• Published 21st Jun 2019
  • 1,935 Views, 50 Comments

My Little Pony: Symphony of Fire - LordStarKnight



In Equestria, Twilight Sparkle makes a discovery that could change her world's history forever. On Earth, a young musician makes a pact with a strange man that sends him to a magic forest. Two worlds collide. Troubles ensues. And a lot of music to.

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Chapter 8

Author's Note:

Hi everypony :twilightsmile:

This chapter is brought to you by LordStarKnight and was proofread by 0_0 and Chaos Blitz.

I thanks them both for all their work in this time of apocalypse.

Have a nice reading! :pinkiehappy:

Chapter 8

The dream world, in all its infinity, was a galaxy of laughter and joy. Wherever her guardians looked, she saw nothing but happiness. Except in one very special case. Luna remained with her eyes closed, facing the sphere of darkness which intrigued her to the highest point, plunged into a state of concentration to which she alone had the secret. The princess of the night was touching the dark mass with the tip of her horn, her mind as empty as possible. For several hours, she had been trying to form a magical link with this intruder in her ethereal kingdom, but each of her attempts to get her thoughts into it had proven ineffective. Whenever she wanted to pierce this bubble to find out what it contained, she felt resistance that she dared not put too much to the test, fearing she would destroy everything.

After careful consideration, she began to wrap the sphere with her energy, making it as calm and receptive as possible. Perhaps there was a way to hear echoes of what was hidden inside. Her magical aura remained as peaceful as a silent lake, but after such a long time she was starting to lose hope. The day was soon to break and she had not perceived anything. She should probably try another method next night, if she found the time.

Then, like a distant echo, a sound came to her mind. A voice so subtle that she was not immediately aware of its presence. When she did, she focused on it, ignoring everything that was covering that voice. She then heard instruments, then the tone of a voice, soft and piercing like the one of a crying child. It was a song, so beautiful and melancholic that Luna thought for a moment that she would shed a tear. The instruments were delicate strings, as if telling the sorrow of an entire kingdom. Then suddenly there was a flash of an image that made her jump.

It was brief but intense, like a blow to the head. After a moment needed to calm her mind, the lunar alicorn concentrated to analyze what she had finally managed to perceive. Her efforts revealed an image as terrifying as a nightmare. There she perceived the obscure forms of titanic skyscrapers, reminiscent of those of Manehattan. But unlike those in the city, they were so colossal and close to one another that Luna felt like she was suffocating in the hands of a giant simply by imagining them.

And it wasn't even the most frightening part. The worst part was that each of those pillars of concrete and glass were burning like braziers, their walls the battlefields between the unfathomable darkness and predatory flames licking each of their walls. In the midst of this landscape of devastation, she recognized a form for which nothing had prepared her. A prostrate creature on two arched legs, with two clenched fists, and with a face disfigured by a beastly rage. It was a face she recognized immediately, despite the shadows dancing on its skin: that of the human Kenneth Marshall.

This revelation brought her more questions than answers. What connection could there be between this strange individual and this mysterious sphere? The first was as logical as it was worrying: Kenneth and that obscure thing had appeared at the same time, if she remembered what Twilight Sparkle had told her. The unicorn was already afraid of knowing this dark globe existing in the midst of the dreams of her subjects. Discovering that she was linked to this violent and unstable person gave her goosebumps. Despite all the horror that this terrifying vision had aroused in her, Luna felt compelled to learn more. She was preparing her magic when her ears began to hurt badly and everything disappeared. The princess leapt in amazement, her eyes almost bulging, short of breath, and her eardrums were continually attacked by a deafening din. When she regained her composure, she let out a long groan of frustration and stopped her alarm clock.


The princess of the night stopped frowning when the scent of hot coffee caressed her nostrils. She savored the drink immediately, almost mechanically. It was in this kind of moment that she wondered what she would do without all the ponies who prepared them, for her sister and she, the delicious breakfasts that awaited them after her too-short nights. The last of them finished placing food before letting them savor in peace. An almost tranquilizing silence reigned in the room. The two sovereigns of Equestria both appreciated this moment of calm at the start of the day, like a parenthesis of illusively endless serenity. Neither liked to be the one who end it, but the duty always ended up coming back to their mind.

"Luna, I will need your help this morning," started the solar princess with a sorry smile.

"What is it, my sister?"

"When I woke up, I found out that Twilight Sparkle sent me a letter last night. She has finished reconstructing this famous Canticle. ”

This announcement surprised Luna more than she imagined. She knew that this moment was near since their last meeting with the young unicorn, five days earlier, but she had the impression that until now she did not understand the imminence of the revelations to come.

"I guess you will be very busy this morning," Luna suggested with a sigh.

"I'm sorry to ask you this early in the morning, but I do have state business to settle and we are the only ones to whom Twilight can speak about this document."

“I understand. I'll go visit her right away.”

Despite her commitment, Celestia avoided her sister's gaze, while tapping her hoof. Then she took a deep breath to add, her voice full of embarrassment.

"I would appreciate it if you could take the opportunity to get news from our... guest."

Uncertain at first, Luna finally widened her eyes.

"Is that really necessary?" she whispered.

“Twilight has already asked him some basic questions about his species, especially their biology and culture, and gave me some accounts of his interrogations. I just want you to see if he integrates well."

"You mean, if he doesn't cause too much trouble."

The alabaster alicorn simply cleared her throat.

“Could you do it for me Luna?”

Her sister then remembered the image that she had managed to get from the black sphere during the night. Her curiosity had been awakened. She was still unsure, so she preferred to wait before talking to her sister about it, but she agreed, not hiding her annoyance, to which Celestia expressed her gratitude. Silence was re-established between the two princesses, while an eavesdropper hid behind an half-open door.


Spike was tired of putting away the same books over and over. Whenever he thought Twilight was done with one of them, she would come out and flip through it before throwing it like an old sock a few minutes later. It looked like she was hoping to find something new even after reading the same words a thousand times, but the little dragon felt compelled to put them back to their place. Not only would the books continue to hang around anywhere, but there was absolutely nothing else to do.

He was tired of this library. He had been locked up there for weeks and had already gone through the amusements he could find there. Work occupied his mind, but it was starting to annoy him. He kept glancing at his friend in the hope that she would give him permission to go out, even to do a chore. Ever since she finished refining this ancient scroll and translating its contents, the young unicorn had been plunged so deep into work that she seemed out of reach. It was almost like he no longer existed. She only remembered him to ask for a document or to be served a sandwich.

Suddenly, a flash of light startled the two occupants of the library and made a large and dark as the night alicorn appeared. They immediately recognized the princess of dreams and warmly welcomed her.

“Princess Luna!” exclaimed Twilight, pleasantly surprised. “It is always a pleasure to receive you. Spike, get us some tea! Sit where you want. Sorry for the mess. I’m continuing my research, as you can imagine. To what do I owe the honor of your visit?”

The sovereign with the star-laden mane smiled at her host and explained in a tone that was both imperious and kind.

“Twilight Sparkle, I have come to listen to what you have discovered recently. My sister, who apologizes for her absence, told me that your reconstruction spell had finished its work."

“Indeed,” confirmed the purple unicorn by levitating a box by magic from his office. “The document was not entirely recoverable obviously, after all these years, but I managed to—thank you, Spike—to re-form a good part of text."

The princess seemed to be at the crossroads of excitement and fear at hearing this.

"Impressive. And what did you get out of it?”

"Well, for starters, this is not the entire Canticle of Truth."

"It isn’t?"

“No, the spell revealed the full title at the top of the scroll. This is the tenth song of a larger ensemble. I don't know how many there are, but this one talks about the famous monster that faced Equis: Blazing Sky."

Listening to the name, Luna tensed suddenly.

“The famous creature that killed our creator.”

"That's it. This song, from what I deduced, talks about when he launched his army of creatures with two arms and two legs to attack a gigantic wall, a stone ring described as high as a mountain. Inside, there were all the peoples of the world if I understand correctly. Ponies, unicorns, pegasus, but also griffins, dragons, minotaurs and even yaks and diamond dogs. Blazing Sky tried to destroy this wall, and while the magic that protected it was powerful, but the monsters of his army were so fierce and intelligent that they managed to collapse it. The passage which explains how is lost. What is certain is that Blazing Sky and its army managed to demolish it and entered a place that the song calls ‘Dream Garden’."

Twilight paused, noticing how Luna was hanging from her lips, her eyes bright. Her captivated gaze did not escape the young unicorn who did not know how to react to the princess acting like a giant filly. When the unicorn understood the image she was giving, she straightened up with embarrassment.

“Excuse me Twilight Sparkle, but when I and Celestia were young, our parents often told us the myth of Equis. They told us how much she loved each of her children and had fought to protect them from the monstrous Blazing Sky, to the point of making the ultimate sacrifice. She was a role model for me and my sister. This new version therefore particularly arouses my curiosity. What else have you learned? What is this Dream Garden?”

“Unfortunately, I don’t know. The song ends with the collapse of the wall, the entry of Blazing Sky and its monsters, and the flight of all people. There isn’t much more about this place. Which is quite logical if the authors have already spoken about it in the previous songs. However, I managed to piece together an intriguing note at the bottom of the parchment.”

“What kind of note?”

Twilight lowered her ears, looking a little embarrassed, but was still accompanied by an amused smile.

"You’re not going to believe me, but I think this scroll was a student's copy."

“What makes you say that? ”

“The message said simply: ‘Perfect memorization of the story. Flickering writing in the last lines. Writing time a bit too long. Continue your efforts and you will undoubtedly be able to join the master at the ivory tower.' I think this parchment was hidden because it was the only one on hand before those occupying the secret room where I found it disappeared in a hurry.”

“This is amusing, I admit. And what is this ivory tower mentioned?”

"I have no idea. I was doing research on this, but I didn’t find any monument having this precise name, so it’s probably a code name. In which case I will have, I admit, a lot of trouble finding it.”

Luna nodded with understanding, but looked a little absent. She knew that after the wonder of the first revelations, she would have to ask the inconvenient question. She took a deep breath and stared at the young unicorn with determination.

"And what did you learn about these two-armed and two-legged monsters?"

Twilight’s smile disappeared, like a flame blown out by an icy wind. She knew that this topic, and another intimately related one, was inevitable.

“I must admit that I am not more advanced on this point. The text is filled with more poetic licenses than anatomical descriptions. Here too, the details must already have been told in the previous songs. I don't know if the Blazing Sky army is made up of clay creatures or..."

Twilight didn't dare finish the sentence. The worried glance of the dark unicorn indicated that she didn’t need to. She looked out the window, as if the object of her thoughts was outside.

"Has he been a problem so far?" asked the princess of the night without looking away.

"Not really..." Twilight hesitated. "I mean, he’s hardly left Octavia and Vinyl Scratch's house since he moved there. He only did it to come and answer my questions or wander around. People run away from him as soon as they see him, but he hasn't caused a stir so far, even if I have to admit, between us, that it is undoubtedly precisely because nopony approaches it.” The purple unicorn was revealing a burnout that she had kept hidden for a while. "When he's here for questioning, you can’t imagine how hard it is to get serious answers from him. He didn't like being there and made that clear to me.”

"Was he violent?" worried Luna.

"Not really. Most of the time he just sighed or rolled his eyes. But sometimes he wouldn't hesitate to tell me how stupid my questions were or give me wrong answers just to mislead me and piss me off. In the end, he got up saying he was fed up. I told him we weren't done and he just told me he didn't care. I almost feel lucky that he gave a ‘see you’.”

The princess of dreams didn’t seem surprised, but she was clearly annoyed. Twilight had been very kind to her. She had helped her a lot after her return to Equestria. Hearing that this cheeky "human" had been rude to her friend gave her a cold look filled with annoyance.

"I'd like to talk to him, Twilight Sparkle," she declared.

This request startled Celestia's disciple, as well as the little dragon who had been discreet since the beginning of the conversation.

“Are… Are you sure about this, Princess?” she stammered. “Can I ask why? I mean… You know how he is. This discussion won’t go smoothly.”

“I know. But I would like to ask him some questions.”

“What kind?”

“You’ll see. Please, Twilight.”

The young unicorn's reluctance was obvious, but she finally gave in, declaring that it was undoubtedly an opportunity to resume her interrogation where they left her.

"Can you go get him Spike?" she asked.

"Sure thing Twilight!"

The little dragon leaped without waiting from the pile of books on which he was sitting and rushed towards the door without saying a word.


The little dragon was particularly pleased to see how sunny the day was. He felt like he hadn't enjoyed it for a long time, even though he knew it had only been five days. Spike radiated with joy as he made his way to his destination. He didn't talk to Twilight about it, especially after the disastrous interrogation last time, but he really wanted to talk to Kenneth. He wasn’t sure why, that said. The human was clearly not pleasant with others and he was very noisy. He had even stood up to the two princesses in a way that would likely have sent any other pony to the dungeon. But maybe that was why he was intrigued. He had never seen anyone speak so cheekily. It almost looked like courage to him.

When he finally arrived at the house of Octavia and Vinyl Scratch, he drummed the door cheerfully, but no one came to open it. He did it again with more strength.

“Hey!” he yelled. “Is somepony there?”

"If so, will you stop yelling?" asked a raspy voice above him.

Spike found the person he was looking for leaning out of the first floor window. The human, however, didn’t have his plaid shirt, and his hair was messy. Spike could recognize the head of a person just out of bed when he saw one.

“Were you still asleep? It's almost eleven o’clock.”

“So soon? Shit… What do you want? Miss Classy and Manga Girl are in town I think. ”

"You mean Octavia and Vinyl? Actually, it’s you I came to see."

“Really?” asked Kenneth, raising an eyebrow.

“Twilight would like to-”

“I return to bed.”

“NO, WAIT! They asked me to bring you to the library. ”

“Well you can tell them that you failed. And what do you mean by ‘They’?”

“Princess Luna is here. ”

“Moonbutt? What does she want?”

“She would like to ask you some questions. She’s actually the one who asked for your presence.”

“After the Araya Scream I did at her? Are you kidding me?”

"No, I'm serious." Spike looked like a begging little puppy. “Please, could you just come with me?”

Kenneth didn’t care about his desperate look. The human, however, seemed to consider what Spike had just told him with curiosity.

"One minute," he finally announced, much to the relief of the little dragon.

The musician ended up leaving the house with his shirt on his back before trudging towards the famous library, the child right behind him. Their march was fairly calm. Kenneth clearly didn't want to speak. Spike, on the other hand, seemed to be looking for his words, playing with his fingers in embarrassment. He had so far wanted to talk to him, and now that he could, he didn't know what to say. He wondered how the human was able to say what went through his head so easily. He then uttered the first idea that came to his mind.

"You know it won't be a good idea to call the princess what you did when you'll be with her, right?"

“You mean ‘Moonbutt’? That’ll depend on her.”

“Yeah, but that’s not really respectful. She’s a princess after all.”

“Listen, kid…” Kenneth stopped right on the track and addressed the dragon with authority. “For me, respect is earned. So until she gives me a reason to do it, I'll talk to her any way I want.”

Spike looked uncertain when hearing that.

“What do you have in mind?” asked Kenneth, intrigued.

The dragon hesitated, playing with his fingers again.

"Come on!" encouraged the human. "Be a bit brave, kiddo."

Spike's eyes widened as he listened to his words. He seemed to digest their meaning for a few seconds before resuming speaking.

“Well… I think… she deserves respect.”

“Why?”

“She… had a lot of issues in her life and… she’s still very nice and protects everypony from nightmares.”

“What do you mean?” The voice of Kenneth revealed some genuine curiosity this time.

“When we say she’s the princess of dreams, it’s not just a title. She really visits the dreams of the ponies and uses her magic to face their nightmares. And, you see, she doesn’t like to talk about this, but she was a really bad pony before…"

Spike took then a moment to tell Kenneth the story of Nightmare Moon, and how Twilight and the others stopped her. He also told him about the Nightmare Night and how ponies were still scared of her sometimes. After finishing this tales, Spike was intrigued by the look on Kenneth’s face, while he was passing his hand over his goatee. He seemed torn by curiosity and processing everything he just heard. Before Spike could ask him what he had in mind, the musician walked again towards the treehouse.


The tea was starting to cool down. Twilight was tapping with her hoof while her guest kept a perfectly serene and dignified gait. They never thought Kenneth could annoy them even when he wasn’t here. Then suddenly the door swung open, making Twilight almost lose her cup.

“Hey Nerd! Hey Moonbutt!” screamed the human while entering.

Both the princess and the scholar sighed, wondering why they were even impatient to see him for a second. Without waiting, the metalhead collapsed on the couch in front of them, followed closely by Spike, who did the same.

"The little lizard told me you wanted to talk to me."

“Hey! I'm a dragon!"

"I'm just kidding, kiddo," sighed Kenneth. “Don’t get offended so easily. That’s annoying.”

The young dragon simply stood silent, like pondering this advice, while Kenneth looked at the dark alicorn without notable expression. She contented herself with looking back at him while Twilight magically stole a parchment.

"Alright, let’s begin," she declared. “The last time we stopped...”

"Before we start," interrupted Kenneth, "I want you to know that I have questions myself. I answer yours if you answer mine. Okay?”

Luna and Twilight exchanged a look between surprise and distrust, as if this request was too polite to be honest coming from him.

“I guess that’s… fair,” accepted luna. “I suppose you want to start.”

“Thanks Moonbutt.”

"It’s Princess Luna for you."

“Nope. I’d like to know more about this story of the princess of the sun and the night.”

Luna growled with frustration before answering.

“It is simple. My sister and I have the same responsibilities and power as rulers of Equestria. We only differ in some details. Celestia is officially the one in charge of the kingdom’s affairs during the day and I am during the night. We mark this by the fact that Celestia makes the sun rise and set while I do the same with the moon.”

“Wait… So you can literally move astronomical bodies with your magic?”

“That’s indeed the case.”

Kenneth seemed surprised, which provoked the same reaction from the princess and Twilight, even more when the human declared, “That’s… actually cool.”

Twilight took the opportunity to ask her own question.

"So I guess as you said, there’s no magic in your world, that your moon and sun don’t work like ours."

“Correct, but I’m no astrophysicist so don’t ask me the details. I just know that the sun is at the center of our system, earth turns around it and the moon around the earth non-stop... Which I guess is already better than half of the american population.”

Kenneth wore an amused and proud smile while Twilight wrote what he told them. The musician wasted no time in asking his next question, again aimed at the star-haired alicorn.

“So you can move the stars too?”

The princess first seemed embarrassed. She tried to keep a dignified look, stuttering a little bit, before admitting.

"I... do not. The stars, as the sun and moon, were there long before my sister and I were born. Other people made them rise up in the past. We simply inherited their roles thanks to our sufficient power to manipulate them. The stars, on the other hand, are too far away for us to reach them. We have already tried to manipulate them, but without success. We did not insist after that. As our cutie marks show, it was our destiny to rule over those two astral bodies only.”

“Yeah, Nerd explained this butt tattoo stuff to me. Pretty weird.”

“Our CUTIE MARKS,” insisted Twilight, “are much more than simple tattoos. What about yours? Why do you have it?”

Kenneth rolled up the sleeve of his red and black shirt to reveal the monstrous, sprawling octopus head on his arm.

“I chose to bear it. It’s the fictional entity that best fits my beliefs. It helps me never forget them.”

“Can you give us more details?” asked the unicorn scholar.

For once, Kenneth didn't seem to mind answering the question.

“Its name is Cthulhu. He’s a great old one. He sleeps at the bottom of the ocean and will wake up when the stars are in place. When it happens, all of humanity will go mad and perish. He will regain possession of earth and it will be as if my species never existed."

All the others had their eyes wide with dread.

“How can you like something so horrible?!” asked the purple unicorn, full of terror and concern. ”Even if it is pure fiction, how can you consider this as a good source of convictions? Which convictions, by the way?”

Kenneth didn’t flinch hearing that. He simply looked Twilight in the eyes and declared, with a voice calm like a winter breeze, “I’ve seen enough douchebags and despicable things to understand how pretentious humans are. This creature reminds me how futile humanity’s arrogance is. How all its conflicts, ambitions, and desires are ridiculous for, in the end, we are all fragile and small ants that will be crushed by the greatness and complexity of the universe. We are not destined to rule over it or even understand it. No matter what we think, we are nothing compared to the great old ones. And if we all started to accept this, life would be much easier.”

“How could life be possibly easier with such a nihilistic and pessimistic vision of life?”

Kenneth was still looking at her in the eyes, like an ancient statue. It began to intimidate her.

"I think it’s my turn to ask something," he simply said.

Twilight remained frozen, unable to say anything else. She didn't understand how the musician could say such things so calmly and move on to something else so quickly. An immense frustration rose in her as the human turned towards Luna.

“Spike told me that you were some kind of evil pony before.”

Twilight and Spike froze on the spot. Each of their muscles tensed when they heard the human talking about such a sensitive subject. If this troubled the princess, nothing in her posture showed it. The disciple of Celestia nevertheless seemed to perceive a cloud of sadness in her gaze. Luna turned to the window to hide it as much as possible.

"That’s right," she answered with dignity. “I was Nightmare Moon, the fairy tale monster who frightened everypony for a whole millenia. I was trapped on the moon all this time, but I indeed fought my sister and tried to rule over Equestria. Without Twilight and the elements of harmony, I probably would have succeeded.”

The princess turned towards Kenneth.

“It’s my turn to ask something.”

Kenneth didn’t react. He simply waited. Luna seemed to think for a moment.

“Do you accomodate to your new home?”

The question surprised both Kenneth and Twilight. None of them understood why it would interest her, so they concluded it was pure politeness.

“I guess. I need to sleep on the floor since no bed in Miss Classy and Manga Girl’s house is big enough for me, but it’s okay. They found a bunch of blankets I can use as a mattress.”

“Any problem sleeping? Any nightmares maybe?”

“Hum… no. Not that I remember. Why do you ask?”

“I’m the princess of dreams. I’m naturally curious about my subjects’ quality of sleep.”

“I am not one of your subjects.”

Luna noticed the coldness in Kenneth's voice when he recalled this detail, but she didn’t allow herself to be distracted.

“Anyway, what can you tell me about your dreams?”

“Nothing.”

Twilight and Luna stood silent for a moment, expecting something more, but Kenneth didn’t add anything.

“What do you mean ‘nothing’?” asked Twilight.

"Simply that I don’t remember them."

“You don’t remember anything?” insisted Luna, a bit suspicious.

“Of course not. Why?”

The alicorn and the scholar exchanged a confused look before the princess asked, “Is it normal for humans to not remember their dreams?”

“I guess so. Not for you?”

“No,” explained Twilight, “we ponies always remember our dreams.”

Kenneth was again a bit surprised, but he told them once again that, for human beings, forgetting their dreams was pretty common. Luna seemed more intrigued than ever. She was about to ask something else but Kenneth was faster.

“My turn. I want to know why.”

“Why what?” asked Luna.

“Why did you become this Nightmare Moon?”

Once again, Twilight and Spike were uncomfortable. Luna had more difficulty keeping her noble composure. She turned her gaze to the window and told the truth.

“I ruled over Equestria with my sister for a long time. I became envious of her for everypony was happy during her days while they simply slept during my nights. I ended up full of hate and transformed into this monster who wanted to bring an eternal night over the world.”

Even with her royal dignity, Twilight and Spike could feel the sadness in Luna’s voice.

“So you were jealous of your sister?” asked Kenneth.

The princess needed to breathe in a big blow before answering.

“Indeed. And I was wrong. Because of me, many innocent ponies could have suffered. I regret everything I did because of my hate and will have to live with it forever.”

A sad and heavy silence imposed itself on the room. A long time passed, Luna not daring to look at the others. However, she didn’t know if she was afraid of being vulnerable or of the emotions displayed by those next to her. Were they scared of her? Or were they sorry? She didn't know what would be worse. She ended up turning her eyes from the window to discover the musician's face. What she discovered astonished her, because she couldn’t know what emotion was showing on his hard face, or what thoughts were hidden behind his gaze. Everything about him seemed perfectly relaxed and seeing him aroused a subtle and pleasant feeling that the princess could not identify. It wasn’t pity, and there wasn’t the slightest scent of fear. Luna could find no rational answer. Only a weak illogical voice seemed to whisper a name for what she saw in the young man's eyes: comprehension.

Before she could say anything, Kenneth stood up, stretched like a big cat and walked to the door announcing.

“I think I’ve had enough social interactions for today. See you, Nerd. Goodbye, Luna. ”

When he closed the door, he did not notice the startled looks he had left behind. Twilight's jaw seemed to be on the verge of unhooking. Spike's eyes were so wide that they seemed ready to come out of his sockets. As for Luna, only her floating mane seemed to differentiate her from any statue in her image.