When You Hide (Octavia I)

Rainbow Dash was her name and she's waiting up there. She's safe, she'll be taken care off and I will see her again. I only need to remember that her name was Rainbow Dash and that we made a promise. Everything else will turn out fine.

The thoughts encompassed the gray earth pony's mind as they walked through the darkness. After a few tries Lyra had managed to get the orb to work and now she proudly cantered ahead of them, her head held so high, a grin so full of pride adorning her face. She was the first unicorn since forever to cast a spell, so Octavia could understand that. She would've been proud, too. The orb was small but bright, enlightening an area of a few meters around them. It was as good as a flashlight. Twilight had known how to do it, so maybe she had done magic, too. Octavia tried to remember Rainbow Dash but she wanted to see what the Wise Goat had meant.

"Twilight," she asked, "What happened to you in Canterlot?"

The walls were made of rock and crystals, with only a few gems in between and the way they had taken was so small an adult pony would have had a hard time fitting through. Not that it was impossible.

With them moving through the unknown earth, everypony struggling to be as close to the light as possible, Twilight answered Octavia. "I had an epiphany."

Octavia had no idea what that meant and so did everpony else, with Riandrops asking: "What's an ipefamy?"

Twilight laughed and coughed at the same time, still using Derpy as a means to keep her own, frail body standing and walking. "It's epiphany. What I meant was when I faced Magia I understood it, what it was and how I had used its power. The Wise Goat had said that my special talent was magic and I had hoped that that was the reason I could use it. He kinda encouraged me."

Octavia listened. The voice had spoken to her since when? Yesterday? The day before? She didn't know but it had stopped talking just as the creatures had vanished from the face of the city. The tiny earth pony hadn't known what to make of it, but he had told Twilight that she was the element of magic? This seemed weird.

"In truth, I tapped into the Magia's power. I-," she broke up but took a breath and continued, "I think that's what the Wise Goat wanted. It was a voice in my head, just appearing, telling me how special i was, how I could change the world. It probably only wanted further its own goals. I think it lied." Twilight seemed stopped then, panting heavily. "Sorry, I- I need a rest. I can't. . . My body- It's. . ." She was on her knees then, struggling for each breath and the other ponies tried to close in on the narrow path. Lyra turned around.

"It's only a bit farther Twily, then we can rest," one unicorn tried to assure another but Twilight shook her head. There were tears. The little filly was in pain, scared of it, too. She had seen that expression once, when they had eaten dinner, but this time, Octavia did not intend to let it simply go on. She took the chance, moved towards Twilight and embraced her in a hug.

"It's okay, calm down. Take deep breaths," she said, as softly as possible, "Think of a calm sea , a blue sky with white clouds."

She had seen one filly breaking down before her today. She had been able to help that one and she sure as hay didn't intend to fail this one. She stroke through Twilights mane, whispering whatever soothing thing came to her mind, trying to show her how to breathe, sing a little song. There was one thing she would have rather done, the real kindness of just taking Twilight's pain and going through it for her. She could have asked Lyra, but then, Twilight, while trying to follow, still twitched with every heartbeat, as if a tiny hammer was crashing against her chest, trying to break through the wall of bones.

Octavia didn't want to feel that kind of pain, ever.

After that thought it was like her mind went blank. There wasn't any magic in her music and she really wasn't anypony special. Everypony here could probably do something wonderful and even that little pegasus would eventually overcome all odds and become a wonderbolt. Her name had been Rainbow Dash, Octavia remembered. What she didn't remember, where her grandfather's words, or rather, their meaning. She was sitting there in the cave, surrounded by those five ponies she thought closest to her and yet she would eventually become deadweight to them. She was only an earth pony without anything, even her parents had thrown her out, because all she had ever done had been a waste.She wasn't even really a Quarternote anymore and even if she was, her parents were probably dead, too.

She felt another hug and looked to her left, Derpy was holding her, tears coming out of her eyes, "Don't cry, Octy. Don't-"

Was she crying? Her eyes went to the ground, and she noticed how watery they felt. They had stopped, they had done the one thing they all had tried not to do. They had stopped and then they had started thinking about Canterlot, each and every one of them.

Octavia would never see Hugh again or Madame Hooves, she wouldn't get to watch Trixie trying to make a decent magic show, Lyra throwing her off with a comment about 'hands', she wouldn't get to see a table nearly breaking under the weight of the muffins atop of it ever again. Never again would she smell the dirt of Canterlot and canter beneath the smog and the poison rain. The chance to see her parents again and bring a little music into their lives was gone as well.

Suddenly they were all hugging, drawn together by how they all were bound as close as family now. One pony though, didn't join in, instead simply adjusted her hat and saying in a loud voice: "Magic is harmony and harmony is peace. When we get to the Lunarium, everything will be fine. Everypony we have met, everypony we haven't. They're all going to be fine and maybe there will be Alicorns, too. I don't know what you're crying about because what happened up there, if anypony can undo it, it has to be an Alicorn!"

They all looked at her, how she stood there with a smile on her face, reassuring them. They were all together, not just in grief and fear.

"We've all seen what happened but we shouldn't run away from it, we should use it to go forward. That would make all our parents proud, Trixie's sure." Tiny and piebald, brown and white. Octavia had laughed when she had first seen Trixie and at that time, that filly had still lived with that strict household where she would get beaten for even the most minor thing. Sometimes she would get her head bashed in just for the sake of having it bashed in. Octavia had known and like anypony else done nothing about it. It had been normal.

If there ever was a chance to change that, was it now? Was the Lunarium really the answer? Had the Wise Goat lied about everything, or should they cling on to that little bit of hope?

"Come on everypony, we've still got ways to go," Trixie said and turned around. Octavia just looked at her and for a moment the tiny and weak Trixie seemed truly great and powerful.The speech was enough to make everypony find their strength once more.

I'd do anything if I don't have to look back now, Octavia thought and made herself move again, helping Twilight now. Of course, now that they had found themselves again, something hit the fluffy sands far behind them and they heard somepony shout obscure things.

Octavia recognized the voice and turned into the direction they had come from, a light appeared at its end. When you hide they can't find you, she had told Rainbow Dash. She remembered her, she was safe and sound and she would be taken care off. They hadn't gotten the filly who was even more tiny than the earth pony. They hadn't gotten the filly and they most certainly wouldn't get her.

"We need to go, now!" She said, her voice and body trembling. All looks were upon her but only Raindrops seemed to know what was going on. "They're meant to make sure nopony will tell what has happened here. They want to blame it on the griffons to justify an open war. We need to go, we need to run. We need to hurry!"