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// Chapter 2: Redness 
// Story: Light Comes From Stars 
// by Gapeagle 
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"Twilight? Oh, Twilight ,where are you?"

Sunset crept through the dark streets of a lifeless Canterlot. It seemed even the ponies were stricken with grief like the princess. The reddish night sky loomed over the still city without remorse. The Princess of the Night was no more and thus the beauty of night was gone as well. Equestria seemed only half there. It was deprived of hope or care. 

Sunset's worried eyes darted back and forth. The street signs were the same, everything was as she had left it. It seemed that everything beyond what was established before her departing was fumbled about in a nonsensical mess. Something went astray and brought all this misery to Equestria. What could have happened to change everything?

Sunset looked down at the ground. "All I wanted to do was ask Twilight for some advice. I guess this is the sort of stuff that makes girls angry when you don't answer texts. Maybe they mean it when they say it'll end the world."

The unicorn could not help her own distress. The small amount of humor she could find in all of this was too small to cheer her up in the slightest. So she continued to wander. 

"Come on! There must be a place to start. This is four years in the past. Where would Twilight be if she never became Celestia's student? Her home. Where was her home? Remember! She told me once before. It...It was by...It was by the southern gardens!" she clapped her hooves in sudden excitement.

With a burst of speed, Sunset raced towards the only landmark that could help her. She had to keep her mind utterly focused on the streets and turns. She had planted Canterlot's ancient street design in her mind so that she would never be lost in the capital. However, that was years ago and she strained every mental muscle to keep herself on track. She read every sign, marked every spire, and read all the shop signs. Instead of gaining all of her faded memories, she was left with a strange déjà vu feeling. It was all so familiar, yet so obscure.

Lonely stallions and depressed mares could only watch her run by. Not a single pony was left unaffected by the princess's tragedy. Sunset had to force herself not to look in their hopeless eyes. She just wanted out. 

"Twilight!"

The southern gardens were in view. Alright, one of the houses here is hers. They were all similar, but each one had a unique dome roof or gliding stairs that wrapped themselves around the cylindrical houses. Some houses had moons or stars atop their pointed domes, others had suns or hearts. 

"Guess I'll just check them all."

Sunset teleported to a window of the closest house. She peered inside, but could not see much. It was useless, she thought. I'll have to go inside to make sure.  However, she could not bring herself to break in. She was good at it, as Twilight's crown was not the first thing she tried to steal, but that was no longer who she was. So she sighed and teleported to another home.

She levitated herself to see through the high windows. There was nothing in there to suggest that a studious unicorn would live there. With a curse, Sunset gave up on the house. I'm wasting time! She floated back to the ground and sighed in frustration. There were several homes left. Twilight could be in any of them, or none. 

Suddenly, Sunset heard the faint shouting of a familiar voice. Twilight? The sound came from down the road. Without hesitation, Sunset charged at the sound. If it was indeed Twilight, she was no doubt furious. 

Sunset's hooves chipped the stone beneath as she pressed on. The voice was still coming from the same spot, and still mad as ever. The house which it sounded behind was one of the taller homes with a great blue moon and star painted on its dome. All these once vibrant colors were tainted by the reddish night sky. 

"How long will we be doing this?" the voice shouted.

"It's hopeless! It's so hopeless!" another screeched.

"We can live in the dark, can't we?"

One was panting loudly. "The redness....the redness..."

Sunset turned to corner to see, not Twilight, but a group of ponies around a fire. It was a extremely small fire, so small that it was about to die as it only contained a few sticks and no other fuel to feed it. The ponies around it stared at the dying fire with twitching eyes and shivering hooves. It was not a cold night, so Sunset knew they weren't cold, but terribly afraid. As the shadows drew in around them, suffocating the last rays of light from the pathetic flames, the ponies drew their heads closer and closer just to catch the last glimpse of fiery hope.

"It's gone!" one short stallion said as quiet as a breath.

"Our light..." a purple pegasus mare cried. "The dark is back."

"I say we embrace it!" one unicorn stallion suggested with crazed expressions. "Why fight it?"

One white mare with green eyes simply stared at the heavens. "The redness...the redness...."

"Um, hello?" Sunset broke their insane concentration.

"Wha' you want?" The short stallion asked so softly that Sunset only barely heard it.

"Do you know of a pony named Twilight?" Sunset asked nervously.

"The redness...the redness..." was the reply from the white mare.

"Nopony knows nopony no more," the pegasus mare snarled. "It's all darkness! Go away!"

"Who needs the sun anyway?" the unicorn stallion said absently.

"I guess you guys won't be any help," Sunset sighed. "Um, see ya?"

"Wait!" the short stallion said just a tiny bit louder than usual, "you have a cutie mark like that! Perhaps you are good with fire? Please, we need light. Light that is not the redness!"

"The redness....the redness..."

Sunset hesitated. The ponies were clearly not right in the head. This was shown not only by their words, but by their wide, unblinking eyes. However, they did appear in need. To Sunset, making fire with magic was as simple as riding a bike. Once she learned it, it came back to her easily. Keeping her eyes on them, her horn lit up and a fire burst on top of the small wooden fire. The insane ponies gasped in delight, but said nothing to her as they admired the flames. It was already dying without fuel, but they made no effort to grab any wood.

As they stared at the fire, Sunset turned and left them with a shake of her head. The ponies were insane and would return to their problematic situation. To Sunset, they were helpless.

Her traveling took her to the southern tip of Canterlot, where the city's gate was located. Perhaps Twilight was in Ponyville, she thought. This alternate world was not following the rules she expected. She looked back on the city. This city held so many wonderful memories, but in this world, they all seemed to have never existed. 

She felt like crying. What will crying do for me?  She breathed loudly through her flared nostrils. Settling for this world will not do, she thought. Something was wrong and by Tartarus, she was going to solve it. She turned and walked through the city gates. It was a long ways to Ponyville on hoof alone. It would give her time to think and maybe even relax. She heavily doubted the latter would ever happen though.

"Twilight, wherever you are, I'm gonna find you. And when I do, we're gonna have a long, long talk..."


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