Quite a journey, aye?

[ As one of the founding members of Lore Gang, It turns out I've already covered most of Zerathur's lore in this old blog right here. So, I've decided to update it, re-write it, give the full treatment, you know? This is just a resumed version as well, so I can write a couple more blogs telling stories in between the big events if people want... I even have a couple planned. >3> ] Let's start from the beginning, shall we? Long ago, four tribes of ponies lived peacefully in the Northern areas of the world, and I'm pretty sure you all already know three of those: The Unicorns, who raised the sun and the moon; the Pegasi, who provided good weather for all; the Earth ponies, the hardworking kind who grew the food to provide to the three others; and finally, the Protoss, who maintained them all working in relative harmony through diplomacy. This system was anything but perfect, but it worked, and that was enough for the ponies at the time. However! Sooner rather than later, small grievances between the four began to appear, so small that they were barely noticeable... Yet, enough of them to call upon the attention of the siren creatures. They came, followed closely by a large blizzard, that then ravaged the lands, destroyed the growing crops, and covered the skies with a dark gray blanket of heavy clouds. The protoss, who needed solar energy to maintain their inner reserves, were the first to travel South to survive, going much farther than the other kinds ever would. Through deadlands, forests, over rivers and under mountains, the valley and the jungle they ventured, finally settling down on an island where no blizzard nor storm would ever fall upon. Without anyone to keep the three pony tribes together, mistrust began to form between them, and the rest is told in the celebration of Hearth's Warming in Equestria. Upon arrival, the protoss quickly dispersed through the island and formed clans and families, which in the following decades would grow larger and larger. The clans were never happy with one another and the lack of a central government that pulled them together helped with nothing. A powder keg just waiting to be lit by the smallest of sparks... And the spark that did blow it up wasn't small either. The assassination of Nico, one of the most influential clan leaders, led to the start of a bloody war, which continued for countless years. Until the day that a certain protoss came around and said 'hey, wars are dumb, we should stop having them'. Khas, the granddaughter of Nico, spent half of their lifespan (About 500 years) going around saying that to the leaders of each side of the conflict until they finally listened to her (It wasn't as simple as that, but I'm lazy, and this blog is already going to be quite long). More and more united under her flag, until the day the remaining warring clans were assimilated through force, and so began the Protoss Empire. The clans were turned to Castes, and each Caste had a specific job on their society (They were all of equal importance, and were treated as such). With time, most of the castes slowly joined together and formed four major castes: The Velgraviran, the caste of science; The Templars, the military caste; The Khôli, the caste of engineers and designers; The Duronbar, the caste of diplomats. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- The Naszberuk family: More than a thousand years have passed since the Protos Empire was formed. Two Protoss, one of the Khôli caste (Tulko) and one of the Velgraviran caste (Idrian), came together in marriage and gave life to three children. The oldest of them was Salazar Naszberuk (Assigned to Duronbar caste), the middle one was Zerathur Naszberuk (Assigned to the Teldari caste) and the youngest was Erian Naszberuk (Assigned to the Khôli caste). Zerathur, the middle child, was born with an illness known as Energy Bleeding, which meant that he would never live anywhere as much as any other protoss. The disease would slowly bleed out and poison his surroundings with his energies, giving life to inanimate objects and free thought to creatures whose brains were never meant to think in the first place. He would spend most of his childhood and teenhood in the city of Antioch, training to control his bleeding along with being tutored by other bleeders. Upon maturing into a full adult, the fifteen years old protoss continued to live in the city he grew in, taking on the role of experimenting with the bleeding of energy and tutoring immigrants about Psionics. It was rare for him to see his family. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- The Zerg menace and the Fall of Aiur: And then there were the Zergs, a species that dwelled in the deepest and darkest corners of the planet. Hundreds of different hives swarmed the caves and underground passages, hunting and devouring anything foolish enough to walk into their domains. In the last couple of decades, a large battle sprouted down beneath, and the outcome was the enslaving of the Zerg queens, who were forced into servitude by the Overmind, a formidable psionic being of unknown origin. This 'Overmind' individual had only one goal, which was to preserve all species from extinction. Let's just say that the practice wasn't as pretty as the theory. The Zergs swarmed and overrun smaller species that they considered endangered, infecting their bodies and stealing their DNA. The ones who were lucky enough to just be assimilated were turned to nothing but husks, unable to think or move freely. Due to the low fertility rate of the Protoss, they too were considered by the Zergs as a species near extinction... They would be their next target, perhaps the biggest until now. Overmind sent a couple of Queens to infiltrate Aiur and destroy the power facilities in the city of Antioch. Adeena was one of the said queens. During the mission, that took place in the middle of the night, she stopped in the outer rings of the suburban area of the city. Her sensitive senses could pick up the deep chords of an instrument playing off in the distance, in such a way that captivated her deeply. She followed the music and watched from the shadows as a protoss, Zerathur, played his piano in the middle of his garden. For reasons she could not explain, she felt touched by such sight, compelled to sit down by the stallion's side to listen to the soft melodies he played. But alas, he stopped playing and stared in confusion at her glowing eyes, the only thing that revealed her presence in such darkness. Adeena fled and continued on her mission, but this time, she would do her best and pull as many strings possible to make it so that this one protoss would survive the attack that followed. The invasion was swift and efficient. A large explosion destroyed the Nova Antioch's Reactors, turning off all automatic defensive positions. The military forces were quick to respond but were easily overrun without their drones and mechs to support. Blood and corpses covered the streets that night. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Love: Some managed to flee from Aiur, but most of the survivors of the Protoss kind would be hunted down by the Zergs or other creatures that hid within the Great Southern Forests. One of the most successful groups of them was the one led by Zerathur, who was able to communicate with the trees and find safer ways to travel and calm spots to rest on. The group was rather small and consisted of a couple of Protoss, two unicorns, and a changeling queen, the last three being creatures that immigrated to Aiur. The changeling queen (Named Astriana Del Sombre) used to rule over the Southern Hives but had allowed one her sisters to take her place so that she could leave and join the Protoss Empire. There, she'd benefit from the advanced technology, beautiful landscapes, and equalitarian society. After months of traveling, the survivors finally crossed the Southern Forests. Zerathur and Astria had become lovers in the meantime, chatting and tagging along with each other whenever it was possible. Upon reaching Southern Hives territory, however, the two were forced to split. She wanted to stay in her Hive where she thought to be safe, but Zerathur had to keep on leading the group North. He left with the promise of coming back as soon as it was possible. When he did come back, a hundred years had passed, and the only thing that was left of Zerathur's first and last lover was a crystalline rose he had given her, object he held dearly onto until his death. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Arrival on Equestria, Stasis, and Probes: Zerathur and the survivors reached Equestria. There, they settled in an old house near the small village known as Ponyville. They rebuilt the place and avoided contact with Equestrians, few being the ones that ventured out to befriend them. As time went, however, they began to open up and some even started to work, slowly integrating into the equestrian society. Such peace would not last, for a pack of Zergs found this group of remnants as they gathered in the garden of the manor. The creatures slew all of them, except Zera, who was still under Adeena's protection. Maddened with loneliness and deep in sadness, the protoss buried those that he called of friends and hid down below in the basement of the house, setting himself in Stasis. It was during this time that a small probe wandered into Equestria. Waste was its name, an AI created by Erian, Zerathur's sister, in the hopes of finding her older brother. She was unable to fully program the probe in time, as she too was found and by the Zergs, although managing to escape, which meant that it did not know its purpose upon waking up. It spent countless years floating about, learning about things, always curious about why it existed. It felt alone, so it built others like itself and gave them personalities, despite all of them being part of the same AI. It still felt alone. It began to explore and found out about the ponies. It even befriended some, but still felt quite alone and meaningless. So it decided to search for its maker, so it could ask them why they were created. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Awakening: Waste found Zerathur and woke him up from Stasis. The protoss, who stayed conscious through the whole process, something that was never meant to happen, still had the body of a young protoss but a mind much older. During the first few months from awakening, he'd be grumpy, depressive, anti-social and socially awkward to a very high level. With his help, Waste would proceed to search for its maker, finally succeeding in such a task when coming across an old lab. She was inside of an Immortal, and automata which kept her alive despite the heavy wounds caused by the zergs. After a full month of recovering, with the aid of Zerathur's healing spells, she was able to recover and answer to Waste's questions. It was during this time that Zerathur came across Adeena for the second time, but this time, she would do her best to not leave his side. In the beginning, he hated her very existence and what she represented, but in the following months would learn to forgive her previous actions, one small step at a time. From times to times, he would even chat with her in a non-agressive manner. The four settled down in the old manor that the protoss group once lived in, rebuilding it once again. Zerathur joined the Mercy Guard and quickly raised to Dr. Cmmdr. rank, thanks to his previous expertise in medicine. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Family meeting: Erian built up a large psionic emitter to attract other Protoss survivors to Equestria, and the first to come was Salazar Naszberuk. He was the leader of the survivors out of Equestria and had the primary goal of, not rebuilding their society, but retake their homeland from the Zergs. He successfully recruited Erian to the cause, and the same can be said about the other remnants who came, attracted by the psionic emitter. Zerathur, however, did not agree with his methods and discussed with the older brother frequently, all of it culminating in a heated debate that lasted for long hours, which broke the two brothers apart. Salazar and all the other protoss (Along with all of the probes) left in the next morning, armed to their teeth with old Protoss weaponry, leaving Zera behind. Adeena, who had been missing ever since Salazar arrived, finally returned to Zerathur, helping him cope with the sudden loneliness. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Defeat: Zerathur cried silently as the trees brought the news of Aiur's 'reclamation'. It turned out that Salazar was never really what he said to be, actually being the Zerg Overmind in disguise. He had led the last protoss survivors to a trap, and they were all slain in combat. For a third time, Zerathur had lost it all, and his energy bleeding became unbearable. He wandered around Equestria for some time before finally laying down to meditate in the middle of an open field. His energies flowed freely, his eyes lost their glow and his chest stopped moving. From his physically deceased body, small leaves began to sprout, and from his hooves, roots made their way into the ground. From his spirit, a tall tree began to grow, spreading upwards just as it did downwards. New trees sprouted from the roots, and in the following years, a large forest began to cover the once empty valley. Anyone that came near the area with harmful intentions would be leashed at by the trees, that swung their branches almost consciously. Those who didn't, however, were slowly cured of their ailments. Adeena did not leave Zerathur's side during and even after his death. She still sits next to the tall tree that came from his body, her joints solidified by the ever-growing chitin, waiting for the day she can join him in an equal fate. And you thought we were done here, aye? Sike! There's a new arc brewing, and I'm certain you all know about it by now. Zerathur woke up from the emptiness, his hearts beating once more. He has raised from his wooden grave, cured of the energy bleeding that he always carried, and now sits in his house, grumpier than ever.