Brave

by Bright Keys

Chapter 1

Two hundred years ago, the unthinkable happened. All potential rulers of Equestria were found dead in their homes, with no cause. At first, Equestria was invaded, looted and broken. Then the disasters started. Earthquakes wracked the surface, the seas boiled, settling into a deadly poison that ate through the hulls of ships. Now, the world is broken, the seas untravellable. The sun and moon, trapped in what has been called the Burning Eclipse.

Some cities progressed, free from limitations set in place by their now fallen governments to become vast metropoli of technological wonder. Some cities devolved, becoming primitive tribes, either ruled by themselves or in a fragile alliance with other tribes.

Soon, some ponies became forgetful and clumsy. They forgot how to speak, and their eyes reflected the Burning Eclipse with orange fire seeming to rim their pupils. They began to attack anything that got near, burning them and taking their magic for their own. I found myself in the unfortunate position of being attacked by what we call "Burned."

I was walking back to my town after my kingdoms Annual Trade, when I was ambushed by what seemed like a streak of fire. It tackled me to the ground, burning me and hitting me viciously. The entire time the fire burned across me, I felt another pain. It started weak at first, but it quickly grew and burned into a raging inferno inside me. I lay, bruised, burned, bleeding, and barely alive, unable to move. I lay, the two agonizing forces threatening to send me into oblivion, when suddenly, the pain burst out of me, and the Burned was very, very burned. It flew off me and landed a few yards away, already blackening as flames licked eagerly at its body.

It screamed in pain, trying to put out the fire to no avail. Whenever it patted one out, it reignited with more force than it had to begin with. Soon it was nothing more than ashes that were quickly blown away in the breeze. What just happened to me? These, “Burned,” would always take lives! Why weren't they able to take mine? I was still alive, and although I was in pain, I could find enough strength to stand.

While I stood, watching the pile blow away, I had a look at myself. Despite being cut, bruised, and burned before, I was fine now, healed by what was possibly the same mysterious force that had just saved my life. I picked up my bags, full of supplies from a neighboring village, and walked into my own town.

The original plan for the alliance between mine and several villages and towns was we all trade supplies in a central location that are then divvied to the representatives town. The trading works fine, but the moment I stepped into town, I was swarmed by my fellows, and within moments all the supplies were gone.

Our "kingdom" was small and weak, currently with its third king in its three years of existence. Our village was in worse shape, multiple buildings collapsed or burned. The paths out weren't very well kept, and yellow grass spread as far as they eye could see. It was a large contrast between the trading place, which was in a dense forest. There was some definite need for improvement, and we needed some help to do so. Who was there out there to help us though? Almost all hope was lost at this point.

I glanced over what I had left after I was swarmed. It wasn't much. A few loaves of bread, and something I got for myself. A small trinket that appeared to be a necklace of sorts at one time. I don't know why I got the battered piece of black metal, especially for the price of half my onions, it just seemed to call to me.

I took my haul home and put it on the table.

"How did the trading go?" My mother asked. Families tend to stay together these days.

"Fine." I said. My tone must've betrayed the true events, because she asked,

"Did something bad happen?"

I didn't see an point in lying, so I replied.

"I was attacked by a Burned."

The entire house, packed with my brother, my younger sister, and my grandfather went silent. Immediately as everyone stared at me in a state of shock. They looked at me, noticing no scars as they wondered in awe how I had survived. My grandfather started to scratch his beard. While everyone else was still in shock, my grandfather spoke up in a quiet, scratchy voice.

"You appear to be fine." He said

"I am. I don't know why, but I am." I replied.

“I’ll tell you why!” My grandfather replied. Knowing exactly what he was talking about, I quickly replied.

“Enough of this talk of change grandfather! The world has been this way for as long as any of us can remember!”

“The ancient stories reflect these events perfectly!”

“That’s all they are, stories. You really think that a mare was imprisoned on the moon for a thousand years? Do you really believe in six ponies with unparalleled magic?”

“As a matter of fact, I do.” Grandfather replied. “And I believe the story that we are speaking of.”

“You are a fool for doing so.” I replied.

“Tali!” Mother scolded, “don’t speak of your grandfather in such a way!”

I winced. Not at my mother’s words, but at the mention of my name. Tali means ‘rising hope’ in a foreign language, and I knew what was coming next.

“Hope will rise when the amulet is discovered!”

“My name has nothing to do with anything!” I replied.

"That's enough fighting!" Mother said, taking the bread from the table. Before I could react, the black piece of metal clattered onto the table, resulting in a triumphant grin from my grandfather.

"Now why would you use your own trade for such a beat up artifact?" He asked.

"It looks like it's seen a few things. Might have a story to tell. I was going to take it to the smithy, see if he could fix it so I could wear it." I replied. “In fact, I might just do that now.” With that, I took the battered piece of metal and walked out the door, clouds forming in the sky as I walked. When I neared the blacksmith, it began to rain. Rain is scarce in my village, and this was a downpour. I quickly made my way to the blacksmith’s house and knocked on his door. He opened the door and looked at me with a smile. He was a large pony who towered over me.

"What can I do for you today Tali?" He asked.

"I have a trinket I want you to try and fix." I said, taking the piece of black metal out and showing it to him.

"Yes. I can fix that. It might not be the full thing, but I can fix it." The blacksmith said, taking the trinket and walking in to the shop, beckoning me in as well.

"You know, I haven't seen rain like this before here." He said as he got to work taking the dents and folds out of the piece of metal. It was quickly looking like an amulet.

"I'm reminded of my brother." He said, still working on straightening the item out. "He also was a blacksmith, but one day, he changed. He met a rather unfortunate fate." When he said fate, thunder boomed far off in the distance. He hesitated for a moment. "I tell myself that he was Burned and if I didn't kill him then he would kill our families, and maybe the entire town. I had to put him down myself with my sword I created by this very forge. It was unfortunate that I had to kill my own brother, but it was for the best. Things could have easily gotten out of hand if I had not done it, and people could have been put at risk by his threat. To this day I still feel sorrow to his memory. It was unfortunate how he had to leave, but I loved him, and I feel it’s what he would have wanted. I still hold on to all the memories we used to share." After that depressing story, he stopped working on the amulet, and began rubbing it with a rag, polishing off the rust and adding a shine to the black metal.

When he handed it back, it looked drastically different. It depicted a unicorn's head down to the chest, and wings were spread off the sides. He added a black chain, so it could be worn, and four divots dotted the amulet, one on the lowest part of the amulet, two on the wings, and one where the eye would have been.

"Those divots are for gems. The specific cut and style is only attainable from fire rubies, highly magically sensitive gemstones prized by dragons, and not seen in over a hundred years." The blacksmith said

"Why does it have wings?" I asked

"It's called an alicorn. It's said that they possessed incredible power, enough to move the planets themselves." He replied. I'd heard plenty about alicorns from my grandfather, the town wise man. I thanked him for his work, and walked out of the shop with the promise of onions when I harvest them. Outside the rain was still pouring, and I can't deny, I felt something different on the wind, as if the very rain beckoned for the world to change.

Author's Note:

Edits for this chapter:
Minor grammatical stuffs
Blacksmith is an earth pony, not a unicorn.

Comments

[Crimson Carnation]

MOAR.

[Dudodian]

We'll be coming with more soon! Thank you lots :) We were happy to make this and couldn't wait to come out with it. Keys was even getting slightly impatient!

[Rowan Ink]

wow, so good. You really improved it from the snippet I saw. I can't wait to read more! The scene with his family was fantastic!

[Bright Keys]

4768956 I actually wasn't sure how that was going to turn out. Thanks! I've already started on chapter 2. I really have to thank Dudodian for filler sentences.