Fire, Steel, and Friendship

by Voidson

Rating: everyone
Tags: Adventure, Tragedy, Dark
Length: 966

The shifting power balance in Tartarus has brought him to the Overworld, the last of his proud race.

Long ago in the age of the Great War fought two races, the nurturing and protective alicorns who strove for peace, and the antecorns, who knew only of bloodlust and chaos. this is the tale of chaos and order, ancient secrets and lost knowledge, and the trivialities of immortality. this is a tale of a lone antecorn stranded in the Overworld, the last of his kind.
this is a tale of fire, steel, and friendship.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2012-07-31 10:01:09 UTC

1. A step out of darkness into light

a figure stood at the mouth of a great cavern, its stalagmites and stalagtites like teeth in the mouth of the cave. he was covered in a tattered cloak which rustled and danced as if flame in the wind. he was tall enough to stand eye to eye with celestia herself, with skin a dark shade of basalt blended with obsidian, magma etching lines of heat and fire traced in an intracet knotted design. his wings, like a dragons, but with the same etchings across them as the rest of him and were folded at his sides. the bones in the wing protruded into sharp bone spikes where they broke skin. his horns were on the side of his head, great curved spikes a deep shade of crimson started from the side of his head to ending near his mouth, the tips of both horns bolted with steel plating to make the points razer sharp. his mane was a deep charcoal, interlaid with smoke and sparks constantly shifting in a wind of its own. his mouth was drawn flat, as if a jagged knife wound.

his eyes where the most terrifying of all, like a black hole surounded by a supernova, eyes that held ancient knowledge lost to the ages behind them, hatred and malice abundant. but the predominent thing was pity, the look of one who looks upon a lab rat before putting him in a test that will surely kill the mouse, cold and calculating, cutting to the core of your soul and sanity with but a glance. this was the last of one of the most evil and terrifying monstrosities to poison the great land of Equestria, one so ancient it was said the helped create the universe and world with their rage-driven power. this, was an antecorn. his name was Balthazar Voidson, last son of Lord Firemane Voidbringer, the last king of the antecorns.

as he stepped out into the radiant blaze of the mid afternoon sun, he gazed upon his surroundings to gain his bearings. the journey from his "home" of Tartarus was long and winding, and choosing this gate for transport to the realm was by chance. he was surrounded by an immense forest, the canopy of the trees like a ceiling in the cathedral of nature around him. "...disgusting..." he muttered surveying the land before him, his voice like magma taveling under thin rock. all antecorns shared a common hatred of how bright and cheery many of the things that populated the Overworld, and Balthazar was no exception. he noticed a small path near the cave and decided to follow it, in hopes of locating an exit to the forest and set off.

he had been walking for at least an hour by his guess at the sun's trajectory through the peircing blue sky, and still the path had not taken him to his desired end. he had feared earlier that his wings were not strong enough at the cavern's maw to support flying, as was such when traveling between realms. now however, his wings had regained their former regal nature as he spread them to full length. " i need a better view." he said, crouching low to the ground, his body a tightly compressed spring, then lept up with a powerfull sweep of his wings into the awaiting sky.

looking over the vast expanse of the forest he was captivated by its beauty, as such glorious scenes were far less prelevant in his realm, though a few spots were able to rival this one. it had been at least a century or two since his last visit to the Overworld, he always would forget the extent of beauty that existed solely there. he flew higher, the forest beneath him seeming to grow ever steadily larger as he spotted a small town off in the far distance. " been too long since I used my wings in the air of this realm, i was beginning to forget how good it feels." he said with a small smirk, and bolted up and towards the town, hoping to find someone to tell him the age of the era.

sensing that his appearence might cause a disruption among the masses, balthazar flew above the cloud cover to avoid being spotted. he was just about to reach the town he saw in the distance when a gap in the cloud cover allowed him a window for distant observation of the town.

it was a fairly large town, with a fair variety of amenities and shops to choose from, from what Balthazar could discern. he could see a round building built to look like a carousel, blank faced mannequins staring bleakly towards the windows. he saw a town hall off in the distance, a farm near the outskirts of town, rows upon rows of apple trees branches heavy with fruit. it was a splendid view, but not the one Blathazar had hoped for, as he did not see what he was looking for.

turning away from the cloud-window, Balthazar concentraited and began to cast a spell to show him where knowledge was amassed(more often than not it was a library), his horns beginning to flare up. antecorn magic, unlike the soft glow of unicorn magic or the radiant blaze of alicorn magic, was like a mass of blood-red lightning, constantly moving and shifting. as he was building up power for the spell, Balthazar noticed a small blur among the clouds near the town. it was blindingly fast, and Balthazar was convinced there was a rainbow following it...

Author's note: First fanfic written, critisim is always grateful

would be awesome if someone could draw balthazar for a story cover ( and proofread *cough, cough*)

-voidson