//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 - This World of Ours // Story: The Light of Equestria // by Sinthia //------------------------------// Chapter 1 - This World of Ours “...Souls are wandering in darkened paths astray; so make me, Savior, more and more, a light along the way.”         ~Eliza Edmunds Hewitt Princess Luna knew of Darkness. She knows of the temptations when one turns away from the light. Yes, a choice, because one can choose to shut their eyes and see only black. To lose oneself in the oblivion, out of fear, or ambition, or guilt, or hate. To blind oneself from who they are, only to become what they fear in their nightmares. To spread the nightmare to others, because in the dark, one could not feel any more alone, afraid. This was her definition of Darkness. She found herself once caught in its fringes, and her single corrupted soul nearly destroyed all of the nation she swore to protect. She sought to reign this darkness supreme, and end all that stood in her way, including her own sister. It took her a millennia of exile to repent for her crimes. But even now, Luna has not forgotten the face of Darkness. It has found a new way to haunt her. A feeling within her heart gave no misdirection. It has returned. These were the thoughts that filled her mind, as reports of strange lights from the outskirts of Ponyville had frequently taken her attention. She would have sent an outfit of the guard to investigate, but something was too strange of these happenings. They would occur at the same time every night, and scouts who ventured too close would return with a blank space of memories during the moments of observation. Luna knew she had to take it upon herself to investigate. She kept the matter from Celestia; the Night was her liege and she sought to resolve the issue quickly, quietly. To accompany her, was two members of her royal guard; ponies of whom she trusted in their loyalty and ability, and they trusted her. To keep things quiet was the least of her worries when considering their naivety. “You’re saying we know nothing about what we’re up against, Your Highness?” asked one of the guards as the trio flew in the cover of night. “All the more exciting,” chimed in the other. “I’m ready for anything, Princess!” Princess Luna opened her eyes to free herself from her deep thought. Her overthinking caused her to worry too much at times. “I’m counting on it,” she replied, despite her still lingering doubts. “So... since we don’t know what this is, I don’t suppose we have a plan?” Luna smiled. Things will work out. “Jewel, I told you,” said the other guard in a hushed whisper, “it’s a sensitive mission and we follow the Princess’s lead.” “You are correct, Guardscolt Lance,” said Princess Luna. “But your comrade is not wrong in her concern.” Luna looked towards the dark horizon, recognizing the silhouettes of sleeping homes and buildings in the distance. “That is Ponyville,” she continued. “We are nearing the destination. Guardsmare Jewel, there is no plan but to observe. Should the situation require action, we shall act accordingly.” Luna turned back towards the pair. “I trust in your abilities, the both of you.” “Yes, of course, Your Majesty,” said Jewel. Lance nodded in agreement. The three flew swiftly over the town, ceasing conversation to keep as quiet as possible. As they neared the area the reports indicated, faint, purple pulses of light could be seen radiating from beneath the treeline. The two guards held a more serious look on their faces; no more time for banter. They landed, standing right behind their Princess, ready for what may lay ahead. The light was steadily flashing, but from their point, it was dim. They needed to cross over thick plant growth, and would decidedly do so than fly directly from the air. There was more cover in a ground advance, should the source of the lights be dangerous or malicious. Luna’s approach was augmented by her magic, and she proceeded with the stealth of midnight mist. The two guards were well trained and fared just as well, despite lacking unicorn magic. The two pegasi guards navigated the trees and shrubbery with agile grace, negotiating the thick growth in relative silence. If there were other ponies at the source of the light, they would not detect their advance. As they neared, however, Luna felt a strange sensation in her mind. It was not foreign, however. She knows it from a spell, one that she uses to ease the memories of bad dreams from the minds of her subjects as they slept. But if what was ahead was a nightmare of reality, it would be one that Luna and her guards would have to remember. “Take heed, my ponies,” said Luna to her guards in a telepathic communication spell. “This area seeks to alter your minds. I will cast a spell to counter the effects, but proceed with extra caution. Reality may not be what it seems.” Jewel looked towards Lance with slight concern, but he returned none. Instead, his gaze remained forward, and he continued on towards the light without hesitation. The light was much brighter now, but the source still could not be clearly seen past the trees. Close enough, though, to be seen from the other side. The Princess raised her horn and cast another spell, conjuring a thick fog along the forest floor. “Press on, we are close now.” Luna proceeded, and was the first to break the treeline. The mist was thick and the light was bright against it, but she and her guards could see past their cover. The Princess squinted her eyes upon observing the light. It seemed exactly that -- a light, floating above the ground, pulsing brightly in the night. Her guards followed close behind, and looked in awe at the illumination. “Stay behind me,” said Luna. She walked slowly, in a low crouch, towards the light. Her horn was at the ready in the case that the situation went bad, but it was hard for Luna to imagine what could happen next. The light remained constant, still pulsing, but otherwise static. It emitted no sound, and seemed to react little, if at all to their presence, despite the three being close enough for the cover of fog to offer little. It was for that reason that the Princess jumped in surprise when the light began to speak. “Princess Luna,” it said, suddenly, blinking with its own speech. “Welcome back.” “Who are you? How do you know of me?” the Princess replied aloud. Her guards seemed confused. “Your Highness, who are you talking to?” asked Lance. She ignored him, and seemed to not even hear him. “Do not act so surprised, Princess. This is not the first time we have we have crossed paths.” “Nightmare...” Luna’s whispered voice quivered at the name. “Correct, but I am what caused your nightmare. I am your Darkness itself. Tell me, Your Highness, what does the Princess of the Night truly fear of?” The world around Luna slowly grew black. “To be the unbearable burden of her sister once again?” Her mind stung and she suppressed the urge to scream. “To be the Nightmare of her own people?” Haunting memories flashed before her eyes. “To be feared and shunned as an outcast, a freak, never to be accepted or loved?” She grit her teeth, trying to block it out. “To be powerless against your own desires?” She could take no more. “Aghhh, ENOUGH!” she shouted. The air around her remained dark and still. “You hold no claim over me, monster.” “Perhaps you are right,” it said. “In time, however, I will own you, and all that you care for. Your friends, your subjects, your nation, your power. In time.” Luna charged her horn. She was prisoner to this nightmare, but not for much longer. “For now,” it said, “I will take your guards. It is a good start.” “BEGONE, DEMON!!” she yelled with her royal might, and her horn flashed with brilliant blue light. When the spell cleared, she was back within the forest. She looked around quickly, but her vision was still dazed from the encounter. “Jewel!” she called out. “Lance, are you alright?” Ahead of her, she could spot two figures, one of them was suspended in air. “Aghh! What’s gotten into you?!!” screamed the one on the ground. Luna could recognize her guard’s voice. Jewel was being attacked. The Princess ran towards her and charged up her horn to attack the assailant. “Cease at once!” she shouted, and blasted a spell towards the floating figure. Her vision was slowly improving, and she saw it collapse and tumble to the ground. She stood before it and Jewel. As her sight returned, Luna gasped upon seeing the true nature of the attacker. It was Lance... or at least what used to be him. He was getting up from Luna’s attack, but in his eyes were not shock or pain, but of pure rage. He turned towards Luna and charged. Luna quickly conjured a spherical shield around herself and Jewel, who was clearly shaken by what had happened. Lance collided against the shield, and stood slightly stunned. Quickly, he tried to break it in frustration. It was to no avail, but he seemed intent on Luna. He circled around the shield, staring at the Princess with seething and frightful fury. “Jewel,” said Luna, “what has happened? Why is Guardscolt Lance acting this way?” The pony was too in shock to reply at first. “Guardsmare Jewel! I need you here!” shouted Luna, her gaze not leaving Lance. “Ah... y-yes Your Majesty. I, um...” Jewel shook her head. “I don’t know what exactly happened. One moment, the three of us were approaching the light, then it gave off a bright flash, and the next moment, you started to talk to somebody. “You sounded angry, and Lance and I didn’t know what to do. We figured it had something to do with the light, so we just stood watch while it happened. You sounded intense, but things got really bad when you started yelling. Lance started to do the same thing; talk to somebody that wasn’t there.” Jewel started to visibly shake. “It was frightening, I had no idea how to react! “Lance started to say things like, ‘I cannot fail, I am strong enough!’, like he was trying to convince someone.” Jewel looked at Lance with pain in her eyes. “Then he stopped arguing and just kept saying, ‘I submit, I accept, I submit,’ over and over again.” Lance growled from outside the shield. He struck his hooves against it, his anger unwavering. “He changed, right before my eyes, Princess,” said Jewel. “Into what he is now.” Luna knew Guardscolt Lance well, but the monster before her eyes was not him. His body was deformed and corrupted, his wings looked dead. Upon his forehead was a grotesque growth, like a horn, but horribly so. It was glowing with the same purple light that they had encountered moments before, as if to give off magic like a unicorn horn. His eyes, they gave off no feeling. They were two empty voids on his head, filled with eerie black. Luna did not know of what dark magic could cause such a terrible transformation. Lance stopped circling the shield and stood directly in front of Luna. “He belongs to me, now,” spoke Lance, but it was not his voice. It was that of the voice Luna heard in her mind before. “If you submit, this can be quick, easy.” Luna clenched her teeth as she responded. “You expect me to yield before the one that seeks to destroy us?” “Not destroy,” it said. “Ascend.” With that, Lance began blasting Luna’s shield with the magic from its horn. Her shield was strong, but it could not hold forever, and the magic which Lance was casting was remarkably strong. She would have to fight her former guard. The Princess looked towards Jewel, who stood at the ready, but was still clearly frightened. Luna opened her mouth to reassure her. “I know, Princess,” said Jewel before Luna could speak. “I know of what we must do, and I am ready.” “Guardsmare Jewel, once I drop the shield, you must fly fast towards Canterlot. Warn the guard there, my sister also. They mus-” “No, Your Highness. I was assigned to accompany and protect you. I will perform my duty, whatever it may require. With... with respect, I will not leave.” The fear in Jewel’s eyes dissipated as she stood staring against Lance. Before everything, she was ready. “Very well,” said Luna. “Prepare yourself.” Lance continued to blast at the shield, and started to laugh as he did so. “How precious. Willing to give yourself up for your Princess, just as Lance was? Perhaps you are willing to join him, after all.” His laugh was low and almost demonic. “You’ll pay for what you’ve done, monster!” shouted Jewel. “Princess, I am ready!” With a vicious cry, Luna dropped her shield. Jewel blasted off the ground into the sky at blinding speed, and Luna teleported away. Lance was too slow to react to their sudden evasion, and missed his attack to where they stood. Bolts of blue energy struck Lance, but he did not seem to falter. A slight glow surrounded his body, and Luna’s attacks were absorbed. Luna also knew the reason her attack failed, she was subconsciously holding back her power. Lance took notice of this and cackled at the Princess. “Do not feel remorse, Your Highness,” he said. “The pony you knew is gone, sent to oblivion and will never return. Soon will be the fate of all that y-” His speech was cut off abruptly by a hoofstrike, delivered by Jewel at the speed of flight. She turned on a knife-edge dime and struck again, knocking Lance on his side. “One thing Lance still has of himself!” she yelled. “You won’t ever shut up!” Lance recovered and ducked away from Jewel, readying to retaliate. His wings were terribly deteriorated, and as such, has lost the ability to move as quickly. His newfound abilities with magic found use, however. He casted a storm of bolts against Jewel, and she took to the air in an attempt to dodge. Luna intervened before he could hit his mark. She sprinted towards him, and closed off distance with a teleportation. With great force she tackled the pony, and with little effort, lifted him into the air. Lance tried to break free, but Luna’s strength was great. After reaching a significant height, she released him and let him freefall. Lance’s wings were now useless in the skies. Jewel had joined the fight again, and took loops around the falling pony, delivering strikes and dodging his magic attacks. Luna followed above, charging her horn for a massive shot downwards against Lance. Jewel cleared way and she delivered it. A loud blast and bright flash spread through the night lands as she released her shot. It struck Lance and sent him zooming towards the ground. Luna and Jewel landed back on the ground, with a dusty crater visibly formed along the forest floor. “Hmph,” said Jewel with a pant. “That was easier than I thought it would be.” The smoke cleared and revealed Lance crumpled along the ground. Damage was done, but her was still getting up. “Ha... Princess, you did not listen,” he said as he rose. “A blast like that should have destroyed me, but you hold back? All flash but no show...” Luna used her telekinesis to lift Lance by the neck, pulling him close. Jewel was taken aback, but quickly regained focus when he started to laugh again. “Listen here, demon!” said Luna. “Do not think I would offer you mercy!” “So then- ack... why not just destroy me?” he said through a smile. “I’ll tell you why, Princess. Because you still don’t know how to control the darkness. You know I will spread, even if you kill the body I hold. Even the darkness within yourself isn’t truly... urk!- ... gone, is it?” Luna’s grip held tighter. “You will ... ack!- ...  be powerless... to stop me!” Luna stared into the eyes of the guard she once knew. “I may not be able to destroy you, monster,” said Luna, as she turned and held Lance in stasis. “But I can send you back to the hell you came from...” She moved towards the pulsing light, and forced Lance against it. As he got closer, the light began to grow brighter and expand. Lance continued laughing hysterically. “Yes! Send me back from whence I came!” he shouted. The light had torn itself open and looked as if a window to another world. It grew larger and the area around went unstable. The ground shook and the wind picked up speed. Luna concentrated on the portal. “We know of you, Princess! You may have left us, but we have found you again!” Lance’s voice sounded even more darker, as if multiple entities were speaking from it. “We know of Equestria! We will return, and with us... an army!!” Luna pushed lance against the portal. As it swallowed him, she caught a glimpse of the other side. A figure stood tall, almost looking directly at her, but the details were gone as soon as they came. Lance was pushed to the other side, and the portal closed behind him. It returned back to its dim pulsing. “Forgive me...” whispered Luna. “It’s... it’s over,” said Jewel. “He’s gone?” “Yes,” replied Luna. “Guardsmare Jewel, the vicinity is safe now. I require you to relay what has happened to the guard. We cannot keep this incident secret after all. I will remain here and see to destroying this... portal, it seems. We cannot allow what is on the other side to cross over once again.” “Very well, your Majesty. And... what of... what of Guardscolt Lance?” Luna closed her eyes and let out a long sigh. “Speak of his bravery, but spare the details. His friends and family need to know he fought with courage and honor.” Jewel nodded, mist forming in her eyes. “I am truly sorry for the loss of your friend,” said the Princess. “At once... Princess Luna.” Jewel gave a bow and took to the skies, and disappeared into the now rising sun. Luna, alone, looked towards the pulsing light. “You have no place in this world of ours,” she said, as she pointed her glowing horn against it. “May you never return.”