The Element Seekers

by cjones590

Rating: teen
Tags: Dark, Adventure
Length: 2588

After being attacked, Traverler embarks on an unexpected adventure to save Equestria.

In a world where the Sun and the Moon exist at the same time, ponies live in chaos. Celestia's and Luna's daughters have caused this tragedy. There is a 30 mile wide line which has the climate of the middle of the day, where ponies live. Monsters have thrived in harsh climates in which ponies can not live, so most ponies are terrified of leaving the line. This confined space leads to much disruption, and there is hardly any authority to control the many crimes.There are few cult and gang bases outside of the line, plus very few houses. Almost everypony wants this to end. And Traveler needs it to end.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2014-01-04 00:20:02 UTC

Chapter Zero: Heat

A green furred and orange maned and tailed unicorn colt walked through the heavy sun. He had a light grey safe for a cutie mark. Thin bright yellow streaks ran down his mane and tail. His mane and tail were very disheveled. The green of his fur was a very light green, while the orange of his mane and tail was very dark. His eyes were a dark blue.

His hoof sank into the bare soil, leaving an imprint of his hoof into the soil. His hoof didn't make even the slightest of sounds when it touched the ground. He looked back on the long trail of hoof-prints he had left. He could be easily followed if some one saw the trail. But he didn't care in the slightest, not even remotely. No one would even want to follow him. He was just a loser.

He looked up into the bright, blue, completely cloudless sky. The bright hot sun beat down on his face, causing him to squint his eyes hard so as to not blind himself from the sun. He could be easily blinded if looked straight at the sun.

Sweat streamed down from his face and pooled up in his eyes. It completely soaked his mane and tail, top to bottom. They dripped with the heavy sweat that was caused by this accursedly hot sun.

It was extremely hot out here, probably as hot as a desert in the middle of the hottest summer. The sun was a whole 100 degrees hot at the very least, and the extreme heat had a very heavy impact on the unicorn.

He used his hoof as a visor from the sun and began to look around the area. He looked around for any sight of civilization or homes of ponies, yet there was nothing but worthless rubble for miles and miles. Just rocks, dirt and dead plants for miles on end. There didn't even seem to be any ponies at all in this area. No wandering ponies, no small huts, probably no ponies at all out here. He couldn't see much farther as there was not much to see up ahead. It is hard to see something when you don't care about it at all.

He stumbled over  a skull of a pony. These skulls were usually found out here, do he didn't think much of it. There was still a bit of dried blood in a crack in the skull. "I am probably going to join you, buddy." He said grimly.

He sighed and kept on walking through the heavy sun. The sun kept getting hotter and hotter, so he panted heavily. The panting kept getting stronger as he kept on trudging through the soil.

He was extremely thirsty. The extreme heat made him feel like he hadn't had a single sip of water in a million years. It made him strive like he was going to die for water and shade. He probably would die without shade or water. He would kill for a single sip of water or sliver of shade.

"Water...Hot.....Sunlands....."He angrily mumbled to himself as he kept panting. He looked around once more for anything new. He spied something very interesting. He spied a well shaded rock about 20 feet away. The mere thought of even a sliver of shade filled him with adrenaline. He needed the shade.

He focused on the target and got ready. "CHARGE!" He screamed with giddiness and glee due to the attractive idea of shade. He quickly dashed towards it due to the mere thought of sunlight beating down on him for one more second. He wanted the shade.  He needed the wonderful, wonderful shade.

He slid into the grasps of the shade as dirt flew out from under him. The shade was extremely nice, as he had been walking for about 12 hours of nonstop sun. 12 whole hours of this heat. It was extremely hard  for him to keep on walking through the heat. He was just glad he only started panting minutes ago. He looked around the shady rock for anything useful.

Smaller rocks, dirt and.... A SMALL PUDDLE OF WATER! His excitement welled up like a volcano ready to erupt.  "MY WATER!" He quickly thrust forth his head into the water, which resulted in it splashing everywhere. He gulped up the water quickly and sighed in relief. The water streamed down his face as he took another gulp. His face was soaked in water from the puddle. He was overwhelmed by the mere thought of water.

And now he decided to make a special toast to himself in honor of the puddle of water he just discovered under the cool shaded rock. Just because.  "Now just remember Traveler, the past is the past, you can't change that, the present is the present, you're living that, and the future is the future, you can always change that."

That pony is me. I am that pony. And my name is Traveler, and I am stranded  in the middle of the Sunlands.

The Sunlands, the place where the sun shines 24/7, every single hour, every second, of every single solitary day.

I had literally just been left out here in the Sunlands, and die from the extreme heat. I had been shoved out of a carriage that was currently taking me to the Line, due to the fact that I had lost all my bits (*which were in my bag, which is still in the carriage. I am upset about that because I cast a spell on that bag, and all of my stuff was in there. I cast a spell that made it hold up to 50 pounds and not get heavy or bigger. I didn't have anything but knickknacks or bits, however, nothing important.) when we hit a rocky bump and they had flown out of the carriage.

Seriously, he just put his hoof on my chest, pushed me hard, and I fell into the dirt. He obviously knew I would probably die. Nopony is as stupid as to not know somepony stranded in the Sunlands would vdie.

It is really amazing that ponies will just leave you to die for petty money. Money, money, money. I really don't like money. It drives ponies to insanity. I bet I could write a song as how much I hate it. No I couldn't. I have had past experience with moneygrubbing ponies, and I really don't like them. They get incredibly greedy and do really crazy things, like push ponies out of carriages and leave them to die!

I struck my hoof down in anger and it sunk a few millimeters into the dry dirt. I got an idea when the dirt slowly drifted away. I moved the dirt around with my hoof to try and spell my name in order to leave a mark that would show I have explored this area of the Sunlands before. So I could come here again, I guess. I don't know, maybe just because I wanted to write my name.

The dirt is sort of like sand. The dirt has no moisture due to the heat, yet it can not be mistaken for sand due to it being brown. Sand is definitely not brown. You know what, dirt is actually kind of interesting.

I continued to inspect this most wonderful dirt. The dirt is dry and can be moved around like normal sand, as it has no sort of moisture holding it together, which would act like cement to the sand. That is of course because it is always incredibly hot in the Sunlands.

The place where the sun always shines...*sigh* Well Traveler, look on the bright side, at least it isn't the Moonlands, that place is so extremely cold, it is rumored to freeze ponies cold in single hour. I could be an ice cube instead of sitting here in the shade with some deliciously wet water.

Water, so wet. I am still pretty confused on why anyone would just leave perfectly good water out here, especially in the middle of the Sunlands. Oh well, water is water, even if it should not be in the middle of the water deprived Sunlands. I dipped my head in once more and drunk all the rest of the wet, delicious, cooling water.

I put my hoof on the bottom of the hole where the puddle used to be in order to see how deep an imprint I could put into the hole. I also kind of needed something to lean on. Combo!

My hoof sank down deep into the mud and pressed onto a small rock on the bottom. It stopped sinking in the mud when it got stopped by a rock, so I pushed much harder.  The rock made a strange clicking noise. It sounded like when you push a button.

"Huh?" What just happened? Did the rock activate something? Is it a trap? The rock started rumbling. I turned around to see a square section of the rock lifted up to reveal a series of rock stairs.

I looked into the stairwell. There was a clumsily painted red arrow on the right hand side of the wall. It had been painted quickly by somepony with no experience with painting. It was smeared all the way down to the bottom of the stairs. The arrow was obviously saying to go down the stairs.

Well, why not? The worst that could happen is it is actually a trap and I trigger it then explode into millions of pieces. No big deal. It could still be a bad idea though.

But what about treasure? I can see it now: "Breaking News: Pony Finds Fortune In Sunlands" I got all giddy over money suddenly. It happens to the best of us. I am going against my own morals. But who really cares, right?

No, I've got to stick to my morals. Money is bad, money is bad, money is bad. I need another use for money if I find some.Okay, maybe I donate it to charity? Yep, donate it to a charity. Sounds good.

Well, what am I waiting for? I stepped onto the steps and began to walk down them. They were made of some form of granite (I studied geology) and there had to be at the very least forty of them. As I walked down them I thought about things.

Why does this hidden dungeon even exist? Is dungeon for lost travelers?  No, then it would not be secret. Is this somepony's home? Why is this dungeon

hidden? Is it hiding the treasure, that I will give to charity?

I continued to walk down the stairs. Would this be a trap? Could I explode? I pondered the risks and rewards. I could die or I could have money to donate to charity. Death or charity.

When I reached the bottom of the stairs, I opened the wooden door at the bottom with my magic. I looked inside and saw a normal room. It looked like somepony's home. Rug, torches, tables, chairs, and various knickknacks. The whole deal of stereotypical living room things. It is obviously a home. No doubt about that. Well, no treasure for charity here. Just a normal home.

I wondered where the pony here might sleep, as I did not see a bed. I quickly looked around for a bed, and spotted a wooden door next to the table.

Could this door possibly lead to a bedroom where the owner of this cave/house sleeps? Are they hostile? Would they provide help? Is this home abandoned? Or are they just out and about?  Would it be dangerous to open the door? I could die.

You know, this is kind of like the time I got stuck in a deep hole with a pretty mysterious trapdoor. I shall always regret never opening that trapdoor. It could have held anything. But no, I just waited for somepony to rescue my sorry flank. I waited for 3 whole days. 3 WHOLE DAYS! But not this time. This time I decided to find it out on my own what was behind this mysterious door of mystery.

You know what, that was a good name. The Mysterious Door Of Mystery! TM.  It sounds awesome. Very awesome. I really like making up names.

I slowly walked up to The Mysterious Door Of Mystery! TM and slowly opened it just a tiny crack with my magic. It slipped opened with a creek and I took just a little peek inside the Mysterious Door Of Mystery! TM. It looks like a CHANGELING LIVES HERE!?

I pulled my head out and started panting. What do I do? Am I doomed? Do I fight it? Okay, calm down, you know some spells that could defeat it, right? No you don't. Just calm down. It is going to be fine.

I peeked inside again to inspect the room. A changeling colt was in a pod, sleeping. There was green goop everywhere in the room also. I closely inspected the rest of the room. Goop, goop, goop.

You know what, I want some goop as a souvenir. Traveler, the pony that survived a changeling! And this goop to prove my extreme bravery.

I opened the door a bit more and sneaked in. I creeped in a little. I looked back at the door. It might let too much light in, since that would most likely wake the changeling, so I closed it.

I then turned away from the door and to the goop. I tried to pry the goop for the ground with my magic, but it wouldn't come off. I probably should have tried magic before I went inside.. Time to do this manually. I walked a bit closer to a huge glob of goop. Just a little closer..... *smack*

I then tripped over a sticky strand of goop. I should have noticed that. I would have kept that strand.

The changeling quickly got up and shouted "WHO'S THERE!?" I shuddered and tried to sneak out of the room. The door was not open, but maybe I cou..."DON'T THINK I DON'T SEE YOU!"

Well, oh well, I hope he's not very fast. Time to disregard all sneaking. I then dashed off, running for my very life. I was running so fast, I smacked into the door. This, however, did not slow me, as the door broke from the hinges and millions of tiny splinters went everywhere.  The door smashed into the table. Oops.

I ran towards the second door, and dashed through the doorway without fail. The steps slowed me, so I looked back to see that my knowledge of changelings was very, let's say limited, as I didn't know they had wings! He was laying on his wings before, so I didn't notice them. He was flying up the stairs, making him faster than me, due to the fact he had no stairs slowing him down.

I kept running,even though I had almost no chance of escaping, and burst out the rock entrance. I kept running through the Sunlands, even though it was extremely hot, and you shouldn't run in this much heat.

I panted heavily as I ran through the heat. I needed a place to hide. I looked around hastily. I saw a small rock, which I quickly dashed behind. Okay, I am behind a small rock. Am I safe from the changeling? Better check.

I looked back to see a changeling colt pouncing on me. "Buck."  His hoof was brought back and quickly thrown