Over seventy years ago, in a land populated by Ponies and other species such as Minotaurs, Griffins and Dragons, a magical rift appeared out of the blue. The Ponies were cautious when approaching this rift with their graceful leader Princess Celestia, an alabaster mare with mighty wings and a long unicorn horn, her mane and tail consisted of four different colours and flowed freely in an invisible wind. She towered over most ponies, being almost three times the size of the average equine. She approached this rift which she discovered was not just a crack in reality, but a gateway between worlds.
Soon a group of strange bipedal beings emerged from the rift. They had no fur aside from a small patch on their heads and a small amount on their arms and legs but they were barely noticeable. Each of them wore clothing, something the Ponies found odd. These creatures did not have hooves, instead they had claw like appendages they called hands. These were the Humans.
The Humans brought greetings from a planet they called Earth, and seeked to become friends with the Ponies and other beings of the land of magic. They offered advances in technology, medicine and luxuries, in return the creatures of this land would allow the Humans to build colonies, and the Ponies would be given permission to create their own colonies on Earth. A deal was struck, between a Human of great power and the Princess of Equestria.
The land of magic was brought into an age of wonder and advancements. Although, there came a problem. Many technological devices required for the development of things such as computers and cars that could not be used in this land, as the magical energy that flowed freely in the air corrupted their systems, so the development of technology was stuck to a certain level. Princess Celestia had told the researchers that Equestria has survived just fine without advanced technology, and that they should stick to developing lesser, more manageable creations.
Over the course of generations seven human colonies were set up along the borders of Equestria, where the rift between worlds was located in the main colony, Colony Dressia with a city known as Masereth.
The company who organised the colonies and other aspects of the deal was named O.N.Y.X. No one knew actually knew what the name stood for, but no one questioned it as they were too distracted by everything else. O.N.Y.X. was made up of Pony and Human scientists, military units and world leaders, all operating in secret with the location of their headquarters only known to a few select individuals such as Celestia.
After the first thirty years of this new era, new species of humans and ponies were created by the disrupted magic flowing from the rift. Humans that could command the very elements themselves, dubbed Elementals. Pony and Human crossbreeds, the Hybrids. Beings that could adapt to their current situation, the Shifters. Finally, beings made of an unknown substance resembling liquid that could form into a pony or human, the Symbiotes. Symbiotes required a human or pony to merge with in order to survive, they did this by becoming black liquid and jumping into the being's body where it would feed off of unused energy in the body.
With these new species, new advancements and new cultures being introduced to Equus, it was a different world. As such it was given a new name. This, is the world of Gaia.
…
Year Seventy Two, Outskirts of Masereth
Beside the large city of Masereth in Colony Dressia, there lay a beautiful, magical forest made of glass-like black trees with glowing blue leaves. Two young humans, a boy and a girl, walked along the smooth gravel pathway. The gentle breeze caused the thick layer of sapphire blue leaves of the trees to create small waves. The black glass-like wood reflected the glowing blue leaves’ light, creating small blue rays of light, causing them to shine.
The boy, looking no older than sixteen, looked around the magic forest with interest. His long brown hair shifted slightly with the breeze. His piercing purple eyes scanned everything in his sight, taking in every last detail. He wore a blue shirt that he kept unbuttoned revealing the black t-shirt underneath. His light blue jeans brushed against his skin as he walked, his white sneakers leaving soft footprints in the gravel. “The Forest Of Eternity, believed to be where souls of the deceased come together to rest and join with each other.”
The girl looked around with curiosity. “This place is so beautiful. Definitely better than the forests in the colony.” The girl had long blonde hair which she wore in a ponytail. As she walked, the soft breeze blew her blue skirt slightly to the side. Her grey sweater kept her warm, with a blue shirt underneath. Her grey tights hugged her skin with her blue boots fitting perfectly around her feet. Like the boy she also had purple eyes that shined in the soft blue light.
These two are Symbol and Abigail Rayleigh, twin brother and sister. For some reason their parents decide to name the son Symbol, they told him it just came to them when he was born. He was known around his colony as the boy with the strange name. To avoid bullying in schools, his parents changed his legal name to Neo, but he grew to appreciate his birth name and continued to call himself as such.
“Hey bro, can I ask you something?” Abigail asked with a smile.
“Sure sis, what do you wanna know?” The boy replied.
“Do you by any chance know an Elemental named Ashley?” She asked with a sultry tone and look.
Symbol turned his head away from his sister. “Maybe…” A blush was now forming on his face.
“And would you happen to be dating said Elemental?” Abigail teased while walking closer to him.
“It's not any of your business Abi, I'm not answering that.” He stated firmly.
“I'll take that as a yes~” Abigail giggled at her brother's expression that had turned to one of annoyance and grief.
“Why do you want to know about that anyway?” Symbol questioned while rubbing the side of his face.
“Are you kidding me? I need to know if you're dating someone so I can decide whether or not they're good enough for you.” Abigail explained.
“Your opinion on my romantic partner don't matter, I chose to date her and I like her, I think if all goes well we could be married one day.” Symbol stated in an authoritative tone.
Abigail rolled her eyes and they continued walking in silence, enjoying the beauty of the forest. As they walked Abigail tripped over something, as she was about to fall Symbol grabbed her arm and pulled her up. “Thanks Symbol.” The two looked down at the object that had nearly placed Abigail's face in gravel.
Two necklaces lay there each having a glowing gemstone. One of the gems was purple while the other was blue. The twins looked at each other with a raised brow before reaching down and picking up the pieces of jewellery. Symbol picked up the purple one while Abigail took the blue. “Who would just leave these things in a forest?”
“I don't know but I say finders keepers!” Abigail exclaimed as she put on the necklace that glowed brighter as she put it on. “Cool.”
Looking to the necklace in his palm Symbol shrugged and placed it on, which in turn caused it to shine brighter. As he fitted it around his neck he felt a rush of energy and power. “Woah…”
Abigail tilted her head. “What?”
Symbol looked to his hands and clenched them into fists. “I just felt a wave of energy, I feel like I could take on the world right now!”
Abigail giggled. “Now Symbol, we need to talk about your glowy gems addiction, you know that winners don't do drugs.”
Symbol rolled his eyes and looked to his new necklace. “Just what are these things?” As he said that they continued walking. As they reached a cliff they saw that the sun had gone down and only part of the sky was a soft orange. Sitting on a long by the cliff's edge, they admired the beautiful night sky that was slowly making itself known. As the final rays of sunlight faded over the horizon the pair spotted silhouettes of airships dotted around the sky getting ready for landing or staying in hover mode for the night. As the sky became black and the stars and moon came out, the lights of all of the towns and cities turned on, presenting them with a beautiful piece of art.
As they looked up at the sky they saw other lights being switched on, the towns and cities on the many floating islands were truly a sight to behold. “I was told by one of the guys back in Masereth that on a good day here you can make out Colony Solena from here, as well as the Capital Island Chain.”
“Then we're going to have to come back here sometime, maybe you could bring Ashley on a little date or something, I'm sure this would be a really romantic setting to get it on with her.”
“Eww sis, that's gross, I'm not one of those guys.” Scolded the purple eyed boy.
“Good, never by one of those guys.” The two stared out at the scenery before a strong searchlight was shone onto them. The two shielded their eyes and backed up to the trees. Looking up Symbol found that an airship was floating above the cliff and ropes were being thrown down.
Multiple ponies and humans dressed in black body armour slid down these ropes and began walking towards the pair. “Get them!”
Acting quickly Symbol grabbed Abigail's hand and began running through the trees.
He could hear the armoured figures shouting and telling him to stop, ordering each other to follow them. Dodging and weaving through the black trees at night proved a bit difficult, but their eyes adjusted enough to be able to tell where they were going.
As Symbol ran he heard his sister start to lose her breath and slow down. “C’mon Abigail, we've got to keep moving.” Soon the two saw darts being shot at them, their tiny needles unable to pierce the glass-like wood of the trees. Suddenly a dart hit Abigail in the shoulder, causing her to gasp at the sudden pain.
The girl started to become sleepy and fell to the ground. “Symbol… go on without me.”
“Never, I'm getting you out of here. What kind of brother would I be if I left you here?” Symbol attempted to pick her up but she stopped him, the figures fast approaching.
“Symbol,” She looked up at him with a sad smile, “just go.”
Symbol looked from their approaching pursuers to his sister, unsure of what to do. Sighing Symbol kissed his sister on the forehead and began backing away. “I'm going to find you.”
Abigail gave one last smile. “I know you will.” With that she closed her eyes.
Symbol took one last look at his sister before making a run for it, the group stopping and focusing on the sleeping girl. A large human picked her up and carried her back to the airship.
“Where is the other one?” A tall human asked.
“Sir, we suspect he has fled deeper into the forest with the gem, we'll never be able to find him.” Explained an armoured pony.
The human growled and turned around. “Then leave him, we can deal with him later, O.N.Y.X. command only needs one of the gem users anyway.”
As the group retreated to the airship Symbol poked his head out from behind a tree and watched them walk away. “O.N.Y.X. is behind this? What in the world do they want with some teenagers and necklaces?”
The anger of having his sister taken from him finally reached him, causing the necklace around his neck to glow.
“I swear on my life, I am going to get you back sis, and I'm gonna kick the ass of whoever’s behind this.” He clenched his fist and it emitted a purple glow along with his necklace and eyes. “I will search for you.”
…
Three Years Later, Ponyville
The town of Ponyville was beaming with life, ponies of all ages went about their day with smiles on their faces. The the sky was clear, the air fresh and the atmosphere was delightful. In this town there sat a large hollowed out tree with a door and a few windows in its trunk. This was the Golden Oaks Library, home to Princess Celestia's faithful student Twilight Sparkle, a young unicorn mare with a lavender coat and straight dark purple mane with a pink stripe.
This mare lived with a baby dragon with purple scales and a lime underbelly named Spike, Twilight's number one assistant. The young drake watched as his adoptive sister walked with a skip in her step. “Wow Twilight, what's got you all excited?”
Twilight stopped and turned to him with a beaming smile. “Today is the seventy fifth anniversary of the rift between worlds appearing, and Celestia wants me to help out with the preparations for the party today.”
Spike just looked at her confused. “I still don't get why you're so excited over planning a party Twilight, isn't that Pinkie Pie’s job?”
Twilight rolled her eyes and continued. “This isn't just any old Pinkie party Spike, Princess Celestia is holding the annual gathering of species here in Ponyville, that means I'll finally get to see a real life Human, or an Elemental, Symbiote or even a Hybrid! I've been so distracted in life with my endless studying that I never got the chance to travel to one of the seven main colonies.”
Spike nodded in understanding. “Ok, now I see why you're excited, just don't go around bombarding every Human or Hybrid you see with questions or else you'll either end up annoying them, offending them or scaring them, maybe even all three.”
“Ok ok, I know I can be a bit overexcited when learning something new.” Twilight waved him off with a hoof. “Now, if you'll excuse me I have a party to plan.” With that the lavender mare trotted out of the library door, leaving Spike to his own devices.
Twilight looked around the town as she merrily trotted along the pathway towards Town Hall. She gave friendly waves to the ponies around town and took in a breath of the morning air.
“Ah, what a great day to be alive.” As Twilight walked she spotted a golden chariot being pulled by two pegasi in gold armour, a large alabaster mare sitting comfortably as she was pulled towards the town. “Princess Celestia!”
Filled with the joy of seeing her teacher again Twilight began running towards Town Hall to greet the Princess when she landed.
Island Zeta, Skies Of Equestria
On the small floating island above the lush green fields of Equestria, a small airship port was filled with life as members of various species walked around the wooden platforms connected to the side of the sky island. The airships themselves gave the impression of a steampunk design, but still kept a traditional look to them.
In the streets of the port town, a young man stood with his back against an alleyway wall, watching all of the passing residents and travelers. His medium-long brown hair flowed slightly in the draft of the alleyway. He wore a brownish-grey coat with two straps across his chest stopping it from flowing freely but leaving it open enough to reveal his beige undershirt. He also wore dark blue jeans with brownish-grey boots.
Reaching under the collar of his shirt he pulled out a necklace, a black wire with a silver medallion in the shape of the sun. He held it tightly before placing it back under his shirt along with the other necklace with a glowing purple gem. Looking to his hands, which were covered by brown fingerless gloves he noticed a golden ring with patterns of flames on his middle finger, smiling as he stared at the piece of jewellery.
Hearing the sound of a whistle he peeked over the exit of the alley and saw people boarding an airship. “All aboard! All those for Ponyville please board now!” A stallion in golden armour yelled as he held a clipboard in in his left hoof.
The young man walked out of the alley and headed down the cobblestone path towards the airship. As he approached the stallion stepped out.
“Name sir?”
“Symbol Rayleigh.”
The stallion looked over the list before nodding. “Ah, here you are, enjoy your flight sir.” The stallion moved out of his way and allowed him to pass.
Once aboard the airship, Symbol walked over to a piece of railing and leaned on it, looking out at the beautiful landscape of Equestria. As he looked towards his destination, Ponyville, he noticed a certain blimp floating about with other airships. “O.N.Y.X.” He clenched his fist and scowled. “Three years and I still haven't been able to find the location of your headquarters, only branch buildings and underground labs. This time, I'm not letting you get away.”
…
Ponyville
As the golden chariot landed in the centre of the decorated town Twilight ran up to meet her teacher. The tall alabaster mare with the flowing coloured mane turned her head and smiled warmly as she saw her student rushing to her. Princess Celestia opened her front legs to welcome Twilight into a hug as she reached her. The two embraced each other for a moment before separating.
“Hello again Twilight, how have you been?” Celestia asked in a motherly tone.
Twilight smiled and looked up at the sun Princess. “I've been great Princess, I've been looking forward to this gathering for so long I just can't wait any longer.”
Celestia chuckled and wrapped her left wing around Twilight. “Well then, if you wish for this festival to start sooner we best get ready for the travelers and world leaders.”
“Right.” Celestia began to lead the young unicorn mare to the Town Hall to prepare for the day ahead.
…
Above the town a pegasus mare with a cyan coat and rainbow mane went about moving clouds to certain positions with other pegasi. Near her, a mare with a yellow coat and long pink mane timidly pushed a cloud to its required location. The cyan mare took note of her slow pace and flew to her. “Fluttershy, you've gotta get a move on. The festival starts in a few hours and we're already behind schedule.”
The yellow mare, known as Fluttershy, looked at the other mare from behind her long mane. “Oh, um, sorry Rainbow Dash, I'll speed things up.”
“What's got you shy now?” Rainbow Dash asked in a tired tone. “Over the past few months you've been improving and stopped being so shy, but now you're acting as if we're back to square one.”
Fluttershy looked away nervously. “It's just...all of these new creatures are coming to Ponyville today, I-I just don't know if I can handle all of those new species. What if they're mean? What if they want to talk to me?” Fluttershy hid herself in the cloud she was pushing, only her eyes visible.
“Oh come on Fluttershy, Princess Celestia wouldn't invite a bunch of different things to a town like this if she knew they were all jerks. Now we need to get back to work or the manager will get cranky.” With that, Rainbow Dash flew off to her own section of the skies, leaving the timid mare to calm down.
…
In a large orchard of sturdy apple trees an orange earth pony mare with a long blonde mane that was tied with a small red ribbon at the end struck her powerful hind legs against one of the trees, causing its fruit to fall from their branches and into baskets laid out on the grass below. “Alright, jus’ gotta get a few more baskets filled and then we can bring ‘em to town for the gathering.”
A small yellow filly with a rose red mane with a huge pink bow ran up to Applejack and began to place any apples that hadn't made it into a basket into a smaller bushel. “Ah can't wait ta see all the different kinds of ponies and other things show up to the festival, ah bet me and the crusaders could get our cutie marks in monster watching.”
“Now now Applebloom, the folks comin’ to this ain't monsters, no matter how weird they may look to us. Now Ah don't want you, Sweetie Belle or Scootaloo annoying, spying, or capturing anyone, understand?” Applejack explained in a stern but kind tone.
“Ok sis, we'll behave ourselves.”
“Good, now let's get back to it, we still got a few trees left to buck.” With that the two earth ponies not back to their work.
…
In Ponyville there sat a bakery, a building actually made of various sweets and appeared to be a large gingerbread house. Inside this bakery two ponies were working hard in the kitchen, preparing for the gathering like the rest of the town. One of these mares was an earth pony which had a pink coat with a darker pink mane that one could only describe as poofy, the other was a unicorn mare with a marshmallow white coat with a carefully curled purple mane. “Thanks again for helping out here Rarity, with everypony else busy I didn't think I'd get everything done on time.” The pink one said as she zoned around the room in a pink blur, only stopping for a few seconds to stir a mixture or take something out of an oven.
“Why it's my pleasure Pinkie Pie, I'll admit this isn't something I would usually do but I am happy to assist you.” The unicorn now known as Rarity said as she stirred a mixture with her magic and decorated various cupcakes and muffins simultaneously. “And you needed somepony to keep these marvellous treats safe.” As she said this she spotted a pegasus mare with a grey coat and blonde mane with crossed eyes leaning in through a window trying to reach a freshly made muffin, but was pushed out by Rarity. “Back you, wait until the festival.”
…
The airship was halfway to its destination, Symbol still leaned against the railing as he watched the land below pass by slowly as the ship floated forward. He he learned to appreciate the vast open landscapes of inner Equestria, as his home in the colony did not have any nearby farmland and was on the border of the country, with the centre of Masereth City housing the rift between worlds. He had seen many travelers come and go through the streets of Masereth, he's seen all kinds of species walk through the rift during his lifetime. Now here he was, exploring the world of Gaia in search of his sister.
He chased lead after lead, never giving up. When someone were to look into his purple eyes they would see the eyes of someone who had seen many things, both beautiful and horrific.
“I don't believe it, Symbol Rayleigh, is that you?” Symbol heard a masculine voice ask behind him. Turning around he saw a man who looked in his late twenties with spiky brown hair with sideburns connecting his hair to his short beard that ran along the bottom of his face. He had blue eyes, his left one having a scar under it. He wore a black and blue coat with a large sword resting on his back, a golden gauntlet on his right hand.
“Gray Karmen, never thought I'd see you this far inland.” The two shook hands and Gray joined him on the railing.
“Could say the same thing about you Symbol, you find any more leads on your sister's whereabouts?” Gray asked with a smile.
“No, but high ranking O.N.Y.X. personnel will be attending this year's gathering, as well as a blimp filled with troopers that should give me the info I need.” Symbol responded with determination. “What about you? How goes the mercenary work?”
Gray smiled. “It's going well, I've got Clawback and Mothball with me, we got a job guarding some government officials at the festival, personally I can't stand those snobs but boy do they pay a handsome amount of bits.”
Symbol looked back to see a large male griffon with that was a mixture of a lion and an eagle, his head being dark grey and his body being dark brown. Sitting across from the griffon sat a changeling, his emerald green eyes had slits as pupils, he also had a light bluish-green mane that lay messy, he was bigger than your average drone so Symbol suspected him of being a royal changeling, a royal is a changeling that has the ability and status to start their own hive and is the only breed of changeling that can actually procreate. Both of the creatures worked black and blue vests that had the emblem of a wolf on their backs.
“Say, how’re you and Ashley doing these days?” Gray asked with curiosity and a friendly smile.
Symbol gave a soft smile and held up his right hand, showing the golden ring causing Gray’s eyes to widen. “I think we're doing alright.”
“Well I'll be…congrats big guy, I better be invited to the wedding.” Gray give Symbol a hard pat on the back. The two chuckled before staring out at the landscape. “Hey, I hear Cybe has gone through with that experiment.”
“Really? That's surprising, didn't think he had it in him.” Symbol commented, remembering his childhood friend who for some reason wanted to be called Cybe. Cybe's father was the head of a research team for a company known as CyCorp, another company that had assisted in the technological advancement of Gaia but as Symbol found out had no connections to O.N.Y.X.
“Yeah, apparently he was caught in an accident.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, poor bastard lost his right arm and his legs to a fire, lost his parents too.”
Symbol put a hand to his mouth, trying to think of how that would have felt. “That's just not right, after this I'm going up to Colony Angria to see if he's doing alright. Might take Ashley if she wants to come.”
Gray nodded. “Well, looks like we're landing, I gotta go make sure the guys don't leave anything on here. See ya around, don't be getting into any trouble you hear?”
Symbol rolled his eyes and watched his friend walk back to his fellow mercenaries of Lone Wolf Mercenary Services, odd name yes considering that they all work together, but it symbolised more than what the group did, it symbolised what they were before, lone wolves.
Symbol watched as the airship began its descent, his sights fell on the O.N.Y.X. blimp that was now heading towards a nearby forest of thorns and black leaves. “Gotcha.”
