The Long Dead Gods AU (Fanfiction)

Okay, I didn't know that private worlds were only for patreons, so if anyone actually sees this, it's your own fault for coming here. Warning: My Little Pony content ahead. Someday, probably when the show ends, I'll adapt this to be a proper, standalone world.   ----   The Gods are long dead, but their fragmented power and ruins still dot the world of Equestria, calling to those who would use and misuse them. Out to the east across the sea lies the continent of Elrathia, where even older things were worshiped.   Back during the God Wars, long before the rule of the Sisters, the gods would empower their champions with shards of their might. When they died, this power dissolved into the Aether, resurfacing at times in individuals known as the Infused, demigods with varying degrees of power. A royal family in Canterlot is rumored to be a safe haven for these Infused, or perhaps a training ground.   Gossip stirs, in tabloids and tavern conversations, of anarchy. Groups that oppose Celestia's rule. Terrorists. Free thinkers. Advocates of democracy and freedom, and rebellion. Each one a different reason, each one spectacularly shut down or catastrophically failed. Could there be a thread running through these gangs of disloyal criminals? At night, some ponies dream of fangs in the dark, and a green and gold eye piercing their souls. Whispers of the times that came before. Of Gods long dead.   Of a war that never ended.