Author's Note

This is a whole bunch of the very far backstory. A very distorted view of the very far backstory, but the very far backstory nonetheless.

King Anthem

King Anthem:

King Anthem had tried to fight back, but such a task was hard to accomplish when you constantly bedridden. Terrible migraines and muscle pains kept him confined as he went on suffering through what would have quickly brought an end to any ordinary pony, or even any alicorn that was made ruler. Even Anthem, as strong as he was, was at one point driven to madness by his suffering. Only now, over twenty five hundred years later, was his pain starting to abate, albeit rather slowly. It might be another twenty five hundred years before it was gone entirely.

He knew the two ponies responsible for his suffering was. The first Anthem hated with his whole being. The second, he tried to hate, but couldn't. He could only hate her weakness. And her greed. Her greed was the reason he was no longer king. He had done all of the work because of her weakness, and was subsequently deposed because of her greed. And yet he couldn't hate her, so he settled for hating her actions.

He had ruled for thousands of years after he established his kingdom. He was a harsh ruler, but a fair one he thought. His subjects needed order, sought it out even after what was before, and he provided it. Despite his harshness, his subjects regarded him as a good king. And while their lives were still difficult, it was much better than it was before.

However, as generations came to pass, many began to forget about what it was like before, thinking that what was once very real was only legend. Not only this, but the one Anthem hated was causing him to suffer. At first, his pain was barely perceptible, but after thousands of years, it was driving him towards insanity. He became more harsh in his ruling, more tolerant of their suffering. What did they even know about suffering? They weren’t around to see life before his rule. He was aching in pain and fighting off insanity for their well being.

And all the while, the one he tried to hate did nothing. She couldn’t fight the one he hated because of her weakness, and wouldn’t ease his pain because of her greed. He hated her greed. She went on, building a legend about her, claiming to him she was doing it under his orders. “My job is out there,” she would say to him mockingly, because it was the very thing he told her years ago.

He knew it was to strip him from his rule. She had done nothing, yet demanded the throne from him. He knew she went on hating him because of his answer. She watched him suffer and slip into madness, and plotted to take his throne from him because of her greed.

She claimed he was ineffective and stubborn. She said the country was dying because of his stubbornness, that ponies were dying because of his ineffectiveness. He claimed that the cause was her greed and weakness. That if she was stronger, the country wouldn’t be in such a sorry state, that if she was more content his subjects' lives would be far better off. They went back and forth about this for many days, years, centuries.

As he dropped further into madness, he watched as she plotted against him, telling lies about his history, about what he’d done. He watched as she told him that his rule was chaos, that he was chaos, that their lives would continue to be awful because of him. That he hated them. That he wanted nothing more than to see them suffer. That if only she was ruler, their lives would be so much better. That he was greedy. She made them hate him, made them afraid of him.

He knew it wasn’t hard for her to do. Part of it was his fault. His suffering made him lash out at his subjects, when he knew he shouldn’t. It wasn’t their fault he was in pain. They didn’t ask him to live in suffering for them, he chose to live like this for them. However, it did make him upset to know that, instead of respecting and fearing him, they were afraid of him and hated him. It hurt to know that it was partly his fault, and made him angry to know that it was partly her greed and weakness’s fault.

Anthem at one point threatened to kill her for her greed. Not because he hated her though. In fact, he would've hated himself for it, and grieved for her. So many times, he didn’t know where he would be without her, and thanked and appreciated her for it. However, if she forced his hand, he would do it. He would not be deposed from his throne. He was the only thing keeping everything together. If he was deposed, he knew it would all fall apart. Maybe not that very day, or even that very millennium, but eventually it would crumble. He would not let his country crumble, not let the one he hated return. Besides, it wasn’t like she was above killing him. The only thing that stopped her was her weakness.

However, when the moment came, he was weak, and he cursed himself for it. He hesitated. Even in his madness, even in his pain, even in his hate for her weakness, he hesitated. It was for just a moment, but a moment too long. And she took advantage of his brief moment of hesitation. Of course, he knew that she knew he would hesitate. She was clever in that way, and would only attack if she knew she would win. She knew that for a moment he would be weak. She was his sister after all.

But even in his weakened and insane state, he survived. But just barely. It took his whole being to not die. He wouldn’t die. He knew his country would need him, even as much as his subjects feared and hated him. He stayed alive for them. But he was deposed, and too weak to fight back, much to his anger. He was now weak, and it was her fault. He hated himself for his weakness, even if it was only temporary.