Prologue-Adentro hay un volcán
Emil Kudos was gone, every last fiber of his being reduced to ashes, a little bit more than metaphorically speaking, his first death caused by a stray fire from his strayed sweetheart, whom he still felt a igniting spark for, which eventually burned out, turning into hatred and desire for revenge, a desire he could not fulfill; his second and last death, was self inflicted, he swore he'd never let himself experience love, friendship or happiness ever again.
Emil Kudos was gone,at least that's what Emil Kudos himself wanted to happen, there was no time or place anywhere for him or his emotions, there was only a place for the, ironically, even more emotional, Phantom of Magic, who was also him, and he was, also, deceased, conscious, feeling, but deceased nonetheless.
And yet, things still didn't work out, as the one he thought that would be his found family, his brother in arms, his more than minion (despite he himself being the pawn), partner,who promised him great power, the mighty Tirek, ditched him as soon as he got summoned, all these effort, for naught; his brother convinced him to yet ditch him once more and reconcile with his brother. If only Emil had a brother to reconcile with.
There was no going back, he was just a very unusual spirit. Disappeared forever, yet strangely lifelike.
The Phantom remembered his early foalhood in the slums of Londock, living with his mother, Crystal Bouquet, a young adult, with an almost white sky colored coat that was barely clinging to her skin, a glass flower cutiemark thinning silver hair and big and expressive violet eyes, on what everybody but her called a glorified carboard box house, she made everything so little Emil could live a good life, even if her work wasn't the most ethical, but Emil loved his mother, and even tried to befriend the stallions she tended to bring home, clearly aware that they were only for her services but still hopeful that they'd join this small but loving family.
"You will be a great pony someday, my Kuky..."
Crystal Bouquet gazed with the warmth of a thousand suns, into her son's eyes, that almost shared the same hue, and looked at the same moon, the same moon that she looked with melancholy and regret, regret for not being able to tell what was happening, Emil only realized it too late, but this time, oh he was too innocent.
"Yes! And you are the one who made me dis way mom! I'm going to be a explorer and explore the whole world! I will go to beyond equestria and be the bestest explorer!!" Emil was practically bouncing with every word spoken, something that made Crystal tilt her head with the most adoring smile.
"And we will go together!! Because I love you! And you won't have to work with mean stallions that say hurtful things to you and make you cry and don't pay you and... I'm going to buy us a big house!!! And everypony will love us even the unicorns and pegasi!!! But they will love you specially because you're the most bestest mom!!!" he finished his excited rant with a soft bump of his muzzle on her, Crystal could barely hold her tears as she listened to her son.
"Oh Emil..." was all she could mutter, before she hugged her son, tears streaming down her face, she kept hugging him unable to tell what was going on, holding her coughs, swallowing her sobs, only petting him with her hooves until the sun was up.
The Phantom of Magic felt the tears welling down his face, the memories were his only companion in the dimension, perhaps everybody had their own dimension of loneliness, he thought, absorbed in one of the few moments of reflection on his convoluted mind, whatever these dimensions were like, they weren't probably this desolate, no visible source of light, no stars, no sound other than the sounds that came from inside his body and mind, no smells, no taste, no other senses...no touch from others.
Touch... He looked at his fingers, never intertwined with another, never felt somebody's head getting brushed against it, never placed on anyone's mouth,to let an, at first dreaded but comfortable silence to come between him and whoever was with him, never caressed...never loved. All his hands did was fight, steal , fuel his hate, carry on his, now empty , revenge and fuel his suffering.
The cold feeling of reflectiveness, suddenly evaporated, The Phantom of Magic felt his blood start to boil, he gripped his fists and clenched his teeth, all these promises of friendship, all these promises of power, all these promises of love, empty, he was just there to be used.
Cadence The Ninja just wanted to get rid of him, he was the obstacle and she was his obstacle too, maybe they were fated enemies? he flirted with the idea, but dismissed it as he was probably not that important and that she probably wouldn't give a damn about him.
Pinkie Pie, and the rest of the Valkyries of Harmony, only offered their friendship because that was what they were supposed to do, it was not genuine, it was only to make themselves look better, he felt that, that it was only a means to expand their friend circle's quantity, not caring about the quality. It was their job and they were solely fulfilling their duties, did they even want to be his friends? Or was it just what the script mandated?
Starfleet only saw him as a means to prove their power and test their abilities, the cutiemark stealing thing was probably a cheap excuse because the world was against him, if anybody else was the one trying to summon Tirek, he was sure Starfleet would condecorate them, make them join their ranks and welcome them, but since he was the one to do it, they held it against him, he was sure of that. He didn't blame them, and actually wished them luck on whatever they would do. Who cares, he was just another baddie.
Shining Armor was only his friend because he was his marriage counselor, and if Shining knew what was the profession of his late mother, he would have ditched him sooner, after all what could the son of a Street Strutter know about love?! The Phantom continued his inner rant, as he imagined Shining Armor's sister Twilight, his Brother in Law Fratello and Twilight's assasin Raven, having a conversation in the afterlife.
"Sorry for killing you, Twilight" Raven said, her voice an obvious falsetto, without moving her lips but completely stiff, bouncing up and down.
"It's ok, new bestie!" Twilight replied with the same voice she had as an awkward young teen, as she stiffly hugged the golden horned mare "You saved me from living in the same world as that smelly Emil Kudos!"
"Can you believe my sister's husband had him as a Marriage Counselor?! Inconceivable!" Fratello barged in, his voice sounding like a text to speech program.
"Glad I never hired him! He's such a loser!"
"Glad I never fell in love with anything but my books! I feel really sorry for my brother"
"I feel sorry for everyone that's came to him for advice!"
"Me too!"
"Me as well!"
The three ponies laughed loudly, pointing at him and laughing, laughing at him, at his misery,at his loneliness.
The behavior of imaginary Twilight did not match with the angelic mare she became after her death, Tirek preferred to go with her and his stranged brother than to continue his rampage, and even then he did not bother to take Emil, the Phantom of Magic's hand, no, he did not deserve it he only deserved to wallow in pain.
He has been reading the newspapers, he's been hearing the rumors about Twilight. Her bravery and determinism costed her life, and if not, she would be judged anyways, ungrateful bastards, the Phantom thought, why was she so quick to forgive them? He felt his anger receding a bit as a small chuckle came out, whatever his sense of humor was like, it was broken now, like he was.
His chuckle then evolved in a full maniacal cackle, he was rolling on the floor, as he envisioned himself as a vengeful ghost terrorizing the universe, he heard the cries for help, the scared citizens and he envisioned himself as a kaiju.
What would be his name? Emil Kong? Kudoszilla? The Kaiju of Magic? That name sounded menacing enough and rolled off the tongue nicely, he felt himself returning to his childhood...his foalhood self, he jumped from place to place, pouncing on everything.
He stopped in his tracks as reality hit him once more, his mother would be so disappointed in what he's become, he sighed, she was probably the only living being to show him unconditional love, but now she was gone, as about his father? Ah, his father... He wished he never knew him.
It was another day, Emil was a colt of six years of age, looking at the window of the flat he and his father lived in, Emil Kudos's father, Dream Crusher, was a lanky and miserable looking older Stallion unicorn, his cutiemark was a broken cloud, his eyes were of the coldest blue, like unmeltable ice, his coat and mane color were the exact same as Emil's, only reversed, there were several physical traits that they both shared, Dream Crusher was very obviously the father, but he was no dad.
Dream Crusher stomped a hoof on the ground.
"Hey Bort, are you going to school or nah?"
"Bort?" he replied innocently "Mom called me Kuky, is a cute way to say Kudos"
"Bort. Short for Abortion which your strutter mother tried to do. You're a failed abortion, Bort"
"But mom loves me" Emil started to sob, his little heart couldn't stand this much cruelness, he sniffled a little as he continued "Even...even if...if she did not want me at first...she did the best she could to give me a good life"
"Who cares. She was the cheapest one I could afford. Useless, stupid... ugly, an earth pony. Only useful to be a breeding mare"
How could he say that horrid thing about his mother? Crystal Bouquet was only a mare trying to get by, and her job was no reason to insult her, Emil growled at his father, and pounced on his leg, taking a big bite of it, enraging the unicorn who tried to get him off with his levitation, but to no avail.
"Let go, you brat!"
"Say you're sorry, dad! Apologize to mom!"
"Okay okay! Im sorry!" he say begrudgingly, without a hint of regret. "Now get out"
Emil did not look at his father, he just went to the counter, grabbed the prettiest carrot in his mouth and ran to school, where life was not much better than home, but at least he had his earth pony friends.
The phantom tried to hit a wall, only to be reminded that he was surrounded by literal nothingness.
But he could still feel, and now in this dimension this was amplified, even the images that formed on his head were nearly indistinguishable from his reality. What was the name of that condition? Hyperphantasia? Did he have that? He didn't know, it came and went without any traceable pattern.
It didn't matter, he put his arm to his mouth...and took a big chunk off it, then took another and another, starting peeling it off with his hand. It hurt, but he didn't care, he watched with satisfaction as the blood stained his fingers and his arm was broken.
And then, his arm started to heal itself, the skin reforging and the muscles reforming, it happened really fast, soon enough the blood evaporated from his fingers and the chunks of skin disappeared.
He repeated the process, this time biting on the exposed bone. No avail, it healed just as fast.
Another time, reforged in seconds.
Yet another attempt, nothing. This was getting annoying, but at the time he was curious about this new ability, what else could he do?
Emil concentrated as a ball of fire materialized from within his hands, he redirected it, made it grow, manipulated it like it was just plasticine, it was ironic, the same fire that consumed him was now in his complete control.
Perhaps if he had this ability sooner, he would have been able to win Peach Berry's heart, his heart still yearned for her, he could see her beautiful face, her gorgeous body and pretty hair, he rued the day she found her childhood friend, who took her away from him, What did that Fire Ball guy have that he didn't? The answer was obviously magic. Perhaps if he could turn back time...
"Oh...Emil, don't worry your little head too much" The Phantom of magic stopped in his tracks, that voice... He recognized that voice, that Las Pegasus accent with a hint of Manehatten was unmistakable , but it was much softer and feminine than he remembered, he turned around to see a Peach colored mare, with deep green eyes and a luscious brown hair, that reached her back, her now humanoid body was in a lively sundress, for a belle in her late fifties, she looked really good, the mare offered a smile that didn't meet her eyes and wrapped her arms around The Phantom of Magic.
"Did you miss me? I can tell you do~"
"Peebs?" The Phantom muttered, not knowing that this was just an hallucination, but a very powerful one. "Is that you?"
"Oh please" The mare waved her hand dismissively, rolling her eyes "My name is Peach Berry, don't go with those childish nicknames again"
The dumbfounded Phantom nodded, trying to impress the hallucination, he started yet again playing with fire, desperate to gain her approval, it worked a bit, Peach Berry was mildly impressed as she clapped her hands, softly folding her wings.
"Very well done. You have potential." she smirked, caressing his grey muzzle, fluttering her long eyelashes at him "You've earned yourself a kiss" she whispered softly to his ear.
Eager, Emil The Phantom grabbed her waist, pulling her closer, the fact that Peach Berry was this seductive or that she didn't have a pulse didn't ring any alarms for the lovestruck stallion, who just opened his mouth for a tongue kiss.
And just like that, as soon as both their mouths met,the hallucination of Peach Berry was gone, leaving him alone again, but Emil did not want to give up. There must have been a way to have the real her.
As he was practicing he crouched on an imagined floor, clawing at it, pretending to be a cat, after a moment a rift appeared, not thinking it through, he put his arm on it, engulfing it in a technicolor flame, pulling him to an unknown place, as soon as he took it off, the fire dissipated, he repeated the process, again and again, curious to see where it led, he stuck his head.
The view was amazing, countless of stars embroidered in the vast fabric of the multiverse, several galaxies waltzing on a mute but very real waltz, hazes of light travelling from here to there, bouncing from star to star, even the black holes contributed to this beauty, forming ephemeral works of art as they engulfed the lights, this universe was breathing, palpitating and alive.
He did not think it twice and fully submerged in the rift, admiring every little detail as he prepared to be absorbed by the black hole, this was too mesmerizing, if this destroyed him, his soul, as he hoped, his last moments wouldn't have been so bad.
Little did he know, a new beginning was in store , for him, as energy is neither created nor destroyed, it's only transformed. And this would be quite the transformative trip.
It was past midnight in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Phuyu Wayanai Mamani Sonco grabbed some things and wandered out of her parent's house, her heart heavy and her senses alert, she looked at a hastily written list on her pocket, read it, recited it, then looked at it again, repeating the process, she wanted to make sure she didn't forget anything, her mind was already scattered with scrambled thoughts she did not understand.
She also didn't understand, nor think about parallel universes, let alone one where the dominant species were uplifted ungulates, where some of them had markings that represented their destinies, a world that faced several threats, and was probably facing them right now; all that she knew was her Bolivia, the neighboring countries and that she had to take courage.
She looked around, to see if the rabbit was eating the crops, her duty was to lead it away, and clean up the poop, her parents thought about buying a bunny trap, but Phuyu's heart was too fragile like an egg, and she offered herself to do something, a feat that was extraordinary in itself, as she was afraid of disappointing anyone, she always felt the prying eyes of judgement over her, always ready to tear her down, but this time she managed to not break down in sobs as usual.
There it was, a light brown rabbit, carelessly munching on the crops, Phuyu had grown very attached to the rabbit, it was just like her, a fragile creature preyed by the world, a violent death of such kindred soul would crush her, she thought about adopting the bunny, her mind wandered again.
She imagined herself approaching the bunny without scaring it, the rabbit approaching her, cuddling her without prompting, a warm glow from within them both, she saw her parents and sister smiling at her, she saw the crops growing, her family's farm becoming successful, lots of people hanging out, being happy, She imagined herself growing wings, soaring over the Andes, the white snow glistening like diamonds, soon enough the glimmer turned into actual diamonds, that exploded transforming into the bunny, which hugged her, the bunny also had wings, cloud like shiny wings.
She shook her head, she wouldn't be allowed to befriend the bunny, it was a pest, an unwelcome guest, and leading it away was the best way to get rid of it, for a woman whose first surname meant falcon, Phuyu was far from being like a bird of prey, she was far too timid, too skittish, too weak, she was more like a baby chick, who hasn't left her coop, the lowest on society's pecking order.
"Elio...Elio, ven pa' cá conejito, no comas ese choclito que le hace mal a tu pancita, tiene muchos pesticidas, y yo no quiero que comas pesticidas. Ven aquí tengo una zanahoria que es mucho más rica es dulce y llena de conejinutrientes para que crezcas sano y lindo..." she futilely waved the carrot around, at the indifferent lagomorph.
The bunny was much more interested in the corn, this was bad, if Phuyu didn't manage to get the crops untouched, the bunny would be a roast, she didn't want that, Phuyu tried approaching and grabbing the bunny, which bit her, hurt and desperate, she tried shooing it, no avail, perhaps singing? No, she didn't like her voice.
"Vamos...no me hagas esto" she started tearing up "Si te descubren...te van a rajar de aquí para acá" she made a throat slit gesture with her finger "Y la culpa será mía, porfavor Elio... sé buenito, ¿Sí?" as she was trying to convince the bunny, something blinded her temporarily.
When she recovered her sight, a bright light haze illuminated her, as she looked up she spotted a bright technicolor spark on the sky, was this an omen of the apocalypse? was this a stray alien ship? was this just a drone? Or maybe, just maybe this was a blessing from the heavens, a wishing star that would make her life better.
That was it, Phuyu felt a spark of hope, she put both her hands on her chest, begging to the star.
"Buenas... Buenas noches pequeñita chaska... perdón si te molesto con esto pero... creo que tu fulgor es muy hermoso...y no sé si me escuches... pero... umm... espero no molestarte ni ser demasiado ambiciosa...pero... podrías hacerme más inteligente? más fuerte? más bonita? Quiero ser tan bonita como tú y así no sería ni una molestia ni un estorbo..."
The star suddenly began to warp and shift becoming a flare that went directly to the farm, this was not a shooting star, this was a meteorite, a supernatural one. Phuyu clutched her heart, trying to back away, to think about other thing, but she was frozen in place and fully concentrated in the ball of fire in front of her.
The ball seemed so small in the sky, now it was bigger than her, and it was alive. It was surrounding her as if it was curious, approaching her closely, she could feel that this fireball did not emit any heat...was this really made of fire? It didn't matter as the ball started to take shape.
First formed as a crude quadruped , the thing slowly gained detail, it was now an skeletal equine, a pony, that stomped its hooves on the ground, and whinnying the voice spectral and otherworldly; it wasn't long enough before it started to morph again, the limbs started lengthening and twisting as the body started to become upright, the hooves splitting into fingers, and the body gaining flesh.
The creature towered over the average american man, for a short bolivian woman like Phuyu, it was absolutely gigantic, it was a frightening sight: A ghoulish grey equine, it stranded upright, slightly muscular with his hands ending in claws, its teeth were sharp and its gaze menacing. He spoke, with the same equine accent that she couldn't understand. Needless to say she was absolutely terrified.
Emil, The Phantom of Magic felt annoyed by the irony: being ditched for an unicorn named Fire Ball only to become a literal ball of fire albeit temporarily, he didn't expect to be in this place, surprisingly or not, in one piece.
While these senses were mostly useless, he could still distinguish the smell of wet soil, of yerba mate, of carrot and corn, and the smell of dust, he could see the landscape, the humble house with a cracked paint coat, the bunny pawprints and the human woman in front of him.
The girl was an interesting sight, barely passing the meter and forty centimeters mark, her slightly overweight body was a bit heavier on the bottom, her fashion sense left a lot to be desired: a grey sweater, a bit oversized for her arms, a brown skirt and dark gray socks. her face was round like the moon, framed by curly locs of black hair, her eyes, almond shaped and dark brown, her skin was of a dark tan with a warm undertone, he could see that complimenting her indigenous features, she had a few of them that showed her african heritage, with her scared stare, her quivering and her lowered head, she evoked a wet pigeon, so soggy...so pathetic, and yet, she was looking at him, both their gazes were locked onto each other.
He felt a surge of electricity running through his body, yet again, his performative senses acting up. What did this mean?
As much as Phuyu wanted to, she couldn't look away, it was somehow fascinating, what kind of paranormal encounter was this? What did this creature want?
For a moment, the worlds of Equestria or Equus and Earth or Terra, as they were known intergalactically, were fused in a single dimension, all the stars, all the surrounding planets, galaxies, skies... waltzing together as the two strangers locked their gazes together, for a moment nothing existed but them.
Author's Note
Title reference (Titles are fair game!):
Lamento Boliviano-Los Enanitos Verdes
Well, this story starts out in Bolivia!
Sorry for the crappy quality 😅
Also sorry for backstory dumping
And for the OOC twilight, but hey! Thats a perspective warped version of her
I promise I'll get better.
Btw here's the tropes I want to avoid:
Informed Attribute
Flat Character
Dull Surprise
Tropes I want to portray in this chapter:
Establishing character moment
Animal motifs
Ridiculously Alive Undead
Prone to tears
Shrinking Violet
Mood Swinger
Wrong Side of the tracks
Hooker with a heart of Gold
Hate sink
Used to be a sweet kid.
PS: Phuyu is pronounced Foo-Yoo
Dictionary
Emil: Rival, Striving for greatness /Latin
Kudos: Praise/ Greek
Phuyu: Cloud/Quechua
Wayanai: Sparrow /Quechua
Mamani: hawk or falcon/Quechua
Sonco: comes from Shunqu, it means Heart./Quechua
Conejinutrientes: bunnynutrients
Choclito: Corn (diminutive)/ Spanish coming from Quechua
Chaska: Star/Quechua