The Chronicle of The Hunter

Chapter 7: First Steps (The Adventure Begins)

"I will forgive, but not forget. And I hope you know you've lost my respect."

- Anonymous

Passing out sucks. Plain and simple. Not only does it bring back lost memories, but it brings back useless ones. Like the time I ate all that chocolate cake and nearly threw up. Or the other time I got so drunk off of cider I was hitting on my own sisters. Best part is it's always in third person, but I still receive emotions and physical feelings the past me has. So, nausea for both examples, and then the obvious drunken love you have for everypony. Humiliation is an understatement when looking back. I've done some pretty stupid stuff. Or, in some cases, you'll recall every single moment of your life, then wake up to discover it's only been five minutes real world time. That's the second worst, because everything moves so fast-paced, lives flashing before your very eyes, and nothing can be done. The past is the past, and nothing can be done to fix it.

But that leads to the final example of how my subconsciousness runs on overdrive: it will bring back every painful memory I've ever had. Losing family. Losing friends. Going crazy and/or experimenting with things that would have killed me if I had not been an alicorn. One thousand years of solitude isn't fun, and going through each and every bad experience you've had is a killer. Literally. I'll wake up and try to jump off a cliff or something stupid like that, then remember I have wings and just fly back up. Sure, memories hurt, but I've dealt with pain this long. Only a few more years before my final plan comes into play. I only hope it works...

Ow, I think, rubbing my hoof against my head. My head hurts. And my legs. And just everything. It's like actually being burned while being stung by a ton of bees. No fun, no fair. I kill a couple of monsters and this is my reward? The little voice in my head starts nagging. Maybe this wasn't worth it.

"No, it definitely was," I mutter. Talking to myself requires some quiet murmuring so that other ponies don't think I'm completely crazy. Even if I am. Slightly.

Nopony is going to forgive you for what happened all those years ago. Saving your sister isn't going to make a difference. They'll always hate you. No matter what.

"No," I'm shaking my head now. Why is this little voice so bucking persistent!

It's still going. What about Twilight Sparkle? She's been very forgiving, surprisingly. It's obvious you like her...it would be worth a shot, even it means giving her immortality...

"Nononono. Celestia would kill me. Me and her protege? I think not."

You'd still think it a good idea though. Images of the magenta mare shoot through my brain. Her trying to get help when I originally was knocked out after leaping off of Canterlot. The talk we had in the woods. I wanted to make a move, but couldn't. The last time I had courted anypony ended in disaster.

Looking into her bright green eyes one last time, Sunstriker ran a hoof through the mare's mane. In the chaos after the facility's explosion, he had forgotten to try and save his one true love, the pegasus Cloud Mane. She had been directly hit with a poison arrow from one of the guards after he was killed. Rigor mortis had taken in and his hoof smacked the trigger of the crossbow he was wielding, firing one round into her flank, right above her cutie mark.

Cloud Mane had been quite a looker, being hit on by almost every stallion in the Project Archon facility. She had only had eyes for Sunstriker from the very beginning. Her mane was as blue as the sky on a summer day, while her coat was white, like the clouds. She was named for her coat, after all. Her cutie mark was the complete opposite, a solar eclipse. She special talent was science, but not some specific science. All sciences. She was intelligent and pretty, and adored him. They were perfect. Life had destined the two ponies to be together. And then be apart forever after...

Sunstriker walked through the facility, head high, hooves smacking against the ground. This project needed to be completed very soon. His sisters had taken the wrong impression when he told them that he was creating a facility to house a ray. They thought he meant a death ray. And so the Project was thrown, rather violently, into the Great War when Princess Celestia sent a platoon of sentry pegasi, armed with spears, to take an initial assessment of the facility and attack weak points. Some of the interns were killed, but most of the scientists were completely fine, while others suffered some mental breakdowns. They were removed from the loop almost immediately. He wanted no weak links in this chain.

Looking down at some papers his assistant had sent him, he ran into another pony. One with a white coat. Except it was a lab coat. One of the scientists.

"Excuse me," she fumbled as she bent over to pick up the papers with her wings and hooves, "I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there...Project Leader Striker?"

He smiles cautiously. He already liked this one. She was good-looking, for a scientist, and clearly had the brains to boot. Plus, she was a pegasus. She could fly. "It's quite alright. What's your name, researcher? I'd like to do a quick update with you. There's some specifications I'd like to add to the ray."

She returns the smile, also very cautious. Never a wise idea to upset Sunstriker. Many a pony had heard about his temper. "I am Chief Researcher Cloud Mane. I'd love to be the recipient of an update, sir."

"Good. Follow me to my office."

His "office" was at the roof of the building, a 50x50 space with glass walls and ceiling. He noticed the mare's confused look and asked, "Something wrong?"

Looking up and blushing, she says quickly, "No offense, but I thought somepony as...important as you would be more careful with security, even in your own office."

Observant. Sunstriker added this quality to her list of perks. "Yes, well this glass is different." His horn lights up as a red bolt of explosive magic raced towards the window. On impact, the bolt exploded, sending papers flurrying around the room, and a small cloud of smoke slowly appeared near the impact site. When the smoke dissipated, however, the glass was scotch clean. Not a mark on it.

Cloud Mane took a deep breath. She hadn't been expecting this. "You enchanted your office? Or reinforced glass? Or both? I'm impressed, sir. I've done a little work with unicorns, and they say using a protection spell really drains a pony."

Almost noticeably, he looked at a small bottle on his desk, filled with a reddish green mixture. Still labeled after all those years. Coyly smirking, he proposes this notion: "I'm an alicorn? I'm not as lacking in magical resources as your average unicorn. This barely takes any skill. Now, want to be really impressed?" Almost jittery, the mare shakes her head rapidly. Quickly, the alicorn's horn is glowing, and a magic shield appears in front of him, covered in spikes. Her jaw drops. "But that's...not...possible...not unless you are a unicorn with defenses as your special talent." And she looks at the jacket Sunstriker is wearing, completely covering his flank. "Come to think of it, I've never seen your cutie mark. What is it, if you don't mind me asking, sir?"

"You're right, Chief Researcher Cloud Mane. You haven't. Nopony has. Not since pre-project. When did we hire you?"

"About halfway through, sir."

"Understood. Well, then, prepare yourself." He rips off the jacket with his mouth to reveal the cutie mark. A bright gold sword with a leather hilt and the sun set in as the hiltpiece crossing with a staff, at which the tip held the moon. "Surprised?"

She stammered out an apology. "I'm sorry, sir, I didn't mean to underestimate you. I knew you were one of the Celestial Triumvirate, but just wanted some proof."

Staring into her bright green eyes, he relaxed. It just felt so comfortable to be around this mare. A small smile escapes his lips as he nods. "It's alright. As a scientist, it is natural to feel inclined to ask questions. I'm quite glad you asked."

He looks her up and down. Damn, was she gorgeous. The fact that she was his Chief Researcher was the only thing stopping him from pushing her against a wall and doing nopony-knows-what to her. And the fact that he was immortal and she was going to die long before him. She also thought that the project was devoted to good. Lying never felt good, except for now.

A secret chamber lay below the facility, one that nopony except him and a select few researchers knew about, Cloud Mane excluded. Inside lay the key to master power: The alicorn amulet, harnessing the power of sun, moon, and stars. It made the bearer wield the power that even the alicorns themselves only dream of. Glad he would be when it's development was complete and he would be the bearer of a revolution. One that would overthrow his sister and help him ascend to the Solar and Lunar throne. The Celestial Triumvirate would become the Eclipse Empire. And it would be successful.

But, this was his one chance, and the pain he will experience from her passing on would be worth every second of their togetherness. Fate, however, had other plans.

Stopping to take a deep breath and focus, he continues, "I'm sure you've heard this from every other stallion on base, but you are quite pretty."

Blushing, Cloud Mane replies "Yes. But it's nice hearing it from the one who started my dream. I never liked war, and your idea is going to prevent it. And not only are you a very intelligent alicorn, but I find you quite handsome."

Scarlet streaks both ponies faces as they admit the truth of the matter to each other. "May I treat you to some of the finest cuisine our cafeteria has to offer? Or perhaps," Sunstriker had a gleam in his eye, like none other, "we should escape this wretched place and find a more secluded spot to dine."

Feigning deep thought, Cloud Mane put a hoof to her chin and considered both. "Well, I must say, the cafeteria sounds tempting, but I've always preferred seclusion. Plus, it keeps any ideas from the other researchers heads." And so their romance began. They never did get around to that briefing....

A tear rolled down Sunstriker's cheek as he laid his head against Cloud Mane's chest, listening for a pulse, and as he remembered the first time they had courted. There was none other like her. And now she was gone.

Throwing his head high, looking directly into the sun, he howled, "NOOOOOO"

The poison was taking effect, slowly disintegrating the blue and white mare, right down to the bone. Red flesh was clearly visible, and blood oozed slowly from what was left, and then even that disintegrated. White bones replaced skin as all life was sucked from her eyes, replaced with a glassy glow. Magic glowed from the horn as he tried to stop the poison, but to no avail. Soon, it spread over her muzzle, with the final bits of green flowing from her eyes. Only a skeleton was left...and it made him sick. He threw up all over the corpse, and staggered off.

What his sister had done...was more than gruesome. It was hideous and disgusting. Fire, everywhere, bodies burning. Several shrieks as many of the scientists burned alive, skin melting off of their faces to become half-alive creatures that would haunt the nightmares of even the bravest of ponies. Blood gushed from the sane side of their faces, drowning the surrounding grass in the iron-rich mix. Looking down, Sunstriker saw a pony's heart and lungs. Still functioning. Falling backwards, his eyes glaze over, favoring unconsciousness to all other states of mind...

"Striker? STRIKER! It's been almast two days. Please wake up. Ah...Ah mean we, don't want y'all to have died just tah save us. Please. Please!" Sobbing. Coming from a pony. My eyes snap open. "What? Where? Who?" A massive embrace surrounds me as Applejack throws her arms around me, followed by Rarity and Twilight. Rarity exclaims "Oh, thank Celestia you're ok! I would have never pardoned myself had you succumbed to Death's clutches due to us! It would have been such a tragedy!"

"Ugh. My head. And my torso. Would you girls be so kind as to stop strangling me please?" They release, muzzles turning bright red. "Do you know how embarrassing would it be to survive an almost one hundred mile dive from the atmosphere only to be crushed to death by three mares who are beyond glad to see me?" I'm only teasing now, and they quickly realize that, grins spreading across their faces.

"I'm just glad you're alive. I still have to race you." said Rainbow Dash, appearing out of the woods with Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. Noticing my confused expression, she explains, "we ran out of food yesterday. I was just scrounging when I found these really cool looking things," pulling some black blueberry-shaped berries from her saddlebags, "well, bottoms up." She tosses one up into the air. Wait. Black? Oh buck it all. Nightlock.

A massive splat echoes as I explode the berry using magic. "DON'T EAT THOSE!" I practically shout, right as Pinkie Pie was about to put another into her mouth. She spat it out almost immediately. Now the other mares are debating saying something, looking at one another as if to say, go on, you first. Rarity steps forward with a pitying smile, explaining, "But darling, we've been eating blueberries this entire time. Why not these ones?"

I stand stock still. I can hear the blood pumping through my ears. Thank the stars I recovered when and as quickly as I did, otherwise there'd be another body to bury. "Those monstrosities are certainly not blueberries."

"Huh? But yeah they are, Fluttershy even said so! Blueberries look exactly like that! There's nothing else that looks like blueberries that we'd ever heard of!" Pinkie clamors, looking to her friends for support. "Right, girls?" The other five nod consent.

I start shaking my head. Clearly none of these ponies had ever left Equestria, where the grass was red with blood of those who died in the wild. "Blueberries are delicious, I concur with that. But I promise, they are not blueberries."

Twilight finally speaks, voice shaking slightly. "Then what were they?" I turn to Rainbow Dash, temporarily ignoring Twilight's question. "Firstly, get them out of your saddlebag. Then clean it. We don't any residue left that could harm us?"

Twilight whirls me around with her hooves so I directly face her. "Tell. Me. What. Those. Were." Is she panicking? Does she think they ate some already? "No worries Twilight, if you had eaten these before you guys would've been dead already." I assure her. She visibly relaxes, then glances at Fluttershy. Poor girl, had no idea what she'd done. "I...I...I didn't want anypony to get hurt. Just tell us what those are so I know what not to look for. I'm...so, so, so, sorry."

Walking close, I give Fluttershy a hug. The second embrace I've given a pony in almost one thousand years now belonged to her. "It's ok, Fluttershy. Nopony got hurt, and we'll remember to bring me along next time so I can help out with the plants." I release, and pivot to confront the rest of the gang. "That was nightlock, a deadly berry that's juice is kind of like swallowing poison. An extremely deadly poison that would kill you before the berries even reach your stomach. There's no mess, and many of the smarter creatures that live out here will use nightlock berries or juice to create traps. It's, not fun, to say in the least." A memory surfaces. Myself, eating nightlock. The poison taking effect. Using magic and physically hurting myself to throw up the berries, shaking after the torturous methods of the plant. Nearly dying. Fun times.

Twilight dives into her saddlebag. "I almost forget about this!" She cries, voice a bit muffled with her head inside the bag. She pulls out a beaten old book. "The World Beyond Equestria! Zecora wrote this herself, and she gave it to me before we left. I probably should start consulting this before we eat anything out here."

Skimming through pages, she mumbles out loud, "Nightlock, nightlock, nightlock, oh here it is! Right after narcissus." Scanning the entry, her eyes widen to a point where they almost pop out of the purple mare's head. She looks up, a bit frightened from the entry. Rapidly she bursts out "Sunstriker's right we shouldn't eat nightlock lets try and stay away from it oh well time to put away the book," slams the book shut and tosses it into her saddlebags. I can only imagine what this Zecora character wrote to describe the effects of nightlock, and it was clearly effective to the point where nopony would ever go near the stuff.

"Uh, gals? I think we should get a'movin, we're wasting daylight." Applejack interrupts our conversation about nightlock. Looking up, I agree. We had about half a day left of sun, and we needed to find Luna before she did something stupid.

"I want to try something," and with that my horn lights up, all others jumping back as a solid bolt of magic shoots directly upward, finally racing to the south. "The Trecks. Of course she would go there."

"The trek? What trek? We ain't going nowheres Princess Luna ain't, right?" Applejack was confident in her ability to find Luna, I could tell. No sidetracking, always get there and get it done. Good attitude, plus she's one of the Elements. But, all ponies make mistakes, and it was time to correct her. "No, Applejack, although we are going on a trek to find my sister," she seems somewhat relieved at this, allowing her constantly stiff, muscular shoulders to loosen slightly.

Twilight steps in before I can continue. "The Trecks are mountains, Applejack. Big mountains. Like, around the distance from Manehatten to Fillydelphia if that was a height." Applejack takes a step back to sturdy herself, then looks around. "Gals, that's quite a height. And y'all sure we can do this, right Strike?" My pet name. Nopony is allowed to use that, except for...Cloud Mane. But she was gone, and I can address that later. "No, not necessarily. It would be wise for all those who aren't pegasi to start forging a path back to Equestria. And if I'm correct as to where we are, that would be in the opposite direction, north."

"But darling, surely you'll need magical help!" Rarity states, utter horror in her voice. "Plus, last time we all split up, it was absolute chaos, and I dare not even mention what happened to myself."

I nod my head. "Of course I'll need magical help, Rarity. That's why I'm temporarily promoting Twilight to alicorn."

"WHAT!" This from all six mares. "You can do that! Cool!" Rainbow happily shouts. "I get to race another pony!"

Twilight smirks. "Of course it's possible, Rainbow Dash. But something tells me he's bluffing. There's no way he could-" and in that instant, a red flash illuminates the area. When it cleared up, Twilight had wings. That's right, wings. "-do that. Huh?"

Now I'm the one who's smirking. "Hello? Eldest of the Celestial Triumvirate? Most powerful alicorn in existence? Wielding the power of dragonfire?" She blushes slightly. "Right. I kinda forgot about all that."

"It's all good. But this also means I won't be able to perform any major magic. You will because you are a temporary alicorn, but most of my energy will be spent on keeping you this way. I'm still more powerful than the unicorn you ('hey!' she protests) but I won't be able to do a lot of the more important stuff we need. That'll be up to you. I'm performing basic things, like shields and protection spells, and keeping you an alicorn. All you need to do is keep the sky clear. Easy enough?"

Cautiously, she noted, "I haven't studied that much weather magic. Are you sure I can do this?"

I pull a small bottle out of my bag. "I haven't got much left, but please, drink this." Hastily, she swallows a minute portion of the firey drink. It was, of course, dragonfire, but she didn't know that. Her eyes almost popped out of her head, and I could see tiny flames licking her muzzle. After a few minutes of sheer pain, it went away.

"You could have told me you were going to give me dragonfire!" She exclaimed, the others rolling on the ground laughing.

"Of course I could. But I didn't, mostly because I wanted to see your reaction." At this she huffs. I snort a little, and refocus my attention. This needs to get done. "Now that you've taken some dragonfire, you have dragon magic inside you. Not much, but it's certainly more than what you had. All you need are four words to keep the sky clear. This is used by dragons who want to simply keep the sky clear for a little while when they go for a fly or something like that. One of their most basic tricks. Now say it with me. Et."

"Et"

"Sic"

"Sic"

"Patet"

"Patet"

"Caelum"

"Caelum"

"Got it?"

Nervous, she nods. "I think so." Pointing her horn at the cloudy sky, she states, "Et sic patet caelum!" Purple magic explodes from her horn and emits another beam, quite like mine, but aiming and striking all clouds, clearing them instantly.

"Now, this will put a constant drain on your magic until you silence the spell with the word satis. Otherwise the beam keeps bouncing back and forth from cloud to cloud. Always remember to silence dragon magic. It will also remove any other effects that might be secretly sapping your energy. Try it now."

Looking down, she murmurs, "Satis" and the purple magic disentegrates, putting her horn at rest. Wobbling slightly, she grins. "Dragon magic is amazing! I've never felt this light, almost like there has been something else cutting my supply."

Returning the smile, I declare, "Then this quick test was a success. But we need to get moving, effective immediately. It's almost mid-afternoon as is. So, Pinkie, Applejack, and Rarity, you all start heading back. Fluttershy, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, with me. Let's go!"

"Goodbye everypony. I hope to see you guys when you get back." Rarity calls out as we flap our wings, gaining some ascendance. Twilight is still a bit shaky, but is a quick learner and is soon zipping around.

"And the same to you!" Twilight calls out. We turn around, and head into the southern sky, moving slowly to keep pace with Twilight and Fluttershy, who are having a bit of trouble keeping up with the speeds Rainbow Dash and I go at...

Later. Much later. The sun is just above the horizon, about to enter nighttime. I can only imagine how Celestia is holding up, as even the sun seems shaky. Twilight is still trying to get a hold of wings, as she follows Rainbow Dash in some wings strengthening exercises. Even Fluttershy joins in, and I just sit around the campfire as all three try to lift a log with their wings. Eventually, Rainbow notices my silent stare into the campfire we have made and tries to aggravate me into exercising with them. "Come on, you too weak for lifting? Bet I could beat you in an Iron Wing competition with my eyes closed!"

I'm not so easily goaded. "I'd bet."

Now she's offended. "Oh yeah? I bet you don't train your wings cause you are afraid to look like a dolt colt!"

Nope. Not gonna fall for it. "No, I don't train because it comes naturally to me to fly. I don't need training."

"Yeah, sure. And I'm the Queen of Saddle Arabia. You sure are a tough one. But I bet you aren't so tough once you get off the ground. In fact," she starts with a fake southern accent, "I bet y'all ain't an alicorn. Just. Some. Fake. With glass wings to boot."

Enough. I may have control, but not enough to sustain my aggravation. "I'll admit, you're good at this, Rainbow Dash. But would you like me to prove that I'm better?"

Now she's interested more than anypony. Not like her. "Yes! I'd love to learn from the expert."

Oh, it's so on. I walk over to the log they've been trying to lift this entire time and pick it up. With one wing. "You happy?"

Shaking her head, Rainbow Dash snorts. "No, you probably just used some sort of super-secret magic. I won't be happy until we race. What say fifty miles to the east and back? First one back doesn't have to scout ahead tomorrow morning?"

I pick up my hoof and spit on it, offering a handshake. "Deal. But you better not be all sad when I beat you."

"Yeah right. Threetwoone GO!" And she leaps off into the east. Dammit, now not only did she have a head start, but she had been completing a warmup. Buck it all. I make a mental note to not underestimate the rainbow-maned pegasus again, and leap into the sky, ready for a real competition.

Speeding through the air, I slowly begin to see a rainbow streak about five hundred lengths ahead. I push myself even more to catch up. Current speed: Ten wingpower and rising. Rainbow Dash's estimated speed: Eight wingpower and rising. She doesn't look tired, and nor do I. I barely feel the speed, it's almost like trotting.

Finally catching up to Rainbow Dash, I call out "That wasn't necessarily fair, but I'll be nice, considering you'll need all the leads you can get!"

Looking over, her jaw drops. Quickly she closes it and in her most snarky voice she exclaims "Well I'll be! In two minutes flat you've caught up to me! That's gotta be some sort of record. Think you can still keep up?" And with that she explodes through the sky. I'm starting to see the outline of a mach cone form around her. I do likewise, pushing off a cloud with my hind legs and closing my wings, becoming an aerodynamic missile.

Ten seconds later, I've again caught up with the pegasus. Both of us have the slightest outline of a mach cone forming in front of us. Estimated speed: Twenty five wingpower. I'm starting to see Rainbow Dash tire out. Should I let her win?

No. In that moment I decide to give her the challenge of her life. I completely fold my wings against my side and drop, the mach cone instantly forming. She sees what I'm doing, recognizes the idea, and does the same. But my idea is different.

Just before I break the sound barrier, I jerk up, now shooting straight ahead at an unrelentless speed. Her mistake was to keep going. But she saw my pullaway and tries to do the same. I can literally see the strain on her wings as she tries to pull up, but ends in a twisted mix of a corkscrew and a loop. Got some style. "Match that if you can!" She yells out, gaining speed.

The little voice in my head is back. Should I let her win? Perhaps. But I want to test her abilities first. "I've heard you got a couple tricks up your sleeve! Let's see what you got!" She grins and drops, this time for real. The mach cone reappears and implodes as a burst of a rainbow colored shockwave heads towards me. But I was prepared for this.

Each pegasus, when breaking the sound barrier, have a specific explosion color that can be either really cool or really disgusting. Rainbow Dash and I are lucky to have such beautiful designs. Hers is the patented Sonic Rainboom. I haven't thought of a name for my firey ball of death yet. But there's one other part to mine that nopony generally gets to see.

Back to the Rainboom. I tuck into a corkscrew and roll through the shockwave, sending beams of rainbow light behind me, almost as if I just broke through the surface of a pool or ocean. Light glistened over each and every drop of rainbow. I go to taste some and spit it out immediately. Spicy. I'd forgotten the spicy taste rainbows had. They're really deceiving that way. I rise to above the clouds. I'm going to need some height for my routine.

Rainbow Dash drops back into speed with me after performing a ridiculous amount of loops and tricks. "Thought about trying out for the Wonderbolts?" I call out. She nods. "Yep. That's been my lifelong goal. When we get back, I have tryouts to go to."

"I might consider trying out for them myself."

Scoffing, the pegasus replies, "You need skill along with speed, and so far, I haven't seen either from you. This is easy." Although she's clearly struggling to keep up, she'd never admit it, I could tell. "Fine," I call out, "I didn't want to have to do this, but I shall." Dropping out of our own personal orbit around the landscape, I fold my wings to my back and drop, just as she did. Rainbow Dash is so interested in what I have to offer she actually slows down to watch. Combing through the air, I perform a corkscrew so tight that bottle openers would be jealous. I let a bit of magic slide, and light my wings on fire, allowing a trail of firey smoke to leak behind me. Now I have the mare's full attention, as she comes to an almost stop, following me with her entire body. Leading out of the corkscrew into a backflip, I release the magic, extinguishing the fire, and continue diving. The mach cone is about to break, I can feel it on the tip of my tongue. Almost there...

Instead of the normal BOOM most sonic explosions create, this one is loud. Very loud. More like BOOOOOM. Behind me, a sonic explosion of fire shoots out in a perfect circle. Blasting it with a bit of magic, I transform the fire into fireworks that explode into a bright red and blue version of my cutie mark. This time, my mane, wings, and tail actually do catch, and I return to the original corkscrew effect, creating a fireball.

Final step. I use my final bit of magic to create an enhancement spell, turning the fireball into the brightness of a solar flare. Then it becomes pitch black, as dark as a starless night. My eyes are practically glowing red from the amount of magic used to create this effect, and then I get a really good idea. Continuing the pitch black fireball, I turn around and shoot straight up...towards Rainbow Dash. She completely panics, but is frozen is place, fear striking into her eyes. I imagine that I look like some sort of beast, a cloud of black with bright red eyes in the center, racing directly at her.

At the very last second, my black fire turns blue, the hottest fire in existence. Now I can feel it against my coat, superheating me to the very last second. I cut all effects, including the fire, and change my flight path, shooting right past Rainbow Dash...and towards our ultimate goal. She shakes her head in exasperation and jump kicks herself into motion. When she does catch up, she calls out, "That was very impressive!"

"Thank you!" I return. I knew that was the best compliment Rainbow Dash would ever give out, and I took it to heart. "Now, enough with the theatrics, lets return to the original concept: racing!" And I continue forth, my wings beating at a precise rhythm. Beat beat, beat beat. My wings, pitch black, with inner feathers of a brilliant red, are at the speed of a hummingbird now. If I were to just stop moving, I'm sure that instead of dropping, I would just stay in place, wings buzzing.

A rainbow streak jumps past and I blink. I've slowed down since starting to think about my wings. Back to the pace. I need a minimum of fifty wingpower to keep up with this pegasus.

As we reach the twenty five mile mark, I look back, and she's stopped. I slow down and turn around. "Something the matter?"

She was very pale, almost green in the face. "We never checked with Twilight and Fluttershy to see if they'd be ok without us."

"Shit, you're right." She gives me a weird look. "What, never seen royalty curse? I'm surprised, Celestia has the mouth of a sailpony. Anyways, we should turn around. Why don't we both do patrol tomorrow?"

She holds out a hoof. I take it and we shake. "Agreed. You are a very talented pony, Sunstriker."

"As are you, Rainbow Dash. Let's get back there before they freak out anymore than they probably have."

"Oh yeah. Fluttershy is gonna be so pissed. She might even actually yell." We both laugh at that one. According to Rainbow, Fluttershy was always very quiet, but when she got mad, she exploded. Kind of like me, but I'm always loud.

We both break into a bolt of speed, hers rainbow colored, mine laced with trails of fire. And then suddenly a change developed in my speed trail. I burst through a flash of bright white magic and my trail changed from fire to...nothing? No, not nothing. Night. My trail is now the color of my sister Luna's mane and tail. But the magic was the color of Celestia's. What's going on? Seconds later it goes back to the original fire and we continue on into the night.

Needless to say, Fluttershy wasn't happy. Not. At. All. We spent about twenty minutes hearing about how "dangerous it was" and how "you left us defenseless and alone" before I walked straight up to the yellow pegasus, horn glowing, and used a mute spell. "We get it," I say, after getting a death stare from Fluttershy. She really is not happy at all. "We did something reckless, but that's us. Naturally Rainbow Dash was just being herself, and after one thousand years of being stuck without a flying partner, you kind of want to fly as much as possible. I'm sorry for ditching you guys, but one simple teleportation spell would have gotten Rainbow and me back in no time at all."

Twilight walks up behind Fluttershy and puts a hoof around the pegasus's shoulder. Looking into each other's eyes, Twilight said "I think it would be best if we all just went to bed. Tensions are high, and somepony is going to get hurt if we keep scuffling." Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and I all nod consent. Twilight reaches into her saddlebag and pulls out four sleeping bags. "Never full storage?" I guess.

"Yep."

Well I'm impressed. She's already putting some of her alicorn talents to good use. I feel faint, but need to get one last thing off my shoulders before sleep. I release the mute spell and stand next to Fluttershy. "I truly am sorry, Fluttershy. My actions got the better of me, and I really needed something to release the tension of the past few days."

She smiles at me, and warmth returns to my heart. She's forgiven me. "It's ok. I'm sorry for getting mad at you. It was unnecessary, and besides, you've saved us a lot. We kind of owe you, and in my anger I forgot."

"Good, now that apology time is over, can someponies allow me some sleep please?" Rainbow Dash sarcastically mutters from her sleeping bag. Twilight, Fluttershy, and I look at one another and crack up, rolling on the ground. Eventually, we all cool down and get into our sleeping bags. I look over at the three mares as they close their eyes. "I'll take watch for the night," I offer. Several grunts from the three bundles confirm my statement.

I stand next to the fire pit and close my eyes, horn glowing softly. A small fire starts in the pit, and I lean against a tree, staring into the heated, entrancing dance the fire dances. Some nights, fire is peaceful, its slow dance enough to warm the creator. Othertimes, it's restless and fast paced, warming all of its surroundings before finally catching something else and starting a problem. Tonight, the dance was slow and peaceful, and I allowed it to be, occasionally tossing a few branches on, levitated from the area around us. Staring into the fire, I see many faces. My parents. A concerned sister, tired from the constant push and pull of the stars and sun and moon. One who has been leading her people for a millenia. And in another part of the world, an angry sister. One who wants nothing to do with those people, who caused her suffering for those same millenia. Her hatred for the world is evident, but she loves her beautiful night all the same. And it's that exact feeling that frustrates her so much and causes all the arguments between the three of us. If she could leave forever, return to the solitary confinement known as the moon, she would. But at the same time, something is calling her back.

It's me.