> A Light In The Dark > by Umbra Dator > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1 : Impact > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Light In The Dark |...|   Syra walked to work. It was just like any other day. The skyscrapers looked down and a general sense of inadequacy followed her. Those who saw her never nodded nor smiled. They simply continued on as if the young girl was not there at all. She continued to walk contemplating life, when the step she took ended in the 'whoosh' of open air not the dull thunk of pavement. Syra fell into darkness and not a whisper was heard from the surrounding crowd. As Syra fell the darkness swallowed her, it seemed to go on for eternity.  Her eyes strained trying to see something, anything in that vast plane.  She twisted and turned, trying to look all around, as she fell through one of many people’s worst nightmares. ‘Maybe my mind is playing tricks on me.’ she thought ‘ What could have happened? I was in the middle of a crowd. Surely someone will help me...’   She finally spotted something, a small pinprick of light, ‘ I must really be dead.  How cliché, was there really a light at the end of the tunnel?’   All of a sudden the light was on top of the small girl and she cried out as the light burned her eyes. She threw up her arms to shield her frame from it and uttered word without meaning “contego”. |...| Rainbow Dash was clearing the last of the clouds that were above Ponyville as the sun set behind her. The small town glimmered in the early evening light, revealing the last few ponies finishing up their business. Just as she bucked the last cloud into oblivion she looked up to see a bright light in the sky in front of her, slowly streaming down towards the ground, "Hmmm... I didn't know there was a meteor shower tonight," she mumbled. Just as she turned to head home an eardrum shattering, "KABOOOM!!" and shockwave made her tumble before the rainbow maned pegasus leveled again. She saw the meteor explode into pieces and begin to impact the ground, a mile or two outside of town. "Oh sweet Celestia!" she exclaimed and bolted away into town to spread the news. |...| Syra woke to cold and pain, an unusual feeling for one who thought she would wake up in a hospital. She tried to move, but found that her arms and legs are being held by something. She opened her eyes only to find that it made no difference, it was still dark as The Void. She closed her eyes once again and took some deep breaths, 'It's ok, Sy. You just need to calm down and find a way out of this'. She tried to move her limbs again experimentally, and found that her left arm had a slightly more room to maneuver. She begun to move her arm in the direction of least resistance, which was towards her side, slowly and carefully. When her arm reached about halfway to her side the 'structure' around her groaned and rumbled. The young girl froze hoping against hope that it would stop...it didn’t. It continued to rumble and groan until it gave one last groan and, with a crackling crash, split in half and bathed Syra in sunlight. She gasped and blocked the light with her hand realizing that she had been in that thing longer than she thought. While sitting up she saw that her leg was hurt, yet she strangely felt no pain. As she waited for her eyes to adjust to the new found light she could hear the blowing of the wind in the grass. As she sat she heard some rustling in the grass to her back . Once Syra could see again she look around, in front and to the left of her is a pockmarked, and slightly on fire, field to her right is a small quiet forest. As the young girl tried to stand up to look around in more detail she heard a gasp and faint *pop!*. She turned as fast as she could, almost falling due to her leg, to find nothing but wind blown grass and blue sky. 'Must have imagined it' she thought, not quite believing herself. |...| Twilight Sparkle was sitting in her room reading as the sun set outside, shining through the windows and coating the library in a dim light. ' I'm so happy to finally have some time to relax and read without any interru'-- 'KABOOOM!!' -- Twilight tumbled off her bed with a yelp, as both her windows shattered from the shock wave, spreading glass shards and bits of paneling around the room. "SPIKE!!" she yells hoping for the best. The pattering of small feet could be heard on the stairs, "Are you okay, Twilight?" the small dragon asks popping his head through the door frame. Twilight nodded as she carefully made her way to the, now ruined, window. "What was that?" she wonders out loud. Her ears perked up as she heard something outside, it sounded like her colorful friend, Rainbow Dash. The purple pony turned to Spike "Stay here!" she commands and, as the young dragon nodded, rushed downstairs and into the less than peaceful street. > Chapter 2 : News Spreads > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Light In The Dark |...| Twilight burst out of the front door, right into Rainbow Dash’s face. “Twilight! Come quick! Something blew up outside of town!” exclaimed Dash, pulling Twilight. “I was wondering what blew out my windows. Do you know what it was? Where did it hit? Is anypony hurt?” Twilight asked, worried. “Just follow me, I’ll show you!” Rainbow exclaimed, beginning to run down the street. As they ran they could see in the now streetlight lit town that there were very few injuries, most of them from glass and other shrapnel whipped up by the shock-wave. Most of the windows facing the west were blown out and clean up was already starting. When she came to the edge of Ponyville Dash stopped. Seeing where Rainbow stopped, Twilight teleported next to her causing her to yelp.  “Now, what did you want to show me, Rainbow?” Twilight inquired. “I was just finishing clearing the sky when something fell from the sky and crashed over there in that field.” exclaimed Rainbow Dash now hovering and pointing impatiently. “So that’s what caused that bang...” Twilight murmured while looking to the field for any disturbance. Noticing a large pillar of smoke and some fire near the ground she turned to the chromatic pegasus and asked, " Do you think you can carry me over there?" "I don't know Twi, it looks about five miles outside of Ponyville. I don't think I can carry you that far." Twilight sat and pondered the situation, after a minute of studying the now dying pillar of smoke an idea popped into her head. "Okay, Dash just pick me up high enough that I can see the crater" Twilight said nodding to herself. "Can do!" Dash said saluting and swooping to pick the purple unicorn up. As they flew Twilight noticed that some houses had holes in the roofs and most of the glass was gone. As the source of the impact crater came into view the ever studious unicorn began to take mental notes. She noticed that there was one large crater and many small ones, presumably bits that broke off, around it. Also the main body of the meteorite was still intact. With that last observation Rainbow Dash stopped ascending. “Okay,  now on the count of three I need you to drop me, I’m going to teleport over there” “You sure about this Twi?” Dash asked, not quite sure that Twilight would be able to make it all the way over to the crater. “I’m sure” she replied her horn beginning to glow “now on the count of three... one...two...three!” Dash dropped Twilight as she finished casting her spell, she had not even fallen two feet before she disappeared in a flash of purple with a *pop!* |...|          Twilight rematerialized into the world directly next to the fallen space rock. Shaking off the dizziness that comes with teleportation she started to take a step to get closer when the rock which, now that she had gotten a closer look at it, was made of ice, not stone, began to rumble and groan. However before Twilight could react the rock split open. Staying perfectly still she waited to see if the ice block would continue to settle. After a minute or so she started to once again walk towards the ice. As she approached Twilight could see something moving in the center of the meteorite. “it looks like some sort of monkey,” she thinks. “What is it doing inside that meteorite?”. Suddenly  the creature sat up with a groan and looked around. As it turned its head towards the forest Twilight realized that it was no monkey. It had no tail and only hair on the top of its head. This is something completely different. Unfortunately, Twilight let out a gasp at this realization, and seeing that the creature was turning to look, teleported away with a faint *pop!*         Appearing near the now landed Rainbow Dash, Twilight fell to her stomach and lay there to catch her breath, after such long range teleports.         “What was over there?” Dash asked after the purple unicorn had settled.         “Something *pant* came with *pant* the meteorite.”         “What do you mean by that,” Dash inquired, “like some sort of alien?!” “Perhaps,” Twilight sighed as she stood back up, “but whether it’s an alien or not, the Princess’ need to know, let's go back Dash.” And with that Rainbow Dash and Twilight headed back to the library. |...|          Syra walked around the structure she had just come out of to get a look at her surroundings. In front and to her right was a forest, now dim by the light of the moon. To her left was a field, now smoldering. Behind her previous prison was open field and a mountain in the distance, Syra thought she could see something on the side but it was too dark to be sure. Syra began to walk towards the forest, but was stopped by a sharp pain in her leg. Foregoing any attempts to head into the forest, the young girl flattened some grass and proceeded to leave the waking world. |...|         Twilight rushed into the library, startling Spike who was picking up after earlier. “Spike, take a note!” the unicorn gasps. Dutifully, the young dragon pulled out a scroll and quill while taking a ready writing position. Dear Princess Celestia, As I am sure you know, a large object fell out of the sky near  Ponyville. It caused some damage but nopony was seriously injured. I went to investigate said object to  gain some insight to what it was. I found that it was  made of ice and laced with magic, located around five miles outside Ponyville. Upon my approach the object split open and something crawled out. I await your quick response. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle Twilight nodded and with a breath of fire and the scent of burning paper, the message was sent. > Chapter 3 : Shock > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Princess Celestia admired the night her sister brought. Luna had a light touch and finesse she could never replicate herself. The Solar Princess sighed and turned from her balcony to relax from daily court when a sparkling cloud of smoke condensed into a scroll in front of her with a light *poof*. As The Princess began to open it her door was opened revealing a concerned looking guard. “Princess!” he exclaims, bowing “my apologies for intruding, but we have urgent news from Ponyville!” “Rise, Swift Wind, and speak,” The Princess says gently, rising the pegasus spoke “We have news of an unknown object landing near Ponyville,” “Was anypony injured?” Celestia asked, her tail swishing in apprehension “Not that we know of, but there is quite a bit of property damage” With this The Princess sighed, concerned. Then remembering the letter from her student, picked it up and, breaking the seal, began to read. Swift Wind stood at attention and, waiting for any orders he may get, watched as The Princesses’ features got graver by the second. When she finished reading she rolled the scroll up and took a deep breath. “Swift Wind, I need you to get two squadrons ready,” she commanded her voice now hard “We will fly to where the object landed. Bring a prison transport carriage and be ready for anything. I will accompany you, we leave in thirty minutes,” With a salute Swift Wind galloped off down the corridor. Celestia sighed and prepared for what was sure was coming. None of her many years of life had prepared her for this. She wrote a letter to calm Twilight and tell her to gather The Elements. Faust forbid she would need them. |...| Syra woke suddenly to a prod in the side. Gasping she sat up to find out who, or what, woke her. Looking around the first thing she noticed was how bright it was, this was strange as Syra could still see the moon. She then saw the ring of lights around her. Not that she was surprised by that due to her method of entrance, what did surprise her was the fact that there was no one around. Syra tried to stand but, when she put pressure on her left leg, collapsed in pain. As the pain started to subside something broke her thoughts. “Hello!” an amplified voice boomed “Can you understand me?” “Yes!” Syra exclaimed happy to at least be somewhere she could understand the language “Good,” the voice continued “Can you tell me why you’re here? Do you mean us any harm?” it inquired “Harm? Even if I wanted to I couldn't, my leg is hurt and I can’t walk,” she admitted. As Syra was about to continue a yellow blur came from behind the lights, eventually coalescing into a butter yellow pony with a pink mane, a shifting on the pony’s back made her realize that it had wings. Before she could take in any more her reality shattered. “Oh, you poor thing let me help!” |...| Discord sat in the empty plane of the metaphysical world. The problem with empty was that it didn’t work well with chaos. But luckily Discord had something to distract him. Sitting in front of him were two holes punched through to reality and through them he could see his plan unfolding. In one was his new pawn, fresh from the multiverse, unconscious in a field. In the other was Celestia riding a chariot with those accursed Elements. She was also surrounded by pegasus guards all armored and stern, no fun at all. The draconequus watched as they approached his pawn and set up a parameter setting up spotlights and positioning guards. Celestia then woke the human with a push of telekinesis. They began to talk though Discord, much to his chagrin, couldn’t hear them. His pawn motioned to her leg, and faster than a mortal can blink the yellow one was in front of her, followed rapidly by the other Elements. However by this point the young human had passed out from sheer shock. With a chuckle Discord closed his windows and waited. Soon...Soon he would be free to spread chaos again. > 4 : Revelations > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Syra floated in the darkness, calm but curious. She felt a breeze stir up around her blowing away the darkness like mist. She then drifted down to the white plane that was revealed below her. Looking forward Syra saw a sickly purple glow straight ahead, seeing no other options she took a step forward, rocketing her into vertigo as she seemingly traveled miles in one step. As she regained her senses, the little human saw a purple crystal pedestal holding a pure black stone. Syra reached out to touch the intriguing piece when a voice stopped her. “Why hello there young Syra! How kind of you to visit me!” it echoed condescendingly. “Who’s there? H-how do you know my name?” Syra spoke, her voice shaking more than she liked “Show yourself!” “As you wish,” with that smoke poured out of the crystals and condensed into something. It was a bit of everything it had an antler and a unicorn horn on it’s head, yellow eyes with red pupils, a lion’s body with one arm ending in a paw and the other in a bird’s claw. It had wings, one feathered and the other batlike; it’s feet were mismatched as well, one a reptilian leg and the other equine. The monstrosity ended in a scaled tail with fur on the end. Everything about it was inherently wrong, and nothing truly fit. “I, young human, am Discord” it, or he judging from the voice, said bowing “but you...can call me Master” he said grinning maniacally. Syra’s mind spun at this, what could he mean ‘Master’? This thing held no power over her! Did he? So many questions zipped through her head but she was unable to focus on any due to a strange recurrent beeping that continually interrupted her thoughts. “Hmm, I had hoped we would have more time” he said frowning “Oh well” he shrugged, the insane grin returning “Farewell my pawn, and I wouldn't tell Celestia about this! She might not like you as much after” he turned to leave but seemed to remember something “And I do hope you find this” he said tapping the black stone and cackling. Syra was unable to respond, as the beeping got louder until the world was bathed in white. |...| Celestia paced around her room in worry. The creature obviously meant no harm, that much was obvious after she glanced through its thoughts. What worried her was how it got here. It lacked magic almost completely and yet the ‘stone’ it came down in was so laced in magic, it had yet to begin to melt. Celestia had put the creature in the furthest part of the medical wing and stationed guards to keep civilians out. She had tried to heal it herself but found that her magic was just absorbed, seemingly without a trace. This was unheard of. Of course so was a strange creature falling out of the sky. Without any background, Celestia was as lost as her little ponies. But she would not give up, she needed to find the spell that brought it here and send it back. It did not belong here and, while peaceful, needed to be sent home. Celestia was just finishing up her grim thoughts when there was a knock at the door. Putting on her signature grin she opened the door. “It’s awake!” |...| *beep....beep....beep....beep...beep* Syra woke with a gasp. In a panic she tried to move but found that her limbs were strapped to the surface she was on. Looking left she could see a vast array of medical apparati, including the heart monitor that was trying to drive her insane with its incessant beeping, to her right was a double door. She tried to look toward her feet but found she was unable to because of the strap holding her head down. Fighting back her fear, as the beeps got more rapid,Syra took some deep breaths, and settled down to wait until her captors showed themselves. Luckily, or perhaps not, she didn’t have to wait long. The door to her right opened to reveal what looked like horses, no they were too small for that. Ponies then. They were armored and grim. Behind them came a true horse, a mare if she remembered the anatomy correctly, pure white with a flowing rainbow mane. She had a pure white horn coming out of her head, and white wings on her back. When she saw Syria's situation she gasped and moved towards her, as she did her horn lit with a quiet chime and the straps holding Syra down began to undo themselves. Once they released her, Syra sat up rubbing her wrists subconsciously. “I am terribly sorry, I didn’t expect them to strap you down”  she said, her voice much like a mother’s, gentle and light. Syra just sat and gaped at the fact that the horse just spoke. “I am Princess Celestia of Equestria, may I ask your name?” “I mean horses don’t talk, surely I’m just seeing things. I’m probably still asleep in a hospital somewhere.” Syra blathered, scared but certain. “I am sorry, but this is no vision nor is it a dream. This is reality, however much you may not like it.” The Princess said almost apologetically. At this Syra began to panic, and tried to stand up but fell due to a sudden weakness overtaking her. She was caught temporarily in a golden field, however the field flickered and went out leaving Syra to fall the rest of the way to the floor albeit slower. When she tried to get up she found that she could do nothing but roll herself to her back. “Are you okay?” Celestia asked worried about Syra’s sudden weakness. “N-no, I feel s-so weak. I-I’ve never been so t-tired” Syra groaned slowly falling back into the dark. As soon as Celestia saw Syra pass out she knew something was very wrong. She called the nurses in to set her back on the bed, making sure they didn’t strap her down again. Celestia then did a quick scan, so as to make sure the magic wasn’t dissipated, over Syra. It was then The Solar Princess realized how big of a problem there truly was. The young creature’s body was flooding with magic, and she had no way to use it. Just by being in the planet’s atmosphere she was dying. There was only one solution to this. She needed an Onyx, the only thing on the planet that could absorb magic rapidly and allow the use of it. Warning the nurses to not use magic near her, Celestia galloped to the owner of the only Onyx in Equestria. Luna.