//------------------------------// // The View Over Atlantis // Story: The View Over Atlantis // by Zobeid //------------------------------// Two days later Moondancer caught up with Trixie as she was packing for the journey, and surprised her with a gift-wrapped box. “It’s a going away present,” she explained, as she knelt and offered the box. “You’ll have something to remember me.” Magenta scintillation engulfed the box, and Trixie’s magic delicately floated it out of Moondancer’s hands. She reached up with a hoof to tap on the side of the box, then she grasped it between her hooves and gave it a shake. Moondancer sat on the floor, legs crossed, so she could converse at Trixie’s level. Grinning, she urged, “Go on, open it!” Trixie glanced at her friend, then stared at the box and concentrated, her horn glowing more brightly. The colorful ribbons undid themselves, and the paper peeled back, then the lid floated off the box, and Trixie peered inside. A dark object about two inches of diameter floated out from the box, sparkling in her magical field. “It’s…” She squinted. “A ball?” “It’s an orbuculum,” Moondancer clarified. “Or as more commonly known, a crystal ball.” “It’s so small, and so dark. I’ve used a crystal ball in my act before, but it was much bigger, and it was clear.” Moondancer chuckled softly. “I know what kind you mean: those big glass balls you see in movies, or that gypsy fortunetellers sometimes use. It impresses the marks. But this isn’t for show, this is the real thing, like those used by the Celtic Druids of old. And more practical too! You can carry it in a pocket.” Trixie quipped, “You humans make everything so convenient!” However, she couldn’t take her eyes off it. Bands of light swept across its surface as it slowly rotated in her magical field. “It has… a shimmer almost like a huge black pearl, but not even really the same as that. I’ve never seen anything with a chatoyance like this.” Moondancer nodded. “Traditionally these were carved from natural crystals of sea green beryl, but this one has a modern twist. It’s made from a fused mass of optical fibers. I picked it because I knew you’d never seen one like it back in Equestria. I wish I could teach you how to scry with it, but it doesn’t look like I’ll get the chance now.” Trixie put the orb back into its box and set it down, then moved forward to hug Moondancer. “Maybe we’ll meet again someday, and we’ll have time for that. I’ll keep it safe and treasure it always!” Not too long afterward Trixie found herself once again on board the supersonic Aerion jet, this time in the company of Katrina herself, along with Black Talon and a couple of Katrina’s human subordinates who kept to themselves in the aft part of the cabin. Thus, Trixie and Katrina had a chance to make small talk and get to know one another a bit. Trixie told a few stories from her travels around Equestria, while Katrina listened and asked the occasional question. For her own part, Katrina explained a few things about her background. She said, “When I was small, the Kemetic Church was little more than a tiny, obscure cult. My mother always insisted that we were destined to return to power in Egypt, and I would become the new Pharaoh. At first I accepted this without question, the way a child accepts the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus. Later I began to realize just how far-fetched her expectations were.” “And now?” Trixie prompted. Katrina shrugged. “Our religion is still small, but growing quickly. And the world is in upheaval. From chaos can sprout great change. Egypt has suffered so much… They’ve staggered from one failed government to another to another, and they survived the Daesh War, and now the people are tired of it all. They want someone to bring order out of the chaos. Maybe—just maybe—I can convince enough of them to give me a chance to try. However, there are many other factions angling for power. It’s still a long shot for me.” She leaned forward and confided, “I think most Egyptians, the ones who have even heard of me, consider me a bit of a joke.” Trixie mulled that over, but Katrina soon deflected the conversation to lighter topics. After they had been flying over the Mediterranean for some time, one of Katrina’s attendants came and whispered something to her. She nodded and then peered out the window for a moment. Then she turned and said, “Trixie, I know you have wondered about the central hub that the ancient network of magic was built around.” Trixie looked up. “I remember you mentioned it when we first met. You said it was destroyed in a cataclysm. I wondered if we were going to rebuild it too. But… I don’t know what it is, or where it is.” Katrina closed her eyes, and Trixie wondered for a moment if she’d said something wrong. But then Katrina opened her eyes and looked to Trixie with a hint of sadness. “That hub, the Heart of Magic, belonged to the Sea People, and I must tell you their story. In ancient times the Sea People lived upon the Mediterranean, and they had settlements on many islands. Their empire was the gift of the sea, just as Egypt is the gift of the Nile. They were masterful fishermen and traders who sailed in every direction, and their merchants brought back wealth and knowledge. They were the only other civilization of those times that rivaled mighty Kemet. In some ways they may have even surpassed us.” “Their grand capital city was built upon the island of Atlantis. There they created palaces, temples, a great library, and most of all, the Heart of Magic. The most powerful of ley lines converged upon it and connected it to all the world’s great monuments in a network of supernatural power. It became the driving force behind the prosperity of their nation.” The plane was slowing and descending, Trixie could feel it. Katrina turned to peek out the window for a moment. Trixie asked, “We’re not to Egypt yet, are we?” “No. I asked the pilot to descend here so that I could show you something. Come over to the window.” Trixie moved to the window. The blue sea was below, and a few islands. She felt her weight shift as the plane banked into a wide turn and continued to descend. She steadied herself with her hooves and asked, “What am I seeing?” “Be patient…” A minute passed, and a tight cluster of three islands swung into view, and the plane began to circle them. Katrina nodded and said, “Describe to me what you see!” “Can you not see it yourself?” Trixie wondered. “Humor me. Tell me what it looks like to you.” Trixie was reminded of Ivan’s trick when she’d first set foot at Castlerigg with him, when he’d asked her to count the stones. She narrowed her eyes with suspicion, but it seemed the only way to get to the answer was to play along. She looked at the islands. “I see a scattering of towns, and an airport. There’s a couple of huge white ships in the lagoon, like floating palaces. It’s beautiful.” “What about the islands, Trixie? What does their shape tell you?” She blinked. “uhh… The big one is almost like a horseshoe. And then there’s a gap, and the next island continues around to almost make a letter C. And then there’s another island right in the center, and then there’s a couple of tinier ones. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to be seeing?” “The big island is named Thera. However, in ancient times these were all one land mass. This is where the Sea People built their capital city. This was Atlantis, where the Heart of Magic was constructed.” “One land mass?” Trixie echoed. She stared out the window again, puzzled for a few moments, but then her eyes widened as she pieced together the explanation. Against her will, she gasped and raised a hoof to her mouth, stunned momentarily by the enormity of what was before her. “It’s… a crater. That C-shaped lagoon is a giant crater in the sea.” She was silent for a few moments, then managed to ask, “What happened here?” “Many of the natural upwellings of magical power from the earth are found at volcanoes: Shasta, Fuji, Kilimanjaro, Hawaii. All these are regarded as mystical places. To build a great monument atop such a volcano guarantees immense power. When the volcano exploded, it blew Atlantis apart. Then the empty caldera collapsed into the sea. The Heart of Magic is most likely down there somewhere: blasted, burned, buried under volcanic ash, and sank beneath the waves, along with whatever else remains of the great city. It didn’t end there, either. The shock waves from the blast caused tsunami waves to ripple out in all directions, like a rock thrown into a pond. The waves surged ashore on islands and coastlines, drowning the people and washing away entire settlements. It marked the end of the Sea People’s empire. Some of them survived, of course, but they became nomads, sailing around the Mediterranean in search of a new home, unwelcome wherever they landed, until they faded into the mists of time.” Trixie wondered, “It… It wasn’t just coincidence, that the volcano blew up?” It was barely even a question. “What exactly they did that might have triggered it, one can only guess. Plato wrote that the gods punished the Sea People for their hubris, but that is both exceedingly vague and a typically Greek allegory, so I would hardly trust his opinion.” Then Katrina’s voice shifted from a lecturing tone to one of curiosity. “Is there anything like this in the history of your world, Trixie?” Trixie was quiet for a moment, thinking, then slowly shook her head. “There was, uh… The reign of Discord. He scrambled the geography of Equestria, and there are still scars on the land, like the Badlands and Ghastly Gorge. But even then, it was horrible, but most ponies survived. They weren’t wiped out like this. Maybe the Penna Birds…” Her voice trailed off. “What are those?” Katrina prompted. “Some of our oldest legends tell that the Penna Birds were the first civilization in our world, before ponies even. They were very advanced, but then something happened to them. No record remains, and nopony even knows what they really looked like. Most of our scholars think they were only a myth.” She looked out the window again, her eyes scanning the islands below her. They looked peaceful now, but her imagination filled in the horror that must have unfolded here. Katrina thumbed the intercom and signaled the pilot to proceed, and the plane turned away from the islands and began climbing again. Pensively, Trixie settled back into her seat. Katrina gave Trixie a few minutes to think, then she said, “I showed you this for a reason. I wanted to explain why we can’t simply rebuild the Heart of Magic as it once was, where it once was. Even if we knew how to construct it, and even if the site where it once stood wasn’t a watery crater, we would be fools to repeat the mistake of the Sea People. It’s more than that, though. I also want you to know that we are manipulating powerful forces we do not fully understand. It’s dangerous. It is also necessary, but we must be mindful, lest we set in motion events even worse than the advancing Barrier. You understand?” Trixie nodded somberly. “Yes. I do now.”