When Darkness Falls...

by XTech309

The Intrusion: Part One

"Uhhhmm, sister?” Luna called back into the halls of the castle for her sister. She found herself on one of the many balconies jutting out from the castle they shared, doing nothing but admiring the beauty of her sister's sun and the day that came along with it. At least, she was.

In the blink of an eye, the sun suddenly dipped below the horizon, and not a second later replaced with her moon. Luna stared in awe at what had just transpired, dumbfounded, before calling for her sister.

“Yes?” Came the reply of Celestia from somewhere within.

“You wouldn’t happen to have set the sun early, would you?”

In a flash of light, Celestia appeared by her sister's side. She didn’t immediately notice what was wrong until she looked around, but when she did she was just as confused.

“Wha- what? But it’s only noon! How di-”

The two were interrupted once again by another day change, in the same span of a single fleeting moment, the sun and moon once again changed places-

And again.

And again.

***

“Twilight!” Starlight called, teleporting into said mare's room, at the same time causing her to jump at Starlight's sudden appearance.

“Starlight?” Twilight replied after getting over the initial shock, “What is it?”

“There’s um, a bit of a situation. . .” She stumbled over her words, “You should see it for yourself.”

Starlight teleported Twilight quickly following suit. They now found themselves outside of their castle in Ponyville, met with one of the strangest sights either had ever seen.

To their absolute confusion and horror, the sun and moon had gone completely rogue. As though someone was flipping a light switch on and off, the sun and moon changed places in the sky at breakneck speed. It created a strobe effect throughout the land, making Twilight and Starlight, as well as everypony else, feel like they were in the middle of a rave.

“What?!” Twilight cried, putting a hoof up to her face to shield her eyes, “How is this possible? What’s happening?”

“I don’t know!” Starlight replied, mirroring Twilight's actions to keep from going blind.

***

Celestia and Luna stared with complete befuddlement, as each of their respective celestial bodies continued to shock, awe, and in some cases blind all of Equestria.

“Sister!” Luna called, snapping out of her haze. “We have to do something!”

“Right,” Celestia replied. The two lit their horns, focusing everything they had on getting the sun and moon back under control. It didn’t seem to do anything at first, but sure enough, the spectacle slowed, before stopping completely, the moon coming out on top, despite it being noon.

***

Twilight and Starlight continued to look up at the now night sky, still trying to process what they had just witnessed. Ponyville was alive with the ponies trying to comprehend it, making it as loud as a bustling city street.

“Twilight!” Spike called, running up beside them. “It’s from the princesses!” Twilight quickly snatched the letter from him in her magic, unceremoniously tearing it open.

Twilight...

As I’m sure you’ve noticed, the sun and moon were briefly taken from the control of me and my sister. By the time you receive this things will hopefully be under control. However, that leaves us with a new problem. Moving the sun and moon is no small feat, let alone moving them at that speed. Given that neither I nor my sister did it, and Discord calling it an “old joke,” that means somepony else is behind this. Find them, whoever it may have been. I fear what somepony with that much power could do left unchecked, and given the events still fresh on our minds, that is something neither of us wants.

-Princesses Celestia and Luna.

“Sounds pretty serious,” Starlight stated, peering over Twilight's shoulder at the note.

“It is.” Twilight replied grimly, “We have to find whoever's done this, and fast.”

“How are you gonna do that?” Spike interjected, “Equestria is so big! It’d be like trying to find a needle in a haystack!”

“Well,” Twilight started. “As Celestia said, any pony that can manipulate the sun and moon like that must have been putting out a lot of power, all we have to do is trace where it came from and find the source. Luckily for us, there’s a spell for that, Starlight?”

“Way ahead of you,” she replied, horn lit, with a small grin on her face.

***

“So, remind me again why we’re standing outside the creepy everfree?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Because,” Starlight stated, moving in front of the group consisting of the mane six. “As I’m sure you’re all aware, there was a bit of an uh, lightshow with the sun and moon earlier today. Wait, it is earlier today if the moon is out?” She got off topic, trying to figure out the confusion caused by the moon being out at the wrong time. “Never mind, anyway, the princesses tasked us with finding out whoever did this, and fast. Twilight and I managed to trace the leftover magic back to this general area, unfortunately, we couldn’t get a precise location because the leftover magic faded quickly.”

“So we just go in, kick some butt, and be back in time for dinner! Or, whatever mealtime it’s supposed to be.” Dash stated.

“Easier said than done,” Twilight said, “Be careful, whoever did this had enough power to move the sun and moon, and then resist the princess's attempts to take it back. Who knows what else they could do?”

“Got it,” Dash replied. The group of seven spread out, careful to stay within earshot of one another. Rainbow and Fluttershy flew just above the trees, keeping their heads on a swivel, Twilight, Starlight, and Rarity kept their horns lit, attempting to trace any leftover magic, as well as generating beams of light to illuminate large swathes. AJ and Pinkie used their naturally stronger bodies to search areas the others couldn’t access.

***

“HEY! YOU!”

Twilight heard Rainbow yell those two words, followed by a bright rainbow streak across the sky as she started pursuing an unseen someone.

“That way!” Starlight called from a few feet away. She had one of her front hooves pointed in the same direction as where Rainbow had gone, and even from where they were they saw trees and other foliage being blown around from the wind generated. Twilight shot herself into the air, quickly moving towards the commotion, the others following suit from their respective positions.

Twilight suddenly heard Rainbow yell out before she was flung back through the canopy of the forest, her body twisting and spiraling out of control. Twilight pivoted, before shooting herself into the canopy where Rainbow had emerged.

Twilight landed softly on the forest floor below, quickly lighting her horn and generating a flashlight-like beam of light to scan the area. There. She saw a cluster of bushes shaking, the sound of footsteps emanating from the same direction. Twilight broke off into a sprint, quickly joined by Starlight and AJ. They closed the distance quickly, soon finding themselves staring at the back of their unknown assailant.

It was a strange, bipedal figure, most certainly not a pony or any other creature they may have suspected. It was tall, at least compared to a pony. It had fairly long legs and arms, all of them seemingly made out of static, with a solid yellowish midsection and red shorts, its head a polygon-like shape.

“Hey! Wait!” Starlight called out. In response, the figure turned toward them, revealing that it had one large, singular eye, along with a mouth on its face. To Twilight and Starlight, the figure very vaguely resembled a human. In one of its hands, it held a strange device, too far away for any of them to tell what it was.

The figure took off again, one of its fingers moving over the strange device before running out of view. The surroundings of Twilight and her friends quickly started to darken, a little more each time he pressed the button. It wasn’t darkness like nighttime darkness, no, this was complete darkness.

“Twilight?!” Rarity called. “What’s happening?”

“Over here!” She yelled back. She and Starlight used their horns once again as floodlights, basking their surroundings in the artificial glow. Out of the corner of her eye, she once again spotted him, at the very edge of where their light would reach.

Rainbow had seen it too, leaving another rainbow trail as she quickly pursued him outside of the light. The chase once again commenced, Twilight and her friends determined to not let him get away. Up ahead, they heard Rainbow locked in a struggle with him, however, before they could reach them, Rainbow flew past them once again, loudly impacting a nearby tree.

“Rainbow! AJ cried, running to her, “You okay sugarcube?!”

“Je vais bien, mais il s'enfuit! Attendez, qu'est-ce qui ne va pas avec ma voix!”

AJ let out a loud gasp, not only at the sudden strange outburst from Rainbow but also at the realization that one of her wings was bent the wrong way.

“Rainbow! Your wing!” She cried, pointing a hoof at her left wing. Rainbow looked towards it, a look of pure horror taking over her face. She screamed, before falling to the ground next to the tree she had been laying on, babbling in the same strange tongue she’d been afflicted with. Hearing the commotion, the others quickly appeared, calling off the chase. They all had their own looks of horror and bewilderment at Rainbow's condition.

“We need to get her to a doctor!” Starlight said.

"I've got this." Rarity said. She quickly looked around, gathering various leaves, vines, and other shrubbery in separate auras of magic, before quickly laying them out in the vague shape of a gurney. She worked quickly and with laser-like precision, tying leaves and branches together with vines, and within a minute, she was done.

"Wow." Was all Twilight said.

"Rarity!" Starlight said, "That was amazing!"

"A good seamstress can work under pressure and make materials where there are none." She replied.

"Alrighty then." AJ said, “Come on Rainbow, you’ll be alright, Pinkie?” Together, the two Earth ponies, aided by Rarity's magic, carefully lifted the still-babbling Rainbow onto the makeshift stretcher. Starlight moved toward them before lighting her horn and teleporting the rest of the mane six back to Ponyville, coming right back in another flash of light.

"Guess it's just us then," Starlight said. "Twilight?" She asked after getting no answer. She looked over to find a fuming Twilight, whose anxiety and fear for Rainbow had quickly turned into anger and malice for who had done it to her.

"This ends now." She announced quietly. "Come on." She said before dashing off into the forest, horn blazing.

Starlight wasn't sure what Twilight was doing at first, but she soon realized she was using that spell again, since whatever had happened to Rainbow must have left a big signature. Starlight lit her horn and did the same, realizing Twilight was right, large traces coming from the northeast, in a fairly straight line. She watched as Twilight cast an Accelero spell, as well as a shield bubble, and Starlight quickly mirrored it so as not to be left behind. She quickly caught up and came to see the figure again. She stared in shock as Twilight fired at the creature, head down, beam after beam. The figure was able to dodge about half of them before it raised the strange device it was holding in its right hand once more. The beams Twilight fired suddenly stopped in midair, motionless as they all ran past, frozen. He used the device again. A large patch of bushes and vines right next to Twilight were uprooted and blown backwards, bouncing harmlessly off of the generated shield bubbles.

The figure turned again, pointing the device right at them. Logs, bushes, vines, and even trees were hurled at them now, bouncing harmlessly off their shields but severely limiting visibility. Twilight spread her wings, shooting herself up above the canopy before diving back down, heading straight for the goal of her rage. Starlight watched as the figure pointed the device again at Twilight. She was forcibly stopped mid-air, before with a flick of the wrist, was slammed into a nearby tree and the canopy below.

Their chase continued, Twilight still unfazed by everything Rainbow's assailant had thrown at her. Hooves and feet pounded against the forest floor, brush, and other plant life shoved to the side by shield bubbles as the two sped along. Their chase continued for what felt like forever, an exchange of spells and other attacks as the last chances at solving this peacefully faded away.

***

Starlight attempted a Rope Charmer spell, one of a laundry list she had attempted before this point. She pulled her head back before whipping it forward, a lasso made of pure magical energy sent flying towards its target. The spell worked flawlessly, perfectly wrapping itself around its target. The figure fell forward, its arms now tightly bound to its side, the strange device falling away a few feet away. It was finally over.

***

Rob’s eye shot open in horror at the sudden sensation of his arms being bound to his sides, before falling forward face first, the remote falling from his grip. He struggled mightily against his new restraints, using what limited hand movement he had left to desperately grab the remote. He couldn’t let it fall into the wrong hands, he couldn’t let his only chance at saving his world fall away as the remote had. He heard hoofsteps quickly closing in as his pursuers closed the distance. Just as they broke through the bushes and into he had fallen into, he finally got it, quickly pressing the ReWind button just as his pursuers reached him.

***

Starlight attempted a Rope Charmer spell, one of a laundry list she had attempted before this point. She pulled her head back before whipping it forward, a lasso made of pure magical energy sent flying towards its target. However, this time, Rob knew exactly when it was coming. He whirled around mid-sprint, aiming the remote at the magical lasso heading for him, before pressing the remote's ultimate function-

Delete.

Starlight screamed out in pain, Twilight looking over just in time to hear a resounding THWOOM as her Rope Charmer spell exploded out of existence, her horn sparking and fizzling as she suddenly lost her footing and spiraled into the ground.

“Starlight!” She cried, forgetting the chase again and rushing to her side, “Are you okay?”

“Ghh, it hurts...” She replied, both her eyelids spazzing out and twitching, and horn giving out weak sparks. Twilight's attention was quickly taken away from her friend by the thought of her attacker. First Rainbow Dash, now Starlight. Somehow filled with even more fury, she took one last quick look to make sure Starlight wasn’t too badly injured, and muttered a quick “I’ll be right back” to Starlight before soaring once more in his direction.

***

Rob grimaced in guilt as he heard the resounding THWOOM followed by screams and panicked mutterings a few meters behind him. Inside he hated himself for doing this. He was hardly presenting himself as the hero he wanted to be, that he knew he was. His search for answers had yielded no meaningful results so far. It had served as little more than a series of short vacations across the multiverse, accompanied by various shenanigans as he tested how well the remote worked wherever he was. Come to think of it, what was all that supposed to accomplish? Against all logic, he'd had faith that the simple act of leaving his world would somehow lead him to answers. He had been blinded to the reality of the situation by that little bit of hope that had resided within him. This whole journey had turned out to be a frivolous undertaking, but on the other hand, what else was there to do? Remain on his homeworld and rot? He was little more than a wayward traveler with no home to which he could return. Fortunately, he hadn't yet found a world where the Remote didn't work, although this was the first time its power had been directly challenged. First by the counterforce that tried to take away his sun and moon, and now by this wild goose chase that made him look like a monster. A small tear escaped from his eye, "I-I didn't mean to hurt them..." He mumbled, "I-"

His thoughts were cut short as he heard something quickly approaching from behind him, a deep, continuous rumble as trees and other vegetation were pushed aside with immense force, as though a freight train were barreling through the forest straight towards him. He looked back just in time to see Twilight, eyes narrowed and burning with hate as magic pulsed around her horn and at the edges of her eyes, her body covered in cuts, bruises, mud, and leaves from their struggle so far. Rob's regret and sadness were instantly replaced with dread as he reflexively raised the remote in a desperate last bid to fend off who he didn’t doubt would be his executioner if he didn’t do something. Without thinking, his thumb once again slid over the remote's ultimate function, Delete.

In his final bid to fight off Twilight, his heel caught on an exposed root due to his lack of attention, causing him to fall backward with a jerk, his thumb also jerking away from the Delete key, instead drifting over to another button as he fell…

Author's Note:

In case it wasn’t made clear enough by the chapter itself, this is a direct sequel to the prologue “Back In Control.”

When Rob pressed the Change Channel button on his remote, he was teleported to another show, on another network. Safe from the corruption, at least for the time being, he’s been wandering aimlessly across the multiverse, intruding upon and exploring countless worlds, FiM one of many.

Robs fate remains undetermined, while his goal of stopping the corruption before it spreads is still his main goal, his sanity is beginning to suffer under the weight of what he’s discovering every time he presses that accursed button. Despite what he thinks, he isn’t as in control as he believes, and his mind is too fragile to handle the knowledge he’s been cursed with. With ultimate power comes ultimate responsibility, responsibilites he may not be able to handle. He was already somewhat aware of his existance as a cartoon character, but denies it lest he lose his mind entirely. He is also beginning to learn of the fourth wall, unintentionally interacting with it many times now. He needs help, someone to be there for him and understand his goals, but so far has denied it, believing that he’s the only one who can handle the remotes power, and the knowledge it curses those that use it with. Despite his best efforts, he’s painted himself as a villain to Twilight and her friends, undoubtedly his best chance at finding someone to help him save his world, and stop the corruption before its too late.

In this chapter, he let paranoia get the best of him, running from the Mane six, and hurting Twilight, Starlight and Rainbow instead of confronting them and asking for help. The weight of what the universe has put on him is too much to bear, and over time he’s being forced to come to terms with the fact that he may not be able to stop whats coming, and, what if, what if this is how it’s supposed to e̯͌nd̹͝?̭́ After all, why should he care about a multiverse he knows isn’t real?

As for what Rob did to Rainbow in his bid to get away, he changed her language to French with the remote, and as for translation, it’s “I’m fine, but he’s getting away! Wait, what’s wrong with my voice!”

As for everything else, he used the Dim feature on his surroundings during the chase, hoping that pitch blackness would work as well on Twilight and Starlight as it had on Gumball, not knowing just how much their magic would be able to compete with him. He paused Twilight in the final scene, his thumb thankfully slipping off of the delete key when he tripped, I shouldn’t need to explain why that’s a good thing... The remote is also able to manipulate it’s surroundings at will, which was what allowed for him to uproot trees and anything else around him and fling them towards Twilight and Starlight.