Fear is a reaction. Courage is a decision.

Discord’s first reaction to seeing his sister was to run.

Discord certainly wasn’t popular among the Children - though, few of the Children were anything more than neutral to one another. Void, Death, and Fate were neutral towards him - while Destruction, War, Conquest and Justice all hated him. The only one of the Children more widely despised than Discord was perhaps Destruction herself.

His relationship with Justice - or Soleil, as she enjoyed being called - was especially complicated. The Lady of the Heavens gave Discord’s involvement in both the fates of Destruction, Fate, and their blessed mother no small amount of weight - and at times, Soleil had even attempted to simply kill him.

The last time they had met was a little bit before the rise of the Deer, in the stagnant universe after the fall of the Vulcines.

Discord was reminded once again of why Soleil was considered the second strongest of the Children, after she destroyed an entire solar system in an attempt to flush her out. It was only thanks to a healthy amount of preparation and illusion that Discord was able to barely evade her - which also used quite a hefty amount of his mana supply.

As it stood - now - Discord was on his last legs. Wounded - his last memories of harmonic energy washing over him - burning him away from the world - lavender cracks spreading across his flesh…

It wasn’t a good matchup, to put it concisely. So, his first reaction was to run.

First, he had to escape the planet. He was Discord - and he could bend the rules quite a bit…but even he was inherently limited to some of the rules of reality, especially when weighed down by a heavy thaumosphere.

The first teleport brought him up into orbit. There - he wielded chaos magic with the precision of a scalpel, if the scalpel was flaming and also a chainsaw. He cast out a wide net, saturating points of the atmosphere with an intense concentration of his mana. Hopefully, it would provide some small measure of distraction.

Thankfully, they were within distance of a star. Discord didn’t want to risk another teleport - having only chanced the first one to create some distance between them. Even Soleil couldn’t outspeed instant travel, as far as he knew. So he would have to rely on natural speed.

At the least, he wasn’t in an atmosphere anymore. At any given time, Discord was the fastest natural creature on Aezilan - sort of. He hadn’t actually ever seen the Eldest Daughter sprint after something, tending to use teleportation instead - so he wasn't counting that. But Hermes - the Spirit of Air - would never be able to catch up to Discord in a race. He outclassed him by an order of magnitude.

And Discord was only faster when not restricted by a planet. He could concentrate his magic deeper into himself - carry himself along solar wind - and not just exceed the speed of light…but dwarf it by an unfathomable degree. Discord was fast.

In an instant, he could feel the solar wind of the sun against his back. It wasn’t really wind - but it carried magic along with it. He gathered up not just every ounce of his magic, but every ounce of magic that he could pull from his surroundings. He channeled enough magic that he could feel some of his cells begin to burst - though, that same magic also fueled his regeneration. He chose an arbitrary direction, and hoped it was away - and began sailing towards that direction, accelerating to the speed of light in a matter of seconds.

He came to a crashing halt immediately. The momentum was drained out of his body as he impacted a hoof, the wind getting knocked out of him. Soleil stood - stood, in space, ignoring the zero gravity environment - right in-front of him, keeping her hoof gently planted on his chest.

Soleil’s head very slowly tilted to the side. “Hello.”

Discord’s mouth felt dry. He hadn’t pushed himself like that in a millennium - and Soleil looked utterly unimpressed. Had this been how it felt against the Eldest? Was this how Celestia felt against him?

Flight wasn’t effective. In that case - it was time to try to fight.

Discord slammed his hands together right in-front of Soleil’s face - using a trivial amount of magic to summon the nearest physical object he could within his grasp. A small chunk of slightly glossy rock formed in his hand, and was then promptly infused with pure chaotic energy.

Matter, given an intense amount of energy in a very short amount of time - and then excited through fundamental chaos - is what the layperson would call an explosion. It wasn’t an eruption of flame - more of an intense burst of mostly magical energy directly in Soleil’s face as a roiling cloud of dust, glitter, butterflies, acid, and other generally chaotic substances…coupled with enough force to shatter a city behind it.

Discord threw himself back away from Soleil even as he created the explosion. It rolled out over a massive stretch of empty void - the edge of it encompassing bits of the asteroid belt a little over a mile away.

Discord shut his eyes and began inhaling very deeply. There wasn’t actually any oxygen entering his lungs - but he was instead inhaling raw mana, fueling and filling his cells with power. The explosion still pushed outwards - its expansion slowly beginning to calm down, leaving behind a massive swirl of dust in its wake.

Soleil crossed hundreds of miles in the span of a blink. Discord could feel the impact of her hoof against his chest before he could even see or hear her coming - a rush of brilliant golden energy trailing behind her as Discord was sent sailing towards the nearest celestial body. Soleil’s wings flapped once, covering an impossible amount of distance - before with a soft grunt, she punched her hoof into his chest again.

Soleil pushed forward again, slamming all four of her hooves down into his chest - adding to his force as she smashed Discord into the side of an asteroid, roughly the size of Castle Canterlot - that promptly shattered on impact. Soleil still pushed him down further, until their momentum suddenly instantly stopped - Discord’s broken body pinned down on a small scrap of rock while an impossible amount of rubble floated around them.

Discord weakly groaned as he felt some of his ribs move around. Blood - a thick, golden ichor - dribbled from his mouth, and he was positive that he had punctured a lung.

Soleil’s face was completely stoic. She tilted her head to the side. “Are we really doing this?”

Discord’s paw and claw shot out, grabbing onto the edges of their little disc of rock and squeezing down. Vegetation began to curl and grow around the rock - until six or so small green plants rose up at least two feet off the ground.

A rapid spray of what looked like watermelon seeds began to pepper into Soleil’s side. Soleil shut her eyes - and then the seeds began to explode on impact.

Discord teleported away the second the first explosion struck. Unlike the explosion beforehand - these were meant to be lethal, instead of a panicked eruption of chaotic energy. The seedspitters began to fire faster and faster - until Discord could feel his teeth chatter from the sheer force that washed over him-

Soleil’s wings flapped once - and the vegetation melted away. Soleil’s fur looked as if it was slightly charred - but as she stepped forward, and it melted off her, Discord noted it had just been some soot from the explosion.

“Are we really doing this?” Soleil repeated. This time, there was a glimmer of annoyance within her eyes.

Annoyance.

Discord was weakened, admittedly. On his last legs - but he had still thrown a handful of attacks against her that could level whole towns. And here, Soleil looked utterly unphased. Mildly annoyed, at best - and it was at this point that Discord really realized how outclassed he was.

Embodiments could destroy cities if they so wanted.
Most of the Children could raze whole countries.
Discord could shatter whole continents.

But Soleil? The Eldest? They were in a class all on their own - so infinitely far beyond Discord - that they could shatter worlds.

The reason that the universe wasn’t a smoldering crater - an infinitely sized warzone between those two indomitable forces had to do with their inherent nature. Soleil was a creature of Justice - focused wholly on the persecution of the sinners and sacrosanctity of the saintly souls of Heaven. The Eldest was a creature of pure and simple destruction - released to wipe the slate clean, then sealed away by the magical McGuffin of the century.

They weren’t meant to be defeated. They weren’t meant to be fought.

But some credit must be given to Discord’s sheer courage, for conjuring up a train moving at a quarter of the speed of light that slammed into Soleil’s side. It was the first impact that seemed to do anything more than wash over her - sending her hurtling through space even as the magical construct crumpled up around her. She came to a sudden stop - righting herself in a moment, before letting out a barely perceptible sigh.

“Okay.”

Her first punch broke three ribs, and sent Discord through two asteroids. The first was roughly the size of the Canterhorn - the second the size of Ponyville. He would’ve screamed if there was still air in his lungs.

Discord noticed how she trailed behind him while he was mid-knockback, only to cross a ridiculous distance to deliver a second punch. One hoof grabbed onto the back of Discord’s head - tilting it up so it was face-first as they crashed into the surface of a small dwarf planet. Soleil’s wings began to flap as she built up more and more energy, slamming Discord through the core of the planet - and rocketing out its other side while carrying his broken, bleeding and battered body, arcing gold flame behind her.

“You’re stubborn, brother. So allow me to illustrate the point more clearly.”

Their course suddenly changed - taking a complete 90 degree left turn as they started sailing through space, arcing globs of lava and flame behind them…directly towards the nearest star.

Discord’s blood ran cold. He had never tested the limits of his durability - he wasn’t exactly the best at handling pain, to be quite honest - and the only time he had really been damaged was something more magical in nature. Something that he could understand.

To put it another way - Discord was fairly certain that being pushed into the surface of a star would kill him. So he began to flail - trying to bite down on his sister, tearing and slashing towards her…

And yet - Soleil’s wings flapped once - and an eruption of golden flame tore from their point in the air. Their speed doubled, then tripled, then octupled - and in a fraction of a second, Soleil didn’t just slam Discord into the surface of a star - but all the way through the star.

It was, actually, the speed that saved Discord. For a moment, they were traveling so fast through the void of space, that Discord’s skin simply began sloughing off his body instead of his entire body being turned to ash.

But when something that magically dense traveled that fast through an object-

Discord’s vision was blurry as they impacted the surface of an ashen, cracked planet. Almost every bone in his body was broken - his skin was melting off his flesh, lavender cracks spreading across them - his magic reserves were all but spent…but even still, he couldn’t help but feel his jaw go slack as he saw the supernovae ripple out over the solar system - waves of fire rapidly beginning to expand in their direction.

Soleil let out a small huff - and Discord felt a surge of mana bubble up within the tips of her horns.

Discord tilted his head back. “Make -” Discord coughed, gurgling on his own blood before he spat splatters of it out. “Make it quick.” His eyes shut.

…

Discord’s eyes opened up. He winced, immediately, as he saw a swarm of mana in the air. He then stared up at Soleil’s expression - shifting up slightly from his spot on the ground as he saw genuine confusion on her face.

“What?”

Discord blinked a few times. His mouth opened, then closed, then opened again as he felt no words come to mind. Eventually, he settled on - “Aren’t- you- kill - me?”

Genuine confusion shifted into genuine shock. Soleil stepped backwards. “What? Clean yourself up.” She gestured a hoof towards the mana floating in the air. Discord’s eyes flitted up - and he didn’t waste a second before he began greedily pulling the mana into his soul.

The grotesque details of Discord’s body regenerating were slightly unnerving to him, as always. What was more unnerving, was the fact that Discord was now at his full mana capacity. After punching him through a castle, a mountain, a city, a planet, and a fucking star - not only did she have enough mana to spare to bring Discord up to full power, she still didn’t seem even remotely winded.

“You’re - not - going to kill me.” Discord repeated.

Soleil’s eyes locked with Discord. Discord immediately broke eye contact, slowly shifting out from underneath him.

“Of course not. Don’t be stupid.” Soleil rolled her eyes.

“You punched me through a star,” the draconequus said dumbly.

“You blew up a rock in my face.” Soleil shrugged. “You were the one who wanted to play-fight.”

“Play-fight.” Discord nodded. His entire body felt numb.

“Why would I kill you?”

“Because - I accidentally killed two of our sisters?”

Soleil paused. She then shrugged. “Hm.”

“Hm.” Discord slowly brought himself up. “You try to murder me, blow up a solar system trying to, we don’t see each other for hundreds of thousands of years, then you punch me through a star and you say hm? Hm?”

Soleil stepped forward. “Enough of this.” Her tone shifted into something much harsher than before. “It’s starting to get boring. I’ll cut to the chase, Entropy.”

“Discord,” the chaos-spirit corrected.

“Brother.” Soleil settled. She stepped forward again - placing a hoof down on his chest. Discord found himself fully aware that it would take a trivial amount of effort for it to push through his chest and kill him.

“Let’s talk about Aezilan.”

The Spitfire was a truly massive ship. It was a refreshing change of pace, from most military bases - considering this one had been built with multiraciality in mind, it was considerably less cramped than a lot of other locations Celestia had been to. Here, she could walk through the metal halls aimlessly - only getting the occasional passing stare or salute on the way.

It was relaxing - to be able to just wander with no real direction. To not know where she was going.

Perhaps, she mused, that says something more about me than I might like to admit.

She paused for a fraction of a second. She bumped into a large panther on patrol. Her body was on autopilot as they profusely apologized, while Celestia gave idle reassurances.

Celestia found herself wondering what Twilight and Luna were up to.

Celestia found herself surprised at the pang of jealousy that spiked through her.

Hm.

For the last thirty minutes, Twilight Sparkle had not said a single word.

The last thing she had said was a request for books on magical radiation, and salt. Since then, she started pacing around in circles around the center of the room - occasionally pausing to glance at the map.

Crawling around on her back was Spike - who occasionally sat on her head, meowed, and prompted Twilight to nod.

Sitting in the corner of the room - slowly making their way through some of the delivered, requested books - were two ponies.

The first of these ponies was a prodigy. A mare in her early youth, tutored by Professor Dawnhorn - an expert on the cutting edge of magical study and theory. While she was humble - she wasn’t stupid, and knew that she was sort of a big deal. She wasn’t a celebrity, but she was definitely impressive.

Across from her, was the goddess of the moon, who also kind of murdered 200,000 people. She had brought coffee.

It was hard to not feel a bit overshadowed, in the moment.

“So - um. Does she do this a lot?” Moondancer scratched the back of her head.

Luna gave a noncommittal shrug. “The first time she spoke to me was two days ago. She went into a rant about magical theory. Take that how you will.”

Moondancer’s eyes flitted up from her coffee. “Oh. Um - what did she rant about?” Moondancer shifted, leaning over the table and fiddling with her mane.

Luna paused for a moment. “It was a little bit of a mess. She went on and on about how this - Leyline Theory, suggests that these rifts are aberrant, while Rift Theory suggests that these Rifts are expected. There was also some tangent about consciousness influencing magic, and salt.”

Moondancer slowly nodded. “Rift Theory. My tutor, actually, is the - u-um, what’s the word…” Moondancer paused for a second. “Theorizer? Of Leyline Theory. Rift Theory is the one that suggests the True Sun was made because of a magical presence that bleeds over onto Aezilan, right?

Luna nodded. “Yes.” She paused for a second, before adding - “she came up with it.”

“Oh.”

Luna glanced towards Twilight. “Do you feel disrespected, Magus?”

Moondancer blinked a few times. “What do you mean, your majesty?”

“A filly- a teen, I suppose - barges into your workplace, and demands everyone leaves. She did not ask for your permission. Do you feel disrespected?”

Moondancer shifted around a little bit. She didn’t answer.

Luna turned her gaze towards her. “You may speak freely, in my presence. Have no need to bite your tongue.”

Moondancer’s eyes were glued to the floor as she nodded. “A - little.”

Luna nodded. “Good. Then you aren’t foolish enough to lack pride in your own abilities.”

Moondancer’s eyes flitted up. “Oh. Um. Thanks?”

“But it was not an insult towards you.” Luna leaned in, placing her hoof underneath Moondancer’s chin and tilting her head up. Moondancer flinched slightly, Luna noted.

“The filly is intelligent.” Luna shrugged, as she sipped from her coffee. “But she doesn’t consider the obvious. She needs other ponies - other, intelligent ponies to bounce ideas off of.”

Moondancer’s shoulders felt heavy. “Sure. But this is - my - lab. I worked hard to get here. It still feels like she undercut me.”

Luna tilted her head to the side. “A little,” she mimicked.

Moondancer flinched. “Sorry.”

Luna nodded. “Yes. Apologize for not being honest.” Luna leaned forward and poked her chest.

Moondancer tilted her head to the side. “U…um. Your majesty. You were…” She fell silent for a second. “On the moon, for a while.”

Luna paused. Her next words came slowly. “I suppose.”

“...So - are you-” Luna braced for the inevitable question about the Nightmare, “up to date on magical theory?”

Luna blinked. “Well.” She turned her head to the side. “I have started brushing up. So that I might make conversation.”

“Oh.” Moondancer shifted up slightly in her seat, a little bit of light entering her eyes. “If you - ever need some advice - or, I mean…guidance? Clarification.”

Luna nodded. “Then I am happy that I know where to find you, Magus.”

“You can call me Moondancer, you know.”

“You said the Rifts form in isolated, desolated areas.”

Neither of them saw Twilight enter their peripheral vision. Moondancer flinched as her somewhat otherworldly voice rang out - then slowly nodded.

Twilight turned towards Luna. “Rifts are expected behavior, not aberrant. Formed in areas where magic isn’t regularly consumed.”

Moondancer’s brow furrowed as she tried to figure out if that was a statement or a question. Her mouth opened, only for her confusion to deepen more as the two powered on.

“Hence, why they have not been spotted before.”

Twilight nodded. “That’s one phenomenon. Keep going.”

“Hence, the irregularity in their formation. There’s no pattern behind it, just as there’s no pattern to the consistent bombardment of mana particles like your model suggests.”

“I’m - sorry.” Moondancer interrupted. “Are these - facts? Statements? Or-”

Twilight shot a slight glare towards Moondancer, but turned fully towards her.

“What would happen if a creature walked through a supercharged collection of magical particles?”

Moondancer shifted around, about to express her confusion more - until she noticed Luna giving her a slightly encouraging glance. She let out a soft grunt, before making eye contact with Twilight.

“Their bodies would absorb as much as they could.”

“And if there was more than they could?”

“They’d get mana sickness.”

“Symptoms.”

Moondancer was slowly starting to piece together how exactly a conversation with Twilight worked. She posited a question as a statement - and it was their job to follow along the logic of that statement.

“In ponies - a brightened coat, increased capability at the domain of their cutie-mark.”

“It’s sickness.”

“A dramatically shortened lifespan, too. Sometimes they-” Moondancer’s mouth felt dry as she paused for a second. “Melt.”

Luna’s eyes shut as memories of ponies turning to ash flitted through her brain.

Twilight grunted and pushed Spike off the top of her head as he meowed. “I’m getting to that.” She mumbled. Moondancer’s entire body shivered at the sight of the unnatural, four eyed dragon.

Twilight started to pace around their table. “Rifts are natural, and not aberrant. Their formation is a result of unused magic clumping up together. But you say they walk into the Rifts.”

Moondancer nodded slowly. “They do. As if it’s a portal. Then they don’t walk out.”

Twilight paused. “That doesn’t make sense.” Twilight huffed and sat down.

Luna tilted her head to the side. “Could - potentially - these rifts be connected, somehow?”

Twilight tilted her head to the side. “A high density pocket of spatial magic could teleport someone to another pocket of spatial magic.”

Moondancer shook her head. “It’s impossible. We’ve found hundreds of Rifts, all across the desert. We’ve clarified that they’re only forming in this region, too - so it’s not like there’s Rifts in another continent. Someone would’ve turned up by now.”

“...What about the underground?”

Moondancer paused. “...w-well. There’s not a lot of magic underground, to begin with. So if we’re assuming they’re formed by unused magic-”

“Deep underground.” Twilight clarified. “There are leylines.”

Moondancer fell silent for a long few seconds.

“...Huh.”

In the far west of the Dragonlands, there is an island known as the Throne Isle.

A massive volcano, shattered down the middle by an impossible amount of force - collecting pools of lava and boiling water in the center of its massive caldera. Every year, thousands of dragons travel to the Throne Isle - and drop a token of tribute to the Fire Queen.

Cadence wasn’t exactly a dragon. But she did have a token of tribute.

She stood at the edge of the volcano, watching the gurgling mass of lava down below pop and sizzle - wincing slightly as she felt sulphuric gasses begin to burn her insides up. She was fairly certain if she wasn’t a deity, she’d already be dead. There were a handful of dragons scattered around the edge of the caldera, all dropping their tokens of tribute - large gems or gold that fell towards the lava…

Cadence grunted as she hefted up a crystal the size of a building over her head in a telekinetic grasp, then cast it down into the lava below. There, it splashed against the lava - sinking for a moment, before the dense liquid rock pushed the crystal up towards its surface. There, it floated amongst a pile of gold and treasure - before the waves began to shift.

Few could truly comprehend the size of Beollyssurth. The Fire Queen was evershifting, much like her element - chaotic and prone to flights of fancy. While she kept many of her characteristics the same, she had mastered the ability of greed-shifting. Only a few dragons had the capability to grow in proportionality to their greed, and even fewer could truly control how their own emotions to change their size at will - but Beollyssurth was a master at such a thing.

Often, she kept herself roughly the size of a building.
At times, she was as large as a small hill - generally when meeting with other deities.

Here, in her domain - underneath the lava of the Throne Isle…the red wyrm rose, and rose, and rose - lava gushing off her scales as the mile tall dragon rose from underneath the waves, the heat oozing off her enough to cause the water that poured into her lair to begin to boil and bubble.

Two massive claws gripped onto the edge of the volcano - which stood a little bit more than twice her size - and began to pull up. A massive amount of rock and dust was displaced as the massive dragoness awkwardly shifted herself up, and rested her head down in-front of Cadence - the top of her snout at Cadence’s hoof-level, almost serving as a bridge to her truly massive eyes that took up Cadence’s entire view.

Her voice was Death. It was a rolling flame and blazing inferno - the sound of a dragon who could shatter a mountain.

”Little Love.”

Cadence’s ears went flat against her head. Her pony instincts told her to run, to hide from this predator - but her divinity filled her with courage.

“Your majesty-”

”Please. We are equals in all but age and size, Little Love. You may call me Beollyssurth. Why do you come here, Little Love?”

Cadence was pretty sure her ears were bleeding. They certainly felt wet. She also couldn’t help but step backwards as her entire body vibrated from the sheer force of Beollyssurth’s voice alone. Some part of her filled with fear - Celestia was always celebrated as the first among equals in Spirits. Was she more powerful than Beollyssurth? Yet neither of them were stronger than Discord.

And Twilight and the Children seemed to dwarf them both.

Her eyes shut. “...I - Celestia mentioned…that you know Frost. Or, knew him.”

A beat of silence. ”Yes.” Her serpentine tongue flitted out, tasting the air as she lingered on the S for a moment. ”Many have forgotten him. But never the Starwaste. We remember what he did for us.”

Cadence blinked. “What - he did for you?”

”His mother sought to raze All worlds. Our ancestors opposed her, with him at their side. They were all slaughtered - save a precious few, through Frost’s intervention.”

Cadence ground her hoof down into the ground silently.

”Does the news of my species' salvation trouble you so?” Beollyssurth arched a scaled eyebrow.

Cadence’s eyes widened as she looked up. “Oh - heavens, no! I - sorry. It’s just - everything I hear about him is…conflicting. Celestia tells me he’s cruel, and then he’s - surprisingly likable. Not that he’s nice, but he didn’t seem…cruel. Nothing about his history makes sense, nothing about his power makes sense - nothing he says makes sense. And then he disappears, and I learn he’s in Zebriawae and needs my help, and…” Cadence let out a long, deep sigh. “I - I just think…that I need some guidance.” She shifted around slightly. “From someone who isn’t Celestia.”

”Guidance. On?”

“Maybe guidance is the wrong word. More like - clarification. I just want to know - why is he…like - that? Why is he so hateful?

”...The question is more complex than that, Little Love. More complex than I can answer. I am beholden by ancient oaths.”

“Right.” Cadence sighed. “Sorry. I - I feel kind of stupid, coming all the way to the Volcano just to…rant about Frost.”

Beollyssurth shifted around - as if restless in her volcano. There was a sudden lurch - as if space itself was distorting as Beollyssurth shrunk down to a fraction of her size in a fraction of an instant, landing down next to Cadence as she stood just a few heads taller than Celestia would be. Cadence stumbled backwards.

“You flew halfway across the planet, to rant, Little Love. Please.” She rolled her eyes. “Let us head to Zebriawae, then. And we shall continue from there.”

Within the span of hours, Moondancer managed to convince Spitfire to mobilize dozens of teams across the Bone Dry Desert. Their efforts were focused at prodding around for entrances into caves - then at the bottom of caves, attempting to hopefully drill into a deeper layer of underground caverns.

Luna stood with Twilight within a small, slightly uncomfortable room meant for the sleeping reserves on the Spitfire. At the moment, Celestia was overseeing the deployment of those aforementioned teams, while also communicating with other members of the Concord to alert them of their findings. For the time, it was just Luna and Twilight.

Twilight was playing with Spike, down on the ground. Spike was rolling around and growling while presenting his belly towards Twilight - simultaneously clawing viciously at her hooves whenever she poked or prodded at him. Twilight seemed to have no issue with his claws digging into her flesh, leaving deep, bloodless cuts.

Luna glanced down towards Twilight.

“You embarrassed her.”

Twilight docked her head slightly.

“Miss Moondancer. You barged into her room, and overrode the command she had garnered. That was rude.”

Twilight shot a look up towards Luna.

“They would’ve gotten in the way.”

“Perhaps.” Luna shrugged. “But it was not your decision to make.”

Twilight’s eyes narrowed. “You can’t argue with the results.”

“Am I?” Luna docked her head to the side. “I’m arguing with the methods, Twilight. You are smart. But trampling over ponies - over people - to achieve results, is not a sustainable path.”

Twilight’s head tilted down. “I guess. But people don’t get me like you do. Like Celestia does. Like Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rarity do. I’m not - stupid. I know I’m different. I know I’m weird. I know that I’m a monster.”

Twilight paused for the inevitable denial of her monstrous nature.

Luna, instead, nodded.

“Yes.” She agreed. “You are a monster. And few will ever truly understand that. Fewer will truly ever understand you. You say I - get you - and perhaps, I do.” Luna leaned in slightly.

“I know you would burn worlds for my sister, Twilight Sparkle. And I know that beyond that - you want to. You would leap at the opportunity to be used as a weapon, because there is something in you, something monstrous that must be sated. My sister turns a blind eye. Perhaps, on purpose. But I know you as a monster.”

Twilight just stared at Luna.

“Perhaps, it is because I know myself as a monster.” Luna shrugged. “I saw deep into the Terrors of the True Stars. I saw gnashing teeth and hungry eyes that looked back - and in my heart, I was certain that the death of all life would be a more peaceful fate than the oblivion that those Things at the edge of reality would bring. But that was not what made me a monster.

I hungered for battle in my youth. I craved the sting of fang and blade just as much as I craved bloodlust. I wanted to be Equestria’s sword - to slay our enemies. And so I did, and I did viciously - until so came peace. I am not my sister. Peace has never - befit - me. A thousand years ago, ponies saw me as a wolf in sheep’s clothing - and today, they see me as a monster. They look at me with fear, or hate in their eyes, and they have every right to - because a monster is a thing of fear, and a thing of hate.”

Throughout her monologue, Luna’s tone grew more and more intense - the shadows in the room becoming darker and longer, seeming to swirl around her - and for a second her eyes even appeared slitted.

There was a heavy, heavy beat of silence.

“So. As one monster to another,” Luna placed a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “Be better than me.”

Twilight tilted her head to the side as Luna’s words cut through a darker mood that her speech had painted.

“I am Equestria’s sword, yet I am loathed by the hoof that wields it. My continued existence is a result of half the problems that the Concord face. My actions have resulted in countless deaths, and countless harm - harm that I will never be able to atone for, regardless of the words of my sister. I gave into the monster, and I let it feed, and for that - I am weak.”

Luna put both her hooves on Twilight’s cheek. “So be better. Be reviled by your enemies. Feared. A whisper in the night. Be celebrated by your allies. Reverent, and adored. Be better.”

Twilight nodded. “I will.”
Yes. Spike hissed. We will.
Yes, a third voice that neither heard agreed, you will.

Two deities stepped hoof within Zebriawae.

The land has a dozen names - though, perhaps the most evocative of them is "The Land of the Prophets Once Dead." It is said that the Day of Butchering, over ten thousand years ago, irrevocably changed the land. That the blood spilled that day was what led the zebrican people to develop their strange, shamanistic magic - magic that delved into death itself.

The few who knew of her identity wondered about the longevity of the Lord Utan. The zebra had been alive for over a thousand years, without a droplet of divinity to her essence. The truth was a grisly thing - one that had almost brought Zebriawae to war with Equestria.

The Lord Utan was a lich.

Her soul, torn out of her body, and suffused into some object that was further suffused with the souls that she sacrificed to keep herself immortal. An act that could only be done through a deed of unimaginable cruelty - which, for the Lord Utan, had been the slaughter of her entire home village.

The Lord Utan was not a kind mare. A beautiful one. A regal one - a wise one, a cunning one. But never kind.

Cadence knew this. Beollyssurth knew this. And so, it was with a grain of caution their flight took them towards The Primgin Qabri - the beautiful palace that had been built over the mass grave within the zebrican nation. It was grisly by nature, but the beautiful sandstone and marble structure was something from legend - with sections of it floating adrift in circles around the main palace.

There were other reasons for their caution. The Lord Utan, by their own nature, was an accomplished necromancer. It wouldn’t be unheard of for her to be capable of, if they so desired, harming the deities in some manner. But ultimately - while immortal through proxy, they still held the capabilities of a mortal. Merely the ingenuity of someone much more than mortal. And Beollyssurth was a dragon - and among deities, second before equals.

Nor did any either of them truly expect any actual incident. The zebrican lord would be a fool to violate the Concord so early in its existence - incurring not just the wrath of Equestria, but the dragons and every other signing party.

It was a very odd sight, however. A pink princess walking into a castle with a small red dragon - whom the floor grew red hot underneath.

They were led by two unsettlingly similar zebrican mares - both of whom were beautifully adorned with almost runic swirls and arabian silks. Taken through the regal halls of the Primgin Qabri, towards the throne room of the Lord herself.

The throne room - unlike the one in Castle Canterlot, or the Castle Concordia, was not the initial entrance to the castle. Instead, it was up a convoluted path of stairways and turns that Cadence wasn’t sure she’d be able to mimic if the need arose. There, they came across a set of black wooden doors, opening to black carpet that led towards where the Zebrican lord sat.

Her throne was a grisly thing. It was made of onyx, then decorated with bone - and judging from its coloration, aged, real bone. The Lord Utan sat while pulling on the leash of what was likely one of her concubines - with a hoof hooked underneath their chin, their eyes locked as she whispered to them in zebrican.

As the two large black wooden doors opened, the Lord’s attention shifted immediately towards the two deities. A hint of surprise entered her expression - and after mumbling a word to some of her attendees, the throne room quickly began to clear. Within seconds, only the Lord Utan and the two deities were left within the throne.

“Your majesty, Cadence. Your Splendor, Beollyssurth.” The Lord Utan entered a deep bow. "My servants did not note your arrival - perhaps I should consider their worth.

“Our arrival was mere moments ago.” Beollyssurth snorted, steam rising from her nostrils. “You have nothing to apologize for.”

“Ah. Let us be to business then, I’ll refrain from being coy. Might I ask - to what do I have the joy?”

“You said Frost was here. That he asked for my aid.”

“Indeed I did. And might I say - of him, I will be glad to be rid.” The Lord rolled her eyes as she started walking towards the two deities. “He came to my door, wounded, and sickly. And even with our aid - he has not healed quickly.”

“Wounded?” Beollyssurth’s eyes narrowed. “By who?”

“It was a name most bizzare. I believe it was - Grogar?"

Upon a planet bare and ashen, underneath a shattered sky, beyond a mountain of the dead - stood three creatures, united by a fourth.

The first of these creatures was a dragon. His gargantuan mass was as black as the night, and of equal size and splendor - his metallic scales gleaming underneath the light of a black sun, having an almost iridescent quality to them. He was a thing of coiled muscle and dozens of scars - though his head was a thing of bone and muscle.

Two of those scars were especially grisly. One - a long series of stitching along the back of his scaleless head. The second - stretching across his chest, a jagged zig-zag that looked as if it was filled with stars.

The second of these creatures was a rat. He was an impossibly tall, thin, wiry thing - with a tail, long and coiled - his fur matted with filth and a visible lack of care, his claws seeming to ooze off a mixture of searing light and blinding shadow, his eyes two points of pure red. He was draped in linens and red cloth, just as filthy as he was.

The third of these creatures was a ram. A shock of hair that went down his head was the color of death - bone, left in the sun to bleach, empty and darker than black. His left eye was similar to that of Discord, his sclera yellow and his iris a searing red, while his dark eye was a mass of gurgling abyss. Two long teeth curled up from the underside of his mouth, pointed towards his nose - and dangling from his neck, was a shattered bell.

These three creatures were monstrous in their own right. Deserving of fear, of terrified respect. And yet - they were inherently creatures of selfish intent. Things that sought to rule the world under their own vision, with no room for each other in an ideal world.

So what force could unite them?

Few would expect it to be the fourth creature. A skeletal wolf with red eyes, who stood in a well-pressed red suit as he adjusted a flower on his lapel.

“What color do you think suits this?” Antaicus shot a glance over his shoulder. “Should I keep with the dark red, or perhaps a brighter color? Maybe darker?”

There was no response.

“I think brighter. It works with the contrast.” Antaicus nodded.

”I have better things to do, than to be your fashion advisor, Illusionist.” The black dragon growled - his voice a shattering world as he started to circle the mountain the three others were on.

“Yesssss.” The Rat hissed, it’s forked, black tongue flitting out and tasting the air. “The Bleedbeasts grow hungry. I still must tend to them.”

“As do I.” The ram’s voice was raspy from disuse. “The Spirits are falling for my bait as expected. The Immortal has already fallen. I would much rather prefer to be overseeing the Lord Utan than - dealing as a fashion advisor.”

Antaicus shot a glance over his shoulder.

The Rat dropped down onto all fours, crawling up towards Antaicus’ side - muscles tensed as if it was about to pounce.

“You are - not thissss…vain. Why - did you call ussss here, Antaicussss~?” The Rat’s hissing tone filled the air of the dead planet.

”I loathe to agree with the Rodent, and yet - I do. Get to your point.”

Antaicus let out a soft sigh.

“We are here to negotiate.” Antaicus crossed his arms over his chest.

”I don’t - negotiate.”

There was a sound like a whip crack. A terrible tear in space itself. Three sets of eyes turned towards the growing rift - where a single, violet eye made itself visible.

A head tore its way out as the Rift began to crack further. A thousand eyes opened along the mass of utter absence cloaked in shadow - thousands of arms and limbs coming off the creature, black fluid beginning to leak from its gaping maw.

The voice was almost as bad as the form. A hissing, gurgling thing of a thousand whispers - a hideous atrocity that would have drove the weak-willed to madness immediately, gouging out their eyes and pulling their tongues out, disembowelling themselves or throwing themselves on the nearest sharp object.

Even the three creatures - strong willed in their own right - were dazed for a few seconds, dropping to their knees or stumbling backwards as a voice spoke in their mind.

”Good. I don’t either.”

And as the sky rained abyssal black -

Kesmera stepped foot within Tambelon.

-

Author's Note

Behold! A discord server!

To put it this way - in terms of power, Soleil is to Discord as Discord is to Celestia.

She's just a lot more violent.

100,000 words exactly. Satisfying.