Nightmare Dove Arc

Rain clattered about the Everfree. Drops rippled and dripped from the leaves overhead, plummeting down before bursting on the tepid green below. Upon a single tree, however, the drops seemed to fly almost continually, bouncing off with rhythmic intensity. Those from the section facing Ponyville found their way to the back of a white unicorn mare; the instigator of their hurried descent. She bashed her horn against the cruelly hard wood; again--again--again. She never stopped, never hesitated, despite the burning pain she felt growing inside her horn. The rain masked her tears, blending with them before carrying them indifferently on to their ends.

She banged, and banged, but the horn would not break. The mare paused a moment, suffering seeping through her features as she breathed heavily. She stared up beyond her light and dark blue mane, fixating on the object of her contempt. Her face lightened from disdain to despair, then tightened again as she rammed the tree once more. The water poured down, and she held her head there, her aching horn implanted painfully in the bark.

"Dove!" came a voice. Dove quickly shifted her head back.

"Dove! Où es tu? (Where are you?)"

The slosh of approaching hoofsteps sounded from beyond the trees. Dove's eyes widened. She reared her head back in front of her and began fervently banging it against the tree. "Break!" she cried under her breath. "Break! Break!" The tree took each impact in stride; as did the horn. The sloshes grew closer. Dove stabbed faster. "Break! Break! Break! Break! Break--"

"Dove?!"

The voice was upon her now. Dove's head impacted the tree one, final time, before slumping down against it. The series of sloshes quickly approached her, then suddenly stopped at her side.

"...Dove?"

Dove tilted her head slightly, glancing up at the small orange pony draped in the frigid night's rain. Standing there, she seemed to shine like a beautiful, radiant flame; emanating warmth to all around her. "Starburst..." Dove breathed. She returned her gaze to the sullen ground, guilt striking through her spine for foolishly indulging in a comfort she did not deserve. Her face contracted, and she could feel the tears bleed out faster, and the urge to weep overwhelmed her body. She shook with each silent sob. However, the raindrops no longer fell upon her, as one of Starburst's massive wings shielded her from the incoming stream. Starburst lowered her face to her friend's. "Dove, qu'est-ce que tu fais? (what are you doing?)"

No response.

"Dove! S'il te plait! (Please!)"

Dove's eyes remained shut, but her voice began to find itself. "C-Cette ne--" Her voice was cut off by another reflexive sob. "C-Cette ne c-cassera--pas! (I-It won't--b-break!)" She moved her head back slightly and banged into the tattered bark. Starburst's hoof seized her mane and tugged her back. "Dove! Arrêtez! (Stop!)" Her grip was firm, but even so, Dove shook from it. Mud splattered about Starburst as she fell against the ground. She shook her head, then, after raising herself to a sit, looked down at her hoof. It still contained threads of Dove's hair, the follicles intact. She jolted her vision up to find Dove standing a few mere feet away, but just beyond her reach. The two locked eyes, and the beating rain seemed to go silent around them.

They remained there, scanning each-other's countenances, until Dove lowered her head and began to turn away. "Forgive me, mon canari, (my canary,)" said Dove, walking to the clearing's edge. Starburst watched, uncertain of her own movements. As Dove neared an opposing tree, she slowly rediscovered her motor functions, and began walking, then running to her friend. "Dove!"

Dove's hooves ascended the roots, and she began to circle around it, her body disappearing behind the trunk. Starburst sprinted on. "Wait! Please!"

Dove's tail vanished as Starburst leaped the roots and stomped down in the mud beyond. She scanned her surroundings; trees, bushes, but no Dove. Her vanishing act always was solid, Starburst stated internally. She sighed. Shifting her head back, she peered into the clearing, dejectedly gazing at the many frayed markings adorning its tree.

The Ponyville streets slept peacefully; the steady beat of raindrops providing them a tempered lullaby. Starburst gazed out at the Everfree Forest from the interior of her room. The day's 'Best Young Flyer' competition had initially left her restless; too pumped to sleep properly. Prism Bolt had won, managing to finally pull off his mother's trademark sonic rainboom to wow the judges. Starburst took a close second though, capping her own routine off with a Rarity inspired 'Solar Eclipse' pose, in which she rose to the sun and threw her massive wings out, striking awe and wonder into everypony in the audience. Starburst could still see it clearly, the way Dove's lavender eyes illuminated like blooming lilacs. After the competition, Dove told her the performance would always be number one in her "cœur". She always knew how to cheer her up.

Starburst lowered her eyes. Dove... she internalized. She had noticed the unicorn's travel cart parked just outside the Everfree during a midnight workout session not two hours ago. The cart had seemed pony-less, and Starburst quickly unlatched and flew out the castle window to confirm it. She'd peered inside, but her suspicions proved correct. The only sign of Dove was her feather cape; discarded against a random box of props. She'd raced into the forest, using her rudimentary tracking skills to find and follow Dove's trail. It had worked. However, by the night's end, she had failed.

Come sunrise, her vigil ended. No visible nor audible sign of Dove had passed Starburst's window, and she yawned, the bags beneath her eyes sagging as she did so. The rest of her morning routine went as usual; tidy her mane, wash her bed, chew her teeth, brush her breakfast. Twilight watched inquisitively from behind the counter as her daughter meticulously brushed each piece of cereal to a mirror shine. She checked her face, noting the absent expression. "Starburst?"

"Yeah mom?" questioned Starburst, gradually turning her torpid eyes away from the task which her hooves continued in diligently.

"Did you sleep well last night? You look sort of... out-of-it."

"I'm fine..." she stated, all the while slowly slumping forward into her cereal bowl. The cold milk was very refreshing, especially on her face. As she realized her situation and raised herself up, she found her mom's hoof on her shoulder and a small towel now laying in her hooves. She quickly lifted it to her face and wiped it clear before setting it aside on the wooden table. She kept her view fixated there for quite some time, then lifted her gaze up to her mother. "Hey, mom? Did you see Dove pass by here? Or see her cart parked anywhere?"

Twilight nodded. "Yes, she stopped by early this morning actually. Apparently she has a show booked outside Ponyville later today and wanted to apologize for not being able to say goodbye. I offered to wake you up for her, but she said she didn't want to interrupt mon canari's beauty sleep. I would have pressed a bit further, but... her vanishing act is much better than her mother's."

Starburst nodded and mused about this as she slowly motioned her toothbrush toward the bowl. Twilight's magic surrounded the tool, and it was quickly switched with a spoon from one of the kitchen drawers. As Starburst lifted the cereal into her mouth and began methodically chewing, Twilight smiled contently and returned to the kitchen to continue cooking her own breakfast, a sizzling set of eggs. After flipping the pan full of blackening yolks a few times, she paused, then shifted her head to Starburst. "Why do you ask?"

"...No reason," her daughter replied. Twilight kept her eyes trained on her, but couldn't quite decipher the groggy expression. She returned to her meal, but kept a mental note to pry later. As she attempted to remember the next step in proper sunny-side up preparation over a set of burning black slosh, a door slam sounded from upstairs, catching her attention.

"MOM!" cried the young Night Light. "Can you pull Starburst's mattress out of the shower?! I have to get to school!"

Dove watched the sun rise up between the towering skyscrapers of Manehattan with a smile. She tugged on her cart and pulled it down the train station's steps, careful to keep the interior's belongings steady with each successive bump. Descending the final set, she noticed an important looking unicorn mare trotting across the street ahead, the numerous bags floating over her head coated in simple levitation magic. Dove detached her gaze and dragged her cart down to the level concrete. The walk to her hotel would prove taxing, but nothing an experienced traveler such as Dove the Extraordinary could not handle. However, the ache in her horn kept pulsating, ridiculing her with each hoofstep. Like a heartbeat it throbbed, pumping pain throughout her body. She attempted to focus on the street ahead, but each pulse reminded her of its presence, always looming just above her sight. She focused on it, hoping her stare might be sharp enough to finally sever it from her completely.

The cart's right hind wheel caught a sidewalk's edge, sending it, and Dove, toppling over. Her belongings splayed out across the sidewalk and street's edge. Dove just laid there a moment. She shut her eyes. Had Anthea been with her--a pony actually worth being called a unicorn--she could simply... float all the belongings back into her cart. Anthea was blind, but she was a real unicorn, unlike Dove. Unlike Dove, Anthea was orphaned... yet Dove cried. Unlike Dove, Crystal Clarity was half-dragon, considered an abomination by many during her youth, yet Dove cried. Unlike Dove, Starburst bared the weight of her mother's reputation as well as the frequent mocking of her stature, and yet Dove cried. Dove cried, every night in secret. She didn't deserve to. She knew, they had every right; and she had none. A unicorn approached her side, presenting a friendly grin.

"Excuse me, miss," he said, extending a cordial hoof. "Would you like some help retrieving your luggage?"

Dove accepted the hoof and slowly rose to a stand. As her face met his, she revealed a smile, and raised a polite hoof. "Non, merci," she replied. "I'm fine. It's no problem."