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Prologue994 words
Chapter One: Survival of the Fittest2,757 words
Chapter Two: And the Fittest, Survive2,651 words
Chapter Three: The Golden Age2,745 words
Chapter Four: The Journey1,907 words
Chapter Five: The North4,396 words

Chapter One: Survival of the Fittest

Dawn immediately opened her mouth towards the sky as she drank in the pouring drops of cold water. It had become a luxury in this new era where Discord was king, where his monstrous creations roamed the planet, hunting her denizens. With her aching throat soothed and her fur and feathers matted down and cleaned, she took one last look at her family's lopsided, wooden shack before starting off once more towards the mountains in the distance. She knew it would be a long journey, even longer if one of Discord's lumbering beasts was in her way, and part of her feared she would not make it back in time to hear her mother, again. But her young, foolish optimism and determination pushed those thoughts aside as she stretched her wings and took off, low to the ground. It was dangerous to fly above the treeline, lest a Grycordria spot you, and she knew her mission was far too important to be ended so soon, so she kept herself low and fast, careful to land into a gallop should she need the immediate mobility and, before long, she found herself climbing the hills just outside of the plains.

As she clambered up the side of the slick, steep hill, she made an effort to press her body as far into the ground as she could; a creature could spot her from a mile away if she wasn't careful. She reached the peak of the hill with ears laid back and eyes barely visible, darting from side to side as they took in the world beyond this little hill: another lush forest filled with white-tailed deer spread out towards the horizon before her, and the looming mountains past the rolling foothills signaled to her though their peaks were above the clouds. Luckily, it was still the Summer season, and Discord would not be back from wherever he was across the eastern ocean until the Fall season, so she had little fear from the climate in terms of a sudden, violent change.

What she did have to fear was the little cottage built along the edge of the forest before her, whose side had been torn open and its contents scattered about the grassy field. Dawn studied the dilapidated dwelling until she was certain it was safe before climbing out over the hill and taking off, once more. As she flew by, she spared the home a sad glance and pushed her thoughts of whatever family had once foolishly built it out of her mind. Survival had been a hard lesson for her, growing up, and one of the most valuable things her father had taught her was how to hide your presence from the monsters. Unfortunately, this was not a lesson that all managed to learn in time and, in the centuries following Discord's rise to power over the world, those with the will and knowledge to survive were separated from those who struggled to continue their rapidly diminishing cushy lives of the old world.

Dawn breathed a small sigh of relief as she entered the dry woods, gracefully gliding between the thick trunks as the wind rushed around her and dried her fur and feathers. The forest was familiar to her on a primal level, and she found it easier to maneuver than among the clouds where her ancestors once dwelled. She felt safe here. Her fears and sorrow faded away as she sent leaves gently rustling with her passing.

And that was when the Devier chose to strike.

The antlered reptile snapped its left jaw at the speedy yellow mare as she passed, though its teeth only caught loose strands of her auburn tail. She quickly scanned the trees in front of her as she hurried forward, barely spotting the second and third Devier in time to avoid being caught in either of the creature's twin jaws as they snapped down towards her in unison. Dawn's heart raced as she panicked and soared for the treetops, eager to break into the downpour once more and escape alive. As she did, with thin branches tearing at her side, the Deviers quickly scampered up after her until the pack had all broken through the treetops with a great shriek to signal the rest of their colony within the forest. To the surprise of both Dawn and the Deviers, however, another shriek responded, and Dawning Amity's fear-filled eyes found themselves locked into a steadily growing figure in the skies above her: a Grycordria.

As the Deviers began hissing at both the pegasus and the horrid combination of gryphon, hydra, and scorpion, Dawning Amity found herself rolling through the low, watery skies as she desperately tried to avoid tooth and claw while rain splashed into her fur and clouded her vision once more. The next instant, a loud swooshing sound of air erupted close behind her, followed by hissing and snarls and the rapid snapping of tree branches. Dawn risked a glance behind her and gave a tired, fearful yet relieved laugh as she saw the Deviers scurry towards the Grycordria who had clumsily slammed into the forest behind her. The sounds of pained screeching and hissing as the two species fought gradually faded as the pegasus flew on into the storm until she could not even see the hole punched through the forest canopy.

As she neared the foothills to the mountains, Dawn slowed the beat of her wings and tried to order her legs to respond in time to land. Her hooves touched into the wet, wild grass and she managed a few steps to slow her before she collapsed from exhaustion into the ground. She lay there in relative silence, save for the thumping of her tired heart, the occasional roll of thunder, and the pained gasps for air as she struggled to catch her breath, until she began to cry into the mud. The stress of constant survival had always taken its toll on the young mare, who frequently fought back these feelings so that she could always be at her best for when her family needed her, but it had reached yet another boiling point.

Dawn thought of the world she now inhabited, one filled with gruesome creatures always hungry for ponies or simply looking to toy with and terrorize those who failed to fight them off. She cried for her mother, whom she feared she would be too late to save. She cried about the state of her species, how she had heard great stories of a time long ago where pegasi and unicorns lived together in peace. She cried about the cruelty of this new world from her own kind, how survival had made everyone selfish: there was no longer good will or favors. If you did not have something worth trading, you would get nothing in return. "A wing for a wing." her father had always said, coldly. She felt out of place in this world. While she could hunt and build shelters and traps as well as any other survivor, her mind was rampant with ideas and hopes of peace, harmony, and trust between survivors.

She was thankful, however, that nothing stumbled upon her as she regained control over her emotions and, when she managed to pull herself to her hooves and find proper footing on the slick grass, she swallowed her sadness and fears and began her climb up into the mountain.

Dawning Amity slowly and carefully placed one hoof in front of the other as she squinted her eyes to try and make out any shapes in the darkness. It had taken her the better half of the day to climb the winding path up the mountain carved by an ancient river, and she dared not risk taking flight in her tired state, especially while a Grycordria was potentially near. All she could be thankful for was that the rain had stopped. So, here she tread, carefully, up a gash in the face of the mountain as the sun began to set; moving ever so slowly to avoid losing her footing on the wet stone and tumbling to her death in the valley below until she clambered up onto a ledge.

Dawn had no idea how far she had managed to make it, but she knew she had been taking too long. Each moment wasted was one that brought her mother closer to death, so she did her best to catch as much of her breath as she could before continuing up. After a final hour of climbing, she was rewarded with bleeding hooves and sight, as the storm clouds parted to reveal the moon in the skies above, who shed its dull moonlight onto the glossy wet mountain and revealed a flat path further into the mountain.

Pain jolted through her legs with each step she took with sore hooves, but still she pressed on until she found a familiar slope and collapsed in front of a large wooden plank blocking the entrance to a cave. Weakly, she tried her hardest to knock loud enough to catch the attention of the family inside, but all her hooves could manage was a dull little thud that barely even registered to her own ears. She was so exhausted. She struggled to keep her eyes open as her body throbbed in pain, pleading for a rest lest her muscles rupture. With the last of her strength, she brought her hoof hard against the wood to create an echoing thud that resonated off the cave walls before her eyelids became too heavy to lift.

In the remaining moments of her consciousness, Dawning Amity thought she heard the telltale sound of wood sliding against stone...

“Mom!” Dawning Amity shouted as she struggled to find footing on the rocks as a thin sheet of water ran down the side of the mountain. She risked a glance behind her and saw the pack of Deviers slowly stalking her up the side, their twin snouts matted with blood and feathers as their slitted eyes fixated on her.

Her heart began to scream in her chest as she tried to climb, wiggling the nubs on her back where her wings had once been. As she felt the razor teeth of a Devier gently wrap around her leg, she looked up towards the top of the mountain where her mother stood, silhouetted against a blazing sun. “Mom, please, don’t leave me!” Dawn begged as she began to cry, feeling the teeth of another Devier wrap around her other leg.

But the silhouette of her mother simply turned away as though in disgrace, and Dawning Amity screamed through tears as she was slowly pulled down the mountain to be devoured.

“Mom!” Dawn shouted as she hurriedly sat up from the cave floor, only to have a hoof quickly clamp down around her snout.

“Not so loud!” a dark blue coated pegasus ordered. “Do you want to get us all killed?”

Dawn’s fear turned to relief as she relaxed and pressed her head into the stallion’s chest, who soon eased his grip on her snout. “Oort…” Dawn began. “I’m sorry, I… Thank you.”

Oort gave a soft little sigh as he held Dawn close and rested his chin atop her head. “What are you doing all the way out here? You look like a Grycordria tossed you down the mountain a few times.” Oort asked, softly.

“We were heading through the forest just south east of here when a Doom Dog caught us.” Dawn began to explain as she noticed another, larger, blue stallion glancing at her next to the large slab of wood that served as the family’s door. “My mom got hurt, so we headed back, and then her wound became infected.”

“Did anything follow you up here?” the large stallion interrupted with a gruff voice.

“No, but there is a Grycordria and a pack of Deviers in the forest, below.” Dawn informed, to which the older stallion simply snorted before turning his attention to the slab of wood, once more.

After allowing herself a moment of comfort, pressed against Oort's chest, she pulled herself from his fur and stared at him. "Oort, my mom needs help." she whispered. Oort turned to look at his father, but a gentle hoof stained with blood pressed against his snout and stopped him. "No, Oort." Dawn continued with a whisper. "I don't have anything to trade..."

"Dawn, you know I'd help if I could but, if you don't have anything to trade, there's no way my dad would help." the light-blue maned pegasus whispered, in return. "He'd kill me if I just gave you the spread."

Dawn closed her eyes and tilted her head down in distress before looking back up at her friend. "Please, Oort..." Dawn begged. "My mom is going to die..."

The blue pegasus simply held the mare tightly and gently petted her mane as she began to cry into his chest. "I'm sorry, Dawn..."

"Keep her quiet and she can stay for the night." the older stallion said as he stood up from the door and passed the pair as he moved deeper into the cave, sharing a glare with his son. "But I want her gone, come sunrise." Oort didn't say anything as his father left, and he did his best to comfort the quivering mare as she emptied her eyes into his fur.

When she had finished, Oort did not relinquish his tight hug, and Dawning Amity did not resist it as she stayed close to the stallion, still quivering as her head pounded. "What am I supposed to do?" Dawn wept, but Oort had no answer and no further support than his comforting presence, so he said nothing. "She's going to die... She might already be dead..."

"Dawn, you need to sleep." Oort finally said. "Even if my dad did just give you the spread, you're in no condition to travel and certainly not while a Grycordria and a pack of Deviers are out there. I'll take you home, in the morning, I promise." Dawn simply pulled herself from his chest and slumped against the wall with a gentle sniff, making an effort to distance herself from Oort, who sadly turned and headed deeper into the cave as Dawning Amity let her pain send her into sleep, once more.

Dawning Amity awoke, slowly, letting a yawn erupt from her mouth before a headache announced itself with a thunderous thump, causing the mare to wince in pain. "Dawn, are you up?" Oort asked, giving a deep yawn of his own as he stirred from beside his friend. Dawn did not respond as she remembered all that had happened last night and the day before, instead silently rising to her aching hooves and heading towards the wooden door. "Dawn, wa-" Oort continued.

"I need to go." Dawn interrupted. "My dad will be worried about me." Oort quickly stood up and stretched his legs with a pleased groan before moving to help Dawn with the door. When it was open, the pair stepped through the door, out of the darkness and into the gentle morning light. Oort took a deep breath of fresh air before he turned to close the door behind him. "I can make it on my own." Dawn challenged, flatly.

"I know," Oort replied as he unfurled his wings. "But you can't go without this." Dawn's eyes widen in shock and quickly turned to hope as she saw a tightly woven ball of leaves resting on Oort's wing; the poultice she had came all this way for.

"Your dad is letting me have it?" Dawn asked, in disbelief. But Oort simply tucked the ball back under his wing and began walking towards the edge of the mountain; a grim look in his eyes as he passed.

Dawn's hope and shock faded from her eyes as she understood and, with a gallop, the two leapt off the edge of the mountain and spread their wings; Oort careful not to spread his wings too far, lest the poultice fall into the valley below.

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