//------------------------------// // Business as usual? // Story: Dominus Protector Meus // by Zh3sh1re //------------------------------// Canterlot Castle – Royal Dining Room Equestria. January 12th, 1232 A.C The day had been uneventful for Princess Celestia and Luna. The daily court was over and they had sat down for lunch. On the menu today was Grassroot-Stew with mayonnaise. They were both drinking the finest wine, made by Equestrian hooves down in the south. They continued their conversation. “…as I said, Luna. We cannot simply walk all over the aristocracy. They still hold the majority of industry in the city and if we were to pass this law that might be in jeopardy.” Celestia said with a respectful tone to her sister. She took a small sip of red wine as she awaited Lunas response. “Yes, I know dear sister. But we would undoubtable be better off with the means of production in the hooves of some of our lowlier citizens. The law that states that no pony of low birth can own property in the starhoof-discrict is outdated and unfair. The aristocracy are a harsh bunch to deal with and I’d rather leave the responsibility of our economy into more ordinary hooves.” “Luna we cann-…” The response was stopped dead in its tracks as both the Princesses put their wineglasses down on the table. “That was… Unnerving.” She said with a confused tone. It felt as if her very spirit had been pierced and from the looks of it, Luna felt the same. “I agree sister...” Luna said with an equally confused voice. “It felt as if…” Luna began gently. “…Something pierced our very souls.” Celestia finished and punctuated it with a soft frown. Princess Celestia rose from the table and spoke to one of the numerous guards guarding the doors. "Collect the Magic-council. Have them meet us in the throne-room. Fifteen minutes, tops. Post haste!" The guard bowed. "At your command, Princess." He quickly marched out the door and started collecting the various archmages of the magical council. Canterlot Castle - Throne room Equestria The council was arguing with gusto. It would appear that all of the archmages had felt the unique disturbance and was busy attacking each other with their intricate theorems. Princess Celestia knew that their elevated status and beautiful blue and purple traditional archmage clothing did little to diminish their ferocity in discussion. "It was obviously an Achromatic outside-influenced overload! All the signs are there!" One of the archmages argued swiftly. This stallion in particular was a very skilled magical-diagnostics mage by the name of Dutiful Spark. The next mage to speak up was a master of traditional teleportation whose name was Eclipse Transport. "But that would not explain the mana drain! This is more in line with a magi-spacial displacement spell. How that is possible I couldn't even begin to speculate." The Princess nodded softly as she formed her own theorem. "I will have to agree with Eclipse. This event does bare a striking similarity to a teleportation spell. But it seemed way to strong to affect all of us. I postulate that this was not powerful enough for every unicorn in Equestria to feel, but strong enough for the sensitive." The archmages quieted down. Some of the older, more gentle members nodded thoughtfully. One of these older ones spoke up. His voice was hoarse and torn with age as was his appearance. "Princess, you know as much as I that such a spell to be felt on such a grand scale must have equaled to the enormity of the thing being displaced." His voice was filled with wisdom and knowledge. "Perhaps the most logical thing would be to make contact with the remaining archmages in the various cities on the borders of Equestria. They must surely have felt this event as well, and if they felt it stronger we at least in what direction the who or what landed." Celestia nodded. "Indeed, that would be the most logical thing. So we have decided?" She asked loudly, looking at the various archmages. When none of these esteemed ponies spoke up, she called for a guard. "Contact Shining Armor. Inform him to send flyers to Vanhoover, Los Pegasus, Baltimare, Manehattan and Dodge City respectively. Have them make contact with the various archmages in these cities and ask for a status report. The mages will know what to do." She concluded. The guard swiftly saluted and moved out with gusto. Northern Bohuslän - Svinesund Sweden - January 17th It was a cold but sunny January day. The snow lay all across Bohuslän and a chill undoubtedly ran down the backs of his escorting soldiers. These soldiers were the Svea Livgarde. They were the primary protectors of the royal family and it was unusual for them to ever leave Stockholm. However, circumstances were indeed unusual. Their stubby Swedish horses undoubtedly felt the chill as well. Their elite exterior pronounced their service as the most important soldiers in the Swedish Empire. One of the horsemen even held the Swedish standard. However, their appearance was the last thing they thought of as they stood on what seemed to be the edge of the Skagerrak. Indeed, the visage they saw was as intriguing as it was horrifying. Stralsund used to be a simple sound that served as the political border between Sweden and Norway-Denmark. Now, it seemed to be the coast of a new foreign sea with water that seemed simply too bright to be the edge of the Atlantic even though it reasonably should be. The king took a few cautionary steps towards the edge of the sound, and bent down in a sitting position. He seemed deep in thought, but the truth was that he simply couldn't believe what he was seeing. Norway, was indeed gone. Dissipated. Whisked away from reality. The truth seemed so far out as to belong in the bible itself. Was that the conclusion? Had god done this? He continued to ponder the question as he felt the earth shake once more. It had happened sporadically throughout the day as they had gotten closer to Norway. It was not strange. The edge of Sweden and Norway consisted of large mountains. When these mountains were cut in half, they had begun to reorganize themselves into a new coast. It looked eerily similar to the paintings of the cliffs of Dover, if he were to trust the various reports throughout the empire. Rocks the size of castles were constantly falling into the new ocean, the very ground settling itself. The last few days had been hectic. The rumors were spreading throughout the empire. Russia, the Germanies and of course Denmark itself was simply gone. As if they would never have existed. The strangest part were that every singe tunneland of Swedish territory had disappeared. Pommerania, Estonia, Latvia... They were all there. But everything else was gone. Thankfully, the new coast to the east of Finland had a much easier time to settle. There were simply no mountains in the eastern part of Finland. The king was conflicted. All their enemies were indeed gone. The rooming Russian threat towards Nöteborg and Swedish baltics had suddenly and undoubtably disappeared. But the question that burned in the kings mind was that... Are they gone or are we? It seemed to be a simple answer. The oceans looked nothing like the old ones. The Atlantic was far to bright. The wild temperature change in some of the oceans also made no form of sense. The Baltic was the same, but it was quickly being changed due to it's new neighboring ocean to the west. The king rose. He had much work to do. It felt as if he was under a total and supreme blockade. No trading. This meant shortages. However, due to the temperature differences perhaps it would be easier to start growing food. The north of Sweden and Finland still had the icy cold weather and it's temperatures did not change all too much. But the south of Sweden was already reporting much more sunlight per day. Strange. Just a few days ago, the days had been as dark as they had always been. The king had seen enough. He had to get back to Stockholm and start organizing. If Sweden were to survive, she would have to start growing much, much more food. The shortages were already being felt. He quickly moved to his horse, and informed his Livsgarde that they were moving back to Stockholm. A few days of hard riding and he would be back. Much would have to change in a short span of time, and the king felt that the future was uncertain.