» Visions from a Past World

I'm no hero and I'm not made of stone

It was as though someone had heard her thoughts and grated her wish. Erthë gaped at the light that poured down from the sky, so stunned at the sight of the ocean stilling that for a long moment she could only stand there and stare. But when the call reached her she acted without thinking and threw herself off the cliff and took flight, the wind damp and salty against her wet skin but oh, so sweet. As always, flying filled her with a joy and lightness of spirit that nothing else could give, but more than the vast horizon or the breath of air under her wings, it was the light that brought a smile to her lips, the first expression of happiness she had showed ever since she awoke on this side of the portal.

Flying on vast, white wings, the little mare made her way across the sea and circled the vast area of sharp, jagged rock beneath her, glittering and moist and bathed by that glorious, beautiful sunlight. The sight was so beautiful that it made her whole body ache as if in pain, but it was a sweet pain, a melancholy wistfulness and a deeply seated regret, for Erthë was sure this would not last. So far the Rift had brought her nothing but pain and sorrow and disappointment; it was a dark and dangerous place, twisted and tainted and foul, and she hated it with almost as much ferocity as she hated its new god.

But now, also for the first time, the young mare found a sliver of hope in the darkness, brought on by this ray of light. This world would not, could not ever become her home in the way Helovia and the World's Edge had been, but perhaps, maybe, if there was beauty to balance out all the ugliness, she might be able to survive here, after all.

Curiously, but rather distrustful of this sweet mirage, Erthë angled her wings and banked towards the pillar of light, daring to see what would happen if she flew inside it. It had been so very long since she had felt the warmth of sun upon her skin... would that she could feel it again, if only one more time.

Right or wrong, I can hardly tell
I'm on the wrong side of heaven and the righteous side of hell

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