She snuck through the dark cave, retracing steps she’d taken many times. She couldn’t see anything but nothing along this path ever changed. There would be a hole three steps ahead and a rock hanging shortly after. She easily traversed past them and came closer to her target. She knew her mother would kill her for this, but she had to see the outside world.
She’d been born in the caves, her parents survivors of the initial attack by the monster known as Tirek. They’d told her of his malevolent destruction, absorbing the power of every pony he came across. A few had tried to resist him but he had struck them down without mercy. The ones who managed to escape him had made colonies in the caves around Equestria.
The only light she had ever seen came from candles and the small bit of magic unicorns still possessed. But she longed to see natural light from the sun. Elders had told her about it in stories and she imagined the beautiful sight it must have been.
Her wings twitched in anticipation. There was a guard station ahead and behind it, everything she’d ever dreamed of. It had taken a lot of work preparing for this. Finding a guard that was more lenient, convincing him to let her pass, and negotiating how long she would be allowed out there before he would make her go back. It wasn’t as much time as she would have liked but at least she was getting something.
She got to the guard post and announced her presence. “Hey. It’s me, Emerald Zip.”
The guard stepped forward and began a clearly rehearsed speech.
“Past this door you’ll go 50 feet to the exit. You have ten minutes. Don’t go far and if you see Tirek, you come back in immediately.”
Emerald was quick to agree. He’d given her these rules when he agreed to let her see the outside world. Now she was moments away from a dream come true. She spoke the rules to herself again as she began to move, mostly for his benefit. If he didn’t think she took them seriously, he might not trust her to follow them.
Suddenly, he stopped her. “Are you really sure you want to do this? It’s not going to look like the stories said. Tirek’s slaves control the weather and the land just enough to survive so they can serve him longer. The world out there is a nasty place.”
She knew he was right but she didn’t care. She’s already resolved herself to how unpleasant it could be and had no intention of turning back now. She made her way down the tunnel towards the sliver of light at the entrance.
She got to the rock covering the door, put on the sunglasses she’d been given, and pushed her way out. Light began to flood the tunnel as the rock moved out of the way. Even with the sunglasses, Emerald had to squint from her first time in the sun. Having grown up in dark caves, it wasn’t surprising. She stayed at the entrance for a few minutes until her eyes finally adjusted.
She gasped in awe at the sights in front of her. There weren’t a lot of trees but the ones she saw made such a beautiful view. She spread her wings and let the breeze wave over them. She had never learned to fly but that didn’t hinder the wonderful feeling of her feathers blowing around.
Finally, she started to move out into the grass. She’d only made it a few feet out when another pegasus suddenly swooped down in front of her. Her rainbow mane was tattered and she was missing some patches of her blue coat.
“What are you doing here?!” She asked Emerald, a look of fear on her face.
Emerald tried to answer but she was so caught off guard, the words wouldn’t come out. Instead she just stood there, her mouth agape.
“Listen, kid, Tirek’s on his way here so you’d better not be.”
She pushed Emerald behind a tree as they could feel the tremors of Tirek’s footsteps. Emerald felt herself starting to hyperventilate. She was regretting the whole thing now. She just wanted to be back in the cave with her mother. These sights didn’t seem worth it with that monstrous centaur coming ever closer.
The pegasus put a hoof around her. “It’ll be ok. Just stay hidden and he’ll never know you’re here.”
Emerald started to calm down until she got her first look at the evil ruler of the world. She’d always heard he was giant but this was more than she could ever have imagined. His red and black body towered above the mountains surrounding the area. Tirek kicked past the trees in front of him, looking around.
“What’s he doing?” Emerald whispered.
“He felt a surge of magic out here. He came to investigate it.”
They watched as he looked around, trying to find the source. Suddenly, the sky turned red. All three looked up in surprise. The few clouds quickly dissipated as a small light seemed to be visible and growing in the sky. Emerald could barely breath as tears began to form in her eyes.
The light continued to grow, a flood of pure white. Tirek roared in anger and fired a beam of energy at the light. It did nothing as the light continued to grow, enveloping the entire sky. Tirek fired another beam but in moments, he was also absorbed.
The blue pegasus hugged Emerald close as the light expanded further, covering more area and finally surrounding the two ponies. As everything went white around her, Emerald lamented the fact that her first day in the outside was also her last.
- - -
Far away from the world stood a unicorn surrounded by crystal globes, each one showing a different world. He watched Emerald’s world end as the globe went black. He’d watched many Equestria’s die over the past several weeks but it never became any easier. He turned away, tears rolling down his cheek.
“Why do you keep watching the worlds die?”
He turned to see an old unicorn enter the room, his horn glowing, carrying a set of papers.
“You’ve been facing all that destruction, Tsu, Equestria after Equestria. There’s nothing you can do so why watch?”
Tsunami Blue turned back to the globes. “It strengthens my resolve. I can never let myself forget what we’re fighting for.” He looked at the papers still floating over the old unicorn’s head. “Is it ready?”
“Yes. The transporter is active and I have the list of ponies we need.”
They both turned back to the globes, knowing this could be their one chance to stop the ultimate destruction of hundreds of Equestrias.