Chapter One: "Chip on the Shoulder"
Elements of Equity
Chapter One: "Chip on the Shoulder"
A soft glowing ember illuminated the horizon as the brightest star was no longer seen, and comely blended tinges of ashen indigo and fading violet embodied the sky above Ponyville. The only lit streets were those flowing by houses from which bright rays of amber light escaped... All but one of these paths was idle, and barely - - the road leading from Canterlot, and directly to Ponyville's Square. Trotting toward a thick and hollowed tree, a lone gray-furred unicorn paused in his steps. With his head lowered, his bangs hung down. Glancing slowly from side to side, the colt sighed. His dark blue eyes had not seen a full night's rest in months. Wistfully, he struck his hoof upon the front door of Twilight Sparkle's library.
There was no response within even minutes. This dispirited him even more than he had been. After shyly peering into a window, he turned around to leave. Whispering to himself, he stopped in his tracks - - a gentle voice to his side heartily laughed. "Who're you talking to, Mikus?"
His ears shot upward as he immediately turned his head to the side, noticing the fourth princess of Equestria. Twilight, a violet alicorn with a dark purple mane streaked with highlights, was accompanied by a coral-toned earth stallion with dark brown bangs and a mane pulled back into ponytail. The pegasus blinked once, and opened his mouth to speak.
"I've been lookin' all over for you, princess."
She approached him with a warm smile, but a lifted eyebrow, and then made her way to the closed door. While glancing back and unlocking it with a quick spell of her horn, the orange coated stallion nodded at the colt with a smirk. "You ain't gettin' very much sleep, are you?" Mikus rolled his eyes in response "It's tough."
He scuffed the ground with his hoof as he observed the two of his friends, from a short distance... On her side, he noticed the princess held a small pouch. Though she seemed drained, her movements were elegant and calm. Glancing to his other friend, he found the stallion quite difficult to read.
The young mare stepped into her vacantly unlit library, and beaconed her old friends to come inside. "How have you been?" Tracing her path in, Mikus cleared his throat with a faint cough, and carefully nodded. "Yeah, good. Very good." Examining the bookshelves, wearily, he overlooked the contents of her pouch as she emptied them into a wooden box. Her horn glowed as she slid the container into the corner of a cupboard. The moon was no longer hidden, and it shined through the windows and onto the carpeted floor.
Twilight turned her head to take note of what the crestfallen colt was doing, and nodded to herself. Mikus sat down in the middle of the room, and met eyes with the princess. "Your dragon friend... Where's he?" Twilight calmly smiled and rested in front of him. "Spike? He's with..." As Durriken peacefully joined the two in the center of the room, her jovial expression faded into concern. "He's helping Celestia while she deciphers what artifacts we could recover from..." Mikus lifted his hoof, and a peculiar necklace fell to the floor. "Hey, I heard about that. Which is why I wanted you to give this to her." Two amulets rested on the ground, bound to the silver chain-link heirloom... Two empty hourglasses, with their bottoms unsealed.
Twilight Sparkle blinked a few times, and levitated the necklace over to her side... It was in very poor condition. She bowed her head, graciously. Durriken's jaw dropped and a wooden toothpick fell from his mouth, which lightly struck his front hoof, rolling onto the floor. He mumbled to himself. "Ain't that supposed to be...?" The gray colt nodded with a patronizing smile, and set his hoof back to the ground. "The stuff of legends." The princess eyed it, strangely, and added. "Where did you find that?" Mikus tilted his head to the side, in the direction of the - - "Abandoned village, east of here. Got into a little stand-off with some changelings, when I took a cartography job. One of them dropped that."
Durriken broke the silence. "How much did you get from that job, Mikus?" He replied, with a subtle trace of sarcasm. "Enough bits to last me the rest of my life." Durriken let out an "Oh?" in between his guffaw. Mikus nodded, before directing his eyes back to Twilight. "Yeah, maybe if I die next week."
Twilight's sad expression had darkened ever more. She then sat up and paced toward the stairway. "Do you still read, Mikus?" Responsively, the pegasus' ears shot up. "Uh - - Absolutely." While she began to make her way upstairs, she commented. "Durriken and I came over here to take some books to Canterlot. I-It just occurred to me that you might want to keep a few for yourself, perhaps...?" The look in her eyes signaled something else, entirely. Durriken noticed this and stood up. "I, for one, am very tired. I think it's about time for me to get some shut eye, heh."
Nodding, oblivious to her expression, Mikus looked back at Durriken. "Hey, take it easy..." The stallion winked, jovially. "You too, soldier." After trading words with his old friend, Mikus followed Twilight to the second floor and cycled through titles he may want to own. "Twi?" In response, the alicorn turned her head to glance back at him. He was leaning his side against the door frame and looking across the room, and out the window.
"I'm thinking of making that ghost town to the east useful again. Not even the changeling's have much going for it." Twilight tilts her head to the side. "That isn't what I wanted to talk to you about, right now. That necklace you found. It belonged to a very important figure."
Mikus heartily laughed. "You sure this isn't changeling propaganda? They didn't put up much of a fight, now that I think about it. Could've wanted somepony to find it." The princess shook her head. "Even with the vast archives Celestia allows me to explore, I haven't found very much information on this figure. But it's stressed that they are one of the reasons Equestria got to where it is, now." The colt stepped closer to Twilight, and turned his head to look at the book she laid out on her desk. He nods, pensively. "I've read it, Twilight. Most of that stuff is just poor translation, and it could mean a myriad of things." The purple alicorn shook her head, once more. "I'm cynical about it all, too. But, Mikus, you just brought me a real artifact that is mentioned in these stories."
Twilight prepared a test tube from across the room, and hovered it above the necklace, which was placed on a thick sheet of cloth. Tilting the tube ever so slightly, she allowed one drop of the chemical to fall to the artifact. Immediately, the droplet of liquid bounced up and suspended itself in mid-air. "What the..." Mikus stammered. The princess nodded. "I retrieved some water from the Mirror Pond a few months ago. Sure enough, this is what happens when I..." The pegasus raised an eyebrow after the long pause. Twilight Sparkle turned around to face the stairway, and shut the book closed, promptly. "I'll find the time to explain this to you, later. I need to see Princess Celestia."
Following closely behind Twilight as she made her way down the stairs, Mikus shook his head. "Whoah, there - - what's goin' on? Explain this to me as best as you can, at least!" Spreading one of her wings, Twilight Sparkle magicked the necklace to her side. After closing her wing, she carefully locked eyes with Mikus. She accepted the look of persistence in his eyes. Exiting her library, she began to lecture. "This is restricted information I'm about to tell you. But I owe it to you, because you did find this relic. Long before Equestria existed, this world was much worse off. All I know is that a great king formed a metaphysical dimension called The Aisle. This is where I received my wings."
With a solemn look about here eyes, she added. "It's also where The Elements of Harmony were created. Again, this predates even the Stone Age. Now... The Aisle was directly connected to this city - - one that isn't around anymore. When this city fell, The Aisle also shook into pieces, casting small parts of it's magical waters into the void. As the remnants of what perished were pushed back together by Celestia and Luna, traces of those waters made their way into our world. There are probably little pockets of it everywhere. The closest one to us happens to be the Mirror Pond."
Mikus reflected on what Twilight shared with him, as she continued to speak. "I don't know how the changelings would have come across these two amulets, but the waters of the Mirror Pond are of great importance to them. When the world was starting over, under Celestia and Luna's careful guidance, something must have slipped past their knowledge. The changeling's scientific name is "Syreni-Dissim", and are closely related to beings called Sirens."
Noticing the wooden sign that marked the end of Ponyville was near, Twilight glanced behind her shoulder before finishing her lecture. "Hm. To my understanding, perfectly normal ponies would drink from the magical water, everyday. Not knowing of it's effects until it was far too late, their gene pool was completely altered. The new species that came to be also acquired a lot of traits that sirens have." They approached the sign that read: "Come back to Ponyville, soon!" Mikus interjected on the alicorn's explanation, deadpanning. "How in the hell did I not notice that?" As they continued in their walk, Twilight gently laughed. "It's hard to put two and two together when one's missing from the other." Mikus chuckled at that.
As they continued to follow the pathway to Canterlot, Mikus prodded Twilight with a remark. "So you're taking the notion that those ominous tails of a world before this one are actually true." At first she displayed a look of uneasiness, but almost immediately corrected it with a faint smirk. With a playful nudge, she jibed. "I haven't many reasons not to."
"What exactly do you want to talk to the princess about, anyway?" The pegasus looked off to the side, at the blossoming efflorescences across the grassy fields. The sky-blue pedals all dipped their paper thin tips toward the ground, giving the flowers an umbrella-like shape.
"If this necklace, here, is what we think it to be..."
Twilight caught her tongue when she noticed Mikus admiring the natural scenery. She took a moment to appreciate it with him, and so they stood on the side of the pathway.
A sense of urgency found it's way back into Twilight's mind. "Mikus, if you're coming?" Breaking gaze at the field, he pensively nodded and began to follow her, again. "So. Uh... Celestia." The alicorn revisited her answer. "If this necklace is what we think it is, then I need to start figuring something out." Mikus gestured her to proceed.
"I need clarification. There's nothing else I can say, with certainty, until I talk with Princess Cel - -"
Twilight Sparkle, steps ahead of Mikus, ceased movement. A startled expression took over her face and her ears shot down, causing the pegasus to express concern. He had also stopped walking forward, when the princess left the dramatic break in her sentence. Twilight turned around, and focused on the colt's eyes. "Canterlot's been shielded." Mikus let out a worried laugh, and replied. "I'm sorry, what?" The princess nodded, once. "You can't see it, can you? I couldn't either, but Canterlot's got a shield around it for some reason, and it's visible from here."
Twilight stepped forward, and lowered her head. Her horn touched against the surface of an impermeable membrane of magical texture. "... And it won't let me out."
Several moments prior.
"Nnn..." Her body spread across the bed, uneasily. As she drew her hooves close to her chest, Princess Celestia gripped her covers between them. "Mm." She rubbed her eyes and propped herself upward. "... Highness?" A royal guard stood before the entry to her chamber. The princess found her balance, and steadily approached the guard, while lifting her formal attire onto her body. Her voice was pleasant, but timid. "How many times did you call?" The guard gestured for her to follow her into the long hallway, and explained himself. "Thrice, princess. Your sister awaits your presence on the highest balcony - - she emphasized that it was important." Celestia nodded once, and dismissed the guard. "You may leave me, then." As the white stallion continued onward down the hallway, the princess took a spiral stairway to her right. Once she knew the colt no longer had the ability to see her, she noticeably quickened her pace.
Following her arrival atop the highest balcony, Celestia advanced to her sister's side. "Luna, what is it?" Her mane and coat, alike, were of a strong blue tone. The stars of a night sky always glistened in her flowing tresses. With a sense of apprehension, the Night's Mare ceased her forward gaze, to meet eyes with Celestia. "The Changelings have set hoof toward the Crystal Empire." After taking moments to process what she had just heard, Princess Celestia solemnly nods.
Relaxed upon an oak bench in Canterlot's frontside courtyard, a young and bright-jade coated unicorn sat with her hindhooves extended before her. While she held an instrument in one hoof, she took a moment to brush a white-strand of hair from out of her eyes... Then continued plucking at the strings of an acoustic lyra, which emitted a lulling melody of F's, C's, and D#'s. As the orange sun rose above the horizon, a black cloud split the circle in half... The sky was empty, save a few gray bodies of vapor. Below the towering kingdom, the plains and towns were consumed by a blanket of fog. After finishing her aria, the sitting mare closed her mouth and glanced to her side. Four single files of decorated royal guards marched through the courtyard. Their helmets were a darker shade of gold than the conventional design, and from the tops protruded a long, blood-red mohawk.
Galloping in the opposite direction, a white stallion unicorn with a dark blue mane passed by the guards. They ceased their movement, and saluted as he went by. On his flank, there was a shield and star - - his name was Shining Armor; First Captain of the Canterlot Royal Guard. With a quick glance to his side, Shining barked. "Miss Heartstrings! You do not want to be here." After following the other guards with her eyes, the mare sprung from the wooden bench and trotted closely behind the captain. "Is there something I've missed?" Shining Armor quickly nodded, expecting to be questioned. "Unless you feel comfortable knowing the castle, proper, is being attacked? I'd say you definitely seem to have missed something, Lyra." Tilting her head to the side, she responded with confusion. "That's ridiculous. Why is everypony leaving if we're being attacked? Those fellahs back there... Isn't their M.O. supposed to be prot- -" The stallion interrupted her. "No, we're not experiencing the full attention of the enemy. Two Changeling regiments are pushing into the Crystal Empire. We're receiving a blockade; they knew we'd send retaliation for the empire. I'm to gather a small resistance against whatever they think they're pulling off, here."
Lyra forced a smile. "Do your thing, Armor. I left my stuff back in the courtyard." Almost instantly, the captain shook his head. "There's no time to go back, Lyra. Even if I wasn't obligated to, I'd still make you leave Canterlot." He glanced down at her, apologetically. "I'm sorry. But you have to believe me when I say that you can't be here." The young mare frowned, but understood. Having covered a great distance while they traded words, Shining Armor arrived at the stairway to the highest balcony... Lyra had taken his advice and evaded the vicinity while she still could.
Once he reached the balcony and carefully scanned the area to make sure nopony was still obliviously wandering around, he summoned a sphere that surrounded the entirety of Canterlot. Unlike his usual protection spell, this served a very different function. Invisible to those approaching, the magical sphere would prevent anypony from leaving, once entering. Descending, by stairway, to meet with his Royal Guards, Shining Armor braced himself for battle.
Directly below Canterlot's towers, a company of changelings marched up the mountain and toward the invisible shield. Alongside the changelings, making up less than a quarter of the wave, was a race of half-bloods... These mongrel offspring were the byproduct of a changeling physically draining the love from a pegasus or a unicorn. In most divisions of the Changeling Army, any living member of this hybrid species was a walking act of heresy. Other settlements that were further from Queen Chrysalis reluctantly accepted the bastardized race only as less-than-pony.
Silently approaching the gardens behind Canterlot, the company ceased movement and steadily prepared to blast down the castle entrance door. "This is it, you curs. Tonight, you sacrifice yourselves in battle for the Queen." Several commanding officers narrowed their heads, and began directing a linear extension of the bright ember which originated at the tip of their horns, continuously shooting forward in the direction it was pointed - - that direction being into the large doors. While taking turns at scorching their obstacle, the company began shifting their appearance to match that of a standard Royal Guard... Something a half-blood could not do. After several moments, there was a direct passage into the castle, and the commanders stepped back as the other changelings galloped in. After every last changeling made their way inside, the commanding units followed closely behind.
Stepping halfway into an empty courtyard, the faux-royal guards emphatically paused. Some cocked their heads, while others ducked in anticipation of a flanking. In this angle, some rays of sunlight made their way through the narrow openings of their legs and hooves. Their pupilless, light blue eyes frantically searched the area, some flipping their sharp ears downward. More and more poured into the courtyard and were now inside Shining Armor's inescapable dome, and they slowly learned of this. A bright flash of light exploded in the middle of the courtyard, and a fraction of the leading wave had been caught in the first strike.
Lifeless bodies scattered across the grass and some slid into the pond water, now tainted with the color of bloodshed. Scarlet was the tincture of love, until the four chambers from which it had retained purity were empty...
Then it became the thick tone of misery and death. Changelings do not bleed red, for they do not feel love. Even ancient stories taught that ice-cold water flowed through their veins.
What was true was the color of their blood, and that it was not warm like that of which belonged to a being with a soul. Their vital fluids were transparent, and very, very cold.
And so, the pond water was tainted with the color of bloodshed, as it always had been. "Was this what made killing them less taxing to a hero's sense of grief after a battle? That when you struck one down, they would return to their true appearance, and bleed the color of the air around you. Much like the things everypony takes for granted; the water they drink and the air they breathe - - they do not realize the importance of the blood they spill." After recalling these words, Shining Armor nodded to continue the shower of attacks.
Taking a few moments to reform, the changelings began shooting deadly spells from their horns at the silhouettes visible behind the arches of a wayside pathway on either end of the courtyard. Before each spell left a horn's point, part of it would explode in an outward ripple of energy until dissolving into the air.
The struggle between the shapeshifters and Royal Guards ensued. The half-bloods of the horde were picked off, first, because they were the most easily distinguished. Outside of the Changeling's army, they were referred to as "mergers", and that is precisely what Shining Armor called them. "Take out those mergers - - they're moving in!" The Royal Guards began fending off the Changelings and some were forced to leave their shadows. This is when the intuitive leader of the Changelings noticed they were not identical to their enemy...
Their armor was a barely different color. In response, he and the others began to shift into what they saw. They did not realize that Shining had expected this, as well. The Royal Guards marched toward their enemy in a specific algorithm of their Captain's design, so that they would not mistake one of their own as a foe, thus avoiding friendly fire.
A bright series of flashes distracted Shining Armor's eye, and after gaining sight, he glanced up to see a struggle within the Princess's watch tower. Although Celestia was able to handle her own fights, Shining couldn't help but wonder how the enemy infiltrated their way to her position. In this brief moment of pondering and blindness, a blast caught him off guard. The spell tore through his neck, causing him to combust in a green flame.
This form of dark magic was lethal, and he knew it. The flame was to spread out beyond his body, and take as many nearby soldiers with him to the grave as possible. With a dry bark, he mustered what he had left of his voice. "G-Get away from me! I'm hit by a leeching curse - - back off from me!" He choked. The fatal blow that was cast to ignite Shining Armor consumed him in a pulsating flame, and he groaned in frustration.
Not a single soldier could hear his cries, for his breath had been stolen by the fire.
The flame emitted a powerful shockwave before imploding on the captain, compressing his entire body into ashes and dust. Only two changelings remained, while barely any royal officers suffered casualties. Almost with a drudge, the battle was over. A white stallion in gold armor leered into the eyes of the last standing changeling and blasted it through a marble statue beside the overflowing pool of blood. The courtyard became a site of misery and death. One of the Royal Guards approached the pile of ashes, and grimaced in disbelief. "W... Where are the princesses."
Several moments after the guard spoke, one commanding knight escorted an alicorn of the magenta color into the courtyard. The guard saluted the princess, and barked with a hint of emotion in his voice. "Princess Twi..." The guard choked, briefly... "L-Light Sparkle!"
Observing, in awe, the ruins of the devastated
~
The Fourth Division of the Changeling Armada was the only branch that consisted of mergers... By social class, they were the bottom feeders of the Queen's task force. Each member of the army was anonymous, but assigned a number. The more characters to your name, the less importance you held. It was unheard of that a merger carried a two-digit serial code, yet there were a few. One slaved by day as a data-entry clerk, and by night as a sleepless insomniac. His name was "47", and he wanted more than anything to simply slip into a coma.
~
Prelude: "The Aisle of Acid Reign"
Elements of Equity
Prelude: "The Aisle of Acid Reign"
Once upon a time, in a faraway world, there lived a genus of powerful beings. Together, they all dreamed of establishing true balance throughout their world, Fraxinus. An outsider of these beings was the first and last of its kind, and would eventually come to represent chaos in its purist form. This one left the city of Elysium in a quest to find other worlds, and witness the untold mysteries of the beyond. The stars swirled thousands of times across the skies, many epochs passed since his departure, and in returning to his home... He had stumbled upon a kingdom under siege and struggle. His magical journeys deemed him worn of energy and greatly altered in shape, yet without hesitation, he nobly led a resistance to Elysium's reclamation.
Long after this war, he had been overinclined by his own self to instruct others in the magic he had encountered before his return. He would teach the artistry of that magic, as it would allow those who succeeded him to maintain harmony in their world. Unlike the fallen monarch before him, he undertook the mantle of Chief in reluctance. Despite having been a dictator, he was not ruthless. In fact, he restored a proper government to all those who had been severely oppressed. All he expected in return was the creation of The Library, where he offered boundless dictums and knowledge to all who sought it. His reign brought peace and happiness to Elysium and as the times strived onward, some managed to excel in his teachings. One in particular was a young alicorn mare of royal descent. Her coat was of the whitest tone, and her mane... It flowed, always, of many ornamental colors. By many, she was called "Celestia Ra-Alatum".
By him, she was called "faithful student".
After the great wars were finished, the planet had little left to keep itself from falling apart and throwing it's body across the solar system. Fissures the size of oceans encompassed the surface of Fraxinus, and the majority of the world was hidden beneath a piling blanket of snowy ash. It orbited the central star in a peculiar fashion - - in such a way that from the only inhabited city left standing, the sun was always visible on the horizon... Only unseen for one hour, each day. Elysium's aging king could almost always be found within the vast aisles of the isolated Library, where he strove to hold Fraxinus together. This is where Celestia found him. Her hoofsteps echoed with subtle reverberation across the great entrance hallway. Her eyes glanced from bust to bust, from portrait to portrait, papyrus to papyrus. The glassy marble statues of Elysium's fallen war heroes... The beauteous, colorful paintings of Elysium's most talented artists... And the weathered scrolls of mutually pre-war times, hung up and shielded upon the walls.
Celestia sauntered past many long, towering shelves of relics and books, before slowing her pace. Her pronounced posture, as she approached her master, still had her standing at a considerably shorter height than him. He towered over most, for he did not share the same shapes as Elysium's equestrians. He was a draconequus, and not one portion of him shared symmetry with the other. Motionless, he stood, gazing out a window... His tired eyes looked over the largest city of their world, which lay on the farthest point of the skyline.
The sun slowly disappeared behind a towering mountain, as the orange sky darkened. She breathed in, anxiously, and opened her mouth to speak. "Everyone on the high council thinks you're preparing another departure, they..." Ever so subtly, her hoof had scuffed the carpeted floor beneath her. "... They're already planning to replace you." Her teacher nodded, stoically, and whispered. "They've been wanting a new head under the crown for a while now, my faithful student." He unfolded his arms from his chest, and brushed the glass before him with his open paw. "They may have their new king, as wished... Once I actualize my last contrivance." He looked down to his side, and faintly smiled. She knew he was speaking of his plans to reconstruct Fraxinus, so that life could spread outside Elysium. He had become jaded over the years, and in that, had become quite apathetic... But he was always careful not to hurt the life he oversaw.
The draconequus turned around, and gently placed his paw on his young apprentice's shoulder and said, assuringly, "You seem worried. Don't be." Celestia focused on his eyes, and began to follow him to the entrance hallway. "You promise that you aren't leaving us?" She nagged. Her teacher nodded, weakly, and began to frown. "Of course. I know not where I belong... Where would I disappear to when I haven't a place to disappear from?" Celestia shook her head, and raised her hoof to touch him. They both stopped in their tracks. "You belong here as much as the rest of us."
For many moments, they locked eyes, before continuing in their walk.
The Library was wedged between the two walls of a split mountain top; it completed the point. A passageway spiralled from the belly of The Library. Under the tip, the hallway circled downward into the middle of the mountain itself. This hollow passage corkscrewed deep within the alp until leading through a cave onto a palisade. This cliffside is where one would set flight, away from the elevation. It was this way for a reason. Any being without wings would not be able to enter, nor leave. When the master and student reached the palisade, they spread their wings to fly... And it began to rain. Standing on the far edge of the cliffside, they decided on waiting to take flight.
They both retreated back into the cave, where they agreed on taking a moment to rest. The graying hair upon the dracon's head had fallen to his face, as streams of water rode down his bangs and jumped off to meet the cold, stoney ground. As her colorful mane also dripped with cold rainwater, Celestia ensconced her legs beneath her, and sat onto the cave's floor. Her master's neck arched like a question mark as he lie down beside his faithful student, and after sharing a view the outside sky, their eyes met. While the draconequus performed a careful spell to remove the rainwater from them both, a great amount of emotional tension stirred between the two of them, and the storm of heavy rain began to fall more rigorously. Celestia's head drew closer toward his and, alluringly, she closed her eyes... Their lips touched, and with pulchritude, the alicorn's wings sedately unfurled... His tail entwined into a upward curl.
Their affectionate embrace was broken off by a booming salvo of thunder, and a blinding explosion of whiteness filled the sky. In that moment, only the outline of a great storm cloud could be seen, for all else was consumed by a blinding flash of lightening. Together, their eyes unclosed - - her's with a trace of alarm... His with a sense of cognizance. After a brief cessation, the draconequus pulled Celestia closely to his side with his cerulean-feathered wing and nuzzled his neck over her's, slowly rising. She let out a faint mewl, as she rested her head on his shoulder. He began to lead her into the cave's depths. As they arrived at an expanding body of clouds and water, he fondly put an arm around her, hugged her tightly, and whispered with a frown. "I've something... To show you."
Celestia noticed many peculiar creatures above the waters. The ocean of clouds and brine which spread outward, seemingly forever, was mirrored above with a similar sky of liquid. This place of wonders defeated her imagination, and it greatly confused her to no end. Frolicking about the expanse were many luminescent butterflies with glasslike bodies. Floating through the air were little glowing spores of blue, and white. Interrupting her awe, her teacher spoke. "These creatures you see before you... Call them Intrikates; the Beauteous." The princess turned to look up at the draconequus. "Un'Referri, what magic is this?"
The dracon smiled, weakly. "I keep our world a circle, and our skies from falling - - and it is this magic that impresses you?" Celestia shook her head, before turning to examine the waters again. "This is unlike anything I have ever seen. It ignores any law of balance - -" The princess looked behind her, nervously. There was no trace of where they came from... The domain was boundless in all directions. "Where are we?" She panicked.
Un'Referri lectured her. "This is a metaphysical dimension. It is the archive of time, eternal. Those most pure may reach this point, for it is the omnibus of sorcery. Here, I shall introduce you to the greatest invention of our time..." A large globular object came rising from the lower depths of the aisle. It was composed of one layer of miniature spheres, and appeared to glow a very faint indigo. Within this hollow rondure were six supernatural artifacts... The draconequus nodded, once. "The Elements of Harmony."
The Elements within the sphere were drawn toward them, and Un'Referri turned to face his student. Celestia tilted her head to the side. "So this would be where you spend your days when nopony can find you." He nodded with a faint look of urgency. "Celestia, these mediums will allow Fraxinus to restore itself to it's former glory." Out of nowhere, seemingly, Un'Referri beaconed a lockbox to his hands. He levitated the five neckpieces and the single crown into the air, and fused them together to form one joint figure. As he lowerd the Elements into the box, he continued speaking. "In these stressful hours... Forthrightness, Altruism, Tranquility, Charity, Allegiance, and Uncorrupt Power are a lost virtue." As he spoke of each attribute, the Element mentioned glowed with brilliance in it's glaze. "They are impotent without something to channel them, and they cannot be channeled if they have not found one worthy."
The princess nervously raised a hoof, as she looked below her. Noticing a glass fish swim beneath where she stood, she turned back to see his teacher. "Do you believe these Elements to have found one worthy?" The draconequus inhaled, deeply, before resting a hand on Celestia's shoulder. "I have taught you to raise the sun and your sisters each, to raise the moon, and stars. Humbly, I have already chosen my successors. You three shall possess the Elements of Harmony that I could not." Un'Referri shut the box with his talon, and passes it to the princess, who holds the lockbox in the air with her horn. "Bring these to your sister, for they shall be collated among you all." Celestia nods in reply... And the dracon casted Celestia out from this dimension, to Elysium. When she was no longer beside him, he fell into a throne of ice, which rose from the waters to catch him. Closing his eyes, he held out his paw. As a vitravem gently roosted upon his palm, Un'Referri traces the outline of the creature with his gaze and recites a song.
When death sleeps it dreams of you.
The Reaper sews it's sorrow.
When death sleeps it thinks of you.
And will, again, tomorrow.
With each breath, so cold and long.
It's lowered scythe shall miss you.
When your name is carved in stone.
Death shall so gently kiss you.
As it's whispers meet your ears...
Life couldn't wring you from.
Holding back it's ancient tears...
"We both knew this would come."
"Life is your wise father, child,"
Time waited long enough.
"I am your kind mother."
Spoke the diamond in the rough.
Before the glass butterfly set flight, a necklace had materialized around Un'Referri's wrist. Hanging from this necklace were two empty, bottomless hourglasses sealed upon two entwined and flexible metal threads. The draconequus removed the necklace from his arm, and cautiously lowered his head. After placing the magical pendant around his neck, he clicked the two hourglasses together. The space around him slowly phased into that of The Library, and his throne became a more majestic one of an azure tone, lined with ivory. Rising from his cathedra, the king began to walk until he reached the entrance hallway. Without lessening his stride's speed, he reached to his side and plucked a thick book from it's shelf. Within this book was the history of a religion, and while it's creation was triggered by his actions, it was not one he followed. After tossing the pages from side to side, the dracon made his way through the mountain's cave. Approaching the stony palisade, Un'Referri spread his wings... And began to fly, with Elysium before him.
Directly above the draconequus flew a long metal snake, composed of clockwork razorblades. It slithered in three dimensions, letting out a hiss which released a toxic gas that could become acidic liquid as a reaction to living tissue. This creature, and many like it, circled the mountain of The Library like vultures. The gasses they emit would eventually form into clouds, which sometimes pour down as very deadly acid rain and could delay any departure. These guardians were known as Basilisks, and were invented by Un'Referri, himself, and fell into the category of Analogues; the Machines.
Glancing downward, the dracon examined a dried sea that was once home to the gracious water phoenix, which was now an extinct Intrikate of Fraxinus. Beginning to gradually fall, Un'Referri immediately redirected his sight to focus on the approaching city of Elysium and away from the eyes of what was skulking across the hollowed gorge. This impassable arachnid was also composed of clockwork razorblades, an Analogue. When cut in half by a blade, it's division would become multiplication - - it can always split into half of itself and create two new scorpions. It's most deadly ability is the Stasis Gaze. Looking into it's eyes will dampen your perception of speed, entirely, and it will appear to you that it can move in blurs. From an outsider's perspective, it's victim is merely locked in place as the creature moves as it normally would.
Finally, Un'Referri arrived at a thin viaduct on which he landed. To either side of him stood an Elysian Paladin in obsidian armor, with golden symbols upon the surface written in Orsonus, the language which Elysium had adopted. In unison, they both exclaimed. "We are watchful, my liege." In brief reply, their king nodded. Surrounding Un'Referri were a many stratospheric towers, that reached into the highest clouds. The constructs were made of polished ivory, and pure gold. Each road was overlaid with a fine scarlet silk, and the entryways to every building were lined out with this fabric, so sharp to the eye. After pacing for a long duration, Un'Referri entered a populous dome chamber seating half Elysium's of citizenry. Situated atop a platform were three venerable hierarchs. Dressed in white silk robes, each of them wore a hood that draped over their faces.
These three alicorns of royal stature were members of the most common religion known throughout Elysium. The one mentioned in the book Un'Referri held under his arm. With the Orsonus symbol of Ancipe as their emblem, those who belonged to this religion worshiped balance. Before the war that almost extinguished all indigenous life, this devotion to balance was not as accepted. After the war, those who believed it to be crucial were seemingly all that was left. Only a small body did not devote their very being to Ancipism, but this did not mean they disagreed that harmony was unworthy of striving toward - - only that they were not spiritual. Sadly, this was ignored, and those who did not participate in religious affairs were considered suspicious.
The king knelt, not so much in honor than in custom, before the three proselytes. One spoke with a hint disdain. "You do not seem very perturbed, Un'Referri." Lifting his head to look up at middle bishop, the draconequus raised an eyebrow. "You do not seem very perturbing, Jiagou." Not acknowledging a king's title as king and instead using his name was never acceptable in Elysium. If this didn't reveal a defiance to the ruler, it was a condescending undertone that went with it. The reason behind Jiagou's lack of respect for his king was simple, but not well justified. The savior of Elysium was not a participant in Ancipism. But the savior of Elysium created the Elements of Harmony, which could be recorded as the most balancing occurrence in all history.
"We..."
~
