A Waste of a World

It took us about three more hours to get to the city's gates. They were open, so we invited ourselves into the barren kingdom. Small flames littered the ground, along with the bodies of many dead ponies. It was a very depressing sight, and part of me wanted to bury every single one of them and put them to rest.

We made our way to the castle without any intrusions, and began searching for the secret room that Twilight told us about earlier. She told me that there was a lever between the two royal thrones that opened a secret stairwell in the middle of the room. I immediately went to that location and began searching for said lever. At first I felt nothing, but my hand then grazed a circular object, so I pressed down on it. The whole room shook, and I looked behind me to see the secret stairwell open up.

"It was a button Twilight," I joked, staring down the dark hole.

"Whatever," she replied, taking a step inside.

The rest of us followed her closely. It got really dark so I couldn't see where I was going, but luckily I didn't have to walk in the pitch blackness that long. I felt flat ground and reached out into the void, where I touched some kind of handle. A purplish glow filled the room from Twilight's horn.

"Why didn't you do that earlier?" I teased her.

She blushed and looked away from me out of embarrassment.

I smiled and opened the door.

It was pretty much what I expected, A medium-sized stone room with several shelves and tables along it's walls. Vials and beakers filled some of the shelves, while others displayed a wide variety of tools that I've never seen before.

"Over here," Rainbow called to us. We went to where she was and saw a wall filled with all kinds of weapons.

"Aww yeah!" I shouted and went up to it to get a closer look.

Swords, spears, knives and pretty much anything else I could think of covered the wall. Grabbing a specific sword off the weapon rack, I gave it a few swings to test it's weight and durability. I liked it almost immediately. The green and gold handle really caught my attention. It looked as if it were polished only a few hours ago. The blade was also a goldish color, with beautiful carvings of vines and leaves on either side of it.

"Whaddya think?" I asked the crew, swinging it around a few more times.

"Oh my goodness!" Rarity exclaimed, her jaw dropping at the sight of my new sword. "It's gorgeous!"

Well, it's a keeper.

I grabbed it's sheath and pulled my old sword off of my side.

"Well, it's been fun," I said to it before placing it where the new one was before. "But  I kinda need one that isn't so rusty."

I was about to leave, but a certain knife made me stay.

"Looks like this sword's got a hot sister."

The ponies all had confused looks on their faces until I picked up the interesting blade, making them laugh.

It was a perfect match to the sword. Gold and emerald green handle, with a shiny golden blade. It even had the same engravings on it.

"Alright Twilight, potion time!" I said, running out of the room.

All this energy came from nowhere, but it felt good. I guess it was the fact that I got some new gear that I needed for quite some time, or that I was finding all of my friends again. Or both.

Twilight came bounding out of the room after me, and we began picking out some potions together.

This was the best.

I remember back when we used to read books together in the middle of the night for no reason. We would just cuddle up in her bed and read for hours on end. Obviously we would regret doing that in the morning, so we would take a nap that would last until it was night, where we would read together again.

I miss those days.

There were actually some really rare concoctions here. One of them can let you be completely invincible for a whole day. Another could allow you to breathe underwater for a week straight. I stuffed them into my pack, and some others in Rarity's. Opening another door between two empty bookshelves in the back of the room, my eyes gazed upon the tallest bookshelves I have ever seen.

"Wow," I whispered.

"I know right?" Twilight said happily, bouncing around the ginormous room of books.

I pulled some off the shelves and sat down in a dusty chair. Opening one of them up, I just so happen to instantly come across a spell that enhanced one's ability to jump ten times higher than normal.

"Twilight," I called. "Look at this one."

She peeked over my shoulder and read what I did. "That could come in handy for sure."

She levitated the book out of my hands and reread the directions carefully.

"Ok, I can do this," She said, activating her magic.

Eventually I got involved and began floating and spinning at a decent rate. This isn't good for my stomach. I was literally about to puke but Twilight put me down just in time.

"Jump," she instructed.

I did as I was told and bent my legs. At that moment did I feel the sensation of what it felt like when there was no gravity. Straightening my legs out, I rocketed up the height of the room and landed on top of one of the bookshelves.

"I think it worked!" I shouted down to Twilight, who began flying up to where I was. "Pretty neat. How long does this spell last?"

"Hmm," she said, rereading the contents of the book in her mind. "I think it said for a day or so."

I looked down to the floor of the library, which made me want to puke all over again.

"C-could you bring me b-back down?" I asked her nervously.

She laughed and extended out her arms, inviting me into them.

"Come here you dork," she said with a warm smile.

I sheepishly smiled back and embraced her, where we began to slowly lower to the ground.

"I didn't know you were afraid of heights," she said, giggling.

Instead of replying, I squeezed her tighter. Mostly because I didn't want to slip out of her grasp, but also because it's been such a long time since we've seen each other and all I wanted to do was hug her and never let go. When we reached the floor, I didn't let go, and neither did Twilight.

"Hey Twilight, I found a-," Rainbow began but cut herself off when she saw the two of us.

"Never mind," she said quietly.

Twi's body was so soft. And warm. Her cheek pressed against mine, sending a wave of comfort throughout my body.

"Let's promise to never leave each other again," she said, squeezing me even harder.

"I promise you Twilight," I said into her ear. "I will never leave you behind, no matter what."

She broke the hug and stared into my eyes. It was only a few seconds later before the whole room began to shake, making some of the books fall off the shelves. We grouped up while Twilight prepared a shield spell for us.

"What's happening?" Rarity asked, looking up to see if any books were falling towards her.

"I think this place is about to cave in," I answered, to which the ponies looked at me in horror.

"Run!" Rainbow shouted, darting towards the door we came through.

The rest of us immediately followed. I glanced back and saw an entire bookshelf begin to rock back and forth.

Oh crap.

"Hurry!" I screamed, resulting in the others moving faster than before.

Luckily, the stairs we came down on were still intact, giving us somewhat of a safe way out. We all made it out okay, and we all watched from the top as the secret library collapsed in on itself. Dust filled the air, and some pages of the books below managed to float up towards the castle ceiling before hovering back down into what was now a pitch black hole.  Apparently one of the pillars in the throne room collapsed and fell onto the ground, making it shake the entire library. I guess it was structured like that on purpose, so in case this place ever got attacked, the books would all be destroyed, along with the weapons and potions. What made me wonder though was how the pillar even fell. It instantly gave me the assumption that somepony was following us, and whoever it was wanted us dead big time. Not on my watch.

"Let's get out of here," I said to the group.

With one last look at the fallen library, we left the castle, making it abandoned once again.

We took shelter in a nearby clothing store, where we took a look at the loot we got from the secret chambers.

I love my new sword. It was sharper than a razor blade and could almost cut through anything like butter. I tested it out on some of the window curtains, a chair, and even a mannequin, all of which didn't stand a chance. Rainbow got a neat little gadget that can warp itself into a spear and a sword, and can also split itself in half to make two tactical knives. Applejack had obtained a whip, something she had never had before surprisingly. It was funny watching her flail it around aimlessly, having no idea how to use the strange weapon. Twilight didn't need a weapon apparently, since she has magic. Fair enough. The only thing Rarity grabbed besides a few potions was a large red book titled: "A Guide to Dark Magic For Beginners," which made Twilight gasp.

"Why in the world would you need a book like that Rarity?!" She shouted, stealing the book from Rarity's clutches.

"Why would I not? It's times like these that we may want to start considering the possibility of using dark magic every now and then." Rarity explained, stealing it back from her friend and placing it back into it's correct pouch.

"Where are we gonna go now?" Rainbow asked randomly.

I placed my sword down and thought about what she just asked.

"Honestly, I have no idea." I said, looking around the room at the other ponies. "I mean, we could stay here, but I have a feeling that someone is watching us and wants us dead. That pillar couldn't have knocked itself over. Anyway, that's just me, I don't really care where we go at this point, I just want all of us to be safe."

They all nodded, and the room fell into an eerie silence for several minutes.

"Well," I said, standing up and grabbing my pack. "I don't know about all of you, but I'm gonna get some sleep."

Twilight's ears immediately perked up. As I headed upstairs to look for a decent room to settle down in, I noticed that she began to follow me.

"You tired too?" I asked her, opening one of the doors in the hallway upstairs.

Too dirty.

"Uh, yeah... It's been a crazy day," She said, helping me look for a room.

I grinned. "You don't plan on sleeping with me do you?"

Her cheeks suddenly glowed a bright pink. "No! I mean, not in that way." She said hesitantly, looking away from me as she opened another door.

"But, maybe... In time?"

My heart skipped some beats hearing that specific arrangement of words, and it was my turn to blush profusely. I seriously did not know how to respond to what she just said, and I just stood there with my hand on a door handle.

"Brady?" Twilight said, coming over to where I was.

"Yeah?"

"I um, found a room..."

She pointed at a dark opening in the wall, and I could see very faintly that there was a giant bed inside.

"Oh, thanks," I said, smiling warmly at her, which was hard to do by the way. I was still recovering to what she said a little bit ago.

Entering the room, my eyes confirmed that there was a big, poofy looking bed against the far wall, along with a guest bed beside it.

"Take your pick," I said to Twilight.

Instead of answering me, she hopped onto the large one and smiled at me.

Her smile.

God, it's so cute. So is the rest of her. No, sexy is a way better word for how she looked right now.

Placing my pack on the bed, I unzipped it and pulled out my warmth potion. Being at a higher elevation just made it colder, and on top of that the window in the room was completely shattered. I popped it open and took a sip. Letting out a satisfying "Ah!"

I offered some to Twilight without explaining what it was. Apparently she didn't care, because she snatched it out of my hand and downed a huge gulp.

"Cold much?" I joked, receiving the bottle back from her.

"Hey, at least you have clothes on!" she snapped, making me snicker a little.

After dusting off her side of the bed, she crawled in, while continuing to sit up.

"Get in," she commanded, patting the other empty half of the bed beside her.

Doing as I was told, mostly because I've learned to never argue with Twilight, I slid in between the covers and managed to get comfortable. Twilight scooted closer to me so that we were in arms reach of each other.

"I've missed you," she said, grabbing one of my hands with her hoof, which was still surprisingly cold even though she drank almost half of the potion.

"Me too," I said back, tightening my grip on her. "It's been really lonely without you."

We stared into each other's eyes for what felt like forever, making it feel even warmer in the room. Finally, after what was only two minutes, Twilight inched even closer to me so she was able to rest her head on my shoulder. It felt nice.

"Sorry," she said suddenly. "Your potion didn't work or something I guess."

I saw she had a small grin on her face, making me realize that she was lying. I didn't care obviously. Her eyes began to flutter closed, but she snapped them back open immediately.

"I... um, want to give you something," she said, lifting her head off of my shoulder.

"I've actually wanted to give it to you for a long time now, but I never got the chance to."

My eyes searched around her, hoping to see a glimpse of it before she revealed the mysterious item, which made her giggle, which in turn made me confused.

"You can't see it dork. You feel it."

I became even more confused. That is, until, she planted her lips onto mine.

Soft was the first word that entered my mind. Followed by words like squishy, and tantalizing. We parted after only three seconds of contact with each other but she pulled me into her for another kiss.

This was going somewhere, and fast.