In Sun's Light

Day one. Sunshine thought. She was trying to suppress the deep seated fear that she was experiencing, and no doubt it was the kind of fear one must feel when their life was in peril. There was no way out of this. She tried to stop visualizing Gavin, her first friend that she remembered, knelt over her own broken body. She didn't know if she would actually have her body broken. How did Will kill people? She had no idea.

Gavin was at school right now, and Meredith was out running errands, so she had the place all to herself. She turned on the television. She had seen a movie since coming here, and in it was one scene where everything the main character said, did, saw or listened to reminded him of his impending doom. But when she turned on the tv, everything was normal. She ended up watching a documentary about giant squid. They were elusive animals. She found odd species of animals, things like squids or giraffes or other things with outrageous features, to be quite entertaining. This documentary settled her down. It was strangely comforting.

The moment she thought of being comforted by a squid, she wondered what it would feel like if one decided to hug her. Not grab her in a death grip, like squid did with their prey, but actually wrap her in a loving embrace. As a picture of a dead squid came up, she decided not to try to visualize that any more. Bored with the movie already, and her mind wandering, she turned, sat on a couch, and looked absent-mindedly out the window.

* * *

Shining Armor was coming back from scouting out the forest, looking for any more clues. He had been unsuccessful. Now, as he came out of the forest, he was just thinking to himself. How did the world even work here? Maybe the sun had moved on it's own. Could suns even do that? Was the planet just rotating around the sun itself? He snickered for a moment and shook his head, shooing the thought away. That was pure nonsense. At any rate, how could he be sure that Celestia had moved the sun? In fact, he wasn't sure. He had no way to be. Maybe she was really gone...

It was quick. He looked up at a window for a building, and saw just a fraction of a white face and horn, with blue eyes and a springy four toned mane. She had looked like a filly, but it was her! Celestia! She was just up in that window! Just as soon as he had seen the apparition, it was suddenly gone. He rubbed his eyes, wondering if they had tricked him, but... No. Just no. Even if they had, he refused to believe it. But she had ducked under the windowsill. He already knew her magic wasn't blue, but he still did a quick check of his memories to make sure. It suddenly wasn't making sense. She had hid from him. Had she sent herself away from Equestria? If so, why? Why would she do that to her subjects?

"And just what are we doing here, Captain Armor?" said a voice behind him. He whirled, facing a cloaked figure.

"It's you, isn't it?"

"Why, who? Yes, I got rid of Celestia."

"Where is she?" Shining growled, preparing himself for battle.

"That's just it. I don't know where she is either. Otherwise she would be dead." He hadn't just seen her in the window. Good. If that even was her. "I suppose we have the same goal, don't we? I bet I'll find her first. You won't even be able to follow me." He created a portal, and started to go through, so, not knowing what else to do, Shining Armor tackled him into it.

He felt that strange interdimensional tingle, and then landed in sand. The man was still struggling underneath him, and they were both atop a gigantic sand dune. He got up, giving himself space as he thought he saw the shine of a dagger, and sure enough, the man threw it at him, but missed. Shining felt his magic suddenly grow strong again, and put up a forcefield right as the man fired a blue bolt of energy at him. It was strong, shattering a small portion of the force field with a sound similar to shattering crystal. He fired again, and Shining redirected it, causing it to hit the ground and throw up a plume of sand. The cloak billowed in the wind, and Shining Armor saw a glimpse of what he was wearing.

The alicorn amulet. Crap.

How was his magic still blue? He must have tampered with it. Shining Armor reformed his shield right as the man fired again, this time with a bolt powerful enough to shatter his shields and send him flying down the dune.

"You shouldn't have followed me, Captain Armor!" the man gloated. "Now you have no idea where you are or how to get back!" he laughed. "Now all that is left is to capture or kill your earth pony. Maybe I can bribe him into sacrifice using someone dear to him!" it suddenly got bright. "This world's second sun is coming up. Ta ta. Have fun burning to a crisp." he vanished.

Second sun? Shining Armor got up and looked to find a sliver of blinding blue light coming up on the horizon. Was it really going to burn him? He had only ever seen a yellow sun before. As he fumbled, thinking of what to do to save himself, he felt something rectangular in his pocket. He hurriedly felt inside of his pocket.

The jumper! He had the jumper! He pulled it out, and started to type in the runes Graphite had shown him. Right as blue light started to burn his hair, he pressed the button, and was suddenly plunged into the night, instantly feeling the sickening sensation of falling. He was miles above the ground! Curse this thing! He tried to remember the coordinates as he fell, then remembered. The jumper saved previous coordinates! He managed to access the memory, and pressed the one right under what he had just typed in.

For a split second, he registered trees and daytime. Then, with a thump, he landed hard on his back in the forest, and managed a pained groan before passing out.

* * *

Will quietly teleported back into the royal garden. Then, he turned himself back into a pony, and quickly masked the dust of his spell. He was getting better at not producing it. There was less each time. One problem of an artifact this powerful was the excess magic. With him, it just so happened to come off in the form of inconvenient blue dust.

He was nearly finished sweeping it up when he heard a small crack. He instantly looked in the direction of the sound, and froze at the sight of Prince Blueblood.

"Blueblood! What are you doing here?"

"I- I was going for a stroll in the garden, remembering the few good times I had with my auntie. What are you doing?"

There was a long silence.

"I suppose it would do me no good to tell you I was also taking a stroll?"

Blueblood started to run.

Will instantly grabbed him. Blueblood struggled ineffectively against the blue fire now swirling around him, and tried to counter it with his own magic. Never mind how strong Will seemed to be, Blueblood never practiced with his magic anyways. It was very weak.

"William! It was you, wasn't it? You got rid of Celestia! You are the reason for-" his breath was sucked out as Will suddenly teleported the both of them. As Blueblood gasped and started catching his breath, he noticed the crystals around him. He had one in his room! This was the old Equestrian crystal mine!

"Don't look so shocked! I got the idea from my plan of last resort, thanks in part to Twilight Sparkle, but mostly due to her own memories! I'm sure you remember who kept Cadance here!"

"What?"

"And now it is your turn. Try getting out without wings, I dare you! After all, I couldn't just stick you in the same place as Shining Armor."

Blueblood was dumbstruck by all of this. He had offed Celestia! Captured Shining Armor! And did he really have her? "You've captured Shining Armor?"

"By now he has burned and will not bother me any more! Prince Blueblood, I plan to take that throne! Unfortunately, you have seen too much. Shame. I could have let you have that unicorn mare you liked. Real shame you had to walk in on me like that."

"Rarity?"

"She's next."

"You monster!" Blueblood yelled, as he charged Will, who simply laughed and released a pulse of blue fire that blew Blueblood back and brought several crystals down around him.

"I really didn't want to do this, cousin." Will mused. "I had hoped I could keep you, of all ponies, painfully oblivious. Now though... Well, I can't do anything but let you rot... I'm sorry for that." With that, he left. Blueblood was alive, but he was pinned under a crystal. He could feel his lungs burn with pain. A few ribs throbbed where they had been snapped apart by the impact. There was nothing he could do.

He started to cry.

Curse it, why? Why would he do this? Will had always been so charismatic, so nice. How had Blueblood never seen his cousin for what he really was?

But then, how could he never have seen how much there was in just one mare? He could have had freedom, and the mare he longed to fix things with. Now, he had neither. His consciousness suddenly slipped away with that last image of Rarity.

* * *

Will walked into a secret chamber, hidden and soundproof, and ran his hoof down the mane of the one occupant, able to walk around the room but chained to the floor by a collar around her tall neck. She was laying down at the moment, quivering. Her eyes, glowing blue, occasionally flashed green as she tried to resist Will, to no avail. The only sounds she uttered were pained moans, and the occasional giddy laughter of someone under an advanced mind control spell. He fed her his remorse and regret for trapping his cousin, and sighed at the feeling of nothing.

"Eat up, dear." he said, as he ran a hoof up her twisted, gnarled horn. "I may have to use you yet."