Edge of Harmony CH8

"Do it again, father," a small filly's voice chirped. "Your sky looks so wonderful. Do you think I could make it like that some day?" The filly's tiny voice was so warm and soft. The dark blue filly stared at her father in wonder, waiting for his answer. Hungering for his affection she leaned into his side and yawned.

"The night shall always be yours, my little Luna. And one day, the very heavens will shimmer in your image." The stallion next to her returned her soft touch with a wing over her tired body. "But that is for another day. Now we need to get you off to bed, your mother always worries when we stargaze." He stood and floated the small sleeping figure to his back. Tall and regal, the stallion looked to the starlit sky. "One day, the stars will shine for you and you alone my child." He turned and headed toward a great castle.

"What are you doing here?" The stallion stood over another filly, the pure white filly brushed her soft pink hair from her face.

"I'm sorry father I just wanted to see the stars." She shied away from the overbearing figure that was her father. "Their just so beautiful. Please, just this once." She gave him a pout and made her eyes as big as saucers.

"If your mother finds…" He was cut short by a thud to the chest and a pair of hooves wrapped as far and as tight around his chest as best the filly could manage.

"You're the best daddy ever." the small white filly dashed past her father and out into the courtyard.

"Gallitais," the spectral visitor watched the scene unfold before her. The hazy white mare turned to see the familiar sight she had only seen fragments of. "So this is the real you," she spoke out loud to herself.

"I had always hoped only the best for my children and all my people." The room filled with Gallitais' voice. "It was so simple back then. I was the lord of the Alicorns. Their hope, their power. Through me, they were granted immortality. Power and prosperity. Yes, my people were truly blessed." Pearl walked the empty room and found her way to where Celestia sat staring at the night's sky. "We took a passive outlook over the younger races that appeared ages into our lives. The fast and cunning griffons. Minotaurs, strong and proud. Even the pony tribes. They were so much like ourselves, we favored them over all the other races." Celestia's face glowed in the moon light as she stargazed, her big bright eyes darting from star cluster to star cluster and childishly counting out loud each one. "But there were others who saw only contempt for them, the Dragon King." Pearl shivered at just the mentioning of the name. "Through his existence, his kind were also granted longevity and great power over those they saw below them. And from his order they began to conquer those lesser races. They tethered the griffins to the ground, clipping them of their wings, turning them into beasts that hunted the other races. Even the strength of the Minotaurs was no match for the Dragon King's hunger for power. He cast them into the deepest bowels of the earth, forcing them to guard his treasure trove, stripping them of their pride." Pearl didn't like where this was going. Gallitais speech overwhelming the scene as Celestia was swarmed by a mass of flickering fireflies. She happily chased them around the courtyard and giggled at their display of lights. "But it was the pony tribes that suffered the most. It was their likeness to my kind that enraged the Dragon King. Since time immortal, we had a shaky truce. Our pacifistic ways meant we did not seek lands and those that we wished to rule over. We merely watched over those we could guide into the new age. But the dragons, they took out their hatred for us on your kind, enslaving them to do his bidding. No pony was out of his reach. Entire villages of ponies burned to the ground and chained to their gem mines to harvest the ill-gotten gains the dragons so desired. Many died due to mistreatment, starvation, and the sheer hunger the dragons possessed for their flesh." Pearl felt sick as he spoke. She had never heard of anything like this. It was true before the pony tribes worked together and established Equestria there wasn't much in the way of history. "And to think this was his ultimate jest to your kind." Suddenly Pearl felt a cold tingle across her flank, she turned to see nothing.

"What, my cutie mark," she asked Gallitais disembodied voice.

"The mark of talent? Yes, the Dragon King found something unique with your kind. They seemed to excel at certain tasks, so in his cruel wisdom he would brand his slaves with dragon fire. A mark that would designate their place in his thrall." Pearl was speechless. The cutie mark that every pony sought after as a foal was originally a mark of slavery so they could better serve a master with their special talent. She felt ill when she remembered back to when she acquired her special mark.

It was a summer morning and she was in the storefront with her father when she curiously followed an aged tan mare through their store. She would pick up an item and inspect it, shake her head in disappointment, and continue her search. Pearl would watch the old mare and started to feel bad for her, endlessly searching plates and dishes were looking for just the right piece. Finally, Pearl nudged her side and presented her with a dingy plate. She took it and gave a thankful smile, one that any pony would give to a child just trying to help. She had told her it wasn't what she was looking for, but Pearl insisted she take it. The next day the mare returned and gave her father so much praise, and with tears in her eyes, she thanked Pearl. It turned out she had dropped a plate from her china set and shattered it. It was a gift from her mother and seemed irreplaceable, she had taken the plate home and washed away the dust and grime to reveal the unique pattern that she sought after for so long. Pearl would never forget the words of the tan mare with the golden scale cutie mark. "It's not what you can see on the surface. It's what's beneath that really matters."

More precious than any memory that she held, the day she got her cutie mark would always have a special place in her heart. But now, when she looked to her special mark she only saw it as a seared blemish to mark her place in with the rest of the slaves. "But why do we still bear the marks if it was the Dragon King who branded us in the first place," Pearl cried out to the darkness.

The night's sky flashed with brightness and Pearl shielded her eyes from the sudden flash. She was now standing in a throne room, bright windows of stained glass depicting the images of winged unicorns in various colors and stances. Cries of distorted ponies holding their loved ones as they tended to their burned and infected flanks. Rage filled cries for something to be done filled the room. Pearl looked to the head of the pack. Upon a seat of basic wood and cloth sat the pony from the night before. Gallitais, master and lord of Alicorns. His stern gaze was intimidating for one who was supposed to be a passive. He raised a hoof and the herd of ponies spanning from the large and fit earth ponies to the royal and well groomed unicorns fell silent.
"I understand your plight, the pony tribes have suffered under the tyrannical fist of the Dragon King for far too long. Now I can see he has gone as far as to mar your kind with a brand and he will continue to do so until he is stopped." his great horn flashed a blinding dark blue and a wave of magic swept across the throne room. "From now until pony kind is no longer of use for this mark, every pony shall bare the mark of talent. Be it not for another to pass harm to your kind, to brand you to their bidding, but for each of you to find your own path and proudly show it to your fellow pony." The entire room began to gasp as each of the ponies flanks shimmered with magic and a mark appeared. Unlike the mark given by the dragons, these marks of talent were painless as they appeared and gave a pleasant image to the eye. "We, the Alicorns, have sat by and taken a passive view upon the dragons and their misuse of the powers given to them. So I, Gallitais, shall march against the Dragon King and bring him to justice for his crimes." The ponies began to cheer for their champion as he stood and walked to the throne doors."

"I was such an idealistic foal back then. The Dragon King needed to be stopped, because it was only a matter of time before his hunger for power came to our door step." Darkness filled the memory and Pearl stood in nothingness. "I fought many battles against the Dragon King, joined by Alicorns and pony folk alike. We won so many battles, driving the dragons further and further away from the lush lands the ponies called home; we even managed to free most of the other mortal fledgling races. It was the eve of our final victory. With this last battle, I would have destroyed the Dragon King and drove the dragons into the darkness to slowly die off without their progenitor."
"Wait Gal, you mentioned that word before, prosomething. What is that?" Pearl was confused, she had never heard of such a thing.

"Progenitors, beings like myself and the Dragon King, are beacons of power to our people. We were the first, and with our existence, our kind would benefit from our immortality, power and aptitudes. Without us," Gallitais drifted off. Pearl knew where he was going, there was a reason the Alicorns were no longer with us. "Luna and Celestia were spared after I died by the rest of our people. They sacrificed their very lives to grant them everlasting life and inexhaustible power, that, with the elements of harmony that I granted them on our last gathering, kept them alive to watch over the pony tribes just as planned." Pearl had heard that the Alicorn sisters were pillars of extraordinary magical power, before them it would take many, many, unicorns to control the flow of the sun and moon so that the pegasi could move the skies to water the land that the earth ponies grew food on. It was a symbiotic relationship that had its ups and downs but they managed and have lasted for over millennia.

"So that's what this is all about is it?" Pearl raised an eye to the darkness. "You want your elements back so you can take revenge on the dragons that destroyed you." The inky blackness began to shake and a red glow surrounded Pearl.

"NO!" Pearl cringed away from the bellowing voice that seemed to come from nowhere. "If it were just revenge on the dragons I could have accomplished that without the Elements of Harmony. No this is bigger than that. We have been forgotten, cast aside, lost to time and those that would benefit from my, our, sacrifice. No pony, this is about reclaiming the glory of those that have and would sacrifice EVERY thing for a greater purpose." Pearl was taken back. His words set her off balance. "Think about it, Pearl. I've seen your past and I've been bombarded with visions of one pony, the bearer of Magic. You have dreamed of her for as long as you can remember. The book you swoon over gave you her story, didn't it?" Pearl didn't like where this was going, but she nodded. "And do you know why she wrote that book?" Pearls face became sour; she knew what he was getting at.

She realized it after deciphering the Fall of Friendship. She had saved Equestria, well her and her friends, but no one knew or understood what pain they had gone through to accomplish those tasks. Was Gal the same way? "We have been forgotten. What is the point in stopping the darkness if no one cares how many suffered to keep it at bay? I left that day to stop the Dragon King not to gain acclaim or awards for my deeds, but to be completely forgotten? Not just me, but all those that died from the plague that was the Dragon King's lust for power. Did their suffering mean nothing to those who survived? To what end did I die for?"

"I can understand your anguish, Gallitais. But in your quest to reclaim your elements, you were willing to kill Celestia." Pearl shook off the butterflies in her stomach. "Your own daughter. You even killed Spike. And you USED ME to do it," she raged at the blackness. "You're no better than the Dragon King, the way I see it Gal." she didn't care if he lashed out at her she had a point to make. "You cry and yell about retribution for the past, but you only repeat it. If you were truly stronger than the Dragon King, you will stop this."

"It's too late, Pearl. The lever has been pulled, and the gears have been set into motion. I must find those that bear my elements and take them, so that I may bring strife to the land once more, and from the ashes of that, heroes will arise and those that survive will forever remember those that died and work for the betterment of their own pours. And you will be my instrument, my element of war." Pearl sat back on her haunches; Gallitais spoke both truth and madness. Equestria had forgotten those that gave up their lives to save the rest from destruction, Twilight had given everything to save Equestria and was forgotten in an instant. And in an attempt to have her legacy preserved she gambled her friends and lost it all. "You're beginning to see it my way. The dragon's death will not in vain he will be remembered by those who were close to him," Pearl thought back to the purple scaled dragon impaled right before her eyes. And then she saw twilight and the look on her face when she recognized Pearl.

"I will stop you Gal," Pearl took a deep breath and spoke to the darkness her voice strong and clear. "I will not let you sacrifice another pony for your ambition."

"Very well Pearl, you will still come with me to gather my fragmented elements." And for the first time since she had entered the past visions Gallitais smoke form appeared to her. "The only way to stop me is to wield my elements against me. So come pony, let us fulfill the end of our bargain and see who is strong enough to be the victor." Gallitais laughing smoke cloud grew and grew in size until it vanished in a burst of smoke.

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"I think she's coming around. Quick Sweetie, tend to her while I get some soup started. She'll be hungry." Pearl could hear voices around her just past the darkness.
Pearl slowly opened her eyes and found herself in a dimly lit room, was it night? No she could make out the soft glow of the sun being filtered through thick curtains. But where was she? She slowly turned her head to see another pony. The pony had a white coat, not unlike her own, and her stylish curled hair she could make out a horn, a unicorn?

"Where…"

"Don't try to speak just yet. You've been out for days. We were afraid you'd never wake." The mare's voice was a symphony of sound and it felt like a choir of angels messaging her ears. The room came into focus as did her caretaker. The room was very pretty from what Pearl could make out in the dim light. And even the unicorn was beautiful, as angelic as her voice. She wore a very stylish outfit and Pearl guessed she must still be in Canterlot. Not many ponies wore clothes while not attending an event, and from the looks of the quality, this pony's family must be very well off. "My sister is making you some celery soup. It's good for the soul and tastes delicious." Pearl smiled to her savior and let a slight chuckle as this was the second time some pony made her celery soup after being unconscious. Pearl quickly realized something and shot up, franticly searching the room only to be restrained by the white unicorn. "Whoa there. Don't do that, you'll pass out again. Take it easy. Stay here and I'll go see how my sister is coming with that soup." The white unicorn went to the door and cracked it a bit not to let in too much light. "Oh, and by the way, I'm Sweetie Belle. It's nice to meet you. Now don't go anywhere." With that Sweetie Belle disappeared into the hall way leaving Pearl alone in the most comfortable bed she had ever had the pleasure of sleeping in.