//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: The Day of Return // Story: The Struggle for New Terra // by Dolphy Blue Drake //------------------------------// The Sun rose slowly, shining its light into a cave that nopony dared to enter.  The stories of the evil creatures that once ruled the world claimed that they had retreated into that very cave, and nopony wanted to see if the legends were true.  Most didn’t believe the old stories, but the cave still remained unexplored due to fear alone. However, as the light crept into the cave, unable to feel fear and thus having no qualms with entering the forbidding gloom, something flashed in the darkness of the cave, accompanied by the sound of something slamming shut. If anypony had ever decided to actually explore the cave, they’d find that the cave was actually quite small.  It only went in about fifty feet and stopped abruptly at a strangely flat wall.  It was this wall that the slamming sound had come from, and unknown to anypony, there was something beyond the wall. On the other side of the wall was a system of tunnels and caverns spanning for miles beneath the ground, where creatures that walked on two legs roamed, surrounded by buildings and machines that made anything anypony had ever constructed seem primitive in comparison.  These beings were known as humans.  They had once ruled the world above, but war after war had thinned their numbers from tens of billions to a few hundred million before The Usurpers came into being. Just like how the ponies told stories of the two-legged monsters, so did the humans tell stories of The Usurpers:  an attempt to create sapient life to match humanity’s level and live as humanity’s equals and friends, ending humanity’s status as a lonely race.  They weren’t called The Usurpers back then.  They were referred to as Gryphons, dragons, and man’s greatest creation:  Equus Sapiens.  Ponies. The project to cleanse the earth went smoothly for decades, until the threat of extinction died down enough that humans wanted to fight again. Some humans tried to re-engineer their creations into creatures of war, with some success. These weaponized creations started to work for the various factions man had once again splintered into, but it wasn't long before man realized how stupid he was being the hard way. The ponies were intended to be peaceful, and they started to rebel against those who tried to make weapons out of them. The human race started to fall in numbers again, and those who realized extinction was at hand started vanishing from society in droves, seeking shelter underground. The humans considered rebuilding nuclear weapons, but they couldn’t bring themselves to scorch the world again, not even if it would save their lives, for they had come so close to cleansing the world. Even bloodlust wouldn't drive them that far. After a decade of fighting and heavy losses on both sides, all the remaining humans gathered in one location and vanished.  When The Usurpers arrived, mankind had simply vanished, leaving nothing but a cave. In this cave, humans struggled to survive and rebuild their numbers.  They called their home “New Terra”, and there they continued to develop technologies to help them retake the surface some day to right their many wrongs. The humans hoped and prayed for the day when they could return to the surface and right all their wrongs.  They didn’t want to destroy their creations, and they didn’t believe that destroying The Usurpers was part of their penance.  However, they were ready to fight if it came to it. Among the stories of The Usurpers were the King and Queen of the ponies who had led the attack on man:  King Apollo and Queen Diana.  The two were incredibly powerful, and also had two young daughters at the time.  Whether the King and Queen were still around, no one knew, but no doubt would their daughters be alive and well, given how long the first two ponies were supposed to be able to live. The year is 5101 AD.  The ponies refer to the year as 1001 CR.  Though the ponies view this year as the same as any other, the humans beneath the surface see things differently.  They have begun sending scouts out in the dark of night to learn about the status of the surface after three thousand years of exile. One phrase has been repeated on billions of human lips for years now:  “New Terra will rise.”  And the humans were finally ready to realize their dream of seeing the Sun once more.  The mechanisms had been put in place, and all that remained was to activate them.  The underground nation would breach the surface and rejoin the world, nine billion strong. Unbeknownst to the surface dwellers, an old race was about to retake their place in the family of nations. It was just another day in Canterlot for Princess Celestia as she rose the Sun.  Her father had claimed that the Sun and Moon used to move on their own a very long time ago, but before she rose the Sun, her father had done it, and she didn’t remember a time when he hadn’t had to. However, just as the Sun finished its rise over the horizon, the ground shook.  The tremors were intense.  Far stronger than any earthquake Celestia ever remembered, and being three thousand and one years old meant that she’d had plenty of time to see hundreds of earthquakes. “Your Majesty, the city is in panic!” a Guardspony exclaimed as he burst into the room.  “The tremors are driving the masses into hysteria!” “I’ll need to—“ Celestia cut off as a nearby mountain started to crumble.  More mountains next to that one started to crumble as well.  The Canterhorn was shaking, but luckily, it wasn’t crumbling like the others. As Celestia watched in stunned silence, something started to break the surface where the mountains had crumbled into rubble.  First, there was a glint of shiny metal, and then another, and another.  Soon, structures started to rise out of the ground.  There were too many to count:  houses, factories, buildings that resembled palaces, and more structures that she couldn’t identify. The structures stretched beyond the horizon, so the Solar Princess was unable to see where the colossal city that had just burst from the ground ended.  However, the entire mountain range had been demolished except for the Canterhorn, leaving the mountain standing alone, surrounded by structures that looked like something out of a science fiction novel. As soon as the city stopped rising out of the ground, the tremors stopped.  Celestia had her guards check on Canterlot and the surrounding area, luckily finding no damage. What could that possibly be? She wondered, as she stared at the monstrous city. “Princess!  We intercepted this thing flying towards the palace,” a Pegasus guard informed Celestia as he struggled to keep a grip on a metal sphere that seemed to possess no means of locomotion, but was shaking in his grip nonetheless. Just as the guard was about to ask what to do with the sphere, the ball broke free from his grip and zipped towards Celestia, stopping to hover inches from her face. It just stood there for a few seconds before beeping and speaking in a masculine voice, though it possessed no mouth. “You are Celestia, daughter of Apollo and Diana, are you not?” the sphere asked. “That I am,” Celestia replied with a raised eyebrow.  “But how do you know of my parents?  As far as I knew, nopony remembers them anymore.” “Oh dear Creator, has the language really warped that much in the world above?” the voice said before addressing the Princess again.  “We know your parents very well, Princess.  We have a kind of… history with them, you see.  We have been absent from society for three thousand years, you see, so we weren’t sure if your parents would still be leading The Usurpers or not.” “The what?” Celestia asked in confusion. “Oh, forgive me for using that archaic term,” the sphere said.  “I meant the world as a whole, of course.” “Nopony is in charge of the entire world,” Celestia replied tersely.  “Every race has at least one nation of their own.” “Well then, this will be simpler than we expected,” the sphere announced.  “I look forward to meeting you in person soon, Princess.  My name is Henry Stone, President of the Republic of New Terra.  I hope that on behalf of all races that our return to the world will be simple and uneventful.  I bid you a good day.” With that, the sphere spun around a few times and flew out the window, towards the mega city in the distance. President Stone sighed as he switched off the viewing screen in his office and let the communications drone pilot itself back to Terra City. He had heard reports that the Sun was blinding compared to the underground world he’d always known, but he had to stay in his office to talk to who he thought would be the leader of the entire planet.  But if the world was divided, maybe he wouldn’t have to order the military to take a stand.  They had a few nuclear missiles, but they were to be a last resort, and it looked as if they wouldn’t even need to defend themselves at all. “Johnson, I’m heading outside,” the President told the Secret Service agent standing guard.  “I want to see the Sun for myself.” The agent just nodded and put a finger to his earpiece.  “The President is heading out.  Keep watch.” “Thank you, Johnson,” President Stone said with a nod before heading down a flight of stairs. After a few minutes of walking, he finally reached the front doors to the Executive Mansion.  Pushing them open, he stepped outside into the blinding light of the Sun. He’d heard stories about sunlight, but he’d only seen ancient photos and paintings of the fiery orb that warmed and lit the globe.  Actually seeing the light for himself was overwhelming.  His eyes burned, and he squinted against the intense light as the pain overwhelmed his senses, blinding him and forcing him to close his eyes. Determined to see the Sun no matter what, Stone reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of shades. After putting them on, he cracked his eyes open slightly only to feel the pain again, only slightly less intense because of the protection he'd put on. But as his eyes slowly adjusted, he finally got his first good look at the world of the surface before taking the shades off and enduring the pain of the Sun once more just so he could see everything properly.  Sunlight was beautiful!  The lawn had been grown under artificial light, but the grass was already beginning to appear more vibrant.  Everything looked more alive in the rays of the Sun.  He heard chirping and looked up to see birds flying overhead, free to roam, unlike the animals from the world below.  The surface was wonderful.