Headcanon: Draconequui [outdated]

From intelligent life all throughout the cosmos, theories about the universe's formation have been put forth by the great thinkers, philosophers, and commoners alike. Some say that the universe has simply always been, while others say that the universe goes through cycles of death and rebirth. One theory states that the current iteration of the universe was created by some incomprehensible force, and that this stage of the universe will eventually cease to be, destroyed by the  antithesis of creation. This theory states that the current universe will collapse into Nothing, from which it will be born anew.




Overview
The draconequui are one of the two primordial races, present in the universe since the universe itself was born. They embody the metaphysical, or "that which cannot itself be touched"; philosophical concepts such as life and death, time and fate, chaos, and the subjective abstractions of good and evil. Their population is scant and limited compared to most other races; currently only a few hundred exist, but this is made up for by their exceedingly long lifespans, fueled by their Spirits and the immense amount of inherent magic each draconequus possesses.

The draconequus homeworld of Vanaheim exists in a binary system, orbiting the same star as the alicorn homeworld of Elysium. Vanaheim and Elysium are the oldest surviving worlds in the current cosmos, and are two of nine other major realms. Of all the other realms, draconequui are only native to Vanaheim; travel between worlds is made possible by the race's access to interstellar wormholes. In ancient art, draconequui have often been mistakenly portrayed as dragons, and have inspired many mythologies and theories about the inner workings of the cosmos.



Appearance
The outward appearance of a draconequus depends entirely on what they represent. They may have the typical physique of a Western dragon, or they may have no limbs at all. Some may have many limbs or no wings, and some may manifest with two heads. As of yet there have never been any instances of identical twins, although opposing forces, as well as two draconequui who embody the same Spirit, will usually have similar appearances.



Spirits and magic
Each draconequus is a vessel for the literal Spirit of what they embody. The Spirits themselves appear simply as glowing, floating orbs; inside a vessel the Spirit is interwoven with the heart, pulsing with each beat and fueling the draconequus' immense stores of magic and long lifespans. The Spirit and a draconequus' magic are two entirely separate entities; if a draconequus is drained of their magic the Spirit will remain untouched, though without the aid of their magic the more "physically impossible" draconequui would have difficulty getting around. After a while the draconequus' magic will steadily be replaced by their Spirit, though the draconequus will never be as powerful as they were before their magic was drained.

A draconequus' outward appearance is the tangible manifestation of the Spirit they possess. It is possible for Spirits to split into pieces to create multiple embodiments for the same metaphysical concept; the most possible of any one Spirit is three, before the Spirit is overwhelmed by the draconequus' magic. If the Spirit is to split again after three, the oldest draconequus of that Spirit will suffer what is comparable to cardiac arrest and die (however this has only happened once or twice in recorded history). Since a draconequus' body is only a projection of their Spirits, upon death their bodies will simply dissolve into nothing. Separation of the Spirit from the host vessel results in the immediate death of the vessel; in the past there have been greedy draconequui who have attempted to steal the Spirits of other draconequui who share their Spirit, to add to their own power. A whole Spirit is exponentially more powerful and renders its host draconequus immortal. If the Spirit is fated to be split in preparation for a second vessel, the draconequus in possession of the whole Spirit will feel a sharp pain in their chest. When next the draconequus sleeps one portion of the Spirit will leave them, to be subsequently retrieved by the Reaper and delivered back to the embodiment of Life. There it will gestate and form a new vessel for itself.

Draconequui whose Spirits have split are mortal, but may live hundreds of thousands of years; over time their connection with their Spirits will simply become weaker. If there are two draconequui in possession of the same Spirit and one of them dies, either the Reaper will deliver the Spirit of the deceased vessel back to the embodiment of Life, and from there the Spirit will stay and gestate (if it is fated that it will be reborn within a decade), or the Spirit will go to the draconequus who holds its other half. Spirits not fated to be reborn are drawn to the draconequus who holds its other half like a magnet and don't need to be delivered; the draconequus will awake the next day feeling refreshed, and will be rendered immortal.

All Spirits exist in pairs of opposing forces, and oftentimes end up drawn to each other like it was fate. Interactions between opposing Spirits can range from romantic to all-out war on each other; wars between two whole Spirits have decimated entire worlds. A draconequus' magic is most effective on its opposing force, and largely ineffective on another draconequus who shares the same Spirit; two Chaos Spirits at war would result in a stalemate, and would be similar to trying to put out a fire with gasoline.

The Spirits of Chaos and Harmony are anomalies. Chaos manifests as a draconequus, while Harmony manifests as an alicorn and must be born to an alicorn parent. Harmony's vessel is capable of containing the physical forces which draconequui's bodies are unable to, to maintain harmony on worlds, while Chaos is capable of bending the laws of space, time, and the universe itself in opposition of everything Harmony represents.

Draconequui are capable of containing only the Spirit they manifested from. The only exceptions to this rule are Life and Death, who are capable of carrying multiple Spirits at once.



Abilities
To simplify: Alicorns control and cause to happen, while draconequui manage forces already present. The state of a draconequus' being makes them incapable of containing the physical forces the alicorns embody. A draconequus may be able to move the Sun over Gaia but it will behave differently depending on the draconequus' inherent magic; Death would receive no response from the Sun, but the Spirit of Chaos would cause the Sun to behave erratically.

Draconequui's mere presence could influence other beings and/or the immediate area, depending on what they represent. Chaos is capable of remaking entire worlds into whatever they wish them to be; Death would generate feelings of unease, and Time might inspire a sense of urgency when there had not been one previously. Draconequui draw power from being exposed to that which they represent; a Chaos in a world of Harmony still possesses extraordinary magical ability, but in a world overtaken by chaos the same draconequus would grow exponentially more powerful.

Aside from their god-like magical powers, the race has easy access to interstellar gateways, which are located on their homeworld of Vanaheim and which they use to get around the cosmos. Generally these gateways are kept under lock and key so as to prevent meandering Spirits who would mean harm to other worlds from using them; Spirits wishing to use the gateways must first state their intentions in Vita's court, before Life and Death themselves, before being granted permission. Chaos Spirits alone possess the ability to open portals to other worlds and dimensions out of thin air, and because of this the more malicious and over-eager draconequui often try to bribe the current Chaos Spirits into doing them a favor.



Reproduction
Simply put, draconequui do not reproduce amongst themselves. All new draconequui are born from the embodiment of Life, Vita, and live with her through their infant and toddler years. Pups are born live and are typically able to open their eyes within hours of birth, and learn to walk in their first few weeks or months, though pups with many or disproportionate limbs often take longer to learn. Pups may be born individually or in small litters, and can come in a wide array of shapes and sizes.

Draconequui age much more slowly than most other species; pups are considered infants until the age of five years, their toddler years being between the ages of five and ten. Through the first ten years of their lives pups will learn to talk and control any magical outbursts. Pups do not nurse, nor do they need to eat or drink until they leave to live with their predecessors; they receive all the nourishment they need from being in close proximity to Vita and absorbing her magic. Vita herself doesn't need to eat but she often will around the pups when they're within a year of leaving; the pups will begin to imitate her and start feeding themselves, and Vita will begin to wean them off of her magic.

When draconequui die, their soul ascends to the astral plane and their bodies dissolve into nothing, but their Spirit lingers in the physical world, waiting to be reborn. The Reaper, Mortimer, will come to retrieve Spirits of deceased draconequui and take them back to Vanaheim; once there he will pass the Spirit back to Vita (they both consider it an extremely private and intimate process unworthy of prying eyes). Spirits on worlds consumed by Oblivion will escape Oblivion himself to get back to Vita; the Spirit will return to the last place their host vessel knew, and will wait there until Mortimer retrieves them. Reincarnated Spirits will have no memory of their previous incarnations, but may often experience deja vu in places they've never been or situations they themselves have never been in.

Draconequui frequently pair off with members of other species. If the pair conceive a child, the child will acquire traits from both parents but will most commonly be a member of the other species. The sole exception to this rule are the Chaos Spirits, whose children may be what is referred to as a "false draconequus", a member of the other species, or a mix of the two. "Half-bloods", as they are most often called, do not possess a Spirit or even a fraction of one; they may or may not possess magical abilities (however if they do possess any measure of magic it will be far weaker than anything their draconequus parent is capable of), and typically live a significantly shorter length of time than their draconequus parent (about the typical lifespan of a member of the other species parent). Draconequus and alicorn pairs are by far the most common.



Hierarchy
The hierarchy between draconequui who share a Spirit is best described as a student-teacher relationship. Predecessors are those who are knowledgeable in the practices of that which they represent, and are charged with passing on this knowledge to successors when their successors come of age. Much of the time predecessors are retired from their practices, but some either work alongside their successors or are unwilling to relinquish their thrones, while the more power-hungry predecessors may try to kill their successors. A draconequus practicing their magic on other worlds is referred to as the "Acting Spirit" (i.e., Discord is the current Acting Chaos).

Predecessors have refused to tutor their successors before. In these instances the pup will stay with Vita for as long as it takes to find a suitable substitute mentor, which could very well be until the pup is able to go live on their own. Vita will first look to the predecessor's opposing Spirit, and if they are determined to be a suitable mentor will entrust the pup to them.
Successors by and large learn on their own, and are guided by their Spirits. Their predecessors/mentors offer guidance, but ultimately a successor's practices will be indistinguishable from those of their predecessors.

Not every draconequus will have a successor in their lifetime. Some draconequui will be long dead before their Spirit manifests again. Some draconequui simply grow weary of existing, or at worst are driven mad by the long years; in these instances Mortimer steps in and provides them merciful relief.



Royalty
Vanaheim is overseen by the four draconequui of Life, Death, Time and Fate. Life and Death reside in a sprawling gothic cathedral in Vanaheim's largest metropolis. The cathedral features two towers on the south side; Vita lives in the east tower with her pups, and Mortimer resides in the west tower. The towers are off-limits to visitors to the cathedral except by invitation. The main hall of the cathedral is open to visitors and petitioners; Vita holds open court every day from 10am to 2pm to hear propositions and grievances from the inhabitants of Vanaheim, but otherwise spends most of her time in her tower with her pups. Mortimer spends the majority of his time ferrying souls on the astral plane and seldom leaves his tower, but on the rare occasion may attend court with Vita.

To the west, in the shadow of Mortimer's tower, lies the Hall of Those Prior. A mausoleum dedicated to deceased draconequui, here is a solemn place, with corridors devoted to each class of Spirit. Floor-to-ceiling artistic depictions of the deceased decorate the walls of the corridors, with a depiction of the Spirit's practices opposite them; these manifest in a reserved space in the corridor only after the Spirit has passed. Friends and families of the deceased commonly hold vigils and memorials before their loved one's portrait, while predecessors may bring their successors to the Hall to teach them about their predecessors' practices.
The Hall is a source of wariness and unease for some. The plans drawn up by the Oracle called for only a limited number of spaces in each corridor; the destined number of draconequui that will manifest for each Spirit. Mortimer sometimes visits the Hall, when not ferrying souls or at Vita's side, and is often assailed with questions about death and the afterlife from other visitors, which frequently include inquiries about how their loved ones are faring in the afterlife and if visitations are allowed (or wise). Curiously, there seem to be no reserved spaces for the Spirits of Life, Death, Time, or Fate in the Hall; instead, at the entrance is an enormous stone relief of Life and Death, entwined and encircling a brilliant white, pearlescent gem.


Chrono lives in a massive clocktower on the north side of the city, and leaves his tower even more rarely than Mortimer does. Here he manages the sands upon which is recorded every moment of the cosmos and which manifests inside the uppermost reaches of his tower. The sand falls down through the clocktower, powering the mechanisms which drive the tower's clock. From the clocktower the sand falls down into the deep, underground chamber of the Oracle, melting to form the enormous, glass ball on which she sits and from which the fates of all things are written. Visitors to the Oracle's chamber must be invited, and are led down to meet her by Chrono.

In addition to his clocktower, Chrono oversees a massive library, which shares the same plaza upon which the clocktower sits. Here, historical texts and artifacts of worlds past and present are stored, and timelines of current and former worlds are recorded. A sprawling underground canyon acts as a vault for occult texts and artifacts. The library is tended by two owls; Di, a barn owl who gives tours of the library and helps visitors find what they're looking for, and Nox, a temperamental Eagle owl whose eternal complaint is visitors' inability to put books back on the shelves where they got them. Books cannot be checked out and taken off the library plaza; if anyone tries to remove a book or artifact it will simply disappear when they cross the plaza's boundary, and reappear back in its place on its shelf.
The library is open to visitors during the day. The vault is strictly off-limits, and is protected by certain enchantments, set by Chrono, that create an endless time loop for Spirits who trespass. Chrono may or may not immediately come to lift the enchantment and remove the problem draconequus from the premises; most often he waits some time before doing so.

Chrono's clocktower has become something of a sightseeing attraction. No visitors are allowed inside unless summoned, but this, and the stipulation of an invitation being required to see the Oracle, hasn't really stopped the more brash draconequui from intruding. Uninvited guests inside the clocktower are simply removed; uninvited guests to the Oracle are never heard from again.




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Rippin' pictures from other submissions because I just want to get this out there already
Overhaul of my original draconequus headcanon. I have lost many nights of sleep and endured multiple migraines trying to make sense of all this uuuuugh

<sub>Need-to-know information for future submissions

inb4 "my daddy is Death" and Chrono shouts at the youth to get off his lawn</sub>



Discord, draconequus race, My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic © Hasbro/fyre-flye

Vita and Mortimer from here
Discord from here