LEGEND OF THE GODDESSES
The Core, 3 years ago
In an underground chamber illuminated by an odd blue glow, living tapestries told stories of events all over the word, and all through time.
Ah, you return, says a voice, the ancient voice, the second of those who had beckoned you into the story. Observe as this era draws to a close…
One tapestry depicted Celestia, inside the highest tower in Canterlot, gazing up at the sky.
See the princess, gazing up at her sun, fearing she will never see such a thing again, and yet wishing, wishing so deeply, that she was looking upon something else…
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"This is it, sister," Celestia whispered. She had been staring directly into the sun for over an hour, but her eyes weren't stung in the slightest. "The one thousandth Summer Sun Celebration. I've read the signs, I know the prophecies are true. But will you return? Or will it be… Nightmare Moon?"
Her eyes filled with tears. "I'm not prepared. How could I be? Even after everything else I've done and seen, what could possibly ready me for… for this…?"
To her surprise, a rolled-up scroll of parchment appeared in front of her eyes in a burst of green flame.
"Twilight?" she exclaimed softly. "Huh…" She unraveled the scroll.
My dearest teacher, my continuing studies of pony magic have led me to discover that—
The phrase "we are on the" was crossed out, and replaced with "that something really bad is about to happen".
For you see, the mythical Mare in the Moon is in fact Nightmare Moon, and she's about to return to Equestria and bring with her eternal night! Something must be done to make sure this terrible prophecy does not come true. I await your quick response. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.
"Of course," Celestia breathed. "Twilight." She gazed down at the tower that was Twilight's personal sanctuary. "Twilight Sparkle holds the answer."
She quickly composed a response while searching her desk. "And… yes, the itinerary, there we go." She picked up a sheet of paper. "The ponies in charge, where are they, aha… catering, weather, decorating, music, the party planner… it's uncanny." She folded the itinerary within her letter and sent it off in a puff of smoke.
"Please get this right, Twilight," she said. "It's your destiny." She looked up at the sun once again. "Luna… Nightmare Moon will come back, I think. And she will surely haunt us both before the night is done. But Twilight Sparkle will set you free, my sister. I'm sure of it."
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And at that very moment, not so far away, the time-dancer returns one last time…
In his usual burst of blue, the elder Fork appeared atop the head of the maniacally posed statue of Discord.
"Hey, how ya doin'?" he said casually. He carefully inspected the statue beneath his hooves, lightly prancing in place. "Yeah… yeah, that worked. The structural integrity of your prison has been…" He knocked on Discord's head. "Compromised. Nopony ever figured out why. It was a riddle for the ages. Now we know it was me."
He gave Discord a sidelong glare. "You're not gonna tell anypony, are you? 'Course not." He laughed. "In the future, Discord… I don't like to talk about the future much, don't wanna freak people out, but suffice it to say I know you. You're gonna awaken, you're gonna get out of this prison, and what you do will change the course of history. For better? For worse? And from whose perspective? I'm not telling. You'll never know until it happens!"
He gave a whooping, maniacal laugh. "I'm sorry, that was evil and mean. I've mostly outgrown stuff like that, but in this instance, I can't help it. How often does one get a chance to confuse you? Maybe you just bring out the worst in people."
He vanished.
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What does motivate the time-dancer? Surely nothing so insipid as the explanation he gave at the Gathering? Surely he has greater machinations? I may never know. But he matters not. All I learned from that scene was to keep an eye on…
The moment that Fork vanished, the tapestry depicting Discord had gone blank.
…On who again? Hrmm. It seems I have forgotten. Well, whatever it is, I'm sure it too matters not.
The ancient thing turned its attention to another tapestry.
And here… also at this very moment… the serpent picks her first chosen one since she had that little… shift in priorities…
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In an icy rainforest in Equestria's north, the white-eyed unicorn stallion was making camp with two companions, a chocolate-brown earth mare and a white pegasus stallion.
Their camp was little more than small trenches dug into the ground, but the trio seemed comfortable and content as they settled down and began to doze off.
The earth rumbled.
"Whoa!" Vorpal Blade cried out.
A light burst out of a crack in the ground.
"Whoooooa!" he exclaimed, drawn in by the light.
The beams of light harshly changed direction, beaming straight into his eyes, filling his body with energy.
"YAAAAAAAAGGH!"
"I have ssssseen your fate, Vorpal Blade," said a delicate voice. "And it isss… mine."
"Aah!" Vorpal Blade peeped, overwhelmed by the pain.
"Acsssept this power, my chosssen one, lessssst it ruin you."
"Okay!" he whined. "I'll take it! Don't…"
The power ceased to flow. Vorpal Blade dropped to his knees, and his friends rushed to his side.
All three of them nervously looked up as the illusory apparition of a blue-eyed snake's face appeared before them.
"There hasss been a prophesssy," Sørmur dï Mitgaeard said with a broad, insincere smile. "The crown jewelsss of Equessssssstria… sssssymbolsss of greed, bringersss of madnesssss, vessssselsss of sssssssoulsss… you will take them for me."
"The…" Vorpal Blade stammered. "I can't steal the crown jewels of Equestria! I'm nowhere near…"
"There hasss been a prophesssy," Mitgaeard repeated, annoyed. "Choossssse your method. Take your time. Whenever you choossse to act, however you choossse to prossssseed… you will sssucssseed at ssssstealing thessse jewelsss. It isss written."
His eyes widened, and he nodded eagerly. "Okay!"
"We shall be in touch, my ssssservant. Do thisss for me, and I shall give you your heart'sssss desssssire. With me at your back… you will sssssteal… everything."
She broke off the connection, and her face vanished. Vorpal Blade turned to his concerned friends, who had only seen and heard his half of the conversation, and gave them a disarming, wicked grin.
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Mitgaeard's consciousness returned to her body—her body of pure rippling muscle which had attained a length of nearly five hundred feet, her body which was locked in the very deepest cavern of Tartaros.
"It isssss time," she growled to herself.
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Even deeper below the earth than that, far, far below the single deepest cavern of Tartaros, lay The Core, where Mitgaeard was watched on a living tapestry.
And so, the story of the goddesses ends, and in short order, so too does their reign. I see all of them…
Each goddess's life was being played out on one of the tapestries, and in the center of that chamber, a gigantic glowing blue brain floated in the darkness and observed the events that surrounded it.
I know all of their weaknesses… I shall ruin them. And after them… the world.
One tapestry displayed a flurry of images: a pair of broad, sharp ears; a jaw with boarlike tusks; four long black legs; a huge round green eye with a pentagram-shaped pupil.
It shall not be long. I, the Beast, shall be complete again.
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Author's Notes
And… break. Your full immersion ends now, hehe.
Well, so, there it is, the end of Legend of the Goddesses. I never imagined it would take me almost three years to finish this story. During that time, its parent story, Romance and the Fate of Equestria, has gained 85 chapters, gained 246,000 words, and, without my notice, passed its four-year anniversary.
All the same, I often go months without updating. I'm just at that time of my life where there's not enough time to devote to this story. In part because there's about a million other creative things I want to do. And yet there are too many adulty diversions in the world that must be pursued for the sake of survival, too many of those to live the life I would like. But hey, I finished the prequel, that's a major accomplishment.
…I dunno, I was gonna say something profound to cap the story off, but I don't seem to have a good finishing line. Ah, well, there are plenty of good words elsewhere in my work, I'm sure. Thank you for reading Legend of the Goddesses.