The Coming Tide

"Behold, fair scholars and researchers! Feast thy eyes, and prepare thy minds!" Luna declared in a high, firm voice as she filled occupied the air next to her sister at the center of the room. She hovered in the air, slowly beating her wings in a steady rhythm and raising her right foreleg to punctuate her address. "Here, an ancient runic sculpture, a marker, discovered aboard the alien wreck in the Badlands has been brought to us for study."

Luna's audience, a carefully selected intellectual group of over a dozen unicorns and one earth pony from Canterlot Academy, sat down across the various bleachers and desks of the lecture hall, listening with rapt forbearance. They were in a circular room, in which the bleachers formed a graceful amphitheater that stood tall, brightly lit by sunlight from the massive gilded, wrought iron and glass dome. The innumerable rays of golden sunshine the dome provided radiated upon the surface of the marble floor, which was accented by a colored inlay of red, magenta, and azure tiles formed from magically-treated limestone.

A few well-placed wrought iron electric wall sconces served to bolster the great hall's illumination, and helped to draw one's attention to the flanking carved marble columns and the blue, white, and golden royal banners that swayed gently in the humid indoor air. Stunning vines and mosses that hung gracefully on their trellises or the surrounding marble walls, towering palm and weeping willow trees, and quietly babbling waterfalls combined with the other elements to produce a stunning interior that easily rivaled or surmounted beautiful locations all across Canterlot.

"The runes shown to exist on its unnaturally cold surface are completely unknown to us, since we first laid our eyes on it only a few hours ago." Celestia added, shifting the audience's focus to her. "We have invited you all here to request that you each give it a look. Perhaps with your wisdom, you will succeed where we cannot."

Some of the group patted their foreheads with handkerchiefs as they listened, while others loosened the fastenings and neck ties on their academic robes and suits. Others still, mares in particular, levitated folding fans lazily back and forth towards their muzzles.

Their lecture hall was situated in the heart of Canterlot's Royal Conservatory, which housed a diverse plethora of different plant and bird species, both temperate and tropical. The Conservatory itself was kept at a constant warm temperature via both magical and technological means. This combined with it being noon, and Equestria being in her late month of rain and bloom, caused some within the group to become noticeably irritable and restless. Not even Luna and Celestia's combined royal presence was not enough to keep the eggheads complaint free for long.

"With all due respect Your Majesties, pardon my interruption and not to sound impertinent, but just what in blue blazes are you talking about? What is this 'marker' you speak of...? All we see are you two, and the same floor we've been staring at for the past agonizingly sweltering ten minutes!"

Both Alicorns turned to the owner of the voice. It was Doctor Hooves, the sole earth pony of the group. Within seconds, several of his colleagues unhappily murmured that they shared in his sentiment. Luna took the group's chatter with slowly mounting annoyance, while Celestia herself remained serene.

"Patience, please. If it better suits you all, we shall show you now, without further pandering." Celestia looked at Luna expectantly, and she nodded at her.

Luna turned around and proceeded intently towards an orb of cobalt light that had been resting relatively unnoticed a few feet from her older sisters' hooves, until now. With a gentle tap of her horn, Luna released the magical stasis field, revealing the black marker for all to see. The scholars gave a collective gasp of intrigue and curiosity as the marker flared red, revealing its intricately cut runes. They rushed forward to get a closer look at it.

"What skill and magics must have been used in its design?" One scholar wondered.

"How exotic! Colder than an iceberg though, it's true!" Another observed.

"Your Majesties, umm, please forgive my earlier impatience." Doctor Hooves asked sheepishly, straightening his neck tie and rubbing at his rich brown mane as he paced down the steps to the polished floor. The area was quickly becoming crowded with enterprising researchers. "Truly, what you are sharing with us now will change the face of archaeology and science as we know it!"

Luna's features hardened at his words. The Princess quicky assumed a sterner air, leaving her annoyance behind. "Thou shalt speak nothing of what they have seen here to outsiders, only amongst thine colleagues and other servants of the throne."

Doctor Hooves, bemused and slightly taken aback at Luna's sudden command, look as if he were going to inquire as to why. Celestia, however, beat him to the punch."It's not that we don't trust you, Doctor Hooves." She said, laying a reassuring wing on his shoulder. "The discoveries both you and the others stationed at the wreck site will make could prove both beneficial and disruptive for Equestria and the world at large. Right now, things are just too..." Celestia cocked her brow as she stumbled about in her mind for the right words.

"We believe the word you're seeking out would be 'sensitive', Tia." Luna interjected.

Celestia half-smiled, allowing a quick giggle to leave her lips. "Ah yes, thank you Luna. It would be far too 'sensitive' and could cause unforeseen troubles. If word spread out that alien shipwrecks and artifacts were being unearthed and shipped across the Kingdom like cake, without the public being informed."

"For as long as these materials require study, they shall remain in our approved halls of science and academia only, nowhere else." Luna said. "Once we have gleaned most or all usable information from them, and they are deemed depleted of interest to us, then the populace at large may be granted discourse and public viewing in due time."

Nodding, Hooves seemed to agree with Luna's on-the-spot decree, as did Celestia. All three turned to the marker, which the others were taking turns scanning with their horns, writing down testing data on clipboards or parchment.

"Goodness, how dismally boring of a plan, Luna! Why be so stingy with a little bit of star junk?" A mischievous voice declared from seemingly out of the thick, muggy atmosphere. Luna and Celestia paced around and scanned the room in confusion, while Hooves simply stood, too entranced by the marker to pay any significant notice.

Suddenly, a mare gasped as her folding fan suddenly grew a pair of intense yellow eyes and a wide, grinning mouth. The fan fell lightly to floor as the unicorn shook it free of her hoof, her telekinesis failing from the distraction and clipboard clattering on the tiles in the process.

In a magical poof, the large, grinning form of Discord took shape where the fan had once lain. He tented his mismatched digits together as he looked from the little marker on the ground to the Princesses. Celestia rolled her eyes at him, while Luna gave Discord a highly impatient glare. He shuffled casually towards them.

"What would you have us do then?" Luna inquired, only half willing to hear Discord's likely tongue-in-cheek response.

Surprisingly, he seemed rather disinterested in the marker. "Pshaw. To tell you the truth, I do not know." He thoughtfully rubbed at his narrow silken silver beard. "Probably use it to crack coconuts shut, perhaps. So, Lulu, you ready for that game of outdoor magical dodge ball you promised me earlier this week?"

In an instant, Discord had poofed into summer garb, complete with a headband, sunglasses, and a whimsical pair of athletic shorts. He held a dodge ball at his side, and he grinned at Luna expectantly. "Well?"

Luna groaned in irritation. "Very well then, meet us at the court in a few minutes. We must make ready, and then ensure you have not meddled with the field of play. We will have no tolerance for any alterations, however amusing they may be to you!"

"I'll see you later Luna, I'm staying behind to observe as the scholars perform their investigations." Celestia said. Luna nodded and took her leave. Discord broke into a hardy chuckle as he followed Luna toward the large, reinforced double oak doors at the edge of the amphitheater. Watching them go, Celestia sensed something wrong in the air. The Princess of the Sun grimaced involuntarily as a loud ringing sound suddenly bounced around inside her skull. She clambered about, looking for the potential source. A few unicorns noticed and asked if she was alright. Celestia could see them talking, but no words could be heard over the deafening ringing.

Just as Celestia began to feel as if her forehead would surely split open, the ringing sound inexplicably ceased. The sound gave way to worried voices, murmuring sharply amongst themselves, inquiring Celestia of her health.

Celestia however, ignored them as she caught a final glimpse of Luna. She was opening the exit doors, and for a fleeting moment, the Princess swore Luna looked exactly like Nightmare Moon. Hushed whispering echoed in a language indiscernible to Celestia. At the same time, Nightmare Moon seemed to turn her gaze towards her, boring into Celestia with fierce, feline-like eyes. Her lips pulled back to reveal a sneer of razor-sharp teeth. Celestia's own magenta eyes widened, and she staggered back to the floor in shock, ears pressed flat in alarm. Luna and Discord disappeared behind the doors, not aware of Tia's troubles. As soon as they departed from view, the whispers ended.

"Your Highness, are you not well?" Doctor Hooves stammered with worry.

Celestia shook her head, pulling herself up on all fours. "Uhh, no. I'm fine, it's nothing serious, Doctor Hooves." She spoke quickly. " Just a...just a headache is all. I fear I will not be able to remain with you all."

She smiled apologetically. "I must retire to my quarters for the day. I'm leaving you in charge of studying the marker, Doctor. I'll also leave a small detachment of guards to keep the curious from bothering all of your work. I know I can trust you, can I not?" Celestia maintained her smile as Doctor Hooves nodded with a puzzled frown, his eyebrows raised.

"Aye, Your Majesty. You bloody well can!"

Celestia inclined her head appreciatively, then hurried out at a frantic pace, politely brushing off any and all offers of assistance from the researchers. Her smile faltered the very instant she no longer felt anypony's eyes upon her. Doctor Hooves mentally dismissed Celestia's behavior with a shake of his head. While Alicorn psychology was a potentially intriguing field of study, Hooves already had something to focus his attention on.

The Doctor turned around, watching his colleagues chat and pass the marker around amongst themselves, taking turns examining it. The red runic inscriptions flared a bright red. Doctor Hooves had ideas of his own for experiments to conduct upon it, and made his way towards the marker. The potential discoveries their work would yield, left him grinning from ear to ear, and his eyes burned with a new-found intensity.

"Right. Well, let's hurry up and crack the enigma of this alien writing, chaps, and be back to the Academy in time for tea!"

The Unicorn galloped as fast as she could down the metal corridor. Her treacherous legs threatened to give out under her from the vast muscular strain, only soldiering on from the sheer amount of adrenaline coursing into them through her bloodstream.

Pursuers roared and screeched in unnatural patterns and tones behind her, a cacophony of pure chaos; a symphony only the truly deranged and psychotic could appreciate.

Just as she swore she could finally reach the harsh sunlight at the nearing doorway in front of her, the mare's limbs dished out their last as she leapt for the salvation of the world outside. The alien blast door flanking her exit sealed shut with a resounding metallic boom. Behind its thick plating, the pursuing horrors were forced to halt. They pounded, wailed, and screamed rage and vexation at their would-be prey, whom so narrowly escaped from their ravenous clutches.

Their incomprehensible garbling gradually faded away as the monstrosities left, one by one back into the dark depths from whence they had arisen.

Sensing freedom from danger at last, the Unicorn felt a surge of relief flood into her mind as she basked gratefully in the Sun's warming glow. She laid still for several moments, listening carefully as the last of the un-pony screaming finally died down, leaving her with only the quiet serenity of bird songs and the babbling of a small brook nearby to contemplate.

Rising to her hooves, the mare rushed over into the creek as fast as her exhausted limbs would allow. Slowly, she drank the cool effervescent water, sighing with pleasure as the calming liquid soothed her parched throat and flowed around the fur of her hooves.

Emerging from the water with new-found strength, the Unicorn dried herself with a spell, then cast another to heal her ghastly but non life-threatening wounds, which marred the silken lavender coat of her back. As soon as the itch from the machinations of the healing spell had faded away, the mare pondered what she should do next, where to go and who to look for.

Her thoughts were cut short by a deep, echoing voice that seemed to resonate from everywhere at once. She widened her eyes as she was forced to listen.

"Our Tide is Coming. Upon this day, the Sun's fortress shall sunder at dusk's last light. Know this, however. The impending army of corrupted flesh shall not hinder our currents, for Magic shall soon call us her kin."

The voice lowered to a whisper, seemingly addressing only the mare now. "Prepare for our arrival, young horned one. It is close." The alien voice chuckled with a deep echo, before fading out entirely. Silence prevailed, then everything faded to black...

Twilight awoke with a startled jolt. She panted rapidly, beads of cold sweat rolling and falling from her forehead onto the blankets like raindrops before a coming storm.

Seeking to calm herself down, Twilight ran a hoof slowly through her tangled mass of purple and lavender mane, while cupping her muzzle in the other. She remained like that for a full minute, regaining her bearings.

After spending another minute looking around scanning the room, Twilight finally clambered out of bed. Two things set her internal alarm off in an instant as they finally made themselves known to her. Firstly, Spike's bed was vacant of the young dragon, usually the last occupant of the household to awaken. Secondly, and far more startling, Twilight's rash had returned, and with renewed intensity.

Emitting a sharp gasp that sounded more like a squeak, Twilight frantically cast one of the few spells she knew that could force it to recede back into her hoof. Slowly, the green-glowing irritated tissue beneath her lavender fur eased back to apparent normalcy as the anti-toxin spell ran its course.

While the rash had gone, it had not done so without fight. Some of Twilight's fur fell to the wooden floor in copious tufts, leaving a few patches of visible skin.

"What?" She exclaimed nervously, as she began fumbling around for something. "I don't believe this, what was I thinking opening that stuff? I must be terribly allergic to it!" Twilight became paranoid of somepony witnessing the apparent allergic reaction and becoming overly worried.

Holding the hoof wrappings that she had equipped in the Badlands two days ago, Twilight wove them around the afflicted limb. Unsatisfied with their area of coverage, she grabbed a hold on a nearby window drape, and then levitated a pair of scissors to her mouth, and held the drape out.

"Now it's starting to give me nonsensical nightmares? I better talk to Princess Celestia and Luna about this soon." Twilight murmured with the scissors handles held fast in her teeth. Quickly, she got to work. Upon completion, she looked at her foreleg in the mirror. Her coat seemed rather paler than she remembered, but other than that everything seemed to be in satisfactory order.

Confident that enough of her leg was hidden enough from view that nobody would notice, Twilight straightened her mane as best she could, and scanned the room a final time, before heading downstairs in search of her assistant.

"He better not be in the lab poking at the stasis field for the alien egg jar again, or else there will be trouble." She muttered irritably.