Risen Earth

by PonyTom

Chapter 1: Bad News

Dear Diary,

It's gone. It's all gone.

At first I thought I was seeing things. I wanted to believe I was just seeing things. I wanted to believe it was all a dream, a terrible nightmare that I'd wake up from. But as I stared at it from the edge of the Everfree Forest, it slowly dawned on me what I was seeing was not an illusion, not a dream. What I was seeing was cold, harsh reality.

Ponyville had been almost entirely annihilated.

I had been in feeble condition for a week. And it had been days before I could finally move. When Zecora let slip that Ponyville had been destroyed, I forgot my wounds and tore across the Everfree. I had to see it myself. I had to prove it wrong. I had to show her that it was some lie, or that it was some clever trick. All I did was confirm the fears I didn't want to acknowledge.

Did anypony make it out alive?

I don't know what to do...

For the first time in my life, I truly feel alone.

I'm still not well. I've suffered a lot, and I need to recover. I'm in no condition to do anything yet. All I can do right now is what I do best; think. I must plan for my next move. Something has to be done, and soon. I have no idea why these earth ponies killed so many, but I have no intention of sitting idly by while they do.

All I can do now is heal. Once I do, I will begin to hunt for my friends. After that? We do what we do best.

We save Equestria.

It will be no easy matter, but I know we can. Ponyville has been destroyed before. I'll admit, it's never had the unfortunate civilian casualties this attack has had, but we'll recover all the same, and these criminals will get what's coming to them.

First thing's first.

I'm hungry.

We'll talk more later.

From the journal of Twilight Sparkle,
Former Princess of Equestria

A yawn was the first sound I would acknowledge for the day.

Morning already?

I let my eyes fall on a cuckoo clock hanging from the wall. Sure enough, it read 7:30 am. That meant I had an hour and a half to eat breakfast and get ready for work. Just perfect. It was going to be one of those days, I could feel it in my bones; one of those days where things just seemed to go bad for the sake of going bad. Of course, I guess that's how I felt most days... the world isn't as polite a place as it had once been.

I slowly sat up from her bed and yawned, stretching my hooves as far as I could until I heard that satisfying pop. Instead, however, I got pains and aches in the muscles in my back as they seized up, reminding me of old scars. I had no idea how long they'd be locked like that, but I knew only one way to fix it. Well, two ways, but there was one better, and the pony to fix it for me was likely awake. Painfully, I forcibly edged out of my bed and began a slow, stiff movement to the door. I made sure to grab my wig on my way and set it firmly atop my head, over my horn, covering the pointed protrusion... not out of shame, mind you. I love my horn! I'm proud of it! But... well... the current way of things. Once my wig was in place, I opened the door, ready to leave my room, even if every muscle in my neck and withers was screaming at me.

I made my way, with a deal of effort, down the stairs from the room to the nearest door on my left. I made sure to knock gently. When it opened, an older stallion stood before me, a stallion I had grown fond of, and now loved like a father figure. His coat was grey, as was his mane, and his eyes a soft green. He was an earth pony, and a well-built one at that. He had an interesting cutie-mark - it was a dollar sign. At first, I thought it meant he was rich, but it turned out he was just really good at organizing a business. When he saw the pained expression on my face, I think he understood immediately what I needed.

"Back acting up again?"

I gave Stock my best pouty face and nodded. I think I even felt a tear in my eye. Am I that good at acting? Don't get me wrong, it hurt, but it didn't hurt THAT bad.

He sighed and gave me that pleasant smile. "Come on in and take a seat. I'll deal with it." Without further hesitation, I did as asked, stiffly making my way to the nearby seating cusion and placing my rump on it. He trotted up behind me and placed his hooves on my back - at either side, just behind my shoulder blades - and began to massage. At first, it was sore, but slowly, the pain vanished, and sweet, wonderful relief crept over me as I felt the muscles uncoil and relax. "I'm telling you..." he said with no hint of conscern in his voice. "We should take you to a physician or something... I mean, there may not be many options for you, but surely you don't have to put up with this every day?"

At one time I would have thought he was just being too nice to say he was getting sick of giving me back massages. For reasons I'm not ready to talk about just yet, I can inform you that I knew better. His concern was genuine.

"I know" I told him in response. "And maybe there is... but for now, I can't afford it..."

He put his hoof on my chin and turned my face to look me in the eyes.

"... I will give you your vacation time. I can loan you the money. I'll help you find someone. You don't have to live in pain, Twilight..."

I knew when he was using my real name he was being serious.

"Thanks..." I said as gratefully as I could, "but right now, I have other goals to attend to. Goals I put off far too long." That seemed to quell his argument, but I knew it wouldn't be the last time he brought it up. As I said, I look at him as a father figure; he also looks at me as the daughter he never had. Well, he has a daughter... doesn't talk much about her though. I just mean that I'm like the daughter... that he... oh just take it for what it means.

After a brief conversation, we both headed down stairs from the living area to the store. It was a simple store that sold books; probably typical and predictable, but I can't think of anywhere I'd rather be than to be surrounded by books. Well... no, I take that back, I can think of a few places I'd rather be, but this was all I could get, given the circumstances. But that's neither here nor there.

My duty was obvious; it was my job to stock and shelf books, organize them, and make sure they were presentable. If my condition acted up, I might take his place at the counter, or do some other task that was less physically demanding. To be honest, it wasn't a bad living; I made the money I needed to get what I needed for the most part. Sure, it was petty compared to the stipend I used to receive from the Princess, but I've never been a materialistic mare; well, no more than loving a good book to read, anyway. And with me working in a book store, I could read any time there wasn't work to be done!

There was, unfortunately, an underlying problem with this scenario.

Dingaling

We both turned to look at who entered the building.

I think both of our hearts stopped when we saw who it was.

Two earth ponies; one a mare, and one a stallion. They wore military jackets that govered their entire front body, boots on all of their legs. Dark armor hung from their backs, wrapping around their barrels, their necks, with armor padding that concealed their cutie marks. Both ponies had swords hanging from their flanks, and wore helmets with visors, allowing their mouths freedom, while keeping their eyes hidden; I'm told much of their uniform's design is meant to make them intimidating by hiding as much 'pony' as possible.

Fortunatly, Stock has quite the poker face. He smiled and waved a hoof. "Come on in!" he said. "Can I offer you two a good book?"

I suppose I should inform you... I'm kind of a fugitive.

"We've got word that a unicorn may or may not have been spotted in the area" said the mare, her voice muffled by the filter that hid her face. "If you have any information on the matter, it would be within your best interest to tell us as soon as possible." I felt myself tense up. I had remembered the words of advice I had recieved from Stock a while ago; words I had never suspected I would need to remember. If they came, act normal, continue working, and let him talk whenever possible. Do not look like I am staring, and do not look like I am avoiding looking at them. I tried to calm myself as he talked.

"Well, I'd certainly think not..." he said, tapping a hoof to his chin. "I mean, if I had, I dare say he's a slippery fella to get past me. I like to consider myself good with detail!"

The soldiers huffed. "We're looking for a mare, not a stallion. She's been spotted around this area, and if anypony is found aiding her, not only will we incarcerate her, we'll also take in the harborors of the fugitive will also be aprehended as traitors." This has never happened before. It took all my strength not to panic and teleport out. I knew Stock wouldn't turn me in. I would honestly prefere he did than risk him getting in trouble.

He shook his head. "I'm afraid I don't know anything..."

They looked to me. "What about your assistant?"

I felt my heart jump to my throat. I forced myself to calm down, turning to look at them. "Uhh..." Come on, don't screw up. Don't mess this up. You have your wig on, there's no way they'll know. "... I... don't think I've seen a unicorn..." They stared at me for a few seconds. Turning back to Stock, they trotted into the store. Had I been found out? What were they going to do?

The mare slammed her hoof on the table.

And then pulled it away, leaving a piece of paper with a photo.

"Well, if you see this mare, get in contact with us as soon as possible. It's up to us to keep this city safe from impurity."

The two ponies gave a nod to both Stock and me, before turning and making their way out of the shop. I almost felt ready to throw up. Shakily, I climbed down from the ladder and trotted to the room in the back. Stock was quick to follow me and placed a hoof on my back as I hyperventilated, kindly hoofing a paper bag to me, which I took and breathed into. "It's okay Dawn, it's over, they're gone..." he said comfortingly. Dawn. It's the name I adopted while in cognito. Not very inventive, I admit, but it doesn't need to be. Nopony seems the wiser.

I'm a little embarassed to say I was crying when I looked up to him. Just a little. "That was so terrifying..." I said to him. He shook his head and wrapped his hooves around me in a hug.

"It's alright, child..." he said. "I won't let them take you away."

After a few moments of calm and regathering myself, we both trotted back into the store proper. We looked at the paper they had left on the counter; it was a wanted poster, depicting an artist rendition of a unicorn mare - fortunatly, looking nothing like me.

It was a term dubbed for all unicorns, really. Unlike other races, all unicorns have the potential to use magic. Many prefere to learn only spells that relate to their special talents or what they do for a living. Truth is, it's easier to learn magic related to what you love. But it's undeniable that unicorns have options that other ponies don't. Our magic even allows us to invade other ponies' natural territories; growing plants, manipulating clouds, etc, so long as we cast the right spells.

"Dawn, why don't you take the counter while I finish the shelving?" I quietly nodded in response. I was too shaken to trust myself with shelving. At least if I could use my magic, I could shelf even in my current state. But if I risked it for even just a second where I could be seen? I could find not only myself in danger, but Stock as well.

Just then, another jingle signaled another visitor. Another one I dreaded to see, if for different reasons. I felt my brow furrow, my stomach lurch, and my breakfast beg for projection, which I denied it. I would need all the energy I could muster as Rush stepped in.

This stallion was of a strong build; earth pony, orange coat, and a dark brown mane, with blue eyes. By all accounts, he's quite attractive physically. It's his personality that makes him disgusting.

"Daaawn, Baby, how are you sexy stuff?" Once more, urge to throw up rising.

"Not much... and please don't call me that, Rush" I said with a roll of my eyes. "Is there anything I can do to help you?"

He grinned and waggled his eyebrows. "Well, I can think up a few-"

"Anything book related?"

"Well, there is the-"

"Not relating to anything sexual?"

"..."

Checkmate.

"Come on Dawn, don't be like that..." he said in his pathetic, pleading-but-still-cocky sort of tone. "Come on babe... you sit here surrounded by books and ancient ponies all day... surely you could use a little fire in your life?"

I groaned. "Look, Rush. I've told you before, I'm not interested. Please, if you're not going to buy a book, then leave." The grimace he showed gave the impression that my point got across. This time. Beat, Rush rolled his eyes and trotted to one of the book shelves. I could see Stock giving him the stink eye, which brought a smile to my face. He never did like Rush, given that Rush always called him Old Stallion, I suppose he didn't have much reason to. So, I went back to my business. It wasn't long before Rush lost interest in pretending he liked reading and he made his way out without even so much as a goodbye; such a charmer, that one.

"I don't like that colt."

"I know" I said with a giggle. "He's not really Prince Charming. Heck, he's not even a Prince Blueblood..." I smirked at the insinuation. Stock laughed; he got the joke. He and I shared a lot of our stories, so such jokes on my end weren't lost on him.

But it still brought a yearning for old times with it. A yearning I was all too familiar with. I guess he caught the expression on my face, because he immediatly spoke out. "You know, Dawn, if you want you can take a little break? Business seems slow today, so I wouldn't mind if you took a few minutes to sort out your thoughts... especially after a previous scare..." How could I deny a friendly request as that?

"No thanks" That was how. "If I don't work, I'll think of it more. I need to keep distracted." He knew it about me, and I don't know if I told him to convince him or myself. He didn't argue it though; just went about his business and pretended everything was normal.

A jingle signaled three more visitors. Three foals, none of which had their cutie-marks, trotted into the store, chattering among themselves. I smiled a bit; they always reminded me of three other foals I knew back home, minus the wanton destruction and the quest for cutie-marks. They were still young, however, and not quite at the point of caring too much for that sort of thing. They approached the counter and put their hooves up against it to stand up and get a better look at me; I leaned forward and smiled. "Oh hello there children. How can I help you today?"

"Yeah" said the first one; an earth pony foal (like the other two), with a green coat and brown mane and red eyes, named Quillstroke. He was something of a big reader; a colt after my own heart, and had a fascination in science and history. I could only hope he would grow up to do impressive things. "I was wondering if you had any books about pony history?"

I smiled again. "Of course we do! What are you looking for? Ancient Earth Pony heroes? The autobiography of Puddinghead? Maybe the history of the Apple family?"

"Actually" he said and looked around a bit. "We were wondering if you had books on unicorns and pegasai?" The room fell silent. I stared at these three foals, whose faces seemed totally removed, truly innocent. No fear, no understanding of the world at large... truly innocent.

Indeed, we did have such books... but most of them were edited and screened by 'higher powers' who made sure history was portrayed as they wanted it to be. I groaned internally, ready to point out books whose lies destroyed my very soul. What wasn't entirely fabricated was often stretched to make sound worse than it truly was, and any heroic deeds were often explained away by means of selfish gain, and occasionally, negative effects that resulted from it (even when they were unpreditable or, likewise, occured long periods after the pony in question's death).

"Well..." said I with a bit of hesitation, "... We have... unicorn witch-lore, stories of Earth Pony crusades, and several biographies of pegasai criminals and traitors..."

"No no, not that stuff!" shouted little Quillstroke. "I mean the real stuff! Like... like Starswirl the Bearded! Or... uh...." he scratched his mane then smiled. "Oh! Oh yeah, the Elements of Harmony!"

I felt my heart stop.

"I heard they're all dead..." said one of the foals; Turntable.

"No, only two of them..." said the filly of their group, Melody. "Princess Twilight Sparkle was murdered in the Ponyville Raid, Fluttershy was killed in Apploosa during another raid a year ago..."

My heart sank.

The foals continued talking about something, I can't recall what, while I processed the new information. Fluttershy was dead? They had killed her? It just didn't seem fair. No, it was downright wrong. The kindest, friendliest pony I'd ever known... and she was... she....

"--- Princess Twilight was never found, and they figured her corpse was eaten by animals. Fluttershy was shot and killed, and then Apploosa was supposedly destroyed by some unicorn super spell. There was only one known survivor, and he said he was the only one to live... I hear he went insane..."

I shook my head. "Excuse me children, I have to take my break..."

Stock didn't ask questions when I told him I needed the rest of the day off. I'm glad he didn't.

I locked myself in my loft and... I cried. I cried harder than I think I've ever cried before. I always knew the possibility that any of my friends could be dead, but... to have that fear confirmed? I wanted so badly to ask questions... but how could I without potentially exposing myself?

I think I cried for maybe an hour before I finally calmed down... but I wasn't less sad, so much as dried out. I'd lost many friends in the Ponyville Raid... and more... but... this was different. A close friend... somepony I held in regard as family. It hurt more than I thought anything could ever hurt. It pained me to my very core, and it burned my heart. I almost felt the desire to give up entirely... to expose myself, to admit who I was, and face the consequences...

But that would be shameful to my friend.

Eventually, after an unknown amount of time, there was a knock on my door. "Come in" I said, trying to hide the strain in my voice. The door opened, and Stock stepped in, worry evident in his eyes.

"Dawn... Twilight... are you okay...?"

I shook my head. I really didn't feel like talking.

"... You want to talk about it?"

I remained silent for a few minutes. Finally, I spoke. "Fluttershy is dead..."

"Wha...?"

"Fluttershy is dead..." I repeated a little louder than I intended. "... I just found out... she died in Apploosa..."

Stock furrowed his brow. "... Oh yeah... I heard about Apploosa being utterly destroyed a year back... supposedly some unicorn magic that turned the land into a zone of death..." He looked up to me and trotted into the room. He sat next to me on my bed and put his hooves around me, pulling me into his barrel and stroking my mane. Once more, I found myself crying a little.

"... She... she never did anything to hurt anypony..." I sobbed. "... Why... how could something like this happen to somepony so gentle...?"

Stock was silent for a bit, trying to come up with an answer.

"... Sometimes... the world is just a cruel place..." he said with a bit of sadness in his voice. "... You know first hoof that sometimes, bad things happen to good ponies... that bad ponies get their way... and life just ain't fair as it should be..." He took a breath. "... That's the kinda world we live in right now, Twilight... ponies are judged not by their character, but by their kind and their family..." He furrowed his brow. "Even earth ponies with unicorn or pegasus ancestry as far as four or five generations back are considered 'impure' and potential for disaster..."

I remained quiet, and he continued to stroke my mane. "Twilight..." he said, "... If you need time to mourn... feel free to have this next week off... take time to process this... and if there's anything I can do for you, don't hesitate to ask, alright?"

I didn't look at him. I simply nodded.

"... I'm sorry for your loss, child..."

And so, we sat there for a few more minutes. Eventually, he left to get back to his store, and I was left to my thoughts.

Normally, when I'm left to such things, I stew. I just let whatever information I had eat me alive... but this time... that led to a new process of thinking. The words Stock had spoken... they had rang true. The more I thought on them, the more I thought of what I was doing. The more I thought of what I was doing, the more I thought of what I could be doing.

No more.

And so, I began planning.

And thus... an adventure was born.