Chronicles of the Glow

by Rusty Parker

Chapter 5: The Heart

Huddled together with her family inside, the red manned filly felt herself shrinking in fear. The sounds of the beasts were gone for the moment, but outside, it seemed the world itself had opened up. Earthquakes, something the town of Beacon had never experienced before, were shaking the building apart from its foundations. The crack in the wall had grown substantially, creasing along the floor now. The crack in the ceiling had collapsed in on itself, rocks now blocking off the whole other side of their home. And if that wasn’t enough, there was the loudest thunder outside that she had ever heard. Indeed, even her parents were shaken up. Her brother looked to them all with pleading eyes.

“Is… is the world ending, Mom?” he asked with a tear slipping down his cheek. As if in answer the rumbling returned, sending a book onto the floor with a bang, as if it had been thrown. On the table, silverware clanged on the plates of uneaten food. It had been cold for a while, and likely wouldn’t be eaten now.

“No,” her mother told him with a low voice. The quaking ended, and after a moment, she continued. “It’s just… changing. It will never end, my dear little colt,” she reassured, a weak smile crossing her face as she brushed his mane to the side lightly. The roar of thunder sounded again, drawing all of them closer together. In the low light, they all remained silent, waiting out the storm even in this moment.

Dust and dirt poured in from the hole in the hall, drawing all of their attentions to it. Fear cloaked them all, and Shine was on his hooves in no time, horn glowing and ready to attack. In slipped a snake, small and very well normal. Its scales weren’t colored darkly, and as it slithered over, it seemed to even be accustomed to being around ponies. A lost pet, it seemed. It slipped between her father’s legs and came straight up to her, brining its head to level with hers and sniffing her lightly with its forked tongue. She laughed lightly, bringing her white nose to its own in a light butterfly kiss.

“Get away, y-you monster!” came a voice from behind her. Head rearing forward, the colt showed fear in his eyes. He seemed to be pushing, trying to cast a spell. The floor shook, and as it did, the snake slithered off into the rubble. With a sigh, the colt released his attempt, exhaling only to inhale again. With a crash, the ceiling above them became creased with many more cracks that centered directly above them. The filly felt herself scream as the loosened clay loudly snapped above. She and the colt found themselves ensnared in their mother’s levitation spell, moving the two across the room quickly.

Almost the instant they were out of the way, the roof caved in. The filly felt her heart stop as the mare who raised her was engulfed in the dust and stone from above. “Mother!” she screamed involuntarily, fearing the worst. She took a step back, not believing this could be real. The dust settled slightly, and all that was to be seen was a dark, shadow like protrusion rising from the floor and out the gash in the side of their home. “Mother…” she whispered, falling to her haunches. She couldn’t blink, couldn’t move. She’s not there!

A figured suddenly appeared atop the pulverized roof, dark in appearance with the exception of the two suns that were its eyes. With a flash, the dark mass was pulled out of their home, ripping stone with it as it was sent in the direction opposite the figure. Huge claw like marks were left behind, the force of the blow having literally forced it through the solid material. A crash was heard in the distance as the pony on the roof jumped down into what had once been a closed in home. Stepping into the light, it was revealed to be her brother’s teacher, Kalk. The filly found herself looking up at him blankly, the shock still not having set in. Without saying a word, she returned her attention to the point of impact. The dust had settled, and from what she could tell there was no movement at all. “No…” she whispered, staring at the wreckage for a moment longer before getting to her hooves altogether and bolting to the rubble.

Stones flew in every direction, propelled by her magic as she searched for her. “She has to be alright, she has to be alright!” she said increasing loud as she moved each bolder sized stone like it were a pebble. “She just has to be!” she yelled, the last stone flying out the side of the building. A hole was left under where it had been, going down into the shop below. There, more stone lay piled in a heap. The filly looked frantically to her father, who had the most pained look on his face. The colt had made his way to her side, and now was looking up to her with eyes that begged for an answer. Kalk walked to her, putting a hoof to her shoulder and lowering his head, eyes closed. Not one of them said a word, silence setting in for the first time in hours.

A roar shattered the silence like a prized vase. The filly and the others reared around to find the most incredible, and terrifying, thing she had ever seen. A fully celestial beast, twinkling white against its pitch black form, stood at least three hundred feet tall several blocks away, Its claws dug into the roof of another building, it’s yellow maw of teeth opened and prepared to dice anything it pleased. Worst of all were the black, empty eyes it bore. She had read about one of these in school, how only the greatest unicorns in existence could hope to overcome one, but she never expected to be in one’s presence. An ursa minor, around the size of an ursa major made its way into a full burst of speed, its enormous limbs lumbering across the roofs at surprising speed.

She stood there, in the open, staring at it as it moved closer and to within a range of striking in seconds. Its claw reached across the sky, preparing to bring her down in a single swipe like she was nothing. Her bones screamed for her to move, but she did not. Her every instinct told her she had to get out of the way, yet she would not. No, this thing… She took a step forward. Her eyes glowed like stars as she stood there preparing her energies as the beast’s limb swept through the air. “Move, you’ll be killed!” a voice called from behind her.

“Mother!” she screamed as loudly as her lungs could muster as the spell released. Blinding light emerged from the tip of her horn, the beast’s swipe veering down and into the street. The ursa sizzled loudly in the bright light, bringing its paw to block it’s now blinded eyes. While the filly maintained the spell, her eyes lost their magical influence, returning to their regular shade of blue. The beast wailed out in pain, the light having been very well akin to flames against his cursed form. It seemed to have worked… until the ursa went on a rampage. It took random strikes at any building it could make contact with. Behind her, she noticed Kalk vanish and her father running forward. Blinded as the beast was, it could not hit its intended target, it still threatened everyone’s lives. She could see Kalk popping in and out of existence all around the town, each time seeming to cast a spell before he vanished again.

The filly’s spell died down as she looked on in terror. The ursa completely destroyed a building right next to theirs with a backward sweeping of its claws, and as it raged on, it got closer. Spit Shine leapt down to street level without even thinking and began bombarding it with rocks, though they seemed only to make the monster angry. It reared itself back on its hind legs, pulled its head back and cried out in rage as it forced its blood vessel popping eyes open. Looking to her rather than her father or Kalk, it lunged, jumping through the air to a rooftop near the building in an attempt to outright kill her and her brother. There was no reaction from the filly this time. “My… fault” she whispered, seeing the buildings that had been destroyed. Surely, there were those that had been hurt because of this… if not worse.

The ursa landed, the stone below it crumbling below its massive weight. Pulling its hind legs forward, it made its charge for a tackle directly into the gem shop. “Sis, please move! Sis!” the colt cried, pulling on her tail. The filly fell backwards, unable to stand the shock of all that was happening. She simply stared at the crumbled pebbles beside her as they bounced around with each falling of the ursa’s paws. It’s over…

The ursa reared itself on its hind legs, hanging over the building with both front paws pointed straight down, claws at the ready. Screams in the distance could be heard. There was Kalk, her father… and the voice of a filly. There was no thought as the world around her became plain. She was dead, and she deserved it more than anything. She wanted so badly to help out someone and make them happy… it’s all she ever dreamt of, making others happy. The ursa let itself fall forward, now about to crash down on them both. A single tear fell from her cheek as the beasts claws fell forward. She clutched her eyes shut as her brother screamed.

“Don’t. You. Dare,” a booming voice in front of her said, hatred seeming to drip from each world. The filly let her eyes open, only to see, to her shock, her mother, mane flying in the air and a strange aura akin to that which surrounds a unicorn’s horn when they use magic surrounding her. She was covered in cuts, scrapes and bruises, and as she floated, her eyes brightly shone. Above them hung the claws of the ursa, seeming to be held in place. Her mother was never like this… was it really the same mare she had been raised by? “Don’t you dare ever hurt my children, you pathetic little cub!” she yelled, her voice almost sounding more monstrous than that of the beast. Without warning, a sphere of light formed from the front of her horn. The beast screamed in pain, its celestial body becoming misshaped and deformed as white smoke rose from its sizzling skin. The bulb of light floated up, only forcing the beast further into agony as the light reached its back now.

Glitter’s horn released one, small twinkle of light, causing the sphere of light floating high above to expand in every direction. It was almost an explosion, except it had no sound at all. The light swept over the shadow beast, causing it to fall backwards in a failed attempt to avoid the enormous wave of energy. As the dust flew into the air and the light went out, the ground shook with a quake once more. The cloud rising over the ursa, Glitter’s aura of energy all together vanished, the mare falling to the ground with a thud. “Mother!” the filly found herself scream as she went to her now. The mare coughed, cringing toward her stomach as she breathed heavily.

“Red… White,” she said, pulling her head up to see her. From the looks of things, she had broken a few ribs when she was buried in debris, and now was feeling the affects of moving with them. She grunted in pain as she lay on her side, hooves pulled in closely to her chest. She clutched her eyes closed as her son and daughter looked on in horror. “Come here, Red White,” she said, her voice rusty in her condition. The filly lowered herself so that she was lying next to her mother, facing her directly.

“Mother, please don’t move! Your-”

“I know what I am, sweetie. Now listen,” Glitter cut in, seeing the fear in the red manned filly’s eyes. “I... will be alright. But listen to me now,” she told her daughter. In the distance, the ursa rose once more, this time distracted more heavily by Kalk and Spit Shine. An eye half closed from the pain, she continued. “You have to take your brother and go to the school house,” the battle resumed and she turned to make sure the monstrosity wasn’t approaching. Seeing that it was off somewhere else in town now, she turned back to her daughter, “It’s the safest place in a situation like this, everypony will be going there, and it’s outside of town,”

The filly’s eyes filled with water, barely held back by the thresh hold of her eye lids. “B-but Mom, you… I can’t leave you,” she said, tears spattered to the ground as she spoke, looking at her mother as if she’d never see her again for the second time this very night. Glitter took in a deep breath, her eyes closed as the pain still came in waves. Laying there on the ground, her coat ragged and cut worse than ever before and her mane falling over her eyes instead of being brushed over her ear, the filly’s mother truly gave the image that she wouldn’t make it. She reopened her eyes, staring the filly in the eye as the colt curled up next to his sister.

“I,” she said, putting her hoof steadily on the ground. It wobbled a little, but with effort, she was able to put decent pressure on it. “Am fine,” she continued, her body rising off the ground. The battle rumbled the building, causing her to almost lose her balance. The filly couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Even after being beat into the ground, breaking her ribs, and fully exhausting her magic, she was still able to get up again… She found herself gasping as her mother reached her full standing height. Glitter cringed, the pain from her ribs shooting up her side, but remained standing. “See?”

`The filly looked up to her and rose to her feet, her sight not leaving her mother’s eyes all the while. After a moment with the two dead locked in a stare, the filly closed her eyes and nodded. “I’ll take him,” she said, turning to her brother, who was too scared to even speak. Glitter smiled, looking at the both of them with pride. They headed for the door, but before they reached it, the both of them stopped. The filly came galloping back, stopping and staring her mother in the eyes. After a second, she had wrapped her hoof around her Glitter’s neck gently, trying to cause any pain. “You stay safe too, Mother,” she whispered, the mare’s eyes watering as the colt went and did the same.

Horn lit, the filly guided her brother outside, and began her trek through the ruins of Beacon. They would have to avoid the ursa, but it seemed like it had more on its mind than them now.

In the dead of night, Beacon seemed to be leveled. There were barely any structures left standing that weren’t crumbling on their foundations. While he couldn’t see everything in the darkness, he could tell the damage was worse than ever. He couldn’t let this go on anymore, the ursa needed to be defeated now, lest something far worse descend upon the citizens of not just this town, but all of Equestria. He could not let the shadow beasts accomplish their goal, no matter what.

Teleporting to another rooftop, the beast twisted in frustration trying to search for him. Standing their far behind it, Kalk started the tenth seal. It would take a moment, the magical energy being etched into the stone he stood upon. The spell, however, when completed with all twelve seals, could easily take care of the ursa. He found himself panting as the seal finished forming. It was a triangle pointing toward the point he had chosen with various symbols encircling it. Kalk was starting to feel the toll of teleporting so much, of fighting off a monster so large and trying to protect anyone in town it may hurt.

Spit Shine must have lost the beast’s attention, for now it was barreling toward him in rage. Kalk had been the source of all its frustration over the past two hours, and to its credit, it wasn’t exactly happy with him. Kalk blinked again, finding himself at another point in town. The ursa scrambled again in confusion, not knowing where the source of his frustration had gone. Hooves now planted again in place, prepared the spell once more. The most dangerous part of this all was when he was creating the seal itself. He could move, sure, but any loss of concentration and the spell over all would fail. Moments past by in crawling increments, Kalk’s struggle making time seem to slow down.

The seal completed, shining green once and then fading out of sight, Kalk looked over to the battle Shine was still having with the ursa, and was glad to see the little bolts of light still flying up into the air. He had been a student of Kalk’s when he was younger, and was one of those that just never gave up. He was glad to see that over the years, that hadn’t changed. His pelting may not accomplish much, but he still kept at it none the less.

Only one seal remained, and Kalk smirked to himself as he stepped to the edge of the ruined building. Spotting a good location for the spell to be complete, he started to gather the energy for a teleport. His head throbbed with pain suddenly, and as he brought it lower, the whites of his eyes darkened again. “Agh,” he moaned in pain, the migraine taking its heavy affect. He looked to his hoof and saw only a blank, black image. Everything was blurry, and it took him a moment to realize what was happening. The spell he had used to see all the shadow beasts on top of his fatigue were now taking hold, and he wouldn’t be able to use his magic accurately with the migraine accompanying the condition. His vision slowly faded back to a blur of what he’d usually see, the black in his eyes lightening as it did.

He couldn’t believe this, of all the bad luck, the effects were setting in now? His face creased with frustration as the pain throbbed with each beat of his heart, the pumping of blood overcoming the battle across town. There was no choice now; he had to make it to the next location by hoof. He lifted a hoof and in moving, his eyes instantly turned jet black. Pain shot up the front of his skull and caused him to groan as he put it down in front of him. Each movement not only left him blinded, but also brought an increasing level of pain. Kalk collapsed after only taking ten steps, unable to bear the pain any longer.

“No… I won’t” he thought aloud, pushing himself back up. “Stop,” he continued to move, now on his hooves again. His head felt like it would burst, and he was quite sure his veins would pop at this rate. “Arrrrg!” he roared, pulling each hoof up and fighting through it. He couldn’t see, couldn’t even make himself breathe, and yet he pushed on. Shine wouldn’t give up… and neither would Tick… or… or…

He fell forward, his face scrapping along the rooftop as he gasped for air. He had come into a full gallop, and had tripped over the small ledge connecting the two roofs together. In the small time he had come to a stop, he began to see again. The final point for the seals was just on top of the staircase in front of him. He was actually surprised at how much ground he managed to cover, he thought that he would be crippled before even reaching the half way point. And he had somehow, by some dumb stroke of luck, managed to jump over the gaps in between buildings in his sprint.

Kalk’s breath drew in heavily as he rose up again, this time his vision remaining untarnished by the spell. It seemed that in pushing himself through such a large amount of pain, the minor amount he suffered from simply moving his body wasn’t much of a comparison. As he moved, he felt the warm, wet fluid running down his neck and dripping to the rooftop. The pain had gone numb, but he had apparently cut up his face pretty badly in his trip. Swaying back and forth, Kalk pressed on, knowing that if he didn’t reach the top of the staircase, the whole town would be doomed.

One by one, step by step, he ascended his way to the top. As he neared the last steps, his vision again began to fade from him, and the loud ringing in his ears seemed only to grow as he moved. Upon reaching the cracked clay of the rooftop, he fell to his knees, unable to remain standing any longer. Everything around him seemed to blur, the world beginning to spin.

Gritting his teeth, he rose, the pain in his head still coming and going with each movement. Slowly, he turned to face the point he had chosen to center the final spell circle at. Nothing mattered but getting rid of that ursa at all costs to himself, and as he steadied his legs, he breathed deeply and slowly. The ursa was thankfully distracted, and thus he could complete the spell without interruption. He knew he would pass out after this, but he also knew that if he didn’t do it, everything was lost. With one final, long breathe of air, he started to focus energy to his horn.

The pain came instantly and his vision went as it came. He didn’t need to see the seal to know if it was done right, he could feel his magic shaping beneath him, though the pain would be a problem. Standing there, casting a spell with the migraine still in its full, he was only furthering his pain. He felt his legs tremble, wanting to give way and fall. He had to hold on… for Beacon… his students… for Tick.

The spell completed, Kalk falling to the side when it finally did. The force from the seal immediately forced its way out, pushing him farther to the side. He breathed as if through dense mesh wire, but now, it was active. Twelve beams of light shot up in the air, forming columns into the dark clouds above. The ursa, however, was not hesitant. In casting the last spell, it must have noticed him. The magic that caused his migraine was what controlled the ursa, and worked both ways. Kalk could see them when he used it, but they could see him.

The ursa roared, the wave of sound barely piercing the high pitched whine in Kalk’s ears. He could see the beast in still images, could see it charging toward him as his eyes stopped working again. And then, suddenly and without warning, the beast was pulled away. Not just that, but everything in his sight seemed to fade into the distance, leaving only darkness all around him. Kalk passed out within seconds.

“Kalk!” Tick found herself screaming, the unicorn falling to the side of his spell. He slid across the roof, his bloody face dragging as he slowed to a stop near the edge of the roof. Her eyes widened as she saw him, lying there, completely motionless. She was so struck by the scene of her teacher’s fall that she barely noticed anything around her. The ursa wailed in the distance, the columns of light shot up all over town, but Tick’s eyes never left him. Without thinking, she ran forward, bashing her head directly into the barrier Kalk had erected around the roof. She had tried time and again to get through, but this time she was more desperate than ever.

The battle with the ursa had lasted for a long time, and each second ticked by more slowly than the last on the tower below her. She did everything to try and stay calm, but there was no hope of that with the town her mother had loved so much being entirely destroyed as she sat there, unable to do anything at all. Now Kalk, her savior and teacher, was hurt and she couldn’t even reach him. The barrier held strong to her forehead, and though she had done this many times before, she brought her skull back and tried again.

The impact left her dazed, but not too bewildered to stop. Again and again she tried to break through. The ursa turned to Kalk now, and was seemingly ready to charge. A trickle of blood ran down between her bright, green eyes as Tick swung herself around in panic. Her back hooves came to meet the barrier, and to her surprise, left a small, gleaming crack in it. Without thinking or stopping at all, she lifted herself into the air, wings beating furiously as she accelerated up to the other side of the box that enclosed her.

All four hooves met the opposite surface, the wall becoming visible only when they drew close enough. It gleamed brightly, and floating there, Tick took the moment she needed to line herself up. From this position, the crack she had just made and Kalk lined up. Her eyes closed as she took in breathe, knowing that if she couldn’t make it through here and now, she wouldn’t be able to help Kalk. She couldn’t let that happen, she owed him so much… her name, her home, her life, and even her happiness.

All at once, Tick’s muscles in her legs contracted and then, pushed from the wall taking off from standing. The force brought her enough speed to get into a high speed burst, and as she lifted off, everything came to be clear. She opened her eyes, front hooves pointed outward in one final effort to break through. The barrier approached rapidly, Tick’s wings beating strongly to provide more momentum. In a single impact, the crack she had left became a gaping hole, Tick flying at high speed through it. Behind her, the remains faded away as it dispelled altogether from the breach.

“Kalk!” she shouted, hitting the ground with force. Tick hadn’t slowed enough to land well, and she bore the forward and downward moment still as she moved. She tried immediately to bring herself to a gallop, but ended up tripping over her own hooves as she took her second step. She was by his side the moment she was able to get up. Kalk’s eyes remained shut, and as she came around to his side, he remained still. “Move, Mister Kalk! It’s coming!” she shouted as she brought her hooves to him and began to try and shake him awake. “Kalk!”

The claws of the great shadow beast bore down toward them, tearing into the ruins of Beacon as it approached, fast and powerful as ever. As it moved toward them, the celestial energy that made up its body circulated in waves as if forced back by the trajectory of its body. It was a shadow of the monster, following it but never catching up. Tick neither looked up nor stopped, but kept shaking Kalk. If he’s gone… there’s… No! The quakes with each pummeling step the ursa made toward them increased in magnitude as it approached, the time between them closing as it got fiercer. She hugged herself close to Kalk now, as if to shield him with her body. If he didn’t make it, what use was there? Her life… she was nothing if she didn’t have him. She couldn’t be left alone like this again; it would be the end of her.

The sparkling shadow still oozing from its form, the ursa reared its head forward, ready to take out the building and the ponies alike with its cranium. In full sprint, the force of an impact from this could be likened to a wrecking ball. The filly only clenched more tightly to the unconscious stallion she knew as her teacher and father, unwilling to leave him behind. She felt the cracking of the concrete beneath her rear hooves, the vibrations causing some weaknesses to break away beneath the surface. The clay and stone crumbled and flew in every direction as the ursa’s mighty skull made contact with the building.

It seemed to her that, as soon as the explosion occurred, there was… nothing. The bits and fragments flew out toward them as the battering ram of a monster crashed its way through, yet she felt nothing besides the heavy impact and a slight sense of lifting in her stomach. A slight pain rose in her spine, but it seemed almost like the event passed her by entirely… Was she… dead?

“Don’t give out on me here, kid!” a familiar, almost cocky voice called as she dazedly raised her head from Kalk’s messy coat. She was hit immediately by a blast of wind as she squinted to see. Her vision blurred, but she could faintly make out the very light violet of his coat, the sunshine blonde of his flowing mane. The two hanging over his neck, Blitzy lowered himself to a rooftop some distance off from the building the ursa had just destroyed. Light from the spell circle faded as the seal surely broke to thousands of pieces. “That… can’t be good,” said the pegasus as he stared at the closing gap in the clouds.

The ursa in the distance thrashed around violently, as if hurt severely. As Tick lowered herself to the ground, Kalk remaining on Blitzy’s back, she looked on in fright. She was just at the front of the beasts head, taking the impact full force, and now here she was. To be able to get not only her, but also Kalk, a grown stallion, out of that situation with such precision in speed, it was unthinkable. Yet Blitzy had done it, and now stood beside her as if it were no large feat at all. Could it really be possible that a pony could be so sure of himself? She was always second guessing everything that she tried.

“Ah!” Blitzy proclaimed with punctuation as his features lightened from their serious form. “Ha! You crazy old man, this was your plan all along!” He became nearly giddy as he spoke, a smile forming over his face. The ursa in the distance scraped at its face with its claws, stumbled, and fell backwards roaring as if in more pain than ever before. The ominous aura rising from its body grew in intensity as it struggled. Tick couldn’t really make out the whole scene to a die, but she could see what had happened. Whatever Kalk had done, Blitzy was right. Through the shadowy cloak of stars that made up its body, Tick could see plainly one of the seals that Kalk had etched into the ground directly in the middle of the ursa’s forehead. Blitzy’s teeth all became visible as his smile widened. “Brilliant…”

The eleven beams of light that shot into the sky flashed red, a compliment to their former blue glow. In fading back to their original color, they all faded away, the spell seeming to end entirely. Tick and Blitzy stood in silence, watching the ursa struggle to erase the seal in its skull. If not for the sounds of its grunting and heavy breath, all would have been silent. The loudest thing Tick had ever heard thundered suddenly from above the clouds, and as she noticed, the seal flashed red the moment it happened. A building next to them had a cave in where the cracks on the roof met, and all around the world seemed to shake more than when the ursa had charged her. She held her ears to her head with both hooves, the sound seeming to draw out as it echoed across the forest.

Above, the clouds around where the columns of light had risen parted, forming a hole in the cloud cover the size of the town below. Spectacular light seemed to pour from the sky, a miniature sun floating above. It was almost blinding, but Tick couldn’t turn away now. Fluctuating white, red, blue, yellow, and all the other colors conceivable, the light seemed to shrink. No, concentrate. It crushed in on itself, getting smaller in volume but much greater in density. When the light seemed to be but a miniature star the size of a house, it stopped doing anything altogether.

Floating there, shining dimly over Beacon, it seemed to be the truest sign of their town in existence. Without warning, the sphere seemed to melt. Light dripped away, falling to the ground in a stream. Before any of this fluidic light could hit the ground, it seemed to shift course. The ursa cried out in pain as the seal on its forehead glowed a bright, vigorous white. The steam of light lashed out like a snake, engulfing the ursa and all around it. Twisting and churning, the light again formed an orb, this time over the surface of the town. The process seemed to repeat itself now, the light shrinking in on itself, and now, the ursa. There was no sound to be heard from the beast anymore, its cries now entirely gone from this world.

Rising now, the compressing light shrunk more and more with elevation. As it lifted its edges from the ground, the town was left behind, but the ursa was nowhere to be seen. It rose, higher and higher, back up to the clouds. In the center of the right over their little clearing, Tick could barely see it now. A slight twinkly revealed it to be the very same as any of the stars that could be seen on a clear night, either too small or too distant to be seen or admired fully. When the light seemed to fade entirely, the clouds began to swirl back together.

Tick fell back on her rear, her messy mane falling in her face. Looking up at the closing hole in the sky, she could neither think of nor even consider what had just happened. “What… What kind of spell was that?” she found herself asking aloud.

“I wish I could tell ya,” replied Blitzy, who was also looking at the hole in the sky. A single drop of rain fell to Tick’s face, then another. Soon enough, they were in a downpour of warm, wet rain. Neither of them cared, both simply staring at the sky. “Crazy old geezer…”

“Blitzy!” shouted a stallion behind them. The rain almost drowned out the sound of his voice, but he was still audible. Several buildings away stood Spit Shine, looking to them both with urgent eyes. “We need to get to the schoolhouse! This is far from over,” he shouted to them. Blitzy, not speaking looked to Tick, and grinned lightly.

“We’ll meet you there!” he shouted, lowering himself to allow Tick back on his back. She didn’t know what in Equestria would still come into this town after that display, but she’d rather not stick around to find out. She climbed on her teacher’s back, right beside Kalk. Looking over to him, the rain falling more heavily than ever, he had a smile on his still unconscious face.

Water cascaded down through the cracks in what had been a home in the outermost area of Beacon’s ovular structure. Now, the pulverized stones scatter across the floor, and no sign of anyone having ever been there, the orange manned colt wondered if he was really still in his home town. The sounds of crashing in the distance had stopped some time ago, to his relief. Across the room, his sister searched for a sign of life. She was so quick to try and help anyone that might be trapped or hurt inside; it was almost like she was the rescue squad herself. Every building they came to, she seemed to do this and had him keep an eye out for any sign of danger.

The colt, however, felt utterly helpless. He kept looking out for signs that someone, anyone, might still be around, but there was nothing. Standing there, his legs stiff as stone, he wasn’t sure if he could even tell her if there really was something wrong. He still hadn’t spoken a word since they left mother behind, only nodding to his sister’s requests in acceptance. Eyes sweeping the room, he noticed that there was now a pool of water where once was a crater left behind by the monster. The rain outside must have gotten even worse, he thought.

“It looks like everypony made it out of here alright, let’s keep on going,” she said, her red mane drenched darkly and held down by the added weight. They had been going around for quite some time now, and the colt wasn’t sure about how his sister was acting. She looked through each home as if looking for a lost pet, frantic and eager to be reunited. Not just that, but she was seemingly even more worried than he was. This whole disaster, as it was, seemed to have torn her apart inside. He couldn’t help but feel the same, Mom was still back there.

The filly closed her eyes, horn glimmering a light red before the tip flared out in a white glow. There was no doubt that they were going to get even more drenched than before, but the colt couldn’t find the will to care. So much had happened already, the rain actually rather felt like a relief. They both headed for a broken down wall on the opposite side of where they had entered. The only benefit of this whole situation seemed to be that they could make it straight through to the outer reaches of town without having to go into the streets too much. Almost every path now had its own alcove that lead through to the next.

They stepped out from under the crumbled roof, the rain instantly becoming visible as a haze of water. It was almost like they were swimming, the swell of rain so thick it could barely be penetrated. Never had the colt experienced rain so heavy, it seemed to be almost unnaturally powerful. The light from his sister’s horn could barely reach the other side of the street, blocked by the millions of tiny, reflective droplets. Each step resulted in a thick splash, the now destroyed chunks of rock in the road causing puddles to form. Stepping around their wet surfaces, the two made their way into the next building through an open door.

Stepping inside, the colt let the water simply run off his horn, down his face, and roll off of his chin. He had slicked his soaking mane to keep it out of his eyes, though the storm outside had just undid his work. Strands of orange hair fell before his eyes, sticking to his face as he stood there with a blank expression. The water pooled on the finely tiled floors, the building only having sustained minor damage from the attack. Looking down, the colt could see his reflection. His coat was ragged, and his mane wasn’t quite as neatly slicked aside as he thought. The image reminded him almost of how the shadow beasts looked; their fur in a rugged, torn mess. A drop of water dripped from his nose, falling to the puddle and rippling away his reflection.

Stepping into the next room, the colt found that this building had indeed experience a great deal of damage from the beasts rampage. Half the building was gone, nothing left but the rubble from the upper levels. It seemed strange to him, how, from the front door, nothing seemed wrong. The rain beat hard against the remains, each drop splitting up into the air as it hit the crumbled home. Looking around in the glow of a gemstone that hung from a wall beside him, he could make out the overlaying layer of stone that had been the rooftop. Wood splintered from below, plainly the remains of furniture, though unrecognizable now.

Eyes scanning, he found himself falling back in surprise. There, amongst the broken stones, lay a filly, her mane falling over her closed eyes. The thick, dark blue of it complimented her gray coat, and as he looked, he came to recognize her face. Her! It was the filly who had bullied him in class. The one who had grown angry with him at every turn, for no reason whatsoever. His eyes widened at the very sight of her, the instinct to flee setting in as the memories surged through his head. The colt found himself stepping backward, only to stop dead. Just as he was about to bolt out of the building, he saw that her left back leg was stuck beneath the bottom most layer of stones.

Staring now, the colt couldn’t make himself move either forward nor backward. Locked in his position, he couldn’t make up his mind on what to do; while she was helpless she still was the one who had caused him so much pain already. Looking at the filly, drenched with rain and unconscious, he felt a shiver of fear work its way down his spine. All the others in class rejected him solely because of her, the one they all seemed to look up to. Not only that, but it seemed to be for no reason at all. Why should he…

No, no this isn’t right. He hated her, and she him, but he couldn’t just leave her hear to die. He galloped toward her, the water splashing with each falling of his hooves. Knowing it was worthless to try magic now, of all times, he brought his head under the rock that lay on the filly’s leg. “Red White! I found somepony!” he shouted toward the other room, the sound of her hooves clopping against the tile responding immediately. Before she came into sight, he pushed the stone up with all the force his tiny body could muster. The rock lifted with a snap, something below the surface having been pushed out of the way to force it out of its position.

The colt’s sister ran into the half destroyed room, not even stopping to check the damage. She came straight to him, and in seeing the injured filly, moved quickly to get her out from under the rubble. Ensnared in a bubble of red magic, the blue manned filly was floated out of the rain. The colt didn’t need to be a doctor to tell that her leg was broken; it hung limply and bent in the wrong direction while it hung limply from her floating body. Still not awake, the filly was unresponsive to being moved away. The red manned filly laid down the injured one on a dry area of the floor gently, doing her very best not to hurt the smaller filly.

“We have to get her out of here now, Orange Cyan. It’s a good thing you found her,” she proclaimed, turning to him with wide, focused eyes. “Come on now, we must move!” she pressed her hoof against him, prompting him toward the open air outside the building with a turn of her cheek. Even now, it seemed, she was calm. He turned to walk out, when a thought struck him.

“Wait,” he said, turning his head back to face her. “How are we going to get her there too?” he questioned, now realizing that they might not be able to help after all. His sister could only smile in response, making him tilt his head in question.

“Well… simple. I’ll carry her,” she said plainly, turning to the filly that lay still as stone beside her. Her eyes glowed as she looked the filly up and down. With a small flare of magic, the blue manned filly on the ground was lightly levitated onto her back. The result was instantly visible, the filly crippled by the added weight. Her legs shook as she tried her best to remain standing, and it was more than plain that she wasn’t going anywhere like this. Her brother brought himself quickly to her side, pushing against her side to try and help her stay up.

“You can’t, see! What will we do?” he asked, looking to her with questioning eyes. If they couldn’t carry the filly out of here, she wouldn’t survive the night. The cold from the rain would bring a deadly illness if she was left to sit in it for the rest of the storm, and then there was always the threat of more shadow beasts. It shocked him to find that, of all things, his sister laughed a little under her breath. “What are you doing?”

“You know, they say some things are forbidden. It’s pretty funny how it can work out sometimes,” she said, a smirk fading from her face as her horn glowed intensely. “Because sometimes, those forbidden things can save somepony,” she said, a tear rolling down her cheek now. Forbidden spells… they could hurt the user if they were used for too long or in any way at all sometimes. There were even those that could kill the user outright. Both of their parents had made it clear that neither of them was to ever even attempt such things.

“Stop, please stop! I don’t want you to die!” the colt pleaded his sister as her horn reached a second level of intensity. As energy poured from her glimmering horn, her muscles tightened visibly. Veins became visible all down the side of her flank, rapping around her legs as the muscles bulged below them. The red manned filly seemed to be on the verge of exploding, when as suddenly as the transformation began, it ended. The veins that appeared to jump from her skin vanished beneath the surface, and as she breathed deeply, it seemed like the spell had actually failed.

The filly stood there, unmoving for several moments as her younger brother looked on in distress. She didn’t seem to be injured, yet at the same time her heavy breathing suggested that perhaps something was actually wrong. Her head lifted, revealing her brilliant blue eyes from below the curtain of red hair. She looked tired, beyond any doubt. Whatever it had done, it really must have taken its toll. “Let’s… let’s get moving now,” she said to him as she lifted front left hoof.

To his surprise, she didn’t seem to struggle under the blue manned filly’s weight anymore. Rather, she seemed to move effortlessly. It was as if a weight had been lifted off of her, she seemed to positively bounce. After a short trot across the room, she stopped and stretched her limbs as if relaxing them. She began to laugh a little, and to his shock, sincerely had a smile on her once grim face. “What are you waiting for? This spell won’t last forever!”

The spell! Of course, it must have increased the strength in her muscles. No wonder she seemed so bubbly, she had just gained a huge boost in ability. It baffled him to find that such a spell seemed to have no draw backs… but it was forbidden. “S-sis?” he called to her, as she made headway for the wet street. She stopped and turned to him immediately, hearing the concern in his voice. “What happens when it stops?” she tilted her head in question at him. “I… mean the spell,”

A warm, reassuring smile crossed her face as she noticed his concern. “I guess we’ll have to see,” she said in nearly a whisper, turning back to the downpour just before her. “When we get to the school, that is,” she stated after a moment. With that, they were off. Darting from building to building, they made their way across the wrecked remains of town. Many more homes lay in ruin, and none of them had the slightest sign of someone having been there at all. One home remained in perfect condition, dinner abandoned on the table. It was an odd sight, so many houses and no ponies at all.

All three were soaked to the bone when the school house finally came into view just on the other side of one final pile of rubble. From their position, it seemed a shining lighthouse. The shadows of ponies were cast against the bright panes of glass. With a smile of triumph clad on his sister’s face, the colt followed her into the ruined building that lay before them.

The cavern inside was pitch black, far darker than any other part of town they had come to before. No light at all seeped through any of the cracks in the walls, or from any of the gems that lay scattered about. The colt almost tripped over a slab of stone as he entered one room, unable to see a thing. He felt his way over it, doing his very best to not knock anything over as he slowly made his way across the tipping stone. As he reached the other end, the edge along the bottom of his hoof, he felt a vibration through his hoof. With a loud, resounding snap, the slab broke in two.

The orange manned colt pushed himself back up to his hooves, quickly trying to regain his balance from the crash. He backed himself up into the wall opposite where he had entered, still unable to see anything in the darkness shrouded the room. The sudden fall had startled him, and now, breathing heavily, he searched for any sign of an attacker. Instinct was a strong force, even though he knew he had simply fallen, he still feared for his life. The pain of a scrapped knee came in force as he silenced his breathing.

The pitter-patter of movement over stone entered his ears as he stood erect and pumped with adrenaline. The sound seemed to approach, getting louder and louder as he pushed himself farther back into the wall. No… no please don’t be! “Sis! That’s you, right?” he called out, the sound still getting closer and closer. His eyes locked onto where he suspected the door way he had entered was.

The sound stopped altogether, and as he looked around, he considered what was going on here. Was he… imagining the sound? “Sis?” he called out again, still not daring to move from the wall he was glued to. Dust fell to his face, and as he looked up, he saw two red rings glimmering in the darkness. “Sis!” he cried out, the shadow beast above him pouncing down toward him. Instinct again took over, his hooves moving without him needing to think. He dodged to the right, where to his surprise, was enough empty space to get around the monster attacking him.

He bolted, running faster than he ever thought he would need to. Veering around each corner and sliding a little on heavy turns, he made his way through the house without being able to see much of anything. He didn’t know where he was going, or how he was going to ever escape the much larger beast that was still right behind him. The sound of quickly drawn breaths accompanied the foot falls closely behind him. He was sure now more than ever that he was dead… dead. A small light appeared from the corner of his eye, and as he turned to face it, it was plain that he was seeing the way out of this building.

Reaching the open air, there was now much more visibility. Sight, however, wouldn’t save him, though, and as he rounded the corner of the broken down wall, he eyed the monstrosity as it climbed its way out. “Red White!” he wailed as he ran off, the beast seeing him and running after him. He rounded another corner, the beast tearing into the ground behind him only inches away. What looked like an escape to him now proved to be his doom, a dead end ally lay before him with pooling water near the end.

He slid to a stop, pulling himself down as the beast behind him pounced. In that moment he was either the smartest or dumbest pony in existence. The beast flew over him, having aimed too high, likely for the throat, as it descended onto wet mud. The colt turned on that very moment and ran back around the corner as his pursuer regained its composure and reoriented itself. The chase was back on, and as he ran, the colt felt the wear of fatigue on his weak legs. They had already been walking all night long, and he was starting to feel the toll. There was no getting around it; he could almost feel the beast’s claws digging into him as he thought of it.

A stone came between his lifting hoof and the open air. It brought the colt sliding along the ground as the beast pounced at him. That’s it, then. He was done for, no more running. In a way, his mind relaxed. This is the final second of his life, and in it, he felt… accepting of it. He was struck with a blow that sent the breath from his lungs, and found himself being pushed far off to the side. Everything went blurry as the impact brought tears to his eyes due to the sudden lack of air.

Standing where he had fallen was his sister, her red mane slicked down with rain as she stared down the shadow beast. Her face was painted with a mix of concern and pain. The colt gasped as he saw a large gash that had worked its way up the side of her stomach. Blood dripped from it, and as she stood, it was plain to see that she wasn’t in any condition to fight. The beast got up from where it had fallen, mere feet away from her. “Sis, run! Please, don’t get killed!” he cried out, his voice weak. He couldn’t even yell like this, the pain, which had strangely enough saved his life, still pressing his stomach in.

“You!” the filly growled through her pain. “You can’t have him! Or her! Or anypony else!” she began yelling, the beast only seeming to get more aggressive as she persisted. It was an odd sight, a filly many times smaller staring it down like a beast of equal or larger size. “You hear me? You can’t take anypony else, not a single one!” she shouted, taking a step forward. The wolf like shadow beast did not back down, instead growling aggressively at its new found prey. Her wound bled on, but to the colt’s surprise, a small gleam appeared on the filly’s flank. His breathing grew slightly less ragged as he looked on.

“I won’t let you!” she screamed, her horn glowing intensely as levitation magic enveloped the beast’s rear legs. The beast whined in pain, as to the colt’s shock, the cracking of done could be heard. It stood still, anger replacing the pain more quickly than one would expect. “I love the ponies here, in Beacon! They are all great, and all have hearts that burn with the will to be free!” she yelled on, the glow at her flanks taking shape. It was an amazing thing to behold, someone getting their cutie mark right before your very eyes. The light lined its way to the shape of an oblique heart, one side more boldly shaped than the other. “And that’s why,” she whispered now, “I would do anything to keep them safe!” her voice rose to yelling once more as the pink heart on her flanks finally formed completely.

“Sis…” the colt whispered under his breath. He knew she loved ponies to death, knew she had more care than others, but never could have guessed that her love would be her talent. He always assumed it would be her amazing talents with magic, the way she could wield it like a precision tool. His amazement turned quickly to worry. The gash at her side showed darkly now, veins popping out around it as she continued to step forward.

With a final growl, the beast opened its mouth, ready to tear into the filly that stood before it. Just as its teeth were inches from her face, the red manned filly let her horn erupt with light, and grabbed again at the beast’s hind legs. If this was anything like what she did to the ursa, then that wolf was done for. The sizzling was audible from where he lay, and as it was pulled down by its legs, the beast seemed to finally submit. Its mouth was burned to the point where it would never be able to eat again, sores already appearing as it hung open.

No one had ever seen a shadow beast give up, ever seen one retreat. Yet on this night, of all nights, one finally did. The colt watched in awe as the monster gave up, and ran off over the rubble, its mouth still hanging open. The whines of pain could still be heard for several moments after it left his sight. The sound of a wet thud brought his attention back to his sister. Lying on her side, she cringed toward her gapping cut in pain. “Ah… ahg,” she gasped out, air escaping her longs in bursts.

“Sis!” he yelled in fear, getting up and running toward her now. “Oh no,” he whispered under his breath when he reached her. Veins showed beneath her skin around the cut as pitch black. The ooze in her veins worked its way slowly up her side, and it was plainly more painful than the cut itself. “I… No,” he whispered.

“Don’t,” she said through the pain. It shocked the colt that his sister could still muster the strength to even speak, the way this wound was. “Don’t go blame yourself,” she said to him as she wrapped a hoof around one of his. The colt’s eyes watered over, fresh tears falling on her wet face. “It’s… not your fault… ahg!” she choked out. Her eyes closed as she pulled herself closer into a ball.

Her eyes lightened their closing force as the pain drove her into an unconscious state. “No! Please stay with me!” he cried over her. “I can’t…” A hoof fell on his shoulder, shocking him to the spine. Turning now, he saw the wet, green fur of a giant… “Greenhoof?” he asked, looking up to the stallion in a mixture of confusion, terror, and hope. Without saying a word, Greenhoof nodded. The colt’s eyes traced their way back to his unconscious sister, and then he saw the blue manned filly just feet away, in an alcove sheltering her from rain.

The enormous earth pony was not hesitant to carry them both back to the school, though the colt couldn’t stop the flow of tears from his eyes. It was a miracle, what had happened here tonight… He silently thanked Greenhoof while he trotted to keep up with him. They made it to school without further incident, the colt only hopped that it wasn’t too late.

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The Luminous One… Iterating over and over again, each imprint leading closer to where it would be. Wet, soaking brown mush left a line of light, forming the path for which to follow. The Blood drove after it, not relenting for anything. It burned more intensely than ever before to move. Move on and never stop until The Luminous One was found. The water that fell from the sky served only to cool, the Blood pouring heat into all. The Blood suddenly said to stop, to slow and to watch. Another had found them… the Luminous One still nowhere in sight.

Slowly, a force pushed from the darkness, the source of the other moving rapidly in the swell. It danced in the dark, foreboding wall of emptiness, moving here and there at speed. The other lashed out, and it was then that all changed. Burning like a gaping wound, the memories flew forth. More clear than ever, the sorrow… the hope… the disgust… the love.

The Blood screamed, pushing with all its might to have its will done. Yet, there was no result to this. The Blood did nothing to move, did nothing to sway. Fresh water poured to the ground, the dark wall suddenly becoming more. Suddenly becoming familiar. There had been others like this… Others that were in the memories.

The emotion was thicker than ever before, the other… there were two now, seeming to avoid the Blood’s call altogether. Looking now, the other did not move an inch, though the source pushed and shoved with more strength than ever. A burning desire came to stop the Blood, to stop the source that had brought into existence the other. In time the other within control of the Blood fled for the darkness.

More water fell, splattering to the floor in puddles now. The source was pushing now, driving the Blood’s will over the other laying just beyond the wall. “What is the other?” crawled into the emptiness within. So familiar was this voice, that it brought it to speak more. “Why… Why?” There was nothing to see, but still sight was awash with a blur. Lines that did not exist were gone, and there was only one thing that rose now beyond the swelling heat of the Blood.

“What am I?”