Ancient History

A long time ago, on the other side of the world, far from the Equestria we know today, there was a mountain. Living on it, was the largest community of ponies to ever exist across the land. Grand castles, towers and walls adorned the mountain side, and scores of villages and farms decorated the land below. Between the farmers, and the citizens, there was only peace, and harmony. Governing this peace was the Matriarch, a mare of infinite wisdom and magical skill. Although her place was to rule the ponies beneath her, she treated each one like her children, despite being forbidden to have her own. She was a teacher, mentor and friend to every pony. She needed no advisors, for her rule was always wise and just. Lessons from all previous Matriarchs flowed through her. She treated every pony equally, taking no regard in their status or influence, but took special care for the young, the sick, and the old. She had her own guard, the Sentinels of the Sun, to protect her, and the land she ruled. Her highest purpose was to use her power, united with all the unicorns in her kingdom, to raise and set the sun and moon. It existed this way for thousands of years, until a series of strange events began to coalesce, events that would bring about the fall of the mightiest civilisation Equestria will never know.

The hospital team flew briskly inside the emergency ward. Four sturdy pegasi were carrying a stretcher between them. On it lay another Pegasus, but looking decidedly worse for wear.

“Quick, bring her inside!”

“How’s her vitals going?”

“34 degrees Celsius and dropping sir!”

“Heart rate is decreasing!”

“She’s losing consciousness!”

Doctor Zeal was having his hooves full with the new patient. The brown unicorn stared puzzled at her. She was found just outside the outer rim, where the Matriarch’s protection did not go. She was a mare, that was easy to tell, but her physiology was different. Her midnight blue coat looked dulled, like a metal that lost its sheen. Her mane was similar, but was a lot longer than what most mares had considered acceptable, very nearly touching the floor and a darker shade than her coat. Her cutie mark was four white diamonds. What was the weirdest thing about her was that she had wings, the feathers ending in points. Pegasi were a somewhat rare in these parts, making up a small portion of the kingdom’s population, so control of the weather was done by the Matriarch. Zeal had no idea what to do, it’s like she was from another… species…

“That’s it!” he exclaimed “Nurse Chlora, give her an X-ray. Doctor Tutela, monitor her vitals for me,”

“What are you going to do?” asked Chlora

“I’m going to see the matriarch,”

Without another word, he sprinted out into the hallway and out into the streets, blitzing the minute walk to the palace in seconds. Paying no heed to the guards outside, he burst into the main hall, panting from exhaustion.

“Matriarch Amaryllis,” he said, bowing deeply, right hoof over his chest. “I come to you with news,”

Amaryllis smiled fondly at the brown unicorn below her. The Matriarch was a truly beautiful mare. Whether she was born this way, or she gained it through power, was a mystery untouched. She was a slender, white alicorn, a splitting image of the Celestia we know today. She wore a golden necklace and horseshoes, each adorned with a sky blue opal. Her hair was long and soft, the colour of gold, and drifted slowly on the slightest breeze. Her eyes were blue sapphires, no misintent was to be found in them, only warmth, and compassion.

“My good friend,” she announced, voice echoing with warmth and care “Is there any a time we can speak to each other without a crisis in our hooves?” She motioned for him to rise, and he did so, though reluctantly.

Zeal smiled wirily “Apparently not your grace. We have a new patient, she is very ill and I have come to seek your aid,”

“My aid cannot be called upon for no mere illness,” Amaryllis replied. She sat down, awaiting an explanation “What ails her?”

“We found her on the outer rim of your territory…”

“A highly unusual place for life to be found,” she pondered “Please continue,”

“Her vitals are rapidly deteriorating, and no medicine seems to work on her,”

“This sounds most dire indeed,” conceded the Matriarch “Does she have a name?”

“No,  we don’t know jusy yet,”

“Very well then,”

She stood up and made her way to the main door, taking it all in long, graceful strides.

“One more thing, your highness,”

She turned to him, eye brow arched curiously

He sighed, gathering his thoughts on how to explain, but decided being blunt wouldn’t hurt.

“She is a different species of pony,”

Amaryllis’ expression became sharp, but soon softened into one of deep thought. “I wonder…” she said no more as she trotted to the hospital, Doctor Zeal struggling to match her pace.

“Matriarch in the ward!”

All ponies in the emergency ward paused all activity to bow before their ruler. Said ruler only blushed profusely.

“Please rise,” she said, slightly flustered “Do not let my presence keep you from your work,”

They all stood up and continued, as if nothing happened. She sighed to herself, in 600 years she’s turned from magic student and florist, into some kind of royalty. She enjoyed the job, and was very good at it, arguably the best (so far), but the kind of treatment she was getting made her uncomfortable, it isn’t what she wants. She stopped her train of thought and brought her mind to the task at hand.

“Zeal,” she said gently “Show me to your patient,”

Zeal merely nodded, and broke into a gallop, barrelling down to hallways into the patient’s room. When he arrived, he saw the grim faced expressions of his colleagues Chlora and Tutela. They made no effort to bow to Amaryllis, which she noted with relief and curiosity.

“How’s she going?” asked the Doctor, scrambling for the monitor

“She’s living,” answered Chora, shoving the holographic stasis monitor over to Zeal

“But not for long,” Tutela added, fussing over his own copy of the stasis monitor

He scanned the recovery report. Vitals are deteriorating, body temperature at 33 degrees Centigrade and dropping. How she is still alive confounds him, but he decided not to question it. Amaryllis looked on at the working ponies with mild interest.

“How about that X ray?” he inquired

Chlora levitated a semitransparent sheet over to the Doctor using her magic. Zeal snatched it from the air and examined it closely, expressions going from desperation, to confusion, to curiosity. Tutela wandered over to Zeal, ready for explanations.

“The X ray went perfectly.” She began “her skeleton seems like that over a normal Pegasus mare. Albeit, with a mineralised coating, as shown on the whiter outlines on the bones. Her wings, unlike a normal pegasi, have three finger-like protrusions instead of one. Her feathers seem to be coated in a thin, hard substance, we think its keratin. Her coat and mane seems to be semi-reflective, like an oxidised metal, and hard like an exoskeleton,”

“Is she…” Zeal looked for a lighter way to put it “a Changeling?”

Changelings were a plague in the Matriarch’s land, constantly sowing chaos like only they can. Most impersonated an existing pony, abducting the original, presumably to the hive. Victim’s wake up near the forest, exhausted above all natural causes.

She paused and brought over another sheet of paper, this one looked like the result of a thermal-imaging scanner

“We decided not to take precautions,” Chlora continued “So we took her to a magical resonant imaging machine. Her magical residue is faint, and regular, so she isn’t a changeling, however…”

She put a thoughtful hoof to her chin.

“While the normal ponies magical focuses tends to be around the head region, her is spread fairly evenly throughout her body, being more focused around the heart,”

The Matriarch pondered these truths for a moment. If the readings were correct, and the signs were all there, there could be only one explanation.

“My little ponies,” she announced “I think that now is the time for me to make my own investigations,”

With that, she focused her magic, but not through her horn, but through her mind. She manifested her great power into her head, some of it pouring out of her eyes as a dazzling, yet subdued white light. When she could not take anymore, she opened the gates, reaching for the dying Pegasus with her power. When their minds connected, the patient’s eyes opened, staring sightlessly at the ceiling above, the same white light pouring from them. Amaryllis braced herself, then began to dream.