//------------------------------// // Green Beam // Story: From One Light Comes Many // by Utopianking //------------------------------// Luna Princess Luna flies through the dreamscape. She scours the doors to ponies’ dreams, making sure that there were no terrible dreams that could hurt her charges. The odd nightmare is fine for a pony, but some dreams have the capabilities to harm ponies and those around them and those need to be dealt with. Suddenly, Luna feels a ripple within the dreamscape. She shifts herself to her own personal dream, the Everfree Forest. Her horn glows as she looks for the disturbance. A familiar voice rings throughout the forest. “Hello, Princess.” A wave of energy racks the forest. A light blue shield covers protects Luna as the trees around her are leveled. When the dust settles, Nightmare Moon is standing on the other side of the new clearing. Her body is covered in armor that appears to be made of pure shadow. “Tantabus,” Luna calls out, “is that you?” Nightmare Moon simply chuckles, “I am far more than your simple worm. I am your worst Nightmare.” Nightmare raises her hands and fires a stream of yellow energy at Luna. Luna braces herself as her shield catches the beam. She leaps to the side and starts to sling orbs of her own magic at Nightmare. Nightmare dodges the attacks with ease. “I thought that you were slew the darkness within the minds of ponies. Perhaps you should stick with children’s nightmares.” Luna flies into the sky and fires a giant beam of energy at Nightmare. The dark alicorn raises her arms into the air in an attempt to block. When Luna stops the energy, she flies down to the collapsed Nightmare Moon. Luna holds her foot over the mare’s chest. “What in the Equestria are you?” Nightmare grins, her eyes turning a sickly yellow, “Not ‘in Equestria’ at all.” Luna suddenly wakes up and finds herself in her room. She looks around, trying to find what happened. Something yellow drips from the ceiling and she looks up to see a giant, yellow, insect hanging from her ceiling. She instinctively fires a blast of magic at the insect, but the blast just goes through and hits the ceiling. “Nice to see you too. I, am Parallax.” “You’re the change in an object’s apparent position depending on the line of sight from which it is observed?” If Parallax had real eyes, it would be rolling them, “No. I am the incarnation of Fear. I merely wished to have an audience with a mare who can so completely control fear.” “The incarnation of fear? Where would a creature like you come from?” Parallax crawls across the wall and onto the floor, “I was born from a mortal being and brought here against my will. I am fear, but I cannot affect the world on my own. I need something, or someone, to channel my power. I need someone who can control the fear of themselves and others. Someone like you.” Luna frowns at the creature and readies a spell, “Why would you want me to use your power?” Parallax raises a claw and starts to wave it, “I thrive on fear. There are very bad things out there. Things that you would want to fear you or die. I believe we can have a mutually beneficial partnership.” A yellow ring forms from thin air and floats over to Luna. “There is my offer. A ring to control the yellow light of Fear.” Luna takes the ring in her hand and stares at it. A few quick spells show that it is real and that will not facilitate possession. “Why should I trust you about this power, this ring?” Parallax crawls onto the bed and looks Luna straight in the eyes, “I know what you are afraid of. I don’t want to control you. I don’t want to let any more monsters into this world, or any world.” It floats away from Luna and starts to fade, “Feel free to try out the ring. It’ll need a recharge, eventually. Just put on the ring and say my name when you make your decision.” Ponyvile Pinkie Pie sits at her desk in the Party Cavetm.She types on her typewriter, getting down her latest party plan. When she is done with Operation Space Rainbow, she leans back and yawns. “I need to get to bed.” And so a giant, blue bird appears in front of her and speaks in a smooth, calming voice, “Good evening, Miss Pie.” Pinkie yelps and falls back in her chair. She bolts up and smooths out her tank top. “Who are you?” “I… was once a mortal much like you. But you may call me Adara.” “Okay, mister talking bird. What are you doing here?” “Pinkie, you are like a ray of light in the darkness. You are so able to bring so much hope to those around you. I want to give you the power to use the power of hope.” A blue ring materializes in front of Pinkie. “Please, take this ring.” Pinkie cautiously reaches out her left hand and grabs the ring. She slips it onto her right ring finger. Blue light washes over her, leaving her with a blue and black bodysuit with a strange symbol on her chest. “Wow,” she whispers, “What does it do?” “It will grant you the power to manipulate the blue light of Hope. You can also fly and put hope into ponies’ minds.” “Sweet. How do I do that?” Instead of answering, Adara wraps its wings around Pinkie and disappears. It reappears high above Ponyville, where it lets go. Pinkie screams as she falls through the open air. She tries to flap her arms to fly, hoping with all her might that she will live. Her body is covered in a blue glow and she slows to a halt. Pinkie looks at herself hovering hundreds of feet above the ground. “I’m flying? This is amazing!” Pinkie swoops through the air and flies towards the moon. As she climbs above the clouds, she lets herself fall a short ways before catching herself and floating back over to Adara. “I see you enjoyed yourself.” “This ring is just… wow!” Her smile falters slightly, “But why did you give me this ring?” “I just got to this world and scanned the minds of ponies. This world has almost gone to ruin multiple times in the past two years. If this trend continues, ponies need hope. As a party pony and an Element of Harmony, you seemed like to best choice. If you choose to keep the ring, of course.” Pinkie looks down at the ring. The same symbol on her chest is on the ring and it glows. “I’ll keep the ring.” “Excellent.” Pinkie and Adara appear in Pinkie's room. A large, blue lantern materializes in the corner of the room and starts to pulse. “I’ll be able to communicate with you through the ring, but you will need to recharge it at this battery every so often. I need to go now.” “Wait, why do you need to go?” “If I am here, I believe an entity named Ion is here too. You’re strong enough with the ring alone, but Ion’s power over Will shall increase the power of your Hope a hundredfold. Just remember, enough Hope and the ring will give you anything." Adara disappears in a flash of blue light, leaving Pinkie alone in her room. She looks down at her ring and over at the lantern. She slowly pulls off the ring, leaving her in her pajamas, and puts it on her bedside table. "Pinkie Pie, bringer of Hope! I like that."