//------------------------------// // The Key to Dark Visitations // Story: May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key // by SoulboundAlchemist //------------------------------// May Your Heart Be Your Guiding Key By SoulboundAlchemist Chapter 19: The Key to Dark Visitations “I’m sorry, what?” I questioned, a look of shock on my face. Trixie took a deep breath, her wizard robes replaced with what I quickly identified as a Narnian style dress, most likely supplied by Rarity. “I want you to give the introduction for The Magician’s Nephew.” For context’s sake, let me explain. When I gave Trixie that orb of music magic back when she helped me, Lex, and Lex’s world’s Trixie fight the Kurt Zisa, I also accidentally added a lot of fiction from my world along with the songs I knew. As a result, she was inspired to start the Lulamoon Theatre Company, with its debut shows being The Chronicles of Narnia. The very first show of that series, The Magician’s Nephew, was due to open in a week, and I have it on good authority that at least two of the Element Bearers were set to appear. Most notably Rarity playing Queen Jadis, the villain of the story. Its been several months since Trixie first started working on this endeavor, so why did she wait and spring this on me now? “Two questions,” I sighed, rubbing the bridge of my nose. “Why me, and why now?” “You’re the only one with an intimate knowledge of the Chronicles,” the powder blue mare shrugged. “As for why now, I couldn’t make a good puppet of Douglas Gresham.” I rolled my eyes at that last one. “Fine,” I sighed. “I’ll do it. I’ll even agree to do the introduction for all the other Chronicles.” “Excellent!” Trixie cheered. “Now I just need you to get a formal dress!” I blinked. “Wait, what?” ==Seven Days Later: Opening Night…== “Why the heck did I let you talk me into this?” I grumbled as Rarity helped me into my dress for the evening. “Really, you didn’t have to make it so intricate!” “Oh, stop complaining, my dear,” Rarity replied with a roll of her eyes. “It's not like it's one of those ‘kimonos’ you originally wanted.” My mouth snapped shut at that, since, while I do feel like this dress is WAY over the top, Rarity did have a point. I never truly realized just how much work a kimono entailed, not just for the tailor, but for the wearer as well. The dress for tonight was a velvet gown with short sleeves, an adjustable chest area that I was thankful that Rarity had taken into account, the upper half of which was lined with a cream color that contrasted the reds in a way I’d never really thought would work together. The skirt, while long, looked lighter then one would expect a dress of such extravagance, a loose fitting belt with dangling sashes caught my eye as it was the same cream color as the hem upper, with the final touches being a wavy fabric that was dyed a dark rose red and stitched to the dress seamlessly. “Aaand, there we are,” the white mare said with a nod, zipping up the back of the dress. “You look absolutely gorgeous my dear!” “And just in time for you to take your place, Kairi,” came Trixie’s tired voice. “Curtain up in five minutes, fillies and gentlecolts! Everyone to their places! Rarity, I know you have some time, but you should already be in costume!” “Oh my, you’re right!” said mare gasped. “Please excuse me!” I chuckled as I watched the fashionista race to her dressing room. I could hear the orchestra tuning their instruments, and the audience shuffling in as Melissa was barking orders to the ponies operating her cameras. As soon as I took my place next to the stage, the lights dimmed, the audience went silent, and a low hum filled the air, before a whisper swept around the room. “Naaaarnia…..Awake!” And with that, the orchestra began the overture, the curtain partially rising to allow me onto the stage before falling again to a raucous applause. “Good evening,” I began with a bow. “My name is Kairi, your host this evening for the Lulamoon Theatre Company. I’m sure you can imagine the scene; a small colt tucked away in his playroom on a rainy afternoon, creating an intricate world of fantasy, with stories about a mythological kingdom called Boxan, that had talking animals and chivalrous knights. We often take foals’ imaginative adventures for granted. We may even consider them silly, or foalish, but for Clive Staples Lewis, or Jack as he insisted on being called at the age of four, those days of playful fantasy were very important.” I paused, taking in the audience as they listened, my eyes finding both Luna and Celestia, sitting together with Hayley and Melissa. “They would, in fact,” I continued. “Become the basis of stories he would write years later while he was a teacher at Oxford University, a renowned university of my world. We know these seven epics as The Chronicles of Narnia. One need only read the various books, diaries and letters of Jack’s life to see how his childhood in Belfast Ireland in the early part of my world’s 20th century influenced The Magician’s Nephew, the story you’re about to see.” I moved to stage right as I continued my introduction. “The wonder and secrets found in an attic.” As I spoke, the area of stage I had just vacated transformed into a dimly lit attic, much to the audience’s amazement. “A young boy trying to cope with the terrible illness of his mother.” The attic transformed into a picture of a sickly woman in bed, with a boy holding her hand sitting next to the bed. “And an escape into a newly created world.” The scene transformed one final time into the silhouettes of five figures and a horse gazing into a sunrise. I returned to center stage as the scene faded back into the stage. “These were things that the young Jack Lewis knew personally. The Magician’s Nephew was originally published in the year 1955. Though it was the sixth book of the seven to be written, it is really the first book of the world of Narnia. Here Jack Lewis explores not only themes of creation, beauty and hope, but of corruption, betrayal and, ultimately, forgiveness. So if you’re tempted to think that these stories are for foals only, then you are sadly mistaken. Jack observed that as an adult, he enjoyed so-called foals’ stories better then he did as a colt. He said he was able to put more into them, and as a result, he got more out of them.” I could hear the music for the first scene start as I give a smile, grandly sweeping my arm towards the rising curtain. “Join us now as the Lulamoon Theatre Company proudly presents The Magician’s Nephew.” As the audience applauded, I made my way backstage, just in time for the storyteller, Twilight, to give the opening line of the play. “This is a story about something that happened long ago, when your grandfather was a child…” *** “...I’ve got her ankle! Polly, the ring! PUT ON THE RING!” Cried Button Mash on stage, fully into his role as Diggory. I watched as Sweetie Belle, as Polly, put on a yellow ring, causing her, Button Mash, Rarity as Queen Jadis, Blueblood as Uncle Andrew, Mr. Cake as Frank the cabbie, and an illusory horse to vanish as the curtain fell, ending act 1. “We will now take a fifteen minute intermission,” Trixie’s voice emanated through the theatre. “Please take this time to get refreshments or relieve yourselves. Also, in the lobby we have copies of the original Magician’s Nephew novel on sale.” With a nod, I stood up and began searching for a pale green figure in the back. It didn’t take me long to find her, studying the script and comparing it to various paintings, sketches and notes. This was Skitch Sketch, a unicorn artist with a gift for illusions. “Hey Skitch,” I called, drawing the mare’s attention. “I got something for you.” I tossed her a small crystal vial filled to the brim with a deep blue potion. Taking a glance at it after snagging it out of the air, she raised an eyebrow. “And this is?” “A little something a friend of mine cooked up,” I replied with a grin. “It’s called an Ether, and it’ll fully restore your magic reserves.” Skitch’s eyes widened, before she pulled the cork and chugged the whole potion, while a faint blue glow surrounded her. “Thanks for that,” she sighed. “Now instead of passing out back here at the end of the night, I’ll be able to stagger to my bed. Much more comfortable then the floor.” I nodded with a chuckle. “Not a problem. By the way, nice job on those illusions during my piece. When you told me to move away from center stage when I started talking about certain locations and events, I had no idea you’d come up with something like that!” The green artist and illusionist waved away my praise. “No big deal. I just wanted the audience to have a taste of what was coming tonight.” “Places everypony! We’re back in one minute!” came Trixie’s voice. “Good luck Skitch,” I smiled as I turned to go back to my place. “Have fun creating and animating the animals!” I left the room to mutterings about cheeky mares minding their own business. *** “...That was the beginning of all the comings and goings between Narnia and our world, which you may hear about some other time.” Twilight finished as the curtain closed, and the audience burst into applause. I took a moment to add my own applause before stepping once more onto the stage. I let the applause die down before giving my closing remarks. “When it was published in 1955, The Magician’s Nephew was an instant success with the many readers of The Chronicles of Narnia around the globe. It answered many of the questions that foals and adults had asked Jack Lewis in the numerous letters he had received. Narnia was so real to people that they simply had to know how it all began. And it's to Jack’s credit that he’d had such a wonderful world worked out in his mind.” I paused, moving to stage right. “The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis was dramatized and directed by Trixie Lulamoon.” Trixie stepped out, taking a place beside me as she took in the applause with a smile. “Our producer and sound designer was Vinyl Scratch.” A white, blue-maned mare sporting sunglasses and headphones stepped out, waving as she took her place next to Trixie. “Music was composed and orchestrated by Octavia.” A grey mare with black mane stood up in the orchestra with a bow. “Costume design by Rarity, and set design and implementation by Skitch Sketch.” Skitch stepped out, a slight grimace underneath her smile as she waved. “Our cast included Twilight Sparkle as the Storyteller, Big Macintosh as Aslan, Button Mash as Diggory, Sweetie Belle as Polly, Rarity as Queen Jadis, and Prince Blueblood as Uncle Andrew.” All six named ponies stepped out on stage, waving and lining up next to Skitch. “Our cast also included the the talents of Mr. and Mrs. Cake, Toe-Tapper, Sweetie Drops, Quibble Pants, Sassaflash, Star Streak, Parasol, Adante, Minuette, and B. Sharp.” All eleven ponies filed onto the stage, lining up behind the main cast. “The Magician’s Nephew was a production of the Lulamoon Theatre Company, I’m your host, Kairi. Thank you for joining us.” I finished as we all joined hands and gave a bow to the audience, as they rose to their feet, giving us a standing ovation. *** “Finally!” I cried in relief as my dress fell to the floor. “I can get out of this death trap!” Twilight and Rarity, both of whom I was sharing this dressing room with, giggled as they watched my elated celebration. “She’s almost as bad as Rainbow, isn’t she?” Twilight asked with a grin. “Darling, you have NO idea!” the fashionista drawled in reply. “Do you think we should tell her that she’ll have to wear that dress again next month for the Gala?” I froze in my celebrations as I heard Twilight’s response. “Nah, how about you just make a more elaborate dress for her?” I quickly plastered the biggest grin I could, fake of course, on my face, before I quickly gathered up the discarded dress, and attempted a sneaky exit. Key word being attempted, since I didn’t make it anywhere near the door, since a large wardrobe wrapped in a purple aura was quickly placed in front of it. “And where, exactly, do you think you’re going?” a certain purple traitor asked, amusement coloring her words. “Oh, just outside to burn this dress,” I replied, a bead of sweat making its way down my forehead. “I certainly hope you aren’t planning on going like that,” Rarity remarked, also amused. I just stared at the two for a moment, not getting it. I looked down at myself, then up at them, then down again, and back up at them one last time before it clicked. “I mean, that is quite the fetching underwear, but I don’t think you want anyone else seeing them,” the white fashionista grinned at me. A full body, atomic red blush encapsulated me as I zipped into one of the changing stalls, slamming the door behind me. Yeah, I was only wearing a bra and panties. The two mares out in the main room burst into laughter, as a blue aura surrounded the dress in my arms before it vanished. “I’ll just hold onto the dress, shall I?” I could just hear the grin in Rarity’s voice as I started pulling my usual outfit back on. “After all, we can’t have it getting ruined before the Gala.” I just growled in a mixture of annoyance and embarrassment as I heard the two mares laugh, move the wardrobe, and leave. I cautiously opened the door of my stall, before going over to my bag, looking for a fresh pair of socks. “You know, you should really try getting used to dresses, my dear,” a regal voice startled me. I jumped around, summoning Destiny’s Embrace as I did so. What I found was a tall, white alicorn mare, with a red mane, wearing a wine red evening gown. Just above her heart, she wore a small pin in the shape of a quill and inkwell. “Who are you?” I questioned, eyes narrowed. “How did you get in here?” The mare chuckled before smiling at me. “I should think that’s obvious,” I just gave her a flat stare at that answer. “I wouldn’t have asked if it was obvious,” I deadpanned. She chuckled again. “Fair enough. Very well, you may call me Faust.” My eyes widened as Destiny’s Embrace fell from my suddenly numb fingers. “I am so sorry! Ple-” “No need for that,” the goddess before me cut in before I could really get started. “Really, it’s fine.” I stiffly nodded before she smiled again. “I must admit, I never thought I’d see the old histories again.” I blinked. That was an odd change of subject. “Umm, what?” “The play,” Faust clarified. “Narnia was a real place. Oh, it feels like only a week ago that I helped create that world.” My jaw dropped. It couldn’t be. “Jack did get a few details wrong, of course, like my involvement for example, but otherwise, a very faithful recreation.” “Wait, hold on,” I interrupted, struggling to hold onto reason. “You’re telling me that you are, or rather were, Aslan?” The goddess shook her head with a chuckle. “No, no, but I was one of his close friends. We extra-dimensional beings need to stick together after all.” Faust shook her head in amusement before she sobered up. “In any case, I have a few things I need to explain to you Kairi; things here in Equestria are not as peaceful as they seem.” I raised an eyebrow. “The Heartless attacks kinda gave that away Faust. Are you saying there’s something worse than them out there?” The goddess grimmly nodded. “Indeed.” With a wave of her hand, she conjured an image in the air. It was of an angelic, vaguely female creature that was entirely white. Even the armor was white. It carried an enormous sword and a round shield. “This is a-” “A Sin Eater,” I growled out, cutting into Faust’s explanation. “Created through an imbalance in a being’s internal elements towards the light.” The goddess blinked. “That's… Right…” I nodded. “I take it you want those abominations destroyed on sight then?” Faust shook herself, deciding to ignore my obvious knowledge of the creatures. “Yes, they as well as these can not be allowed to exist.” She waved her hand again, simultaneously dispelling the image and conjuring another. This image depicted a green-skinned female with yellow tentacles formed from what appears to be a literal "cloud of darkness". “Voidsent, right?” I asked. The deity nodded. “Indeed. What you see there is the most powerful Voidsent to have been seen here in Equestria: The Cloud of Darkness. It was banished years ago by Starswirl the Bearded.” I raised an eyebrow. “Banished? Really? I thought you wanted these things destroyed, not banished.” Faust sighed as she dispelled the image. “While the magic of Equestria is some of the most powerful in the multiverse, it simply is not meant to be used in an aggressive manner, making the destruction of both Sin Eaters and Voidsent very nearly impossible. And on top of that, they seem to be multiplying at an exponential rate, to the point that the Sin Eaters, incredibly rare as they are, are commonly being seen in the Badlands.” “I take it you have an idea as to what’s creating them?” I asked with a frown. “Heheheh…” a sinister chuckle rang out through the empty room. “Oh, she has FAR more then an idea, little Lightbringer.” Faust’s face twisted into a mask of anger and disgust. “Tash. Show yourself!” The unseen figure’s chuckle morphed into a full cackle as a thick black smoke filled the center of the room, coalescing into a truly nightmarish creature. It was tall, easily double the size of myself, and roughly in the shape of a man, but with four arms. Its upper left, and lower right arm were black, while the lower left and upper right were white, with sharp, cruel claws at the ends of them. To finish the monstrous image, it had the head of a vulture, its eyes glowing a deep, malevolent, crimson. “If you insist,” the creature croaked. “Hang on, hang on, WHAT?!?” I cried in shock, summoning Way to Dawn. Tash cackled again. “Allow me to introduce myself.” The dressing room door opened and a peach colored earth pony mare entered, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. The nightmarish creature’s claw struck without warning, impaling the mare as soon as she entered. “I am Tash. Devourer of Worlds, but more importantly.” He paused as the mare he impaled began to cast a bright light. Her very being seemed to melt before us, before she was encased in a cocoon of white feathers, which soon broke open to reveal a VERY different creature. “I’m the creator of the Sin Eaters and Voidsent!” Tash cackled once again, before vanishing. “And you, little Lightbringer, will make an excellent Voidsent!” By the time I heard his voice in my ear, it was too late. Tash plunged a claw into my back. I could feel the darkness seeping into me, but strangely, instead of the transformation we all were expecting, the darkness began to be absorbed by the Shadow Dragon Slayer lacrima that was within me. With a feral roar, I pulled myself off of the dark entity’s claw, turned around and blasted him with a Shadow Dragon Roar. I panted a bit as I cast a Curaga spell on myself, watching the dust settle, revealing… nothing at all. “Bravo,” a most unwelcome voice spoke up behind us. “Its not often that one is able to resist the transformation like that. I have no doubt that we’ll meet again.” We spun around just in time to see Tash walk through a dark portal, taking the newly created Sin Eater with him. “Past the far edge of fate ring blades dark and light, toning the coming of the end. But whose end shall it tone? Shall it tone the end of this world, sating my hunger? Or shall it tone my end? I look forward to finding out!” With a final cackle, the dark entity and his portal disappeared. Silence reigned for a few seconds, as Faust and I quickly repaired the damage my attack on Tash had caused. “I need to get the Element Bearers ready,” I spoke up. “But, they aren’t going to be enough, are they?” Faust sighed. “As much as I wish to deny it, you are correct. You’ll need the help of the friends you made elsewhere.” I nodded before heading out, leaving the deity behind as I pulled out my phone, dialing Melissa’s number. “Melissa, we’ve got a problem, activate Code 0… Yeah, the Elements are gonna need to be ready for a war…”