“M-mother Gaea, it's you… it's really you,” muttered the crying female.

I narrowed my gaze and focused on the tiny pony, immediately realizing that my initial impression of her was somewhat off. Her mane and tail were a raggedy green while her fur was an off grey, and her eyes had the coloration of rust. She also lacked any wings or a horn, sporting only a thin pair of cracked glasses which hung from a thin silver chain that went around the back of her neck.

Like most of the horses, she wore clothing that had definitely seen better days with her coat having gotten covered in mud. She also had a pair of saddlebags on her back, and what looked like an odd pair of tattoos emblazoned on either flank. Focusing a little closer on these images I noticed that they were of a quill and ink which had drawn a stylized A on her side.

“It is,” I replied after a short pause. “Your devotion has woken me from my slumber.”

The pony gasped and planted her nose firmly against the ground. “Please forgive us. We just wanted to escape the inquisitors.”

The rest of her group quickly followed suit, prostating themselves before me and sobbing as if I were about to kill them.

“Worry not children,” I began, adopting a slightly motherly tone to my voice in hopes of assuging their worries. “It is a good thing you have woken me. Too long have I slumbered.”

“Are you sure? If you require a sacrifice I implore you to take me and let the others go,” urged the green haired mare.

“Don't be ridiculous,” I replied. “I need no such thing. Your prayers are more than enough to sustain me.”

A palpable sense of relief washed over the crowd, and I noticed that more than a few parents were releasing the death grips they had on their children.

“Is that truly all you need from us?” asked the brave mare.

“That and a promise,” I continued, making it up as I went. “That you will be kind to one another, and protective of the land you now find yourselves the conservators of.”

“Of course! We promise!” declared the horse lady, with the rest of the group quickly following suit and shouting or whispering their agreement.

“Good. Now tell me of these miscreants that had been so doggedly pursuing you,” I implored, gesturing vaguely to one of the smears of red which covered the flat expanse of rock before me.

“They were inquisitors,” shouted a tall, wingless, and hornless male horse. “They laid siege to our city of Stone Burrow and drove us from our land.”

Angry mutters rang out through the group and from their murmurings I gathered that the siege had not been a clean thing. Mentions of sickness, underhanded tactics, and campaign of treachery were ubiquitous throughout their discussion. I absorbed it all and socked it away for later, deciding to focus on my current line of questioning for the moment.

“How many of you survived?” I inquired.

“Thousands, though that number fell continuously as those zealots hunted us for sport,” spat the tall male I saw earlier. “There are likely more survivors out there, but they will be scattered across the three provinces by now.”

“All of your servants know of the valley of dreams however, so if they still live they will come,” offered the mare.

“What are your names?” I asked, gazing down at the two who stood apart form the others.

“Earthbreak,” offered the male, who stood a little taller.

I inspected him closer and noticed that he had a distinct nordic air about him that I couldn't quite place. His mane was a mix of gold and a rusty red color, as was his tangled mess of a beard and tail. At one point he had likely worn a full suit of armor but so many pieces had been removed that there was only a breastplate left and a few plates left on his back legs.

Standing taller than most, he had the look of a warrior, unlike the mare who seemed to be a clerk or beurocrat of some kind. The male also had white fur, though a strip of grey ran down his face and continued all the way to his chest where it vanished. The last bit of info I noticed from him was that he had a shovel jammed into the earth for a mark which sat at the same spot the mare’s did.

“And Quick Quill,” added the mare.

“What do you plan on doing now?” I asked, scanning the small crowd.

“We had hoped that you would allow us…” Quick Quill paused, and glanced behind her, reading the room and gathering a consensus. “To remain here.”

“And protect us, if possible,” Earthbreak stated.

I nodded slowly. “Of course. I will do everything in my power to ensure you live happy and peaceful lives.”

If I thought they had released a collective sigh of relief before I was sorely mistaken. The group literally exhaled as one, with several more weary adults collapsing completely. Children released cries of joy, the few who had weapons either sheathed or dropped them and one female even began sobbing unconftrollably.

“Thank you Gaea, thank you. I swear to you we shall be the most devoted followers imaginable,” Quick Quill claimed.

The ensuing mass of prayers, and shouted affirmations made me feel slightly uncomfortable.

“We have more pressing concerns,” I replied simply. “Who were these sisters they spoke of?”

“Alicorns, if you can believe it,” Earthbreak remarked bitterly. “Supposedly they defeated the god of chaos, Discord himself and now rule the realms for some reason.”

“Shouldn't you know this? It’s common knowledge,” Quick Quill asked, only to immediately cover her hooves with her mouth. “I mean-”

“Hold. You are fine,” I interrupted. “My slumber was deep and I…”

I trailed off for a moment, my mind churning as I tried to come up with some excuse as to why I was asleep. My first inkling was to blame it on the sisters but they didn't seem to have been on the world stage for long. Unlike this god of chaos character who has probably been around for some time.

“Discord forced me to sleep so deeply that I forgot myself, and my children. I hope you can forgive me,” I murmured.

The lie didn't feel good to utter, but at this point I had the safety of potentially thousands of refugees to deal with. Their faith was useful, and I would not discard their religion until they were in a better position to do so. Either way it seemed to go off without a hitch as the crowd of ponies muttered angrily about Discord, having seemingly bought it completely.

“Of course mother Gaea. We are all just happy to see that you are awake once more,” Quick Quill exclaimed, to the agreement of nearly all of her flock.

“So,” I began. “These alicorns, are they going to be a concern? What abilities do you and your fellows possess?”

Earthbreak and Quick Quill exchanged a look, prompting the male to step forward.

“I doubt the sisters will be a problem for us as they have larger concerns than one heretical city on the borderlands. As for the alicorns themselves they have the abilities of all three tribes plus unique magic that only they can use,” Earthbreak explained. “Our own abilities are-”

I soon learned that they had largely been a mining city, one home to many craftspeople and skilled engineers. Though only a few of their number survived, and escaped the wrath of the inquisitorial forces chasing them, they counted several amongst our current number. An important fact that I made note of, including that there were very few farmers who had managed to make it out.

Food is going to be an issue, but for now foraging will suffice. I thought to myself, noting that there were several merchants who had escaped, though they lacked the majority of their goods. Only whatever they could carry on their backs had made it, with all their carts and wagons having been ditched somewhere along the way.

We might be able to find them scattered about the valley or near this periless pass they keep mentioning. I ruminated, listening intently as they talked about their skills and the supplies they had escaped with. A couple picks, some tools, and even some heavier equipment, these people clearly anticipated having to rebuild their whole city from the ground up.

“-And that just about summerizes everything,” Eaerthbreak finished.

“Do you have any other community leaders? Or is it just you two?” I asked.

“Oh I’m no leader,” Quick Quill was quick to exclaim. “I’m just a clerk who worked with the magistrate. If anyone it’s Earthbreak here who is our leader. He led us out of the city and kept us safe.”

“Ha!” scoffed the stallion. “I barely managed to do that. If anything it was your faith who kept us going.”

A hearty amount of agreements came from the crowd, who began chanting the mare’s name proudly. Quick Quill herself seemed embarrassed by the attention and shrunk inwards, hiding as much as she could behind her raggedy mane.

“I was just doing what I thought was right,” she murmured.

“Lets leave the poor dear alone now, eh?” I offered, giving Quick Quill a soft smile.

“T-thank you mother Gaea,” she muttered.

“For now you two shall remain in charge, the rest of you should do what you can to relax, tend to your wounds and eat what you can,” I encouraged, waving a hand out over the crowd. “You’ve come far and deserve the chance to simply rest.”

“Don't slack too much. We’ll still have to create a search party for the group which split off after that last attack,” Earthbreak exclaimed, only to wince and glance up at me. “If that is alright with Gaea here.”

“Leave that to me,” I declared. “Just take a moment for yourself. I can handle this.”

“Of course. I didn't mean to assume otherwise,” Earthbreak quickly added.

I ignored his blubbering completely, and attempted to figure out more about my surroundings using my new senses. I figured that since I was a mountain now, that I should be able to detect caverns or caves which were connected to me. Though difficult at first, after I imagined that I was sending out a radarlike pulse I was able to find something.

And not just one thing either, as there were numerous cave systems beneath the surface. So large were these networks that I got the sense that this entire valley had likely been the top of a volcano at one point. I hadn't been the biggest geography major, and my memory wasn't fantastic but I knew the tell tale sign of old lava tubes. There was even a vast empty space somewhere near the center, though I couldn't quite feel that far away.

“Do you think she fell asleep again?” A random horse whispered.

I again ignored the creature and reached down, digging my fingers into the rock wall along the edge of the flat area beneath me. It barely took any effort to dig into the landscape, and with a heave I removed an enormous section of stone. Placing it safely off to the side I gestured to the now open cave expectantly, a small smile on my rocky face.

“I do not have suitable accommodations for you at the moment so please accept this cave as your temporary home. I think you will find that there is a large cavern beneath us which will be able to serve you adequately. At least for the moment,” I exclaimed.

“The great mother shelters us within her stony embrace!” shouted one rather zealous horse.

“I… we thank you, mother Gaea,” Quick Quill exclaimed. “We shall move there quickly.”

“Though before you do…” I interrupted, reaching my hand further up the hill and brushing away several meters of snow, revealing nearly a dozen berry bushes that had been hidden beneath. “Please send someone to gather some fresh fruit.”

“Of course,” Earthbreaker replied, turning towards the crowd and quickly picking out several uninjured members of their party in order to do the job.

“I can't thank you enough earth mother,” Quick Quill exclaimed in a hushed tone, her nose falling to the earth once more. “You’ve already done so much for us.”

“Keep your gratitude for…” my mind raced as I tried to come up with some excuse to keep them from grovelling every time I lent a hand. “The final day of the week. I can't have you interrupting your work just to offer me thanks.”

“Of course, as you will it,” Quick Quill immediately replied, head bobbing eagerly.

I gazed down to find that the majority of the horses had begun to move into the caves, with the miners taking the lead. I didn't worry about them too much as I could tell that it was not a treacherous descent, nor one filled with obstacles. In fact it wasn't even that cold down there, which just made me wonder how dormant the volcano which had made the super caldera in the first place.

That was a question for another time however, as there were more pressing concerns. The most important of which was their missing companions, who may very well be in danger.

I reached down and tapped the ground next to Earthbreak, grabbing his attention.

“Where did you last see your missing friends?” I inquired.

“Oh uh. East I believe,” the stallion turned and pointed in that direction. “Somewhere near the forest, though I can't be certain.”

I hummed thoughtfully. “Continue organizing things here. I shall seek out your wayward neighbors.”

“I will, and please find our missing ponies. I shudder to think what would happen if the inquisitors located them,” the stallion offered before immediately hopping back to work, joining Quick Quill as they began to order people around.

What was that odd look on your face? I thought, my gaze following Earthbreak. Was there someone in their midst you now miss?

I put such considerations from my mind, and tried not to think about how adorable it would be to see the little ponies kiss. It would be cute as heck, I decided and I made a note to play matchmaker as soon as I could justify doing so. Maybe I could even hook Quick Quill up with someone, the mare looked like she had given her entire life to her job.

Focus. I reminded myself.

Staring out at the valley before me I was immediately struck once more by how big the entire thing was. It was huge, big enough to contain multiple cities, and with walls high enough to make overland travel all but impossible. Though my gaze was drawn to the few passes I could see which would allow someone to enter or leave, I looked elsewhere.

Namely at the overall shape of the thing which indeed reminded me of a crater or caldera. It was just so huge that it felt almost otherworldly for some reason.

This prompted me to whip out an old trick I somehow remembered when you use your thumb arm and sun to measure distance. I then remembered that I was far bigger then normal so after a few tests to see how large my new form was I realized something.

This valley was roughly over a hundred kilometers across, though I couldn't be certain. Tricks taught to you by bored grandparents werent exactly precise, but my methodology was sound. That was definitely something I would have to contemplate at a later date, as it meant the area was large enough to support a rather prosperous city state.

Another time. I reminded myself before focusing my gaze elsewhere.

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