Asgard has fallen. The gods are dead. The old oaths have been broken.

Aezilan was not the first world that crawled out of the putrid carcass of the last true God. And while certainly not the last - it was among the most important. Remnants of the dragons from the scattered cosmos - shards of divinity and life formed the Once Great Deer, a miasmic soup of proteins mixing to form legends: She-Who-Ruled, Starswirl the Bearded, and the legendary King Bor himself to name a few.

Aezilan was not the first world - but it was the very first world to have a city - a Great City. A city of such magnificence and splendour that it attracted even the Children's attention brought the wandering gazes of the Fledgling Divine. Under the guidance of She-Who-Ruled - splendid, living cities of flesh and bone that breathed and hungered dotted the world - stretching from the Far East to the Far West. There was nothing beyond the reach of the deer - until tragedy. And there were no more great cities - not for millennia.

The first Great City that rose after the fall of the Once Great Deer was called Asgard. It was the pinnacle of the world - carved from the Last True Clouds at the order of King Bor himself, shaped by all those who had toiled under the Deer as slaves. It was like no city that the deer had ever made - it was not organic, but entirely artifical. The Adamantia of the world itself was used to chain the clouds to the remnants of the Deer city of Olympus - intended to be an insult to those who had come before.

All were welcome on Olympus - Bor had decreed as such. While Bor's work was essential in breaking the shattered remnants of the Once Great Deer, it was Odin who made Asgard into a true Great City. It was a city without peer and has remained as such - only pale facsimiles of it exist in today's world, the city of Cloudsdale and Canterlot both modeled after Asgard.

Unfortunately, though - Odin was not without rival. And so, a long and bloody war that left the entire world bleeding and ravaged - the Asgardians fighting tooth and nail against the self-proclaimed Vanir. During the Fall of Asgard, the world truly changed - for that was when Discord emerged on Aezilan, when Grogar and Starswirl had their climactic battle at the base of Tambelon - when Celestia and Luna were born between King Odin and Queen Freya.

And it was from the Shattering of Asgard - Dread-Emperor Berzerkiel the Black took flight.

"Hnf."

"You realize, Twilight - that you're only making this more difficult for yourself. If you were to stay still...'

"Is- hard." She grunted.

"It's easier that I do it, instead of Ivory Chaser."

"Whats...he - like?"

Celestia thought for a few moments as she ran the brush through Twilight's knotted mane. "He's a good friend, a better man - and one of the smartest people I've ever known."

"Didn't - answer." Twilight huffed. She always got annoyed when Celestia did that - danced around the question, half-answering it.

"How perceptive as ever." Celestia found a slight grin gracing her features. "...A bit vain, honestly. Sometimes a bit thin-skinned. He'll rattle on at you about his studies in history or magic for hours - honestly, considering how much of a glutton you are - you might like that about him, my little star."

"You - don't?"

Celestia shook her head. "I never meant to imply that. I do find his discoveries interesting." She was silent for a moment. "And between you and me - I do get a small form of amusement out of watching him squirm when I mention that I was there."

"Right. You're - old." Twilight said bluntly.

Celestia snorted as her eyes widened, a hoof holding up to her mouth. "Twilight Indomita Sparkle." She scolded, but couldn't keep the mirth out of her voice.

"Sorry. Did - I - d-do it...again?" Twilight looked down.

"You did. It was your first time this week though. You've certainly gotten better at being a little less - blunt." Celestia giggled. She leaned in and pressed her muzzle against the side of Twilight's head, slowly running her hoof through her mane.

"I don't - get it. Why - can't I say - what I t-think?"

"People are complicated. Sometimes, when you're being honest, or curious - they can take offense to it. Not everypony is as forgiving as I."

"Do - I have to do - this?" Twilight gestured at her mane. "I - thought...they're - friends. Like - Flut-ter-shy."

"I didn't realize you considered Fluttershy a friend." Celestia said softly as she felt a swelling of warmth in her chest. She quickly, panickedly glanced down at her chest - making sure that Twilight was not melting her heart. She pet her chest a few times and found that, yes, her heart was certainly still intact.

"She's - nice. Talks. Not - scared of - me. I'm not - monster - to her."

Celestia's expression hardened. "You are not a monster, Twilight. Don't listen to anyone who ever tells you that." She curled her hooves around her.

"It's - okay, Celestia." Twilight smiled weakly at her. "I'm - your - monster. A - good monster." Celestia stared at her intently for a few moments with a grimace - before she shut her eyes and turned her head to the side.

"Even for friends, Twilight - presentation is important. They've never met anyone like you before. No one has, my little star. You're - unique. They might be - afraid." Celestia's voice went very, very soft.

"I thought - you said...not - to - listen - to that."

"I did." Celestia nodded. "And I'll continue to stand by that. But these are very important people - people who...matter, a lot, I suppose." Celestia glanced at the side. To so much as imply that somehow, ponies mattered less than her felt - wrong. She could stomach the wrongness for the time being, though. "I'm done with your mane now, Twilight."

Twilight promptly wriggled free from her mother's grasp, shaking her head side to side as she felt her mane tussle over her neck. Celestia let out a soft, amused sigh, but was rather unsurprised.

"Rea-dy, Celestia." Twilight beamed up at her - her smile showing far too many teeth for any pony to have, her horn a wicked, curved blade - but her fur and mane were orderly. Somewhat. All-in-all, not too bad for only an hour of working with the filly.

Celestia stood up and used a small bit of telekinesis to guide the filly towards the balcony. Celestia opened up the balcony doors, standing on the small marble platform that she liked to raise the sun from - before tapping her hooves four times in four specific positions. A brilliant golden circle lit on the balcony - intricately carved in over months of hard work. Celestia curled a wing around Twilight and pulled the filly close by her side.

There was a brilliant surge of magic-

Snow fell on Twilight's nose, and she promptly recoiled. The transition had been so smooth and sudden that the filly hadn't even noticed - the sudden swarm of frigid air that coiled and curled around them, the whipping blizzard in the distance - crackling thunder and lightning - and -

Asgard.

Twilight had only heard of it today - when Celestia announced that they would be visiting her "extended family" there. But there was no mistaking that the swarm of clouds that floated, half-broken chains coiled around them and weighing them down: the wreckage of gigantic dragon corpses the size of the Canterhorn littering the veritable graveyard around them. Mount Olympus stood by the base of Asgard's ruins - and while Twilight wasn't sure what it looked like in its heyday, she was certain that it was far greater than the shadow she saw before her. It was more like a plateau - a pile of jagged rubble, haphazardly laid on top of each other.

As the two approached, and the blizzard cleared from their vision - they were able to see them.

It was by the base of the once-mountain that they stood. Beollyssurth's gigantic mass was far too large to fit within view - so her body was coiled around the base of the plateau, only her head resting by the others, her scales were a deep, glittering red - her eyes the color of amber.

The two could only be Zarrat and Hermes arguing with each other - Zarrat, a gigantic and scarred minotaur that looked like he could bench-press Celestia, while Hermes was a short, green griffin with a beak tipped with steel and a strange circlet of feathers on his head. The last two - by trial of elimination, were Lady Thaola and Lady Cadence. Cadence was a pink alicorn mare - apparently, Celestia's niece.

Asides from Beollyssurth, none of them were imposing to Twilight. Celestia was more beautiful than Cadence in her eyes, more intimidating than Zarrat - and Hermes wasn't all too much to look at.

And then, there was Lady Thaola. Every bit as tall as Celestia - with a crest of antlers above her head that curled and gnarled up towards the sky. A genuine, real - deer.

Celestia stepped forward. Twilight only noticed now that none of them were wearing a crown, save Hermes' circlet - but that was hardly a crown. Celestia cleared her throat - and eyes slowly turned to her. Cadence let out a soft sigh of relief.

"And finally, the Prodigal Sun graces us with her presence." Beollyssurth flitted her tongue out. Her words were loud - Twilight's ears going flat against her head as she felt the mountains grind into dust.

"Bah! About time. This - headstrong fool - won't recognize the legitimacy of-" Zarrat began.

"Legitimacy?" Hermes stepped forward. "What legitimacy is there in a band of raiders? There are raiders everywhere. Can't you - crush them with a rock, or whatever it is you do-" His voice had a slightly jovial, yet simultaneously arrogant undercurrent to it.

"Normal raiders, don't pillage the Ruins of the Deerfolk!" Zarrat roared. His voice was deep and gravelly, making Twilight feel warm to listen to. "Times are changing, and we have to change with them."

Thaola tapped her hoof down on the floor. She made a series of strange gestures that Twilight didn't understand - but everyone's eyes locked on Thaola. Twilight tilted her head to the side but didn't get any clarification.

Celestia cleared her throat yet again. "Ahem. I thought - we were equals, are we not? Surely - we could settle this in a more, civilized, organized manner."

"Bah! To the Umberfoal with your - organization, Celestia! There is pressing business that must be addressed-"

"Are you alive, Zarrat?" Beollyssurth tilted her head to the side. "You are? Then the world is peaceful enough - that we may talk as friends, and not as foes."

Zarrat grumbled and sat down in a throne of rock that hadn't been there a moment before. Eyes slowly turned towards Celestia.

"As the first order of business - I'd like to officially welcome Cadence into our little circle." Celestia gestured at Cadence - who sheepishly waved there.

"H-hello, everyone. I'm - uh. Cadence. Embodiment of Love." She shifted around in her spot. "I - ascended earlier this year."

"How rude of us, Little Love." Beollyssurth shifted, bits of the plateau rolling down as she did so. "You must think lowly of us - bickering like the drakes we are." She snorted, a plume of smoke rising into the air. At that moment, Twilight noticed that there was no snow around Beollyssurth - the air was rippling around her, as waves of heat pulsed off of her. Partially due to her element, but also in thanks to her sheer size.

"Mmph. Right. We have - new members. Have to look formal for them." Hermes rolled his eyes, but there was a hint of playfulness in his tone. "I guess no orgy this time?"

Celestia smiled slightly, but it was not a warm smile. In the sky above, the sun shined a little bit brighter. Hermes held his hand up. "it was a joke." He meeped softly.

"Celestia." Zarrat said suddenly. "You - um. Appear to - have something. Right there." He gestured at Twilight.

"That, Zarrat, would be the second order of business." Celestia glanced down at Twilight. "This - is Twilight Indomita Sparkle. My - mortal-" She thought for a second. "-My maybe mortal daughter."

There was a long beat of silence. Twilight didn't care so much as wave.

"I thought ponies got pregnant for a year."

"They lay eggs, Beolly." Zarrat rolled his eyes. "Uh. You - do, right?"

"I thought you were barren." Hermes said bluntly. He then winced. "Sorry."

"She's adopted." Celestia clarified. "The short of it is that her mother died during childbirth - and considering her - circumstances,"

"Circumstances?"

Celestia arched an eyebrow - then made a soft o noise. "Right. The Blizzard. Just - a moment." Celestia shut her eyes - and her horn lit with a brilliant golden glow.

Mana took many forms - but the simplest form of mana was heated, which was part of why the North was so dangerous - the leylines below dove down deeper into the core, and drained magic from those nearby - hence why it was so cold. It also interfered with many other things - teleportation, flight, magic senses...

Celestia's magic was cast out in a thin field around themselves, repelling the blizzard. And now - not weakened by the cold, Twilight's aura ran free. Her magic was essentially surging out of her with seemingly no limit within the Spirit's senses. Beollyssurth recoiled. Hermes blurred, suddenly held wine - drank the wine, then did a spit-take - Zarrat just stared, while Thaola held her hooves to her mouth and let out a soft noise.

Celestia let the blizzard resume as Thaola clopped her hooves together and patted at the ground before pointing at herself and then at Twilight.

"The Lady in Lavender." Zarrat arched an eyebrow. "Prophecies." He scoffed.

"I'm surprised that you don't believe in them." Hermes rolled his eyes.

"Oh, I believe in them. Doesn't mean I don't hate them." Zarrat spat. "Things of Fate are always tricky, and even worse when the Deer are involved. Uh - sorry, Thaola. No - offense." Thaola just glared at him.

"Allow me to sum up the circumstances-" Celestia began before Beollyssurth interrupted.

"How old is she, Celestia? Are you sure it was wise to bring her here, instead of merely informing us of her existence?"

Celestia shook her head. "My daughter is intelligent beyond her years. Maybe a little bit lacking in the wisdom department," she prodded lightly at Twilight's side - causing the filly to jolt and giggle, the only bit of emotion she had demonstrated the entire time - Cadence winced.

"-but everything I have to speak of, I have informed her of. I - try not to keep secrets from her, recently."

"Some of you might recognize her father. Frost, the Immortal." Immediately, even through the blizzard - you could hear a pin drop. "He -" She trailed off. She glanced at Twilight. "...likely, does not know that she survived her birth. It was - catastrophic, to say the least. It was reminiscent of the days that the Eldest Daughter walked the planes of Aezilan." She shut her eyes.

Thaola pointed at Twilight - and dragged the tip of her hoof across her throat, slowly. There were sudden gasps, Beollyssurth's eyes narrowed, and smoke flared from her nostrils - but Celestia held a hoof up.

"Discord suggested much the same thing." Celestia said weakly. "She is my daughter, and I love her. I am not a fool, Thaola. And neither is she." She sat down on her haunches and turned towards Twilight.

"You can all see it, can't you? It's like - an axle. The world hinges on her. There's so much potential in her - she could be so, cruel. But there is so much good - and I am confident in you, Twilight. I believe in you, my little star. You can be good."

"Y-yes...Celestia." She spoke her first words since arriving in the Far North. Thaola stepped backwards and covered her ears, while everyone else just looked mildly unnerved by her raspy, stuttery manner of speech.

"With the elephants out of the way," Celestia smiled as she placed a hoof on Twilight's back. "I believe - that the floor should be open up to discussion. Unless there is more to say?"

"I see the mark of the Conqueror in her, Celestia." Beollyssurth growled. Celestia paled, ever so slightly - and found herself thankful for her alabaster coat. "You say that there is equal potential for good and evil, but I disagree. She smells of my older kin - and that is not a good thing."

Beollyssurth shifted to look at Twilight, directly, now. "I am not so rude as my counterparts, though, that I would deign to suggest your death - or continue to speak about you indirectly to your face, Little One. If Celestia believes in you - then so shall I. Be gentle, and strong. Kind, yet fierce. Flexible, but stalwart. If you do these things - you will bring honor to us all. Of that, I am certain, Little One."

Zarrat nodded - a staff of stone appearing in his hand. "Hear-hear!" He cried out.

Hermes said nothing, while Thaola glared at Celestia - before letting out a soft hmph, and turning her head to the side.

Cadence stepped over and placed a hoof on Celestia's shoulder - before kneeling and staring right into Twilight's eyes. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm sorry that we haven't met sooner - but maybe we can talk a bit after this."

Twilight just blinked, and there was a long beat of silence. Celestia placed a hoof on her back and glanced at her, her mouth opening - but then, Zarrat, blessedly, broke the silence.

"What you interrupted, Celestia - was a topic of discussion. There are a new band of raiders - they run around calling themselves the Skypirates." He snorted. "All of them are winged. They've been growing bold, Celestia. Raiding deer lands - like Thaola said, even Eos was breached. The damage they could do with that technology-"

"They're raiders. Armed with the weapons of the deerfolk, they're raiders nonetheless. Find them, and crush them." Hermes rolled his eyes.

"Underestimating them will be your doom." Zarrat snarled.

"Is - that a threat, Zarrat?"

"Maker forbid!" He roared. "T'were they to approach on your lands - you would find the full might of Minos at your aid."

"It was not they, that breached Eos. It was Frost." Beollyssurth rolled over onto her back. Gazes turned to her.

"How - do you know?" Hermes tilted his head to the side. "I thought I was the nigh-omnipresent one."

"I have met Frost, before. He is a friend to the Dragons. I cannot speak entirely on his nature, or what I know of him - I am beholden by ancient oaths. He is a good man, if - highly misguided, at times. Rather singleminded, honestly. This is not to say that he is not a threat - if he were given the possibility, I am certain that he would strike anyone here down in a heartbeat. He's rather - opposed - to the idea of any form of government."

"Great." Hermes rolled his eyes. "An immortal anarchist who raided a deer temple. You didn't answer the question."

"He was not named after the concept, Hermes. The concept was named after him - after his original name, lost to all but a precious few. Where he walks - the world bleeds as he drains its heat. He's constantly on the move - but momentarily, I can sense him - flaring up. I have felt him in Equestria, in Eos, in Zebriawae - yes, even in the long-forgotten lands of Tambelon, the jungles of Panthera and the Desolate Wilds of the South. He moves fast. My scouts are attempting to keep an eye on him - with variable degrees of success."

"He's interested in the moon, you know." He turned to look at Celestia. Celestia paled slightly.

"Speaking of the moon - how are the repair efforts going?" Hermes turned to Zarrat.

Zarrat shrugged. "Rock is rock. But it's taking time. A lot of it. Maybe in the next decade I'll piece it back together. Still - I'm not sure what destroyed the moon."

"That would be the excess of energy released from my daughter's birth," Celestia glanced at Twilight. Twilight was intently staring at Beollyssurth.

There was a long beat of silence, again.

"So, let's summarize. We have a moon destroying demon child - no offence," Hermes began - Celestia glared, but the bird powered on, "- an immortal, anarchist wolf that would kill us all and is interested in the moon, a band of raiders stealing deer-tech: are there any other bomb-shells that you would like to drop on us, today?"

Celestia thought for a few moments. "My sister will return in sixteen years."

Thaola and Beollyssurth were the eldest of the Embodiments, aside Celestia - and so, they were not surprised. Everyone else, though, was rather shocked.

"YOU HAVE A SISTER!?" Hermes yelled.

"I am standing right here, Lord Hermes. There's no need to yell."

"THERE IS MOST CERTAINLY A NEED TO YELL! YOU HAVE A SISTER?!"

"I have always referred to Equestria as a diarchy, after all."

"I THOUGHT YOU MEANT IN A CONCEPTUAL WAY! LIKE THE PEOPLE WERE YOUR CO-RULERS!" Hermes squawked. Zarrat snorted.

"I - you - why haven't you mentioned her, before?" Cadence tilted her head to the side.

"It's a bit of a sore spot for me, my dear niece." She shut her eyes. "She's banished. To the False Moon, after one of She-Who-Rules' Terrors warped her mind. The Elements of Harmony - I told you, I did not wield them alone."

"Okay - I mean it. Anything else you want to bomb onto us?" Hermes stepped forward towards Celestia.

Celestia thought for a minute before she shrugged. "There is nothing else that has prompted my attention." Twilight opened her mouth, but Celestia quickly nudged her - Beollyssurth arched an eyebrow, but didn't comment on it, while no one else seemed to notice.

"Now. If we could move onto a more fruitful part of our discussion, rather than a summary - with how to deal with these issues. First, I propose..."

"Is it true, Archmagus?" The Archmagus-in-Training spoke as she followed closely behind the Archmagus.

"It certainly is." She nodded slowly. "Whatever you've heard about him - double it. There is a reason our lady has ordered us to such efforts to contain one man."

"But - even our lady is not immortal. If - if she could not be, then how-"

"A word of advice, Trixie." The Archmagus arched an eyebrow as she turned to look at her. "Lose the zeal. Our lady is not infallible, and there are forces in this world that are beyond even her reach. I can assure you - the Wolf is every bit as immortal as the legends proclaim, if not more. He has come back from less than dust. If Our Lady and the Betrayer combined could not kill him - then he is most assuredly immortal."

"...Then - how did we capture him?" Trixie tilted her head to the side.

The Archmagus shook her head. "Barely. We ambushed him as he made his way into Panthera - but it took over a hundred good mages to slow him down enough. Spells of fire make him slower - slow enough that we could clasp restraints around him." The two of them began to descend on the magi-tech elevator, deep, deep into the bowels of the earth.

"...Are you afraid of him?"

"Are you?"

"Yes." Trixie answered immediately.

"Good." The Archmagus snorted as she pushed a lock of purple hair out of her gaze. "You'll make a good Archmagus then. I'm terrified of him. Some small part of me thinks he let himself get captured - like he wanted to be here. I don't trust him, Trixie - and neither should you."

"Archmagus-"

"Trixie. If you don't say my name, I'm going to lock you up in the same room as him."

"U-um. Apologies, Starlight. D...Do - you know why our Lady asked for his capture?"

Starlight Glimmer shut her eyes. "He knows things. He knows many things. And in all his time on Aezilan - he has not slept once. He has not allowed the Lady access to his mind."

The Archmagus and Archmagus-in-Training came to a stop - exiting out into a large catwalk, linked to an egg-shaped nullstone that the Wolf was chained to with heated chains - his wrist burnt down to the bone, blood trailing down his arms and ankles. He was stripped bare and had dozens of lances speared into him from all sides. His eyes were shut - but Trixie could tell he wasn't sleeping.

"So, Trixie." Starlight Glimmer stepped forward. She turned to flash a grin at the Archmagus-in-Training. "Let's see if we can change that."

One of Frost's eyes snapped open - and in the bowels of the Dragonlands, an ancient egg twitched.

-

Author's Note

Behold! A discord server!