//------------------------------// // Awake, My Heroes // Story: Ancient Loss // by Masterweaver //------------------------------// "No no no..." Pinkie Pie paced in the small clearing she'd woken up in, sniffing the air as the rain fell around her. She didn't care that she was in a strange place. She didn't care that she didn't remember how she got here. It wasn't often she felt this concerned, but... something tugged at her heart. Somebody, somewhere, needed a party--no. A party was not enough. Ten parties were not enough. She could feel the sadness. Whoever it was needed to be hugged and healed and... Her eyes went wide as she stared at the grass. "...no..." *** Applejack's eyelids snapped open, ears perked as she jumped to her hooves. "What in tarnation?!" This wasn't the palace. This wasn't where she'd put her head down after the coronation. What was worse, though, was the sound. The mare looked around, trying desperately to pinpoint it, before a horrifying realization dawned on her. It was an old and often forgotten fact that the children of Epona could hear the land. When asked, most earth ponies would shrug; the land usually felt as though it was slumbering peacefully, they'd say. Like a filly in her cradle. Sometimes, in darker parts of the world, there were rumbles as though of nightmares. The farmer had never heard the land screaming before. *** Fluttershy glided through the woods, looking at the trees. They were... familiar, in one way. Birch, and oak... but... they were wrong, too. Square. As though they were made of blocks. The leaves grew out in square patterns as well. She shivered, grateful to come to the edge of the forest... but then she stared, wide-eyed, at the vista before her. All edges and corners and perfectly right angles. Like something out of Twilight's fantasies, she supposed, all organized and simplified. Even the sheep were cubeular. The pegasus fluttered over. "Um... excuse me... could you tell me were I am, please?" The sheep looked at her with uncomprehending eyes. *** "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" Something was wrong with the clouds. Something was wrong with the STUPID clouds! Rainbow Dash had tried bucking. She'd tried pounding. Zipping, slicing, even that tornado maneuver that had nearly cost her so much. AND THE CLOUDS HAD STAYED. "Stupid square clouds. What am I going to have to do, WAIT for it to stop raining?" As if to give her brief respite, the weather chose that moment to clear up. Rainbow snorted. "That's right, clouds, I'm the pegasus. You obey me, or so help me Celestia--!" As she looked at the sun to emphasize her point, the words died in her throat. *** "....how?" Rarity stared at the sky. She'd been most grateful once the downpour had stopped ruining her coiffure, of course, but what it had revealed unnerved her. It made a sort of sense, oddly enough. Square ground. Square chickens. Square flowers. But... "How... how is that... how is the sun...?" She blinked, staring high into the sky. "How is it square?" *** Checklist. She wouldn't panic before she ran through the checklist. Was she injured? Leg, leg, leg, leg, wing, wing, horn, head, neck, body, tail.... No injuries. Did she recognize anything? Nope. Could she use her magic? A glow illuminated as she cast a basic light spell. Interesting... she could use her magic, but the ambient thaum field was a bit looser then she was used to. Best to tread lightly then. Were her friends around? ....no. But! That didn't mean anything, right? She was in a strange new world, yes, but they could ALSO have been teleported here... somewhere! With a nod, she cast a tracking spell. A smirk formed on her face. "Hey there, girls." All of them were here. Spread out, but that wasn't too much of an issue. All that meant was she had an excuse to really exercise her new wings. Twilight Sparkle jumped off the mountain. *** New. Something new, in the Mortal realm. Send watchers. The end comes to all. *** "....most intriguing." The queen shifted in her throne. "Most intriguing indeed." "My lady?" She turned to one of her courtiers and smiled. "No, I'm sorry. I felt something in Great Fulcrum. Nothing to worry about." The courtier rustled her wings. "But... if intruders were to come to the empire, surely it would be our duty to protect the One?" "Oh, most certainly. But they are a long ways away yet." The Queen smiled, walking down to her child. "And somehow, I feel we would be paper before water when they got here. Best to let His Majesty deal with them... if they ever do come." "...I feel it would be unwise to lower our guard, nonetheless." The Queen leaned out of the temple, stretching her wings as she gazed at the sky below. "Tell me, can you remember when you had your last child?" "What? Well... no." "...I remember mine." *** "FEED THE BEAST!" The slaves complied. There was nothing left in them that could resist. The masters watched them, nonetheless. "TEND TO THE FLOW!" Without fear, without hate, without anything, the slaves adjusted the river of lava. Several caught fire. The masters did not care. In the fortress, soldiers patrolled for their lords. The memories of those long dead manifested in the spirits of fire, floating about in their pass at business. At the center sat the ones who thought they dominated this land. The true inhabitants endured. They were patient. They knew the truth. The ones who called themselves Kings tilted their heads. "Something rises in the lands above. Something new. SCOUTS! Make yourselves ready!" They obeyed without question. Soon, the sun would fall, and the ancient land fade. Soon they would search again.