//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Priori Aevum // by Azure Quill //------------------------------// Words are a powerful thing, or rather, they can be. Any piece of writing has an effect on us whether it is lines of ink spread across parchment, carved into rock or even simply keeping it inside your heart. Words are thought made manifest and can evoke emotion, cause change and even topple a civilization, and that is power and so some people write for power, it’s only natural. That base desire to rise up and look down on the world from a lofty height, it is these things that make us what we are or this is at least a part of that need of wanting something better for ourselves and the society we dwell in, of looking at our lives and saying to ourselves, ‘what will I leave behind before my time comes’ for the most part, it is nothing permanent and time eventually forgets. However, for the rare and lucky few, we do something that is remembered for eons, perhaps even forever. I am not that kind of writer, and I hope I never will be. Recognition is not something I crave as others do. I simply wish my writing to cause some level of change for somepony, maybe they learn something and keep it close to their hearts, or perhaps it gives them hope for the morrow. For me, writing is something that allows me to keep a record of my feelings, and the events that occur in my day to day life, and to fix some of the things I remember about my past life in my mind. It is all I can do in my current prison. Here’s what I know. I woke up in an unfamiliar place with very few memories, and those were horrid visions of torture and magical experimentation. So far, my new captors have treated me better than those previous, but I am still a prisoner, nothing more than a glittering trophy in the keeping of a would-be Emperor. He keeps me in his manor, I am allowed to wander around and do as I please, I am, however, always under guard. In the years I’ve been kept here I’ve learned that I am the only one of my kind here, in this world of ‘humans’ I’m all alone with no way back to my own world. I don’t even remember what my world was like. My only memories are of pain and fear as I was tortured, a mere foal. They call this place ‘Rome’ the armed guards look familiar to me for some reason, their armor specifically. From what I’ve been able to see from my captors abode, ‘Rome’ is a prosperous city, a booming center of industry from which the armored fist of a nation reaches out to claim chunks of this world. The ‘humans’ are always wearing clothes, the only fur they have on their bodies that I can tell is on their head, mostly on the top, some of the men have fur that covers their mouths and a thin covering of fur on the visible portions of their arms and legs. The women are different, their manes are longer and better kept and their arms and legs lack fur of any kind but this seems to be the result of careful grooming. These humans mystify me, they treat me as though I’m an impossible being yet some of their art features things that are just as unlikely in their perspective, and they claim to know nothing of my world yet they create art of some of the few things I can remember. I’ve seen them paint Pegasi and Unicorns, and they have legends of ‘Mythical beasts’ such as the Basilisk or Hydras... I’ve seen other ponies, but they won’t speak to me, they just stare blankly and act like common beasts. The humans seem to just keep them around for transportation and I asked one of the humans tending to the ponies why they don’t speak. He laughed and said that they weren’t intelligent, that they were just animals. I don’t visit the stables anymore, I shudder every time I see their blank eyes. The man in charge of this manor doesn’t speak to me often, nor has he expressed the desire to ride me like a common beast, as I’ve heard some of the other nobles have. When he does take the time to speak to me, it’s of inconsequential things, which is odd considering he's the leader of a nation. Which is another intriguing concept for me, his only task as a ruler seems to be... well... ruling. When I asked who raised the sun and the moon each day he gave me an odd look and just said, “Why, the gods do.” I don’t understand, they speak of gods as if they aren’t real yet they worship them on a daily basis, using their names in curses and blessings. I want to go home, wherever that is, I just want to go home. I can remember few details about my life, I’m an alicorn, my name is Aevum and I used to live in Equestria. I can’t remember my parents, only the image of other ponies standing over me as they performed their experiments and tortures, both physical and mental. What did they do to me? Why can’t I remember? I can remember that the sun and moon are raised, but by whom I cannot say. I wish I could go home. o.o.O.o.o Aevum placed the sheaf of parchment back on the desk and replaced the quill in its pot with her magic. She was too tired to write coherently. She left the desk, walking over to the balcony and looked out over Rome, brushing her mane out of her eyes with a hoof, the sight of it was beautiful in its own way, and lights glittered throughout the city like the stars in the night sky and the buildings soared to impressive heights in an artistic style. Humans went about their nightly tasks in the streets below and soldiers marched in orderly patrols, yet Aevum could feel a palpable sense of... unrest... these humans didn’t live in harmony. Instead they waged war on each other for various reasons, wealth, glory, power, territory and even religion, she sighed, ignoring the archers on the walls. They were stationed there to ensure that she wouldn’t attempt to just fly away, not that there was anywhere to fly to. Aevum focused magic into her horn and lit the nearby lamps with a burst of magical flame. The night was unseasonably warm and the breeze wafted gently from the nearby shore, and Aevum relaxed, leaning against the railing and taking in the sight. She furrowed her brow in puzzlement, the city seemed much more lively tonight, more so than usual, and that’s when she saw the rioters. The citizens were fighting each other and she could hear their shouting in the faint distance. The soldiers were trying to keep order but even Aevum, inexperienced as she was. could see that there were too many, even some of the soldiers had turned and joined the rioters. What was going on? She looked down as the sound of shouting echoed from the courtyard, there were several ranks of soldiers lined up in front of the house, and a man in full armor sat upon a horse and shouted into the cool night air. “Julius Caesar is dead by my hand! Unbar thy doors, we hath come for the alicorn!” Aevum's heart froze, Julius Caesar was dead, and the veritable army in the courtyard had come for her, and she had a bad feeling that they didn’t mean to keep her as a trophy like Julius had. She startled as one of the soldiers pointed up at her and shouted, “There! The abomination is up there!” Aevum yelped and leaped back from the window as several arrows clattered against the masonry. “Kill it! Kill the abomination! Burn the palace down!” Aevum backed away further into the room as she heard the man shouting more commands indistinctly and then several fiery objects flew over the walls and impacted the palace. The wooden sections of the building quickly lit. Aevum ran from the room and down the corridor, she had to get out of here, they meant to kill her. Aevum released a telekinetic blast from her horn and blew a door off its hinges, running headlong into a veritable firestorm. The room was lit with an unnatural orange as everything flammable burned in a fiery maelstrom of unchecked power. Aevum put a hoof over her eyes to protect them from the wave of heat and she coughed as a thick cloying cloud of smoke overtook her. She backed away from the burning room and turned around, seeing two soldiers approaching from the end of the hallway. One of them pointed at her and shouted indistinctly, drawing his sword as he did so. Aevum gave a yelp of surprise and quickly blasted the roof between them, causing it to collapse. There was no way out but forwards now, she turned and slowly made her way through the burning room, desperately trying to keep her lungs clear of smoke as she carefully avoided the burning furniture. She reached the door and tried to open it, it was locked, she pressed her shoulder to it and gave a firm shove. Failing to open the door with physical strength, Aevum focused energy into her horn and blasted the door apart, galloping through the hole she made and into the corridor beyond. She heard a whistling sound and the floor shuddered, throwing her to the ground as another boulder crashed through the wall, causing the roof to collapse partially. Aevum enveloped the the debris in a field of magic and tried to lift the collapsed beam out of the way, but it was too heavy. She got down on the floor and crawled under it, trying to ignore the heat being given off by the burning wreckage and wincing as smaller flames singed her fur. Aevum got past it and made her way to the other end of the hall, and nearly yelped in shock as she rounded the corner. Aevum quickly put a hoof over my mouth to stifle the sound. There were a pair of soldiers breaking in doors and checking the rooms, moving down the corridor from her. She fluttered her wings in fear, whose side were they on? She didn’t know, but they had their swords drawn as they searched each room so Aevum guessed they weren’t friendly, but there was no other way past. Aevum had no choice but to follow them quietly, keeping out of sight in the rooms they’d already searched as she listened to their conversation. “So what exactly are we looking for again?” said one of them as he kicked a door in, pulling back as a cloud of smoke burst from the room. “Lord Antony said we are looking for an ‘alicorn’ said we’d know it when we saw it, by the gods he sounded like he hated that thing, whatever it was.” The first man looked around in the empty room before coming out, “Yeah, but what is an alicorn? And why is Lord Antony still firing on the building while we’re inside?” The other man shrugged and turned his back, allowing Aevum to sneak into the next room, she needed to get closer, “Don’t rightly know, but orders are orders, and we’d be executed if we disobeyed them...” Aevum took a step forward, wincing as she heard some glass crack beneath her hoof. “...Shh! did you hear that? It came from over there...” Aevum leaped out into the hallway and charged past them, knocking the two men off balance as she galloped down the hall, “By Ceres! What on earth is that thing!” “It’s the alicorn! Get it!” she heard them running after her and dodged down another corridor, coughing as the smoke built up, maybe she could lose them if... Another boulder crashed into the roof, collapsing part of it on top of Aevum, and she cried out as the beam struck her back, knocking her to the floor and driving the breath from her lungs. The weight of the beam began to crush Aevum slowly, burning her at the same time, she cried as she tried to get it off with a combination of magic and physical strength, but her hooves just scrabbled at the unburnt sections of the heavy log and she couldn't concentrate her magic enough to lift it. Aevum stopped struggling and stared up at the soldiers in fear as they towered over her, and one of them stomped his armored boot into her face... o.o.O.o.o Aevum was being dragged somewhere, she coughed weakly, clearing the last of the smoke from her lungs, “It’s coming to...” Aevum struggled weakly and was rewarded with a backhand across her muzzle, “Be still, beast!” She felt tears beginning to wet her eyes as several pains became apparent. The palace continued to burn behind them and Aevum could feel its scorching heat on her back, “Lord Antony! We hath captured the animal that Caesar was keeping.” Aevum looked up at the man, and he stared down at me with a look of disgust. She was backhanded again and thrown to the ground, where she remained in silence, “What manner of creature art thou? Thou doth not even look to be of this world, creature. Answer!” Antony kicked her in the chest viciously, forcing the breath from Aevum's lungs, she gasped and whispered, “I just want to go home! Why won’t you let me go home?” he crouched down beside her, his boots scuffing the tile pathway as he did so, he grabbed Aevum's horn and yanked it about then extended one of her wings roughly, “What a marvelous trophy thee will make, I will hang your head on my wall as a testament to the might of the Romans.” He straightened and Aevum looked up at him in fear as he drew his sword. Aevum glanced at the blade, It gleamed a bright silver in the light cast by the moon. She curled up as he raised it above his head, preparing to sever hers. “Foul creatures! You will fall before Her might!” There was an explosion of light and the ground shook, throwing the humans to the ground. Aevum winced and then looked up at the disturbance, something was hovering above them all, its wings beating evenly as it glared down at the humans, Aevum squinted at it, it was giving off an immense amount of light. Aevum took this as her chance to escape, she scrabbled to her hooves and galloped towards the gardens, ignoring the shouts of the surprised soldiers as they fired arrows at the being above, Aevum heard Antony shouting from behind her, trying to reorganize his troops. “The beast is getting away! Kill it quickly!” Aevum felt a burning lance of pain as something struck her side and several more as the soldiers she galloped past made poorly aimed swings at Aevum with their swords. She ignored the pain and grit her teeth as she entered the garden, dodging between the larger trees in order to avoid the arrows that whistled after her. Aevum hid in a bush and cowered as arrows thudded into the soft wood of the trees around her. The barrage slowed and was replaced with distant shouting and brilliant flashes of light from the courtyard as the battle continued. Aevum got up and made her way deeper, her vision beginning to blur slightly. Aevum brought a hoof before her eyes and saw a long gash, blood dripped from it in a steady stream and she lowered it to the ground again. Aevum gave herself a small shake. Worrying about it now was pointless if she couldn't escape the palace grounds, she furrowed her brow. Aevum couldn’t hear the shouting anymore, only the calm sounds of night, she looked about in confusion, she didn’t remember this part of the garden. She made her way forward and saw lights through the trees. She pushed through some bushes and saw a town of some sort, She didn’t know she'd left the palace gardens behind, in fact, there was supposed to be a wall here. Injured and bleeding, Aevum stumbled down towards the town. Maybe one of the humans down there would be kind enough to help her, maybe not, but it was a risk she had to take. The streets were deserted and there were few lights to brighten her path, one building in particular caught Aevum's eye, because it was the only one whose lights were still on. It looked like a tree, but that wasn't typical human architecture. Aevum was unsure, maybe it was a part of Rome she hadn’t seen yet. She could hear music from inside, it was a joyous upbeat tune, and Aevum almost smiled at it. She quickened her pace when she realized her vision was darkening. Aevum stumbled towards the door, struggling to stay on her hooves. She leaned against the door frame as the last of her strength began to ebb away, and she tapped her hoof against the door four times. “Hello? Is anypony there? I need h-help...” Aevum collapsed across the threshold as the door opened, too weak to get up. “Oh my gosh! What happened to her?! She’s covered in blood!” said one of them, she sounded like one of the nobles Julius would surround himself with. “Girls. Look! She’s an alicorn...” Aevum felt herself picked up by something and she couldn't bring herself to struggle against it as she had long since closed her eyes and was about to give in to exhaustion. She hovered in the air, suspended by some kind of field as she was moved further into the room. “Pinkie, have you got any bandages around? I need to stop the bleeding.” Aevum heard a springing sound as someone bounced around and said in a cheerful voice, “Yeaha! I have bandage stashes all over Ponyville! In case of bandage emergency!” Aevum felt somepony place an appendage on her shoulder, not unlike a hoof. “Okay, I’m going to take the arrow out now, I’m so sorry for this...” Aevum felt something quiver in her side and then cried out pitifully as it was torn from her in a blinding flash of intense pain. “Pinkie! The bandages, I need to stop the bleeding! Rarity can you bind some of these other wounds?” Aevum felt some of the cuts on her body get wrapped in bandages as the first figure kept pressure on my side, “Of course, Twilight.” “Oh my! Look at some o’ these wounds, it’s like somepony tried to dice ‘er up!” another of the figures asked, “Rainbow, I need you to figure out where she came from, it looks like she’s lost a lot of blood, see if you can backtrack to see where she came from.” the one called Twilight asked. “Sure thing, Twilight!” Aevum heard the door open and close, “Oh how horrid! Who would do something like this to her!” Rarity asked as she worked to tighten the bandages. “I don’t know, but I’m also interested in the fact that she’s an alicorn, this shouldn’t be possible...” Aevum struggled to pay attention as she felt herself slipping into unconsciousness from exhaustion. “Yet here she is...” Aevum fell into the dark... o.o.O.o.o Aevum was floating somewhere, or sometime. She couldn’t see or feel anything but she could hear something... Music... It flowed around her and under her and through her, invigorating her soul and filling her up. It warmed her and chilled her at the same time. The notes had a familiarity to them, like a song she knew very well but couldn’t recall, she had heard this music before. The tone changed and the music spoke of loneliness and despair. Aevum cried as the music wrapped her in its aura, it spoke to Aevum and Aevum alone, a symphony of life. Her life. The tone changed again and she felt safe, there wasn’t anything to be afraid of, it told her, she would be safe here. Aevum's thoughts slowed and she calmed as she dozed in the spell of the song. "I don’t think I could live like this..." The tone of the music, paused for an instant and continued, the chiming notes assuring Aevum that time never passed here. She felt tired as she floated in the nothingness, listening to the music weave though her soul. It assured Aevum that she never need feel pain or loss again, or anything, she need never think or ‘be’, she could just stay here with the music forever and exist in a perpetual twilight. ‘But that’s not living...’ Aevum struggled weakly against the symphony. The tone slowed its pace and Aevum stilled as it calmed her, it assured her that existing was so much better than living. Aevum began to struggle more, panic waking her mind to the sudden danger she was facing. The music took a dark tone and she shivered as notes of cold washed through her. "I can’t stay here! I need to go back! I must... I..." The notes washed all thought from Aevum's mind and she stilled once more, the notes returned to their calming flow. Thought returned to Aevum's mind slowly as the music receded from her like an outgoing tide, she didn’t know how long she had spent in that state, Aevum hadn’t been able to think while the music echoed within her mind. The music held her and Aevum remained still as it washed around her, it penetrated into her mind again and searched her memories. Aevum struggled some, and she shuddered as a sudden wave of warmth coursed through her. The song held her securely in its spell and Aevum floated helpless in the empty void for what seemed an eternity. Had hours passed? Minutes? Years? Aevum couldn't tell, she couldn’t seem to think clearly. Aevum slowly gathered her strength, she didn’t know what struggling was going to achieve, but patience was clearly getting her nowhere. She listened to the song, waiting for a gap. Aevum found it and began to struggle wildly, trying to wake herself from the nightmare. The notes screeched and withdrew from her in a blinding flash of white. o.o.O.o.o Aevum woke up gasping for air, more from fear than the pain her wounds caused her, and she whimpered when she became aware of her bodies pains. The arrow wound in her side burned and her vision blurred as the throbbing reached a crescendo. The room was dark but for a bright strand of moonlight streaming through the window, Aevum looked down at the darkened bandages that covered parts of her body and touched a hoof to one, it was still wet with blood and she winced as a small lance of pain shot from it. Aevum turned her attention to her surroundings, finding herself on a couch, laying on a thick rug, it too was soaked with blood. She felt a pang of fear as she remembered the night’s events, she had to get out of here, she had to flee! Aevum tried to get up, whimpering as the muscles around her wounds pulled, “Hello? Are you awake?” Aevum stilled as somepony came towards her, she was oddly small for a human and she appeared hunched over. She couldn’t see her properly in the dark, “Who are you? Please don’t hurt me...” Aevum whispered fearfully. She drew away from her as much as she could, wincing as her muscles pulled on her injuries. “Just lay still, nopony is going to hurt you... here, drink this...” she held a beaker of glowing pink liquid towards Aevum's muzzle and she sniffed it. The glowing mixture bubbled slightly and Aevum was wary of what it was, but she felt she could trust this person and so Aevum drank it, the liquid felt hot against her throat and the pain dulled to a minute throb. “T-Thank you...” “You’re welcome, It wouldn’t be nice of me if I just left somepony in pain... what happened to you?” she asked, Aevum still couldn’t see her clearly and the potion she’d just drank had made her drowsy, “T-They tried to kill me, those humans at the palace wanted to kill me...” “Humans? I’ve never heard of them... I’m sure I might have a book on the subject somewhere, but I don’t know... wait... what palace, there aren’t any palaces in Ponyville. Are you saying you came from the ruins in Everfree Forest?” nothing she’d said had made sense, but Everfree Forest sounded familiar somehow. “But... where am I? Who are you?” the figure giggled and placed something hard on Aevum's unwounded shoulder and she was shocked to see that it was a hoof, colored the same shade as her lavender fur, “My name is Twilight Sparkle, I’m the librarian for Ponyville, are you telling me you’ve never heard of Ponyville?” Aevum gulped, Twilight was a pony. Unwelcome memories of torture came to the forefront of Aevum's mind and she pushed them back, not all ponies were like that. Were they? She shook her head slowly, “No. I’ve been living in a human city called Rome for the past four years...” Aevum saw a purple magical aura highlight Twilight's horn and then a candle and she became easily visible as she lit the candle with magic. Twilight was definitely a pony, her fur was lavender and her mane was violet with a streak of indigo and pink in it, it had been cut just above the brow line, probably so it didn’t get in her amethyst colored eyes. “That’s odd, Rainbow Dash said she followed the trail of your blood to the edge of Everfree Forest...” Aevum was utterly confused now and whatever she had drunk made her too drowsy to think clearly. There was a pony right in front of her, but Aevum was the only one of her kind in the human world. She’d mentioned a town named Ponyville and she’d studied the maps Julius had at his palace and there were no towns named so. The gears in Aevum's head churned slowly, the only conclusion she could come to was that she was, somehow, back on Equestria, after all this time. “I’m home... I found my way back home...” Aevum could no longer fight the drowsiness and she closed her eyes and fell asleep with a smile on her face. o.o.O.o.o Twilight Sparkle gazed at the alicorn with concern, the healing potion had done its job and she was once again asleep. She set about tightening the bandages that had come loose during her fitful sleep and changed the dressing on the arrow wound. She had no idea what humans were or where Rome was, but she was certain that the alicorn had come a long way. She levitated the lit candle closer towards the alicorns flank, her cutie mark was that of a silver sundial on a bed of sand, she wasn’t sure what her special talent was but if the sundial was any indicator, it probably had something to do with time. Twilight sighed and went back to her desk, either way, the alicorn would wake up tomorrow morning so she would have plenty of time for questions then, she only wished Spike was here so he could send a letter to Celestia, but he was camping with Sweetie Bell and her friends right now so she would have to wait until morning. She rubbed her face with her hooves and gazed once again at the sleeping alicorn. She was larger than a normal pony, but smaller than Luna, and her mane was a light blue with a sapphire streak in it and her coat was a simple white. Twilight's thoughts ran in circles, she simply couldn’t be there, and there weren’t any other alicorns in existence as far as she knew. Celestia would have told her if there were others... wouldn’t she?