//------------------------------//
// 4 The beginning of a new dawn 
// Story: An unexpected turn 
// by starlight-stream-mlp 
//------------------------------//

Chapter four - The beginning of a new dawn


Heading down a path into the deep dark Jungle, I, the leader of our pack, was looking over my shoulder in order to guess, if these two “ponies” were planning something. To my surprise, the surroundings of our crawling and hissing and flying and biting creatures in this part of the jungle seem to scare them more than we do. Sometimes we can relate to it, especially at a young age. It even looked, like they instantly trusted us, no matter how frightening we tried to be. We, the last of our kind, the ones who got formed by an unbelievably great force. By the one, who cared for us like a mother and raised us in good expectations like a father. Yet he was none of us. It was his so-called „special talent“ to get into one of our bodies in order to interact with others. We, therefore, introduced a ritual for the grown-ups to get used to him. It was sometimes painful, but it was a necessity.


The path we went through had a lot of twists and turns. Only creatures, who knew about it, would pass it without getting lost. Sometimes a predator plant would be waiting for its prey. Luckily we know how to avoid them as best as we can. This was one of our ways to protect our population from other predators, who might cross it on their way. Another way, was to move to another place or to let vegetation grow, so the path would be unrecognizable. We were used to moving to different places quite frequently and the skills needed to achieve such a task.


These ponies followed us without any troubles, which was unusual for me. I expected some more force against us, but they seem to have reasons to follow us without any disregard. Their scared faces were painted in pure shock. For a short time, I shared something like empathy and compassion with those creatures. The path got into a dead end. Then I spoke


Allalala! Kita ania dinh!


The plants moved away and our later called guests shrieked. As a reaction to them, all 21 of us reacted instinctively and went into their usual defence position. By lowering themselves and holding a spear in their hooves, they prepared for the worst. We would not know if they would both betray us at last, so this was our only way of reaction. The more the plant wall opened, the more relaxation came back.


“Paghulat dinhi”

Moving into our beautiful little village, I searched for our “one”. Right next to the entrance stood 3 guards covered in neatly woven dragon plates. It was a big mix out of several colours. Most of them got found by some berry pickers or hunters. Their heads were protected by dried leaves, that were hard as rocks. A colourful scenery was painted on their surface. Their legs had iron protectors with texts in a foreign language engraved. Looking on the right side, there were small tents made out of leaves and twigs, topped with moss. They looked very fragile but were sturdy enough to withstand a heavy rainfall or an occasional storm. Fireplaces were placed moderately near the tents to either keep the villagers warm or to cook food. The other side of this small place was riddled with stone plates in all sizes. Most of them were naturally arranged and looked like caves. Inside of them, some of us had set up their small workshops and even small stores, where crafters made armour and weapons. Most of the products built there were free to take, as they were needed to assure everyone survived. In front of us was the central part of our village. Stone squares were placed neatly without any gaps in between them. Together they built up a stone carpet, that leads to a well. The well had very distinct characteristics. A bust of a goat with faun horns and crow wings stood proudly above it. Accompanied to it were the shape and aura of our one. He built up this part of our village by himself. Though some stones had cracks and were dull, all of us were very concerned about that, since this whole building never appeared to have flaws. But our one assured that this was no reason to fright. The huge tent was made out of a tree. His unbelievable power morphed the biggest tree of this place into a palace-like shape. Twigs and branches were bent and woven in order for the palace to have multiple rooms and a balcony at the top. Its roof was decorated with gems in all colours imaginable. This palace was created in such an unnatural way, no one would think, that this building is still a living tree, growing and building new branches as time passes.


Soon after we reached the well, he came out of his slumber rooms. Floating around like a leaf in the wind, he searched for a strong and healthy one to interact with these ponies. Finally, he chose me. His aura floated around me softly. His eyes were directed to my very soul. Searching for signs only he could see, he continued to move around my body, touching me with his cold, yet soft aura while doing so. After he knew, that it was safe for him to slip into me, his eyes were darting directly into mine. With a swift move, his aura disappeared into my body. It felt really uncomfortable when he got into someone. When you weren’t in your body anymore for a limited time being. It was fascinating, yet at the same time frightening because you needed to fully let go of yourself and allow him to take good care of your soul. In hindsight, our one would preserve the soul in a special realm. A place, where your deepest desires come true in an instance. A place, more like heaven. A headache though was something we never got used to afterwards. Luckily he never used one of us more than once a day as his medium, even if we would plead for it. With a deep breath, our one directed his gaze upon the two ponies.


“Ahhh Starlight Stream and Twilight Sparkle. Seems like you got to know Saduca and her welcoming committee. I sincerely apologize, if she was overly harsh with you. I already awaited you. Welcome into my personal dimension. It is a place where all creatures, live their own lives. Where they have their instincts, their need to survive. Not like in Ponyville, where everyone is super nice and helpful. Where pegasi control the weather, Unicorns use magic in order to change their surroundings and Ponies can communicate with animals in order to create peace and harmony.”


“We will change this world for the better, Termio. I mean, how difficult should that be?”


Twilight grinned determined. Termio rolled his eyes in an exasperating sigh. He snipped, well, he let a snipping sound appear, followed by hundreds of mini-ponies, who glared at them.


“I think you see why this world needs no change." 


With another snip, the ponies disappeared again. 


"It survived without you. It just needed a push in the right direction, just like Equestria. The big difference is, that this dimension can’t and should not get changed by anything or anyone."


What do you mean?


Encountered Twilight. Termio sighed with a heavy heart. What should follow was very important to him.


"You see miss Sparkle; I always wanted to create such a dimension which is left on its own. Of course, I could stay in Equestria with the King and Queen and their siblings, your Princesses, but I knew they would start their own initiative and change this dimension. Therefore I needed to go. I am normally not someone who stays in one place for long. I have the great gift to travel through dimensions and control matter and time. When you aren't using it, why should you have it anyway, right? The biggest disadvantage, however, is that I'm just that half transparent aura and reliable on others. I also tried to create my own body, yet it failed with every attempt. The soul of a creature slips into it instantly, which makes it impossible for me to get my own body. And I know that you also would argue about doing what I do right now, to invade someone’s body. Well, that just works for a limited time being. The soul and the body are one entity. If I would force my will upon this body, the body would die, leaving the soul behind. I am not a monster like that. I couldn’t do that to my children. That is also the reason why I slipped into your friend’s body only for a short while. But all of this took its toll. After a long long time of creating other dimensions and worlds, my power is decreasing more and more. I figured out a way to regain my power, but it would not be easy. For this reason, I ordered you two. The dimensions we live in are in danger and need your help. I need you to reincarnate me. I have to continue to take care of the dimensional balance. Because I am currently unable to do that on my own anymore, I need your help. My aura starts to fade away. It is pretty similar to the life of a phoenix. The only problem is, that I need magic from a source that has not my magical fingerprint. This source is an artefact in the deepest of dimensions. No creature was known to come back alive again. Once this artefact got activated, I am able to create the dimensional balance again."


The purple unicorn thought very carefully.


“Everything seems so logical. The sound of your voice sounded genuine. I don’t understand why we need him. Is he really what he seems? I don’t want to be responsible for a dimensional breakdown, even if it was never my fault…..”


Finally, she encountered, “How can we know, that we can trust you? And what is this Artifact you were talking about?


You see Twilight Sparkle; I was created out of a single spark. I distributed this spark far and wide over many dimensions, including yours. Live would flurry and they would write tales about me. But these tales aren't just tales for little fillies to listen to. They are the testament of my creation. The magical abilities of every creature - yes, I also mean you, Starlight - It stems from me. But no creature yet knew, that there also was a hidden artefact completely separated from me. It got created the same time I was given birth if you could call it that. Its magical abilities were stronger than anything you could ever imagine. Unfortunately, I am not strong enough to get to this place and make the reincarnation happen. This is why I asked you for help. I know that you are the only ones brave and pure-hearted enough to complete that task.

Twilight was baffled, so she asked Starlight.


“Do you think it is a good idea to help him? I don't trust him enough to follow him on this reincarnation-thingy.”


“I do, but not because I say It would be logical. I do because I believe in what he says; I believe in what he did and I believe in what he will do. And I don’t have any other choice because I want to live my life as long as possible. This so-called `PROBLEM` is a big boulder in my life as well as in yours and I want to get rid of it. Even though it might mean, that I would give up my dreams for it. ”

"And you are sure about that?"

"yes. Yes, I am."

“A strange view on things, but I guess...I understand...sort of.”


"Follow me. There are still more things for us to discuss" 

Together all three took a walk around the town's centre, discussing a plan for Termio's reincarnation.