The Lady in Lavender

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

A question drives the universe.

It is not driven by the soul engines that regurgitate matter with perfect efficiency, recycling the universe through an endless cycle of birth and unbirth. Nor by the destruction the Demon Queen brings with her. It is not even pushed forward by the ebb and flow of magic itself. Instead, a single question has continued to push the universe and everything within and without endlessly forward.

A question asked before a mortal girl, by a mortal girl, and after a mortal girl. A word - the single most important word in the universe, arguably.

Why?

Why is the world? Asked the Dragons, who thought in such a manner that it was they who called forth mortal magic for the first time.

Why are we? Asked the Qui, until all but one of them destroyed themselves in their hubris.

Why are you? Asked the Vulcines, who challenged divinity itself - until they left the universe scarred, bleeding in its wake.

In time, the ponies will ask their question.

The deer have already asked -

Why is magic?

There were legends about her - that she could kill a dragon with a single spell. That it was she who single-handedly pushed back the remnants of the Otherworlds away from the bleeding reality that Those Who Had Come Before left. That she wore the bones of her enemies in a grotesque necklace around herself, collecting their blood to bathe herself in so that she might grow in power.

All of them could not be more true; all of them could not be less true. There was a semblance of honesty within each of them - a nugget, a misinterpretation that spread. But the truth of the matter - was that She-Who-Ruled was far from what the myths suggested.

She was not a cruel warmonger. She would not spill blood without hesitation - she would always seek peace and peace first. She was a humble doe - she did not rule from the great city of Valerîon, built by the enslaved masses, but rather her home city of origin, Eos.

And she was the greatest woman that her son had ever known. Armed with a brilliant intellect, constantly pushing at the edges of what the universe had thought only conceptually possible - and going even beyond that.

The cities that had been woven out of crystal and glass were made because of her. The fleshy tumors adorned with fibrous veins that decorated the tectonic plates of their planet, spraying out their readings and fueling their cities with electric lifeblood, were there because of her. There was nothing off limits from them - the moon, the skies themselves, decorated with the corpses and ruins of the fledgling civilizations that had come before - these were possible to explore because of her.

“Mother.” His voice was deep - yet with a hint of youthful curiosity within it, a burning desire for knowledge that was only met by hers.

“Archmage.” Her voice was otherworldly. The bedrock of reality itself rumbled as her tones brought with them the full authority of her knowledge and power. “I greet you,” she didn’t spare him so much as a glance as the great glass shards of the Library floated around her. Within them, there was knowledge - in the form of digital light that danced from one edge to another, slowly eroding the glass that was only kept together by magical power.

“I greet you,” the great white deer teleported up to her side with a flash of brilliant blue magic. “We’ve made progress.”

“Have we,” she asked, but she did not phrase it as a question. Her eyes glimmered with the stars themselves within them in stark contrast to her lavender coat - looking as if bits of the Beyond itself had been crammed into her skull. Shards of glass shattered around her, forming thin rods and even smaller fragments that she continued to arrange in ritualistic patterns.

“It seems that even the Children are not infallible. Deep within the ruins of the Qui, fragments of the Vulcines are beginning to be unearthed.”

She didn’t respond.

“I believe that what they found can help with the Embroachment.”

For a moment, her work paused. Only a moment - and then the entire room lit again with the buzz of telekinesis, the manipulation of thousands of microscopic objects simultaneously. “I thought that you had abandoned that project.”

“I did, until recently.”

“Speak more of the Vulcines, then. My curiosity is -” a pause in the telekinetic buzz of the room. “Piqued.”

“There are rituals, mother. Strange, cruel rituals that carve into the fabric of reality itself. They reach far past the grasp of any normal spell - they pull the very edge of the universe into its center. The Bleeding that you have detected-”

“I told you not to speak of the Bleeding-”

“Regardless, you’ve detected it. It was caused by these rituals.”

“You are not a fool. I would not raise a fool. You would not further the damage done.”

“Of course not. I seek to make use of the damage already done.”

“Elaborate.”

“The underlying aether dimension - the bleeding that they describe, could be used to stabilize a bit of it - create a pseudo-core,”

“Which we could in turn, practice methods of the Embroachment on.” She-Who-Ruled finished. “I have gone down this path. Creating a pseudo-core would be impossible.”

“Impossible - until now. The Vulcines provide the key.”

The shards of glass shifted down into their final resting positions. An ethereal luminescence ran over the edges of the fragments until they fused into one, continuous mass. Her antlers began to glow. The queen turned to look at her son.

“Send word to your daughter, Gilgamesh. We will have much to do.”

The Ghol was a sight few had seen. The great hall underneath the bowels of the Queen’s Library was only ever accessible by those working directly under her - and even then, her direct supervision was required. It felt almost blasphemous that Freya stood here with her father - but her feelings of blasphemy were quickly overcome by a sense of awe and wonder.

“
“By the stars above.” Freya whispered as the ivory doe slowly circled the six floating orbs. “What did she describe them as?”

“I would be lying,” Gilgamesh tapped one with his hoof, “-if I were to say I fully understood her description of them.”

“She’s brilliant.”

The Archmage snorted. “Don’t sell your grandmother so short. She’s beyond brilliant. I daresay that she has the skill, if not the power, of the Children - if not surpassing them.”

“A rather bold claim.” Freya arched an eyebrow.

“The ponies,” Gilgamesh began.

“Those middling servants? What of them?” Freya tilted her head to the side.

Gilgamesh grinned slightly. “One of them was exposed to the…” He paused for a moment as he searched for the word, “-artifact. He can speak now.”

“Truly?” Freya let out a soft gasp.

“Mother has kept him a secret for the time being. He calls himself Buri. Beyond mere speech - he’s as intelligent as any buck or doe that I’ve ever met. Brilliant, honestly.”

“How - did she make them?”

“What do you know about the Bleeding?” The Archmage continued to circle the glimmering gems.

“More than most. I know that it is a phenomenon present throughout the Worlds. Beyond that, nothing more.”

“You are not to speak of this to anyone outside of this room. Or else, mother will order me to kill you - and for every bit that I love you, daughter dear, I would have to comply.” His tone was darker, more serious - without his usual sharp intelligence behind his every word. Freya recoiled slightly, then promptly nodded.

“Magic, as we use it, is not a natural part of this world. Of any world. The Dragons - not the starwaste that lay on Aezilan with us, but the true dragons of the Stars, and the Children use magic that draws from a pool separate from the rest of the universe. Our predecessors - the Vulcines, capitalized on the destruction that the Qui wrought on themselves. They took a hammer to the universe and struck it - the Bleeding. A web-like series of cracks, running through the cosmos.”

Freya thought for a moment about how that sounded familiar - until her eyes widened. “You’re saying…”

“The Aether, as we call it, is not a natural construct. It is a bloody tear in reality - and mother estimates that with every spell cast, the damage grows ever-greater.”

“To what end?”

“Mother could explain better than I. Ultimately, she estimates the end of the universe within the next few hundred thousand years.”

“That’s - a lot.” Freya whispered. She glanced down at the floor before her eyes turned up to the six floating gems. “And-”

The clearing of her throat caused both of them to pale lightly, even though they were in no danger from her. The Great Deer Queen walked up past them, lightly brushing her sides against both her son and her granddaughter before she stood in front of the artifacts.

“They will allow me -'' She thought for a moment. “Us, to draw directly from the fundamental pool of magic that the Children do. Yet, accessing the pool of magic itself does nothing. This gem,” she lightly tapped the star-shaped gem with the tip of her hoof, “draws directly from the underlying aetheric dimension. I know not from what source it draws from, but drawing from it with Primal Magic has proved to be - nondestructive to the universe at large.”

“So...the gems-” Freya began.

“Will allow me - us, to use magic as the Children do. The Embroachment, my kin, is possible.”

“To use magic as the Children do…” Gilgamesh scratched at his stubble. “The - applications of such a thing…”

”Art even greater than thou couldst comprehend.” A pressure weighted down on them as the sibilant tone of the new arrival rang out. Her voice thrummed with the undercurrent of power that only the strongest of Deer had - but there was some otherworldly quality to it that suggested something even greater.

Three sets of eyes rapidly landed upon the newcomer. She stood a head taller than even the towering Queen, mirroring the height of Gilgamesh himself. Threads decorated her horns, a single ugly fang jutting out of her lip and marring her otherwise pristine form.

Gilgamesh and Freya could not have bowed faster even if the gravity of the True Sun weighed directly on them. Their muzzles brushed against the floor, their antlers scraping against the marble tiling underneath them. She-Who-Ruled did not bow, instead choosing to dip her head.
”We will not dally in our purpose. Know that thy fate has only been bestilled by Our kind hoof. Know, that ‘tis only because We consider thou the greatest of the great, that We have not seen it fit to throw you to the gnawing claws of mine brethren. This folly will end. Thou will destroy these - abominations.”Fate gestured a hoof towards the floating gems. ”The Embroachment, as thou hast deemed it - will bring about Ruination.”

The pressure faded with a sudden hiss. The archmagus and his daughter stood there, trembling slightly as they stared into the spot where Fate herself had stood mere moments ago.

She-Who-Ruled turned to look at the two.

“We will begin the Embroachment within the coming moon.”

“It was not unexpected, you know.” She-Who-Ruled spoke idly as she continued shifting the tower into place. One of them circled around her, while the other five circled around her son - a monstrous beast underneath his heavy war armor.

“I know.” The world trembled and burned. Gilgamesh could feel the flesh that had built their bedrock being torn out from underneath them - for what the Asgardians lacked in strength, they made up for in numbers. “But it does not mitigate the pain.”

“Were you aware that there was a fairly high probability that you would join her?” The glass shards fractured underneath a stream of seemingly unlimited power, the Library being reshaped and refashioned into something eldritch and ritualistic - more reminiscent of a Qui altar than anything that a Deer would build.

“No, but I am not surprised.” Gilgamesh sighed lightly and glanced down at the ground.

“Without this conversation - you likely would’ve backstabbed me at the ideal moment. The only moment that I could possibly be vulnerable.”

“Ah. Your warding?”

“Stripped off, by the sheer font of magical power.”

“And this conversation changes it?”

“Because if I die, the blast would destroy the entirety of Eos. And you would not allow your daughter to die, willingly.”

“Unsurprising, again. She has always been my weakness.” He shut his eyes.

“As you, mine, my son. I am not - like other mothers, I am sure. I do, however, truly love you. If that means anything.”

The air smelt of brimstone. The once pristine glass towers had been shattered by the rampages of the dragons, the armor-clad earthponies, and the traitorous deer that had joined his daughter in her rebellion. It indeed was the end of the world.

“It means the world to me.”

“Good, my son - for we shall begin.” The gems and shards of glass suddenly snapped into place. Gilgamesh quickly shifted himself into a standing position, focusing his senses as he felt the font of magical power begin to flow through the gems. “Focus your intent through the Elements of Harmony. As long as our intent is - harmonious, then the Embroachment shall succeed. Fail this - and there will be Ruination. Do you understand?”

Gilgamesh quickly nodded. He shut his eyes and let out a deep breath, pushing his hooves deeper into the ground.

Minutes passed. Or maybe hours - maybe even days, as the rebels grew ever closer. Gilgamesh could not even begin to suggest a guess - for the experience was unlike anything that the deer had felt or would feel for decades to come.

He felt the earth, lending him strength. The air, filling his lungs. The water and fire that fueled his very life itself - the magic that thickly permeated the air. He felt all of these things - and instead of forcing his will into the world, shaping it to his desires - he simply allowed it to flow through him. To be given the power instead of taking it.

The spiraling stone towers of the Ghol reached up towards a single point - the shards of glass that were filled with the accumulated knowledge of the Deer spinning more and more rapidly around a sparking bleeding hole in reality itself. The glass fragments and the tips of the tower were connected by brilliant arcing lightning as more power began to flow into the room - Gilgamesh’s armor beginning to melt as he was lifted into the air.

The gem in front of She-Who-Ruled was glowing with a lavender light, unlike anything Gilgamesh had ever seen. Every throb and pulse of magic that pushed through the crystal caused the corona around it to grow ever brighter, and slowly - rainbow-hued threads began to travel from one Element to another.

There was a possibility that it would’ve worked.

That the core of magic itself would be broached. That the Deer would transcend past their corporeal forms as they entered a new age of nirvanic ascension that could only be described in the abstract. Perhaps, they would be described as fledgling gods and worshipped by those who came after them - there was a potential that such a thing could’ve happened.
The downfall of the Deer Empire began with a single word - yet it was sealed in stone by that same word, uttered with a tone of horror as daughter looked upon father.

“Why?” Freya whispered, and the deer broke with Gilgamesh’s concentration.

Time snapped like a rubber band as space was constricted into a single point. Rainbow, red, and lavender fractures in reality tore in arcing ritualistic patterns through space itself - appearing as if the air itself had been shattered like glass.

A thousand screaming voices entered the archmage’s mind as power, unlike anything, tore the world itself apart. The air rippled with heat, the ground splashed like water - his mother was pulled into a boiling stream of organs.

Gilgamesh barely managed to pull up a brilliant blue shield over himself and his daughter, wrapping his body around her. The shield shattered, waves of flame washing over him - his skin beginning to burn and hiss as his blood was boiled out of his body.

F̷̘̊R̸̺̚E̵͎̅E̴̛̞ ̸̨͌Ù̸̗S̸̺͝,a gurgling cacophony of voices shrieked. The archmage felt his mind splinter and fracture - even as blue sludge began oozing out of his nose and mouth. His eyes fluttered shut -

And the last thing he saw was a skeletal deer standing by a shrieking mess of void.

The deer snorted as he tore the blade from his skull. His eyeball dropped out of his face with a spurt of blood and sludge - causing him to wince slightly, for he was not painless, merely deathless.

“Seriously.” He let out a soft sigh as a green glow tore the attacking deer from the inside out. “If the Scourge couldn’t beat me - then what chance would any of you FUCKS HAVE!?” Gilgamesh roared as he stomped his hooves down with such force that they splintered underneath his enhanced strength - the ground erupting into a spray of dirt and ash.

“Father.” Freya pressed a hoof into his side lightly. “Are you-”

“They’re getting louder, Freya.” He hissed lightly. “Bor’s fucking - mud magic, isn’t working.”

“Good thing then, that I bring Elements.” The accented pony grinned as he dangled five jewels in front of Gilgamesh.

They had sacrificed everything to come to this point.

His self-proclaimed immortality had been tested thousands of times as he tore himself apart in order to protect his daughter. Even still, one of her horns was missing - the other, shattered halfway through. The pain must have been unbearable - but yet, she persisted. Bor himself had suffered equally grievous wounds - one of the Demon’s stray spells had left him bedridden for a week as his magic pulled his rotting body back together.

The corpses of thousands surrounded them. As ever, the Demon seemed - uninterested. More focused on pushing her spells to their limits as she continued upon her great work than the conflict that raged around her. The only times that she had ever turned her attention from the pulsing monstrosity of growing flesh that she had cultivated was when the dragons had taken to the battlefield - and within moments, their viscera had been added to the collection.

“Freya. Bor.” The Demon spoke. She turned her head for a fraction of a second. “Fraezen,” she quickly turned back to her whirring screens and floating glass.

“Don’t - FUCKING CALL ME THAT!” Gilgamesh snarled as he tore at his face with his hoof. His antlers began to glow. “You’re a fucking monster. You’ve - killed everyone.”

“And yet, my darling son, I have killed less than a fraction of the lives you have claimed in your lifetime. Isn’t that interesting? It’s a shame that you could not feed them to the maw.She hungers, you know.”

“Who’s hungry? What the fuck are you on about?” Gilgamesh hissed.

“Enough talk.” Bor stomped his hoof down into the ground. “End this. Now.” He grunted as he glanced between the scarred deer and the slobbering madman.

“Agreed.” Freya glanced up at her father. “We end this.”

“Unfortunately,” She-Who-Ruled sighed as she warped space between herself and Freya. “I cannot allow such a thing to pass.”

Her antlers lit.

The battle that ensued was horrible. It was a slaughter - the world itself torn apart under her unending onslaught. Were the three any average mortal - they would’ve perished a thousand times, as Gilgamesh felt his head be torn from his neck even as Bor’s limbs were pushed back into his body. Freya’s were seemingly pulled out of harm’s way - impossible events happening as flames passed through her or not a single shard of rock struck her fur. Even so, the wounds she suffered were grievous - and by the end of it, she was more of a matted mess of scar tissue than a natural deer.

The culmination of it came as Gilgamesh tore from the ground like a bolt of lightning, while Freya and Bor struck the great Deer Queen from both sides. Her hooves moved to block, her antlers lighting to repel the three with a lethal wave of telekinetic force - but Freya’s broken antler flashed. Her antler erupted with a shower of keratin and ley directly into She-Who-Ruled’s face even as her tiara jostled ever so slightly.

That was all Gilgamesh needed to tackle it off her head and place it upon his.

She stood as still as a statue. Slowly, she turned to look at the three - as three pairs of gems began to rotate around them rapidly.

For a second time, the world broke as blood asked blood - “why?”

This time, the world of the deer was shattered in a spray of rainbow-hued energy.

There was not a trace of She-Who-Ruled left. Her work, her forces, her corpse had all disappeared - along with her archmage. It certainly made the Asgardian’s job much easier - to utterly destroy all traces of the deer.

The deer that did not follow her still felt the weight of the sin of their brethren. Their mind hissed and whispered with the horrible things that She-Who-Ruled had summoned, the pulsing fractures in reality that she had torn in order to pull such horrible darkness out from the void itself.

The mark that the Deer Queen had left on the world would never heal. Freya was certain of it - but at the very least, no one would remember Kesmera Arcados, the Queen of the Deer - only the monster she had become in her last years.

And in the stars above - a snarling wolf, mind filled with a million voices that weren’t his, jibbered incoherently - as his claws grasped at a book carved from the flesh of a long-dead god.

The side of the book had a word on it. A single word - one of the most important words in the universe.

Astaroth.

-