Episode 1 - The Birth of Kyma
Episode 1 - The Birth of Kyma
"Seabreeze, your dives are still too sharp!" The young colt winced as his flight instructor reprimanded him. He started making circles in the ground with his right foreleg, while other ponies in the group snickered at his misfortune. "What will it take to get through that thick skull that speed isn't everything! You can't just start dropping like a safe whenever you want!"
"It's not a big deal..." The cream pony muttered under his breath.
"Not a big deal?!" He yelped as he found the young mare in his face, his tone even higher and harsher. "I decide what's a big deal! I'm your bucking flight instructor! And as your bucking flight instructor, I say that your dives are a habit to be fixed! Or one of these days, you'll be Seabreeze burger on some poor pony's rooftop!"
"B-Burger?!" The black haired colt made a face as he imagined his gruesome end as roof-kill. This earned him more laughter from his class-mates.
"Yeah, burger! A dumb, dead and impolite sack of mince-meat!" The older mare continued, raising to full height again.
"Huh, why impolite?" A blue filly with a green mane raised her hoof.
"Well, someone will have to scrape him off before he begins to stink!" This time there was general laughter, and Seabreeze flushed, his head and ears low. The mare sighed, shaking her head. "Listen, Seabreeze. I get it. You like speed. I like speed too. But, think about it like this." The colt raised his head again, not daring look at his instructor in the eyes yet. "The faster you get, the higher the risks. If you can't fly safely at a normal speed, can you imagine how dangerous it will be if you go faster?"
"... A lot?" Seabreeze tried, and his instructor nodded, her wings flapping once.
"Darn right. So, the sooner you learn to fly safely, the sooner you can start experimenting with higher speeds without the risk of someone having to tell your parents that you killed yourself because you couldn't be bothered to learn to fly properly." The young mare's words sobered the mood considerably. No one was laughing anymore. "You don't want to make your parents sad, do you?"
"No." Seabreeze shook his head.
"So, what are we going to do?"
"Fix my dives." The instructor grinned and raised her right front hoof.
"That's a good boy." She ruffled the colt's hair playfully, much to his embarrassment and a couple of the others' envy. The sound of a bell rang from the school's main building. "Alright, that's our cue. Lesson's over. Have a nice weekend!"
"Thanks, miss Scootaloo!" The group of young ponies chorused, and the orange pegasus grinned, basking in the respect.
-X-
"Ach! Where the buck did I put that damn ball cap?!" The school was out for the week, and all the students had already left. It was high time for the teachers to start following their pupils' example and vacate the premises, but one Scootaloo was having trouble finding her choice of headwear for the day. "Oooh, it was signed by Spitfire too!"
"Looking for this, Scootaloo?" The orange mare raised her head and promptly bumped it against the underside of her desk, causing her acquaintance to cringe. "Ouch."
"Oooow, my heeeeead!" Scootaloo whined, nursing her newest bump. She rose from her sprawled position, and accepted the lost object. "Thanks, miss Cheerilee."
"You left it in the refectory. And what will it take for you to simply call me Cheerilee?" The pink-haired mare teased as her once student replaced the cap on its rightful position.
"No offence, miss Cheerilee, but after all those hours I spent in detention it's gonna take a long time before I stop referring to you as miss." Scootaloo groaned, and Cheerilee laughed.
-X-
"What do you have planned for the weekend, miss Cheerilee?" The orange pegasus asked as the two teachers made their way out of the school building and into the streets of Ponyville proper.
"Oh, probably the usual. Drown my sorrows in cider." The older mare joked, but Scootaloo's horrified expression told her a clarification was in order. "Ehm, nothing much. I don't go out much anymore."
"... Miss Cheerilee, we really need to find you a special somepony." Scootaloo sighed, and Cheerilee chocked on air. "You're not getting any younger, you know."
"Oh, thanks for the gentle reminder..." The earth pony's smile became just a bit more forced than before.
"Seriously! If not for you, think of the future generations!" Scootaloo raised herself on her back legs and held her former teacher by the shoulders. "Your genes need to be passed down, miss Cheerilee! Who's going to keep the future Cutie Mark crusaders in line?! At least think about getting a stud!"
"Okay. This is getting way too personal, Scootaloo." Cheerilee sweadropped, taking a couple steps back from the pegasus. "Let me just deal with my love life -or lack of one- on my own, okay?"
"... Fine. But I can't guarantee I won't brew another love potion if you don't start working on it soon." Scootaloo declared, and a shiver went up the more experienced teacher's spine. Before she could inquire about the seriousness of that threat, the orange pegasus had taken to the air. "Got to jet. Applebloom and Sweetiebelle are waiting for me for a late lunch! Bye, miss Cheerilee!"
"Yes... Bye." 'Okay. Starting today I'm only drinking bottled water.'
-X-
"Huff... Poor miss Cheerilee." 'Some things never change, do they?' Unlike her city.
In ten years, Ponyville had changed a lot. It had expanded, and modernised. The once tiny country hub had turned into a small city. The tall buildings she glided around didn't exist a decade before, and most of the dirt-roads had been replaced with cobblestone. There were more ponies, and other races too now lived in the city in numbers, and yet for all the expansion Ponyville still felt the same. Scootaloo grinned as she thought she knew the two ponies responsible for that.
Also, she had started getting some serious flying in during the expansion proper, so she hadn't had the problems veterans had had adjusting to new flight paths and surroundings. Points of interest were a big part of flight, after all. And speaking of point of interest...
'I don't think I will ever get used to that!' Scootaloo thought as she landed in front of the once Sugargube Corner, now Sugargube Palace. The small patisserie had evolved into a two stores establishment, complete with giant winking Pinkie Pie insignia which never failed to unnerve her.
"Howdy, Scoots!" Scootaloo sighed in relief. For once, she wasn't the last to arrive. The only one waiting for her at the front entrance was Applebloom, and seeing how she was still in her fatigues, she had probably just left her job too. "Did ya see Sweetie Belle on the way?!"
"No!" The pegasus landed smoothly in front of her friend, flapping her wings once more before settling them on her sides. "That's weird. Usually she's the first to arrive."
"Well, I reckon there may have been somethin' wrong with da train." Applebloom offered, bringing a hoof to her chin. Ever since Sweetie Belle had moved to Canterlot, they had been seeing her less and less. She couldn't exactly afford to commute, after all. "Maybe we should-"
"Applebloom! Scootaloo!" A unmistakable, melodious voice told the two friends that the missing member of the triad had arrived. Curly mane bouncing away with her trotting, she came to a halt right in front of her two friends and threw her forelegs up and wide. Her friends mimicked her and then brought their hooves together, holding each other up in a strange pony construct.
"Cutie Marks Crusaders, First Generation! Yay!" The young mares cried out before turning their peculiar salute -which never failed to make the people in Ponyville stare- into a group hug.
"Darn, Sweetie Belle! What took ye so long?" The cream pony asked, a hammer and chisel shining on her no longer pristine flank.
"Hehehehe! Well..."
-X-
"WHAT?!" Scootaloo shouted herself to a standing position, startling everyone in the cafe. "SERIOUSLY?! YOU'VE GOT ACCEPTED INTO THE ROMMMPAHPAHG!"
"Pipe down, Scoots! I reckon Sweetie Belle would like to keep this under wraps, for now!" Applebloom whispered harshly, wincing as her right fore hoof got slobbered with saliva.
"Thanks, Applebloom. But yes. I did get accepted into the Royal Opera... Well, just in training, though." Sweetie Belle whispered, flushing.
"Yuck, Applebloom. Where have you been walking?" Scootaloo sputtered and cleaned her tongue on the tablecloth.
"That's wonderful, Sweetie Belle." The earth pony grinned. "You're one step closer to your dream!"
"Yes... Yes, I am." The unicorn giggled, giddy at the thought. All the years of conservatory, auditions and odd jobs, and she was finally on the road to the Royal Opera. "But enough about me, Applebloom. How is your family?"
"Perfectly fine. Mah sister is still abroad, working that deal, and I reckon mah brother is still single." Sweetie Belle blushed, the bright colour even more evident on the unicorn's pale coat. Scootaloo snickered at her expenses. "Should I ask him if he's free for dinner tomorrow?"
"N-No!" The unicorn squeaked out. Applebloom laughed heartily, and Scootaloo bit down on her guffaws. No matter how much time passed, they would never let Sweetie Belle live her crush down. "No. I-I can do it... On my own. Thanks."
"Yeah, right. You two couldn't ask a colt out if your life depended on it." Scootaloo mocked, and Applebloom rolled her eyes.
"I have a marefriend, thank ye. And Sweetie Belle has a list of suitors from here ta Canterlot. Ye're the one who couldn't get a date with a Timberwolf." The earth pony stuck her tongue out at the pegasus, who flinched and lowered her gaze. Her friends blinked. "Scoots? Ah was just joking."
"I know, I know." The pegasus sighed and emptied her mug of cider. "It's just, Sweetie Belle is in love and set to reach her dream. You have a marefriend, run the family farm and helped to build half the new buildings in Ponyville. I don't even know what I want to do with my life." She remembered when they thought discovering their special talent would be the best thing ever, that it would change their life. No one had told them that it wasn't the end of it. "And yeah, I can't get a date with a Timberwolf."
"Oh, come on, Scootaloo. You have a good life." Sweetie Belle moved her hoof over her friend's own. "You have a nice job, the children love you, and you have your friends."
"Yes, but, the thing is, I can't bear the uncertainty." Scootaloo snorted, resting her head on the table. "I know this isn't all I want to do with my life, but I don't know what that something else I want to do is yet. It's... It's really bothersome." She pouted. "Does that even make sense?"
"... I don't know what to say, Scoots." Sweetie Belle admitted, lowering her eyes to the table. "I've always known what I wanted to do."
"Lucky you." The pegasus huffed. "I hope someone comes along soon and gives me a hint, because I can't bear this much longer."
-X-
"Warriors, you awaken slowly." The hulking equine figure snorted as he laid on one side, observing as all around him nightmarish figures struggled to pull themselves fully out of the ground which had been their rest for thousands of years. Not that he could blame them. The stronger they were, the longer it would take for their full strength to return. And as such, he would be the last to do so. "It has been a long sleep, but your service is required. Isn't there one? One who can stand, and look for-"
A loud, nightmarish whinny echoed. He turned in the direction of the owner. A warrior who had climbed out of his resting place. "You're not fully formed, warrior." The smaller creature complained, with other guttural sounds. "True, we can replenish ourself faster by hunting, but strong creatures surround us at the moment." The warrior stomped the ground. "Oh? You have already awakened your mastery of the ground?" The leader grinned, ichor dripping from sharp teeth. "Good. Then, you shall be the first. Go warrior, and return victorious."
The warrior reared on his hind legs then jumped in the air and splashed against the ground, transforming into a puddle which soon after disappeared, absorbed by the charred earth.
-X-
"Now, mister Squirrelly, try not to get into any other fights with miss Sparrow, okay?" The pink-maned pony received a cacophony of squeaks and chirps as an answer. She kept on smiling warmly. "Oh. I know it was the hiding place for your nuts, but it's also where she made her nest. Try and share, okay? Your nuts are in the trunk, and she's in the branches." The squirrel tapped the ground with his right foot a couple times before giving a squirrelly sigh and nod. "That's a good boy. Say hi to her from me, okay?"
The little critter nodded again and quickly skittered away from Fluttershy's hut, the pegasus waving a hoof. She then sighed happily, and raised her head to the sky. A clous flew past, obscuring the sun for a few seconds. "I think today is going to be a fine day."
"I wish I shared your cheer, good friend." Fluttershy screamed in fright and jumped high, latching herself onto a hanging branch. "And I'm sorry I scared you with my stealth."
"Z-Z-Zecora! W-W-W-What a surprise!" Fluttershy let out, cheerful even if still trembling, her hooves gripping onto the wood for dear life. "I-Is there something wrong with the forest?"
"It's a possibility I hope to prevent." The zebra dug into her saddles, picking out a small sack and dropping it on the ground. She observed it. '... It's not Fluttershy. But I got closer.' That meant that she had to look in Ponyville. "Are in the city some of your friends?"
"The girls? O-Oh, no. Twilight and Rarity haven't visited in weeks. They're so busy, in Caterlot..." Fluttershy was no longer trembling, but she was still hanging onto the tree. "Rainbow Dash is on tour with the Wonderbolts, Applejack is probably going to come back from Saddle Arabia in winter, and Pinkie Pie is in Manehattan for the week. I think, hum, it's a pie convention."
"That's quite... Unexpected." 'It's not that distant. That means that it's not one of the girls?' Zebra was, for once, surprised. She couldn't think of anyone more deserving of wielding such power than one of the Elements of Harmony. "But I shall not be deterred. Thanks, friend Fluttershy."
"Oh, you're... You're welcome." The pegasus smiled, and then realised her situation. "Uhm, could you help me get down? I mean, if you don't mind..."
"Friend, you can fly."
"Oh."
-X-
The warrior travelled at high speed through hidden paths in the ground. Once bringers of nourishment, they had a long time ago corrupted them, and now served their objectives. It permitted them to travel great distances, and allowed them to retain their most important sense as they went.
They could sense Life.
Not living beings. Any other less impressive sense could help any pathetic equine detect that. What they felt was the will, the joy, the drive to go through life.
A depressed, lame horse hooked on hard cider going through life day by day would be nothing but a small morsel for one of the Lineage of Death.
The young, vibrant Life he felt just a few paces away from him? That would feed him and make him whole.
-X-
'Steady, steady...!' Seabreeze shot back up the instant he felt his pose slip, making his dive sharp. Too sharp. "Not good enough. Not yet." The small pegasus muttered as he perched himself on a tree. "Not good enough." 'That's what miss Scootaloo said. I have to get better! Be better!'
There were lots of heroes for young ponies to choose from, if they wanted an idol. The Six Elements of Harmony were now legendary, and so were the three Princesses. Then there were the Wonderbolts, the Lunar Guard. Artists, writers, novel characters.
Seabreeze had always had more of a taste for local flavour.
He had heard from some of the older ponies about miss Scootaloo's past. How she didn't even start flying for longer than other pegasi. How she was bullied when she was young, and the many trouble she got into, growing up.
And yet, she had become the best flier in Ponyville, a great, although harsh teacher, and such an awesome pony that she even refused an invitation into Wonderbolts Academy! The Wonderbolts, and she said no to them!
Many thought of her as crazy -some still did-, but whatever the reasons, doing something like that took bravery and a strength of character that Seabreeze hoped to one day have.
For the moment, if miss Scootaloo said that his dives were too sharp, they were too sharp. Nodding to himself, he propped himself on all fours, reading for another go.
And that's when the earth in front of the tree exploded in a geyser of humus.
-X-
'Great job, Scoots. Just because you're feeling down it doesn't meant that all Equestria has to suffer.' Especially not her best friends, she chastised herself further. With a huff, she dropped into a rotating dive, openings her wings fully at the last moment to stop her descent cold. She grunted for the strain, but endured it, and rose back into the air.
A tour around the city's outskirts always helped the pegasus clear her mind. Observing nature reminded her of the care the city's expansions effort had had for flora and fauna. Almost nothing was erased, destroyed, chopped. Most of it was just moved, rearranged in a ring of trees that joined with the small wood where Fluttershy's cottage rested, and became an ulterior buffer between the city and the Everfree Forest.
When trees turn scary? Yeah, you'd better go back. Where it's safe.
Which is why Scootaloo was so shocked to hear a juvenile scream coming not from the Everfree Forest, but from the Ponyville Ring.
-X-
Zecora froze as the scream was followed by a roar. A roar that was completely unfamiliar to her, that she had never heard before in her life of wandering.
And yet, she recognized it and it filled her with dread. She thought she still had time!
-X-
"Aaah... Aaah!" Seabreeze panted as he flew with as much speed as he could muster, desperation and terror further enhancements for his efforts. Tears and nasal fluids dirtied his front as he pushed himself to the limit to weave and dodge through the trees.
His pursuer went through the branches overhead of him like wet paper.
"So... Somebody... Help!" He shouted with a ragged voice, the falling branches adding yet another layer of difficulty to his quest for safety. He was fast, but he didn't have that much endurance! He was just a colt, for Celestia's sake! Too young to be chased by a monster! Too young to-
A falling branch clipped one of his wings.
With a scream, Seabreeze started spiralling down, hitting the hard ground with a roll. Further tears wet his face. One of his wings was now fractured.
His pain was soon forgotten in place of fresh terror as his hunter appeared in the canopy overhead, growling before crouching and pouncing in his direction. Seabreeze screamed himself hoarse, raising his tiny legs to cover his face, a weak defense for the blackened claws suddenly protruding from the beast's hooves-
"Raaah!" A scream not his own echoed in the small clearing as another pegasus broke through the canopy of trees. A streak of orange and purple which struck the nightmarish monster on its left side with its front hooves, knocking it out of the air and feet away from Seabreeze. "Seabreeze! Are you alright?!"
"M-Miss Scootaloo!" The small pegasus brightened as his flight instructor landed in front of him. "Y-You saved me!"
"... What the hell is that thing?" Scootaloo whispered to herself, every single hair on her mane standing as she laid eyes on the creature, who looked like something out of her nightmares.
It looked equinoid in shape, but it was double her size and... Incomplete. Some kind of dark ichor in place of its skin did a poor job as a cover for the bulging bronze muscles and -in places- white bones she could peek at, like the claws currently retracting into its hooves. Its head, more sharp and elongated, was only covered down to the cheekbone, and large nostrils snorted grey smoke as eyes of blood bore into her.
"I-I don't know. It just attacked me while I was-Aaah!" Seabreeze shouted in fright again as the creature fully recovered and launched itself at them with a bellow.
"Hold on!" Scootaloo bent down, wrapped her front hooves around the young colt and then took off for the skies like a mare possessed, their attacker landing in their previous position a second later, sharp claws digging into the ground.
Breaking through the canopy of trees, the pegasus took off in the direction of Ponyville, to safety and numbers. Whatever that thing was, her blow hadn't harmed it that much, if at all. It was still following them. She could hear branches cracking, right on her tail.
But she was still ahead of it, and with enough time- "Gah!" Something sharp tore through her side. As she stumbled and lost altitude, she saw the projectile continue on its trajectory. She chocked on bile. 'A-A piece of bone?!' Then her vision started to swim, and her stomach lurched.
"M-Miss Scootaloo! Watch out!" Her ears felt like they were full of cotton.
'I'm... I'm losing my strength...' Her wings gave a few more weak flaps before losing the ability to keep her afloat. On instinct she wrapped her front legs around Seabreeze, and they crashed through leaves and branches before hitting the ground. She felt pain, and the weight of the small colt leaving her legs.
A third terrible presence joined them in the underbrush.
-X-
The Zebra panted in fatigue and apprehension. Even if she reached the creature in time, what could she do? Her magic would only have limited effect on one of the Lineage, and- A sudden warmth on her flank caused her to stop. Zecora gasped, and dug into her saddle. "This-!" The cloth sack was vibrating wildly, and one of the objects therein was shining, its blue light even penetrating the magically treated material.
'Then, it means...!'
-X-
Her vision was blurred. Her hearing was worse. Her balance was all screwy. She was as weak as a newborn foal. "Sea... Seabreeze..." And yet, she had to stand. She had to do something.
Seabreeze screamed as the claws impaled him through his side, crimson staining them and the hoof they had grown out of.
"No..." She trembled, trying to stand. To be fast. To be useful! To do something! 'Please, Celestia, no...!'
"M... Miss..." She raised her head. The colt's frightened eyes found hers as a jaw parted, revealing three rows of sharp teeth. "Miss Scootaloo... Help me..."
They joined together with a sickening crunch. Scootaloo screamed.
-X-
Zecora's heart threatened to burst through her chest as she broke through the clearing. Panic took her as she saw one of the Lineage biting on a pony. She had failed. The one task they had given to her family, since time immemorial and-
"NOOOOOOOOO!" The shrill scream broke her out of her reverie. She turned to the left and saw a young mare, a wound oozing black blood on her side, screaming, a leg stretched in the direction of the gruesome act of nutrition.
"Scootaloo?" One of Applebloom's friends.
The sack in her saddle was going crazy. She felt relief. They hadn't lost her! She wasn't the one who had died!
Then she felt incredible grief as she guessed from the size of a discarded wing that it had been just a young colt.
"Sea... Breeze... Hiiiii..." She shook her head. She had no time. Black blood meant she had been poisoned by the Lineage's blood. She made a dash for the downed pegasus, and then dug for something in her saddle. "Ze... Zecora?"
"Drink. It's for the weakness." Zecora said, manoeuvring the small bottle to Scootaloo's lips, who accepted it reluctantly, coughing and spilling some because of her weakness. The zebra stared at the warrior of the Lineage as he finished his bloody snack.
It hadn't been fully formed. That's why he had been hunting for Life, and why he had appeared so soon. And the poor colt had been enough nourishment for it to complete its transformation.
The black ichor was transforming into skin like tanned leather, black. With a roar, the upper side of its head was being covered in a nightmarish skull, and a sharp bony tail shot out of its opposite end, similar to the claws that shot out to pierce the earth underneath its hooves. The red eyes now shone with intelligence, and untold malice.
"That thing..." The bottle clattered to the ground as Scootaloo stood, tears running down her face, her strength now back. "That thing... Ate Seabreeze..." She clenched her teeth, her whole body shaking. "You MONSTER!"
"Do you want to fight it?" Scootaloo jerked her head to Zecora, who regarded her with full seriousness. "Do you want to kill it?"
"... Yes!" Scootaloo turned to her, stomping her front hooves. "Yes, I want to!"
"Then, do it. With this." Zecora fished out the shining sack of cloth from her saddle, and then dropped it to the ground, holding onto the string. With the brightest flash of blue light yet, a small metallic sphere floated pony height. They both ignored the roar from the monster as it finished its transformation. "For you're the only one who can."
The sphere travelled to Scootaloo's neck, and sprouted into a decorated blue collar, with two white wings on the front. Scootaloo was startled, surprised, confused by the object... But somehow she knew exactly what to do. She turned to the monster who had taken the life of her pupil, her eyes narrowed. "Henshin!" She stood on her back hooves, and then slammed them back onto the ground.
-X-
The monster whinnied and stopped, the bright multicoloured light blinding him.
Scootaloo's newest accessory shot forward and away from her body, morphing into three bright layers of light: white, sky blue, and golden, floating one in front of the other. The pegasus mare stood firm, staring straight ahead, through the light and at the creature itself. Then she crouched.
"Aaaaaah!" And shot through the solid lights, breaking them into fragments of stardust, which immediately gathered and condensed around her body.
The young mare was now coated in a white suit which covered her body completely but for her tail. Blue body armour with golden linings covered her front and her hooves from her knees down. Similar in colour was the mask covering the whole of her head except for a few locks of her hair, which poked behind her head, her eyes covered by white bug-like lenses.
Scootaloo spread her wings.
"RAAAAAH!" With speed that she had never reached before she shot forward, a streak of white that slammed her front hooves into the creature, and the creature into the three behind it.
And through it. And the ones behind it as well, with a thundering crack which scattered wildlife in all directions as they abused vegetation collapsed to the ground.
Only after reaching another clearing did Scootaloo voluntarily let go of the monster, soaring high in the air again, but not breaking the canopy. She observed as the creature screamed on the ground. In pain.
Her left hoof trembled, warmth and golden light gathering to it.
The monster stood back on all fours, and its tail jerked and sent a dagger-sized bone her way. She swatted it out of the way, the makeshift weapon pulverising on contact.
"Kymaaaa..." Scootaloo let out through clenched teeth.
The monster crouched and pounced high in the air, in her direction. The pegasus somersaulted.
"PUUUUNCH!" And then shot forward with speed no pony ever reached before, not even her childhood idol. Shot through her enemy, and to the ground beyond, landing in a spray of earth and grass.
Her enemy froze in a rictus of pain, a large hole in his barrel, before exploding in light and gore with one last scream of excruciating pain accompanying his demise. Scootaloo remained still as she was sprayed with the remains of her target, her whole body producing trails of white smoke. A few seconds later, the last gory remains of the monster disappeared, pulverising in black particles. For a moment, all was still.
"I'm sorry for the colt, Scootaloo. I wished I had arrived earlier. I barely saved you from its poison." Zecora emerged from a cliff, her head low. Scootaloo didn't react, still crouched in her landing position. "The members of the Lineage of Death are the deadliest creatures never known to Ponykind. That has now changed."
"The Lineage of Death..." The pegasus repeated, slowly standing back again.
"They fought my people thousands of years ago. And now that they're back, there's only one hope. Only one thing they fear." The zebra raised her head, staring at the transformed pegasus. "Kyma."
