Prologue: It Fell on a Ball of Fire
Perhaps it is the cold howling wind at night that so chills us to the bone…
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The atmosphere sparked and crackled high in the night skies above Equestria.
Perhaps it is the shadows that seem to move just beyond our sight that make the hairs on our neck stand on end…
Bolts of electricity began to arch this way and that, as the reality started to blur and distort within.
Or the strange sounds that come from the unseen corners of the forest…
There was a sudden flash and a sound of thunder, and the object shot across the sky; smoke and fire trailing behind it, as it blazed through the atmosphere.
It is the unnerving sense that something is out there, hiding in the dark…
Over Ponyville, over the Everfree Forest, over the ruins of the old castle, and over Dodge Junction before slamming into the heart of the Badlands. The sound from the impact could be heard for miles around.
That something is watching us…
The crater smoldered just beyond the cliff face; great tongues of fire leapt into the air, and smoke billowed into the air. All was silent and still, save for the crackling fire.
That we are not alone…
The rubble at the bottom of the pit began to shift and cast embers all about.
The truth of the matter is that we are not alone…
A skeletal claw suddenly burst from the debris, and dug deep into the soil. Slowly it began to pull itself out of the wreckage, with what little musculature was left. It had to get away from the heat, if only for a moment.
There are things out there; things we cannot see, but they are there, ever present…
It could feel its senses reforming. As its skeletal claws reached over lip of the crater tissue had already began to grow around the bone. With its newly developed muscles, it lifted the rest of its massive frame out of the inferno.
They seek always to infiltrate our world; clawing at our doors from the blasphemous regions of the unknown…
Flaming orbs now began to form in its monstrous toothy skull. They rolled around in their sockets while the lids still formed. With its newly returned sight the thing began looking around, and inspect its still healing body. Its lungs had not yet fully formed, but it was used going without breath. It could feel the few bones that had been lost regrowing, and those that were broken being mended.
And they are very, very hungry…
As soon as it felt its throat rejoin the rest of its respirator system, it gasped for breath. It made no sound, as its vocal cords were still growing back. Its mind began to clear, and the world – this new world before it – began to snap into focus.
May whatever pantheons that exist help us on the day they break through.
It now stood up: tall and imposing – its form silhouetted against the still burning crater. The thing’s eyes burned in the darkness with an otherworldly spark: spark of intelligence, cunning, and malicious intent. It walked to the edge of the cliff upon two powerful legs to survey the world it had landed in; the claws of its feet gouging deep holes in the dirt.
May they help us all…
A forked tongue flicked out of mouth to taste the air. This world was strange and tasted bizarrely sweet. The thing let out a deep, resonating growl – testing to see if its vocal cords were fully functional – as its sharp eyes took in everything within sight. They were set far to the north, passed the Macintosh Hills where just beyond (even in the dark) it could see the ever so faint movement of vegetation. Its scaly lips pulled back to review rows of sharp jagged teeth. It inhaled deeply; making its chest and ribs expand, and causing the air to reverberate around it. At first there was silence; then a deep base sound which slowly began to develop into a savage primal cry; a roar like thunder which rolled through the canyon and echoed off the mountains. It was an unearthly sound – unbearable to hear.
This world would be a fresh start. A place to begin again, and finish was it started. It would wait and grow strong and powerful again. It would rebuild here, then with its forces it would return to claim what had been taken from it.
