---Prologue---
"Dusk, Get down!"
The order was shouted, just before a barrage of bullets were fired from a Gatling gun nest.
A Young lavender stallion quickly lowered his head, to avoid the fire. This soldier was the mysterious Dusk Shine. His past was forgotten, as harmony was no longer existent. this stallion was more known for his combat skills.
"Why did it have to be ME on the front line...?"
Dusk Shine was always tougher then what most ponies would believe. They would've seen the nerdy stallion, locked up in his library, reading books, and non-athletic.
This was wrong.
Dusk had a hidden secret, that had protected Equestria on several occasions. Only those who knew were, of course, his mentor; Prince Solaris, and close friend; Prince Artemis. They knew for centuries of a legend that passed down to families of dormant powers, that HAD to be unlocked to use. Dusk Shine's family had the proper traits since the start of time, and continued on, from Generation to Generation.
It all fell onto Dusk Shine, as of seeing his power potential. Being the student he had been, Dusk was to carry his family's legend-secret.
The Elements of Combat.
Don't get it wrong, Dusk did have this power.
Courage. The stallion feared little, showing bravery in the toughest situations.
Strength. Dusk was not 'weak', as he had more muscle mass then Apple Bramble. He kept it hidden, as to not.... well, either scare or intrigue his friends.
Apple Bramble is pretty much the Muscle of Ponyville, who has a build like Big Mac would, and the work collar, and of course, the colors and muscle. But, In a true size compare, Dusk would has the muscle mass twice as bulkier then Bramble.
Intelligence. It goes without saying how smart Dusk is, able to recite the entire "Guide to Magic For Unicorns in Training" and "Physics and Magic, how they Add Together" books within 20 minutes, shortest summaries on record.
Then, came the Kingdom Wars. Everything, everyplace, went to an all-out hell. Ponies were trained, and armed. And Dusk was needed for the better part of protecting Equestria. His EoC suit protected him for the most part, giving him an edge over in battles.
You could say, he had everything at times. But, something.... was still lost to him.
Dusk growled some, and suddenly sprang up over the trench, somehow running through the bullets and his kinetic shields holding, as he took out his Assault Rifle, firing in the general direction of the gun.
Though, the griffins had gotten smart. The Gunner was a distraction to lure Dusk out in the open. In the far distant was an entire sniper nest, three Griffons equipped with Heavy 50 cal. Anti-Material Snipers. each had a sight and laser trained onto Dusk.
*BANG!*
The first shot bounced off part of his armor, barely making a dent.
*BANG!*
The second round from rifle Number 2 only grazed his shoulder, penetrating the shield.
*BANG!*
*ZZZ-KCGCH!*
The third rifle, barrel smoking, had been loaded with a Hard Point FMJ round. All around Dusk, every griffon or pony heard the sound of the bullet penetrating through skin.
For Dusk... he had just been shot brutally. And this actually cut moral of all, not just his platoon.
The bullet had pierced right through his shoulder, through the bone, and then somehow made its way through to his heart, the bullet breaking up by the time it reached the cardiovascular center of his body.
Dusk suddenly felt no energy to move. His rifle dropped from his hooves, as he slowly bowled over.
All had stopped. Dusk had been killed in the most brutal way, and whoever fired the shot was now punishable by death. FMJ rounds were Banned World Wide in Snipers, as of an old law several thousand years ago.
Dusk was now crippled over, as his vision slowly went black, his eyes closing up. The shouts and screams of terror, pride, joy, and remorse sounded throughout he battlefield, a mix of emotions.
Though, Dusk didn't hear all to any of that. All he could hear, was the terrified scream of a mare...
"Spike! Where is the Chalk?!"
In another world, where harmony was abundant, a stressed Twilight Sparkle was busy with her newest assignment.
"Twilight, how do you even know this will work? I mean, it seems... impossible!"
Spike was hurrying down the basement stairs, carrying a small bucket of glowing blue chalk, going to where Twilight was positioned, sitting in the middle of her Temporarily clean basement.
"You never know unless you try, Spike. The impossible can very well be a simple action."
"That's easy for you to say, you have magic!"
Twilight seemed to ignore the comment, as she picked up two pieces of chalk, starting to draw the outline for a rune.
"Spike, this will be my biggest achievement yet! Have some faith. Now, I need you to write a letter to the Princess, tell her to come at earliest concern. I know this will work."
Spike saluted his "Sister-Mother", and hurried up the stairs to the library's main foyer to get the needed materials.
Twilight was focused, her tongue between her lips, to the side, as she got into her "Focused" mood, drawing out the outline of a rune, then the perfect circle of one. She then drew strange symbols and letters along it, as she prepped the rune.
Once the drawing had been done, the rune started to glow the soft blue hue the chalk also had. Twilight, satisfied with her work, put the chalk away, and went over to a book-- Well... more like a tome.
"Okay.... So, this is the first dimension spell known to work, but only to view, where as the rune one was not... recorded... Hmph, I'll see to it it DOES."
Twilight placed down the tome on a table, and then went to stand a few inches from the rune. Her horn lit up, and the rune reflected her magic, glowing a magenta-purple.
Her eyes were closed as she focused her magic into the spell she had spent a week learning. Putting it to use now, she took a bit of her blood, lining part of the rune with it,. The blood, of course, from a vial of her blood prepared earlier.
This caused the rune to react, and spur, as a magical tornado started to take place and spin, taking the rune with it. Twilight stood her ground as... whatever took form.
After a few minutes, Twilight rose her head and lowered her magic. Though, she let out a blood-curling scream of terror, as she saw a stallion in place of where the rune and magic tornado once was, a blood pool forming under him. More to worry of, her magic already picked up strong magic, but minimal life signs from the stallion.
In the time this happened, Princess Celestia had arrived, just in time to hear Twilight, and view the stallion near-death in her basement, the stallion carrying the same magic trace of Twilight for an odd reason. But she could clearly see something Twilight couldn't.
"Quickly, we need to get him to Canterlot Medical. There is only so much Ponyville could do, Canterlot will do more then save him"
Twi had only gotten one answer. The Rune-Dimension Spell. Never recorded because of what may come out of it.