Awakening
Sunset was happily writing in her journal on a saturday morning.
She had planned somethings for this weekend:
Spending the next three days home in Equestria and visit Princess Celestia, Twilight and Starlight.
“Can't wait to see you again. So much has happened in such rapid time.
I guess some time to relax and talk with you and Celestia will help with that.
It feels like ages since the events with the memory stone.
I still can't believe that Celestia don't hold a grudge against me.”
The page began to glow and new text appeared:
“She missed you too, you were gone a long time. Can't wait to see you too.
Write again when you are ready to go through the portal. I will open it for you.”
Sunset closed her book and stored it into her bag.
Strange, no matter how full the bag is, the journal always fits in.
Sunset checked again if she got everything stored in her bag:
phone and charger, not that i need it, sweets for everyone, journal, pen, keys
Looks like im good to go.
She exited her apartment and locked the door.
Outside of the building rain was falling like no tomorrow.
In the distance some lightnings could be seen and thunder could be heard.
I hope the other side is brighter than this.
After ten minutes driving in the rain she pulled into the parking lot of the school.
Luckily there was an area for bikes with some protection against the weather.
As she came to hold, she took out her journal and started to write :
“You can open the portal now Twilight. I'm right in front of it.”
New text appeared after a minute:
“Okay, the portal is ready. See you soon.”
Sunset stuffed the journal back into the bag and walked towards the portal.
As she stood right in front of the portal she looked one more time to the sky.
Now the thunder and lightning was right above her.
She faced the portal again and placed her hand against it.
A grin spread across her face as she felt the magic radiating of the surface.
It's open, time to go.
In the exact moment as she entered the portal and was gone on the one side.
A blue lightning hit the rebuild statue on top of the portal.
The portal shimmered, sparks burning the surrounding area.
The aftermath were black marks on the ground, grass and the socket of the statue.
The portal radiated in an ice cold blue colour and then faded back to the normal stone.
~
On the other side of the portal Twilight awaited the arrival of her friend, but she never appeared.
Normally the trip between worlds takes a maximum of one minute.
What is taking her so long? I can't remove the book from the machine as long the portal is active.
Suddenly a blue spark escaped the portal and hit the machine. It started to smoke and the shut itself down.
Twilight tried to start it again but it couldn't.
Something must be broken or causing a shortcut. I need to fix it fast so Sunset can…
She stopped her thoughts
OH NO NO NO NO SUNSET!
Twilight nearly ripped the machine apart in the sudden disconnection of the book.
“Sunset don't go into the portal. Something broke down and i can't restart it .
Please answer me.” she wrote in a hurry.
NO NO NO!
“SPIKE!”, she shouted as loud as she could. In the blink of an eye the little dragon appeared in the door.
“What´s the mat…”, he was cut off
“NO TIME, Quick a quill and paper.” she said.
The dragon disappeared again and was back in a second with the needed supplies in hand.
“Start writing: Princess Celestia, this is urgent.
Something happened to the portal.
Sunset could be trapped inside it.
I can't open it alone.
Please I need you here as soon as possible.”
The dragon burned the letter.
“So what…”, he got cut off again.
“I DON'T KNOW. SOME ENERGY ESCAPED THE PORTAL AND HIT THE MACHINE!”
“No need to shout, I'm right next to you.“, Spike said as he rubbed one side of his head.
Not even half a minute after burning the letter the room was filled with warm sunlight.
As the light vanished, Celestia emerged into existence.
“What exactly happened Twilight?”, the princess of the sun asked her her used-to-be-student.
“I - I’m not sure. I started the portal as usual.
Then some energy, a electric surge or a feedback, got released from the portal.
It shut itself down and won't come back up again.”, Twilight explained.
Tears started to form in her eyes.
“I tired everything i know but it did not work. If we can't do something, Sunset might-”
“No don't think that. We will find a way to get the portal working again. We will see her again.”
With that Celestia reajusted herself back and faced the portal.
“I have one solution but i want to wait until the current cycle is finished.
The next annual arrives this week. The portal should open itself."
She paused.
"If not we have to try something else.
In the meantime we should search in the restricted area of the library.
Maybe we can find something that might help.”
Twilight took a deep breath.
“Maybe you are right. I hope she is ok.
Spike, I will go with Celestia back to Canterlot and do some research.
If the portal acts strange or Sunset apears write a letter immediatly and I will be back in an instant.
If nothing happens i'm back in three days when the annual opening should take place.”
The dragon saluted as the alicorns prepared for departure.
“You can count on me!”
Twilight collected some, in her eyes, important items and her journal.
With everything packed and ready the alicorns teleported back to the capital.
~
In the remains of destroyed cars, rusted and rotted away over decades.
A little white cube float around… searching something.
Midair it suddenly stopped, over a skeleton.
Out of the centre of the cube emerged a blue light.
"Autsch." ("Ouch.")
The light flicked back off and the search continued.
After a while of floating and searching it stopped again.
This time in front of a pile of snow. Again the light lit up the area, scanning the snow.
A strange robotic sound was heard. Some parts of the cube shifted.
“Ist es möglich?” ("Is it possible?")
Another robotic sound was heard from this little floating cube as it began to glow in brighter light.
The shell broke parts from it's core and circled around it. After a few spins the parts got back in place.
“Hüter.” ("Guardian.")
No response.
“Hüter.” ("Guardian.")
Again.
“Augen auf Hüter.” ("Eyes up Guardian.")
Sunset groaned as she was forcefully ripped out of her dreams by a voice.
It sounded strangely robotic and way to muffled.
With still closed eyes she tried to shift and turn.
Why does everything feel so heavy today.
“Du musst aufwachen Hüter.” ("You have to wake up Guardian.")
What is this? I don't even understand a word. Am i wearing a helmet?
She heard a robotic sound.
Sunset opened her eyes, only to find her vision completely dark.
Snow had gathered on her helmet.
What the...?
As she moved her body into a sitting position the fluff fell from her helmet and she saw light again.
Then she noticed the little cube floating in front of her.
“Ahh -”, she screamed.
The robot didn't react to that at all.
“Endlich bist du wach.” ("Finally you are awake.")
The cube looked kinda happy to see her.
“W - What are you?” She asked with a shaky voice.
“Hmm, Englisch. Dann kannst du mich sicher nicht verstehen. Entschuldigung.”
("Hmm, english. Then you can't understand me. Sorry.")
More sound could be heard form the cube.
“Now you should understand me. You don't know how long i have been looking for you.”
“W-What are you.” Sunset repeated.
“Why are you looking for me? And what happened to my clothes?”
“I'm a ghost. Actually now I am your ghost. You are wearing an armor to protect you against the darkness.
And you, well you've been dead a long time, so you-”
“What do you mean dead ?” Sunset asked.
She looked around and noticed her surroundings.
“What happened? Where are we?” her voice began to increase in volume.
“Shhh, keep your voice down.
Well as you see: as you may or may not have noticed, a lot of things have changed.
You're going to see a lot of things you won't understand.
I really want to tell you everything I know but we have to keep moving.
This is fallen therethory. We aren't safe here. I have to get you to the city.”
The ghost flew a circle around Sunset. “Hold still.”
The cube vanished and Sunset's body shivered. A strange feeling radiated from her chest.
“Oh you are something special.”, the ghost said. Now his voice was a little louder than before.
“You are practically radiating with solar energy. Don't worry i'm still with you. We need to move, fast.”
“What did you do? Where are you?” Sunset asked as she looked around.
“I merged with you. It helps you to control the travelers light."
Another shiver ran down Sunset's back.
"As i said get moving, at the bottom of the high wall should be a door to enter it.
To your right. We won't survive long out in the open like this.”
“What if i don't want to. I have to get home to my friends and Twi…
The portal I was on my.... WHERE AM I?” Sunset began to panic again.
“Calm down. No need to panic. We are in the outskirts of an old cosmodrome, in the heart of russia.”
“How did I ended up here? I was in Canterlot City just minutes ago.
I need to get back. Maybe the portal is still active so i can go back to Equestria.”
“Canterlot City? Equestria? I have nothing in my database about that.
Maybe the cryptarchs or the vanguard in the tower know something about that.
We really should get going now.”
Strange noises were heard.
They sounded different than the sounds the ghost makes, more violent and beast-like.
And they seem to be approaching.
“The fallen. Oh no. Move. Fast.
We can't defend ourselves right now.
You have to trust me with this. Get going.”
Another scream of the creatures was heard.
These really sound dangerous. Maybe i should go where this thing says. It sure knows alot about this place.
Hopefully these guys it mentioned know indeed something… Twilight, what happened?
“Okay ghost. Where do we go?”
Sunset asked.
“Take the path next to the road. At the bottom of the wall is a door.
We should find a way through there.”
With that Sunset focused her vision on the bottom of the wall, searching the door.
She found it quickly and started running.
After the first few steps she noticed something was bouncing against her back.
As she entered the wall she halted and checked.
A backpack? Never seen before. Is it mine but transformed via the portal?
She opened it.
My Journal, at least you are still here.
She smiled and holsted the backpack again.
“What's that? That book radiates in really weird energy.”
“My journal. I can write with a good friend of mine who lives in my homeworld.
I just want to get back.”
“Then we better get to the city to find some answers.
The vanguard, the speaker, the cryptachs and the archives.
We have plenty of available sources.
The chances are really high to find something.”
“Right, where's the next goal?”
The ghost was silent for a moment.
“My scanners can read the energy of a jumpship not far from here.
We need it to get to the city. “
“Ok, so I search for a way to … where exactly?”
“I will see if I can activate a feed into your helmet.
This will take some time."
Sunset started ascending the stairs as it was the only way.
After a few steps the ghost started to speak again.
"By the way, what species are you?
Your body seems human but the pointy ears on your head are new to my database.
And your vital signs show some strange readings.
I can't really heal your wounds if i don't know your blood type.“
Sunset stopped and raised a hand to feel the side of her head.
Indeed she felt pointy pony ears on her helmet, like when she is ponied up.
A compass appeared in Sunset's field of view inside her visor.
With that she began to ascend the stairs again.
“K” Sunset answered.
“What do you mean K.”, the ghost asked confused.
“My blood type. It's K. As i said i don't belong here.
My real form is really different. I am no human, you are correct with that.
I am a pony, precisely a unicorn.”
“Hmm” the ghost answered sounding a little bit confused.
“What?” Sunset asked.
“I did not expect this.
I think never has there been another species except human, awoken or exo as a guardian.
And by far not a unicorn which turned into an anthromorphic human.
But you don't have a horn, do you?”
“No, my normal form has it. When I passed the portal, I turned into a human.
Why exactly I am now a combination of both, I don't know that answer ether.”
Another sound was heard, the sound of these creatures, and a metal sound.
It sounded like they were really close, right above them.
“Keep quiet. We need to find you a weapon before they find us.”, the ghost whispered.
They entered a huge area but Sunset could only see the balcony they were on.
The Ghost appeared next to Sunset and floated over the railing of the balcony.
“Hang tight. The fallen thrive darkness, we won't. We need more light. I will see what I can do.”
The ghost left began to fly higher into the open space in front of the balcony.
After some distance it vanished behind a big piece of metal.
Sunset looked around the platform.
The only ways was the way back or the gate in front of her, but that was closed.
In the hallway behind the gate was a light flickering.
It illuminated barely enough so she could see the corners of something.
By the shape it should be a big box and next to it was something.
The frame looked like… a gun?
Suddenly a loud sound was heard.
Some machines, nowhere to be seen, were starting up. The lights switched on and the gate began to open.
Sunset turned around to see the ghost returning to her side.
Behind the ghost were some red metal drones. On the big pipes that led somewhere higher something began to crawl.
All around the place these creatures began to get away from the light.
“Move! These are the fallen. There are too many for us.”
Sunset turned to the now open gate and grabbed the gun and started sprinting.
“I hope you know how to use that thing.” the ghost said.
“As do I.” Sunset answered.
Author's Note
This is my first story ever written. English is not my first language, so if you find mistakes: let me know so i can correct them. Thanks for reading.
