Darkness Beyond the Horizon

by Black_Ashes

Rating: teen
Tags: Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe, Rainbow Dash, Sad, Original Character, Adventure
Length: 26316

Everyone thinks they know everything about Equestria, but the reality is far from it.

Rainbow Dash was sent on a journey to find an old Pegasus library and inside it she comes across an old journal which was written over a thousand years ago! The journal, instead of following Equestria's history, tells a tale of truth, tragedy, and betrayal as seen from the eyes of a young colt who lost everything because of the Royal Family. But as the mysteries had begun to unravel themselves did Rainbow Dash finally realize that she may have involved herself in more than she anticipated.

Published 2012-12-18 21:00:01 UTC
Last updated 2013-02-12 17:26:15 UTC

The Book

Prologue: The Book

A long time ago, a group of islands just south of Equestria were found by accident by several ponies who then established their new home on it. Many years went by before the islands were disturbed and a small war erupted there. The war then grew in scale as Equestria joined in too. After the war, all known records of the island and the Royal Family's involvement in the islands was destroyed, all except for a single book which was hidden away in the hopes that it would never be found. If not for one brave Pegasus then this may have been true...

Rainbow Dash gently walked into the old house, cautious and wary of any dangers that may lie. Hours ago Twilight Sparkle had approached Rainbow Dash in the hopes that Dash would find an old Pegasi library. Dash despite her reluctance had agreed. Now she was regretting that decision as she entered the library section of the old house. The room was freezing cold to the point where there was some ice covering parts of the library. Rainbow Dash paused as she inspected one of the walls which was strangely not covered in ice and yet it was the coldest area in the entire library. She gently placed her hoof upon the wall, then slowly a hum filled the air. The wall glowed with a mysterious symbol, a symbol that was strangely similar to the Element of Loyalty, but with a pair of magnificent Pegasi wings on the side. The wall slowly retracted and moved to the side as Rainbow Dash hesitantly entered the room. The room was small and empty if not for a small podium that had a black book on top of it. Rainbow Dash approached the book, coaxed by a mysterious presence that just pleaded her to take the book and read it.
Slowly a mysterious whisper echoed across the room "Rainbow Dash..."
Rainbow Dash quickly swiveled "Who's there?" she demanded, but much to her surprise that instead of a response she merely heard a faint whisper that further beckoned her to the book.
"Don't be afraid...Grab the book, and read it" said the whisper. Hesitantly, Rainbow Dash obliged the voice and opened the book. Much to her surprise as soon as she touched the book did the same symbol of Loyalty appear once again, and the lock which had been on the side had fell away with an echoing "click". Suddenly, the room warmed up and appeared to be much less darker despite there being no causes for the sudden light or warmth.
"What just happened?" muttered Rainbow Dash as she gently slumped to the floor with the book in hoof. The first thing she noticed was the mysterious title some of which was scratched out: "T e D kS C r les". In the middle of the book was the glowing blue rune that she had seen before. Intrigued by the title and by the mysterious rune, Rainbow Dash began to open the book until a page somehow fell out and landed next to her. Rainbow Dash picked up the page and began to read it.

=============================================================================

(The page seems to radiant a mysterious black and silvery aura)

If you are reading this now then that means that my time has long since passed and Equestria is now under the rule of Celestia and Luna. If it is not so, then that means that the Brotherhood has indeed invaded Equestria and successfully taken control of it. If neither events have yet occurred then that means that Time has taken its own course and everything has changed. I do hope that the first part has occurred as it is a lesser of three tragedies. The book that you are now reading is not yet complete; as in my haste I was not able to compile my journal and notes successfully into a single book and was forced to hide this one while I was finished the other five, both of which I have scattered in fear of them being found and used against their original purpose. This book was passed onto my dear friend (The name appears to be blotted out) who, with my consent, carried it to an old chamber in Cloudsdale. To make sure that no one would be able to open this book, nor the chamber, besides their rightful owner I imprinted both with the seal of Loyalty as only the bearer of the artifact can unlock these seals.

By now you may wonder as to why I took such precautions to guard this book, well the truth is that this book inside has many dark secrets. Secrets which, if used improperly, could lead to disastrous consequences. This book itself is the cornerstone in the tower that is Equestria and if one were to read it then they would be holding the keystone that, if it were to be removed (Or in this case, revealed), then they would be able to topple Equestria and bring down the entire nation on its knees. For within this book lies The Truth. The Truth of what really happened back in Equestria's golden years. The Truth of the royal family. The Truth of what really happened to the Exiles. And finally, The Truth our lives and how we were stripped from history and exiled to a far away place, never to be seen or heard of again. By reading this book, you shall ensnare yourself in matters that I would never wish to bestow upon anyone. Before you turn the page, I implore you. Please. Think of your future and what you are getting into and only once you have truly thought it over, do you have a choice. The choice to leave now and forever forget of this place and my words, never to see of them again or you can keep reading and tear down your life and rebuild a new one. The choice is yours.

Rainbow Dash put the page down, and looked at the book that lay before her. The book, which was so raggedy, aged, worn, and weathered. It looked like any old book and yet...The book's presence belayed its appearance as it gave an aura of power, age, and darkness. A feeling which she had not felt since she had fought Nightmare Moon. But this time, the feeling of darkness was not evil, rather it was warding, lonesome, and full of sadness. Rainbow Dash, for the first time ever, carefully considered her options, and at last she made her choice:

Rainbow Dash opened the book.

Author's Note

I'll appreciate any corrections regarding punctuation or grammar as this is my first fanfic.

P.S. The first chapter of the journal will be published, hopefully, by the end of the week. -Ashe S. Black

Every Story Has A Beginning

Chapter 1: My Life As I Know It.
Day 1). [A New Friend]

Today is my fifth birthday! Although mother or father couldn't get me a present, they still did! It was an old journal (The same one I'm writing in right now), but it was still a journal. Telling mom and dad goodbye I left the house for the market hoping to get some food for my parents.

Much to my dismay the market was practically empty, but I did manage to get some free food as gifts for my birthday. On my way I ran into the Pie family who, as always, were collecting their tools and getting ready for yet another season of Harvest which I thought was weird as the Autumn Harvest only ended a few weeks ago. The market was small in Old Town and whatever they sold was rarely below 5 bits. I was examining the stalls when I accidentally walked right into another colt.

"Ow, watch where you're going!" He said.

"Oops, sorry. I didn't see you there" I replied.

The pony gave me a long look, "Really? Or is it that you were too distracted by the market stalls" He then sighed "You're a resident of the Slums I'm guessing?"
"
Yeah I am, but...how did you know?" Even as I said this I began examining him: He was a young colt, around the same age as me, he had a grey flank along with a black-gray mane, and most importantly I noticed that he had no cutie mark along with royal gauntlets on his front legs.

The colt yet again stared at me "You look like you lived in the Ever-Free forest all your life and we're not even close to the forest so it's obvious that you're from the Slums" Even as he said the word "slums" a large frown spread across his face "I can't imagine how bad it must be to live there. I've heard all sorts of stories like how you eat food that's completely rotten or how that only the richest ponies can afford a house. Is it true?"

I sagged as he said what I knew was the truth "Yes, it's all true. Except for the houses. We just "borrow" any abandoned houses we can find; it's really tough living out here because every day is a fight for survival. And ever since the famine hit Equestria things have begun to get even worse here than they already were. But enough about me, where are you from?" As soon as I said this he grew nervous and started to blush a little.
"
Uh, I'm from, uh....Canterlot" He winced as he said this "My name's Greyson Shade, I'd prefer it though if you would just call me Grey"

I gave "Grey" a smile "Okay then 'Grey' it's nice to meet you. My name's ___"

Grey gave me a brief smile (I guess he rarely smiled) "Alright. So, why did you come to the market?"

I facehooved "Well, obviously to buy some food for my family. It's my birthday and they sometimes give out reduced prices" And even with my 2 bits that I saved up, I still had managed to buy enough food for the week.
"Ah. Well, happy birthday then. I might as well give you a gift for the occasion" Grey then took out a book called "The History Of The Southern Regions" and, much to my joy, he handed it to me. "Take good care of it. It's a very valuable book that was pulled out of production several decades ago on account of the war with those Islands."
I stared at the book in wonder. Ever since I could read (If only a little) I have always loved books, and now in my hooves I held one of the rarest books in all of Equestria. I slowly opened the book and saw that it was practically in perfect condition. I do not need to say this, but I was speechless, "...Th-thank you Grey. You have no idea how happy this makes me."

Suddenly I felt a hoof on my shoulder "I can see that. In fact you're crying. You might want to wipe those tears away."
I slowly did wipe away my tears, and suddenly I hugged him. "Thanks Grey." He then hesitantly pushed me away "You think you can stop by my house for dinner?" I asked. Grey considered it for a moment then nodded .
"Yeah, I think I can stop by for a little bit. Not too long though, I need to be back in Canterlot before dusk." And with that final word we left for my house. It didn't take as long as it should have thanks to Grey helping me carry all the food. For the next 2 hours we talked and laughed the day away until it was time for Grey to go. He promised that he wold stop by sometimes, but it might take a while. He said that something was happening and that all the Guards were getting nervous and jumpy, so Grey thought that it would be better if he hung around Canterlot to make sure that everything would be alright.

"Don't worry ___ I'll be back in about 2-3 weeks. I'll see you again soon buddy. Good bye!"

And with that farewell he left for Canterlot. I then went to my room and cleaned up my bed and got ready to go to sleep. It is there where I am writing this journal, but it's getting to be late so I'd better go to sleep.

(Day 3. [Research, Results, and more Questions]
This morning was nice as always, but one thing was different today: I had a book to read and a journal to write in. In case I needed to remind myself of what was written in the book I decided to copy down the most important parts:

"The Southern Islands are a mysterious group of islands just south of Equestria. The islands have not been explored nor seen in a long period of time because of their location as well as the great number of sea monsters that populate the area of the ocean that surrounds the island. The island is also not accessible by air due to the strange air currents that are all around the islands. The island itself is also not visible from a distance because of a strange, but thick which should not be present because of the air currents. Any attempts to access the island by underground tunnels was thwarted due to mysterious creatures that either caved it sections of the tunnels or attacked the tunnelers."
I was surprised by the amount of ponies who wanted to go to the islands, and I was even more surprised by the strange conditions of the island which were almost as if something or somepony did not want anyone on the island.

*Knock Knock Knock*

Hearing the knocking I quickly trotted down the stairs and opened the door to see a grinning Grey "Hey ____ , guess what I found!"

I thought for a moment before I replied "I don't know...Another book?" Grey gave me a short nod.
"Yup. I thought you might be interested in it since you were so happy about that book I gave you two days ago."
He handed me yet another book. This book was more damaged and looked as if it was assembled from several other books. I opened it and flipped through a few pages as I noticed that some had a few detailed sketches and bios for the Southern Islands.

"You have no idea how hard it was to get that" said Grey "I had to practically beg my father so he'd get it for me. He said that these books were released in minimal quantities because of something about...The Royal Family not wanting to let it become too...well-read."
"Weird" I muttered as I found a sketch of a strange sharp piece of metal. The listing next to it called it "darke-steele". 'Sharp as a freshly cut piece of glass, and as hard as a brick covered in stone.'

"So do you want to head out to town and maybe check out the bridge?"
Setting the book down I started to walk down the stairs before giving Grey a quick look "Yeah sure. Why not?" we then headed out the door.

*A few hours later*

It took us a while to get to Shinedown Bridge because we stopped at several stores along the way to check out what wares they had.

"It sure is pretty huh?" asked Grey.

I looked at the somewhat murky water and at the setting sun "It's kind of a 50/50 thing here Grey." Nearby a pony passed by us pulling a carriage full of plants.

Grey gave me shrug "I don't know. It's not like Canterlot out here. It's much more...Peaceful and run-to-ground than all shiny and bustling. Out here there are all kinds of pony who are content with living their lives, while back home, all those ponies only wish to get to a higher social status, become closer to the Royals and nobles, or just become more rich despite being already very rich."

"Huh, I thought you would like it there more than here. Now that I think about it, why haven't you mentioned your father yet?" said I.

Grey barely glanced at me before he started to kick at the ground. "I'm not very...Close with my family. My mother died when I was younger and my father is usually busy with his duties."
Grey picked up his satchel and turned toward me and gave me a slight nod "Time to go. It's getting late."
I feel as if I offended him somehow, but Grey didn't really want to talk on the way back home. Once I got home I began to look through the book again until I found a most curious symbol.

Close to the symbol was the entry calling it an Element. It looked as if more was written, but the page was ripped off. A small paper was folded near the it and upon the piece of paper was written:
"They're looking for me! The Royals are after me! But they're not alone! I must hide it! If they find it...Oh I can't even begin to think of what would happen! But what if someone finds this book!?! I must warn them! If anyone reads this then please, please hide this book!" On the back of the note the word "Exile" was written.

The note confused me, what did the Royals have to do with anything? Why should I hide this book? But, to be safe, I hid it under my hay bed beneath a rotting floorboard and what did the term Exile had to do with anything.

I just hope that Grey can help me make some sense of this.

Day 4). [And so the story thickens]
Today Grey decided to take me to Canterlot to look at it and to see how the "higher" Ponies lived. Along the road Grey told me that the real reason that we were heading there was to look up the author of that book and what he meant by that message.

"It's important that we find out what happened to him and what he meant by that".

"But why?" I asked.

Greyson waved his hoof for transport "Because it's the first time that I heard of something involving the Royal Families, Nobles, and plots. Usually the Nobles just to topple each other and get in favor with the Royal Families so they get richer or more famous, but trying to silence a writer for something like this? No. There's something weird going on here and I want to find out."

A carriage stopped by and we walked into it. "But why did you have to take me? And why today?"
Grey slowly turned toward me, his expression bored "Because you always wanted to see Canterlot and because today the guard is going to be occupied at the Assembly. This will let us look around more easily. I decided to have one of my friends come with us. She may be a Noble, but we can trust her."

"A mare?" I asked "But...Why not somepony strong? In case we have to run?"

Grey chuckled "Rose is tough enough to help herself and us if we get into trouble. She's quite skilled at magic. Especially plant magic. You ever see huge vines come out of the ground to ensnare somepony?"

I was shocked, I didn't even realize that Unicorns could be so powerful! Around Old Town all the ponies could barely do floaty magic. But even with Grey's statement that "Rose" could help us, I still wondered what kind of good could plant magic do- "Poison Joke" said Grey abruptly. "What?" I asked.

'Poison Joke. It's a plant that Rose tends to use. It's a plant that can cause certain ailments to appear. A pony who liked being strong might wake up being weak or a Pegasus who loved flight might wake up with unusable wings. Rose stuffed some Poison Joke in the chambers of the guards who would be on duty today. That'll prevent us from being caught." Grey reached into his pack and pulled out a scarf which he put on "Better dress up. It's going to be cold. The Pegasi decided to bring the icy winds a bit early this year."

With that piece of advice Grey closed his eyes and sat back in his seat completely silent. Feeling that he didn't want me to bug him I decided to look out the window and see what the surroundings were like. There wasn't much to see because of the cold winds which had stripped the trees bare and grey and left the earth chilled and shrubless. Somehow, I always thought that Canterlot would be bright and full of life, but instead my first visit was very desolate and sad. Reminding me too much of home I decided to get some rest before we left for the Castle.

The outside of the Castle was much better than the outside of Canterlot since it was surrounded by pretty flowers and lively folks, but whenever I walked by someone they would always give me this mean look as if they thought I was some dirty animal. Ignoring them I instead focused on the entrance up ahead until Grey held up a hoof.

"Wait. This is where Rose agreed to meet us."

"So is Rose her real name?" I asked.

"No. Some ponies like me and Rose have family names after our real ones so we just shorten them. And she doesn't like being recognized as a member of the Draconis-"
"WHOA WHOA WHOA!" I interrupted "Draconis?!?! She's a Draconis?!?!"
Grey glared at me, but before he said anything, a mysterious and enthralling voice came from the tree next to us "Yes. I am. I prefer though, to not be recognized as one of the Draconis and I would like it if you would not mention it too much." Steadily, the most beautiful pony I have ever seen, walked out from behind the tree. She was an elegant white with a fair pink mane.

Grey's glare slowly turned into a smirk as he looked at Rose "White with pink huh? I'd thought you'd pick another color."
Rose annoyingly turned with a swish before turning her head slightly in Grey's direction "Well changing my color isn't easy when I'm nearly dead from exhaustion from all my studies. Now then. We'd best get going. Shall we?" And with that she began to trot toward the entrance.

Grey lifted my jaw up with a smirk "Heh, real charming. Now let's get going before you turn to Ashes."

The library was split into several wings/sections each named after a certain famous pony or named after what they held. Rose led us into the Cartographer section where we began to look around for anything that was similar to the book that I had. After an hour of searching we found nothing else except an old book underneath a bunch of scrolls. The book was strangely different from most of books in the way that it had a slight indent in the middle.

"...Great. Just great..." Muttered Rose "A royal insignia is needed to open this."

Grey frowned "What? Why would we?"

Rose stared at the book until a faint pink glow shook it "See? It's guarded. High class magic. Real high class."
I grabbed the book and examined it. Huh. It wouldn't open. I shook the book a little bit. It wouldn't even open a bit. I turned to Grey "Think you can do anything with it?" Grey shook his head.

"Nope. I don't think I can."

I turned to Rose. She was being strangely quiet. Then, she spoke up "Maybe we should take it. Maybe...Maybe your friend
should take it Grey."

Grey looked at Rose shocked "Are you serious!? But...But...But this is like a dream of yours? You always pursued stuff like this and now you're giving it up?"

Rose nodded "Yes. If it weren't for him then we wouldn't have found this book in the first place. I think we can trust him with something like this."

She handed me the book "If you ever find a way to open it, then find me as soon as you can. Understand?"

I gulped, but gave her slight nod and smile "Yes ma'am."

There was a slight rumble as we were walking out. I noticed it since we entered Canterlot, but now it seemed closer "What's that?" I asked.

Grey frowned "I don't know...It almost sounds like a-" Suddenly an explosion occurred behind us!
"RUN!" Screamed Rose! We ran as rocks began to fly by us and next to us. I turned to Grey "WHAT'S HAPPENING?!? WHAT'S WITH ALL OF THIS!?!"

Grey's eyes were filled with fear. "I DON'T KNOW! THIS SURE DOESN'T SEEM LIKE IT WAS PLANNED!"
I heard a strange cracking and barely managed to turn around before I saw a large rock flying toward me. Moments before it hit me I heard Rose scream out to me "GET AWAY!! MOVE!!!"

Then everything went black.

========================================================================
Day 9. [A Healer's Touch and the Myst of the Mountains]

I woke up to to a bright light and a headache. Groggily, I looked around and saw my journal and (Torn) backpack lying on a box next to me. I blinked a bit. The light was really getting to me. Suddenly I remembered what happened. The book, the library, the blast...And Rose. Grey. My friends. Where were they? I looked around a bit, but all I saw was a white room. It was damaged as some of the paint was peeling off of the walls. The roof had some holes in it, but it was otherwise a lot like the walls. The room was empty besides a few boxes and a table with what looked like medicine and tools. I think. There were two windows behind me and a lantern focused by a piece of glass was above me. Where am I? Weakly attempting to stand I instead fell to the ground with a thud. My legs could just not support me. It was only then that I looked at them. They were covered in bandages. The door opened behind me and a large blue mare with a lightish blue mane walked in, looking angry, surprised, and grim. Without a word she raised me using magic and set me on the table. Behind her I noticed a young mare walk in. She was cute in the way that she was so shy. She was blue with a light blue mane that had light green tips at the end. She looked at me with concern from the doorway. The older mare grimaced as she looked at me.

"Nice to see you're finally up." A small tube with a light at the end floated next to my eyes as the Mare examined me. "Hmm...Eyesight is fine. Response is good." She lowered the tube. "He looks fine. Sierra? Get me a bottle of spring water. Our 'guest' needs something to drink." The younger mare nodded before she ran off.

I focused more on the mare before me. She was large, and strangely similar to the stallion I had seen earlier. She turned her sharp gaze toward me and gave me a slight smirk "Heh. Good to see you're memory is still functioning well."

"Wha-What?" I stuttered.

Her smirk turned to a grin "Speech too. I was worried for a moment that you went mute."

"Who-who are you?" I asked.

She walked out momentarily, and then returned with a chair in which she sat in. "My name is Myst. Myst Blue. That mare you saw earlier is my pupil. Sierra Myst. And yes, she is my daughter."
I looked around for a bit more, "Where are my friends?"
"They're resting. When they brought you in I thought they would pass out right there. They carried you from Canterlot to here you know."

"Yeah. I remember a bit. I remember the rock that hit me." I answered. "What caused that...Explosion?"

Myst Blue's smile faded as quick as it appeared. "That, my youngling, is a mystery to even me. In case you're wondering, sadly, a lot of ponies were hurt during the raid."

What? The raid? "Wha-What do you mean by raid?" I said.

Myst slowly levitated the Equestria Daily showing a group of ponies attacking Canterlot "These, might, be the ones who attacked Canterlot. Or so the news says."

"Might be the ones?" I questioned.

"Yes. Indeed. I doubt that a bunch of raider-ponies would suddenly attack a city like Canterlot like that and even use magic bombs. I think that this was done by someone else." Even as she said this, I heard the sound of hooves down the hall. "Clip-Clop, Clip-Clop, Clip-Clop." Myst turned toward the hall "And here's my assistant. Finally."
Sierra entered the room and shyly gave me the drink without a word. I heard more hoof-steps down the hall again as I drank the water. It was strangely good. Rejuvenating even. It felt as if the water washed my pain away and gave me strength. "Whoa that was good." I muttered. Soon my friends walked in. Rose remained by Sierra. Silent and cool as ever. Grey dashed to my side and looked me over.

"Heh. Nice to see you're still alive. You've been unconscious for nearly a week."

A week! I was stunned. What would Mom and Dad think! Were they worried! Would they look for me?!?

"And don't worry. Sierra over there told your parents that you were here after a small "accident" at Canterlot. They should be alright."

Phew. gave a sigh of relief. With most of fears and worries put to rest I almost felt more at ease. Almost.

"What happened to you and Rose?" I asked.

Rose interrupted Grey and walked up to me "We were fine. Mostly. But you were near death. Practically dead. You're lucky that Myst has the Healer's Touch or else you would be dead."
Dead? Dead? No wonder my friends were so worried.

"Even stranger" said Rose "That book we found began to glow after you got hit. We even managed to open it and read it a little bit after Sierra helped us. It closed though as soon as you were okay. You have any idea why?" Rose then began to stare at me as if I knew why.

"No. I don't." Rose gave me a slight nod "I had to be sure" she said. I pondered for a moment. If the book opened up, then what did they find in it? "So what'd you guys find? In the book I mean."

Grey answered my question "Not much. Most of the pages were blank. The ones that weren't though told us something at least. They mentioned the Southern Islands a LOT and how the Noble Family tried to invade them a few decades ago, but they failed. It also mentioned something about a group of ponies and their "Evil leader" who were defeated by another group of ponies back then" As Grey mentioned the second group of ponies I noticed Myst slightly wince and lower her head. Did she know what Grey was talking about "-And so on. It seems that the author was hunted down and captured and tried for treason 5 years ago. He was Exiled to the Islands, but the boat never made it there. It seems that it was destroyed on the way there mysteriously."

"And that's all it said?" I asked. Grey gave me a short nod. "Yup." He then turned to Myst and Sierra "So since ___ is awake, is he okay enough to travel?" Myst looked up abruptly and began to ponder for a bit. "Yees. He should be okay enough to travel, but take it easy." She left for a minute and brought a few vials:

"Here" Myst gave the vials to Rose "Give your friend these every hour or whenever he feels weak. They should help him and speed up his recovery. Just give him a small swig." Rose nodded and put the vials in my bag. My friends then left to gather my stuff as Myst and Sierra left me in my room alone.

"Thank you. For everything and more. Thank you Myst and Sierra"

It was time for us to leave so I said farewell to the healers. Sierra blushed, and Myst just smiled at me "It's just nice to have -mostly- conscience visitors for once. And thank you, younglings, for the payment." She nudged Sierra forward lightly. "Um...Um...It-...It was our ple-pleasure to help you." Sierra stuttered.

As Grey and Rose began to leave after saying good-bye, I gave a quick hug to Myst and Sierra, who blushed even more, "Thank you both again." I began to go after my friends until I heard Sierra call after me "Wait!" She ran up to me and moved forward to hug me, but instead she just put her hoof on my shoulder and smiled slightly, "Stay safe" as she put her hoof on my shoulder I felt a strange spark occur. What was that, I would wonder, Sierra left back to the hut (I was surprised to see a hut near the building we were just in). "You coming ___?" Called out Grey. Turning around I limped after my friends and so we began our trek home.

========================================================================
Day 11). [Attack, Attack, Attack Old Town] This morning was peaceful as always, but that peace would go away very soon. Around noon an army of ponies in black metal appeared and lowered their metal thingies and suddenly a rain of black fire was shot at us! I was so scared that I ran for my closet and hid there. From outside I heard screaming and thuds all around. Suddenly everything turned black as I hit my head. When I finally woke up and looked outside...What I saw there scared me so much. There were ponies everywhere just laying on the ground as a pool of red formed around them. The Canterlot Guard was there looking around and helping whatever ponies could move. It was there that I saw my friend Grey. I quickly trotted out my door to talk to Grey, and I didn't even think about my parents. When I got there I saw a tall stallion in black and grey armor talking to Grey.

"Are you okay?" The large stallion asked Grey.

Grey gave him a tired look "Yes, yes I am. I only just got here after the Brotherhood soldiers left so there was no way they could've got me. You don't need to be so concerned. I frowned as I heard this. The Brotherhood? Who were they? Why did they do this to Old Town?

The stallion merely grunted and walked away to look at some of the broken buildings. After he left I walked up to Grey "Hey Grey."

Grey jumped a little bit before he turned around to face me "Oh. Hey ___. Do you know what happened here?

"No. Not really. I fell asleep in my closet.

Grey stared at me for a long time "You...Fell...Asleep...During the attack." He gave a sigh "Did you hit your head?"

"Yes I did."

"There you go. Now we solved this. I think you want to know who they were?"

I gave him a nod "Yes, I really want to know who they were. Why were they attacking us?"
Grey pointed toward a beaten bench "It's better that you sit down. It's going to be a lot to take in." So we both proceed to sit on the bench "First off, they are called the Brotherhood. They are a group of...Well, I don't really know. Nopony told me much about them. Next, I have no idea why they attacked Old Town. There's no point, but no one knows much about the Brotherhood. Not even the Queen."

I was confused by what he said. Why didn't anyone know anything about them?

"It's impossible to say when they are going to come again. Unlike most ponies, all of them can cast magic. He took out my book and opened it to page 32 (Where did he get it?). Inside was the picture of a tall pony in black, spiky "armor". "They all wear armor and those things they used, we call them "Shadow Guns" since they fire off magical bolts made of Shadows. They can practically go though anything."

Suddenly, I remembered my home. If these bolts could get through even stone then they could've hurt my parents! I then dashed toward my house and looked in the kitchen. Both my parents were hurt quite a bit.

"MOM! DAD! ARE YOU OKAY?!?" I ran to their side and slowly shook them "Come on! Wake up! Please!" Slowly Mom's eyes opened and she looked at me "___! Are you okay?"

"Yes I am mom, but what about you and dad?"

My mother waved her hoof at me "Pshhaaw, we'll be fine. You're the only one who matters"
After checking on dad to make sure he was alright, I helped mom and dad up (Grey also helped me as I couldn't carry them both without help) and we left our broken home and instead took refuge in an old dusty house down the street on the left. The home was different in the way that it didn't feel like home, but we still stayed there for the rest of the day. Grey came by later and began to help me and my parents. When I asked Grey if my family could go back home, he said that it would be a while before they repaired it. He then promised me that something like this wouldn't happen again for a long, long time.

Soon, The Queen, and both of the Princesses, came down from Canterlot, with their Mother, to look at the damage that had been done to our homes.

"Oh my! What happened here!?"

I turned and saw the young princess known as Celestia. Her sister, Luna, went after her, trying to not draw attention to herself. The Queen herself stepped off of the chariot and with grace, much unlike her daughter's, the queen then slowly walked down the street as quietly as she could. The Queen surveyed the town, her face a mixture of shock and sadness.

"Who could've done this? Shade? Come here."

The same Stallion in black and grey armor came from behind one of the building and stood next to the Queen.
"You called my Liege?" Even as he said this his eyes slowly turned until they faced me. He gave me a slight flick of his head as if to say "Go". Not wishing to anger the mysterious pony, I walked away.
As I walked through Draconis Alley I began to hear a strange fluttering sound. As I turned the corner all of a sudden I heard a bright, cheerful voice rang out from above me.

"Watcha doin?" I looked up and saw a light green Pegasus grinning at me.

"Huh? Who're you?" I asked.

The Pegasus frowned "Aww, come on. No fair, I asked first!"

This pony, I thought, is very weird. "I'm just walking around. Enjoying the view." The Pegasus stared at me.

"What view? The only things around here, are broken building and dusty old alleys. What are you really doing around here?" It questioned.

"Well this is home. Can't I walk around, and enjoy myself?" I replied.

The Pegasus paused before abruptly flying away.

"What a strange pony." I said to no one in general.

After 6 o'clock, I began to make my way home, all the while hoping that nothing bad would happen. The trip was long and rough because of the broken homes and all of the wood lying around. All around me I saw homeless ponies that lay in the streets, hungry, hurt, and thirsty. No matter how much I wanted to, I knew that I could not help them.
By the time I got home the Canterlot guards and the Queen had already left. My friend Grey stayed behind to help us fix up our home. From him I learned that the name of the Stallion was Shade and that he was the Lieutenant of the Black Guards. The Black Guards were a group of very strong and skilled ponies who would defend the royal family to the death. They also traveled across Equestria and a couple of other nations to see how things were doing. The Black Guards were also part of the 6 Guardians who were, without doubt, the best of the best. Grey then told me that the Sand Guards were coming to old town in a week in order to help us repair our town. Because it was very late , Grey decided to sleep over at our house for the night.

I began to think about what happened today and what happened at the library. Were they somehow connected? Were these ponies looking for the Bastion? I didn't know. All I knew was that my life was never going to go back to the way it was. As mom said "With time must come change". I guess it was Time for my life to Change. I still wondered if somehow I wasn't the only pony out of a group to be chosen to have the book. That maybe, maybe I meant to. But I am getting sleepy so I'd best stop worrying.
And with this final sentence I close my journal and lay my head to rest for the night.

========================================================================
Day 12). [Night Prowling]

It was barely midnight when Grey woke me up.

"C'mon ___, we gotta get moving."

"Huuuh?" I groaned as Grey shook me awake. His large grey eyes were staring at me in concern.

"Good. You're awake. C'mon we have to move now."

"wh-what happened?" I stuttered "What's the rush?" I looked outside "It's not even daytime yet!"

"Of course __. But listen to me, we have to move NOW. It's urgent, and if you don't get up off of your lazy flank then we'll be in huge trouble...And not the kind involving harsh words."
I stared at Grey in confusion. Though he was my best (And only) friend and I trusted him, I still didn't understand why he wouldn't explain what was going on. "Grey. Explain what's going on. Now." I demanded.
Grey remained silent as he tossed a rope ladder down my window and quickly slid down it. Despite my better judgement I decided to follow Grey down and follow him to wherever he was going.

"Heh, I knew you'd have to follow. Tough to resist the lull of adventure huh?" Grey smirked "Still, we're already 2 minutes behind. Best get moving."

I followed Grey for a while. We went down winding streets, long, dark alleys, climbed tall broken buildings, and swam across frigid streams until we finally reached Draconis Alley.

"...Are you kidding Grey?!? We could've walked down here so easily!" I shouted

"SHHH! Quiet! Do you want so people will hear us? No. You don't. So quiet down. Besides, I thought we'd take the long road for fun." whispered Grey "Might as well fill you in. While you were prancing about the streets, I was working hard trying to figure out what went down here today. After a bunch of eavesdropp-"

"Whoa whoa whoa" I said "Why were you so curious about his? And why did you bring me down here?"

Grey gave a deep sigh and rolled his eyes "This is a very serious matter, and Draconis Alley is a safe place. I have a friend looking out for us in case any guards come by. For your first question, that is because ever since the Library accident I began to look around for clues about what happened until I accidentally came across some scrolls that had all these weird symbols! Before and after the library, several more places towns were also invaded. The Nobles even tried to cover it up. When I asked around for how long the were there I found out that The Brotherhood ponies barely spent a minute in any place!

I was stunned. "What!?!? You mean more places were attacked? Why were they there for so little?"
Grey gave me a slight nod "Yup. But in Old Town they took longer. So ___. Be careful. They're dangerous. And I don't think they're done looking for whatever they want just yet."
I fell backwards. Stunned as I was, I could still understand what Grey was saying. The Brotherhood was going to attack again. And I couldn't do anything at all about it. "Grey?"

"Hmm?"

"Why are you telling me this?" I asked.

He momentarily looked at the sky before he said "Because I'm leaving tomorrow. Dad doesn't want me around Old Town after the attack" Suddenly I realized that the big stallion was Grey's dad "And I think that something big is going to happen soon. Why else would the Brotherhood start attacking all these places at the same time that the Canterlot Guard began doing a "Routine Inspection" like they did today? I think that they're both searching for something, and as soon as one of them find whatever they're looking for...Then things will get bad. Bad for everyone and not just for the other faction"
I thought for a moment "You think they're after the book?"
Grey shook his head "I don't know. Maybe they are, but why would they attack other places? Something doesn't add up here..."

Suddenly I heard a familiar flapping, "Um, Grey? What's that noise?"

Grey grimaced "That would be my lookout. And it looks like he has some news for me." He then turned toward me and gave me a quick hug "Stay safe ___. And if you find anything weird. Get as far away from it as you can" After a quick brohoof, Grey began to run down the alley as the familiar flapping noise seemed to follow after him.

I lay in the alley for a while before I went home trying to deal with all that happened. It took me a while, but I finally managed to make it home as I attempted to deal with everything that happened today. In one simple day my life was flipped upside-down and over.

Torn Pages

Rainbow Dash's mind was flooded with questions at what she had just read. She never could've thought that this journal was like this. It...Told a story. It seemed the more she read, the more she questions she had. Furthermore, why was the colt's name scratched out wherever it appeared? Desperate for more answers Rainbow Dash opened the book again to where she last stopped, but in it's place all she saw was evidence of ripped out pages and a blank page in front. Dash quickly leafed through the journal, but none of the pages had any writing on them. Slowly she felt the same presence that she did when she first entered the room "Go back to the end..." whispered a mysterious voice that seemingly came out of nowhere. Hesitantly, Dash went back to the first blank page and slowly a soft skritching noise began to emanate from the book: "Skritch Skritch Skritch" slowly letters began to appear on the page until they spelled out "FIND THE LOST PAGES". Rainbow Dash abruptly dropped the book in surprise. She leaned over it as the letters began to disappear. Again, the noise resumed until a new message was spelled out "LOST PAGES" "OLD TOWN" "DARK MOON RISING "
The presence receded again as Dash picked up the book and she, determined to learn its secrets, flew off for Canterlot.

*Elsewhere*
*A pair of silvery eyes open in a black room*
*Slowly a thin smile forms under the eyes*
"Soon."

Author's Note

Whohoo! Finally done! After weeks of being finished then making additions and edits I finally finished it today! I was hoping to upload this yesterday, but my browser wouldn't let me. I really hope you enjoy this chapter as it is so far the best one I have written (And that's not saying much...). I am still working the character names so expect edits to this chapter in teh future. Furthermore, I may also change the chapter a bit (Maybe) so it will fit in better withthe next chapter which, sadly, will not be released for some time due to a variety of pressing projects, and some work that I need to finish. Hope you like this chapter as much as I did writing it! :twilightsmile:

-Ashe S. Black.

Exiled

Chapter 2: Darkness Lies Beyond the Horizon.

Day 13): Exiled.

Today, I woke up to an announcement of the Royal Guard stating that I was to be arrested. Having no other choice, I went with them. The last thing I saw were my parents: Worried, sad, and fearful for me. The Guards made me sit down in a carriage and it was there that they placed shackles upon me. The trip was short, and yet it seemed so long. When I got to the Castle of Canterlot, I stumbled out of the carriage and it was there that I saw 12 other ponies arriving just as I did. Even more to my shock was to see who they were: Grey, Rose, The green Pegasus, Sierra, and with them was the Captain of the Black Guard - Shade - as well as 5 others including Myst. I approached Grey.

"What's happening?" I asked.

Grey gave me a sad look "Our trial. That's what's happening. Dad was worried this might happen so he attempted to transfer yesterday, but it was already too late. If he could, it would probably save all of us."
Trial? What did he mean? We didn't even do anything!

"What's the trial for?" I said as the guards began prodding me to move.

Grey replied in a hushed voice "Treason I think. I'm not sure."

Great. Just great. We were being tried for Treason...But why? I began thinking. The note! It said the Royals were watching him...Maybe this also happened to the author of The History of The Southern Isles? As I began thinking about this, I was filled with more, and more dread. If I was right then I had led my friends and me right to this. Then this was my fault...But why, I wondered, were those other ponies here? Curiosity besieged me so I asked Grey about them.

"I don't now much about them" Replied Grey "But I think they're here for reasons same as us. Or similar ones anyways..." Grey then gave a slight shrug "The green Pegasus over there is called Glade. Or so she says. She was was my informant."

"Wait. That was a she?" I said half-jokingly.

"Yeah. Go figure right? Glade takes after her older brother a bit too much. She prefers to look, and sound, like a colt to avoid too many problems. Not sure why or what kind of problems, but she never really shared much." Grey then pointed at a greyish-blue Pegasus who looked forward with a fierce gaze, and walked in a way that said that she was afraid of nothing, but rather, was prepared to face it head-on. "That. Is Skyfall." Said Grey "She's one of the toughest Pegasus I have ever met. Fearless, brave, loyal, and tough. She's great to have as a friend, but a terrible enemy to own."
I turned forward as we walked into the hallway. It was there that I saw the queen, with a malicious glint in her eyes, and nobles that stood on the balcony's above us. We would be lucky to only receive an execution judging by their looks.

"You stand before me, and the Assembly, accused of: Treason, aiding the enemy of Equestria, destruction of Royal Property, and conspiracy to commit treason toward the Royal Family." Said the Queen with a faint smirk "How do you plead?"

Skyfall appeared ready to speak before I took a step forward. I was not going to this go by without a fight. "We ARE innocent. We, are just 13 young ponies" Said I "Why, and how, would we commit these crimes? We all were borne in Equestria and we love our homes, nation, and lives. Why would we sacrifice this all just to overthrow our Government?" my hoof flew to my mouth as I heard what I just said. This did not sound like me. What just happened?
The Queen's smile slowly faded and turned into a scowl. Her eyes slowly began to fill up with flames as she glared at me. Obviously, she, nor the Assembly, were prepared for such a statement.

"Guard. Present the evidence and witnesses. Now." She said in a hushed voice. Unlike usual, her voice this time brought with it a cold, sharp tone as that of a blade of steel.

Grey grimaced "Buck me..."

Slowly a guard walked over and placed several things before the queen. Namingly, my book of The Southern Isles, the book that we stumbled across in the library, a memory orb, and several parchments showing schematics of the Castle, and other things. Needless to say, we were trapped.

"I believe these are yours?" Said the Queen

Grey paled even more "Buck me twice..."

I stood forward yet again "Yes. yes they are." The Queen was beginning to say something, but I interrupted her "But only the book of the Southern Isles is. The other book is one that we stumbled across in the library, and I have no knowledge of the schematics nor of the memory orb."

The Queen glared at me with even more fury. Having one-upped her in the Assembly, thus making her look bad, I was even more sure that execution would be a light sentence comparing to what she was planning.

"....Of course you have no idea of the memory orb. One of my scouts stumbled across the thirteen of you conspiring with the enemy, and in order to make sure that everyone could be aware of it, he volunteered for a memory extraction. A risky process all for because of his love of Equestria to expose you. And the books are obviously contraband. The History of the Southern Isles was destroyed after its author was convicted of treason against the Royal Family. And the other book is a Bastion. Which can only be obtained from very specific places, and not just some normal, run-of-the-mill library so you are obviously lying." The queen leaned back and gave me a look that said "You try and pick a fight with me and I'll bring you down. Yo can't win".

While I kept a straight face, in my mind I was more nervous and afraid than ever. But I had to do this!

"If these books are contraband then why was the history book still available and not destroyed? Furthermore, the Bastion has the mark of the Royal Seal so that means that it could only be accessed by a Royal. One of which I am obviously not. Furthermore, memory orbs can be crafted using a variety of ponies enacted a situation." I was really happy that Rose lent me a few of her books. Without them, I would probably not have made it this far yet.
The Queen, for once, was completely stumped. She had obviously not expected such a potent resistance. Especially from a pony who came from Oldtown. I turned around and received looks of, albeit grudging, respect from most of the ponies. Even Skyfall gave me a nod of approval. Grey had seriously calmed down, and looked more relaxed then he did a few minutes ago. Sierra was gazing at me with a look of admiration. Glade was grinning as always. Rose was the only one who seemed perfectly calm, and unaware of what was happening. She opened one of her eyes, and gave me a slight nod. Shed then closed her eye and went back to thinking or something.

Even the Assembly was regarding me with respect. "this" I thought "Would be very useful", but why was the Queen still smiling?

Steadily, the Assembly began to cast their votes on our fate. The Queen grabbed the final vote and with a wide smile announced our fate "In the case of Equestria VS. The Darksiders...I HEREBY DECLARE THOU GUILTY!!!!
Everyone was stunned. The whole room was silent. I glanced at the Assembly who looked surprised as well, but they did not come to our defense for the Queen's Word was Law. My friends were shocked even Rose was stunned. I glanced at the Six Captains who were silent and immobile as ever, but I noticed that even they were shocked at the Queen's decision.

"THE ACCUSED'S FAMILIES ARE TO BE EXECUTED UNLESS THEY ARE EXCEPTIONAL, AND THE GUILTY ARE TO BE EXILED FOREVER TO THE SOUTHERN ISLES."

"NO!!!" I screamed "WHY ALL OF US? WHY? THEY (I pointed toward the others) DIDN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THIS!!!"

The Queen's icy gaze passed over them "The guilty are to be with the guilty. No matter what. Now. Get. These. Traitors. Out. Of. My. Sight."

Shade slightly trembled before he stepped forward. The Stallion in Red armor tried to stop him, but Shade knocked him back. "Your Majesty. I object to your sentence. These are merely younglings. Half of them are related to some Nobles. And the other half could never have done something like this. I plead that you retract your statement."

The Queen merely smiled. "I don't think so Shade. My Word is Law. And even a Hero of the Wars doesn't have the authority to object to my orders. Now get back in line. Immediately or else."
Shade was silent and immobile for a moment before he, oh so slowly, backed up.

Grey's eye twitched. "Buck me thrice...We're dead."

The boat was surprisingly better than I expected. It was a large boat and very nice and clean. The guard said that it was like a "Dying favor to the poor souls sent off to the Isles." The boat had some food and drinks on it, as well as a small library. According to the guard this was the "11th boat, and by far the longest surviving one." I found out that most of the boats were either destroyed on the way there, or they were destroyed after getting there. Either way, no one ever arrived or came back from the Islands alive. Usually the captains were Pegasi so they could fly away before they made the half-way point at which they would fly to several mini-isles where they could rest and make their way back. There was sometimes a boat on one of these islands so the journey would be easier. I especially paid attention when the guard mentioned the boats and islands. If things went down-hill then those islands and boats could be our only way out.

We have been sailing for an hour now and along the way I learned a bit about my fellow convicts. First off: They all learned or came across something involved with the Southern Isles. Second off: Their home towns were also invaded by the Brotherhood. Third off: All these events coincidentally took place 13 days ago. As I learned more and more I began to wonder if it was chance or something else that bunched us all together. We pieced together what we figured out from our individual sources until we learned something similar: The Royals were hiding something. Something very, very secret and very, very important. Furthermore, some of them were related to the 6 Captains. The others, seven in all, were indirectly related to someone else who was involved with the 6 Captains. Once again, what I knew began to unravel as I learned more.

We all quickly became friends, and soon we began to discuss what would happen if we made it to the Isles. We also needed two leaders. So the ponies chose Skyfall and I (probably because of the trial incident...). We discussed long into the evening about what we might find there until we grew hungry. We decided to rest for the evening and we went to the kitchen to get some food. There wasn't much, but there was enough. Afterwards we all went to bed. I, on the other hand, decided to go sight seeing so I stepped out and looked over at the Horizon. All I saw was that:

Darkness Lies Beyond the Horizon

Day (13: Midnight. I was staring down at the ocean when Glade walked up to me. She gave me a newer journal and told me not to worry.

"Everything will be fine." She said.

I turned toward her "Will it? Will it?".

Day (14. With Hooves Held High

I stayed up through most of the night. Wondering about our homes. Our former lives. Our friends. I thought about every pony on this boat who lost something because of some bucked up circumstances. My thoughts wandered to the Royal Family and the Nobles. What were they hiding? What were they planning? Then, I thought about the Brotherhood. What did they want? Were they after the same thing as the Royals? Or was there more to them than meets the eye? I began thinking about when I first saw the Brotherhood. Huge Stallions in black armor. Armed with advanced weapons. Near unstoppable and utterly ruthless. Silent, brutal, and cold. In a way they reminded me of Shade. He was like them, but different. I wondered if he and the other captains had some history with the Brotherhood? Maybe. Just maybe. Suddenly, I heard a strange screech. I looked up and saw a array of...(Birds?) dive-bombing toward me. I barely jumped out of the way before the birds hit the floor. In the place where they hit, there was a large gash.

"I'd better get the-" Another bird swooped toward me. I didn't manage to dodge this one as it created a huge gash in my side!

"AGGGGH!" I screamed! The pain was agonizing. Near me, the door opened to show Grey standing with an unusual sword that resembled an overgrown bat wing.

"Get in the boat! Before the Hooktails get you! NOW!"

I barely crawled inside before the birds began to attack again. Grey carefully and expertly slashed at them with his blade. A pair of them struck the floor with a thunk.

I turned toward him "What were those things! They nearly tore me to bits!"
Grey eyes searched the sky momentarily before he shut the door "Hooktail Bats. Nasty things. A Pegasus's worst nightmare. Hooktails must've sensed you and decided to go get some free breakfast."

"Buck me..." I whispered.

"You're lucky to still be alive" Said Grey "Hooktails usually attack in bigger numbers. They would've tore you to pieces. Speaking of tears, we'd better get you patched. It'd be bad if your wound got putrefied."
I gulped as I glances at my wound. It was a deep, nasty gash as blood began to flow from it. Some of the muscles and flesh were torn and even sticking out slightly in some places. I turned before I puked. My stomach was still churning at the mere thought of the wound.

Grey pulled me up and began helping me walk. "Nasty stuff right? Try not to get the wound dirty though."

I vomited again as I weakly asked Grey "Hey, where's everyone else?"

Grey face scrunched up. "Downstairs. They heard the Hookbats and thought it'd be safe to stay down there. I'm surprised they forgot about you." He paused for a moment "Hey Sierra? Can you get up here? We have somepony who's injured and needs immediate attention."

From down below we heard a timid voice "..J-just h-how bad is it?"

"Uhhhhh...Bad enough for you to come, but not that bad." Replied Grey.

Sierra was silent before she finally replied "O-okay. I'll be right there in a minute."

Grey's gave me a slight smirk "5 bits says that she freaks when she sees you."

When Sierra finally came up she gave me a glance and instantly paled. "Guh, uh, uh..." She gulped and took out a syringe out of her bag. She turned away as she poked my side with it and ejected a medicine in it. Slowly, I felt a cool, but warm feeling through my body. It seemed to just was away the pain.

"Is that going to help him?" Asked Grey.

"Y-yes, I think so..." Said Sierra. "It should also reduce his pain while I mend his wounds."
She levitated several tools and began working on my side. Even with the medicine it still hurt a lot. By the time she was finished she was covered in my blood.

Sierra shuddered "Uggghhhh, I need to wash off..."

Grey gave her a nod "Thanks." Sierra responded in kind and walked off. She paused for a moment and gave me a curious look before she trotted back downstairs.

"You think you'll be alright ___?" He asked.

"Yup. I should be. But what about the Hooktail Bats?" I replied.

Grey gave me a slight shrug "They'll fly off for a bit. I wouldn't advise going outside for a while though."

Grey picked up a roll of bandages and quickly wrapped up my side. "Try to avoid getting hit there again. Because I don't think you can survive a second time."

I nodded. The experience was far from pleasant and I would much rather spend my whole life without an injury like that again.

With help from Grey, I managed to get downstairs and get to the my room. Suddenly I remembered the captain. "What about the captain?" I asked.

"He'll be alright. The front of the ship is pretty well armored and he can take care of himself. So don't worry yourself about him. Besides, he's ferrying us to our deaths..."

I sat on my bed, and then walked over to my cabinet. "I better write about this is my journal" I thought.

The journal was beginning to run out of room though, and soon I'd have to change to my new one. I bet that there is only enough room in my first diary for today.

I turned as I heard my door open and it was there that I saw a smiling Skyfall.

"Heh. I thought you'd be passed out on the bed. That was a nasty wound you got."

She must've heard it from Sierra. "Sorry, for interrupting you at the palace"

She shrugged "It's alright. You did much better than I could've. A much, much better job. I'm curious though, how did a pony from the slums learn to talk like that? Or know all that stuff?"

I thought back to when Rose gave me a few of her books "Around the slums I sometimes would find some books. Plus, my friend Rose let me borrow some of her books. It's only thanks to her that I managed to do that."

Skyfall was silent as she studied me. "Hmm. I don't think that they were just the cause...There's more to you than anyone can see. I can just feel it..." She cleared her that and straightened up "Well, I guess you'd like to rest. See you tomorrow." She rushed out of the room before I managed to say anything.

"Well that was odd" I muttered.

I walked over to my bed and slowly pulled back the sheets. "Best get some rest." I thought. Before I did though, I grabbed my book and began writing about today in it.

INTERLUDE

Rainbow Dash gently closed the diary. Never in her wildest dreams could she have expected something like this. Dash placed the book on the table next to her as she laid down in her bed. She began to wonder about the colt who wrote it. What happened to him? What was his name? Why did he deserve such a fate? Dash shook her head, she just wanted to rest, but all that was on her mind was the book. She grabbed the book again and turned to the page where the colt described Skyfall. She seemed a bit like Dash. Was Dash somehow related to her? Rainbow Dash turned toward the end of the book where the empty page was. Rainbow Dash began to write "What happened to him?" Unlike yesterday, the book wrote no reply back to her. None at all. Not even a scribble. As her words began to fade, Rainbow Dash wrote in another question "Is this the end? What of the other journal?" Yet again, the book said nothing in return. Rainbow Dash set aside the book and laid down again to sleep, but a strange click interrupted that. She glanced at the book before rapidly snatching it. The book had grown a strange lock that prevented her from opening it. Unlike the blue seal, the one on top of the lock was a strange one indeed: It was a shield with a pair of scythes with a skull on top. Rainbow Dash tried to pry the lock open, but it wouldn't budge. Not a bit. It seemed as if the book has finally passed on its story and now laid itself to sleep. Rainbow Dash hid the book under her bed before she finally went to sleep. "I'll solve this tomorrow" she thought.

Meanwhile

Twilight Sparkle was cleaning her library when she found an unusual alcove. The alcove had a blue seal on it that resembled The Element of Loyalty with wings. In haste, Twilight began searching for a very specific book on her table. When she had finally found it she opened it to page 37. Inside was an identical picture akin to to the seal found on the wall. One that sounded a lot like what Rainbow Dash had found at the library. "I must tell her about this" muttered Twilight.

It was around midnight before Twilight Sparkle woke her up and started rambling about something involving "The Seal", and other things. Although she wasn't very specific, Dash still had a very good clue about what Twilight was talking about. When they finally arrived, Twilight had shown Dash the seal and asked her if she could do anything. And something she did do.

Rainbow Dash laid her hoof upon the seal. It lightly glowed before it slid back and then to the side to reveal yet another book.

As she pulled it out, Twilight dashed by and snatched the book. "We must be careful with it! Who knows how old it is or what kind of magic is on it!" Dash rolled her eyes before grabbed the book and laid it on the table 'Let's just read it. Or see what's in it anyways."

END INTERLUDE

Memories

All that was inside the book was a note:

From the desk of Grey Shade:
Surprise, Surprise. Since you have found the second journal you are probably wondering "Why is it blank?" Well, that is because this is not the real journal. I, personally mind you, have hidden the real journal in a place where none may find it. In its place I left behind a small trove of memory orbs that Frostbite collected from the crew. The orbs are from our own views as we survived the ordeals of the ocean and the Island. Inside are 6 orbs that can only be activated via a specific virtue that belonged to its owner. Dispense these orbs to your friends and wait for them to activate. The orbs shall correspond with the owner's mind and slowly enter that piece of mind where our memory is stored and the orbs shall lightly tap that piece and gently place a flow of memories in there. That is how you shall know which orb belongs to you. Since the orbs were prototypes, they may contain several memories.

-Grey Shade "Ninja, Assassin, Scout, Pure-awesomeness incarnate"

Behind Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle resounded a faint 'Click" as the alcove where the book was opened further to reveal a second alcove below the first one.
"Well, that was clever" muttered Twilight.
Dash peeked inside the alcove where 6 orbs lay next to each other in two rows. She reached for the closest orb. As soon as her hoof brushed the orb it abruptly glowed greyish-blue and Rainbow Dash was enveloped in the hidden memory:
===L===O===Y===A===L===T===Y===
I woke up to the sound of banging on the deck and screams. Then, a loud slam and more shouting. "Ugh, what?" I groaned "What's happening?" I turned a bit to look at Frostbite. He was standing attentively and glaring at the ceiling.
"Someone got killed. Or wounded. Badly" said Frost. He could be very unusual at times and this was definitely one of them.
I heard the slam again and even more banging. Then shouts resounded throughout the ship. I was indeed curious about what was happening so I walked outside. It was there that I saw Sierra picking up her equipment and dashing up the stairs. I was surprised that she didn't fall. I turned toward Glade.
"So what happened up there?"
Glade slouched a bit "________ Got hurt pretty badly. I heard something about 'Hook-bats'. It was my fault that he got hurt up there. I was with him last night and I just left him there."
I perked my ears up a bit. What was this about ___ and Glade? Steadily I felt a slight surge a jealousy.
"So what exactly was going on...?" I prodded.
Another scream resounded. This one sounded more animal-like.
"Not much. We just stood around and talked. I tried to comfort him, but..."Glade shrugged "He misses his family. He misses home. And worst of all, he feels sorry for us most of all."
A few seconds later, I saw Sierra walking down the stairs looking pale as a ghost, Grey looking grim as always, and ___ being helped down by Grey. ___ Looked the worst. I gasped as I saw the bandages: They were soaked in his blood and slightly caving in on his wound. ___ Steadily walked down the stairs and as he reached the bottom he said something that I felt surprised us all:
"Hey, who's up for a musical?"
'Heh' I thought. Even in grim situations as this one he could still downplay it with a sense of humor.
I walked over to Grey and tapped his shoulder.
"Hmm?" He turned around "Oh, hey Skyfall. You need something?"
"In a way. Would you mind telling me what happened up there?"
He shrugged as he swung his sword around a bit "Just some Hooktail Bats. They messed ___ up pretty badly so I had to pull him over here. And by pull, what I really mean is drag."
"You better check up on him. He's pretty shaken up" Said Grey before he left for his room.
I sighed. I might as well check up on ___.
I peeked into his room and saw him writing down in his journal. He didn't seem to be affected too badly by his wound. For just a slight moment I saw a faint sparkle on his flank and the appearance of a cutie mark. It looked like two scythes crossed on top of a shield. As I saw it, I felt a strange chill beginning to seep into me. Shaking off the cold, I opened the door and walked into his room.
___ Looked up as he saw me.
"Heh, I thought you'd be passed out on the bed. That was a nasty wound you got."
He paused for a moment before replying "Yeah. It was. I should be better by tomorrow."
There was a bit of a silence between us.
"So, uh, sorry for interrupting you at the palace."
Glade wasn't joking. He really was a caring colt, even worrying over such trivial matters as that. "It's alright. You did much better than I could've. A much, much better job. I'm curious though, how did a pony from the slums learn to talk like that? Or know all that stuff?"
___ reached for a small stack of books and spread them out before me "Around the slums I sometimes would find some books. Plus, my friend Rose let me borrow some of her books. It's only thanks to her that I managed to do that."

I studied him closely, his cutie mark was still there, but it was fading away steadily. I wondered if there was more to this pony than I thought there was. I'd have to take a peek at his journal if I wanted to know. "Hmm. I don't think that those books were just the cause...There's more to you than anyone can see. I can just feel it..." A shroud of silence was cast upon us. I cleared my throat "Well, I guess you'd like to rest. See you tomorrow." I rushed out of the room before he managed to say anything.

===L===O===Y===A===L===T===Y===

As Rainbow Dash returned from the memory she had found herself confounded. As she entered Skyfall's mind she felt right in place. Like she was Skyfall. It was disturbing, but she knew that she was herself now.
"So what did you see?" Asked Twilight.
Rainbow Dash shuddered "A memory of Skyfall. A mare that was in that journal that I found a few days ago.
"This one?" Asked Twilight as she lifted the book up.
On the face of the book was the completed title "The Darkside Chronicles By Ripper".

"Huh!" Rainbow Dash grabbed the book and looked at the title. The author's name was there, but it just didn't fit. She then remembered what Skyfall had said "There's more to you than what anypony can see", Maybe this was what she meant? Dash opened the journal, but the colt's name was still crossed out. Gone. As if he never wanted anypony to know who he really was and what his name was. The title, maybe it was just a new identity he made for himself. A new life. If he survived then that meant that he had made it to the Island or escaped. A new life, identity, and world. He wanted to change, but something seemed to be missing here. Dash felt as if she was holding a puzzle that looked complete, but there were parts missing. She just wished that she knew what was missing.

6 hours later

After some much needed sleep, Rainbow Dash picked up the orbs and flew away. Her first stop was Clouddale where she had hoped to find someone who could interact with the orbs. While she had slept, she had experienced another memory. A faint one that seemed more like a dream, but in it, Dash was Skyfall and she saw herself running toward Canterlot with a burning desire to save somepony. A sense of Loyalty was compelling her. When Dash had woken up the feeling had still ot passed, but she felt the urge to give away the other 5 orbs. She felt that in doing so, she was helping Skyfall somehow. Once the last orb had left her satchel, Rainbow Dash had felt much more relaxed. She felt as if she had done the right thing, but she still wondered: To what end was she following these orders? And why?

Home

When Rainbow Dash had finally gotten home, she opened up the old journal and, much to her delight, she had found more chapters in the small journal. Inside, she also found an empty page where the writing once again appeared to her
"So you found the orbs?"
Rainbow Dash reached for something to write with before she muttered "Of course I did, no thanks to you" When she had turned back to the journal she had found that it had wrote back to what she said earlier:
"Haha, I apologize for my...Ah... Disappearance . The magic was beginning to fade and it grew harder for me to write back, now that it's back, stronger than before, what you say materializes on the book and I can read it"
Her eyes had widened. The book itself was not writing back, but it was somepony else! Hesitantly she wrote back "Who are you?"
The page was clear for a moment before an elegant writing appeared "A prisoner of unforeseen circumstances. My choices, and the lives that I saved all came back to me and had me landed in this prison. As for my name, I am not at a liberty to reveal it just yet. Or remember it. I have long forgotten much of my past, and the only thing that helps me retain my sanity is this book that lies before my hooves."
"So where are you?" Asked Rainbow Dash.
*Skritch Skritch* "I do not know. It has been long since I have last seen the outside of my prison."
Rainbow Dash thought for a moment before she asked him "How did you know what I was doing?"
*Skritch Skritch* "The magic that surrounds the journal is very, very ancient. As such, I can manipulate it slightly. This allowed me to see what was around the journal and interact with them. As long as they interacted with the book first."
"I once had journeyed with the 13 ponies that are written in the journal. I personally had known Skyfall, Grey, Rose, Scorch, FrostBite, ___, Glade, Hawke, Sierra Myst, Raindrop, Storm Chaser, Duster, and Snowflake."
Rainbow Dash frowned. The journal said there was only 13 colts, not 14. Then who was this one? "So who are you then? The Captain?"
*Skritch Skritch* "I was an excess passenger they picked up by chance. I was there when the Chaos began, and when the story ended. It is all written down before you. This journal was ___ Most prized possession. When it became damaged, he had Frost integrate it with another one. It was here that he wrote everything down before hiding it away with the other journals."
"The other journals?" Asked Rainbow Dash.
*Skritch Skritch* "Yes. The others. His journey to the Southern Islands isn't where his tale ends, but only where it began..."

Gone Fishing

Day 16): Flight.

Frostbite wanted to examine me in the morning for any wounds that may have been infected from the Hookbats. While he was examining my back he took a pause.

"Uh ___? Are you sure you're an earth pony?

"Um yeah, I'm pretty sure." I replied.

Slowly I felt a sting across my back. In alarm, I sprang back and saw Frost holding a scalpel, its edge gleaming in a mixture of silver and crimson as a drop of my blood fell from it.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" I shouted!

Frost casually grabbed a clothe and wiped the scalpel off.

"Opening your back. There are strange protrusions near your shoulder-blades and I'm curious as to what they are. You have the build and strength of an earth-pony, and yet your a bit too light. The slight bone remnants in your shoulder further attribute to my theory."

"And what's that?" I grabbed a wash clothe and put it on my back. It was starting to hurt a lot.

Frost began washing off the scalpel. "That you may be a Pegasus. Which is odd since you exhibit the traits of a earth-pony. Strength, endurance, and earth magic. I've heard of processes created to 'modify' ponies, but you're the first I've seen to even be close to this." He walked up behind me and slowly arched the scalpel

"May I?" He asked.

I hesitated, but reluctantly agreed.

I slowly felt the forward edge delve into my wound and worm its way through my flesh. Then, as I bit my lip from the pain, felt my flesh was spread apart. I felt a faint poking sensation.

"Huh. Interesting. You have a slight bone malformation akin to that of a Pegasus's wings, but it's too precisely cut to be the remnant's of a wing's bone. Either your wings were cut off or a special kind of magic was used here. Nonetheless, I see nothing of interest here, but thank you for being my...Ah...Test Subject." He passed me a stick "Bite onto this. I'll stitch your wound up."

It took a bit, but it was finally done.

"Now try not to flex your back too much. I'd hate for the stitches to rip since I would then have to cauterize the wound...That means I will take a hot poker and roll it around on your wound. Slowly." Said Frostbite.
I looked around his small room where there was a curious amount of equipment. Surgical, medical, and all sorts of knick-knacks.

"I didn't know you were into this kind of stuff."

Frost shrugged "Not many do." He showed me his cutie mark which was of a blue ball surrounded by several green rings.

"Surgery isn't much different from engineering in my opinion so that comes easy to me too. I like to build a few things." He lifted a pair of tinted glasses. "I've been trying to infuse magic with these so we could see where everyone else who is wearing these glasses is and talk to them, but it is not easy in the least. If I had some kind of energy source besides magic then they might work, but I haven't come across such a thing in my journeys."

I looked at a map that was attached to the wall. Many towns were crossed off on the map.

"You've been to all these places?" I asked.

Frost gave me a slight nod. "Eeyup. Turns out that my kind of research was really, really illegal in Equestria so I went looking for any books involving the Southern Isles since the author was one of the fews ponies in Equestria who studies things like my research. Just less surgical."

Huh. So Frostbite also went looking for the book. Well it sure explained why he was here, but why didn't the Queen mention his crimes I wondered?

"-And that's how I came across this!" I snapped out of my thought and back into reality as I saw what Frost pulled out of a safe. It was a tablet with strange writing on the side and in the center were pictures of metal parts being...Fused? To create a machine that looked like telescope, but smaller and more compact. "I don't know who made this, but this is some highly intelligent work. The only problem is that the parts are made of metal and they need some kind of power source. I don't have the rest of the tablet, but I managed to scrounge up a prototype (That word echoed in my ears...) from any parts I could salvage. Metal isn't exactly common. Especially high-grade flawless metal."

He pulled out a machine that, somewhat, resembled the one in the picture. Frost's was far less elegantly built, and it looked more rushed. On closer inspection it looked appeared that it was made from bronze.

Frost placed it, and the tablet, back in his vault. "Wouldn't want anypony stealing my inventions. If I managed to finish it then I could revolutionize Equestria. Everybody would want one. We'd have a tech-book. It's be more advanced than Memory Orbs and far more useful. Everypony could use it!....If only I could figure out what it does..."

As I left the room, out of nowhere I heard a loud thunk. I peeked around the corner and saw the red and black pony, known as Scorch, brutally punching a bag that he hung from the ceiling. Several broken bags were lying around the floor. Scorch gave a loud roar before he punched the bag and knocked it off its hinge and straight into the wall. Scorch slowly turned toward me and gave me an evil look.

"What do you want kid?"

I gulped and swiveled on my hoof and began trotting away before I heard an aggressive shout behind me.

"HEY! I'M BUCKING TALKING TO YOU!"

I felt myself wither before I turned toward Scorch. He was scowling and steadily eying me as if summing up the best way to take me down quickly.

*Sigh* "I just heard a loud crash and decided to check it out."

Scorch calmed down a bit. "Okay then. But the next time I ask you something, you'd better answer it immediately. Or else I'll shove you in one of my bags and use you as training practice." He picked up yet another bag and strung it up.
I walked up the stairs and walked up to see what was happening outside. The sky was clear and beautiful, but the horizon was still tinted with that black darkness. It seemed to get closer, and closer and we sailed toward it. From the far right I heard a *Ziiiip* noise and Sierra crying out:

"Come on! Come on! Just a bit more..." I then heard a whistling noise and a loud flop. I turned aound on the deck and saw Sierra grabbing onto a large fish.

"GOTCHA, YOU LITTLE ZIPPER!" Right next to her was a large fishing rod and a spare fishing rod a few hooves away.
Sierra placed the fish on deck and bashed it on the head with the butt of her fishing rod.

"Hey Sierra" I said.

She looked up with surprise as the fish flopped in the air.

"Oh no you don't" She cried out as she slapped it with her rod. The fish hit the deck with a slapping noise. Sierra then began repeatedly slapping it with her rod. She grabbed the fish and put it in her box.

"Oh hey ___, how are you doing?" She gave me a smile as she grabbed her second rod and tossed toward me "Here, catch."

I barely caught it. I found it to be tough to catch poles with a pair of hooves.

I took a seat next to her as we began fishing.

"You seem strangely relaxed and...Not...Stuttery." I remarked.

Sierra leaned closer and looked over the edge. "That's because fishing calms my nerves." She began reeling in early and surprisingly reeled in a fish.

The fish flew over our heads and hit the wall behind us. It slowly slid down into the box.

"I may be a medic, but I'm really good at fishing. I guess I inherited it from my mother. Remember her?"
I thought back to Myst, she did seem unusually similar to Sierra...Except for their personalities. Myst seemed blunt, un-friendly, and distant. Sierra was more tip-hoofing, friendly, and stuttery as well as peppy. But they also did look a bit alike. Especially since both of them were medics...Living in the woods...Away from ponykind....In the Everfree forest....I guess they really were related.

Sierra steadily cast again. "Myst and the other captains used to be heroes. They stopped the Brotherhood and defeated them. They practically saved Equestria alone. They led to it being rebuilt. If it wasn't for them, then we wouldn't be here today. No one would be where they are. But looked where they ended up. Renown heroes ended up as captains of the Canterlot Guard and they were practically forgotten. Even their foals forgot who they once were. The path to despair is paved with good intentions as Shade once said to me."

Rainbow Dash closed the book and laid it on the table before her. As it turns out, Grey made a mistake and accidentally placed the real book in Twilight's Library, and apparently hid the fake book somewhere else. It made her wonder though as to why he left his note there, but also why she found an empty page. She grabbed Ripper's journal and opened it. Once again, no writing appeared. It was as if its owner was gone. Or just couldn't write.

"Are you there?" She wrote.

A few seconds passed by, but no writing appeared.

She wondered, not for the first time, who he was. If it even was a he.

*Yawn*

*A pair of eyes open in the darkness*

"...It's really cold in here..."

TOMORROW WE'LL FLY ANOTHER DAY

Author's Note

Yup. More character developments. A little peek into the colt's life on the ship, and his friends. Yup, Frostbite is the equivalent of a mad scientist in this fic. The idea for Sierra's personality came from Fluttershy, believe it or not. This wasn't a very intricate chapter, but it's more of a development one. A little further look into the personalities of three ponies and what they are like and how they get along. Scorch is an aggressive fighter, Frostbite is a mad scientist, and Sierra is more of a medic/fisher pony. It's a bit of a short chapter, but I'll make it up to you readers with the next update called Skydrop. It'll involve Skyfall and the colt, but unlike this chapter, Skydrop will go into more intricate details and it will heavily influence the next arc.

-Black Ashes

Skydrop: Part One

Day 20: Skydrop

My life flashed before my eyes as I fell. The trip seemed to be forever. I looked toward the sky and saw Skyfall flying toward me, but I knew she wouldn't make it. It was already too late. My fate was sealed. All that would be left of me is a splat on the poop deck. An ironic fate indeed. As I was falling time began to slow down. I could see the world around me. I could see everything. My friend's faces of horror as they watched me. My affiliates' faces of surprise as they saw me fall. I could hear the sound of the world, the ocean, and, well, everything. My gaze slowly shifted toward where the sun set, and just a moment I could see the horizon and a flash of pure fear ran through me as a blade and I knew, that what lied beyond there would be the end of us all. The last thing I saw shortly before I hit the deck was Skyfall diving towards me with tears in her eyes.

And then all faded to black.

---Before---

For the past few days, I was spending more and more time with Frostbite, Sierra Myst, Grey, Skyfall, and Glade. In our own little way, we became our own little tightly knit group. Hawke joined in too. He was surprisingly close to Glade and seemed to look after her as a big brother would. He was, for the most part, silent and stoic. A lot like Rose, but he was more stoic-ey. It was during our little groupings that I managed to learn a little bit about everyone and what they liked to do, as well as what their cutie marks were.

Hawke was skilled at archery and was able to hit a target from far, far away. Despite being a pegasus, he never flew. His cutie mark was that of an eye strangely enough. He never mentioned where he came from, but from I managed to pick up, he traveled a long way with Glade. I once even managed to pick up the phrase "Elysium" from him.

Sierra was skilled in medicine as well as fishing surprisingly. She was for the most part very shy unless she was doing something she enjoyed. Namingly, fishing. Her cutie mark was that of syringe. When she was resting, I could sometimes see her reading some novellas or practicing her magic.

Frost was quiet some of the time, but despite his craziness he was a genius. He was pretty good at building and taking apart stuff (Which he attributed to his surgical skills) and at rest he sometimes pull out his little box machine-thing and start tinkering with it. His cutie mark was that of a scalpel with a thread strung around it.

Grey was as always, right by my side. "Brothers to the end" he told me. I only recently started paying attention to his skills and how he was surprisingly good with swords especially a pair he called "the NightShade blades", to be honest, I'm still not sure how a pony could hold a pair of swords... Like me, he was still a blank-flank.

Rose, as stoic and silent as ever, was deeply immersed in her books. She seemed to be practically glued to them and every so often she would practice a spell until she was satisfied with it. Although Rose and I have not spoken in some time, we still talked a little bit and I at least managed to learn something about her for my journal. She was from a noble family, and she was born in Canterlot. She got her cutie mark recently when she learned of her aptitude with spells that involved plants. That and just anything involving plants. Turns out that she carried a pot with Poison Joke around with her, just in case anypony upset her or if she just wanted to get back at them. When I stealthily sneaked around her room I also found several books about "Botany" which as far as I could tell meant books about plants. While I was looking around, I also saw something from the corner of my eye, a faint wisp of smoke that disappeared through a small crevice in the wall. As soon as it left, the room seemed to get slightly warmer and brighter. It sent a shiver down my spine as I pondered as to what that thing was...

Skyfall, of all my friends, was the most mysterious. In many ways, she was like Hawke in personality. Quiet, tough, brave and someone to look up to. When she wasn't resting, or exercising she could be found practicing her aerial tricks. It made me wonder why she did that, but then again maybe it was a normal thing for all Pegasi. I didn't manage to find out much about her except for the fact that she was in search of a new home. She met Frost a while back and they've been traveling together since then. Despite not talking much about our lives we still got along very well. Grey sometimes joked that I should marry her before she marries me, but I think he's just messing with my head.

We were busy talking when we suddenly heard a loud *Creeeaaak* *Ka-chunk* *Creeeaaak* *clip-clop, clip-clop*

The captain came down from the front of the ship for the first time and, while mostly ignoring the lot of us, walked around the ship all the while investigating it. He seemed almost keen on finding something. It took a few minutes, but he eventually stopped, turned around, and began examining all of us. His gaze stopped and focused straight on me.

"Turn around." He commanded.

I turned a little bit before I heard a bark from my side "Stop!"

He walked up to me and began examining my wound and occasionally prodding it. He gave a short grunt.

"It's a good thing I let you bring your belongings or else he'd be dead and I'd have another body on my hooves to take care of."

He then trotted away, heading toward the captain's quarters. As he entered we heard a loud screech and then loud "BOOM" as he locked the door.

"...Did anyone else NOT see that coming" I muttered sarcastically.

We spent most of the day hanging out and still exploring the ship. Hawke returned from his little scouting trip and grudgingly admitted what he saw on the ocean.

"There is no way any of us are getting off this ship and get to land alive. The area around us is crawling with monsters. Pretty sure I saw a Leviagatr out there too."

I turned toward Frost and whispered to him "What's a Leviagatr?"

Frost slowly pulled one of his books out of his backpack as Hawke began talking about what else he saw out there.
"This. They're pretty nasty beasties. One of them, even a child, would gladly have you for a snack. On land or in sea they're equally dangerous. Except they're more dangerous at sea since they can swim like crazy..."

I gulped as I looked at the picture of a Leviagatr. They did look ferocious...

Frost was putting his book back in his backpack before the boat started rocking.
Skyfall managed to get ahoof of her surrounding before she called out to us.

"Ugh, Is everypony alright?" Her question was met with a scattering of replies. All of them yes.

"Frost!" She pointed toward him "Do you know what happened?"

Frost shrugged, once again I was intrigued by how a pony could do that...

"Not sure. Underwater activity? Whirlpool? Tidal wave? There's a bunch of stuff that could cause this to happen"
His answer was met with a deep and loud roar that echoed throughout the ship!

Hawke opened the door to the cabins.

"EVERYPONY! GET INSIDE! NOW!" He barely managed to finish before the shop rocked again. this time, I did not manage to grab a hold of something and I crashed into a pile of crates that were tied down to the deck.

We all scattered towards the door before suddenly without warning the boat rocked again! This time it was far more strongly
than before as I briefly saw a claw go underwater. I was then thrown into Scorch who was holding on for dear life.

"ARGH, GET YER OWN HOLD" He shouted before he kicked me off. I crashed into the mast before I heard the roar again.

"EVERYPONY! GET YOUR FLANKS INSIDE NOW!" Shouted Hawke before he pulled himself inside. The boat was then beginning to tip over slightly as I saw what was causing all this ruckus.

"Oh buck..." I murmured as I saw the monster. Out of all the things we had to encounter, it just had to be a Leviagatr. But this one was different from the picture. For one, it was far larger and it's spikes were in greater numbers. It's claws shined with the gleam of silver and its eyes glowed a malicious red. It bellowed and I nearly lost my hold on the deck. The monster was growling as it saw than I wasn't dislodged.

Why is it glaring at me like that...I weakly thought as the world was beginning to spin. I thought I was getting seasick. I turned back toward the door where I saw Scorch climbing to. Hanging onto the doorway was Skyfall, beckoning me to get up there. I began my steady climb as I pulled myself onto the crates which were still miraculously attached "Thank Luna" I muttered as I grabbed a pair of spikes (At this point I decided to not question how I grabbed them if it meant saving my life.) and with them, I began my not-so-steady ascent diagonally upwards towards the door. And that creepy floating balloon that had the image of a pink pony with fluffy hair, but I think that was just a hallucination.

It was long and arduous, especially with that really angry Leviagatr below me, but as I nearly made it upwards The boat began tipping over again. This time not slightly, but heavily. I guess that the Leviagatr realized that its prey was going to escape so it might as well take us all down for a swim. I turned toward Skyfall and the others, their eyes filled with fear and I knew that I had to make a difficult choice. Fight or (Metaphorical, cause I don't have any wings in case you forgot) Flight.
I chose Fight.

It was either me, or all of us, but I'd rather have it be me. Planting my hooves on the deck, I pulled with all my strength until they both came free...And so did I. I turned round in mid fall as I dived toward the beast. Its eyes were gleaming with neither hunger nor fear, but satisfaction. It was at this point that I realized that in the end, it would still be me, no matter what choice I made in the end. The beast was targeting me. How, and why were questions that I wanted to pursue, but would not be able to as the only thought that was running through my mind was:

"AGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH BUCK BUCK BUCK BUCK BUCK BUCK 'Oh look 2 bits' BUCK BUCK BUCK BUUUUUUUUUCK!!!" I leaned forward and closed my eyes as I dived toward the monster, unafraid of what would follow. "AT least I saved my friends" i thought. Suddenly I stopped and a powerful jolt ran through me. I slowly opened one eye and saw that I stabbed the monster above the eye as hot, steaming blood began to pour from its deep wound. The scent of burned flesh hit my nose with force as turned slightly and saw that my left side was badly burned. "Could Levaigatrs breathe fire" I wondered? Ignoring the blood gushing from the would as that of a stream, I ripped the spike out of the flesh and I jammed it into the flesh above. The spike barely penetrated the armor so I pulled out the spike and jabbed the wound again and again. I lifted the spike again and strongly jammed it down again. This time it went in real deep and I was met with a Roar and a blast of...Flame? Something shot out of the beasts mouth. It looked like flame, but it was more concentrated and really, really hot. I tried to jab the beast in the eye, but its eyelids were too thick for me to penetrate with my second spike. With a final roar, the beast launched me into the air and let go of the ship. Suddenly I found myself shooting upward towards the sky!

And then I was falling slowly.

I heard a loud shout from behind me and I turned my head and saw that my friends left the cabins and they gazed at me in shock. Skyfall was not there, but rather she was rocketing toward me, her determination to save me was a blazing star in the dusk. I looked ahead of me, I was slowly beginning to gain speed. I grunted as rock shot past me, and from behind me I heard a shout, and then a loud "Thud". It looked as if I wouldn't be saved at all. All around me, debris and cargo began to fall. Probably from when the beast shook me off, it must have dislodged some underwater rocks and cargo from the ship

My life flashed before my eyes as I fell. The trip seemed to be forever. I looked toward the sky and saw Skyfall flying toward me, but I knew she wouldn't make it. It was already too late. My fate was sealed. All that would be left of me is a splat on the poop deck. An ironic fate indeed. As I was falling time began to slow down. I could see the world around me. I could see everything. My friend's faces of horror as they watched me. My affiliates' faces of surprise as they saw me fall. I could hear the sound of the world, the ocean, and, well, everything. My gaze slowly shifted toward where the sun set, and just a moment I could see the horizon and a flash of pure fear ran through me as a blade and I knew, that what lied beyond there would be the end of us all. The last thing I saw shortly before I hit the deck was Skyfall diving towards me with tears in her eyes.

Somewhere in Equestria a pony collapsed in shock as she dropped a memory orb.
Overwhelmed by the memory that lied inside, she was unable to stay conscious.
Soon, sleep crept over her and laid her to bed.

It would be a while before she got back up again

Miles away, in a small home, in a comfortable bed, a certain Pegasus dropped the book she was reading.
Her memory orb had activated as she had reached close to the end of the chapter.
She too, had seen what had happened. But from a different perspective.
Tonight, two ponies with nearly no connection to each other had been in the same place.

But from different vantage points, they both had only seen part of the story.

In the dark chamber
*Yaaawn*
"Hmmm?"

"Oh it's you. What do you want?"

The Prisoner

Ripper narrowed his eyes as a faint light skewed through the darkness in the chamber. A little bit of seawater poured through the portal as the a massive , hulking shape walked through the portal. Then, the portal was shut close and the chamber was all dark except for the faint glow coming from the being's armor.
"...You're still alive I see" Rumbled the being.
Ripper gave a slight chuckle.
"That's the advantage of being me. You can't take me down boyo."
Ripper felt the cold touch of steel on his neck.
"Maybe I should just execute you here and now. Let's see if you'll survive THAT."
Ripper slowly pushed the axe away from his throat "Or...Hear me out...Or we could just sit down and talk about this like two gentlecolts."
The keeper lowered his axe slightly and walked closer to Ripper "There can be no negotiating with a foul thing like you."
Ripper looked offended "Me? Foul? Okay, so maybe I haven't showered in a loooong time, but I'm not the one who goes around executing ponyfolk or imprisoning ponies who have done nothing wrong!"
The being cocked his head to the side and his golden eyes narrowed behind his helmet "I do it because that's the right thing to do. If you haven't decided to keep living back then, than maybe this would never happen."
"This is your punishment. Innocence is merely a phrase. All of us are guilty. The difference between you and the others is that you deserve it."
Ripper grimaced, his time slot was running out, and if he didn't do something then he risked eternal imprisonment in this hellhole. "I like your armor. You shine it a lot?"
Once again, the frigid axe was laid upon his neck.
"Yes, and flattery will not buy you a ticket out of here. Don't you think others have tried to do the same?"
Ripper paused ".....Yeee-No?"
Ripper winced as the Keeper smacked him on the head with the axe "If you really think that, the you're dumber than you look. I can't believe that I have to deal with your crap"
Ripper shrugged, "Better my crap than someone else's cause I've been in here for a looong time and there's nothing to flush with."
The Keeper gave a low and extended sigh mixed in with a growl.
"You are, without doubt, the most annoying being in this universe. And I've dealt with a lot of them, but you're the second worst."
"Ooh competition! Maybe if I'll win you'll let me out!" Ripper grinned as he began reciting nursery rhymes from when he was a foal.
The Keeper swung his axe at Ripper and barely missed.
"Hoho, how about that boyo Hoho" Chortled Ripper.
The keeper then hit Ripper with the face of his axe sending Ripper flying into the nonexistent wall that existed somehow.
"Ugh, I really have to stop breaking the laws of physics" groaned Ripper.
The keeper lifted his axe, but hesistated and then stopped. He nodded with his head towards the side and a portal opened up behind him. "Stay. And rot." He said coldly before he departed.

"Oh look! Two bits!"

Rainbow Dash blinked a few times as her eyes readjusted to her new surroundings. Though there wasn't much to look at as the entire place was nothing, but darkness. And what appeared to be a face in the midst of all the shadows.
"W-WHere am I?" She stuttered.
The eyes looked up and she heard a rasping voice
"Gollum. Gollum"
The eyes faded and then she heard the same noice behind her.
"Gollum. Gollum."
She was starting to get the chills before she heard the same noise right in her ear.
"GOLLUM!"
Rainbow Dash sprang up and turned tp face her enemy, but was only met with laughter.
"Bwahahahaha! I haven't had this much fun since like two minutes ago! And before that, a loooong time ago."
Rainbow Dash searched the area, but she saw no sight of where her foe was. In fact his voice seemed to come from everywhere at once!
"In case you're wondering who I am, my name is Ripper. And I was the one who you were writing to via the journal. You can also call me: The Captive, The Prisoner or whatvever other synonym you can think of."
Rainbow Dash, her resolve unwavering, and her determination infallible, was still searching for the being known as Ripper.
"How did I get here?" She asked.
"Hmm, that I'm not sure about. I guess you fell asleep and Keeper's portal accidentely drew you in here. Rather odd right?"
"How long will I be here?"
A faint smile appeared "Me? I'll be here until I die. You? Hmm, maybe for a while. Until you wake up anyways."
Ripper's eyes opened as he walked up to her "Sleep is in essence a doorway to another realm. If say, somepony were to create a portal whose route crossed yours then you could slip into that route and straight into where the pony was before he left. Bu, seeing as you were dreaming, you aren't exactly here. Or some buck like that. I don't know. Ask someone else, just not me cause I don't know buck about that kinda stuff."
Rainbow Dash glanced at the pony beside her. When she tried to touch him, her hoof merely passed through.
"Like I said. You aren't exactly here." He said without moving.
"Then where am I?" Asked Rainbow Dash.
"Who knows. I'd say you're still home." His form slighly flickered as a surge of white electricity ran through him.
"What was that?"
Ripper glanced downwards as yet another surge passed through. "Not sure. It's probably not good though."
Rainbow Dash tried to focus on Ripper, but all she saw was a form made of darkness. Odd, she thought.
The next surge was interlaced with light blue. "Aha!" Shouted Ripper. "Somepony found Frost's orb! That why this enegy surge is buckin with me!"
Rainbow Dash's eyes widened as she remembered how she gave out the orbs. Did one of the orbs somehow find its new owner? Did the same thing happen to them as it did to her?
"Oh wait, it's just a energy surge. Crap" Said Ripper before the entire room was bathed in white. Rainbow Dash looked around the jail, it looked a lot like what you would expect it to look. Stony, blocky, metal bars (Criss-crossing) in the front, and a floor in what appeared to be water...
Ripper was nonetheless the same as when he was in the darkness. All black, with only his mouth and eyes fully visible.
"Great. Looks like the Keeper decided to mess with me."
"What do you mean? Asked Dash.
Ripper shrugged. "Physical torture is one thing, but mind games? That's just excruciating. What you see right now is one thing, in reality, it may or may not be another. The Keeper used to do this with me when I was new here. Illusions of freedom, of being young, eerything I wanted or feared was used against me. He hoped I would crack and he would be rid of me. But it's not so simple. I didn't fight my way through life to get imprisoned with a sadistic bastard! Stay focused Dashy, keep your mind focused on what was before. Keep a reality check on what's happening."
Ripper slowly walked around Dash in a circle "Man, it's like taking Poison Joke and staying up until midnight..."
Suddenly the world around her began to get cracks until it shattered and Rainbow Dash seemingly fell. Ripper's words echoed in her mind and she began focusing on the dark room. With Ripper in it, but she found it hard. It was tough trying to picture a place where you can't see or know anything. As she kept the memory in place before her, Rainbow Dash opened her eyes and she was back in the room with a smiling Ripper.
"I knew you could do it. It's tough ain't it? Being unable to see shite?"
Rainbow Dash nodded slightly. She felt sick, probably because of all that reality-warping.
Ripper's...Face, turned solemn. "Hey. Dashy? Can you do me a favor?"
Rainbow Dash nodded again, she was starting to feel worse by the second.
"Before you leave, please, save me from this place. It's killing what's left of me. So, please, just save me. But before you make your choice know this question and ponder it. Am I the villian of your story or am I the hero?
Rainbow Dash felt close to passing out before the world started to swivel again. She was already beyond her limit...

"Oh, and try not to puke on yourself. That kind of travel is tough on ya when you're new to it." shouted Ripper before Rainbow Dash dived into the whirlpool below her.

Rainbow Dash weakly opened her eyes to the sunlight that was pouring in through her window. She tried to stand up, but she was hit with the stench of what appeared to be yesterday's dinner.

"Oh great!" she groaned.

3 days ago

Vinyl Scratch opened her box and peeked inside. It was not what she expected. Although she ordered some new equipment, all she saw inside the box was an orb. Vinyl was nonetheless curious about what was inside. So she began to use her magic on the orb, but as soon as her magic enveloped the orb she suddenly found herself being drawn inside it!
With her mind elsewhere, Vinyl Scratch's body collapsed on the floor.
OoO===OoO

Author's Note

I apologize for releasing this chapter so late, but I got the flu on the same day that I was going to upload so I was unable to. Furthermore, this chapter really sucked in my opinion (I came up with the idea when I was pretty drunk so that makes sense...I'll edit it over time. I promise) so you might as well look forward to the next two chapters. And then the sequel if I don't get too lazy.
Did I introduce Vinyl Scratch? Yes. Yes I did. Though she will practically not be involved AT ALL for the for the rest of the story except for the next chapter for a teensy, tiny cameo.
-Ashe S. Black.

Vantage Point

Vantage Points.

"Heh. You really think so?"

Glade gave me a nod. "Of course I do Frost! You've been great help around the ship, always fixing stuff and helping us out."
(Vinyl Scratch looked at the green Pegasus before her. "What happened to me?" she muttered)

I heard a loud slam and turned only to see the captain. I took a few steps back.

He began walking around and examining the ship. He seemed nervous to me somehow. Suddenly he approached ___ and barked at him! From behind me, I heard a faint scratching noise.

"Turn around"

My friend began turning slowly until the captain shouted at him again.

*Scratch Scratch* There it was again...

"Stop"

The captain began examining the wound and made a few comments. I didn't really pay attention. That scratching noise was more important in my opinion.

I walked over to the rail. "What is that...?"

The water bubbled a bit, but otherwise remained normal. I frowned. Something wasn't right. I could just feel it in my gut.
(Vinyl tried using her magic, but to no avail. It didn't seem to work in...Wherever she was. "Might as well see where this goes.")
I entered my cabin and opened the safe I had implemented on the wall. "3, 5, 2". "Heh, no one would ever figure that out."
I gently pulled out my craft from the safe and began tinkering with it. ("Isn't that a camera?" Wondered Vinyl Scratch) From out of the corner of my eye I saw a weird shadow move across the wall. "What the-" As quickly as the shadow appeared, it also disappeared. I felt a chill crawl down my spine.

Then my door opened, and I saw Hawke walk in. His eyes began searching my room. He didn't even blink when he saw my little project.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...What're you doing here?"

"...Nothing. Just thought I saw something come in here a while ago"

Hawke closed my door and left without a word. He certainly creeped me out like that.

(Vinyl Scratch watched through the pony's eyes as he walked around the ship. She faintly caught a glance of a pony who resembled Rainbow Dash except this one was darker in color and she looked far more serious. The "Memory" then faded away and reappeared. This one seemed to be much later judging by the sun.)

"Hey Frost? What's a Leviagatr?"

I pulled one of my books out of my backpack as I noticed Hawke begin talking to the others about what he must've saw out in the ocean while he was scouting. He mentioned Leviagatr once or twice, but I didn't believe him. Leviagatr's vanished years ago.

I flipped through a few pages until I found the one with the picture of the Leviagtr. I passed the book to ___.

"This. They're pretty nasty beasties. One of them, even a child, would gladly have you for a snack. On land or in sea they're equally dangerous. Except they're more dangerous at sea since they can swim like crazy..."
___ (Vinyl Scratch frowned as she heard the strange silence. Even the colt's thoughts when they involved his friend's name seemed to be blanked out...) Stared at the picture fearfully. I grabbed my book and put it in my pack when all of a sudden the boat began rocking.

"Is everypony alright?"

"Frost! What happened?" I turned toward the voice and saw Skyfall staring at me. Oh great.

"Not sure. Underwater activity? WHirlpool? Tidal wave? There's a bunch of stuff that could cause this to happen" Or maybe a really angry beastee....

A loud and shocking roar echoed throughout the ship. "That...Didn't sound good..."
Hawke was already at the doorway leading to the cabins and he opened the door and beckoned everypony to come inside.

"EVERYPONY! GET INSIDE! NOW!" He barely managed to finish before the shop rocked again.

"WHOA!" I smashed into the railing and nearly fell off. "Too close..."

"EVERYPONY! GET YOUR FLANKS INSIDE NOW!" Shouted Hawke before he pulled himself inside. The boat was then beginning to tip over slightly. Thankfully to the other side as I would've fell into the water if it was on mine. I narrowed my eyes and look into the water. "What the buck is that thing..." I saw a creature submerge itself underwater. It then abruptly grabbed onto the ship and pulled itself up.

"Just great...It had to be a Leviagtr..." (Vinyl Scratch's blood ran cold as she stared at the beast.) It bellowed, a strong and forceful roar aimed at the center of the ship, and from the corner of my eye I saw ___ hanging on for dear life. "The poor bastard..." I tried using my magic to pull him up, but my aura sputtered and then completely died out. "...Even better..." Holding onto the railing with all my strength I slowly inched myself near the doorway before I jumped. Hawke grabbed onto my hooved and pulled me inside.

I turned around and saw my friend ripping two spikes from the cargo and jumping off.

"NOOOOOOO!" Skyfall screamed behind me. It hurt, but my attention never once wavered.

"The kid's going to do it..."

___ Dived toward the beast and impaled it above the eye. It flinched enough to slightly let go of the ship, giving the others just enough time to get their flanks up here. I saw my friend stabbing the thing reapetdly as it roared in pain and agony. "He might even kill it with a raging infection..." I muttered.

The creature's good eye sparkled slightly.

Before I could warn my friend, the beast roared and launched ___, as well as plenty of loose cargo and rocks, in the air.

Not for the first time I wondered where the captain was.

I felt my eyes widen as I saw ___ fly high, and then he began to fall. WIthout a word nor a warning, Skyfall launched herself after him. My suspicions were increased. With little doubt, I suspect that Skyfall was in love with ___, but the only question remained was this: Would she make it?

I watched as she barely flew past him, and he dropped below her. She flew at incredible speeds and just before she reached him, he crashed into the ship's deck. The resounding shock knocked me back a few feet, but I stood my ground. By the time the dust cleared I saw ___ laying in the middle of a large crater. Blood flowing from his wounds, his eyes empty. Skyfall, luckily, had managed to avoid a nasty crash, but only barely as she flew past me and straight into Sierra.

I approached ___.

"Ca...Can you save him?" Asked Skyfall weakly.

I leaned forward and inspected him. I didn't think he survived, but for Skyfall's sake I would try. Celestia forsake me I would need some help.

OoO===OoO

Vinyl Scratch groaned as she blinked. It was Dawn. The sun shining down upon her. And she felt hollow. From that moment, she knew that what she found would affect her life heavily. Vinyl Scratch stood up, and gently lifted the orb with her hooves. Beneath it was a record. Coated in dust, it appeared ancient. With as much care as possible, Vinyl placed the record down on the player and turned on the record.

"~~~~~~~~"

"I-~~~Anypony hear this?"

Her eyes widened as she recognized the voice.

It was the colt.

The one who fell from the Sky.

Rainbow Dash's eyes widened as the orb drew her mind deep within it. Nothing could prepare her for what happened next.

I stared in horror as ___ let go of the crates and dive toward the Leviagtr thing!

"NOOOOOOOOOO!"

Frost winced in front of me. Naturally, I ignored him.

Much to my surprise I saw as ___ impaled the two spikes he had straight into the beast's eye. Or above it. It was hard to see from here.

The beast screamed and the boat began to stop tipping over. Several of our allies scrambled up the deck and leapt straight through the doorway. I watched as ___ began fighting the beast! I was stunned, and amazed, by his bravery. He seemed willing to do it. I remembered as he looked me into the eyes before he let go. As if to say "It's either me or all of us". Blood began to flow from the beast and then it jumped. Debris and cargo flew everywhere along with ___. My eyes widened as he flew toward the Sky. Without hesitating, I backed up and flew straight after him. I would not stand by and watch my friend die. I. WOULD. NOT. The air was cutting into my eyes as I flew, I felt the frigid air surround me as I dodged all the falling debris and cargo. I nearly reached ___ until a large rock struck me! I was dazed as I fell a bit, but as I regained my senses I instantly began flying toward ___. He was falling faster and faster. I felt my eyes begin to tear up. "I'm not letting you go" I whispered. His eyes met mine and I hesitated for the slightest moment. That was just enough as he stuck the deck. I barely managed avoid the deck as I turned upward. I closed my eyes and wished for the best until I hit something big and soft. I opened my eyes and saw Sierra glaring at me.

"Nice landing."

I quickly got up and ran to ___'s side.

Standing next to him was Frostbite.

"C-....Can You save him?"

He closed his eyes.

"I'll try."

Slowly Rainbow Dash felt her conscious being drawn elsewhere.

The next thing she felt, was the cold, gnawing darkness. And a pair of eyes staring right at her.

Ripper looked at the portal that had abruptly opened up.
"Someone's been here."
Ripper smiled. There was going to be hell to pay, but it was worth it.
He finally had a way out.
And it all depended on Rainbow Dash.

And then...Then the World would pay.

Author's Note

Just in time. This chapter wasn't too hard to write as it is just a rewrite of Skydrop from different perspectives, but I thought it would be a good idea to show a little bit of what these two important characters saw.

P.S. I will be releasing a Youtube link with the "audio journal" pretty soon. I'm still working out on a voice actor for Skyfall and Frostbite.

P.P.S. One more chapter left: Skydrop Part II. Hold on tight. It's going to be a wild ride!

Skydrop Part II: Revelations

Skydrop Part II

Darkness. That was all that had met me when I hit the deck. Darkness. Cold, chilling, gnawing Darkness. There was no light. There was no Hope. Just plain Darkness. Death. Oblivion.

All hope is gone. You feel lost. Forsaken. And Damned. I felt as my memories faded. My identity lost. I was gone. The Horizon? I would never reach it. I recall as Frostbite promised to write down my memories in my journal. That must've been the feeling. But it was not. Truly it was not. The cold washed over me as a wave from the ocean. The chill settled in my bones and dwelled there. I was dying or dead. Forgotten. My body hath been laid to rest. Eternal Peace. Salvation no where in sight. That was what greet me on the other side. The DarkSide.

I narrowed my eyes as I watched as Hawke and Glade rested ___'s body on the table. He was fading fast, and I could do nothing to save him. But I could try. But what use what trying when all that remained was failure? No, I thought, I will try. If not for my friend's sake then for Sky's. She risked her life to save him, and so should I. I steadily opened ___'s back. His flesh rended and torn from the impact and fight. His eyes were hollow. Iris-less. His heart beat every so slowly. Slowing down with every passing moment. Every breath. Time was running out in the match between Death and I. The race to whom would get to ___ First. His soul, fate, and life rested in my hooves. Memories of the short time we spent together began to converge and fill up my mind. I felt as the slightest tear fell from my eye. I was truly sad for the first time. I looked as Sierra Myst began applying medicine in the effort to preserve our patient. Our friend. But to what end? I took a deep breath and began the incision. His flesh opened up with ease. His blood flowed free and his bones fell apart steadily. The damage had been done, and it was now up to me...To us to fix it. He gave his life for us, it's then our duty to save him. So help me Celestia and Luna. I would need all the strength I could get.

Ba-bump

I paused as the sound echoed through the darkness. Cutting through it as a blade would through bread.

Ba-bump

My heart was still there. It was still working. I now, at the very least, now had known that I had Hope.

Ba-bump

Would I return back to the land of the living? Or would I remain here. Despair and Agony both awaited me at both ends.

Ba-bump

Skyfall. Glade. Hawke. Frostbite. Greyson. SIerra Myst. They awaited me and I was prepared to let them go.

bump

They depended on me and I let them down.

-mp

Skyfall. I remembered her. How she tried to save me. Was I prepared to leave her for all eternity because of my selfishness?

No. I was going to live. My time was not yet finished damn it. I. Am. Not. Going. To. Die. Here.

Bump.
Ba-Bump
Ba-bump, Ba-bump.

My eyes widened as ___'s heart began beating again. Stronger than ever. A moment ago I thought Frost and I had lost him. But he was still there. Holding on. I felt myself smile. I somehow knew that he wouldn't let us go. "Thanks" I whispered. For the slightest moment, I could've sworn that he smiled.

I looked up as I saw my heart. It was funny. A moment ago, I had wished for peace. Eternal rest. And now, all I wanted was to see my friend again. And Skyfall. And Glade. And Myst...Damn that beating is annoying....

I felt my eyes widen as I examined our friend's back. I was right. He was just any ordinary Earth Pony. This was really how he survived (Albeit barely). Severed wings. From magic. Possibly from before birth. He was destined to be born one thing, but was altered to be another. Not for the first time I felt myself questioning our existence. How could such a thing happen? Better yet, who would do such a thing? And what happened to ___'s parents? I recalled how Grey told me that BOTH of ___'s parent's were Earth Ponies. It didn't add up. Something was wrong. I heard a faint whispering and out of the corner of my eye I saw that shadowy mist again. Yet again, that same chill crawled down my spine slowly. That wasn't just any mist...There was something off about it. It seemed almost...Sentient. Or alive. My realization came too late as I finally figured out what it was...I saw the same thing on the day that the Brotherhood attacked Manehattan. Just as the thought reached my head, a loud tremor occurred above us.
"We were being watched..." I whispered.

I frowned as I felt a disturbing presence intruding on me. It felt...Wrong. Tainted. Corrupted. Slowly a strange black and green mist began flowing in until it created a being across from me. A large pony in black, inky green, and faint purple armor that covered his entire body.

"Nice place you got here." He said simply.

I glared at him. Something was wrong about him. Something frightening. He nodded toward me.

"My name is Miserix. Or Miserax. Depends on where you live. I prefer Miserix. Sounds more...Miserable-ix."

I attempted to back up. Only I couldn't because there was nowhere to back up.

"Tut-tut-tut. No need to be afraid. I'm not your enemy. Indeed, I am rather here to make sure you remain alive."

A memory fragment appeared between us as it showed a picture of him inside the book that Grey gave me before it was taken away.

"But you were killed by Blaze..."

Miserix let loose a chilling chuckle. "Indeed. But not quite. I was actually left to rot on an island until the end of time. Or until I faded away. My pupil replaced me and became the new leader of the Brotherhood. To him, it was nothing more than a game. A machination of his. He manipulated them to complete his own agendas. You."

My eyes widened in shock. If he was right...

"Exactly kid. You're all part of his final plan. His grand scheme. His redemption. A spark of what he...We...Once were lit up in him. Dying, he led to a final confrontation with Blaze. A confrontation that could've ended in two ways. Blaze dying or Blaze surviving. Here, he survived and went on to have a descendant. You. The last of the great lineage of the forerunners of the Equestrian. Before they came here, they existed in another land. Blaze was born there. Only 6 families remained today because they slowly vanished or died out over time. And you, with your friends, are the last of their lineage."

I collapsed. It was too much.

"But...But what about the 6 captains?"

Miserix once again laughed at me. "Soon to be dead. They're time is approaching rapidly. The only reason I'm here is to keep you alive kid. If you die then your friends will fall too. I cannot. Will not let that happen."
I could not tell if Miserix was lying, but his serious tone told me he was not. "How?"
Miserix turned toward the side for a moment before he replied. "The Brotherhood is attacking the ship currently. Your friends are busy at work on you. They're hoping to keep you alive. I suspect the white one saw me earlier. He's sharp I'll say."

I looked up and saw my heart beginning to beat even faster.

"How long until I'm back?"

Miserix shrugged. "Not much longer. Your friend is trying his best. Even more."

Miserix let loose a faint growl. "What?! NO!"

"What's happening?" I asked. I placed my hoof on his leg.

"The Brotherhood. They're coming after you!"

He growled directly at me.

"Wake up! Now kid!"

I narrowed my eyes. The sound of those hooves up the stairs didn't reassure me. And they sure as Tartarus didn't sound friendly.

I steadily leaned against the wall and levitated my blade. Custom and broad, it was a blade devised for heavy trauma and death dealing.

I slowly raised my blade.

A Brotherhood soldier entered the room. His gaze focused on ___. The last thing he saw was a really pissed off doctor and a huge deadly chunk of steel falling towards his helmet.

Miserix's eyes narrowed.

"Tough colt. He killed off a member. Just a recruit. They didn't think that they'd need much to kill you off."

I glanced at him before turning to face my heart again.

"Why are they hunting me down?"

Miserix shrugged.

"Not much reason. They just view you as a threat, kid. The thirteen of you have two connections. You all are descended from the 6 Captains, and you all were manipulated by my pupil to find the Southern Islands. It was all planned out years ago. 500+ years ago to be accurate." Miserix's form began wavering "Not much time left for me. But remember kid, when the Brotherhood had learned of remnants of their group's knowledge had remained in Equestria they sought to get rid of it. When they learned that the 6 Captains were still alive, and better yet, that they had children who had children who had children...Et cetera...They viewed you as threats. The Captains were the only beings alive who were a threat to them. The children of the captains are practically the same danger to the Brotherhood as the Captains were. And since you were the only living descendant of Blaze, you were viewed as the greatest threat."

"ONLY living descendant!? But what about my family!? "What about my parents!?"

Miserix gave a long, and dry laugh. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, OH THAT IS SOOO FUNNY!" He sobered up. His form was flickering even more. "I said you were the ONLY living descendant. Your parents were NOT your real parents. Your real parents were a Pegasus and a Earth Pony, kid. Your father had special innate magic from his grandparents. He could generate a magical aura at times, but he couldn't control as well as a Unicorn could. Before you were born, a very special magic was activated. It was connected to you from birth. Yet another machination devised by my pupil. It sliced your wings off, and prevented them from repairing themselves. Instead of wings you had a pair of nubs. But the magic from being a Pegasus still slightly remained within you kid. That's why you survived the fall. That's why you're here now. A attempt by my pupil to uncover the truth of Equestria to everyone."

"What was his name?" I asked.

Miserix gave a low chuckle. "That, my friend, you'll have to learn by yourself."

His form faded completely.

And I was left alone in the shadows. Surrounded by mystery and darkness.

Frost grimaced as he charged up his magic again. ___ was nearly back. He just needed time and a few more electro-shocks. And maybe some hay. With extra apple cider on the side....

Greyson grimaced as he spun around quickly and cut down two Brotherhood soldiers. They came down from nowhere. As swift and as deadly as none other. It was only with Hawke and Glade's assistance that they managed to protect the Captain's deck. Greyson suspected that they were secretly targeting the med-bay, and his suspicions were confirmed as the toughest of the soldiers attempted to "stealthily infiltrate" the lower area. They did not last long against Grey's blades and Scorch's SteelHooves.

"I just hope Frost can get ___ Back up to shape in time..." He murmured as he decapitated another soldier. It's a good thing I honed my skills on this ship, he thought.

Frost's magic charged up one last time, he was mostly drained and if this didn't work then they'd be in trouble. "So let's hope this works..."

*Pmmmm*

___'s eyes shot open.

"......OOOOOWWWWW!!!"

Frost smiled.

"You alright?"

___ weakly got up and wobbled a bit as he stood. "Ugh, yeah. I think I prefer being dead though. So how long was I out?"
Frost`grabbed his blade and peeked outside. "Almost a day. We got attacked by the Brotherhood a couple of hours ago. I'm amazed that we managed to survive this long..."

___ weakly stumbled to the door and picked up a metal bar. "How about I help you guys? I'm pretty sure I can fight."
Frost's eyes widened. "Not a chance in Tartarus! You wouldn't last a second! You're too weak, and I barely managed to bring you back! Are you really planning to go out there and risk it all!?"

___ nodded. "Yeah. I'm pretty sure we won't survive otherwise. You guys need help."
Frost grimaced. He couldn't believe what his friend was saying. "Help? From you? What could you do? You're barely strong enough to walk let alone fight!"

___ opened the door and just before walking out he turned to Frost. "I may not be strong enough, but I can still help. I know why they're here. And I can stop them. Just trust me on this."
Frost hesitated. He didn't want to let his friend go, but ___'s face was...Serious. Frost had never seen his friend so serious. It was almost as if he knew what to do. Almost as if he had to...

"...Alright. Let's go." Said Frost reluctantly.

___ Stepped outside and looked around. Of course, there wasn't much to look at. destruction and chaos ruled everywhere. Of the corpses that were scattered across the ship, ___ was relieved to see that none of them were his friends or allies. Just heaps and mounds of Brotherhood corpses.

"How did they manage to kill so many?" He asked.

Frost scowled "They snuck up on us and attacked. We weren't prepared, but we had the advantage of fighting in a place we knew well. We had to rely on trickery and defense to protect our flanks from them. They weren't even fighting hard. They seemed...New to this."

___ grabbed a lance from one of the fallen soldiers. "That's because they're recruits. Grunts. Sent to weaken us so the big guys can finish us off. They're expendable and weak."

Frost's eyes widened "Oh buck..."

___ looked around. The area was covered in debris and rubble from the battle. The cargo was scattered across the ship. The ship's decks and buildings were badly damaged, covered in dents and such. The Brotherhood recruit's bodies were scattered and strewn all over. Armor pieces were lying around all over the place. And the entire battlefield had a chilling sensation to it. One that made you want to leave, and never look back. It frightened him.

___ examined the lance. It appeared normal except for the long coiling tube that surrounded the lance. ___ lowered the lance and pressed the small pad on the lance. It started making a humming noise and the tip of the lance began glowing with a blue color. With a zapping sound it fired a blast of the blue energy straight at one of the recruits who, conveniently, decided to climb the ship. With a shriek he flew off the ship and straight into the ocean. The front of his armor was still smoking from the blast.

"Go figure" Muttered Frost. "An energy lance...Are you bucking kidding me?"

Greyson was breathing hard. The soldiers kept coming. It wouldn't be much longer until they were all overrun. The majority of their group was badly injured. At least we managed to protect Frost and ___, thought Grey.

"Grey, how many of them are left?" Shouted Sierra!

"Too many! We won't be able to hold them off!" Grey shouted back. That is, until we get some backup at the very least, he thought.

As if on cue or by the divine act of a Deus Ex Machina or by all that Poison Joke that Glade has been stealing and smoking in secret, ___ and Frost managed to arrive in time. With Energy Lances no less.

"Look out below you bloody scourges!" yelled ___ before he landed hoof first on one of the soldiers. It was quite convenient that there was a ladder on the side of the ship that led to its top. It was only now that ___ realized that it was less of a ship and more of a yacht...

It took a while, but in the end they barely managed to wipe all the soldiers off the ship. "Makes me wonder why no one used the energy lances..." Muttered ___. Little did he know that he was lucky to be able to use that one as nearly all of them had a dead pony's switch that caused the weapon's energy battery to shut off after their owners were killed. It was luck that the lance was re-activated as soon as he lifted it up. Surprisingly, Miserix's presence left behind a faint aura on ___ that reacted well to the switch. In more ways than one, Miserix was right. ___ really was the key to the end that saved them all. But they were wrong for their journey and trials had only just begun as they sailed ever so closer to the island and the looming Darkness Beyond The Horizon...

Back in the present

Ripper smiled as he recalled the memory. It was a long time ago, but it sure as Tartarus was one of his fondest.
Ripper dodged the massive axe as it sailed past his head. The Keeper was still really, really angry about what had happened earlier. Apparently Ripper's execution date was pushed up to today. For now anyways.

"So. How did they get here?" He rumbled.

Ripper smiled slightly. "Simple my dear giant (Pain in the flank). Your portal caused a slight transportational error and transported a timber wolf here for a bit. No need to make anyone lose their head."

The Keeper narrowed his golden eyes. He was obviously thinking that Ripper was lying, but then again The Keeper just could've been wrong. After all, he was watching over Ripper for a very, very long time, and not even once did someone other than the Keeper manage to enter the prison. He sighed and lowered his axe. "You best hope upon your life that you're right. Or else your life will end tragically short as I "accidentally" execute you early." The Keeper waved his hoof and yet another portal appeared

A moment later and he was gone. Once again, not for the first, and hopefully for the last was Ripper left in the darkness. Cold, alone, and forgotten. He was never much for religion, but he prayed to the Princesses, his friends, that someone would come save him from this hell.

Rainbow narrowed her eyes as she faced the cave. Covered in a mysterious rock she yet again tackled it, but to no avail. The day went on as Rainbow tried again and again to destroy the stone. Nothing had happened, but she would not quit. She would not falter. She would not fail.

Vinyl Scratch laid the recording down. She now knew what to do. And she would be damned if anyone would stop her. She would get her answers and she wouldn't stop until she got 'em.

Rainbow Dash took a deep breath. Her element of harmony had appeared and yet she had not noticed. She had little strength left, but she would use it all to shatter the stone. It had taken her days to find it. And all she had was a memory orb, a map, and a journal of an age long since forgotten. Loyalty was her driving force. She made a promise to free him and she would. Rainbow Dash flew up high in the sky and dived down. Surrounded by a rainbow. A sonic-rainboom was her last resort. As she grew nearer and nearer to the stone her element began to glow and so did the stone. She closed her eyes and what had happened next would change the lives of many. Especially a very specific pony who had been long imprisoned.

*CRASH*

Ripper's eyes widened as faint light poured into the cavern.
And for the first time in a long time did a true smile appear on his face.
Not of a smug, sarcastic smile.
But of a smile of Friendship.
Many ponies that day would feel a cold, chilling, biting wind embrace them.
They would never know why.
But the world did.
And it was fear.

And so ends the beginning of our tale, spun long and short. Of silver and of Gold.
But it is far from over.

Author's Note

And here is the end of Darkness Beyond the Horizon. With luck (Since, thanks to everyone, I have reached my goal of 100 views by 300 total I now will make a sequel soon) the sequel will possibly be released next week/month. It will still retain its Dark and will possibly have more action scenes. Hope you like my story, it's been a long run and I'm happy.

P.S. This fanfiction is actually based off of a fiction I once wrote.

-Ashe S. Black.

The Search For The Lost Chapters

Chapter 1.5: The Search For The Lost Chapters Part I

Draconis Alley. A small abandoned street-way located below Equestria in the ruins of what was once known as Old Town before the citizens of the town moved to the eastern seaboard of Newport. It was here that a long, long, long time ago that a colt ripped out pages of his diary and hid them here in an attempt to hide them in case someone, other than the desired new owner, would find his diary. For these pages held a mysterious secret and because of the years of being surrounded by darkness and magic, these pages themselves became infused with said magic and thus they became corrupted and tainted. It was here that a certain Pegasus would come searching for these pages. Sadly, she did not know of the danger regarding them, and neither did she now of what manner of creatures these pages may attract.

Rainbow Dash looked at the book as more of its mysterious writing began to appear. She learned that she could write in a question and the book would be able to write answers to her questions. Many questions, as she would learn, the book was unable to answer. Either writing that it did not know, it could not answer them, or the book simply would not answer. Despite the book's secretive nature, Rainbow nonetheless listened to the book.
"Are we there yet?" Wrote Rainbow Dash.
"No. There is still some distance to cover before we reach the pages' hiding spot." Replied the journal.
Dash sighed. She had been flying and walking for a while now, but she seemed no closer to reaching her destination than she did a few minutes ago. Suddenly, the book shuddered. Dash, finally having something interesting to do, pulled out the book and checked it:
"We are near, but we are not alone. Not now."
Dash was confused. What did the book mean by "We are not alone"? Then a loud "CRASH" resounded throughout the ruins. Dash hesitantly peeked around the corner and saw a strange beast attempting to smash the wall in a broken down house.
Quietly, Dash pulled the book out and wrote in it "What is that?", for reasons she didn't understand, the book seemed to be able to detect things in a short radius as if it could see. Rainbow Dash suspected that magic was involved, but it didn't seem like any magic that she has seen before. It took a while before the book replied "That. Is a Darke-Leviagatr. It is a mostly aquatic beast that can venture onto land. It is most strange to see it here so far away from the ocean." Dash turned toward the beast again. It was large, filling up the room, and unlike most animals in Equestria, this one seemed feral. Mindless. And full of anger. It looked like a cross between a dragon and a watergator except it was dark blue, with a light underside, and large spiky scales lined its back. The beast roared before ramming the wall again. It seemed bent on opening the strangely resilient wall. Rainbow Dash quickly wrote in her book "How do I get past it?" The book did not respond for a while before it wrote back "You must defeat it or lead it back to the ocean. I suggest generating a whirlwind around it to knock it unconscious. You can then fly it back to the ocean."

"What!?" Exclaimed Rainbow Dash before quickly checking if the beast noticed. It did not. She quickly began writing "How am I supposed to do THAT!?! It's too big!" The book quickly and elegantly wrote back "There is a river nearby here. If you can lure the beast there and knock it unconscious it should drift back to its home. I suspect that the magic seal placed upon the alcove here is attracting it. As soon as you break the seal, the beast should leave. But until we move it, it will prevent us from coming over there." Dash sighed. It was going to be an even longer day.

With some effort (And fish) Rainbow Dash managed to lure the D-Leviagatr back to the river where she pummeled it to submission. A feat which was easier than it should have been as the beast was exhausted from all of its attempts to break the wall and from being so far away from any water. With that done, Rainbow Dash approached the wall and gently laid her hoof on it. A similar blue insignia appeared on the wall and the wall began to unlock as a puzzle. Inside the chamber was a podium and upon it were several pages that lay there undisturbed. The chamber was outline from the innard with lines of bright blue and a curious symbol glowed below the pages. As Dash got closer, and closer to the pages so did the journal begin to rumble, and shake as if it could not wait to be reunited with its brethren. Rainbow Dash lifted the pages and placed it within the book as a blue spark began at the top and go down as it repaired the pages and attached them to the journal. The journal faintly glowed and appeared to be newer. It was less brown, and more blackish and the title was now more visible. "T e D rksi Croni les" although a few letters were still missing. The author's name was still missing. Finally taking a breath, Rainbow Dash slumped down on the wall and looked outside. It was beginning to grow dark and it was time for her to return. Unlike when she had first time found the book, she did not feel any urge to read it now. "Time to go home I suppose" She said to herself. Flexing her sore wings, Rainbow Dash took flight.

*Elsewhere*
*The same eyes and smile are visible in the darkness*
*The smile grows wider*
"I am certain of it now. She is the one. Not much longer now. Not much longer is left until my long wait is over."

Author's Note

Periodically, I will be releasing "mini-chapters" such as this one in order to bridge the gap between chapters. This chapter is also the first chapter to mark the appearance of the Darke Beasts who are like feral versions of the animals around Equestria.

P.S. The Leviagatr might make an appearance again so keep an eye out for him.