//------------------------------// // 0 - Rebirth (prologue) // Story: Child of Eden: Project Willow // by DZ-Aladan //------------------------------// 11th September, about 600 years after The Great War. The first pegasus pony born in outer space breathes her first breath on the Equestrian Space Station Her name is Winter Willow. As she grows, she dreams of touching the beauty of the world, expressing her feelings through song; sending her messages to the people of Equestria. After her death, her body was preserved and all of her memories and data were recorded and archived. The next two centuries ushers in a new era in Space exploration. Ponykind marches ahead into the farthest reaches of space. The collective knowledge of pony history is stored as archives, connected and accessible from anywhere in space. People now refer to the Net as Eden. Everything, from evolution and natural history to the entire span of pony history, is stored in Eden's data archives. To those who have never know what it's like to set hoof or foot on Equestria, Eden is the fountain from which all knowledge flows. Time marches on. In the next century, 1000 years after the end of The Great War, using Willow's preserved data archives combined with an experimental resurrection spell, scientists attempt to resurrect her within the confines of Eden. This experiment is called "Project Willow". And now, after what seems like an eternity since her passing, Winter Willow emerges from her slumber within Eden. --- A green garden, so big that the words wouldn't be enough to describe it.. The grass was so green as no one ever see and the flowers grew so well like no one else. The beauty of this place was beyond imagination, like being between dream and reality at the same time. A perfect world in which to live and enjoy the purity of nature. In the middle of that place a pegasus mare was laying on the grass, sleeping. She had a white coat and a long green mane. It was her, Winter Willow, after many centuries she was reborn into a new life. She kept sleeping quietly. Everything was silent, as if to let her rest some more, then a water drop fell in a little puddle next to her. A low, clear sound but strong enough to let her wake up softly echoed in the air. Willow opened her eyes, then raised her head, feeling like she slept too much. She looked around: that place wasn't the one she spent her entire life. It was a new place, unknown for her mind but amazing for her eyes. It was like waking up as to start living another dream, the dream to see and touch the beautiful things the world could offer. Willow liked that new place, a lot. She smiled and then stood up looking again around her. In the air many water drops were slowly falling, big enough that she could look at them and analyze their shape. That garden was so unnatural but at the same time it instilled a feeling of normality. The horizon was out of her sight and she couldn't see the end of this land. The mare started walking, going towards a puddle of water, she laid down and looked into it. The thing that was visible inside of it amazed her: it was an image of the planet seen from space. The image of that colorful and fragile jewel filled her heart, many memories ran across her mind: she wanted to see the world on its surface and maybe this new place she was living now was a good compromise, just the best the planet could offer to her, without anything bad. This place was the most beautiful garden, not an empty space station, it was HER garden. She was happy. But her happiness didn't last long. A sound suddenly pierced the air. It was like a squeal, not quite strong but that didn't help to make her feel safe. Her expression changed, from happiness to concern. From the puddle water drops started to fall from the puddle to the sky. Willow looked around and noticed that every single plant in the garden was disintegrating and the sky was turning black. Not because of clouds, but the color was physically changing, as if the sky was getting tainted and ominous sounds filled the air. She stood up and turned round; the wind started to breathe backwards and from the black spots in the sky many black filaments were surrounding the garden, like greedy hands. Then suddenly she started feeling strange. There wasn't hot or cold anymore, she could just feel something touching her, something impalpable, invisible but still unsettling. She was worried and scared while everything was crumbling down, surrounded by this taint. Her garden was disappearing in front of her eyes, eyes which were asking for help. Then, she couldn't see anything anymore. Her world turned black. One more time. --- Save Eden. Save Willow.