Shine looked up from the folder in front of him. The same question came back to him that’s been annoying him for the past few minutes.

“Who’s Sol?” Shine asked himself as the name on the folder held more questions than answers. Once again, he tried to remember the name that used to hold that folder. Sol didn’t sound right, and neither did the fact that somepony almost got away with this.

“Are you sure there’s something wrong with it? I mean, there were a lot of folders to look through,” Twilight said, the book in his magical grasp lowering to see Shine in his corner.

“It just doesn’t… feel right. I didn’t remember that name…” Shine said.

“Why don’t you get back to helping me find what’s going on? Maybe it’ll help clear your mind,” Twilight said.

“Clear my mind? By learning something else? I don’t work like that,” Shine said.

“Well I do, so can you quiet down while I keep looking?” Twilight asked, the annoyance starting to hurt her head. Shine’s been talking about the folder ever since he woke up.

“Yeah yeah,” Shine said, putting his hoof to his head to try to think better. Suddenly he heard something. It was the sound of something coming, and fast. Shine looked towards the window, a blue streak approaching, the sun starting to descend over the horizon.

“What’s that?” Shine asked before the blue figure landed in the library, knocking over Twilight and her stack of books as well as slamming into Shine at less than half speed. Shine groaned as he picked himself up, the cyan Pegasus doing the same.

“Twilight, have you seen Sol anywhere?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Who’s Sol?” Twilight asked.

“That Pegasus I brought with the-, I mean, have you seen her or not?” Rainbow asked.

“She’s missing?” Shine asked.

“Yeah, I left her somewhere in town, but now she’s just gone. I’ve been looking around, but it’s getting late so I thought I’d ask you,” Rainbow Dash asked.

“No, I haven’t seen her,” Twilight asked.

“I knew there was something wrong with her,” Shine said, his mind starting to turn.

“You do?” Rainbow asked, curious.

“First her name comes out of nowhere, then she goes missing. Not to mention the eye…” Shine was thinking aloud.

“Cool, right?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“No, it looks bionic, like she’s machine. Maybe she’s been programmed to kill us, or-,”

“Let’s not jump to conclusions over some coincidences,” Twilight cut him off.

“But if that’s true, she’ll come to make sure she didn’t leave any witnesses. We’ll be her first targets,” Shine said.

“Again, calm down. She won’t do anything like that,” Twilight said.

Shine rolled to the side as he heard another approaching figure. Twilight was going to say something, but then the wall of the library was breached. The wall crumpled down, the wood throwing splinters in every direction and the rest falling to the floor. As the three of them recovered from the damage, they saw the cloud floating in the middle of the hole.

“And why didn’t you wake me!?” Anon screamed from his position on the cloud.

“Well crashing in without telling me isn’t exactly relaxing either!” Anon said looking down at his cloud. He jumped off, letting the cloud float out of the new entrance. Anon dusted himself off, looking up at the three in front of him.

“Sorry about that,” Anon said looking to Shine specifically.

“There he is, get him!” Rainbow Dash said, charging forward.

“Rainbow, wait!” Twilight said to no avail as she continued.

Anon lifted his hoof, the air starting to shift. He dropped it suddenly and Rainbow Dash lost her altitude. Her body hit the wooden floor, the wings at her side suddenly useless to the force of gravity. Rainbow Dash still crawled forward, determined to fight the seemingly god-like earth pony.

“What do you want?” Twilight asked, worried about her friend.

“Oh, I don’t want anything. Not from you anyway,” Anon said to Twilight, his look turning to Shine. “So, you going to put up a fight, or am I going to have to play with a dead body?”

Shine ran forward, confident that Anon wouldn’t be able to do anything if he was in the middle of forcing Rainbow Dash down. As he covered half of the needed distance, he felt something he should have noticed earlier. The air was getting hotter; smoke was starting to rise in the air. Shine stopped moving just as the first spark emitted from the wood underneath him.

“Grilled or smoked?” Anon asked as the wood splinters and wooden floorboards were suddenly catching flame. The walls started to blacken as the heat increased. Rainbow was no longer under the pressure of gravity, but her wings were staying stuck to her side. Twilight put a magical floor underneath her to save herself from the flames, levitating Rainbow to the safety as well.

“What kind of magic is that?” Rainbow asked.

“That’s not magic, it can’t be,” Twilight hoped.

Shine decided he couldn’t stand there for much longer. He continued running toward Anon, his hooves starting to burn and his sweat evaporating as fast as it came. His mouth was dry as he reached Anon, the smile on his face adding even more confusion to his mind. As Shine raised his hoof to push Anon back, his form vanished.

Shine reached where Anon used to be, the air suddenly sparking and sending him to the ground in a blanket of flames. Shine tried to roll to put it out, but the floor’s flames only added to the increased heat. He could hear Anon next to him.

“Too hot? Or is this just how you give up? I want to hear you say it. Say it!” Anon said, kicking Shine as the flames burned his coat. He could feel his sides, his hooves, even his insides start to shrivel.

“I-,” Shine started.

Anon felt something wrong before it happened. The air suddenly turned cold, the flames vanishing faster than they came. Shine’s image blurred out of focus as he continued to watch. Something itched in the back of his mind, but something else was more present. He could feel something watching him.

His hearing failed him, no sound entering and his mouth offering no words. The images he’d seen before were all blurred and now a darkness swept over his vision. He couldn’t see more than two feet in any direction. A cold whisper passed his ear that sent chills down his spine.

“I’m back,” It said.

Suddenly, Anon remembered that voice. He knew what was happening, he could put a stop to this. Anon closed his eyes, then opened them again, removing any thoughts of fear or darkness that he was having. The view returned, as well as sound that he’d lost. He heard a growl from atop of him.

Anon looked up at the eyes of Sol as she looked down to his kneeling body. The mask gone from her face and the mechanical eye looking deep into his soul. Anon raised himself, stepping back as he did.

(Earlier)

Sol could feel the cold grip of something in her mind surrounding her subconscious. She was in a state of shock and confusion. This cocoon her mind created for her to get the energy back to wake up was too tight. Sol could hear something, somepony calling her name.

“Spec!”

Sol opened her subconscious eyes. She looked around the darkness. The figure of Klein stood next to her, his cool and calm eyes offering her comfort. A smile on his face caused Sol to truly relax.

“Spec, you’re stronger than this, I know you are,” Klein said.

“But, I feel… safe here,” Sol said.

“There’s nothing wrong with that,” Klein said.

“But it’s so dark… can you change that?” Sol asked, the darkness loosening her comfort.

“No, I can’t. But… you can,” Klein said.

“I can?” Sol asked.

“Yes, you just need to embrace it. Instead of seeing nothing, tell yourself that you’re seeing the dark. What’s truly there, instead of what’s not,” Klein said.

Sol saw the vision of Klein fade into the darkness. Her reaction at first was panic, but then she remembered what he said. Thinking of the darkness not as a fear, but of the truth, she started to fear it less, and embrace it more.

Sol felt her right eye move. As the darkness receded, her vision cleared up as well. The view in front of her looked strangely different. The change in perspective left her feeling slightly unbalanced, but then the view became just what she wanted.

Sol opened her eyes, the sunset shining on her face as she rose from her position on the ground. The dream came back to her and she removed her mask. When she looked up, she gasped. Her eyesight wasn’t perfect, but it was practically back to normal. As the sun continued to set, she could tell her eyesight was getting better.

Sol felt the darkness grow behind her as the sun started to rise in the sky. Looking behind her, the darkness no longer seemed evil. In fact, the darkness was reassuring to her. It gave her courage and… strength. She could feel the power coursing through her veins. The weird magic was at her hooves as she walked forward.

Sol remembered Anon. Looking into the sky, she saw the cloud in the distance, hovering in the air instead of moving slowly with the others. Now, she galloped in that direction, confident to get her revenge.

As Sol approached the cloud, she saw the library. The wall had been broken through and the red flames were rising quickly. Sol ran faster, her hooves barely touching the ground as she covered the ground in seconds.

Seeing the outline of Anon standing in the flame, her mind acted immediately. Without knowing it, her body released the stored energy in wisps of power. The power went into the darkness, bending it to her will. Now, to offer her safe passage, the dark wisps jumped into the flames, extinguishing the fire.

The power didn’t stop there, as the darkness focused on one point, Anon. Now, Sol was standing over the cowering Anon as the dark energy covered him. She didn’t know what to do now. Pure adrenaline had brought her here, and she was feeling weaker than before now that she’d used a lot of magic unknowingly.

Anon, on the other hand, seemed to know exactly what was happening. As the darkness receded from his body, he stood up, his eyes locking with Sol’s. She felt something happen, her body took over. Sol could see what was going on, but it was like she was watching somepony else in her body. Her right eye grew cold as the darkness started to block out the hole in the wall.

“I’m impressed. Maybe I thought wrong about you,” Anon said. He saw the dark shadows in the wall start to enclose him in, and he thought it best to leave.

“My work here is done, so…” Anon turned and ran towards the hole. He managed to dodge a tentacle of darkness before jumping through and getting on the cloud.

“I’ll be seeing you Sol,” Anon said, flying away from the town.

Sol had to stop herself from chasing him down. Her body wanted to walk forward, but her mind was holding it back. The darkness crawled up her leg, fusing back inside of her as her body came back under her control. She had to balance herself before she fell over. Her head was throbbing.

Sol looked around the room. The darkness was almost completely gone, but Sol could see something was wrong. Rainbow Dash and Twilight were in the corner, their hooves over their heads as they shivered.

“Rainbow Dash?” Sol asked, reaching to touch her.

Rainbow Dash looked towards her. She had tears at the corner of her eyes, her mouth moving in a rhythmic pattern. When Sol shook her, Rainbow’s eyes seemed to grow life. She at first gasped, and then had a frown.

“Sol…? What happened?” Rainbow Dash asked, her tears still there.

“I only know the half of it,” Sol said, looking around the room. Then she realized just what she’d done. She’d used magic.

“Well, more like a fourth,” She finished.

Author's Note

I was looking through my folder for my recent contracted chapter and i found this with the wrong label. Wierd, but I think it's ready to be posted. If there's any errors then I'm sorry but I don't have the time to edit it right now. Maybe after I finish contracted I can start working on this story a little more. Between revisons and contracted, I'm having a hard time getting back to this story. Anyways, the chapter after this has been half done in the right folder, so if I get irritated with Contracted again I'll probably work on it a bit.

Next Time: Star Light, Star Bright