//------------------------------// // 1: Stranger in a Strange Land // Story: New Terra // by Joe3562 //------------------------------// Chapter One Soft soothing music filled the air above cyan colored grass and chromatic multi-tiered trees. A ball of yellow light with a pair of stubby light blue wings fluttered through the air over an open crevice in the ground. A figure ducked down as the creature flew off, making sure not to be spotted by it. The bipedal creature held a small gray tube in his right hand as he looked at the floating creature. A transparent red circle formed around it along with a thin green bar that ran along less than half of its circumference. A red bar that faded to orange and then to yellow appeared above the first. This one was smaller. The man tightened his grip on the device in his hand as it flew up and over the mountain the cavern hole based itself in. The circle still remained in the bipedal’s vision as white letters appeared next to the circle. They read ‘Pixie’. The circle slowly faded away and the bipedal rose from the darkness lit by torches and into the fresh air of the surface world. The wind rustled through his unkempt head of brown hair. The man looked to see that the sun was setting. The dying rays felt good against the small portions of his exposed slightly tanned skin. He caught sight of a familiar large rainbow with his green eyes through a pair of goggles. His chest was covered in a black shirt. Its short sleeves exposed the man’s arms and hands to the open air. The shirt opened down the middle with a v neck. A white undershirt exposed in the small gap. The man wore dull gray-brown boots with a glowing design of orange and yellow on the heels. The man walked forward through the grass still holding onto the gray cylinder. … After a few minutes of walking the man stopped at the crest of a hill. He could see a green grass hill rising off not far in the distance. He looked to the depression below to see it coated in cyan grass. His sight set on a four legged creature slowly trotting over a gap in the ground. It jumped over nimbly and slowly walked towards him. He looked at it as a red circle formed around it. A green ring nearly filled the entire circumference, the red one formed about a quarter of the circumference and a blue ring formed on top of that one. This one faded to green and then to yellow. This third ring was miniscule compared to the red one. White text appeared next to the circle ‘Unicorn’. The man moved his right arm to below his left and pulled it back. The metallic cylinder had been replaced with a small purple book with a dark indigo cover art with a pink arrow mark. He slowly walked up the small rise and into the valley closer to the enemy he kept his eyes trained on. He studied the creature as he got closer. It has a white coat with a slight pink hue. It stood at the same height as him with a purple horn protruding from its forehead. It scanned the area with bright eyes the color of blood, and a flowing pink mane and tail. As the man stepped closer it slowly turned towards him. He looked the creature dead in its cold eyes and it looked back. It gave a snort as it lowered its head and began to charge forward. The bipedal raised the purple book in his hand to the creature and felt his energy lessen as a ring of purple magic formed around him. It sped up and quickly shot outwards towards the creature; it deformed into a blade and collided with the unicorn. He saw the number 26 appear in the red circle. He quickly fired more shots at the creature as it closed the gap between the two of them. The green ring began to shrink as five more shots hit the creature. 25 32 33 24 28. The ring had decreased to a little more than half. The unicorn quickly jabbed at the man who jumped up into the air and a puff of cloud formed below him as he ascended higher up. He spun midair as he aimed the book back towards the creature. He landed down and fired another five shots as the unicorn turned back around. 24 28 29 30 42. The green ring was almost gone as the unicorn barreled towards him and aimed to skewer him with its horn. He quickly stuffed the book to his left side, and pulled his right hand out with the metallic cylinder. He ran forward and pressed a button on the side of the device. This caused a large beam of blue light to materialize in the shape of a long blade. As he closed the gap he gave one large slash with the sword. The unicorn was knocked backwards as a new number appeared in the circle. 62. The green bar was all but gone as the unicorn charged forward. The man smiled smugly as he went for another swipe with the blade. As it made contact the number 44 appeared. The man watched as the blade cut through the unicorn and it erupted into a puddle of entrails and blood. Pieces of its body littered the area. Where it once stood now was a small blue star, ten silver coins, and a severed unicorn horn. The man stowed the sword away and held his right hand out. He opened his palm and the loot slowly lifted up towards him and dissolved into nothing. He felt rejuvenated. Once done he turned around and exited the cyan grass land. The rainbow faded away and was replaced with a sprawling forest with a large mountain range in the distance. As the man climbed the small mountain he could see a large stone structure rising against the faint star light sky. He looked behind him to see a fantastic sunset. … Another minute or so passed as the man quickly flicked his right arm out and a long metallic chain extended and embedded itself in the wall of the stone structure. He pulled on the chain and it pulled the man till he was flushed with the outer wall of the structure. He quickly retracted the device and jumped upwards. A cloud formed and gave him an extra boost and he landed on the flat stone roof of the structure. He ran forward and jumped off. He landed softly on the green grass below. A voice sounded from behind him, “How did today go Kyle?” The man turned around to another man standing in the doorway of the structure. The man has dirty blonde hair and brown eyes. He has a gray shirt and slightly faded jeans. His skin was tanned just like Kyle’s over the many days in the sun. Kyle walked towards him and said, “Ok Jeff; just ran into a unicorn on the way back.” Jeff responded, “You best be careful around them, they may seem nice, but aren’t.” “I learned that with the first one Jeff.” Jeff gave a slight laugh at the response. Kyle gave a smirk as he spoke again, “You best be getting inside with the others,” he looked over his shoulder to see the sky had turned to a dark purple. A full moon had risen slightly and the sky was full of a sea of dazzling stars. Kyle turned back to Jeff and finished, “It’s not safe at night.” “That’s my line.” Kyle gave another chuckle as Jeff turned around and began to walk into the doorway. He was stopped dead in his tracks as a deep resonate voice spoke. The Red Comet has appeared. Jeff turned to Kyle as dark music replaced that of the cheerful night. Kyle looked to him and asked, “What is the red comet?” “I haven’t the slightest idea.” Kyle gulped. He didn’t like the sound of that. Jeff knew everything. His concentration was broken by a woman’s voice shouting, “Kyle look!” Kyle looked up to see Hanna standing on the balcony of her room on the second floor of the stone tower. He saw her pointing to the sky behind him with her arm. He turned around and looked up to see the moon, but that wasn’t all. Arching across the sky towards the luminescent night disc was a red dot with a pink trail of dust. It narrowed in on the moon. Kyle didn’t like the look of this. He quickly turned to Jeff who still stood stock in the doorframe. Kyle ordered, “Stay inside and watch the others.” “Agreed,” Jeff gave a nod and closed the door behind him. Kyle turned back up to the sky as he saw the red speck began to pass in front of the moon. He watched as it reached the center of the moon and stopped. The cloud of dust expanded and turned the moon a light red hue. He watched as a massive wave expanded outwards and the entire night sky turned a dark maroon. He watched as the comet seemed to get closer to him; the red sphere got bigger and bigger. He stepped out in the grass and squinted to make out what he was looking at. Then he heard a familiar noise, that of a falling star. He wheeled around and scanned the sky, but saw no sign of the rare object. Stopping he slowly turned back to the red sphere and watched as it barreled right towards him. Kyle’s eyes widened with the realization. He quickly stuffed his right hand to his left side and pulled out a small glass object. He hated using this object, the feeling he got from the magic it possessed, but he needed to use it now of suffer a death he knew was certain. He lifted the many faced object and felt the magic build up in it as it drained it from him. He watched as the object worked its magic and he was enveloped in a light blue aura. He also saw the red sphere get closer, almost in reach of him. The blue field covered him completely and he felt himself beginning to be decomposed and transported not that far away to his base. Then he felt a massive shock. He gasped in pain and knelt down. Opening his eyes he saw the light blue of the teleportation slowly beginning to turn to a blood red. He watched in horror as he was consumed in the haze and felt himself being pulled apart, but more violently then he remembered it to be. He felt the wall of magic close in on him. He dropped the device to the ground. He watched as the grass was uprooted to the bare dirt. He felt sick to his stomach. He felt as if he was poisoned. He knew he wouldn’t stay awake much longer. He clutched his stomach as he fell to the ground. Barley breathing and on the cusp of blacking out he spoke in labored breaths, “I’m sorry Jeff.” He felt the blood red walls pressing on him and a strange overwhelming warmth as well, Kyle then slipped into unconsciousness. … Jeff had watched the entire ordeal from Hanna’s balcony. He watched in horror as he watched the strange red magic work on his friend. His mouth was wide open as the same dark voice spoke again. The gateway to the Land of Harmony has opened. Jeff watched as the night sky changed before his eyes. He watched the stars slowly blink out of existence. The sky was soon devoid of its once lights, leaving the still blood red moon against the stark maroon night. A dense fog filled the sky blocking out the red and leaving a dull pink. He looked back down to where Kyle once stood and saw that the grass had been eaten away. He watched as red grass began to grow from the bare patch and expanded quickly onto the lush green grass outside the front of the stone structure. Maroon vines began to grow out of the ground and encompass the area where Kyle was struck by the strange red object. Jeff turned to a voice behind him, “What happened?” Jeff stepped back inside to see the others had all gathered in Hanna’s room. He looked to each of them and sighed as he responded, “I’m not sure.” “I have a bad feeling about what is to transpire soon,” Diana spoke up. “Me too.” ~~~ An equine slowly walked towards a wooden house nestled amongst rows upon rows of apple trees now drained of their produce. Right in front of the soft tangerine coated mare walked a much larger stallion with a relaxed red coat. The mare has a long blonde mane and tail tied at the end with red hair ties. She also wore a worn brown Stetson hat. She looked to the stallion in front of her with green eyes and spoke, “Seems like we did good with the harvest today Big Mac.” “Eeeyup,” came a deep voice response from the stallion who continued to walk forward with an old yoke around his neck and his slightly browner hair than his sister’s fluttering in the cool night breeze. Applejack looked up to the sky to see a large portion of the night sky had been blotted out by clouds, she could barely see the moon cresting over the edge of the looming plums of condensation. She looked back to her brother and asked, “Why’re all de’m clouds up there?” Big McIntosh looked up to the clouds above. He turned back to his sister and said, “No idea.” Applejack stopped with a huff. She looked back up to see the faint outline of a cyan coated pegasus pushing another smaller cloud up to the massive grouping over Sweet Apple Acres. “Rainbow Dash!” The pegasus stopped and looked down. It let go of the cloud it was holding and slowly descended to flutter just off the ground, “What AJ?” the cyan haired pegasus with a mane and tail the entire spectrum of a rainbow spoke. “What is with all dem clouds?” Rainbow looked back up to her hoofiwork. She landed and answered, “Just got an order for an early shower over Ponyville for four in the morning, rolling in from over Sweet Apple Acres.” She walked towards her friend, “I’m just setting it up so it can do its business overnight.” “Ah wasn’t told about these clouds,” Applejack interjected. She cast her gaze to her left to see that her brother had continued without her to the house. She looked back as Rainbow said sternly, “I said just got an order.” “Sorry sugarcube,” Applejack commented. “No biggy,” Rainbow flexed her wings, “I was finished with the clouds anyway. I’m going to head back home now.” The pegasus turned on the spot and prepared to take off, but was stopped by a loud explosion. She turned to Applejack who wore a face of worry. She asked, “You heard that right?” “Eeeyup.” The bang came again. Both mares looked skywards as the clouds Rainbow had just set up turned a bright red. “What is going on?” “I’m not sure,” Rainbow answered as Applejack stepped to her side. Both watched as the red light increased and centered around a massive sphere just beyond the clouds. Instantly the clouds were torn apart and a massive red comet barreled towards the ground. It flew over their heads as the two mares ducked. They turned around as the comet impacted the ground spewing up mountains of dirt, mangled branches and apple sauce. Applejack quickly reacted and began to sprint towards the impact sight. Rainbow shook herself out of her daze and took flight right behind her friend. “What was that?” Rainbow asked at the cowpony’s side. “Ah’m not sure, but whatever it is it ruined a lot of ma field.” “And my clouds,” Rainbow added. The two mares followed the massive plume of dust rising into the air to the crater the impacted object created. Rainbow landed alongside Applejack at the event horizon of the anomaly. Rainbow began to flap her wings to disperse the copious amounts of dust. Applejack slowly stepped forward and began to walk down the slightly charred depression in the dirt. Rainbow followed right behind her. The dust parted near the center. Applejack stopped and looked at the figure in the center. Rainbow Dash looked over her friend’s back and asked, “What is it?” “A pony,” Applejack said as she walked towards the pony lying on its side in the center of the crater. They looked at a coffee, almost tan, coated Earth pony stallion with a mane and tail the color of tree bark. He wore strange clothing. His hooves were covered in a grayish brown material with ember like heels. He wore a black shirt with a gray line parting it in two on his chest. He also wore a pair of bluish goggles over his eyes. His eyes were closed, but he was breathing faintly. Rainbow spoke up, “What the hay, who is this?” “Ah don’t know,” Applejack looked back to her friend. She turned back to the stallion to see a few scratches and nicks on the exposed portions of his coat. She moved towards him and spoke, “Can you get Twilight, I bet she would know what in Tartarus just happened.” “Are you kidding, I’m helping you,” Rainbow objected stepping to Applejack’s side. Applejack paid no heed and quickly stuck her head underneath the stallion’s chest and lifted him onto her back. He was about her size. She turned to Rainbow, “Ah got this covered.” Rainbow huffed, “I’m staying with you till we get him to your house.” “Fine,” Applejack looked back and noticed something else in the crater’s center. She pointed to it with a hoof and said, “Why don’t you carry his saddlebags.” Rainbow looked to where her friend had pointed and walked towards the faded and worn object. She scooped her head through and placed the bags on her back. With a gasp she commented, “These are heavy, what’s in them?” She reached back but was stopped by Applejack, “We have no time, and that’s his personal stuff anywho.” “Fine,” Rainbow glumly placed her hoof back on the burnt ground and followed Applejack out of the crater and towards the Apple abode. … A light golden colored pegasus mare with a pink mane and tail stood outside her house. She had been drawn out by a large explosion. A small white rabbit slowly walked up to her side. The rabbit poked her leg. She looked down at the small animal with her ocean blue eyes and spoke, “Angel go back inside mama has got something to do ok?” The small rabbit gave a small huff of disapproval. She leaned down and nuzzled the white fluffy creature and spoke, “I’ll be back soon enough.” The rabbit looked to the mare and slowly nodded. He turned around and hopped back inside a small burrow of a home that looked to be sculpted out of the landscape itself. Fluttershy watched as the little rabbit opened the door and stepped inside. Once the door closed she turned back and looked off in the distance to where a massive plume of smoke was still rising from Sweet Apple Acres. Just a minute ago she had seen a massive red ball crash down there. She turned back around and looked to the sleeping village not that far away. She unfurled her wings and spoke aloud to herself, “Twilight must know of what just happened. She’ll know what to do.” The pegasus took flight and began to flutter not that far off the ground towards the town of Ponyville.