*Amethyst Lightning*
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.
I lay on my bed, watching the lightning light up the Manehatten skyline for a few brief seconds, then counting the number of seconds between each flash of lightning and peal of thunder, and doing the mental math to calculate how far away the storm is. Another flash lit up the room, and again, out of habit, I began counting the seconds. But the thunder never came. Instead, I felt a tugging sensation in my gut, telling me to go outside into the rain. The water was calling to me. I padded out of my room, downstairs, and to the door, pulling it shut soundlessly. I stepped out onto the tiny square of grass that we call a lawn, and lifted my face to the sky, almost reverently. Suddenly, a giant bolt of lightning, sparking and fizzing, came down. Instinctively, I ducked and tried to avoid it, but I was to late. The last thing I saw before the lightning struck me was Regal Masquerade’s curtain falling back into place. Then I blacked out, forgetting everything.
*Regal Masquerade*
I don’t understand. Peering through my curtains, I saw Amethyst Lightning run outside and throw her head up to the sky, then a flash of light consumed the room, and when I looked back out the window, she crumpled like a rag doll that had been abruptly thrown down. Then, her form started flickering. Slowly at first, but then it started getting faster, until she disappeared. The only thing that suggested she had once been there was the imprint of her body in the dead grass that was trying to straighten itself. She had disappeared.
I galloped out of my room, outside, to where she once lay. There was no denying it. My friend had disappeared.
*Emerald Shimmer*
I tried writing Amethyst at least a dozen times. And did she answer? No! All I got was the same pre-written message:
‘I’ll answer your plea as soon as I get back, Emerald Shimmer. Just leave another rant about how I’m not here and I might get back to you.’ Then, and loud, BEEP signaling the end of the message.
“Hey Am, it’s me Em. If you are alive, write as soon as you can. I’ll probably answer if I’m not dying of boredom myself.” Or, my personal favorite, the telegram: “S.O.S. STOP. Dying of boredom. STOP.”
Still no answer. I was getting tired of this, so I finally stopped writing her.
I’ll write her tomorrow morning. I thought with hope. Boy, was I wrong.
*Cloud Dasher*
I woke up that morning feeling like something was missing. True, Amethyst Lightning hadn’t answered anything, but I just assumed that she lost the charger, was angry at me, or couldn’t handle not seeing me all summer. It had all happened before. But still, I felt almost empty. I didn’t know why, because everything was packed for my training at Friendship Camp. I decided to write Regal Masquerade again to tease him about his crush on Amethyst. I seriously thought they had a secret relationship that they were hiding. After three tries, he answered.
“Aren’t you supposed to be on the bus by now? Because if you are, I’ll stop writing right now.” Regal Masquerade threatened.
“No, but it’s coming coming soon. Have you seen your girlfriend lately?” I asked, mentally raising my eyebrows teasingly.
“Just because we hang out a lot doesn’t mean that we are in a relationship.” He replied in his formal manner while I gulped down a bowl of oats.
“Fine. I’ll stop.” I said submissively. “I just wanted to write because this is the last time we’ll talk before camp.”
“Speaking of, I think I see your bus turning the corner. Yep!” Masquerade confirmed.
“Yikes! I gotta go. See you in the fall.” I said somewhat downtrodden.
“Bye Cloudy.” He bid his farewell, and I caught a glimpse of yellow at the end of my street.
I stuffed one last spoonful of oats into my mouth, grabbed my bags, and raced out the door as the bus pulled up to the sidewalk. I hefted my bags into the bottom of the bus, climbed up the stairs, and retrieved a special polka-dotted handkerchief that I had requested just for this occasion. I stuck my hoof out the window, and began my act.
“Goodbye!” I called, pretending to cry as the bus pulled away from the curb.
One last joke before I left for the summer. Goodbye friendly city, hello stuffy Friendship Camp.
*Amethyst Lightning*
Blinking between consciousness and unconsciousness, the first thing I saw was white. Nothing but white. Then the world came back into focus, and I though I saw Greek gods. The ones I learned about in history class. There was Zeus, Hades, Athena and all of the other gods. It seemed as if they were muttering and pointing at me, then everything went black again.
*Emerald Shimmer*
Nothing. Absolutely nothing. No visits, no letters, nada. Amethyst had just disappeared off of the face of the earth. Poof. There was no one to tell. Cloud Dasher was at camp with no contact with the outside world, and Regal Masquerade and I just never talked to each other outside of the group. I was getting worried, so I decided to search for Amethyst. What f she had gotten into trouble or ran away?
Trotting up to her house, I noticed something was wrong right away. The lights were dark, and the curtains pulled shut. I noticed a police car as I cautiously walked up to the door. Just as I raised my hoof to the door, it opened and almost smacked me in the face. A police-pony nearly ran me over as he walked straight to his cruiser.
“Oh, excuse me. Do you by any chance know a Miss Amethyst Lightning?” He asked.
“Yes, she’s my best friend,” I answered suspiciously. “Is everything okay, officer?”
“It appears she is missing. Has been since last night. Do you know where she could have gone?”
Suddenly some of the mystery became clearer.
“So that’s why she hasn’t answered any of my letters!” I exclaimed almost angrily. “And no, I don’t, sorry. If she ran away, she would have come to my house to explain, and I haven’t seen or hear from her in days.”
The police-pony nodded, “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have some work to do.” He said as he slid into his car.
More like donuts to get to. I thought.
“Can I talk to her mom?” I tried.
“Go ahead. But don’t expect too much, this is rather hard on her.” He said, closing his door and pulling out of the driveway.
Mrs. Lightning was still in her work clothes when I entered. She was staring at a business card sadly.
“Hey Mrs. Lightning.” I said softly. “I just wanted to say sorry about Amethyst.”
“I am too.” Was all she said.
I couldn’t think of anything else to say, so I just walked out.
**********
Author's Note
One more new story. I'll be posting new chapters every other week.
Sabrina Roth 
