The Northern Sky

Chapters

The Bittersweet Ascension (Prologue)
The Wake-up Call (Part 1)
The Surprising Reveal
The Horrible Truth
The Midnight Sky
The Way Out
The Sucessful Failure
The New Discovery
The Tough Choices
The Battle Lost
The Hope
The Darkening Sky (Part 2)
The Impending Shadows
The Stallion Of Red
The Remembrance
The Reunion
The Losing Battle

The Bittersweet Ascension (Prologue)

Author's Note

If you dislike, please tell me why. I'm still learning and I like criticism.

The Bittersweet Ascension (Prologue)

Today was the big day, but I wouldn't even be there to see it. Today two unicorns would try to earn their wings- Celestia and Luna, I think. It would be the first time two ponies had ascended at the same time in Equestrian history. Everypony was going to be there. Well, everypony except for me. I had to be searching for some stupid artifact down in these stupid caves, in the middle of absolutely nowhere.

It was a frozen wasteland out here, and the only reason I wasn't suffering from hypothermia was the lack of wind in these caves. The wind chill dropped the temperature another thirty or forty degrees, and ripped right through whatever layering you may have to shelter from the cold.

My brother had told me that there was some artifact out here- an amulet or something- and it possessed the power to destroy entire kingdoms. I told him that I would find it for him, but I really planned on giving it to somepony who would keep it safe. My brother was too devious to be trusted with something like that.

It was dangerous for an artifact like this to be left out here, where anypony could find it, but it wasn't worth freezing my flank off to find it. Another hour. I told myself. I would search for one more hour, and if I couldn't find it, I was going to head home, and search for it another time. Or never. Probably never. I couldn't feel my face anymore.

I spent the full hour I had allotted myself, but still found no sign of whatever this thing was in these walls of ice.

"Alright, that's it! I give up! It's freezing cold down here, and I'm loosing my mind! I mean, I'm starting to talk to myself, for goodness sakes! I'm going home!" I yelled.

I made my way to the mouth of the cave, saddle bags in tow, and overlooked the wasteland of ice ahead of me. It would be a long walk home. Then, something caught my attention. On the horizon, I could see a light. It was as white as the snow around me, but so much brighter. There was something weird about it, but I couldn't quite figure it out. It looked almost like it was... growing? No, not growing, it was a shock wave, and it was headed right for me!

I dove back into the cave, and had barely enough time to raise my shield before it overtook me. Unfortunately, it didn't matter. The wall shattered my shield, and I felt the most excruciating pain in my entire life. It wasn't confined to one spot, either. It was everywhere. It was even ripping through my insides.

I was out before I even hit the ground. Everything went black, but I became minutely aware of the fact that I wasn't dead. My heart had slowed to a point that one might not even be able to tell if it was beating. I stopped breathing altogether. My mind became a jumble of unfinished thoughts. The only thing I could do was tell myself that I was alive.

I couldn't see or hear my surroundings. I knew help wasn't coming, as nopony knew I was here. The only thing I could feel was cold. Still, I had survived. All I could do was lay there, half buried in snow, and pray. No, I couldn't even do that. My thoughts faded, so I focused on the cold. I was cold. So, so cold.

The Wake-up Call (Part 1)

We were wandering the caves near the Crystal Empire, on what Twilight referred to as a 'friendship lesson.' Really, she was investigating some magical disturbance, and she didn't want to come out to these ice caves alone.

We had been searching for just a few hours, but the cold was already taking it's toll. My muzzle was beginning to turn pink, and I couldn't feel my hooves. Rarity had provided us with the warmest winter gear she could put together, but it still wasn't enough. At least we were out of the wind. The wind didn't care if you had protection or not. It chilled you to the bone anyways.

"Hey, Starlight! Come here!" Twilight called.

I crunched through the thin layer of snow on the cave floor, making my way to where I had heard Twilight's voice. When I reached her, she levitated the shovel off of my belt, and planted it in the snow.

"What'd you do that for?" I asked.

"Look at it." She responded.

Not much of an answer, but I did as I was told. The shovel head was entirely buried in the snow.

"What about it?" She was trying to get at something, but I couldn't see what.

"The snow is deeper here."

Now she made sense. Through most of the cave, there had just been a thin sheet. Here, there was enough to plant the whole shovel, and maybe more.

"I was beginning to think I had done something wrong." I laughed. "So... what should we do?"

"I guess we dig. If I had know we were looking under the snow, I would have brought another shovel."

"How do you know what we're looking for is down there?" I questioned skeptically.

"We are right about where the disturbance was felt, and I don't see any other clues. This is the best lead we've got."

And so we dug. we took turns using the shovel and our hooves. The loose snow must have gone down for five or six feet, before we hit something new.

It was my turn with the shovel, and I had felt it hit something other than snow. It was still soft, but it was harder than the snow around it.

"Got something." I told Twilight.

"Loose the shovel. We should be gentle with it, whatever it may be."

So I tossed the shovel to the side, and we started pushing snow aside with our hooves. As I moved another small pile, some brown poked out. We rushed to uncover more.

"It- it's a- it's a saddle bag?" Twilight guessed.

"Is somepony down here?" I asked.

We made eye contact, and Twilight expression only furthered my curiosity. She showed both uncertainty and concern. So we dug on.

In the thousands of years I had been stuck down here, I had only recently started regaining my senses. First, I was able to finish a thought here and there. Then my heart started to regain a slightly more normal pace.

When the weight above me began to shift, I became conscious of faint voices. When they exposed my face to the air, I started to breathe again. My heart picked up. My mind started to leave it's haze. I wasn't awake, but I was alive. I had beaten the odds. I had survived the impossible. But I was still so cold.

"There is a pony down here!" Twilight shouted, uncovering a face. "And he's alive!"

"There's no way he's still alive." I told her.

"But I can feel his breath! Put your hoof in front of his face."

Still skeptical, I did as I was told. She was right! I felt the air moving in front of his nose.

"We have to get him out of here!" I shouted, now as excited as Twilight.

We dug him out of his frozen encasement, and used our combined magic to lift him out of the hole. Either of us could have done it on our own, but we were being extra careful.

He was a unicorn, with a coat color similar to Rainbow Dash's, but darker, and a mane of black and deep purple. His only protection from the cold was an old, grey coat. He reminded me of the northern lights. The slow rise-and-fall of his chest confirmed that he was alive, but just barely.

"We have to help him." Twilight announced.

"Yeah, but how? The Crystal Empire is miles away, and there's no place closer that can help him."

"We'll carry him if we have to, but there's got to be a better way."

We sat and thought it over. Then I had it.

"I know! We can take a sheet of ice, and use it as a sled."

"Won't that make him colder?"

"He's been under that snow for Celestia-knows-how-long, and you're worried about him being a little cold?"

"Touché."

"Then let's get to it!"

Twilight carved a sheet of ice from the wall, and I fashioned makeshift reigns out of the rope in our bags to pull it. We lifted him onto our sled, and used extra rope to ensure that he didn't slide off.

Twilight pulled first, and we made our way to the entrance of the cave. Even from here, we could feel the wind. Not letting that stop us, we pushed on.

With the extra weight, the journey took twice as long as it should have. By the time we reached the warmth of the Crystal Empire, we were almost as cold as the pony on the sled.

Knowing that the difference in temperature would melt our invention, we untied the ropes, and levitated this mysterious stranger to the hospital. Even though it was warmer here, you could feel the cold radiating from him like we were still in the caves. Bursting through the front door, we sat him in one of the chairs of the waiting room, and ran to the reception desk. Not knowing what else to say, I made something up, while Twilight was still trying to come up with her excuse.

"Our friend over there needs help! We think he has hypothermia. He was out in the wasteland too long."

That was all it took. In less than two minutes, the stranger was on a stretcher, and being pushed through the 'Staff Only' doors.

The Surprising Reveal

Though we had no clue who this strange stallion was, we were the ones who saved him, and we felt obligated to stay and see how he fares. Twilight and I waited for hours, but got still got no word from the doctors or nurses.

Finally, as the sun began to set outside, a doctor came through the doors, and approached us. His expression told us that he was bringing bad news, but what he had to say was actually the opposite.

"His body temperature is dangerously low, but he's showing no signs of hypothermia. We ran every test we could think of, but he seems fine. How did you say you two knew him?"

"He's a friend of ours. He was out in the frozen wasteland beyond the city's borders for too long." I said, recalling the story I told the receptionist. It was best to keep one lie, than to make up any new ones, and get caught in your own web.

"We're keeping a close eye on him, but we'll allow visitors. He's down that hall, in room seven."

"Thank you." Twilight said, as we stood, and made our way to the room.

As we pushed the door open, a nurse walked out.

"He's just starting to wake up. It would be nice if you two were the first ponies he sees, to help him cope." She told us.

We entered, and took seats beside the bed. The covers had been rustled, showing that he had been moving. We sat for about thirty minutes before anything happened. He began to stir, and cracked his eyes open. When he registered that he was in a hospital, he tried to sit up, but failed. He let out a grunt, and turned to us.

"What... what happened?"

"We found you in a cave a few miles from here. You were buried in snow, and freezing cold." Twilight told him, not at all trying to sugarcoat what had happened.

"Buried? How long was I out?"

"We don't really have an answer for that."

"Wait, a few miles from here? Where are we? Those caves were in the middle of nowhere."

"No, they're just a few miles outside of the Crystal Empire." Twilight couldn't be making her answers any more blunt.

"The what? What the heck is the Crystal Empire?"

I beat Twilight to the answer, this time. I didn't want him assuming that we thought he was stupid or anything.

"We're in the Crystal Empire right now. Maybe it wasn't around when you went into those caves."

"It wasn't."

"Then we know you've been down there for at least a few years, because the Crystal Empire only recently returned. Can you tell us what you were doing down there, mister...?"

"Ah, I haven't even told you my name yet. I'm Northern Sky, but most of my friends just know me as North. I was in those caves to find an artifact before my brother did."

"Well, I'm Starlight Glimmer, and this is Twilight Sparkle." I informed him. Twilight waved, and he nodded back. "Why didn't you want your brother to get that artifact?"

"My brother- Midnight Sky- had told me that it had some secret power, and he was going to use it to take over Equestria. I couldn't bring myself to turn him in, so I tried to get to it before he did."

"Did you?"

"No, but I'm guessing he didn't find it either, as we're still sitting here."

Just then, a nurse came in with a thermometer. She took his temperature, and went pale when she read it.

"Is something wrong?" I asked.

"It's remarkable. Your friend shouldn't even be alive right now. He doesn't have a body temperature."

Looking concerned, North looked to the nurse.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You don't even have enough heat to move the thermometer. You are at a total body temperature of zero, or less."

We could still feel the cold radiating from him, like we did when we rushed him here. I hadn't paid mind to it until now.

"It's as if your body adapted to the cold, instead of being frozen by it. You don't show any negative symptoms, either." She told him.

"What are you going to do?" He inquired.

"Since you don't seem to be negatively impacted at all, there's really nothing we can do. I suppose you're ready for release." Then she left, so we resumed our conversation.

"We can go back out to those cave, to try and find this artifact, if you want."

"That would be smart. Just let me climb out of this darn bed." He said.

As he clambered out of the bed, I thought I caught a glimpse of a wing from under his gray coat, but that wouldn't make any sense. While he was putting on his saddle bags, I asked about it.

"I think you may have a mark on your fur, just under that coat."

He lifted his coat to try and find the fake mark. When I got a clear view of his wings, I turned to Twilight. She was just as surprised as I was. I managed to stutter the first words.

"Are- are you- are you an alicorn?"

"Yeah... why is that so surprising?"

"I thought there were only five alicorns?"

"No, there's a ton of them." He said, until what my words implied began to set in. "Or... there used to be. Did something happen? Who are the five alicorns you know of?"

"I don't know if anything happened, but Celestia, Luna, Cadence, Flurry Heart, and Twilight here are all the alicorns in Equestria. Except you."

"Celestia and Luna! They passed?! Maybe they can tell me what's going on."

"Passed what?"

"The tests, of course! They passed the tests, and became alicorns."

"You knew them before they were alicorns?"

"Sure! I mean, we weren't friends, but we talked enough to know each other's names."

"I think we know how long you were down in that ice now." I prepared to break the bad news to him.

"A few years, you said. Remember?"

"I was partially right. It was a few thousand years."

These words must have hit him hard, as he stopped moving. I thought he might have died from shock, but he was still breathing. Slowly, he looked back at me.

"A few thousand years? Forget the artifact, I need to see Celestia and Luna now."

The Horrible Truth

The train ride to Canterlot was awkward and quiet. Twilight and I had so many questions for this newcomer, but we didn't want to press a fragile topic. This colt had lost all of his friends in what probably felt like one night. Asking him all of our questions would only further remind him of what he lost, and he was obviously distressed enough as it was.

With nothing else to do, we all stared out the closest window. At one point, my eyes met North's, and he gave me a faint smile, in an attempt reassure me. It didn't work. I could see the pain in his eyes. I wanted to comfort him, but I had no clue how. Saying the wrong thing would only make things worse. I finally settled on doing nothing, so I just turned back to the window.

Pulling into Canterlot, I realized that a new alicorn might draw some unwanted attention.

"It's going to be warmer here, but you should keep that coat on. We don't want to draw a crowd just yet."

"I guess that makes sense. Before I wound up frozen in ice, it wouldn't have mattered, but I guess times have changed." It sounded like an attempt at humor, but I couldn't tell.

We made our way to the castle, and walked inside. Surprisingly, both princesses were on their thrones. Usually, they would be up and moving, getting things done. Well, Celestia would. Luna should be sleeping by now. They saw us coming, and greeted us warmly, as usual.

"Ah, Twilight, Starlight, welcome back! And, who have you brought with you? He looks familiar." Called Celestia.

Neither of us knew exactly how to introduce North, so I simply pulled off his coat.

"We've found the source of your 'magical anomaly.'" Twilight said.

The princesses turned their attention to the newcomer, and their eyes grew wide. They recognized him.

"North!" Shouted Luna, while her sister conveyed her equal surprise.

"I'm amazed that you recognize me, after all these years. Nice place you've got here." He said, almost depressed.

"How are you still alive?! I thought all of the other alicorns were vaporized." Celestia said.

"No sister, we knew all other alicorns were vaporized. We saw it happen." Luna corrected.

"I was hoping you'd be able to tell me. What happened to everypony on the day of your ascension? Why didn't it happen to me?"

"It's a long story, and we would prefer not to tell it in front of these two." Celestia stated, motioning to Twilight and I.

"Anything you're going to tell me, they should be allowed to hear it, too. They've earned the right to hear this, as well."

"I suppose it was only a matter of time before somepony found out. It started the instant we earned our wings. We were the first ponies to ever attempt it at the same time, and we didn't truly know what would happen." Celestia started.

"When we finished the last test, there was a blast of magic as a result. It was too much power for most ponies to handle." Luna explained.

"All other alicorns were destroyed, as well as all ponies capable of ascending. We became the last of our kind." Finished Celestia.

"Then how do you explain Twilight and I?" North pushed.

"We've only recently began finding ponies capable of becoming alicorns, like Twilight." Celestia pointed at the princess.

"And as for you, well you were always one of the most powerful ponies we knew. You may even measure up to our levels of magic. I suppose your body was able to handle the power, but it sent you into a sort of catatonic state. When you finally started becoming responsive again, it created a distortion in Equestria's harmony. We sent these two to find out what it was, which is how they knew to look for you." Luna filled us in.

"So, we're the last ones?" North tried.

The princesses, now with tears in their eyes, could do nothing more than nod.

"I need some air." North rasped, failing at keeping in his own tears.

Twilight and I were speechless. We were used to hearing shocking information, but nothing like this. There was a time when alicorns were as normal as any other pony, and then they all vanished. When I came to my senses, I snapped Twilight out of her shock.

"What?" She asked.

"We've got to do something. You know the princesses better, so you go to them. I'm going to find North and see if there's anything I can do for him."

"Got it."

We parted ways, with me going down the hall North had taken.

I sat on the railing of the balcony, lost in thought. So lost, that I almost didn't hear the door open behind me. Almost.

"North?" Starlight's voice called.

I didn't budge, nor did I acknowledge her.

"Are you alright?"

"Do I look alright?"

"No."

"Then, what do you think?" I didn't really expect an answer, so I was shocked when I got one.

"I think that you could use some company." She said.

If it were anypony else, I would have said 'no,' but this mare seemed different. She genuinely seemed to care.

"Climb on up." I invited, patting the stone railing to my left. When she hesitated, I gave some slight assurance.

"I've got wings, you know. I'll catch you if you fall."

Though she still didn't seem to like the idea, it was enough to convince her. I probably could have worded that better, but right now I really didn't care. She sat beside me, and we looked down at the city below. We must have been at least ten floors up, maybe more. The sun had recently dipped below the horizon, and the first stars were shining through. We sat in silence, but that wasn't a bad thing. She was right when she thought that I needed the company. Finally, I built up to saying something.

"You know, I used to go on flights when I was worked up. I would fly for hours to blow off steam."

"We could do that, if you wanted. I can use my magic to levitate myself."

"No, I won't make you do that. This is close enough. Besides, if I was going to test my wings for the first time in thousands of years, I wouldn't want to do it ten stories up." I joked.

"What if I fell?"

"Then I would make an exception."

"You'd risk your life to save mine, even when I could save myself?"

"Of course! You're the closest pony I have to a friend. And Twilight, to a lesser extent."

"If Twilight wasn't consoling the princesses right now, she would have came out here too."

"But she didn't. You, on the other hoof, you did. That means something to me."

...

Neither of us were quite sure of what we were doing until we had already done it. The next thing I knew, my muzzle had met hers, and neither of us shied away.

The Midnight Sky

We sat on that balcony for an hour, neither of us saying anything, for fear of ruining the moment. Eventually, Twilight came to get us, saying that it was urgent. We followed her back into the throne room, where the princesses still sat. The tears had been wiped away, but their eyes were still watering. I guess seeing North brought back some long forgotten memories.

"Now that you two are back, we can give the bad news." Celestia said.

"Bad news?" Twilight asked.

"Well, not bad per say. It has the potential to be bad." Luna corrected.

"We've felt another disturbance in the harmony. This one was more powerful, as well." Celestia informed us.

"Midnight?" North asked.

"We have no way to know what we felt, but if you were able to survive, he may have made it, too." Luna explained.

Confused, I tried to make sense of what I was hearing.

"Midnight? Isn't he your brother?"

"Yes. He's the one that wanted to overthrow Equestria. He was also more powerful than I was, and he loved to rub it in my face."

"Celestia and Luna should be able to stop him, right?" Twilight inquired.

"On the contrary. North here is about as powerful as we are, and his brother is even stronger. If he is what we felt, then he's out there."

"Then we could just connect to the elements again." Twilight offered.

"That won't work if he gets his hooves on what he's after. You don't have enough time to get your friends. It's up to you three to get there before he does. You must leave at once."

That was the end of it. We were out the doors before another word could be spoken.

"So, where do we start?" I asked North.

"Before I was frozen in the ice, I saw something in the walls of the cave. We should head back to where you first found me."

That meant another boring train ride, followed by another trek in the freezing wasteland around the Crystal Empire. Great.

It had taken a few hours, but we were back where we started. At least the train ride had allowed us to get some sleep. Climbing back into the mouth of the cave felt like a luxury after being in that wind again. Twilight and I had shivered the whole way, but North wasn't even fazed.

We walked the slightly-familiar cave corridors, making our way back to where we had dug up North. None of us noticed at the time, but there was a fresh set of hoofprints in the snow beneath us.

When we got to the hole, we let North take over. We followed him farther down the corridor, until he stopped about twenty yards away. He stared at the cave wall in front of him.

"It was right here." He said, pointing at a shallow indentation in the ice.

He touched the ice around the divot, and looked at his hoof.

"Strange..." He muttered.

"What's strange?" Twilight beat me to the question.

"The ice here shows recent signs of melting, but it's too cold down here for the ice to melt naturally."

"So..."

He stiffened, before snapping to us.

"He was already here." Then he looked to the snow, and saw the hoofprints. "And he may not have left yet."

That's when we heard a new voice speak.

"Very good, brother! Your detective skills are great. Almost as good as mine." Spoke this new stallion, while we tried to find the source of the voice.

"You can't do this Midnight! I can't let you." Shouted North.

"There's just one problem with that, North. Fire always beats ice."

I saw North's expression go from hate to confusion, and then I saw nothing but flying ice. From his unseen vantage point, Midnight had fired a bolt of mana, which melted the ice below our feet, and revealed that we were above a massive crevice. With nothing below our hooves, we plunged into the darkness.

Twilight was obviously a fairly new alicorn, as it took her a full fifteen seconds to use her wings and recover from the fall. I had taken equally as long, but that was because I had a different priority than self-preservation. As soon as we began to fall, I knew I had to grab Starlight.

I twisted to be more aerodynamic, and caught up to her. Just as Twilight's wings folded out, so did mine, but I held Starlight in my front hooves.

"I told you I'd catch you." I joked.

She flashed me a smile, but was still too stunned to come up with a clever remark. Twilight prepared to go after my brother, but I stopped her.

"Don't bother. He'll just close the entrance, and you'll wind up hitting your head. We should look for another way out."

"What should we do in the meantime?" Twilight asked, clearly unhappy with being unable to go after the pony who put us here.

"Find me a spot to set this one down." I said, nodding to Starlight.

"Am I too heavy for you?" She poked, returning to her senses.

"No, but you look like you need to sit down, and I can't really provide that from here."

"You don't want a pony sitting on your head?"

"Not if I can help it."

"I guess that's understandable."

"I would hope so."

Twilight tried to grasp what was going on between Starlight and I.

"Are you two flirting?" She poked.

"No!" We shouted simultaneously, followed by an equal blush.

"If you say so." She rolled her eyes, clearly knowing better, but went along with it.

We were above a gaping chasm, too deep to see the bottom. The walls here were stone, instead of the ice in the caves overhead, indicating that we were much farther down than the rest of the caves would reach. I slowly descended into the inky blackness, hoping to reach the floor.

When it became too dark to see normally, all three of us lit our horns. It still wasn't very bright, but it allowed me to see that the walls were opening up. We must have entered some sort of main chamber. By the time we found the bottom, the walls had faded past our light, leaving shadows in their place. I set Starlight down, before letting my own hooves touch the smooth stone. Twilight landed last. It wasn't the most graceful landing I had ever seen, but I could tell that she was working on it.

Starlight tapped my shoulder, and then lifted her hoof to her mouth, signaling to be quiet. We listened, and detected a rumbling in the distance. Wherever we were, we weren't here alone.

The Way Out

It was evident that whatever we had found, it must have gone on for miles. As North had predicted, the way we had came in was now sealed off, leaving us stuck in the shadows, with only our horns for light. There was a constant low rumble, which we had originally mistaken for creatures just beyond our view. Though the sound may not be a living being, I couldn't hake the feeling of being watched.

On the bright side, it wasn't as cold down here as it was farther up. Not that it would matter to North. He seemed to be immune to the cold. The nurse had predicted that he had adapted to the cold, but would that be permanent? Would North forever be as cold as the ice we found him in? Would that be a bad thing? Only time would tell.

We trotted on, looking for a way out. The rumble was getting louder as we pressed on, and I pondered what it might be. It sounded like water, but that wouldn't make sense. I asked the others.

"Does anypony else think that's starting to sound like water?"

"With all the ice above us, it's possible that this is where some of the meltwater flows. I read something about that in one of my books." Twilight answered.

"That could be our way out." North offered.

"How so?"

"If there's flowing water, it may have carved a path to the surface."

"Yes, that make sense!" Twilight realized. "We could travel upstream and find a way out. Water always flows downwards, so we could go against the current to get out, or at least get closer to the surface."

As we got closer, the rumble became a roar, and I had to shout my next question.

"Sounds like a pretty serious current! Are we sure we want to oppose something like that?"

"I'm not sure we have another choice!" Twilight yelled back.

Eventually, the floor started feeling damp, and if the roar got any louder, It'd damage our ears. That's when we found the falls. First the air became thick with moisture. Then we saw the edge of a fast-moving river. Tracing it upstream, we discovered the source of the thunderous percussion . the top was beyond the illumination of our horns, leaving us only to guess how tall it was. We didn't, however, need to guess how cold the water was. On a scale of cold to freezing, it was pure ice, and if it had been stagnant, there was no doubting that it would be ice. We got into a tight huddle, just to hear what the others had to say, though Twilight would probably note that I stood slightly closer to North than her.

"Are you girls ready?! This is going to be one cold flight!" North shouted.

"Who's carrying Starlight?! Twilight wondered.

"I'll do it!" North replied, flashing me a wink. Twilight caught it, but let it alone. Either she didn't want to try shouting over the roar again, or she just didn't want to bother. She clearly saw what was going on now, but didn't show any problems with it.

We faced the monstrous falls, turned shades of purple and green with the light of our horns, and prepared ourselves for the ascent. When everypony was ready, the two with wings took off, and North grabbed me on the way. I didn't like the feeling of helplessness I had when I was being carried like this- especially when I could do my own flying- but having North right by me made it slightly better. I didn't know if I would ever fully understand the feelings I felt towards him. What would he do when he learned about my past? Better not to worry about that right now. We had more pressing matters.

The falls didn't appear to be very perilous. In fact, with the light from our horns giving it purple and green hues, it had an aesthetic appeal to it. But because of how fast the water was moving, it was truly dangerous. Just being near it made me feel unsafe. For the sake of the others, I didn't let that show. I always tried to look calm in situations, even if I was scared. I just had to pray that nopony ever figured out how insecure I really was under pressure.

With Starlight in my hooves, our trio flew to the top of the falls, several hundred feet above. Though it wasn't much distance to cover, we took our time. The tunnel leading up the waterfall was surprisingly narrow, and getting smaller. It crossed my mind that there may be a point where there was no more room in front of the falls, and we would either have to fight the current, or turn back. I hoped that wasn't the case.

As we made it farther up, the walls turned from stone, back to ice, meaning we were much closer to the surface. If the cave tunnel did get too narrow, maybe we would be close enough to teleport to the surface. The walls came close enough that I could feel water brushing against my side, but didn't go any farther. I could see a light that didn't belong to one of us ahead. We had almost made it!

Pushing farther, the light got brighter, and the walls stayed at bay. Twilight, who had taken the lead, as we could no longer fly side-by-side, doused her horn, as we could see on our own again. Soon, Starlight and I followed suit. Excited about being out of these caves, Twilight sped up. I picked up my own speed, as well. By the time we finally broke the surface, we blasted from the exit, and didn't stop there. When we finally slowed enough to look back, the exit of the cave had become nothing more than a speck.

I tried to take in the new surroundings, but all of the white nearly blinded me. I let my eyes adjust, before attempting to gain my bearing. I could see the Crystal Empire on the horizon, and a meltwater river running along the ground, before vanishing into the hole we had flown out of. Everything else was just white. The wind was extremely strong, this high up, but then, it was always strong in this frozen wasteland. I turned to ask Twilight how cold she was, but she was gone.

The Sucessful Failure

I had been keeping my eye on Twilight since we had broken free from the earthen prison below. She had accidentally managed to splash one of her wings into the falls on the way up. She played it off, but I knew she must have been freezing. When we reached the surface, the cold air froze the water on her wing, as well as wherever else it may have landed. North didn't see her wind hit the water, and thus, didn't realize there was a problem.

At the peak of our ascent, Twilight's wing was entirely frozen. While looked around, trying to see where we were, Twilight fell. I jabbed North, trying to get his attention, but instead, I pressed to hard. Shocked by the sudden pain in his ribs, he let go of me.

So there I was, a few thousand feet in the air, and falling fast. At first, all I could make out was white snow and blue skies, but then I saw a pony below me. Twilight had fallen an eighth of the way to the ground already. I leaned forwards to make myself more aerodynamic, and raced to catch up to her. With the wind rushing past my face, I had to squint in order to see.

When I caught up to her, we were about halfway to the ground. Not close enough to panic, but getting there. Unfortunately, I hadn't thought any farther ahead. I didn't know if I could levitate both myself and Twilight. There was one was to find out. I attempted to catch us both, but instead I couldn't catch either. The ground was now much closer. This could be problematic. Then North was by my side.

"We've only got one shot at this!" He yelled over the air flying past. "You snatch her exactly when I grab you! On three, Ready? One!" His front legs wrapped around me. "Two!" I wrapped Twilight in my signature pinkish-purple magic. "Three!"

Everything stopped moving. We hadn't hit the ground, but the stop had been so sudden, it almost hurt. I had a chance to brace myself, but that only helped slightly. I would have to ask the doctor about possible whiplash when this was over. Twilight moaned in pain, but at least she wasn't dead. Even North let out a grunt when we stopped.

"Sorry about that. There was really no smoother way to do it, given the amount of time I had." He apologized.

"We're still alive, which means it was better than the alternative." I told him, looking down. We were about a hundred feet from the snow. It was definitely one of the closer calls I've had. North set us down, before turning to the Crystal Empire.

"It's going to be a long walk, and she's definitely not trotting that on her own." He nodded at the unconscious princess lying in the snow.

"Wouldn't be the first time I've done something like that." I told him.

"Then we should get moving. I'd like to be back before sundown."

I wasn't going to argue. The wind was bitter, and I hadn't had a decent meal in more that twenty-four hours. My stomach growled in agreement.

I was no doctor, but I was all too familiar with hypothermia, and that's exactly what Twilight was experiencing. I hated myself for not catching the problem sooner. If I had paid more attention, we wouldn't have almost died. Starlight was trying her hardest to play it cool, but she was still pretty shaken up over everything. It was all my fault.

The barren wastes were as frigid as always, but I paid it no mind. Right now, we had to get the Princess somewhere warm, and this Crystal Empire was the closest place I knew of. We were still a good hour out, and I was worried Twilight wasn't going to make it. If I knew how to make her immune to the cold like me, I would have done it. Sadly, I couldn't even understand how I was impervious to it, let alone if I could make other ponies the same way.

Fire always beats ice. Those were Midnight's parting words. At first I had thought that he was just making a clever quip, but now I wondered if those words had a deeper meaning. I had never seen a spell that melted the ice the way his did.

"Hey, Starlight? Have you ever seen a spell like the one Midnight used to drop us into that cave?" The wind had calmed enough that I didn't need to shout, but it was still there.

"You mean how he melted the ice? No, I've never seen anything like that. Why?"

"I think Midnight was trying to hint at something bigger."

"By melting ice?"

"No, his parting words. 'Fire always beats ice.' Could he be the fire, and me the ice?"

We trudged on, pondering this concept. Starlight spoke next.

"I suppose it would be possible. If you've adapted to the ice, maybe he's done the same with fire."

"But he's done more than just adapt to it. He's learned to wield it. Could I do the same with ice?"

"I'm not sure if I'm the pony you should be asking these questions to. You'd want to take it up with one of the princesses. They might have dealt with this before."

"I hope so, because I'm lost."

Walking into the Crystal Empire, Twilight regained consciousness, but she was still out of sorts. Starlight and I had taken turns carrying her, and right now Starlight had her.

"Where should we take her?" I asked.

"It doesn't seem too severe, so we should just need to get her somewhere warm. Maybe Cadence and Shining Armor would like a surprise visit from their sister."

"Who?"

"The rulers of the Crystal Empire. Shining Armor is Twilight's brother. They would be more than willing to help us."

"To the big castle, then?"

"To the big castle. By the way, it's your turn to carry her."

"Where are we going?" Twilight groaned.

"To see your brother." Starlight told her.

"Ooh, fun. I haven't seen him in a few weeks. I hope they have a fire going, because I am cold."

"We know."

The New Discovery

"So, he's an alicorn, but he's not royalty?" Princess Cadence asked.

"I don't quite understand it, myself. He's from before Celestia and Luna earned their wings." Starlight answered.

"I'm standing right here." I announced.

"Sorry, I'm just having difficulty wrapping my head around this." Cadence apologized.

We had gotten Twilight to the castle, and she was now in a separate room, sleeping. Her brother sat at her bedside, while Cadence watched their foal, and kept us company.

"Twilight will be okay?" I inquired.

"She'll want to take it easy for a while, but she should be fine."

"We're going to need her, if we want to stop Midnight." I informed Cadence.

"How do we even know that he's a threat? He still hasn't struck, and I'm not sure he ever will." She questioned.

"He's essentially the reason your sister-in-law almost died. I'm sure he has big plans."

That's when things went south. Shining Armor blasted through the doors.

"Twilight's temperature is dropping! I don't know what to do!"

We ran down the hall, and into the bedroom Twilight was in. She was loosing her color, and cold to the touch. Starlight turned to me, an idea forming in her head.

"North, I think this one's up to you."

"Me?! What am I supposed to do?"

"You're immune to the cold. Do the same thing for her"

"I don't know if I can!"

"She's dying! You have to try!" Shining Armor shouted.

I had no idea what I was doing, or where to start. I had to do something.

"Alright, I'll give it a shot."

I took in my surroundings. I was in a large bedroom, surrounded by ponies I had only recently met. There was a fire going, on the far side of the room. Twilight lay in the bed in front of me. The windows were closed, but the curtains open. Through those windows, I could see the city below. Beyond that, the frozen wastes. Then, I blocked it all out. The only thing I focused on was the cold, Just like when I had been frozen in ice.

North stood for a few seconds, before closing his eyes. We wondered what he was doing, while the room around us changed. First, the room temperature fell. Then, frost formed on the windows. The fire went out. We were able to see our breaths fill the air with mist. Ice formed around North's hooves, and spread across the room. His horn began to glow an uncharacteristic light blue- the shade of ice. His usual magic was green, like the color of his eyes.

His horn glowed brighter, and he opened his eyes again. They were plain white, the way Twilight's were when she was really trying hard to cast a spell. The room grew so cold, I thought it would snow.

The ball of magic he had created descended on Twilight, before disappearing. That was it. The room temperature became normal, the fire resumed burning, the ice vanished. North blinked, and his eyes were their usual green again.

"W- what did you just do?" I stuttered, being the only witness currently capable of speech. Cadence and Shining Armor lost control of their jaws, which hung ajar.

"I'm really not sure. I just thought back to my time in the ice."

"Maybe you should hold off on doing that again, at least until we talk to Celestia about it."

"What happened?"

"You froze the room, before casting a spell I've never seen before."

"Did it work?"

"Did what work?" Twilight mumbled

"There's your answer." I told him, before turning my attention to Twilight. "How do you feel?"

"Like I took an ice bath in the frozen tundra, but aside from that, fine. Why? What happened?" Twilight responded.

"North tried to make you immune to the cold, before it killed you."

"Will I always be this cold, now?"

"I tried to make it temporary, but we'll have to wait and see." North informed her.

"I hope not. How do you live like this?" She asked.

"I just tried to ignore it, and eventually it became natural."

"I don't want this to be natural, but I'll deal with it for now."

But it only got worse from here. There was an explosion that shook the building, bringing Shining Armor back from his stupor.

"That sounded like it came from the Crystal Heart!" He yelled.

I ran to the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of the source. At the foot of the castle stood a lone figure: a deep blue colt with a black mane. Though it was difficult to tell from here, he seemed to be looking right at me. North joined me, while Cadence took her filly to a safer place, and Shining Armor issued orders to the guards that had shown up.

"That's him." North said to nopony in particular.

"Midnight?" I guessed.

"You got it."

"What do we do?"

"I'm going to find out why he's doing this. Maybe I can talk him out of it."

I raised my hoof to object, but he was already gone. He had launched out of the window, and flown to the ground. I turned to Twilight, who was trying to climb out of bed. She shrugged. Out in the hall I could hear one of the guards saying something about potential damage to the Crystal heart. Could things possibly get any worse? As soon as the thought crossed my mind, I hated myself for thinking it.

"Why are you doing this, Midnight?!" I shouted.

"You still don't know? I should have figured you would be too stupid to figure it out, brother. I was always the better one, after all."

It took everything I had, not to blast him on the spot. He would have seen it coming, anyways. We stood at the base of the castle, about thirty feet apart. Anypony who hadn't run from the blast started to gather around. It almost look like the buildup to a fight in the schoolyard.

"Well, if I'm 'too stupid' to figure it out on my own, why don't you just tell me?"

"But that spoils the fun! Besides, I know better than that. Now, I'm afraid I have important business in elsewhere. Sorry I can't stay longer, but destiny calls!" Then he was gone. Luckily, that was all I needed from him. I now knew what he was up to.

The Tough Choices

The train pulled into the station, and we were out the doors before they had even opened the entire way. I took the lead, as North was unfamiliar with Ponyville, and we ran. We ran until our legs hurt, and then we ran some more. The buildings whizzed by, and we kicked up a cloud of dust on the dry roads. We passed ponies who waved to me, and ponies who caught glimpses of North's wings under that old grey cloak. We didn't stop for any of them.

We made the trip to Twilight's castle in record time, and practically kicked down the door. Spike was up and about, doing his usual cleaning. I ran to him, knowing he would have the best guess of where Twilight was.

"Spike! Have you seen Twilight come in? We need her."

"Uhh, yeah. She, um, she just went to the Map Room. Who's that?" He pointed at North. We were already on the move, so I shouted the answer over my shoulder.

"Friend of mine. Thanks, Spike!"

The young dragon stared after us, bewildered. He waited another minute after we had turned the corner before shrugging it off, and going back to dusting.

North was taking in as much of the castle as he could, hoping to memorize the way out. I had told him about the countless times I had gotten lost in here, and he aimed to avoid that, if possible. We burst through the doors, and found Twilight sitting in the chair matching her Cutie Mark.

"Ah, glad you two could make it. I was afraid you would miss the show." North and I shared a look, slightly more relaxed now. Midnight hadn't gotten here yet. Thinking fast, I tried to come up with an excuse to make Twilight back down.

"Actually, North was hoping to be the one to take on Midnight, instead. Now that he can better control his... 'ability,' we feel that he is best suited to the task." North cast me a confused glance. I winked, and he nodded, understanding what I was up to.

"Not a chance. North said it, himself. Midnight views me as a threat, and now I'll teach him just how threatening I can be. If you're not here to watch, you can leave." It wasn't an invitation or a request, it was an order. Knowing she was unstable at the moment, I felt it would be best to listen to her, and find a new approach. I turned to leave, but North stuck out his hoof, blocking the way. His eyes told me what his hoof didn't. His turn.

"Twilight, Midnight is too dangerous to face alone. May I at least help you?"

"This is my moment, and nopony else's."

"Then I will be content with watching, if there is nothing else."

I didn't like it, but at least we would be able to stay in the room. So we waited. When Midnight got here, we would have to act fast.

It didn't take long for Midnight to arrive. When he showed up, he made an entrance. One of the windows near the ceiling shattered, and in flew the deep blue stallion, here to destroy the Map. When he landed on the table, he seemed shocked to find Twilight in her chair.

"You?! I thought I got rid of you! No matter, I'll just finish you here."

"There's just one problem with that, Midnight. I won't let you." Twilight growled.

If there was anything that would ever come close to the power of friendship, it would have to be rage, and Twilight had both of them now. Without further warning, both ponies vanished in a purple flash.

"Where'd they go?!" Starlight shouted.

"Twilight must have been on to us. She took them somewhere more private. You're closer to her than I am. Would you know where that might be?"

"Tirek destroyed her old library. Maybe they're where that used to be."

"Take us there."

Starlight flashed us away, and now I was standing in an empty lot. There were two other ponies here, one purple, one blue, and they were having the ultimate showdown. They had taken to the skies, and the fighting raged to life. Midnight threw Twilight to the ground, but she caught herself. Twilight attempted to hit Midnight with a bolt of concentrated magic, but he ducked away from it.

At first, the fighting went nowhere, but they quickly escalated to more violent attacks. It was evident that they were fighting to a stalemate. I needed to intervene, and got my chance when they stalled. They were about forty yards apart, and Twilight was lining up a killing blow. Midnight was recovering from a spinout, and didn't have a way of defending himself, for he was unprepared.

This was the moment I was afraid of. I could let Twilight go, and Midnight would be finished. I could go after Twilight, which would then make it appear as though I had defected to Midnight's side. When I made my decision, it wasn't either of the choices I was presented with. I flew up, just as Twilight let her bolt loose. It struck true, but it didn't hit it's intended target. Then there was darkness.

I watched North spread his wings, but I never could have predicted what he was about to do. If I could have, I would have stopped him. Now, all I could do was watch, as he took the hit. There was a blinding flash of purple, and then North plummeted to the ground, leaving a trail in the dirt, like a pegasus would make after a failed landing. But this was much worse than a crash landing.

"NO!"

I was on my feet, and halfway to North before either of the combatants knew what had happened. When Twilight realized what she had done, she dropped to the ground, and ran after me. Midnight had seen the events unfold, and came running as well. Though I hadn't seen it, his eyes had changed color. Watching his brother take a hit for him gave Midnight the will to break the spell he was under. His eyes went from blood red, to the emerald green his brother shared.

The three of us hovered around North's unmoving body for a moment. Then it clicked with me: the rise and fall of his chest- the same rise and fall that taught us he was alive, down in the frozen caves- had stopped.

The Battle Lost

I sat over the now unmoving North, tears rolling down my face. Desperate, I tried to think of ways we could help him, of ways to do something. I refused to simply lie down and accept that I had lost somepony I cared about. I turned to Twilight.

"What do we do!"

"The hospital!" She offered.

We hoisted our friend into the air, and made a break for the Ponyville Medical Clinic. Though the trip should have taken a good ten minutes, we were there in two. It only took another three for the staff to wheel him into the operating room, and point us to the waiting room.

I thought back to the last time I was in a hospital waiting room. Funny enough, it was for the same stallion, only this time, we had a deeper reason behind waiting for him. We waited for news that never seemed to come. The sun went down, and still we waited. The sun rose, and friends came looking for us, hearing that we were back in town. They found us still sitting in that room.

The first pony to join us was Rainbow Dash. She had wanted to help Twilight with her landings today, but Spike told her that Twilight had left. After asking around town, she found her way here.

"Hey, Twi! What's up? You weren't home."

"A friend of our got hurt. We've been here all night." She explained. That was all it took from her friend. Dash left as fast as she came in. Twilight wondered why, but I hadn't even realized Rainbow Dash had been here. I was staring blindly at the wall, lost.

After some time, Dash came back, along with the other four. They came bearing flowers for the hurt friend, and food for us. Though they had no clue which of our friends was hurt, it didn't matter. If they were a friend of Twilight's, then they were a friend of theirs.

Rarity levitated a bag with various breakfast foods towards me, but I didn't even notice. Twilight had to do the talking for me.

"She's more broken up about this than I am. I can't even get her to acknowledge that I'm here. I'm worried about her."

This was enough to draw me from my thoughts, though I stayed only long enough to mutter one sentence.

"You're the reason we're here in the first place."

Twilight became hopeful that I would say more, but it quickly became evident that I would leave it at that. And now, Twilight had to explain what I meant.

"What's she talking about?" Applejack questioned.

"It's a long story." Twilight tried to give an excuse.

"Well it seems like we've got a long wait." Rainbow Dash stated.

One long story, and a dozen doughnuts later (Courtesy of Pinkie Pie), the five mares had been caught up on the scenario.

"Let me get this straight: Starlight had a crush on this North character, and now he might be dead? Worse yet, you're the reason he's in here right now?" Applejack summed up the whole story.

"I fear that she may have more than just a crush for North. Nopony behaves this way unless they truly care for somepony." Rarity added.

"Ouch." Rainbow Dash deadpanned.
Twilight could no longer contain her sobs.

"It's all my fault. I knew that Midnight wasn't the one doing this, but I went after him anyways."

That was when the doctor entered the room.

"We've managed to temporarily stabilize him, but only long enough to say goodbye." He spoke.

Any hope in the room died as the words hit us. Though I didn't perk up, nor give any sign of understanding, I had received his words. I had finally opened up to somepony, and now I would loose him. Twilight put a hoof on my shoulder in an attempt to console me.

"Don't touch me!"

"Starlight..." She tried.

"This is all your fault! You don't even deserve to see him!" I rose, and followed the doctor through the swinging doors. The other six loosely followed, being sure to give me space. Though nopony had noticed him, Midnight was in the waiting room too. He trailed our party to the back room.

North sat on a stretcher placed in the center of a white room. He heard me trotting up, and cracked his eyes open. I flashed a faint smile.

"Hey..."

"Don't do that." He told me.

"What?"

"Don't act like I'm going to be fine, because I know I'm not."

I thought I had already shed all of my tears, but more came to my eyes.

"Then you know I've came to say goodbye?" It wasn't a question. He nodded.

"Just don't be too hard on Twilight or yourself. It was my choice, and this is my fault, but I'm okay with that."

The rest of the party had lined up outside the room.

"Is Twilight here?" He asked.

"Out in the hall."

"Let her in."

Doing as I was told, I went into the hall, and pointed at Twilight. She was shocked that North still wanted to see her.

"North, I am so sorry. I didn't-"

"It's not your fault. I did this, and I need you two to understand that. This is my doing."

"I just wish there was something I could do to fix this." Twilight added.

"I might be able to help with that." Chimed Midnight, stepping through the doorway.

"You're the whole reason we got into this mess." Though I knew he had no choice, I still found it hard to forgive him.

"Yes, and for that I am sorry, but it wasn't really me. This is the real me, and I might know how to save him."

Twilight seemed suspicious, but I just shrugged.

"Guess it's worth a shot."

"Twilight, am I correct in assuming that North saved your life before you almost froze?" Midnight asked, leaving out that it was him who nearly froze her.

"Yes... why?"

"You still have a part of him, and since you no longer have hypothermia, you could give it back."

"How?" Twilight asked, starting to understand.

"North told me he focused on the cold he felt. I guess you would do the same." I offered.

"I'll try."

Twilight stood at the side of the stretcher, and closed her eyes. The room went silent, save for the heart monitor.

Beep, beep.

Though it was nowhere near as noticeable as when North had cast his spell, the room temperature started dropping.

Beep, beep.

Ice formed at the base of Twilight's hooves, as her horn began to glow an icy blue.

Beep, beep.

Twilight opened her eyes, and they were the same white as when she cast a difficult spell- the same white North's had been when he saved Twilight.

Beep, beep.

Twilight cast her spell, and the ice blue ball met North. The temperature rose, and the ice faded. Twilight looked to us, hoping to see if it worked.

Beeee...

The monitor alarm sounded.

The Hope

Starlight and I sat on the balcony railing, looking out at Ponyville. Two weeks had gone by since the hospital released me. My heart had stopped when Twilight cast her spell, but only for a second. After that, I immediately began to recover. The doctors had told me that I should have died, and it was the most amazing thing they had ever seen.

The piece Twilight had returned to me was miniscule, and it would take some time before I fully regained my... ice powers? Luckily, what I received was enough. When Twilight's bolt hit me, it temporarily drained all my magic. That wouldn't have been fatal, but I had been relying on magic to keep me alive still. Without magic, I had nothing to lean on. Now that I've been out of the ice for a longer time, something like that shouldn't deal quite as much damage, as I could live on my own.

Twilight still felt guilty for what happened, so she allowed me to have one of the many rooms in her castle, which was why I was able to be here with Starlight.

Speaking of her, Starlight had nudged me, seeing that I had zoned out.

"You alright?"

"Just thinking.

"About what?"

"Well, all sorts of things, really. Mostly you, though."

She smiled, making me smile too.

"You're strange, you know that?"

"Maybe it's a side effect from the meds." I had been given pills to take, in hopes of helping me recover faster.

"No, you were strange before that."

"Well, I was doing the equivalent of living under a rock for a thousand years. I'm still a bit socially displaced."

"I think you were probably strange before that, too."

"You know me too well." I joked.

But the lighthearted mood would only be allowed to last so long.

"There's still evil out there." Starlight finally broke the silence.

"There's always going to be." I stated.

"But somepony had to cast that spell on Midnight. We're going to have to stop them, sooner or later."

"We've still got time."

"Will it be enough?"

"It'll have to be."

...

"Do you think we can beat them?" Starlight asked.

"Do we have a choice?"

"Midnight's plan almost succeeded. Whoever this is, they know what they're doing."

"We can worry about that when the time comes. Right now, I have something else I want to say."

So, on that balcony railing, with the sun falling below the horizon, I found that the opportunity had finally arisen.

"Starlight, I love you."

"I love you too."

...

She leaned in, and I stayed put. Our muzzles met for the second time, and we kissed. It wasn't a short peck, either- it was a long, sensual kiss. Then we were quiet. We watched the last of the sun dip below the horizon, the same way we did back in Canterlot, when I was still just some stranger. We could have sat there for hours, but Starlight had different plans. She spun and hopped off the railing.

"Where are you going?"

"To bed. Would you consider joining me tonight?"

"Is that even a question?"

She left with a smile on her face, leaving me to figure that one out on my own. A minute later, I was on my hooves, heading in the direction Starlight had gone. When I reached Starlight's door, I raised my hoof to knock, but caught something out the corner of my eye.

There stood Spike. I had talked to him on a few occasions, but always while Starlight was around. We had become almost inseparable, aside from when we went to our respective rooms (That would change tonight). The dragon gave a wink and a smirk, before going on his way. For as young as he was, he appeared to know exactly what was going on.

Knock knock

The Darkening Sky (Part 2)

The time had finally come. North was active enough to make the trip to Canterlot, and Midnight had reluctantly agreed to go with us. The other five had wanted to come along, but Twilight told them that Ponyville might need them if things didn't work out. The four of us were making our way to the train station, though I was starting to despise the constant train rides. The occasional trip was fine, but it was almost a regular occurrence now.

Twilight had agreed to pay for the tickets, while North and I claimed a bench. Midnight was still uncomfortable being around large groups of ponies after what had happened, which made him somewhat introverted. Unless it was absolutely necessary, he avoided contact with other ponies, so he opted to stand at the edge of the station, nearest to the rails.

Soon, Twilight came back, and levitated tickets to each of us. According to the time stamped onto the front, the train should be here any minute. To pass the time, I surveyed the train platform. There was a pair of unicorns- probably vacationing from Canterlot- as I didn't recognize them- and a lone stallion. He had been staring at me, but when I noticed him, he quickly turned away. Strange, but he was probably just shy, and wanted to avoid eye contact.

Twilight had brought a new book with her, and had it flipped open. Midnight was peering down the tracks, watching for the train. North just eyed the ground, not having anything to do. The sun was about halfway along it's climb, casting shadows as large as the pony that made it. Occasionally a cloud would cover the sun, making the shadows fade away, before creeping back as if they had never disappeared. It was a beautiful day, and I hoped that nothing would spoil it, but our meeting with Celestia and Luna might do just that. Why couldn't we ever go to them with good news?

Midnight perked up, and waved us over. Shortly after I stood up, the train whistle sounded a little ways up the tracks. I was mildly impressed with how early he had been able to detect the train, though North's ears had straightened around the same time Midnight stiffened up, indicating that North had heard it long before I did.

All ponies at the station made their way to the edge of the platform while the sound of squealing brakes and metal-on-metal drowned out all other sound. The train slowed to a stop, and the doors glided open. As I prepared to step over the gap between the car and the platform, the stallion I had seen earlier cut me off, almost causing me to fall. It was an incredibly rude and unexpected gesture. I opened my mouth to chastise him, but he had already moved deeper into the train.

We stepped inside and claimed our seats. Midnight went to the back row, while the rest of us sat closer to the front of the car. Naturally, North and I sat together, and Twilight was just across from us. I was visibly frustrated, and North noticed this.

"What's bothering you, Starlight?"

"The stallion that got on before us cut me off."

"Why are you so worked up over something like that?"

"I could have sworn I caught a dash of red in his eyes as he did so."

His mouth opened, but no words came out. He closed it again, contemplating what that could mean. We had determined that the spell Midnight was under turned his eyes red while he was on his destructive rampage. If another pony was under that spell, what was to say that there weren't dozens of ponies trying to do exactly what Midnight had? I would have to bring this incident up while we were holding our conference with the princesses.

The train lurched forward, marking the start of the newest leg of our journey. Out the window I could see the station passing by, followed with a nice view of Ponyville. Soon the town was fading away in the distance, and we were on our way to Canterlot.

The ride to Canterlot was uneventful, which means it should have been relaxing. It wasn't. I knew that Celestia and Luna had only the best intentions, but I still felt nervous seeing them. Maybe it was because I was afraid of the bad news they would inevitably have for us. Maybe it was because they were one of the only connections I still had to my old life. I honestly didn't know what it was, but I could feel my anxiety heightening as we drew closer.

On top of that, Starlight had given me a new reason to worry. She had told me about some stallion that was potentially under the same spell that had once controlled my brother. If this was true, then we were going to have our hooves full when we walked out of that castle. I couldn't predict what the princesses would have to say, but there was no doubt in my mind that it wouldn't be anything good.

I peered out the window, watching but not registering. I saw trees and grass whiz by, which gradually turned to rocks and shrubs, as we climbed a mountain. We crossed bridges and traversed tunnels. This is what was in front of my eyes, but I didn't notice any of it. I was lost in thought, only half conscious of my surroundings. If somepony were to call my name, I wouldn't have heard them. It crossed my mind that Starlight should have tried to snap me out of my state, but she was just as lost.

I was finally startled out of my trance by the first train whistle, signifying that we were close to Canterlot. Starlight had managed to block it out, so I gave her a gentle nudge. Her eyes refocused as she looked back at me.

"We almost there?"

"The first whistle just blew."

"It did?"

"Yeah, but you were too zoned out to hear it. You okay?"

"Just thinking about... everything."

"If you need somepony to talk to..."

"I'm fine."

She wasn't fine, but I left it at that. If she needed to talk about whatever it was, she'd come to me when she was ready. I hope.

The train pulled into Canterlot Station, and the whistle sounded again. The doors slid open, and our group climbed out. The station was fairly busy, but that was normal here. Canterlot was the capitol, after all. Once we made it out of the crowd, we started the short walk to the castle, where Celestia and Luna would be waiting.

It was noon when we pushed through the massive castle doors. The first room we faced was the throne room, where the princesses would usually be when they were expecting company. Today must have been an exception, as the oversized chairs sat empty. I turned to Twilight, hoping she would know what to do.

"What now?"

"They're here somewhere. They might be in the dining hall. Sometimes we talk there."

So we followed the Princess of Friendship to the dining room, but still had no luck. This time North offered up a place to look.

"Could they be in their bedrooms? On their balcony, perhaps?"

We trotted deeper into the castle, and up several flights of stairs. We were finally greeted by a closed door, marking the entrance to Celestia's personal quarters. She only tended to close the door while she was inside, leading us to believe that we had found her. Twilight knocked, and the door was opened by a yellow aura.

"Over here." A familiar voice called from the balcony. We stepped into the room and through the open glass doors, leading out to a large overhang that provided a view of the city below, as well as most of Equestria. This high up one could see for miles, which suited the ruler of the land perfectly. Celestia stood at the railing, looking over her domain.

"What are you doing up here?" Twilight questioned her mentor.

"Look out there, and tell me what you see." Celestia returned.

"I see... I see a great kingdom, being looked upon by it's equally great leader."

"Then tell me: do you know what it's like to rule over a land, and not have a say in what happens to it?"

"I can't say that I do."

"I may be this kingdom's leader, but right now, only you and your friends can control what happens next."

"I'm not sure I follow..." Twilight stated.

"Take a closer look out there." Celestia pushed.

Twilight prepared to respond, but paused. She squinted into the distance.

"What's that?" She pointed. I followed her hoof to a dark cloud, high in the air. It loomed on the edge of the horizon threateningly.

"That is what I am referring to. Before my sister and I brought Equestria into it's state of harmony, there was only Darkness, controlled by forces that go beyond even my understanding. Now the Darkness has returned, and it means to rid the land of harmony. If we cannot stop it, there will be no more kindness, no more loyalty, no more laughter or generosity or honesty. Worst of all, there will be no magic in the sense that we are used to. The magic will be as dark as the powers that will control it. I know all of this, but I can do nothing to stop it."

"What do we do?" I spoke up. "Where do the Elements of Harmony fall into this?"

"The Elements of Harmony can do nothing to help, not alone, at least."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I pressed.

"You must combine the Elements of Harmony with Equestria itself."

"How do we do that?"

"Equestria was forged from four things: Earth, Air, Ice, and Fire. Four ponies have been selected by each of these Forces of Nature as their vessel. Find them, and together you will be able to stop the Darkness." Now all attention fell upon Midnight and North.

"I suppose I was chosen by the Ice." North said.

"And I would be the Fire." Midnight added.

"Then you still need Air and Earth. Air will be a pegasus- perhaps in Cloudsdale- and Earth will be an earth pony- probably right back in Ponyville. They will both be from the same time period as Midnight and North."

"How will we know who they are?" Twilight asked.

"They will try to blend in with everypony else. Look for things that stick out."

"Like what?"

"You'll have to figure that one out on your own. You must hurry. I fear we only have a matter of days left before the Darkness is upon us."

We said our goodbyes, and prepared to head out, but I remembered one last thing I wanted to ask.

"We encountered a pony that might have been under the same spell Midnight was. Could that be related?"

"I believe that it was not a spell, but it was the first hints of the Darkness trying to stall you. It knows that you are a threat, and will do everything in it's power to keep you from reaching the others. Be prepared for anything out there." Celestia warned.

Outside of the bedroom, we tried to form a plan.

"It would make sense to go to Ponyville first. We can get the rest of the Elements, as well as this earth pony." Twilight advised.

"How will we even know where to look?" Starlight questioned.

"We'll have to wait and see. Right now we just need to get back home."

So we headed back to the train station again. During the walk there, I turned to Starlight.

"You sure you're up for this?"

"I've made it this far."

"You don't have to. It won't be easy, and there are a lot of dangers along the way."

"If you have to do this, then I'm going along for the ride."

"Then stay safe out there. I can take care of myself, so you just do the same. Don't put yourself in danger for me."

"No promises."

"Starlight, this isn't a joke."

"I'm not joking."

"Just making sure... You're the one thing that keeps me going. I can't have you getting hurt."

"I'll be fine. Don't worry."

I gave in. She was determined to help, and I couldn't talk her out of it. Whether that was good or bad, I had yet to find out.

The Impending Shadows

Another boring train ride later led us back to Ponyville. I had the feeling of being watched the whole way there, but never managed to prove it. My guess was that the lone mare in the back of the car was staring at me, but she would always be looking out the window when I checked, making sure to avoid eye contact.

Getting off of the train, I immediately began scanning nearby ponies. I didn't know what coat color, mane color, or mane style I was looking for, but I searched nonetheless. I imagined that the earth pony we were looking for would ultimately be on the lookout for us, as well. They had no clue if we were hunting them or helping them, so we would need to be cautious. Thousands of years could either sharpen or dull the senses, and if this pony was special in some way, it would likely be the former.

We were going to get the other five of the Elements, but something stopped me. I pulled North aside and shared thoughts with him.

"If these ponies are from your time, what are the odds that you might recognize them?"

"Pretty slim. If somepony catches my eye, I'll tell you, but I doubt that'll happen."

"What if you took off that coat? Maybe they'll recognize you."

He was hesitant at first, but then slowly pulled off his grey coat- the same one we first found him in. I had already told him that he didn't need to wear it anymore, but he was adamant that he didn't reveal his wings. He wanted to build a life for himself, and we wanted ponies to like him for who he was, not by his wings and horn. Sometimes he almost seemed ashamed of being an alicorn, but I was afraid to press the subject. He was still dealing with the life he lost, and it was a frail topic for him.

While I looked through the ponies around me, I caught one staring at us through a store window. We were being watched, and it was clear that this stallion wasn't the only one. I tapped North and nodded to the shop. He glanced over, then nodded back at me. He saw it too. Luckily, they were only watching. I prayed that it would stay that way. We would have to be looking out for red eyes, as that seemed to be the only identifiable trait.

We made it to Twilight's castle without any problems. Most ponies didn't even notice North, which was fortunate. It would be nice to not draw more attention than necessary. There wasn't enough time to deal with distractions like that.

Spike greeted us at the door, and did a double take on North. It was the first time he had seen him without that old grey coat, and he was understandably taken aback by the sudden change.

"N-North, y-you're an alicorn now?!"

"He's been an alicorn, Spike." Twilight told him.

"And I'm just now finding out? Why am I always the last one to hear about things like this?" He mumbled.

"I'll take you flying later if you cheer up." North offered.

"I don't know. I got my fair share of airtime during our 'dust-up' with a certain pony." He glanced at me, trying his hardest not to offend me, while I tried to not take offence. We both failed.

"So that's a no...?" North trailed.

"I'll think about it."

We headed for our usual gathering place, in the map room. Instead of getting each of the other five individually, Twilight had Spike send a letter to them, and we waited for their arrival. It didn't take long for them to show up. First came Applejack, followed by Fluttershy. Rarity came next, with Pinkie Pie on her tail. We waited another full hour for Rainbow Dash, but she didn't show. We asked around, but nopony knew where she was. When another hour went by, and we still got no word, worry began to set in.

Eventually we decided to try sending a second letter. When Spike sent it with his green flames, we expected it to go to Rainbow Dash. Instead, it appeared a few seconds later, and fell to the floor.

"Maybe it's her response?" I suggested.

No such luck. We rolled open the scroll shaped letter, and saw the same words we had written minutes before.

"Why would it return?" North asked.

"For some reason or another, we can't reach Rainbow Dash right now." Twilight explained.

"Any idea what that reason might be?"

"No, but I'm certain that whatever it is, it can't be good."

Because only a set few of us could actually reach Rainbow's floating house of clouds, we had several ponies stay at the castle. Personally, I didn't like the idea of splitting up, but Twilight had taken authority, and I tried to respect that.

Twilight and I had gone over to Rainbow Dash's house in hopes of getting some answers. Starlight had wanted to come with me, but Twilight didn't want anypony without wings for sake of time. Strangely, Fluttershy had stayed back as well. She had wings, but wasn't very keen on using them unless she had to. I had meant to ask about it, but she was still very hesitant around me, as I was a newcomer, and she was still getting to know me. What I had learned about her was that she was kind but coy. She was the most polite and submissive pony I had ever met, which led me to wonder how she ever managed to face all of the dangers I've heard of.

"North." Twilight called over.

"What?" I asked, but got no answer. Instead, Twilight put her hoof to her mouth, indicating to be quiet. She then pointed to the front door of the cloud palace we were nearing. I studied the door, trying to figure out what she meant. I looked closer and saw that it had been cracked open slightly. I wouldn't have found this suspicious, but it closed just as I tried to see past the opening. Whoever was there, it was evident that they knew we were coming, and didn't seem too happy about it.

We landed on the front stoop, and Twilight raised her hoof to knock. When no answer came, she tried again.

"Rainbow Dash?" Still no response. We turned to leave, but a sound echoed from right on the other side of the door. Fearing that Rainbow was in trouble, I lowered my horn to the door's locking mechanism. My horn lit green, and the lock did the same as I cast an old lock picking spell I head learned from my troublemaking brother when we were younger. The door opened, and we were face-to-face with Rainbow Dash.

"RD!" Twilight cried in relief, but her smile quickly fell away when she stared into her friend's face. Her usual ruby-red eyes were now a deeper blood-red.

"You can't stop the inevitable." Rainbow growled, before launching off her hind legs. She darted at me, and I had no time to react. She tackled me off the cloud, and unfurled her wings. While I tried to catch myself, she bolted away. Once I caught myself, I flew back to Twilight, who met me halfway.

"You okay?" She asked.

"A little shaken up, but otherwise uninjured. What do we do now?"

"We go after her."

"I would ask how you planned on catching her, but I'm betting you've already got a plan by your tone."

"Good bet."

"Well...?" I trailed, waiting for her to continue.

"Ever since the whole Midnight incident, I've been working on a way to expel the Darkness from the pony it's controlling. If you can hold her still, we can see if it works."

"How do you plan on making that happen?"

I could see a quickly approaching blue dot in the sky, which was my queue to get ready.

"She's coming." I called to Twilight, tucked in an alley across the street. She nodded back, and I tucked myself behind a building. Rainbow Dash had been soaring around Ponyville, and was about to fly right over me. The plan was for me to fly up and grab her, so Twilight could cast her spell. When has anything ever gone according to plan?

When Rainbow was about a building away, I spread my wings, and sprinted to intercept her. Because I was obscured by the buildings, Rainbow didn't see me until it was too late. I wrapped my forelegs around her midsection, and held her tight. She tried to use her wings to escape, but I trapped them between our bodies so she couldn't use them.

"Let go of me!" She screamed, while Twilight emerged from her hiding place, and sent a ball of purple light in our direction. Just as it was about to hit, Rainbow thrashed violently, moving us away from it. She then raised her right hind leg, and brought it down on my upper thigh. The pain loosened my grip, allowing her wings to slide out. She bolted away, with me still in tow.

There was one thing Rainbow Dash hadn't accounted for when she tried to make her escape: I was also a strong flier. I used my own wings to slow us down, and Twilight tried again. Rainbow was caught off guard by just how strong I was, and momentarily paused to plan out her next move. Thought it lasted only seconds, that brief moment of hesitation was her downfall. Just as she made to retry her escape, Twilight's second attempt made it's mark.

Rainbow Dash seized, before going limp. If I hadn't been holding her, she would have fallen. I brought her down to a waiting Twilight, who was both happy her plan worked, and concerned for her friend.

"Will she be alright?" I asked Twilight as I laid Rainbow on her side.

"I... I'm not sure." She admitted. "But it was our only shot."

"If anypony could make a spell right, it would be you." I reassured her. Or Starlight. I added in my thoughts, not wanting to discourage her at all. Twilight gave me an uncertain smile, and hoisted her friend up with a purple glow, intent on carrying her back.

"I can help." I offered.

"No thanks." Twilight turned down my offer, but then almost dropped her friend. I half enveloped Rainbow with my magic as well, and took some of the load. Twilight seemed unsatisfied by he need for help, but reluctantly allowed me to assist her.

"Thank you." She mumbled.

We walked back in silence. When we pushed through the castle doors, our payload was just starting to awaken.

"Ugh... Wha- what happened? How'd I get to the castle?" She groaned.

"It's a bit of a story." I stated.

"We'll fill you in once you're laying down. You need rest." Twilight added.

"You're tellin' me." Rainbow moaned jokingly. "Agh, my head is killing me."

The eight of us had gathered around the bed that now contained Rainbow Dash. Twilight and North had carried her in like she was injured, but she was obviously beginning to feel better. She sat up in bed, laughing at the story Twilight was telling about how she kicked North's flank, both literally and figuratively. North met my eyes, and used his hoof to motion for me to follow him. While everypony gathered around Rainbow, we ducked out of the room.

"Did you need something?" I asked once I stepped through the doorway.

"I just wanted to see how you were doing. This is my first chance to talk to you since we left to get Rainbow."

"I'm fine, but I get the feeling you have something else you need to say." I said.

"I do. The others, they don't seem to realize what this means." He stated.

"What are you talking about?"

"Rainbow Dash. If this Darkness thing can take control of somepony like Rainbow, what's to say that it won't do the same to one of us?"

...

"I need you to make me a promise." He continued.

"What's that?"

"If that happens to me, you can't hold back. If you have to choose between me or beating this thing, you can't pick me. Do you understand?"

...

"Starlight?"

I had tears in my eyes. I didn't know what to say. Not knowing what else to do, North hugged me. Minutes passed, and he simply held me in his embrace.

...

"You have to promise me." He whispered to me. Though I said nothing, the twitch of my ear gave away that I had heard him. Tears streaked down my face. Somehow, I knew that the time would come when I had to make that decision. I hated it, but it was inevitable.

...

"I promise."

The Stallion Of Red

We sat around the map table, using it as our conference room. Or rather, Spike and the Elements sat, while Starlight, Midnight and I stood, due to the insufficient number of chairs. Everypony was brainstorming ideas that would help us find this earth pony.

"Whoever this pony is, they must have been around for a long time." Twilight determined.

"Perhaps they're an Apple. That's an ages-old family." Rarity suggested.

"We prefer the term 'traditional.'" Applejack corrected. "But ah'm not sure about them bein' an Apple."

"Maybe Pinkie knows which Apple has been here the longest." Rainbow offered.

"She does know everypony in town." Starlight added.

"That's me!" Pinkie blurted.

"What do you think, Pinkie? Might you know who it could be?" Twilight tried.

"Well, there's a farmer just outside of town named Redington. He's been here for a while, but he doesn't seem to grow old. He's kind of shy, but super-duper nice!" Pinkie recounted.

"That sounds like it could be our pony. Pinkie, I need you to show North and I where Redington lives." Twilight chimed, taking the lead again.

"I was kinda hoping to stay with Starlight this time." I said in a suggestive tone, though it wasn't really a recommendation.

"We need you there to help convince this pony. I plan on leaving Starlight in charge while I'm gone." Twilight explained. Seeing no way around it, I bowed my head in defeat, and said my goodbyes to Starlight. Twilight and Pinkie were waiting for me to catch up at the door. Twilight was too distracted, but Pinkie noticed my saddened expression.

"You look the opposite of happy." She announced. "What's got you in a bad mood?"

"I was just hoping to spend more time with Starlight today, but it didn't work out that way."

"Don't be so glum. We'll be back soon, and until then you've got me to keep you company."

"Ain't that the truth?" I mumbled sarcastically. She didn't get the hint.

"What's your favorite thing to do when you're feeling down?"

"Usually, just being with Starlight is enough to keep me content, but that's not an option." I answered. "Sometimes I'll go flying to take my mind off of things, but that's only when I'm not busy."

"How about telling jokes?" Pinkie offered. "That always cheers me up." As soon as she said this, an old memory came to mind. Before being frozen, my old marefriend and I would tell jokes to help get each other out of a slump.

"No." I stated.

"Jokes don't cheer you up?!" She exclaimed.

"Not anymore."

"What?! That can't be true!" She was having a hard time believing me.

"Look, I don't want to talk about it right now. Can we just keep moving?" I pleaded. All Pinkie did was stare at me in bewilderment. "Please?"

Eventually she figured out that I was serious. Though she looked heartbroken, she respected my wishes. She walked up to Twilight and started giving directions. The princess was too oblivious to take note of the slight shock Pinkie portrayed, though I have to give credit to the pink mare, she did an amazing job hiding the fact that somepony had just shattered her world. I would be expecting her to come back to me for answers at some point in time.

We stepped through the golden castle doors, and began the search for Redington.

Just as Pinkie had said, we found a lonely farm just outside of Ponyville. If I didn't know any better, I would have guessed that Applejack lived here. The only thing that indicated otherwise was that this farm grew all sorts of produce- all except for apples. I could see orchards of citrus fruits, a vineyard, several vegetable gardens. It looked like it must take an army to grow all of this, but there was only one house.

"Here we are! Red's Ranch!" Pinkie proclaimed.

"Technically, a ranch would be where one raises livestock." Twilight corrected.

"That's just the name, silly!"

"Yes, well the name is incorrect."

"Whatever it's called, this is the place where we should be able to find Redington, right Pinkie." I interjected.

"You bet!"

"Assuming he's home." Twilight corrected again.

"Then let's hope he's home." I shot, getting impatient. I climbed the two stairs leading up to the front porch, and knocked on the door.

"Just a minute!" A stallion's voice called from somewhere within the house. I glimpsed the blinds in the left window move briefly before the lock clicked.

"Hello?" A burnt orange earth pony greeted me. His mane was dark crimson with grey streaks, and he wore a Stetson similar to the one I always saw Applejack wearing.

"Are you Redington?" I asked, while Pinkie and Twilight trotted up behind me.

"I might be, why?" He shot. Before I could say anything else, Twilight cut in.

"How old are you?" As soon as she asked this, I could see a growing paranoia in his eyes.

"Are you here to do business?" He questioned.

"No, but we need to talk to you." Twilight retorted.

"Look, if you're not here to buy anything, I have not need to talk to you. Good day." He closed the door right in our faces.

"Well that didn't work." Pinkie stated. Twilight knocked again.

"I don't know who you are, or what you want, but I don't want to talk to you." Redington declared from behind the door.

"We need your help. It's urgent." Twilight claimed. The door cracked open, but wouldn't travel any further.

"My help? You must have the wrong pony. I'm just your average farmer."

"We have reason to believe that you're more than that." This made him hesitate.

"You need to leave." He announced. Seeing that we were running out of options, I crept up to the door, and looked over to Twilight. She slowly shook her head, but I knew we couldn't afford to wait much longer. To Redington's surprise, and Twilight's horror, I slammed the entire force of my body into the door. Redington stumbled backwards, and I crashed into the building. The next thing I knew, there was a rock wall in my way. It had risen up from the ground, and blocked my way to Redington. I could hear another door slamming near the back of the house.

"He's making a run for it!" I shouted to Twilight.

"Great! Now you made us look like the bad guys!" Twilight shot, already working her way around the building. I quickly followed behind her. Pinkie just bounced along, taking her time. When we rounded the corner, there stood the farmer, waiting for a fight.

"I stand corrected." I admitted.

"We're not here for a fight." Twilight called to Redington.

"You expect me to believe that, even after he kicked in my door?" He nodded at me.

"That was my hope." She stated.

"We're pressed on time here, Redington. We need your help in order to save Equestria." I blurted.

"First, you break into my home. Then you treat me like a moron. Now I'm just expected to accept that you're the good guys? I don't think so!" He kicked the ground, causing a sizeable chunk of rock to jump into the air. He pointed, and the rock obeyed, flinging itself right where he was pointing- me! I dove to the right, just missing the boulder. One thing was certain: we had the right pony.

"Hi Redington!" Pinkie called, just now catching up with us. Everypony stopped to look at her.

"Pinkie? What are you doing here?" Redington asked.

"We need your help with a top-secret mission." She responded, putting her signature twist on the situation.

"You mean you're with these jerks?" He nodded at me.

"Oh, they're not jerks! These ponies are my friends! We're in a hurry, so they're not thinking things through right now." And thus, Pinkie, of all ponies, managed to insult my intelligence.

"I hope you can forgive them. They're actually really nice." She chimed.

"Well, any friends of Pinkie's should at least get a second chance, I suppose." He said, walking over to me, holding out a hoof. I took it, and he pulled me to my feet.

"Let's start over. My name's Redington, but you can call me Red."

"Northern Sky. Call me North." I toned.

Twilight Sparkle." The princess informed him.

"Pinkie!" Shouted the pink mare.

"So what's this I hear about you needing my help?" Red asked.

"We can tell you all about it back at the castle." Twilight stated.

On the walk back, Twilight paced along beside me, letting Pinkie and Red gain some distance. Once they were out of earshot, she reprimanded me.

"What were you thinking, kicking in his door?!" She exclaimed.

"It certainly got his attention, and that was the goal." I retorted.

"No, the goal was for him to help us. If Pinkie hadn't been there, he probably would've done the exact opposite. He seemed ready to crush you under that rock."

"Wait, let me guess: you're planning on turning this into a lesson about how 'patience and kindness are always the answer,' aren't you."

"N-no." She stammered.

"I'm learning to read you like one of your books." I jived. Struggling for a comeback, she resorted to friendship.

"When did you become so mean?"

I opened my mouth to shoot off some smart response, but I stopped. She was right. I was being mean, but that was only half of what made me freeze. It came to my attention that I wasn't being my usual self. At first I blamed it on being pulled away from Starlight, but now I was having second thoughts. Could the Darkness be subtly controlling my thoughts?

"You're right. I'm sorry." I waited before following up with my own question.

"What color are my eyes right now?"

"What?" She asked, but I could see she was already starting to understand what I was getting at. She looked into my eyes, and I stared back.

"They're still green, why?"

"You asked me why I was being so mean, and I truthfully didn't know. Now I'm starting to wonder if this Darkness is messing around with my head."

"I would imagine that such a thing could be possible, having seen what it's capable of. Should I try my spell? Maybe that'll fix it." She pondered.

"You can try, but something tells me that it won't work."

Her horn lit purple when she cast the spell. She did it successfully, but just as I had predicted, nothing changed.

"Did it work?" She queried.

"Unfortunately, I don't think it did."

"Well there must be something we can do."

"I'm think our best bet is to find this pegasus in Cloudsdale, and stop the Darkness before it has a chance to get stronger. I'd rather not find out what else might be in store for us."

Twilight kicked the dirt in defeat. I put my foreleg over her shoulders in an attempt to comfort her.

"Hey, you've faced worse, and always came out stronger on the other side. We can do this."

"How can things be any worse than this? We're up against an unseen enemy, and we have no way to fight it. What are we supposed to do?"

"In truth, I don't know, but what I do know is that friendship always prevails, and you're the Princess of Friendship. If anypony can stop this, it'll be you." Saying this seemed to calm her down slightly, though she was a long way from being relaxed.

"Thank you." She flashed me a half-hearted smile. I hugged her a little tighter before letting her go.

"You know," She spoke. "You are a strange pony. Sometimes you're optimistic, and other times you're a total downer. Do you see the glass as half-full, or half-empty?"

"Personally, I conform to fit the needs of the group. When morale is soaring, I'm there to remind everypony that we haven't won yet, and they still need to be on-guard. When we're desperately in need of a beacon of hope, I'll find a way to provide one."

"But how would you normally picture the glass? What do you see when nopony needs you?"

"I don't have a glass. I shattered it."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't let a glass determine my personality. As you said earlier, I can be chipper one moment, and downcast the next. I'm a wildcard- unpredictable, but not anarchic."

"You most certainly are unpredictable." She chuckled. "And very, very strange."

"Guilty as charged."

Though I didn't know it, Starlight had tagged along in the shadows, suspicious of Twilight. She wondered if there was a deeper reason for being separated from me, and now she had an idea of why. She watched our entire conversation, her eyes holding an expression of rage and envy, but also brimming with tears.

The Remembrance

Twilight, that two-faced cheat! I can't believe she would do this to me! And how can North just go along with it?! A flurry of enraged thoughts swarmed my mind while I paced the halls of the castle. Spike had originally tried to ask me why, but my angry glances made him rethink.

I ran back to the castle after I had seen Twilight with North, making sure to stay out of sight. They managed to find Redington, but that didn't matter. I was now faced with a new dilemma: should I confront them, or see how things play out. When the door glided open in a purple haze, I decided on the latter. I put on my best fake smile and ran to greet them.

"You're back!" I exclaimed, catching North in a tight embrace. He hesitated, sensing something off. I tried my best to feign a smile, hoping he wasn't onto me. After a second he smiled back.

"Yep, we're back, and once again, Twilight has taught somepony a new friendship lesson." He announced.

"Oh really? What's that?" I asked, half-hoping the answer would be an admission to his guilt, followed by him begging for forgiveness.

"Let's just say: patience is a virtue." He winked. I watched Twilight lead Redington to the Map Room, where everypony else was waiting. I must have stared at her a little too long, as North noticed he had lost my attention.

"Something wrong? You're staring at Twilight."

"Oh, no. It's nothing. I'm just tired." I lied.

"Ha! You're telling me? I almost got crushed by a two-ton chunk of rock."

"What!?" I cried, genuine concern showing on my face.

"I'm fine. As it turns out, Red's had a lot more practice with his element than I have mine." He stated, as if I was just expected to be okay with the fact that he almost died. He had come close to death quite a few times, and each one gave me just as much of a scare as the last. Cheater or not, he was my friend, and I would be heartbroken if something happened to him, as with all of my friends.

"I thank Celestia that you're okay." I told him. Knowing that we would be expected to join the group, I turned to follow the path that the others had taken. Just before I walked off, North called me back.

"Starlight?"

"Yes?" I kept my voice calm, but my mind was screaming. This is it! This is his admission to guilt.

"What would you call us?" He used his hoof to gesture between us.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we act as if we're star-crossed lovers, but we've really only known one another for a few weeks. Are we a couple, or just close friends?"

"What do you think?" I was afraid of what might come next. My hopes for an admission had already been crushed, but now I feared that our entire relationship might be at stake.

"I just feel like we're taking this too fast."

"So what you're trying to say is...?"

"I think we should just refer to ourselves as friends until we've been together long enough. We still don't know as much about each other as we let on, and I don't want things to fall apart between us simply because we didn't know that the other one preferred X over Y."

I didn't know what was worse: the weight of his words, or the fact that he might have been right.

"I understand." He had completely crushed me without moving. I tried to act like I was fine, because I knew the guilt of hurting my feelings would then destroy North, too. One heartbreak was enough for today.

"You don't have any problems with that?" He inquired. It took everything in my power not to scream Yes! Yes, I do have a problem with this!

"No."

Walking into the map room, Twilight had already begun introducing everypony to Red. I tried my best to seem attentive, but my mind was in an entirely different place. I had convinced myself to slow things down between Starlight and I, but now it felt like a mistake. I knew I was doing it for her protection, but it still felt wrong. I thought so hard about my choice that I didn't even realize they had changed topics.

"Right, North?" Twilight asked, but I didn't hear her.

"North?" She tapped my shoulder. I looked up at her with distant eyes.

"I need some air." I told her emotionlessly.

"But-" She started, but I was already halfway out the door. She shrugged and exchanged looks of concern with the other ponies. I walked out the door, not noticing that I accidentally slammed it shut behind me. Once I was out the castle doors, I unfolded my wings and took to the sky. As I always said, flying was a great way to relieve stress, and right now I had too much to bear.

Usually I would fly a route around town, but today I simply followed a straight line, gradually building speed. Had I kept going, I probably could have created a Sonic Rainboom, but my attention was yanked away by something else: the distant, looming clouds. The clouds we referred to as Darkness. The clouds that were effectively ruining my life. The only things I had ever felt hatred for in my entire life. I didn't have the capacity for hate- not since my mother died. Thinking about my mom brought back the memory of the day she died.

I was in school that day, as I would have been on any weekday. We were in the middle of learning multiplication tables when my neighbor- Bluebell- entered the classroom. She whispered something to Miss Apple, who then called me to go with Bluebell. We walked in silence for half of the trip before I spoke up.

"Miss Bluebell, where are we going?" She froze at the question. She couldn't bring herself to break the bad news to me, so she gave as simple an answer as she could.

"The hospital."

I processed this answer.

"Why?" Ah, the follow-up question every parent learns to despise. Not wanting to give anything else away, lest there be more follow-up questions, she tried her best to dodge around and change the subject.

"You'll see when we get there. So, what were you learning about in class?"

"Oh, just the stupid multiplication tables. I don't get why we're spending such a long time on them. They're so easy." I whined.

"Not everypony is as smart as you are, North. You're an incredibly intelligent colt. The others may need some more time to learn... What's seventeen times fourteen?" She quizzed.

"Two-hundred and thirty-eight." She thought for a second, deliberating over whether I had been right or not. I was.

"You're going to do great things one day." She assured me, putting on a fake smile. We finished the trip in the same silence we had started it in.

When we finally got to the hospital, on the other side of town, the doctors were waiting for me. They led me through what seemed like endless hallways, finally ending in a white room with a single bed. I took in the sight, not quite understanding what I was looking at. It was my mother laying in that bed, hooked up to a dozen different gizmos and gadgets. I looked up at Miss Bluebell, who refused to make eye contact, and then to the stallion in the white coat. Upon realizing that I was confused, he got down in front of me, putting a hoof on my tiny shoulder.

"Your mother was in a carriage accident. She's stable for now, but we don't know if it will last."

My eyes clouded. I may have been in second grade, but I knew what that meant. I was one of the smartest colts the school system had ever seen, and it stayed that way until Twilight and Starlight were introduced, more than a thousand years later.

I approached the white bed cautiously, as if Starry Sky- that was her name- were going to jump up and scare me. I gently nuzzled her awake. Her eyelids cracked open to meet my own clouded eyes. She smiled faintly and tried her voice. It was more of a rasp than anything.

"Hey, North. How're you holding up?" Unable to bring myself to say anything, I laid my head on her stomach. I stayed there for an entire hour. My face was buried in the blanket in an attempt to stifle my sobs. It didn't work. Starry put her hoof on my back, making an effort to comfort me. That was when she broke into a coughing fit. The monitors all started beeping and buzzing. Nurses and doctors rushed into the room, all but one tending to the mare on the bed. That last nurse held me in the corner, keeping me from getting in the way. I could tell by the way she kept me that she thought I was going to rush to the bedside, but I simply sat and watched. When they wheeled the bed out of the room, I said a single word, somehow knowing that it was going to be the last word my mother would ever hear from me, and hoping it would put her at peace.

"Goodbye." I said to her, just as the stretcher left the room. Even through all the commotion, I saw her ear twitch. She had heard me.

I lost my only parent that night, having never met my father. I would find out later that he died that same night, trying to stop a robbery. Ever since that fateful day, I never hated a pony. I never felt sadness. I never let life get to me. At first, it was my method of coping, but I eventually adopted it as a way of life. If I couldn't do it for my sake, I did it for Starry's. I lived that same way for the entirety of my life, up until this moment. Those clouds threatened to take away everypony I cared about, which filled me with a rage unmatched by anything. I suddenly had the burning desire to see those clouds vanish from existence, along with the pony that created them. I lost everything once when my mother died, and a second time when I froze in the ice. There was no way in Tartarus, Equestria, and everything in between that I was going to let it happen a third time.

Doing a one-eighty, I headed back for the castle with a new motivation. Flying always helped me in stressful situations, and this was no exception.

Rainbow Dash, Twilight, and Fluttershy had all flown after me, while everypony else ran beneath them, struggling to keep up while dodging buildings. When I met them halfway, none of their concern seemed to fade.

"Are you alright?"

"Why'd ya run off?"

"What's going on, dear?"

I was bombarded by questions from the concerned mares. I didn't answer anypony except Starlight, because her question was the one that I knew I could answer.

"You came back on your own, and you seem to have caught a second wind. Is it time for us to head to Cloudsdale?"

"Let's go." And that was the end of it. It suddenly clicked with everypony that I wasn't going to talk about it unless we started the next leg of our journey.

Because of the placement of Cloudsdale, it would be necessary for us to take an airship. Knowing this, Twilight already had a hot-air balloon prepared. The ponies without wings loaded up, and within minutes we were in the air. The first questions began after fifteen minutes of awkward silence, and I was finally willing to answer them. What I didn't tell them was just how badly I wanted to see the Darkness gone. Similarly to how Twilight tried to kill Midnight, I was out for blood, and I wasn't going to chance my friends getting in the way.

The Reunion

"So... why did you run off, North?" Twilight asked, finally breaking the awkward silence that had fallen since I ran off. Everypony looked to me, hoping I would finally be willing to speak.

"It's just... I've just been really stressed out lately." I admitted, only half-lying. Starlight opened her mouth to say something, but stopped herself.

"Well, if anypony can help you deal with stress, Twilight's the pony to talk to. She's been buried in Princess Paperwork lately, but she's always got a smile on her face when we need her." Rarity spoke up from within the airship.

"Yeah..." I trailed.

"Are ya sure stress is the only thing bothering ya, sugarcube?" Applejack asked.

"Honestly, I don't know anymore. I used to be a nopony, and now I'm practically royalty. I'm still getting used to the transition, I guess." I explained before bumping into the balloon, not paying attention to where I was going.

"Well, you obviously weren't a nopony. You're an alicorn, for Celestia's sakes! That's freaking awesome for a nopony." Rainbow Dash said while helping me recover from my collision.

"That's just it, though. Back when I was a colt, becoming an alicorn was as common as earning your Cutie Mark. Every day you heard about a new pony earning their wings, horn, or both. Now the only ponies capable of ascending become royalty. I must be the first alicorn to not be dubbed as a prince or princess in centuries." I added, becoming nostalgic with memories of my past. Twilight conjured a piece of paper and a quill, wrote something, and made them both disappear again.

"You never did tell us much of your past, North." Twilight seized the opportunity to gain knowledge.

"There's not much to tell. Almost everything I grew up with is gone. I didn't even see my hometown on the map of Equestria." I muttered.

"Where are you from?" Twilight asked.

"The city was named after the land: Equestria. Aside from Canterlot, it was the largest city around, and it was also know as the 'City of Alicorns,' because it was where almost every alicorn lived. I would imagine that when all the alicorns vanished, the city fell into disarray shortly after."

"That can't be right. A city like that couldn't just disappear." Twilight mused.

"I'm sure we could help you find it." Rainbow Dash offered.

"That won't be possible. The City of Alicorns is long gone. The few survivors of the Ascension left within days, and the city was completely abandoned. I went back years later, or tried to anyway, but it was gone." Red put in. I looked to Midnight for confirmation, and got a solemn nod. He had refused to speak entirely since the day we rid him of the Darkness. It was his way of punishing himself. I tried getting him to speak the next day, but that unicorn was determined to discipline himself beyond what anypony else was willing to do.

"An entire city just vanished? How?" Twilight asked, writing notes vigorously.

"I can't really explain what happened. It was there when I left, and gone when I came back. Maybe it just fell apart."

"It would take hundreds of years for a city to crumble unaided. When did you go back?"

"About the time I realized I had 'Earth Powers,' and the immortality that comes with it. Maybe fifty years later. That was right before I started traveling the world." Red now had the burden of thoughts he didn't want to remember, as his voice was beginning to fade, much like my own had.

"That doesn't make sense..." Twilight scribbled more on the page floating in front of her. Sensing that Red needed a change of subject, Fluttershy pitched a new question.

"So, umm, Red, why did you travel the world? Where did you go?"

"I had spent years trying to build a new life in Canterlot when I left the City of Alicorns, but nothing seemed to last. Eventually, I realized that the few friends I had were growing old, but I wasn't aging with them. Traveling was my way of passing the time, and taking my mind off of the past. I started with visiting nearby cities, before going on a full-blown expedition. I saw Manehattan, Baltimare, Las Pegasus. You name it, I've seen it. I left Equestria a few times to visit neighboring lands like Gryphonstone. I even had a chance to see the Castle of the Two Sisters when it was in it's prime. Finally, I settled down in Ponyville, looking for a chance to live a semi-normal life. Look where that got me." He gestured to the balloon.

A part of me wondered what Midnight had done in the thousand years since I had seen him last, but I doubted he would ever tell me.

"We're in the presence of one of the greatest adventures in history, and not a single pony knows of his voyages." Twilight announced in awe, finally taking her nose away from the page she had been writing on.

"I don't know about the greatest adventurer ever, but he's pretty cool." Rainbow Dash refused to swallow her ego. The rest of us just chuckled at her.

"What?" She shot.

"So, what did you do through all the years, North? I would imagine we must have met at least once before if you're from my time." Red inquired.

"I was frozen in ice. Only within the past month did somepony find me." I stated blatantly.

"You were stuck in ice for a thousand years? No way."

"It's true. Starlight and I are the ones who dug him out." Twilight confirmed, finally putting the paper and quill away.

"Oh. I'm sorry. I didn't know." Red mumbled.

"It's fine. It beats doing nothing for that long. It just felt like I fell asleep taking an ice bath. I closed my eyes for centuries, but it only felt like a few minutes."

"I never did fully document how the ice was able put your body in a state of hibernation. I'll need to study that when I-" She stopped herself when she noticed my aggravated expression.

"I'm rambling, aren't I? Never mind. Unimportant. Please continue."

"I've found that occasionally reminiscing about the past can help you let go. You should tell us about what you miss the most." Red told me, showing the most concern for me that he had ever shown.

"There's a lot, really. There was my friends- though I had only a few. There was my home. There was-" I stopped, realizing I would never see her again. Thinking about her hurt too much.

"What? What is it?" Red asked.

"I don't what to think about her. It brings back too many memories."

"Only by talking about her can you truly learn to forget."

I let out a long, pained sigh of submission.

"Stormy... Stormy Wind; that was her name. She was the most beautiful pegasus I had ever met... and now she's gone." I choked the words out, again bumping into the balloon, too distracted to even notice. My eyes clouded as I recalled my ex-marefriend.

"I still remember the day we met. I had earned my wings only days prior, and I was trying to teach myself how to fly. I can't remember exactly what, but something caught my eye, and I got distracted. When I looked forward again, there was a mare right in front of me. I couldn't avoid the collision. She managed to recover, but I careened to the ground. She was by my side in an instant, helping me to my feet. Once I dusted off, we formally introduced ourselves. I was only a young colt at the time, and we were close ever since. We were there for each other, no matter what. She taught me how to fly, and I helped her work at becoming an alicorn. Eventually, time started to draw us apart. The day I froze was also the day she finally broke us apart, claiming I was too focused on work. I planned on trying to make it up to her when I got back. I guess that'll never happen now."

Then I looked directly at Starlight. Though she refused to make eye contact, I knew she could hear me.

"That's the real reason that I'm afraid to get into a new relationship. I worry that I'll just lose her like I lost Stormy. Heartbreak never gets any easier, no matter how many times you go through it."

I expected an answer from Starlight, but it was Fluttershy who spoke up next.

"So, umm, what did she look like?"

"She was gorgeous. Her beauty could measure up to Rarity's."

"She must have been stunning." Rarity cut in, slightly agitated by my comparison, or maybe jealous.

"She had a coat the color of storm clouds, with a sapphire blue mane. There was a streak of yellow running through her mane like lightning, matching her electric eyes. Her muzzle was a lighter grey than the rest, and her Cutie Mark was a raincloud. When it rained, she would always stay dry. She could climb out of our swimming hole and be dry without even shaking off, which was a shame, because she could definitely pull off the wet-mane look. There's only one pony who I've ever thought was better-looking than Stormy."

"And who might that be?" Rarity spoke up again.

"She knows who she is, and that's all that matters." Saying this made Starlight's ears stiffen, but she continued to stare at passing clouds, of which we had just become level with. We would be upon Cloudsdale soon, which was a relief. My wings were getting tired.

Though I wasn't looking at Midnight, I had a feeling that the unicorn was trying to get my attention. I looked over to him, and found he was shaking his head at me. I contemplated asking him what that meant, but knew I would never get an answer. Whatever it was couldn't have been too important; though he had taken a vow of silence, I had a feeling that he would break it in order to save a life. Hopefully.

"Just out of curiosity: does anypony actually know what we're going to do when we get to Cloudsdale?" I pitched.

"We're looking for a pegasus who's..." Twilight tried.

"Exactly. Luckily, I have a few ideas. This pegasus has been here for a thousand years, so they're bound to be a more prominent figure in the community. Rainbow Dash, do you remember anypony like that?" I asked.

"There was this one pegasus, but I can't remember her name. I was always told to just call her Windy. My mom and her got along well, so she used the same name as her to confuse ponies. It was always funny hearing them mess with ponies looking for Windy."

"Could you lead us to her place? She's our first lead."

"Sure."

We were just pulling up alongside Cloudsdale. Pinkie was the first off the balloon, and I caught her just in time. She started to fall through the cloud, but I grabbed her by the hoof.

"Don't worry, I've got this." Twilight said, just before casting a spell on the ponies without wings. At first I was puzzled, but when Applejack hopped onto the clouds without falling through, I understood what Twilight had done. They must have been here before, as everypony seemed to know what Twilight was doing before I did.

Not wasting any time, Rainbow Dash was already headed for the center of town. We followed her down street after cloud-lined street, finally stopping in front of a house of clouds slightly larger than the ones on either side. If the size of the home indicated anything about the status of the pony living in it, then this was a pony who had been around for some time.

"Here it is. Windy's home, who's real name I can't remember for the life of me. It's on the tip of my tongue, but I can't spit it out." Rainbow announced.

I walked up and knocked on the door. A voice that I vaguely recognized called back.

"Just a minute!" Followed by hoofsteps.

Rainbow looked like she had just had an epiphany.

"North! I remember now! Her name is-" The door opened.

"Stormy?"

The Losing Battle

North met us near the Crystal Heart, while we tried to figure out what to do. Midnight had damaged the Heart almost to the point of breaking it. It was clear that he had intended on destroying it, but didn't quite succeed. Shining Armor was caught up with the guards, but still found time to check up on Twilight here and there. Cadence had gone with Twilight and I, to inspect the damage. The whole scene felt like the aftermath of a big battle. Everypony was quiet and somber, unsure of what we had to do next.

"I just don't understand." Cadence sobbed. "Who would do such a thing?"

"I can answer that." North spoke, approaching us. "It was my brother, Midnight?"

"Why would he do something like this?" Just hearing that North was related to the culprit automatically made Cadence suspicious of North, even though she was willing to trust him with her sister-in-law's life, minutes ago.

"The answer to that question is not very well defined. It is an educated guess, and even that is generous. I believe that Midnight is doing this against his will." North explained.

Having our full attention, we stayed quiet, indicating that we wanted to hear more.

"I think that Midnight is just following orders from somepony more volatile than he, for Midnight has always been mischievous, but he was never this downright evil. I don't know how or why, but somepony is either threatening to take away something Midnight cares about, or has him under a spell."

"What makes you so sure of this?" Twilight inquired.

"Throughout our conversation, Midnight dropped a few subtle hints as to what might be going on. Just before he left, he said he had 'business elsewhere', and 'destiny calls.' He never used either of those expressions before, and he doesn't even believe in destiny."

"Alright, so he's doing this because he's forced to. That doesn't tell us how to stop him." I stated.

"Yes, I recognize that. I have yet to solve that problem, but I may know where he's going next: Ponyville."

"What gives you that idea?" Twilight asked.

"Starlight gave me a brief explanation about your Cutie Map, Twilight. If Midnight has attacked the Crystal Heart, then your map is next."

"Why?"

"He is going after objects of hope and power. He means to destroy anything that has the potential to stop him. He'll go after the Cutie Map, Canterlot's Private Spell Library, and eventually, the Tree of Harmony itself. He may even be the reason you almost died, Twilight."

"What would make him come after me?"

"He recognized that you were powerful, and tried to make your death look like an accident, due to hypothermia."

We got quiet after hearing this. If North hadn't been here, we might have lost Twilight. On top of that, all of Equestria's symbols of peace and harmony were in danger. It was a lot to take in. When we started to recollect ourselves, Twilight spoke up.

"What are we waiting for? Somepony tried to kill me, and now he's threatening to ruin our home. Let's go get him." She sounded calm, but I could make out that the cool was just a façade. Twilight was mad- no, Twilight was furious. She was venomous, and she meant harm. It was disturbing, and potentially dangerous. For the first time since I had met Twilight, she was out for blood, and it struck me with fear on a level that I had never felt. We would have to do something about it, but I was too afraid.

"North, Cadence, come here. We need to talk." I declared, hoping Twilight wouldn't catch on. We got into a close huddle before I was willing to talk.

"What's wrong, Starlight?" Cadence asked, her concern showing.

"Twilight seems different. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Yes, I noticed it. She's angry."

"We have to calm her down, before she does something she'll regret." I whispered.

"Is there anything we can say to her? We've never been in this situation before."

"Maybe her brother knows what to do." I proposed.

We looked around for Shining Armor, but he wasn't anywhere to be seen. But then we had a bigger problem: Twilight wasn't there either.

I already knew where Twilight was going. She was out for revenge, and I had told her exactly where to find it. Stupid! Twilight now had everything she needed to kill the stallion that had nearly succeeded in killing her. Stupid! I should have known better than to tell Twilight that it was Midnight's fault. Stupid! And now I had a new dilemma: I could defend my only surviving relative, and be viewed as the bad one, or let Twilight get rid of him, and feel guilty for the rest of my life.

We had boarded the next train to Ponyville, which was an hour behind the one we presumed Twilight had taken. Cadence had wanted to come with us, but we opted for her to stay with her Empire. With the Crystal Heart in the state that it was, they would need her.

Starlight was visibly nervous, but there wasn't much I could do for her. I appeared strong, but I wasn't. It's very hard to comfort another pony when you, yourself don't even believe the words you're using to comfort somepony else. I ended up resting a hoof on her back, which helped, but only slightly. She gave me a faint smile, but I could still see the worry in her eyes.

Twilight or Midnight. I would have to choose, when the time came. Neither option ended happily. Midnight was doing this against his will, but Twilight wouldn't care. She only cared about her friends and Equestria right now, and Midnight was threatening both of them.

I closed my eyes, went deep into thought. I wouldn't open my eyes again until we were in Ponyville, but I wasn't yet asleep. How could I be? With all the stress, it was surprising that I wasn't having a breakdown. At some point, I became aware of a head resting on me, and a light snoring. Starlight was concerned that I wouldn't take too kindly to her leaning on me, and waited until she thought I was asleep. Needless to say, I didn't flinch away, nor did I move her off of me. In truth, that was just what I needed to calm me down enough to fall asleep.

I later realized something else, as well: Starlight viewed me worthy of resting upon, but was afraid that I didn't feel the similarly towards her. I would have to find a way to show her that I cared, if the opportunity presented itself. Until then, my priority was between Midnight and Twilight. In a few hours, one of them would die, and only I could decide who.