planning All Roads Lead to Rome

[Sky Blaze 28]

Inspired by the bloody history of Rome.History of RomarisAn Unabridged RecountingPart 1Far to the west of Equestria, across the ocean, is another continent. The northern half is Scalla, a wasteland. The southern half is Romaris, a thriving country that is eons old. It is surrounded by mountains (the northern Taitais, the western Dannas, the southern Larees, and the eastern Wuppos). A river (North River) runs from the Taitais Mountain southward to a large lake near the middle of the country (Lake Cherish). The northern half of Romaris is lovely farmland, and the southern half is beautiful countryside. A second river (West River) runs from the large lake to the west through the Dannas Mountains) and eventually empties to the western shore, which is rocky.Romaris Part 2A grand city sits on the southeast border of Lake Cherish and reaches so far as to touch the Larees and Wuppos Mountains. This is the capital of Romaris, and goes by the same name: the City of Romaris. Its radius is 15 miles all around. The City contains practically everything, from endless markets to a rusting palace to an ancient Collisseum. The City is segmented into many sections: The Marketplace, The Square, The Recreations, The Government, The Suburbs, and The Ruins. The Marketplace is where the economy is centered, as well as where the citizens buy their food and supplies. A money and barter system is used, with small white slices of rock (called "Chips") used as currency. The Square is where many ponies meet to talk and relax. A school and playground for young ponies is also here. The Recreations is where the theaters are, as well as dance/music centers, museums, gardens, and the ancient Collisseum. The Government is where, obviously, the government buildings are. A group of ponies known as The Senate meet here to discuss important matters. The Suburbs holds all the houses and homes is The City. The higher classes of ponies have better and more efficient houses, while the lower classes have poorly built homes that get easily destroyed. The Ruins is in the far side of town, at the very south-western edge. This was where the city began many years ago, and is rumored to have a strange power buried deep below the earth....Romaris Part 3The Senate is made up of a group of ponies who are especially skilled, knowledgable, or self-proven. They would meet together in The Government segment of The City to decide on political actions and what would be best for the city. However, Romaris Gobernmemt did not always work this way. It was only until recently that the government of Romaris switched from an Empire to a sort of Democracy. Those who break the law must answer to The Senate, who shall decide the lawbreaker's fate. Usually The Senate is fair and rightful about their trials, and the punishments match the severity of the crime. However, there may come a time when The Senate becomes corrupt....Romaris Chapter 1The BeginningLong, long ago, thousands of years before the foundation of Equestria, there was Scalla. The land was that of the most kind, for it allowed Earth Ponies, Pegasi, and Unicorns alike to live together in peace and harmony. Life was good here, and the ponies reached new standards of knowledge that is unheard of in all the other places.They learned the origin of life.They discovered that six items, or Elements, each worked together in harmony to create life. First was Earth, the strong foundation of all land. Second was Fire, the warmth that melted the frozen land. Third was Wind, which delivered the gifts of life to other places. Fourth was Water, which flowed through the Earth and cleansed the spirit. Fifth was Ice, which kept the Fire in check and allowed the coolness of Wind. Finally, there was Energy, which brought together all the other five elements and, with its power, created life. This was the most powerful Element, and was the most reverred throughout Scalla.However, the perfectness of the land was not to last, for where there is power, there is violence. Because they were always in peace and happiness, the ponies of Scalla never felt the need to fight. They rather would spend their time studying more about the world around them, and even planned to build ships to explore, and maybe colonize, whatever lands that lay past the ocean to the east.They never got the chance.Romaris Chapter 2The First BanishingLife in Scalla was good. That was, until strange creatures came. They were not unlike that of locusts. They would swarm the farmlands, devouring everything in sight. To keep these things from destroying the land, the ponies of Scalla called upon the Elements of Life to teach the locusts to be like them, so that they may know love. Unfortunately, the Elements did this literally: they made the locust creatures resemble ponies, and gave them the power to transform into anypony they desired. They, instead of feeding on food, came to feed on love. The Elements did, however, banish the creatures across the ocean to the east. For this, the ponies of Scalla became happy again. But, unbeknowest to them, a darkness would find them... and end them.Romaris Chapter 3The Bringing of DragonsThe ponies of Scalla eventually became so confident that the Elements of Life would always be in their power that they became cocky. One pony in particular, an Earth Pony, was especially so. He was the only pony to brave the eastern ocean, as well as arrive at the New World. He had secretly stolen the Elements of Life and taken them on his journey, hoping to use them for his own selfish purposes. In the New World, he found strange little creatures. They resembled lizards, yet could breath fire, as well as some having wings. This pony was fascinated by their ferocity and strength. For such small creatures, they were certainly warlike! The pony spent his time studying them. After a year, he decided to use the Elements of Life to change the creatures and make them bigger, so that they may survive better in the wild. Unfortunately, the Elements made them giants, far larger than anything the pony had ever seen! Quickly realizing his mistake, he boarded his ship and set sail to return to Scalla. Unbeknowest to him, some babies of the creatures had climbed aboard. He was halfway across the ocean when he finally found the stowaways. Deciding to simply bring them back to Scalla, the pony took care of them and taught them many things. Surprised at their capacity for knowledge, he named them Dragons, which meant "wise warriors" in Scallian. When he arrived home, he showed the dragons to the ponies of Scalla.They did not approve.Romaris Chapter 4The One-Day WarThe ponies of Scalla were furious at the pony who brought the dragons. They were angry that not only would he steal the Elements if Life, but he would bring them to an unknown land, use them on the native creatures, and bring some of the creatures back home with him. However, because nopony had broken the law in over a century, the ponies were confounded at what punishment this specific pony should recieve. So, the sent him and his ship back to the New World to live in eternal exile. The only thing they allowed him to bring with him was a hammer. Since this event, this pony became known as Banished, or "exiled one". The ponies of Scalla kept the dragons, for they were something new to study. In their excitement to learn, they failed to remember that these dragons could think like them, and treated them as one would treat a sheep. The dragons became tired of not being treated equally, and the greed in their hearts fueled their fires. When they became adults, they exacted their revenge by ravaging Scalla. The flew over and land and burned it down, all to a crisp. Only a fraction of the once-huge population survived. They, in their fear, took the Elements of Life and fled southward, past a range of mountains to another land. It would not occur to them that they could use the Elements to defeat the dragons until much later....Romaris Chapter 5The Birth of RomarisThe ponies who survived the Burning of Scalla were scattered and few in number. The only ones who could survive in the long run were the ones who ventured southward and journeyed past the range of mountains into a new land. The colonies here came to forget their past lives in Scalla, and managed to live off the land. Among the colonies were the Elements of Life, albeit scattered. One day, however, two ponies were born who had the attributes of a Pegasus, a Unicorn, and an Earth Pony. These twin brothers became known as Siram and Mor. Siram meant "wisdom" in old Scallian, and Mor meant "power". These two brothers together ventured across the land and collected the Elements of Life so that they may make this land prosperous like that of old. When the dragons heard of their plan, the swarmed to this new land and threatened to literally destroy all of the ponies. However, Siram and Mor used the Elements of Life to defeat the dragons and seal them within the mountains surrounding the new land. Siram and Mor decided to builda city, a capital to represent their victory and hope for a better future. They called the land Romaris, and the city the same name. Together, the two brothers ruled Romaris, and the ponies of the new country were happy.The happiness would not last.Romaris Chapter 6The Bloody RampageMor and Siram ruled Romaris equally and responsibly. Siram was the wiser, and Mor was the stronger. After a couple of centuries of leading Romaris, Mor became drunk with his power. He became convinced that Siram was withholding his "rightful share", and began attacking him. Siram knew that the Elements of Life were needed to defeat Mor, but loved his dear brother too much to do so. Instead, he cast a spell upon Mor that dulled his mind. Because Siram failed to measure how drunk with power Mor was, he accidently made his brother go mad. Mor went across the kingdom, killing everypony in sight. When he killed sufficiently enough to quench his thirst for blood, he returned to the City to murder his brother. This time, Siram was ready. He used the Elements of Life to end Mor's existance forever and decided that he was too foolish to properly rule. He hid the Elements deep underground and ended his own life, thus bringing and end to the Era of Two Brothers.Romaris Chapter 7Unstability and CorruptionWithout anypony to lead threm, the denizens of Romaris grew lost and confused. They had no Elements to fertalize their crops or heal sickness and no leader to uphold the law or balance the economy. This continued for a decade before an Alicorn appeared as if out of nowhere. He took the throne and crowned himself ruler of Romaris. He was known as the Burning Emperor. He corrupted the government, but had fixed the economy and gave many jobs to ponies. With hard work, fertile crops were earned. Better houses for ponies who could afford them were being built. Messages spread like wildfire on all of the good things the Burning Emperor had done, and his propaganda prevented anypony from doubting his authority. However, things were not perfect underneath the surface. Slave ponies were used for all of the hard work, many of them never getting out of eternal debt. Lawvreakers and ponies who were "suspicious" were captured and forced to fight in the Collisseum. Near none of them would survive. The ones that did would have to live with the horrors of the Collisseum for the rest of their lives. It was seven centuries and two decades before the Burning Emperor's tyranny was challenged....Romaris Chapter 8The First LegacySix ponies, all who were good friends with each other, decided to stand up to the Burning Emperor to cease his reign. They searched throughout the City of Romaris for the Elements, and once they found them all, they challenged him at his royal palace. The spirits of the Elements of Life are as listed:Dot Spot, whose strong heart represented Earth.Forest Flight, whose compassionate soul represented Water.Starlight Haze, whose calm mind represented Ice.Thunder Zap, whose free spirit represented Wind.Sugar Spring, whose joyful personality represented Fire.Finally, Neon Glow, whose Element was awakened by the Spark of Light. She, with her grand leadership, represented Energy, which held together and balanced the other Elements. The six ponies used these Elements to age the Burning Emperor so fast that he turned to dust, thus ending his terrible reign. It was then that his son, Flare Twister, could take the thrown. Unlike his father, Flare Twister was a kind ruler. With his wisdom, Romaris entered a new age of peace and prosperity; it would be the Golden Age of Romaris.Romaris Chapter 9The Second LegacyThe six ponies who defeated the Burning Emperor never had to use the Elements of Life for violent purposes, so they helped grow the crops during the Golden Age of Romaris. Many years later, the decided to pass down their Elements to younger ponies. Neon Glow to her daughter Julieta, who, strangely enough, was born with wings and a horn, yet was mortal and had a normal lifespan. Sugar Spring to her daughter Sky Blaze, who had wings like her father. Dot Spot to her daughter Leaf Heart, who, like her, was an earth pony. Thunder Zap decided to journey into the mountains, and, with her kindness, passed her Element down to a young dragon with wings whose name was Romeo. Starlight Haze, who journeyed with Thunder Zap, met a colony of griffons, so she passed on her Element to an orphaned griffon named Veronica. Forest Flight passed her element to her daughter Star Wish, who took after her father and had a horn. These four ponies, griffon, and dragon grew up learning how to represent their element and use it wisely by the previous owners. Through the years, Romeo and Julieta fell in love with each other, although love between dragons and ponies was forbidden. Julieta, as the leader, decided that it wasn't fair that only dragons with special roles could be freed from the mountains, so she and the others used the Elements of Life to break the dragons' long imprisonment. Thankful for finally being free, the dragons vowed to protect the ponies and live with them in peace and harmony. However, some dragons were old enough to remember the old days, and why they got sealed in the mountains in the first place. They hated all ponies, and planned a vicious attack on the City of Romaris. They would spend the next few years preparing their troops and readying their fires of hate....Romaris Chapter 10The Third LegacyThe dragons attacked when the current six holders of the Elements of Life were the children of the ones who freed them. Thunder Roller, a dragon like his father Romeo, now held the element of Energy. Fire Dasher, who took after his mother Sky Blaze, held the Element of Fire. Root Gem, an earth pony like his mother Leaf Heart, held the Element of Earth. Thunder Roller's sister, a winged unicorn (like her mother Julieta), held the Element of Wind. Glacia, the griffon daughter of Veronica, held the Element of Ice. Rainbow Frosting, the unicorn son of Star Wish, held the Element of Water. Together, these six young ones used the powers of the Element of Life to stop the dragons and learn why they were attacking in the first place. When the current ruler of Romaris learned that it was the fault of Siram and Mor, he changed the government to better suit the changing times. There was now a Senate, a group of creatures (be it ponies, dragons, or griffons) who would decide on what was best for Romaris. Of course, any holder of an Element of Life had a seat in the Senate, as well as anyone who has the wisdom to make right decisions. To this day, the Senate has kept peace in Romaris. That was, until what kept Romaris together became corrupt....Romaris Chapter 11What of the Elements?As with all things, everything good must come to an end. Due to the Elements of Life being used so many times since their creation, their power began to fade until they were grey. They were now utterly useless. This was the end of the Golden Age of Romaris. Without the Elements of Life to keep balance in Romaris, the land slowly began to die. Crime rose within the City, storms ravaged the countryside, and the Senate was helpless to stop it....Now, it is time for new ponies to rise up and find a way to end this nightmare. The long-forgotten land of Scalla to the north is Romaris's only hope, but how do you restore life if it already ended?

Edited November 28, 2012 by Sky Blaze

[SunsetDancer 36]

So are they trying to refind the elements or what? What is in Scalla to help save the south? a new power or just a new form of reincarnation?