Golden Dawn: Dusk of an Empire

One bright flash later, and Applejack and Fluttershy's jaws dropped open. They had arrived by teleportation on the top level of the Orc capital city of Terras'tra. They had been told it was the remains of a giant tree, but even that explanation had failed to convey just how big the place was.

Nestled within the Impassable Mountains, Terras'tra stood proudly within a valley beside a seemingly endless, mirror-like lake and vast, fertile farmlands. The petrified tree itself was as wide as the entire city of Canterlot and half as tall as any of the mountains surrounding it, despite having been snapped in half many millennia ago. Glittering veins of iridescent boulder opal stretched throughout the soft brown petrified wood as commonly and similarly as spiderwebs, while great slabs of clearest golden amber were used for windows. Homes, businesses and various stables were perfectly carved- nay, shaped into the walls of the tree's outer bark, populated by just as many animals of all sorts as there were Orcs. To their left was an elaborate fountain at the back of a large plaza; an amber statue of a female Orc pouring an ewer that spilled into pools arranged like hot springs, the smaller ones on top cascading into gradually larger pools below until ending in a warm, shallow puddle that an elephant could wade in. To their right and behind them was a wide path that led downwards into the tree's interior levels, and a familiar face soon rose from below.

"Applejack! And Fluttershy! Welcome to Terras'tra!" Warmaster Dovah's voiced boomed against the casual uproar of the citizens, further aided by the fact he rode atop his beloved moose Breyva. The great beast let out an excited grumble and galloped towards Fluttershy, stopping just short of accidentally trampling the yellow pegasus underfoot and bowed her antlered head. Despite this, Fluttershy merely giggled as she gently stroked Breyva's forehead.

"Hello, Warmaster. And hello to you too, Breyva dear," she cooed.

"Good to see y'all again," added Applejack. "Ah must say, this sure is some fancy tree y'all live in!"

"Terras'tra," Dovah dismounted Breyva with a ground-shaking thump. "Legends say it was the first home of the Primal Earth Goddess, Terras. It was said that the highest branches touched the very heavens back in those days. Now, a fine home for my people. Come, I shall show you around!"

The two ponies followed the Warmaster and his moose as he descended through the many layers of the great tree. The levels that did not see the sky were instead lit by thousands of Magicite-powered amber sconces and streetlights, casting a warm glow throughout. As they progressed, they took note of the symbiotic relationship between Orc and animal that presented itself wherever they looked. Granaries and storehouses seemed to take up every third or fourth building to feed the numerous creatures that lived and worked alongside their masters. Many were common animals, such as dogs, cats, birds of prey, small predators and livestock, while some Orcs had more exotic pets: Fluttershy excitedly pointed out wolves, tigers, panthers, rhinos, bears and even giant lizards when she saw them. Those that weren't currently working were usually being pampered by other Orcs not currently busy, rare was it that an animal was not being tended to, and that event did not occur for long until rectified.

Finally, they reached the bottom of the tree. A tropical, sweltering heat seemed to radiate from the amber sconces here, serving as the perfect incubator for rare plants. The floor was damp with lush moss and glowing mushrooms, further illuminated by sparse clouds of twinkling fireflies and other small, bioluminescent creatures.

"Ah've never seen anything like this," Applejack gasped. "This is where y'all grow the different reagents for yer potions?"

"This is only a small part of our alchemical gardens," Dovah smiled. "The rest are located outside in the Terras'tra Valley. Shall we go there?"

"Oh, yes," Fluttershy raised her head as she arose from the nest Breyva's left antler formed. "Rael'ia asked us to come here to see how your stores of alchemy supplies were doing."

"Ah, I see," the Orc nodded. "Then let us go at once!" His hands glowed with a green light as he clapped them together once, and the two ponies let out a shout as a stone hand suddenly grasped and enveloped them from below. They felt rapid movement within their dark confinement for a few moments before the hand opened to blinding daylight and sank into the ground as quickly as it had appeared.

They now found themselves near a small wooden pergola sitting between the shores of the lake and endless fields of plants and flowers. The turquoise waters lapped gently at the pebble beach as large wooden mills further down turned and creaked, feeding water into stone aqueducts that stretched above the roads between each acre of fields. The rest of the lake was lined by dark green trees, tan mountains and the skies above. At the bottom of the lake, a faint blue glow could be only barely discerned.

"Lake To'reen," Dovah gestured with a hand. "The ancient cradle of the Primal Water Goddess of the same name. The water here is pure and incorruptible, perfect for growth and healing. Do you see that glow beneath the waters? It is the source from which all Water-enchanted Magicite used in canteens and other potable containers draws from. A great boon for our alliance, especially in this time of war."

"Interestin'," Applejack tilted her head. "And this single lake is enough fer all these fields?"

"The snows on the mountains all drain into Lake To'reen and replenish what is used. It has never come close to being fully emptied," he reassured. They now walked towards the nearest plot of farmland, a field of fiery red flowers that smelled subtly of honey and wine. "And the waters feed our crops with only the finest minerals, ensuring their high quality and richness. Though we are able to grow perfectly fine food beneath the earth, most of our alchemical herbs require true sunlight to reach their peak."

"They're so beautiful!" Fluttershy deeply breathed in the scent of a flower. "What are these?"

"Wine Lily. They are the main ingredient in many healing potions and poultices, though as the name suggests, they are also used to flavor wine. The leaves can also be eaten, and the pistils and stamen dried for use as spices."

"Sounds mighty useful," Applejack put a hoof to her chin. "I do appreciate plants you can use every part of."

"Ah! Then let me share with you my knowledge of all these plants," Dovah grinned as he scooped both ponies into his arms and gently placed one of them in each of Breyva's antlers before mounting her once more. "Perhaps if you're lucky, there may already be a surplus of seeds I may give you! Breyva! Let us give them the grand tour!"

The moose let out a snort before trotting down the paths at a mild pace, allowing Dovah to speak in length about every field of plants they passed. And there were hundreds of them. Needless to say, Applejack and Fluttershy spent the rest of their day in the Orc's company.

~

During a welcome break from researching siege tactics, Twilight found herself flying above the Elven city towards the tallest tower in the city center. Rael'ia had suggested that if she wished to learn more about the different magics that her land held, then finding the Archmage in his Arcanaeum would be her greatest resource. Soon she found the white spire capped with a white-gold sphere, the entirety of the tower covered in purple runes blinking in and out of existence like the interior lights of a skyscraper. Fascinated, she landed in front of the main entrance and made her way inside.

Eventually she found herself within the sphere. Surrounding a levitating globe of flawless white Magicite the size of a large house, numerous Elves and Fairies moved to and fro with purpose on five exposed upper levels, each clothed in immaculate white robes that could almost be mistaken for lab coats. Each robe had one of five different colored borders and trim, presumably denoting what level or kind of magic that person specialized in. There was a maze of bookshelves on the bottom level of this sphere, while more bookshelves and strange devices lined the walls of the upper levels, with almost every station in use.

"I figured it'd only be a matter of time before I found you in here," a familiar voice startled Twilight out of her wide-eyed amazement. Archmage Aternus stood behind her with his arms crossed and a friendly smirk on his face, clothed in a similar lab coat robe decorated with thin gold chains hanging from gold lapels and trim that magically blended the five colors of magic together like a constantly morphing inkblot test. Four especially long chains, two in back and two in front, crossed over his chest and upper back and ended underneath his arms.

"I... I'm speechless!" Twilight exclaimed. "So many new books to read and compare! So many magical devices to learn to use! And that giant crystal floating overhead! Surely it must power the entire city, what else could it be used for?"

"Speechless, eh?" Aternus chuckled.

"Well... you know what I mean."

"Oh, I do. So, where would you like to start?" Twilight's eyes darted back and forth rapidly, wondering which facet of Terras' magic or magical technology she should start with.

"Everything!" she blurted out. "Er, um... the basics would be best to start with, I imagine."

"Always a fine place," he nodded as he raised a purple-glowing hand in a shrugging motion. Five small symbols of colored light bloomed from his fingers and hovered in a pentagonal fashion: a red flame, a yellow lightning bolt, a green leaf, a blue teardrop and a purple moon. As this happened, Twilight took the opportunity to will a scroll, inkwell and quill beside her, floating and writing on their own accord.

"Well, as any Magikin child is taught at a young age, there are five main schools of magic, given to us by the five Primal Goddesses: Fire, from Igneia; Lightning, from Statri; Nature, from Terras; Water, from To'reen; and the Arcane, from Arkhaan. Now, some races find themselves natural talents in one of these schools, while others can learn to master two, or three, or even all five. I, as the Archmage, spent many years under the previous Archmage mastering all five... it's kind of in the job description, after all."

"Did Rael'ia learn from the previous Archmage, too?" Twilight's eyes were sparkling with the excitement of learning new methods of magic already.

"Oh yes, it is also the Archmage's duty to teach all members of the High Houses. Rae is definitely one of the most talented of his pupils - most High House members cannot master all five schools, let alone weave them into the massively complex spells she creates. If it weren't for the law that the Archmage cannot be a member of the Royal House, ol' Bertandus most likely would've chosen her as his successor instead of me."

"Is he still teaching?"

"Sadly, no... the Ceramis River Skirmish claimed him some... fifty-odd years ago, it's been now. Just before he left he named me as his successor, almost as if he knew... and really, he probably did."

"Oh? How did he know? Was it a sort of last stand?"

"At the time, we believed so. And common knowledge says the Humans had been surprised by a sudden flash flood and earthquake happening all at once - a divine intervention, if you will. But in truth, Bertandus had been told by the Void itself what would happen, and what must be done to secure an important victory."

"The Void? But I thought-"

"Only the Void-Seers can commune with the Void, yes? And that is where common knowledge ends and true magical knowledge begins." Of the five symbols that had been left unattended since the beginning of the lecture, the purple moon suddenly swelled in size and engulfed the other four, further expanding into a miniature universe of a few dozen tiny purple stars. Twilight leaned in further, her lust for this secret knowledge making her drool slightly.

"Now, Arcane magic... most Magikin know of it as the catch-all term for any magic that doesn't fit within the properties of the others. But in fact, within the school of the Arcane are actually many different, smaller schools, each a gift from its own god or goddess. Teleportation, telekinetic force, interdimensional travel, neuroarcanic medicine, astral projection, Void magic, Necromancy - if it doesn't involve Fire, Lightning, Nature or Water, it's all lumped into the Arcane for the layperson. Masters of teleportation can summon armies from one garrison to another in an instant, masters of Void magic can discern form from the formless and make predictions about the future."

"Ooh! What about time? Can you time travel?" Twilight interjected. "It's difficult, but I've managed to pull it off a couple times. I didn't even create any... overly-harmful paradoxes!"

"Time magic... is probably our final frontier," Aternus paused for a moment. "It is without a doubt the most fickle, unpredictable and dangerous of all schools, way more so than Necromancy. Necromancy is like learning the alphabet compared to time magic. Only one spell has been more-or-less proven stable, and it is still in its experimental stage."

Twilight leaned in even further. Aternus gave a grimace that conveyed that this was restricted knowledge even for him, but after a brief sigh he gave in.

"It's a simple barrier within which time passes slightly more slowly than normal. But even that spell is extremely difficult to cast; fail to account for any one variable and you could walk in then walk out a thousand years older, or worse... a thousand years younger."

"Even if you're- ...oh," she recoiled at the sudden thought of becoming primordial ooze.

"Indeed."

"So why are all these schools not common knowledge?"

"In the past, it was for simplicity's sake in school curriculum. These days it's more for keeping well-intentioned but, ah... non-scholarly Magikin from creating, say... an army of corpse abominations, or accidentally teleporting half the planet into the Void. At least this way, if they wish to learn these schools for their own purposes, then they're already on a list or twelve."

"Just like me! ...Um, that came out wrong."

"Now, you also asked about the globe of Magicite above us, right?" Aternus now gazed upwards. "This is perhaps Arcane magic's greatest accomplishment to date." He waited for Twilight to exhale a suitably impressed coo. "This is a collection of the entirety of knowledge on all of Terras - the Interley."

"What does it do?"

"I'm glad you asked!" he jokingly swung a pointed finger like an old-fashioned street vendor advertising his wares. "Within this daughter crystal of Magicite, everything you could ever know, need to know, never want to know and wish you knew has been stored inside, forever encased in all the little molecular nooks and crannies of the crystal. Then with the help of the eternal network of leylines below the earth, that information is instantly teleported to other daughter crystals just like this one - all over Fae, and someday all around Terras. It only takes one very simple spell-" he paused to lightly tap Twilight's horn with a purple-glowing fingertip. "-And anyone at all can access it at will!" Twilight concentrated for a moment to cast the spell he had just imparted onto her, gasping as a floating purple square suddenly appeared before her eyes. Text flashed at the top of the square, asking for a query.

"I see... I think I saw something like this back in that parallel universe I visited before," she mused. "Although the Humans there needed a device to access it, of course."

"Just like it is here, huh?" Aternus took note of Twilight's confused expression. "Yes, there's a war going on and all, but this, the Interley, was created for the benefit of all. In fact, the island where the mother crystal is located, even Humans helped to create the spell and collaborated with our best and brightest to develop special machines for the nonmagical to access it. Because of the war, it's location has been kept top secret and protected by the most impenetrable of magical wards and... scavenged Human weaponry, so the probability of anything terrible happening to at least the mother crystal is extremely low."

"Amazing! How long has this been around for?"

"It's still a relatively new invention, only unveiled to the public about a decade ago. But it has already grown exponentially in size, and already many Magikin have used its power to create their own astrally projected interactive spells, or APIs for short. Forums for discussion, detailed astral projection shows about every topic under the sun, even complex multiplayer virtual games!" Aternus pointed to an Elf sitting at one of the strange devices Twilight had seen before, where she saw what appeared to be a video game on the device's screen, as well as multiple purple glowing bits of information floating in front of the Elf's face and above his hands.

"You've so flawlessly incorporated magic into science... Princess Celestia would love to see all of this! I would love to see all of this! Your magical technology could advance Pony technology by centuries! Oh, I can already think of no less than six hundred and eighty-three experiments I want to try!" Twilight was just about dancing around in circles with her front hooves glued to her cheeks in sheer excitement. Meanwhile, Aternus sighed and closed his eyes in contemplation.

"Heh... and to think, your people once indeed shared this knowledge, and even surpassed it." He bowed his head, leading Twilight to cease prancing.

"What? Oh, right..."

"But, now that we have our way of ending this war, perhaps then we can spend some newfound time to rediscover it. Perhaps there are even survivors to find!" He was quick to turn the conversation pleasant and hopeful. There was a brief silence while Twilight collected her thoughts.

"Actually, that reminds me of something... Rael'ia said that the Humans are completely incapable of magic, right?"

"Yep. Completely, totally, utterly unable to use it."

"Your plan involves using the Elements of Harmony to bring Harmony back to the Humans... will it work? I mean, it's another form of magic, and even if it could, the Nullium armor..." Aternus let out a deep sigh and turned his back to Twilight. Now it was his turn to collect his thoughts.

"...It is definitely a possibility that this won't work at all," he finally admitted. "It could very well be nothing more than a fancy, giant flashbang grenade. And..." He now moved closer to the lavender Alicorn and knelt down to meet her face to face. "To say this plan of Rael'ia's has come under intense scrutiny would be an understatement. Ask any Magikin among us; I'd say eight out of ten of them would agree that the best way to end the war... would simply be to kill them all. They don't believe they can be swayed into peace, or ever change."

"But you do?" Twilight asked worryingly.

"I'm... honestly not sure myself," he looked away. Twilight could only stare in response.

"...I believe it can," she answered, coaxing Aternus to make a puzzled noise. "When I first went to that parallel universe, the Humans there also had no magic. But with the help of the friends I made there, the Elements of Harmony found Bearers in that world, and the magic of Friendship grew outwards from within them. Why wouldn't the same happen here?"

There was silence for many a moment as his eyes darted back and forth in thought. After about a minute, Aternus finally stood up. "Yes... perhaps you're right. This Harmony of yours, the important part, anyway... seems to be more of an emotion than a school of magic, and if the Humans do anything well, it's listening to their emotions. Yes... thanks for that, Twilight."

"You're welcome! ...I think," she giggled nervously.

"And regardless... Princess Rael'ia is my dearest friend. She wishes to end the war with as little loss as possible, I will help her accomplish that to the best of my ability. And If she believes in you and your friends and the Elements, then so shall I," he smiled with resolve and finality.

"We won't let you down," Twilight said boldly.

"Of course," Aternus chuckled. "Now, let's set that subject aside... would I be correct in assuming Rael'ia told you about the Arcanaeum's collection of rare spellbooks and grimoires?"

"Ooh!" All was forgotten as the Elf and the Pony walked together towards the nearby labyrinth of bookshelves, lost in other kinds of magical conversation.