A Light in the Darkness

by DarkSunWolf

Chapter 5 - Answers

Amaterasu awoke to the loud chatter of ponies from outside of her bedroom. She stood upright and rubbed her eyes with her hooves.

“Despite my rather unpleasant experience last night, I can’t remember sleeping that well!” she said, stretching her wings. Then, a horrifying thought hit her instantly. She removed the covers and was relieved to see that her leg was well; her entire body felt anew.

She thought back to that pony who saved her in her nightmare, ‘Who was that pony? Did she really know if Chibiterasu was fine?’

Amaterasu threw off the covers. Oddly, for once, she decided to push these questions away and hold them for later because today was the day she would speak to this world’s superior, at least she thought so.

A loud pop heard from an open window in the room stole her attention. It sounded like a…… blast of confetti? Curious about where it came from, she approached the window and peered outside.

The sun hit her like a Bull Charger. It was as if the sun was foreign to her……. Or her eyes were not yet quite adjusted to the brightness of daylight. For the first time in her life, she hated the sun. When her eyes became fully adjusted to the blinding morning, she saw ponies. A whole crowd of them.

“Look! There she is!”

“Hey it’s the new pony!”

“She looks odd”

“Look at that bed head”

A pink pony in the middle of the crowd suddenly turned from a cannon. Amaterasu assumed it was hers; something in her gut told her so.

“Really?! And I wasn’t even done loading my party cannon! Shoot! Better late than never!”

The pink pony, loading the last bit of some arbitrarily picked items, aimed the cannon at the window Amaterasu was at, put her hoof on the firing end and yelled, “WELCOME TO PONYVILLE!!!!!!”

Cupcakes and pieces of candy went soaring out of the cannon towards Amaterasu, making contact with her face in the blink of an eye. Amaterasu, completely shocked about the pink pony’s action, just stood there not knowing what to do next. Everyone stared at each other in the tense silence.

‘I must leave a good impression in this world, otherwise their leader may never speak with me. Now is not the time to get off on bad footing.’

She took her front forehoof and awkwardly rubbed off all of the frosting and cupcake wrappers off of her face. A couple of the ponies in the crowd snickered. The small pink pony looked at Amaterasu and smiled, naively thinking that she pleased her. She called up to her.

“I hope you like it here in Ponyville! I’ll be seeing you around later so don’t expect to go off looking for praise orbs!”

With that said, the little pink pony was gone in an instant. The crowd dissolved away, returning to their normal, everyday lives, leaving Amaterasu staring blankly. She thought aloud to herself,

“I believe I have enough clairvoyance to see that I will be meeting that pony again sometime soon.”

She sighed heavily and turned away from the window when suddenly,

“Wait….. did she say praise orbs?”

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Amaterasu gently closed the door to the bedroom hoping not to disturb Fluttershy if she happened to still be asleep in the adjacent room. Amaterasu stopped and looked down at the top of the stairs, staring fiercely.

“Ha! Petty obstacle! I know of your secrets now!”

Slightly more adjusted to her new equine body from her previous unfortunate experiences, Amaterasu placed both of her front hooves on the first step and began to hop down the stairs. Three quarters of the way down, she was completely caught off guard.

“Glad to see you’re up and about Amaterasu!”

Amaterasu, startled, tripped down the rest of the remaining stairs to conquer. Amaterasu, who was now on the floor, looked up and chuckled,

“Oh, it is only you!” she said smiling. She hoisted herself up and professionally addressed the pony who had caused her to stumble. She opened her mouth again but found herself lost.

“I seem to forget your title, may I have it again?”

The lavender pony giggled, “I can’t believe you forgot my name already! I must’ve scared you a little too much!” She paused to brush a dust bunny off of Amaterasu’s coat. She then took out a clipboard from her satchel and presented it to her, playfully tapping it on her head.

“Well, I am supposed to be asking you questions today before you talk to Celestia! And, my name is Twilight. Next time I’ll make sure not to scare you!”

The two ponies laughed together, already enjoying the morning. Amaterasu felt warm on the inside. Not because she holds the power of the sun, but more of the feeling of connection. She never had the chance to speak with others quite like this. She enjoyed it. A lot.

The laughter was cut short when a door was heard from upstairs. Fluttershy walked down from the second floor amidst the happy atmosphere, instantly feeling overjoyed. Amaterasu approached Fluttershy swishing her tail back and forth. Ink happily dripped to the floor.

“Fluttershy, I wanted to thank you for having me as your special guest overnight. Such kindness is very rare in the universe, it should never be taken for granted. That’s why I wanted to give you this.”

Focusing intently, Amaterasu materialized a small bead using her Celestial Brush. It dropped to the ground with a metal ‘clink!’ Amaterasu kicked her hoof at the little bead.

“Curses! It seems that I don’t yet have a handle on your world’s physics.” She chuckled and attempted to pick up the bead with no success. Twilight levitated the bead into the air and gasped as a light ray passed through it, scattering it everywhere. The inside of the sphere glowed brilliantly, as if it was a sun.

Twilight was rendered speechless by the spectacle. Instantly, the researcher within her was released, fascinated by the circular object.

"This is incredible! The luminosity projected by this bead exceeds every other known material in Equestria!"

Her horn glowed as she touched it against the surface of the bead. The two powerful forces met and created an immense surge of energy, sending Twilight backwards on her rump a good two feet. Fluttershy trotted over to Twilight.

"Oh my! Are you O.K. Twilight? That was an awful spill you just to-" Twilight sprang up, cutting her off.

"I'm more than O.K.!" she said loudly. The sudden outburst caused Fluttershy to retreat behind her mane. Twilight quickly got up.

"Don't you see Fluttershy? The magnitude of this object's luminosity is far greater than anything that were ever to exist in Equestria! I've never seen anything like it!"

"Is it really that important for it to have you yelling so loudly in the morning?" Fluttershy said from behind her mane.

As Twilight continued to babble on, Amaterasu stared at her curiously. Why was she so interested in the bead? So it caused a little light show. What was the significance in at all? She failed to see how an individual could be so ecstatic over a small bead. Twilight hovered the bead in Amaterasu's face.

"What is this? Where did it come from? Is this from your world? What is it made of?"

Twilight's eyes were glittering with the desire for knowledge just like Chibiterasu's back in the Celestial Plains. Amaterasu thought about a decision for a few seconds and replied.

"Save your questions for your little interview with me Twilight. I will answer them all then." Twilight perked up.

"Oh yes! Let's get on to that right now! I must find out more about you! So fascinating!"

She stuffed the bead and the clipboard into her satchel, picked up Fluttershy with her magic and walked into the entrance room of the cottage. She called back to Amaterasu, eagerly awaiting to start questioning her. Amaterasu sighed and looked uneasily at the wall.

"What have I done?"

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In the main entrance, Twilight had already set up a little desk with numerous quills, bottles of ink, and parchment. Fluttershy was sitting next to her, hoping to make sure that the questioning didn't get too out of hand. Upon entering the room, Twilight ardently addressed her.

"Oh! Please come and sit! There's a couch for you right there!"

She pointed her hoof to a small couch located directly across from the desk. It was very small and Amaterasu knew that she couldn't fit on it. She was a big pony. To compensate, she moved the couch to a corner in the room and sat down on her flanks in front of the desk. Not as easy as sitting as a wolf, but it was better than squirming around on a small couch. She was happy to see that she was still taller than the desk.

"So let's begin. Question one, how did you get here?"

Amaterasu thought about the shackled creature that she confronted back in the Celestial Plains. She remembered being struck by a huge surge of power, but her mind after that was cloudy. She decided not to tell her about the monster.

"To be honest, I am not entirely sure how I ended up in your world. I remember that I was with my son in my domain and after that...... I'm not sure."

"You have a son?"

"Yes, I do. He is my entire being, my everything. For him, I would give my life."

"Did he come with you? Is he here in Equestria?"

"No, he did not come with me. If he did, I would be able to feel his presence."

"How so? Are you two connected telepathically?"

"In a way, yes."

"Ok I see" Twilight said, scribbling on the parchment. She underlined a word.

"Question two, what are you? You don't seem to be a natural born pony."

"You are correct. I am not an equine by blood. I am a goddess. The goddess of the sun to be more accurate."

"What?! A goddess? And of the sun? How is this possible? Celestia controls the sun!"

'So that explains why I was unable to manipulate the sun' Amaterasu thought. She grinned a little at her next thought.

"Well, she best learn to share it."

Twilight gasped a little on the inside. She knew Amaterasu meant no harm with her response, but this is no laughing matter. Celestia is an all powerful being herself. Her benevolence and forgiveness do have boundaries, they are not limitless. Twilight pretended Amaterasu's last remark never existed and she continued. Fluttershy was beginning to get a little uncomfortable, but she kept quiet and composed.

"So if you are a goddess, what is your real form?"

"Well, back in my world, I was comfortable with the form of a wolf."

"A wolf huh? How appropriate, you seem to be a bit brash but also regal at the same time."

Amaterasu didn't know if she was supposed to take offense to Twilight's remark. No one back in Nippon told her how she acted, unless if she ignored them. But that was when she was a wolf, and also when she wasn't capable of speech. She wasn't exactly sure how to act here. She figured that a lift in the atmosphere would do everybody some good, especially for Fluttershy.

"And you seem to be incredibly smart and intrusive."

"Well then, you're not the most kind of goddesses aren't you?" Twilight said as her tone darkened with annoyance.

'Well that was efficient' Amaterasu thought, her face drooping slightly.

Twilight noticed Amaterasu's expression and quickly reassured her.

"Oh, don't worry Amaterasu. I know you're trying to be nice. I'm sorry for sounding a little threatening just now, but you have to understand, this isn't your world. Celestia is in charge here and her word is law. That goes for everyone, including you" she said in a concerned tone.

Amaterasu felt a little better. At least she knew she wasn't making an enemy.

"Now then, question three, what is that thing on your back?" she asked, straying away from personal questions.

"Ah yes." Amaterasu stood up and lowered her wing, revealing the instrument floating above her back, "This is what is known as a Divine Instrument. We deities use it to help fend off evil in our world. This one in particular is called Divine Retribution."

The mentioning of the instrument's name caused it to brighten and flicker lively. Twilight's eyes widened once again.

"I utilize numerous Divine Instruments, however, I seemed to have lost them along with my powers when I arrived here."

"So, you're weaker than before?"

"Yes."

"Do you think they could have been spread across Equestria?"

Twilight had a point. Amaterasu never thought about the possibility that the instruments were spread across the land. It may have been unlikely, but there was still a chance this was true.

"Maybe, I have tried summoning them with no success."

"I could try asking Celestia to help find them when we see her."

"No, it's not necessary. These instruments are not to be trifled with. Only deities such as myself can wield and control them. Celestia may be able to manipulate them though, but not at their full potential."

"I see. They must be powerful."

"Indeed they are."

Twilight continued to scribble on the parchment, emphasizing some of the words she had written. Fluttershy was fumbling around with a piece of the couch they were sitting on. She was blowing it around on the arm of the couch. Twilight turned back to Amaterasu, interrupting her analysis of what they were doing.

"O.K. one last question, what was that little bead you conjured up? How did you conjure it?"

"I conjured up the bead using my powers. As for the purpose of the bead it-" A knock on the door cut her off.

"I'll get it!" Fluttershy said, happy that she was able to move around with a purpose. She opened the door and let in four other ponies. Amaterasu recognized the pink one. The orange pony wearing a cowboy hat spoke to Twilight.

"Twilight, Princess Celestia asked me to round y'all up over to Canterlot ASAP. She said it was urgent."

"Really? We were supposed to speak with her later on today!"

"I know, there's been a change in plans."

Comments

[Celestias Paladin]

Holy crap.... you updated! Great chapter, worth the wait

[DarkSunWolf]

1633554 Thank you so much! I'm glad to hear I pleased you!

[Celestias Paladin]

1633629
Just don't make us wait over 7 months for the next chapter

[DarkSunWolf]

1633638 I know, I feel so bad about that I promise that this fic will update again within the next couple of days! Thanksgiving break IS next week you know. I'm already working on Chapter 6

[Celestias Paladin]

1633649
Look forward to it

[Jacky2734]

How is it that just when I think a fic is dead and forget about it, it updates.

Great chapter. I'm really wishing I had played Okami now though, I'm not getting half of these references.

[DarkSunWolf]

1635669 Then that means you should head over to your nearest game dealer and pick up a copy ASAP! You definitely won't regret it!