//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 
// Story: Through Fire and Darkness 
// by Mr Wool 
//------------------------------//

In just a matter of hours it would be midnight, ending the one year anniversary of the day both Shadow Runner and his friend Overburner, or 'O.B', as he preferred to be called, escaped. Although the two of them didn't celebrate the day, the fact that they had been on the run for a year  without any problems was worth noting and even smiling about.  

When they were much younger both of them were kidnapped by a man named Solas. Because they were so young details about the days they were kidnapped were vague and after all the years they couldn't remember anything about their families or where they once lived. Even their names were different. Solas had given them the names Shadow Runner and Overburner after he conducted an experiment on them. This resulted in them gaining magic powers. They were given the names based on the elements they could now use, fire and darkness. But it wasn't just the two of them he did it to. Solas used his own daughter and three other children he kidnapped, each gaining similar abilities based on different elements. He himself had these powers as well.

The last  year was spent moving from place to place. Their reasoning being was that they knew the others would come looking for them no matter how far they would run. Shadow Runner had planned their escape which involved destroying the portal that they escaped through and any supplies that might be needed to fix it. It may have seemed simple enough but the plan involved only destroying the supplies the he knew were there. For all he knew Solas could have had more. Even with that in mind both knew it would be a long time before it could be rebuilt and that was more than enough for them to get far away.

Right now Shadow Runner sat at the table alone in the small one bedroom apartment they rented out; Overburner was asleep in the bedroom after overexerting himself from trying to increase the intensity of his fire, resulting in him being exhausted. In his hand he was fiddling with a small cube that looked like it was made of a small red and purple ocean that flowed through it. Easily losing interest in it he returned the cube into a small bag on the table filled with more like it and looked outside window; hoping to find something that might catch his attention until Overburner was up.

Shadow Runner had always considered the fact that he never had to sleep to be the greatest advantage he had. It gave him the time to practice his magic or fighting for longer than usual. It was because of this he was able to plan the escape and learn everything he needed in order for it to work.

Suddenly he felt a change in the atmosphere. It was the unmistakable presence of magic energy becoming active, coming from Overburner as he slept; something that wasn't unfamiliar. In the last year this sleeping habit seemed to become much more frequent, Overburner was unintentionally setting himself on fire. Because of this Shadow Runner already had something prepared.

He got up from the table and walked towards the room, grabbing a fire extinguisher that he had placed near the door. Upon opening the door and entering the room he was greeted by a wave of heat. This was the first, his body would then erupt in an inferno. Without bothering to aim he simply sprayed the fire extinguisher, waking up Overburner before he set himself on fire.

"Not even a day into our new place." he teased."Is there something that's bothering you ?"

"What makes you think that something is bothering me ?"

"You're setting yourself on fire in your sleep more than usual."

"It only happens every few weeks."

"When compared to every few months before we ran away. I remember you went nearly a year without it happening."

"It's something that just happens."

"If you say so." 

There was a moments silence between the before Shadow Runner walked out of the room and returned to the table. Shortly after he was followed by Overburner who had changed into a clean pair of clothes and switched on the lights.

"You seem bored." Overburner said.

"That happens when you have to stay up all night on your own."

"Please don't tell me you spend the nights doing absolutely nothing."

"No." Shadow Runner groaned."It just get boring doing the same thing over and over again. At least we're in a new place so when I go for a walk tomorrow night I can get lost for a while."

He stopped looking at Overburner and returned his attention to outside the window, only for the presence of magic to grab his attention again.

"Hey are you messing with some fire in your hand ?"

"No."

"But I can sense some magic energy. I thought it might be yours."

"I thought it was yours."

"Wait can you feel that. There's another one."

Shadow Runner felt his heart begin to beat faster. 

"No." he muttered under his breath.

Both knew what the other was thinking.  Was this the moment they knew would happen. Could they really be here ? After a year on the run did  Solas and the others finally catch up to them? A third one had now joined the other two.

"What do you think they're doing ?" Overburner asked.

"I don't know. They could be tearing the place up looking for us." Shadow Runner blurted out, sounding almost panicky.

By now the two were becoming afraid. They were nearly in shock knowing that the people they had spent all this time running away from were probably outside. No matter how much they practiced their magic, how strong they got or how powerful their magic could be, if all of them were there at the same time both him and Overburner didn't stand a chance.

Then something happened that changed everything. Three more magic signatures had joined them now.

"There's six ?" Overburner questioned. "There should only be five."

"There is no way they could have a new one. Not in a year."

The thought of these magic signatures being Solas and the others now began to dwindle. They were the only ones the two of them knew could use magic. The possibility that there could be more people out there that could use magic had went over their minds.
"I'm going to go outside to see whats happening." Shadow Runner said standing up, grabbing the small bag off the table.

"I'll come with you."

"No stay here."

"I'm coming with you." he protested.

"It's only to check things out."

Before Overburner could say anything else Shadow Runner had already left. He looked out the window and watched his friend run off before giving a frustrated sigh.

Several hours later.

Morning had arrived and Overburner woke up to a note from Shadow Runner. Written in messy but still readable handwriting the note read.

I'm gone back out, might be a while.

"Why would he go back out ?" he asked himself.

He had fallen asleep before Shadow Runner returned during the night. By now he used to waking up with Shadow Runner gone; whether it was to get food or he had gotten bored and decided to go for a walk. That was expected of him. But given what had happened last night he felt a sense of unease from not knowing what the situation was. Knowing that Shadow Runner returned last night and taking his absence right now into consideration meant that whatever was after happening had caught enough of his interest for him to go back.

The sound of a key unlocking the door then got his attention. As Shadow Runner entered the first thing Overburner noticed that was a grin on his face accompanied by a brief chuckle. This unexplained happiness made him feel awkward.

"Whats going on ?"

There was no answer from him, adding to the awkwardness.

"Are you gonna fill me in anytime soon ?"

Shadow Runner looked at him before sitting down at the table. Overburner followed him in suit.

"I think I looked like a complete psycho to anyone I passed by." he said before laughing for a moment.

"You looked like a psycho when you came in."

"It doesn't matter; the best possible thing has happened. We're never going to worry about Solas again."

Overburner then realized that he had seen Shadow Runner like this before. It was the night both of them escaped, although this was probably more subdued. Overburner couldn't blame him for being like that, he was the same that night.

"I got to the source of the magic a while after that seventh signature joined."

"Then they all fused into one. Like the two of us can do with ours." Overburner interrupted.

"Yeah. It created a light that so bright I could see it before I reached it. When I got there the magic signatures were after going back to seven. Those signatures were coming from seven girls, probably around the same age we are."

"What were they doing ?"

"Well..." he sounded like he thought that what he was about to say next sounded weird. "They were playing music at some concert."

"Playing music ?"

"Yeah. When I first saw them they all and what looked like tails and some weird looking ears, three of them even had wings. From what I saw it looked like their magic was connected to them playing their music, once they stopped playing they returned to normal and their magic signatures began to go down."

"So their magic was coming from their instruments ?"

"No of course not, if it was then we wouldn't have been able to sense it. Anyway I stayed there until everything was over and followed them while they were going home."

"You were stalking a bunch of girls ?" Overburner mocked.

"Laugh it up. Shadow Runner retorted. "I was listening to them talk and one of them spoke about having to go back to some place called Equestria this morning."

"So we're gonna go to Equestria."

"Yeah and here's what was making me smile. I went back to where they were staying for the night at the first sign of sunrise and followed them to what I assume is their school." Shadow Runner grinned once again. "Equestria is on the other side of a portal."

"It's another world like where we were kept."

"Yes. The portal is in a statue outside of the school."

"I know where this is going."

"Just like when we escaped; we go through the portal and before we go in you prepare   your falling star spell and just as you're about to go through you cast it and the portal is destroyed. Solas and the others will never find out and we never have to worry about them again."



The spectacle that had occurred during the night did not go unnoticed by just Shadow Runner and Overburner. Not too far from Canterlot one Person had managed to get a reading on the magic that had been produced, Twilight Sparkle. While she did not have any magical powers of her own, or any previous experience with magic, she was a bright and very gifted person, creating a machine that was able to detect the magic even though she had no idea what it was.

After a nearly sleepless night due to eagerness to get back to her work, Twilight made sure she got up as early as possible. Once she got dressed quickly she then rushed down the stairs, wanting to get to work as soon as possible. Just as she reached the bottom of the stairs a small purple dog happily came running over to her barking with excitement.

"Good morning Spike." she cheerfully greeted him as she crouched down to pet him, which he happily accepted, jumping into her arms. "Okay, Okay calm down we're going for a walk. I need to get some fresh supplies, it's gonna be a long day of research ahead."
Upon hearing that he was going out for a walk Spike broke out in an even bigger burst of excitement. In a matter of minutes the two were outside, with Spike running ahead while Twilight held onto the lead trying to keep up.

"Spike slow down."

Her word fell on deaf ears. Her companion was fixated on chasing a butterfly that had come into his field of vision; following it to a nearby bush.

"Come on Spike." Twilight said pulling at his lead. "Spike please. I want to get home as soon as possible. I promise once I finish with my research I'll take you for a much longer walk."

Once she got Spike to comply with her she thought about her research. In the last few days she had detected those strange energy signatures that were originating from Canterlot High, and last nights one was much bigger than all of them, with the only one coming close being the first one she detected a while back. Since then she devoted every moment she could to finding out everything about them; what they were, what caused them and what she could do with her research. Her biggest hope was that her work would get her into an independent study program.

As she approached the shop Twilight remained unaware that she had spoken her thoughts out loud, attracting some unwanted attention from somebody she walked by. Her stalker followed her to the shop and watched as she tied Spikes lead outside while she entered.
With everything she needed  purchased Twilight exited the store to the sight of Spike growling at seemingly nothing.

"Whats wrong Spike ?"

The dog just began barking angrily and tried to run, only to be hindered by his leash.

"Don't worry Spike it's nothing." Twilight said untying the leash. The moment it came undone Spike ran off in the direction he was barking at, dragging her with him. "No Spike !"

As Twilight pulled the lead in an attempt to get Spike to stop it snapped, allowing him to run off freely."

"Spike come back !"

Fortunately for her he didn't run too far ahead, turning into the alleyway between the shop and the building next to it. Once she entered the alleyway Spike had already stopped halfway through, still barking at whatever had him acting like this. As she approached him she looked at the wall he was barking at, there was nothing there however she did notice a security camera belonging to the store that was shattered, just recently as indicated from the sparking wires. Seeing this made her grow nervous and made her run in order to get him.
"Spike come here !"

Suddenly she felt something strike her feet. What followed was a cold feeling that began working its way up from her feet to her legs. She then realized something, she couldn't move. Looking down she saw that a chunk of ice had formed around her legs, freezing her to the ground, making her scream. Spike heard this and stopped barking, running over to her only for the same thing to happen to him, resulting in the lower half of his body and his two front legs being frozen.

"Spike !" Twilight cried out.

Looking again in the direction he was previously barking at Twilight's heart skipped a beat at what she saw. On the roof of the shop was a cloud of swirling ice, descending sown towards her. It stopped in front of her, while she began shaking with fear and with her eyes feeling like they were on the verge of tears.

Then the voice of a young male, sounding like it was from someone her age, came from it.
"Don't start crying."

Twilight was nearly speechless. What was in front of her defied everything she knew about how things work. Despite her fear she managed to speak."

"Y-You can talk ?"

"How smart of you." it said mocking her. "Now listen I have to be somewhere soon so I want to make this quick and to the point. I heard you talking to yourself about 'strange energy signatures' and the research that you were doing on them. Tell me what you know."

"Well not very much."

In her fear Twilight knew that it was best to give whoever this was what he wanted.

"I only detected them. The most recent one was last night. I-I was going to do some proper research on them today."
"Where did you detect them ?"

"They seemed to be coming from Canterlot High, it's not too far away from here, you can get on a bus from here and be there in no time."

"Alright. You seem like a smart person, and I know that a smart persons curiosity cannot be stopped in the pursuit of new discoveries. So I want to make a deal with you."

"A deal ?"

"Yes. You see I know exactly what was causing those energy signatures. Magic."

In most circumstances Twilight would have considered this to be nonsense. By all accounts magic shouldn't exist. Yet here she was speaking to a cloud of ice.

"Magic ?" she responded quietly.

"How to you think I'm able to turn into and talk to you ? Outside of that I look like a normal human just like you."

Twilight momentarily took her attention off the cloud and looked over at Spike. He looked completely terrified as he struggled to break free from the ice whimpering. Whoever this was might not have any intention of killing her. If she wanted both herself and Spike to get free then her best option was to give in to what he wanted.

"What do you want me to do ?"

"It's simple. Me and a few 'friends' are looking for two people called Shadow Runner and Overburner. Just like me they can use magic, one uses fire and the other uses darkness. If what I'm thinking is true then you may have just detected their magical energy signatures. I want you to go to where you detected those signatures and find out whatever you can. Now I'm gonna be back in two days for whatever information you get. I also want to find out more about how you were able to detect them. If you do all that I'll tell everything I know and show you  a lot more. Imagine what you'll learn. What do you say ?"

Twilight didn't have a choice. If she said no then she would probably be killed. But then she thought about what this person said, he was looking for two people but didn't say why. They could be dangerous fugitives that were after escaping. If all she had to do was investigate Canterlot High and find the source of those energy signals then she would be fine. It was a simple task for her and she would get a lot more information for her research than she thought she would.

"I'll do it." she said, almost sounding defeated. "	When you come back I'll be at Crystal Prep High; I have my own room where I do my work. If you go in and ask for Twilight Sparkle you'll be told where to find it."

"You've made a good decision." the cloud said as it passed through the ice that had frozen her to the ground, causing it to shatter. It then did the same to the ice that had frozen Spike. Once he was free he ran over to Twilight and jumped into her arms, still whimpering.
"Don't let me down Twilight." was the last thing it said before heading back to the rooftops and disappearing.

"I won't." she replied. For a moment she stood there in silence, with a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach. Tears were now coming down her eyes.

"Oh Spike, what am I after getting myself into ?" she said before burying her face in her hands.