Equestria: The Divine Comedy

by BookishTheBookwormPony

Bright Bulb and Tinker Toy

Chapter 2 Bright Bulb and Tinker Toy

The stack of parchment was twice as tall as she was. Bright Bulb rubbed her eyes with her hooves as she stared tiredly up at the small mountain that was her to do work. "Why do I do this to myself?" she wondered as she looked and stared up at the stained glass windows depicting some of the great myths and legends of ancient Equestria. The glass was exquisite, made up of plates that depicted a small part that when put together made up a much larger scene. The window to her left showed the creation tale of the two mighty spheres Luna the moon and Celestia the sun, respectively. The creation story said that a great mare of flaming mane had created the world and its creatures in total darkness. Than upon seeing that the world was black the great mare had created Celestia and Luna to brighten the world whether it be day or night. Of course that was only a pony version of the act of creation. Griffons and Zebras had their own unique myth and folklore.

Bright Bulb had always loved stories and nothing excited her more than the ancient stories about gods and monsters, such as Cerberus the guardian of the gates of the underworld, Tirek the legendary ruler of The Midnight Castle, Chrysalis ruler of the Changelings and stealer of love, and Discord god of chaos. But all were noting compared to RedEye. Glancing to her right Bright Bulb marveled at the craftsmanship that depicted in painstakingly done panes of liquid gold and ruby red, the defeat of Redeye, the great demon of darkness by the Lightbringer herself. No other image thought Bright Bulb, so perfectly captured the victory of good over evil than the Lightbringer, brown haired and with eyes of emerald green, smashing her great hoof onto the neck of her opponent, her sword raised high, the six great sages smiling down on her as she prepared to deliver the killing blow. Looking behind her Bright Bulb saw the biggest window depicting the Elementals, the six Ponies who had started out as sages before the Great War and the ensuing dark age that had lasted for untold ages.

Bright Bulb cast her gaze down as she looked around the Church Royal Library at her fellow classmates. Some of her professors were milling about, and she noticed several members of the church of the Lightbringer in their brown robes, hoods pulled over their heads. In their hooves were clutched copies of The Book of Littlepip, said by the Church to be an account of the odyssey of the Lightbringer from a cave where she was raised and hidden from her enemies, to her voyage around the face of Equestria where she performed miracles, founded her church which she left in the hands of her disciples, and cast down the great demon himself before going off to unknown lands and out of Equestria forever.

But all that wasn't true. The way the world worked could be perfectly explained by pony science. Pegasus wings could be perfectly explained through evolution, just like earth pony strength and unicorn horns. There were no such things as alicorns, dragons, parasprites, or anything else of that nature. After all her house founder the sage Twilight would never believe in something that couldn't first be observed and studied. And yet instead of trying to get a P.H.D in science like so many other members of her family, (all of whom sported cutie marks of things like beakers and periodic table elements), her cutie mark was a simple scroll. And given that she had no aptitude for her family's discipline, Bright Bulb decided to become a scholar instead. And after four years of studying a subject many ponies felt as worthless in a non academic world, and a crushing bit debt, what did she have to show for it but many sleepless nights, no social life, and the huge pile of work that still loomed over her daydreaming head.

"Wake up dummy!" screeched a voice in her ear. Bright Bulb jerked her head up in suprise, actually managing to contort her body in such a way that she fell hooves over backwards and landed in a tumbled mess on the floor. She glanced up into the blue eyes of her best friend the caramel colored pegasus, Toy Tinker.

Toy Tinker was brash, ego driven, and could be downright annoying at times. But she had also been her best friend since kindergarten and she loved her almost as much as her own family. It was a good thing because Tinker's father hated his daughter for the qualities he felt besmirched the proud legacy of The House of Dash with its emblem of a rainbow thunderbolt going through a cloud. The sage Dash was supposed to have been fierce, loyal, graceful, and a brilliant tactician. She also carried no ego, bore no grudge, and never ever let herself get carried away. In fact stories told of the sage Twilight visiting her and asking for advice during The Great War. It was all in The Book of Dash, which to many ponies was sacred gospel. To be any pony and descended from a sage was a great honor. One that Tinker Toy just didn't seem to want to let go of. Pity she never seemed to grasp the whole no ego part of the sages character. "You had better move your flank, Bulb or you're going to be late to your dads class again!"

Bright Bulb swallowed hard, glancing up at the mountain of paperwork, a good chunk of which was required reading for Parchment's course. Speaking of fathers and legacies Stained Parchments was part of hers.

As Tinker Toy flew out the door yelling at the other students to move out of her way. Bright Bulb shut her eyes thinking that today couldn't be off to a worse start, before hurrying to catch up to her friend. "So what do you think about that stallion in Rotwang's class huh? Pretty hunky right? If I had ten minutes alone with him..." Bright Bulb closed her eyes as she heard Tinker Toy go off on the statistics and measurements of every stallion in all her classes. Lord knows Tinker spent so much time out of the room she and Bright Bulb shared that Tinker could have had sex with every one of them multiple times. "So what stallion has your eye Bright?"

At this simple question Bright Bulb hid her face from her friend as she desperately racked her brains for an answer. She wasn't interested in stallions, but mares, and had been exclusively attracted to her own sex since she was sixteen. Good luck telling her best friend that though. For all her virtues Bright Bulb thought Tinker wouldn't be the most understanding of ponies.

"I'm still looking Tinker. I'll let you know when I find one though. Lord knows I could use your advice on the subject." She decided to test the waters a bit. "There's a mare in my astronomy class who I think like me more than as a classmate." I'm not sure how to tell her my barn door just doesn't go that way." Tinker Toy crinkled her nose like someone had stuck a bit of dung under it before answering. "Gross. Mares with mares is just...unsettling. Stallions with stallions is worse though. Imagine the great sages or the Lightbringer being interested in mares? Absolutely disgusting." Never mind thought Bright Bulb that pony myth was full of legends of love between the same genders. Even the sage Twilight was supposed according to one legend loved a redeemed sage named Sunset Shimmer. Some ponies went so far as to even call Shimmer the "lost sage." These ponies fought for her inclusion among the main six, even petitioning for glass windows to be made of her. Most scholars however thought her just made up considering there was no evidence for her existence unlike the relics and writings of the six that adorned the temples of the world.

With a heavy heart Tinker followed her friend down the hall stopping at their dormroom to get their things before hurrying on to class. When she opened the door she gasped. Standing before her in the middle of the room was a zebra, a female apparently, strong, muscle very evidently woven through her body like knots of coiled rope. But it hadn't been the zebra that had elicited the gasp. Next t the zebra was a pony in a cloak that to Bright Bulbs eyes was the most gorgeous mare she had ever seen. Indeed so awestruck was she that it was only in a sort of dreamy mental fog that she saw the mare remove her cloak before taking a seat in the middle of the room. With an impatient wave the stranger beckoned them in before announcing herself. "Hello you two. My name is Dynne Sappho and this charming partner of mine is Zarra. Now please close that door we have a lot to talk about."

Comments

[BookishTheBookwormPony]

7231374 I thank you very much sir for your kind words and constructive criticism. I have finally found an editor to help me with my use of grammar and structure. Ive always been better at structure and character analysis than the technical stuff like grammar. Needless to ay I'm in the middle of writing and revising these first few chapters.

P.S- I'm not the biggest Discord fan in the world but he has quickly proven to be the most fun character to write. I pictured a Discord who has had a couple big experiences change and mature him for the better, but at heart he is still a prankster.