importance of artifacts similar to how Astrabelle had. He told me to never ever do this unless I had a surplus of magic to burn, but taught me how to create a pocket dimension. Mys, Vor, Aesr, Vor, Oes, Vor, SLOT and where there was a SLOT I could put in more glyphs of my choosing. He taught me I could make a refrigerated dimension that I could store food in, although there was a caveat to the wonders of a pocket dimension. Something with a soul could not enter it. It was superior to a bag of holding in that it couldn't be destroyed, and only had to be created once and could be quite easily accessed. I planned to eventually make a pocket dimension to store my stuff in as well as creating a refrigerated bag of holding to store food easier.

To summarize what else he taught me - well, there was a lot. He taught me how to move my magic through the aether while still allowing it to retain its shape. So instead of creating a fireball and ramming it into the aether then yanking out a squiggly mess of magic that I'd have to reshape, he taught me how to imbue my spells with a bit more magic that warded them against aether, namely. But, his response to when I asked him to teach me about the spell of brute force was strange.

"What is the most deadly weapon that a mage has?" He tilted his head to the side and looked at me. I frowned and looked up at him, his eyes glimmering. "Creativity?" I said unsurely. He laughed and shook his head. "No, good guess. The real answer? Telekinesis."

A lot of people don't really pay attention to how powerful telekinesis and telekinetic force is. He taught me the difference between brute force and telekinetic force in detail though. What he had been using against the wolves was a mixture of both - brute force wrapped in a casing of telekinetic force. Telekinetic force was easier to control and could be shaped quite easily. Brute force was basically just a wave of angry energy that pushed, hit, and broke. But they could be mixed together for greater effect. The ability to move something with your mind seems just useful in day to day life - until you think about what you could also move with your mind. Blood. Insides. Hearts. Bones. Starswirl claimed that if he was able to overpower someone's hold on their body, he would be able to flay them in less than five seconds. The hold was the tricky part though. It was the latent magical protection had on their body. Every creature had some degree of hold, usually proportionate to how much magic you had. It was one of the only defenses against True Transmogrification or being murdered instantly via telekinesis. But Starswirl also taught me how to apply telekinesis creatively and how to create telekinetic force. While yes, I couldn't snap your neck with a thought, the ground you were standing on is very, very malleable. Would be a shame if it wrapped around you, and then dug into your flesh. He taught me how to use it on what was around and nearby the opponent as opposed to...well, the opponent.

Lightning and storms was a topic he wasn't very...well versed in, in his own words. He couldn't tell me much about storm magic, but he was an archmage. In order to become an archmage, you needed to have at the very least background information in all types of magic. He was able to teach me how to fire multiple lightning bolts and make magical projectiles that could mimic the effects of lightning, as well as when to use and when to not use lightning. I didn't know this, but apparently lightning was one of the few things that scales weren't resistant to. It was also very hot, and very powerful. That was about the extent of all he taught me. There was nothing more he could teach me about teleportation in his words, although he did tell me about his theory that potentially someone could travel through leylines vast distances without a droplet of their own power being spent.

The lesson had taken the better part of the day, and now it turned to night. Despite how he had taught me much, it was in a surprisingly little amount of time. Starswirl was a good teacher, and I was a good student. I don't want to toot my own horn - but I'm going to, I am a good student. Drakons are prideful by nature. Humbleness - especially false humbleness is not a trait that I desire to have. Starswirl's mana supply had regenerated significantly, and so had mine. Midway during the lesson, we had stopped for food - apparently Starswirl wasn't that opposed to eating fish, but still did prefer to eat grass and plants and the like. But apparently fish were stupid enough that he didn't feel bad eating them, although he didn't prefer to.

He took me back into the cavern and sighed. He stared down at the two sleeping fillies and looked up at me. "...Tempest. I've told you I'm going to die." He tilted his head to the side. "It shouldn't shock you that I plan to kill myself."
I blinked. Immediately my face curled into a snarl and I tensed up, my tail whipping back and forth. Maybe it's not a big deal to whatever species you are - it's a little saddening, but to a draconic? Killing yourself was something extremely shameful. It was the coward's way out, only for the weak and pathetic. Yes, sadly, I had wanted to kill myself for a little bit but I had quickly worked my way out of that. I honestly doubt I would have done it anyway. "Coward." I snarled.

Starswirl raised his hooves up and shook his head. "I'm going to die. So I'd like to go out on my own terms. Ideally - you'll take care of Luna and Celestia, and I'll kill myself to stall Discord. I know I can't beat him. But I have more than enough power and skill to trap him. A few weeks, at most. To buy you time. Because while you and I are nothing in the eyes of history - we are the only ones with the position to do something. Celestia and Luna. Take care of them. And let me give you the time you need to search for a way to defeat him."

"I thank you for your lesson in magic, Starswirl. It was truly invaluable. But this? This is insanity. You thrust two fillies into the responsibility of beating a mad god-"
"AND WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE ME DO!?" He roared and slammed his hooves down, energy crackling around his horn. "I am Starswirl the Bearded, and I am ancient. I am one hundred and seventy-two years old and I have seen things you would not believe, drakon. I have conquered the gods themselves and subjugated the magic of the maker to my will but now I am powerless. What is a better route of action!? What would you have me do then put the two people with any meaning, any power into responsibility-"
"There are other ways! Gryphus spoke to me of Harmony, of Order-"
"The idiot tree and alicorn would have already acted if they could."
"The tree is rooted! She can't move. Surely if she's found she can do something-"
"And what, oh Drakon, would that something be?"

There was silence for a time.
"I don't know." I turned and stared him in the eye. "I don't know," I repeated. And I didn't.
Starswirl let out a deep exhale. He docked his head. "I'm tired, Tempest. So tired. And I can tell you are too. Both of us. Just going on, for the sake of going on." He shook his head. "This...is the only thing worth something. Do you understand? It's the only cause left to live for. The only...the..." He shook his head and wiped moisture from his eyes. He grunted then stood up, stoic and almost regal once more. "Excuse my break in composure. There won't be any more discussion. Take the fillies. Train them. Save the world, Tempest."

My eyes met with his, and I saw how tired they were. I shut my eyes as I said the only thing that I could say in that situation,
"okay."

Starswirl's horn glowed with golden energy. So much energy that I could faintly see the ley through the keratin of his horn. Wispy gold particles began to rise up from the duo and sunk back into his horn. After a second, the two fillies began to stir. Their eyes fluttered open and they yawned, stretching their legs and wings, craning their necks and snuggling closer together. The larger one, the white one - her violet eyes opened wide and she shot up at the sight of me. She scrambled and pushed herself into the wall, quickly pulling her sister with her. Her horn began to spark. Starswirl quickly stepped in-between us and cleared his throat. "Ahem."
Celestia stared at me with wide, fearful eyes, but her horn wasn't sparking anymore and she seemed slightly more relaxed now that Starswirl was there. Luna, the little one, was still waking up and seemed more confused than anything else.
Starswirl turned his head to meet his eyes with Celestia. "Celestia. This is Tempest Pulseradottir. She is a drakon."
Luna blinked and yawned. "A dragon...?" She squinted. Her eyes then slowly widened as she looked at me and she pushed herself closer to the wall. "She's going to eat us!" She squealed out fearfully.
Starswirl rolled his eyes and shook his head. "No. This drakon, not dragon does not plan on eating you, dear Luna. She's going to take care of you for a while."
Celestia and Luna exchanged a glance and frowned. Celestia, who had been silent so far, spoke in a voice of steel - but I could hear how she was masking the confusion and fear within. It was ever so slightly shaky. "Where are you going?"
"I'm going to look for an old friend. One who might be able to help us."
"...Why her? Who is she." Celestia turned to look at me. Her eyes were narrow, and I could see the suspicion in them.
"the only one available." He muttered under his breath so quietly they couldn't hear. I sure could though. He cleared his throat. "Excuse me. She's an enemy of Discord. She's battled him three times and managed to escape each and every time. She's immune to his detection, and is more than able to keep herself alive in the wild."
Luna wrestled out of Celestia's grasp and walked up to me. Celestia reached in to try and pull her back, but Starswirl held up his hoof in protest. Celestia paused.
I looked down at her, making sure to move my head slowly as to not startle her. She looked up at me and leaned in.
"What's the difference between a dragon and a dra...dra..." Luna began.
"Drakon." I finished for her. At the sound of my voice, she slightly stepped back but quickly relaxed. I tilted my head to the side and considered my answer for a moment. I could tell her the objective difference - no wings, less magic resistance, physical superiority but the ability to use magic in larger bursts. Or...I could tell her the difference that would tease her childish curiosity and make her like me a little more. Hopefully.
"...Drakons are cooler." I nodded at her.
She blinked. "Ok but how."
I shrugged. "If you stick around with me, maybe you'll see."
Luna squinted intently before she giggled, seemingly satisfied with my answer. She turned to Celestia and sat down.
Celestia got a little closer but kept her distance overall.
Starswirl cleared his throat. My head turned to him. "I'll have to be on my way now. Tempest is more than able to keep you alive." He turned to me. "Tempest. If their magic starts to surge - put them in a magically induced sleep for at least a day. If their magic surges, it..." He paused. He looked at Luna, who was busy inspecting the floor. "...Won't be good." He finished and looked at me. I responded with a knowing nod.
"If you don't mind, I'd like a moment alone with them," Starswirl said softly.
I nodded. I took my leave out of the cave room and sat down.

After about ten minutes, Starswirl walked out and stood next to me. I turned to face him.
"Are you leaving now?" I tilted my head to the side.
He nodded. "I am."
"...Goodbye, Star-Swirl. Thank you."
"Be good to them, Tempest." He stared intensely at me. I suppressed a shiver.
"I will," I said softly.

Starswirl was gone like that. There was no pop of displaced air or rush of magic - he was there, and then he was not.

I meant what I said. Starswirl's words had some truth to them, despite how I may not have entirely agreed. Those fillies were infinitely more powerful than me and Starswirl put together and they were just that - fillies. If given time, they could stand against Discord, the two of them. But not by themselves. They'd need help - help that potentially Harmony and Order could offer. And a part of me felt as if I had to. I had eaten their past selves. I owed it to Apollo and Artemis to do...something. Something.

So that would be what comes next for me, I thought.
I turned to enter the cave, to guide the sun and moon.

Elsewhere

The Spirit of Chaos rested by the shores of the Nexus, on a small island that he had created before-hand in order to not be dragged into the whirlpool of magic. His eyes were half-lidded and he had almost dozed off. But he fought to stay awake - he couldn't sleep, not when what he had been building towards was so near. His eyes snapped open as he felt a magical disturbance though - one so prominent that it caused the Nexus to spin slightly faster and caused his spine to tingle and his body to shiver. He sat up and looked around, his eyes narrowing.

About ten feet away from him stood Starswirl the Bearded, his golden eyes glowing slightly and his hooves firmly planted. His horn was glowing with renewed power and over his face was cast an expression of determination. Faint power radiated out of him. Discord blinked once before he stood up to his full height, and silently readied what little magic he had left. Despite how he had just used almost all of his power on his work inside of the Nexus, he still had more enough to vaporize Starswirl on a good day three times over. Discord grinned. "Hello, old friend. I didn't expect you to come to me, admittedly."
Starswirl nodded. "Admittedly until recently, neither did I."
Discord blinked, confused by his statement. He shrugged and thought nothing more of it as he floated over to Starswirl before he cut the space in-between them and was suddenly coiled tightly around him. "So, do you come here to fight me? Or to surrender. Or better yet - to join me in an attempt to backstab me?" He grinned.
Starswirl teleported out of Discord's grasp, and Discord's coiled body stretched like play-doh as it fell to the ground. He spun his head upside down until it flattened out, then his head rotated 180 degrees and stared at Starswirl who was now standing behind him.
"Neither," Starswirl replied. "I come to die."
Discord squinted. "So you come to fight me, then?" Pink and red energy ran over his features.
"No. I come to die." Starswirl said, his voice filling with resolution. He began to walk towards Discord.
Discord was silent as he drew himself up to his height. There was a faint flitting of annoyance at Starswirl's eerily calm, cryptic nature that washed over him but was gone as quick as it came.
Starswirl's horn began to glow brighter. Discord suddenly realized how it had been glowing their entire conversation - and switched into his magical vision to see the strands of magic. His eyes then widened as he realized he was unable to - the magical disturbance he had felt was messing with his senses. Did Starswirl do that? He thought to himself. He quickly shifted his magic from ready to fight to ready to defend. "What are you doing, friend?" Discord spat the word and his eyes glowed for a brief moment. Starswirl stopped his advance.
"If I fight you, you'll win. If I stall you to get time for an ambush-" He paused. Discord's eyes narrowed as he quickly grew another pair of eyes on the back of his head and spun them around. "...you'll win." He finished. Discord frowned, then grinned. He could appreciate a good trick, at the least.
"I could continue this for a good twenty minutes. There is no feasible scenario in which you lose and I win."
Discord nodded. "So, you come to surrender yourself and simply...let me kill you?"
Starswirl shook his head. "There is a scenario in which we both lose."
Discord stared as growing realization washed over him. "No." He whispered. He lunged towards Starswirl and brought his claw down in a swipe at his throat. Starswirl backstepped effortlessly, then threw Discord backward with a wave of golden energy. The golden power concentrated around his horn began to create a ball of white energy.
"In the future, Discord - assuming you have one - don't let a chronomancer stall for Time." He grinned. And then the spell was cast.

A prison of time formed around Discord and squeezed tightly around him. Discord let out an unholy roar as he tried to tear the magic that held him apart. Starswirl's flesh slowly began to convert into raw mana to fuel the insanely high mana-demands of the spell that he had just cast - and as Starswirl faded into golden dust, an explosion of energy destroyed the island that they were on.

The Chaos King was trapped in an instance of time - and the Sun and Moon were given peace, for a woefully short time.

-

[8] Flare

Flare

The throne shattered under her hooves.

"Why don't you have wings?" Luna asked.
"Drakons don't have wings. Dragons do." I responded in a soft voice. She squinted and leaned against my neck somewhat, contemplating my response for a second.
"Why don't they have wings? How do they fly, then?"
"We don't fly." I shrugged. "We don't need wings."
"But flying is so useful. If we could fly, we'd get there faster." Luna sat down on her stomach.

The there that she was talking about was the next town over. After Starswirl had left, and the two of them had eaten in meals that Starswirl had prepared just before he left, I immediately decided we should gain as much distance from us and the chaos-beast land as possible. Towns were high priority targets for chaos beasts, so I quickly explained to them how we'd be constantly moving, at maximum taking a brief rest at a town.

Celestia had been wary of me, and was eyeing me cautiously the entire time we walked. She insisted on walking by my side and was silent most of the time. Luna was far more talkative and comfortable with me, quickly taking to a spot on my back and pelting me with a barrage of questions, much to my hidden annoyance.

"Where are we going, Ms. Drakon?"
"Away from where we were. And I've told you, it's Tempest"
"Why are we going away?"
"It was dangerous."
"Why?"
"Because there were things that wanted to hurt you that were nearby."
Luna rolled her eyes. "I'm not stupid. I know that there were monsters near..um..."
"Nearby." Celestia interjected for her.
Luna nodded. "That. But couldn't you deal with them? Starswirl could."
"I...I guess I could. But..." Pause. "We'll talk when we rest." Celestia narrowed her eyes at me.
"What? I want to talk about it now." Luna childishly whined.
"It'll be easier to explain when we've rested."
Luna whined and then laid flat on my back. "Okay Ms. Tempest."
"We'll rest soon, okay?"
Luna didn't respond.
I blinked and turned back to look at her. Her eyes were shut and her ears were flat on her head.

Sunstorm

"So how much do you know?" I turned to look at Celestia and laid down flat by the firepit. Luna was pressing right up into my stomach to stay warm while she slept, and Celestia had provided a dirty blanket for her to lay down on. Celestia herself had been more or less silent the entire time we had set up, and was now staring into the fire blankly.
She didn't respond to me. I poked my head through the fire, letting the flames dance over my scales. "So how much do you know." I repeated. Celestia blinked and then leaned back away from me a little bit. She registered my question for a second, before she turned and my eyes met with hers.
"What do you mean?"
"How much do you know." I repeated for the third time. "About the situation you're in right now. How much does Luna know. She's...how old?"
"She's six."
"How old are you?"
"I'm eleven." I nodded. She was only a year younger than me, actually - I was twelve, when Discord had killed the Drakons. That had been...how long ago? A few weeks? A few months?

"So how much do you know." I repeated for hopefully the last time and sat up a little straighter. Luna let out a sleepy whine and snuggled up closer to me. I turned to make sure she was still asleep, before turning back to Celestia.
"...I know that I'm important. And so is my sister. That we're both Spirits. Like the King and Queen. And I know that...Discord...wants us dead." She hesitated before she said the word Discord, and said it in a quieter tone.
"How much does she know?"
"More or less the same." Celestia shrugged. "And how much do you know about us?" She tilted her head to the side.
"...You're the Spirit of the Sun. And your sister is the Spirit of the Moon. Your mother...? I think? Brought you to Starswirl, because she didn't know what was happening as you two ascended. Starswirl has been protecting you since."
"Our aunt." Celestia corrected. "You've fought him?"
"Who? Starswirl? It wasn't so much as a fight as him testing my magic-"
"No." She shook her head. "Not Starswirl. Discord."
"...No. I haven't fought him. He's toyed with me - but he hasn't fought me. I have managed to escape him though. Three times. He's looking for me, now. Just like he's looking for you."
Celestia's eyes narrowed. She stood up. "Starswirl said he can't find us because we're Spirits, and because we're not using magic. How come he can't find you? Are you just leading him straight to us?" She glared.
I turned to stare directly at Celestia, irritation growing within me at her constant distrust. "No, Celestia. He can't track me. Why don't you trust me? What is it about me?"
Celestia turned her gaze from me. She didn't respond as she sat down.
I sighed and traced a circle in the dust with my claw.

Silence.

"Tell me everything about Discord." Celestia turned to look at me. I blinked and looked up at her. "Everything you know."
I stared at her silently and examined her face for a time. Her face was cold and flat, not showing a hint of emotion. Her voice was quiet and just as icy. But her eyes were familiar. And her eyes were telling. They were the eyes of a filly who was scared. Who was confused. Who didn't know what to do.
"Are you sure?" I said softly.
"I'm sure." She nodded. Faint determination filled her eyes.

He's a Spirit. A powerful one at that. There was a time where he wasn't the most powerful, but then something changed and he became way stronger than natural. And then he killed one of his enemies, and his other enemy is rooted - I'll explain more later - and then he began to wait. I think he's angry because someone who was important to him died. And he waited until he was in a position to get revenge - and he started killing other Spirits. And that's when I met him."

"I met him for the first time this year." I shut my eyes and tensed slightly. "He came to my home, looking for my King. King Bellum, the Spirit of War. Discord and Bellum fought, and Bellum vaporized Discord. But then there was this horrible blackness, and his bones were so white..." I paused and let out a soft sigh. I rolled my neck and then opened my eyes. "And then he was fine. He and Bellum continued their fight, but Bellum was..." I stumbled for the words.
"Killed." She finished for me.
"...Yeah. That." I nodded. I was trying to find a way to sugarcoat it, but I suppose - she wasn't that much younger than me. I didn't have to.
"And then he exploded. All the magic rushed out of him. It almost killed Discord. I think it would've really killed him, if he was a bit weaker - maybe if someone else had tried to help Bellum. But..." I dug my claws into the dirt.
"My people were dead. My mother threw herself in-front of me so I could live. Some of us managed to escape - but it was only me and Discord still there. And I saw him, and I saw that my mother had sacrificed herself for me and I felt this rage, this anger." My claws began to glow slightly as I channeled a bit of magic into them subconsciously as I could feel that anger echoing into me right now. The dirt charred slightly. Celestia stumbled backwards and looked at me with wide, fearful eyes, her icy mask cracking for a second - and she reminded me of that little colt who I had come so close to eating. I took a deep breath and collected myself. I shook my head. "I'm fine. I'm...I"m fine."

Silence, once more. Then I relaxed, and then so did she.

"I attacked him. I threw all of my magic at him - and I caught him off-guard. For a second I swear I could've killed him - maybe if I just pushed a little harder. But I didn't. He grabbed me, and he hissed and snarled at me in that disgusting weasely voice of his, then teleported away from me and me away from my home after I vowed to kill him." The words were starting to flow out of me now - and there was this heat, this heat raging underneath my skin like a storm.

"And then I didn't know what to do. I was so confused. I was so lost, and so sad. I was in this forest, right by a pony town - and for a time, I thought I should...I should kill myself. But I decided no. I might as well do something. I have to do something - I have to set myself to something, to a goal, because if I don't then...I don't know what I'd do. So I decided to set myself to work on that vow. I didn't have anything else to do."

"I studied Discord. I learned about Spirits. I practiced magic. My first stop was to Mt. Olympus - to see the Alicorn Pantheon and ask for their help. The Spirit of Sun, Moon, and Peace."
Celestia blinked. "I wasn't there though. Neither was Luna."
I shook my head. "Not you. There was a Spirit of Sun before you. And a Spirit of Sun before that. And a Spirit of Sun before that. Once one Spirit dies, in time - someone will take its place."
Celestia squinted. "So you went to see my predecessor?"
I nodded.
"What did you find?"

"I found ruin. The mountain-top was...there was no life there." That momentary pause was when I almost spoke about how it was littered with corpses. "I found the bodies of the Spirits. I...I buried them. And burnt them. A drakon's funeral." I nodded.
"Then what? Where is this going. What does this have to do with Discord?"
"I was looking through Olympus' vault. I found a handful of useful things - a bag of holding, which I don't have anymore, a magical sword, a stone that was immune to magic, and a ring that acted as an extension of your magical capacity."
"What was in the bag?"
I blinked. "...What?"
"The bag of holding. I know what those are. What was in it?"
"I...um." Pause. "I don't know if I ever checked it."
"Do you still have it?" Celestia tilted her head to the side.
"No. I left it in Gryphum after I got a new one."
"Gryphum?" Celestia said with a surprised tone. "You've been?"
"I was getting to that." I rolled my eyes.

"I put the bag around my throat and just before I grabbed the sword - everything turned into butterflies. I've noticed that despite how Discord is supposedly chaotic and unpredictable, he does seem to love his butterflies." Celestia nodded in response. "And I saw that red again, and I lashed out at him with his magic. But his hold on his body was too strong-"
"His hold?" Celestia tilted her head to the side.
"Everything has a magical hold on their body. It's what holds them together. Draconic creatures, and chimeras, and Spirits have particularly strong holds because otherwise they couldn't be that size and that power. They'd just melt. Discord has such a strong hold that spells that are weak enough don't just not hurt him - he literally can't even feel them."
"He's that much stronger than you?"
I nodded. "He still made an effort to dodge some of my attacks. And then I struck at him with the sword - and he got really angry. He wanted to play with me still, so he said he'd leave me alone for a week if I could survive. He broke the ring, then teleported the sword away and then he teleported me off the mountain and dropped the mountain on me."

Celestia blinked. "Sorry, what?"
"He dropped the mountain on me. Not all of it. Just the top, actually."
"And you survived? How?"
"I teleported away." I shrugged. "I lost two of my claws, and some of the rock landed on my leg. Which is why it's a dragon's leg instead of a drakon's leg - it was crushed, and Discord replaced it with the dragon's leg."
"What dragon?" Celestia tilted her head to the side.
"Oh, yes. He tore a dragon out of Mount Olympus while I was climbing it."
"Climbing it?"
"Yes. I climbed up Mount Olympus to get to the top. Most people run at the sight of a drakon."
"You seem to be glossing over a lot of important details." She frowned at me.
I rolled my eyes and began to continue the story. "Since the Alicorns weren't able to help, I went to Gryphum. It took me a few days to reach there - and there was a chaos beast by the door. I helped the soldiers kill it, then talked to the Spirit of Air and Storms - King Gryphus. I told him everything I told you. Gryphus had his archmage - a mare named Astrabelle train me in magic, and gave me these." I held up my claws and flashed the metal bits at her, and brought up my tail.
"What are they?"
"Armor that can grow with me. They belonged to the dragon who's leg I have."
Celestia's face was flat as she slowly nodded.
"Gryphus taught me a bit of storm magic, due to my magical affinity and my interest in it, wait, magical affinity- do you know what that is?" She nodded. "My affinity is Air, Chaos, and Light. Perfect for storm magic. Then after a day or two there, Discord came and attacked Gryphum. Gryphus told me that I had to find the Spirit of Harmony and the Spirit of Order, and Starswirl the Bearded - that they were the only ones who could help me. Discord killed Astrabelle and Gryphus, and chaos beasts ransacked the city. But I was brought right to Starswirl's doorstep by Gryphus' last act. He teleported me away. And that's where we are now."

Celestia's gaze was far away and distant. I scooted forward a little bit, but made sure not to move Luna's sleeping form. "What's wrong?"

"He tore a dragon out of a mountain. He killed the Spirits that came before us. He killed your king. He dropped a mountain on you. And me and my kid sister, who can't even use magic without him finding us are supposed to be able to kill him?"
When you put it like that, I suppose it did sound quite bleak. "You aren't alone. The Spirit of Harmony. The Spirit of Order. Order can kill Discord, and Harmony can weaken Discord. Both of them are still around according to Gryphus. Maybe...maybe if we could get to them, they could help you-"
"And if they can't? Then what? What are we supposed to do?" She said, her icy "mask" cracking once more and a bit of panic slipping into her voice, before she breathed in deeply and collected herself.
"...Then..." I paused as I searched for what to say. "I don't know." I said honestly, my voice slightly cracking. "I don't know." I repeated softer.

I looked her in the eyes. And as my eyes met with hers, I realized why they were familiar. They were scared eyes, lost eyes, confused eyes, eyes of someone who didn't know what they were doing but felt as if they had to do something. They were my eyes.

And there was silence.

Moonstorm

"Where's Starswirl?" Luna asked me. For once, Celestia was the one to be asleep first - and Luna was laying down against my stomach for warmth.
"He's looking for an old friend. He told you that." I replied. I wonder if that was actually a truth - if Discord and Starswirl were "friends" at one point. Unlikely, but if I pretended that it was the truth I wouldn't feel as if I was lying.
"Who?"
"I don't know. He didn't tell me."
"When will he be back though?" She flattened the top of her head against my stomach and looked at me with wide, innocent eyes. My heart fluttered a little bit. Adorable, I thought.
"I don't know. He didn't tell me." I repeated and grinned slightly at her. She didn't seem to appreciate that.
"I miss him though." She frowned.
I blinked. "...I know." I said. "But...Luna. He could...he could be a while."
She frowned even more deeply. "I want him back."
I felt mildly offended - but she was a sad, confused child. I couldn't be mad at her. "I know you do." I nodded. I scratched right behind her ear, something that she usually liked.
"I want my auntie back."
"Your auntie?" I tilted my head to the side, unfamiliar with the term.
"My auntie. She gave us to Starswirl and she didn't come back, and then Starswirl gave us to you and he hasn't come back...and you make it sound like he's not going to come back. I want...I don't want to keep going from pony to pony like this! Or pony to dragon!" She frowned.
"Drakon." I corrected instinctively. "Luna, keep your voice down. You're going to wake up Celestia-"
"No!" She stood up. She stomped her hooves.
"Luna-" I stood up.
"I'm not your child!" She yelled and stepped backward. Celestia's eyes opened and she looked around, her eyes still sleepy.
"I didn't say you were-" I started, but Luna shook her head.
"Stop treating me like I am then!"
"I didn't-"
"You did! And so did our Auntie and so did Starswirl and then they left!" She turned around and ran off. My eyes widened as she madly dashed towards the nearby forest. I tore up from my spot and began sprinting towards her on all fours. I didn't want to magically grasp her in the event that she'd lash out and accidentally use her magic, alerting Discord to where we were. I was gaining on her quite rapidly due to how large I was, but just as she neared the forest - I smacked into a tree while trying to get her, and she dove underneath some bushes.

I grunted at the inconvenience that my size was providing as I began to slowly push my way through the trees, weaseling in-between them and now underneath the canopy. I heard a faint rustle of bushes - but apart from that, I had no indication of where she was. I looked around. "Luna?!" I called loudly, squinting to adjust to the darkness from underneath the trees. I started to move slowly through them, head tilting from side to side as I tried to see her. After maybe a half minute of walking in silence, a growing dread and worry forming in my chest - an icy ball of fear, with its hooks and tendrils digging into my limbs.

Then I heard a noise that caused new, fiery adrenaline to course through my veins. A faint, animalistic noise followed by a cry of fear - to my right. I began sprinting through the trees, using my claws and tail to slice them apart in my path, I sprinted until I came across a clearing where Luna was - and a pack of wolves in front of her. Not Timberwolves, but real, honest wolves. Maybe sixteen of them.

One of the wolves pounced onto Luna, and for the faintest second I saw an aura glimmer around her horn - but then I smacked my tail out as hard as I could. I let out a yelp of pain as it impacted - and there was an awful, resonating cracking sound as it smacked the wolf in the skull and sent it flying into a tree. I could feel the warm blood on my tail. I quickly stepped in front of Luna and planted my claws. The wolves quickly backstepped - but weren't retreating. They were gaunt - they were starving. On top of that, faint yellow energy leaked from them. They had been tainted by chaos magic.

Celestia stepped in, right behind me and grabbed onto Luna tightly and securely. The wolves began to spread out around us and started to circle me - I'm sure I'd be fine, but I couldn't risk attacking the wolves without potentially endangering Luna and Celestia. There were too many of them for me to physically take on simultaneously while protecting them. I had to get them all to leave - with a show of force.

Mys, Fres, Fyrd, Ignum, Tern. Forced Fire that Ignores Earth. I dug my claws into the ground, stretched my tail out and my neck out. I roared as loud as I could. My throat began to glow as I created a beam of fire that tore out of my mouth. I quickly removed the effects of fres from it as it left my mouth, creating a blanket of flame that lit up the area. The wolves were daring, and they were starving, and they were emboldened by chaos magic - enough to take on a draconic. But there was still that primal fear that a roar and something breathing fire induces in you - which caused the wolves to quickly turn tail and run away. Wordlessly, I picked up both of the fillies to my chest - both of whom were wide-eyed and quivering. I ran out of the forest and back towards the camp, and after two minutes of silent running - I set both of them down.

"Are you okay?" I said first. I began inspecting them for any wounds, cuts, any scrapes - anything at all. Both of them were unscathed - if a little dirty.
"I-I-I..." Luna stammered. Celestia was just silent, staring at me with wide eyes.
"Luna." I got down as close as I could to her level. "When you get mad, and when you get emotional - you don't run away from your problems. You have to confront them. You have to talk them out. Okay?"
"O...o...oka- oka..."
"It's okay." I shushed her. I picked her up and pulled her closer to me. The two of them were probably terrified now - even if you were on their side, draconics that could eat you in one bite tended to be a little scary. I squeezed her tightly. I looked down at Celestia and reached my free paw out slowly to see if she wanted to join in. Celestia shook her head, shut her eyes, and when her eyes opened the mask was back on.
"Luna." I looked down at her. "I'm not your mother. I'm not your auntie. I'm not Starswirl the Bearded. Before all of this - I was no one. But let me promise you this." I looked around and saw a flower - a blue flower with a perfectly smooth white circle at its bud. I floated the flower over towards her and held it up in front of her.
"This goes to both of you. I'm not going to leave you. I'm not going to give you away. I'm not going to endanger you. I'm not going to hurt you. I'm not going to lie to you." I dug the flower into her hair slowly. "I don't want to replace anyone. All I want-" is Discord dead.

Or that's what I thought I would've said. Maybe should've said. But...that felt wrong. Me, Luna, and Celestia - we'd been traveling together for over four days now. This was more than wanting to kill Discord. This was more than wanting to protect the future. It was wanting to protect them as well. Because as much as Celestia distrusted me, and as much as Luna could annoy me-

I wanted Discord dead. I wanted the future to exist. I wanted the Spirits - not of Chaos - to return. I wanted my people back. But I wanted to see them survive this. I wanted to survive this with them. I wanted to see them safe.

"...all I want is what's best for you," I said after a moment. Luna looked up at me with wide, tear-filled eyes.

And I held her for a while. And then we were silent, for the third time.

-

[10] Fractured

Fractured

You'll never succeed...

I often wonder what it's like to be a Spirit, unrestrained.

With each footstep, you bring with you the full force of your sphere. Your magic is less an extension of yourself and more a fact of the world - the Spirit of Fire is not acting with fire, but rather they are fire. To be a Spirit is to have the power to grind mountains to dust and to tear the greatest structures ever conceived of to shreds in an afternoon. That is the fact of a Spirit, and it's that fact that weighs on my heart.

As much as I hate to admit it - Celestia and Luna are much, much stronger than me. They were stronger than Starswirl, who - at the end of his lifespan, decades after his prime, was still far ahead of me. In terms of raw magical potential, they individually outclass me by a factor of at least four - and they're so young. They're only going to grow, and at a rate so hard and fast that within a decade they'll be stronger than I could ever be. And then there's Discord. Someone so disgustingly draped in power that he was more than able to dispatch the entire host of Spirits.

It stings to admit, but I'm never going to be able to do much more than irritate Discord at best. Starswirl was right. I'm just a puppet in a game of divines...but my vow will still be fulfilled. It doesn't matter if Starswirl was right. All that matters - all that matters is that this ends with Discord's blood on the ground.

...Isn't it?

The weight of Celestia and Luna on my back is more noticeable, all of a sudden. They're pressed against me and secured with my own magic, the constant ivory glow from my horns being almost soothing. Luna's forelegs are curled around the golem orb, its smiley face pointed up towards her. It's not capable of emotion, but sometimes it almost feels like it is. Almost. I'm not sure if the journey back to Olympus has been faster or longer than my initial trip there - but at the very least, it feels less...lonely. The nightmares are a constant, but the presence of others makes them bearable.

My thoughts wander as my body goes on autopilot. As it stands, there are six spirits alive according to Gryphus. Celestia, Luna, Harmony, Order, and Discord were a given. The other one was an enigma - the conversation between Bellum and Discord suggested that it was potentially either Misika or Draelos, the Elemental of Water and of Fire respectively. But there was no way to be sure.

Or maybe there was a Spirit that wasn't known at all. One that escaped all eyes but those of Gryphus, somehow. It's not as if that would be particularly useful to me unless they made themselves known. It's times like this that I wish I was a Spirit. The knowledge that it would bring - the ability to cross distances faster...that would definitely make this easier.

My gaze tilts up towards the mountain towering in front of me. The moon hangs high in the sky. Luna and Celestia are fast asleep. I'm sure I could make it to Olympus by the morning if I pushed myself, but...as my eyes wander over towards the sleeping duo, I feel a wave of exhaustion wash over me.

Maybe some rest would be good.

My eyes close.

The ground is cracked and broken. The air is thick with the smell of sweet goods packed to the brim with sugar. The ground is broken, cracked, and jagged with spires like claws reaching out towards me as if I'm going to be pulled in. Blood pools up beneath my feet. A light red dragon's head rolls over and hits my feet. Pink energy pours from the cracks as the ground gives way, gigantic plates of rock sliding closer to the void. Everything begins to fade away. In the sky - a storm rages. It's not any natural storm though, and I don't need my magic to tell. The clouds are black and heavy, the lightning is a constant deafening arc connecting to the ground. The sky is broken by the shape of pink, unrestrained power.

There's a bloody tear as a jagged creature formed from lightning tears the wings off a gigantic creature. It's a gryphon with the head of a unicorn and the tail of a drakon. The unicorn flashes a glance at me as the shape slowly turns towards me. My paws tremble. My horns glow but the magic aura quickly sputters out. My mouth falls open as I try to make a sound - to remind myself that I have at least that much power.

There's nothing I can do. My horns begin to crack and my world starts falling away.

I gasp and sit up with a jolt. Luna prods at my horns, the golem limp on the ground by her side. Celestia is laying against my tail while I sleep, her face turned away from me. I blink a few times.

"...luna?" I whisper. My brain tells me this is real, but my heart needs confirmation.
Luna leaned in and squinted. "We're almost there, Tempest." She whined. "You've been sleeping for ages!"
I shut my eyes and let out a deep sigh. I pushed myself up on trembling legs, stretching my body out and cracking my neck. I blink the last bits of weariness from my eyes and look back down at her.

"...You're right, Luna," I said softly. I reach down and tap her head with a claw. Her head is pressed a bit closer to the ground. "Sorry." I crack a smile. I know it doesn't meet my eyes. Celestia turns to look at me.

"How are we going to get up there?" She looked up at the mountain. I was silent for a second.
"...I don't think we need to, actually," I said softly.
"What? Then why did we come up all this way?" Celestia's eyes narrowed. Immediately on the offensive with her. It's hard to suppress my annoyance.
"We're still going to Olympus. Discord dropped the mountain-top on me. I'm just...not sure where it is. We'll circle around until we find it."
Celestia blinked a few times before she remembered the story I had told her. Luna, on the other hand, looked up at me and loudly said - "he what???"
It sounds more ridiculous each and every time I say it. "Discord dropped a mountain-top on me."

Luna stared, then her eyes widened a bit when she realized I was dead serious. She turned her gaze towards Celestia. Celestia reached out and put a hoof on Luna's head, running it through her mane slowly. I scooped them both up with telekinesis and placed them on my back, and began circling around Olympus - looking for wherever the mountain top had been dropped. It was a testament to how truly large Olympus was that at least two hundred feet of rock could crash down on top of me, and the mountain still pierced through the skies.

It didn't take long to find. Luna was laying down on my back while leaning against Celestia, all three of us silent - when we saw a giant pile of rubble near a forest. There were remnants of a castle on its top - but it was nearly unrecognizable, more a collection of broken bricks and shattered walls than anything else.

A flash of fear rushed through me as I realized the dangers of bringing them here. Not only was this a high-importance area, but there were dozens of bodies...including the bodies of the alicorns I had eaten. I didn't want to traumatize the poor girls. The fear subsided slightly as I realized that Discord was trapped by Starswirl, apparently. I'm not really sure what that entailed.

I turned to them as I set them down with my magic.

"Stay here. I'm going to go make sure it's safe. Keep the golem with you and scream if there's trouble." The golems legs twitched as it began to bring itself into an active state. I was mildly concerned about one of the glyph pairings on the golem - "Aude Murn." It was, quite literally, "Sound Empowerment." The intended effect would be for it to create a sound, but after a bit of consideration, it would probably just make the sound louder in a radius as large as its magical pool could afford. If the radius was large enough, it could technically drain me dry - but realistically I could just crush the connection between me and the golem far before that ever happened. Although, if I was particularly low on magic...

That's irrelevant. The situation was mostly covered - if the golem detected life, it would at the very least make the two louder if it didn't create a noise of its own. I wasn't exactly a hundred percent on board with leaving them alone, so I might as well do this quickly.

Celestia and Luna nodded at me as the golem began to circle them. My horns lit up with a soft glow as I quickly sliced a hole in the aether-

the ocean weighed down on me. my bones felt heavy. coiling muscle twined itself around me. teeth sunk into my neck.

-and exited a few dozen feet away from the edge of the pile of rubble. My eyes narrowed slightly. Visions of the future seen in the aether weren't entirely unheard of, but they did often suggest improper spellwork. I gripped down into the ground at the thought of killing myself because I stupidly made an improper aetheric shield during a teleport. If I were to die - it would be at Discord...

...It would be on my own terms. Mine.

After a few minutes, I needed to stretch my magical muscles. There were at least a hundred bodies scattered around the top of Olympus - some of them quite horrifically mutilated, from both Discord's doing and from the amount of rubble that had crashed down on them. With little more than brute telekinesis, I dug a large trench that could fit all of the bodies. For now, I avoided the throne room: I wasn't quite sure I could go back there just yet.

In order to make sure I didn't miss anything, I chained a more complex series of glyphs together. My goal was to sense bodies with a spell. My first instinct was a simple chain of Virtrus Myr or Mortrus Myr, but both of those didn't work off the bat. It took me a second to realize that while my magic was searching for that, I wasn't actually receiving any feedback.

I faintly remembered a glyph for "Creation" in one of the books I read in Gryphum. It was very broad, so I didn't actually look at any practicalities of it at the time. After a bit of thinking I chained together Mortrus Myr, Lyl Somn. Death Search - Create Sound. I'm not sure how to specify what sound it created, so if this didn't work I was prepared to give up. With the first pulse of the spell, I heard the faint sound of crackling energy in directions all around me. I walked in a random direction - and found a body where I had heard the origin of a sound. Why it had defaulted to the sound of energy was beyond me, but at least the spell worked.

My first visit here had been one born out of desperation. It was a frantic desire to do something, to find something - for anything. It had been one tainted by panic, hunger, and this desire for vengeance that burned away everything but the desire to tear the serpent into two bloody halves. Olympus had felt small, constricting - like it had been precariously balanced at the top of the mountain and I had no room to move at all. Now though, I was properly able to appreciate the remnants of its once illustrious beauty.

Tendrils of candy mixed with flesh curled around ornate pillars inlaid with gold, adorned by broken shards of glass with fragments of flames flickering around their edge. Once likely beautiful streets carved with a near zealous level of attention and care from sheets of marble had been pulverized; reduced to calcified gravel. Yes, this had been a place of beauty and reverence. But now?

It had been destroyed by a monster and was being scavenged by a monster who ate dead gods and lied to herself about her purity. All for my self-righteous, all-consuming vengeance-

No.

The word rang through my head.

I had work to do. I didn't have time for these thoughts.

The work was grisly but went by quickly - at first. There were piles of bodies that I promptly roasted with flames to prevent any chaos magic contamination from leaking through. I found it easier if I closed my eyes and instead relied entirely on the sound. I could almost pretend that these were just animals, not once-sapient creatures. Once they were burnt, I scooped them up in my body - or as much as I could in some cases - and dumped them unceremoniously in the trench I had dug. I stood over the trench and finally opened my eyes. The sight was disgusting, even compared to all I had seen. A choked breath escaped me.

"...It won't be in vain," I whispered as I began to fill the trench in. "I'll make sure of it."

With a flash of teleportation, I was back by Celestia and Luna. Luna was running her hooves over the golem repeatedly. I paused for a second to regain my breath - with proper technique, I had about four teleports a day. I could probably do five or six, but that would leave me too weak to do anything.

Celestia and Luna looked back up at me.
"It's safe?" Luna said loudly.
I nodded slowly. Celestia stared at me almost suspiciously. "Yes. It's safe." My voice was soft and weak. Words came hard to me, and I found that I wasn't able to meet either of the Spirits in the eye. Not without seeing glimmers, glimmers of scarred and mutilated bodies - of teeth that sawed down around keratin, careful to avoid choking on the hooves;

"Let's go to your thrones," I spoke in a whisper, unable to muster up any more strength. Unable to look at Celestia as she stared at me with such suspicion, like I was a monster.
Luna frowned. "It's weird." She shook her head. "Please don't call it our thrones. I don't like it."
I winced. Of course, that would be uncomfortable for them. I couldn't find the strength to apologize. I glanced at them. "Do you need to be carried?"

Celestia shook her head. Luna looked up at Celestia. "...Cellie, can I ride on your back?"
Celestia looked slightly surprised. "You haven't done that in ages. Are you sure?"
"Why would I ask if I wasn't sure." She stared weirdly intensely at Celestia. Celestia snorted as she pulled Luna onto her back. I picked up the golem with telekinesis and set it down on my back, and the three of us took the last steps towards Olympus.

They trotted along at my side. Within claw's reach if so I needed, within magic's grasp if such was necessary. I was a larger target, and would attract the attention of any attack from a distance; anything from the front, I could shield with my body. Our rear was left undefended, and while I did have a theory that I could, with a little push, see through the golem that rested on my back - it wasn't one I was too keen on testing right at the moment. Quick, rapid glances served to make sure we weren't being followed.

This was a risk. One that I was starting to regret taking. We were at the peak of all pony civilization and the seat of ancient artifacts, including ones that Discord was rather personally entwined with. Not only was he more than likely to be monitoring this place in some regard, but it felt as if every step I took here threatened to set off a ticking time bomb that would signal him.

But what else was there? I was new to this world. New to this game that these spirits play - of resistances, revolt, power, slaughter. I didn't know where to look, I didn't know what to do that could possibly give us a fighting chance. Maybe if I was able to train the sisters, then there would be some semblance of a chance...but how could I do that when any minor spell from them threatened to send off a surge of energy that Discord would find?

And if they died - hope was lost. All hope was lost.

I blinked as I felt a sudden impact, and realized that I had just impacted the doors to the palace face-first. I stepped back and collected myself from my inner monologue, shifting my attention back to my surroundings. I had gotten distracted in my own self-pitying monologue. I was careless. I was -

I was doing it again. I snapped out of my state from Luna's slight snickering. It was moments like these I was thankful that scales hid my blush.

"You're supposed to open them, silly. You don't run into them."
"I-I know that!" I exclaimed as if that had ever been in doubt. "I was just. Distracted."
"Mhm." Luna smiled smugly at me. Even Celestia's lips curled into the faintest glimmer of a smile - and for a few moments, I had not a care in the world. I pushed the doors open and we entered the throne room, and those moments ended quickly.

A long hallway lead up to a small flight of stairs that in turn lead to a circular room with huge windows of vibrant stained glass - thrones decorated around it in a semi-circle. The thrones were adorned with markings that had been blemished by dried blood and fragments of fur and flesh mixed with bone and even fragments of brain. It was grisly, it was gruesome - it was a mistake. I shouldn't have avoided the throne room, I should've cleaned, I should've protected the children from seeing this-

I glanced down at them, and immediately my self-loathing faded away by a surge of fear.

Their horns were glowing. Their eyes were glowing.
They were using magic.

Discord was on his way.

Minutes passed in the span of seconds. My bones felt frozen, my scales felt as if they were crawling all over my body - and there was a surge of pain in my right hind leg as it felt like it was about to fall off. There was a pressure weighing down on me, squeezing me so tightly it felt as if I was going to pop as my mind rushed through a hundred possibilities a minute.

Discord comes. I teleport them away. He kills me. He kills them.
Discord comes. I fight him. He kills me. He kills them.
Discord comes. We fight him. He kills me. He kills them.
Discord comes. I sacrifice myself to stop him. He lives. He kills them.

My mind races, my mouth opens slightly and my magic begins to surge. I don't know how long I have - I don't know how fast he is, I don't know where he is. I have no information, and I've just doomed them. I calm my surging magic and immediately begin shaping it into a teleport - before I'm interrupted by a hoof hitting me across the face.

Luna's horn is still alight with a soft glow, her eyes glassy and locked on something just past space. Celestia's ivory horn juts up in my vision, her face contorted into one of rage, one of anger that solidifies her as a goddess of the sun. Embers dance over her form as her wings flare out to give her any sense of size. She barely reaches up to half my height including her horn, so the effect is greatly diminished.

"You didn't tell me." She spat out.
"W-what? Celestia, we have to-" Another impact. Her hoof smashed against my scale with all the strength of a spirit. A scale cracked, and I stumbled backward - reminded that she has the ability to kill me if she truly desired to.
"You didn't tell me." She repeated. "He sacrificed himself to save us, the one stallion who we had for a father - and you didn't tell us."
"Tell you what!?" I hissed out. For a faint second, a glimmer of fear rushed over her eyes - but she straightened herself up and spoke with all the authority of a goddess.
"Starswirl is dead!" She mirrored my anger with an equal amount and a heavy serving of venom on top. "He died to stop Discord, and you didn't even tell me! I'm not - I'm not a child. You don't have to protect me. You don't have to protect me from things that I need to know, to protect my sister." She hissed that last word out with such vitriol that I stepped backward. "H-how-"
"I saw it!" She shrieked. "I saw it in a vision, and you didn't tell me! Why!?"

"...I didn't..." I stammered blankly. Why hadn't I told her? She was just a year younger than me, it wasn't as if she couldn't take it on account of her age. I - I just...
"He gave us time, and you've wasted it." She snarled. "You've made his sacrifice in vain. Weeks without Discord looming over us - and we've spent it walking instead of doing something important, something worthwhile. Why? Tell me, WHY!?"
"I don't know," I answered honestly. "...I don't know."

We were silent for a few seconds that felt like a few minutes.
"You have to stop treating me like a child." Celestia stepped forward and looked me straight in the eyes.
"Only if you stop acting like I'm a monster." I retorted snippily and immediately regretted it once I saw the fear in her eyes.
"Y-you...you don't know why-" She stared. And I didn't.
"I don't," I said quickly. "...I'm sorry."
"It was my mother." Softly, in a strangled voice. "...just a few months after Luna was born. She doesn't remember."

I didn't say anything for a second. I dropped down onto the flat of my stomach and pressed my head lightly into her side. She flinched from the touch, but didn't recoil instantly. She just stepped away after a few seconds, and I felt painfully alone.

"C-Celestia. I didn't- I didn't know how long we had. I didn't want to risk it. I've seen Discord, I've seen how strong he is. Starswirl - he couldn't...he couldn't do anything for long-"
"You're wrong. We have weeks. Weeks. Starswirl - h...he died to fuel his spell." She whispered. "The stallion I knew as a father. I watched him turn to dust. And- and I should be sad. But I can't even cry. I just...I just feel angry. I feel..."
"Hollow." I finished.
"Hollow." She mimicked in a soft voice. "Like something is-"
"missing, and you know that you should feel bad about it but-"
"-you can't, and you just feel anger." She finished.

She's like me.

"I'm sorry," I said gently. "I'll tell you everything from now on."
"Everything?" She repeated, and I was thankful that I couldn't see her - for I'd undoubtedly see Apollo. "...everything," I whispered with a soft nod.

I don't know how long we stayed like that. Celestia turned away from me, my form flat on the ground. It could've been seconds, minutes, or even hours - but we didn't break out of it until we heard Luna fall into a coughing fit. Immediately, I shot up and rushed over to her side. I placed a claw on her side to steady her and Celestia planted a hoof on her barrel to soothe her. "Luna!"

"w-wha...ce...cellie?" She whimpered and pushed away from my touch into her sister's. She looked up at her with wide eyes, trembling lightly. "Wh...where's the ocean?"
The ocean? Celestia blinked a few times and looked just as confused. "What do you mean, Lulu?"
"I was...here," Luna said slowly as she organized her thoughts. "Then I wasn't. I was...it was that place that auntie took us to that one weekend. Horseshoe Bay. Then I saw...a stallion. He was tall. And he had wings, and a horn, like us. And he was in the ocean. And it was wet. And heavy, and gross, and - and there were chains, and..." She trailed off.

"The ocean," I said softly. "That's...Order. You saw him. You saw Order." And the more I thought about it, the more sense it made. The ocean was a place antithetical to order - it was shifting currents, erosion, constant change. Trapping him there would sap him of his power. Discord had trapped his greatest enemy, and we knew where he was.

Luna and Celestia looked up at me. "Order?" Luna whimpered as Celestia ran a hoof through her mane.
"He's a Spirit. He can help us." I stood up, and said with absolute resolution in my voice - "we're going to Horseshoe Bay."

-

Author's Note

This chapter comes with a revamp.
Some of the messier parts of older chapters have been cleaned up and fused together.
Some inconsistencies and flow-breaking lines have been removed.
The naming scheme has been revamped, and the chapter count has been reduced. This chapter is staying short just so I can get it out and start from a clean slate of a next chapter.

[11] Order

Author's Note

A note, on Geography.
Here's the map I'm going to be using as a reference.

Some liberties will be taken, as this story does not consider anything after the S4 finale.

The pony settlement mentioned in this chapter is roughly by where Baltimare is.
The location of the Nexus is Revelry Isle.
Mt. Olympus is where Mt. Canterlot is. Mt. Draelos is roughly where Las Pegasus is.

Past chapters will be edited to reflect this, eventually.

If I say anything conflicting: the most recent statement is probably true. This story has taken a while, and the direction I wanted to take it in has changed.

[11] Order

Order

...I already have.

Why isn't Order dead?

Pretend you're Discord for a second. A being of unfathomable power and might: one of the essential spirits themselves. As Life and Death retreated from the Corporeal realm, the only creatures that possess the ability to counteract your power through means that aren't just brute force are Harmony and Order. Harmony is the lesser threat of the two: her power counteracts yours and weakens it, but it doesn't destroy it. Order, on the other hand, is antithetical to you. Order destroys Chaos, and Chaos destroys Order. So in a vacuum - assuming that both Order, Discord, and Harmony are of equal power - there are three possible outcomes.

Order against Harmony is a stalemate.
Discord against Harmony is a stalemate.
Order against Discord, on the other hand, would result in the absolute annihilation of both. To sum up the issue - Order can kill Discord. And not only that, he wants to. Discord and Order are conflicting, opposite spirits. As one waxes, the other wanes - their very existence harms the other, and so it's natural that they instinctually seek to destroy one another.

So why is it that Order is still alive?

It's actually due to how deadly Order is to Discord that he's alive. Discord can't just risk killing him and letting him reconstitute - if he intends to rule over as the sole Spirit, then he has to eliminate all threats. So he has to trap Order in a place where he can't escape but can't die either. He has to bind him. And what better place to bind a Spirit of Order than the most chaotic place on the planet - the bottom of the ocean?

It's more than just the physical location that's important to this scenario. It's the idea. Water is the element of shifting - constant erosion, constant movement, constant change. That idea is inherently chaotic, and as such: the ocean is a place of chaos. It's not that the ocean is actually rich with tangible chaos magic, but rather it's a strong conductor for chaos magic as a whole. And considering that Spirits are made from their magic, being in such a place would simply erode Order's magic.

But this was good news. Order was such a threat to Discord that he couldn't just kill him - he had to bind him. To keep him locked up in captivity so that he could never reconstitute. Which means - that he was an ally. And a strong one at that.

It felt good. Warmth in my chest - a swelling of giddiness, similar to the kind I felt every time I channeled the power of a storm. It felt like some part of me knew that this was the next step, that this was something I just had to do. But more than that - with the realization that Discord truly wasn't looming over us at the slightest glimmer of magic from the girls, I had an opportunity.

As we traveled, we stuck to the forests and places with cover from overhead. Right now, we were in a small grove right at the base of a cliff overlooking the river that leads to our destination. Creut and Ter made carving a form out of the rock rather easy, and simple brute strength did the rest. Thunk. Celestia jolted up and caused Luna, who had been leaning against her, to sort of flop onto the ground before she joined her in standing up. The boulder that I had created, nearly half my size, fell to the ground.

"Lift this, or destroy it." I stepped backward.
Both of them stared at me, then looked at each other - as if they weren't sure who I was talking to.
"Both of you." I clarified. "Discord is -" I trailed off for a second and glanced at Celestia. "...Busy, for a bit." Her face was stony, but there was a glimmer of pain in her eyes for a split second. "And so, you can use magic."

"B-but...I don't know...how." Luna said. Celestia slowly ran a hoof through her hair.
"Luna didn't have magic. And - I haven't used magic. Since..." Celestia spread her wings slowly. Since her ascension, I finished.
I grinned a smile that showed too many teeth, and Celestia visibly recoiled. "So I'll teach you," I whispered.

I've come to the rather obvious conclusion that Spirits are scary.

I am a draconic mage. Well - I'm not really sure if I can hold the title of mage. I'm definitely more than above average with my magic, but I have no formal education. Considering that my kind must number in the single digits, I'm sure no one will mind if I take the title. But my magical pool is fearsome - that's just the privilege of someone with draconic origin. I don't really have a frame of reference, but the only creatures I've met that have outpowered me were the strongest mortal mage in history and Spirits.

And let's speak about Starswirl, for a moment. Starswirl the Bearded. Who didn't know about him? Father Time, the Sealer of Tartarus, Binder of Tambelon, Creator of the Amniomorphic Spell, and the Strongest Mortal Mage Alive.

As a draconic grows older, its magical pool increases. As an equine grows older - its magical pool increases...until it starts to drop sharply. One hundred and seventy-three years old, older than any mortal had the right to be - and he still had more than twice my magical capacity. The sheer amount of power and knowledge he had is unthinkable.

And despite this: we're both outpowered by literal children. A boulder that I could barely lift with my magic, the sisters could fling around like it was a rock. I conjured a shield with all my might - and their hold was so powerful that they passed through it with ease. The words that he said to me echoed in my ears.

The two people with any meaning. The two people with any power.
There was a reason why he had given them to me. Not because I was strong, not because I was smart - but because he needed someone to guide them while he could buy time. That was the grim reality of the situation he was in, and the sheer strength that the sisters displayed was proof of that.

I did my best to teach them, regardless. I taught them all the glyphs I knew as we walked - I offered to let them read my books, but they didn't seem particularly interested in it. However, I did force them to learn a few spells, namely, a simple energy bolt and shield. Ideally, there would never be a situation where they have to fight: but in a worst-case scenario...

I didn't want to think about a worst-case scenario.

Eventually, we made heavy progress towards Horseshoe Bay - in just a week, we were nearly three-quarters of the way there. But traveling at the borderline breakneck pace that I was pushing them to - that we had to be pushed to had left them exhausted. Had left me exhausted. We needed a break, and we needed a break soon. I reluctantly agreed for a day's rest by a rather cozy cliff that I had chosen.

"Y-you promise?"
"Yes, Luna." I nodded. "I'm here to catch you."
"But what if you- what if you don't?" She whimpered.
Celestia put a hoof on her barrel. "Then I'll catch you."

You know, she was surprisingly hesitant to jump off a cliff considering it was her idea. At first, I had been strictly opposed - I didn't particularly want the two to dive face-first off a ledge to practice gliding. However, it had only been due to Luna's well-reasoned argument of rolling over onto her back and staring at me with the biggest eyes that I had reluctantly given in. Celestia further reasoned that I could make it safe with my magic - as well as a rather uncomfortable, scaled cushion in a worst-case scenario.

"You're safe, Luna. I promise." I whispered. She shifted around uncomfortably in her spot before raising a hoof to adjust the flower I had placed in her hair.
And then promptly dove off the cliff, face-first. Celestia let out a choked noise, and my eyes widened slightly. I hadn't been expecting her to dive into it that fully, after all. Immediately, her pegasus instincts kicked in - her body steadying mid-air, her wings snapping out and catching the wind underneath them...

And then she flapped. And flapped. And flapped. Luna wasn't just gliding- she was flying.
"I-I'm...I'm flying! I'm flying! Cellie, look! I'm flying!" She squealed as her wings began to beat more frantically.
"You're doing it, Lulu!" Celestia cheered. For maybe the first time since I had met her, there was a true, genuine smile on her face.
And with Luna's next sentence, there was one on mine, too. "Tempest, are you proud?"

She was asking me if I was proud of her.
Me. Me, in all my mess. The confused, monstrous wreck that was barely shambling along without a semblance of a clue what to do next - and she looked past all of that and just wanted to know if I was proud of her.
Me.

"Yes, Luna," I whispered. "I'm proud of you."
I couldn't have been more honest.

It was a cyclic motion. A repeated, soft movement of the hoof - running slowly through her sister's mane as she rested against my scales, pushing away at any strands out of place and keeping them all neat and ordered. My eyes were heavy as sleep's siren song roped me in - but the Sun's words broke through my weary haze and pulled my attention onto her. She had a way of doing that - a sort of soft strength in her voice.

"You know, we weren't always named Celestia and Luna." She glanced up at me. "I was Indomita and she was Astrella. Starswirl gave us our names. They felt - they felt more right." Her eyes wandered down towards Luna. "...but...I wanted to keep the old ones. Lulu - she, she doesn't remember, but...our mother gave us those names. Before she..." She trailed off.

"...She was a noble." She whispered, her voice a whisper. "I don't remember my father. He was busy a lot. When Luna was born, he...he was already gone." She glanced up at me and saw my somber expression. "No, not like that. I wish." She snorted. "He left. He left our mother alone. Mom was busy, but - but she cared for us. Made time for us. She was a diplomat. And there - there was this meeting. It didn't go right."

"A dragon followed her home. The shouting waked me up. She told me to take Luna and run - and I did, but...I could still smell it." She whispered. Her hooves were shaking. Trembling. I stretched a claw out towards her, desperate to soothe her - but she visibly recoiled, and I immediately retracted.

"I don't hate you, Tempest." She whispered. "I don't. But - but whenever I look at you, I..."

"...I see the dragon that ate my mother."

I thought Celestia was like me.
I was wrong. Celestia wasn't like me - she was stronger. If I saw the face that murdered my mother every time I looked at her, I-
I'd kill her.
...
I'd kill her.

Celestia cried that night, her face buried in her sister's mane.
If I had the ability to cry, I would have too.

I asked more about her vision the next night that Luna had dozed off.

"I was under the impression you knew." She spoke softly. After opening up to me, our relationship had improved a little bit. Every movement I made no longer made her flinch - no, flinching was reserved for physical contact. It was better than her roughly pulling away from me, and I was under no desire to push her. The fact that she could look at me without breaking down was more than I could ask for.

"Only vaguely." I shrugged. "He said he would buy time. I didn't exactly know what that meant."
"Buy time?" She tilted her head to the side. "Was that his exact wording?'
I shook my head.
"Ironic." She shut her eyes. "When - when I entered the throne room. There was this...pull. It was pulling at my horn, but it was reaching deeper than that into my soul. I tried to push it away, but it was strong. And then I wasn't with you anymore."

"It was a whirlpool. I was in the ocean - little dots of land surrounding the center. It was saturated. Like everything was so rich with magic that it was in the very air. I honestly can't describe it to you. You have to see it, but - there were colors. Colors I couldn't understand. And the pull wasn't in my horn anymore; it was in my chest. Like I was supposed to be in the whirlpool. I couldn't keep looking at it because it hurt to look at."

"I don't know what it was, Tempest. But some part of me knows that it's a heart—the heart of the world. And there was so much magic - recycling, regurgitated, repurified. He was there too." She grimaced.

"It's like...the whole world is a painting. And he's just wrong. Mismatched. Like, someone drew him on with a crayon. It's like he doesn't belong here. He - he was ugly."
"He is." I agreed. That seemed to lighten her mood a little bit, the faint glimmer of a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "It's worse in person. But you're stalling."

"I know." She whispered. "There was this big ball. Like a balloon. Red, pink, and yellow. Looking at it hurt my eyes. It was like some part of me knows that it's just wrong. I never want to look at something like that again." She said resolutely. "And then he threw it into the heart, and there was this - this shadow of him that followed. And then he laid down."

"Starswirl came a bit later. There was this - shimmering in the air. And Starswirl just came out of the blue. His horn was glowing; his eyes were glowing. They had a conversation - they traded words, snippy statements. And then Starswirl said - Don't let a Chronomancer stall for time."

"...I watched him die, tempest." Her voice was small, so small, so -
weak, lost, hollow-
"-He died for me-"
-she died for me-
"-and now-"
"I don't know what I'm doing." We spoke in unison.

I put a claw on her hoof.
For the first time, she didn't pull it away.

Elsewhere

Crack. Snap. Pop.

No, not cereal. Magic. Starswirl's cage was strong, my almighty was it strong - his work was always something of beauty. I hadn't had the chance to admire it since the age of Tambelon, but with my corporeal form trapped in an instance of time, I didn't quite have the desire to admire it.

He had chosen his time to strike perfectly. Only at his very best would Starswirl be able to trap me at my current power. But now he was a washed-up, old stallion. He had to give his very life to fuel the spell: and he had to wait until I was nearly drained dry of my power to strike. If I weren't on the receiving end, I'd almost be amused.

Almost.

Because I was in trouble, the second my cage snapped - and as I inspected the magic, it was going to snap soon, the escape would send me into freefall. And the Nexus would consume me. It would chew me up and spit me out as a swarm of chaos magic - and this would all be for nothing. I had this one chance to get this right, and it would be wasted. Glory would-

I had to get this right.

A good thing, then - that Starswirl's timing was perfect...but so was mine. It was nearly impossible to weave my magic with his, especially when I only had a fraction of a millisecond to cast a spell that would take any other being hours. But I was very good at the impossible. All I had to do was wait until my little surprise hit the world full-force: and the surge of chaos that would come through would give me enough strength to teleport away.

And then I'd have some clean-up duty to do. There was a certain drakon who was very overdue for a trip to the sun. No, that was too impersonal. Maybe I'd drag her broken, battered body across continents - watching as layers of scales peel off slowly and her flesh begins to slough off her body from friction. Mm...too boring.

It was good that I had all the time in the world to think about this.

I hated that I was able to recognize it before I heard it.

There was this stinging, at first. A shift, a twist in my stomach. My leg began to burn, and the mark of spirits was like a hot brand on my throat. I hated that I had felt this before; I hated the memories it brought - of utter powerlessness, of death. I hated that I was able to recognize the soft wrongness of chaos magic long before the crak-thoom echoed over the horizon with such power that it felt as if the world itself split in two.

It had been peaceful. Too peaceful. It was like the eye before the storm - there was too much time to travel, too much time to teach the sisters without Discord looming over my shoulder. I had felt something wrong building up, but I had hoped that there'd be more time. We were nearly there - just at the edge of the forest, within the view of a town.

My head shot up before I felt it. Celestia and Luna's head went up a few moments after mine as it hit us, my neck and hind leg beginning to burn with a familiar stinging. It felt like insects wriggling around on the inside of my scales, pushing at them and bulging the flesh - threatening to rip it as it itched and burned. Moments later, it was followed by an even stronger one - one so strong that I didn't even need any magical senses to see it. A wave of pink energy threw Celestia and Luna onto their back and caused the ground to crack underneath me as I tried desperately to hold my ground.

He was here. That was my first thought. My heart beginning to pound as my magic started to course through my horns - but the conflicting chaos magic in the air made my horns begin to burn with pain, and the spell fizzled out as quickly as it came. My fears quickly faded - but then worsened as the third, strongest wave hit. In its path, the world was turned to madness. The ground was flesh, blood, bone mixed with candy in a checkerboard pattern. The trees were gigantic, wiggling tendrils made of wood with branches that reached the sky that belched out smoke clouds shaped like butterflies. The world was chaos, madness - and it could only mean one thing.

Discord was free.

"T-T-T..." Luna stammered as she buried her face into her sister's chest, desperately trying to avoid looking at the madness around them. Celestia stared up at the sky fearfully - staring at the clouds that were swirling around in strange patterns, forming vaguely quadrupedal shapes that rammed into each other at high speed. This much chaos magic hurt to look at - I understood what Celestia meant now. The whole world was a canvas, but this was a different art style that had been messily stitched on. It looked wrong, it didn't quite have the right angles, it was fuzzy- it was chaos.

Not only that, Discord was looking for me. I could tell because of the burning on my throat - chaos magic pushing and rubbing against my neck, the mark of spirits glowing so brightly it illuminated whatever I was looking at that. So it could only mean that Discord wasn't just freed - but he was searching for me.

-prosr, creut- the teleportation spell fired off by instinct as one of the trees went smashing down towards me.

-burning, burning, burning-

the three of us exited the teleport nearly sixty meters away from where we entered. I grabbed onto both of them tightly and steadied them. Luna shaking like a fearful leaf. Celestia's head buried into the nook between my scales and Luna's neck - desperate for any warmth she could manage.

The rest of our trip would be the shortest, but it was by far the longest.

The details begin to blur together. Dodging the whipping tree-tendrils during the day: cowering among them with a blanket of illusion over us at night as chaos beasts lumbered around the woods. Not a peep uttered from any of us, out of fear that somewhere, somehow - Discord would hear. But my hands weren't idle this entire time. I wasn't quite content to sit back and do nothing as Discord wreaked havoc: no. I had to do something.

Weaving the spells came naturally to me. Unlike other spells, where I struggled to find the correct sequence of glyphs that I wanted - spells of the storm just made sense to me. I knew where to chain, how to configure, how to place. I quite literally had the affinity for it in every sense of the word. A drakon's name meant something, and I was determined to push myself to see just what I could do.

I had toyed around with the idea of Storm Grenades. Blending golemancy with storm magic to create the catalyst for a storm. But, at first, I couldn't quite get it working - until one night.

Luna's head pushed up into my neck. For once, Celestia had dozed off first. After that, it was dark - so dark that the only light was coming from the burning mark on my neck. I had torn the core of the golem out and placed it in the bag of holding and was using the clay from its body to form the outline for a storm grenade.

"What are you doing?" She whispered right into my ear, her breath warm on me. I glanced at her.
"I'm trying to make a storm. I can't get it to work." Not to bore Luna with the intricacies of magical theory - but this was by far the most complicated thing I had done. Physical components and magical components rarely played well together, and when they did - it was in specific circumstances. Physical casting magic, or magic controlling physical. But this was uncharted territory - a physical catalyst becoming magic. And weaving together that many spells in a physical space - it was hard, to say the least.

"Why not?" She rolled over onto her back.
"Shouldn't you be asleep?" I responded snippily.
"Shouldn't you?"
"I'm older."
"Cellie is too, and she's asleep."
I snorted lightly. "I suppose." I sighed. "...It's too complicated," I added. "I can have clouds, I can have lightning, I can have rain - but I can't have wind. So I have to chose which one to drop."
"...well..." Luna thought for a second. "...can't you just use two?"

...
Huh.

Luna dozed off soon after that. But as I mulled over her idea, the more sense it made to me. I didn't have to put every component of a storm in one: I could instead just imbue one physical component with one aspect of a storm, then activate them all. In fact - it might even be more powerful, considering I could dedicate the entire physical component to storing the spell instead of just an aspect of it.

When I say storing the spell - it stores the glyph sequence, engraved on its clay. The actual magic is still supplied by me, as clay has no ability to store magic. But it would save me the focus of using that many glyphs simultaneously - creating a storm took effort. A constant struggle, a drain on your attention to keep all the parts flowing. This? This would just take raw mana, and I had plenty to spare.

So as the Spirit of Sun and Spirit of Moon slept by me - I shaped clay into dozens of orbs as I started to create a storm.
The storm.
The Storm of the Century.

"Tempest." I was woken up abruptly by Celestia hissing my name right in my face - her eyes wide, wings flared. Luna was right by her, holding onto her so tightly it felt as if one of them might snap at any moment.
"Celestia?" I whispered. "What's happening?" I blinked a few times to lift the groggy daze of sleep away from my eyes.
"L-look." She pointed out with her hoof. She gripped Luna's head as if to still her gaze - but Luna's eyes followed, and then immediately she buried her face back into her sister's chest.

We were by a town. We knew this much - but there were equines in the town.
And there was a chaos beast, rampaging. It was quite like the monster I had fought at the gates of Gryphum - only twice as large. It was made from blackened bone, with translucent red sinew connecting its bone as its three-jointed legs ended in sharpened points. Everything it touched was coated in a pool of lashing, hissing, burning black sludge - and god, the corpses. Even from here, I could see piles of half-melted ponies, organs slewing out in a sick, stewing mess slick with blood.

"You have to help them." She said resolutely.
"I-I...we don't- we don't have-" we don't have time. We didn't. We had to get to Order as fast as possible. We had to end this as fast as possible. But - could I really leave innocents to die when I could do something about it?
Celestia chose for me.
"If you don't help them, I will. Discord be damned." She hissed and squeezed her sister in a hug.
"...Go," I whispered. I ran a hoof through her hair. "Take Lulu and run. I'll follow."
"W-what? I didn't mean - I didn't-"
"Celestia," I said resolutely. "I'll be right behind you." I glanced at the chaos beast. It was over ten times my size. I honestly wasn't sure if I could take it. "Go to Horseshoe Bay. I'll catch up. I promise."
"...You promise?" Luna whimpered, her voice weak and trembling.
"I promise." I lied. I exited the teleport before they had the chance to respond. I stood behind the ruins of a building - glancing for a moment to make sure that I saw the faint outline of a white and blue shape running towards the ocean.

Good. At least they'd live.

From my bag of holding, I pulled out a set of clay orbs. One for each aspect of a storm - the howling wind, biting hail, hissing lightning, and booming thunder. I had been up nearly all night preparing them - they weren't the best ones I had made, no, those would be reserved for another time.

More importantly - I imbued all of them with a single aspect. I channeled as much of my magic as I was willing to spare for the activation and channeled it into one concept.

Dos. It wasn't my specialty, so that the effect would be quite weak: but I focused on everything Ordered about my life and channeled that into my magic itself. Telekinesis sent the orbs sailing into the air - and a simple pulse of magic activated them.

Within instants, it began to rain. Within seconds, it began to pour. In ten - it was beginning to pour. More than that, clouds began surging out of the point of initialization. But they were infused - so infused with the idea of order that the rain that struck the ground began to purify it. Candy, flesh, and blood were turned back to sopping wet dirt and rock. If Discord had been here, actively maintaining this magic, then a spell-like that would have done nothing - but considering how widespread this influence was, he clearly wasn't doing it actively.

I exited a teleport right above the Chaos Beast as it looked up at the sky with a strange gaze, steam hissing through the air as it formed on contact with its bone. A radius around the Chaos Beast was unaffected by my order-infused rain: they were beings of such concentrated chaos that simply being around them reinforced the chaotic matrix that ran the distortion of the world.

I came hurtling down into it with the force of a lightning bolt. Literally, as I channeled Mys, Dos, Tesfyrd directly into its skull - a bolt of brilliant white lightning tearing from an orb above my horns as it struck its bony maw and rebounded off with a resounding boom. I didn't let up on my assault as it stumbled for its balance, grabbing onto its head and seeking to end this as quickly as I possibly could. Instead, I dug my claws into its head and let them burn with order-infused flame.

I began pulling in both directions, seeking to tear its head right down the middle. I didn't expect it to chitter and for my grasp to feel so weak-

Oh.

I exited the teleport with a section of the second Chaos Beast's leg still embedded in my chest, landing in a puddle of blood and flesh. It had come out of the blue - and more than that, it had come with friends. None were quite as big as the initial one, taking the form of wolves, spiders, scorpions - all sorts of feral animals. But now, instead of focusing on the Equines, every single Chaos Beast was focused on me.

I tore the sharpened point out of my chest and cast a spell of Reosr on myself. Unfortunately, the wound began to seal up forcefully and haphazardly - I didn't have an in-depth understanding of biology, so the mass of scar tissue and muscle that regrew did little more than keep my blood inside my body. On top of that, a section of the scale was missing and presented a rather prevalent weak spot to my attackers.

And the Equines were running. Not just from the Chaos Beasts that devoured them - but one look at me, one look at the storm, and they went running with a cry. "Storm-Demon!"

I was outnumbered—at least twelve to one.
I was going to die here.

...

No.
No.
No.

I had made a promise. I had made a promise. I was not going to die here. If I were to die, it would either be at Discord's hands or Death himself. Not to these - these...monsters. And besides. I wasn't the one who was outnumbered.

I had the storm on my side. The rain washed over me, cleaned my scales, and sent watery blood oozing and swirling down grates. The weak haze of order that hung in the air was a refreshing break from the constant stinging of chaos. I enjoyed it. I felt strong in this. And more than anything - I wanted to show it to my- to the sisters.

Fear. Dominance. Intimidation.
I planted my claws down into the ground. My throat glowed with magic as I let out an earth-shaking roar, the entire world seeming to tremble - and for a moment, it almost looked as if these monsters were afraid. But no - chaos beasts could not feel. And they proved this as they began to charge at me.

The biggest threat was the spindly-legged creature that was ten times my height, and its twin was nearly seventy percent it is mass. Their sharpened points had proved to be able to cleave through my scales nearly effortlessly - so as such, I had to conserve my magic for them alone. My mana was beginning to restore within the downpour of the storm, but conservation of it was still key if I wanted any chance of winning.

Two chaos wolves charged at me. I thought it was amusing that there were two of them - if there were three, then one would be able to be front and center. But this way, they were equal. They were equal as they died, too - I grabbed onto one's head and squeezed so tightly its eyes came popping out of its head. I smashed it down into the other so violently that it disintegrated, making sure to move my entire body with the motion - sliding across the impromptu battlefield with my motion. The second wolf I pinned down to the ground - and with a bloody rip I tore through its mouth, into its innards, and pulled its spine out of it. I couldn't threaten to have them regenerate, though, so I froze them with a spell of cyrd.

I narrowly dodged the sharpened point of a scorpion stinger slamming down into where I had been just a second ago. I didn't waste a moment - slamming my tail against the ground to whip the blade out and retaliating with my own fluid motion that sent the stinger, along with squirts of chaos venom to spray onto the floor. I grabbed onto the pincers of the scorpion that were nearly the same size as me each, disproportionately large compared to the rest of its body - and started to spread.

There was a bloody crack that made me wince as I split the claws right down the middle. Had these creatures had any sentience, I would've felt bad. But they were just magic. There was another scorpion, just as large as the other one - but a torrent of magical flame quickly cooked it alive.

The spiders were the worst. Just as big as the wolves, but there were six of them. And they jumped. As I stood in a pile of bodies, panting with physical exertion - a spider leaped at me from behind, so fast that the impact sent me stumbling back a little bit. My fingers dug into it and dug at my own face - tearing at my scales as I began scratching the spider into bloody bits, even as it sprayed its chaos fluid all into my mouth.

I filled my insides with fire and burned every drop of it out of my system. But there were more, they were swarming me, biting me -

Killing me. I summoned up every drop of my magic I had spare and cast a warspell. Thunderous Discharge came from me so forcefully that the sound alone lacerated the flesh of the spiders around me and sent them sprawling away from me. From there, it was a matter of stomping them - crushing them, tearing them apart.

I fell to the ground, panting, even as the spindlers approached me. I had taken out ten chaos beasts, at least - on an empty stomach, unprepared, and with a lack of sleep. I was proud of myself. Not that being proud of myself would do much before my imminent death. I glanced up at them, even as they approached me faster, and faster-

Mys, Cel. The force of the spell was so powerful that I could feel the glyphs used to formulate it even without actively casting my magical senses out. It was the force of the sun itself - a beam of solar energy so powerful that it tore through both spindlers and vaporized them instantaneously. Moreover, the solar energy parted the clouds themselves in the wake of the beam.

Celestia stood, her horn glowing and her hooves planted. Luna stood behind her - and I was thankful that rain had washed away the blood and organs. Celestia said something, and Luna looked afraid but at the same time in awe of her sister- but I couldn't hear it.

My vision began to blur, and I promptly passed out.

As I came back to a foggy consciousness, the first thing that I had felt was fear course through my body. Celestia had used magic. We were- we were...

Immediately, my fears were soothed by Celestia planting a hoof on my chest. Luna was asleep by my side - her face pushed tightly into my side, not an inch of room between the two of us. I blinked a few times as I glanced around and found that I was in a rather nice-looking building. "w...what..." I groaned, my throat feeling painfully dry. I could taste my own blood.

Celestia levitated - levitated a glass of water up to me. I drank the entire thing before I fell into a coughing fit. "m-magic," I managed to groan out.
"He wasn't near. I - I can't explain to you how I know. But he wasn't. But he's...coming."
"Where?"
"We're in the town hall. You're safe." I immediately relaxed.
"...I didn't know you could do that." I wheezed out.
"I didn't, either." She admitted. "I didn't know you could make it rain."
"I didn't, either.' I admitted. I smiled lightly.

"...But...it's not changing back." She glanced through a window. I wasn't quite at the angle to look through the window, but I could extrapolate her meaning from the limited information I had. The landscape itself wasn't changing back to its "default" chaotic state. It was staying as it should be - ordered. And Discord was going to notice.

"I can make more," I suggested. "Spread them out. Make him search longer." I glanced down at Luna on my chest.
"...You would've died." She said softly. "If I hadn't helped. Wouldn't you?"
I thought for a moment. "I-"
"Don't lie." Luna growled from my chest. Hadn't she been asleep a moment ago?
"...I would've." I nodded. I turned my gaze from both of them. I didn't want to look her in the eye - see that pained look in them.
"You lied. You said you'd be right behind us." Luna whimpered. She pushed her hoof down on my chest. "I'm young. I'm not dumb." There was so much pain in her voice that it hurt to listen. I was silent for a moment.

"...That makes one of us," I said. Celestia's head snapped up as she stared at me, having caught the implication quicker than her sister. Luna thought on my words for a moment before she snorted.
Then giggled.
Then cackled. And Celestia's look of surprise that I had called both me and her dumb gave way to a slightly amused expression.
"I just didn't want to scare you," I whispered. I slowly ran my claws through her mane, taking care not to cut her.
"You did." She whispered in kind. "We don't have auntie. We don't have Starswirl. Please don't go too."
"I'll try my hardest." I tilted my head up and stared at the ceiling.

After a minute, I slowly stood up - letting Luna clatter to the ground with a soft thoof. "...How'd you get me in here?" I stared down at Celestia.
"I levitated you," the filly an eighth of my size said.
"Huh," I spoke weakly. Spirits are scary.

Three more days of traveling, after that. I dedicated every waking moment of my time to creating more and more storm-orbs: I couldn't run the slightest risk that Discord could find where we were. So during the night, I activated them and sent them sprawling into the atmosphere as far as I could - even having Celestia and Luna throw them as far as they could. It was a fun little game to entertain the children.

The entire surface that the storms covered were covered in a low-level dispellment aura. Unfortunately, it had the unfortunate side effect of attracting the chaos beasts - leading to them following wherever the rains went, but the fortunate side effect of destroying chaos magic. So there were huge swaths of land that were bastions of order in a sea of chaos - although, considering how drenched they were...maybe they were seas of order in a bastion of chaos.

I moved while the two rested, carrying them in my arms. And as I stood by the hill that overlooked Horseshoe Bay - up in the sky, I saw a faint squiggly line amidst the darkness break through a layer of clouds and zip overhead. It moved fast - so fast. So fast.

Discord was looking for us. Not only that, but he was in the area - he knew why we were here. Undoubtedly.

We had to be quick. I let out a breath that I didn't realize I had been holding and exited a teleport - right at the edge of Horseshoe Bay. I let out a soft gasp as I finally was struck by the realization - that I was here. Finally. We had arrived.

My excitement was only slightly quelled as a noose of water tied around my throat and whips curled around my arms and legs - stretching me out with such force that even I couldn't move. I gasped and strained, and the two Spirits dropped from my arms. There were shapes amidst the darkness - moving through the beach, and I heard faint whispers.

"-storm queen-"
"herald of discord-"
"the children, look at the children-"

With a violent roar, I yanked on the water bindings that held me. Two of the shapes went flying towards each other, and I grabbed onto them with my claws. I then let out a gasp as I saw what I was looking at - seaponies. Long, strange, and slightly translucent creatures - amulets around their neck that kept them in a transmogrified state so they could walk upon the land.

"Wait!" I hissed out but was drowned out as jets of water began sliding down my mouth and into my nose - threatening to fill my lungs. I could easily fill my insides with fire and vaporize it - but I would risk burning the seaponies in my grasp. I was fine killing chaos beasts; I was fine hunting - I had even justified eating the dead.

But a sapient creature? No. I couldn't justify that. I threw them away from my grasp and stumbled backward as I gurgled on the water, trying to call up my magic-
"Stop!" Luna shrieked, and she spoke with the force of the moon. I was afraid that she had used magic - but thankfully, her horn hadn't glowed in the slightest. Immediately, the water was pulled out of my mouth and sent hacking onto the ground.

"Spirit of Moon, Spirit of Sun." A seapony spoke as she stepped forward. "Why do you impede our assault on the Herald of Discord?"
"Herald?" I hissed.
"The White Drake." The seapony explained with an even gaze, water slowly swirling around her - ready to lash out at a moment's notice. "Storms follow in her wake. The beasts follow in the wake of the storms. The trickster follows behind that."
"That's - that's just-"
"-a misunderstanding," Celestia interjected for me. "Tempest is working against Discord. We came here - looking for Order."

The seaponies glanced at each other.
"Order?" The lead one tilted her head to the side. "I am sorry, but - he is not here." There was a slight pause, though - she was hiding something.
"Uh-uh!" Luna spoke for me. "I saw it. And I know it was true. Order is in the ocean, and he's there." She pointed at the water.
"If you aren't going to help us - then step aside," I growled, adding a bit of magic to my tone to make it deeper - more gravelly. I was rather upset, considering they had tried to drown me. "We'll find him ourselves."

"You'll drown." She sharply interjected. "No land-dwellers magic can survive in the depth at which Order resides."
"So he is here. Why lie? You must have no love for Discord." Celestia stepped forward. This steel in her voice made me shiver slightly.
"He- he threatened us. We must defend it with our lives, or...or he'll destroy our kingdom. I am sorry, Sun and Moon - but I cannot let you pass." The seapony let out a soft sigh.
"He'll destroy your kingdom the second he thinks he doesn't need you anymore. You understand that, right?" I growled and stepped forward - keeping myself low to the ground and pushing my snout into her face. Considering our size difference and my draconic heritage, I respected that she didn't so much as flinch.

"Be that as it may - I will not have that on my conscience." She whispered. "I am a good soldier."
"We're here to free Order. We'll kill Discord. You'll save your kingdom-"
"-a, gamble I'm not willing to take-"

"Then I'll take it." Another of the three seaponies interjected. He promptly rushed over to us.
"Private-"
"No, captain." The private growled. "They're right - and you know they're right. You're blindly trusting the words of the trickster when it's in his name. The Trickster. You can't-"

Water swirled around the captain as she stepped closer towards the private. "I can, and I will, and you cannot stop me."
The private stumbled backward.
"No," I growled softly, "but I think I could." I let a small exhale of steam rise from my nostrils. It burned on the way up, but a display of intimidation was more than worth it.
"As can I." The third seapony stepped out of the shadows. "You're wrong, Captain. You know you're wrong. I don't understand why you're putting this up to a fight-"

"Because of my daughter!" She hissed. "He turned my daughter into a monster that guards Order, and you're going to have to kill her to get through!" She stomped her foot. "I- I can't let you. I'm sorry, but I-"

"We won't kill her," I said resolutely. "I promise."
The captain snarled and stepped right up into my face. "You're lying."
"I swear on the soul of my mother, Pulsera. I will not kill your daughter." I stepped forward. There was a tense silence for a second - before her shoulders sagged.

"No land-dweller magic can survive. But- can your magic?" I had caught the rather obvious implication from the captain's words.
The captain nodded weakly. "We can take you."

A wave of blue mana washed over the three of us - and like that, we found ourselves able to breathe and see in the water. As we waded through the waves, lead by the Captain and her entourage - the expected cold or warmth of the water was gone, replace with this feeling of...push. This push - well, pushing against us, reminding us of our location in the ocean at all times. It's one of those things you can't really explain without experiencing it - how could you explain seeing to the blind, after all?

Seeing in the water was a strange experience. It was as if I was looking through a foggy pane of glass - the details there, but not quite as powerful as they once were. Breathing was a challenge of the instincts yourself - at first, you felt the desire to hold your breath...but as the burning set in, and you were forced to hack for air with a pounding heart, the water filled your lungs the same way oxygen did, and the burn began to fade.

Bioluminescent flora and fauna thrummed in the abyss at the corner of our vision. Vibrant, saturated colors - swirls of saccharine red, mystic purple, and chaotic yellow rising as disturbances in the water. Celestia and Luna were pushed against me - wings nearly locked against their body as they squeezed me so tight my scales felt as if they might crack if they were any weaker.

The water began to darken as the sun's rays began to fade - and the only light was the soft aforementioned pulsing of bioluminescence.

"We can take you no further." The captain spoke. "My daughter is down below. Past her, Order lays chained. Please - please." She whispered. Beyond a capability to say what she meant - reduced to just that one word. Please. I nodded. "I'll bring her back to you." The seaponies began to swim up - and we were left in the abyss.

"Tempest?" Luna whispered.
"Yes, Lulu?" I adjusted the flower on her mane.
"I'm scared." She whispered. Celestia pushed against me, and I knew she was too.
"...I know. I am too."
"But...I thought you were brave. How...how do I..." Luna trailed off.
"Bravery isn't not being afraid. If you aren't afraid of Discord, then you're a fool. Bravery is knowing that you're afraid and doing it regardless."
Luna shut her eyes for a moment. When they opened, she had steeled herself - as much as a six-year-old could. I glanced at Celestia. And then there was this bubbling-

I threw Celestia to the side as roughly as I could and only narrowly managed to grab onto the mouth of the serpent. The gigantic, coiled sea-serpents teeth were all needle-like and long - each one the length of my head. On top of that, they were sharp, and they grazed against my scales. The sea-serpent was pitch black, a coiled and wriggled mass the size of my mother that looked less like it was covered in black scales and more like an absence of light the water. Luna let out a shriek, and Celestia flailed to regain herself.

This thing was huge. For once - I don't think that I had the physical advantage. That much was proven true as I struggled with all of my physical might to keep its colossal jaws open - but they slowly began to sink into me, and the dagger-like teeth scratched at my scales.

A good thing, then, that I had magic. The spell Starswirl taught me, Body Movement and Strength, flowed over me as I cast it as a tight-woven net around myself. And immediately, the tables began to turn as I threw its mouth open with such force that it physically recoiled - only to slap me across the side with its tail so fast that the water bubbled with heat in its path. I let out a yelp and flailed to steady myself. Even with an enhancement spell - I hadn't so much as glimpsed the tail-lash coming. There was a sharp scratch across my scales.

My horns began to glow - but slowly, the stinging of the chaos magic pushed against my horns and caused my spell to fizzle out. The serpent lunged forward and bit down around my midsection. A shriek of pain tore from my mouth, but I didn't waste the opportunity to act - spinning around and grabbing tightly onto its head. My claws began pushing down into its neck, threatening to draw blood. I turned to look at Luna. I opened my mouth - but I couldn't find the right word as the needles began to push through my scales like butter.

A good thing that Celestia intervened when she did, or the bite would've struck my heart. A beam of solar energy came tearing from her horns - illuminating the entire abyss in a vibrant light that caused the sea-serpent to hiss and recoil. I cursed internally. There was no way Discord hadn't felt that. None. A good thing that we were so close to Order.

The serpent pulled its teeth from my chest with a healthy pool of my own blood following in its wake. I let out a soft hiss - I was a drakon. I would not be left embarrassed by some serpent.

Luna followed up with her own blast. Unlike her sisters - a radiant mass of heat and light that hurt to look at, Luna's was a swirling bolt of energy that drew your attention in - but it was sharpened to a point and carved through the water with deadly intent. Mys, Lun. The sea-serpent only managed to dodge a fatal blow narrowly.

"No!" I hissed out. "Don't- don't kill it!" Luna recoiled from my words. I winced at her reaction, but I had made a promise -

The tail slapped against my face, and then the sea-serpent changed course. Instead of lunging towards me, it lunged towards Celestia. Maw outstretched, aimed at delicate flesh-

-creut, the teleport fired off - an inch too late. The ocean weighed down on me - my bones feeling heavy, as the coiling muscle of the serpent twined itself around me like a rope. Its teeth sunk into my neck, and lifeblood began to drain out of me - my vision began to blur.

And then there was heat. I blinked the haze of blood out of my gaze. No - it wasn't my blood. That was pooling up and rising to the surface. This was the blood of something else - it was the blood of the sea serpent that Celestia had just vaporized.

Her horn glowed with righteous fury, but her eyes were wide and shocked - only its top half had been targeted, fragments of bone beginning to drift down to the bottom of the ocean as a mess of limbs and a slough of watery blood and organs drooped out onto the abyssal floor.

"I- I didn't-" Celestia whispered. I had never seen her so terrified - not of me, not of something else - but of herself.
"You did- what...you had to." I wheezed as the wound in my neck made it hard to speak. Thankfully, it had avoided my major vitals.

Celestia buried her face into my chest. "I never want to do that again." She whispered. Such pain in her voice, and Luna was there too - wiggling her snout right into her sister's fluff.
"You won't have to," I whispered. "It's going to be over soon."

I turned to Luna with a soft groan. "Where - do you know where he is?"
"Deeper." She managed to whisper. "Can - can I stay here? I don't...I don't want to..."
I glanced at Celestia. "Okay." I winced and rolled my arm experimentally. "Stay here." And with that, I dove down into the depth of the water.

It must have been minutes, at most. But it felt like hours - each inch deeper, time beginning to distort and - for lack of a better term, wriggle. The pressure of the ocean had been mitigated by the spell of the seaponies, but now I could feel every inch of it weighing down on my skeleton. More than that, though - there was something searching. A consciousness that moved through the waters, brushing up against whatever it could, until it found mine.

It inspected me. There was no other way to put it; it peeled me like an onion as it inspected every inch of my magic, every inch of my memory, every inch of my very being. It was uncomfortable, it was humiliating - but despite that, I pushed through deeper until I saw a faint glimmer of light in the distance.

Order wasn't like the other spirits. He was the slowest to change - for he was a force of primordia. A remnant of the very power that created the world, and he carried that authority with him in all things he did. It was less like he was a mortal ascended to divinity - but more so that he was divinity incarnate. And as I saw him: this was reflected in his appearance. He was larger than any alicorn, only a head shorter than me. His body was gray and metallic, save for his eyes - piercing orbs of white light that stared into my very soul. Power radiated from him, the power of an essential spirit. More power than I had felt from Starswirl, from Gryphum - from both the Sisters.

Order spoke. It wasn't with words - but more-so with thoughts. Feelings, emotions, meanings. He spoke directly into my mind - and his sentences were absolute. There was a force behind them that gave no room to wiggle. He didn't say, he didn't ask - he just spoke, and what he spoke was truth.

To convey what we spoke in words would do a disservice to the mode of communication. It was more than that - Order communicated everything to me. His rage at his helplessness in the face of Discord, and the growing lack of Order in Liogella. His fury at his discovery of Discord's plans - and most of all, his distraught in his inability to do anything. Discord had chosen this place for a reason: if Order was freed, he would be so weak that Discord could either kill him at best, or bind him again at worst.

Order was no help. But he gave me an offer - and I knew I heard the first words Order audibly spoke in centuries.
"Air. Chaos. Order. Light. " My affinity, but with something attached to it - with Order attached to it. Order was offering himself. All of his magic, taken into me. The ability to repel Discord, to fight back: and to allow the Spirit of Order to reconstitute himself in a different location.

That was communicated through more than just the four words. There was this - this pressure behind them, for lack of a better explanation. One that guided my mind into the same thought patterns as Order, the same logic.

I did the only thing I could, and accepted. Order's eyes pulsed, and my soul began to burn-

I see the world.
The hateful serpent, lying in wait.
The alicorn underneath the churning waves.
The cowardly king who saw that face of death.
The ancient wizard, long past his prime. It burned, it hurt, it broke - energy coursed through me so violently that lightning-like webs of cracks began to spread over my scales. It threatened to consume me as it pulsed out of me - a pulsing in my chest, beyond my chest, in my soul-

Two fillies lost in a world.

The pain melted away as I began to force Order's magic in-line with mine. I focused solely on that - allowing everything else to fade away. My entire world shrank down to the point of a pinprick as Order's magic threatened to consume me. I focused on them. The pain was gone - a swirling nexus of magic drinking up the water around me. I felt strong. I felt-

Ordered.

I exited the teleportation with the two fillies in claw. They looked scared at first - but relaxed once they saw me, then paled as they felt the energy course from me. It was intense, it was burning and desperate for release: my mortal body was beginning to fade away, and if I had been anything less than a drakon I would've been blown away to ash.

It hurt. But it felt good. I felt strong.

Yet, the slow-clap of paw against talon still cut through my excitement.

"Tempest Pulseradottir." The words came like slime from his mouth. He was horrific - hovering a few dozen feet above us, his wicked form illuminated by firelight. Firelight? A cursory glance around the beach showed the signs of destruction - the seaponies body mutilated, torn apart in ways that I could barely comprehend.

"You really are something, aren't you?" He teleported down with a pop. Celestia and Luna stared at him with a look of horror, and I shifted them behind me even as Order's magic broke through my scales and began to burst through my skin.

"You're almost beautiful," he whispered, and my skin crawled. "Legs of chaos. A soul of order. Throat of air. You're an amalgamation Tempest, just like me. Maybe - in another life, you could've been something good. But you have to die." He spoke coldly, and coiled through the air with a sickeningly fluid motion.

I could sense his power. He was strong - so strong. Even pushed to my very limit, my soul stuffed with so much magic that my physical form was threatening to decay...and I doubted I could do anything more than stall him. But there was something wrong. He was slow, he was on edge - he wasn't springing up chaos into the air.

He was scared.

"And so do they." He snapped his fingers. There was a cracking noise as the Spirit of Chaos overpowered both the infantile Spirit of Moon and Spirit of Sun, grabbing onto their necks so tightly that their flesh began to bruise. Their horns began to glow - but chaos magic in its purest form snuffed their glow out. Their wings flared, their bodies wriggled - but there was nothing they could do.

They were going to die. And I had nothing that could stop him.
No, a voice that was assuredly not mine agreed, you cannot.

And there was a thrum - a pulse of something in my mind, and my throat began to glow-

A torrent of order-infused flame burst from my throat. It came with such violence that I felt that if I had not opened my mouth, the flames would've simply carved through the inside. Discord didn't have a chance to dodge as the flames washed over him, burning him -

and when the flames settled, Discord was left intact. With ash in his hand. He looked shocked. He was silent for a few moments -

and then he began to laugh. He began to laugh maddeningly. He threw his head back, he lounged back in mid-air as laughter so violent blood began to ooze from his throat echoed from him. It sounded multi-layered; like it was the laugh of a thousand creatures rather than the laugh of one.

"You killed them!" He shrieked out with laughter. "You killed the one thing that could hurt me, and did nothing to me! My oh my, Tempest. Had I known you were so violent - I would've waited until you've done my work yourself."

"But now you're going to die, Tempest." His voice dropped from manic laughter to ice-cold malice. "And you're going to die-" I decided he talked to much, and didn't give him the chance to strike first.

I exited the teleport behind him and struck him with a simple bolt of Mys, Fres, Dos. Evidently, he hadn't been expecting it - since instead of noticing my teleport like usual, he had barely even spun around as my bolt struck him in the chest. He was sent sprawling, steam rising from his chest - but he didn't wait for a moment, teleporting right to my side and seeking to end this as fast as possible. His teeth snapped down where my neck had been only moments ago - but I had dodged instinctually.

Advantages. Superior strength. Me.
Disadvantages. Inferior magic. Lack of experience.

Was - was this Order? The manifestation of his magic still speaking in my head, guiding me what to do?
Focus. His words snapped me away from my thoughts, and I immediately lunged out with my tail - stabbing it right into Discord's chest. It sunk into his flesh like it was candy, which it was. Unlike the rest of me, my tail-blade wasn't infused with order magic, and so he could toy with it and defend against the rest of it. He tore Drael's armor off me with a pulse of chaos magic, and infused the very air itself with a surge of raw force. I wrestled the spell from his control with ease - he hadn't expected me to be able to do as such with Order's magic. Instead of cancelling it though, I increased it's strength.

An explosion of air sent both of us sprawling backwards. I fared a little better through my scales. I heard a bloody crunch come from Discord as he caught himself mid-air, his body beginning to pull itself back together messily. I exited a teleport behind him, planting my claws down and staring at him.

No small-talk. That was the surprising part. Even when he had been fighting Bellum, he had gone for these tricks and snark - snippy spells, unique methods of deflection. But against me, now? It was just brute force. His intent was to kill me, and to do it as fast as possible.

And even with a magical pool over ten times my usual size due to Order, I wouldn't stand a chance.

I narrowly dodged the sand itself bursting into flame and forming an inferno of razor-sharp glass like the one that had torn Bellum's scales apart. I exited a teleport by his side. It was a good thing, then - that I wasn't supposed to stand a chance. All I had to do was buy time.

I glanced at the leylines. Discord hadn't noticed, he hadn't noticed that there wasn't as much ash as there should be, he hadn't noticed that their magic hadn't faded - and maybe if I kept him busy for a few more minutes, he wouldn't notice that the leyline I had sent them through was still saturated with their magic.

He teleported in close, and slashed his claw straight at my face. I instinctually tried to dodge - but something else took hold over me, and with speed I didn't know I possessed I grabbed onto his claw and squeezed. And Discord looked surprised. I took advantage of this moment and grabbed onto his other claw, pinning him down and shifting my weight awkwardly so I could plant a foot on his stomach.

I pinned down the god of chaos underneath my weight. He wriggled like an eel- slippery, biting, snapping and trying to get free - but I wouldn't let him. There was something feral in his eyes - but that began to fade, as he remembered just how much magic he had.

It wasn't fair.
It was simple subtraction.
A thousand minus ten. I was the ten. He was the thousand. Chaos magic surged into me, breaking away my added boost of magic - until it just got to my very core. Until it got to the Air. Chaos. Light.

I was going to die here, I realized. He was overpowering my hold. I couldn't - I didn't have the energy to teleport away without him following and turning me into a boiling soup of organs. It wasn't fair.

A spell. Some part of me whispered. I wasn't sure if it was Order or me, but I agreed. There was - there had to be some spell. Some spell that could do something. It hurt, it hurt like hell - but there was a soft sigh of resignment as Order took the pain onto his part of my consciousness. Allowing me to focus.

It was strange, watching my body decay. Watching my scales turn to ash and my flesh beginning to burn as webs of order and chaos magic threatened to burst my cells individually. I had milliseconds. No, I had less than that- I needed a spell. I needed to formulate a spell. I needed - I needed a glyph. One glyph.

One glyph. My entire soul. My entire life. My entire magic. My entire mind - most important of all, them. I poured it all, I put everything into one glyph - a surge of something in my chest, a howling filling the air -

Tesrun.

And then oblivion, as Discord killed me.

-

[12] Cellun

Cellun

This was Wrath.

Onosecond.

It's the moment of realization. The moment that you realize there's no turning back - the pit of dread like a ball of ice growing in your chest and sinking into your stomach. It's your arms and legs feeling so heavy that you can barely move them as your blood turns to sludge in your veins.

The beam strikes—the water bubbles. There's so much heat pushed into such a small space - it's nearly blinding. It would've been blinding if I was anyone but who I was. Nearby - fish begin to bubble and burn from the inside out as they're exposed to more light, more heat than they ever have been in their entire life in a fraction of a second.

I had aimed at the head. It was meant to be painless. Fast. But under the currents - with the water weighing down on you...it's different. It's harder to aim, harder to orient yourself. Scale was melted into a thin string of atoms. Skin burned away to reveal blood and muscle, which burned and tore as sinew and fat was reduced into nothing more than swirls of ash and blood. Bones broke under infinite power, and a heart beat for its last time.

The blood begins to pool up.

I'm back here again.

It's not the first time. It's not the last time, most likely. The dry, metallic scent stings the inside of my nostrils and burns like a gentle flame that's anything but gentle. I can't help but realize just how dry my mouth and throat feel right now, and my tongue feels heavy and strange in my mouth. It's seared into my brain - how the joints aren't quite bending how they're supposed to, things aren't where they're supposed to be...and worst of all, there's so much blood. My mother's horn is sunken too deep into her skull, and the only noise I hear apart from Luna's soft crying is the dripping of the still-wet blood...and the soft growling of the dragon that stands over her body.

Usually, it's a dragon.
Sometimes it's Tempest.
This time - it's neither.
She's staring back at me. Her horn is glowing. Her maw is dripping. She looks so angry.
This time - it's me.

Fear.

My heart pounds so violently in my chest I feel as if it might burst. My arms and legs are stiff, and I find that I can't quite move them as I take in all of him - his not-quite-euclidean coils and loops. The way he blurs and stains against the fabric of reality, and I find myself disgusted. I can't help but be aware of my body in a way that I never have before. Every cell fills with flame, every drop of blood and every iota of magic I have turns to sludge.

Claws press into my throat. I try to scream. I can't.

The flame strikes—the air bubbles. There's pain - a sharp pain, much sharper than what I'm used to. And everything melts away in a torrent of power. It's a leyline - an artery of the world itself, moving magic so violently that everything else begins to...blur. I'm no stranger to power since my ascension. But this isn't like the power I'm used to. It isn't the warmth that swells up in my chest, the confidence that makes me hang my head high. But this is something else.

It hurts. It's primal - untapped, uncontrolled, unstoppable. My flesh that isn't really flesh begins to burst and reform; my muscles begin to burn, stretch and snap. It hurts. It hurts in a way that I've never felt before. But I have no mouth with which to scream, no voice with which to cry out. Some part of me starts to reach out on instinct - trying to stop all this infinite power.

I feel her. I can't tell if my sister is inches from me or miles from me - in the face of this power, there's no real way to discern distance. But she's there. And I don't care what power there is. Right now - my sister is hurting, and I need to help her.

Hooves that aren't hooves curl around her. I pull all of myself into one and pull all of her into two, and I squeeze so tightly that I feel as if one of us might burst. And my horn begins to glow -

We come bursting out into reality in a forest - the air hissing, warping, distorting with a pop that's much more violent than what I'm used to. Hurtling through the sky like a meteor, both my wings and Luna's snapping out to steady us. Luna can fly - but I can't. I can't so much as glide. It's because of me - we're a tangle of hooves and limbs, and we can't break away fast enough. Pegasi instincts try to kick in, but my familial instincts override that.

I right myself and spin around - Luna will land on me, and I'll land on the floor. I'll take the brunt of the force - twigs scratch at the two of us, get stuck in our hair, lash at our cheeks...and a rock digs itself right into my side.

I'm back here again.

But it's different.

It's not the first time. It's not the last time. The dry, metallic scent stings the inside of my nostrils and burns like a gentle flame that's anything but gentle. I can't help but realize just how dry my mouth and throat feel right now, and my tongue feels heavy and strange in my mouth. Her claws are stretched out in a way they're not supposed to be. Her limbs are pulled out in a stretch that's much too long, her eyes are dim, and her mouth is open far too wide. There's a semblance of life in them, but it's beginning to fade, and Tempest can't do much more than a whimper.

Usually, it's a dragon.
Sometimes, it's Tempest.
Last time, it was me.
This time - it's him.

The only noise I hear is his laughter.

My eyes crack open. I see the world through a hazy film - my eyes are wet and dry simultaneously, and the side of my body burns. Luna is pushing at my chest, her soft weeping echoing throughout the darkness of the grove we're in. We're only ever so faintly illuminated by the thinnest cracks of moonlight peaking through the roof of the forest. She can't see the blood, thankfully. But she can smell it. And I can feel it - I landed funny. The rock's pierced my side, drawn too much blood. So much as a twitch causes my wings and hooves to twitch with pain.

"C-Celestia...not you...not - not you." My heart begins to crack.
"Luna?" I wheeze out with a cough. "I'm here, Lulu. I'm here." I can hear her relief. A soft little gasp - the fluttering of her wings as she pushed her face right into the crest of my neck. My coat is more like fluff than hair now, and Lulu's face sinks right into a little poof of white fluff right on my chest. I can faintly see the two of us - blue hair messy and haphazard, my pink mane hard and dry.
"Cellie..." She sobbed brokenly. I curled my arms tightly around her. "Sh-she's...gone, and I thought - I thought you were too..."
"I'm never going to leave you, Luna," I whispered. "I never will. I promise."
"So did she!" Luna cried out. "And - and she's gone!" I couldn't see her move, but I could feel it. Her hoof was prodding, patting at the place where her flower had used to be. Tempest had given her that flower - and she loved it. She constantly adjusted it, checked for it. But evidently - it hadn't come with us in whatever Tempest did to us.

Oh, Luna. My heart. I wish - I wish that I could curl my arms around you and tell you everything was going to be okay and mean it. I wish I could wrap my wings around you and squeeze and shield you from the rest of the world. I wish that we could wake up - and Auntie was there, Starswirl was there, Tempest was there, Discord was gone, and it was all just a bad dream. I wish I could tell you these things and mean it.

I can do half of it, at least.

"She's not, Luna." I lied. And I'm thankful for the darkness - I'm thankful that she can't see my face and how I can't quite find the strength to meet where her eyes are.

"But - but..."
"She's survived three times. So what's a fourth?"
"...do you really think...do you really think she's...she's safe?" Luna whispered.

My broken heart shattered.
"Yes," I lied.

I wasn't sure who I was lying to.

You'd be surprised how easy it was to sleep with a rock in your side. You'd be less surprised at how much it hurt in the morning as the early dawn's sun began to brush against my face like a familiar friend.

Luna was cuddled up right next to me. The two of us were a mess - covered in grime, scratches, dirt and a rather unhealthy heaping of my own blood. It had dried by now, but a rather large rock had been awkwardly shoved into my side. Surprisingly - maybe just in a state of shock, I couldn't really feel it.

It didn't make looking at it less freaky. I planted my hooves down as I began to hyperventilate - then steadied myself as my sister stirred ever so slightly. I had to be strong. For Luna. I couldn't - I couldn't show her that I was afraid. I couldn't show her how broken I was. I had to be like Starswirl - no. I had to be like Tempest.

With a bloody rip, I tore myself free from the rock and stifled a scream. The rock was completely drenched in my own blood, and a torrent of it began to ooze from my flesh. I stumbled backwards blindly - but slowly, before my very eyes, as the sunlight struck my side...my flesh began to knit back together. Red knots of muscle curled around each other to form thick fibres covered by a thin sheet of skin and a thick fluff coat. The entire process itched more than hurt, and watching it was nauseating.

I didn't have anything to throw up. I found myself leaned over by a tree, dry-heaving as spittle, and what little fluid I did have inside me was forced out of my body. My hoof planted itself into the tree so hard I felt the wood beginning to crack - until I felt a glimmer of something.

I glanced around and finally realized how strange our locale was. Considering it wasn't strange. After that wave had struck, everything had been weird. The ground was fleshy and sweet; the trees wriggled and writhed and tried to hurt us. But here? Everything was normal. Like in one of Tempest's storms - but without the rain that signalled it. And the second the rain stopped...the chaos reclaimed its territory.

We were still in Equestria, though. Just looking at the sky could tell me that. Looking at the sky filled me with some anger - the sun and moon were wrong. They were both in the sky at the same time, moving around in patterns that they weren't supposed to. Moving too fast. It wasn't natural. My horn started to glow- and immediately, I snuffed out the glow and cursed myself as I realized that Discord would undoubtedly be searching for us.

I glanced around our surroundings. Luna slowly began to stir, her back and wings stretching out as she tilted her head up and let out a rather fearsome yawn. Despite myself, I couldn't help but giggle.

Luna's head turned towards me - and immediately, her eyes widened as she saw my side, covered in blood. Her eyes began to grow wet. "C-Cel-"
"I'm fine, Lulu," I interjected. "I promise. Really." I turned to brandish my freshly-healed coat to her. "It's just itchy." I stuck my tongue out at her but couldn't quite meet her in the eyes.
"Are you sure? It looks bad." She frowned and ran her hoof over my side. I shivered lightly at her touch - her hoof was cold, and it was still a bit sore.
"I'm sure." I insisted. "I don't know where we are, though. We're - we're far. I can't feel him nearby." I couldn't really explain it to Tempest, but I knew Luna understood. Whenever Discord was nearby - I could feel a faint crawling on the back of my neck. Like that feeling you had when someone was watching for you. "However, he's looking for us. I'm sure of it."
"...Cellie...what do we do?" Luna frowned and looked up at me. "Tempest was - she was leading us. She knew what to do."

She did, didn't she? She thought she was just as much of a mess as me. Just as clueless. But at least she had an idea - a direction. She was smart, and what I'd give for her to point me in the right direction right now for the next step.

...Maybe she could, though. I still remembered something she had told Luna and me.

"Harmony," I whispered. "We have to find Harmony." I glanced around the surroundings. And I had an idea of where to start -it was obvious.

Tempest had sent us here.
Harmony was a tree.
Harmony fought Discord.
We were in a forest.
The forest was safe from Discord's influence, somehow.

"...And I think she's nearby," I said softly.
"How do you know?" Luna tilted her head to the side. She was calmer now - her eyes were still a bit red from crying, she wasn't trembling quite so much. She was just confused. Just lost. Like me.
Oh, Luna.
"Trust me?" I said weakly. I reached out and put a hoof on her shoulder.
Luna squinted at me with that squint that only children who know when something is up but don't quite know what's up can give. "...Okay." She frowned.

I slowly ran my hoof through her hair, beginning to fix her messy strands of hair. My mother had done it to me, and so I would do it to her. A light amount of pressure, keeping her head steady - keeping her fixed and orderly. Oh, Luna. So lovely. You deserved better than this. Better than me.

My self-pity was interrupted by a slight rustling. My ears perked up, and I turned my head - only to see glimmering chains curl around me and yank me tight around a tree. I let out a frantic gasp as my horn lit up on instinct - but I immediately overpowered that and snuffed the glow out. I started tugging at the slightly translucent chains in an attempt to break them, pushing at the tree and tugging at it. But every movement I made only caused the chains to sink deeper into my flesh until it began to bruise and break.

The sun only made it worse. My flesh tore and ripped, and blood oozed out - then the sunlight caused it to heal. And rip again. And heal, and rip again. My body writhed as I managed just barely to grip onto the chain that curled around my throat and pull it enough to whisper - "Luna. Run."

Luna said something. I couldn't hear it over the pounding in my ears - the throbbing in my chest as blood oozed from my wounds. Oh god it hurt. It hurt like nothing I had ever felt before - I just wanted to cry and curl up into a ball and hide, but the chains just squeezed tighter and tighter and tighter- and I knew I was going to die.

I cried out for my mother.
My sister answered my cry.

A bolt of brilliant blue magic tore right through the links of the chains. It carved through the tree and only narrowly missed my neck - some bits of my fur falling to the ground. Then, rapid-fire, more magic bolts were fired off: each just as powerful as the last until all the chains were broken.

I fell to the floor, gasping. Oh, Luna. You were supposed to run. You were supposed to run. And he was coming now, wasn't he? My body burned, the wounds still healing but the blood still oozing - and I couldn't help but fall to my knees and curl my wings around her. I squeezed her tightly even as she pushed at me. We were going to die, Luna. It was your fault - but you didn't mean to. I don't blame you. I just blame myself.

At least we would die together.

...

How long had it been?

Seconds? Minutes? Hours? However long it had been, I was still very much alive. And so was my sister - wrapped in my limbs and trembling against me. Discord hadn't come for us.

I slowly pulled away and rested my forehead against Luna's. "I love you, Luna," I whispered.
Luna looked up at me with wide eyes and at trembling form. "I love you too, Celestia." She murmured just as weakly as me. She meant it - she simply didn't have the energy to express it. We had gone through far too much in a far too little amount of time. We needed - we needed a break.

And just at that moment - the trees seemed to part, and there were hoof-tracks. Much too plentiful and ones that reached far too deep into the forest to have been left by either me or Luna. Ponies had left it. It meant - it meant there were others here. That there were people.

"Lulu," I whispered. "Look." I pointed towards the tracks.

On trembling legs, the two of us walked. I leaned against her just as much as she leaned against me - me for physical support, her for emotional support. Our movements were slow, and blood trailed behind us. Well, more me than her. Slowly, though, I gained my strength back - step by step—movement by movement.

I looked down at her. "How are you feeling?" I asked suddenly. I was worried about her. She had been through so much, and she was so young.
"Hungry," Luna whined and pushed her face into the side of my chest. "I want - food. Tomato. Or an apple. I want something red."
"Something red?" I arched an eyebrow, and I felt my lips tug into a smile despite the grimness of our situation.
"Mhm." She nodded, staring at me with an intense seriousness - not the slightest hint of humour in her expression. Oh, Luna.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

I heard it before I felt it. I felt it before I saw it - one moment, we were dry. The next, it was just the faintest drizzling of rain - smacking against my nose and oozing off the trees. And as we stepped deeper into the rain, the landscape around us seemed to shift. There were clouds now - with thunder broiling around inside of them, lightning flashing and illuminating us. And it was pouring when it hadn't been just a moment ago.

I recognized this storm.

That was a strange sentence. It wasn't one I ever thought I'd find myself thinking. But - I did. The rain came down so violently, but...it touched everything so gently. Asides from the chaos. There was no mercy for the chaos. It was fierce but gentle. This was a storm - this was one of her storms.

And there was life within her storm. The shifting landscape formed a gravel road that lead up a plateau - and there were buildings on the plateau. But, more than just buildings, there were ponies. At the very least: a hundred. Celestia would find it hard-pressed for there to be any less. My sister and I shifted from a slow trot into a canter and finally into a gallop as the two of us felt our hooves beat against the slick road. Finally, we came to a skidding stop as eyes began to turn to us - the new arrivals.

They stared at us. Haggard, hungry, gaunt, and exhausted. Their eyes had dark circles under them. Some were covered in scars, bruises, mutations - but all were alive. Their eyes began to run over our fur, our horns, our wings.

You know what to do, some part of me spoke, and I agreed. Luna did the same, much by my side.

We planted my hooves. A wide, open stance - just like the one Tempest used whenever she roared. We pushed down hard, raised our chests and lowered our backs, so we looked taller. We tilted our head up to the sky - to the chaotic, disordered sky. There was so much - so much in us, so much to get out -

We channelled everything defiantly into one glyph.

Cellun.

It wasn't fair.
It was simple subtraction.
A thousand minus ten. I was the ten. He was the thousand. Chaos magic surged into me, breaking away my added boost of magic - until it just got to my very core. Until it got to the Air. Chaos. Light.

I was going to die here, I realized. He was overpowering my hold. I couldn't - I didn't have the energy to teleport away without him following and turning me into a boiling soup of organs. It wasn't fair.

A spell. Some part of me whispered. I wasn't sure if it was Order or me, but I agreed. There was - there had to be some spell. Some spell that could do something. It hurt, it hurt like hell - but there was a soft sigh of resignment as Order took the pain onto his part of my consciousness. Allowing me to focus.

It was strange, watching my body decay. Watching my scales turn to ash and my flesh beginning to burn as webs of order and chaos magic threatened to burst my cells individually. I had milliseconds. No, I had less than that- I needed a spell. I needed to formulate a spell. I needed - I needed a glyph. One glyph.

One glyph. My entire soul. My entire life. My entire magic. My entire mind - most important of all, them. I poured it all, I put everything into one glyph - a surge of something in my chest, a howling filling the air -

Tesrun.

And then oblivion, as Discord killed me.

A voice rings out. Wake.

...Where am I? I open my eyes, but I have no eyes with which to see. There is an endless expanse of mana - but I am adrift in a void. Where am I?

A voice rings out the answer. It is not one voice, but two voices—half feminine, half masculine - half cruel, half kind. But the feminine is masculine; the cruel is kind and vice versa. The word they say echoes through my soul. Oblivion.

And like that, the world comes into focus. My body that isn't my body falls onto the ground. I'm a mass of energy - a web of mystic veins that curl around each other and form the faintest outline of a body. My claws that aren't claws dig into the ground that isn't ground, and my head begins to throb.

They stand in front of me. Two alicorns.

One as dark as night - no, darker than the night herself. His coat is pure black, his eyes a chilling white void. His mark is a simple skull, and his wings are made of bone covered in inky flame. His mane is an ethereal mass of souls writhing and wriggling to get free.

The other is brighter than the day herself. Her coat is pure white, but her eyes are a black singularity with a white dot in their centre, a ring of white flames that dance around them. Her mane is much the same, but her wings are made of something strange - they seem to be made of life itself—a wriggling mass of ever-shifting, vibrant nature.

The essential spirits. Life and Death. The only creatures to surpass Discord, Order, and Harmony. If they so willed it - I would be dead. But no, I was already dead - wasn't I? Discord had killed me.

I spat down at their feet. "Cowards." I hissed out with a venom that I had reserved for Discord as rage overtook me. I brought myself up to my full height - yet found that I was only barely able to look them in the eyes. "Everyone that he has killed is on your hands. You could've stopped him, couldn't you? Whenever you wanted, you could've stopped him. But you haven't. Are you afraid of him? Or do you simply not care? Are you cowards, or are you monsters?"

They speak as one, but two. They speak much the same way Order did. With ideas, concepts, not words. It's overwhelming - and I feel my energy begin to fade with each not-word they speak. But still, I endure.

They could stop Discord. They have chosen not to. Instead, they claim that something else has taken importance over him.

I spat down again. "Aren't you life? What could be more important to you than genocide?"
A single concept sent a chill down my spine. Omnicide. They showed me something - something that I had seen before.

The world was on fire.
The world was burning.
The world was dying, drained of its colour.
The Nexus was ablaze, the ley-lines covered in flames, the mountains and landscape all melted.
I saw great typhoons, hurricanes, storms, tornadoes, and earthquakes tearing the world asunder, oceans of magma nad obsidian shores, and I saw the Nexus condensing in on itself until it was gone-

and at the centre of it all, there was darkness.

Discord had shown me that before. I don't think he had meant to. It had confused me when I thought it what his ideal vision of the world was. But he was free, he had no peers...and he seemed content to turn the land into a chaotic hellscape instead of the hellish oblivion that I had seen. Was this what Life and Death were working against?

They knew what I was thinking. A word in response - not a concept, not a not-word. The first spoken word of Life and Death in aeons.
"Yes."

"...Why am I here?" I stepped backwards. "I can't help."

Life and Death told me something.

They told me that my birth was unspectacular. There was no surge of magic, a celestial event, prophecy or oracle, special visitor or any unique circumstances - and I was the first of eight eggs. They told me that I was the first of eight eggs to hatch, and as I tore my eggshell apart and felt warmth wash over me, I felt the wind. And the wind felt me.

They told me that I had done something that no mortal had ever done before. That while I had died - I had ascended. At the exact time that I had died, I had become an immortal - and now I stood on uncharted territory. I was neither alive nor dead, neither mortal nor immortal.

They gave me their offers.

Death offered me peace in death. The Spirit of Order was still bound to my soul, so my death would result in his reconstitution. I could rest - knowing that eventually, Discord would be defeated. I would join my family, my king, my people in the afterlife. The drakons would die with me - but I would get my rest.

Life offered me purpose in life. I would be reconstituted as something new. Something that had never been seen before - more than just a spirit. Something unique. She warned that there was no way of knowing what I would become - but she knew that I would certainly face pain, unlike anything I had experienced before. But I would see Celestia and Luna again - and I would see the world that comes after Discord.

I thought about it.
I thought about Discord. He was defeated either way.
I thought about my family. There was only one way I got to see them again.
I made my choice, and my eyes shut for the last time.

She held out hope at first.

The first days passed slowly. Then, slowly, the people were rallied together by their presence - and despite their young age, they were chosen unilaterally as the leaders.

With their influence over the heavens, Discord's ability to manipulate the stars was...lessened. Night and day could stretch anywhere from one to twelve hours - but there was always an hour of both, and there were never times when neither shone in the sky.

The weeks came by faster than the days. She was thankful that food was plentiful within the forest. An influx of earth ponies had rallied together to make a communal garden - and food was shared between everyone in equal portions. But some were greedy.

At the end of the first month, Celestia did the hardest thing she had done in her life and sentenced a thief to exile. Such a fate would lead to death, if not worse. There was never a theft again. Her hope began to fade.
At the end of the first month, Luna noticed how coldly the fillies her age looked at her. She felt alone.

At the end of the second month, Celestia noticed that Luna was crying by herself at night. So one night, Celestia cried with her.
At the end of the second month, Luna wept - for she was alone. But with her sister - she was a little less alone.

At the end of the third month - the storm began to wane.

All of her logic dictated that Tempest must be dead.
All of her heart dictated that Tempest must be dead.

Four months ago - scale had been pulled into a thin string of atoms. Skin had been peeled away to reveal blood and muscle, which burned and tore as sinew and fat was reduced into nothing more than its component proteins. Her bones broke under infinite power, and her heart beat for the last time.

Life spoke a single word.
"Give."
All of the world responded.

The Earth offered his strength, so that she may be true.
The Fire offered her heat, so that she may yet live again.
The Water offered his fluidity, so that she may be a creature of change.
The Sky offered her domain, so that she may be free.

The gryphons, who had seen her path even before she took it offered up their eyes, so that she may see.
The dragons, who were the last remnants of her kin, offered up their body, so that she may stay grounded.
The deer, who saw her magic and saw that it was good offered up their horns, so that she may be good.
The ponies, who had feared her so saw that she was pure offered up their heart, so that she may be kind.

She took her wings for her own.

And amidst the stark black void of Discord's accursed night - an alabaster drakon opened her eyes for the first time.

Author's Note

The next chapter of the Queen of Storms, Drakon, will be coming some time this week.

[13] Drakon

Drakon

What...are you?

What is a drakon?

There was a time where you could mistake a drakon for a dragon and be at no fault. But that time was gone - washed away in a sea of ketchup hotter than lava and a blizzard of super-heated sand and scales. No, the definition of drakon had changed now - as Chaos left only one. So - what was a drakon?

In a drakon, the bones came first. The bones were offered from the Earth and formed a foundation. A towering mass, a head taller than the ancient drakon king of past himself and barely a fledgling. In a drakon, the elements followed - a body filled with passionate flame, the fluidity of water, and the might of the sky itself.

In a drakon, the body came next. Shaped after the last remnants of her kin - the dragons who stood in defiance against their chaotic eradication. Grandiose antlers that reached up towards the sky - containing more ley than bone or keratin. Eyes that could see minutiae from miles away and a heart that pumped kind blood through her body.

And amidst the stark black void of Discord's accursed night - an alabaster drakon opened her eyes for the first time. And for a single moment, she asked herself this question. What is a drakon?

She was something new, she determined. Power coursed through her veins - a stark intelligence mixed with feral primality was evident in her eyes. She was without peer, the only scale of comparison being the mountains themselves - as the gods had all long fallen.

The world was like mist. Distance and durability was a suggestion more than a strict limit, as it had been before. She was the Air itself, she was the Order that ran the world. There was no realm off-limits to her, no mortal-made structure that she could not tear apart as easily as one might blow the dust off a shelf. No constraints. No limitations. That was what a drakon was, surely?

A soft voice spoke in the back of her head.
No, but she could not hear it.

The world was like dust. Was this why Chaos did what he did? Did he realize the futility of it all? Just as easily as she may create a sculpture without peer, she may grind the mountains down into dust with her bare hands. What was the point in mortality? In immortality?

The voice spoke up louder.
This is wrong, but she could barely hear it.

This was what a drakon was, yes.
The power to create.
The power to destroy.

The power- the world blurred, and...

"It's a force of nature." I looked down at her. She didn't know what I know. She didn't feel what I felt. She didn't see what I see. How could she? But I know - that eventually she would. Eventually. It was only a matter of time.

"Not destructive for destruction's sake," my talon prodded into her scale lightly. If I so wanted, I could push the talon through her scale and into her heart. "But destructive because it is destructive, and it cannot be not destructive. A storm is a storm; a storm cannot be a breeze. But it is necessary."

"Something that the Spirit of Chaos doesn't seem to understand is that destruction should not happen for the sake of destruction, but destruction and chaos should exist to bring change."

The line blurred just as much as the world had. It was all continuous. The drakon remembered hatching as a gryphon just as much as she did hatching as a drake. There was no endpoint; it was all just - just one. Death, rebirth. Death, rebirth.

What - what am I? The eye had barely opened. Clouds roiled. Thunder and lightning tore the world apart.

Please, a voice pleaded. Listen. So soft, but the drakon's attention wandered as something pricked at the back of its consciousness.
Yes, Tempest. A stronger voice spoke dominantly. Listen.
Focus.

There was a flower. A blue flower, with a perfectly smooth white circle at its bud.
It tucked into her mane. And I knew at that moment what I would be. What I fought for - what my purpose was. Everything clicked into place.

All I wanted was what was best for them.

I would be gentle, but strong.
I would be fierce, but kind.
I would be flexible, but stalwart.
As the last of the drakons, I would bring honour to the fallen.

I was not the destroyer.
I was not the creator.
I was not the Spirit of Air.
I was not the Spirit of Order.

I was - I was just...

Tempest.

We brought it into Order: a thousand lifetimes, an infinite amount of memories. A time so inconceivably vast - yet even as my body was forming, my mind had just barely begun to still.

I reached out with glyphless magic for the first time. The books described that Spirits didn't need to use Mys for their element, but it was more than that. I saw it now: glyphs were just a shaping tool for magic. I could reach past that now. I could do magic.

I was the Air, so I plucked what I desired from the sky. I fashioned my wings after the Alicorns who had formed me so, a rolling amorphous mass representative of my element. Two wings made of storms curled around my body. And I wanted - to fly.

You know how to, Order spoke from deep within me.

They snapped out, and I took flight. The ground cracked and trembled underneath me as I broke the sound barrier from a standstill. I hurtled through the clouds moments later, my wings spreading out with practiced ease that I never had. But I had flown before when the part of me that was Air had been Gryphus instead of Tempest.

I flew up, up, up - and then took a sharp turn. At the angle I was flying at, it should've been slow, inefficient. But the air itself seemed to lend its speed to me, and I found myself moving faster than I had thought possible. The world blurred beneath me, and then for a moment - I saw it.

It was beautiful.

It was impossible to describe the true extent of its beauty. First - it was ingenious. I could see it now, how everything was connected. Every river, every blade of grass, every tree, every living creature - all of them were connected by one intrinsic force. Magic. Leylines were the arteries of the world, the Nexus its beating Heart - but we. We were the capillaries, the arterioles, venules - the veins. We were just as much a part of the world as the ground below us or the skies above us.

It was diverse, too. Wherever I looked, I could see the elements and how they interacted with each other. The Water that shaped the Earth, the Air that made the water violent, the Fire that boiled and burned deep within the organs of the planet. There was so much of it, and there they were, and they were beautiful. Ponies - dots of glimmering light among the darkness. Deer. Buffalo. Wolves. Rams. Goats. Cows. Ponies. Dragons. Kirin. Wyverns. There was so much life that adorned the world, and it made my heart swell with strange pride.

I followed the arteries of the world to their connecting point and found an abberation. Where the Nexus should have been, instead - there was a gap. A void, a rift in magic itself that the leylines were slowly paving through. A part of the ocean where there was no magic. Discord hadn't destroyed the Nexus, no - such a thing was impossible without the extinction of all magic, and therefore all life. Instead, he had simply moved it.

It was disgusting. On top of that, the leylines were thrumming with an equal amount of disgusting magic, a thick, viscous sludge of pink, yellow and red that ran all over the world. I followed these leylines - and saw the sheer extent of the chaos Discord had wrought.

The world had been corrupted. The landscape was a shifting hellscape reminiscent of the one that had destroyed my family. The sky was plaid, checkerboard one moment - then the next, it was day, and the sky had decided that it didn't want to exist anymore, and anyone who looked up saw into the maddening void of something that I simply knew to be the Outer Beyond. Whether that was something inherent to its nature or something inherent to my nature as something unique, I wasn't quite sure.

Night or day, it never lasted for longer than an hour - and there was nowhere safe from Discord. Even where my storms had been placed as a mortal, Discord didn't have to so much as lift a finger as the arteries of the world pumped chaos magic into the air and let them erode over time. Villages, though, had the most attention from Discord. Especially pony villages.

Buildings were moved to floating islands reminiscent of the ancient Alicorn Pantheon of old, spinning around in lazy patterns. Discord had turned ponies into twisted versions of themselves - I saw one with a mark for animals butchering animals. They were inverted, corrupted, destroyed. The land was moving too much. A hill was coughing, spraying out clouds of smoke as it turned into a volcano - a face without eyes forming on it as it wheezed occasionally. Other landmarks were pulsing, or wriggling, spraying out molten chocolate and lava.

I noted that the chocolate was hotter than lava, and the lava was colder than ice with an inspection of the spell work. How cruel. There was no trace of him, though. Even Order - his ancient enemy - couldn't find any hint of him on this continent. His magic had saturated it, but he wasn't here. Was he simply not on this continent? Was he deciding to torment another species instead?

I knew, though, that I had the element of surprise. While Discord would detect ascension - I hadn't ascended, had I? I had been resurrected. He didn't know about me. But he would undoubtedly figure out something was wrong if I dispelled all this chaos instantly. No, I had to think more - long term.

My wings beat once, and I crossed a quarter of the continent in the span of a few short minutes. The ground trembled underneath my bulk as I dropped down right beside my home - right beside my first home. Mt. Draelos.

The mountain top had been carved into a sheet of impossibly colorful stone - a swirl of eye-searing rainbow shade that stung the eyes. Discord's throne - a tall, uncomfortable-looking chair with antlers poking out of it, was the lone accessory of the mountain-top. For how majestic the landscape of Mt. Draelos was, it felt offensive that Discord embellished it simply.

It was not, however, the only adornment of the whole mountain. Merely the mountain-top. Littered around the rest of the mountain were bones. And I knew by the magic radiating out of them what they were. They were the bones of all the Spirits he had killed. There was another set of bones, though. Right at the top of the mountain - above all others. A skull with four horns sticking out of it, leg bones that didn't quite match up. A fourth of a tenth of my size. Yes, I knew these bones.

They were my bones. I spread my wings and tore myself up from the ground with another flap of them. I had dallied long enough.

Yes. A strong voice agreed. You know what you have to do.
I did. I had to find them.

The world itself seemed to shake under the force of the storm.

They turned to me with terror. They begged, "Oh Great Sun, stop this storm." I wished I could. But even if I had the ability - I didn't know if I could.

I hadn't seen a storm this bad before. No, that was a lie - I had seen one this bad four months ago. The rain that poured down in such a heavy stream and drenched everything. The constant barrage of lightning that tore the skies apart and struck down in semi-predictable patterns, targeting trees and large swaths of land rather than coming near anything deserted.

"It's all in this." Her claw tapped against the writing that curved in strange ways that hurt my head.
"I don't understand." My voice was soft. It was always soft around her. I couldn't help it.
"It's a glyph."
"I figured that much. But what does it mean?"
"The word is Ignum. It's the concept of Ignore. To avoid, to work around, to - well. To ignore. You can't really define a Glyph with a Glyph, but it's a little hard to explain in non-magic terms. All these glyphs shape the way the lightning works. So - look at this. This is Tesrun. This is the idea of lightning. This is Dos; this is Asptra, this is - well. I could define all of these glyphs, do you, but that's beside the point." She shrugged.

"This one is the most important. Ignum Virtrus. See this?" She scratched a little nook underneath what she had defined as Ignum. "Again, that's ignum. Virtrus is life, so this makes the lightning ignore anything with life."

She rambled on more and more after that. I didn't listen too much to it. No, my attention was focused on something that Tempest hadn't mentioned. Two glyph sequences - drawn earlier. Drawn before even the Tesrun. I wasn't too good at recognizing glyphs, but there were two I knew by heart.

I stared at the Ignum Cel and Ignum Lun.

Luna sat down by my side. Most everyone was in their tents now. The storm had been raging for at least an hour now and had shown no signs of slowing down. There were certainly times where the storms had gotten more violent, seemingly at random - the running theory between me and the only other two unicorns who were sane enough to know anything about magic was that Discord's chaos magic was increasing the strength of the storms occasionally. But it had never gotten this bad. This intense. My heart beat ever so slightly faster - and I found myself thankful that Luna was by my side.

The air itself seemed to bubble and ripple in waves. The ground trembled as the lightning grew more intense. Thunder split my eardrums. Wind struck, so violent that it sent the glimmering outline of chains that adorned the trees around the plateau flying up into the air and pushed both Luna and me backwards. Rain pelted my coat, feeling like bee-stings pelting me endlessly. I held a hoof over my eyes to protect them and faintly felt something in the air. I couldn't describe it as anything else than a pushing at my ears. Like such a massive amount of air was being displaced that I could feel it going up and down - and then I heard the beating of winds, and I saw it.

No, her.

Her eyes gave her away. Monstrous, terrifying - regal, beautiful. A towering mass of glimmering scales more comparable to a mountain than the massive being that I had known that had carried herself so low to the ground. Her chest puffed out, and the sky itself seemed to pull and wrap around her in the form of Storm itself. There's an important clarification there - her wings were not made from storms, but the idea of the storms.

Her antlers - not horns, but rather regal antlers - were like hands of bone that reached the sky. They were similar to Discord - they seemed to shimmer and vibrate and looked out of place with the rest of the world. Instead of a conflicting, painful manner like Discord, it was more of a...thrumming, for lack of a better term. Reality seemed to expand and collapse in her very presence. There was a fire in her chest. It glowed and filled her entire body with a warmth that rolled off of her in waves. There was a strength in her stature, yet a fluidity in her movements and power in her actions. She was something more.

But her eyes. Her eyes hadn't changed. They were sharper now - but there was still the same mind in them. There was a fierce rage. There was gentle wrath. There was earthen steel. But behind all of that - there was only one thing, and it left no doubt about her identity.

Kindness.

Tempest broke the silence with a roar. The storm parted. The rain stopped falling.

There was silence.

Surprisingly, Celestia was the one who broke the silence.

"You died." Her voice was weak. Broken. The strength had begun to fade from her. She looked like she was eating well, at least - but there was a haggard gauntness in her eyes that was impossible to dismiss. She was tired. She was tired.

I pushed my snout down. It was undeniably a drakon head - Life had changed my form with aspects from all the dragon forms. The stature of a drakon, the length of a wyvern, the sleekness and spines of a dragon. But my snout was still the same.

"I got better." The first words I had spoken since my return. Their ears went flat against their head - my voice was something out of nature. It was the sound of cracking mountains, rolling thunder and blinding lightning. Every word carried the weight of my sphere and the force of the elements.

Order quickly drew on my memories and pulled my vocal cords in a way that reduced my volume to a much more manageable amount. It was still thunderous - something my size couldn't be anything but. But it wasn't elemental.

"I got better," I repeated.
Celestia looked like she was about to cry. Luna, with a little bit less self control - was crying. She broke the distance between us and buried her face into my snout, curling her hooves around me. Celestia stumbled over and put a hoof on my snout.

I didn't give either of them the chance to be physically reserved. Instead, I wrapped my wings around them and squeezed them tightly. The three of us sunk into the storm - the world melted away save for the clouds and echoing thunder. But it didn't hurt either of them - no. The storms would never hurt either of them.

"I will never leave you again," I whispered. "I promise."

The storms parted moments later. Every pony in the town had gathered at the impossibly strange sight - their elected leaders speaking to a not-dragon who had stopped the eternal storm overhead. It wasn't as if Tempest's magic was tough to pick apart. Any mage with a passing knowledge of storm magic could - but there were no mages. Not anymore.

I stepped backwards away from Tempest, wiping tears from my eyes. I put a hoof on Luna, leaned in and whispered - "you should check on everyone in the quarantine. Please."
Luna frowned. "But - but..."
"We'll be right behind you. Tempest has to see."
I pulled back. Luna nodded reluctantly, glanced at me - stared at Tempest for a few moments before she began heading towards the quarantine building.

Tempest's eyes were wandering over their surroundings.
"The Chained Forest." She spoke. Her words were imbued with a power I had felt once before - they were imbued with the power of Order that she had died trying to get. This very forest was infused with the same essence. It was what kept us safe from Discord's more active magic - but even then, I couldn't help but cringe in its presence. "It's a surprise that Discord hasn't attacked here earlier." Her voice was strange. It was still her voice, but it was...colder. More methodical. "It's close to his throne room. He must have a reason for not attacking here."

"I don't know why. Eight months, and I haven't seen Discord since...well. You." My voice had become so soft in the end. I had shown such steel, such strength in the presence of the ponies who looked and adored my sister and me - but immediately when Tempest showed, I couldn't help but notice how tired I was.

"He knows we're alive. He has to. I can't - he wrestles the sun away from me. But I always make sure that there's an hour of it a day. An hour of night a day."

Tempest thought for a moment. Her head strangely docked to the side it always did when she was deep in thought. "He's ensuring his reign. He has the ability to destroy this sanctuary whenever he wants. The only reason he wouldn't is if there are still threats to him out there. The world is large."

"...Are you going to kill him?" I whispered. My heart pounded. My mouth felt wet and dry at the same time. My blood felt like sludge.
Tempest stared at me. She smiled wistfully, with age so beyond her. She was a year older than me - but she seemed more than that. She seemed ancient, almost.

I knew what she was thinking of. I saw it in her eyes. It was that conversation.
"I'll tell you everything from now on." Those words. They echoed in her ears the same way they were undoubtedly echoing in me. No, I wanted to whisper. Lie to me. Tell me everything is going to be okay. Tell me you can fix it all.
"I'm going to try." She spoke honestly.

My heart would've broken had it not already shattered.

"...You need to see something," I whispered. I knew little of Discord. I knew of his magic, of his actions - but I had only ever had the one direct encounter with him. Some part of me wondered if Tempest was the one who knew him most. But she had been gone. She had been gone for so long. She had seen his work - but not the aftermath. She needed to see this.

I turned to look at Luna. The building door was open. She nodded at me. I glanced up at Tempest. "Can...you..." I gestured at the building, not quite sure how to formulate my words.

Tempest thought for a few long moments. It was strange - she went silent, her eyes went foggy and white - more white than normal, that is. Then, after a few moments, her antlers pulsed, and in her place was an alicorn. Still, colossal compared to a pony - roughly the size Tempest herself had been pre-ascension. On top of that, she clearly wasn't an alicorn. Storms still formed her wings, her head was still draconic, and her antlers were - well, antlers. But an alicorn was the closest comparison.

I pointed to my side. "There's the beds." It was the first building we had constructed. The trees had been hard to cut down before me, and Luna had come - only we had the ability to break their chains. Wood had been a valued resource, gathered in long trips of twigs and branches. After us - it was plentiful enough that the few earth ponies who remembered how to construct buildings could create.

"Everyone sleeps together." Memories resurfaced how they started construction on a separate building just for my sister and me. I had quashed that project quickly - but it was good that construction had started early. It meant building the quarantine room was easier.

"It's easy to farm here. Apples are good." I glanced over her shoulder at Tempest.
"How do they compare?" She spoke. I opened my mouth to ask for clarification, but Tempest provided it regardless. "Compared to my food."
Memories of going on with an empty stomach, of chewing on grass when the few scraps of tomato and bread that she could cobble together weren't enough. Where the constant burning of hunger had been just that - a constant.
I opened my mouth. Tempest snorted. "That bad?"
I nodded dumbly, a slight smile tugging at the corner of my lips. Tempest had that ability. The grimness, the darkness of any situation - and even when she took it seriously, she still somehow made me find the light in it.

I stepped by Luna and put a hoof on her barrel. "How bad are they?"
Luna opened her mouth. She couldn't find the words. I didn't blame her.
"Cmon, strong girl." I curled my wings around her in a hug. "Go get yourself a snack." Luna nodded limply and walked off in a direction.

It always hurt looking at those that the blight had settled into. But it was important that Tempest had to see. That none of them were lucid, either - if they were to attack Tempest...

I wasn't afraid of them hurting her. No. I was afraid of them grinding themselves into a bloody pulp against her scales. The last time - the last time that they attacked...gods, the blood- No. Focus. I snapped to myself. I stepped into the quarantine building and pulled Tempest with me.

And I showed her by far the most sickening thing that Discord had done.

"It had sprung up a few months after we had come. They called it the Chaos Blight. It's an ugly name - it's meant to cause concern, meant to make you uncomfortable and afraid."
"It happens sometimes. He inverts them. He does it through dreams, through magic - through the sky, even. And - and they can't handle it." I trailed off as we reached the containment room.

We filled it with the broken ponies that Discord had created. They had been inverted, flipped to the opposite of what their marks signalled them for -and their psyche can't handle it. So they scream and gibber and drool, as they do now. They bang their heads against whatever they can, and we have to stuff wood into their mouths and strap them down so that they don't bite their own tongue off and bleed to death. Some of them scratch at the wall, carving into it with their hooves - until their hooves begin to peel away along with the wood in long, thin strips of keratin.

One of them had done so until the bone. She bled out, and we couldn't save her. It was by far the least horrific act of self-mutilation that those afflicted by the Blight had done, though. My presence seemed to soothe them - even now, as I entered the room, their movements stilled, and their whimpers quieted. I had visited once - and one unicorn had torn himself into shreds trying to get to me. He tore so violently from his restraints that his bones broke and jutted through the skin, and as we slammed the door shut - he tore his own stomach open on the glass as he jumped through the window.

There was no more glass after that.

I turned towards Tempest.

"This is what you're fighting against, Tempest. Please. Remember that."

For a time, I wandered amongst them. I spoke to ponies. They told me about Celestia and Luna - about how Celestia was oh-so-gentle but had a soul of steel, and how Luna was firey and passionate - a talent for architecture showing itself among her skillset. I learned second-hand about those two Spirits - my two Spirits, and I found myself sombre that I had to hear about these experiences second-hand.

Night passed. They slept. They slept peacefully, no doubt - without the rain pelting them and the thunder echoing overhead.
I could not. No - my mind was ordered, but there was too much to think about. Too much to do. I had no desire to sleep, even as I lay with wings curled tightly around the fillies pressed into my chest.

You know what you have to do. A voice spoke. It was not my voice. It was not the voice of the elements, the voice of air, or even the voice of Order. It was a softer voice - one feminine, immaculate, pure. A voice that sparked some vague sense of familiarity within me. Not me, but another me - one of the many me's that had come before Tempest. Yes, I knew this voice. Harmony's voice was unmistakable.

I found myself wandering. It was a blurry haze of foggy details. Twists and turns that I knew I would never be able to mimic - chains that curled around me but bent as they felt my soul burn with Order. A twist, a dip, a divot- and I was there. I was there.

The Tree of Harmony glittered in front of me.

The symbols for Cel, Lun, and Mys were carved into it beautifully. Not the glyphs, but rather the symbols. I knew not what they were - but they were some archaic form of magic, one that predated even Order, Discord, and Harmony. One that predated all but Life and Death themselves. My form shifted, my equine shape shedding as I took one more comfortable - running my claw over her branches.

"Help me." I pleaded. We pleaded. Order lent my words strength as I imbued them with desperation. "You can stop him." I added.
"No," a glittering tone responded. "I cannot."
"Can I?"
"No," a sombre tone mourned. "You cannot."
My eyes shut. The endless storm of my wings ceased, and I felt my blood run cold.

"But we can." She added.
And I knew at that moment what I had to do.

My soul began to burn as power flooded it. This was a familiar burn - but it was softer. Gentler. My scales began to glitter like crystals; my horns glowed and pulsed with power. For a moment, I nearly lost myself in power - but I had done so before. I knew how to find my way out of it.

I focused on them.

But behind all of that - there was only one thing, and it left no doubt about her identity. Kindness.

"Yes, Luna," I whispered. "I'm proud of you."
I couldn't have been more honest.

"...That makes one of us," I said. Celestia's head snapped up as she stared at me, having caught the implication quicker than her sister. Luna thought on my words for a moment before she snorted.
Then giggled.

"...all I want is what's best for you," I said after a moment. Luna looked up at me with wide, tear-filled eyes.

"I will never leave you again," I whispered. "I promise."

The cave was gone. Celestia and Luna stared at me. Power thrummed from me.
I broke the silence.
"Leave the Chained Forest. Take them far, far away. Take them to Olympus. It'll be safe there."
Luna was the first to respond.
"You're going to fight him, aren't you?" She whispered. "You're going to fight him."
"Yes," I spoke softly. Even as mountainous as I was, it was still a whisper. So soft I could barely hear.
Celestia shut her eyes. "Will you win?"
"I'll try."
"And if you don't?" Luna pressed. She stepped closer towards me. She was angry, angry - her eyes were filled with loss. She had lost guardian after guardian, and now she felt as if she might lose another.

I tore the largest scale on my body off and gave it to Luna. My scales were small and glimmering - but this one was still the size of her torso. It was the scale directly over my heart.
I tore the strongest scale on my body off and gave it to Celestia. It was the size of her head, but it was the most important scale there was - it guarded the base of the skull and the brain stem.

"The heart scale." I gestured at Luna. "And the forescale." I gestured at Celestia. I kneeled and brought my body as low to the ground as I could.
"Be true, Luna. Be loyal. Be light. Be honest. Be passionate, be fiery - be Luna." I turned to Celestia next.
"Be smart, Celestia. Be generous. Be kind. Be strong. Be Celestia."

I brought myself to my full height. Then, I turned around and spread my wings fast. The power that coursed through my body - even my new divine body...I didn't have all the time in the world. And I knew that if they asked me to stay - I wouldn't be able to leave.

"Tempest," Celestia called.
I glanced over my shoulder.
"...Good luck," Celestia whispered.

Claws planted down into colorful stone. Wings of storm spread, lightning and thunder echoed in the distance. The ground itself began to split as her power begin to draw into herself. The world itself began to warp - reality began to pulse, and veins of harmonic and order magic split the ground. The leylines began to pulse, and the wind kicked up.

Wind is just air pressure. High-pressure areas of air moving into areas of low pressure - because everything wants to reach an equilibrium, a balance, and Wind is not the exception. But this was no wind, no. Physically? Maybe. But no - in reality,

This was wrath.

Wrath, not wind was the force behind this. Whipping through the air like blades with the strength to tear anything in range apart. The trees, chained to the ground by a force as old as the mountains itself were torn from the ground, freed from their chains and splintering into fragments of wood. The ground was torn asunder, sprays of dirt and rock flying into the air and staining the ground. These kinds of things tended to happen when wind moved faster than the speed of sound. Few creatures could survive these kinds of winds. Almost all races would be ground up to dust. Unicorns and Rams would be able to fare slightly better by virtue of their active magic, but very few could survive for more than a handful of seconds at most. Pegasi and Gryphons would be able to survive for the longest, but even they would be torn apart soon after. The only creatures with a true hope of surviving would be those of draconic or divine origins. Dragons, Draconequi, Spirits, and of course, a Drakon.

There was only one Drakon, now. And there was only one other who could survive this. A beam of light shot up into the sky - parting the clouds themselves as a roar echoed over all the world. Every creature, every animal - prey, predator, young, old, weak, strong - all heard her. They heard her rage. They heard her loss. They heard her power.

"DISCORD!" The Storm Queen howled.
"Tempest," The Trickster God answered.

-

Author's Note

The penultimate and titular chapter of the Queen of Storms will come sometime this, or next week.

[14] Queen of Storms

Queen of Storms

I am magic.

I had thought that I had seen him at his weakest. So frail that a mortal mage had been able to bring him closer to the brink of death than any Spirit had before or since. So weak that had I been the slightest bit stronger - he would've been dead.

"DISCORD!" The Storm Queen howled.

I had thought that I had seen Discord as his strongest when reality itself churned in his presence when air that wasn't quite air seemed to bubble and pop around him. The glow of pink, red, and yellow - the destruction of mountains as old as the ground and the slaughter of dragon-kings far older than the mountains.

"Tempest," The Trickster God answered.

I had seen neither of these things.

The gift of the elements, giving me form. The power of three Spirits. Air, rolling around me with the might of the Storm. Order, calming my thoughts and focusing my memories. Harmony, flooding my bones with strength - so much strength that I could feel my cells beginning to decay, one by one, slowly.

Discord was nearly as strong as me - no. Just as strong as me. Maybe even stronger. The world itself seemed to ripple and distort around him in a much more violent fashion than normal; my eyes began to burn as he wriggled and coiled with a non-euclidean movement that would've driven any lesser being mad. My claws planted down. The Storm grew more violent. Wind pelted his coat as I mustered up all of myself - every inch of me, and channelled it into one word.

"Why?"
Discord regarded me coolly. He dropped down to the ground - not floating, instead choosing to walk on all fours. He was strangely slow, strangely still. Not the fear that he had shown at the Horseshoe Bay - but rather calm, calculated caution. Circling me, inspecting me.

"You've changed," he said softly. "You're new. An amalgamate of a dozen different things. It's beautiful. If you ignore all the Order and Harmony," he waved his lions paw to the side - as if the two-thirds of my being were something that he could ignore that easily. "It's almost impressive. Almost."

"Why?" I repeated. I pushed everything I had into that word. I had to know - I had to know why. Why did he do this? Why did he fight? Why did he want to? Why?

Discord's eyes narrowed slightly. His lips drew back into a thin snarl, and the ground began to distort with his every move - waves of chaotic energy pulsing out from him and changing the landscape into something different with each step. "You've done something no one else has done. You've made me afraid. You truly do have a talent for finding me at my worst, dear. Not anymore." His eyes locked onto me.

"Why?" My stance hadn't changed. My eyes had moved - the rest of my body was still, eerily so. Order was keeping every one of my muscles still, primed and ready for his inevitable attack.

"Are you broken? Did coming back from the dead make you unable to say anything other than why?" He snarled. "You're beginning to bore me. I don't enjoy being bored." He said dryly as he reared himself up to his full height. He looked at me as he looked at everything else - with hatred, and nothing else.

"Why." I repeated a fourth time, defiantly.
"So be it," he spoke, and our battle began.

Discord struck first. He cut space between the two points - not a teleport, not a blur of movement. There was simply space between him and his destination, and then there wasn't. It wasn't accompanied with a pulse of magic, but rather a sort of...vibration. One that only the fine-tuned senses of a Spirit could detect. My eyes followed him along with his instant travel, and I saw three spells whistling towards me.

Starswirl had sent these same spells after me, I had noted. Death magic. Although, Discord's was significantly more lethal - imbued with so much force and power that the air itself seemed to rot and bend in its presence. They were deeply layered. I caught glimpses of force, ice, pain - a thousand different glyphs, all forced into a space so small that it should've been impossible, by all rights.

Fear. Intimidation. Make a display. Order suggested. I agreed.

A web of magic tore up from my antlers and dismantled the spell into its basic components mere moments after it had formed. I removed all aspects of the spell aside from the fatal component of it. It wouldn't actually be lethal to me - it would simply necrotize my scales and flesh. Instead, though, I let a web of Harmony form around my body like a skin-tight suit. The death magic splattered against my scales harmlessly. I spread my wings and let them beat.

I didn't waste a moment before retaliating with a blast. It was, frankly, a work of art. It was beyond glyphs - it was the air itself, weaponized. It was a web of Order and Harmony formed tightly around a single point, coerced - not forced into a spear. The air itself rippled and rolled as a crack of thunder accompanied my attack. It sent Discord sailing backwards into a hill, kicking up a gauge of dirt and rock-like shrapnel as he slid through the ground. He stood up a few seconds later, inky black sludge trailing from his mouth as he inspected me with a new expression. Anger.

Harmony broke the millisecond of silence. Pain. He's not used to this.
Advantages. Physical superiority. Numbers. Counteracting magic. Power of the storm.
Disadvantages. Magical superiority. Lack of experience. Broader sphere.

An even fight, then. I beat my wings, and our fight began in earnest.

In a fraction of a second, I crossed an unfathomable distance - moving at speed so fast that the air itself broke around me. Gryphus had been as fast as Discord, if not faster - and I was much faster than Discord. Unfortunately, the ground was split underneath my arrival, and I summoned up all of my negative emotion and channeled it into a single spell. My warspell struck the ground and caused havoc, the ground rippling out like water around its impact point. Waves of rock splashed over Discord and would've lacerated his skin had he not teleported around behind me. My tail was already moving to intercept, but he had already countered with another teleport - one that I didn't track quite fast enough.

I found myself struck in the side by a strange mechanical device. It ran on rails and was shaped almost like a spear, crashing into my side and sending even me sprawling. I quickly beat my wings and threw myself up from the ground - only to find that I immediately crashed into a stretchy filament that started closing around me. The air began to crush down, weigh down around me.

We don't want this, my air screamed. I drew my wings into myself - and summoned up every ounce of air within the bubble...and let half of it explode out. A sound more violent than a thousand thunderbolts tore the world apart. The rest of it followed suit so that the shockwaves were layered. The blast tore any organic creature around apart - even my organs beginning to liquefy and burst from the sheer amount of force.

The storm parted for a moment before I recollected it, my wings fading from existence as I fell to the ground. They reformed moments later. I drew the storm within myself, my internals beginning to repair themself as power flowed through them. I cast my senses out for Discord - and blanched as I couldn't find him.

The most powerful being on the planet had just disappeared from my magical senses. Something was wrong. I didn't quite know what was wrong - but it was a good thing that I had brute force on my side. I drew every ounce of Order and Harmony into myself and sent it out in a pulse. The world rippled away as Discord's illusion broke - and I narrowly dodged a bolt of blue energy that threatened to vaporize me.

"Enough," I spoke, and I sent another pulse of harmonic order washing over the surroundings. Discord's chaos faded slightly - normality reasserting itself. More importantly, Discord's entire body began to wriggle and writhe as his magic disrupted for a few precious moments. I fluttered my wings and grabbed onto him - and began to crush him with raw physical strength.

His eyes popped out of his head with a torrent of blood - and then the blood disappeared, and he squeaked like a squeaky-toy, then shattered into shards of volcanic glass that dug into my scales. He teleported above me and planted a claw on the back of my neck. I reared backwards and sent him flying off of me but didn't let up as I turned around and followed his flight through the air. I grabbed onto him and slammed him into Mt. Draelos. I squeezed tightly, my claws digging into his flesh and drawing blood. I pounded him into the mountain again, and again, each impact created a larger crater until the mountain gave way.

I threw him into the broken side of the mountain, his broken body slamming against a pillar. Already, his bones and flesh were cracking back into place.

Follow him. End this. Order spoke. I agreed.
I wove a net of magic around myself and donned a smaller form. Instead of my equine form, I had taken the form of a smaller version of my true form - and teleported into the Hall of Names with a soft hiss of air.

Discord's laughter radiated around me. I couldn't sense him - instead of an illusion like last time, though, he was all around me. There was no specific location he was in.

"You're something, aren't you? But you have no idea how to fight." His voice was dry. "You fling your power around in waves, torrents - imbue it with concepts."
"Do you?" I retorted.
"Do I- do I know how to fight? The oldest creature alive, and you ask me if I know how to fight?"
"When was the last time you fought an equal, Discord?" I walked through the Hall of Names. I inspected where King Bellum had once lay - where I had once stood, where the names of my people were carved into the walls. "The last time that you couldn't win through dominating force? Through overpowering someone's hold? That's what you did to Bellum, wasn't it? And it was what you did to me. And everyone else - they weren't close. You toyed with them, and then they snapped. You did that to me, as well."

He was silent for a moment. Then, his laugh echoed throughout the hall as sickly crimson fluid began to drip from the ceiling - floating mid-air as it formed the shape of a draconequus.

"An equal? Is that what you think you are?"
I shut my eyes. I cast my magic senses out, keeping the full brunt of my awareness on him. He wouldn't be hiding from me again. "Let's find out."

Knowledge flowed through me as Harmony divulged the flow of my memories. Knowledge flowed through me immediately - the feeling of blood in my mouth, of tearing flesh, of spells to destroy and tear cities apart. The power of utter destruction and how to use it. My wings faded out of existence as I cast my first spell.

Aerut. Destrum. No, there was no Mys in this spell - for this was beyond the mortal form of glyph magic. I told the very air itself to destroy, and so it did. The wind began to howl within the Hall of Names as the Air-That-Ate lashed out at Discord, tearing at his chaotic hold and his physical form - gauging away chunks of flesh with each bite. The air rippled as Discord countered - Dis. Fyrd. And the air began to burn. A surge of fire that he shaped like a gigantic draconequus head formed, lashing out and biting down at me - its flaming teeth digging into my midsection. With no air inside of the cavern, I had to rely on my purely physical speed - and it wasn't quite enough. Chaotic flames washed over my hind legs, their heat so great that even my scales began to melt and fuse together into a goopy mess.

I lunged towards Discord and slashed a claw at him. He teleported, as I expected - but I denied that. It was a simple spell, one that I had used on Astrabelle before - but now, it was much greater with the power of Order. Dos. Apstra. I denied his cutting of space, and I grabbed onto him through the teleport. I yanked him out and sent him flying into the wall with a slap of my tail.

Discord stopped his momentum and wove through the air with sickening fluidity. His claw, arcing with chaos magic, dug into my face - and tore. More than half of my face was torn off with a surge of chaos magic, a spray of energy sending both of us flying backwards. My blood oozed out onto the floor, but Discord didn't let up his moment of slight advantage. He cut space between us again - avoiding a teleport that I would be able to cancel. Instead, I grabbed onto his throat and dug a claw into it, pressing down in an attempt to draw blood.

"Monster." I snarled. "Why?" I pinned him down to the ground and planted a foot on his chest in an effort to crush his heart under my paw.
"Why what?" He hissed, his eyes wide and feral.
"Why are you doing this? WHY!?"

A wave of force broke the space between us. It sent me flying upwards, slamming into the cavern so roughly that my scales began to crack. It sent him flying down into the ground, a crater forming within the Hall of Names. He snapped his fingers and with a pulse of Dis that I was too slow to stop - he cut the space between the walls and me.

The Hall of Names was crushed into a singularity as a cavern of rock was locked tight around me. I dug my claws into the ground and began to fight, reforming my wings of the storm and beginning to tear Mount Draelos itself apart in my struggle. He spun his eagle's claw around in a lazy pattern as the mountain-top was torn into shreds, all the rubble coalescing into a strong, earthen prison - that slowly began to fill with water. He was trying to drown me.

No- he was trying to bind me. Earth to block off my connection to the air. Water to destroy my connection to Order. And I could feel it - I could feel both these things beginning to wane, slowly.

A good thing, then, that I was not just a Spirit of Air.
I was the Queen of Storms.

Once, I was barely able to summon a storm.
Once, I had needed physical components and hours of preparation to summon a storm.

But now?
All I needed was my mind. My mind, which began to race as Order and I worked together - and Harmony kept us...well, in Harmony. We knew what components to work on. We knew the glyphs to weave together - a sequence of hundreds of glyphs, the most intricate magic that I had ever weaved. So we created lightning; we created the wind; we created rain.

"Why?" Discord mocked. "I could ask you the same thing. Why do you all do...this? You run around; you kill and murder each other over nothing. You treat me as if I'm a monster - and then you embrace my sphere whole-hearted me. If I am a monster, then what are you?"

"You're justifying genocide with conflict?" I spat out, my eyes glowing with rage as I struggled against the ever-squeezing rock binding. Even so, my mind was still forming the spell.

"CONFLICT?" He snarled. "I'm justifying freedom with genocide. I'm liberating everyone." He hissed. "No more conflict. No more rage. No more darkness. No chance of oblivion. I'm bringing the world into an age of freedom! Where you can do whatever you want! Where your filthy dragons won't come and tear this land apart because they feel like it. Don't you understand-?"

I decided that he talked too much, and the storm struck.

It was beyond words. It was the perfect embodiment of the Storm itself. The world was obscured by a thick haze of wind so violent that it seemed to bat away the light itself. Lightning tore through the sky in esoteric patterns and struck down - targeting exclusively Discord. Through the blur, I could faintly see his form wriggling and writhing as it dodged bolt after bolt - moving in patterns that I didn't quite think were physically possible. Not that Discord had ever stopped in the face of physical rules before.

The surge of power the storm brought with me allowed me to overpower the chaotic bindings instantly. I teleported behind him - and now, with my full size, I brought all of my power into my horns. The air began to crackle and burn with the smell of ozone. An orb of energy formed in the center between my antlers, and a torrent of lightning struck out from it - carving a pattern into the ground, arcs that lashed at Discord and forced him to be constantly on the move. I attempted to teleport his head to the side - causing one of my bolts to strike him as he focused on dismantling that spell. Not that it would have worked, but it would have teleported his entire body to the side instead of just his head. I teleported to another side and struck at him with a spell of Order's suggestion. Harmony offered some improvements.
The storm was obliterating the Chained Forest. The wind was violent - so violent that the trees were being uprooted, the chains flying off of them and shattering as they broke into shards of Order. But, of course, the shards of Order were equally charged with Order and Chaos, as the destruction of Order was inherently chaotic, and so both of us gobbled them up greedily - I could feel Discord's magic beginning to swell even as mine did.

It sounded like a whip, tearing through the air. But a thousand times louder - and it was followed by the sound of the Earth splitting. The spell struck, and with it followed destruction. The sound was so violent that I could feel my intestines liquefy from the force of it - and I knew that all the world had heard that sound. The mountain split in two, fragments of rock falling down and barraging Discord's free-falling body: the air pressure too great to allow him to fly away, my constant monitoring preventing him from teleporting or cutting space.

My magical assault ceased, and I continued a physical one. I began tearing apart Mount Draelos with my bare claws, barraging Discord with sections of rock the size of houses and attempting to bury him underneath the mountain. Stone was the opposite of a chaotic element - just as it could bind me, it could bind him.

Harmony yelled something out. Order moved to react. It was too late. I was too slow. There was a crack like a tree trunk shattering - and I felt a mess of gore tear from my eye as the orb was decimated by a bolt of something. My skull broke and fragmented, shards of my skull digging into my brain and what felt like my own brain beginning to droop from my ears. It was immediately followed up by another surge of raw chaos magic - thrown at me haphazardly, violently. It was the lashing out of a feral animal, and even as my wings dissipated, my skull shattered, and I fell down to the ground - I knew that Discord was afraid.

My confirmation came with my continued life. Instead of Discord following up on this - I saw him teleport up into the air, his form broken and battered, blood oozing from him and fragments of the rubble of what had once been Mount Draelos digging into his flesh. And then he began to flee.

I had never seen Discord flee before. My vision blurred, and I felt Harmony's power course through me as the Storm began to repair my broken skull. I stood up and leaned against the broken stump of Mt. Draelos like a crutch, waiting for my wings to reform.

After what felt like hours - but must have been maybe a second at most, I broke the sound barrier from a standstill and went flying after him. I kicked up a storm of dust and rubble underneath me - and the storm followed right behind me. My wings spread wide as I let out an earth-shaking roar, letting my tail and claws cut into the ground itself as I flew after the faint squiggly shape in the edge of my vision that I was slowly gaining on.

He was flying towards Olympus. A snarl split my face as I doubled, tripled, quadrupled my speed - my flesh and scales beginning to burn as I pushed past the sound barrier - and past the magic barrier.

An explosion of Storm energy came flying out from my wake. A swirl of white that brought Order and Harmony in everything in its path - eradicating Discord's magic where it flowed. I grabbed onto Discord with both of my claws and dove both of us through the top half of Olympus.

The mountain was sheared in half, its top fragment flying with us as I sent it crashing down into him. He had dropped a mountain-top on me. I suppose dropping two mountains on him was a sufficient degree of vengeance.

I threw him from my hands and increased his speed with a spell that removed his friction, sending him hurtling down into the ground as a fireball. I came crashing down above him and channeled a raw beam of force from my antlers as I began barraging him with the equivalent of a tantrum. My size gave me a strength advantage, but actually hitting him was strange - it was the equivalent of stomping, slamming, jumping up and down. Shards of the mountain fell around us - none had hit the floor before Discord formed his counterspell.

Deflect, Order spoke. And I barely found the time to manage to dismantle a spell that would've increased the gravity of my organs so that they had come tearing out of my own flesh. In the time it had taken me to dismantle it, though, Discord cut space - and floated above me, blood oozing from his mouth.

He laughed. A bone-chilling laugh that once sent shivers down my spine. He laughed uproariously; he laughed so violently that a thick stream of blood ran from his mouth, turning into swirls of syrup, saliva and water as it dropped onto the ground. The spray of moisture stung the ground and tainted it.

"Oh, dear Tempest." He said in a soft, feral growl as he began circling above me in loops. "You really are special. You hurt me as a mortal. And now - you nearly kill me as a divine. You - hurt me. In a way that only a drakon ever has."

His eyes shifted as they became pure black voids. "Allow me to retaliate in kind."

With a speed that he shouldn't have had, he moved through the distance between us. It wasn't a teleport or his usual cutting of space - it was simply raw, blinding speed. I didn't have the time to react as he struck me with the full force of his Sphere. His arm shattered into fragments from the strength of his blow, the fragments turning into shards of light that lunged at my stomach. My head snapped back, the muscles in my neck tore as the blow pushed my snout into my face - my bones shattering and my face rippling like water. A spray of blood came from me. The shards of light pierced into my stomach and began to pull in every direction - attempting to tear me into shreds.

Had my sphere not included Air, I would've died. Instead - I split my form into the air itself and reformed in the clouds, far, far above. Discord launched from the ground with such force that it split underneath him with a sound like a thunderbolt.

Adapt. Order demanded. Harmony agreed.

Discord disagreed. He struck me with an uppercut even as the storm reformed my face, with physical strength disproportionate to his size that sent me wriggling backwards. My wings flared as I steadied myself - and from the storm around us, I called lightning from all its corners. A thousand lightning bolts struck Discord at the same time - but they froze.

They turned to grey sludge that seemed to droop into the ground as they neared him. Then, thee clouds rippled, and space was cut between us again. I only narrowly managed to dodge his blow and retaliated with a devastating tail-swipe.

The tail was a drakon's strongest part of the body. With a sharp blade at the end, semi-prehensile, to say it was lethal would be an understatement. But it was the strongest, and it was the fastest. It struck Discord with so much force that I could feel his bones splintering even as flesh was torn from his body - leaving him as a skeleton, connected together by pulsating and wriggling pink sinew.

There wasn't a drop of blood in his body. Just sludge that dripped from the faintest cracks in his bones.

No, I whispered as the realization clicked. I knew where his strength came from.
Discord drew the Storm into himself, and he surged with power. A torrent of black lightning came from his open maw - tearing his teeth apart as it forced its way out of him violently. His bones cracked, more sludge and gray mist oozing out as the lightning inched ever closer.

We trust you, they spoke as I explained my plan.
The lightning struck my chest. I died instantly as my body was vaporized.
My heart stopped. Order's voice dimmed. Harmony's strength faded.

And within the infinitesimal moment between death and life - as my bones had begun to disintegrate...I drew on the world.

Discord was like me. He was an amalgamation. But where Life and Death had asked for the parts that formed up my whole, Discord simply took. He had made the comparison between us again and again - and I don't think either of us knew how accurate it truly was.

He took. I was given. And that was the fundamental difference between the two of us. I asked for the strength of the world. And the world gave it in full.

Two divine skeletons hurtled through the sky in a blazing fireball as I grabbed onto Discord and cut time instead of space. Time rippled as we had crossed a thousand miles in a second, but for us - it had been less than an instant. Discord's skeleton was dragged through the ground, the friction lapping against his bones as I pulled him through the continent.

I sent him flying forward, and he came back at me with his force in full. We grappled in mid-air: no constants there. My size grew. My size shrunk. His size shrunk. His size grew. We moved left and right, backwards through time and forwards through space. In a single instant, we had fought for a thousand lifetimes.

I took the form of a unicorn as he took the form of a hydra. His heads snapped at me as I wove between them, cutting space and inverting gravity to aid in my movement. Finally, I wrapped the World around myself, and I tore a mountain into shreds - tearing up large snatches of ground that I threw at him haphazardly.

He took the form of a minotaur as I took the form of a gryphon. I flew high, high into the air in an attempt to suffocate him - and the ground began to bulge as it caught up to us. It wrapped around the two of us, and he began to choke me - until we both split away as our forms shifted.

The very landscape itself shifted, warped - bubbled and changed. Until it was just us - two divine skeletons, flying through the air at the speed of sound. Hurtling back into where it had all begun - Mount Draelos. Our hearts began to beat in tandem as they reformed. The heart was followed by the muscles, the veins, the sinew, tendons - the flesh and scales came last, and definition finished us off.

He lay against a tree, panting - wheezing for air. I leaned the rubble of Mt. Draelos as I did much the same.

"Why? Why don't you understand?" Discord whimpered out as he stood up on newly formed flesh. "You can't stop me. You shouldn't stop me. I'm trying to save us. I'm trying to free us."
"Through madness?" I hissed. "Through genocide?"
"Better genocide than omnicide," Discord retorted with a growl.

"Oh, you draconics. I've always hated you. Your pride - your level of strength that just happens to be the right level of inconvenience. I can't vaporize you instantly, but you can't scratch me. But you-, oh, you Tempest. There is a special hatred for you in my heart. You call yourself a hero - when you seek to kill me. When you seek to kill us all."

"You are a fool, Tempest!" He roared, the Storm echoing his cry. "Ready your magic, beast. Attempt to strike me down. And fail. Because I am magic."

Every ounce of magic he had left gathered up within him. It burst out of him in an amorphous wave of energy - that ever so faintly looked like a butterfly. Everything in its path was vaporized, and what wasn't vaporized was made chaotic - colors inverted, pockets of chaos energy rippling.

For a moment, there was silence.
Then I spoke a word. "No."

A defined burst of energy came tearing from my mouth. It was accompanied with an echo of every roar that I had ever shown to the land - travelling faster and faster as a bolt of white lightning that was shaped faintly like a dragon moved to meet Discord's wave. But it wasn't enough. Dragon met butterfly - and the butterfly began to push the dragon back.

"You're not."

I focused on them. On the memories that had torn me from the same hatred that had enveloped Discord. I focused on them - and I incorporated everything into my spell.

A sprinkle of blue laughter.
A dash of red loyalty.
A brilliant gift of violet generosity.
A helping hoof of orange honesty.
A flutter of pink kindness.

The beams were equal now. Discord pushed with all of his might, just as I pushed with all of mine. The landscape itself began to warp and distort in our presence - but it was a stalemate.

Two words broke it.

"They are."
Two alicorns began to dance around the dragon. One was fair, regal, and tall - her horn a pointed spear of light. The other was fearsome, imposing, and strong - her horn a rippling mass of darkness.

And with them followed a sparkle of lavender magic.

Fragments of stone crashed to the ground.

-

Author's Note

The final chapter of Tempest's story - "Aftermath," will be released within hours of this upload.

[15] Aftermath

Aftermath

No. They are.

Underneath a black sky, god fought god.

The battle was fearsome. The world trembled as their power shaped it. Echoing booms, the trembling ground - and some ponies cradled around Celestia and Luna. The Sun and Moon let their power run freely, an aura of warmth and cold that mixed and blended into a soft peace calming their ponies. Their ponies.

A rainbow struck. The world went white.

Hooves touched down gently by charred grass. The air here was thick and heavy - and it was only through virtue of their divinity that the two sisters did not have their souls crushed under the magical pressure.

Their battlefield was adorned with bones. Decorated with claw-prints and swaths of earth that had been carved up. Charred fragments of stone that looked like they had been burnt then crushed into a fine powder were scattered around in a pile - and Discord's petrified skull sat a-top of a pile of bones.

There was no sign of Tempest.
Celestia spat at the skull.
Luna followed suit.

Neither of them noticed how the leylines seemed to be laughing.

Twenty years.

It had taken over twenty years to repair the damage that Discord had wrought to the world. It had taken another three years to organize the world enough to have a world. The Chained Forest - or, now without chains, the Everfree Forest - was the capitol of pony civilization. Or what was left of it.

Roads were being paved slowly. Houses were being rebuilt. Some of the chaos blighted had even shown signs of improvement. Life was hard. But it was good.

Luna lit her horn. She lowered the moon.
Celestia lit her horn. She did not raise the sun.

This was not for lack of trying, however. When tugging on the sun - she found it stuck. She tugged, she pulled - she did the magical equivalent of standing on a wall and pulling with all of her might on the door-knob. Even when her sister lent her might, they could do little more than make it wobble.

Then, it went rocketing down. And the moon came rocketing up. Confusion - realization - dread - realization - fear.

Discord's sickly laugh echoed in their ears.

"Discord," Celestia spoke. It was hard to speak the name of the person who had killed the closest thing she had to an older sister with a tone that wasn't hatred - but Celestia usually managed.

Not now, though. "Thee did explain thy...unique circumstances. T'wast only und'r them that we didst not striketh thee down."
"Aaah, Celestia." Discord - or more accurately, the Shadow of Discord, grinned at her. "We concur I existeth to maketh balance. Thee seeketh peace with me. I seeketh peace with thee. Let us not disrupt this, nay?"

They hadn't believed it at first. He looked like Discord. He acted...mostly, like Discord. He had the same abilities as Discord - if not even greater. They had yet to see him actually struggle to do anything - not that they had been able to release their full power in their brief fight, considering the damage it would wreak.

Yet, he claimed not to be Discord. But rather a fragment of his will. He claimed that he had been created by Discord to micromanage his chaos - but after Discord's death at Tempest's claws, he was reborn as the Avatar of Chaos. It was a tall tale...but Celestia found herself trusting of the strange creature. She remembered that squiggly shadow that had followed Discord's chaos into the Nexus.

Though, he had proven himself to be less violent than his predecessor, which was the primary reason that Luna and Celestia did not take up arms against him.

The other reason was that they weren't sure who would win.

It was the first disruption.

But it hadn't been the last. An incident every few months grew tiring - but then every few weeks. Then, days. Until Discord announced his plan to liberate Liogella - by the destruction of all government and absolute freedom. Celestia and Luna tried to strike him down.

They didn't stand a chance. They barely survived. Had he not let them, they would not have.

The two sisters stumbled through the one place free from Discord's magic. The last bastion of Order and Harmony in the world - the Everfree. Their castle had been built there for that location, but Discord had kept it very well guarded. He didn't particularly want anyone to find their way out of his liberation, as he had dubbed it.

Unbeknownst to the sisters, they followed the path of the closest thing they had to family - who had walked this path more than a century ago.

Limping. Weak. Broken and damaged - horns cracked, scales bleeding. A single word to drive her.
Rest.
Harmony took her under her roots. She had her rest.

And even as Harmony offered them the power that had defeated Discord once before - they overlooked their kin, sleeping deep below them. But they couldn't help but feel that the Elements seemed familiar, somehow.

Scarred. Battered. Bruised, all but broken - their magic weak, their stomachs empty. Forced through trial after tribulation, pushed to the breaking point of even a Spirit.
A strange sound, almost like a whistling bell.

"Playtime is over for you, Discord." No - not the royal tone. They had felt they had no right to speak in that tone.

Seeds of chaos - in the most literal of senses. They began to sprout, wriggle - and dig into flesh.

Harmony's magic fought them back. Tempest still rested.

Discord's chaos was washed away with a pulse.

The storm raged on as it assaulted the Everfree.

The Gryphon King sailed on his warship. His mages had summoned a storm of a size that no mortal had ever seen before. Wind and lightning would even destroy the sisters themselves and leave the world to the Gryphons.

They were not afraid of the storms.

Hours later, the battle ended. The two were unharmed.

"Thank you," they whispered, as the scales that they had incorporated into their regalia seemed to glow.

Luna felt alone.

She had felt alone for a very long time.

They didn't look at her like they looked at her sister. They looked at her with fear. With hatred. They hated her night, despite its beauty. They didn't remember. They didn't remember the pitch-black void of Discord's night. Maybe then they would have a better appreciation.

She tried to speak to Celestia. Celestia shunned her.

"I miss you," she whispered to the scale that adorned her breastplate.
The scale seemed to glitter. Deep below - a half-dreaming drakon murmured.
"I miss you."

It went unheard.

Days later, the elements fell down to the ground.

Celestia wept. And so did the Elements.

A millennium later, the Elements no longer lay dormant.
A millennium later, Luna returned.
A millennium later, Celestia rejoiced.
A millennium later, so did the Elements.

A surge of chaos.
And as quickly as it came - it was gone.

Later, another surge of chaos.
This one didn't stop. Harmony took no note of it.

Later - a pulse. Something powerful had entered the world. Harmony felt pleased. Order was satisfied. Tempest was tired.

Later, it was not a surge of chaos. But an unending presence. Long-dormant seeds had begun to sprout.
Vines began to prod into flesh. They grew into scales. Harmony cried out in pain, but she had no power with which to save Tempest. Tempest began to die.

The tree called for her elements.

Power that the world had not seen in an eternity tore the lands apart.

In the distance, the dragons began to roar.

In the distance, bells began to ring.

And deep below stirred the Queen of Storms.

-

Author's Note

First off, a big thanks to everyone who liked or added this to your favorites. Getting those notifications make me warm and happy - and seeing people's comments makes me excited.
A special thanks to Alara J Rogers, the author who's story Not The Hero is what I consider to be one of the best stories this website and was actually the inspiration for getting around to finishing this.

These fifteen chapters encompass everything I initially wanted to tell in the 2014 Queen of Storms.

While potentially enjoyable, they are undeniably flawed in a handful of ways. But at the end of the day, people seem to enjoy them, and I enjoy writing them. I can't ask for much more.

This story will more likely than not, continue. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe today. Who's to say? Definitely not me. It'll undergo some grammatical & consistency edits, probably. But Tempest's story is finished.

If the story does continue, it will undoubtedly be Tempest-centric. But it will not be just her story.

[16] Summation

Summation

This is where our story truly begins.

Eighteen years ago, the storm raged on.

It was all very official, you see. A storm this large had to be. It was scheduled months in advance, BOWA, the Bureau of Weather Administration, sent out news reports and fliers through all the channels. They did it cautiously because it couldn't afford not to be done as such. If there was a single missing document, any information that had been misplaced - there would be the threat of legal action.

But this is not a story about the administration of weather and all of BOWA's intricacies and inner workings. So, no, there was no bureaucratic or democratic problem with the storm - but rather a much, much more simple one.

Twilight Sparkle was afraid of thunder.

Celestia was many things.

In a time of desolation, she was known as Indomita.
In a time of chaos, they had called her Daybringer.
In a time of war, she was known as Sol Invictus, The Unconquered Sun.

She had been described as warm and cold. Cruel and kind. She had been described as a thousand different compliments and two thousand more insults on top of that: all of them conflicting and synonymous. She was all of these things. Yet, she carried with her the strength of the sun - the wisdom of the ages, the power to shape the world under her hooves.

Power meant nothing, as a unicorn filly trembled underneath a blanket.

Her bones rattled - one part from fear, the other part from the echoing of thunder as the rain pelted the glass windows of Celestia's private study. This was the second safest room in the castle - with wards so thickly layered under every inch of wood and stone that a dragon would find themselves hard-pressed to do little more than chip at the building. Twilight Sparkle was safe - but that didn't matter to the filly. Because she was afraid.

A hoof ran over the outline of her barrel. Back and forth, slowly - repeatedly. A slight amount of pressure was applied so that she could feel it through the blanket.

Minutes went by without a word. Thunder rattled their bones. Twilight broke the silence.
"p-princess?" A whisper. A murmur. Barely audible over the sound of the rain and wind - even with the fine-tuned senses of a pegasus that Celestia had.
"Yes, Twilight?" The Sun matched her tone. Her words were kept soft and even - warm and strong.
"...I'm sorry."
She blinked a few times. She hadn't been expecting that. "You're sorry? Whatever for, my faithful student?"
"I'm sorry that I'm afraid."

Oh, Twilight.
Celestia peeled the blanket up, and Twilight's eyes met with Celestia's. Celestia let out a soft sigh and rested her forehead against her students. "Please," she spoke softly. "Don't be. You have nothing to be sorry for. Fear is natural."
"...but...you're so busy, and-"
"Twilight Sparkle." She said a little sternly. Not with stern disapproval, but rather the stern voice of a mother telling you something was final. "If I am ever too busy to make time for you when you're afraid or upset, then I am undeserving of the title Princess."

Twilight mulled that over for a little bit. The way she thought reminded Celestia of someone else she once knew - her head tilted to the side, her eyes seemed to look almost glassy as she looked beyond you and found herself lost in a deep train of thought. Then, slowly, a faint smile split her face.

Thunder boomed, and she immediately yelped and retreated under the covers. Celestia shut her eyes and went back to rubbing her back wordlessly for a few moments.

"...are you afraid?" Twilight spoke from within her rather literal safety blanket.
"Of the storm?" Celestia clarified.
Twilight nodded. It took her three seconds of silence to realize that Celestia couldn't see her nod through the blanket. "Yes." She added quickly.
"...I was, once." Celestia's gaze turned to the side as she found herself staring out of the window.
"What changed?" Twilight's head poked out of the blanket, much like a turtle out of her shell.

Celestia paused for a moment. The world had changed, Twilight. But Celestia couldn't tell her the truth - so she settled with a half-truth.

"When I was young, very young - only a bit older than you, I met a dragon." A blatant lie. She had not been a dragon.
"A dragon?" Twilight spoke up. A twinkle in her eyes, no - a sparkle, her head rising and her eyes meeting with Celestia's. "You never told me you'd met a dragon?"

Celestia was thankful for her white coat as her memories wandered. Oh yes, Twilight - I have known many dragons. Dragons that had pulled her wings off her back like an insect. Dragons that had tried to tear the world apart - and it was only through the actions of a mare much better than I that we are still here. I have known dragons that had burned for months on end as their magic left their body. None of these dragons were like her.

"She was an extraordinary dragon. The last of her kind." A borderline lie. It teetered on the edge of truth. "They called her the Queen of Storms." A half-lie. They called her the Storm Demon in her time, but Celestia had made sure that she was honored as the Queen.

"Not the Storm Princess?"
"No, Twilight." She shook her head. "Dragons do not have princes or princesses." They just had everything else under the sun - lords, ladies, kings, queens, emperors, empresses...
"What was she like?"
"She was kind. The kindest person I knew. Honest, loyal, generous. She always knew how to make me laugh." A rather unsubtle nudge towards Twilight's destiny. Celestia hated withholding information from her, but her mark...
"Person?"
"That's what you call a dragon, instead of a pony. Instead of everypony, you say everyone or everyperson."
"Oh. And she helped you...?"
"Back then, there weren't as many buildings. Everyone lived in trees." Celestia stuck her tongue out and prodded lightly at Twilight's side, causing the filly to giggle. "She saw me cowering underneath a tree as one of her storms hit. She asked me why I was afraid, and I said - because it is loud, and I don't want to get hurt."

"She told me." She kneeled close and stared Twilight in the eye. "She told me that the Storm would never hurt me." She reached down and put a hoof on her cheek. A light press against her neck and a thin yellow aura seemed to envelop Twilight for a moment. It went unnoticed by the filly.

"The Storm will never hurt you, either."
"...do you promise?"
"I promise."

It never did.

Twilight Sparkle had never ceased to surprise Celestia, and for that - Celestia loved her like a daughter. How could she not? She had all but raised the girl - and Twilight had brought her sister back from a void that she had thought insurmountable. If all the world were to stand against Twilight, Celestia would stand against the world.

Now, though - she would stand with Luna at her side.

Knock. Knock.
It was her private study. Few would bother disturbing her here. Fewer would do so at this hour.

"Come in, Lulu," Celestia spoke evenly, even as joy painted her expression. It was late. She should've been asleep. She couldn't.
Luna entered the room - brow furrowed, movements almost frantic. A look of concern replaced the smile that came at seeing her sister's expression. Celestia stood up.

"What's the matter?"
"...When did you stop?" Luna spoke vaguely. Her voice was powerful as ever - and would've been audible to the entire castle were it not for the soundproofing wards. Celestia arched an eyebrow, simply waiting for her sister to continue.
"Looking for Tempest?"

Celestia shivered lightly. She hadn't heard that name spoken outside of her own memories in an eternity. She had fought hard to keep her in memory: but there was only so much she could do. Tempest's name had all but faded to obscurity - even the myth of the Queen of Storms, published a little over twenty years ago, was barely known.

"...after..." Celestia glanced at the moon. After your banishment, she wanted to say. But, she couldn't bring herself to.
"After We were banished," Luna spoke with an arched eyebrow.
Celestia stared at her blankly. She managed a nod.
"We had thought as much," Luna said. It was a sore topic for Celestia. It was a sore topic for Luna - but nothing delighted Luna quite as much as making her sister uncomfortable in a playful manner. A small price to pay.

"I've told you, Luna. You can drop the Royal Canterlot Voice. For one - it's just us. For another, it's long out of style."
Luna shut her eyes. "Do not change the point. You stopped."
"It was centuries, Luna. Four hundred years - and we hadn't found anything more than a speck. For all we know, she's-"
"She is alive, sister." Luna stepped forward. "I know it."
"Luna." Celestia stood up. "I searched. I truly did. Every continent, every mountain, every town. There's not a trace of her. If she didn't come back when he came back-"
"It wasn't truly him, and-"
"How would she know that-"
"I felt her!" Luna suddenly interrupted. Celestia recoiled slightly from her sudden increase in volume.
"...what?"
"I felt her, sister. When - when the elements...when they tore the parasite from my soul. I felt a power that I had felt once before. Her power."
"What are you saying?" Celestia's voice was weak. It always was, on this subject.
"I am saying that the elements - they're connected to her. The rainbow - do you not remember the rainbow that took that Beast from our world?"

Celestia's head turned to the side. "...I..."
"Do you not believe me? Truly?" Her voice. It stung- it stung with heartbreak.
"No!" The distance was closed between them. Wings and hooves curled around her. "I believe you. It's just - it's...hard. To imagine - that she could've been so close. But so far. I promise, little sister. I believe you. I trust you." She glanced down at the floor. "I just...I'm not sure if I trust myself."

"Trust your trust in me, and trust that I trust you."
"...How?" She whispered. She buried her face into her neck. "How could you trust me? After I - maker, Luna, you're my sister, and I Bound you for-"
"If the situation was reversed," Luna spoke softly. "You would have expected me to do the same. Correct?"
"Yes, but-"
"Celestia." Luna tilted her sister's head up and stared into her eyes. "To our subjects, you may be perfect. But, to me - you are the same filly that cried for an hour because you stepped on a frog."
Celestia's cheeks reddened. She wriggled from her sister's grasp. She stammered and spluttered for words, and Luna grinned as she pressed her assault.
"I wonder, sister dear, are you still afraid of spiders?"

The two found themselves happy for the soundproof warding - as the Sun Herself shrieked like a child as her sister chased her around with an animated plastic spider.

"It's true." The senior guard whispered in a low tone. Leaned over, eyes peeled for the topic of conversation.
"You're bullshitting me. It's just - a statue? Really?"
"It's true. Every month, like clockwork. The first day of the month, she dips down for an hour. You never see her leave, but she obviously does. Cause - y'know. She's Celestia."
"A statue." The newer guard arched an eyebrow.
"A statue! And at the end of every month, her sister does the same thing. Dips down during the night - same statue, man. The ugly one, the one that looks like some foal's art project. "
"...A statue."
"Yes - man, do you have ears? Honest!"
"Man, you need to lay off the cider."

"Hello, demon."
"Ahh! The Princess of Nap-Time and Temper-Tantrums."
"You've used that one before."
"I have not. I used the Princess of Temper Tantrums and Nap Time. Not only is it reversed, but it's also non-hyphenated. There's a difference."
"I will take your word for it."
"You should. I'm very good at noticing differences. Like the ones between you and your sister."
"Are you here to attempt to drive a wedge between us, as you did before - ages past? It will not work, Demon."
"I take offense to the title Demon. I think I'd much prefer Fish-Lord. Ooh, or maybe Sandwich-Master! Hm. There's a lot of possibilities. I'll have to mull it over. Besides, I do not need such things. Why, I'd say you two are doing it rather excellently yourself."
She didn't respond.
"Oh, all the world might try. But you know - that no matter what you do, Little Spirit, they'll still look at you as what you are. A monster."
"It takes one to know one."
"R-really? Is that your comeback? Pffft!" How was his laugh so grating and slimy, even when it was telepathic?
"Oh, I am anything but a monster, Luna. I sought to free your world. You endeavored to drown it in an endless night and kill everyone. Are you noting a difference here? I feel there's a significant one."
Luna shut her eyes. "Do you think you can taunt me with that? I have sought forgiveness for the actions of the parasite."
"PARASITE!?" Discord all but shrieked with laughter. "Oh, no, no, Luney-Mooney. That was no parasite."
"That was all you."

Sniff. Sniff. Crunch. Crunch. Discord blew his nose overdramatically, then use the same handkerchief to wipe his eyes as he simultaneously snacked on popcorn so goopy and sticky that it was more like taffy than anything else.

Celestia hated taffy. It smelled of the apocalypse to her.
"You truly have faith in her, don't you? How adorable. Really, Celestia." His clothing shifted into stereotypical "grandma" clothing as he gripped onto her cheeks and squeezed, tugging at them in both directions. She wriggled away and flapped her wings, a strong gust of air sending her backward. "If it wasn't so foalish, then I might be amused. Or, if we're going with horse puns - amoosed." His hat was sent flying off by another set of antlers that suddenly sprouted from his skull.

His head then split into two halves as a spiraling bolt of black energy with swirls of blue around it passed through where his head should've been.

"DISCORD!" Luna howled as she lunged at him. She took off the ground with absurd force, her wings beating - the stained glass windows breaking into thousands of fragments as she sought to stab her horn directly into his heart. Or where his heart should be. By the time she reached him, not a single shard of glass had touched the ground.

He dodged her effortlessly, put a dunce cone suppressor ring on her horn, and had her bonk into her sister with a resounding thunk.

"Luna~!" He squealed excitedly. "Oh, I've missed you!" He picked her up and squeezed her in a tight bear hug - quite literally, as he transmogrified himself into a gigantic Ursa Minor that filled up the entire room. It was still undeniably Discord, judging from his head shape and antlers - and his eyes. He had never been able to change his eyes in any of his forms. Not for long, at least.

"Let go of me, beast! Demon!" That was what she tried to say. Instead, she found herself saying - "Throw me off Mount Canterlot, Sandwich-Master!"
He gasped. "You remembered what I wanted to be called! Oh, of course!" Discord turned back into Discord - dressed up as a hoofball batter. Luna was enveloped in a glow as he smashed her in the side with a bat that sent her sailing into the sky.

"Luna!" Celestia shrieked. She leaped up to fly after her sister, but Discord grabbed her by the tail and pulled her back.
"Please, Celestia." He snorted. "She's fine. There's a giant whoopie cushion where she'll land. Probably." Shrug.
"What do you want?" She hissed out.
"What else? What I always have." He loomed over her all of a sudden. More than twice her size when he stood up like this - he had to lean down for their eyes to meet. "Freedom," he whispered.

Celestia's horn began to glow. A power that Equestria had not seen in decades began to bubble up within her. It pulled into her horn, the very force of the sun itself - the air beginning to bubble, twist, and warp and reality seeming to melt. Her horn was wrapped in a corona triple-layered, so much power that it could destroy mountains-

Discord blew it out like a candle. "Really." He let out a soft sigh. "I never understand why you two are so dedicated on wasting both of our time. You cannot hurt me. And I have no desire to hurt you." He grabbed onto Celestia's face and squeezed. "Although I should, Celestia." He whispered quietly - so quietly. "You trapped me in stone. I don't like being trapped in stone."

"Regardless," he teleported a good distance away from her - now standing by the suddenly repaired stained glass windows, staring out into the city with his lion's paw behind his back and his eagle claw containing a goblet of wine. "One of us has to be the bigger draconequus."

"Your freedom is torture. Chaos, madness without reprieve. It's cruelty. It's immoral-"
"-a moral debate, really now? We've been over this. Under my freedom, there are significantly fewer gryphon and dragon invasions. Or - did you forget that? Hmph. We've been over this before. I don't like repeating myself - do you? Do you think it's fun?"

Celestia shut her eyes. "No, Discord." She spoke through gritted teeth. "I do not."

"Then why, Celestia? Why do you do - any of this if it isn't fun? That's what I will never understand about you ponies." He poured the goblet of wine into his mouth. It turned into milk as he did so, staining his face but without a drop getting onto the floor. After it was empty, he threw the suddenly explosive glass away and licked up the milk with a comical slurp.

"What do you want, Discord?" Celestia repeated.
Discord rolled his eyes - quite literally, rolling them like dice. They morphed into dice with a rewind symbol on them, and Discord and Celestia had their positions reversed to where they were just a moment ago. Celestia found the words leaving her mouth beyond her control.

"What do you want?" She hissed out.
"What else? What I always have." He loomed over her all of a sudden. More than twice her size when he stood up like this - he had to lean down for their eyes to meet. "Freedom," he whispered.

"No, Discord." Celestia spoke the moment she had regained control of herself. "You've disposed of my sister-" she cringed at her wording, "temporarily," she added hastily, "and you've left me cornered and caged. And now you're-"
"Monologuing?" Discord finished. "I always monologue. It's my thing." He snorted and blew out a puff of smoke, much like a dragon.
"You're playing at something. Whatever you want - you are not going to get it. I have full confidence that my faithful student and the other elements will-"
"Pffft!" Discord giggled and jumped up into the air, lounging on a couch that started spinning around in rapid circles. "Once I break their wielders-"
"If you-"
"Spiritually, Celestia! Please. I don't kill ponies. Corpses are woefully unchaotic."
"No." Celestia admitted. "Instead, you drive them to insanity."
Discord just shrugged and waved his hand away. The couch disappeared and he fell down onto the ground, before he cut space and coiled around Celestia. He rather enjoyed squeezing around a pony and staring into their face - it made them feel restricted, and tight, and forced them to meet his eyes. "Once the bearers are broken, they can't wield their elements. And even if they could - well. If the spirits they were designed for could barely seal me away...I'll take my chances."

That bit of information took Celestia off-guard. She recoiled. "Designed for?" She whispered.
Discord blinked a few times. "You - you didn't know?"

He laughed. He uncoiled suddenly and hung in the air, tilting his head back as he let out an uproar of laughter. A dozen other Discord's all formed around Celestia, all in various states of laughter as they pointed at her. One of them laughed so hard his head exploded into a cloud of smoke.

"You didn't know!?" He shrieked as he fell to the floor, clutching at his stomach and writhing all over the floor. "Oh, oh that is - that is rich. Her dying gift, and you didn't even know!"

Celestia's mind reeled. Designed for? Her wings felt heavy. Her blood felt like an icy slush. But - of course. How could they not be? It made so much sense, in hindsight. Their marks, damn it - their marks on the tree..

Luna slammed down through the ceiling in a hail of rubble. Discord was taken off-guard: having found the whole situation so comical, that even he barely had the time to grab onto the tip of Luna's horn and block her with an uncharacteristic display of raw magical strength - overpowering part of her hold as he locked her in air and pushed her backwards. The air rippled as Luna's power fought against his.

Discord let out a soft exhale as he sent Luna into a chaotic trampoline that sent her flying backwards into the wall. She groaned as she pushed herself up. Discord wiped a tear from his eye and let out a sigh. "Oh, dear. That was the funniest thing I've heard in ages."

Celestia was still reeling. Her eyes were wide - how had she not noticed? How had she not - she should've, she should have-
"Unfortunately, my dears...I have some freedom to spread. Ta-ta~!" He waved a handkerchief at them before he disappeared with a pop.

"Hello, Discord."
He didn't respond.
"I truly wish it didn't have to be this way." She glanced to the side. "Do you remember?"
"I remember everything, Celestia." There was so much pain in his voice. Celestia winced.
"Then you remember that you were good. That there was a balance."
"I remember that under your rule, people died unnecessarily."
"If I was ever in a position to choose between madness and death - I would choose death."
"Then you are a fool. I have nothing more to say to you."
"It may be so." She turned to leave.
"Wait."
She stopped. "Yes, Discord?"
"...Your student."
Celestia's eyes narrowed lightly. "What of her?"
"She - she was...familiar."
Celestia blinked a few times. Discord had never seen the Tree of Harmony - and all the Elements were shaped like their Bearer's mark. How did...

"How so?" Celestia managed after a moment.
There was no response.

Minutes later, Celestia left.

"I'm not going to sugarcoat it, Princess." Commander Cloud Charge spoke flatly. "They're advancing. It's skirmishes now - nothing major. Not even any injuries. But there's no way that they aren't-"
"Commander," Celestia retaliated evenly. "The Gryphons have been our staunch allies for years. I know Gryphon King Redclaw. He is a good man-"
"That's the problem, Celestia." The Commander was one of the few ponies alive who would dare to cut her off as well as call her just Celestia to her face. It was part of the reason he was the commander. "King Redclaw isn't going to be king forever. There are candidates that-"

At that very moment, King Redclaw appeared right over the table. Celestia recoiled. Cloud Charge stepped backwards, his wings beginning to buzz with electricity. Redclaw was a rather imposing Gryphon - armored claws that looked as if they could cut through steel, sharpened wing-tips, and only a head shorter than Celestia.

"I have come to invade!" He said in a high-pitched whiney voice. Celestia let out a soft sigh. "Please, Discord. Show yourself."
At that, Cloud Charge relaxed immediately. As Discord's sinuous body curled around the Commander, he tensed up again. "Hm. If you insist." He said dryly. "I am after all on the leash." Suddenly, Celestia was wearing a black leather outfit, with a leash around Discord's neck.

Celestia went red. Discord snorted. Cloud Charge gaped blankly.
"Commander," she said softly. "Leave us."

Cloud Charge didn't waste a moment as Discord freed him from his grasp, Cloud Charge all but sprinting out of the room. Discord wiggled his eyebrows at Celestia - only to narrowly dodge a bolt of solar plasma that melted the floor partially.

"Oh, pooh. No fun! Not like your sister." He stuck his tongue out as the dominatrix getup disappeared from Celestia, along with the leash. Discord stuck onto the wall much like a lizard. "You called, Celestia?"

"I did." She said flatly. "...I wanted to ask you for a favor." Her eyes turned to the side.
Discord's interest was thoroughly peaked now. Not only was the Princess Celestia herself deigning to ask him a favor - she couldn't even meet his eyes while she did it. He butterfly-swam towards her, floaties appearing on his arms as the air took the appearance of water. He tilted her chin up with a pointer finger and grinned toothily at her. "A favor."

"...I want...I want to see her final moments." She glanced down. Discord arched an eyebrow. "Tempest's." She clarified.
"Hmm. And why should I? Accessing my predecessors memories isn't exactly the most pleasant experience, you see. I'm not quite a fan of the sheer bloodthirst that it brings." He inspected his nails as he casually remarked on the previous Discord's genocidal rampage.

"As a favor."
"A favor." He snorted.
"As a favor for a friend."
That took Discord off-guard. He stared at her for a second before he burst out into a fit of giggles. "I don't see Fluttershy anywhere nearby, Princess."
"You know what I meant."
"I do!" He agreed. "Which is why I just burst out laughing." Discord curled his hand and pointed his pointer thumb at the air. He tugged.

The leash was rather literal. A cage of superconcentrated harmonic magic - woven painfully over the course of months by Celestia, her sister, and Cadance. The power of three alicorns - all concentrated on limiting Discord's abilities to a fraction of what he once had.

"Friends don't leash other friends." He hissed out.
Celestia's horn pulsed. The leash snapped. Discord recoiled as he felt his access to the entire magical pool of the leylines coursing underneath them go from limited to unlimited.
"As a favor, for a friend."
Discord was silent. His mouth opened, closed, then opened again - but he seemed at a loss for words.

Discord snapped his fingers, and the world blurred in pink, red, and yellow-

"They are."
Two alicorns began to dance around the dragon. One was fair, regal, and tall - her horn a pointed spear of light. The other was fearsome, imposing, and strong - her horn a rippling mass of darkness.

And with them followed a sparkle of lavender magic.

Fragments of stone crashed to the ground.

Order killed Discord. Harmony turned Discord to stone. Discord's shattered body suggested that a fusion of both, unsurprisingly, did both.

Tempest stood as Harmony and Order leaked through her scales. The Storm began to sink into her as it tried to repair the damage done to her body - but it had no visible effect. Tempest's eyes were heavy. She looked weak.

Rest. The psychic word was all but yelled. Celestia heard it, and she felt a pull-
Tempest began to lumber into the Everfree, as the leylines watched. And as she entered - the leylines felt her presence mold into the background magic of the world.

"...I searched, you know." His voice was strange. Celestia wasn't surprised - in the past, no magic she or her sister had employed had ever done more than bruise Discord. And here, he had watched Tempest destroy his past self. "When I was born. I looked for her. I couldn't find her." He glanced at her.

"I don't think she's dead, Celestia." He said honestly. "But I don't think she's coming back." He faded from reality with the sound of a train horn. He was, still after all, Discord.

Celestia shut her eyes.
"You're wrong," she whispered as she ran her magic over the scale on the inside of her crown.

A pulse of something ran through the world. The most magically sensitive creatures on the planet were able to feel it faintly - a light tingling on the backs of their neck.

Cadence, a three hundred year old alicorn, had a sudden fit of the sneezes.
Luna, a two-thousand year old alicorn with the body of a one-thousand year old alicorn, felt energy run along her wings and her bones begin to tremble.
Celestia, a two-thousand year old alicorn, felt her horn begin to sting - and she knew exactly what she had to do.
Discord, a slightly-less-than-two-thousand year old draconequus, felt his entire body tremble and wriggle uncontrollably. "Hubba-hubba!" He grunted as he stood up and cast his magical senses over the entirety of Liogella.

Hmm, he remarked to himself idly. Twilight Sparkle just ascended.
It's about time. He rolled his eyes as he sat back down in his seat in his ever-shifting pocket of chaos.

Tirek's power was what you would call a soul-weapon.

It was quite literally an amalgamation of spiritual matter that he had soldered onto his soul through a lot of blood. There was a reason that there weren't a thousand centaurs running around with the ability to drain magic: the slaughter of thousands went into the creation of a soul-weapon.

Tirek's soul-weapon had come at a cost, though. His shard of divinity. When fusing his soul to his soul weapon, his shard of divinity had become so diluted that - even if he was filled with all the magic in the universe, he would never ascend.

But it also meant he would never burst. And that was the method through which Tirek, infused with the raw power of all of Equestria, found himself coming to blows with the Spirit of Magic herself.

The mountain and ground splintered under their assault. Magic that had not been used in centuries was brought back into the world - and the Tree of Harmony felt this.

"It appears we are at an impasse."

Under her roots, something began to stir.

Two months after Tirek - the Tree of Harmony died.

This would've come as no surprise to anyone intently studying it. After Discord's return and the plundervines began to sprout - its magic had began to wane. The Elements of Harmony had increased its lifespan, as well as destroyed the plundervines that attacked it...but it was still on the down-hill.

It died over the course of a week. Its luster began to fade, its roots began to calcify - until it was little more than a tree-shaped rock in the Everfree.

It was uprooted days later - by something massive. Tearing its way out of the ground, collapsing the cavern the Tree was in with little more than its head. Its body was scarred and covered in scratches from plundervines that had grown into her scales - but they were snapped back or torn apart by the heat that began to roll off of it's body.

It's eyes narrowed as it smelt something familiar. So it sniffed again - and again. Until it caught the faintest scent of something - something from their nightmares.

Rage bubbled up within her. Such rage that the Everfree began to burn - flames beginning to roll over her. The ground began to tremble. Her claws dug into the earth as the storm began to form above her, broiling with bone-rattling thunder and blinding lightning. She recognized this smell. She knew this smell.

Taffy.

The Queen of Storms planted her claws into the ground, and let out a blood-curdling roar - the roar of a draconic. "DISCORD!" She howled.
A few miles away, a draconequus flailed out of his seat and dropped his molten iced tea. "Tempest!?" He shrieked.

-

[17] Truth

Truth

I'll tell you everything from now on.

Twilight Sparkle was many things.

It was no surprise that this statement was true. The student of Celestia herself, chosen for her magical skill and aptitude that matched Celestia's despite her being a mere child. Where it took most unicorns days to learn spells, the prodigal unicorn found herself able to learn them in hours - if not create them on the spot in moments.

She had fought hydras. She had purified the Spirit of the Moon and outplayed the Spirit of Chaos himself. And now - she was one of the three ponies that Discord would call a friend. Well, more accurately - frenemies. They disagreed on everything, butted heads, and traded slightly barbed words and snippy, accurate half insult, half-jokes. But at the end of the day? They were friends. After Tirek - well. Discord would never forget what Twilight Sparkle did for him - and Twilight would go to the end of the world for any of her friends. Even for Discord.

Well - maybe with a little bit more of a grumble than usual. Details.

And while Twilight Sparkle was unique - she woke up with a feeling that this day would absolutely not be. That it would be mundane, normal, and utterly unremarkable.

She was correct. The day after, on the other hoof- was anything but. Twilight found herself fresh out of bed, drinking coffee - when she felt a tingling in her horn. She was no stranger to odd tinglings in her horn, post her ascension - her magical sensitivity had gone off the charts. But this one felt...familiar, somehow.

"Spike?" She called. There was no response. She shut her eyes. She hated how big the castle was. "SPIKE?!" She called, much louder.
"YEAH, TWI?! WHAT'S UP?!"
"IS THERE A LETTER FROM THE PRINCESS?"
"DID YOU ASK IS THERE A LETTER FROM THE PRINCES?"
"NO- Ugh." Twilight promptly downed the rest of her scalding hot coffee in one chug, then teleported right in front of Spike with a pop.

"A letter, from the princess." Twilight said with a tone of exasperation.
"Uh. No? Why? Did something happen?" He suddenly looked a little panicked.
Twilight shook her head. "No, it's - probably nothing." Pause. "...I just felt a tingling."
"...A tingling?"
"In my horn."
"A tingling in your horn," Spike said dryly. He arched an eyebrow - or, more accurately, his eye-ridge.
"It was familiar." She added as if that explained it.
"A familiar tingling in your horn. You wanted to know if Princess Celestia sent you a letter because of a familiar tingling in your horn." The snark in her adopted son's voice was almost visible.
"...I could've meant Luna." She said in a rather small voice, tapping her hooves together. Even with wings and the strength of an earthpony - Twilight couldn't help but be Twilight.
"Did you mean Luna?"
"No, but-" She was cut off - not by words, but by the arched eyebrow of a particularly sardonic dragon.

At that very moment, the storm chose to strike. Thunder rattled their windows and flickered their lights - lightning-filled their vision with spots, and Twilight instinctively teleported Spike onto her back. She stumbled backward and stared out of the window. She saw the Everfree ablaze - she saw a massive storm that had formed in moments - she knew there was no storm scheduled today. Her mouth felt dry.

Her blood ran cold moments later, as the largest dragon she had ever seen roared - "DISCORD!" with a voice of elemental wrath. It was a voice out of primal nature: cracking mountains, rolling thunder, blinding lightning. The dragon tore from the Everfree and began making a beeline towards Fluttershy's house, the forest lighting ablaze underneath it.

Twilight Sparkle was many things.

Right now, she was afraid.

If you implied, insinuated, or other synonymic terms for suggested that Discord had, shrieked like a foal, buried his head in the sand like an ostrich before remembering that he was potentially in mortal danger, and began flying towards Canterlot at a panicked speed that would've made Rainbow Dash blush - he would've laughed and turned you into a frog.

No. What had truly happened was as such. Discord, upon hearing his name bellowed by a mountainous drakon that had killed his predecessor - let out a fearsome war cry, buried his head in the sand to eat some sand - as he was feeling peckish, after all, and made a tactical retreat to Canterlot for backup.

Discord was fast. He was, actually - probably the fastest thing in Equestria. If he wasn't using his magic, then Rainbow Dash or an alicorn could probably outpace him - but he was using his magic. And so, he broke the sound barrier the moment that Fluttershy was out of harm's way from any potential shockwave and made it to the rocky ridge just south of Canterlot itself within a minute.

It wasn't fast enough. He glanced over his shoulder - and sure enough, Tempest was flying towards him with murderous intent. Her magic was rolling off her in waves - the Everfree ablaze underneath her. Then, as she exited the Everfree and moved over more civilized settlements - her magic instinctively reigned itself inwards, the magical flames beginning to die down.

Discord was fast. He could move faster than the speed of sound. He could move a third of a mile in a second. But Tempest was faster. She was going to catch up. Discord swallowed.

You might've thought it would be logical to run towards Tempest and explain the situation to her. If you are thinking that: how about you try running towards the enraged drakon out for your blood and try to get some words in before you were cooked alive? And sure. Discord would have been able to survive for long enough to get the situation under control, maybe -

But if you were to expect the Spirit of Chaos to think rationally, you might as well expect Twilight Sparkle to suddenly invite you to a book burning.

Discord, could at least keep this situation somewhat under control. With a burst of speed - he couldn't just teleport, Tempest could cancel his teleport with ease - and he couldn't cut space since he couldn't move far enough with that. Instead, he used his levitation to propel himself forward so violently that his skin began to burn from the friction.

Discord came to a hurtling crash down in Rambling Rock Ridge, a crater forming underneath him. He quickly scampered up on all fours - only for storm clouds to form above him and Tempest to come smashing down right behind him. He narrowly dodged the spell - the air seemed to warp and shimmer as it was molded into a spear that was sent right at his back. He leaped up and created holes in his body to avoid the crystals that Tempest pulled out of the ground to stab into him.

"Wait-" Her tail slashed across his face. Blood sprayed out onto the ground. Discord stumbled backward as a thin scar ran from his forehead to the side of his face, only narrowly dodging his eyes. Oh dear. He hadn't remembered the last time he had bled. His blood turned into clumps of stuffing that fused down to her claws, seeking to lock her in place for just a second. He waved his hand over his face as the wound peeled off like a sticker and fell onto the ground.

"Tempest-" Discord pleaded, opening a portal as she smashed a claw down where he was, tearing from the stuffing like it was nothing. Which it was, at a glance - but that trick had managed to bind Celestia before. But she was bubbling with rage. She wasn't listening. Her claw should've went through the portal and exited out to bonk herself on the back of her head. Instead, it just pushed through the space where the portal was and slammed down where Discord had been milliseconds ago.

That was close. Too close for comfort. "I'M NOT-" Discord's eyes widened - as he was forced to abandon all of his usual tricks for the sake of pure survival. A wall of chaotic magic shielded him from a stream of Order-infused lightning - the two remaining locked in place as Tempest breathed the spell through the ley in her tongue. The ground behind Discord that he deflected the lightning to started to melt.

But the shield was warded against magic. And magic was only one half of Tempest's arsenal. Tempest slammed her head through the shield, her antlers cracking and revealing the ley underneath - Discord winced sympathetically - and sending the Spirit of Chaos flinging backward.

At that moment, Discord would've died.

Celestia had always wondered who was stronger between the two - the Discord that fought Tempest or the Discord that had terrorized them in pursuit of chaotic freedom. The answer wasn't quite so cut-and-dry. The first Discord had significantly larger mana reserves, lived in a more chaotic timeframe, and was a lot more willing to use violence. The second Discord had much lower mana reserves but could draw directly on the leylines themselves. But being near Tempest disrupted his ability to draw on the leylines.

A bolt of the Storm came crashing towards him. He was too slow to dodge it, and without the ability to draw on the leylines - he couldn't reconfigure it or shield from it. The Storm would strike him, vaporize him - and he would die.

She dropped from the sky, pristine and immaculate.

The storm would never hurt her.

Celestia had dreamt of this day for centuries. She had imagined every single possible way it could go. Tears, undoubtedly. Whispers - shocked cries. Her people crying out - sister, or mother, or tutor, or being who killed Discord. She dreamt of burying her face into her scales as she explained why Luna wasn't there or of shutting her eyes and leaning into the crook of her neck as Luna rested against her stomach. She had dreamt of explaining everything, of a weight that lifted off her shoulders - she had thought she had imagined every possible combination.

She didn't expect rage.

The Sun itself channeled its magnificence through her. A prismatic display of every color that burst through her wings. Most Pegasi could channel lightning through their wings; she had the power to channel light itself. Her ethereal mane whipped into a frenzy - her face hard as steel as the ground began to liquefy beneath her, the ground turning into molten rock that started to pull her in.

"Tempest?" She half-whispered, half-hissed. Why - why was she so angry? It bubbled up within her. In the depths of space - the sun began to flare.
"C-Celestia?" A voice like rumbling thunder that melted into a whisper. Celestia felt weak. She always felt weak near her. But it did nothing to soothe her rage. "You're - you're-"
"It's - it's not him." She choked out. She stepped to the side, gesturing at Discord with a hoof. Discord wiggled his talons at Tempest - then immediately squealed and hid behind Celestia when Tempest's eyes narrowed. "It's just - a shadow."

Celestia knew a hundred thousand words in a hundred different languages. But now - they came to her so sluggishly. She felt like she was speaking through oil.
"A shadow?" Tempest tilted her head to the side. Just like Twilight, she thought - and the ground continued to melt.
"Made to micromanage chaos. Then, when you killed him, he-" She trailed off. Tempest nodded, but her eyes didn't move off Discord. Celestia stepped in front of him protectively. She could faintly see Luna and Twilight flying towards them.

Her heart burned. And slowly - Celestia pinpointed the source of her rage.

"...we cried." She said softly. "We tried to stop him. We couldn't. He would've killed us if he wanted to. We cried your name out. We begged we prayed that you would come." She whispered. She started walking towards the drakon. Luna broke down through a barrier of clouds - her mouth beginning to move, but she was interrupted by Celestia.

"When the Gryphons came with their storm - we hoped you would come that you would burst out of the sky and tear their ships apart. When the Dragons invaded - I begged for you to come back as they pulled Luna's wings off. I begged for you to wrestle their King to the ground. And - Luna. Maker, Luna-" She trailed off for a moment. "There - there were so many times, Tempest that you should've been there. Where were you?"

Celestia was right in front of the drakon now. Celestia, the Unconquered Sun - immaculate, pristine, felt anything but. Her voice was broken. Her eyes were wet.
"You said." She choked out. Luna gaped at her with wide eyes. Tempest stared back at her. "You said you would never leave. You left us. You-"
Tempest's claw reached out and pressed underneath the alicorn sister's horns, and the world blurred in white, blue, and rainbow-

"They are."
Two alicorns began to dance around the dragon. One was fair, regal, and tall - her horn a pointed spear of light. The other was fearsome, imposing, and strong - her horn a rippling mass of darkness.

And with them followed a sparkle of lavender magic.

Fragments of stone crashed to the ground.

Order killed Discord. Harmony turned Discord to stone. Discord's shattered body suggested that a fusion of both, unsurprisingly, did both.

Tempest stood as Harmony and Order leaked through her scales. The Storm began to sink into her as it tried to repair the damage done to her body - but it had no visible effect. Tempest's eyes were heavy. She looked weak.

Rest. The psychic word was all but yelled. Celestia heard it, and she felt a pull-
Tempest began to lumber into the Everfree as the leylines watched. And as she entered - the leylines felt her presence mold into the background magic of the world.

Tempest found the roots begin to curl around her. They welcomed her and took her in as her own. She was oh-so-tired, you see - and her eyes felt so heavy.

Tempest lay under the Tree of Harmony. Her eyes shut - and she lay there, half-dead, half-dreaming.

She dreamt of a world of peace, and she felt happy.
She dreamt of a world of chaos - and so, from Harmony, the elements were born.
She dreamt of a world racked by war - and so, Order asked of the world to bring some reprieve for the sisters. The Earth ceased its restless shaking, the Waters stilled.
She dreamt of a Storm that would consume the world - and so, she Spoke, and the Storm did not.
She dreamt of a fiery rage that threatened to destroy - and so she asked, and Fire did not choose him as his idol.
She dreamt of the moon beginning to break - and so she whispered words half-lucid. They went unheard.

The claw broke, and Celestia stared at Tempest. Luna stumbled backward as she exited the vision - and for the first time, the two truly looked at her.

She was young. A year older than Celestia - but her eyes seemed ancient. They brimmed with experience that she had and did not have simultaneously. Power rolled off of her - but she seemed broken. War-torn, almost. There were sharp gouges in her scales where plundervines had carved through. Some had grown into one of her eyes; it had seemed - it was slightly foggier, slightly blinder than the other. Her antlers were cracked but beginning to repair themselves as the storm began to draw into her.

But her eyes. Behind all of that - there was still that. That glimmer of kindness.

Celestia knew a hundred thousand words in a hundred different languages. Tempest and Luna knew just as many.
They were beyond words as Tempest collapsed down in a pile of scales - and Celestia buried her face into her neck. Luna curled her wings around her as tears began to flow.

Twilight's first instinct was to comfort her teacher. She stepped forward, a hoof outstretched - but found herself held back by Discord as his sinuous body twirled through the air and gripped down on her barrel. "They're fine," he spoke, his voice strangely soft.
"What - who - who is that?" She whispered. Her brain began to run through everything Celestia had ever told her. A dragon? Had Celestia ever known a dragon? The bone-rattling thunder that echoed from the slowly fading swarm caused two neurons to connect within Twilight's brain, and her eyes widened.
"The Queen of Storms. She's - real? Not just-"
"Of course she's real." Discord snorted. "If you haven't been able to tell, Celestia has quite the fetish for memorizing her family through fairy tales."
"Her family?"
Discord arched an eyebrow. "Someone's rather overdue for a history lesson."

Tempest began to move slowly. She coiled around the two sisters as Luna pressed her face deeper into her scales and Celestia leaned against her, tears running down her. They were tears of joy as much as they were sadness - but it was nonetheless heartbreaking watching someone that Twilight had always seen as perfect, infallible cry.

Tempest's snout pushed down into the ground beside Discord and Twilight. Her size was unfathomable - Twilight found herself hard-pressed to wrap her head around just how large she truly was. Her mouth felt dry as two eyes bore into her soul.

"You're new." Twilight's skin crawled as her thunderous voice echoed over her. She was much quieter than she had been a few moments ago - but she was still loud.

Twilight Sparkle - prized student of Celestia Indomita, thought long and hard about how to respond. So long, in fact - that it was quite awkward as there was silence, save for two-teary eyed princesses slowly coming to their hooves. Discord shifted around uncomfortably - strangely still, strangely focused. Finally, Twilight settled on a socially adept response.

"T-thanks?"
Tempest snorted. Her eyes turned towards Discord.
"So - you're not going to murder me?" Discord said hopefully. Twilight saw his claws temple behind his back.
"That remains to be seen." She said with a soft growl. Twilight's eyes widened, and she appeared between the two with a sharp pop.

"Hey! Discord might not have been a good person-"
"-hey-"
"-but he's changed. He's a good person now. He's - he's my friend. You can't just-" She trailed off.
Tempest tilted her head to the side. "Friend?" She thought for a moment. She turned to Discord. "Speak. And explain. Quickly."

Discord raised his hands. "I'm not him. Between you and me - I hate the guy just as much as -" Discord was promptly cut off by Tempest's eyes narrowing further. "-almost as much as you!" He quickly offered. He took off the ground and levitated in front of Tempest's face.

"He much preferred to focus on the more grim aspects of chaos. And I must confess - there is some terrible beauty in them-" Discord rapidly realized that was the wrong thing to say, as Tempest reared her head backward. "-but I've never killed anyone!"
"It is true." Luna spoke from underneath Tempest's neck. She wriggled out and stood by her side, placing a hoof on one of her scales. She tilted her head up to meet Tempest's gaze. "He entered this world years after your battle with his predecessor. In that time - while he has wreaked his villainous havoc time and time again, a single pony has not fallen dead to his machinations."
Discord nodded frantically, conjuring a bright neon sign that said "LISTEN TO HER" with an arrow pointing at Luna.
"Simply driven to madness." Luna added.
A "don't" was quickly appended to the beginning of that sign. "I used to!" He corrected as he leaned over Luna's barrel. "I don't do that anymore."
"Don't you?" Luna's eyes narrowed slightly. "You seemed rather eager to side with Tirek. How many did you drive to madness then?"
"It- that-" Discord spluttered.

Tempest leaned in with an unnatural speed. She pinned Discord down underneath her snout, her nose digging into him and grounding him. Her eyes narrowed and her throat began to glow.
"No!" Twilight and Celestia yelled in tandem. Tempest slowly leaned back - and Discord immediately cut space to cower behind Twilight as he took the form of a squirrel.

"Sister. Let your opinions not temper the facts." Celestia looked up at Tempest. "He is - reformed. I swear it."
"You swore the same, months before he betrayed us."
Celestia's eyes narrowed slightly. She didn't say anything.

Tempest tilted her head to the side. "I wonder, if I have mixed up who deserved my heart scale and my forescale." She turned towards Discord. Her eyes narrowed, and she slowly turned towards Twilight. Twilight gulped. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't scared of Tempest - she seemed so violent, and Discord seemed so scared of her - but the Princesses respected her - and there was so little information that-

"You're a Spirit." Her words cut off Twilight's thoughts. "The Spirit of Magic." She spoke with a sense of awe, almost. "He is your friend?"
Twilight Sparkle was afraid. But for her friends? She would gladly stand up to a dragon.
"Yes." Her eyes narrowed. Her voice was steel. Her wings flared.
Tempest closed the distance between them. "And he is good?" She spoke softly. Softly for a dragon - so softly that it was what you would consider a normal pony's yell.
"Yes."

Tempest seemed to be lost in thought. Her head tilted to the side.
Magic vouches for him.
He is an abomination. An affront to everything We stand for.
There is place for him, in Our world. A harmony.
He is antithetical to my very nature. We cannot co-exist. It is one or the other, not both.
Celestia vouches for him.
The Moon, against him.
He is not a threat.
The last time We fought him, he nearly struck Us down. It was through a miracle We survived.
The circumstances there were different. He had the advantage. He didn't even hurt Us this time.
He is weaker. He has bathed in my magic.
Your elements. You did not think it wise to mention that he had returned, or had been freed?
I didn't know, my Brother. I am not my Elements - they are simply a reflection of Our power.
Enough of this. We bring this to a vote.
You will accept the outcome?
Will you?
We are opposed. I respect Our Storm's judgement. I will.
Then I shall.
He lives.
He dies.
If disembodied voices could wait with bated breath, they would've.

Tempest turned to look at Discord. It had felt like mere minutes to her - but had maybe been a second at most. A second that he waited - trembling, staring at her fearfully.

"Return to your true form." Discord did as such nearly instantly, popping into his mismatched existence mere instants later.

"...I am Tempest Pulseradottir." The Wings of the Storm coalesced around her. The skies thundered and crackled. "Spirit of Air, Order, and Harmony. The Queen of Storms." Her eyes narrowed. She slowly leaned in until she was eye-level with Discord. Discord gulped as he started sweating cartoonish beads of sweat.

"I wish I could say it was a pleasure to meet you for the first time, Spirit of Chaos, but your very form brings me disgust. I hope that I will be able to avoid this in the future. For you will have one."

Discord stared at her for a second. She stared at Discord.
Discord let out a soft sigh of relief. "Y-you uh. Really had me going there. G-good one, Tempest."

Discord felt his connection to the leylines restore as Order and Harmony began to reign their magic back in.
There was silence for a few moments. Celestia broke it, as she cleared her throat and walked in-between all four Spirits.

"Discord. You are dismissed. Please inform the Elements of Harmony that the situation is under control." She said sternly. Discord saluted - and eager for the chance to get away, disappeared with a pop.
"Twilight - I'd like you to come with us to Canterlot." She glanced at Tempest. "There is much that has to be said."

The four disappeared with a rush of golden light.

History is a strange thing.

When you think of time - there are two schools of thought. First, linear time - where one event happens after another, and every decision creates a splitting path or universal time - where everything happens simultaneously and has already happened. Or, in the words of one bearded chronomancer - wibbly, wobbly, timey-wimey stuff.

Time is inherently impossible to understand - because it's both and neither of these things. It's a living unliving, oxymoronic and straightforward contradiction. Time has already happened all at once and is happening at the same time. The full explanation of time is page after page of paragraphs much like these - contradiction after contradiction of things that don't make sense. The short of it, though: is that time is cyclical.

Things that have happened will happen again. Things that will happen have happened. The Future paints the Past, the Past paints the Future - and both form the Present. It all fits together, in one mind-bogglingly obtuse way. The deeper you delve into the inner workings of the universe, the more things you find like this - evidently, the Maker had herself a fetish.

The common person doesn't understand how cyclical it all is, though - because time erodes all. Books that were written rot perish and are otherwise destroyed - and their fragments shape poems, legends, myths, and those myths shape new books with fragments of half-truth and half-lies. So this is called, rather amusingly - the Liegellan Principal. As all of Liogella's history is a lie, as much as it is the truth.

This further gets muddled up with immortal beings that reincarnate with sections of their memory. So it's hard to tell what happened when - or if things really did happen. It's almost tragic that more than half of history is too damaged to be repaired.

But Celestia is nothing if not stubborn. A good example of this is her private study - for Celestia's private study is safe.

It's her retreat from the world - her small slice of undisturbed heaven. No one can teleport in save her and Luna - and no one can brute force their way in either. The only beings that have ever penetrated its defenses were Luna and Discord, and his magic seemed to ignore conventional warding altogether.

It is not, however, the safest room in Canterlot Castle. No - that honor belongs to a room known as The Hall of Honor - and it tells the true story of Equestria. With stained glass exquisitely forged from glass ground from exclusively the sand at Horseshoe Bay, it told the true, unaltered, and uncensored truth of Equestria.

Eighty-six people knew about the Hall of Honor.
Four people have stepped foot in it. Yes, people.

Twilight Sparkle swallowed as Celestia placed her horn into the doors that locked the Hall of Honor - and they began their journey through History.

Luna and Celestia lead Tempest and Twilight through the Hall. Their journey through the Hall of Honor was one filled with constant interjections from Tempest - offering corrections, much to Celestia's growing annoyance. Not annoyance directed at Tempest, but annoyance that the state of history was so muddled. To spare you the finer details - the final agreed-upon timeline was this.

The Maker breathed life into the universe. Liogella is at the center of the universe - and so, the most magic concentrated in there. It superconcentrated and formed Shards of Divinity - and from there, formed Life.

Life created Ponies in her image. From Ponies sprung up all forms of Spirits - the Spirit of Death was the first pony who ever died, the Spirit of Harmony was the first pony who ever agreed with someone - et cetera. Even Discord was birthed in this age - but it was unclear if he had been a pony at first, or always a draconequus.

Discord's influence grew, and Harmony's influence waned. The cousins of Discord - the Windigo formed and drove the world into a desolate ice age. It was from Harmony's formation that the Fire of Friendship burned - and they birthed Order.

Then, there was a gap. It's known that hundreds of Spirits formed in that time frame - the Elemental Spirits for example manifested for the first time. But something happened, and that something was known as the Great Purge. Only the Essential Spirits survived through the Purge - and they found their memories muddled, distorted, confused on the subject. Tempest's attempts to access memories from that time were met with sudden jabs of sharp pain.

After the Purge came the Sun Wars. Without a Spirit of the Sun, multiple Spirits determined it was their right to take control of the Sun - resulting in a war that ended up creating the Bone Dry Desert, as well as Saddle Arabia. After both Spirits ended up destroying themselves in an attempt to channel the energy of the sun, the Spirit of the Sun remanifested as Sól.

The next event after that was the Draconic Wars.
Before the war started, the Alicorn Pantheon was at its full brunt of power - with Asgard as their home.
Sky, Sun, Moon, Love, Peace, Glory.

King Odin took the role of the Skyfather, Spirit of the Sky. His wife, Freyja, was the Spirit of Love.
Sól, and her brother Máni were the Daybringer and Nightbringer.
Lord Tyr was the Spirit of Peace, and his daughter Glory was unsurprisingly the Spirit of Glory.

Under the rule of Emperor Draelos I, the dragons grew ever more zealous in their attempts to gain more land. It's worth noting that Emperor Draelos wasn't the ruler of the dragons, but the ruler of every draconic. The large brunt of Drakons sided with Emperor Draelos - but a sect of them split off, with King Bellum as their ruler. As their attempts began to cross over into Equestria, the Alicorns demanded that they stopped.

That night, Draelos killed the entire alicorn pantheon. Only Glory managed to escape, through Lord Tyr's noble sacrifice to send her out of reach. From there - King Bellum and Glory rallied together, a small sect of loyalist drakons and the disgruntled remnants of the Asgardian military. It was from there a seemingly endless war was waged - direct conflicts between Spirits being avoided, war crime after war crime - until Discord.

Somehow - either before, or during the Purge, Discord had been Bound by Harmony - trapped in stone, and in the middle of Asgard itself. During the cover of night, Bellum and Glory snuck into draconic-infested territory to free Discord - and immediately, the battle was equalized.

He wrought madness on the draconics. They devoured their own eggs and young in horrific displays - drowned their figures of authority in lava under fits of half-lucid insanity. The Day and Night lasted from anywhere from hours or months using powerful illusions to localize their effects to only draconic territory. At the peak of madness - the draconics all sang to their children, Fear the Chaos King.

It was known that Discord began to love Glory. The part of it that was foggy and obscure was how Glory felt about Discord -it was unknown whether their love was mutual, or one-sided and faked on one half as a method of control. Regardless, Discord met Draelos on in open combat - and then Something happened. Order and Harmony's memories supported feeling a strange rip, a twist in the fabric of reality - and Discord was gone.

Then - 10,000 years of age, Glory used the strongest magic that the world had ever seen. The Badlands and Dragonlands were torn apart, an artificial gap being created between the two. Her magic brought floods, earthquakes, and the scorching of land - the dragons that weren't vaporized by the sheer magic were torn apart or drowned. Draelos himself was turned into pure stone, eventually becoming Mt. Draelos.

"I've never heard of a Mount Draelos." Twilight mumbled under her breath.
"I destroyed it." Tempest remarked idly.
"oh," Twilight said softly.

Afterwards, she succame to her wounds - leaving King Bellum, the Alicorn of Peace, Serenity, and Draelos' grandfather to negotiate a peace. Bellum took his loyalist sect of drakons to Mt Draelos - where Tempest's mother was born, the Alicorns began to re-ascend, and Draelos II became the Spirit of Fire, and King of the Dragons.

Slowly, the world began to heal. But eventually - relationships were strained. King Gryphum killed the Alicorn of Sky, Zeus- the Spirit of Harmony rooted herself in the Chained Forest, and there was a tumultuous peace that felt as if it might shatter at any time.

Then, Discord returned. He returned weak, frail - nearly dead. Upon learning Glory was dead, he blamed the draconics as well as the alicorn pantheon - before retreating into obscurity. Slowly feeding on the scraps of disharmony and chaos until his power grew - and by the time it was noticed, it was too late.

The rest of the story, you already know - until what comes after that. Celestia and Luna were left as the only Spirits in an irreparably damaged world - but they did their best. They reforged connections with the dragons, now numbering in the hundreds instead of in the hundreds of thousands. Pathways began to form to the Saddle Arabians, the Zebra, the Bull, the Minotaur, the Kirin, the Hippogriffs, the Moose, the Spiders, the Polar Bears - all forms of creatures.

Then, Discord re-emerged. More accurately, the Shadow of Discord that had been created in an attempt to micro-manage Discord I's chaos. The new Discord was much better at spreading his chaos over the widespread land without use of the Nexus - which, much to Tempest's shock, hadn't been located yet. Discord had somehow moved it, and moved it to a place that the Sisters couldn't find in any of their efforts.

Discord's shadow, at first - was actually benevolent. He kept a tumultuous peace with Celestia and Luna, playing some "harmless" pranks - sometimes stretching the boundary, but the sisters had come to consider him a friend. But then, the disruptions didn't stop. They asked him to cease his chaos - and he refused, so they fought. It was barely a fight, in reality - Discord simply worked around all of their magic. Nothing they had employed had done so much as bruise him.

For half a century, his madness ruined the world. It was less fatal, but far more brutal to the world itself.

Harmony had felt this, while Tempest slept. And she drew on Their power - crystallizing it into the Elements of Harmony, and giving the sisters the ability to seal Discord in stone.

After that - there were dozens of different, more minor events.
A time-travelling Starswirl banished the Sirens to a different land, as well as dealt with Tirek.
The two fought against slavers, would-be-tyrants, supernatural threats and extraterrestrial tears in space-time itself. They became hardened by battle, as they forged the bedrock for Equestria in blood.

The Gryphon Invasion was their first major battle. Lead by Lord Biruun, hundreds of storm mages and gryphon warriors sought to free the world from the "tyranny" of the Regal Sisters. They would've been succesful, too - as they summoned a storm so great that it engulfed nearly the entirety of the Everfree.

Winds that reduced rock into pebbles. Lightning and thunder that had reminded them of a day centuries ago - but the two were unscathed. With beams of solar plasma and necrotic wrath, they reduced the ships into fragments - and killed the Gryphon Lord.

The next major event after that was the Dragon War. A small sect of "elder" dragons - in truth, they were far from the age necessary to be considered elder dragons, as truly elder dragons tended to hibernate and let the planet grow around them. There was a non-insignificant chance that Mt. Canterlot was actually the petrified corpse of an elder dragon - laid dormant for so long that it was indistinguishable from the actual geography.

Regardless, a small sect of "elder" dragons rose up - lead by a ruler known as Gorolich the Indestructible. They thought that the world was their birthright to claim, and so they waged war on Equestria. And while Celestia and Luna were strong, eight hundred year old Alicorns - it was still the hardest battle they had ever fought. It was less of a "war" and more of an invasion that lasted a few months. But in that time - thousands of the already scarce equine population were wiped out.

It culminated though, in a battle between Gorolich and the Regal Sisters. In a gruesome and fearsome battle, where Luna had her wings pulled off, and Celestia had half of her face shorn off - only surviving by virtue that it was day, the two narrowly managed to pierce his heart and kill him.

He burned for months on end, after that. Only one of his eggs was salvageable from that.
Twilight looked nauseous.

After that - Celestia and Luna fought against the Umbrum King Sombra. Celestia explained that Sombra had cast a spell to prey on their worst nightmares - opening up Luna to the influence of a parasite known as Nightmare Moon.
Luna didn't look Celestia in the eye the entire time.

From there - the rest of history was known. Banishment, redemption, Discord, the changelings, ascension - and finally, Tirek.

Twilight had been non-inquisitive throughout the entire explanation - and that worried Celestia. You see - Twilight Sparkle was many things. Non-inquisitive was not one of them. Her expression had remained strange, unreadable. And as the explanation finally came to a close, she looked - well. Hurt.

"A bit for your thoughts, Twilight?" Celestia said softly. She looked weak. Her eyes, red and puffy with tears, looked tired. Her mane seemed to flow in slow motion. Her wings - when had they become so disorderly? It felt as if not a single feather was in place.

Twilight's mouth opened. Closed. Opened again. Closed. Finally, she found her words.
"Why?"
Tempest shivered lightly. It was imperceptible.
"Why, my faithful stud-" Celestia began.
"Why haven't you told everypony?" She stepped forward. "You - you want everyone to know about history. But I didn't know about any of this. I didn't - I thought Discord was the only Spirit. I didn't know that being an Alicorn meant I was a Spirit. I didn't know - about Tempest, about Glory, about the Alicorn Pantheon - I didn't know about any of this." She stepped backwards. Her eyes were wide, and there was something in them -

Eyes turned to Celestia. Her tongue felt heavy. Her mouth felt dry. "...I wanted to shield them." She said softly. "The world - is peaceful now. Battles are not won through violence, as they were in past ages. Cloud Charge was not the one who defeated Nightmare Moon or Discord, after all. It's a new era. The past - should be remembered. But the people aren't ready."
"I- I'm sorry, princess. But - you're wrong." She shook her head fervently. "They aren't ready because you've kept this from them. From - from all of us. Does Cadance know? Does - does anyone outside of this room know? Were you ever going to tell me, if Tempest didn't come back?" Twilight stepped forward.
"...I..." Celestia didn't meet her eyes.

Twilight stared at her for a long while. Then - her horn lit. And she was gone.

"I should-"
"I believe, sister, that you have done enough." Luna cut her off. Luna placed a hoof on her barrel. "Twilight needs time to process this. Allow me." Luna glanced between the two. The strangely stoic, unmoving Tempest - the strangely emotional, tottering Celestia. Luna's horn lit, and she was gone.

Celestia's private study is safe.

It's her retreat from the world - her small slice of undisturbed heaven. No one can teleport in save her and Luna - and no one can brute force their way in either. The only beings that have ever penetrated its defenses were Luna and Discord, and his magic seemed to ignore conventional warding altogether.

Twilight Sparkle, fresh out of her ascendancy - tore through the wards instinctually, entering Celestia's study. She was one of the few beings that had ever stepped hoof there - as a filly, trembling from the storm. As a young mare, preparing for her examinations. As an adult - drinking tea and chatting idly about things as mundane as mane-styles or as esoteric as extradimensional rifts.

And now, as a fledgling divine - with her worldview shattered.

It felt - surreal. Like she was dreaming, and she hadn't woken up yet. Surely Princess Celestia wouldn't keep something like that from the populace. That information, that knowledge - she was the one who had taught Twilight the importance of history. It couldn't be.

Denial. Denial works, some part of Twilight's consciousness spoke.

Yes! Twilight was dreaming. That was the only logical conclusion. There was no Tempest, Discord was as unafraid and childish as ever, Luna didn't look so hurt, and Princess Celestia hadn't lied to her.

Twilight shut her eyes and woke up.
She peaked an eye open. Huh. Still asleep. The eye promptly shut. Then opened again.

The floorboards didn't stand a chance against earth-pony strength. Twilight wasn't the one to smash things when she got mad - but she was one to pace. And pace hard. It took her hooves rubbing against the warding of the study itself to realize that maybe she should take a second.

Twilight shut her eyes and began breathing exercises. In. 3. 2. 1. Out. 1. 2. 3. Again, and again - until her eyes opened.

No. Celestia hadn't lied to her. Maybe - maybe it was for a good reason?
No, Twilight. Some part of her spoke. You asked her for her reason.

It took until Stage 3 to realize that Twilight Sparkle, ever efficient, had fast-tracked through the stages of grief.
At this point, you might as well skip to Acceptance. That rather alarmingly intelligent part of her mind offered up.

So, Twilight shut her eyes. And she accepted.

The two were alone.

She leaned against Tempest. Her side pressed into her chest - her head rested in the crook of her neck, her horn lightly digging into her chin. They lay down flat, any other position requiring too much energy from Celestia. She felt - she felt drained.

"Do you think she's right?" She spoke softly.
Tempest craned her neck. She tilted her head to the side, gesturing for Celestia to go on.
"I sought to spare my ponies from knowing the truth of the world. That it can be cruel. That there is evil. Is that wrong of me? Is that - no." She shook her head. "That's not fair. I'm making myself the victim in this scenario. It is not quite so cut and dry." Celestia straightened herself up. "I spared them from knowing the truth of the world. I sheltered them. Was it right, to do so?"

Tempest thought for a second. "How old are you, Celestia?"
Celestia blinked. She tilted her head to the side. "Two thousand, three hundred and twenty four years old."
"And how old am I?"
"...Well." Celestia thought for a moment. "You're a year older than me, but you've been..." Celestia searched for the word.
"Dormant," Tempest offered.
"Dormant," Celestia accepted, "for most of that. No - all of that, honestly." She shut her eyes. "I don't - I don't think I know you. I don't think you know me. Merely a more...idyllic version, I suppose."
"Idyllic?"
"You knew me at the lowest point in my life. My mother, dead. My aunt handed us over to Starswirl - and I never saw her. I never learned if she died, or-" Celestia trailed off for a moment. "...Regardless. After Starswirl, we were handed off to you. We traded claws - and we were together for such a short period of time. Everything - it just happened...so fast."
"Would you rather we toiled under Discord's reign for years?"
"That's not what I'm saying." Her eyes narrowed. "You know that's not what I'm saying. I'm saying - that I don't know you. I sought you out for comfort. I sought you out for guidance."
"Heavy is the head that wears the crown."
She shut her eyes. "I often feared as if my head might fall. And I thought - what would Tempest do? And that - that helped me. Soothed me."
"But." Tempest spoke.
"But," Celestia agreed, "you were...idyllic in my head. Wise. Knowing. You knew exactly what to do. You always had a plan. Always a purpose. But now - I see you. And I wonder - what...are you, to me? Tutor? Yet I have experienced more than you. Family? But our time - was so short." She looked down. "And here I am," she muttered bitterly. "Ranting like an old mare. Asking you questions of morality and showing you my inner demons."

"...It was robbed from us." Tempest said softly. She shifted her position so she was laying down flat on her chest, her head tilted down to look at Celestia. "Our childhood. Discord took mine, and he took yours too. My path - my vengeance. I ascended - but I think I left something behind with me. My sense of self. There's - Harmony, and there's Order, and there's Tempest - and then there's me, and I'm not sure what I am. Am I the sum of my parts, or greater? I don't even know my favorite food." She snorted. Steam rose up from her nostrils.

"But time is different, now. You've brought peace. The world - is peaceful. I can feel it. In my bones. Harmony and Order flow through me, and you're at the center of it all. I cannot speak on the morality of your lie - how could I? I am an infant in the body of an adult with the mind of an eternity."

"My approval might mean little to you. But - you have honored my words, Celestia. The very last thing I said to you - do you remember? Be smart, Celestia. Be generous. Be kind. Be strong. Be Celestia. Whatever that entails. And I see no truer embodiment of those virtues. After all - I did not tell you to stay honest." She remarked dryly.

Her voice was equal parts gravel and melody, equal parts elemental and mortal. It carried with it Harmony's soft chimes and syllables - yet Order's monotone clarity, and the soft growl behind it that all draconics carried. It was eloquent with just a hint of playfulness in it - it was the tone of a drakon beginning to find herself.

"I hope, Celestia - that whatever you see me as. Tutor. Sister. Mother. That we may be friends."
"...I'd like that." The Sun spoke.
The Storm curled her wings around her.

There are many ways to teleport.

Most mages transform into magically enriched light particles that travel faster than light. Their travel is so fast, that you can't see the path they take - merely the disassemblement of physical matter and the coalescion of the particles as the light mage reforms.

Some particularly skilled mages swap regions of space, resulting in a sharp pop of air.

Some extremely powerful mages prefer the more archaic form of teleportation, of cutting through the aether. It drains a considerable amount more mana, but is also considerably harder to ward against, can be used offensively - and sometimes offers up visions of the future.

The Regal Sisters have their own methods of teleportation.

For one, they are one of the three Spirits that can use the leylines to teleport. Discord does not teleport through the leylines - he simply cuts space in a way only chaos magic can. Celestia and Luna can use the leylines as a hyper-fast highway, essentially: able to travel within a mile of any of the major arteries of magic. Tempest was the first to perform such a teleport, years ago - and their method mimics hers. Significantly more difficult, considering that they aren't natural creatures of order - and leylines are rather orderly.

Celestia has the ability to teleport wherever her sun can touch, with a bit of coercing - meaning she has the advantage in range.

Luna, however, has the much more versatile ability. To Dreamwalk.

The Essential Spirits of Liogella artificially grafted their constructs onto the world. The Outer Beyond, the starry and starless void that stretches into Infinity is maddening. The True Bodies are obscured by the natural thaumosphere of Liogella - the Sun that Celestia moves is not the true sun, but rather a construct of pure solar magic. It takes channeling solar magic to move the sun - and solar magic has a rather cruel tendency of burning out someone's magical reserves entirely.

The days before the Spirit of the Sun were rather grim. The moon is much the same - but that's besides the point. The point is that dreams are not a natural construct of the world. As a creature sleeps, they are intended to receive visions of the aether during the night, and the Outer Beyond during the day.

There is a reason that most creatures are diurnal.

Eventually - the Spirit of the Moon, with the help of the Alicorn Pantheon, grafted a subpocket onto the aether itself. Such a feat of magic requires an impossible skill - one that has only recently been since. This subpocket reaches over all of Liogella - and draws dreams from your subconscious. Fragments of memory, fears, emotions - et cetera.

This attention did not go unnoticed by the Nightmare Forces. A collection of shadowy, semi-sentient beings that prey on fear. Their origin is unknown - speculated to come from some horrific world in the vast outreaches of the Outer Beyond. They made their way into the Dream World, and the Dreamwalkers - now, just Luna, fight them off.

But the Dream World itself is a very tangible threat, if you were to walk through it. Which is why Luna must exercise caution - for if she was to be slain in the Dream World, her consciousness would be destroyed - and her corporeal body would slowly rot as magic began to drain from it.

Again - besides the point. The point being that the Dream World is tangible, and to Dreamwalk does not just mean to walk through dreams - but through the Dream World itself. And Luna has the ability to exit out of the Dream World.

She exited outside right behind the Princess of Friendship with a soft thrum of aetheric energy crackling around her.
"Twilight Sparkle," she spoke evenly.
The Spirit of Magic's wings snapped out as she spun around. She let out a soft breath. "Oh. It's just you, Luna."
Just you, Luna.

Oh, all the world might try. But you know - that no matter what you do, Little Spirit, they'll still look at you as what you are. A monster.

"We'll see about that, old goat." She grumbled under her breath.
Twilight opened her mouth and tilted her head to the side.
She held her hoof up to silence her. "Apologies, Twilight. My mind was - wandering."
"...Sorry. That I - sort of just...um. Stormed out, like that. Or - teleported out, I guess? I feel kind of weird using the word stormed out when if anything the stormed in. Because - Tempest is the Storm. And you are the Moon. And I didn't know. Isn't - isn't that crazy? That I'm a Spirit. That I - am something, greater than myself." Her ears went flat against the back of her head.

Luna opened her mouth. And then Twilight surprised her.

"...am I defective, Luna?"

Her mouth stayed open. She stared at her - completely taken off-guard by the rambling mare's comment. Defective? No, Twilight. You are anything but. You're the best of us.

"Why do you ask?" She said in a soft tone, stepping forward and reaching a hoof out on her barrel.
"The - moon. You can feel the moon, can't you? Cadance told me that she can feel that love. So you can feel the Moon, and Celestia can feel the Sun, and Discord can feel Chaos, and Tempest can feel the Storm - or, the Sky? I don't even know what she is. But - I can't feel magic. Not any more than I usually could, I mean. I mean - I'm more sensitive. But...I'm not..." She trailed off.

"You are unique, Twilight Sparkle." Luna sat down in-front of Twilight and pushed the shorter mare into a sitting position with a bit of force. "There has never been a Spirit of Magic before. To our knowledge, at least. The wonders you were capable of as a mortal - it's hard to say what exactly your full Sphere encompasses. In time, you might possess a strength that my sister - no, Discord - no, Tempest does not have. There's no way to say. But I am assured of one thing."

Twilight tilted her head to the side.

"You are not defective." She leaned in and planted a soft platonic peck at the base of her horn. "You are wonderful. Merely - confused. Coming into your own."
"...thank you, princess. That - that was nice to hear." Twilight leaned against her.
"The pleasure was mine, Twilight." Luna leaned against her in equal part.

Twilight and Luna appeared with a sharp pop down by Tempest and Celestia.
Celestia opened her mouth. Twilight interrupted her.

"I forgive you, Princess." She spoke quickly. "I was just - upset. Upset that you lied to me. I do disagree with you. And I don't want you to do it again - I don't want you to censor yourself for me. But I forgive you." She glanced at Tempest. "But - Equestria- no. Liogella needs to know."
"I'm not sure I follow."
"This - it's borderline censorship. So much history has been kept from the world. Or, from the ponies, at least. I'm not too familiar with the accuracy of the historical records of other nations. That's besides the point. People need to know." She pressed her hoof down.
"The backlash-"
"-will only get worse, the more we hide. She may be right, sister." Luna shut her eyes.
"...It sounds as if you have a plan in mind, Twilight." Celestia turned back to her ex-student.
"I do." She nodded. She turned to Tempest. "I'd like to write your story."
"My - my story?"
She nodded. "Yes. The story of..." she trailed off.
"The Queen of Storms," Celestia suggested.
"The Queen of Storms." Tempest repeated slowly. "It has a ring to it."
Twilight stepped forward. "Do - do you mind? Telling me everything?"

Tempest thought for a moment.

To accept would have far-reaching consequences for Our Sphere. Order would be disrupted. The - sisters...
The Regal Sisters,
The Regal Sisters would be seen as false deities. Their Divinity challenged. Their history, shown.
The consequences are indeed far reaching.
My mother.
Pulsera.
What of her, my storm?
She is forgotten, by now. If I was not remembered - then how should she? She - she needs to be remembered. I need her to be remembered. And then - I think, We can find Ourself.
A worthy way to be honored, indeed, my Tempest.
You plan on accepting.
The story must be written. It's publication is another matter.
A suitable compromise.
Agreed, brother.

"I accept."

-

Author's Note

Chapters 17, 18, and 19, "Shadow", "Discord," and "History" were fused together into "Truth," as they flowed better as one cohesive chapter instead of three rather short bits.
A reminder that newer information is more accurate than old information. In an earlier chapter, it's established that Zeus is a Spirit of the Air - in this, it's established that he was the Spirit of the Sky. The latter is true.

I suppose this might be a better ending for Queen of Storms. I do plan the continuation of the story - I just suppose that this might be a better place to have left it off then at Chapter 15, as originally planned.

[18] Messenger

Messenger

Maybe, if Life and Death did exist they'd give my message to them.

Gryphons laid eggs.

This fact was something that tended to make ponies, who gave live birth, a tad bit uncomfortable. Unlike draconics, that gave birth in clutches - labor was an intensive process a few months after fertilization, resulting in one large egg being expelled.

Thirty two years ago, eight years before one Twilight Sparkle had come into this world - one particular egg had hatched a bit too early. There had been a complication in its birth, and the resulting gryphon came out - damaged. Malformed, too small, screaming as it was brought painfully into this world.

Sixty years ago, thirty six years before one Twilight Sparkle had come into this world - Redclaw Belle had been born. The descendant of a powerful mage - and ever so slightly embarrassed about his rather feminine surname - he was a creature of ambition. Hailing from Griffonstone, it was he who laid the roots for the rather aptly named New Empire.

With a rather small regiment of like-minded soldiers, he claimed back Griffonstone - and began to expand. He pushed outwards to the mountains that bordered Sugar Maple Grove, bridged past the Guto River and established Griffonstone Station - a highway right to Rainbow Falls. Boats from Griffonstone began to sail to Trottingham, a strong connection forming between Princess Celestia and, as he was known - Good King Redclaw was formed.

His ever-zealous expansion pushed the borders of its limits though. To the North was territory far too cold for the Gryphons to live comfortable. To the east, the Himallamas presented a dangerous obstacle - as well as the dangerous Banyan Timbers, allegedly home to the last Lupines. To the south, lay dragons - to the west, ocean. Essentially, Redclaw had expanded the gryphon empire as much as he could - and he was content with that.

His son, Steelbeak, was not.

His mother had died after birth. He, himself, was left malformed by a complication during his birth - one that resulted in some notable physical deformities. His heart beat was irregular, his beak was too small for the rest of his face, his wings were lopsided and their feathers grew improperly- but thankfully, with access to the bleeding edge of Equestrian and Minotaur medical technology, he was able to live. Specialized technomagical implants were grafted onto him, to stabilize his heart-rate and restore his ability of flight - but his magic was left irreparably damaged. While even the most magically insensitive gryphons had the ability to manipulate weather in some capacity, Steelbeak could do little more than sit on a cloud with a great deal of focus.

As Steelbeak grew into his own, some of the more powerful members of gryphon society had found his political beliefs increasingly beginning to align with their own. He believed that the gryphons should continue their expansion, pushing past the Himallama's and taking the pony lands. Yes; it would be a declaration of war on the largest and most powerful nation, but Steelbeak was under the belief that they had grown soft and lax in a time of peace - while gryphons had remained tempered through their mandatory military service.

And the people followed him. While ponies were creatures more aligned with Harmony, content with peace and a rather stagnant size of territory - gryphons were creatures more aligned with Chaos.

It wasn't clear between the father and son who was the true ruler of gryphon society. At the end, though: Redclaw had something his son did not. The title. At the end of the day - anything that Steelbeak pushed for, Redclaw could simply veto. Such was his right.

Maybe somewhat surprisingly, Steelbeak loved his father. How could he not? He cared for him as deeply as he did this nation - and he had him to thank for the nation that Steelbeak loved. They disagreed on the finer details, but at the end of the day: they wanted what was best for the Gryphon people.

Hermes had been running all his life.

As the Royal Messenger, such was his job. It was he who had pioneered the mail-routes to the neighboring ponies and gryphons, it was he who had petitioned King Redclaw for the establishment of Griffonstone Station. Not only was he damn good at his job - the self-proclaimed fastest gryphon alive, he was proud of it.

Flames rose up around him. Smoke blew around him and lapped at his flesh, embers sinking down into his feathers and flesh - down to the bone, it felt. It had struck - it had struck hard, and he wasn't quite sure what it was. A blur of red, black, and white - and then there was blood, so much blood. If he was just a smidge slower, he would've died. He would've been torn apart - a mess of feathers and dismantled meat.

Murmurs of conversation passed by his ringing ears. Steelbeak stood over his father's mangled body - his expression teary, yet resigned. A unicorn stood by his side, the blue light of her aura beginning to fade.

"-this way-"
"-traitor-"
"-dragons-"
"-false god." Hermes' blurred vision began to clear, the ringing in his ears began to fade. He groaned and peaked his head out around a corner, glancing at the trio.

"I am not devoid of mercy, father." Steelbeak's voice had always unsettled Hermes. It was raspy, pained - but a boring monotony at the same time. "I loved you. I am -" He paused for a moment. "-regretful," he spoke with the slightest hint of emotion, "that it had turned out this way. This was not in the design."

"Your plan will ruin us." He whispered. "The world - the Princesses - they'll destroy you. Destroy us. We - had peace! We didn't..."
"It may be so, father." He shut his eyes. "I am not devoid of mercy." He turned around, his eyes still closed. "Please." He placed his talons on the mare's barrel. "Kill him quickly."

Her horn lit with a blue glow. There was a sudden surge of energy that came rushing from her horn - the air hissing as King Redclaw, king of the gryphons - had his skull melted in a fraction of a second. His blood squirted out onto the two of them, bits of half-melted bone and a sea of discolored viscera washing out onto the floor with a bloody gush.

Hermes couldn't help but vomit. Steelbeak's eyes snapped open. For one, painful second - their eyes met.

"Kill him," he spoke - and Hermes turned around and began to run.

He tore from the ground like a bolt of thunder - but his heart pounded in his body, stronger than any disturbance of the air. His blood was icy fiery sludge in his veins, that filled his muscles with burning adrenaline. His wings beat so hard that he felt as if they might be torn from his back, his muscles beginning to tear from sheer exertion as he leapt from cloud to cloud for more momentum. He was fast. He was the fastest gryphon in Equestria - a blur of brown and red feathers.

He spun through the air with a speed that would make any winged creature blush. His grace was borderline divine as he duck, bobbed and wove through bolts of magic that tore up from the ground after him - in his escape, he was in his element. The sound barrier wrapped around him like a familiar friend as he rushed towards Griffonstone station -

only for a claw to pierce his skull from above, killing him instantly.

Ghastly Gorge is a dangerous location. It's a place that only those with a death-wish - or particularly brave ponies go to. As diverse as near utter desolation - vast planes of sand and rock near Appleloosa, or a lush green canyon with a river rushing through its path - and taking its part in forming the canyon, The river was an oddity - an offshoot of the river that ran from the South Luna Ocean to the Celestial Sea and cut through the Everfree, pooling up in the gorge and seeming to simply - disappear. Investigations had proved futile.

As water flowed, so did magic. Thousands of years ago - a few centuries before Pulsera Zelrardottir had been born, a squad of eels had travelled from the South Luna ocean - or, the South Máni ocean as it had been known, had made their way into the Chained Forest. They rapidly adapted to the significantly different habitat - until a certain surge of chaotic energy rushed over the now-Everfree, and began its infection. Thousands of years later - as the Everfree was further tainted by chaotic and dark magic as a result of Discord and Nightmare Moon, these eels began to mutate.

Evolution took its course - and now, a little over a thousand years later, they were known as Quarry Eels. They were incredibly long creatures that curled throughout the gorge - the children that peaked up at the surface being able to swallow a carriage whole. Eventually, as they grew older - they began to hibernate in the deepest roots of the gorge, where chaotically tainted water had been pooling up. They needed no sustenance, existing solely off magic - but they did stir long enough to gobble up any creature that had stumbled into their caverns.

Most of the time.

One creature, entered Ghastly Gorge. She had been instructed to, you see - it was a few miles to the east of where her old home had been, before she had destroyed it, and it was one of the few locations in Equestria big enough to house her. As the details on publication and the flow of information was being controlled, the official story - for now, was that a dragon from Pre-Discordian times had been woken up and relocated by the Princesses. It was close enough to the truth - but Tempest did express her distaste at being referred to as a dragon.

Regardless: Tempest moved with the rigidity of all of her aspects as well as its fluidity - each of her steps carrying with her the force of the Storm. She had taken an equine form, intentionally making herself look vulnerable. She was hungry, you see.

She patiently crept along the floor of the canyon. Eventually: she was rewarded as the ground rumbled, nearly imperceptibly. Waves of rock splashed over her as the wall shattered - and teeth dug down into her midsection.

They broke. Tempest couldn't help but let a grin that showed far too many sharp teeth for an equine to have form on her face. As the eel pulled backwards - Tempest's form began to shift. And shift. She couldn't quite reach up to her full size - but she was able to take the shape of a smaller variant of her true form. It was uncomfortable, like wearing clothes many sizes too small, but necessary for the time being.

The eel was bestial, but had just enough intelligence to realize that it had done something wrong. It didn't have too much time to contemplate this, before Tempest grabbed a claw around its neck. Her mother had eaten many large eels when she was young - and she had shown her the rather grisly way to eat it. She deftly tore the eel out from its hole and snapped its neck, before tearing it off with a bloody twist. She dropped the skull down, and used her claws to tear the spine out in one fluid motion. Sure - she could use her magic, but the whole fun of this was that she had gotten to hunt.

She stuck a bit of it in her mouth - and then swallowed it whole with a slurp, much like how you'd eat spaghetti. She licked her lips.

Delicious.

The eels had carved an intricate system of tunnels all throughout Ghastly Gorge - to the point where Tempest was surprised that it hadn't collapsed. Underneath the earth, she felt...caged. It quite literally weakened her connection to her element - but she didn't find much of an issue with that. The world - was different. It didn't need someone like Tempest - someone with her violence.

Until she got settled in though, she would be alone. And she would have to discover what she was. Her limits, her talents, her likes, her dislikes - she felt as if she had been given a blank slate, and it felt...nice. A weight, lifted from her shoulders. The world felt light.

Eventually, she made her way to her destination. The central chaotic pool where the eels lay - huge, gigantic things, easily as large as Tempest's current form and much longer - sleeping as they floated like a bundle of rats tied together in the water. A bubbling furnace of mercurial chaos and vitriolic dark magic. Tempest dipped a claw into it, then winced as she pulled it out - bubbling curls of black smoke rising from the keratin appendage before they were drawn up into the thaumosphere.

Tempest had been able to detect this pool of chaos magic - pool in both a literal and figurative sense - from miles away. It had stood out like a sore thumb to her, a blighted spot on the land - a landmine waiting to blow if any pony had disturbed it. There was a non-insignificant chance that no one knew it existed here save Discord, thankfully - but Tempest still wanted to prevent any problems that came from having concentrated chaos in one location.

But she couldn't.
It's too much. I - I can't purify it.
And why not?
It's too concentrated. We'd have better luck trying to purify Discord.
My Storm. Can you not feel what your rest has wrought? The World itself flows through you.
What do you mean?
That there is no way to know what you are capable of, until you do as such.

Harmony and Order were a constant in her head. Bickering, back and forth as siblings did - playful barbs, but rarely in agreement. Tempest shut her eyes. Her antlers began to glow - and she let the World flow through her.

Harmony and Order wove spells together in nothing less than a masterpiece. Dozens of spells, all useless on their own - but working together in a perfect Harmony. Each spell perfect, ordered into intricate patterns that the more rational part of Tempest's mind couldn't even begin to understand. Magic fought to expand - it hated being close together, and that's why the complexity of a spell went up as the glyph count rose - as well as the toll it took on mana and mind. It was an uphill battle - one that the caster would inevitably lose, which is why spells couldn't be prepared in advance unless they were woven into physical components. Their spellwork was beautiful, their spellwork was perfect: but it defied the laws of magic.

Harmony and Order were the architects. But Tempest was the conduit. Where the Essential Spirits wove beauty, Tempest's magic was much more - primal. It was beyond glyphs. It was a force of nature - as The Storm, she Asked - and so the World gave.

The air rippled and shimmered as her spell trailed through the aether itself sluggishly. The water rippled much in kind - until it began to glow with a bright, searing light and rang with a crystalline chime. The light grew brighter and brighter, as the chime grew louder and louder - until both reached a crescendo, and then pulsed.

The air rippled. Tempest stumbled backwards, her horns stinging from exertion. The magic she had used hadn't drained her magic pool anything remotely close to significant - but channeling the force of the world itself was something that should've been impossible.

Clap. Clap. Clap. The familiar smack of talon against lion paw. Her skin crawled - her scales felt as if they might fall off at any moment.

Just his echo. Not him.

"Chaos Shadow." She spoke with as little vitriol in her tone she could manage. Her words came out as a hateful snarl.
"Tempest." He retaliated as he cut space and formed in-front of me with a pop. "Hm. Not quite a fan of what you've done with the place." He waved his hand before he stuck one of his talons into the pool, then winced as he quickly pulled it out as it had begun to turn gray. He snapped his talon off and threw it to the side. "But, your style - your style."

"How long have you been here?"
"As long as you have, yet longer. I can't help but be - accutely aware of these little pockets of chaos magic spread all over the world. They're like - candy, almost. I can't help but savor them."
"Do you attempt to re-corrupt this pool?" Her eyes narrowed.

"Not at all, mon cherie!" He said in a sing-song voice. "While I'm not going to hand out their locations to you - I certainly have no qualms with you purifying them." He tucked his hands behind his back.
"Does the fact that I am able to kill you, slowly and painfully have anything to do with this fact?" Tempest couldn't help herself. She couldn't help but hate him. She wore the flesh of the creature who had killed her mother, who had tormented her so - who had stripped her from the Sun and Moon. Order and Harmony's constant arguing in her head didn't help her keep a calm handle on the situation either.

"H-heh. I'd be lying if I said that it wouldn't, and you know I'm not a liar."
Tempest tilted her head to the side. She didn't say anything more.
"...I have been known to smidge the truth occasionally." He held his hand flat out and wiggled it side to side. Around Tempest, he was significantly less - lively. Instead of his jokes melding with his magic, he simply moved around and fidgeted a lot.
"Why are you here?" She turned her head to the side and inspected the eels. She picked one up - and while looking Discord dead in the eye, snapped the gargantuan beast's neck and swallowed it like a strand of pasta.

"Why - to offer you a gift."
"A gift." She said flatly.
"You are not the only one who struggled with their identity, dear. I was created with all of His memories, you know. Initially: I was just as bloodthirsty as him."
"Tread carefully," Tempest whispered.
Discord raised his hands in a show of peace. "I - changed. I for one, find more beauty in...hm. Distortion. Freedom. Liberation. Every other aspect of chaos, I suppose." He thought for a few moments. "Regardless, I for one - struggled to find myself. To distinct myself from my predecessor."
"And you're here to offer your sympathy?" Her eyes narrowed.
"Not at all." He shrugged. "You hate me, and everything I stand for. Our natures are antithetical to each other. I'm not here to offer you support - simply...a chance." His talons began to glow. "To find yourself."
"And what are you proposing?"
"A simple little experiment. You'll live a dozen lives, as a dozen creatures - all of them being Tempest. And then you'll wake up, right here - seconds for us, centuries for you. And you'll have found yourself."
"For some reason, I'm not inclined to trust you - after you admitted that your magic is antithetical to mine."
"Smart thinking. I wouldn't trust you either. But I don't have the power to affect Harmony or Order - so I can't send them back. At least, I can't send them back if they don't let me. So - it would be your mind, and they could snap you out of it or tear me to shreds if it doesn't succeed."

Tempest shut her eyes.
He's lying.
In a regard, my brother. He is right that we would be able to stop him from adversely affecting you, my storm. But - he could instead drive you to insanity. If you were insane...you would be as great a threat as his predecessor.
Would he truly throw his life away for this? There would be no chaos that he would bear witness to.
Enough. We will debate this unendingly. Harmony will vote yes, I will vote no - and the Storm will break the tie.
Then - I am inclined to trust him. If Celestia does - then so shall I.

Tempest opened her eyes. "I accept."
Discord rubbed his hands together - and then tapped a talon on her head. Her body slumped to the floor, moments later.

A stallion that wasn't a stallion, the shadow of a mare, a robotic gryphon, and a dead satyr walked into a bar.

This is not the setup to a mediocre punchline, but rather an apt description of the events that set the apocalypse into place. Although, it wasn't a bar - no. It was a spiraling tower, owned by one Storm King.

But he was not the ruler of the Storms. The Storms had rejected him - and left him as a hollow husk. A hollow husk that had been an invitation for something.

"His work was sloppy, as always." Steelbeak inspected his talons. "A survivor was left. Who almost escaped."
"Nothing should've survived that blast. He was clearly abnormal." The stallion that wasn't a stallion snarled, stepping forward towards the Husk-That-Once-Was-King.
"If abnormal, you mean fast. Then I suppose he was abnormal."
"Unlike me - you are not essential to this, bird-brain." He hissed.
"Hm. It's mostly metal, at this point. Wire, too." Steelbeak rapped against his skull with a hollow, metallic thud.
"Watch yourself. We have waited centuries. I will wait another decade."
"No," The Husk spoke - and the two listened. It's voice was wrong. An abomination - something that didn't belong in this world. It grated against their ears, it spoke into their very soul. "We must speed up our time-table. You will invade Equestria, within the year."
Steelbeak arched an eyebrow. "Suicide." His tone hadn't changed in the slightest.
"You're resourceful. You will think of something." It was equal parts an expectation and a statement - yes, Steelbeak would think of something: the alternative was worse than death.

"Leave us, gryphon. Gorolich - we will return."
Gorolich's eyes went wide. He stumbled backwards. "Sire, I-"
The two disappeared with a surge of black unlight.

Steelbeak swallowed. He did not envy Gorolich.

For Tambelon was a fate worse than death.

-

Author's Note

It is Griffonstone, not Gryphonstone.

Shorter chapter. Setting up the future - giving Tempest some much needed characterization past her vengeance and love of magic, as well as a new plot to move towards.

The next chapter, "Fragments", will be coming soon.

Can you hear the bells?

[19] Fragments

Fragments

Who am I?

Before Tempest, 800

Far in the west, in lands so far from civilization that they're barely considered to be a part of the world itself - lay the Wandering Woods. The Wandering Woods is a place much like the Everfree - but instead of being contaminated by tainted and chaotic magic, it's home to its own kind of magic - distorted order. Not chaos, but something else - more of a bastard, hybridized son of Order and Chaos. With all the stability of chaos and yet all the rigidity of order.

It's possible to get truly lost in these woods. Those who wander deep into the Everfree might never find their way out for years and years. But, on the other hand, those who venture into the Wandering Woods find that the mercurial lands are dislodged through time itself - and sometimes, those who haven't been born exit from the timbers in a murky stupor - before they yield to a grand mal seizure that comes with fracturing time to that degree, that is.

At the very corner of these woods, there is growth. It is a twisted spire of moss and chitin, decorated with black nullstone and dozens of holes - much like the people who inhabit them. The Changelings. Creatures of myth - bad omens, baby snatchers, parasitic creatures that feed on the highs and lows of emotion itself. At the peak of this growth lays their Queen - once, the last Acolyte of Order, and now the last Scholar of Mind. Her name is Chrysalis, and she is cruel.

Her oppressive mind runs through her wicked half-species like slime. It inches and trails through a web of moving, pulsing arteries and veins that take the shape of living creatures. The origins of the changelings are disputed - but it is known that they are an old species, and Chrysalis has always been their queen.

But this is not her story, though. This is the story of a changeling with no name - a drone, designated by their Queen as E842. They are beyond gender, beyond personality - there is no thought, there is simply the loyalty to the hive, and its queen.

The Cruel Queen looks at E842. She communicates without words - her will is absolute; it is not to be challenged because it can not be challenged. The Hive acts as one because it is one, and Chrysalis is that one.

A single instruction is seared into 842's skull. Hunt. And so they do.

Chrysalis' will is absolute. Her power, however, is not. So as 842 manages its way past the edges of the wandering woods - its mind snaps. The drone slumps to the ground and lays there immobile as it struggles with the crippling sense of loneliness that it has never felt in its life without its queen.

Hunt. It rattles around in their skull. They close their eyes and pound their hooves against their skull - but the word pounds louder and louder. Hunt. A compulsion, a command, a control - 842 must hunt, for that is its purpose and its only purpose. Hunt.

842 screams. There is nothing to listen to; there is no reprieve from the pounding command that the Cruel Queen burned into its head. It must hunt, and it must do it now, now, now-

842 is washed away in green fire. A white coat, a grey mane with equally grey eyes speckled with dots of gold. She is beautiful, and she is fair. She is imperfect, and that makes her perfect. Storm Breeze lets out a soft sigh - as she begins her Hunt.

Her name is Storm Breeze, and she is a pegasus that is not a pegasus. Her wings never need preening. She has no talent for the weather, despite what her mark and name would suggest. There is something otherworldly about her - she moves with the grace of a predator, yet in conversation, she is as clumsy as a raging boar with all the tact of a dragon in a china shop. She is ethereal, she is grace - and it is all these things and more that Lila Love finds herself infatuated with.

They had met in the flower shop that Lila owned. It was storming, thundering - and desperate for relief; Breeze entered into the shop. Their eyes had met - just for a moment, and Lila found herself absorbed in their depths. She saw pain, she saw confusion - but most of all, she saw fear and longing.

"I haven't seen you before, miss..." The unicorn mare trailed off.
"Storm Breeze." She was a deer in headlights. Frozen, paralyzed by a single word.
Lila couldn't help but smile. "I'm Lila. It's lovely to meet you."

Storm Breeze fidgeted.
"Hold still."
"Sorry."
"You don't have to be, dear." Her head rubbed against her neck in an affectionate nuzzle. "You just have to be still." She prodded at the crest of fluff at the rise of her chest with the tip of her hoof. Storm Breeze let out a soft noise.
"I know. I'm sorry."
Lila gave her a look. Breeze adverted her eyes.

This wasn't the first time the two had gone through this conversation - nearly word for word. Breeze's motor skills were...rather lacking, and Lila felt - that as her bride-to-be, it was only right that she should help dress her. The tightening of straps, pulling of cloth around hooves - and Breeze's fidgeting only made it harder. Annoyingly hard.

But the two were in love, and so it was a small price to pay. Lila's heart soared with every word Breeze spoke.
Breeze's heart sank deeper every time she closed her eyes and saw the words seared into her skull. Hunt.

Eventually, she would have to return. Storm Breeze would die, and E842 would return to the hive - bringing back with her the love that Lila had felt and the desolation at her "death."

"Cmon." Her wife-to-be tugged lightly at her wing. "It's time for work."

Thoughts for the future. For now, Breeze was content.

The Queen is cruel. In four years, Breeze had never forgotten that. No amount of sweet nothings murmured in her ears - tender touches and soft nuzzles could remove those memories. Instead, Breeze remembered that every time she closed her eyes - and as she slept, she died, and E842 lived.

But her will is absolute - and its absence left a void. Its return can't be unnoticed. She freezes as it runs through her mind like slime. It inches and trails through veins and arteries that had gone long unused. Her eyes wet. She tries to scream. She can't.

Hunt. The command comes. It pounds in their skull. It burns in their eyes all over again. 842 lets out a whimper - as Breeze pulled all of herself into one word. One word - brought against the queen's Will Absolute.
no.
Hunt. Spoken with the force of the Hive now - a thousand million voices warbling about in an all-consuming buzz that grew ever louder and louder. Hunt, it demanded.

There was a difference between the changeling named E842 and the not-a-pegasus named Storm Breeze.
Storm Breeze was loyal to her family.

So be it.
Silver blood, like slime, ran down from Breeze's nose. Her eyes went wide as her mind began to crack.
"I love you." She whispered to Lila.

Her corpse cracked against the floor.

Before Tempest, 1200

As Windplume clawed her way out of her egg - she did not cry. Instead, this was seen as a mark of strength - to her parents, showing that Windplume would grow up to be a strong warrior. Her parents could not be more proud. But, unfortunately, her parents could not be more wrong.

Gryphons are an omnivorous species with a lean towards the carnivorous. They can subsist off fruits and vegetables for a time - but they need some meat in their diet. It's simply a fact of biology. Some of the more squeamish gryphons exclusively eat fish - as they're considered to be particularly non-sentient. But the majority of gryphons eat meat, and enjoy it. Butcheries and farms that run off of livestock aren't just common, but standard.

Gryphons hunted animals - and their first kill was a passing rite. Windplume's first kill was by accident. Her talons were particularly sharp, jagged and hadn't been filed. As a result, she didn't see the mouse - even as she bumped into it, and her razor-sharp claw split its stomach and let its innards spill.

She cried for hours. Her mother comforted her. Her father couldn't look her in the eye.

The children mocked her.

During their schooling, other gryphons hunted. They took the fields - flying through the air as they hunted rat, mice, and even the occasional deer that had stumbled into these depths of the woods. Windplume did not do any of that, no - she was content to lay in the sun or rest on a cloud.

She had no friends. Well - except Penny.

Penny slipped out past the rocks. She squeaked and chittered as she pressed up into Windplume's feathers, the small mouse worming close into her fur and resting in her crest of fluff.

She liked Penny. She didn't like Gaius - as he dove from the sky and plucked Penny straight from her chest.

Windplume stood up suddenly. "Hey! Give her back!"
Gaius landed down and grinned at her - as much as a bird could grin. "Hah! You snooze you lose. Dad always told me you gotta eat fast." He held Penny up by her tail - the small mouse wriggling around in fear.
"I-I'm not gonna eat her! She's my friend!" Windplume frowned. Gaius did a takeback.
"...Dude. It's a rat." He said flatly.
"She's a mouse, and she's my friend." She insisted.
"Whatever." Gaius rolled his eyes. He opened his mouth up -

It was within her right to attack him. Slash at his eyes for stealing her property - not that she considered Penny her property, but she could lie and say that she was her food which would make the mouse her property. Regardless - Windplume didn't have the stomach for violence. But - maybe - if it was necessary.

Windplume tackled Penny out of mid-air, catching her in her mouth. Gaius stared at her.
"I thought you said you weren't gonna eat her! Ugh. Whatever. Weirdo." Gaius huffed and took off quite promptly - diving towards the fields.

When he was out of sight, Windplume immediately spat out a traumatised Penny into her hand.
No, Windplume thought. There's always another option.

Penny had lived a very long time. But as she died - it changed Windplume.

From eighteen, every gryphon was mandated to have at least one month of military service. King Gryphus and the kings and queens before that had dictated as such. The entire nation was a force to be reckoned with as such.

Her parents had expected Windplume to hate it. Instead, they were shocked that she had enjoyed it. She hated the idea that she would ever have to hurt someone - but she enjoyed the feeling of security that knowing how to defend herself and whatever was dear to her brought. She wasn't the idealistic young chick she had been - she recognized that sometimes, violence was necessary.

But if Windplume could avoid it - then she would.

It was ironic, almost. She was an excellent fighter - she moved with grace and speed yet struck with precision and strength. But she was meek and reserved by nature - and found herself isolated from society, living in a cottage at the edge of the forest.

The animals came to her. Every time they visited, she remembered Penny, her first friend - and she gave them scraps of her food. Some of the braver animals even began to take residence in her house - until many years later, as Windplume's heart began to grow weaker and weaker, it was a veritable zoo.

Windplume died in her house at the age of seventy-three, surrounded by her friends. She died happy - for all her life, she had been kind, and there was no better fate.

After Discord, 60

In the pits of Saddle Arabia - down in Istanbull, lay a proud race - they are the minotaur. They are a race that stands on two legs and live with little magic. The desert is their home - and from their home, they forge great sculptures of gold, sand, and stone along with everything in-between. The minotaur is a race of fighters, a race that stays connected with the ground beneath their hooves and shapes their world with their hooves.

The 'taur are fighters second. First - they are smiths. And there is no greater smith than the she-bull, Temper.

You might be wondering how ponies names end up being so accurate to them. The short answer is that it's complicated. The long answer is that no one actually knows. But whatever the cause of it is - it does not quite stretch to the 'taur. The 'taur earn their names so that their names may be a truer reflection of who they are. For example, Temper earned her name at the age of twelve - when, in a burst of rage during an argument, she smashed her bedroom wall into pieces.

It was made of stone.

Eventually, she grew out of her rage - as she focused her destructive energies into creation. But, she found that shaping the world, shaping metal with her efforts felt...good. Satisfying. So, at the age of sixteen - Temper became a smith.

In her heyday, she had been great. It was her designs that had lit the fires of industry in Istanbull - it was her designs that had allowed them to rebuild after Discord's havoc had been rebuilt. Her mind, her hands were the spark that had lit the future.

It was not her heyday, and Temper had - well. She had been tempered by the passage of time. She was not the idealistic young 'taur she had been in her youth. No - she was content now with her simple life.

Eyes landed on her as she entered the marketplace, and she hated it. She pretended to ignore it as she made her way to her usual stop.
"Good afternoon, Lady Temper."
"Hm? I'm sorry, Selworth? Did you say something?"
"Ah - forgive me. Good afternoon, Temper." Selworth blushed lightly. The sandwich vendor was rather aptly named, Temper mused to herself. The young bull's prices had always been well worth their price - much like his father. "Will it be the usual?"
"Hmph. Am I truly so predictable that I am to have a usual?"
"You've been coming here since my father ran this stall, m'l-" He paused. "Miss Temper," he corrected. "In all that time - I don't think you've ever changed your order."
Temper snorted. "There's a first time for everything."
"Does that mean you don't want your usual, Miss Temper?"
"Call me miss again, and you'll see why they call me Temper." Her eyes narrowed. Selworth's eyes widened - before he realized she was joking, and let out a soft sigh followed by a chuckle. "S-sorry. It's just - strange, yknow? We - learn about you in school. But...here you are. And you're..."
"Old and washed up." She shrugged.
"I wouldn't say that-"
"That makes one of us. I've long accepted it, boy. No need to sugarcoat it. I'm not the strapping young mind I once was. That's the difference between me and my craft. Metal is eternal. Flesh and mind - it changes, warps. I think it's called wisdom. I've always thought of it more as experience. Details." She shrugged. "I won't take up more of your time, Selworth. You're a good lad. My usual, please." She flicked two Istanbull mints towards him - twice the price of her usual.

Selworth blinked. "Temper, you've uh - overpaid."
"You listened to my old ramblings. It's only kind." Shrug. "Keep it. Something extra." She waved her hand.
"Miss, I don't-"
Yet, Temper had already picked up her sandwich and left.

As she walked - she felt something. Minotaurs did not have much in the way of magic, true - but they did have a...connection to the ground. They could sometimes ask, and the ground would give. So Temper asked for the ground to confirm her suspicions - and she felt him. A minotaur bull, a few heads shorter than her - couldn't be much older than a teenager, following her.

She pretended not to notice him as she walked. But, eventually - as she stood on the path that right up to her rather humble yet comfortable home - she turned around and looked the boy in the eye.

The bull met eyes with her. His muscles tensed as he drew his dagger - no, a jagged shard of glass taped to wood - with fumbling hands, holding it up towards the 'taur woman.
"Everything you have. I - don't want to hurt you. But I will."
Temper tilted her head to the side. She considered the bull for a moment. He was a few heads shorter than her - but much less fit, lacking quite a bit of muscle. He looked gaunt, haggard - exhausted.

"H-hurry it!" The bull hissed and stepped forward. His stance was wide, his grip sloppy and his determination - lacking. Temper was no fighter, but there was no threat here.
"Hungry?" She tilted her head to the side. "Here." She held the half-eaten sandwich out towards him.
The bull stared at it for a few seconds. "I meant - your money."
"Of course you did." She shrugged. "That can come after you eat. You need your nutrition. Gotta keep your strength up."
"I - do you - I'm mugging you. I'm going to hurt you, unless you give me your money."
"Is that so?"
"Yes?" The bull asked it like a question.
"Hm." Temper said dryly. She tossed the sandwich towards him as she turned around and began walking slowly towards her home. She fiddled with the keys she kept in her pocket before opening the door and glancing at the bull.

He had caught the food and nearly dropped the dagger. Yet he regarded Temper with a strange look - his eyes narrow, untrusting, cautious.

"Clean your hooves off, and come in boy. Close the door behind you." Temper didn't wait for him - briskly walking into her house.

The door shut moments later.

"Sit down." Temper gestured. It was a request, but it was phrased as a statement. So the bull - recently fed, bathed, clothed - in that order, did as such. He hadn't trusted her at first - but as the 'taur's insistence that he do as she asked had worn on him to the point where he had reluctantly agreed. Yet - as he rested, given warmth and kindness - colour was restored to him.
"Who was it for?" Temper sat down across from him. The bull opened his mouth, but Temper clarified in advance. "The money that you wanted to take from me. Sibling? Parents? Child?"

"...sibling. Parents aren't - they aren't-" He thought for a second. "They..."
Temper nodded solemnly. "Your name?"
"I don't have one, miss."
Temper blanched.
"That young, huh?" She whispered. "It's been hard, hasn't it? Oh, you poor babe." Temper's heart wept for the child. Her eyes felt wet. "And the sibling?"
"Sister. Little one. We don't got much, miss. We live in the outskirts - in the slums."
"And do you usually rob people who could snap you in half like a twig?" Temper tilted her head to the side.
"I - I don't got a choice, ma'am. I borrowed - I took some money. I got - I gotta repay it back. They got my sister. Bad people."
"Bad people?" Temper arched an eyebrow.
"The Will." He said in a soft voice. Temper wasn't too surprised. The Will was one of the few groups willing to go as far as to kidnap a child.
"No Judicators?" Another nod.
Temper let out a soft sigh. "You'll get your money tomorrow, boy. Promise. You need your sleep though." She prodded his chest. "Not taking no for an answer. Use one of the beds. I have some work to do."

Temper valued Justice. Most of the 'taur did. Temper valued it particularly highly, though.

It had been a long, long time since she had worn this armour. It chafed, it hung uncomfortably - it was built for someone much younger than her.

It was the original armour, though. The design that all Judicators had based their armour on. It wasn't quite as advanced, or ornate - no magic cores. The thing weighed like a ton of bricks. It would stop a spear, though - and that's all that counted.

"This is the place?" Temper grunted as she dropped her hammer down into the ground with a thunk.
"Mhm." The Arabian stallion nodded. "Yes ma'am."
"None of that ma'am nonsense. You've done a good deed. I'll make sure you get your payment."
"The honor was mine, ma'am."

Temper didn't respond to that. Instead, she opened up the warehouse doors and walked inside. No - she would not attempt stealth. She was a walking tank, her armour clinking and clanking as the massive, studded hammer dragged behind her. It was seconds before she could feel the ground rumbling as someone charged towards her.

She sighed. She knew that non-violence wouldn't be an option when dealing with the will. It didn't make it easier, nonetheless.

The hammer went sailing. She spilt the first drop of blood.

The bull didn't waste a moment wrapping Temper in a hug.
"Ribs - ribs!" She groaned.
The bull lightened his hug and pulled away. His eyes were teary. "I can't - I can't- your generosity - it...I can't possibly repay you. I can't thank you enough. You saved my life. My sister's life."
Temper held up a hand. "You can repay it. Just a little thing, every day. Do something nice. Promise me that. I don't want a spear to the chest to have been for nothing, yknow?" She winked.
"I will," he whispered. "I promise."

Temper died three years after that day. Her heart had been getting weaker - and after her injury, it got worse and worse. But, it didn't stop her from giving something to someone every day - until she had nothing left to give.

She died with nothing to her name.

Yet for her funeral - for the city that she had been instrumental in forging, for the world that she had built - for the people she had touched...

The streets filled. And Istanbull was silent, for a night.

After Banishment, 30

East of Equestria, past the Gryphons and the Himallamas - below the ruins of their once city, live the Lupines. The Lupines are masters of Spatial magic. They live in the Banyan Timbers, hid off from the rest of the world with their magic.

The Lupine Lords and Ladies warp space as easily as Starswirl the Bearded might lift a quill. They are safe, isolated - but isolation did not entirely spare them from Discord's damages to the world. His chaos echoed through their magic - killing hundreds of their already scarce population.

The Lords and Ladies weren't quite sure what had happened to those that came before them. Their population had once been great - the ruins of Castle Graymourne and Cobblerock suggested that. But no living creature had found themselves able to step foot into either of those locations. Those that did - simply fell to the ground, dead. And with that, their history had been lost - degrading into verbal storytelling that got diluted over time.

Eventually, it had diluted to the point where they didn't know where they came from. It was Tundra who sought to change this.

"Which of you broke it," their father said softly. His voice was barely above a whisper. He seemed furious.

Tundra - she hadn't meant to. She had just bumped into it. Her sister, Liara, pointed at her. "T-Tundra did."
"Tundra. Is this true?" Their father turned to her.
"...No. Liara broke it. She's lying," Tundra lied.

That night, neither of them ate.
She never told a lie again.

Tundra hated mansions. At least she was invited, this time.

"I'm going to need a progress report, detective."
Tundra would be lying if she said she wasn't afraid of him. Lupine Lord Rex, a hulking black hound - one nearly thrice her size. He could snap her head off with a single motion. She'd still be lying if she said that this hadn't been the worst agreement of her life.

Tundra didn't lie. "It's not detective, anymore." She said softly. She swallowed the saliva in her mouth as the hound savoured a piece of rich steak in his mouth - chewing on it slowly, painfully slow, as he cut his next bite.
"Hm. What do I call you, then?"
"Investigator, I believe is what the court ordered." She tugged at her vest with a sharp thumb.
"Mhm. I don't especially care, you see. I'm going to ask you again for that progress report." He waved his hand to the side.
"...I don't know where the Asptral Ring is." No, that wasn't a lie - she knew who owned it, but she didn't know where the Lady had put it. Tundra was rather good at those things - lies of omission. You sort of had to, being an investigator in today's world.

Rex thought for a few moments. He swallowed. His next words made her blood run cold. "Do you know who owns it?"

Shit. Clever dog. "...yes." Tundra said reluctantly. She shifted around in her spot.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd feel as if you were trying to protect them." Lord Rex held his knife up - tilting it towards her. "Would that be true, Tundra? Or would that simply be my paranoia?"
"I'm not trying to protect them." No, she was not. She had no love for the Lords or Ladies. She was more interested in taking them all down - and that required her to protect the Asptral Ring.
"Good. I would hope not, Tundra." He shut his eyes. "You know the rest of the deal, investigator. Get me the ring- or I will kill your sister." He smiled toothily at her. It was not a warm smile.

Tundra swallowed.

"Yes, sir."

Once, the Lords and Ladies had been aligned. Discord had unified them towards a common goal - the perseverance of the Lupine race. Yet as time passed, and the mantle shifted from father to son, mother to daughter, so did allegiances. Thus, the Lords and Ladies were more a pact of warring factions, seeking to tear the Timbers apart in their foolish conflict.

Tundra couldn't forget the smell of her mother and father burning. The guards had obviously, done nothing. It was a spat between the Lords and Ladies - one that resulted in the deaths of innocents. But their hands were tied. Well, more accurately - their hands were weighed down by the metric ton of gold that the Lords and Ladies had dumped on them.

Lord Rex was responsible for it. He had all but admitted it - and the fact that he had kidnapped her sister further supported it. So if he wasn't flat out responsible for it, he had to be at least involved in it.

Regardless - circumstances since then had dipped for Tundra. She didn't have much of a choice - considering her sister's predicament and the princely sum Lord Rex was paying her. For all Tundra cared - he could stuff that cash where the sun doesn't shine.

Tundra hated the Lords and Ladies. She hated them with all her heart - and maybe, with the Asptral Ring, the world would see the truth. They were lied to. All their life - the Lords and Ladies told them that ponies sought to kill Lupines. But Tundra - she was an arctic wolf. A hunting wolf. And a pony had wandered too deep into the Timbers - and all but radicalized the young wolf.

She just needed the ring. She could break the barriers. Let the world see the Lupines, and the Lupines see the world. Let them overthrow their space-warping rulers. She just - needed the ring.

Her fur was burnt. Her mind - fragmented. There was a mare there - her eyes, they were black as void - and Lord Rex stood, laughing.

"Liara?" She whispered.
The mare's skin began to slough off as it kneeled in front of her. It spoke, but its voice was wrong. An abomination - something that didn't belong in this world. It grated against her ears; it spoke into her very soul. "Ash. The rest of your people will follow, soon."
Rex blinked. "Asides-" He didn't finish the thought as his skull burst from the inside out.

"Thank you, Tundra. Your soul is...necessary, to do what I cannot. Know that you will not die in vain - like the rest of your Kin." The mare reached a skeletal hoof down - but then stopped.

No. The word reverberated from the space-beyond that rested within the mare. It was filled with hatred, it was filled with disgust.
NO! The word was howled. Bones began to crack. Sludge-like mist began to ooze from them.

The mare stood up as her bones continued to crack. She shut her eyes. "I will see you soon - drakon.."

And the world blurred in pink, red, and yellow-

-

[20] Sum

Sum

My name is Tempest Pulseradottir.

Forewarning: white text, and dialogue-heavy. Read in night mode.
She was Order.
She was Harmony.
She was Windplume.
She was Storm Breeze, once E842.
She was Temper.
She was Tundra.
She was a Storm.

She had been all these things, she was all these things - and they were her. She was Many, but she was One. She was an ordered harmony of a thousand bubbling components - she was something greater than the sum of her parts, she was something new, she was - she was -

She was Tempest. Just Tempest. She was more. She was kind, cruel, strong, fierce - she was less - but at the end, she was that.

Tempest.

Her eyes opened - and she saw him.

His freakish face bathed in the firelight. The fire that had burned her mother to ash. The fire that had torn her apart.
But it wasn't him, wasn't it? So Tempest looked deeper. She expected to see chaos - instead, she saw - Change.

"See! What did I tell you. Centuries for her, seconds for us."
Order and Harmony buzzed around in her head in annoyance.

"I'm sorry." They were the first words to leave her mouth. Her voice felt strange after going unused for so long - but it had just been seconds, hadn't it? Her words felt like oil pouring from her mouth, and her voice sounded - harmonic. She could hear all the parts in there, individually, if she just focused.

Discord hadn't been expecting that. Instead, the chimaera stared at her blankly as he stood tensed on all fours.
Let him be, Tempest asked. They listened, and they drew her power back into her. Tempest could see Discord's soul - a writhing mess of colours, with strands, slowly reconnecting back to the leylines deep below them.

Discord didn't waste a moment as he cut space between them. "You're - apologizing?"
"I'm sorry," Tempest repeated. "I - I almost killed you." She whispered. Her eyes were wet. Some small part of her noted she had tear ducts, now. "You're no saint, but you don't - you don't deserve that. Few do. The sins of the father are not the sins of the son. I'm sorry."
"...Huh." Discord said weakly. He looked down at the floor for a second before his head tilted up to look her in the eyes. "Just don't try to kill me again. I wouldn't want to hurt you." He puffed his chest out and crossed his arms over his chest - his chest and arms ballooning up with magical muscle.

Tempest smiled weakly. "No promises."
Discord snorted. "Well - that's enough of being a good samaritan for the day." He floated up into the air and cracked his knuckles. "Goodbye, Tempest."
"Was this the way you changed?" Tempest interrupted as she stepped forward.
Discord glanced over his shoulder. "Hmm?"
"You said you struggled with yourself. That you didn't know who you were. Was this how you changed?"
Discord shook his head. "There's a mare," he said softly. "The Bearer of Kindness. Never hurt a fly. It's a whole thing." He waved his hand.
Order and Harmony suggested what Tempest was already thinking.
"I'd like to meet her."
"That's not such a good idea." Discord rose his hands up. Strings fell from his fingers - forming a puppet of a yellow-coated pegasus with a pink mane, as well as a rather large Tempest. "She's afraid of dragons, you see." He mimed the pegasus seeing Tempest and promptly running away.

"I'm not a dragon." Tempest's eyes narrowed.
"No, of course not! You merely have the body, legs, and wings of a dragon." Discord smiled and leaned against an upside-down, dragon-shaped red cloud that formed in mid-air. Tempest sniffed. It smelled of tomato juice.

Shift, she asked - and Order was already weaving the spell. Moments later - she took the form of a white-and-grey feathered gryphon with yellow eyes. Unlike her strange, half-equine-half-drakon form, this form felt more...natural. She had donned the form for seventy-three years, after all.

"Is she afraid of gryphons?" Her voice was softer and weaker - but it still carried a soft thrum of power.
"Not especially so," he reluctantly sighed.
"You don't want me to meet her," Tempest concluded. It was rather obvious.
"Not especially so." He repeated. "She's rather - dear to me. I don't want you to...tell her about me." He shifted around uncomfortably. "It would frighten her."
"I doubt that there is anything I know about you that she does not - considering how recently we met. You are not your predecessor, D-" She paused for a second. "Discord."

Discord thought for a second. He then sighed overdramatically. "As long as you promise not to make me look bad in front of her, then I suppose so." He snapped his talons -

a spiralling city of wolves, broken, shattered, memories fading - a mare, he noticed you, he's HERE he's - a word, there's a word, and the word is -Tambelon.

The duo exited the aether. Tempest's perception bleared, her mind scrambled -
Later, my Tempest.

The Spirit took her thoughts from her - her mind relaxing. There was cause for concern; there was something to be worried about - but that would come another time.

They stood by a cottage at the border of the Everfree and the town - Ponyville, was it?
"I've been here before," Tempest remarked idly. The draconequus moved in a sickeningly fluid motion - coiling and curling through the air in strange patterns, vaguely reminiscent of the symbol of infinity.
"If you don't remember - three days ago, you tore from the forest and came hurtling towards here." Discord's voice was dry as he arched an eyebrow.
"Ah. Right," she nodded.

Discord knocked on the door. "Fluttershy~!" He called in a sing-songy voice.
"coming." A soft, whispery voice called. A few moments later - some shuffling, bumping, and squawking following - a rather frazzled pegasus opened the door.

"Hi, Discord." She blinked a few times. "Oh. You brought a friend." She smiled. "I'm proud of you."
"Friend is a strong word," he waved his hand. "Technically, she's my archnemesis."
"oh. Um." The mare glanced at Tempest. "You're - not going to...um. F-fight?"

"No." Tempest shook her head. "I got that all out of my system."
"oh. that's. um. good." She nodded. "I- I'm sorry, right now isn't a - great time - thank you for knocking like I asked, Discord, but um - the animals are...a little rowdy." She stepped to the side. The sight reminded both Spirits of home - in a rather strange antonymic fashion. It was a verifiable zoo, a chaotic landscape of squawking birds - a bear, a few dozen chickens.

Discord basked in the sight. The part of Tempest that had once been Windplume felt right at home.

"Ooh." He rubbed his talon and paw together excitedly as he warmed them, lifting into the air and snapping a talon - appearing with a white flash by a bunny. "What's got them all riled up?"
"I - um. I'm not - I'm not sure. They've been acting...like this, since the dragon-"
"Drakon," Tempest immediately corrected.
"oh. uhm. no, I think it's - I think it's pronounced dragon." Discord tried to hold in his laughter.
Tempest looked a little bit offended. "Well - I'm not a dragon. There's a difference. You wouldn't call Discord a - a dragonequus, would you?"
"um. Well. Of course you aren't a dragon. You're - a gryphon. Right?" She glanced at Discord. Discord promptly failed at holding in his laughter, stretching out as he cackled maniacally.

"I thought they told you to explain the situation to them." Tempest's eyes narrowed lightly.
"Not at all, dear Tempest! They told me to tell them the situation was under control."
The part of Tempest that was Temper felt a headache coming on. She shut her eyes, letting out a deep - deep sigh.

"I'm...a little bit confused." Fluttershy looked between Discord and Tempest. "Can - can someone explain?"
Discord teleported right over Tempest, reaching down and scratching at the feathers around her head. Tempest jerked away, flashing a look at him. "Dear, dear Fluttershy - allow me to introduce you to my technical archenemy - the antithesis of my very nature. The Spirit of Order and Harmony!"
Tempest stretched her claws out. "Tempest Pulseradottir. I'm a drakon. I didn't want to scare you. I'm mostly the Spirit of Storms." Well - also sky, and air - her sphere was rather broad after all. But Spirit of Storms had a certain alitteration to it that she enjoyed.

"O-oh." Fluttershy's ears went flat against her head, her eyes wide. "I- sorry, I don't...I don't really know the difference..." She sunk her head a little bit as she hid behind her hair.
"Drakons don't have wings, and are a lot grumpier." Discord interjected between constant giggles.
"I'm not - surprised that you don't." Tempest said reluctantly. "I'm the last one left." Discord's giggles subsided as he looked away.

Fluttershy - meek, stuttering, ever-polite - stepped forward and put a hoof on the gryphon's shoulder. Her grip was strong, her eyes soft. "I'm sorry," she spoke - and there was so much empathy in her voice.
"Not your fault."
"I know," she nodded. "But I'm still sorry. If - if you want, you don't - you don't have to look like this. You should...look however you want to be. Whatever makes you comfortable." She slowly stroked Tempest's shoulder.
"I'm fine." Tempest shrugged.

"Um - again, I'm - I'm sorry, but um - I should...really, focus on the animals. But - if you ever want to visit um...just...knock, I guess." She glanced at Discord. "Thank you for knocking, Discord. I appreciate it." She said warmly.

Tempest noted that shift. She was stuttery, meek, but she didn't hold back when it came to expressing appreciation or genuine emotion. There was something - almost motherly about the mare. As motherly as a drakon could find a pony barely even a thousandth of her size.

Calm them, Harmony spoke - and a Knowledge filled Tempest's mind. Her antlers shimmered into existence - and from them sprung an intricately woven spell.

She used Myr to search for the animals. Virtrus was how Tempest sensed them - casting her magic out in a radius and taking in the life around her. Her antlers shimmered with white light, a splendid glory that seemed almost holy in nature. From there - she used Myr to search again but pushed deeper.

Tempest had never used the glyph Lis before. It was a rare glyph - few know it existed, and those who do tend to be Spirits. Some part of her felt wrong using it as if it was a violation of the natural order to reach into something's mind.

We are the natural order, Order reminded her. Tempest chose to ignore him.

The next two glyphs she wove soothed her own worries. She searched for their minds - and found them. They were scared. Deeply so - unsettled by a draconic roar, their minds feral and racing as if the world was going to end. So Tempest cast a spell that she had used dozens of times to mend her own wounds, to soothe their racing minds.

Reosr, Hos. The full idea of the spell was there now. Mys, Myr, Virtrus, Myr, Lis, Reosr, Hos she repeated to herself. The light around her antlers grew brighter and brighter - until with a surge of light, the animals found themselves soothed.

Tempest withdrew herself from the recesses of her mind. Her eyes opened to a rather disappointing looking Discord and an almost awe-struck Fluttershy.
Discord crossed his arms. "Pooh. I was rather enjoying the show."
Fluttershy looked at Tempest. "that - that was...um. thank you." She smiled at her, tucking her hair behind her ear.
"So you have time for little-old-me, now?" Discord shifted his form into a tiny version of him that sat down in-between Fluttershy's ears.
"um, I'm - I'm really sorry, Discord - but I...I still need to get everyone sorted back to their home."
"Are you forgetting who you're talking to, dear?" Discord shifted into an alicorn with his colour palette. "Your princesses," and then a version of Windplume with his palette - "and Tempest aren't the only ones with immense magical power. I can always just snap my fingers and do it." He raised his talons as he morphed back into his own form.
"you know they don't like that." The mare frowned at him. "It upsets their stomachs. But, I'm sure you and your, um-" She glanced at Tempest. "...arch...enemy, can have some fun while I do this. you could, um, introduce her to everypony?" She suggested.

Discord rolled his eyes. Fluttershy didn't seem to notice.
"The other bearers." Tempest tilted her head to the side.
"Yes." Fluttershy nodded slowly. "I'm sure that - Spike would love to meet you."
Discord rolled his eyes so violently that they started spinning around, rattling around in his skull like a brick in a washing machine, before bursting out of the back of his skull like a bullet. He opened his mouth -
"Could you, Discord?" Her eyes twinkled. She looked up at him innocently. "I - I promise we can talk later. I'm just a little busy right now."
"...hmph." Discord crossed his arms. "I suppose." He groaned. His tail grew a hand, and then promptly snapped.

Tempest doubted she would ever get truly used to Discord. Her time as other lives in the gift that he had given her - she could forgive him. She could see past his skin and recognize that it wasn't the same person. But - they had similarities. The same voice, the same skin, the same magic.

At the very least, though, there was a satisfaction that Discord couldn't kill her before she could react when she wasn't nullifying his connection to the leylines. Harmony and Order would be able to stop anything he could send at her - even if she wasn't fast enough to notice.

There was a glimmer of something in the aether. They were out by a rather garishly coloured castle. It was vaguely reminiscent of the Tree of Harmony - if you had added a grotesque, purple tumour on top of it. It looked - out of place with the rather simple architecture around it. Tempest wasn't sure who looked more put off by it - herself or Discord.

I think it's rather nice looking. Tempest chose to ignore her.

"Finally." Discord grumbled. "Everyone seems to love how it looks. I for one, think it looks - hideous. And not even in an asymmetrical, chimaerical way. Just frankly hideous." Discord floated up. "Worst of all -" he snapped his fingers. The castle was transmogrified into a gigantic, Discord shaped head - before it morphed into a harmonic tree.

"It's superconcentrated harmonic magic." He crossed his arms. "Really, Harmony. You sure love your crystals, don't you?"
"I do," Tempest spoke for her.
"Hmph. Well - if I've been forced into the position of tour guide-"
"-asked-"
"-hush, details. I might as well embrace the part in stride. I'm nothing if not flexible." As if to showcase his flexibility, Discord promptly bent completely in half - definitely snapping his spine without magic, reaching down and touching his toes. Clothes flashed onto him - a blue train conductor outfit with a foolish plaid hat that was mismatched from everything else. A pop,, and suddenly both Tempest and Discord were on a train driving straight into the castle.

The second they impacted - Discord's magic melted into dust. Discord blinked a few times before he sighed. "Right. Superconcentrated harmonics. How extra." He snapped his fingers to cut space - and the two of them appeared with a white flash in a rather large library.

Tempest couldn't help but salivate.
Discord snapped them away again - this time into a staircase. "Ugh. This is beginning to annoy me." He hissed.
"A problem?"
"I can't - focus my teleport. I'm trying to cut right to little miss Twilight. This is a rather big issue! If I can't teleport straight into her room - then I'd have to fly up into her house to annoy her. How aggravating."
"My heart weeps." Tempest said dryly.
"Um." There was a soft voice coming from beside them. "Hi, Discord. And - uh. Your...friend?"

Discord glanced over. "Friend is a strong word," he repeated. "Where's your boss, Spike?" Tempest followed Discord's eyes.

No wings. Tempest's eyes widened. Thick, purple scales. A slightly short, almost sunken head instead of a longer snout that grew in with age. A strong, long tail with a blade - not uncommon, but there were no horns yet...

Tempest's hopes were dashed as a crest of green spikes ran along his back.

"-library, probably." The small drake shrugged. "She's been spending a lot of time in there. Since that dragon came out of the Everfree."
"Drakon," Tempest corrected. Temper's head pulsed.
"...No, it's pronounced dragon. I would know." The drake - Spike, was it, spoke sardonically.
Discord tilted his head back and burst out laughing. "Oh my. I don't think - I don't think that will ever stop amusing me. Until it does." He waved his hand. "I'm going to go bother Twilight. You two have fun - discussing." Discord coiled through the air, up and down in the movements of the eastern dragons of old as he moved towards the library.

"...I don't get his jokes."
"You aren't missing out." Tempest rolled her eyes. Something clicked in the back of her throat - as she shifted to the draconic tongue, instead of the all-speak that had become natural to her. Of course, the draconic tongue was hissing, clicking and snapping noises that no non-draconic throat could truly produce - but she wasn't exactly a gryphon, after all.

"I am Tempest Pulseradottir. A pleasure to meet you, young drake. Why are you here?" Tempest wasn't - uncomfortable speaking all-speak. Her mind had shifted to use it by default. But speaking in her tongue - her tongue, felt natural.

Spike stared at her for a second. "Um. Do you need a lozenge? Cause I think - we have some."
Tempest blanched. "You - don't speak draconic?"
"...you do??" This fact seemed to confuse Spike even more. "Actually - no, you're Discord's friend. Or, archenemy? What was your name again?"

Her wings snapped out as they shifted into the wings of the storm. Her form faded away into mist as she took a pale reflection of her true form - roughly twice Celestia's size. Spike stepped back.
"Oh. Um. Wow. That - actually explains a lot, I guess?"
"Spike, is it? You - you don't speak your tongue?"
"Uh. No." Spike glanced down at the floor. Spike promptly explained the rest of his story - how he had been an egg given to Princess Celestia years ago and had been used as the entrance exam test to check for children's reaction to failure when encountering a magically resistant dragon egg - only for Twilight to actually hatch the egg through brute force.

Tempest's mind reeled. There was so much information in that story. Last egg? Used as a test? Why would - how could - there should've been appropriate warding, they hadn't taught his language to him-

"I - I need to speak to your mother." She said softly.
Spike gave her a strange look. "Uh. Sure? I think you met her, before - but, she's in the library. Just - that way-"
Tempest was already gone. It wasn't Spike that had caused her any issue - no, it was the fact that he could be so - mistreated, yet...

What would you do? Tempest recognized that voice. It was - Windplume, wasn't it?
I didn't realize Order and Harmony had company.
You're dodging the question. What would you do?
I - no. You're right. You're part of me, and I know where you're going with this. It's a matter of circumstance. Hatched in a land that isn't his own - forcibly, through magic, meaning he would've likely never hatched - who else would raise him but the one he imprinted on? I'm not fair. Not to him, not to Celestia - not to anyone.
You reached that conclusion faster than I thought you would. Tundra, undoubtedly.

Tempest found it equal parts comforting and annoying that the voices of her other lives were now judging her. Regardless, she stepped into the library - seeing a rather annoyed, frazzled looking Spirit of Magic being tormented by the Spirit of Chaos - as he coiled around her and snarked playfully at her.

Tempest teleported up with a flash of magic. Discord turned to look at her lazily. Twilight looked a little bit taken off-guard. "Oh! Tempest! Um. Hi. I wasn't - really expecting visitors right now..."
"I'd like to talk with you, Twilight."
"Discord told me." She nodded. "You said you wanted to meet all the bearers?"
Discord looked at Tempest with a particular look. It was the look a child gave to their father when they had gone behind their mother's back and asked their father, who had given them a conflicting answer.

Help the goat out, and help me out while we're at it. I can't stand the ugin'.
Tempest agreed with Temper and simply rolled her eyes. "Yes. I already met Fluttershy. She was quite..."
"Kind?" Twilight interjected, a slight smile on her face.
"Kind," Tempest agreed.
"Speaking of Fluttershy - I think I'm going to pester her. I'll leave Tempest in your caring, capable hooves, Twilight!" He disappeared with a pop.

There was a beat of awkward silence. Twilight quickly filled it.
"You know - he's been calling you his archenemy for the last three days?"
"I did not."
"Oh. Well, he has."
Another drop.
"Well - you want to meet all the bearers? Um. Can I ask why?"
"Fluttershy suggested it. It would be interesting, to meet the mares touched by my power."
"Right. Still - wrapping my head around that." She glanced down. "You're - harmony. As in - the manifestation of harmony, everywhere. So - when I agree with someone, that's you?"
"In a sense," Harmony spoke through her.
"And Celestia - is the sun. The sun that moves up and down. So - rising and setting the sun, is just...moving herself?"
"No. The sun is a conduit of magical energy for the True Sun, which is much too large to be moved."
"...That's - I have - so many questions, that I honestly don't know where to start. And I'm - magic. The magic that - everything uses?"
"I have no earthly idea," she shrugged. "There's never been a Spirit of Magic before. You're - unique. Welcome to the club."
"The club?"
"The Unique Club."
"That sounds oxymoronic."
"We're not Unique in the same way. You're a Spirit that's never been seen before. Discord can draw on leylines, which he isn't supposed to do. I came back from the dead."
"...You - can you please stop doing that?"
"Doing what?" Tempest tilted her head to the side.
"You're dropping - bombs, I guess. Earth-shattering revelations that you're just...casually bringing up in conversation. In the last four days, I've learned that the sun isn't the sun, I'm the embodiment of magic, Discord isn't Discord, and -" She shut her eyes.
"It's a lot to handle," Tempest agreed. "It gets easier."

A lull.
"I should probably introduce you to my friends now."

Instead of a one-on-one meeting with each member of the Elements of Harmony - it was decided that all of them would meet Tempest, formally, in her new home at Ghastly Gorge the next day. Mainly - Twilight wanted to help her fellow Spirit out, and not torment her by subjecting her to unsupervised, one-on-one conversations with Pinkie Pie and/or Rainbow Dash.

She loved her friends. She really did. But they could be a bit - much.

They arrived at separate times. Twilight was first - exactly on time, as expected. Followed immediately by Rainbow Dash, a few minutes later by Applejack and Pinkie Pie - then lastly by the fashionably late Rarity.

"Hey Rarity. Have you seen Flutters?" The blue pegasus hovered idly right above Rarity.
"I have not, darling. Really - I understand she's a dragon,"
"-drakon-" Twilight corrected,
"-but must she live in such a - dreary location?"
"Ah don't think a dragon-"
"-drakon,"
"-right, what Twi said, cares all that much about location, hun."
"Regardless of scales, a lady is still a lady." She glanced around. "You're sure there are no eels?"
"Nuh-uh!" Pinkie shook her head. "Dashie checked, and my Pinkie Sense - well, unless I get four shaky hooves and my ears begin to flap, then there are no eels."

Immediately, Pinkie's hooves began to shake, and her ears began to flap. Her eyes widened slightly. Rainbow Dash glanced around as Twilight erected a purple barrier around them - only for an eel-like creature to writhe through the shield, Fluttershy trotting close behind him.

"Well - my great grandmother had some eel blood in her." Discord shrugged. "I'm not sure how much of that passed down."
"Ugh. Please tell me you aren't coming with us." Rainbow groaned as she rolled in the air.
"Hah! And miss out on this? You might as well ask Twilight to set her library on fire."

"you basically did the same, you know. siding with Tirek." Rainbow crossed her hooves over her chest.
For a fraction of a second - Discord looked hurt. He leaned back, his mouth parted - then he immediately writhed through the air. "Oh, low blow." He gently tapped Rainbow on the nose. "I'd almost be offended - if you weren't just so adorable." Discord shifted Rainbow Dash into a child's body and squeezed her cheeks, tugging at them as a grandmother would.

Twilight's horn pulsed, and she immediately dispelled the effect. She gave Discord a flat look. Discord leaned back in mid-air, letting out a soft hm.

Fluttershy finally met up with the rest of the group, glancing around. "H-hi, girls. Sorry. Discord had to help me with - um, something." She shifted around uncomfortably. Most everypony arched an eyebrow. "I'm sorry for holding everypony up."

"It's fine, Fluttershy, really." Twilight smiled and put a hoof on her shoulder. "Discord - would you mind teleporting us down? Tempest said it was a bit of a long walk."
Discord shook her head. "A bit too much harmony in there for me to do that, Sparkles. Same thing with your castle." Discord crossed his arms. "seriously. just a color switch." He grumbled under his breath. "Besides, Spirit of Magic!" He slapped her back with a bit too much force - causing Twilight's wings to spread suddenly and her to stumble. "Being friends-"
"-friends is a strong word-"
"-with someone as extremely handsome and powerful as myself-" the collective eye-roll was audible, "is no excuse to slack off on magic. I thought you were its Element, after all."

"Slacking." Twilight said softly. Slacking, she repeated internally.
"Slacking." Discord agreed.

Rainbow Dash moved to defend her - but Twilight didn't waste a moment as her horn lit with Mys, and simply Mys - and they appeared in Tempest's cave with a pop.

The cave was grandiose. It had been carved out and shaped by Tempest - with influence from all of her lives. The innards of the cave were overgrown - save for a gigantic pool, with flowing water entering in...where eels slept like a pod of sleeping whales, completely vertically. Crystals grew along the edge of the pool and the walls - the air practically saturated with pure harmony.

E842 had wanted stalactites. They reached a compromised - chains of pure Order wrapped around a perfectly smooth cylinder of colourful stone every once in a while - thrumming with magical energy. Twilight's jaw dropped.
Temper had insisted on a forge - and while Tempest wasn't sure if she'd ever have a use for it, shaping metal was a straightforward thing to do with pure magic. Rarity, for one - found the metal designs that were inlaid into the wall, as well as an elevated platform of stone, were quite...visually appealing. Rainbow Dash agreed - although the words she used were radically awesome.
The eels were Windplume's idea - bestial enough that they would be a nice meal and large enough that they could actually feed Tempest. Not that she really needed food - she could subsist off raw magical energy, but eating was - pleasant.
The bed was hot coals - from her time in Gryphum, yet laid over with a sheet of metal with soft padding on top of it. While her scales made it not uncomfortable to rest on stone, as Tundra she had gotten used to sleeping curled up on soft surfaces.
The cavern was absolutely gargantuan, lit by those aforementioned stalactites that pulsed with a rainbow light that seemed to almost echo over the walls.

Regardless, it was impossible not to notice her. The cavern seemed to fade into a white void - but no, that wasn't a void, those were scales - a wall of scales that went on, and on, and on - forming the outline of the largest creature that any of them had ever seen. She seemed almost - mountainous in person, the same sense of awe that one got looking up from the base of the Canterhorn to its peak.

They had seen her for a moment before - as she tore out of the Everfree. Discord had seen her in his nightmares and his visions - but there was a difference between seeing her from afar and being right next to her. As she breathed in and out, warmth rolling off of her -

Rainbow Dash summed it up nicely.
"Holy shit."

"Rainbow Dash!" Rarity scolded. "...but agreed."
"I - is she, sleeping? I can't really tell - what part of her I'm looking at..."
"Leg," Discord leaned back in his chair. "And she is sleeping. Don't you get tired after a two thousand year nap?"
Pinkie Pie reached into her hair - then paused. "Hey! Where's my Party Cannon?" She glanced around with a comically accusing glare.
"Too much Harmony in the air. No strangeness for you," Discord shrugged and poked the top of her head with a claw. "I can't be here, too long, Fluttershy. As much as I'd love to stay - it's making me sick. Ta-ta, and goodbye." Discord promptly disappeared with a flash.

"oh. um. I hope you feel better!" She called.
"...Well. Now what?" Applejack turned to look at the group.
The group then immediately turned to look at Twilight. Twilight rolled her eyes. "If she's anything like Spike - she's gonna need something really loud to wake her up from a deep sleep like this. Sometimes I have to mimic thunderbolts to wake him up."
"Huh. That explains a lot, actually." Rainbow squinted. "I always thought your house smelled a bit like ozone."
"It - did?" Twilight tilted her head to the side.
"Pegasus thing." She waved her hoof to the side. "...speaking of pegasus things." She glanced around. "I bet there's enough room for me to do a Sonic Rainboom in here."

"Are you out of your mind? You wanna fly at full speed in here? And what, smart girl? Smash int'a wall and go splat?" Applejack clapped her hooves together.
"I mean - is there another alternative? Look at the size of her!" Rainbow gestured with a hoof.
"I'm inclined to agree, Applejack." Rarity stepped over to Rainbow's side. "She is rather - well. Large."
"What does her size gotta' do t'with anything?" Applejack squinted. "Doesn't mean she can't hear things that aren't small."
"I mean, yeah, but we've been yelling this time and she hasn't even twitched. Rainbow even swore!" Pinkie giggled.
"um. we could. ask nicely."
Eyes slowly turned to Fluttershy.
"...like...get close to her ears, and ask. I - uh. I don't know where her ears are though. I've never - seen Spike's ears."
"...Does Spike have ears?" Pinkie squinted.

Eyes turned to Twilight.
"Wh-what? Of course Spike has ears!"
"Well yeah no duh. But like. Where are they." Rainbow emphasised.
"They're covered by scales. They're on the side of his head."
"What, the flappy things on the side of his head?" Pinkie squinted so intensely she shut her eyes. "I thought those were antennae."
"Why would a dragon have antennae-."

One of Tempest's eyes opened. The room was lit with a strange, otherworldly glow as the eye quite literally illuminated what she was looking at. She rolled over onto her side to glance at the mares.

"You woke me up,"she said softly. Well - she tried to say it softly. But being a towering drakon with the weight of the Storm behind your voice made it hard to speak softly, especially when you were groggy. Twilight stepped back - Fluttershy's ears went flat, Rarity and Applejack winced, while Rainbow and Pinkie seemed unaffected.

"awesome." Rainbow whispered. She flapped up towards Tempest - right in front of her gigantic eye. "So. You're Tempest?"
"Loyalty." She shifted around. She reared her head back - letting it bump against the roof of the cave. The group got a better glimpse at her - most of her head, glimmers of her stormy wings - but she was still far too deep into the cavern to be seen all at once.
"Yeah! That's me." She jutted her chest out. "Rainbow Dash. Bearer of Loyalty and fastest pony in Equestria!"
Tempest thought for a second. "A unicorn could teleport."
"Uh - that's cheating. And you cant teleport across a city in 10 minutes. Unless you're like, some magic superpony like Twilight or a Princess."
"Are you faster than the sisters?"
"The sis- you mean the princesses? Uh. I -" She thought for a second. "...am I faster?" Then, she turned to look at Twilight. "Twilight, am I faster than the princesses?"
"I've never seen them fly at full speed. So I wouldn't know."

Rainbow Dash slowly turned to look at Tempest. "I've gotta go race the princesses." Immediately she started flying off out of the cave exit - only to be teleported down by Twilight.
"You are not going to do that." Twilight said sternly. "You are going to stay here."
"But - but-"
"No buts!" Twilight leaned in closer. Rainbow glanced around - only to see all of her friends giving her the same look.
"...fine." Rainbow sighed.

"So - yer, uh...a...dra...drak-"
"Drak-on."
"Drakon." Applejack nodded. "Uh. What's-"

Tempest leaned down close to all of them. "I didn't ask to meet you here for awkward small-talk, and mispronunciation of my name." She rolled her eyes. "I came here to see you. The Elements - they called to you. They called to the best of ponykind. I wanted to meet what they chose." She looked around. "...I am not disappointed."

"But - you barely know us."
"I do," Tempest nodded. "But I have known you for a long time. The memories - they come and go. A visual aid helps. And seeing you - I know why Harmony chose you. Or - why I chose you."

She leaned down and tapped Rainbow Dash with the tip of her claw. The tip of her claw was razor-sharp and easily the size of the mare - it could pierce through her and kill her in an instant. Rainbow gulped - but the claw just dug lightly into her chest, not so much as drawing a drop of blood. She pulled her claw back - and there was a burning red orb in the centre of Rainbow's chest.

Rainbow stumbled back and glanced at her chest. "Uh - what-"
"No Elements. But - vestiges. Remnants. Fragments. Whatever you want to use." Tempest tilted her head to the side. "I see one in all of you. It burns brightly - in tandem with your very souls."
"My oh my - it's quite...entracing. What do they do?" Rarity reached over and rubbed a hoof over Rainbow's chest. Rainbow jerked away.

Tempest turned to glance at Twilight. "I told you, before - you're something new. So - I have no Earthly idea. No aspect of me has ever seen something like this. And I - created the Elements."

"Woah, woah - hold it. Yer' saying you- created the elements?" Applejack arched an eyebrow.
"Yeah! You're a - drakon," Pinkie corrected herself at the last second. "Not a tree. I mean-" she gasped. "Are you a tree? Oh my god! I've never had a tree as a friend before!"
Tempest turned to look at Twilight. "I believe, it's best that we begin on that interview now."
"Y-yeah. Agreed." Twilight nodded. "Sorry that this was so short, girls - but I have to give Tempest an interview now. I'll teleport you all home, don't worry." Her horn began to glow.

"W-wait!" Fluttershy interjected. All eyes turned to her - and she meeped just a little bit. "uhm. Tempest. I - uh. You..." She shut her eyes and breathed in deeply.
"You helped my animals, Tempest. It was a very nice thing of you to do. So me and Discord - we made you a...a gift."
"A gift? I thought I was generosity." Rarity sighed and put a hoof on her friend's back. "You're too good for us, Fluttershy."

Fluttershy slowly flapped up towards Tempest - before she held up a lava red scale.
Tempest glanced at it for a second - before she remembered. Her eyes widened. She recoiled -

"how?" She said softly.
"um. It was - hard. Me and Discord went looking around the ridge for - a while, and there were a lot of...bones, but - um. Discord was...well. He pulled it back together. He said that - it was someone important to you."
"My mother's. It was - it was my mother's scale." Tempest gently took the mother's scale into her claw. She shut her eyes as she slowly set it down right by her bed. "I - I..." She trailed off for a moment. "...thank you." She whispered. She couldn't manage anything more.

Fluttershy smiled at Tempest before glancing back down at Twilight. The five earthbound ponies had expressions ranging from shock, awe - or into full-blown waterworks like Pinkie.

Twilight waved her horn, and a wave of purple power washed over the group. They disappeared - one at a time, reappearing in the centre of Twilight's library - until it was just the Spirit of Magic and the Spirit of Storms.

A quill and paper formed from thin air. Pocket dimension, Order noted. Tempest would've been impressed if she had noticed - she was busy staring at her mother's scale.

"...Take your time." Twilight said softly. "We can start whenever you're ready."
Tempest shut her eyes.

There are two creatures. One large, one small. Heat rolls off the large one in waves. She lays on her stomach, eyes half-lidded. The other creature is young. She is lost in thought. Her gaze is far away, not on its companion. The larger creature begins to speak-

She speaks her tale. She speaks of birth, life, death - and rebirth. She speaks of taffy, Olympus, gryphons, clarity, ash, Celestia, Luna, Order, Life, Death, Harmony - she speaks of drakons, she speaks of history. She speaks of all these things and more: she speaks of Windplume, Storm Breeze,, Temper, Tundra,

She speaks of a thousand things for an entire night. She speaks of Storms; she speaks of their Queen -

She speaks the tale of a drakon - named Tempest.

Neither hear the ringing of the bells.

Author's Note

A bit light-hearted.
A bit too long.
A bit too...non-plotty.
Feels necessary, though. What more can be done?

It brings Queen of Storms into a full circle, now - and we've hit the point where the Prologue has left off. From now on - completely uncharted territory. Full, off-the-walls, ignoring canon.

The next chapter should be a little more exciting.

[23] Council

Council

Oh yes, Twilight - I have known many dragons.

A whale's corpse is its own ecosystem. Its carcass sinks to the bottom - and the whale fall becomes a verifiable feast for the sealife to feast on and make their home. A dragon's corpse is much the same, as organs the size of houses, scraps of meat and colossal shards of bone sink into the Celestial Sea. The sea is painted red - bloody waves crashing against the shore, the world itself smelling iron.

The ferric scent is not the worst part. The rain strikes down so hard, the smell of saltwater and fire so intense that it begins to fade as the wind picks up. No - the worst part is the noise. The weeping.

Foals cry for their unmoving parents. Siblings hug siblings - gurgling corpses reaching out limp arms and fractured hooves. Slaughtered like animals, cobblestones and gravel drenched slick with blood and fluid. The weeping persists through the city.

They are divine. Both of them could destroy cities, unrestrained. They are power incarnate - but no amount of power stills the weeping.

As day breaks - the new does, too. Then, finally, the letter arrives, hours later - through a disgruntled messenger, who succame to his exhaustion moments after arrival.

Your Royal Majesty,
Celestia Indomita, Breaker of Night and Bringer of Day, Vanquisher of Discord and Guardian of Harmony,

There are no words to describe my sorrow. No words to describe my rage, no words to describe how I feel. It is not within my right to say that I could understand one such as you, allowing my actions to speak better than my words.

Allow me a summary of the events. Three nights ago, my father - King Redclaw Belle, had a sudden change of heart. He believed that we were owed Equestria and that we should take what is ours - the world. The war cry reported in your newsletter originated from a conversation the two of us held. We fought - but I am no fighter, My Lady. The only reason my father did not strike me down was our blood relation. I assure you, Daybringer, I sought to send you a letter informing you of his plans. Yet, my father seems to have had powerful allies - and none of my messengers managed to reach you. I can only imagine the fate that has befallen them.

Attached to this letter are two documents that have ostracized every known member of those involved in the Trottingham massacre. Another - that formally declares my father, King Redclaw, as a criminal - and appoints his son, myself, as the new Lord Griffonstone - in honor of the Lord Trottingham. I have abandoned the title King - for no King would allow something like this to transpire in his world.

My only plea - and truly, a plea, not a request - is that we are able to meet within the following week. The sooner, the better. My doors are always open to you - and I hope that you extend your hoof as well. Whatever action you may take - you will have the full support of the Griffonstone Government.

Maker's blessings,
His Royal Majesty, the Lord Griffonstone,
Steelbeak Belle

The Lord Griffonstone,
You have been cordially invited to Mount Canterhorn in order to discuss the events of the Trottingham Massacre of Equestria, otherwise known as the Butchery of Trottingham.

Attached to this letter is an artefact of tremendous power, known as a gatestone. It is requested that you hold this artefact at the twelfth hour of the sixteenth day in order to be brought to neutral territory - to discuss the threat of King Redclaw and his army.

Notarized by Raven Inkwell,
Signed,
Her Royal Majesty, Lady Celestia Indomita, Breaker of Night, Bringer of Day, Vanquisher of Discord and Guardian of Harmony,
Her Royal Majesty, Lady Luna Astrella, The Morrigan, Bringer of Night, Vanquisher of Discord and Guardian of Harmony,
Her Royal Majesty, Lady Twilight Sparkle, Mistress of Magic, Princess of Friendship, and Guardian of Equestria,
Her Crystalline Highness, Mi Amore Cadenza, Empress of the Crystal Empire, Vanquisher of Prismia, and Destroyer of Sombra,
Tempest Pulseradottir, Breaker of Chains, Queen of Storms.

The gatestone activates with a lavender flash.

Steelbeak doesn't recognize where he is. It is a crater of rock with four thrones in every cardinal direction and a starless, white void encircling them. He, and his assistant - a light blue unicorn mare with almost hollow grey eyes, didn't waste a second. They bowed so deeply that his beak and her horn scraped against the rock and dirt below.

They stand around him. Celestia is the most noticeable - as she dons the Celestial Plate. Nearly identical to her sisters, but with no horns or horn blade and no armour to cover her flank - her cutie mark shown to the world. The same brand is emblazoned on her chest. She sits on a throne carved out of marble.

Her sister is to his left, on a throne of moon-rock. The Lunar Crest decorating her form. To her right, her faithful student- no armour and on a throne of wood, but her eyes are wet - as if she's been weeping. Magic flows from her so freely that even the magically insensitive Steelbeak can feel it permeate the air. Finally, behind him is Cadence. Her throne is made of crystal - no armour, but her face is hard, her loving eyes cold.

He bows every bit as deeply to all of them as he did Celestia. Then, he slowly stands up - only to notice the white void shifts. Her eyes open as her form shifts to show the locale - and the colossal drakoness stares down deeply into his heart.

Steelbeak is not easily frightened. He stares for only a second - before he bows a fifth time as he finally recognizes where they are—the Jackalope Slopes - where the mythical entrance to Tartarus itself is.

"Steelbeak," Celestia begins. No lord- no, what is the Lord Griffonstone to the Sun herself? Her voice is even and cold - unbefitting the sheer solar heat that seems to emanate from her. She sits as the first among equals - her voice carrying with it the weight of eternity itself.

"You stand before the Alicorn Pantheon of Equestria-" Alicorn Pantheon? "-as the representative of the Gryphon nation."

He is a gryphon in name and blood only. His wings are deformed beyond sustained flight - his claws blunted. His name is ironic, for his beak is one of the few parts not made of steel.

"You were not permitted to bring a guest," she said softly. "Explain at once - or she will be removed from the court."
Steelbeak cleared his throat and stepped forward. "She is my cousin, Your Royal Majesty - her name is Astrabelle." The wall of scales shifted. "But, deformed, as I was. She may not speak, and none but me understand her. We have never left each other's side. I apologize dearly for bringing her - but I would be unable to function properly without her. My sincerest apologies."

The Pantheon exchanged some glances. Cadence merely nodded.

"Do you swear, Steelbeak of the Gryphons-" Celestia began, "do you solemnly and sincerely declare and affirm by the Maker - that the evidence you give shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?"
"I do," Steelbeak nodded.
"Do you agree, that a violation of this affirmation, will be punished as swiftly and harshly as possible?" Luna continued.
"I do," Steelbeak nodded again after the slightest moment of hesitation.
"D-do-" Twilight cleared her throat. "Do you agree that you are here to discuss the - the..." She trailed off for a moment. "...the Massacre of Trottingham, and the threat of Exiled King Redclaw?"
"I do."
"Do you, Steelbeak of the Gryphons - agree to lend every resource, within reason, available to you in support of Equestria and her people?" Cadence finished.
"I do."

"Then we may begin." Celestia nodded. "Please state for the Pantheon the events that preceded the Massacre in as concise a manner as possible."

"Two days before the event, I entered a confrontation with my father. He had been acting erratically as of late - claiming that he would burn all of Equestria and take what was, in his words, rightfully his. Astrabelle had fallen asleep when I had gone to confront him-"
"You claimed that you would find yourself unable to operate without her. Clarify, what this means." Luna interrupted.
"It means what it sounds like, My Lady Moon." Steelbeak bowed. His grating, monotonous voice started to wear on Luna, her jaw clenching slightly. "I have never experienced the feeling of being alone in my life. Since birth, my deformity has meant that I needed constant care - and I was always in the presence of my father, or my cousin. My cousin's mere presence soothes my pain, and mine, hers."
"Your - deformity." Twilight said quietly. "Is it magical in nature?"
"Partially. The full depths of knowledge on my ailment is - unknown to myself. It was lost, with my father."

"Continue." Celestia waved her hoof.

"We battled, briefly. My father is a great combatant - I am not. He struck me down - and he only spared me on account of our blood relation. The fight woke Astrabelle - who wounded my father. He fled the scene immediately, and she tended to my wounds. I succame to unconsciousness, temporarily. The following day, when recovered, and my augments repaired - I found that a sizable section of our standing army had already left. The exact number is unknown - but at any given time, we have 240,000 soldiers on standby. A little under half of that was - loyal to my father, and supported him."

Twilight paled. Celestia's eyes shut. Steelbeak couldn't see Luna or Cadence's reaction.

"Our attempts to contact you failed until recently. Likely to do with the involvement of dragons, as I've heard." He glanced at Tempest. Considering her size - he couldn't really see her facial reactions. "I am now the Lord Griffonstone, in honor of the falling Lord Trottingham. I believe, that is all."

"Are you aware that your father has been replaced with a changeling?" Luna tilted her head to the side.
Steelbeak's expression was one of surprise - his head shooting up towards Luna and his body recoiling slightly. "Replaced? By one of the creatures that -" He glanced at Cadence.
"Yes," Twilight nodded. "A changeling. Luna, uhm-" She trailed off. "...Wounded, him - and he bled silver."
"I am unfamiliar with the meaning."
Twilight's voice shifted in tone - becoming slightly more confident and monotonous as she shifted into her tutoring mode. "Their blood actually contains a lot of mercury - which is part of why it's so valuable for alchemy. It gives their blood a slivery hue - part of why they're known as silverbloods."

"I was not aware of this, no." Steelbeak said quietly. "Truly - replaced? What does - what does..."
"It is likely, Steelbeak," Cadence said - her flat voice mirroring Steelbeak's monotone but with just a slight hint of remorse, "that your father is - dead."

Steelbeak shut his eyes. He clenched his talons. "...I..." He turned his head to the side. Words failed him.
"The dragons." Tempest spoke. Her voice sent chills down Steelbeak's spine - the ground rumbling underneath them. "Tell me about them."

"There is little that I would be able to inform you of, Oh Mighty-" He paused for a moment. "Drakon. I know nothing of any connections my father had with the dragon empire - so I assume that it would be related to the changeling that has replaced him."

Tempest shifted. Her massive head came prodding onto the crater - squeezing past Luna and Celestia's throne. "Have you heard the name Gorolich?" Her eyes narrowed slightly. From this distance - Steelbeak could feel and see the air beginning to roll with heat.

"I have." He nodded. "Little more than a mention from my father. May I ask why?"

"We thank you for your cooperation, Steelbeak. We will request your aid when the time comes - but for the time being, we shall remain solely independent." Celestia nodded. "You are dismissed."

Before Steelbeak could react, with a soft click behind him, Steelbeak was back where he had been, moments before. The whole meeting had gone by in a blur.

Celestia - cold. Luna - practically bubbling with rage. Twilight - distraught. Cadence - stoic.

A small part of Steelbeak felt pleased. He had them where he wanted - they knew of the changeling, they knew of the involvement of his worse half - and they would see him as nothing more than a gryphon trying to make right. However, the rest of him felt deeply unnerved by the presence of the fifth element—an unaccounted variable. There was nothing Steelbeak disliked more than an unaccounted variable.

"Tempest Pulseradottir." Steelbeak mused to himself. "How strange."

"You are certain, sister?"
"As I have said a thousand times, Celestia - and will say a thousand more. T'would do you good to have some more faith in me."
"We - killed him. His body burned - we barely managed to retrieve Spike's egg from the wreckage. Nothing could've survived that."
"Then a pretender - or another egg escaped our notice. Regardless - the threat of the Gryphons and Dragons that plagued us once have returned, and reunited."

Twilight let out a soft noise. Eyes turned towards her.

Cadence broke the silence. "Twilight - are you..."
"No." Twilight shook her head. "I'm not - I'm not alright. Maker, Cadence - ten thousand, five hundred and twelve ponies died. I don't think I'll ever be alright again, Cadence. I can't - sleep, and it's not because of the nightmares - it's because I lay awake and think, that could've been Ponyville, and there's nothing I could've done to stop it. I - and, Celestia, Luna - you're so...detached - I know you care, I do - but it feels...i-it feels..." Twilight's breath became shakier and shakier.

Celestia's horn lit, and the two Alicorns were teleported into a hug. She wrapped her wings around her and squeezed. "I'm sorry, Twilight. We - it was foolish of me, to ask you here. I'm - sorry." She whispered.

Twilight buried her face into the alicorn's neck as she wept. Tempest coiled around the crater so that her head rested next to Cadence.

"I am remiss that we could not meet under better circumstances."
"You're telling me." Cadence sighed. "It really is a pleasure to meet you, though." She glanced at her. "...Do - do I call you Auntie?"
"You may call me what you wish to call me, Little Spirit. I have a question for you though. Did you sense anything - strange, about the Lord Griffonstone?"
"Strange? Strange how? As if he was lying?" She tilted her head to the side.
"He was not lying. I would've sensed the disharmony in his heart if he was. But - there was something...hm. Misplaced, about him."
"I'm - sorry, I'm not really sure what you mean." Cadence said softly. "I'm still kind of - processing everything."
"You find yourself confused in a swarm of new information?" Tempest tilted her head to the side.
Cadence's eyes narrowed. "Don't most?"
"Yes. Yet, when informed of his father's passing - he quite quickly recovered in order to answer my question. It struck me as strange."
Cadence thought for a second. Tempest could see the gears turning in her eyes. "I - can sense love. He did love his father. But - something about his emotions did seem...muted, now that I think about it."
"Muted?"

The Lady of Love nodded. "They weren't quite - right. Nothing extremely jarring, but...just, there, now that I think about it."
"Thank you, Cadence," Tempest said softly. "When the air is a bit less - heavy, I would love to visit your Empire - assuming you would have me."
"I would be delighted."

Tempest's eyes shifted to the weeping alicorn. Celestia and Twilight exchanged words that Tempest, even with her hearing, couldn't quite catch - and then Twilight disappeared with a burst of lavender energy.

"She - my student - no. Twilight, is in dire need of rest."
"As we all are." Luna spoke quietly.
"The world feels - like it's collapsing. The Gryphons are invading. The Dragons are returning. What's next - Discord, back from the dead?"
"I resent that," his voice echoed from the void beyond - his eyes forming first before the rest of him came with a soft pop. "I haven't died yet."
"You know of whom she meant, devil." Luna snarled. "This is a time of mourning and action - leave us be."
"I find that Entropy is a much more fitting name for him. The two eyed, one horned, flying purple people reader herself suggested that. Makes the whole situation less confusing." He waved his hand to the side. He then teleported onto Twilight's throne, as it shifted into the throne he had sat on during his rule of Equestria. "Oh, but Luney! I'm reformed now, didn't you know? I'm here on Celestia's orders. Honest." He crossed four fingers behind his back.

"Did you find him?" Celestia stood up. "His corpse?" Luna's mouth opened - then stood up as she realized just who she was talking about.

"I looked high!" Discord held his hand up high. "I looked low." He shifted down and slid underneath a limbo pole. "Yet - the old geezer was nowhere to be found."

"So it's true, then." Luna said softly. "Gorolich the Indestructible - he has returned?"
Cadence paled slightly. "Is - is that possible? For something - to come back from the dead?"
Discord shrugged. "Entropy certainly did it, a few times. So did Tempest." He jutted his thumb out towards the coiled drakon.

"We were Spirits. Gorolich was not." Tempest shook his head. "The process is not - applicable. And I am confident that I would be unable to repeat it."
"He was not a Spirit, to our knowledge." Celestia added.
"Mm-mm, Sunny Skies." Discord leaned over Celestia's shoulder. "If he had ascended - you two would've been toast." Discord turned into a walking piece of burnt bread. "And I would've certainly felt it. He was not a Spirit - and, as far as I can tell, we - plus Sparkles, are the only Spirits on the planet."

"What...about necromancy?" Cadence suggested. "I've heard - rumours of it."
"Necromancy on such scale would've been detected. Nor is it a true resurrection - it is will placed into bones. Necromancy is not a school of magic - it falls underneath golemancy." Luna shook her head. "Regardless of the means, he has returned. Be it a shadow of him, a pretender - but the threat he represents has returned. There is involvement of the changelings, as well - it seems as if our old enemies are banding together, in some sense."
"Are you implying-"
"No, sister. I am outright stating - that not just Sombra, but Disc-" Luna huffed, "Entropy as well may return."

There was a beat of silence in the air.

"He will not return. If he did - he would not be the Spirit of Chaos. That mantle belongs to Discord now." Tempest glanced at the draconequus. "If he were - by some tragedy, to return with all of his power - I was his equal at his height of power. With all of us, with Twilight - he would stand no chance."

"Then just Sombra." She glanced at Cadence. "Precautions should be taken to ensure the safety of your empire."
"We defeated him once already. I'm certain we could do it again." Cadence said confidently.
"That is assuming, that he does not bide his time - gathering his strength and forces. At his peak, he was a match for both me and my sister. Although - we have grown far stronger, since then. Regardless - you can never have too much precaution."

"Discord," Celestia turned to the draconequus - who had animated his paws and talons into doing battle with one another. "What of my other requests?"
"No sign of bug-legs, or any of the gryphons. Not that there was very much to go off on." Discord shrugged.
"Then we are in the dark," Celestia growled. "The nation is a tinderbox ready to go off - the backlash we'd get from not being able to prevent another gryphon attack...but we have no idea where they would attack. I will speak with Commander Cloud Charge."

"Well - what about Cloudsdale?" Cadence suggested.
"What of it?" Luna arched an eyebrow.
"Every single gryphon can walk on clouds. So - that limits their opponents to those who can fly. No unicorns."
"Yet, Cloudsdale has the highest military concentration of pegasi. It would be the greatest threat." Celestia tilted her head to the side.
"I mean - I suppose, but...wouldn't that be part of the point? They take out the biggest threat first."

Something suddenly clicked in Tempest's memory. Her head tilted up. "There is something that I have kept from you, unintentionally." Eyes turned towards Tempest. Discord stretched over his now-upside-down throne and met Tempest's eyes.

"Discord - helped me find myself. With a spell of his, I experienced five lives. I was a changeling - E842. A pegasus mare, Storm Breeze. A gryphon animal caretaker, Windplume. A minotaur smith, Temper. And I was a wolf - known as Tundra."

Tempest recounted the rest of Tundra's story. Wolves, the Ring of Asptra, Graymourne and Cobblerock. Ending with fractured memories - the death of Lord Rex and the sludge-like mist that oozed from a voice that sounded - black, like void.

"It feels - related, somehow. If this - Gorolich, is truly back from the dead - then I think it has something to do with this voice." Tempest nodded.
"And - you kept this from us - why?" Celestia said quietly.
"I had Order and Harmony block myself off from the memories, so that it would not distract me. It was not - pressing."
Luna grunted. "Twilight should be informed, when she begins to feel more like herself."
"In the future, Tempest - don't keep things of that importance from us. Am I understood?"
Tempest's eyes narrowed slightly at her tone. "You are understood, Celestia." She said in a soft growl. Tempest's wings spread - and she promptly took off, tearing from the ground with a sound like a landslide.

"You'll have to forgive her."

The air was ablaze with sound. A constant stream of her superheated plasma, the air thick with magic as she asked and shaped with her will.

The blaze faded from her lips. Her tongue tingled, as it always did after she had used it to cast. "I already have. My response was - childish, and her response was warranted."
"You, like the rest of my nation - give my sister far too much credit." Luna sat down by Tempest's side. She had shifted into a form only a few heads taller than Celestia, as she let her instincts as Temper take control - getting to work on forging something new. "She is not infallible. When we were rebuilding after Discord - one time, she stepped on a frog. Crushed the poor thing under her hoof. Cried for hours."

Tempest snorted.
"She's terrified of spiders, too. Shrieks like a foal when she sees one. She has ticklish spots all over her wings and underside. Her wings, especially - she never lets me preen her, because I always end up tickling her."
"Unintentionally?"
"May the Maker strike me down if it was ever unintentional. I certainly claim as such, though." Luna grinned smugly at Celestia.
"I don't particularly understand your point, though."
"My point is twofold. First, First, Celestia is not infallible - and I hope, that as the ages go by - you will begin to see that. The cracks in her facade, when the world is more - peaceful. When there is no threat of war. She has been distant from you, no?"
"I, from her, as well. We are - friends."
"You were family. She keeps your scale on the inside of her chest plate. I do, too. It's saved me a few times - it saved me against Gorolich. Which brings me to my second point."

Order, Harmony, and Temper took over her body. They were all part of her, part of a whole - but they retained enough independence to act on their own if she permitted. Harmony kept Order and Temper working together as they set to work on Tempest's forge.

"Gorolich is a sensitive subject for Celestia. It's the first time she failed. Truly, utterly - failed."
Tempest glanced at Luna. "How so?"
"The world itself was powerless against Celestia. She was not alone in that regard. We won against the Gryphons - but against Gorolich, however, my sister fell."

"The Dragonflight invaded. They came from the Badlands; they lay ruin to the territory above the Macintosh Hills - you may not have been there recently, but it is a desert. Utter destruction - only the hardiest of earth ponies and the buffalo have survived there, with developments only coming as of recent. The amassed military might of Cloudsdale and the medieval siege weapons that the unicorns built and earth ponies operated gave us slightly more equal footing. But there were hundreds of dragons - each one taking down hundreds of ponies before they had to so much as a retreat.

Celestia and I took to the battlefield - slaying dragon after dragon. The two of us fought as one that day - we were a true terror. I remember - I thought to myself, that wherever you were - you would be proud of me."

"I am, Luna. I am, and I was, and I forever will be."

"Well - yes, but I didn't quite know that at the time. I just - felt it. Regardless, as the dragons approached the Everfree - their numbers began to thin. Until Gorolich the Indestructible himself showed."

"His name. The Indestructible."
"It was truly put to the test, that day. Our strongest weapons - diamond-edged ballista bolts, didn't even scratch him. Our spells bounced off of him - Cleddwyr found its match in his scales, and Celestia's glaive - The Taligar, was the only thing that seemed to be able to damage him. He was born with abnormally strong scales - further exemplified by a unicorn mage known as the Prophet. The enchantment she placed on them wove into his very soul - and as the one who did the most damage to him, I can assure you - the Indestructible is correct."

"If he was indestructible - then how did you defeat him?"
"The answer? Barely. Thousands of ponies died that day. We wiped out the invading forces - but not without loss. In the end, it was merely Celestia and me against Gorolich. Unrestrained - Celestia's power was great...to the point where, while Gorolich's scales were indestructible - his innards not quite as much. His organs and eyes began to liquefy - but not enough, before he tore half of my sister's face off and snapped her horn."

Tempest winced sympathetically.
"Her screams haunt me. Mine likely haunt her. He didn't consider me as great a threat as my sister - and toyed with me, like an insect. He picked me up - and tore the wings from my body in a bloody display."

She was silent for a second. "It was there, that I tapped into the Parasite for the first time. It was a whisper - something deep within myself. The energy I loosed that day - for a year, my horn had a split right down the middle - and I could never quite cast a spell right. Gorolich's head was completely destroyed - and his body began to burn. It burned for days, it burned for nights - and it was through a long and arduous effort that we were able to bury his corpse in the depths of the Badlands."

"The Parasite," Tempest said quietly.
"Nightmare Moon." Luna matched her tone. "It is - a period of my life I do not like to think about." She shut her eyes.
"Luna." Tempest turned to her.
"Please," Luna's voice was a frail whisper.
"It's breaking you apart, Luna. I don't know the details - but whenever you mention the word parasite, your heart - it burns with disharmony. Something is wrong, Luna - and-"
"No, Tempest. I will not speak of this now." She stood up. "I am going to take my leave, mine family." She was silent for a second. "...I love you."
"And I love you, Luna. My door is always open."
"Hm. What door?" Luna's voice contained a hint of her usual mirth before she disappeared.

-

Author's Note

A note, on population sizes.

Everything underneath Equestria has 30,000,000 citizens. This includes the Crystal Empire, which - coupled with Manehattan, Fillydelphia, and Cloudsdale, makes up nearly 50% of that.

The Gryphons are greatly diminished from times of old - but they still have roughly 800,000 people.

This chapter, quite frankly - isn't my best work. A problem with how I write: is that once I write, I find it rather absurdly difficult to revise. Every time this story has died in the past, it's because I attempt to revise a chapter I am unhappy with. I write for fun, so it's not the end of the world - but this chapter does feel like a rather...dip in quality from the rest.

But maybe I'm just being a little bit too fatalistic. Who's to say?

The next chapter, Gloom, will come soon.

[24] Gloom

Gloom

Twilight Sparkle was many things.

Two weeks ago, the Tree of Harmony died. Two days ago, ten thousand ponies followed her path. Then, one day ago - for the first time in publically recorded history, the Alicorn Pantheon met.

The world felt as if it was ending. The threat of dragons, of gryphons - of death, of destruction - and the nightmares she had been having didn't help. Yes, Twilight Sparkle was many things- and one of those things was stressed out of her mind.

Her friends certainly helped. She was pretty sure that she'd be the first pony in three hundred years to spontaneously combust from raw emotion alone without her friends. So she's spent the night crying as she buried her face into whatever she could - be it scales, feathers, or fur and hair of every shade under the rainbow and more.

When she woke up - in a puddle of all her friends and loved ones...she had no more tears left to cry. Her heart felt broken, the world felt wrong-, but she simply didn't have the energy to cry anymore.

She moved sluggishly through a world made of molasses. Precious black gold - of the rather garbage instant kind, but still gold nonetheless, filled a cup as the alicorn straightened herself out with her magic. While Rarity was still sound asleep, she could hear her quite clearly in her head - A lady must look the part, dear!

She formed a quick mental checklist. Twilight rather liked checklists - they were a great way of organizing herself. Especially in situations of high stress. Or low-stress. Or really, any situation at all. You could never go wrong with a checklist, she thought.

She had fixed her mane and wings. She had acquired her ~~precious lifeblood~~ coffee, and now -

And now what?

Twilight Sparkle was not afraid of death or the afterlife. She had a rather pessimistic view on the whole situation: she believed that when you died - that was it. Game over. Shut your eyes, and then nothing for the rest of eternity. But that didn't frighten her. She didn't welcome it, mind you - but it didn't scare her. What frightened her - was leaving people behind. Or being left behind. The aftermath would be so cruel to devalue death to such terminology.

The world would keep on spinning with or without Twilight. It had before, and it would be after. Sure - she was an alicorn now. Fancy-schmancy, Spirit of Magic - but according to Tempest's story...there didn't need to be a Spirit of Magic. There didn't need to be any Spirits. In fact - what was the nature of a Spirit? Divine brings with it a certain connotation—all-powerful, all-knowing, all-good.

Pick two. Discord was certainly all-powerful and all-knowing - or, within a sense of the terms. He wasn't truly omnipotent and omniscient - Twilight didn't believe in omnipotence. Omnipotence doesn't make sense - you cannot say nonsense becomes sense merely because "the Maker willed it." Regardless, Discord wasn't all-good. There was cruelty within him - not the true, unabashed evil that Tempest had described Discord's predecessor - no, what was the term, now? Entropy as.

Neither was she. She didn't particularly feel all-powerful or all-knowing. She didn't particularly feel necessary. What was the nature of divinity, if it was not - in some way, shape or form, necessary? And if it was necessary, in some sort of cosmic way beyond Twilight's feeble understanding - although she thought to herself, a little bit egotistically, that her understanding was anything but feeble - then how come Spirits were - cruel?

"A valid question, Twilight Sparkle." Tempest's deep voice shook the ground underneath her. The slightly frazzled Alicorn glanced around - yes, they were in Tempest's cave. The drakoness was resting on her bed as she snacked on some eels - ugh, the smell...wait. When had she gotten here? She certainly hadn't walked or teleported...

"The short answer is that there is none. The longer answer - is that Spirits are what you would call mutualism. Liogella would continue to spin as you put it, without us. It would do so a little more...sluggishly, I think. But we are not necessary."

"Um - sorry." Twilight blinked a few times. "I - sort of...just woke up. How did - how did I get here?"

"You willed it." The Storm herself tilted her head to the side. "Did you not do so intentionally?"
"Uh - I don't...think I did. I'm still kind of...um. Messed up." She paused for a second before she chugged the entire rest of her coffee - and with two quick spells, cleaned herself up and brushed her teeth. She didn't like doing either with magic - it didn't do quite a good enough job at it, but it was enough for her purposes.

"Then you came here on instinct. How interesting." Tempest slowly started circling the smaller Spirit.
"I - guess. I'm not really sure why though?"
"What is our relationship, Twilight Sparkle?" Tempest tilted her head to the side. Twilight let out a soft huff at Tempest's refusal to drop her last name but didn't comment on it past that.
"I guess - we're friends."
"A rather surface level descriptor. Go further."
Twilight frowned. "We're friends. I like to talk to you. You teach me a lot."
"Do you trust me, Twilight Sparkle?"
"...I think I do." Twilight nodded.

"Then it is likely, that some part of you desired a - confidant. And some part of you used Worldwill to find one."
"Worldwill?" Twilight tilted her head to the side.
"A bit less lengthy than saying The Will and Magic of the World Itself every time, no?"
"...yeah. A lot less." Twilight sighed.
"You have a lot on your mind, don't you?" Tempest rolled over onto her back.

"Of course I do. Ponies - died. A lot of them. And I'm - still here."
"Do you feel guilty, that you are here and they are not?"
"No!" Twilight huffed. "...Yes!" A bit more thought. "Maybe. I - don't know. Everything is just - so...confusing."
"Emotions often are. I'm thankful that I have Order to keep mine in line, when it comes to pass."

"...Can - you tell me a little bit more about that?"
"About what?"
"You have - things in your head. Order. Harmony. All your lives. What's it like?"
Tempest thought for a moment. "My mind is one. But - my experiences...are seperate, I suppose. It's like - a constant buzzing, in the back of your head. All the time - I hear their critique. Their actions. But - they're me. Deeper parts of me, I suppose. Parts that I might not be able to access. But - they're me. Harmony is every bit me as I am her."
"That - kind of makes sense?"
"Such is the nature of a Spirit, Twilight Sparkle. Everything is contradictory. Don't presume to understand divinity - accepting it is good enough."

Twilight was quiet for a little bit.
"...you and Luna. You fought against the gryphons. Against the dragons. What - what was it like?"
"We are not you, Twilight Sparkle." Tempest said softly. She leaned in, her nose pressing against her chest. Twilight stepped back. "We are displaced. From an older time. A more warlike time. Do not try to emulate us - not because you will fail, but because you will succeed, and you will hate yourself for it."

"...do you think...do you think that -"
"Yes, Twilight Sparkle." Tempest nodded. "You are eternal. Endless. It is likely, that as your life unfurls - you will be forced to take life, through a matter of circumstance."
"oh." Twilight said softly. "Right. I - assumed, I would. But - I guess. Hearing it. Made it feel real. Maker - I - sorry." She whispered. Her eyes - when did they get so wet?
"You have nothing to be sorry for, Twilight." Tempest matched her tone and met her eyes. "It is nothing you should ever look forward to. Nor is it something that should be the first option. Strive to redeem, then incapacitate - maim or cripple if you absolutely must, but never treat murder as the first option."
"Isn't that - hypocritical, of you? S-sorry," Twilight added quickly. "I meant - that dragon. I - didn't see the pictures. But I heard. You-"
"I gave her the chance to run. She did not take it. She would throw herself at Trottingham until it was reduced to ash. Maybe I made the wrong choice - but my choice is in the past. It is - best not to dwell on it."
"Isn't - dwelling on it how you do better, though? Learning from your mistakes?"
"I suppose." Tempest shrugged. "We aren't the same, Twilight. We come from fundamental differences that are hard to overcome."

There was a small lull in the conversation as Twilight thought about Tempest's words. The drakoness seemed more content with inspecting her claws than forcing the conversation further, though.

"Are you busy, Tempest?"
Tempest shook her head.
"I think - I think that I'd like to continue our sparring. Our training. I won't kill. I don't think - I don't think I can kill. But I need to be able to defend my home. Or - know that I'm able to."
A slight grin spread over Tempest's face. "Then, let us train."

Twilight would be lying if she said she wasn't the slightest bit curious about what a fight between Tempest and another Spirit would look like. Not that she ever wanted to see them fight - but a little bit of curiosity didn't hurt, did it?

"Defend," Tempest cried - and Twilight's curiosity was dulled a fair bit as three spiralling bolts of air - sharpened to a lethal point careened towards her. Her blood ran cold as she realized that these were truly lethal - not the blunted spells that Tempest had used before. If she didn't defend or dodge - she would get hurt.

She didn't want to get hurt. Her pain tolerance wasn't particularly high - it had certainly gotten higher after becoming an alicorn, but pain still - well, hurt. She didn't - she didn't want to-

"Good. Was that intentional, Twilight Sparkle?" Tempest slowly circled her. Twilight blinked a few times as she realized that the bolts had been destroyed - mere seconds after they started flying through the air. She hadn't - she hadn't even...

"It wasn't." Twilight admitted as she dug at the ground with her hoof. "I don't - get it. You can do it so easily - and when I try to do it, it takes - hours. But then I don't think about doing it - and it just happens. It's - ugh. Annoying."

"We are in uncharted territory, Twilight Sparkle. Throughout all of my knowledge - and although I cannot recall before the Purge, there have only been three users of Worldwill. Until today - it did not even have a name. But - we all use it differently."
"What do you mean?"
"Entropy took. He saw the power of the Worldwill,, and he took it for himself. He took it - so the World had no choice but to do as he commanded. But it did not lend itself easily to him - and he could not hold it infinitely. He had less limitation but less - effect. Less power.

I - ask, I suppose. It comes rather easily to me. The World gives itself to me on account of its role in my creation. The magic flows - but if the time comes where the World says no to what I ask for, I would be - unable to.

From what I can tell - you use it in its purest form. You shape the Worldwill. You Will the World. Quite frankly, I don't think it would be possible to even guess at your limits before they present themselves. Greater than Celestia, greater than Discord, greater than Entropy, greater than me. Only time will tell, Twilight Sparkle."

"Time." Twilight huffed. "I get that I have an infinite amount of it now. It doesn't - make waiting any easier."
Tempest shrugged. "We're all a little bit more impatient then we might think. I-"
The air shimmered. Tempest's head snapped to the side. Twilight's horn began to glow - before Luna appeared with a soft hiss of air.

"Tempest!" Luna cried. "I brought - food..." She trailed off. "Oh. My - sincerest apologies, Twilight Sparkle-"
"No!" Twilight yelled suddenly. Luna recoiled. "Twilight. Please. I get enough of Tempest calling me Twilight Sparkle. Just - use my first name. We're friends, Luna."
"...Um. Right. Yes. Apologies, Twilight. Tempest. Did I - interrupt something?"

"The beginning of a training session." Tempest shrugged. Twilight slowly nodded.
Luna dropped the paper bag. She held a hoof up to her chest. "And you did not invite me?" She gasped. She trotted over to Twilight's side. "Maker strike me down if I - The Morrigan, may not have a role in the training of my littlest sister."

"I'm - uh..."
Luna leaned in, and with a dangerous glint in her eyes - "Good! Then let us begin."

Twilight didn't remember the last time she had been that exhausted.

Tempest's training was rough, but doable. Using the Worldwill made her mind feel as if she had done the mental equivalent of a marathon - and dodging and attacking Tempest was possible. She even almost managed to get a hit off a few times - which was more than she expected, considering the drakon's absurd speed. At times - she seemed to move faster than Discord could, which looked a bit strange considering her sheer size.

Luna's training, on the other hand, was physical. Ascending into an alicorn had given Twilight peak physical condition - not in the sense of rippling muscle and the icon of health. Still, in the sense that the sheer amount of magic, she had meant she could probably hoof-wrestle Applejack. She'd probably lose, but not hilariously so.

Twilight dodged like she never had before. She wasn't allowed to use her magic - instead, being forced to duck and weave as Luna's hammer spun through the air. It was unfair, fighting against something that moved that fast and struck that hard - and she was beyond thankful that it was blunted by magic. The sheer amount of bruises she had by the end...every part of her felt sore.

Still. It felt good. It felt good knowing that she was learning how to protect herself. Learning to dodge, to attack - with or without magic. It felt good enough that she rode that high until she entered her castle - and immediately started drafting up some non-lethal spells.

Even as exhaustion began to pull her deeper - Twilight couldn't wait until the next day.

Discord was stronger than Celestia and Luna, combined, by order of magnitude. With Cadence by their side - they were able to contest him due to superconcentrate harmonic magic, and with Twilight, they were able to surpass him.

In terms of raw power, though: Discord had remained solidly in a class of his own, for the better part of his slightly more than two-thousand-year lifespan. With Twilight's ascension - all the other Spirits certainly knew that she would, in time, be able to at least rival if not surpass him. And with Tempest's return - there was another who could contest with Discord.

Considering Tempest was a bit more - aggressive, than the trickster Spirit - there was another perk that her sheer power brought for the other Spirits. Apart from another heavy hitter - one who was significantly less likely to turn the problem into a swarm of herbivorous fish - it meant for Luna, there was someone who was objectively more powerful than her - but with her best interests in mind.

Or: to summarize the point, Rambling Rock Ridge was now a battlefield.

A controlled storm raged on as Luna donned her Crest, even as Tempest flitted in and out of her senses. It was strange - that a creature with such sheer size could dip in and out of her vision so easily. She moved with speed and struck with precision and accuracy that betrayed the suggestion of her size. While Luna was confident that she was a better fighter - after all, while Tempest had access to the memories of her predecessors, there was a difference between memory and experience.

Luna's hooves touched down on the ground for a mere second. She felt it before she heard it - the air washing over her neck as brilliant magic began to form. Cleddwyr moved to block, razor-sharp claws meeting against nigh-invulnerable metal.Luna dipped Cleddwyr under and awkwardly - letting Tempest's momentum carry her forward a little bit, sending her arm sliding over her head. Luna struck up with all the force she could muster - Cleddwyr impacting a scale with a resounding crack.

Or, it should've. Before it impacted - Tempest melted into the air itself and was gone from her sight. It was reminiscent of Discord - her strongest attacks moved too slow, her fastest attacks weren't fast enough. She could only come close to Tempest when she was aggressive, but she took a strangely passive stance. No, not at all the fierce fighter who had torn a dragon's head off from her body.

Luna cast a spell of raw Dos out from her. She brought the chaotic storm into order - a small bubble of calm at the centre of the raging cauldron of air. Tempest was nowhere to be seen.

"This is meant to be a sparring match." Luna growled. "Not you toying with me. My ego is not so fragile that if I was suffered defeat I would be broken. Hold nothing back, drakon!" She slammed Cleddwyr into the ground.

Tempest didn't answer verbally. Instead - there was a deep glow from within the storm. A soft inhale - the glow became more intense as the air itself seemed to vibrate with magic. A rippling bolt of lightning tore itself out from her mouth. The ground trembled - Luna moved to dodge, but by the time her brain sent the sensory input to run -

Celestia dropped down from the sky. To Celestia, It felt like standing in front of a jet of pressurized water. Celestia slid back along the floor, hooves grinding stone into dust. The power that coursed through around her felt like she was travelling through a leyline - her cells filling with energy and threatening to burst.

The energy faded. The storm died down. Celestia stood there panting, her energy feeling drained from just having been struck by whatever Tempest had done. Luna rushed over to her sister and put a hoof on her withers. "Sister!"

"I told you." The drakon started circling her. "The storm will never hurt you. Either of you."
Celestia let out a shuddering breath. "Instinct." She mumbled dozily.
"What did-"
"A sleep spell. The fact that she's still standing is a testament to her will. Sleep, Celestia. You will be safe when you wake."

Celestia let out a soft noise - her eyes fluttering, before the Unconquered Sun fell to the one thing that could bring even a Spirit to her knees - sheer, utter, exhaustion. Her vision blurred-

Only for her to wake up in Tempest's cave as her sister splashed water on her face. It felt like moments - but was, in truth, much more than that. Celestia and Luna - being the True Bodies personified, always had a rather impeccable sense of time. So Celestia knew that she had been asleep for at least an hour.

"Finally. I was beginning to worry." Luna huffed and sat down.
The Sun herself considered all the facts at hand and summed them up in one sentence. "Hmfgff."
It was more of a noise.

"Good. You're awake." She huffed. "I would slap you for doing something so - idiotic, but the notion was appreciated."
"Instinct." Celestia murmured. Her throat felt dry, and her eyes stung with the exhaustion you felt after an interrupted nap that was either too long or too short, to begin with.
"I'm not a child, Celestia. I'm every bit as durable as you. Mostly." Luna huffed.
"Mm. Forgive me, for not thinking quite so clearly as my sister seemed to be in danger."
"Is that a bit of snark I detect from you? Oh, God-Princess - there's a bit of hope for you yet."

"Why did you come, Celestia?" Tempest said softly. Celestia turned - the gigantic drakoness was behind her, leaning against the wall. Celestia quickly cast a series of spells to refresh herself. She shook the weariness from her eyes and stood up. "Twofold. The official reason is to investigate the sudden storm and surges of magic that we detected. The second, real reason - I haven't - quite been myself, as of late. Which isn't - fair, to either of you."

Celestia held up a hoof before Luna interrupted. "No, sister. Please - allow me to speak in full."

"I - no. We, suffered an experience that no other suffered. We are the only living creatures - aside Discord, and I am not sure if he even truly understands the full scale of the situation - that know the sheer damage Chaos is capable of. And then we lost you." She glanced at Tempest.

"I dreamt of the day for years. I imagined every single possible way it could go in my head. Where we would finally meet - and you would be there. You would be proud of me. You would take my burdens - the burden of everything away, and I could..." She trailed off. "I'm not quite sure what I expected, honestly. These were daydreams, if you would. In a rather literal sense. But - when I saw you...it was - rage."

"I felt angry. Angry that my childhood had been stripped from me. Angry that you hadn't been there to stop Discord. Angry that you hadn't been there for Gorolich, or the Gryphons, or Sombra - or to be there for Luna, when the Parasite reached deep." Luna winced.

"...it was beyond your control. I know that. I know that. But - I am not infallible. I can be cruel. I can be callous. I can be..." She turned to Luna as she searched for the word.
"Stubborn, stupid, silly-"
"Stupid. Let's settle with stupid." Celestia nodded. "I can be reserved. I - when my sister, needed me most - I turned her away and buried myself in my work. I - don't want the same to happen with you, Tempest." Celestia stepped forward.

"...I know - that we said we would be friends. But - I don't think we can be friends. I think - I think that I need to forgive you. Not for something you had any form of control over - I just need...to forgive you. To say, audibly - that I forgive you. To hear it. So, Tempest." Celestia continued walking forward until she was right in front of the drakon.

"I forgive you. I forgive you for my sin, my actions, my stupidity. How could I not? Apart from Luna - you are the only true family I ever had. And words truly fail me to say how I am excited - that you will be there for the rest of my eternity."

Tempest stared at her blankly. "I'm - not quite sure what you're trying to say."
"Neither am I." Celestia laughed dryly. "I'm always a mess around you. Always weak, jumpy. You remind me of the worst time in my life - but you and Luna are the best of that. I don't want to be friends. I want - to be family."

There was a beat of silence. Celestia had lived for two-thousand, three-hundred and twenty-four years. And by the time that the single second of silence ended - she felt as if her age had tripled. Her chest felt heavy. She could feel Luna's eyes boring into her, and Tempest's pupils - each larger than her, consuming her entire world like a singularity-

"I am going to take a nap, Celestia." Tempest rolled over onto her back. "I would like it, if you were to join me." She paused for a moment. "Sister," she added - and her heart soared.

Celestia let out a soft, quivering breath. "I'd love to."

And so - for the first time in a millennium...the stormsisters slept. Pressed against warm scales on a plush surface - the realm of sleep claiming the three Spirits.

Celestia couldn't remember the last time she felt this light, other than her sister's return.

Underneath a black sky, god fought god.

The battle was fearsome. The world trembled as their power shaped it. Echoing booms, the trembling ground - and Twilight Sparkle lay there, weeping.

Her friends had died first. The screaming waked her up - and by the time that she had teleported - there wasn't enough of them left to salvage. He had gathered them up - all of them in one place. They all died so quickly.

She was horrified. He almost killed her in that split second of horror - and if it weren't for her training with Tempest, she undoubtedly would've been dead. Her mobility spell moved her out of the way of his claw, arcing with chaotic energy - before their battle unfurled. Waves of raw order, harmony - bolts, blasts - she threw every spell she knew at him.

But they were nonlethal spells. They slowed him down, at best - or he shrugged them off, at worst. He was a force of terror as he chased her throughout Ponyville - oh, she tried to run towards the Everfree - but he didn't let her. planned - how he manoeuvred the fight to cause as much havoc as possible.

Her vision blurred with tears. There was so much screaming - there was the smell of burnt flesh, the ground itself was molten chocolate - and whenever her order magic struck, it solidified - but they were splinched. Ponies, half-submerged in rock - half not. An instant, painless death. Assuming that they hadn't died from the molten chocolate, that was.

The princesses came. He turned his attention to them - they yelled for her to wake Tempest. And she ran - she ran as fast as she possibly could, she teleported as far as she could - and even still, the explosion nearly killed her. She could feel Celestia's death - her skin bursting as the sun itself tore from her.

She couldn't imagine what happened to Luna.

Tempest tore from the ground. A howl - rage that bubbled off her that the sky itself began to shake - the world felt as it was ending as the storm raged on. The Everfree was set on fire, and they faded - so much energy being exchanged...

The Canterhorn collapsed moments later. It went up in an explosion - lightning tearing from the centre of the continent that racked the ground, individual arcs the size of small towns carving a messy painting into the earth.

Minutes later - mere minutes after the death of everyone she had known and love. Tempest came - hurtling from the sky, smashing down into the ground by Twilight. Her breathing was ragged - her face, half-melted and her scales damaged. Her connection to the mana around them seemed distorted - and every breath caused her more and more pain.

"Twilight," Tempest wheezed. "Will."

Twilight Sparkle screamed with rage as fyrd tore from her horn. The wildfire spread - flames as hot - no, hotter than the sun. The mageflame spread from corpse to corpse even as they amassed together - Twilight's fur beginning to catch fire even as she soared high above them. Without her armour - what had Tempest called it - she would've been ablaze.

She heard a roar, and her heart sunk.

"Tempest!" She shrieked out. The massive drakoness - wounded, scarred - half her face and one of her arms missing, grappled with two dragons every bit her size. No matter how many undead they killed - they kept on coming.

Tempest's eyes widened. With renewed vigour - she tore free from her draconic attackers, slapping one across the face with her tail and fracturing its skull. The other - she slapped to the floor with her remaining arm. She pinned the dragon down - before crushing its skull right underneath her head.

The air rumbled. They could feel him coming. Twilight teleported over to Tempest's side. "Are you -"
"Fine." Tempest growled. "Stick to the plan. Do you feel her?"

"No." She sobbed. "I-" Then - her eyes widened. Her head snapped to the side. She felt it. She felt - time.
"I feel her, Tempest. I feel her!"

The world chose that moment to explode. The ground beneath them was torn apart - a swarm of undead, larger than any that they had ever seen before breaking free. Five skeleton alicorns, their joints fused by shadow, rose at their head -

him. At the very front, he stood. His red eyes blazing with power, gnarled horns oozing with sickening magic. His form - as much Absence as it was Will and Flesh.

Tempest's eyes widened. "STICK TO THE PLAN!" Tempest roared. She lunged towards them - and met all six of them, along with the swarm in combat.

Twilight spun around so Twilight wouldn't have to see it. Her eyes shut. She drowned out everything - as she chanted to herself.
"Cadence isn't safe. Apstra is the key. Cadence isn't safe. Apstra is the key-"

Tempest's shriek of agony interrupted her. Twilight's turned around. She let out a soft gasp - as Tempest staggered backwards, her horns shattered and her other arm having been torn off with a sickening rip. The swarm started advancing on her - teeth, gnawing on scales. The undead crushed themselves in an attempt to so much as wound her - grinding their corpses into fleshy red pulps that stuck to her scales. Raw magic started burning through her chest- five alicorns focusing all of their magic into burning through her...

Tempest asked the world.
He made the world.

It sounded like a tree breaking. Gore tore itself out of her back even as her head and eyes went limp - molten scales sloughing off her body.

He turned to her. Twilight's mouth fell open.

"Cadence isn't safe. Apstra is the key." She whispered, she pleaded.
A noble effort, Twilight Sparkle. He spoke. His magic reached out - sickening, twisted. Her eyes - white, turned pure void.

Die happy. Your death brings with it a better world.
Twilight's horn began to glow. Her body began to glow. She reached with her magic - and when that failed, she Willed. She Willed- and there was a rainbow-

Twilight didn't have the chance to scream as the reanimated corpse of her last friend tore her apart in a blaze of glorious plasma.

She woke up screaming so loud her throat was bleeding.

"Repeat yourself, Twilight Sparkle. Slowly. Take your time. The world is not ending." Tempest spoke softly. She shifted around in her cave so that her bulk encircled Twilight, her warmth washing over her.
"But - it is. Slowly. Well - not slowly. Maybe fastly. It wasn't - it wasn't a dream. It was a vision."

Twilight inhaled deeply - then exhaled deeply. She did this a few more times before she huffed, and nodded. "Okay. Discord killed everyone. It - wasn't Discord though. He wasn't laughing. It was - well. It was how you described Entropy. You fought him - but - he almost killed you. You won, but you were wounded. Barely alive."

"Then it was later. We were fighting - well. The dead. I was burning them. I was wearing - armour," Tempest shifted at Twilight's words, "and you were fighting against dragons - but you were missing an arm. Then I started speaking about how I could feel her, and I started repeating - Cadence isn't safe. Apstra is the key. Again, and again, and again. Then - something came. It spoke like its words were...being subtracted. Like - when it said something, it didn't actually say that. It said the opposite of it - and you could tell what it said from the negative space."

"I know. I know. It doesn't make any sense. But that's the only way I can describe it." Twilight panted lightly. "And then you died. And I died."

"A grim tale, Twilight Sparkle. A quick question."

Tempest shifted to the side. "Did the armour look like that?"

There was an alicorn mannequin there. Borrowed from Rarity - its plastic, pastel white features standing out eerily against the rest of the cave. Around it- it was a brilliant set of purple armour. Her hooves were left bare, her ankles and shins covered in purple metal that was edged with crystal - her joints left unarmored, while the rest of her was covered in that alternating blend of crystal and metal. Her cutie mark was emblazoned on the chest. Reminiscent in design of the Celestial Plate - it was a work of art.

It was proof. It was confirmation. She only had glances of it, from a first-person perspective - but she was certain. She knew, in her heart of hearts- yes, that was the armour.

Twilight Sparkle stared at the proof of the apocalypse and nodded.

-

[25] Cards

Cards

From now on, I'll tell you everything.

Twilight Sparkle was no stranger to high-stress scenarios. But, in her eyes, there were two kinds.

The first kind - Twilight hated. She hated it with all her heart. These were the kind that broke her and brought out the worst of her tendencies towards neurosis. Tests. Quizzes. Deadlines.

The second kind - Twilight also hated. You'd be stupid if you think she didn't hate it. But they brought out the best in her. Her kindest moments, her bravest moments - these were the disastrous scenarios. An alicorn bent on an eternal night. The return of the god of chaos, a full-scale invasion of her home city, a magic-draining centaur threatening all of Equestria -

This situation fell comfortably in the second. So Twilight did what she did best. Better than anything in the world.

A quill and parchment formed. "Let's take notes.""

The Throne Room in Canterlot was special. It, at any given time - likely contained the two most important mares in Equestria.

Right now, it contained all eleven of the most important creatures in Equestria.

In one room - the Elements of Harmony, the four Princesses of Equestria - the Spirit of Chaos, and the Queen of Storms. Tempest's bulk lay coiled around the throne room - wedged in and crammed awkwardly. Celestia and Luna stood by their thrones as they welcome the recently arriving Elements of Harmony. Fluttershy's hoof pressed against a rather uncomfortable looking Discord as he sipped from a glass of upside-down tomato wine.

Twilight then noticed a blur. She spun around, her mobility spell preparing itself - Tempest twitched,, but Luna held up a hoof. Hooves curled around her as Shining Armour squeezed her in a tight hug, quickly giving her a noogie in the way that only an older brother could.

The two quite promptly exchanged greetings between them - before Discord cleared his throat.

"Can we hurry this up already? I have an appointment at two AM, and it's half past two." Discord pulled his fur down like it was a sleeve, revealing the pink skin underneath that made him look like a naked molerat - and inspected his very empty wrist before fixing himself.

"As much as ah hate to say it, ah kinda' agree. You didn't really tell us too much about this whole thing, Twi." Applejack huffed. "Ah undestand it's important and all - but you couldn't really give any detail?"
"Why would you hate to say that?" Discord mumbled and crossed his arms. Applejack just gave him a look.
"I understand that's it a lot - to gather everyone here, and not say anything. But - everyone should hear, at once instead of everyone learning it one on one. It's easier that way, for everyone."

Twilight took in a deep breath. "A few weeks ago, I had a dream. Or - I thought it was a dream. Discord ended up killing everyone, and then when I killed him - Tempest pulled herself out of the Earth and killed me." Already, there were gasps and attempts to interrupt - glances shot towards Discord, who physically recoiled - but Twilight powered on. "Then I had another dream. This time, Discord killed everyone - but Tempest fought him, but she almost died. Then we were in the future - and we were fighting against an army of the undead. Tempest was killed by five alicorns and the Absence who was using Worldwill, lead by some kind of -" She paused for a split second. "Some kind of Absence, I guess, and I kept repeating something to myself. Cadence isn't safe, Apstra is the key. Again and again."

"I thought it was a dream, but I talked to Tempest about it because I was really stressed and she was nearby and we had training scheduled anyways and-" deep inhale, "in the dream - I was wearing this weird purple armour." Her horn flashed, and the armour promptly appeared on her. Rarity let out an audible gasp. Luna looked proud, while Celestia just arched an eyebrow. "-and it turned out, Tempest made the armour for me because she wanted me to be safe if I ever had to fight."

"Then, it turned out that Tempest had a vision - wait, no, she lived a life where she was a wolf in a forest, looking for the Ring of Apstra - and then was killed by someone who needed her soul, but that someone just said I'll see you again drakon. So obviously that was probably the Absence - judging from how Tempest described how it spoke."

Twilight let out a soft exhale. Immediately, there was a cacophony of questions.
"-truly dear, the coloration-"
"-killed us all and you're just lettin him sit-"
"-not cool, dude-"
"-everyone-"
"-h-he wouldn't-"
"-traitorous monster!"
"shining, please-"

Celestia held up a hoof. "Quiet, my ponies, please." She spoke. Her voice had an authoritative quality to it that cut through the cacophony. Slowly, noises died out - with glares still being levied at Discord and expressions of shock over the Spirit's faces. Tempest noted Cadence slowly shifted to lean more into Shining Armour and placed a hoof on her stomach.

"One thing at a time. First off - Discord has never killed a pony. He has certainly wrought atrocities - atrocities that he will have to attone for for the rest of his life. But he has never killed a pony."
"Thank you!" Discord pointed his hands at Celestia. "Minus, the whole - yknow. Atrocity part." Discord handwaved that accusation away and snapped some lemonade in existence to squeeze into his eyes like eye drops. Fluttershy put a hoof on his claw. He shut his eyes and ran his talon over her hoof, back and forth.

"Twilight. You have much explaining to do." Luna said softly. "First - what is - Worldwill? Second - why did you not tell me of your nightmare, littlest sister? And lastly - is it truly important that the bearers know? No offense."
"Uh. Some taken?" Rainbow Dash squinted. Applejack elbowed her.

"Look - I know that this is a lot to drop onto everyone. I'd probably be freaking out right now if it wasn't for the sheer importance of it. I know that it wasn't a dream - it was the future. And it's changing. Which means that there's still time to stop it. So - everyone has to know. I'm putting every card on the table. And yes, Princess Luna. My friends do have to know." Her eyes narrowed slightly as a fire lit within her belly. "They were left alive in the first vision. They were k-killed," she stumbled slightly over the words, "in the second dream. Which means - that they're important to this. The Elements of Harmony might be able to counteract whatever the - Absence is."

"Wait a minute. Aren't the Elements of Harmony like, made by Tempest? Can't she just - yknow. Bing, bang, zap it away if the Elements worked?" Rainbow tilted her head to the side.

Tempest spoke up. "The Elements of Harmony are - beyond me. They came from me, but I didn't directly create them. They were more - subconscious. I'm not quite sure of their full limits and abilities. Furthermore - there are remnants of harmony left within you. How you harnessed the - what was it, Rainbow Power? I am almost certain that my magic alone could not compete against the entirety of Equestria's."

"You didn't answer what Worldwill was, Twilight." Cadence tilted her head to the side.
"So - um. You know how - everyone uses magic with glyphs? Well - I don't - always, have to do that."
All the more magically attuned people in the room blanched save Tempest.
"Tempest can do it too. She sort of - asks the World what she wants, and it Wills it so. So - Worldwill. Entropy- that's, uh - the evil past version of Discord-" she glanced at Cadence and Shining. "He took what he wanted from the Worldwill. And...I..." She glanced at Tempest for help.

"Twilight can use it in its purest form. To put it as bluntly as possible - it is impossible to know what limits Twilight has, if any."
That hung in the air for a few moments.
"Ah - ah'm not very smart magically," Applejack begun.
"-magically?" Rainbow Dash snickered. Fluttershy looked at her. Rainbow Dash promptly hid behind her mane.
"Heard that. But - if Twilight doesn't have any limits, can't she just - ah dunno. Worldwill all our problems away?"
"It's a lot harder than it sounds, Applejack. I can barely use it at all - doing something like that, especially when I don't know what the full problem is...it would be impossible. Or, almost impossible." Twilight sighed.

"Look - regardless. Cadence is in danger. Something is going to happen to her." Twilight pointed. "Unless we protect her. And - I think that Apstra, the Ring of Apstra is the key. Somehow - it'll be able to stop this threat. This - Absence."
"And what of me?" Discord lazily floated across the room. "I don't particularly have any desire to murder anyone. It's more likely in your vision that I come under control, or some form of corruption. Not that that's remotely likely at all - I should be immune to such things." Discord rolled his eyes. "If it would put everyone at ease - you could put me back on the leash, Celestia."
"T-The leash?" Fluttershy glanced at Celestia.
"Superconcentrated Harmony, woven around Discord by alicorns and bound to his very soul. It would reduce his power to - maybe a thousandth of what he had."
Most ponies didn't bat an eye at that. Fluttershy let out a horrified gasp as she went pale - Discord winced, and Tempest's eyes widened slightly.
"What is it, Fluttershy?" Twilight frowned and put a hoof on her withers.
"That's - that's like-"
"It would be like nailing chaos and earth magic into my soul. It would kill me. Like poison."

The room slowly went pale. Discord arched an eyebrow before he inspected his now-painted talons. "I thought you knew this, Celestia."
"Killing you?" Celestia whispered. "You didn't-"
"I thought, that you figured that out." He grunted. "Seriously, Celestia. If it turned my body to stone - wouldn't it stand to reason that it would do the same to my soul?"
"And - you forgave me?"
"Isn't that what friends do?" Discord rolled his eyes. "It's painful. Believe me - it's probably the last thing I'd want. But is there truly another option?"
"Stay with me. At all times. My aura cuts out your connection to the leylines, without harming you." Tempest offered.
Discord stared at her for a few moments before he grinned as he became massive, wrapping an arm around Tempest's shoulders as you would to a friend. "That's a splendid idea! We could be - Best Archfrenemies!"
Tempest didn't do much as blink.

"What about Cadence?" Shining Armour said softly. "You said she's in danger, Twi."
Twilight shut her eyes. "Okay. I have a theory. It's a bit of a stretch - so hear me out." She paused for a second for any interruptions before she quickly spoke -

"The Absence is reviving old foes of Equestria for some reason. They have something to do with the Ring of Apstra - and they're trying to get it, judging from Tempest's past life. They've somehow rallied the Gryphons, revived Gorolich - and here's where I think it starts to get crazy. I think - that somehow, they revive Entropy. The Evil Discord." She waved her hoof at her brother. "I think that Entropy replaces Discord, and no one really notices until it's too late. I think that the Absence also brings back Sombra - who attacks Cadence - and...probably..." She trailed off.

The words hung in the air like a blade over Cadence's head. She rubbed her stomach, her gaze looking far-off.

"Well. That's rather grim, darling." Rarity stood up. "And quite frankly - it does seem rather far-fetched to think all of that could happen. I - almost don't believe it." Twilight's ears went flat, but Rarity held up a hoof. "But I believe you, Twilight. And I know that everypony- ahem, everyone-" she glanced at Tempest and Discord, "in this room would follow you to the ends of the planet."

"Yeah!" Pinkie nodded fervently. "So what's the plan, Twi? And does it involve orbital friendship cannons? Please!?" She almost pleaded.

All eyes fell on Twilight. She shifted slightly; her mouth fell open - her eyes flitted from room to room. Finally, her eyes locked with one pony as she stared at the Sun.

Celestia simply nodded. Twilight let out a slow exhale.

"No. I don't think it involves orbital friendship cannons, Pinkie." Twilight rolled her eyes. "I think - that me, Tempest, and Discord, should go to the Ring of Apstra. Or, look for it. Talk to the Lupine Lords and Ladies."
"Careful, Twilight. The Lords and Ladies are tricky, and unforgiving." Luna spoke sagely. Celestia nodded.
"Woah - what about us, Twi? No chance in Tartarus we're just gonna sit here and do nothing. We're coming with you." Rainbow promptly interrupted. A cheer of yeah! rose from the other Bearers.
"I really don't want to go without you guys, either. But - it's dangerous. And me, Tempest, and Discord - we can take care of ourselves better than you guys can. Not that you're a liability - it's just..." She trailed off.

"you're a spirit, and we're not." Fluttershy finished. Eyes turned to her. For once, she didn't wither under the pressure as she pressed down deeper into Discord's touch.

"...yes." Twilight nodded. "It's - logical. I think it would be better if you guys - maybe if you all stayed in the Crystal Empire for a while. And before you interrupt - you could bring your families. I'm sure Cadence would accommodate, right? It would be safer that way - since you guys would be there if you need Cadence, and - each of you are spectacular. It would certainly make me feel better knowing Cadence had you nearby."

Murmurs and mumbles of dissent and discomfort rose before Celestia stepped forward.

"I think, that Princess Twilight is correct." She gently placed a hoof on top of her withers. "While - I hate to say it, Equestria is rather..." She trailed off. "...The Gryphons and Dragons won't be able to get up north, easily. It also means that neither will we, in case of danger."

"I-i'll go." Fluttershy said softly. "I just - have to arrange, for my animals...oh, dear, I hope they'll be fine without me..."
"...Yeah. I think - I gotta get my parents outta Cloudsdale. I'm also going." Rainbow Dash said, almost reluctantly. She stood by Fluttershy and put a hoof on her free hoof. Fluttershy smiled lightly at her.

Rarity, Pinkie - and a rather reluctant Applejack soon confirmed their agreement.

"So it's settled, then." Twilight nodded, a glint of determination in her eye. "I guess - this is goodbye, then. For now." She quickly added.
"It's not goodbye." Pinkie Pie shook her head. She walked over and put a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "Goodbye means you aren't coming back. This is like - see ya later, alligator."
"...Yeah." Twilight smiled lightly. "See you later, alligator." She nodded at Pinkie Pie.

-

Author's Note

An extra short chapter. One that certainly wasn't worth the wait.

I just had a hard time writing this chapter. My notes for the next chapter or two are five hundred or so words, so ideally they should make up for it - but no promises.

Recently, I've had some ideas flitting around - of a suitably edgy universe that I've tentatively been calling Of Gods and Monsters. I have three ideas flitting around for a story - and I'm not quite sure which, if any, people would be interested in.

https://strawpoll.com/2rsfu5jfb

Here's a straw poll, if you'd be so kind. This doesn't mean that Queen of Storms will be abandoned or anything - don't worry. I still have every intention of finishing the story.

[26] Godless

Godless

Gods didn't bleed. Spirits did.

The relationship of lupine to a canine is much the relationship of a drakon to a dragon. While they are, ultimately - under the same family, they are different species, with different traits and entirely different cultures. Lupine culture, in particular, is rather - unique. For over ten thousand years, the Lords and Ladies have kept their people sealed off from the rest of the world in the Bayan Timbers.

It's a public secret, in a sense. Most Spirits know the location of the Lupines. There is rarely a reason to engage with them - and when there is, it tends to be avoided. While the Lords and Ladies are not Spirits - for, in all recorded history, there has been no Spirit of Space (although, considering Twilight's existence: it's not entirely improbable,) they are perhaps - the most powerful you can get without being a Spirit.

They are not immortal - merely long-lived. Especially long-lived for a mortal, non-draconic race. Lord Rex, before his rather untimely passing due to a nasty case of head-exploding-from-the-inside-out-isms was roughly eight hundred years old - and was among the youngest of the Lords. The oldest Lord was claimed to be older than the Purge that predated written history itself - but considering how he had died when Tempest was still in the egg, he couldn't really validate such claims.

Their longevity comes from their sheer amount of concentrated magic. Their ley is spread throughout the entirety of their body, much like a Draconequus, a Quetzalcoatl, a Windigo, or a Wyvern - and their average magical pools are on par with the strongest of unicorns or rams. While Starswirl the Bearded, without question - claimed the title of Strongest Mortal Mage - and this was true, individually, even he fell short of the amassed strength of the Lords and Ladies.

On top of that: the Lords and Ladies have been the only creatures that have managed to so much as challenge the Spirits. Their spatial manipulation is surpassed by none, and as such: the Bayan Timbers are sealed in a web of tight magic that no Spirit can penetrate easily. Only Entropy managed to overpower this warding, once - though the magical backlash resulted in the death of everyone contained within. There are rumours that some of the long-lost Spirits that have only been formed once and never seen again: such as the Spirit of Honor, the Spirit of Stars - are in fact lost in a web of spatial manipulation that the Lords and Ladies wove around them.

The short of this aside - is that the Bayan Timbers are dangerous, and can't be teleported into. Twilight didn't really feel too afraid, though - you would likely find yourself in a surplus of courage if you were the third strongest Spirit on the planet, riding on the back of the strongest Spirit on the planet along with the second - albeit, neutered - strongest Spirit on the planet. No, most of Twilight's stress came from her wandering mind. Even as Tempest soared through the air, mountains and clouds a passing blur underneath them - Discord's nipping jokes and bites as he shifted uncomfortably upon the bed of white scales - Twilight couldn't help but feel concerned for her friends.

"Why so glum, Glitterflanks?" Discord flicked Twilight's side. Twilight glared at him.
"Maker help me - if you call me Glitterflanks again, I will get Tempest to turn you into stone."
"My apologies, Sparklebu- eep!" Discord narrowly dodged a bolt of purple plasma. He arched an eyebrow, then held up his hands in a peaceful gesture. "Not just glum, then. Full-on aggressive! My oh my. It must be something important."
"I had two nightmares, where everyone I knew died, and someone who looked like you killed them. Forgive me if I'm not in the mood for dealing with you right now."
"Then allow me to drop all pretence of my usual mocking persona." Discord leaned in, very close - and Twilight couldn't help but be aware of just how truly large the draconequus was. "What's wrong, Twilight?"

Twilight glared even more intensely, her horn lit - and then suddenly, she let out a soft sigh. Her wings and muscles sagged as the glow of her horn faded. "I - I'm worried, Discord. There's the gryphons, there's the dragons - and then there's the absence, and-"

Discord held up a finger. "Did you know the Crystal Empire avoided much of my chaos, back in the day?"
Twilight tilted her head to the side. "What does-"
"It's the Heart, in part. Despite its origins - it's a pulsating, crystal mass of harmony that turns the feral blizzards into something that Order," Discord pet Tempest's scales, "would have a wet dream about." Twilight grimaced. "I couldn't get up there unless I focused all of myself - and that meant I only had my personal pool to work from. So - it's safe from me, if that's what you're worried about. Now - Twilight. Pretend that I'm dumb-"
"-pretend-" Twilight grumbled,
"yes, Twilight. Pretend. The accusation that I'm anything short of a magical prodigy is ridiculous. And not in a funny way, like Celestia wearing plaid. So pretend. Why can't Cadence teleport to you every day for lunch?"

Twilight let out a soft huff. "The blizzard. The deeper leylines of the Crystal North mean that leyline teleports are impossible, and the blizzard prevents more conventional teleports. Too many particles. The risk of splinching yourself is too high. It's the same reason you can't conventionally teleport in a desert, or a storm."

"And why can't she fly?"
"The blizzard, again." Twilight rolled her eyes. "Using pegasus magic would freeze you solid."
"Then - would it not stand to reason, that - a place safe from me, safe from mages, and guarded by a blizzard that would freeze any Gryphon or Dragon solid - is the safest possible place your friends could be?"

"...I guess." Twilight looked to the side. "I guess it really is the apocalypse. You're being logical - and I'm not."
"Logical." Discord snorted. "I detest the term. There's a difference between being logical and not being stupid. You're certainly smart, Twilight. I'd probably say you're the second smartest magic caster on the planet." Shrug. "But you're also very stupid."

Twilight's eyes narrowed. "That's not very nice."
"I'm not very nice." Discord shrugged. "You're smart. You're smarter than me. Although - you do have the creativity of a boot, so that certainly cancels it out. But when it comes to your friends - you simultaneously have this adorable, blind faith, and this equally present unfounded worry." Discord leaned back against one of Tempest's scales. "My advice? Stick to the blind faith. It's always worked for you in the past - despite all reason, which is something I rather enjoy being in despite of."

Twilight shut her eyes. "...Thanks, Discord. If you ignore all the thinly veiled-"
"-thinly veiled?"
"If you ignore all the jabs you layered in there," Twilight corrected, "that was - almost nice."
Discord grinned a toothy grin at her. "Anything for a friend."

It was at that moment that Tempest rather promptly hurtled to the ground. The trio plummeted at a speed that would turn any mortal save Rainbow Dash to ash, landing down like a comet by the corner of the Bayan Timbers. Tempest landed on her side - and if her wings weren't made out of ethereal storm, they undoubtedly would've snapped.

Twilight would've landed at a rather grisly angle if Discord didn't grab onto her and stop their momentum. Instead, they lurched midair, inspecting the crashed, immobile drakoness with wide eyes.

"Tempest? Are you-" Twilight promptly teleported by her side. Notably, there was no flash of magic - she had been by Discord, and then she was not. She glanced at Discord - who shook his head.

Twilight's horn flared as she called up a shield around herself and the drakon. Tempest was quite frankly too large to be covered by Twilight's shield - but she managed to cover most of the drakon's head.

Twilight then felt a strong hand grip around her horn.

there was a crack-

her throat bled as she screamed, her vision blurred-

soft murmurs, a spinning world-

wriggling, writhing, pulsing - Discord, fading away with an expression of horror-

Darkness.

As day broke, the news did too. In the following weeks - the world decided to as well.

Celestia felt the world was on fire. The Bloody Butchers, as they had been calling themselves - had carved their path through the world. Steelbeak's assistance had been invaluable - but it hadn't been enough. No - Cloudsdale was certainly proof of that.

The death toll was incalculable. The gryphons, their draconic siege-beasts, laid waste to the cloudy city. Even with all of Steelbeak's assistance, even with all the extra security - it was for nothing. The Butchers didn't seem to have any regard for their own lives, as long as they went out wreaking as much destruction as they could. The skies were torn apart by flame and claw, steel and talon - and in the aftermath, the skies rained red.

The ruins of the once-grand city hurtled to the ground. The reports were particularly gruesome - and even Luna felt her stomach churn as she read of half-eaten, mangled corpses of all ages - wrapped in clouds that hurtled down into cities as far east as Manehattan and towns as far south as Appleloosa.

The streets ran red with blood and rage. Cries for war, for blood, for action- signs that were held up towards the sky. A chant rose through the massed crowds. Their blood was alight with a burning desire for retribution - Celestia hadn't been enough. She hadn't done enough.

"False goddess! False goddess!" Her cutie mark, imprinted on signs - crossed out with dark red. Mannequins of her head on a pike - cries for impeachment, for retribution, - redemption. The guards tried their best - unicorn shields were met with rocks, smashing hooves - it was utter anarchy.

The dragon's roar interrupted all of that.

Canterlot began to scream as explosions rocked the Canterhorn. A swarm of gryphons rose from the ground, the Sun itself, herself blotted out by scaled beasts of legend - claws dripping red -

Celestia felt her stomach drop as the invasion of Canterlot began.

Twilight woke up and immediately found herself regretting it. Sharp, searing pain tore through her skull - lances of red-hot steel that dug into her flesh and tore at her mind. Her wings ached, and her throat - it felt as if she was a Dragonfire victim. Her vision blurred as she pushed through the pain and stumbled up to her hooves - before promptly collapsing in a pile of feathers and flesh.

Through the spots and the stars, she could barely make out details. There was white - cracked like dust, drenched with an ugly red. Feathers, scratches - darkness surrounded them. Make it stop, some part of her pleaded. She instinctively attempted to light her horn - and she immediately regretted that. Her entire being cried out as her vision spun, and blood found itself tearing up from her throat in bloody clumps.

Twilight, then, promptly succame to the darkness once more. She found herself woken up - her fur matted with blood, her vision still blurry - and a constant presence of pain throbbing in the back of her skull. She was lucid enough in the presence of her pain to know that using magic was a terrible idea - and that, in all likelihood, her horn had been snapped clean off.

The thought made her blood ran cold. She had received horn injuries before - but getting your horn snapped off was something that took months of pain to repair. They were adamant about snapping off, as well - she doubted that Big Macintosh would be able to do little more than chip even a filly's horn if he was to ram it at full speed.

The keratin was significantly more fragile, unfortunately: as having the ley exposed to open air was extremely painful. One time, one miscast spell had left Twilight bedridden for two days as Celestia nursed her back to health. Some unicorns went comatose after particularly traumatic incidents where the keratin was peeled from their horn entirely - it was actually more painful that way than just straight snapping it off.

Thinking about that served to do little more than making the unicorn's stomach churn, though - so she pushed those thoughts to the side. She shook her head side to side violently and turned to inspect her surroundings.

She was chained by all four of her hooves to the floor. The floor was seemingly made out of some black material - Twilight was no geologist, but she figured it was more likely some form of igneous rock from a quick inspection rather than nullstone. She had a little bit of leeway, and as she slowly pushed herself up from a pool of spittle and blood - much to her disgust - she inspected around herself.

There were chairs around her - tall chairs made out of intricately carved and fitted null-stones. They rose higher up in sets of two, culminating at the central chair - which stood above the others, first, among equals. As her gaze moved higher and higher - there, they sat. Five lupines - dressed in fine silks and robes, pulsing with magical power - staring down at Twilight with an unwavering gaze.

"Finally." The black Lady to her right, on the lower chairs, spoke. Their voice seemed feminine, so Twilight mentally assumed them to be female. "I was beginning to worry that you'd damaged her too much, Lord Berion."
"They're a hardy folk, Lady Accalia." A hulking red wolf on the lower chairs, to the left of Twilight, spoke. He gestured at the grisly left side of his face - the fur matted and healed incorrectly, bits of his very bone showing. Twilight suppressed the urge to vomit. "It was the blue one - the Darling Moon that did this to me."
"It's not - dangerous, is it?" A rather nasally blue lupine, a chair higher than Berion asked. He wore a monocle, Twilight noted - and she couldn't help but think it looked rather dumb.
"Of course not Arion." Lady Accalia rolled her eyes. "If it was dangerous, it would be with the other one. With-" she fell short.
"With Lilim." The Lady that sat on the highest chair finished. "You can speak her name, Accalia. She doesn't bite." The silver wolf smiled a predatory smile. "Unless she wants to."
"Amusing as always Astor. She'll turn on you, eventually, you know." Accalia's eyes narrowed.

"Mayhaps." Astor shrugged. "If the girl ever decides to take my place - I would not worry. I would not have very long to worry, you see." She inspected her claws. "Oh, how rude of us. Welcome, Twilight Sparkle - to the Council of the Lupines. We apologize for the rather rude introduction. By introduction, of course - we mean striking your beast out of the air and crippling your horn." She smiled warmly at Twilight, and Twilight shivered.

"w-wh..." Twilight managed to choke out before she spat up a glob of her own blood.

"Ah. The effects of backlash in their full. I'd advise against speaking, oh darling niece. It will do you more pain than good. But I am an ever-perceptive wolf, am I not?" She glanced around at the other Ladies and Lords. She was undoubtedly their ruler - be it de facto or official. When she spoke, they listened.

"Am I not?" She snarled a bit more intensely. There were quick nods of agreement all around.
"So, allow me to answer your questions - as they came to you. Where are you? You are three thousand feet beneath the surface of the planet. There is no entrance or exit - and without your magic, any chance of escape is futile. Why are you here? We were informed of your coming ahead of time. We know what you are here to do. And I will not allow it to happen." Her eyes narrowed.

"Yes, I called you niece. It was very much intentional, darling niece - for I am indeed your littlest sister's mother. As for your friend - well." Lady Astor shrugged. "As per our instructions, she's sentenced to be executed."

Twilight's jaw dropped open. Her mind raced-
"Truly, for someone so godless, his help was nothing short of divine." She laughed dryly at her own joke. "Oh - I suppose you don't know him by that title yet." A cruel smile graced his lips. "He informed me that you would know him as - the Absence?"
Her mind came to a crashing halt, and she promptly threw up.

"You - ghh..." Twilight wheezed out. Astor opened her mouth, but Twilight powered past the agony to speak. "-got...it wrong...here for - ring. of Apstra. To stop -"
"Omnicide." Astor nodded. "Oh, yes. The Absence was very clear in the words you'd say. He's got it down to the letter. In fact, the next sentence you're going to say is-" She trailed off.
"-how?" Astor and Twilight spoke in unison. Twilight recoiled.

"Quite frankly, Twilight Sparkle. I am not some villain, and I believe you know that." She appeared right in front of Twilight, causing the alicorn to wince as she grabbed onto her chin and tilted her head up. "I am a woman, with only the best interest for her people in mind. If that involves the death of every other creature - as long as my daughter perseveres, I am sated. We could go through the scripted routine - truly, he wrote it all down. Every single argument you could possibly make - I've read it."

"I have a thousand other things I'd rather do. So let's dilute this down to the facts. You, will go crawling back to your rotting carcass of a nation. Your friend will die as she's carried into Graymourne - and you will not lay a finger on my daughter, and you will die - in three months and three days."

Her throat burned. Her heart pounded. Her mind raced. Every part of her was alit with rage - every single part of her burning - her fur began to sizzle, her mane began to burn - as she channelled every single part of herself into a single word.

"No," she Spoke - and the world willed it so. There was a searing lavender flash that sent Astor flying backwards into her throne. There was a grisly crack.

The wolf tore up from the ground as she pushed her shoulder messily back into place. Her eyes were wide, her pupils thin - as her snarl echoed around the room. "FIND HER!"

The city was dying. The Butchers were a bloody spear that struck true - and true enough, as it pierced through the heart of the city. Their caustic actions had sunken into the bloodstream of the world - and even as the Butchers tore their homes apart and cut her people to pieces - they did not cry out for her name - but against it.

Luna was a terror as she tore through the sky, Cleddwyr trailing behind her. She was a whistling arc as her horn loosed bolts of dark magic that the world had not seen in an eternity, striking down swarms of gryphons even as she hurtled through the air like a comet towards the rampaging dragons.

Celestia did not have the luxury of her sister. Her sister was a master in the battlefield, truly - but Celestia's power was much more - limited. Unlike what some believed, Celestia was the sun. Not the False Sun, the construct of pure solar energy that channels a fraction of the sun's radiance - but the True Sun. To access more than a droplet of her power would result in utter havoc.

It did not make her weapon, the Taligar, any less fearsome. A glaive that seemingly had no limit to how much magic it could use - and one of the few weapons that so much as arched Discord's eyebrow. While Luna used brute force to decimate the draconic hoard, and the Royal Guard did their best to fight the fearsome, bloodthirsty Butchers - the Taligar was a weapon of telekinetic death. It sailed through the air with the heat of the sun, carving cleanly through flesh and scale as it cut dragons older than the city into fragments.

Celestia hated killing. Regardless, she didn't so much as bat an eye as the dragon blood came down in a torrential downpour. It was necessary.

"Please, Tempest." Celestia whispered to herself. "Help us." She looked up at the skies.

The skies were silent as King Redclaw tore from the sky, his eyes a glittering green as concrete smashed underneath his arrival.

"Celestia." The changeling that wore Redclaw's skin smiled smugly at her. She recognized that smile.
"Chrysalis," she greeted evenly. In the Outer Beyond, the sun - the True Sun burned. "It would take me two hours to burn your species to the ground, Chrysalis. Do you know why? It is because it would take an hour to find you. I was merciful, before."

The Unconquered Sun's eyes blazed as her wings began to burn with radiant light. "I will not make the same mistake."

Celestia opened the fight. Her horn lit with a blazing glow as she struck the ground - turning concrete into sand and sand into glass, waves of molten heat washing over Chrysalis. Chrysalis' talons lit with a green glow as she parted the waves of heat - something that should've been impossible, considering their sheer power difference - and she closed the distance between the two.

Celestia spun around and bucked straight towards Chrysalis' face. There was a crunch - and a sharp, searing jolt of pain. Celestia teleported backwards. Chrysalis' jaw was misaligned - but she promptly corrected it. And her talons - they were red.

Celestia's blood seeped to the ground.

Some part of Tempest was impressed that they had gathered enough nullstone to wrap around her wrists and throat. The rest of Tempest was rather annoyed - even as her struggles tore the world apart around her.

Trees were uprooted. She tore leaves from their branches, rocks and dirt being ground into thin gravel even as she was pulled along by an intense purple aura of magic. Her tail lashed and slapped - she roared up towards the heavens...but it was for nothing. She couldn't escape from her bindings - and while she had unrestricted access to her magic, none of her spells managed to so much as reach her captor.

Worse, still, her raging mind - fractured and disjointed by whatever spell they had cast on her - couldn't calm long enough to use Worldwill. The thought didn't even cross her mind as she felt the death magic approach closer and closer, instead - acting purely on feral nature.

Her rampage came to a cease as a wave of lavender magic washed over it - and a similarly shaded alicorn appeared with a brilliant pop of light, right on Tempest's skull.

"Are you hurt?" She spoke. There was something different about her - but Tempest couldn't quite focus at the moment. Tempest couldn't do anything more than snarl.
Twilight's horn began to glow - and Tempest felt a wave of calm wash over her. A cacophony of voices entered her head - Order and Harmony quickly stilling her raging mind as all facets of her life slowly assumed their previous roles. Tempest's eyes widened as lucidity came rushing to her like water through a broken dam.

"Twilight. Run." She managed. Still - she was too late, as Tempest suddenly felt the weight of the world crash down onto her. It ground her against the ground below, Twilight being pressed into her scales uncomfortably as she let out a soft groan.

Moments later, with a series of multicoloured flashes - the Lords and Ladies stood over the two. There was another, now - a purple wolf, much smaller than the rest. Twilight glanced at her - and blanched, as she recognized her aura.

She was a Spirit.

Chrysalis' blood spurted into the air, all over Celestia as the Taligar pinned her to the ground. The changeling laughed dryly as silver met with Celestia's ever so slightly pink blood.

Chrysalis promptly rolled to the side, her body being torn apart in a disgustingly gruesome fashion - a sickening rip as her organs came spilling out of her and pooling up on the floor. Celestia recoiled - pulling the Taligar up from the ground. She moved, quite promptly to decapitate Chrysalis -

Only to found the Taligar, a blade that had been able to graze the scales of Gorolich the Indestructible, stopped completely short by a hoof.

"You're a myth." Celestia whispered. She pressed the Taligar deeper, infused it with more magic - hoping to overpower Chrysalis' dying illusion.

The Absence shook his head.
"I am no myth." And she was certain that every creature in Equestria could hear his rattling, negative space of a voice.

"A god does not bleed, Indomita." He pushed his hoof deeper into the Taligar - and even as it sunk into his flesh, there wasn't a drop of blood. No - no blood, none in this monster.

He radiated power. A head taller than Celestia - disregarding his gigantic, curled horns. His hair was the color of death - the color of bone left in the sun to bleach, more empty and threatening than any shade of black could ever be. His left eye - sclera slightly yellow, his iris a searing red...his right eye, darker than nothing. Absent of all light. Two long teeth curled up from the underside of his mouth, pointing up towards his nose - and with every movement, the bells that hung from his neck began to ring.

"So as I see it, the only myth here is your divinity." The Taligar pierced through Celestia's heart. She let out a soft gasp as she stumbled backwards, each beat of her heart causing her blood to run weaker in her veins.

"You are no god, Indomita. A god would defend her people. It seems you are incapable of such - so evidently, the Godless shall have to take over." He whispered as he stepped forward, gripping onto the spear with his hooves.

"What are you?" Celestia choked out. She gripped onto her glaive with a hoof, even as her vision blurred.

"I am Grogar the Godless. Die happy, Indomita. Your death brings with it a better world." And with a bloody rip - Celestia's vision faded to black.

"You're - tricky, aren't you, Twilight Sparkle?" Astor snarled. "Regardless of what the ram said - you will die for gazing upon my daughter. Berion - tear her head from her sku-"

Astor promptly died. Her eyes went blank as her flesh began to melt off her body. Even under the increased gravity that the wolf Spirit was keeping her under, Twilight managed to wriggle back as she suppressed the urge to vomit. The Lords and Ladies stumbled back fearfully - Arion's claws lighting as he tried to teleport away - only to erupt into a pile of blood. The other two lords were promptly frozen solid - their eyes still moving around cartoonishly.

Discord stood there. Stationary, still His expression pained.
"I'm sorry. There - was no other way." He whispered.

A sickly laugh echoed out all around them. Much deeper, darker than Discord's laugh. It echoed over valleys, it echoed over hills - the world heard, and the world feared. Wriggling, writhing, he grinned a sickly grin at the assembled Spirits as he curled around the frozen Lord Berion.

"Hello world. What have I missed?" Entropy tilted his head to the side - before devolving into a fit of maddened cackling.

-

[1] Tempest

There are two creatures. One large, one small. Heat rolls off the large one in waves. She lays on her stomach, eyes half-lidded. The other creature is young. She is lost in thought. Her gaze is far away, not on its companion. The larger creature begins to speak-

Wind is just air pressure. High-pressure areas of air moving into areas of low pressure - because everything wants to reach an equilibrium, a balance, and Wind is not the exception. But this was no wind, no. Physically? Maybe. But no - in reality,

This was wrath.

Wrath, not wind was the force behind this. Whipping through the air like blades with the strength to tear anything in range apart. The trees, chained to the ground by a force as old as the mountains itself were torn from the ground, freed from their chains and splintering into fragments of wood. The ground was torn asunder, sprays of dirt and rock flying into the air and staining the ground. These kinds of things tended to happen when wind moved faster than the speed of sound. Few creatures could survive these kinds of winds. Almost all races would be ground up to dust. Unicorns and Rams would be able to fare slightly better by virtue of their active magic, but very few could survive for more than a handful of seconds at most. Pegasi and Gryphons would be able to survive for the longest, but even they would be torn apart soon after. The only creatures with a true hope of surviving would be those of draconic or divine origins. Dragons, Draconequi, Spirits, and of course, a Drakon. This little view into the future though is a bit ahead, and should as thus be placed in the back of your mind. For now.

If someone was to see a drakon, they would mistake it for a dragon. It would be no fault of theirs, until future examination. Scaled, large, angry, horned, and draconic in origin - they shared the same divine ancestor (all of the draconic, the wyverns, the dragons, the drakons, the serpents, etc, could all be traced back to the very first Elemental Spirits), but were both purely draconic in nature. They could be mistaken for divine entities, however. Some of the most powerful draconics were able to fight the weaker Spirits. The most notable difference would not be that drakons had four or six horns depending on gender, but rather the fact that drakons had no wings, and were often bulkier, stronger than a dragon, but with significantly less mobility as a result of their lack of wings. They lacked fire breath, although they were sometimes able to expel energy and spells from their mouth. A drakon mage was more common than a dragon, not by virtue of a larger magic pool - quite the contrary, dragons had more magic on average, but rather through their numerous horns which allowed them to expel large quantities of magic in smaller periods of time. A drakon has before released such a surge of power that it stunned even the more powerful Spirits briefly, with an emphasis on briefly.

There is another outlier on the list that is worth mentioning, and something that has been mentioned before and will be excessively referred back to. A Spirit.

A Spirit is not a race. There is no physical classification for what a Spirit is. A Spirit could be a ghost. A poltergeist. Or, the manifestation of something. The manifestation of Good. Of Evil. Love, Lust, Hatred, or - Discord. A Spirit is not born but rather created through the process of ascendancy. A creature becoming so massively powerful that it lights a spark of divinity that is present within every sapient and magical being, and it becomes a Spirit. A Spirit is not a god, but they are close and referred to as divines most of the time. They are ageless, yes. Powerful, immensely, although they are not omnipotent over their sphere. The Spirit of Mind cannot control Mind, for what is Mind? How do you control, how do you weaponize mind? Thought? Rather, they are given raw power attuned to certain things that suit their sphere. Mind control abilities, hive mind...et cetera. No, Queen Chrysalis is not the Spirit of Mind, but rather an overgrown emissary of Order. They are immortal, almost. But...unbeatable? No. Not in the slightest. Once, there were very many Spirits. Then, there were two. Now, there is a resurgence of them - but some have been utterly destroyed, their magic as equally eroded as their minds and physical bodies. The reason for this has been disputed massively, but I know the truth - which I will disclose momentarily. Some claim they aren't as resilient as thought. Some claim that a civil war tore them apart - this has an inkling of the truth. During the Fall, they were eradicated, and their civilizations with them. The entire world, ravished by a lack of leadership and the torment of their species.

The question has been on your tongue for a while now, I see it- the Fall. While it's something the remaining Spirits aren't very fond of talking about, it is an important part of history, despite how foggy the details are. Its name is as such because it is the end of the Golden Age of Liogella. A name you might not recognize - Equestria is not the only place there is. There are other continents, although they are admittedly ravaged by their own problems.

Once upon a time, there were Spirits for everything - the ground, the sky, the wind, the sun, the moon, life, death - There were as many spirits as abstract concepts, each with their own immense power. While, for example, the spirit of Sky was quite a powerful customer, there were some Spirits that were stronger. Harmony was one, although there is only so much Harmony that can exist, because of how widespread it was during the Golden Age, Harmony was as a result, perhaps the most powerful Spirit. Love and Hate were two particularly powerful ones if only because while there was a limit on how much earth there was in Liogella, there was not a limit for how much love or hate is in Liogella. And this small quirk of the Spirits, empowerment through their spheres, was what allowed an elderly, frail Spirit to lead to the destruction of almost the entire world.

I'm quite sure you, of all people, know of whom I refer to. Discord. The Spirit of Chaos. Chaos is an abstract thing, and because of how broad a subject it is that is what allowed Discord to be so powerful. A complete anarchic state and a small disagreement are all the same to the Chaos King, food. Fuel. Sustenance. Power. While they are different in scale - eating a steak is different from eating a grain of rice, you could still both call them "food." The broadness of his sphere means Discord can nearly never TRULY be killed. There will always be one person disagreeing with another, even in a near-perfect state of Harmony. And this is the eternal grapple that was engineered - Order, Chaos, and Harmony. Harmony can weaken both Order and Chaos, while only Absolute Order or Absolute Chaos can kill the other. The Equilibrium was designed - things were supposed to be in balance. Chaos and Order as weights on the scale of Harmony, although that analogy is not entirely accurate - more like two squabbling friends with a mediator to prevent one from hurting the other. But since Order is not Harmony, this allowed for Chaos to become more powerful, more rapidly when the first seeds - metaphorical, despite his history - of disharmony sprouted. No one really wants Absolute Order, who wants to be a mindless slave? Absolute Harmony would be nice, but it is sadly impossible. Absolute Chaos is cruel and unforgiving, and no one wants that, but they would prefer it over Order. The same way that someone would probably prefer a painless and quick death over a slow and painful one.

So when the Spirit of Order went missing, no one really bothered to look into it, examine the details. While Harmony had grown to her almost full strength, and Order had grown progressively weaker, only still in existence thanks to the Changelings and the fact that Spirits never die...which requires some more explanation before I continue. Spirits are magic imbued into physical forms. Their physical forms are resilient, and regenerate from almost anything - their magical forms are equally resilient but much, much harder to heal. Sometimes though, beings of enough power can destroy a Spirit's physical body. This is rare, and ineffective due to the fact that a Spirit - unless their magic is destroyed, which is impossible without destroying the concept of what they represent, will always reform in different skin. When Celestia ascended to Divinity, she gained with her memories of Apollo - although, fragmented due to the Fall. The same was with Artemis and Luna, and all the other reincarnated Spirits.

Discord's most notable weakness was petrifaction under the powers of Harmony. This does not splinter or destroy his mind, body or magic which would all lead to him reforming. He was Bound, as the term is. Weakened and unable to escape or move. This is how a Spirit was killed.

But this was discovered AFTER Order went missing. Spirits had never really hated their polar opposites enough to kill them and throw all of Liogella into a civil war. Discord and Order were perhaps the exceptions, so when Order disappeared it had been assumed that he was simply killed by another Spirit and would reform one day, take it a decade, a century, or even a millennium. In reality, Discord had Bound his rival, which let him grow without fear of opposition. Lying in wait, preying and snacking on the scraps of food he could find, before he pounced. And The Fall began.

Discord Bound Order, but he did not have the same mercy for the other Spirits. Discord was powerful at this time, but not omnipotent. Harmony still presented a threat to him, and a Spirit with enough power could destroy his physical body temporarily to allow the Spirits to divine a method to defeat him. He simply didn't have it in him to Bind all of the Spirits simultaneously - Binding Order had already weakened him significantly. So as he destroyed the bodies of his brethren, he also tore their mind asunder. A Spirit will always heal, given enough time and that their concept isn't destroyed, but the mind is a lot slower to heal than the body. And as Discord tore the memories out, he did not just damage the mind, but stole bits of it. Healing that would be like regenerating wings when you never had wings in the first place. Next to impossible. The Spirits forged Liogella over the course of centuries, but the War between Discord and the Spirits lasted only a month. Order was Bound, Harmony was sealed off from accessing the world, and the majority of Spirits were destroyed and their reincarnations would have too little of their memories to be a threat to Discord.

Sadly though, he had forgotten one Spirit and the biggest player in his game. The Spirit of War - grown powerful off Discord's battle against the Spirits. Another trait to mention about Spirits would be how a Spirit was not a unique race. Say a pony was to have a shard of divinity in them, they would be able to become a spirit. However, if a pony was to become a spirit, they would become the prime example of their race. This was what made the draconic Spirits so absurdly powerful and feared - not only was the Spirit of Fire able to control fire to an unmatched degree, by virtue of his divinity he would be stronger, larger, faster and more generally powerful than any other dragon that wasn't ascended. And so, my tangents all combine and intertwine together. Spirits, the Fall, and prime specimens. And most importantly - a drakon.

"And why are you telling me this?" A voice interrupted the large creature, eliciting a raise of an eyebrow from her.

"Why, little spirit," she began with a tone that showcased how obvious everything seemed to her, the tone one would take with a child, "this is where our story TRULY begins."

On average, if you put a drakon and a dragon in a fight, a dragon would come out on top. A dragon has more mobility by virtue of their wings, which lets them avoid the physical superiority of a drakon, and their resistance to magic and their own magical capabilities turn the odds in their favor so that a dragon will beat a drakon. But it would not be an easy fight. Drakons have less magical resistance, yes, but their scales are thicker and their bones are heavier. Their tails are longer and stronger, although without the tail blades of the dragons. So while a non-adult dragon can beat a non-adult drakon even an adolescent drakon was a threat to any non-draconic species. Although, if both the dragon and a drakon are adults of equal age, say about 2,000, then it would all depend on how skilled and how much raw power they had. If I was to guess, the Drakon King and the Dragon King himself, not one of the smaller Lords, if they fought off against each other then the Drakon King would win nine times out of ten by virtue of his higher rate of magic expulsion allowing for him to overcome the Dragon King's natural resistance to magic. The Dragon King wouldn't have enough magic to compete. Physical power wouldn't be a large factor into this battle, their scales were both nigh-impenetrable, although a dragon has slightly thinner scales.

Another thing worth mentioning would be the dragon and drakon government systems. The dragons were a lot more advanced in this regard compared to the drakons. While the drakon had one king that was determined by raw power that every drakon would have to report to, similar to the wyverns, the dragons had numerous "Lords" dotted all over Liogella that each reported to the one high Dragon King. The King was the oldest, non-senile dragon alive.

The reason for their absurd strength is the reason that all draconics are strong - that they are born in fire. And I do mean this literally. Each of the draconic are attuned to two of the four base elements - Earth, Air, Water, Fire. All draconics are attuned to Fire and an additional element. Earth and Fire is the formula that makes a drakon. Fire and Fire make a dragon - how this works is beyond even me. Fire and Water make a serpent, Fire, and Air makes a wyvern. The subclasses of serpents and wyverns - the draconequi, the quetzalcoatls, all are attuned to some sub-elements but they're not nearly as relevant. The Quetzalcoatls were gone so long ago that their existence is actually debatable. Sadly, they are very, very real. But all of these creatures are draconic, and were born in fire - the eggs and wombs of all female draconics are filled with liquid as hot as lava. The details of why this happens are beyond me, I've never cared to look into my own biology, but the effects of it are noticeable. Stronger, heat resistant draconics.

My birth was unspectacular. There was no surge of magic, a celestial event, prophecy or oracle, special visitor or any unique circumstances - rather, my father fertilized my mother, who laid eight eggs in a cave. This was probably the most noticeable feature of my birth, eight eggs were uncommon. Not unheard of, but merely uncommon. The usual amount was five, and the highest ever recorded was twenty. So while this was notable, it wasn't especially special. Inside the egg, I was barely sapient, only able to feel three things. Warmth, my eggshell, and magic. I was the first to hatch - a small, scaleless and pink-fleshed drakon that was especially on the runty side. Six stumps on my head where my horns would eventually grow.

My mother was the first person who was affectionate towards me. Making sure I was comfortable, helping me carve the stone into a place to rest. She was silent, for what needed to be said? Saying "I love you," would be irrelevant for that love was evident through her actions. The fact that she cared for me and didn't feed me to the wolves (a metaphor, the wolves were reclusive and weren't fond of eating sapients) was proof of her love enough. The first time my mother had spoken to me was after all my siblings had hatched over the course of my first month. A drakon is born defenseless, with no magic or no scales. They cannot move or live unassisted. Over one month, their scales grow in and they are able to move,.My scales were a pearly white, a stark contrast to the lava red of my mothers. And as such, my mother turned to me when my scales had finished growing, and spoke-

"Help." And what else could I do but oblige? My mother had cared for me, dedicated her time to me. I couldn't say no, even if I wanted to. My mother had to lead me to a forest near our cave and taught me how to hunt. I'd be lying if I said I was fascinated by hunting, and I'd be lying still if I said I was particularly gifted at it. It was something done out of necessity. My mother taught me not to hunt for fun, not to satisfy an urge to kill or to test myself, but rather to kill what I needed and nothing more. My scales had grown in, but they were still a bit on the softer side. Despite this, they were still able to withstand the force of most non-sapient creatures, and especially with my mother's aid, I was able to hunt effectively enough. Lack of magic made it more difficult, but it wasn't especially challenging. To spare you the details - my mother and I hunted some wild boar together, and then allowed me, under her supervision, to gather a rabbit for myself. She brought back a meal for herself alone too, some kind of large eel.

I and my mother returned home to the sleeping hatchlings, my mother using a spell of flame to cook the meat and the scent of the food wafting into the sensitive noses of the drakelings. A drakeling is not just a dragon, mind you - a wyvern child, a quetzalcoatl child, a windigo child, a drakon child, a dragon child, all draconic children are under the term "drakelings." We laid the food for the hatchlings to eat, cutting it into smaller pieces before letting them tear at it with their mouths and claws, their legs quivering under their own weight as they struggled to move. I looked up at my mother, and she looked down at me. She cared for me, and I cared for her. That was our relationship. What point in there were words? It has always been strange to me that ponies express so much of their emotion in words, art, and poetry. A concept I don't think I'll ever get, even my age, as great as it is.

Sadly, this was not meant to be forever. As the dawn of my second year of life grew, I was the oldest, but still the smallest of my brethren. We had relocated to a cave closer to Mt. Draelos, a mountain with caverns filled with crystal and surrounded on two sides by forest. Half the forest was forbidden to go to, under the order of the drakon King himself, King Bellum. The reason for this had something to do with the mystic chains that surrounded each of the trees, binding them to the ground, and resulting in the quirk that every aspect of the forest was controllable and malleable. The clouds could be moved, the weather controlled...in Bellums eyes, this was a perversion of nature and adapting to this way of life would make the drakons weaker as a species.

Ah, yes, forgive me, little Spirit. My old mind wanders to unimportant details. I was the oldest, but still the smallest of my brethren, now in Mt. Draelos, the central hub for all drakons. While my six brothers and one sister were off playing with the other drakon litters, I had remained faithfully by my mothers' side. While I had affection for all of my brethren, especially my sister and my littlest brother, that affection was almost out of necessity. The only true love I felt would be the love I felt for my mother, much to her...disappointment. And then one day, while I was sitting by her side, she walked into her cavern room and used a boulder to block me from entering. I thought it to be cruel at the time, but now? I see the value in her actions.

So, I took to exploring. There was no danger anywhere nearby save for the Chained Forest, which was strictly forbidden. I crawled amongst the mountainside, looking and exploring for caves filled with my brethren - not my siblings, but others of my species until I reached the summit and found three drakonesses resting under the shade of a tree.

Drakons have no names until they have earned their names. My mother - Pulsera, earned her name by creating a spell of luminescence. Bellum earned his name through the Draconic Wars, a full-fledged conflict of the most powerful draconic species fighting against one another, with the drakons only surviving through Bellum's prowess and strategy. I did not have my name earned at this time, so as I rested down on my stomach by the other drakonesses I did not introduce myself. Rather, I opened with a simple greeting. My mother was not talkative, nor was the rest of my family, but all drakons are born with full knowledge of the draconic tongue. The ponies...I believe a permanent spell of All-Speak is placed on them when they earn their mark, but that is beside the point. The details of the conversation are lost to me, but it had a great big deal to do with food, and what tasted best with what. The talk of food had left a hunger deep within our bellies - not out of necessity, but out of wanting. While two of the drakonesses stood up, I and another one looked at each other uncomfortably. We had likely been taught the same way - not to hunt out of want. Purely out of need. As the two drakonesses left, I turned to the remaining drake and spoke. This conversation I remember vividly, for how could I not?

"I'm hungry," I spoke quietly. She nodded. "I am too." And we were silent for a time, staring at one another. She was taking in my white scales, while I examined her light red scales. Not quite pink, but not quite red. They were quite nice. After a moment, I spoke once more. "Do you have a name?" She was surprised for a moment before she shook her head. "No. I am Sogrisdottir." The daughter of Sogris - a name I vaguely recognized. I tilted my head to the side, an unsaid exchange going between us. "A royal mage. You might have heard of him." My eyes widened. A drakon mage was not unheard of, quite the contrary. Some of the greatest mages in history were drakons. But they were still highly valued for their wisdom and their magical prowess. "I am Pulseradottir," I added after a moment of stunned silence. She tilted her head to the side, thinking for a moment before she shrugged. "I don't recognize her. I'm sorry." I shrugged. "It's fine." No, my mothers' name wasn't well recognized or important. That didn't matter to me.

That was the part of the conversation I remembered best. From that perspective, too - that was the first time I had truly bonded with someone that wasn't my mother, and through which I learned the value of conversation. While expressing feelings with words is still irrelevant to me, meaningless, I can understand the value in communication and learning. Sogrisdottir and I rested there in silence, not speaking any more for there was nothing that needed to be said. My eyes wandered to the azure sky, the pearly white clouds and the green lands below us. And for the first time in my life- I saw beauty.

It was almost enough to make me ignore the growing dread in my stomach.

It had been a long, long time since I met Sogrisdottir. Or at the least, it seemed like a long time. Compared to now, it would just be a blink. Time is such a strange thing. A powerful force, but what truly is it? It is even a force? I don't believe I've met the Spirit of Time, or heard of them. Is it just a concept that the races created? If so, then how would time travel spells work? ...Forgive me, my mind wanders still - this is not relevant. It had been a long time since I met Sogrisdottir. We were both still young drakonesses at the time. Sogrisdottir was only at nine years of her life, while I had just hit my tenth. The first fifteen years of a drakons life are the most important of all. Over a month, a drakon gains the ability to walk and their scales. Their ability to speak during their first year. They continue to grow rapidly until their tenth year, where their horns sprout and their magic is accessible, and where growth continues steadily but slowly.

Males and female drakons both have horns, but males only have four while females have six. There are some other slight differences noting between males and females - males have larger magic pools, fewer horns to cast from, and are generally larger and more physically powerful. Females have smaller magic pools but more horns to cast from, but their claws are sharper and tails are stronger and prehensile. However, females tend to be more aggressive than the males and guard their young in the same manner a dragon would guard their hoard.

I was on a hunt when it happened. My littlest brother, Loris, who had earned his name early for being a prankster was sick and required food. My mother asked me, the eldest, to help. Not with words, however. My mother rarely spoke. Rather, she just looked at me, and that was all I needed. Loris was small, even smaller than me which was strange considering my premature hatching and the fact that I was a drakoness. His favorite food was cow and rabbit, so I planned to get him one of both. The rabbits I chased down easily enough, but during the cows is when it happened. As I pinned the cow down to the ground, preparing to tear its throat out...I felt the worst pain I had ever felt in my life at the time. Concentrated at the bumps at the top of my head, I likely would have been able to recognize what it was if it wasn't for the excruciating pain. My screams must have been loud and long, for when my mother came to me my throat tasted of iron and my senses were alight with flame. I could feel the energy sparking off of me, running down my scales and sparking off my flesh. My vision began blackening before I saw two large figures come into view. Light red scales, and vibrant blue scales. And then I saw nothing.

It wasn't somewhere familiar that I woke up. Not any place I knew, but I did know the other drakons there. I was laying down on a bed of rock that had been carved into the ground, my head resting on a "pillow," a soft cushion that the ponies used to rest their heads on. Strange, but it was a better alternative than having my horns scrape against the rock. As I weakly moved to push myself up, a strong voice called out to me.

"Hail, Pulseradottir." My eyes moved upwards as my muscles failed me and I collapsed onto my stomach. A large drakon, even larger than my mother of four hundred years of life. He was a bit on the scrawnier side, however. He had five horns - strange, drakons almost always had four or six, which depended on gender. Stranger still was the fact that he had wings.

Drakons did not have wings. The same way unicorns did not have wings - but Winged Unicorns existed, halfbreeds between Unicorns and Pegasi. The active magic of a Unicorn and the flight of a Pegasus. Dragoons were rare, probably the rarest subspecies of draconics but they were not entirely unheard of, but to meet one in the flesh was breathtaking. This also explained the fifth horn in the center of his head. Dragons almost always had two horns, but a single horn or a third horn in the center of the head similar to a unicorn was common enough that it wouldn't be shocking or breathtaking to see it.

"Your horns have grown in." He nodded. "How do you feel?" His head tilted to the side inquisitively. I was silent for a moment before I managed to force the words out of me - "mm...uhm. Ow." Internally, I smacked myself on the head, and externally I winced at the thought of smacking my sensitive horns. The dragoon's lips curled into a smile as he laughed. "Yes, ow is what I imagined you'd feel. But I'd like you to be a bit more precise than that." I nodded in response, mouth still slightly parted at the shock of seeing a dragoon and speaking for the first time in Maker knows when.

"Do you feel your magic?" He stated it like it was simple, but the question confused me. Yes, I had magic. All creatures had magic - a week without magic and a creature would die, their organs failing before they melted into soup. But then I paused as I considered the terms of the question. Do you feel your magic? I hadn't ever felt something inside me before. Was I supposed to? Was he speaking about the pool of magic that creatures use through active magic? I searched within myself and felt something. I felt that same thing flow through me, pulse through my body and leak out through my horns, a spark striking the air and smelling like ozone. The dragoon stared at me before nodding. "I'll take that as a yes." I nodded in response once more.

I don't remember exactly what happened next. He seemed interested especially in what I felt, but asking someone who just gained a sixth sense what they were feeling would be like asking a blind person to describe sight to you. This leads to the questions taking a long time, but the Dragoon didn't seem to mind. I do vividly remember what he said to me afterward, though.

"My name is Sogris. You're probably quite confused so I'll explain to you exactly what happened. Your horns came in early - surprisingly early. Early enough to warrant me coming to investigate. Only two days after your tenth year of life. Your horns are abnormally sensitive, and using magic will probably hurt you until your scales grow in around the ley." Ley was the reason that horns were able to use magic. They were thin, crystalline structures that were able to channel magic. Scales grew around their bases and keratin around their shafts in the draconics, but ley itself was very sensitive. It's why snapping the horn of a unicorn is that painful. "Your hold on your body-" I probably looked confused, so he took the time to explain, "the latent magic protection that prevents you from being killed internally or moved telekinetically, has also developed early."

"What does this all mean?" I spoke out, finally able to form a coherent sentence. Sogris fluttered his wings as he stared down at me. "Your source has already developed a clear affinity. Air, Chaos, Light. You're going to get your name."

Magic is composed out of ten elements, in three groups. Fire, Earth, Water, Air, are the base elements. Astral, Chaos, Void, Order are the mystic elements. Light and Darkness are pure elements. Each species' source, their internal pool of magic is attuned to three of these elements, one from each type. The surprising thing about this is that affinity didn't develop until magic had been used for the first time, but for some reason mine had. I didn't know what to make of this. Furthermore, my name was about to be given to me. A drakon's name is something of great importance, a process the King oversees himself.

So my mind and body reached an agreement to do the reasonable thing, and I fainted.

This time when I awoke, I knew exactly where I was, and that frightened me much more than not. I was in the Hall of Names, the cavern from where King Bellum himself was born. The Hall was impossibly smooth, the walls lined with thick marble with golden runes carved into them. The ground was made of large, equally thick pale limestone tiles. I pushed myself up to my full height, still significantly smaller than the marble pillars with eternal golden flames upon them that lined the pathway. And at the end of the pathway, I saw him. The pathway leads up to stairs where the drakon would sit as their name was given to them, their mother by their side - and their King in front of them.

To call him massive would be an understatement. Drakelings were the size of cats, drakes the size of ponies, and a drakon the size of a house. I was in the sweet spot between a drake and a drakon. My mother was significantly larger than this, about 100 feet tall. Bellum was probably more than ten times her size, absolutely massive and likely unable to leave the Hall of Names due to his sheer size. His jaws were something out of a nightmare, the force that crushed mountains, claws so wickedly sharp that looking at them could cut you. His scales were a blood red, four curled horns with rings around them on his head and his eyes. His eyes were pure red save for their pupils, which were pinpricks of pure white. His left eye was slightly duller than his right eye, and scratches adorned his scales. His voice rumbled throughout the cavern, shaking it as he spoke - "Come, and stand before me so that I may gaze upon your features unassisted. My eyes are old, girl, older than you can know." His voice was angry, but clearly not at anything. It seemed to be angry that just existed for the sake of anger. Despite how loud his voice was, it was clear that he was speaking calmly without letting the anger change his volume. But despite this, I was scared. King Bellum was a figure of myth.

He was said to be the physical incarnation of hatred and war itself. He was said to be the reason the ponies feared the draconics, and why the dragons were weak and in hiding. He was claimed to have single-handedly wiped the draconequi off the map, then the quetzalcoatl too. His power and presence were said to be so great that the Maker herself had to put an end to it.

But my King had given me an instruction, my mother staring at me silently while waiting for me to comply. So comply I did. With quivering legs and a pain atop my crown, I began slowly walking towards Bellum and my mother. His eyes began to lose their glow, their pupils turning black and the sclera turning white. His irises were still a vibrant red. And he began to examine me. I could feel his sight on me, crawling over my skin and taking in each detail of my body. He nodded, smirked, and spoke.

"I know who you are. You don't, yet, but you will. I see it written upon your magic, upon your essence, upon your bones and scales and eyes. You will bring tremendous destruction-" my flesh paled at this, my eyes wide, "but not for destruction's sake, rather for that is your nature. You will bring destruction, and destruction will bring change, and change will lead to peace. I see it, yes, I see it in you." My joints were locked, my eyes gazing on Bellum as he rose up to full height. The cavern cracked and rumbled, my mother stepping back and as for the first time in a long time, Bellum's neck rose up and his head reached the top of the cavern.

"I, Bellum Droksson of the Endless Blood, name YOU, Tempest." He roared out thunderously, with such volume that I was actually pushed backward. His eyes shut as his horns began glowing. "Be gentle, but strong. Be kind, but fierce. Be flexible, but stalwart. Do these things, Tempest Pulseradottir, and you will bring honor to the drakons."

I didn't know what to say. Clearly, my mother didn't either, as she nodded at the king then took me and left.

And this,

"is where our story truly begins." The large being spoke. "You've already said that." Her companion stated, arching an eyebrow.

"Ah. Have I?" The draconic said as she stroked her chin with two claws. The draconic looked a bit downfallen. But ever the optimist, she perked back up, eyes glowing as she spoke with renewed vigor.

"But that was merely an exaggeration, little princess. This is where our story does TRULY begin. For it was this after my name was given to me, my magic began to grow and my life would change forever more." The draconic spoke. The pony leaned in closer, a quill forming as the spirit listened intently.

"For this is my story." Tempest spoke. For Tempest was her name.

TRANSCRIBED BY THE ORDER OF HER ROYAL MAJESTY CELESTIA INDOMITA, THE UNCONQUERED SUN

Queen of Storms
A story by Via

-

Author's Note

Here we go.

I think it was 2014 when I originally wrote a shitty, godawful story called the King of Storms. That became the King of Storms (Rewrite,) which became the King of Storms (II,) then I abandoned it. But it was always nagging at the back of my mind - so I decided to revisit it, keep a general concept but dramatically change the details of the story. I hope that people enjoy it.

[9] Olympian

Olympian

Apollo, Serenity, Artemis. Thank you for your gift.

The air here is strange. It's thick and heavy - like walking through syrup. The ground underneath me is soft and pink, fine strands of wispy sugar sticking to my scales and changing their colors. My scales turn black. My scales turn pink. My scales turn yellow, they turn any color but white. There's a faint hint of wispy vanilla that permeates the air, and there's the taste of iron in my mouth. Blood streams from it, and as I look down I see the corpses of the alicorns that I ate. Apollo has Celestia's face, and Artemis has Luna's face. Serenity's charred corpse has the face of that young little colt, who I had come so close to eating in cold blood. I scream, but my mouth is gone and I have no more mouth to scream with anymore.

There's a strong taffy scent, like candy. A strong smell of berry - a much fainter one of salt, but my nose can pick it up. I see his monstrous, distorted face - slightly draconic, primarily equine. I see his coiled body that ripples with sinewy muscle, and in some places it's so thin it looks like he could snap at any moment. His lips are faintly curled, his predator teeth shown and his eyes, his eyes. I see the pink and red and yellow spark off of him. He lunges forward and his teeth dig into my neck. I try to scream, I try to do anything but I can't. He overpowers me, and just as I die in front of him he whispers into my ear, softly, ever so softly-

I wake up, panting heavily. I feel icy cold, although I know I'm not. Luna and Celestia are cuddling with one another in their sleep. Luna is resting with her back against my soft underbelly. My tail is curled tightly around a tree, so tightly that some of the bark has peeled off. Flames dance around my claws and my horns, and there's this tightness in me. Slowly - muscle by muscle, it begins to fade. I let out a long overdue breath, and feel a weight rise off of my chest.

Another nightmare. And another day of travelling.

The settlement was in view now. The two of them were still asleep. I'm not sure how many days we've been moving for sure - but soon after leaving the town where we had been we - or really, I, decided that we had to move. Being in an area where Chaos Beasts and Timber Wolves had attacked, not to mention being directly over a ley-line...that made me uncomfortable. It was too noisy, for lack of a better word.

I didn't know exactly where we were going at first, but I...borrowed a map from the ruined village nearby. After about an hour I was able to figure out, more or less where the nearest town was - and we had started heading there. Travelling was much slower for both of us. I wasn't able to go at my own pace, and they weren't able to chain-teleport via Starswirl. But it was safe - the most dangerous thing was Luna almost being attacked by wolves. But overall, it was quiet, and it was slow.

But I didn't know what I was doing. I was putting on a facade, a farce to keep them secure. Starswirl left me with a "train them, guide them" as his only instructions. Did he expect me to shelter them for the hundreds of years it would take them to mature? If they weren't allowed to use magic, how could they fight against Discord without any training?

But they weren't alone, were they? There were more Spirits, according to King Gryphus. "Somewhere - the Spirit of Harmony and the Spirit of Order Exist. Find. Them. " Those were his words. The Spirit of Harmony and the Alicorn of Order. So what did I know about them?

The Spirit of Harmony is a tree. Her sphere is Harmony, Peace, Calm, Individuality. All of the years of peace lead to her becoming absurdly powerful - potentially more-so than Discord. Discord seemed to have waited until she rooted herself. I vaguely recall something about her not always being a tree, but that doesn't matter - right now, she is a tree. She rooted herself in a hidden location to prevent herself from abusing her power. Harmony possesses the power to weaken Discord and to weaken Order - but it can't kill either of them.
The Spirit of Order is an alicorn. His sphere is Order, Control, Absolute Unity, Conformity. He was one of the weakest Spirits, as his sphere was rarely seen - only seen in nature, most of the time. He's supposedly able to kill Discord, and Discord is able to kill him - but he's not dead. Missing, but not dead.

So what does that give me? Nothing, at first glance. Harmony is rooted, and Order is MIA. But...Order. The Spirit of Order is an alicorn. All alicorn Spirits belong to, or belonged to the Alicorn Pantheon - where they made their home at Olympus. Potentially, there was a clue to his whereabouts there? Unlikely, but at the very least there'd be information about him there. So that'd be my first stop.

But what would I do when I found him? He was weak. Very, very weak. Well - he was still probably strong enough to literally melt me with a blink, but he was weak relatively. Maybe he'd be able to counteract Discord's ability to detect magic? That would be-

Luna prodded my chest with a hoof. "Ms. Drag- Drakon!" She said loudly. "Are you there?" She squinted and tilted her head to the side.
I blinked and looked down at her. "...Hm. Oh. Yeah I'm..." I shut my eyes and cleared my throat. I nodded. "I was thinking."
"I've said your name like...a bajillion times!" She stomped her hooves and humphed at me.
"What is it?"
"I'm hungry." I frowned. When was the last time they had eaten? Wasn't it a few hours ago- no. They didn't have food today. The last time they ate was before they went to bed. Great job, Tempest. Maybe Discord will get lucky and you'll accidentally starve the Spirits to death. You'd spare him the work of actually killing them.
I nodded at her. "I'll get you something to eat."

It took us another twenty minutes to get there. There being a small town that was distant enough from any nearby leylines. The two had eaten a small "salad" that I had made that wasn't very substantial. They were standing behind me now as I entered a group of trees that were tightly packed, just underneath a small rocky outcrop that was covered in grass. Here was where we'd set up a more permanent camp - we'd probably spend a day or two here. It was nearby to a town, so we had access to resources - magical tomes for me, more filling food for them, and potentially other useful supplies like bowls, plates, and blankets. Of course - it was awkward for me to stand in there already, so some work had to be done. I quickly strung together a bunch of glyphs in my head.

Ter was the glyph for earth. Terraforming spells were incredibly mana-draining - so shaping the earth directly was out of the question. I'd have to remove the trees as opposed to flattening the outcrop. I don't think my air blade was sharp enough to slice through wood, and while I could do it with my teeth? Honestly, I just wanted to do it with magic. I hadn't used magic in a while. The glyph for Nature was a compound glyph, Virter, a fusion of Life - Virtrus, and Earth - Ter.

Mys, Virter...then what? What did I want to do with these trees? I wanted them gone. I could put in a Destrum, which would make it Magic - Destroy Nature. But that would destroy nature, not just trees. If there was a way to limit it to trees...if I could make it ignore anything else - oh. Yes. Ignum. Ignore. I could make it ignore things. The method through which it ignored something - going through it, or just avoiding it could be changed with intent. So Mys, Virter, Ignum...Mys? I could make a magical "cylinder" of sorts around a tree, and destroy it just like that. Although, I would have to state the method of destruction. Mys, Destrum, Virter, Destrum, Fyrd, Ignum [A], Mys. Magic - Destroy Nature through Destructive Fire that Ignores [Avoids] Magic.

I had two things to do, and four horns to do it with. I let magical energies flow through my ley - two of my horns created and maintained an invisible magical cylinder around a tree, while the other two filled that space with destructive magic. The tree began to melt into a puddle of fluid. This was quite taxing on my magical supplies - I would have enough to do it to each and every tree, but it would leave me tired.

After about twelve minutes, all the trees were gone except two. I had enough magic to probably melt them, but I was running low enough and I still had more to do. I had scratched my magical itch and stretched my magical muscle. It was enough for me. I held up my tail and channeled a bit of magic into the spike at the end of it, to unflatten the spike. Luna stepped backwards. Celestia flinched and stumbled backwards, using a hoof to push Luna behind her protectively. I squatted down awkwardly and stared at the tree, before shooting my tail forward and anchoring myself by digging my claws into the ground. The blade effortlessly cut into the soft wood of the tree. I wiggled it side to side a little bit, and it awkwardly started to fall over. I lunged to catch the tree before it fell down and hit something.

I'll save you the rest of the detail - but more or less, I...skinned, I suppose, the trees, gathered some rocks and made a small firepit with a bundle of firewood, and a spot for them to sit at. I also had it so I could comfortably curl around the entire camp. I'm not sure how large I was by then, but I'd guess...almost thirty feet? I was a good bit longer then I was taller though. As they settled in, the sun began to set and the moon began to rise. I rested my head against that aforementioned outcrop and watched as Luna and Celestia settled in by the base of my tail.

"What do you two know about Spirits?" I tilted my head to the side and stared at them. I opened my mouth, and through the ley present in my tongue I channeled a bit of magic. A ray of fire left my maw, the logs bursting into a roaring flame. The faint crackling hiss of burning wood, coupled with the scent of ash rose up into the air.

Celestia opened her mouth to start, but was quickly interrupted by Luna. "They have wings and horns and we're them and so is Discord but he's a mean one." She spat out rapid-fire.
"You're...not wrong. But they're more than that." I turned to Celestia. "You?"
"They embody something. I embody the Sun, and Luna embodies the Moon. Only some people can be them. They...reincarnate? And there's the Spirit of Chaos, who wants us...gone. Because he...um." Pause. "Starswirl never told us why."
I nodded. "So not a lot.

When someone is born - they have a chance that they can have something that people call a Shard of the FIrst Divinity - or usually just a Shard of Divinity in them. And that Shard can activate if you have enough magic, or if you do something that's...great, I guess. Like...the Spirit of Peace. She ascended after she convinced a dragon to spare her village during the earlier years." Celestia shivered. I blinked and looked at her, but her face was untelling and she wasn't looking at me with her eyes. I squinted, then continued.

"Spirits don't embody something - rather, they represent it. You aren't the Sun, but rather a representation of the Sun. You aren't the Moon, but rather a representation of the Moon. Spirits draw power from their spheres - the more love there is, the stronger the Spirit of Love would be. The more hate, the stronger the Spirit of Hate would be. A sphere is everything that you represent. So say, the Spirit of the Sun." I turned to look at Celestia.

"The Sun represents Light, Vision, the literal Sun, Heat, Fire...and you represent all of those things. But if someone ascends to say, becoming the Spirit of Fire - the Spirit of Fire now represents Fire, and you just represent everything else I just listed. But no one can take the Sun from you - the Sun will always be yours. You draw power from the Sun, but only a tiny bit of power from everything else. So much that it's basically negligible."

"What does neg-lidge-bowl mean?" Luna chimed in.
"It means insignificant. That you can basically ignore it." I explained. She nodded, satisfied with my answer.

"There are five Spirits that are particularly special though. People call them the Essential Spirits. Life, Death, Discord, Harmony, Order. Life is the original Spirit. She's an Alicorn - like you two. Or, was? I'm not sure. From Life, came Death. And from Life and Death came Discord, Harmony, and Order. Life and Death were so powerful though, that they left this planet and haven't been seen since. Discord, Harmony, and Order are the only remaining essential Spirits. Discord can hurt Order and Harmony. Order can hurt Discord, and Harmony. Harmony can't hurt either of them, but can weaken both of them. She's...she manages them, basically."

"There were plenty of other Spirits, though. And each Spirit remembers details with their past lives-"
"I don't remember any past lives though." Luna frowned.
"I don't have any memories that aren't my own." Celestia added in.
An icy dagger of empty fear raced through me. Did...potentially eating the corpses...did that interfere with their memories? Did-
I didn't know that for sure. I couldn't think about that. I couldn't think like that.
"You'll probably start remembering them soon." I nodded. The two were silent.

"Each Spirits remembers details of their past lives - so usually, they group up and form factions. And mortal people-" Luna looked confused, "people who aren't ageless like Spirits - Spirits stop aging after a little bit...they grouped Spirits up into their own...scientific groups. Most of the Spirits are gone now - you two are the only left. That's what Starswirl said, right?"
Celestia nodded.
"What if I told you...that you aren't?"
Luna looked even more confused, but was silent. Celestia blinked slowly. "...we aren't?"
"But Starswirl said that all the other Spirits were gone." Luna added.

"Well - not entirely. Order can hurt Discord. Harmony can weaken Discord. One day - Harmony decided she was too powerful, so she rooted herself. I don't know what happened to Order - but King Gryphus told me that he knew Order wasn't gone. Order and Harmony are still around. The two Spirits who can damage Discord the most. What if...we could find them?"

"Where are they?" Celestia shot up, her eyes filling with hope.
"I don't know." I winced slightly as the hope in her eyes faded. "But - I do have an idea as to where we can find out. Olympus. Order was - or, is, an Alicorn. He operated from the Pantheon. At the very least there'd be more information there."
"So...we're going to Olympus?" Celestia said slowly.
"Auntie always told me how pretty it was!" Luna stood up and began to walk in circles around Celestia. "When are we leaving? Can we leave now? Why did we come here if we were going to Olympus?"
"We need things from this town. I need to learn more magic. You two need real food. And we wouldn't have to keep eating on flat rocks - we could get bowls, plates, new blankets, water, drinks."
Luna squinted. "Why are we here, instead of in the town though?"
"Because people are scared of me. It happens, when you're as large as me. And also happen to look like a dragon. We'll wait until night-fall to go into the town."
"Why until night?" Luna said.
"Like I said, people are scared of me. I don't want them trying to hurt me, or worse - trying to take you two away, thinking they're helping you. They’ll sleep during the night." Luna frowned for a second. That was part of the truth. The whole truth included the fact that they were Spirits. I didn't want anyone taking advantage of them. “

"I'm not scared of you!" Luna said triumphantly. She stood up. "I'm an unstoppable force! Nothing can beat me." Celestia rolled her eyes and giggled softly at her sister.
"Oh, are you sure about that?" I tilted my head to the side. I grinned at her.
"Mhm!" She said. I reached over with my tail, flattened the spike on it so it didn't cut her and tipped her over. She squeaked and flailed as she rested on her side. "N-no fair! Cheater!" She yelled.
"All is fair in love and war." I grinned at her.

The rest of that night went by quickly. They cuddled by the fire, and I told them stories of some Spirits that I had read about. We added some wood to the fire, and the two drifted off to sleep - leaving me alone with my thoughts.

I picked them up and rested them on my back, taking great care not to wake them up, before I left the camp. I wormed my way slowly through the trees, making sure not to knock a small one over or to bump into one and knock them off. After about an awkward five minutes, I was out of the forest, and heading towards the town. I'm sure I'd be quite the sight - an alabaster "dragon" (I use the term dragon because that's what I'd be mistaken for,) with rings on her horns, two children on her back, covered in armor. Although - not really covered. My horns were defended, my tail had a weapon on it, and my paws were covered. That was about the extent of it. I suppose I didn't really need armor though? The scales of a drakon were stronger than dragon scales. I was basically immune to purely physical attacks. Magical-physical attacks...I'm not sure.

In terms of magical tomes - I'm not sure entirely what I was looking for. I wanted to learn more about artificing, golemancy, illusions, and storm magic. Storm magic was genuinely fascinating, and channeling it made me feel powerful. Which made sense, considering how my affinity was perfect for it. Illusions would be a useful tool for hiding and masking myself if I needed to do something in the future - and while artificing was quite simple, it could become very advanced and complicated. Having some useful artifacts would be...well. Useful, as the name implies.

I quickly crawled up on-top of a building. I didn't rest my entire weight on there, but just my chest and head so I could look around better. The town was quite small, but was pretty close together. I began to circle it, peaking into each and every building - there was no one visible in the dark, let alone anyone awake. I didn't have very good night vision compared to say, a gryphon, but it was probably better than an average pony. After some more searching, I finally found what I was looking for - a quite large building filled with books. I squinted as I realized I was too large to fit inside.

I laid down flat on the grassy floor and used a bit of magic to pick up Celestia and Luna. I was able to telekinetically move them for one reason - they trusted me. Celestia was much harder to move than Luna, but Luna trusted me, so her hold subconsciously leaned into my magic, for lack of a better term. I set them both down and turned to look at them. "Wake up." I said in a low tone. Not a whisper, but just speaking quietly. Celestia stirred slightly. Luna woke up and blinked. She looked around confusedly. "...huh...?" She squinted. She then looked up at me and her eyes widened, before she yawned and stretched and calmed down.

"Where are we?"
"By a library. I need you to go inside." Pause. "You can read, right?" I tilted my head to the side.
"Mm...yeah..." She murmured. She rubbed her eyes with her hoof. "Why can't you go inside?"
"I'm...too big." I said. I turned my head. I was thankful for my scales that hid my blush.
Luna kneeled down and shook Celestia awake. Celestia's eyes opened and she blinked a few times before quickly shooting up. She looked around. "WHere...oh." She cleared her throat, straightened her posture and looked up at me.
"I need you two to go inside of the library. I'm too large."
"What do you need from it?" Celestia's eyes met mine for a second. Luna was shaking her head to wake herself up fully.
"Magic books. On artificing, golemancy, illusion, and storms."
"Arti-whatting?" Luna squinted.
"Artificing. A, R, T, I, F, I, C, I, N, G." I spelled out for them. "It has to do with the creation of...useful magic tools, basically. Can you two do that?"
Luna looked down. "...I'm hungry."
"I'll do it." Celestia said. "Take Luna and go find food." She said.
I nodded at her, and scooped up Luna in one of my arms. I held her to my chest. She rested against me. I crawled around the outskirts of the town until I came across a house that particularly larger than the rest - I made sure I was still within thirty seconds, magically assisted, and hearing distance of the library. I set Luna down.

Mys, Virtrus, Lusm. Magic, Life, Light. Light, in addition to meaning literal light, could also be used to mean see, or view, or vision, or knowledge. The spell I cast was Magic - View Life. I saw small little pulses of energy come from within other buildings, as well as coming from Luna - and from the library, Celestia. They were all white, except for Luna's, which was blue, and Celestia's, which was gold. There were two life signs coming from within the building, from within the same room. Hm.

I opened up my mouth and channeled a small heat ray through the ley in my tongue. I burnt a hole through the wall of the house, then using a gust of wind to put it out. I took the bag of holding off from my neck, and then quickly used a bit of magic to put a rune of Cyrd on it. Everything inside of it would be rapidly cooled. I handed the bag to Luna and kneeled down. "Go inside." I said very, very softly. Whispers were louder than talking softly, due to the sharp hiss of air you get from whispering. "Eat, and get some food for your sister. Put as much food as you can inside of that bag. It'll fit, okay?"
Luna nodded. I picked her up with my tail and moved her inside of the house.

My eyes shot up as something came to my attention - the white pulse that had just entered the library. A pit of dread formed in my stomach. Any attention right now was severely unwanted.

I turned to look at Luna. The ponies inside of that building were asleep, most-likely. So I could go to Celestia, or I could stay here under the idea that Celestia would be fine - she was the older sister after all. But Luna trusted me. If I went after Celestia to get her and left her, I might betray that trust. But at the same time, Celestia didn't trust me, and I could gain her trust.

I turned to Luna. She was looking through the cabinets - she would be too slow. I growled, and lit my horns up with magic. I picked up Luna and floated her away. She looked at me confusedly. "What are you-"
I then quickly pulled her onto my back and set her down on there, before - quite noisily - I tore the cabinets off and floated them in a telekinetic glow. I then began to sprint towards the library on all fours, using magic to keep Luna on my back and bringing the food cabinets with me. I basically had a portable kitchen. I could see the pulses quickly moving down to the hole in the wall as I turned to glance at it - but that wasn't important right now.

"W-what's going on?" Luna said fearfully.
"There are people by Celestia. I'm going to get her so we can leave."

I slid to a stop by the library and peeked inside. I didn't see Celestia, but I did see a unicorn stallion with his gaze turned away from me. He quickly turned to look at me. His eyes slowly widened and he let out an incredibly loud scream. I rolled my eyes, and watched as a bolt of magic quickly threw itself at me. It was an incredibly simple spell - it was Mys, Fres, probably. I didn't even have to block or dodge. But as the spell hit me, there was an awful sound like a bomb going off, and an explosion of energy that broke some of my scales. I fell down, steam rising from my chest as I looked at the unicorn fearfully. He looked just as confused as I felt.

"Tempest!?" Luna yelled. "Are you okay?"

I grunted at her in response as I pushed myself up. I lit my horns up and channeled a simple spell of Mys, Somn, and Fres. I threw the force-bolt at him, which he quickly tried to block with a shield. The reason why Fres was in there was because he'd block the more obvious force aspect of the spell instead of the more subtle somn - the sleep aspect of the spell, and would probably block instead of dodge. As the spell Somn struck him - there was a deafening bang, and a wave of energy sent the pony flying backwards and caused steam to rise from his body as he tumbled through a wall. The wave of energy was so forceful it even knocked me back, and hurt. Many bookshelves were knocked over, and some of the library collapsed. It was much stronger than his - I hadn't intended for that to happen, though. Celestia stepped out from behind a bookshelf, thankfully unharmed, and looked terrified.

I charged in, then picked up Celestia. Celestia flailed fearfully, but I ignored that and set her with Luna on my back- and then met myself with a horde of unicorns, with their horns glowing that were all staring at me. It seems that I had ended up attracting the entire town. They began screaming, yelling, and speaking to one another and at me in a language I didn't understand. Luna and Celestia tried saying something, but their words were drowned out. A bolt of energy shot out towards me, where it struck my scales and stung.

I turned, and ran. I began sprinting as fast as I could, bounding towards our makeshift camp while still floating out the bag of holding and the cabinets. I tore the bag of holding open as wide as it could, and began emptying out the cabinets. I dropped them out to the floor when they were all empty. Bolts of energy that cast light on my scales whizzed past me - I had to make more distance, and quick. But I couldn't. Even with the speed-boost spell that Starswirl taught me, I wouldn't be fast enough - no, I had to do something more. I turned to Celestia and Luna.

Mys, Boryd, Prosr, Tesfyrd, Auden. Magic - Protect Body from Sound of Lightning. I cast that spell twice on both of them, before turning - and for the first time, but not the last, I cast a warspell.

Mys, Tesrun, Fres, Auden. Force of a Storm's Sound. A warspell meant to stun and daze. Warspells were in 99.9% of cases meant to kill - but some of them were meant to cripple, stun, or distract. I didn't want to kill the ponies, so I couldn't have cast a fatal warspell. I did want to cripple or distract them though. A thunderous boom, with such force that it sent a flurry of wood splinters, dust, dirt and leaves up into the air erupted from my horns. My ears began to ring, and adrenaline pumped through my veins. I couldn't see any unicorns directly, but I could feel their magic still. I'd still have to do more than this.

I didn't have a lot of mana - but I had enough. I channeled all of my rage, all of my anger, all of my grief, all of my sadness - every single negative emotion that I could. I focused it all, all of it into doing something I hadn't done since Gryphus - creating a storm. As I imbued it with Cyrd, icy rain began to fall from the clouds down on the hoard of unicorns that had almost entered the forest. I manually cast Tesfyrd, blasting lightning up into the sky and sending it arcing. I then slammed both of my claws into the ground, threw my head up and, with all of the anger I could muster I let out a roar. This roar echoed over the forest, over the unicorns. Struck by a deep, primal fear, they turned and began to run away. And then I began to sprint.

I ran, and I ran, and I ran. By the end of it, my legs were so sore they felt as if they were burning. My broken scale had fragments digging into my flesh uncomfortably, and I think there was a bit of blood leaking out. I had taken refuge on the other end of the forest, opposite of the town. It was quite a large forest, mind you. I was exhausted, magically, mentally, and physically. Celestia and Luna had tried to talk to me, but they stopped after I didn't respond - I didn't have the energy to do anything right now. I shut my eyes and drifted off into the realm of sleep.

My eyes fluttered open, and I immediately groaned. My head was throbbing and my horns felt like fire. Luna and Celestia were asleep against my tail. They had pulled the broken scale fragments out of my flesh, and they had made a small fire - it was of a decent quality. They had probably learned by watching me make campfires for them. Their stomachs were rumbling in their sleep, and they looked uncomfortable. I groaned and slowly pushed myself up, shaking my head side to side in an effort to wake myself up faster. I stretched out my tail before I telekinetically rummaged through the bag of holding. After that, and some hunting of fish, I created three dinner platters. A large platter of roasted, almost burnt fish for myself, stacked about to my ankle - and hay and tomato sandwiches for the two of them. After quickly and silently snacking to make myself feel better, I tapped them both with my claw to wake them up.

Celestia woke up first. Her eyes widened when she saw me and she flailed to get away - before immediately relaxing and sighing. "You...scared me."
"Are you alright?" I frowned and looked at her. She clearly distrusted me - she wasn't making an attempt to hide it, but never before had she had that bad of a reaction to seeing me.
"I'm fine. Just...um." She shut her eyes. "...Did..." She turned to look at Luna's sleeping form. "...That...pony. Is he...is he dead?" She looked up at me. "Did...did you kill him?"
I blinked. "The one in the library?" I tilted my head to the side. "No. He's not dead."
"Why were you...why were you so violent? Were you trying to-"
"I didn't mean to. It was supposed to just put him to sleep."
"Then why did it-" Celestia started. I knew what she was going to ask. Why did it react that violently? At the time, I didn't know why - but I had a hint of an idea, now.
"Do you know what an affinity is?"
Celestia nodded.
"My affinity is Air, Chaos, and Light. And sometimes your affinity can react to other people with similar or different affinities - if someone else was Air, Chaos, Light, my magic might be stronger around them, or we'd both be weaker around one another, or...there's no one effect. If it's a different affinity, usually nothing happens - but if it's the complete opposite affinity...say, Earth, Order, Darkness - then it could react like that. Violently."
"...Oh." She blinked. I could see her untense and look up at me. Oh - the poor dear probably thought I tried to kill that pony.
"I don't want to kill anyone." I said softly. "Food is one thing. Taking a life is another."
"...What about Discord? Isn't that...the whole point of this? To...to kill him?"
"That's different." I shook my head.
"How is it different?" She frowned and leaned in.
"He's killed so many people. In such horrible, brutal ways too - he deserves death."
"But surely there's a better alternative-"
"If you find it, Celestia." I said softly, too drained to raise my voice. "Then you can tell me."
She was silent as she considered that. I tapped Luna a few times in order to wake her up. Luna blinked and looked up at me. "Mm..?" She squinted and yawned. Her eyes then widened. "Oh!" She said, before she yawned again. She stood up as her stomach rumbled. "You're awake! Um...what...um-"
"It's okay. I made food for you." I pointed at the two sandwiches. I wasn't sure what she was going to ask - but she looked scared, she looked confused, she looked worried. I don't think she wanted to talk about what happened - and honestly, I didn't, either.

Luna took a tentative bite, before her eyes widened. She took another, much larger bite. She looked at Celestia. "Ish...guud!" She said through a mouthful of food. Celestia took a small bite, before her eyes also widened and she did the same. The two began to ravenously eat, going through their sandwiches in less than a minute. We had raided some spices and food from that kitchen, which is why it tasted good probably. I doubt it was actually good, so much as better than their usual.

"So...uhm." Luna looked up at me. "Are we going to Olympus now?"
"I...suppose so. We can start moving today - I think I know where it is. I have a general idea, at the least. I'd like to-" My eyes widened. I tore the bag of holding open (as in, the entrance to it, I didn't cut it open,) and telekinetically tore the now frozen books out of it. They were covered in a layer of ice. If the books that Celestia had gotten were useless, I'd be mad. I quickly set them on the ground and looked at the books. They were bound in paper - ponies didn't like leather - and they had a thin sheet of ice over them.

I pulled together some glyphs - Mys, Fyrd, Fres, Cyrd, Destrum, Virter, Ignum, This was a fire breath spell that would ignore nature. I blew it out of my mouth and watched as the ice melted, but the books were left only partially water damaged. I quickly flipped through them. Some pages were unreadable, but the majority of it was fine. I growled and angrily thwacked my tail against the ground. There was a loud slapping noise that caused Luna and Celestia to flinch.
I sighed and turned to them. "Sorry. I'm just...I froze the books." I growled at myself. "I was planning on using them. I suppose..." I paused to search for words and to formulate a plan. "We'll head over to Olympus. We'll look through the ruins as to a clue for where Order is. We'll find Order - and we'll go from there."
The two nodded at me, and then we were out on the path again.

The trip took four days. The journey itself was boring and quiet - which was preferential to loud and dangerous. But the books had made the trip much, much more interesting. There were four books - Storm Magic, Illusions, Golemancy, and Artificing. The order they're in is from the most damaged to the least damaged. Each day, I had studied from one of the books, and tested practical applications from it.

The first day, I spent on illusions. Illusions are different from most schools of magic in that nearly 80% of all illusions are accomplished with the same set of glyphs. Mys, Dis, Lusm. Magic - Lying Sight. The more direct translation would be Magic - Chaotic Light, but as I've previously mentioned, there is no intensity in the language of glyphs. Dis means everything from a slight change to a total change - it's determined by intent. Light is a synonym for vision and knowledge - so Lying Sight lies to your eyes and convinces you to see other things. Illusions can be targeted at specific people, or bound to specific objects. How the illusion is visually isn't shaped with glyphs, but with rigorous concentration and using your mind to shape the visual aspect of it. I was only somewhat interested in that - moreso, I was interested in Glamours.

Glamours were very similar to illusions. The glyph series was slightly different - Mys, Dis, Boryd. Magic - Lying Appearance. The spell was different in that it only changed how people perceived you physically. A regular illusion spell could accomplish the same thing, but Glamours were superior in the fact that they didn't have to be constantly maintained through concentration, and instead were just a slight, but constant drain on one's magic. It didn't actually affect your body, either. I could make myself look like Discord, but I wouldn't actually be shaped like Discord. If someone touched where my paw was, and where the glamour said there wasn't a paw, then they would touch my paws. Glamours were also restricted in terms of your physical appearance. I couldn't make myself look like Celestia. I could make Celestia look like Luna, and vice versa, and I could make myself look like a dragon - but I couldn't make myself look smaller then I was, or like a different species. I had tested the practical applications on Celestia and Luna, after getting to the water-damaged parts that were talking about "True Transformations."

My horns lit up as I began channeling the glyphs. Celestia and Luna both stood in-front of me, as still as could be. Luna was holding her breath.
"You don't have to hold your breath." I said quietly. I dedicated half my ley to Luna, and half of them to Celestia. I didn't need to use all of my ley for this - glamours were low-level spells, but it would make it a bit easier.
Luna took a deep breath in. "Are you sure? What if something goes wrong?" Dis. Chaos. Madness. Anarchy. Deception. Falsehoods. Lying.
"If something goes wrong, it'd be better if your lungs were already full of air." I replied. Celestia suppressed a snort. Boryd. Body. Form. Shape. Appearance.
Luna opened her mouth, but was interrupted as a translucent wave of magic washed over her and her sister. She blinked and looked up at Celestia. Celestia blinked and looked down at her. I had made them look like one another - both of them looked like Pegasi. Luna pointed. "She's me!"
"No, you're you." I said. "She just looks like you. And you look like her." Luna looked down at her paw. Or...hoof?
Luna blinked a few times. "Um. No. I still look like me."
"I still look like me. You look like me." Celestia said. She turned her head to me and tilted it to the side, silently asking for an explanation.
"You can't see other people's glamours, but you can see through your own. For me - both of you look like each other."
Luna frowned. "This is weird. Can you take it off?"
I shrugged. Mys, Dos. Pulsating white washed over them and returned them to their natural states.

The next book I read was on golemancy. You might be a little confused as to why I was interested into this school of magic - so far, I hadn't even mentioned it. Golemancy, to the layman, is shaping clay and animating it with magic. But in reality, it's so much more. Golemancy has to do entirely with the creation of Magical Cores. Magical Cores range from extremely basic to extremely complex. They can be physical and they can be purely magical constructs, too. They consist entirely of glyphs arranged in an extremely specific pattern that will cause whatever that core is bound to (physically inside of, or magically inside of) to repeat the same tasks again and again. Golems are often clay because of how simple clay is to be manipulated by a magical core - a golem made of iron, for example, might be more sought after for protecting villages than a clay golem - but the magical core has to be powerful enough (as in, imbued with enough magic) to be able to move iron. The imbuement is one time - if you fill a core with enough to move iron, that core will be able to move iron until it's drained. Cores slowly degrade into nothing when they have no magic fueling them.

The reason why I was interested in golemancy is for two reasons. One - for its applications in terms of sentries. If I was able to create clay or dirt golems that would alert me to whenever there was someone that wasn't me, Luna, or Celestia was around, that would be extremely useful. Two - it was getting inconvenient to physically enter villages, due to my ever-increasing size, and I didn't want to send Luna and Celestia into a library and have them search while I couldn't watch them. I could create a golem to do that for me. And three - for its applications in terms of storm magic. Storm magic had turned into a passion of mine, and I had a theory that with golemancy I could create...Storm Grenades, so to speak. A physical object that I could throw up into the air, and would create a storm right then and there. I'd be able to pre-prepare storms, basically.

The book on Golemancy in detail described how to magically and physically shape the magical core. In the case of a physical component - it required a magically conductive gem surrounded by three rings of a magically conductive metal. The more conductive the components, the harder the core would be to break and the more magic it could store. In the case of a purely magical construct, you needed to make a physical construct first, and then cast two spells - Mys - Doreus, Aesr., and also Mys - Mys, Creut. Magic - Deny Aether, and Magic - Magic Cut. Shield the construct from aether, but allow aether to enter into this world - the physical core would absorb the aether and be turned into dust, and for a few seconds the magical core would be there. It had to be stabilized with Mys - Hos Magic - Restore Harmony. Mys - Dos would just end up destroying the core, while restoring harmony would allow the aether to exist in this world in exchange for removing some of it's traits. This was how magic was solidified, usually.

The advantages of physical components were that they required less magic to create, but could only be set to one golem core, and were susceptible to breaking. The advantages of magical components were that they required less physical components to create - from one physical core, you could create an infinite amount of magical cores. However, they didn't have quite the malleability and flexibility of a physical core.

During our travel towards the mountain, we had come across the a large hill with speckles of gold and pale white on it's side - likely gold and iron. This was why I had decided to experiment with golemancy, as I knew it required physical components such as gold. I decided to make a magical core. In search for components, I dug into the earth with my claws, to save magic for later - I didn't know how much magic creating a magical core would drain. I gathered up as much gold as possible, and using a bit of magic - Mys - Fres, Ter Magic - Force Earth, I created a large bowl that I dropped the ore into. I ground it up into a thin powder, and using that same spell as before I seperated all the rock from the gold. I used the tongue in my ley to empower a spell of fire, and began smelting the ore at an extremely slow pace. It had been dusk when I started, and was quite late at night when I finished. I had to do it slow to make sure that I didn't accidentally burn the gold too much - if gold was burnt past significantly past it's melting point, then it would lose a lot of magic conductivity.

Using a slightly more specific terraforming spell - Mys - Fres, Fyrd, Ter Magic - Force Fire Rock, or Magic - Force Metal, and some basic telekinesis, I shaped the gold into a set of three, centimeter or two thick gold rings. The gold vein had been very shallow, so I didn't have much spare. I didn't have a gem, and I hadn't been lucky enough to find one on my journey. So I substituted with glass. I smashed stone into a thin powder, which I ground up into sand and then heated at a much faster rate to create a glass sphere. Luna and Celestia were fast asleep by this point, but I was still quiet as could be to avoid waking them. I leaned in, and with telekinesis I began the tedious part of this - carving what I wanted. I thought it would be most useful to create a sentry that would tell me when there were others around. I had to carve in runes into the gold rings.

Mys - Ter Boryd, Virtrus Mys, Ignum Virtcel, Ignum Virtlun, Ignum Virtterfyrd, Myr Vitrus, Moreut Virterfyrd, Mys Tesrun, Aude Murn. This was a lengthy set of runes, but it meant - Magic - Earthen Body, Magic Life. Ignore Life of Sun, Ignore Life of Moon, Ignore Life of Earth-Fire, Search Life, Movement to Life of Earth-Fire, Magic of Storm, Sound Empowerment.

The new glyphs in this series that I haven't mentioned would be Murn, Myr, Cel, and Lun. Lun and Cel were the glyphs for Moon and Sun respectively. Murn and Myr were the glyphs for Empowerment and Search respectively. The compund glyphs I used - Virterfyrd, Virtlun, Virtcel, were used to identify me, Luna, and Celestia. They were beings of Sun and Moon, while I was a being of Earth and Fire. The glyphs for "Mys Tesrun" were identifying my magic specifically - my affinity was an affinity of "Storm." The whole glyphs series meant:

Magic - Earthen Body given Magic Life, that ignores the life of the Sun, the life of the Moon, the life of Earthen Fire, but searches for life. When life is found, move to Earth-Fire with Magic of Storm, and Empower Sound.

So basically, it would ignore us three, and other drakons too (it ignores drakons by virtue of the Ignum Virterfyrd, drakons are beings of Earth and Fire.) I should've specified that it should've only ignored drakons with my affinity to be as specific as possible, but I had messed up. But there weren't any other drakons to my knowledge, so it was fine. It was a little sloppy, and much too wordy for my taste.

With telekinesis, I held the ring in the pattern that I needed to - one ring held horizontal to it, one held vertical to it, and one held diagonally. I cast the spells that I needed to - shielding the core, and creating a small rift that allowed aether to enter our world. A magical blueprint was made of the core, and I quickly banished the excess aether away. And then I cast Mys, Hos. Magic poured out of me like a broken dam. I fell down against the dirt below, my legs giving way under me as I lost the energy to move. I nearly passed out from exhaustion right then and there, but luckily the spell ended with maybe...2% of my total magic reserve left. I laid there for a long time, shocked at how much that took out of me. I knew solidifying magic was costly, but I had used Astrabelle's techniques of dividing up my ley properly and channeling it efficiently - with that, I could teleport four or so times before running out of magic. So this was four times as costly as teleportation. Was it because of the size of the core? The core itself was quite small, maybe about the size of what you'd call a bowling ball.

I fell asleep, having not regained the energy to move. The next morning, when I woke up, I quickly fed Celestia and Luna. As they were eating,
"I have a surprise for you." I said in a soft tone.
Luna blinked and looked up at me. "A surprise?" Celestia looked curious too, but was silent. "What is it?"
"It won't be a surprise if I say." I responded.
"You said "I have a surprise" though." Luna squinted at me.
"We need to go on a little trip, first. To the lake."

There was a small lake on the way to Olympus, that our path had nearly come across - I knew it was there because I had come across it on my first trip. Later on in the day, we made our way there.

I began wading through the water, slowly. Drakons couldn't float or swim that well, and if I sunk to the bottom of the lake I'd drown - I'd be too heavy to pull my way up there. I could hypothetically call up spells of flame to vaporize the lake, but it would be too important a resource to be willing to do that. Anyways, it didn't matter much because I wouldn't get that deep into the water. I dove my head into the water, and dug my claws into the floor below and began pulling out large handfuls of clay. I shovelled them up onto the shore.

"What are you doing?" Celestia called. Luna and her were sitting from a safe distance, watching me. I poked my head out of the water and looked at her. "Getting clay."
"Yes. But why?" Celestia seemed a little more at ease, recently. She was still jumpy whenever I made any sudden movements, but she had gotten used to sleeping against my body (if only for the warmth) and didn't flinch every time I spoke. She was however, still on the quiet side. A small part of me was curious as to why that was, but another part of me said that it wasn't my business.

I crawled up onto the shore and shook myself off like a dog or a cat. Water sprayed everywhere. I kneeled down and, ignoring her, I began to create the physical shape of my golem. I had been keeping the magical core inside of my pouch of holding. I didn't much care for the golem's durability, so I was just going to make it out of clay. I might've used enough magic to have it be able to control a golem made from stone? But I wasn't sure. And clay was easier to shape, anyways.

I created a smooth ball from the clay. The ball was roughly the size of Luna, as I had grabbed a whole lot of clay. I channeled some magic into my tail to unfold the blade that was at the end of it, and cleanly cut the ball in half. Using telekinesis, I shaped half of the clay into four curved, spider-like legs. I attached them to the clay ball, still using telekinesis, and pulled the spinning magical core out of my bag of holding. I cut open the top of the sphere-spider, slid the core in, and filled it with magic.

The sphere-spider began to twitch violently as it moved for the first time. The slit on it's back began to close up, the clay rippling like a fluid. It sensed and saw and moved entirely through my magic supply. It's legs tapped on the ground rapidly as it got used to moving - and then it began to move rapidly across the ground, circling all three of us. Celestia shivered and shied away from it, yet spread a wing over Luna. Her wing reaction was noticeably delayed from the rest of her body. Luna gasped.

"What is it??" Luna looked up at me excitedly.
"It's a golem." I responded softly. "If it senses anyone other than us three, then it'll make a noise." Hopefully, I added mentally. It might actually just make noise louder in an area - after all, this was my first golem.
Luna leaned in. The golem didn't have eyes, but its main magical focus was on her now. I could sort of feel what the golem could see - likely as it was using my own magic - but I couldn't exactly see it myself. She reached out, and with the tip of her hoof slowly carved a smiley face into it.

I blinked a few times. She looked back up at me, shrugged, and said - "it's kind of cute." For a split second I could see Luna's worries just disappear. A smile split my face. It dulled a bit when I saw her eyes darken just a bit, her gaze turning back to the golem silently.

I didn't say anything as I picked the golem up with telekinesis and let it rest on my back, along with the two of them. "We should go now." I said softly. "We'll be able to make it to Olympus in a day or two." I tilted my gaze up. In the distance I could faintly see a mountain - towering so high above its surroundings that it was almost like a spear, its tip sticking through the clouds themselves. And as I began walking back towards Olympus, some part of me knew that something was waiting for me - no, for us there.

Only time would tell.

[21] Mys

Mys

The life used her power to shape the world, to shape the cosmos to their will - through ley.

There are two creatures. One large, one small. Heat rolls off the large one in waves. She lays on her stomach, eyes half-lidded. The other creature is young. She is lost in thought. Her gaze is far away, not on its companion. The larger creature begins to speak-

She speaks her tale. She speaks of birth, life, death - and rebirth. She speaks of taffy, Olympus, gryphons, clarity, ash, Celestia, Luna, Order, Life, Death, Harmony - she speaks of drakons, she speaks of history. She speaks of all these things and more: she speaks of Windplume, Storm Breeze, Temper, Tundra,

She speaks of a thousand things for an entire night. She speaks of Storms; she speaks of their Queen -

She speaks the tale of a drakon - named Tempest.

The words hang heavy in the air. It's hard to breathe - the very world itself seems to have come alive as she spoke her tale, the shadows grew deeper, and the air weighed down on the two. Every word had been scribed down, exactly as said - but ever-inquisitive Twilight hadn't found the strength to say a single word.

It's minutes later, but it feels like hours when Twilight breaks the silence.

"Wow," she whispered. "That's - a lot."
Tempest nodded slowly. Her eyes are wet as her claws lightly dig into the scale. "My guts - bare and bleeding for the world to see, Twilight Sparkle. Do you understand why Celestia kept this secret?"
"...I - I think I - understand more, now, but I don't - fully agree. Maybe - maybe everypony shouldn't know...everything. But they deserve to know about the truth. Maybe just - a little bit less..." Twilight searched for the word.
"Gruesome," Tempest offered. Twilight nodded. "Gruesome," she accepted.
"Do you know how you woke me up, little spirit?" Tempest suddenly lurched forward, her head smashing down into the ground right in front of Twilight. Twilight didn't so much as flinch - used to her sudden movements in the midst of her story-telling.
"Not really," Twilight spoke honestly.
"You and your friends - you were arguing. It was disharmonious. I could sense it. Did you know that?"
"Uh - you didn't mention it in your story. So I didn't." Twilight looked a bit confused.
"I'll get to the point quickly, little one. I sense disharmony - in you. Whenever you look at me. Whenever you speak to me. There's something on your chest - its weighing on your soul. So you must let it burst." She lightly poked Twilight's chest with a claw.

"...I was just - a pony." She glanced down. "I didn't know about - any of this. About Spirits. Or - divinity. I- after I got my wings, I asked Celestia if I was like her. Immortal - well, ageless. And I cried that night - I cried and held Spike tight to my chest. And whenever I see you - I'm just...reminded of that. Of how I was so small, and now I'm so...big."
Tempest thought for a moment before answering. "If I so desired - and let me assure you that I do not, I could grind this continent to dust, Twilight Sparkle." She shifted around, her tone becoming low and her eyes narrowing. "With my claws, I could shred the mountains. With my might, I could crush the sun and moon - and nothing would be able to withstand me. I would never do such a thing - I love the sun and moon more than you could comprehend. Or - maybe you could. I'm not sure."
"I...don't really see your point." Twilight's ears were flat against her head. Tempest's threat wasn't really a threat - more of a fact, but it didn't make it less uncomfortable to hear.
"My point is - that it should be high praise, that I am not sure which of us is mightier. You rival the power of a Spirit a hundred times your age - and yet, you're so young. There has never been a Spirit of Magic before, and I don't believe that it was mere chance that it was you, Twilight Sparkle, who took that mantle. If not for your - accelerated ascension, then you would've ascended on your own merit. You are spectacular, Twilight - I think so, and so does Celestia."
Twilight's eyes were wide even as she blushed and shifted. "I - well, thank you for the praise. Really. But - that's not really...helping. My problem is - that I'm so - ugh, big-"
"You were always this big, Little Spirit. You merely didn't notice it."

There was a soft lull in the conversation. Twilight's head tilted to the side as she lost her focus - staring off into space as she processed her words.
"...You meant it?" The Spirit of Magic spoke. She glanced up at Tempest. "That - you're not sure who's...stronger?"
"The long answer - I outpower you by an order of magnitude. It would be time before you surpass me - but I have the utmost confidence that you will. But you are undoubtedly my superior in skill. My experience of magic is mostly..." She trailed off. "Instinctual."

"What's the short answer?" Twilight tilted her head to the side.
"That I am happy, Twilight Sparkle - that we are on the same side." Tempest grinned lightly. Twilight snorted.

"...you could teach me." She spoke after a moment. She glanced up at the drakoness. "Teach me what it means to be a Spirit. How to - use this power, I suppose."
Tempest tilted her head to the side. "Would you not prefer being tutored by Celestia? You two are - close."
"Of course we are. I - she's almost like a second mother to me. But she's..." She thought for a second. "...It hurt, a little bit, that she kept something like this from me. That - I am magic, in a sense. I trust her - but...I'm not sure that..." Twilight trailed off.

"I understand."
"You do?" Twilight looked surprised. "That's - well, I don't really understand." Twilight laughed nervously, shifting around on her hooves.
"I do." Tempest nodded. "I would happily accept a role of tutor. On a condition, though."
"A condition?" Twilight tilted her head to the side.
"...Teach me magic."

While Tempest would be reluctant to admit it - her knowledge of magic was...poor. What she had learned, she had learned on the run - and over two thousand years ago. While much history had been lost in Discord I's attack on the world, enough knowledge of magic had survived that modern mages were significantly more advanced than the mages of the past - with obvious exceptions like Starswirl nonincluded.

Tempest's magic was more - instictual. Harmony and Order wove glyphs through her when she needed skill - but brute force, and simply allowing the world to flow through her had sufficed when she was in control of her magic.

But she would never turn down more knowledge. Twilight came to Tempest's cave every day to test her limits to see what she was capable of. Every day, Tempest awaited Twilight - ready and eager to learn about the advancements in glyphs.

Glyphs were now divided into categories. They weren't actual categories, more so meant as memorization and learning tools for mages deciding what aspects of magic they would target for their study.

The categories were the Essentials, the Physicals, the Actions, the Affixes, the Elements, the Natures, the States, and the Abstract.

The Essentials were the fundamentals. The building blocks of reality itself - magic, aether, order, harmony, chaos, space, time, life, death, all of these things were essential to the very existence of magic. Magic could not exist without Magic jus tas much as it could not exist without Aether - without Life to give it birth, or Death to let it flow back into the universe...they were just that, essential. They tended to be the building blocks of spells, what a spell rested on.

The Physicals were glyphs that had to do with manipulation or movement through physical space - or the effect on physical reality. Movement, Strength, Force, Body, Sound, Sleep, etc. They weren't - necessary, but when included, tended to limit the focus to whatever the Physical Glyphs dictated.

The Actions were - well, rather self-explanatory. The description of Actions - glyphs that took a predominant role in shaping the glyph sequences. Cut, Restore, Destroy, Defense (or, Defend,) Search, etc.

The Affixes were glyphs that changed the role of another glyph entirely - Denial, Negative, Ignore, Empowerment, Sharpened, Focus, etc. Ne, or negative was a rather important glyph - while ne, dis and dos are the same thing, there are some glyph sequences that were more, abstract. In which case, it became necessary to use negative for succintness.

The Elements and Natures were rather closely intertwined - the Elements were the forms of physical matter and magical matter - fire, ice, air, water, earth, void, and light, while the Natures (which tended towards compound glyphs) were amalgamations of glyphs to describe just that - nature. Tesrun was not an elemental glyph, but rather a Nature.

The States and Abstract were the hardest glyphs to understand - both of them were more...abstract but self-explanatory. Abstract were glyphs that had no exact definition, such as Lis. States were glyphs that described the - well, state of something. But it was a bit more complicated than that - day, night, war, protection. They don't seem to have much in common, but they all meet the definition of what a State is.

Tempest was a natural. Twilight had never seen anyone - asides from herself - with such an instinctive comprehension of magic. It was no small part due to the ageless Spirits that guided and shaped her thoughts to suit a magic caster's role better.

But their lessons did not revolve entirely around the drakon. Learning the theoretical was easy, yet that was what Tempest needed the most. But, on the other hand - Twilight was in dire need of a more - practical education.

"A wise stallion once told me," she spoke as the air. Then, the room seemed to fade away - the air rippling, trembling as it was enveloped in a vast, starry void. Twilight Sparkle now numbered among the few - mortal or immortal, to have seen the True Bodies. Tempest's projection had been supplied by Order and Harmony - who remembered a time long before the days of the Spirit of the Sun. "That his power is the power that shapes the universe."

"You know who spoke those words, Twilight Sparkle. The Sealer of Tartarus, Binder of Tambelon, Creator of the Amniomorphic Spell, and the Strongest Mortal Mage. Know that - know his glory, and know that compared to you - he is dust."

Tempest formed from the air in front of Twilight. She slashed through space itself with a claw - tearing stars and galaxies apart into thin shreds of dusty mist. Twilight stumbled backwards. "He was great. A great man - but in the grand scheme of things, he is - a blip."

Tempest stood by Twilight's side now. She rested a hoof on her back as she took the form of , a long-dead pegasus. "You are eternal, Twilight Sparkle. Your magic is not the power that shapes the universe - you are the power that shapes the universe."

Tempest formed - in all of her glory, the cave seemed so large that she could fit in it with ease - and she cried out, "follow me, Twilight Sparkle!" She faded away with a teleport.

Teleports were traceable. They were magically noise, spraying out the equivalent of magical flashbangs. But no mage had been able to track one of Celestia's teleports or Discord's. They seemed to operate on something - else. So Twilight cast her senses out - and she searched for that else.

She found it. Underneath them - a leyline, that throbbed with far too much harmony and order to be natural. Leylines were pulsing things of rushing chaos - they couldn't be harmonic or orderly. So Twilight tracked the teleport - and she pushed.

Her hooves burst. Her skin and muscles melted painlessly - even as she reformed as pure Thought, miles away from where she had been moments ago. The two stood at the peak of Mt. Metazoa, the third - or, now second tallest mountain considering the Canterhorn's shaving a few millennia ago.

It was cold. It was impossibly cold - so cold that Twilight could feel it sink into her bones and begin to drain her pegasus magic as she fought desperately for warmth - and if she had been anything less than an alicorn, she would've been killed instantly. So instead, she looked at Tempest with wide eyes.

"Warm yourself, Twilight Sparkle."
Twilight's horn began to glow - summoning up fyrd, boryd- but Tempest shook her head. "No! You are a Spirit. All you need - is will."
"I - I can't - I..." Twilight shivered as her wings wrapped around herself. Tempest quickly shifted her position around - letting herself coil around the tiny pony and starving off the cold with the warm waves of heat that rolled off of her massive bulk. "You are in no danger here, Twilight Sparkle."
"You - don't have to say - Sparkle, every time-" Twilight managed out through shimmering breaths. Tempest didn't respond - so Twilight took the chance to shut her eyes and let her will flow.

It felt - wrong. It went against everything she knew to channel magic with no intent and let it flow. But she could feel it - a sort of strength in the air, a deep pool within herself. It felt like - there was her personal reserve of mana, a well that she had dug - but right beside that well was a calm, cool ocean- held back by a dam.

Fire. Astral. Light.

Twilight was a creature of all these things. She was a creature of flaming passion - of astral might and inquisitive light. She had let her passion free - she had let her curiosity guide her. But now - it was time to let the might flow.

Twilight found herself warm. The snow melted underneath her hooves. Tempest had her eyes shut - but the second Twilight's Will flared, they snapped open.

Twilight fell to her knees, panting. The warmth didn't subside even as she stopped actively focusing on the magic - it fought back the biting cold and made her tremble and shudder as her body got used to her new temperature. Her mana reserves were still full, and she had plenty of energy - but she felt as if she had just taken three tests simultaneously. Her mind felt - drained.

"You're strong, Twilight Sparkle."
"-Twilight," she wheezed out.
"Twilight," Tempest corrected. "You have had a long day."
Day, Twilight thought? It's only been an hour- she glanced up at the sky to see that the moon hung high above them. Twilight blanched. "Rest, Little Spirit." Tempest wrapped the Wings of the Storm around Twilight, her fur standing up on end as the two of them blurred- and Twilight let somn's sweet call take her.

A whipping whirlwind of - well, wind formed in the center of the Castle of Friendship. The two formed - the drakon having taken a smaller form mid-teleport to avoid tearing the castle apart - as the whirlwind dissipated, Tempest appeared while carrying the smaller Spirit of Magic.

Spike rushed into the main hall before letting out something between a gasp and a sigh of relief. "Oh! Um. Hey, Tempest. Sorry - I was just...worried about her."
"Where should I put her, young drake?" Tempest walked over and lightly dragged her claws over Spike's scales. Spike shuddered and stepped away. "Please don't do that."
"Sorry. My - mother, did it to me."
"Well - yeah. But you aren't my mother."
Tempest nodded and looked away. "I - know. It's...you know - so little, about - yourself-"
"Okay, I'm gonna stop this right now. I would love to learn more about dragons. But if you're gonna be super weird about it and all melodramatic - then I'm not gonna deal with it."
"...You're right. I'm sorry, young- Spike. I've just - it's been a very long time. Since I've met another draconic - dragon, drakon. I - I'm..." She turned to the side.
"Let's go put Twilight down." Spike began walking in a direction, gesturing for Tempest to follow.

Tempest gently set Twilight down on her bed. She shifted her around telekinetically so she could be comfortable - then turned around to look at Spike.
"Are you hungry?"
"Uh. Kind of, I guess? I can cook, though, but..."
"Have you ever eaten meat, Spike?"
Spike nodded. "I did, once. It was - alright. Fluttershy gave me some fish. I prefer gems, honestly."
Tempest's eyes narrowed. "Dragons are geovoric second, carnivoric first. Meat is - it's an important part of your diet. You can't neglect it."
"Oh. That's - bad." Spike said softly.
Tempest spread her wings - and brought the two of them to her cave. One part that she was immensely grateful for about being a Spirit was the ability to travel - and travel quickly. If she had half this speed when Discord was hunting her - things would've been very different.

Spike stumbled and looked around - before a soft "woah," escaped his lips.

"They're a bit big for you - but eels are particularly tasty. And - don't feel bad about eating them. Most eels are barely sentient." She reached down and picked up one of the eels from the pool of water in her cave - before promptly snapping its neck with a twist. Spike flinched. "You kill it quickly, painlessly - then you cut the head off." Tempest slowly sawed the head off. "Eventually, once you get your magic-"
"-my magic?"
Tempest blinked. "Yes. Your magic. All draconics have magic - you'll channel it through your horns, once they grow in. How old are you?"
"Uh." Spike slowly counted on his hands. "Sixteen?"
Tempest thought for a second. "You should really eat meat. It'll help it grow in faster. Eventually, once you get it - you won't have to use your claws to de-scale it. But I do have magic, so-" with a quick telekinetic yank, Tempest tore its scales off - and then promptly tore it in half, letting blood drop to the ground. She then quickly cooked the two pieces with some Fyrd cast through her tongue.

She tossed Spike the smaller piece. It was roughly the size of his arm. The larger piece - she stuck it in her mouth and swallowed like a spaghetti strand before chewing on it.

Spike stared at her for a second - before he reluctantly gripped onto the meat. He stuck the thick part of the eel in his mouth - then slowly slurped it up, just like Tempest - before he began to chew.

His eyes widened after a few bites - and he began ravenously chewing, dropping down onto all fours as he ate messily. His tail wagged side to side as he swallowed, blood oozing from his mouth. Tempest quickly cleaned him off with magic.

"It's - good!" Spike groaned. "It's like - gem, but...thicker, and lighter, and-"
"I know what meat tastes like, Spike," Tempest said flatly. "I'll give Twilight a bit of meat for you every time she comes over for a lesson. It's important for you. You're - basically, malnourished."
Spike swallowed loudly. "Well - yeah, but Twilight didn't know." He said defensively.
"I'm not blaming Twilight. I'm simply stating fact."
"...Yeah. Sorry. It's just-"
"I don't expect you to like me immediately. After all, things have been rather - strained between us. For a good reason. But - your heritage is important. You have to carry it with you, honor your people. At the very least - you should know. How you choose to act on it is up to you. If you'd be comfortable - I'd love to teach you more."
"...Yeah. Maybe - that might be nice." Spike glanced down at the floor. "...Could you tell me about your mother? Your father? If you don't mind." Spike sat down as he chewed on another strip Tempest tossed towards him.

"I didn't know my father. We are - were, a matriarchal society. Mostly. It was only through sheer strength that we had a King in lieu of a Queen. My father fertilized my mother and then left. My mother - her name was Pulsera."
"Pulsera? Like, the person who made the light spell that everyone uses?"
A warm pride filled Tempest's chest. "Yes. My mother. Pulsera. That's how she earned her name. She never told me - she rarely spoke, at all. Maybe ten words, all in all. She didn't need to speak. She cared for me - she fed me, so I knew she loved me, and she knew I loved her."

"...you were never worried? That - she wouldn't love you?"
"Once. My siblings were born - and she was less...doting, on me, I suppose. But she spoke a word to me - her first word. Hunt. She trusted me to hunt with her - to feed her own children. My own siblings. She trusted me, because she loved me."

"...how did...how did she-" Spike fidgeted. His food went untouched.
"King Bellum - the Spirit of War. He fought against Discord."
"Against Discord?" Spike blanched.
"Not your Discord. No - much worse. More violent. It was he who tore my species apart. And when he stripped the magic away from Bellum - he exploded, and - my mother was vaporized. She shielded me from the attack with her body. She just - nodded at me. And then she was gone," Tempest whispered. "...I hope - I hope I did her justice. When I killed Discord-"
"you-"
"No, Spike." She shook her head. "Ask Twilight to read my story to you. All the Bearers should listen. Discord should - as well. It's...important. But it's hard for me to speak of it." She shut her eyes.
"...yeah. Sorry. T-thanks, Tempest. For - everything."
"Thank you, Spike." She shut her eyes. "I'd like to be alone now."
"Yeah, yeah, totally! That's fine. Can you-" Spike was already gone before he finished his sentence.

Tempest let out a soft, shuddering sigh - and much like her tutor-student, she let somn overtake her.

Rainbow Dash broke the silence.

"Woah."
Fluttershy pushed her face deeper into Discord. Discord ran his fingers through her mane - but found that he couldn't look anyone in the eye.
"Woah, indeed." Rarity spoke softly - a slightly green look on her face. "I must say - I never thought that I'd be - well, grateful, for you, Discord."
"Such high praise," the draconequus said dryly.
"And - it's all true? Ah- ah'm sorry, ah just find it hard to believe - that a dragon-" Applejack started,
"-drakon," Spike corrected with a glare-
"-right, sorry. That a drakon - did ah say that right?" Nod. "That a drakon made the elements. Ah mean - ah never knew what made them. But...it feels...underwhelming," she finished.
"Underwhelming?" Rainbow stared at her. "Did - did we hear the same story? Huge lasers? Mountains being torn apart?"
"Ah know. It's just...ah'm not sure what ah expected. And ah'm trying to wrap m'head around it."
"...we need to throw her a party. A Oh My Celestia Welcome Back To A Non Apocalyptic Equestria party. Pronto!"
"It's been a long night, girls. I think that I need to sleep. Sorry - our training took a lot out of me, yesterday, and this...well. It's heavy. Please don't go and pester her with questions - she nearly cried telling the story to me, and...well. I think she said everything. And - don't tell anyone, yet. We're still - figuring it out. Okay?"

There were nods all around.
Moments later - they left only Twilight and Discord.

"You're not him," Twilight said softly.
"As I've been told for millennia, purplesmart." He flicked her nose. "Yet I'm closer to him than I'd like. Same name, same flesh - he made me. I'm - an echo of him. A tamed one - but an echo, nonetheless."
"Sure," Twilight shrugged. "But you're not him. And - I mean, you don't - have to have the same name."
"But I like my name." Discord said flatly.
"You could call him something else then. Something - a bit more, gruesome? I guess? Like - Entropy?"
"...Entropy, hm? I quite like that. Entropy."

Twilight Sparkle opened her eyes - and immediately hacked up a heaping mouthful of her own blood, splattering onto the ground. She groaned as she shifted over onto her stomach as she stood up on trembling, far-too-thin legs. She looked as if she might snap at any moment - and some part of her would've welcomed that.

She glanced outside the entrance to the cave. Yes, she thought. Not a nightmare, as she looked up at the strangely coloured sky - the twisted, malformed land made of far too much flesh and bone to be natural.

He had been more original before. Now - it was the same few dozen tricks.

It hadn't always been like this, she mused to herself. No - merely a year ago, the world was still - pure. Perfect, almost. Twilight couldn't ask for anything more.

But then - something shifted in him. His eyes - red and yellow, now black. Darker than black - they were more of an absence than a dark shade. She had only seen them a few times. He had been a friend once - one that she had so-softly joked with, traded barbs with, snapped at. A frenemy, really - but still, a friend.

He was gone now. No trace of him left - no. Nothing to redeem. She was sure of that now - after all, he had torn Fluttershy in two.

Celestia and Luna went first. The sun and moon were his playthings now - shifting around, dancing in the sky in strange patterns. Then, both simultaneously, bumping into each other - the moon melted, malformed, twisted. Twilight wasn't sure how exactly they had died - she just imagined it was suitably horrific. Probably forced to tear each other apart - that's what he had made Spike do to Rarity, after all.

The Elements - Cadance, Shining had given their life to retrieve them. He broke them with a single word - a word that carved itself into Twilight's brain.
No.
Twilight could barely handle the magical backlash - maybe that was why he had left her alive. Even as he tore her friends apart, not so much as giggling while he did it - efficient, ironic, toying with them - he didn't so much as spare her a second glance.

He would regret that. She hadn't used a drop of magic in months - and her body was beginning to die. Her cells had started to burn off; her organs started to decay - she needed to let the magic out, and quickly - but she was determined to save it all for him.

Twilight Sparkle had never learned how to fight.

It was something that she wasn't embarrassed by until it was too late. And when it was too late - there was no one left to teach her. At the very least - she had an excess of raw power. And it would have to suffice - because if it didn't...

The world broke underneath her hooves. The ground shattered - seas of bubbling rock erupting, exploding as sheer power exploded out of her. Her horn shattered - an unfathomable amount of energy rushing towards him as he slept. When he noticed - it was simply too late. He was pulled apart - cell by cell, atom by atom - until he was dust.

Twilight collapsed down to the ground moments later. Blood leaked from her mouth. Her eyes watered. Her vision blurred.

She laughed. She tilted her head back and laughed, even as the laughter tore her throat apart. Gone. She had done it - she had-

Hm. His non-voice echoed throughout space itself. Twilight's eyes didn't so much as widen even as her heart sank. No - she didn't have the energy for that.

You continue to surprise me, Twilight Sparkle. It is a shame - you would have made me an excellent vessel. Twilight's head slowly turned - as a white dragon tore itself up from the ground. Antlers, rippling with black un-light: wings made of a raging hurricane that tore the land apart underneath it. The dragon tilted its head to the side - its eyes, pure void.

Goodbye, Twilight Sparkle. There was a warmth in her chest - a burning-

Twilight Sparkle woke up with a scream.

"You want me to teach you to fight." Tempest tilted her head to the side.
"W-well. Not - fight. Not exactly, I guess."
"Hm. You ask me - and not another alicorn? Would it not make more sense to ask Celestia or Luna?"
"Well - I'll probably ask Luna on how to...fight. Like, physically. But - magic...I - you're...you killed him." She said softly. "Discord. But - none of us have...ever so much as bruised him. Maybe you're not more skilled - but I don't need skill. I mean, I do - but..."
"Find your words, first. Then speak." Tempest suggested.
Twilight shut her eyes, and took a deep breath to collect herself. "I want to learn how to fight from you because I feel as if you would know how to make better use of my magic. Of - my Will."
"In that case, then - Twilight Sparkle - I accept."

"Woo! Go Twilight!" Pinkie Pie jumped up and down.
"Yeah! Kick her scaly-flank!" Rainbow Dash threw a hoof up into the air. Spike glanced at her. She looked away.
"Really, Twilight - are you sure this is necessary? It's rather..." Rarity thought for a second. "Well, brutish, isn't it dear?"
"No one said you have to come, hun." Applejack rolled her eyes.
"Well - of course I must! Twilight is my friend, and as a lady - I must support my friend in all her endeavors."
"um - miss Tempest? are you sure - um, that - it's...safe?"

"Don't worry, Fluttershy." Twilight put a hoof on her barrel. "It's just practice. And there's plenty of shielding around here for you to watch safely, and we'll be doing it far back - so nothing should even come near here. And we've taken precautions so that neither of us gets hurt. Not that we'll be using nearly that much force."

"um. Alright, Twilight. If - if you say so." She nodded. "I trust you." She smiled weakly.
"Seriously, Fluttershy. Why did you even come? Not that I don't want you here," Rainbow added quickly. "But - aren't you like...really pacifistic?"
"Well - um. The same reason as Rarity, I guess. Twilight's my friend. And I want to be here to support here."
"Fluttershy." The alicorn pushed harder on her withers. "If you don't want to watch - you don't have to."
"Thank you, Twilight - but it's fine. I promise."
"Okay. If you say so. But if you ever want to leave..." Twilight trailed off. Fluttershy smiled and nodded at her. "I'll tell you."

"Are you ready, Little Spirit?" Tempest called from afar. They had chosen their impromptu battlefield at Rambling Rock Ridge, where the two had initially met. While Twilight hadn't planned on inviting her friends - each one had insisted ongoing. Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity to support their friend - while Rainbow Dash and Applejack (although she wouldn't admit it) wanted to see a little bit of action. Spike had also insisted on coming - bringing a first aid kit along.

The rules were as followed. The first one to land a hit won. Tempest wasn't allowed to use the Storm, considering the effect it would have on the locale - (her reaction to finding out about BOWA had been one of annoyance, despite how pleased it made Order-) and neither were allowed to teleport.

Twilight teleported over a few dozen feet away from the drakon. She gulped and nodded. "Ready."
"Spike." Tempest glanced at the dragon. "If you'd be as kind to start us off."
"U-uh. Sure." Spike cleared his throat. "Okay. On your mark-" drakon and pony lowered themselves close to the ground, wings spreading, "-get set," the telltale violet and ivory glow of magic around horns and antlers -

"Go!"

Twilight's first spell wasn't an attack - but rather a shielding spell. And for a good reason, too - in a movement so fast that no one but Rainbow Dash was quite able to track it, the drakon leapt across the battlefield and smashed her head towards Twilight in an attempt to pin her underneath her head.

The shield shattered underneath the blow. Twilight's horn glowed - and she blurred backwards. No, it wasn't teleportation - she had spent the better part of her preparation creating a rather ingenious spell that propelled herself in any direction she willed.

"Smart," Order praised through Tempest. Twilight cast the spell two more times in rapid succession to get behind Tempest, readying a simple bolt of energy to strike her.

Tempest Asked, and the bolt of energy was lost to the aether. Twilight blanched as she recognized the use of mere Will in lieu of glyphs - Tempest had done it so fast...but she didn't have too much time to think about this as she was forced to cast her mobility spell to dodge Tempest's tail whipping towards her.

Twilight let out a short breath as Tempest turned around slowly, the two's eyes meeting.
"Good, Twilight Sparkle."
"Seriously, you don't have to-" Twilight narrowly managed to get the spell off, weaving underneath the razor-sharp claws (yet, blunted with an edge of magic) that lunged towards her. Twilight stumbled and rolled through the dirt - before standing up, only to see Tempest's tail lunge forward - then lightly tap her on the nose.

"You got distracted."
"You didn't - that's-"
"Cheating? There are less rules, in true combat - and I did not violate the few we set. I did not cheat, Twilight Sparkle." Tempest put an emphasis on her surname. Twilight groaned, even as Pinkie giggled lightly.

"Again." Tempest teleported back and spread her wings. She turned to Spike.
"On your marks - get set...go!"

They had marched.

They weren't particularly happy about it. Gryphons weren't supposed to march - they were supposed to fly. To soar through the air and crush all opposition. Now, though - they were just a days journey from the edge of Griffonstone Station to Trottingham.

"Sir - are you -"
"Your Majesty." The red-feathered gryphon corrected with a soft snarl.
"Your Majesty - are you sure about this?"
"You - question me? You - dare to question me?" Redclaw whirled on the soldier with a snarl.
"...Yes!" The gryphon soldier nodded. Eyes slowly turned to the two. "I'm sure. The ponies - they're our allies, we can't-" His eyes went wide. He coughed - choked, gurgled - then fell to the ground.

Drip. Drip. Drip. Blood oozed from his open throat. Redclaw examined his talons - drenched in blood.
"Anyone else?" He looked around.

There wasn't so much as a peep in the camp.

Redclaw stood up and glanced over the ocean - glanced at Trottingham. Their prize.

"No prisoners." He said softly. "Feast - burn, shred them all. Kill every last one of them - and take what is ours."

"Take what is ours!" King Redclaw yelled, a glimmer of green in his eye.
"Leave them with nothing!" A resounding cry went up through the gryphon soldiers.

-

[22] Trottingham

Trottingham

Take what is ours..

Liogella is the jewel of the Outer Beyond. A shining beacon of radiant light, love and more importantly - magic. The planet is dotted with hundreds if not thousands of unique species, with their own thriving cultures and locales. Yet, as every gem is, Liogella is marred by its imperfections.

Few know the true scale of Liogella. This is in no small part due to the rolling waves of magic that ever so slightly distort land and travel. Thus, those who find themselves on intercontinental travel paths, struck by these waves - find themselves in unintended locations or locations not quite on a map. Consequently, land travel is preferred when possible, and the true scale of Liogella is - unknown. A guestimate, at best.

Discord's damage to the world runs deep. History, essentially fractured - cultures isolated, knowledge missing. As such, the Deer's history is not quite known - even to themselves.

They are an old species, that much is known. Their legends show pink skies, laughing shadows, swarms of darkness. They make their home far to the east - dotted in Sugar Maple Grove by the Himallamas, speckled throughout the Desolate Wild, Trotting Terrains - and there are even rumours of a city of deer known as Shanghay.

The point of this little aside - is that no one quite knows how so many deer inhabit Trottingham.

Trottingham - the Home of the People, was one of the earliest cities founded Post-Discord. However, as the efforts to repair the world went on, what was initially a small market located at the very edge of Gryphon and Equestrian territory grew into a sprawling castle - and from the castle, Equestria's centre of trade and export.

The Lord Trottingham oversees the city - from the rich lumber from their enchanted forest to the silver below their hooves that they mine with the help of the enigmatic deer folk. But, most importantly, he oversees the connections to the rest of the world - it is from Trottingham that trade with the dragons, gryphons, and even the Reindeer, Panthers, and Abyssinians.

The Lord Trottingham isn't a title passed down through blood, as might be expected from the title Lord. No - they're chosen democratically in a process that the Diarchy themselves oversee.

A joint taur-equine agency, known as Equestria's Engineers, made a list of fourteen of the wonders of the world. Civil engineering achievements as well as social. Trottingham market was one of them - a busy, bustling place dotted with laconic deerfolk, enigmatic kirin, mystical panthers, playful Abyssinians and an unsurprising abundance of ponies and gryphons.

Every formal town or city in Equestria had to send three forms to Canterlot. One, to BOWA. Another to the Master-Commander. And a third, to the Diarchs. It was these forms that brought them within the jurisdiction of BOWA's weather management - preventing them from droughts and the rolling clouds of "unnatural" (really, truly natural) weather that rolled in from the North or down south from the Everfree. Furthermore, the Diarchs signature was necessary to recognize the legitimacy of the establishment.

The second, to the Master-Commander: was potentially the most important. Equestria's military presence was greatly diminished from times past - for who would dare to attack the rulers of the Heavens, Hearts, and even Magic itself? But it was not - nonexistent/ Celestia herself had appointed a pegasus stallion called Cloud Charge as the Master-Commander for the last thirty-three years - and it was he who was the high overseer of all military operations of the nation. From gathering intelligence, homeland defence, the training of the royal guard, the establishment of highly skilled operative teams, and lastly, the formally informal military of Equestria.

Equestria's military was more of a militia. Those eligible and willing trained for a call to arms they prayed would never come - but were ready at a moments notice. The Guard, the Commonfolk - in the event of an attack on Equestria, it would not go undefended.

Police were a thing in Equestria as well. Each town had to have at least one establishment for the police force - but the police came in second to the Royal Guard, who in turn came third to the Celestial Guard - the highly trained, personal force of both Celestia and Luna themselves. The result meant that each town and city was guarded by a mixture of its own inhabitants, a standing police force, as well as a small troop of Royal Guards centred around locations of political importance.

Compare this to the Gryphon Empire. Empire was a strong word, but that was what the nation officially called them. While massively smaller than Equestria - every single member of its nation, young or old, was a trained fighter - with nearly 30% of the nation being ready for military action. Trained with all forms of weapons and armed with flight, razor-sharp talons, and light weather manipulation. It's worth noting that a pegasus will always be able to manipulate weather better than a gryphon can - but gryphons can interact with clouds and have an innate affinity for magic of the Storm and Air - not that many gryphon mages exist nowadays.

They certainly had the numbers disadvantage. As Redclaw - although, considering that Redclaw had very much had his head burst, it might be more accurate to call him Not-Redclaw, lead a troop of soldiers 10,000 strong from Griffonstone to the Griffonstone Station - before preparing for a flight to Trottingham, they were planning on marching on a city over 150,000 in numbers.

Under the cover of night, they flew. They went as far as land could carry them - before taking off into the air. A verifiable swarm of gryphon soldiers swooping down towards Trottingham - talons glistening with malintent, as a fearsome battle cry shook the land as it echoed through the very night itself.

"TAKE WHAT IS OURS!"
"LEAVE THEM WITH NOTHING!"

Then, the screaming began.

Tempest was woken up by moonlight, softly glimmering over her eyes. She was surprised at this - and you would be too if you lived in a cave.

She was significantly more confused when she felt a light sting in the side of her scales. Then, finally, her eyes snapped open - to see Luna, in all her radiant glory, standing with her ethereal mane billowing - and her horn smoking with the tell-tale sign of a magical blast.

"Finally." Luna rolled her eyes. "I was beginning to wonder if I had to bring the whole cavern down to wake you up."
"I would appreciate my home remaining intact." Tempest managed softly as she blinked the bleariness of sleep from herself and stretched out like a cat. "Hello, Luna."
"Luna? Not Lulu, Tempie?" She grinned a victorious grin. Tempest flopped over onto her side and let out an undignified huff.
"Why are you here?" Tempest asked. There was a momentary pause.
"Am I not allowed to simply visit? I have no ulterior motives. I simply -" She paused for a second. "...It has been millennia, Tempest. I - I wished-"
"Luna." Tempest said softly and suddenly as she closed the distance between them, her nose pressing into her chest. "You are welcome to visit."

Luna turned her head to the side. "Apologies. I - have been rather...emotional, as of late."
"I see nothing to apologize for in that."
"A diarch is expected to carry herself with a certain level of respect."
"As Celestia does." Tempest tilted her head to the side.
Luna glanced to the side. "Yes. As my sister does." She said softly.
"Why did you come here, Luna?" Tempest shifted and coiled around the alicorn - scales pressing against fur and the drakon's gigantic eyes filling Luna's sight. Luna leaned against her scales and let out a soft sigh.

"I love my sister. I truly, truly do - she is my one constant, my companion. I always know that - she is there. But - when it comes to matters of emotion, she can be..." She thought for a second. "The worst."
Tempest snorted.
"She hears what you say, but doesn't listen. She speaks with you, but she treats everything so - politically. Double-layered words, a veritable minefield of words and traps. It's - insufferable."
"So this is a matter of emotion, then?"
"Hm. In a sense, I suppose." She sighed. "I - my darling niece - is much better with emotion."
"I've never met her - but as the Spirit of Love, I would be surprised if she was not."
"Yet - she is a distance away, even for one such as I. And - there comes a certain...lukewarmness, with her. She has not been tempered by battle as Celestia and I were - nor was she a magical prodigy of such degree that she would've ascended to divinity purely on her own right. Not that she is anything short of amazing- forbid me, if I suggest as such."
"You certainly seem to be suggesting as such."
"I love my niece, Tempest. But she has not been through what I have. Nor has Twilight - although, it is...hard, to find myself to fault our littlest sister. She redeemed me from myself. I can't look at her and see anything but - but that. The wonderful, infallible mare that tore my soul from darkness - who fought against impossible foes and wielded impossible magic. No - I have no confidants."

"Hm. What of Discord?"
Luna snorted. "T'were anyone else - and if I had the capability, you would be hung for treason for such a jest."
"It was not entirely in jest, Luna."
"Then let me still your mind, and put an end to that thought with - no. Celestia, Twilight, and Cadance may be forgiving - but I am not quite so. I look at him, and still see the monster that - tore...you, from the world."
"Yet, the world does not look at you as Nightmare Moon."

Luna stood up and glared. "An unfair comparison. The parasite-" Luna paused for a second. She shut her eyes. "I - no. That will be the end of this tangent of conversation. I will have no more of it."
"I did not mean to upset you, Luna." Tempest said softly. She lightly whapped Luna's side with the side of her body.
"And yet, you managed. The world is cruel."

"Then allow me to change the subject of conversation. Why have you come here?"
"Why - why have I come here?" Luna arched an eyebrow. "You were - family. Our time together was woefully short, but - love forged in war is quite strong. Celestia and you have come to your own understanding - that you are friends, and hope that you may be more - but to me, Tempest, you have always been family. I never stopped searching for you."
Tempest's voice was softer now. "I am touched, Luna. I am. But you avoided the question."

"I come here - for a matter of the heart. I am not Infallible Twilight, Perfect Celestia, or Kind Cadence. My soul is one displaced - t'was only recently I fully adapted to the common tongue, and even then, I slip occasionally. I am a creature of war in a time of peace. My hooves are idle, my warrior spirit chained and leashed - and it does not suit me. So - I come to the only creature alive who could possibly know what it means. You were a warrior, Tempest. Maybe I did not see it then - but you were fearsome and you fought hard. You protected your heart. And yet - here we are. The two of us, with no foe to protect our heart from."

"You are upset because there are no threats?"
"No!" Luna growled. "My sister said much the same. To misconstrue what I spoke in such a manner - intentional. You put words in my mouth, Tempest, and you will see to it that you do not again."
"I am aware of the truth of your meaning, Luna. You merely speak more truly in anger."
"Hmph!" Luna let out an indignant huff then tilted her head up.

"I am - upset," Luna grunted, "that I have no purpose. I am not a ruler, as Celestia or Cadence is. I am not a warrior of the new age as Twilight is - who solves her problems with kindness, forgiveness. I am a warrior of the old age, and this time does not befit me. In ages past - when my blood ran hot with anger, I merely took up Cleddwyr - my hammer, and defended my nation. My sister has always been the shield, and I the sword - but what is a sword without a target, but a risk to stumble and fall onto?" Luna sat down and let out a soft sigh.

"I am - thankful. No, ecstatic that this is a world of peace. A world without caribou slavers, tyrant kings, dragon and gryphon invasions is a good world - but I am not fit for it. I am the problem, not the world. And I struggle with it."

"Do you spar, Luna?"
"What is the relevance?" Luna arched an eyebrow.
"You might be in need of a physical outlet." Tempest shrugged.
"Of course." Luna rolled her eyes. "Daily, with my night guard."
"Your night guard. Mortals?"
"Yes. It is not an even match, yet I have little choice. My sister will not spar with me - for her power is destructive, dangerous, and she is busy. My niece and littlest sister are not quite - tempered, as I am - and Discord outclasses me by an order of magnitude."

"There is me."
"You would spar with me? Truly?" Luna's eyes widened.
"Yes. Twilight has already asked me to train her - her power is great, greater than mine, but she struggles with its use. I would have no problem taking up another student." Tempest smiled softly at Luna.
"Student. I resent that. I was Master-Commander once, fossil." Luna stuck her tongue out. Luna's mirth faded slightly, her gaze tilting down as she let out a soft sigh. "'Tis only the surface level of the issue. An outlet does not cut away the cause. It is a bandage, not a stitch."
"We are fundamentally different, my dear Lulu." Tempest said softly as she wrapped a wing around her tightly. "I am a solitary creature of deep slumber and a little adventure. I cannot offer you a true fix. Yet - the world has changed much, in my absence, as it has in yours. Have you taken the time to explore it?"

"There is not much to explore. The world has been discovered."
"There is a difference between discovered and experienced, darling moon."
"You suggest I walk as the mortals do?"
"You fly above the world. Some walking might do you good." Tempest felt a prickling on the back of her neck.
"...Would you come with me, darling storm?" Luna mimicked.

"Luna." Tempest said in a low tone.
"You cal-"
"No, Luna." Tempest stood up. "Something is - wrong. There is...disharmony."
Luna stood up moments after her. "Is there not always disharmony?"
"Yes - as rain drops. This is - more. Thunder." Tempest brought herself up to her full size, her wings beginning to form. "Battle. In Equestria."
Luna's eyes widened. "Where?" She half-whispered, half-hissed.

Tempest wrapped the two of them in her wings. The air bubbled and trembled as a massive amount of it was displaced in a thunderclap as the great white drakoness and the lunar alicorn formed in the clouds - far above Trottingham.

No - not clouds. Smoke. The city was burning. Luna's pegasus nose could smell the ferric scent of blood, while Tempest's eyes could make out finer details - a swarm of raging, tearing, snapping and biting gryphons. Spilt blood, broken flesh - chained dragons, orphaned children.

Harmony wept. A cacophony of voices rang out - and without words, Luna and Tempest knew what they had to do.

It was bloodshed.

There was no resistance. Those that had been magically gifted or winged were struck first - wings torn from their body in messy displays, horns shattered. Dragons were chained and muzzled - before blinded with spears. Their eyes did not have the same durability as their scales - and while there was no way to reach the brain through them, they were a weak spot nonetheless.

Some battlefields were art. This was not art - this was cruelty. Children, foals, young, old - man, woman. None were spared. Gutted like fish - feasted on by the particularly ravenous, as they seemed almost whipped up into a bloody frenzy. The gryphons fought like a creature possessed - the air seeming to trail behind their slashing talons as they sunk into flesh, painted red.

The only noise apart from the screams - the crackling fires that they had lit, was their war cry.

"TAKE WHAT IS OURS!"
"LEAVE THEM WITH NOTHING!"

Luna was a creature of passion. An artist, a muse, a poet - yet, her passion for battle rang foremost among them. But this was no battle. This was - slaughter.

She had been known as many things. The Morrigan. Breaker of Chains, although that title more rightfully belonged to Tempest - it had not been her who had broken the Chained Forest, after all. She had a thousand titles, a thousand names, to a thousand cultures - to the point where the midnight alicorn was a symbol. A symbol of battle.

Celestia's armour was known as the Celestial Plate. It had not been seen in centuries - for there had been no need of it. But Celestia was not a creature of violence - the armour was one of defence and regality. A display, not a tool.

The Lunarian Crest was both. Forged by Luna herself from moonsilver: armour that had not seen the light of day since ages past. Her hair bound back in a ponytail, curled "horns" rising from her skull as the helmet connected to her chest. Her horn was decorated with a small tiara-shaped crest at its base and a sharp blade at its front. Yet her hooves, chest, and flank were all bound in a full set of heavy armour - one that no mortal earth pony could lift. The endings of her hooves were covered in sharp spikes - no. This was not the Celestial Plate. This was a tool of destruction.

Cleddwyr was a weapon of legend. One of the Four Great Weapons - they were an old thing. As old as Life herself, if not even older. It is a long, ornate ebony shaft made of strange material - with Luna's cutie mark is engraved on its side in gold. Gold spiralled up to the base of the head, where the gigantic thing sat - the size of Luna's torso and too unwieldy to be used by anything that wasn't a Spirit. Slightly curved, with long strips of metal jutting out of its faces that were in turn dotted by light studs. It was a Warhammer.

Cleddwyr had many names. Mjolnir. Ukonvasara. The Hammer of Hephaestus. Nadir. Azimuth. But Cleddwyr was its truest name - and it was the name that Luna used for it.

Fear. Intimidation. Make a display. The telepathy spell was long-forgotten: and would likely be illegal if known. Neither particularly cared.
Agreed.

A pillar of moonlight struck down from the sky. Wings of shadow spread - midnight hooves cloaked in curling, trembling shade - and viscerally, viscous and vicious bubbling magic oozed from her horn that was more a spear than a blade. She was every bit as tall as her sister - light fangs jutting from her lips, power coursing from her body.

Every syllable was infused with power. The world itself quaked underneath her voice - not the Royal Canterlot Voice, but the voice of a goddess, unrestrained and provoked. Her hooves planted down as Cleddwyr spun around her, trailing a light blue aura behind it.

"Those that have not spilled blood, may leave. Those that have - lay down your weapons, and you will be granted a swift death." Luna's voice was absolute. It was fact; it was statement. She barely contained her rage as the ground cracked underneath her hooves - her hooves grinding down into the floor.

To the credit of the gryphons, only a few hundred left. To the credit of the gryphon - only a few dozen soiled themselves.

Seconds hung like hours.

Fear. Intimidation. Make a display.
Agreed.

The air became deathly still and silent, even as the storm coalesced above. Rain began to fall - the water began to ripple.
Then, a tremor. Then, another. And another - and another, and another - until Tempest rose from the sea. Visible amidst the void of night, illuminated by moonlight that Luna had manoeuvred to strike her scales - and so they glowed with a luminescent iridescence. Crystals lined her form - the edges of her claws with harmonic crystals. A tiara of jagged crystals around both of her antlers and two sharp crystalline horns that curled backwards through the air. A sharp crystal blade embellished her tail - and crystals that pulsed with harmonic magic lined her spine.

A draconic did not have much use for armour. The only thing that could pierce their scales - apart from an abundance of magic was another draconic. Tempest's armour served two purposes - as a store of excess of magic and a display of intimidation. What's more frightening than a drakon the size of a mountain? A drakon, with wings made out of thunderstorms and covered in crystalline armour.

She planted her hands on the shore, as she had done so many times before. The trees parted underneath her. She tilted her head up to the sky - as the one drakon, the last drakon, roared. A beam of light tore up from her mouth, the bubbling clouds parting - thundercracks echoing, lightning broiling in Her sky. The ground trembled underneath the power that oozed from her.

To the gryphon's credit, only a thousand more left. To the gryphon's credit - only a hundred more soiled themselves.

"You have made your choice," the Alicorn of Midnight spoke.
"So take your consequences," the Drakon of Storms roared.

Tempest attracted the brunt of the attention. They were more like pests than opponents. They swatted at her indestructible scales - and to keep their attention, she had to pretend as if their paltry weapons did anything more than tickle when they struck the weakest parts of her flesh. Even her eyes, the most vulnerable part of her body - were far beyond anything that the army could manage. They would need a ballista to penetrate the humour of her eyes, and they would need something far beyond that to so much as scratch her scales.

Lightning coursed from her antlers as plasma tore from her mouth. Her claws were alight with a blaze as she swiped haphazardly at the air - intentionally acting feral, moving slow and pretending to move slower as their bolts struck. The whole plan relied on Luna - she was just a distraction, and would only remain a distraction as long as she was in equal parts dangerous, distracting, yet - conquerable.

It did not, however, stop her from doing her part to help. Her claws struck true occasionally - tearing through flesh, plasma striking at large concentrated groups to split them up, lightning bolts striking stray, fleeing gryphons that smelled of blood.

Tempest's use was twofold- as a distraction first and a combatant second. The Storm she was brewing was meant to limit the aerial mobility of the gryphons - for it would not hurt Luna, where it would target the gryphons. She was fear, intimidation, a display. Luna was the primary combatant.

She wove through their forces with inequine grace - with divine grace. She spun and curled on the ground as Cleddwyr turned the battleground into a butchery. Her magic lashed out - waves of vicious dark magic that ate flesh and ignored armour. There were two types of corpses - those that fell to the ground, burned alive in their armour...and those that crumbled into piles of flesh as Cleddwyr struck against their skull with a resounding thunk.

Every part of her was a weapon. Her telekinetic weapon blocked just as much as it attacked - constantly on the move as her hooves stomped and punched with such force that it disintegrated flesh and broke the stone below. Three gryphons charged at Luna simultaneously - one was struck with such force that his eyeballs came flying out of his head, long before the rest of him. Another was met with Luna's horn blade - slicing from their heart to their throat, their innards spilling out onto the ground with a sickening smell. The third got close- dangerously so.

Spirits were immortal, not indestructible. Luna or Celestia could be killed by a mortal weapon hypothetically - assuming it was strong enough. It would have to pierce their flesh, which was harder than concrete due to earthpony magic - and it would have to either destroy their brain or nearly all of their body. But they were not indestructible.

Sharp claws grazed Luna's throat. Her wings snapped together in a clapping motion - such speed and force that the gryphon's head was crushed into a thin paste by the air pressure alone. Luna stepped backwards as she ran a studded hoof over her lightly marred fur - the surface of her skin barely scratched.

Sloppy, she chided to herself. She was thankful that it was night - the moon was already beginning to repair her wounds. But Luna did not have time to dwell on the mistake, though. There was work to be done.

And as she heard the echoing crack of something heavy strike Tempest - she realized that she likely had less time than she even thought. She turned around, her eyes narrow - only for her mouth to fall open.

A red dragon with a crest carved into its throat that Luna recognized - for how could she not recognize the crest of Gorolich the Invincible? - had dropped from the sky like a thunderbolt, striking directly into Tempest's side. Tempest had the size advantage - standing nearly twice as tall as the dragon.

But it seemed the dragons had a number advantage - as a black dragon that looked more like a rippling mass of disturbance tore through the air and struck into Tempest's back, causing her to stumble - and almost crush a section of Trottingham castle. Yes - unrestrained, Tempest would be able to crush these dragons. But she was far from unrestrained.

Tempest?
Fine. Focus.

Luna nodded. She spun her hammer in her telekinetic grasp before bursting up into the air - landing down at the gates of Trottingham castle, where Royal Guards were holding off gryphons. Their unicorns were channelling a shield around the courtyard, where they made their stand - the pegasi and earth ponies operating the unshielded part of the fort as they fought against the gryphons.

Luna dropped down from the sky by a pegasus decorated with red and gold. Her form shifted slightly - from her more fearsome form of battle to the regal and more - peaceful form she took in today's age. "A status report, captain."

"The fires are spreading. Casualties are in the dozens, at the least. Not including civilian casualties."
Luna's throat ran dry.
"Bastards keep on coming. They came through the air - we don't know how many of them there are. They've started building something - a ballista. Their leader is stationed where they're making it - tall gryphon. Their king, I think."
"Thank you, captain. Your service is appreciated." Luna fanned Cleddwyr in front of her: a spray of blood leaping off it as it decorated the ground. "The Lord Trottingham?"
"Dead," the captain said softly. "Their King killed she first - middle of the market. Pinned her body to the wall. She - she was a good mare."
"There will be time to grieve later, captain. Continue your efforts. I will deal with the King." She tensed down.
"Princess- the fires. If they continue to spread - there won't be anything to save."
Luna thought for a moment. "I cannot be everywhere, captain. But - your unicorns have the numbers advantage." Luna shut her eyes. "I will take the mantle of shielding. Command them to fight the fires."
"Understood, ma'am." The captain saluted - and moments later, the shield took on a deep blue hue.

Red and Black was what Tempest had taken to naming them. They were annoying - large enough to physically grapple with her enough to off-balance her when it was two on one and fast enough to take advantage of it. They made little use of their magic - preferring their pure physicality instead.

They must have thought she was a dragon. They tore at the base of her wings - only to find that the Storm parted and reformed in its place. They struck at her horns - not so much as scratching the crystalline armour and not attacking the ley in her tongue or claws.

She was not a dragon. She was a drakon - and she had the tail to prove it. It struck out like a whip - smashing across Red's face with such force and speed that it was as if Luna had struck Cleddwyr at full-speed into a wall. Scales shattered - Red was blinded with a spray of blood as the tip of her tail slashed across his eye. Black struggled against Tempest singlehandedly now - so Tempest grabbed onto her horns - denoted by the number of horns. She pushed them down - causing a sharp shriek of pain, only for Tempest to spin around and throw Black deeper into the ocean.

On all fours, she leapt after her prey - grabbing down onto Black's head with one claw and sliding her across the gravel floor of the ocean bed. She dragged until she saw red begin to bubble up, throwing Black onto the shore - her scales shorn off from sheer friction.

Tempest was not without mercy, though. She planted her claws, and growled.

"Leave! Now - or lay your lives down!" She spoke in the Draconic Tongue.

Red didn't waste a moment. His wings spread as he scrambled out of the ocean - tearing up from the shore with sprays of dirt, rock and sand as he leapt into the sky and soared away.

On the other hand, Black pushed herself up - spat out a glob of blood, and glared at Tempest.
"Pathetic. A dragon, helping ponies? King Gorolich will mount you over his wall once I am done with you."

Dragon.

Tempest's eye twitched. Dragon. Constantly. Constantly misnamed, constantly corrected incorrectly - dragon. Dragon, dragon - dragon. It was - maddening. It was - enraging. How could she carry the honor of the drakons when none knew what she was?

So she Asked. She Asked, and the World gave. She planted her claws down. Her wings spread - and she was large, larger than the Canterhorn itself as she grew. Greed Growth was not something that drakons had - it was unique to dragons and a rare trait among them. But this was not greed - no. This was - rage.

She towered over the Black dragon. IThe water rippled as thunder echoed through the air and lightning danced through the sky - a barrage of spear-like bits of rain striking into the Celestial Ocean with such force that the waves became more violent.

The two continued their duel - black lashing out ferally, striking at her and biting at her - while Tempest struck with strength and precision, each blow cracking scales and flesh. With the new force of the rain, though - the fires began to die down.

As the fires finally died - Luna tore from the ground like one of the many bolts of lightning that Tempest had painting the sky. She broke through the top of her own shield even as it repaired - as let the light of the moon focus on renewing her shield instead of her. It left her vulnerable - but she did not plan on making a mistake again.

A squadron of gryphons, true to the good captain's word, were constructing a ballista in the town market. The Lord Trottingham's body was a grim decoration on the ballista itself - pinned to an arrow that was being loaded as a particularly tall gryphon stood at its brunt. He was covered in armour - steel lining his dripping red claws and wings and stood only a head shorter than her sister.

She had never met King Redclaw. Considering these were the circumstances under which they met - she was happy that she had not. The fact that her sister had allowed this abominable gryphon to live - not an inch of remorse on his face even as he stood on the mutilated bodies of families was - disgusting.

She smashed through the centre of the ballista. She wasted not a second - no introduction, no one-liners, as Cleddwyr began carving through the gryphons. It moved with such speed and momentum that it turned blood into an aerosol mist, and turned flesh into a gooey paste. Feathers fell through the sky - and King Redclaw moved with an unnatural speed as he ducked underneath the blow, swiping up at Luna's throat.

Luna backstepped effortlessly, spinning around and bucking Redclaw in the face. Such a blow - especially with her armoured hooves - should've reduced him to a puddle. Instead, it sent him sailing across the square as he smashed into a building.

Redclaw stepped up. He grunted and wiped the blood from his lips - before smiling at the Princess. He began to glow with a light blue.
Luna lunged forward, aiming to impale his heart with her horn - but she was slightly too slow. Her horn pierced into his chest, just drawing blood even as he disappeared.

Luna snarled and stomped her hoof - but couldn't help but notice that the blood that dripped from her horn was silver.

In the ocean, Tempest lunged forward. She struck the black dragon across the face with her claw - a spray of blood oozing out into the ocean. Her tail lunged forward as it stabbed through the thin, leathery filament that formed the majority of her foe's wing - tearing to the side with a visceral rip. She followed this with an uppercut, grabbing onto the dragon's mouth - snapping her horns off with one claw and gouging at her tongue and teeth with her other claw. She threw her down into the ground with such force that a saltwater wave struck against Luna's shield in Castle Trottingham.

In a manner of speech that was more universal than all speak, she spoke in a language more direct than the native draconic of the dragons. She proclaimed, and the world listened.

"Dragon? NO! I am NO DRAGON! I am A DRAKON!" She roared.

The Storm raged. Wrath whipped through the air - scales being pulled apart into a fine mist of scale-dust. Tempest grabbed onto the dragon with both claws - shifting up onto her hind legs as she dangled the creature over the water.

"I AM THE QUEEN OF STORMS, WHELP!" She howled - as with a bloody rip, she tore the dragon's head from her body - its spine trailing behind it. Viscera trailed down into the ocean as the body fell.

-

Author's Note

I might be writing an aside of Luna and Tempest exploring together. Or not. Not sure.