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Truly Divine

by Onomonopia

Chapter 13: Words

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Luna let out a tired sigh as the moon finally vanished over the horizon, getting the first rays of sunlight to shine over the land. Despite being the princess of the moon, for the first time in her life she was happy to see the silver orb sink from the sky. The moon brought out the shadows and the shadows brought out the strange beasts that lived within them. Another evil for them to fight.

'Can't think like that. It's going to be a long day and I need to focus,' Luna thought to herself as she turned from the balcony that was attached to her room and walked back into the castle. The first thing she did was walk to her sisters room, as Celestia had been out for most of the day and the night working. She tapped her hoof against the door to her sisters room and pushed the door open when she didn't get a response. The bed was neat and tidy, yet showed no signs of being slept in. Luna frowned before leaving to hunt down her sister.

'Sister, what have you been up to?' Luna asked herself as she walked through the mostly empty castle, checking all of the places that Celestia would normally hang out. First she checked the kitchen, then the library, then the kitchen again and finally she checked out the hall of meditation. Yet to the princess of the moons anger, she couldn't find Celestia anywhere. She did, however, find another pony that she had not expected to find.

"Who are you?" she asked the pony in the brown sweater, who she had found meditating in the center of the chamber. The pony let out a yelp as he shot to his hooves, spinning around to face the princess so fast that he nearly whipped off his glasses.

"I-I am sorry Luna, I'm Spellbinder," he introduced while picking up his glasses and placing them on his face. "And I'm the expert on the shadow monsters that Cadence set from the Crystal Empire. I would have been here earlier, but I got caught up in things and only just arrived the other day."

"Ah, well that explains it," Luna said with a nod before she motioned the pony to follow her with a flick of her wing. "These shadow beasts have been a problem recently. Thankfully they are not as dangerous or destructive as the crystal titans, but they have been problematic in other areas. Namely, they are going through temples and places of knowledge, stealing things that don't belong to them."

"Like what, Luna?"

"Information on the deities of the world," Luna informed the stallion, whose eyes went wide behind his glasses. "Anything and everything relating to them. Rituals used to appease them, where they are located, how they have behaved or acted in the past millennia. If any of them so much as show up in a book or scroll, they snatch it."

"But why would they want this kind of information? I mean, what good would it do these beasts of shadows?" Spellbinder asked.

"For the beasts of shadows, I assume it does nothing. For the one in control of them, however, it could do many things," Luna said in a worried tone, pushing open the doors to the main hallway of Canterlot Castle. "Information is one of the greatest weapons of all, so whoever wields this information could potentially use it for something evil."

"B-but these shadow beasts cannot be controlled," Spellbinder stammered as he reached into one of the saddle bags that he had brought with him, only to fumble it and spill papers and books all over the floor. He stammered out an apology before he snatched up an ancient look piece of parchment. "Right here it shows that even king Sombra couldn't control these beasts of shadows and he was made of living shadow. If he couldn't do it..."

"Just because one pony cannot do something does not mean that another can not find a way," Luna told the scholar, before glancing over all of the information he had with him. "You truly have devoted yourself to learning the ways of the dark king, have you not? What drew you to studying his evil?"

"Well, you know the old saying. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it," Spellbinder stammered out with a smile as he scooped back up his books and papers. "And with the way villains that were once sealed away are popping back up, the more we know about them and their tactics the better."

"I agree. Thank you for the work that you do, then," Luna said with a nod to the pony, who smiled with pride that his work was being praised. His smile faded when the doors to the castle opened and the princess of the sun walked in, a tired but hopeful look on her face. Luna nodded to Spellbinder to tell him it was time to leave, before she turned towards her sister with a smile on her face. "Sister. I had wondered what had become of you. For a time I feared that you had been trapped in a never ending meeting and I would have to rule for a century."

"Very funny, sister," Celestia said with a dry smile, casting a glance at Spellbinder, who shuffled past her as fast as he could. "No I was not trapped in a meeting. Well, at least not the ones that we are accustomed to. I was speaking with Thor at the temple of Faust."

Luna raised an eyebrow at this, but said nothing as she motioned for Celestia to continue speaking. "I made the mistake of praying to Faust and Thor heard me, forcing me to tell him about all my concerns and fears about him. He, in turn, told me about a being that had butchered the gods because of their arrogance and laziness. A being called Gor." Luna didn't know why, but she shivered when she heard that name.

"Gor killed many gods before I assume he was stopped, but apparently he was the one that got Thor to realize that he was not a god to be proud of. And after the people of his world saved him, he swore that he would not be a deaf god. That he would be one that cared."

"I see...do you believe his words?" Luna asked with hints of hesitation.

"...I do. After that talk with him...I feel like I understand Thor better than I did before," Celestia said with a small nod. "He is not like the gods that we have had to deal with. He is...similar to Faust, if she carried a hammer and spoke with a slight accent."

"Well, if you believe in him sister, then I shall as well. But it may take a little longer to convince the Ambassadors to trust his words," Luna said with a small laugh. "Twilight still is trying to figure out how Thor can be so powerful and Rainbow Dash has been working out so that she can move the hammer the next time she gets the chance. Perhaps you could ask Thor to talk with them? Help them see that he is on our side?"

"You know sister, that is not a bad idea," Celestia said as she closed her eyes and prayed the idea to Thor, hoping that he would respond as soon as he was able. "But in the meantime, I wish to speak to you about these shadow beasts. I have heard they are up to no good."

{([])}

"Oh this is nice. What do you think, Discord?" Fluttershy asked her chaotic friend as she showed him a small necklace made of seashells.

"Trust me Fluttershy, if you wear it then it will look amazing," Discord promised her, getting Fluttershy to smile at his words before buying the necklace from the shopkeeper. She wrapped it around her neck and smiled down at her, before she picked up her basket and walked towards the next shop.

"It is nice to have some peace and quiet after the titans. When they were attacking I was afraid that we would never have any time to rest ever again," Fluttershy said, looking around at her home. Even though a few weeks had passed since the death of the titan army, there were still scars that covered the land and buildings, as well as the ponies that lived in the town.

"Yes, it is incredible just how much has changed so quickly," Discord muttered in agreement, looking around at the faces of the ponies. He then flicked an ear towards the heavens and let out a sigh, before he smiled down at Fluttershy. "Dearest Fluttershy, I just realized that Pinkie has concocted a new form of sugar that I have not had the pleasure of trying. Would you be so kind as to secure it for me? I do not wish to cause a commotion inside the shop."

Fluttershy raised an eyebrow at Discord's words, but she shrugged her shoulders and headed in the direction of Sugarcube Corners. Discord waved to her with a smile on his face, before it literally fell and he turned around with a sigh.

"I know that you are there. Show yourself."

A burst of fire incinerated the land next to Discord, who placed a pair of sunglasses over his eyes as a being crawled out of the fire. The beast was a changeling made of fire, but he gave off the same radiant power of a deity that Discord hated to be around. It summoned wings of fire that melted the ground around the two, while he turned his blazing eyes towards Discord.

"Toraxo. To what do I owe this pleasure," Discord said, making sure to put as much venom into the last word as he could. The god snarled at Discord before glaring at any of the ponies that were nearby, scaring them off.

"I am here to speak with you," Toraxo said to Discord. "Thor cannot be the god of Equestria. And as you are the only being in Equestria that could possibly take his place, you need to become god instead."

"Yeah, no," Discord said without a moments hesitation, getting the eyes of the changeling god to turn blue with fury. "See, I don't want to be god of this world. I can't be it. Besides, Thor is doing a good job right now. Ponies are happy, there's no threats trying to kill everypony and most importantly he keeps the four of you in check. It's a win-win for all of us."

For a brief moment Toraxo glared at Discord with such intensity that Discord believed he would be forced to whip out some sunscreen, but then the fire died down and the god of the changelings made a motion for the god of chaos to follow him. Discord raised an eyebrow and did so, turning invisible when Toraxo vanished from sight.

The two of them came to a stop above the Ponyville square, unable to be seen by any of the ponies down below. "So tell me, what was so important that I had to turn invisible and spend my afternoon with you instead of my best friend?" Discord asked Toraxo, who glared at Discord to silence him before pointing to a single pony in a dark cloak, who stood in the center of the square.

"Friends of Ponyville, I come with tough tidings!" the cloaked pony cried out to the crowd of ponies, some of who stopped to glance at the cloaked figure. "The age of the princesses is over! Their benevolent reign, one which has kept us all safe, is at an end! It is the age of gods now!"

Some of the ponies laughed at the words of the cloaked pony and Discord found himself doing the exact same thing. "Think about it, my friends. How many evils have shown up in the last thousand years? And how many of them did Celestia and Luna fight so hard to stop? They have always been there for us, they have earned our trust. But now they do not lead. Now a god, a foreign god from another world leads. A god they fear."

Discord frowned at the pony's words, but as he glanced through the crowd he found the ponies murmuring amongst themselves. "This god was strong enough to strike down the titans! He was strong enough to cause four other gods to cower with fear! He says he is happy just being a god and allowing the princesses to rule...but for how long? How long until he wants our land? Then the world? How long until we must bow and serve under the boot of Lord Thor?!"

Discord's face fell even further as he watched nearly all of the ponies turn and begin to listen more to what the cloaked pony was saying. His words engrossed the crowd as he told them about how Thor would bring thunder and lightning down upon the land to destroy any who dare question him. How gods could not be trusted. And the crowd listened.

"Is this what you wanted to show me?" Discord asked Toraxo, who said nothing as he gazed over at Discord. "Fine, so a pony's got an issue with a god. He's not the first and I doubt he'll be the last. After a while he'll go away and things will go on like nothing ever happened."

"You do not get it, do you Discord? This is happening all over Equestria," Toraxo said to Discord, whose eyes widened at the revelation. "Ponies are not just asking for the removal of Thor...they want Thor all of the gods to be cast away from the planet. They loved him at first, but now they are starting to realize just how strong he is. And how he is a power they have no chance against. They call us fickle, but we both know how fickle mortals are...and how soon they will turn on Thor."

Discord wanted to argue, to say that the god was wrong, but as he watched the ponies eyes he could tell that the words of the cloaked pony were getting to them. And after having done so much to them so many times himself, he could understand how the ponies would so easily want someone like Thor, a god they knew nothing of, gone. And he also knew he couldn't let that happen.

"Thank you for showing me this. It was mildly entertaining. Now get out of my nation," Discord said with a snarl to Toraxo, who chuckled slightly at Discord's words.

"Do you understand now, god of chaos? If these ponies have there way, Thor will soon be the one hated and turned against. And then how much longer would it be until he turns against them? Then how much longer till he rules the world?" Toraxo asked Discord, who narrowed his eyes in response. "We both know there is only one way to defeat a god. With another god. So what will you do, Discord? Allow Thor to evenually take the throne? Or will you become god yourself?"

Toraxo vanished in a flash of fire, leaving Discord to watch the ponies begin to chant for Thor. Discord snapped his fingers and a moment later a torrent of applejuice rained down on the ponies, getting them to head for shelter. But even as they scattered, Discord found himself unsure what to do.

Next Chapter: Threats Estimated time remaining: 4 Hours, 7 Minutes
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