A Distant Light, A Close Calling

A Long Journey

            Twilight opened her eyes, she then rubbed them, wiping the sleep from them, adding a silent yawn, got up out of bed, and walked into Rainbow’s living room. She stared out at the window. Hmm, Luna’s moon is still out, it isn’t dawn yet. She noted in her mind. She quietly made a cup of warm, herb tea, and sat on the couch next to the window, peering out into the star-stricken night.

Today is going to be a long day. I wonder how the others fare with it? They may not like it, but the SDEH is after us, so we have to go into hiding. I hope this will be over soon. She thought.

            Completely lost in her thoughts, Twilight was unable to notice Fluttershy trot into the living room.

            “Good morning, Twilight.” Fluttershy mumbled.

            “What? Oh, ‘morning Fluttershy.” Twilight said quietly.

            “Looks like the others aren’t up yet.” Fluttershy mentioned, as she poured herself a cup of tea.

            “What are you thinking about?” Fluttershy asked curiously.

            “I wonder what Starstride will be like. What about Hoofsdale? I’ve never been there before, have you Fluttershy?” Twilight pondered aloud.

            “Oh, my. Heavens no. I have actually never heard of it, to be honest.”

            “I bet it’s a nice place. Hopefully we will be safe there, and away from danger.” Twilight replied, turning her head to Fluttershy.

            “Yeah, I-um, just hope we won’t be pursued or that you will have…Th-those s-scary visions...” Fluttershy said, shuddering at the thought.

            “Don’t worry Fluttershy, we will be fine.” Twilight reassured her.

            “I hope so.”

            As the two ponies sat in the living room, chatting, an exhausted pink pony entered the room.

            Managing a yawn, Pinkie said slowly “Good…good morning you two.”

            “Oh, hello Pinkie Pie, did you sleep well?”

            “I slept alright, I was a bit uncomfortable sleeping on the floor in Rainbow’s spare bedroom, but I’ve had worse.” Pinkie answered.

            “I see, well at least you got some sleep. Want anything to eat?” Twilight asked.

            “Maybe a cupcake will do me some good.” Pinkie said cheerfully.

            Making her way to the kitchen, she gazed around the room, looking for a cupcake. Her eyes lighting up like a shining rainbow and her jaw dropped as she saw a triple coated chocolate fudge cupcake, sitting in a box on the kitchen counter, neatly displayed in plastic. She picked up the box, and opened the container. Drooling at the thought of how delectable it must be, she shoved it in her mouth, almost beaming with glee at how delicious it was.

            She turned around, and saw Twilight and Fluttershy glaring at her.

            “What? It’s good!” Pinkie exclaimed with her mouth full.

            “Pinkie, you umm, could’ve shared a piece with us.”

            Pinkie made a “Sorry” face, and walked into the living room and sat down. Twilight and Fluttershy followed her. As the three friends sat down, Twilight mentioned.

            “I think it’s time we wake the others.”

            “Oh, and it’s time to pack the provisions.” Fluttershy added.

                                                                       *

            “Okay, I think that’s everything, now all we need to do is wake Sunspeed.” Rarity said.

            Rarity walked into Rainbow’s room, as she walked up beside the bed, she nudged Sunspeed slightly and added:

            “Sunspeed, Sunspeed wake up, we have to get going dear.”

            The white Pegasus took a deep breath, mumbled something, then opened her eyes; she gazed at Rarity who was beside her. She noticed the traveling packs on her back, nodded, and then got up slowly, wincing a bit at the pain in her whole body. Barely able to trot, she turned to Rarity.

            “Rarity…can you, lend me a hoof-please?” Sunspeed asked, biting her lip, trying to ignore the intense pain.

            “Oh, of course dear, anything for a friend!” She replied, smiling.

            As the two ponies walked out to the living room to join them, Twilight glanced at them and the others.

            “Everypony ready?” She said with a sigh.

            They all nodded. Fluttershy and Rainbow escorted the other five ponies to the ground, since they have no wings.

            “Hey, Twi’, can ya’ll look at the map? Ah need ta’ know where we’re headed.” Applejack asked.

            “Of course Applejack.” Twilight replied. Pulling out the map, she mumbled some things to herself, pointing a hoof here and there on the map, then came to a conclusion, and finally replied.

            “We’re headed south; we have to go through the Everfree Forest to get there.”

            “Th-The Ev-Everfre-free Forest-t?” Fluttershy said fearfully.

            “Yeah, c’mon ‘Shy, it can’t be that bad, I mean, how hard could it be? I am the fastest flyer in Equestria you know!” Dash remarked.

            “Hmmph that you are Dash, but ya’ll aren’t any good at bucking apples!” Applejack noted, looking at Dash.

            “Pfff, apples, really AJ? You can’t be serious!” Dash said with a smirk.

            “Hmm, well, when this is all over, ah want an Iron pony re-match!” Applejack demanded.

            “Oh yeah? You’ve got yourself a deal!” Dash said, spitting on her hoof, she held it out to AJ. AJ grinned at this, and did the same.

            The seven ponies came to the entrance of the Everfree Forest, all nodded, then started walking. Pinkie, on the other hoof, bounced with glee. As they entered the Forest, immediately it became dark and ominous, Owls hooted, there was rustling in the bushes and trees, giving off an uneasy feeling. There was a cold chill in the air, the breeze whipping at the ponies. A dark, utter silence was formed, nopony spoke, they just continued walking along their path, all lost in either thought, or fear.

            In the distance, they could barely make out the shape of something, as they came closer, it turned out be an abandoned shack. The glass windows were broken, the door hinges were rusted and the door was loose, every time the wind wisped by, the door banged against the house, making an unpleasant sound. Peering inside, Pinkie saw nothing of interest, looked at her friends, shrugged, and then pointed south.

            Twilight looked at the shack for a moment. Hmm, is that shack really that important? I mean, it may have some things we could use but, I think safety is the main issue at the moment. She contemplated. Nodding to Pinkie’s suggestion, they continued to move on.

                                                           *About an hour later*

            As they were walking down the path, a mist suddenly doused them, making it hard to see. Twilight turned.

            “Just keep going, find the hoof of one of us, and grab on to it, that way we don’t get separated!” She called back, unable to know how far back her friends were.

            After what seemed an eternity of walking, the fog finally settled down, and the seven luckily were all still together. As they kept walking, AJ was about to turn to Sunspeed and mention something, when she suddenly slipped.

            Managing to let out a gasp, the six turned to their surprise to find AJ clinging on to the edge of a cliffside, crying for help! Sunspeed dashed forward, ignoring the pain, said.

            “Quick, AJ, take my hoof!”

            AJ reached for the hoof, but a part of the ground slipped out from her other hoof, and her body turned the other way, her face staring directly down at the endless ravine. With only one hoof holding on to the ground, she yelled in terror:

            “Help me!”

            Rainbow Dash flew directly under AJ, pushing her two back hooves up, trying to lift her up. Sunspeed grabbed on to her one hoof, and pulled. Struggling with the searing pain, she ignored it and continued. As tears streamed down her face, she managed to pull AJ up, and out of harm’s way. Crying in pain after over-exerting herself, she fell to the ground, unable to move without letting a tear fall down her face.

            Helping AJ recover, Dash hugged her, trying to calm her down. Pinkie nudged Sunspeed, and helped her up, having a hoof wrapped around her neck for support.

            “Is everypony okay?” Twilight said nervously.

            “Yeah, I think we’re okay. Twi, let’s give it a rest a bit, we need to recover before we keep moving again.” Dash said calmly.

                                                                       *

            "Oh no, Sunspeed, you ripped your wounds back open, you need to rest, just take it easy, I will re-bandage them.” Fluttershy said, rummaging through her bags.

            “You okay AJ? You had quite a scare there.”

            “Ah am doin’ okay, how about you Sunspeed?”

            “It…Ugh, it hurts, I need to avoid doing that next time.” She answered, groaning in pain as Fluttershy cleaned and bandaged the wounds.

            “Wow, that wasn’t exciting at all, was it Rarity?” Pinkie questioned.

            “No darling, it wasn’t. I got quite a scare from that. Poor AJ.” She replied sadly.

            “Ugh, careful Fluttershy, that wing is tender!” Sunspeed cried.

            “Oh, I’m sorry. There you should be all patched up now.”

            “Thanks, I needed it.”

            “You’re welcome, happy I was able to help.” She said warmly.

            Twilight looked at the bridge in front of her. Apparently Applejack walked right beside a bridge and slid off…almost. I wonder how we didn’t notice that bridge in the first place. She facehooved, mumbling to herself about how blind she was for not noticing the bridge. Sometimes I wonder how I am able to keep organized; I lose sight of things so easily. Looking up at the sky, she glanced at Celestia’s sun.

            “It must be about noon.” She mumbled quietly to herself. She then turned back to her friends.

            “Okay girls, we need to keep moving soon, we should leave in a matter of ten minutes, rest up and then get ready again. Looking at the map, we’re getting close to Hoofsdale.” She told them.

                                                             *Ten minutes later*

            They got to where the bridge was, and stopped. Pinkie peered over the edge. It seemed like a bottomless pit. Far down, there was a foggy mist below. She shuddered, and backed up almost immediately without hesitating.

            “So…umm, who wants to go first? F-Fluttershy, do you want to go first?” Pinkie asked.

            “N-n-no, how about you, Rarity?”

            “Uh, dear, I honestly think Rainbow should go first!” She said.

            “Okay, I’ll go first. Why? Because we need to get moving!” Sunspeed said bravely.

            “Okay Sunspeed, just let me stick near ya’ so ah can keep yer balance.” Applejack said quickly.

            “O-okay.” She said with a gulp.

            Slowly taking the first step, she winced a bit from her injuries, but gritted her teeth. Try not to look down Sunspeed, you can do this. She thought. As she made a second step, she heard a loud creak from the bridge. She ignored it, and pressed on. Shaking a bit on the third step, she managed to succeed.

            After Sunspeed & Applejack slowly crossed the bridge, the other five followed afterwards. As Pinkie was making her way across the bridge, she took a step forward, and the wood collapsed under her hoof. She jumped in fear, making the bridge shake a bit. She tried to take another step, and when she did, the wood panel collapsed under her front right hoof.

            “T-Twilight, the bridge keeps collapsing; I think I need to get flown across!” She yelped.

            Twilight motioned Fluttershy over to her. Understanding her actions, Fluttershy flew over to Pinkie Pie, picked her up, and let her down gently on the ground at the other side of the bridge.

            “Thanks, Fluttershy that was scary!” she said quietly.

            “Oh, it’s no problem Pinkie, I don’t mind.”

            They continued walking. Applejack looked at Twilight. Gee, Ah sure hope Twi’ is okay, those visions must bother her. Ah mean, how would it be if ya’ had ta’ deal with those kinds of things. Poor Twi’, maybe Ah should talk to her later, maybe tomorrow. She thought. AJ let out a sad sigh.

            “Are you alright AJ?” Dash asked, concerned.

            “Yeah, Ah’m fine, don’t ya’ll worry Rainbow.” AJ replied happily.

            As they continued walking, a cold breeze came from the South. They all stopped, looked up, and saw that it was lightly snowing. They all looked at each other for a moment, then began to take out their winter gear. After they garbed themselves in their cozy scarves and sweaters, they continued their journey. It got foggy and was hard to see for a time, the snow was coming down fairly decent.

            After a short amount of time, Twilight had a big smile on her face, she turned to her friends.

            “Girls, look!” Twilight pointed.

            “No way!” Sunspeed exclaimed.

            “That’s so awesome!” Dash said with an adorable face.

            “Is that what I think it is dear?” Rarity stated.

            “Can it be...?” Fluttershy said, quite amazed.

            In front of them, in the distance, was no other than Hoofsdale.