Fellowsong

Spike woke up and for a few seconds, he was back in the library with Twilight, and they were going out to the pet picnic with their friends this afternoon, and the sun was shining through the windows-

No. Spike shook his head; such times were long gone. Twilight was gone. The sun was gone.

Sweetie Belle's head popped around the door. "Spike, are you okay?"

She was a teenager now, but her flank was bare; one of the first signs of the unrest in Equestria after the collapse of society had been the disappearance of every single cutie mark. Spike could only just recall the time when there had been a heart with a microphone emblazoned on Sweetie's flanks.

Sweetie Belle was the only one left of her trio of friends; Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash had gone out in a blaze of glory together rescuing Fluttershy from a huge, chaotic timberwolf, and Applebloom had been one of the first to be overcome by the darkness swarming the land.

Spike had lost friends too; Rainbow Dash and Applejack as well as Twilight, but most of Ponyville's residents had fallen to the darkness or been killed by others who had. But now it seemed that the ponies who had been overcome had left the area, and so Ponyville lay quiet and almost deserted.

Spike pulled himself out of the bed; this was one of the only houses which remained undamaged; after Big Mac's rampage through town it was a wonder even this building had survived. Now he lived there with Sweetie Belle, Rarity (now a bit of a recluse since the traumatic experience of watching her boutique burn to the ground with Applejack trapped inside) Fluttershy (a nervous wreck who constantly blamed herself for Rainbow and Scootaloo's deaths) and Pinkie, who was the only thing keeping them all from collapsing into depression.

Spike went over to the window, imagining for just a moment that he could open the curtains and feel the warmth of the sun fall on his face, but as always it was dark; the land had fallen into what could be called eternal night after Celestia and Luna had been assassinated, but not even a single star lit the black sky.

Well, there was one, but Spike didn't like to think about that one, because it was Twilight. The purple alicorn had cast a spell from one of her obscure spell books. The spell was supposed to give hope- but neither Twilight or Spike had expected that Twilight would become a star as a result of the spell. Spike just felt he had to believe that one day the spell could be reversed and Twilight would be restored to them.

Sweetie Belle watched his musings patiently, and then as he turned back to her said, "There's a stranger in town."

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Spike peered around the ruin of a market stall to look at the cloaked and hooded stranger. He could see from the blue hooves that this was a pony, and one not possessed by the darkness, too, since all those possessed took on a monochrome tone. But just as he was about to make his presence known, the stranger began to sing.

But this was not a song of words. This song was pure sound- the sound of nature, of life, and Spike felt his heart quiver in response.

What a strange song, he thought.

As if they had heard his thought, the stranger stopped singing instantly and turned to look straight at the spot where Spike crouched hidden. "Come on out. I know you're there!" came a stallion's voice.

Spike stood up, wondering how the stranger had known he was there.

"I heard you thinking," said the stranger offhandedly. "All Singers with even a little training can do it. Anyhow, I came here to seek the 'assistant of the princess', the one known as Spike. Do you know where he is?"

"That's me." said Spike steadily; he did not trust this stranger and his supposed mind-reading abilities.

"You do not trust me? Very well, I shall introduce myself. I am Tumbler, a Singer pony from the west, and I have come to take you north, where the Singers are gathering in preparation for singing the Fellowsong." So saying, Tumbler shook his hood away to show his face. He was a middle-aged earth pony stallion, with no cutie mark, as Spike expected. But all of the things he had been saying...

Tumbler's yellow eyes softened. "I can see you are confused. Maybe we could go somewhere less open, so that I can explain further?"

Spike led Tumbler back to the house, and as they entered, Pinkie sprung out exuberantly. "Ooh! A new pony! We should throw a party!"

Spike expected Tumbler to react with bewilderment and shock at Pinkie's manner, but instead the blue pony grasped her hoof and shook hooves with her. "My dear mare, that sounds splendid, but I'm afraid there is no time. I must be leaving by the time the sun sinks this evening, and Spike and I have much to discuss before then."

Pinkie deflated a little, but then perked up again. "Well, I can still find some cake and we can have a meal before you go!"

Tumbler thanked her just as Fluttershy and Rarity came downstairs together. Fluttershy squeaked and retreated back upstairs at the sight of Tumbler, while Rarity just looked at him, no spark of curiosity in her dull eyes.

Tumbler politely dipped his head and greeted the white unicorn, but Rarity just muttered a reply before walking out of the door without a second glance at any of them.

Sweetie emerged from the kitchen and looked with surprise at Tumbler and Spike, but Spike shook his head slightly, beseeching her not to ask questions. Tumbler greeted Sweetie and introduced himself, and then he and Spike went upstairs to Spike's room to talk.

Tumbler began almost as soon as the door closed. "As I said before, the Singers are gathering in the north. Dragons, zebras, ponies, griffins- Singers are born to all coherent species in Equestria."

"But what are Singers?" asked Spike.

"They have the song within them- you heard me singing the Lifesong earlier, I presume. The Singers maintain harmony in the world with their songs."

Spike snorted derisively. "Not been doing a good job of it then, have you?"

Tumbler suddenly looked serious. "None of us anticipated the speed at which the darkness would consume Equestria. But all of us know that the end is coming. For you see- the darkness is a physical thing. It dwells wherever there is disharmony and unrest, and the sheer quantity of chaos caused by the assassination of the princesses has allowed it to spread and prosper until it could begin to manipulate ponies with its power, allowing it to create an army of invulnerable killing machines. Even now, the possessed are trekking from the furthest reaches of the land to Canterlot, where the unrest has its heart. From there, the army will soon march, destroying everything in its path."

Spike took this all in, even though it filled him with despair. "So what can be done?"

Tumbler frowned. "Our only hope is to restore harmony. The Singers have a sole purpose should this kind of situation arise, as it has once before, many years ago, before the time of Discord's reign. The singing of the Fellowsong will destroy the darkness and cleanse the land."

"So how is the darkness here now, if it was destroyed all those years ago?"

"The problem with the universal balance is that harmony cannot exist without chaos. There is always harmony and always chaos, and where there is chaos there is the darkness. The darkness is wiped out for less than a fraction of a second after the singing of the Fellowsong- then it begins to grow once more within the chaos."

Spike nodded. "So what does this have to do with me?"

Tumbler locked eyes with him. "You are very special- a descendant of the ancient dragon Singer, Elronian. He was the first ever Singer, and decreed that a descendant of his should always be present at the singing of the Fellowsong."

Spike was beginning to catch on. "So I have to be there when the song is sung?"

"More than that." came he reply. "You must sing yourself into oblivion with the rest of the Singers; make the ultimate sacrifice to restore harmony."