There Will Come A Time

By Imagewicked

1 : The Day The Sky Fell

     From the guard tower, Sergeant Red Tiger had a spectacular view of the surrounding mountains. The most impressive of all being Cape Faal. But today, his eyes rested on the colossal hill, not because of its sheer beauty, but of the pure terror of what lay behind. That mountain was now the only thing that stood between Corel, and Meriscen Dominion. The alicornian empire once stretched all across the world of Oran, but now all that remained was this relic of a city, that stood wary on the banks of the Loare. Something caught his eye. Something moving. He gulped. They were on the go. This could be it. Slowly, carefully, he raised his weapon.

    Celestia woke to the sound of crying, as she so often had recently. It was her mother. In truth, she couldn't blame her, but a large part of the filly wanted to. In fact, no-one was to blame. As the days grew colder, so did the people. It was simply adjusting to the times. With the Meriscen right around the corner, and the lack of food everything was going wrong. Her parents had tryed to butter it up, but Celestia was smarter than most people, even at this age. She could see past the lies. The alicorn slowly and unenthusiastically turned to face her sleeping sister, Luna. The dark blue filly was far younger than Celestia, almost 10 years. But compared to her, Celestia, descendent of the goddess of the sun, was an idiot child. She excelled at every subject with almost no practise, and could solve any problem handed to her with seconds. Suddenly, the town bells rung. Celestia counted silently, 1, 2, 3... 10. It was late. Later than she usually rose. With caution, the alicorn shook her sister.

    "Wake up," she whispered, almost silently. But Luna's could hear it like a foghorn. Slowly but surely, her eyes, black as night, fluttered opened.

    "Tia..." the child spoke softly.

    "I'm here," came the immediate reply. Luna was a mess. But since the day they fled Ryfel, she had yet to smile once. Like their mother, she was fading. Becoming... less. Sometimes, the two would stay silent for hours, barely moving a muscle. In a way, Luna no longer walked among them, nor her mother, and what we saw - what remained - was just a shadow. Celestia opened her mouth to speak, but before the words came out, Luna's ears perked and her eyes widened.

   "Can you hear that," she said, clearly. The first time she had spoken so in months. But Celestia could not. In reply, she shook her head, frowning. Seconds passed. Slowly, Celestia's frown disappeared. Luna was right. There was a noise, a shrill ringing noise. It grew louder and louder until it hit...

    The sound was deafening, like the scream of a million banshee's. She was shellshocked, an could say the same for her sister. Though she pushed with all her strength, her weakened legs could barely carry her a foot. And yet, the bombs grew louder still. Luna was on her feat, charging at the door. But for the first time ever, her usually unbridled canter was flawed.

    "Sister!!" Celestia called to her sibling. Luna's head turned and her hooves dug into the ground, stopping her suddenly. Tears dripped from her eyes and she let out a sob. Her wings and face were smeared with blood. Massive bruises covered her chest. It had been only 20 seconds since the first bomb hit and she looked as if she had been through hell and back. No dought Celestia was the same.

    "Help m..." She called but was interrupted. Suddenly, debris everywhere. A terrified Celestia continued to call for Luna, with no reply. Around her the room was no more. Just piles of rubble. Screams of terror echoed through the city. She could not stay here. She had to run. With haste, her legs carried her through the enormous opening in the wall. A look of horror spread across her face as the sight set in. Her whole world was burning to the ground. And there was nothing she could so...

    Luna stormed through the halls, sobbing as she forced herself to ignore the pleads for help. She hated the thought, but she knew she could not save them. Their fate was, as unfortunate as it may be, decided. She tryed so hard, harder than ever before, to push all these thoughts out of her head, but no matter what she did, they would not go. Where was Pa and Ma? Where was Tia? Would she survive? Would they survive.... would anyone survive? Luna frantically searched for a way out. The castle's design was intricate, more than she thought possible. It was built by the most ancient of alicorns, before The Order, in a time when Chaos ruled Oran. Luna kicked down the door in front of her, clearly placed in by The Order, after the original one had crumbled. Her eyes widened as the shock set in. She had become used to the occasional bomb drop, and it hadn't taken her long to figure out that this was not an ordinary bombing. But how could she ever foresee this. Now, only now, could she see the full extent of this attack. Thousands, no, millions of bodies littered the streets. The 30 metre high wall that had been their only source of protection, aside from their crippled military, was in pieces. Few soldiers still stood in the heat of the battle. The rest had been killed or retreated. The minority of citizens still alive were hastily making their way towards the city's only Dok*. Without hesitatation, she did the same.

    Celestia pushed past the crowd at the Dok, in search of her parents, and Luna, and uncle Roj... anyone who she knew really. Alas, all she saw was endless scared faces and lost souls. Outside she could still here their fear. It was beating, louder than anything. Louder, even, than the bombs. In fact, it amazed her that the others barely noticed. She had grown used to endless pain and suffering filling her ears. But this was different. This was not the final cry of a lonely surivor. This day, these events... no. This was the parting request of a dying civilization, not a plee for mercy, nor for help, but for something to end this nightmare. Celestia recoiled. That was truly the though she had feared so, above all, above anyone. She stumbled. Lifting her head, Celestia saw before her a pile of boxes of some sort. They were unstable and ready to fall on someones head at any moment, but that would not keep her from her family. The alicorn raised her left foreleg to the first box and pulled herself up. One by one, she climbed the unusually large stack, until finally she reached the top. Alici were not built for climbing.

    "LUNA!!!!!!!!" Celestia called, without answer. Again she called her sister, yet still no-one replied. For a second, the world seemed to go quiet, as if in mourning. The mouths of the ponies still moved, they still screamed and they still sobbed, but in silence.Amidst this one voice could be heard, uttering one word, and one word only. Celestia!

TO BE CONTINUED...