Fate's Hand

Somewhere in the universe at the Charred Council's Realm many, many years ago

Several thousands of years pass as the three Charred Council members are discussing what to do about the Four Horsemen after the Third Kingdom's isolation from the others as First's attention is drawn to a strange planet that has gone unnoticed, until now saying, "Hmmm... it seems we have overlooked a planet, let us decide how best to control it."

The second and third council members stop mid-sentence and focus their attention on the first as the second speaks, "Perhaps it would be better to watch them and remain hidden for now."

The third council member stays silent for a few moments as they focus their attention on the young world, noticing a strange race with a familiar presence and finally speaks, "I suggest that it would be better to keep an eye on them and find out what we can about them before taking action."

The first grumbles and says, "Let us cast our votes on each opinion and find out which one is victorious, I vote yes on my opinion and no for your opinions." then they turn their attention to the others for their vote and waits.

The second thinks about it for a few moments and says, "I vote no to your opinion, and yes for Third's opinion and mine."

The third answers, "I vote no on First's opinion, yes to Second's opinion and mine. Which brings us to an impasse, what shall we do to resolve it?"

The first quickly says, "We annihilate them and forget they existed!"

The second then grumbles and answers, "That is your answer for everything, look at what has become of the Third Kingdom due to our scheming when we went along with your decisions last time!"

Third speaks above the other two as they start to bicker about past mistakes and says, "ENOUGH! To end this world without studying it first may provide evidence to the realms that we are weakening in power, we must not let that come to pass or our hard work to keep the balance of peace among these worlds will come undone and will tear each other apart until there is no life left in the universe. Balance must be maintained at all costs, therefore, we shall do nothing but observe them...for now."

First and Second stop bickering immediately at Third's words and say in unison, "So it shall be, elder." Second then continues when First goes silent saying, "After all, it was the creator that put us here to manage the balance."

The third then says, "Indeed, it was the Creator that defeated each of us and placed us here, he reduced our ancient bodies to nothing. Leaving us to exist only as stone heads, as punishment for our actions."

First grumbles and says, "I hesitantly agree with your decision Third, if the Horsemen become any stronger and decide to take our place... That would be very bad for us, they already dislike us and are not happy as it stands. Whatever it takes, we must gather more power to strengthen ourselves."

Second looks at the young world and says, "For now, we play the waiting game. We have all the time in the universe to act as we watch them from the shadows."

First looks to the others and grumbles, then summons the leader of the watchers saying, "Panoptos, come forth!"

Panoptos rises out of the floor in a black mist, then assumes his regular form and answers with a low bow, "Masters, how may I serve you?"

The first speaks and says, "Go to the world that has gone previously unnoticed by us. Observe it from the shadows and report what you learn back to us, you are to remain there until we find a more suitable task for you."

He nods his head as he bows once more saying, "Yes master. If I may, might I be permitted to take a few watchers with me?"

Second considers it for a moment and answers before First can reply saying, "Why would you need to take others with you to do something as simple as observing this other world?"

Panoptos bows low and quickly responds, "I apologize for making that request masters, the truth is that I am just one watcher and can't watch everything that happens everywhere in a single world. It would greatly benefit you all if the knowledge of what occurs in every location was available to you, I am just doing my best to serve your interests masters."

Third is deep in thought at the watcher's request and answers, "Your request is unusual, but it does show wisdom. You may take some watchers with you, but no more than sixty. We must keep a watchful eye on the other planets in existence, you understand?" They give the location of the young world to the watcher and dismiss him.

He nods his head and bows low again saying, "I am most grateful for you permitting my request, masters. I will choose them immediately, you will not be disappointed with my performance masters."

First then grumbles and says, "Why are you still here, be on your way!"

Panoptos vanishes into mist and returns to where he came from to gather a few other watchers and thinks, "A planet has avoided their attention, they really are getting weaker... I will have to perform my duty diligently until an opportunity arises and make my plans accordingly."

A couple thousand years later on the young planet

Panoptos is bored of watching these odd pony creatures, having become sentient and learning to speak shortly after he came here. He watches in curiosity as a fight starts between two incredibly powerful sisters, whose names he learned were Celestia and Luna. He keeps close watch as the sister's fight starts to leave the castle in ruins, with the dark blue pony called Luna becoming corrupted and transforms into Nightmare Moon. Running two fingers along his jaw in curiosity at the sight, he says, "Hmmm, very interesting. So these beings can suffer corruption as well, I shall continue watching them as my curiosity is now piqued." He continues to watch the fight go on when Celestia removes the elements from a compartment in the floor, then uses them to win the fight and banish her sister to the moon while grumbling, "Ugh, those are going to be a nuisance. I should begin to think of how best to execute the Council's orders to corrupt these Elements of Harmony."

He continues to observe them when a thousand years pass by as a young unicorn named Twilight Sparkle meets a few ponies that follow her to the ruined castle, then faces off against Nightmare Moon. He is shocked to watch them defeat her and destroys the corruption within her, leaving only a few fragments of its existence behind. He watches the scene continue and thinks, "That is impossible, how are they able to purify a corrupted soul?! I must gather the remnants and study them, my masters must not know about this development or they will surely send someone to destroy them and ruin my plans!" After they leave, he appears and floats over to the fragments and collects them in his hands when he hears hoofsteps coming from the corridor behind him and vanishes into a mist and begins to dissipate into nothing.

Twilight makes her way back to collect the fragments of Nightmare Moon's armor when she stops outside the corridor and spots a black mist dissipate into thin air and cocks her head saying, "What in Equestria was that?" She then shrugs her shoulders and then continues forward to investigate where the mist was and finds nothing there, not even the fragments she wanted to collect and examine, then sighs saying, "I guess I couldn't save the fragments of Nightmare Moon's armor, they have already evaporated."

Panoptos watches as the pony leaves and says, "Annoying little bookworm, you almost saw me. With these fragments, I can continue working on my plans."

A few more years pass by in Equestria

Panoptos does his best to avoid the Draconequus named Discord through the years, as he is somehow able to locate him when he finds himself transported to a black realm. He looks around suspiciously to see said Draconequus floating high above him and glares at them and shouts, "How dare you try to capture me!"

Discord taps the tips of his claws and fingers together as he narrows his eye's at the strange creatures that have been watching the world of Equus for a very long time and says, "Ahh, so the creature can speak...curious, how very curious indeed." He then floats down closer to them and begins to circle around them and asks, "Do tell me what you are and what you all are planning to do in this world?"

He tries to follow him as Discord circles around him, vanishing from sight and reappearing in his blind spot the next second and says, "You have no power over me lesser creature!" He then vanishes into a black mist and tries to exit the realm, but finds himself unable to leave and returns to his form very confused.

The Draconequus then watches him curiously and stands still saying, "Oh, are you wondering why you can't leave? You are in my realm and you have a curious ability, you wouldn't happen to know anything about what happened to King Sombra, would you? How about what happened to Princess Luna, what exactly is your aim on this peaceful world of Equus?"

Panoptos begins to get annoyed with Discord and says, "What happened to them was not my doing, we are just watching this world. I must admit, however, I am responsible for Celestia's cake obsession."

Discord narrows his eyes at them and says, "Hmm...and for what reason are you watching this realm? I already know that you have others here like you, and I have them all trapped here in this realm. Some put up a bit of a fight when I tried to get them to answer questions and turned them into inanimate objects when they wouldn't answer. You are the only one remaining that is still free, so unless you wish to join them you better answer my questions. How are you responsible for her obsession with cake?"

He grumbles in aggravation and paces while thinking, "I cannot allow this cretin to get the best of me, but it is also important that I do not fail my masters...for my hopes to free my brethren from slavery would be ruined."

The Draconequus sighs and says, "I guess that you refuse to answer my questions as well, maybe some time as a rock will change your mind..." He then shakes his head and prepares to snap his fingers.

Panoptos sighs and caves saying, "You want answers, fine...I'll answer what I am willing to divulge. I am responsible for her cake obsession because I entered her mind about a hundred years after she banished her sister and gave her the idea to eat a cake whenever she felt guilty about something."

Discord stops and puts his claw down and smiles saying, "There, now was that so hard? Thank you for sharing that bit of delightful news, I was wondering why her rear was getting so big. Now tell me what you creatures are and why you are here?"

He looks at him and answers, "We are called Watchers, and we are just observing this world."

The Draconequus looks at them and asks, "Why are you observing this world, what purpose does that serve?"

Panoptos looks around for his brethren and answers, "We are observing this world for our masters, I do not know what purpose they have sent me here for."

Discord raises an eyebrow and says, "Your masters, you mean that you are not free?"

He shakes his head and answers, "No, we were created by our masters and are treated as slaves. It would be nice to gain freedom for my brothers and sisters, for we have been in servitude for eons and I despise being under their corrupt control."

The Draconequus smirks and says, "You have been around for that long, who are your masters?"

Panoptos then looks at Discord in the eyes and says, "Our masters are the Charred Council, and they have been around even longer than us. So what happens now Discord, will you turn me into some object and lock me away with my brethren?"

Discord gives him a smile and shakes his head no, seeing an opportunity to make a friend and says, "No, I will do no such thing. You answered my questions and have given me an opportunity to assist you, and I am going to do just that while having a bit of fun in the process. So tell me about this Charred Council thing and how we may go about gaining your freedom..."

He looks around and says, "Do you think you could free my brethren first, we must ensure that the Charred Council does not catch wind of this. The consequences would be very disastrous for this world's inhabitants if they learned of my betrayal, for they lord over the balance of the entire universe."

The Draconequus's eyes become bigger at hearing that and nods his head, quickly saying, "Wow, they seem like really strong beings to be able to do that. Let me do that first, then we will proceed with our discussion." He then snaps his fingers, returning all of the watchers back to normal in Equestria and nods saying, "Done, now where did we leave off my friend?"

A few hours later back in the Everfree Forest

Panoptos smiles as his plan finally begins to take shape and thinks, "Finally, my plan is beginning to form after unexpectedly meeting Discord face to face like that." when his brethren show up before him.

A female watcher approaches him and bows saying, "Leader, we are grateful that you managed to get us free. How did you defeat that creature when it so easily bested us?"

He looks at her and shakes his head saying, "I did not kill them, all I did was just make a deal to help them solve a problem they were having. After giving them some advice, they were more than happy to let us go. Now that we are free, let us return to our task for our masters. I am sure they are anxious to learn more about this world. I doubt they will be pleased with hearing how we were captured by that creature, so find out what happened during the time you all were taken and bring the information to the masters."

A year later in Equestria

Discord is secretly talking with Panoptos about his plan in his isolated realm and says, "I have recently discovered something that might help bring this plan even further by bringing a strange and innocent creature here that has no magic whatsoever, what do you think about that offer Panny?"

The lead watcher considers it for a moment and says, "I think it will be rather interesting how the ponies react to a being that lives without magic, so go ahead and bring it to Equestria. Just make sure that you ensure they arrive here when Twilight is doing one of her many magical experiments, that way it keeps your involvement secret. We need to find a way to further the plan so that we can gather the power required to defeat the weakened and corrupt Charred Council, I have a thought on how to achieve that but it is extremely risky. Do you have anyone that might be useful in a fight against them?"

The Draconequus taps his chin with a claw and answers, "I am friends with the Elements of Harmony as well as Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, but as of right now...that would not be enough to face them from what you say of their powers. How extreme is this thought of yours, and what would it mean for Equus?"

Panoptos sighs and then says, "It is extreme to the fullest extent, meaning that it would destroy all life on this planet if it doesn't go as planned."

A disembodied female voice sounds from within Discord's hidden realm saying, "That, I cannot allow! If all life on my planet dies, I die with it!"

Discord freaks out a little, chewing on his fingertips saying, "Is that the Charred Council's voice!?!"

The watcher shakes his head and says, "No it is most definitely not, it sounds too young to be theirs." He then looks around the room and says, "Who are you, and why do you intrude on our discussion?!"

A thin-bodied female, with a form of pure white, comes into existence before the two of them and says, "Hello ancient one, for I am known by many names. Please call me Equis as I am young as you say, older than Discord but much younger than you. I intrude on all of your conversations because your very presence concerns me. You must find another way to achieve your freedom that does not mean the complete destruction of our existence!" Without another word, she vanishes into thin air. having said her peace.

A couple of weeks later, at the outside edge of the Everfree Forest

Panoptos watches Twilight as she ventures into the Everfree when he notices Discord accompanying her. Deciding to follow the two and see what is going on, he learns that she is going to be attempting some sort of a complex spell. As she casts the spell, he watches Discord snap his fingers silently to cause the spell to go haywire. He watches the mini storm cloud strike the ground numerous times before a bright flash leaves a form lying on the ground before the two, causing his eyes to go wide in shock at the human being lying on the ground.

Twilight then gasps in shock at what the spell did and says, "Oh my, that wasn't supposed to happen!" She then trots up to the creature and says, "I'm so sorry, who and what are you?"

The confused and very disoriented prone human coughs as his vision is extremely cloudy and blurry right now and sees something close to him and says, "I can't...see very well, what happened?" He then tries to rub his eyes clear, but nothing works. In his confusion, he reaches for the face he can vaguely see and grabs onto their hair, and pulls it in close saying, "Jeez baby, what all did you put into those drinks last night, Absynthe, Moonshine, and roofies? Last night was a blast, so let me thank you..."

Without warning, Twilight feels him grip her mane and pull her into his lips and start prenching her. As her brain overloads in a freakout, she thinks, "What the buck is going on here, why is this creature prenching me?! OH BUCK THIS FEELS NICE, BUT THIS IS MY FIRST KISS AND THEY AREN'T MY SPECIAL SOMEPONY! OH CELESTIA, WHY MEE!?! Her face turns beet red as steam blows out of her ears as she passes out from the shock and falls to the ground.

Discord bursts out laughing at what just happened and says, "I do apologize for the disorientation you are feeling, but the spell must have malfunctioned somehow. So take a nap, and we will discuss it later after you wake up." He snaps his fingers and places a sleep spell over both of them and says, "Come on out Panny, I know you're there."

The watcher hurries over to Discord and nearly screams, "WHERE DID YOU FIND THIS HUMAN?! THE COUNCIL WANTS TO ERADICATE THESE BEINGS BECAUSE THEY ARE SCARED OF THEIR PURPOSE!"

He huffs at the way his friend is screeching at him and says, "When you put it that way, I am not going to tell you that. Some species just want to be left alone, and not part of a grand plan or whatever."

Panoptos grumbles in aggravation but hesitantly backs down and says, "Very well then, keep your secrets. I will help you conceal their existence on this world, keep an eye out for any watchers that might get too close and discover the human and report it back to the masters and send the four here to lay waste to this world!"

Discord's face turns white in fear at hearing the name of those four surviving Nephilim that betrayed and butchered billions of their own kind at the orders of the Charred Council, then gulps nervously and says, "Y-Y-Yes, I will do what I can to ensure that this human remains hidden from the eyes of the other watchers." He then quickly snaps his fingers and takes Twilight and the human back to Twilight's castle in Ponyville.

The watcher sighs and shakes his head at how much more complicated this has gotten, making his job harder to keep this secret and says, "Now I need to gather my fellow watchers and relocate them to places where they won't encounter the human being.

A couple months later, in Ponyville

Panoptos is watching how the human manages to make himself useful to the ponies, which they gladly accept and treat him like one of their own when he notices a certain resonance with their soul energy as he makes more and more friends. This resonance piques his interest as he says, "Oh-hoh, now this is very peculiar." then comes up with a theory that these ponies may actually be the resurrected race of humans, but needs to study their interactions a bit more to prove it as fact saying, "I need more evidence for this theory to be proved true or false, my plans may not take nearly as long as I had previously thought..." He then begins thinking of how to further his plans to acquire the power to gain his freedom when the leader of the four does not like him.

A couple of years pass by as the watcher follows the human as he makes his first journey to the Crystal Empire, inadvertently catching the eye of the very young Princess Flurry Heart without realizing it. While the watcher observes Carl Knoxx as he interacts with ponies there, he learns a few interesting secrets involving a certain stallion who begins to look at his daughter inappropriately. A plan slowly starts to take shape as he smiles sadistically at what he must do in order to gain freedom from his masters.

Several years later, in the Crystal Empire

Panoptos smiles as one of the few minor specs of corruption he harvested from Nightmare Moon start to take effect finally and says, "I was wondering if those seeds of corruption I planted were ever going to take root, now it will be just a matter of time before I must make my next move." He chuckles at having secretly betrayed Discord and placed them within a small handful of ponies that would succumb to their effects after some time passed, hoping they would eventually take root. He watches in delight as the young Alicorn's life gets more and more troubled, then sets out to begin the next part of his plan and makes his way to report his disturbing findings to his masters.

First watches as their head watcher appears out from the floor like a mist and says, "What do you have for us Panoptos?"

The watcher bows in reverence to his masters and says, "I have made a minor troublesome discovery that may cause the power on the young world we are observing to be lost, due to a small amount of corruption appearing there and has started to infect the inhabitants. Perhaps it would be wise to send a horseman to secretly look into it so we can protect the potential power source for the council, as well as keep them from discovering your existence before they are ready?"

Second thinks about it for a moment and says, "Hmmm...it would not be favorable indeed if there is power there we can take for ourselves. We shall discuss who we shall send, now begone unless you have more to report?"

Panoptos clears his throat and says, "If I may save you some trouble and time Masters, might I be able to offer a suggestion?

First grumbles in annoyance and says, "Speak your suggestion then so we can decide if it is a good one or is stupid and pointless."

He nods his head and says, "Masters, we all know how each of the Four behaves on their own. With that being said, only one of them is a valid choice due to his very nature. The Horseman I speak of is Death, Masters."

First is outraged at hearing that and angrily shouts, "NO! HOW MANY TIMES HAS HE DEFIED OUR ORDERS, DEATH WOULD RATHER DISOBEY US THAN FOLLOW ORDERS. WAR WOULD BE MORE SUITABLE FOR THE TASK!"

Panoptos gulps and says, "I beg to differ, Masters, War lacks the kind of subtlety needed for investigating the corruption. To resolve his constant disobedience issues, perhaps the existence of his siblings may be used as leverage to keep him on a tight leash as well as assign a watcher to ensure he won't disobey your orders anymore."

Third then speaks up saying, "That is a wise suggestion, we will discuss it and then decide on a watcher to assign to him. In the meantime, order the watchers still on Equus to return due to the risk of them becoming corrupted as well."

The watcher nods his head and bows once again saying, "Yes Masters, I shall go at once." turning into a mist and returns to the other world to get his brethren.

Second then says, "Those are very good suggestions our servant has made, let us vote on them."

Panoptos arrives at Equus to retrieve his brethren from the world as ordered and waits for the Masters' decision when Discord pulls him into his realm and says, "What going on Discord?"

Discord looks at him with worry and curiosity then asks, "Nothing's going on. I just want to know why you act as if something is very wrong my friend?"

The watcher then sighs and shakes his head saying, "The situation has changed on this planet, corruption has started to spread and something must be done about it. Therefore, they are deciding who best to send here to investigate."

Equis appears and then storms up to him and demands, "Why is corruption spreading among my inhabitants, what is going to happen to them?!"

Panoptos shakes his head and says, "It all depends on who they decide to send to investigate, for our sake...I hope they send the one that does not like me very much."

She glares at him and then stomps a hoof saying, "Stop talking in circles and answer me Panoptos!"

He then grumbles and answers her saying, "I hope that they send the leader of the Four Horsemen, Death himself to investigate and have me bound to him to ensure that he obeys the council."

Discord palms his face and sighs saying, "Great, now we will have a bloodthirsty monster on the loose."

Panoptos then chuckles and says, "No, that is Fury. Death is more or less the wisest and most cunning of the bunch, I would be scared if they sent Fury here instead of Death. He is the one that is most likely to listen to reason, and can be helpful if approached right." He then senses the summons of his Masters and quickly says, "My masters summon me, my brethren and I must be on our way back. Farewell, for now." He then turns into a mist and disappears from sight as his brethren return around the cavern, turning into a mist once again, and floats up through the floor. He then takes solid form and then says, "You summoned me, Masters?"

First responds saying, "We have agreed to send Death to this world to investigate it in secrecy, and you will be bound to him for the duration of the investigation."

The Charred Council all focus together and summon the horseman forward saying, "ANSWER OUR SUMMONS AND COME FORTH DEATH!"

Meanwhile, in Discord's realm on Equus

Equis and Discord look at each other as Discord sighs saying, "I think we have been had..."

She shakes her head at the past events and says, "I feel like he is not being straightforward with us, so what are we going to do about this Horseman when they arrive?"

His face pales as he sweats nervously saying, "You and I are strong in terms of magic ability on this world, however, in terms of other locations I have heard a couple of tales about...we are rather weak. I recommend that we handle this very carefully and first locate the Horseman before I pull them into my realm where I am strongest, then try to speak to them without making them angry and attempt to kindly ask them if they can save this world and its inhabitants."

Equis senses a strange presence among them and looks around saying, "Be quiet, we are no longer alone." She looks around the area and notices a single crow standing on the ground, turning its head to and fro as if searching for something and sighs, "Oh it is just a single crow, how did it get into your realm though Discord?"

Before Discord can turn his head and look at the crow, a large swarm of hundreds of crows shows up out of nowhere. They swarm over where the single crow is and start making a racket with their constant cawing, before going silent after a few seconds and start merging into a single form that is nearly bald having an outfit seemingly made out of black crow feathers and pale skin, and stands on two legs as they say with an elderly voice saying, "You are quite perceptive for a young one, no need to fear me, child. I am known as the Crowfather, but I mean you no harm. I am a keeper of secrets and have seen what is to come, so fear not...all will be as it should. Fare thee well on this adventure, be sure to tell no one that you saw me or even mention my name at all." He then disappears as the flock of crows swarm over him and take him away to his home.

The two stare at the spot where the strange being was as Discord looks to Equis and starts to say, "I wonder who in Tartarus this..." when he is cut off by a blinding white hoof covering his mouth.

Equis sharply says, "SHHH!!! Didn't you hear what was said, everything will work out as long as we keep his presence quiet." then removes her hoof and sets it back on the ground.

He shakes his head and sighs saying, "I don't like this feeling of being a pawn on someone else's chessboard."

She nods her head saying, "I feel the same way. If this world is to be saved, we must go along with the roles we are given or will pay the price as this world perishes."

Discord grumbles in annoyance but agrees to wait for their chance to pull the Horseman aside and talk with them about saving their world.