“You said you don’t recognize this place, Reed?” Cam asked, looking around. “Because if I heard you right, I’m a bit scared. The last time you said something like that, we nearly got burned to a crisp. I don’t want to go through that again.”

“You’re not the only one,” Tranquility mumbled.

“Unfortunately, you heard me correctly,” Reed said sheepishly as he sat down in the red powder, kicking up a little puff of dust with the motion. “This place is completely new to me, so I have no idea what to expect.”

“Grand,” I mumbled.

“Weird,” Cam said, crouching down and scooping up a pawful of the powder. “This stuff seems familiar…” Sticking out her paw, she activated her magic and brought her box to her side, levitating several jars out of it. She then began to scoop the dust into them.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Collecting some of this stuff,” she answered. “If I remember it, it’s probably because it was useful. It might be a rare ingredient that I only found once, something that I used in some of my better potions, like my most powerful poison, or my best acid.”

“Let me guess,” Tranquility droned. “You made bombs out of those.”

“Heck no!” she yelled. “I don’t want there to ever be a possibility of those things splattering on me. A good hit of the poison would kill anything in seconds, and I’ve used half a cup of the acid to taint a small pond enough to burn through the esophagus of anything that drank from it.” She smiled. “Those few days were good eatings.”

“That’s a devious method of hunting,” Reed said. “If we ever get out of this predicament, I’ll relay it to the Alpha.”

“Coolio,” Cam said, resuming her collection of the powder.

“I’ve got one question,” I said. “Is the acid green?”

Cam froze for a second before slowly turning towards me, a deadpan expression dominating her face. “No,” she said. “It’s clear, like water. Why the heck would it be green?”

Tranquility let out a soft chuckle, and my heart soared. I helped cause that! I don’t know why, but the fact that I had helped cause even a fleeting spark of happiness in Tranquility was immensely gratifying to me at that moment.

“Acid is commonly represented as glowing green in comic books,” I explained. “It’s a cliché.”

“That’s stupid,” Cam declared. “If anything, I’d want it to be red.”

None of us questioned it, opting to let Cam continue with her dust collection. A few tense minutes of silence passed, with none of us willing to breach it. I’m sure that we all had questions we wanted to ask, or topics we wanted to explore, but no one wanted to breach the blissful nothingness that surrounded us. We took solace in the comfort of emptiness.

Eventually, though, Cam did speak up. “They’re getting faster,” she said, levitating the jars into her box.

“Huh?” I mumbled.

“The Mages,” she clarified. “It used to take them at least a day to lock onto the dimension we had warped into. It took less that two hours last time. Why is that, Reed?”

“I hoped that you wouldn’t notice,” he muttered. “It’s because they’re starting to identify your signature.”

“Signature?” Cam asked, seeming genuinely puzzled. “What’s that?”

“Your magic signature,” he explained. “Think of it like a paw print of sorts, something that can be used to identify a Mage. We all have one. It’s sort of like a residue, if that makes sense, something that’s left behind each time you use magic. If Ivy memorizes it, she’ll be able to use it to lock onto exactly where you are almost instantaneously, each and every time that you make a jump. The fact that the time that it takes her to find us has shortened so much is a sign that she’s getting close.”

“And when she gets there…” Tranquility whispered, a horrified expression coming over her face.

“There’ll be no more running,” Reed said solemnly. “The only way to beat them then will be to… to kill them all.”

“Oh no,” I whispered, another wave of guild running through me. The thought of ending another life was devastating. To think that it might be inevitable…

“Of course, there’s absolutely no way that you’ll be able to beat the four of them working together,” he said.

“You don’t know that,” Cam said. “I’ve beat them before. It’s how we’re here, right? I’ve fended them off long enough to escape.”

“Cam, trust me,” Reed said, his voice taking on a serious tone. “There is no way you would win.”

“Sure,” she said dismissively. “Whatever you say.”

We lapsed into silence again, more tension in the air. This one didn’t last long, however. “It’s nice to know we’ve got a ticking time bomb over our heads,” Tranquility whispered softly. “That’s comforting.”

“It’s reality,” Reed said, shrugging.

“Reality sucks,” she said, closing her eyes.

“But you have to deal with it anyway,” I whispered. “We all do.”

Cam stood up, brushing the red powder out of her fur. “I agree,” she said. “But it’s pointless to blame reality. I say we blame whatever godly creature has it out for us. That’d be more fun.”

“And also completely pointless,” Reed pointed out.

“Look, you have your coping mechanisms and I have mine,” she flippantly replied.

“Coping mechanisms?” I asked, tilting my head to the side. “What are you coping with?”

“All of this,” Cam said, her posture wilting slightly, like air being let out of a balloon. “It’s a bit deadening, this whole situation. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but this’s been getting at me, too. I’ve gotten more and more melancholy, and I’ve tried to cover it up, but it’s not working. And now this…” She sighed. “I’m honestly not feeling too great.”

I gently walked over to her and swept her into a hug. “Why didn’t you tell us?” I mumbled.

“I didn’t want to bother you,” she whispered back. “You’ve got enough on your plate…”

“But that doesn’t mean that you should neglect yourself,” I said. “So now I’m going to hug you, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

She let out a sigh and snuggled up to me. “Thanks,” she mumbled softly.

“You’re quite welcome,” I whispered.

A soft sigh drew my eyes away from Cam and up towards Tranquility. She was staring at the two of us, a blank expression on her face. Behind her eyes, though, I could see a war raging, her mind locked in ferocious battle. In a way, it was similar to what had happened to me in the Great Freeze. The difference here was that there was nothing at stake.

One one side of the war was her rational mind, screaming that I hadn’t meant anything by freezing up when she had needed help, that it was because I had cared about what she said. It seemed rhetorical at this point, having been brought up a few times. The reasonable side also pointed out that I couldn’t control my voice.

The other side was attempting to beat the living Tartarus out of her logical thoughts.

Her heart was hurt, and as a result, was viciously denying and tossing away any attempt to soothe its ache through reason, convinced that the only way to heal was to spite and scorn me. I couldn’t fault that, as I’d felt the same way before towards other ponies. The only way that it seemed to be resolved was through time. But when time is running out…

Both sides appeared to be evenly matched, and because of that, all Tranquility could do was give me a helpless stare. I returned it with a non-verbal apology, a look to say that I was sorry, and that I understood. I didn’t say that it was an emotional blow to see her in this state, especially over me. I don’t think I needed to, though.

“We need a hero,” Cam mumbled.

“What?” Reed asked.

“Someone who can get us out of this whole mess,” she said. “Someone who’ll fight for us, not out of pity, but because they truly believe that we’re doing the right thing by resisting. We need someone powerful, one who can fend off the Mages and cut the head off the terrible beast that is our inevitable doom.” A faint trembling started to run through her body. “I-Is that too much to ask?”

“What?” Reed asked, his eyes widening slightly.

“I want t-this to be done!” she yelled, pressing harder against my chest. I tightened my hold on her, trying to provide some source of comfort, but it didn’t seem to help. “E-every day, we get farther and farther away from home! It’s n-not even my fault! I was born this way, I didn’t choose to be a Mage! I just wanna live my LIFE!” Her tirade ended with a shriek, and she pressed her face into my chest fluff, gasping as if she was in pain. I started to gently rub her back, just like I had back at the beginning of this whole journey. It seemed to help, though, as she calmed down substantially. “We need a h-hero, to end this. I-I don’t know how much more I can take before I do it myself.”

Surprisingly, it wasn’t me who moved to soothe her, but Reed. He gently walked over to us and places his paws on Cam’s back. “Shh…” he whispered softly, starting to knead her shoulders. “Relax. It might seem daunting right now. It might seem like you won’t make it through… but you will. It’ll all be over soon… and your hero could be on his way right now. Keep hope, Cam. It’s one of the things about you that I truly admire.”

“I’m trying…” she said. “Guess I’ll try a little more, eh?”

“That’s the spirit,” he whispered, continuing to knead her shoulders. Slowly, even more tension left her, leaving her more and more relaxed.

“Since when are you a therapist?” I asked.

“I’m not,” Reed whispered, leaning close to my ear as if he were telling me a secret. “I’m just using what Cypress taught me. He would do this whenever I got hysterical as a pup, which happened quite often. He’d tell me the things I wanted to hear, while at the same time not lying. He also rubbed my shoulders like what I’m doing to Cam.”

“It seems to work,” I said.

“Cypress has a way with people,” Reed said, a hint of bragging in his voice. “Of course it does.”

“I don’t doubt tha-”

“Is it getting hotter in here?” Tranquility asked, her ears slowly folding back against her head. “Not figuratively, I mean literally.”

“I don’t thi…” I said, trailing off. It was subtle, not noticeable unless you were looking for it, but the temperature was rising.

Cam noticed it too. “Fall,” she whispered, “let me go.” I did, and she walked to the center of our group, standing next to her box. “Get close to me,” she instructed. “I don’t know what’s going on.”

We did, and for a few moments, it was silent, and it seemed like nothing was going to happen. Then, something else became apparent.

“The horizon is glowing,” Tranquility observed, her voice tinted with fear.

“That it is,” I confirmed.

“It’s glowing orange,” Cam added. “And it’s still getting hotter!” I’m sure she was going to say something else, but in the next instant, the horizon exploded.

A wave of blindingly bright yellow fire burst over the horizon, accompanied by a roar that sounded like a thousand tornadoes rushing towards us. It moved at a blindingly fast pace, the miles separating us from it vanishing at an alarming rate. The temperature skyrocketed, and I felt my coat start to smoke. Tranquility screamed, my blood ran cold, and Cam slashed through the air, creating a rift that sucked us away from the advancing wall of flaming death.

The rift dropped us on a floating island, made of a pristine white stone-like material. The surface of it was completely smooth, smooth enough that I almost couldn’t walk on it without slipping. Surrounding us were more islands similar to ours, with colors looking like something straight out of a color-inverted photograph. Even the sky shared that ghostly color scheme. We appeared to be the only things that had normal coloration.

To be completely honest, it was a bit stunning, and in its own way, beautiful.

I was brought out of my little reverie by the sound of strained, crazed laugh. It was the laugh of someone who was at the limit of what they could take, someone who was on their last stand.

“O-of course it’s thermite!” Cam exclaimed through her mirth. “W-why wouldn’t it be? I mean, the universe is out to kill us a-already, so why not do it with something I a-actually like?” Her laughter rose to a fever pitch, and she collapsed onto the ground. “It’s funny b-because it SUCKS!” she screamed, her laughter giving way to tears.

I walked over to her and scooped her up, rocking her gently as she cried her feelings out. Poor girl, I thought softly, closing my eyes. In truth, I was feeling much the same way. Everything was piling up, pushing me down, and if it pushed much harder, I was going to break. I couldn’t show it, though. I needed to help Cam.

As she sniffled and cried, another thought popped into my head. What about Tranquility? If this was affecting Cam this badly, I couldn’t even imagine what it was doing to her, with her fear of fire and everything that came with it. I looked around until I caught her eye. “Tranquility?” I asked. “Are you okay?”

“I’m trying not to think,” she replied, her voice completely devoid of any emotions. “Thinking will lead me to a pit that I won’t be able to get out of. I’ve been feeling worse and worse ever since we left Symphony, and I think it has to do with me thinking about it too much. If I thought about the last dimension too, I think I’d crack. It’s too much… everything is too much.” She let out a soft sigh and sunk to the ground. “I can’t deal with it right now. I’m gonna sleep… and hopefully, when I wake up, this will all have been a dream.”

“Sleep well,” I whispered. “I hope the same thing.”

She nodded and closed her eyes. “If I fall off the island, catch me,” she mumbled.

“But my wings are broken,” I said. “I can’t fly.”

A small grimace crossed her face, sending a stabbing pain into my heart. “Oh,” she said softly. A second later, her breathing evened out, and she fell asleep.

A little after that, Cam fell asleep in my arms, having cried her way into the dream world. I set her next to Tranquility, draping one of her wings over her, and went back to where I was before. Reed and I made small talk for a while, our conversation touching on many trivial things, which led to me learning that we jumped into a dimension called Skymix, before the topic of sleep came up. Since the Mages were still a threat, and they could find us at any moment, we agreed that somebody had to stay awake, to keep watch for them. It struck me as a bit odd that Reed would agree with me on that, but I didn’t have the mental fortitude to question it at that moment.

I volunteered to stay awake, although I wasn’t sure why. It felt like something I should do, I suppose. Reed agreed and curled up a little ways away from the other two, saying that he would stay up next time, to let me sleep. He then slipped into slumber…

And I was left alone.

Without any distractions, my sleep-deprived mind began to wander. It took a journey across many topics, causing fear, happiness, and sadness. Eventually, though, it settled on one thing: Tranquility.

It may have been my lack of rest, but I felt a sudden spike of courage. Thoughts of how we had drifted apart over the past few days filled my mind. Memories of the glares directed my way surfaced, along with recollections of the hurt and confusion that had plagued me. To hay with it! I thought. We’re not going to get anything fixed if we let this stew. We need to talk it out. With that thought in mind, I confidently strode over to Tranquility’s sleeping form.

I sat down next to her and reached out, poking her back. “Hey,” I said softly. “Wake up. I want to fix this.” She gave no response, appearing to have slept through it. “Come on,” I mumbled, poking her a little harder. “Don’t be like that…” But even as I increased the force of my prodding, she didn’t react.

“Tranquility…” I said, feeling my heart start to ache. “I know that I hurt you.” Getting up, I started to pace around to her front. “I’m not sure why, but I know that I did. I want to fix that… I want to make things the way they were before. So please,” I said, sitting down in front of her head. “Let’s just ta-”

I broke off in shock. It was all that I could do. For the first time since I had walked over, I noticed some things I hadn’t before, and my body filled with paralyzing fear.

Her hooves were twitching violently, the spasms spreading up her legs and nearly reaching her body. It looked like she was being electrocuted. This wasn’t a simple dream twitch. No, it certainly wasn’t. It was a sign that her body was locked in war.

The white patches in her wings had turned a sickly, pale green. The veins were a darker shade, showing that something was amiss.

But the worst part was her eyes. Oh Celestia, her eyes…

They had slid open. The left one had a green tint to it, the yellow orb taking on a lime green color. The right one looked like it had burst a blood vessel in it, but instead of being filled with red, a dark, sickly green had spread over the eye.

But those were all trivial when compared to her dead, lifeless stare.

Author's Note

Cliffhanger!
That is all.
~Pyrepinna