Prologue Atlantis Sinks (Edited)
The ocean is a strange place. At times it is peaceful, calm and home to numerous lifeforms. But at other times it is dangerous, terrifying and capable of destruction on a massive scale. Water itself is similar. On one hoof it supports life and whole civilizations flourish with it but on the other hoof, it is a destructive force to be reckoned with.
At that time we thought that we could harness that destructive force, but it was foolishness to think that we could and as a result of our hubris, we were struck down and fell to depths unimaginable. Both literally and figuratively.
===In a single day and night of misfortune the island of Atlantis disappeared into the depths of the sea -Stone Tablet===
The sea was calm, quiet and sparkled as the afternoon light hit it. The waves moved to a rhythm that they always had for centuries and beneath them, fish and other marine life went about their business. All in all, it was a very peaceful day. And then that peace was shattered by a sudden flash and explosion. In response the ocean heaved, creating massive waves that spread out past the point of the explosion.
Attempting to race the massive wave was three massive lobster-shaped machines with several smaller fish flying vehicles manned by ponies. As the fish vehicles attempted to pour on speed one of the ponies, and older earth pony directed a glare at a younger, flinching unicorn stallion.
"You fool!" He snapped, making the stallion flinch harder. "I told you not to fly so close and now look what you've done!"
Just as the stallion was starting to stutter an apology another pony, one who was obviously of a higher rank than the two ponies, flew between them and shot them both stern looks.
"This is not the time to start going at each other." He hissed angrily. "We will discuss this later when the current issue has been dealt with, understand!?"
Before either could respond beyond a reluctant sort of agreement from the elder, there was a panicked shout from the back of the group.
"The wave is growing!"
"And it's closing in!!"
There were shouts of alarm that were cut off as a number of ponies were swallowed by the wave. The pony in authority turned to his ponies with a grim expression.
"Don't give up men, Atlantis must be warned!" He called out. "Hundreds of lives depend on us and we will not let them down! For Atlantis!"
These were the last words many of those soldiers would hear as the wave swallowed them up. Only a few survived the wave including the veteran and the rookie who'd been arguing earlier. The captain, unfortunately, didn't make it.
Bright Eyes was bored. Lookout duty wasn't her favorite duty but it was almost better than toilet duty. Almost. Still didn't change the fact that she was bored out of her mind sitting up here in a tower for hours! The mare shook her head violently and slapped her cheeks to wake herself up a little more. She shouldn't be thinking about this while on duty. It was her job to alert the city to any threat that could be approaching. Even if she was bored out of her skull.
SWOOSH
Bright Eyes blinked as the fish vehicle suddenly whizzed right past her, pilot shouting frantically. Next thing she knew, more fish vehicles were whizzing past her with the drivers all screaming frantically. Their words were unclear and meshed together a little, but she was able to pick up one word. Wave.
'Wave? What Wave?' She thought as she turned to look in the direction the fish vehicles came from....and instantly all color drained from her face. As she ran to announce the emergency warning, a stray thought flickered across her mind.
'Oh, that wave.'
Suddenly, Bright Eyes wasn't so bored.
EVERYPONY GET TO THE SHELTERS!! I REPEAT, EVERYPONY GET TO THE SHELTERS NOW!
Everything was chaos and panic as the warning rang across the city. Ponies were scream and running around as fish vehicles crashed to the ground. Some were running to the shelters as directed with what belongings they could gather in the short amount of time. Others were hunting down friends, family and loved ones in the panicked chaos. Only a few noticed the red beams of light that shone down and roamed about the city like searchlights.
Pushing her way through the panicking throngs was a white unicorn with a pink mane that had been pulled back so that it would be out of her face. And around her barrel was a sash that denoted her as a private in the Atlantean army. Running beside her was a younger filly, a dark blue pegasus with a light blue mane. As the pair ran through the city trying to stay together, their eyes were scanning the crowds. Then the unicorn's eyes lit up as she spotted what they were looking for.
"Your Highness!" She called as they rushed over to the side of the Royal Family.
"Celestia, Luna thank Faust you two are okay." The king, an older unicorn stallion with a blue coat and darker blue mane sighed in relief as the two arrived. The two gave the king a quick curtsy before straightening.
"We need to get to the shelters your majesties, follow us," Celestia said and Night Light nodded then turned to his wife, a light grey unicorn mare with a white and purple striped mane.
"Come, darling, time to go." He said with a head tilt. Twilight Velvet nodded and without another word she snatched her youngest filly in her magic, the sudden jolt making the purple unicorn drop her doll.
"Smartypants!" The filly cried and struggled in her mother's magic grip. "Mommy wait! I dropped Smartypants! Mommy!!"
The queen sighed in frustration as her daughter's struggles grew desperate and made it hard to hang onto her. Finally, she stopped and set the filly on the ground none too gently.
"Listen Twilight, now is not the time. We have to go to the shelters." As the spoke, a beam of red light landed on her and turned blue. Sensing the blue light surrounding her, the queen turned and stood as the crystal necklace around her neck floated up and her eyes flashed blue.
At that moment, Night Light turned to make sure his family was there and when he saw his wife standing within a beam of blue light with other beams of the blue light converging on her, he immediately backtracked and ran towards her with Celestia and Luna on his heels. As he ran towards her, the beams of light converged into a thin line before expanding out once again. At that moment the queen was lifted up and as she rose up into the sky, her magical grasp on her daughter faltered and weakened enough that the filly slipped from her grasp but not her charm necklace. Noticing the sudden loss of her mothers hold and her charm necklace, Twilight turned to her mother's figure as she continued to rise higher and higher.
"Mommy?" She said in confusion and when her mother didn't answer, her anxiety grew. "Mommy!" She called as her mother rose past her grasp and sight. High above the city, a bright light like a star blazed brightly and a shield began to form.
"Mommy!" A little purple filly cried out, heedless of the rising shield. By then her father reached her and engulfed her in a hug that shielded her from the bright light.
"Don't look Twilight." He said, trying to hush his little fillies cries. "And don't worry, I'm right here."
"M-mommy!" Twilight wailed. "Mommy!"
Among the crowds of ponies rushing to the shelters, a young pegasus couple with their children in hoof were flying as fast as they could to reach the shield in time. They knew that once it went up, nothing could get through but seeing as they weren’t going to make it, the two turned to their progeny, a butter yellow pegasus filly about seven years old and their three-year-old son that was held in her grasp. Smiling sadly, the couple removed their children from their father’s back and set them in the air.
“Fluttershy, I need you to do us a big favor.” Their father said gently. “It’s not going to be easy and it’s a huge job especially for someone at your age, but we’re confident that you can do it.”
The filly looked confused at her parents as she flapped her wings to hover in the air. “Okay, I’ll do my best to do whatever you want me to do.”
“That’s our girl.” The mare said proudly as she ran a hoof down her daughter’s cheek before the hoof roamed to the sleeping toddler. “We need to look after Zephyr for us. And to always remember that we love you and we’ll always watch over you.”
The two adults planted teary kisses on both their foals but the filly still looked confused. “I don’t understand, where are you going?”
“Somewhere very very far away.” The stallion said sadly as he positioned his daughter. “But don’t worry, one day we’ll see each other again. Hopefully not for a very long time though, be strong and hold on tight.”
Fluttershy didn’t get the chance to ask when a sudden strong gust from her parent's wings sent her shooting forwards and tumbling head over heels. The filly instinctively tightened her grip on the colt in her hooves and by the time she regained her bearings, she was inside the now-closed shield with her parents on the other side.
“Mom? Dad?” She began fearfully, not fully comprehending what happened. But once she did, horror seized her heart and chilled her to the bone. “Mom! Dad!”
Celestia and Luna had taken protective stances around the king and his daughter as she continued to cry for her mother while her father stared upward where his wife had disappeared almost transfixed. Suddenly bursting from the chaos on the street, a white unicorn stallion with a blue mane ran up to the king. Celestia and Luna tensed initially, but once they saw who it was they relaxed from their battle ready stances.
"Dad! Twily!" The stallion called out as he ran to his father's side heedless of the guards. He glanced around and when he noticed a distinct lack of a certain mare, he turned to his father. "Where's mom?"
Twilight pushed out of her father's grip and tackled the newcomer. "Shiny! Mommy went up!" The little filly wailed.
Shining Armor looked at his father in shock as he encircled his sister in his large hooves. "The Heart chose her?" He asked, praying it was a lie. Night Light only nodded and a cold pit formed in Shining's stomach.
"But we haven't finished evacuating, not everypony is in the shelters!" He shouted, a panicked edge creeping into his voice. If the shield went up now, then a lot of ponies were going to die. Night Light's lips pressed into a tight line.
"We weren't able to get to the shelter in time." Was all he could say as his gaze remained upward. Shining glanced up at the blazing star that hung in the air himself then turned down to his little sister and pulled her closer to shield her from the death and destruction around them.
The wave drew closer and grew bigger until it looked like the entire sea was swallowing the island. The shield completed itself regardless of the souls that were locked outside of it and there was a scraping sound just before the ocean swallowed Atlantis whole with a clap of thunder. Within moments, there was nothing to indicate that there had ever been an island.
A few days later, a ship would sail the area searching for what should be there yet wasn't. And on board, this ship was a pink pegasus mare with a long pink, purple and cream mane. Purple eyes scanned empty waters where an island was supposed to be, only to find nothing. Slowly a hoof lifted to cradle a glowing blue crystal that hung around her neck on a string.
"Shiny." The mare whispered. "I pray to Faust that you are safe and sound and do not worry. We shall be reunited one day, I'm sure of it and will not give up until that day comes."
As if in response, the crystal gave a brief flash before dimming.
Author's Note
And ta-da! Atlantis the Lost Empire is something I grew up with so I decided to try my hand at a crossover. You know the kind of crossover where it's a retelling with different characters (in this case MLP characters) standing in for familiar characters (I am explaining this wrong, so please forgive me). This is also an older work of mine from when I was new at writing and on a different site only redone and polished. I hope you'll enjoy it.
Also to any Atlantis fans, I could use some help finding a name for the OC that will be playing the part of Rourke. Suggestions help immensely. (If you plan on giving me suggestions, read this they have to be griffin names.)
