“Clouds swirls above the tree, tinted red and purple in color it appeared to be a wound and perhaps it was so the world bellow shivered in agony and fear. A great power, something not seen since the times of yore had been awake; a great power that once divided so that actions so atrocious were enacted against one another.... The great Fear.... where it came from, no one could say as it seem to appear out of the blink of an eye but even in the moments it had emerged the world coward to it.

To protect their subject, Queen Athena and her son, a Prince’s name lost to time, flew to contain the fear and contain the fear they did. However, this action was not without consequence. Details to what had occurred were unclear as the Queen could not being herself to say the events that transpired. All that was known in certainty is that after the evil clouds shrouding the world had vanish so had the valiant prince with the aftermath leaving only a severely injured Queen Athena spared. Having lost her beloved son, Athena plunged into a sorrow so deep none could console her. Even the mention of her son’s name sent her into an agonizing sadness so deep nothing could calm her. However, in her sadness she had failed to realize that her Kingdom which she defended so had begun to crumble. The world had become infected, the wound inflicted upon it left untreated the land began to appear as if it were burned. Magic was no longer plentiful as it had been and creatures of many species began to fight over what remained. Those once friends became foes and stained the poison soil in the red of rage and greed. By the time Athena snapped from her deep sorrow her kingdom, once so beautiful, had collapsed into war. Knowing what she had to do she left her council with a single command to maintain her precious country in her place and she flew. According to her council she left to the regal Altama Star Tree where she would use every ounce of her alicorn magic. Traveling through the roots of the tree, the land’s magic had been rejuvenated as the tree radiated a beautiful gray aura.

In return to restoring the land, Athena gave her life. Her body turned to stone and was left cold. In a short time Altama had lost both of its rulers and even though the magic had returned, the land was still heavily scarred. Under the control of Athena’s great council the land did indeed begin to remedy but it would take many dozens of years before peace would truly return to Altama in the wake of the tragedy.”

Reading to herself, a young Pegasus mare with long, fluffy wings, mane the color of the sky and fur the color of caramel, laid under the glow of the moonlight. She had several books beside her, each of different topics ranging from “The Marry Trotter” to the book she had now which was titled “The History of Altama.” It appeared she had finished reading a chapter, making a heavy sigh as she looked down at her phone. It read ’11:55’ which made her smile.

“Just 5 minutes to go.”

Gently, she closed the worn out book and placed it on top of the small pile she had beside her and sat up. Excitedly, her ruby red eyes fixated on something most magnificent. A tree, giant in size, stood before her radiating a beautiful silver glow. Indeed, this was the same tree from the book she had just read, Altama’s Star tree. However, unlike those creatures below the tree living in the city built around it, this mare was not lost in the festivities and noise. Instead she was on her own sitting upon a floating island suspended high up above a crater with a large river flowing into it. Several other islands surrounded it, seemly glued into the sky in place somehow. She was far from the loud hussle and bussle of the city but from here nothing obscured her vision of the tree.

Why would she want such a clear view? Well, today just so happens to be a special day.

Unable to contain her excitement, she looked at her phone again which now read ’11:59’ only a minute left. As the seconds ticked away the glow from the tree only became more and more intense. Sparkles began to emerge, surrounding the tree in a thin veil. At the same time the mare’s anticipation also grew as she stood at the very edge of the island. Counting back in unison the town to seem to share in this mare’s excitement.

“Ten.... nine...” She mouthed along with the two, her wings poofing up. “Eight.... seven...”

As the countdown continued, something began to happen to the tree, something that made the mare flinch and fold her wings in surprise. A powerful shockwave burst from the tree, the gray aura gaining many different colors, becoming similar to a rainbow pond. Clearly by the expression of the mare this wasn’t normal as she seemed to be quite dumbfounded. The colors began to collect and separate from the aura into six small masses, leaving the aura silver again. Each mass had a specific color, Red, Blue, Yellow, Green, Orange and Purple each spinning around the tree in a ring.

“Five.... four....”

The mare simply watched, unsure as to how she should react until she again surprised by the islands shaking under her. Caught off guard she trips over onto her side where she clings to the grass with her hooves. It didn’t last long, seemly also coming over in a pulse as the islands settled back into place. The masses began to float over the tree and move closer together. The masses join into one, making a large, white orb above the tree where it floats slowly higher and higher.

“Three.... two...”

She stands, being very cautious as she stares up at the orb, her heavy breathing making white puffs of fog form as her hot breath hit the frigid air
.

“One”

Suddenly, the tree’s aura bursts, sending sparkles high up into the sky, covering the night sky in veils of silver. This was normally what would happen so it didn’t startle the mare but her gaze still remained fixated on that mass above. Suddenly, the orb shot in her direction which made her duck, covering herself with her wings.

After a few seconds she peaked through her feathers to take a quick glance, only to see there was nothing in front of her. However, a loud, popping noise from behind her made her jump and turn to face the noise. There, floating in the middle of the islands was the orb and as she approached it to settle her own curiosity she could see a faint outline inside. Clearly there was something within the orb but she was too cautious to approach it quite yet.

Another popping sound from it made her back up more as one of the colored masses, the purple one, that collected to make it flew out and was shot off into the distance. It was then followed by another then another, each flying off in different directions. It sounded like fireworks with each orb that flew away. After the fourth one the mare, still cautious, took a step towards it only to hear another popping sound. A Yellow mass flew from it and when straight for her. It moved so quickly she had no time to react. It entered her chest, glowing inside her for a second before covering her in a light, gold light and vanishing completely. Clearly freaked out the mare frantically touched her chest, unsure of what happened exactly. A final popping sound from the mass caught her attention again, making her look over with a hoof over her heart.

A blue orb flew out, flying off into the distance like the others. Once it was out of sight the mass began to fall, dissolving away as it plummeted to a river below. The mare trots over to the other edge, watching it as it fell down past her island. What she saw made her instantly jump off the island after it.

The light eroded away it was revealed that a unicorn stallion, mane the color of earth and fur the color of cream, had been inside!

Wasting not a second, she nose dove down as fast as she could after him. She folded her wings in like a peregrine falcon, flying just as fast as the predatory bird. Making up the distance the mare focused squarely on the stallion since, if she missed, it wouldn’t end well for him.

Unknown to her, the stallion was still somewhat conscious, his eyes slightly open but his expression being bland and blank. He looked up at her, seeing her simply as a brown blur against the dark sky. He breathes, a white puff of fog coming from his muzzle as he softly said.

“Forgive me...”

His eyes closed as he passed out, his body beginning to flip around in the air as he fell. The mare, eyes squinted and mane flying everywhere, reached out for him. She grabbed him, holding him close to her as she opened her wings. However, she had no time to pull back up especially with the dead weight so both she and he plunged into the fridge waters.

It felt like a million needles piercing her skin all at once and someone punching the air out of her lungs the moment her body was submerged. She needed air, her lungs cried in agony for just a breath as the frigid pain filled her entire body. Still, she refused to release the stallion from her hooves. She kicked frantically, finally managing to break the surface where she took a deep breath in. However, the sudden cold constricted her lungs making it painful to take in sudden breaths in. Her body felt numb and weak; so much so it took her all her strength just to hold her and the stallion’s head above water. However, she knew she couldn’t stay here, if she did both would die of hyperthermia. So, she used her oversized wings to her advantage as she used them as paddles to move through the icy water.

By the time she managed to reach the bank her body was so weak from the water she could barely stand. Again, she used her wings to help hold her up as she drags the stallion out of the water on her back. Ensuring both were safely on solid ground the mare collapsed, flopping down against the ground with heavy breaths.

“Ahh not the way I planned to spend New Years....”

Her body hurt all over, it was sore and very painful but still her concern was still aimed towards the stallion. She turned her head to look at him only to notice no fog puffs were leaving his muzzle. Panicked she rolled him off her back and onto his.

“H-hey! Wake up! Common!”

Dragging herself over to him she places her ear on his chest, hearing a faint heart beat but not hearing him take in breaths. Frantically she thought, trying to think of ways to save him. First, she places her hooves over his chest and pushed down but with her measly strength she could barely put down any pressure.

“Agh common guy, breath!”

Opening his mouth she tested for breath but there was nothing. She was losing him and fast. Thinking she could only come to one solution and honestly it wasn’t a matter of choice to her.

She tilted his head back, placing her hoof behind his head to open his air way and with a heavy blush on her face begun to lower down to his.

“Breath.....” She thought, exhaling a breath of life into him.

“Breath...” Another one.

“Please!”

Feeling that this was a lost cause tears began to collect in her eyes. Shivering, she kept trying to revive him, she refused to give up on him.

“Please! BREATH!”

Just then, her body began to glow a golden light, transferring over to him. Her mane began to rise, flowing up as the magical aura consumed them both in warmth. Slowly, as she continued to try and wake him, the magic seeped into him, sinking into her chest. With one, final breath the aura dissipated and the Stallion coughed. Water spluts from his muzzle, freeing his lungs to take in deep breaths at last. It surprised the mare but finally seeing him breathing brought a smile of relief. He’ll be okay and that finally allowed her to finally relax. Now, without all the adrenaline and stress rushing her body she finally felt the fatigue hit her all at once. Even if she wanted to move she couldn’t possibly. So, she simply laid her head on his chest, letting the water drip off her body onto the floor.

“... Maybe a little nap... wouldn’t hurt... what do you think?” He was still out cold, breathing softly now. She simply giggled a bit, finding his heart beat to be very soothing.

“Yeah.... you’ve got the right idea...” In the distance the sound of trotting hooves could be heard, seemly a small group but the mare cared not. Her eyes just slowly closed, a smile on her face as she settled.

She soon joined the stallion in slumber.

Author's Note

So what does the story start with..... nearly drowning and locking lips with a complete stranger

Yay~