Adventures in Atlassoby lone wolf2012ChaptersThe AwakeningThe Strange StallionA World of Wonders(Not) According to PlanLost at SeaThe AwakeningThe unicorn awoke to darkness. She vaguely remembered something about a storm, and fire, but all else escaped her. The mare's ear twitched in response to a sound that seemed both nearby and distant at the same time. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, until the noise grew less distant and eventually turned into individual voices. Furrowing her eyebrows further, the mare concentrated on the talking until she could hear two distinct ponies. "Where did you say you found her?" said the first voice. Judging from the pitch, it was a mare. "She was sinking toward the city. I'd say she was about 1,300 feet below the surface," answered a second voice, a stallion. "And she was still alive!? That's practically impossible!" The mare replied, surprise evident in her voice. "She was surrounded by magic when we found her. I believe she used it unconsciously to protect herself from the pressure. She is a unicorn after all." "She must be a strong one to have done that. We could use more unicorns like that," the first voice responded. As she listened to these strange ponies talking about her, said unicorn was overcome by a wave of nausea. She rolled from her side to her belly and hung her head off the side of the bed, promptly vomiting up several gallons of water. Once her stomach calmed, she forced open her eyes to see the two ponies watching her. On the left stood the stallion, and to the right was the mare. The stallion was covered from mane to hoof in golden armor, covering his white coat. A sky-blue mane poked out from a slot in the top of his helmet, while matching eyes stared at her. The unicorn only looked at him long enough to note his armor, colors, and the fact that he was a pegasus before his stern gaze caused her to move on to the mare beside him. The mare was also a pegasus, but that was the only likeness between her and her companion. Unlike the stallion, the mare had no armor to speak of, and instead of a short blue mane she had dark green hair that nearly reached her knees. She looked upon the unicorn with bright golden eyes that were full of warmth and kindness, while her expression was one of worry. Upon her light green flank was a cutie mark that almost looked like a whirlpool. "I'm glad to see that you've woken up. We were worried that you wouldn't make it," the mare said, the worry on her face showing in her voice. The unicorn looked around in a daze, before opening her mouth. "What happened? Where am I, and who are you two?" she questioned, before succumbing to a terrible pain in her throat and being reduced to coughs. "You need to rest more. While you did survive, you still swallowed a lot of seawater. The nurse said your throat is still raw from the salt," the green mare warned, stepping forward to ensure the unicorn heeded her warning. "As for your questions, lets me explain. "Without your input, we have no clue what happened apart from the fact that you were sinking to the ocean floor when my guards found you. Those guards were Triton here," she nodded to the stallion beside her, "And his brother, Trident, who's right outside the door. I'm SeaSwirl, and the ruler of the wonderful city that you're in. I'll leave the Triton here to oversee your recovery," and, with another nod to Triton, she walked out the single door and out of sight. The unicorn glanced to the stallion, wondering if she could coax the answer to her second question out of him. The memory of his cold, hard stare made her decide against it, along with the realization that if his kind leader didn't tell her, then he wasn't likely to speak up either. With her unanswered question swirling around her mind, the unicorn laid her head on her pillow and drifted back to sleep. The Strange StallionThe unicorn woke again to find herself being watched. Upon looking around the room, she saw Triton staring at her. Agitated by her sleepiness and unnerved by the intensity of his gaze, she rolled over to stare at the wall. After a few minutes of tracing the lines in the cream paint with her eyes and feeling his gaze on her back, she spoke up. "If you would be so kind, would you mind telling me why you're watching me like a stalker?" When the stallion replied, she immediately realized her mistake. "I-I-I'm sorry, I-I didn't mean to stare like that. I-it's just that I've never seen a pony that's practically been brought back from the dead, much less one from the surface," he stammered. The mare rolled over to face the stallion, surprised at the fact that she could ever confuse this newcomer with Triton. First of all, instead of Triton's deep, rumbling voice, this stallion's voice was a noticeably higher pitch. He had off-white fur extremely similar to the other stallion's, although the newcomer's coat was tinged with pink, magnified by his bright pink eyes and slightly magenta mane. Like Triton, he was wearing armor, but, unlike Triton, he wasn't wearing any horseshoes, and his helmet was resting on a chair by the room's single large window. The mare lowered her head and laid back her ears while her eyes drifted down to the floor. When she spoke again, her tone was much kinder, but also laced with guilt. "Sorry, I thought you were somepony else. I don't normally snap at strangers." The stallion's expression changed from one of shame to one of understanding and kindness. "It's alright. I was staring at you kinda intensely. I don't blame you for snapping." He paused, thinking, before speaking again, "Who did you think I was?" he queried, his ears perking up. The unicorn raised her eyes to look at the stallion before answering. "There was a stallion in here earlier that looked a lot like you. The mare that was with him said his name was Triton." The pinkish stallion suddenly had a huge grin run across his face, and he started chuckling. Within a few seconds he was full-out laughing, nearly rolling on the floor. As it was, he was doubled over from his laughs, and failed to notice the fact that the other occupant of the room was growing more and more annoyed at his foalish behavior. "Could you stop acting like a foal and explain why you're acting like a foal?" the mare asked, her ears laid back in agitation. The pegasus managed to calm himself down to a more appropriate level before replying. "I'ts nothing. Did SeaSwirl tell you who found you?" Her brow furrowed in confusion at the change in topic, but answered anyway. "Triton and his brother. Why?" "Guess," replied the stallion. The unicorn rolled her eyes and ignored her companion. Feeling restless, she got out of bed, meaning to explore her surroundings. She gasped as her legs gave out, sending her to the floor, before the guard pony caught her. She felt her face start burning, and turned away to hide her blush of embarrassment. "Careful! You're still weak," the pegasus warned as he helped her stand straightly. Shaking him off, the mare stood taller before taking several careful steps. Although her legs shook at first, she soon grew confident in her ability to walk, and examined what had been her home for the past 24 hours. The walls were fairly uniform, all four were the same cream color and bared the same decorative patterns of swirls. On the wall that was occupied by the head of her bed, there was also the door and the chair that currently housed the guard's helmet. The opposite wall had no furnishings aside from the foot of her bed, and the creamy expanse was broken only by a painting of a meadow. On the wall opposite the bed was a single large window that allowed the mare to see the town she was stranded in, and possibly allow her to find her way back to Canterlot. As she got closer to the window, the unicorn's ears slowly pointed forward and an awed look crossed her face. Upon reaching her goal, she simply stood, dumbfounded, staring at the sight before her. A World of WondersThe lavender-grey pony looked out the window, her mouth hanging open as she took in the sight on the other side of the glass. The street outside her building, along with all the other streets in her view, looked almost as if it was paved with gold, shining with a lustrous gleam that was almost unnatural. Her gaze rose from the wondrous road to observe the equally wondrous houses on the opposite side. The foundations of the buildings were made of the same precious metal as the streets, with the trim on the door and window glowing with the beauty of silver. The doors were make of a dark wood the mare didn't recognize, and the contrast between the door and it's frame was stunning in and of itself. Looking closer, the nearly black doors were intricately carved with images of manticores, dragons, windigos, and numerous other creatures that were also unknown to the mare. As she looked down the street, the unicorn realized that she was near the edge of town, if the size of the houses were any indication. To her right, the buildings grew larger, with more floors than those across the golden road, and the trim changed from silver to even more gold. The mare directed her gaze to down the street on her left before blinking several times in surprise. Squinting her eyes to ensure she wasn't imagining things, she also looked at the sky above her. At least, what would have been the sky. "We're in a giant bubble..." the mare whispered as she stared at the glowing multi-colored aura that separated the city and an endless expanse of water. "Actually, it's only half a bubble," a voice replied from behind her, causing her to jump after being lost in the wonder of her surroundings. Looking back over her shoulder at the pegasus by her bed, she pleaded with her eyes for him to tell her more. The stallion glanced away from her gaze, seemingly worried about talking too much. After several long seconds of him glancing about the room, he finally broke down, albeit in a different way than expected. He walked to the lone chair in the room and put on his guard helmet before turning and walking to the door. "You coming?" he asked as he paused at the threshold. Without stopping to think, the unicorn hurried after her companion as he led her into the outside world. As the duo entered the hallway, the mare slapped a hoof to her face, hurting herself on her iron horseshoe. Stopping to rub at the beginnings of a bruise, she mare explained her facehoof. "Sorry, I just realized I never introduced myself. My name's StarShine," she said, reaching out her forehoof for a hoof-shake. "It's okay, that's completely understandable," the pegasus replied as he accepted her hoof-shake. "The name's Trident." StarShine glanced to the stallion's flank, expecting to see the pony's three-pronged namesake, but was instead greeted by a trio of pink bubbles. Her brow furrowed in confusion, trying to link nautical weapons with bubbles, before simply asking. "Why is your cutie mark-" she started. "Everypony asks that, and the answer is always the same: I have no clue," Trident replied, an amused look crossing his face, along with a hint of annoyance. He turned around and resumed his trip down the hallway, pausing momentarily for the unicorn to follow. The pair soon found themselves right outside one of the city's two hospitals, according to Trident. StarShine looked around at the houses, and soon discovered that, along with precious metals, they were also adorned with various seashells. As she walked deeper into the city, the shells grew in size, beauty, and variety, and the doors grew more ornate in their carvings. Looking up at the decorations of the upper floors of the homes, the unicorn failed to notice the pony walking straight toward her. "Oof!" exclaimed the mare as she fell backwards onto the glittering pavement. She looked up to see an older mare being helped to her hooves by Trident as the stallion struggled to pick up the mare and her belongings. With a furious blush spreading across her face, StarShine took advantage of her magic to pick up the mare's basket and scattered balls of yarn. "Thank you, dear," the strange mare said as she took her belongings back from the younger pony. As she did so, the young unicorn got a better look at her fellow crash victim. The mare must have been well into her 50s, judging by her moderately wrinkled face and grey mane. Her coat was a light brown, almost the color of a deer's pelt, and upon her flank was a bundle of wheat stalks. StarShine looked briefly at the mare's strangely grey eyes, before her own eyes wandered up to the older pony's forehead. She glanced to the tan mare's back where her basket was balanced, and looked back at the horn on her head, which was surrounded by a grey aura. Yet again that day, StarShine was overcome with confusion at the magic obviously being performed, but with no apparent outlet. "StarShine, this is FertileFields. Fertile, this is StarShine," Trident spoke up, introducing the two mares. The other mare nodded her head before speaking to StarShine. "I'm so sorry, I was in such a rush to get home, I forgot to look where I was going," she explained, a small chuckle escaping her smiling lips. "No, I should have been keeping my eyes on the road instead of enjoying the scenery. It's my fault." A guilty look clouded the lavender pony's face, along with a blush of embarrassment as she spoke. Trident simply stood by the two ponies, unable to think of a way to breach the awkwardness of the situation. After making his helmet ring while trying to sweep his hoof through his mane, he turned to face StarShine. "We should probably get going if you want to see the city before nightfall," he said before facing FertileFields, "Tell NightWatch I'll be stopping by later, please." With that, they continued waking down the street, although they passed more curious onlookers than before. "Was that a friend of yours? You seemed to know her," StarShine queried, making an attempt at small talk. Trident glanced at her before answering. "She's a bit of a friend. Her husband's captain of the guard, and her son is a good friend of mine. Not to mention how many times we've been called out to the fields because of her daughter making a mess," he chuckled, a good-natured smile on his face. StarShine nodded knowingly, although she was only halfway paying attention. Her mind was currently occupied by the world around her. A thought had been nagging her at the back of her mind, and she took the chance to say it out loud. "Where exactly are we? This place reminds me of stories I heard as a foal, but they were just that: stories." An embarrassed smile crossed her face as she voiced her thoughts. "I know it's silly, but the resemblance is uncanny." Now it was the pegasus's turn to nod knowingly. "SeaSwirl says that our city has been a legend in Equestrian history since it sank below the waves. You ponies might call it something different on land nowadays, but down here it's still known as Atlasso." The mare stopped to stare at her guide, disbelief evident on her face. Her mind reeled with the knowledge that she was in a place that hadn't been seen since before Princess Luna was banished to the moon. A place that many ponies believed never even existed. And here she was, surrounded by ponies living possibly miles upon miles beneath the ocean's surface. StarShine shook her head at the sad fact that she wasn't a true scholar, only a temporary one. Although she was a well-learned pony, that wasn't her actual talent, and all the knowledge around her was being wasted on this particular unicorn. Trident paused and turned back to look at the perplexed pony, quickly becoming worried by her silence. He trotted the few steps back to the mare while the worry on his face intensified. "Sorry, I thought you would be able to handle it. I really didn't think it would be that big a deal," the pegasus said, the guilt in his eyes proving his honesty. StarShine shook her head while she attempted to organize her thoughts. Several seconds of silence passed before her escort spoke again. "Here, it's probably best if I just take you back to the hospital while you rest and think things through." The unicorn nodded, still at a loss for words, and turned to go back the way they had just come. As she was led back to her temporary housing, StarShine gazed at the buildings and ponies around her with a newfound light. This place... how could it survive so long without being detected? And how did these ponies survive the plunge into the ocean; not to mention all these years without sunlight. Finally arriving at their destination, StarShine resolved herself to learn more. Glancing at the guard beside her, she realized that she had the perfect pony to 'interrogate'. Opening her mouth to start asking questions, the unicorn was quickly interrupted by Trident. "Here's your room. If you need anything, just call for one of the nurses. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to finish my patrol." With that, the pegasus turned and cantered down the hall and out the door, leaving a fairly annoyed unicorn standing in her doorway. StarShine gave an exasperated sigh before walking to her bed and burrowing beneath the covers. (Not) According to PlanStarShine awoke to a world of pain. She was laying on her left side, her sore forelegs wrapped around her spasming stomach. The bleary unicorn tried removing one of her hooves from it's vicegrip on her belly, only to discover it was like moving solid lead. StarShine attempted to voice her discomfort with a groan, but ended up hacking due to her throat practically becoming sandpaper. She managed to open her eyes enough to see several blurry shapes around her bed, one of which was standing right beside her head, and appeared to be fumbling with a metal pole near her pillow. "Uugh," was the mare's response, which only turned into another coughing fit. "Don't move around too much, or you'll only make it worse," came an unfamiliar voice, which probably came from the blur near her head. StarShine responded by lifting her head off her pillow and opening her eyes wider, earning an annoyed huff from the unknown shape. Blinking her eyes a few times to clear her vision, the unicorn managed to make out the room's other occupants. The blur with the unfamiliar voice turned out to be a nurse, judging from the characteristic white coat, pink mane, and nurse's cap. Her soft, light blue eyes glanced between her patient and the pole beside her with a bag of IV fluid. Due to the quick, frazzled bun her mane was in, along with the bags under her eyes, the poor mare must have been working the night shift. Beyond the mare was Trident and another guard, who seemed to be the opposite of the nurse. Instead of bright, cheerful colors, the pony's coat was a solid black, and their mane was only a dull grey. On their flank was a cutie mark depicting a pair of grey eyes which matched the real eyes on the pony's face. The dark pony had bags that matched the nurse's, but their eyes radiated cheerfulness. StarShine tried to tilt her head to the side in confusion, but her tired neck screamed in protest. Flopping back onto her pillow, she risked asking for a glass of water, which the nurse apparently had ready. After gulping down the water and soothing her throat, the unicorn was finally able to speak without hurting herself. "Can... any of you... tell me what happened?" she choked out between gasps for air. The nurse smiled slightly before answering. "Your body is just sore from the shipwreck you were in. You'll be fine in a few days, but you definitely need to rest until then," here she paused to look out into the hallway before continuing,"There's other patients I need to tend to, but Trident will be staying here to keep you company." The white mare gestured toward Trident and his companion before she rushed out the door and down the hall. Once she was out of the room, StarShine glanced at the dark pony before opening her mouth to speak to her guide from yesterday. "So, care to introduce me to your friend?" Trident looked over his shoulder before answering. "Uh, yeah, sorry. This is NightWatch, a member of the city guard and an old buddy of mine. I had been patrolling with him when Nurse SoftHeart called for me. She said that you were having some problems, and since I'm in charge of you for now, I had to be here immediately," he ended with a shrug. StarShine nodded, her curiosity sated for the most part, but her gaze kept returning to NightWatch. Trident had called the pony 'him', but the equine's features seemed way too feminine for 'him' to be a stallion. The lavender mare shook her head before groaning from the ringing that ensued. Giving one last look at the pegasus and earth pony in the room with her, StarShine rolled over and fell asleep. A tired groan rang out as a certain lost unicorn woke up for the umpteenth time since her shipwreck. "Welcome back to the world of the living," said somepony in the room. A quick glance revealed it to be NightWatch, since he was the only other pony there. "You don't have to say it so cheerfully. Or loudly, for that matter," replied a disgruntled StarShine as she covered her ears with her forehooves. The only reply was a lighthearted laugh. Once her head stopped ringing, the mare realized that, while NightWatch was still here, Trident was nowhere to be seen. Apparently NightWatch saw her confusion and explained. "His brother and a couple other 'higher-ups' wanted to see him." He must have seen her confusion turn to worry, because he quickly elaborated. "He's not in trouble or anything, they just wanted his help brainstorming about where you should stay." "So where do you think I'll be staying?" The earth pony was quiet for a few seconds before he responded. "Trident and I think you should stay with an old buddy from our school days. He's a good guy, and he loves what he does. Gotta admit, I think you and ol' BookWorm would get along just fine, considering you both seem to be the scholarly type." StarShine shook her head slightly before correcting her companion, "I'm not a scholar, I'm an astronomer. "Meh, same difference." An annoyed sigh escaped the lavender mare as she got out of bed. Some sort of commotion drew her attention to the window, her hooves breaking into a brisk trot as she rushed towards the pane. Peering out into the street, StarShine quickly regretted it due to the sight greeting her eyes. In the middle of the golden road lay several carriages, all of them caught up in a large wreck. Surrounding the scene was a ring of onlookers, with several rushing forward to help the carriage drivers and their passengers. All the ponies that weren't helping stayed well back; either to get away from the wreckage itself, or to escape several blood splatters around it. StarShine backed away from the horrific scene outside, and turned to gallop out the door to help. However, she found the doorway blocked by her bodyguard. NightWatch made no move to help the ponies outside, or to let StarShine exit the room. In fact, he wouldn't even look at her; instead his eyes stared at the floor. The mare stared in disbelief before shouting at the guard, "What are you doing!? We have to help them!" NightWatch simply shook his head, still not looking her in the eye. "There's nothing we can do. They're right in front of a hospital anyway; I'll bet the nurses are already out there helping them." The unicorn galloped back to the window and saw that her captor was right. In the street below, hospital staff could already be seen clambering among the wreckage and pulling out the broken bodies of other ponies. StarShine turned her head to look out her doorway where she could see nurses wheeling stretchers through the hall. She recognized the nurse assigned to her, SoftHeart, standing against the wall, unsure of how to help. NightWatch motioned the white mare into the room and mumbled several words to the earth pony. He seemed relieved at the whispered answer, and turned to look out the hallway again. Nurse SoftHeart walked over to the lavender mare, looking comforted at having something to do but still on edge because of the situation. She put a hoof on Star's shoulder, turning her away from the window and guiding her back to the bed "It's still the middle of the night, and there's nothing you can do about the crash. You need to get as much sleep as you can before tomorrow. After all, it'll probably be a busy day." StarShine let these words console her, but as she clambered under her bedcovers a question nagged at her. Throwing caution to the wind, she asked it despite several warning bells going off in her head. "Why are you all acting so used to this? Ponies are dying, or already dead, and you two don't seem to care." While saying this, the astronomer failed to notice what her bodyguard was doing. Instead she focused on the other mare in the room, awaiting a reply. The nurse's next words, however, rose more questions than answers. "If we care, we'll end up just like them. 'They' don't like sympathizers." StarShine's face made her confusion clear, and her look of surprise much more evident as the drugs hit her system. Nurse SoftHeart knew how she must be feeling; the sleeping drugs felt like pure ice flowing through your veins. She glanced guiltily at the soldier standing by the IV line. NightWatch had emptied the entire syringe into the line while the unicorn had been talking. SoftHeart looked back at StarShine as she drifted into the drug-induced stupor. Unable to keep it in, she whispered two words to the young mare, regardless of whether or not she'd hear them. "I'm sorry..." Lost at SeaA unicorn mare ran across the deck of a ship, tossing her head frantically. Beneath her lavender-grey hooves, the ship bucked and whirled like a professional bronco. Above the roiling sea, torrents of water rained down, covering the deck of the ship and pouring into the cabins beneath. If there had been any shouts from passengers aboard the ship, the screaming wind would surely mask it. As it was, the only pony on the galleon was the unicorn mare. Her crew had abandoned her long ago, driven away by the darkening storm on the horizon; and with good reason. Now the mare was stranded in the midst of the storm her former employees had warned her about. Her iron horseshoes thunked against the wooden planks under her hooves as she dashed to the helm to try to steer the ship out of the storm. Upon reaching the wheel, the unicorn threw herself against it with all her strength. Despite her best efforts, the wheel would not budge, leaving her ship to be tossed about by the wind instead of turning away to safety. The darkness of the stormy night was broken by a strike of lightning to the top of the mast. In spite of the torrential rain, the wooden mast burst into flames, casting a fiery glow on the deck of the ship. The mare looked up from her efforts to gaze in horror at the fire eating away at her ship, and, in turn, her lifeline. As she watched, the flames trailed downward to the deck of the ship. A new terror lit her face as she gave up on the wheel to run towards the mast. Along with the terror, a deep blue glow lit her eyes, radiated from her horn, with a matching glow surrounding the fire. The unicorn skidded to a stop on the wet boards and closed her eyes, a look of intense concentration shrouding her face as the two glowing auras grew brighter. The lavender-grey pony gasped and opened her eyes as another strike of lighting split the sky, breaking her concentration as much as it broke the darkness surrounding her. The glows vanished, and the fire burst forth with new vigor, covering the remaining parts of the mast and spreading to cover the section of the deck around it. With the rest of her hope draining from her face, the mare turned and ran across the boards to the edge of her ship. With one last glance back to the quick-moving flames, the mare turned back to the black ocean beneath her. Still she hesitated, not wishing to abandon her life's work, until a tongue of flame licked at the back of her hind leg. Letting out a cry of pain and a pray to Celestia, the unicorn closed her eyes and leaped from the deck. A scream escaped her lips before she hit the wild waves and was surrounded by the darkness of unconsciousness.
The AwakeningThe unicorn awoke to darkness. She vaguely remembered something about a storm, and fire, but all else escaped her. The mare's ear twitched in response to a sound that seemed both nearby and distant at the same time. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, until the noise grew less distant and eventually turned into individual voices. Furrowing her eyebrows further, the mare concentrated on the talking until she could hear two distinct ponies. "Where did you say you found her?" said the first voice. Judging from the pitch, it was a mare. "She was sinking toward the city. I'd say she was about 1,300 feet below the surface," answered a second voice, a stallion. "And she was still alive!? That's practically impossible!" The mare replied, surprise evident in her voice. "She was surrounded by magic when we found her. I believe she used it unconsciously to protect herself from the pressure. She is a unicorn after all." "She must be a strong one to have done that. We could use more unicorns like that," the first voice responded. As she listened to these strange ponies talking about her, said unicorn was overcome by a wave of nausea. She rolled from her side to her belly and hung her head off the side of the bed, promptly vomiting up several gallons of water. Once her stomach calmed, she forced open her eyes to see the two ponies watching her. On the left stood the stallion, and to the right was the mare. The stallion was covered from mane to hoof in golden armor, covering his white coat. A sky-blue mane poked out from a slot in the top of his helmet, while matching eyes stared at her. The unicorn only looked at him long enough to note his armor, colors, and the fact that he was a pegasus before his stern gaze caused her to move on to the mare beside him. The mare was also a pegasus, but that was the only likeness between her and her companion. Unlike the stallion, the mare had no armor to speak of, and instead of a short blue mane she had dark green hair that nearly reached her knees. She looked upon the unicorn with bright golden eyes that were full of warmth and kindness, while her expression was one of worry. Upon her light green flank was a cutie mark that almost looked like a whirlpool. "I'm glad to see that you've woken up. We were worried that you wouldn't make it," the mare said, the worry on her face showing in her voice. The unicorn looked around in a daze, before opening her mouth. "What happened? Where am I, and who are you two?" she questioned, before succumbing to a terrible pain in her throat and being reduced to coughs. "You need to rest more. While you did survive, you still swallowed a lot of seawater. The nurse said your throat is still raw from the salt," the green mare warned, stepping forward to ensure the unicorn heeded her warning. "As for your questions, lets me explain. "Without your input, we have no clue what happened apart from the fact that you were sinking to the ocean floor when my guards found you. Those guards were Triton here," she nodded to the stallion beside her, "And his brother, Trident, who's right outside the door. I'm SeaSwirl, and the ruler of the wonderful city that you're in. I'll leave the Triton here to oversee your recovery," and, with another nod to Triton, she walked out the single door and out of sight. The unicorn glanced to the stallion, wondering if she could coax the answer to her second question out of him. The memory of his cold, hard stare made her decide against it, along with the realization that if his kind leader didn't tell her, then he wasn't likely to speak up either. With her unanswered question swirling around her mind, the unicorn laid her head on her pillow and drifted back to sleep.
The Strange StallionThe unicorn woke again to find herself being watched. Upon looking around the room, she saw Triton staring at her. Agitated by her sleepiness and unnerved by the intensity of his gaze, she rolled over to stare at the wall. After a few minutes of tracing the lines in the cream paint with her eyes and feeling his gaze on her back, she spoke up. "If you would be so kind, would you mind telling me why you're watching me like a stalker?" When the stallion replied, she immediately realized her mistake. "I-I-I'm sorry, I-I didn't mean to stare like that. I-it's just that I've never seen a pony that's practically been brought back from the dead, much less one from the surface," he stammered. The mare rolled over to face the stallion, surprised at the fact that she could ever confuse this newcomer with Triton. First of all, instead of Triton's deep, rumbling voice, this stallion's voice was a noticeably higher pitch. He had off-white fur extremely similar to the other stallion's, although the newcomer's coat was tinged with pink, magnified by his bright pink eyes and slightly magenta mane. Like Triton, he was wearing armor, but, unlike Triton, he wasn't wearing any horseshoes, and his helmet was resting on a chair by the room's single large window. The mare lowered her head and laid back her ears while her eyes drifted down to the floor. When she spoke again, her tone was much kinder, but also laced with guilt. "Sorry, I thought you were somepony else. I don't normally snap at strangers." The stallion's expression changed from one of shame to one of understanding and kindness. "It's alright. I was staring at you kinda intensely. I don't blame you for snapping." He paused, thinking, before speaking again, "Who did you think I was?" he queried, his ears perking up. The unicorn raised her eyes to look at the stallion before answering. "There was a stallion in here earlier that looked a lot like you. The mare that was with him said his name was Triton." The pinkish stallion suddenly had a huge grin run across his face, and he started chuckling. Within a few seconds he was full-out laughing, nearly rolling on the floor. As it was, he was doubled over from his laughs, and failed to notice the fact that the other occupant of the room was growing more and more annoyed at his foalish behavior. "Could you stop acting like a foal and explain why you're acting like a foal?" the mare asked, her ears laid back in agitation. The pegasus managed to calm himself down to a more appropriate level before replying. "I'ts nothing. Did SeaSwirl tell you who found you?" Her brow furrowed in confusion at the change in topic, but answered anyway. "Triton and his brother. Why?" "Guess," replied the stallion. The unicorn rolled her eyes and ignored her companion. Feeling restless, she got out of bed, meaning to explore her surroundings. She gasped as her legs gave out, sending her to the floor, before the guard pony caught her. She felt her face start burning, and turned away to hide her blush of embarrassment. "Careful! You're still weak," the pegasus warned as he helped her stand straightly. Shaking him off, the mare stood taller before taking several careful steps. Although her legs shook at first, she soon grew confident in her ability to walk, and examined what had been her home for the past 24 hours. The walls were fairly uniform, all four were the same cream color and bared the same decorative patterns of swirls. On the wall that was occupied by the head of her bed, there was also the door and the chair that currently housed the guard's helmet. The opposite wall had no furnishings aside from the foot of her bed, and the creamy expanse was broken only by a painting of a meadow. On the wall opposite the bed was a single large window that allowed the mare to see the town she was stranded in, and possibly allow her to find her way back to Canterlot. As she got closer to the window, the unicorn's ears slowly pointed forward and an awed look crossed her face. Upon reaching her goal, she simply stood, dumbfounded, staring at the sight before her.
A World of WondersThe lavender-grey pony looked out the window, her mouth hanging open as she took in the sight on the other side of the glass. The street outside her building, along with all the other streets in her view, looked almost as if it was paved with gold, shining with a lustrous gleam that was almost unnatural. Her gaze rose from the wondrous road to observe the equally wondrous houses on the opposite side. The foundations of the buildings were made of the same precious metal as the streets, with the trim on the door and window glowing with the beauty of silver. The doors were make of a dark wood the mare didn't recognize, and the contrast between the door and it's frame was stunning in and of itself. Looking closer, the nearly black doors were intricately carved with images of manticores, dragons, windigos, and numerous other creatures that were also unknown to the mare. As she looked down the street, the unicorn realized that she was near the edge of town, if the size of the houses were any indication. To her right, the buildings grew larger, with more floors than those across the golden road, and the trim changed from silver to even more gold. The mare directed her gaze to down the street on her left before blinking several times in surprise. Squinting her eyes to ensure she wasn't imagining things, she also looked at the sky above her. At least, what would have been the sky. "We're in a giant bubble..." the mare whispered as she stared at the glowing multi-colored aura that separated the city and an endless expanse of water. "Actually, it's only half a bubble," a voice replied from behind her, causing her to jump after being lost in the wonder of her surroundings. Looking back over her shoulder at the pegasus by her bed, she pleaded with her eyes for him to tell her more. The stallion glanced away from her gaze, seemingly worried about talking too much. After several long seconds of him glancing about the room, he finally broke down, albeit in a different way than expected. He walked to the lone chair in the room and put on his guard helmet before turning and walking to the door. "You coming?" he asked as he paused at the threshold. Without stopping to think, the unicorn hurried after her companion as he led her into the outside world. As the duo entered the hallway, the mare slapped a hoof to her face, hurting herself on her iron horseshoe. Stopping to rub at the beginnings of a bruise, she mare explained her facehoof. "Sorry, I just realized I never introduced myself. My name's StarShine," she said, reaching out her forehoof for a hoof-shake. "It's okay, that's completely understandable," the pegasus replied as he accepted her hoof-shake. "The name's Trident." StarShine glanced to the stallion's flank, expecting to see the pony's three-pronged namesake, but was instead greeted by a trio of pink bubbles. Her brow furrowed in confusion, trying to link nautical weapons with bubbles, before simply asking. "Why is your cutie mark-" she started. "Everypony asks that, and the answer is always the same: I have no clue," Trident replied, an amused look crossing his face, along with a hint of annoyance. He turned around and resumed his trip down the hallway, pausing momentarily for the unicorn to follow. The pair soon found themselves right outside one of the city's two hospitals, according to Trident. StarShine looked around at the houses, and soon discovered that, along with precious metals, they were also adorned with various seashells. As she walked deeper into the city, the shells grew in size, beauty, and variety, and the doors grew more ornate in their carvings. Looking up at the decorations of the upper floors of the homes, the unicorn failed to notice the pony walking straight toward her. "Oof!" exclaimed the mare as she fell backwards onto the glittering pavement. She looked up to see an older mare being helped to her hooves by Trident as the stallion struggled to pick up the mare and her belongings. With a furious blush spreading across her face, StarShine took advantage of her magic to pick up the mare's basket and scattered balls of yarn. "Thank you, dear," the strange mare said as she took her belongings back from the younger pony. As she did so, the young unicorn got a better look at her fellow crash victim. The mare must have been well into her 50s, judging by her moderately wrinkled face and grey mane. Her coat was a light brown, almost the color of a deer's pelt, and upon her flank was a bundle of wheat stalks. StarShine looked briefly at the mare's strangely grey eyes, before her own eyes wandered up to the older pony's forehead. She glanced to the tan mare's back where her basket was balanced, and looked back at the horn on her head, which was surrounded by a grey aura. Yet again that day, StarShine was overcome with confusion at the magic obviously being performed, but with no apparent outlet. "StarShine, this is FertileFields. Fertile, this is StarShine," Trident spoke up, introducing the two mares. The other mare nodded her head before speaking to StarShine. "I'm so sorry, I was in such a rush to get home, I forgot to look where I was going," she explained, a small chuckle escaping her smiling lips. "No, I should have been keeping my eyes on the road instead of enjoying the scenery. It's my fault." A guilty look clouded the lavender pony's face, along with a blush of embarrassment as she spoke. Trident simply stood by the two ponies, unable to think of a way to breach the awkwardness of the situation. After making his helmet ring while trying to sweep his hoof through his mane, he turned to face StarShine. "We should probably get going if you want to see the city before nightfall," he said before facing FertileFields, "Tell NightWatch I'll be stopping by later, please." With that, they continued waking down the street, although they passed more curious onlookers than before. "Was that a friend of yours? You seemed to know her," StarShine queried, making an attempt at small talk. Trident glanced at her before answering. "She's a bit of a friend. Her husband's captain of the guard, and her son is a good friend of mine. Not to mention how many times we've been called out to the fields because of her daughter making a mess," he chuckled, a good-natured smile on his face. StarShine nodded knowingly, although she was only halfway paying attention. Her mind was currently occupied by the world around her. A thought had been nagging her at the back of her mind, and she took the chance to say it out loud. "Where exactly are we? This place reminds me of stories I heard as a foal, but they were just that: stories." An embarrassed smile crossed her face as she voiced her thoughts. "I know it's silly, but the resemblance is uncanny." Now it was the pegasus's turn to nod knowingly. "SeaSwirl says that our city has been a legend in Equestrian history since it sank below the waves. You ponies might call it something different on land nowadays, but down here it's still known as Atlasso." The mare stopped to stare at her guide, disbelief evident on her face. Her mind reeled with the knowledge that she was in a place that hadn't been seen since before Princess Luna was banished to the moon. A place that many ponies believed never even existed. And here she was, surrounded by ponies living possibly miles upon miles beneath the ocean's surface. StarShine shook her head at the sad fact that she wasn't a true scholar, only a temporary one. Although she was a well-learned pony, that wasn't her actual talent, and all the knowledge around her was being wasted on this particular unicorn. Trident paused and turned back to look at the perplexed pony, quickly becoming worried by her silence. He trotted the few steps back to the mare while the worry on his face intensified. "Sorry, I thought you would be able to handle it. I really didn't think it would be that big a deal," the pegasus said, the guilt in his eyes proving his honesty. StarShine shook her head while she attempted to organize her thoughts. Several seconds of silence passed before her escort spoke again. "Here, it's probably best if I just take you back to the hospital while you rest and think things through." The unicorn nodded, still at a loss for words, and turned to go back the way they had just come. As she was led back to her temporary housing, StarShine gazed at the buildings and ponies around her with a newfound light. This place... how could it survive so long without being detected? And how did these ponies survive the plunge into the ocean; not to mention all these years without sunlight. Finally arriving at their destination, StarShine resolved herself to learn more. Glancing at the guard beside her, she realized that she had the perfect pony to 'interrogate'. Opening her mouth to start asking questions, the unicorn was quickly interrupted by Trident. "Here's your room. If you need anything, just call for one of the nurses. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to finish my patrol." With that, the pegasus turned and cantered down the hall and out the door, leaving a fairly annoyed unicorn standing in her doorway. StarShine gave an exasperated sigh before walking to her bed and burrowing beneath the covers.
(Not) According to PlanStarShine awoke to a world of pain. She was laying on her left side, her sore forelegs wrapped around her spasming stomach. The bleary unicorn tried removing one of her hooves from it's vicegrip on her belly, only to discover it was like moving solid lead. StarShine attempted to voice her discomfort with a groan, but ended up hacking due to her throat practically becoming sandpaper. She managed to open her eyes enough to see several blurry shapes around her bed, one of which was standing right beside her head, and appeared to be fumbling with a metal pole near her pillow. "Uugh," was the mare's response, which only turned into another coughing fit. "Don't move around too much, or you'll only make it worse," came an unfamiliar voice, which probably came from the blur near her head. StarShine responded by lifting her head off her pillow and opening her eyes wider, earning an annoyed huff from the unknown shape. Blinking her eyes a few times to clear her vision, the unicorn managed to make out the room's other occupants. The blur with the unfamiliar voice turned out to be a nurse, judging from the characteristic white coat, pink mane, and nurse's cap. Her soft, light blue eyes glanced between her patient and the pole beside her with a bag of IV fluid. Due to the quick, frazzled bun her mane was in, along with the bags under her eyes, the poor mare must have been working the night shift. Beyond the mare was Trident and another guard, who seemed to be the opposite of the nurse. Instead of bright, cheerful colors, the pony's coat was a solid black, and their mane was only a dull grey. On their flank was a cutie mark depicting a pair of grey eyes which matched the real eyes on the pony's face. The dark pony had bags that matched the nurse's, but their eyes radiated cheerfulness. StarShine tried to tilt her head to the side in confusion, but her tired neck screamed in protest. Flopping back onto her pillow, she risked asking for a glass of water, which the nurse apparently had ready. After gulping down the water and soothing her throat, the unicorn was finally able to speak without hurting herself. "Can... any of you... tell me what happened?" she choked out between gasps for air. The nurse smiled slightly before answering. "Your body is just sore from the shipwreck you were in. You'll be fine in a few days, but you definitely need to rest until then," here she paused to look out into the hallway before continuing,"There's other patients I need to tend to, but Trident will be staying here to keep you company." The white mare gestured toward Trident and his companion before she rushed out the door and down the hall. Once she was out of the room, StarShine glanced at the dark pony before opening her mouth to speak to her guide from yesterday. "So, care to introduce me to your friend?" Trident looked over his shoulder before answering. "Uh, yeah, sorry. This is NightWatch, a member of the city guard and an old buddy of mine. I had been patrolling with him when Nurse SoftHeart called for me. She said that you were having some problems, and since I'm in charge of you for now, I had to be here immediately," he ended with a shrug. StarShine nodded, her curiosity sated for the most part, but her gaze kept returning to NightWatch. Trident had called the pony 'him', but the equine's features seemed way too feminine for 'him' to be a stallion. The lavender mare shook her head before groaning from the ringing that ensued. Giving one last look at the pegasus and earth pony in the room with her, StarShine rolled over and fell asleep. A tired groan rang out as a certain lost unicorn woke up for the umpteenth time since her shipwreck. "Welcome back to the world of the living," said somepony in the room. A quick glance revealed it to be NightWatch, since he was the only other pony there. "You don't have to say it so cheerfully. Or loudly, for that matter," replied a disgruntled StarShine as she covered her ears with her forehooves. The only reply was a lighthearted laugh. Once her head stopped ringing, the mare realized that, while NightWatch was still here, Trident was nowhere to be seen. Apparently NightWatch saw her confusion and explained. "His brother and a couple other 'higher-ups' wanted to see him." He must have seen her confusion turn to worry, because he quickly elaborated. "He's not in trouble or anything, they just wanted his help brainstorming about where you should stay." "So where do you think I'll be staying?" The earth pony was quiet for a few seconds before he responded. "Trident and I think you should stay with an old buddy from our school days. He's a good guy, and he loves what he does. Gotta admit, I think you and ol' BookWorm would get along just fine, considering you both seem to be the scholarly type." StarShine shook her head slightly before correcting her companion, "I'm not a scholar, I'm an astronomer. "Meh, same difference." An annoyed sigh escaped the lavender mare as she got out of bed. Some sort of commotion drew her attention to the window, her hooves breaking into a brisk trot as she rushed towards the pane. Peering out into the street, StarShine quickly regretted it due to the sight greeting her eyes. In the middle of the golden road lay several carriages, all of them caught up in a large wreck. Surrounding the scene was a ring of onlookers, with several rushing forward to help the carriage drivers and their passengers. All the ponies that weren't helping stayed well back; either to get away from the wreckage itself, or to escape several blood splatters around it. StarShine backed away from the horrific scene outside, and turned to gallop out the door to help. However, she found the doorway blocked by her bodyguard. NightWatch made no move to help the ponies outside, or to let StarShine exit the room. In fact, he wouldn't even look at her; instead his eyes stared at the floor. The mare stared in disbelief before shouting at the guard, "What are you doing!? We have to help them!" NightWatch simply shook his head, still not looking her in the eye. "There's nothing we can do. They're right in front of a hospital anyway; I'll bet the nurses are already out there helping them." The unicorn galloped back to the window and saw that her captor was right. In the street below, hospital staff could already be seen clambering among the wreckage and pulling out the broken bodies of other ponies. StarShine turned her head to look out her doorway where she could see nurses wheeling stretchers through the hall. She recognized the nurse assigned to her, SoftHeart, standing against the wall, unsure of how to help. NightWatch motioned the white mare into the room and mumbled several words to the earth pony. He seemed relieved at the whispered answer, and turned to look out the hallway again. Nurse SoftHeart walked over to the lavender mare, looking comforted at having something to do but still on edge because of the situation. She put a hoof on Star's shoulder, turning her away from the window and guiding her back to the bed "It's still the middle of the night, and there's nothing you can do about the crash. You need to get as much sleep as you can before tomorrow. After all, it'll probably be a busy day." StarShine let these words console her, but as she clambered under her bedcovers a question nagged at her. Throwing caution to the wind, she asked it despite several warning bells going off in her head. "Why are you all acting so used to this? Ponies are dying, or already dead, and you two don't seem to care." While saying this, the astronomer failed to notice what her bodyguard was doing. Instead she focused on the other mare in the room, awaiting a reply. The nurse's next words, however, rose more questions than answers. "If we care, we'll end up just like them. 'They' don't like sympathizers." StarShine's face made her confusion clear, and her look of surprise much more evident as the drugs hit her system. Nurse SoftHeart knew how she must be feeling; the sleeping drugs felt like pure ice flowing through your veins. She glanced guiltily at the soldier standing by the IV line. NightWatch had emptied the entire syringe into the line while the unicorn had been talking. SoftHeart looked back at StarShine as she drifted into the drug-induced stupor. Unable to keep it in, she whispered two words to the young mare, regardless of whether or not she'd hear them. "I'm sorry..."
Lost at SeaA unicorn mare ran across the deck of a ship, tossing her head frantically. Beneath her lavender-grey hooves, the ship bucked and whirled like a professional bronco. Above the roiling sea, torrents of water rained down, covering the deck of the ship and pouring into the cabins beneath. If there had been any shouts from passengers aboard the ship, the screaming wind would surely mask it. As it was, the only pony on the galleon was the unicorn mare. Her crew had abandoned her long ago, driven away by the darkening storm on the horizon; and with good reason. Now the mare was stranded in the midst of the storm her former employees had warned her about. Her iron horseshoes thunked against the wooden planks under her hooves as she dashed to the helm to try to steer the ship out of the storm. Upon reaching the wheel, the unicorn threw herself against it with all her strength. Despite her best efforts, the wheel would not budge, leaving her ship to be tossed about by the wind instead of turning away to safety. The darkness of the stormy night was broken by a strike of lightning to the top of the mast. In spite of the torrential rain, the wooden mast burst into flames, casting a fiery glow on the deck of the ship. The mare looked up from her efforts to gaze in horror at the fire eating away at her ship, and, in turn, her lifeline. As she watched, the flames trailed downward to the deck of the ship. A new terror lit her face as she gave up on the wheel to run towards the mast. Along with the terror, a deep blue glow lit her eyes, radiated from her horn, with a matching glow surrounding the fire. The unicorn skidded to a stop on the wet boards and closed her eyes, a look of intense concentration shrouding her face as the two glowing auras grew brighter. The lavender-grey pony gasped and opened her eyes as another strike of lighting split the sky, breaking her concentration as much as it broke the darkness surrounding her. The glows vanished, and the fire burst forth with new vigor, covering the remaining parts of the mast and spreading to cover the section of the deck around it. With the rest of her hope draining from her face, the mare turned and ran across the boards to the edge of her ship. With one last glance back to the quick-moving flames, the mare turned back to the black ocean beneath her. Still she hesitated, not wishing to abandon her life's work, until a tongue of flame licked at the back of her hind leg. Letting out a cry of pain and a pray to Celestia, the unicorn closed her eyes and leaped from the deck. A scream escaped her lips before she hit the wild waves and was surrounded by the darkness of unconsciousness.
