Pyroneus Dawnlight: The Gatekeeper of Worlds

Chapter Three

A Meeting of Fate

Though we had only spoken for about three hours, I had already come to the conclusion that Twilight Sparkle had what I refer to as the ‘Occasional Know-It-All Syndrome’ and that she was a very studious young woman. I was getting bored hearing about some of the more trivial facts, but when she started on space, I all but jumped in and told her exactly how the universe worked. Of course she would have a limited knowledge of the subject; she hadn’t been through space to see it herself. At least there was someone I could talk to at a very high level of thinking. It’s a rarer opportunity than one might think.

It was almost disappointing arriving near the crash site. We had just begun to broach the subject of quantum-entangled particles and time travel (which had utterly left out poor Fluttershy, trailing along behind us) when suddenly Twilight said “We’re close now, it should be just up ahead.”

We had traversed a fair distance in silence when I smelled a very distinct odor: burned grass and tree sap. A mile or so later we came upon a very deep crater, surrounded by trees that were either burning or tipped sideways from the impact. There were clear signs of a body being dragged, mine of course, and the center of the crater was charred black from where I had struck while still on fire.

“Now wait here, I’ll go see if the girls are close by.”

I climbed to the top of an oak for a better vantage point.

A voice called from the other side of the crater. “Twilight! Is that you?”

“Over here Applejack! Is everyone else with you?” Her voice echoed many times over across the empty space.

“We’re all here, been waitin fer five minutes.”

A group of young women stepped from the shadows of the forest: a cyan-skinned, feathery-winged girl with a messy explosion of rainbow for hair: Rainbow Dash; an orange-skinned girl with straw-colored ponytail down to her mid-back and a wide-brimmed leather hat: Applejack; a bright-pink-skinned girl with a messy hairdo of dark pink: Pinkie Pie; and last but not least a dazzling pearl-white-skinned girl with dark purple hair and a small horn: Rarity. Fluttershy went to stand with them. Rarity spoke first, a distinctly high-class accent.

“Well, what did you call us all here for darling? I’d rather not stay in this forest too long……”

Applejack, whose voice displayed a uniquely pleasant drawl, said, “Twilight wouldn’t bring us here if it wasn’t important.”

“It is AJ, but first I figured you would all like to meet our crash victim.”

I jumped, landing with a very heavy thud next to Twilight. Applejack jumped backwards, Rarity screamed, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash were wide-eyed.

“Greetings, it is an honor to meet the Bearers of the Elements. I am Pyroneus Dawnlight. I believe you’ve seen me before?”

I really have a way with first impressions, don’t I?

“You sure are quiet for such a heavy guy,” said Rainbow. Of course, from the way Twilight had spoken of her, she was probably wondering more about how a man could weigh so much and still fly.

“Well, I’m sure you’ve realised I’m not a normal man. But we have not gathered here tonight to determine whether or not I am ‘normal’. I have asked Twilight to gather you for two reasons; the first is simply that I wished to meet the Bearers. The second however is much more serious. There has been an attack on your moon, by a group of creatures that normally wouldn’t dare come this close to civilization. I had just about ended their threat, when one caught me off guard, knocking me unconscious and causing my plummet. These are smarter versions than their previous forms, and many times more deadly. I realise you wish to know me better, it would help you understand the gravity of this attack; however, I am not overly fond of repeating myself and I have already given information to your friend here.” I turned towards Miss Sparkle, indicating her to begin.

“Well, he isn’t from this planet, his crash certainly hinted at that. But… Well I do believe we need to go see the Princesses. This sounds a lot more serious than it might appear. He’s indicating that the attacked was planned, not just a happenstance.”

They seem to be completely accepting of me… This is odd indeed.

“Well, I reckon y’all wouldn’t be here if it weren’t that important, so I guess we need to do sumthin’ about this. So what’s our plan o’ attack?” I quite liked the sound of Applejack’s voice, very reassuring.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I suggest you first introduce me to your rulers, they need to know what is happening. Then you will also hear the rest of the story, and a few more details about myself. We can plan our efforts from there.” I did not mention that I wished to meet these so called Goddesses to judge their power.

“HOORAY, we get to go to Canterlot!” I was informed that Pinkie Pie is ‘extremely eccentric’ when it comes to all acts random, and I had a feeling it was a bit understated.

An excited look jumped into Twilight’s eye. “Girls,” she said, “pack your things; we have a mission to accomplish.”

Indeed we do Miss Sparkle, indeed we do.