A Strange New Land

by Enrique the Canadian

Chapter 1 A Peaceful Day

A beautiful sunny day shone down on Equestria. The Pegasi cheerfully worked at controlling the few clouds in the sky, as they faithfully had for a very long time in Equestria. In the lush, green fields of the countryside, Earth ponies worked fervently in the sun, watering and weeding their fields. In the small, though still quite busy, town of Ponyville, familiar figures went about their day. Pinkie Pie bounced to and fro in the town's marketplace, gathering supplies for Sugar Cube Corner, the bakery she works at. Rarity trotted to her workshop, carrying a large bag full of colourful, shiny gems. Zipping about the sky, Rainbow Dash raced around, dispersing the last few clouds for the day. At the orchards of Green Apple Acres, the AppleJack and her brother, Bic Mac, tended the wide orchards under the bright sun. At her home by the Ever Free Forest, Fluttershy cared for some orphaned forest life, feeding and washing a family of raccoons. As she worked, she looked up at the sky, and smiled lightly. Twilight was descending from Canterlot in her large, purple hot-air balloon. Yes, Equestria is a peaceful land. Save for the odd apocalyptic event, which seemed to be more common as of late.

This is not a story about another cataclysm with Equestria. No, this is the story of a young stallion named for a star by his mother. This stallion happens to be from a foreign land, blocked from the rest of the world by a glacial mountain pass. After a time unknown, many, many years, the glacier will melt just enough that the best of the best flyers can make it over without losing consciousness due to lack of oxygen. Beyond that pass lay a very cold land. The summer bore a hard and short growing season; just long enough to grow food for the small villages that dot the icy tundra. The air in that land always seemed to receive all the mountains' cold air. The plants and creatures of that land had lived there for thousands of years and had, of course, adapted to survive in such conditions. The Pegasi that came from the villages had great talent for flying in the dense, cold air. It was in one of the small villages that peppered the landscape that the young stallion was born.

Polaris had been named by his mother for the bright star that had once saved her life. He had always been eager to explore, observing every detail in everything, searching the nooks and crannies of his village, and generally seeking out as much information as possible. Growing up, he enjoyed spending much of his free time with his friends. They would race around the sky, darting back and forth rapidly. He always aspired to be a great explorer, charting unknown lands, and discovering great treasures for his village. Polaris would train day in, day out and quickly became the best flyer in his village. He was a shy stallion, maintaining strong relations with a small group of friends, never too eager to meet new ponies or be the center of attention. He seldom spoke out of turn, or very loudly, for that matter, and was known for mumbling things indirectly, sometimes causing someponies to get frustrated with him. Polaris knew he had these problems but never gave any actual effort to fix them, as he was happy with who he was.

Descending through a gap in the white, fluffy clouds, Polaris flew at break-neck speeds, eager to explore this new, lush land he was exploring. He was excited, spurred on by the fact that he made it over the towering glacial pass without passing out. He was only worried that he had, at most, a couple of days to fly before the pass froze over again. Polaris knew that if he couldn't make it he would be trapped for the rest of his life on the wrong side if the mountain. Leaning down further, Polaris noticed a few large villages, noting that they were easily larger than the grandest of villages in his land. As he flew, Polaris began to notice white lines forming on the edge of his wings and leaving a trail that extended what must have been 2 metres behind him. Absolutely enthralled by these lines, Polaris broke his cardinal rule: always look where you're going. Startled out of his amazed stare by a scream, he had no time to react. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as Polaris saw a huge, bulbous shape right in front of him. He noted a purple blur and a smaller, green one. The only thing Polaris could do was tuck his wings tightly to his sides before he smashed into the shape, praying he didn't break them.

Comments

[Enrique the Canadian]

Thank you for reading. Feel free to comment and tell me how I'm doing. Sorry about Polaris' name. I'm not too creative with names.