Fall of the Alicorns

by Rara

01- Meet Wide Eyes

Disclaimer: CC Cover art and all written material within is intellectual property of user Persianjuliet, and may not be used without consent of the author.

My Little Pony and all related characters are property of Hasbro and Lauren Faust.

Song: Wide Eyes by Local Natives

I was never very good at anything. Growing up among so many talented ponies, this proved to be a real setback. Not that anyone teased me or outright bullied me- I was always forgotten, left on the fringes of groups. When others were having birthday parties, I was sitting at home. When outings happened and memories were made, I was never included. I spent my entire foalhood on the periphery of life; I was the observer, the outsider. I see now that I have always been the observer- the Oracle who watches the life of a kingdom. My childhood only prepared me for that.

In the end, there was one thing that set me apart from the others. I couldn’t hide it forever, and eventually it became apparent to my peers that I, the oft-forgotten Wide Eyes, had never received her Cutie Mark. The attention of my fellows, and in time, the townsponies, turned to me and my oddity. Being singled out like that was a wholly new and uncomfortable experience for me. Having never received attention of any kind, I was awkward and ashamed of what I thought was a deformity.

For a time, I had thought that perhaps I was just a late bloomer. Maybe I would be the last in my class to receive it; but that wasn’t the case. After a while, the absence of a Cutie Mark of any kind became worrying. I was encouraged to branch out and find something, anything that interested me. I became a jack-of-all-trades, moving from mentor to mentor, subject to subject. It was long obvious that I wouldn’t take after my parents- the owners of the fanciest restaurant in town- due to my deficient skills in cooking and my lack of interest in management. I had no specific skill in magic- just basic abilities. My flying was passable, but nothing special. I was not athletic, and though I was smarter than average and a quick reader, nothing had come of it. But when my younger brothers received their Cutie Marks more than two years after I should have gotten mine, my parents decided that more drastic measures needed to be taken.

In those days, problems and queries would be taken to the Town Council- any truly important questions were presented to the King and Queen. The land that you know as Equestria was sparsely populated, and the population of long-lived alicorns was dwindling. My town, Branbury, had the largest population of alicorns to be found outside of the capitol city- the city now known as Canterlot. Back then, the short-lived races of unicorns, pegasi, and Earth ponies were scarce, but growing fast. As a young alicorn, I had met no ponies other than my own kind, and was only vaguely aware of them. The only place where the four races of ponykind mingled was the bustling capitol, where King Constallis and Queen Golden Horn held court. That, I discovered, was where I was to be taken. Perhaps the great minds of the land would know what to make of me- a nearly-grown filly with no Cutie Mark.

When I heard the news, I went alone to my secret hideout. It was a sheltered grove of pine trees on a cliff overlooking the ocean. Nopony else knew about it, and ever since foalhood I had worked to make it my home-away-from-home. I had constructed a crude shelter that blocked out the wind, and there was a threadbare mat to curl up on. The view of the rocky beach and the steel-colored ocean was incredible, and I found it restful to curl up in my little shelter and stare into the water until my mind went completely blank. On that day, the wind was unusually calm. I built a small fire and sat on my well-worn rug. My mind was racing, filled with conflict, but the sight of the flame licking against the edges of the gray sky calmed me. I stayed there for hours, thinking slow thoughts and feeling uneasy.

The younger races, as we called them, believe alicorns to be immortal. This is only partly correct; for while we live far longer than other equines, we do eventually age and die. All of us, that is, except those of purest alicorn blood. It may be possible that alicorn royalty is eternal, but no Royal has managed to live forever. All eventually die, through mishap, foul play, or that certain madness brought on by longevity. Some whisper that the madness may be hereditary, passed down through inbreeding and bad blood. I, at any rate, am only a common alicorn, and thoughts of my mortality weighed heavily on my mind that evening. I was in a grim mood, and the unfeeling ocean exacerbated the feeling.

Once, just before nightfall, I saw a lone dragon flying south. He moved slowly over the ocean, and I thought I heard a lonely roar as he passed out of sight. I wonder if dragons have Cutie Marks, or something like them, I thought. Maybe that dragon’s like me. Maybe he’s alone because he never got his Cutie Mark either, and he’s trying to find a place where he can be special. I cried a little then, as the setting sun bled fire into the waters of the horizon. Maybe I would have flown away that night. Maybe I would have followed that lonely dragon, trying to find a paradise, or at least a solution. But I went home. I turned my back on that tranquil grove for that last time, and flew back to my home and my troubles.

I had never been away from home before, apart from short trips along the coast, and I packed everything I thought I might need. My parents weren’t accompanying me, which made me even more anxious. Instead, I was to be escorted by my cousin, Low Tide. He was three years older than me, and a seasoned traveler. A dark blue pony with a stormy gray mane and tail, he was tall at the shoulder but willowy, the perfect build for a pony whose time was spent in ocean flights. Low’s Cutie Mark was a cresting wave, revealing to all his deep love of the sea. He was an accomplished fisherpony, and brought in more sea-grass and kelp for the markets than anypony else on the coast. However, he was often in Canterlot on business, and was trusted to keep me safe. I didn’t know him well- he was always out flying the ocean- but I liked him well enough. He was high-tempered and impatient, but funny and quick with a joke.

The reason I liked Low better than my other extended family was this. When I was still a mere foal and quite young enough for my blank flank condition to be unremarkable, something happened that stood out in my memory even years afterward. I was wandering alone on the rocky beach in a particularly foul mood after some schoolfoal slight, kicking stones into the cold water and scowling at flotsam. I would have scowled at passers-by, but nopony else was nearby. While I had wandered, I hadn’t been paying attention to where I walked. Somehow, walking over the stones exposed by the pull of the tide, I had managed to strand myself behind the rising water on a spit of land, and I was cut off. Trapped on an outcrop of rock, I panicked and began to wail. I couldn’t fly, having injured my wings in a fall the previous week. I didn’t dare to swim in the slate-colored water, either- a friend of my parents had died trying to fight the notorious undercurrent, and they regaled us with the cautionary tale at every opportunity.

As I said, nopony was near- or so I had thought. Just as I was about to give up screaming and test myself against the riptide, a shadow fell over me. The young colt Low Tide swooped out of the clouds and landed beside me with a flutter of blue wings.

“How’d you get like this, kid?” he asked quizzically. I stomped my hoof, slipped, and almost fell into the dark water.

“I didn’t do it on purpose, dummy!” I was too scared to stay angry, however. “Help me out, Low. I’m stuck.”

The dark-coated colt considered me carefully. “I guess this is kind of a sticky situation.”

I rolled my eyes expressively. “Well, duh.”

“No, I mean I’m not big enough to fly you out. We’ll have to swim.”

“What?” I exclaimed. “Just go get a grownup! They can fly me out.”

“The water’s rising too fast, dummy. You’ll drown.”

I trembled, too scared at the prospect of drowning to retort. “What about the undercurrent?”

A gleam sparked in his eye. I didn’t see it then, but that moment was a turning point for little Low Tide. “I know how to get around it. Come on!”

Before I could open my mouth to protest, he shoved me, and I was flailing in the icy water.

Somehow, he navigated the current and, clutching me firmly with one foreleg, dragged us ashore. I don’t remember much of the rescue- panic and the shock of the wintry ocean clouded my mind- but I do remember sitting in my parents’ house, the two of us blanketed and surrounded by concerned adults, when I exclaimed, “Low! Your flank!”

It was his bravery in rescuing me and his cleverness in avoiding the undercurrent that brought him his Cutie Mark that day. Though we didn’t see much of each other, we shared that connection, and I knew he remembered it just as well as I did.

Saying goodbye to everypony was disturbingly quick- I hugged my parents and younger brothers, checked my supplies one more time and left, Low Tide beside me. There were no tearful goodbyes from friends, no shy glances or kisses from a special somepony. My heart was heavy as we rose into the air, and I didn’t look back at the town that was my lifelong home. Somehow, it didn’t feel like home at all. The sight of the cresting waves against the shore below us reminded me of the dragon. I wished I had seen it up close, not knowing that in a few short weeks my misguided wish would be granted a thousand-fold.

Comments

[sierra_seven_]

Hell, this doesn't even need a review! This is great! I must say, you certainly have an intriguing writing style. And an excellent vocabulary to boot!

Well, I promised some advice, so I guess I'll find some to give. But seriously, you should be proud of this. Now, with this style of writing, you're certainly suited to the adventure/epic tale side of Fanfiction. However, I suggest you begin by writing some one-shot stories to build a small fan base. Once people realise that this isn't an everyday Alicorn self-insert, you'll gain more approval.

Another thing I noticed is the cover art. Using an image from the Pony Creator (it looks like that style, apologies if it is not) often leads to people downvoting without reading beforehand. This is due to the excessive amount of alicorn self-inserts that can be found on the site, many using images from the Pony Creator. If I were you I'd find an image of a sweeping landscape, a vivid coastline or majestic mountains, something to evoke feelings in someone scrolling through the front page.

Thirdly, maybe come up with some interesting names for the chapters! This isn't necessary, but it's an excellent touch for a descriptive, elegant story. I always find it fun to look at the chapter names and try to guess the contents.

Well, I know this probably wasn't overly helpful like you might've imagined, but keep up the excellent work! It's great to see a story of this calibre, especially seeing as it is your first! And should you need any help or advice (unlikely ) don't hesitate to mail me. I love mail!

~Sierra, TWE Admin.
WHOOSH!

[redactedandredacted]

I finally got around to this. Ah. I can't judge yet, I need to read more.