The Age of Night

by John Hood

First published 22nd of January, 2013

A journey into the depths of time, from the creation of the world until the days of the sun.

A journey into the depths of time, from the creation of the world until the days of the sun. This is the earliest of all histories, from which came all things as we now know them, from the smallest parasprite to most mighty being. Even Equestria traces its oldest roots to here, unremembered as they may be...

Tagged adventure and dark for future chapters, there's really no applicable tag for the beginning. Rating subject to change.

The Re-Awakening, of Spirits, and of Dragons

The historical awareness of the average pony extends back but a few generations, a short enough time that the foundation of towns are seen as legend and the very real Defiance of Nightmare Moon is seen as myth. It is no wonder, then, that the origins of modern Equestria are seen with such a distorted view, and anything that took place beforehand is completely unknown. There are seldom few left of these ancient eras, for even Celestia had yet to be born. Let us journey through the mists of time, through the chaotic ages long lost, through the years before the sun, to the very creation of the world itself...

In the beginning, the world drifted through the cold emptiness of the void. No life grew upon it, no heat came from within or without, no winds swept over plains or hills, no rivers flowed, no seas crashed upon shores. There was only dead stone, barren and unchanging. The world sailed on under the darkness above. For eons, the world drifted on in silence, deeper and deeper into the void, orphaned and lost. It had been discarded into the frozen shadow, and it could not be found.

But found it was.

Out of the void came the Crafter. It had no name, nor did it have a title; its legacy could only call it by that meager word. It beheld the vast empty expanses before it, dark stone under a dark sky. The Crafter thought ill of this, and pushed back against the world. The world's course was turned, and it sailed into the starlit realm. Thus was the night created.

The Crafter turned to the land. It was dry, hard, and worn. No mountains soared, no valleys plunged, all things had been smoothed over as if wiped clean. The Crafter deemed this world to be dead, and the Crafter deemed this world would now live. It delved into the depths, passing within to the hardened iron heart. There, it began to burn. So hot was the Crafter's fire that the world's heart began to melt, heat flowing in all directions to the surface above. This burning took many ages to bear fruit, each one passing like a moment to the Crafter. When it returned to the surface, it found that the land was once shifting and buckling and sliding, while plumes of fire came up from deep below. Thus was the world's heart kindled.

But for all its might, power, and force, the Crafter was only one. An empty world was no world at all, and soon the Crafter would leave for realms beyond. It needed servants to work in its place. The Crafter drew upon the fires of the world, shaping them into something greater. In each flame, the Crafter placed its gift of spirit. To them, it gave the command of shaping the heat and direction of the world. Thus were the fire spirits created.

The Crafter then departed from the world for a time, traveling far into the night to bring back what it needed to create life in the flesh. While the Crafter searched, the fire spirits tended to the volcanoes and rifts with great care. Great chains of mountains were once again thrown up, reaching into the night, while deep trenches and valleys were formed below them. The volcanoes spewed ash and hateful gasses without end, pillars of clouds towering above even the mountains and blotting out the stars. Thus was the land re-shaped and the sky created.

While the fire spirits had given the world new land and a blanket of air to wrap it in, the Crafter had found its desire. It returned to the world, bearing the seeds of life, and spread them far and wide. The fire spirits hurled down masses of ice and metal and rock from the sky, letting the world do with them as it would, while the Crafter journeyed in the night to gather more. It was less than an age before the ice melted, creating the miracle of water. Thus were the rivers, lakes, and seas created.

They had wrought something incredible. But the fire spirits had no control over the water, which battered and lashed at their confines, bubbling with discontent. Once again, the Crafter drew water from the world, and gave it the gift of spirit. Thus were the water spirits made.

To the water spirits, the Crafter gave dominion over the seas and skies. To the fire spirits, the land and the the underworld. Together, they shaped the world from a wild and raging realm into a place where life could thrive. All that remained was to finally bring that life. From the fires, the underworld, the seas, and the skies, the Crafter drew and forged all into one vessel. It multiplied and grew, into unnumbered shapes and sizes. They fed upon the light of the stars and drew strength from the earthy surface of the world. Thus were created all plants.

Only one thing remained: The Crafter took its first vessel, and breathed into it the gift of spirit. It multiplied and grew, into unnumbered shapes and sizes. They fed upon the plants and each other. Though they were dim and witless, they were the sires of things far greater. Thus were created all animals.

The Crafter and its spirits looked down upon the world, and thought it good. Finally, the Crafter wove a veil around its work, to hide it from powers more dangerous. Safe in this hidden place, the world and its denizens would be far from harm. Now knowing its task was done, the Crafter prepared to depart for the final time, leaving behind the spirits to work onward. To the fire spirits, it gave the powers of restoration; and to the water spirits, it gave the breath of life. The Crafter left with a promise that should the spirits ever need aid, it was waiting in the far corners of the night. Thus the world was re-awakened, and ends the account of the creation of all things.

In their new domain, the spirits went far and wide. They were to watch over life, and ensure nothing went wrong. The spirits of fire and water numbered hundreds, the exact count has been lost to the mists of time. Most of their names have been forgotten, except for a few who were remembered by elder souls. They had no language, they did not need words to commune with each other. Instead, the first races gave them names of their own tongues. The names given to them numbered many, but foremost were Evanidi, Kaialîrîm, Hutherin, and Ahma.

There were the fire spirits, called the Ardenti, Vâthûai, and Skeinahma. Lord of the fire spirits was Verax, known also as Ar-Naihadrôs and Corthu. He was the greatest of all spirits; oldest and strongest. Verax had been the first spirit made by the Crafter, and had witnessed the creation of all spirits after him. It was Verax who wrestled with volcanoes and moved mountains, broke continents and raised islands. Only Verax could tend the heart of the world, guiding its heat to the surface wherever needed. It was said that when he walked upon the world, he burned like a star, rivaling those in the night sky. The second eldest of fire spirits was Stellans, or Evâr; her flame was calmer than her older kin's, and she was not as feared by the young races. From Stellans came the beauty of the underworld, as she folded, melted, and warped the rocks below all into wondrous arrays of colors and shapes. Though this task was not as mighty in deed as Verax's, Stellans's work came to be valued by all races. There were more Ardenti whose names survive: Sistrum, who partnered with Radix to make lightning and thunder; Ora, who melted stone; and Hio, who forged anew what Ora melted.

There were the water spirits, called Elutae, Andarai, and Marahma. Chief among the water spirits was Caelum, sometimes called Atai. Caelum was the lady of winds and rains, bringing her miracle to all places of the world. Never did she tarry in one place long, Caelum's soul always yearned to go onwards. Aetas, bearing the other names of Alde and Falîran, was her loyal servant, lady of the seas. She was wrathful, powerful, beautiful and amazing to behold. The young races feared and honored her power, and many even came to love her. Aetas called many to come to the seas, a call that once sounded never died. A lesser water spirit was the one who was named Sator. Sator traveled the rivers, going deep into the land and planting life to those regions overlooked in the Crafter's time. His writhing form was often seen lurking in dark and calm pools and side channels, where he rested from his journeys. Though far from mighty, Sator was well-known the young races, for he was always willing to aid those in need should they pass his test. Also among the Elutae was Radix the cloud-shaper, Thrascias of the ice and snow, and Macero, who had come to admire the fire spirit Stellans, and brought her water to use in her works in the underworld.

For long ages, all was peaceful. The world was filled with ever-growing plants; flowers bloomed, grasses swayed in the wind, and trees grew tall. There were forests and plains, jungles and tundras and deserts. The animals spread to all places of the world. Noble bears, swift deer, cunning tigers, spotted seals, and ponderous whales dwelt in the colder parts. In the middle lands, where the fires of the world burned closer to the surface, furtive leopards, mighty elephants, striped zebras, fierce porpoises and sparkling fish lived. Some would become great themselves in later days. All walked and swam in the night, the world lit in a beautiful and pale blue light, under a magnificent array of unnumbered stars to whose glory not even the spirits were resistant too. They were not the first, and they were not the last, to look above for inspiration and hope. Such majesty reassured the Evanidi; they knew they were not alone in the expanse of night, the Crafter traveled out there, somewhere far and distant, but never out of sight. Even Stellans and Macero, constantly hidden in the deep, would come to the surface to gaze upon the realm of stars. It was a reign of serene tranquility.

Yet with such wonder above them, the spirits began to grow lonely. In Verax's heart, it weighed heavily that he had done nothing of note but keep the mountains and lands moving. A thought entered his mind, a thought that would change the world: “I was born of the Crafter,” he said to himself, “as were my kin. Can I not do the same?”

Verax went into the heart of the world, and brought up a single flame. Around it he created a shell. The other Evanidi grew intrigued with what Verax was making, and many came to watch. When he had finished the body, he put within it the same spirit the Crafter had given the world's life. It was to Verax's dismay that nothing happened. “My kin!” said Caelum, coming down from the winds. “Fire alone cannot create life, let me aid you.”

“Do as you must.” Verax agreed. Caelum approached the body, and worked her art, just as they had done with the Crafter long ago. She stepped back, and the spirits rejoiced when the new body stirred. “Caelum, you have done well. Who among you will bring gifts for this child of flame?”

“I shall grant it the power to travel far into the sky.” said Radix, as she came forward. From the cloud-shaper came powerful wings.

“I shall grant it the love of the underworld.” said Stellans, who gave it a desire for the wonders below.

“I shall grant it resilience to my cold.” said Thrascias, as she thickened its skin and scales.

“I shall grant it the power to renew itself, so that death may never take it by course of nature.” said Hio, and imparted upon it his gift.

“Then it is done.” Verax stated. The new life they had made rose up from the ground. It stretched its wings and great claws, and let loose a mighty roar, Verax's fire bursting out from deep within. It was great in stature, scales black as the deeps of the world and hard as stone, with eyes of molten gold.

“We have made but one, and I worry it may grow lonely.” said Macero, for he had once known solitude.

“We ought to give it a companion.” said Stellans. Verax pondered.

“You, Stellans and Macero, work together in all things. We will make this creature a companion, and they shall live in partnership as you two do.” said Verax. The spirits gathered around, and made another creature in the first one's image. Its scales were white like the stars, more graceful than a silent forest covered by snow, and its eyes were as if diamond. Aetas, in her eagerness to be a part of this, added something special to this one, the ability to create new life within itself. Thus were male and female first created.

“Go, my children, and prosper.” Commanded Verax. The creatures departed, riding the winds of Caelum to the west. Many years passed by, and no Evanidi saw them. It was wondered where the creatures had gone. Only in the most distant region were they found by the lowly water spirit Sator, who was so delighted with them that he took a similar form henceforth. Sator swiftly reported their whereabouts to Verax.

“I bring wondrous tidings!” said Sator, when he had found the firstborn of all spirits. “News most marvelous!”

“Speak.” commanded Verax.

“Your children, I have found them. Far to the south and west of these lands there is a place between mountains and the sea: there they dwell.” said Sator.

“Take me to them.” Verax and Sator went swiftly forth, and the Lord of the Ardenti was pleased to find that they were living well in this remote place of the world. They had made a spoken language for themselves, and called themselves dragons.

They hunted animals for food, but their desire for the wealth of the underworld was an even greater hunger, and many would consume their own treasures. The black one had come to call himself Corthunien, the Son of Corthu. The white dragon was Feryalde, Alde's Gift. Feryalde was Corthunien's mate, and together they had produced a clutch of eggs that they carefully guarded. Six dragons came of the eggs, three male, three female, as these distinctions were named. In time, these three pairs had six more eggs each, and those pairs had six each as well. Thus the race multiplied.

Verax grew proud of his creations, as they slowly spread out over the world. Under the night sky of countless stars, only his dragons had the same wisdom and thought as the spirits did. The other Ardenti shared Verax's pride, as the dragons were born of their fire. With time, the Elutae began to wonder why Caelum did not create life of water. “Are we not just as mighty and powerful as the fire spirits?” asked Radix the cloud-shaper, as they gathered near an ocean shore.

“We are.” aaid Caelum to her kind. “Though we are the secondborn of the Crafter, we are not any lesser than Verax and his Ardenti.”

“Then why do we sit idly by while Verax's dragons roam the world?” asked Aetas, envy on her mind.

“Doubt not, for I have a secret.” Caelum assured them. She then brought forth a silvery light, cradled in her form of wind and mist. “I have created this.”

“What is it?” wondered Sator, who remained in the form of a dragon. He was taken by the magnificent beauty of this light.

“A powerful energy, made from the breath of life.” Said Caelum. “I shaped it in the form of the Crafter's energy, but it is not of the Crafter. This I made from the world.”

“How will we use it?” asked Thrascias, awed. This energy shined like a little star, as if pulled down from the endless night above.

“It is not for us.” Caelum told her. “We have no need of it. Rather, it is for the life we shall now create. Life born of water, not fire.”

“Tell us what we must do!” said Aetas. And Caelum spoke.

Author's Notes:

In case you didn't figure out who the excitable, river-dwelling, dragon-shaped, water spirit Sator really is... But I couldn't just go and call him that, right? One of those names doesn't even exist in this world, the other term hasn't been coined yet.
Anyways, this was written for the World Building Alliance's January contest. Originally, it was just going to be a one-shot precursor to Across the Sea, but like most of the things I write, it grew in scope and scale...

Of the Alicorns

Author's Notes:

Go back and read the first chapter, it's short and it was posted almost two years ago. I've also edited it. Originally, this chapter was spoilers for Across the Sea, but there's been a change of plans and this chapter is no longer spoilers. We know how old Aegis is now.

It was Caelum, Aetas, and Radix who labored longest on their creation, high in a secret mountain valley. Thrascias suggested that they make six of their new children, rather than just two, so that they could match the dragons in numbers sooner than later. These creatures were less in stature than the dragons of the Ardenti, though they too had four legs and two wings upon their back. They were like deer, softly clad in fur and hair, walking and galloping upon hooves. But on the eve of their completion, Caelum held the others back.

“Life cannot live without the fire of Verax.” said she.

“Then let us ask!” Aetas proposed.

“We cannot ask; we wish for this task to remain secret.” Indeed, the chief among the Elutae did not want Verax to know she was striving to rival his children's dominion of the world.

“How can we get the flame?” Radix pondered, her form of clouds growing dark in thought. Soon, the three greatest water spirits turned to a lesser kin, who waited with the others some distance hence.

“Sator, come hither.” ordered Caelum. The river spirit approached excitedly, for rarely did any have use of his skills.

“What is it you command?” he asked. Caelum informed him of their plan, a plan most devious. Soon enough, Sator was before Verax.

“My Lord,” Sator said as he bowed before him, “I come before you on behalf of my lady Caelum.” The water-spirit presented the still body of one of their creations. “She was taken by the beauty of this creature, but it was ill, and now is passing. She asks if you, in your power and mercy, would give it your hardy fire.” Verax stood silently, looking at the creature. It was horned, and winged, and hoofed, bearing a long tail and mane. He had never seen anything like it, and did not recall creating it. But in those days, Verax's pride was yet tempered by kindness, and he placed in its heart a flame from his own.

“It is my joy to help my kin as she helped me.” said Verax humbly. But his thoughts were elsewhere; he was amused that while he created the great dragons, Caelum could only adopt this beast. Unwittingly, he had now created a creature just as powerful as his own prized children.

“You have our thanks.” with those words, Sator quickly departed back to the other water spirits, bearing the now-living body with him. His return was swift, and he placed the breathing creature before Caelum. “It is done.” he reported.

“You have brought us the flame of life, and for this, you will be rewarded, in time.” Aetas spoke for Caelum, who now set forth the final part of her plan. She and Radix used wind and lightning to spread the fire from the first into the other five resting bodies, for they could not touch it themselves. It was not long before all six of the new children of the Elutae were stirring. Into each, Caelum put her own light. It was in the first creature that it resided the strongest; it mixed with the flame of Verax, and the creature shined with an unfathomable light to later mortals. The deed was done, and the water-spirits scattered back into the world.

It was some time before Caelum returned to their valley, a long and wide space between great mountains, with a river flowing down the middle to the plains beyond. The six ran and flew under the night, with hardly a worry in the world. And like the dragons, they had made a language, and made names. They called themselves alicorns, and it is their tongue which dominates this account, for unlike this teller's, it is yet heard in all corners of the Earth.

Aethera was the strongest and boldest of the alicorns, their firstborn, her fur a prelude to the still far-off sunrise, her mane the same fire of life that she had been first to be blessed with. In later days, she would be called by a much more well-known title, the Lady of Light, but she had yet to earn that name. She had two sisters, Cicuta who was green as the plants she loved, and Versa, a playful and carefree mare, as their females were called, of brown and white. They were far less strong than Aethera, but no less noble and brave in spirit.

Aethera's eldest brother and mate was Solanum, he was as dark as the night above, in color and in mood. Solanum was always known to be somber and reserved, though he was far from cold. The second brother was Valeo, a rust-red stallion whose mate was Cicuta. Together, they roamed far and wide, tending to the wilds. It was they who would go on to master the art of growing food. The third and youngest brother, pure gold in color and white in mane, was named Aegis, for his unceasing wariness and thoughtful manner. He was the mate of Versa, and in time, her lightness would calm Aegis's wariness. Each pair would go on to have many children, unmarred in blood as later offspring of such pairings would be cursed with, and they would come to rule a sprawling realm, in the days of the sun.

Caelum took a form in the likeness of theirs as she approached, an alicorn of air and water. She was welcomed to their herd, as they called it, for they knew that she was their mother. For many years, she dwelt with them in the valley of Erro, teaching them the ways of their gift, which they named magic. She also told them of the creation of the world, the Crafter, and all the other spirits it had made. At times, Radix too would come down from above and consort with them, and they came to see her as beloved kin.

But the fire spirit Sistrum followed Radix once, to see where she went when they were not making lightning, and he discovered the alicorns. Sistrum fled away before he was noticed, and reported his findings to Verax. The Lord of the Arendti was astounded such a thing could happen without him knowing.

The blissful days when the alicorns lived alongside their mother crashed to an end when a titanic mountain of fire and earth burst from the ground at the mouth of their valley, a whirling pillar of flame roaring into the night sky. His form was terrible to behold, Verax seeking to assert his rightful dominion over these young creatures. The alicorns tried to flee in fright, but Caelum drew them close, and stood before the great fire spirit.

“Whence came these creatures, Caelum?” asked Verax, his voice quaking across the land. “How have you created such beings without my flame?”

“But they do have your flame, Verax.” Caelum answered. “You gave it to her, Aethera.” She gestured to the radiant alicorn mare.

“Sator deceived me.” realized the Lord of the Ardenti.

“Sator deceived you by my command.” Caelum said, wishing no ill to come of the lesser spirit. “Punish him not, for the blame is mine.”

“For what purpose?” asked Verax.

“I feared you would deny your gift to my children, out of love for your own.” At this, Verax had no answer, for he did not know what he would have done had she asked. Truly, he designed for his own dragons to be masters of the world, and to know that they were now rivaled was troubling.

“It is dismaying that you so deceived me.” said Verax, rumbling unhappiness roiling through the earth. “But what is done, is done. Be warned, Caelum: my flame's strength will not be gifted to all of them.” With those words, the great fiery mountain sank back into the underworld, leaving only scarred devastation for many miles where it had been. Long did the alicorns avoid the mouth of the valley of Erro thereafter, such was the terror of Verax, Lord of the Ardenti.

After this, Caelum departed, for her yearning fly with the winds grew strong again. It was many more years that the alicorns wandered about between the mountains, before finding their way to a lake above a falls, upstream on the river cutting through their valley. Here, they made their first dwelling, and began to tame plants. In time, Aethera's two sisters would bear children of their own, whom they called foals. Yet, Aethera herself and Solanum refrained from having any issue, for the words of Verax weighed heavily upon them. The stars continued to sit overhead, as the alicorns enjoyed the peaceful night. The two eldest alicorns decided they would find their mother. If they failed in that, they could at least find Radix, or another kin of the water spirits. Athera and Solanum followed the lake's edge deeper into the mountains, and followed the stream that flowed into it, until they reached its birthplace.

“Spirits of water!” said Aethera to the bubbling spring high in the mountains. “Your firstborn daughter seeks your counsel!” For a long while, there was silence.

“Do you think they will come?” asked Solanum, ever doubting.

“They will.” Aethera said.

But it was not a water spirit they knew who answered. Up from the deep came the one they called Macero, who fed all springs and waters of the underworld. “What manner of creature are you?” asked he. “I do not know your kind.” Macero had not been present at their creation, and for a long time had no word of the world above as he toiled below with Stellans.

“We are alicorns.” Solanum answered. “Children of Caelum, your Lady.”

“Children of Caelum?” Macero was slow to believe them, but after much convincing, he took their word, and agreed to help seek out their mother. It was the start of a long alliance, and Macero would come to be a great friend of the alicorns. Macero sought out Sator, who then traveled to the sea and sought out Aetas. Aetas did not seek out Caelum; she instead caused so much havoc in sea and sky that Caelum came to her, to see what the upset was about. Again, Caelum came to her children in the valley of Erro. She gathered them all around.

“Long ago, Verax came among you, and spoke that his flame would not be passed as strongly to your children.” Caelum spoke. “Your leaders, Aethera and Solanum, have worried greatly at the meaning of this.”

“Now that we have been reminded, it worries us as well.” agreed Aegis.

“What shall become of our children?” asked his mate, Versa.

“Nothing ill.” said Caelum. There was confusion and mutterings. “You six, Aethera and Solanum, Cicuta and Valeo, Versa and Aegis, shall not be struck down by any worldly pains, but only by the will of others or yourselves. Your children will not die by age either, but in time they will become susceptible to worldly pains. You know not disease nor hunger, but they shall. And their children will be long-lived as the great trees, but one day, they will die a mortal death. And their children will be only long-lived as the tortoise, before dying a mortal death. Thus will it be for all your issue.

“Except for you, Aethera and Solanum. Your children will always bear the flame of Verax as brightly as you do now, from this time until the end of time.” concluded Caelum.

“That is not right!” said Cicuta.

“This is the will of Verax, and I will not go against it.” said Caelum with sadness. “It is only by his grace that he did not take his flame back wholly; he is allowing the alicorns a future.”

From that time on, the alicorns were distrustful of the fire spirits, though they had known few before. Years passed by. The children of the alicorns grew greater. Mountain pines grew tall, withered, and fell; and the young of the tribe had hardly grown an inch. The children born of the two couples, Versa and Aegis, and Cicuta and Valeo, were many, though.

Then came a time, yet further under the endless night of stars, when Aegis had the sense that danger was near. He climbed a peak that bordered their valley, and beheld the light of blazing fires in the distance. Aegis took flight, retreated to report to his eldest sister. But before Aethera could decide what to do, Radix came to them, her form of cloud shaped into that of Caelum's creations.

“It has been long since we looked upon you last, Radix, and our hearts are warmed. But what yonder fire burns?” asked Solanum.

“They are called dragons.” said Radix. “The children of fire, of Lord Verax's making. They came before you by time untold, and now a number are moving hither. You must depart.” There was dismay among the alicorns, for they loved their valley. But the thought of war was not on their minds, such a notion did not enter creatures until the coming times of evil. Aethera resolved that now was the hour to depart, and follow the river where it may lead. Radix stormed in the mountains and summoned Thrascias to make snows to hinder the dragons, as the time was not right for the races to meet.

To Erro there is no returning, for the alicorns became lost on their journey. Long years later, they came upon a land of fields and sparse woods, cut through by many rivers running into a single mighty one. They followed the water as far as it flowed, and came upon its mouth far to the east, where they found the sea at last. There they built a new dwelling, the second most ancient in all Equestria, after the Halls of Corthunien far in the south. In the days of the sun, the mortal races would name it Alicornia, and it would be the fairest of all realms on Earth.