Each letter that Bright read created absolutely no reaction from him. While some of the letters were rather sweet, others were just outright unnerving how forward they were written. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy the newfound attention,--far from it--but the rational part of his mind knew that these mares weren't going to cease their attempts to win him over with this, not by a long shot.

Damn, Bright thought grimly. This keeps getting harder and harder.

After almost an hour, he'd only gotten halfway through the pile of "lust letters," as he'd come to call them. He decided to go to bed and finish looking at them for the night. The colt tucked them away beside his desk, crawled under the sheets, and fell asleep quickly, waiting for the first rays of tomorrow's sunlight.

The next day, Bright went about his day like nothing was wrong...or so it seemed. Underneath his calm demeanor, he was very cautious. His eyes kept darting from place to place and his horn glowed very faintly in case he needed a quick escape. It wasn't until he started changing for gym did he finally lower his guard.

On his way to fourth period from lunch, Bright noticed something on the announcements board. It was a poster, red with golden lettering:

Showcase your musical prowess! Sign up for the 2016 Battle of the Bands between University of Canterlot, Eastern Equestrian College, and Trottingham Conservatory!

Bright was intrigued. He'd had an idea for something like this, but he never thought he'd actually get to use it. Of course, when he thought of it, it was so ridiculously absurd, there was no way he would ever be able to pull it off on his own. But that was 7 years ago.

Maybe now...

"Looking for a band to play in?"

Once again, Pinkie had managed to almost give Bright a heart attack when she suddenly was looking over his shoulder. He blinked, still rather freaked as to how the hell she could do that.

"Well, you're in luck." she said, taking his blink as a yes. "The girls and I were the ones who organized this whole deal, and the ones who won it last year."

Bright was impressed. They were only about 22-23 years old and yet they set up such an event so early in their time in college.

"Thanks for the offer, but I think I've got my own in mind." he answered neutrally, recovering quickly from his shock at her appearance. Now it was Pinkie's turn to be intrigued. Bright already had a band made? Did he play with some of his friends at Ponyville College or something?

"Well, it's not exactly a band, per say. It's more of a 'one-man-band-hybrid' kind of thing." he said. Pinkie cocked her head. "What do you mean by that?"

"It means I'm just that good." the stallion cockily replied, his cryptic statement just spawning more questions and hardly any answers. With that, he smiled and put a hand on her arm. "Come on, we're gonna be late for class."

The pink Earth pony flinched at his touch. His hand was warm, yet callous and thick from years of work. At the same time, his grip was gentle and caring, like he was holding a hollow glass orb.

With an impish grin, he dragged her along to fourth period. After school, Bright whipped out his phone and dialed a number. It rang a couple times and somepony on the receiving end picked up.

Bright talked for a minute or so with the voice, then hung up and raced back to his room. He threw all of his school stuff on the bed and opened up his laptop. Furiously typing and clicking, he established a link.

The computer pulled up an image of an empty room. It was quite bare, only showing a large dresser and a king-sized bed off to the side. The walls were a camouflage pattern of sapphire and forest-green. Then, two figures entered the screen's view.

They were two big pegasi, one blue and the other green, just like the room's color scheme. A pair of massive wings hung from their backs, giving them a sort of regal appearance. At first they looked like any other pony. On closer inspection, though, there were a couple of abnormalities about them that would've given away that they weren't exactly 'normal'.

Both of them had cat-like, slanted eyes instead of the normal round eyes of ponies. The white tips of fangs poked from their lips, startlingly bright against their shimmering furs' brilliance, though they weren't obvious and could easily be overlooked if one wasn't deliberately searching for them.

When their eyes registered Bright, both of their muzzles split open in wide grins, each revealing two rows of sharp teeth.

"Hey there Bright! How've you been?" the green pegasus said...well, brightly. "The mares there giving you any trouble?" His voice was quite musical, like he was constantly singing, which served to add to that regal image.

"Hey Dad. No, not particularly." Bright smiled. "About the worst thing that happened was when one of my dorm-mates and I got chased through the school after I accidentally kissed her."

"'Accidentally??' Bright, how in the hell do you accidentally kiss a mare?" the blue pegasus asked in a deep, feminine voice. Bright laughed.

"Well Mom, the rest of my dorm-mates were giving me a tour of the campus and one of them slapped my shoulder. I accidentally was knocked into her and before we hit the ground, I switched our spots so she'd fall on top of me." he explained. The two pegasi guffawed, their melodious voices filling the dorm.

"Wow honey, of all the ways you imagined your first kiss to be, I bet this wasn't one of them." Bright's mother chimed, still chuckling. "That's pretty funny, if I do say so myself."

"Looking back on it, I guess it was." Bright admitted. The three exchanged stories and chatted animatedly for a while, until a knock on the door interrupted them.

"Oh, hang on." Bright said, then turned to the door. "Come in!"

The door opened and revealed the occupants on the other side to be Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie and Rarity. They'd all changed out of their school uniforms and into casual clothes.

"Sorry, are we intruding?" Twilight asked. She noticed that Bright was still in his uniform, so she figured he was working on something important.

"Nah. I'm just talking with my parents." he said coolly. At the word 'parents', their eyes lit up. They weren't expecting a chance to meet them so soon, and they had all started growing attached to the rather enigmatic stallion.

Applejack said, "Oh! Would it be alright if we said hello?" Bright smiled and gestured them over.

"Sure thing." He turned back to the computer screen.

"Mom, Dad, these are some of my dorm-mates." he said as they came into view. His parents were taken aback by their looks. His mother decided to voice aloud what they were both thinking:

"Ooh, you're one lucky colt, arent'cha Bright?" she ribbed with a sly look on her face. The four mares and her husband all burst out laughing, while Bright just widened his eyes.

"Mom!" he cried, only making them laugh harder. His face flushed with embarrassment.

"So mares, I hope you're treating my little colt well." she continued. She knew that Bright would take it in stride, even if he didn't show it now.

"Oh don't worry, Ms. Scales. We're making sure he feels very welcome here in Canterlot University." Rarity drawled as she slowly slid a finger up his neck, a saucy grin stuck on her muzzle. The stallion shivered from her touch, not expecting it.

"That's good, that's good. So Bright, you said 'some' of your dorm-mates. How many are you hiding from us?" His father asked, joining along with messing with Bright.

"Hahaha, just four more." he deadpanned. "By the way, these are Applejack, Rarity, Twilight, and Pinkie." he added, pointing to each of them in turn.

"Nice to meet you all." his mother waved. Her husband simply nodded and grinned slightly.

As it turned out, that was sort of a bad idea.

The appearance of his teeth freaked out, causing the mares to stumble back in fright and, in Rarity's case, squeak in fright.

Bright and his parents just looked at them in confusion. "What?" he asked. "What's wrong?"

"I...you...he...his t-t-teeth..." Twilight whispered, still shaking. The three ponies' eyes widened in understanding. Oh, dammit...

This wasn't exactly something that Bright could just explain away. The only evidence of carnivorous teeth on a pony at all were from the fossilized remains of an ancient pony ancestor that lived hundreds of millions of years ago known as a 'Dragon-morph', named so for its striking similarities to modern-day dragons. These included things like sharp teeth and claws, leather-winged appendages, and sometimes even evidence of a fire-breathing organ. Why ponies and dragons were so related to each other so close in time baffled scientists. What's more, their existence as 'natural' has even been called into question. All recorded fossils were found to be in a very specific time period, only lasting a couple thousand years before vanishing just as suddenly. It was as if they had been purposely created, then subsequently eradicated.

Bright wet his lips and tried to say something, but his mother beat him to the punch.

"Oh, I'm so sorry about that. This is just a little spell we found and decided to test it on ourselves." she said. "Have any of you heard of the ancient language?"

Twilight lit up as she connected the dots and exclaimed, "Ohh, I get it! So you and Mr. Scales did an A-L spell on yourselves?" The blue mare nodded. "Precisely, and this was the result."

"Now before anypony says anything, we knew what we getting ourselves into. You see, my husband's good friend is a HUGE fanatic in that language, not to mention one of Equis' leading researchers in it."

Her husband teasingly spoke up, "Oho, just 'one of'? Excuse me, but he's THE leading scientist in it." The older mare just rolled her eyes.

"Anyways, we came across a small scroll with the spell on it and sent it to him to translate. Long story short, he said it was okay so we did it." She laughed. "Guess we did it because we both love dragons."

"That sounds awesome." Pinkie commented. She had an odd gleam in her eyes, as if she was thinking of something rather satisfying. The other three college mares apparently recognized that look, as Twilight said, "Pinkie, don't you get any ideas. Any kind of magic with the ancient language is extremely difficult to perform, mostly due to how little we know about it."

"Oh yeahhh...I forgot how lucky we were when Era--"

CRUNCH

"AAHHH! GET IT AWAY!!"

The dorm shook from the explosion of noise. The room got deathly quiet until the five college ponies scrambled to Bright's window to see what just happened.

On the tennis courts, the tennis team was racing to clear the courts, while on the opposite end lay the unconscious form of a four-legged creature. What exactly it was, nopony could tell, but it was massive.

"Bright, what was that?" his mother asked worriedly. She and her husband couldn't see a whole lot, but it was obvious something wasn't right.

"Sorry Mom and Dad, I've gotta cut this short." he apologized. "I'm gonna go see if I can do something about all this." As he talked, he raced to his closet and threw it open. Digging through its inky depths, he let out an 'Aha!' and pulled back to reveal a pair of wicked, silver-and-gold metal gloves. They both sported razor-sharp claws and a white circle lay in the palm of each.

"Oh Bright, must you use those?" his dad admonished. "I doubt you'll need that much help in dealing with whatever it is out there."

"Better to be safe than sorry," he waved off. "I'm really sorry I've gotta go so suddenly. I love you!"

With that, he closed the screen and ended the call, then ran out the door and into the halls. Meanwhile the mares were standing there in dumbfounded shock.

"What...what kind of gloves were those?" Rarity quietly asked. Pinkie bounced on the soles of her feet excitedly.

"I dunno, but they looked SO badass! Come on, let's go watch him!" She sped off after him without another word, shaking the other three out of their shell-shock into following her.

Bright soon made it outside and raced to the tennis courts. He knew that it'd be much faster to just teleport there, but he didn't want to risk scaring it. Besides, he wanted to have as much strength as possible just in case things went south. The creature came into view again, and he slowed to a halt in disbelief.

Laying before him was a Dire Timberwolf. Had it been standing on all fours, it would've been level with Bright's chest, while its body was a lot smoother than a normal one's. Furthermore, it even seemed to have its own 'fur'; a thin layer of soft grass grew from its body. However, Bright wasn't focused on any of that, but instead at its collection of wounds, of which there were legion.

Gashes adorned its wooden body and a fist-sized chunk was missing from its snout, while its right ear hung limply on its side by a few strands of bark. The wolf's left foreleg and right back leg were canted at odd angles, implying that they were broken. Golden-brown, sap-like blood oozed from the injuries like molasses.

Holy shit... Bright thought, shaking his head in disbelief. What did this to you? He came to a stop a few feet away from the wolf. Its amber eyes flickered and slowly brightened as it lifted its head to gaze at him. Its upper lip curled back into a slight snarl and it let out a threatening growl. The noise reverberated through the ground and set Bright's teeth chattering from the vibrations.

Cautiously, the stallion raised a hand towards the timberwolf, his palm face-up. He willed himself to maintain composure in order to make sure he could help it. Despite its obviously battered condition, adrenaline would send it back onto its paws and kill not only itself, but also injure others.

Bright said calmly, "Zu'u los aan key ahrk aan fahdon." I am a pony and a friend. The wolf's growl ceased, its eyes grew sharper and more alert, and it stared at him intensely, never blinking. Finally, it laid its head back down and closed its eyes.

"Kogaan." Bright thanked, then slowly stepped forward and over to it. He placed a hand over the closest wound: an intimidating gash that went in an inch or two deep into the wolf's wooden flesh that spread from its nose, across the right cheek, and ended just above the collarbone.

The unicorn's horn glowed sapphire as he worked arduously to repair the damage. Every now and then he had to talk to the wolf, soothing it and comforting it, letting it know again and again that everything was going to be alright. The wolf didn't really understand what the pony was saying, but it did the trick well enough.

Bright had to look through its memories to try and ascertain how certain wounds had been received, and also to figure out what had attacked such a formidable creature. Sadly, the memories were fragmented and confusing to say the least, rendering them useless on the latter.

Still, Bright did what he could to ease its suffering. At last, he found himself back in front of the wolf's muzzle. The stallion looked as if he had just swam around in a pool of honey, then rolled around in the Everfree. Bits of branches, leaves, and dirt clumps all clung to his body and clothes. Moreover, all that magic left him drained and his arms drooped at his sides, exhausted.

The wolf opened its amber eyes again and stood up, looking at its own body as if amazed that this thing healed its...his own wounds. He cocked his head at the strange pony, then suddenly tackled him to the ground.

Scared, Bright thought that he was being attacked, but the thought vanished just as quickly when he felt a warm and wet stripe run across his face.

The wolf was licking him in thanks. His newly-repaired tail wagged happily as he continued licking away, his front paws planted directly on his chest.

"Whoa hey, easy there! Down boy, down!" Bright cried, squirming and trying fruitlessly to get it off. The wolf soon got his drift and hopped off his chest. He sat down and looked at him anxiously, tail still wagging. Bright gently petted his head, making him lean into the pony's touch, enjoying every bit of it.

"Bright..."

The blue stallion turned around and saw, to his great surprise, a whole crowd of students in and around the courts. At the front of the mass were the principal and vice-principal, both of whom bore the same amazed expression. Behind all of them Bright spotted the tell-tale lights of a couple ambulances, as well as some paramedics and Animal Control ponies. Everypony present had differing faces, ranging from disbelief to amazement to love-struck to horror. Then again, that last one was mostly directed at the timberwolf, though he didn't seem to notice or care.

Bright fidgeted nervously. All the stares may as well have been guns pointed right at him. If anything, he actually preferred firearms then ponies; at least then he'd have an excuse to erect a shield.

"I'm very sorry Principal Celestia." he apologized quickly. "I should've waited for you to get here first. I didn't mean--"

She raised a hand, stopping him. "There is no need to apologize for your actions, Bright. Because of your skill and quick-thinking, you saved this wolf's life."

He smiled slightly, but it soon faded as he thought of a question. "So, what happens to the wolf now?"

The vice-principal smiled. "I believe that's a decision for you alone. You saved his life, and he apparently wishes to be alongside you."

He knew where she was going with this, and tried to protest. "But ma'ams, having pets on-campus is against the rules to begin with, let alone wild animals."

"Then we shall make an exception to that rule. Besides, it doesn't look as if he wishes to leave you."

Bright was floored by her statement, then elated. He'd always wanted a timberwolf for a pet, but his parents had always said they were too dangerous to tame to be worth having one. He looked down at the wolf and it returned it, panting jovially.

Looking into the timberwolf's deep amber eyes, Bright made his decision. He scratched his head and looked back up.

"Then I'll take him in and raise him as my own," he proclaimed proudly. The wolf happily barked and trotted over to the adult mares. it sniffed their feet, curious as to who they were. He found them friendly enough and they were soon petting him as well.

"Guess he's taken a liking to you two as well." They laughed and agreed. The crowd joined in as well. Everypony just stood where they were for God knows how long, watching the wolf trot around and explore his surroundings. When he came close to the mares, some would squeal and back away, some would only lean back nervously, while others would stay where they were and even hold their hands out for him to sniff. He seemed rather happy with his environment, but Bright wasn't paying attention to that. He was trying to figure out what name he should give the timberwolf.

Fenrir? Nah, too Horse*. Adoff? No, ponies'll think I'm saying Adolf, and that's just gonna get annoying having to explain myself over and over. Wait...aha! Yeah, that'll work!

Taking a deep breath, Bright drew upon his magical reserves once more and set his horn aglow yet again. A large dog collar materialized in his hands. It was made from an orange-and-yellow leathery material. The way it was patterned made the collar look like dragons' scales. On the polished red metal plate was engraved a single name in Midas' gold:

Filtiarn.

Bright grinned to himself. He found it rather amusing how ironic it was of his choice of name for the timberwolf. 'Filtiarn' was an ancient Dirish (pronounced dire--ish) name that meant 'lord of wolves'. The fact that he was giving such a name to a wooden canine brought a smile to his face.

Bright whistled to get the wolf's attention and gestured him to come. He just stared at the pony, wondering what he was trying to do. Bright sighed. Looks like he'd have to train Filtiarn the basics as well when he got the chance. Instead he walked over to the wolf with the collar and gently put on the collar.

Filtiarn seemed confused about why this pony had strapped on a foreign piece of material around his neck, and ran around in circles, trying vainly to get a better look at it. All he ended up doing was trip on his paws and fall muzzle-first onto the ground. Everypony guffawed at the wolf's antics; he was so big, yet he acted like a dopey puppy.

Undaunted, Filtiarn sprang back up onto his paws and tried again, only to procure the same results. Still, he didn't give up, nor did he get tired. At this point, Bright, the Mane 7, the principals, and everypony else was howling with laughter. That managed to get FIltiarn's attention off the collar and he stopped, cocking his head in curiosity and wondering why these ponies were making such strange noises.

Bright wiped his eyes and, with some effort, forced himself to calm down lest he pass out from oxygen deprivation. Slowly he was able to regain control of his breathing.

"Hey Filtiarn, here boy!" he called. The wolf didn't really understand the command, only staring at him blankly. Bright sighed; he wasn't sure how to get Filtiarn to follow him, at least not without training him first.

Oh well... he thought. Probably should just keep trying. He tried calling him again, but still got nothing. He called for the timberwolf a third time, nothing.

On the sixth attempt, Filtiarn finally got the hint. Slowly, the wolf padded softly over to the stallion. Bright giggled and patted his head and smiled serenely--

Out of nowhere, a white-hot blade drove itself into Bright's mind, forcing the stallion to his knees as he clutched his temples. The pain...oh God, the pain...it was unfathomable.

"BRIGHT!" several ponies screamed. The Mane 7 bolted over to his side. He didn't even acknowledge their presence, so far lost in pain as he was.

"Bright c'mon, talk to us, please! What's wrong?? BRIGHT!!"

Their voices were fading from his ears as the wind howled louder in his mind's eye. Then, everything went red. Disjointed images flashed before his eyes and disappeared just as quickly, which only served to worsen the migraine. Bright could barely keep up with them.

Three shadowy figures, writhing and twisting through smoke...Maniacal laughter, two male and one female...flames engulfing cities...

Canterlot?? PONYVILLE?! Bright watched in horror as both cities went up in a blaze of despair and agony. Then, just as suddenly, he was moving...

Moving at tremendous speeds through darkened streets...a dilapidated, ancient building...a golden ball, floating upward...in front of a familiar red-furred muzzle...

Through a dark, foreboding forest...a massive tree...six gems hovering before it...

A menacing metal structure of alien likeness, nestled away in blistering cold...weaving through silent halls and corridors...a safe with no handles...a white diamond rising from black depths...

All eight objects brought together, the diamond surrounded by the aforementioned seven...a bluish-white ball of energy of titanic size...

The energy was launched at a stone door, blasting it apart.....in the dust cloud, a green-armored hand appeared.....a massive alicornoid silhouette stood, covered in dull green armor....Bright was terrified simply by looking at it....

Everything white suddenly, and a rage unlike any Bright had ever felt before swept through him. The desire to destroy was indescribable, and so was the accompanying power that pumped through his veins. He wanted to tear apart all of his enemies, rip them to pieces limb-by-limb, and nothing was going to stand in his way. Miraculously, it vanished on the spot. A booming voice, riddled with desperation and pain, replaced it.

Save us, Bjartskular! Stop the Vul Gein from devouring this world! Unlock Harmony's true power, and unleash the True Juggernaut in the Kasindr Sanctum. The sanctum is hidden within the Key of Leadership's alter. Hurry! If they find it before you, all will be lost! Save us, Bjartskular! SAVE US!!

Bright screamed into the howling maelstrom, broadcasting his misery for all to hear. Then, everything started to fade; the throbbing headache, the earsplitting noises, the blinding images. Before it all went black however, he heard one last voice. It was much softer and gentler than the previous one, like that of a caring mother soothing her foal.

Six keys lay in the realm of cruel irony.
The seventh key sleeps in the Lost Foal's cleansing fires.
The final key is sealed in the cold-hearted bosom of the Predecessors.

Bright's last thought before he slipped into unconsciousness was how familiar voice that second voice was...

Author's Note

Hey everybody I'm back. First off, I just want to express just how thankful I am at how far this story has come since 2014; 1,300 views, and almost 60 likes!

Now, I know that doesn't seem like a lot when I compare it to other fanfics that I've been reading like "The Infinity Effect" by creamofwheat2311, but the fact that it's MINE is...awesome. Thank you so much for your continued support and faith in me. I know you never say anything outright, but still I'd like to thank you.

Anyways, so this took a helluva turn, didn't it? What happened to Bright? What is this mysterious prophetic voice begging for his help? And why does Bright recognize the second figure? Only one way to find out...

By the way, for those of you who are confused by the title, Ma'at and Isfet are Ancient Egyptian terms for "harmony" and "chaos", respectively

So thank you everybody, and I'll see you all in the next chapter!