Chapters Prologue: Yet Another World
He sighed. Who is this person you might wonder? Well, at this point, even he did not know truly. His people however referred to him as Lord Blacklight, but he was never one for formalities.
Walking down into the makeshift camp that his people had set up for the time being, he saw them all stop what they were doing and bow as he walked
"Equestria, a land inhabited by talking colorful ponies." a robotic voice told him in his head. "Great, it is cheerful." He was moving around the globe seeing different countries. "Abyssinia, a land of talking humanoid cats. Farasi, a land of talking zebras. The Griffon Kingdom, should be obvious." He paused at that. "The Dragonlands, also should be obvious."
He rotated the globe back to Equestria, and studied it for what seemed like hours. "Hmm? Relations to other kingdoms?"
"Would you like to assume the form of the people living there?"
As the void encased his whole sense of reality around him slowly started flowing into his body, he said, "Well, here we go again."
Author's Note
Hope you enjoy the story!
~Signing out, Moonlit Beat, Lore Sponge, whichever you know me by, if you know me at all.
It was a normal day in Equestria. No avatars of the night trying to steal the sun, no beings of pure chaos messing things up for everyone, no changeling queen trying to steal the love of the whole country. Well, there was one thing... as the whole world got up for the morning, they noticed something very off about the sky. It was completely empty. Not in a state of eternal night like what people thought originally, blaming Princess Luna again. But, the light from the sun was still shining, even though the sun was nowhere in sight. Both Princesses tried moving their each respective celestial bodies, and even though they could not be seen, they could sense their magic, and still somehow move them.
And so all of Equestria was in a state on the verge of panic, even though the sun and moon were changing the light cycle, no other problems occurred, crops still grew, weather still changed, and this went on for about a week until a certain wanting-to-be wonderbolt, Rainbow Dash, tried flying into it. Now she expected to just break through and save the sky, and well... that didn't work out so well. As she flied, the darkness returned the favor, and reached out of the air and struck her down. Now no damage was harmed to her, as it was not a heavy blow, but it was enough to knock her off balance, and she fell quite a bit before she regained it. Everyone after that was more wary of the darkness in the sky.
On the thirteenth day of the pitch black skies, a royal guard noticed that the horizon had changed. Back to normal. Not the whole sky, but small slivers around the mountains. He reported his findings to the captain of the guard, who reported it to all three princesses, as they were all there. The princesses were happy to hear the news, meaning that perhaps this would all just... go away in time. As the darkness thinned around the horizon, quite a few noticed that it was centered over Everfree Forest, and was falling down towards it.
This realization, is that, the parts that were removing from the skies, were concentrating over the Everfree. Now some ponies were concerned that someone was casting some sort of spell that caused this, letting a powerful being enter this world to wreak havoc. Zecora was contacted by Twilight Sparkle to see if anypony was found in the forest, but she reported none. As the sky returned, the shadow slowly formed a giant orb over Everfree Forest, and there it sat for three days, until it started to move. Orb to diamond, diamond to spikes, spikes, to a pair of wings, wings to orb. And so it repeated for another week, shifting its form every second of it.
Until, it started forming center, and concentrating even more, forming a mixture of all four shapes, and somewhat resembling a figure. The only photo that could be found of the figure before it fell into the darkness of the forest, showed a large pony, with the antlers of an elk, the horns of both a kirin and a unicorn, four pairs of wings, one bird, one clear like an insect, and six legs, all with a strange pointed end, and with no colors but the darkness of the sky, except its eyes, which were the colors of pure light. The photo however was very shaky, and was taken from far away, so as far as anypony knew, this photo could be fake.
But afterwards, everyone could feel it. Pain, sorrow, unlike anything they had ever felt from any source, not even Nightmare Moon could compare to the pain whatever it felt was experiencing. Everfree Forest was no longer entered for another reason, and anyone who passed could feel the burden of it.
Chapter 2: The Dark Deer of the Everfree
As weeks passed by, Everfree Forest became somehow worse. Now, it was known far and wide the danger it had already entailed, like Timberwolves, but after the black sky, it became… mentally exhausting the whole time you were even near it. Ponies reported feeling a sense of intense sadness and loss, and would no longer go near it, and other reported seeing a giant black elk in the forest as they passed. The residents who lived in the nearby town of Ponyville were nervous that something, someone, would come out of that forest to hurt them, and their friends.
“What would you have us do Celestia?” Luna asked her sister, “We must do something about whatever is in that forest!”we wielded the elements, and if Discord simply did not just sit on his throne at the time, we would not have been able to defeat him!” Celestia yelled, and as she took a deep breath, “Don’t tell me you cannot feel that? That sorrow, that anguish. Whatever it is, it can feel, and its in more pain than anypony has ever felt, even you.”
Dear Princess Celestia,
We have an emergency, Zecora has just arrived at my doorstep with an urgent message, but will not say anything until both you and Luna have arrived to confirm that… whatever she saw was not possibly real.
Sincerely yours, Twilight Sparkle
“What could have happened?” Luna asked her sister as they flew by carriage to Ponyville. “Hopefully…” she said as she turned to her sister, “Nothing dangerous.” As they pulled up to the library, the royal sisters could swear they felt something staring right at them. As soon as they stepped through the door, they saw Zecora, in a panic not befitting her past calmness. “Princess Celestia, I’m glad you got here as soon as you could.” Twilight said, her nose stuffed in a history book, with dozens of history and mythology books scattered around her. As she finished the book, with her hair in a mess, she said, “Sorry for the mess, but I was seeing if there was any history on what this could be.”
Author's Note
Sorry if Luna's dialouge is off, I have a hard time with the 'thees' and 'thous'
Chapter 3: Sound of the Bells
It was a somewhat normal day for Zecora, even if something was out in the woods around her. She got up from her bed, and decided to go get some mushrooms for her potions. She could feel it as soon as she walked out the door. The air around had seemed... heavier, and the light looked as if it was trying to escape where it landed. She could feel the pain of the forest, the trees themselves were screaming a silent scream. She stepped out of her house, and stared looking for those mushrooms.
As she walked around, she noticed more changes. The whole forest was silent. Now this was not uncommon, but every once in a while you would normally hear something. But not today, the whole forest was holding its breath. There was a loud snap from behind her, and she turned to see... nothing but forest. Somehow the forest was even more silent now. She grew nervous, and she felt as if something was watching. But there could be no delay, if all the creatures were not around, this was an opportune time to gather ingredients, especially those mushrooms. She kept walking into the darkness of the woods, looking for anything she could use for her brews. But after hours she had still found nothing, nothing good at least. Everything seemed rotten or dying, like a disease had fallen upon the forest. There was a sound. Not close, but unfamiliar to her, like a thousand large bells all ringing at the same time. She grew still, and slowly turned to see what was making the sound, hoping it was nothing but sounds in her head. Zecora still saw nothing… close. Out in the distance, she saw what seemed to be a wall of darkness. tried to walk closer to it, and saw it was slowly approaching. Zecora ran. She ran faster, and the sound of the bells was slowly getting louder. She saw a stream, and made a sharp turn, almost falling due to her speed, to run with the current. Zecora knew it led out of the forest and towards her home. But the sound got louder, and more intense, she could feel it underneath her hooves, slowly approaching her, faster and faster. Running faster than she had ever before in her life, Zecora saw her home, her nice, safe home, and bolted to it, experiencing an unnatural dread. The sound stopped. But as she reached the door, and turned to close it, she saw it. A massive black deer, towering over her. The light itself seemed to run from the area, and she could not define any details about the stag… except its eyes. Giant silver orbs that seemed to glow when put around its pitch black coat. It was bigger than her house, and its giant antlers looked as if they could break the sky, but the eyes frightened her, their blank color and emptiness that nothing alive could hold. It raised its head, and the sound of the bells were emanating from its mouth as it screamed to the sky its sorrowful song, shaking her very mind and soul. At that very moment she could feel all the pain she has ever felt in her life, dark memories brought back by the sound of the bells. As Zecora curled into a ball and tried to block out the noise, knowing this was some sort of spell. It stopped, and as she looked up to see the monster of a deer, and saw nothing. It was gone just as quickly as it appeared. But she would never forget that painful song, and those merciless eyes. She stood up shakily, and slowly walked to Ponyville.
“Even though it's pupils I could not see… I felt its eyes staring down upon me.” Zecora finished. The sisters looked at her in shock. “And so I decided to come down here, even though I was still trembling in fear.” They both sat down to process what they had just heard, both due to how concerned they were, but also because it was hard to understand the whole story in rhyme.
Chapter 4: The Darkness Inside
Day 28
I knew what I was a long time ago. A monster. A freak. I have long since accepted that no one would ever care for my people and me, and that they would always view us as monsters. But the people of this world are given fear by my curse… I wonder why. The curse has never given out fear before… maybe because it knew that they could accept us. But not anymore, they do not trust me. I have scared a whole town into panic. I should have never let my curse decide what I look like. I have been living in a cave for the past month. A large boulder was placed in front of it, for whatever reason. A small pool of water is in the middle of it, and sometimes when I look at my reflection I can see it staring back at me, with an intelligence that a reflection should not hold. I won't be looking in the water anymore.
He shut the book. He was resting in the middle of a large cavern, while he scouted the vicinity. He found the cave as soon as he fell in the world, and had decided to sleep there until Polaris and the rest could come forth from the void. He hated it. Deep inside himself he knew that this cycle would never end. He would never find happiness or satisfaction from life, and even worse he had to drag them along with him. They never complained however. Never rebelled, never caused trouble. That is why they were never truly human, or whatever they would be called. Most people would just call them Voidkin, abominations of darkness that were made to kill. But he knew better. They were kind. They only defended. But the people of the worlds deemed them monsters and declared war on their kind. That is why he hated it. The only people that he could converse with were never truly intelligent. But it mattered not, for he could not give up. Not because of the curse, but that contributed. But behind him knowing that it would never end, he knew that somewhere he would find a way to break his curse, and he and his people would be free.
In the corner of the cave was a small black sphere. And out of it had Polaris finally come out.
“Lord Blacklight…” she said, which startled him. Her new form to fit this world was definitely the strangest he had ever seen. She became a small blue pony, with streaks of pink, light green, and cream in her mane, with the symbol of the star she was named after on her flank. It looked like she had both wings and a horn, but as he looked at one, the other he could no longer see in his peripheral vision. Well, small to him, but he assumed that she was average for their kind.
“Your form fits you, my lord.” She said, staring at the giant deer-monstrosity that laid before her.
“No. Do not call me your lord, I don't deserve it. And this form has been nothing but trouble, the locals think I am a monster… and maybe I am.” he said, before standing, which shook the ground. “I am going for a walk, If anyone comes through make sure they don't leave the cave.” He stepped outside the cave and started walking.
After about an hour, he noticed, a small figure in the distance. As he approached, he slowly felt his body go numb, and he blacked out. The next thing he knew, he was on the edge of the forest, with what looked like a zebra running to the nearby town. “What just happened. I can’t black out unless… my body takes over.” he thought to himself. “Void! What did you do?” he asked his body, and it responded. “Don’t blame me Heart… Curse was the one who did that, not me, and of course Light did not try to stop it.” He sighed. Slowly walking back to the cave, he wondered what Curse did to that zebra. “Whatever it did, it was not good.” As he made it back to the cave, he noticed quite a few pitch black shapes on the outskirts of the cavern. He walked up to Polaris, and gave her a message. “You will go to the nearby town, and try to reason with whoever lives there, maybe we can get a second chance.” She nodded, and started walking away. “Don’t even think about harming anyone, I know how defensive you are about me, but you can’t injure those who don’t understand us!” She did not respond, and walked in the same direction as the zebra from before.
Author's Note
If you have any questions tell me now, they will be answered after the next chapter.
Chapter 5: Maw of the Void
Why does he make me do this? We don't need them, we never have. Our people are strong enough to claim this land for ourselves… but there is nothing I can say to him. He is the only one who truly cares about me. But I wish he was not so passive. And how did these ponies become the rulers? In every other world their slaves to their masters, and there are dozens of predators, it makes no sense. At least we’ll be out of that forest soon, it's too lively for my taste. Gods, I'm so hungry… it won't be anytime soon that we can eat animals again, with our herbivore bodies and all. How I miss it, the fear that they hold as I chase them. Lord Blacklight never approved though. No matter, my job is to arrive at the town of ‘Ponyville’, how uncreative. It would be like a town of dogs being named ‘Dogtown’. Without any paths in this forest, it's quite hard to find a way out. Wait… I can hear water, maybe there's a river nearby. Is that… a house by the river. It looks like it tried to bury itself underneath the earth, but not totally. What sort of ripoff hobbit hole is this? At least there's a path now… I don't enjoy walking around in an empty forest.
Her primal instincts kicked in. There were animals in that house… maybe no one would notice. She peered through the window and saw a rabbit. Perfectly white, groomed, and lazy. The best prey she could hope for… “No.” she thought, and shook her head, “Lord Blacklight would never forgive me for killing someone's pet… gods i’m so hungry though.” She kept walking down the road, trying not to think about eating the plump rabbit. She slowly could see buildings in the distance, and decided to fly as it would be faster. As she started to flap her wings, the wings were much more powerful than she thought, and went flying straight into a building. A loud crack came from both her body and the building as the wind was knocked out of her. “DAMN IT! This pain is so intense… can I actually feel pain in this body with no resistance!?” she thought as she tried to breath again. She could see colorful shapes crowd around her, and whispers broke out around her. “Who is she?” one of the blobs said. “How is she still awake, even Rainbow Dash would pass out if she flew into a building at that speed?” another said. She stood up, with an immense expression of anger on her face. “Where… are… your leaders?” she asked, almost yelling. “Pardon?” a yellow blob asked. “WHERE ARE YOUR LEADERS!?” Polaris yelled, sick of the stupidity that these ponies were showing. Everyone around her backed off, and there was a gasp. “Is s-she an Alicorn?!” one of the blobs asked, as Polaris’s vision cleared.
“No way, she only has a horn.” one of the ponies said.
“Horn? I think you mean wings.”
“Wings? Horn? She has neither!” another said, and the crowd broke into argument. “Horn! Wings! Neither! Earth Pony! Unicorn! Pegasus! ALICORN!” they all screamed, and once again Polaris yelled. “Answer the question!” she yelled, but nobody heard. The fury in her bones started to erupt outwards, and they all grew silent as the newcomer started turning a darker shade. “Answer the question… OR I SWEAR NONE OF YOU WILL LIVE TO DO SO!” she yelled, and erupted into an intense rage. “What is going on here!?” someone asked, and Polaris turned to see a horse. Well, a large pony, with wings, a horn, and a mane that shined with the colors of light. The crowd went still, and the large pony turned to Polaris and said, “I was told you were looking for me.” Polaris started to laugh, and grew more louder and larger as time went on. They all looked at her in shock. “You!? You are the one who governs these ponies!? Hahaha, what a joke! You’re only about as powerful as me!” she laughed, and they all went nervous. “Who are you?” Celestia asked. The laughter stopped, and she turned more serious and calm. “I am Polaris, first creation of Lord Blacklight, ruler of the purity of the Void! I was sent to speak to you.” she exclaimed for all to hear in a proud tone. “Blacklight? Never heard of him, must be some foreign ruler of lesser power.” one of the guards accompanying Celestia spoke, and Celestia looked at him in shock. “You… would dare insult my ruler… ” Polaris said quietly. “Go back to him, we have our own problems, and we don’t need another country to help!” another guard said. He felt a hoof on his throat. “Speak one more insult to him… and i’ll cut out your tounge.” Polaris said, now threatening him. “Who is your lord?” Celestia asked, trying to defuse the situation. She lowered her hoof, and turned to her. “Well, at least someone around here has some manners! You have all deemed him, ‘The Dark Deer of the Everfree’ if I remember correctly.”
“You… are his creation?” somepony in the crowd asked. “But you look just like a normal pony.” She responded to this comment by removing her wings. “How?! Are you a Changeling!?” the same pony asked.
Author's Note
Sorry about that un-smooth transition in the beginning, but her thoughts are important to her character, and I have issues with the whole perspective thing.
~Moonlit Beat
Chapter 6: Four of the Void
“I will return in three days, be prepared by then.” Polaris said. “For what reason must you leave?” Celestia asked as Polaris walked back into the woods. “By law of our people, all four of us must be together if an exchange of cultures is commencing.” Polaris responded. “Four?” Celestia tried to ask, but she was already gone. Polaris returned to the cavern, and found Blacklight gone, along with everyone else. “You missed them Polaris.” a voice in the caverns told her. “They left yesterday to start construction.” Polaris hated her, Canis, the one who hides in the shadows for Blacklight. “Why are you here?” Polaris asked in a fake sincerity. “Lord Blacklight tasked me to wait for you.” Canis said as she walked out of the cave, in her new form. “Still a wolf, Canis? How unoriginal.” Polaris commented. “A resident of the nearby country? Maybe you should be yourself for once.” Canis said. “At least I have a use.” Polaris smirked. “At least I don’t pander around Lord Blacklight hoping that he will fall in love with me.” Canis replied, before disappearing into the shadows.
Polaris thought about ripping her throat out next time she saw her, but decided to look for the new Steamvoid. “And I already know about the meeting, just so you know.” Polaris heard as she walked away from the cave, leaving the now empty cave. “Steam… steam, steam, steam… where is it?” Polaris asked herself, before noticing small white wisps in the sky. “There it is.” Walking to the steam in the sky, she started to hear the sound of hammers. “Home, sweet home.” Steamvoid, a technological marvel built by the Voidkin, which sadly moves with them. “I’m back!” Polaris yelled at the city, and everyone turned to greet her. “Lady Polaris! How went the diplomacy with the nearby country.” a citizen asked. “Well as always, but the four of us need to get together, do any of you know where Arcturus and Sirius are?” “Sirius is with Lord Blacklight, and Arcturus is in his tent.” an elderly Voidkin replied. Polaris bowed, and went to look for Sirius.
He was much more tolerable than his sister in Polaris’s opinion. Sirius was tasked to deal with matters concerning the people, land, and Lord Blacklight’s well being. “Lord Blacklight? Are you in here?” “He went out for a short walk to Polaris. What was it you needed?” Sirius asked, reading a book about the natives. “Doing your research I see. Fitting for the Mind of the Void. I assume your sister told you?” Polaris responded. “Of course, I would like to meet these ‘Princesses of the Sun and Moon’, but the moon one was banished… shame”. “She returned quite recently actually, the book must be a couple years old.” Sirius looked at the book cover, and then tossed it into the fire. “It’s useless then, old information is useless information after all.” He paused for a moment, and turned to her.
She could see Arcturus’s tent in the distance, and she flew, being more careful this time. It was a large tent, made of brown cloth, and inside she could hear snoring. “Arcturus! Wake up, it's the middle of the day!” she yelled inside the tent. There was a rumbling inside, and a large brown bear walked out. “Polaris! It's been a little while! What reason do you have for visiting me this time?” he asked in a kind voice. “Meeting with the nearby kingdom.” His expression grew annoyed. “Very well…how long do we have?” he asked her. “Three days… and were really waiting on Canis.” “Are you really?” a voice said behind her. Polaris turned to see Canis sitting on a tree branch, in a more humanoid form this time. “Canis! Long time no see!” Arcturus exclaimed, waving up at her. “I could say the same.” she replied, jumping down. “Were actually waiting for the kingdom itself, they need to prepare questions, where we would be doing it, such things.” “Well, let the waiting commence!” Arcturus said, before going back into his tent and promptly falling asleep.
Celestia grew nervous. Polaris would be returning today with her allies for an interview where her, her sister, and reporters would ask them questions. But she had no idea what kind of people her allies would be, or what questions they should ask. Zecora had still not returned to the Everfree after the incident, and had been staying in Twilight’s library for the time being. Any minute they could arrive, and both Celestia and Luna felt as if they were not ready to meet them. Looking down the road, she could see faint figures in the distance, one looked like a pony, one was large and heavy, and the others looked very alike, but also very different. “Here they come, get everyone ready.” Celestia told a guard, and went off to tell everyone that they had arrived. As they got closer, Celestia could make out the figures. The large one was a giant brown bear, covered in heavy leather armor, gilded with gold, and carried a large sword on his waist. The similar ones looked like Abyssnians, but were more wolf-like. One wore clothes that would fit a nobility, had small glasses upon his muzzle, and held a very thick, leather bound book in his hand, which he was reading. The other wore silver and black armor, like that of a knight, covering most of her body, and a small, thin blade on her side. Polaris, the last of the four, was now very clearly an Alicorn, with small trinkets on her body, with light, black robes covering the rest. “I hope everything is prepared for our arrival, Princess Celestia!” she could hear coming from Polaris’s lips as she walked down the road. She could see the male wolf say something to the bear, and it laughed loudly. Polaris approached the Princess, and bowed. “I trust everything is ready?” “Yes, follow me.” Celestia replied, nervously walking to where they set up the interview. There were chairs for her and her sister, and some chairs were pulled up for the group. Reporters and interviewers gathered around as it had begun. “Please, introduce yourselves” the coordinator asked the group, and they did so. “I am Polaris, Ambassador for the Lord, Maw of the Void. I am the ambassador for Lord Blacklight, and to one who deals with outside affairs.” Polaris told, and there was scribbling in the crowd. “I am Canis, Knight for the Lord, Eyes of the Void. I keep our citizens safe, and make sure our allies are still allies.” the silver armored wolf said, in a very respectful tone, and there was even louder scribbling. “I am Sirius, Steward for the Lord, Mind of the Void. I am the Lord’s right hand, all that he asks of me I shall do. I’m also the most cultured of the group.” the male wolf said, and the rest of them sighed at the comment. “I am Arcturus, General for the Lord-” “General!? Do you plan to attack us!?” one of the reporters asked. “No, I make sure that I end the fights that others start with us. Do not worry.” he said in an annoyed tone. “Ok, thank you. Now, introduce yourselves.” the coordinator told the princesses. “I would like to point out that we are not all here. Cadence could not make it. To the point, I am Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria.” Celestia introduced herself to the group. “I am Princess Luna, Celestia’s sister.” “Ok, all introductions are in order, are we going to go down the line in questions? First, Celestia?” “Where is your Lord?” she asked. “He is currently in mourning, he will not be seeing him for a small while.” Sirius replied, before he asked a question.
“Ask him myself?” Luna asked. “We… don’t know the full story, and what we could tell you would make him sound like a bad person.” Arcturus responded, looking at his comrades. “Actually, it would be better if he told you all at the same time.” Canis said, and the other three looked at her strangely. “What? I talk sometimes during meetings.”
The crowd started shifting more, some looked like they were ready to leave. “Is there any way to counteract this?” Luna asked, and Sirius responded with, “The only thing you can do is know that this is a magic forcing you to remember, and that its all in the past.” Celestia sighed. “Very well, call him from the forest.” “Are you sure?” Canis asked, and they only nodded. All turning to each other, the four opened their mouths, and started producing a sound, reminiscent of bells. Zecora had heard this sound before, and started to panic hearing it again. There was a loud thumping coming from the west, and the whole crowd turned to see a giant, black stag walking to the direction of the town. Everyone could see it, an aura of dark light emanating from his very body. He got closer, and most people in the crowd stayed the same, but some started to tear up or had an angry expression upon their faces upon looking at him. Closer, and it got worse, those tearing up started to cry, and the ones with angry expressions walked away, not to mention those who started to do so as well. It got worse and worse as he approached, and as he was right about to walk into the borders of the town, most of the crowd left, not wanting to deal with the emotional pain they would experience. He towered over most of the buildings, walking slowly to the town square where the interview was taking place. As he reached closer to the center, the sky seemed to darken, and the light looked as if it tried to flee from the area. All but the Four of Void were on the verge of panic upon seeing him, but they all remained strong for the answers they desperately needed. “Why… Did you call me here?” His voice shook, and the very air shuddered with sorrow from hearing his pain stricken voice. “These people need to know the whole story, and we know we cannot tell it.” Polaris told him, and his silver eyes shut for a moment of thought. “Why… do they need to know?” he asked before opening his eyes once more, saying it in a way that screamed to not speak of it. “They will not trust us until you do so.” Sirius answered. He sighed, sounding like a whole hurricane coming from his very body. “People of Equestria! If you wish to know the whole story listen now!” He spoke, and the whole world seemed to fall silent for the moment he told his story.
He gasped for air, trying to hold onto the light before it burned out in the darkness. He was confused, but he knew he would die if he did not go into the light, but it seemed to run from him, only stopping when he could not move. Whatever liquid he was in, it was thick, like tar but not warm, a freezing cold emanated from it. He could hear screaming all around him, but he could not delay, or he would be forever lost in the sea of darkness along with whatever produced those screams. He surfaced, he could feel air above him… but he could not see it. The whole world was dark, like all light was gone. “Where did that light go!” he screamed in his mind, but it was long gone. He could feel currents pulling him under, but also in a direction he hoped was land of some kind. After what felt like days of drowning in this sea of shadow, he felt ground beneath his feet. Sand. He was on a beach of some kind, but he still could not see anything but the darkness. The whole world breathed with him as he gasped for air, clinging onto his last slivers of life he had left with him. He stood, and for the first time since he had been sent into this dark world, he could actually see light. It was faint, and seemed more like a shadow on the horizon than anything, but it allowed him to see the world that laid before him. Nothing but flat sand as far as the eye could see. He turned around to look if there was anything else, but he became even more disappointed. Ocean, churning blackness even further than the dust now behind him. “DAMN IT!!!” he yelled to the sky above him, cursing himself and the world.
He wandered for days in the desert that stretched out before him, and no matter how far he walked, the ocean behind him never went too far away. He laid in the cold sand, for a moment and thought, “This is still better than the crap I've already been through.” He tried to sleep for a moment, but a familiar sensation put upon him. He opened his eyes to see that the sky had become bright with an intense orange of sunset. He quickly sat up, and looked around. Nothing but the sky had changed, but he could now see the land around him. In the north, a massive dark castle loomed in front of a pitch black mountain. In the west laid the ocean from whence he came, and in the south was an ominous forest, covered in a thick blanket of fog. The east were swampy fields, where dozens of giant black birds flew searching for prey. But on the edge of every horizon except for the ocean were mountains, from where the shadow light emanated. He stared at the dark world that was before him, but he noticed something in the mountains. A strip of shadows that was slowly moving across the sky, turning the sunset sky to a starry night. The strip landed across the world, and now the sky was night. But as soon as it landed, and the orange faded from all the land, another strip of darkness appeared on the other side. They moved faster and faster every time, a completely different sky and time of day every time. Eventually it started sounding like bells, flipping across the sky every second, eventually slamming into the mountains with a loud sound of the bell. He covered his ears from the deafening sound. Thinking the strange event was over, he uncovered his ears. The sky was a simple blue, with small wisps of clouds in the air. “That seems nice.” he thought. But as soon as the last letter was spoken in his head, the sky radiated with a white light, blinding him, as he felt the ground fall beneath his feet.
Dust. He could feel it beneath his feet again, like a bad dream resurfacing. He opened his eyes to see the dark desert again. “What… I just… Why am I back here? Where did they go! What is this!” he yelled into the open sand. He thought about the life he made in that jungle, and mourned. He accepted that he would never be able to go back. An intense ringing came from below him, and he saw a half-ring of light circling his feet, inside of which was a scene that he saw everyday in his jungle home. The lovely sunset he saw every afternoon before he went to bed. It was lonely in the jungle, maybe he had gotten used to it, maybe even comfortable. But… what was before him brought out an immense sadness, a whole life of hardship that brought him happiness flooding back into his head. After dozens of lives the half-rings got to full rings, all layering upon him and around him, bringing an unbearable sadness whenever he saw them. After all these lives, his body became grayer, eventually becoming a pitch black only matched by the empty night sky. After all these lives parts of his very being started rebelling against him, forming their own will, becoming their own people. After all these lives, he had given up, his very purity abandoning him, only an empty husk of the man he once was. The void consumed him, changing his world, and the void’s own in the process. It started speaking to him, controlling his actions along with his curse to bring down those that he loved. The lives he lived had become so many that it stretched the whole desert. The personality he donned during his lives came back to haunt him in the form as the people he had to care for. His memories rested within them, and he would not give them up so easily.
Author's Note
Sorry for the late post, I forgot to write with all the things going down in my life. Hope you enjoy the new chapter!
It grew quiet around as he finished, the end seeming more like an experience than a story. His body shook as he spoke, and now his breathing had become ragged. “I will return when I’m in a better state… you should have waited for the story, but I won't refuse telling it.” His other wings all melded into his feathered wings, and grew larger the more he flapped them. Carrying his body, he flew back to the Everfree forest, his wing flaps blowing away dust as he went.
The princesses did not speak, and the Four of Void held their breath. “An empty world… wandering for eternity… that sounds horrible.” Celestia said, and Luna gave her a look. “What? Oh… oh.” It grew quiet again. Finally Polaris spoke up, breaking the silence. “We must return, so that Lord Blacklight may become more comfortable in this world, and then he may speak to you again… but you will not see us for quite some time.” The four of them all stood, and walked out of the town silently.
Time passed, and almost half a year and still no word from Blacklight. Zecora returned to her home, where she found many rare herbal ingredients in a dark basket as an apology from Blacklight. The shroud that fell upon Ponyville slowly drifted away, the sadness that came with it still in the back of the minds of the people that lived there. Sounds could be heard in the forest, and reports of clearings in the forest with buildings inside of them came to Celestia. Life became somewhat normal again, and the sound of the bells was all but gone. Every once in a while, Twilight would find books missing in her library, but sure enough they would show up again, suspiciously cleaner than when they left. It was all normal, until…
Celestia was waking up to rise the sun, her vision still blurry from dreaming. Her vision went dark for a moment, and slowly converged into a small black square, and slowly fell to the ground. She quickly went to pick it up, and as her vision cleared, she saw a small black letter, with a stamp reminiscent to a rose. She opened it as she left her room, and saw only jumbled white symbols. “What is this?” she thought to herself. Right after the thought, the symbols swapped around the dark paper, and turned into letters, which read.
Princess Celestia,
I have sent you this letter as an invitation to meet at any time you wish. We need to talk, and if there is any event or such, I would like to speak with you then, as it would give me a chance to also meet other influential and interesting people. To give me your response, merely think about what you wish to say as you hold it in your hooves, and it will be sent to me. I apologize for the sudden request.
Lord Blacklight, ruler of the Voidkin People
She thought about this for most of the day, and sent back a response to him, setting up an event for him to meet the people, but specifically the Elements. She sent back her letter, and the preparations for the formal meet of the new ruler begun.
Author's Note
Sorry for the short chapter, but hopefully I will start writing more again soon.
It’s been quite a while since I worked on this story, so I thought I would finally update. After working hard with many of our fellow bronies at this years r/Place, I have decided to rewrite this story. It will be slow goings as I’m not sure how much time I’ll have to write, but I need to rewatch the entire show all over to help with writing as the other characters in the show. (Also because I forgot most important details about the show…)
I’ll watch the show as fast as I can, and start working on a new version of Blacklight that I can show to you all… I know the original wasn’t the greatest. See you all hopefully soon!