Out of the Light

Out of the Light

by glorg

Chapter One

Lost.

My name is Twilight Sparkle, and I am a unicorn.

Was.

Am.

I... I don’t really know anymore, to be honest.  Things have been very... confusing, lately.  It was an accident, but it’s my fault, I know it is.  Now my friends and I are in the biggest quagmire of our lives, and I doubt even Princess Celestia herself can help me now.

I’ve really messed things up this time.

I don’t think I can get us home, not like how I am now.

Are we doomed to stay in this place forever?

It seems like it.

It’s my fault.

It’s all my fault.

But I have to write this down.  Maybe we’ll have a break-through.  Maybe Spike will hiccup a flame or I’ll grow a horn... I don’t know.  Things are too dismal to hope for a miracle like that.  In any case, I’m writing down what happened.  To me, my friends, my dragon.  Even if you don’t believe it, whoever finds this, this story is as real as... well, as real as I thought I used to be.

I believe in this story.

You should, too.

It all started in my tree.  My little library.

I miss it so.  Those yellow pages, jaundiced by time; the firm leather of the hardback covers; the smell of ink, of knowledge just waiting to be consumed.  Some libraries here are almost like that, but the books aren’t the same, not nearly.

I had become the unwitting host of yet another Pinkie Pie party.  By then, though... well, I was used to it.  Pinkie Pie was a manic mare, for certain, but her affection was never scarce, nor her contagious laughter, and she was always welcome company.  She just had a certain... affinity, I suppose, for bursting out surprises.  Not somepony I could complain about, though: our group of friends always showed up with her, the five ponies who had showed me the magic of friendship the first time I had set hoof into Ponyville.

The five ponies I’ve ruined.

Honest Applejack, loyal Rainbow Dash, kind Fluttershy, generous Rarity, and (of course) laughing Pinkie Pie.  My best friends, after Spike and my older brother.

Shining Armor.  I wonder if he knows I’m gone.  I wonder if anyone knows we’re gone.

The party itself had actually come to its lackadaisical conclusion, another late night festivity for us all.  Spike was sprawled out at the bottom of the stairs, clutching a half-eaten sapphire to his chest and snoring ever so slightly.  Rarity was likely amused.  She thought everything he did was cute, even unconsciously.  The rest of us ponies sat around the table in the middle of the room, staring at one another with intensity.

I believe Go Fish had never been played so seriously.  Or, at least, for Applejack and Rainbow Dash.  Both ponies were overshadowed by towering piles of cards, glaring at the cards in their hooves and waiting for the other to speak first.  This was the championship game, as Rainbow Dash had called it; the players had whittled down to only two, and they had scrounged together three decks of cards to make sure nopony would win from an empty pool.

I remember the tension so well.  I swore I could see the sweat bead on their brows.

It was Applejack’s turn, but she refused to speak, refused to ask Rainbow Dash for any cards.  What were their hands?  I have no idea.  I suppose both were so dead-set against giving the other an advantage that they wouldn’t even have told Nightmare Moon if she’d threatened their lives for the information.

We were calm spectators.  Rarity daintily stifled a yawn every five minutes or so, but otherwise, our gallery was relatively peaceful.

...Barring Pinkie Pie.

She twitched.

She tapped.

She twisted.

She could not rest a bone in her body.

“Say something!  Why don’t they say anything, Twilight?!  Oh my good golly gosh, this is taking forEVERRRRRRRRRR!”

“Pinkie, I...” I began.

“Can’t you, like, make them do stuff with your magic?  Let’s get the game going, Twilight!  Somepony has to win!!”

“Pinkie, please!  I wouldn’t do that, even if I could.  It’s not right to—”

“Yeah yeah, I know, morals, blah blah blah.  Just give them a little push, Twilight!  It’s so late and they’re taking wayyyyyyyyyy too long!”

“Actually, Twilight, I must say I agree with Pinkie Pie,” said Rarity, flipping back her luxurious hair.  “The hour has become quite late, and we all know they would never leave a competition unfinished.  Perhaps just a little spell?  To move things along?  Nothing too serious, darling.”

I rolled my eyes and glanced at Fluttershy.  She watched Applejack and Rainbow Dash with startling intent, almost studying them as something to model off of.

“Fluttershy, what do you think?”

Immediately she drew back within herself, abashed by the sudden attention.

“Oh, uh... well, I... I think, maybe, I do have to check on the animals... maybe it would be better if you helped them finish up... just a little.”

“SEE?!  Even FLUTTERSHY thinks they should hurry up!  C’mon Twilight, just a little magic.  Please?  For Auntie Pinkie Pie?”

“...You’re our age, darling,” commented Rarity.

“Age shmage.  Like I said, for Auntie Pinkie Pie?”

I rolled my eyes once more and grimaced, levitating a book from my shelf over to where we sat.  Pinkie clapped her hooves together excitedly.

“Only a little spell.  And only because they’re so focused they didn’t even hear us talking about them.”  What I said was true: neither one had even so much as flinched at our conversation, they were so engrossed in the cards.

“Yeah yeah, whatever, just get the hocus pocus going already!”

The spell was discreet and small, simply a minor motivation charm.  It was no great task, no difficult enchantment, and I don’t say that condescendingly.  The magic coursed through my horn as usual, and I began to formulate the thoughts in my head.  No complications to be seen.

What happened next was purely an accident, but it is also what I blame myself for in this whole mess.  You, reader, may look at it as Pinkie Pie’s fault, for how she pushed me to use my powers and what entailed, but I want that burden.  For her innocence, first of all, and also for my mistake in judgment.  I knew that I shouldn’t have attempted to enchant my friends, that abuse of magic is never right even in small doses and my own morals should have won over peer pressure.  It was my decision, in the end, to heed Pinkie Pie, and that’s why I hold myself as the culprit.

Pinkie Pie, so invested in my conjuring, was leaning forward blindly, and had forgotten that a bicycle horn rested next to her hoof, a remnant of our party.  She stepped forward a little to gain balance, and it was everyone’s horrifically bad luck that her hoof just happened to stomp down upon this wayward bicycle horn.  Immediately, the horn’s wail broke the quiet, startling everypony except Rainbow Dash and Applejack.  Spike was thrust into wakefulness, bleary-eyed and unaware of what was going on; in his stupor, my dragon stumbled into me and knocked me over.  Fluttershy, possibly the most apprehensive of us all, was so shocked by the sudden noise that she flew back into the wall, causing my library to shudder with the tremor.  Almost at once, my entire library came flying off the shelves, an avalanche of books headed in our direction.

I should’ve stopped to think and plan.  Should’ve thought of a specific spell.  But I panicked.  My mind was blank, and the magic, already bubbling in my horn, burst forth with passion.  For all of its terrible repercussions, it truly was a sight to see: akin to aurora borealis, even.  The spell grew and grew, freezing everything it touched, flashing colors of the rainbow all the while (and some colors I’m sure aren’t normally conceivable by our eyes).  It was quick and determined, enveloping everything in sight with haste.

Indeed, faster than I could comprehend, it swallowed me as well.

All I knew was magic, pure light.

And then, darkness.

When my eyes opened, there were no books to obstruct my view, nor the bark of a tree ceiling.  There was only the sky, and for some reason, it looked peculiar.  The clouds were not fluffy, but transient, wispy shams that felt wrong to even look at.  The sky was blue, yes, but it wasn’t the right color, not nearly lively enough.

I attributed this to disorientation, and tried to sit up.

I couldn’t hoist myself, as hard as I tried.

Exasperated, I fell back with a thud.  Still, the sky looked so wrong, so tainted.

“WHAT IN TARNATION...?”

“H-HEY!  THIS ISN’T COOL AT ALL!”

The alarm in my friends’ voices propelled me forward into a sitting position.  “What?  What is it?  What’s wr...?”

The words danced on my lips, but they wouldn’t, couldn’t come out.  How could I hope to verbalize the thoughts in my head, the nonsense that it was?

It was Applejack and Rainbow Dash, sure.  I would know them anywhere.  But they looked all wrong.  Horribly, horribly wrong.  Those weren’t muzzles.  They were shaved.  Their ears were shaped like C’s.  Their hooves were gone, replaced with... by Princess Celestia, I’d never seen hands on a pony before.  And perhaps that was the most jarring fact of all, the truth that made my heart stop in my chest.

Whatever they were, neither of them were ponies.  Not even close.

What used to be Applejack, examining the hands that had replaced her hooves, glanced my way, and those familiar green eyes widened with bewilderment.

“Oh.  Oh, my.  Sugarcube, it happened ta you too.”  She paused, taking the chance to gaze around in growing horror at the rest of our party.  I was afraid to do the same.  I wasn’t prepared to look.  “By golly, it happened ta all of us.”

I looked down, almost not surprised to see that my own hooves were replaced as well.  They reminded me of Spike’s claws, almost.  I had read about them once in a book.  What had it been, the mythology section?  Certainly not anything anypony would usually take seriously.

Not me.

Not until it was staring me in the face.

But I had fingers.  That was what they were called.  Such an abnormal experience, to move them; it was nothing like having a hoof.

And it was with these abnormal fingers, this hand, that I tentatively touched my forehead.  I had a sneaking, sickening suspicion.  My hair seemed prickly, my face naked to the touch.

Flat surface.

Just hair.  Just my head.

I could feel the tears swelling inside, slowly leaking out of my betraying eyes.

“Twilight?  What’s wrong, hun?”  Applejack sounded so far away.  “...Twi.”

“My horn’s gone, isn’t it?”  I started to almost choke out the words.  “It’s... just... vanished.”

A sorrowful nod from my friend.  “Ah... Ah’m ‘fraid so, hun.  But, it’s not all that bad, right?  Ah’m sure it’s jus’ temp’rary.  The spell will wear off in no time, you’ll see.”

“What if it doesn’t?”  I didn’t want to be a pessimist.  Really.  But every passing moment, as reality hit me harder with every punch, just made my heart start to sink lower and lower.

“Ah... Ah plum don’t know, Twilight.”

And that was what scared me the most.

It took some time, but ultimately we were able to regroup, if an altogether dazed and daunted bunch.

Applejack and Pinkie Pie had been able to utilize the forms the first and foremost out of all of us.  I suppose maybe that being Earth ponies made the transformation less traumatic; they had not lost wings or horns, not like the rest of us.  Those were the main points of consternation, in all honesty.  I’m not ashamed to admit I was somewhat enfeebled without my horn.  Certainly I didn’t use it in every aspect of my life, but it was as if... as if someone had cut off my ear, or my tail.  I wasn’t whole.  Rarity faced this crisis as well, but with considerable more poise.  It’s just her nature to be like that.  Even Fluttershy, wingless as a tree, didn’t seem very bothered by her unwarranted alteration.  And Spike?  Scaleless and without a tail in sight, he was almost jovial about it all.  He’d grown in height.  Being taller was just about the best thing he could imagine happening.

No, out of our motley crew, the worst...

The worst was Rainbow Dash.

Dash was a being made for flight.  Not just her anatomy, but her very soul.  Sometimes I fancied she was comparable to the mighty eagle, a magnificent creature of the air, and I doubt many would disagree with me.

What does such a bird do without its wings?

I’ll tell you.  It shuts down.  Closes up.  Ceases and desists.  As the rest of us talked in hushed tones and attempted to create a plan of action, she only sat by herself, burying her face in what I was sure were her knees.  She did not cry, did not moan or gripe, but merely hid from it all.

Truthfully?  I was close to joining her.

We had all crowded together in a circle of nearby trees, hidden by the protective underbrush of the forest, in fear of being discovered by strangers.  Even if they were other ponies, none of us wanted to be seen, not yet.  We felt we might be... distressing to see, to say the least.

“Ah dunno what we should do, Twilight.  Ya think vent’rin out there is really a good idea?  Lookin’ like we are?  Somepony could get a mite flust’red.”

“Darling, she has a point.  Besides looking positively dreadful in this outfit, I know I would be quite perturbed by our appalling countenances if I were somepony else.  Also, does anypony know why our bosoms seem to be so enlarged?  The weight is practically unbearable.”

“Silly willy!  The aliens use them as antennae to communicate with the mothership!  That’s why they’re so extra big and fluffy and jiggly.  Ooh!  Poke ‘em!  It feels like jello!”

“Um... pardon me, but... even if that’s what they’re used for, Pinkie, why doesn’t Spike have them?”

“Duh!  Fluttershy, helloooo?  He’s a dragon!  Alien dragons are different than alien ponies.  We get cool, bouncy jello orbs on our chests and they get... what do you get, Spike?  Green hair, I guess?”

“Uhm, I think so.”

“See?  Auntie Pinkie Pie is never wrong.  Now I have to try and call the Spaceship Command with my antennae so they can beam us up and take us to their leader.  We’ll blend right in, and when we reach the Queen Alien, we’ll all attack her, and hold her captive, and make her turn us back into ponies!  Easy as Pinkie Pie!”

I sighed irritatedly to break off the conversation, and sure enough, all eyes turned toward me.

“That’s an interesting theory, Pinkie, but I don’t really think it’s that complicated.  Obviously, my magic transformed us.  Into what?  ...I’m not sure.  But we’re certainly not ponies, or pegasi, or unicorns.  Even Spike isn’t a dragon anymore.  We don’t have magic, or flight, or Spike to call for Princess Celestia.  I have no idea how long we could stay like this, or where the spell took us.  Personally, I believe this is part of the Everfree Forest, but I have no way of truly identifying that fact.  I would suggest going in further and approaching Zecora for a possible cure, as I’m certain she would have the knowledge we need to cure these afflictions, but, still, I’m not entirely certain that this is even our forest.  I can’t be, not unless we leave our hiding spot and go ask for help from outside ponies.  Hopefully, we’re somewhere near Ponyville, but if we’ve ended up near Fillydelphia or Baltimare... well, at least we’ll have somewhere to start off.  And I would recommend that we figure out a way to Canterlot as soon as possible so we can inquire Princess Celestia for a solution.”

I stopped to scan my friends for their responses.

“...Ah do believe Ah second that.”

“I do as well.  Simply brilliant, Twilight.”

“Awh, no Queen Alien? ...Okay!  Off to the princess, then.”

“It sounds like a very good idea, Twilight.  ...A-At least, I think so.”

Rainbow still would not respond, but I was really waiting for Spike to reply.  He seemed to be mulling it over in his mind.

With a shrug and a smile, Spike nodded.  “Sounds like a plan to me, Twi.”

“All right, perfect.  We should head out now so that—”

A near-silent rumble caught in my ear, buzzing like a fly.  I thought I was the only one to hear it, but I noticed all of us froze, trying to hear it more clearly.  It rumbled again, more coherently, and I could tell it was Rainbow Dash speaking, muffled by her body.

“Rainbow?  Could you repeat what you said, please?” I asked timidly.  Almost begrudgingly, she lifted her head to reveal the nervous frown that spread so uncharacteristically across her face.

“I said, that I don’t want to go out there.  I don’t want anypony to see me like... like this, whatever the heck it is.  It’s totally not awesome!  Needs to be 20% cooler.  And have wings.”  She pouted like a foal.

Rarity stepped forward, stumbling a little but regaining her posture quickly.  “Rainbow, darling, do not fret the opinions of others!  Why, I loathe our current states and outfits (mine especially), but the best chance any of us have to mend these mutations lie with Princess Celestia.  You know I wouldn’t be caught dead going out in public looking unfabulous, and yet our situation calls for it.  We won’t reach Canterlot and be repaired to our natural forms anytime soon lounging about here, now will we?”

Rainbow Dash contemplated this.  “Huh.  I guess you’re kinda right, Rarity.  But I’m not walking ahead of you guys, got it?  Not that I’m, like, hiding, or anything lame like that, but just ‘cause it’s easier to—”

“To not be seen?” Fluttershy offered.

“Uhh... sure.  I guess.  Whatever.  Anyway, let’s go!”  The forlorn Rainbow had burst into an almost excited energy.  She’d gone from despondent to optimistic in five seconds flat.  How could she be so confident that everything was going to be okay?  It was my own plan we were following, but I didn’t have much faith in it.  The pit in my chest had not gone away; in fact, it seemed to get heavier as I thought more and more about the situation.  This cold sense of trepidation would not leave me, no matter how many times I assured myself that Princess Celestia would help us in our most dire hour.

“Right, y’all ponies fall in line behind me, Ah’ll be the first ta face anypony we run into.  Ah don’t care too much ‘bout lookin’ like this in public.”  Applejack, always true to her word, strode confidently toward what laid beyond the trees.  Exchanging doubtful glances, the rest of us followed, unsure of who would be waiting beyond.

Out in the open once more, I could see the landscape wholly for the first time.  My judgement remained abysmally the same: something was horrifically off about everything, like I was viewing it through tainted lens.  Everyone else seemed to have stopped as well, captivated by the scene in front of us.

“...Som’thin looks funny ‘bout this place.  Ahm not the only one who thinks that... right?”  Applejack seemed to be chewing on her tongue nervously, her eyes flitting about.

“No no, me too A.J.,” said Rainbow Dash.  “Man, it looks... wacky.”

“ALIENS.”

“Pinkie, darling, perhaps your eccentric convictions about our current predicament are best left to yourself, yes?  But I, too, think this panorama looks rather... odd.”  Frowning, Rarity picked a blade of grass off of her shoulder and flicked it to the ground, turning back to inspect the sky.

“Um, pardon me. but—”

“C’mon, what other explanations are there?  The alien-monkey-bugs live in a world that looks like ours but isn’t as fun and cheery, because their Princess Celestia is a big fat ugly meanie weenie who hates cake and tortures the aliens all the time, and they just used Twilight to get us here so they could suck out our fun for themselves!  I wonder if it tickles?  Maybe, they’ll hold a HUGE party, and we’ll all get invited, and—”

“E-Excuse me, but—”

“Pinkie, could you stop that?  You’re making me feel totally not awesome.  Stupid aliens wouldn’t be smart enough to catch us, anyway.  Or at least me.  No way they’d—”

“I’m terribly sorry, but if you’d just listen for a minute—”

“Aw man!  I keep trying to burp, Twilight, but I can’t!  I can’t even feel the fire in my chest anymore.  Being tall’s cool but I liked my job.”

Exasperatedly, I sighed.  “You’re not unemployed Spike, you’re just transformed like the rest of us.  You’re still my assistant.  I’d ask you to write down everything we see but I don’t think we have any parchment or quills... hmph.  Maybe you could—”

“Uh, I don’t mean to interject, but if you would just hear me out—”

“Ahm thinkin’ we should jus’ get goin’ again.  This place is creepin’ me out, no doubt ‘bout it, but if we get a move on Ahm sure we’ll be back to our old selves lickety-split.  Ah bet y’all two bits that—”

“SHUT UP!”

The roar tore all of us out of our thoughts.  I know I even cringed, expecting an unknown assailant to appear out of nowhere.

Imagine our surprise, then, when it turned out meek Fluttershy had been the one to yell.  I could feel all of us staring at her, utterly bemused by the outburst.  Under the weight of the attention, Fluttershy folded into herself, electing to stare at her feet and blush ever so slightly.

“Um... please.  If it’s not too much of a bother.”

“Well, sugarcube, ya sure as buck got our attention.  Tell us what’s on your mind, Fluttershy.”

“Oh, no, nothing’s on my mind Applejack, it’s just... well, I think the rest of you didn’t hear me talking to the animals earlier... but of course you wouldn’t have, what am I saying... um, it’s just that...”

“Darling, as the resident drama queen, I must implore that you eschew the suspense and just tell us what it is you’d like to say.”

“Oh, yes.  Sorry, Rarity.  Um, I think, maybe, we should turn around.”

In what seemed like a recurring motif, I exhaled irritably.  “Fluttershy, we haven’t even headed out to Canterlot yet.  What could possibly be scaring you?”

“Nothing, Twilight, not yet.  I-I meant more like we should turn around, right here, in this spot.”

Pinkie scratched her head, making her curly rose-colored hair bounce almost comically.

“Huh?  But why, Fluttershy?  WAIT.  Are the aliens telling you to do it?  Are they talking to you through your antennae?  SHH!  Let me listen!”  Eagerly, Pinkie Pie jumped in front of Fluttershy and put her ear to Fluttershy’s chest, monitoring it for any little sound with determination.  Fluttershy drew back slightly, clearly uncomfortable with Pinkie Pie’s proximity.

“Uh, n-no, there are no aliens talking to me, Pinkie Pie.  Could you... please, step away from my chest?  Um, thank you.”

Squinting her eyes suspiciously, Pinkie obeyed and gave Fluttershy her space, although she was studying up her own “antennae” with visible distrust.

“Anyway, the animals told me to watch out for the place behind us because there are... um... things there, and when we walked out, I looked back just to see what they were, and then I did, and I thought, Everypony else should see this, so I started to ask to turn around, but nopony would listen, so I had to yell, and now you’re listening and I told you what I wanted you to do so I think you all should do it.  Please?”

The rest of us scanned each other for an appropriate response.  Eventually, it was Rarity who stepped forward.  It made sense; she and Fluttershy went to the spa together weekly, they were a little bit closer as friends.

“Alright, Fluttershy.  Seeing as you feel so very strongly about your opinion, it could be of no plausible harm to humor your wishes.  Come, everypony: let us turn around and heed Fluttershy’s bidding.”

It was a very simple thing to do.  I didn’t see much logic in it, but Fluttershy seemed quite adamant, so I followed suit with everypony else.

Upon turning around, the pit in my chest seemed to drop down to what must have been my stifles.  I suppose that it was because they were almost knobby and weak in this form, but these very same stifles shook ever so slightly, all-too-revealing of my internal agitation.

There must have been about two-hundred of them, maybe three-hundred.  Some were alone, some were in pairs, and some were even in odd little families, but all in all, my friends and I were looking at a park filled with the things, as Fluttershy had called them.  Bipedal, hairless monstrosities of nature.

In fact, the very things we had been turned into.

“...Oh,” said Rarity absent-mindedly.  Fluttershy nodded knowingly, tucking a stray strand of pink hair behind her ear.  I quaked on the inside.  The things looked far too comfortable in their bodies to be ponies like us, transformed accidentally by my spell.  No, they had been born that way, and since they most certainly did not live anywhere in Equestria...

“Spike, I’ve got a feeling we’re not in Ponyville anymore.”

Spike nodded slowly, never tearing his eyes away from the things.

So my impressions, deep-seated and deadly, were correct.

So my fears, crushing and creeping, were true.

We were lost.