Ghosts of the Past

Being inside the cave was like being inside a dark freezer.  The air was stale and cold.  Water dripped from above and froze before it hit the rocky floor.  Wind howled intensely from all angles, as if the cave itself protested the presence of the purple and pink intruders.

Twilight cast a simple light spell to push back the ever present darkness.  It did well against the physical darkness, but it was not powerful enough to push the darkness that was inside both of their hearts.  Pinkie found a small corner in the back and just layed there.  She whimpered as she replayed the events of the night before over and over in her head.  The cave echoing her saddness didn't help ease Twilight's broken heart.

"Pinkie, please talk to me.  I'm sorry about it all. I want it all taken back," Twilight pleaded in vain.  Pinkie stopped listening to her.  She just kept whimpering and crying.  She was a shell of the bubbly and comedic pony she was before Distrust had her way with her.

Twilight lowered her head.  It was no use talking to her.  She wasn't going to listen.  Twilight tried her best to push her emotions to the back of her mind and proceeded to ponder on what the princess said before they were whisked away on this nightmare.

Seventh element?  I never read anything about a seventh element in any of my books.  There had only been six.  Six elements and six ponies to represent them.  And what did she not want us to lose? Lose the fight? Lose our lives?

Twilight kept replaying the events in her mind and what the princess yelled at them, even though it hurt.  Between losing Pinkie and watching her mentor turned to stone before her very eyes, Twilight felt as if her entire world was crumbling around her.  She had too though.  She felt that whatever the princess was about to say was the key to ending Discord's cruel rein for all eternity.

The wind grew louder and the pugnent rain fell harder.  This created the worst possible smell Twilight ever had the misfortune of smelling, and she lived with a very flatulent baby dragon.

"Oh Spike," she said glumly, "I wish you were here."

The seconds turned to minutes and the minutes turned to hours.  Twilight thought long and hard.  Everytime she thought, she recieved more questions and theories, but less answers. Pinkie's sobs grew into wails and the tears fell from her eyes like a broken faucet.    She began to get frustrated.  She could never handle stress well.

"AH!  Pinkie, SHUT UP!  I'm trying to think and your being very annoying!"  Twilight snapped and the pale pony.

Pinkie looked at her in shock.  "Why do you keep calling me that?" she said between sobs.  "Am I giving you another achey ache in your smarty smart head?  I'm sorry for being a stupid baby pony.  I"m sorry that I'm too annoying and childish for you to think of me as your friend."

Pinkie got up and ran farther into the darkness of the cave.  Her entire body was engulfed in a darkness that didn't come even close to how dark she felt inside. Twilight couldn't believe she just said that to her best friend.

"No, Pinkie wait!" Twilight yelled after her.

Tears welled up in her eyes.  "How could I do that to her.  After all we've been through thus far, how could I be so insensitive.  I'm worse than Rainbow Dash," she said to herself.

The tears fell quicker down her purple cheeks.  She felt as if nothing she could do would ever make up for the pain that she had caused.  She had single-hoofedly ruined any chance she would ever have of regaining her best friend's trust.  She sank to the floor and lowered her head, feeling the cold ground that would now be her home.

"I want to help Celestia," she sobbed.  "I want to help everypony and stop Discord, but what's the point of going on if I can't even save a frienship that I ruined?"  Her tears froze and shattered as they hit the ground.  Silence was her only companion now. It was going to be her only companion from now on.

"AAAAHHHHH!" came a scream from deep within the cave.

Twilight lept from her downward spiral of depression.  "PINKIE!" she yelled as she ran to the source of the blood chilling wail.

"HELP! HELP! SOMEPONY HELP ME!"

"I'm coming Pinkie!  Hold on!" Twilight screamed in response.  She ran as fast as her legs would take her.  All of her past worries and fears were gone.  The only thing that she thought of now was helping her friend.  The only thing she wanted was to help her friend.

Twilight found herself in a room bigger than what she thought this cave could hold.  The air was colder and wetter than what it was in the other chamber.   Steep cliffs and deep chasms littered the giant room.  Green moss hung from the crevices in the rocky walls.

"HELP! TWILIGHT! HELP ME!"

Twilight looked furiously for her little, pink friend.  She finally found Pinkie Pie huddled under a boulder the size of small house.  She ran over to her.

"Pinkie! I'm here!"

The boulder suddenly flew towards the purple pony.  She lept to the side right before it landed where she was standing just minuted before.  She lost her footing slid down to the edge of one of the cliffs.  She caught herself on the edge of the cliff.  She dangled above dark abyss that waited to gobble her up into nothingness.

Twilight looked up from her impeding doom and found something far worse than the darkness below.  Pinkie was cowering, frozen in fear of the beast that stood before her.  It was almost as tall as the entire chamber.  Drool fell smoothly from its massive jaw.  Razor-sharp teeth as tall as trees filled its mouth.  The chamber shook violently as it gave a powerful roar.  What Twilight saw was the worst thing she could possibly imagine, an Ursa Major.

"PINKIE! RUN!" Twilight shouted as she tried to climb up from the edge.  Each time she raised her hoof, rocks came loose from the wall and fell deep into the blackness.

The plea from Twilight shook Pinkie from her fear-induced stupor and she galloped to the nearest crevice she could find.  She lept inside just before the Ursa Major's powerful claw landed inches from where she was hiding.  It gave out another loud roar, shaking the room and almost knocking Twilight down in the process.

"AAAAHHH GET AWAY FROM ME YOU BIG MEANIE!!" Pinkie screamed at the gigantic monster.  The beast swat at the wall where the frightened pony hid.  Its ferocity increased with each savage hit.  The wall was beginning to give out.  The crack that Pinkie hid in grew larger and larger.  Giant rocks fell from the ceiling and hit the Ursa Major.  It paused for a brief moment to shake off the annoyance before resuming its onslaught on the weakening wall.

Twilight managed to finally get a hoofhold and climbed back up onto the ledge.  She watched in horror as the beast was getting closer and closer to her friend.

What do I do?! What do I do?! The question kept coming up in her mind.  She had no clue how to handle the Ursa Major.  Only the great Starswirl the Bearded ever defeated an Ursa Major, and Twilight didn't even come close to the skill he had.

The wall gave in and Pinkie Pie was at the mercy of the Ursa Major.  It lifted its massive claw to finish off the screaming pony.  Twilight was running out of time.

"TWILIGHT!!! HELP ME!!!" she screamed as the paw began to descend on her.

Twilight acted without hesitation.  She didn't have a plan or an idea on how to handle situation.  She merely had the burning desire to save her friend.  Her horn was surrounded by a purple aura as she used her magic to lift a boulder and fling it at the beast.  It struck the side of its head, and the Ursa Major turned with rage in its eyes' stopping itself from hurting Pinkie Pie in the process.

"HEY! Get away from her!" Twilight screamed. "Pinkie, RUN!"

The beast turned its attention away from the cowering Pinkie and focused on Twilight.  Its gaze pierced her like a thousand knives.  It gave another room-shaking roar and started towards Twilight.  Pinkie used this opportunity and ran for the exit across the room.  She paused and looked back at Twilight.  The beast was almost on top of her.  Pinkie didn't want to leave Twilight at the mercy of the Ursa Major.

I can't leave her alone with that meanie.

She turned and galloped towards the Ursa Major.  She bound up its massive back and dropkicked it in the snout.  She may have been afraid before, but now the only thing on her mind was saving Twilight.

Pinkie fell back down to the floor as if gravity had no effect on her.  The Ursa Major reeled back and gave an fierce roar.  It began swiping at everything it could reach with its massive arm.  It hit the walls, the ceiling, and itself at one point.  It regained its senses and beamed at the ponies with hatred so cold, that it could have frozen the sun.

"Pinkie, I don't think he's going to stop until we are dead.  You have to go.  Get out of here!"

"What about you Twilight?"

"Don't worry about me.  Just go."

"I don't want to.  Even if you think i'm annoying, I won't leave you.  It'll kill you."

It began to walk slowly towards the little ponies.  The Ursa Major took pleasure in the fact that these ponies had no where to go.  If they ran for the exit, it would just hunt them to the ends of Equestria.  It crept closer towards them.  They could smell the foul breath comig from the Ursa Major's fearsome mouth.

"I...said...GO!" screamed Twilight.  Her horn lit up in a purple blaze and Pinkie was sent hurtling through the exit.

"TWILIGHT...NOOOooooo!" yelled Pinkie Pie, her voice getting farther and farther away.

It was just Twilight and the Ursa Major now.  Every bone in Twi's body was telling her to run and don't look back.

I can't leave.  It will just hunt us down if I do.  With that storm outside, we have no where to go.  There's only one thing I can do.  I will probably die, but knowing Pinkie Pie will be safe makes it worth trying.

Her horn's purple aura grew brighter.  She could feel all her energy being drained in this single attempt to save her friend.  Numbness crept through her body, but she had to keep it up or it would be the end of both of them.

The chamber began to shake violently.  Boulders fell from the ceiling in massive waves.  The room screamed as the pillars that held up the roof began to crumble from the shear force of the young unicorn's spell.  The Ursa Major howled at the unforseen event.  It began to turn wildly as its bestial nature took charge.  The only thought that went through its head was the need to survive.  The shaking grew more intense with each passing second, and it knew it was running out of time.

"Just a...few more...seconds," said Twilight.

The Ursa Major took notice to the purple light coming from Twilight and fumbled over to her.  It was hard for it to keep its balance, especially when the floor was giving way as much as the ceiling was.  The floor under the Ursa Major began to crack and crumble down into the awaiting abyss.  It yowled in fear and made a final attempt at taking down the one causing all the chaos.  It lifted its massive arm and swept at Twiliight before the entire floor under it gave out completely.  It landed a fierce blow on the young unicorn and sent her flying towards the exit.  She felt bones crunch and she could barely breath.

The Ursa Major gave one final roar as it was engulfed by eternal blackness.  The room had become unstable.  The floor was caving in and the ceiling was falling.

I did it, she thought as exhasution and pain began to take its toll on her.  I defeated an Ursa Major.  Even better, I saved my friend.  I wish she would forgive me.

She felt the floor give way under her and gravity began to slowly pull her down into the pit.  She felt pressure on her neck and felt a sensation of flying.  She was being dragged out of the crumbling cave.

"It's okay Twilight.  I gotcha," said a familiar voice.  Twilight fought to stay conscious.  She felt the cool, yucky sensation of spoiled milk being dropped on her.  She realized she was outside of the cave and laying on a pillow of soft grass.

"Twilight! Stay with me!" said the voice.

She looked up and saw a pink pony trying to keep her alive.

"Pink...Pinkie Pie?" she said weakly.

"Yes Twilight, it's me.  Hold on...please," Twilight could see tears dripping from Pinkie's soft cheeks.

"Pinkie...I'm sorry," began Twilight battling the temptation of falling into a sleep she was sure she wouldn't wake up from.  "I'm sorry I...called you annoying.  You are my...my best friend and I could...could never live without you."

Twilight coughed and continued, "You bring chaos to my...my life.  I wouldn't laugh much without it, and my life would be...would be boring without you.  Can you forgive me?"

Pinkie smiled and said, "I'm sorry I doubted you.  You risked your life to save me.  You are the best friend that I could ever have."

A smile crept weakly on Twi's lips.  "Pinkie," she said.  "I...love you."

That was all she could take.  The pain from her broken ribs and the exhaustion from spending all her energy on that spell caused her to fall into a coma.  A single tear fell down her purple cheek.

"Twilight," Pinkie Pie said.  "Twilight, don't leave me.  Twilight! Wake up!"

Pinkie checked her friend's pulse.  It was weak, but it still meant she was alive.

"Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! What do I do!" she said.  She helped out at the local hospital sometimes, but she only was allowed to make the children laugh.  She had no idea what to do to save her friend.  She did the only thing she could think of.

"SOMEPONY HELP! RAINBOW DASH!  APPLEJACK! HELP!" she screamed to the heavens.  The only reply she got was her own voice echoing through the forest.