Guardian

CHAPTER 23 – GODSLAYER

Terror's body flashed brightly as he came back to his senses, wrenching himself from the monster's clutches and flying backward. Catching himself on his feet, he raised a hand to his head as he began to ponder the vision he had just witnessed, then caught sight of his claw.

“Fear...” He held his claw before him and looked at his fingers. “What was the point?” Through the gaps in his fingers, he could see five ponies and a dragon. He focused his sight on them and lowered his hand. That's right... I wanted to scare them into knowing that their world wasn't safe... I already knew that the world wasn't safe... He looked at the monster again, which still stood still and stared at him silently. So why am I so afraid?

“Because you're a sensible being.”

“What?” Terror opened his eyes. He found himself in a gray room. In the middle was a hole directly under a large pool in the ceiling. In front of him was Eiza Borealis, in his normal state.

“Your father told you everything that you would ever need to know. Why did you forget it?”

“I didn't forget it-” Terror stopped speaking as he heard his own voice. It wasn't as he had made it in reality. He looked down and noticed the lack of shadows about him. “What did you do to me?”

“Nothing. That's what you really look and sound like.”

“What I really look like...”

“Turn around and look at the mirror.” Terror complied and watched the wall smooth out and become reflective. For the first time in a millenia, Terror saw his true self. The form that he had cast aside long ago. A white hooded sweatshirt, denim pants, sneaker shoes; lengthy black hair and shining blue eyes. He looked like a good person.

“I look so normal...”

“Everyone does.”

“Where are we?”

“In my mind. I tried to enter yours, but with Mokushiroku roaming around it's much easier to just bring others into my own head rather than enter theirs. Especially from afar. You're better at that than I am, I have to admit.”

“Why did you bring me here?”

“I wanted to see who you really were. I knew that no one could look as evil as you tried to make yourself out to be. Your eyes might glow red, but I knew they're really blue just like mine.”

“You won't stop me by doing this.”

“I know.” Eiza turned and looked down into the pit in the center of the room. “I never do. I wish I could, though. I wish that some of the times that I tried to change the people that hurt myself and my friends that it actually worked.”

“That's a foolish way to live. All you'll end up doing is hurting yourself.”

“Is that why you tried to destroy the world?” Terror stopped upon hearing this, then began to think for a few moments. Eiza spoke up again. “When inside of a mind-meld, Emata are more sensible. There are no emotional flares, which makes it easy for me to get to know the other person. See their point of view. Walk a mile in their shoes. You've really hurt those ponies, I just want to know why.”

“My first memory,” Terror spoke up from behind Eiza, “Is of me opening my eyes and sitting up on the floor of a large room. I knew instinctively where things in the room were, I knew that I loved my parents, I knew that I had done something before I had been knocked out. I stood up and walked to my father's laboratory. I don't know why I did, but I knew there was something there that I was meant to get to.

“So when I entered that room, I looked upon the desk. There was a thermal-powered storage tablet upon it. I opened it and began reading it. It said so many things about the humans. How they treated the Emata, wanted us off of Earth, wanted us all to die out. There were statistics on the MANA Project that my father was forced to work on. He was the only Emata there, the most brilliant mind on Earth, but also hated for his genetics.

“So when I read the next tidbit of info, a note left by my father, I was infuriated. The MANA Project had adverse effects on Emata. It was worse than radiation to us. That's why my mother, Eve, became so ill. She worked on the MANA Project with my father. When they started work on Discord, she was the one charged with Mana delivery, even though the head directors knew full well that she would most-likely die from it!”

“Hold on a second.” Eiza turned around and faced Terror. “How would the humans know that Mana would have adverse effects on Emata? That seems like an unreasonable accusation to me.”

“It isn't. The next tidbit of information that my father found and left in that set of notes is what proved it. He left links to all of the actual information. It read: 'Mana proves to be hazardous, even in small amounts, to humans with developed P-Lobes. Can cause severe haemophilia and deterioration of cardiac muscle tissue.' They knew that Emata would die if they were on that project, but they never told them. But! Do you know how they figured it out? How Mana would harm Emata?”

“How?”

“They took Emata captive and exposed them to Mana!” Eiza stood in surprise at Terror's declaration. “That's right, mister Borealis, they hated our kind so much that they took the ones that protested the exodus to Andromeda and threw them right in laboratories to be experimented upon. Nobody cared. Humans didn't care.”

“I can see why you hate humanity so much. I can see why you hate these magic creatures so much as well.”

“They do not deserve life, for my kind had theirs taken away.”

“That's not fair to them, though.”

“How is it not fair? How is it not fair that these creatures that were made by human hands should be treated any differently? They'll end up the same as humans.”

“They treated me with kindness while I was there.”

“Oh, please.” Terror scoffed at Eiza, “They locked you in a bubble.”

“Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rarity were against my imprisonment. Twilight was being a grown-up about the situation, weighing factors. Rainbow Dash was loyal to Twilight and her closest friends to the point that she wanted to remove me because I was a possible threat.”

“Six ponies being good doesn't mean that the entire Equine race is good.”

“A group of government officials being bad doesn't mean that the entire Human race is bad.”

Terror stopped and stared in shock at what Eiza said. He was completely right. In his thousand years of spiteful training, he never once stopped to consider the idea that humanity as a whole might have been on the side of the Emata. He slowly slumped to his knees and held his head, gritting his teeth as thoughts began racing through his mind. The visions flashed again. His father's kindness. His teachings. He had cast them all aside.

“Are you okay?” Eiza took a step forward in concern for the man now shaking in front of him.

“What have I done...” Terror continued holding his head. “That answer... It's so simple... Why didn't I...”

“The simplest answers are usually the ones that are overlooked.”

“Eiza... Did the ponies... Did they...”

“They weren't afraid of me. They weren't like the humans.”

“No...” Terror began shaking his head slowly. “No!” He slammed his fists on the floor of the room and slumped his head. “They couldn't possibly be... They couldn't...”

A vision entered his mind. The vision from before that he did not understand due to being so little. His father working at the stasis containers. This time, he heard what his father said.

“...gotta make sure that they turn out nice. I don't want them to be mean like the big bad humans were. Not to my little boy.” Lou turned to Terror and smiled at him.

“He... Made them nice...”

“I read a book from your memory.” Eiza's words caused Terror to look up at him, “The Holy Bible. A religious text. A few lines were good, but I feel as though your father went by that book like a blueprint for this world. 'Let us make mankind in our own image.' He went by that line when he made Celestia and Luna. He went by that line when he raised you. He made the three of you in his likeness, not visibly, but mentally. You all wanted the world to be a better place.”

“And in the end, only you seem to have gotten his message.”

“I've been through a lot, Terror. I'm wise beyond my years. I really shouldn't be, it's actually sad how much I was forced to grow up from a young age. You saw a lot of what I faced. You know that you have not been through anywhere near the same as I have. You were sheltered in a secluded hole for three thousand years.”

“Answer me something, Eiza.” Terror stood up and looked at the silver-haired man. “In that scanning of my brain, did you see my true name?” Eiza looked at Terror with some puzzlement, then shook his head. “I see.” Terror closed his eyes tightly for a moment, wishing he could remember. Then he opened them and looked at Eiza again. “That book you read. It was my father's favorite. He was a Christian.”

“I was never religious.”

“Nor was I. But my father said that it gave him hope. Hope for what, I wasn't sure for a long time. But after reading that book a few times through, I thought that perhaps he believed that some day God would descend from the heavens through some rift in reality, maybe from some other universe, and save the world. I tried to be that God. I thought I had matched his powers. I wanted to carry out my father's will.”

“No one can be a God.”

“I've come to the conclusion that it's not about power.” Terror turned and began walking around the room, staring blankly ahead. “It's not about the desire to be a God that makes you a God. It's how you live your life. It's what you do that determines if you are a God or not. And those ponies out there are far more Godlike than I'll ever be.”

“Perhaps admitting that is enough to be like God as well, then?”

“Heh. I've already fallen far from that dream, Eiza Borealis. Now then... Our kind does not belong on this planet.”

“No. No we do not.”

“Then it's time we finished this battle.” Terror looked back at Eiza with a kind smile. Eiza looked back upon him with sorrow. He closed his eyes tightly.

“If that is what you wish.”

Terror found himself back in reality, staring at the monster before him. He gasped as the monster slowly evaporated away, leaving behind Eiza, complete with his armor and clothes all mended and remade. The sword that had been in the monster's hand reformed, losing its yellow energy and taking on it's previous, solid state. Eiza took the solid sword back into his right hand.

“What?” Twilight stated aloud, “It vanished?” The ponies, still watching from the side, felt an immense wave of pressure lift from over them as the monster dispersed from Eiza's figure. Applejack, holding Fluttershy in her arms, looked up and out to the two combatants.

“Whadya reckon it means, Twi?”

“I don't know...”

“I never liked dreams.” Eiza shouted over to the group. Twilight looked up at him with a start. The silver-haired Emata smiled at them. “The bad ones never made any sense to me.” Twilight smiled upon hearing Eiza's words. The man looked back at the shadowy being before him.

“Are you ready, Eiza Borealis?”

“I'm as ready as I'll ever be.”

“I can feel that my self-sufficiency is wearing thin. I will not be able to fool around with you.”

“Understood.”

The two suddenly burst forth, surging towards each other at a rapid pace. Blade and claw clashed violently, the ground shaking gently under each stroke. The ponies could feel a difference, however. As if the resolve of one side had been lost. The power of each clash was much lower than before.

Terror landed a strike upon Eiza's armor, which repelled the strike with immense force. The specter took a step back as Eiza lashed out, carving a deep gash in the shadow's chest. Terror took another step back and dodged a few more swings before lashing out again, his claws being deflected once more by the armor on Eiza's chest. Eiza responded again by cleaving his blade through the air, upward and through Terror's flesh, releasing a spray of crimson from the shadow's waist to his shoulder.

The shade fell to one knee, his breathing heavy. Eiza lowered his blade and looked down upon him. The specter looked up upon him, watching the moon finally make its way out from in front of the sun as the light shone down upon the area behind the silver-haired man. He widened his eyes at the appearance of the man, remembering something that he had said just before.

He believed that God would descend from the heavens and save the world.

Then he remembered, as the blade passed through his body once again, seeing in Eiza's memories that he had fallen out of the sky upon his arrival in Equestria.

The shadow fell backwards, blood pouring from his ethereal figure. The sun illuminated the world once more, the skies becoming light blue. The skies above him were pure and calm, no wind, no red... Eiza stepped to a position over him that blocked out the brightness. The man looked down upon him with a calm visage.

“The skies are so beautiful, Eiza Borealis.”

“I know they are.” Eiza closed his eyes and exhaled, then opened them slowly.

“Don't hesitate. I deserve this.”

“I know you do.” He said this, but he still stood without moving.

“Don't feel bad for doing this, Eiza. You're saving the world. I wish that I could have done the same rather than rape its beauty as I have.”

“You did save it.”

“Don't try to make me feel better about what I did.”

“You took the innocence from the world. It was a horrible thing to do. But you have taught it a valuable lesson.”

“And what was that?”

“To never forget the past. Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it. This is a lesson my world learned before I came here. It's a lesson that all worlds should know.”

“Heh... I wish I had not taught such a simple lesson in such a harsh manner.”

“All knowledge comes at a price.” Eiza continued to look at the shadow as it stared up, with blue eyes, at the sky overhead. After a few moments, the specter closed its eyes.

“I am ready.” Eiza nodded and reversed his grip on the handle of his blade with both hands, holding the tip down over the shadow's chest. The ponies watched from afar in intensity and nerve-wracked anticipation as Eiza, facing away from them, slowly lifted his blade in the air.

Time seemed to slow. As everypony watched the man raising the blade slowly, holding it in the air over the defeated destroyer of Equestria, Twilight noticed something. Eiza appeared to be saying something... No, singing something. As he stopped, the blade suddenly thrust downward through the specter's chest. The group froze in shock at the event, having never witnessed an actual killing, then watched as the shadow slowly evaporated into the air, leaving nothing behind but Eiza and his sword stabbed into the dirt.

The group of ponies stared for a while. Eiza did not move, nor did they. They watched him with curiosity as he stood in a statuesque manner facing away from them, still gripping the handle tightly with both hands. Then, after a few minutes, they watched him let go of the sword, then slowly drop to one knee, then watched the second knee fall to the ground as well as he lowered his head.

Rainbow Dash was the first to approach him. She did so slowly, not sure how to comfort him at that moment. Once she reached his position, she stood behind him for a moment before speaking up.

“Eiza?” The man turned his head slightly in her direction. “Are you okay?” Eiza raised his head and turned around, looking at her with a playful smile.

“Sure am, Rainbow Dash.” The cyan pegasus smiled and the rest quickly jumped up and rushed to his side. Pinkie tackled him, jumping on top of him as the group laughed for a few moments. “Wait.” Eiza stopped and grabbed Pinkie Pie, moving her off of him and standing up. “Fluttershy.” He began walking towards the motionless body of the yellow pegasus. The rest of the group followed, filled again with extreme worry.

The man stopped in front of the yellow pegasus and knelt down before her, taking her body into his hands gently and lifting her up. He cradled her in his arms, looking at her visage with sadness as he continued to hold her motionless body in his soft embrace.

“She...” Rarity stepped forward, “Is she..?” Eiza looked back at the group, their eyes welling up with tears and their expressions filling with grief for their fallen friend. He looked back to the yellow pegasus and slowly brought his right hand up, resting her against his left arm as he brought his right hand to her face, then pressed his hand against her forehead.

A yellow filly sat alone in a corner in a school made of clouds. Around her were dead bodies and the warped sounds of laughter directed towards her. Fluttershy wept harshly at the back of the room, trying her best to blot out the taunting sounds of her name as it rang out over and over again. Fluttershy, Fluttershy! Fluttershy can hardly fly! Fluttershy, Fluttershy! Fluttershy let us all die! Fluttershy, Fluttershy! Fluttershy, Fluttershy! Fluttershy, Fluttershy...

“Fluttershy?” She opened and uncovered her eyes at a familiar voice. She turned around and was met by the sight of a cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail. She was in a meadow surrounded by animals and her five best friends.

“What?” She looked around, “What happened?”

“You were spacin' out there,” Applejack replied, “You feelin' alright, sugarcube?”

“I... Um...”

“Don't just sit there, silly!” Pinkie bounced over to her and took her hoof into her own, pulling her towards the group. “We're gonna be late for our pet play-date! Let's go!”

“Yeah!” Rainbow Dash said, picking up a tortoise with a strange contraption on its back, “'Cause Tank and I have some awesome new tricks to show you all!”

“Oh!” Fluttershy smiled, “Right! Let's go then!” The group set off for the large tree in the meadow.

Fluttershy opened her eyes slowly, the light from above causing her to squint as it entered them. She looked up and saw multiple figures slowly fade into view. Her friends.

“What... What happened?”

“She's awake!” Pinkie Pie shouted, snatching her out of Eiza's arms and squeezing her tightly, “She's awake, she's awake, she's awake!”

Eiza chuckled as the ponies all embraced happily. He stood up and faced the rest of the unconscious victims of Terror's telepathic assaults. He made his way towards them, the others noticing after a few seconds and falling in behind him.

He stopped next to the violet Alicorn. Terror had really done a number on this one, too. He knelt down beside her and placed his right hand on her forehead.

The land was barren and devoid of life, craters found themselves all along the landscape. In the midst of the land, Luna found herself wailing over the dead body of her child, one that she had birthed on the moon where oxygen did not exist. She did not need it. Her child did. Her last breath did not save him.

“No... No... Come back to mommy... please! Please come back! Please...” Luna opened her eyes again and found her eyes dry of tears, the landscape had changed.

The night was young. Orange and dark-colored decorations adorned the town of Ponyville as children and rushed about in costumes. Luna looked around curiously, taking in the various sights around her. She then felt a small tug on her hair and looked down in front of her, bearing witness to a group of small fillies and colts looking up at her with adoring eyes. A small colt dressed as a pirate stepped forth and embraced her, much to her surprise. The rest followed soon after.

“Children? What are you?”

“I love you, Princess Luna!” One child said.

“We love you, Princess Luna!” The rest followed the first. The Princess of the Night looked down at the children who all held her tightly in their loving warmth, then felt her eyes overflow with tears, these of joy rather than sorrow, and returned the embrace to all of the children. Her children.

Luna opened her eyes and lifted her head. The group quickly embraced her joyfully, again to her surprise. She could not return the embrace due to her soreness, but she smiled all the same. She looked over in surprise as an odd armored ape creature walked past her to her sister and knelt down beside her. She watched curiously as it placed its right hand on her forehead, then her eyes widened in shock as Celestia's eyes opened and she looked over at Luna.

“Sister?” Celestia began, “Is that you?”

“Celestia...” Luna began to cry with her sister, unable to move to her. “Celestia I thought I was going to die...”

“Luna...” The white Alicorn struggled to pull herself toward the violet princess. Noticing this, Eiza knelt down and placed a hand over each of them, his eyes glowing a gentle shade of blue and a yellow aura surrounding the three as he utilized Biokinesis to heal their muscles enough to allow easier movement. The two ponies quickly stood up to their full heights and braced themselves against one another in a tearful reunion. Eiza stepped out of the way and smiled as he turned to the next victim.

“Wait.” A voice behind him made him stop and turn back. Celestia approached him, wiping tears from her eyes. “You must be 'Brimstone.' Thank you for saving my pupil and her friends.”

“Actually, I'm-”

“Eiza Borealis, I know.” Celestia smiled to him. “My crown allows me to read minds. Mind you, they must be like my own, so I did not read yours. I read my student, Twilight's.”

“That seems like an invasion of privacy.”

Celestia chuckled, “It has a limited number of uses. I suppose its creator didn't have time to develop this one thoroughly. Putting that aside, I want to thank you for what you have done. You had a choice to save this world. You did not have to do what you did.”

“Your kind was powerless against a member of my race. It was do or die.”

“And you burdened yourself with the possibility of failure, all for the sake of a race of ponies that were not relevant to you. We weren't important.”

“Don't say that.”

“What?”

“Don't call your kind unimportant. I have never seen a single living organism, from the smallest fly to the greatest of dragons, that was not important. Everyone and everything is important. I just wished that Terror had known that before it was too late.”

“Indeed. Such a repulsive being had to be removed from the land to save Equestria. We are thankful that you defeated him.” Eiza looked upon the tall equine with some sadness, wondering if Celestia was even aware that her own creator was the father of Terror. He kept the information to himself.

“There are more that need to be healed,” he said, “I need to tend to them.”

“Of course.”

“But,” he continued as he turned, “There is the matter of the areas already damaged by him. They may very well be beyond my power.”

“This is fine. We can handle the greater damages.”

Eiza nodded then turned, walking to the other ponies to heal them.