Darkness Calls

"I am not a worthless mare, whoever you are in my head. I will not let your forsakenly evil words get to me. Leave me alone!" Azure shouted back at the voice in her head and heaved a heavy sigh as the ponies on the street looked at her as if she was crazy. As far as she knew, she just might be crazy. Not wanting to make the scene worse, she ran into the diner and looked for Angel. Spotting her in a back booth, she almost dived into the seat breathing heavily.

"Geez, what has you so worked up Azure?" Angel asked with concern as she looked over her new friend.

"It's nothing." Azure said with a fake smile as she sat straight up and silently hoped Angel wouldn't demand an answer.

"If you say so, Azure. What do want to eat?" Angel asked and slid a menu over to Azure.

"Uh surprise me?" Azure asked awkwardly, she hadn't exactly been told of a menu before.

"Just look over the menu, the cooks will prepare it when the waitress comes to take our orders." Angel explained and picked her menu up. Azure shrugged and looked at the menu and its contents, coming to decision that a salad and a glass of water would be fine.

"So how's guard work Angel?" Azure asked in an attempt to make chit chat.

"It's boring honestly, nothing happens anymore now that the elements of Harmony take care of the dangers. I don't mind too much, but I could use excitement wherever I can get it from. Which is why we're here." Angel explained as if it were a common fact to everypony, which for many it was.

"Elements of Harmony? What are those?" Azure asked as she felt a chill run down her spine. Why did it sound so familiar and also scare her? If they take care of dangers, it should do the opposite for her, right?

"How do you not know?" Angel asked and looked to Azure, who seemed fine on the outside.

"It's hard to explain Angel, I don't really remember much of anything." Azure spoke honestly and looked to the eyes of her friend, or at least she thought of her a friend. She expected a laugh or to be called out, but Angel instead nodded her head in understanding.

"The elements, or well the bearers of the elements consist of six things. Loyalty, honesty, laughter, generosity, kindness and magic. Each of the bearers possesses a trait that defines one of the elements. Together, they have rivaled evil of every shape, size and magnitude without fail. So we guard ponies haven't had much work, aside from petty thieves." Angel explained to Azure as the waitress trotted over with a notepad hovering by her head.

"What'll it be ladies?" The waitress asked and readied her pen.

"Just a salad would fine, and a glass of water please." Azure was the first to speak, nervous as she felt inside.

"And for you?" The waitress asked as she turned to Azure, who simply smiled.

"I'll have a salad as well, extra greens and carrot juice please." Angel replied as she gazed at her menu once more.

"Alright, I'll be back in little while with your drinks." The waitress said and trotted away.

Azure watched the waitress trot off, so unaccustomed to this. For some reason, it just felt unnatural to her and to Angel, it was perfectly normal. Azure sighed and closed her eyes as she laid her head back. Only, she opened them to see the whole room covered in blood, some dripping from the ceiling and sliding down the walls. Angel laid face down on the table and nopony was around aside from them. Feeling great concern rise from within, she kept both a cry of terror down and her desire to get out of the diner.

She looked at her friend, who appeared lifeless. Her attention went to the rest of the room as she noticed paintings on the wall. each having a set of green glowing eyes. Blood soon began to drip from the glowing eyes as she heard somepony laugh as if this was all a joke. She scanned the room for something, but fell short to find its source. The laughter only grew louder and the room began to spin around her, the blood thankfully staying where it was. Or perhaps there was too much for her to notice if it to was spinning with the room.

Slowly Angel's body raised itself up, her once blue eyes a deadly green that stared into Azure's red eyes. Angel let out a groan and tilted her head to the point it was entirely upside down. Azure didn't know what to say for once, her mind was running on nothing at all as she starred in horror at her friend, who appeared to still be lifeless except for her green eyes which had a new green aura to them. Azure went to speak, only her or it, in this case, to cut her off.

"See what happens when you back talk me you little failure of a mare? You see what I can do to your friends?" The supposed Angel asked with a cold tone and let out the darkest laugh it could muster. Surely this thing, wasn't Angel. That's what Azure kept hoping as she shrunk into her seat and whimpered.

"I will break you and destroy you until you're mine again. Under my rule, I am King of this realm!" It shrieked and began to laugh hysterically. Azure could only shrink farther back, she didn't have a clue of what she could do in this situation. She surely didn't want to try and harm her friend, not that could find a difference.

"And when the elements find out just who you are and what you are, history will repeat itself once more and we'll both be right here again. So, my little warrior mare, whom has failed me. Run! Run as far as you can from here and leave it all behind, you have no friends here!" It screamed once more and Azure shook in fear, the voice and the room, not to mention the blood and her friend was almost too much for her.

"Stop it please! I did nothing to you, you vile demon of a stallion!" She yelled back only to hear a growl. She gulped and looked into the eyes of what was once her friend. But the torment didn't end there.

"Head my warning, and run!" It screamed, louder than the last time and jumped at Azure. She closed her eyes and waited for the attack that never came.
"Azure? Azure? Hello, anypony home up there?" She heard the familiar soft voice and her eyes shot open as she stared into the blue eyes of the mare. She felt something wrapped around her, but she was too afraid to look. Finally she mustered both the strength and courage to speak.

"A-Angel?" She coughed out and let out a sigh of relief, she hadn't noticed her own hyperventilation or the soothing wing wrapped around her side.

"Relax Azure, you kind of blacked out there for a bit. Are you alright? You look terrified." Angel looked to her friend with concern, she couldn't comprehend a reason why Azure would be so frightened.

For a moment, Azure was sure she saw those eyes once more. Staring into her very soul and reading her like a book , but nothing was there. Just a painted white wall. She could still hear the laughter in her head, no amount of head shakings would get rid of it. It was there to stay and haunt her. She frantically looked around, sure to see something else. Something else that didn't belong, but the diner was silent and normal as it could possibly be, and she was left with more unanswered questions and laughter. She sighed and gulped. What would she say to Angel?

"Azure, are you alright? You're breathing really heavily, panting at that." Azure spoke in concerned tone, unsure of how Azure felt right now or what was apparently wrong that she couldn't see. With a million different ideas in Angel's mind, she raised her guard and looked around with Azure as well.

"I think I'm alright Angel." Azure spoke with a fake smile, feeling that there was no way that Angel would believe her if she laid down the full truth of her feelings of fear and paranoia that continued to grow. Maybe the lack of food was getting to her? Dehydrated? She wouldn't know for sure.

"You don't seem like it, I can practically feel your heart racing through your body. May as well be shaking from it, what's up?" Angel asked with more concern and nuzzled her friend as gently as possible. She was determined to get an answer.

"I said I'm alright Angel, can't you believe that?" Azure asked, though blushing from the gentle muzzle that brushed against her neck and playing the guilt card.

"I could, but I'm worried. I found you this morning barely capable of breathing and here you had another spill into the dark apparently. You can trust me, so what's up?" Angel asked once more, unknowingly wording her question in the most perfect of ways

Azure sighed and looked for something that could distract Angel, but there was nothing. One on hoof, she could spill everything and Angel may think she's insane. On another, Azure could just stay to herself. After the vision, she could only imagine what might happen to her friend. The word echoed in her head, she had a choice to make and it didn't seem that she would get help from anywhere else. The princess wouldn't be awake for a long time, based on last night. Speaking of time, she wasn't sure what time it was either. The worst that could happen was that Angel might see her as crazy, or be a friend in the dark. A light to shine in the darkness of her questions.

"Alright you win, but I don't know how to say it. All I can say is I saw something that's scarred into my mind now and I can't get it out of my head." Azure tried her best to explain, though she feared greatly that Angel would laugh her flank off.

"I had no idea Azure, is that what happened before you woke up earlier?" Angel asked and nuzzled Azure once more as she started to calm. Though Angel had no true idea of what Azure was talking about.

"Not quite, though it was similar and I couldn't say which was worse at this point. Each has been horrible." Azure explained as the waitress brought both of their drinks and salads to the table.

"I'm sorry about the wait, we had a minor problem back there. But here you are, fresh salads and your drinks." The mare politely explained and sat the salads and drinks down in their respective places. The waitress also snickered upon seeing how close the two mare were.

"It's quite alright and thank you." Angel said before she could realize the waitress had already trotted off to another customer.

"Can we eat before we continue that conversation, Angel?" Azure asked as she hungrily stared at the food, her stomach growling in agreement with her thoughts.

Angel sighed and nodded her head, a moment later she carefully removed her wing from Azure and tucked it into her armor. Azure looked at the salad and licked her lips, she'd just as well eat the table at this point if she went any longer without food. Carefully concentrating, she levitated the bowl of salad up and began to chow down. Her body certainly seemed thankful for substance finally and next she raised the glass and chugged it down quietly. Angel was slowly behind her, mostly already finished with her salad.

"I feel so much better, maybe I just needed some food." Azure thought to herself, though she still heard the laughing voice in her head.

"Oh you foolish mare, I won't leave you alone that easily. Just don't you close your eyes, for too long." A quiet voice whispered in her head and echoed with the laughing.

"I'm really losing it aren't I?" Azure asked herself, the voices remained with no evident way to get rid of them.

"Feeling better, Azure?" Angel asked sweetly with her chipper tone and smile that simply made Azure smile as well.

"With some food in me, yes I am a bit better now." Azure answered honestly.

"Well allow me to fish out my bits and we'll get going, but I will want more answers when my shift is over." Angel said and began to dig around for something before she place a few bits on the table.

Feeling it was a good time to go, Azure sat up and trotted out the door. Her head had a slight ache to it now and it seemed that a lot of time had passed. It would be evening in a few hours, but how had so much time gone by? It was another question for Azure, one she didn't much care about. The aching in her head was ignorable at the moment and tolerable. Though she was sure it was because of the dreaded voices she could hear. These voices were not her own and she was certain of that. She could only pray that the number wouldn't increase.

Azure sighed and stretched her body, earning a few cracks as she let out a quiet groan. That booth hadn't done any favors for her back or neck, though she would gladly have Angel's wing wrapped around her side again. Its soft feathery feel was something she was quickly learning to want, but why did she feel that way? It puzzled her, she was sure she belonged with a stallion. Though it was no lie or something she could hide, for she had a little crush on the Pegasus.

Angel walked out and joined her side once more. As if reading her mind, Angel placed her wing over Azure and curled it slightly around her side. For just a second, Azure was at peace, and the voices shut up. If only she knew what fate had in store for her next. As the two began to walk down the path, Azure felt a pain in her mouth and started to wobble. She felt sick suddenly and it was as if the ground was shaking. Soon she collapsed onto the ground unconscious and unresponsive to Angel's desperate attempts to wake her dear friend.