Dark Light
By: KRissCHu573
Chapter 1: Should have waited for Monday
It was a quiet Saturday morning. Twilight Sparkle gout out of her bed, after the warm rays of the sun shined on her face. She went downstairs, placed a hoof over her mouth to cover a yawn, and made herself a cup of coffee. Using her magic, she levitated the cup and a chocolate covered donut from a “Sugarcube Corner” bag, and headed for the front door. She went out, and was about to pick up the morning newspaper, when a bolt of lightning vaporized it, followed by the roar of thunder. The lavender unicorn was startled, and jumped back a step as she exclaimed.
“What the?”
She looked up in the sky, and saw how a familiar cyan pegasus was giving a storm cloud a major beat down.
“Rainbow Dash what are you doing?” She yelled.
“Oh, sorry Twilight.” The winged mare said with irritation in her voice.
With one last punch the cloud was gone, and the pegasus landed next to her friend.
“What has gotten into you Dash?”
“Well, you see Twilight, the Wonderbolts are holding a flying competition on Monday, over at Mareami. It will be the grand event for the local beech holiday, and the winner will officially become a Wonderbolt for a week!”
All the cyan pony received as a reply was a puzzled look.
“It will be like a trial period, to see if you have what it takes, and if so you remain a Wonderbolt permanently!” Dash squealed with a fangirlishly high tone.
“Oookay…but why were you bucking that cloud?” The lavender unicorn raised a hoof as she asked.
“Problem is that in order to sign up for the competition, you must have a valid flying license. Mine expired last night. All the flight schools and FMV’s in Equestria are closed for the weekend. If I am to wait for one to open, take the test and everything, I won’t have enough time to enter the contest.” The pegasus explained.
Then she collapsed on the ground, covering her face with her front hooves. Twilight shook her head with a warm smile, and patted her friend on the shoulder. The blue mare looked up, meeting the unicorn’s gaze, before the horned pony spoke.
“Rainbow, why didn’t you say so. You know that while I was studying pegasus wing abilities, Princess Celestia arranged for me to be an instructor in a FMV. You can take the test with me, then give my notes in an FMV station, and get your license renewed without losing any time.”
Rainbow Dash’s face shined in a wide happy grin. She grabbed Twilight in a bear hug, and took off in the air, while sounding like a broken record.
“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you…”
“Ok…can you please…put me down…I’m having trouble breathing.” The unicorn barely uttered.
“Oh sorry.”
The pegasus landed, letting go of her cargo.
“Alright. Let me just get ready, and we can get started in a few hours.” The lavender mare said.
--
High in the sky above Timber Hoof – the sister forest of the Everfree, found right opposite of it, north from Ponyville, Rainbow Dash was pulling a chariot without a roof, in which was riding Twilight Sparkle. After gliding past and over several clouds, the lavender unicorn levitated a check board and a quill in front of her face. Writing something down on it, she spoke to her flying friend with a reassuring tone.
“Wow Rainbow, you can actually finish the test with excellent marks in record time.”
“Heck yeah! But Twilight…” The pegasus’s tone became worried. “Are you sure it’s okay to fly over the Timber Hoof? I mean, you know of the rumors about the snake pony monster. Several mares and colts have reported seeing it, not to mention a stallion was kidnapped twenty years ago, and his torn apart body was found deep in the forest.”
“Oh Dash, you’re the last pony I’d expect to believe in such rumors. There is no monster. As for the stallion, he was probably lost, died from dehydration, and the local fauna did that to his body.” The purple mare said.
“Yeah right.” The cyan pony turned her head to the passenger. “How come you eggheads are always so skeptical about thi--”
“Look out!” Twilight shouted.
A blue box appeared out of nowhere, with a rather familiar blond maned gray pegasus hanging from an opened door. The two vehicles collided.
“Sorry Rainbow Dash!” The gray pony shouted, before a brown colt stuck out of the door and yelled.
“Derpy, get in!” Before pulling her in.
Closing the door, the ominous box vanished as quickly as it appeared. As the cyan pegasus was trying to stabilize the chariot, Twilight was sent freefalling. The mare hit the forest floor, and her vision began to darken. She saw some sort of a blurry figure move through the vegetation. Before she could distinguish it, the world sunk in darkness.
--
Twilight woke up after a while. Putting a hoof on her throbbing head, she noticed that it was bandaged. Her chest was also wrapped up in white cloth. She was in a spacious wooden cottage. Sliding off the bed she was in, the mare started to explore the building. As she got out of the bedroom, and into the combined kitchen and living room, she couldn’t shake the feeling that someone, or something was watching her. The mare was in the center of the room, next to a sofa and three chairs , in front of a fireplace.
A slight shimmer caught her attention. The light from a window was reflected by something on the floor. She levitated the object with her magic, and examined it. It was a black dragon scale. A creek sound made her turn around. She slowly walked back. When her hoof stepped on a rug, the floor made a hollow sound. A purple aura removed the rug, revealing a secret door.
Curiosity came over the unicorn, she opened it, and headed down the staircase from underneath it. At the bottom she found a strange sight. There was a big pile of different gems. She tried to touch them with her hoof, but was stopped by a quiet thud behind her, A worried gulp went down the mare’s throat, and she slowly turned around.
A set of flaming orange reptilian eyes were locked on her. Before her stood a large figure, which looked both like a pony and a lizard. In terms of height it was probably as tall as Celestia, and in weigh – about twice the size of Big Mac. Its mane and tail looked as if they were living flames. The shimmering glow of the precious stones behind her, slightly reflected on his dark covering, which seemed to be scales, not fur. On its back was a set of dragonic wings, and the mark on its flank represented a nightish purple rose.
The creature took a step at her. Twilight Sparkle started walking backwards. When her rump touched the gems, it suddenly stopped, stood up on its hind legs, gesturing her to stop with its front hooves, and spoke with a stallion’s voice.
“Whoa there, easy. I’m not going to hurt you.”
She noticed two sets of fangs in its mouth, one for each jaw. Removing her terrified expression, the bandaged mare cleared her throat.
“My name is Twilight Sparkle. Who are you?”
“The name’s Shadow Blaze. Nice to meet you miss Sparkle.”
“Yes…nice to meet you too.” The lavender unicorn replied with uncertainty in her voice before asking. “If I may, what is this place, and how did I get here?”
‘What a dumb question Twilight. Of course e brought you here, It’s not like I walk in my sleep, find a cottage with a gem storage, bandaged myself up, and go to bed.’ The mare thought to herself, after her question, and facehoofed mentally.
Shadow Blaze chuckled, forming a grin on his face, and replied.
“This place is my home. Well my gemstone cellar to be more precise, but up above is the rest. As for how you came here, I was hoping you’d tell me more. Late morning I was out on my regular stroll through the forest, when all of a sudden I heard screaming from above the canopy, and in the next moment you fall from the sky. Your landing was kinda rough, so I carried you back here, put some powder on the cloth and bandaged you. Several hours later I catch you sniffing in my cellar.”
“I’m terribly sorry for that Mr. Blaze. It’s just that I was kind of frightened waking up in an unfamiliar place, and secret doors do spark up the curiosity of ponies.” The mare chuckled.
“Very well, I’m glad you’re not a gem thief. Now, how about we go upstairs, and share some tea and daisy sandwiches? While you doze, I took the liberty of getting the herbs from the forest, and making something simple.” He gestured to the staircase with his front hoof.
Twilight nodded, and went up, followed by her host.
As they enjoyed the light snack, Twilight noticed the setting sun from outside the window.
“Oh dear, how long have I been out?” She exclaimed.
“Pretty much all day. You have to stay at least until morning, you haven’t healed enough to walk a lot, plus the forest is not very safe at night.” Shadow replied.
The lavender unicorn swallowed another bite from her sandwich. She wanted to know about the creature before her.
“Look Shadow…is it okay if I call you Shadow?”
The stallion, still chewing a bite, shrugged, showing he did not mind it.
Then Twilight continued.
“Right…see, I have some questions I want to ask you.”
After swallowing, Shadow replied.
“Well, given that you are one of the few, who didn’t run away screaming after seeing me, I suppose I can answer a few. Shoot.”
Not losing a moment, the mare began.
“Ok, first off, what are you exactly?”
“I am a dragony, exactly.”
Twilight’s puzzled look requested an explanation. Shadow sighted, and did so.
“That means that I am half dragon, half pony. Dragony, made it up myself.” He proudly said.
“But how is that even possible?” The unicorn’s jaw hung open for a while afterwards.
“Simple. My dad was a dragon, and my mom was a pegasus. I think you know how things go from there.” Was the reply.
“Also, what was the powder you used on the bandages? I feel a little achy, but better. A medicine like that could be very useful in the hospitals.” Twilight eagerly asked.
“I’m surprised you don’t use it already. I crush gems, and use that. For your remedy in particular, sapphires and garnets were the combination, but for different injuries, and different ponies, other are required.” Shadow explained.
The horned pony’s eyes widened, and shimmered. She was overjoyed that she had something new to study about.
‘Medical uses of gem powder? Who would’ve thought?’
Such thoughts rushed through her head. Seeing that his guest’s mind had dashed away to parts unknown, Shadow Blaze cleared his throat to get her attention. Accomplishing the task, he started a little interrogation of his own.
“So Twilight, do you mind giving me a little update of current events? I don’t go out of the forest much. In fact, the last time I met someone was about twenty years ago.”
“Wait, do you mean the colt who went missing in these woods twenty years ago? Who’s corpse was found torn apart deep in the forest?” The mare exclaimed.
“Well, yeah. Not many visitors come here. Heck, I’m starting to think the Timber Hoof is scaring more ponies than the Everfree.”
“Alright, I will tell you whatever you want, but…what exactly happened to him?” Her curiosity surfaced with full force.
“He was attacked by a manticore, which eventually I killed.” He said lightly.
A gulp went down the unicorn’s throat. Then she spoke, casting the subject aside.
“So, what is it that you want to know about the outside?”
“You know, base stuff. Are there any political uprisings? Are there any wars going on? What was the deal with everything going coo-coo four years back? Are there many gem hunters going on around? Any deforestation plans for getting lumber out of Timber Hoof? Am I going too fast for you?”
The quick recital of the questions left Twilight gawking speechless for a moment. Then she shook her head, getting a hold of herself, and replied.
“Well, there is the little friction between Equestria and Gryph, but there are no wars…at least not yet. Currently the kingdom is in a state of peace. To calm you down, “gem hunters” as you said are not going around in mass. Only a pack of Diamond dogs, living in the outskirts of Ponyville. Also there is no intention in getting lumber from any forest. The apple and other such farms provide enough with their dead or ill trees. As for everything going nuts four years ago, Discord – the spirit of chaos escaped his imprisonment, and plunged Equestria into chaos. Well…until me and my friends stopped him, using the Elements of harmony.”
A smug grin colored her face, after the last answer. Pleased with what he had heard, and seeing that the moon had began to raise in the sky, Shadow decided to end the conversation.
“It’s getting late, you should go and rest Mss. Sparkle. I trust you can find the bedroom I had left you in.” He said as he set down his tea cup.
“Yes, you’re right.” The mare yawned, covering her mouth with a hoof. “Good night Shadow.” She said as she trotted to the bedroom.
“Good night Twilight.” He returned the wish.
--
Rainbow Dash and Spike were making a hole in the library floor with their pacing. They were in the company of the other four bearers of the Elements of Harmony.
“Ugh, how long does it take the Princess to reply?” The dragon worriedly said, as he rubbed his hands.
“Don’t worry dear, I’m sure she will do so soon.” Rarity tried to calm him down.
“Ah man, not only that I won’t be able to attend the competition in Mareami, but now Twilight goes missing.” The cyan pegasus grunted.
Everypony and dragon gave her disapproving looks.
“What?” She exclaimed.
*BRUAAAH*
The awkward silence was broken by Spike, who burped out a cloud of green flame, which turned into a scroll. The white unicorn caught it in a blue aura. Everypony gathered around her, as she opened it, and read its contents aloud.
“My little ponies, this is dire news indeed. Unfortunately, both the Royal and Night guard are preoccupied, around our negotiations with the gryphons. I will not be able to send any troops no sooner than the day after tomorrow. In the mean time, try to find Twilight Sparkle yourselves. Good luck my little ponies.
Princess Celestia.”
“Well buck. What are we going to do now?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“What the Princess told us to. We’ll look for Twilight first thing at dawn.” Applejack replied.
“Um…aren’t you worried that Twilight might have trouble in the forest during the night?” The timid pegasus spoke up.
“Oh don’t be silly, silly. It’s Twilight we’re talking about Fluttershy.” Pinkie Pie exclaimed.
“Yes darling, we should have faith in our friend.” The stylish mare comforted the butter colored pony. “We just have to trust her.” The fashionista continued, as she looked out of a window, and into the night sky.
--
Twilight was about to go to sleep, when she heard hoof steps coming from above her.
“Shadow?” She called for the dragony, after opening the door of the bedroom she was in.
The mare received no reply, which made her feel uneasy. All of a sudden she felt the chilling touch of the wind. The purple unicorn trotted to the living room. She looked around, but the cottage’s owner was nowhere to be found. Yet again the wind made her shiver, only this time, she could hear its whistle. Twilight found it very strange.
‘How can there be wind, when all of the windows are closed?’ She thought.
The current of air was coming from around the corner of a wall, right from the kitchen, in front of which the mare currently stood. She made her way there. It was just an empty space, extending the building. On one of the walls the horned pony found a ladder, which led up to an open hatch in the roof. She gulped, and started to climb up.
The upper half of her body stuck out from the opening. She saw that there were no trees covering the cottage, and that the view of the sky was amazing.
“Can’t sleep?”
Somepony called from her right. Twilight turned her head, and saw Shadow Blaze laying on the roof, with his hooves behind his head, and he was staring at the sky, not even bothering to look at her. The moonlight made his scales shine. For some reason the sight made the mare blush.
“Ugh…yeah.” She said with uncertainty in her tone. “Do you mind if I stay a while up here?” The lavender unicorn didn’t notice herself say that, and thoughts of realization galloped in her head a tad too late.
‘What are you doing Twilight? Why did you ask that? Oh, he probably thinks I’m weird or something now.’
“Sure, no problem.” His calm reply surprised her.
She climbed up on the roof, and laid a leg’s distance next to him. The dragony didn’t break contact with the moon. Twilight, uncertain of what to do, gazed upwards too. The beautiful starry sky made her exclaim.
“Wow.”
“Don’t tell me you’ve never looked at the night sky.” Shadow chuckled.
“No, I have, but…I only did for research. I’ve never actually looked at the sky…well…just for the sake of looking at it.” The mare explained.
“I see.” He said.
In a moment of awkward, for Twilight, silence, the unicorn made an attempt to start a conversation.
“So, you said that the last time you saw a pony was about twenty years ago. I don’t think that you’ve been living on your own as a foal, or hatchling, so that makes you what? Fifty, maybe sixty? I must say, the years are definitely not showing.”
“I think that’s due to something I inherited from my father.” Shadow replied.
“What’s that?” She wondered.
“Immortality.” He said lightly.
The mare was now gawking at him. Shaking her head to remove the rude expression, she asked the most obvious question.
“How old are you?”
The dragonic stallion smirked.
“In a few months I’ll be hitting 897.”
Her unease turned to shock as she learned his age. After another chuckle he continued.
“But I’ve been living in this forest for the past century.”
“I’ve been meaning to ask, a violet rose? That’s a bizarre cutiemark. What does it mean?”
“My mom explained it to me once. It represents something strange and unusual. Pretty much myself. As for why a rose, it stands for my sort of a split personality. The thorns often scare away people, hiding the bloom, but sometimes it is the opposite.”
After his last words he sighted, before starting another tale.
“I’ve been alone for quite a while. Ponies are scared of me, dragons despise me, and gryphons just plain hate everyone.”
“You mean, you’ve never had friends?” Concern could be felt in Twilight’s voice.
“No, I’ve had friends. Problem is, they fade away, while I don’t. That’s pretty much the only downside of being immortal. Even long lasting friends eventually disappear. For instance, one of my best friends – a unicorn, using his magic, shared my 119th birthday.”
“Who was that?” The mare got curious as to who had managed to live for so long.
“Oh, a nice old chap called Star Swirl.” He lightly said.
“Wait? You were friends with the great Star Swirl the Bearded?!” The unicorn almost yelled.
“Actually…” He chuckled again. “…Until his 50th he was known as Star Swirl the Mustached.”
The stallion laughed, as he remembered how he and his old friend used to prank each other, and get in all sorts of trouble. Twilight couldn’t help but giggle herself. But in a few moments, Shadow ceased his laughter, and returned to his serious composure.
“After he passed, I started travelling around the world. When I was 439 I met with a very strange brown colt, with a hourglass on his flank, and his companion – a gray coated pegasus mare with a blond mane and strange eyes. Her cutiemark were several bubbles.”
The description of the mare stunned Twilight for a moment, but then she dismissed the thought that that was Derpy, because it was impossible. But curiosity called again, and made her ask.
“What did you with those two?”
“Oh nothing major. We saved the world by preventing the gates of Tartarus from opening.”
That was the last answer, the unicorn had expected to receive.
“Anyhow,…” Shadow continued. “…after that was done, they left to parts unknown to me, and I have never seen them since. Afterwards I tried to find myself a place to live. That’s when I met a very special mare. It was about 300 years ago. We met in a land far away from here. It was love at first sight. So I moved to live with her. She was a sorceress like you, and she was good, probably could even rival the pony ruler Celestia.”
His last words made her feel strange.
‘He’s probably never met the Princess, and given his age, he may have never even heard of her sister.’
That train of thought was interrupted by his next words.
“But…heh…magic wasn’t the only thing she was good at, if you catch my meaning.” The colt said with a grin.
“Heheheh…” Twilight laughed quietly, not sure where this was going.
With the awkward moment gone, she asked.
“So what happened between you two?”
“There was…a little problem. She was royalty. At a point the country fell into a food shortage. Rebellions appeared one after another. The pressure changed her. She became very radical about dealing with the problems. The mare I loved was gone. I tried to stop her, make her see reason, but after her second attempt to kill me, I packed up, and left.”
“Kill you?” The lavender unicorn was stunned.
“Then I decided to return to Equestria. I found this cave filled with gems, and built my cottage around it. Since then, I often climbed on the roof, and gazed at the sky. But for the last five years I’ve been doing it more frequently.”
He pointed with his right hoof.
“There used to be an image of a mare on the moon, but it vanished. A few nights later I noticed that the constellations – The heart of the sky and the dragon have been moved closer to each other.”
The dragony moved his hoof. Following its direction, Twilight noticed the two groups of stars – one in the shape of the shape of a heart, and the other in that of a dragon, were very close.
“I took it as a sign that I would find the love of my life soon. Once you’ve tried love, being kept away from it is painful.” Shadow Blaze sighted.
The mare could feel blood rushing in her cheeks.
‘Where is this going at?’ She thought.
“I’ve been waiting for quite the while for that special someone, and now a mare falls from the sky, almost right in front of me…” The stallion said, and shifted his gaze from the moon to her.
‘Oh dear Celestia, he is a nice guy, and saved me, but I feel him as a friend. How can I decline, without being rude…’ Such thoughts ran rampant through Twilight’s head as she panicked.
“…and it’s not her.” He ended his statement, returning his look to the moon.
“Eh?” The unicorn flinched.
“I mean you are cute in a clever sort of way, and a pair of librarian glasses will make you look amazing, but there just isn’t that *zing*.” The dragony explained.
“Aha…?” Twilight uttered.
Her face resembled the combination of surprise and confusion. Shadow looked at her again, and spoke calmly.
“Judging by your face, I’d say you’re disappointed?“ He had a puzzled look.
“What? No, no! Not at all!” She exclaimed, making gestures with her hooves, as her face turned red.
After the awkward moment passed, the mare rubbed her chin in thought, and spoke up.
“Say, why don’t you come with me to Ponyville tomorrow? You look like you could use the social contact. Besides, your dream mare could be waiting for you there.”
“You’re right, I could use the socializing, but how do you know that nopony will run away screaming? I mean…I’m not exactly something you can see every day.” The stallion ended his statement.
“It’s alright. Ponies are much more acceptive of things, than they were…well…several centuries ago.” She reassured him.
Sighting in defeat, Shadow Blaze agreed.
“Alright Twilight, if you say so, I will trust you.”
Both of them exchanged friendly smiles, and looked back at the sky. In a few silent minutes, the mare doze off. The stallion picked her up, took her to the bedroom, put her in bed, covered her with a blanket, and returned to gazing at the moon and stars.