The Dark Reign

**Quick A/N ::: Thanks to all who are reading the story thus far! A Quick note for all of you, names have been changed for the sake of protecting the identities of the actual people the characters are based off of. Though one of the lead characters share a similar name to my own, this is NOT a Self-Insert!**

*Credit to all Characters respectively include, MLP:FiM to Hasbro and Lauren Faust ::: While the Humans belong to myself!*

**=====**

*Chapter 2: Bronies and Denial*

Tye and Gale pushed another set of shopping carts into the bays of the grocery store they worked in, both of them exhausted, as working in 90 Degree weather is rather exhausting and brutal. Both of them, though not in the greatest shape, are both more than fit to handle it.

Tye, though saying so, has issues with the heat as he isn't the healthiest kid around. He's been sick his whole life and only his Twin Sister, younger Brother, and youngest Sister all look out for him as their parents had disowned him and his Twin for acting against their wishes, and his other two siblings wanted to be closer to them. He has Emerald Green eyes, shoulder length brown hair tied into a small ponytail and is wearing the navy blue t-shirt with kahki shorts uniform along with a traffic vest at the moment.

Gale lives with his father as his mother has long since been divorced from them for years. Him and Tye have been best friends since Tye began working with him only three months after he started himself. He has short, almost shaven black hair and blue eyes. Though built a bit bulkier than Tye, his size is rather intimidating to others. Instead of navy blue, he's wearing a solid blue t-shirt and kahki pants.

These two friends suddenly became best friends one day when talking about various things. They shared various interests, as well as have similar taste in video game genres, but then also had their disagreements in what they liked.

Which leads up to this moment here.

Tye is a Proud Brony.

Gale just doesn't care. Or so he says.

"Dude, you are so denying the fact that you love it!" Tye said with a teasing grin and chuckle.

"DUDE... I just don't care." Gale said, his voice clearly showing he was irritated. "Ok fine. Yeah. Sure! I enjoyed it! But it doesn't mean that I love it!"

Tye only smirked.

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic's huge fandom had literally spread across the planet. Tye discovered it when he saw teasers, but saw no interest in it considering it was just another generation of the original show. That however, was where both him, and the entire fanbase (prior to it exploding) was wrong. He was then convinced by his younger sister to watch it with her and before he knew it, he had fallen in love with not only the series, but with the characters themselves and had eventually, after going through so many phases, finally settled on two favorite characters: Derpy Hooves and Pinkie Pie.

Gale however, isn't as simple minded as Tye is, as Tye had also introduced the series to Gale, but instead of falling for it just like that like Tye did, Gale refuses to believe it's as cool as it truly seems. Yet he had openly admitted that he enjoyed it in the end, even going so far as to claim that Twilight Sparkle is the best of the characters to him.

"That's the problem right there, bro." Tye explained. "You claim you don't care much for it. Yet you specifically claim that Twilight is, according to fans... Best Pony. You can't not be a fan yet still have a favorite and vice-versa."

Gale simply rolled his eyes as they got back to work. Eventually, hours later in the blistering heat, Gale left as his shift ended, and Tye followed suit later that night, not getting home until about midnight. Tye's twin sister was the one to greet him.

"Hey bro. How was work?" she asked as she walked in. She was like a splitting image of Tye. The same hair, besides being slightly longer, same eyes, same face in a sense. The only difference was the slight lack of muscle, a flatter belly, and a more feminine physique.

"Bummer... We were stacked the whole day and night." He said as he plopped onto the couch in the main room. They shared one of the bedrooms considering there was only two rooms in the apartment and only two beds. He and his twin sister share a bed while their youngest sister gets the other room and their younger brother sleeps in the main room on the couch. "Aside from that, I had to stay an extra hour to clean everything else up that never got done."

Tye suddenly had a coughing fit as he struggled to breath. His sister, Kiyochii-Ko, or Ko for short, quickly filled a glass of water and brought it to him. He quickly gulped it down as he gasped for breath.

"I swear... They can't keep putting you out in that heat..." Ko said in concern.

"It's the only source of income I have." Tye said sadly. "You have your drawings, Don has his job, and Lil Sis goes to school."

"Still Tye... You're just as sick as I am... I would hate to get a phone call from them telling me that my brother is in the hospital because you had a severe heat stroke..." It was true. Tye, despite being sick, is only about as sick as Ko is on a good day. Ko was born frail and has just as many health problems as Tye does, only her case had started shortly after she was born: Not Breathing. After they revived her however, she was still in the hospital for a few weeks recovering from a severe fever that was the end result of her birth defect.

"Sis, you know that won't ever happen."

"Tye... I'm just worried about you..."

"I know. I'm beat... It's past midnight. I'm checking my e-mails and going to bed. Good night." With that, Tye got up and went into their bedroom to do so.

Ko could only sigh sadly. She sat down on the couch and looked up to see Don, her younger brother, playing some video games.

"What are you Playing?"

"The New Shooter that came out yesterday." He said flatly.

"Flip to Co-Op. I'd like to blow off some steam."

She grabbed the other controller as Don set up the new game mode. In the bedroom however, Tye was checking e-mails indeed, but just as he finished, he sighed and concluded that he couldn't sleep and turned on the TV to none other... Than the HuB channel. It was the weekend so he didn't to worry about sleep. Also, the channel was having a marathon of... You guessed it, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. He smiled when he saw one of his favorite episodes was on: Griffon the Brush Off. The episode starring Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash as well as Gilda, Dash's old friend from junior flight camp.

Seeing Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie getting along so well reminded him of an old friend years back. He felt as if he had been in Rainbow's hooves before. Which is probably a reason why Pinkie Pie is one of his favorite characters, because she reminds him of his old friend.

He eventually fell asleep around the time the fifth episode of the night started. To which Ko smiled as she climbed into bed with him. She cared deeply for her Twin Brother and He cared deeply for her as well. She stayed up watching the television as she had insomnia worse than he did, only able to sleep about three to four hours at a time and then using three hours during the day to catch up with a nap.

She giggled quietly as the next episode that came on was one of her own favorites, or Two; The Canterlot Wedding Season Two Finale. Her Favorite Characters were Twilight Sparkle and Shining Armor. The reason why is simple: They shared the same strong bond of sibling love that she does with her own Brother, which is why she, like their little sister as well, calls him her BBBFF (Big Brother Best Friend Forever).

Seeing the two characters get along so well always made her smile, up until the big plot twist where Twilight discovers that the Princess Cadence that Shining Armor is about to marry is actually a fake and tries to expose her, but is shot down by Shining when he tells her that she is only acting that way due to the stress of the wedding. Twilight and Shining have their first fight.

*"You can forget about being my Best Mare! If I were you? I wouldn't bother coming to the wedding at all."*

Shining Armor's cold words always struck her hard like lead. And before she knew it, the wedding was over, the show was over, and she was asleep for the rest of the night.

**WwWwWwWwW**

The next day was pretty much like any other weekend for the family of siblings. Ko woke up early enough to start breakfast and Don woke up shortly after and... You guessed it, began playing video games. Their little sister continued to sleep and Tye woke up a few hours later. However, he immediately grabbed his keys and started for the door when Ko noticed.

"Tye-!? Where are you-!?" she started?

"It's Ok!" He turned around with a smile on his face. "I need to run a quick errand for Pops and I'll be back lickety-split!"

Pops was a nickname that the four siblings had given their landlord as he looked nearly identical to a character of the same name from a particular show on TV. Despite this, he was a nice guy, never rushed their rent payments, and even made them laugh by impersonating said character from time to time.

Ko chuckled and sighed as she nodded.

"I guess it can't be helped then if it's for Pops." She shrugged as she finished the last flapjack and placed it on a plate full of them. She cleaned up and went into her and Tye's room to change, coming out later dressed in unusual for her attire.

"Whoa whoa... Skirt...? Tank-top? Ok Ko... What's going on...?" Tye asked raising his eyebrows.

"I needed to pick up some things for tonight's dinner. Plus... Amber said she'd like to join us tonight."

Amber was a friend of Tye's who worked at the same place as him but worked in the automotive's department. She usually comes to hang out with them when she has nothing to do or when Ko says she has something extra special planned for Dinner.

"Huh... Makes sense... Let's go then. Don, watch the place. Tell Pops that this month's payment is on the counter. The Buise envelop."

Don simply grunted in agreement and the twins headed out.

**In EQUESTRIA**

A particular Mint Colored Unicorn Mare was deep in thought as she sat at Sugarcube Corner. An untouched piece of cake sat in front of her. The fork beside it remained clean and also untouched.

"Hey! Lyra! Equestria to Lyra!" said a cream coated, Pink and purple maned earth pony mare across from her who waved a hoof in front of her.

"Huh...?" Snapping back to reality, The Unicorn Mare, Lyra, shook it off and looked at her companion across the table. "Sorry Bon Bon... I was... Thinking again..." she smiled apologetically and shrugged in embarrassment.

Bon Bon simply sighed and smiled back at her.

"You are so hopeless..."

"Oh come on, sis!" Lyra said throwing her arms into the air. "Have a little faith in me with my research!"

"I'm not saying I don't." Bon Bon said as she trotted into the kitchen. "I am just saying that you spend more time on your research than you do in terms of doing your share around the house with chores. I have done everything by myself for the last three weeks ever since you found that lead in the darn book you got from the Canterlot Library!" She obviously sounded frustrated.

Lyra couldn't say anything. She felt guilty. She sighed and got to her hooves, trotted into the kitchen and next to her sister.

"Look, I'm sorry. Ok?" Lyra started. "It's just... I really think I might be onto something now! I can feel it in my hooves!" She twirled around, eyes lit, and gazing out into the light outside. "And once I figure it out, we can finally meet them! I just need to figure out how to open the warp between the wall that separates our worlds and..."

"Lyra..."

"Then we could so share the wonders of our worlds..."

"Lyra!"

"And we could also do things together and get to know each other! Oh my goodness, Bon Bon, it'll be so wonderful when I--"

"LYRA!!!"

Lyra stopped and looked at her sister, who had a look of disappointment on her face. Lyra knew that look. She felt terrible now. She lowered her head to the floor, a single tear slips from her eye, and a sigh excapes her throat.

"Sorry... Maybe... I am getting a little ahead of myself..." she turned around and strted for the living room. "I'll start cleaning up."

Bon Bon watched as her sister left the kitchen. She felt a bit bad crushing her sister's dreams, but in the end, decided it was for the best right now, as they were short on money and just barely making it right now with the jobs the two of them had. Bon Bon with her Candy Store and Lyra working full time at the same place. Bon Bon sighed and looked out into the sky.

"Celestia help me..." she said with a sigh. "Help Lyra..."

**WwWwWwWwW**

The mall that Tye and Ko arrived at wasn't all that special. About six stores, several different small outlets, and as of recently, an outdoor Bazaar Flea Market with fresh produce. Ko went here as Tye headed into the mall. Ko knew exactly what she needed and went by every stall, picking up leaks, pumpkin, potatoes, cabbage, carrots, pinto beans, and celery for the stew she was going to make. She stopped by the Butcher stall as well and picked up fresh cut cow flanks that she would turn into stew meat. Once she finished, she texted Tye letting him know she was taking the car back to the apartment to store everyhing away, then meeting him back in a few minutes. With that, she headed out.

Tye took his time to stop by a pottery store. He walked in and wasn't surprised by the lack of business. He chuckled as he approached the front desk and rang the bell. An elderly woman of no more than seventy entered and approached the desk.

"Well well well... Look at you." she said with a sneer.

Tye simply snickered and took out a white envelop, handing it to her, and sighed.

"There it is. Two hundred and fifty dollars. In full for the vase I broke last month." he said casually.

"Indeed. You haven't changed at all. Always on your word. Everyone else comes first before you." She cackled with a smile. The sheer evil that littered her eyes gone.

Tye smirked, turned around, and started for the exit.

"Now hold on there."

Tye stopped and looked back at her. She took the envelop, sorted through the cash, took half of it, and placed the rest of it on the counter.

"I have more than enough for myself. You and your family need it more than me."

Tye sighed.

"I disagree. I said I would pay you back in full. Just keep it. Please..." Tye's voice shook.

"Now you listen here." she said with a firm tone that obviously scard him, making him stop dead. "Now... I know exactly what you are going through... And I only offer you this advice. Take what you can or what you are offered. You will be surprised as to how much you can accomplish."

Tye took much thought into this. He took the the money she offered back to him and put it away. He said thank you to her and left. Completely oblivious to the smile she gave him. Not staying long enough to hear her last words.

"You'll get your wish soon, boy. Very soon."

He kept up with his errands; Picking up a pair of shoes and a new magazine for his landlord, picking up a new game that was just released for his younger brother, and picked up a few new notebooks for his younger sister for school. Then, while he waited for Ko to arrive back, he went into the Hot Topic and went straight to the obvious section: The Brony Shelf. There, he scanned all the T-Shirts, vests, jackets, and even random pieces of jewelry that consisted of Wristbands, sunglasses, and even earings and studs designed for guys. He settled on a wristband and the sunglasses, both of which said 'Brony' and '20% Cooler' on them. After paying, he conveniently slipped the band on and rested the sunglasses on his shirt collar. When he walked out, he waved down Ko, who happily skipped over to him.

"Got some personal things, huh?" She giggled.

"Yeah. Couldn't help myself this time." He chuckled.

They laughed as they headed back out to the car. Tye stopped as he reached for his door and looked out onto the visible horizon beyond the mall, noticing an odd formation of light...

"Hey Ko... Look at that..." he pointed out to the sky.

"Oh wow... I've never seen anyhing like that before..." she saw it too.

An odd looking rainbow of some sorts in a perfect ring. But the odd thing wasn't the rainbow ring that caught Tye's eye, but the odd purple orb within the center... However, as quickly as it appeared, both the orb and the ring vanished before their eyes.

**OoOoO**

Lyra finished her chores and went to her study, where she cleaned up her notes and rearranged them, placing them in the proper files; Proper techniques to walking habbits, optical abilities and advantages to hand-eye coordination, and even eating habbits to bodily functions, Lyra had everything in her research squared out perfectly and accordingly. Her research was like a second talent and life to her.

"If only Bon Bon understood how I felt about it..." she muttered sadly.

She looked outside and sighed.

"Oh Celestia... Please... Grant me the strength to keep going..." she said quietly. "Please... I just want to meet one of them... Just one... And I'll put all of my research off for good... Not only for me... But for Bon Bon too..."

Not really expecting an answer, she sighed again, and finished cleaning up. Supper time that night went by quietly. Neither of the sisters saying anything to one another. Bon Bon, though obviously worried about Lyra, couldn't help but still feel irritated at her sister. After all... Humans were just a myth to Ponies, right? At least... That's what Lyra's research says.

When Lyra finished, she got up, thanked Bon Bon for the Meal, and put her dishes away, going straight to her room and locking the door. She plopped herself onto her bed and fell right to sleep. Though Dreamless, or so it felt, Lyra only wished in her sleep that she could really meet...

A real Human Being.

**VvVvVvVvV**

Ko woke up.

She looked around and found herself not in bed at her apartment, but in a strange... Crystal cavern... She knew this place well... It was a place she never wanted to dream of...

The same caverns that the Changling Queen trapped Twilight Sparkle and Princess Cadence in the Finale of the show.

She got to her feet and looked around. The cavern was barely lit by a stray source of light in the distance. But it was bright enough for her to see everything. She knew no one was there, so she didn't bother crying for help. She also knew it was a dream, but couldn't wake up.

This is where it scared her... Even more when she heard the snap!

"Who's there!?"

She heard a shuffle, looked around, and saw movment in the darkness. She tilted her head curiously and moved toward it. Her footsteps muffled by the fact she was barefoot.

"Umm... Hello..?" she said quietly, but loud enough for her visitor to hear.

The figure stepped out, almost as if it were... Terrified... Ko gasped at the sight of this being. The being did too. But before Ko could say anything, the figure spoke first.

"I... I can't believe it!" It shouted with glee. "A Really REAL Human!!!"

**VvVvVvVvV**

The next day of work was an early one for Tye. But he was ok this time because it wasn't a scorcher and Gale came on shift two hours later. There, they discussed many of their favorite topics. However, one topic shocked Tye when it came from Gale.

"So dude. I was thinking... I did it alot last night, and decided, I just don't care." he said proudly.

Tye raised an eyebrow as if knowing exactly where this was going.

"Oh?"

"Yeah. And I decided?" he said with a smirk. "I don't care what people think of me! I like the show, ok!? Twilight is an awesome character! I love them all! The show is unusual, but it's enjoyable! I can't help but love it!"

All Tye could do was chuckle. He patted him on the back and sighed.

"Welcome to the Herd, Brony."

"Oh SHUT UP!!!" Gale said jokingly.

The friends laughed the rest of the day and wound up hanging out later that night after their shift ended, meeting up at the mall, and waving down Ko and heading to a Japanese Restaraunt to eat. After ordering, they were treated kindly to a Fried Tofu Appetizer, to which Ko happily enjoyed being a vegetarian as Gale also enjoyed the Tofu, but Tye chowed down on Toka Sushi. There, as they waited for their food to arrive, talked about the usual stuff:

Work, money, days off, video games, anime, and of course... Ponies.

"I really love Shining Armour and Twilight Sparkle myself too. But if I could choose one..." Ko said with a teasing smile. "It's Definitely Shining."

Gale rolled his eyes at the irony. He wasn't attracted to Ko in any way and vice versa, but she always knew how to make him blush for no reason. Something he couldn't stand, but could tolerate.

"Well whatever the case, you two..." Tye said with a grin. "We can all three agree that Derpy is Best Pony."

The two nodded in agreement and muttered so. Their food then came shortly after. Tye had ordered Beef Yakisoba and a Ramen Bowl, Ko ordered a Tofu Pasta made with Spinach and steamed vegetables with a side of white rice, and Gale ordered terriyaki pork with fried rice. They enjoyed their food talking about the upcoming and highly anticipated season three of My Little Pony and expressed what they hoped to see in it. Eventually, time passed and they went to see a movie. Shortly after, they hit the arcade, went to a clothing shop so Tye could buy more shirts for work and Ko could get some new skirts. Gale stopped by the game store and grabbed a few games he had been looking for. The end of the day finally came around and they parted ways.

Tye and Ko got home and Tye went straight to sleep, beat from the busy day. Ko however stayed up for awhile to play some games with Don. There, she thought hard about some of the things they talked about. Shining Armour being her favorite character because he reminded her of Tye, the food they ate, the different patterns of her skirts, etc. She was pretty beat too. But even so, couldn't get to sleep as easily. Thus she played games, watched TV, or even read books to help out. Finally tired, she said goodnight to Don and climbed into bed with Tye after changing into her night dress. Falling asleep instantly.

Tonight, she had that same dream again.

"Oh my Gosh! You're a Human! A Really Real Human!" The same strange figure would say... And the two of the would sit down and converse.

Only for them both to wake up the next morning.

In their own worlds.

**TiTiTiTiT**

Lyra pushed herself up and out of bed breathing quickly. She looked around, calmed down, and let out a deep breath of relief. But when she felt a warm trickle run down her face, she quickly moved her hoof to see what it was; a tear.

"Oh..." She said sadly.

She wiped her tears away and got up out of bed. She hauled herself to the shower room and cleaned up. Once finished, she packed up her saddle bag and left a note on the counter.

=====

Bon Bon,

Gone into Canterlot to run some errands. I need some air because I couldn't sleep well last night. I need to speak with an old friend. I'll be gone all day so don't wait up. Be back ASAP.

Your Sister,

Lyra

=====

She boarded the Express and waited for it to take off. Here, she went over her research once again. She pulled out her papers and looked over them. Everything she had found thus far just wouldnt add up properly.

*Mythological creatures of Equestria: Human Beings, Bipedals without fur, horns, or wings, grounded apes/monkeys that assisted Earth Ponies in the creation of Equestria*

It was all too fascinating to ignore. Lyra began her research when she was a younger Filly. Around the same time her friend Twilight Sparkle had been accepted into Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. She was a former student as well, but she graduated about a year prior to Twilight being sent down to Ponyville for her lessons in Friendship Research. Lyra decided to move there as well about a week after Twilight did and made regular visits to the Library to converse with her former classmate and since then, continued her studies on Humans.

She was about to move on in her research when she suddenly heard a familiar voice with a rather Timid Tone to it.

"Lyra...!? Is that really you!?"

Lyra look up the aisle to see Fluttershy trotting towards her with a shy but happy smile on her face.

"Oh, hello Fluttershy. What brings you here?" She said with her own friendly smile.

"Oh... Uh... I'm running an Errand for Twilight..." Fluttershy said as she blushed. "She's been doing some studying with the Doctor alot recently and they came across something that required more research... But because Derpy and her daughter Dinky is staying with them, Twilight didn't want to feel rude walking out on them so suddenly, so I decided to run this errand for her."

"You're such a wonderful friend, Fluttershy." Lyra said kindly, which made Fluttershy squeak shyly, but smile anyways. "What is this errand you're running for her?"

"Oh! I'm going to the Canterlot Castle Library to look for a list of books on some things that Twilight and the Doctor requested."

"What kind of books?"

The shy mare reached into her saddle bag and pulled out a list, unrolling it carefully with her nose on the seat. Lyra's eyes went wide when she the Titles of the numerous books as a newfound glint of hope was lit in her heart.

"Equestria's Guide to Mythological Creatures, Humans: A Guide to the Hope that Died with Age, Humans and their Culture!?" Lyra continued on through the list and took a moment to breath. "Oh Fluttershy! This is amazing! Does the Canterlot Library really have all of these books!?"

Fluttershy shrugged.

"I'm not all that sure myself... But Twilight gave me the sections for all of them too. I have to take all of these and bring them back for her and the Doctor."

Lyra stopped for a second, her ears perking up, and now suddenly filled with a new question: What does the Doctor want to know about Humans?

"Why is the Doctor assisting her?"

"Oh... well... They said something about looking into seeing if they could find out more about his world. To see if it has any connection to ours and the Elements of Harmony." Fluttershy Explained the best she could from Memory. "Apparantly the Doctor isn't originally from Equestria."

Lyra was confused now. If the Doctor wasn't from Equestria and they were looking for information on his 'Own World' by using these books, then does that mean...?

Is he...? No... He can't be... He's a pony just like me and Fluttershy... Lyra thought. But then the question remained: Is he a Human?

"He... Can't be..."

***Next Time***

A Dark Secret of the Elements of Harmony... Can something like this really Exist?

Is Princess Celestia really hiding something this big from me and the others?

Is she doing this for our own good? Or is there something behind this secret that she just doesn't want us to find out?

And what's with the sudden appearance of some of the more familiar ponies we see everyday?

Especially the chances of that DJ and the Cello Playing Mare that just arrived showing up at the Library?

Is there a connection between them and this secret?

If so... What is it?

Next Time: Music, Secrets, and Discoveries: The Doctor's Confession

**IiIiIiIiIiI**

A/N ::: Hey everypony! This is Author Kiyo here! I wanted to apologize for the wait on Chapter 2 as this one was very hard to write. Writer's block hit me hard and it was very hard to write something that could possibly grab your attention.

The path here I'm working towards is obviously a shocking revelation for Lyra, as she will wind up being one of the key characters in terms of finding herself and deciding what is best for both her and her friends.

I also wantto apologize for the lack of action at the moment. But I Pinkie Promise you all that Chapter 3 will be the Discovery Chapter. So things will definitely be picking up from there!

Look forward to it, k Please?

Best Wishes to you all!