1.A Seal Unravelled and Visitors Shackled
Author's Note
This the start of the remake to 'Souls of the Forgotten Remnants' which I made but didn't like how I started it.
Also, the main character is actually introduced here. Sort of. More on them in the next chapter.
1.A Seal Unravelled and Visitors Shackled
The Sands of Time. A dimension created by one of the Ancient Alicorns to preserve the fabric of time. This vast desert held the ruins of many a civilizations whose rulers had long since past. The eternal daylight made it impossible to miss most structures around here, given the fact of how bright this place always was which made it impossible for anyone without any shade to sleep. Thankfully despite being in a desert, the sun didn’t give off any heat nor scorched the ground in any way.
‘Best to not question such silver linings.’ I tell myself every time the question arrives. Adjusting the rune embedded dragon skull I wore on my head to make sure it wouldn’t slip off in a fight if one such battle involving me did happen. It’s two gnarled black horns curved back with one of them being broken gave a sign of it being battle worn as it was. A few thick strappings allowed for the lower jaw to move with my own when I talked giving an attached feeling for me. The light breeze moved my crimson/hazelnut colored hair that reached an inch above my shoulders. My golden eyes remained in a bored expression. My bloodstained crow colored cape fastened to my left to allow my left arm to reach out and to cover my right arm completely. Especially my right arm. That arm of mine was too dangerous to use. The dark brown pants I wore, I thought matched perfectly with the coal colored sleeveless shirt and equally coal colored shoes. Said pants and shoes were made especially with a thick leather in mind to help solidify a more durable standing. I may be more of a mage type fighter yet I would rather be prepared for any melee strikes should the need arise.
A pity what the true reasons behind this places’ creation was. Not that any of them would find out, even if they tried to. Only myself and the Alicorn of Time knew the real reasons to why this place exists. That was something he’d go to the grave with, provided his immortality or time powers don’t save him.
Those who might find themselves in this dimension will experience multiple effects. One of them being the lack of any time manipulation being allowed unless the alicorn who made this dimension allowed it. The only reason he would is for others to leave his dimension so he can be left alone again.
Not like I give him any company besides just existing here for now nor did I have a choice in any way either. Thankfully, I wouldn’t have to wait for long as the spell that had trapped me here has finally become unraveled. All I needed to do is to get up and walk right on out. Across a desert. Filled with ruins. Just to reach a mountain. Said mountain looking to be pretty big with how large it looks from all the way over here.
‘Fun.’ I sarcastically mused to myself.
Yet before I could start my initial journey and leave this barren waste, I had some problems I needed to work out. That being the seven individuals that suddenly appeared out of nowhere and decided on battling each other. Well, four of them did. The other three are just staring each other down for now. It seemed highly convenient to happen out of the blue. For now I’d observe them until they either noticed me or started something with me. Not that I could properly defend myself either as the spell that had trapped me expelled my powers from me. Most of my powers that is. I still had a few abilities on me, even if I could use said powers I still have defensively, that isn’t how they’re meant to be used.
‘Troubling.’
Looking to my left where four of the unexpected visitors that were fighting are, I saw how they had been countering everything the other had been doing. It was interesting to see these beings from different universes battle on semi-neutral ground with how their powers interacted with the others. The fighting style that I noticed from them was similar enough to each other to allow one of the others to semi-predict them and vice-versa.
Meanwhile on my right were the three staring each other down. One of them was a boy who wore plain brown clothes and a brown paper bag on his head. A girl in a yellow raincoat was the second. The one he was staring down was the Alicorn of time himself, Eternity. A tall grey alicorn with a white beard, mane, and tail that swayed in the light breeze that passed. His dark green robe covered most of his body leaving his hooves, hands, wings, and head bare.
Occasionally Eternity would glance towards me, making sure I wasn’t trying something against him. He limited his perception to me and the kids, but ignored the other four fighting. Something that I hoped would be his undoing.
With a steady glance, I took a closer look at the four fighting. One was a girl with raven hair wearing what looked to be a magical girl outfit with purple and white being the dominating colors. She was also the one causing most of the gunshot sounds as she summoned different firearms into her hands from the buckler on her left arm. The one fighting with her was another magical girl looking one with pink and white as her dominating colors. Her hair was pink in pigtails with a plant based bow as her weapon that fired pink magical arrows. The opponents they fought were a skeleton and a child. The kid I couldn’t tell the gender of, but I could still see them clearly behind the clouds of sand, honing in on where their soul was. They had a mop of brown hair and wore mostly blue clothes. The shirt had long sleeves and two purple stripes went across horizontally. They wielded an assortment of weapons from a pair of gloves to a frying pan, and a book and so on. The skeleton on the other hand wore a blue jacket with black shorts. His attacks involved summoning bones to attack as well as skulls that fired beams.
So far, the four seemed to be at odds with each other for some reason. I think it was because the purple and white magical girl raised a gun at Eternity, which I’d encourage heavily, and the child in blue interfered, wanting peace. Regardless of the intention of the striped child, it seemed they had to fight for it. I wasn’t bothered by them though, minus the random gun shots from the purple one or the occasional shots from the striped kid. Both sides seemed to radiate time based power from each other. Either in control of said power or affected by said power. I could not tell which.
Peering back to my right, the boy in the paper bag just stood there, staring at Eternity solemnly. Eternity in return stared back almost nervously. Neither one was moving, but I could tell they were sizing the other up. I for one can sense a great power in the boy. The only problem I had about it was that it was all static-y and too difficult to read properly. Like a hazy fog that blocked out ones sight in all directions at once. The girl in yellow was no different. Her power felt more like darkness and shadows however she was easier to get a reading off of. Strangely it was similar in origin yet completely different from the boys’ in terms of ability.
As I was hoping someone would stop the fighting that was starting that had been disturbing me, I had a feeling that I was the one that had to stop this. Taking a deep breath as I thought of how to stop them from killing each other. As I pondered on my course of action, I noticed a glowing string coming off of me. Watching it led my eyes towards every one of the seven individuals that had currently been in my vicinity. Knowing the alicorn present, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was the one to cast said string spell.
‘Old bastard.’ Peering at his face, I noticed a small smile, I could tell he knew I noticed the strings. My strings that had been forcefully attached to each of us.
I was about to grab it when I noticed the sounds of fighting had stopped. Looking over at the four, they were looking incredulously at each other. Seeing as their weapons were piercing one another without causing any sustainable damage or harm had brought a pause to their conflict. This lead to the two sides to look at each other while carefully testing which of their weapons COULD hurt the other.
Realizing this, I more than likely couldn’t hurt Eternity should I desire to. While it was deterring me from wanting to gut him slowly, especially with that small yet noticeable smug look he’s got, that doesn’t mean I’m not plotting a way to end his existence later. I was certain he was doing the same. Then again, ponies, even the ancient ones, weren’t well known for their adaptability when things went wrong than they were with their magic that they relied on too much.
The shifting of the sand alerted me to the four individuals that ceased fire against themselves. The boy in the paper bag and the yellow raincoat girl approached soon after. Each one noticing the strings all connecting to me at the center.
‘Very clever arsehole. Very clever. Welp. Guess I’d better stand up and start talking.’ This was in my opinion going to be a very interesting explanation.
