It was poisonous hate, something so ancient, so vile.

Twilight Sparkle was a good filly.

She thought she was, at least. She was certainly unique at the very least - as most other fillies didn't have voices in their head. Voices older than the dirt below their hooves whispering obscenities into their ear. Spewing vile vitriol - words that seeped and dripped with hatred and disgust older than time. Her mind spun, her vision blurred - and only glimmers of consciousness made itself evident to her.

They floated around her. The grey shape - Fluttershy's mother, she vaguely recalled. She was larger, but there was so little in her - there was a thread, slowly spinning out - but the spool was reaching an end -

"cut the thread, eat her heart-"

Please stop that, Twilight thought. It didn't, and Twilight wondered if a pony tasted as good as meat.

There were two more, like the grey shape. One was its same size - but it seemed so much more. It was white, with speckles of violet - and it had a pretty soul. Then, finally, there was one that was much, much larger - and there were more connections there than Twilight had ever seen in any pony.
"Souls taste as good as meat, you know."
Please stop that, Twilight thought. It didn't, and Twilight wondered how full their souls would make her.

There was the girl - Fluttershy. She was yellow and burning - she was small, but there was so much in her.

"tear her head from her body-"

Please stop that, Twilight thought. It didn't, and Twilight wondered what Fluttershy's insides would look like if they were on the outside.

And then there was - her.
Twilight's world faded into a singularity.

"-kill her-"

No, Twilight Sparkle thought - and the voice screamed out in agony before it fell short.

Her soul was beautiful. It was so large - so vibrant. It burned with a thousand flames, spun with a thousand threads - oh, yes - her Celestia was beautiful. Perfect. Beautiful and perfect, infallible and lovely - so many things. Twilight Sparkle was a monster that wore a filly's skin, but she would be a good monster for Celestia - and good monsters don't kill people.

She faded back into unconsciousness.

Twilight woke a day later. When she woke - the voice was still there. It was softer, but still there - lingering at the corners of her mind. A running commentary. She batted at it, pushed at it - but the voice remained resolute. Finally, Twilight let out a soft whine.

"don't...want...to hurt..." She whimpered.
"um- um- Princess!" A small, frail voice called from her feet. "She's awake!"
Twilight glanced down at the side of her bed as she slowly took in her surroundings. She was in the castle - in a bed with something she didn't recognize by her side - a pole with a strange bag of fluid on it.
"It's called an IV drip."
Twilight mentally thanked the voice. There were no windows here - and by her side sat Fluttershy. She had a small plate of snacks with her that she was gnawing on, as well as a glass of water - but there was something fierce about her as she called for help. Twilight tilted her head to the side and let out a soft groan.
"Ugh. Disgusting. It's people like her that are almost as bad as your father. For the opposite reason, that is. Pacifism." Kesmera scoffed. "Disgusting."

"Flutter...shy?"
"How are you feeling, Twilight?" Her voice was hard. Her words came with no hesitation, her gaze locked on Twilight's eyes.
"...bad..."
"You've been asleep for a few days. The - Princess-" Twilight perked up lightly, "-tried to give you fluids. But - she couldn't break your skin without hurting you."
"So that's the lie they chose. Hm." Twilight mentally shushed Kesmera.

"You should - really drink some water." Fluttershy whispered - yet her voice was steel. With once-trembling, now-steady hooves, Fluttershy held up a glass of water to Twilight's mouth. Twilight stared at the filly awkwardly before she slowly drank the entire cup. She didn't quite realize how thirsty she was until she started drinking - and found that she couldn't stop, even as thin streams of drool and water ran down her chin in messy streams.

Twilight coughed a few times and wiped her mouth with a hoof. "Why - are you - here?" She managed out.

"oh, um." Fluttershy's voice shifted back to her usual timbre. "I - I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you - I know the princess said it wasn't my fault, but um - I must have hurt you with my animal facts-"

Kesmera's grating laughter in Twilight's head was deafening. Twilight winced lightly but shook her head. "N-no...not- not your fault."
"um. I - well. are you - sure?" Fluttershy whispered. There was a hint of almost pleading in her tone. Twilight just nodded.

At that moment, Celestia promptly came sprinting into the room. She bolted past the door in a flail of limbs - causing Fluttershy to let out a soft eep, before strong forearms and even stronger wings curled around the small filly. Twilight found Celestia burying her face into the side of her neck.

Warmth swelled within Twilight's chest as she basked in Celestia's touch. The embodiment of the sun was beyond warm - she was nearly scalding, but Twilight rather enjoyed the heat - the ever so slight sizzle of her flesh and fur as she pressed up against the princess.
"Really, Twilight? This is the one you're rejecting your true nature for? Oh, how pathetic. At least Luna was amusing - Celestia is just sad." Kesmera scoffed.
"l-una...?" Twilight whispered confusedly.

The room dropped a thousand degrees in an instant. Celestia physically recoiled from Twilight, staring at her with a strange - unreadable expression. Twilight whimpered and tapped at her head as if desperate to show the cause of her pain.

"Fluttershy," Celestia spoke. Her voice was warm and motherly - but there was an undercurrent of icy steel that Twilight picked up on. She shivered. "I thank you for your presence here. I'm sure Twilight appreciated it. I'm going to return you to your mother, now."

Fluttershy opened her mouth - but there was a sudden golden pop, and she was gone. On the surface, at least - Twilight watched with a fascination as threads of golden energy sunk into space around Fluttershy - only for her to disappear, entirely. Oh. She's dead, she thought.
"Look deeper."
Twilight did so - until she found a thread. Her mind followed that thread - until she was far away and found Fluttershy's presence there - certainly not dead.

"Twilight." Celestia's voice broke Twilight from her small tangent. "Can the Eldest Daughter hear me?" Celestia spoke coldly.
"Unfortunately."
Twilight whimpered but nodded.

Celestia thought for a long while. Then, slowly, she placed both her hooves on the side of her daughter's head - gripping her securely - before she used the magic of the Once Great Deer.

Science and magic are not as opposed as you might like. Magic and science blend together - for science is the study of the world, and magic is a part of the world. However, magic and physics - tend to mix like water and oil. The most basic principle of magic, coined by Gilgamesh the Great - one of the few Once Great Deer whose name wasn't stricken from history in the Fall - is the Principle of Reality Distortion.

Reality Distortion = Space/Magic. The more magic there is in a confined space, the less the rules of physics apply. This is how pegasi fly when their wings are too small to lift them off the body. This is how spells and magic can move faster than light. Often, Reality Distortion was a low-level effect: confined to a spell, to a person.

But sometimes - it was more than that. In the presence of a truly tremendous amount of magic - reality itself begins to ripple, melt, and distort. It looks like the air itself is rolling, the light simultaneously too dim and too bright.

Magic that the world had not seen in millennia - since the Shattering of Asgard itself - was cast. The room that the two mares were in distorted - rippled, moved like liquid. Power, unfathomable power - the power to turn mountains and oceans to rubble and ash was channelled into a confined space-

Celestia pulled away, panting. Her eyelids fluttered shut. In Twilight's mind - there was blessed silence. Celestia buried her face into the small patch of fur on Twilight's chest, letting out a soft sigh.

"...Cele...stia?" Twilight tilted her head to the side. "C-can yo...u...teach - me ma-gic?"
Celestia looked down at her daughter for a moment. Something unreadable flitted over her face - before a slight smile graced her features.

"Of course, my little star."

"It worked."
"Of course it worked." The draconequus' tone was different than usual - almost pained. "The deer were almost as good at dealing with as the dragons."
"Almost?" Celestia tilted her head to the side.
Discord snorted. "There is a reason, Celestia, that the dragons are not the apex predators of the world. You have never seen my sister angry - amused at best, irritated at worst. The dragons, on the other hand - bring out her rage. I hope, Celestia, that you never have to see such a thing."
"I -" Celestia trailed off. "...Lady Beollyssurth never mentioned such a thing."
"The remnants of the dragons here have had little encounters with her. There is more to the Beyond than Aezilan, Celestia. I thought you knew that by now. Regardless - even Berzerkiel would know her as little more than a myth. The Demon Queen, if I recall correctly. And I do."

There was a beat of silence.

"Do you still plan on letting the abomination live? Even when my sister has taken an interest in her?"
"I do." Celestia nodded. "I am confident that she will not fall victim to the Eldest Daughter. She resisted her hate before. I am no draconequus, or even no Aspect of Love - but I could feel the hatred bubbling off her."
"And you'll always be there for her? What about when you die, Celestia? And all that anger bubbles up within her? She'll burn this world to the ground."
"Hm. I suppose, then, that I will have to avoid dying." Celestia shrugged.
"You're treating this like a joke. This is no joke."
"How the tables turn, Discord." Celestia grinned slightly.
Discord couldn't help but snort.

There are three types of magic casters. First, active magic users - like unicorns, deer, and rams. Second, passive magic users - like the minotaurs and zebras. And lastly, primal magic users - like the dragons, the Once Great Deer, and all Aspects.

Passive magic is a rather broad category. It's defined in two separate ways - the use of external magical tools like the Zebra - Zebrican shadow potions and the rather aptly named Cursehexes, and internal magic flow to achieve an effect. Every single creature is gifted with some form of passive magic - although creatures like earthponies and minotaurs use it to a greater degree to increase their strength.

Passive magic also can be channelled. Earthpony doctors or farmers can focus magic through their hooves to heal or grow, respectively - and minotaur smiths can, momentarily, render themselves fireproof. Unfortunately, passive magic is difficult to teach - it's done passively, through instinct - and describing it to someone who doesn't have it would be like describing color to the blind.

Active magic users are what most people think when they think of magic. Glowing horns, channelling mystic energy through ley - telekinesis, teleportation, et cetera. This is the magic that can be taught - manipulating the threads of ley, the infusion and draining of energy. It's much broader than passive magic - but also much more difficult, as the dangers of miscasts and the mental strain that spells that aren't telekinesis take on the average mortal.

There's a misconception about telekinesis. Some believe that a single unicorn could kill anyone they walk by in the street simply by snapping their neck telekinetically. Fortunately, it's incorrect - as every creature with the remotest amount of magic has what is known as a hold. A natural barrier of magical defence that protects their innards from direct manipulation. Notably, it's their innards - the hold doesn't protect from teleporting someone. The hold is also absurdly difficult to overpower - even Celestia herself could only overpower the hold of, say, a dozen full-grown unicorns before she would pass out.

Lastly, there's primal magic. Primal magic is more like - asking the world to do your magic for you. It's something that can't be learned or taught - you can either do it, or you can't. It's primal magic that lead to the fall of the Once Great Deer. It's primal magic that has the Children sealed away beneath rock and ocean.

The sun hangs high in the sky. Celestia specifically waited until the peak of her power before beginning tutoring - but even she can't help but feel uncomfortably hot as the pair stand in an empty field.

"Do you know how to light your horn, Twilight?"
Twilight shook her head.
Celestia dropped down to her haunches and placed a hoof on Twilight's shoulder, her other hoof prodding lightly into her chest. "There's - an energy within you. It should feel a bit like a pool, almost. Can you look for that pool?"

Twilight shut her eyes - and searched deep within herself. Her mind followed along a thread of invisible magic - until she stood on top of an infinite sea. The water was a rich lavender, the same shade as her coat - but there were blots of orange, yellow, violet, and pink that bubbled up to the surface before popping.

"You've found it." Celestia whispered. Strands of Twilight's hair began to lift into the air as the air thrummed with power. Twilight nodded.

"It's dangerous. You cannot touch the pool with your hooves - you have to guide it with your mind. If you let too much of it flow - it could hurt you, or others. The most basic spell is telekinesis. Other spells require a deeper understanding of the nature of the world, so we'll start with telekinesis."

Celestia stepped backwards and tapped her hoof to the ground. There was a surge of earthpony magic and three rocks - one the size of Celestia, one the size of Twilight, and one the size of a pebble formed stacked on each other.

"You take the flow of energy. You run it through your body - you have to let it flow upwards; otherwise, it'll touch your heart. Flow upwards, through your throat - until it reaches your brain. And when it hits your brain - your horn will light."

Twilight's horn lit with a brilliant glow. The glow was intense - so bright that it hurt even Celestia's eyes to look at. "Now quickly, Twilight! You cannot hold the energy in your horn for long - or it will erupt. You must let it flow out - open your eyes, Twilight." Twilight's eyes opened - her pupils landing on the rocks. "Direct the flow of energy - let it wrap around the rocks like a hand. And then -"

Celestia's wings beat once as she threw herself backwards, only narrowing avoiding the boulder that went sailing into the distance. One of the many pillars of rock in the badlands was struck by it - the boulder carving a clean path through it. Celestia promptly glanced back - only to see that the other two rocks were a pile of dust.

Celestia smiled slightly, even as her heart skipped a beat.

It would be a long day, it seemed.

There is a theory - that dragons are the favoured creatures of the universe. Their size, speed, and strength remain utterly unmatched - to call them apex predators would be a disservice to how objectively superior they are. Even the weakest dragon could take down a hundred mortals - with their ravenous hunger, their burning flames and their sharpened claws.

Whether or not the theory is true - the dragons are not the greatest creatures that walked the mortal planes of Aezilan. That title belongs to the enigmatic Once Great Deer. Their name is accurate - for truly, they were Once Great. Their power was so great that even the Aspects of the time bowed down to them. They carved cities of flesh, leaf and crystal - they invented reason, magic, philosophy-

Until a tragedy befell them, the details of their fall are lost to the winds of time - but their ruins still dot the world. Most have been crushed, destroyed by the Aspects that seem so desperate to erase every trace of their existence. But in the far east - past the borders of Equestria, past the reach of even Lord Hermes and Lady Beollyssurth - past the remnants of Tambelon itself, lays the last, untouched ruins of the deer.

The city's name is lost to most. However, the wolf that walks among its city remembers it and remembers it well - he would never forget the name of Eos. While not the capital of the Once Great Deer's territory - which spanned the entire world, at its peak - in the eyes of the giant wolf, it was by far the greatest of them.

There was a time, where the towers of crystal and bone scraped at the sky. A time where he wandered these streets as Gilgamesh, the Archmage - but such times were long past. No: he had come here looking for something, something that he had long since left here.

To say it was perilous was an understatement. Any creature that wasn't him would have died a thousand deaths on the journey to the bowels of Eos - past traps that spat hellfire, spells that would drive any lesser, younger creature mad - and still, the journey took him days. Or maybe hours, or maybe weeks - maybe even years. There was no way to tell how long it took - for even his regeneration was pushed to its limit as he pulled himself back from the brink of utter annihilation.

"Shut the fuck up." He snapped his teeth at mid-air, his face twitching as he let out a soft snarl. "I didn't - let her die. I tried. I TRIED!" He slammed his bony fist into the wall, his broadsword shining with a silver light as he dragged it behind him.

The world was wrong, here. The air was too heavy; no amount of light could pierce the everpresent darkness - and yet, even the blind would find themselves able to see the cracks in reality that were painted in the floor. It was here that she had been born - it was here that the most depraved of acts had to be committed to bring the one thing that could hurt Her into the world.

And at the centre of a ritual - at the centre of where the child of rape had been born - there was an egg.

There lies a nation known as Zebriawae. It is a landlocked country in the far east of Aezilan, deep within the sandy borders of Utan. A populous nation of strange people - remnants of the Once Great Deer, their tongues cut out at birth by tradition, and zebrican shamans speak in tongues - buffalo priests, minotaur industrialists. Zebriawae is a nation of blended culture and lifestyle.

But there is something new in Zebriawae. Something strange that walks the earth - that leaves ragged patches of ash and dirt in her path.

She enters the bar. Those who gaze upon her vomit. Her matted fur was an ailing shade of velvet - her horn broken and jagged. She smelled of death itself - and her eyes, gouged out of her skull, made her look the part.

Worse, yet, was her stomach. There was a gaping hole where it should've been - jagged flesh and organs spilling out behind her as she trudged closer to the bar. No one so dared as much to move in her presence.

The hateful corpse that was once Twilight Velvet sat down at the bar and smiled warmly at the bartender.

-

Author's Note

Behold! A discord server!