A Distant Light, A Close Calling

The thirteen ponies stood atop the hill, gazing down on the Twin Cities, their eyes lit up like a rainbow. As their eyes hovered over the cities, they saw the beautiful buildings, illuminated by Luna’s moon and the scattered street lights.

“Wow, this is amazing!” Sunspeed remarked.

“I think you stole those words from all of our breath.” Cherry Blossom said.

“Time for us to carry on.” She added after a brief amount of time.

                The others nodded in agreement and started to walk down the hill. As they came closer and closer the city seemed to engulf them like a wave. Upon reaching the entrance, they all stopped and got their eyes lost in the cities. Cherry Blossom the III shook her head to relieve herself of the breathtaking sight; she then turned to Twilight and said:

“Well I’d like to thank you and your friends for coming along and protecting us as well. We had a fun time with all of you; hopefully our paths will cross again someday. My family and I have to get going now, we have to be somewhere. Oh, and don’t worry about the Pegasus you rescued earlier, we’ll take care of her and ensure her safety.”

“You’re welcome Cherry Blossom; I bid you safe travels, and be sure to give your cute filly here some company. She may need a sissy.” Twilight replied kindly.

                Cherry Blossom the III started walking away, along with the rest of her family. She quickly turned and waved to Twilight. Twilight waved back in response to this, and sighed.

“Well, I am going to miss their company, but you make friends in the long run. Now, time to go eat some sweet apple fritter!” Pinkie blurted aloud.

“Yeah I am too Pinkie, I think all of us will. But we’re not going to eat just yet.” Twilight answered.

“What!?” Pinkie yelled.

“But Twilight, if I don’t eat then I’m not going to be happy, and if I’m not happy then no pony will be happy and if no pony is happy then I won’t be great at throwing parties anymore!” Pinkie added on nervously.

“Woah there Sugarcube, just calm yourself down. We’ll get something to eat soon.” AJ jumped in.

“Continuing on, I would like to go to the library really fast because I’d just like to see if they have any information on the SDEH. They may be a secret organization, but we could miss some valuable details.”

“Yeah, then if we find their weakness, we can really kick their flanks!” Dash said, clamping both her hooves together.

“Exactly my point Dash, if we can get some information on them, it’ll be easier for us in the long run.” Twilight noted.

“Yeah, I think that’s a great idea!” Fluttershy mentioned, her voice squeaking.

“It’s settled then, let’s go do that first, then we’ll find a place to eat and rest.” Twilight said to the others.

                They started to trot slowly through the town, glancing down every street and corner they came across. The city seemed almost abandoned at night; the wind still hissed at their ears and gave an uneasy feeling. There were few ponies out, considering the time of night. Will the library even be open at this time of night? I doubt it, but if it is, I’d love to at least see if anypony knows the existence of this organization besides Celestia, Starstride, and my friends and I. Hopefully they’re open. Twilight pondered.

                Luna’s moon still shined brightly in the night, although it seems as if it dimmed a bit. The familiar sound of hooves trotting echoed off the city buildings and made a mix of cluttered noise in their ears. None of the seven friends made any kind of noise; they just kept walking silently, until they came to a tall, white building with pillars.

                A large sign at the top was barely readable; it read: “Pegasi Cities Library.” They trotted up the stairs to the double doors leading to the entrance of the library. Twilight tugged on the door, and it would not budge. She tried vigorously to open the door, when suddenly she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to see Rarity tapping her.

“Rarity, what is it?” Twilight asked intently.

“Oh um, look at the sign in front of you dearie.” She replied.

                Twilight turned to see a sign that said: “Use Other Door.” She made a groan and muttered to herself as she pulled the other door open. They all walked inside the library; books and shelves littered the room they stood in. It was a large room, too big to even guestimate. Twilight saw a librarian at her desk in the center of the room. She motioned the others to follow her.

                They acknowledged it trotted behind her. Twilight approached the desk and asked the librarian politely:

“Excuse me miss, do you have any books regarding the organization called the Society of Deceiving Element Harmonics?”

“The what? I’ve never heard of such a thing, never in all my life!” she said curiously.

“Oh, well that answers my question, thank you.” Twilight said glumly, turning back to face her friends.

“Have a good night.” She added.

“You too!” The librarian called out.

The others followed Twilight to the outside of the library.

“Well, let’s go find someplace to rest and eat. I was hoping they’d have something, but I doubted it in the first place.” Twilight murmured to her friends.

“It’s alright darling, we’ll find something.” Rarity reassured.

“Now let’s go, I’m about done for the night.” Fluttershy yawned.

The others agreed and decided to keep moving. They started to walk down the street again; after some amount of time, they saw a brightly lit sign dangling above a doorway. Pinkie squinted and read the words: “The Sluggish Stallion.” She turned her head to face the others.

“Hey girls, that Sluggish Stallion place sounds great!” she exclaimed.

“Yeah, my hooves can’t take any more of this walking.” Rainbow whined.

“Dashie you can fly remember?” Pinkie pointed out to her.

“Oh yeah. Hah, I wasn’t tired, nope not at all!” Rainbow boasted, flapping her wings and flying alongside them.

“Dash, ya’ll were tired and you know it.” AJ said in a deadpan fashion, narrowing her eyes.

“Hmph.” Dash responded.

                The seven walked into The Sluggish Stallion, it was an inn. Juices and wines filled in color coordinated bottles littered the shelves in the back of the room, accompanied by a bartender and a long table. Tables and chairs were scattered about the room; a musty yet somehow odorless stench was in the air. There were groups of other ponies in the bar, howling and laughing in the corner. The bartender was a stocky stallion, he seemed sluggish with his movements, possibly complimenting the name of the inn, but he carried out his tasks with such ease that it was hard to notice.

                They all walked up to the Bartender slowly, and Twilight raised a hoof and cleared her throat, adding:

“Excuse me sir, my friends and I would like to purchase a room for the night and a bite to eat.” Twilight told him politely.

“Well howdy there lass! So ya want a room and some grub eh? Well the room will be ten bits for the lot of ya, and as for the grub, what do ya want?” The bartender replied, with an accent that was unfamiliar to them.

“What do you have?” Pinkie asked intentively.

“Ho there pink lass, we have vegetable soup, apple fritters, apple pies, tarts, fruits, sandwiches, many choices here at The Sluggish Stallion, yes indeed!” he replied, showing his toothy grin.

“Well, I think we’d all like the vegetable soup, bread, and apple fritters please. Could we also have some grape juice with that?” She responded, then turned to the others and added.

“We all need to recover from that long journey, soup will do the trick. No pony complains. we’re all starving so let’s just have something? Alright?”

“Mhmmm.” The others responded quietly.

“Well alrighty lass, that’ll be thirty bits for all of ya, I’ll be back in a bit, ya should take a seat and cool down.” The bartender mentioned.

Twilight rummaged through her bags and got out the fourty bits she needed. She then proceeded to place them on the table, then walked over to a table in an empty corner of the room, followed by her friends.

“Wow, this place was not cheap to pay for.” Fluttershy murmured.

“Yeah, but at least we have a rather large number of bits all combined from our bags.” Rarity said.

“Yeah, that’s always a good thing ah guess. If we had no bits, ah don’t think we’d even be able ta’ stay here, then we’d be in some cave or something in the forest.” AJ mentioned.

“-And then, I-I sa-*Hic* to the pony, no, that’s my horseshoe!” A pony yelled from across the room, his speech severely slurred.

                Laughter erupted from the other corner of the room, all the ponies over there were tipsy. Probably from the wine. Sunspeed thought. All of the ponies that sat in the other corner of the room had mugs in their hands; their speech was slurred and they were obnoxious, they were all stallions. Fluttershy cowered in fear and covered her ears. Dash put a hoof around her neck and held her close to comfort her. Fluttershy stopped trembling after some time.

“Ugh, those stallions are vile, they have no taste in being mannered! That was very rude of them!” Rarity narrowed her eyes.

“Well what do you expect? We’re in an inn, on a late evening, it’s what? Midnight by now?” Dash told her friends.

“Something like that Dashie, I am not entirely sure.” Pinkie yawned.

“Yeah, I am pretty sure it’s mid-“ Fluttershy started.

“Alright lasses, here’s yer dinner! Vegetable soup, bread, apple fritters, and grape juice fer all of ya!” The bartender interrupted, walking over with the food and placing it down in front of them.

“Thank you!” They all replied simultaneously.

“Yer welcome!”

The aroma of the soup smelled divine, which made the seven friends’ mouths water in delight. They all had to take a moment to take in the sensational smell of the apple fritter that was before them on their plates.

“Oh my, Twi’ I have to say, you got a keen magic to picking the right foods.” Dash said, taking a sip of her soup.

“Golly, this is almost better than the apple fritters back home!” AJ exclaimed.

“This soup is delicious!” Fluttershy said amazed as her ears perked up.

“Heavens this is so good! Twilight from now on your picking the foods we eat!” Rarity mentioned as she took a drink of her grape juice.

“Yeah.” They all remarked in unison.

The seven friends finished their dinner, and asked the bartender where their room was. He trotted up the stairs, the seven girls following him; he made a left turn at the end of the hallway and opened a door. The room was large, tidy and organized. There was a desk in the corner, accompanied by two sofas and there were eight individual beds in the room. The beds were spread apart about twenty inches from one another.

“Well there ya go misses, holler downstairs if ya need anything. Have a pleasant night and enjoy your stay, the washroom is on the other side of this hallway, just across from your room.” The bartender pointed.

“Thank you sir.” Twilight responded as he walked away.

                Twilight closed the door quietly and turned to face the others.

“Well, what do you think we should do tomorrow everypony? What about the SDEH?” she asked.

“Well, we should see if we can look for clues and even ask everypony if they’ve heard of the SDEH. But, can we consult about this tomorrow? I need my rest.” Sunspeed answered.

“Yeah, I’m bushed.” Rainbow said, jumping onto one of the sofas, landing with a slight “Thud.”

“Me too.” Pinkie jumped in, collapsing on a bed.

“Alright, well we should all get some rest then girls. We’ll discuss this tomorrow after we get some shuteye. Goodnight everypony.” Twilight said, stretching then climbing into a bed.

“Night.” The others said climbing into their beds, except for Rainbow who already seemed out-cold on the sofa.

                The seven ponies fell asleep quickly, the inn was quiet and subtle this night. There was no noise or sound heard, except for the occasional clanking of dishes or mugs. The room was dark and the shadows seemed to mingle with the light of Luna’s moon that poured in from the windows of the room.

______________________________________________________________________________________

                Twilight pictured Ponyville in her head, a visual of her hometown. She was having a pleasant dream. The birds chirped and singed, while Celestia’s majestic sun shined. “Twilight..Twilight Twilight…” A voice echoed in her dream. She blinked her eyes, then her eyes froze in horror. The once beautiful world around her turned into a desolate, barren, scarred landscape. Dead trees and burned down cottages littered the once great town of Ponyville, and the river that was in the distance was tainted and foul.

“Twilight….you are not alone this night Twilight…not this time.”

                A picture of the inn room flooded into her head. She saw that the walls were bloodstained and her friends lifeless bodies lied in the beds, not breathing or even making a sound.

“You aren’t escaping from me this time, Twilight.”

                Then, a picture of herself came into view; she was huddled up in a corner, crying in a fetal position. Her hoofs clutched together, and she mumbled to herself furiously.

“Your worst fears of this world, are about to begin…” The voice said again.

Suddenly Twilight, who was still in the corner, stood up. Tears flowed down her face and she gasped for breath. She stood up and yelled as loud as she could:

“You are not going to make this world yours! It’s my world whoever you are, and you can’t take it! I’m not afraid!”

“But you are afraid, I can see it in your eyes Twilight….you are afraid of us, I can feel it with all of my being...Your lips quiver at the act of forming the four letters of the society. The Society of Deceiving Element Harmonics…” The voice laughed evilly and echoed throughout the room.

“No, no you’re wrong! You’re wrong, that’s not true! YOU’RE NOT REAL! NOOOO!” Twilight screamed as she awoke from her slumber, her whole body shaking violently in fear.

“It…it was just a dream…but it wasn’t just that…it was another vision again…” She said aloud.

______________________________________________________________________________________

                Luna’s moon passed quickly that night, disappearing from the sight of all eyes. Celestia’s sun just started to peak over the horizon. An orange light from the sun’s rays pierced the sky. The birds weren’t even out yet, and two ponies were taking a walk in the forest.

“So Lieutenant, any news on the Elements of Harmony?” A pony asked.

“Not yet boss, but I imagine we’re getting close.” He responded.

“Good.” The boss replied.

“Sire, I-I’d like to ask you something. I know I’m your most trusted Lieutenant, and I just wanted to know if I could ask about your life?” The Lieutenant asked slowly.

“Well, you are my most trusted commander, and you and I are close my friend. I will tell you everything.” He replied with surprisingly little hesitation.

                The boss sighed and took a deep breath, then began his story.

“One day when I was just a foal, my hometown was burned down by marauders. My friends and family were slaughtered in front of me with no hesitation, I lost everything and everyone I knew. So for the next five years, I would go to the location where my village once stood and sit there for hours on end and gaze upon it. One day, as I was sitting there looking down on my once beloved hometown, I saw a curious light. I followed it and it lead me to some ancient ruins, and inside the ruins was this Orb. It was a red, menacing orb, that glowed and shined brightly. I picked it up, and the sky and clouds immediately turned dark, it started to rain and ruby red lightning began to strike down around me. Along with the pitter-patter of rain that surrounded the outside world, a final bolt of lightning struck me, and it consumed me.” He paused after a while.

“I was unconscious for some time, and I woke up hours later in the late afternoon. I stumbled back to the new town I lived in that day, and I eventually discovered I could use Telepathy. This is how we will make Twilight Sparkle reach insanity my friend.” He finished.

“Wow, I never knew that sire. I am sorry for your loss you had to go through, but I am grateful that your Telepathy is useful.” He responded, not knowing what else to say.

“Yes, I am too. I want to make those Elements miserable.” The boss grinned.

“Well sire, we should head back to base, we both have some important business to do if I am correct?” The lieutenant said.

“That you are correct; I’ve had enough of a walk for the morning, let’s go.”

It was late morning now, and most of the commanders and recruits were out of the base doing drills. The lieutenant made his way to the meeting room to talk to his boss. He opened the large, reinforced double doors and trotted inside. He closed the doors behind him and turned around.

“Sire?” He said aloud.

                There was no reply; only the Lieutenant stood in the room. There was nothing on the table, except for something curious that drew his gaze. He approached it and it turned out to be a journal entry. He examined it for a short while, and it turned out to be his Bosses’ journal. “If the boss finds out I read this I’m dead! But, I want to know at least what this says.”  He thought.

                He began to read the entry:

“February 26th: It’s been months since I’ve picked up the orb. I cannot describe it, I feel different…not a physical feeling, but a mental one. It resides strong in my heart and soul. Hopefully it doesn’t get too out of hand….Journal, it’s been several hours since I last wrote for this date, and I’ve discovered that I have a mental illness of some sort. I…I am different now, I no longer want to help anypony. I no longer feel saddened by my village’s destruction…instead I wish torment and chaos on everypony…every pony …The orb has given me the power of telepathy, and it seems the orb will drive me mad. I am turning deranged, and every other pony should be too…INSANE…I had a vision…that killing off the Elements or impairing them will make this world burn. Not only will the citizens of Equestria fear me, but by using the blood of the Elements, I can revive Actatrax, an ancient demon of this world. This illness is like a virus, it’s spreading throughout my mind…I cannot stop it, in the time I’ve wrote in this journal now, I am writing insanity and pony over and over…I can’t control it, but maybe I can teach myself to, my mind has a personality of it’s own unless I can stop it…I can spread this madness to every creature out there by following my ingenious vision. I have to revive Actatrax, kill the Elements and take over this so-called Equestria….and I will succeed, no pony can stop me…no pony…