Solidarity: Me, Myself, and I (A Twilight Sparkle Tale)

The land was a deep abyssal obsidian, murky and swarthy. She focused her will and illuminated a small area of the umbra. She saw three oddly colored figures standing off in the distance, nearly out of sight. She urged her legs to press on, but to no avail. As the figures faded she sank deeper into the mire, feeling her essence being drained from her body like a black hole drains light. As she felt the tendrils of madness clasp over face, she saw an ominous visage: a single, solitary eye. Not an ugly eye or even a normal eye, but an eye of pure dark radiance and majesty. It tore through the boglike shadows with its magnificent glare, encasing them in a strange green flame. Then it focused its attention on her. Mouthless, it asked her in a bizarre voice:

What do you desire most, my child?

She felt herself unable to deceive the being. She knew it knew the answer; it just merely wanted her to admit it aloud. She swallowed and replied, "Knowledge. Knowledge and... and..." She stopped.

And what? Power? Control? Foresight?

She nodded, slightly ashamed of her selfish intentions.

Then seek the Solitary Star. Through it, you will have a chance to seek what you most desire.

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Twilight Sparkle felt herself rising out of the bed before she was even fully aware of it. It was still incredibly dark outside, so it took her a moment to realize she still felt a tight bind on her hind legs. Her sheets were wrapped around her legs like tight bandages, hindering her movements. With a wave of her horn the blanket bonds were swiftly undone. After making her sheets presentable, she took a good long look at her bed and began to wonder aloud, "Who, or what, was that eye? What did it want with me?". The thought of something invading her dreams troubled her, and she started to gaze outside through the large window in her room into the night sky, reflecting on past events.

It was only five months ago that Twilight and her friends defeated Lord Tirek, unlocked the mysterious crystal chest and established the Council of Allies. The responsibilities of the Council branched all across the known territories of Equestria, from the Frozen North to the harsh Deserted Lands to the east. She, as the Princess of Friendship and Overseer of the Council, was charged with establishing connections with foreign dignitaries and representatives as well as domestic defense. She had met with emperors, kings, and even helped bring a war to a halt between two rival settlements. She was known throughout Equestria as "The Bond Maker", and serves as the mediator when it comes to the affairs of the Equestrian Conclave.

Life was stressful for the young princess, as constant attention to other lands' affairs and missing out on personal time was arduous on her. Constant stress often times meant lack of sleep, and lack of sleep over a long period of time could mean the whole thing she just experienced was a hallucination due to exhaustion. She was relieved when Princess Celestia granted her a two month reprieve. It gave her the chance to finally spend time with the townsfolk that had helped shape her into what she was now. She stepped out from her room and was immediately greeted by a middle-age colt guard and Flash Sentry, a young colt that had been hoof-picked by Celestia to guard over the castle. Flash and Twilight were close friends, though both wished to proceed further in their relationship without ever actually telling the other aloud.

Flash and the other guard immediately snapped to attention, saluting. Flash coughed slightly and said, "Princess Twilight, are you alright? We thought we heard a voice in the room a little bit ago."

The young mare waved a hoof in dismissal, smiling warmly. "I'm fine, Flash. I was thinking out loud. I just had a bit of a nightmare is all."

The other colt had a serious expression on his face. Clearly something was wrong. "But your Majesty, we think we heard another voice in there with you. It was faint, almost incoherent. We heard it say something about knowledge and... and some kind of star?" Flash nodded in agreement. Twilight tensed up slightly.

Twilight paused for a moment, contemplating. Then she looked at her guards. "Follow me. I need you to come with me as witnesses to speak with Princess Celestia. She'll want to know of this immediately." She strode back into her room and looked at the small bed besides hers. She wished Spike was still in Ponyville and not at the Crystal Empire's Crystal Berry Harvest Festival. She knew that he was an important member of the Crystal Empire, but he was still her number one assistant and best friend. Twilight grabbed her saddlebags and took some books and scrolls on the topics of dreams, hoping that she could get some reading done before she got to Canterlot. She and Princess Luna had had some conversations on the topic of dreams, but she never expected have a vision like this. She needed to know as much as possible before presenting this information before her friend.

She proceeded on her way out of her castle onto the straight path that led directly to her front doors. She immediately noticed that there was a strange sound coming from overhead, loud and thunderous. A purple streak of light flew over her castle, almost like a shooting star. Coincidentally, the object seemed to explode over the middle of Ponyville, breaking the prismatic spectrum similar to the Sonic Rainboom. The colors, however, were similar to that of Twlights cutie mark, and as they reconvened over their impact point in the sky, they coalesced into a starburst formation, in exactly the same shape as her mark. Normally explosions dissipate after a few seconds but the mark hung over the skies like a great looming sun, lighting the area in shades of lavender, magenta and white.

By now, the citizens of the small village were either looking out of their windows in awe or running towards the castle with  concerned expressions on their faces. Immediately, Twilight was bombarded with questions and complaints. Many thought that the young alicorn was practicing magic and one her experiments backfired. Many had no idea what it was, but they were still startled nonetheless.

An old earth pony trotted forward, a scowl on his expression. He had clearly experienced much hardship in his time, as he had a black eyepatch over his left eye. His brown fur was matted and had patches missing, and a good chunk of his right ear looked as though it had been bitten off. His mane and small beard were thin and grey, like that of an ancient cobweb sewn together by a horde of spiders.  He pointed a hoof directly at Twilight, glaring past Flash's warning stare.

The earth pony growled in a thick, strange accent, "How DARE you, you false tyrant! I knew it was going to come to this one day, I just knew it in my bones!"

Twilight was taken aback. She wasn't expecting such hostility so soon, especially from somepony who didn't look like they were from Ponyville. "What do you mean?" she said. "What do you think I've done? I'm only just seeing this for myself, too! I'm just as confused as you all are!"

The old colt gave a bark of a laugh, revealing missing teeth. "Ha ha! You speak falsehoods and pull the wool over the eyes of these ponies, but not me! Not old Nansi Quilt Czar!"

Flash gave a rise of his eyebrow, mishearing what the old one had said. "Nancy Quilt Jar? What kind of a name is that?".

The elder roared "MY NAME IS NOT NANCY! IT'S NANSI! NON-SEE!" This was clearly a topic the old horse was sensitive about and had discussed many times.

Twilight said as sincerely as she could, "Look sir, as I said I have no idea what's happening either. Please explain what it is you're trying to get at here, and I'll try to help out any way I can."

Nansi saw the confusion on her face and her tone, and his expression softened somewhat. He proceeded to push past the villagers, their annoyed glares focused solely on his back. He turned and showed what was left of his teeth at them in a menacing growl, and they immediately were intimidated by the old one. He coughed loudly, nearly hacking, and spoke.

"Hear me, citizens of Ponyville! This, " pointing his hoof skyward towards the beacon, "is a warning! If you value your lives and the lives of your loved ones, leave this village and seek shelter elsewhere, before it's too late!"

The village ponies started to ask the old one questions. What does he mean? What does the symbol in the sky mean? What's going to happen to us? Are we safe? He raised a hoof and a wave of silence flooded the crowd.

"A long time ago, long before the beginning of pony life in Equestria, there were the Hoë Liniale, or High Masters. The Masters oversaw over the different aspects of creation and shaped everything we know and love they way they saw fit. This symbol is a sign of terrible things to come to this place, and the only way to save yourselves from destruction is to abandon this place and retreat to a different land!"

The ponies looked to one another for confirmation as to whether or not they had heard something like this before. None had, and so doubt started to form. Doubt turned to anger, which led to angry shouting and arguing.

He closed his eye and started to hum. Or at least it sounded like a hum at first. After a couple of seconds, Twilight realized that he was actually mumbling something in a different language. She heard him chant: "Kom na my, o draaiboulers van groot skoonheid en kuns, Kom na my hulp. Kom na my, o draaiboulers van groot skoonheid en kuns, Kom na my hulp."

That was when she noticed the rumbling in the distance, coming from Everfree Forest. It was faint at first, but started to crescendo into what sounded like a flood of tiny legs. A pool of spiders started to appear before the old one, causing the villagers to panic slightly. Nansi's eye had rolled over, showing only the whites and veins of the eyeballs. The arachnids started to dance around him, forming patterns and shapes as the flowed around his hooves. Then they started to climb onto him covering him in a mass of small, black bodies. His shape started to grow into a large hill, then eventually a small mountain of spiders covered him.

The spiders, with their webs and immense strength, seemed to be forming themselves into the shape of a strange being. It looked similar to that of a pony but it also looked different, with multiple moving heads like that of a hydra. The spiders started covering each other in their own webbing, sealing themselves together and changing the shape of the beast from black to white. The form was nearly crystalline due the hues and shades from  the starburst, giving it a beautiful but horrifying visage to gaze upon.

Finally, the strange structure was complete. It was a full grown horse with seven heads, each with fanged teeth and hooves the size of a small house. Its body was colossal and muscular, yet elegant and mysterious. It intimidated and inspired, terrified and was somehow strangely calming at the same time.

The first head, furthest to the left, spoke. It was still the voice of the old colt, but much deeper and more menacing. "This is the form of the Uchchaihshravas, the High Masters of our entire species."

The second head spoke, in a much more feminine voice. "It is because of this being that the world we know now exists, and it is displeased, as well it should be."

The third head spoke, sounding almost like a young child. "We ponies were meant to provide constant praise and adoration for the gifts it has imparted upon us, but we haven't provided gratitude for the High Masters in over 3,000 years."

The middle head stayed silent, and looked to its right for the other head to speak. The fifth, a much older mare, hissed and spoke. "It is because of them that we have life, emotions, and the ability to accomplish such wondrous things like building castles and cities. Even though we as their children have not praised them for so long, they continue to let us go about our merry ways aimlessly."

The sixth, who looked as though he was constantly in pain, whimpered, "At the beginning of our species creation, there were only three different types of ponies: Earth Ponies, Unicorns, and Pegasi. Each type had their own tasks and ways of life, and cross-breeding was seen as blasphemy against the High Master." At the last word, the head's eye seemed to start twitching furiously.

The seventh, who looked incredibly bored, sighed. "Over the millennia, the mixing of different species of ponies started to become more and more common. Cross-breeding meant impurities in in the eyes of the Uchchaihshravas, and impurities were meant to be dealt with. But one cross-breed grasped the interest of the High Master, and so he let the ponies live life as usual hoping to achieve more of this species."

Twilight stepped forward, careful not to let and webbing or dangling spiders fall on her. "But I don't understand. What was the breed that caught his attention?"

The heads looked at one another, as if to determine who would be the one to say the answer. Each one shook their head, looking towards the middle head. When it moved it's "lips" in the motions of the word, no sound escaped it. No sound needed to be said though, as everypony in the area felt the word shake through them, like a chill crawling down their entire body.

"Alicorns".

At that word, many of the ponies blacked out and fell to the ground, unconscious. Those strong enough to withstand the word fell to the ground, either clutching their ears and crying or rolling around, laughing maniacally while kicking frantically. Twilight erected a magical barrier around herself and Flash Sentry, barely shielding them in time. The barrier was immediately destroyed, falling to the ground like shattered glass. The elder guard had fallen unconscious, his entire body limp.

Nansi Quilt Czar emerged chanting from the base of the left hind hoof of the structure, his eye still rolled to reveal its whites. The chant was different this time though. "Terug te keer na jou huis, dierbares. Ek dank u vir u hulp. Terug te keer na jou huis, dierbares. Ek dank u vir u hulp."

The spiders started to destroy the web that bound the equine-like structure, freeing themselves. The remnants of the web fell to the ground like tattered fabric, and the spiders started to return home. The remaining ponies, still stunned, made no reactions to the spiders as they flowed around them like a river back towards the Everfree Forest.

The old colt, his eye back to its normal emerald, started to collect the spiders webbing in his saddlebag, almost nonchalantly. Twilight stood mouth agape, completely in shock. Never had she seen anything like what Nansi had shown her, especially with that sort of power. She trotted slightly dizzy over to Nansi, ready to ask him as many questions as she could. Without even looking at her, Nansi raised a hoof in the air, causing her to stop where she stood.

He started walking towards the forest. "Follow me, young one. I know you have questions, which I will answer in due time."

Twilight, slightly annoyed at his aloofness, sputtered "But the- but how the - why - what about the...?"

He chuckled slightly. "The other ponies? They are alright. I merely created the Uchchaihshravas structure to stun them. Now they won't all follow us into the forest like a herd of sheep."

She looked around, seeing the manic and depressed ponies that remained conscious on the ground either giggling like lunatics or crying like infants. "And what about them? Will that... thing... you did to them wear off?"

Nansi gave a shrug, "Probably. I'm never around long enough to find out for myself. Now, let's go. My niece is waiting for us in the forest."

"Who's your nie-". She stopped. There was only one pony who had the knowledge and survival skills to live in the forest by herself, and now the chanting she heard Nansi say did sound relatively familiar to somepony else's chanting. His cutie mark even looked similar to hers, too.

Now it all made sense.... somewhat.

The old colt laughed. "So, you know my niece, then? How has Zecora been?"

End of Chapter 1