8: Praise the Sun!
As Twilight walked down the road, she noticed that the further she got from the center of town, the more run-down and damaged everything looked. The houses were decayed, their roofs nearly gone, and the lawns and gardens were overgrown with weeds. Even the road itself seemed to be crumbling, becoming more uneven and filled with potholes, and mounds where tree roots or subterranean animals had pushed the ground up from below.
Eventually, the cobblestone street gave way to a packed dirt road, dotted with its own greenery in the form of crab grass and the occasional exploring vine. Further on, though, all traces of plant life was gone, marking the edge of Ghastly Gorge. As her hooves began clopping more loudly against the hard stone, Twilight began looking around more actively for the stallion Pinkie mentioned.
She saw no stallion, but she did see someone standing near the cliff edge. He was standing on two legs, easily a full head taller than her, even counting her horn, and dressed in what appeared to be chain mail, with a white tunic pulled on over the metal. He had a full-face helmet on, with only a slit to see out of, a long straight sword hooked on his belt, and a large round shield on his back, bearing a stylized image of the sun. The part about him that stuck out to Twilight, though, was the long purple tail, and the row of rounded green spines running down his back.
"Spike!" She bounded forward as he turned in surprise.
"Ah, hello! You don't look Hollow, not at all! It seems my reputation precedes me, though, as I'm fairly certain we haven't met. I am, in fact, Spike of Canterlot, warrior of sunlight. And who might you be?"
Twilight felt her spirits drop for a moment.
Even Spike doesn't remember me. But I can't give up! He's obviously managed to handle himself fairly well so far, so maybe he can tell me what's been going on around here.
"I'm Twilight Sparkle. I know you don't remember me, but I was the one who hatched you, and you've been helping me since, until this whole thing with the Darksign started, anyway."
Spike put a hand to his chin in thought, then leaned down to study her face.
"You do seem... strangely familiar, now that you say that. Hmm. I can't remember much of anything from that long ago very well, though. It's been years for me since this all started."
"What do you mean, years? It's only been a day, maybe two!"
"Did you not hear of what happened in Canterlot yet?"
Twilight shook her head.
"Well then, you'll be shocked to know that there was an explosion in the Royal Archives."
Twilight's jaw dropped.
"Specifically, in the Starswirl the Bearded wing."
Her jaw dropped further.
"It was obviously a spell of some kind, but it had a far more damaging effect than simply destroying most of the wing. The sheer amount of magic that was in the spell bled off into several scrolls. Once the magic seeped into them enough, the scrolls activated, layering on top of one another. Eventually, the strain of having so many time spells warping reality in one place permanently twisted the time stream there, and the effects have been felt all over Equestria. Now, the flow of time is convoluted, with entire centuries passing by some while mere moments go by for others. Time twists and turns, folding over on itself over and over, and each of us walks our own time stream now. Now, there is no way to tell how long the worlds will stay in contact with each other. Certain places, such as the areas around bonfires, seem to be more stable, but even there, nothing is assured."
Twilight plopped down as her back legs gave out.
"So, even after I found everyone, even after I got them all together and they moved into the library... I still might lose them?" Her eyes started to water. "I might still wind up alone?"
Spike shook his head.
"Not entirely. Here, take this." He reached into a belt pouch, and pulled out a white, softly glowing stone, wrapped with a yellow ribbon at one end. "Write your signature on the ground with this, and others will be able to summon you to their world, and it will allow you to see the signatures of others, and summon them, to engage in jolly cooperation! Obviously, there are many others who use these as well, but if you require my assistance, look for my brilliant signature, shining brightly. You shan't be able to miss it!"
Twilight took the stone, and smiled lightly at the joyful tone Spike had.
"Looks like even when you don't remember me, you're still the best assistant I could ask for."
"I do rather enjoy helping others."
"Would you like to come back with me? We should still have at least one room you could have."
"No, I shall remain behind. I wish to gaze upon the magnificent sun for a while longer, but perhaps at some point we shall meet again."
Twilight cocked her head.
"Isn't that bad for your eyes?"
"There are advantages to being a dragon."
She sighed.
"Alright. Take care of yourself, okay?"
"Of course. I am a warrior of sunlight! To go Hollow would be to deny countless others my help, and that would be unacceptable!"
Twilight smiled again.
At least he remembers his lessons.
---------------------------------------
As Twilight rounded the last corner back to the library, she stopped in her tracks. What had once been a single, mostly-hollowed-out tree was now combined with two other houses, and had a few new cloud rooms, apparently. The entire thing was surrounded by barbed wire along the ground, and there was a ballista in two of the lower windows, aimed at the main pathway to the entrance. She carefully made her way through a gap in the barbed wire, and eyed the two siege weapons warily as she approached the door. She ducked low to the ground, and pushed open the door gently, half expecting another ballista to fire a bolt at her head again. There was no ballista aimed at the door, however, and she could hear the foals playing in one of the other rooms.
"Well, at least I don't have to worry about that again," she muttered to herself as she stood up and walked in properly. Looking around, she could see that most of the surfaces in the building had been cleaned, and although the books on the shelves were still out of their proper order, there weren't any on the floor. She could also hear the sound of a hammer hitting an anvil coming from downstairs, and went down to investigate. From the small balcony at the top of the basement stairs, she could see that the space which used to belong to her lab had been refashioned into a smithy, and Rarity was currently working on what seemed to be a new breast plate. She walked down, and looked around at the racks and piles of weapons and armor that filled the basement.
"Rarity, what are you doing?"
The white unicorn jumped at the sudden sound, and nearly dropped her hammer as she whipped her head around.
"Twilight, darling! You scared me nearly half to death! You shouldn't sneak up on a mare like that, dear, especially in times like these! You're liable to get hurt!"
Twilight smiled apologetically.
"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you. But, did you move all of your stuff over here?"
"Not all of it. I brought most of my stock, as well as my anvil and materials, but I had to get Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Pinkie to help me make the furnace so that it wouldn't burn the place down around our ears."
"I wasn't gone for very long, though. How'd you all get it done so quickly?"
"Well, the threat of Hollows is usually a rather effective motivator, but it has been quite a while, actually. You probably just didn't noticed the time going by because you were focused on other things."
Or because the amount of time that passed for you is different from how much passed for me, Twilight thought. She didn't want to cause a panic, though, so she just waved it off.
"Anyway, where are the others? They put all this up a lot sooner than I would have thought."
"Yes, well, Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo apparently have some experience moving to new places and setting up defenses quickly. They should be in one of the side buildings right now, if you want to talk to them about it."
"I think I will." She left Rarity to her work, and headed back upstairs. In the kitchen, she could see that the door had been removed, and lined up with the kitchen door of the next building. She headed over, and looked around the ground floor a bit. The kitchen was relatively well-stocked, though that wouldn't do most of them any good, but the rest of the rooms were slightly more interesting. Apparently, Rainbow and Scootaloo had decided this would be their abode, if the Wonderbolts posters and trophy weapons on the walls were any indication. Twilight trotted up to a particularly impressive-looking axe. She leaned in to inspect the carvings on the handle more closely, when a voice caused her to jump back with a yelp.
"Pretty mean-lookin' isn't it?"
Twilight turned to the voice, and saw Rainbow leaning against the staircase railing.
"Picked that up off a Diamond Dog out west. Bastard nearly took my head off with that thing, and he managed to rip a good chunk out of my wing during the fight. Kept me on the ground for a couple of days, even with the bonfires and Estus Flask helping. Haven't been out there since, though. Maybe I should go back and see what else I can find down there...." She trailed off, and Twilight could tell she was calculating the benefits and risks of going to the Diamond Dog warren again, a rare thing to see Rainbow Dash doing. Quickly enough, however, she snapped back to the current conversation. "So what'd you need? You probably didn't come here just to listen to me, right?"
"Um, yeah. I was wondering how you managed to get all of this done so quickly."
"Oh, that? That's easy. Scoots and I have had a lot of practice moving house on a regular basis, and this time, we had Big Mac and Applejack helping out. Once we had the buildings together, setting up the defensive stuff was a cakewalk. The real trick was getting the animals to stay in the courtyard we made out back."
Twilight blanched.
"A-animals?"
"Yeah. Apparently, Fluttershy decided that she wanted to move here, but she didn't want to leave all her animals behind, so she asked if we could make a space for them somewhere. I managed to build a roof between the tree and the two buildings, so now there's a sort of courtyard out back where they can stay. And they can just go through the side alleys to get in or out, so we don't have to worry about them being in one of the buildings, and most of them are actually really well-trained, so if any Hollows try to get in, the animals should be able to take care of them."
Twilight thought about it for a few seconds.
"Yeah, I suppose that'll be okay, then. And if everyone's here, then that means we'll all be safer than if we were on our own. Just don't go too crazy with the traps, okay?"
"Don't worry, I already thought about how many folks might need to actually get in and out of here."
Twilight nodded her appreciation.
"Thanks, Rainbow. By the way, are you feeling alright? Usually, you're a lot more upbeat, and normally you wouldn't even think about passing up a chance to talk about your achievements. So what's up?"
Rainbow cringed at being read so easily, then looked around to make sure no one was listening.
"You have to promise never to tell anyone, under any circumstances." She stared hard at Twilight. "What I say doesn't leave this room."
Twilight looked back at her friend worriedly.
"Alright. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye."
Rainbow raised an eyebrow at her as she went through the motions.
"Well, if you're willing to make yourself look like that much of a fool, I suppose you're serious." She sat down, and Twilight brushed off the minor insult to listen. "Lately, I've been having doubts. Scootaloo and I have been traveling together for a long time, and we've been able to take down just about everything that's gotten in our way by ourselves, but...." She glanced off to the side, obviously uncomfortable about what she was about to say. "Lately, we've been coming up against much tougher creatures. We've been having more and more trouble winning fights. And the last time we went out, we both nearly got flattened multiple times. I don't think we'll be able to do any more good on our own. And to make matters worse, we can't even clear a path for anyone else!"
Twilight cocked her head to the side curiously.
"What do you mean?"
Rainbow snorted in frustration.
"I don't know how, but anything I kill somehow comes back to life when someone else goes through the area. I don't even know what's causing it!"
Twilight's blood ran cold. Could the damage to the time stream really be that bad?.... It's the only logical conclusion. Nothing else could cause that kind of phenomenon.
"I know how it's happening."
Rainbow looked up from grinding her hoof into the floor.
"You do? Then that means you know how we can fix it! Right?"
Twilight shook her head, and Rainbow's expression fell.
"I don't think it's something that can be fixed, honestly. Apparently, something happened in the Royal Archives in Canterlot, in the wing that housed all of the time-based spells. The spell scrolls were activated, and they did so many things that the time stream for all of Equestria was damaged beyond repair. It may be permanent."
Rainbow's jaw went slack.
"Is it really that bad?"
"You know Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle? Applejack and Rarity's sisters?"
"Yeah?"
"Scootaloo should be the same age as they are."
"You're kidding."
"I wish I was, but it's the truth. And if she can age that much faster than them, than who knows how many other ways the time stream might have been changed? For all we know, we're moving backwards in time right now."
"Well, that's unnerving."
"Yes, but we can't give up."
"Any particular reason you seem so determined about that?"
"If we don't fix whatever's truly wrong with Equestria, whatever's causing the Darksign and all these other things, it might never be fixed. And in order to do that, I'm going to need all the help I can get. So the question is; are you with me?"
She stuck her hoof out, and Rainbow looked from it to her for a moment before smirking slightly.
"Well, when you put it like that, I guess I don't really have much choice, do I?"
She lifted her own hoof, and clapped it against Twilight's
"Let's see what kind of damage we can do."
Bro, seriously.
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PRAISE THE SUN!
/obligatory
Sorry, but this story is getting me so stoked!
Has a creepypasta vibe to it.... and that's definitely a good thing :)
I fail to see how this chapter has any relation to praising the sun. Don't blame me.
Either that, or I skipped the part. When I read, I end up skimming, and when I'm supposed to skim, I read, and it really hurts me. 
Either those two, or there really wasn't any relation…
encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTRBooLlhfH53hDsdRm2ZEiu-N20_VrTGS0DFUvMoUpvr24l5h-
Spike of Astora
You'll make Spike go hollow, will you? Twilight won't find the Sunlight Maggot, will she?
PRAISE THE SUN!
I am really liking this Story... it's odd to have Spike be Solaire... but to have Dark Souls without him is... Hollow?
Over all, good work.
4288481 Spike is basically pony Solaire. That's what.
mlpchan.net/oat/src/1397852003337.jpg
mlpchan.net/pony/src/1396717160150.png
... I should've seen that coming
Also, love the explanation for why time is all discombobulated.
AAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW SSSSSHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIITTTT!
DO YOU EVEN PRAISE THE SUN, TWILIGHT?
I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR SOLAIRE TO SHOW UP, SO I COULD HAVE AN EXCUSE FOR EXCESSIVE CAPS LOCK!!!!
Well i must say that i am surprised that Spike is this stories version of Solaire, i thought he would be a boss that Twilight would have to fight, but this works too, i do wonder how he became undead though since he is a dragon...
, And again i like you choices for lore video's. 
I also would like too say that i really like your explanation as too how the time lines are now messed up, it does make sense, though part of me wonder's what caused it, and why do i have a sneaking suspicion that Twilight had something to do with it.
P.S. Now all we need is good old Crestfallen
, if not for anything else then too give Twilight some idea of were to go and/ or what to do to start her journey, well... after killing Gummy that is. 
Would it be a bad time to say I killed Solaire and looted his corpse. MWHAHAHAHAHA I'm so evil.
4292328
You may come to regret that later when you need his help.
4292343 nahhhhh ain't nopony got time for dat.
4292375
Let me know how that goes for you.
4292328 when did you kill him?, if you don't mind me asking that is.
Hollow thief is my jig. Solair is an awesome warrior, and a fun npc to fight with. I honestly had a fun time beating the game using the hollow thief set. also Dark souls should have a thing where if you put on the set of the enemy's you fought to get it you receive their move set. Ninja flippin thief with an epic parry reposte animation.
anyway can't wait till the next chapter.
Whenever I read, listen, or watch Dark Souls I am always reminded of this little bit of voice acting:
4316349
The first time I played Arkham Origins, all I could think whenever the Joker was talking was 'This guy has my vote for next Joker.'
MOTHAFUGGIN SOLAIRE BITCHES
420 PRAISE IT
So anyway, I just realized that Twilight's library is supposed to be the Nexus/Firelink Shrine/Majula of this story. So that's pretty cool.
Anything new with the story?
4225557 So I've been thinking. When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back. Get mad! "I don't want your DAMN LEMONS! Your gonna rue the day you try to give Cave Johnson lemons! DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM, I'M THE GUY WHO'S GONNA BURN YOUR HOUSE DOWN, WITH THE LEMONS! I'M GONNA GET MY ENGINEERS TO CREATE A COMBUSTABLE LEMON TO BURN YOUR HOUSE DOWN!"
-Cave Johnson, Portal.
alright fuck it i got the titanite lets do this (lol just thought of a sequel new game plus mode teilight just goes insane having to do it all over again
I love Dark Souls; I must read this!
Spike as Solaire of astor? Very nice.
4397546
YAY PORTAL REFERENCES...
Just remember.
Who’s fault, do you think its gonna be, when the management comes down here, and finds ten thousand flippin’ vegetables?
Sheesh...all this raise the sun’ talk is making me sick. I mich prefer Mother Moon and her beautiful night,