//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Canyon of the Gliders // Story: The Oldest World // by Midnight Sprint //------------------------------// Some time of silent travel had taken the ponies through lush undergrowth, wrought with large, colorful flowers while yielded various vivid markings. Fluttershy found herself intrigued, but remembered their purpose with every glance from Rainbow or Applejack. The others, Pinkie Pie included, remained focused on their goal. The stranger, Stone Heart, insisted that they remain quiet and focused. It was clear that whatever threat they might be avoiding was far more serious than anything of mystical origin that they could simply defeat with persistence and friendship powers. Within a matter of fifteen more minutes, the gathering of ponies reached what appeared to be the edge of the trees. Thick ropes of vines hung from tall arbor pillars, creating a veritable curtain of foliage. Stone Heart signaled for them to stop, allowing him a moment to pause and listen to the sounds of nature. “Good.” He spoke after a minute’s pause. “It does not sound like she heard us. Or smelled us. Let us go.” Rainbow flapped her wings, lifting her up, before gliding and landing beside the strange pony, while Applejack joined Twilight on his right side. Speaking up, Rainbow inquired, “So, now that we’re not running… er… sneaking for our lives, tell us about this place. Just where ARE we anyway?” The stoic unicorn stopped at the vines, looked from Dash to each pony, and turned towards the treeline. “When.” He said, raising a hoof, and pulling the vines aside. As the curtain of foliage was tugged aside, a wonderful and beautiful stretch of rolling hills was revealed to the ponies. Out in the fields were a number of large and strange herd animals. The occasional outcropping of trees, creating sun shading and soft shelter held a variety of creatures, both the herd animals they witnessed as well as other unknown beings. The ponies trotted out past the vines, staring onto the beautiful fields and hills. Twilight had suspicions, but she couldn’t find the right words. Stone Heart could see the wonder and confusion both in their eyes. All the same, little Graywing leaped off of Fluttershy, uncovering himself from the burrow he made in her mane, and flew up into the sky just over their heads. The little one was clearly happy to be away from his perceived threat. Stone Heart smiled at the motion, impressed that a stranger had managed to befriend one of the prehistoric creatures so quickly. “Do you want to know what this place is?” Twilight nodded. “I’d also like to know WHY this place is.” The Alicorn added with unabashed desire for understanding. The tribal pony again nodded, and looked out into the fields. “Do you see those animals, Princess?” Twilight nodded, before wondering how this stallion knew she was a princess. He continued, “Don’t feel confused. You are an Alicorn, and so you’re surely a Princess, right? Anyway, that’s not important. Those creatures are called Ankylosaurus. Your little friend who’s flying around up there is an Archaeopteryx. Ever heard those names?” The ponies all looked between one another, confused, before Twilight spoke up. “I think so. There were a number of books in my library about old creatures that paleontologists call dinosaurs. I think Spike might have mentioned them once or twice. I guess he must have found them interesting.” Stone Heart maintained his stoic appearance, nodding to confirm her answer. He began leading the ponies out across the grassy field, being sure to maintain a safe distance from the herds and wandering herbivores. “I was once one of those paleontologists, myself. Even though I came from a village in a more remote part of Equestria, my natural talents and interests brought me to Canterlot. From there, Starswirl-“ Twilight interrupted, excited at the name. “Wait, you knew Starswirl!? That would make you… ancient! Well, for a pony of course, but…” She realized that she had cut him off, and nervous offered a slightly embarrassed smile and quiet apology. “No. I did not know him. This land is primeval, but I am not.” He explained. “But I did attend the classes of some who were students of his students. A number of unicorns and earth ponies that had taken an interest in prehistory were welcome to learn, whether conventionally or not.” The ponies wandered through the fields, strolling through open space, and between distant herds of heavily armored quadruped creatures, each of whom held a massive, bony club at the ends of their tails. These were the Ankylosaurus that Stone Heart made spoken of. In the more distant stretch opposite the Ankylosaurs, a gathering of Triceratops were grazing and resting in the slowly fading light. “Most of us were interested in the practice of digging and uncovering the past, but others were more… hooves on about it. They preferred the idea of perfecting time spells to allow them to walk into the past itself.” The ponies looked concerned at the idea of time travel being involved. “Are you sayin’ that somepony cast a spell to travel back to when these things were around, and y’all got stuck here? Are WE stuck here too?” Applejack asked, first naturally, but with growing worry. Stone Heart looked out upon the distant edge of the fields they walked in, and saw the beginnings of the canyons that opposed the mountains from which they had arrived. “No. Well, not exactly. Where I’m taking you, where my home is, will explain everything.” The ponies approached the edge of the canyons, where Graywing glided back down to Fluttershy’s back. From high above, motion could be seen. Birdlike creatures gliding rarely from one cliff edge to another, Graywing gripped tightly to Fluttershy’s mane again, but Stone Heart reassured him. “Don’t worry, small one. Those are Pteranodons. They COULD eat you, but they wouldn’t like it. Probably. They only really eat the fish from the lake on the other end of this canyon.” Graywing loosened his grip a little, in moderate understanding of the strange unicorn’s intention, even if he didn’t know exactly what Stone Heart meant. “Behold.” The bluntly spoken pony introduced. “Stonehaven. At least, that’s what my name for it is. It is one of the safest places in this primordial land. Even the raptors don’t come here often. My largest threat here is the Phorusrhacids. But this isn’t really they’re favorite area either, so I wouldn’t worry too much about them.” The canyon extended both upwards and down. While it’s sandy colored stone and dirt sank, creating the canyon floor, the walls and land around it extended upward at a gentle gradient, so that the access to the immediate paths was easy. “And what’s a ‘forrus rakid’?” Pinkie asked, butchering the scientific name. The other ponies were taken aback, as Stone Heart, for the first time, smiled and gave a short laugh. “Phorusrhacid.” He reiterated. “The other ponies who were studying the prehistoric world gave them a much more… frightening nickname.” He added with a shudder. Pinkie and Rainbow were curious, and insisted he reveal the name. Applejack and Fluttershy were waiting together with Twilight as Stone Heart led them up a path which embedded itself into the cliff wall, inclining upwards towards a number of deep outcroppings inset into the canyon wall. “Erm…” Stone Heart spoke quietly to himself. “They called it the Terror Bird.” Applejack, ever the cautious and steady one, inquired in response, “Any… er… any particular reason they call it that?” AJ offered a somewhat nervous smile to accompany her question. Stone Heart once again looked to each of them, and sighed. He didn’t want to lump so much on ponies new to this land. This ancient world was lethal to those who couldn’t handle it, and a sudden shock could easily throw anyone into a panic. “Terror Birds… they, well…” He said, attempting to figure out an easy way to explain it to the newcomers. Rainbow, in her usual fashion, implored the survivor pony to spit it out. “They preyed upon… eohippus… and other small…” Stone Heart released a throat clearing, before saying his last words quickly. “Mammals.” The ponies’ eyes widened. Carefully, Fluttershy inquired, “But we’re not in any danger here… right?” She asked, with Rarity giving a small nervous laugh in support. Stone Heart looked between Rarity, Fluttershy, and Twilight. “I don’t know if you’re aware,” He began. “But WE are small mammals. You must understand, my new friends, that everything here is a savage and giant ancestor to the world we knew.” They finally reached the top of the winding cliff-edge trail, and approached a large and wide cave mouth. The cave was shallow, not extending deep at all, but providing a hole in the canyon deep enough to break the elements, and provide a very comfortable shelter. Inaccessible to most creatures that would be able to make use of it, the unicorn, Stone Heart, had placed a number of tools, primitive decorations, and other hoof made comforts. A few wind chimes made of wood hung around the mouth of the cave and cliff edge, serving as both a musical trinket, as well as a possible alarm for theoretical intrusions. Before reaching the cave, there was a mild gap in the stone ground. The dirt gave way, while the rock continued. A nearly twenty foot gap in the stone extended downwards some sixty feet. On the ‘home’ side of the gap, on the cave’s side, a rope and wood plank bridge rested, tied to posts. The side the group entered on held only the posts. “Being a unicorn has its perks in survival.” He explained. The magic emanated from his horn, pulling the rope bridge across, and attaching it to the posts on their side. “Now, let us cross, so I can recover the bridge, and we can make camp for the night.” The ponies were more than glad to agree. Once across, the group dispersed, taking a keen interest in the various wood art that Stone Heart had carved to make his cave into a home. There was even a large, wooden flute that Stone Heart had carved. He used his magic to recover the bridge, and stack it back on the cave side of the gap. “Ponies. Since I have been honest with you, I can now show you the source of this place.” He gathered the newcomers around the back of the cave, where he had a dedicated fire pit. Above the pit on the rock wall, which was lined with cave paintings he had made to accompany it, was a strange looking compass embedded in the stone. “One of the students of Starswirl’s students had been working on an enchantment for this compass. It was supposed to be a combination of a compass and a clock. She MEANT for it to be able to locate things from the prehistoric past and lead us to them, but when we came here, something went wrong. I’m not even sure what, honestly. Maybe it had to do with this place, or maybe her spell just wasn’t perfected yet. Either way, we ended up here. Same place, but a different time.” “We?” Rarity asked. “But, if you were on an expedition, darling, then where are the others?” Stone Heart lowered his head and closed his eyes, before returning to his usual stone faced demeanor. “You mean where? Take your pick. Only myself and one other ended up in this time and place. I can only guess where and when the others are… and hope for the best.” He gazed upon the embedded artifact. “I’m afraid that this is useless now. I can’t feel any magic from it. I fear its enchantment was dispersed after the accident.” He sighed, and walked back to face the fire pit and the other ponies. “I always knew nopony should mess with time travel. That’s why I preferred digging. I’m just lucky that I’ve been able to adapt. Stone Heart lowered his horn, and lit the wood that was sitting in the fire pit. There was a nearby stack that was quite large, as he had obviously been continually adding to his resources, and staying well stocked on supplies. Twilight spoke, “But if we just wandered in, how is that possible that you can’t find a way out?” Stone Heart smiled with concession for his fate. “I think it has to do with that compass. It’s the very center point of the entire primordial land. I’d guess that the enchantment she made brought a bubble of time here, instead of launching us to the past.” “A bubble!” Twilight exclaimed. “That can help! If there’s a way in, then-“ There was a sudden silence. Stone Heart smiled in appreciation. “I’ve tried. I can’t seem to cross that barrier. Since the enchantment spell affected me, I believe that I’m bound to it. I fear the only way out for me, is to release the spell from the compass. But I do not know how to even begin something like that. IF the compass is still even able to be effected.” Twilight smiled. “If there’s a time bubble brought here from a distant past time, then something is maintaining it, right?” Stone Heart raised his eyes, looking to the princess. Twilight continued, “What I’m saying is that if that compass brought the time anomaly here, then it’s pretty clear to me that the compass is maintaining that bubble. Otherwise the time line would have gone back to normal, right?” The other ponies nodded, understanding the basic ideas behind it, as the concept was quite simple at its core. “Princess… that’s genius. Why didn’t I think of that?” His deep voice relented. “There is much we should discuss, Princess. First, let’s eat and get some rest. Apparently we have all the time in the world, now.”