What...what is this?
It began with a simple thought. The consciousness peered around, gazing through the cold blackness of space and the seemingly-endless ocean of stars the carpeted the nothingness. A stream of thoughts pieced themselves together, flooding the consciousness with questions and to its frustration, could find no answers to any of them.
What am I?
There it was again, another thought, another query. The consciousness could feel itself expanding, twisting and growing as its mind ached and groaned, filling up with a heap of questions and observations that it hoped would soon be expanded upon. Its mind felt heavy, as though a massive weight was holding it down. Something grew from the mind's posterior, clawing its way out and spiraling outward like several tendrils. The same process began with the mind's anterior, only the change was quicker and did not extend as much, instead ending with a short growth.
The posterior transformation took much longer, stretching and contorting into long limbs and a torso. The consciousness reached up with a three-fingered appendage to touch what it found to be a smooth muzzle, which it observed with eyes. Its legs slowly kicked back and forth as though submerged in water and the consciousness stared down to see the result of its metamorphosis. Arms, legs, chest, midsection, tail. It was no longer a consciousness but now a full-fledged corporeal entity.
"Welcome, brother."
The newly-formed entity turned its head, finding a similar being floating next to it, only shaped differently. This one was dark green with several shades of light green blue and bits of brown with a long flowing mane peppered with flowers. She came walking across the void as if on a solid surface. The new entity was puzzled, even more so than he previously was. He regarded the newcomer with much intrigue.
"BROTHER"? YOU KNOW ME? He heard himself say, his voice deep and booming.
The newcomer smiled, giving the entity a sense of serenity. "Yes. I am your sister. You may call me, 'Life' or 'Vita.' The others are awaiting your arrival." She began to trot away when she turned and beckoned him. "Come along, Brother." Seeing no other option, the new entity followed "Vita" towards a cluster of floating objects, which he would later know to be planets. The two wove their way to one in particular, a blue one covered in bits of green and surrounded by white swirls. Passing through the layers of the planet's atmosphere, they touched down on a clearing, the entity feeling the soft grass beneath his hands and feet.
BEFORE YOU CALLED ME "BROTHER". WHO AM I? The entity asked when he was enticed by something sparkling and swirling next to the grass. Peering down into it, he was shocked to discover a being staring back at him. Its head was an elongated skull with a single horn poking out of the forehead and a mane of green-hued white hair dominating its head. Its emaciated body was covered in a thin coat of yellow-green fur and a long tail with a wild tuft of hair swished behind it. Two dark blue orbs glowed inside of its empty eye sockets, which stared unblinkingly back up at the entity.
Vita appeared beside the creature, despite being right next to the entity. "I see you've found your reflection. What do you think of your appearance?"
THIS...THING...IS ME? I AM IT?
The entity was despondent; he longed to be like Vita, to be beautiful and to give off a vibe of wonder and awe.
A gentle hoof brought the entity's head up so that Vita could look him in the eyes with her own, which were crystal-clear orbs filled with shining golden stars. "Do not despair, Brother. Though you may look unappealing, you have a purpose. You are Thanatos. Death."
"THANATOS''? "DEATH"? WHAT DO THESE THINGS MEAN?
"They mean the end of things but also the beginning. You are my counterpart, my other half of the equation, of the Great Balance. In time, it will all make sense to you."
I DO NOT UNDERSTAND, BUT I AM READY TO LEARN.
"Excellent! Look, our siblings have arrived!"
The new entity-Thanatos-followed his sister's pointing hoof to witness other beings arriving, each one different to the next. One was feline-esque and wrapped in a golden, blindingly-radiant aura as she dashed across the field, followed closely by a black, quadrupedal shape, its body dripping like spilled ink, who seemed to both loath and delight in chasing his sister. They were soon joined by two others, equaling six in total.
"We had-have-a new arrival!" One being stated in a whirring, high-pitched voice, his body a flickering blue blur.
"That's right, Aeon. Everybody, this is our brother, Thanatos," Vita replied, a hoof gently rubbing the newcomer's shoulder. "The jittery one is Aeon, Primordial of Time. The one beside him is Apophis or Chaos." She gestured towards a winged serpent with amaranth-colored scales that shone with bits of silver-gray, his eyes twin pools of gold.
"HELLO THERE, THANATOSSSSS," He hissed pleasantly. "I HOPE TO GET TO KNOW YOU BETTER."
The shining feline bowed, "I am Light or Aethera."
"Kekui, the Primordial Darkness, at your service, Brother," the black stallion added, spreading his onyx-black wings as he shot Aethera a contemptuous look from out of the corner of his eye. The feline quietly snarled back, earning them a snicker from Apophis, the crimson serpent tying himself into knots as he tried to hold in his rattling laughter. Vita, oblivious to the shenanigans of her siblings, continued, her presence a comfort to Thanatos.
"On this world, we each have our tasks. I grow the plants and birth creatures both sentient and non-sentient. You will stop their breath and guide them to the Other Side. Is that understood?"
Thanatos was still confused by his new sister's words but nodded regardless. I UNDERSTAND, VITA. AND THANK EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU FOR WELCOMING ME. I LOOK FORWARD TO GETTING TO KNOW ALL OF YOU. I WILL NOT LET YOU ANY OF YOU DOWN.
True to his word, Thanatos excelled in his duties, eventually learning his importance to the Balance of the Cosmic Order. He would come to treasure the time he had with his siblings, growing especially fond of Vita, Aeon and Apophis. His big sister would teach him to hold all life sacred and to treat them all with equal respect, since they would all come to him sooner or later. Apophis' random nature kept the otherwise bored Thanatos very entertained, which would sometimes result in him collecting souls sooner than anticipated. He would come to appreciate Aeon's quirks as the Time Master's constant mix-ups of past, present and future events was often quite amusing and kept Thanatos on his toes.
Sadly, these times would not last as the Primordial Ones drifted apart, either choosing a mortal race to represent them or simply drifting away to another realm of existence. Kekui bonded with the unicorn-like umbrum to spread his darkness over the earth while Apophis, tired of having little to do, bred a race of chimera known as draconequui, giving them their own world and the means to access chaos magic. Aethera would choose the alicorns as her channelers, sending them to be the bearers of order and hope. Time belonged to no one so Aeon stayed out of the affairs of mortals while loving Vita, the Primordial of Life, belonged to all and stayed close to her "children."
The Primordial Ones had their followers and selected representatives but there was one who felt left out: the lone mortehippus. As the Stallion of Death, Thanatos was feared, even hated by mortals, particularly the different races of ponies, who blamed him for ending their lives so short. He did as commanded and kept the Cosmic Balance in check but was reviled on earth, even more so than Darkness or Chaos. It didn't matter; donning a hooded cloak of midnight blue, Thanatos steadfastly held onto his position, eventually slipping into legend and obscurity until one day, six ponies came asking for his aid in facing down a threat they couldn't end by themselves. But that's a story for another time...
Author's Note
This was a story I had cooking on the back burner for a while and wanted to get it out before I forgot it. It's a way of incorporating cosmology into MLP. It's a part of my headcannon for the show, existing in the same universe as "The Reign of Chaos: Discord's Story."
Mortehippus ("death horse") is a word I came up with so if you want to use it, please ASK ME for permission.
