Atlantis

The melodic chirps of the many birds flew with the cool air as the early gentle rays of the waking sun began to poke through the many leaves of a sleeping forest. The forest itself has tall and thick trees that housed many creatures. Its thick roots often created hollow caves for land creatures to shelter themselves and their families. Tall flowers and grasses swayed with the gentle breeze, startling the many insects that were still exhausted from their evening activities, while others flew gracefully with the breeze to start their day.

Accompanying the breeze were soft murmurs of a prayer from a pony—a mare—who sat by a small stream. Her yellow coat shined on the soft rays of the sun, and her dark-blue mane swayed gently with the passing breeze. Her soft murmurs were almost drowned by the different sounds of nature that echoed all throughout the forest.

The harmonious scene however was disrupted when birds squawked in panic, and flapped their wings viciously to escape the area. Branches shook violently, and water began to splash as frogs leaped in to swim and hide.

The mare opened her eyes wide and gasped when she felt a strong negative sensation that coursed around her surroundings. She stood up and noticed a thick tree, meters in front of her, glowed in a violent bright blue light. The air was filled with the rustling leaves, cries of birds, and then with otherworldly angry whispers. The glowing tree was radiating a bluish aura. The pony shivered, not because of the strange negative sensation she was feeling, but because of how cold the place suddenly became. She shook her head and started to pray once again, in hopes to ease the disturbed spirits of the forest.

Thin wispy-like rays began to stretch out from the glowing tree, dimming the entire area the longer the rays became. The pony slightly opened her eyes, in hopes for progress, however, she shut them close again and concentrated, as she tried to share her positive energy with the angry spirits.

A vicious cry echoed in the air, silencing every noise in the air. The grass and leaves blew violently, strangely without a violent air that would be causing it. The trees creaked and their roots were threatened to be removed from the earth. The stream vibrated violently, splashing water everywhere. The air cried in pain and anger, and the mare gasped in horror.

Blue pony-shaped spirits emerged from the glowing tree, their transparent butterfly-like wings flapped viciously, as their angry glowing eyes glared at the shivering mare. She took a step back, but stumbled and fell as the spirits hovered closer, mixing the air with their angry whispers.

Despite the bright blue glow from the tree, the area became darker and darker the closer the spirits hovered towards the mare. Just then, a golden ray penetrated the darkness. The angry spirits were confused, now that they found themselves under the warmth of the gentle ray of the morning sun. The violent air and the stream began to quiet down as the grass and trees began to freeze in peace. The mare blinked, and slowly she stood up. Closing her eyes, she whispered her thanks and prayed to the spirits.

Seconds became minutes, and soon, as she opened her eyes, she heard the peaceful forest once again. The spirits were gone. Birds began to fly and settle back on the trees as a brown figure jumped down from the branches.

The brown figure landed with a soft thud. With closed eyes, he slowly began to trot in place to stretch his limbs as he cracked his neck in the process. The mare sat down and quietly watched the stallion on the other side of the stream. Even though the stallion held a thick broad sword on his mouth, she couldn't help herself but to smile.

Satisfied that his body was now a hundred percent functioning, he stood on all four and took a deep breath. The cool air helped him feel relaxed, and he let out a very satisfied sigh, unceremoniously dropping his sword in the process. Opening his black eyes, he smiled awkwardly as he picked his sword and placed it back on his scabbard. With that done, he wiped a few strands of his black mane off of his eyes before he approached the yellow mare, only stopping on the other side of the stream.

“Not the best way to wake up,” he spoke with a shrug, “but I'm just glad it didn't become worse than that.”

“Thank you,” the mare gently said as she bowed her thanks.

“Eh?”

She smiled at him. “If it weren't for you, dear traveler, I wouldn't be able to calm the Sky Spirits in the forest.” She bowed again. “So, thank you, deeply.”

The stallion smiled back, albeit nervously. “Uh... But you were the one who did all the work, miss.” He looked up at the treetops and gestured with a hoof. “All I did was to bring some sunshine to see what was going on...”

She smiled and shook her head. “Dear traveler, you have done greater than that...” She turned and faced the tree that glowed earlier. “The Sky Spirits were once amiable gentle liasons between us and the spirit realm. Now,” her smile faded, replaced by a sad frown, “they are like malevolent demons that attack us...” She sighed before facing the stallion. Before she spoke, she smiled again. “But you have reminded them of the light. You have reminded them the times of peace and beauty... And for that, I thank you.”

The stallion smiled and shook his head. “I'm not sure if I got all of that. I just woke up, after all,” he shrugged. “But, I'll take the thanks then, if you insist.” He smiled and bowed. “The name's Gold, by the way.”

“Jinni, and it's a pleasure to know you, Sir Gold.” She bowed.

Gold waved his hoof awkwardly. “Don't call me sir, Miss Jin,” he chuckled nervously. “It makes me sound old...”

Jinni blinked, and chuckled, slightly covering her muzzle with a hoof. “All right then, Gold.” She then turned back to the tree and began to trot towards it.

Curious, Gold trotted through the cool stream, his hooves touching on the cold stones and soil underneath. “Wat'cha looking at?” he asked as he noticed the mare sat down and looked as if she was trying to collect something from the earth.

Turning, Jinni showed him her hoof. Finally out of the water, Gold shook his hooves before approaching the mare. He looked at her hoof, and saw sparkling dust powder of some sort.

He blinked. “What are those?”

“These are called Spirit Powder,” she explained as she studied the powder on her hoof. “A few years ago, the spirits would sprinkle these on slumbering travelers to heal their tired bodies and minds...”

“That would have been useful,” Gold commented.

“But now, their healing effects are gone...” she dusted her hoof before she stood back on all four.

“So...you're a scientist?”

She turned to him with an amused face. “Heavens, no,” she chuckled, “I am a shaman of the forest, and it's my job to restore the forest to its former beauty.”

He frowned. “Sounds like a tougher job than being a scientist...”

She frowned, but then flashed him a sad smile. “It is, but,” she looked above, smiling at the gentle rays poking through the sea of green leaves. “This is my home, and this forest is also the home of many creatures and spirits.” She looked at him after the stallion let out a low whistle of awe. “Oh yes,” she nodded, “I should thank you once again. This is the largest amount of powder dust that I studied for the longest time.” She turned and stared at the grass below her, which were twinkling. “I should thank you for the sunlight as well.” She faced him again with a determined frown. “Thanks to you, I now have enough reason to believe that the Sky Spirits aren't attacking travelers just because they became evil, or became resentful spirits! They're sick! I'm sure of it now. And they need help!”

He blinked, confused. “Um...okay?”

She brought a hoof to her chin. “Hm... If they truly were sick, then why didn't they told me about it?” She stared at the many trees in their immediate surroundings. “Maybe they're just afraid that the disease might spread, so they kept it to themselves?” She shook her head. “Maybe the trees hold clues to the forest's changes...” With that in thought, she trotted towards the tree that glowed in blue from earlier. She stood before it, and began to pray.

Gold just stared at her figure with a slightly arched eyebrow. He then shook his head, and afterwards, he trotted after her with a smile. “This forest is more mysterious than I thought...” he whispered to himself and stood beside the mare, who was studying the tree with a critical eye. “Are you sure you're not a scientist?”

She smiled while she kept her gaze on the tree. “No, I'm not.” She trotted around the tree, and poked her hoof on the roots, but after a few minutes, she sighed and resigned her search. “Hmm... It appears that there is no problem with the tree...”

“This tree is where those spirits come from, right?”

She nodded. “Yes. I could still feel them resting inside. Spirits usually live inside trees like this one.” She again brought a hoof to her chin. “If the trees are not the source of the problem plaguing the Forest of Spirits, I wonder what it may be...” Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud growling noise from the blushing stallion's stomach. “Sounds like somepony's hungry...” she chuckled.

“S-so-sorry...” he laughed nervously as he scratched his head with a hoof. “I just woke up during the commotion, and uh, yeah... The fruits in this forest aren't really...satisfying, so uh...”

“Not another word,” she smiled. “You've helped me quite a lot, so it's now my turn to help you.”

“I-if you're okay with it,” he smiled.

“It's no problem. There's a town nearby, which is only a couple of minutes away.” She walked pass him, and the stallion was eager to follow, thinking that she would lead the way, however, he frowned from disappointment when the mare sat on the ground and wiped a few twinkling dust powder from the grass. “I'm sorry for asking, but do you own a pouch?”

“Hm? Yeah, I do,” he decided to push his disappointment on a corner for a while, as he opened his small saddlebag and pulled out a small, empty and brown pouch bag. He sighed internally. The Bits he had were hard to earn, and easy to disappear... “Is this good?”

She smiled and nodded her thanks as the stallion hoofed her the pouch. “This will do. Thank you.” She then put a few dust powder inside the pouch before hoofing it back to the stallion. “I hope you don't mind if you'll help me some more.”

He shrugged after he put the pouch back inside his bag. “I've got nothing else to do for a while, so I don't mind,” but his stomach loudly reminded him of something. He chuckled nervously. “Of course, I need to eat something first.”

She chuckled. “Of course, but...” she frowned, “I couldn't leave the forest now. Not on this hour. I need to calm the other spirits in the forest.”

“Aw...” his ears drooped.

She smiled. “Oh, but don't worry. I'll let you go to town.”

He smiled nervously at her. “Er, yeah... Yeah, I could go there, but that's not really the problem...”

“Oh?”

“I...don't have any Bits on me at the moment...”

The air was suddenly quiet. The stallion avoided staring at the mare's eyes out of nervousness and humiliation, while the mare stared at the stallion in utter disbelief. Suddenly, she chuckled lively, and the stallion frowned at how pitiful he must be for the mare.

“I-I'm so sorry, Sir Gold...” she tried to stop herself from laughing. “B-but don't worry. There's a doctor in town that I want you to deliver the dusts. Tell him that I sent you, and he'll be more than happy to help you.”

“Um... By ‘he will help me’, you mean that he'll give me some food, right?” He flashed her a hopeful smile.

The mare chuckled some more. “You're funny, Sir Gold.” She nodded. “Of course that's what I meant.”

He smiled brightly. “Then what am I waiting here for!? Food, wait for me!” He hurried towards a direction, but skidded to a stop after he took a few gallops. He then turned and flashed a concerned frown at the confused mare. “You'll be okay all alone here, right?”

She blinked, and smiled as she nodded. “Of course. Don't worry about me, Sir Gold. I promise that I can take care of myself.”

“Promise me one other thing as well...”

She blinked, but nodded.

“When I get back, promise you'll allow me to hit you on the head if you will still call me ‘Sir Gold’, okay?”

She arched her eyebrow with a smile. The stallion chuckled and galloped towards town.