The Resurrection of Darkness

Note: This chapter is dedicated to a very close friend of mine who has never left my side through thick and thin. He even stuck with me when I became a brony, which seems rare these days. The character “Starfling” is a reflection of none other than my friend Peter.

Also, an additional note to my Cloudsdale friends: Wow, my weekend was a lot busier than I thought it would be. I was going to work all weekend to launch a much longer chapter, but I was too busy to, but I tried my best, and I hope you can all forgive me. -Sincerely, your shy and flustered friend, Felix H. Wrightwind.
Chapter 6:

It was seven in the morning the next day when our heroes awoke to the sound of the birds outside. They quickly jumped up and got started for the day; they packed up camp and purified some lake water for their packs. Then, once they had gotten packed, they noticed that they had no plans!

“Well, where in the world do we go?” Said Steamgears.

“I don’t know, but that hill looks promising” said Rob, pointing his hoof at a hill covered with lush, green grass.

So, they stretched a bit more and were on their way. By now, Felix was not too shy around Voice Over, but the difference was barely noticeable; he was still very flustered around mares. But he had actually started to grow a liking to this mare (no, not a lovey-dovey liking. Just a friendly liking), so today, he walk alongside her. They chatted as they walked, and it was not too hot outside, they had gotten a good amount of sleep that night, and the wind was blowing; it was a beautiful day. Soon, they had gotten to the top of the hill where they saw something truly amazing.

They were looking down at a village that was not destroyed at all. It had a very similar feeling that you would get in Ponyville, but just a bit different. Our heroes ran as fast as they could to the town, their hearts racing. They simply couldn’t believe it; here in the middle of nowhere was a standing town that looked as if it had not been affected at all by the demon king.

They walked through the main gate to the town where they were greeted by a stallion that said, ”Welcome to Crosstown, the town where three different railways run through!” As they walked past, he smirked and told himself “too bad their only safe haven will be the end of their journey!”

They were awestruck as they walked through the market square. They had thought the whole world was destroyed, and here was a busy market with ponies that had nothing on their mind on the subject of demons.

They bought some food to bring with them, and stopped at a cafe for some breakfast. Finally, they had some caffeine and hot food in their systems. They sat for a bit and discussed plans in the shop of where to go next. They finally decided to stop and buy a map and visited an observatory where they were allowed to use a telescope to look at the mountains, where they saw an unusually dark cloud very far beyond one of the mountains that a railway ran on.

So, they decided to take this train that supposedly led to another town a bit farther beyond that mountain. So, they took the train (70 bits for them all) and were on their way. It was about 10 in the morning when they were finally about halfway up the mountain. There they told stories of funny happenings of their lives and thought back on the dangers they had encountered so far. They told stories, simply chatted, and even solved riddles (there was not much to do on a train), but they had soon gotten a bit bored. Felix was twisting his hair (which was a bit long for boys his age), Voice Over was changing the color of her hair with spells, Silverwing was sharpening his blades (as was Rainbat), Echo wave was making small figures with shadowy magic, Woodsy and Rob were reading, Tempest was using his rod to levitate small trinkets of his, Gears was touching up his circuits, and Pomaria was simply looking out the window. Soon, the train dinner service came through (which was included in the price), and the conductor came on the speaker box and announced which bunk bed cabin each person was to get in for the night.

Each bunk had midnight-blue carpet and four bunk beds with scarlet comforters. Felix got the bunk above Silverwing, Voice Over got the one above Rob, Gears got the bunk above Pomaria, and Rainbat got the bunk above Tempest. The rest of the team was bunking inside a different cabin. They all looked at the ceiling while talking to each other.

“What do you think that dark cloud is all about above that town?” Said Tempest.

“I have no idea, but it doesn’t look like a normal storm cloud.” Said Voice Over.

“I’m not sure about you guys, but I’m a bit scared to figure out what’s in store for us next” said Rob. “We’ve gone through a lot of stuff since we began our journey, and I have a feeling it’s not the worst of it.”

“Don’t worry, we’ve got each other no matter what happens” said Felix. “And if we all get separated, I have a feeling it’ll be fate for us to find each other again.”

“Well, I’m sleepy, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who is.” Said Gears. And with that, he turned over and went to sleep, as did everyone else.

That night, Felix had very odd dreams, which kept being ended by the glowing of the gem in his necklace. Finally, when it had gotten to a point where he couldn’t sleep anymore, he put his glasses back on and studied the patterns and lines engraved on the gem. He thought of taking it off, but was not sure what would happen if he did so, and he kept it around his neck. He stared at it and noticed things he never did before on it, like how the gem’s glow was in rhythm with the beat of his heart, and there were triangles and lines engraved in it. He tapped the gem.

Suddenly, but very quietly, a beam came out of it and touched the compartment’s window. He slowly, trying not to wake the others, looked out it. He never noticed how bright the moon was, and the mountain they were atop of was beautiful. Slowly, he got back in his bunk, took off his glasses, and went back to sleep. The gem was no longer glowing.

It was midnight, when the compartment was hit with a mighty bash. Everyone looked out the window. They were on a narrow bridge crossing a deep canyon. After a bit, they saw an army of demons flying at the car, some bashing and making the train rock, others landing on the top of the car and stomping holes in the roof. Our heroes climbed out on the roof, with their weapons ready to strike. The train was rocking, and barley avoiding being knocked off its tracks into the dark canyon. Suddenly, a demon with a sword landed and swung at Felix. He just barely blocked the strike.

They were striking from all directions, Felix barely blocking the demons coming at him and the one he was battling with. The others were busy with the other demons on the roof. Suddenly, a demon rammed into the side of Felix, causing him to fall off the side of the train. He held on to the side of the roof with one hoof, while the demon stepped towards him, its sword ready to strike. He was about to swing at Felix, but was knocked into the trench by a flash of metal. Felix was helped onto the roof by a lime-green pony with brown eyes and a flail.

“Come on, we’ve got to protect these passengers” He said, and so they did. Felix and the newfound hero were back-to-back, killing off demons flying from all directions at them, each barely saving each other’s lives.

It was finally dawn when the rest of the demons had retreated, and they were finally stopping in a devastated town that looked as though it had just been attacked, but unlike the rest of the towns, there were many survivors taking the train to the town our heroes had just left.

Felix held out his hoof to the lime-green unicorn. “My name is Felix. Thanks for saving me tonight. What’s your name?”

The pony shook his hoof in response. “I’m Starfling. I am glad I was able to help you all tonight. Unfortunately, I am not able to follow you and aid you all on your quest. I must protect Crosstown, but I have a feeling we will be meeting again soon. I bid you all farewell for now.” And with that, he disappeared into thin air.

“Who was he?” said Rob.

“I’m not sure, but I hope he protects that amazing town.” Said Silverwing.

And with that, they were off again, this time, with a guaranteed feeling of hope.