> Banned from Heaven > by Kaffeina > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter One > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Felled In a little room, sterile and white, a woman had taken a seat in a chair across from the door and was watching the clock. She tapped her feet casually on the ground in time with the clock, muttering quietly to herself, "Why do we even have clocks up here?" She peered at it, shaking her back as the door practically slammed open revealing a rather handsome man with brown hair and vivid blue eyes. "So that you're on time," he glared at her, "But, it seems your late as usual, Asariel." She smirked back at him, "Of course," she answered, waving her hand dismissively, "I decide my own time, Mike." The man shook his head, giving a hearty sigh, "You're really something, you know that?" "Yup," she grinned back. Standing up, she walked towards him, "What'd you need me for bro?" "Well," he gestured into his office and she took a seat just past him, tapping her feet again. The office was just as bland as the room before it, although the desk and computer gave it a little more occupied feel. The man slumped back in the swivel chair, rubbing his temples, "Listen, the big-man upstairs says you've not been filling your quota on Earth." Asariel looked around nervously, "Ummm, there is a very very good reason for that that totally has nothing to do with their entainment," she said, slipping a phone down into her back pant pockets. The man sighed again. "I don't care what you do in your free time," he said, "But, you're supposed to be an angel, your job is taking out demons, and also to not dick around with the Grims, we've gotten twelve reports, most notably one about you literally tossing the Grim in the ocean, from 30,000 feet." He frowned at her. She shifted nervously, "It wasn't my fault! He kept hitting on me, so I kind of took matters into my own hands..." She looked at him, the disapproving glare telling her she should've taken a different action, "Right, so I overreacted, I'm sorry!" "The point is, you are way behind in your quota for the past year," he checked the papers, "How you even caught those three is beyond me, and I commend you for it, but all the rest you never even responded to." He sighed, "Suffice to say," he laid his crossed arms on the table, "They're reassigning you to somewhere more up your alley." She shivered, "So, um, where is it this time?" "A newer realm called Equestria," he said, "You're heading there now, actually," he waved towards the door, "You need to collect the 200 you're behind on, and then you'll be restored," he threw a little card at her, "Until then, you're suspended down there. In short, your wings are clipped." "Wait, what?" her brows furrowed, "Equestria? What even is that, where even is that?" "You'll be seeing when you leave the room, it'll deposit you exactly where you'll be needed most," he motioned towards the door and Asariel stared at him with squinted eyes before finally getting up and moving cautiously towards the door. Equestria The land of Equestria, glory of Equus, the most magically advanced civilization on it's world, and home to races of mythological proportions. For all it's so-called greatness, the country seemed to fall habit to some sort of catastrophe on a regular basis. Most dampened themselves out, but currently, one Nightmare Moon had returned and was wreaking havoc on the country. This was perhaps the reason diplomacy failed when it came to negotiations with other countries, after all, what people wanted to deal with power hungry maniacs, wendigoes, and a plethora of other dangers plainly and mostly specific to the country. And this was also, perhaps, the reason that a falling star received no recognition as it plummeted to the world below, after all, who had the time to pay attention to such an event when an ancient dictator had returned from beyond the grave. The event in question would not be noted by anyone, except those too far from it to investigate, and it was a rather inept decision by anyone nearby as the result of the fall would be changing much of the imminent future of Equestria. From the crater of impact, a young figure with dark brown hair and flawless bright skin sat up, looking around. Clearly someone above had a bit of an issue with her as typically she would have just appeared wherever she was supposed to. Instead she had basically been punted from the celestial realm to the world below. It hadn't hurt, but it was still quite aptly rude. With a huff, she stood up and brushed her dress off. Looking around, she blinked as her eyes were assaulted by a much more vibrant scenery than that on Earth. "FATHER ALMIGHTY," she yelped as her eyes felt a sharp pain. Rubbing her face, she wiped her watering eyes. The vibrancy of the color palette surrounding her was entirely the problem, colors in nature simply shouldn't be that neon. After rubbing her eyes for a solid minute, she opened them with a squint and glared at the space around her. The almost cartoonish appearance of the world left a bad taste in her mouth, some things shouldn't exist and this was one of them. Squinting heavily and feeling her way through the blurred world in front of her, the demoted angel made her path out of the crater and towards the shadow of the nearby trees. It was enough to say she wanted to remove the sword from her hip and start destroying the unholy coloring of the trees around her, but at least it was muted by the shadows, though her vision hadn't darkened in the slightest. The sheer vibrancy of the colors made her wonder if darkness was an actual thing here, or if it was simply just a somewhat blacker shade of the murderous neon coloring. As she stumbled, her eyes began to adjust and and by the time she was well out of site of the point she had arrived at, she could see properly, not that she actually wanted to. However, she could feel the ambient energy, not quite holy but definitely something Old Earth used to have. Divine power, of course, was not granted to really anyone except angels, at least in mass quantities. She stretched and felt her spine crack, her now basically useless wings serving as nothing more than a way to fly. Sure, she could channel divine power through them and create one hell of a badass sight, a thought that made her snicker, but otherwise it was basically pointless. She took a step over a fallen branch, the vibrant color of the mushrooms making her wonder if anything this color was even safe to eat. Not that she needed to eat, mind, but she did enjoy the flavor. Considering the sunlight barely broke through, she was a tad bit concerned about how long she would have to walk before reaching any sort of civilization, even if it was supposedly horses. By the time she had been walking for some thirty minutes or longer, she felt a pull. Something wanted to summon her, and it was using divine power to do so. After looking around, she turned and made towards the pull only to find herself reaching a small clearing with a large and rather decrepit castle, blocked by a large canyon with nothing more than a frayed rope bridge. "If I were mortal, that thing would give me the creeps. It's older than dirt and would probably collapse the instant I put my foot on it," she looked around, her eyes locking on the bottom of the canyon where a dim blue light was twinkling out from a small looking cave. She leaned over the edge and shrugged, "Geronimo," she leapt off the edge and spread her wings. Glinding on the winds, she flapped her wings only once upon nearing the ground and lightly touched down upon the ground. Peering into the cave she debated the possibility of a trap before walking straight in, not like anything but a demon would really pose a problem. When she entered, a massive tree made of crystals of a vibrant blue hue twinkled softly at her goading her to place her hand upon the trunk. Despite being made of crystal, it was warm to the touch and suddenly she was engulfed in a blue light. Before her stood a large horse, with both wings and a horn and she blinked once, "Oh, it's you." The horse scoffed, "You know most would be shocked by this, right?" "Yeah, well, considering you're another angel, it's not like I should be surprised. I don't know you, and you me, but I'm sure to recognize one of us, even if she looks like a child's toy," Asariel answered with a bored and monotone voice, giving the alicorn a look of boredom, "What do you need?" The alicorn's eye twitched, "No wonder you got demoted..." "Coming from a horse, I don't really feel that insulted," she responded, the sarcasm almost pouring from her mouth. The alicorn muttered something to herself, which Asariel heard but didn't bother responding to, "Alright, fine. I'm here to tell you that your first assignment has made itself known, that and that the sisters know you're here." "Fantastic, but who are the 'sisters'?" Asariel asked. "You'll know when you learn," the alicorn answered, giving the angel a smirk. "Don't give that crap, you glue factory!" Asariel shouted, only to realize she was back at the base of the tree. Sighing heavily, she turned around and grabbed a rock. Rearing back, she chucked it at the trunk of the crystalline tree, a loud thump and a small crack were visible where it struck. "HEY!" the alicorn's voice screamed. "Bugger off," Asariel said, walking out of the cave as she gave the tree the finger. Reaching the outside, she spread her wings and took off into the sky, careening over the tree tops. Wincing, she squinted her eyes at the light again, before locking her eyes on the small town sitting just outside the edge of the forest. As she coasted over it, she noticed the horses walking through it were just as vibrant as the rest of the world and groaned. Her eyes were going to be bleeding the whole time she was here. She flew down towards the town and alighted in front of the large tree on the far side of the town. The ponies, for small horses, didn't react in the slightest as she did so. Her eyes screaming at her, basically, as she watched them meander by. After a few moments, she turned and knocked on the door, only to be greeted by a small dragon that barely stood to her knee. They blinked at each other, "...She's not home." "Ah... When is she supposed to be?" Asariel asked, confused. "Not really sure but feel free to come inside," the dragon answered. She nodded and walked past her, staring at the massive shelves of books that covered every wall. After taking her seat, the little dragon left the room and came back from the kitchen with a small set of tea cups. "So, why are you here?" he asked. "Long story, really long story actually."