//------------------------------// // Prologue: To Wonderland We Go // Story: Year of the Dragon [HIATUS] // by Derpcadius Dragon //------------------------------// [Equestria: 2020 years into the future] Silver claws belonging to golden scales stomped down against the harsh rocky earth, the crackling of broken pebbles sounding through the cavern the owner lived in. The talons clenched for a moment, before lessening on its pressure and rising upwards towards a dark-golden crested face, pure emerald eyes with black slitted pupils stare at the claw, then out towards the land. There was nothing but rubble, dark red blood splattered against what used to be walls scented the air with a musky iron scent. The scaled beast let out a low croon, moving its crested head around cautiously. A heavy sigh, and with a swift shift of its long, noodle like body, the beast moved through the rubble, scaled ears twitching for sounds, and with a confirmed noise, the beast bent its long neck down and picked up the rubble, revealing the still breathing body of a purple-magenta alicorn, the cutie mark symbolizing Magic on her flank. The beast let out a croon as it bent down to gently pick the mare up with its large maw, trying no to pierce it with its chair-leg sized teeth. The alicorn's eyes opened slightly, emerald eyes meeting purple briefly, before the alicorn fainted. The golden dragon huffed out smoke from its nose, curled up, and shifted itself to fly into the sky like a snake, leaving the destroyed city in its wake. As the dragon curled and uncurled through the sky, it looked down to the mare in its mouth, remembering what happened. To put it exactly? Chaos. Somehow, sometime, a dark beast had emerged from the crevises of the world and started to consume and devour magical (and non magical) beings. Ponies, Griffons, Manticores, Yaks, everything. Everything was devoured and turn into pure magical energy for the beast to use at will. Trying to wage war with such a beast was impossible, the many beings of the world were underdeveloped in terms of technology. Cities were destroyed, towns were razed, forests were burnt and the only ones alive were the unwounded dragon and the injured mare in its mouth. The dragon closed its eyes, as a pearl of tears streaked down its eyes, through the tough as steel scales, and landing to the ground below. "How could've this happened? Was it because I didn't wish to intervine? Was it because I was inknowledgeable? My poor friends... you didn't deserve such a fate. But do not worry..." "I will bring you back together." What could've happened here? [Earth; Time: ?:?? PM, 9/5/2018] Alexander huffed as she walked through the dark streets of her town, white sneakers kicked at a small pebble, sending it flying through the air and making it slam into a trash can with a low metallic "Ding" sound. She rolled her dark brown eyes and combed pale fingers through her dark brown tresses. Taking a glance around, she sighed once more. "Man, shame more people aren't out at this time of night. Course, it's kinda understandable with thieves and such comin' out around this time. But night time is always a good time for a walk, even in weather like this." Alexander huffed after she spoke, kicking once more at the floor. She lifted her head when it didn't land, and stopped to look in the rocks direct area of where it should've landed, and nearly ran at the sight of a creepy cloaked person in the middle of a alleyway. The person lifted a hand and beckoned her, and Alexander pointed to herself with a gulp, sweat growing on her face and neck. The person made a soft, inaudible, sigh and nodded in confirmation. Alexander looked both ways across the street before rushing across, although she didn't get any closer to the alley than she needed to. She definitely didn't want to get murdered... or mugged, for that matter. The person seemed to tilt its head, shrugged, and out of its pocket it lifted out a golden scale. It palmed it in its hand, as if thinking, and then palmed it towards her. Alexander couldn't help but to sweat a bit more, but toke the scale cautiously, fingering it with her very-pale hands and staring at it for a moment, then looked up with an open mouth but paused when she saw she was staring into a empty alleyway. Alexander looked around, tucking the scale in her pocket before decking the hell out of there. At home, she opened the door and expected to see her parents getting ready to yell at her, but surprisingly there was not a sound in the house, save for the rat she saw scrambling around a corner. She flinched at that, and slowly closed her door, toke off her shoes, before silently (and quickly) dashing for her room. Once inside, she got undressed, although she did keep the scale in her pajama pant's pocket before she went to sleep. [Equestria: Year 2000; 1000 years before canon Location: Unknown] Alexander groaned, shifting around on the soft grass-like terrain. Her body ached and burned, but also scratched and itched. She then opened her eyes with a yelp, which turned out to be a very loud one that scattered birds around the place, before she tried to lift herself up. With a flail, she fell once more, but paused once seeing a scaled golden tail with thick white fur on the end of it. Following it downwards led to the discovery that was not a human anymore, and definitely not at home. A quick glanced around told her she was in the middle of a forest, although the location was not in her mind at the moments. Trying to figure out how to get out of the puzzle she curled herself into eventually led to breakthrough, and she managed to get all four of her claws on the ground, although she was more uncertain on how to even walk, seeing how she had to make her back arch to even stand. She was pretty long, after all. "We are not in Kansas anymore, Toto..."