Chronicles of the Glow

by Rusty Parker

Chapter 9: The Inevitable Truth

Dim light barely pierced the branches hundreds of feet above the ground. It filtered down through the dense thicket above, and came to form pools of eerie and scattered color. A near silence seemed to weigh down the trees above, as if they were being pulled downward by the vacuum that should be filled with sound. Birds chirped in the far distance, but they were so low in volume that it seemed they could just be a figment of the imagination. Buildings of tan clay stood strong not far off, the blue day’s sky visible over their structure.

Bringing his hoof to bask in one of the patches of light that were scattered across the ground, Kalk smiled dimly. The light warmed and soothed his coat where the dark had brought a chill to his skin below. It had been ages since he dared come near this thick, dark forest. It seemed almost alien to him now, nothing about it had remained the same through all his years. Kalk sat down for a moment, and brought his eyes to the small patches of light in the outer canopy above him. Even with his back turned to the great forest, he felt no fear. Life had taken a turn for the better, it seemed.

In the weeks that had come to pass, every building in the town had been reconstructed. To him, it felt almost like nothing had ever happened to the town. Blinking, he allowed his eyes to drop to the ground. He couldn’t let himself think like that; there had been so much loss in the time it took to get here now. The poor filly’s mother, almost every personal possession, some of which that had been passed down for generations… and then there was Crimson, who had run off into the forest never to be seen again. He sighed as he thought of it all. Things were peaceful now, but the costs had been so high.

There hadn’t been any sign of the shadow beasts since the attack, and as time went on, he saw something new in his people. Pure joy, the likes of which he hadn’t seen in so very long, burst from everypony’s hearts. They were happy, finally and fully. Kalk’s battle with the ursa was now viewed as some heroic accomplishment to them; it was the last time any of them had to deal with a shadow beast. Maybe they had seen what he did, and now ran from them instead of coming to attack them, he thought jokingly to himself.

Kalk rose slowly to his hooves, his muscles sore now with a burning that in some ways felt nice. So long he had been numb, unable to feel much of anything from his body, and it was nice to finally have some semblance of livelihood back in his body. Truly, things must be over. She gave up, no more fighting to kill them all. He couldn’t even use the dark magic that gave him his vision to see the infected ones. Walking slowly and with a smile, he made his way back toward Beacon. He had much work to do still, there were foals to teach still, after all. One of which he was sure needed just a bit more attention than the rest for the sake of his own love for her.

In the looming peace, Kalk had settled into a pretty average life. In the day he taught his classes all he knew, and made sure they were up to par with their skills. In the later hours, he would spend all his time with his daughter. Tick was turning out to be one of the smartest ponies he thought he had ever met, and that was quite the accomplishment. Her skills with machines had only grown since he took her in, and now she was working on designs. So young and she was already creating new things for the world! He was proud to know also that he had brought a regular smile into her daily life.

Yes, Beacon seemed to finally be a town like any other in Equestria. Soon, they would be able to waltz their way through the forest with a simple light spell and maybe even make a path so that other towns could be traded with! The possibilities at this point were unimaginable to him before now. As he rounded the corner, Kalk opened his eyes, expecting to find a shop keeper or two selling their merchandise in the storefront just across the street. What he saw instead brought him to a dead stop. Nothing… just nothing happened at all. There was not a single pony in sight, and it was still midafternoon!

Kalk could hear himself breath heavily as worries returned to him. Could it be…? No, absolutely not. That whole situation is over. It just can’t be. The shop keepers all went to the school for a demonstration! Yes, of course. What other explanation was there that was logical now? Silence pierced his thought as he stood in place still, his legs becoming shaky.

“Is there anypony here?” he shouted at the storefront, hoping to the princesses that he would get a reply. After a few seconds of him looking around frantically, Kalk grew more paranoid. What if they hadn’t heard me, or thought I was talking to somepony already? He simply couldn’t chance something like that. Walking down the street now, Kalk looked all around him. “Anypony? Anypony at all?”

Crossing his way to the next path, he found this area to have a similar situation. The inside of the structures turned out no further evidence of life. Each building he walked into was completely unlocked, and each was entirely empty. While it was apparent that there had been ponies in each recently, the homes were now but empty husks without their owners. Kalk dodged in and out of almost every building he came across, and with each he grew more stressed. After finally having searched the last home on the street, even having checked under the beds and furniture, a light breeze blew through his teal and gray mane.

As he made his way to the next street, his pace increased. Going down the next passageway, he was nearly at full gallop. Not a single pony was in sight, and as he began to sprint, Kalk felt his stomach turn in knots. Something terrible has happened, he thought. What had happened to his home?

The next street proved no different, as did the next. Kalk gave up altogether on searching the insides of each home, and was now simply making his way from street to street. There was no damage anywhere; all the freshly built buildings remained crisp, clean, and in nearly perfect condition. With time passing, his pace increased. Soon, Kalk found himself nearly sprinting across town in search of anypony he could possibly come across. Reaching the school, he found his previous assumption to be completely wrong; the place seemed more barren than anywhere else he had already been.

A sight came into view that paralyzed Kalk, even with the adrenaline pumping through his veins like crazy. The clock tower was based in the very center of town, where Kalk stood now… except it wasn’t there. It was gone from sight and view, a large courtyard having come to replace it. The gem shop that Glitter and Spit Shine ran was directly across from him, and as he stepped forward, he shook. Nothing was making any sense, he had just seen the clock tower above, and he knew it. Was… was he going mad? Kalk reached the middle of the courtyard, and looked all about him. The place was as empty as any other part of town, and now, his breathing heavy and his limbs worn, he sat down.

“Why is this happening? None of this… none of it makes any sense at all,” he whispered to himself as his eyes went from one door to the next. It wasn’t even an hour ago that he had been in the busy, congregation of ponies that were making their way through the busy pathways, and now, not a sign remained that could prove they had existed at all. “Where have all of them gone?”

“Isn’t that plain to tell, Mr. Kalk?” Kalk sat bolt upright suddenly at the sound of the feminine voice, and with little effort, he was able to whirl himself around to face the source of the voice. Nothing, though, was there. Just another empty door, another space left without life. Blinking several times, he looked around himself in vain.

It took a while for him to collect himself, but finally Kalk decided it was time to move. The voice must have been his imagination, as there was no other logical reasoning to put to it. He turned to walk down the street, to leave the courtyard, when he spotted just a glimmer of a shadow cast from a rooftop. Its long, drawn shape cast down upon him, and as it moved, so did Kalk. A quick teleport brought him to the same roof from which the shadow had fallen from, and it was from there he saw a figure jump off the building into the street below.

He wasted no time in chasing it down; there was no point in waiting or trying to speak to whoever or whatever it might be. It was plain to tell he had been eluded purposely, and he wasn’t going to have any more of that. He’d get his answers, even if he had to chase this thing down and beat them out of it. Whatever was going on, the figure must know something about it or another, and its running was only further proof that it must be the cause. Kalk jumped into the street without even the slightest thought for his own harm and gave chase.

Seeing the shadowy figure below dash away, he cast a barrier spell to trap it. While his casting was fast and the spell strong, it did nothing to stop the coward. He spotted it run down the next street and as he chased, he could only catch dark glimpses of its full shape. Round and round the form led him, as if it had no real purpose or direction. Kalk started to wonder if this thing was actually just some animal he mistook for a pony in his desperation, but part of him knew that couldn’t be the case. There were no animals other than small pets that would be out in the daylight in this forest, let alone run away from a pony like this.

He was gaining on it, the dark form of its rear hooves close enough for him to grab were he to lunge now. He didn’t get the chance to, however, as it dodged quickly into an alley directly to his right. Kalk was able to turn just in time to run into it after the pony, whom was now turning the next corner. He bolted after it, bursting from the thin alleyway with as much speed as his old limbs would muster, but when he finally emerged, nothing was there. He was back in the center of town, the courtyard where the clock tower should be, and again, nothing gave even the slightest hint of life. There was no street in the direction the shape had taken, and as he looked around, it seemed impossible that it could have gone anywhere at all. There was no time for it to have reached the nearest off shoot, and Kalk was sure of that. Had it teleported?

“My, my. You really are as blind as I thought,” the same voice teased again from behind. Kalk again whirled around to face it, sure this time that the one who said it was the silhouette he had just chased down. Exactly like before, there was nothing there at all.

“Stop these games! Come out now and tell me what you’ve done to the ponies who live here!” he yelled into the air, fuming now with the ridiculousness of this all.

“Ah, but the game can never stop, Kalk! Didn’t you know? Somepony has to win first, and at this rate, nopony will!” the voice called, this time seeming to come from all directions. Kalk snorted air from his nostrils in anger as he walked to the center of the courtyard. There was nothing he could do to catch this thing that taunted him, but the least he could do is put some distance between him and any dark corners. “Why the long face, Mr. Kalk? Don’t you remember anything?”

“I don’t know what you mean,” he said, his eyes closed as he sat in the middle of the stone field.

“You know exactly what I mean…” the voice echoed from above.

“I’m done with this!” Kalk growled. “Tell me, right now, where is everypony? Where are my people? My loved ones, my daughter, my students; all of them, Tell me where they are right now.”

“Why would I need to? You have eyes Kalk, good ones too. If only you’d open them…” Kalk opened his eyes and glared at the still empty space around him.

“My eyes are wide open… Maybe you should show yourself, so I can show you just how well I can see,” he threatened, pressing his hoof into the stone and pulling it backwards.

“Show myself? But I have been sitting right beside you this entire time. And how rude of you, you don’t even face me when I speak to you,” the voice taunted. Kalk looked to both flanks, and saw absolutely nothing. Kalk didn’t have a clue who this could be, but she was really getting him down to his last bit of sanity. With a flash of his horn, energy erupted from his horn, pushing dust off the ground in every direction around him. Breathing in deeply, he could feel his sore body as he regained his head. Nothing had been around him at all, that he was sure of.

“Sure you are. You are right beside me, sitting there, twiddling your hooves around as we have a nice little conversation,” he snorted, “Just what sort of fool do you take me for?”

“The blind sort,” the voice said in a cold whisper, originating not an inch from his right ear. He turned now, to look at her in the face, but again, there was nothing there. Though he didn’t see anything, he stared intensity in the direction the voice had come from.

“Who are you? What do you want from me?” he asked now, almost growling in his rage.

“You remember me! Don’t even try to play it off like I am forgettable. You keep on asking questions, but what’s the point if you already hold the answers in front of yourself?” Kalk looked off to the side, not wanting to acknowledge this foolishness further. “Just look at yourself! You’re a wreck, Kalk…”

“I don’t need…” he broke off. Looking down now, he saw his hooves. Or at least, he thought they were his. No, they couldn’t be. They were ragged, torn, and drenched in blood. Kalk started to breath more heavily with each passing second, and as he tried to move his hoof, it began shaking. He looked back, toward his flank and rear hooves, and much of the same could be said for them as the front hooves. He was soaked in blood, as if he had been bathing in it!

“Kalk... you look as if you just saw something horrible,” the voice said again in a teasing voice. He turned to face it again as he backpedaled, falling to his flanks. There, equally as coated in the red fluid, stood a filly with eyes that resembled that of the shadow beasts. Her red mane mixed was undoubtedly mixed with blood, and as he stared, it seemed as though she had grown… She was at least as tall as him now, and in his shock, he felt himself start to shiver. The sky above was not a clean, vibrant blue, but a mix of orange and purple that hung ominously above them both. “So… your eyes work again!”

“W-what are you? What have you done to me? Wh- whose blood…” Kalk couldn’t even finish, he was shaking so much. He kept looking from his hooves, so dirtied with the red fluid, to her. Crimson had become an absolute monster since he’d last seen her; her teeth turned jagged and her shape was twisted and unrecognizable. Her eyes were perhaps the worst part. Looking into them, there was no sign of the lively filly who wanted to help everypony she could. The fire was gone entirely from her.

“I didn’t do anything, Mr. Kalk. You did…” The filly turned something under her over, pushing it back and forth now beneath her hoof. “Don’t you remember?” He shook his head, eyes still opened as wide as they could be. “You did all this!” she waved a hoof in an arc at their surroundings.

He looked for the first time, and was even more endeavored by what he saw. Bodies… bodies everywhere! All of them limp, unmoving, and many painted red with their own blood. Kalk could feel himself start to hyperventilate as he realized the depths of the situation. She was right… she was completely right. He had walked through town blind… Not one of the ponies in town was missing, nor were they gone from their homes. They were… everywhere. He began weeping as he sat there, unable to believe anything but knowing it all to be true.

“What’s the matter, Kalk? This is what you wanted, right? I can help you,” her voice turned deeper and more menacing as she spoke. “You miss your family, don’t you?” Kalk pushed himself up, the tears still pouring from his eye sockets like rivers, and looked at the once gentle filly with angered eyes. She wasn’t herself anymore, and for all he knew, neither was he. She smiled at him with downward arched brows that seemed to take joy from his state.

“First you kill them…” Kalk was finally able to say after staring into her soulless eyes for several minutes of pure hatred. “Now… how dare you!” he shouted, “You call this helping me? Know what would really help me? If you just died already!”

“Hehe… I do love it when you talk to yourself like that, Kalk.” The evil inside the filly was smiling so fully now, all of her fang like teeth shown in her mouth. Kalk blinked as he watched her giggling to herself, somehow knowing her to be right. He wanted to die… and there were only two ways that could happen for him. Even then though… there were still things in this world he needed to live for. Even if most of them lay dead now…

“I am not going to give in to you!” he yelled. He had someone to be strong for, someone to protect. He didn’t remember what happened that made his coat become so drenched in other’s blood, but he knew for sure that he would never be able to do that to the only filly that trusted him completely. Tick was alive… he could feel it. “I have somepony that needs me more than them now.”

“Your will doesn’t matter anymore… the moment you left me unchecked, alive and well, was the moment you chose your path!” she spoke softly, as if to a child who was in pain. Moving her hoof back and forth, she seemed to cradle the corpse she was so manically obsessed with. All the while, her eyes had grown lazy, and drawn instead to the bloody form beneath her. Her smile was almost gentle… almost. “The townsfolk who thought me a monster couldn’t have been closer to the truth if they had married it.”

There was no arguing with her, she was right on every turn. He was helpless to hurt her, he knew. He wanted to break every bone in her whole body, but he was paralyzed with the shock of this all. He could barely speak now. His legs had all become shaken, barely able to hold him up now, and he inhaled quick and rapidly exhaled breathes. He couldn’t fall now, though. Tick was still out there, she was alive and he could feel it. As he fought his own weakness, Crimson’s eyes went from the corpse to him, still lazy and deadly in their nature.

“Do you forget your family, Kalk? Are they unimportant to you now? They mean nothing, don’t they? Your poor wife, she never had a chance because you were never there to save her. And then there’s your daughter, the one you gave up on, and let die out of fear…” Her voice was still venomous in its composure, and it was plain to tell she toyed with him. With those dead eyes of hers, she looked to the corpse and smiled at it from cheek to cheek. “I guess history repeats itself after all.”

Kalk remained silent. He looked her up and down, searching for any sign of the foal he had once known. His eyes were on their way down to his own hooves, when he noticed something. He stopped breathing altogether when he made the connection. The body beneath Crimson quivered, shook and whimpered even, now that he looked more closely. She was alive, covered in blood but alive… As he stared, he noticed a light purple patch of her coat untouched by the red of the bloody mess. And then he saw her dirtied, but still white mane…

“YOU LET GO OF HER RIGHT NOW!” he screamed, lunging forward at her with all his might. She snorted in anticipation before turning on her front hooves and bringing her hind legs to bear. The speed of her body was unparalleled, and though he tried to cast a spell, there was no time. Her hind hooves collided with his skull, sending him whirling off to the side. He landed in a pile of rubble with a smash of his ribs not too far from where she stood, and quickly tried to rise up for another charge. It was a worthless effort; he couldn’t lift himself up more than a couple of inches.

“Poor girl,” Crimson said to the filly below her, who looked over to him as she shook. “To have to watch the one and only pony to ever help her kill everypony else in town and then chase her around like she was the monster…” she said as she pulled the white mane out of the filly’s face.

“Get away from her!” Kalk growled as he tried again and again to push himself off the ground. He then resorted to his horn, using a spell not altogether unfamiliar to Crimson. With its forbidden magic, he was able to pull himself to his hooves, but was still badly hurt. His muscles were beefed up, but his bones were still shattered.

“You say you are going to protect her? How foolish. Kalk, my dearest little slave, you couldn’t protect anything,” she said with menace. One eye opened larger than the other as they both gleamed black in the low light. Tick, still beneath her, shook, looking at him with pleading eyes.

“K-k-Kalk… Hel-p-p-p me,” Tick begged as he looked into her eyes. She was through so much torture… especially after seeing him be as much a monster as the red manned monster that stood over her now... Even with that though, she still trusted him…

“I’ll save you, Tick. Don’t worry, I’ll protect you,” he promised as his eyes began to glow. Horn in its strong aura of magic, Kalk fired off a ray of energy at the red manned filly. It was then that she grinned. The spell bounced off her and went straight into the ground, burning a hole where it hit. Kalk started to brew up another blast, but was suddenly powerless. He couldn’t focus his energy… or there wasn’t any left.

“You will do my bidding Kalk. It doesn’t matter how much you fight it, you are my puppet. You will dance when I command you to; you will die when I deem it necessary. Most importantly, you will weep when I wish it!” She lifted her hoof above the filly and grinned at him as she did. Kalk felt his heart sink as he saw her face, her intentions plain before him. “Goodnight, dearest little filly... Don’t wait up too long, he’ll join you one day soon,” she whispered before lifting her hoof higher into the air and then bringing it down with incredible speed and force.

“NO!” he screamed. Kalk ran forward, trying to reach her before it was too late. Her hoof was far swifter than he, though, and he watched in horror as Tick curled herself into a ball out of fear. The hoof came down and landed dead in the middle of her neck.

The sound of the snapping bone brought Kalk upright, screaming. He breathed heavily, wept deeply, and of all things, shook in fear. The sound of hammers beating in nails and workers shouting could be heard off in the distance as he sat, still unable to see. Nothing but the infinite darkness before him was visible, but as he looked around himself, the blurry room eventually came into view. His eyes now opened, he sat there in silence, staring at the wall in front of him in silence. His eyes were wide and as he looked back, the memory of what had just happened was so real.

Another nightmare… the second since only two days ago when the attack took place. This situation was far graver than any he had ever experience. She was coming back; he knew it now for sure. He didn’t know when or how, but she was going to break free and would soon be stronger than ever. These nightmares weren’t average; they were her way of whispering into his ears and making him fear even sleeping. It had happened before, but it was never this intense. Now, with the filly, Crimson infected, the connection to her was stronger than ever. It was almost as though she could delve into his very mind.

Such terrible things in his head, it was almost like the real thing had just happened. He looked at his hooves and was relieved to see them plane and gray, no blood to be found. He was still shacking just thinking of the visions he had just been shown. She knew every quirk about him every little thing that could get to him. He couldn’t do this anymore; he had to tell the reality of the situation to a certain group of the townsfolk. They had to know if they were going to survive this… Phobas shows no mercy to her enemies, after all.

All the sounds of a major construction project could be heard coming from every direction as the actual sun rose over the tops of the tallest trees. Piles of stone, wooden planks and bags of sand were arranged neatly to accommodate the workers as they gathered the parts they needed to keep building. Pegasi and earth ponies alike carried away pieces they needed as they each returned to their own work sites while the unicorns handled the more elegant matter of assembling some of the tougher pieces for fastening. The old clay that had made up the majority of the town was a thing of the past now, a pile of broken stones and shattered pieces of wall being all that remained of it. Some of the only surviving buildings, such as the clock tower, were being refitted to keep them from toppling over on themselves. Modern designs were far stronger in structure and could take a hit like none of their old buildings could.

Sweat trickling from his head, Spit Shine lifted another support beam into place. With precision and swift swings of the head, one of the workers hammered in the nails that would hold the beam in place. As he finished, Shine let go of the piece of wood and looked down to the floor plans blinking. This was probably his fourth home so far, he thought. Or was it the fifth? He shook his head and looked up to the waiting pegasi clad in a yellow hard hat and dark brown apron, who was now looking at him with question in his eyes.

“Everything alright, Old-timer?” he asked as he came to his hooves. “Maybe it’s time to hit the hay; you have been working since way before I even got here.” Kalk looked to him as the beads of sweat crawled along the either side of his face. At his chin, they met and plopped off to the dirt below together in a single droplet. Shine wiped his chin with his front leg and laughed under his breath.

“You kidding me?” he asked with a smile. The colt, who was barely out of his teenage years himself, tilted his head in confusion. His ears turned outward, he looked at the unicorn as if he had been out in the heat for just a bit too long. His shortly cut blonde hair was filled with sweat and he had to admit, he was really tired. This was his home, though, and he couldn’t just let some punk kids from Canterlot take away his responsibilities as a proud member of Beacon. “I’m just getting started here,” he said with a confident grin. “Let’s get back to work here, before we waste too much time on-“

“There you are!” a familiar voice announced, stopping him mid-sentence. A warm feeling rose in his stomach as he recognized every tone to the voice, its beauty unparalleled in his mind. He turned to face her, the mare he loved more than any other as she approached. His eyes scanned her up and down for a second before his mind was able to put in place something wrong.

“Why are you out of the schoolhouse, Glitter? You’re ribs can’t have healed already…” The pegasus looked to them both, and with an understanding smile and a wink, he walked back toward the skeletal structure they had put together so far. Glitter only grinned at this, and then turned her attention back to her sweat covered husband.

“I may have been hurt, hun, but I’m not some disabled old coot,” she joked. “Fear not, I am able to walk through the streets unharmed by my back giving way!” Shine smiled at this, and sat down. The tension in his legs finally releasing, he could feel his tired body wanting to hit the ground. Everything was heavy, now that he had let himself rest.

“So I see… Maybe you could carry me back to a hospital bed then, in an hour or so?” he said, rubbing the fluid from his forehead and cheeks.

“Only if you like the sound of ribs being broken again,” she said a bit too gingerly as she circled around and sat beside next to him. Shine laughed a bit as Glitter looked him over. “You look like you could use a few days to sleep off all this work right about now. Having trouble keepin’ up with the young ones, are we?”

“If only. I still have a lot of work to do, though. Towns don’t rebuild themselves from the ground up, after all.”

“You’re right… Canterlot’s best array of workers and specialists do,” Glitter smiled as she put a hoof to his neck and applied minor pressure. “We’re not in this alone anymore, you know.” She pressed into the muscle, causing some of the tension that had built in his shoulders to ease. He had been doing a lot of manual heavy lifting before, since magic takes so much out of a pony if they use it too long. The relief in his neck and shoulders perked him right up from his slouching posture.

“Maybe… I just don’t wanna let ‘em have all the fun!” he announced with a smile as he looked off to the homes he had helped pull together. All night he worked, and still he felt he could go all day if he pushed it. “So then, how are things going back in the old learning institute for emergency housing and hospitality?” Glitter’s eyes turned up as she thought.

“Pretty well, I’d say. Our daughter has still been helping Steff out with the patients, and it seems our orange and cyan fluff ball has cheered up since, Tick, and Blitzy’s kid, Ditzy, got a game of hide and seek going,” she looked back toward him after a moment of silence. “There is… one thing though. Something important.”

“Well, let me hear it. Nothing I can’t handle, what with what’s going on now, after all,” he said gently as he turned to face her directly.

“Kalk needs us… and a lot of others… to come to a meeting he has planned. He says that the very fate of Beacon could lie in our hooves, and there are some vital things we need to know about our history that was never put down to paper,” she let out slowly. It wasn’t surprising that old Kalk had gotten worried for everypony’s sake, but it still seemed rather suspicious to him that he would ask for specific ponies instead of gathering the whole town.

“Did he say anything about what it is?” Glitter shook her head and looked off to the forest that hung over the fresh buildings.

“I don’t have a clue… but I can guess. He had the most worried look in his eyes, Shine. Nothing gets to Kalk like that, nothing.” Spit Shine rose to his hooves and stretched his legs out a little as Glitter too got up.

“I guess we’ll have to see just what it is, then, now won’t we?” he asked, enthusiasm in his voice as they both began to walk. Shine looked over his shoulder to the pegasus he had worked with for the past few hours. His wings tucked strongly to his body, the young colt pushed a piece of wood up and onto his back. Their eyes met for a moment, and in it, he nodded toward Spit Shine in sympathy. Not a bad kid, he thought… for a pony raised among complete Canterlot spazzes, at least.

Glitter was right; Kalk wasn’t the type of pony to worry about anything. He always seemed sure of himself, for all his life that had been true. Could it have something to do with the attack? The shadow beast infection? Just what could shake him to the point where he takes such measures as this? Shine could only wonder, some things were simply over his head.

“Knew I could find a way to rip you from that work site before you killed yourself,” Glitter joked as they trotted side by side.

“Yea, well. I have a thing for pretty mares, so that’s one up on me I guess,” he said as he looked away with blush in his cheeks. Glitter giggled, and instantly cringed in pain. One eye closed, she was obviously in pain from her now bandaged up ribs. With a frown, he looked at her wound and wondered if there was anything he could have possibly done to stop the pain. Glitter only smiled faintly as she resumed walking. Tough as ever, he thought.

Together, they made their way back to the school, wondering what may lie in store for them once they arrived. Shine yawned, his lack of sleep catching up to him. At least he knew one thing; whatever spooked Kalk would wake him right up.

Blank walls extruding in either direction led to empty corridors, each bearing their own source of light. The large, solid wooden door to the magic labs had a mysterious feeling to it, like almost anything or anypony could be behind it. As the orange manned colt shook his head, he considered why he was called here. Surely there was a reason he had been asked to come here? Was Kalk mad at him for something he had done in class before the disaster? He breathed deeply, and with determination, stared down the door with all the might his eyes would allow. He looked it over as if his very gaze would burst through its clean, well smoothed and shiny texture to the other side.

Truth to be told, he had been too scared to try and go in before. Kalk didn’t seem to be interested in him, specifically, and so he wondered if others would show up. The clock ticked away overhead, ten minutes having passed, and there was still no sign that there would even be anypony else in the building at all, let alone in the magic labs. He couldn’t sit here; hoping somepony would come and rescue him anymore. He had to take action… even if that meant he’d be doing so alone. Ears cast off to each side; he lifted a shaking hoof and pushed the door nervously. It creaked as it slid to the side, its weight much less than one would think from its appearance. Beyond the thick frame lay a surprise that sent a jolt of energy throughout his entire body.

“There you are!” Crimson said with glee as she walked around the encircled group of ponies and came to greet him. He didn’t have a single clue before as to what was going on and now he was even more confused. Sitting throughout the room was an unlikely collection of ponies from all over town. There was Greenhoof, Blitzy and Ditzy, his parents, Tick, Kalk in the center of the room, and to his surprise, the blue manned filly as well. While most of the group sat or stood closely together, the filly sat alone, facing instead to a wall rather than looking over to him like the rest. He wondered for a moment if she was feeling alright. The last he had seen of her, she had been in a hospital bed unconscious, after all.

“What… what’s going on?” he asked nervously. His head lowered to the ground, he did whatever he could to keep his eyes from meeting any of theirs’.

“I have something very important to speak to you all about, Orange Cyan. You were not the only one who I asked to come here, but it was vital that you came,” Kalk said from the other side of the room. He stood stone still in front of the board, as if ready to teach a class.

“I still don’t understand…” He looked down to his hooves, which scratched back and forth at the tiled floor. “Why did I have to be here?”

“We all have to hear what Mr. Kalk has to tell us, silly,” his sister said in a gentle, low voice. “Now come on, we’ve been waiting for you and one other pony.” Together, they walked to where their parents sat. Tick was next to him in no time, and Ditzy whispered to her father before joining the group. Within a few moments, all the young fillies and colts in the room were sitting in a cluster except for one. Still staring out the silted window in the wall, the blue manned filly grunted under her breath as she simply ignored them. While his friends had come to join him, the colt still couldn’t help but frown at the lack of inclusion she had with them.

Off to the side, two poles shot up from the floor, all kinds of odd trinkets protruding from their cylindrical surfaces. Knowing of Celestia’s recent arrival and that there were Canterlot workers everywhere, the colt could only assume that this was the portal he had heard of. Looking the thing over, he questioned just how it would work. Did ponies really come through those poles? The device was plainly turned off, but he couldn’t stop questioning how it worked. Magic was still such an oddity to him.

Next to him, Tick fumbled with her hoof watch. She looked at the face with a frown, and shook her head when Kalk’s gaze came to her. With a sigh, Kalk turned his attention to the blue manned filly. “Are you sure that your mother is going to show up, Blue Grey?” She had no reaction to his question at all. Her posture remained limp and frail as her broken leg rested on a cushion and her chin on her forelegs. Her eyes kept to the window, and as they twitched from one side of the hole to the other, they slid closed.

“She said she would try… I don’t know if she will,” she nearly whispered. Kalk frowned at this, but did not press on for more information. Something wasn’t right, she was usually at least responsive to anypony who addressed her, not always nicely, sure, but she wouldn’t be inactive. Was it her wound that caused this? He couldn’t know, she wasn’t easy to read normally and that certainly wasn’t any simpler to do now.

“We could begin without her, Kalk. I could fill her in on everything… Blissan is going through some really troubled times,” Greenhoof said clearly and in a calm voice. It wasn’t often he spoke up, but when he did, everypony noticed. “She needs her time.” He turned then to the blue manned filly, his thick brow arching upward in the middle. “And you might too… Are you sure you want to be here, instead of beside her?” The blue manned filly breathed in deeply in response before she opened her eyes and turned them to Greenhoof.

“I’ll… stay,” she was barely able to say, her voice reaching a high pitch as she mouthed the words. Kalk nodded to her, a frown cast over his tired face. It might be the attack, or something else, but Kalk really seemed to be getting into a worse and worse condition since it ended. Everypony seemed to, in fact. Crimson was strong as ever, but she had… little time left. He hated to admit it but she was right… there wasn’t anything he could do for it. The blue manned filly was awake, sure, but how she is now, she might be better off asleep. Tick rarely spoke, having been close enough to Kalk to probably see more of what was eating away at him. He just hated seeing everyone so torn when he couldn’t do anything but drag them all down farther.

Several moments passed in silence, Kalk’s head lowered and his eyes closed as he waited. When it was clear that this Blissan wasn’t going to show up, he slowly fluttered them open and raised his head to look them all over. “It seems that we will indeed have to go over this without Blissan present, I am sorry to say. There is much to discuss, but before all that, I have something to tell you all. Something that not a single pony in all of Beacon or even Equestria knows anything about, save Celestia herself.” All eyes turned to him as he spoke up, and some shifted as he inhaled slowly.

None spoke, and as time ticked away, they all wondered what Kalk could mean. Anything could come out of his mouth in the coming minutes or perhaps hours. Blinking, they all waited for him to speak. Even the blue manned filly seemed to have gained some interest, though she still kept her eyes glued to the window.

“All of you have come to know Beacon; the way it feels to live here, the way our culture views each pony as a bottomless pool of potential, and how we must live our lives in fear. Though some have questioned before, none have ever known just how we came to be in this place where fear itself quite literally creeps below our hooves. This isn’t a bedtime story, I am afraid to say. Every word I am about to speak is truth, every happening and event real. This is more than just a history lesson; this is my very life, and soon you will all know just why I must tell you of it.” Kalk seemed to grow morbid as his eyes fell to the floor. He closed them, breathed in deeply, and reopened them with newfound determination, facing them all with intent. “This is the tale of a broken stallion that had it all, and foolishly let it slip out of his hooves like it was nothing…”

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Slowly, the forest that engulfed all moved as the pains came and went. Others all around flickered into the distance and back into view as they traveled in their determination. Wavering, hooves could barely be lifted anymore. Blood urged on, but the pain within would not end. Desperate was the plea to stop, to rest and let heal what was wounded. It wasn’t clear what had brought suffering now, but it was plain that it wasn’t about to end.

A stray obstruction came to bear with an uplifted hoof, sending turmoil into the weak body that carried on. Tumbling over, the pain spiked as the ground was met with force. Nothing would move, but it was plain that the Blood wouldn’t let that be an excuse. Slowly, with legs pushing against rotting leaves and such, progress was made. It took time, but eventually enough distance was gained that the Blood stopped.

Pain thrust through every bit of existence, causing a physical reaction. Instinct took over yet again, bringing teeth down upon a plant. Lush with life, this oddity seemed to be so very out of place in the depths of this emptiness. Before long, all life disappeared from the greenery, its meat being ingested like that of a fresh kill. Pain slowly faded as strength returned. Turning over and rising, there was no longer any pain, but instead strength.

The filling feeling within brought a washing over of vision, faint but also very defined. Others were everywhere, feasting as a light, rising fluff came to the chest. Words like those heard from the place of fire came and went, seeming to come from nowhere instead of from the others that seemed to be everywhere. Though they felt familiar, none stuck in the mind long enough to be recited. The feeling that came now was one too unfamiliar to place in a category at all. It was new, strange and uplifting. It was almost as if there was nothing to fear, nothing to worry for, just life as it was.

With time, the visions faded, and so did the semblance of freedom they brought. Blood urged forward, and so, the hooves below carried on as to not delay further what needed to be done. Emptiness again filled the void once rife with visions.