Prologue

The Start of A New Age

By Lord-Luzar

* 989 A.N.M., June 17, 6:32 P.M.*

The lush jungle had been silent for the longest of times, with no sign of wildlife from where the dirt path led inside. So as Stormchaser stood at the very edge of the Zebrican jungle he couldn’t help but feel that he shouldn’t've never come. Yet a burning passion erupted inside of him, one that called for adventure, one that reminded him as to why he kept travelling all this way. In search of one thing, and one thing only...the Lost Temple of the Mayhans!

Such a find was something only an archaeologist could dream of, yet an average-day stallion found some incriminating evidence of where to find the Lost Temple. Just an average piece of paper the brown-coated, black-maned, blue-eyed pegasus found in a small box when he was mining that held the location of said Temple. Sure, it didn’t really sound believable but he had to try, right?

Shaking his head, and letting his unruly small mane fall onto his forehead, Stormchaser stepped forwards and began his trek to find the Temple. After making his way through, the only light he used to see in front was the Moon’s beautiful glow. While the jungle had been very lush in vegetation, its trees were actually very widely spaced and let a copious amount of light inside the jungle. Using the light to guide his path and read the map was something Stormchaser found easy after doing it for a couple of months prior.

The winding path soon stopped, however, much to the stallion’s dismay. He frowned when he also realized that the trees had become much closer to each other and the leaves had become denser. Everything was going downhill fast but Stormchaser merely muttered a curse, took a last good look of the map, and trekked onwards. After minutes of walking and still no sign of wildlife, the leaves became so dense that Stormchaser could barely see two hooves in front of him and after stumbling around a bit, he knocked into a tree.

Feeling dazed and utterly blind, Stormchaser continued to stumble about until he lost his hoofing and tumbled down what felt to be a large hill. Unconsciousness was a new feeling to Stormchaser, but he welcomed it all the same.

After waking up and realizing he could still barely see, Stormchaser did a 360 degree rotation, trying to find source of light. And luckily, his tactic had worked and he now faced a large pillar of moonlight that shone through the dense upper foliage. Checking for the map, Stormchaser found it securely inside of his saddlebag that adorned his left side. Trotting quickly over to the spot of light, Stormchaser looked up and was surprised by what he saw.

Hanging at the cliffside of a large rock formation was an odd entrance to a structure embedded inside it. Stormchaser’s jaw unhinged for a moment before he placed it back and looked at the beginning of the structure in awe. It was designed in such an odd way, with a form of brick he had never even seen before. It was a dark-brown, as if it had been wood, yet it was clearly stone bricks. They had strange carvings into every single brick, nearly each one different than the last.

Flapping his wings, Stormchaser eagerly climbed through the air quickly and reached the entrance that sat in front of him. It was slightly eroded, with greenery growing all over it. Some of the bricks were cracked and others were on the floor or completely gone. It was mysterious to the stallion who had only ever existed in Equestria until a few days ago, when his stallionhood had been challenged. Standing at the entrance to the reinvigorated him but he soon realized he would need a source of light.

Thinking hard for a good minute Stormchaser facehoofed after remembering that he had a talisman in his bag brought exactly for this occasion. Setting down his saddlebag and rummaging through it, Stormchaser found it. It was an orange color and after tapping it with the tip of his hoof it turned on, making him fall back.

The talisman hit the ground hard and slide across the evenly placed stone bricks, yet it did not break, much to his relief. Grabbing it was a slight struggle but he managed, and now he held it in his muzzle, having to turn his head wherever he wanted to see. Traversing down the corridor was calming to him in a way, as the silence let Stormchaser think, yet it also let him truly admire the crasftmareship that was the Mayhan’s work.

And as Stormchaser silently admired the walls and engravings in the bricks, he didn’t notice large holes in the ones up ahead, or that his front right hoof sank just a smidge.

*Fwoop*

Darts began to fly everywhere, causing Stormchaser to sprint away from the trap, yet a dart hit true as it landed in his right flank. He cried out lightly, and pulled it out before looking back at the small wound with the talisman still in his mouth. A small red dot was there but it didn’t look that serious, yet it would add on to the bruises he earlier received by falling down the hill.

Checking his saddlebag, Stormchaser realized that the map had been hit as well, and he frowned for a long time. After pulling the dart out of the paper, Stormchaser saw something that intrigued him. Looking at where the dart had pierced the paper he saw small darker spots, and with widened eyes his eyes trained back to the darts metal tip. Looking closer than before Stormchaser spotted a green liquid on the tip of the dart.

Sticking the map back inside his saddlebag and then quickly placing it over his barrel, Stormchaser began to run through the corridors, not minding the intersection he had passed ten hooves behind. Hoping to not run into another trap, Stormchaser hugged the wall and watched out for any suspicious looking holes in the bricks.

Hugging the wall seemed to do the trick until he hit another switch and quickly reacted as fire spewed from the holes open. Sliding under the blazing inferno, and grimacing as his fur became dirtied along with the pain that ensued from placing pressure on the bruises he received from falling down the hill, Stormchaser valiantly continued.

Now he ran with a limp, and it hindered his time greatly, yet Stormchaser was a very determined stallion and kept moving. He felt numbing in his right flank and soon began to dread what the liquid would do to his body. Coming across two pathways, Stormchaser stopped and looked between the two. From the left he heard an odd noise whispering into his long ears, and from the right it stayed as silent as before.

While the noise intensely worried him, Stormchaser started to run to the left instead and soon dreaded his choice. Stepping on another plate that fell with his weight, he ducked expecting more darts yet heard the slamming of a large weight that made him jump in surprise. Looking behind, there now sat a large wall were the original corridor once stood, and Stormchaser sighed before continuing.

With every step it felt as if the whispering was growing even louder than before, and soon it was like a speaker had been straight in front of his ears and was on high. Pushing through the pain in his eardrums, Stormchaser became surprised when the pathway abruptly ended. He became wide-eyed when another slamming noise came from behind him and after turning he saw a large boulder threatening to splatter him on the wall.

Thinking quickly, Stormchaser fit into the edge of the wall where the sphere did not fit, yet realized his saddlebag wouldn’t let him fit. Struggling with the strap made his heart beat by one more every second as the boulder neared, and with a strong tug, Stormchaser got the strap to rip and threw it with all his might. Quickly pulling his hoof back, Stormchaser felt the end of his hoof graze the sphere for a millisecond before it crashed into the wall.

Going into a violent coughing fit due to the dust that rose from the impact, Stormchaser was surprised to see moonlight peaking through the destroyed wall. The boulder was nowhere to be found, but Stormchaser quickly found the reason. A green cliffedge started immediately after the now-broken wall, and beneath it was a small pond with large ripples rushing to the edges and spilling over onto the grass.

Gulping slightly, Stormchaser prayed to Celestia that he wouldn’t get crushed in the fall. Looking back to search for anything else, Stormchaser beamed widely when he saw that his saddlebag had landed at the other edge of the pathway, narrowly avoiding the boulder as well. Knowing that no breakables were inside his saddlebag at the time, Stormchaser tossed it over the edge and watched it land on the grass in front of the pond. Yet Stormchaser let his eyes wander over the smooth grass to look at where the moonlight shone.

It pointed at a large oval mirror, that was inside of a large metallic band, while a small metallic rectangular base held up the mirror. Recognising sapphires dotted around the metallic edge, Stormchaser raised a curious brow. Why was a large oval mirror in the middle of a circular room filled with grass that had a hole in the roof of the cave where moonlight shone through.

The vines that snaked down the side of the cave eased Stormchaser ever so slightly, but he still felt slightly tense about jumping into the pond approximately 50 hooves below. Stormchaser only knew how to doggy-paddle and his knowledge would probably be the one thing to save him. So taking a deep breath, he clumsily leapt from the edge but lost his grip. Now twirling through the air, he cursed his luck before roughly hitting the pond, and his breath immediately was pushed from his lungs.

In an intense effort to breath, Stormchaser thrashed about, somehow pushing himself above the surface and took in as much air as he could before he submerged once more. Opening his eyes, he immediately began to doggy-paddle his way to the small incline that was 40 hooves away. It was simple and he used his wings as an extra push before tucking them at his side, having a slight understanding of physics. Making it over to the small incline, Stormchaser used his wings once more and began to push off the incline as his breath threatened to fade away.

He surfaced and greedily sucked up the air while having his barrel resting on the beginning of the dry surface while behind his barrel everything else waited in the cold water. After minutes of resting, Stormchaser pulled himself up from the small bank and onto the small amount of grass. Now he realized that he could’ve used his wings to simply hover over and fly downwards, but instead he jumped into the cold water and nearly drowned. And after cursing his idiotic mind once more, Stormchaser grabbed his saddlebag and dragged it over to the mirror.

Up close Stormchaser realized that it was actually quite big, approximately 24 hooves. Tapping the mirror was when Stormchaser saw ripples start to come alive across the mirror as if it were like the pond behind him. Yet he stepped up to get a better look and it suddenly erupted into a violent surge that smacked him across the muzzle. It dazed him and now Stormchaser realized that the liquid had reached his hind legs, and now he couldn’t move them.

As the mirror violently surged the cave around him rumbled and rocks began falling from the ceiling. So in a last ditch effort to go to the mirror, he tried gripping the grass beneath him with his hooves. It slipped from his hooves easily, and after that a large rock nailed him on his head, yet just before he went unconscious he could’ve sworn he saw figures piling out of the mirror.

If there's nothing to go back to...

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The Start of A New Age

By Lord-Luzar

Waking up wasn’t a fun experience for many humans, and Zephyr was not an exception. And throughout his ten years of life he had been a relatively good child, but like any other he had his moments where decisions would not be a strongpoint. Unfortunately, it seemed that Zephyr got to a lot of these points in his life, and it annoyed the little boy. No matter how hard he tried, no matter what he did, trouble always wanted to follow and follow it did.

Zephyr’s parents were alright for parents in their late 20’s, and they had decent jobs, but how they treated their son was repugnant. They were heavily racist, beat Zephyr till he would cry himself to sleep, and he had nowhere to run. No one to run to, not mommy because she was the worst with the beatings and daddy was an alcoholic who wouldn’t even hug the child. Yet somehow the child kept hoping for someone to hug him or kiss him lovingly, because his parents decided not to.

Some moments Zephyr was told he was a mistake, and though he didn’t understand at the time he would let his emerald orbs drop salty tears. They told him to suck it up and stop making the wooden floor wet, and then would make him wipe the tears with his shirt. And Zephyr had no other shoulders to lean on, no brothers or sisters. He was truly and utterly alone in the cruel world ruled by humans, and his experience with adults was that they all wanted to hurt him in some way.

So by the time Zephyr was ten he had made a plan: to escape this hellish life. First he would skip out on school after arriving, and run home knowing that they would be at work. Use the key he hid underneath the welcome mat, take everything he could carry, and then go to the one he could trust the most; the church. Surely they would help him in his greatest time of need?

Well that wasn’t true and the Priest of the Church cast him out immediately, but left him his disgustingly low rations. By the time he had survived three days on the streets, his rations were gone and he had been begging on the street. He never once saw his parents looking for him, neither did he want to, yet people he knew would look at him in surprise before quickly leaving him be.

So on the fourth day with his dirtied black shirt, blue jeans, muddy converse, and the odd black cap he had found days prior, he came across something odd. He was walking through the town park after drinking from the fountain and right in front of a wooden bench was an invisible ripple. It rippled as if it were water and Zephyr’s thoughts changed from dark, cloudy thoughts to ones of confusion and curiosity. Letting his imagination and curiosity get the best of him, Zephyr slowly inched forward and poked the invisible ripple with his left index finger.

The ripple violently reacted in response, smacking him across the face, hard. It had toppled him and still violently reacted, going out in wild directions before completely freezing. Zephyr opened his eyes when he realized that the ripple had stopped and was surprised to see a single hand reaching out. It was a pure white, somethin Zephyr couldn't compare to his blackened and dirtied hands. He felt bad when he grabbed onto the hand, as the soft texture made him feel as if he being rude to this person by being in its presence.

Yet he let out a small yelp when the hand pulled him through the ripple, taking Zephyr by surprise. The hand still gripped onto his own as they passed through an odd white plain while travelling straight down, the hand still remaining as a hand. It kept leading him closer and closer to what Zephyr recognised as another ripple.

“No!” He cried out, shutting his eyes tight.

“What do you mean?” A voice questioned, and Zephyr couldn’t determine whether it was masculine or feminine.

“I-I don’t want to go back home!” He cried out, now silently sobbing.

“You are going to someplace better,” The voice assured as kind as it could.

“You promise?”

“You have my word.”

“What shall I call you?” Zephyr asked, now hopefully looking at the ripple.

“You may call me...Elohay.” The voice responded, sounding sincere.

“Thank you, Elohay.” Zephyr finally croaked, before turning to the ripple, eyes happily awaiting.

Zephyr felt his body being flung towards the ripple as if it were nothing but a rock, and he could’ve sworn that an arm started to form as he left through the ripple.

Flying through the ripple felt as if he had been violently tossed onto a pile of pillows filled with nothing but more pillows. He softly landed on what felt to be grass, and it caused his head to turn. Zephyr had landed on his back and was now looking up at what he saw to be the moon. It slightly hung over the hole in the cavern, causing his head to tilt slightly. Now fully interested in his surroundings, Zephyr noticed a couple of green leaves hanging on trees from the hole in the cavern. The trees were like nothing he had ever seen before, being both tall and skinny, unlike the small ones he was used to seeing at home.

Yet, he had left home and instead was greeted by a mysterious voice, kind enough to lead him through to a different place. The experience in itself was odd, as only a hand talking to him would never be widely accepted in where he used to live. Zephyr shook his head, trying to rid himself of the old home he once dwelled in. Now, he instead looked up at the gleaming stars in wonder, trying to point out all the constellations he had memorized at his old home.

It was likely the only thing Zephyr had enjoyed at his old home, and would likely be the only thing he would try to remember. The confusing thing was that he could not spot a single recognizable constellation, not even Orion’s Belt. Yet he could point out a few that seemed similar to the ones back home, like the Big Dipper, but it seemed more prominent than before and actually looked like a large bear in the stars, rather than a large pot for boiling spaghetti. Now Zephyr spotted vines crawling down from the mouth of the cavern and began to wrap around the sides of the minorly lit cavern, and from what he could tell was that some type of place he had never visited lay in wait for him outside.

Propping himself up with his elbows, Zephyr looked around and directly in front of him stood a large mirror, likely nine feet tall. It was an oval in figure and was surrounded by another oval that was this time thick and silver, while blue gems dotted around the silver outlining. He then noticed that it still rippled slightly as if it were waiting for another to arrive. Turning his head around, Zephyr then noticed the smooth grass that surrounded the mirror, along with an odd amount of rocks that were randomly scattered across the grass area, creating indents in the soft dirt.

Realizing that only one spot was left unchecked by himself, weakly stood himself up and looked behind himself only to see something that amazed and confused him all the same. A large pond awaited him, and it stood still while a large boulder slightly stuck out from the left side of the pond. It’s diameter had to be about 12.5 feet across and it looked about three feet deep. Rushing over to the pond, Zephyr didn’t even notice the smaller being that lay unconscious on the ground behind him on his right. He was too busy slurping up the clear water to quench his thirst to realize that a pastel colored pony lay behind him.

After drinking for a minute straight, Zephyr laid back, completely pleased with the pond he now looked at. It wasn’t the prettiest sight, but it was very clear and was surprisingly clean, so it was completely fine to drink. Now turning back, Zephyr finally spotted the pony but did not know what to make of it, and seeing it laying down breathing heavily was worrying to the young boy. Yet his head snapped back to the mirror as it began to violently react once more, lashing out and wildly thrashing around before another figure fell to the ground on the other side, or from what Zephyr could tell.

This figure was definitely human, just he was not white as Zephyr was. The black man lay unconscious on the ground in an odd outfit, one differing from Zephyr’s own clothes. The man was large compared to Zephyr, seeming to be at 6’8’ and fully grown. His body was very large compared to Zephyr’s own current size, a measly 3 ½ feet, which was quite small for a child of his age. Yet Zephyr knew he would grow, it just seemed that the process was taking a long time for him. It was slightly confusing but also interesting.

Zephyr gave the large man’s clothes a closer look over, seeing that it truly did differ from his own style of clothing. The man wore brown boots that went up to his high shins, and Zephyr couldn’t see the socks. Brown loose pants were stuffed inside of the interior of the boots, and an odd burgundy shirt that seemed to be padded. A small brown belt went over the shirt and wrapped all the way around, to keep the pants up. And chainmail was on top of his shirt, hanging down to his hips while a hood of chainmail waited in between his shoulders.

He groaned slightly performing with a baritone of a voice, before his grey eyes fluttered open and looked over to Zephyr who was hovering the the man’s left.

“Where am I?” The man asked making Zephyr shrug in response, as he truly didn’t know either but the man sighed in return.

The large man’s eyes flew open when he realized that the mirror stood there, rippling violently once more, “You might want to stand back.”

The man looked over to Zephyr who stood a good five feet away from the mirror making him follow suit and watch as the mirror violently shook about before throwing out another figure towards them.

“What magic is this?” He yelled in surprise towards the mirror, looking down at the other man.

This man looked very different, much younger in fact. As the two looked over him they noticed something that stood out differently from the both of them, he had pointed ears. They stood there as if it were normal for them and the two looked at each other in confusion and concern. The new man’s hair was golden and he wore a lot of green on his body.

His dark brown armor covered his whole legs and it all seemed to be conjoined, no strings were visible and it wrapped around his legs running all the way up until his lower thighs, where a black material could be seen. Black chainmail covered just above where his leg armor ended and at the top of his hips began a chestplate that wrapped all the way around his chest, though it didn’t spread out from his shoulders. Small curved lines ran down the chestplate that curved inwards from where they began, running all the way down the chestplate. The chestplate diagonally pointed outwards from the chest by about three inches while it slightly curved towards the large line running down the middle from the point where the lines met.

Gauntlets with the same design as the chestplate were clamped on his wrists and the chainmail spread from his shoulders to down under the gauntlets. The chainmail reached up and covered most of his neck while a dark-green cloak did the rest. It wrapped around the top of his chestplate and hung down to the back of his knees. The interior of the cloak was a dark-grey, while runic symbols were inscribed around the edges. The cloak was hooded as well but it was limp at his back like he large man’s own chainmail.

Zephyr then noticed two sheaths hidden by the cloak that were attached at the top of the leg armor, where the handles to two daggers lay. The man’s skin was very white compared to Zephyr’s own tanned skin, and his lips were a small shade of red.

“Hey...what’s your name?”

“Ordo.” Ordo answered looking at at Zephyr expectantly.

“Zephyr,” He answered in return making the large man nod.

“Have you spotted the daggers yet, Ordo?” Zephyr questioned making the larger man nod once more.

It felt wrong looking at the fellow man, but the two did so anyways, as if trying to deem him trustworthy or not. Yet his face told them that he was very young, perhaps even still a teenager. Zephyr noticed that the mirror was acting up again, and looked over at the different man before trying to pull him out of the way. He felt the man effortlessly lift in his grasp after a couple of moments but looked back to see Ordo carrying him instead. Zephyr then decided to smile.

The mirror spat out another person but this time it cracked, surprising both of them. It was very small and originated at the epicenter of the mirror but it seemed as if it would grow in use of the mirror. The figure was once more a man with pointed ears yet he looked far more regal than the younger one. He had pure white hair instead of the golden hair and a rough face, that looked as if made for scowling. Two braids laid across his shoulders and a long ponytail nestled at the back of his head tied together with a green band. Small silver beads were attacked at the lower parts of each ear.

His boots were tan and ran up to his knees before triangle shaped cloth covered over his knees. Light-brown pants with small patterns of leaves and vines adorned on it slipped into his large boots. Small bits of green rectangular cloth hung from the bottom of his leather tunic that was adorned with small semi-sphere silver orbs dotted around the leather armor. The heavily padded parts were tan while the lighter parts of the tunic were brown with patterns of leaves on them. Large tan shoulder pads hung from each shoulder with the smaller pieces of brown cloth underneath with golden designs on the edges while and even smaller piece of green cloth hung down with small bits of gold as well, before finally reaching his elbow.

His gauntlet was tan with designs from white chalk written on it while the silver semi-sphere orbs dotted around them, along with a single emerald at the center of the gauntlet. A belt wrapped around his chest and underneath his left arm to hold up his quiver filled with twenty arrows. An intricate light-brown wooden bow hung around his back by a tight string while two emeralds stood at the ends of the string. A small green hood hung over the top of his tunic and wrapped around the back while also having a hood for him. A large sheath hung from his right hip, wrapped around over the green pieces of cloth showing the hilt of the sword that was dark-brown leather and the pommel being a round bit of silver. The sheath itself was quite simple, being brown with the occasional intricate design using silver metal on the sheath.

By this time his eyes opened, revealing a hawk-like gaze filled with yellow orbs that threateningly stared at them. He immediately somersaulted backwards before pulling out his bow and notching an arrow, aiming it straight at Zephyr who in turn raised his hands in surrender. Ordo stood still, watching the man with an amused expression, until the mirror began to violently shake once more.

After the shaking had subsided another figure came through, causing it to crack once more. Zephyr and Ordo looked at each other worriedly before staring at the long-eared man. Now a woman lay on the ground with very pale skin. Her eyes immediately opened revealing two orange orbs that pierced through all their stares. The black hair hung down her shoulders and went down her back

The woman stared at the man with the bow in disinterest and she wore a black cape that wrapped all the way around her body, while a black vest adorned her chest and a white dress shirt was underneath it. A small golden pocket watch hung from the vest’s pockets, slightly going against her dark color-scheme. Gray pants were at her slim legs, and black dress shoes with one-inch heels at the back were on her feet. She was dressed simply yet greatly, as if ready to go to a ball.

“This is getting really old.” Zephyr announced, looking back at the mirror that had been acting violently for a sixth time.

Another person shot out, causing it to crack even more, and this time the most prominent feature was the lab coat. He had a blue shirt on and black pants while rectangular glasses were on his head, his shoes were a simple black. When he opened his eyes he spoke with an accent, “Oh no, zis is not good.”

Zephyr recognised it to be a German accent, and felt that it was kind of cliché, with him being a german scientist and all. Yet as he tried to get up another body fell on top of him causing him to tell out.

“Scheiße, steigen sie von mir!” Zephyr could only assume they were curses.

Next a woman stood up, and she looked very odd compared to every else, even the men with the long ears. She held a staff and had flame-like hair that fell down her back to her hips. Her eyes were a brilliant green like Zephyr's own. She wore a black vest that had small red, blue and green wires running from the vests pocket into her own pocket. The black pants she wore were unique as more wires ran through where the belt would be. A white dress shirt was underneath her own vest, and a black top hat rested upon her head while goggles with gears on them were wrapped around the base of the hat. Her black shoes had golden gears on each side as well, and the silver staff she carried had wires running through the glass middle while the ends clearly sparked with electricity and a small vent stood at the end of the staff, and Zephyr saw steam rise from it.

With the next person that fell through, the mirror broke, startling everyone except the man that had fallen through. He stood up and looked at everyone with tired blue eyes, while his hair was a brilliant black with small grey hairs showing around. A burgundy shirt wash on his chest while his blue pants tried to contrast with it, and his brown boots came up to the middle of his shins, while the pants were tucked in.

The man pointed at the younger man that was still unconscious, “So...what about that one?”

Then why leave?

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The Start of A New Age

By Lord-Luzar

“So...what about that one?” His gravelly voice echoed throughout the cavern before leaving through the mouth.

“He’s been asleep since he arrived,” Ordo answered, still staring down the other pointy ear man.

“Zis is interesting, I’ve never been so excited before!” The german scientist exclaimed, excitedly hoping in place.

Zephyr then took a good look over at the people surrounding him, a large black man named Ordo, a seemingly Vampiric woman, another woman from the steampunk age, an old man, a german scientist, and two other men with pointy ears. His life hadn’t been so odd in a long time, yet this is what he wished for. To get away from his home, to live a life away from his ‘loved’ parents.

The older long ear man lowered his bow, seemingly thinking that they were of no threat, “Where do you come from, travellers?”

His voice was hardened from a disciplined life, and the gruff exterior that he showed was exactly what Zephyr had pictured. His cheekbones were at an average height for a man but he seemed to not care about looks, while a small but astute nose stayed firm in place as he shifted his gaze around them.

“Why do you have long ears?” Zephyr’s bluntness cut through the warrior’s defenses easily, causing him to go wide-eyed.

“You have never heard of an Elf?”

“You work with Santa...I thought you’d be smaller.” Zephyr commented making a confused look go over the man’s face.

“No, I am an Elven Warrior, and a butler of the High Council in-”

“So you’re British?”

Zephyr had interrupted him once again making a sigh leave his throat, “Just tell me your name, human child.”

“Zephyr, and you...long-eared man?” Zephyr struggled to think of a comeback.

“I am Triton, and these elves you speak of...I believe it is human folklore,” Triton’s response was sincere, as if trying to not hurt Zephyr’s feelings.

“Oh I know that already, I’m just messing with you.” He announced in return before looking over the other tall adults.

Most of them looked at him in surprise, while the German scientist simply laughed, “Oh, zis kid is a riot! Vat would you say to me zen?”

“You’re a cliché?” Zephyr answered, slightly confused by the question.

The German laughed aloud in a coarse manner, making a few of the adults clamp their hands over their ears, “Would you shut that man up?” The old man asked to no one in particular.

The Vampiric woman obliged and delivered an axe kick to the back of his head, sending him on the ground. The old man sighed before looking at Zephyr, “Who got here first kid?”

“I did.” Zephyr answered.

“What happened when you got here?”

“Not much really, just that a whole bunch of adults fell through a rippling mirror that is now broken, and that we fell inside a cave.” Zephyr pointed upwards, showing the hole that let the moonlight shine through.

“Also that there’s this weird creature laying on the other side of the portal...it was here when I got here.” Zephyr turned and pointed through the now broken mirror, showing the equine figure.

“A horse?” The flame-haired woman asked.

“No, ze frame is too small, perhaps a pony?” The scientist answered with a second question.

“Well, I can successfully say that I’ve never seen a horse like that.” Ordo chimed in, pointing to a picture on its flank.

“A tattoo...now zis is getting very odd.”

Looking at where Ordo pointed Zephyr saw the ‘tattoo’ and realized it looked like a compass with the red finger pointing northwards. Curiosity getting the better of him, Zephyr walked over to the equine creature once more, wondering as to what it could’ve been. And when he poked the flank nothing seemed to happen, except that it awoke very confused and startled.

“W-What’s going on?” It stammered making all of them jump except for the unconscious man.

An equine talking, now that got their attention, especially the scientist that was looking at the equine in a very interested manner. Zephyr stared into the eyes of the equine, looking at two comically sized blue eyes. It quivered and shook in fear as it looked at the human child, but Zephyr took a step forward making it try to scoot backwards. The Vampiric woman watched in amusement while the Elven Warrior looked over the vines with a thoughtful look. Zephyr squatted to look the downed equine eye to eye and narrowed his own eyes.

“What are you?” Zephyr asked.

Its eyes grew to a new size, not surprising Zephyr, “W-What are you!” It stammered in return.

“I will not answer your questions unless you answer mine,” Zephyr added in a robotic tone.

The equine looked behind Zephyr and stared at the other six standing before looking at the collapsed seventh, and let out a short sigh.

“I’m a pegasus pony, and my name is Stormchaser.” Stormchaser answered making a smile cross over Zephyr’s face.

Tapping the pegasus’ shoulder Zephyr nodded, “As promised, I am a human and my name is Zephyr.”

“Now, as to how you got here,” Zephyr started, making the pegasus nod.

Stormchaser quickly went over his small story, remembering to tell of the dart he had been shot with, and narrowly escaping the boulder which Zephyr commented about. Then finally telling of how he found the mirror. He did not tell them how he activated it though, still in worry that the humans were angry.

“That’s very interesting...but couldn’t you have flown down instead of jumping into the water?” Zephyr commented making the scientist nod, as well as the steampunk woman.

“Well, yes but I wasn’t thinking straight after narrowly avoiding being crushed,” Stormchaser answered in an angered tone.

Zephyr used a gesture Stormchaser didn’t understand but knew that it meant to calm down, “Storm, would it be alright if I call you that? Anyways, you need to calm down and help all of us get out of this cave, we don’t want to stay here forever do we?”

The pegasus nodded and Zephyr looked towards the other adults, “What should we do first?”

“Stormchaser should scout up ahead, taking a look from the hole up there.” The Vampiric woman pointed at the mouth of the cavern.

The scientist and steampunk woman nodded in turn, while Zephyr realized that Ordo and Triton were examining the vines together and idly chatting. Stormchaser nodded shakily before flapping his wings with a test then proclaiming, “This’ll be my last flight before my wings go numb, that liquid is working quickly.”

The Vampiric woman and the scientist nodded while the steampunk woman went to wake the younger man who still rested unconscious. Zephyr watched as small wings lifted the pegasus’ body off the ground and into the air, and did so as Storm rose higher and higher to the mouth of the cavern. Eventually he reached the top and looked over the surroundings with hindered sight, due to the thick foliage and the night’s lack of light.

Shouting back down, Storm pronounced, “I can’t really see anything...but I’ll keep searching!”

The response that echoed was, “If you see any amount of unnatural light, tell us, its likely to be from a house or living quarters!”

The Vampiric woman lowered her voice before turning to the human child, “You have very interesting eyes...Zephyr, was it?”

Zephyr nodded, wondering as to why he was suddenly being approached, “And yes, I am a vampire...I could see it lingering in those eyes of yours.”

The child nodded slowly before tilting his head, “What is your name, ma’am?”

The woman kindly smiled and replied, “Zentha.”

“I think I’ll call you Zena instead,” Zephyr replied making the woman let out a hearty laugh.

Zena walked over to see what Ordo and Triton were doing while the steampunk woman still poked the smaller elf. The german scientist seemed to be mumbling to himself near the walls of the cavern far away from everyone else.

Walking over worried, Zephyr voiced his concern, “Um...are you alright, Mr. Cliché?”

The scientist looked up at the smaller child and nodded, “Ja, just a little confused...how does such a creature lift itself vith those tiny vings?! It is so confusing…”

“Why don’t you ask him once he returns?” Zephyr reasoned making the scientist rub his temples.

“I doubt he even knows of simple physics, no less how he can fly!” The scientist whispered angrily.

“Before I go may I have your name...I don’t want to call you Mr. Cliché.” Zephyr spoke making the scientist happily nod.

“Ja, of course Zephyr, my name is Ethan.” His voice had grown soft, very soft...Zephyr noted this.

“Ethan is quite the odd german name.”

“I know, I vas born in America but my parents and I moved to Germany after two years,” Ethan’s voice was now noticeably kind and sincere.

“Well, just keep calm for now Ethan.” Zephyr finished before turning and leaving Ethan to himself.

The old man was no where to be seen, and thats when Zephyr saw that the group of three were looking upwards at the vines on the cavern walls. Looking up as well, Zephyr saw the old man gripping on a vine with white knuckles, pulling himself closer to the mouth of the cavern. The man was surprisingly spry for being so old, or at least Zephyr thought he was old. Watching the man in awe was all he could currently do, knowing the he could never do something like that, let alone facing his fear of heights, as the vines went all the way up to the top of the cavern approximately 80 feet above.

“I see something everypony!” Storm yelled down the hole, surprising the grey-haired man.

His grip suddenly released and he let out a surprised yelp from letting the yelling pegasus, and quickly fell down the length of the cavern. Yet he reached with his right hand and gripped the vine in a loud grunt, before his hands burned as he slowed his descent. Landing on the bottom the group of three stared at him in concern.

“What did you find?” He croaked towards the pegasus.

“I see light, not from the moon!” Storm called back down.

“Are you sure?” The old man questioned making a confident response echo down.

“Yes, I also see some bits of neatly cut timber on neat ground.” His answer surprised the man and the rest.

“Well then...how are we going to get out of here?” Zena asked.

“By the way I went,” The old man responded.

“I’m not sure those flimsy vines can support my weight.” Ordo voiced his concern, looking over himself.

“Then I guess you’re going to have to stay here, aren’t you?” The old man challenged.

Zephyr then saw a small smirk run across Ordo’s face, and he walked up to the vines giving a firm tug. After pulling on it for a minute and checking that it ran all the way to the cavern’s mouth, Ordo began to climb his way up, surprised that the vine didn’t snap. Zena did the same, tugging on a vine before being satisfied then began her ascent up the walls of the cavern. This continued until Zephyr, the steampunk woman, and the younger elf remained at the bottom. Looking over to the water Zephyr began to have mixed feelings of this plan.

“How will we supply ourselves with food and fresh water?” He yelled upwards.

A long silence fell in between them before the old man’s voice croaked back, “One of us will journey back here with a canteen or two to get water each day, or maybe every few hours.”

Finding the answer somewhat suitable, Zephyr looked at the young steampunk woman who frowned as she looked at the younger elven boy. Zephyr grabbed the wrist of the young elf and slowly dragged him backwards to where the water was. Wading into the water, Zephyr pulled on the wrist of the elf more and more, eventually submerging his head. The reaction was slow and Zephyr was almost tempted to pull him out of the pond, but just before Zephyr did that the young elf woke.

He stood up with only his head drenched and looked back to see Zephyr standing in the pond, and pointed a shaking finger at him angrily, “Were you trying to drown me, human?”

Zephyr was startled about how angrily he spat the word, as if it meant him harm. Looking at the now noticed eyes of the elven boy, Zephyr realized that they were light-blue eyes. And also that the voice of the elf was slightly higher-pitched than Zephyr expected, as he expected a young man not an old child.

“What are you staring at human?” He once more spat the word as if it were a poison eating away at his flesh.

“Hurry up,” Zephyr simply said, walking away from the taller and much stronger elven boy.

The steampunk woman nodded in thanks before climbing her way up the vines and slowly making her way to the cavern’s mouth. Starting up the wall with growing dread, Zephyr looked down and saw that he was 20 feet above the ground, and his pit dropped. Refusing the urge to regurgitate whatever small portion of food he had left in his belly, Zephyr stuck his eyes upwards and tried to become as determined as possible. Fortunately, when he climbed he was too busy thinking to realize that he had made it to the cavern’s mouth and when he was pulled up it startled him. The steampunk woman calmed him down by simply holding him on his shoulders, yet it was such a calming sensation to the boy and he didn’t know why.

Shaking his head Zephyr faced the mouth and yelled down, “This is the only way out...so if you want to die of starvation, be my guest, but if you want to survive then follow us!”

Looking over the adults that stared at him in a worried fashion Zephyr couldn’t help but grow anxious and worried that he had done something wrong. And when he walked over to yell to the elven boy once more he saw the golden head of the boy emerge from the mouth and climb over. His piercing stare did not seem to harm Zephyr as he stared back in a manner that made the elf back away first. The elven boy seemed very stubborn and likely cynical, so when Zephyr had beaten him down with a simple test of willpower, his ego had been taken down many pegs. Yet he was a teenager, someone who wanted to show and test their might and pride so he soon came up with a devious plan, one far too devious for any child to handle on his or her own.

But his mind stopped working when he realized that a three-foot-tall pony was talking to a gray-haired man while leading the way of the small convoy. Since when did ponies talk?

“I must be on some elven grass…” He muttered in wild confusion.

What kind of equine creature talked? For all his knowledge, which wasn’t vast, he knew that equine creatures did not talk. Yet the feeling of fearing death was all too real when he climbed the vines up the cavern and out the mouth, and the feeling of relief was all too real as well. And his anger had been boiling ever since he met the small human child, a human no less.

“What is your name?” The question made him turn to the speaker.

Looking up only by an inch or two, the elf saw the beautiful steampunk woman staring down at him with her own emerald eyes, “I am Aeris.”

“I am Ester,” She did a small bow while her staff nearly smacked Zephyr across the face.

Aeris had to hide his smile when he saw that the small child had almost been clocked on the head, “What is the child’s name?”

“He is Zephyr.” Ester replied, looking forwards and seeing a warm light slowly grow brighter as they stayed on course.

Aeris had to clamp his jaw back on its hinge while staring at the boy in a suspicious manner, while also being at a loss. How had the boy received such a majestic name meant only for High Elven Priests? Surely the humans had never met a High Elven Priest because otherwise they would’ve known of one by now, and have some form of knowledge to counteract their magic but this child possessed such a name. Perhaps it was mere coincidence, or perhaps the name had been heard of and passed on by those traitorous elves that had decided to side with the humans? Aeris had opted for the side that didn’t go up against his own race, and instead stuck to his own ways of racial hatred that had been promoted by his own people and propaganda.

Aeris stopped in front of the wooden shack that the horse had apparently spotted before he awoke, and looked over in small amounts of admiration. It was fitted into the side of a dirt mound, with small windows near the doorway that showed of the interior of the house. He thought it wasn’t too shabby, but knew he himself could do better.

“Alright, we need to search this house in case of any clues to tell that someone still lives here and if they don’t I want someone to go back to the cave and gather up some of that fresh water and come back.” The old man fluidly spoke, making everyone nod but Aeris.

“What makes you the leader? You’ve probably got some shady agenda for all of us,” Aeris voiced his own reasoning making the older man laugh.

“Shady agenda? Well I do have one for you now, and its called teaching a kid to learn some damn respect! You can be the one to go get the water, and if you don’t have it in the next hour you can have fun living in this jungle on your own.” The old man said making the elven child angrily snort.

“Well what are you going to do about it, old man?” Aeris challenged making a large man stand to his side and shake his head.

“You should know by now it isn’t wise to challenge your elders.” He spoke in a deep tone.

“And how would you know that slave?” Aeris angrily shouted making the larger man frown, but he kept his calm.

Yet he heard a gasp and looked over to the small child, “Now you listen here you elven prick, I will not deal with your racist crap and I will not deal with the way you are treating your elders.”

Aeris didn’t back away because of the words that the boy spat, or because that human child had just threatened him but because of the deafening tone the boy spoke in and the color of his eyes, as they had changed. Instead of a beautiful emerald being at his irises were a blood red, seemingly trying to tear through his mind in an effort to break his will. Unfortunately for Aeris it was working, and it was working well.

Grabbing a nearby bucket with a small trim of metal around it, Aeris quickly left the small household in fear of what the child would do. Yet as he ran away he couldn’t help but call himself a coward for not striking down the child where he stood, but he still didn’t know what the child, Zephyr, could do.

Zephyr stood still staring at the door that the elf had left through and looked up at Ordo who looked down at him in shame. Frowning, he pondered as to why Ordo was disappointed in what he had done, yet looking over the adults still in the room and those that hadn’t explored the other rooms, he realized that something was wrong. They all stood staring directly at his eyes in shock, except for Ordo who merely walked up the stairs disappointed in Zephyr.

“Kid, y-your eyes...they’re red!” Ester exclaimed worriedly pointing at his eyes.

“Red?”

Zephyr slowly was calming down and that’s when Ethan decided to pitch in, “By what I’ve observed so far, I’d say they turned red based on your anger-filled reaction to the elven boys blatant racism.”

Staring at Ethan for a moment and pondering his words, Zephyr heard Ester comment once more, “It seems you’re correct Ethan, his eyes are slowly turning green once more.”

Zephyr felt confused...how did she know Ethan’s name if they hadn’t talked with each other once? He then realized it must’ve been when she walked ahead of him to speak with the old man. Finding a seat to truly think about what had just happened, Zephyr thought it over for a long time. How could his eyes turn red? He had only ever known to have emerald green eyes instead of blood red eyes...this really disturbed and confused the young boy. Trying to think about how his eyes changed color was odd, possibly even disturbing the young child.

Watching Zena, Ordo and the old man come down from upstairs made him ease into his thoughts and think over them with more logic and precision. Perhaps it was their presence that had calmed him and comforted him, or perhaps it was just Ester...she had been kind to him in every situation he had run in with her, which was only one so far. Trying to ease his mind from the calculating thoughts, Zephyr looked up to the old man, “Um...I never got your name.”

“Oh, of course, my name is Zariel.” Zariel simply replied.

“Well Zariel,” Zephyr tested the name rolling it off his tongue. “Where did you send Stormchaser...I haven’t seen him since we entered the home.”

“I immediately made him rest, seeing as he is the only one here that can fly for a long period of time, and search for civilization.” Zariel answered, making Zephyr nod in return thinking it was a tactical course of action.

Looking back over to Ordo, Zephyr stared into his grey eyes with a pleading hope, “May you state as to why you’re disappointed in me?”

Ordo stared at Zephyr for a very long time, while the others searched the bottom floor, before finding the entrance to a basement under a bland brown rug. They continued to search down their, being given the talisman that Stormchaser had in case of such a thing happened.

“Well Zephyr, I know you probably won’t understand this, because you seem pretty young but you did something that didn’t need to be done. You did not need to thrash out and verbally attack the young elf, he merely is not as calm and optimistic as you or I. His past seems to be very dark as well, causing him to not trust many. You have to realize these things and analyze them before talking to a person like him. When trying to talk to someone such as him you must be gentle and kind, yet also be straight to the point so they don’t think you have a personal agenda.

“What I’m getting at is that in that situation it would’ve been better to let me handle it instead of being brash and anger-ridden.” Ordo finished, making Zephyr nod in response.

“I see...I believe something must be done about this anger of mine, otherwise it might lead to some very sticky situations.” Zephyr responded in turn, after carefully using what Ordo had just said to his advantage.

“You seem to be very wise and mature for your age, young Zephyr...your fast-learning is a good skill to have.” Ordo complemented, making Zephyr respectfully nod.

“Talking about your anger with Ester or the scientist is a wise idea, and I know which one I would take.” Ordo cryptically spoke, turning to walk down the secret entrance to the basement.

Zephyr didn’t stop him, instead deciding to go to Ester for the advice. To him it seemed as the wrong decision but the way she treated him made a warm feeling rush through his body, it was as if she was his real mother but Zephyr knew otherwise. Yet he couldn’t help but feel that she was far more maternal than his real mother who decided to viciously beat him instead of giving him a simple hug. Shaking his home from his mind once again, Zephyr walked over to where Ester was looking over a bookcase filled with dusty tomes and tapped her shoulder.

After apologizing from making her jump he asked her a simple question, “Why do you believe my eyes turned red?”

She suddenly frowned and squatted down enough to be eye to eye with Zephyr, “Truth be told, I can’t give you a good enough answer other than what Ethan told you, but I can tell you that you are not some monster...that is what you’re here for isn’t it?”

Now Zephyr frowned and shook his head, “No...I truly just wanted to have your opinion before I decided who to ask.”

“Ask about what?”

“Lucky you should say that, seeing as how I’ve chosen you instead of Ethan,” Zephyr smiled, making Ester stand up and look at him in confusion.

“What do you mean?” Small amounts of fear were edged in her voice.

“I wanted to pick between the two of you to help control my anger...I’ve realized that it isn’t a big help and currently I can’t control it that well.”

“While that’s mighty wise, I believe I’m not the right person for the job, kid...I don’t know much about the human mind or body.”

“I have faith in you...something tells me that in my heart.” Zephyr pointed to where said organ would be, making Ester’s eyes go wide.

“No no no! Don’t mistake this for love...I mean that my mother wasn’t the best of moms, and was partially why I willingly came here. I just feel that I can put my faith in you because you’re the first person to ever truly be kind to me.” Zephyr confessed making a soft hand brush against his cheek.

“Oh honey, you seem to have had such a hard life before this...I suppose I can try to figure something out as well but you shouldn’t find anything maternal about me, I’ve never had any real interest in kids.” Her words made a warm smile wash over Zephyr’s face as Ester removed her hand.

“Thank you...and I’ve never been one to act like a child.” Zephyr admitted.

Zephyr watched her new smile turn to an even wider one as she laughed and went back to examining her bookcase while he turned and walked over to the small chair before sitting back down. Watching heads slowly rise from the basement was partly amusing for Zephyr but sat still when being addressed by Zariel.

“Zephyr, I’m going to start a fire in the fireplace over there, but what I want you to do is to search for any more hidden or secretive places in the basement. If you don’t find anything you can search tomorrow morning after we have some breakfast.” Zariel commanded and watched the young boy salute.

As he was handed the orange talisman and began to slowly descent he heard Aeris come through the door, “Please don’t let me do that again.”

He sounded out of breath, but Zephyr couldn't have cared less than he currently did. Stepping down into the darkened room was ominous and he could’ve sworn that opera music was playing in his head now. Not sure how to activate the talisman, Zephyr flicked it and watched with amusement as it struggled to spark back to life. He was met with the forms of tomes and scrolls everywhere in the basement, nearly everything being without cobwebs and in neat condition. Various pieces of furniture were stacked in a corner and a painting was adorned on the right side of the corner.

Walking over, he saw something odd in one of the couches cushions. Reaching over while holding the talisman in his right hand, Zephyr felt his hand connect with a small, cold cylinder. Grabbing onto it tightly, Zephyr tugged it and nearly threw out his back with the might that he used, but didn’t feel any type of movement coming from the cylinder. Instead feeling very curious, Zephyr pushed the seemingly metallic cylinder inwards and heard a low rumble, to low for those upstairs to hear.

A sudden chill ran up his spine as a noise that resembled the grinding of stone against stone emanated from behind the couch. Now holding the talisman by his mouth, Zephyr gripped the side of the couch and pulled with all the strength his tiny and poorly used muscles could offer. They shouted in protest for him to stop, already burning from the exertion of climbing 80 feet worth of vine. Yet Zephyr continued and pulled with all his might until the couch made an odd sound that resembled a click. Then Zephyr pulled once more and felt it easily slide away from the corner. Curious as to why, he spotted the cylinder that had been connected to where the wall was and saw that it had been stuck in place by a small rectangle but all of his struggling made it come lose and then fall.

Not minding that, Zephyr turned his attention to the small hole in the wall. Keeping the talisman in his mouth, Zephyr realized that only a pony or someone of his size could fit through the hole. And after a couple minutes of braving the almost pitch black shaft filled with cobwebs and dust, coughing because of said dust, and nearly screaming at the top of his lungs because of a very large spider Zephyr had made it out of the small shaft. Now he stood in a well-lit and maintained room where a large pony sat upon an odd looking throne. His eyes widened at the size of the pony and what said pony had on its body.

He couldn’t tell if the pony was real or not because it sat as still as a statue, but judging by where he found it, he decided it was a statue. Looking around the room once more Zephyr realized that the room was supported by well-kept limestone pillars with ornate designs at the tops and bottoms of the pillars. All were circular in form, while keeping a pristine white shade over them. The walls were bricked and had an old dusty appearance while looking very tan in color. Some were cracked while others were just dusty. The floor was very smooth and didn’t appear to be made out of the same material, being something with the appearance of polished granite, perhaps it was granite.

The top layer of bricks glowed light-blue with runic symbols that Zephyr could not translate, but they looked nothing like the english language, or even Egyptian. To him they were entirely alien, but he did not know much about the place he now inhabited so he didn’t question it either. The throne had six steps leading up to it, while the figure on top of said throne looked very uncomfortable to be there, or from the mask that was on top of its head that’s what Zephyr guessed. The mask was mainly dark-purple with two black eyeholes and golden designs flowing around the mask in snakelike patterns. The most prominent feature of the mask was were the nose should’ve been was a different form of color, mostly silver.

Looking over the rest of the unmoving body Zephyr saw a very realistic dark-purple coat. He didn’t notice the shape on the flank of the equine but it didn’t matter to him either way. Small amounts of black hair drooped behind the mask and down over her shoulder in a very straight fashion. Four golden rings with the same runic letters around the top of the room were wrapped around the left foreleg of the statue. Noticing two more rings, but this time silver, wrapped around the right foreleg of the statues body wasn’t odd. Or that he found a golden necklace hanging around the statues neck had a large ruby that was the same shape of the necklace but smaller in the thin metal sheet that was connected by a golden chain.

No, what truly was odd was that now the black eyeholes glowed a brilliant orange, and as the head of the large pony turned to look at him Zephyr froze in fear. When the head turned it sounded as if stone was turning on more stone, but he didn’t care as the large figure slowly stood up from its throne and stepped off, causing him to rush down the steps backwards. Now standing approximately five feet away, and on his glutes because he slipped, Zephyr stared in awe as the large figure looked over him in seeming disinterest.

Then it surprised him by speaking in an odd tone that hurt his ears, as if it had been unused for centuries, “Wake me after a thousand-year sleep and for something like this? A shame I have run into you.”

It was clearly female by the way it spoke, even though Zephyr had a hard time telling. Standing with his best stature and most statuesque face he could manage Zephyr responded, “I want to know who you are.”

The head turned back to him slowly, as if she didn’t care that she took her time, “You are demanding something from me? Do you know nothing?”

“I am a conqueror! I have destroyed nations with my mighty army and watched the downfall of empires because I was the one who caused them! So now tell me....have you never heard of the everlasting Mayhans?” She spoke slowly and dramatically.

“No.” Came Zephyr’s simple reply.

“Then what do you want of me?” Her voice suddenly softer.

“I want to know who you are.”

“I am the almighty Empress of Conquerors, Seraph!” She proudly pronounced.

“Are....are you sure you’re not Egyptian?”

“I demand your respect!” She stomped her hoof on the top step causing it to crack while the loud bash reverberated throughout the room.

Gulping the last of his confidence, Zephyr nodded before standing at attention and looking at the imposing figure of the mare in fear.

“I will teach you the way of the sword.” She suddenly announced causing Zephyr to look at her in confusion.

He stammered, “I-I’m too weak to wield a sword, I could never learn.”

“You will learn.” Her voice was dangerously low.

“I will learn the way of the sword.” Zephyr quickly repeated.

“I will offer you all the knowledge on battle and the wisdom that comes with battle that I possess, I will teach you the way of the sword and turn you into a warrior worthy of slaying even a dragon...do you accept my offer?”

“I accept.”

Let my dreams guide me

View Online

The Start of A New Age

By Lord-Luzar

The creaking of the wooden stairs reacting to the weight of the small human boy turned the heads of Ethan and Ester, both startled by the sudden noise. He rose with cobwebs attached to him, and a very confused look on his face. Ester walked over to the boy in concern while Ethan observed from his spot near the window in front of the house.

“Zephyr...are you alright?” Ester asked, worry in her voice.

The boy stared off for a moment before snapping towards her suddenly, causing Ester to slightly jump, “Yes, yes I’m fine...just in shock.”

Ester raised a brow before putting her hand on his left shoulder, “If you need to talk to anyone about anything, come to me...I’ll listen.”

Zephyr slowly nodded with a distant look in his eye but shook his head once more, before turning to look at Ethan. The scientist in turn stared at the boy for a minute before examining the outside via the clear window. Truly having the time to look around, Zephyr tapped the talisman once more, finally noticing that it had gone dark and walked down the small wooden corridor. The corridor was in alignment with the door and was heavily supported with what seemed to be makeshift supports out of the trunks of large trees, shaved down. After walking what seemed to be 20 feet and spying four pairs of supports, Zephyr reached the bottom of the corridor where he realized a fire had been started.

Mentally slapping himself, Zephyr saw Zerial sleeping on a leather recliner next to the fire. Not wanting to wake the sleeping man, he turned to inspect the interior of the room. It gave of the same homely feel as the small living room immediately after the door with yet another large amount of books decorated in bookcases that surrounded the room. The roof was reinforced with hard wood and Zephyr wondered exactly who had built the house in the dirt, seeing as how everything was built with wood. A widely decorated red rug stood under his feet, differing from the dirty brown rug in the living room. Spotting a futon at the exact opposite location of the recliner that housed dark blue cushions made the boy raise a brow. He certainly knew next to nothing about home interior and decorating, but it seemed that this home was decorated by an idiot while being built by the same idiot.

A wooden coffee table lay three feet in front of the brick fireplace, the first intelligible design Zephyr spotted, that had a small sheet of glass in the middle of it. Walking over and looking through said glass Zephyr realized that another well-designed rug snugly fit on the wooden floor, the rug being tan in color with red designs swimming around the sides and mainly coursing around the corners. A small wax candle sat in a golden handle, partially melted on the coffee table, while a dusty brown tome sat next to it with a bookmark laying near the end of the tome.

Curiosity clouding his judgement, Zephyr picked up the book and opened up to the page that the bookmark patiently sat between, practically feeling its happiness for gaining fresh air. It mostly described some kind of journey, plainly being well described and based around some ancient tale. From the gist of a couple of paragraphs Zephyr assumed it was about somepony who had the guts and willpower to challenge an ancient race of conquering ponies the end currently being unknown.

Sliding the bookmark at the beginning of the book and folding it under his arm, Zephyr poked Zariel in the shoulder and was greeted with a snore of annoyance. Regretting his decision before actually committing to it, Zephyr grabbed the tome by the end of the book and hit it across the man’s shoulder. He shot up immediately, glaring at whom who dared to wake him from his peaceful slumber yet calmed down considerably when recognising the smaller boy holding a tome. Zariel recognised it as the tome that had sat on the coffee table, but decided not to comment on it instead holding his head lightly.

“Hey kid, would you gather the others in here? And wake up Stormchaser as well...he would likely want to sit in front of a fire instead of sleeping upstairs.” Zariel requested making the smaller boy nod without protest.

“Of course, but I’ll need to know where they are,” His response elicited a chuckle from Zariel.

“Straight to the point you are, a good trait to find once in a while...the stairwell is where you’ll go to find the rest of them. There’s a surprising amount of beds upstairs...makes you wonder what stayed here before us.” Zariel commented while Zephyr nodded in response once again.

Walking away from the older man, Zephyr looked around the living room in wonder of where this stairwell resided. Looking to his immediate left straight out of the corridor he was surprised to see said stairwell awaiting him, and he wondered as to how he had not seen it before. Perhaps it was covered well or simply he had not paid much attention when walking around the house.

Reaching upstairs Zephyr realized it was much different from the lower floor of the house, seeing brighter shades of wood as the walls instead of the dark browns he had seen below. Now shades of light red danced across his vision, while darker shades of red played as the floorboards beneath him. Wondering as to what tree the wood respectively belonged to, Zephyr looked ahead while using the talisman to light the way.

He had passed at least three doors and now stood at a larger set of doors, and they stood a far darker shade of red compared to everything else, almost looking black in color. Opening said doors with the similar aluminum door knobs, Zephyr was greeted with the sight of Zena sprawled out over a large rectangular bed. She seemed to be asleep, due to the annoying sound that scratched the invisible chalk board, specifically named: her snoring. More books rested in bookcases that reached the ceiling, yet again still confusing the far younger child. Smacking her foot with the tome and walking away to avoid the fallout, Zephyr was awarded the violent sounds of her thrashing about angrily.

Now patiently waiting outside the doors, he didn’t flinch as the twin doors slammed against the walls due to the woman’s anger. She looked down at the small boy and flashed her fangs in an effort to inflict fear and make him run away in terror. His deadpan look confused her along with the unamused look in his eyes.

“Zariel wants you downstairs.” He said before turning around and walking over to the first singular door.

Standing in shock, Zena simply closed the double doors and went to redress herself. After walking back outside she saw that the boy had awoken almost all of the others that had gone for naps, including the irritating elf Aeris. He stared into an empty room with an odd look in his eye, seemingly a forlorn feeling erupting from his body. Yet he closed the door and turned to the one next to the staircase, likely belonging to Ordo.

Walking inside, everyone that stood awake wondered if Zephyr would rush out of the room but instead walked outside with directing a curt nod to the still open door before walking down the steps. In her confusion, Zena didn’t notice Stormchaser trot out of his room with an annoyed look on his muzzle, while his primaries touched the floor in agitation. His wings simply hung limp at his side, not caring that they lazily dragged on the wooden floor.

Feeling exactly like the pegasus, Zena left her room with a hunched back, basically dragging her feet across the floor and stepping down the stairs unenthusiastically. It seemed conga line representing the same thing, yet Ordo and Triton patiently waited for the rest to cross their paths. They stepped out of their rooms like they had slept for two days straight, though likely sleeping less than the others had.

Both walked down the stairs at the same pace and gait, as if they were unknown twins. They both waited for the two other humans two get up from their spots and walk down the corridor with them, as if being so patient was normal. Eventually they entered the room with the fire blazing proudly and stood at the back in silence. Zariel stared at the fire for a long time, long enough that Zena sighed in irritation which seemed to snap him out of his gaze.

“Now I know that most of you are tired,” He started his rough speech, “but I just wanted to inform you of what we’re doing tomorrow. Most of you are going to be searching for food, while I’ll take two of you to come hunt with me, likely Triton as he possesses a bow. I want someone to go back for water, and bring as much as possible while someone else gathers wood and logs for the fire.

“Zephyr will search the basement once more, just in case of anything he might’ve not found earlier. After that we’ll have lunch then rinse and repeat. Then dinner will occur and unfortunately we’ll have to skip having bathes for a couple of days.” He concluded.

“Didn’t you speak of sending Stormchaser of somewhere?” Zephyr interrupted making the man nod with a smile.

“A point I was getting too...as you all know Stormchaser has wings, far too small to lift him up of course, but somehow he gets it to work. Seeing as how we are in a random jungle, out in the middle of nowhere, I’ve decided that it would be of our best intentions to search for some form of civilization. Stormchaser will search first north, then east, then south, and then west...and if he doesn’t find any civilization we should likely just make it out of this forest instead.”

Most nodded in content with the simple plan, seeing as it was formed after some minor planning and thinking. Yet Stormchaser decided to add his own two cents, “Actually, we are in the far south, in a country called Zebrica...mostly populated by zebras. But on my way here I swore I saw a settlement in the far east, maybe I can retrace my steps and search far north for the path I took to get here?”

His option seemed far better than randomly choosing a direction and flying that way, “It seems more sensible than what I originally planned, so I believe that you should retrace your footsteps and go northwards tomorrow morning.”

Just as Stormchaser was about to correct Zariel, Aeris spoke up, “As much as you guys want to continue talking in front of this annoying fire, I want to go get some sleep...seeing as I have to deal with you people for a while.” He mumbled as he left the room.

“I agree with the elf...even though he really wants to make me choke him.” Zena spoke in turn, tiredly dragging her feet down the hallway.

Zephyr looked up from the tome he had been reading, now on page 3, “Did I miss something?”

Trinton looked over to the small boy and gently asked, “When did you acquire that book, Zephyr? What is it about?”

“Oh, I found this on the coffee table over there. And typically I believe it is telling of some ponies adventures in trying to take down some ancient empire...its surprisingly good though.” Zephyr answered in a interested tone, reading once more.

“Actually, I was wondering as to what you want me to do once I finish in the basement.” Zephyr suddenly said, not looking up from the tome.

Ethan raised his voice before any others could, “Actually, I found some empty books earlier and some quill and ink along vith it. I wanted to study some of the wildlife of this jungle, it all seems so different yet so similar.”

Zephyr nodded without raising his head, “I see, but I would like to ask...exactly what type of scientist are you?”

“Oh, I’ve been asked that question many times and truly I really don’t have a directed profession, I vas mostly asked questions about anything and I could answer it. I spent most of my time studying many professions and types of science, except geology...zat one was very, very boring.” Ethan frowned, his accent suddenly becoming less prominent.

“Hey kid, could you go pick a room and go to bed? The next conversation shouldn’t be heard on such young ears,” Zariel said making the eyebrows raise of the fellow adults in the room.

“Sure, though you’ve purely stoked my curiosity.” Zephyr truthfully spoke, placing the aged bookmark in between the pages.

Looking up, Zephyr stood up from the futon he sat on, leaving the side of Ester and Ethan. Making his way through the corridor and gently stepping up the stairs Zephyr overheard something he might’ve not supposed to hear, “I know that most of you had something back home that was very important to you...I plan on knowing who took that from us.”

Zariel’s voice had suddenly become very dark, and no one seemed to object. Simply a long silence followed, the only thing the boy could hear was his own footsteps against the wooden floor. Zephyr suddenly stopped in front of a room, knowing that someone hadn’t used it before him. It was the third from the stairs, and his prediction of how many doors there were in the hallway seemed to be wrong. Correctly counting now, Zephyr counted seven, not including the double doors at the end.

The thing that drew him to the door was not in fact that it wasn’t occupied, but the slight whispering that now entered his mind. It felt familiar, truly it was similar to the feeling he had gained when travelling through the small vent and met the odd totally non-egyptian Empress. It was very odd though, meeting a powerful Empress that had slept for a millennia while just after leaving a magical mirror that shattered as the last of them left it. It felt to close together to be more than just a coincidence, and Zephyr felt that something was going on, yet as much as he wanted to do something about it, he couldn’t.

He merely now possessed an orange talisman and a book which tells the tale of a stallion on a grand adventure, not much to take down some dark plan that waited in the shadows. Shaking his head, Zephyr turned the knob on the door and walked inside the room, the interior not differing from the other rooms. Yet instead of bookcases lining the walls he found simple paintings of the moon and sun spreading their light over different types of landscapes.

Two flowers sat at either side of the bed, looking like the sun and moon. The one on the left glowed a brilliant white and light-blue, while the flower itself had a blue color scheme with a green stem. Five petals symmetrically positioned around the pistil while six golden stamen sat erect, differing from the blue color.

The orange flower had two layers of petals, the first layer being pure orange while the one behind it was a darker orange. The same six golden stamen were positioned around the pistil, and small dark orange dots were randomly placed around the first layer of petals. The green stem differed from the color scheme as well, while the golden stamen seemed to add to it’s seemingly holy grandeur.

Shaking his head at the odd appearance of two celestial flowers, Zephyr laid the book on the nightstand with the moon based flower potted on it. He had liked the color blue slightly more than the color orange for a long time anyways, and the way in countered with the room made him feel slightly better about whomever decorated this house. Slipping off his shoes and placing them in front of the same nightstand, Zephyr then took off his shirt in turn.

He had always been more comfortable when the different cloth brushed against his skin instead of sleeping in his own clothes. Yet he kept his pants and socks on, knowing that his feet would always be could in the morning without socks. Sliding into the left side of the black sheet covered bed, Zephyr wondered of what he would dream of. Though the words of Zariel had lingered in his mind, as if it were some devious plot and Zephyr had a premonition about it ending horribly. But that couldn’t been true...yet his senses had never failed him, or have been oddly specific.

Looking at the celestial flower that resembled the glowing moon, Zephyr closed his eyes, hoping to meet something warm in his dreams for once. Yet he never realized that something all-too-familiar would greet him instead.

Yet I've learned not to trust dreams

View Online

The Start of A New Age

By Lord-Luzar

Opening his eyes Zephyr was met with greenery that he had not expected, his sight mostly filling up with trees. He didn’t recognize them to be trees from a jungle, and mostly pictured them from the park back home. Truly sizing up the range of deciduous trees, he was quickly overwhelmed by the vast numbers surrounding him, most being covered in green leaves. Few passed the color scheme, and they either were dark green or light green. Now seeing that he stood upright, he slightly questioned the fact that he awoke already on his feet in the middle of some type of forest.

Now looking around, he saw a dark-blue water amassed in a large lake to his right. The lake itself seemed to have no end as Zephyr could not find the end though it had a width. Said width being approximately 100 feet in size. Trailing his eyes over a small stream that ran upwards, he noticed that the ground looked far too lush. Everything was either just shades green, brown or blue and that didn’t settle well with Zephyr.

Taking his eyes away from the ground and peering upwards, he noticed as to why the water was such a dark shade. The night was in full-swing, stars dotting the sky while a crescent moon stood still in the middle of the sky. Many constellations were painted across the sky shining brighter than before, irking his curiosity to another level. Suddenly a shout yelled out and Zephyr turned to look upstream, noticing that it came from said direction. The ground seemed to rumble lightly until turning into something similar to a small earthquake, and he soon saw the cause.

A pony with a streaked dark-purple and burgundy mane and a lighter purple coat ran down the stream with pinprick sized pupils, and Zephyr struggled to see the color of the pupils. Yet a spear flew through the air and nearly ripped through her side, but a rock she tripped over sent her tumbling to the side, narrowly avoiding the bronze-tipped spear. The mare got up with a wheeze and pushed her lungs to another level as her eyes stayed the same size. Another spear landed at her back legs, nearly tearing through them but she had already left.

A bolt flew through the air and impacted the tree with a thick ‘thwump’ which seemed to startle the mare even more. She rushed towards Zephyr who in turn stood still, amazed but what he was currently watching. After snapping out of his daze, Zephyr realized that the mare had run through him. Turning forwards once more he saw an arrow head straight at his face before passing through himself, while he shrieked in reply.

Hearing the cry of the mare behind him, he didn’t dare turn around. Still looking forward Zephyr noticed many ponies, mostly stallions, dressed in ornate bronze armor and iron armor while rushing towards him likely to the mare behind him. Yet everything froze, no bushes swayed in the wind, the ripples ceased to move and no breath came from the statuesque ponies.

Watching the familiar form of Seraph appear from nothing surprised Zephyr, and he let out a scream to relieve his own surprise. The mare seemed to scowl, but he couldn’t see behind her mask. She stopped in front of two soldiers holding crossbows fitted for their equine form before standing straight.

Zephyr stood still in confusion but shook as Seraph’s voice somehow echoed in the wide area around them, “Hello once again, Zephyr...I suppose you are quite surprised to see such a scene play out before you?”

He merely nodded in return, “W-What is this place?”

His voice still stuttered in confusion and fear, still seeing the arrowhead fly through his head, “Why you are in the dreamscape of course! Who would think differently?”

“Obviously me…” Zephyr muttered in a tired tone.

He was surprised to hear the large mare outwardly sigh before sitting on her rear while lifting a foreleg skywards, “This is my memory of older times while honor and the thirst for adventure still graced the land...but so far I’ve come to see that these times have passed.”

Her downtrodden look made the boy raise a brow but lowered it in fear of being seen, “Yet you have not seen much of the world so far, perhaps travelling will provide you with more answers?” Zephyr attempted, staring into her powerful gaze with more confidence that he believed he had.

“That is a statement meant to not be spoken from such a young soul...what have you been taught, young Zephyr?” Seraph asked in pure curiosity.

“I would rather not speak of it, it wasn’t my proudest time, likely the longest so far though.” He spoke, a piercing stare of his own trying to swim into the orange glow that stared back at him.

“Though I have grown used to getting what I want for the longest of times, I can still respect the wishes of others, young Zephyr.”

“You spoke of this being your memory...from what I’ve watched so far the mare behind me is you, correct?” He asked, watching as her barrel rose with a deep breath from Seraph.

“This is true, and as you called it, it was not one of my proudest moments, when I was far younger than how I stand before you. Yet this is a prime example of what you will not become, as I see great potential in you...something so young.” Seraph answered, while Zephyr could practically feel her smile beneath the mask.

“Yet, why me? Why train someone like me, so different from the world, from what you’re used to?” Zephyr tried to stop the questions, but they flowed like the sea’s forever raging waves.

“Your potential is unmatched, and what I see in you I have not seen in longer than millennia, yet my reasons will be revealed in time...once you are ready.” Aside from the last comment, Zephyr saw sense in her words, though going back to the last comment and thinking about it worried the boy.

“May we get to the main reason as to why you are here?” Zephyr asked.

“You are the first to be so blunt with me since my ascension to the throne, and it is a fresh beginning to something completely different that this world is used to. But to as to why you are here is about your training, as we still need to test if you can hold a sword at all before you can dexterously swing around a sword.” Seraph explained and Zephyr nodded in return.

A sword ‘popped’ into existence in front of Zephyr and instead of reaching to grab it, he watched it fall onto the ground. Seraph looked at him in her own interested stare while he examined the sword, tracing a finger over the sharp edge of the sword. The sword itself was about two feet long in all, a small sword but fitting for Zephyr’s own form. Gripping the hilt and bottom of the end of the blade, he pulled with his legs and arms, trying as hard as he could but all that resulted was the resistance provided by the unwavering metal.

Seraph stared at the scene in mild amusement while watching the boy’s infuriation intensify, but made the sword disappear from sight. He fell on his posterior and sighed in contempt before looking up at the larger figure that had grown closer.

“I suppose this is a sign, hm?”

“Certainly, it is a sign to move forward, to break the barriers!” Seraph proudly announced, sitting down once more and blazing her orange orbs into Zephyr’s own.

“I believe you merely need some training and discipline...with those two you might be able to wield a sword, yet it will get complex.” Her words made the boy smile in turn, nodding to her in acceptance.

“Yet how will I train...secrecy is our only barrier for now,” Zephyr looked at the ground in contemplation.

A hoof made his head move towards the masked muzzle, “That is my special talent...full control over the dreamscape, thus providing the experience you learn in the dreamscape fully to your own physical body, including physical, mental, magical and spiritual experience.”

“So for now we will work on your physical training, first starting with strength training.” Seraph said making the boy stand up to his full height in confidence.

“I’m ready.”

Zariel sighed in total defeat as he watched the backside of Ordo start his trek up the stairwell before looking at the fire in wonder, “How can you burn so brightly, knowing of the pain you could bring?”

The fire merely licked at the bricks in earnest, attempting to break free from their protective prowess. They didn’t respond, instead continuing to crackle with a righteous vigor so Zariel leaned his head back on the end of the recliner. Zephyr is a smart boy, he thought, but I believe that he shouldn’t be caught up in all of this, he doesn’t deserve the consequences.

Yet, Zariel looked up in thought, if I sleep on it it’ll likely come easier tomorrow.

So now standing up and looking at the fire in hope Zariel merely said in a low tone, “Don’t burn down the house.”

Turning from the recliner and walking around the perimeter of the decorated rugm Zariel silently admired all the reading material. He wondered as to who would collect such a large foundation of knowledge in a simple house in the middle of nowhere, but his question would likely never be answered. Walking down the 20 feet worth of corridor, Zariel stood before the stairwell with a yearning hope radiating from his body, wanting the well-needed rest awaiting him in the last empty room.

Stepping past the third room, Zariel heard something odd sounding from the inside of the room. Slightly creaking the door open Zariel saw something inside that made his eyes grow to pinpricks. Stormchaser stood on the bed above a sleeping Zephyr with sharp fangs while a green wall of flame erupted around him. A black equine figure took his place and instead stood an insect-like creature with chitin molded around its body with holes around its hooves. Instead of foliage around the wings, Zariel saw the wings found on a pesky fly or mosquito, the transparent appearance making dread wash in his face. A disfigured and curved horn with smaller holes filled in it was atop the creatures head, and blue orbs completely filled the sockets for the creatures eyes.

Reacting immediately after taking in the sight, Zariel let his magic erupt in full, the black aura coursing into his hand forming the familiar blade he had used so many times before. With the precision of Bruce Lee the ping-pong nunchuk champion, Zariel flung the dagger at the creature's throat hoping that the chitin wasn’t hard as rock. The impact was gruesome but definite, the creature's demise being ensured. A small spray of green ichor flew around the room and impacted on the woken Zephyr, causing him to blink in surprise.

Willing himself to not throw yet another dagger, Zariel looked at the boy and told him in a low tone, “You will not speak of this to anyone...now help me get rid of the body.”

The boy grimly nodded in return, pushing his way out of the bed before hearing the lifeless body fall onto the floor. Grimacing as he began to drag the creature's body, he quickly checked that no trail followed. The ichor seemed to have stopped moments ago, and now only the figure of the lifeless creature was dragged across the floor. Zariel led him outside and brought him far away from the hidden house before helping him through the body over a cliff and into awaiting bushes. Zephyr didn’t stay to hear the impact, and silently walked back to the house with a blank expression on his face.

Deciding to sleep on what he had witnessed, Zephyr came back to his room and saw the green ichor on the floor and slightly on his sheets. Thats when his stomach reacted in a vile way, urging him to find the nearest source to relieve his suffering. Leaving the house and releasing the bile into the nearest bush, which happened to be ten feet away, did not suit the boy well but he soon realized something, a dark thought entering his mind at that very moment.

This was now his life...this, would be what he was ultimately being taught. And for the moment, Zephyr couldn't contemplate whether such an end was befitting or not, but a creeping voice in the back of his head said otherwise.

And now as Zephyr trudged back inside and upstairs, before sliding into bed, all he could think about was the surprised look on the creature muzzle, formerly known as Stormchaser.

The Start of a New Age

by Lord-Luzar

Prologue

If there's nothing to go back to...

Then why leave?

Let my dreams guide me

Yet I've learned not to trust dreams