The Strands of Time

by Faedelaide

2. A Tyrant From a Kingdom Forgotten

For so long had Stalactite's son stared up at the starless, craggy ceiling of his cave home. For too long had he waited for his chance to make a name for himself, literally. It was only a week until his naming ceremony, when he would be bestowed his title and find his place among the other members of his settlement.

But what had he done that would be deserving of a name? His father, Stalactite, had discovered the grand underground lake that the settlement now relied upon, using only a stalactite to dig open the tunnel that led to it. His mother, Lichen, was one of the few ponies who had mastered the art of underground agriculture, it was because of Lichen and her assistants that everyone in their town had food to spare.

And then there was Lichen's son, given the nickname Junior by his father. Though it was almost certainly meant to be a term of endearment, Junior could only feel further pressured into greatness. After all, both of his parents were nobles among the settlement. He had alot to live up to, and every night, Junior stared up at the glistening calcite above him, terrified of what he might become. Would he amount to nothing more than a maintenance boy? What if he never found his calling after all? His parents were demanding, and Junior wouldn't have put it past them to disown him if he didn't live up to their expectations.

All the while, Junior tired of seeing the same ceiling, the same buildings and the same ponies. Why did he even need to worry about the naming ceremony? As far as he knew, no one would miss him if he left, especially not if he ended up some lowly miner. Why did he have to feel fear for his future when it would only force him to look at the walls that nigh imprisoned them day after day after day.

Junior hated that idea. He wished to choose his own life, and so he did. Throughout the week leading to his naming ceremony, nopony saw hide nor hair of him. His parents grew concerned that he was hiding from his naming, and his friends wondered if he had left altogether. But, despite what others might have thought of him, Junior was nobility, and if he was going to go out, he was going out with a bang.

The day of the naming ceremony, Junior strutted out the door of his parents' furbished estate right away. When Charcoal, the village historian, stood upon the carved stone stage that faced the courtyard in the center of town, he beamed. Today was the day that the child of the Legendary Stalactite and much loved Lichen would be given his name.

But when Junior stood above the rows of his fellow cave dwellers, he looked upon them with pity and fear. He pitied they who knew nothing else, and wanted nothing more, and he feared that if he stayed any longer, he might join them. In that moment, Junior had never been more sure of himself.

Standing with pride, Junior began to orate a grand speech to his friends and family, a speech which he had spent a week developing. His words ached with a vitriol towards mediocrity, and oozed hope towards a future above ground, where the sun shone upon glassy trees and crystalline grass. He spoke of the idea that he would venture to the surface and find the great beyond. An infinite field full of blossoming roses and trees weighed down by their many fruits. A place where ponies needn't feed off of fungi and glow worms, where everypony was free to live the life they wanted.

When he finished, he clacked his hoof upon the stage. It's echo resounded throughout the dimly lit walls of their settlement, but when it reached his ears, it's volume and clarity had increased tenfold. He looked down at those who had patiently listened to his sermon, only to find that he was not alone in his sentiment. Throughout the small crowd, faces colored with dissatisfaction, discontentment and fervent zeal to find a new name for themselves glowed brightly back at him. Unexpected by him, Junior had amassed an army of followers as devoted to his words as they were to their own family. Even his own father, Stalactite himself, held an expression of acceptance and pride, albeit hiding colors of sorrow and despair. As much as Junior had made a new family, he was about to leave his parents, his village, his people all far behind him.

The next day, Junior and his band of followers journeyed out to find the surface. One final kiss from his parents, and a small declaration of love from his father was the only thing that Junior had to bring with him. He felt the stone below him roughen progressively as the troupe ventured further through the tunnels that dug deep into the earth. It was the oddest feeling to Junior when he saw sunlight for the first time. It was slow at first, a mild glow that was hardly noticeable. But years of living in dim light had attuned all of them to subtle changes in illumination, and it didn't take long after first contact for the group to reach the surface. Junior couldn't help but smile as his heart was pierced with a singular spear of pain. All those years of living in fear of what he might become, all those sleepless nights spent looking at the stale grey ceiling of his room, when such unfettered freedom was this close the whole time.

But when they reached the surface, when the group looked upon the resplendent beyond, they saw not glittering grasses and overburdened crops. Instead, the small group of helpless, ignorant ponies saw fire, and smoke, and brimstone. The ground was not a beautiful crystalline haven, but instead a harsh, grainy crust. Creatures with skin like obsidian and the wings of roaches fled in all directions, screaming and stumbling over themselves as they ran from some unseen force. Junior and his followers stood back and watched. Some of them were mortified by what they saw, while others slowly backed away into the caves, seemingly regretting the choice they had made. They hadn't until now realized that their freedom was something to be earned rather than given. That was something Junior understood well, but it still surprised him when he saw some of his "loyal followers" run back into the cave with their tails between their legs.

Though Junior stood resolute. He had a lot to lose, so he thought, and when a lone insect pony tumbled down from the glass speckled dune in front of his hooves, he was quick to come to her aid. The followers that remained stood behind their leader, but some made their way over the dune to help the bug ponies, and find out what could have caused such an unholy upheaval.

But they needn't wonder for long, as the culprit showed itself before the small collection of ponies with a plume of fire that blazed the two poor souls too curious to stay back. Their charred, blackened bodies weren't even allowed to hit the soft sand below them before the grand maw of the fiery beast snapped them up in it's long, spear-like snout. It leaped over the great sandy dune, it's brilliant sapphire scales illuminated by the blazing topaz fire. It's intimidating presence lent it a rather apropos name, for it was all that Junior could think of when he gazed upon it's figure.

Firewinder.

The bug pony screamed at its approach, and scrambled behind Junior and his ranks of miners, carpenters and lichen harvesters. None of them could stand a chance against such a monstrous beast, and if they lead it back to his home, Junior could only imagine the carnage that would ensue as the beast ate as it pleased. Their frightened deliberation did nothing to halt the firewinder as it lurched closer to them, it's long, serpentine body being supported by four short but powerful limbs.
It let out a low, guttural growl as it neared the group, it's deep hissing seeming to shake the earth below Junior as well as cause his very organs to shift out of place. Smoke billowed from twin slits at the end of its thin snout, and the glow of flame escaped from in between it's knife-like teeth, like a light in a prison cell.

With no other choice, Junior took the only option that offered itself to him. He charged forward, screaming at the top of his lungs. He would rather die, finally free from the pressures of his past life, then let he and his men die a pitiful death at the cursed monster that stole their paradise from them. The firewinder, seemingly surprised at the small pony's sudden gusto, roared in return. It's bellow was a deafening one, one that caused the dunes to melt from its force and caused the rest of Junior's troupe to cower and clutch their ears at it's volume. Junior didn't waver nor cower as he charged the monster, even when it's throat practically blinded him from its luminosity. He could feel his head make contact with the creature's hide, and fell back in pain as his skull bounced off of the creature's thick scales. Before he could right himself, he looked up at the firewinder, only to be met with the incredible light of it's flames.

The pain was as agonizing as it was immediate. If he had screamed, he couldn't hear it. He couldn't feel the sand below his hooves, nor did he hear the distressed wails and shocked gasps of his party. There was only pain, there was only ever pain. He tried to open his eyes, but he felt nothing, he saw nothing. A black, silent void surrounded him on all sides, and it terrified him to no end. Was this the end, was this where he was meant to be? All he amounted to was just a meal for a flame breathing beast?

"No, of course not, dear," a serene voice responded to him. He couldn't remember speaking, was this the gods that the village elders spoke of?

"I don't believe I'm a god. If I am, I certainly wouldn't like to be referred as such."

The pain began to fade away, and that only terrified Junior more.

"W-who's there?" he stammered, unsure of what to make of the situation.

The voice only giggled in response. Its timbre was a calming wave that swept over Junior and made him forget about the horrors that had just transpired. "I'm here. I saw the extent to which you would fight for what you believed in. Your sacrifice was inspiring, even to me, who has seen all there is, was, and will ever be."

"Do you... do you have a name?" Junior asked.

The voice took a moment to respond. "Names are for those who desire to be distinguished from those around them. I can understand how your want to distinguish yourself from your kin has left you desperate, but I can assure you, my self requires no such distinction. I am me, there is only me, and I am the only one of me that there ever will be."

Junior struggled to follow the voice's winding, twisted words. "Then how should I address you?"

The voice hummed lightly. "...I might not enjoy owning a moniker of my own, but why don't you bestow one upon me? We are friends after all."

Suddenly, Junior's eyes brimmed with glassy clarity. His vision was restored like new, and with this newfound sight, he gazed at the figure in front of him. Surrounded by the edges of an unrelenting sandstorm, held comfortably and safely within the eye of a titanic dust devil, Junior gazed upon the massive, unimaginable pony.

Junior gazed upon the majesty of the Strandbeast, the queen of the eternal storm, the mother of time, and suddenly everything lost its meaning.

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

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Really? Where?