Black and White

by Dakilladj

Chapter 2

Twilight’s POV

Dusk settled over Ponyville as the day came to an end. Ponies on the streets walked home after a long day of hard work. Those already home welcomed their loved ones with greetings, eager to relieve them of any stress accumulated during their day.

I put down my notepad, levitating a pencil to my mouth. Staring at the notepad, I tried to continue with my writing. It was getting harder and harder to keep my eyes open, and my mind focused as the night crept on. I wanted to finish writing this little article for Rarity.

She had requested that I try to summarize the feeling of the night. Something about helping her get into her ‘zone’ while designing. How this helped Rarity design clothes was beyond me.

Putting down the notepad, I just stared out of the window, content with just watching the stars twinkle in the sky. My telescope was somewhere in my treehouse, yet I had no motivation to fetch it. I could see the stars just fine without it. Instead of the random mess of stars that most ponies saw, I saw constellations in all their beauty. The Ursa Minor, right next to the Ursa Major. The Unicorn, Pegasus, and Earth pony made their respective triangle. It was magnificent.

That is when I noticed something amiss. Just beside the Ursa Major, a new star was visible. I just stared at it, trying to remember if it was there before. That wasn’t there before my memory told me. Wanting assurance, I looked on the shelves next to my bed. I kept my star maps there, along with any other books that I was interested in rereading. Sure enough, I eventually found the scroll. Slowly unrolling it, I scanned it for my target. After little searching, I found the Ursa Major. Looking at the stars surrounding it, I found that there actually weren’t any stars there. Furrowing the scroll once more, I tossed it onto the shelf.

Glancing back out my window, I saw the star once again. It was brighter this time around. Why was it getting brighter? I asked myself. The only scientific explanation some stars are brighter than others is because they are closer. My brain told me. This made no sense, how could it have gotten brighter in a matter of seconds? It must be moving closer, yet stars don’t move that fast.

It must be something else. A comet, or a meteor perhaps? Strange I thought, it wasn’t the right season for meteorite showers. All I knew for certain was that I should be recording its passing! Quickly grabbing my notepad once again, I began to record this event.

April 10th, new star sighted. Next to the tip of the Ursa Major’s head. Glowing brighter by the second! My guess is that it it a comet or a meteor.

Glancing back up at the sky, I was shocked to see it get even brighter. I couldn’t write fast enough.

The star is coming closer to Equestria, based on the fact that the star has grown from a distant flicker, to a constant shine.

Keeping my eyes on the sky, I saw that it hadn’t relatively changed when I had last seen it. It now seemed to be slowing down. Enough so that Twilight couldn’t see any difference in the intensity of its glow.

The star has slowed down. It has not gotten any brighter for the past minute in comparison to its previous luminosity.

With a last look at the sky, the star had remain stationary. Putting down my notepad, I just gazed at it. Why had it stopped moving? What had stopped it? What is it? The questions began piling up, giving me a slight headache. Lowering my gaze, I just looked out into Ponyville.

I saw no more ponies in the streets, which meant that nopony else was able to see this new object. I saw no more ponies, I did see something in the darkness. It was too dark to make out details, but I saw that it was standing on its back legs. Once I focused on it, it seemed to retreat into the darkness.

What was that? I wondered. It didn’t look like a pony, but what else could it have been? It wasn’t big enough to be a griffon, but it was bigger than a pony. Why was it watching me? If it hadn’t been looking at me, it wouldn’t have noticed that I had looked at it.

Can’t you think about this in the morning? my mind asked. Yawning, I looked out the window once more. Nothing unusual in the window greeted my eyes. Turning away from the window, I got into bed. Closing my eyes, the questions came in droves. What was that thing? Why was it staring at you? What was that thing in the sky? Was it going to get closer to Equestria? Was it going to land in Equestria?

I had no answers to the questions I was bombarded with. The only solution I could think of was finding the answers in the morning. Clearing my mind, I drifted off into easy sleep.

I dreamt of the usual. My routine through Ponyville, the ponies I saw everyday, the places I visited often. It was normal, until I started to feel funny. Like strange funny. I could only equate the feeling to when Pinkie senses the future. It wasn’t natural. That was when my dreams changed.

Buildings rose up above me and converged, trapping me. This continued until the only sources of light were the entrances to the tunnel I now found myself in. The tunnel then shrunk, making it only a few meters above me. Strange valves came out of the walls, and weird vegetation sprouted out of the ground.

Creatures swarmed by me, coming close but never actually touching me. I crouched down and put my hooves over my head. Bright lights flashed behind me, and the creatures continue running by. They eventually stopped, and so did the lights. Putting my hooves back on the ground, I looked behind me. The bodies of creatures I didn’t know littered the tunnel. Among the corpses, one creature stood.

It was standing on its back legs, face obstructed by some mask it had on. It was wearing some kind of black suit, with round objects belted across its body. Some of the objects were red, some were smaller than others, and some were in the form of small shiny balls. It also had these long objects strapped to its body. Three to be precise.

It looked directly at me, and I froze. It started to walk towards me, and I backed away. It stopped, and turned around. Its eyes looking at something only it could see. It tilted its head as if confused at something, and walked away from me. This was a momentary distraction, as it stopped and turned back around. Looking in my general direction. I just stood there, wondering why the creature was so indecisive.

It seemed to make up its mind as it walked away from me. Curiosity drove me to follow the strange clothed being. What was this bipedal? What were the creatures from before? Am I dreaming this? I questioned myself. I did remember falling asleep after stargazing, so this must be a dream. Yet I’ve never seen this place, or the creatures that inhabit it before, how could I be dreaming of things I didn’t know existed before?

The creature I had been following seems to stop before an exit to the tunnel. It raised one of the small objects it had on its body. It raised the object before the door, slowly moving towards the room. Once fully inside, the door seemed to close on its own. I just stared at the door, unsure of whether or not to try opening it. This wasn’t any of my business, yet I felt a need to know what would happen to this creature.

Slowly bringing a hoof to the door, I was surprised when my hoof went right through it. Drawing my hoof back, I stared at it. Nothing abnormal. Reaching for the door again, my hoof went through it once more. pushing farther into the door, I felt no resistance as more and more of my hoof disappeared behind the door.

Bringing my hoof down, I ever so slowly walked forward towards the door. Now inches away from it, I leaned my head forward. It slid right through just like my hoof. Seeing into the room, I saw the creature from before. It was hovering in the air, surrounding it were beings I hadn’t seen before. They all had their front hooves forward, and were pointing it at the creature. That was when I saw a bright light above the creature.

It was approaching fast, illuminating the room and its inhabitants. The beings surrounding the floating creature were creepy. They had nothing on their faces beside their eyes. I could not get a better look as the orb of light had come down very close. It then passed through the floating creature. the creature seemed to be in pain, its body convulsed as the orb went through it. Than it was gone. The orb, the creature, and the being surrounding it.

Where had they gone? Were they still alive? I asked the empty room. It did not stay empty for long as one of the beings from before appeared before me. It stared at me, rooting me in place as it began its slow approach.

I tried to run, but my legs wouldn’t comply. That was when the headache began. It came out of nowhere, blindsiding me as my vision swayed. I could not focus on anything through the pain I was currently in. What I could see from my position was that It had indeed come closer, and was now hovering over me. Its eyes staring into mine.

I did not know what it wanted, nor what it needed from me. All I did know was that one of its legs was coming towards my head, Its appendages reaching for me. I could not fight back, as fear and pain coursed through my mind. I closed my eyes as neared, not wanting to see what it would do next.

Its appendages did eventually make contact as I felt its touch. It was soft as its appendage touched my skin. it was cold, dry, and alien. It did not feel like it was going to harm me in anyway, but I was wrong as a sharp pain went through my skull and straight through to my brain. I felt myself hit the ground as my legs gave out, the pain racing throughout my body. No words could describe the feeling. I just wanted it to stop, for somepony to make it stop.

It did suddenly as I could hear my ragged breathing. My heart raced, and I was sweating profusely. I opened my eyes to the same creature standing over me. Just watching as I struggled after its torture. That was when I heard something, a little squeak somewhere in the back of my mind. Had that always been there? I asked myself. It increased in volume, becoming a soft voice.

“Hello? Hello, Hello, Hello” It said

I was torn on whether or not to answer it. Where did it come from? Who’s was it? Why was it here? Opting to remain silent, I did not reply. It did not either. The creature above me seemed to look over its shoulder, as if hearing something else. It looked back down at me before starting to retreat backwards, into the darkness.

Darkness? Where did that come from? I looked at my surroundings. Sure enough, Darkness was all around. What happened to the room I was in earlier? I said out loud. Nothing answered.

That was when fatigue hit me. My body felt sore, and my mind was unresponsive. Closing my eyes, I felt the darkness close in around me. It was comforting, allowing me to finally rest. Until I woke up.

Comments

[tomzon]

ueh

[tomzon]

*other approving noises*

[Dolbik]

[Dolbik]

"My town, the station of Timiryazevskaya,"
VDNH,no?
"The Tunnels ran miles under Russia’s surface."
Under all Russia?

[Dakilladj]

2839206 holy shit
2839248 VDNH? are you referring to the All-Russia Exhibition Centre?
i don't think it is every specified just how far the tunnels went in detail. All I knew while playing was that the tunnels were really long

[Dolbik]

2840126
(Sorry)VDNKh is Artyoms home station in game and in book.

[Dolbik]

And i think you should play in Last Light.

[Dakilladj]

2842183 It won't really make a difference now since Artyom is already on his way to Equestria.
2842177 Now that I research it a little more, you're right. VDNKh or Exhibition is where Artyom lives after a horde of rats take over Timiryazevskaya station. He is raised in Timiryazevskaya, and moves to VDNKh, which is where the dark one problem becomes apparent. Thanks for pointing that out.