//------------------------------// // Ch06 A Dangerous Place // Story: The Reigns of History // by 8chill //------------------------------// Canterlot. The capital city of Equestria; a place of beauty and majesty perched high above the land. From a distance it would appear to be a floating city but was actually built into the side of a mountain. It housed sophisticated architecturally designed buildings crafted by the hooves of some of the most talented artisans. Streets carefully constructed with brick, placed painfully precise in proximity to each other, given the illusion of perfect symmetry. Lights accompanied the streets, glowing with a cool hue of color to illuminate the way. Shops and stores would soon give rise to commerce in the coming morning but for now a peaceful calm rested over the city. However there was more to this serene citadel than meets the eyes. For towering above all other buildings was a structure unlike any other there. A castle fit to house royalty stood tall bringing forth a powerful presence to the city. Like the other structures within the city, it too was beautifully crafted but with a touch of finesse to make this a true masterpiece unlike any other. During the day, it is as lively as the city it resides in. In the night, dreams delight; for the calm it emulates will have you wishing you were sleeping there. Entering the quiet halls of the inner sanctum was Princess Luna. While she was crafting her masterpiece of the night, one of her shadow guards brought her a letter. It was an invitation to witness the unveiling of a scientific discovery made by Arvaud. The details were a bit vague but the premise was that they had a live specimen from prehistoric times here in Equestria. “Sister, have thy inquired the news?“ Luna asked as she gracefully entered her sister’s chambers. Hearing a voice, Celestia began to stir. She started getting up and lazily rubbed at her eyes before turning to see Luna standing there. Celestia yawned briefly before replying, “Hm? News? What have you found interesting this late at night?” she asked trying to wake up fully. “We have found something most intriguing given to us by notice from Arvaud. It is positively most delightful news. We are pleased to receive such-" “Luna,” Celestia tittered softly, interrupting her. “You’re doing it again.” “What are we doing aga- oh shoot! We thought…erm.. I thought I was rid of that affliction.” She said upset, cheeks becoming red with embarrassment. It had been quite some time since she last regressed back into using the royal voice. Her new friends had helped her with the problem but it still came up when she was in the presence of others or when she was excited. Chuckling softly Celestia responded, “ Don’t worry about it, Luna. You’ve done remarkable well adjusting for such a short time.” Smiling at her little sister she continued, “Now tell me again about what you’ve found.” Gathering herself, Luna shook off her embarrassment and showed her the letter. “This letter was supposed to arrive earlier today but the mailponies had a bit of trouble at their office. Something about muffins or the like,” she said. “But enough of that, Arvaud is hosting an exhibition of a prehistoric creature they found just recently.” “A prehistoric creature?" Celestia parroted. “We’ve attended many of these exhibitions in the past. What could be so special about this particular event?“ she asked confused. She was reading through the letter to find more information about this creature. If it was enough to get Luna energized it must be either something worthwhile or she was exaggerating its significance. “Dear sister you doubt my findings?” Luna asked with a fake pout. “I thought you of all ponies would listen for a chance for entertainment.” Roiling her eyes, Celestia ignored the jab, “Alright, I’ve read the letter and I still don’t understand what’s got you-“ “It’s alive.” “What?” Celestia asked, raising a thin eyebrow in intrigue, urging her to continue. “It’s alive, as in a living, breathing, moving life form that’s here in Equestria.” If Celestia wasn’t awake before she was now. Something of this magnitude deserved her full attention. If this was true then this meant they had direct access to a time before Equestria’s founding. The information gained from the creature could be used to enhance or even improve pony’s understanding of the world. “Perhaps, we should look into this a bit more,” she started, plans already being formulated within her mind. “This is very interesting indeed; perhaps a private session with the creature is in order.” “Private session? Sister you don’t mean anything like That do you?” Luna asked innocently, with curious, inquiring eyes. Catching on to what she was referring to Celestia quickly answered back. “Luna, how could you think of something so depraved?” she chastised. “You know I don’t do things like that.” “That’s not what you said at Cottonale eleven centuries ago.” “Luna…" “Then there was that thing in Hoofington not to long ago….” She continued. “Luna, I’m warning you…” “Let’s not forget the fun times at Los Pegasus….” She finished cheekily, waggling her eyebrows in a knowing fashion. “Luna, we’ve spoke of this. We both agreed not to mention those events ever!” Laughing uproariously Luna responded, “Sister you are much too fun to mess with.” Ducking as a pillow flew overhead, she quickly made her escape out the door. She didn’t dare stay or lest she incur her sister's feathery wrath. Celestia chased her sister out the door intending on enacting justice to the little imp. Unfortunately for her, she was dealing with the princess of the night and using that to her advantage Luna was able to slip by easily. What was worse was the fact she knew she had the advantage. Mad cackles could be heard throughout the corridor as Luna playfully retreated into the dark. “Luna, get back here! Luna!!” Carl was not having a good time. The night was absolutely horrible. It was bad enough that he had to endure all the experiments and embarrassing situations when he was still captive, but now free, he would be subjected to this world’s dangers. In addition to that, it was almost guaranteed that they would eventually come looking for him. Every chirp from the crickets to the croaks from tree frogs had him on edge. Small forest animals were shuffling around on the ground making the leaves crunch. The bushes to his left shook and he almost jumped out his skin in fright. There was no telling what dangerous, nocturnal creatures were out here in the forest. All he knew was that day couldn’t come fast enough. He had no weapons to protect himself with nor any light source to aide his sight. He had matches but he would have to leave the (barely) safe place of an indented tree trunk to collect wood. It would be pointless seeing as how he needed the light provided by the burning wood he was seeking to collect. A few hours later day finally arrived; and not to soon either as he was nearly at his wits end. “Thank you Sunny D, come to me! Let me profess my love to thee!” The sun finally came up and saved me from going completely insane. The light emitted from the star was a bit bright for the morning but it was being filtered by the leaves so it wasn’t a bother to me. Hopefully, I won’t ever have to go through another night like that again. I was and still am completely unprepared for surviving out here. No food, shelter, water, or tools to work with. Basic survival dictates that those criteria must be fulfilled. But how do I accomplish such a thing? I got out of my temporary shelter and looked around the area. There were trees everywhere which was to be expected of a forest. Thick bushes, entangling vines, and sharp shrubs were also scattered about the landscape, making possible travel slow and harsh. I would need a machete to cut through this stuff. The chances of finding something convenient like that here is nil. Frustrated, I walked to a tree and lightly punched it with my fists. I don’t know why I was doing this, maybe to vent some steam perhaps. But, it wasn’t like beating on a tree with your fist would magically produce wood or tools to use. Life would never allow something so simple and easy to happen. So in the end it was rather pointless to do so. Sigh. Well, I have to find water so there’s nothing l can do but hoof it. Picking a random direction, I carefully parted the bushes and entered the thicket. It was unnerving being swallowed up by the forest but I had little choice. My options were either stay here and risk capture, death, and insanity or leave risking death, capture, or insanity. Good choices, right? No matter how I flipped it, something was going to happen to me. Might as well go for it and charge in tall, proud, and strong like a warrior. With that said, I did just that. There was nothing the forest could throw at me that could stop me now. What was I thinking!? I must be an idiot to go charging through the forest like that. Now I’ve got whatever the heck this thing behind me is; chasing me. My foolhardy march had ended earlier than expected. No sooner than five minutes into the expedition, did the growls start which then quickly upgraded into roars of fury. I didn’t have any idea what was actually chasing me. All I knew was that I didn’t want to be where it is right now. I’ve been running for awhile now and I’ve noticed that I’m not dead yet. What I mean to say is that normally I can only do a six minute thirty seconds mile before being exhausted. But incredibly I’ve been running full speed for about twenty minutes now and am now just starting to get tired. I would of thought on this subject a while longer but the smashing of tree limbs quickly derailed that train of thought. Escaping became my only concern. That and living, living is good too. Phew. I dropped on back thoroughly exhausted. I had managed to escape my unknown foe or rather it gave up pursuing me. Whatever the case I’m safe, at least for now. I took a couple of minutes to recover my breath and began surveying the area. It was mostly still just trees and brush but to my luck I could see a small stream weaving its way through the forest. It was just beyond a wall of vines ready to be used. Amazingly the vines were tangled in such a way that I could easily get through. I quickly filled my canteen and then gorged myself on the sweet, savory taste of water. Man that was fantastic; nothing more satisfying than taking a nice cool drink when you’re dying of thirst. I was about to fill it up again, when I heard a familiar sound. I at first didn’t really understand what it meant until I registered what it was. Those were wing beats. The sound made from the flapping of wings, large wings; something no known bird could produce. This could only mean one thing…… Pegasus ponies were patrolling the skies; looking for him. He just knew they must have caught on to his escape and were hunting him down. I had chanced looking up for no apparent reason and saw a flock of them flying in my general direction. Not good. I was sure they had me, but to my surprise instead of flying lower they began flying higher. This was puzzling seeing as how their vision couldn’t of been that great from that height. Weren’t they trying to catch me? Wait a minute. What is that? There, high in the sky were clouds. Oh but it wasn’t just your ordinary clouds. They were packed tightly together like any textbook cumulonimbus cloud. However, what was weird about it was its structure. It was shaped in a most unusual fashion. Normally, this type of cloud would simply be towering and expansive. But in this case the ‘tower’ of clouds was constructed in the likeness of actual towers. It even had large buildings and off-loading docks made from the fluffy stuff. Overall, it was very reminiscent of what a factory would look like. A moment later I could see small clouds emerging from the towers and drifting slowly away. So, a factory in the sky made entirely of condensed water vapor was producing clouds… OK. “So let’s recount the recent events and maybe I can figure out just what the heck is going on.” “These ponies are colorful, soft, magical creatures that can manipulate clouds or use telekinetic powers. They also seem to have technology very similar to our own, albeit a bit outdated. At least, from what all I’ve seen thus far. Big bright eyes, large smiles, and those weird tattoos they have displayed on their hind quarters are also clues to note. “ Speaking about those tattoos what were they? I had seen them on every pony although they differed in appearance to each other. Are they some type of tribal affiliation or perhaps a sign of ranking in their society? Hmm. In the back of mind I know I’ve seen this sort of thing from somewhere, but where? This was most puzzling unless ….. Ah that’s it! If I remember correctly there was a show on television that was quite popular. I’m sure they had many fans and I believe they even sold toys that girls and even some guys adored. It all makes sense now. Big eyed, adorable, colorful, creatures that have magic like powers, wings and the ability to build cloud factories in the sky, yep, I knew exactly what this reminded me of. “This all must be some cheap knock off of the Care Bears!” I was laughing to myself drunkenly. Even though the idea was absurd it was enough to bring me a good chuckle. Can you imagine? A world based on a kids cartoon show and I’m stuck on it. This would be comedic gold if it wasn’t such a sorry situation for me. Well, I should probably look on the bright side; at least I don’t have to worry about these being actual ‘alien’ ponies. I would have been horrified to have suddenly found myself with a pony bursting out of my chest randomly. Hehe. Look, even rainbows are spilling out of the factory now. This is most definitely a Care Bear type of thing, nothing to panic about. Amused for the time being, I continued onwards through the forest heading for my unknown destination.