//------------------------------// // The Crossing // Story: Darkest Night // by Macross84 //------------------------------// "Wow Twilight! I swear we have half of the Library from the Castle of the two Sisters." A young purple drake chuckled as he pulled a grossly overburden red wagon loaded down with a mountain of books, and scrolls. The tower teetering precariously as the drake pulled the wagon along without much care. The small drake followed a purple alicorn through the center of Ponyville, coming from the Everfree Forest. The other ponies carried on their normal day almost completely oblivious to this duo as the scene was quite common among their quaint, and quiet town. "It would seem like it Spike, but there are still shelves upon shelves of books, tomes, and scrolls that have to be sifted through. We've only scratched the surface of the knowledge that still lays hidden away in that castle. Locked away for countless centuries." Twilight Sparkle replied as she walked ahead of Spike, the purple Drake. Her nose was buried in a scroll, leaving her completely oblivious about the surroundings and almost causing her to trip. Had it not been for the other ponies making way for the newest Princess, a major collision would have been unavoidable. However, Twlight's idiosyncrasies were well known in Ponyville by now. Often observed, and commented in friendly jest by her neighbors, and friends. Spike would simply wave to the towns ponies as they passed. Ponyville has seem some major changes over the short time since one of its newest residents settled here. With the news both far, and wide that the Bearers of Harmony, as well as a Princess resided in this humble town. It attracted a lot of tourists, and merchants hoping to peddle their wares. The Sun was shinning as the Weather ponies were hard at work keeping the weather nice as expected. The two continued to navigate their way though the town to its newest Landmark, Twilight's Palace. The Palace of Friendship was a large crystalline looking affair that stood where the Town Library stood. Within sat the six thrones of Harmony where the bearers of Harmony would conduct the Court of Friendship. The tower of books just barely cleared the Door frame of the main entrance to Twilight's Palace. Twilight's nose was still buried within the same scroll that she was so enamored in during their walk across town. She strode through the great halls as Spike would move the wagon to the library where already some of Cantorlot's best scholars were gathering around to look over the latest batch of ancient knowledge that the Princess has brought to them. While most of the old books, and tomes were found to be horribly out of date. It was a fascinating insight to the mental processes of the ancient ponies, including the Celestial Sisters. There were even some early works of Starswirl the Bearded himself. "Whew. I thought we would never make it home with all this." Spike admitted as he left his wagon, and started to trot to catch up with his "Sister" whom was making her way towards one of the more private rooms in the palace. "Hmmm, you say something Spike?" Twilight asked without taking her head from the scroll she was reading. She plopped down on a large, over stuffed cushion by a roaring fire. There were five over cushions by the fire as well. Each one sharing the primary color of its owner. There was also a small basket for Spike as well. "Nothing." Spike muttered as he started to look around. "You know, Twilight. You've been working awfully hard lately. Perhaps some time away would do you some good. Maybe a Vacation, I don't know." Spike stated as he started to fluff the cushion in his basket. "WHAT!?" Twilight yelped as she nearly dropped the scroll. "Vacation!? Spike, I can't! There is simply not enough time. I have got to catalog, and transcribe these ancient scrolls onto new parchment so their information will be preserved, make copies of them and then send those copies to other libraries to double their chances of survival and decrease their risk of being lost forever! I..I can't go on Vacation!" Twilight protested. "Twilight, ever since you, and the others, took care of that Raging Jackalope posse, you have been burying yourself in this work. The others are taking small vacations, and having fun. I think it would help you too. Applejack went to visit family in Appaloosa. Rainbow Dash is in Cloudsdale as guest judge at a young flyers competition. Rarity, and Fluttershy are in Trottingham for a fashion show, and Pinkie.... Well, Pinkie is off doing whatever it is Pinkies do." Spike explained as he was worried that Twilight would push herself too hard again, and have yet another breakdown. "I'm just saying that taking a little bit of time to do something fun and relaxing isn't a bad idea, you know?" Spike concluded. "Spike, this is fun, and relaxing. Can you really imagine anything more fun than pouring over ancient tomes and decode vast stores of knowledge?" twilight asked with a big cheesy grin. "Would you like that List alphabetical, or numerical?" he asked with a sarcastic tone. The small drake crossed his arms over his diminutive chest to emphasize his point. For his youth, and size. Spike could be quite stubborn. Just like a certain purple Unicorn that recently turned Alicorn. "Okay, Okay. I guess you do have a point. What should I do? All my friends are out of town." Twilight asked as she crossed her forelegs in front of her. Sprike scratched his chin with his claw, and thought about it. To be honest, he hadn't thought it this far ahead. Figured Twilight would put up more of a struggle than she has. Suddenly the Dragon's eyes lit up as he raised himself on his tail. "Oh, I know! What about Sunset Shimmer, and those girls? I don't think you spoke them in forever." Spike offered. Twilight blinked as she quickly rose to her hooves. Her face scrunched as she tried to remember the last time she did talk with her friends from Cantorlot High. "You know what, you're right. I have not received any kind of message from Sunset in a while. I wonder if anything is going on over there? Besides it would be fun to see the girls again. Though I don't think I'll ever get over standing on two legs, and Hands. That always takes a while to get used to. Though I can imagine one mint green unicorn would be simply beside herself in wanting such an opportunity." Twilight teased as she started out of her Study. One purple pink dragon following in her wake. The Portal that Twilight used to make the trip last time was still operational, if not a tiny bit dusty. Okay, a lot dusty. The book was nestled on a podium beside the machine, but it lacked its trademark glow. Flipping through the pages. Twilight saw the last message Sunset sent to her. It was a report on a camping trip the girls had where they made s'mores, what ever that was, and swam in the local stream. They even mentioned seeing some other people camping and a small note about Fluttershy trying to convince two brothers who were out hunting not to hurt any deer. "So, are you going to come with me again?" Twilight asked as she used her magic to set the book in the holder just above the portal. Spike let out a deep yawn as he stretched his small arms. "No thanks. Walking around on all fours is kinda a drag. I'm going to spend some quality time catching up on my comics, and sleeping." the young drake stated as he started to wander off. "Tell the others I said "hi" though." He called over his shoulder, soon sticking his face in a large omnibus of his Power Ponies comic. Twilight simply rolled her eyes. It was hard for her to see the fascination with Spike, and his precious comic books, especially after the incident with the magic comic book. "Okay then, have fun." She called out to her little "brother". Twilight looked up at her machine, and pulled the lever. Soon, the machine began to hum with magic as it pulsed, and shimmied like something out of a 1930's Universal Monster movie. With a bright flash of light that left spots in Twilight's eyes, the portal opened, connecting Equestria with the world of Canterlot High. Twilight took a breath, and slowly let it out. She was always nervous with portals. "Well, Here goes nothing." She stated as she took a running start into the shimmering entrance way. "I wont be gone long!" She yelled just before going into the portal and feeling her molecules be sling shot across time and space. "Did you say something?" Spike asked as she looked around for twilight before going back to his comic book and flipping to the next page. As before, Twilight was unceremoniously ejected from the Portal at the base of the horse pedestal just in front of Canterlot High. Landing face first, she slid forward about a foot before coming to a stop. A dull groan could be heard as she slowly pushed herself up upon her hands, and knees. Both of her limbs ached and she felt a faint sense of dizziness that was refusing to leave her, making her wish she hadn't eaten lunch that day as her stomach tossed and turned inside of her. Twilight mentally swore to find a way to fix that when she got back to Equestria. Opening her eyes, Twilight was immediately assaulted by the scenery of this other world. However, it was not the vibrant, exotic, living and breathing world that had been so full of life before. What lay before Twilight was the remains a dying world where life was in its last throes before its inevitable demise. The sky above her was completely clouded over with thick menacing clouds that blotted out the life giving warm rays of the sun. Craggy lines of white between the clouds were the only light that they would allow to shine down upon this bleak world. But the macabre oppression didn't end there as the world lay in ruins all around Twilight. The skeletal remains of collapsed buildings were the only reminder of a once bustling city. Huge piles of rubble littered everything with ashes and dust coating every last visible inch of land like a snowstorm. At this moment Twiligth began to shiver and feel cold, not just from the view of destruction all around her but also due to the lack of sunlight making the environment colder. "Where am I?" Twilight asked herself. This could not be the same world that she visited twice before. Everything was dead, dark and worse, everything was quiet. Twilight had never heard such utter silence before, not even in the forests. It was as if the whole world were just empty and abandoned, or like nothing had ever existed before. Twilight took a couple of cautious steps away from the portal, her eyes looking at the destroyed buildings until she felt something bump against her boot. She looked down, and saw something curious. She squatted down, and cautiously picked up the strange looking object to examine further. It was mostly spherical, and the color was a dusty white that she had only seen on chalk boards. Slowly rolling it around in her hands, she saw a flattened side with three holes, and something set in a row along the bottom. She would gaze hard at this object for a few minutes as her mind pieced her observations together. When the name of the object appeared in her mind, Twilight gasped as she dropped the skull, and backed away in a hurry as the bone clattered to the ground and rolled away. Her heart started to pound as she began to notice more, and more remains around her. It was like something out of a horror story written by a mad pony. Looking upon the buildings she noticed shadows imprinted into the masonry, human images burned into the stone that reminded her of chalk outlines drawn where a pony had died either by foul play or by accident. Twilight's chest heaved as she started to hyperventilate. Where was she!? What had happened to this world? "Hello! Anyone there!?" She called out, hoping against hope that someone would hear. Someone would hear, someone had to hear, an entire world just couldn't be dead could it? "Please! Someone answer me, is anybody here!?" she shouted, almost screaming at this point as her panic took over her logical mind and she ran father from the portal, trying to find some evidence of life still surviving on the world she was on. Yet, the only answer she would get was the chill of the wind howling through the debris. The chill cutting Twilight right to the bone. Twilight shivered, both from the cold, and the fear of being completely alone on this world. Twilight instantly stopped her running and shouting when se thought a voice had responded. She knew that she had heard something but couldn't tell if it was real or just her memory. Twilight listened carefully, cupping her hands around her hears, when she gasped as she heard the sound of rocks sliding down some small distance behind her, rocks falling and far distant pops and snaps. Both her hope, and panic spiked as she slowly turned around. Praying to Celestia that whatever was behind her was both alive, and friendly. It would sadly be neither of those things. Twilight ran past several destroyed and rotting automobiles as she had heard them called and stepped out into an empty street, turning every which way to find where the sound was and stopped as she saw a figure standing down the street, facing away from her. There, standing about 35 feet away, another "person" stood. Twilight let out a sigh of relief that she wasn't alone. "Thank Celestia" She breathed and ran towards the figure. Her relief would be premature as when she was closer and took a second glance at this person, what she saw was not human. Instead it was a strange creature of metal in the shape of a human skeleton. Pistons were constantly moving back, and forth as a chilling blank expression was reflected upon its polished metal surface. The metal skeleton twitched randomly like an insect hit with pesticides, sparks popped from its right leg as dark fluid could be seen staining the metal structure. Whatever it was, It was damaged. "Um...Hello!?" Twilight called out. The being's head snapped to her, its glowing red eyes shrinking down to pinpricks as it focused on Twilight. The Alicorn turned human could feel the hair sticking up on the back of her neck, a small voice in the back of her head was screaming at her to run away but she was too stunned to even turn away. The metal person was holding something strange in its skeletal like hands. Something Twilight never seen before. Slowly it raised the object, and pointed directly at the young girl. Twilight's heart rate began to quicken as her instincts told her to run and her body began to finally answer. She took a step back, and was about to do just that when her foot came down upon a loose stone. Causing Twilight to fall to the ground. A most fortuitous accident, as she fell backwards, a Purple-Blue beam seared the space right where her head was not a second ago. Twilight's eyes grew wide as the realization hit her. This thing was trying to kill her! She didn't even stop to let out a yelp of pain as she hit the ground. She clawed at the earth to get to her feet, and run. The being tracked her with its head, and weapon. Its finger pulled the trigger, only to be rewarded with nothing. The weapon's powerpack was completely drained by a previous encounter that had left it damaged. Dropping the now useless weapon, it started to pursue Twilight doggedly. Though its damaged leg hampered its performance, slowing it down. However, Twilight's unfamiliarity with running in a panic state was preventing her escape as well. She continually stumbled over stones, and human remains as she ran in the direction she thought the portal was in. Not realizing that she was running away from it. Twilight's attacker then attempted to weaken her resolve to even run by letting out a loud sound, a constant, electric growl that inspired fear in those that allowed it to take root in them. Twilight was finding it difficult to get her bearings as all the destroyed building looked alike to her. Every time she would glance over her shoulder, that thing was right there. Seemingly looming over her, and ready to rend her limb from limb. "HELP ME!" She shrieked as she ran from her pursuer and slipped several times in her fear as the machine seemed to roar or growl at her. She figured that she wouldn't be able to out run it, so she had to find a place to hide. Maybe it'll lose interest then. Twilight would duck into a partially collapsed office building where she was quickly engulfed in darkness. she strained to try and see the hidden labyrinthine interior of the building. Just behind her, she could hear the metallic scratching of that thing behind her, approaching undeterred. Twilight's heart thundered in her chest as she started to pick her way through the gloom of the building. From shattered windows, the soft glow of light could be seen from the outside. Bright enough for Twilight to just see, barely. she scoured for a hidding spot while all the while the clicking footsteps of the automaton seemed to echo behind her, drawing closer. Twilight whimpered in fright as she tried desperately to keep her fear in check. However, her equine mentality continued to scream that she flee from this predator. Twilight turned down a side corridor as the way forward was blocked by the roof caving in. Her hands stretched out before her as she was trying to feel her way around in this darkness. For a moment, she thought she heard movement a ways away, but being pursued was allowing her time to investigate. That, and what if it was another one of those things? Twilight bumped hard into the end of the corridor, and staggered back a couple of steps. Her hand rubbing some feeling back into her nose. It would appear that it was a dead end. She had to turn back and see if she could find another route. However, when she did, she saw the pale red glow from the thing's eyes. Twilight sucked in her breath through her teeth as she felt the panic well up inside her. Frantically, she started to feel around for anything. Anything to use as a weapon, anything that would lead to an escape. Twilight pushed at what she thought was a section of wall, but when there was nothing but empty space met her hands. She fell forward with a yelp of surprise. She would find herself in a small office, small rays of light peeking through a set of tattered blinds. Light!? That meant a window, possibly an escape. "Click-cklik" Twilight turned, and saw the pale red light through the opening. The thing had just turned down the hall. It was following the only course Twilight could go. Its gait with its tell-tale limp was not making it any less frightening. If anything, it made it more so as it emphasized how close it was coming. Twilight flew to the window, and tore aside the blinds. However, she would find it was simply an dual pane window that could not be opened. "No." She whimpered. Twilight looked to find a hiding spot. Maybe if it didn't see her, it would think she was no longer there. It was a long shot, but Twilight was out of options. In the pale light that came through the window, she saw a desk backed into a corner. She would dive underneath it, and pressed herself the furthest back corner as she possibly could. Jamming her eyes shut, Twilight could only hope, and pray that she would go unnoticed. "Click-Cklik....Click Cklik....Click Cklik" the steps kept getting louder, and louder. Closer, and closer to her hiding spot. Twilight started to shake as she buried her face into her knees. She was asking herself why she left Equestria, and her friends. How she wished she was with her friends back home. The only consolation that she could take from all this was that, at least, Spike wasn't there. He was safe, and sound in his basket back home. Probably having his nose buried in a Power Ponies comic. That thought helped to calm Twilight down a little. Twilight jumped when she heard the scratchy sound of metal tendrils upon the frame of the opening. The Thing was only yards away now. "Please Celestia, protect me. Please Celestia, protect Me. Please Celestia, Protect me." Twilight breathed over, and over again. She focused on her prayer that she didn't hear the hurried footsteps at first. Just the voices. "HEY! We got a "Tin-man" here!" A gruff voice bellowed. "Well what the fuck are you waiting for, Dark Watch, a fucking invitation?" A female voice shouted back. "Shoot the damn thing!" A third voice rang out. All at once a deafening roar erupted in the hallway. the noise so loud that it rattled Twilight's teeth. She couldn't take it anymore, she let a primal scream of terror rip from her lips, and her lungs as it sounded like the end of the World all over again. Whatever it was hitting the thing, it sounded like Hail upon a tin roof, but much, much louder. She screamed as long as there was air in her lungs as she curled herself into as small a ball as humanly possible. The thunder stopped with the sound of a loud metallic crash. Twilight just stared into the gloom of her hiding spot. Her mind had gone in to a state of shock. Then all at once, a bright light was shown into her eyes. Her head snapped up, and the look of utter terror was etched upon her face. Her mouth open in a silent scream. "Get the El-Tee! We have a live one here!" A deep voice behind the light called out to some others. A pair of quick boot falls would immediately be heard. "Easy Now. We're not going to hurt you." The one Female voice spoke in a calming voice. Yet, it wasn't working. After everything Twilight went through, this all was going to take time to soak in. "Officer on deck!" A voice bellowed. The sound of rapid shuffling could be heard, but the bright light never wavered. "Ma'am, We found this young girl here. Apparently she was being chased by a "Tin-Man". The first deep voice spoke in a quieter volume. "Let me take a look, Sargent." A familiar voice stated with a hard edge. From behind the light, a new form could be seen moving in the shadows. Twilight couldn't make any semblance of whom it was, but her voice was ringing so many bells in her head. "By Celestia's tits! What are you doing here, Twilight Sparkle!?" The woman asked in shock. "Lower the light, Sargent!" The woman barked. The bright light was lowered, and Twilight could see again. She saw for whom the familiar voice belonged to. It belonged to Sunset Shimmer.