First there was darkness, and then there was light.
Before that a prophecy foretold the destruction of civilization. Rulers gathered their armies to fight. Mystics cried that the end had come too soon. Scholars said only that it was too late.
I awoke on the shores of a beach of a tropical island confused for a moment but soon remembered...
...I lost the fight.
Was I dead?
No, looking at my cold stiff forelegs I saw stone scars. If I recalled stone scars could be caused by improperly dispelled petrification.
Was the power of the rahkshi I fought, petrification or something? That would explain the memory loss.
Standing up from the wet sand below I noticed that it was night for the first time and looked to the sky.
Looking too the stars I saw a completely different sky from the one I knew. No, it was the same stars but they were arranged differently from how they were normally.
Had so much time truly passed? Maybe.
In my currently weakened state I could not fly, but my nose, ears, and eyes were sharp as ever.
From the sounds and smell I guessed that I was on an island of some kind but not just any kind of island. It was likely an inhabited island.
But I first needed to confirm these details.
Making my way to a large cliff that oversaw the ocean I found my first sign of potentially intelligent locals, stairs.
Though not only were there stairs they had a side rail of sticks stuck into the ground with ropes tied between them.
The only purpose they seemed to serve was safety if nothing else.
I guess that means that the locals were at the very least concerned for the safety of the ones unable to fly, or they had no fliers to begin with.
Reaching the bottom of the stairway I saw a red sign blocking the front with some unfamiliar writing scribbled on it. Unable to read the scribbles I memorized the writing and began to make my way up.
The steps were abnormally slippery but I could still cast a spell to climb them without issue and reached the top.
There was an excellent view of the ocean and island itself with plenty of room up here. If I had to guess the purpose of this area I would have to say it was a ritual site of some kind. This was mostly due to the raised rectangular platform with unlit torches on each corner.
But what really drew my attention was that there was a wooden board with a crude map of the entire island on it that seemed to be drawn on it.
It showed not only clearly marked paths but settlements of some kind as well.
Looking out at the island I saw that only one of the settlements was lit and decided to head for it.
The settlement had buildings that were primarily stone or sticks. Though the exact material used in the stone buildings was unknown because as I got closer I realized that they were actually covered in some kind of stone plaster.
The light which came from the settlement appeared to be from flameless lanterns spread throughout the area.
It appeared that the largest building that towered over the others seemed to be a mass living quarters of some kind as well.
Near the relatively tall building was a pool of water which smelled of a pungent mix of chemicals that fortunately were not unbearable.
For what purpose it existed was unknown to me. The pool of awful smelling water was obviously not for drinking but I could not see any other purpose it could serve. The ocean was right there so it could not be there to practice swimming or anything like that, but I could not for the life of me figure out what.
I require more information and decided to investigate a nearby shack of sticks to see what I could find inside of it.
Entering the stick shack I found that it appeared to have fruit juices and other parishables in simple food preservation containers. Their also appeared to be so kind of eating area with a space set aside for food prep. At least they have a clear understanding of food sanitation. That was a good sign.
On the wall I saw what looked the but a fairly realistic depiction of several ponies standing in front of a primitive sea fairing vessel of some kind.
The depiction seemed to contain not only earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns but a feather winged feline with a bird head as well.
This at least confirmed for me that they did have at least some fliers around.
Checking another shack I found it to be some kind of steam room. I wonder if it was for ritual purposes or if it was for something else.
Entering another shack I found what appeared to be some kind of storage space with all kinds of things I could not make heads or tails of.
Though the oddest thing I found were paths in the sand lined with unlit flame torches. If they could already create flameless lanterns why would they use flame torches? Tradition, if I had to guess.
Unfortunately the night does not last forever and the night will soon give to the day.
I still did not want the natives of this island to find me and make their sacrifice to some kind of sea serpent or something.
First I will need a hiding spot.
Initially I thought of hiding in one of the shacks used for storage but they all seemed to lack any good hiding spots.
So after collecting a sour smelling composite fruit with pointy leaves I headed into the free growing trees and searched around for a good hiding spot with a vantage point to watch the natives.
Since waking up my senses were getting sharper. When I first woke up something about the island felt strange, but as my sense of smell returned I noticed it more.
What was with that smell? No, not the smell. The lack of smell is what feels weird. It almost seems like...
... how do I describe it?
Artificial?
Yes, but at the same time maybe no.
Smells that should have been there were just missing.
The ecosystem of the island seemed to be missing key parts to it. Like the biodiversity was too small.
Normally there would be the smell of thousands of different insects, but right now I only smelled about a couple dozen at best for the this island.
For larger creatures yes I could understand since the locals themselves could be the ones filling those roles, but I refuse to believe that they could just fill in the roles of the insects that should live here.
What was their secret?
Regardless something else was bothering me about the island civilization.
Where were they growing their crops.
Were the ponies of this age carnivorous?
Taking a bite from the composite fruit I realized that they could not be since I got this snack from one of their own storage shacks.
Unless the inhabitants of this island were actually bird headed feline. Which was a distinct possibility. While I clearly smelled pony in the settlement before I have no idea what to bird headed felines smell like, so for all I know it may belong to them.
Though I still could not rule out the possibility entirely because I did not want to find myself being boiled alive within a giant cooking pot.
Continuing my search for a good hiding place I came across an old tree with a large patch of soft and easily dug soil and began to make a plan.
Collecting a sufficient amount of a carpet moss native to the area and already looked to be growing on the tree I bound it together with a simple spell and began to dig.
Making sure that the tree itself would not collapse onto me I made a den large enough for me to hide in.
Next I cast a spell that would allow me to view my own hiding spot from outside and covered myself and my den with the moss carpet.
Casting a spell to bind the moss to the terrain it looked both natural and inconspicuous, but I still had one last step to take.
As a finishing touch for my hiding spot I cast a perception field which would ensure that none would think that the tree suddenly having moss would be strange for the more observant of the primitive locals.
With this I could easily hide from the natives and easily watch them from the safety of my hole.
And since I set it up so fast if I ever need to move it I can set it up again quickly.
After casting a few quick spells to prevent me spying from being detected or from my spell being used to track me.
I also used a third spell to that would lead any who got passed the first two protection spells in another direction so that would not find me.
I then cast a fourth spell to make it seem like the spell them track seem like even more of an anomaly.
As the morning sun rises the natives begin their daily activities.
The social order of their society was already a mystery but somehow it became even more confusing now.
I had expected there to be some form of distinction between classes, but I never considered that the worker class would be such a minority.
Not only that but they were spending their efforts tending to the pleasures of the none workers.
I was not even sure of what to call them either.
They did not seem to be warriors, but they also did not seem to actually be in charge either.
In fact the more I looked the less there seemed to be warriors of any variety on the island what so ever.
How did they protect themselves?
The sea around the island could not be that dangerous given the depiction of the sea vessel and docking areas around the island. That leaves the sky itself but there was nothing that I could see that would that dangerous.
I guess that leaves sea monster.
I guess that raised platform on the cliff was some kind of sacrificial alter.
Searching the waters off the side of the cliff side I found what I was looking for.
A cave leading to a crab spider den.
Odd they are usually peaceful creatures that prefer to stay hidden, but perhaps this specimen is an anomaly.
Wait a second, yes.
If I were to defeat the creature they worship as a god then I could become their new god!
An angry god.
They would be forced to worship me, or else.
There was also another thing that I noticed that I previously had not seen.
Near the main area where the a majority of the natives were located there was an area for landing airships to dock. Seemingly both for maintenance and large numbers of passengers to both board and unload.
Really makes me wonder how the crab spider they worship protects them from threats in the air.
If they have airships then it would be difficult for a crab spider to fight off the airships.
Regardless I got a short nap and then as night covered the sky I made my way to the cliff side and dived into the water. Making my way into the den I emerged from the water into the air pocket and began my search for the crab spider.
Given the size of the cave tunnel leading in the crab spider would have to be absolutely massive, probably the size of a fully grown adult dragon.
And it looks like I will not have to wonder about the crab spider for much longer.
A massive blue crustacean with a spider abdomen and eight beedy red eyes let out a massive roar.
If I were not a bat pony warrior that would probably be an intimidating foe, but unfortunately for the god of this island I know exactly how to deal with opponents like this.
Before the crab spider could even react I cast a contact spell and quickly used it to punch the beast.
This spell used sound wave to vibrate the water molecules in the target. Some bat pony warriors are skilled enough to use this spell to make their opponents explode but fortunately for the crab spider I only intended to torment the beast into submission.
It howled in pain and retreated farther back into the den.
I started to chuckle and soon broke out into a fit of laughter, "If this was the best there god had to offer then there was nothing they could do to stop me!"
Honestly if that's the case why even bother to conquer the island
I made my way back through the exit of the den and made my way back to the shore.
As I raised from the chilly water I shook myself dry.
Since the natives had not even noticed that a cluster fruit had gone missing the other day I decided to grab a berry the size of my head.
As I prepared hiding spot I cut open the green berry and found it to have a sweet watery red inside.
This time as the sun raised into the sky I focused more on observing the activities of the major class.
They seemed to focus more on relaxation by resting in the sun under parasols while drinking fruit juices. That I can get behind.
*Several days later...*
Laying back in some kind of lounge chair under the shade of a parasol.
Drinking some kind of fruit juice mixture from a fibrous, one-seeded drupe that had been cut open.
Suddenly I noticed that my beverage had gone empty and lowering the tinted eye lenses I loudly voiced my displeasure.
*Incoherent screeching!*
A pegasus quickly flew over and replaced my beverage with new one. It even had a little bended straw and mini parasol.
As I began to enjoy the taste of my latest offering I noticed that two unusually large ponies were being led to me.
The white one had a mane and tail that reminded me of an aurora borealis.
The second one with a dark blue coat had a mane and tail that reminded me of a stary night sky shining in the dark.
They both also appeared to be some combination of earth pony, pegasi, and unicorn.
They must have come from the sky wagon that had l seen not to long ago.
They began to speak with each other right next to me.
Fairly rude considering that I was the topic of conversation.
I began to hear the rhythmic hum of a spell being cast.
They were not even trying to conceal their spell.
I immediately deciphered it as a translation spell with no negative effects that I could detect, but I was no fool.
I would never allow an unknown individual to cast a spell on me.
I immediately cast a counter spell resulting in the two tall ponies becoming surprised with the most amusing expressions.
I quickly cast a translation spell of my own and asked the primitive creatures, "What do you want?"
After they got over the shock of what ever startled them the white one began to speak, "Lovely day we are having.
I am Celestia, princess of the day and the one next to me is my sister Luna, princess of the night.
Together we are the co-rulers of Equestria and responsible for moving the sun and moon respectively."
I rolled my eyes and said, "Good for you want do you want a medal?"
The princess...
...Celestia was her name I think looked side to side awkwardly, "No...?
May I asked why you are harassing the staff of this tropical resort?
And how did you counter my spell just now?
You have no horn, or artificial spell focus for that matter. What did you do?
For that matter, who are you and where did you come from?"
I decided to humor the primitive creatures and their questions, "Night Shade, I was a bat pony soldier fighting on the front lines of a war against the calamity.
A prophecy foretold the destruction of civilization. Rulers gathered their armies to fight. Mystics cried that the end had come too soon. Scholars said only that it was too late.
Among the calamity there were many horrific monstrosities with strange and horrific powers, one of which turned me to stone.
I suddenly turned back to flesh and found myself in a primitive world of an abnormal level of peace and decided to retire...
...so fuck off.
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...Also all bat ponies can cast spells using something similar to echo location..."
