//------------------------------// // Parallel // Story: Lightbringer (Rewrite in the works!) // by Solar Firedawn //------------------------------// Dark Eclipse looks on from the vacuum of space. Solar couldn’t have made executing his plan any easier. “Well, well, well, Solar. You will never get rid of me. You don’t have the heart to. You need me. Without me, you don’t exist. Without you, I don’t exist. Complete opposites attract. Why can you not see that?” Dark Eclipse furrows his brow and looks over what is around him. The cosmos, expansive. Infinite yet always ending. Planets, stars, novas and everything in between. Nothing is out of his reach. He smiles, showing the planet of Equus his glistening teeth. He knows what he has to do. He will show them the truth of what the Lightbringers stand for. Not their lies. He hums at the thought of the Lightbringers bowing down to him. “Soon Solar. Very soon, you will learn to fear me. You just showed me your weakness. It’s in my friend’s namesake.” Dark Eclipse looks to his left at the stallion. His strongest Starkiller, Corrupted Night. His coat is nearly pitch black with a hint of blue. An ocean with only the moonlight to illuminate the body. Corrupt’s eyes are the strangest as they were black pupils, with the cornea being blood red, an orange iris surrounding said pupil. “Show Solar what happens when he refuses to see the truth. Also, see if you can… encourage Princess Luna to help us in our endeavor. Corrupt tilts his head in confusion, unsure as to what Luna has to do with their “plan”. “What do you plan on doing with Luna, Master?” Dark glares at his subordinate. Had he not made it clear that he was the one who came up with their actions and plans? “Are you questioning my tactics, Nighty?” Corrupt swallows the pit that was warning him to keep his mouth shut. “I would never think of such a thing, Dark.” “Excellent. Then you know what you need to do. Off you go.” Corrupt nods. “I will make sure it is done..” With that, he sped off towards Equus’s surface. *** Solar and Dash were doing everything that their bodies would allow them to do in a desperate effort to best their opponent. After they had agreed Solar wouldn’t use magic of course. Dash is slowly but surely catching up, much to Solar’s amusement. “Think you got what it takes to beat me Dash? I can slow down for you if you would like.” Dash smirks, confidence billowing. “How fast can you really go, Sunny boy?” Solar scoffs beside her, their race becoming a memory of the past, a remnant of time. “Finally came up with a pet name I see. How endearing. You really want to see just how fast I could go? You may be the fastest flier in Equus, but I very well could be one of the fastest things in the multiverse.” Solar’s grin widends and his eyes narrowed as he wills his horn to reappear, causing Dash to look on in shock. An orange aura appears around his form, glowing ever brighter. A sun making its fury known. The next thing that Dash saw made her question her very eyes. Solar launches into the distance only to be seen again seconds later, an amber ring left in his wake. “What you just saw Dash, was not teleportation, but me flying. By using magic to propel-” He isn’t able to finish as he and Dash hear a loud bang in the distance, Solar’s eyes widening as he realizes what he had done. “Solar? What was that?” The stallion grimaced. “Something that Twilight would have trouble understanding.” “Which is?” “I just ripped the fabric of reality. Which means somewhere, a portal to another dimension may have appeared. Dash, speaking of her, go get Twilight. Who knows what may be on the other side. I need to find this gateway.” Dash nods without another word and speeds off, leaving Solar to find the result of what was supposed to be an innocent stunt, and wondering why Dash was so unphased by what had transpired. *** “Come on Sunny! It’s gonna be fun! Just me and you, off to Zephyr Heights to spend a few days together. Meet new ponies and all!” Said Izzy. Her playful and energetic self elicits an amused giggle from her marefriend, who is jumping around the armchair Sunny is sitting on. “I don’t know Izzy. I would love to. But don’t you worry about what other ponies may think about a unicorn and earth pony being in love? I’m not sure if they are ready for that.” Izzy’s smile falters a bit. A small cloud blocking the sun’s warmth. “Sun, who cares about what they think? They don’t need to be ready for you. I’m ready for you.” Izzy walks up to the armchair and nuzzles Sunny, who nuzzles back, before Sunny surprises her marefriend when she gives her a quick peck on the lips. “How’s that for being ready?” Izzy isn’t able to make a response. Not before her and Sunny hear a whooshing sound come from the upper floor of Sunny’s home. It wasn’t loud, rather almost silent. “You hear that Sunny?” She shakes her head. “No. What is it?” Izzy motions for her to follow onto the platform elevator. What Sunny sees next baffles her, leaving her speechless. “Um, Sunny? What is that?” What looks like a circle can be seen next to the window. The strangest thing about it is that the sound is coming from its location, as well as something that could be seen on the other side. Almost as if it was a second window, To someplace else that neither of the ponies had ever seen before. “Is this a portal?” Asks Sunny to no one in particular. Izzy shrugged. “If it is, then where do you think it goes?” Said Izzy. She inhales sharply. “Or maybe when it goes?” Sunny shot her marefriend a look of confusion? When? What could she possibly be talking about? “What? Are you ok? Since when can a portal go to a different time? Magic has only very recently come back to Equestria. LOOK! Is that…what I think it is?” Izzy’s gaze snapped to what was inside the portal’s sight. What looked like a gray unicorn with wings could be seen doing something that was unbeknownst to the young couple, it’s back turned to them. She couldn’t help but want to get closer. Was she hallucinating? Was this really all a dream her wild mind came up with? “Izzy, I wouldn’t get too close. You don’t know what this pony is capable of.” Warned Sunny. She is starting to sweat. Her heart begins to beat faster. Something doesn’t feel right. Izzy keeps getting closer then stops. Her eyes widen upon realizing what they are looking at. “ALICORN!” Whoever it is on the other side heard them. The alicorn’s ears perked up and its head turned to the right. An orange eye lazily glancing at them before narrowing, almost in panic. Izzy keeps trotting forward, and to Sunny’s chagrin, jumps into the portal, tackling the poor alicorn. “IZZY!” Sunny scoffs. Left with no choice, she jumps through the portal in pursuit. *** It’s been a while since Solar has managed to do this before. Yes, he can open portals to other locations on the same planet he’s on, but it is almost impossible for him to make a portal to a completely different dimension. Especially if he’s never been to said dimension. As he concentrates, trying to find the correct spell to safely close the portal, he hears a faint voice coming from the portal. He can’t place what the voice is saying. Maybe he is hearing things. “What?” Solar looks to his right and his jaw drops. An orange coated earth pony and a light pink coated unicorn. The unicorn, far too excited for his liking. Panicked, he tries to find the spell in his mind even faster, but only has a few seconds to do so before he feels a weight bear down onto him, promptly dragging them down together. “What the buck! What are you doing?” Shouted Solar, too startled to completely understand what is going on, other than the fact he had ruptured the timeline by letting foreigners into a different dimension. He had to think fast, however he then heard screaming from above. Solar looks up and sees the earth pony falling fast. The ground coming to meet her far too fast. A monster with its claws outstretched. He catches the mare with his magic and glides down with her unicorn friend in his hooves. His anger flares, bubbling from the surface. But he manages to quell it in time. He did do this himself after all. “Right. I know I opened the portal by mistake. But what have you two done?” The two ponies had nothing to say but one thing that made Solar facehoof. “Umm… hi?” “Really? That’s it? Let me put things in perspective for the two of you. Me opening the portal on its own, does nothing to the timeline. Now, on the other hoof, two entirely foreign ponies coming through said portal? That can become a disaster.” Solar was doing everything he can to not full on shout at the ponies. But he couldn’t help but wonder what they were thinking. “I’m very sorry for my friend Izzy here. She is as sweet as can be. Even if she is a little impulsive.” Izzy sticks her tongue out at the other mare, though as much as Sunny and Izzy knew, it wasn’t malicious. Just strange. “I am Sunny. You already know Izzy.” Sunny offers a hoof to Solar, who smiles a bit. At least they are polite. “Solar Firedawn. Before we move on any further, where are you two from?” He was somewhat afraid of the answer. What if his fears were confirmed and they were from another timeline? He should have been more careful. “I am from Bridlewood! Sunny here is from Maretime Bay.” Solar grimaced, they were from nowhere around here. “Celestia damn it. Okay. Whatever you two do, do not, and I mean do not tell me anything about where you are from. Not ponies, locations, nothing. Got it?” Sunny adds something else that would have made Solar’s blood chill if he had any. “Celestia’s alive? She’s been…gone for millenia.” “Yeah. As well as Luna and Twilight along with the Mane 6. They are legends!” Solar’s left eye began to twitch. Things just went from bad…to worse. Not only are they from a different timeline, they are from the future. His flank was going to be chewed out by somepony. Now that he thinks about it, that thought doesn’t sound completely right. “That doesn’t make sense.” Solar looks up from the ground at the two mares. His expression bears concern about the fact that two universes have just collided. “All the ponies you just mentioned are alive. You effectively time traveled.” Solar’s voice begins to tremble. A leaf struggling to hang on in the pouring rain. “You two are coming with me. Or are there more of you?” “Not that I know of Mr. Firedawn.” Answered Sunny. Solar smiled a bit. A lone ray of sunshine piercing the rain clouds. *** Twilight is in front of a chalkboard filled with absolutely nothing. It is driving her insane.  Why is Solar here? How did he get here? She is in the midst of thought when she hears Dash’s voice from the front door. “Hey Twilight? Solar wants me to come and get you for something.” Twilight gets up and sighs. Again. What is it about him that just doesn’t sit right with her? She canters up to the door and opens it. Dash waiting patiently. If doing circles mid-air can be considered patient. “Did he say what it was?” Dash shakes her head. “Nope. I am just the messenger. Want to walk or you want me to carry you?” Twilight lightly blushes. “I think I’ll just teleport us there. Where is he at?” “He may be near the Everfree Forest. I think.” “You don’t know for certain. Right. Grab on.” Dash and Twilight huddle together and Twilight concentrates. In a brilliant flash of purple light, the pair find themselves where Dash said Solar may be. Near the edge of the Everfree Forest. “He isn’t here.” Twilight separates from Dash. Dash takes off and looks from above, but Twilight feels a strange sensation make itself known. She hears a voice echo from within her very mind. “Looking for someone?” Twilight gasps and looks to one of the trees and sees a dark blue coated stallion. His eyes, unnatural enough to send shivers down her spine. Their malevolent red gaze,  threatening. Something is very wrong. “Dash, come here!” The stallion slowly starts to make his way. Creeping closer. “What’s wrong Twi? Too scared of being alone?” “DASH!” Twilight starts to step back. “Who are you and what do you want?” “Ah. That is very simple Twilight. Luna.” His pupils glow a vibrant red. Twilight shrieks in fear and runs. A foal running from a nightmare. Give. Me. Luna. “Leave her alone!” Dash shouts from behind the stallion. Her voice startles the stallion and he vanishes from sight. Leaving Dash and Twi speechless. “What is happening, Twilight?” “Nothing good. We need to get Solar and after him, the Princesses.” Dash frowns and walks over to Twilight. “Did you not just hear him? He’s trying to get to Luna.” Twilight sighs. “What do you want to do, Dash? Just sit and wait for everything that we know of to be in danger? I don’t know about you but I am starting to somewhat believe what Solar is saying. The whole ‘war above’ and all that mess. You want to take the chance of not being prepared for what just might come?” Rainbow scoffs and gets closer to Twilight, frustrated by Twilight’s recklessness. “No. Of course not! But I also don’t want to run blindly into something we know nothing about!” “That’s pretty smart thinking coming from you!” Twilight realizes what she just said. “Dash. I am so sorry-” “No. You’re right. I am getting mad at you about something I do myself sometimes. Be reckless. If you are willing to trust him, I’ll do the same.” Dash shrugs. “I’m sorry too. So… Want to keep looking for your coltfriend?” Dash teases. A mischievous smirk on her face. Twilight blushing as a result. “He isn’t my coltfriend! But yes. We probably should. Given he doesn’t find us first.” “Well, he was here before I left to get you. I am surprised you didn’t notice the literal ring of fire in the sky. Too busy reading?” Dash says with a chuckle. Twilight looks away bashfully, but stays silent. “No surprise there. C’mon. Let’s go. We’ve been standing around for too long.” The pair look along the edge of the forest. What seems like the entire day passes, the monotony threatening to make itself known, yet Solar is nowhere to be found. “Are you sure you have thought of looking in town?” Dash facehooves. “No.” “That explains why we still haven’t found him.” “Found who?” In the midst of their conversation, the pair failed to realize that they had just passed Fluttershy’s house. The yellow pegasus can be seen along with Solar and two ponies Twilight never met before in the cottage’s front yard. “There you guys are!” Exclaimed Twilight. “We’ve been looking all over for you! Who are these ponies?” Solar lets out a soft exhale.” This is going to be confusing, but you are going to have to bear with me. I’ve done something I wish I didn’t do.” Twilight’s eyes narrow. “Which is?” Solar turns to Fluttershy. “May we discuss this inside?” Fluttershy nods and the group make their way into her home. *** Luna could tell something is wrong about her cosmos. Her normally pristine night tries to whisper secrets even itself doesn’t know. Luna hears Celestia’s hoof falls behind her. “Everything alright, Lulu?” Luna doesn’t respond. Leaving Celestia to wonder what is going through her sister’s head. Celestia puts a hoof on Luna’s shoulder. “Luna?” Luna’s head snaps to the left. Reptilian, turquoise irises greet her own pink eyes.