It began with the dreams...
They were short at first, momentary glimpses spaced days or even weeks apart. But before long they started coming every night. Each time darker and more threatening than the last.
And then... the damn burst.
The landscape was bleak. Scratch that, bleak was an understatement. Gray rocky hills, dead twisted trees and bushes, not a sign of life for miles in every direction. And yet the road on which her hooves plodded was a sign of civilization, however far off it lay.
Time was meaningless in the gray landscape. Whether it had been minutes or days the lone figure traveled the road with hardly a sign of it changing. The low hanging grey clouds obscured both sun and moon alike, leaving the landscape below in an ever continuous gray twilight. And then, suddenly, the road ended.
The mare found herself on the outskirts of what might have once been a town. The buildings were strange though,crumbling as they were they would have surpassed even the tallest towers of Canterlot were they restored. Empty shops lined the lowest floors of the buildings, smashed windows revealed gaping dark holes like mouths of some hideous creature waiting to gobble her up.
She pressed on.
Something was drawing her, though she knew not what.
Around the corner she halted again, the body of a titanic beast of some sort lay in the road. As gray and lifeless as the landscape, it's body appeared armored, and yet time had raised it's hand to it as well as the armor was falling apart, showing deep holes in the body. Strangely it had no legs but weird metallic stumps that looked like the axles on carts.
It took the mare a minute to realize such a beast might not have ever been a living creature, but was instead some form of transport, but with no sign of yoke or harness it was inexplicable how it could be moved. Circling the strange carriage slowly, the mare continued on. The pull was getting stronger. And something told her she didn't have time to waste.
More and more of the strange vehicles appeared as she traveled the roads. Many in different sizes, some even appeared to have crashed into each other, but again without a sign of locomotive properties, how such crashes had occurred was impossible to determine.
As she continued on a deep sense of foreboding chilled her deeply. Looking around the city was as empty as ever, but the feeling of eyes on the back of her neck was one that could not be shaken. She was watched, but by who?
Or what?
Swallowing nervously, she continued on, following the strange pull the mare was eventually lead across the city to the far side where another smaller city lay. This one seemed in even worse condition. Many huge holes appeared to have been dug randomly around the city, some buildings looked like that had been violently torn apart from the inside out,and there were other even stranger looking vehicles laying about torn to pieces.
The mare pressed on, crossing over what might have been a wire fence once but had long since been crushed into the dirt. One of the large vehicles she had to circle to move on. Strangely it seemed to have a large pipe sticking out of the top half of it. And the wheels were wrapped with long bands that ran front to back. And there were other strange devices that seemed to have large stiff wings. How could they possibly fly if the wings could not bend?
No matter, the mare felt the draw was becoming really strong now. She approached a large hole in one of the buildings, the darkness gaped at her like a deep pit. Lighting her horn she began to descend. Room after room was piled with rubble and trash. Twice she came to dead ends and had to turn around, but always she moved deeper and deeper.
Again the feeling of eyes on her neck came back and she looked back. Only the darkness of the hall was visible beyond her light spell. And yet there was a sense of something else there too...
Trembling hooves moved her on as the walls shifted from stone to some sort of metal. She was close now, she could feel it resonating in her chest like the beat of a drum. He ears swiveled as they picked out a faint sound, steady and soft.
Eventually she came to a huge set of metal doors. Bigger even than the doors of Canterlot castle. The metal was scorched and twisted, leaving a hole just large enough for her to squeeze through. The room beyond appeared very important, strange mechanical devices lined the walls. Ahead something was glowing in the darkness.
The mare moved forward and saw what appeared to be a set of numbers. The noise was louder now, coinciding with the numbers. Beating with every number that flipped by. A clock. But the numbers weren't counting up. They were counting down.
00:00:25
00:00:24
00:00:23
The mare worried, the numbers counting down meant something was going to happen, but what? Could it be stopped? Was there even a chance?
00:00:20
00:00:19
There was a large red button under the numbers. Should she press it? Would that stop the count down? What if it just activated whatever the numbers were counting down to?
00:00:15
00:00:14
It was a risk, but it was all she could think of doing. Reaching out her hoof trembled as it neared the button.
00:00:12
00:00:11
00:00:10
Something loud thudded against the doors, distracting the mare. Loud growling followed and the screech of something sharp on metal.
00:00:07
00:00:06
Something was coming, she had to get away, but the timer... Something slammed into the doors again. For a moment lights flickered in the room and shadowy figures seemed to appear in the dim corners.
00:00:04
00:00:03
She had to. She just had to.
She hesitated.
00:00:01
00:00:00
'ACTIVATION'
A rumbling noise different from the pounding sounded through the room. A streak of green light suddenly split the darkness ahead of the mare. Slowly it widen as unseen doors rolled back, revealing a glass window peering into some chamber.
Inside was a beast of some kind, suspended in a green glow. The creature was curled tightly, but began unwinding, glowing eyes opened as they looked right at the mare.
It couldn't be, the creature... It looked like...
The mare turned as a loud growl sounded behind her. The thing from before had smashed through the door. A massive thing of shadow with glowing read eyes. She barely had time to register it before it leap on her and proceeded to tear her throat out.
“AAAAHHHHHHH!”
The scream would have echoed through all of Canterlot castle at such a volume. Luckily Princess Celestias room was enchanted with a soundproofing spell. However, there was at least one other soul who felt the distress and hurried to her.
“Dearest sister,” Luna spoke as she glided in through the balcony open to predawn sky, “Whatever is the mater...?”
Luna trailed off at the end. Celestia was sitting bolt upright in bed, the normally calm and patient princess looked a wreck. Bags were under her eyes, sweat coated her form, and all of her was trembling worse than a certain pegasus of Ponyville.
“Tia,” Luna muttered, dropping her formalities as she trotted over to hug her sister, “What happened? Speak to me.”
Celestia reached for a glass of water she kept on her nightstand, not trusting her magic to work at the moment. After she'd taken a few gulps of water and regained her breath she gave Luna a look that, to be perfectly honest, scarred the night princess deeply.
“Luna...” Celestia muttered hoarsely, “He lied to us.”
Something about the way she said 'he' was enough for Luna to start putting it together and a moment later Luna went paler than the full moon that hung in the sky.
“What... what can we do?” Luna muttered, her own throat going dry.
Celestia sighed, “As much as I hate to say it, we must once again rely on Twilight and her friends.”
“But Tia, you know what that means.”
“I know Luna, but we have no choice. If my dream was true, we do not have much time. Twilight and her friends will have to make this trip, or the entire world will be destroyed.”
Chapter 1 - A History Lesson
It was a beautiful day in Equestria. The sun shone, the birds sang, and on the train tracks between Ponyville and Canterlot a certain blue pegasus lay stretched across them tied down with thick strands of rope. As Rainbow Dash struggled against the bonds the perpetrator of this villainous scheme sat on a rock nearby, twirling his long thin mustache as he sipped at a glass of chocolate milk.
“Discord!” Dash screamed at him, “You won't get away with this!”
“Oh really Dash how cliché can you get?” Discord pretended to yawn.
“You're one to talk,” she fired back, “You're the one who dreamed all this up to begin with.”
“You really do need to learn the fine line between cliché and 'classic',” Discord replied, “cliché means doing something that has been done a million times before but nobody much cares for it. A classic is something that's been done a million times before but everyone loves it.”
“But I don't love this!”
“A matter of tastes my dear,” Discord waved his paw dismissively, “something else you need to improve.”
The sound of the train whistle interrupted Dash's reply. Discord pulled out an oversized pocket watch with hands that spun randomly yet seemed to make some sort of sense to him as he huffed, “Late again. They really need to work on their scheduling better.”
Dash could just see the smoke from the train coming around the bed when their came a loud yell from the rocks above. “I'll save you!”
From the rocks above came the clatter of hooves as a truly odd sight bounded down towards them. Applejack, minus her hat, ran pellmell down towards them. A saddle was strapped on her back while Pinkie Pie rode her friend, dressed in a strange double breasted red coat with a golden sash, blue pants, black boots, and sporting a wide, flat brimmed red hat.
“I'll save you, Nell!” Pinkie called again as they hurried down the mountainside.
“Who's Nell?” Dash muttered, but she didn't have much time to ponder it as the train was getting closer by the second.
“Miss. Pie-Right,” Discord smirked, “I should have known you'd show up. You shan't have her! If I can't have Miss Dash for my own then no one will! Nothing shall come between me and my love!”
Discord paused for a moment and thought, “Well, maybe not 'love'... let's just say I like her a lot.”
“You shan't get away with this Discord!” Pinkie called as they continued to race down the mountain, getting closer and closer as did the train.
The draconiquus sighed rubbing his paw over his eyes, “Really? Do I have to give you ponies lessons in creativity or something?”
Applejack had just landed on the level ground beside the train tracks as the train came around the bend. It would be practically a neck and neck race as she pounded down the road towards Dash as the train chugged along not far behind. Dash struggled at the ropes as best she could but they were tied really tight. She'd almost gotten a hoof free when her heart sank as Applejack tripped over a rock and she and Pinkie went tumbling to the ground.
“Aw,” Discord grinned, “Looks like I win.”
Dash couldn't help scream as the train was suddenly upon her.
*FLASH*
All three mares plus one draconiquus reappeared in the cabin of the same train where Twilight and Rarity seemed to be involved in a game of chess.
“No fare Discord,” Applejack muttered spitting out the bit in her mouth before walking over to a nearby bench where her hat sat waiting for her, “You put that rock there didn't you?”
“Now Applejack, don't be a sore looser,” Discord muttered as he floated nearby enjoying a nice homemade apple pie, “We agreed to the game and the rules. If you and Miss Pie could save Dash before the train got to her then I'd help you out next harvest season. And if I won I get free apple pies for life from your farm.”
“It's just apple pies,” Pinkie bounce up to AJ, now out of the silly clothing she'd had on before, “It's not he wanted free everything from your farm, or your Element of Loyalty, or to turn you to stone...”
“Thank you Pinkie, we get the picture,” AJ sighed as she pressed her hat back on her head.
“What I don't think is fare is why did I have to play the damsel in distress!?” Dash grumbled, “Why not Fluttershy? Or heck, Rarity would be better.”
“Do use your head Dash,” Discord sighed, “Fluttershy doesn't like these rough-n-tumble games and Miss Rarity is playing with Twilight. You were the only pony available to play the, heh, 'damsel'.”
“But why me?” Dash pressed, “Pinkie would be better, or Applejack.”
“Dash we drew straws fare and square,” Applejack sighed as she settled in, “You got the short straw so you had to be the damsel remember? Believe me, I'd rather have been the hero than the steed.”
“Fine,” Dash groused, “But next time we're doing it my way. I got the perfect set up for a Daring-Do style rescue. All we need are some penguins and a giant vat of fish flavored yogurt, and...”
“Canterlot next stop!” came the call of the conductor down the cabins, “Please secure your personal belongings and prepare to exit the train!”
Dash groaned loudly as Discord chuckled, “better luck next time Dash.”
When the group finally disembarked at Canterlot they were met by royal guard and lead to a carriage that would take them to the castle, if for no other reason that it mad the local citizens feel a little safer to think Discord was being watched at all times, even though they knew he could turn the whole city into pudding at any time.
“Not a bad idea...” Discord muttered under his breath.
“Say something, Discord?” Twilight asked glancing up at the draconiquus.
“Oh nothing my dear,” he smiled and gave a wink seemingly at nopony present.
“I just wish you three hadn't played such games all the way to Canterlot. You gave the engineers several panic attacks with how close you cut it.”
“Oh come now it can't be all bad...”
“One of them suffered a minor heart attack and had to be hurried to the Canterlot general Hospital after we arrived.”
“Alright alright, no more tying ponies to railroad tracks.”
As they continued across town Twilight couldn't help yawning several times, almost dozing off once or twice.
“Twilight dear, are you alright?” Rarity asked with more than a touch of concern in her voice, “You could barely focus on the game on the way here and now you're practically dozing off. You look like you haven't slept well in days.”
“That's because I haven't,” Twilight muttered through another yawn, “I keep having these startling dreams. I can't remember them but every time I wake up I feel so shocked I can't get back to sleep. I've looked through every book on dream analysis and self hypnosis I can find but nothing seems to work.”
“Well, um, maybe Princess Luna could help?” Fluttershy ventured tentatively, “You know, if she isn't too busy or anything. She is the guardian of dreams...”
“Now that's the ticket,” Applejack smiled, “I'm sure the princess can fix whatever problem you're having with these nightmares Twilight.”
Twilight nodded somewhat noncommittally as they approached the plaice gates. Once they stopped before the doors the royal guard stood ready as everyone piled out and trooped inside. As usual the plaice was beautiful but Twilights eyes were so bleary she could barely taken in the decor as her shuffling hooves guided her automatically to the throne room.
“Announcing the arrival of Princess Twilight Sparkle and company!” one of the guard stallions shouted making Twilight wince at the noise.
“ 'And company'?” Discord huffed, “What am I, chopped celery?” Immediately after saying so his torso turned into an oversized can with a label stating 'Chopped Celery' as if to highlight his question.
The guard and the ponies present payed him no mind though as Discord huffed, switching back to normal (or as 'normal' as he ever got).
“It's good to see you all,” Celestia smiled as she and Luna stood from their thrones and approached the group. Tired as she was, twilight couldn't help noticing the bags under Celestias eyes as well. It seemed the princess of the sun had been lacking in sleep too.
“Sister?” Luna asked looking at Celestia.
“Yes Luna,” Celestia replied, apparently agreeing to an unheard question. Turning to look at Discord the sun princess stated, perhaps a bit more formally than necessary, “Discord, would you please go with my sister for the moment? She has some questions she needs to ask you.”
Discord perhaps for the first time Twilight had ever seen, looked a little uneasy, but nodded as he followed Luna out of the room. As soon as the doors closed behind them Celestia sighed and turned back towards her throne, beckoning Twilight and her friends along the way, “You'll have to forgive me Twilight, the last few days have been rather stressful.”
“Well what the hay has been goin' on princess?” Applejack asked her normal straight forward attitude cutting to the point.
Celestia managed a weak smile as she sat on her throne again, “Always the honest one Applejack... If you must know, Luna and I gathered you here because we need your help once again.”
“You can count on us Princess,” Dash grinned throwing out her chest as she fluttered above the group, “We can handle anything the universe can throw at us.”
“I hope so Rainbow Dash,” Celestia sighed, “Because if not, we could very well be facing the end of the world.”
The silence that followed seemed to ring in the great hall for an eternity. Dash visibly deflated somewhat as the weight of the words was felt. Interestingly it was Fluttershy who spoke first, her timid whisper seeming far louder in the quiet space, “Th-The end of the world?”
“I'm afraid so Flutershy,” Celestia sighed as her horn glowed with a soft gentile light as six ornate blue cushions appeared in front of the thrown. “Please, sit down. This will take some explaining for you to understand."
Once all of them had chosen their spots Celestia began, “I'm sure you all know the story of Hearthswarming Eve by now...”
“Of course,” Pinkie smiled as the other girls shot her glares to not interrupt, which she promptly ignored, “The three representatives of the three pony breeds led the way out of their frozen lands to a new land only to learn all the fighting they'd been doing was what caused the winter in the first place by those mean windigos and only by being warm and friendly could they keep the ice spirits away.”
Pinkie beamed obliviously as Celestia managed a polite chuckle at her antics, “Yes that is the version they tell in the history books, but I'm afraid it's not entirely true.”
All eyes turned to Celestia then, “What do you mean princess?” Rarity asked, “How is it not true?”
“Please, let me start at the beginning,” Celestia once more composed her thoughts.
“You must know first of all that as old as I am, and as long ago as this happened, I was not there for most of the story. So what I know I've had to peace together in the time since. Long ago, long before Nightmare Moon or Discords first appearance, this world was far different. Inhabited by another race altogether."
The girls were fascinated to learn of this, though perhaps only Twilight was wishing desperately she'd brought a quill and paper to write down this information.
“These creatures were much like ponies in some ways," Celestia continued, "far different in others. For one thing they lacked Cutie Marks that ponies receive, so they could spend whole lifetimes looking for their personal talents. And some would never find them. There were also far more of them than ponies now. A city like Canterlot or Manehattin would be a drop in a pond compared to the sheer numbers these creatures possessed.
“Perhaps that is one reason why they fought so much. You see, while ponies can fight to protect their homes or loved ones, these creatures could do the same but were more militaristic than the gryphon nation in some ways and would fight for anything and everything they were passionate about just as easilly.
“They had many wars in their species history, but those were nothing compared to the last war. Tens of thousands died in the first few hours. Hundred of millions died within months.
“The beings created more powerful and more dangerous weapons to fight each other with each more devastating than the last. The most dangerous were created in the last days of the war. Terrible things that could wipe out the entire opposing side in minutes, but thankfully they were never used. The war ended with the last few places where this species hid being wiped off the map and the final weapons were never deployed.
“The lands these creatures called home were abandoned and left desolate. Pony kind was just beginning to evolve by that point and had formed rudimentary society, but the devastation left by the species that caused it was what caused the climate change, forcing ponies to flee the land and travel overseas to what we now know as Equestria in refuge.
“However, the weather change was so bad that it followed us across the seas, so the best and brightest of pony kind worked together to craft a spell which would protect our land for millenia to come.”
All the six looked pale and somewhat ill after Celestia had finished her explanation and it took a minute for them to recover.
“So... the fires of friendship is a lie?” Twilight asked looking weak.
“Not at all Twilight,” Celestia smiled, “The ponies that crafted the spell were indeed good friends, and their powerful friendship was what gave power to the spell for all the years they lived.”
Twilight sighed in relief but still looked concerned, “Why are you telling us all this now princess Celestia?”
The princess of the sun chuckled gently, “Just Celestia now Twilight, you are a princess too after all.”
Twilight blushed a bit but smiled warmly.
“And to answer your question, I believe one of those ancient weapons has survived these long years since the war. If it becomes active it could bring about great destruction on our lands. It must be found and stopped before it can do so.”
“Wait, so that means...?” Applejack looked worried at the implication.
“Yes Applejack, you will all have to travel beyond the borders of Equestria, beyond the realm of the Gryphons over the seas, and into this forgotten land to find this weapon.”
Twilight looked about to say something when suddenly the side doors burst open open as Discord went flying across the room, though not by choice as he impacted the far wall hard enough to leave a deep imprint of his body in the stone. Luna stood in the doorway fuming as her tail and mane flickered looking more like blue fire. The cause of her irritation could be seen as a little scribbling on her flank had turned her crescent moon cutie mark into a a broad, somewhat creepy grinning smile.
“If thy dares touch mine royal flank again, I'll shalt see to it that thy next imprisonment lasts two thousand years more!” Luna bellowed in a level just shy of the Royal Canterlot Voice.
“Well hey,” Discord grinned weakly as he pealed himself off the wall, “At least I know how to make a good 'impression',” he chuckled indicating his outline in the wall.
When nobody so much as chuckled Discord Sighed, “Philistines.”
Author's Note
My first attempt at a serious story is off and running. Helpful or positive comments and criticisms are welcomed, negative or unhelpful critiques will be ignored.
I'm still new to this sort of thing so any help in a positive sense would be greatly appreciated.
