//------------------------------// // Chapter 1- The Unexplainable // Story: The Beckoning of Nature // by Dragonborne Fox //------------------------------// "Come on, ya dweebs! We have to get a move on!" Gilda shouted as she led a few gryphon children away from the carnage that now made the Gryphon Kingdom. This....monstrosity just came up from out of nowhere and started wrecking everything. Homes. Lives. Objects of desire. Even the deceased were not safe, as their tombs were unearthed and tossed aside like mere twigs. It was just that, a monstrosity from nowhere. "Gilda, where are we going?" Shouted one gryphon child. "We're going to the Palace of Nature! No time to ask questions unless you want to become a pancake!" Gilda answered, flapping her wings as she clutched a gryphon egg in her talons. The children started to flap their wings as well to keep up with the adult gryphon leading the way. ---- The Hives were all but lost now. Queen Chrysalis and a few followers had barely escaped the destruction that conquered the Badlands. The buzzing of Changeling wings were heard throughout the forest. "Your Majesty, we are not heading to Canterlot, are we?" Asked one drone. "No. We're heading to an entirely new Palace. It lies between the Gryphon Kingdom and the Equestrian border. There, we shall explain what we had seen." Chrysalis answered with tearful eyes. All that work in the hives, now lost. Most of her children, her drones, her workers, her babies, wiped clean from existence. "But how can we explain that.....thing that attacked us?!" Asked another drone. "It's too much to bear.... I fear you are correct..." Chrysalis sobbed, her wings still buzzing. ---- Princess Cadence and Shining Armor had led a few crystal ponies southward. Down the mountainside, they saw a palace perched between land, sea, and sky. There was another palace a long ways from Canterlot, sitting directly in the middle of the ocean. One crystal pony was carrying the Crystal Heart, which thankfully remained unscathed. "Why did we see such horrors...in as little as an hour....?" Cadence sobbed, throwing herself into Shining Armor's forelegs. "Look, I see changelings and gryphons going to that palace too!" Shouted one pony. "Then, we have to go there too...." Said Shining, still clutching Cadence. ---- "Almost there, don't stop flying until we reach the gates!" Gilda bellowed, her wings flapping at impossible rates. She still clutched the egg as tightly as she could. All six gryphon children dive-bombed down onto the balcony, as did Gilda herself. They perched gracefully onto the tiled floor, and all sighed in relief. Suddenly, a flash of light came from nowhere and now there were Crystal Ponies standing before the Gryphon group. "I assume you're here for the same reason?" Asked Shining Armor, who was looking at Gilda. "Um, yeah.... this thing just came from nowhere and killed almost everybody. I managed to save a few, though." Gilda sighed as she cleaned the egg. "Look, Changelings!" Shouted one pony. "What?!" Asked Cadence, who looked skyward. They saw Chrysalis and a small band of drones heading their way. They landed on the balcony as well, and right then and there the Changeling Queen started sobbing heavily. "This is serious. The Changelings were attacked as well?!" Asked Shining. "Yes, and the Majesty isn't too happy about it. Many of our brothers and sisters were lost in the chaos. It makes me sad seeing her cry...." Said one drone, who began hugging the Queen's neck. "All our hard work, gone in a fraction of a second." "I hope this egg isn't a dud. I'd like to see all these kids here have a bright future, not the current trash we ended up with." Gilda said remorsefully. "What on earth is happening here??!" Shouted a mare's voice as everyone turned to look at where the voice came from. Walking between the marble pillars and toward them was an alicorn mare. She was light purple with a darker purple mane, and her regal armor was a metallic violet. She spread her dark purple wings as though she were going to fight. Small purple sparks started dancing around her. "Hey, whoa! Calm down! We're here because this thing wrecked our homes!" Gilda shouted. "This.....thing.....?" The mare asked, closing her wings. "Yeah.......it......killed almost everyone in the Gryphon Kingdom. I managed to save these kids and this egg." Gilda sighed, trying to hold back tears. "The same could be said for the Hives and the Crystal Nation." Shining said, biting his lip. "Follow me inside, you guys all look like wrecks!" The mare sighed, turning around to lead the stragglers inwards. Shining could not help notice that this mare's eyes matched her mane. Furthermore, those sparks of electricity..... who was she? Why was she here? And how did she get her own palace?! Chrysalis could not stop crying. Sometimes she let off pitiful shrieks indicating how much this had hurt her. Gilda had been flying this whole time. She still had the egg to worry about. "I've heard about your nations, and, to be honest, I was going to make negotiations with your respective rulers. But it looks like that will have to wait." The purple mare sighed. It had yet to occur to her that two of those rulers were right behind her. Wait, negotiations?! Since when was this mare as important as Celestia? "Um, miss.... where are we going?" Asked a crystal pony. "We're headed to the throne chamber. The others must know about this." Answered the purple mare. "The others?" Sobbed Chrysalis. "Um, earth to dweebs?! Ever hear about the Elements of Nature?!" Gilda asked, getting ticked. "About time you brought that up." The purple mare said. "The Elements....of Nature?" Shining asked. "Yeah! It was a big thing about ten years ago! Since then, less disasters hurt anyone." Gilda answered. "And we're.....looking at one of them?" Shining said. "Well, duh! Why else would she lead us to the 'others'?" Gilda pointed out. The purple mare stopped before a grand set of double doors. Her horn began glowing with a purple aura, and this aura opened one of the doors. She walked inside, as did the group. Sitting on four of five thrones were more alicorns. The first was orange with a scarlet mane. His wings were so huge he had to sit rather awkwardly. His armor was a brilliant crimson, and he wore a chest plate with a fiery red gem on it. The second was sky-blue with an oceanic mane. Her armor was the color of mist, with a teardrop-shaped gem in her chest piece. The third was tan with a dull brown mane. His armor was red-brown with a boulder-shaped gem, and he wore glasses for some reason. The fourth was a light green with an emerald mane. His armor was plant green, with a gem that resembled a gust of wind. The purple mare trotted toward the others, motioning with her hoof to come to her. They stood up and walked to her, though the green one kept eying what was behind her. Gryphons? Changelings? Crystal Ponies?? The hell was going on here? "What explains this?" The green one asked the purple one, pointing his hoof at the group. "Their......their nations were wrecked by a thing. This thing I cannot get them to explain at all. Or how it wrecked said nations, for that matter." The purple one replied, using her hoof to pull down the green one's hoof. "Wrecked?" Asked the blue one. "Yes. And look at them, they're all in bad shape. We have to find this thing and get rid of it somehow." The purple one answered. "You think there are other survivors of the carnage you speak of?" Asked the tan one. "Not likely, given how the tall changeling is sobbing her fool head off. It's possible, but not likely." The purple one replied. "What is the gryphon holding?" Asked the red one. "An egg she managed to save. It's unhatched." The purple one said. "Very well then." Nodded the red one. The purple mare turned to the group she led into the chambers. Shining noticed she too had a chest plate with gem-encrusted sparks of lightning on it. "I understand you all need to be in a set environment before you can explain to us this 'thing' we have been discussing. As such, we will allow you all to stay here in the palace until further notice. You will all take a select number of vacant bedrooms nobody used before, and we will have some maids arrive to you in a few minutes to show you to those rooms. Once you are most comfortable with explaining what you had seen, tell the maids to tell us." The purple mare said in a rather regal tone of voice.