The Rim of the World

by Godspeed

Rating: teen
Tags: Crossover, Dark, Sad, Adventure
Length: 2330

The second half of the original story "Aperture".

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2012-02-02 22:27:47 UTC

Chapter 1

“Music is the harmonious voice of creation; an echo of the invisible world.” -Giuseppe Mazzini

A dark form stood on the Rim of the World and stood tall, watching and waiting.

The Maestro, a being engulfed by emotion but not affected by it, a person who's life is Music, in who's body Life's symphonies rage and pacify, who's very existence is both calm and tempestuous in a beautiful and pure composition, drew himself up and lifted up his arms in preparation.

His emerald eyes flash with inner fire for it is in these eyes he sees the past, the present and the future all composed in a terrible and powerful drama.

He hesitates.

He knows what he must do, he knows what will happen if he cannot fulfill his purpose but these facts don't bring peace to his heart.

A deep and powerful Voice called down from the heavens, "Why do you hesitate brother? You know what must be done in order for peace to be restored."

The Maestro sighed and lowered his hands. "Yes brother, but it doesn't seem right. What I am about to create, to compose shouldn't even exist in this realm by design. It is not natural."

The Voice replied in an even deeper tone. "But it must be done."

The Maestro thought for a moment and then nodded sadly.

"Indeed."

The Voice boomed from the heavens, "Then bring about the rain, conjure up the storm, gather together the forces of nature and bend them to your will. Fulfill your purpose dear brother. You know this is necessary."

With that, the Voice left the Maestro alone and retreated back into the Void from whence he came.

The Maestro looked woefully down upon the World but in his heart he now knew: He must do this.

He raised his arms up once again and prepared himself for what he was about to do.

He extended his being until he could feel every living thing and everything that ever was, is and will be.

He willed himself to be filled up with their thoughts, their desires, hopes and dreams and let them flow through him like a raging river and like a calm stream.

He was everything at once: Peace and War, Hate and Love, Good and Evil, Strength and Weakness, Nothing and yet Everything.

He extended his hands and started swaying them from side to side, feeling and swaying to the beat of Existence.

The Maestro was a conduit for Life, filled with Existence but separate.

He had closed his eyes and was swaying his whole body now, but it felt as if he was waiting for something, the perfect moment in Time.

Then after what seemed like ages, he flicked his wrist and the sound of a single piano note filled the air.

He smiled contentedly and nodded in beat with the inaudible tune that only he could hear.

With another flick of his wrist, a few more notes were added to the mix.

The sound of a child laughing could be heard now from all around him.

He felt himself laughing as well as the music filled him.

Then the sound of dripping water was added.

His face twisted into a look of concentration as he added more and more piano notes, and added more and more sounds of Life into the mix.

Then a single guitar stroke.

The Maestro looked pleased.

He then combined the piano and the guitar together into a harmonious full sound with the addition of some drums.

Then he added the sound of breath into the ensemble with a quick nod of his head, creating an earthy toned composition.

But he wasn't done yet.

Finally, Emotion was added with the aid of the violin and cello.

The notes were now swirling in a harmonious ball of sound and feeling, both sad and joyous at the same time but he knew it needed something more, it needed even more substance.

The cymbals were added next.

Then the second violin.

Then an electric guitar to add an edge.

The instruments and music of Life were working together in a great composition that throbbed and filled the air with the sounds of life and reality.

Then, silence.

The Maestro smiled contentedly and then brought out the piano by itself.

The piano played quietly at first, as if hesitant to preform solo but then it slowly brought back the mood of the song one note at a time.

Eventually, it started building power until all the Emotion of Life flowed through the notes as the violin and cello added in once again.

Then, a stand up base came in to add a deeper layer to the choir of Existence.

The Emotion now felt powerful enough to level mountains and build them up anew, all in the blink of an eye.

After about an hour of this, it finally started slowing down a bit and then the guitar came in once again to add a layer of sadness to the Composure.

In a few minutes he added the rest of the instruments, one by one, and brought the song back up to it's full glory again.

The Composure swirled and danced in time with Life and when all of the instruments came in, it grew in size enough to rival that of the Emotion that it had displayed earlier.

Throughout the entire song, a form was taking shape in the glowing sphere of the Composure that moved and danced with the beat.

The Maestro smiled happily: His work was almost complete.

He manipulated his hands once again and condensed all of the energy of the song into a single orb to the side of him, away from the body he had been creating.

The body dropped to the ground but the Maestro quickly caught it before it hit and brought it before him.

It was a two legged creature with peach colored skin and the only large mass hair on it's body was on it's head.

He looked thoughtfully at it and then switched it's position so he could look at it more clearly.

"Hmmm... no, I don't know if I like it." he said after a few minutes of thought.

Then a light came into his eyes as he grinned. "I know what we can do to make it more interesting."

He levitated the body back to it's original position once again. "But first things first: I've got to put what I composed into him before adding anything else."

He brought back over the orb of music and then pushed it into the body.

There was a bright explosion of light as the music entered the body but besides getting a richer color to it's complexion, the body seemed unaffected.

The body still wasn't alive.

The Maestro started the long process of composing once again, but this time, with a different style in mind.

"I've always wanted to do this." he giddily said as he brought in some synth piano.

The air in front of him burst into notes once again as he started created yet another song.

He added a light bass to add some depth to the song first, and then added started building up the song with a second piano.

A steady thrum of energy from the organ was now heard above the din.

The song was slowly picking up now and was growing in power.

A steam sound was added for a more earthy feel.

A shaker was added for an emotional undertone.

The sound of wind was added as well.

And now, finally, after the cacophony of sounds built up to about mid range, a steady electric piano beat rose up and brought it all together.

The sound of the piano slowly got more and more prolific as the beat continued.

Then a steady drum beat to round it out.

The beat was steadily rising and started shaking the ground under the Maestro's feet.

Then a clap was added to reinforce the beat.

The sound of steam filled the air as the beat faded away, leaving only the piano to carry on the song.

A second piano now was added.

An electric guitar for texture.

The beat then came back in full force and started shaking the Rim of the World.

The Maestro didn't know if the mountains could take the beating anymore, but now he simply didn't care.

He was creating a masterpiece.

His teeth started to rattle and the Rim vibrated as the steady powerful beat flowed from the ball of energy in front of him.

He was using his hands to manipulate the music the entire time, but he wanted to take it to the next level.

He took his hands and clenched them into a fist and then jerked them down to the ground.

And the bass dropped.

The Rim of the World shook with a passion now as the bass reverberated across its slopes.

The Maestro could barely stand as the ball of music in front of him moved and gyrated with the beat he was creating.

It was changing to red to blue to yellow to indigo, all the colors of the rainbow coursed through it as it heralded it's coming to Existence.

The Composure was growing in size and dimension quickly as it vibrated from the bass it was creating, quickly growing to twice the size of the previous song.

The Maestro clenched his hands here and the song in response stopped growing but continued shaking the foundations of the Rim of the World and beyond.

He then started slowly moving his hands in circles, willing the song to twist and swirl at his command.

The Composure started circling in response of the Maestro and had now become a blur as the bass reverberated from it's core, shaking everything around it.

Then, in a quick motion, the Maestro threw down his hands towards the body on the ground and the Composure rushed down into the lifeless form with a deep rumble.

The body wretched painfully upwards when the song entered it and light beamed from it's eyes.

The Maestro looked pitifully down at the body, sad that pain was necessary in creation.

Then the body stopped moving after a minute of this and fell to the ground with a soft *thump*.

The Maestro walked over and picked it up carefully off of the ground.

"I now give you life so that you may fulfill your purpose." he said as he placed his hand over his chest.

Light poured out of his hand and into the body.

Then there was a gasp as it came to life.

It's clear green eyes shot open and it started hacking and coughing, trying to get used to breathing for the very first time.

After a few coughing episodes, it looked around fearfully and when it's eyes met the Maestro's it froze.

"There is no need to fear me! I am your creator, I gave you life.... I am your father."

It's eyes grew softer as it digested these words.

"Yes, you are... my son."

The son looked up and said, "F-Father?"

The Maestro smiled. "Yes, it's true. I am glad that you are using the gifts I gave you already. When I created you, I made you already capable of speech and advanced thinking. By my estimation, your body is about 18 years old and I matured your mind to fit your body as well."

The son grinned in response. "Thank you father, I appreciate it. But... do I have a name?"

The Maestro laughed at this. "Of course you do! It is in the songs I made you from. You are: Composure."

"Composure..." the son said thoughtfully. "I think I like that. Awesome!"

But his face quickly turned to one of determination. "But you said that I have purpose. What is this purpose that I must fulfill?"

The Maestro now looked sad as he said, "There is a terrible evil that must be overcome my son... and you are one of the few that can stop it."

Composure looked thoughtfully at the ground. "Hmmm... that is definitely bad news. You said 'few' that can stop it?"

"Yes son, one of the others is a human.. they are usually mortal people who struggle heavily with their emotions, but the one I am sending you to, I have watched over him for years and have gifted him with the same abilities as you: He is faster, stronger, smarter and less prone to emotional turmoil than most."

Composure's face now carried one of mild surprise but he kept most of his more in depth questions for later. "Okay... and the others?"

The Maestro now laughed and Composure looked confusedly at his father. "What is it? Did I say something wrong?"

The mirth was slowly dying from the Maestro's eyes now, but he still had a smirk on his face. "Haha no son, I am just always surprised at how unlikely these heroes, or should I say heroine, are."

Composure wasn't sure what to make of this but he let his father go on.

"They are ponies!"

Composure looked extremely confused now. "P-ponies?! I don't understand..."

The Maestro started laughing again. "Not as in earth ponies, these ponies have hopes, dreams and thoughts just like you or I do. They are emotional creatures like the humans but have a stricter and better base of morality and it is their land," his face grew serious now, "that is in jeopardy, their land that Must. Be. Saved."

Composure drew himself up with this news. "Father, I'll do it. I'll help save this land."

"Equestria."

"Yes, Equestria. That is my purpose and I will fulfill it." he said with determination.

"But..." his face grew red as he blushed, realizing his the state he was in after being created.

"Yes son?"

"Uh, can I have some clothes first?" he looked off into the distance in embarrassment.