Twilight, Starlight
Arc 1: A prelude to madness
It was a peaceful day in Ponyville… well, about as peaceful as can be possible when said town is home to two of the most hyperactive ponies in all of Equestria. On any other day the seemingly endless amounts of energy that seemed eternally pent up within the two would have the town either covered in all assortments of party paraphernalia or the unique spectacle of hundreds of rainbows leftover from practicing aerial and ground stunts over and over. Not that anypony particularly seemed to mind, it was just one of the pros, or cons depending on how you look at it, of living in such a lively town.
Most ponies were outdoors, enjoying the beautiful summer's day, hoping to capture the last great memories that the season was so well known for, as soon it would the weather would turn cold and a blanket of snow would be layered all over the countryside. Even the forever studying Twilight Sparkle ventured outside without a quill and paper, a classic romance novel replacing the usual assortment of spellbooks, and history books both new and old in her sling pack.
However, not everypony was outside enjoying the last summer rays. Deep beneath the library, a single soul was hard at work, doing research, thinking up new inventions, making great scientific advances in the field of… sleep?
Yes, the only one that had remained behind was that of Zero Starlight, the only known human in all of Equestria, and a cunning one at that. Zero was Equestira's Master Archineer, and as such was worked to the bone, day in and day out. (Although, he did still skip out on work to hang out with Twilight Sparkle and the gang a lot, but hey, the title came with it's perks, right?) Currently his mirrored aviator goggles had been pulled down to cover his eyes and his hair, black as Princess Luna's coat, with natural silver highlights at the tips, fell in front of him, effectively blocking out all light. His back rose and fell as he breathed peacefully, and…
BUZZ, BUZZ… BUZZ, BUZZ
That woke Zero up. He jumped up in his chair, almost falling backwards onto the hard wood floor in surprise, "WASN'T SLEEPING! DON'T KNOW WHAT YOUR TALKING ABOUT!" The vibration he had felt subsided, and Zero lowered his arms and let out a breath he hadn't known he had been holding. He got up from the chair he had been sleeping in, grabbing his trusty mega-wrench and placing it in his sling bag. He pulled out his phone, scrolling through old messages before stopping at a new one from Twilight. To any a perceptive observer, it would have been noted that his cheeks gained a slightly darker shade of pink for a half second before cooling back to his normal skin tone.
Zero,
Where are you? Aren't you going to come and enjoy this wonderful weather? I want to be able to spend as much time out here before summer ends, don't you? If you get this, meet me at that old chocolate shop on west pony avenue in 15 minutes, ok?
Hope to see you then,
Twilight Sparkle
P.S. Make it in 5 and you get a bonus!
Zero chuckled and slid the phone into its sleeve in his pack, and attaching a wireless earpiece so that he could talk to Twilight if she called, and still get around quickly. 'You sure know how to catch a guy's interest, don't you Twilight?' Buckling his sling pack on, and pushing his aviators up onto his forehead, electric blue eyes sparking with excitement, he walked into the elevator that would bring him up to the library. '5 minutes, eh? Hmmm… Let's see if I can't beat 2 and a half.'
Zero may have been the Master Archineer of Equestria, but that didn't mean that was his only talent. Zero was a jack-of-all trades, possessing knowledge, a sharp wit, strength, and along with it, endurance. If you where to ask him what his favorite pastime, aside of spending time with Twilight and company of course, he would reply in an instant, "Freerunning." Zero was an adrenaline junkie, to put it simply but crudely. He loved the feeling of the chase, and all the running, jumping, dodging and falling, etcetera, that was part of the package. He had no fear of death, and frequently performed stunts that even Rainbow Dash would think twice before attempting.
Currently, Zero was enjoying the rush of performing one of said stunts, hoping to get the jump on Twilight as, although she would probably give him a hoof to the face, would still end up laughing at such foolhardiness. He crouched on a stone edge that jutted from the one of the four corners of the tallest building in Ponyville, the clock tower, which was conveniently located near the old chocolate shop that Twilight asked him to meet her at.
With a quick inhale of breath, Zero, arms outstretched as if he were a diver at the Olympony games, fell with only a barely audible whistling sound, accompanied by his baggy parachute pants and t-shirt flapped in the sudden wind.
It had been almost 5 minutes now, and Zero was nowhere in sight. 'Where could he be?' Twilight Sparkle thought to herself, using her magic to slip her phone back into her sling pack. Her face involuntarily turned a darker shade of purple as when she thought of the device. It had been a gift from Zero to commemorate her passing his rigorous testing and becoming his sole apprentice. He had created only 2 of the small devices, one for himself, which required the multi-jointed fingers that he alone possessed, where as hers was more a polished piece of metal with a glass front. Twilight was able to transfer her magic through the phone to speak with Zero wherever she pleased. She still had to use a quill and paper, and Spike still held his job of taking notes, letters, and other important thoughts down, but this way it was easier for her and Zero to communicate casually.
She wished Spike was here, he always had a profound calming effect on her. Perhaps it was maternal instincts as, in a way, she was his mother, and she had hatched him after all… 'He's never disappointed me when I gave him a challenge before… What if he got hurt on the way here? Or…' Twilight shook her head, the dark purple and pink streaks of her mane flapping about. 'It won't do any good to worry like that. He's probably just…' She never finished her thought, as the sound of an object landing in the cart of hay that had been left on the sidewalk was heard. As she turned to investigate, a blur of black along with speck of white ran into her at full speed. For a moment, one that seemed to stretch on for centuries, Twilight analyzed the situation, and came very close to causing said object to become a smear on the pavement, before she reined back her magic, recognizing that the object was actually Zero, who had jumped out of the hay bail and, almost too energetically, ran straight at her in an attempt to surprise her. She let out a small squeak before relaxing and wrapping her fore-hoofs around him, returning her boyfriend's hug. "Zerooooooooo! Why do you always insist on making such extravagant entrances? I almost burnt you to a crisp!"
Zero retracted his arms, folding his hands behind his head and leaning back as if he was up against an invisible wall, "You know me," He said, flashing a cocky grin, eyes sparkling with mischievousness, "I'm all about big entrances! So, you wanted to check out this shop?" He asked, nodding across the street to the little chocolate shop. The place had an innocent look to it, kind of like a puppy surrounded by protecting big brothers, and indeed the buildings that loomed to each side of it seemed to almost lean towards the shop, daring anyone to bring harm to it.
"Yes, I hear they make very good cheesecakes, and seeing as Rainbow Dash's birthday is coming up I thought we might as well look for something for her sweet tooth!" Twilight explained turning and starting to walk towards the shop.
"Now wait just a moment there!" Twilight stopped in her tracks, listening intently as Zero walked calmly after her, "You mentioned cheesecake, didn't you?" Twilight slowly turned her head towards him, to see an enormous grin plastered onto Zero's face. "You wouldn't perhaps be mentioning my favorite dessert for any particular reason now would you?"
After browsing the stores wares for almost an hour, Zero and Twilight settled on a rainbow themed ice cream cake for Rainbow Dash, a box of chocolates with cherries inside for Twilight, and a large cheesecake for Zero. Always the gentleman, Zero carried all the treats out of the store while Twilight waited outside.
"So where do you suggest we take this stuff? I'll take the cheesecake and the chocolate cherry things back home to the library, but what about Rainbow Dash's cake?" Zero asked. "We'll take it back to the library and put it with your cheesecake until the party." Twilight answered, "It's getting late, so how about I go and look for a movie for us over at Pony Video?"
Zero agreed with this and headed back to the library with his load, making sure to keep out of sight of both Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, the latter because she would probably not be able to keep the party a secret.
It was now past 9:30pm and Twilight had fallen asleep up against Zero, comfortably snuggled against his pajama covered shoulder. Zero was still up however, as he his phone was buzzing against his thigh, alerting him to something the workshop computer had detected. For the past 30 minutes he had been trying to get off the couch without waking up Twilight. She was a very light sleeper and could be terrifying when she was awoken abruptly.
After more than a few close calls, Zero was sitting at his chair in his workshop, examining the warning that had come up. He had made sure to turn off the sound so as to not wake up Twilight, but right now, that was the least of his concerns. 'Strange… the Z-wave readings are much higher than they normally are in that area… Hang on; the sensor must be on the fritz… These dimensions can't be right…' Zero tapped in a long series of codes, and then gave a frustrated exhale of air. 'It's still giving the same data… What is going on?'
Twilight awoke just as Celestia's sun neared midday, and the quiet buzz of her phone, indicating she had a message. She made a 'Just five more minutes' groan, reaching out to Zero… and grasping nothing but air. With a drawn out sigh, she pulled herself up off the couch, moving the comfortable blanket that Zero had left on her, and reaching over to the aforementioned noise maker. 'Why can't I ever seem to wake up in my bed these days?' She thought as she checked the message left for her;
Twilight,
Morning moonlight! Sleep well? Your probably wondering where in the heck I am right now. Well, it's a long story, best explained if you come on over here. I'm over at the west end of Ponymore. I think you'll find what's going on here to be… interesting. Heck, bring the girls if you feel like it. I haven't seen any of them in quite a while now! See you soon?
Love,
Zero
Twilight smiled, blushing slightly at the silly nickname. She floated the phone back into her sling pack, along with her Archineer badge. She also carefully placed the collection of gears, springs, and other assorted mechanical pieces that made up her latest test as an Archineer's apprentice. She thought she was close to figuring out how to assemble it, but so far every time she attempted to activate it, it imploded. She shuddered, remembering how close it had come to burning the whole library down. She sighed, shook her head, and, after checking up on Spike to make sure he was getting his rest (He was still just a baby dragon, no matter what he claimed otherwise) and headed out the front door, wondering just what it was that Zero had found.
Currently, the young Archineer was hard at work, in one of his rare, but persistent moments of complete concentration. He was currently constructing a multi layered set of walls, complete with turrets, gates, and the whole kitchen fridge, metaphorically speaking of course. And each was pointed towards the implausible occurrence set into the mountainside. Zero wasn't overly shocked, of course. He did live in a world filled with talking ponies, unicorns, and pegasus. (His mind momentarily distracted, wandering off on a tangent, he considered that he still didn't know the plural of the latter species of pony… His mega-wrench slamming into his hand instead of the targeted nail brought his thoughts back to the present time, albeit with a series of colorful phrases he remembered from his previous life that would not be suitable for a place like Equestria)
After setting up the defensive walls to keep anything that might come out of the… rip, contained, and seeing to it that his hand was not critically injured, he stood silently, staring into the void. He made note that now that he had the time to do a once over, he felt a… tugging, he supposed, almost as if the rip was attempting to pull him towards it, into it. He shuddered, shaking himself, and the strength of the feeling dissipated somewhat, though it still remained, like a dream one might try to remember in the few minutes after waking up, it pestered him, poking into his thoughts before scurrying just out of reach.
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a polite cough. '100 bits says that it's Rarity.' He slowly turned around, taking the time to look over each of Twilight, and as her boyfriend, his, friends. He hadn't seen them for some time, a month at the very least. His eyes floated between each, noting the changes, and filing the information away for later reference. Rarity, who had been the one to cough 'And we have a winner…' Zero remarked dryly to himself. In the years since Nightmare Moon's defeat, Rarity had come across a gentlestallion, and it had turned out to be none other than Big Macintosh, Applejack's older brother. Next was Rainbow Dash, who had very recently become the new Captain of the Wonderbolts, and Equestria had never had more extravagant and amazing air shows in any of it many, many years. After that was Pinkie Pie. The hyperactive party pony hadn't changed much really. She still seemed to be able to break into a semi-nerve grating musical number without any preparation, and had become the Head of Partying (Zero chuckled internally… he still couldn't believe it that Twilight had come across such a position in one of her old history books.)
Fluttershy was next. She was still the quiet animal lover, which had earned her the job of General Animal Caretaker of Equestria. She was always getting called in to a plethora of different animal emergencies, and Zero knew she was perfect for the job. He had never, ever in his years here, seen a pony react so calmly in any situation involving an endangered animal. Applejack was the most excited of the group to see him however. Understandable, seeing as his Archineer skills had managed to be of use to replace Granny Smith's old hip, allowing her to get around with her children more easily, although she had relinquished her role as owner of the farm to Applejack. He still had extra treats that her family had made for him as a way of thanking him for his help.
His eyes finally settled on the un-voiced leader of the group, Twilight. Hard to believe that only a short time earlier he had been beginning his adventures in Equestria, and she was still an apprentice to Celestia. Spike, who's usual place of resting was atop Twilight's back, was nowhere to be seen, although considering that it was still the early hours of the morning, Zero wasn't entirely surprised.
He calmly turned back to face the tear, beckoning the girls forward. Twilight stopped next to him, leaning slightly against him, while the others took positions to look at the rip. Well, all except for Pinkie, who was bouncing around, poking and prodding at the defenses. Zero left her to herself. Trying to get Pinkie to sit still would be like trying to stop the sun from rising.
He spoke softly, "Good to see you all, although the conditions could be better." He chuckled, "you are probably wondering what you're doing here." He pointed towards the rift. "That is what you're doing here."
Rainbow Dash cocked her head to the side. "And this is… what exactly?"
Zero's smile dissipated, "I'm not quite sure, however there are massive amounts of energy being emitted from… whatever it is, and the energy closely matches the energy that is left over whenever a teleportation spell is used…" Twilight spoke up, "Why all the heavy defenses?" Zero gave a sad smile, and nodded at the rift. "As much as I hope whatever may come out of there is friendly." He turned his finger to the badge of the Master Archineer, a golden gear over an arm raising a wrench to the heavens, "This badge means I need to keep public safety in mind, no matter what." Almost as if to punctuate his sentence, alarms began to blare.
/Warning, anomaly detected…
/Warning, anomaly detected...
Zero was all business. "Twilight, do a full systems check!" In a burst of magic, Twilight disappeared. "Rarity, you need to get back to town and warn everyone, then get Spike to notify Princesses Celestia and Luna!" Rarity nodded and ran towards town. "Rainbow Dash, gather the Wonderbolts and be ready for a fight!" Rainbow Dash was gone before Zero had time to close his mouth.
"Pinkie Pie," Zero pointed dramatically, "go set up a welcome party, but don't start it unless I give you the go-ahead!" Pinkie Pie saluted, before hopping away, ruining the drama of the moment somewhat.
"Umm… Z-Zero? What about us?" Fluttershy stammered, true to her name. Zero was only half-listening. "You and Apple Jack are with me. If whatever comes out of there is an animal of some sort, you're the best choice if it needs medical or emotional attention. Apple Jack and I will be backing you up, incase things get crazy."
The rift shone a series of colors that would put a rainbow to shame, blinding everyone momentarily.
Zero leapt down, quickly followed by Fluttershy and Apple Jack. From the rift, streams of fire attacked, hungry for oxygen and things to destroy with their heat. In a flash, Zero built a protective wall, and assessed the situation. He didn't have much time, as he had to build the defense from wood as a trade-off for his building speed. Already the flames were licking at the dry material, searching for flaws and imperfections that it could enter and set aflame. Zero paid it no mind, however, as he whipped out a small remote from his coat pocket and quickly pressed a multitude of buttons. All along the defense walls, enclaves revealed themselves, each containing a nozzle hooked up to a fire extinguisher. With a hiss, the counteractive foam shot out, working to control the blaze. Zero placed the remote back in its pocket, before risking a quick peek above the wall. The entire blocked area was covered in the white foam, making it look like a winter wonderland. Before he could relax however, movement in the foam near the rip caught his eye. With a quick motion to Apple Jack and Fluttershy, the three carefully made their way towards the now prone lump in the foam.
Not a sound could be heard, as if all the animals and elements had collectively decided to take a moment to think quietly. The tension in the air was more noticeable almost by almost a tenfold, and the now rising sun drenched the sky and clouds a deep blood red.
The rip was silent, and when Zero cast a quick glance in it's direction, he noticed it appeared to be closing. His mind wandered elsewhere, however, as he concentrated on discovering who… or what, for that matter, had arrived here.
With a series of pops, the three stopped before the large lump in the foam, hesitant. Each cast a glance at each other, none wanting to be the one to uncover what was hidden beneath the thin layer of bubbles. Before any of them could actually move the bubbles away, a series of multicolored flashes streaked by, blowing the foam into the air. The blurs stopped so suddenly that even Zero cringed, rubbing his neck almost subconsciously, and posed in somewhat clichéd stance was Rainbow Dash, along with her five other team members. Zero couldn't resist a jab at the Pegasus pony, "Even the fastest Pegasus in Equestria still manages to be late to the party? You're getting slow Dash!"
Rainbow Dash, who despite her name was still quite slow when telling the difference from jest and jab, shot back with the speed she was world renown for. "I could still beat you with two hooves tied behind my wing in ten seconds flat!" Zero wasn't listening though, his attention already turned to the form, strike that, forms that lay upon the ground. Whoever they were, they appeared to be human. And between them, a shard of crystal had imbedded itself into the ground, its electric blue surface sparkling.
"Fluttershy, I need you to check them for injuries, and take them to the hospital. I'll meet you there." Fluttershy nodded, carefully checked each and, finding no external injuries, gave a short whistle. Out of nowhere, hundreds of small animals wearing various forms of armbands, neckties or other appropriate accessories branded with a simple red cross on a white background. With quick directions, the animals quickly carried the bodies toward Fluttershy's house. Rainbow Dash and Applejack followed, helping when they could.
Zero on the other hand, had managed to pry the crystal from the ground and as he held it up to the light for closer inspection, a flash of lightning hit the crystal, electrocuting him. He opened his mouth to scream, but all that came out was a strangled garble. His vision was quickly fading, the pain of the electricity forcing his brain to shut everything down. He fell to the ground, paralyzed. Twilight Sparkle teleported next to him, mouth moving in a scream, but he heard nothing, his hearing already gone. He took a deep breath, attempting to fight off the pain, fight off the darkness that threatened to consume him.
He lost, and let himself sink into unconsciousness.
The dream was the same as always, with minor changes most likely caused by the electrical overload to his body. As usual, his subconscious was still at work, even when he himself wasn't. Zero was seated on the floor of the White Room, a sort of… layer that constituted a thin film that separated his dreams from reality. Unfortunately, one of the changes the shock had caused was that a rupture had appeared in the flawless white of his psyche, which, unless seen to, could cause hallucinations, delusions, paranoia, and even worse, the loss of his mentality to the Black Room, the White Rooms polar opposite, where all of his darkest secrets and emotions dwelled, and would leave him mentally unstable in the real world.
He stood, a blue orb appearing in front of him, before flashing and scurrying off, creating a series of platforms and poles he could use to traverse to the rupture. He took a deep breath, and then leaped, grabbing the first pole tightly, and swinging back and forth to build momentum, he made another leap, this time to a platform. The blue orb appeared again, pulsing rapidly, making noises that Zero took as warnings to hurry. With a sigh, he continued on.
Twilight sighed, holding Zero's hand in her hoof. 'It's been three days… the doctors say he's fine, and he needs rest, but shouldn't he have been up by now?' The room did nothing to improve her abysmal mood, as it's pink walls (Painted by Pinkie Pie in an attempt to wake Zero up through, quote, 'PARTY POWER!') were so pink they actually made the room feel depressing, however that was possible. She gave Zero's hand a quick squeeze, feeling the smoothness of his skin, which had so many times comforted her when she failed to succeed in a task, or wrapped around her in a loving hug. He was the only one she knew who would actually listen to her when she got into one of her long winded and wordy lectures ranging from how magic was formed to how Rainbow Dash managed to pull of the Sonic Rainboom, and even better, would respond with constructive and smart questions, helping her patch up the parts of her theories that were borderline guesswork. She didn't know what she would do without him…
Spike walked in, balancing a tray of snacks on his head as he wobbled towards her, attempting to lighten the mood. With a sigh, he gave up and put the tray on the bedside table, and, clambering atop a stool, looked at Twilight with sad eyes, "Still nothing, huh?" Twilight shook her head. "I don't get it either Spike. He's been out much longer than the doctors expected, and although he's not a pony, I've knocked him out before, and he was raring to go in 5 minutes, tops."
Spike shook his head, "From what you've told me though, he was hit by lightning. Even Zero would have to take time to recuperate from that kind of shock, no pun intended." Twilight looked back at Zero, and spoke so softly that Spike almost fell of his stool trying to hear. "Let's hope so."
With a grunt, Zero pulled himself up the side of the memory cliff, as it were. Looking around, he could see that he didn't have much time, as while he had made his way over, the rupture, which before had only dripped a few dark drops of black onto the ground, had broken and a constant stream was now flowing, puddles of mentally damaging liquid forming in the crevices and indents of this memory block. Zero reached for his repair tools, but his hands grasped air. For a moment, a blinding flash of panic hit him, threatening to throw him into the abyss between his memories. He staggered back before regaining his footing. The blue orb appeared before him again, this time making noises that he could almost understand. After a few moments, he suddenly heard it's voice, "Ye who has taken the crystal, speak thy name!" Zero hesitated, wanting to seal the rupture before it became worse, but gave in, "My name is Zero Starlight, Master Archineer of all Equestria."
The orb flashed, making more noises that Zero was able to interpret, "Hath thou met the three who guard the crystal?" Zero nodded, assuming that it meant the three humans that appeared from the rift. "Good. These three are each strong in mind, will and heart, and shall aid you in the times to come." Zero cocked his head to the side, puzzled, "The times to come? What do you mean?" The orb light was fainter now, the light inside dying out. "We have played our hand. We leave you with a warning, and, a great power. How you choose to use this power rests upon your shoulders. Our warning is this; 'Beware the Father and his Children. Do not release He who Drowned, as even the enemy of your enemy may still very well be your enemy.'" The orbs light had faded almost to nothing, and in a tone that Zero strained to hear, it spoke for the last time, "We grant upon you, the power of electricity…"
The orb flew into Zero, melting into his chest. Zero flinched, preparing for a burst of pain, but instead, a feeling of warmth spread through him, cleansing him, allowing him to think clearer than ever before. Small bolts of electricity leaped across his fingertips. In a burst of understanding, Zero aimed his hand at the rupture. With a crack, blue lightning arced into the liquid, super heating it, then arced again and melted the torn edges of his consciousness together, sealing the darkness away once more. Zero looked at his palms, eyes as big as saucers, before a grin formed on his face.
Twilight sighed. She had really been hoping that Zero would have regained consciousness by now… Looked like third time wasn't always the charm after all. She got up, floating Spike onto her back, careful not to wake him up. She opened the door and as she was walking out she cast a glance back. Nothing. She turned back around and headed out the door… before arms gently grabbed her in a surprise hug. She gave a quite scream before wiping around to see Zero, fully healed and rested.
"What, your just going to walk out of here without your boyfriend? I'm beginning to think you don't like me anymore."
For a moment, Twilight just stared, shocked, happy, surprised, all at the same time. This lasted for a few seconds, before she hit Zero upside the head. Or at least, she tried to hit him upside the head. Quick as a flash, Zero's hand caught her hoof mid swing, stopping it, and then proceeded to waltz around with her. "Zerooooooooo!"
Zero stopped, grinning, "Yes, Twilight?" He bent low on one knee, looking to his feet, "I live only to serve you, my princess." He said, mockingly adopting a posh English accent. "If you say 'Jump!' I will reply 'How high?' in mid-air."
Twilight attempted to stay angry with him, she really did, and anyone in her position would have collapsed laughing in seconds, but in the end, she just couldn't stay mad at him. She supposed that was one of the qualities she loved.
Twilight and Zero were seated at a local café, waiting for their meals. Well, Twilight was waiting for her food, Zero on the other hand had no other option other than to cook himself something to eat. Luckily, he just happened to be a prodigy when it came to cooking a good meal.
"So, let me get this straight," Twilight started, watching Zero slice, dice, fry, flip, flop, bake, and use a variety of other cooking methods to prepare his meal. "Your saying that within your subconscious, you were spoken to by a blue orb, which warned you of coming danger, and gave you the power to wield electricity?" Zero looked over, his hands a blur as he diced marble cheese, "To put it simply… yes. It said something about what I assume to be the crystal I picked up, and it's guardians, the three other humans that came here through the rift. Something about The Father, and his Children, and to leave the One Who Drowned at peace." He shrugged, "I don't really know what it was talking about, but perhaps the three will be able to clear things up, that is, when they get up." He chuckled, noticing that Spike was trying to grab some of Twilight's lunch. Much as he loved the little guy, he still couldn't let his girlfriend get her lunch stolen, not even by her own assistant. With a flick of his wrist, he shot a low intensity bolt of lightning at Spike's hand. The little dragon jolted back, almost falling over, and then shot a death glare at Zero, "Why am I always the one who gets used to show off your talents?"
Zero laughed, before turning around with a sandwich prepared for himself, and a large bowl of jewels that he offered to Spike in a gesture of peace. "It's not that you're intentionally the target, your just the most convenient and easy to use one. We're still friends?" Spike eyed the jewels, before forcing himself to refuse them, "I don't know…" Zero sighed, before tossing a liberal spread of diamonds onto the pile of jewels. "You know just how to play your cards, don't you Spike?" In response, Spike made a murmur of enjoyment and gave Zero a face full of jewel shards when said dragon decided to speak with his mouth full.
Twilight giggled to herself as she watched Zero and Spike duke it out, happy that they both got along. She winced as Zero narrowly dodged Spike, who had been attempting to set him on fire. Well, getting along most of the time, at least. She didn't want to have to choose between Spike, her assistant since childhood and her best friend, or Zero, her boyfriend. She shook her head, banishing the thought to the deeper realms of her mind. Looking up, she almost couldn't resist letting loose a series of giggles, as Zero had restrained Spike to the ground using electricity as makeshift shackles. Zero himself sat eating his sandwich, and when he noticed Twilight looking at him, gave a sly grin and a wink. With a flick of his arm, the electricity holding Spike down dispersed, allowing the young dragon the luxury of removing himself from the floor. "Show off." Twilight said, giving Zero an amused look.
"What's the point of having talent if you can't show it? It's not like I'm using it for personal gain, or to boast. Besides, it's good practice." Zero shot back, "Anyway, I'm going to go check on those three 'guardians'. Hopefully they'll have woken up by now. If not…" Zero left his statement hanging, although he did let a few small bolts of electricity scamper across his fingers, "You going to come along?"
Twilight shook her head, "No, I think I'll check the books at the library and see if they have any information on these 'Crystal Guardians' you heard about."
"Alright, if you find anything, call me." Zero replied, cleaning up his place at the table, then leaning over and planting a light kiss on Twilight's forehead, "Later, beautiful." Twilight blushed, "Back at you."
Zero was finding all sorts of new and interesting ways that his newfound powers could be used in. For example, he had recently installed cables that carried electricity to all the big buildings in Ponyville. He was delighted to discover that he could use the energy within the cables, coupled with his own power, to boost himself along the wires at amazing speeds. And that was only the start! He was able to heal himself by draining electricity from electrical powered devices and machines around town, and he had gained some kind of… electrical sense, he supposed, that allowed him to quickly locate sources of energy. If one crystal could give him this much power… By the time he arrived at the hospital, his normally 'chaotically organized' hair was slicked back to his skull, and he was panting with both adrenaline and a fair workout.
He took a moment to dust himself off and fix his hair, and then stepped into the cool, peaceful building. Well, as peaceful as the biggest hospital in Ponyville could possibly be. His adrenaline enhanced mind made the world seem to pass by in slow motion, and he nimbly dodged emergency medics rushing past, bearing the weight of a injured animal, carrying food to the patients, and a variety of other activities. He made his way to the desk, and greeted the rabbit at the desk by name, "Afternoon Angel, how have you been?" Angel responded with a series of chits and hand motions. "You don't say! Well I'd love to stay and chat, excuse me, play charades, but I have some people I need to see." Angel cocked his head to the side, making very clear that he was curious as to who these guests could be. "I'm looking for three humans, all male. You have any?"
Angel rummaged through his desk for a moment before pulling out a light bulb. He placed this between his ears, and it flickered on. Zero chuckled. "Wow, that's the first time I've actually seen a 'ding!' moment in real life." Angel had already pulled a clipboard from another drawer, and placing it in front of Zero, point to a cluster of names. "Thanks Angel, I'll make sure to bring a carrot with me next time." Angel somehow made a gesture that Zero was able to interpret as; 'That's what you always say…'
The library was a mess. Books were scattered everywhere, most left to fall to the floor still open, and in the middle of the chaos was Twilight Sparkle. She was deeply engrossed in what appeared to be five books at the same time, checking each for reference to this 'Father', and his 'Children'. So far, she hadn't been able to dredge up anything greater than a few short sentences that vaguely alluded to some kind of cult. As she got farther back in the library's collection, however, she was beginning to find larger amounts of information. It would only be so long until she found what she was looking for.
At last, she found a tome that seemed to contain large amounts of information about these people. Opening the heavy book, she noted that many of the pages had burn marks, or spots where the ink had been smudged out by water. Strange, as Twilight had made certain that all of the library's books had been kept in good repair. Many of the pages also had notes, written in an elegant script, in the margins, and in some places drawings of strange symbols and… masks? She couldn't quite be sure, had been drawn in, some of which had almost ripped through the page the writer had been so agitated. Flipping through the pages, a small black notebook fell out. It appeared to be a journal of some sort, and on scratched into it's spine was a series of roman numerals…
The cover of the journal was plain black, and to the unobservant eye, appeared to be unblemished. However, Twilight quickly noticed that something was amiss with the cover. Somebody had scratched the cover in places, and when held to the light at a certain angle, she could make out some sort of drawing carved into the worn leather. Flipping through the worn pages of the journal, she felt her heart pound. The journal was missing the first dozen or so pages, which had been torn out, and the entries past it seemed to have been written by someone of a less than sound mind. Many pages featured numbers that formed abstract pictures; some had been shaded in so that all that remained white was a human shaped outline. And many pages she could not understand. One was filled with a single word; 'WHY?' Another queried; 'Does he intrude upon our world?' And on a few pages later; 'Or we in his?'
Most terrifyingly however, was when the color of the ink changed, Twilight guessed that this was meant to show a different writer. Depending on the color of ink, the level of insanity of the writing changed. For example, the green ink user tried to form coherent sentences, but ended up descending into endless series of riddles and rhymes. Twilight closed both books, moving them into her bag, and called Zero.
"Alright, I'll meet you at the hospital. What room are they in again?" Twilight asked. "Angel indicated room 423, see you soon, bye." Twilight hung up, and started on her way to the hospital. For once, no one interrupted her thoughts as she made her way their, and she drifted into her memories. Specifically, a memory of a certain mountain exploration, five years ago…
Pony Peaks
Five years ago…
With a sigh of relief, Twilight Sparkle clambered atop the ridge of the mountain, quickly followed by Spike. As she breathed in the scent of fresh pine needles, and made a mental snapshot of the beautiful sunrise, the golden rays beginning to burn away the remaining shadows that hid behind and underneath the trees. "Remind me again… why… we need to… climb this mountain… exactly?" Spike gasped out. Twilight sighed, before responding, "I've told you this at least ten times already Spike. Princess Celestia wants me to research what effects higher altitudes and lower oxygen levels have on magical power." Spike groaned, "But why do I have to come along?"
"You had to come because I need someone to take notes and send them to Celestia, and last time I left you alone at home, I came back to find all the jewels missing!" Spike blushed, "I told you, I only had a few!" Twilight looked back at him. "Few dozen…" Twilight continued to stare. "All of them…" Twilight gave him a warm smile, "Much better, you know you can't lie to me Spike."
Spike wasn't paying attention though. He was staring at something behind Twilight. "Um, Twi?" She didn't hear him, already too busy setting up camp. "Twilight." Spike said again, with a little more force. No response. The figure was getting closer. "TWILIGHT!" Spike almost screamed. That got her attention. She whipped around, "What is it Spike?" He simply pointed to the oncoming figure. But it was too late. The figure stopped in front of them… and with a strangled cough and a wheeze, fell to the hard ground, where it lay prone. "What did you do to it Twilight?" Spike asked, half of him happy that they hadn't gotten attacked, the other fearful at what kind of power Twilight had used.
"I… I didn't do anything Spike…" Twilight said, kneeling down to examine the figure. "Whatever this thing is, I've never seen anything like it before…" Twilight jolted back as the body moved, and struggled into a sitting position. With a shock, Twilight realized that she had seen something like this before, but only in story books. They were called humans, and they were the raced that lived here before the ponies. This one appeared to be a male… "Where… am I? Who are you? Who… am I!" The human sat bolt upright. He was clearly upset. Twilight moved closer and attempted to calm him down. "You are in Equestria… Pony Peaks to be exact. My name is Twilight Sparkle. I am an apprentice to Princess Celestia, and this is my assistant Spike." Spike gave a small wave. "As to who you are, I am not entirely sure."
By now, the boy had calmed down somewhat. "I don't… remember much… I remember, walking… walking for days, months even… and… my, my name… I remember that too. It's Zero. Zero Starlight…" Zero swayed a little. "I don't feel so great..." Twilight held him up, speaking to him after instructing Spike to send a letter to Celestia explaining the situation. "Alright Zero. You don't seem well, so I think it would be a good idea if we head back to town. We have a hospital there, and although they deal with ponies mostly, I'm sure we can find some help for you. Can you walk?" Zero nodded helplessly, and with Twilight and Spike's help, the three made their way down the mountain.
Two Years Pass…
Zero, who has now fully recovered his strength, is sitting in the town plaza, his fingers intertwined, and a lost look on his face. Many of his lost memories have returned to him, but his past life is still shrouded in mystery. With a sigh, he stands up and walks through the streets aimlessly, occasionally glancing into store front windows. 'Two years… Two years since Twilight and Spike found me…' Out of the corner of his eye, he spots a broken down machine of some sorts, worn with age and rust. Without even noticing it, he finds himself standing in front of the machine, examining it. His mind quickly notes a hatch that seems to open to the inner workings of the machine. He pulls it open out of curiosity. Inside the machine is a mess of gears and wires, many severed or worn with use. Zero almost brushes the machine off, thinking it will never work again, when his mind suddenly stops him. A voice, one that sounds both familiar and strange, speaks softly within his mind, 'Do not assume so quickly that what appears to be broken cannot be fixed…' Suddenly, instead of a broken down pile of junk, Zero notices parts of the machine that can be salvaged or reused to fix it. Instinctively he begins to take apart the machine, pulling and replacing wires, smoothing out what he can.
After three hours, he presses a button the panel of the machine. With a series of whirrs and clanks, the machine rumbles to life and lit up. Zero stands back and admires his handiwork. A cough behind him breaks him out of his trance. He turns to find Twilight standing behind him, examining the machine he had repaired. With a smile, she says, "I didn't know you could fix things! That old bucket of bolts hasn't worked for as long as I can remember. You've got talent!" Zero smiled, blushing, "I wouldn't say I know how to fix things, seeing as I don't know how I did that…"
"Well, either way, I think Celestia might want to hear about this!" Twilight said with a smile.
Two and a half years pass…
Zero sat at his workstation, sketching designs for new inventions. He was so concentrated on his work; he failed to notice Twilight sneaking up behind him. With a roar, Twilight tackled him, causing Zero to fall to the floor, his mirrored aviator goggles flipping down over his eyes. "Whoa! What the heck Twilight! You shouldn't sneak up on people like that, especially if that someone is your mentor!" Twilight giggled, "Technically, I'm not your apprentice yet Zero, the official presenting of my badge and title isn't until next week."
Zero rolled away, before standing and brushing himself down and checking to make sure that his designs weren't damaged. "You know, one of these days, I'm going to react faster than you and your going to wind up half sticking out of the wall. Then you'll regret sneak attacking me." Twilight laughed, "Right, and I suppose you'll have invented time travel too?" Zero glared daggers at her, "Hey, just because the last design imploded doesn't mean you have to keep dredging it up." Twilight just stuck her tongue out at him.
Present day…
It was only a few months after the ceremonies that Zero had asked her to be his girlfriend. It had been a big shock, and it was a hard decision. She hadn't had friends for more than a few years, and now she was taking things a step farther. She sighed happily. It had all worked out in the end however, and she and Zero had become inseparable. As she arrived at the hospital, she spotted Zero waving at her from the front doors. With a blush, she waved back, and ran over.
Zero and Twilight stood outside of the hospital room, going over Twilight's discoveries before they headed in. Zero was flipping through the larger book, while Twilight checked the journal, and occasionally they would point something out to the other.
"So, according to this book, 'The Father' is some kind of… spirit? I think that's what it means anyway. He seems to be the head 'priest' or whatever you want to call it of the 'Children of the Moon'. The initiation rituals are pretty tame, but it seems the higher you go, the more grotesque it gets, and then there's this whole 'ascension' thing…" Zero summarized from his findings.
"Ah, now, that bit about the 'ascension' you mentioned, in the journal, there are a lot of entries by someone writing in red ink, that seem to refer to this. However, after a certain date, it's just mad writing. For example, one entry is just babbling about his or her eyes, which apparently were taken. I assume this may be some part of the 'ascension'?" Twilight added.
Zero sighed, snapping the book shut and placing it in Twilight's sling bag. He rubbed at a point between his eyes, his eyes shut in concentration. "We're getting nowhere fast. I think our best bet is with the three in there." Zero indicated room 423 with a nod of his head towards the door. "What do you say we get some answers?"
With that, Zero pushed open the door, stepping into the peaceful hospital room.
Inside the room, three cots had been set up against the wall, and occupying each was one of the three humans Zero had seen earlier. Beside each was an assortment of medical equipment; heart rate monitors, blood bags, the same as any other room in the hospital, excluding the animal's rooms. All but one of the three were either unconscious, or asleep, Zero couldn't be sure. The lone conscious man whipped his head around to face Zero and Twilight when they entered the room. Zero took a moment to appraise him; he was of a medium build, around his own age. His eyes were a piercing emerald green, and his hair was a slightly unsettling red. He spoke in a quiet voice, "Who are you?"
Zero stepped forward, followed by Twilight, and held out his hand, "Hi, my name is Zero Starlight, Master Archineer of Equestria, and this…" He motioned to Twilight. "Is Twilight Sparkle, graduated apprentice of Princess Celestia, and my apprentice. Do you know who you are?" The teen looked at Zero's hand, before reaching out a shaky hand, giving Zero a firm handshake, "My name… is Spanosa, Spanosa Nightingale. You can call me Span. I am one of the three crystal guardians, the other two lay in the beds to my left."
Zero smiled, "Glad to meet you Span. Now, you say you are one of the crystal guardians? Tell me, what do you know of a character called 'The Father'?" Span visual recoiled when Zero mentioned the name. "Nothing that would benefit you. Now a question for you, do you know where the crystal is?" Zero reached into his sling pack, producing the object in question, "You mean this?" Span made a sudden lurch for the crystal, lunging to pull it away from Zero. "Give it to me! You are not the One who is destined to hold it!" Zero hopped out of his reach, "Really. Well, I wonder why it gave me this then." Zero let a series of small bolts of energy arc across his body.
Spanosa stopped almost immediately, before bowing his head and muttering in a language Zero could not interpret. Zero cast a glance over at Twilight, his eyes speaking for him, 'Ok… What now?' Twilight rolled her eyes, "Span?" The teen looked up, ceasing his murmurs. "What do you remember before you woke up here?" The teen looked at her, then his eyes became unfocused, his mind drifting. "I remember fighting in the catacombs… yes… we had finally managed to corner them all. There would be no escape. The Moon Children would never again be able to cause harm to anyone. I remember making my way to the center of the tomb. There he stood, that twisted grin plastered on his face, while all around him…" Spanosa let out a noise of anger. "All around him lay our friends, our team members. All had been of sound mind and body… and in less time than it had taken for our bastion to launch this assault, they were all reduced to wrecks, their minds shattered, their bones broken… My comrades joined me. We stood together, the last of our brotherhood, ready to avenge our fallen members, defeat the madness that had claimed so many. We attacked as one." He looked up. Suddenly he looked as if he had gone days without rest, his eyes taking a haunted look of despair as he remember those who had fallen. "We fought well. We were the best. We thought we had him cornered." He let out a laugh devoid of mirth, of happiness. "We were fools to think that. In less time that it took to blink an eye, he had opened some kind of gate. We follow. I carried the crystal with me, praying it would give we who had been chosen to protect it strength. The last thing I remember was that twisted giggle of his, as he taunted us, 'You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?' Then everything went dark." He looked at Twilight and Zero. "Does that help you any?" Zero gave him a smile. "It's good to know you remember. From what this told me," He hefted the crystal up, "I'm going to need all the information and help I can get from you three."
End Arc 1
And now for a message from the author of this fanfiction, Zero_Starlight.
Hi,
If your reading this, I'd like to thank you for reading this story of mine. It's the first fanfiction that I've ever actually completed (Well, at least the first one in which I made it through the first arc without giving up on myself.) As you can tell from the final line of the chapter, things are only getting started. Unfortunately, however, I find myself stuck in a bad situation. Specifically, I will be at my cottage for the next two months, with little to no internet access. I will be taking my laptop with me, however, so I will do my best to work on Arc 2 of Twilight, Starlight, and I hope to have it up as soon as possible. Also, you may or may not have noticed, but Chapter 10 was not what I felt to be some of my best writing, and as such, I will most likely revisit and expand upon it at a later date. Please read and review, constructive criticism or simple words of praise are greatly appreciated.
See you soon,
Zero_Starlight