From the depths of unconsciousness, Noah stirred awake within the void of his mind. taken aback by such a development, the parts of his mind that were already waking up failed to find any sort of explination to his current condition. that condition being completly unexpected after his quote-on-quote "sacrifice", to save the world.

if Noah werent busy trying to gather his bearings and shake off the veil in his mind, he might have scoffed at the idea that not even the primordial void itself was capable of ending his suffering.

lucky him, huh?

regardless, it became apparent that coming back to the world of the pressumed living was going to be a meticulous,, if not slow process. so he had to do it correctly, little by little, step by step.
Just like with a computer, or a smartphone; just like any other machine, his body needed to "reboot". One by one, each of his enhanced senses began to awake from the troublesome nothingness encompassing him at the moment

first of the all came touch, and at first all he could feel was the uncomfortable surface he was lying on. A rocky and rough floor on his back, accompined with the incredible heat from what he assumed was the midday sunlight greeted him to wherever he was.

Then came his smell, allowing him to note the "course" and "rough" nature of his surroundings, smelling a particular fragrance that was very reminiscing to that of sand and dust.

Afterwards came his sense of taste.
Giving his mouth a try, he slightly winced at how dry it felt. As if it were exposed to unforgiving elements for a very prolonged time and just now it had the unique opportunity to humidate itself, taking a break from the rough atmosphere surrounding it.

With that, came his sense of hearing, which admittedly didn't give any useful information besides the slight sound of a very soft breeze hitting his very sore body. Practically non existent.

Last but not least, it was time to test his sense of sight.
Carefully, Noah opened his eyes.
He immediately regretted that decision, as his eyes were immediately bombarded with the sun's unforgiving light, forcing him to clench his eye shut in pain.

Muttering a small curse that he couldn't hear, Noah tilted his head to the right to avoid the sun's rays and carefully re-opened his eyes to the world.
At first all he could see was a blurred image of indistinguishable objects colored brown,orange and yellow, nothing concrete.After giving his eyes many testing blinks , he finally exited his previously blurred state, only to be greeted to the sight of a very giant rock.

Well, this is anticlimactic.

This was not what he expected to see after throwing himself into Chaos.
He didn't expect to see anything period!
The rock itself wasn't anything special or unique, It was just a common rock you would find almost anywhere. If anything the only strange thing about it was that it was very close to his face, only mere centimeters way from his nose.

After appreciating its magnificence for what he assumed was a minute, Noah finally decided he had enough and proceeded to move his body to a more comfortable position.
He was greeted by incredible soreness, almost as if his entire body was flung around and crashed into the ground with enormous force.
It was not a pleasant feeling but far from the worst pain he had felt, not even among the top ten worst pains he has endured.

By summoning some minimal strength, he pulled himself to sit cross legged on the ground, to better see his surrounding with all of his senses. After looking left and right, up and down, he was greeted with what he could only describe as a canyon.
Rocky and sturdy mounds seemed to spurt in all directions in random shapes and forms, all of the same yellowish-orange color as the dry soil beneath his feet.
Not a single speck of green could be seen for miles, as this desolate land devoid of life seemed to just scream of isolation and unforgiveness.

Definitely not a place for the weak or the feeble.

If it were anybody else, they would surely freak out at the prospect of being all alone in an unknown land, with no clear way to civilization, with no useful resources to survive and without no food or water.
Any other person would have entered into shock or into a panic.
Lucky for Noah, he wasn't just anybody else.
With all he has been through, tis is but a minor inconvenience; still, this was a definitely a first , even after all he has experienced.
That does beg the question: how in the name of tartarus did he end up in the middle of nowhere when he was positive he plunged himself with gaea into the heart of the void?

Did chaos...spit him back into the earth?

Unlikely,Noah thought with resolution. as funny as that image appeared to be, than conclusion didn't make a lot of sense.
He has never heard of anything like this happening, at least everyone he has talked to about the subject always told him that being absorbed by Chaos is the one sure way to end an immortals life.
That is what Athena and many others told him about it, when he asked so it was fair to assume that this was not the case.

And even if it were ,then, by all intents and purposes, gaea herself should be here with him as well. Fortunately for him, the primordial was nowhere to be seen. He didn't feel at full strength just yet and going a few rounds with her, in this condition, was the last thing he wanted. Unless she was thrown into some other location on the world, which in that case...no. Better not to dwell too much on those thoughts. the last thing he needed right now was to panic on the prospect of gaea crashing into the heart of either new rome or the camp.

he would just assume, regardless of how unlikely it seemed, that he was the only one that made it out of chaos.

Thank the gods for little miracles i suppose.

It was also safe to assume that, as obvious as it should be, this was not the inside of the void.
Another thing that Athena told him about the primordial entity is that since all things in the cosmos came from chaos itself, getting back into it would most likely "decompose" said being into the original element the void itself is composed of.
That is precisely why they all decided to defeat Gaea like this, as she would merely disappear from existence, made whole with her father.
But that's besides the point right now.
That was then and this is the now.

Remembering the past won't help me at all right now. I still have no idea where i am.

Shaking his head to clear his mind, Noah finally reached a definitive thought.

Regardless of his situation, he was positive that no answers or solutions would come to him while he sat on his ass on what he assumed was the middle of a freaking desert canyon; taking action seemed like the only logical conclusion to his current dilema.
So without any delay, Noah stood up from his sitting position, cleared away the sand and dust from his jeans, and proceeded to walk away from his spot on the ground.
His first order of business was to understand his surroundings, to find out just how big this canyon was and possibly find a way to a populated area. To do that he would need to reach high enough ground as to see beyond the multitude of rocks and mounds that seemed to expand beyond the horizon.
Noah began his journey, not once taking notice of the giant rock a few feet behind him that seemed to be on the brink of falling apart due to a very peculiar human like whole made at the top of it, as if a person had fallen from the sky at great speeds and crashed into the rocky construct, almost destroying it completely.

I should stop talking to myself though. It would be bad for my mental health to engage conversations with no one if i am too far from civilization.

...

Wait...did i just said that out loud or just thought about it?

...

Am i even speaking right now?! what the hell!?

There was something definitely wrong with voice.
To clear all doubts, Noah opened his mouth to yell some profanities but only silence came out.
Shocked, Noah placed his hands around his throat and tried to replicate ANY words only to be met with an equally deafening silence.

There was no pain, no discomfort, no soreness.

Only silence.

He was mute now.

Noah groaned-mentally because...you know-in frustration.
His face darkened and fell into a furious scowl. His clenched fists began to shake in anger and he was positive that, somewhere, a BIG storm was brewing on the ocean.
After everything...EVERYTHING he went through, all of that shit just to get rid of gaea, and THIS is how the world repaid him?! As if waking up in the middle of fucking nowhere, with everyone thinking he was a goner, weren't frustrating enough, now he had to deal with being mute!

Ok noah, relax...take a deep breath and don't lose your marbles just yet. At least wait until some monster or dickbag appears so that you can kick its ass till next sunday. That is the way to blow out some steam. Not throwing a fit.

Clearing his head from the anger made him realize that,taking into consideration all of the deadly and impossible shit he has endured and surpassed so far, being mute was actually just a ,somewhat, mild inconvenience.

...Well, okay, a major mild inconvenience.

One he hoped he could resolve once he reached home. He didn't want his friends to suffer the loss of another friend if he could avoid it. Not again. Not if he could spare them from another session of grief and excruciating, emotional,pain.
There was enough self loathing already with him. It is kind of his shtick.

And who knew, maybe things will look up to him after all of this.

Maybe his situation will even improve from how it is now.

...Yeah, right! Like that is ever gonna happen.
Noah "chuckled" to himself as he walked, venturing himself into the unknown.

The sun was glistening with a comforting and warm light, covering her white coat with an indescribable feeling which could only belong to the magnificent summer daylight.
Her multicolored mane was actually waving to the refreshing winds of the north that, in no way whatsoever took away from the pleasuring warmth that only her sun provided.
The grass beneath her hooves was soft and fluffy, green and healthy. It added to the beauty of the fields near Sweet Apple Orchard.

All of this serenity appended to the natural allure of this place and all Celestia could think about was how this was such a wonderful day to be alive.
And that was just the scenery, the company was just as good, if not better.
She could hear them now, the typical chattering and laughing that belonged to the precious ponies of her life.

Her closest friends;her pride and joy.

Right near the edge of the field, just as the apple orchard started its seemingly endless line of trees, a group of ten individuals began to enter the scene with mirth and happiness so bright and contagious you couldn't help but join in with the smiles and laughter as well.

The elements of harmony lead by her best student and friend, Twilight Sparkle, her beloved sister Luna, her lovely niece Candance accompanied by her dear husband and big brother to Twilight , Shining Armour, and last but definitely not least, the ever growing Spike the dragon, adoptive little brother and Twilight Sparkles number one assistant.
They were all brimming with life, chattering while making their way towards her.
As they took notice of her presence, their smiles got a whole lot wider and warmer, as if waiting for this opportunity to show their greatest love and affection towards her.
But it was a different display of affection, it was not the same endearment one would show towards their ruler.

No.

This was the affection friends showed each other. The easy going but respectful affection that was strictly reserved to those one would trust their life with.
The cordial respect and and strict reverence were gone and it is place, they showed her a friendly glee and an easygoing companionship that cleared away all airs of royalty.
It was most definitely not the way to approach the ruler of all the land, who just so happens to be an nigh-immortal alicorn who could move the sun.
That is why Celestia was in heaven right now.
This right here was what she always wanted but never received from her little ponies.
In all of her exhaustingly long life, all she would ever dream of, was to be an actual part of the community. Not some superior force that might as well be light years away from it.

To be treated like family and a friend rather than an absolute ruler that demanded respect and even fear.
If it was up to her, she would throw that ugly crown away, rip the pretty dresses apart, to break the perfect picture that she was, and just roll around in chocolate cream and cake frosting until her coat smelled like vanilla, chocolate, and cinnamon for weeks, maybe even years.

...

Yeah she was weird like that. Many ponies did not realize that almost all princesses are secret eccentrics and freaks. Candace had a "love" obsession, Luna was a bit of a sadist, Twilight was a knowledge fanatic and a bit of a control freak, and she herself had her cake addiction and her...trolling addiction.

Still, being a princess of Equestria is not all bad.
She likes being treated free cakes when she is in Canterlot and she most definitely enjoys being able to play some practical pranks on the uppity nobles back at the castle, just to teach them a thing or two, and being able to get away with it just because she can.
She is their princess, they can handle a little humiliation from time to time.
Especially her annoying, whiny, pompous, smug and arrogant as heck nephew, Blueblood.
Ugh, just thinking about him sours her mood.
But that is not the case here.
Here, with her dear friends, she doesnt have to put up a front, she doesn't have to be princess celestia, co-ruler of equestria and master of the sun.
Here, with her family, she can just be plain old Celestia, lover of cakes and the ultimate troll you would ever find.
This is everything she have ever dreamed off.

Then it fell apart like a house of cards.

It was as if all the colors, and the beauty, and the serenity and the allure of the environment from before just vanished from sight.
No.
It was as if it... Was hiding...
As if it could sense what was coming and didn't want to suffer the consequences of intervening.
The forest, previously homey and inviting, now seemed to thicken and to darken, giving it an imposing and threatening aura.
The grass seemed to hide from the surface, leaving only the dry and coarse soil exposed, devoid of any green or life.
But the worse of all was the sky, that seemed to be at the verge of a tempest of incredible magnitude.

The shocking part was its color, as if the heavens themselves started to bleed from a fatal wound, coloring the clouds black and fiery red, followed closely by red lightning that boomed the sky and shocked the earth.
It was as if all the good and right in the world was sucked into some sort of void , leaving only despair, decay and death.

The smiling faces and the cheerful demeanor shifted to horrified faces and anxious attitude, as if they were waiting for something to occur but at the same time, hoping it would never come.
Suddenly the earth in between her subjects and herself split open, further separating her from the now panicking group.
For reasons unknown to her, all she could do was watch, for her body was paralyzed with what she could only assume was fear.

From the other side of the gap, from the depths of the dense trees, dark figures began to emerge.
They were bipedal and tall, six feet tall to be exact. Thin and black as the night, with razor sharp claws for fingers, maws full of yellowish, sharp, teeth, drooling in primitive anticipation and glowing red eyes that seemed to stare right into the spirit with a hunger that could only be described as ancient and primal.
The came by the thousands and didn't waste any time to launch themselves at the horrified ponies that, apparently much like herself, were too paralyzed by fear to fo any kind of evasive action.

Faster than what she thought possible, the battle had started and she was left helplessly behind, at the other side of the gap, incapable of doing anything to help her friends.
Those things surrounded them, blocking her view from the fight. Blood began to splatter all over the area, it was a complete slaughter and...was that a dismembered pink hoof that just flew into the air?

Were they...eating them?

If she wasn't just so shocked and paralyzed by such a display of brutality, Celestia was positive she would have puked all she was worth.
In the end all that remained were them and her faithfull student, who was ,from horn to hoof, covered in blood.
Some of it hers, but the majority was most definitely not.
And despite the fact that she was completely surrounded by those horrid abominations, her friend appeared to be fueled by anger and determination, not a speck of fear in her nuzzle, channeling powerful magic into her horn, to blast those monsters to kingdom come.

Sometimes Celestia forgets just how powerful her student can be.

Not in terms of raw power, but in strength of spirit.
Here she was, presented with an apparent suicide mission and she didn't even blink or turn away her eyes from them.
If only she could be more brave like her student right now.
Even if she knew the outcome of this one sided battle wouldn't change.

However, just as the horrid creatures lunged themselves at the exhausted twilight, something amazing happened.

From the depths of void born from the rapture in the the earth, quicker than lighting, another figure emerged, bringing the familiar scent of the rain and the sea with it. Like the living omen of an imposing and powerful hurricane.

A male human figure, standing tall and defiant towards the horde of demons.

Now, celestia was not unfamiliar with humans herself, being such a common but useful animal in equestria.
However this human in particular was different from all other humans she had ever seen and most probably will ever see.

First of all, this human was un-naturally handsome.

It is not a secret that the general male human population tended to have rough and unbalanced facial features that would be very unappealing for most ponies (mainly mares); good looking humans were considerably rare and an oddity, female humans being the exception. However this human had the most handsome face she had ever seen.
Youthful but strong, with a mop of short, messy, yet shiny, black hair adorning the head.
No part of his face was exaggeratedly big or ridiculously small, everything from his chin to his forehead was perfectly balanced. symmetrical perfection.
The most alluring part of his face, however, were his eyes, a pale green, reminding her of the light glimmer of the oceans waters.
What a rare eye color for a human.
The eyes even held a strange glimmer to them. A peculiar blue hue, reminiscing of a lightning bolt in the middle of a black storm cloud.
As if there were an actual intelligence and power behind the green typhoon.

But that was just ridiculous.
Everypony knows humans are not pony-smart.

If anything, the only off-putting thing of his face was the long scar going from the edge of his right eyebrow, all the way down to the edge of his lower lip.
But even that was attractive on its own right; it added character to the young face, giving it a mature and experienced look.
The rest of his young human body was no less impressive.
A lean but Athletic build, with strong and powerful muscles, built for speed and agility, adorned pretty much every corner of his body but not excessively so, giving him a flexible but imposing figure.
As if he could go from giving you a warm and kind hug, to snapping your neck with little to no effort in the span of a millisecond.
Powerful, yet very much restrained. Almost mortal.

Almost.

His body was covered in what she could only assume was an armour similar to that of her own royal guard, but fitted to the human himself, which only added to the impossibility of the situation.

Humans could be really deadly and dangerous when they were on the wild but when trained properly, they could be excellent trackers. However, even the most trained and "whipped" of humans couldn't ever match a common soldier in terms discipline and efficiency, so armoring a human up was rather pointless and a waste of time.
But here she could tell it was not the case.
The armor fitted the human all too perfectly if she were to comment on it.
As if it belonged there.

And above all else, this human gave of a sort of...presence. A peculiar scent that was completely different from all the other humans she had ever encountered. He smelled so...different. He stood out like a candle in a dark room or like the sun on a cloudy day. It pulled her towards him like a magnet, making him the center of her attention no matter how hard she tried to pull away from him.
That very same aura must have affected the "demons" as well for they seemed to act more erratic and rabid than before. As if they couldnt wait to tear the human to shreds.

She didn't have time to think on anything else as the human did an impossible leap into the middle of the field, standing between the creatures and Twilight. The creatures began to screech and roar loudly in excitement, making the trees and the ground shake in response. It was the most horrible and disgusting sound she had ever heard. It made her ears burn and hurt and she could swear they were bleeding.
Twilight gave the human a look she couldn't quite place.
It was somewhere between complete adoration and caring worry, as if she was really glad to see him but also incredibly worried of him being here.

This was all turning rather bizarre.

But just as the battle resumed, with Twilight standing her ground next to the male human, and with said male just about to slash a creature with his bronze sword, everything went black and all she could hear was the chilling laughter of something right behind her.
Slowly, Celestia turned her head...only to be greeted with...

Oh faust, what even is that...

It is getting closer...oh gods above it was about to get her...

She must run!... Do something or all will be...
....
Why was her muzzle wet?

She looked up and...

THERE YOU ARE!!!!

Celestia woke up with a blood curdling scream, nearly falling off her bed and almost breaking her vocal cords due to the force placed behind the shriek.
The door to her room was blasted open with incredible force revealing two of her most trusted and fierist soldiers, assigned to guard the princess with their lives while she gets her well deserved rest.

"Your majesty!? What is it!?, whats wrong!?" the guard, Solar Swirl, a young unicorn mare of aquamarine colored coat and a sunny yellow mane equipped with the elite set of royal armour, didn't waste any time in making sure her princess was unharmed while also scanning the room for any potential threats that might have slipped by them.

The second guard, Onyx Bolt, an earth stallion of white colored coat with a jet-black mane equipped in the same type of armour, taking notice of the slight gesture his partner gave him, began his thorough search of the royal chambers for any evidence of a break in.
The princess in question, who was soaking wet in sweat, was just beginning to catch her breath and calm her shivering body after the unpleasant dream that by the life of her could not remember.
It was as if a blank veil was placed on her memory, preventing her from forming any kind of clear image regarding her dream.
All she could remember was the unparalleled sense of dread and a beautiful pair of powerful pale green eyes, belonging to a powerful human male.
Once she was in a relatively calm state, Celestia finally decided to give her pony the attention needed.

"I...i am sorry Captain Swirl...it was just a bad dream, nothing to worry about".
Even her words were slightly strained due to her sore throat and slightly shaky breath.

The guards didn't buy it.

"Your majesty, you just gave a scream loud enough to wake up the entirety of Canterlot, you'll forgive us if we remain slightly skeptical about this".

Swirl shot a quick glare to her partner for saying such words. It was not their place to question royalty.

"I appreciate your concern Mr Onyx and while i admit i am far from okay, i can assure you that i am in no deadly danger as of this moment. I know i startled you both", and maybe the entirety of the castle, Celestia muttered under her breath, "But it is over now, nothing to worry. In fact it is time for me to rise the sun anyway".

Celestia tried to calm her protectors by giving them a reassuring smile that couldn't hide completely the remnants of the night terrors.
The two guardians exchanged a worried glance, clearly not buying into the excuse.
Their duty was not to question, however.
The princess was fine, at least physically and the change of shifts would come as soon as the sun was raised into the sky.
It was not their place to question her judgement.

"Very well your majesty. We will take our leave then".

Solar then gave a respectful bow and proceed to leave the chambers with her partner following her example.
But just as they were about to leave the room, Onyx stopped in his tracks and said something that left the princess in a dilemma.

"Should i...inform this incident to princess Luna your majesty?"

This left Celestia with quite the conundrum.
Due to the position of the moon in the sky, she could assume that there were just about one minute left before luna finally finished her dream-walking routes and proceeded to lower the moon completely.
She was thankful that she was not here to witness her little episode , otherwise she would not hear the end of it.
First and foremost, she needed to clear her mind, and the sure way to do so was to move on to her duties as ruler.
Once she had, she will approach her sister and tell her of what happened in her dream.
That is if she can remember it by then.
Alicorn dreams and normal pony dreams were completely different after all.

Realizing that she has left her most trusted guards hanging with their question, she decided to put an end to their worries.
Shaking her head kindly, providing them with an honest caring smile, Celestia responded:

"I will personally inform my sister of this incident once i finish with my duties for the day, there is no need for you to tell her about it. Thanks for your concern though, it is very appreciated but i believe it is time for your well deserved rest my little ponies. You are both dismissed".

Satisfied with this answer, the guards gave one final bow before finally exiting the chambers, closing her door with one loud click.
Releasing a breath she didn't know she was holding, Celestia got up from her bed and walked into her balcony to prepare her daily ritual of raising the sun.
Giving the night sky a final glance before the moon disappeared completely from the horizon, Celestia closed her eyes in focus and then proceed to give the morning light into the land.

As the sun began to rise from the frontier and as the rays of light, signifying the beginning of a new day, shone into the earth; Celestia, for the life of her could not shake away this persistent feeling of dread.

Or to be more accurate, this feeling of anxiety.

Something is about to happen, something big.

With this final thought, and with the sun finally on its sure way into the sky, Celestia began her duties with the constant reminder, or rather distraction, of the only memory of her unprecedented incident.

A pair of beautiful pale green eyes and the smell of rain and sea.

Author's Note

and so starts the story. if you guys see some mistakes in my writing, or better yet, have some suggestions of your own form how i write or how the story should move i will gladly take it into consideration.
i can't promise that i will read every single comment that you guys write but i will try my best to have your best interests at heart and to respond all the comments that i can.

with that being said, i will see you guys at the next chapter.
stay frosty!