Towards a Distant Dawn
Chapter 1: Sunset/Hope
Literary Architect: Southern Cross
Editor In Chief: ZAquanimus
Sweat dripped down her body as her pastel rainbow mane hung limp from the exhaustion of her efforts. Her once pure white coat was matted and caked with dirt and blood as she gasped for breath. Her crown was long gone, her golden chest plate now marred and cracked was missing its decorative jewel and she’d lost one of her golden horse shoes.
The Princess of the Sun stumbled as what was left of Equestria shook violently as another part was torn away. She grunted from the effort of righting herself and faced the six magical caskets before her, in each was a tiny foal which had barely begun to learn to speak, save one with a yellow coat and a pink mane and tail. All six were blissfully unaware of the destruction around them as the caskets forced them to sleep.
Behind her she could hear the sounds of the magical clash of her sister’s shadow magic dueling with the darkness that was tearing their world to pieces. Celestia shed a tear as she thought of how brave her dear sister Luna, was to face their foe when both knew she could do little more then amuse it for several minutes.
However she didn’t fight alone, the sisters’ ancient foe, Discord, had set aside his differences and fought by Luna’s side against the relentless destroyer as the last defenders of Equestria. “Can’t plunge Equestria into total chaos if there’s no Equestria, can I m’dears?” The draconequus had told them when they bade his help. Together they could buy her just enough time to complete their last desperate gamble.
She looked at the head of each casket one last time where the six stones that represented the Elements of Harmony rested and closed her eyes, focusing the very last of her magic. Light sparked from her long horn and lanced towards the six elements and the caskets they where attached to. Energy crackled throughout the chamber and began to swirl around, blowing the Princess’ mane and tail about chaotically.
The intensity of the spell grew and the Princess felt her knees buckling from the effort as the six caskets began to float in the air. Several agonizing minutes passed as she spread out her senses and searched, seeking just one loose thread, a magical link to a distant world that existed only in legend, as far as the Princesses and Discord knew.
She found it just as the embodiment of chaos let out a bloodcurdling cry the Princess had heard far too many times, the cry of someone being torn apart at the molecular level. Grimacing she redoubled her efforts and sought frantically.
Another quake staggered her, however she maintained her concentration. An instant later her eyes snapped open, she’d found what she’d been looking for and threw everything she had into completing the spell and established a connection.
“Go now My Little Ponies! I can only hope you lead peaceful lives!” She declared as the room filled with light. As it faded the caskets were gone and Celestia fell to her knees.
She heard Luna scream and turned her gaze to see her beloved sister meeting the same fate as Discord…
The same fate that awaited her… and what was left of Equestria…
“AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!” A tiny filly with a purple coat screamed as she straight sat up in bed. Her mane looked like a blue bramble with a pink streak through it that had exploded, then exploded again. Her pupils and iris’ had shrunk to tiny points while her chest heaved as she caught her breath.
Light flooded the little filly’s room as a hunched bipedal figure entered the room and approached her bed. The thump of a cane on the carpeted floor accentuated it’s approach as a comforting shrill voice asked, “Twilight dear, are you alright?”
As the filly felt the elderly biped wrap her in a hug she felt tears begin to flow from here eyes, “I had a… a nightmare.” She sniffled while burying her snout into the woman’s bosom. The old lady just stroked her hair for a moment before Twilight found the strength to ask, “Granny Barb? Will these nightmares ever go away?”
The old woman’s eyebrows furrowed as her always-shut eyelids tightened, emphasizing the wrinkles that covered her face. After a moment she replied, “I’m afraid I don’t know the answer to that, Twilight Sparkle.” She leaned down to kiss the filly on the horn before adding, “But I will always do everything in my power to protect you little one.”
Smiling slightly as the warm feeling of comfort swept over her, Twilight allowed her adoptive grandmother to lay her back down in the bed and tuck her in again. The two looked at each other and smiled lovingly as Barb opened her mouth and began to sing a lullaby to the filly.
“Hush now, Quiet now…”
“AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!” Many hundreds of kilometres away a rectangular canvas stapled to a wooden frame shattered against a wall as a distressed voice shouted, “Useless! Hideous! How could I have been so foolish as to consider painting something so…” the voice stopped as the owner pressed their fists to their eyes in frustration.
They had long blonde hair and blue eyes along with fair skin marred only by stray smudges of paint from their work. Her figure was lean yet pudgy from poor eating habits with slender hips and sleek chest. She wore a singlet that had long since ceased to be it’s original white as every colour of paint imaginable stained it along with blue track pants, also stained with paint and green alligator slippers with massive purple googly eyes.
She looked out through the window of her studio apartment towards a beautiful sunset that she had just attempted to paint with tears in her eyes. She was nearly three weeks behind on her rent and was desperately low on supplies for her art but barely had enough money left to put food on the table, to top it off none of her paintings where selling at all.
If it kept up much longer she’d have to pack her things and return to her parent’s home and work on the family farm. The very thought brought the taste of bile to her tongue.
A trio of soft clops echoed through the studio attracting the artist’s attention. At the entrance stood a tiny filly with a dull pink coat and slightly lighter pink mane and tail that hung limply down from her head and rump, her hoof still on the doorframe, “Are you okay Momma?” the little one asked.
“Oh…” the young woman brushed the tears from her eyes, “I’m fine Pinkie Pie… just a little frustrated.” After a moment she walked over to the pony and picked her up in a hug which the filly returned.
For a time they where silent before Pinkie mumbled into her adoptive mother’s neck, “I love you, momma.”
The artist, Katherine, smiled and replied, “I love you too little Pinkie.”
“AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!” A snobbish matronly voice crowed as the pudgy cheeked woman in a black dress and, with a black fur scarf around her neck glared daggers at a small white filly with a purple mane and tail, “What is that ANIMAL doing in here?!” She demanded.
“She is not an animal!” A flamboyant, yet masculine voice shot back. His lean, muscular physique was accentuated by a black sleeveless shirt, designer jeans threaded with a black leather belt, a trendy Rollex around his left wrist and a pashmina scarf around his neck. His feet were covered in a pair of brown dress shoes, “She is my personal assistant and if you can not appreciate her elegance I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to leave!” He declared.
The woman just glared at the man and barked, “Hmph! I demand to see the manager! This ANIMAL is a health violation and I intend to see it removed and destroyed! Who knows what diseases this… monstrosity, could be spreading.”
“Sorry to disappoint you, MADAM.” The man hurrumphed, “But I am the manager of this establishment.” He looked her in the eye as he jaw fell open in indignation, “Now if you wish to have that crow’s nest you call hair seen to I suggest you sit down and be quiet!”
“Why...I’ve... I’ve NEVER been so insulted!” She roared before storming out of the salon. The man shook his head sadly as his regular customers muttered among themselves.
One red haired woman with green eyes glanced down at the little filly and stroked the little one’s mane, “Don’t worry about that oversized piglet, Rarity. You’re beautiful to all of us.” Her statement was answered by the sound of affirmation from the other regulars as the tiny unicorn smiled.
The man knelt down and kissed the unicorn on the horn and smiled, “Lauren’s right, you are the most fabulous creature I have ever laid eyes on my little Rarity.”
Rarity smiled and nuzzled her caretaker’s chest, “Oh thank you, I love you so very much Papa.”
“AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!” A humanoid figure cried out in a masculine rumble as it was dragged through the air off the roof of a big red barn by a tether around its waist, of which the other end was tied around a large dead tree. It was soon followed by a loud thud as the tree hit the ground.
“Honey, are y’all alr’ght?” A thick feminine voice called out in a southern drawl, with a hint of worry as she held the chainsaw that had cut the tree down in the first place.
“Ah’m fine Darlin’!” The masculine voice replied from among the branches. After a moment the man stood up and brought a can of beer to his lips before frowning in disappointment, “Dagnabbit... Ah spilled mah beer!” He then realized something else was missing and patted his head before looking around and asking, “Any of Y’all seen mah hat?”
Two children and an orange mass emerged beside the man. The taller of the children was a boy of thirteen who wore a baseball cap covering his bushy brown hair while his green eyes looked up at his father.
The smaller child stood with the orange mass between her and her brother. She was no older then eight and had brown hair like her brother, only it was longer and tied into a ponytail. She was clad in a sundress with a massive hat made of straw resting on her head.
The orange mass was a quadruped with a flowing blond mane and tail, both tied with a red hairband near the end, in its teeth was the man’s Stetson hat, “R’ght ‘ere, Sir.” The filly stated happily.
“Wha’ thank ya Applejack.” The man smiled and took the hat before placing it on his head, “Well, at least we got this here tree down.” He looked from the filly to his wife who was approaching from the stump, “Ah reckon we should take a break and eat some’a Granny’s apple pies.”
The three children cheered and began to fight their way out from amongst the branches. Applejack and boy having an easier time then the girl, often causing them to have to stop to help her get through the tangled limbs. Once free of the tree the three took off for the farmhouse at top speed in an impromptu race, laughing, giggling and with Applejack ahead the entire race.
The two adults smiled to each other and began to walk after their children.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!” A loud crash was heard as a small figure attached to a large balsa wood and canvas wing crashed to the ground and the wing shattered on impact.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!” The figure was soon joined by a rainbow blur that slammed into it sending pieces of the artificial wing flying into the air from the recoil. As the dust cleared it revealed a small light blue filly with a rainbow coloured mane and tail along with feathery wings sprawled on top of a brown haired boy, both shared an annoyed expression.
As the filly pulled herself off her sibling the two looked back at the tin shed they’d tried to take off from and glared. A moment later the boy picked up the pieces of the wing and sighed as he noticed his skinned knees and elbows, “Maybe we should start on things a little closer to the ground… like tables… or cushions…”
The filly’s purple eyes glared at him and she grunted, “With an attitude like that you’ll never top Grandpa.” She poked his leg with her hoof, “You need to be even more daring Rex, we need to jump off something higher!” She grinned as a wild look filled her eyes, “Like the Bank West Building!”
Rex opened his mouth to reply when a large shadow fell over the two children causing both to pale slightly. “Can’t have you two tikes going and hurting yourselves.” Commented a masculine voice that had gone gravelly with age, “Why don’t you both come inside and I’ll tell you both another story, then?”
The two children heaved a sigh of relief as they turned to look at their grandfather’s smiling face. The old man had a surprisingly fit physique over which he wore a simple buttoned shirt and jeans. His grey hair was cut short while he also sported a short, shaggy beard. His blue eyes sparkled with the love he felt for the two children, but also spoke of experience and wisdom.
“Can we have vegemite sandwiches, Grandpa?” Rainbow Dash asked excited, her quest to master flight forgotten in her eagerness to hear more stories of when her adoptive grandfather was a pilot.
The old man laughed as he replied, “Of course Rainbow!” He grinned at the enthusiasm the two radiated as they pulled themselves to their feet and ran back into the old man’s home. With a smile he followed them both indoors while muttering under his breath, “I’m getting too old to keep up with those two…”
“AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!”
A yellow filly and a pink mane burst from between two bushes as she galloped at full speed from a massive rusty red coated Razorback boar that was in hot pursuit. Her yellow hooves pounded on the hard soil as she tried to stay ahead of the boar.
The two burst past widely spaced trees and large red rocks with prickly, dry bushes the filly was ill suited to moving between. It was only her precise motions that allowed her to nimbly move between the biting needles on the ends of the branches. The Ravorback had no such concern, its thick hide allowing it to simply blow straight through anything in it’s path.
After a minute of running the filly burst into a clearing as the figure of a human cracked it’s knuckles. The human was a tall male of some six feet with a muscular but slender build with deeply bronze skin of spending every waking hour under the sun. He wore a battered akubra hat along with a crocodile skin vest, khaki shorts and steel-capped boots. Around his waist was a leather belt with a rather large knife attached to the back.
The man took one look at the filly and then at the razorback before declaring, “Crikey’s underpants! Fluttershy, you found us a corker of a piglet right there!” With a grin he brushed his right hand on his jacket before holding it out with his pinkie and thumb extended and looking the charging boar in the eye as the yellow filly dashed behind him, he instructed, “Watch closely Fluttershy.”
In the moment there eyes of man and boar met an invisible battle of wills. Savage beast railed against the intense focus of the bushman’s civilised intellect for dominance as the minutes ticked by. After seven minutes passed the razorback dropped to its knees and rolled onto its side, accepting its fate as the bushman approached it with a loaded shotgun in hand.
“Sorry Champ.” The bushman said as he stood over the boar, a sad expression playing across his face. He quickly glanced at Fluttershy to see her looking away with her hooves covering her ears. He looked back at the boar and explained, “You’ve been messing with the local farmers too much to leave you be, mate.”
The man raised the shotgun level with the boars temple, “Well, see you around mate.”
Fluttershy couldn’t suppress a shiver as she felt the gunshot vibrate through the ground.
Author's Note
Would you believe I started work on this back in 2011?
Also it would seem my Editor has bailed on me, anyone up for the task?
