Chaos Incarnate

Disclaimer: I do not own anything in this story except Sanguine Shadowmane.

Beta: PinkiePieFiesta

Sew The Seeds

This land…is a piece of what can only be called paradise.

But that couldn't have been said barely a few months before, when strife between the three pony tribes: Earth, Pegasi and Unicorn, separated the hearts and minds of ponies against each other.

When their hatred, their fighting, and their refusal to find any common ground fueled the mighty Windigos power to freeze the entire lands over in endless snow, ice and wind. Blocking out the sun, killing the crops and making life incredibly hard and things were dire.

However, around three months ago; Clover the Clever, Smart Cookie and Pansy: the advisors of the three tribe leaders easily cast aside their leader's strife in their last moments before being frozen and ignited the Fire of Friendship. Thus banishing the Windigos and saving us all from a slow and cold death.

Now the tribes have come together to unify into a single nation: Equestria.

With the majority of the snow and ice having melted and the sun having warmed the land, the Earth ponies have immediately taken to tilling the fields near the place where the Unicorns have decreed the capital of Equestria should be; considering its central strategic location on the tallest mountain in the land which is practically in the middle of what the Pegasi report to be the whole land between the ocean to the west, the sea to the east separating Equestria from the Griffon Kingdom, the Frozen North where all is permanently cold and the deserts to the south.

Everypony agreed that this location would be perfect to build the capital city of their new nation: Canterlot. Not only because admittedly the Unicorns were right about its locational worth, but the Pegasi liked the higher altitude, of the enormous plateau, on the west face of the mountain that Canterlot would be built on and the Earth ponies liked that despite the higher altitude, the crystal clear water that flowed from the mountain created fertile lands not only on the plateau, but in all the valleys surrounding.

Here on this plateau, on a hillock of the mountain overlooking the many ponies building the newfound capital of their newfound country, stood a lone pony cloaked in a gray winter robe with the hood up to keep off the lingering chill the Windigo's curse had managed to leave behind.

This pony merely observed, quietly as he was awaiting somepony he said to meet him here. "There you are!" The pony turned towards the cheerful mare's voice to see Clover the Clever: Apprentice to Star Swirl the Bearded, trot up the hillock to him. "I'm so sorry Sanguine; I'm usually one to keep a punctual schedule."

"That is quite alright Clover. You have always been one to hesitate in matters concerning myself." Sanguine's smooth deep voice and his words made Clover blush slightly and fidget uncomfortably. "Ha, ha, ha~! Clover my dear friend, there is no need to be so concerned."

This was a very important meeting, not because of any subject matter really but because these two old friends hadn't even corresponded in years and suddenly Sanguine showed up out of nowhere, leaving a message for her to meet him here. "W-well it has been a long time Sanguine. I haven't seen you since we were practically foals! Where have you been?"

Sanguine looked back over the varied groups of ponies working together and he easily singled out some that were still at odds with their neighbors, sewing Discord where it needn't be. "You know that old ass didn't want you to know Clover, why else would he have me spirited away in the night with no explanation?"

"Sanguine that is no way to speak of Star Swirl! Have some respect for our mentor would you? He may be old but that's no excuse to call him a donkey!" Clover immediately stopped being somewhat withdrawn in her defense of her master, but her resolve was shaken when Sanguine actually looked at her for the first time and she saw a mis-matched pair of eyes looking at her, the red and gold irises practically glowing in the darkness of his hood and even seemed to switch colors between them, eyes she remembered even so back when were not like this since she remembered they were supposed to be gray. "S-Sanguine…what happened to you?"

Sanguine sighed before he took off his hood and Clover's heart skipped. Sanguine was a very handsome Unicorn stallion, even with a light sneer on his lips and an angry leer in his red and gold heterochromatic eyes which still seemed to glow even without the hood shading them. His coat and mane were both a pure black, darker than black if that were possible, yet had a healthy sheen to it that shimmered slightly in the light, and his horn was longer and sharper than normal. "Clover…you're staring…."

Clover snapped out of her trance at Sanguine mentioning it to her and she blushed while she looked away. "Q-quiet…it's not my fault you became handsome in our time apart."

Sanguine had a genuine happy chuckle that practically reverberated as he smiled. "Well thank you Clover. I've had many mares compliment me the past few years. They often say that my eyes strike fear into them but that strike brings their attention to the rest." Some of his mane got in his eyes and Sanguine flipped his head to whip his black hair out of his face and when he looked at Clover she was staring again. "Clover…you're doing it again."

"Sorry! Um…so aside from seeing each other after so long, what is it that you called me here for Sanguine?" Clover was personally hoping it was for courting her as she had yet to find a stallion who caught her eye, and Star Swirl had been bugging her to find one since he didn't want her to end up like him: old and alone.

"I…I need a friend Clover…." Sanguine was suddenly very serious and…sad? "What I've seen, what I've done, what I've been through…the ass knew what it would do to me. He forced me on this path and…I just wanted to spend some time with an old friend."

"Sanguine…are you ill? W-whatever it is please tell me! I'll search for a cure, a panacea, something to-!" Sanguine stopped Clover's worried rant with a black hoof to her muzzle and sighed.

"No Clover…there is no cure for my curse. I'm just worried that I won't have long before it runs its course. So for today at least, shall we enjoy each other's company again? Perhaps play some strategy games, compare magical formulas, polymorph rocks into odd statues?" Sanguine suggested and Clover giggled at remembering some of their old antics.

"Oh yes, it's been too long. I remember when you polymorphed statues of Star Swirl into making it look like he was having trouble using the privy." Clover's giggles spread to Sanguine who laughed loudly at that stunt, the old nag was livid with him for months.

"Oh! How about the time I replaced his black mane dye with bright pink?" As the day wore on the two old friends sat on the hillock and reminisced of the old days and even polymorphed things around them for old time's sake, along with even making a chess set and playing a few games. "So that's how I defeated the shadow spirit deep in the Crystal Mountains. The citizens of the Crystal Empire wanted to reward me but I didn't want the attention so I simply left under cover of night."

"Wow, you've done so much Sanguine! I'm surprised I haven't heard tales of most of those adventures. I've definitely heard about the "Shadow Slayer" though. The Crystal Empire is more or less petitioning to find you so they can thank you properly." Clover told her old friend who groaned to her amusement. "But Sanguine, you still haven't told me why Star Swirl sent you away, or where to for that matter. You've only told me stories of your adventures."

Sanguine sighed as he decided that there was no point in hiding it. He planned to tell her anyway. "Clover…what do you know about Alicorns?"

"Well aside from them being the most powerful of ponykind and sharing attributes with each race, not much. Star Swirl was rather guarded on the subject. Why do you ask?" Clover raised an eyebrow in confusion and Sanguine began to look worried. "Sanguine, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"Yes, I do." Sanguine steeled himself and his horn glowed with shimmering blackness that was his magical essence. He carefully removed his cloak which made Clover blush as he was rather tall, and despite his lithe body, had cords of muscle rippling under his coat which shimmered in the early evening light. When he had fully disrobed his straight black tail was revealed to be braided thickly and on his flank was his Cutie Mark: a broken window that had nothing beyond it. "Clover you're just being a pervert now…."

At Sanguine's embarrassed mumble, Clover stopped gawking at her fillyhood friend and cleared her throat. "Sanguine, I may be a shut-in who has never courted or been courted before, but I am a mare. As a self-respecting mare, I would be lying if I didn't say you are VERY attractive…most appealing stallion I've ever seen really." Clover boldly admitted and Sanguine sighed.

"I suppose the gawking mares are just another part of this curse." Sanguine then did something that Clover never anticipated, especially since they blended into his sides.

He spread his wings.

His large, beautiful black wings that shimmered with their velvety down from the evening sun, and seemed to swallow all attention in the area like a black hole. "Sanguine…y-you are…an Alicorn?"

Sanguine released a long suffering sigh and flexed his wings, obviously keeping them cramped in that cloak was confining. "Yes. However it is not by birth and certainly not by choice. If I hadn't allowed the raw essence of the shadow spirit to be absorbed by me it would've unleashed pure, literally unbridled Chaos to the entire world."

"So THAT'S why you avoided the praise of the Crystal Empire! You didn't want everypony finding out you've ascended! But why do you say this is a curse? Aside from becoming an Alicorn what else is happening to you?" Clover asked in worry since matters with Alicorns were never simple, that much Star Swirl was willing to divulge to her.

"I'm not JUST an Alicorn Clover. If that were all I'd let it be known far and wide what I've become, but all you must do is look into my eyes and you'll see why I am cursed." Sanguine stepped up to Clover and lowered his head towards hers which made her blush, and she looked at his lips at first before she looked into his eyes, and realization flashed through them. "Yes…."

"You're an Immortal Alicorn? W-what do you govern?" Now Clover was greatly fretting over this, it meant her friend was truly cursed. Nopony he knew, knows or will know will be able to stay by him as he'll outlive them all.

"You remember my Cutie Mark? How I got it when I accidentally broke the window in Star Swirl's alchemy lab, and a chain reaction was sparked by the wind from the Pegasi's incoming storm, blowing the fumes from several unfinished potions past the denaturing enchantment?" Sanguine asked in nostalgia, and Clover started giggling again.

"Yes, the potion fumes combined into a combustible gas that was ignited by the lantern just outside the study door and blew a third of the castle's north tower off. All because you threw that ball claiming you could hit the roof of the tower." Clover then calmed and became sad. "Shortly after you were gone…Star Swirl said it was because you were too volatile to be his apprentice."

"And the ass told the truth. For I govern Chaos itself. I am the essence of unpredictability, the wild and untamed power of the world that had long ago been sequestered by our ancestors. But now…I am forced to embody it, forced to utilize it, forced to bring it forth. I have been suppressing it for the past five months…and I cannot hold it at bay any longer…I just wanted to see you before I fully ascended, to see you before I changed and possibly ceased to be who I was…." Sanguine suddenly hugged Clover and she although flustered, returned the hug and felt absolutely safe when he even covered her with his wings. "I'm scared…Clover…I'm scared…."

The big strong stallion that was holding her was shivering, not from the cold but from mortal terror. His mortal self was about to cease and he was about to become something more. Clover hugged him as tightly as she could as she rubbed her face into his chest. "You'll still be you…just never forget who you are Sanguine."

Suddenly a massive heartbeat-like pulse emanated from Sanguine and he took a sharp gasp. "It's happening…I've suppressed it for too long."

"Let it out Sanguine! The magical backlash of letting it build up could destroy everything for miles! If you don't let it out, the laws of magical conservation state that you'll tear yourself apart!" Clover shouted up to him and Sanguine grunted as he let her go and backed up. "I don't want to lose a friend today Sanguine!"

"Either way…you just might." Sanguine let go and a massive pillar of black magic erupted into the sky, concealing him. "This! Is! Incredible!"

"Keep your head on straight Sanguine!" Clover was absolutely amazed, she was witnessing the ascension of an Alicorn: something that hadn't happened for centuries, possibly a millennia. However, despite the history being made as they spoke Clover was still worried what the raw essence of Chaos would do to her friend who always did have a mischevious nature to him already.

After almost half a minute the pillar dissipated and Sanguine stood with his wings spread wide and his head held high. He had gotten even taller, so tall that he was easily twice Clover's height now and he had a presence which was regal beyond doubt. "Clover…."

"Y-yes Sanguine?" Clover was glad he remembered her but she hoped he wasn't twisted up inside.

Sanguine fluttered his wings before folding them. He leveled his head at her as his mane and tail turned into wavering shadows that billowed in a non-existent wind. He then stretched languidly which made Clover incredibly flustered, and he had a devilishly cheeky grin on his face and he winked at her. "So, how sexy am I?"

Clover promptly rolled her eyes into the back of her head and fainted.

"Oh~…drop-dead sexy hm? I like this." Sanguine trotted up to his old friend and levitated her onto his back and ruffled his wings so to make her comfortable as well as keep her from falling. "I'd best take you to town, wouldn't be right leaving my dear friend out cold in the cold."

Sanguine trotted gently into town and ignored the many awed and baffled ponies that either moved aside or even kneeled to his displeasure; he hated stuffy nobles and thus hated all the bureaucracy and customs that came with it. "You there, guard."

A gray Pegasus stallion in functional light bronze armor trotted before him. "Yes sir?"

"Could you direct me to Clover the Clever's domicile? I'm afraid the dear has had a harrowing and overexciting experience seeing me ascend. I wish to put her to bed before I take a flight." However, despite how he dislikes nobility he has to accept he pretty much is nobility now so might as well get used to being all polite and such.

"Yes sir, follow me." The Pegasus was incredibly professional, keeping his calm in this odd situation. Commander Hurricane may be a hothead but she knows how to run a military. "This is her home at the moment sir. Most of the buildings for the city aren't finished and she shares this bunkhouse with Princess Platinum and some other nobles."

'My how the mighty have fallen. I'm just glad it's by their will since this city will be the seat of power for this new nation.' "Thank you guard. You're performance in the face of an unusual situation is to be commended." After the dismissal the guard nodded and flew off to continue his patrol route so Sanguine unlocked the door with his magic and entered the wood building in search of Clover's bunk.

It took several minutes for him to realize the bed and surrounding furniture with lists adhered to them belonged to Clover. Being Star Swirl's apprentice led to a pony becoming an Obsessive Compulsive organizer. He tucked her into the bed and even ran his hoof on her brow to get her hair out of her face. 'Sleep well my friend, I'll return after I've sorted my abilities out.' Sanguine left the building and warped away.

(Some days later)

Sanguine had flown away from the mountains, after getting in two days of practice with them. As beautiful and wondrous he found them, he wanted some open fields and perhaps a lake at the moment, so he flew south, away from the mountain Canterlot was being built on and the Unicorn Mountain Range as a whole. Finding a lush and fertile rolling land below, it only took most of a day of his unsteady flying to find a grand lake, just before a massive forest which he could sense was rich with the power of chaos.

'This land is beautiful and untamed, not like the old tribe homes.' Sanguine felt somewhat at ease here, he was drawn towards the dark forest nearby but felt it prudent to enjoy the open first.

When he finally inspected himself in the lake, he found that he was quite big, and would tower over all but the largest of ponies and the Horses of Saddle Arabia. His eyes were oddly heterochromatic, even more than before in that his right eye's iris is red and pupil gold, while his left eye's iris was gold and his pupil red, while outside that was normal white. He had disturbingly sharp teeth for a supposed herbivore, but he found he was indeed still herbivorous when he ate some grass and found it pleasant.

Sanguine drank from the lake, and when he finished he sighed in content before he let the wind whip his ethereal mane and tail about before he sighed in sadness and repressed his power, causing the wind to disappear again. 'This world…while beautiful is just unnatural. The wind doesn't blow, the clouds don't move, the sun and moon is literally moved by a large group of Unicorns. Yet I feel a simple nudge…a small encouragement….'

The wind suddenly blasted through the valley with gale force, clouds shifted and started raining on their own. The grass, flowers and general plant life near him flourished. The fish in the lake jumped and the sun visibly moved slightly and Sanguine reveled in slight euphoria at the feel of Chaos driving the world. He let the rain soak him through with his mouth gleefully catching some to drink before he then called back his power and the world was deathly still again.

"Unnatural…." Sanguine shook himself and looked towards the dark forest. "I sense that Chaos is strong with this forest. The clouds are moving on their own over it, I'm feeling a slight wind coming from it, and I can feel the power of it. I just have to explore now."

Before Sanguine could take off however he heard the familiar sound of a teleport and he turned slightly to see Clover sweating and panting. "There you are! I've been homing in on your magic signature for days and…and…." Clover's coat changed from lavender to bright pink as she took in the sight of the soaking wet stallion in front of her and watched as the water made his coat shimmer and outlined every single detail of his body. 'By Faust!' Clover's nose leaked a little blood and she looked away in embarrassment. "I'm sorry Sanguine! I didn't mean to interrupt your bath!"

Sanguine laughed boisterously and struggled not to fall over. "Clover! You act as if you've never seen a stallion fresh from a bath or coming in from the rain." He smirked cheekily. "Oh right you haven't. Well enjoy the view~." Sanguine waved his flanks at her and started laughing even harder when she fell over and almost rolled into the lake. "Clover, get yourself together mare! We're going to be seeing a lot of each other, and I'm not at all ashamed of what I am now, so look all you want but don't touch…ok, I don't mind the touching either." Sanguine wiggled his eyebrows and Clover started laughing.

"You devious stallion! Are you TRYING to seduce me, or is this all coming natural to you?" Clover couldn't help but smile at the ridiculousness of all this. Her old friend pops up, ended up being attractive and is now flirting nonstop. She really liked it since it made her feel more like a mare, and not just another bookworm Unicorn.

"Oh, it is all natural. Just took a bit of Chaos to unleash it. So Clover, why're you here? I can definitely take care of myself now that I am what I am." Sanguine then trotted up to her and hugged her which made her squeal with laughter and hug him back. "Or did you miss me already?"

"A bit of both actually! I was worried about what your ascension did to you, and I also wanted to see you again. Just one afternoon and evening together after years of absence and you fly off? That is incredibly unfair Sanguine; also, you're getting me wet!" Clover pushed him off with her magic and she looked at her brown cloak. "Oh now my cloak is wet…how can you be wet and not be cold?"

"I love the cold to be honest Clover. Anyhow I'm the same old Sanguine, just a little more off-the-wall than before. As for spending time together…I was actually considering going into that forest over there." Sanguine gestured to the dark forest. "I sense the presence of Chaos is strong within it. If you want you can accompany me for old time's sake. It'll be like that time we snuck out of Tall Tale and decided to go exploring Galloping Gorge."

"Well, like that time I'm afraid if I take too long I'll be in trouble…." Clover stated and Sanguine was worried about her tone. "I had to tell the council about you, and they've ordered me to find you and try to bring you back."

"What? Why would they…no." Sanguine answered and Clover was suddenly on her belly and holding onto his left foreleg.

"Please! I've never failed Princess Platinum before Sanguine! We need a leader that can truly unify our tribes!" Sanguine tried to look away but there it was…the Puppy Dog Pout.

"…Curse…you…FINE!" Sanguine sighed and took several deep breaths. "I'll consider it but I'll have to hear it from them first before I agree. I don't want to be king; I never do and never will. All the kings and queens of the past have all been corrupt in some way or form."

Clover let go of his foreleg and stood back up. "So if you won't be a king…what will you be if you lead Equestria?"

Sanguine thought on it and realized that a representative democracy wouldn't work, not with how things are at the time, and thus why they even came up with the idea so suddenly. "If this new country needs a monarch…let us not let the title of king or queen corrupt as it has. Should I accept…you will call me Prince Sanguine." Sanguine's horn lit up as he looked towards the Chaos empowered forest. 'So close…I sense that I would feel more at ease there than back at Canterlot.' With a flash of darkness the two old friends were gone.

(Author Notes)

*Trollfaic* Do ya hate me yet?

I LOVE me! Because I am me!

I've been DYING to write an MLP fanfic-

*PinkiePieFiesta pops up out of nowhere* "FOREVER~!"

GAH! PPF! Don't do that! I have a hard enough time living through Pinkie doing that!

"Oh c'mon GJ you know you love it! That's why Pinkie Pie is both our favorite pony!"

Um…Pinkie is my Third favorite pony out of the whole cast, canon and non-canon. I'm a Luna fanboy and I can't ignore that I adore Derpy but Pinkie is my favorite of the Mane cast.

"Oh…well do you like parties?"

Not really, no…I'm just strangely attracted to Pinkie's personality…and sugar, LOTS of sugar.